Judo Punch Art!

I have a friend who loves to give me the most fun challenges when it comes to making greeting cards! This time she asked me to make two thank you cards for her kids' judo instructors. I wasn't quite sure where to start, but I knew punch art was going to be involved! Often I find inspiration on Pinterest. I found a recipe for karate kid punch art and decided to CASE it, but make it somewhat my own. I made one a boy character, and the other a girl. For the card layout, I used the latest sketch from Freshly Made Sketches:

How cute are these characters?! 

I had a lot of fun making these! 

Card Ingredients:

Stamps: Made for You (ret.)

Paper: Basic Black, Always Artichoke, Pistachio Pudding, Calypso Coral, Crisp Cantaloupe, Whisper White, Blush Blossom, Blushing Bride, Chocolate Chip. 

Ink: Staz-On Black

Tools: Circles Nestabilities, Diagonal Strips embossing folder, Small Oval punch, Word Window punch, Small Tag punch, 1" Circle punch, Owl Builder punch (for the eyes), 1/2" Circle punch (for mouth & ears)

Accessories: Pistachio Pudding ruffled stretch trim, Crisp Cantaloupe ruffled stretch trim

Valentine's Day Highlights

Hi again! 

Here are a few highlights from my Valentine's Day:

The night before Valentine's, my hubby surprised me with a gorgeous bouquet of red and white flowers!

And the card he gave me also made me smile :)

Inside reads: "And trying not to drool". Hilarious. 

We went out for dinner at a local restaurant called North 54. We started off with the best Ceasar Salad ever (this is the main reason we love going to this restaurant). I had the most delicious raspberry/cranberry/lime martini, along with spaghetti carbonara, which was so filling that I now have leftovers for tomorrow's lunch (yum!). Kevin enjoyed red wine with seafood jambalaya. And we finished it off with a strawberry mousse cake - so good!

And last but not least, a handmade card for Kevin! 

 

This is called the Building Block Card. I followed this simple tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers and love the end result! 

I'm playing along with a theme challenge at The Pink Elephant:

Happy Valentine's Day

I also used the picture inspiration from Stampin Royalty's challenge this week to come up with the colour combo in my card.

Stampin Royalty Challenge #214

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy the weekend!

Card Ingredients:
Stamps: Love You Much (ret.)
Paper: Basic Gray, Primrose Petals, Pool Party, More Amore Specialty DSP, 2012-2013 In-Colour DSP
Ink: Basic Gray
Tools: Circles Nestabilities, Large Oval punch, Owl Builder punch, Heart to Heart punch, Diagonal Strips embossing folder
Accessories: White foam letter stickers (Michael's), Pearls (Michael's)

A Productive Saturday and a Special Birthday Card

Good morning! Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend! My Saturday was quite productive! As I mentioned in my "New Year, New Goals" post, I'm taking on a project of organization in our apartment and in life, in general. So far, I've tackled our laundry room and entry way. On yesterday's list was the kitchen. We have one of those not-so-handy corner cupboards and I simply re-organized the cupboards and put the items that I don't use as much in the corner cupboard so I don't have reach in there as often - things like serving platters and large dishes/pots. I think it's a big improvement! Another project I tackled was the pantry. After removing all items from the pantry, I lined each shelf with a fun patterned adhesive liner and I love how it turned out!

 

 

And voila! An organized pantry with pretty shelves! 

 

 

I spent my evening crafting, making a custom birthday card for a friend. I love the challenges she gives me! Really gets my creativity going! For this request she asked for a red birthday card with an angel on it, making it somewhat discreet. The angel was in memory of a little baby that had recently passed and the initials of her name spelled out A-N-G-E-L - how special and unique!

I started off with a sketch from Deconstructed Sketch and chose the colour Crisp Cantaloupe to go along with Real Red.  

Here's the sketch:

And here's how the card turned out:

I love the layers in this sketch! I first embossed the white background with a diagonal stripes pattern and then layered pieces of Real Red designer paper and Crisp Cantaloupe cardstock. As an added embellishment, I bordered one side of the polka dot DSP with Crisp Cantaloupe ruffled ribbon. The angel was creating using punches and I put a little 'a' on it to represent the baby's name.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by! Have a relaxing Sunday!

Card Ingredients:
Stamps: Fabulous Phrases
Paper: Real Red, Crisp Cantaloupe, Whisper White, Summer Smooches DSP, Brights DSP
Ink: Real Red
Tools: Chevron Border punch, Large Scallop Circle punch, 1-3/4" Circle punch, Spiral Border punch, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, Diagonal Stripes embossing folder
Tools used for Angel: Pennant Builder punch, Butterfly punch (ret), Elegant Lines embossing folder, 1" Circle punch, 3/4" Circle punch, Cricut for the letter 'a'
Accessories: Crisp Cantaloupe Ruffle Stretch Trim, Rhinestones (Michael's)