Cupcakes and Sprinkles!

What is the haze like in your neck of the woods? I am smack dab in the middle of the country, but our sun is a bright orange, veiled by a gray smoke. If it's this bad here, I can't imagine what it's like where the wildfires are raging. My heart goes out to those of you who are impacted and on the west coast. 

Whilst living in the cover of darkness, I thought it would be the perfect time to spend a moment in my craft room. I'm popping in quickly to share my make. 

My stash of birthday cards is running quite low and so I thought I'd stock up my stash this weekend. Seize the Birthday is running a die cut challenge, so I looked at my magnetic wall and found a fun die I haven't used in a bit. 

I don't craft with die cuts very often as a main focal point, but what better way to stretch your crafty muscles than to try something out of your comfort zone? I found some lovely patterned papers and used the Cupcake Builder #1 set from STAMPlorations to get to work building layers. 

I find mixing and matching patterns both relaxing and challenging, but I loved the way all these patterns wound up. To finish off my card, I added some beads for "sprinkles". 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Babies and Patterns!

Do you ever design a card and then think, I need to make 19 more just like it? Well that's exactly what happened to me with these adorable baby cards. 

I decided to take on the challenge from Sketch Saturday. Their linkup party has ended now because I procrastinated, but credit where credit is due! 

Little did I realize it had ONE BILLION layers to it. (ok, ok, I'm being dramatic, it's only 13... haha - ONLY 13). 

But it did give me the chance to flex my pattern mixing muscles. 

I'm linking the boy card up to the Alphabet Challenge B is for Boy Cards. 

Coincidentally, I have about 13 pregnant friends right now (ok, ok, I'm being dramatic but I do have at least 5 that I can think of off the top of my head). And the sad part about it is, most of my friends who are preggers are sharing about how they can't have their partners attend ultrasounds, or host the baby showers they were planning. It would be really tough and scary to be pregnant right now.

But the minute I laid eyes on the finished design, I squeeed with delight and then had to make up more. They're so happy and every time I stamped a little onesie (STAMPlorations Bee's Knees BabyBump set) it felt like "buying clothes". 

I liked it so much I made a girl one: 

And I made a gender-neutral one: 

This color scheme was inspired by the TGIF challenge:

I've been hoarding all these 6x6 coordinating paper packs, and these proved to be the easiest way to pair patterns. All in all, I made 12 different designs because I had so much fun! 

I'm also going to link this up to the STAMPlorations never-ending anything goes challenge. 

Thanks for popping by! 

Lotsa Layers Spring Card

Do you ever just sit at the craft table, find a pile o' scraps, wave a wand and magically have a card appear? 

... yeah... me either. 

But! By some force of wizardry, that's exactly what happened yesterday! 

As I've mentioned, I've been playing along with some of the challenges released by Paper Anthology's Creation Staycation. One of 'em caught my eye last night - Black, White and Tan. 

Why did it catch my eye? Because I had a big pile of black, white and tan scraps from my last cardmaking class sitting right in front of me. I always love mixing and matching patterns together - especially if they SHOULDN'T belong. But tell me something doesn't belong and I will prove you wrong! 

I grabbed a few scraps and put them on top of each other and literally designed this card in 30 minutes. That NEVER happens to me. Usually I spend 2 hours or more agonizing over a design our swip swapping paper and second guessing every decision. 

I stamped flowers from the Trendy Spring Blooms STAMPlorations set using a tan light tan color. (I know it's out of stock right now. Sad face.) Amazingly - that's the only stamping I did on this little number. I added a little bit of glitz and glitter using a Wink of Stella pen, and finished it but adding some ivory embellies to the center of my flowers. 

I'm so happy with how this one came out, and LOVE that I even got to use the binding scraps from watercolor paper! Reduce, reuse, recycle, rebuy every kind of paper you can find. ooops.... that last one is true, though. #guilty. 

Also linking this up to the Never-Ending Anything Goes Challenge at STAMPlorations. 

Thanks for popping by! It's been fun to be back in the bloggy world. 

Growing in Unity Gal - Guest Designer

The first time I ever laid eyes on a Unity stamp, I fell in love with the sketchy, pretty designs. My aunt is a Unityaholic and she let me use some of her stamps while I was slowly growing my own collection. 

It seems like Unity is always having one sale or another and my wallet complains to me every time I go check out their deals (but my heart rejoices... so suck it, wallet!) 

This week, I get the opportunity to be a guest designer for Unity *happy dances* and I'll be sharing a new design every day this week! 

I haven't played much with my Distress Inks lately - gasp! - so I remedied that but doing some Distress Ink watercoloring. 

I stamped a floral arrangement from the First Friend, Best Friend, Forever set. Next, I smooshed three different colors of pinks onto my craft mat, then used a wet paintbrush to pick up the ink.

This is why I love Distress Inks - you can stamp with them, but you can also do so many different techniques like watercoloring. 

I also used some Distress blues and greens to color in the leaves and water. 

 

Since I had a lot of color left over on my craft mat after I was done watercoloring my image, I used the Distress Ink double dipping technique to marble a piece of paper. 

 I layered my focal image with black, white, and bits of gold, adding in a strip of my marbled panel. I finished it off by stamping a sentiment from the For the Guys stamp set. 

This whole design was inspired by the latest challenge at If you Give a Crafter a Cookie. 

I loved the combo of patterns and colors going on and HAD to try to replicate that on a card

I'm also going to enter my card over at Seize the Birthday. I'm not using the Aqua/Green optional toppings, but I wanted to play along anyhow. 

Also, if you're feeling like leaving some extra bloggy love today go check out my fellow GIU gal for the week - Rebecca Wong Pui Yee. Who doesn't love a Rebecca?! 

And make sure you leave a comment on my blog!! Unity is giving away two stamp sets to those of you who are kind enough to drop some lines below! 

Holiday TAGplorations Party

Over at STAMPlorations, we are partying down with a Holiday TAGplorations event. Since there's such a great lineup of beauteous tags, I am gonna keep this post short and sweet! :) 

I created this tag using a patchwork of holiday patterns that I pieced together to make the background. Then I used Trendy Christmas Trees stamp set and coordinating dies to create my Christmas tree and the accompanying sentiment. 

My tag is inspired by this gorgeous tag designed by Naki Rager for at Tracey McNeely's 25 Days of Christmas Tags Challenge. I loved the rosette feature, and the traditional Christmas colors. 

So what is the STAMPlorations Holiday TAGplorations event? For the next 5 days, our talented design team will be showcasing tags and also giving YOU the chance to link up a tag of your own through November 25. You can use any stamps you want! There are 10 prizes up for grabs, so link early and often!!  Go check it out HERE! Now get to hopping!

Layers and Layers of Fun - Birthday Card

Hello All!
I'm going to keep it short and sweet for you today, because I'm playing catch up with the closure of The Hop to Stop and trying to get the final post together.

BUT - there's a new challenge starting today at Fusion Card Challenge and I wanted to show off how I was inspired by it!

 I chose to go with the sketch - mostly so I could use these fun little rosettes that I bought at a garage sale. I love the "crinkly circle" (as my little six-year-old niece called it).

To make this card, I layered and layered and layered some more. Then I got out some Bo Bunny papers and... oh did I mention I layered? 

Haha - I just kind of used an explosion of colors and patterns and every time I thought it was too much, I added a little bit more. The "happy" is a die cut from Winnie & Walter. 

I hope you all will head over to Fusion and check out what the other design team members made and then play along!

I'm going to send my card over to play in the following challenges:
City Crafter Challenge - See a Star
Addicted to Stamps - Lots of Layers
Just Us Girls - Make the Sentiment the Focal Point

Thanks for popping by! I'll be posting the Hop to Stop winners shortly!

Multi Patterned Paper Stamped Card

I'm up with another card today. I wanted to bust out some of the massive hoard of paper I've got going on in my craft room, so I looked for a sketch that would let me create some major layers. 

And I found one that I hadn't played in before called Paper Play Sketches. Look at this lovely design! 

All of the papers I'm using are from a DCWV paper stack. 

As you can see this card is a whole lotta layering of patterned papers. I stamped a sentiment from the STAMPloratios BOLD SENTIMENTS: Hashtag Authentic stamp set. 

I haven't played with this much patterned paper in quite awhile and it was a fun change of pace! 

I'm also going to link it up to: 

Aud Sentiments - Anything Goes + a sentiment

Crafty Sentiments - Lots of Layers 

Thanks for popping by! Hope you're all having a fantastic Labor Day weekend!

Featured Friday - Lauren Bergold!!!

Well you all are in for a TREAT today. If you're a new follower to my blog 1) you are awesome! and 2) Featured Friday is a once-a-month segment around these parts in which I highlight another crafty blogger who is a huge inspiration to me. 

Getting to know other bloggers has been a huge part of what drives me to create and without further ado, I will introduce this month's Featuree:

Lauren Bergold of ...all the GOOD blog names were taken...!

Firstly - how cool is her blog name?! It's just one of the MANY examples of Lauren's hilarious personality. 

I first stumbled upon Lauren's blog after viewing some of her amazing work on a design team challenge inspiration post. Her downright miraculous treatment of patterned paper leaves me incredulous every time I see one of her creations. Many of her designs include zero white space and patterns that I never would have thought to pair!

  

She's Artsy with a capital A - she frequently draws her own designs and goes beyond cardmaking with ATCs, fancy index cards, and mini-journals. 

But why let me tell you all about Lauren, when she can tell you about all about herself? Here are 7 things you should know about Lauren:

1. How did you get your crafty start?

I'm pretty convinced there's a "craft gene" and I was born with it. My mom and her sister are crafty, their dad was very creative, my nieces and nephew love to draw and color and make stuff... it's just a thing we all do!

2. What is your favorite "style" of crafting?

Collage has always been my favorite medium and I'm definitely a "more is more" kind of gal, lol! I love lots of layers, pattern-on-pattern, vintage ingredients, found objects and loads of texture. I really admire people who can do "clean and simple" but alas, I'm not one of them.

3. If you could be any color, which would it be and why?

Can I be a rainbow? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeease??!?!! If not, I guess I'll be hot pink, to cheer everyone up! :)

4. What is the best craft organization tip you have?

Think about how you personally work best and think realistically about how much stuff you actually have. We all love pretty containers but let's face it, the plain sturdy ones tend to hold more and last longer. I store as many things as possible vertically (like a book shelf), so I can browse and access individual items easily; if I have to dig through a *pile* the stuff on the bottom just won't get used. I also keep a "basic kit" of things i use constantly (scissors, adhesives, pens)next to my prime workspace, and a duplicate set in my travel bag, because i was constantly forgetting at least one vital thing when teaching or taking classes.

5. What are your favorite card making/scrapbooking challenges to participate in?

Well Shopping Our Stash and Jingle Belles are both very near and dear to my heart, obviously! I also love the Cardabilities sketches. Fusion Card Challenge always inspires. The Crooked Stamper Sketch Challenge is pretty awesome... and I'm not just saying that because Leslie is my friend and I designed the graphic for it, lol! For the last three summers, I've participated in The Index Card a Day project (aka ICAD) via the Daisy Yellow Art blog, which is not a challenge in the traditional sense, but which I find hugely helpful for recharging mojo and trying new things.

6. What is your least favorite crafting supply?

Hmmmmmm... that's really tough! I don't think there's any particular category I dislike. I suppose I'd have to say anything that's badly designed or doesn't work right. Punches that line up poorly, dies which don't release and unreliable adhesives don't last long at my house. Life's too short!

7. What is your best advice for new crafty bloggers?

Try not to get too caught up in the "comparison" game. There will always be people who are a skill-level above and below you, this is true of EVERYTHING in life. Make things you love, keep practicing, learn from your mistakes and especially...HAVE FUN!!!

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I think her last piece of advice - to have fun! - is something that we both really agree on. Blogging and crafting is supposed to be a blast! 

Now here's the part of Featured Friday that I REALLY love. We take one of Lauren's old designs and CASE it! I distinctly remember seeing the card I chose to case for the first time and I am pretty sure I stared at it for a good long while. 

The Original: 

Thud <--- sound of my jaw dropping. Right?!?! If any card is a work of art it would be THIS ONE!! It's made with tons of paper folded pieces and patterned paper. Lauren has a tutorial on her blog, if you'd like more details about how she pulled this off. 

Lauren's CASE

Lauren opted to go for a travel-themed card and this time around she used old falling apart maps and atlases to fuel her design. She folded all the pieces from the books and maps and repurposed them into something absolutely stunning!!

My CASE

To be perfectly honest... I feel a little silly. There's no patterns on here! Doh! I started folding bits of white paper just to practice with and then I never stopped! I gessoed the whole bit to make the white paper firmer and give it more of a distressed paper mache feel and then I added a heavy layer of gelatos and blended all together. Lastly, I sponged a layer of Black Soot Distress Inks to really bring out the corners of my folded triangles. So, no patterns - but hey I'll just have to make another gorgeous card like this. 

I'm going to send this baby over to play along in the following great challenges: 
Addicted to Stamps - Make Your Mark
613 Ave Create - Anything Goes with Flag option

Thank you for popping by - Lauren has an extra card to share with you on >>>her blog<<< using this technique, in addition to that tutorial I mentioned earlier so you should definitely go say HELLO! and help to make her day EXTRA SPECIAL. That's what this bloggy community is all about - right?!

Polka Dotty Hills - STAMPlorations Sketch Challenge

Today, I've got a card that brings out the bright and fun. This weekend was 67 degrees here in North Dakota, which is practically tropical weather! So I was inspired to do a little summery number on my card stock. 

I'm using the new sketch challenge going on over at STAMPlorations:

One of the things I love to do is to mix and match funky, retro patterns. There's just something about putting two things together that shouldn't work, but do. The way these rolling "hills" light up the foreground of the card makes this girl super happy! 

To go with the funky hills, I have a funky house from The Bee's Knees - Houses STAMPlorations set. I also used the Clouds ARTPlorations stencil and some Salty Ocean Distress Ink to make the bright sky. 

You should totally go play along at STAMPlorations! We've got some great prizes for you to win, including a guest design spot. 

Speaking of,the fiesty and talented Monika Reeck is joining us this week with another version of a funky card with mixed and matched patterns. Stop by and say hello!

I'm sending my card over to:
Craft Stamper Magazine - Take it Make it Challenge
Chocolate, Coffee, and Cards - Spring has Sprung
Try it On Tuesdays - 1960s retro
Little Red Wagon - "B"lieve it (my b is for Blue Skies)

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On a more personal note, many of you know that April's been a crazy month for me. It seems like everything I need to do all year long is packed into this one little month. I know I haven't been able to leave as many comments because of this, but I do want you to know that things will be slowing down. I have one trip next week to D.C. for work, but then I'll be able to breathe a little (fingers crossed). 

This weekend was truly spectacular darlings, and I thought I'd share a little bit about what I've been up to. 

This was my Saturday:

  I've been working with my local Young Professionals Chapter to plan and orchestrate a community-wide clothing and necessities drive that would help 7 local nonprofits including our battered women's shelter, homeless shelter, and organizations that help New American Families. We distributed 1000 orange bags door-to-door two weeks ago and on Saturday we went to collect them from people's houses. 

As you can see, we got an amazing response and were able to help out some families who really needed it. 

After that, I did a quick change and got 1920s glam for the evening:

This is my gorgeous cousin, Amber, and myself all decked out. The Dean of the medical school where I work gave me two tickets to a charity ball and I have to tell you it was F-A-N-C-Y. Probably the fanciest thing I've ever been to. You know... one of those awkward situations where you don't know which fork goes with what dish... or whether the utensil you're holding is a fork at all... :) It was a ton of fun, though, and I felt very Daisy-ish with my updo. 

So... yeah! It was a busy weekend. Like I said, I have one more week of running around like a chicken with my head cut off and then I'll be back to the normal Miss-stalk-your-blogs-for-inspiration self. 

Thank you for popping by! 

A Little Retro Snark

Happy Sunday, my lovelies! This has been a super weekend for me, and I hope the same can be said for you. My cousin came for a visit and we had a great time hanging together... even put on my dancing shoes last night!  

My card for today, however, will be to give away during the work week when I just need a little break: 

The talented Taheerah runs the Cure for the Monday Blues - which I've never participated in before. But I saw this aaahhhmazing inspiration image, filled with retro mod shapes and colors and I couldn't not play along this week!

So I pulled all of my colors and started finding every bit of modern retro patterned paper that I could find and then sorted and mixed and matched and second-guessed and mixed and matched again and finally - VOILA! A card!

I loved the color scheme, but I also wanted to include these cool retro silhouette stamps from the Unity stamp company. And that sentiment just cracks me right up! I stamped them in Shabby Shutters Distress Inks and then colored over it with some Spectrum Noir markers because I really wanted an intense color. 

 

I'm also sending this over to Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers, where you can pick any of their past challenge inspirations. I picked the V is for Vintage inspiration. And Naughty or Nice because this is definitely just a little bit naughty/snarky and their challenge is New New New! Since this is my first time using this stamp set, it totally qualifies. 

Now speaking of needing a nap, those dancing shoes wore me out last night, and I think I might just go indulge in one. Thanks for stopping by! Follow my blog or leave me a comment and I'll be sure to return the favor!

Patterned Frenzy and NBUS take 2

Do you know what I love best about New Year's? It's one of those holidays that I don't feel obligated to spend with other people. Don't get me wrong, I love me a good social gathering and the old-fashioned inhalation of turkey and stuffing, but I also love me a day shut up in my craft room with only myself, a glass of wine, and the smell of a new paper pack. 

Aaaaand that's what I did yesterday! I love DCWV paper packs because they coordinate SO nicely together. And they have way cute cutouts in the back of most of their packs. Did you know DCWV has a blog?! With challenges?! I recently won a $50 prize pack of DCWV paper and product and boy was I inhaling that stuff yesterday!

The above picture is an image of two of the paper packs, plus some NBUS - my new Cricut, an amazing pack of metal ephemera sent to my by Cathy Parlitsis of Stamps and Scrapbooks  (thanks!!), and some Mowed Lawn Distress Ink. All of which were used for the very first time during the creation of my card.

What is NBUS you ask? It's the moniker coined by the fantastically whimsical Darnell Knauss of DJKardKreations and it means Never-Before-Used-Schtuff. Darnell is running the third NBUS challenge over at her blog and is giving away $100 in prizes! WHAT?! So if you have brand new product and want to win some prizes, go check it out! Click on the image below to be transported to her domain. 

We all know that I love playing around with patterns and adore mixing and matching to create the perfect card. Well Shopping our Stash gave me a little nudge this week to do just that. They are having a "Thrice is Nice" challenge, in which you have to use three or more patterns. 

Here's the result:

FOUR different patterns were used in the creation of this guy all from the DCWV Sweet Tangerine Pack. I also got to test my Cricut Explore with the creation of that "happy" die cut, which is cut from the glitter paper stack. Lemme just say that there will definitely be a learning curve with this Cricut. I've got some exploring to do, for sure. 

Check out that sweet metal arrow! It's from Stampin Up's "Hung Up" clip pack. So cute! My sentiment is from STAMPlorations Bloom Sketches set.

I stamped the inside with a sentiment from STAMPlorations Thank You Sentiment Builder set because I have a million-and-one thank you cards to send out now, after Christmas. It's good to be this blessed.

My layout for my card came from TechnoStamper's Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge. Also sending this over to STAMPlorations Anything Goes challenge.

Thank you all for stopping by! We're forecast to have a blizzard this weekend with a high of -15 degrees. HOORAY! Now I have a legitimate excuse to lock myself away, lounge in my pajamas, and create!

Leave me a comment and follow my blog and I'll be sure to return the favor!