Farewell Sweet Summer!!

Saturday marked our official passage into fall.  So along with breaking out the sweaters and the scarves, I broke out my Footloose paper pack and made this card!

Fall is hands-down my FAVORITE off all four seasons.  I love the crispness of the air, the warm, homey foods, the way the Earth sends summer off in a blaze of glory - literally.  And October (my favorite month) is right around the corner!

But I wasn't quite ready to say "Adios" to summer.  My youngest was born on June 6th, so I didn't really get a summer.  My summer consisted of counting feedings and diapers and praying for nap-times (baby's too curious, he doesn't like to sleep).

I love the laid back feeling this card gives me.  It's pretty simple - just like a day at the beach should be!

Hope you enjoy! 

My Favorite Things Thursday!!

The Versa Mat!!

This is, to me, the ESSENTIAL crafter's tool.  I LOVE my versa mat!  As you can see, it's been VERY well used.   

On this side, it has every quarter-inch marked off for those days when I want to make sure everything lines up evenly (And if you ask my friends, they'll tell you that's a rarity.  I think that handmade items have more character when they're not perfect!)  For the scrapbook crowd, it's a full 12x12.  (What a guaranteed way to make sure your pictures and embellishments are placed evenly!!)

On the other side, it's foam-padded.  Since I started stamping, I've learned that nothing is more frustrating than when I get that stamp loaded up with ink and perfectly placed on the card stock, to find out when I remove the stamp, that the ink didn't transfer evenly!  By using the reverse side of the Versa Mat under the card stock, I get a clean, complete stamped image every time.

This is always the FIRST tool I pack whenever I'm traveling for a crop or a weekend away with my scrappin' sisters!!

Click here to order yours today!

Pretty Stella Card

Isn't this card sweet?  I got the pattern from Mojo Monday #234.  The pattern inspired me and I knew I wanted to use our Stella paper, so I started cutting paper.  It sat on my crafting table for a few weeks because I couldn't decide on the stamped image.  Once I found the butterfly, I knew and ...  A card was born!

Hope you enjoy!!

List of Supplies:
Stella Paper (X7147B)
Colonial White CS (1388)
Lagoon CS (X5762)
Creme Brulee Ink (Z2167)
Tulip Ink (Retired)
Lagoon Ink (Z2195)
Cocoa Ink (Z2114)
Bamboo Ink (Z2103)
A Little Thanks (D1444)
Find Your Style (Retired)

National Stamping Month Promotion!!!

If you love stamping as much as I do, you'll love this stamp set!  I LOVE that Close To My Heart is coming out with these double stamp sets!!!  These images are great for card making or adding embellishments to your scrap booking pages.  Click here to get yours today!

Adorable Name Frame

This is as close to scrap booking as I get!  This was an ADORABLE name frame we did a few years ago.  I didn't really name my son 'Chunk'.  I've always called him that because he was such a fat baby!  Now he's all elbows and knees and he'll be 11 on Halloween!  They really do grow up fast!!

But I had to share this with you all because it's such a cute piece of wall art!

Enjoy!!

Easy-Peasy Thank You Cards

I'm making Thank you cards!!  My husband was thrilled to see my card-making stash cluttering up the kitchen table.  He is the most well-mannered person I know and he has been all over my tush about getting Thank you cards made.  We have a brand new baby at home and I haven't had the time - or the energy - to make cards.  Our new little one is not a sleeper and that's also reeking havoc on my creativity.  But since I had my stuff out (and the baby was softly snoring in his car seat), I decided to go for it! 
 
I love the muted colors in the Florentine paper pack and thought it would be perfect for a thank you card.
 

 

Here's my product list.  The only thing not pictured is my adhesive, paper trimmer and pop dots.  I LOVE this stamp set!  It's the perfect addition to the card-maker's arsenal.  I also used the cards and envelopes from the Value Pack.  They're already cut to size and scored. Such a time saver!!

 

Since I was going for easy (and I was time-crunched), I totally used the extra 1/2 inch border strip at the top of the patterned paper to my advantage!  Whenever I cut smaller strips of paper to size, I'm always worried about the edges not matching up.  But this was all from one piece of paper, so I didn't have to worry about that.

 

The pieces don't look like much now, but I always ink the edges.  For this card I used Cocoa ink.  If this is not a technique you're familiar with, you should definitely try it!  I think it makes the finished product more elegant and helps to focus your eye...

 

 

...AND you have the makings of a super-cute card!

 

 

Next I stamped the sentiment.  For the Thanks, I used the Rock 'n Roll technique.  I stamped the whole image in Bamboo and then rolled the edges in Twilight.  Super cute, right?  But it was still missing some embellishing. I didn't want to add too much because I wanted the card to stay simple.

 

 

You can see at the top of the picture I considered using a stamped image.  But then I flipped over one of the pieces of paper and decided to cut the floral images out.  In order to achieve the same adorable embellishment, I would have had to paper piece them together and that would have taken the "Easy-Peasy" title away. 

I put pop dots on one side of each embellishment and used regular adhesive on the other side and stuck them on the card at various angles.  It gives the card a little bit of dimension.

Isn't this Thank You card cute? And I DID get it finished before my little one woke up!  I plan on making a BUNCH of these cards during his nap times!

Hope you enjoy!!