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

Fresh & Bright...The Play Date Cafe

I'm not sure if you've been able to tell, but I have

really been diggin' bright colors this week.

I think it's been a long winter and I am just ready

for some color.

It's great timing because this week's color challenge

over at The Play Date Cafe scratches me

right where I itch!!!

Three of our Senior Designers are

responsible for choosing our weekly

color stories and we each have our own

style and color palette that is all our own.

This palette....is pure Ruby 2 Shoes!

I decided to go with a distressed, aged look for this card.

One of my very favorite tools in the studio is the

Distrezz-it-All by Zutter.

It saves that cramp you get in your hand with tiny little

distressing tools and can handle a single sheet of

cardstock all the way up to chipboard.

This card is all about layers of designer paper and

embellishments.  The sweet little lucite cherries are by

Mary Englebreit and were the perfect little addition.

Of course I tied it together with a little baker's twine 

from The Twinery.

We have the talented Maria Gurnsey joining us as

our guest designer this week.

In honor of Maria, I used her 'namesake' 'Gingham Gurnsey'

stamp to create the tag under the 'my friend' sentiment.

Check out that story and learn more about Maria

when you visit The Cafe.

We have the most talented design team

waiting to inspire you, and here they are....

Sarah AndersonRuby McGuire

 Savannah O'Gwynn 

Andrea Ewen

Colleen Dietrich  

Fiona Shultz

Jaclyn Miller 

Jinny Newlin
Libby Hickson  

Michele Gross

Tracey Kuzniak

and of course, our sweet guest...
Maria Gurnsey

 So glad you stopped by and I hope you'll 

leave a quick little note to let me know

you were here : )

Today's Project Recipe:

Cardstock: The Paper Company

 Designer Paper: K&Company 'Sweet Nectar' & BoBunny 'Abbey Road'
Stamps: Papertrey Ink 'Friendship Jar & Ippity 'Gurnsey Gingham'
Ink: VersaMagic, Ranger Archival, Tim Holtz Distress Ink
Tools: Spellbinders 'Labels One', Big Shot, sewing machine
Distrezz-it-All, Martha Stewart punch 'Loop Heart'

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

Pearls by Martha Stewart, Cherry by Mary Engelbreit

A Sweet Moment Indeed...

Oh my!  Get ready for some color because it's

H{ippity} Hop Monday!!!

This is the weekly gathering of Ippity Chicks and

fans of Ippity who love to inspire you to

play with the fabulous rubber from Ippity!

I had lots of fun putting this card together because my goal was to 

play with color and fun images,
and that's what I did!

I love this DP from K&Company's 'Sweet Nectar' Set.

I stamped the cupcake and heat embossed it so it would

really show off the colors of the 'frosting'.

If there's one thing that people get to know about me,

I do NOT like to color, as a rule, but coloring an image like

this is simple and fun because once it was complete, I topped

it with 'diamond' Stickles.

I am absolutely in love with the Martha 'heart loop' punch.

I spotted some CrAzY beautiful work using it over on 

Sankari Wegman's blog and I had to have it!

Adorned with four different colors of bright and beautiful

baker's twine from The Twinery and some fabby

rhinestones....it's a done deal!

Here's what I used to make this colorful creation...

I have both of these stamp sets available

for purchase over on my Ippity page here

and I would love to be your Ippity Chick!!!

Both sets are discounted just for you!

If you order BOTH sets, you will get an additional

ONE DOLLAR OFF ANY ADDITIONAL
STAMP SETS FROM MY IPPITY PAGE!!!
Order 2 other sets, get $2 off...
Order 4 other sets, get $4 off...
you get the idea!!!!

In the meantime, make sure you stop by The Ippity Blog

to see the great group of people who have projects to

inspire you to play!

Today's Project Recipe:

Cardstock: American Crafts

Designer Paper: K&Company 'Sweet Nectar' Collection
Stamps: Ippity 'Cuppy Cakes' & 'Here and Now'
Ink: VersaMark, Memories in Black 
Stickles: Diamond
Tools: Martha Stewart 'Loop Hearts'

Embellishments: Baker's Twine from The Twinery

Rhinestones by K&Company & Mark Richards

Wrapping my World in Baker's Twine!

Sometimes all it takes is little color and

a little embellishment to make a card

complete.

That's what I LoVe about using my

baker's twine from The Twinery!

I loved using the 'Funky Foliage' set from

Wplus9 Designs and thought I

would enter this card in the current

Color Cue Challenge over there....

I used Cappucino and Lilac

and I love the affect with

the rest of the colors used

on this card.

I am sure you know by now, I think that

the baker's twine from

The Twinery

is the best quality and the

saturation of color is out of this world!

There are LOTS of twines out there that

are low-quality and one available in 2 or 3

'faded' colors.  For my money, it's

The Twinery all the way!!!

Ya know, they have a terrific

Sampler Pack for only 20 bucks!!!

All 11 colors (including the 3 newest colors)

15 yards of each!  It's a terrific deal!

I am really glad you stopped by!

I'd love to know if you've gotten your

baker's twine from The Twinery yet?

 Leave me a comment.......YAY!!

Today's Project Recipe:

Cardstock: The Paper Company

Designer Paper: Memory Box
Stamps: Wplus9
Ink: VersaMagic
Tools: Cuttlebug EF, Big Shot,
Fiskars Corner Rounder Punch

Embellishments: Baker's Twine from The Twinery

Pearls & Rhinestones by Recollections

Enjoy the Moment in The Play Date Cafe

It's hard to believe another week has come and gone

and come back around once again!

What am I talking about?

The Play Date Cafe Challenge, of course!

Look at this gorgeous color story!!!

I am the host this week and I just have to

say that this inspiration would not exist

without the kindness of a dear friend

of mine here in my hometown.

Polly owns a wonderful business and a

blog that holds the same name

Counting Your Blessings

where she specializes in all things

vintage and shabby chic.

I've always loved the look and try to bring

it into my home as often as I can, 

but this girl is the master!!!

I hope you will pop over to her lovely blog and

bring a cup of tea with you!

All week I thought about making something with a whole lot of

layers, flowers, lace, pearls...you name it.

But as you can see, I went clean and simple.

You would not believe what is waiting for you over in The Cafe!

We have the fabby Kazan Clark 

as our Guest Designer this week

and the most amazing inspiration from our entire design team.

Ruby McGuire

 Savannah O'Gwynn 

Andrea Ewen

Colleen Dietrich  

Fiona Shultz

Jaclyn Miller 

Jinny Newlin
Libby Hickson  

Michele Gross

Tracey Kuzniak

and of course, our honored guest...
Kazan Clark

 So glad you stopped by and I hope you'll 

leave a quick little note to let me know

you were here : )

Today's Project Recipe:

Cardstock: The Paper Company

Designer Paper: Memory Box
Stamps: My Mind's Eye, Memory Box, The Paper Company

Embellishments:  baker's twine from The Twinery, Stickles in 'platinum'

Pearls from Martha Stewart

The Twinery Shares a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

Well....it's no secret that

I LoVe baker's twine!

And...you know I believe the 

Best in the world

is

I am thrilled to share with all of you

that The Twinery

has asked me to be the
new Design Team Coordinator

for this wonderful brand!

We have 22 amazing designers from

all walks of life....

paper crafters, bakers, home decorators

and so many more!

You are going to be seriously inspired

as we continue to share on

The Twinery Blog.

Have you been over there?

You really must go!

Giveaways, freebies and of course,

THE WORLD'S MOST LUXE

BAKER'S TWINE!!!

Cherish Every Moment...The Play Date Cafe

It's another week with another grand challenge at

The Play Date Cafe!

How about this amazing photo??!!!

It was chosen by our own Ruby 2 Shoes who as

one of our newest Senior Designers, will be joining

Sarah and I as color hosts.

I think all of the girls on our design team are willing to admit

from time to time when we struggle with a challenge, 

and it seemed like the more I loved this color story,

the harder I was making it for myself.

I know that as players, many of you experience the

exact same things in your creative process.

I am happy to say that I love the results!

One of the elements I really wanted to use was

this fabby blue rose, which at this point doesn't

really resemble a rose, right?

I tell you this because again, I know we all experience

many of the same creative road blocks and many are

really easy to get around.

This rose bloom was very substantial and would

have caused my card to need a box to send.

I wanted to use it, but wasn't sure how to without

ruining it.  I just took some scissors and cut

right across the bottom then flattened it out.

It was a tough little monkey to cut through and 

at some point, I had to get Paul to lend 

his strength to the cause!

So don't give up on an element or an idea

just because it doesn't seem like it fits!

I love the results of this!

Hope you will stop by The Cafe.

You will see some fabby creations by

The World's Best Design Team....

these girls right here....

Sarah Anderson  

Ruby McGuire

 Savannah O'Gwynn 

Andrea Ewen

Colleen Dietrich  

Fiona Shultz

Jaclyn Miller 

Jinny Newlin
Libby Hickson  

Michele Gross

Tracey Kuzniak

 So glad you stopped by and I hope you'll 

leave a quick little note to let me know

you were here : )

Today's Project Recipe:

Cardstock: The Paper Company

Designer Paper: My Mind's Eye, Webster's Pages
Die Cut Sentiment: My Mind's Eye 'Madison Avenue'

Embellishments:  Recollections rose bloom & pearls, 
Making Memories fabric brad, Prima gemstone flourishes

Hand-dyed Seam Binding from Sugarlump Studios