I'm a.......Calendar Girl :)

...and I didn't have to stuff myself into a tiny swimsuit either :) (which is probably best for all involved!)

The Cardmaker 2013 Calendar is available for sale and I am so proud to be included in this gorgeous calendar along with the rest of the CardMaker blog team.  

My months are March and July.  Here is March, which features SRM stickers, The Twinery baker's twine, and Jillibean Soup paper and sprouts:

The glossy full color calendar includes 12 fun card projects featuring step-by-step instructions!  It's the perfect gift for any CardMaker on your holiday shopping list!

You can order it HERE.

Be sure to stop in tomorrow for a CardMaker Blog team hop and later in the week for a giveaway!

Thanks for stopping by!

Tag Card

Happy Monday! Hope you had a fabulous weekend.  We did--spent most of it outdoors because we had a burst of warm weather! LOVE it!

I did get a little time in my stamp room too and here is one card I whipped up using SRM stickers- We've Got Your Sticker- Sweet and Fancy Sticker Sentiments- Love:

 

I love how easy it was to alter the tag I found at Target (Curiosity Shoppe) using the white SRM stickers.  I added the Pink Paislee chipboard heart and the tiny birds (Lori Whitlock) that I cut using my Silhouette.  I added one more SRM sticker on the bottom of the card to finish it off.

Patterned paper is by My Mind's Eye and Jillibean Soup.

Supplies- cardstock- Gina K Designs; patterned paper- 6 by 6 mini pad- Sweet & Sour (Jillibean Soup), 6 by 6 paper pad- Haunted (My Mind's Eye), Stickers- We've Got Your Sticker- Sweet, Fancy Sticker Sentiments- Love (SRM Stickers); Artisan Chipboard hearts (Pink Paislee), metal heart (Colorbok); tag- The Curiosity Shoppe (Target); birds- Bird on Branch (Lori Whitlock-Silhouette Studio).

Have a great day!

 

Happily Ever After

 Hi there! I have a simple card to share today.   I made this card for my husband for our anniversary:

 

I used some SRM stickers-(We've Got Your Sticker- Forever), a Jillibean Soup journaling sprout and some corrugated cardboard birds to make this simple greeting.  The zigzag SRM sticker (We've Got Your Sticker Plus- Birdie!) kind of reminds me of a heart beat behind the love birds  :p

Have a great day!

Rock Stars Cardmaker Hop

Today the Cardmaker Blog Team is having a Rock Stars blog hop.  We all designed cards inspired by a song.  Totally fun!  I had PLENTY of help picking my songs.  (My kids loved this and had great song ideas for me:)

In the end I picked songs, with their blessing, that are inspiring and fun (and had suitable lyrics!) and used them to create two cards.  (You can click the song titles to see the music videos for the songs.)

My first song is FIREWORK by Katy Perry:

I used the Skyline Border by My Favorite Things for this card and then used a fireworks silhouette file to create the fireworks.  (TIP: I cut the fireworks from the blue patterned paper and then peeled off some of the paper so that some of the offshoots were white.  I used a butter creme Copic marker to color it yellow to get two colors in the design.)  I added some red rhinestones in the center and some red paper behind the one building.  I adhered some more red patterned paper on the card base and some twine from The Twinery and finally a SRM sticker finish the design.

Supplies: white cardstock (Gina K Designs); patterned paper- Dots & Stripes: Ruby Red, Winter Park: Light Blue (Echo Park); Dienamics die- skyline border (My Favorite Things); Silhouette file- fireworks; rhinestones- Recollections, Michael's; baker's twine- Charcoal (The Twinery); tiny attacher stapler (Tim Holtz); SRM stickers- Life is Good; corner rounder punch (Creative Memories).

The second song that I chose was HONEY BEE by Blake Shelton:

Such a cute song --my oldest daughter loved  it first came out.  It was easy to make a card based on this one :)  I grabbed my favorite bear sets by The Cat's Pajamas for this card---Honey Bear and Happy Camper.  I stamped the images and colored them with Copic markers and cut them out.   I cut out the honeycomb paper from Jillibean Soup to place under the bear.  I cut one extra honeycomb out and adhered it on the top of the card and stamped the sentiment over it.  The finishing touch is some Lemondrop baker's twine from The Twinery.

Supplies: white cardstock (Gina K. Designs); Stamps- Honey Bear, Happy Camper (The Cat's Pajamas); patterned paper- Coordinating Atomic Soup paper (Jillibean Soup); memento tuxedo black ink; Copic markers; baker's twine-- Lemondrop (The Twinery); tiny attacher stapler (Tim Holtz); corner rounder punch (Creative Memories).

I cannot wait to check out the songs/cards by the rest of the team.  Here is the hop order:
Cardmaker blog
Kimberly Crawford
Carolyn King - You are here!
Colleen Schaan
Anya Schrier
Trudy Sjolander
Michelle Woerner

Thanks for stopping by!
 

Easter Basket

Ahh...another Monday! Hope it is a great one for you!
Today I wanted to share a little Easter basket with you.  I created it using an amazing Silhouette file by Lori Whitlock called Woven Basket.  Lori has done it again---when I saw this basket in her store...I IMMEDIATELY had to have it. 

I just got it on Saturday and Saturday night I made this.  Yep....I love it. Lori thinks of everything.  The basket came to together in a snap. 

Here are a few things I did to make it look like a realistic basket---I cut the pattern using two different card stocks---cocoa and Kraft.  By doing this, it enables you to see the weave design a bit more.  And, I wanted to see it.  I did try weaving a paper basket a few years ago and was so frustrated I tossed it when it was half done---so I am loving the ease of this.

Can you tell I love this design. (Yeah for Lori!)

Sorry....back to the details---->  After I cut it with my Silhouette, I sponged the darker card stock strips with some Distress ink to give the strips I threaded through more dimension.  I printed the top piece (which helps create the sturdiness of the basket) on patterned paper.
I used Helmar Premium Craft glue to assemble this project.

Here is the completed basket--- (I popped a little stuffed bunny in there because I was NOT about to buy another dang bag of Robin's Eggs....I have been through 2 already and it isn't even Easter yet! Sigh!)

Here is the basket sans the bunny so you can see how cute it is:

 

And here is a close up of the basket weave and the tag: 

I added a little sticker tag (Jillibean Soup) and a spring sticker (SRM Stickers) and a touch of Caribbean baker's twine (The Twinery) and that was it!

What do you think? 
Thanks so much for stopping by!

Spring is in the air!

Hello! Hope you are enjoying your weekend!  I am still playing catch up but I thought I would pop on here and share a spring-y card.  Spring has hit here in PA and I am not sure if it will last but I am liking it!

I made this little thank you note using some new Jillibean Soup paper I got at CHA (Thanks Kimber!) and a stamp by Hero Arts (Thank you Messages):

 

Supplies: Ivory Cardstock (Gina K Designs); ink- Memento tuxedo black, Vintage Photo Distress ink (Ranger); button- Jillibean Soup; Stamps- Thank you Messages (Hero Arts); lace; baker's twine- Caribbean (The Twinery); Patterned paper- Coconut Lime Soup: Fresh Ginger, Cumin; Southern Chicken Dumpling Soup: Chicken Thighs; butterfly punch (Martha Stewart).

Have a wonderful weekend!  Thanks for stopping by!

Cardmaker BIRTHDAY Color Challenge Hop

Hello! Before I get to the original purpose of the blog hop....I wanted to take a minute to wish a HAPPY Birthday to Brooke!  She is the managing editor of Cardmaker Magazine and the one who keeps us all organized and on track on the Cardmaker blog!

Here is the birthday card I made for her:

 Wishing you a very happy birthday, Miss Brooke! xo

Now....onto the card that I created for our monthly Cardmaker Blog team hop.  This month, Brooke challenged us to create a birthday card using the colors in this inspiration photo:

 Photo credit

Here is my take on the challenge:

I needed a birthday card for a special young lady who will be turning 16 soon.  You can read more about her story HERE.

I used my Imaginisce i-top tool to create the coordinating brad :)  So fun!  The bottom panel is embossed with the Cuttlebug numbers folder.  I hand stitched the frame that is holding the number sentiment.  I die cut the flower from some felt and put the brad through the center.

Supplies:

white cardstock (Gina K Designs); aqua, grey cardstock

Die- By the Numbers (My Favorite Things); label Nestabilities (Spellbinders); flower trio (My Favorite Things)

felt- Smoky shadow (Papertrey Ink)

Imaginisce- i-top tool
ink-Memento tuxedo black
stamps- Sentiment sampler (Paper Smooches)

baker's twine- Caribbean (The Twinery)

clip- (Stampin' Up!)

cuttlebug numbers folder (Provocraft)

ribbon- white seam binding

sewing machine

Patterned paper- Little Girl (Echo Park)

Head on over to the rest of the team's blogs to see more color inspired cards:

Tami

Trudy

Colleen

Kimberly

Cardmaker blog

Thanks for stopping by!

Easter Cards

Hello!  Today I have a few tips on making Easter cards on the Cardmaker Blog.  I also have a some Easter cards posted.....I would love for you to check it out!  Here is a peek at one of the cards:

 

You will have to head on over to the Cardmaker blog to see the other one!  

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek :)

Easter SRM style!

Hello! Happy Friday! Today I have an Easter card and coordinating Tube on the SRM blog!  Head on over there to check out the full project. :)  Here is a peek at the card:

 

Thanks for stopping by!

My Favorite Releases from CHA!

Hello!  I am finally recovering from the time change from attending CHA earlier this week.  CA is a lot farther of a flight from PA than it was from Texas and it hit me harder than usual.  I just downloaded some of the product pictures I took and thought I would share some of my favorite products that will be coming to stores very soon!

First up---this Scissor Mouse by Westcott.  This is really cool. There is a blade underneath and you run it along your paper just like a computer mouse.  It runs smoothly and the best part---you don't have to put it on a mat...there is a protector underneath that protects the surface so you can cut anywhere:

SRM Stickers new release includes these crystal clear border stickers- We've Got Your Border-- that you can add to anything---cards, scrapbook pages, the Tubes, ribbon etc! Fun to be able to create your own patterns:

I love these 3d pieces from Studio 490 (Ranger).  You can stamp them with coordinating stamps, add patterned paper and/or ink:

Paper Smooches (Kim Hughes) released new stamps for CHA that will be available in March.  The collection features wonderful backgrounds and some more adorable hand drawn images that we all know and love:

October Afternoon had a big display of their Sprinkler sprays in so many colors that coordinate with their papers and I really liked the new collection called 9 to 5:

Little Yellow Bicycle always has fun papers and embellishments and I was excited to see what was new with them.   The Escape (June release) features these papers and embellishments. Cute!

 And this is Splash (May Release)....soo cute. Love those fish and the circle paper:

 Jillibean Soup stands out to me because they have their own style, never confused with another brand.  I love the little Cool Bean Buttons:

They have some great paper lines coming out too---this one is called Southern Chicken Dumpling Soup! (I love how they name their lines!)

 Echo Park Paper has several lines being released and they have some smaller collections being released with the thought that those collections are needed but you might not need a whole collection.  The themes of these range from 4th of July to sports.  Very cool.

They also have some full releases coming out and here are two of my favorites--
Note to Self:

 This & That:

Clever Handmade is a new paper company by Heidi Grace that features paper but also other products that enable you to go beyond the typical paper projects...definitely clever stuff!

Here is a look at the Decorative Iron ons:

 And this is one of my favorite lines called Above the Clouds:  (VERY cute but hard to photograph with the lighting)

Finally, Nikki Sivils has some really cute lines---
I loved these--- Audrey and Exit Here:

 

There was so much to see and look at that I am sure I missed a lot of great things.  I was really interested in checking out the new paper lines and products that were new and unique.  One other product I really liked but failed to get a picture of was by Imaginisce--the ribbon cutter. It cuts and seals the ribbon in one step. Very cool!

CHA was so much fun but now I can't wait to get my hands on all the new stuff!!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Pub Correction :)

Hello! Today I am sharing a card of mine that is published in the November issue of Cardmaker Magazine (page 17). I don't usually put a lot of my published stuff on my blog but I am mentioning this one because the magazine tagged this as someone else's card. (Too funny because it was a friend of mine. I am honored that they thought it was hers :)

Anyway...thought I would share and give a little plug for this Cardmaker issue---it is fabby! Have an awesome day!

Hangin' with the JiFFy girls...

I was so excited to be asked by my friend Carole to play along with the JiFFy girls this month. The JiFFy girls do challenges once a month --one person sends out stamped images and another person sends out some patterned paper and everyone has to work them into a card. This month, Carole chose the paper - Little Girl: Madison Plaid (by Echo Park) and Julie sent out the stamped image and sentiment- Unity Stamp Co: Sweetest Day (Jillibean Itty Bitty). Ekkk....I LOVE them both.

Here is what I came up with: Julie kindly sent out three stamped images of the strawberry and so I popped up the stem of one over another after coloring them. I cropped the sentiment super close (thanks to a mishap)and layered it on the other side of the patterned paper. I added a bit of pink highlight on the word "sweetest" to tie it into the pink in the background. I had some black circle epoxy stickers in my stash and they were a perfect fit for the seeds on the strawberry. This was so much fun.

Thanks Carole and Jiffy girls for asking me to join you this month!!!

Here is the list of (the immensely talented) JiFFy girls so you can go see what they created with the same supplies:

Carole Burrage

Lori Craig

Julie Campbell

Michelle Boyer

Ali Miles

Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday Scrappin'

....I have been waiting to find the perfect papers to scrap these adorable pictures of my youngest huddled up with her two best friends telling secrets while on their class trip- Secret Friends: I love the interaction between them and wanted to keep that as the focus. I spelled out secret with a combination of corrugated letters and stickers from Jillibean Soup. I layered some of the letters on Sprouts for more dimension.

Here is a picture of the page lying down so you can see some of the dimension:

I used a butterfly by the title and then two others by the opposite edge:

All supplies are by Jillibean Soup: Die Cut shapes- Spotted Owl Soup, Dutch Mustard Soup; Cardstock stickers- Blossom soup; Patterned paper- Blossom Soup: Cornmeal , Blossom Soup paper pad; Kraft; Jillibean Soup Sprouts-assorted; Bean stalks twill & twine- blue/green.

Other- pearl accents (Recollections-Michael's); heart punch (Marvy); cardstock-white; sewing machine; tab punch (SU!).

Thank you for your kind words on my last post. I am so grateful for all of you and for the happiness you bring to my life :)

Thanks for stopping by today!