Live Simply...

Today is our puppy's 2-year old birthday! She brings so much joy to us everyday and I can't imagine life without her! She's a dog that has lots of character, lots of energy, and lots of kisses to give! Happy Birthday Keta!

 

 

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For today's card I'm sharing one of my favourites that I've made recently. Not only do I love the layout and colour combo, I also love the quote on the card. It's one I need to live by everyday. I need that reminder that God is in control of my life and I simply need to depend on Him.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

Card Ingredients:

Stamps: Trust God, Everything Eleanor

Paper: Crumb Cake, Marina Mist, Bashful Blue, Cajun Craze, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla

Ink: Early Espresso

 



Inspired By "Wishes"

Can't believe it's already Thursday! Tonight we welcome Kevin's parents and brother. They are staying for a day and then heading up north to the Yukon! Because I love to plan, I helped them out by creating an itinerary for them -- traveling has become one of my favourite things to do! I would love to tag along... however, someone must stay behind and work! So, my nights have been tied up with cleaning and organizing. It'll be nice to have a week to myself to get caught up on a bunch of things!

 

Lately I have been getting inspiration from card making books that I have collected over the years. The one I turn to often is called "Wishes" by Jeanette Lynton.

 

 

It is a wonderful book for inspiration! Lots of great ideas on card layouts and even colour combos that I pick out from the samples in the book. The card I'm sharing with you today was inspired by a card in this book. I just love how it turned out!  

 

 

I used the distressing technique by sponging each piece of cardstock with Soft Suede ink. The swirl from "Everything Eleanor" stamp set is a stamp I turn to often. It adds that extra elegance to a card design. As an added embellishment I wrapped Soft Suede taffeta ribbon around the card front and then tied small pieces of crochet ribbon and stitched satin ribbon. I really like this look!

 

 

 



Thanks for visiting!

 

Card Ingredients:

Stamps: Trust God, Everything Eleanor

Paper: Primrose Petals, Very Vanilla, Pear Pizzaz, Soft Suede, 2013-2014 In-Colour DSP

Ink: Soft Suede

Tools: Bird Builder Punch, 1" Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Circles Nestabilities

Accessories: Soft Suede Taffeta Ribbon, Crochet Ribbon, Primrose Petals Stitched Satin Ribbon, Pearls (Michael's)

 

Inspired By... Polka Dots and Stripes!

I'm starting to get SO excited for our upcoming road trip - it's only one week away! I'll be spending most of my weekend getting things ready... packing, groceries, cleaning... There is still lots to do before we leave!

Time for a new card challenge!

This week it was my turn to pick an inspirational photo. I often turn to Etsy for inspiration. There are so many crafty and creative shops! For today, I chose a fun photo with lots of patterns:

This comes from a shop called Winterpeach Patterns. Someday I would love to sew and make cute little shoes like these!

I was inspired to use these different patterns in my card and I came across a fantastic card sketch for my design from Paper Players.

This sketch gives the perfect opportunity to use different patterned designer paper. I chose similar colours to what's in the inspirational photo and created a fun birthday card:

 

The swirl on the sketch reminded me of the swirl stamp in Everything Eleanor. I embellished the card with small rhinestones, satin Pool Party ribbon and a Pool Party button with bakers twine to complete the design of the card.

 

 

Thanks for visiting! Make sure to stop by Karly's Creations to see how she was inspired by this photo!

 

Come back on Monday for a new blog post!

 

Card Ingredients:

Stamps: Made for You, Everything Eleanor

Paper: Basic Gray, Whisper White, Patio Party DSP, 2011-2013 In-Colour DSP, Tea Party DSP

Ink: Pool Party, Basic Gray

Accessories: Rhinestones (Michael's), Pool Party satin ribbon (Sale-a-Bration 2013), Button (Sale-a-Bration 2013), Pool Party bakers twine

Mojo 282 {Going Green}

Tuesday was a long day. It seems this week is dragging on... I was exhausted when I came home from work (the consequence of late nights!) I am truly a night owl, but tonight I may have to hit the pillow a tad earlier than normal!

To beat the winter blues, I have been doing a lot of research lately on top sites to see along the west coast for our road trip in June - I'm SO excited! We plan on staying a couple days in California and one of the things I've found to do there is snorkeling at La Jolla Cove - we can see all kinds of fish including leopard sharks! I think, for me, California will be one of the main highlights of our trip. I just love the sun and beaches and the ocean! June cannot come soon enough!

For today's card, I'm playing along with a few different card challenges, one of them being another great sketch from Mojo Monday.



A couple other card challenge blogs that I've been following have a similar theme this week:

Stampin Up Only Challenges has a "Going Green" challenge this week and Late Night Stamper's theme is "Celebrating St. Patrick's Day".

I decided to incorporate all three challenges into one great card!

 

The outer borders of the card front are embossed with the Tulip Frame embossing folder and sponged lightly with Old Olive ink. I layered designer paper from the "Tea for Two" DSP collection with a piece of Always Artichoke cardstock. A swirl design is stamped in Old Olive for the background. I created a 3-leaf clover using the Small Heart punch. Each 'petal' was folded in half to create a crease in the center and then sponged with Always Artichoke ink. The stem was punched out from the Bird Builder punch. It is placed on a layered scallop circle. The clover took a little practice to find out which heart punch would work best! I tried the Heart to Heart punch, but found that this Small Heart punch had the best shape and a good size for the clover. Finally, I stamped the sentiment "happy st. patrick's day" in Old Olive ink to complete the card.

 

 

 



Thanks for stopping by!

Card Ingredients:

Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes, Everything Eleanor
Paper: Always Artichoke, Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Tea for Two DSP
Ink: Old Olive, Always Artichoke
Tools: Frame Tulip Embossing Folder, Scallop Circle Punch, 1-3/8" Circle punch, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, Small Heart Punch, Bird Builder Punch





Spring is in the Air...

Yesterday, I spent most of the day setting up a personal budget. It's a lot of work, but I'm hoping we can keep it up! It would definitely help us to save for our big road trip in June! I got my spreadsheet template from this website: Christian PF. They have some many useful household budget tools. I found this to be the best I've found so far!

I wanted to share with you a couple of fun adorable greeting cards I made for a customer. Her friend's twins (a boy and a girl) are turning 2 this week and she asked me to make "pirate-style" birthday cards. Here's what I came up with:

 

 

Aren't they adorable?? I just love that owl punch - so many characters can be made with it! I added stamped images from the Open Sea stamp set - perfect for a pirate card! 

So for today's card, I used the new sketch from Freshly Made Sketches and the springy colour combo from Fab Friday. I am so ready for spring! Even though the first day of spring is still a month away, I know it will be here before we know it! The snow has been melting here in Prince George and the temps have been hovering around 0 degrees for quite some time. I can feel spring in the air :)

What a great sketch! And the colour combo is just perfect. These colours go so well together and are perfect for spring. This is my first time participating in the "Fab Friday" challenge. They have some great challenges and I'm looking forward to using them as inspiration in the future!

Easter is quite early this year (March 31st), so I thought I'd create a card for that special occasion. Here is my interpretation of these two challenges:

 

I created a 5"x5" square card with a matching envelope in Wild Wasabi. I like the simplicity of this sketch. It can be used in so many different ways! I added patterned paper in Perfect Plum and Baja Breeze for the background. The butterflies are the central focus of the card. I layered two butterflies and embossed the smaller one with polka dots. Rhinestones embellish it. I added a swirl in the corner and finished it off with the sentiment "Happy Easter".

 

 

Card Ingredients:

 

Stamps: Everything Eleanor, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Paper: Wild Wasabi, Baja Breeze, Perfect Plum, Whisper White, Twitterpated DSP, Subtles Collection DSP

Ink: Elegant Eggplant

Tools: Beautiful Butterlfies die, Circles nestabilities

Accessories: Rhinestones

 

Thanks for stopping by!



FMS69 Everything Eleanor

When I saw the new sketch challenge on the Freshly Made Sketches blog, I wasn't sure how I would go about designing my card.  I thought of what shapes I would use in place of the three circles, and if I would make the card as simple as the sketch or spice it up a bit.

I recently got a few new stamp sets, one being the elegant "Everything Eleanor". This one was on my wish list for a while and now after using it, I'm glad I got it. It is such a beautiful stamp set and I know I will make good use out of it! Here is my card:

 

I realize now, comparing the sketch to my card ,that I changed the direction of the diagonal line... oops! :) You will notice I am a bit of a perfectionist :) But, I actually like the way it turned out! The colours Soft Suede and Very Vanilla are such an elegant colour combo and Cajun Craze adds a little pop of colour. The flowers are cut precisely using paper snips and are popped up using dimensionals. I've added pearls and crochet ribbon to embellish the card.



 

I love that swirl so much, I decided to stamp it on the inside of the card. I think this would make a great card for newly weds. What do you think?

 

Card Ingredients:

 

Stamps: Everything Eleanor, Petite Pairs

Paper: Soft Suede, Very Vanilla, Comfort Cafe DSP

Ink: Soft Suede, Cajun Craze

Tools: Circles Nestabilities, 1" Circle Punch

Accessories: Crochet Trim Ribbon, Pearls

 

Thanks for looking!