Happily Ever After

 I have been MIA this week due to being sick! I am finally feeling okay except for needing to blow my nose and cough here and there. I wanted to continue sharing the designs I made for the card set for my friend. If I don't get on the ball, it will take me forever.  This is the wedding card that I made. I also made one that said "Happy Anniversary". I really wanted to make the card set versatile for her.  I kept the layout quite simple and let the beautiful paper do all of the work.

 My husband and I celebrated our 15th Anniversary this week. I can't believe it has been that long!  I wanted to share this design on our Anniversary, but didn't get a chance.  The hearts are from the "Heart Prints" set from PTI and I seem to always use it for wedding cards.  I think I need to invest in a wedding set.

I added some metallic cord and pearls to give it a little more detail.  Very simple, yet elegant! Thanks for fluttering by!

Welcome, Little Baby Girl!

 I thought I had better start sharing some of the designs I made for the card set I gave my friend last week.  I still have quite a few more to share.  I used a Mojo Monday sketch for this particular card. I also made a boy one using all of the same elements, except the paper colors and focal image. I will share that one with you later.

 I really love paper piecing this sweet little carriage.  I used pattern paper for the larger bits and then colored the rest. I added some glossy accents to the pattern paper for some shine.

The word "baby" was die-cut using one of the new dies from PTI.  I can see myself using this one a lot. Of course, you all know I am obsessed with the rolled felt flowers, so I added two using two shades of pink.  I had to add some bling to the carriage, flowers and the letter "o' in welcome.  I had a lot of fun making this card. Thanks for fluttering by!

Flippin' out!

 My daughter is headed to a birthday party any minute now...as soon as I get this posted! LOL! Of course the birthday girl needed a card and I found some fun, summery gift bags at Dollar Tree the other day which inspired this design. I actually bought 3 different bags and made 3 cards to go with them. I will share the other designs later.

 Last week's Make it Monday for PTI was to create a flagged border, which you can see I did here.  I just used some scraps of left over paper and called it good!  Of course, I am obsessed with adding a die-cut number if I know how old the recipient is, or if they aren't ashamed of me putting it on the front! LOL!  I die-cut this one using pattern paper and then added some glossy accents over the top.

 It has been a while since I used narrow grosgrain ribbon on a card, but it seemed to work nicely with this design since I had already used a lot of patterns and things on the border.  I added some stickles to the hearts on the flip-flops, which I smeared! Ughh!  I tried my best to clean it up, and truly it shows up more in the photo than in real life!

You can see part of the gift sack here.  Fun and summery!Thanks for fluttering by!

Dad's *Grand Slam* Birthday

 I thought I would stick with the masculine card theme and show you the card I made for my husband's birthday which is today! Happy Birthday!  I didn't think it was weird to have the word "Dad" at the top until I started to write my post. My dad passed away many years ago, so I never need to make a Father's Day card or Birthday card that would actually say "Dad". I do for my FIL, though. Anyway, my husband is just "
Dad" around these parts! LOL!

 June is a busy month for us...my husband's birthday, Father's Day and our Anniversary!  I guess I will be sharing more cards that I make for him as the month goes on.  I was thrilled to use this newer PTI set called "7th inning stretch".  I knew that with 4 boys it would come in handy, especially for coaches gifts, etc.  My oldest decided not to play baseball this year, which is a first in a very long time, so I haven't been able to use it until now.  My husband has been playing a baseball video game after the kids go to bed, so I thought he would enjoy the theme.  It is funny, but I never like to spend a lot of  time on the cards that my husband gets. I guess it is because I know what is going to happen to them. I am sure most of the cards that I make end up in the trash, but I don't have to actually see it or be the one doing it.

 I chose the background paper because it was masculine and it reminded me of a baseball diamond. I love the colors, too. I have been trying to pull out my tremendous amounts of SU! paper and start using it.  It has been so long since I have been a demonstrator that I can't even remember when half of the paper came out. If I like it, I am using it and I don't care how old it is.

Since I was making one card, it seemed silly not to make two and have one on hand. I changed it up just a little as you can see and I couldn't resist adding some felt ric-rac to the bottom. I hope I didn't make it girly!  Thanks for fluttering by!

P.S. I have quite a few projects to share with you. It seems so weird to have so much to share! I might make my goal of posting more than I did in 2010, too!

To Infinity and Beyond.....

 I thought I would step out of my girly card world and show you something a little more boyish!  I *thought* I was done with the card set that I made for my friend, but I thought that it needed something perfect for a little boy.  I still haven't posted all of them, but I am skipping to the end just to change things up.  I have loved this little space set since it came out, but never bought it until recently.

As you can see as you look at this photo and the one above is that I changed the sentiment on the front for the two cards.  I thought they were both cute and wanted to incorporate each of them.  I was really wishing this set had a coordinating die set, but it doesn't so I had to hand cut the fire at the bottom. Poor me, right? LOL! The stars were stamped using the " Star Prints" set that I love and use all the time.

 I colored everything using copics and added some "star dust" stickles here and there for some spacey sparkle!  I actually have decorated the inside of every card, but didn't think to photograph them. Shame on me and now the gift has been delivered!  They are out of my hands!

Well...everything is pretty straightforward so thanks for fluttering by!

Reverse Confetti June *Blog Hop*

 Hello June and Hello Reverse Confetti Fans! It’s the 8th of the month and that means it’s time for an creative Blog Hop from Reverse Confetti. Last month’s release was fantastic and today we are inspiring you with projects and cards using those stamps. We’ve also invited some extra friends that helped us launch the new company last month, to join in on the fun! Are you ready?

 The hop started over on the Reverse Confetti blog, and you should have made it here from Amy K's blog. It would be worth your while to start at the beginning of the hop, so you don’t miss a thing. We have tons of inspiration for you to see using Reverse Confetti’s first 4 amazing stamp sets!

The card I created today uses Reverse Confetti's fun set called Dream In Color. You can see all of the fun images included in this set later on in my post. I had a lot of fun creating this card!  I used the brand spankin' new SFYTT which you can check out on the Reverse Confetti blog!

I hope you’ve enjoyed hopping with us today. Be sure and hop with us on the 8th of EVERY MONTH for more REVERSE CONFETTI inspiration! Now it’s time to hop on over to Amy S's blog. If you get lost along the way, you can find the hop order and list of all the participating designers over on the Reverse Confetti blog. Celebrate the creative side of you!

Thanks for fluttering by!!!!

Let your dreams take flight

 I was asked if I had on hand or if I could make a graduation card for one of the girls at church.  I knew I had something that would "work", but I wanted to make something perfect! I love this "Butterfly Dreams" set from PTI, but I never use the sentiments with it because they never seem to fit the theme I am working with. Yay for a graduation, right?  I thought these two sentiments were perfect for a young girl with her future ahead of her. I actually don't own a graduation set, if you can believe it.  I was only asked to make a card, but I never can resist making a 3-D project as well.  I am glad I took the extra time.

I usually don't use the butterflies that require coloring  which is strange because I love to color so much, but I did for this card to add some extra detail. I actually had a dream about a beautiful butterfly so maybe that inspired me.  I colored them with copics and prismacolor markers and then added some stickles (surprise, surprise).  When I started out making the card, I had originally wanted to use 3 butterflies, but space didn't permit, so it was great to have one already cut and colored for the box.

I used the leftover scraps from my "Bloom" banner which you can see on the title of my blog.  I really love the unexpected mix of papers.


I hope she enjoys her card and knows how proud we are of her!  Thanks for fluttering by!

Life is a beautiful ride!!

 As soon as I saw the new "Pedal Pushers" stamp set from PTI, I knew that it was an absolute "must have"!  My daughter got a shirt for Easter with a bike on the front with a basket of flowers and how I wished I had a stamp just like it! Now I do, thanks to PTI! I swear Nichole reads my mind! LOL! Anyway, I haven't been able to put this set down since I have gotten it. I have made a PTA door prize, 3 thank you cards for friends, a teacher thank-you and these two cards. Yes...I am obsessed. I will share everything I made, too. Just give me time.

 Of course, I had to get the coordinating dies, which I love because there are two different ones for the bike. You can have one that the wheels spin, pictured here, or you can just have it stationary.  I love all of the different "fillers" for the basket as well. I used the flowers here, but you can see I used the presents in the last photo. I mentioned that while making this card set for my friend I was making two of every design. Some have the exact same sentiment, like the 2 I have posted previously, but these two cards, I changed it up. I found that I could make a more versatile set for my friend, while getting the cards done quickly.

I found this scrumptious paper from Pebbles at my LSS and fell in love. I want to use it on everything, but that would get boring, wouldn't it?  It is super cute, though. I love the mix of prints and colors...perfect!!! I especially love the polka-dot clouds that I die-cut. I added some white ink to the edges to define them a bit better and then added stickles to every other polka dot for some added interest. You can't really tell from the photos, either.

Here you can see the birthday design. The packages are so cute stacked in the basket.  I hope you all don't get bored to tears as I share the rest of my "Pedal Pushers" creations. I will space them out so they don't get too repetitive.   Thanks for fluttering by!

A very happy birthday to YOU!

 Thank you all for your sweet comments yesterday! You are all so sweet! You made my day!  I decided to share a quick, simple card I made last week.  I decided that I better have a birthday card to give to my friend who is getting the card set. I decided not to make it too fancy so that she wouldn't wish that I had made more of that one for her set. LOL!  It was quick to put together since I already had the base made from another project, which I will be sharing later.  I used the new "Rosie Posie" stamp set and dies from PTI for a quick assembly.

 It's funny how naked buttons don't bother me until I start editing my photos...then they look so sad and un-loved. I guess I need to start making a better effort to take the time to thread my buttons. I used to make sure they were always threaded, but I guess I have gotten lazy....or maybe just excited to get the project done!

I might make a little coordinating box for some treats or something. We will see.  Her birthday is Thursday, but I am sure I can find time to get it done. If I do, I will share it since I will be sharing EVERYTHING from now on! LOL!

I added a little adhesive pearl to the center of the O in the word You for some added detail and some stickles to the outside of the flowers.  I like adding fast details like this for some added punch, especially when the design is simple.  Again, thanks for your support and sweet comments! Thanks for fluttering by!

Memorial Day "Thanks"

 I decided to take a little break from posting the cards from the card set that I have been working on and show you a little thank you card that I whipped up the other day for my In-Laws.  We spent Memorial Day with them putting flowers on graves and then they treated us to lunch afterward. I wanted to let them know how much we appreciate them.  I used the older "Let Freedom Ring" set from PTI that hasn't seen ink for a while and paired it with a sentiment from the brand new "Pedal Pushers".  I have some other projects to show you with that new set, which I can't seem to put down, that I will share with you later.

 I have been struggling a  bit lately with how I am feeling about blogging. Sometimes I don't post things because I feel they aren't "blog worthy", but I decided to change my attitude and just post everything I make. Since I am not affiliated with any stamp companies or anything anymore,I don't quite know where I "fit" in the blog world, but I have realized that I enjoy creating so I may as well share it, even if it feels like no one is out there. I actually have enjoyed re-reading my blog because it has, in a way, become a scrapbook of all of the gift-giving and events that have taken place over the last few years. I have recorded things that didn't seem all that significant at the time, but as I re-read them, I realized that they were important and I had forgotten about them.  So....with that being said, I am just going to post everything that I make and hope that it benefits someone, somewhere.  Creating is therapy for me and I wouldn't be "me" without it, so I will just share a little bit of "me". Thanks for fluttering by!