Kate's ABCs Flower

This is a card I made for my friend Kelly.  It's a large card, 5"x7" ... I wanted lots of room for that flower. I used the Kate's ABCs Cricut cartridge for the flower. I cut the layers at 3.5", 3", 2.5", 2" and 1.5", spritzed them all with Juneberry Wine Glimmer Mist and then scrunched them up a bit. There's a pop dot between each layer, so the flower has a lot of dimension.  I added a self-adhesive pearl and finished it with leaves made using a Martha Stewart punch. The flower is layered over a a Bo Bunny chipboard swirl, a doily (inked with with Tim Holtz Antique Linen distress ink and Stampin' Up Champagne Mist shimmer ink), and a little pearl trim. 

On the inside, I used a Verve sentiment stamp, added a Bo Bunny chipboard flower and a self-adhesive pearl, and layered this over the little extra piece of doily that I used on the front of the card.

I'm very happy with this one ... it's perfect for Kelly! Hope you like it too.

Thanks for stopping by ...

Best Vacation Ever ... Jamaica 2011

I just spent the weekend with ten of the most amazing women
in one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Love, laughter, friendship ... I am blessed!

Blog Awards!!

I received this blog award from Cassandra and Jennifer ... how sweet!! 

Click on their names to visit their wonderful blogs.

To accept this award, I'm to tell you eight things about myself. Here goes:
     1. I'm tall ... 6ft to be exact, but when people ask, I tell them I'm 5' 12".
     2. My husband and I are military retirees. We retired from the US Air Force in 1994, which means
         we've been retired almost as long as we were on active duty. Time really does fly.    
     3. Yellow is my favorite color.
     4. My family and I lived in Germany for three years (1988 to 1991) and absolutely loved it!
     5. I love a good nap.
     6. I'm the accounting chairperson for a Relay for Life committee.
     7. Cherry Dr. Pepper is my newest addiction.
     8. I'm the youngest of six children.
Now, I'm passing this award on to:
     1. Heather at housesbuiltofcards.blogspot.com
     2. Katie at craftingwithkatie.com
     3. Dawn at deegeescraps.blogspot.com
     4. Sarah at scrapbookingwithsarah.blogspot.com
     5. Tracy at crazyforstamps.blogspot.com
     6. Sharette at scrappernthemaking.blogspot.com
     7. Jeannie at aplaceformycards.blogspot.com
     8. Carol at lovebutterflies2.blogspot.com

Be sure to visit these blogs ... I know you'll be inspired!

It's Your Birthday Sundae!

Here's a card I made for my friend, April. April always appreciates my cards ... I love that! Anyway, my cute sundae image is a digital from Pink Petticoat. If you're interested in digitals, you should check them out. They have lots fun images to choose from and have digital papers, too.

 I colored  this with Copics, added a little glitter, then used Glossy Accents on the cherry and dish. The scalloped ovals are from the Lacy Labels Cricut cartridge. I  pop dotted the pink and purple layers and used an Action Wobble to attached the layer with the image. Finish it with some Stampin' Up ribbon and a sentiment from Verve Stamps. Oh, I also used a Stampin' Up border punch to finish the bottom edge of the blue layer. Too cute!!

Thanks for stopping by ...

Baby Giraffe Baby Card

Baby cards are so much fun to make! I bought this designer paper sometime last year and was just waiting for the perfect project for it. The onesie is from the Wrap it Up Cricut cartridge and the little giraffe is from New Arrival ... I'm really pleased with how well the die cut giraffe matches the giraffe on the paper. Wrap it Up doesn't have a shadow feature and I really thought this image needed a border of some sort. Without it, the onesie gets lost on the background paper. Anyway, my daughter cut a shadow for me. She has a knack for free-hand cutting (a skill I don't have ... so glad she does). I added some brads for the onesie snaps and a few more for embellishment, and finished it with a little rick-rack trim. Hope you like this one.

Thanks for stopping by ...

Sweethearts Gift Card Box

I made this gift card box for my daughter and I'm so happy with how it turned out. I've had this idea in my head for a couple of weeks ... just wasn't sure if I could get it to turn out like I imagined.

The box is the Crayola box from the Tags, Bags, Boxes and More Cricut cartridge. I used my Gypsy to size it as large as it would fit on a 12"x12" mat. The finished size of the box is about 6.5"x5". I used the George and Basic Shapes cartridge to cut out the heart shape on the front of the box, then I cut a piece of acetate and adhered that behind the heart cut out. The conversation hearts are from the Simply Charmed cartridge. I stamped them with sentiments from the My Creative Time "You Had Me at Chocolate" stamp set and then randomly placed them on the acetate ... attaching them to each other and to the edge of the heart cut out. I also attached a square of pink cardstock behind the conversation hearts to hide any gaps and to secure them a little more.

Finished with a ribbon, some buttons and a little tag. I used this to give a gift card, but it's a nice sized box ... you could put chocolate bars or a set of notecards in it for a fun little gift. If you're interested, there's Gypsy file available for this. Just click on the tab at the top of this page.

Thanks for stopping by ...

Frank's Valentine 2011

This is a Valentine a made for my husband, Frank. The truck is from the Nate's ABCs Cricut cartridge. I embossed the truck with UTEE and added a little piece of vellum for the window.  The hearts are from the George and Basic Shapes cartridge and the sentiment is a stamp from My Creative Time "You Had Me at Chocolate" set. I used pop dots to adhere the truck to the card so the little heart is hanging freely. Cute!!

Thanks for stopping by ...

Rotary Valentines 2011

Each year, our Rotary Club sends Valentines to the residents of the nursing homes in our community. For some reason, I always volunteer to make them and I usually underestimate how long it will take. I had hoped to get these done by Wednesday so we would have plenty of time to get them delivered, but that didn't happen. I did, however, have them finished by Friday morning so all is good. Since I have so many of these to make ... this year 260 ... I try to keep the design simple. I found value packs of 12"x12" cardstock at Joann's in white, red and kraft. That kept making these economical.

The base is 4"x4" with the corners rounded. The white layer was cut at 3.75"x3.75" using the Lacy Labels Cricut cartridge, and the heart is from the Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake Art  cartridge. I used my Gypsy to size and cut the hearts ... the size for them is 3.57"x3.09". The 'Be Mine' is a stamp from the My Creative Time "You Had Me at Chocolate" set.

On the reverse, I used the Valentine Script stamp from Stampendous. Then printed a sentiment on clear mailing labels to finish (using labels kinda feels like cheating, but they worked). These are pictures of the sample I made for these cards. Originally, I put a dab of Frosted Lace Stickles in the center of each flower cut on the heart ... that didn't make it to the final cards. The thought of putting Stickles on 260 cards was a little overwhelming and probably not a very good idea to begin with!!

Thanks for stopping by ...

So, We Got a Little Snow ...

... 23" on the back deck!

On Thursday afternoon, 

my daughter and I decided it was time to dig out. 

Check out our helpers: