A little Glitz and Glam

Here I am checking in with a card for the Holiday Vacation Challenge #10.  OWH is finally able to add a R after their name and so the challenge is to go round in it's honor!!  I didn't have any round sentiments or ones that started with a R but I did have one about smiles...and who wouldn't love a smile in the mail!

You Make Me Smile

I love when a card starts out one way and ends totally opposite of what you started.  I'm breaking out stamp sets I haven't used in a while and trying to make use out of them again.  This stamp set is from Verve.  My daughter had fun helping me punch out all those little circles and I used a circle cutter for the big ones.  The butterflies were stamped and cut out and then covered in Stickles.  I then stamped them again on the circles before adding the cut outs with some glue in the centers and SU Dimensionals on the wings.  I wish I would have started using them sooner since I found out they are thinner then the ones I've bought from Michaels and Joann Stores.  I love 'em! =)  The paper is out of a shimmer stack that I've been hoarding.  I made the most of my paper by cutting the center from the back layer to make my circles and adhering it all to a card base.

Well I'm winded but I hope you've enjoyed!  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Anything But Pink?

Today's Holiday Vacation Challenge #9 was to make a card that was Anything But Pink. With Valentine's Day coming around, the shippers have been seeing maybe a little too much.  While my card is not Valentine's themed, it's also not pink!

NOT PINK!!

Fun right?  This card was a headache!! I think I cut up 3 patterned paper before deciding not to use any at all!  For those of you with amazing eye site you may have noticed my wet glossy accents on the brads.  They were glitter brads and I wanted to make them safe to ship to our Heroes.  I used the glossy accents and then let them dry...but not long enough!  So I had to add more glossy accents to fix my smudges.  I used a metallic silver pen to color the stars on the Verve sentiment and then added some stickles!  The ribbon is from SU as well as the die.  It's actually the Top Note Die but with a little playing around!

I hope you've enjoyed!  Have a great New Years!!

Missing You

Hey All!!  My Lainey bug and I spent the afternoon crafting away while my husband and son took a nap.  I love being able to spend time with her and I love how she is my biggest fan.  It doesn't matter what I make, she loves it all.  Her and I are working on some Valentines but they are still in the coloring stages.  I do have a card to share with you though.  I actually started it last night but no matter how much paper I cut it just didn't want to come together.  So I said sleep on it. Today, I changed my stamps and ribbon and colors and it all clicked.

Missing You

The only piece I stuck with was the music note paper which was an awesome clearance find at JoAnn...like I really needed more paper =)  The stamp set is from Verve.  I stamped the stars and then stamped another set to cut color and sparkle! I'm very proud of my ribbon as well...Sandy showed me how to do it at an OWH party.  Thanks Sandy!

This card was made for the OWH Holiday Vacation Challenge #8 - Missing You!!

End of Year Sketch Challenge #49

Hey everyone! I hope you all have enjoyed your Christmas and are ready to put your crafting presents to good use!  I have two cards for you tonight..a little bit of a his and hers card making.  Both cards were made for the OWH Sketch Challenge #49.  Enjoy!

You Rock Star

I tried so hard to steer away from my normal color combos.  I hand stamped each layer myself to create my own paper.  I think I would really like to try it back in my safety zone of reds and black but overall it's good.

He Rocks

Yay for the hubby!  He made this card completely without stamping and even layered the guitar! (Hard to see but it's a guitar cut out and propped on pop dots and placed over another guitar).  The Diamond Plate EF is his new favorite.

Well I hope you've enjoyed!!  Leave a comment so I can come check you out!!  

Midweek Throwdown

Oh my goodness..maybe it's the Holiday Vacation Challenges or maybe it's that all my shopping is done but my mojo is back and on fire!  I made 3 cards tonight of the same design but different colors.  They are for the OWH Midweek Throwdown and Holiday Vacation Challenge #5!  Enjoy!

R&W LOVE

This is the first of the set and my favorite.  I liked it so much I made a couple in this color.  The hearts and the word LOVE are from the SU Filled with Love set and the ribbon is out of my stash.  Love my new Seeing Spots EF =)  The hearts are popped up on some 3d foam.

B&W LOVE

The ribbon on this one is actually 2 different ones.  I have so much ribbon but never the 'right one' for the job. So I made my own =).  The flower brad is SU.  I wanted to change it up just a little but I think if I mass produce this one I would leave it out.

S&W Love

The last one!  This one was my attempt for the monochromatic Holiday Challenge.  My husband told me the others weren't monochromatic so hopefully this fits the description.  The ribbon again is 2 different ribbons pieced together to get something close to what I was looking for.  I tried to use silver embossing powder with glitter in it but it turned out terrible and kept flaking off....SAFETY HAZARD!  So instead I used some silver ink I picked up years ago at Target.  I really like how it turned out.

Well I hope that you've all enjoyed! I can't believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve! I am so excited for Christmas this year since my husband is home with us and it will be his first with my son.  He missed out on so much last year and we are making up for it this year.  I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas and are able to spend it with those that you love!

Elmo

Hey everyone!   I'm here tonight with an Elmo card for the Holiday Vacation Challenge #4.  Making cards for our little heroes should be so much easier for me but it's not!  The first card I'm going to show you is one I've been working out for awhile and the second is one I came up with today to make life a little less challenging.

Elmo and Friends

This card was a tough one.  Figuring out the right size and then manipulating my punches..ehh headache.  I promise to follow up with some instructions to prevent the headache for the rest of you!

Elmo

This is the one I made tonight.  Elmo is the easiest guy to recreate.  I make a lot of Elmo faces but they always seem to disappear and wind up in my son's room.  I was happy to use my new Seeing Spots EF but I'm still  not in love with the card so please leave your suggestions!  My son loves it but I'm a little indifferent.

RockStar

One last card for you.  My crafty friend who randomly is featured on my blog created this one for the OWH Sketch Challenge #48.  He used the Diamond Plate EF and the stamp set was from Inkadinkado.

Well I hope you've all enjoyed!  Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

OWH Sketch Challenge 48

Quick post for you tonight.  I made the following card for the OWH Sketch Challenge #48 and for the Holiday Vacation Challenge #3.  Enjoy!

Love

I used the SU Filled With Love set and the SU Tiny Tags Set.  I'm very proud of myself for making this card completely out of my scrap paper pile!! WAHOO!  The bling part of this cards is Stickles and the metallic on the ribbon. 

Thanks for stopping by!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!!

Feeling like a Mad Crafter =)

I have 3 special cards to share with you today all in honor of OWH.  It's been hectic around here with a lot of handmade presents to be done.  I feel totally relieved to have finally finished a baby scrapbook for my brother.  I feel so challenged going from cards to scrapbooks.  It just feels like there's too much space and then not enough.  Well now that the gifts have come to an end I can get back to the card making. Phew!!

AnyHero

Isn't this guy just awesome!  He's a freebie for the OWH Midweek Throwdown Challenge.  Dude Times Doodles generously donated him so go snag one up!  Nothing to special going on with this card.  I colored him with colored pencils since my Copic supply is embarrassing small.  The sentiment is SU Service and Sacrifice.  The ribbon and star brads are out of my stash and the camouflage paper is a special gift from my mom. =)

Valentine Defined

So I actually made this card for yesterdays OWH Holiday Challenge #1 but forgot to post it...ooops!  Well here it is anyway.  The technique used was scoring..you can see it on the white piece.  I used the upcoming SU Valentine Defined set to stamp the flamingos.  The love tag is from the SU Tiny Tags set.  I finally ordered some liquid pearls but I wasn't very happy with how they turned out.  Still need some practice I guess!

I love you snow much!

This card was made for todays OWH Holiday Challenge #2.  I didn't think very much about the time it would take to mass produce but after a few hours I managed to make 9!  I've been really wanting to clear these snowman digis from my space and the challenge was the perfect chance.  I believe they are Bugaboo.  Please correct me if I'm wrong.  SU products used were the Petals-A-Plenty EF and the Top Note die.

Well I hope you've enjoyed stopping by and please feel free to leave comments...I always take a peak back!
Merry Christmas..Happy Holidays!

Sketch Challenge #47

Hey All! I finally managed to squeeze in some time to play along with the OWH S&S Sketch Challenge #47.  My crafting buddy was even inspired to play along.  Enjoy!

Celebrate

I've been noticing these wreaths a lot lately over on Splitcoaststampers.com and I just had to figure a way to make one myself.  They are so much easier to make than they look!  I changed the sketch a little bit by moving the large square layer over a little but I pretty much stayed with it.  I used all products from my stash except for the SU Melon Mambo cardstock and SU Basic Black Ink.

Everything to Me

Masculine? I think it could totally work!  This one was created for the same sketch challenge as well.  He actually finished it on Sunday...WHAT! Before me?!?!  The stamp set used was SU Always and there's even a little SU Waffle Paper on there!

Thanks for stopping by!

Yay Me!

I know it sounds funny to have a post labeled Yay Me! but I've been missing my mojo for 2 weeks now..so YAY ME! 

You're in my thoughts

A white card! Ahh who would have thought! The white theme is for the Pals Paper Arts PPA72 Challenge.  The sketch is for the OWH Sketch Challenge #46 and the ribbon is for the OWH Midweek Throwdown.  It's really hard to see but I used sparkle embossing powder on one of the layers.  Hopefully this close up will show that off better and the ribbon. =)

Close Up

The sentiment is popped up with some 3d foam and stamped with silver ink. It's from the SU! set Word Play. The Flowers are from the Verve set Great Friend. I won them a while back and still love them! The background is dry embossed with the SU! Square Lattice EF.

I thought I'd share how to do the ribbon. I have no video skills so I'm showing it off with photos.

First you will punch two small holes into your paper where you would want the center of the ribbon to be. If you don't use a small punch you will see your holes. Next, you will thread both ends of your ribbon through the holes to the back side. Cross over the ribbons on the back and thread them back through. Pull both ends and play with it to achieve the look you want.


Punch Holes



Thread Ribbon



Cross and Thread (shown with one threaded)



End Result

Well I hope the I've inspired you or that you atleast enjoyed taking a look.  Thanks for stopping by =)

Stylish Blogger Award

So I received a blog award from 2 very awesome blog buddies out there and wanted to share that!

Here are the rules when you receive this award:
1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this blog award.
2. Share 8 things about yourself.
3. Pay it forward to other bloggers!

1.  Thank you Lisa and Holley for making me feel special!  These ladies are talented so go check them out!
Lisa http://landofencraftment.blogspot.com/
Holley http://helloholley.blogspot.com/

2.  So now I have to tell you 8 things about myself..YIKES!
 Well I'm a (1) military wife to my Army Soldier and (2) we have two very crazy kiddos ages 1 and 3..soon to be 2 and 4.  Many people don't know that (3) I'm an Army Veteran myself so I guess I can throw that in there.  (4) I'm a very quiet person until you get me started and then I'm not very good at shuttin up!  (5) I love to papercraft but I can throw down some sewing skills as well. (6) I was born in Ohio and have been to almost every state due to a mom that loved to travel and a military lifestyle.  (7) My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving because I love to eat!  (8)  I can honestly say I listen to all music types..who else do you know with a play list that goes from Alternative to Rap to Country to Techno to Pop to 50s in 6 songs =)

I'm not very good at talking about myself so I hope that satisfies you all =).

3. There's so much unbelievable talent out there so this is a tough one too.  I want to share with you the blogs I check daily so maybe they can inspire you as well! Holley and Lisa are on my list as well!

Mary Fish http://www.stampinpretty.com/
Catherine http://paperaddictcatherine.blogspot.com/
Sandy Allnock http://acolourfulworld.blogspot.com/
Jane Hunnicutt http://jans-gonestampin.blogspot.com/
Teresa Kline http://enjoythevasunshine.blogspot.com/

Please check them out =)

Love is in the Air

Hey there! OWH cardmakers are working hard on getting their Valentine's in for the Archway Cookie Challenge.  Who wouldn't want to craft for cookies!  My two cards for you today are love themed but could work for Valentine's Day if a troop found themselves in need.  Get your Valentine's Day cards to the shippers by Dec. 1st to help with this special mission!!

together

This cute little card was made for the S&S Sketch Challenge #44.  I was in the mood for some cuteness and the googlie eyes did it!  The stamp set is Sweet Scoops (Retired).  I paper pierced the heart and used Distressed Inks to really make it pop!  I used glossy accents on the scoops and Real Red Striped Grosgrain Ribbon.  I used the Lattice EF on the Chocolate Chip background.

Love is in the Air

Almost missed getting this card in!  This one was made for the S&S Midweek Throwdown.  The penguins are the Stampin' Up! Owl punch with their ears trimmed off!! How cool is that! I love the variety of this punch!  I hand cut the little iceberg and chalked around it with some blue ink.  It's simple but I love the penguins.

Snow!!

Finally! WE HAVE SNOW!!  This is a picture of my two little kiddos enjoying the fresh snow.  Last year we didn't get any snow so my son was very confused.  He stood there for a few moments and then finally came around.

Thanks for stopping by!! =)

S&S Sketch Challenge 43

Have you all recovered yet from blog hopping?  I know I'm still jumping back in there and looking at some of the great cards a second time over.   My card I'm about to share with you is for the S&S Sketch Challenge 43.  I actually made 2 because I didn't like the first and wanted to try another stamp..just more love for our troops to send home!

Here's the one I like.

BeMineOrElse

I organized my box of stamps only to find that I do own one Valentine stamp.  The birds were a $1 stamp by Inkadinkadoo and the heart paper was a find at Target last year.  The ribbon and rhinestones are from Michaels and the cardstocks are from Stampin' Up! (Real Red, Melon Mambo and Whisper White)  The image was also my attempt to water color..I actually messed up and it turned out pretty good if I do say so.  I used Glossy Accents on the hearts.

Here's the one that I just didn't Love as much.

LOVE

It's not terrible but I thought I could do better.  I guess we are all our own biggest critic. 

Enjoy your week!

Blog Candy Winner!

I'd like to first start off by saying THANK YOU for all the wonderful comments left during the OWH BlogHop! You ladies are the best!  There were so many inspirational cards and I truly loved all of the creativity shared.
Well, I know you didn't check in to see my thank you speech so let's get to the point.  The winner after sorting through qualifying comments is ...
LISA
Land of EnCRAFTment
Contact me at s dot estores at yahoo dot com to claim your prize!

Make sure you all continue to vote for OWH at Joanns Craft for a Cause Contest!!

OWH Be My Valentine BLOGHOP

Welcome and I hope you've enjoyed hopping along and checking out all the great cards crafters from all around have made in honor of our troops.  Operation Write Home is an amazing organization that touches the lives of our Heroes and their families through handmade greeting cards.  If you haven't already checked them out do so HERE.

The challenge for the hop over on the Stars & Stamps blog was to make a Valentine's Day card.  The deadline to send your own handmade Valentine's Day cards to the shippers is January 7th.  Please do not send anymore Christmas cards since the deadline has passed!  They can always use your general themes and AnyHero mail!  No Glitter!!

Some of you may know and for those of you who don't, OWH made it into the final 3 for the Joann's Craft for a Cause Contest!  The winning organization will receive $50,000.  That's payment for a lot of boxes to be shipped to our Heroes!  Vote for them daily by clicking HERE.

OWH has also brought us a SPECIAL MISSION!  They teamed up with Archway and for every Valentine sent to your shipper by December 1st, they will match it with some sweet treats!  Read more about it on the Homefront Blog HERE! 

Okay, so enough with the chit chat.  Here's my card!



My Sweet Valentine

I used the Stampin' Up! Always set to create the hearts.  I used Cherry Cobbler and Basic Black cardstocks and Inks.  The embossing folder is the Sizzix Lattice from Stampin' Up! and the pearls and ribbon are from my stash.  I printed the sentiment off of my laptop.  Somehow, I have no Valentine's Day sentiments!

So you've read through my ramblings and checked out my card but now here's the fun part...BLOG CANDY!  

BLOG CANDY!


50 Sheets of Cardstock!
40 Loopy Brads!
1 Sheet of Rhinestones!
2 Clear Stamp Sets!
6yds of Ribbon (2ea color)!

This is my first time offering blog candy and all you need to do for your chance to win is to leave a comment here telling us all what OWH means to you!  OWH means the world to me.  Not only does it give me a reason to make beautiful cards, it also helped my Hero keep in touch with home.  My husband sent home beautiful cards to myself and my children. It brightened their days and it's a keepsake we will always cherish!  You have until Sunday at 11:59 PST to comment!  Winner will be chosen by random and posted on Monday!

Next stop, Karen at Slightly Scrappy!

Time for another Throwdown!

Hey everyone!  I made this card for the OWH Sketch Challenge 42.  They are having a BlogHop on the 13th so be sure to check back and see all of the amazing cards created for our Heroes!


Always On My Mind

I used the SU Always stamp set for this card.  I think it must be my favorite since I've made so many cards from it.  The cardstocks are Melon Mambo, Old Olive and Very Vanilla.  The Ribbon is Old Olive and the inks are Melon Mambo and Old Olive.  I used the SU Lattice EF on the background image.

Hope you've enjoyed!

Anything Goes!

Time for another challenge!  Today's cards are for the OWH Midweek Throwdown Almost Anything Goes.  The cards shown were also made for the Joann Craft for a Cause Contest.  Enjoy!

Christmas Ornaments

This card looks a lot simpler than it is.  The red cardstock under the vellum is actually embossed with a Christmas Sizzix set I purchased at Joanns.  The black 'brads' were dots I doodled with my marker since Joanns seemed to be out of stock that day.  

Cowboy

Another entry for Joanns.  My hub got crafty and made some barbed wire from some copper wire in the beading section and then crafted the word cowboy as well.

Thanks for stopping by!

Masculine Cards

This is a difficult challenge for me but I think I got it right on this time.  I do my best with red and black when I think masculine but find it hard to keep it so simple.  No flowers or bows, no Stickles!  The following two cards were created for the OWH S&S Masculine Challenge.

Masculine Challenge

The blue jean card was made by my husba..oh I mean a crafty friend of mine.  The Copenhagen can that's peaking out is a real lid to one of my husbands containers.  Yay, way to recycle!  Here's a close up.

Close Up

And yes, those are real strings from my jeans, randomly ripped off me while the card was in the making!  Glad they weren't my favorite pair!  Please leave this crafty friend of mine some comments and encourage them to create more!

Hope you enjoyed! Have a great day!

OWH Sketch Challenge #39

Long Time No Blog!

Hello fellow crafters!  It's been awhile since I've been on here and I would like to thank that to our Hero being home!  We are finally getting back into our routines and I have found some time to start blogging again.  The card I've created to share with you today is for the OWH S&S Sketch Challenge #39.  Please Enjoy!!

My Everything

Here I go again with my SU Owl Punch...does anybody else find themselves in a routine of using a specific product?  I used Melon Mambo ink and DSP.  The embossing folders used were Swiss Dots and SU Square Lattice.  The flowers are stamps from the SU Always set that I cut out and embellished with 2 black brads.

Thanks for stopping by!

SRM Stickers Sketch Challenge

Another post for you late tonight.  SRM Stickers is hosting a Sketch Challenge on behalf of OWH and I just had to play along.  They are offering some great candy for playing along so jump in quick before the challenge is over!

For You

I was very inspired by the sketch and now every time I see a circle I think of this flower.  Hope you enjoy!!
I made this card with the Great Friends Verve Stamp Set.  I used Chocolate Chip and Cherry Cobbler Ink as well as Cherry Cobbler cardstock.  The ribbon is the 5/8" Victoria Crochet Trim and I used the Lattice Embossing Folder on the Cherry Cobbler cardstock.  For the flowers I used Stickles and Glossy accents and a few pearls from my stash. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Get Well Soon!

Hey all!  It's been a pretty crazy around here since my husband returned home.  It's so great to finally have our Hero back and the kids and I are stealing away all the time we can with him.  I did manage, however, to make a card for the OWH S&S Sketch Challenge #36.  I won an amazing set of Verve stamps and was itching to put them to use!!  Thanks again Teresa! (Enjoy the VA Sunshine)

Here's the card I created!

Get Well Soon

The flower was made from the Great Friend Verve set that I won on the challenge.  I used Glossy Accents to make it shine and a white button and ribbon from my stash.  It's hard to see but the black cardstock was dry embossed with the A2 Swiss Dots Embossing Folder.  This card was made for a little girl in our neighborhood and I hope she enjoys it!  Thanks for stopping by!

Hero Card and Birthday Card

Hey all!  Today I'm going to share two cards with you.  One was made for my Hero who is coming home and the other is just a birthday card for an OWH Challenge.  Hope you enjoy!

A Real Hero!

My goodness! This card was sooo much fun!  I've been so busy having my kiddos put together signs and t-shirts for when their Hero comes home that I forgot for a brief moment to make a thank you from me.  I hope he loves it.  It was inspired by the Sketch Challenge over at OWH S&S. 

Next up is a birthday card that I made for the OWH S&S Midweek Throwdown!  The challenge was to make a birthday card and that I did! Enjoy!

Wish Big!

This card involved a lot of chalking/distressing.  But I had fun and had a few learning mistakes along the way.  For this card I used the Sweet Scoops and the Word Play stamp sets.  I used Very Vanilla and Real Red cardstocks along with some Chocolate Chip for the distressing.  I used Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon and the Curly Label punch!  Some Glossy accents and a few brads finished it off. 

Thanks for stopping by!

Falling for PINK!

Hey everybody!  I'm not sure what it is lately but I seem to be heading for my Melon Mambo every time I want to make a card...this coming from a girl who used to hate PINK!  Today's card is for 2 OWH Challenges, S&S Sketch #33 and Monday Wondering Challenge.

Always 4 You

I used Melon Mambo and Very Vanilla Cardstocks for this one.  The bird is from the Always stamp set and the tag is from Tiny Tags.  The two punches used were the Jewelry Tag and Scallop Ribbon.  I used the Square Lattice EF. 

I also wanted to share a picture of my second batch of cards dropped off for OWH.  I hope the troops love them as much as I enjoyed making them!

2nd Batch!

Well thanks for stopping by and I hope you've enjoyed!!

Week of OWH Challenges

I have a ton of challenges and cards to share today.  I've been so busy making cards that I neglected my blog and sharing them with all of you.  OWH is celebrating their birthday this month and posting new challenges everyday!!  Join in on the fun and maybe win a prize or two!

Here's my first card.

Boo!

I made this card for the OWH S&S Sketch Challenge #32 and OWH Midweek Throwdown.  I mainly used scraps from my supplies and my CuttleBug for the cardstock.  The monster was actually made by just turning my Owl from the Stampin' Up! Owl Punch upside down and adding some googlie eyes! I also used my Jewelry Tag Punch for the BOO!

Freedom Ciara

Next up is Ciara!  The challenge for this card was to use the OWH Ciara digis and make a card!  You can view the challenge here and snag yourself a full set of free digis!!  Supplies used were cardstock, colored pencils and my CuttleBug!

Dahlia Flower

Another OWH Challenge: CASE card maker Kate Bossier.  I was really impressed by the Dahlia flower and knew right away I wanted to create one myself!  You can find instructions on how to make the flower on the OWH Challenge.

Last but not least...

OUR Journey

The last OWH Challenge was googlie eyes.  I've done a few already so this was an easy task for me!  I think I've used up my googlie stash in just the past few days. 

I hope you've enjoyed all the cards I've shared and maybe picked up some inspiration along the way!

SU! Owl Punch

Hey all!  I have been having so much fun lately making card after card.  It seems my crafty mojo is back full throttle!  I have 2 cards to share with you today.  The first card is for the OWH Sketch Challenge and the OWH Midweek throwdown.

Whoo Loves You Babe?

The Stampin' Up! Owl Punch is my go to punch these days.  I've made a few cards already using it and I love it! I've been itching to use some googly eyes and they fit just perfect.
Recipe:
Melon Mambo and Very Vanilla cardstock.  Black and Brown cardstocks from stash.
Print paper is from the Brights Patterns DSP pack. 
Ribbon is from stash.
Punches used were Curly Label Extra-Large and Two-Step Owl Extra-Large.
Also used was the Square Lattice embossing folder.

My next card is for the Clean & Simple Sketch Challenge.

together

I love the Clean and Simple Challenge this week.  There are always so many possibilities with their sketches.  Instead of the scalloped border I used a ribbon.
Recipe:
Cardstock - Melon Mambo and Very Vanilla
Ink - Melon Mambo, Old Olive and Marina Mist
Ribbon - Old Olive
Stamps - In A Word, Punched Posies (Lvl2 hostess set Summer 2010 Catalog)
Brad is from stash.

Thanks for stopping by!