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

Paper Smooches April Guest Designer

So, you all know that I LOVE Paper Smooches stamps, right? I mean, what's not to love? Kim Hughes does such a fantastic job of designing some of the cutest images out there, the graphic sets that Karolyn Loncon designs are fantastic, and the sentiments are so unique. And they all work together so well. Plus they stamp like a dream! Well...(insert drum roll here)...I am pleased (ecstatic really) to announce that I have been chosen as the guest designer for April! And let me tell ya, the April releases definitely do not disappoint. They are super cute! I cannot wait to get them and start creating! Hopefully, they'll appear in my mailbox tomorrow. I just had to share my good news. This will be my first guest designer/design team work ever (besides my LSS), and the fact that it's with Paper Smooches is just unbelievable to me. I can't wait to share all my Paper Smooches paper yummies!

P.S. To see the card that won, click here.

Lawnscaping Challenge: Inspired by (A+ teacher thank you card)

Happy Wednesday (wow - I totally just had to suppress the urge to make a hump day joke. LOL)! I hope everybody's week is going well so far. Today I have a cute card to say thank you to a teacher. Originally, I started making this card for the Hero Arts 90 minute scramble on Flickr. But, since I joined the scramble over half way through, and then my lovely laptop decided to freeze every time I inserted my SD card, I missed the cut-off to upload my card. (I think Donna allowed my card even after the cut-off. So sweet.) Anyway, I went back later and added some finishing touches that I didn't have time to do the first go-around. I love the way it turned out. I'm playing along with several challenges with this card. One of them is the Lawnscaping challenge. I don't have any Lawn Fawn stamps (yet!), but they're not required. Maybe I'll win the challenge, and get my first set! LOL! I love their challenge this week:

You can see my inspiration at the bottom of this post. Now for the paper yummies:I found this really cute alphabet patterned paper at Michael's last week (and they were 6/$1.00. Score!), and it looks super with these patterned papers by Echo Park, My Mind's Eye, and Recollections. I paired them with some really cute stamps from Hero Arts, Papertrey Ink, and Mint Motif:
I am loving this natural-color quilting thread right now - it's so nice and thick. I used it to straight stitch along the top of the thank you banner. I also zigzag stitched down at the bottom of the card. For a fun button treatment, I stamped a star in a pale blue ink on natural cardstock and cut it out. I adhered it to the middle of this green wooden button, and filled it with Glossy Accents. I love the way it turned out. Here is a close-up:

I'm playing along with these challenges:

Creative Inspirations Challenge 155: Anything Goes

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge 161: Sketch

Lawnscaping Challenge: Inspired By

The Shabby Tea Room Week 106: Pennant Party

This is the card that inspired mine (from Kristina Werner - LOVE her!)

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Core'dinations (blue), Recollections (natural); patterned papers: Echo Park (yellow, green), Recollections (alphabet, red), My Mind's Eye (cream/graph); stamps: Hero Arts (ledger, thank you flags), Papertrey Ink ("notes", A+, star), Mint Motif ("teacher"); ink: Tsukineko (black), Recollections (pale blue); Ribbon: Hobby Lobby; wood button: Michael's; Glossy Accents: Ranger; sanding block: Making Memories; sewing machine: Kenmore; quilting thread: Americana