Happy Happy Joy Joy...

... is what this weeks Tuesday Trigger is all about over at the Moxie Fab World blog! Cath is so great at finding awesome "triggers" to inspire her blog readers and this week was no exception.
Here is this weeks TT:

I fell in love with these tin boxes. I love the images, colors and patterns on the images.

After seeing the trigger this stamp set that I have immediately came to mind:

 This is a Martha Stewart Flower and Hearts stamp set that I have had for years and never busted it out till now. The pattern design is similar to the pattern on the TT and the flowers are similar too.
Here is the card I came up with:

I used sketch #258 from CPS Card Sketches: http://cardpositioningsystems.blogspot.com/2012/03/cps-258-part-1.html I love this sketch! It is sooo easy to design a card using this sketch. Try it and you will see what I mean.
I started first with the flower embellishment:

I stamped the flower on white glossy paper with Versa Mark ink; let it dry completely then I inked the it with Wild Honey distress ink and punched it with a circle punch. Next I stamped the plaid circle with brown Staz On Ink onto green cardstock and cut it out using Creative Memories Custom Cutting System. I love their circle CCS. I tried cutting it out by hand and didn't like how it looked and stamped a second one. This time I used the CM CCS circle and it came out perfect! I then used a scallop circle punch as a mat in a lighter green. I inked the inside and outside of the plaid circle and the scalloped circle with Walnut Stain Distress ink.

Here's a tip: To ink tight places like the inside of the circle take the pad off of the inking tool and just hold it in your hand to ink tight places.

Next I stamped my sentiment with brown Staz On ink onto white cardstock trimmed the ends to make a banner and inked the edges with Walnut Stain ink.

I thought the sentiment was a little plain so I added the green pearls in random places.
Now it was time to add the background:

I decided to go with orange to match the flower's background. Even though the paper is textured I thought it was a bit too plain so after rummaging through my embossing folders I came across this butterfly one from Cuttlebug. I have never used it and thought this would be a good time to try it out. It turned out nice.

For the border at the top I decided to use a dark brown and used a scalloped border punch and again I thought it too looked to plain so I reached for my favorite embossing folder Swiss Dots and ran it through my Cuttlebug. I tied green and white twine around the border and adhered it to the top of the card and was done.

Not only was I done with the card but I now have all of my Easter cards made and ready to go in Monday mornings mail.

One Layer Card

Wow! This must be a first for me making a one layer card and it's my second post of the day. This was a quick and easy and I think it looks fine.
I used this weeks sketch from CPC Card Sketches. Here is the link: http://cardpositioningsystems.blogspot.com/2012/03/cps-258-part-1.html if you want to check it out and here is the sketch:

It's a pretty simple sketch which makes for a quick card.

Now here is my card using this sketch:

 

 The pattern paper is from DCWV Linen Closet Matstack.  I looove that matstack and use it so much. I picked this pattern because it was a border and all I had to do is add pink pearls. I kept thinking that I should add a ribbon or something but all it needed were the pearls.

 Here is a close up of the border so you can hopefully see the sparkle.

 For the sentiment I just stamped it in black ink above the cluster of eggs.

 The eggs were from a dollar stamp set and I stamped them three times with versa mark ink on purple, pink and orange cardstock then embossed them with white embossing powder. Glued them on the card and added a scrap piece of rickrack and was done.
I'm pretty happy with the way this card turned out maybe I should try more one layer cards.
How about you do you like to make one layered cards?



Mojo Monday Sweet Bunny

Here it is Friday and I just made my first card of the week! I loved the sketch from Mojo Monday and have had this card on my mind all week long. Here is the sketch:

Cute sketches. They give you a choice of going square or round. I chose square for my card and here is what I came up with:

I have to admit I pretty much copied this card from Mary and you can see her super cute card here:

http://www.stampinpretty.com/2012/03/mojo-234-easter-bunny-punch-art.html She also has a video showing you how to make the bunny and more.

Here are the punches I used for the bunny and I also used Creative Memories Custom Cutting System for the oval shape since I didn't have an oval punch. You can see how the bunny pieces looked before I assembled him.

What I did different besides using different paper and punches was I used  a pink mat behind the vertical strips of paper, used rickrack and lace instead of ribbon, and used flowers with pearl centers instead of the cute buttons that Mary used.

I also inked the edges of the bunny with Vintage Photo distress ink and added a gemstone heart for his tail and a grass border that I ran through an embossing folder (Swiss Dot). I had to cut away a blade of grass so it wouldn't cover his cute tail.

I have only two more Easter cards to make and get in the mail before Easter so I had better get hoppin'.

Enjoy your weekend!

A Soft Palette

I finished another card for Easter this morning. For my inspiration I used this weeks Simple Elegance Tuesday Trigger from the Moxie Fab World http://www.moxiefabworld.com/2012/03/tuesday-trigger-simple-elegance.html      

and this sketch

from Mojo Monday sketch #233. Did anybody else have a hard time balancing the elements in this sketch? I finally got it worked out and here is how the card turned out:

I loved the damask rug in the Tuesday Trigger so to create that look I used a Cuttlebug folder to emboss the white background. I inked the embossed background with Frayed Burlap distress ink then trimmed it into two pieces and adhered it to soft brown cardstock.

For my main image I used white cardstock stamped with a script stamp using Tea Dye distress ink then die cut it with a circle die cut. I stamped the praying hands in brown ink and used clear embossing powder. I inked around the image with Antique Linen and Frayed Burlap and inked the edges with Vintage Photo Distress ink. I layered the finished image onto a dark brown scalloped circle and adhered it to the center of the embossed background.

For the border I used some tea dyed lace leftover from a project long ago. I wanted to add just a bit of color so I added a purple flower and inked it with Frayed Burlap to tone down the color a bit and added a  button center. Next I added a couple of leaves punched from green cardstock and edges are inked with Frayed Burlap distress ink.

The sentiment is stamped with brown ink on white cardstock and the edges are inked with Frayed Burlap distress ink.

Sweet Cupcake Shaped Card

I made this cute cupcake shaped card for our nephews little boy who is celebrating his first birthday this weekend. I wasn't sure what to use for a little boys card. So after looking through some of my Papercrafts magazines I thought a shaped cupcake card was just the ticket.  

Next I decided on what colors I should use and decided on a chocolate cake with an orange cupcake paper liner. I wanted some fun colors that would make a cute little boy card and picked Animal Crackers Matstack from DCWV.

The designs and colors are so fun in this matstack! 

The die I used to make the cupcake card is from Papertrey Ink. I love how the liner is embossed.

I used the Swiss Dot embossing folder from Cuttlebug to emboss the cupcake then I used Glossy Accent on the dots to make them shiny. I used a Martha Stewart punch for the candle and a Creative Memories star punch.

I used foam adhesive on the star and the happy birthday sentiment for some added dimension. I love the paper the star is punched from.

Hope Logan enjoys his card and birthday.

Purple Easter Card

The card I made today was based off of Sundays CPS sketch. Here is the link to the sketch: http://cardpositioningsystems.blogspot.com/2012/03/cps-257-part-1.html They have lovely sketches that are posted each Sunday.

Getting back to my card:

 It's purple! Now I do love the color purple but the color rarely makes it on my cards or scrapbook pages so I am happy I was able to use it today.

 I followed the sketch pretty closely and was going to stick to a monochromatic color scheme but I changed my mind when I got to the border. I thought the border of just cardstock and the heart border punch looked a bit plain so I happened to grab some green ribbon and wow it looked so much better that I decided to add green as an accent color and added a dark green butterfly with some gold pearls.

For the focal point I stamped the image with black ink and used a nestability die to die cut and emboss the white cardstock.

I used the dusty concord distress ink to ink the edges of the oval die cut and some of the other edges. When I went to put the focal image on the card it looked too plain and small so I added the green scalloped oval behind it and then the card looked finished.

Anyway it looks done to me. I even tried to think of something else to add but for the life of me I couldn't come up with anything. My style is pretty much simple and clean so I was afraid of over doing it.
What do you think? Should I have added something more?

Card Workshop for the Troops

We held our third card workshop for the Troops last Tuesday. We had eight ladies come and make Mother's and Father's day cards along with many different everyday cards.
We also decided we needed a name for our group and came up with this: Operation Kitsap Kards

Here is a small sample of some of the cards we made:

 The cards are in clear envelopes ready to be mailed off to From Our Hearts who will then sort the cards and mail them out to our troops who very much appreciate the handmade cards.

We sent a total of 133 cards this time. Whoo hoo! Thanks ladies for all of your hard work, time and talent.

If anyone is interested in making cards for the troops just leave a comment with your info and I will let you know when our next workshop will be. Right now we are planning for the next one to be in July and the holidays we will be making cards for will be Halloween, Thanksgiving and fall.

Or if you would like to plan your own cardmaking event just go to From Our Hearts website: http://www.fromourhearts.info/  and you will find all the information you need on the right sidebar. They also have the schedule for when each holiday needs to be shipped to them.

Right now they are in need of everyday cards like thinking of you, missing you, birthday cards for both adults and kids etc. and they are always in need of masculine cards of every type. 

Note to self: Remember to take photos during the workshop! I have meant to do that the last two times and I always forget until its over.

I will post the cards that I made in another post.

Sticky Back Canvas

I found this fun and unique way of using sticky back canvas on a video from Lawn Fawn click here and watch this technique for yourself: http://lawnfawn.blogspot.com/2012/03/lawn-clippings -video-31312.html 

This is the sticky back canvas I used. It is 31/2" x 21/2". I used Modge Podge instead of the multi medium just because that is what I had on hand and I wanted to try the technique right then. The Modge Podge worked great.

 Here is a close up of the canvas. It is regular canvas with adhesive on the back and it comes in larger sizes but this is the only size our local craft stores carry and I thought it was a good size to use on cards.

The first step is to remove the protective covering from the sticky side of the canvas then apply your pattern paper right side down to the adhesive. Mist the paper with water and allow to soak in. With thicker paper you will have to mist it a few more times. Start rubbing the paper with your fingers and it will start to come off leaving behind the pattern on the canvas as shown in the photo below. 

Let the canvas dry then apply your multi medium or Modge Podge and let it dry. Here is what the finished canvas looks like. Here is a tip: be careful not to rub too much or you will rub the adhesive off and lose the pattern.

I used the sparkle Modge Podge on this piece.

 I made this thank you card with the finished canvas. I framed it using nestablilities.

 The paper is called Linen Closet and is from DCWV. The butterfly punch is Martha Stewart and all the paper edges are inked with vintage photo distress ink.

  Here you can see a little bit of the sparkle on the canvas. BTW the canvas is pliable not stiff.

 I had so much fun with this technique that I had to make another one. This time I used the regular modge podge.
Here is the card I made with my second canvas. It looks like a mini piece of art when when you frame it.

 I stamped the sentiment and umbrella with black ink.

 I tore pattern paper for the sand and stamped and cut out the sun on yellow cardstock. I used pop up dots for the canvas frame and the "it's your special day". I stamped "dad" directly on the paper.

 The pattern paper is called Animal Crackers and is from DCWV. The cardstock is from CM.

If you want to see the photos better just click on them.
If you have used this technique I would love to see your projects.

My Kitchen Makeover...

has been in the making for a few years. We have done the floor twice. The first time was when we moved in and we put in vinyl. Two years ago we replaced the vinyl with tile. We have replaced the appliances over the last few years and with the installation of granite counters last week the kitchen is almost complete.
I am sooo glad to have granite counters after putting up with the old tile ones. Tile for kitchen counters is just a bad idea.
Here are photos of the old sink. Some of the tiles were cracked and some the previous owner had replaced were a different color.

 Here you can see three tiles that were replaced.

 In this photo you can see the whole kitchen counter and bar.

 Here is a close up of the worse part which is by the kitchen sink. Now you can see why I was so ready to get rid of it.

 The fun began with the tear out of the old counters. We took off the tiles then they took the rest off. It was just a 30 minute job once the tile was off. The back splash is gone too.

 Here comes the first slab!

 First slab is in and ready for the under mount sink to be installed.

 Now for the second slab. They have a special cart with wheels that the slab of granite is clamped too and they can just wheel it in. I think they said granite weighs 25 pounds per square foot. Heavy stuff!

 The sink is in and so is the back splash.

 Here is the bar area.

 This is a close up of the granite. I wish I had taken some photos when we went pick out our slabs of granite at the warehouse. There were over 10,000 slabs that were from all over the world. The one we picked comes from Brazil. If you ever get a chance to look at granite you should. There are some pretty amazing things that come out of the ground.

 It only took three hours to tear out the old counters and install the new ones and the sink and back splash. But it took Wayne all day to install the new faucet, reinstall the pipes and put the disposal back in. It wasn't hard he just had to figure out how it was going to go back since everything hung down lower than before and he also installed a soap dispenser.

  I am in love with my kitchen again!