There is a Fawn on My Lawn...

Okay, so there isn't really a fawn on my lawn, since I don't have a lawn anymore! But, I do love Lawn Fawn stamps and I couldn't resist entering their really cool CHA Winter 2012 Challenge. The best part of the prize is that the winning entries will be featured at their booth at CHA and also appear in their catalog -- what a dream come true that would be! I thought I would dig out three of my favorite Lawn Fawn cards and enter. In fact, these are three of my all-time favorite cards I've ever made, so I thought it would be perfect! Wish me luck and best of luck to everyone who enters!

Let's Celebrate Card

BEAN NOTES

• Stamps: Plus One, Year One, Hats Off to You, Bannerific and Critters in the Sea (Lawn Fawn)
• Cardstock: Solar White (Neenah); Pear Pizazz, Concord Crush, Peach Parfait (Stampin' Up!)
• Ink: Pear Pizazz, Concord Crush, Peach Parfait (SU!); Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
• Coloring Medium: Sketch Markers (Copic)
• Fibers: Baker's Twine (The Twinery)
• Templates: Medium Dots Embossing Folder (Quickutz)
• Dies: Classic Oval and Classic Scalloped Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders); Medium Scallop Border (PTI)

Shake, Rattle, & Roll Card

 BEAN NOTES

• Stamps: Plus One and Cozy Christmas (Lawn Fawn)
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko)
• Coloring Medium: Sketch Markers (Copic)
• Cardstock: Pink Pirouette, Blushing Bride (Stampin' Up!)
• Specialty Paper: Blending Card (X-Press)
• Template: Medium Dots Embossing Folder (Quickutz)
• Accents: Petal Pink Liquid Pearls (Ranger)
• Fibers: Pink Organdy (American Crafts)
• Font: Chalkboard (microsoft)

Just Wavin' Hello Card

BEAN NOTES

• Stamps: Critters in the Sea (Lawn Fawn)
• Cardstock: Real Red, Night of Navy (Stampin' Up!); Solar White (Neenah)
• Ink: Fresh Snow Hybrid Ink (Papertrey Ink)
• Fibers: Red Grosgrain Ribbon (generic); White Embroidery Thread (generic)
• Accents: White Button (generic); White Brads (generic)
• Templates: Medium Dots Embossing Folder (Quickutz)

Riding the Rails...

Christmas is over and I always feel a bit like a deflated balloon. I needed a boost, so I thought I would make a birthday card for this week's Wee Memories Scrappy Saturday "Anything Goes" Challenge. I wanted to make a card for a boy, which I never have enough of, and I had my father-in-law in mind, as he is a big train lover with a December birthday.

I started with choosing some happy, bright paper from Echo Park. I knew I wanted to make a banner, and I used this darling hanging pennant from Taylored Expressions, adding a bit of glitter to each flag and stringing them on some twine.

I spelled out "Birthday" along the bottom of the card, adding a fabulously red ribbon to finish it off. It felt a little funny to not be making Christmas cards, but I always love a good party!

BEAN NOTES
Stamps: Fly Your Flag 1, Your My Type (Upper and Lower) (Taylored Expressions)
Patterned Paper: Little Boy (Echo Park)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black (Tsukineko); Tempting Turquoise (SU!)
Cardstock: Choice Snow (TE); Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise (Stampin' Up!)
Fibers: Marmelade Baker's Twine (The Twinery) Pure Poppy Stitched Saddle (Papertrey Ink)
Dies: Fly Your Flag 1 (TE)
Accents: Stickles (Ranger)

Wish List...

I'm taking a wee break from showing Christmas and holiday projects by sharing one I created as a gift for my mom-in-law, Susan. She is a great one for organizing and always has lists (kinda like Santa!) and I thought I'd make her a little notebook in which she can consolidate all of them in one place. I started with just a generic notebook that I picked up at the store. Then, to dress it up, I covered it with some fun, springtime paper. As a grandmother, I'm pretty sure her favorite person is her grandson, so I used one of my favorite photos of our little guy making a wish. I added some die-cut borders from Taylored Expressions. The notebook came with four plain tabs, which I covered with some stamped and die-cut tabs I created using the Keeping Tabs set from TE. A fun, happy bow threaded through the spine and I was all done!

BEAN NOTES

Stamps: Keeping Tabs (Taylored Expressions)

Patterned Paper: Happy Go Lucky (Pebbles)

Fibers: Dusty Durango Dotted Grosgrain Ribbon (Stampin' Up!)

Dies: Grass Border, Picket Fence, Keeping Tabs (TE)

Accents: Die-Cut Stickers from Happy Go Lucky Collection (Pebbles)

Other: Photograph, Notebook

MERRY!...

Yikes! Christmas is definitely here -- with the amount of shopping I've been doing, I think I'm signle-handedly keeping the economy afloat! Still, nothing seems to give me more pleasure than to make something for someone special. A good friend of mine is an admirer of my work, and I thought it would be nice to give her a set of my handmade cards as a Christmas gift. I started with choosing my color scheme, and in this case I was inspired by this week's color inspiration challenge at Our Creative Corner. I love when traditional and non-traditional colors combine and so I decided to put together a little box to hold my cards. 

I love the sweet little snowman. Some pre-cut die-cuts from the same paper collection made for a great time-saver. I added a bit of glitter here and there, to the letters and to the wee star that I placed in Frosty's hand, as well as to his hat and scarf. I then finished off with some cute twine and a nice, red button. Now I can fill it to my heart's content and my friend will have some cards to send out next year!

BEAN NOTES

All papers and die-cuts from Good Cheer collection (October Afternoon)

Accents: Stickles (Ranger); Red Button (Papertrey Ink)

Fibers: Maraschino Twine (The Twinery)

Alterables: Perfect Package Card Box (Taylored Expressions)

'Wish I May, 'Wish I Might...

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I am so excited to share that I will be on the Imaginisce 2012 Design Team! 

It has been a dream of mine to be a part of a manufacturer as creative and imaginative as Imaginisce and I am thrilled to have been chosen to be on such a wonderful team of talented designers. 

To celebrate, I thought I would create a Christmas card using some of my favorite Imaginisce papers from the Cottage Christmas collection.
I began with my sentiment, which is something I found among the mountains of catalogs that have been coming through the mail slot! I typed it up on my manual typewriter and built my card around it.
The adorable little girl in front of the gingerbread house made me think of a wishing star, which was just what I wanted. I punched out a pretty snowflake twice, adding glittery Stickles to the top layer before adhering them together, added a button and some cute, fun twine.

I am feeling like I'm getting my wishes for this year...how about you? 

BEAN NOTES

Patterned Paper: Cottage Christmas collection (Imaginisce)

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Whisper White (Stampin' Up!)

Fibers: Maraschino Twine (The Twinery)

Paper: Typing paper (generic)

Accents: Button (Papertrey Ink); Diamond Stickles (Ranger)

Tools: Snowflake Punch (Martha Stewart Crafts)

Congratulations to the entire 2012 team!

Abby Laubenstein (Illinois, US)

Adora Concepcion (Washington, US)

Cari Locken, DT Co-ordinator (British Columbia, Canada)

Diana Fisher (New York, US)

Guiseppa Gubler (Utah, US)

Heather Leopard (Texas, US)

Ilene Tell (Delaware, US)

Mary Ann Jenkins (California, US)

Shelley McDaniel (Texas, US)

Tiffany Hood (Utah, US)

Rebecca Keppel (Arizona, US)

Rosangela Philippsen (Curitiba, Brazil)

Regina Mangum (California, US)

Rhonda Van Ginkel (Minnesota, US)

I hope you will join me in 2012 as I show my projects featuring darling papers, cool embellishments, and fun ideas. Thanks so much to everyone who always stops by here -- I am still amazed and inspired by all the sweet comments you leave me.

Happy Weekend!

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Warm Appreciation...

My little guy has some really wonderful teachers at his preschool. Now that school is wrapping up for this year, I wanted to put together a little thank you gift for each lovely lady who is teaching him so much. I am starting with the cards, as I have to make several, which means the goal is cute, but simple! I was inspired by this week's Wee Memories Holiday challenge to incorporate the fun of the holidays into these thank you notes.

I began with some adorable paper from Cosmo Cricket and chose my complimentary colors accordingly. I love the non-traditional colors and kept to them as much as possible. Next, I stamped a pretty snowflake from the set, Winter Wonderland from Taylored Expressions directly onto vellum, adding a few Stickles for some sparkle. I mounted them onto a piece of punched cardstock to really make the snowflakes pop. Then, I added the perfect little sentiment, finishing off with some cute twine. All in all, this sweet little card took about 10 minutes, so in an hour I had all my cards finished and ready for my little rugrat to sign his name (which will take up the entire inside of each, despite the fact that his name only has four letters!)

BEAN NOTES
Stamps: Winter Wonderland (Taylored Expressions)
Patterned Paper: Jolly by Golly (Cosmo Cricket)
(Stampin' Up!); Choice Buttercream (TE)
Fibers: Caribbean Baker's Twine (The Twinery)
Ink: Lady Bug Memento (Tsukineko); Pool Party (SU!)
Tools: Circle Punches (EK Success)
Cardstock: Blushing Bride, Pool Party 
Accents: Diamond Stickles (Ranger) 
Specialty Paper: Vellum (PTI)

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Head in the Clouds...

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November is such a crazy month of birthdays that I'm sorry to say I fell behind. Enter the "belated birthday card" -- a very important theme that is too often neglected! I was inspired by this month's My Mind's Eye Card Challenge to create just such a card (because it's even more important to send something nice when you've forgotten a birthday!

When I saw the sketch, I immediately thought of some fun patterned paper that I've been holding onto, just waiting for the right project. I love sketches because they are so open to interpretation and this one from Anam Stubbington will be going into my sketch pad for future use. I love the spotlight technique and thought I'd try a little twist on it by taking a second sheet of the same paper and punching out just the darling kites. Then, I turned them into chipboard elements with some cereal box cardboard and mounted them onto the first sheet of paper.

Next, I had the perfect sentiment from Taylored Expressions's In the Clouds set, which I stamped directly onto the patterned paper. I cut out the second part of the sentiment and created a little banner, to which I added the tiniest little bit of baker's twine to, which I attached with a wee staple. I love the vertical size of this card, which really does get my head in the clouds!

BEAN NOTES

Stamps: In the Clouds (Taylored Expressions)

Patterned Paper: Lime Twist Fly a Kite (My Mind's Eye)

Cardstock: Close to Cocoa (Stampin' Up!); Choice Buttercream (TE)

Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa (Tsukineko)

Fibers: Cappuccino Baker's Twine (The Twinery)

Accents: Tiny Staples (Tim Holtz)

Hole Punch: Circle Punches (EK Success)

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Vintage Tonic...

It seems to me that whenever I am in need of a "Get Well" card, I don't have one handy. I know that a nice card can go a long way when it comes to making a sick person feel better, but sometimes illness comes up so suddenly that I have to rush around trying to make a card. I thought I would use this week's Mojo Monday sketch to get one done to have on hand for my next friend or loved one who could use a boost.

When I saw this week's Pals Paper Arts "Puttin' On the Ritz" Challenge, I was moved to create a 20s-inspired card. I found some lovely vintage-y paper and embellishments. I love the bloom, which is a rub-on, that I fussy cut and placed over some pretty, satin ribbon to emulate the headbands worn by "flappers" from this ritzy era.
I added a perfectly simple sentiment from Taylored Expressions's Embrace Beauty. The stitching on the center element is actually a stamped border from Borderlicious! I added a bit of vellum and some wee pearls to complete my vintage card, which I hope will prove a dose of tonic for a friend in need.

BEAN NOTES
Stamps: Embrace Beauty and Borderlicious (Taylored Expressions)
Patterned Paper: Sweetness and Believe (Pink Paislee)
Ink: Rich Cocoa Memento (Tsukineko)
Fibers: Pink Satin Ribbon (Americancrafts)
Accents: Sweetness Rub-On (Pink Paislee); Pearls (Kaisercraft)
Cardstock: Close to Cocoa (Stampin' Up!); Choice Buttercream (TE)
Specialty Paper: Vellum (PTI)

Merry 25!...

I just love this time of year. All the Christmas decos are starting to appear around the City and the countdown to the big 2-5 is well under way! This is the first year my little rugrat has an advent calendar, and I was inspired by it to create a card to help get him to the 25th.

I wanted to make a shaped card -- the easiest way to do this is to die-cut two shapes and score the top of one to be adhered to form a card base. Next, I grabbed some darling patterned paper from Echo Park. I love the mix of traditional and non-traditional colors, pairing them with some kraft for a sweet rustic look.

I die-cut some numbers and made my own chipboard. This is a favorite technique of mine now because you can really make just about any kind of chipboard you need. Thin cardboard (like a cereal box) works best.
I loved the little trees in the paper and cut some out, mounting a couple on cardboard for some subtle dimension. I applied a wee bit of sparkle glue adhesive to the trees.

To make the "Merry" banner, I stamped individual letters inside some pennants directly on the patterned paper, adding some cute twine to "tie" it to the card. A bit more sparkle and some liquid dimensionals and I had a happy, merry Christmas card to add to my growing pile of holiday greetings!

BEAN NOTES

Stamps: You're My Type Upper (Taylored Expressions); Bannerific (Lawn Fawn)

Patterned Paper: Holly Jolly Christmas (Echo Park)

Ink: Rich Cocoa Memento (Tsukinko)

Cardstock: Crumb Cake (Stampin' Up!)

Fibers: Maraschino Twine (The Twinery)

Accents: White Opal Liquid Pearls (Ranger); Sparkle Mod Podge (Plaid)

Dies: Labels One and Grand Labels One Nestabilities (Spellbinders); By the Numbers Collection (Papertrey Ink)

Other: Cereal Box Cardboard (generic)

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Design Team News!...

Just popping by to share some really fun news. I have just been named to the 2011-2012 PSA Essentials Design Team! I'm so excited to get to work with these very cool stamps and I'm looking forward to working with the amazingly talented ladies on the team. Thank you so much to Libby O for choosing me for this wonderful team -- I hope you'll all stop by to see what I create and you can check out more info about PSA Essentials HERE!

GIVEAWAY! If you are on Facebook, check out this link for a chance to win some fun PSA Goodies! Just click HERE for more details!


Enabler Alert!--If you are looking for a fun personalized holiday gift, PSA Essentials is being featured on Good Morning America as part of Tory Johnson's Secret Deals and Steals. Use code GMA to receive 50% off all PSA Essentials. The deals ends today at 11:59 PST! Click HERE for more details. (Edit: This deal is no longer available, but you should still check out this fun Facebook Giveaway HERE!)