Cuttlebug Kittens

I just know you are wondering why I made a set of cutesie tootsie cards, all dolled up, with no focal points?! There's a reason .... Each card features the same cuttlebug kitties that I used on the previous post! {They just don't photograph well -- really!} So, now you can breath a sigh of relief ... knowing I am still sane.

The papers are from Lasting Impressions (In the City) -- delightful, eye candy colors. I am learning to add stamped images to designer papers and I'm loving the results. On this set, I used PTI's polka dots ... and my trusty sheet music stamp by All Night Media which I picked up at Hobby Lobby on a whim (with a coupon, I might add!).

Some fun buttons and various highlights with crystal stickles completes the set. These are another gift set -- and I like to keep the embellies rather flat for mailing -- so sometimes less is more. (Not very often, in MY book!) LOL

So how is your Christmas tear down coming? I made a run to Wally World today and purchased some plastic totes and drawers, and spent a few hours crawling around in my attic organizing and putting away and throwing out. I LOVE the result ... but my back does not! Why must we get old?!

It's back to work for me tomorrow! For two whole days -- then a weeks vacation, if that's what you call recuperating from gallbladder surgery! I'm not sorry to say goodbye to it, but it does simply amaze me that God gave us removable body parts! Have a great week!

It's a feeling ...

It's a feeling I get whenever I see vintage cream cardstock, and pink & green girlfriend papers, and polka dot stamps, and french script stamps, and sheet music stamps, and lace scallops, and antique linen ink on everything, tied with fluffy bows and soft flowers and glittery sheen. It's just the most wonderful feeling! These paper flowers are SO much more beautifuller (is that a word?) in person! Three sized scalloped punches, crumpled in a ball and held together with a brad, covering with a button & pearl. I am in laaave with these! I stickled the edges with crystal stickles to make 'em say wow!
This set of cards is going to my kitty cat friend (if I can bear to part with them - they are so stinkin' adorable and I want to stare at them first for a few days :)! Karen & I lunch together often, and we do cat talk .... making sense of our four-legged friends! The kitties were a set of four small cuttlebug embossing folders.

We are going out to dinner with 6 couples this evening, to ring in the New Year! As God would have it, the group has had long standing plans to drive to a well-known smorgesborg an hour away (the point being to be real hungry and real happy to eat a 10 course meal). All this -- and I am having my gallbladder removed next week! :) Do you think I'll get my $18 worth?! I'm planning on it! The bible says to approach the Throne boldly. So what if me and food do not get along well. I'm feeling frisky .... here I come Mac/Cheese!

Happy New Year! God's best blessing to you in 2010!

Gift Ensemble

I had the most thankful Thanksgiving - ever! We were blessed to enjoy some extended travel time amidst the holiday. I love treasured time with my family! Re-entry is tough, but I'm back in my craft room. Today's post is a gift ensemble, inspired by Michael's dollar bin! I started by stamping an ornamental filigree design onto diamond patterned paper. The medallions shown in the first two pictures did not ultimately go on these cards, but you get the idea!

Then I simply embellished a notebook and magnets from the dollar bin, and then I made a set of cards and a bookmark to match. I love how this gift set turned out! It was easy and really makes a impression. Most of the vanilla cardstock is embossed with a cuttlebug folder, then I lightly sprayed it with Iridescent Gold glimmer mist (LOVE that stuff!). It adds a hint of sparkle and really makes your project pop!

This picture shows the card design ... the medallion "hangs" off the edge of the card front, so much of the inside card is exposed. Doesn't the scallop edge on the inside look pretty!? You can see the medallions that I ultimately ended up using ... because they match the paper I stamped. I'll use the others in a future project!

The above picture shows the Prayer Journal (computer generated), but it also shows the embossed and glimmer misted vanilla cardstock. The below picture shows the matching bookmark in detail. Since it is to be used in the Prayer Journal, I chose three sentiments that I thought might be inspirational. The bookmark is a bit oversized so it matches the length of the notebook Prayer Journal.

I SO love Michael's dollar bin. I SO love black, vanilla, and pink. I SO love lacy beautiful vintage feeling projects. I SO hope you enjoyed this project! Have a beautiful day!

Flower Girl

I didn't feel like coloring today, instead I felt like clean and simple lines. My Cuttlebug swiss dot embossing folder got a little workout with this bunch! It sure packs a great design punch, especially when mixed with an art stamp like this one! My camera didn't capture the colors well, so be sure to check out the Papertrey cardstock colors of Aquamist, Spring Moss, Berry Sorbet, and Enchanted Evening. Yummy!

This gift set has an assortment of different sentiments, taken from Papertrey Vintage Picnic Sentiments and Kim Hughes Silhouette Blooms II. So many cute ones to choose from! I bagged this set and clipped with a decorative wooden clothespin, and will be delivering it to one of my dearest friends for her b-day this week. We are both AUGUST b-day girls! And we are both turning 29 again!

Spring Fever and Notebook Mania

One sunny afternoon, I made a bunch of Spring embellishments using a cuttlebug flower die, and some buttons and ribbons. I sat outside on my deck and tied buttons and ribbons (great way to use your scraps and save some $$)! Then, I broke into my stash of 5x8 lined notepads and went to town!

This blue/brown notepad is part of a gift, so I covered a small kraft box with matching DP. The Damask stamp is something I picked up from Paper Source, in Georgetown, when I was visiting my son in DC. I la-la-love that stamp and I can't wait to make some stationary with it.

This blue/green Springy little number is for my sweet sister. Stems are stamped separately, aren't they too cute! I dream in Bashful Blue and Certainly Celery sometimes! But adding Old Olive cardstock to the mix just sends me! Dig that tiny polka dot ribbon too.

This pink/green notepad sparkles - for real! It is covered with My Minds Eye glittery paper, and embellished simply. I am also adding this notepad to a gift ensemble. The ruffled ribbon tuff is actually on elastic, sold by the yard at Archivers. Get thee there - OH so cute! Spend $1.39 and be happy!

I also covered the inside of my notepads with a snippet of matching DP to cover the notebook binding. It was SO FUN to mix and match papers with my ready-made Springy embellishments.

Note: Junior Notepads vary slightly in size. I cut/measured/scored depending on thickness of notebook. The front cover is scored and adhered on the back on the notebook just a few inches below the score line. Then I cut a separate piece of cardstock 5x8 and covered the entire back to make it pretty. If you need help, email me!

Potential for Spring

I love love love Michelle Wooderson's blog, and she made some cute cards inspired by ATC's here. I am not a big fan of ATC's, but I would be if they were this cute! Cute enough to put on a card front! This is my case of Michelle's cute cards.


Cardstock is Kraft, Pink Pirouette (I LOVE this pink!), and Baja Breeze for the sentiment. Flower stamp is from SU True Friends, inked with markers. I stamped the lines with Lined Paper Backgrounder by Cornish Heritage Farms. Sentiment is a retired SU set, but any sentiment would work. Image is cut with Spellbinders Rectangle Nesties.

This picture shows the matching envelopes. If you care enough to send the very best ... and I know you do ... ink up some matching envelopes!

This time, I also lined the envelopes to bring out the Baja Breeze color on the card.

Recently, I purchased a bunch of Kraft cardstock, and let me tell you that it goes with everything! I now consider it a stash staple. So are buttons. Every piece of clothing I buy that comes with extra buttons -- I snip those right off and put them in my button stash. I used a bit of jute to tie the buttons onto these cards.

Another good picture --- how can I resist? I LOVE this card! Notice the pink crystal brad for the flower center? I also used buttons for some of the flower centers.

Finally, I added some special treatment on the inside. A Kraft strip, stamped with Polka Dot Basics by PaperTrey Ink (to match the card front), and a matching stamp from the SU True Friend set, punched with circles. I'm just over the moon!

Father Time

I'm chipping away at Christmas cards. This is one I designed for Papertrix, a wonderful rubber stamp store located in Nashville, Indiana. This simple card would be easy to mass produce, yet it packs an elegant punch. First, I punched the card corners with an EK success elegant corner punch, and THEN I embossed with the Textile CB folder. {Let me emphasize the hint here - punch corners first and then emboss to avoid a jam in your corner punch, she said with authority!) I then added red cardstock as a background to add highlight to the corners, along with pearls. Father Time is stamped, then cut and embossed with spellbinders oval dies.

This beautiful garland is included in this Crafty Secrets stamp set, available at Papertrix. I used it to accent both the envelope and card-inside, using copics for coloring. I mean, after all, since the card was a 1-2-3 snap to do, why not go the extra mile for the receiver? When you care to send the very best .... you do!

1-2-3 Done!

A quick post tonight for a quick card! Lots of CB embossing, layers, and punches make this card a snap. Not a lot of stamping here --- it's power to the punch baby! Folks, what DID we do in the days without CB embossing folders and punches? Well, it's kinda like comparing an old typewriter to the computer! I really like white on white embossing. It creates instant pizazz and who doesn't need that these days (that's what make-up and lipstick do for me too). I'm giving this card the ole' Sarah Palin "wink". Do I happen to like this easy peasy card? You betcha!

On another note, I am getting ready to board a big electric bird for an annual get-together with my card-swapping girlfriends in Atlanta. This is WAY cool because one of them happens to be my BFF-sister, Joyce (who got me into this scrapbooking & card-making love affair in the first place)! I hope you have a pal, sister or not, who is as wonderful as she is. She graciously takes my daily phone calls consisting of:

• my whining and pouting
• my flip-out happy scrappy shopping finds
• my stressed out attacks
• my work-a-holic fits
• my laundry complaints
• my infected finger-nail fiasco
• my recipe try-outs
• my grandma stories
• my good/bad hair days
• my lipstick fetish

and to top it all off, she understands my need for Diet Coke. You get the picture?

Bird Call

Although I like birds, I prefer "cute" to "real" but my sister-in-law, who struggles with Alzheimers, loves "real" birds so this set is for her! Jane believes that letter writing is a lost art, and she does her part by spending many hours writing notes to friends and family. That's VERY cool!
The birds are a clear stamp set by Martha Stewart. After coloring with Copic Markers, I dolled up the simple CB dotted swiss background with a few rows of Martha Stewart Scallop punches. Sheer ribbon and some crystals top it off. Knowing how to color birds "real" was a challenge for this chick!
I want to mention that Gina K. is currently offering a Whimsical Autumn stamp set that benefits the Alzheimers Association as part of her Stamps For A Cause Collection. I just ordered it, and you can bet I will be busy making cards for Jane as soon as it arrives. Go take a looksy, you'll be glad you did!
{Note -- I did manage to get a slight bit of "cute" in. Did you notice the bird house on the envelopes? Oh so tweet!}

Dancin' With Dee (ssnotime51)

Sharon Johnson of No Time To Stamp has issued a Stamp Simply Challenge as part of her 1-year blog-anniversary. The Dancin' With Dee challenge means we are doing the 2-step (or 3-step or more) with stamps! Now, I have never met this lovely woman but I liked her instantly through her fabulous blog ... and you will too! She recently took the time to leave me a comment on my blog {how cool is that?} and her enthusiasm is contagious. So -- here's to you Sharon, and your 1-year fabulous blog-aversary!
I needed a gift card set, so I figured - hey, why not stamp simply? So I went Dancin' With Dee and in a matter of no time at all, I had this 4-card gift set. The background is embossed with Cuttlebug Textile on SU Very Vanilla Cardstock - instant pretty! I used Martha Stewart's scallop punch to edge a second piece of SU Very Vanilla, and then I scored it diagonally at 1/2 inch intervals on my Scor-Pal before matting it on SU Groovy Guava.

I went looking in my stash for 2-step stamps and since pickins was slim, I chose to use this blast from the past set from The Angel Company, Love and Joy. {I really need to go shopping at Kitchen Sink Stamps for some kick toosh 2 and3 and 4 step stamps!} I digress ... so I stamped the flowers in Burnt Sienna and Yellow Ochre ColorBox Chalk ink, and the stems in SU Old Olive and Certainly Celery ink. The flower centers are dotted with SU real red, in an effort to add yet another step to my dance! When the image was circle punched and matted on the Marvey Large Circle Scallop - it popped like a field full of flowers on a windy day! A butterfly fluttered in, compliments of Martha Stewart Classic Butterfly punch {love that thing}. Sentiment is from CHF Kim Hughes Silhouette Blooms II.

Finally, I bagged and bowed it and what do you get? A Stamp Simply Challenge AND a 4-card birthday gift set. Don't you just love multi-tasking? So head on over to No Time To Stamp and figure out whether you - too - have No Time To Stamp! Congrats Sharon!

I needed a birthday card for my favorite niece, Brooke {hold it right there ... whichever niece I am referring to at the time is my favorite niece ... it's just funner that way)! I thought Brooke would like this adorable owl from Kim Hughes' collection U R A Hoot. Mr. Owl Hootie is colored with copics, then cut out and "popped" onto his tree perch. Isn't that branch stamp the coolest thing? Oh my stars ... how many birds and owls and butterflies do you think can go "out on a limb" with this great stamp set? The sentiment is stamped inside a cuttlebug embossed circle, sanded to show the white core paper. After double matting, I used a SU ticket punch on the corners and mounted the image on a SU So Saffron card. Blue rhinestones add a finishing touch!

Okay, so my good conscious got the best of me and I have to tell you why there is a separate "Happy Birthday" sentiment with rhinestones. There I was -- in my happy place as I made this card. My happy jammies, no make-up, and Ipod in ears. When all of a sudden, Saints Preserve Me, I reached across the table to clean Mr. Hootie stamp and darn if my masterpiece card didn't drag right along with me, landing smack dab into the open black stamp pad.

Onto to Plan B. Hmmmmmmm. Hold the phone! I can cover that boo boo and no one will know! {You've been there -- go ahead -- admit it baby!}

Happy Birthday to my favorite niece, Brooke!

Bloomin' Beautiful

I was so pleased to see that SU Bloomin' Beautiful set made it into the new catalog - it's a classic! With this card, I had a little fun with the white background piece. First, I emblossed it with the Cuttlebug Diva background, then I scored a grid on top of the diva design at 1/2 inch intervals using my scor-pal, and finally punched both edges with Martha Stewart's Lace Doily scallop edge punch.
This picture shows the beaded stick pin in detail -- I'm having all kinds of fun in the jewelry making isle at Michaels! You can also see that I stamped the flower twice, cutting one out and using pop dots to add some dimension. Do ya think I'm done with flower designs yet?! Time will tell !!

Garden Poems

Tonight I played with a new Penny Black stamp, Garden Poems. I'm crazy for daisies - so this was a natural fit for me! And for the first time ever I played with a Cuttlebug embossing folder, Textile, after recently discovering that it is compatible with my Sizzix machine (thanks Linda and Joyce for sending me down this new path of obsession)! The card base is made with SU Close to Cocoa, and the Cuttlebug design is embossed onto SU Certainly Celery (my all time favorite cardstock color). I have a recurring dream --- to have a Certainly Celery dining room someday! So Saffron runs a close 2nd. I sure hope you speak my speak, or this blog will give you a headache! I felt that the daisy design lends itself well to a slight all-over highlight with Tim Holtz Antique Linen distress ink, applied with a stipple brush.

This picture shows the matching daisy on the inside of the card and on the envelope. I simply off-stamped a portion of the daisy and colored with Copics to match the front card design. It adds so much to the overall card when the receiver thinks you went the extra mile to match everything perfectly --- and you did!


These are the Copic markers used. As always, remember to outline your image with warm gray to give it a nice shadow. The sentiment is from CHF, Silhouette Blooms II. This was just too fun! Thanks for visiting and have a spendiferous day!