CAS-ual Fridays Birthday Bash!

Happy Friday!  Woohoo! This Friday in particular is EXTRA special. Why, you ask? Well, lemme just tell ya...  Today we celebrate a very special birthday: CAS-ual Fridays is turning 1!!! There is a whole lotta celebrating going on over there, including PRIZES!  Hmmm...isn't there also another reason why today is extra special?  Oh...that's right...today kicks off the term for the new Girl Fridays! And I'm one of them!!!  I'm super excited to be on this team and be surrounded by such talented girls.  I still can't believe my first design team "gig" (like I'm a rockstar now or something. LOL) is with CAS-ual Fridays.  I'll forever be indebted to Michele for giving me this opportunity.  She has also made some other really fun changes to the CAS-ual Fridays blog, including a Facebook design team so we can be inspired on other days of the week, not just Friday.  Ok, less talky, more showy right?  Coming right up!  Here is the (very fitting) challenge this week:

CFC51: Happy Birthday

And now for the paper yummies:

I LOVE that lil' guy!  Especially with his outfit.  Leave it to a guy to wear a chevron with a plaid.  LOL!  The  man and the "heard it's your birthday" are a single stamp, and I just stamped it onto the telegram patterned paper by Echo Park (which couldn't have been more perfect for him!).  Then I paper-pieced his outfit and megaphone.  I punched a strip of patterned paper with a postage stamp edge, added some machine stitching, and finished it off with some twine and a button.  Here's another view:

I hope you all play along with the challenge this week.  It's sponsored by the fabulous Simon Says Stamp, and they have offered up some very generous prizes.  Check out all the deets at CAS-ual Fridays - it's a big party and you're all invited! And check out Simon while you're at it!

Thanks for looking!

I'm also playing along here:

Little Red Wagon Challenge #131: Stitch It Up 

Simon Says Stamp Birthday Challenge

Supplies: cardstock: Core'dinations (gray), Recollections (natural), Georgia Pacific (white for stamped image); patterned papers: Echo Park This & That "Charming" 6x6 pad; stamp: Stampin' Up! "Ain't Love Grand"; ink: Tsukineko; markers: Prismacolor; postage stamp edge punch: Fiskars; twine: Offray; button: craft supply; sewing machine: Kenmore; quilting thread: Americana; hole punch: We R Memory Keepers

Simple Card Saturday and CFC50

Happy Saturday!  I hope everybody is having a wonderful weekend so far.  Today I'm sharing a simple little card I made for this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge:

CFC50: Spring is here so show us your Clean And Simple creations 

with flowers or trees.

I paper-pieced a cute little flower stamp by Hampton Art (Studio G) and embossed a sentiment from the Paper Smooches Simply Said set.  Now for the paper yummies:

 I machine-stitched around the edges, then scored diagonal lines across the card.  I also added Glossy Accents to the dots on the flower.  Here's a closer look:

Thanks for looking!

I'm playing along here:

CAS-ual Fridays CFC50: April Showers Bring May Flowers

Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes Challenge

Young Crafters Unite Challenge #9: No Coloring Allowed

Supplies: cardstock: Recollections; patterned papers: October Afternoon; stamps: Paper Smooches (sentiment), Hampton Art (image); inks: Staz-On (brown), Versamark (embossing); embossing powder: American Crafts; scoring tool: Martha Stewart; sewing machine: Kenmore; quilting thread: Americana; glossy accents: Ranger; dimensional adhesive: American Crafts

Simple Card Saturday and CFC49

Happy Saturday! I hope everybody had a great week and is settling nicely into the weekend. Today's simple card is based in the sketch this week at CAS-ual Fridays. Have you checked out the blog makeover? Karen completely re-designed it, and Michele revealed the new look yesterday. It looks great! Here is a little sample of the new graphics, along with the sketch:

Now, since the term for the new DT doesn't officially start until May, I'm just playing along for fun until then. Let me give you a little background about today's card. I've recently SPARKED a little bloggy friendship with a super sweet and talented gal named Glenda. I think I first "met" her over on the Hero Arts Flickr group; but here lately, it seems as though everywhere I look, there's Glenda winning a challenge, or winning another challenge or being named May's guest designer at Paper Smooches (squeal!). I mean, the girl is on a roll, peeps! So I used the two square elements in the sketch as inspiration to create this paper yummy for Glenda:

I cut the dice using the Cricut Indie Art cartridge and patterned paper by Echo Park. I created the sentiment using the Ginger alpha stamps from American Crafts. I added a bit of machine stitching and finished it off with some embroidery floss. Here's a close-up:
I hope her "roll" continues (**wink**)! I'm sending this card to Glenda, but first I'm playing along here:

CAS-ual Fridays CFC49: Sketch

Card Makin' Mamas Getting Girly Challenge

Crafty Catz Challenge 129: Stripes or Checks (I went with checks)

Paper Sundaes Challenge #116: Anything Goes

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Recollections (brown), Georgia Pacific (white); patterned paper: October Afternoon; die cut machine: Cricut Expression; cartridge: Indie Art; stamps: American Crafts; ink: Tsukineko; brown pen (to darken sentiment): American Crafts; floss: DMC; sewing machine: Kenmore; thread: Singer; hole punch: We R Memory Keepers; dimensional adhesive: American Crafts

Happy Easter

Happy Easter! I hope everybody is having a safe and blessed holiday, however you're spending it. I'm back with another card for the CAS-ual Fridays challenge:

CFC47: Let the Hunt Begin! Clean And Simple projects featuring something you'd find in an Easter Basket

I used this sketch from Retro Sketches:
I again used stamps that had never previously been inked. I just love these cute lil' eggs! The grouping of eggs is a single stamp by American Crafts, and they just begged to be paper-pieced. I thought I would try something new (for me, at least). I stamped the eggs on white cardstock, then used a square die that was slightly smaller than the stamped image, so that when I paper-pieced them, the eggs hang off the die cut just slightly. I think it's a pretty cute effect. Now for the paper yummies:

I embossed the kraft cardstock background with this cutie patootie polka dot embossing folder from Provocraft. I'm such a sucker for a polka dot. Add in some cute eggs? Yes, please! I stamped the sentiment (by Hampton Art) onto some green dot paper, and added a pink gingham ribbon. Here's a close-up:

Thanks for looking! Stay tuned this week... I MAY have a bit of exciting news to share! Tiny squeal!

I'm playing along here:

CAS-ual Fridays CFC47: Let the hunt begin

Fab 'n' Funky Emboss It! Challenge

One Stop Craft Challenge #166: Pastels and die cuts

Retro Sketches #6

Supplies: cardstock: Georgia Pacific (white), The Paper Studio (kraft); patterned papers: DCWV; stamps: American Crafts (eggs), Hampton Art (sentiment); ink: Tsukineko; embossing folder/machine: Cuttlebug by Provocraft; cutting die: Spellbinders, ribbon: The Ribbon Boutique

Simple Card Saturday - happy Easter

Happy Saturday! I hope everybody had a wonderful week. For today's Simple Card Saturday, I'm playing along with a few challenges. The first is, of course, CAS-ual Fridays:

CFC47: Let the Hunt Begin! Clean And Simple projects featuring something you'd find in an Easter Basket

I'm also playing along with the beautiful color challenge at ColourQ:

And I used the sketch from Mojo Monday:

I wanted to use this adorable Easter stamp that I've had for awhile (and I don't think it's ever been inked). I thought it would be great for paper piecing. And now for the paper yummies:
I paper-pieced the Easter birdie using some yellow and white striped paper from Echo Park - actually all the patterned papers are Echo Park. I colored in his beak with a light peach marker to complete the color challenge. I kinda like how you can still see the stripes on his beak. I added a white scalloped strip down the side of the green paper for a subtle effect, as it is against white cardstock. I machine stitched a single line down the left edge of the green paper as well. Here's a close-up of the lil' cutie:
I'm playing along here:

CAS-ual Fridays CFC47: Let the hunt begin!

ColourQ Challenge #131

Mojo Monday 235-Contest

Have a lovely Easter tomorrow! Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Georgia Pacific; patterned papers: Echo Park; stamp: Hampton Art (Studio G); ink: Tsukineko; marker: Prismacolor; cutting die: Spellbinders; die cutting machine: Cuttlebug by Provocraft; edge punch: Martha Stewart; baker's twine: Divine Twine; button: craft supply; sewing machine: Kenmore; thread: Singer; dimensional adhesive: American Crafts

Paper Smooches April Guest Designer, week 1 (pic heavy)

Happy Wednesday, everybody! I'm SO EXCITED to be the guest designer for Paper Smooches Stamps this month! Paper Smooches is the first guest designer "gig" I've gotten (or put in for), so that makes it doubly exciting. The three April stamp releases are TOO CUTE (!) and even though the themes are much different, they work so well together. I made a total of eight cards (for the guest design spot - of course, I couldn't stop there though!), and Kim will be featuring 2 of them on the Paper Smooches blog every Wednesday of the month. The cards she chose for this week are featuring the Pretty Momma and Simply Said sets. Now for the paper yummies:

I just love how feminine the images on the Pretty Momma set are. I stamped the cameo onto this die cut frame, and added a strip of rhinestones for her necklace. And do you see that pink "paper" with the text printed on it, behind the cameo? That's product packaging! Yep, it's the backing from a package of trims. LOVE it! I machine stitched all the way around the frame with some natural quilting thread, and also stitched around the pink packaging and down the left side of the card:

In keeping with the vintage-y look, I used a strip of muslin instead of ribbon. I love the way it frays. I stamped the sentiment onto a rectangular die cut, and banner-cut the right side. I added this adorable rose brad and attached the sentiment to the bow. Here's another close-up:

Okay, on to the next card. Now, I'm not normally a butterfly kinda girl...although I don't really know why...? Anyway, when I saw this butterfly, I really loved it and couldn't wait to use it. I think partly because I'm a sucker for a scallop, and this butterfly has cute little scalloped edges on her wings. So I decided I wanted to make her as dainty as I possibly could, and paper-piece her onto white cardstock so those scallops would really pop. And yes, it was really fun to fussy cut those scallops and other little parts not one, two, or three, but FOUR times! Well...maybe not so fun...but TOTALLY worth it! I love the way they turned out! More paper yummies:

So, I stamped the butterfly a total of three times per color - once on the white cardstock and twice on each color of patterned paper. Once I paper-pieced each butterfly, I used a thin line of Tombow Mono multi-glue down the middle of each butterfly to attach it onto the stamped image below. Once they were all adhered, I machine-stitched across them. Then I raised each wing to give it more dimension and "flutter", and added some Stickles. Here's a close-up:

I finished off this card with some baker's twine and the cutest little buttons. I love how the tiny pink one fits right into the white, flower shaped button:

I am entering the first card in these challenges:

Moxie Fab World Don't Throw it Away Challenge (I used product packaging)

Lily Pad Cards Flower Challenge

ColourQ Challenge #131

Papercraft Star Anything Goes Challenge

I am entering the second card in these challenges:

CAS-ual Fridays CFC46: Name That Tune (inspired by "Butterfly" by Crazy Town)

Papercraft Star Anything Goes Challenge

Young Crafters Unite Challenge #8: Stitching or sewing

Thanks so much for looking!

Supplies (card 1): cardstock: Core'dinations; patterned paper, product packaging, die cuts, rose brad: The Girls' Paperie; stamps: Paper Smooches (Pretty Momma, Potpourri); ink: Tsukineko (black, green); bling: The Paper Studio; muslin: Roc-Lon; sanding block: Making Memories; sewing machine: Kenmore; quilting thread: Americana

Supplies (card 2): cardstock: Core'dinations (blue), The Paper Company (black), Georgia Pacific (white); patterned papers: DCWV; stamps: Paper Smooches (Pretty Momma, Simply Said); ink: Tsukineko; corner rounder, hole punch: We R Memory Keepers; scalloped edge punch: Martha Stewart; sanding block: Making Memories; baker's twine: Divine Twine; buttons: craft supply; sewing machine: Kenmore; thread: Singer; glitter glue: Ranger

Simple Card Saturday - hello friend

Happy Saturday! For this week's simple card, I'm sharing a card that I made for my monthly Christmas card class at my local Real Deals. I'm also playing along at CAS-ual Fridays:

CFC46: Create a Clean And Simple project based on a song.

I was inspired by Frosty the Snowman. Now for the paper yummies:I just love that lil' snowman and his birdie friend. Too cute!

I'm playing along here:

CAS-ual Fridays CFC46: Name that tune

The Ribbon Carousel Challenge RCC46: Anything goes

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Georgia Pacific (white), The Paper Studio (kraft); patterned paper: Recollections; stamp: Hampton Art; ink: Tsukineko; markers: Prismacolor; pom-pom trim: Michael's; white gel pen: Uniball Signo; corner rounder, hole punch: We R Memory Keepers, dimensional adhesive: American Crafts

Simple Card Saturday - One of a kind

Happy Saturday! For this week's Simple Card Saturday, I have a card using an adorable image from the Paper Smooches Zoo Crew set that was released this month. I love all the little animals, and they are really fun to paper piece. This week I'm playing along with the Young Crafters Unite Challenge, to use sewing or stitching:

CFC45: The Bold & The Beautiful-

create a Clean And Simple project using pastels and black

I'd been wanting to use the hippo from the Zoo Crew set, but just hadn't for whatever reason. Then when I got this cute gray-with-white-polka-dot paper, it hit me: make a polka-dot hippo that's one of a kind. And now for the paper yummies:

I stamped the Hero Arts Zig Zag background using Tim Holtz Distress Ink in crushed olive for a tone-on-tone background. I really love that background stamp! Then I paper-pieced my hippo and added the sentiment and the heart, which are from the Paper Smooches Word Salad set. I added Glossy Accents to the heart. The large scalloped punch is by EK Success. I tied some baker's twine and a button around part of the scallop, machine-stitched along the edge of the card, then popped the sentiment up on dimensional adhesive. Here's a closer view of my polka-dot hippo:

Love him! I'm playing along with these challenges:

CAS-ual Fridays CFC45: The bold and the beautiful

Young Crafters Unite Challenge #8: Stitching or sewing

The Ribbon Carousel Challenge RCC45: Baking with The Twinery

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Georgia Pacific (white), Core'dinations (green, blue); patterned paper: Recollections; stamps: Paper Smooches (hippo, sentiment, heart), Hero Arts (background); ink: Tsukineko (black), Ranger (green); markers: Prismacolor; scalloped edge punch: EK Success; Glossy Accents: Ranger; baker's twine: Divine Twine; button: craft supply; sewing machine: Kenmore; thread: Singer; dimensional adhesive: American Crafts

CAS-ual Fridays CFC45: Thanks for all you do

Happy Friday! I hope everybody had a great week! I'm back with a card for this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge:

CFC45: The Bold & The Beautiful-

create a Clean And Simple project using a pastels and black

This card is a little different than my usual style. I think I do "cutesy" better than I do "pretty", but I kept seeing all these beautiful cards with this Large Flower Background stamp from Hero Arts and thought it looked interesting. Then when Gayatri sent me a Valentine's Day card using this stamp and I got to see what it looked like in person, I definitely wanted in on the action. I stamped it on kraft cardstock and heat embossed it with white embossing powder. I colored the big flowers and leaves with Prismacolor markers, and it really made the white POP! Here are the paper yummies:

After I colored what I wanted to, I used a craft knife to partially cut some of the leaves, then I curled them up to make them really dimensional. I backed the stamped kraft cardstock with some black cardstock for a little "unexpected" touch, since you don't see black cardstock anywhere else. Here's a close-up:
I added a scalloped strip, a sentiment by Papertrey Ink, some ribbon, baker's twine, and a button to finish it off. I'm playing along with these challenges:

CAS-ual Fridays CFC45: The Bold and the Beautiful

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #161: Sketch

The Ribbon Carousel Challenge RCC45: Baking With The Twinery

The Pink Elephant TPE140: Get Krafty

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Georgia Pacific (white), Recollections (kraft, black), Core'dinations (green); stamps: Hero Arts (flower background), Papertrey Ink (sentiment); inks: Tsukineko (watermark, black); embossing powder: American Crafts; markers: Prismacolor; craft knife: Fiskars; punches: Fiskars (scalloped edge), We R Memory Keepers (corner rounder); ribbon: The Ribbon Boutique; baker's twine: Divine Twine; button: craft supply

Happy Easter to a real cute chick

Happy Sunday! I hope everybody had a safe and sound St. Patrick's Day. Today I have another card for this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge:

CFC44: It's as Easy as 1-2-3 Create a Clean And Simple project using

1. A Pattern

2. An Image

3. A Sentiment

I found this cardstock at Michael's this week while they had their open-stock Recollections papers 6/$1.00, and I really like it. The name of the color is not on the tag and I forgot to look at the name at the store, but it's much lighter than kraft and you can still see white pen against it. And I LOVE me some kraft paper! It's great to have another, slightly different but still krafty, option. And you can't beat that price! I used this cardstock to make a shaped card (which I don't do often, but I don't know why. I like 'em). I used a Nestabilities die to cut the shaped card and a piece of patterned paper by Echo Park. Now for the paper yummies:

I just love that lil' chick with the bunny ears! Too cute!

I'm playing along with these challenges:

CAS-ual Fridays CFC44: Easy as 1-2-3

Frosted Designs Fabulous Friday Challenge: Things with wings

PaperCrafting Journey Challenge 5: Pretty pastels

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Recollections; patterned paper: Echo Park; stamps: Hampton Art (sentiment), Craftsmart (image); ink: Tsukineko; markers: Prismacolor; die: Nestabilities by Spellbinders; die cut machine: Cuttlebug by Provocraft; white pen: Uniball Signo; baker's twine: Divine Twine

Simple Card Saturday - Just sitting here...

Happy Saturday and St. Patrick's Day to everybody! I definitely had the luck of the Irish bestowed upon me, as I just found out that I'M GOING TO BE PUBLISHED!!! Yay! This will be my first publication, and I'm over-the-top excited. I cannot wait until August when I finally get to see my work in a magazine. I'm SUPER stoked!

Okay, on to my card for Simple Card Saturday. This week I'm playing along with the challenge at CAS-ual Fridays:

CFC44: It's as Easy as 1-2-3 Create a Clean And Simple project using

1. A Pattern

2. An Image

3. A Sentiment

I'm also playing along with the Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger:

I was inspired by the lovely chairs and the neutral color palette with pops of color. For today's card, I wanted to paper-piece this cute chair stamp from the Hero Arts "Wishing You Were Here" set, which took care of both the pattern and the image components of the CAS-ual Fridays challenge. And of course this sentiment included in that stamp set was just perfect. Now for the paper yummies:

I wanted the "wall" behind the chair to look as if it had paneling or beadboard on it, so I used my Scor-Pal to create some vertical lines on the white cardstock:

I wanted my ribbon to go behind the chair but not cover up the legs, so I cut a slit in the paper on each side of the chair stamp and wove the ribbon through to the back, then out to the front again, and tied it in a bow. I finished the card off with some machine stitching and stamped the sentiment onto the patterned "rug". Here's another close-up:
I'm playing along here:

CAS-ual Fridays CFC44: Easy as 1-2-3

Cupcake Craft Challenge 183: Going Dotty

Friday Mashup #50 sketch

Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger: Simple Elegance

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Georgia Pacific; patterned paper: Recollections; stamps: Hero Arts; ink: Recollections; scoring tool: Scor-Pal; ribbon: Ribbon Boutique; craft knife: Fiskars; sewing machine: Kenmore; thread: Singer

CPS Sketch 256 & CAS-ual Fridays

Howdy! I hope everybody is having a great week so far. Today I made a card using this week's sketch from Card Positioning Systems. Here's the sketch:

I'm also playing along with the CAS-ual Fridays challenge:
I thought this would be another great opportunity to use my new Paper Smooches stamps again. Squeal! I'm just loving the March release, and I'm so glad I decided to join their monthly club! Now for the paper yummies:
I used the globe from the Smarty Pants set, along with the heart and sentiment from Word Salad. The patterned papers are by Echo Park. I colored the images in with Prismacolor markers, and added some Glossy Accents to the lil' heart. I added a couple lines of machine stitching, just because... Here's a closer look:
I'm playing along here:

Card Positioning Systems Sketch 256

CAS-ual Fridays CFC43: For Sentimental Reasons

CropStop Challenge 62: Rainbow of colors (use at least 4 colors - I used 5 if you count kraft)

Simon Says Stamp Challenge: A bit o' green

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Recollections; patterned papers: Echo Park; stamps: Paper Smooches; ink: Tsukineko; markers: Prismacolor; circle die: Nestabilities by Spellbinders; die cutting machine: Cuttlebug by Provocraft; corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers; Glossy Accents: Ranger; dimensional adhesive: American Crafts; sewing machine: Kenmore; thread: Singer

Simple Card Saturday - Hang in there!

Happy Saturday! Today's card was inspired by a few different challenges. First off, I'm playing along with CAS-ual Fridays challenge "For Sentimental Reasons":

I'm following a sketch from Mojo Mondays:

And I'm also using an inspiration photo from the Paper Smooches Sparks challenge:

I love several things about this photo, but especially all the texture, stitching, and outlining. I also love the neutral background with the clean white felt and pops of pink and yellow. Paper Smooches has a new free digital stamp this month that is too cute. The image is tied in with the sentiment, so I thought that was perfect for the CAS-ual Fridays challenge. And then I added some more sentiment of my own. And now for the paper yummies:

I printed the digital stamp onto adhesive-backed fabric paper by American Crafts + Dear Lizzy. I love the way the stamp printed so cleanly onto the fabric! I rounded the corners of the fabric, then stitched along the outer edge. I also added some stitching right onto the lil' squirrel's feet. I added some white felt, which I also stitched. The white circular dots are a stamp by Fiskars, and I stitched just inside the stamped pattern. I finished the card off with a hand-written sentiment and some corduroy brads. Between the fabric, felt, stitching, and brads, this card has a lot of texture to it. Here are some close-ups:

I'm playing along here:

CAS-ual Fridays CFC43: For Sentimental Reasons

Mojo Monday Sketch 231

Paper Smooches Sparks challenge

Frosted Designs Fabulous Friday challenge: Kraft paper

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Recollections; fabric paper: American Crafts + Dear Lizzy; digital stamp: Paper Smooches; stamp: Fiskars (white dots); ink: Joann; white pen: Signo Uniball; corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers; dimensional adhesive: American Crafts; felt, brads: craft supply; sewing machine: Kenmore; thread: Singer