365 Cards Day #90 - Pink and Black - Bold and Graphic

This card was made for the 365 Cards Challenge for Day 90. The challenge was to make a card using only 2 colors. Sounds easy enough until you actually try it. Harder than it looks (at least for me).

The challenge rules did allow you to stamp in black on white cardstock - so I took advantage and did some of that too.

My colors were Bright Pink and Black. I stamped some background swirls on white cardstock - but other than that...everything was either pink or black.

I had some great pink and white ribbon that would have looked darling (but technically my colors are pink and black, so the ribbon could not be used). I also had a pink and white jumbo brad...but again...technically not allowed. It was killing me not to add a few dit dots or stitches or swirls with my white gel pen...but...white was not one of my 2 colors, so I had to let it go. Now that I'm looking at the card, I could have drawn some black stitching around the scallop, but for some reason I thought that was not playing by the rules either?

Are you sensing that I may have some control issues here? Oh well - I am what I am...take it or leave it.

I think the card turned out fun and bright and happy, and I love the bold graphic feel of it.

TPE #16 - Thinking of You Card by Little K

My (8 year old) daughter has been scrapping with me lately while I have been busy making cards. Today she wanted to know what's up? with all these "challenges". So I showed her a few of my favorite sites, and her first question was "what do you get if you win"?

I could see the twinkle in her eye. The thought of possibly winning a cute little "blinkie" to post on a blog was enticing her. She was excited...she was hooked...she wanted to play!

She chose sketch #16 at The Pink Elephant to complete (truth be told, I think she liked their blog name the best). Here is her card...I think I might cry. I do believe this is better than many of the cards I have made. Mamma is so proud!

All the supplies were found in the dollar bins at Michaels. We picked them up earlier this week as we were stocking up for summer activities. The brown card stock, rub on and button are from my stash (that I have recently organized).

I really could take a lesson or two from my little girl - Great Job!

Our New Pet Delilah?

A few months ago I really wanted to get a few chickens to raise in our backyard. I was totally on a Chicken Kick. There were articles about them in several magazines at the time, I had a great conversation with a woman working at the Easter Petting Zoo about care and feeding of chickens, and several of the blogs I read were posting about chicks. I saw it all as a sign that I should be raising chickens (never mind the fact that I didn't bother to see if our zoning allows?).

Dear hubby squashed that dream (he is my voice of reason) - despite the wonderful design plans for an enclosed chicken coup/yard I created - he was not impressed.

Much to my delight, 10 days ago, a fine feathered visitor arrived in our yard. NO, it's not a chicken (although rouge farm animals have been known to show up at our neighbors house from time to time)...but a sweet female Duck.

I think she is a bit of a Daffy Duck - I don't know why she chose our yard. We have several regular stray cats around, as well as our own. Not to mention that I'm pretty sure Ducks like water...and here is Arizona, there is not a lot of that around.

She seems to be happy here. She likes to keep cool under the shade of the diving board of our swimming pool (plus it keeps her safe from our feline friends).

She was a little scared at first, and would hop out of the pool as soon as she saw me coming.

She doesn't much like the gravel - I imagine it's a bit hard on her cute little feet. Not to mention very hot (it's been close to 100 degrees lately).

She's been venturing to other parts of the yard - pecking at the bugs and stray bird seed.

She can fly, but so far has chosen to stay. I don't imagine we will be able to keep her forever. I'm sure we will end up enticing her into a carrier and moving her to the nearby golf course, where there are other feathery friends she can play with.

But for now - we are enjoying being Delilah's Care Taker.

If anyone has any tips - I'd love to hear from you.

CCC #40 & TPE #15 - Wedding Card

This card was made using the Cupcake Craft Challenge #40 sketch as well as this weeks Pink Elephant Challenge #15 to use Letters or Monograms.

I took the Love Notes class at Scrapbooks, Etc. this week, and one of the projects used this adorable Cosmo Cricket paper. I just love the colors, mostly because they are so unusual for me (soft muted grey based colors), and not my typical style.

I was excited to have re-stocked my scrapping supplies and picked up a few new fun do dads as well (bling and pins).

Supplies: Card Stock (Bazzill); Patterned Paper (Cosmo Cricket); Heart Pin (Making Memories); Ribbon (Michaels); Jewels (Bazzill); Alphabet Die Cut (Cuttle Kids); Scallop Square Punch (Marvy); White Gel Pen (Gelly Roll); Font (CK Pretty)

Finished size is 6" X 6"

CPS116 & Raspberry Suite Week 6 - Fleur De Lis Thank You Card

I really need to re-stock my scrapping supplies. Again this week, I didn’t have any paper on hand that fit the challenge requirements, so I had to improvise. Dawn’s Raspberry Suite Color Challenge for Week #6 was to use Brown, Light Aqua, White and Coral. The layout is from Card Positioning Systems Sketch #116



I have lots of embellishments in coral – but no paper, so I used a Coral Sharpie Marker to draw a cross stitch pattern on white card stock (it washed out in the photo, but matches pretty well in real life). A White gel pen was used to add detail to the pigment stamped fleur de lis.

Supplies: Cardstock (Bazzill); Fleur de lis Stamp (Inkadinkado); White Pigment Ink (Stampin’ Up); Ribbons (Michaels & Hobby Lobby); Coral Pen (Sharpie); White Gel Pen (Gelly Roll); Button, Waxed Twine, and Sugared Brad from my stash; Font (CK 8 Ball)

Finished size is 4 ½” X 6”

Pretty Pink Cupcakes

My daughter and I made cupcakes together. I have been seeing all sorts of fun ideas that I wanted to try - so we managed to experiment with all of them in this one batch.

They are baked in the Wilton King Size Cupcake pan. One cake mix makes only 6 King Size cupcakes...so these puppies are big (3-4 times the size of a regular cupcake).

The decorations are a combination of fondant and frosting. I love the idea of having a collection of individual different cupcakes tied together by a color story. We used leftover (pink and white) fondant from Little K's birthday cake, along with whatever sprinkles and jimmies we had in the pantry (mostly Valentine, so some of the pinks are a little dark.

This was my daughters favorite one - can you tell how big it is?

We also experimented with fillings for the cupcakes. I mixed up some sour cream, sugar and raspberry jam and dropped a tablespoon into the top of the batter before baking. It sunk the the middle of the cupcake while baking (or the batter rose around it - not sure which). Turned out pretty good, I think I would have preferred a bit stronger of a berry taste (maybe more berries next time).

This one is piped frosting with an embossed fondant cut out heart embellished with a fondant flower. I didn't have any fondant embossing sheets, so I just used one of my rubber stamp background images (impeccably cleaned, of course).

This is a fondant base covered with piped lines. The flower is fondant. The little rounds where the piping criss crosses are from a Valentine sprinkle mix, as is the dark pink heart. You can't see it in the picture, but the flower is brushed with Lustre Dust so it sparkles (left over from another Birthday Cake).

This is plain frosting applied like normal, and the edges are rolled in pink jimmies.

Fondant embossed with the rubber stamp again. Fondant Butterfly (also embossed) with sprinkles and a heart.

This one is my favorite. Strips of fondant cut and woven into a basket weave. I used a biscuit cutter to cut all the fondant tops the exact size of the cupcake top.

There is no close up picture of the one with 3 little roses - it got eaten before I got out the camera. I tried to do the rolled rose technique, but it was a little difficult since my fondant was old, it was a little dry and cracked. Maybe it is a good thing I wasn't able to take a close up. I think I prefer the rose by petal technique better.

Stuffed French Toast

I made breakfast this weekend! I love to cook, but I also like to sleep in, so cooking breakfast on a weekend doesn't happen too often in my house.

We had a half loaf of home made bread leftover, that was a little stale. I couldn't bear the thought of throwing it out - so I made french toast. Not my first breakfast choice (I'm a savory girl, so I like meaty omelette's), but my hubby and little girl love their sweets, so this was perfect for them.

Thick slices of bread - stuffed with sweetened cream cheese - soaked in egg/cream batter - pan fried in butter - and sprinkled with both powdered sugar and cinnamon sugar. Note the additional toppings in the background - Strawberries and Whip Cream in a can (just for the record, I can..and often do...make my own whip cream - but I like the canned stuff too!)

This is my hubby's plate after he created his masterpiece. My daughters plate had everything in separate little piles - why do kids like to eat everything separate?

Little Piggy Returns

I warned you I might return with another Lunch Post if I thought it was worthy. I got my package of Bento goodies from Japan over the weekend filled with all sorts of gadgets. Just in time for the last week of school.

My daughter keeps requesting that I make the Pig again. I don't usually repeat things too often. The world (or at least my little head) is filled with so many new ideas, I just can't bear to repeat. But it was a request, and this time I had new tools - so I went for it.

Clockwise from the Top: Piggy is made from flavored pink rice with Tofu ears and nose. I got a new Nori punch that makes tiny little shapes to be used for eyes and brows etc. My scrapbook tweezers are now in my Bento Lunch Making box (they are so much easier to position using tweezers - now I need a new set for scrapping). The little yellow chick holds soy sauce (came in a set of 6 animals). New heart picks hold the ears on, and the fruit kabobs. Another new toy...egg mold. Just put the warm boiled egg into the mold and it conforms to the shape (in this case - a heart). This lunchbox holds a lot of food (for an 8 year old), so I now use one of the compartments for a juice box - it's a tight squeeze, but it fits pretty well. Lastly - plain yogurt with frozen strawberries.

My new favorite place to hang out is on Flickr. It's an entire world of visual ideas. There are groups and sets for anything you could ever want to see. How did I go so long without knowing about this site?

There are so many amazing artists out there, I am blown away. In my little world I thought I was pretty clever - boy, am I feeling humble these days after seeing some of that great talent. I've been watching (and stealing ideas) from some fantastic Bento creators - as well as getting inspired for many of my other crafty endeavors. I love a world where people are willing to share!

CPS115 - Happy Bird Day

I followed this weeks sketch #115 at Card Positioning Systems to create another card using Scenic Route papers and my favorite Bird Die Cut from Quick Kutz.

My friend Jo Ellen is going to be the happy recipient of this card. It's her Birthday next week, so the only thing holding me back from getting a card to her in time, is the fact that I probably don't have enough postage now that stamps have gone up again. Luckily she doesn't read blogs...so I won't spoil the surprise.

Supplies: Card Stock (Bazzill); Patterned Papers (Scenic Route); Die Cut (Birds by Quick Kutz); Bosher (Bazzill); Font (CK Typist); Brads and Ribbons (unknown)

Finished Size is 5" X 7"

CTD#42 - Clean Lined Thank You Card

Love the color combination for this week at Color Throwdown:

I'm not usually drawn to blue - I'm much more of a pink, red, green kind of gal...but lately I've been enjoying all the wonderful variations of blueish greens and greenish blues I just had to try this challenge.

It's a very simple card - again, not my usual style. I tend to add tons of embellishments - but I enjoyed making this one, and I'm pleased with the results. Maybe I'm turning over a new leaf?

Supplies: Card Stock and Flower are from Bazzill; Ribbon is from Michaels; "Thank You" Sentiment is made using an old dial Embossing Label Maker from Rotex (I guess Dymo still makes them, but mine is probably 20 years old); Brad is from my stash

365 Cards - Day 76 - Floral Thank You

The Challenge today over at 365 Cards is to keep the embellishments in the corners - all the corners - and the just the corners.

This was really hard for me - I kept wanting to pop a flower in the middle somewhere, but I resisted the urge.

The paper is leftover from our Teachers Appreciation projects last week. They are from Hobby Lobby (both patterns and solids). Brads are from my stash. The orange brads photographed really orange, but they are more melon colored like the paper in real life (sure they are!). I used DMC embroidery floss for the corner stitching.

Finished size in 5" X 7"

Patriotic Dress

The Second Grade Students at my daughter's school had a Program last night. All the second grade classes gathered together on stage and sang Patriotic Songs, read Poems about America, and recited quotes about Freedom. We then met our children in their classrooms so they could share their Writing Portfolios with us.

It was requested that the kids all wear red, white and/or blue. You now what that means. I got the brilliant idea that I should make little K a dress for the program. The only problem is, I didn't do anything about it until Monday...the program was on Tuesday! It's not as crazy as it sounds. I had fabric on hand that I wanted to use, and I was sure I could find a pattern that didn't require any zippers or special notions - so it shouldn't take too long - right?

Here's the dress:

And it really didn't take very long to make. I love the pattern. It's McCalls #5613. I think I would have liked the dress to be a little bit longer (my daughter is smaller than the average 8 year old, so I never have to lengthen patterns). This dress would be above the knee on an average size child. I think it would be super cute slightly shorter with a pair of leggings also. I was thinking about adding a ruffle for length, but the zig zags were making me kind of dizzy already.

I had fun layering the buttons (please don't look at my button hole. I knew how to do them on my old machine - and I'm sure my new machine can do them with just a turn of a dial, but I didn't have time to figure out how, so I just zig zagged the button holes).

I love the big over sized pockets that have this cute pleated detail.

The fabric is from Hancock Fabrics (over a year ago). Our store closed down, so I got the entire bolt cheap. I'll be making an American Girl Coordinating Doll Dress soon (per my daughters request).

365 Cards Day 72 - Little Birdie

The Monday Challenge over at 365 Cards was to make a card that incorporated Music (a sheet of music, musical paper or music notes). This is what I created for the challenge:

I love playing around with Word Art to create my sentiments, and I was wondering if I could get something to flow in a wavy line. It' s not perfect, but I'm happy. I love that I can match nearly any color and mood just by playing with my fonts.

I wanted to use this musical font. I've had it for some time - I think it's adorable, but don't have many opportunities to use it...so I knew it was perfect for this Musical Monday Challenge. Thanks to my friend Marni for the connected button technique - I stole it from one of her cards!

The inside sentiments reads "...to hear you are doing so well".

Supplies: Card Stock (Bazzill Basics); Patterned Paper (Scenic Route); Die Cut (Quick Kutz - Birds); Font (LD Music); Buttons, Ribbon, Waxed Twine

Newly Laundered Sheets

I've been doing laundry today. I'm tired, it's hot (inside and out), I'm still not finished and I'm a little bit cranky.

But then I'm reminded of how much I love Newly Laundered Sheets.

They are cool & crisp, smell fresh and welcome me to a great nights sleep. I can hardly wait to go to bed tonight...I think I'm ready to go right now.

Teacher Appreciation Week - Friday

Today is the last day of Teacher Appreciation Week. We have a few more things for Ms. H. today.

This one is from hubby and I. We made Origami Butterflies to go along with the final tag for the album. I will bring it into school for her later today.

This is the Paper Bag Album that each of the gift tags (from the presents all this week) will slip into.

The paper bags create pockets where the bottom flap of the bag folds over. That's where each of the tags fits. The open top end of the paper bags also create a place to store mementos. Little K made a few things and included them in these pockets (Artwork, Letter, Photos).

These are each of the inside pages starting with Monday.

The last 2 pages in the album have a poem on the left, and we wrote a Thank You message on the right.

The completed album was wrapped with tulle (again) and sent to school with Fridays tag. If only I had figured out a way to sew something with the fabric that matches all the paper. A basket liner? A fabric book cover?

Oh well, there is lots of paper left over (it only took about 8 sheets total for everything, and I think I bought at least 30 - oops). Maybe I'll make a dress for Little K and then a Scrapbook Layout for the photo of her wearing it?

Happy Teachers Appreciation Week!

CPS114 - Mothers Day Card

I had so much fun last week using papers and supplies that I already had (stashed away in my crafting closet) to complete the Card Positioning Systems Challenge, I thought I would try it again.

This card was made using the CPS114 Sketch. I first thought I would make a Birthday Card for a friend, but when I saw the Pink, Sage and Chocolate color combination, it reminded me of the bedrooms in my Mom's house...so instead, I made a Mothers Day Card.

So MOM...if you are reading this...please STOP!

You can come back and read more of this post after Mothers Day (or after this card actually arrives at your home, whichever comes first).

The center cupcake is pop dotted to the inside of the card to show through the cut out scallop circle. I used Word Art to make the circular Mothers Day sentiment. Both the single cupcake DoodleBat and the Row of Cake Stamp were colored with Pastel Chalks and embellished with a little Glitter Glue for sparkle.

Supplies - Card Stock (Bazzill Basics); Ink, Pastel Chalks & Stamp (Stampin' Up); Scallop Die Cut (Quick Kutz); Circle Punches (Marvy & EK Success); DoodleBat (DB Love Pastries); Font (CK Darling); Buttons & Glitter Glue

Finished Size 5 3/4" X 5 3/4"

Teacher Appreciation Week - Thursday

Today's Teacher Gift is a Decorated Paint Can filled with Chocolate!

I wanted to make one of the clear front tins filled with Nuggets like I saw on Mara's blog, but I couldn't fine the tins (and of course didn't have time to order them). This is the smallest of a set of 3 nesting Paint Cans from The Paper Studio that we also got at Hobby Lobby. We just added some paper, ribbon and a button embellishment, filled it with candy and it was done.

I think I'm glad I couldn't find the nugget tin, this was much easier than making individual nugget wrappers (although I would like to try that one in the future). One more day to go. It's been fun showing our appreciation for Ms. H.