Cupcake Party Previews

I've been working on the details for my daughter's 7th birthday party, which, this year, will be a cupcake party. I didn't have much trouble finding lots of goodies, in fact, it was probably harder trying to narrow things down because there is so much cupcake goodness out there right now. So, for today, while I'm away at CHA, I thought I would share with you what I've put together so far:

Here are the finished invitations:
These were made using some Colorbok papers with a Quickutz cupcake die and American Crafts cupcake ribbon. I lucked out on the ribbon and found the last roll at my local Michael's, it was just enough to finish 10 invitations. The number "7" was cut using my Cricut Cuttin' Up cartridge.

Here's the close-up:

Next up are some cupcake pics I made using a download from a website that I printed a long time ago...I'm sorry, I can't remember where they're from. I glued them onto some "craft picks" that I picked up at Michael's for 25/cents on their clearance table. I also used the small scallop die from my Spellbinders set.

And, last for today are the Thank You cards that I've already made using my Swiss Dot embossing folder, some clearanced cardstock from Michael's and a package of Martha Stewart cupcake (feltie) stickers. I also used the Trendy Trees stamp set from Stampin' Up for the sentiment. I love the felties because they already had dimensional stickers on them and that meant less work for me!!

And here's the close-up:

I'll be back with more....we've got a few other things planned for the girls and I'll be sure to share everything! Take care!

Cuttlebug Challenge #42

The latest Cuttlebug Challenge (#42) was to make a gatefold card, based on a theme celebrating National Friendship Week and using one of your favorite embossing folders. I decided to keep things simple last night and put together this card using my Swirls embossing folder:
I acutally made a sleeve from K&Co. polka dot paper that slides off to open the card. I added the scallop edge using my favorite Stampin' Up edge punch. The clouds were cut free-hand out of plain white cardstock.

Once I decided on a theme of light blue, yellow and white clouds I thought a rainbow seemed appropriate. I went to my stash of flat gems and came up with this pattern...and then I added the pretty yellow button to resemble a sun.

Here's the close up of the outside:
And, for the inside, I used my Spellbinders Labels One die to cut the K&Co. red patterned cardstock and then I added a striped patterned paper to the middle. The sentiment reads: "Just when my life needed a touch of color, you added a rainbow."

The butterflies are from Martha Stewart's punch and the gems are from K&Co. also.

And here's a close-up of the inside:

The samples from Cuttlebug's design team were awesome!!! And, although I decided to keep my contribution simple this time, no sewing or stamping, I am pleased with the result. I hope you enjoyed it! I have really enjoyed participating in this dynamic challenge group.

BoBunny Birthday Card Sketch

BoBunny is giving away some neat goodies from their "It's My Party" line over at their blog this week. You can play along by submitting a card based on a given sketch - here's the link to their blog site so you can check it out. And, here's my submission:

I used patterned paper from their "Back to Backs" paper line along with some of their famous [red] polka dot paper. Here's the close-up:

Other supplies I used include: Patterned paper: (black) Making Memories; Ribbon: BoBunny; Chipboard: Fancy Pants and craft stash; Rub-ons: Creative Cafe, Art Warehouse, Making Memories; Kraft card base: DMD, Inc.

I hope you like it!

LOADS of fun

I was asked by my daughter's 3rd grade teacher to design a bulletin board for the incoming 3rd graders this year. This is a board that sits in the hallway for everyone to share. I had the design in my head and worked on it two separate times this summer.....working all by yourself on a bulletin board is a little tedious - and I won't even mention the fact that the hallway was sweltering hot because they don't turn the A/C on during the summer....sheesh!

Here's how it turned out:
My husband helped me by making a stencil for the little t-shirts, and my Mom helped me by finding the miniature soap boxes at a local laundromat - I guess you could call it upcycling, because they came from the trash. :) I used my Cricut to cut out the subjects in 6 different fonts. I also borrowed an idea to use green tissue paper for grass instead of using a ton of green paper or cutting blades of grass.

And here's a card I put together yesterday for my stash - no challenge, just for fun:

I love the "cartoon talk" stamps from Michael's and can't wait to use more on future projects. The notebook edge punch is from Stampin' Up and the star dies are from Sizzix.

And, here's the close up:

I'm waiting on a friend's decision for a new job....perhaps she will need a "WOW" card in her mailbox!

CPS Challenge 126

Be sure to check out the sketch over at the CPS blog this week. It's a good one. Here's what it looks like:
Once I got started I immediately thought of my new mini-pinwheel die from Quickutz and thought it would be perfect to fill the circle elements in the sketch.

Here's my take on the design:

And here's the close up:

The supplies I used include: Black card: DCWV; Patterned paper: K&Co.; Embossing folder and die: Quickutz; Thread: Martha Stewart; Metal embellishment: Making Memories; Edge punch: Fiskars, Apron Lace; Green paper and brads: Craft stash

Cupcakes & CHA

This week it's all about cupcakes, as in a cupcake birthday party for my 6-year old, and then I'm headed to CHA in Orlando on Friday!! Yippee, skippee...I can't wait!

Here is the beginning view of the invitations I made yesterday:
I used a QuicKutz die and some American Crafts cupcake ribbon. I still need to put the finishing touches on them so I'll save the close up for later.

And here's the scoop on CHA (in case you haven't heard about it):

My hubby is driving a group of 4 of us down so I don't have to worry about the complicated directions and parking at the convention center. I'll try to get as many pictures as I can and have lots to share with you beginning Saturday....take care!

Cuttlebug Challenge #41 - Love Grows Here

Here's my entry for the latest challenge on Cuttlebug's Blog Spot. If you haven't been following the challenges, you can go here to see what's going on....this has definitely been the most challenging one thus far, at least for me.

I didn't exactly go to my recycling bin, but the challenge was to alter a recycled item, anything from containers to books. I found my recycled item in my garage sale box....it was a blank canvas which I never thought I would use, until now. It measures 6x6. I really don't even know how it landed in my hands.

I began by using some watered down craft paints to give the background layers of color including pink, white, lime green and light blue. After that I went to town using my box of die cut scraps including the pink scalloped trim pieces which I adhered using Mod Podge.

Next, I used a few pieces of green trim from Making Memories to make flower stems and leaves. I also used my nesting dies to cut out various colors of circles and embossed everything using my Cuttlebug Swiss Dot embossing folder (my absolute favorite). After I layered the flowers on top of two pieces of white tulle, I finished them off with some stacked Creative Cafe buttons.
Here's a close up:

And yet another....

I hope you like it. I'm off to find a mini-easel to give it a happy home!

Challenge Organization

As I participate in more and more card challenges [because they are so much fun] I wondered how everyone keeps track of their product lists for each challenge....what are the different kinds of ways you remember each product you use?, because, sometimes for me, there are many different product manufacturers on one project...I love to mix things up!

With that in mind, I had my hubby help me design this handy-dandy print out that I use while I'm putting a project together. As I grab something from my stash and decide to use it, I quickly jot it down on these pages for reference when I upload the picture.
Here's a close up of the one I had ready last night while getting ready to start something new:

These print 3 to a standard page of copy paper and are stored in my Microsoft Office program. If you would like to have a copy of the file, just drop me a comment with your e-mail addy and I will be glad to share it with you. Or, if you have a different way you stay organized for your challenges, please do share! I'm always looking for good ways to stay organized! Now...on to more challenges!

What a Sweet Comment!

I had a fun visitor visit my blog today....have you seen this amazing blog? Amanda posted a sweet comment on my blog today commenting on my new design, and she even featured little ole' me on her "Beautiful Blog Series" - I am so thrilled! Thanks Amanda....I can't wait to check out the features on your blog including FREE templates, tutorials, blog help [we all need a little, but in my case a lot], buttons, graphics and more!!!

Give Me My Close Up

Ooops! I forgot the close up on the CPS125 card...sometimes I really enjoy the close ups better than the original picture because you really get the see the dimension on a card....I did use some of the fab Stampin' Up dimensionals on this one....

So, without further delay, here's the close up:
Thanks again for giving me a look!

CPS Challenge 125

Good Monday morning! I'm back with another creation using the CPS 125 sketch from here. I saw the picture last night and thought it would be a great starting point to come up with something cute. Here's the sketch:
And here's what I came up with:

I flipped the sketch for my own design and used papers from Cosmo Cricket and My Little Shoe Box. Most of the other supplies came from my own stash, including the little gemmed flowers from FloraDoodles. I hope you like it!

Sunday Play

I got to play a little bit in my "40th" album today and finished this page documenting our beach vacation a few weeks ago to Amelia Island.

This page is done with some Cosmo Cricket paper, a Making Memories journalling page, Bazzill edge strips (I thought they resembled waves) and the Cuttin' Up cartridge on my Cricut machine. I also added some machine stitching, a sticker from Sassafras, and an arrow die cut from Scenic Route. It's amazing what we can pull out of our stash when we take the time to look around. I love all these different elements together. I guess I'm not a matchy-matchy girl after all.
And, while I was supposed to be cleaning up I just had to stop and put together this quick card using the scraps on my desk. I don't know who's getting it yet, but I can always add it to my stash.

Supplies for this card include: DCWV paper, K&Company glitter strip sticker, Making Memories journalling page and a tag from my tag box...and the rub on is from Hobby Lobby.

Have a good rest of the day!

Cuttlebug Sketch Challenge

I'm back with another submission for this week's Cuttlebug Sketch Challenge. You can find some awesome inspiration here and also get the details if you want to play along. Here's the sketch for this week:
What a great starting point, don't you think? My head immediately started spinning with ideas when I saw this sketch. And here's my submission for the design: It's not exact, but I did follow the main concept...I think????

And, here's the close up version:

I know, I got a little crazy with the color combinations and couldn't decide if I went too over the top, but, at that point I was in too far and decided not to change it up. What do you think?

My supplies include: Cardstock: DCWV, Bazzill; Patterned Paper: Basic Grey, Scenic Route, BoBunny; Spots & Dots Cuttlebug Embossing Folder; Thread: Martha Stewart; Chipboard: Sassafras; Stamped sentiment: Hero Arts; Die Cut: Spellbinders; Border punch: Fiskars; Photo Corner Punch: EK Success

Top Note Box

We had our monthly Stampin' Up club meeting at my house last night and these are the cute Top Note boxes we put together...I just love the color combination...

We used the new "Very Thankful" stamp set along with the new "Modern" label tag punch. Other supplies we also used included the "Top Note" die, the "Window" label punch and the "Teeny Tiny Wishes" stamp set.

And here's a shot of the inside:

I can't wait to give this away, maybe filled with some chocolate goodness.