Row, Row, Row Your Boat

This is another page from the nursery rhyme book. I used an old stamp set from There She Goes. The fish die is from Taylored Expressions. I don't remember where the wave die came from. I added some flags and tied some knots on the twine.
Thanks for stopping by!

Fa-Boo-Lous

I love the new Halloween set from Taylored Expressions! I sat down over the weekend and made a bunch of Halloween cards. Each one a little different, but simple and quick! Love it when that happens!  On each card I colored the image with copics and then added some glitter and rhinestones. The black polka dot paper was laying on my desk--I think it is Jenni Bowlin but I am not certain.

I added some orange rhinestones to the buckles on the shoes and ran the green paper through my Sizzix with my Cuttlebug seeing spots embossing folder.

For this one I used a die to cut the Echo Park Chillingsworth Manor paper and then added a layer of tulle. I finished the shoes with a green spica glitter pen.
Thanks for stopping by!

Wish BIG

My daughter needed a quick birthday card the other night for a friend. I have a box of completed cards I keep for just this type of card crisis, but none of them were exactly what she was looking for.
I pulled out my Taylored Expressions Make a Wish stamp set and stamped this beautiful cake in brown ink. I colored the image with copics and then added some glossy accents and mint green liquid pearls. The patterned paper is a new pad from First Edition Paper called Animal Antics. The Wish BIG sentiment and the open scallop die are both from My Favorite Things. I added some of the liquid pearls to the scallop strip to finish it off.
Have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!

Gracie's Cards No 1

One of my goals this year is to send more cards, I make a ton of them but for some reason I end up with a huge pile that never get mailed out. Why create all these beautiful (IMHO) cards if they are just going to sit in a box right? I decided to try to send one a week to my granddaughter, Grace.  She is almost three and loves to get stuff in the mail, especially cards with a couple sheets of stickers to play with inside!
Anyways, this is the first card for Gracie this year. I used the Green Acres set from Taylored Expressions. I  colored the farmer, cow and the haystacks with copics and added spica glitter to the farmer's pitch fork and the cow's bell. The clouds were cut with a die from The Cat's Pajamas. The patterned paper is from October Afternoon's Campfire pad.

For the inside of the card, I used one of the sentiments and added a haystack.
Think this is a great way to start Gracie's card collection!
Thanks for looking!

Trick or Sweet

The theme for this month's Blast from the Past Blog Hop is Trick or Sweet. Which just happens to be the name one of my favorite Taylored Expressions stamp sets. I decided to make a little Halloween treat bag that I can fill with stickers and dum dum suckers for my granddaughter. I used a black treat bag I had on hand and then layered some deep purple card stock along with some black polka dots from My Mind's Eye. I ran the green card stock through my crimper and then used a Nestabilities die to cut out the sentiment. I finished it off with three purple crystals across the top.

 

This is a close up shot of the sentiment to show some detail. Love the polka dots!

This is the other side of the bag. I stamped another sentiment and then cut it out with a file stamp punch. I colored Frankenstein cuppie with copics and then layered it onto some black tulle. I used the same polka dot paper and added a bit of purple glittered ribbon. Every girl needs a little glitter!!! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Hey There!

This is another card I made using stamps from Taylored Expressions Green Acres set. I just love the little farmer! I colored all the images with copics and then cut them out. The haystacks and the farmer are popped up with dimensionals. The rolling hills I tore from a sheet of patterned paper. I think it is from My Mind's Eye but honestly it was sitting in a pile on my desk and I am not one hundred percent certain what pad it is from. The blue sky is some Bazzill cardstock and the clouds were cut with a cloud die from My Favorite Things and then embossed with the seeing spots cuttlebug folder. {The haystacks look a little crooked, not sure what is up with that other than the fact that I had to shove the card in my purse quick and scan it at work} In case you are trying to figure out where the Hey There blog post title came from, it is the sentiment that I stamped inside the card---but forgot to scan before I dropped it in the mail!
Thanks so much for stopping by, have a great week!

From the Whole Herd

First off I want to apologize for my absence. Seems like life has a way of interfering with even the best plans. I am by no means a super organized person (even though every year I promise myself I will try harder) and things are a bit messy right now and of course just when you think things are starting to fall into place...the monitor on the computer goes bad. (Thank goodness it is still under warranty) I am crossing my fingers that she will be fixed and back at home where she belongs over the weekend.
Anyhoo, I am sure you didn't come here to listen to my trials and tribulations!
This card is for my brothers upcoming birthday. The haystack and those adorable cows are from TE new Green Acres set. I love this set, such cute farm animals and sentiments too. The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye Lime Twist Fly a Kite. I simply tore the paper to create layers and add dimension. I added just a little bit of sparkle to the cow bells with a Copic Spica glitter pen. (Believe it or not the solid cardstock is actually yellow, to give the idea of sunlight, but the office scanner skewed the colors horribly).
Hope you all have a great Independence Day weekend and thanks so much for stopping by.

I am huge fan of Taylored Expressions and I am so glad that I am able to be a part of the blast from the past blog hop today.

I'll admit that Taylor's request to stick to red, white and blue had me thrown for a bit. I tried a couple of different things, but I finally settled on the birdhouse from the Cozy Cottages set. I am so glad that I did. Once I started coloring the idea for the card came together pretty quick. (I have a habit of over thinking things at times!!!)
I colored the bird house with copics and die cut the image out with a Nestabilities Labels 6 die. I set that aside and then used a TE die to cut out the picket fence. I sponged some Memento cocoa on the fence. I cut the little bits of grass using a MS punch. The patterned paper is from Basic Grey (Oliver). I decided to distress it a little bit and added some white paint to the edges of the card base as well as the patterned paper. (I didn't plan on the red paper turning pink, but it turned into a happy accident IMO.) I added some brown cardstock that I ran through my cuttlebug with the seeing spots folder and finished it off with some buttons.
Thanks so much for stopping by!

Cuppie Birthday

This cupcake covered card is for my granddaughter's birthday. I can't believe she is celebrating another birthday already. Time really does fly!
The stamp is Sweet Friends from Taylored Expressions. I simply stamped all the cupcakes, colored them with copics and then added a pink rhinestone for the cherry on top! I used some patterned paper from My Mind's Eye Fine and Dandy Tickled Pink collection. I love the pinks and blues in the stack and think it goes perfectly with the chocolate cupcakes!
Not sure why I don't make more cards this size, I like how this one turned out.
Thanks for stopping by!

Easter candy tins

I have been working on some more of the candy tins for my nieces and nephew for Easter. I used the Easter Joy and Welcome Spring stamp sets from Taylored Expressions.


I stamped the images and then colored with copics. Used some Nestabilties to cut the images out and layer. Added some detail with a border punch along the bottom of each. I added ribbon and baker's twine to attach a tag to each. Can't wait to get them filled with candy and mailed! Honestly I have bought candy twice to fill them, but it never makes it in the tins!
Thanks for looking!


***I have had several people ask where I got the tins. I purchased them from Specialty Bottle. Please let me know if you have other questions. Thanks again!***

Easter Crosses

This is another stamp from the Easter Joy set. I colored the crosses with copics and then used the Jodi frame to make it pop while not overwhelming the beauty of the crosses. I used some more of the Echo Park Little Girl papers--think those bright colors are perfect for Easter!

I stamped the sentiment inside and then layered the image on cardstock to match the front!

Thanks for looking!

Easter Lamb

I have been a follower of Taylor Van Bruggen's for a long time. She has some of the cutest stamps on the market and the greatest ideas to put them to great use. I followed her lead and decided to use the Easter Joy stamp set for a set of Easter cards. I even ordered the clear card boxes to put them in--I will post a pic of the finished box in a later post!

I stamped the little lamb and then colored his face and feet with copics. I added some quick highlights around his fleece to make him stand out a bit and then cut the whole thing out with a Nestabilities die. The white dots are actually liquid pearls (and look even better IRL). The patterned paper is more from the Echo Park Little Girl collection.


I stamped the sentiment and then layered onto matching cardstock to finish it off.
Will post more cards from the set this week.
Thanks for looking!

Thanks Sew Much!

This is another cute and simple card using the From the Heart and From the Heart Funnies stamps sets from TE.
I stamped the image and then colored it quickly with copics, added some sparkle with spica glitter pens and then mounted it onto a Nestabilities die cut. The paper is more of the Modern Homemaker set from October Afternoon.

I forgot to photograph the inside, but it is stamped with Thanks Sew Much. I added some detail with some buttons (they go hand in hand with sewing, right?) and tied a simple bow with some floss!

Thanks for looking!

New Year, New Goals

Happy New Year!

I can't believe how fast 2010 flew by! Seems like each year is going faster and faster and I am struggling to keep up!

Every January I try to take time and see what I have done, what I planned to do and didn't, and what I want to do next. What better time than the new year to evaluate and set goals. I know you have heard the speech a million times about New Year's resolutions, I don't think of mine as resolutions but more of a life evaluation.

I have set several goals as far as my crafting is concerned..

2 blog posts a week

2 cards a week

1 anything but a card project a month...

please understand that these are goals, I will do my best, but if life gets in the way, so be it. I am determined to enjoy my blog and allow it to be a natural extension of my stamping/card making hobby that I love.

For your viewing pleasure today, I have a thank you card. The stamps are from Taylored Expressions; From the Heart and From the Heart Funnies. These stamps make it very easy to get several cards done in a short amount of time! I added some stitching to the loop border and stitched the ribbon behind the image as well. The retro paper is from October Afternoon called Modern Homemaker and was included in my November Key Ingredients kit from TE. I added some Inkessentials Enamel Accents to the coffee cup for some added detail. The inside of the card was stamped onto matching aqua cardstock!

I will have another thank you card later this week, using this super cute stamp set!

Thanks for looking!

Thanksgiving cards

I guess with trick or treating last night, today is a good day to start posting some of my Thanksgiving cards.

In the past I have always bought all the supplies to make Thanksgiving cards but have only had limited success actually completing the project. Seems like somewhere between Halloween and the Christmas rush I just can't seem to bring the well thought out cards to fruition. This year I am trying to be more organized, listing projects to be completed in a notebook and keeping better track. For now I have two cards made, and that is two more than last year so it is definitely a step in the right direction. Right?

Anyway, the stamps are actually from my monthly Unity Stamp Club. The papers and ribbon are from my October Key Ingredients kit from Taylored Expressions.

I used a Nestabilities
die for the leaf and the red background. I love the kraft paper for the card but decided the inside was too plain so I added some strips of cardstock to add a pop of color. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think. Thanks for looking!

The Cutest Count Dracula

I found this cute little Count Dracula stamp in the dollar bin at Michael's. Something about him just screams cute instead of scary. Not sure if it is the teeth or the ears, but I am convinced he is much more interested in nibbling on a Snickers than an unsuspecting victim. Let's hope I'm right.

Anyways, I cut him out and layered him onto one of my new Nestabilities eyelet squares. I sponged black ink on all the corners and edges of the patterned paper to give it a little more dimension. I used glitter on his cape and applied black flocking to his hair.

Thanks for looking!

Simple Sentiment

I don't usually just stamp a sentiment without adding an image of some type but after reading this quote I didn't really think an image was necessary. I hope you'll agree.

The stamp is from Taylored Expressions called Discover Your Wings and I used Taylor's sketch challenge #120 again. The papers are from Basic Grey as is the flower. Stamped with memento ink and used a Nestabilities die.

Thanks for looking, have a great day!

Bloom

I finally pulled out my Garden Party Blooms stamp set from Taylored Expressions. I decided to keep this simple and didn't use even one copic marker this time. The sketch is from Taylor's blog (TESC 120). I used some memento inks to stamp the flowers and sentiment and used Nestabilities dies for both as well. Sometimes sweet and simple is just the ticket. Thanks for stopping, have a great day!

TE Blast From the Past Blog Hop

Put down the phone, no need to run to the eye doctor to have your eyes checked!!! That really is a Christmas tree!!! I know it seems way too early to start thinking about Christmas in July, but if I want to finish all the Christmas projects I have planned I have got to get started!!! Besides, what better way to kick off the 3rd blast from the past blog hop from Taylored Expressions than with a favorite Christmas stamp set of mine from the past called Wings of Joy.

I stamped it onto white cardstock, colored with copics and then cut it out with a Nestabilities oval die. I ran the pink paper through my cuttlebug with a snowflake embossing folder.

The great thing about this project is that it is not a card but actually a drawer box (tutorial on Split Coast Stampers can be found here (http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/drawerbox/).

I am going to fill the drawer with matching Christmas gift tags and send to my Mom. My Mom is one of those truly magnificent gift wrappers. I swear I think she could even teach Miss Martha a thing or two. The Christmas packages under her tree are all works of art and I just know she will love adding handmade tags to her beautiful gifts. Thanks for stopping by and just in case you are still not convinced it is time to start Christmas projects...only 157 days to go!