My Fave CB Folder

Today I am playing along with Lauren Meader's My Time to Create - sketch found here. I was looking for inspiration to create a card for the Cuttlebug Spot challenge #42, which is to make a card using your favorite embossing folder. In case you couldn't guess, Swiss Dots is my fave! The sketch was perfect because I was able to use the dots as the main background. I pulled out my fabric again and cut out a couple blocks to layer with my vanilla CS. Simple and quick - it really went together fast :>)
Details: SU Vanilla CS, Swiss Dots CB folder, patterned fabric, the stamp set is a SU oldie...not even sure of the name (one of the first sets I bought...this was before I started putting the label on the storage container!)
Thanks for stopping by!
Smiles, Julie

In Style?

My latest card is for the Stamp TV color challenge for this week and uses the Whimsy Stamps sketch challenge from last week. Whimsy's challenge this week is friendships, so I will be sending this card off to a friend :> There is still time to play along with each of this week's challenges, so be sure to click on the links!.The color challenge is Peach and Ivory (pink is optional)...I have to admit that I am not a big fan of peach :>) It is so nineties to me - I think my bedroom was peach at some point while growing up and I got sick of looking at the color. To meet the challenge I needed to pull out SU Guava - close enough to peach I hope!
The other thing I pulled out was fabric. The print is fabric! I took Heat 'n Bond Lite (a double sided interfacing) and ironed it to the wrong side of the fabric. I then peeled off the paper backing and glued the fabric down before sewing it. I guess I could have tried ironing the fabric to the paper...not sure if it would work. My fabric stash is huge, so I am going to be incorporating more fabric into future paper projects!
Details: CS SU, stamp and sentiment are "Retro Boutique" by Rupa Shevde available thru Gina K. Designs. This is the stamp set that I won thru Stamp TV :>)!!
Thanks for stopping by!
Smiles, Julie

It's Sketch Girl Time!

Today's card is for the 2nd Sketch Girl Challenge. Be sure to check out the Sketch Girl Blog and the creations by all the other Sketch Girls. There is a bonus this week...once the Sketch Girl Blog reaches 100 followers, 3 followers will each win a stamp set :>) Head over to the blog to check out all the sets and be sure to play along!!Turn the sketch on it's side and here is my card...
Now this card is also uses the SCS color challenge for the week - Pixie Pink, Apricot Appeal and Certainly Celery. I just love the little stick figure families that can be found on cars - after spending hours driving on Tuesday, I was inspired to take a stick family and turn it into a "welcome baby" card. My friend is expecting a little girl so the SCS colors for the week fit perfectly. I went a little crazy with the ribbon, by creating gathers with my sewing machine, then I paper pieced the clothes on the family. The bow on the side is done by making a slit in the CS, laying a loop of ribbon and then pulling a separate piece of ribbon up thru the slit around the loop and back down to form the center - perfect bow every time.
Details: SU CS & DSP, SU All in the Family Stamp Set, Michael's ribbon, chipboard number and the sentiment is done thru MS Word - SU Scrap Baby font.

I can't wait to see what you create using today's sketch! If you upload to a gallery, be sure to tag your creation with SG2.

Smiles, Julie

Sitting Pretty

Hi there! Today's card is for the Little Paper Shop's 7/20 Sketch Challenge and Jessica's Birthday. Her B-day was on Thursday, but I firmly believe that it is never too late to celebrate (and who doesn't love have your Birthday celebration last more than one day!). I am also including a huge THANK YOU to LPS for sponsoring challenges each week...the cute image on this card is the one I won a couple weeks ago!
Details: Stamp LPS Katie Cupcake, Paper SU retired DSP, stash buttons, offray ribbon and dimensional.
This is a quick post :>), busy couple of days ahead.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend!
Smiles, Julie

Less is More

I need to remind myself that once in awhile, less is more! I am so excited with how this card turned out! The detail that makes it for me is the stamped image in Versamark on the background paper. It looks so elegant on the vanilla paper and adds a subtle touch, because it is more like a watermark. It went together so fast, once I pulled out the sewing machine :>).
Details: SU Certainly Celery & Vanilla CS, SU Certainly Celery ink and Versamark, SU Baroque Motifs stamp set

Well I should be reminding myself that less is more even outside of card making. We are celebrating my Sons' 2nd Birthday tomorrow - yes, the twins are turning 2!! I have been focusing on the party most of the week, but need to head to my crafting table right now and finish up a few things. I will share a pic or 2. Or, what I should really do is challenge myself to get the party scrapbooked by the end of next weekend (seeing as how I have yet to scrapbook when they turned 1...)!
Smiles and enjoy your weekend!!
Julie

Perfect Peaches

I was once again perusing the challenges over at StampTV. I focused on challenging myself to finish at least one scrapbook LO. I am so happy I looked, because the 7/14 sketch challenge is great!

With the leaves on top and grass beneath I wanted to recreate the photos from our visit to the peach orchard last year. The leaves were double stamped in Old Olive and then I also fussy cut some out of Old Olive and layered them on. I sponged the Apricot Appeal paper and buttons with Rose Red ink to make each look more like a peach. The grass on the bottom is actually a pine needle stamp.

Details: Everything is SU - Simply Seasonal (grass) and Best Blossoms (leaves) stamp sets {branch is from a really old set :>) }, Old Olive and Rose Red Ink, Old Olive, last year's green in color and Apricot Appeal CS, Apricot Appeal buttons, and the title and phrase are typed in Word with the SU Scrap Baby font.

Enjoy picking your own peaches this year - we will be back to the orchard this year!

Smiles, Julie

Joyful Ballerinas

I recently won blog candy from Cindy (she is so sweet :>, check out her blog). With the candy came a wonderful joy fold card (here is the tutorial from SCS). I am sure that I made this style card at least once in the past, but it is so nice to be reminded to use it again. This card is for a swap that I am taking part in for UStamp (see side bar for a link to all the fun). It is my first swap, so hopefully I am not breaking some unspoken rule by posting the card, LOL. One of my sweetest friends let me borrow a couple of her stamp sets, including All in the Family. As soon as I saw the tutu accessory, I knew I wanted ballerinas and the SU Raspberry Tart paper is still laying around my work area - I keep reaching for it, so why put it away?! If you are tired of seeing it, don't worry because sadly I am down to just scraps. I wish now that I had bought more, because there are such wonderful prints to choose from, including the small dots that I used to paper piece the tutus.
Details: SU Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Wild Wasabi & Rose Red CS, SU Raspberry Tart DP, SU Black Ink, and Wild Wasabi Ribbon. Techniques: Paper Piercing and Paper Piecing.

Smiles, Julie

Put on Your Sunglasses...

'cause this one is bright!
Here is my card for the Sketch Girls, based on the 1st sketch challenge. This is "One Cool Cat".

Such a cute little gal with drink in hand and flower flip flops. Plus, this digi stamp can be found free, here. I paper pieced the whole thing, used a CB embossing folder for the inner tube, and then added a CB flower with circle punch center for the sun. Details: Cool Cat digi stamp created by Tim Hunter for Hambo Stamps, SU Pacific Point, Rose Red, and Going Gray CS, Yellow Creative Memories CS, stash DP, and CB Swiss Dots.

Be sure to play along with the Sketch Girls and share your own version of the first challenge. If you upload to a gallery, use tag SG1.

Here is to hoping that your own weekend is sunny!

Smiles, Julie

Sketch Girl's Challenge

Yay! I just found out that I get to be a Sketch Girl :>) Today is the offical start of Sketch Girl, which is a bi-weekly sketch challenge. The Sketch Girl blog will be home to all the sketches in one place, so click on over and add yourself as a follower to get updates as soon as a new sketch is added. In the future, there will be a contest or two with prizes and who doesn't love a prize! If you make the sketch and upload to a forum, please use keyword SG1.

Now, I do not have my first card done yet, but I will share with you by the end of the week!! Be sure to play along! Check out the link on the sidebar to visit my fellow Sketch Girls :>)

Smiles, Julie

One in a Million

My daughter found a yellow lady bug yesterday, so delicate and pretty, one of the few "bugs" that I actually like. I am sure that yellow lady bugs are common somewhere, but in my area, we only have red ones. It is the first yellow lady bug I have ever seen, so it inspired me to make a lady bug card. Red, White, and Black are also this week's color challenge at Stamp TV {lady bugs bring luck too :>)}.
Details: SU Real Red, Basic Black and Whisper White CS, SU Very Punny and Mini Medleys stamp sets, CB embossing folders, Buttons and ribbon.

Now, I have to admit, I started out with this RED card. I wanted to have the yellow lady bug pop and making it all red seemed the way to go. Now I just wish that the photo actually looked red, and was clear LOL!

Details: SU Real Red, Basic Black and Banana CS, CB embossing folders, SU Very Punny stamp set, SU flower punch, recollections brads, and glitter.
I have tried various times of day and different angles, but it always comes out bright, blurry and horrible. Just trust me that IRL it is cute :>) Because I could not take a good pic I decided to make the red, white, and black card!!
There is tons of embossing and I even used my scorer to make lines on the solid black "ribbon" at the top. The sentiment was typed in Word. I was thinking of my daughter when I made this card, so I needed to add a little bling with the brads and glitter, yes there is glitter on the yellow bug even though you can not see it :>)

Both cards are based on Jen's SFYTT from this week! Check out Jen's blog to play along.

Smiles,
Julie