Congrats, Grad!

One of my former students called me a few weeks ago to catch-up. Melissa is graduating in May with her Bachelor's degree in Nursing and she received her dream job offer of an OB nursing position. I'm so excited for her! I was one of Melissa's advisor since her freshman year in college, and so I've really seen her change over the past few years. Thus, the inspiration for today's card:

I used Waltzingmouse Stamps' Teeny Trees to show the trees from Winter to Summer. The grid is flush-left...kind of a cool look I think. Here are a few close-ups to see some of the details:

I used a yellow glittery pen to draw the buds and the inks are Brilliance, which give a lot of shimmer in person. Here's a close-up of the sentiment I made in Word (I don't have a graduation sentiment??):

The change in the trees reminded me of the transformation of Melissa--starting out fresh from high school, having a few bumps along the way, but turning into someone who is really ready to move onto the next phase of her life. I'm so proud of her!

Thanks for looking, and thanks for the kind comments!

Here's what I used:
Cardstock: Kraft & Vintage Cream (PTI)
Patterned Paper: from the Walk in the Park collection (Echo Park)
Stamps: Teeny Trees (Waltzingmouse Stamps)
Inks: Rocket Red, Sage (Dew Drop); Peacock Trio (Archival); Rich Cocoa (Memento)
Pen: yellow glitter (Sakura)
Rhinestone: from the Holiday Assortment (Doodlebug Designs)

Gnomephile

I think I am becoming addicted to gnomes...not sure what that says about me! But my new Gnomebody Like You stamps from Wilson Designs are super fun.

Last week, I posted this boy gnome card, so I had to make a girly gnome card. I went with a real simple design, and my color inspiration came from the amazing Chan Vuong's gift bag (if you haven't already, check out her fab color combos during the latest Lawn Fawn release). Anyhoo, here's the card:

Aren't those gals too cute? And yes, they are supposed to be off-set. : )  Here's a close-up:

The sentiments in this set are very punny (and if you look at any of my other posts, you'll see I love those puns). The yellow button is from My Favorite Things (they sell buttons now) and the salmon one is PTI. Of course, when my husband saw the card he said the buttons looked like a pig nose (yeah, thanks for the honesty...now all I see is a pig).

Thanks for looking and thanks for the comments!

Spring is on the Way (Soon!)

Happy Sunday! Just a quick post today. Today's card is a thank-you for my in-laws for watching our kiddos when I was traveling over the past couple of weeks. So thank you! 

The yellow die-cut was done on my Cricut and most of the patterned papers are from Echo Park. The floral look to the card was inspired by the Die Cuttin' Divas Spring is on the Way challenge. Here's the card:

A little different for me (even my hubby noticed), but when I make cards for others, I try to do something I think they'll like. Here's a close-up:

The die-cut butterflies are from the My Favorite Things....cool dies that come in 3 sizes. 

Thanks for looking, and thanks for the comments!

Here's what I used:

Cardstock: Hawaiian Shores (PTI)

Patterned Papers: Life is Good collection (Echo Park); yellow-Urban Prairie (Basic Grey); pink (Fancy Pants)

Stickers: Life is Good (Echo Park)

Flowers: pink and blue (Prima); yellow (Recollections)

Dies: Butterfly trio (My Favorite Things); Paper Lace (Cricut Expression)

Citiscape

Moxie Fab World is having a Citiscapes Are on the Rise challenge. I checked out some of the cards, and *wow*! Thought I would whip something up.

This CAS card should have taken me a short amount of time to create, but I mulled over the colors, the die-cut for the window, to sentiment or not to sentiment... I am way too analytical when it comes to cards! I actually finished the card, tore off the top layer, and created another card (I do this a lot!). Anyhoo, here's the final product:

I drove my husband crazy discussing the sentiment (I mean really, how many times can two people discuss a card sentiment?). I decided to go the cutesy route with a quote from PTI's Everyday Button Bits...I think it's a quote in Cinderella, but it is sweet and appropriate. The sentiment reminds me of people moving to the city to pursue their dreams (a little corny but happy!).  Here's a close-up:

I'm going to give this card to my brother and sister-and-law who moved into a larger house this month. Yippee for them!

Thanks for looking, and thanks for the comments!!

Here's what I used:

Cardstock: white (Papertrey Ink), yellow (Bazzill)

Stamps: Everyday Button Bits (PTI)

Dye ink: Tuxedo Black (Tsukinenko)

Font: Little City (FontRiver.com)

Dies: Labels #14 (Spellbinders); sun- Cricut Expression (Provocraft)

Orange Crush

I have a crush on the Imaginisce Berrylicious collection. Smiling fruit...bright colors...cute sayings...it has it all. This paper just speaks to me (besides "buy me!"). Although maybe I need therapy since I'm hearing paper talking to me ;)

Of course the Berrylicious orange die-cut came to mind after I saw this week's Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger:

Aren't those colors yummy? I also based the card off of this week's Card Patterns #107 sketch:

I also used my new Wilson Designs Ride Away With Me stamps for the heart background. The stamp has just a few hearts, but Kim Wilson is brilliant in making this stamp so it's easy to line up. Therefore even though I must have stamped the hearts 50 times, it went fast.

*sigh* Isn't he too cute? I want to squeeze him!

I fussy cut the sentiment and put it over a die-cut doily from My Favorite Things. The pattern paper and yellow sticker borders are from Echo Park and the cardstock is Papertrey. The screen print is from Hambly.

Thanks for looking and thanks for the comments!

There's Gnomebody Like You

A few weeks ago I won the new Gnomebody Like You set from Wilson Designs (thanks, Kim!). These stamps rock! If you haven't seen them, then check them out.

Anyhoo, when I think of gnomes (not that I spend a lot of time thinking about gnomes), I imagine them peeking around trees and corners. So, I paired the gnomes peeking out with cathedral window paper blocks. My mom recently suggested that I look at the cathedral windows used in quilting blocks, and I tried it out.

I was inspired by the OTWC #49 Challenge colors--love those colors! Here's the card:

Aren't those gnomes hilarious? The sentiment is also part of the set. I paper-pieced the gnomes and colored their faces. Here's a close-up:

 I used one of my all-time favorite older lines of Cosmo Cricket. Here's a close-up of the sentiment:

I colored the hilarious sentiment with colored pencils--markers looked a little harsh with the rest of the card, so I tried pencils. A little Twinery twine tops it off.

Here's what I found playing around with the cathedral folds (at least the way I did them):

• Heavier paper (over 60lbs.) or papers with texture didn't work as well....even ATG tape wouldn't hold down the edges past a few hours.
• I put solid cardstock squares on the inside, but double-sided paper would work, too.
• I used Score-Tape to hold the edges down, but it seems like weighing down the papers for a day (before putting them on the card) seems to help the tape hold. 

Thanks for looking and thanks for the comments!