hi there {august card night}.

this card just makes me happy.  i love this little bird!  it's amazing that i haven't done any paper-piecing yet.  especially since the result is so cute!  every little piece of this bird is stamped on a different coordinating patterned paper, and then cut out.  i stamped the bird first on the card {after adhering the 'grass' and other patterned paper}.  then i glued down each piece of her that i fussy-cut.  i colored her beak orange with a copic marker.  a little ribbon to give it some interest and it's done!

birthdays are the best {august card night}.

this is an adaptation of a card i saw {again} in a papercrafts magazine.  i love papertrey ink stamps, and i managed to use three different sets on this card.  the background is is a text stamp that i repeated three times.  the flourish is inked in a beautiful topiary green from close to my heart.  the sentiment is from the blooming buttons set - i love the combination of fonts!  i underlined 'best' with pearl stickers to make it pop.

this design would look perfect for a wedding card!  you could stamp the flourish to match the wedding colors, and choose an appropriate wedding sentiment.

this card is also great for mass-producing - i only had to cut the card base, and then the panel for the front.  a few stamps and a matching ribbon, and voila!  one {or 100!} beautiful cards!

*note: i get lots of my ideas from card magazines.  i find i have an easier time tweaking things i see and making them my own, rather than trying to start from scratch.*

great friend {august card night}.

this is a design i found in papercrafts magazine.  i sat down and measured, cut, re-measured, re-cut, and finally came up with the right layout to make the card work.  i kept in mind the stamp i wanted to use {from hero arts}.  a little inking and trimming, and i love the result!  the colors are odd, but really worked well together.  the card base is a deep chocolate brown, there is a beautiful turquoise, a mustard yellow, and a barely off-white cream.  on the inside is a simple stamped 'thanks', from the same hero arts stamp set.

this turned out to be a challenging card for the card night group.  i always forget what it's like to look at the design for the first time.... since i've been working and re-working the design, staring at it, and then cutting everything it's all very familiar to me.

for you, teacher.

my first grader just started school.  {wow - how is this possible??} the night before her first day, my hubby suggested we get some flowers for her new teacher.  and you can't give flowers without a card!

sometimes i don't create well under the gun, but this card just happened.... loved that!

i crumpled the background apple paper, then distressed it and smoothed it out.  "for you" is a little stamp {don't know where it's from!}, and i spelled out "teacher" with super cute winnie-the-pooh alphabet stamps.  a couple small hole punches and then a ribbon attached the tag to the card.  i finished it out with a cut out apple stamp - one popped on top of the ribbon knot and the other tucked behind the tag.

i don't usually decorate the envelope, but this just seemed to work.  a few apples stamped on the inside of the card, and then my daughter's handwritten note to her teacher finished it off!

it's so rewarding to see an end product i love come together so easily.  :)

for you, teacher supplies

white cardstock
dark chocolate ink from papertrey ink
apple designer series paper by stampin' up

apple stamp from hero arts
winnie-the-pooh alphabet stamp set
white satin/organdy ribbon

embrace change.

one of my closest friends is moving out of state this weekend.  i needed a card that could tell her i knew the change coming her way is right and to trust her heart.

this is a stamp set from close to my heart (ctmh).  it's called treasures (you can't buy it right now - it was a stamp of the month from the last idea book).  i used a hero arts background stamp for the clouds.  after a couple experiment stamps, i discovered the best way to get a nice look for the sky was to just rub the inkpad all over the stamp; i liked that it gave the sky a subtle swirly effect.

i used the flower image from the ctmh stamp set and stamped it on vellum before fussy-cutting it out.  i used vellum to give it the effect that it is just blowing in a gentle breeze.

on the inside of the card is a stamp that says 'trust your heart'.  if i designed my own stamp set for this exact card i couldn't have made it any more perfect.  :)

i miss you already ashlie!

embrace change supplies:

stampin' up ink in bashful blue, basic black, kiwi kiss, groovy guava
close to my heart ink in chocolate
distressing ink from papertrey ink - vintage touch tea dye due
stamp sets from close to my heart: treasures and true happiness
background stamp from hero arts: clouds
brown and white cardstock - from xpedx retail store
stardust stickles

welcome!

why didn't i start this sooner, right?  :)

i'm excited to devote a little more time to this hobby i love.

let's get started!!