Happy Birthday 2 U

I've got a quick card I'd like to share today. I recently purchased the This & That Charming Collection Kit by Echo Park and the dp's are perfect for masculine themed cards. For sketch inspiration I flipped through my binder and chose this Mojo Monday sketch from 2009 by Julee Tilman to use. 

The three vertical panels highlight the vintage fans paper I fell in love with. The typewriter alpha's {part of the kit} spell out my main sentiment and I used stamps by Recollections to spell out 2 U. Most of the work was in the paper cutting area but I did use one Spellbinders die to help me out with the sentiment panels.

Thanks for taking a peek and for those celebrating Memorial Day here in the U. S. I hope you have a fun & safe holiday with your family. Many thanks to our veterans for their service and to those who are serving in our Armed Forces today. Because of you we enjoy a very precious gift, freedom! I will never forget that and my prayer is that all Americans will remember too.
~Lisa

Supplies:
Stamps: Distress Double (Recollections)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: This & That Charming (Echo Park), cs
Accessories: Spellbinders Long Cl. Rectangles die; teal satin ribbon (Hobby Lobby)

May Calendar Challenge

Do you enjoy making calendars like I do? If so, then the Taylored Expression's Monthly Calendar Challenge might be of interest to you. Every month we are challenged to create a calendar project using one of TE's calendar products. Many are available for a nominal fee and here's a link to the challenge details, in case you're interested. For this entry I cropped the 2012 May 6x6 calendar download and used dp's & cardstock from the May Key Ingredients kit which Taylor offers as a monthly subscription. After I finished my project I kinda wished that I'd used a different dp for the die cut frame but at that point it was too late. I'll just have to do better next time. ;)

This challenge offers the incentive to create make ahead calendar gifts for 2013 and I like to use the Frame Your Imagination Vertical Stand & 6x6 Page Protectors to display my calendar pages. The stand arrives in a natural finish and is easy to paint/stain to suit any decor. Just some food for thought! Oh, you can play along anytime-all year long so no time constraints. :-)

Thanks for stopping by and I'll be back on Friday to share a birthday card I made recently for my special BIL. Have fun crafting and I'll see ya soon.
Lisa

Supplies:
Stamps: Love Everywhere  & You're My Type-Lower & #'s (TE)
Ink: Memento Paris Dusk, Rich Cocoa, Tuxedo Black, ColorBox Lipstick Red
Paper: Pebbles (May KI Kit-TE), Bazzill cs
Accessories: Take Note Frame 3 Die & Banner Day 1 Die (TE); Grass 015 Die (TCP); red precision pen (American Crafts); Ruby Red Liquid Pearls (Ranger); paper flower (Recollections); pearl (Kaisercraft)

Happy Anniversary No. 2

Hi there and welcome! I've made another anniversary card and I played along with the current CR84FN54 Color Challenge for color inspiration and Cardabilities Sketch #55 by Karan Gerber provided my sketch inspiration. The CR84FN color challenge inspiration photo features mint, blue and neutral as our main colors and what a great combo. 

I started off by choosing dp's from Pink Paislee's Butterfly Garden in muted shades of our main challenge colors. The collection features a page with doilies so I used a Spellbinders circle die to frame one in a pretty shade of blue. A mint green dp was used for the Lacey Squares die cut and I chose neutral colors with text for my base layers. My tag, which is my only deviation from the sketch, was die cut & distressed with a combination of inks. A stamped sentiment in two shades of brown matched the text in the dp and introduce another neutral color. Die cut leaves, a chipboard heart, glitter butterfly and ivory trim finish it off.  

Thanks for taking a peek and I'm so grateful to the ladies at CR84FN for picking my last entry for the Top 3. What an honor and many thanks for that boost of encouragement!
Have a wonderful day,
Lisa

Supplies:
Stamps: Love Story (Verve)
Paper: Butterfly Garden (Pink Paislee), Fly A Kite-leaves (October Afternoon), Bazzill cs
Ink: Ice Blue & Creamy Brown Chalk Ink (ColorBox), Old Paper Distress Ink (T!m Holtz/Ranger), Memento Rich Cocoa
Accessories: Spellbinders Std. Circles Lg., Lacey Squares, Twisted Metal Tags & Accents; Leafy Sprigs & Elegant Leaves Die (Verve); glitter butterfly (PS); chipboard heart (Maya Road); paper flower (Recollections); ivory trim from my mom; 3D foam dots (Therm O Web); distressing tool (T!m Holtz)

Happy Anniversary

Today is not my anniversary but yesterday, the 17th of May, was and we celebrated our 26th year of wedded bliss. I didn't want to post my card before our anniversary because my DH reads my blog so I'm sharing it today. There are no challenge colors on this card but I did follow the Mojo Monday Week 152 sketch, designed by Maria Gurnsey, which debuted August 16, 2010. This card is sans flowers, ribbon or girly embellishments which always makes me a little nervous. ;)

My card is 6x6 square with 6 different die cuts, a border punch and a lot of Kaisercraft pearls. I viewed the pearls as a way to dress up my card without making it feminine. The dp's are from MME's Union Square and die cuts were made using various Spellbinders. The 'Happy Anniversary' sentiment is from Verve's Love Story and the main stamped image by Just Rite added the flair I was looking for. The stamp is from the Fleur de Lis Labels Twenty set and was created to coordinate with Spellbinders Label Twenty dies. The small fleur de lis's are also from the same stamp set and I'd appreciate it if you did not notice they are a bit crooked. ;) The top swirl and bottom accent piece are from Samantha Walker's Twisted Metal Tags & Dies by Spellbinders and I created my border with a MS French Scroll border punch. A lot of paper & die cutting but otherwise a fairly simple card.

I'm happy to share that my DH loved it and heartily approved my use of pearls. :) I am entering this in the Make it Monday #89 challenge. Thanks for dropping by and I hope you have a fabulous weekend.
Hugs,
Lisa

Supplies:
Stamps: Fleur de Lis Labels Twenty (Just Rite Stampers), Love Story (Verve Stamps)
Spellbinder Dies Used: Labels Twenty, Labels Eighteen, Fancy Tags, Twisted Metal Tags & Dies-Samantha Walker Collection

Some Exciting News

I have some news I'd love to share with all of you today. I woke up to a pleasant surprise on Monday when I discovered I made the Top 3 at the CR84FN53 Color Challenge. I can't tell you how excited I am! I'm tickled pink and it means so much because the owner and design team are crazy talented. Plus, every challenge I am blown away by the amazing entries and the incredible talent that is showcased. Thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart!

My post today features the newest page in my motherhood album and I continue to use the original challenge colors of aqua, pink and cream. This page reflects my mom as a young mother and I kept it fairly simple using a variety of products. A doily & torn ledger sheet add some height to the top and create additional visual interest.

I have a few upcoming family events which will keep me busy the next 10 days or so but I do hope to share another page or two with you soon. In the meantime I'll be sharing birthday and anniversary cards as there's no shortage of these right now. ;)
Have an awesome day,
Lisa

Supplies:
Paper: Pretty in Pink Paper Layers (Glitz), aqua dp & torn ledger sheet from Paper Girl (The Girl's Paperie)
Ink: Broken China Distress Ink (T!m Holtz/Ranger)
Accessories: ephemera tickets-Vintage Vogue (Pink Paislee); chipboard heart & pink burlap string (Maya Road); paper roses (Prima); diction stickers (Authentique); pearl bling swirl (Want 2 Scrap); pink crystal heart (Taylored Expressions); paper lace doily (Hygloss); Flamingo Liquid Pearls (Ranger)

Sweetness...

I'm back to share a wall hanging that my DD made me for Mother's Day. She created it using a picture of my sweet girl, Phoebe. Growing up my hubby and I were strictly dog people and one of the first things we did after returning from our honeymoon was to buy a dog. Cats were totally foreign to us and it wasn't until we purchased our last home that we had the pleasure of being introduced to cats. We inherited an outside cat, Kayla, because she refused to stay at her *new* house. After several unsuccessful attempts by the previous owners to keep her from coming back we made the decision to adopt her if they'd agree. It just seemed to be easier and Kayla was very happy with the new arrangement. We became her new family and she is still with us today enjoying her deck and the children's playhouse which is her main abode. We didn't know it at the time but she would pave the way for another addition to our family, Lola. We were asked by friends to baby sit Lola and I fell instantly in love with her. Our friends were retired and traveled a lot visiting grandchildren so they hoped she'd be a good fit for us and she was. We settled in and again we became a new family to another cat. Then in February of 2009 my vet told me that Lola had an incurable liver disease and had a limited amount of time to live. I was devastated to say the least but she fought long & hard. She did not want to leave me nor did I want her to go but on Monday, August 24th of that year she passed away. I was completely grief stricken and my spirit was crushed. You might {or maybe not} be asking what this has to do with Phoebe right about now. Well, two and a half weeks later my vet's office called and told me about a cat that needed rescuing. She was living in very poor conditions and they thought she'd be a good fit for our family. It just so happened that both cats {Lola & Phoebe} were lynx/pointer cats and looked very similar to one another. I felt it was too soon but my daughter insisted that we go see her. Long story short-we went and came home with Sassy that day. Yep, they named her Sassy which totally did NOT suit her personality at all. There was no sass in this cat, she was downtrodden and would meep instead of meowing. It was pitiful and we gave her a more dignified name and a lot of love. She eventually realized that her living arrangement had drastically changed, she was cherished and had found her forever home. Phoebe has become such a precious treasure to all of us and it makes this gift that much more special. Thank you Sara!!!

Thanks for hanging in there and letting me share a little with you. Oh, and just in case you're wondering we have 2 inside cats {babysitting our son's cat, Felix} and a super sweet granddog named Rosie. It is never dull around here with these 3 inside and Kayla holding the fort down outside. :-)
Hugs,
Lisa

Happy Mother's Day

Hello and Happy Mother's Day! I have another page in my altered "motherhood" album to share with you plus a sweet tag I made to attach to a Hershey's chocolate bar and I'm sharing the beautiful card my DD made for me. So let's get to it, shall we?

What fun it has been to create this special little album, I am sticking to the challenge colors and you can see that post here. This is a photo of my mom and me last summer and her smile lights up her face. I used dp's from Melissa Frances's Fifth Avenue 6x6 paper pad and my rose trim & ribbon is from Maya Road. The bling swirl is by Zva Creative and a Portobello brad anchors it. A few other touches include a Webster's Pages aqua bird, Cosmo Cricket's Mini Market alpha's, paper flowers, dew drops, heart clip by Paper Studio and a handpainted chipboard heart which features the month the picture was taken. The stitched rub-ons are by Studio 112 and add a homemade touch to my page. I snatched the pearls from a MF craft kit and they help accentuate the banner on the dp. Next up is my sweet tag...

I made this to go on a Hershey candy bar, for my chocoholic mom, which features a sweet little vintage girl on the cover. She can keep it to use as a bookmark or put it on her memo board. The tag was distressed with antique linen & worn lipstick, October Afternoon 5& Dime rub-ons were applied and sealed with Mod Podge and ribbon from American Crafts adorns the top. The tag {on the tag} was created with a stamp from the Waltzingmouse Stamps Rescue Remedies set and I used worn lipstick as my ink choice. I did distress it with antique linen and applied it to the larger tag, wrapped some pink burlap string around the candy bar and called it good. Now I would like to share the beautiful card my DD made me for Mother's Day...

Both of us were in JoAnn's recently and I spotted this beautiful stamp with gorgeous ranunculus's on it and just had to have it. Lucky for me she used it on my card this year! I love the beautiful papers by MME, the lace with the heart pin at the top and the way she accented the stamp with a paper flower by Recollections. The sentiment is from Taylored Expressions and she highlighted it with glitter. It made my heart sing and she made another project which I can't wait to share with you tomorrow.  

Ok, I'm off to enjoy the rest of my day. Hope each & every mother has a wonderful day!

Hugs,

Lisa

 

 

Mother's Day, CAS Style

Good afternoon {or evening} to everyone and thanks for stopping by today. I made this card for my MIL using colors from the Colour Q Challenge # 136 and they couldn't have suited her better. She loves yellows, oranges and greens so check out our challenge colors of Daffodil Delight, Tangerine Tango, Always Artichoke and Pear Pizzazz + White. I used Cardabilities Sketch #54 by the talented Karan Gerber and in case you don't know she recently lost both of her parents 67 days apart. That is tough for anyone and I'm sure she'd appreciate any encouragement you could send her way. Below is our inspiration photo and I can actually see my MIL wearing this scarf. :-)

I used artichoke cs for the base, layered a white & pear dp, and flanked a white piece of cs with two die cut bracket borders. Some orange/white twine brings sets it off nicely and I finished my die cutting, stamped my sentiment, added a puffy flower and some pearls. Clean & Simple! This style suits my MIL well and living in a house with all men she had precious little girl time. Maybe that is why she became the best fishermanwoman in the house. ;) Below is the awesome sketch by Karan.

I plan to enter this in the Tip Top Tuesday #76 CAS Challenge as well. That's all for today, many heartfelt thanks on the sweet comments you left in my previous post. They are a source of encouragement and I {heart} each of you! I'll be back this weekend with a card I made for my mom and another album page, see ya soon. 

Big Hugs,

Lisa

Supplies:
Stamps: Love Deepens (Verve)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black & Bamboo Leaves
Paper: dp-Phantom (Pink Paislee), cs
Accessories: Spellbinders Peony & Standard Circles Lg.; Die-namics Solid Brackets Border & mandarin orange/white twine (MFT); Blooms Yellow Puffies (KI Memories); yellow pearls (Kaisercraft)

CR84FN53

Hi there and welcome! I'm back today to play along with the current CR84FN Color Challenge and our main colors are pink, aqua and neutral. My original intent was to make a wall hanging but I changed course and decided to capture memories of motherhood, in honor of Mother's Day, in this mini photo album instead. This is a page I created with a photo of my mom and me which I printed in black and white. The fabulous inspiration photo definitely sparked my creative spirit and I can't wait to finish my project.

I began by cutting a piece of recycled cardboard to use as a base and decided on aqua which brought in a key main color. Next I randomly stamped distressed dots for texture and after adding my next layers I added rub-ons. The edges were softened with pink ink and I die cut a doily to bring in pink as a main color. A distressed dp and an aqua/cream label, which was a gift from Emma's Paperie, works with my main colors and both have a vintage feel to them. The kraft tag & chipboard scroll were painted with acrylic paint and together with the lock they add some dimension. The paper flowers & rose cabochons accent the page in the challenge colors and two Bonjour butterfly stickers bring in a touch of spring. Some fussy cutting on the pink text butterfly, a few rub-ons and T!ms's Chitchat Stickers which I distressed finished my project. I am not sure how I want to orientate my album {top or side} so I'm holding off on punching the holes just yet. In the coming pages I hope to add some homemade touches through handmade flowers, the possibilities are endless. ;)

Sorry for being MIA lately, I traveled out of town last week and caught a nasty cold along the way. A big welcome to my newest blog followers and I'll be by to visit everyone soon & leave a sweet comment. Have a super day!
Lisa

Supplies:
Stamps: Distressed Dots (Unity Stamp Co.)
Paper: Spring Jubilee & London Market (Pink Paislee), Annalee pink dp (Prima)
Ink: Memento Angel Pink & Antique Linen Distress Ink (T!m Holtz/Ranger)
Accessories: chipboard scroll, tag & pink burlap string (Maya Road); Die-namics Decorative Doily die (MFT); flowers & cabochons (Prima & Recollections); butterfly stickers (Kaisercraft); rub-ons (Studio 112); distress tool (T!m Holtz); lock charm (Blue Moon); Americana Baby Pink & Antique White acrylic paint