Dumpster Dive...

...Crafter style! This kleenex box was headed for the trash can but the colors and design were so pretty I just hated to throw it away. So...to the rescue came my Fiskars 4XL Squared Lever Punch to cut out the little hummingbird,

and ta-da! a cute card! finished off with Fiskars 1/2 Round Corner Squeeze Punch & Fiskars 3-in-1 Rotating Corner Squeeze Punch, Summer Fun!

my take on...

...this card sketch from My Favorite Things



using Pure Innocence "Fresh From the Oven"





love putting these papres and images all together, adding buttons, gems and ribbon! doing a little fussy cutting to paper piece the hat, bowl and pants.
very relaxing :)

countdown to Halloween...

...this time of year is one of my favorites. The colors, the creating and all the fun memories that go along with Halloween. When I was younger, much younger, for Halloween my costume was a princess. A blonde hair plastic mask for my face with two little holes to breathe through making much condensation on the inside of the mask. I can still remember how damp and wet that felt.

Trick or Treating was always a treat. Candy galore! and the fun of running around after dark bumping into ghost and witches :) Very scary but oh so safe because our parents were right there behind us.
(with garlic to ward off vampires) LOL

busy, busy, busy

here it is the last day of August! Summer is almost over and I haven't got around to doing half of what I wanted to do ;)
Oh well, "tomorrow is another day"...
Busy is the word for the last few weeks, busy with making projects for challenges I'm hosting for the online crop at the Fiskateers site :) and then joining in on some of the challenges which include "lifting" other Fiskateer's projects, being inspired by them and then creating to make it my own. These are a few projects that I've completed,

Love making Halloween cards, orange is one of my favorite colors :)

first pinwheels that I've made

created this layout playing Simon Says challenge, what a Fun! game...after following the directions you just don't know what it's going to look like in the end, it's a surprise :)

I have realized that I am hyper-motivated by challenges! not competition but the challenge to get 'er done :) and working under pressure seems to push me to complete the project. Not sure if this is a good thing or not but just looking at my work, looks pretty good to me ;)

two of my favorite crafting companies...

I love Fiskars and My Favorite Things! Here's a card I made using both :) Two border punches by Fiskars and a stamp set by My Favorite Things.



These stamps are so adorable and fun to color. I'm going to try and practice more with my Copics. And I can never have too many punches from Fiskars ;)

a Gate-Fold card

here's a different spin on making a card, Gate-Fold. This card is scored and folded so that the two side flaps come together and meet in the center, then an added piece is taped onto one side flap to create a spot to embellish, stamp a sentiment or like I did, use a tag from a paper collection. Super easy card to make using the Scor-pal and I just love this new collection, Friends Furever at Paper Studio :)

The Front...

and the Inside,

and here's what I came up with...

This week is the CHA (Craft and Hobby Association) convention in Chicago. My lss, Paper Studio, is there scouting out the new products for fall, winter, holidays and especially Christmas :) Can hardly wait to see what Micaela finds! Check out Paper Studio's Facebook page, Micaela has posted some pics :)

Also the Lead Fiskateers are there having fun working with Fiskars products, showing off what wonderful projects that can be made with crafting companies products. While they are gone, over at the Fiskateers site we are having an online crop with challenges to make and share in the gallery. Love this! It motivates me to create and think of other ways to use my supplies...inspiring! I love seeing what everyone comes up with, totally amazing and awesome!

Here's one of the challenges I worked on making the card below. In this challenge we needed to come up with a crafty C-H-A! Create a project that includes an item, embellishment or technique that starts with a “C”, an “H” and an “A”.


My "C" was Chalk ink around the edges of my pattered paper, "H" was cutting my patterned paper in Half and "A" was for Accenting with gems :)

There are 24 challenges and I've gotten 18 completed so far!

taught a card class today

I am in love with the My Favorite Things stamp sets and their die sets! So I created this card with the "Something's Fishy" stamp set and the Die-namics "Fishtail Banner" set. Isn't she just the cutest! and in the stamp set there are three sentiments that are adorable! "Feeling a little green around the gills?" and "That's Just Crappie"...see, aren't they fun!



...and here's the inside of one of the cards that I wanted to use for a birthday card, I used a sentiment stamp from Hero Arts. It's OK to mix and match stamp sets :)



I'll be teaching this class again next week at Paper Studio which includes making two cards with envelopes and the stamp set!

a Card I made

making cards is another crafty thing I do :) Whatever I create it's always fun to imagine a "story" to go with the image and sentiment. Can't you just hear the story behind these two fine ladies, "This is how it happened:"

Layering multiple pieces of cardstock/color block background, stamping a sentiment, a little ribbon and adding the image from Crafty Secrets Heartwarming Vintage Collections makes this card so adorable!
hmmmmm, what secrets could they be hiding....wouldn't you like to know ;o)