Merci Beaucoup!

Happy Monday, friends!

How was your Fourth of July? Did you enjoy some flag cake and fireworks? BBQ? Potato Salad? Mmm..it's good to be an American! :)

We had a nice day and just laid low. Had a picnic with the kiddos...took in some beautiful country scenery...good stuff!

Now, I trust you won't be offended if I load some more french on this front page.

It's pure coincidence that I featured those Fancy French Bloomers last week and that this week I've got a french sentiment going on. See what I mean:

I'd been meaning to try out some phonebook pages on a card..it was suggested over at the Papercrafts blog, and I'd been noodling it over ever since. I think it's kinda cute. The other papers are from Cosmo Cricket's De Lovely collection.
That cute chick is from the Basic Grey set "Green at Heart". The whole set is so darn cute and HANDY for thank yous. (And CHEEP CHEEP for only $6 over at Two Peas!) Isn't that chic supah sweet? I watercolored him as well as the sentiment bubble with some reinkers onto Arches hot press watercolor paper.

I love a good simple "Thank you very much/Merci Beaucoup". They always get used as I find myself ever in debt to someone's kindness, generosity, goodness, etc.

I think people should use more thank you cards. It makes you reflect on what you're blessed with as you write in it..and "a thankful heart is a happy heart"(-veggie tales).

When was the last time you sent out a thank you?

Hugs,

Fancy French Bloomers

Hey friends! Happy Monday!

You ready to see some fancy french bloomers? Ha!

Not THAT kind. You'll see.

First, let's start with the french part.

The other day I was in the mood to make a sepia card. And I thought this image from Rubber Romance would be perfect:I used Walnut Stain distressing ink from Tim Holtz for all the sepia coloring. My other fav part of it? The gold trim under the chocolate chip ribbon (Webster's Pages trim). I chose to leave it sentiment free, since I already had a lot going on here. Perfect for a quick thanks or HB!

Then..Ahh..then...I needed thank yous. :)

I had my gallbladder out a few weeks back and the sweet ladies from my church went over and above taking care of me with meals and visits to help with my babies. I'm blessed ya'll!

So here are some quick thanks I whipped up trying to use my Webster's Pages bloomers:
All I did was color coordinate each piece of bloomers with my cardstock so that the emphasis was on the bloomers without being too overwhelming. Then I picked the the "thanks for everything you do" sentiment (Basic Grey), and did some fancy piercing with my Ornare template. Simple yet beautiful, dont'cha think?

I have to tell you, I had been hogging these bloomers. I didn't want to use them all up...but like with everything in papercrafting, if you don't use it..it just sits and the wow is wasted. Now, I only used half of them for all of these cards...BUT I'm proud of myself for letting go a little. Ha! :)

What have YOU been hogging? Use it up and link it so I can view your wow!

Hugs,

Inkadinkado Reviews

This past week we put up another review on SCS! This time the product review team tried out some brand new inks from Inkadinkado.

I got to try out their Primary Chalk inks:

~"Warhol Butterflies" panel was stamped with Inkadinkado Butterflies inchies, stamped and watercolored with their chalk inks.

~"Banner Friends" banner made with Cosmo Cricket's DeLovely collection.

Their dye inks:

~"Wee Butterfly" used K&Co. Amy Butler designer mat papers.

And their pigment inks:

~"Bleached Fairy Butterfly" was stamped on PTI's Poppy cardstock with bleach and the sentiment was stamped with pigment ink, heat embossed with clear embossing powder, and then bleach brushed over the top.

It was a suprah fun review! Click on over to see what the other review ladies made over there!

Hope Summer has finally arrived on your doorstep! :)

Hugs,

Mangled Mermaid

Hey there!

I hadn't gotten to post in a couple of weeks- sorry about that folks! There's been some stuff going on in my life (of which I'll explain in a later post). For now though...a card I made a couple of weeks ago...and it's sad sad story.

"Once upon a time, I made a mermaid card...."

"and it was lovely, and beautiful (if I do say so myself!). And then...then...my daughter found it before I could take a picture of it.

And she took it away. To the backyard playground. She played with that mermaid in the tower. On the swings. Down the slide. In.the.dirt. And then when all the fun was up she left that mermaid in the playground bark bits...just laying there. Unwanted. Unloved. Thoroughly desolate. Without a prayer of being sent. The End"

That's the story.

Isn't it sad? I mean...I know the cards don't stay prestine once they leave my home. I try not to think of the horrors that happen to my little lovelies once they leave my hands. It gives menightmares sometimes...I jolt awake saying things like "not the jelly! Not the JELLY!" *shudder*

But still. They usually get the chance of LEAVING in one piece. *sigh*

Oh well. It was loved while it lived.

Did it ever.

Mysteriously the Mermaid remained in pristine condition...I'm perplexed.

Was this an act of love..or terrorism? :)

What do you think?

Hugs,

P.S. Said mermaid and darling sentiment are A Muse.

My 12 Father's Day Cards

Hola!

I'm ahead of the holiday card game! *happy hop* It feels gooooood! :)

Check out the 12 Father's Day cards I cranked out yesterday:

It all started for me last month when I saw the 6x6 pad of Basic Grey's Max and Whiskers paper. I thought it looked too perfect for words for masculine cards. I didn't end up ordering it until last week, but was I right or what?!? Perfect for Father's Day.

So these started with the paper and that I wanted the white base with the Walnut Stain Tim Holtz distress ink sponged on the edges. Then I discovered happiness in my box of A Muse yummies: Superhero, Cityscape, and Super Dad stamps. Add in that little strip of A Muse ribbon, a little dimensional and WHAM-O! A super Dad's Day card. :)

Yes, I did cut out 12 of those Superheroes.

Around numero QUATRO I wanted to gauge my eyes out.

But I didn't.

And I'm glad I didn't.... I like all 12, but mostly I like my eyes. :D

How lucky am I to know 12 fantastic fathers? And to have most of them as family? Blessed!

Have a great rest of the weekend! :)

P.S. I got the thumbs up from my hubby on these. They are manly enough and have no glitter, bows, or flowers anywhere. Though, he says that the superhero could stand to use P90x. ;)

Buttons Buttons EVERYWHERE!

Hey there!

Today I'm playing along with this month's Dirty Dozen/Dirty Dozen Alumni Challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers.

Can I just take a second here to tell you something? There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think "I can't believe I get to be a Dirty Dozen Alumni!". It's such an honor to know these ladies who are so immensely talented and everyone of them is so dear. *happy sigh* I love'em. So here's me sending out BIG HUGS to those sweet DD/DDA out there. Here's one for you!

This month's challenge was put out there by ...ME! I got to host! *FUN*

Since last month the challenge was to use NO BUTTONS, I decided to flip it and say USE THOSE BUTTONS! My restriction? No black. No black cardstock, ink, embelishments- nada! Why? Cause we all know that black makes everything POP. Well, we don't want to POP a BUTTON! AHAAHAHAHHAHAHAHA...oh mercy. :)

Alright. Here's what I did:

I made a reusable coffee cup sleeve. I pulled out my felt (something that is all the rage to have right now to cut out your own embellishments with your dies), some trim and ribbon, a strip of designer paper, my Janome Sew Mini, and of course, lots of vintage buttons!

I placed everything where I wanted it and sewed it up. If you already know how to sew on cards, don't be afraid to try doing this! It's just as simple as sewing on a card and a really fun and quick and easy project -start to finish (with design time included) this took me about an hour (one nape time! Ha!). The buttons are hand sewn with embroidery floss (something us card makers probably already have hanging around too!).

I made this one to be adjustable to each cup by having the loops that go around the post buttons be stretchy cord. (I used "Bead 'n Stretch" a beading clear stretchy cord that I found in the Walmarts)

Let there be no question: I LOVE LOVE LOVE my new coffee cup sleeve. LAWDY LAWDY I DO! :)

So be sure you check out what the other Dirties made for this month's Dirty Dozen/Dirty Dozen Alumni Challenge. You can find that gallery right HERE.

Wishing you sunshine,

Betta than Ice Cream!

Weeeeeeeeeeeee!

I love it when a card turns out as sweet as you imagined. Hello beautiful!

Brushed silver cardstock= love.

Webster's Pages Trim lace= LOVE!

Color combo of silver, grey, and coral= DOUBLE LOVE!

A MUSE!!!!! Gah! I love love LOVEY A Muse! :D

It's a good day peeps!

Hugs,

Supplies: A Muse stamps: "You are what you eat" and "Swirly cone", Webster's Pages trim, Su! Brushed silver cs, Su! Groovy Guava retired ribbon, A Muse ribbon in slate.

Welcome Home- There She Goes Mother of All Blog Hops!

Happy Mother's Day Weekend, peeps!

I hope all of you Mama's out there are starting to feel the love!

If you are just coming to my blog this morning to check me out, I'm on a blog hop for There She Goes stamps! We're partying and celebrating Mother's Day showing off of There She Goes' sets! (you can start from HERE to go the whole length of the hop but if you are coming to me from JESSIE'S awesome blog, you are in the right place!)

Why is it called the MOTHER of ALL BLOG HOPS? Well, Susie Q, you've never seen a bigger hop in all your pretty life! In other words, you don't want to miss a second! :)

There be PRIZES to WIN!! 6 months of stamps! Ha! So make sure you start at the beginning! To be eligible to win, just leave a little comment at each blog along the hop and at the end when you reach the There She Goes blog you can put your name in the Mr. Linky.

So, onward! Check out what I made with my Welcome Home set:

A "welcome to the neighborhood" card for one of my new neighbors! :) I stamped the doorway with Stazon onto Arches watercolor paper, colored away and then set it up here with the card stock and pretty designer paper (October Afternoon's "Farm Fresh: Root Cellar" and "Report Card: Bus Route"). Added ribbon, sewed it up and viola! :)

I chose to keep the inside nice and open:

I wanted room to put our names and contact info and the traditional "If you ever need a cup of sugar...". :)

And of course, a card is niiiice....BUT....

...A loaf of homemade "Honey Wheat Bread" makes it just a wittle bit more better, don'tcha think? Mmmhmmmmmmmmm!

So who wants to be my neighbor? Hahahahaha!

Now, you make sure you make a stop at each blog along the hop and leave a comment!

You're next stop on the hop is KATIE'S BLOG!!

....Heello?!?

Are you there? Shake yourself away from the bread picture, woman! There are STAMPS to win!

Your carb loving friend,

MFT Die-namics Review

The Splitcoast Stampers Product Review team just finished up reviewing My Favorite Things latest release: Die-namics dies! What an awesome set of dies! I had a great time trying them out! Here are some things I made while testing what they could do:

These clouds are so addicting to make!!

And then there's the Jumbo Scallop border! Here I cut the cardstock to 6"x 6" and then lined up the die along the edges 4 times. This adorable dino is one of their new stamps "Loveosaurus". Such fun to color. I used Copics here and then used a bounty paper towel with blender solution to make the texture on his body.And ofcourse, there are these owls:

I cut the clouds out of watercolor paper and then just watercolored them with reinker. The felt scallops are the Jumbo Scallops die. Ribbon is some more Webster's Pages trim. Designer paper is American Crafts Abode.

So what do ya think? Do I recommend the dies? Umm, COMPLETELY! :) They are so so fun (and affordable)!

Happy Thursday, sweets!

Tuesday Trigger: Celebrate You

My friend Bobbi asked me if I could make 3 Mother's Day cards for her. She wanted it to be floral with "Celebrate you" as the sentiment. Then I saw this week's Tuesday Trigger over at Moxie Fab World. And~ da da tada! A card was born........well...3 of them. :)

What do ya think?

Squeezes,

Ingredients: PTI Kraft cs, Celebrate Everything by SU, Bella Blooms dsp by SU, Webster's Pages trim (ribbon), brown machine thread, MME button, Garden green cs and ink, arches hot press watercolor paper, cricket flower, Melon Mambo reinker, pretty in pink reinker.

May Butterflies

Happy Monday, sweets!

Ahhh! May!

May: I love you. Please stay for a'while. Show thy flowers! Bring thy butterflies...
Stamps: Unity Stamps April Kit of the Month. Paper: Soft Suede cs, Arches hot press watercolor paper, MME- Isn't She Lovely Loop Dee Lou Die Cut Quite Contrary Collection Paper. Ink: Reinkers, Stazon Timber Brown. Other: Basic Grey Sultry fibers. Technique: watercolor reinkers.My Mother's Day cards. 12 of them. And indeed the sweet Mamas that brought me up and surround my life really do give me happy butterflies! :)

Sending them all out today! Just little envelopes holding pieces of my love for each one.

Happy May, friends! Happy Mother's Day!

Smooches,

Sew Sweet Birthday

Happy Tuesday peeps!

The Skipping Stones Designs team is at it again! We had a sketch challenge and it was a fun one! Check it:

Nom-nom. This makes me hungry for a cupcake. Chocolate. With Buttercream frosting. That's my poison. :) I used SSD's Buns -N- Crunches again. I just love this set- it has the versatility of just a cute happy birthday sentiment such as in this card:

AAAAND it can be wicked funny like in last week's card. Awesome.

SSD is having a PMS deal. Say WHAT?!? LOL It's a "Purchase More Stamps" sale! (Bwahahahaha! Gotcha!)

So, you buy 1 set and get 5% off, but go all the way up to 5 sets and you get 25% off! Sweetness! You can look at the details HERE.

*sniff* This is my last card as a Skipping Stones Designs Guest Designer. I had such fun playing along with them this month, and it is ALWAYS an honor to use their stuff. Thanks Heather and Angela for everything! :)

I hope everyone's week is sublime! I've got 5 cards/projects on my docket this week and *geek out* it's gonna be fabby when I finally get to show them to ya.

Scrunches,

A Sneaky Peek of Tomorrow

Tomorrow I'll post my last card for my April turn as Skipping Stones Designs guest DT. Here's a sneak peek detail shot.

Happy Monday and seeya tomorrow. :)

Dirty Dozen& Dirty Dozen Alumni April Challenge

Heya!

A double post today! Hooray!

It's the 20th, which means that today there's a special gallery filling up over at Splitcoast Stampers: the Dirty Dozen & Dirty Dozen Alumni challenge gallery. This month Kelly Landers was our challenge hostess. She challenged us to "Create a card that honors our wonderful

planet Earth! It doesn't just have to have an earth image on it, you can focus on nature too!"

It also had a restriction: NO BUTTONS. I 'bout fainted when I read that. :) You know I love buttons...maybe I don't use them in *every* card but, to tell them they weren't invited...well geeze, it felt a little harsh. :D

Poor buttons. My baaaabies.

Also, we had to include a recycled item.

So here's what I made.

I used my Love Builds a Home stamp from Unity. I stamped that cute stamp with Stazon timber brown onto Arches hot press watercolor paper and colored it all in with re-inkers.

I love this image. So dang sweet. And it has nature in it, you see. And well, home is as natural as you can get...as far as I know it...I'm not much of a camper. Home is nature. Yup.

That pretty paper is from one of My Mind's Eye awesome new lines" Quite Contrary" and is called "Jack & Jill 'Favorite Thing' Bright Argyle Paper". A mouth full. But one of the pretties mouthful I think I've ever seen. ;) And I've seen a lot. I have 4 kids after all. :P

Oh, the RIBBON is my recycled item. It was snagged off another card. I reused it. Just don't tell the other card.

So make sure you head over to the DD/DDA challenge gallery today and see what the other DD/DDA whipped up for ya. It's gonna be SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS. I straight up guarateeeeeee that!

Warm hugs,