Use those scraps!!

Here's another Pinterest find!! I found this card on a blog called A bit of this. A bit of that. and I was curious to see if I could CASE it. It was a little harder than I thought because, as usual, I chose the wrong size square punch, but the paper is so beautiful, I hope it will pass as a good card! I used my new SewEasy stitch piercer to make the holes for the back-stitching and it was surprisingly easy to use. There's also a new Sew Stamper that stamps your stitches instead of you actually sewing them. Genius!! I intended to buy the cross-stitch one at Archiver's but somehow ended up with another SewEasy piercer, so I guess I'll just have to go back!! See you soon!!

Cupcake Thanks

My sweet friend, Michele, gave me a CUTE cupcake card with a Starbucks gift card for my birthday so, of course, I HAD to create a cupcake-themed thank you card for her!! I found the inspiration for this card on Pinterest, so I don't know who created it originally. I think it's a great birthday thank you that would be easy to mass produce. The cupcake is a little punch I found for next to nothing at Marshall's of all places. Super simple, but super cute! Thanks for stopping by - hope you're having a great week!!

Inky Antics Pop-Up Magic!!

Sadly (aka fortunate for my bank account!), we do not have an Archiver's in Knoxville and the closest one is in Atlanta, so I don't get there very often. Oh, but when I do, it is completely magical!! Last weekend, I took a "mental health break" and drove to my fave city for a few of my favorite things, including Archiver's. I bought a beautiful turquoise faux leather photo album that I can't wait to fill with pictures from this year's adventures. And, in addition to a few little odds & ends that I haven't seen locally, I bought another cute stamp set from Inky Antics that has coordinating honeycomb paper that's used to make images that pop-up when you open the card!! Imagine those cheesy cardboard party decorations but so much cuter! The set is called Cupcake Birdy HoneyPOP Clear Set and I used magenta and brown honeycomb paper for the cupcake. To create the pop-up image, you simply stamp the image on the honeycomb paper, cut it out, and attach it to your card using a very strong adhesive. I made this card for my stampin' buddy, Jane, whose birthday is today. So, if you have the chance to visit Archiver's, don't pass it up - it's a gold mine of fun & unique paper craft products!!

We Click!

Isn't this the CUTEST Valentine you've ever seen?!?! I searched for the Perpetual Bliss stamp set from Paper Smooches on Splitcoaststampers and found this card that I CASEd in its entirety. This is such a simple layout but I just don't think I could love this card more!! I made it for my sweet hubby but I might just make a few without the heart to give to my friends who are rabid photographers. Thanks for stopping by - now go make some Valentines!! Time's a'wastin!

Inspired by Pine

I'm back to blog-stalking after a brief hiatus and there are so many amazing projects out there that I can't wait to make!! Since this is my birthday week, I have slacked on my household responsibilities and had a little more crafting time. I found this card by Heather Nichols, who is a Papertrey Ink design team member and while I didn't have the tools she used, I was able to duplicate many of the touches that make her card special using some of my assortment of supplies! My designer paper is by PTI and I love the combo of Hawaiian Shores and Pure Poppy. I've mentioned before my love of medallions and I made this one using a 2" scalloped circle punch, 1 3/8" and 1" circle punches, and SU!'s Designer Label punch. I used my Diamond Lace Edger Punch by EK Success to fashion the scalloped edge along the designer paper. A few buttons and a piece of coordinating ribbon and VOILA! A lovely card!! You could also omit the buttons and center the medallion for a beautiful, easy-to-mail card. Thanks for the inspiration, Pine!!

Scraps Galore

So, the things I learned when I made this card are 1.) that the cards that look the easiest to make are typically the hardest and 2.) there's no such thing as an easy card!! This is another Pinterest find and I really like the concept, but I'm not sure I like my execution. This is a fantastic use for all those scraps I have in my craft room! The pieces are 1-inch wide and of varying lengths with the tiniest bit of stamping thrown in. The original had a row of miniature rhinestones at the bottom but, since I didn't have any, I simply used my paper piercing template and a marker to draw a row of dots. That small detail really anchors the card. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

I LOVE Paper Smooches

At the end of last year, I borrowed a couple of Paper Smooches stamp sets from one of my stampin' buddies and tonight, I finally got a chance to use one of them! This is one of the cutest stamp sets I have ever seen (it's called Sunny Side Up) and the quality is amazing! The images are super crisp and versatile and lots of fun to use. I found the inspiration for this card on Pinterest and I made it for my prayer partner in the confirmation class at our church. Making cards for a boy when I'm so used to making them for girls has been challenging, but I'm finding a few ideas on-line that I like. :D Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful Friday-eve!