{Egg}stra special thanks

 Easter is in less thank a week and I am scrambling trying to get all of my Easter craft projects done!  I decided to make an Easter themed thank you card for a fun project I will be putting together this week. It is for one of the ladies at church and I am going to have all of the kids she has worked with put notes inside of some eggs saying all of the "Eggstra" special things they like about her or are thankful for.

 Since I am short on time and the girls will really be doing all of the fun notes, I kept it super simple.  I used the same image stamped and embossed with gold powder three times...well, four, if you count the inside.  All of the images are from the "Tags for Spring" set from PTI.  The paper is also from PTI and is called Pretty Pastels. I love using my older supplies in new ways.

 I really love the effect of the gold embossing on the pattern paper.  It has such a soft, springy and elegant feel to it.  I added a "shower" of sequins to the top of the card for additional shine and interest.

The inside is decorated to incorporate the "theme" of the project. I like how it all turned out! Thanks for fluttering by!

AHOY little sailor!

I needed a QUICK card today and so I decided to play with this week's Mojo Monday Sketch.  I love how simple it is; perfect for today's card. I knew I wanted to head in a nautical direction to coordinate with the outfits I bought for a sweet new baby boy.

The sailboat was die cut and then paper pieced as well as a little bit of coloring.  I "frosted" the edges of the sentiment panel and the entire perimeter of the card with white ink for a little bit of extra dimension. This is a great way to add some interest without adding any bulky layers.

I sprinkled a few of my new burnished silver sequins over the top. The anchor button does just that...it "anchors" the elements together.  A piece of baker's twine wrapped twice finishes off this simple design.

I always love adding a sentiment to the inside and I especially love when the stamp set includes it, such as this one. Thanks for fluttering by!

Inspired Thanks

As a creative person, it is common to look for and find inspiration EVERYWHERE! I don't know when I realized that I didn't look for it as often anymore and I surely wasn't finding it, either.  Maybe because hauling 3 toddlers/preschoolers around with me everywhere I go exhausts me mentally, physically and creatively. Maybe because I was forgetting some of the parts of me that make me....well, me!  I used to "see" a project literally everywhere I went or with everything I did. Those days have faded and aren't as much a part of me anymore, but I am not willing to give up on myself...because that part of me is something that I liked.  So...with all of this being said, I have cleared the cobwebs from my eyes as well as my "mind's eye" and have started to look for inspiration again!  Today's card is part of that journey.

 The inspiration for today's card came from some super cute tags that I found here. I love them...so springy and cheerful!  The first step was to create the tag; I liked the texture that the inspiration tags had so I used the woodgrain embossing plate from PTI. The cardstock is Sahara Sand from SU! and I am not quite sure if they still have it.  It is one of my favorites, though.  I knew from the get go which flowers I would be using; Rosie Posie and Rosie Posie 2 or shadows or something like that! I used Pink Pirouette ink and Rose Red from SU!...I thought they looked the most like the ones that the tags used.

 Once I had all of my flowers cut and stamped, I added the sentiment. It was stamped using Versamark ink and then embossed using detail white embossing powder. I really wanted to make sure it all got down in the impressions of the woodgrain. It worked out well. I found a piece of background paper that I used on my baby's first year mini album that I made a while back. It was perfect. It added just the right amount of detail while keeping the design simple. I didn't want to take away from the original inspiration too much.

I used the gold sequins that I bought in the set that I talked about the other day.  I love them. I also add some dew drops to the flowers for an extra bit of dimension.  The baker's twine on the tag was the finishing touch as well as a little zig zag stitching. Thanks for fluttering by and coming along on my inspired journey!

You are amazing!

 Hello Friends! Spring is officially here! Isn't it wonderful? My daffodils have come up and are blooming like crazy!  Our winter was incredibly mild this year so I don't feel like I have truly earned my Spring {one of my dear friends said that to me and it rung true}  None the less, Spring is one of my favorite seasons. I was holding off on "embracing" it until I put up all of the Easter decorations in my home and now I can excitedly proclaim,"Happy Spring!"

Today's card is for a friend, who I always knew was amazing, but has proven it to me even more in the last 24 hours.

My desk was far too clean and I hadn't had any creative time in a few days, so I seized the opportunity while the baby was napping.  Today's design is simple and clean with a few details to make it a little more interesting than dull.

 I played with the sentiment strip and finally settled on this arced placement. I really like it and since it will be hand delivered, there is no fear of it getting damaged.  I think it gives it a fun, whimsical feel without being overdone.  I added the brads on either side of the seed packet to get it to arc the way I liked it best, and while I worried it would detract, I think it gives it some extra shine it was needing.

 I also added a die cut circle of burlap for some texture and interest.  It also gives it a garden-y feel, I think. Okay...enough with the "I thinks"....ha ha.... I just read how many times I have typed "I think".  Clearly, I wouldn't have done the things I did if I didn't "think" it needed it! LOL!  I also added a few sequins that I just got a few weeks ago. I love them...there is a burnished silver, gold and these dull white ones that I LOVE!

Just a little something for the inside to tie it all together.  I hope my friend will like it and it will brighten her day! Thanks for fluttering by!

Love Lives Here

I hope you all had a fun St. Patrick's Day! We did!  I have a little gift set to share with you today. It is always fun to brighten someone's day.  This ensemble uses one of my favorite sets "Love Lives Here".

I love making boxes of all kinds and I find they are so useful for so many little gifts.  If you have something specific in mind that you want to put into a box, all you have to do is measure the dimensions and get to work. This particular box has a lid so it takes a little more time and patience, but it is always worth it when you see the smile on the recipients face.

I die cut the blue piece twice...once out of heavy cardstock and the other out of pattern paper. The paper was thin and I knew it wouldn't be able to withstand all of the other layers that would be added to it. I always put the focal image onto the lid so that it can be slid apart easily and then put back together.

I made a coordinating card; just a small 3 by 3 but it is the perfect size to tuck inside the box so you don't even need an envelope!

I know you might die of baby overload, but I have another baby shower to go to on Saturday, so stay tuned for some baby boy projects!

Thanks for fluttering by!

You're my Pot of Gold!

 I can't believe March is halfway over! Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day and I thought I'd better share the two little projects I have been working on for Emma's two dance classes. The first ones she took on Friday to her Irish Step Dancing class and I guess the kids loved them! I am so glad!

 Each sack has a pair of St. Patrick's Day socks and a pack of green gum. I found the socks at Dollar Tree and scooped up as many pairs as we needed.  I thought socks are always a useful item and they were cute, too! The funny part is that when I bought them it was during Valentine's Day time and the worker thought that because some of the socks had kissy lips on them that they were trying to combine the two holidays. I had to explain to her that it goes with the saying "Kiss me, I'm Irish!" She had a light bulb moment! Ha Ha!

 Emma has a boy who has joined the class and the socks were most definitely for girls, so I had to get a box of skittles and then he got a pack of gum, too.  The tag is the same but I wrapped it all up with the shamrock paper.

 She will be taking these little pots of gold to class tonight. These poor pots have a story to tell. I put these together last week and I put them in my daughter's room since I thought the baby would get to them. Well....my 3 year old saw them in there and ATE ALL of the gold coins but one! Emma was in hysterics! I got this frantic text from her saying that Rhys had eaten all of her dance treats! I was thinking that he had ripped open every bag and eaten every last bit of everything! By the way, the cello bags have rolos in the bottom and then skittles poured on top. Well...I got home and he had hidden two pots under her bed, there was gold foil wrappings everywhere and bits of chocolate shards scattered over the floor.  My daughter was seriously hyperventilating! I told her not to worry, I could get more coins. It wasn't the end of the world. She calmed down....finally!

 I ended up by going to a training class on Saturday for my church calling and each table had gold coins for us to take home. I was lucky and ended up with 12 coins. I'd call that a blessing! So...each pot now has its coin and all is right in the world!

P.S. If you look at the picture above and peek under the watermark you will see a stray piece of chocolate that escaped his lips! I didn't notice it until I had snapped the picture! LOL! It isn't there anymore!

Despite eating 11 gold coins, my little munchkins are my "pots of gold" and I am LUCKY to have them for children! Happy St. Patrick's Day and thanks for fluttering by!

Simple Salutations!

 I have a few simple designs to share with you today, but before I get started, I just want to tell you thank you for the sweet comments that you leave for me.  They make me so happy!

The first design I have to share today is for a new-ish couple that moved into our culdesac back in December. I have hesitated to take anything over to them because #1 I have never even seen a glimpse of them #2 I've been lazy. Neither of these are good excuses and I need to remedy that, so....I got to work on a quick card to take over with a goody of some kind.

I used the PTI set called "Boards and Beams" and the coordinating dies.  I cut the pieces I wanted to use and got to work coloring them.  I also decided that the card needed a few fluffy clouds so I die cut those as well.  I always struggle with coloring the windows on this house, so instead of stressing, I just used some glossy accents for a realistic effect.

I chose to keep the background layers simple; green for the bottom (grass) and blue for the top (sky) and then layered all of the other pieces.  I used varying heights with my foam squares to give it the dimension I wanted.  The sentiment was stitched in place using a nice straight stitch for some added texture but nothing busy.  I liked how it mimicked the lines in the blue paper.

The inside was stamped using Palette Noir ink and then punched with a large circle punch. I also added a little punched heart with a button for a touch of homespun appeal.

I received some fun mail the other day and it was a few goodies that I had ordered from MFT! This little "Happy Banner" Pure Innocence set and coordinating die made their way to my home. I knew she would be a cute and useful addition to my collection.   She arrived just in time because one of my daughter's friends has a birthday ON St. Patrick's Day.

I pulled out a collection of St. Patrick's Day paper I got last year and was thrilled to see that on the backside of one of the pieces, it had about 8 pre-designed panels. I cut the one that I thought would work the best with this little girl and just added a few embellishments.

I layered her onto a punched circle. I then took one of my birthday sentiment stamps and colored each letter using rainbow colors and then stamped it onto white cardstock. I like how it turned out.  Super easy, but festive! Thanks for fluttering by!

Simple Birthday Circles {with a little shine}

 Since I am so ahead of the game with my baby projects, I thought I would sneak in a little time to make a birthday card! In fact, my gift is all packaged up and waiting for me in the garage for the shower on Saturday! That NEVER happens! LOL!

Babies and Birthdays....some of the best things to celebrate, right?  Today's card is simple; simple with circles!  I always like having a nice stash of cards on hand for birthdays. As I have mentioned a lot recently, I make cards using gift bags as inspiration. Today's card is one of those inspired pieces.  One of the reasons why I like doing these so much is because I make things that I NEVER would have otherwise. It seems like when a birthday rolls around, I am in a rush and I don't get a card made.  So...I have started getting them done ahead of time. I feel like I cheat myself and the recipient (especially if they know I make cards) if I don't make a nice one...and I already have the bag ready to go, too!

 The sentiment was stamped using Versamark ink and then heat embossed using Silver Detail embossing powder from SU!  The flame {star} on the candle is also embossed the same way.  I know I told you I would quit it with the sequins, but today's card was begging for some, so you know, I HAD to do it! The card MADE me do it! LOL! I also did a little dry embossing with the background and then again with some lines on the yellow sentiment panel.

The colors were all taken from the bag as you can see in the background. I loved the way the balloons overlapped to make new colors.  Super fun!  I thought it would be fun to make the circles into balloons but it took a seriously childish turn and not in a good way! So....I stuck to simple, sophisticated circles and called it done!

Well...almost. I wanted to embellish the inside a bit and with a few punches and a quick stamp, it was done!

You can see the bag and the card here.  I really love this bag and while I was in the midst of making the card, I was really wishing I had bought more and was making two cards at the same time. I have done that alot in the past and I like doing it that way.  I also opened up the bag for the first time when I was taking these photos and I really wish I would have seen the side panel ahead of time. The colored stripes may have made an appearance as well.  Oh well!   Thanks for fluttering by! Stay tuned for some St. Patrick's Day projects!

Bundles of Babies

 I have been busy as a little bee this last week working on a baby shower gift; paper crafting and sewing. You can see the sewn projects here. There really isn't anything more therapeutic for me than  being creative and doing it with a PURPOSE!  When I started blogging again in the last month or two it has been with the sole purpose that I will share when I am making something for SOMEONE or for a specific event that I NEED!  Today is the perfect example! I just love babies...especially when I have the excuse to make something for a baby girl!

 The last card I made for this particular recipient wasn't my best work and it was just "thrown" together and I wasn't super happy with it. I am not running behind, which is usually the case, and I am surprisingly ahead of schedule, which is refreshing! So, with that being the case, I took a little bit of extra time on her card to give it some fun details.

 The quilt that I made her had elephants on it so I chose to use this elephant image from the "Bitty Baby Blessings" stamp set. I usually rotate between that one and "Baby Button Bits". They are two of my favorites.  I also used the sentiment from the "Boutique Borders: Baby" set and the little alphabet stamps are from PSX. I just love them and have had them for YEARS! They are older than my oldest child! LOL!

 I also made her a little "Baby's First Year" mini tag album for her to write a few details in each month.  Nothing fussy or fancy, just to the point.

I computer generated all of the words for each page. I had saved the document from the last one I made back in January.  I didn't take a good picture of that one, so I thought I would showcase this one a little bit better.

 Each month has the same idea, obviously.

 I just used different embellishments for each page.

I just did a mass die-cut session using the coordinating dies that go with the "Bitty Baby Blessings" stamp set and just had fun making each piece. It is sooo easy that way!  The cupcake on the front is from the "Baby Button Bits" die collection, however!

That's all! Thanks for fluttering by!