Make a Wish Cupcake Card

Today I have a birthday card I would like to share with you. It is based on an inspiration photo for the Birthday Sundaes challenge this week. I don't usually make cards in this fashion. I typically either use a sketch or just make whatever my imagination leads me to. So this was a bit of a challenge, but a thoroughly enjoyable one. Anyway, on to the card . . .





This card features 3 files from the super talented Shelly of Shelly's Art (I will list the specific files below). For the background, I used my Scallops & Lines embossing folder from Sizzix. The folder is an A2 size and my card is 5x7 so I wasn't able to emboss the entire background. But I really like how it looks just partially embossed. I inked over the raised image with a French Blue inkpad. The two blue cupcakes are embossed with the D'vine Swirls folder and I used the French Blue ink on them as well. The brown cupcake is embossed with the Mesh folder and inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I added a blue rhinestone to the tag. There is also lots of pen stitching added to the card. The Make a Wish sentiment is cut from vinyl. The rest of the sentiments are from K Andrew's Food for Thought stamp set. What other sentiments you ask? Take a look at the second photo. The cupcakes all pull out of their wrappers and have sentiments stamped on them. The cupcake file was originally intended as a card where the wrapper acted as the envelope. It works great that way as well, but I also love reducing it in size and using it as a card embellishment.


Here is the card with the cupcakes pulled out of their wrappers.




Cutter Files Used (all from Shelly's Art):

Cupcake Card (SS00029)
Pennant Border Set (SS00227)
Tags Galore (SS00115)



Other Supplies Used:

Assorted paper from my stash
Embossing folders (Scallops & Lines, D'vine Swirls, Mesh)
Ink Pads (French Blue, Vintage Photo Distress)
White Gelly Roll Pen
Sentiment Stamps (K Andrew's Food for Thought Stamp Set - you can find all of Kristal's stamp sets HERE)

I am entering this card for Challenge #19 (Inspiration Photo) over at Birthday Sundaes.


Thanks for stopping by!

Butterfly Gift Box

Over at the VDBC forum, Sue is running a challenge this month to create something 3D. I decided to make a little gift box using a file from ArtiCrafts. For those of you who don't own digital cutters (or who can't use cutter files), Rebecca includes a JPG image with instructions that you can print and then cut the box out by hand. For my box, I used double-sided paper from K & Company (Classic K Margo). I added some black wire for the butterfly's antenna. His body is made out of green rhinestones and I added some white rub-ons (American Crafts) to his wings for added dimension. More white rub-ons were added to the closure of the box and I put a couple of blue rhinestones in the centers of the flowers.


Here is the front view.





And here is the top view.



This is the perfect sized box for a small gift, or even a few pieces of candy. You could even fold up some money and tuck it inside - a more unique way to give the gift of money instead of just putting it inside the card. I hope you enjoyed seeing my 3D project today.

Thanks for stopping by!

Enjoy the Summer Beach Card

Today I want to share a card I made for a challenge over at Paperthreads. The challenge was part of the July Bingo game and we were asked to create a project using as many of the Bingo words as we could. I managed to incorporate 6 of the Bingo words (beach, beach ball, ice cream, ocean, palm tree, sand). The clouds are embossed with the D'vine Swirls embossing folder and I then added crystal glitter to the swirls. I used the Forest Branches embossing folder on the trunk of the palm tree and inked it with walnut distress ink. I used the Swiss Dots embossing folder on the ice cream and Argyle on the cone. The sand on the beach is cut from sand patterned paper. I added blue Stickles to the water of the ocean. The beach sign is cut by hand and has tiny white brads in the corners. The post is embossed with the Distressed Stripes folder.


Cutter Files Used:
Clouds (cutter file from Aussie Caz)
Sand (cutter file from Ginny's Happy Cuts)
Palm Tree (cutter file from Sam & Hailey Designs)
Ice Cream (cutter file from I Scrap Designs)
Beach Ball (cutter file from Butterfly Designs)
Bear (cutter file from My Scrap Chick)

Other Supplies:
Assorted cardstock from my stash
Sand patterned paper (Shore by Colorbok)
Cuttlebug Embossing Folders (D'vine Swirls, Forest Branches, Swiss Dots, Argyle, Distressed Stripes)
Stickles (blue)
Glitter (Crafty Sparkles by Our Craft Lounge)
White mini brads
Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Walnut)
Sentiment stamp from K Andrew Designs (Splashtastic Summer)





I am also linking this up to My Craft Spot - Challenge #18 (Emboss It!).


I hope you enjoyed my card. Thanks for stopping by!

Getting Cricky Guest Designer - For the Troops

I am so excited to be the Guest Designer for today's Simply Sunday challenge at Getting Cricky. This week's theme is "For the Troops" and we are creating cards to honor the men and women in our military. The Design Team will be featuring Kristal's Freedom Isn't Free Stamp Set ($1 from each set goes to Intrepid Fallen Heroes which is a non-profiit organization that provides rehabilitative services to US military members who are severely disfigured from combat). I do not own that particular stamp set, but I do own a couple of the other sets. They are fabulous stamps! I just love how cleanly they stamp and many of the sets are mix-n-match so you can create whatever sentiment you like. And the purchase of every stamp set benefits a worthy charity. You can see all of the stamp sets HERE.

I have 2 cards to share with you today. Here is the first card.




The background paper is from EK Success (Inspirables Fresh & Funky line). It made me think of fireworks when I saw it in my stash so I thought it would be perfect for this project. The flag ribbon is an Offray Microspool from Joann's. The America title is a cutter file from Shirley Clark and I adhered it with pop dots. As I mentioned above, I don't own Kristal's Freedom Isn't Free stamp set, but I loved the sentiment in the set that says "Home of the Free, Because of the Brave." I made my own using the Zipty Do font and cut it from vinyl. (I used the word land instead of the word home. I'm not sure why - maybe because I had the Star Spangled Banner playing in my head.) The stars are K & Company Americana pillow stickers. I added pen stitching with a white Sakura Gelly Roll pen around the outside of the card, as well as to the America title.

Here is the second card I created.



This card is an A2 size card. Usually I make my cards 5x7 because I like the bigger size for adding lots of embellishments and I buy the pre-made cards and envelopes in bulk. But for this card I really wanted to use my Stars embossing folder and that is designed for the smaller A2 card. I used blue cardstock for the background and then sanded the embossed areas to expose the white core. The eagle and the word freedom are from Visual Designs by Chris. The eagle is adhered with pop dots. I added K & Company pillow stickers to two of the embossed stars. Finally, I added some pen stitching around the outside of the card with a blue marker.

I hope you enjoyed the cards I shared with you today. Be sure to stop by Getting Cricky to see what the Design Team has created for this week's challenge.

Thanks for stopping by!

Owl Thank You Card

The girls on Kristal's design team over at Getting Cricky are hosting a blog hop to thank Kristal for all that she does and they are featuring thank you cards that they have made for her. If you are interested in joining the hop, click HERE to start at the beginning. They have invited Kristal's blog readers to create cards for Kristal as well. I actually had a card started for Kristal already to thank her for some amazing blog candy that I won from her, so I quickly finished it so I could share it with you today.



The card base and elements are from a cutter file designed by Jan of Sam & Hailey Designs. I just love shaped cards, don't you? I added Raspberry Tart Fun Flock to the owl's belly and gave her some googly eyes. There is pen stitching around the pink circle and the white flower. The card is held together with a floral brad from my stash. And the sentiment is from Kristal's Food for Thought stamp set. In case any of you do not know Kristal, she loves owls, so expect to see lots of owls on the cards for her. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Gifted with Another Blog Award

Jenni over at My Lollipop Garden has been sweet enough to gift me with a blog award. Thanks, Jenni! To earn this award I need to pass it on to five other people and let you all know five things about myself. Here we go...

1. Before I discovered my passion for papercrafts, I used to tell my husband that I wasn't creative. He laughs at me about that now.
2. I have never flown in an airplane, but I have ridden in a hot air balloon.
3. I have a degree in Economics from Cornell University.
4. I am a Chocoholic. I cannot keep any chocolate in the house for fear that I will devour it all.
5. My favorite sound in the world is my son's laughter.

Now, I need to pass the award on. Here are some very wonderful blogs with LOTS of style. Some of these I have been following for awhile and some I have just started following, but they are all worth a visit. Stop by and give them some love! And be sure to stop by and visit Jenni as well at her blog. :-)

Shen @ My Curious Crafts
Leanne @ Sweet Little Scraps
Pam @ Crafty Cards 4 U 2
Karen @ Crafted With Love by Karen
Kristan @ Baby Cakes

Enjoy the award ladies and remember to pass it on.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cupcake Birthday Card

Last week I entered a card into the Birthday Sundaes challenge for the first time (you can see the card HERE if you missed it). I am so excited that it ended up being one of the featured cards for the week.



So today I want to share another birthday card with you. I didn't make this card with anyone particular in mind, but now that it is finished I think I will send it to my sister-in-law, who is celebrating her birthday in a few weeks. The background paper is from the Paper Studio (Sprinkles) that I found on clearance at Hobby Lobby. It was just too cute to pass up. The Happy Birthday title with cupcake is from FileKutz by LisaJane. I cut it from pink vinyl (mainly because I didn't have the right color paper). The cherry has Pink Stickles added to it and the cupcake itself has Frosted Lace Stickles. I then added some pink rhinestones (from Creative Charms) for sprinkles. There is also some pink ribbon from American Crafts and some pen stitching around the title block.




I am entering this card into this week's Birthday Sundaes challenge (Anything Goes).

Thanks for stopping by!

Let's Ketchup Card & A Tip to Share

This week's Simply Sunday Challenge over at Getting Cricky is all about food. The theme is Lunchbox Lovin' and what a great matchup with Kristal's Food for Thought stamp set (I just love the cute sayings in this set and Kristal donates $1 from the sale of each stamp set to a very worthy charity). Before I share my card with you, I want to let you know that I won last week's Simply Sunday challenge (Fashionista theme - if you didn't see it already, you can see my card HERE) and will be the Guest Designer this Sunday. I am so excited so be sure to stop back on Sunday.




My card for this week's challenge features a cutting file from the sweet and talented Shirley Clark. The papers are all from my stash so I am not sure where some of them are from. I know the striped piece is from Michael's (Recollections) and the blue strip is Bazzill, but the rest I have no idea. I used my Bazzill In Stitch'z template for the stitching (silly stitches). The buttons and snaps are from my stash. I am not sure how I feel about the snaps I used. I think they are a little too pastel, but it is what I had on hand. I pop-dotted the one tomato for added dimension. The sentiment is from K Andrew's Food for Thought stamp set (which you can find HERE). The faces on the tomatoes are from Peachy Keen Stamps (Everyday Faces and Wide Eyed Kids).

I have a tip to share about the face stamps. I am never sure which face I want to use and it is hard for me to visualize without actually seeing the face on my project. Rather than pull out each stamp and hold it over the card, I decided to stamp all my faces on a transparency sheet.




Now I can easily hold each face over my image and see which one I like best.

This worked really well for me. Maybe someone else will find it useful as well. Now I just need to label each face so I know where to find the corresponding stamp. Don't forget to stop back on Sunday to see my project for the Guest Designer spot at Getting Cricky.

Thanks for stopping by!

Floral Birthday Card

Today I am sharing a birthday card I made for a close family friend, a woman who was like a second mother to me growing up. The background was embossed with my Plum Blossoms Cuttlebug folder. I used my Scor-Pal to create veins in the leaves. The flowers have either pearls or orange rhinestones for their centers.


The flowers and vines are from LisaJane over at Filekutz Designs. This is my take on the challenge that she is hosting over at her challenge blog. The Flower Vine Border file is available for download and the only requirement is to use the file in your project and link it back to her blog. The winner will also receive 3 free files from LisaJane. What a great challenge, right? You get a free file just for participating and have the chance to win even more files. The other ladies on the Design Team will also have examples to share to inspire your creativity. Please be sure to check out their fabulous projects as well. We would love to see what you create with this floral file.

Here is a photo of the free file that will be available. The File comes in WPC, GSD, SVG, AI, KNK, MTC. The challenge is open until July 31st.





I am also entering this card into the Birthday Sundaes challenge (create a birthday card using the colors orange, green & white).

Thanks for stopping by!

Peek-a-boo Purse Card

For this week's Simply Sunday challenge over at Getting Cricky, the theme was Fashionista. This theme is a little out of my comfort zone, as I am a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl. I do, however, love my accessories - I never leave the house without jewelry on and I like to carry a cute purse as well. So I decided to make this card with a purse.



The file is from Jan at Sam & Hailey Designs and is designed as a gift card holder. Rather than glue the purse flap shut to hold a gift card, I decided to make the purse open to reveal a message.



The purse is cut from K & Company (Classic K Margo) double-sided paper and the background paper behind the purse is from DCWV's Old World Stack. I added some pearls for the purse handle and a flower and pearl for the clasp. The inside of the card features a sentiment from K Andrew's sentiment stamps (I combined stamps from Food for Thought and Splashtastic Summer). I also added some pen stitching and a Petal Pebble.

Make sure you stop by Kristal's blog (www.gettingcricky.com) and try to check out some of the projects her Design Team created. They are fabulous!

Thanks for stopping by!

Another Blog Award

I am so honored to be receiving another blog award and this one has been sent to me by 2 terrific crafty women. Pam over at craftycards4u2 has graciously gifted me with this award. Pam makes super cute cards and always has a positive comment for my projects. Shen over at My Curious Crafts has also gifted me with this award. She also sent me the Stinkin' Cute Blog Award as well. If you have never visited Shen's blog, you are in for a treat. She posts multiple gorgeous cards every day. I think she must live in her craft room. Please go visit these ladies and give them some love!

The rules for this award are to thank the person who gave it to me (Thanks again, ladies. You are both so sweet!), share something about myself, and pass it on to at least 5 friends.

Something about me . . . my husband and I have been together since I was 16. We run a small business together so we are together practically 24/7. A lot of people marvel that we haven't killed each other yet (LOL), but we love our life this way. :)

I would like to share this award with some women who not only have fabulous blogs, but who always find the time to leave me a positive comment on my blog. You ladies are the sweetest.

Lisa @ A Mermaid's Crafts
Sonia @ Cards, Crafts and Kids Projects
Amy @ Love to Crop
Becky @ Squirly Girl Creations
JulieK @ A Little Bit of Bling
Sue @ See What's Up With Sue

Please stop by and visit these blogs. You won't be disappointed.

Thanks for stopping by!

Baby Shower Gifts

My niece is expecting a baby girl in September. Yesterday was her baby shower and I made a couple of gifts for her. This first item is actually designed to be a 3D card that folds up for mailing. I decided to use it as a gift topper instead. The file is from Keepsakes by Design (3D New Baby Crib Card). I used pink Stickles on the words baby and girl and black Stickles for the bear's nose. The pink gems are from Creative Charms. I used my Country Foliage embossing folder on the rug and the blanket inside the crib.




Here is the view from above so you can see the embossing better.




This next project uses two files from Sharon at RS Mobleys Designs (New Arrival Baby Stork & It's a Boy / Girl Banner). The patterned papers are from K & Company (BW Small Wonders Girl Paper Pad). The pink circles frame was cut at about 10.5". My cutter only cuts about 8" wide so I split the file in half to cut it. The seams get covered up by the ribbon and the flowers. I used the Swiss Dots embossing folder on the pink triangle part of the banner and added some silver eyelets for the ribbon to get threaded through. The stork and the banner are adhered with pop dots. The layered flowers are from my stash and I added a cute brad in the center.




Here is a closeup of the banner.




The baby shower was a lot of fun and the gifts were a huge success. My niece even got a little teary, although it doesn't take much to get misty-eyed when you are pregnant. LOL



Thanks for stopping by!

Fintastic Wiper Card

Today I want to share with you a wiper card that I made. Erika over at Cricut Love has been sharing this style of card on her blog and even did a video tutorial on how to make them. So I just had to try one. Here is how it looks closed. The sun and clouds border at the top and the wave border at the bottom are both from Beloved Keepsakes. The cute little Funky Fish are from FileKutz by LisaJane. And the sentiment is from K Andrew's Splashtastic Summer stamp set.



Here is the card open. It has a little tag that pops up when you open the card. This sentiment is also from the Splashtastic Summer stamp set.




This style of card is so easy to make. I can definitely see myself making more of these. If you would like to give one a try, stop over at Cricut Love for a fabulous tutorial. Erika is even having a giveaway for someone who creates a wiper card and links it up to her blog. I am linking mine up. I am also entering this card into last weekend's Simply Sunday Challenge over at Getting Cricky.

Thanks for stopping by!

Stinkin' Cute Blog Award

Look what I received! Amy over at Love to Crop has generously gifted me with my first ever blog award. And what a great award to receive. Thank so much Amy! If you have never been to Amy's blog, go check it out. She has some amazing craft projects to share.

The only 'rule' for this award is to pass it on to other creative bloggers. This is a tough one for me because there are so many wonderful blogs that I visit for inspiration. I will pick just a few - some of the ones that I have been faithfully visiting lately (I left a few off because I saw they already won this award).

In no particular order, here are my selections for the Stinkin' Cute Blog Award:

Becky @ Squirly Girl Creations
Chloe @ Chloe and her Clip On Koalas
Erika @ Cricut Love
Julie @ A Little Bit of Bling
Kathy @ The 3 E's Blog
Rebecca @ The Crafting Misfit
Sonia @ Cards, Crafts and Kids Projects

Please stop by and visit these blogs. You will not be sorry. These are some extremely talented ladies with awesome craft projects to share with you.

Thanks for stopping by!

Graduation Card

My youngest cousin graduated from high school last month and her graduation party is this weekend. My mother needs a card to give to her so I offered to make one. My cousin is an avid reader - in fact, I don't know if I have ever seen her without a book in hand. This is what I came up with for her graduation card.


This card features a cutter file from Ginny's Happy Cuts. The background paper is from K & Company (Classic K Margo Paper Pad). I thought the print went really well with the bookshelf. The sentiment is cut from vinyl - I really love using vinyl for my sentiments and other wording. I find weeding the vinyl letters much less cumbersome than applying adhesive to small letters. The colored sections of the books and the graduation cap were cut from several colors of mica/metallic paper (from The Paper Temptress). I cut 2 of the grad caps and pop dotted one on top of the other for some added dimension. I am quite pleased with how it turned out. What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by!

Sunny Thoughts Card

So this week I received 2 new stamp sets in the mail - my first ever set of Peachy Keen face stamps (I went with the Everyday Character Faces) and my Splash-tastic Summer sentiment stamps from K Andrew Designs. I was so excited to play with these stamps and then the new card sketch challenge got posted over at Paperthreads and everything just fell into place.



The card is based on a sketch by the wonderfully talented Aussie Caz. The background paper is from My Mind's Eye. I embossed the blue square with a Sizzix embossing folder called Stars with Swirls. The sun element is from I Scrap Designs. The face is a Peachy Keen stamp and the sentiment is from K Andrew. I added some pen stitching around the sentiment and around the card base.

Let me take just a moment to tell you how amazing Kristal's stamps are. I had been hearing rave reviews about how cleanly they stamp and it is true. The mix of fonts and cute sayings are fabulous too. And with every one of her stamp sets she sells, $1 goes to a very worthy charity. To find out more, please check out her sentiment stamps HERE.

I hope you enjoyed my card today. I am sending sunny thoughts to each and every one of my blog readers. Your comments mean the world to me and I appreciate you taking the time to visit my blog and leave a comment.

Thanks for stopping by!