Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking Magazine Special Thanks! Blog Hop

I am so pleased to be participating in the amazing blog hop that the fabulous Taheerah has organized in order to honor the incredible work and friendship that the ladies at PaperCrafts have created for all of us in this fabulous paper crafting community.  You are liking arriving from Jessica's blog.  Words truly can't express the sadness my heart feels from knowing that PaperCrafts will no longer be in existence. Over the years, the team has brought so much love and creativity in this community. From the cheers when you win a challenge, get published or watch a friend win one of the amazing competitions such as Gallery Idol, the whole time you know the focus was on bringing new creativity to an amazing paper crafting community and creating new friendships. I'll be forever grateful for the many friendships that the PC&S team has opened up for me.  Susan is our all time best cheerleader and connector of friends.  The card below thanking the PC&S team might seem a bit strange, but it is part of my story with PC&S.  Most of my cards picked up for publication had a religious theme. Susan always loved them and would encourage me to create more, so I thought it only fitting that my thank you card highlights a beautiful verse from Verve as a final thank you, but certainly never a goodbye to the PC&S team.

For your next stop, pop on over to Mariana's blog for continued inspiration and a wonderful tribute to the PaperCraft's team that has brought so much to this fabulous crafting community

Nothing is Impossible

Hi there, yesterday I showed my first card using my new Inspired by Audrey stamp set. Today, I have a completely different looking card using the same set.  So versatile.  I thought this sentiment was perfect for an entry into the Gallery Idol challenge at PaperCrafts.  It is definitely encouraging...and nothing is impossible, right?!

And...I have a second card to share with you.  Some days you need to roll with it and when it comes to my second card that is just what I'm doing.  I had time Tuesday night to create and I made this card.  I actually started with a 4x4 card but when I stamped the banners they were too close together to add the sentiment.  So I cut the 4x4 card and mounted it on a normal card base, added the sentiment and then messed around with a couple of larger ribbons before settling on the smaller ribbon.  Not my normal style.  Kept thinking about how I could add some more stamps and I'm not exactly happy with the end resutls.  But..not every day is perfect so any thoughts on how you'd change this are welcome. 

PS...this is my entry for this week's ColourQ :)

 

I'm a Cover Girl!

Happy Tuesday!  I have some super exciting news to share with you today!  You may have seen it over at PaperCrafts yesterday.  I'm going to be a cover girl on Card Creations:  Volume 10.  To say I was excited would be an understatement.  It's a great feeling to have a card published and WOW it is amazing to have your card on the cover.  My card is the Carpe Diem card on the right hand side. Thanks so much PaperCrafts!

And...I also wanted to leave you with another card.  I am really enjoying the sketch challenges at Retro Sketches.  This time I let the patterned paper do the talking.  Keeping the card extra simple.   

 

PaperCrafts Get Inspired Winner and a Couple of Cards too...

Good morning, I'm sneaking in for two things this morning!  First, to announce the winner of the Card Creations: Get Inspired!  Thank you so much for all of your wonderful comments.  How fun is that to receive so many entries?  Now...onto the winner!  Random.org picked #15 (sorry I'm arguing with my computer on how to get the random number thing to show on my screen.  And Cindy is our winner!  Cindy, I've emailed you for your address!  Thanks so much to PaperCrafts for this fun opportunity!

Cindy C. said...

Beautiful cards! Who could resist those lovely curves of the swirls and flourishes?!

December 2, 2011 8:42 AM 

Now onto a couple of cards today.  I have two last minutes entries into this week's ColourQ challenge. The first I liked, but wasn't thrilled with the result.  So, I decided to make another one!  Feel free to give your opinion on what you think :)  I'm off to get ready for the day...going shopping with my mum for Christmas presents for the boys!

Paper Crafts Magazine Presents: Card Creations: Get Inspired Blog Hop

Good morning!  Whenever I receive an email from one of the fabulous ladies at PaperCrafts, it is always a thrill to open it.  My most recent email was no exception.  Courtney Anderson emailed asking if I'd like to participate in the blog hop for Card Creations: Get Inspired.  I was thrilled to have five cards published in this magazine and even more excited to participate in the blog hop with so many talented designers to showcase this issue. The issue is based on every day inspiration:  items around your home, clothes you might wear, etc.  I loved creating submissions for this call and have thumbed through the issue several times already! There are so many ideas for inspiration:  shoes, sweaters, flower arrangements, candle holders, you name it...we can find inspiration!

So...onto today's blog hop!  Courtney asked us to pick something from our home that inspired us.  I picked this cross that is hanging in our master bathroom.  I love the pop of red and the flourish feel of the cross shape.  I always seem to gravitate towards flourishes and medallions so I was definitely inspired to use this for my cards.

I made two similar cards...both very CAS in style.  On the first one, I stamped PTI's Fancy Flourishes into each corner.  For my sentiment panel, I inked up the edges using three different Ranger Distress Inks:  Antique Linen, Brushed Corduruy and Barn Door.  The sentiment is a PTI sentiment stamped in Hero Art's Chalk Latte.  I rounded the corners, added a few buttons and we were ready to go!

My second card is very similar (and was actually the first one I created), but it is even more CAS.  For this one,  I stamped on PTI Vintage Cream with Ranger Antique Linen. I stamped the sentiment right on the paper and added a couple of gems to finish it off!

Now there are two giveaways to go along with this fun blog hop!  First, you can leave a comment here to win your own copy of Card Creations:  Get Inspired (which can also be purchased here) and you can hop on over to the PaperCraft's blog for a chance to win the fabulous Martha Stewart Craft Station shown below!  For the magazine giveaway, please be sure to leave your comment and email address prior to midnight EST on Saturday, December 3rd.  Thanks!

Happy hopping...be sure to check out all of the other fabulous creations from Get Inspired!

Chan Vuong

Kalyn Kepner

Kim Hughes

Carly Robertson

Kristin Tierney

Lorena Canto

Lynn Mangan (that's me :)!)

Sarah Moerman

Teri Anderson
Kim Kesti

Happy July 4th!

Hello there and Happy 4th of July!  I hope all my US friends are having a weekend filled lots of family and friends and thankfulness for our independence.

I'm popping in quickly to share a card for the current Paper Craft Color Inspiration Challenge.

This morning, Pat was dropping Ryan off at baseball and the little boys were all sleeping. I went down to my craft room which hasn't seen me for about a week!  I decided to punch stars out and tried to use my Hero Arts Envelope stamp.  I had to stamp it several times but the star image wasn't showing well, so I then added the blue color to make the stars clearer.  A little patriotic birthday card for today's celebrations!

I'll be back soon with a few pictures from our weekend...but I need to leave you with this one of my niece, Ella.  We were smiling about her 60s look with her headband and tied shirt that she wore for their neighborhood bike parade.  She was pretty intense with the watergun fight happening at Nana and PopPop's house earlier today!



CAS x 2

Hello there...popping in with two very clean and simple cards.  The first up is a Christmas card.  Yes, I know Christmas in April is crazy, but I saw the colors of the Play Date Cafe challenge this week and immediately thought of Christmas.  I love this candy cane paper but it is a fairly large print so I decided to keep the card extra simple.  On the sentiment strip, I stamped the polka dots from Practicing Creativity to add the blue and a little bit of dimension.  Ingredients:  My Mind's Eye Holly Jolly Paper; Stampin' Up Pink Pirouette; The Twinery Twine; Hero Arts Stamps; Stampin' Up Cherry Cobbler Ink

Next up is a quick wedding card for the current PaperCrafts Color Inspiration.  I stamped the leaves in gold on vellum and then using clear embossing powder to make them stand out a bit.  I stitched the vellum on to the shimmery white card stock and then adhered it to the card base... the result...an elegant wedding card.

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up Pink Pirouette; Shimmery White Cardstock and Vellum; PTI Turning a New Leaf and Verve Stamps; Kaiser Kraft Gems

Life Is Sweet!

Happy, happy Monday!  I have fabulous news to share.  For those of you who have followed my blog for a long time, you are aware of Ryan's classmate, Jake, who is battling neuroblastoma.  After 14 months of treatment:  surgery, chemo, bone marrow transplant and anti-body treatments, Jake's scans continue to be clear.  His most recent scans were last week.   He has been back at school for a few weeks now.   I am thrilled for him and his family.  We'll continue to pray for Jake and his whole family that as the weeks, months and years pass his scans continue to be clear.   Cancer is such a terrible disease especially in children.  Today, we can rejoice and for that I am thankful!

I'll be popping this card in the mail to Jake's parents today!  And...I'm entering in Amanda's blog hop for PaperCraft Submission rejections. So fun to check out everyone's submissions. Have a fabulous week!

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up Real Red; PTI Kraft; SRM Stickers

And here is a favorite that I submitted that didn't get picked up...love those arrows from Studio Calico's documentary kit!

Ingredients:  PTI Kraft; Stampin' Up Real Red and Whisper White Paper; PTI Birthday Stamps; Studio Calico Documentary DSP; SU Real Red and Baja Breeze Ink

Clean & Simple

It's hump day...half way through the week.  I'm off to Kansas City for work today...but have lots more Christmas inspiration to share with you over the next few days.  This first card is for the current PaperCrafts sketch challenge over on flickr.  I love this wreath.  So versatile for any time of the year.

Ingredients: Paper Company Red Cardstock; Stampin' Up Old Olive and Very Vanilla Cardstock; Ranger Distress Ink; Kaiser Kraft Gems; Hero Arts Stamps

This next card is for the Clean & Simple challenge this week.  Quick and easy...I'm loving Pink Pirouette and Cherry Cobbler together...color happiness. 

Ingredients:  Stampin' Up Cherry Cobbler and Pink Pirouette Paper/Ink; Just Rite Stamps