Great Blog Candy Giveaway!

My dear friend, Darlene, over on Splitcoast Stampers is celebrating the 1st anniversary of her blog, and in honor of it, she's giving away some great crafty blog candy. Darlene's such an amazing lady and a truly gifted papercrafter. I feel so blessed to know her and be inspired by her creations.

Head over to Dar's Crafty Creations, and check it out!

Splash of Color

This is my week to host the challenge on the Crafty Secrets forum over on Splitcoast Stampers. I challenged everyone to use just a splash of color on their project by making an otherwise monochromatic card and adding just a small amount of an accent color.

This is another card using Crafty Secrets' new Mouse Party set. I added touches of color by embossing the background with a Cuttlebug folder, then distressing the raised parts. I used Core'dinations Chocolate Box cardstock, which has a colored core, so the color shows through when torn or distressed. I also paper pieced the balloon, colored the flowers on the mouse's dress with colored pencil, and added the seam tape ribbon. Swiping the edges of the layers with ink helped give the card some depth.

I think the key to keeping monochromatic cards interesting is to use a variety of textures. I'm definitely going to try this again. Thanks for stopping by today!

Celebrate!

It's the weekend, and I'm celebrating that I got a few free moments to stamp!

I made this card for a dear friend from church who is celebrating a birthday later this week. I used some of my absolute favorite crafting products: the new Mouse Party set from Crafty Secrets, Core'dinations cardstock, K&Company paper from the Wild Saffron collection, DMC floss, and Copic markers.

I also made this card for this week's Crafty Secrets member forum challenge. Pammyjo asked us to use stitching on our project.

The mouse and present are two separate stamps, so I stamped the present multiple times and cut it out to give the mousie a nice, big stack of gifts to juggle.

Now, I better get back to that big wood project out front. Have a great Sunday!

Wrapped in Plastic

If you know Shannon at all, then you know that she is a very creative, bright, sweet, somewhat timid six-year-old who spends much of her time simply and quietly thinking about things.

I often wonder what's going on between those little pixie ears, but I rarely get much more than a glimpse of what she's thinking about.

Well, last night I got one of those little glimpses and ended up chuckling so hard I could barely answer the phone when it rang. I was working at the computer when Shannon walked into the room, talking to herself.

She said, "I wonder what would happen if I wrapped myself all up in plastic, and then I walked down the street, and everybody saw me, and when people saw me, they would say 'Whoo-whee! There goes Shannon all wrapped up in plastic. I sure wouldn't want to be wrapped up like her!'"

Then she just walked out of the room. Yeah, my kids are a little weird, but I like 'em like that!

Monster Birthday

We celebrated Ronan's fourth birthday on Monday evening with a monster party. Ronan had a wonderful time surrounded by family. I had a blast decorating his cake! Somehow it multiplied, as monsters tend to do.





Right after cake, Ronan broke into his new art supplies and drew a moster picture. It's a lion-ladybug. :) Shannon is so proud of her little brother. I got the monster patch for his shirt on www.etsy.com.

Crafty Secrets Leftover Challenge & Porch Update

This week on the Crafty Secrets forum, Carla challenged us to use leftovers on our projects. Leftovers are scraps of paper, ribbons, stamped images, etc. that are leftover from other projects.

You may recognize this bird image from an earlier post. I also used paper scraps from K&Company, leftover cardstock, a little scrap of ribbon, and a diecut corner that I decided not to use on another project.

I swiped the main image with Ranger Distress Ink (Vintage Photo) and brushed the paper layers and die cut with a Krylon gold leafing pen. The vintage button is from a collection my dad and his antique dealer buddies gifted to me. Thanks, Dad!

I was very happy with how quickly this card came together. I need to use leftovers more often.



Porch Update: Rich and our neighbor made a run to the "wood store" (as the kids call it) last night and picked up all of the lumber and hardware for the first building phase of our new porch, which includes setting the support posts and building the frame, decking, railing, and balusters.

This phase should go pretty quickly because it's very similar to the process we used building our back deck last year. Plus, we with experienced and dedicated help like this; you just can't go wrong!

This is Shannon helping Rich build our deck last summer. She was five years old and obsessed with helping build. She couldn't wait for Rich to get home from work, so they could go work on this huge project together. She can work a mallet and read a tape measurer and a level.

Hey, you have to admit - the girl's got style, in addition to mad carpentry skills!

VBS Volunteer Thank Yous

Typically when I'm making cards, I do not make multiples. I try to make each card specific to the individual's likes and personality, but sometimes with a limited time frame and budget, making multiples is a necessity.

This card is a sample of the thank yous that I am sending out to our Vacation Bible School volunteers. I wanted to make cards that reflected our VBS's woodsy summer camp theme, that were only one layer of cardstock with no embellies, and that I could stamp quickly and easily.

I made these cards assembly line style. Once I made my prototype, it probably took me ten minutes tops to make a big stack of these cards. I cut a bunch of cards out of various shades of sage or olive green. Using the retired Pines set from SU!, I stamped the pine branch around the edge of each card in SU! River Rock and went around again with Staz-on Olive Green. Next I stamped the bear with Ranger's Vintage Photo Distress Ink and used the same ink to stamp the sentiment from SU!'s Favorite Teddy Bear set.

The Bazzill cardstock I used for these cards is very heavily textured, and I really like the distressed look it gives the images. It really lends to the handmade feel of these cards, and that's what stamping cards (for me) is all about. If it looks like it was cranked out on a printer, then what's the point?

Thanks for stopping by today! We're getting the fill dirt for under our front porch today. Never thought I'd be excited about dirt, but it's amazing how your values shift when you're doing home improvement! :) Have a good day!