Madison Avenue

Madison Avenue is one of my "go to" blogs for inspiration. These card layouts are CASE'd from Geny's creations. I think I'll get a lot of use out of this layout.

Recipe
Cardstock: PTI kraft, dark chocolate, summer sunrise
Stamps: PTI Handwritten notes
Ink and button: PTI dark chocolate
DP: K&Co Wild Saffron collection


Recipe
Stamps: PTI Star Prints
Cardstock: PTI white, kraft, enchanted evening
Ink: PTI fresh snow, enchanted evening, dark chocolate
Button: PTI vintage wood
DP: PTI

Check out Madison Avenue when you need a bit of inspiration!

Happy crafting!

Everyday Button Bits

I've never been big on buttons in my cardmaking, but it has to be said that I LOVE this stamp set. I'm not sure you could make an "un-cute" card with it if you tried.

Recipe
Cardstock: PTI soft blush, raspberry fizz, white
Stamps: PTI Everyday Button Bits
DP: PTI
Ink: PTI ripe avocado, raspberry fizz
Buttons: PTI
soft blush, raspberry fizz, melon berry
Ribbon: PTI melon berry

I was a little bit upset when I realized PTI hadn't released buttons in pure poppy until I saw how pretty this turned out with scarlet jewel.

Recipe
Stamps: PTI Everyday button bits
Cardstock: SU mellow moss, PTI scarlet jewel and white
Ink: PTI Ripe avocado and scarlet jewel
Ribbon and buttons: PTI scarlet jewel

Could these birds be any cuter???

Recipe
Cardstock: PTI Spring rain and white
Ink: Palette Noir and PTI enchanted evening
DP: PTI
Buttons: PTI white, enchanted evening and spring rain
Ribbon: PTI spring rain.

Loving this set!
Happy crafting!

Christmas in July (yes, I know it's August)

This is the last of the July challenge cards. This challenge was to make a Christmas card. This was super simple, and would be very easy to mass produce.




Recipe
Stamps:??? anyone know? I borrowed it
Cardstock: SU Mellow moss, PTI scarlet jewel and white
Ink: SU Mellow moss, PTI scarlet jewel
Ribbon: PTI scarlet jewel

Whew, finally caught up with July stuff. I'll try to take some pics of my August cards, and keep up with this good streak of posting I'm on.
In the meantime,
Happy crafting!

Even more challenges

These are more of the fourth of July weekend challenges. The first was just to use a bird.

Recipe
Stamps: SU Always, sentiment PTU Handwritten notes
DP: Basic Grey Lime Rickey
Cardstock: PTI Lemon tart, hibiscus
Ribbon: PTI hibiscust

This challenge was to make a yellow card.

Recipe
Cardstock: PTI Summer sunrise, pure poppy, white
Stamps: PTI Floral Frenzy
Ink: PTI Summer sunrise, pure poppy
DP: K&Co Wild Saffron Collection

Only one more post of these July challenges. Then it's on to the August challenges. Oh yes, there are August challenges too...

Happy crafting!

More challenges

So these are more of the fourth of July weekend challenges. The challenge on this card was to use fabric. It's not super creative, but I do like that the heart punch was able to punch through this this material. It's an old scrub top of mine.



Cardstock: PTI kraft, white
Sentiment: PTI handwritten notes
Ink: PTI Spring rain
Button: PTI vintage with hemp/twine


This challenge was actually to do something to do an "explosion" image. I love this little humming bird. It's from a really neat stamp set (one of Kimberly's). Unfortunately, I don't know the name of the set.

Recipe
Stamps: humming bird- unknown, sentiment CHF motivational centers
Cardstock: PTI soft stone and scarlet jewel
Ink/ Ribbon: PTI scarlet jewel

More to come...
Happy crafting!

Can we pretend this is really JULY 4th???

These would make a little more sense around the 4th of July, but oh well...
These are more challenge cards from 4th of July weekend.
If I recall correctly, this first card challenge was to make a card with as many buttons as possible, and still have it be pretty. Not very imaginative in my button use, but I like it.

Recipe:
Stamps: PTI Star Prints and punch
Cardstock: PTI kraft and pure poppy
Ink: PTI vintage cream
Ribbon: PTI vintage cream
DP: K&Co Blue Awning
Buttons: PTI vintage


Recipe
Stamp sentiment: PTI Star Prints
Ink: PTI pure poppy
Cardstock: PTI pure poppy
DP: K&Co Blue Awning, SU Summer Picnic

More to come...
Happy crafting!

The latest

The past couple of weekends I've been pretty productive (As far as crafting goes; housework, not so much).
This is a CASE of Dawn's card's color scheme and layout. Check out her blog. You'll be glad you did.

Here's a close up of the sentiment- "Tanks a lot". How cute is that?

Recipe: PTI Cardstock, DP, Ink, ribbon. Images and Sentiment Amy's Boutique from Amy R. Stamps

These next two cards were made with decorative paper scraps and a cute little chick.

Recipe: Cardstock, ink, ribbon, sentiment PTI, DP K and Company, Chick stamp ?clear dollar stamps--I've thrown away the packaging

Recipe: Cardstock, ink, ribbon sentiment PTI, DP Basic Gray Lily Kate, Chick stamp ?clear dollar stamps--I've thrown away the packaging

This card was inspired by me wanting to try out this paper pleating technique. YaYa Kimberly shared this ribbon that worked perfectly with the paper and buttons.


Recipe: Cardstock,ink, buttons, sentiment PTI, ribbon ?Michael's. DP PTI and Basic Gray

This next card is my attempt at this Splitcoast sketch challenge:


Recipe: DP, ink, cardstock, stamps SU, sentiment PTI
Below is my favorite. It was inspired by this wide paisley ribbon that Kimberly shared. I also tried out this little technique I've been seeing out in the blog-o-sphere. I layered graduated circles/ scalloped circles. I crumpled the top black circle then straightened it out and distressed the edges. The cardstock actually started separating into two pieces. Very cool.


Recipe: cardstock, ink, DP PTI, ribbon and brad unknown treasures from Kimberly's stash.

Anyway, that's about all I've got to share. Have a great week!
Happy crafting!

A few cards

This month I had a couple of baby cards to make. First is a card made for Audra and the soon-to-be-born Mason.

Recipe:Cardstock PTI, DP Basic Grey Lily Kate, Stamps Whipper Snapper Bundle of Joy, Ribbon PTI

This card was for Wendy and her twins Cason Paul and Marcy (I'm not too sure if that's how they're spelled). Wendy's twins came a bit early and last I heard were doing well in the hospital trying to figure out the whole eating thing.

Recipe: Cardstock PTI, DP Basic Grey Lily Kate, Stamps Whipper Snapper Designs Bundle of Joy

Here are a few cards I made at a crop night. I still haven't gotten too into the scrapping thing so I made cards.

Recipe: Cardstock, Stamps (Everyday Classics), ribbon, ink all by Paper Trey Ink, DP Stampin Up


Recipe: Cardstock (kraft,black, raspberry fizz and white), ribbon, ink, stamps all by Paper Trey Ink


Recipe: DP Stampin Up Summer Picnic, Sentiment PTI Handwritten Notes

YaYa Stacie had a card making class at the crop night. She showed us how to make two cool pop-up cards. She got the templates off of this site. Robert Sabuda is an incredibly talented pop-up illustrator. I have a couple of his pop-up books. They are so intricate and detailed. Our cards were very basic, but still give a neat "wow" effect when you open them. I had lots of fun opening mine up repeatedly once I got all the kinks worked out.

Recipe: Robert Sabuda pop-up template, white cardstock, markers


Recipe: Cardstock and ribbon Paper Trey Ink, DP Stampin Up Summer Picnic, Sentiment Paper Trey Ink Everyday Classics


Recipe: Cardstock, Ink, DP, Stamps (Life) all Paper Trey Ink

Catch Up

It's been over two months since I've blogged, oh the shame...
In that time work has gotten crazy busy, my nephew Will was born, and I had 10 days off of work. It's been great being off work. I've gotten lots of little projects done, and I've gotten to spend some time with John-John and his new brother Will. Now here I am with less than 2 days left of my time off, and I'm finally going to play "catch up" with this blog.
Below are a couple of birthday cards that I made recently. This first one should really be rotated so that the sentiment is horizontal. I had already rotated it and it shows up as rotated in "My Pictures" on the computer, but won't cooperate when I upload it. This is my attempt at a "masculine" card.

Recipe: PTI Ripe avacado paper and ribbon, PTI black and white basics DP, SU sentiment from Wonderful Words.


Recipe: PTI Berry sorbet cardstock and ribbon, PTI black and white basics DP, SU sentiment from Upsy Daisy, Rain Dots Cloud 9 Design, Flower embellishments ?can't find the packaging.

Anyway, you should see a couple more posts in the near future. Have a great weekend and happy crafting!

Finally Done!!!!

I don't know why, but I really had a hard time making Christmas cards this year. It was partly just getting motivated to do it, but also coming up with a design. So at long last, yesterday I finally designed and made my cards. It's nothing exciting, and actually kind of basic since I was making so many of them.


Recipe: cardstock SU Kraft and blue bayou, PTI ocean tides, DP SU soft sky collection, ribbon SU cranberry crisp, PTI chocolate, spring rain, ocean tides, dark chocolate, Michael's gold, Ink PTI vintage cream. Stamps SU Star Studded Season, Cornish Herritage Farms Christmas expressions--the sentiment says "O holy night the stars are brightly shining", inside the sentiment says "may the blessings of the season shine upon you"--also from SU Star Studded Season.

As you might imagine, there were a few problems with designing and making my cards so late. For one, I kept running out of supplies (especially ribbon). I had to change colors several times because I didn't have anymore ribbon in the particular color I was using.

I'm loving the Hansel and Grendel story additions. Who knew the turns it would take?
Have a great week!

Challenges

For Christmas last year, YaYa Kimberly gave us all a paint bucket full of monthly crafting challenges. She included some rough instructions/ ideas of where to start and some embellishments/ supplies we could use each month if we wanted to. Then, once we had completed our project we were to mail it to one of the YaYas according to the mailing list she had made up. Up til last month I had done fairly well meeting my challenge goals. I can already feel that we're coming up to the time of year when the frenetic pace begins. There are always lots of events to get to, and things that must be done. Is it just me, or does it seem to start earlier each year???
Anyway, I finally did my October and November YaYa challenges and they are literally in the mail.
Here's my October card. (Janna, close your eyes if you haven't gotten yours yet). It was supposed to use a picture of a leaf/ leaves, but I used this pretty little stamp instead. The sentiment says "Happy fall Y'all".

Recipe: Fabriano Mediovalis card, PTI summer sunrise cardstock, Stamps Rubber Stampede, Just Rite alphabet, Ink PTI dark chocolate, summer sunrise, pure poppie, ripe avacado.

This next card uses the Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge

Recipe: Cardstock PTI pure poppy, SU cool carribean, DP BasicGrey Figgy Pudding, Ribbon/Ink PTI pure poppy, oval hardware/ brads SU, sentiment from SU Cute and Curly.

So my challenge for you in this holiday season, dear reader, is to only take on those projects/ events which will truly enrich the lives of you and yours, and feeds your spirit-like crafting. If you're doing something just for the sake of doing, let that be the thing you say "no" to. Speaking of "feeding the spirit", tonight is my choir's Requiem Mass at the Cathedral of Saint Andrew. The program begins at 7pm, and is free. Come join us (if your spirit could use some feeding). It is a memorial service for our loved ones who have died, especially those who have died during the past year.

Have a great week, and happy crafting!

Back in the groove

I can't believe it's been so long since my last post! I've had a fun weekend. Friday night I went out with friends to celebrate YaYa Debbie's birthday. Happy birthday Debbie! Saturday, Kimberly and I did some crafting. The results can be seen below. Saturday night I went to an Oktoberfest party at Carol and Eric's house. My sister brought my nephew for a few minutes to show off his lederhosen that she bought when we were in Germany earlier this year. I taught him to say "guten tag"...too cute! I probably should have taught him guten abend, but oh well. Anyway, look at the cutest little nephew EVAH!

Now, on to the crafty stuff.... I don't think I'll ever tire of SU's Baroque Motifs. The color combo was from an SCS challenge that I jotted down a while back, and finally remembered to use.

Recipe: Cardstock- SU certainly celery, not quite navy, bashful blue, ink- not quite navy, stamps- baroque motifs, sentiment PTI.

Judging by these next few cards, you might think it's really cold here in Little Rock. Not so. We had gorgeous weather this weekend, and even did some driving around in Kimberly's convertible with the top down.
This card uses SCS sketch challenge 187 for the layout.

Recipe: Cardstock and ink PTI dark chocholate, vanilla, DP PTI chocolate remix, ribbon PTI.

These next cards use my new Papertrey Ink set Snowfall. I love the little mittens and snowflakes.

Recipe: Carstock/ Ink PTI Ocean tides and aqua mist, Ribbon PTI, Stamps PTI Snowfall- mittens are covered in Martha Stewart brownstone glitter.


Recipe: Carstock/ Ink PTI Ocean tides and aqua mist, Ribbon PTI, Stamps PTI Snowfall


Recipe: Cardstock PTI kraft, pure poppy, Ink PTI pure poppy, Pallette Noir, Ribbon PTI pure poppy, twine SU.

I just had a call from LaThonya, one of my old University of Dallas roommates. I may meet up with some of the girls for the weekend. The UD Collegium Cantorum is celebrating is 15th anniversary, and will be singing a Requiem Mass. That will be a nice excuse to get all of us together. Unfortunately, I think Lynnette will have just ended her Tejas visit, and will be back in NYC. My choir at the Cathedral of Saint Andrew will be having it's Requiem Mass November 10th at 7pm. It is free and open to the public.
Have a great week, and happy crafting!