let freedom ring

So like I said earlier in the week, you'd be seeing this Verve stamp set (American Hero) a bit more! It is Independence Day time after all ;) This is a card I'm really proud of... not just because it turned out just as I'd envisioned it, but also because I won one of Creating Keepsakes' 40K Fan Facebook contests with it! We were asked to use the "window" technique, and I was chosen as the winner of the challenge! Exciting!! :D

Don't forget!

Today's the last day to enter BLESSINGS during checkout at my Etsy shop to receive 30% off!

rainbow run beside you

This card is for Embellish's Rainbow Color Trends Challenge! I'll admit, rainbows are a bit of a challenge for me. I knew I wanted to use twine, and after a few different ideas, this is what I settled on. Did anyone else ever make embroidery floss necklaces and stuff, with the different "staircase" stitches and such? Well I know I made a lot, and this was one technique for making necklaces- you twist the strands really tight, fold the strands in half, and then let them unwind- they end up winding around each other, and I always thought it looked neat :) I added a Unity sentiment stamp and some gems and there ya go!

birthday sweetness

This birthday card is CAS and would be great to make in bulk, like if you wanted to use it as a birthday party invite! I used the colors from CR84FN Challenge #32... great summer colors! I had originally envisioned the card being a bit smaller, but because the sentiment was larger, I kept the card a standard A2... I might use another birthday sentiment and make it again :) This card uses the brand new June Unity KOM!

simple thank you

So this is my first time playing along at CASE Study Challenge Blog, but I have a feeling I'll be playing along a lot! Hehe... this month's muse is Jill Foster, and here is her card...

And here is my card...

And if it's not already obvious what I CASE'd...

- the colors and shape from Jill's card

- echoed her sunshine with my gold circle

- super excited that my gold paper had a similar "paint splatter-ish" pattern, kinda like Jill created

- stamped dark blue flowers

- a thank-you sentiment

- added off-white pearls instead of off-white twine

the fourth

And post two of the day! Here's a fun little card that I created for two challenges... first I used the colors from ColorQ 90, then added in some fun border punches which is the challenge over at CAS-ual Fridays! This card is a bit more "busy" than I usually make, I'll admit, and it didn't turn out quite as I imagined, but it's fun nevertheless :) This card features a stamp from Verve's American Hero- you'll be seeing me use this set a bit in the future!

a couple o' cuppas

So originally this card was going to have a cute saying tied onto the handle of one of the cups, and this card was going to be much smaller, and there wasn't going to be any black... well, even though this card turned out much different than I anticipated- I like it! :) Though I might try and make the original card I had in mind at a later date... we shall see ;)

Anyhoo, this is for Color Cue {16}- love these challenges! :)

P.S. I'll be back later today with another post! I've had a lot of time in the studio lately, and so I have lots of cards to share :D

.: supplies :.

Stamps: Verve, PTI

Ink: Memento, Martha Stewart

June Papertrey Blog Hop

Today's the PTI June Blog Hop! This month there's an inspiration photo. Last night Dawn McVey posted said photo, and I got right to work! I knew I wanted to do colorblock and finally decided on doing a bookmark. I lined up my scrap bits on a piece of cardstock (great way to use up scraps!!) then trimmed them out to the right size. Next I ran it through the embossing plate, stamped out the sentiment, added some ribbon, twine, button, and gems! There ya go :) Head on over to the blog hop to see more fabulous PTI projects!!

.: supplies :.

stamps: All Booked Up {PTI}

ink: Memento chalk ink "Perfect Plumeria"

other: Bookprint Impression Plate {PTI}, Bookmark die {PTI}

bee you FWF

Happy Friends with Flair Friday, ya'll! Have you seen the new Simple Story releases over at Unity?! Oh my word, they're fabulous! Head on over to the Unity store and check them out- you won't be sorry ;)

Today's card features stamps from this February's KOM "the best is yet to be," and I even did a little something out of the ordinary for me... I stamped a sentiment inside! It was originally supposed to go on the outside (in the corner where the bow and pearls ended up), but it just seemed too big, so I put it on the inside instead! :)

I'm also participating in the Unity Kit of the Month Sketch Challenge for June! I flipped the sketch around, turned it on its side- it was a toughie for me! Angled lines are always hard for me... I like things all horizontal and vertical, hehe- but I even played up the angles by mimicking them with the twine around the corners.

Cake USA

Less than 24 hours after I made the cake pictured here... two-thirds of it is gone... and there's only two people in our household :) LOL, that is why I do not make sweets more often- they're gone almost before I even finish making them! hehe... Oh, and if you're wondering why the cake is so short, it's because it's a spelt cake (we're a low/no gluten household) and I'm still playing around with leaveners.

Anyways, DH has been having a rough time at work, so I decided to make him a cake, and dress it up a little! I made the cute little bunting, and after it vacated the cake, it took up residence as part of our patriotic mantel (pictures coming soon!).

I made the super simple twine balls whilst watching a movie. So simple and they are a great "filler" for any decor piece. I chose to put them in a cut-crystal piece that I bought at Disney World a few years ago. The twine was leftover from a wreath I made- tutorial coming soon! :)

There's a fun new challenge blog on the block- Decorate to Celebrate! -and their theme right now is Independence Day, so I'm playing along!

Don't forget my special going on at my {Etsy shop}!!

Enter the word BLESSINGS at checkout and receive 30% off your purchase!

I've extended this through the 4th of July weekend :)

dare to be different

It's been quite a while since I participated over at Embellish, and their challenges are always so fabulous! So this card is for their background stamping color trends challenge :) It uses the trio of shoes image from Unity's Jan 2011 KOM To the moon and back, stamped on a diagonal many times. I paired it with a Verve sentiment, added a few pops of color using the challenge colors and there ya go! Super simple card, but I'm really loving those shoes as a background stamp!

Posting more Etsy stuff this evening!!

So don't forget! In honor of my etsy grand re-opening, a coupon code just for you, my lovely blog readers and friends.... enter

BLESSINGS

in the coupon code and get

30% off!!

{visit my ETSY store here!}

The code will be good through the end of the month!

sew in love

It's been a while since I've done a Moxie Fab challenge, so I decided to take part in their I'm Sew Excited challenge... this card started out completely different- I cut out the heart with the intent of using that for this card, but then I saw how cute the negative image was left in the fabric... so I took it and ran with it. Sewed the word love, stitched some "x"s, put the buttons and pins on, distressed the card edges, and lastly stitched some zigzags in the lower corner.

Don't forget! In honor of my etsy grand re-opening, a coupon code just for you, my lovely blog readers and friends.... enter

BLESSINGS

in the coupon code and get

30% off!!

{visit my ETSY store here!}

The code will be good through the end of the month!

button notes

Today I have finally found some good lighting in our new home! :) Yay! *and there was much rejoicing* hehe, it's not perfect, still gotta tweak, but it's very promising... so I decided to take part in Moxie Fab's Tuesday Trigger, just for fun! I played up the colors in the trigger photo for my card...

Don't forget! In honor of my etsy grand re-opening, a coupon code just for you, my lovely blog readers and friends.... enter

BLESSINGS

in the coupon code and get

30% off!!

{visit my ETSY store here!}

The code will be good through the end of the month!

Happy Father's Day weekend

Happy Father's Day weekend :) Just wanted to drop in and share the card I made for my dad. Similar to the card that I shared for my brother's graduation, I wanted to use the folder die to make a spot to slip in my gift cards! And of course another opportunity to use some Unity stamping, so I'm playing along again at ATU's Get Manly challenge #33! Also playing at The Sisterhood of Crafters.

This card started out very differently, but ended up pretty cool- and this was another case of "I forgot to photograph it before I flew to my parents' house, so I improvised a photo session on their front porch, hehe."

On father's day we also take the opportunity to give extra thanks to our Lord Father who loves us as His children :) SSCC #93 has a great little devotional on it this week!

Don't forget! In honor of my etsy grand re-opening, a coupon code just for you, my lovely blog readers and friends.... enter

BLESSINGS

in the coupon code and get

30% off!!

{visit my ETSY store here!}

The code will be good through the end of the month!

rockin teen grad FWF

Happy Friends With Flair Friday, ya'll! :D

So this photo shoot was a little improvised... this is a graduation card for my baby bro- he just graduated high school! I flew up north to see his graduation and forgot to take photos of the card before I left! So I set up my photobooth on my parents' front porch :) Hey, it worked out pretty good!

I'm really excited about how this card turned out :) I started with the idea to use the folder die as a place to put a gift card, and my brother loves music, so I knew I wanted to use the boom box stamp, then I added a few more KOM stamps...

:: boom box from Dec 2009's KOM "Delightful Moments"

:: "you rocked it" sentiment from Mar 2010's KOM "Rockin' it Unity Style"

:: "congratulations" from Jan 2011's KOM "To The Moon & Back"

Then I added on some bling and stars and there ya have it! :) Definitely a rockin teen style grad card!

Perfect for All Things Unity's "Get Manly" challenge too!

Don't forget! In honor of my etsy grand re-opening, a coupon code just for you, my lovely blog readers and friends.... enter

BLESSINGS

in the coupon code and get

30% off!!

{visit my ETSY store here!}

The code will be good through the end of the month!

new Etsy bookmarks and inventory

Just posted my newest round of inventory on Etsy! The two bookmarks shown below are among some of the items I added today :)

{visit my Etsy shop here}

Don't forget! In honor of my grand re-opening, a coupon code just for you, my lovely blog readers and friends.... enter

BLESSINGS

in the coupon code and get

30% off!!

The code will be good through the end of the month!

Grand Re-opening Week

Hello all! It's that time of the week... yup, it's my

Etsy Grand Re-Opening!!!

And in honor of my grand re-opening, a coupon code just for you, my lovely blog readers and friends.... enter

BLESSINGS

in the coupon code and get

30% off!!

The code will be good through the end of the month!

I've turned this re-opening into a week-long event... each day I'll be adding more goodies to my store... for tomorrow, I already have 7 more cards ready to add and some bookmarks, and who knows what else I might be adding! Check back each day for some new inventory!

USA mini-banner

U-S-A! Hehe, being a military family, patriotic decor is up year-round. This particular piece I made for Memorial Day and will be staying up until 04 July... if not longer ;) Sorry for the delay in posting- I've been away for my baby bro's high school graduation!

It was super simple to create... find old frame, remove glass, cut fabric to fit in frame, cut mini banner, attach to twine, affix letter, and voila- instant decor! It's currently residing on our mantel (woohoo! our new home has a mantel! be assured there will be many a manteldecorations to come hehe!)... I'll post a pic of the entire mantel once it's completely dressed up for the season! I started decorating it for Memorial Day, and maybe by the 4th of July it'll actually be complete ;)

And don't forget...

June 15th, this Wednesday evening,

my Etsy shop is re-opening!

and a discount code posted on here

just for you, all my lovely blog readers :D

sunshine and twine

I made a similar card a while back {here}, and just really loved the combo of a sentiment along with the great sunshine stamp from Unity's Oct 2009 KOM, Where you go. This card definitely has a different feel to it than the last one- we've got a different color scheme happening with some brighter bold colors. Love my Twinery twine, so I added some of that in lieu of a ribbon. Not sure which card I like better... but you can bet you'll see me pulling out this sunshine stamp again- love it! :)

simple sympathy

Here's a simple sympathy card I made recently. I paired up two Unity KOMs {Jan 2011 and Feb 2011} with a little Basic Grey paper, a button, some twine, and a few bits of bling. I have two shades of grey ink, and I feel like I really need a third! The one I used here is a bit lighter than I was going for... but my other ink is a really deep grey, which I didn't want. Oh well, I guess that just means I need to head out for a little shopping! ;)

Happy Monday, my bloggy friends!

celebrate! it's your day

{please excuse the less than perfect photos- still setting up the craft room and finding the best light in our new home!}

Here's a birthday set I recently made for an order! This card definitely went through a few stages... it started out with just the asymmetrical border, cake, celebrate, and ribbon.... then came along the extra bling... and then came along the "it's your day!" The inside says a simple Happy Birthday. I'm pretty happy with the final turnout :)

love love love

{please excuse the less than perfect photos- still setting up the craft room and finding the best light in our new home!}

Just dropping in to participate in Unity's FWF! Love me my Unity ;) For today's card, I whipped out two Unity KOMs: the "love" stamp is from Jan 2010 Savor the Journey and the hearts are from Nov 2010 Picture Perfect. I got the LO from Tiff's Sketchy Sunday {TG022} and the colors from the Totally Hues Color Challenge #7 {whoops! missed the deadline for that one, but wanted to give credit anyways!}. After my lil moving hiatus, I'm having fun getting back into a few fun challenges! Enjoy your weekend everyone! :)