Momenta's Floral Simply Perfect Page Kit

Hi Everyone!

Busy days! Busy nights! I've been working, entertaining, being entertained and getting ready for Jeanne's birthday. Jeanne will turn 55 on Saturday and I have been creating all sorts of paper crafts for the celebration. I cannot share them with you until after the party because Jeanne and some of her friends read my blog. I am very excited about some of my creations so it's hard to wait to share them with you.



Meanwhile, last night I stepped away from "preparing for the party" for a while and played around with some of the contents in Momenta's Floral Simply Perfect Page Kit. This kit includes 6 patterned papers, puffy stickers, bling, alphabet and message stickers, chipboard stickers, a gorgeous die cut mat, frames, tags, and more. I decided to use 2 of the papers, some of the chipboard stickers, and a few of the alphabet stickers to create some cards.


I added some ribbon from my stash to this card.

The text was created with a stamp from Lawn Fawn's "Hello Friend" clear stamp set. All other components of the card are from Memento's Floral Simply Perfect Kit.


Everything I used on this card with the exception of the lace is also from that kit. The lace is from Hero Arts.

The background paper, butterflies and flower on this card are also from the kit.

 
I used a scrap of SEI paper to create the sun. The text was stamped with a clear stamp from PaperTrey Ink's Egg Hunt set.

That's it for today.  Science program tonight!  Have a great night!
Carol

Hoppy Birthday to ME

Good Morning!



It's nice to see a blue sky again today. Now if the sun could warm us up just a little! I celebrated my 58th birthday yesterday. I am having one of those wonderful birthdays where the celebrating goes on and on. It started with a package that was overflowing with papercrafting goodies from MaryBeth and has continued with a pre-birthday dinner at Jeanne's last Sunday, a day of shopping and eating out with Jeanne yesterday, a family party hosted by Marie tonight, and Chinese food with Patty next Thursday. I have daffodils from Diane on the dining room table and daisies from Marie on the kitchen counter and in the bay window. There are cards on the mantle and cake balls in the refrigerator. Fun! Fun! Fun!

In between planning and prepping some early childhood teacher trainings and a cooking class for a new afterschool program, I've been busy creating cards for online challenges and trying to rebuild my card inventory.

The minute I saw this wooden "Flower Frog" stamp from Hero Arts I knew I had to add it to my collection. Don't those big eyes and that wide smile on his face make you smile? I have a variety of great text messages I plan to use with that frog, but the first card I created with him was this "Hoppy Birthday!" card. I created the background cattails by adding Stickles to a long grass stamp from A Muse Artstamps. The clouds are die cuts from PaperTrey Ink that I paper pierced. The full view frog is attached to the card with foam tape. The frog's eyes are highlighted with black enamel accents.

I have a stack of cards that need to be photographed, but I need to focus on planning my workshops today. I'll try to post more cards sometime this weekend.


Would you like to see photographs of some of the goodies I have purchased recently and where I got them? If so, please leave me a comment and I will photograph the goodies while I am taking pictures of my cards.


Talk to you very soon.
Carol

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I am sure that you are familiar with the expression "the apple doesn't fall from the tree". I can share this picture with you because I know that Marie doesn't follow my blog. She was in her room creating valentine mailboxes for the residents at the nursing home where she works when I snapped this photograph of her. She made mailboxes for days. She scooped up every juice carton and tissue box that Gayle saved for me along with all of the ones I have been saving too.

Those of you who don't know me personally are probably wondering why on earth I would save such things. I am an early childhood educator who trains other early childhood teachers. I create games and other learning tools out of recycled materials and share those ideas with teachers in my trainings.


Robbie and Marie have grown up watching me create dragons out of egg cartons and mailboxes from milk cartons and now Marie does many of those activities for and with the nursing home residents. I had to share the photograph because I know that those of you who know Marie are laughing right now. Yes, after all those years of head-butting, Marie and I have become more and more alike. She crafts. She cooks. She bakes and she drinks tea!

Here's the valentine I made for Robbie. Some of you know from previous posts that Robbie and I share some "owl" memories so more often than not I make him an owl card. He bought me a set of "Wise Owls" clear stamps from PaperTrey Ink for Mother's Day last year and loves when I use them. Of all the people in my world Rob pays the most attention to my cards and critiques them for me.


The branch on the card is from PaperTrey Ink's "Take a Bough" set. I use that branch over and over again on all sorts of cards. I love the font that was used on the "Owl always love you" stamp from Stampendous. It embossed beautifully. The letters are nicely raised on the card.

Last week I created several "Get well" cards and I was disappointed when I realized I had sent them off before I photographed them. Happily I still have this one to share with you. The paper is from a 6" x 6" Adhesive Paper Prints stack from dcwv. The bed and pill bottles were created with clear stamps from the "Take It EZ" clear stamp set from Woodware USA. "Get Well Soon" was stamped with a stamp from Impression Obsession. For some reason each time I look at this card I think of Beatrix Potter. The colors must be similar to colors she used in one of her books or maybe the bed looks like a bed from one of her books.

I love the idea for this card, but I don't love the vase I free cut for it. I'll probably end up pulling it off and making a slightly smaller one. Layering papers are from American Crafts. Text was stamped with a Northwoods wooden rubber stamp.


I have some baking to do right now and a workshop later so it's time for me to sign off for today.
 
 
 
Have a great day!
Carol

Birthday Lanterns

Good morning!



Valentine's Day is 5 days away, but I have decided it's time for me to move on from that "love"ly holiday. Although I haven't exhausted my ideas or materials for valentine cards and crafts, I've created all of the valentines I need for me to send and for others to purchase.


My house is still decorated for Valentine's Day and there are still valentine treats to bake, but I am in the process of transforming my "Own Little Corner" to get ready for Spring, Easter, and Mother's Day creations. I've rearranged my stamps so that the ones I have for those occasions are front and center. My ribbon organizer is mainly filled with pastel ribbons. Rotating materials makes me more aware of what I have and also makes me aware of what I "need". Note to self... I DON'T need any more Easter or spring themed paper punches.


I rotate my materials frequently, but I clean this corner CONSTANTLY! Why is dust so attracted to computer monitors? Add embossing powders, glitter, adhesives and tiny scraps of paper to the work area and there's even more of a need to clean.


Last night's class for the Lexington Community Education program was so much fun. I met the nicest people who created adorable wreaths and sweet cards. It's fun to share ideas and techniques and to see how others approach their projects.

I made this birthday card a few days ago. The lanterns were created with 2 wooden (from a set of 3) lantern stamps from Hero Arts. I used my Tuxedo Black Memento ink pad to stamp the images onto some scraps of pink, green, and yellow vellum. I colored the images with my Marvy Twinklette markers. I fussy cut the lanterns and punched a tiny hole in the top of each of them before I threaded some gold cord through them.


I ran a piece of white tag through a dotted Cuttlebug embossing folder before I attached it to a blank card. The lanterns are adhered to the layering paper with dimensional foam tape. I touched the tip of a few markers to some of the dots on the tag to make them look like confetti falling through the air. "Birthdays are the best" was stamped with a PaperTrey Ink clear stamp from their Blooming Buttons set. I deliberately "curled" the stamp a little before I attached it to a clear block.


Have a great day!
Carol

Chickie with Heart Balloon

Good Morning Everyone!

I see a bright blue sky through my dining room window.  Lots of squirrels running around out there right now.  They must be stocking up on food before the next storm arrives. 

Yesterday I played around with mainly one stamp called "Chickie with Heart Balloon" from Denami Design.  The "Happy Valentine's Day" text is an A Muse Artstamp and the red heart on the first card is from Rubber Soul.  All 3 stamps are on the tiny side, but all of them still give a clean impression when I stamp them which I believe is a testament to their quality. 

Covered the chickie's heart balloon with an epoxy heart sticker to make her umbrella.  LOVE the cloud dies I used from PaperTrey Ink.  I paper pierced them before I adhered the layering paper to the blank card. 

You've seen me use the sketch for this card over and over again.  The chickies are on 1.25" squares and are mounted on 1.5" squares.  The dotted embossing definitely adds some fun texture to the card.  Button is from my stash.  I think it's a Favorite Findings, but I am not positive. 

Robbie laughed when he saw this card and commented "That's a lot of blank space!" but that's what I like about the card.  I used a Cuttlebug Hearts embossing folder to emboss the layering paper.  Covered the chickie's heart with an epoxy sticker.

I was imagining a flock of chicks floating through the air when I created this card.  Used my PaperTrey Ink cloud dies again and paper pierced them again.  Created the text on my computer. 

I have a little rainbow thing going on here as the chicks line up.  Stamped a chick about every .75"  Red heart jewels on red heart layering paper.  They work.  The jewels catch the light. 

I thought about not posting this card.  At least not yet because I know it needs something else, but I haven't figured out what that something is.  After I studied the photograph of it I anchored the corners down better as I hate an untidy looking card.  The layering paper is embossed.  I'm afraid to stamp a text at this point because I'm not sure how cleanly I could stamp on the embossing. 

Off for a day of errands with Marie.  Have a good one!

Carol

In My Own Little Corner

Good Morning Everyone!

Do you remember the song "In My Own Little Corner" from Roger and Hammerstein's Cinderella? I often think of that song and of the scene that song was sung in when I sit here working "in my own little corner". I spend more time in the corner of my dining room than I do in any other room in our home. It's in this corner that I plan and prep my early childhood teacher trainings, my afterschool classes for children, and my adult education classes. I sit here when I am planning meals and creating shopping lists. It's in this corner that I dream of and create all of my paper crafts.

As I sit here typing this post my valentine wooden stamps are displayed on the wall directly above me. Rolls of red, pink, and white ribbons are strung on the paper towel rack below my stamp shelves. My heart paper punches are to the right of me along with my valentine and other embossing folders, my clear valentine stamps, and my heart Nestabilities.

I often fidget with the heart shaped buttons that are sitting here next to me in a small red heart shaped bowl. I have a plastic drawer that is filled with valentine papers and some smaller drawers that hold my valentine stickers, brads, and embellishments.

My collection of papercrafting books and magazines are housed on some nearby shelves.


With all of this inspiration within an arm's reach it's easy to come up with ideas for the cards, tags, bags, and boxes that I love to create. As I have said before I am most definitely addicted to paper crafting.

When I glanced up at my shelves last night my "Love Goes Round" stamp from Stampendous caught my eye. I found some musical notes paper in my Sassafras Nerdy Bird Wee bundle and decided it was just what I needed for the card I had sketched. Had some ribbon with tiny hearts on it and musical notes brads in my stash so I grabbed them. I used a few of my Marvy Uchida heart punches to punch some plain and scalloped hearts. After I assembled them I ran them through a Cuttlebug embossing folder. I used red tag for the "lace" on my hearts because I thought it would draw out the red on the musical notes. As I sit here looking at the card right now I am thinking I may have liked white "lace" better so I'll try it that way on a similar card.

While I was pulling out some tiny hearts for my first card I came across a strip of plastic with red puffy letters on it that said "Love" and decided to use them for my second card. Once again I used my heart punches to punch out a plain and a scalloped heart. Paper pierced the white heart to make it look lacy. Stamped a branch from PaperTrey Ink's "Take a Bough" clear stamp set across the hearts to give the "love birds" from A Muse Artstamps a place to sit. Last night I chose to use different colors and sizes of epoxy hearts for the leaves on the branch. Today I am thinking just red ones would look better. I am most definitely my own worst critic.

This chipboard elephant was in my stash.  Wish I could remember where it came from.  MaryBeth, do you know?  Either you gave it to me or I bought it in some set when I was with you. The hearts on the elephant, the ones coming out his trunk, and the ones on the little bird all cried out "valentine" to me. Embossed the layering paper and punched a hole in it after I had adhered it to a blank card. Used a Marvy metal ring to highlight the "Be Mine" text and attached it in the middle of the hole I had punched.  When the card is opened you can still see the text. 

Two very dear friends are coming for dinner tonight so I need to leave my little corner of the world to do some grocery shopping.


Enjoy your day!
Carol

Bridal Shower Card

Hi Everyone!
It's been a busy day here.  I have a friend who requested a bridal shower card, a friend who requested 5 valentine cards, and another friend who wanted some thank you cards.  So in between laundry, cleaning, and prepping next week's workshops I made some cards. 

I used an umbrella from Lawn Fawn's "Partly Cloudy" clear stamp set for this bridal shower card and gift tag.  After I stamped the umbrella and the text I ran the white tag through a Cuttlebug Hearts embossing folder.  The text was created with a clear stamp from Hero Art's "Best Wishes" set.  The tiny hearts on the card and tag are "scrap hearts" that come from a Martha Stewart's hearts edger punch.  There are tiny white pearl embellishments on the umbrellas. 

I made a variety of thank you cards.  These cards were made with paper from Cosmo Cricket's Material Girl block.  I stamped a spool of thread from PaperTrey Ink's "Quilter's Sampler" set on the first card and a pincushion from Hero Art's "Sew Artsy" clear set on the second one.  The "Sew Much"  text stamp is from Stampabilities.

Here's one of the valentines that I made.  I used Hearts Nestabilities to cut out the 2 hearts, a Martha Stewart edger punch on the layering paper.  The love birds and the text were stamped with A Muse Artstamps.   The  branch is from the Hero Arts "Trees, Birds & Messages" clear stamp set. 



Have a great night!
Carol

Halloween

Happy Sunday Everyone!

Earlier today the air was cool and it felt like fall to me. I pulled out everything papercrafting that I own that is Halloween related because I plan to work on Halloween cards this week. Made just one card so far today. Robbie loves it because it has an owl on it.

I ran the small Nestability owl die through my Cuttlebug machine to cut out 2 owls. I attached the first one to the layering paper on my card. I cut the second owl apart to create the wings for the first owl. The hat, broom, legs, and bat are Recollections stickers.

I used the pink Marvy Uchida circle punch to create the moon. "Halloween is a Hoooooot" was stamped with an A Muse Artstamp. The branch was stamped with a stamp from PaperTrey Ink’s "Take a Bough" set. I was happy to see that it showed up on the paper that I stamped it on.



Be back tomorrow!
Carol

Poppy Paper from SEI

Hi Everyone!

Warning! Warning! Warning! This is going to be a long post. Probably the longest one I have ever written. But it comes with pictures so I think you'll enjoy it.

Hope you noticed that a few weeks ago thanks to blogger I was able to add a "search" button to my blog. It’s a very cool resource and I use it often when I am trying to remember if I have already posted something or not. So if you search for "SEI" for example the link to the birthday cards I made with their Happy Day paper will pop up. When I read that posting I realized that I never did post pictures of the cards I made with their Moravia paper. I am hoping that I actually took pictures of them because I’m not sure if I have any of those cards left...but we won’t worry about any of that today. I still have lots of that paper left and will make more cards with it one of these days.

If ink, paper, embellishment, stamp companies, etc. have a newsletter I sign up for it. I usually skim through them when they appear in my mailbox. I learn about products and new techniques. Sometimes I receive coupons or special offers. And sometimes I learn about many people’s favorite 4-letter word....SALE!

Not long ago I got an e-mail from SEI telling about a clearance event and I decided to check it out. As I had anticipated I saw some blocks that I loved. They come in different sizes. Most of the cards I make measure 5.5" x 4.25" or 4.25" x 5.5" so I mostly purchase the small blocks that are 4.5" x 6.5". That’s not to say that I never purchase the 8" x8" or the 12" x 12" blocks because sometimes I do. But sometimes the patterns on the 12" x 12" blocks are larger than those on the smaller blocks and don't look as good on my cards as some of the smaller patterns do.

So I purchased one block each of their Eerie Alley, Chocolat, and Poppy papers. The package arrived yesterday and I LOVE LOVE LOVE (I sound like Toni!) what I bought. I stayed up until 2 AM creating cards. I just couldn’t help myself. Got up this morning and have already made another card.

All of the cards I have made so far have been created with the Poppy paper. I am sort of thinking that I "NEED" to buy another block of it while it’s still available. MaryBeth and I have great jokes about "NEED" versus "want". I might be good. I do have a lot of paper here to work with so I should be good. We’ll see.
Without further babbling...here are the cards.

Used my Fiskars small poppy punch to create the flowers on this card. I used scraps that were leftovers from the other cards when I was punching the flowers. I have saved every scrap and every leftover trimmed piece from the Poppy block in a little clear box because I like the way the colors work with each other and I want to use as much of it as I can. The leaves and stem were created with a clear stamp from PaperTrey Ink's "Turning a New Leaf" set. I use that set probably more often than any other set that I own. "Thinking of you" is from the Hero Arts clear stamp set called "Everyday Sayings". I haven’t had that set for very long. I love the variety of phrases on it and know it will become one of my frequently used sets.

The brads are a good example that sometimes it makes sense to stock up when you see a good deal. A long long time ago one of the chain stores had a great selection of brads in the clearance section and I remember MaryBeth and I bought a ton of them. Like I said it was a good decision because I have LOTS of brads in LOTS of colors so I always seem to have the colors I need to coordinate with whatever paper I happen to love that day!



I love this card. It’s not very busy and it works for me. "Thinking of you" is from that same Hero Arts "Everyday Sayings" clear stamp set. I added some twine to the button before I attached it to the card with a large glue dot.







This card reminds me of kitchen tiles. Not sure why! I like it. A lot. Not sure where the "Happy Birthday" clear stamp came from as I keep all of my Happy birthday stamps in the same cd case. When you click on the card to enlarge it notice the gold flourish that is on the square in the upper left hand corner and on the bottom middle square. Wish I had paid more attention and used a scrap with that gold flourish in the upper right hand corner too...just thought I'd share that thought with you so maybe you will think of it when you are creating your cards.



I love the background paper on this card. Used my plain and scalloped circle Nestabilities to create the circles. See the brads that I told you I had stocked up on. Same deal with the flowers. I pick them up when I see a good deal on them. Gems too. Didn't use any gems this time.





I think I like this card. I want to like it. It’s a little different. "Hello" was created with some Mrs. Grossman stickers that I bought a long time ago. The color works perfectly with this paper collection.





Now this card has a different color scheme than the others, but it is from the same block. Used my one-inch circle punch to create the circles. Notice there are more brads in other colors. Used the same Fiskars punch for the flowers and the same Hero Arts "Everyday Sayings" for "thinking of you."

Now many of you may not have the same papers that I used on today’s cards, but you can still create similar cards. Just substitute papers from your own collection and "copy" the ideas I have shared with you. Or so a little shopping with SEI!

Just got a great newsletter from http://www.scrapbooksetc.com/ in my mailbox. Sign up for it. Their newsletters are always filled with wonderful ideas.

I'd love to know which of today's cards you like best and why. Please post a comment to this blog so that I can share your thoughts with others. Your suggestions may trigger new card ideas for all of us.

Have a great day! I'm off to do some work.
Carol

Practicing My Coloring!

Hi Everyone!

I think I can get this posted before midnight! I told you that I bought some copic markers on Monday. I am very excited about that purchase and I’ve been practicing my coloring! I’d say my grade is slowing changing from N (needs improvement) to S- (almost satisfactory). I saw that there’s going to be a copic’s beginner’s class at InkAbout It in September and I am hoping to attend it. Meanwhile, I’ll keep watching copic youtube videos and practicing, practicing, practicing....

At the moment I think that the Colorless Blender marker is my friend. It takes away some of my ink when I get a little too ink crazy.


So for tonight I have just one card to show you. One that has some of my practicing on it. I used my Tuxedo Black Memento ink pad to stamp a series of daisies using my large daisy stamp from Purple Daisy Designs. Then I practiced my coloring. Doesn’t it sound so funny that a 57 year old woman would need to practice coloring!

After I had stamped and colored I cut out the flowers. I realized after I had finished cutting them that I do have the paper punch that coordinates with that stamp and could have used it. Oh, well. I practiced my cutting skills too. I used some Glossy Accents in the middle of each flower. The leaves were stamped with a clear stamp from PaperTrey Ink’s Turning Over a New Leaf set. I used medium glue dots to attach just the center of each flower to the card.

So that is it for tonight. BUT...I have other cards to show you tomorrow that I LOVE! I didn’t/don’t need to color them. You’ll be able to look at my ideas and create cards of your own using your favorite papers. So, please stop by again tomorrow and please leave some comments that I can post.

OH! I forgot to tell you about something very cool. Blogger has added a stats button to my dashboard. The stats show that there are crafters from all over the place....the United States, Canada, England, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore reading my posts. I think that is SO Cool!
Okay, time to clean up today’s mess!


Carol

Happy Days

Hi Everyone!

On Friday Robbie will celebrate his 25th birthday. Late one night about a year or so ago, he called me to his room. "Listen," he said to me. I listened and heard the hooting owl that he had heard. We sat in the darkness listening to the owl calling out again and again. Hooting owls are rare in our neighborhood so we were both excited about Rob’s discovery. We heard the owl a few more times over the next few weeks. On night’s that we didn’t hear it, as we were calling out good night to each other one or both of us would "Who-o-o."

I am guessing that story sounds sort of silly to those of you who are reading this post, but there’s more to the story. Robbie and Marie both asked what I wanted for Mother’s Day and I mentioned some choices of clear stamps from PaperTrey Ink. Rob went online and discovered that the stamps he had planned to give me were out of stock. On his own he scrolled through all of the stamps that are shown on PaperTrey Ink’s web site and discovered their "Wise Owl" stamps. He wasn’t sure if I already owned them or not and didn’t want to give away his discovery to me so he took ALL of my stamps into his room and checked through them to be sure. He was delighted to discover that "Wise Owl" wasn’t among my collection and ordered them for me.

When the package arrived Rob was as excited about his gift as I was because he had found and selected "Wise Owl" on his own. He gave them to me along with a very special note that ended with the words, "Love, Guess Who-o-o."

And so I created this "Who-o-o" card for Robbie’s 25th birthday. I know it will be meaningful to him. The branch on the card is from PaperTrey Ink’s "Take a Bough" collection. The owl is from PaperTrey Ink’s "Wise Owl" collection. The moon and the leaves are stickers from Recollections.

Riley, is my sister Jeanne’s dog. She loves Riley as if she were her biological child. I’ve created several "Riley" cards for Jeanne over the past 6 months or so. When I saw the "Patriotic Puppy" stamp on the Serendipty Stamp’s web site I knew I had to buy it to use on a card for Jeanne. "Happy 4th of July" is a stamp from Northwoods Rubber Stamps. I used Stickles to highlight the fireworks that are a part of the stamp. The background fireworks are stickers from Mrs. Grossman. The flag and dish of food are also stickers.

I loved the fireworks stickers from Mrs. Grossman so much that I decided to use them on a card of their own. I already had the blue sticker letters on my table so I quickly added them to the card.
It didn’t take me very long to create those 3 cards, but I am guessing the recipients will all enjoy them.

Have a great night!

Carol