You're Better Than Ice Cream!!!

Hello and Happy Valentine's Day!! I hope you're all having (had) a great day with the people you love most. So far, I got to snuggle with my little girl. I love snuggling with her. No flowers or candy yet, but my hubby is not the kind of guy to diss his bride on Valentine's Day. I'm sure something special will happen before the day's end. I just have to be patient. I came up with a fun little gift for my husband, but I can't share it until he opens it first! Wouldn't that be terrible if he found out about his gift through a blog?

So, in honor of Valentine's Day, I am sharing a card I made for the Paper Crafts Magazine Stamp It! call. Unfortunately for me, it didn't get picked, but fortunately for you, I can share it with you right here and right now!

I call it "You're Greater Than Ice Cream." If you know me well, then you know this is the HUGEST compliment I can possibly give someone. Why? Because I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE ice cream, especially Graeter's Black Raspberry Chip. That is some good stuff, I tell ya. If you're ever in Columbus or Cincinnati, Ohio,  you gotta get it.

The alphabet stamps and ice cream cone are from Lawn Fawn. The hearts are an old set that I got from the dollar bin a long time ago. I drew the > sign.

Again, have a great Valentine's Day!

I am PINK!!

Just a quick post today. I don't have a card, but I have some news.

I am pink. Yes, it's true. I am pink. Actually, I am a design team member at Pink By Design. They make some adorable stamps. I am just thrilled.

I look forward to being a part of the team. Feel free to check out their site!!

For Cath (sans CHA) with Love Blog Hop

Hi everyone! This is a card I made for Cath Edvalson, the Super Duper Moxie Fab Trends Editor at Paper Crafts Magazine. Poor Cath was unable to go to CHA because she has been in some pain recently due to an injured rotator cuff. This is the first time in 6.5 years that she has had to miss it.

I have yet to go to CHA. I confess, I've been suffering from CHA envy this week. I want to go sooooo badly. I'm still trying to persuade my better half to take me to Chi town for the summer show. We'll see if I get to go. So, I sort of know how Cath must feel, except she is supposed to go for her job and she can't b/c she's in pain.:-(

Which is why some of us Moxie Fabbers decided to give her some cheer with a blog hop. We're making get well cards for her. I created my card with Stampin' Up! It's a Wrap Get Well stamp. I stamped it in multiple colors and then fussy cut them. I arranged them to look like band-aids in a box. Then I created the box with my Martha Stewart Scoring Board, stuck the "band aids" inside and decorated the outside of the band aid box with a red cross. I stuck a little heart embellie on it b/c I wanted Cath to know how much we love her. Mmmmwah! I hope you feel better soon and the docs can get you on the road to recovery!!

My card is only one of many (like 50-ish at last count!) I encourage you to click here to see the other beautiful creations at Virginia Lu's blog.

What? A mask? On Valentine's Day?

Hi everyone! I'm excited to show you my card, but this post is somewhat bittersweet. You see, it's my last card as a member of the Joy's Life design team. I loved being a part of it and I wish the best to all who are applying to be a part of the new team. Joy is so generous with her stamps. I'm going to keep using them for a long time.

Today's challenge is to use buttons. I used stamps from two different sets. First I created a mask. No, not the kind you wear during trick or treat, silly. This is Valentine's Day. We're talking love, hugs, kisses, candy and flowers. Not spooky ghosts and goblins! The kind of mask I'm talking about is a technique in which you cut out an image, place it over a piece of paper, and then stamp around it. When you remove the "mask", the image is revealed!

In this case, I used my Silhouette to cut out a heart. I placed the negative on top of a piece of white cardstock, stamped Love You from Joy's Life All Around Sentiments in a pattern of blue, red and yellow. When I removed the mask, a heart filled with the words "Love you" was revealed. Cool, huh!?! I embellished it with some smaller hearts, sticky gems and of course buttons!!

Then I stamped "Happy Valentine's Day" from Joy's Holiday Occasions set, cut it into a banner, layered it on top of black paper and popped it up.

Thanks for looking and happy crafting!! :-)

Rainbow Puzzle

Hiya everyone!! I decided to play in the Splitcoast Stamper's Inspiration challenge (IC320). I used to play in them a lot. Then I stumbled on some other challenges I wanted to try, which left me with little time for the Inspiration Challenges. I wish I could do all of them, but as a mother of two young, active children with sticky fingers, I have limited time.

Today, I'm doubling up on challenges. In addition to the Splitcoast Stamper's Inspiration Challenge, I'm submitting this card as my second entry for the Runway Inspired Challenge.

The Splitcoast inspiration piece I chose was a geometric puzzle with colors of the rainbow. (See below) The Runway Inspired Challenge inspiration piece is also a colorful dress/purse with all the colors of the rainbow (also pictured below).

I am very happy with the outcome of this. I confess, it was not an easy card to make. I used my Silhouette machine and created seven layered circles - six on the outside and one in the center. Then, using the weld feature, I dived them into separate images and then cut them in various colors. Next I had to create the top layer in white using the negative of the first image. I basically made a copy of the image and used the internal offset feature. Sounds confusing, huh!?! Don't fear, because I like all of you, and because I know this sounds very confusing, I am going to make things a lot easier and give you the Silhouette file for FREE! It will be posted on the Free Silhouette Files page at the top of my blog. Yay!!

Thanks and happy crafting, my friends!

My Card

Grimm's Iris Puzzle

Runway Inspired Challenge

Feeling Blue on the Runway!

Well, that title summarizes the card I made for the brand new Runway Inspired Challenge. The challenge asks cardmakers to find inspiration from the latest fashion trends. This week's fashion photo is a funky little dress from Vogue's 2012 Resort Collection.

My card was inspired by the colors of the rainbow. I also drew inspiration from the triangular handbag. When I first came up with the idea, I was stacking the paint cans beside eachother and on top of eachother. Then I looked at the photo a little closer and the light bulb above my head turned on - stack the paint cans like a pyramid!

I also wanted to play off the "blue" in the sentiment, so I strayed slightly from the ROY G BIV pattern and put the blue on top, tipped it over and made some blue drops of paint spilling out of it and a big blue puddle on the floor. I like the outcome!

Feeling Blue

Recipe:
Cardstock: Stampin' Up!, Recollections; Ink: Memento; Stamp: Inkadinkadoo; Tools: Silhouette SD

Inspiration: Vogue

Also, I wanted to remind everyone that ScrapStreet Magazine has a call for publication. Check out my post below for more information.

Sailing and Driving

  Hi everyone!! I have a couple cards to share, but first, I have a couple announcements!

The first announcement is actually a call for publication. Are you interested in seeing your work in a magazine? Want a badge on your blog letting everyone know you've been published? Well, here's your chance!! Even if you don't need a little ego booster, go ahead and submit anyway. Your creation may just make someone's day or inspire a fellow crafter. I am seeking scrapbookers and cardmakers - including those who design digitally - to submit their creations for the next issue of ScrapStreet Magazine.In particular, I am looking for projects that incorporate humor. Here it is:

Submission Call for the Spring 2012 Issue
of ScrapStreet Magazine

The Funny Side. Believe it or not, humor has been proven to be therapeutic. In fact, a recent study found that humor causes the brain to release endorphins that act as a natural pain killer! I guess laughter really is the best medicine!! Show us how you use humor in your cards or layouts. 

Deadline is midnight February 18th for all calls.

Please send your work to submissions@scrapstreet.com.

Please send a separate email for each submission you would like to be considered for publication. Please keep the image size around 600 x 600 pixels. Thank you!

If humor isn't your cup of tea (but I doubt that's the case) then consider submitting
to one of the other calls listed here.

Speaking of getting published ... I am very excited to announce that one of the cards I submitted to the July/August issue of Paper Crafts Magazine was selected for publication! I am over the moon, especially because there were 1,323 submissions and only 100 were selected. Sixty-five designers were chosen, including 10 newbies! I am one of the newbies! I can't post the card that made it, but I can share with you a couple cards I submitted that didn't make it.

Thanks for looking! 

What's Canoe With You  shaped card

Summer Drive for the sketch challenge

Sketch