Grateful for 2s4y :) number 2!

Hi all, this sketch was haunting me this week! I just couldn't get it out of my head, and so here is 2s4y/Kazan's sketch, numero dos! Here is the link. I die cut the card front with the Top Note die, using some Basic Grey paper I picked up last week at Archiver's. I cut a regular A2 card out of SU! Early Espresso, and I cut the front off, leaving only a 2" strip. On the inside I layered Dusty Durango and More Mustard, using the corner punch on the Mustard piece. I border punched the Espresso strip on the front of the card with by big curve embossing punch by EK Success, then I sprayed it with Smooch Spritz in the Log Cabin color. I sponged the patterned piece with brown ink & heat embossed the word "gratitude" in copper on the bottom right hand corner. Then I took some crocheted trim and tried to make the large scallop border have a "petticoat" effect, by pleating the trim up in the corners where the scallops meet up. This is the first time I tried this, opinions are WELCOME!!! :)  Finally, I added one of my handmade paper flowers. Click here to see where I tried this originally, and to link you up to a tutorial so you can try! These are TOO fun, I demonstrated these for my customers this weekend. Well, that's it for me, off to pick up the little guy at preschool & then a playdate. Have a STELLAR day!! :) -Noelle

Doing the Chicken Dance for 2s4y

Happy Tuesday, everyone! I'm back with a little card for the sketch challenge over at 2s4y. It's Kazan's sketch 62. I made a little chicken card for the challenge. The chicken stamp is from an Easter set I recently purchased from The Cat's Pajamas. I know it's not Easter yet, BUT I have been dying to use this little gal, she is so funny! So, I cut out both a plaid piece from October Afternoon and a solid Vanilla piece out with my Top Note die from SU! I attached them together along the left hand edge. Then I added this CUTE piggy twill tape from Jillibean Soup. I colored my chicken with Copics & cut her out. I layered her onto a piece of Kraft that I cut out in an oval to represent the egg. I lightly sponged the egg piece. I stamped the sentiment "Happy bird-day!" & punched it with a Word Window punch. That stamp is from my SU! "Pun Fun" stamp set. Finally I created my embellishment with some crochet trim from SU!, a wood piece from K& Company, a random button & some green baker's twine from Jillibean Soup. Well, that's it for me today, I'm outta here- have a stellar day! :) -Noelle

Accordion Medallion card for Curtain Call 49

Happy Monday, everyone! My plan was to get back here this weekend, but it just didn't happen, I taught a stamping class yesterday & hubby had to work all weekend. Besides, I've decided my boys mess faster than I can clean! Ack! My house looks like a bomb went off & I SWEAR I spent several hours cleaning! Yikes! Anyhow, I'll just post my little card & after little Ev is down for his nap, maybe I'll make some headway since no one will be here MESSING things right after I clean, lol! ;)

So, here's my card for the color challenge over at Stacey's Stamping Stage. FAB colors this week, check it out!! Real Red, Sahara Sand (I used Crumb Cake....), Very Vanilla, Basic Black & Soft Suede. I don't tend to use browns and black together all that much, so this was fun for me. I also never made one of these accordion medallions before, but I LOVE this! If you want to try: I border punched TWO 2 1/4" by 12" long strips of paper with my scallop border punch. I then used my scoring board, to score all along the strips, where the scallop goes in (does that make sense?) Then accordion fold the pieces & attach them together on both ends. Then draw it together in the center (I taped mine to a scrap circle of cardstock to cement it in place). Voila! you have a cool medallion:) For the background, I used the Soft Suede as my card base, layered a 3 1/2" strip of Vanilla and a  3 1/4" strip of black. That red piece is from a retired SU! DSP pack called "Night and Day" it was black and white, but I brayered it with Real Red ink to make it red. I heat embossed this stamp from SU! "Circle Circus" stamp set. using black EP on Vanilla cardstock. There is a Real red circle and a Jumbo scallop circle of Crumb Cake behind that. In the very center is an onyx brad from American Crafts. At the top of the card I took some already ruffled black ribbon & ruffled it even more by laying a piece of sticky tape along the top & "pleating" it in sort of a messy way to make it look luxurious (ribbon by The Paper Studio). The final touch were mini pearls on various spots of the ribbon and also 3 in the lower right hand corner of the card. I didn't add a sentiment, I just liked it the way it was & felt that a sentiment on the front would make it too busy. Opinions on this?? I figure I can stamp something on the inside when I'm ready to give it away.

Well, I guess I need to get on a cleaning jag, tho I'm really not in the mood (like anyone is EVER really in the mood to clean, I KNOW!!!) I hope you all have a stellar week, I'll be back soon with some more challenges!! :) -Noelle

TCPTUES127 and SFYTT card

 This card was brought to you by insomnia. Seriously, I could NOT sleep last night (I even took a sleeping pill & STILL could not sleep-can you BELIEVE that?? SO annoying!) so, I came down and started to craft. Around midnight, my sweet hubby came down and told me I must be "sleep-carding" lol! Ok, so here's the scoop, the color challenge over at Dancing in Pajamas is to use teal, olive and eggplant all together. I decided to "double- dip" this challenge & also use the sketch over at I (heart) 2 stamp. These papers are from My Mind's Eye.

The glittery tag rim is from Making Memories, and the glitter photo corner is Martha Stewart Crafts. The glitter button and rhinestone brad are American Crafts. The flower is Prima. I was going to use a layered flower, where the pinwheel is, but it was just too fussy. Then I thought a pinwheel would go better with the fun and happy feel of this card. For the cake, I took my TCP cake stamp & I stamped it 3 times. I colored each cake with Copics and then cut out all the cakes (on the bottom one I included the pedestal, on the top one, included the candles) and then layered them all up with dimensionals. Detail shot here.

I like this card, I guess I do alright even if I am "sleep-carding!" have a super afternoon! :)
-Noelle

Craft Room Organization Ideas

I've been doing lots of reorganization in the craft room lately. I share an 11 foot square room with my home office, so it's tiny & cramped.  I know, it's not as bad as not having any space at all. I feel lucky to have a place to work:) However, what I'm getting at is organization is KEY. Everyone who walks in my flont door can see this room. There is no door on it. I can post more photos of my workspace another day, but here's some cool storage solutions in the meantime... I used to be an interior designer & as such, I like things to be pretty, even my craft room, which is often a mess.

This first idea is from my sweet cousin, April. She uses these shoe things all over her house, SOOOO brilliant! I don't have a closet or a door even, in my craft room, there's just an opening to walk in. BUT there is a nearby coat closet, so that is where I hung this shoe organizer for my punches, they fit perfectly! This was so inexpensive, 7.99 at Target & now I won't have to be continually digging through a bin full of punches, I can see them all (and I do mean ALL-I'm a little embarrassed to show you my overly LARGE collection of punches, lol;)

 

 This next solution is in the Oct. issue of Creating Keepsakes magazine, page 14. It suggests using a closet rod (again- no closet in here...) But I found that mounting a curtain rod underneath my bottom storage shelf does the trick! The only tip, if you are using a curtain rod instead of a closet rod- choose one that has brackets that completely circle the rod, otherwise it will fall off! Also, measure the hangers to know how far out the rod should be from the wall. The other cool thing about this solution is, I can hang anything up in these bags! These are themed paper & embellishment bags (one bag is Halloween, one is Birthday, etc...), but I could do ribbon, or alphabet stickers, or anything really! :)

These ribbon topiaries I made a couple years ago- this is an original idea of mine. I made these cute little topiaries with foam balls & die cut flowers. The dowels are a perfect spot to hold spools of ribbon. The ball is removable, so you can replace the spools. Cute and functional! My FAVORITE!  

Well, I gotta fly, I hope to be back soon with some fun challenge cards! Have a stellar day! -Noelle

Appletini Card (2s4y- Kelly's sketch & MFT Make a Scene Challenges)

Hi! My family was so pleased with their homemade dinner, that the  hubby & the BOYS are doing the dishes tonight! Yeah! And Mommy gets to play;) This is for the EXTRA sketch over at 2s4y, the design team member does a sketch every week as well AND it's for My Favorite Things, which is where this set is from, as well as the ribbon. Ok- tons of paper pieceing, some embellishments (do you, or do you not LOVE the rhinestone "ornaments"- I love them, and they were really easy.) I wrote my sons' and hubby's name on her "nice list," OR maybe it's the naughty list, there are some days I wonder....;) Solid cardstock is from SU! Patterned paper is My Mind's Eye. I LOVE this card, but it was alot of work, so I will likely not make any more, or, if I do, dial down the paper piecing, cutting out those teensy tiny slippers was TOUGH!

The boys have a 3 day weekend, and I plan to stay home more or less the next 2 days. I will be cleaning, but hope to treat myself with some blog time/craft therapy:) Hope to see you SOON!! -Noelle

Vampire Card for 2s4y

Hi! I am SOOOOOOOO happy to finally be getting a post done this week. Last week was beyond crazy & this week I seem to be catching up from last week. Here's a cute little vampire card for ya today, it's for Laura's sketch over at 2s4y. Here's the sketch. What struck me about this was all the white space in the lower left hand corner. So, I used a patterned paper instead to keep the space there "blank."

I'm including two pics today, my camera was acting weird & I couldn't get the colors quite right on these. Most everything on this card is new SU! This paper is flocked, so fun!! The ribbons are striped:My Favorite Things, and plain:Offray. I colored my little vampire guy with Copics, and I am sad you cant see his cute pinkish cheeks here, but, like I said, the photos, oh well:( There is a glittery black piece behind the bat which is embossed in black on black. I hand cut the sentiment and distressed it. The card base is Cherry Cobbler red, I was trying to pull in the red from his cape.

It looks like 2s4y is going to be looking for new team members from their winners, eeeeekkk! I am still green at blogging, but I'm going to give it my all- I LOVE that blog! :)

Gotta fly, going to actually COOK for my family tonight, poor guys have been fending for themselves & eating lots of frozen food as of late :( I'm making my great-aunt Tat's FAMOUS pan fried catfish! mmmmmm, it's so good. My great-aunt Tat invented the recipe because her husband (great-uncle Roy) was a really good fisherman, and where he lived in Iowa, catfish was the fish you caught. Anyway, my kids love this famous family recipe & I'm making a salad, and some couscous as well. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. My schedule is not SO busy these next few days, so my plan is to be back SOON with some more fun challenges for you. Have a stellar day!! -Noelle

CCMC 116 Schoolkids Card

I am SO desperate for some "craft therapy" this week, that I'm forfeiting sleep to get it! Seriously I don't know why I even think I can go a week without "playing." ;) I read in college (I have my BFA in Theater) that the difference between an artist and a hobbyist is who "drives the bus," if you drive your creativity, you are a hobbyist. If it drives you, artist. By that definition, I'm an artist. Once I get something in my head, I can't get it out (or rest, or focus on anything else hardly!) until I've made it, or painted it, sewn it, directed it or.... well, whatever the project is I've created in my head really. That being said, it's late so I'll keep this short and sweet. This is for the sketch challenge over at Create with Connie and Mary. Check it out, it's a great sketch!

supply list: patterned papers, sticker from October Afternoon; stamp (Greeting Card Kids) twine, red button, corner punch, notebook edge punch & solid cardstock from SU!; cloud die from MFT; Cuttlebug embossing folder; puzzle die from Sizzix; pencil from Target, button from my jar 'o buttons;)

Sayonara, I REALLY need some sleep! Big day tomorrow, I will fill you in later!!

xoxox-Noelle

2s4y Dotty Dinosaur boy

Ok, can I just tell you how IN LOVE I am with this stamp set?? Too cute, I am TOTALLY crazed this week & I just really wanted to find 5 minutes to get this done, soooooo..... I made time;) Ok, I really am busy, so quickly.... this is for the 2s4y sketch challenge Kazan's Sketch 61. Go check it out. This is that new set & cloud die from My Favorite Things. The solid cardstock, Top Note die, red ribbon, red button & twine are SU! The taupe dotted paper is My Mind's Eye. The red dotted paper is October Afternoon. The black button is from my random stash...... I think that's it, have a super day!!!! :) -Noelle

Happy Birthday Evan!!!!!

 

Happy birthday to my youngest son, Evan, today!!! It's hard to believe that 3 years ago today we welcomed this little cutie into our world and he completed our family. What a wonderful journey it has been so far:)

I have lots of pics of his birthday party stuff that I made. First off this card is made with the CUTEST stamp set from My Favorite Things. It's called "Little Loveosaurus." I have seen some other bloggers use this set, and I had to use it because Evan's nickname is "little monster beast." There couldn't be a MORE perfect stamp to use for his birthday card! For the letters of his name, I just inked up the specific letters I wanted on another stamp from this set, which reads "Rawr means I love you." So just inked up the e, v, a and n letters on that with a pen and punched them out with a small circle punch. Paper and epoxy circles are K and Company. Solid cardstock is SU! Not sure on ribbon brand, but it's from Hobby Lobby.

I love you, my little angel!!!

 Here's some things I made for his party today. Not a big party, just a few of his little preschool buds coming over after school today for coloring, playdoh, and lunch. I made all these goodies with the "Elmo's Party" Cricut Cartridge.

I gotta fly, finish getting ready for the party, and then the BIG event I Chair for our PTO is on Friday. Hoping to get back to having more blogging time next week! Have a great day!!!



He likes this banner so much I'm going to hang it in his room after the party, I stamped the letters onto the big white letters with SU retired set "crayon fun alphabet."





Elmo party bags









I made the cupcake toppers with punches and shaped confetti.



pop-up invitations











Curtain call 47 Vintage Christmas card

Hi everyone! I am sooooo excited to share this card with you today:) I got some NEW SU! goodies in the mail this week & I learned a new technique, so I had the best time making this card! Ok, this is for the Curtain Call Color Challenge 47 over at Stacey's Stamping Stage. I saw these paper flowers made on Andrea Ewen's blog here. She linked it back to a wonderful video tutorial here. You need to check this out, it is THAT good! I mean, how much money do you spend on paper flowers?? More than I care to admit here. The cool thing with this is you can make them the exact size and color you want, the shape, everything! I am sooooo excited about these:) So,enough about the flower, though I will touch briefly on the technique in a minute. The colors for the challenge are;

AlwaysArtichoke, CrumbCake,WhisperWhite, and EarlyEspresso.

I stamped my little girl from SU! "Greeting Card Kids" on white cardstock (it WAS white to start out with, I swear!) I colored her with Copics and cut her out with my circle cutter. I took my scalloped circle (cut with Nestabilites die) and covered it with adhesive from the Xyron. Then I adhered my little girl to that and sprinkled the champagne glass glitter (SU!) all over the edges of the scalloped circle that were still covered with adhesive. I bought this glitter in champagne and silver , and I don't mind telling you it is GORGEOUS! Also, alot heavier than traditional plastic glitter, so it's not so static-ey. I really like that:) FINAL step on this circle panel, I sprayed the whole thing with the gold Smooch Spritz, that's why it no longer looks white;) I stamped the Medallion (SU!) stamp on a scrap of patterned paper by Cosmo Cricket. Do you see it peeking out? Ok, so TONS of distressing and brown ink on the edges of the Cosmo Cricket patterned piece, and the Artichoke piece behind that. Same goes for the Espresso strip that runs around those two. that Espresso piece is also dry embossed with a Cuttlebug embossing folder with a script pattern on it, that's a bit tough to see here. The card base is a piece of Kraft patterned cardstock from Jillibeans. The sentiment is form SU! "All Holidays." The leaves are punched out with the bird wing from the SU/EK Success bird punch.

   Ok, so the flower, like I said check out the tutorial, it gives some great tips and tricks on doing this. But basically you punch out, or in this case I used my Cricut flowers in graduated sizes. This is the poinsettia from the "Winter Wonderland" Cricut cartridge that I used to cut out the Artichoke colored flowers. You put a brad through the center and spray the whole thing with water. Then you scrunch the whole flower towards the center of the brad. then unscrunch it, and let it dry. I finished this one off with some more gold Smooch spritz and I put a pearl in the center.

I think the only thing I missed in the description are the variety of half pearls I used. Some teeny blue ones on the Christmas tree and some brown ones on the Espresso strip.

Well, that's it for me today. NUTSO week ahead, it will be alot of fun, but crazy busy as well. I will try to do one more challenge this week, maybe 2s4y. Thanks so much for checking in, and, as always please comment or follow; I'd LOVE to hear from you!! :) -Noelle

Flutter By wednesday Challenge 121

Another quickie post, more pink and brown, I must be in a pink and brown kinda mood! This is for FBW 121, the challenge is to use a butterfly, fairy or angel and the color pink. As I mentioned the other day, I was tickled to find out I can punch through these K & Company wood pieces with my cropadile, oh yeah! So I colored this guy with my SU! markers, punched a hole on the center, threaded some ribbon through a button from my random jar, and threaded it through the hole. The rest of the card is super simple, but if you have any questions, please comment or message me.

Supply list: Wood butterfly;K and Co, markers and Birthday stamp:SU!, Kraft printed cardstock;jillibeans, dotted paper;October afternoon, patterned paper strips;Basic Grey, ribbon; American Crafts, large scallop punch;EK Success.

That's it for me, have a great day!!! :)

Noelle

Spotted Canary Tag Challenge, prize package WIN!!! :)

Hi all! A couple quick posts for today, and I'm going to try, TRY to get to those 2s4y and CCMC challenges this week, but, seriously ACK!! Things are crazy and next week is looking to be even worse as far as the busy, BUSY days go..... sigh:( But, anyway, focusing on the positive, I got some GREAT news last night, I won a 100$ prize package from spottedcanary.com! Isn't that the coolest??? I will show you some of my creations once I get my hands on those goodies!  The coolest thing about Spotted Canary is that you just participate in the challenges and the winners are drawn AT RANDOM. I really really like that because it gives you a chance to rock your own style & not be concerned about what the judges might be looking for. It's also fun because it's a general crafting site, and so sometimes it's not even paper projects that are posted. That can take your inspiration a whole different way.... it's really a fun site and I have just met the nicest people on there as well:)

 

Ok, my card, the August challenge is to use tags, a very general challenge. Here is the link. I pulled out my Mason jar marked (how very original of me, I know.....;) "TAGS." I haven't actually looked in that jar in awhile! This tag I ended up using, I am not even sure of manufacturer, it's SO old, maybe K&Company?? It's from a travel themed tag package, anyway. So; K and Company mauve patterned vellum, Jolee's fancy jewel, SU! cardstock, stamps, brad and ink. I covered the snowflake in adhesive in the xyron, glittered it with pink glitter and then used the smooch spritz (brown color...) to sort of tone it down and give it a vintagey/glass glitter vibe, even though this is just plastic glitter from the dollar section in Michaels. The other thing the smooch spritz really helps with, is it sort of seals it and keeps it from flaking, a MAJOR bonus in my book!!! I hate glitter for that reason alone, I cant stand how it rains EVERYWHERE!!!! So, for the tag, I stamped the little deer (Forest friends) then the rose in Crumb Cake ink over the brown deer, then sprayed the whole tag with gold smooch spritz for that same vintage look. I stamped the sentiment from "All Holidays" and punched it out. I then layered it all up on my card. I was a little on the fence about these colors for a Christmas card, but then I saw this gorgeous card over at Verve (insert oohs and aaahs) and just continued on my merry way with my pink and brown Christmas card! 

that's it for my "deer" little card, have a lovely day!!

-Noelle

Whale, it's Mojo Monday:) (Mojo155)

Actually, in my case, it's Mojo TUESDAY, but, what are ya gonna do, right??

I LOVED this sketch when I saw it, and knew it would be perfect for this get well card i've been meaning to get around to for ages... Mojo Monday is Verve Stamps, and I actually, um, don't have any Verve stamps..... I know, I know, GASP!!! Hoping it is ok I used SU! instead. I'm pleading the fact that I'm a new bloggist and am just getting used to all the other super cool brands of stamps out there. Ok, my card, "Pun Fun" stamp from SU! Neato paper from Bo-Bunny, you saw me use this paper before way back here.

Also i used a cool wood flower from K and Company (also colored with the Copics...) I was THRILLED to discover these wood flowers can be punched with the Crop-a-dile!! Which surprised me as they are pretty thick! Button is from my random jar again. Ribbon is SU! except for the brown ribbon which is generic.

Here's the link to Mojo Monday, it's a contest with multiple prizes:) Check it out! Have a super day!

-Noelle

balloon card for Curtain Call 46

Hi guys, I will start off by saying that I am TOTALLY on the fence about this card, I am just not sure if I like it or not. I went to the Balloon Glow this weekend and had this idea in my head about layering papers and punching out a circle to make a hot air balloon card (center balloon) But I am just really unsure about this. Opinions??  I would love to hear them, good or bad, I'm a big fan of constructive criticism, it helps me.....

well, if you see ANOTHER curtain call post this week, you'll know why, anyway!! LOL.

The colors are: poppy parade, wild wasabi, pink pirouette, white, and peach parfait. Fun combo!! I used Tangerine Tango in lieu of Peach parfait. Here is the link to Stacey's Stamping Stage.

I used SU!/EK Success punches and Circle Circus stamp set, as well as Woodgrain and So Many Sayings. That "explore" ribbon is from the dollar spot at Target, years ago, red flocked heart brad??? Maybe Making Memories? Unsure about the polka dot ribbon as well. Maybe just too many elements, I'm going to think on it for a bit.

thanks for checking out my, UNUSUAL, and unsure post, have a super evening:)
xoxoxo-Noelle

Little Monster (SFYTT and Karber Challenges)

Hi everyone! I hope you had a super weekend, I sure did! Even though my hubby had to work for most of the holiday weekend, I managed to have a good time. My folks live about an hour from me, so I packed up the boys, and we headed to their house. They have a big hot air balloon festival there on the labor day weekend, so we got to go to that, here's a pic of the "Balloon Glow." Sorry a bit blurry, I'm still getting used to the night settings on my camera. Hubby was able to be there Sunday night, and got to go to this as well:) Yesterday, after we got home, I got up all of my autumn decorations, and I am SO ready for Fall!!  It has been way too hot as of late, and where I live in CO, we are used to our seasonal change, BRING IT ON, I say;)

Ok, soooo, my card:) this is for 2 challenges SFYTT, and also, a new one, I haven't tried before Karber Weekly. The Karber Challenge is to create a card for a boy. Since I have 3 of them, I am used to this one;)  I used one of the Karber digis "Frankie Jude" for the main panel. I colored him up with Copics, and then used a variety of patterned papers matted with SU! Early Espresso for the other panels. You will see on the sketch, that Jen used a circle, but I had to oval it, otherwise I couldn't fit little Frankenstein on there. I printed the sentiment out on cardstock and punched it out (font: CK Journaling) This card is for my son Evan for Halloween, hence the "E" sticker (K&Co). His nickname has always been "little monster beast" so this is a PERFECT card for him, though I'm planning on making 2 others for his big bros, maybe with different sentiments. The patterned papers are a variety; Basic Grey, SU!, and DCWV. Also I used SU! solids Whisper White, Dusty Durango, and Early Espresso. That ribbon is American Crafts, and all the punches are EK Success. I will be back today or tomorrow, I have a SUPER idea for the Stacey's challenge and the 2s4y challenge, hint: my idea involves that place I went this weekend:) "See" you all very soon!

xoxo, Noelle

My Favorite Cowgirls

Hi all, I hope you are well. I am REALLY not neglecting you, I promise! It's just that my hubby has been super busy at work and I have been round the clock momming this week. I did get a couple cards made, my sanity truly lies in being creative.This first one is for my friends and fellow PTIC co-chairs. It's a new digi stamp I picked up at My Favorite Things. Cute, huh? The event I Chair with LaCinda and Wendy is the Fall Family Social, a super FUN, big party at a local stables. We are having marshmallow roasting for the kids, BBQ sandwiches for sale, hayrides, pony rides and line dancing! Anyway, whan I saw this digi stamp I KNEW I must use this for their thank you cards. I had to go cowgirl theme:) ok, so, pretty simple. the image is all paper pieced, the background colored with Copics. the patterned paper is Basic Grey. The trims are varied, but the ruffled ribbon is also MFT, the buttons are SU! and that heart laser cut stuff is Recollections. I printed the image out on speckled cardstock, so that is not dirt you see on the cardstock, lol:) I realized it might look that way as I was editing the photos.

Ok, here is a teaser for some birthday party stuff I'm working on for Ev. I'm SURE you can figure out the theme, even from this teensy segment of photo. Hint: everyone's favorite monster:) I'm making a bunch of this themed stuff for his party which is coming up in a couple weeks. I will give more details and photos SOON!

I can't WAIT to get on some of the fun sketch challenges out there this week. I'm dying to sink my teeth into some fall/Halloween themed cards. I'm going to visit my parents for the holiday weeknd, but I will be BACK on Monday or Tuesday with some more fun stuff, some challenges, etc. I PROMISE!

I hope you all have a super holiday weekend!!!
xoxox
Noelle