Coffee Loves You Card

I love my life. I love my family. However...sometimes it feels like I need an extra day between each and every day to fit in anything I'd like to do as opposed to whatever is ON FIRE that day. Can days become 48 hours long? Or perhaps I could find an inter-dimensional pocket where time has no meaning...though I have to admit the first thing I'd do there is probably nap. No matter.... I will continue my quest to find both crafting time and blogging time. Coffee helps.

I just got the new Oh My Heart kit, and combined with this week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge and one of my favorite sets ever, Perk Up (which is totally on sale for a screaming good deal right now, just sayin') could this BEEEEE any cuter? Like seriously, folks, adding wiggly eyes to anything is just adorable. Fred Meyer has these little plants in plain ol' terracotta pots right now but someone stuck wiggly eyes on all the pots and I'm super tempted every time I grocery shop, which is like 7 times a week.  I added some cute XOXO washi tape from my stash, and added a lot of sequins, glitter, and sparkles like this cutie is throwing up a handful of confetti. I have a feeling that little stitch stamp might be living on my desk for the foreseeable future.

After I pieced together the coffee cup and added the little arms (hooray!!) then I attached it to some white cardstock and fussy cut the whole shebang to help it stand out from the bold background. There's a pastel heart print in the packet that I'm currently hoarding because I love it more than anything...but I'm hoping to get some time to cut into it soon. I'm linking this project to the Heart 2 Heart Celebrate Good Times challenge, because what is more worth of celebration than Love and Coffee?

Coffee loves you TTHHIISS much, Stampin' Friends, and so do I. Hope you'll pop over to Atlantic Hearts and give this week's sketch a try! 

Hello Sunshine Card

Good morning, Stampin' Friends! I got a little busy this week and was worried that I hadn't chosen a winner for last week's drawing yet...and then I realized that I set the Rafflecopter incorrectly, so the drawing doesn't end until the 19th. so if you haven't entered yet, check out the drawing entry form HERE. 

Today I'm sharing a new February Stamp of the Month card. I took a card front of Glacier Cardstock and die cut an outline heart thin cuts die. I cut the same heart twice more in Canary Cardstock, once on each side of the double sided cardstock so I could flip the inside and have the outline be more present when I filled in the card front die cut space. I filled the Glacier CS base with a heart outline and the inner heart, then trimmed off the excess heart diecut from the left side of the card. Then I flipped over a small floral cluster stamp to use the BACK side as a cloud shape, stamping that all over the Glacier Cardstock in White Daisy ink. 

I stamped the HELLO sentiment in Memento Tuxedo Black ink across the die cut hearts before adding a banner made with my surgically altered circle sentiment image. The banner is popped up with thin foam tape and knotted twice with thick Gray Twine that I frayed after trimming.  I cut a 1/8" strip of Canary Cardstock and snipped off bits to make the sunshine rays surrounding my die cut heart.

I'm linking this card up to the CAS on Friday Dies Challenge, the Paper Issues Love is in the Air Challenge, and the Heart 2 Heart Love is in the Air Challenge. Don't forget, you still have a couple of days to enter my Atlantic Hearts 250th Sketch Celebration giveaway, too. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Wishes Live Beautifully Card

Many of you know that this month is National Scrapbooking month. CTMH always offers an amazing special kit just for NSM, and this year it is the lovely and elegant Live Beautifully collection. The papers are gorgeous, with gold foil accents, but the stamp set might just be my favorite part.

Here I've layered two stamped roses from that set over a couple of the papers in the collection. That tiny polka dot in the background is foiled, as is the striped piece running behind the roses. I added some hand stitching detail around the center block, and I'm linking up to the Just Add Ink Stitching Challenge.

I stamped the Roses in a light colored ink (Sea Glass) and went over them with watercolor pencils for depth. I did blend the colors a bit using my smallest waterbrush. I used the same watercolor pencil technique on the leaves. After I fussy cut the images I popped one of the roses up on thin foam tape. I'm also linking up to the Heart 2 Heart Everything's Coming Up Roses Challenge. 

Don't forget to pop over and check out the National Scrapbooking Month Live Beautifully collection - it's only available while supplies last!

Thinking of You Card

I've got another sweet April Stamp of the Month card to share with you today, Stampin' Friends!

Last time I went bright and cheerful with these stamps, but this time I hit my Hello Lovely papers for a dreamy, whimsical take on this set. I though it was fun to have the hearts floating out of the bird like musical notes. That mini floral on the edges is from the Hello Lovely Zip Strips - wish I had a whole sheet of that!

I paper pieced this bird by stamping it multiple times in different inks - Sorbet, Sea Glass, New England Ivy, and Whisper. then I fussy cut the various layers and glued her back together. I added a little oomph to her lashes with my journaling pen. I'm linking this project up to the Heart 2 Heart Whimsical Challenge.

Heart 2 Heart Turning One Layout

My laptop hard drive is dead! ((Sob!)) So please bear with me and my cell phone blogging while I work out my technical issues.

I'm sharing my layout for the Heart 2 Heart Photo Op Challenge. I had these pics from Gabe's 1st birthday and since he's turning ten on Wednesday it seemed a good time to look back on him as a baby. I used a lot of watercolor wash, some glitter paste spread over a hexagon template, and Regatta papers and Complements. The sketch I used is the new cuteness from Scrap Much?. I'd write more and add detail pics, but this tip tapping on my iPhone 5 is not so super fun. I'll come back and update once I'm functional again. Press contact me or leave a comment if you have a question, and wish me luck!!

H2H Under My Umbrella Card

I was so honored to be chosen as a Heart 2 Heart Sweetheart in January. Now I get to play along with the challenges this month as a guest designer!

The first challenge this month is FOUR. For my card, based on the new sketch from RetroSketches, I used four kinds of patterned paper, four little hearts, four glittery triangles, and four applications of watercolor paints. I also stuck to the four colors from the new ColourQ color challenge. 

I did a light wash of blue over the background. Then I came back and splattered the background while it was still damp so the dots would spread a bit. I used my paints to color in the stamped images, using a paper towel to wipe paint off the boots and create a lighter color. Then I came back after the boots were dry and used very little water to add the orange dots on the boots with a fine brush. I'm linking this card up to the Just Us Girls Word Week inspiration: Raindrops. 

I hope you'll hop over to Heart 2 Heart to share your FOUR-spiration, too!

Day 334: Congrats Always Card

Here's my last (for now) Springtime Wishes card. I wanted to do at least one card where I did not use the coordinating Thin Cuts dies with the stamp set.

So I popped over to Freshly Made Sketches to grab a sweet and simple sketch inspiration. Then I literally used just a Colonial White card base, some black ink, and a couple post-its to create this card. I stamped the flowers and masked each image with post-its to create the layered look without having to cut out each flower image. Then I drew in the border with a super skinny  .02 journaling pen.

I did stamp the main sentiment onto a Charlotte zip strips for a hint of pale peach color in my otherwise one color card. Then I adhered a few gold puffy stickers and bitty sparkles for some extra sparkle on these good wishes. I'm linking this card up to the Heart 2 Heart One Challenge for one stamp set and one color of ink. Thanks for stopping by, Stampin' Friends!

Day 307: Free Disney Mini Album Instructions

Merry Christmas, Stampin' Friends! It's been a busy but happy day here today. After we put the boys to bed, I was pondering what to share with you today...and I realized I have one project left from my Convention Presentation this summer that I never shared with y'all. I meant to, but I was finishing the instructions and then it just got away from me.

I made this adorable Disney Mini Album using lots of Cricut cuts, the PML Gold Overlays, and the Reel Life stamp set. It was so much fun to build, and quick to fill. I'm sharing the instructions (with lots more pics) for this cutie for free - just email me and I'll shoot you a PDF. You can grab the Cricut Design Space cut file here. I'm linking this project up to the Heart 2 Heart Gifts from the Heart challenge. 

Merry Everything, Stampin' Friends!

Day 217: Thanks a Bunch Card

I have a few pretty La Vie En Rose Projects to share with you this month, too. I made these for a board swap hosted by Karen Morris. 

For this first card I chose to do a watercolor technique. I stamped the flowers from Floral Banners in Whisper Ink. Then I colored over the inked images with the new watercolor paints.

I added a stamped panel with the sentiment framed in the zip strips from the La Vie En Rose papers. I added a banner sticker from the La Vie en Rose complements. Then I cut and shaped a couple of watercolored flower images before attaching them onto the sentiment panel. I added a few glitter hearts from the Fundamentals Assortment Black. I dotted all the flower centers with a gold metallic marker. I'm linking this up to the Heart 2 Heart Coloring Challenge.

Day 187: Happy Sunshine Day Scrapbook Layout

Tonight I was itching to scrap something instead of making a card. The boys had a busy day, which lead to a tough afternoon, so I wanted to smile and remember how much I love them. 

I popped over to Stuck Sketches for some layout inspiration. Sometimes a tired momma needs an adorable place to start! I built this layout on a base of Whisper cardstock. I stamped the base with the FUN sentiment from the ZOE Workshop on the Go Kit using Slate ink. Then I layered on Zoe papers mixed with some bits of Blossom papers. I'm gonna miss those Blossom papers when they retire in four more days. 

I trimmed out a piece of a Babycakes Picture My Life Card for the upper left corner of the page. I hand sketched this circle accent, and hand trimmed the green dot Zoe arrows for the journaling. I got the vellum sunshine from the Zoe Complements, and the LIFE button from the Zoe assortment. 

The lower circle element is stamped from Doodled Designs. I added that awesome sticker from my leftover Wildwood My Crush assortment. I stamped the title pieces with the Zoe WOTG stamp set, and that's also where that sweet arrow stamp came from, too. I'm linking this layout up to the Heart 2 Heart Good Day Sunshine Challenge.

Scrapbooking is my therapy - I feel a lot better now. Tomorrow is another (sunshine) day! 

Day 128: AHSC Snowflake Joy Card

I seem to be on a Stash Busting mission lately. While tidying up my Sparkles bin I found a bunch of these Top Coats Icings overlays. These were clear acrylic overlays printed in blues, purples, and silver foil embossing - so pretty! 

Rather than put them back in the box, I had to use a couple. So I chose a few that fit this week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge. I embossed a panel of White Daisy Cardstock, then trimmed it apart and adhered the pieces to another White Daisy Cardstock panel. I added strips of washi tape and Purple Shimmer Trim. Then I adhered the clear overlays using Liquid Glass behind the designs.

I applied Sparkles over the adhesive marks, and mounted the panel onto Timberline Woodgrain paper. I'm linking up to the Heart 2 Heart Warm vs Cool Challenge. Hope you'll hop over to Atlantic Hearts and play along this week!

Day 116: So Much of You In My Heart Layout

This week I am sharing some more of the projects I've completed using the My Crush for Her books CTMH gave us at the Seattle Making Connection events.  

This is one of the layout kits that CTMH gave us to complete. The papers are all torn from the Crush book. The title is cut from one of the pages. I lost my instruction sheets, so I just (mostly) followed the picture and guessed what we were supposed to do. 

Nothing is wasted with these projects - event the covers are used. For this page I split the cover, since it was chipboard so I could use both sides. I wiggled my piercing tool into the middle of the cover and it split nicely right in half. Made it easier to cut it to size too! I'm linking this project up to the Heart 2 Heart Man Oh Man Challenge, since it's about these three boys whole stole my heart. 

Day 102: You Make Me Happy Card

So I have the rainbow of Doodlebug doilies sitting on my workspace (Thank you, Paper Issues!) and I was itching to use more of them. Then I saw this week's sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and it was a match made in doily heaven

I popped over to ColourQ for some color inspiration and soon I had a sweet ice cream card, freshly glittered and ready to go! I added the end of the STOM Happy sentiment to the sentiment box from Documenting Moments. I stamped the frame once in black, then colored in the washi tape with a marker and added some clear glitter gel pen to the washi. The background triangle stickers came form the Blossom line. 

I colored the Popsicles from the June SOTM using yellow and orange Shin Han markers. After I was done blending I added stardust glitter gel to finish off the frosty treats. I'm linking up to the Heart 2 Heart Warm vs. Cool challenge.  Stay cool!

Day 64: Operation Smile CREATE Wall Display

On Friday I'm heading to Seattle for a Close To My Heart Making Connections Event. At the event there will be an artwork auction to raise money for Operation Smile, an amazing charity that provides free, life-changing surgeries for children. I'm so excited to be bringing this piece of altered wood wall art to the Operation Smile Auction.

I wish you could see the sparkle of this piece, carefully painted with layers of silver glitter paint. I added a sentiment from the upcoming June SOTM, altered a bit with a little handmade banner to better fit the CTMH event. It says, "You can't buy happiness, but you can buy CTMH & that's the same kind of thing."

I handmade these paper gerber daisies using only one image from the Artiste Cartridge. Here's my Gerber Daisy Cricut Design Space file if you have that cartridge and you'd like to give it a go! I cut three larger daisies for the bases of the flower, and embossed a line down each petal. Then I formed the three smaller daisies using my embossing tool and the foam mat so they would curl up to form the center. Liquid glass holds them together, and I filled the centered with glitter gel, though a nice button wouldn't go wrong, either. 

. Aaaand I just couldn't let it go without a darling little butterfly, colored with my Shin Han markers and glittered on the black overlay. I'm linking this up to the Heart 2 Heart Wonderful World Challenge. 

It was a lot of detailed work to put this sweet wall display together, and at first I was like all "I'm too busy with show prep to donate artwork". But then I looked at the Operation Smile videos again, and I knew it was important to make time to help CTMH and Operation Smile help more children. I love how CTMH makes it possible to do good with every stamp set I purchase. 

If you're coming on Friday, be ready for the amazing auction - there's way more goodies than this! See you in Seattle!

Happy birthday, Max!

So my littlest dude is turning 5 this morning, and we had his party a bit early ('cause who's available to attend a New Year's Eve b-day party...for a 5 year old?). Nothing would do for the munchkin but a Man-Batman themed party. What? You've never heard of Man-Batman? 

Man-Batman is none other than Adam West, as in the original Batman movie, which is Max's favorite thing ever. More beloved than Ninja Turtles. Cooler than Chima Legos. Better than Wii games. When he watches the movie (for the eleventy billionth time), he has been known to announce, "That is a great movie!" at the end. It inspired his love of tuxedos (check out his hashtag #maxlovestuxedos on Instagram for a giggle), and unfortunately for poor ol' Adam West, he actually loves Burt Ward's Robin just a wee bit more than Batman... He calls them Man-Batman because they are not cartoons, dig?

The thing is, no one really makes Man-Batman anything anymore, at least not for kids parties. Collectors items and such yes, but Party City does not have a selection of Man-Batman items. In fact, their entire Batman area in general was pretty sad. So I whipped up this quick little panel invite using a long retired superhero set and a photo of Adam and Burt doing their thing. Max could not have been more pleased, and I was happy to use up my stash of retired colors like Sunny Yellow. Win-Win!

Here's the backside of the panel, with a little fussy cut bat signal (the lamplight leading up to the signal is colored with an alcohol marker), and a bit of identifying info so-very-neatly removed. It was so fast and easy I still had time to make Man-Batman themed goodie bag toppers, cricut cut some cupcake wrappers, and whip out some Batman themed food labels. Max even insisted that we paint eyebrows and nose lines onto a bunch of plain blue fabric masks we found so everyone at the party could be Man-Batman, whether they knew who he was or not.

I'm linking this up to the Heart 2 Heart Challenges favorite holiday challenge. While I love all holidays, I really try to go all out to make the boys' birthdays special. They get to choose all the food and activities  for their actual birthday day, the theme for their party, and even push all the elevator buttons on that special day. For our brood of boys, it's great to be king for at least one day a year!

If you want to see more of the Man Bat-man themed party goodies, let me know in the comments below. They aren't super fancy with lots of glitter and roses...'cause, you know, he's five...but I think they turned out pretty cute, for party goods focused on a large man who only works in black or very, very dark gray and his holiday themed sidekick. Later on New Year's Eve we'll be back to my regularly scheduled glitter and hearts!

H2H You've Been Framed!

I'm honored to be helping out as a guest DT member over at Heart 2 Heart in December. The first challenge is called You've Been Framed. So I grabbed a frame from my stash and glitzed it up with some Sparkle and Shine papers, red shimmer tape, and some glittery flowers and snowflakes. I don't actually have my prints yet from our fabulous Apple Blossom Photography shoot, so this is just a printout from my computer until the prints arrive. 

I used the centers from the snowflakes I cut for this project all stacked up to create my flower centers. The swirls are Bamboo CS covered in washi tape BEFORE I cut them on the cricut - so cool! I did a liberal sprinkling of sparkles over my frame and scrappy photo background. And yes, those are some of the sparkly Rudolph noses that I made for the craft fair in our photo. Adorable!

I hope you'll pop over to Heart 2 Heart to play along!

Heart 2 Heart Alphabet Soup

Today is my last turn guest designing over at Heart 2 Heart. I'd be sad, but this week's challenge was so much fun...plus I can still play along next month! This week's challenge is called Alphabet Soup. We were to use at least two different types of letters in our project. I chose the new You Are My Happy Trio special set (still can't believe you get all that for $10!) and my favorite Kraft Keyboard alphabet. I used a lovely and simple sketch from Sketchbook Saturday to start my creation. Then, because I really wanted to keep playing along with the Merry Monday Christmas Card Club, I chose to work with red, dark brown, and gold with shimmer. 

Now I am not normally a gold person. I am a silver person. And I do believe I tend more towards glitter than shimmer. I used up every bit of ink in my Stardust clear gel pen, which is a kind of shimmery golden color to outline and add shimmer to my card, right down to outlining the cardstock strips of the B&T and cardstock striped paper I made for the bottom of the card. I painted my red cardstock card base with red Folk Art metallic acrylic paint to add shimmer, and I also painted the red accents on my tamping with that same paint. The leaves for the "holly" are colored with gold marker and outlined with the gel pen. Even the tiny nail art stars I added for bling are painted with golden bronze glitz gel. I definitely gilded this lily!

I am linking this project up to the Moxie Fab All That Glitters Is Gold Challenge. Cath says that Gold touches everything with JOY, and who couldn't use a little more joy in life?  I hope you'll hop over to Heart 2 Heart and play along for my last challenge.