My First Blog Award!

Wow, I got my first blog award from Leanne! How sweet was that of her? Go check out her blog. She has REALLY good taste--her background is the same as mine! LOL! Thanks Leanne-you're too nice!

There are a few requirements to accepting the Honest Scrap Award and they are as follows. A) I must thank the person who gave me the award and list their blog and link. B) I must list 10 honest things about myself. C) I must put a copy of the The Honest Scrap logo on my blog. D) I must select at least 7 other worthy bloggers and list their links.

So, ok, 10 honest things about myself. That was hard as I live a very ordinary existance.

1) My biggest blessings are my kids and grandkids. I am nothing without them.

2) I come from a very blended family. I have 5 full-blood siblings, 1 half sibling, 2 step siblings, 1 adopted sibling, and 1 deceased baby sibling.

3) I love pink, blue, and purple. I seldom wear or use red, orange, and yellow.

4) I use to dabble in creative writing and had a children's short story, a poem, and a religious essay published.

5) My husband and I have built homes for Habitat For Humanity in NY, SC, AL, and Conn.

6) I am very shy.

7) I am very intuitive. I have "known" of deaths, miscarriages, and baby genders of those who are close to me before they happened.

8) I swear when I play golf.

9) I proposed to my husband through a picture of our favorite word game saying "Will you marry me?".

10) I don't particularly care for chocolate and never crave it.

So, now to come up with 7 worthy bloggers that I would like to pass this award on to:

Teese

Julie

Wendy

Lauren

Victoria

Jo

LoopyLou

Thanks ladies for the support you've shown me as I ventured out into blog land! You are all fantastic people as well as talented artists!

Criss Cross card for Polka Doodle

This weeks Polka Doodle sketch challenge lent itself quite nicely to a criss cross card. I've always wanted to do one but never had, and thought it would make for a special card for my granddaughters' 2nd birthday next week. I have a terrible time with putting patterned papers together, and we had to use at least 3, so I picked up this Martha Stewart paper. All of the sheets look so adorable together! I stamped and colored the Lily stamp twice and popped dotted the top layer. "Wishing You" was printed on purple cardstock on my computer then glued to some purple ribbon. The flower is a bunch of Primas layered together with a button from Fancy Pants in the middle. My whimsical little sun is a Studio G stamp. I used it on a circle cut from George, then glued that to a foam circle cut with my scalloped nesties. The inside balloons are from George and the words from Alphalicious and Stamped. Can you believe I used 6 different prints and a solid from this paper pack? Wow, Martha makes card making easy! Thanks for taking a peek!

Easy colorwash card

I made this card in just minutes (no small feat for me!) with Cord'inations new colorwash cardstock. I love this stuff! I rolled a piece through the cuttlebug then sanded the embossing. The colorwash coating is pretty heavy and takes 150 grade sandpaper. So cool to see the color coming through. The corners were trimmed with my corner rounder punch-gives such a nice finished look. Then I stamped my sentiment on another piece, sanded the edges, and taped it on. I finished it off with some purple rain dots in the flower centers. I really like the rain dots when you want to send a nice flat card. They don't poke through the envelope like brads and pearls do. How easy was that? I pumped 4 of these out in no time for Cricut Card Fairies--maybe now I'll get caught up! Thanks for taking a peak!

my stamp show goodies

Look at all the great stuff I got at the stamp show. Actually, my husband bought me a lot of it! He watches the demos while I'm shopping, then tells me all the stuff I need to buy. I'd be crazy to argue! I can't wait to try out the Angelina fibers--they look so awesome on butterflies and flowers. Lots of great stamps of course-my fav thing for card making. The whitewash Core'dinations cardstock had the coolest look when it's embossed in the cuttlebug then lightly sanded. Really can't wait to try that! And hubby got me chalks, Marvy inks, color dusters, and a technique video so I can try some new things out. Woo hoo! I'm going to be busy for quite awhile!

Yummy juicy cherries for Polka Doodle!

This is my entry for the Polka Doodle card sketch challenge. (I wanted to post the sketch here, but I'm a little challenged myself!) But I have to brag about my cherries--don't they look like they are bursting with juicy goodness? I colored the stamp with 2 shades of red and blended it with a prisma wax blending pencil. I have never used these before but I really like them! Then I dabbed on a little red stickles (ya know I include stickles every chance I get!), then I slathered on a good helping of Liquid Glass (by Close To My Heart). The circles and scallops were cut out with nestabilities. I stamped little cherries on the background paper and heat embossed with white. And it may not look it, but I used my cricut on this. My weird shaped sentiment stamp is on the caterpillar from Walk In My Garden. He may be hard to recognize without head and legs. I doodled little black dots on the sentiment to match the ones that were on my mini cherry stamp. So do you think this is challenge-worthy? It's going to my chemo buddy. Hope she likes it. Thanks for taking a peek!

"hello"--my first chemo card angel card

I'm so excited to be a chemo card angel, I wanted to get started right away. Tomorrow I leave to go camping with the kids and grandkids for the weekend (and sneaking off to a stamp expo too!), so this is it for the rest of the week.

So I thought a "hello" card would be perfect for my first introduction with my patient. I'll be including a little get-to-know-me letter so she has a feel for who her "angel" is (their word, not mine--I don't own a halo!). I used Indie Art, Alphalicious, and Home Decor for the cuts. The embossing was done with a Quickutz folder. Sorry the pic quality isn't too hot. Cloudy, rainy day here today. You all have a great weekend and I'll be thinking of ya as I wander that stamp show and fill my bags with goodies! I asked dear hubby how much I could spend and he said, "No budget. Buy whatever you want." Aren't those the sweetest words ever spoken?

B HAPPY--improved (I hope!)

Ok, here's my improved card. I just couldn't keep those other bees with their creepy crawly legs! So I looked at my other cartridges and saw these on Walk In My Garden. DUH--why didn't I think of that before! Guess I'm having senior moments! LOL. Anyway, I think this is a little more cutsey and in keeping with the feel of the rest of the card. At least it doesn't make me cringe anymore!!! What do you guys think?

Woo Hoo--I've been assigned a patient!!!

No, I don't need to BE a patient (don't call out those guys with the straight jackets!). I have joined an organization called ChemoAngels and I have been assigned a patient today. I am officially a ChemoAngel Card Angel! I've been entrusted to send cards and letters at least 1-2 times a week to a woman going through chemotherapy. I'm not allowed to say anything about her, but will say I was thrilled to see it was someone with similar tastes and interests as me. She even loves pink and blue--my fav colors too! So you know how easy it'll be to make cards for her. I'm just so excited to have one specific person to keep making cards for. Someone who really needs to be uplifted and will (hopefully!) look forward to my creations. I just had to share my excitement! Woo Hoo-happy dance! Wish I knew how to put a dancing happy face here!

B Happy

Well, I did this card for the new sketch challenge at Polka Doodle, but as I was getting ready to post it there I had company arrive and missed the chance! Oh, well, it was still a fun challenge and now I have this card done that I can give someone. And a new challenge starts Friday so I'll just be a little more punctual! I practiced my sewing skills on this card--with contrasting thread this time. I was a bit nervous about that because mistakes will show up more easily, but I think I did ok. And if I didn't then, hey, it's only paper. Throw it away and start again, right? I used Storybook for the words, George for the flower, and Home Decor for the bees. The bees are a bit realistic for me--kinda creeps me out, but I didn't have any cutsey bees. I added a touch of glitter to the "skittles" in the corner by first dotting some yellow stickles to the paper, letting it dry, then sticking on the skittles with a glue dot. Love how the glitter shows through the plastic bead. The papers are all Fancy Pants Botanicals. I love the soft colors of these papers. Thanks for taking a peek!

blog candy from JulieT--scrumptious!

Look at these goodies I won on JulieT's blog! There's a whole lot of fun sitting there! And that card is soooo darn cute-you should see the sparkle! Thanks Julie! That was a very generous blog candy and I'm so glad you offered it! Check out Julie's blog and see her great creations HERE.

Purple & White sewn card

So here's my second card that I sewed on. Ya know, it's pretty easy once you get over the fear of running paper through your sewing machine. I kept this card a little bit plainer than I normally do--hope it isn't too dull! I cut the flower out with George at 1", 1 1/4", and 1 1/2". The leaves are actually a flourish from Home Accents, but I think it makes great leaves! I threw some of those same flourishes in the corners too, but cut off the ends. And of course my ever present Martha Stewart butterflies (I always end up sticking them in spots that seem boring)! A few dewdrops and some ribbon finish it off. Pretty easy layout--I think I'll try it with pattern paper next and see what I come up with. Thanks for taking a peek!

My first card with sewing!

This was a fun card using Walk In My Garden which I don't use often enough and has so much cool stuff on it. The flower stems, sign, and caterpillar (isn't he cute?) are all from WIMG, and the flowers are from George. I curled the petals with a little paint brush handle to add dimension. I embossed the leaves using the vines Quikutz folder, and the sign with a Fiskars plate. I used a lot of pearlized papers on this so it's hard to see the sign through the shine, but it says "Thinking Of You". I stamped the sky with a flourish and embossed with white powder. The grass was made with my new Fiskars treading water punch, and the butterflies with my trusty Martha Stewart punches. OH! And I sewed on this--my first time ever to sew on a card! That was fun and I love how it looks. But how is it that I've had this sewing machine for, like, 20 years and never realized it has only 2 stitches??? Now I NEED a newer sewing machine! Am I right? Thanks for taking a peek!

Faith card

This is a little bit different card for me as I tried to keep it very simple. I made it for Cricut Card Fairies and is for a man who is in his final weeks with cancer. These cards are very hard to do, when someone has no hope and all you have left is Faith. So no frills with this one. I hope he clings to his faith as he walks his final journey.

I won a RAK!

Look at all the goodies I won in a RAK by AllbuggedoutinNJ! I couldn't believe when this box came and it was so packed with surprises. There were Fiskars plates, cuttlebug folders, tons of stamps, number packs, brads, ribbon, book plates, and more! How awesome! I've already tried the Fiskars embossing plates in my cuttlebug and they worked great. You can never have too many embossing toys. Thanks AllbuggedoutinNJ!

Lilac

How realistic and pretty is this lilac? This is another decoupage image but is only 4 layers deep. Seems most of the ones I do are 6 or more, so this was an easy one! I curled these images under a little bit to give a puffier look since lilacs are, well, puffy! The background paper is something I found on a vintage graphics site and is actually vintage wallpaper. I cut the frame around the lilac on my cricut using my fav Home Decor cartridge. The frame and the punched butterflies are made with pink foil cardstock which just looks so pretty on this card. I had a chunk of vellum so I used that for the lilac backdrop and some fancy corners. A lot of people have asked me for the link to this lilac, so if you are interested, you can find it HERE. Have a great day and thanks for taking a peek!

Roses Mother's Day card

I love how cheery and colorful this card turned out. I printed up the decoupage sheet on white cardstock, cut the pieces, and layered using 1/16" foam dots. I love matting these images a couple of times--seems to make it more dramatic. The yellow cardstock was embossed with my scor-bug. I used gold glitter embossing powder on the greeting and added a ribbon and some self adhesive pearls. This is a ton of layers and the card is HEAVY! I like how it turned out though. If you want to try this image you can find it HERE. Thanks for taking a peek!

I have been asked to post step by step directions on doing the layered cards. It can be a little time consuming, but it's not difficult. For this rose card, I started by printing up a decoupage sheet. You can find it by clicking here. Print on smooth white cardstock:

This one has a base image with a frame around it, and I'll be building on that. So first cut out your images. Use small scissors and cut as close to the image as you can. You'll have to leave a little extra around stems, or sometimes you can just eliminate the stem and use just the leaf. I cut the base piece on my paper cutter. Here are the pieces all cut:

To assemble the pieces, use 1/16" foam dots. Turn over the piece that goes on the base (it was marked #2 on the sheet) and put dots wherever support will be needed. This rose has a lot of layers, so I use a lot of dots for good support. I cut thin strips to put under the rose stem to help support that. Remember to work from the bottom layers, up:

Lay that on top of your base and press down. Repeat with all of the layers until it's done. It's easy to tell which piece is next-there will be less detail on it. You can also number the backs of the pieces as you cut them out. Here's the assembled image:

And that's all there is to doing a decoupage sheet image for a card! To finish this card, I mounted the rose on a scalloped frame I cut from Storybook at 4 1/2". I mounted that on some dark red cardstock that I had adhered vintage lace to (the lace is taped to the back of the cardstock). I cut Jasmine corners at 4 1/2" and 5" on shadow, and adhered them with foam dots. The little bird was cut with Home Decor (can't say enough good about that cart!) at 1 1/4" and shadowed. That was adhered with the foam dots too. Any cricut or punched butterfly will work, but mine was an image I printed and layered 4 times. I used glue dots on that instead of foam dots. The card was finished up with self adhesive pearls on the lace and rose frame. Sorry I couldn't take pictures of all that--I had to hurry and get this done and in the mail! But here's the finished card:

And click HERE for a ton of links to decoupage images. Hope this pictorial was helpful! I've never done one before, so if I left out anything you need to know, just ask! And thanks for taking a peek!

Layered Thank You card

This card is for a realtor who helped my daughter buy some property. I love the soft colors on this! The pink cardstock was scored using my scor-bug (such a handy little gadget!). I cut out and layered the image multiple times with 1/16" foam dots, and added just a touch of stickles to the flowers. The thank you frame was cut out with Storybook. I stamped thank you and heat embossed with silver powder. I also stamped and embossed a butterfly image on my Martha Stewart punched butterflies. A few primas with blue pearl brads finished it off. I hope they like it. Thanks for taking a peek!

Challenge #10--use a circle/oval/scallop shape

This was the final card I made yesterday for The Pink Stampers blog party to celebrate National Scrapbooking Day. What a blast to be presented with challenges and see how productive I could be. I completed 8 of the 10 challenges and was pretty happy with that. This one was done after 11:00 PM and I was beat, so I was glad this was an easy, easy one. Easy for me anyhow since I use these shapes in many of my cards and I have a bunch of great nestabilities to work with! So I threw this one together in about 5 minutes. I used my scor-bug on the background, then cut 2 sizes of nestabilities scalloped ovals and embossed them with the cuttlebug. The swan image was a leftover from a previous card so I cut that with an oval nestie and added some stickles and liquid glass. Turned out kinda cute for a 5 minute card don't you think?

Challenge #9--mix it up title

Here was something different and interesting to do--make a card or layout with a mixed up title. Meaning, use different fonts and sizes. I used 3 fonts on this card from Storybook, Alphalicious, and George. Did various sizes, in blue, yellow, and green pearlized paper. I shadowed the letters in a black mica paper--really makes those letters pop! Fun card to do!

Challenge #8--heart card sketch

For this challenge we had to make a card based on a provided sketch. This was a fun and easy challenge. Did my heart on the cricut, punched out a border with a EK Success punch, and some butterflies with the ever present Martha Stewart punch. Easy!

Challenge #6--use pattern paper and cricut

National Scrapbooking Day is over with but I'm still posting the challenges I completed for The Pink Stampers blog party. For this one we had to use pattern paper. I own tons of it, and it's all in co-ordinating pads. Yet I never quite know what to do with it. I'm afraid all the patterns will look messy together and the sentiment and embellishments will get lost. But I thought this card turned out ok and really didn't need much added because of the paper. In the light of day, I see my ribbon is a bit red for it. At 11:00 last night I could have sworn it was burgandy! Ah, well. It's still another card done!

I'm tired!

I've been busy creating and blogging for 9 hours now--I'm tired! But I'm not done yet--I've got 6 challenges done and want to finish at least 2 more tonight. Then I can do the remaining 2 tomorrow. Thank goodness the Pink Stamper is giving us extra time to do our stuff--I work to slow! She threw a great party though and tomorrow I'll have a bunch more cards to post here. I know all my message board friends had as much fun as I did. A giant THANKS to our host!

Challenge #4--Make a Mother's Day card

Well, I've just been having so much fun participating in The Pink Stamper's blog party to celebrate National Scrapbooking Day. I'm getting so much done! This was a great challenge for me because I hadn't done a Mother's Day card yet so it got my butt in gear! I stamped and embossed the white cardstock--white on white just always looks so classy. Then I cut out the bird and branch on my cricut. I was going to shadow them green but it was WAYYYY too much green--looks better as is. Some pink primas and mini pearls dress up the branch. I stamped the word Mother and embossed it with copper. Wow--glad to get that done!

Challenge #3--make a child's card

The timing for this challenge was perfect because my grandson had just called to say he won the pine wood derby race that those little boyscouts do. He's 7 and was so thrilled to have the trophy! So, perfect time to make him a congrats card. I found this image on a decoupage sheet and layered it 3 times. I cut out the "SPEED" and stars on my cricut and was done. On to the next challenge!

Challenge #2--Try something new

I've joined Pink Stamper's blog party for National Scrapbook day and she posted a challenge to use something in your stash you haven't used before. Now, I really do use pretty much everything in my stash--except these Copic markers that I just never know what to do with. So here's my feeble attempt to color a tree and the sky with copic markers. ( I didn't have gray for the rock so used prisma pencils for that.) Not sure I'm loving this card. I guess it's ok for a guy, but I'm not used to leaving white space and not using butterflies and bling. Oh well--2 challenges done!

Brown & pastel card--challenge 1

Well, here's a quickie card I just made. Today is National Scrapbook Day and I've joined a blog party with challenges and prizes. The 1st challenge was to make something using brown and pastel. I totally froze--what will I make? I can't work under pressure! UGH! So I thought my blog party days were over. But I grabbed some brown and pink cardstock and just started throwing this together with no plan in mind. This little bird goes with everything so I cut him out, added a flower and was done before I knew it. Whew! Back to the party now!

Little Ballerina

This ballerina card is for a little girl who's family is going through some really tough times (the card below is for her mother). This is a decoupage image I layered 3 times and added a little sparkle. What little girl (or big girl) doesn't like sparkle?! The yellow flower border was cut on the cricut and some cute button brads added. The double punched border was done with the Martha Stewart lace doily punch--my fav! Thanks for taking a peek!

Hello...

This was a simple card I made for Cricut Card Fairies. What I like about it is the Fancy Pants paper did most of the work for me! I finally got around to using my new cuttlebug border folder--really adds a nice touch. I backed that up with a punched border and topped it with a butterfly made with my cricut. This card went together so fast that I threw another one together with the scraps for future use (why don't I think to do that more often!). Thanks for taking a peek!

cute mouse & flowers

I just love this adorable decoupage image. Hearts, flowers, butterflies--then that adorable mouse to boot! I just had to make a card with it. This was pretty straight foreward--print and cut the images, stack them on 1/16" foam dots, then add some stickles in lavendar, fruit punch, and star dust. Don't ya think this image just begs for some stickles? I matted it all against some white and green cardstock. The green is a pearlized cardstock and is about as heavy as chipboard. Great stuff I think I bought from Marcos and worth the money! Anyhow, it turns out in my arsenol of border punches I somehow don't have a scallop (I really must remedy that soon) so to make the scallops I ran my largest scalloped square nestabilities through my cuttlebug then cut off the edges. Worked pretty cool! I stamped "Hi!" and matted to match the image and added some cute flower buttons. If you want to try this image, just click HERE Thanks for taking a peek!

50th Anniversary

Ok, here's a pretty simple card that took me 3 hours to do. That's because after figuring out what the basic sketch would be, I decided to mix things up, switch things around, and experiment with techniques. Eventually I was sick of it all, had lost my creative mojo, and didn't have a clue what I was trying to do! So, back I went to my original sketch and was done in 15 minutes. UGHHHHH--the wasted time! And that's why I'll never be able to post more than a few items here a week.

Anyhow, this card is pretty self explanatory. I used the scor embosser ( I think that's what it's called) directly on the card. I put some white cardstock through the cuttlebug using the birds and swirls folder, then matted it on gold foil cardstock. The swirl and 50 were cut on the cricut using Storybook, and the birds are from Joys Of The Season. I love using those "2 turtle doves" as love birds on cards like this. (Plus I didn't buy the cartridge until after Christmas so I didn't get to use it for the holidays). A nice white and gold card for a golden anniversary--hope they like it! Thanks for taking a peek!

Swan Decoupage

I managed to get a card done today even with the grandbaby underfoot. It's amazing how much fun a little one can have with a pile of buttons and some old stickers!

This swan was from another decoupage sheet online. The swan was edged with star dust stickles, and liquid glass was applied to the water. I matted the swan background with white cardstock and put some self adhesive pearls in the corners. The black cardstock was embossed with swiss dots. I used the Martha Stewart border punch on it too. Added pink ribbon and more pearls. If you're liking that swan, you can find it HERE . Thanks for taking a peek!

Lavender Fairy Card

This card is one of my favs--I got to use sooo many toys and goodies on it! Butterflies and the fancy border were done on my cricut. The interior of the frame was embossed on my cuttlebug. I lightly inked it and love how it makes the fairy look like she's right down in the grass. The purple frame was "glitterized" with stickles, and boy did that turn out sparkly. I stamped, colored and cut out the fairy image several times and used foam dots to layer. Liquid glass on her wings and touches of glitter in her hair and skirt make her nice and sparkly too! I finished it off with bunches of primas, gem brads, and tiny rhinestones dotted about. Definately a girly-girls card!

Black and White Anniversary

Here's an anniversary card I made for our soldiers, and it's a great way to get more use from a Christmas cartridge. I cut the 2 turtle doves from Joys Of The Season and matted them 3 times. Can ya tell I really love my ticket punch? Sometimes getting rid of those pointy corners is all you need. I used little touches of red to give this some pop--somehow I just can't do a totally b & w card! Thanks for taking a peek!

Lily stamp card

This is the first time I've used this Lily & Milo stamp and it was perfect for my granddaughter's birthday card. I colored it with Prisma pencils and added just a touch of sparkle to the dress. The blue glitter cardstock is super sparkly. The pattern paper was just some dollar store stuff, but doesn't it go pretty with this? I doodled around the stamped image--my first attempt at that. Thanks for taking a peek!

With Sympathy

Here's a sympathy card I made when I was first experimenting with embossed backgrounds. I stamped and embossed the white cardstock--love the satiny look it gives to it! The bird and branch were cut with the cricut using Home Decor. I added some little pink primas and pearls and stamped the sentiment. Thanks for looking!

Totally scraplifted...

So, I totally stole this card. Well, not the card--I made that! But the idea for it came from some talented individual on scrapbook.com, whom shall remain nameless because, well, I'm terrible at remembering names! I thought these colors together were just so striking, I had to do one. The blue paper has been stamped and heat embossed with white powder, as was the sentiment. The white cardstock was embossed with the cuttlebug and a border added with the Martha Stewart lace doily punch. The edges were inked with green, which I also used on white ribbon to make my own matching ribbon. And the brad was one of those plain silver ones you get from a hardware store. I dragged it across my glue pad then dipped it in blue embossing powder and applied heat. I love embossing!

Anniversary card

This is the card I made my husband for our anniversary a few weeks ago. The cuts were made with the Storybook cartridge and I stamped and heat embossed the pink paer, the letters, and the black scallop. Little mini pearls were added to the heart, black scallop, and the center of the little pink flower. The larger flower has a Martha Stewart punched butterfly and a heart brad holding it all together. It may be hard to see, but above LOVE is a rub on Celebrate. Thanks for taking a peek!

Sailboat card

I just love this sailboat stamp for guy cards, and when I found this sentiment stamp, I just had to pair them up together! The stamp is from a series called Words Worth Remembering. I stamped the boat then colored it in and added a touch of stickles. Liquid glass was added to the water. The sentiment was stamped using versawatermark pad (my new fav) and heat embossed with blue powder. The white cardstock was mounted onto blue pearl cardstock (gives it a cool little sheen) and some silver brads added. Thanks for taking a peek!