Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Crafternooner Pink & Blue Cards

Hi Blogger Friends and thanks for joining me on this fabulously bright and cheery Tuesday. I wasn't sure if I had shared these cards with you'all and thought...what the heck....one can never see too many cards - even if they are a repeat. Check these out.... The Color Theme for this particular month was Pink and Blue (MY PICK) and the challenge was to use Fabric on your card. Here's what my faithful Crafternooner Friends made for this swap: First up is Berta's card. She totally included all the elements onto her card. LOVE LOVE what she did with her flower......BEAUTIFUL creation Berta! I also love the little fabric yo-yo flower she added at the top of her ribbon to really set this card off. LOVELY BERTA! Moving on to my BFF's card - Jan ran her card through the swiss dot cuddlebug folder and then went around and stitched all four edges of her card with a fabulous blue blanket stitch (WOW JAN - now that took some time!). She also created the most BEAUTIFUL fabric flower to the center of her card - trust me when I say.....the picture does not do this flower an justice. It is so beautiful in person. Love your card Girlfriend! Next up is Opals card and I have to say....this I think was my favorite card for the pink and blue challenge. I love how Opal not only added a stitched corner in two of the corners...but she added a beautiful elegant corner punch in the opposite corners - making this one of those WOW CARDS when you look at it. She stamped a vase of flowers in the center and then took lots of time coloring in her flowers. She also added alittle PINK fabric bow to the front of the vase.....SO CHARMING and SO BEAUTIFUL. And last is my FUN and BRIGHT pink and blue card. I ran the flowers through my Big Shot and cut the flowers out with two different designs of fabric. They were diecut onto sticky paper so all had to do is die cut the flowers.....peel the backing off....and press them onto my card....SUPER EASY and SUPER CUTE! I added a small blue button to the center and called it a day! SO....all in all my fabulous Crafternooner friends met the challenge and totally hit this one out of the park. THANKS ladies for joining me in this fun challenge. I'll be sharing a couple more Crafternooner challenge cards tomorrow with you.....Hope you can join me. Keep Living Your Dream!

Monday, May 30, 2011

Crafternooners Card Swap

Morning Blogger Friends and HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY! Hope your plans for today include some amazing quality time with your family and some good old fashion PLAY TIME for yourself. Enjoy this fabulous day! Today, I'll be sharing the cards that my Crafternooner Team made for our May Shoe Box Swap. Besides geting together on the 4th Friday of the month.....Our group makes and mails a shoebox card to each member. There is a different color theme each moth and we also add an optional cardmaking technique to the months challenge. Here are the cards that my friends made using the Red & Kraft color theme and the optioanl technique was to use ribbon or fibers on our card. First up is my friend Opals card.....LOVE LOVE LOVE anything to do with cupcakes - so I'm saying that Opal hit this one out of the park. Berta made this elegant thank you card! You actually have to see this card to appreciate it. She embossed the front white cardstock and really created an elegant look to her card. Next up is my BFF's card......I love everything about this card (enough to even make up a box of these for my neighbor who was celebrating her birthday). Jan stamped her chilli pepper on textured glossy paper and it left the lined image on her pepper - TOO STINKIN CUTE JAN! She also added some AMAZING fibers to the side of the card that really put this one over the top! And last up is my swap card - I used the swiss dot textured plate to create a fun and sassy background to my Kraft cardstock......I also used some new seam binding ribbon from SU along with their birthday cake stamp set. I grabbed my SU markers and colored each of the birthday cakes in and called it a day.......WAIT.....I also added a darling little cupcake tag to the bow of the seam binding.....AND THEN CALLED IT A DAY. Loved all the swap cards for May.....thank you ladies for exchanging these cards with me......You are three talented ladies and I'm thrilled to be part of this group. I'll be posting some new cards that I've received over the next couple of days - hope you can come back and check out what I have to share with you. Keep Living Your Dream!

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Thank You Cards for Teachers

Welcome Back my blogger friends and Happy Sunday. Hope you have something planned today that will make you smile! Jack and I are going to be planting flowers in our yard today. Should be FUN! Check out the first batch of thank you cards that I made for my grandkids teachers and staff in Windsor Wisconsin. I seriously need to give credit for this design to my BFF Jan.....she showed me this card design a couple weeks ago and when my daughter asked me to design thank you cards for the kids schools....I just knew I wanted to use this design. They worked out perfectly.
Here's one of my favorite designs for this card design........I embossed all the "Thank You" sayings and then just punched out different sized circles to make this card. SUPER EASY and they each pack a lovely punch.
And one more close-up of this card design.
Next up is a layout that I saw on somebodies blog and thought....now that would be a great card design to duplicate. So duplicate it I did.....I used the new triple layer punch from SU (LOVE that punch!) and picked all different color combinations and just had fun creating these cards.
Here's a close-up of the triple flower punch.......This punch packs a great big WOW in a tiny little punch. If you haven't had an opportunity to try out this punch I would say to call your SU demonstrator and check it out........To Punch it - is to Appreciate it!
And here's a couple close-up shots of some of my favorite color combinations.....
Have to say that when my daughter asked me to design and make three dozen cards for the grandkids school ...... I thought.....OH BOY....what have I got myself into. I not only had a deadline to meet...but I already had SO MANY THINGS on my plate that I wasn't sure I would get it all done. BUT DONE I DID and in no time. So glad that my daughter asked me to do this little project for her.
Hope you can stop back tomorrow and enjoy some cards that my Crafternooner gal pals made on Friday.......Keep Living Your Dream!

Saturday, May 28, 2011

End of Year Teacher Thank You Cards

Happy Saturday my Blogger Friends - Are you ready for a FUN PACKED weekend? I will be heading out to lunch with my BFF and then we are attending a Fun Shop that is being presented by our friend Berta. We are going to be making a notecard holder ..... which of course I will be sharing with you. But for today - I will be sharing the cards that I made for my grandkids teachers for the end of the school year........check them out....... My oldest daughter called me and asked me if I would make cards for the Windsor School teachers and staff as a way of saying Thank You for all the hard work that they put into teaching and guiding the kids this school year. I of course JUMPED at this opportunity to be involved in this end of the year thank you.  I had seen this FABULOUSLY CUTE Owl Bookmark card on the internet and just knew that I wanted to start out making each of  my grandkids teachers an owl Thank You Card......Here's what the three of them looked like. Of course I'm going to share the pink owl card with you (surprise....surprise). This is the one that my granddaughter was giving to her teacher Mrs LaPointe. The cards I made weren't changed up much from the original Internet post - but I did change up the colors of each of the ones I made.  These were made using the Stampin Up Owl punch and Big Shot bookmark die. And here is a close up of the pink card. To each of the cards I added the teachers name and I tried to use some of my grandkids favorite colors for each of the teachers cards. And I leave you with a close-up of the pink bookmark. Have to say that each of these thank you cards turned out adorable and just know that their teachers will really appreciate the kind thoughts that went into making them each of their cards. I'm off to play......but will be back tomorrow to share the rest of the cards that I made for the other teachers and staff at my grandkids schools. Keep Living Your Dream!

Friday, May 27, 2011

Gift from Debbie

Happy Friday my Blogger Friends.......Hope you have some fabulous plans and get LOTS DONE this holiday weekend. I plan to play (NON-STOP) this entire weekend.......And that only means that I'll have LOTS to share with you over the weekend! Today I have a little gift that my friend Debbie gave to me before she headed back to Oregon for the summer. Check it out...... Debbie stopped over on Sunday to drop off a BEAUTIFUL gift to me (which was wrapped in the most amazing packaging.........). She had this sweet sweet card she made on the top of my gift.......... Here's is Debbie's card that she made me - the front was beautiful .... but the real beauty was what she wrote me on the inside.........(which is so heartfelt that I'm just not going to share that with you......)But on the inside of the packaging was this amazing new book from PaperCrafts....
Check it out.........Here's the book that Debbie had wrapped up for me......(and her card)! Debbie was so worried that I already had the book ...... Which I hadn't ........ and said to me......"I wanted to get you a little something something for our friendship - but didn't know what to get someone who has everything"........I think Debbie HIT IT OUT OF THE PARK! LOVE IT!
This book has 365 card samples and an entire resource of tips and techniques packed into it's pages. It seriously is one of those books that if you don't have......I would recommend picking up a copy (and Debbie told me they have them at Michael's).
And I leave you with a sample of what the inside of the book looks like.....AMAZING!
Thank You Debbie for your amazing friendship.......I'll miss you over the summer - but have lots of plans to chat with you and stay connected.
I have my Crafternooners swap group this afternoon - Jan, Berta, Opal and I will get together one last time until the fall.....so can only image how much fun we are going to have today. I'm hoping to post and share those projects with you.....but for tomorrow........I will be sharing the 3-dozen cards I made for my grandkids teachers for the end of the year. Hope you can stop back tomorrow and check those cards out. Have a great Friday and Keep Living Your Dream!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

What's in your Garden???????

Happy Thursday my blogger friends and it's SO NEAR the weekend we can almost all touch it. HANG IN THERE......tomorrow is so near! Today, I want to share a little furry friend that has decided my yard is the little bit of heaven that he has been looking for......check this little guy out....... Have you spotted him? He's sitting in the small red flower pot that is in the center of this picture. I walked out into the kitchen and was looking out the window when I saw my small plant knocked over and laying on the ground.....UHM I thought....Wonder how that happened. Well as I was standing there looking at our patio and the MANY FLOWERS that we have planted out there....I see this little bunny in the red pot.........
I ran and got my camera and just started clicking away. He sat there in the red pot for the longest time and then he turned to his right and started checking out the green on the planter behind and to the right of the one he was sitting in........
As you can see from this pic.....he must have smelled the plant behind him and it must of smelled like Sunday Dinner to him because he turned with a jerk and started to stretch over to that plant.....what happens next IS SUNDAY DINNER.......
Here he is reaching and eating the plant behind him.........
And after he got a fair amount of greens pulled off.......he decided it was time to sit and ENJOY!
And ENJOY he did. He must of sat there for about 15 minutes eating and chewing.....eating and chewing. TOO CUTE for words.
This little bunny came into my yard about a week ago and he is just a tiny little ball of fluff. He's now starting to get bigger and bigger and probably in a couple weeks will not be able to sneak under the gate ...... but until then.......he's welcome to come and eat and grow - I say...enjoy you little fluffball....there is plenty of pretty flowers for us to look at in our back yard. ENJOY!
Thanks for joining me today and hope your able to stop back tomorrow......I have plenty of cards to share with you this weekend. Keep Living Your Dream!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Congrats Card From Gail

Happy Wednesday my Blogger Friends and THANKS for joining me today. Today I will be sharing a very sweet card I received from my Stamping Friend Gail......Check it out...... First of all.....I fell in LOVE LOVE LOVE with this border punch.......Sure hoping it's a Martha Stewart border punch that is carried at Michael's......I'm feeling a road trip in line for this weekend! Here is the darling card that Gail sent to me.......I just love love love it. She used the new SU mini catalog punch Hello Blossom stamp ......and she embossed the entire image onto real red cardstock......and framed it all out with amazing border punch. She also ran the front panel of her card through the cuddlebug.....creating a fabulous swiss dot image across the entire front panel of the card. (LOVE ALL THE TEXTURE THAT GAIL CREATED ON THIS CARD......) She even used the Play on Words stamp set this is on special this month from SU - love how Gail added her own little message to the Play on Words stamp set to really give it that something special touch. If you haven't guessed it yet.....Gail was sending me a Congratulations on my recent Weight Watchers Goal. And I leave you with this little something extra that Gail added to the front frame of her card. THANK YOU Gail! Your so sweet to send me a congrats card on my weight loss. You touched me beyond words and I really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedule to make and send me this card (I know you are getting ready to leave for Hawaii and you must have a million things on your plate right now.......THANK YOU for sending me this card!) I'll be back tomorrow to share an extra special Wild Life in Arizona post with you. I promise you....Your heart will skip a beat when you see what has taken up residents in my yard this spring. Hope you can stop back tomorrow to see my extra special little critter. Keep Living Your Dream!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Surprise for Spencer

Happy Tuesday my Blogger Friends and today I want to continue the birthday celebrations for Tracy over at CraftJunkieToo and share with you what I slipped in her birthday package I mailed out to her last week for her CUTE CUTE son Spencer....... Here's the package I sent to Tracy (that I posted yesterday)......but I also included this fun little tin for Spencer.....check it out.......
It's a CD Tin from SU that I made into a "Go Fish" game.........
When you slide back the belly band it reveals the "Go Fish" cards that I stamped and colored in for little Spencer to play "Go Fish".
Here's a close-up of two of my favorite cards.........
Here's a shot of all the cards that I made up.....I created two of each card and used the same card stock for all the cards and had a BALL coloring them in (Jan......please don't look to closely as my Copic coloring skills need some serious work.......)
And a close up shot of just a few of the "Go Fish" cards.
This is one of those "GO TO" projects that I've made seriously a couple dozen of......It's FUN...Pretty Quick.....and a BIG BIG HIT with the kids. My grandkids have gone through several sets of these and never seem to outgo them. Thanks for joining me today......Hope you can stop back tomorrow and I'll be sharing a card I received last weekend from my stamping friend Gail...........I'll tell you....It warmed my heart when I opened it. Keep Living Your Dream!

Monday, May 23, 2011

CJT Birthday Blog Hop

Today we are celebrating the very sweet and super talented Tracy over at CraftJunkieToo. It's her birthday today and we are doing a special Blog Hop to celebrate her birthday. Ten talented ladies have prepared some extra special birthday projects to help celebrate Tracy's birthday and here's the Design Team that will be joining me in this Fun BLOG HOP:
You should have arrived from Shawn's blog Shawn's Fireside Crafting Room.......and I'll be sending off to Tanya's blog http://www.tanyaisiscreations/ blog from here. Let's get started......... I wanted to celebrate Tracy's birthday with a little something that I could put in the mail to her - but still pack a WOW factor for her birthday. I think I might have accomplished that. I made Tracy a sweet little treat holder that I recieved the idea from Laurie Zoellmer at StampingNut blog. This sweet little treat box not only holds three yummy nuggets all dressed up with FUN BIRTHDAY DSP....but also has six 3"x3" notecards with envelopes tucked into each side of this fabulous holder. The box is wrapped up with a clear window sheet for the cover and when you slide the clear window sheet off......It reveals the notecards and wrapped nuggets! Here's a shot of what the packaging starts to look like when you remove the clear window sheet cover.......... And a close-up of the 3"x3" note cards which I tucked into each side of the holder....and let's not forget a close-up of those yummy nuggets all dressed up in American Craft Birthday paper. And here's the birthday card I made for Tracy........Can you say.....Let's begin the celebration! And one last close-up of the darling little cupcake I created for the front of Tracy's card. Hope you enjoy my stop on this FUN CraftJunkieToo birthday blog hop........Your next stop is at Tanya's blog..........http://tanyaisiscreations.blogspot.com/. If you click on Tanya's blog above it will take you over to her blog AND the next stop on CraftJunkieToo Birthday Blog Hop. THANKS for joing me today for the CraftJunkieToo Birthday Blog Hop. ONE LAST THING.........I leave you today with a little sneak peek with what's up for tomorrow. I made a little something something for cute cute Spencer (Tracy's son) and tucked it into my package that I mailed off to Tracy last week for her birthday......I'll be sharing that little gift with you tomorrow. Hope you can return to check it out. Keep Living Your Dream!