Yes, I have been missing in action lately, but Im hoping to get back to blogging again, starting NOW!

This week over with the Shoes, we are challenged to use TREES in our projects! I had fun with paper piecing for this one — cut out the grass, tree and leaves all by myself :)

I used CTMH’s Creative Basics Veranda collection paper and got to cuttin’… oh and who can forget to top any tree off with some yummy fruit (a.k.a. cute buttons)! I wish I would dream in ribbons and buttons :) It would be interesting and oh so joyful (not crazy, just imaginative!). Other challenges that I used include Pile It On – Use Pastels and Bee Crafty – Spring Inspiration.

Now it is YOUR turn and I do hope that you will join us this week! Spring is coming very quickly and its the perfect time to break out those trees!

On a side note: looks like our CA Spring is finally here (right on time, it seems) and we are enjoying warm sunshiney days with cool evenings. Perfection and God’s creation at it’s best! Have a happy Spring!

Other challenges used: The Pink Elephant: Add Green to the Combo; Lexi Creations: Anything Goes

Thanks for visiting!

IT IS THEIR 1ST BIRTHDAY!!!

I hope you all will join us as we celebrate :) We have decided to go all out and not only provide some awesome BLOG CANDY but also an extra inspiring challenge!

So how do you qualify for the Blog Candy? First of all, by participating in this challenge you will get one entry to win. You can get an additional entry  by leaving a comment on the Shoe’s Birthday Post. AND for those of you who are followers on the Shoe Blog, you will get another entry for being a follower and leaving a comment! It is all so easy! That is three entries per person if you complete all three steps!

Now for the challenge! We have created a list of 10 items for you to use on your next project! Use all ten and then come back and share with us to be entered to win the Blog Candy!

THE LIST:

1. Something Blue
2. A Bird
3. A Button
4. Brads
5. A Stamp ( Can not  be combined with the bird!)
6. Bling
7. Ribbon
8. Chipboard
9. A Flower
10. A Wildcard Item (Can not be just paper…lol! Must be another item!)

WHAT I USED:

• Blue Card Base
• Bird Sticker
• White & Gold Button
• 3 Gold Brads
• Swirl Stamp
• Glitter
• White Ribbon
• “Beautiful” Chipboard Square
• Flower Patterned Paper
• Wildcard = Birdhouse Sticker

HAVE FUN! And Happy Birthday to the Shoes :)

Yay, for fun color combos! This week at the Shoe’s we are challenging you to use: Burgundy, Lime Green and Fuchsia. Unique and beautiful!

Our sweet sponsor this week is Digi Kitty, who provided the design team with these two cute little froggie digital stamps. As you can see, I used them to create some of my own patterned paper on the Fuchsia! I worked on Photoshop and had a great time. Below you can see how I did this. I scanned in some of my fun polka dot patterned paper and inverted it to be black and white. I then opened up the two froggie images and dragged them to where I wanted them to go on the polka dot space. I played with the sizes of the images so that one was smaller than the other and even overlapped a couple of the images. I actually never have done this before but since I’m not a huge fan of coloring in images, it was the way to go with these cutie images! Hope you like!

The sketch comes from The Pink Elephant this week and also decided to join in on the Pollycraft Challenge to Double Up on images.

The Photoshop layout:

The finished product:

GOODIES! Coming My Way!

I am so so excited that today my Papertrey Ink order is coming in. Been watching my mula since I got laid off but this time I couldn’t resist! Let’s just say I am doing my part in stimulating the economy :) Here are a few snippets of which stamps I am getting and will be playing with this next week (since this weekend is jam packed!!).

Butterfly Dreams

Petal Power

Signature Greetings

This week over at If The Shoe Fits… we are challenging you all to use PLAID on your project!

I had a lot of fun with this one because I got to break out one of my favorite Close To My Heart paper packet (which by the way is no longer available :( and this is also one of my favorite color combos: Juniper, Tulip and Sorbet. I went crazy with my little heart punch and created my own background! Fun, fun… hope you enjoy it, as well as the cute video that all Stamper’s should see below!

Other challenges used:

Gingersnap Creations: 3 Colors You Love (oh how perfect!)

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday: It’s All About You — Use what YOU love! yay!

Close To My Heart has some amazing quality acrylic stamps!

I love them and I am sure that many of you do too! Well this month, CTMH is challenging their consultants to create a video representing how our acrylic stamps are ‘clearly the best!”

If you search for Clearly the Best CTMH in You Tube you will be able to find all of the participants… but I wanted to share my favorite here with you today :) Even if you don’t stamp, you can appreciate this cute video: STAMPING OLYMPICS! (see below)

• Close To My Heart uses the highest-quality polymer in its stamps, which will retain their “stickiness” and shape throughout a lifetime with proper, easy care.
• Clear stamps ensure perfect ink coverage every time. Seeing through both blocks and stamps makes producing a great image easy!
• Close To My Heart was a pioneer in wood-and-rubber stamps as well as clear stamps, extensively testing and researching both products for years. We have produced hundreds of thousands of stamps in both materials and moved to My Acrylix® clear stamps because of their longevity, superior quality, and ability to hold fine detail. Close To My Heart has built on decades of experience in the stamp industry to achieve supreme, industry-leading expertise, quality, and variety in clear stamps.
• My Acrylix® stamps can be used to create a variety of custom looks: grouped on a single block, stretched or arched, and applied using the base and shade applied in two or three steps for layered images.
• My Acrylix stamps are ready to use right out of the package, and the handy carrier sheet and color-coded packaging make them easy to store and access. Since our stamps are clear, you’ll never have to worry about lining up stickers with stamp images. Just place the stamp on the block and you’re ready to go!

I know many of you are probably already using Acrylic stamps and that is super exciting since there are so many more artistic ventures with them! But I wanted to let you in on the special details of CTMH quality Acrylic stamps! Happy Stamping!

I can not even begin to believe that today is Friday! This week just flew by and there is still so much more to do :)

Well, here is my card for the If The Shoe Fits… Scrap It! Challenge. This week we are challenging you to a recipe: Ribbon, Hearts and 3 Eyelets! Are you ready to get creating?! I have to say that because of how crazy my week has been, I felt like I had run into a creative block! It was so frustrating! Here is my creation, nontheless and hopefully you all enjoy it! I also used the Embellishment Magazine Color Challenge : Turquoise, Chocolate and Pink.

Thanks for coming back for If the Shoe Fits… Scrap it! challenge #21!

This week we are having fun with a color challenge, just in time for the upcoming Valentine’s Day! Have you guessed the colors yet?! RED, PINK and WHITE. Ok, yes, I have Kraft cardstock as my base, but I couldn’t resist myself, it just worked so well!  I had some fun playing with some of my new Papertrey Ink goodies — Through The Trees and Background Basics: Hearts. I put off buying the heart set in December but quickly realized that it was a must have. I did the same thing with this months new Background Basics: Petal Power, but am pretty sure that it will be on the list for next month {Mostly because of this card HERE}!

For those of you who actually clicked on the link to see the inspirational card — Becky, is an amazing artist! Always love her cards and I think most of the time her creations have something new and different that I have never seen before. I love it when it works out that way :)

Other challenges I used were for:

• Crafty Creations: Wings
• Papertake Weekly: Love Actually Theme
• Pollycraft Challenge: Things with Wings :)

Hope that you all will find some time to play along with our color challenge this week!

Enjoy those whom you love!

Hey hey,

Welcome to my first week on the Design Team for If the Shoe Fits… Scrap It! I am excited that my first challenge with the team is definitely a challenging one. This week, create something VINTAGE! I very rarely scrap in this style, so it was fun and new to me. I really enjoyed breaking out the accessories that I consider vintage. I literally just went through my stuff and pulled out everything: Lace, Pearls, Hemp, Distressed Papers, Light Pinks, Doilies, etc. It was a fun time (…that is until I had to put it all away again!). Card Patterns had a great sketch (as always) this week so I couldn’t resist sneaking that into the challenge list…

In my January Project Kit from Scarlet Lime, I got these adorable paper punch outs from Pink Paislee. They have a bunch of cute Valentine sayings on them and this Potion No. 9 tag looked vintage to me with the light pink plaid, etc. I think that this card would also be adorable with a cute baby image or saying for a Baby Shower! You know what I found out about Doilies!? They can really be used year round! You don’t have to be creating a Valentine in order to use them (which was my previous mindset). I am totally excited to use these more, but feel free to let me know if I am using them too often :)

If anyone has any photography tips for projects with shiny accessories, such as buttons, pearls, rhinestones… let me know! I feel like the pearls on this card came out a bit blurry and too glowy (is that a word?). I don’t have a fancy camera, just my precious Canon Powershot — I do love my camera but sometimes have a tough time taking photos of my creations.

I hope that you all will join If the Shoe Fits… for this challenge! Would love to get more vintage ideas for the future! Happy Creating!

• Patterned Paper: K & Company Mat Deck
• Cardstock: PTI Rustic White and Lavendar
• Accessories: Wilton 4″ Doily, PTI Twine and Button, CTMH Cocoa Eyelets, Pearls, Pink Paislee Punch Outs
• Tools: Fiskars Border Punch, The Big Bite (eyelet setter), Foam Squares
• Technique: Distressing with Scissors
• Challenge: Card Patterns Sketch #48