Aviary Thanks

I just dusted off another wonderful stamp set from the current catalog - Aviary. I think those bird cages are simply irresistible! I found this card on SCS today and couldn't wait to case it, but I wanted to make it even easier than Grandma Overboard did, so I simply stamped the most ornate cage on the right side of a a piece of patterned paper that has a bit of a bolder pattern on the left side. This is probably the simplest card I've ever made! My birdcage stamp fell of its block mid-stamp so it didn't quite meet the stand, but I fixed that right up with a little bit of tangerine grosgrain ribbon. Don't ever think of a mistake as a mistake - simply an opportunity to embellish!

Thoughts and Prayers

My dear friend, Karen, who I mentioned yesterday, ordered six sympathy cards and six note cards, so I immediately looked on SCS for all the projects using the Thoughts and Prayers stamp set. There's just something about trees, greenery, and foliage that lures me in every time. This stamp set has beautiful images and heartfelt sentiments and I just love how the tree looks in this card that I found online. I was so thrilled that I had the Labels 4 Nestabilities set that Diamond Angelfish used on her card! Usually, I have to improvise, but not this time!! The technique is so simple that even with my rusty skills, I figured it out right away! After you cut out the largest label from the set, leave your paper in the die, turn it over, and sponge on the ink color of your choice (I used So Saffron), using the die as a mask, which leaves a crisp white border around your image.

Welcome Home, Wayward Stamper!

I am beyond thrilled to finally be posting papercraft projects again!!! I have MISSED stamping so much in the months since Morgan was born in September. I think I've had performance anxiety coupled with the fact that my craft room looked like a tornado blew through!! I have been scrapbooking a lot, but I haven't put ink to stamps to paper since last year. A dear friend of mine ordered a dozen cards last week and that order was the inspiration I needed to clean up my craft room (a gigantic task!) and get out all of those wonderful stamp sets and beautiful ink colors that I love so dearly. My first card was inspired by this lovely card on Splitcoast Stampers. Since it was been so many months since I've created anything stamped, I felt obligated to consult SCS, and I'm so glad I did. I had forgotten how many amazing stampers there are out there and how much I love "stalking" their blogs and checking out their work. So here's the first of what I hope will be many more posts in the coming days and weeks!!

Christmas Baking

So, as you have probably noticed, my paper crafting has dwindled significantly since Miss Morgan was born, but my baking has definitely taken off!! I think I have been channeling Martha Stewart and have found some delicious recipes to make and share this Christmas! Yesterday, I made pecan sandies, caramel chocolate cookie bars, Oreo truffles, & mini caramel tarts, and I had already made buckeye bars & orange balls. Bailey made the reindeer cookies and they are fun and yummy, too! I am in the process of making bacon grits fritters that I found in this month's "Southern Living" Magazine that are absolutely to die for! Of course, yesterday was a snow day, so Miss Bailey was home all day, which turned out to be a tremendous help to me. But I was totally pooped by the end of the day and was looking forward to a quiet evening and early bedtimes when Bailey dislocated her knee!! It was horrendous! Had Chris not been here, I know I would've passed out! Thankfully, Chris was able to pop her knee back into place and after a while, she calmed down enough to take an ibuprofen. She was so scared and I know it hurt terribly. She's doing better today and will probably go to school once Chris gets home and wraps her knee. Add to this, Morgan screaming her little lungs out last night and I was starting to wish that I was a drinking woman!! Today seems to have started off a little more calmly and I'm definitely not going to get into any baking projects today so I'm hopeful for a better day!

Halloween Tags

Believe it or not, I made a couple of loaves of pumpkin gingerbread for 2 of Bailey's teachers so, naturally, I needed a cute tag to go with them!! I found the inspiration for this tag on one of the PTI's design team member's blogs (can't remember which one!). I couldn't believe I had the stamps to recreate this project! The tag was super simple to make and I love the way it turned out - I think the teachers will, too! Have a wonderful week!!

I'm Baaaaaaaack!!

OMGosh!!! I cannot believe it's been an entire MONTH since I made ANYTHING out of paper!! It's a good thing I made so many baby thank you notes before Morgan was born or I never would've had any to send. So, Morgan was born on September 16, and she is doing wonderfully well! In fact, we celebrated her one-month birthday today with a cake and a little party at my parents' house. So much fun! Then, Chris took the girls to see his dad so I had a bit of crafting time ALL BY MYSELF! I still can't believe it! I broke out my new owl punch and combined two craft projects I found on-line. One was a cute treat box by Angie Juda and the other was this adorable card I found on SCS. I LOVE my Martha Stewart fence punch, but it is a bear to cut cardstock with! I've prepped several of these to fill with Halloween candy for Bailey's teachers. I am so thrilled that I actually have the mojo to make these little gifts! I sure didn't have any mojo while I was pregnant :D I hope to post another project in a day or two, so come back soon!!

Another Baby Thank You Note

I found this cute card on Splitcoaststampers and I don't even remember what I was looking for! This card turned out to be a cute baby thank you note - I love the sweet little button flower! Luckily, I've written all my thank you notes because tomorrow is the big day! It's hard to believe that almost 10 months of mental and physical preparation have all led up to tomorrow's C-section. I am nervous and excited and about 100 other emotions, but I am trying to focus on the fact that by this time tomorrow, we will have our sweet little baby girl! What a wonderful blessing!!

Happy Birthday, Grandmama!

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, blog friends! I have been feverishly working to update Bailey's scrapbook so I'll be ready to start Morgan's when she arrives this week! I have gotten so much done but, unfortunately, my 12x12 layouts are very hard to photograph and post here. Today, I made this card for Chris's grandmother who is turning 90 soon. The family is celebrating with a party tomorrow, but we won't get to go since it's 3.5 hours away and I can't travel that far. I really hope she likes her card, though! I love the way it turned out! I was inspired by none other than my favorite blog, Me, My Stamps and I. Do you ever feel like your traditional half-sheet cards don't really convey your feelings or the importance of an occasion? I do, so for Grandmama's special day, I decided to use a full 8.5x11 sheet of cardstock as my base. I also used my scallop circle Nestabilities which helped me keep the entire card proportioned. Nothing looks worse on a big card than a tiny focal point!! Can you believe the flowers came from SU!'s "Heartfelt Thanks?" I have had that set for years and it is one I turn to again and again. I'm so glad I've kept it all this time. Thanks for stopping by - have a great weekend!!

Feelin' Froggy

I LOVE paper punched animals! It is so cool to see how those punches that hang on your wall every day can work together to create something so cute!! Bailey's third grade teacher last year loved frogs so I included this card I made a while ago with her photo calendar that I finally finished! I always make a scrapbook or something similar for Bailey's teacher's end-of-year gift, but this year, I was a little late. My multitasking skills have really taken a hit with this pregnancy! Anyway, this year, I did a Shutterfly calendar that she can use this year with pictures from last year's class. I LOVE this idea and it's so easy - much easier than making a scrapbook! I hope she likes it. Have a great day!

A Male SU! Demonstrator? It's True!!!

Not only does Mary Fish create beautiful projects for her blog, she features beautiful projects created by other stampers, too! I really like this project by Jason Casper and it was a cinch to CASE. I LOVE using a variety of embossing folders on a single project - they're just so much fun!! Check out Jason's blog here for more inspiration!! Have a great week!

Bugs & Kisses

Isn't this the cutest little ladybug card you've ever seen?!?! My dear friend, Leigh Ann's daughter, Regan, is really into ladybugs, so I couldn't resist making this card for her 10th birthday. I wanted something a little different, so I went to SCS to see what all you other crafty creators are making. I knew as soon as I saw this adorable 3-D ladybug that is was the perfect card for Regan, and it was super simple to make. The ladybug only requires 3 punched scallop circles that I folded in half and adhered together. I drew the spots on with a Sharpie, and I used a 3/4" circle punch for the head. After using my Labels 4 Nestabilities to cut out the white piece of cardstock, I left the template in place and sponged on Bashful Blue ink for a bit of contrast. I love how easy it is to make nice even layers with Nestabilities. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Delightful & Delicious

I'm pretty sure I posted this card a long time ago, but it's one I did for my stamp club last week and I really love all the layers and Starbucks-inspired details! This set by Verve is called Delightful & Delicious, and it's the best coffee set I've seen. The link above takes you to the SCS gallery for the set and lots more inspiration. I can't wait to check it out! Have a great week!

Simply Sent Card Set

Isn't this the cutest set of cards? You'll never guess where I found the inspiration? That's right My very favorite blog!! I think this set would make a great hostess gift or teacher gift. I happen to have some 4.25" square envelopes so I was able to make these cards 4" square. Thanks for stopping by and stay cool!

Teacher Gifts are DONE!!

I am beyond thrilled that I have finished the beginning-of-the-year gifts I made for some of Bailey's teachers and school staff, especially since school starts on Tuesday!! I found this idea on SCS and loved it immediately. Sadly, Bath & Body Works didn't have these bottles of apple-scented hand sanitizer so I went with White Citrus because it's green! They were at awesome deal at $3 each! I made tags using Nestabilities Labels 4 and attached them to little bags of chocolate. What could be better than something sweet and something practical!! I LOVE the red and green ribbons together - I don't think it looks too Christmasy, do you? I found a TON of great ribbon in my ribbon drawer when I was looking for ribbon for this project. I had to get another wooden rod and clear out another basket to organize it all in! It's almost like finding buried treasure! See you again soon!!

Footprints in the Sand

One of my local scrapbook stores recently went out of business, but before they did, they had a fantastic sale that I just couldn't pass up! I found some beautiful paper, a pack of Thickers, an adorable baby's first year calendar, and this rubber stamp with the end of Footprints in the Sand. I have always loved and found comfort in this story. I made this card for a family friend who had surgery today and I love the way it turned out. I lucked out when I found such pretty trim in my ribbon drawer that matched this paper pack. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!

I promise this is the last one!!

Same song, third verse. Not much more to say about this design except that this card is for one of my Bunko buddies who just announced she's pregnant!! I'm really beginning to think that there's something in the water around here! Thanks for stopping by - I promise to show a little more variety in the next few days!

More Baby Thank You Cards

I'm on a roll making thank you cards and I really love this one that I found on SCS. I recently bought an argyle embossing folder that I absolutely LOVE for baby cards. The sweet little bear doesn't need much to look great! I raided all my PTI pink buttons and was able to finish several cards. I can't wait to send them to my friends. Thanks for stopping by!

Shake, Rattle, & Roll

Who knew that Chat's beautiful post from a few days ago would prove to be so versatile? After my first baby shower on Tuesday, I started thinking about an amazing thank you note I could make for my stamping friends, and it occurred to me that this beautiful flower might make an adorable baby rattle! And I LOVE how it turned out!! I made 21 of these beauties today, in between doing laundry and cleaning out Bailey's disaster of a closet! I can't wait to send them to my friends - I hope they're impressed! Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!!

More Inspiration from Chat

OMGosh! I am LOVING this card from Chat on her Me, My Stamps and I blog!! This is truly my very favorite blog and I have CASEd many of her beautiful projects. I couldn't pass this one up and luckily, I had some pretty new PTI paper to use. It was so much easier to create than I thought. I first punched out the scalloped circle and then worked the tab punched pieces around it by keeping their edges near the circle's edge. I had a little space left over, so I cut one tabbed piece in half and worked it right in. Piece of cake!! I used my new argyle embossing folder (LOVE IT!!) and a pretty little rhinestone brad to finish it off. I cannot wait to make more these lovely flowers! Have a wonderful day!!

Inspired by Stamp and Smile

Hey, there! Check out these CUTE cardsI saw on Michelle Yungbauer's blog, Stamp and Smile! I have seen a couple of cards that use the wing from SU!'s Two-Step Bird Punch to make flowers, but I am so dumb and didn't realize until I had already made my card that it was the SMALLER wing that's used - not the entire bird!!! Anyway, I borrowed the punch from my friend, Mary Ann's mom, Jane, and punched out a ton of birds AND wings, & I'm going to use every last one of them! I think these flowers look a bit like bearded tulips and I LOVE the colors on this card - Poppy Parade, Peach Parfait, and Daffodil Delight. I think that might be my new go-to color palette! Thanks for stopping by!!