Paper Addict?

I am a paper addict.  There, I said it.  I am pretty sure that most people would say I have plenty of paper.  Enough even, to last the rest of my life.  I strongly disagree.  Inspiration can come from many places, but it comes easily for me when I have fun , new papers to work with. 

I picked up some great new paper at JoAnn's this week.  I love it when they have a sale.  All three 12x12 paper stacks are from DCWV.  I am inspired by the bright spring colors of the flowers and butterflies from the Magnolia Way Stack and the Violet Leaf Stack has a wonderful nostalgic feel to it.  The Glitzy Glitter Stack will make the perfect background cards because I love anything that sparkles.  The DCWV blog has lots of great scrapbook and card inspiration.

Design Team Member at Ruby's Rainbow

I am very excited to have been accepted as a design team member for Ruby's Rainbow Challenges.  There is a different challenge every two weeks and all types of crafts are encouraged.  I look forward to particpating in this fun and creative blog.  Be sure to check out Ruby's Rainbow for lots of inspiration.

Ruby's Rainbow Challenges

 

Easter Card

I created a card for the latest challenge at Ruby's Rainbow Challenges.  The current challenge is to create an Easter inspired item.  I started with papers in blues and green and then added vintage lace from an antique store.  I mounted the rabbit on embossed copper foil and added rose ribbon at the bottom.  The sparkly egg stickers are from K & Co.  The Happy Easter sentiment is just tiny alphabet stickers from JoAnn's mounted on a piece of chipboard.  The crystal stickers on the edge finish off my Easter card.  Stop by and check out all of the beautiful entries at Ruby's Rainbow.

Stamping Gear Card

This is another card made with Stamping Gear from Inkadinkado.  This one is fairly simple, but I love the way the fired brick Distress Ink color really pops.  The pink crystal flowers are from Martha Stewart and the silk flower is from Hobby Lobby. 

 

This is my latest Stamping Gear tool.  It allows you to create your design in the center of the card like the one above.   These tools are really fun to work with.

Card Challenge #4

 

The 4th challenge in the 75 Creative Card Challenges magazine is stamping with paint.  I used a green acrylic paint dabber with my new stamping tool from Inkadinkado.  It is called a stamping gear and it allows perfect alignment for repeat stamping.  What a great tool! 

 

This is the circle cog and the stamp paddle block.  You just put your cling stamp on the block and stamp around your paper.  You can use every slot, or every other slot or any combination you like for your stamp.   I think this is the first tool I have ever purchased before my sister (she is a tool expert).  So much fun!

Lace Thank You Card

This is my card creation for the Anything Goes Challenge at Creative Inspirations.  I have also entered this card in the That is Odd challenge at Craft Your Passions Challenge blog.  I used vintage lace, rhinestone crystals and metallic stickers to make this simple thank you card. 

Bird Card for DL.Art Challenge

This bird card is for the DL.Art Thursday Challenge.  I like the bright, cheerful colors of the bird.  A little crystal sparkle is always good.  I like the way the green paper pops against the busy floral background.

For A Lady Allsorts Challenge Card

This pretty card was made for the For a Lady challenge at Allsorts Challenge.  I started with K & Co. paper and then added a lace and rhinestone border sticker.  I created a flower collage using vintage velvet leaves, flower stickers and metal flowers.  I used my new Seedless Preserves Distress ink and I love the color!

Buttons and Bows Challenge

This card is for the buttons and bows challenge at Divas By Design.  I have also entered this card in the ribbon challenge at the Crafty Ribbons Challenge blog.  I have lots of buttons, so it was hard to choose what colors to use.  I found little jars of embellishments at Michaels just before Christmas and a few of the jars had beautiful buttons in them.  I love the vintage look of the rose ribbon.  I sprayed the bracket with Ditto glimmer spray. 

Yellow and Green Challenge Card

This card is for the Yellow and Green challenge at Ruby's Rainbow Challenges.  This is an unusual color combination for me, but I love the brightness of it.  The butterfly is dripping with rhinestines and glitter.  I think the crocheted flowers have an old-fashioned quality about them, even though they are bright and new.  The green rose ribbon on the side is from Webster's Pages and I found it at Hobby Lobby.  Kind of busy, but I like it!

New Inspiration

My new BasicGrey supplies were very inspiring.  I combined some of the vintage elements with some newer flowers for a pretty combination.  I created a border using vintage dyed seam binding ribbon that I found at the 2 Friends and Junk Show in Joplin.  The lace and the metallic silver leaves are vintage as well. 

The talented card makers at Sugar Creek Hollow are having a lace challenge this week, so I thought I would play along.  Be sure to check out their blog since it has tons of inspiring projects.

New Goodies

I picked up some new BasicGrey goodies at JoAnn's yesterday.  Everything was at least 50% off, so it was a great deal.  There are some beautiful vintage style elements here.  Now it is time to create something great with these fun new goodies.

Simple is Beautiful

 

Sometimes simple is best.  I started with beautiful paper from a 6x6 pad with a simple mat.  The dress form needed just a touch of Stickles to coordinate with the rhinestone border sticker on the side.  This card only took a few minutes, but I love the look.

Spring is Coming

This is one of my favorite cards ever.  I love the soft colors and textures of the flowers and velvet leaves.  There are three layers of lace and trim and the gold charm hangs from the lace with an old-fashioned garment pin.  I am ready for winter's end and the gilded bird is ready for spring too.

Old-Fashioned Birdhouse

This is a birdhouse that I decorated for my sister for Christmas.  I started with a blank, wooden birdhouse that I picked up at JoAnn's.  Then I painted the entire surface with white acrylic paint.  Once it dried, I used Mod Podge to cover the sides with floral paper (which is reminiscent of a red toile print than has special meaning to my sister).  Then I inked every edge with Distress Ink and started embellishing.  I found a great bird's nest from Prima and I added vintage lace and lots of rhinestone stickers.  The crowning touch on the top is a felt flower with a pearl center.  I think it turned out very nicely.

Organization

I know we all have lots and lots of supplies and we need every single item in our stashes in order to create the next beautiful thing.  For me, organization is key.  If I can't find it, then I might as well not have it.  Here are two of my storage solutions.

 

This is a 3 row storage rack made by Martha Stewart Crafts.  The rows are the perfect height for Stickles, Distress Stains and other small bottles or jars.  I find that I use these items a lot more often now that I can see them. 

 

I love, love, love this organizer!  The skinny drawers worried me at first, but now that I have been using it, I see that it is great because you can only put a couple of layers in each drawer.  If they were deeper, everything would be piled and then you could never find anything.  Half of the skinny drawers have compartments which are perfect for small embellishments.  The top is a great place for my go-to tools, like my Crop-A-Dile, scissors and my ATG.   What organizational tools do you use?

 

Thank you card

 

This card is simple, yet it has lots of elements.  The colors are subdued which gives it a slightly vintage feel.  The thank you is from a rub-on and the card itself is from patterned, glittered cardstock.  They don't all have to start with solid cardstock, right?

Card Challenge #3

The third challenge from 75 Creative Card challenges magazine is to stamp on felt.  This one wasn't easy, but I found a piece of white felt and started experimenting.

 

I started by cutting the felt into a freehand banner shape.  A template would have been a great idea, but I didn't have one.  The thank you was stamped with distress ink and then I had to age the bright color a little by adding distress ink around the edges.  The butterfly sticker is from K & Co.  I used some vintage looking embellishments and I love the way it turned out.

Card Challenge #2

This is my creation for the 2nd challenge for the 75 Creative Card Challenges magazine.  The challenge was to create your own flower. 

 

The colors are bright, which is perfect since we have snow on the ground.  I used wire and seed beads to create a French beaded flower.  The leaf is a sticker and the lace is, of course, vintage from an antique store.  The zinnias pocket sticker is from K & Co., one of my favorite companies.

Card Challenge #1

My sister has challenged me to complete all 75 card challenges found in this new magazine by PaperCrafts.  Here is the first challenge, using a piece of a phone book.  I decided I liked the unconventional look of using a map from the phone book, instead of the expected phone listing pages.

 

I used an overlay cut with my CraftRobo which I then sprayed with Tattered Angels pearl spray.  The lace is vintage from an antique store and the rhinestone flowers are acrylic gems from Michaels.

Welcome to my new card blog!

Welcome to my handmade card blog.  I have been making handmade cards for years and I am looking forward to sharing them.  I am addicted to Tim Holtz products and I love anything vintage or vintage looking.  Check back often to see what I create!