Hush little baby....

 

Well, it may not be spring yet, but thoughts of new growth were certainly on my mind as I made a bunch of baby thank-you cards for another of my young co-workers, who will have her first child sometime this month! 

I made 3 each of 4 designs.

#1: The most traditional (least interesting?). 

The baby-foot imprint vellum was purchased at Michael's; safety pin from the stash; Framework alpha stamps from CTMH. Heart die is Lawn Fawn; scallop border die, Paper Smooches.

Card #2. 

 Laurel Beard posted a really cute card this week, using a bunny image stamped on patterned paper. I don't have the sweet Mama Elephant stamp, but Paper Smooches' Chubby Chum Pal bear was an appealing substitute. Frame is a PS duo-die; heart die from PS this time.

Card #3:  Here I was trying for the metro-savvy baby-about-town...  Paper-pieced the cute buggy from CTMH. The "eat my dust" clouds are Paper Smooches dies, but I realize now they are at the wrong end of the carriage?! Don't read too much into that--late-night crafting.

This last one was inspired by the current Viva la Verve sketch:

I used the stitched heart dies from Lil'Inker, the SU starburst dies, and a Stamps of Life stamp-and-die set for the onesie and greeting.

Here's another version.

As this last card features flowers, I'm linking it up with this week's Friday Mashup challenge, #149 which is flower sand/or a monochromatic theme. 

That's it for now!

If you believe in spring, clap your hands...

Caroline

You're a shoe-in...Dynamic Duos #92

 Good morning, everyone. 

How I wish it was open-toe-shoe weather outside! Patience, I know.

In the meantime, we can celebrate the start of a new month, with a new "bold & cheery" challenge from the Dynamic Duos.

I used a Viva la Verve sketch for my card this week, along with some new Stampin' Up goodies from my friend, Hayley.

Here's the sketch:

 And here's the card:

I used some Verve ribbon, to match the Hollyhock and Indian Corn Blue papers from Close to My Heart. The new SU goodies include the stamp set and pinked edge framelit dies.

A closer look:

How's about that Manolo Blahnik shoe?

To dress it up, I did some paper-piecing and Copic-colouring, along with touches of silver gel pen, Wink of Stella and bling. 

 Strap on some cute shoes and wander over to the Dynamic Duos blog to see what the  talented team has done with these bold colours.

Anne Marie Hile

Annette Elliott

Angel Johns

Cindy Brumbaugh

Holly Endress

JoAnn Burnham

Julie Gearinger

Michelle Bala

Sarah Fleming 

Tenia Nelson

Hope to see your creation linked up this week! One of the best parts of the DT job is seeing and commenting on all the skill and ability out there.

Happy crafting,

Caroline

Supplies:

Cardstock: (all CTMH) in Hollyhock, Indian Corn Blue, White Daisy, DP from Ariana paperpack.

Stamp set: SU Making a Point

Copic Markers

Uniko silver gel pen

Dies:  SU Starburst Framelit dies; Spellbinders circle dies.

Provocraft embossing folder.

Verve ribbon

Bling: CTMH 
 

*Tsukineko MEMENTO Full Size Ink Pad TUXEDO BLACK

*ZIG Wink of Stella GLITTER CLEAR Brush Tip Marker 025320

Circles & Diamonds Stitched Pattern Die

InLinkz.com

Just B-coz...

Hello, is it spring yet?

I felt like hibernating this morning when I awoke to a fresh coat of the white stuff. Enough already!

You might think thoughts of spring were the inspiration for this card, but it was actually a couple of challenges:

The Friday Mashup, which was to use triangles and/or hexagons  (I missed the deadline, BTW, so I'll have to try harder next week),  and

I don't have any hexagon stencils or embossing folders, so I created some using my scoring board:

flipped it over when finished and sanded to reveal the pattern.

The honeycomb hexies were made using a punch, some patterned paper and the CTMH stamp set Doodle Signs,  pictured above. Some were popped up for added dimension.

The sweet little bumble bee is from Paper Smooches' Green Thumb. I thought he looked good in orange! Keyboard alpha stamps also from CTMH.
Turns out its NOT too late for the Happy for Hexagons challenge over at Moxie Fab World. 
It runs through March 7th, so get cracking!

 Thanks for the head's up, Lyndal!

That's all for today,

Happy crafting,

Caroline

Supplies:

Cardstock: Sunset, Sky, Sweet Leaf, White Daisy, CTMH; DP Rosemary & Thyme, Paper Wishes

Inks: Sunset, Sweet leaf , CTMH; Memento Tuxedo Black

Stamps: Doodle Signs, Keyboard alphabet, CTMH; Green Thumb, Paper Smooches

Scoring Board: Martha Stewart

Hexagon punch: Creative Memories

Copic Markers

Wink of Stella glitter pen

Ribbon: Verve Stamps

...Around my heart

Another quick post tonight to link up a quilt-inspired card for

The challenge at the Curtain Call is sponsored by Lil' Inker Designs.

Here's my faux-stitched raggedy quilt:

I used the LID stitched square mats to cut out some cute prints, and one solid-colour square to show off the circular element, also from Lil' Inker Designs. The ribbon was coloured with a matching Distress marker. Sentiment is an old quilting themed set from Papertrey Ink.

Good night, all!

You are... FMS #124 and CMCC #8

 

Just sayin'...

This photo was sent my a friend of mine who "escaped winter" by renting a condo in Florida!

Lots of melting and sunshine in Ontario today. Just a taste of the warm weather to come.

My whole entire family is away this week (except the dog, and he doesn't expect three meals a day), so I've had some time to get caught up on some crafting and challenges.

 This card was made to play along with the pretty palette over at Colour Me...!

And the sketch at Freshly Made Sketches:

A couple of new Close to My Heart goodies are involved: the embossed Paper Fundamentals (neutral card stock with a raised design on one side and a pattern on the other) and the cute stamp set "Feathers." The one with the outline was just calling out to be coloured in with Copics!

 I used the Stamps of Life set "youare2kind" for my Dynamic Duos card this week, and it was still sitting on my desk. The sentiment seemed perfect for that crazy feather.

 This would have been a good card to tuck into my son's suitcase. He is off on a cross-country tour in the US, auditioning for graduate school in classical guitar performance. He IS extraordinary.  See/hear him play HERE.  Good music to craft by.

Have a happy week,

Caroline

Supplies:

Cardstock in White Daisy and Saddle (Paper Fundamentals-CTMH)

Vellum

Inks: Sweet Leaf, Sky, Saddle, Versamark

Copic Markers

Brown embossing powder, CTMH

Tim Holtz Distressing tool

Sequins,  American Crafts

Life is Sweet! Dynamic Duos #91

 Good morning crafty friends! If you're like our family, Olympic-viewing has been dominating your life for the past couple of weeks. Those winter sports are so appealing--go Canada!

However, this week's colour challenge at the Dynamic Duos had me thinking sweet SUMMER!

Even the names of these colours are delicious.

 A very simple card this week: I used a cute stamp-n-die set from There She Goes Clear Stamps (sadly no longer in existence), along with a sentiment set from The Stamps of Life.

The ice cream scoops are simply stamped in the challenge colours. I cut the cones from kraft paper, then ran them through my chevron embossing folder, for some realistic texture. Some jute twine in green (I LOVE that hairy stuff!), a few candy dots, and DONE! Now I'm wishing I'd added some mats in the challenge colours as well...

yup, definitely like it better this way!

The design team gals have really knocked it out of the park this week! Go check them out at the Dynamic Duos, then break out your inks and show us your stuff!

Anne Marie Hile

Annette Elliott

Angel Johns

Cindy Brumbaugh

Holly Endress

JoAnn Burnham

Julie Gearinger

Michelle Bala

Sarah Fleming 

Tenia Nelson

Have a great (and crafty) week,

Caroline

Supplies:
Cardstock: White Daisy, Lollydoodle DP, kraft--Close to My Heart
Ink: Pear, Sorbet (how perfect is THAT?), Cotton Candy, Desert Sand
Stamp sets: "Enjoy Life" There She Goes Clear Stamps; "youare2kind" The Stamps of Life
Embossing folder: Lifestyle Crafts
Twine: Michael's
Candy dots: Close to My Heart (Flamingo dots Z1934) 

 

A simple Thank-you

One of the peeps whose blogs I follow is the constantly creative Jen Schults. That girl can colour, crochet, card-make... Plus she has a new sketch to try every week.

One of her recent cards caught my eye, and I had to shamelessly CASE it:

That gorgeous background was hand-doodled {zentangled}. Isn't it fab?

I also liked the vellum sentiment flag and the triangular mat.

I made a quick-and-easy version using some black-and-white patterned paper, and just changed up the flower embellishment a bit.

Take #1

Made a bunch at once! just changing up the sentiment stamp.

Take #2

I think I prefer Take #1--the patterned paper looks more random.

These were whipped up to have some thank-you notes on hand, but I'd like to thank Jen Schults for all her inspiration.

Thank- you, Jen!

Happy Saturday,

Caroline

Supplies:

Cardstock: White Daisy, DP--Close to My Heart; vellum--Michael's; black textured--Wausau Paper.

Ink: Versamark

White Embossing Powder: superfine detail--Paper Wishes

Stamp set: Many Thanks Paper Smooches

Flower dies: Marianne Designs

Hairy twine: Michael's

Glitzy buttons: Close to My Heart