Blue Tulips

Hi everyone! I wanted to share a simple card I created as part of a "sentiment-ready" card swap recently. Basically, the cards were made up so you can add the sentiment later. You may have seen a pic of this project in progress on my Instagram a little while ago, so today I'm sharing the final result.

Stamp: Sweet and Sassy, Die: Spellbinders
Paper: Recollections

If the image looks familiar, it's one I've used a couple of times! (See what I mean...here and here) This time I wanted to color it up with watercolor pencils. I'm not sure what sentiment I'll use yet, but with this and the other cards I received from the swap, I'll be ready at a moment's notice. So to you card makers, do you make cards as you need them, or do you make bunches, then add the sentiments later? I make them as I need them, but really want to get better...so I could use the advice, lol. Tell me about your process in the comments below.

My First Charm Swap

Hi everyone! I hope you've all been doing well since my last full post here. I've been away a lot longer than I planned and I missed posting and sharing with all of you. So I wanted to get back in the swing of things by sharing my first try at handmade charms. I made these for a charm swap over on ModPodge Designs. FranCine was my swap partner. I flipped when I opened the package she sent me and found this crafty goodness:

I really love FranCine's mix of the round and cubed charms and that silver heart! I had so much fun with this swap, that I am hooked on them! In fact, I already have some ideas for my next one! Thanks for visiting today! Hope you'll come by again soon!

A Passion for Purple

Stamp: Hero Arts, Paper: Bazzill

Hi everyone! I made this card a little while ago, but totally forgot to post it before now--which surprises me because it had plenty of purple punch!! Purple is my favorite color!! So when the purple card swap was posted over on SOC, I signed up quick, fast, and in a hurry, lol! Unfortunately, I didn't get the early start I wanted, but they came together quickly! Initially, I had planned to emboss the dark purple paper with my Cuttlebug. However, with time winding down, I was trying to save a few steps! Enter Bazzill dotted cardstock... it added that element of texture taking just the time it took to cut it. The picture above doesn't show it, but there are six butterflies here, layered for a little extra purple pop! Here's another view:

I just glued the butterflies and the card elements down, stamped the sentiment, and added the bling! DONE! I was really tickled pink to get them done...or should I say purple? I thought about adding it to a CAS card challenge back in August , but wasn't sure if it fell into the "clean and simple" category...What do you think? I have a hard time finding that balance between CAS and a regular card.

 Thanks for stopping by to check out my card today, and humoring my passion for purple!

Girly Cards

The crafters over on Scraps of Color have done it again! We have so much fun with the swaps, and last month I got the chance to participate in the Girlfriends/Girly card swap. And now that everyone has received their packages, I wanted to share my cards with you! They were a lot of fun, and I used all kinds of paper out of my stash to create them.

I used the Style is Eternal stamp and die set from Hero Arts. Have you seen these? That are really cool, easy to use, and I totally recommend them! (Note: I am not a spokesperson, and not paid for this endorsement for this or any other Hero Arts products. I purchased it because it was too cute...now if they would like to bless a loyal customer who adores their products...then sign me up! That is all...)  Anyway, this is the video I watched to learn how to use these sets. Here are a few closeups: 

Dies: Spellbinders, Stamps: Hero Arts
Copics used: E21, E25, E31, E35 in varying degrees

To make the dress match the card, I simply cut the dress out of a spare image I stamped, then used it as a template to trace out on patterned paper or cardstock. I used copics on the ladies to create the lovely shades of brown. (I added a little shading, but not much as I'm still learning with the copic thing...) Then the dresses were added, and each lady was mounted on pop dots and placed on the card. On some of the headbands, I simply left them white, as I don't have a lot of copic colors yet. I wanted to paper-piece the headband too, but that is a TINY space, and I'm not that good at it, lol. 

I really enjoyed making these cards, and liked paper-piecing the images. Some call it that, others call it fussy-cutting...I call it F-U-N! It reminded me of playing with paper dolls when I was little, lol I'm making more of these soon! Do you use this technique in your projects? How do you deal with those small areas on an image?? This inquiring mind would love to know, so please leave a comment.

Thanks for dropping by! Take care and have a great weekend!

...And That's All She Wrote

Bucket List Mini Album

Hi everyone! In my last post, I shared the album Chauntelle made for the 

bucket list mini album swap. So today, I wanted to pop in and share the album I made for her. I mentioned before that I haven't made a lot of mini albums. However, who could turn down the chance to do such a fun album! Here's a couple of pics:

Patterned Paper: Unknown, Dies: Ovals, Spellbinders, Title, Quickutz Eliza Mini
Border: Fiskars, Flower: Recollections.

Now I don't know about you, but there's just something about a "chunky"album! Love it!

Charm: Making Memories

I found this charm on clearance at Michaels! I really like it, so I'll have to go back and try to find a few more! Here are a few pages:

The first page was for Chauntelle's dream to open her own business. She can add a picture right on the brown mat, but also add pics or journaling to the tags underneath. I learned about the accordion tag pockets in this tutorial. The album was 5 1/2 x 8," so I wanted to give as much extra "real estate" as possible.

Patterned Paper: SEI, "Home" card: Jenni Bowlin, Chipboard Flourish: Bazzill

The next page has a slide out pocket. There are three in this album, and they were really cool to make! Since I made the album in a different size, I had to make the pockets from scratch instead of covering envelopes and using them. There's a tutorial for this on YouTube too. You can find it here. 

Patterned Paper: KI Memories, Dies: Quickutz, Rockstar Font

This page represents a dream of mine too--that dream craft room!! The quote came from one of those vellum sentiment sheets that I'm sure everyone has in their craft stash. I simply cut it out, put it on a piece of white cardstock so it would show up better against the other papers, embellished it with the eyelets, and matted it on the pink cardstock. I love this quote, and may use it again soon!

Well, that's all of the pages I am willing to share today...I'll leave the rest to Chauntelle to share if she decides to one day soon! But before I go, I wanted to share one last detail--the inside covers. That open space was a great opportunity to add some inspirational quotes. Maybe you'll like them too:

Stamps: Hero Arts, Ink Pad: Versacolor, Embossing Powder: Ranger

Stamps: Hero Arts, Embossing Ink: Versamark, Embossing Powder: Zing

I love these quotes! I hope that both of the albums I shared here will inspire you to make your own Bucket List, and your own album! 
Thanks for stopping by!...And That's All She Wrote!

A SOC Mini Album Swap

Hi readers! I hope you're doing well! The weather here in NC has been really nice lately--temps reaching into the 70s and even the mid 80s, only dipping a bit in the last couple of days. Honestly, this has been the craziest March weather in a really long time! I think we have gone from winter straight into June, lol...I hope that you're having great days wherever you call home...

Today I wanted to share another album I received as part of a Mini Album swap over at Scraps of Color. This was a "Bucket List" themed swap, and Chauntelle was my partner! All of the participants were paired off, and required to send our partners ten items on our bucket list. Then we made pages from the items on the lists...too cool, right? To keep this post from getting too pic heavy, here's a sampling of this great album:

The poem on the cover is called Don't Quit. You can
read it here.

A couple of the items on my bucket list is to visit Venice and to take a cruise! So check out Chauntelle's pages:

The passport on the left is a neat little place for journaling!

Getting a puppy is also on my bucket list! Isn't that puppy (and this layout) too cute?

This page represents my dream of going back to school...

Sorry the lighting on this one is a little dark...but this page is for the dream of seeing a Broadway show in New York!

And for seeing sights on the streets of Paris!

But before I go, I have to learn French!

I love all of the pages in this album, but this is one of my favorites because Chauntelle added a pocket with French phrases inside. French was on one side, but if you flip the card over, it has the phrase in English!!

Finally, this page is for just putting on that black dress and heels for a night on the town!

(Don't giggle, I've never done that before...)

Isn't she fabulous? Love her!!

I am still drooling over this book!! Now I need to get busy on filling those pages up, and checking those items off my bucket list! I'm looking forward to it! Thanks again Chauntelle!! So what are some of the things on your list?

Vintage Christmas Mini

Hi blog readers! I hope you're having a great week! In my last post, I told you about Alycia's Winter Wonderland mini for the SOC mini album swap. So today, I wanted to stop in and share the album I made for the swap.

Patterned paper: Simple Stories, Dies: Spellbinders,  Rings: 7Gypsies
Distress Ink: Ranger, Key and Flower: Michaels, Stamp: Hero Arts

It's a vintage Christmas album! Now first of all, it was a little challenging because this was my first mini album...It's true--I've done accordion books and even a star album, but never a standard mini. I went back and forth on the size for a long time before deciding  on a 6x6. The Simple Stories 25 days of Christmas mini paper pack was a good fit, and since I didn't have to do lots of cutting, it came together pretty quickly. So here are a few more pics:

Embossing template: Sizzix, Dies: Spellbinders,
Distressing Ink: Ranger, Eyelet: Making Memories

The little square on the right unfolds into a mini accordion album
for extra space for journaling and pictures

Back cover

The album was a lot of fun to make! You know that means there will be more in the future!! I learned a few things that I want to try next time, and got to use some cool products, even a few from my stash! Is there something you'd like to try but haven't done it yet? Just jump in and take on a swap or challenge!!

 I'm glad I did!...Thanks for stopping by...And That's All She Wrote

A Little Pre-fall Fun...

Hi everyone! I wanted to share some tags that I made for a swap over on SOC...A fall tag swap!! Now I love all things fall, so I was SO excited about participating in this one. Here are my tags:

Embossing folder: Provocraft, Embossing Powder: Ranger
Yarn and Vellum: Unknown

These "double-embossed" tags were really easy to make! First, I cut the tags to the desired size, then punched the top corners with a corner punch. Then used an embossing folder with my Cuttlebug (love my bug!!) Then I heat embossed the leaf onto pre-cut 2" squares. Next, I matted those squares onto the vellum. You really can't see it in the picture here, but for a little extra shimmer, I used metallic copper rub-ons to finish the look. Easy right? These tags were all made with things I already had in my stash too! (Bonus!!)

Well, I hope I inspired you to have a little pre-fall fun of your own! If you make any fall tags, post your link in the comments. I'd love to see them! Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you'll drop by again soon!
...And That's All She Wrote!

Happy Mail, Happy Mail...

If its one "little" thing I love in my day, its "happy mail!" I remember racing my brother to the mailbox everyday after school or during summers growing up, just hoping to receive a letter, postcard or anything! Even if neither one of us received anything, bragging rights just on who got there first was enough for the moment, lol. As we got older, my brother lost interest, leaving the mail retrieval duties pleasure to me. Of course, the older ya get, the mail changes...there are more bills and junk mail than letters, cards, and mags! Every once in awhile though, I still get "surprises!"

This past week, one of those "surprises" came in the form of my cards from the SOC Monthly card swap! This month, the theme was Graduation, one of my favorite occasions to create craft projects for. So I wanted to share the participants' creations with you!

Top two: Creators unknown, Bottom Center: Nicole

      

Left card: Created by RJ, Right card: Made by Danielle

Left card: Yolanda H., Right Card: Thejuana

Top left: Created by Mari, Top Right: Made by Ivy,
Bottom Ctr: Nicole A

Now just in case you're looking for my card, it's not posted here. We had 20 participants, so it was possible that we wouldn't get one of our own cards back. However, I have one around here somewhere, and will post it around graduation time...So that's some of my fun mail for the week! What slice of goodness (a favorite mag, a letter from a crafty pen pal or a family member, or ANYTHING other than bills) do you receive in your mailbox that makes it a "happy mail" day for you? 

Here's to lots of fun mail for you today! Thanks for stopping by...And That's All She Wrote!