A Little Creativity to Tie Me Over...

Been doing a little 'workin' for the weekend'

on some cards this week.

I have a wedding to attend in which my daughter

is a bridesmaid (for the first time) and her son,

my 7 year old grandson, is the ring bearer.

I can hardly wait!

So I am pretty sure that my weekend will be nearly

gone before I can get back to a little creative time.

So here are some cards I made

for a couple of challenges.

This first one is for the

Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #61
over at Hope Stamps Eternal.

Monochrome and polka dots

and above all else, cupcakes  : )

This next card is for two challenges....

Challenge #31 - Alter an Embellishment

CAS-tastic challenge #6 - Focus on Sentiment

Both of these challenges focus on the

sentiment for this card.

I took a 'rub-on' embellishment

from Rhonna Farrer then:

'aged' it with ink, 

added rhinestones to the letters

and added ribbon tabs.

Hope you enjoyed these two little creations.

I will have a couple more to share with you tomorrow.

Before I go....here's what I would LOVE to know...

WHAT ARE YOUR

CREATIVE PLANS
FOR THE WEEKEND?

Please leave a comment and let me know.

It's always fun to know what you are up to...

it may be paper crafting, attending a graduation party,

leaving on vacation or planting a garden...

There's creativity in

EVERYTHING!   : )

A Bird on a Wire...Birdcage, that is....

I really enjoyed working on this challenge and have a

feeling it won't be my last.  I am a big believer in

Etsy, and of course, I have my own little shop over there...

...and that's why I think you will be seeing more

creations from me which support

The Etsy-Inspired Challenge.

Our inspiration came from

Sunshyne Silverwear.

This shop features wonderfully creative

pendants from recycled spoons.

We could choose any of the pieces that inspired us

and I could not resist this fabulous birdcage image.

I have been 'collecting' birdcage-related images

for awhile now, so I could have gone a number of

directions.  I chose to use this beautifully

crocheted birdcage from Webster's Pages.

The sentiment and the tiny bird on a branch are

rub-ons from Rhonna Farrer.  I used pearls in

matching colors to the cardstock, which is Bazzill.

My old friend Claudine Hellmuth is sponsoring this week's

challenge over there, so I hope you will stop by and

take a look at what other's have created for the challenge.

Julie Ranae's Wednesday Night Favs!

So given the way my week started, I thought it was quite a coincidence that I chose to pick up this stamp set to work with this week. If you are not aware of what I am eluding to, click here and read the story. This set is called 'Peaceful Wishes' and is another set from Artful INKables. As a Design Team Member for AI, am I fortunate to have access to working with these stamps on a regular basis. I would encourage you to hop on over to the AI website and order this set. It is so versatile...not just for the holiday season, but it's perfect for masculine cards as well.

I love the colors and pattern of this paper from Rhonna Farrer and thought it went well with the winter theme. The snowflakes were created with the new Glacial Snowflake punch from Martha Stewart. I did a little heat embossing on the deer, which is unusual for me. I don't break out the heat gun all that often these days, but I thought it worked for this card. A little bit of texture was added to the cardstock using 'The Bug' and the Swiss Dot EF and then I added a little Stickles in silver for the final sparkle.

Now on to tonight's focus...New favorite blogs that I have added to my list. Tonight's list is short, mainly because of the week I've had (again, click here if curiosity is getting the best of you). When I found this blog, I was completely taken with the projects and stories which were written along the way. Iris Garden is hosted by Pam Hooten. It's such a charming blog with a beautiful balance of personal photos and rubber stamping projects. Pam is on the DT for Crafty Secrets and Our Craft Lounge and I can tell you there is no shortage of creativity here. Her blog is easy to navigate and has a fresh, clean look. I haven't added a new blog to my blog roll (blogs I follow everyday) in awhile, but this one is now on my list. I hope you will consider doing the same.

Well...that's it. I told you it was a short list tonight. Just a reminder on my Wednesday Night Favorites List....the blogs aren't necessarily new, just new to me. I do welcome your recommendations and they do not have to be rubber stamping oriented. I still have several referrals that I am working my way through. Not all of them end up on my blog roll, but I do visit all my favorites regularly. If you visit one of the recommended favorites, make sure you take a moment to leave a comment...tell them how you heard about them. Blog hosts are always curious where there visitors are from, this host included!

I will see you tomorrow with a few day-to-day items to catch up on and a new project to share.