Happy blog birthday

Hip-hip-hooray! Today is my blog's third birthday. Usually when it comes to birthdays, I am of the "Where did the time go?" school of thought. But for some reason with my blog it seems like it's been a lot longer, so my reaction is more "Really? Only three years? I thought it had been four." I do remember that I tried to celebrate my blog's third birthday last year and was close to publishing the post before I caught myself and realized it was actually two years.

But today does actually mark three years of blogging for me (I've double-and triple-checked), so it seems appropriate to share a fun and festive birthday card.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Big Bold Birthday,  Remembering Your Birthday (inside card, see below)
Paper: Whisper White, Regal Rose card stock; silver glimmer paper
Ink: Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Decorative Dots embossing folder, Deco Labels Framelits dies, Chocolate Chip polytwill ribbon, Silver Chrome Pearl Pen (Viva Decor), action wobble spring (Raisin Boat), Dimensionals

I probably also should have mentioned that it's a girly card. And sparkly. A fun, festive, girly, sparkly birthday card. It's hard to beat that. At least I hope the eight-year-old who received this card agrees.

One of my favorite details on this card is the sprinkles on the cupcake, which I created with a Pearl Pen -- I love that extra little bit of dimension. To continue the sprinkles theme, I embossed polka dots on the card base and stamped pink and brown confetti on the background layer. But the best thing about the cupcake, which you can't see in the picture, is that it is mounted on a little spring, so it wobbles back and forth when you move the card. Adorable.

I love the inside of this card almost as much as the front. I used markers instead of an ink pad to apply ink to the greeting stamp, so I was able to highlight the words pink and sprinkles with a different color. As a finishing touch I stamped some pink and brown confetti along the top of the layer of Whisper White. It was a last-minute decision, but I think it really pulls everything together.

Whether this is the first or fiftieth post you've read on my blog, thank you for being a part of the last three years. I hope you've found something to inspire you.







As always, thanks for stopping by!

Adventure ahead

Two weeks ago I turned in my resignation at work. I've been thinking about doing this for ages -- after nine years in childcare, I'm ready for other challenges and opportunities. I don't have another job lined up, so I'll be updating my resume, looking at job postings, maybe taking a few classes or even researching graduate school programs. Basically a full-time job without the paycheck.

But amidst all the busy-ness of discovering the meaning of life and deciding what I want to be when I grow up, I want to remember to take time to enjoy quiet moments. I may have to put this card somewhere I will see it every day:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: A Quiet Life, Pursuit of Happiness
Paper: Bashful Blue, Very Vanilla, Basic Black card stock
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Bashful Blue, Wild Wasabi, Hello Honey, Blush Blossom, Pink Pirouette, Baked Brown Sugar
Accessories: Bashful Blue taffeta ribbon, Blender Pen, Dimensionals

I love this serene image, and I think it works perfectly with the sentiment and the clean and simple layout. I used a Blender Pen to color the image, added a Basic Black mat to make it stand out and finished the card with a simple knotted ribbon. Just looking at this card makes me feel a little calmer about all the adventures that lie ahead.

Thanks for stopping by!

Simple Work of Art

There are times when I love to spend hours making elaborate, intricately embellished cards. But there are probably more times when I need a card that's simple, cute and quick. The new Stampin' Up! set Work of Art is prefect for those times.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Work of Art, Four You
Paper: Whisper White, Basic Gray, Blushing Bride, Certainly Celery card stock
Ink: Calypso Coral, Blushing Bride, Certainly Celery, Basic Gray
Accessories: Itty Bitty Accents punch pack, Bitty Banner punch, Neutrals Candy Dots, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

This card used four stamped images, three punched shapes (two flowers, layered together, and one banner) and one Candy Dot. Super quick and easy to put together when you want to send a little note to a friend. And it could be easily customized by changing the color combo, the sentiment and/or the punched accent. You could even make a set of these cards to give as a last-minute gift that doesn't look last-minute.

Thanks for stopping by!

The card contest that wasn't

For weeks I've been looking forward to attending a rubber stamp show that's in our area this weekend. I was excited to see cute sample cards and projects, buy a few goodies, and maybe even win a prize at the card contest. I won the card contest two years ago at the same event, and I was hoping to do it again -- first prize was $100 to spend with any of the vendors at the show.

Originally I didn't think I would have time to make any cards for the contest, but the weekend before they were due I decided to go for it. I created two cards to go with the contest theme, "The Nature of Things," and sent them off a few days before they were due.

When we walked into the stamp show yesterday morning, there were several people standing in front of the contest display board admiring the samples. The winners weren't going to be announced until the afternoon, but all the submissions were put up on the display. I patiently waited my turn, and when they were done, stepped up to see my cards. "Which ones are yours?" my aunt asked me. I looked at all the cards, and my heart fell. Neither of my cards was on the board. I was so disappointed, probably more than I should have been. I don't know what happened to them; maybe they got lost in the mail, or maybe they arrived after the deadline. I just know that I half wanted to leave right then, and I wasn't really interested in looking at anything.

But we started to walk through the booths, and after a bit I perked up and realized it wasn't the end of the world. After all, there was no guarantee I would have won anything anyway. So I set aside my disappointment and enjoyed spending the day with my friend and my aunt, finding all kinds of new crafty treasures. And just for the record, here are the two cards I made for the contest:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Touch of Nature
Paper: Barely Banana, textured Soft Suede card stock; watercolor paper
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Versamark, Barely Banana, Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive
Accessories: Clear embossing powder, 1/8" Old Olive taffeta ribbon, linen thread, pearls, Aqua Painter, Stamp-a-ma-jig, Glue Dots

I did a little bit of watercoloring on both cards. I don't do it very often, but I think the soft look works so well with nature cards. For this card I used ink blended with an Aqua Painter.

I wanted to some subtle details to the background, so I added two flowers at the bottom and a butterfly peeking out from behind the focal layer. They are stamped with Versamark ink and embossed with clear embossing powder.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Lovely As a Tree
Paper: Basic Black card stock, watercolor paper
Ink: Jet Black StazOn
Accessories: Soft Subtles Watercolor Wonder Crayons, wood sheets, linen thread, Neutrals Candy Dots, Aqua Painter, Dimensionals

For this card I stamped the image in Jet Black StazOn and scribbled some Watercolor Wonder Crayons over it. Then I used an Aqua Painter to blend the crayons and soften the lines. Behind the top and bottom of the focal layer are strips of a wood sheet.

*July 22, 2014, update: Our mail delivery today brought the envelope with the two cards I submitted for the contest. It was just marked "Return to sender," and I double-checked the address, which was correct. So I'm guessing they arrived after the deadline and were returned. At least now I have a couple more cards I can add to my stash.*

Thanks for stopping by!

A fun flower and large polka dots

Is there such a thing as too many flowers? I'm sure some people would say yes, but they'd be hard pressed to convince me. So I today I'm going to share --surprise! -- a card with a flower. But it's just a single flower on a clean and simple layout.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Bloom for You
Paper: Naturals White, Soft Suede, Whisper White card stock
Ink: Soft Suede, Hello Honey
Accessories: Hello Honey stitched satin ribbon, Fun Flower punch, 7/8" scallop circle punch, 1/2" circle punch, Large Polka Dot embossing folder, corner rounder, gold sequin trim, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

To make the flower I stamped the image three times on Whisper White card stock: once in Soft Suede and twice in Hello Honey. I punched out the full flower and two center circles and layered them together with Dimensionals. Then I gently curled up the sides of each petal to add a little more dimension.

For the background I embossed large polka dots on a piece of Soft Suede card stock, rounded the corners  and adhered it to a Naturals White card base. I wrapped a piece of Hello Honey ribbon around the card front, attached the flower and added a few gold sequins for a little sparkle.


Thanks for stopping by!