Blessings to you

 We are in the midst of November now and I started my Thanksgiving cards to send to friends and family I can't share the holiday with.  I am so thankful for meeting friends here and other paper craft sites.  There are so many times I have wanted to toss all this to the side and say it does not matter but something tugs at me to reconsider.  Many times it has been you reading my posts and sharing a kind word.  You taking the time to  give me encouragement.  It has been extremely difficult for me to be here the last few months as you may have noted from so few posts and my inability to visit your blogs.  I apologize.  I feel very challenged because several months ago it was determined I had lost  visual acuity in one eye. Basically I feel like there is a constant shadow or a black spot.  I sought immediate care and was sent to a specialist. My pupils were dilated and  appeared normal so I was sent for a field vision test.   I failed it  and the doctor referred me for more tests  but I was busy with the new school year preparing my class,  my family, volunteering, and finishing a class I was taking for teaching.  I bought new glasses and started wearing them instead of contacts and also decided to step away from the computer more.   It seemed like it was better but last month I noticed it was happening with the glasses on and off.   I called the specialist and have an appointment on the books to be seen.  Yeah!  Thankfully I can still see almost perfectly with one eye which helped compensate for the other.  However, I don't want to continue on this path in case it leads to something more servere.  I keep thinking I am still incredibly blessed in all I can do and continue to do.   So all this leads me to my card for the day which is entitled blessings which I do feel greatly!

Thank you for stopping by!

Challenges for my card:

Bloggers Challenge: Birds of a Feather

Card Crafter's Circle: #49 Textures

Frosted Designs: Color challenge

Going Grey with Scrap-Creations: Give Thanks

Papercraft Star: #121 A Thank You 

Scrappy Frogs: Give Thanks

Sisterhood of Crafters: Thankful

The Squirrel and The Fox: #31 Anything Goes

SRM Mini Calendar Album

This is a  mini coin envelope album I made using SRM Stickers with pull out tabs and bound to carry in your purse.  I kept embellishments to minimum since it is travel calendar.
To create this calendar cover 6 No. 1 coin envelopes with pattern paper and punch circle on ends.  I cut and covered two chipboard pieces for my cover and bound with my BIA.

Removed for publication

For the front I used Year of Memories #48007 and Calendar Companion #48010.

Inside I used Mini Calendars on each side with a manilla tag that I decorated with Calendar Companion and stamped a journal box to write important dates on. 

Removed for publication

                                                 

                                                 Here are the decorated tags pulled out.

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   A side picture for you to see all the pages and tags.

Removed for publication

This mini calendar is going to a good friend of mine that loves to keep track of  birthdays, anniversaries, and special days. Hope you like!

SRM Stickers Quick Cards

 
Hey everyone! I just got done working with Quick Card stickers and had a lot of fun creating. I was kinda of on a roll which has not been the case for me the last few weeks. Favorite part of Quick Card stickers from SRM is  you get a sentiment, image, and a large word to accent. So easy to create a card in a jiffy. I think these cards will be arriving in homes soon. :-)
I used #52030 Boo! for my first card.

My next card uses #52034 Thanksgiving

and my final card uses #52013 Merry

Thanks for looking!

Hey there!   Here's a card I created for Vintage Street Market.  

I used Marshall Matthew from Family Fun  to cover my card base.  Next I trimmed a panel of vintage dictionary paper and punched four holes on the right side.  I tucked a piece of Maggie Jane also from Family Fun behind it for color.  I made a pennant with Meghan Kay paper and tucked under the dictionary print and stapled a ticket from Aqua Twirly Twine to attach.

I cut the little girl from Party Games and used foam dots to adhere to card front.  Next I stapled a ticket from Party Games.   I tied a bow with the Aqua Twirly Twine and used washi tape a red paper clip to complete.

I hope you like!  Thanks for stopping by!

Items used:

• Family Fun Paper Kit
• Paper Sheet and Tags "Party Games"
• Twirly Twine "Aqua"
• Ephemera Assortment 
• washi tape
• paper clip
• staples
• small circle punch

 

VSM with May Arts blog hop

Have you been to our blog to check out all the fabulous projects the design team created with May Arts ribbon?  Hop on over because there is lots to see! Here is a card I created using lots of VSM and May Arts.

For this project, I used Maggie Jane paper from the Family Fun paper collection. The purples and yellows of the cardstock coordinate perfectly with the yellow and purple May Arts ribbon.

I love flags and made one with  wide May Arts ribbon wrapped around a pin.  What a great way to use scrap ribbon!!!

Thank you for stopping by!

Belated Wishes and more

 I am so sorry to just abandon my blog. It has been super crazy at home and work lately so I am treading water as fast as I can.  :-)
My daughter recently fell getting off the bus and sprained her ankle.  Many diagnosed with  autism  have a high tolerance to pain.  She rarely cries and this  fall was a tear jerker for her.  I knew it was bad when I saw the tears falling quietly and it swelled up to a goose egg.  I took a photo to send her father when he asked how bad it was.  I am not a nurse so I figured a trip to ER  would be best treatment.  7 x-rays later it was determined it was a #2 sprain.  Not the worst and certainly will heal in time thankfully.

Meanwhile, the crutches are not the easiest.  Because she is on the spectrum, it makes using crutches very interesting.  Like how to space the crutches without doing a face plant, how to maneuver around objects without crashing into them,  and most importantly, how to remain a tip toe walker with two sticks and one injured foot not cooperating?  Good times in my household and at school.  The shining aspect, she has friends carrying her backpack for her which encourages social interaction with peers.  She also gets to ride the elevator at school.  ;-)  I really am trying to see the positive in this.  It happened, let's deal with it and make it work.  

I sat down yesterday and was able to create a card in between running the stairs which is really good exercise for me.  I made a card for my daughter's friend who had a birthday in August.  We missed it.  By a month and half almost. :-( Today we will see her to celebrate and catch up though.  :-)

I made this card for the latest challenge at Sentimental Sundays which is black, white, and one more color.  I used a Bugaboo image who is are sponsor this week.  I popped up his 'stache with foam dots and gave him a light coloring of pearl white from Copic.  That's a SRM sticker for the sentiment  The gingham print paper is from Lily Bee.  I love this paper so!  I am down to a tiny scrap.  I wrapped a piece of pink twine and made a bow to complete.

Here is a close up

I hope you will join us for this week's challenge!

Challenges I would like to enter in:

2 Sisters:  #113 Anything Goes

Crafts and Me:  Anything Goes 

Crafty Ribbons Challenge: #30 Children's Birthday

Crafty Sentiments: Anything Goes

Jellypark Challenges: Pink It Up

PaperPlay Challenges: #41 Simply cute

Papertake Weekly: All Creatures Great and Small

Thank you for stopping by!

Christmas Crafting with your Kids!

 Christmas will be here soon  and planning those special gifts in advance can help cut down on the stress holidays can incur.  I am so happy I get to share my projects with you because this craft involved the help of my 16 y.o. daughter.  I am so fortunate she still wants to spend time with me!

So together we created these ideas for a crafty Christmas day.  

We used the mini tubes to make a treat holder and a keepsake ornament to hold my daughter's Christmas list.  

Let's get started on how these are made! 

For the reindeer treat holder, we added "We've Got Your Border" Christmas around the top an bottom of the tube.  The red joy circle is from "Live Life" Christmas.   Rudolph's nose is made with a red circle from the border sticker set.  I made two antlers with black card stock and my daughter made his ears with kraft card stock and added two wiggle eyes.  The label is from the Christmas "Labels by the Dozen."  I tied a twine bow to embellish.  Last part was filling it with chocolate candies.  Younger kids can add the eyes, border stickers, nose, antlers, and ears easily to make this a craft for any age.  

Next up is the keepsake ornament with her Christmas list.  I saw this idea on Pinterest and did a spin on it to use a tube.  Wouldn't this be fun to create each year and then decorate the tree with?   I love that she can add to the list if ideas change by taking it  out. The original idea was a glass ornament which makes it difficult to roll up and impossible to get out with the narrow tops.  SRM tubes make this easy to pull out the lists and review.   

For this project, we used the border stickers again for the top and bottom.  Next we added a circle tree sticker to the top of the tube from Stickers by the Dozen and punched a hole through the lid to create the twine hanger.  A piece of red felt was cut with pinking shears and then a Christmas label was added to a green card stock base.  A yellow scallop was punched and the "Dear Santa" from "Freestyle" Christmas was added to the center with a 2012 sticker from "Year of Memories."  A few drops of green glitter to accent and the craft was complete!  Younger kids can decorate the tubes with our variety of stickers.  

I hope you like these ideas!

Pushing Fall into Winter ;-)

Okay I am already pushing Fall aside with my crafting and going right into Winter today.  I have to start my holiday cards or I will never get enough completed though.

The latest challenge at Sentimental Sundays is 3,2,1 and our sponsor is Meljen's.  I used a cute freebie image from last year I believe?  I love the heart dangling from the tiny tree.  Reminds me of Charlie Brown's tree.  I added glitter to the snow but it is not showing up very well.  Grrr. That's a SRM Sticker along the top which looks like stitching.  Click on the link to view the entire sheet. Love their border stickers!  The sentiment is also SRM.  My 3 things are papers (2 print (Authentique stripe and Webster's polka dot)and one 1 solid, 2 are the stickers, and 1 image.  I hope you will join us.  

Challenges I would like to enter my card in:
Bearly Mine : #54 Add a sentiment
Fashionista: Anything goes Christmas
Gingerloft: #49 Stitching faux or real
Jingle Belles: Snow
Robyn's Fetish:  #127 Stitching Real or faux
Southern Girls: Show us your spots and stripes


Thanks for stopping by!

Day 4 of OWH

 It's day four of SRM Stickers's  week-long birthday card feature. We've joined with Operation Write Home to help bring attention to their amazing organization and supply cards for troops. Check out Monday's post for our Challenge details - you could win a SRM Stickers Prize Package!

Here's my OWH birthday card.   I used #53001 We've Got Your Sticker and #57003 We've Got Your Border.  I created a border around the frame cut out with a small yellow border sticker.  I tried to keep this as flat as I could.  :)  All papers are Echo Park "Everday Eclectic."

Thanks for stopping by!

Autumn Days

 Autumn is officially here!  I am happy for my wallet since we aren't running the air conditioner as much but will definitely miss my warm mornings with bright sun rays shining in my window.  Sigh.  I do like Falls gorgeous colors and some trees in my area already showing the red foliage.  I would love to venture up to Maine and see the trees in their beauty during the Fall.  It's on my bucket list.  One day!  :-)

I made this card for Sentimental Sundays challenge this week which is Autumn and features a Saturated Canary image.  I wanted the apples to be the focal point so I colored her dress and hair in muted tones.  I added red buttons to resemble apples on the ground.  I used a SRM Sticker from the Fall sheet for my sentiment.

Anyone go apple picking?  I am planning a trip with daughter.  She went last year but we had so much rain the grounds were soaking wet and the apples were mushy.  The few she did pick were not the big red fruit I envisioned but we peeled them and made an apple crisp which was quite tasty.  This year, I would love to make spiced apples.  Moving on before my mind fixates on this too much.

The pattern papers are MME which were in my scrap bin.  I used a variety from different lines.  One is Valentine's oriented as you can clearly see.  I liked it though and went for it.  I added a sparkle green trim for added interest as after thought.  Just isn't a card if it does not have some bling or shine.

Challenges I would like to enter my card in:

Crafty Catz: #51 Buttons

Challenges 4 Everybody: #3 Anything Goes

Fairy Tale Challenges: #50 Autumn

Just Keep on Creating: #3 Anything Goes

Ribbon Carousel Challenge: #71 Fall into Fall

Saturated Canary Challenge: #26 Use B items (buttons, blue, and bling ribbon)

The Crafter's Cafe Challenge: #8 Sewing

Hello There!

I  get to share a really fun card for a GDT position I won at Made Especially for You.  I was thrilled to be asked to create a card and join in!

I used Echo Park Everyday Eclectic  papers and die cut stickers.  I love the vibrant colors and the whimsy!  The challenge is to use three balloons on your card. The Stamping Boutique  is  sponsoring  with one lucky winner receiving 3 images of their choice!

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

Bearly -Mine: Challenges: #52 Anything Goes

Paper Crafting Journey: Use a Sentiment

Sisterhood of Crafters: No stamps

The Squirrel and the Fox: #26 Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping in!

Creating with punches and stamps

 Happy Monday!  I hope you had a delightful weekend.  I have my last card for the Paper Playtime design team.  Sniff sniff.  I am sad to leave this great group of ladies.  I have made some great friends and promise to keep in touch with them and stop by their blogs.

Our challenge is to use punches and a stamped sentiment.  I used  four punches on this one.  Can you spot them?  :-)  I love the bee stamp from Cocoa Daisy a terrific friend sent me.  There is a little bit of glitter on the bee's wings.   I added lace, twine mixed with vintage buttons to embellish.  The papers are from Prima.  I distressed the entire card for a vintage feel.  

I hope you will join us!

Challenges I would like to enter my card in:

Di's Digi Designs: More than one punch or die cut

No Matter Which Challenge: #2 Punches

Our Craft Lounge: #134 Use twine

Paper Pretties: #223 Punches

Raise the Bar: #111 Anything with wings

Simply Create Too:  #22 Old or vintage

Sweets for you!

 Hey there!  Amy here checking in for the month of September.  I have two projects to share with you using a mixture of goodies so let's dive right in!

I made  this card using  Twirly Twine red and aqua paired with Dimestore Vogue brown crepe paper, Kitchen Ephemera,  and Cosmo Cricket's Rose paper.  I added a feather, two butterfly stickers accented with liquid pearls, a paper rose, vintage button and green velvet trim .  I distressed the card lightly with ink for a viintage feel.  The green velvet trim was a gem find for me at the thrift store.  I found it on the bolt still with yellow stickers intact that dates over 20 years ago!  

Here's a close up:

Next up is a small frame I altered.  I wrapped red Twirly Twine around the frame and added a yellow paper rose.  

I used Echo Park's For the Record's Picket Fence paper to mat my picture and then made a polka dot banner layered with a vintage piece of paper from the Kitchen Ephemera pack accented with a vintage red bingo marker.  Next I cut out a ticket from the red Twirly Twine and used rhinestones to embellish.  

Items used to create both items:

• Twirly Twine red and aqua by Vintage Street Market
• Dimestore Vogue Paper Sheets and Tags by Vintage Street Market
• Kitchen Ephemera
• Vintage  Red Bingo Markers
• For the Record paper by Echo Park

 Thank you for stopping by and happy creating to you!

A year in review mini album

 This is mini album I made for my daughter to highlight one event each month of the year.  I used lots of SRM Stickers which are perfect to lay on top of photos, painted surfaces, well...everything!

I painted chipboard covers and then added punched pieces from Lily Bee's Buttercup papers, stamped a little, and distressed to create.  I used the Year in Review and Everyday Life  from SRM Stickers.

I used Lily Bee Buttercup papers for the inside pages and lots of SRM Stickers.  The large month ones can be found here.

I did pair them with some smaller monthly stickers found here.

I hope this inspires you to create a mini year in review!  Thanks for stopping by!

Grandmothers

 Grandmothers are really special indeed!  I wish mine were still here on earth to share a few moments with.  I remember them everyday and I am thankful I had time to spend with them.  Did you know grandparents day is today?  I decided to make a special card for my Mom.  She prefers to be called "Nana".  I think she uses the proper term when necessary but she is one terrific grand mother to her grand children.  They adore spending time with her and she sure likes to dote on them.  I am usually prepared for the sugar high when mine returns.  :-)  I am thankful my daughter can share special and everyday moments with her.  We are so fortunate to live close by.

I used a SRM Sticker for this card.  I punched tiny hearts and added rhinestone bling to the centers.  I stitched the top on but you can't really see it since it was done in white.  The papers, twine and button are from MME.  

Challenges I would like to enter my card in:
Come and Get It Challenges: Tic, Tac, Toe  (Twine, Free, and Buttons)
One Stop Craft Challenges: #198 No floral embellishments
Paper Crafting Journey: Anything Goes
Southern Girls: #52 All about the flora

Thank you for stopping by!