Polka-dotted Sparks

I am so stinking excited that the challenge this week at Paper Smooches Sparks is polka dots.  I love polka dots.  In fact, I would love to do this with my stand mixer: 

 But, I'm not sure the hubster would share my enthusiasm for such a gorgeous spectacle of a KitchenAid taking residence on the kitchen counter, so I'll just have to settle for crafting pretty polkas on my cards.

I was giddy with happy mail today-my new Gossamer Blue kit arrived today, along with two of the brand spankin' new releases from Paper Smooches!  The patterned papers I used on this card (by Carta Bella and Pink Paislee) are from Gossamer Blue, and the sentiment is from Spiritual Sampler.  I had to add a little bling and voila!  A card for a sweet friend who is always encouraging me.  

Pinspired Challenge #2!

Good morning!  I'm so happy to be sharing my take on Pinspired Challenges second challenge! I was blown away by the fun projects shared in our first challenge--you guys really outdid yourselves.  For this challenge, we'll be working with this pin: 

And our AH-MAZING sponsor for this challenge is Neat and Tangled Stamps!  I am a big fan of Danielle Walls' work- I just love her CAS style, and the stamps she has designed are cute and fun to work with.  A big, big thank you to Danielle for sponsoring this challenge, and providing our Pin Perfect participant a stamp set of her/his choice!

Here's the card I made for this challenge:

I got the pleasure of working with Little Bear stamp set, and knew I wanted to that cute little critter into a polar bear to go with the winter theme of the pin.  Then I was thinking about the mittens in the pic...mittens...mittens....make you....WARM! Just like the cute fire stamp.  So, I wound up with two cute little polar bear valentines cuddling around a campfire.  

I also had time to play around and make this "sweet" manly-ish valentine.  FUN!

I had so much fun looking checking out all of the great creations from last challenge, and I can't wait to see what you have up your sleeves for this one!  Here's a recap of our Pinspired Challenge rules (don't forget to add the Pinspired Challenge photo to your entry post!)  And, go check out Neat and Tangled and tell Danielle "hi" from Pinspired Challenges!

Happy Birthday, Lawnscaping!

I love Lawnscaping.  I love that a group of friends came together and said "We all love Lawn Fawn, so let's just make our own challenges based off of their awesome stamps."  What go-getters! ;)  And, I love playing along with their fun challenges and getting so much inspiration from the DT and other participants.  Here's my card for their current challenge, Let's Party:

This was the second time I've used my new Avery Elle cardstock as a card base, and I love it.  Super smooth, and cuts in the Cameo very nicely.  And I love the heavy weight and vivid color.  I used Critters Ever After, Bannerific, and Sophie's Sentiments, and Copic colored and fussy cut the images.  (I cut the cake with my Cameo).  After the critters got a good Stickles treatment, I called it good to go.  Happy Birthday, Lawnscaping!  And many more!

Belated birthday card

Good afternoon!  I wanted to share this quick birthday card I made for a friend who's birthday was this past Monday.  We've had a crazy hectic week, and have been running around so much, that I haven't gotten her card to her.  My desk is a MESS, but I think that it worked to my advantage in this instance.  Using whatever materials I could grab that were sitting around me, I managed to make this card in seriously less than 10 mins.  And I am completely in LOVE with this color scheme.  Elegant, classy, and perfect for the dreary winter week we've been having.

Supplies: Paper from Echo Park, My Mind's Eye and Avery Elle.  Stamps by Lawn Fawn.  Washi by My Mind's Eye.  Random embellishments from a Studio Calico kit.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Pinspired Challenges #1: Let's kick this off!

Good morning!  Today is our first challenge over at Pinspired Challenges, and boy am I excited!  We have an awesome year lined up with FABULOUS sponsors, and WONDERFUL inspiration photos.  Let's get to it, shall we?

 My mission was to create a project based off of the above picture, and here's what I came up with:

It's a cupcake box I cut out using my Silhouette Cameo, and I filled it with a baby legging "cupcake" to give as a baby shower gift. I was totally inspired by the vivid colors in the inspiration cake, and I knew right away that I wanted to use this paper from Echo Park's Little Girl collection.  Perfect!

Inside the box, I rolled up a pair of baby leggings and tied them with a bow, to make a little leggings "cupcake" and then printed and colored a free digi stamp from The Alley Way Stamps.

And, voila!  A cute, handmade baby shower gift!

Now, grab your paper, scissors, and glue, and show me what you can make based on this inspiration photo!  The amazing folks at The Alley Way Stamps are our lovely sponsors for this challenge, and they are offering our Pin Perfect winner a free stamp set of their choice.  How awesome is that?!  Here's a refresher on our challenge details...I can't wait to see what you create!



Supplies used:  Echo Park Paper, The Alley Way Stamps, Copic Markers, Stickles, Zip Dry Adhesive, Hobby Lobby Ribbon, Silhouette Cut file by Samantha Walker

One Little Word

(Image via Liyin the Designer-in-pajamas)

Good afternoon!  I've been enjoying the past couple of weeks off, for sure.  Today is the hubs' first day back to work, and my first day back to watching another toddler, but at least the kids don't go back to school just yet.  I've been giving a lot of thought to my "resolutions" for the New Year.  Since I turned 30 a couple of months ago, I've been thinking more about how to get this body of mine to last as long as I can, and my love affair with processed sugar and carbs isn't doing me any favors, that's for sure.  I want to feel better--healthier, more mentally clear, more energy and less badonkadonk when I run.  But, I also want to work on improving my patience, my temper, my role as a wife and mommy.....and so my One Little Word for 2013 is PURE.  The first word that came to me was "clean", but since I meant it more as an adjective rather than a verb, I was afraid that making it my word for the year would be a constant source of disappointment--I didn't want to have to feel like I was always "clean-ing"....more like I wanted to be clean.  So, my word is pure.  Pure in what I put in my body and pure in what I say or do.  I like the One Little Word concept, because it's a New Year's resolution that I can't fail at---as long as I'm working on incorporating new ways to be, think, and eat pure, I'll consider it a success.

More Gossamer Blue December kit

I finished up this layout tonight...more fun with Gossamer Blue's December kit.  I'll be sad when this one is gone, but I'm SO GLAD I didn't hoard it, and it's been put to good use.  These are some of my favorite layouts I've done in a while.  (to be fair, they are the only layouts I've done in a while, but I digress...)

I've been having so much fun with these great pics the hubby took of the boys--next on my agenda is to create some layouts with Fiona as the star!