Gift card holder

Hi!  I made a little something for TGF's Which One Wednesday Sketch #10, Ribbon Carousel's Challenge 18 All Tied Up (use more than 1 spool item), and Some Odd Girl Challenge Paper Piecing.

When I saw the sketch, it reminded me of a Double Pocket Card.  See HERE for a tutorial.  But I didn't follow the tutorial.  I made the bottom boxes in the sketch into pockets.  One to hold a gift card and the other to hold a little card for a message.

I used TGF's Vivi.  She is popped up a bit on the first pocket.

Vivi is paper pieced and I found my stash of bells after searching all my crafting bins.  I tied one on to the end of her cap with some twine and added some flower soft too.

This is what the inserts look like.  The smaller one will hold the gift card.  I just used some removable tape and an old gift card I found for reference.  The larger one has a label (from PTI) so my son can scribble his name on it.  Both the inserts have some ribbon tied on with twine. 

I made this one for my younger son's preschool teacher who is a man.  It's the first time any of my kids have had a male teacher as their main teacher so I was kind of stumped on gifts.  I didn't think a stack of cutesy note cards would appeal to a young guy so figure I better go the gift card route.  I have to make one more for the aide in the classroom.  She seems young too so I'm thinking gift card as well. 

So I've started my Xmas crafts for teachers.  Now I've got 3 kids in school, I'm starting early.  Not to mention all their extracurricular activities.

Thanks for reading and have a great long weekend!

Sister Stamps

Hi!  Thank you everyone for the wonderful comments in my previous post!  I'm still really excited and can't wait til I can share my first TGF post!  I know I have to get back into a regular posting routine.  Still just hard to find time to craft these days.  I spend so much time just driving!  I realized the other day that it takes me more than an hour to pick up my last 2 kiddies from each of their schools in the afternoon.  So by the time I get home, my butt is sore from sitting so long!  I love Friday afternoons when I know I can start coloring and stamping. 

Last night I finished up a set of cards using Sister Stamps new release.  This has got to be my favorite release of theirs.  So much so that I went to buy them at Cute Stuff the day they were released only to find that the one I really love was already sold out!  What the heck?  I guess everyone else loves it too!  But I did complete the set the next day when I found it at J's Knicknacks.  At least I got to spread the love to a couple of my favorite crafty stores!

I went very clean and simple on these since time is a factor these days.  I have to say I love them all so much.

This is Mariko.  She's so cute!  I colored these with my Copics on PTI's white cardstock.  I had forgotten how nice it is to color on this.  I have been using the  X-press it blending paper for a while now which is nice too but different.  The little tag die and sentiment is also from PTI.  I tied on a silky crushed ribbon from Ribbon Carousel and then used some burlap twine (also from Ribbon Carousel) to tie the tag onto the ribbon. 

A little close up.  These stamps always remind me of Cheryl's daughter!

This is Takeo.  Also colored with Copics.  Tied on some burlap twine with a star tag and sentiment.  And all the sentiments were heat embossed in red.  

I think he looks so fun!

This is Miyoko and she is my favorite!!  See, so cute and sassy!  Same process for this card as well.

She has some stickles added to her cupcake and flower.

Sorry, kind of lengthy post.  That is what happens when I don't blog regularly.  And I need to still mention what challenges I'm entering these into!  First is to MarkerPop Challenge #1 -- Hair/Fur coloring (entering Miyoko card, I wasn't sure if there is some limit).  They were previously iCopic and took a break from challenges but now they're back!

The second is to All That Scraps -- Anything Goes.

And lastly, I wanted to say a special thank you to Handmade Cuties for sending me a cute little beaded charm!  She makes the cutest charms and they are so bright and fun in person!  Please check out her Etsy store HERE.

Okay, I think I'm done.  Thanks for reading!

Happy Mother's Day, BFF!

Hi!  Happy Mother's Day!  I am trying really hard to do as little as possible, not just tomorrow but the whole weekend.  I even got my hubby to wash the dishes last night by giving him a major guilt trip and I went to bed at 9:30.  Haha!  I spent most of today working on a Mother's Day card for my co-blogger BFF.  We've known each other a long time, over 20 years now!

So, I Copic colored Tiddly Inks Wryn and Emmy.  Aren't they cute?!  Guess which one is Cheryl?  Her complexion is pretty fair so she's Emmy and I'm Wryn.  Haha!  I tried to color Emmy's skin lighter than Wryn and I think I like that skin tone combo.  I also used my Perfect Layers rulers to mat the image in pink and then a little bit wider in green.

The sentiments and the tiny tags are from PTI.  I added a whole bunch of flowers and pearls and a bit of twine.  I intentionally colored their shoes in the same colors.  Cheryl and I used to shop a lot together and we'd buy similar if not the exact same things.  I remember we bought the same kind of shoes!  They were really high and cute.  Gosh, I don't wear stuff like that anymore.  

I'll be entering this in Tiddly Inks Challenge #86 -- Mom or Feminine card and Ribbon Carousel 52 -- Word to Your Mother.

And before I end this post, I wanted to share what my middle one gave to me the other day.

 

He's such a sweet little boy, always trying to cheer me up! 

Hope you're enjoying this Mother's Day weekend!  Thanks for reading!

Butterfly Lucy

Hi!  I made a card for Flutter By Wednesday's 200th and last challenge.  I'll miss the challenges! 

Here's the sketch for the last challenge.

I decided to go with CC Designs Butterfly Lucy.  Isn't she sweet?  I love the flower border too also from CC Designs.  I got the grass die even though I have one from MFT because this one is a bit shorter and fits the flower border nicely.

I added some glossy accents on her hair accessories and the dots on her dress.  No, she's not eating the butterfly like my husband had first thought.  Geez, I don't understand him sometimes.

I also used the little saying from CC Designs Spring Logos and stamped it onto a cloudy background.  The butterfly is from CC Designs Butterfly Border that I love. 

I'd also like to enter this into Paper Sundaes Challenge #118 -- Ribbon and Pearls, Stamp and Create April Challenge -- Spring, and Ribbon Carousel Challenge 50 -- Anything Goes.

I had a nice day today with my daughter.  We got her hair cut and styled straight which she just loves.  Usually her hair is a bit wavy.  We had lunch and did some shopping.  But now I'm feeling a bit lazy to do the usual house chores.  Oh, and I'm trying to finish reading the Hunger Games books.  I'm on Catching Fire but it's slow going for me.  I don't know how my daughter read all 3 books.  Reading makes me sleepy so every time I read a few pages, I just want to close my eyes and sleep.

Thanks for reading and have a great week!

Happy Spring from Simply Anya

Hi!  It's another sunny day here.  And it's not too hot yet so I'm not gonna complain.  The card I have to share today was inspired by TGF's Case Any Challenge DT.  I chose to case a card by Margie HERE.  It's actually one of her older cards but I really liked all the kraft cardstock and the layout too.  I also wanted a spring time card to go along with 7 Kids Challenge -- Shades of Spring and Ribbon Carousel Challenge 47 -- Spring is in the Air.  And of course butterflies go so nicely with the spring theme so this is also for Flutter by Wednesday #197 -- open challenge. 

Here's the little card I made using Simply Anya that I received for my last TGF win.  She's so adorable and so versatile for any occasion. 

I added some tiny pearls as her earrings.  I thought about sticking something in her hands (she's just like Fancy Anya) like an Easter basket or something or maybe even a flower but kept it simple.  I love this paper pad from Doodlebug called Hello Spring.  It's got the cutest little patterns!  I ended up flipping the elements of my card compared to Margie's one because I loved the little birdies on the patterned paper and I wanted them to be more visible.

I added some twine and a pink bow.  The tiny tag and sentiment are from PTI.  And the tiny butterflies from Martha Stewart.

Thanks for reading!

thanks a latte (tutorial)

Hi!  I made a boy version of the thanks a latte project I posted earlier HERE.  And in the process, I did a little tutorial.  If there's a question, just leave me a comment.

First, cut a piece of cardstock to 6 x 11 inches.

With cardstock like above, score cardstock at 1.5 inches and then at 4.5 inches from the left.

Turn cardstock like above and score at 1.5 inches and 4.5 inches.  You'll also need to score at 6 inches but just til the score line you made in the above step, not all the way down.  You can rotate your cardstock to make the other short score line at 5 inches.  Hope that makes sense.

Fold at the score lines and cut like above.

Tape the top section.  These flaps will meet in the middle.  If you prefer not to see the seam you could fold it the other way and tape in the back.

How it looks taped.

I used an oval nestability to cut a small handle.  You can use just about any shape that fits.  I used a bit of removable tape to hold it in place.  You can also do this step before taping the flaps since sometimes it's hard to cut through all of the layers.  I'm using PTI cardstock and could cut through it all including my scor tape.  I also don't run the piece all the way through.  I run it til I hear/feel it cut and then reverse it back out.

Then tape the other flaps like above.

Tape together.  Almost done.

I cut a piece of 6mm fun foam to 3 x 3 inches for the base of the caddy.  You can just use your scissors.   

Find the right size circle die that matches the diameter of the bottom of your cup.  It may be a bit snug but fun foam stretches so it should be okay.

Fun foam is easy to cut with dies. 

Fit your cup into the hole.  I found these cups at Walmart.  Twelve 9 oz cups for 97 cents!  I don't think a cup larger/taller than 9 oz would fit this caddy nicely.  But you can always experiment and alter the measurements to fit the cup you have.  These cups come in all different colors in the party section at Walmart.  They may even be cheaper in your area since everything where I live is inflated.  These cups are little bit bigger than the one I used in my previous post.  They are a bit wider at the top and bottom but still fit into the same size hole of the fun foam.  It may be easier to fit the cup into the foam first and then place the whole thing into the caddy.  If you need to, you can trim the size of the foam just a bit to fit the caddy better.  My foam was pushing the sides of the caddy a bit but I just left it as is.

Then decorate as you like!

I used The Greeting Farm's Cafe Ian.  I popped the ovals onto dimensionals so there would be a little bit of space between the top of the cup and Cafe Ian.

Printed the sentiment out in blue and actually placed it in the handle for a different look.  Then I added a latte with a mini clothespin. 

I made these to put Starbucks gift cards into but you can use them for any occasion even Easter which is coming up quickly!  And you could also just decorate the cup and not place any image on the caddy itself.  Lots of possibilities!

I'll be entering this into TGF's Monday Funday #26 -- Anything Goes and Ribbon Carousel Challenge 46 -- Anything Goes.

Thanks for reading this long post!

Spring bling

Hi!  Okay, so I cheated on my stamp diet.  I know, I'm so weak especially when there are so many cute stamps on my wish list.  I bought my first Wryn and actually my first ever Tiddly Inks stamp.  Wryn is so adorable that even though I'm not such a big fan of digis, I had to get at least one.  So  I decided to get Spring Bling cause I thought she would be a very versatile image great for any special occasion.  I have to also thank Christy because she was so quick and friendly when I had problems getting my links to the digis.  Great customer service!

I decided to use the sketch over at Ribbon Carousel Challenge cause sometimes, well, most of the time, I think I'm design challenged.  I really admire folks that can crank out those sketches and create pretty cards.  

I think this Wryn is so adorable!  I'll be entering this also in Tiddly Inks Challenge 80--Sparkle it Up! so I added some rhinestones in the corner and stickles on the flowers.  I bought a whole bunch of these rhinestones in different colors from Walmart.  I think they were only a dollar for 60 in a package.  But now I never see them in stock when I check.  Glad I bought a whole bunch then.

Maybe this is a better view of the stickles on the flowers. 

So the difficult thing I have with digis is just getting them to dry well so the lines don't smear.  I think I had to use my hair dryer on this for about 2 minutes and there was still a tiny smear by her cheek.  (Now everyone's gonna look for it).  I tried to avoid coloring over her eyes cause that I'm sure would've smeared.  And the other thing is, what size do you print your digis out at?  I think I reduced this one to 3x3 inches but I'm never really sure what is a good average size that would work well on a regular card.

Now I'm gonna color some other digis I bought.  Yes, more diet cheating but I promise I didn't go overboard.  Thanks for reading!

with Love ❤

Hi!  I was checking out Shirl's blog one day and saw this cute card she made with a cute digi (Canary Love) by Saturated Canary (Krista Smith).  I had seen the stamps around in blogland but I still have to stick to my no new stamps diet.  But Shirl was kind enough to provide the link to the digi in her post and it was free HERE!  So I thought I'd give it a try using the Deconstructed Sketch #37.

 

I have to say that it was kind of challenging to color all that hair and even to the tiniest ends.  I must be a slow colorer cause it took me part of last night and most of the morning the next day to finish coloring her.  But I like it!

Well, I know the digi is called Canary Love not Bluebird Love and I had the intention of coloring the bird yellow but somehow grabbed the wrong Copic and well, now I have a Bluebird.  But at least he matches her eye color.  I also added some glossy accents to the heart, rose, buttons and the red around her legs.

I even crocheted a little heart.  See HERE if you want to make one too.  It didn't take long, just about 5 minutes and I'm not that experienced in crocheting.  I didn't know what kind of sentiment to add then noticed the name of the DP I was using.  You know, on 12x12 sheets there is that little perforated part you can tear off and it has the paper line and info on it.  That's what I used.

I'm also entering this in iCopic's Weekly Challenge #68--Hearts and

Ribbon Carousel's Challenge 39--Anything Goes.  I realized too late that Saturated Canary also has their own challenges too!  Must check that out one day.

Thanks so much for reading!