Rainbow Aloha

Thanks to the hubby I've been able to get some time in for me to play!

So happy to finally have a day off from work and oncall and

 just be able to spend time in my crafty space. 

It truly is so therapeutic...haha.

I wanted to jump in to the latest Avery Elle Challenge

This was totally my kind of challenge as I realized I don't usually use too much white for 

my card bases.  I do love COLOR and went with this idea that popped in my head...

The Stay Fresh stamp and die set is one of my favorites from Avery Elle!

Super easy to do with die cutting a rainbow of cardstock from some scrap pieces and adhering 

to a black cardbase with multi medium matte glue.  Then I heat embossed the pineapple on 

vellum using Ranger Liquid Platinum powder and adhered with the same glue 

(tip: to keep the glue from showing through, I placed tiny dots 

in places where the stamp lines would cover).
I'm gonna enter this in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge as well:  Make it colorful!

Hope you liked this fun way to use your dies and a non white card base!

Mahalo for stopping by!!

Coloring With Sequins!

Yay for a long weekend!

I hope everyone stayed safe this 4th and had extra time to craft.

I've been dying to play with the new Avery Elle Stay Fresh

stamp set just because that pineapple is so trendy right now and of course for the fun sentiments!

Fun and cute right?!

I've been heat embossing in gold on vellum, watercoloring and today

coloring with sequins!!!

Today's card...

I thought it would fit right in to the latest AEIHeartUChallenge

I first die cut the pineapple on some teal cardstock in my stash and then 

penciled the outline of the pineapple on my card base.

Then the coloring began with several of the fabulous Avery Elle sequins in 

Lemonade, Evergreen and Kraft adhered with Multi Matte Medium glue.  

They are a blend of shades of color and 2 sizes in 5mm and 6mm all in one bag!

The sentiment finished the card panel and I adhered with foam tape.

That's my card for today!

Mahalo for stopping by!!

Brewing Up Wishes for the Summer Coffee Lover's Blog Hop

ALOHA!

This is my 3rd time being a part of this 

AWESOME

Coffee Lover's Blog Hop

and each time I get more and more excited by

the amazing inspiration and my ridiculous

cravings for COFFEE!!

Make it to the end of this post for a fun GIVEAWAY!

For today's card I used Avery Elle's Tea Time set
and actually got out a Halloween set as well.
Yup...Halloween!
I had an Inky Antics Halloween Frog set that had the
perfect sentiment I needed.

I started with stamping the leaves of Avery Elle's Thanks A Bunch,
then masked it and stamped the cup.
The cup was colored with copics and the birthday sentiment
is from Avery Elle's Party Animal.
(I LOVE that it fit perfectly)
I stamped out the flowers using Hero Arts Pink to Red Ombre Ink
and added some darker areas with
Distress Markers for a bit more shading and texture.
This was then all fussy cut and adhered with foam tape.
My Kraft card base info can be found HERE.
I die cut that yellow panel with Avery Elle's Finished Frames dies.

I hope you'll continue along the hop for your chance
at some amazing prizes from these super generous sponsors!

I've got a GIVEAWAY myself to give to one random commenter!
(US residents only....sorry)

I have this Lawn Fawn Scripty Love die perfect for any project!

Mahalo for stopping by!!!

Wish Big with Avery Elle and a GIVEAWAY!

As promised this is what I was working on...

Head towards the bottom for details on my giveaway!

I've had the Avery Elle Ellie stamp set sitting on my desk for a while.

Do you do that? 

 I find that if I put new purchases away I forget to use them!

So I end up with a pile on my desk which forces me to play, 

then I can put them away.

I took the dies from the Avery Elle Finished Frame Die set

to create a starry card panel...

See those stars? With my smaller dies I tend not to cut them a part.

I've always loved the look of those panel die cuts that have either falling hearts

or stars, but they can be a bit pricey.

I decided to use the stars on my card panel and die cut twice to create

my own starry background.  I used some distress inks in 

chipped sapphire, faded jeans, salty ocean and tumbled glass for an ombre look.

Behind the card panel I smooshed some Versamark and sprinkled with 

Judikins Egyptian Gold embossing powder, then heated for some sparkle.

That sweet elephant and stary balloon was watercolored with distress markers,

then die cut and adhered with foam tape.  For even more sparkle I splattered some

Wink of Stella in clear glitter...love how it reacts with distress inks!

I wanted to play along with the latest 

and 

Hope you all are having a great weekend!

As a little MAHALO to all who stop by,
I'm giving away a some crafty goodies I picked up during my shopping spree.

These cork stickers and felt clips were too darling not to pick up
and I would love to send them to one lucky winner!
Would love to hear from you.
You have until 4/20/15 at midnight to comment to win.

Mahalo for stopping by!!

Love and Kisses...another shaker card

I've been slowly recovering from the craziness 

of the holidays and really trying hard 

to get a head start on Valentine cards.

The guys at my work are already making their requests!

Today I'm playing with Avery Elle...

Avery Elle Fill in the Blank, Avery Elle Simply Labels, Avery Elle Needle Little Love

Hero Arts Shadow Inks in Bubble Gum, Passion Flower and Pale Tomato,

Doodlebug Designs Sequins, Simon Says Stamp Stitched Circle Die, Staz On Jet Black

I liked stamping out all those sweet hearts 

on the card front

trying to keep it simple from the 

pattern paper background.

I got the idea of stamping the sentiment on the acetate from 

Jennifer McGuire. I think it gave it a cool effect 

that you can hopefully see here...

I'll be entering this in the

Fusion Card Challenge

inspired by the colors and using the acetate window as

my "chalkboard."

Mahalo for stopping by!

I'll definitely be back to share more shaker cards!!

Fun Card Swap!

My sweet and fun Kitty Bee Designs teammate Shirl of Creations by Shirl had a fun idea of doing a Christmas card swap!  We were randomly paired up and I was paired with Shirl.  She totally spoiled me with more than a card, but lets take a look at her creation...

Cute right?!  That Kitty Bee Designs stamp can be found HERE.  I love all her die cut pieces for embellishments and of course the glitter!  MAHALO Shirl for this sweet card!  And this is how she spoiled me...

I can't wait to have time to play with them!

Curious on the card I sent?!  This is the card given to Shirl...

I had to use that sweet Kitty Bee Designs Christmas owl... added some Lawn Fawn paper with a Avery Elle die cut bell for fun!  It's hard to see but stickles was used for the hat trim and holly.

I'm quickly going to add this to the Simon Says Stamp Anything Goes since it has some Lawn Fawn paper!

Mahalo for stopping by!!

Sending Prayers

Some of you may or may not know that I travel frequently between Oahu (the island I live on) and Hawaii (AKA the Big Island) due to work.  Hurricane Iselle ended up doing a lot of damage over on the Big Island and I have a coworker that had her house damaged by an uprooted tree.  This coworker is an amazing person and so giving. She feeds me every time I'm at the office (because she thinks nurses don't get to eat or use the bathroom...haha (sometimes true ;o)  She's bubbly and always with a positive attitude and the most humbling thing about her...she never mentioned having her house damaged by the storm, is still going to work and is still without water or electricity since Thursday!

Our office is gathering up some funds to help out and of course I needed to make a card...

inspired by the latest AEIHeartUChallenge: Kraft

Anyone else spend waaaay to long on a design?  I first stamped out the bouquet.  This Avery Elle set has the perfect sentiments, and the build-a-bouquet set is so fun to ink up with various ink colors.  Then I knew I needed a Kraft card base...then what?!  My coworker has a bit o' pizazz so I needed something sparkly...so in came the sequins.  That bit of pattern paper is from Echo Park Everyday Eclectic which has some kraft colored design to it as well.  The edges of the bouquet panel was distressed with Soft Sand ink from Hero Arts to blend in a little better with the embossed, kraft cardstock.

That's it for me.  I so appreciate you stopping by and reading my blog!  MAHALO!!

**ETA-  when uploading my card I realized a lot of people used this stamp set!  Great minds think a like and have good taste...haha**

Birthday Balloons...a gender neutral card

I always seem to need a birthday card that's either reeeeally general or at least gender neutral.  You can't go wrong with balloons right?  I recently purchased this awesome Echo Park paper pad "For the Record 2" (on sale over at Butterfly Reflections Ink) and it had some awesome blues, teals and yellows...talk about fabulous color combo!

Here it is...

Aveyr Elle Simply Said Happy Die, Avery Elle Storybook, Avery Elle Handwritten Notes,

Echo Park For the Record 2 paper pad, copics, glossy accents, Memento ink in Tuxedo Black

I'm loving that Avery Elle word die!  I was a little worried about how thin and tall it was, but it really is just a fun font! I die cut the word again in black to give a bit of shadow because the blue pattern paper didn't pop as much as I wanted it too against the yellow background.  I added glossy accents for fun to the balloons to enter in the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge: Let's Be Clear

I was inspired by the recent CAS(E) this Sketch following this...

and since I used a word die will also enter the Moxie Fab World Challenge : Wonderful Words Challenge

Until next time...mahalo for stopping by!

Sooo hard!

Can anyone tell me why it is so hard to get back into the swing of things?!  I've not blogged in about a month and it's killing me!  I had 14 in-laws staying with us, the hubby and I had a mini vacay to celebrate our 10 year anni and days have gone by without any kind of crafting.  I don't really have an excuse anymore so I decided to just sit at my desk and force myself to make something!

I've been loving the inspiration in blogland, but why oh why can I not get out of this funk?!  Luckily my coworker placed an order for some cards and I got to work!

Lawn Fawn Louie's 123s die, Lawn Fawn Clark's ABCs, Lawn Fawn Hats Off to You

Delicata Gold ink and copics

Graduation party season is in full effect here so I've got tons of cards to make.  I needed to come up with a design that was easy to make multiples of and just change the colors of the background and the die cut numbers according to their school.  I wished the Delicata ink showed up better in the pic.

For my next card...

Memory Box Modern Landscaping die, Avery Elle Custom Panels die, Doodlebug Design pixie stick and flag,

Fresh Squeezed Stamp Father Knows Best, Sizzix circle die, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Distress Markers

So my coworker also wanted a golf themed Father's Day card and can you believe I didn't have a stamp set with that theme so I improvised a little.  With only having an evening to complete her order and using what I had, I think it's not too shabby.

I feel a little rusty jumping back into this after a month, but practice makes perfect right?!!

Mahalo for stopping by.  Thanks to my bloggy friends for checking in on me!  I promise I'll get back into the swing of things!!!

Storybook Birthday

Hi there!  I made some time to make another card using the latest Avery Elle release!  This time I used the Storybook set with matching dies (I'm a sucker for stamps and matching dies!) and can I just say there are soooo many sweet possibilities.

Here's what I came up with...

using the latest AEIHeartUChallenge as inspiration

So a few techniques on this card...I first die cut the circle and white heat embossed the grass and duck.  I colored in the little beak and feet with a copic and then used a Versamark pen to color it in to add clear embossing powder and then heat set.  I did this in order to keep my duck white and be able to color my background with distress inks.  I wanted my balloons to stick out and white heat embossed, die cut and added glossy accents to them.  They were foam taped on.  I wanted them to appear more raised which is why I ended up making the duck more a part of the background scene and allowing the balloons to shine...literally...hehe

The sentiment was cut using the die from the Custom Panels die set and stamping the sentiment from Handwritten Notes (it has a cool font).  Added some twine and there ya have it!

I'm gonna slip this one into the next Simon Says Wednesday Challenge as well.

Mahalo for stopping by!

Picking Up the Pieces Vol. 20: Watercoloring with Avery Elle

Happy Monday!  This is the first time...in a long time...I'm super happy the weekend is over!  Work has been crazy and being the oncall nurse has been even crazier.  I do love my job, but after several long days of not having a lunch, I'm beat!

Now on to my happy card...

Avery Elle Write It, Avery Elle Custom Panels Die, Tim Holtz Splatters Stencil, Clear Embossing powder, 

Distress Markers, Distress Ink Weathered Wood,Hero Arts India Ink Black

I was in love with the latest Avery Elle release...have you seen it!?  I placed my orders on release day (to make sure they didn't run out) and received it in the mail in 2 days!  Talk about speedy service!!  

The scripty font and the fabulous Custom Panels Dies were a MUST HAVE...of course among a few other sets that I hope to play with soon!

So I just traced over the words with distress markers and went over them with a water pen to bleed the colors. Then used the Tim Holtz Splatters stencil to create the background and die cut that funky panel.  I loved the look of the fountain pen so I just stamped a bunch of them and clear embossed to give it a slicker look.

I was inspired by the next Retro Sketches

I'll also be entering again in Virginia's View Challenge: Stencils.  If you haven't checked out her challenge...you must!  She has fabulous tips and inspiration every month and it truly motivates you to give it a try.

Mahalo for stopping by!

Trying Something New

Hello there!  I've been admiring the challenge called The Card Concept since its beginning, and finally made myself try a new style.  I admire that the challenge explains and shows examples of the various card styles and then encourages you to try one out.

Here's a snippet...

Can you guess which style I tried?  I'm hoping it's not too far off...remember this is my first go at this...haha!


So without further ado I've decided to try the freestyle collage...

Avery Elle Simply Labels and die, Avery Elle Laurels, Avery Elle Icon Fill in the Blank die, Tim Holtz Bubble Stencil, Doodlebug BonBon Twine, Doodlebug Sprinkles in Lily White, Memento ink in Rich Cocoa, Bamboo Leaves and Pear Tart, white embossing powder

So keeping to the theme colors I stamped out the Avery Elle label and die cut.  Then, stenciled the background after I white, heat embossed the laurels for a little "leafy" sprout among the die cut flowers.  I believe the flowers are actually an asterisk shape, but doubled them up to create whimsical blooms.  I used a sponge dauber around the laurels with a touch of brown for a little more detail.

This will also be entered in the

I actually liked how it all came together pretty quickly with having a theme color in mind.  Maybe that's the trick when doing freestyle collage!  

That's it for me!  Happy Hump Day and mahalo for stopping by!!!

Picking Up the Pieces Vol. 15 A Shaped Card

Hello.  Today I was inspired by this sweet little gift my coworker gave me for Christmas.

I'm super surprised that it has even lasted this long because I'm not known for having a green thumb!

I love this terrarium...totally low maintenance and just gorgeous!













So Avery Elle has this fun stamp set which is totally fun to stamp out and thought I'd enter in the AEIHeartUChallenge

 It's not my typical colorful and sparkly birthday card, but I'm trying to make some gender neutral card.

 

Avery Elle Bottle It Up, Hero Art Shadow Inks in Passion Flower, Green Hills, Field Greens and Soft Granite, Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and Potter's Clay, raffia

I love the idea of using the die shape to create the bottle shaped card.  Easily done by doing a partial die cut on the fold of a card.  The stamp set comes with all those fun plants and rocks and the little cork top too!  I just tied some raffia for fun and popped up the label with some foam tape. 

Here's another look...

So that's it for me!  Have a great week and mahalo for stopping by!!

A Butterfly Hello on Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!  Before I get to today's card I wanted to share these cute hand knit monkeys my mom whipped up for my son to pass out to his classmates...

 Thank goodness my husband volunteered to put together all the goodie pails for both kids.  He was once told by his family that he "wraps better than Santa's elves."  I agree because he made them look so festive!

And here's the reason for these festive pails...

Sibling love!

Now on to my card...

Hero Arts Butterflies CG130, Tim Holtz Burlap Stencil, Gelatos, Avery Elle Bottle It Up, Sizzix Embossing Folder, We R Memory Keepers washi tape, Kraft cardstock, Hero Arts India Ink Black

I was inspired by the next Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Get Krafty and the photo and sketch on Fusion Card Challenge

Here's a closeup...

I also wanted to enter the next Moxie Fab Challenge: Happy for Hexagons but could you believe I do not own one hexagon stamp or die?!  I kept thinking I could use my e-clips to cut some hexagons, but found this cool washi tape in my stash.  Hoping it counts ;o)!!

So that's it!  I'm totally excited to have a 3 day weekend!!!  Mahalo for stopping by.

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!