Mini Legal Pad Cover

As you may know, I am on the creative team for Shelly's Art. She designed this fabulous cover for mini legal pads (5"x8"). As soon as I saw the file, I knew I wanted to make one for my grocery list. I found my little mini legal pads at the dollar store (3 in a pack), but I am sure they are widely available.



I used double-sided papers from K & Company (Classic K McKenna Paper Pad). Have I mentioned how much I love this paper? I did a little distressing with my sanding block on the scalloped strip. The writing was done with my pen tool using an alphabet file from Sam & Hailey Designs. I then added some pen detail by hand with my white Signo pen. This is the best white pen I have used so far. The white flourishes are rub-ons from American Crafts. The last touch was a fabric flower from my stash topped with a Flared Flower from Creative Charms.

On the inside, I added the pocket using some more K & Company paper. I don't usually like to combine too many patterned papers because I am afraid it will look too busy, but when it all comes from the same paper pack I feel a lot more comfortable. I think all the patterns go pretty well together.


Now I have a pretty cover to hold my grocery list and a pocket to hold my coupons. There is even a pen holder. Isn't this a fun little project? You could use this for so many things (a journal, a doodle book, for writing letters, etc.). I think I may need to make a few more now. :-) If you would like to make one of these for yourself, Shelly should have it loaded to her section of the store soon.

I am also submitting this to the Made It Myself Mondays challenge over at You Had Me at Craft.




Thanks for stopping by!

Butterfly Square Card

Happy Monday, everyone! It is a gorgeous day here today. I hope your day is just as beautiful. Today I am sharing a card with a butterfly and lots of bling. It is a square card, which I tend not to make very often. Most of my cards start with a 5x7 card base, but sometimes it is nice to do something different. After I cut the background from blue cardstock and layed it over the beige card base, it felt a little plain. The beige color showing through the blue cutout just didn't pop enough for me, so I went and grabbed a bottle of Champagne Stickles and filled in the flourishes. Then I added a couple of rhinestone flowers (from Creative Charms) and some pink pearls for the butterfly. Lastly I used my black pen to make a trail for the butterfly.


The background and the butterfly are both cutter files from FileKutz by LisaJane. The background file can be found HERE and the butterfly is part of a collection which can be found HERE. I am also entering this card into Kristal's Simply Sunday Challenge over at www.gettingcricky.com where this weeks theme is using pens on your project.

Thanks for stopping by!

Floral Stamped Card

Hello all! I hope you are having a fabulous weekend. Today I have a card to share that doesn't use any cutter files. Can you believe it? It has been awhile since I made something without using at least one thing from my cutter. For this card, I pulled out my oval templates, a stamp and my markers.


Supplies:
Background Paper from K & Company (Classic K Margo)
CM Oval Templates
Brown ribbon from Colorbok
Pink pearls
Floral Stamp from Inkadinkado
Marvy LePlume markers (several shades of red and green)


Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Flower Card

I really enjoy making projects for challenges. It is a great motivator to complete cards, layouts, etc. Have you seen the wonderful challenges that Kristal hosts over at www.gettingcricky.com? One of her weekly challenges is the Simply Sunday challenge and this week's theme is to use a face on your project. I decided to post this card featuring a happy little smiling flower. It makes me want to smile just looking at his cute face.


This card is based on a sketch by the very talented Aussie Caz. The flower is a cutter file from Accents by Eddita and I added Stickles to the eyes. The papers are all from my stash, not sure of the brand. The ribbon is from Stampin Up! (Blushing Bride) and the sentiment was done with my pen tool using a file from Sam & Hailey Designs.

I love the happy smile on the flower's face, but after seeing many of the projects done for this challenge, I think I really need to get some Peachy Keen face stamps. What great expressions they have! Any recommendations on which set to start with?

Thanks for stopping by!

Link Up Love Party with K Andrew

It's that time again. That's right - it's time to Link Up the Love! This is a fabulous way to find new blog inspiration and get to know new people who love to craft. This link up party is brought to you by K Andrew over at www.gettingcricky.com. If you have never been to Kristal's blog, you really need to check it out. Her posts are always full of crafty inspiration and wonderful stories.

We are supposed to post our favorite project. My favorite project since the last Link Up party is this card I created. I just love how it turned out. My Mom said I should make a larger version and frame it. Maybe I will. LOL :-)




Supplies:
Sun & Clouds Border from Beloved Keepsakes
Fence Border from Visual Designs by Chris
Butterflies from FileKutz by LisaJane
Flowers from Jolee's Boutique (EK Success)


We are also supposed to post one thing we are grateful for. I will post two -- my husband and my son. My life would not be complete without them. Here is a photo of them from this past weekend when we went for a hike at a local state park.



Hopefully you can join in the Link Up Love Party as well. Make sure you stop by Kristal's blog (www.gettingcricky.com).

Thanks for stopping by!

Father's Day Cards

I have a few Father's Day cards to share with you today. The first one I made for my FIL. It is based on a sketch by the talented Aussie Caz for the June sketch challenge over at Paperthreads. The background papers are all from Tim Holtz - I love his paper for masculine cards. The gears are from Sam & Hailey Designs Itty Bitty Gears file and I cut them from metallic paper from the Paper Temptress.



This next card was for my husband from our 18-month old son. I thought this file (Father's Day Tire Card) from Sam & Hailey Designs was adorable. The words are all done in a stencil font so there were no little pieces to glue. Wonderful! I hate gluing little pieces. I added a bit of pen detail and it was done. My husband was thrilled with it.



I also wanted to give my husband a card from me. The card is not a typical Father's Day card. My husband has been making some drastic life changes in the last few weeks (he quit smoking, started exercising, eating better, cutting out soda and salt, etc.) and I wanted to let him know how proud I am. So the outside of the card uses a file (Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down) from Beloved Keepsakes. I again used Tim Holtz paper for the background. Then I dabbed on some gold pigment ink and sprinkled it with gold embossing powder. I think the heat embossing makes a nice background for the focal element.


For the inside, I wanted to continue the theme and so I chose to use a file with a bunch of positive sentiments (file by Shirley Clark). He really appreciated the card and knowing that I am so proud of his accomplishments.



Finally, I made a card for my Dad. This is a tent card by Shelly's Art. It has a really nice 3D effect. All of the elements (other than the deer) come with the file (Tent Card - Scenery). This file is not available in the store quite yet, but you can still get it as part of the quarterly membership club. The deer is from Accents by Eddita. My Dad really liked it - he asked if I gave him a deer because I felt bad that he didn't get one during hunting season. :) My Dad is a riot!



I hope you enjoyed seeing the Father's Day cards I made this year. They were all a lot of fun to make. I am so happy that there are so many talented file designers out there. It makes my life so much easier to be able to use one of their files as inspiration for my craft projects.

Thanks for stopping by!

Anniversary Card

Last week was my anniversary (8 glorious years of marriage) and I wanted to make a card that was romantic but not too frilly. A lot of times I find it difficult to make masculine cards as I have a tendency to want to add flowers and frills and bling (not things most men appreciate LOL). So I used the wonderful sketch file that Aussie Caz provided for the sketch challenge over at Paperthreads last month. The base of the card is dark brown cardstock and the large background piece is from Tim Holtz Retro Grunge Paper Stash. The smaller rectangle is from K & Company's Classic K McKenna paper pad and I added some stitching using my new Sew Easy and placed a metal charm in the center. The other block was embossed with my Heart to Heart Sizzix embossing folder using a piece of Mica/Metallic paper from the Paper Temptress. The text is from Sam & Hailey Designs file Pen Alpha - Curly Cursive and written with a gold pen using my pen tool. I made the heart button from Shelly's Art Buttons Galore file. I cut 4 copies from red cardstock and glued them together, then topped it with 2 thick coats of Glossy Accents. Then I threaded some black floss through it. It looks like a real button, don't you think?


My husband seemed to like the card. Being a non-crafter, he doesn't get all excited about cards/scrapbook pages like we do. :-) He always has sweet comments about my projects, but it isn't the same as sharing them online with people who share my passion for paper crafts. You all understand what goes into making a card or scrapbook layout (picking a design, choosing the right papers and embellishments, trying to recreate the vision in your mind, etc.). That is why I appreciate the comments that you leave for me. It is wonderful to hear positive feedback from other crafters. So thank you to all of my followers and visitors!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Stitching on Cards

Last month there was a challenge over at the VDBC forum to use stitching on your craft projects. This prompted me to pull out my Bazzill In Stitch'z templates (which have been collecting dust for far too long). A lot of the ladies were also discussing the Sew Easy tool from We R Memory Keepers and I decided that I really needed to buy one. I am sure you all know how that goes! :-) I love the look of stitching but often forget to add it to my own projects. So today I am sharing a few cards featuring stitching.

This first card uses border templates from Bazzill. I used 3 different borders from the Silly Stitches set. The paper is from K & Company's Classic K McKenna 2-Sided Paper Pad. Super quick and easy.



This next card is very simple. I used a flower template from the Bring Me Flowers set and a stem template from the In the Garden set. The pattern on the top of the card is the Smocking pattern on my Sew Easy.



The last card I have to share today features the Loop de Loop pattern on the Sew Easy. I added some small colored brads to the stitched section. Along the top of the card, I added a ribbon from American Crafts. The flower and sentiment are rub-ons that came in a kit, along with glitter, foil and flocking sheets. I added glitter to the flower and flocking to the sentiment.



A quick note on the Sew Easy. So far I really like it. It takes a little work to line things up just right. I ended up butting it up against my ruler to run it in a straight line. I also ran it over a larger piece of paper and then cut the paper down, rather than cutting the paper to size first and then trying to pierce the holes. I think with more practice, I will be able to get more precise. Overall, I am happy I decided to purchase it.

Thanks for stopping by!

My Little Craft Helper

I was going through my photos last night and uploading some onto my mother's digital photo frame and I just had to share these with you. I think I may have a crafter in the making. Alex just loves to pull open the drawers of my crafting supplies and play with whatever he finds inside. Since I have no way to lock them, all the scissors and other sharp tools had to go in the very top drawers (luckily he can't reach those yet). He really seems to enjoy the wooden stamps. To him they probably seem like more blocks to play with. :)

His other favorite thing to do is fling my markers, pens, and colored pencils all over the floor. I think I managed to find them all, but there could still be a few lurking under the couch.

So that is my adorable craft helper. Do your kids like to play with your craft supplies? I am hoping to post some more cards that I have created later this weekend. Be sure to stop back.

Thanks for stopping by!

FileKutz June Sketch Challenge & Free File

FileKutz Designs is hosting a Monthly Sketch Challenge. LisaJane is offering this wonderful freebie file of a Flourish Tag Frames DOWNLOAD IT HERE Password is: iagreetouftf and the only rule is you must use it, or part of it on your card, layout or project.

To play along, just post your sketch project to your blog, forum or gallery, follow the FileKutz Blog, then include a link in the InLinkZ form at the bottom of the sketch challenge blog post so we can all easily find each other. The winner will be chosen on June 14th. If you don't have a blog, just email LisaJane your photo and description of what you did and used and she will post it on her blog for you and link it.

The winner will win 5 free files of there choice from ANY of Filekutz Designs. You can see all of the designs HERE and HERE.

To qualify for the prize drawing, have your layout, card or project linked on the FileKutz @ VDBC Blog by midnight EST on Monday, June 13th . To have a chance of winning this awesome prize, here's this month's sketch for you to be inspired by in your entries...

Sketch

Here is a picture of the Cut File offered for this challenge:

How about some samples to jump-start your creativity! Here's what our fabulous Design Team have made so far this week!

Sharon S.

Eve S.

LisaJane

We hope you enjoy the sketch and have time to join in the fun with us! Please remember to leave a direct link to your NEW creation's post, not just your blog and include a link back to FileKutz Sketch Challenge in your post to be eligible to win this week's fantastic prize. Hope to see your creations!!!

I am still hoping to make something for this challenge, if I can find the time. This is a fabulous sketch that LisaJane has provided.

Thanks for stopping by!