Halloween Surprise!

I was inspired by the new sketch at CardPatterns this week http://cardpatterns.blogspot.com/2011/10/sketch-138.html and also by my sister's 'Secret Pal' at her work. It's kind of like a secret santa, but it lasts three months instead of just Christmas! ;p
And who doesn't like goodies?!

Here is Michelle's sketch. I love that is an unusual shape, perfect for a Halloween card!

This week I wanted to try and give you a more step by step process of how my cards come together..

I started with a white cardstock base that I folded 'hotdog style' and trimmed it to the desired length for this sketch. Then I distressed the edges a little with some orange stamping ink and stamped a few orange swirls at the corners.

Next I added a thin piece of black border at the bottom that I hand cut from black cardstock.

Next I layered a piece of lime green cardstock over some orange and brown polka dot patterned paper and cut a semi circle to layer over the card. The edges have been distressed with some purple and black stamping ink.

I used some thick black self adhesive ribbon at the top and some orange ribbon with a black stitch layered underneath. I had fun layering all the colors and patterns!

And this is the final product! Happy Halloween with a hand made Witches tag :)

I stamped (I've been practicing and it turned out lovely) a Happy Halloween sentiment on with paper that I had also stamped with lime 'boo' to mimic a patterned paper. I layered this over a deep purple flourish patterned paper.

This is a tag that I am extremely proud of because every little piece is hand cut! I used sparkle paper for the top of the witch's hat and some tan jewelry thread that I shredded up with my finger nail to give it a broom-ish look. The eerie bubbles are silver glitter gel pen and Glossy Accents layered on top.

I hope Barb loves her totally handmade Happy Halloween surprise! (Well, except the Candy Corn!) Dont you love my little shoe? Also all hand made from paper by me! You can find the template (I altered mine) here: 

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/templates-f143/fashion-shoe-template-t133275.html

Thanks for stopping by to peek at my spooky treats! Happy Halloween and Happy Crafting!
Thank you CardPatterns for amazing inspiration as always!!

CardPatterns Sketch 136

I decided to take part in this week's card sketch at CardPatterns (my favorite blogsite!) and give Michelle's sketch a go. I always have a hard time with asymmetrical cards and especially with grids or measured cards.
I like to stick to free-hand and more whimsical sketches. So I suppose this is exactly what it should be.. a challenge! Check it out here: http://cardpatterns.blogspot.com/2011/10/sketch-136.html

The ribbon tied around the rectangle in the center is what really did me in.. I love tiny bows! My take on the sketch:

I went with a gray-blue and cream color theme. I used bits of scrap paper (from who knows where!) and some dcwv papers. I found a chipboard sticker that matched the color theme perfectly! And I love the little quote on it.. I used a cream colored tag for my center rectangle piece and tied it off with some blue twine. I did some distressing on all the edges with some antique gold and some with a bit of turquoise stamping ink.

Here are my up close shots of my tiny details :)) I put on some hand drawn stitching around the solid blue corners as well as the upper corner of the tag. Did you notice the three knots tied above my tiny bow?

Hope you enjoy my attempt at what was truly a challenge!! Happy Fall <3

Cardpatterns 129

I followed along with my favorite card challenge blog this week.. CardPatterns! Check out their blog at http://www.cardpatterns.blogspot.com/  I decided to stick to the sketch pretty much exactly without rotating it. Here is Nina Brackett's sketch...

And this is my approach: (Click for larger image)

I started with a buttery yellow card base, which I distressed with white stamping ink. I used my handheld corrugater on tan cardstock for texture (and in replace of the scallops), then topped it with yellow striped patterned paper.  I used a tag from a tag stack with a beautiful soft butterfly print on it and then layered cream and kraft circles over it. The final touches I used were a 'Butterfly Kisses' dimensional sticker, pink ribbon tied into a bow and tiny dots of superfine pink or white glitter!  Hope you enjoy my creation!!

Cardpatterns 123.. Let's hope this starts my mojo

And Keeps it going! It has been awhile for me in the card world/creative world/blog world! I don't even wanna peek back and see how long, to be honest :)

So I needed a birthday card for a friend the other day and I went to my most trusted card sketch site.. Cardpatterns. See their blog here http://cardpatterns.blogspot.com/2011/07/sketch-123.html
I'm to late to post for their challenge, but they did inspire me and I owe them a shout out!! Thanks Cardpatterns

Here is my take on the sketch, I flipped it 180ç so the grid is on the top instead of the bottom. I went with a summery orange theme and a chipboard 'Spoil Youself' sticker. Enjoy :))

CardPatterns 116 Sketch

So this week at http://www.cardpatterns.blogspot.com/, I was inspired by the butterfly on the sketch..

My little sissy is turning 23 in July so I thought I would get a head start on her card with some beautiful Recollections Boutique Fleur Butterfly embellishments Destiney bought for me!

I started with a white card base and sponged pink stamping ink all over. I got out some white paper doilies and painted them black, then cut an oval shape out of some union square papers (I won from CardPatterns awhile back) and adhered two different sized butterfly's onto that. I trimmed a piece of cream colored ribbon (dollar tree find!) and used a clear SRM 'celebrate' sentiment sticker on top of the ribbon. I popped up the sentiment on the ribbon and the oval in the center. To finish it all off, I added a few black rhinestones, some pearls to frame out the sentiment and some black glitter on the butterfly's. Happy Birthday Kirstin! I hope you love your card!

And thanks again to the CardPatterns design team and everyone who plays along for the great inspiration each week! You keep me crafting..rain or shine!! :))

C&S 139 Mother's Day inspiration

For Mother's Day, my sister and I put our crafty gloves on! She got out her beads and I got out my stamps and papers! I used a sketch from Clean & Simple stamping.. check them out here; http://cleanandsimplestamping.blogspot.com/2011/05/139.html
I used papers and inks to coordinate with the beads Destiney used. I also used lots of rhinestones, some of the beads from her bracelets (see middle card), frilly ribbon, and my glossy accents to dress them all up. I love how they all are different, yet all match the person they went to so beautifully. 

Isn't Destiney an amazing jeweler!? These are some of her first few bracelets ever! I am so proud of her for finding her creative place.. Now we need to make a profit together!! Lol!

Happy Mother's Day to all the wonderful women who take care of someone everyday and teach unconditional love!

Hope you enjoy our crafty creations!!

Update on my craftiness...

So the camera batteries went out on me recently so I went out and bought a pack of new ones only to bring them home and have them not work or not hold the charge. It took awhile to get around to replacing those!
But now that I have my handy dandy camera back again, I can share my recent cards, painting and mini birdhouses! :)

First off, some Mother's Day Cards on commission:


For a coworker/buddy..

 For a new manager at Columbia.. this was a fun one!

Here are a few mini birdhouses I picked up at the craft store, then painted and embellished. I tried to make them like three dimensional versions of my cards. I will probably end up adding more to them too! Which is your favorite?


Purple and Sage stripes

 Red and Yellow polka Dots

 The green one needs something more, for sure..I apologize for the bright flash in the photo :(

 On the right (in the photo above) you can also see the wooden moon I painted and embellished. I am going to put a name or a word on it too.. Below is a closer photo of the moon details, a little blurry :(

I'm thinking of painting the word Dream on the moon as an example so i can put them in a shop and sell them as 'customizable'

And here is my prized painting of the evening. My first hand painted owl. ☺ I love the patterned paper on his chest and the brightness of his eyes. I wanted the colors to still be bright, so I put him on a branch as the moon is coming up and the sun is going down.. I will probably attach a ribbon to the back so it may be hung:

 Isn't he cute..?  I think he looks a little sleepy :))

Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoy. Leave a comment! I appreciate any and all feedback!