Picking Up the Pieces Monday Vol. 9: Make your own pattern paper

It's Monday again and I'm playing with the next Seize the Sketch shown below...

Loved the simplicity of it and perfect to make a bunch of cards to send out on Valentine's Day!

Fresh Squeezed Stamps The Envelope Please, Fresh Squeezed Stamps Say Anything, Memento Luxe ink in Angel Pink and Love Letter, Hero Arts Shadow ink in Red Royal, Avery Elle Berry Blend Sequins

I decided to make my own pattern paper stamping out the xo's in a chevron like pattern then cutting out the banner.  Added a couple of kisses and sentiment and there ya have it! 

Here's to wishing you a simple and sweet Monday...kinda like the card!

I Believe in Embossing

YES!  It's Friday...and the best part is I'm not oncall!  This weekend I plan to spend as much time with my kiddos as possible.  They are growing too quickly for my liking.  My favorite moments are listening to them chat in the backseat about Christmas.  They are getting excited and its very contagious.  My 7 year old is on the fence about Santa, telling her brother that she believes in Santa, but thinks that moms and dads have a lot more to do with presents then Santa does.  Oh if I could just stop time and keep them believing forever!

On to my card following this week's CAS(E) this Sketch

Fresh Squeezed Stamps On Trend, Fresh Squeezed Stamps Words to Live By, Versamark, Judi Kins Diamond White embossing powder, clear embosing powder, Avery Elle Winter Blend sequins, Quickutz Santa's Sleigh

I have had that Santa's Sleigh die for years and absolutely love it!  Every year I bring it out and add him to just about every  holiday creation I can.  I thought it perfect for the sketch...

I tried to capture the bling of the sentiment...

Do you guys have any holiday item (die, embellishment, stamp, etc.) that has to be used each year during the holidays?  I'd love to hear about it! 

A Crafty Day

What a great day it's been!  The hubby has been taking care of the kiddos while I've been (*wink, wink) trying to clean up the craft room.  Nothing like cleaning up when an inspiration image comes to mind and (*sigh) the cleaning must stop...hahaha!

I've been wanting to try Distress Paint for a while and finally broke down buying 1 bottle in Picket Fence.  What was I going to do with it you ask?  I had no idea, up until now!  I was inspired by the rainbow of colors in the next Pinspired Challenge and thought I'd also enter Moxie Fab World: Color Media Challenge.  I'm hoping Distress Paint counts as a type of media?!

Fresh Squeezed Stamps Weather Through, Fresh Squeezed Stamps Subway Series: Basic, Distress Paint in Picket Fence, Memento inks in Lady Bug, Tangelo, Cantaloupe, Dandelion, Bamboo Leaves, Bahama Blue, Danube Blue and Lilac Posies, Washi Tape, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, Hero Arts paper flower, Doodlebug Sprinkles in bubblegum, white embossing powder, Kraft cardstock, Kraft Core Shattered Collection in black

I LOVE the effect!  The down side...waiting for the paint to dry!  I loved the layered effect of stamping on the paint, then the rainbow rays and then the subway stamp...totally fun...and why not throw a bit of washi in there too!

Here's the Pinspiration...

Mahalo for stopping by!!!

Feeling Creative

Well hello there friends!  So I saw this week's Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger and just about past it up.  I kept coming back to it because of the rainbow colors and knew I had to take on the challenge.  I tried vellum and acetate paper, but it just was not turning out the way I wanted.  The lines called to me and the lightbulb finally went on today...I had this great set from Fresh Squeezed Stamps that I had not inked up yet and felt it was the perfect effect!

Check out the trigger...

And my take on it...

Fresh Squeezed Stamps Background Check, FSS Words to Live By, Memento Inks in Tuxedo Black, Lady Bug, Tangelo, Dandelion, Bamboo Leaves, Bahama Blue and Danube Blue, Neenah CS and Kraft. Studio Calico wood birds

I loved that I was able to stamp out an array of colors...makes me happy!  Hope everyone is having a great week...the weekend is almost here... YAY!!!

Back to Work

Happy Tuesday everyone and mahalo for stopping by!  I needed a quick birthday card to give to my coworker's daughter who just turned 14.  I kept thinking can't go too cutesy, but still wanted it to be fun.  When I can't figure out what I'm going to do I always find a sketch to follow and then choose a pattern paper pad to work with and let the paper talk to me...hehehe

I love my Glitz Cashmere Dame Paper Pack for layering because it doesn't add too much bulk and the patterns are retro and trendy!  I heat embossed Fresh Squeezed Stamps Subway Series: Basics for a fun sentiment and added some star stick pins for pizazz! 

Here's the sketch from Fusion Card Challenge that I followed

That's it for me!

More time to play!

I LOVE when holidays end up on a Monday!  The kids love when they can stay up late (try as they might they still fall asleep before 9pm) and I love that I can recover from the weekend of running errands.  I thought I'd enter the Curtain Call challenge with the theme of Back to School.  I've been meaning to make little notes for my kids' lunchboxes and found this to be the perfect inspiration to getting started.

Isn't that bee a cutie?!?  I'm so in love with her glasses.  Still practicing my copic marker skills...lol.  Here's the full card...

Kitty Bee Design stamp, Fresh Squeezed Stamp Words to Live By, Lawn Trimmings Hemp cord, copic markers, Distress Markers for sentiment, Stickles Star Dust, Glossy Accents, Sizzix Fancy Frame Die

 I thought I'd make a shaped card for a little fun and loosely followed this week's Seize the Sketch  , but quickly realized I missed the deadline...will have to try again next time!  Hope you all had a fabulous weekend and enjoy your extra day off.  MAHALO for stopping by!!!

Paper Made Bakery: Toot -a- Loo!

Where did this month go?  Aloha friends and thanks so much for all your support and lovely comments!  I'm so blessed and appreciate everyone hopping over to Paper Made Bakery to check out my latest posts as a Guest Designer.  This has been a dream come true for me!  I'm so sad to say this is my last post as Guest Designer for Paper Made Bakery playing with the One Scrappy Dame Kit.  There might be a kit left so go check it out!

I would love it if you could stop by Paper Made Bakery to see the entire card.  I had a ton of fun making it!  Here's the kit one last time...just look at all the goodies in there to play with!

Again MAHALO for your support and TOOT-A-LOO!!!

Paper Made Bakery Guest Designer: Favor Envelope

Hey Everyone!  It's Thursday and ya know what that means...I'm playing with my PMB kit!

What's this you say?!?  Well you'll have to find out and head on over to the Paper Made Bakery Blog to see what I've done with the latest One Scrappy Dame Kit that might still be available.  No guarantees though as these things go fast!  Check out all the goodies below...

I would LOVE it if you left me some bloggie love over at Paper Made Bakery!  Mahalo!!!

Paper Made Bakery: Bloomin' Thanks

It's my turn again to show off the amazing Paper Made Bakery kit One Scrappy Dame!  The kit has everything you need to make several projects be it cards, scrapbook layouts or giftable items.  Check it...

I made a card this week.  Here's a little sneaky peek...

 

I would love it if you checked out the whole project over at Paper Made Bakery!

Wanna get a kit of your own...click here  to see if there's any left.  Mahalo and Happy Thursday!!!

Across the Miles

I've had my Colorado family on my mind a lot these past few weeks, just missing my Colorado sister and longing to go on vacation!  I wanted to play with a few of my Fresh Squeezed Stamps that I have not inked up yet and came up with this little scene.  I truly wish I was on that airplane!

Fresh Squeezed Stamps The Envelope Please, FSS Weather Through, FSS Background check, Sizzix Frame Die, Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black and Danube Blue, Distress Ink in Salty Ocean, Faded Jeans and Tumbled Glass, Lifestyle Crafts Embossing Folder, Versamark, Clear Embossing Powder

I went with shades of blue to enter the Tuesday Trigger: I'm craving Navy  

I loved the frames sitting on the shelf which inspired me to frame my scene.  Do you like that little piece of "water" by the homes...I love how distress inks react with water!  I've also made the scene monochromatic to enter this weeks Simon Says Challenge as well.  

Mahalo for stopping by...have a great rest of your week!

Paper Made Bakery: Hello Beautiful!

Every Thursday I will be joining Paper Made Bakery to show off their latest kit.  Check it out below...

There's soooo many goodies and I had so many ideas!  I can't wait to show you all the projects I created with just this one kit.  This week I decided to face my fears and make a scrapbook page...the kit makes it so easy to make a layout.  Here's a sneak peek...

I would absolutely LOVE it if you stopped on over Paper Made Bakery to check out the entire page...I promise it's worth it!  If you want to buy a kit of your own click here!!

I'd be more than happy to answer any questions you may have of the kits or of PMB itself.  I've truly enjoyed being a subscriber...it's the perfect way to treat yourself or a special someone!

Cloudy Skies

Happy Wednesday everyone!  It's my day off and I've got a ton of errands to run, but not before I enter the newest challenge on the block...Seize the Sketch

I loved the angle, but couldn't figure out keeping the lines.  Everything I tried from washi tape to border stamps...for some reason just didn't feel right.  I decided to turn the sketch upside down and the light bulb came on!  Here's what I came up with...

Fresh Squeezed Stamps Weather Through, Darice Lattice Embossing Folder, Memento Ink in Danube Blue, Dandelion, London Fog and Tuxedo Black, ColorBox Sky Blue ink, American Crafts Soho Garden Pattern Paper

Here's the sketch...

Thanks for stopping by.  Come back tomorrow where I'll have another post with Paper Made Bakery 

as this month's Guest Designer!

Paper Made Bakery Guest Designer!!!

Happy Friday All!  I'm so honored and happy to announce being this month's Paper Made Bakery Guest Designer!  I'm among some super talented designers and can't believe I get to show off this months One Scrappy Dame Kit.  Check out all the AMAZING goodies...talk about EYE CANDY!!!

The Glitz Paper Pack has some fabulous pattern paper and this particular one I chose reminded me of a cozy blanket which led me to my design and choice of sentiment...

I always need Feel Better Soon cards for my patients and the kit had that fabulous ribbon and giant rhinestone.  Finished it off with the stamped sentiment from Fresh Squeezed Stamps Set (also included in the kit) and that's my finished card!  I'll be back every Thursday for more projects using the fabulous kit so stay tuned!!

Want to win a Mini Fresh Baked Kit of your own?!?  Hop along :

Jenn Shurkus
Melissa Shea
Niki Garcia *you're here!*
Tenia Nelson

Leave a comment and enter through the rafflecopter below!  Want this fabulous kit...grab it now!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Springy Birthday

Hope everyone is having a great week so far!  Before I introduce my card I wanted to share my new word for the day...bokeh.   I'll be honest and tell you I had to look it up.  It's the out of focus area that you may see sometimes in photo backgrounds.  I didn't even know there was a word for it...lol!  I've always loved the look in pictures and wanted to incorporate it into my background like in the photo of the next Pinspired Challenge.

I tried a few different techniques with distress inks and my water pen, but they weren't coming out quite like I wanted them to.  I decided to do clear embossing with a background stamp and used a bunch of distress inks to create the color like in the photo.

My layout is from the next Freshly Made Sketches challenge...

And because I finally broke out my Fresh Squeezed Stamps I will also be entering in their Squeeze-a-Palooza challenge with the theme of Spring!  I'll share a tidbit I learned from Chari Moss about using the back of your clear stamps to create some shading as seen on the edges of the bottle.  Super fun to do...go try it!

If you like my card head over to Squeeza-A-Palooza Challenge and vote for me!  Much Mahalo!

Splash of Color

Got a quick post playing with Fresh Squeezed Stamps to enter the next Pinspired Challenge that uses beautiful colors and triangular pattern that made me think of this umbrella.

 I kinda wanted everything to be black and white to make the umbrella stand out.  Even popped up the front of the umbrella with foam tape.  Hoping the simplicity makes the colors and triangular shape stand out.

The quilt made me think cozy and lovey, kinda like the potty people together under the umbrella!

And a closeup...

So that's it for me!  HAPPY FRIDAY!