Sharing Some Sunshine from CHA

Hey Everybody!!!

Just a quick card I whipped up from last week.

There's been a whole lotta heat goin' on all over the country

and Northern Illinois' has been right in the middle of it.

100 degree temps with heat indexes up towards 120 made

it so difficult to breathe...so no patio time for Julie last week.

But I am happy to say that I am coming to you today

directly from my patio to share this card full of sunshine...

just like my day...

I adore the sunshine on this card.

It was created using 'Baggin' Some Rays' from The Craft's Meow.

So many fun images to choose from!

Last week was the Summer CHA Show.

I am so fortunate to have Chicago in my backyard

so I was able to go and walk the floor for The Twinery.

Before I go, I thought I would share a few photos from

CHA...most are mine and a couple I snagged from my

friend Stacy Rodriguez.

One of the sweetest people in the world, Cath Edvalson.

You know her as the author of the Moxie Fab World blog.

Have you visited her personal blog?

I LoVe visiting there...really getting to know the heart

of this lady...hope you will check it out too!

You never miss the fab red-headed beauty that is Susan Opel.

She is the creative editor of Paper Crafts Magazine.

It was such a lovely time at the PC Mag Meet & Greet,

which is where the majority of these pics were taken.

I love this photo of Susan with Kelly Marie Alvarez

of Lawn Fawn Stamps.

Kelly Marie's adorable husband Mike was taking pics

at the exact same time so those poor girls had no idea

which way to look!

Several talented designers made it to the CHA floor.

Vera Yates was the only one I found that was the

same height as me and we loved it!!

Kate Baldwin of I {heart} Papers has been a facebook

friend of mine for awhile.  She is always there when I have

the oddest questions that need a quick answer!

This is my dear friend and another very talented designer,

Stacy Rodriguez.  I was so happy to finally hook up with her.

One of the sweetest around!

(I have no idea what is going on with my eye here!)

Talk about a stairstep photo!

Along with myself and Stacy, this is Madison Parker

of Echo Park Paper.  Great guy!

Stacy does the social media work on FB for EP

so it was great to finally put a face to the company.

(again..no idea what is going on with the eye!)

This is my sweet and talented friend and teammate

from The Play Date Cafe & CAS-ual Fridays.

I saved her for last...

you know how they do in TV shows

where the big names get the last look in the opening credits?!

She was my companion for the day and it was so wonderful

to finally spend some time with her.

She is one of the most talented designers in paper crafting

today and by the way, she is currently a 

Top 10 Gallery Idol Finalist...so please go vote!!

Project Recipe:

Stamps:  'Baggin Some Rays' by The Craft's Meow
Ink: 'Papaya' by A Muse Studio
Tools:  'Fancy Tags 2' by Spellbinders

Big Shot, Starburst Border punch from Martha Stewart,

Corner Rounder punch from Fiskars

Things that Make me Smile...

Happy Friday everyone!

There you go...that's one of the things that makes me smile.

Here's another....

It's the 'Tuesday Trigger' over at

Moxie Fab World.

I love pretty much anything from 

Crate & Barrel

and these colors and design were really

fun to work with.

I featured the 'Funky Foliage' set from Wplus9 Designs,

Colorbox Chalk inks and my favorite baker's twine

from The Twinery.

I really loved this sketch from Card Patterns, too.

I am not typically a 'sketch' player...no reason,

I just gravitate towards color instead....

but I love this sketch and was happy to play!

Finally, the best part of my Friday.....

My oldest grandson CJ spent the day with me today

as there was no school here in town.

Papa Paul treated him to an early birthday present.

I am happy to boast that he has all the makings of

an engineer at the young age of almost 8.

Hope you enjoyed your visit.  

I'd love to know you stopped by so I hope you

will leave me a quick comment.

Today's Project Recipe:

Cardstock: The Paper Company

Stamps: Wplus9 'Funky Foliage'
Ink: Colorbox Chalk, VersaMagic, Tim Holtz Distress Ink
Tools: Fiskars 'Corner Rounder' punch

Embellishments: Baker's Twine by The Twinery in 'Honeydew', 

Pearls by Recollections

Inspired by Others

Over on Facebook, I have been fussing about the fact 

that I have had a hard time transitioning out of

Christmas creations to what's next, whether that be

just general winter-themed card or even, dare I

say it....Valentine's?

I found terrific inspiration by way of two

different challenges.

Moxie Fab's Tuesday Trigger

and the

Scrappy Saturday Challenge

in which I CASED one of my favorite designers...

Savannah O'Gwynn!

I absolutely love the colors from both photos. The softness

of the cakes and cookies were reflected in the sweet

wreath from Heidi Grace.

The sentiment is from Paper Inspirations

and my favorite baker's twine from The Twinery 

wraps it up so sweetly.

The beautiful pink rhinestones in Sav's card came alive

in mine with the pink rhinestone hearts and of

course the 'themes' mesh as well.

Before I forget, Jenny over at Wee Memories

(host of Scrappy Saturday Challenge)

is having a giveaway of this fabulous storage 

cubby from Studio 3 Solutions.

If I were you, I'd go check it out!

What a great little Christmas pressie this would be!

Fingers crossed : )

Thanks again for stopping by!

I LoVe hearing from you!

Wishing you Peace...

Today is a suPREMEly busy day, but I really wanted

to share this little creation with you.

You know me...I LoVe glitter!

I have been pretty conservative with it this holiday season,

so I thought I would create something that although it

is *sparkly* it's still subtle.

Thought I would enter this for the

'Glitter is Glam Challenge' in the Moxie Fab World

 

Here's what I used...

The ornament was created using my

Sizzix/BasicGrey die cut.  I topped it with a

beautiful acetate greeting from Little Yellow Bicycle.

Underneath, you find another acetate lovely in the

form of snowflakes, also from LYB.

The glitter comes in with the silver swirls which were

created with fun chunky glitter.

The ornament is adorned with silver micro-beads

& a huge rhinestone from Martha Stewart, 

vintage ribbon and soft pearl embellishments. 

All of the shading was done using Tim Holtz's

Distress Ink in 'Frayed Burlap'.

All right....I hope you enjoyed that little

glimpse into my projects for now.

Why so busy?  Well, the final designers

have been chosen for the newest team

at The Play Date Cafe, so there are 

eight acceptance emails and

110 'we're so sorry' messages to send.

I know that typically, just acceptance emails

are sent but it is my feeling that if you took the time 

to honor us with a submission, then the least

we can do is personally thank you.

 

I also have tomorrow night's project for

the PDCC to finish up!  I'm hosting this week's

challenge, so I can't be late!  haha

Hope you have a great night...thanks for stopping by!

A Little Birdie Told Me it's H{ippity} Hop Monday!

Happy Monday.....

Happy H{ippity} Hop Monday, that is!

This is the day the Ippity Chicks & fans share

their inspirational creations with you.

Stop over at The Ippity blog and check out

all the fabby girls you can visit on the hop!

I thought I would do a little

paper-piecing for this card using

a fun set from Ippity

Of course you know this set is available to 

purchase from my Ippity page here

along with the entire Ippity line.

I featured the fabulous baker's twine from The Twinery.

I am LoViNg being a part of their Design Team and am

always looking for new ways to use this twine.

You may recognize the Martha punch.

I love unique border punches and this certainly

works with the theme.

The 'tummies' of the little birds are courtesy of

BasicGrey's 'Jovial' DP.

I thought this would be a good entry for
Moxie Fab's Card Creation's Favorite Occasions
Week 'All Occasion' Cards Challenge HERE

If you need your very own

'Ippity Chick'

then I'm your girl!

Make sure you visit my Ippity page to

see the newest and classic collections.

All sets are discounted and you receive a

free Ippity image with any $65 order.

So glad you could stop by today!

I hope my little corner of creativity gives you

an idea or two for your next project.

I would LoVe to know what you are working

on right now....please share.

Celebrating Challenges!

Very excited to help Claire over at
Waltzing Mouse

celebrate their new sketch challenge.

I don't do sketch challenges all that often,

but if they continue to be THIS fun,

that will definitely change!

I used a variety of DP from DCWV's

'Flower Shower' pack.

I used the Martha Deco punch for my borders

and fabby Debbie Mumm ribbon runs through

my die cut buckle, which was originally silver.

I stained it with 'worn lipstick' distress ink

from Tim Holtz.  White pearls for just a

little 'white' touch.  The sentiment is

from Hero Arts.

This was a great Tuesday Trigger from
Moxie Fab as well....

These popsicles SCREAM SUMMER!
This card focuses on those summertime color 'flavors'
which were totally inspiring!

I am supporting a variety of other challenges

as well as this card ended up being very versatile.

Cupcake Inspiration #62

(photo above...I focused on the pinks)

The Pink Elephant #69

(theme - bright)

 The Corrosive Challenge #67

(die cuts)

Your Next Stamp #17

(border punch)

Wee Memories #9

(punch it)

AI Factory #38

(anything goes with a punch)

Hope you will stop by these challenge sites

and show your support!

Sweet Dreams are Made of This...

Yeah I know...4 posts in 3 days!

I couldn't resist doing the 'Tuesday Trigger' challenge

over at Moxie Fab.  Yes, I have been hanging out there alot

this week.  I love the inspiration using these colors.

Here it is.....

Makes me think of... summertime...sitting in my conservatory 

with a lovely glass of iced tea...a stack of magazines 

next to me...sun shining in and all is right with the world.

HA!  I do have the stack of magazines, but the rest of that story

is all but a dream.....

Thought the Martha 'Loop' punch was a good match for

the wicker chair texture.  I used the Cuttlebug 'Stylized Flowers' EF

to give the flowers texture, which were cut from the Spellbinders

'Dahlia' dies.  The DP once again is from Cosmo Cricket.

Take a look at that crocheted flower, though.

That's from Webster's Pages 'Le Jardin' embellishments.

BeAuTiFuL!

Please continue to share with me your favorite color combos.

I spoke about it in yesterday's post, which you find HERE.

You may be surprised to find that YOUR favorite combo

may be one of our next challenges over at 

The Play Date Cafe!

Layers of Lace...Paper Lace

So after I played around with the Moxie Fab Challenge yesterday,

I decided to take it in another direction using DP.

So here is my take on 'Paper Lace'.

I so love this punch set from Martha Stewart.  It was on my wish list

for several weeks and WHY I didn't buy it sooner is beyond me.

Love the color trend using saffron yellows and gray, so I went

BOO here and used DP from the 'Everafter' collection from

Cosmo Cricket.  The butterfly is from K&Co's 'Wild Saffron'

set, the ribbon is American Crafts 

and the sentiment is Renaissance Stamps.

Counting the focal point, there are 7 layers on this card..

I really enjoyed making this one.

So here's a question for you....

What is your all-time FAVORITE color combination?
 I have always been a fan of pink, white and gray or black
and now I love pinks and browns together.

Is it something you have loved since your were little

or is it something that you never thought you would use

and now you can't stop!?

Please leave a comment and share your favorites...

You never know when YOU might set the next trend!

Love me Some Lace...Moxie Fab Challenge

Was visiting over at Moxie Fab and made time to play a little with

some new stamps,springtime colors and of course lace for the

Moxie Fab World Challenge

'Diggin' on Doilies and Lace'

I have a drawer full, well many drawers full, of lace and ribbon

and some of my favorites are things that were given to me by my

grandmother.  This card features an old eyelet lace with this fab

seafoam green satin running through it.

I suppose there is debate over what is lace, what is a

doily....is eyelet lace?  Yes it is.  Debate closed  : )

New series of Studio G stamps were used for the sentiments

and flowers...VersaMagic inks...Martha pearls...

Making Memories chipboard letter and K&Co paper flowers.

The dotted swiss DP is from the new DCWV 'Linen Closet' collection.

Simple.

You could add a small cross or few easter flowers or eggs

to adapt this more to Easter...change the colors completely

and it could be for St Patrick's Day, Mother's Day,

pretty much ANY day!

See you at midnight tonight for a brand new

Play Date Cafe Challenge 

with the BRAND NEW

design team.

If you participated in the blog hop, the winner will

be announced then...fingers crossed, right?!