For the bride and groom:

My cousin is getting married soon.  She'll make a beautiful bride!!  I spent several hours on Friday producing this card (sort of a last minute adventure)!! The PP is MME Union Square.  The couple are diecuts from TreasureBoxDesigns.  It is quickly becoming a favorite site of mine!!  I embossed the bride's dress, inked it in perfect pearls and used coordinations gemstone cs for the dress' ruffles.  I used a white pearl pen to give the groom's black tux more definition.  The faces are from PeachyKeenStamps.  "Wishing you Happiness" is a stamp from kimberlycraftspot.

Dearest Ashley:  I wish you all the joys that marriage can bring!

Good to be scrappin' again!

Hey there!!

I'm back - from a crazy few months of not getting to make handmade "anything".  We sold our former home, lived in an R.V. for 2 months (hence my disappearance) while we waited to get into our new home.

It was NOT an adventure.  It was miserable and that's ALL I'm going to say about it.

So now for the scrappy sharing . . . I've made four thank you cards this past weekend.  Three are nearly identical but I love them just the same.  They were made for three different women whom I owe some big THANKS YOU'S.  These cards were inspired from one of my pins on Pinterest.  All the large flowers were handmade by me.  "Merci" is from the Cricut Cartridge Sentimentals. The fun border shape is from Spellbinders Parisian Accents.

PP is from MME Madison Avenue.

Close up of the handmade flower using Cricut Mother's Day Bouquet.

This flower is handmade from retro punches, both large and small sizes.

PP is MME Union Square.

PP is MME Market Street.

Another "Get Well":

Yep, another get well card.  Not that I'm complaining!!  The real challenge is to come up with the right critter for the person receiving the card.  In this case, the recipient loves Westies.  I used the Cricut Create-a-Critter cart (great cartridge!!) and Peachy Cheap face stamp.   I only cut the main terrier, the shadow cut, and collar so I could make my own face. I used faux stitching cause I didn't want to drag out my sewing machine.  *Sigh* It's not in a good spot!!  Baker's twine finished it all up.

PP paper by MME Lost and Found Portobello Road.  Followed a sketch by Mojo Monday.

Baby Card #2:

Treasure Box Designs must be my new favorite site.  Recently bought baby animal files and the cuts couldn't be easier.  The design's main feature are the huge eyes and "you", the artist, filling in with a white pen how you want the end result to be.  Super easy and super cute!  I have yet to invest in My Craft Spot stamps which are small sentiments, perfect for cards.  Perfect for me cause I like to keep things simple.

Really hoping momma-to-be likes the card!!  PP by MME Lost & Found Market Street.

Baby Card #1:  I have two women at work who are expecting baby girls within just a few days of each other.  But the real story behind this card is my constant prowl for sites that have svg files.  So, thanks to Pinterest, I found a fellow crafter who had listed a bunch of sites I hadn't known about.  I purchased the carousel from Treasure Box Designs.  I just love how this turned out!!  

This carousel card is complemented with faux stitching.  PP are from MME Lost & Found stack.  In the top left corner I used a corner punch.   I'm thinking I should add some pearls, but where?

Here is a close up of the horse.  I used pop dots to give more dimension and character to the card.  The flowers were part of the svg file, but weren't cutting very well.  So I used my own small flower punch to complement the carousel.

Happy Birthday, Little Sis!!!  Hope it's a good one!!

My little sister - best friend anyone could ask for.  She is the more 'girly' of the two of us, but she would say she's more goofy.  That is true but . . . in this picture she's peaceful.  She's happy even though she's in the back seat with two little boys.  I don't scrap much girly LO's so I definitely reached for the flowers for this one.  Hope she likes!

My lovely sister, Alissa is featured today following a sketch by Beggahunna.  I used American Crafts Sunshine Collection for this LO.  The flowers are handmade from Cricut Mother's Day Bouquet and the dress and title are from Cricut Paislee.

Snow:

I loved making this LO!!  I didn't care, flowers were going on this boy LO.  All the diecuts, flowers and bling were handmade.  Only the word 'snow', the 'bracket', and the border are pre-made chipboard/sticker.  (I had them, might as well have used them). These days, my LO's tend to have a LOT of negative space.  I resisted doing LO's like that for most of my scrappy career. I just didn't "get it" why someone would leave all that space?  But this past year, I tried it and have been hooked ever since. It tends to keep your eye on the photo (to me the most important part) as well as taking in all the fun stuff.

Taking 'snow' pictures can be a lot of fun, especially if the flash is turned off.  If you aren't familiar with your manual settings, put your camera on a auto-macro setting, turn off flash and HAVE FUN!! Although these photos were taken last winter, I have been learning a great deal more about my SLR camera. It's a challenge, but I believe worth it! The macro setting and photos with small DOF (depth of field) I understand.  It's the "bigger shots" and moving target shots that are eluding me.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by!!

The snowflakes are punches with a touch of ink for dimension.  The roses in the top left corner are handmade.

Handmade flowers were created for this LO.  To learn how to make the crumpled carnation flower, go here to this video tutorial.  The other flower I will post a "how to", someday.

An up-close photo of the diecuts, all from Cricut Winter Woodland.  The bling is handmade using dimensional pearl paint.

HEAL:

I have a customer who likes for me to make cards with animals on them. Together, we try to match the right dog for the person receiving the card. Being a dog and cat lover, she also likes the word "heal" on her cards in reference to "heel".  So, this is what I came up with.  If you haven't figured it out yet, I don't put bows and lots of bling on my cards.  I love the cards that have all the "pretty stuff" on them, but I simply can't make it work for me.  I tend to stick to dimensionally accurate cards.  All square or rectangular shapes although I do want to venture into the world of nestabilities.

Dog is made from Cricut Create a Critter.  'Heal' is from Cosmo Cricket tiny stickers.  Machine stitched all around the card.  PP is from BG Max and Whiskers line (I think).

Miniature Shabby Ruffled Flower:

Last, but certainly not least.  I made a bunch of handmade flowers for my mom and sister's Christmas stockings.  This beauty is a smaller version of the ruffled flower I posted previously.  You can find the tutorial here.  I added my own bit of glamour to the flower with puffy dimensional paint and stickles.  This flower is a little bit more time consuming, but oh! so worth it!

Creating flowers is very satisfying for me.  It's appeals to the girl in me to make something beautiful and delicate.  It also satisfies that quirk of mine with needing to complete a task.  They don't particularly take very long to make, not like LO's do.  Also, my LO's tend to be mostly about my son, so this is such a nice outlet for that feminine side of me.  Giving them away to my sister is also rewarding because she compliments me when she adds them to her own gorgeous cards and tags.

Making all these flowers has taught me a few tricks as well.  The part of making flowers that bums me out the most is the "cutting" part.  Whether it is from my Cricut or punches, it feels like a drag of a step!  So, I've improvised.  I decide what I what to make and cut out a whole bunch of the shapes I need in one sitting.  Later, when I actually have the energy and time, I make the flowers.  It is nice to have the "cutting" phase over with and get on with the creative phase.  Hope that little bit of advice helps you get started with making your own flowers.

Dear Santa:

This LO has machine stitching (my all time favorite embellishment).  All the paper, except the background, is from American Craft Collection Christmas and Merrymint.

I almost didn't have fun making this LO.  The reason being is 'cause Santa's chair color bothered me.  But, obviously I made peace with this by using a very dark chocolate brown cs.  The "Dear Santa: Define Good" showed up everywhere in Christmas 2010.  This year it's "Dear Santa: I can explain." These quotes are perfect for any pre-schooler and all those little rascals out there who have way too much energy and imagination.

Once I got past the chair color, this LO was fun to make.  I decided which die cuts I was going to use and got them all ready.  Next, I knew I needed stitching to go somewhere on the LO.  That hurt my brain just a little bit figuring that one out.  Had to walk away from this project overnight then it all came to me by morning (my favorite and best time of day to scrap).  I do LOVE stitching on just about every project I make.  TFL!!!

"Dear Santa" is from Cricut Winter Frolic.  The flower is handmade by Anna Fearer.  I have since made my own version of this flower, but I still have some left by Anna herself.

The candy cane is an svg file from myscrapchick.  The bow was bought at M's.  The ticket is a stamp from the Inkadinkado collection.

More close up of my LO.  The star and holly are svg files from myscrapchick.  Used the polka dot embossing folder on the green star to give it more character.  I used lots of pop-dots on this LO for more dimension.

Rose within a Rose:

In case you haven't noticed, I have featured flowers this month stretched out over several days.  A couple of lucky ladies in my life will be receiving handmade flowers in their stockings this year.  Everything you have seen so far is a sample of what they will be getting.  Now I know your wondering if they are watching this blog and if I'm spoiling it for them?  Well, one of them is for sure!  Hi, Alissa!! Anyway, I'm just posting samples.  They don't know which ones they are actually getting!!  MUHAHAHA!!!!

Cream and Sugar:

I do love to make flowers!!  This one is an imitation of Anna Fearer's flower. She makes such beautiful roses as well as other flowers to compliment her roses.  I have recently bought her "pillow talk" collection and hope to use it on a LO featuring my wedding photo. 

Crumpled Daisy:

I had almost forgotten about these flowers.  I don't remember where I first learned how to make it, so I guess at some point I'll need to post a tutorial!! You can do most anything with the center, but for this flower I chose a button from the 'fancy button value pack' at HL.