with hugs and love

This week I'm on call for jury duty.  I'm glad to serve the community.  While waiting, what's better than putting a new post on my blog?

I'm continuing with my mini-series of cards using the same Lawn Fawn set.  I can't say how much I love it enough!  Versatile, fun and pretty!

This time I'm using the sentiment that comes with the set.  My friend just needed a pick-me-up and I think it's perfect for her.  This card is so easy to make, and the sentiment in the center can be changed to anything.  Perhaps a "hello" or "thanks" die cut will make it super awesome too!

My card is linking up to the following:
Creative Moments - Anything Goes
Double D Challenge - Flowers Galore
Crafty Creations - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday

The Fab Flowers Stamp and die from Lawn Fawn is just an awesome set!  The flowers can be arranged in so many ways and of course with different color combinations the possibilities are endless.


When I first saw this set I didn't see I would fall in love with it but after I've bought it I couldn't stop playing with it!  This is the birthday card I made for my SIL:

I love that it is so easy and guess what?  Because you can always make something different with it, the novelty never wears away!




My card is entering the following:
Cards Und More - Cards for Women
Retarte - Anything Goes
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes


Thanks for stopping by!

Mother's Day card

I hope you all had a fun National Scrapbooking Day last weekend. I went to a small crop with a friend and we sure had fun.


I didn't scrapbook but I got several cards done.  They all made use of the Lawn Fawn Fab Flowers stamp and die.  I didn't bring much with me to the crop and with that set, I made several cards.  So glad that I got my mom's and my grandma's Mother's Day cards completed. :)


This one goes to my mom:

I had so much fun making this one.  The one for my grandma is very similar.  Will share that soon.

This card is entering the following challenges:
Always Fun Challenges - For a Female or Mom
Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes
Crafting with Dragonflies - Lots of Flowers/Mother's day

Thanks for stopping by!

Hello!

I love sending Hello cards.  It is one of the most versatile type of cards - great for lazy crafters like me.

Hello cards are similar to all-purpose cards for me.  It says "Hello" on the outside but you could write anything you like on the inside.

When I made the V-day mermaid card last week, I colored additional images and of course I'm making a second card with them:

Simple and neat, right?  I used several shades of blue for the sea, and a dark shade of blue for the card base.  Although it is a mermaid on the card front, the blues could make it a guy card.  Love this idea! :)

My card is entering the following:
Crafty Friends - anything goes
Cardz 4 Guys - underwater
Lemon Shortbread - Anything Goes
Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes
Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

Mermaids

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and love card challenge is everywhere!

Over the years I have bought a lot of V-day products but never have much opportunity to use them.  Inspired by the challenges I decided to break open some of my products and play with them.

I've made a card using Mermaid for You from Lawn Fawn:

Yes, it is another clear card!  I still have the pack of clear cards laying on my desk and I can't resist using it!

This Mermaid for You set is so fun and while I have the supplies ready, I've made a Hello card for my friend whom I haven't seen for a while.

This card is entering the following:
AAA cards - Shape your love

Addicted to stamps - love
Come and get it - love is in the air
Dragonfly Journeys - love is in the air
Just us girls - hearts

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Valentine's Day!

Whale you be mine?

Although I am quite romantic at heart (since I was a romance novel junkie) I am not too big on celebrating V-day.  Once upon a time I saw a movie where the boyfriend pisses off his girlfriend as he took her to some random non-romantic places to dinner with his friends on V-day.  They broke up soon as girlfriend thought he wasn't a romantic person.  Boyfriend argued that V-day had nothing to do with romance as it was just an occasion for business to encourage consumers to spend.  Boy did he piss off his girlfriend?

As for me, I make V-day cards just for fun.  I also notice that I have many sets dedicated to V-day that haven't seen any ink yet.  Oops.  So to give my stamps some love, I decided to make a V-day card.

It's a clear card!  Isn't it fun to switch up the card base to something other than cardstock?

My card is entering the following:
Cards in Envy - Be My Valentine
Coloring in Scrapland - Love
Crafting by Designs - Love and Romance
Inspiration Destination - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

Socks?

Lawn Fawn stamp images always bring a smile to me.  I love using their stamps to make cards as I think those cards will bring a smile to the recipient too!

While the new release is coming up, I am taking a look at my stash to see which stamp/die I have bought but haven't used.  How many of my stamps fall into this category?  Let's just say it is quite an embarrassing number.  Sadly, there were stamps/dies I bought with an idea in my head regarding what to make and to whom it should be sent.  Things change over time and that may not be necessary anymore.  Having said that, it doesn't stop me to make a card to put in my stash.  It will be nice to just have fun playing with the supplies!

I forgot why I bought the set Loads of Fun from Lawn Fawn but I wanted to use it (to justify the purchase).

It will be nice to send to my friend M who is lending me tons of support these days.  I always enjoy hanging out with her and her personality lifts me up. :)

My card is entering the following:
Making Memories Crafting - Anything Goes
Crafting with Friends - Anything Goes
Brown Sugar Challenge - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

I copied myself!

Is it bad that I'm copying myself?  I had this in mind when I was creating the first one, so is it really copying?

Last week, I shared the sister card:

I knew that this sketch and the stamp images could be used for a variety of occasions when I made the birthday card.  So I attempted to make a Love You card and just as I anticipated, it worked out great!  Next time I'm going to try a Thank You card.  Is it too much?  They go to different recipients, so I guess that's okay.

Sometimes when I find a sketch or combination of elements that I like, I'll use it on many cards.  The interesting thing is that, although they look similar, it is still fun to make them.  By switching up a few elements the cards look similar yet different.  :)

My card is entering the following:
Inspiration Destination - Anything Goes
Color Crazy Craft Challenge - Anything Goes
Creative Moments - Anything Goes
Crafty Gals Corner - Add a heart
Moo-Mania - love

Thanks for stopping by!

Hello Baby

My friend W and his wife A just welcomed their very first baby Victoria 2 months ago.  They are finally ready for visitors!

I made a simple card for them because I had very little time to whip it up.  I wanted to catch Victoria's awake time during the day!  I located my Lawn Fawn Hello Baby stamp set, then created the background by repeat stamping, and added a heart die cut and grass to ground the bunnies.  Finally I added a banner that says "Hello baby!"  That's how simple it is! :)

This card is entering the following:
Nordsalten Hobbyklubb - baby
A Gem of a challenge - something new
Challenge up your life - selfmade background
Stempelsonnen - coloring; anything goes

Thanks for stopping by!

Love you

I'm sharing a card where no stamping was involved.  I'm a stamper at heart and most of my cards involve some stamping.  Stamping is also one of the easiest things to do when you crop with your friends - no need to haul a cutting machine!

My card is very simple.  When I made it, I wanted to use several paper pads and perhaps I got carried away by it and didn't do stamping.

It is a window card so I used different heart dies from Lawn Fawn to create a border for the opening.  The paper used comes from four paper pads (Weather Sweater, Let's Polka, Beachside, Perfectly Plaid Fall)!  I love mixing and matching stamps and now I also love mixing and matching paper!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday

Sharing a masculine birthday card today:

I was fortunate to have snatched the new Lawn Fawn love letters stamp set soon after it was released.  I wasn't too big on V day cards but this set is great all year round too!  The cute envelope image is so fun!

I can see that I can easily change it to a card for a different occasion - use a heart or circle instead of a star; put other sentiments beneath it, etc.

This card will go to a supportive friend.  Hope he will like it.

It is entering the following:
Seize the Birthday - anything goes
CCEE stampers - bird day
Dragonfly journeys - birthday bash
Cardz 4 Guyz - Birthday

Thanks for stopping by!

Shhhhh......

When I am struggling creatively, I organize my stash and I also like to go through my old cards (through my blog, of course!)

I saw this slider card I made in a class and I thought I could translate the concept into a Christmas card........

So I literally just copied it using different supplies and it becomes

It is pretty fun and cool (pun intended) that the penguin spins from the top of the slider and lands on the piece of ice. It should be great for a kid. :)

My card is entering the following challenges:
Addicted to Stamps - Snowflakes
Use Your Stuff - Merry Christmas
Christmas with the Cuties - Anything Cute or Christmasy
Coloring in Scrapland - Christmas
Crafty Boots - Winter Wonderland

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Howlidays

I have said it many times that masculine cards could be tricky.  That still holds true.  But I think that many Lawn Fawn critter images will bring a smile to everyone's face.

I've made this card for a guy friend who loves dogs. 

Remember I said the slide on over die is my new favorite?  I just have to use it on every card now.  Love interactive cards:

You may find this card look familiar.  It has the exact same layout as this one here.  The cards go to different household.  Hopefully they won't know about it.  Shhhh......

I'm entering my card to the following:

The Male Room - Christmas

Craftaholics - Guys + Christmas

Crafting with an Attitude - Anything Goes

Through the Purple Haze - Anything Goes

Crafty Gals Corner - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Holidays

Are you done with your Christmas cards? Shopping? Tags?

I was pretty good in the last couple of years to start my Christmas cards early, so by this time, I would have sent out my cards already then I would just focus on the shopping (and shopping for myself, of course!).  This year, I blame the fact that I moved right before Thanksgiving, so everything was chaotic.  Needless to say my shopping spree was no longer focusing on craft stores, but hardware stores, furniture stores and such.

Faced with pressure, my creative juice does not flow as well.  But that's ok.  It's the most festive time of the year.  If my card wasn't the best, I'm sure people understand it because it's the thought that counts.  Right?  I'm trying to avoid making multiples of the same card.  But you'll see in my future posts that although they are not identical, they are extremely similar.

I am sharing one that I made for my nephew J today.

I have a nickname in my family.  It has something to do with bunny.  I'm trying to show my nephew things about bunny so he will remember me. :)

I'm mixing and matching new and old Lawn Fawn goodies again.  The patterned paper is from the Snow Day collection.  I used the little town border and stitched hillside border die to create the background.   The slide on over die is my new favorite!  Love to use it to make interactive cards!  The star of the show is of the winter bunny stamp & die.  Oh so fun!

I hope my 1.5 year old nephew like it.  I certainly had fun making it!

My card is entering the following challenges:
613 Create - Christmas
AAA cards - Christmas
Addicted to stamps - Christmas
Come and Get it Challenge - Christmas
Crafting when we can - Christmas

Thanks for stopping by!

Back to cardmaking

I'm starting to settle in in my new place.  Boxes of craft supplies are still unpacked.  I barely got my table set up so I could make Christmas cards in time for the season!

I'll continue to share them as I make them.  Unfortunately some of them will be similar.  As long as the recipients do not know about the similarities, it should be fine, right?

This is probably the one that I like the most.  I'm mixing and matching Lawn Fawn products from different seasons!  How fun!  I use the Christmas plaid patterned paper and the 12x12 blue plaid paper for background.  Two snowbanks made the ground for the snowmen and I just added simple accessories for the snowmen.

I love the sentiment "friends warm the heart".  It's perfect for my good friend who has been supportive and understanding.

This card is entering the following challenges:
Cards und more - Oooh so cold
A Snowflakes Promise - Winter theme
Retarte - Anything Goes
Sunny Day Crafting - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting!

Oh deer!

It has been a while since I shared any layouts.  It was partly because I was waiting for prompts and challenges on Shimelle's blog.  Her blog was silent for a while because her phone was crashed.  But she got to immerse herself in the vacation without looking at the phone.  Nice!

She has returned and posted several challenges.  I'm excited to play along!

One of the challenges is to scrapbook the outdoors.  This is a challenge I *need*!  I still have a ton of pictures from my trip to Banff to document.

I decided to make a simple page to "warm up":

 
This page documents the story where we saw three deer going from the big to the small island inside the lake.   My family and I quietly watched them as they walk.  All hikers were amazed and speechless!

I was happy to play with a variety of products, including Crate paper patterned paper, Amy Tangerine stickers from Oh Happy Life, Kelly Purkey's project life cards from July Stay Cool Kit.

Now that I have the supplies out, I'm going to play more with them!

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas cards

This past weekend, I took a class with Kelly Marie Alvarez, one of the owners of Lawn Fawn.  We made four Christmas cards.  It was so much fun!

Kelly Marie was one of the nicest and sweetest teachers I have had.  She had everything organized. including time!  We had enough time to work on each of our cards at our own pace but at the end of the class we could finish them all without any rush.

The cards are all interactive.  Oh so cute!

This was the first card we made and it is the inside of the card, where the star of the show is at.  The snowy hills form a three dimensional platform for the fairies, the branches and the house.  Imagine you see these elements when you open a card.  It's going to bring everyone a smile!

Kelly Marie shared a trick with us while using this die - down and in.  After adding the bottom of the mechanism to the card, push everything down, then in, fold up the card to let the glue stick, then when you open it, magic happens because the interactive portion is stuck on the card! :)

I've got this die and now that I've learned this trick, I'll make cards using it with confidence!

We made this slider card using Jump for Joy.  The hedgehog jumps onto the pile of leaves which scattered around.  I learned that if you use a circular foam dot, the hedgehog will spin.  And if you use a square one it will go straight along the track.  :)

This is a very cute card!  Love the mermaid color!  If you open the oven, you'll see the message that is currently covered by the oven handle.  Isn't that fun?  I love the cross stitched border dies.  Time to check my budget......

This last one is rather small and simple but still cute and fun!  It is also a pop up card where the reindeer is sitting on a pop-up element.  It is a great idea for mass production.

So happy to have taken this class and I truly enjoyed it.

Now I'm off to making more interactive Christmas cards!

Thanks for stopping by!

Pop up card

It's time to make Halloween cards for my lovely niece and nephew!

Although I make far fewer cards than before, I continue to purchase a lot of cute products in anticipation of making cards for them.

What's more fun than making an interactive Halloween card?

The card front is very simple but once you open it up:

The twist and pop mechanism makes it a surprise!  I had fun coloring the critters in various costumes and putting it together.  I have certainly had opened the card for 100+ times to see the fun but I never cease to smile once I see it. :)

I'm entering my card to:
Animal Friends - Autumn/Halloween
Crafty Awesomeness - coloring
Stampotique - Halloween
Unicorn - Halloween

Thanks for stopping by!

A shaker card

I'm continuing to share another assignment I made for the Wild Cards class at Online Card Classes.

It's a shaker card today.

And if you shake it up the glitter would go to the top of the snow globe:

Cute and super fun to make!

But let me share a story behind it - I was actually hoping to put water in it to make it look more realistic as a snow globe.  I went to several stores to buy the materials and made it successfully.  I set it aside while working on other "homework" from the class, then when I went back to this card to take pictures of it.  Some images are smearing.  Eek!  I can't explain if I've put in too much water, or the zip lock was not closed securely, or the zip lock was made of low quality materials that it would leak.  But at that time I couldn't care less!  I just want to salvage it to the extent possible!

I was able to save the top part of the card (everything above the acetate sheet) so I re-created the scene. I was disappointed but I didn't let it kill the joy of making a fun card.  I completed it without filling it with water.  It's still cute, isn't it?

My card is linking up to:
Craftyhazelnut's Christmas challenge - patterned paper
Sparkles Christmas - Snowman
12 months of Christmas - Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by!

Four identical cards?

Can you tell the difference among the following four pictures?

Using the techniques I learned at Wild Card over at Online Card Classes, I have made this spinner card.  The interesting part is the balloon held by the bear.  As you turn the spinner, the color changes and so does the face, except for the orange balloon I've stamped 4.  Yes, my niece is turning 4 and I have no idea how she is growing so fast!

Last year I made a birthday card for her using the same stamp set, but there only 3 critters.  This year there are 4 critters and the card involves an interactive portion.  I sure did have a lot of fun making it and I hope she will have fun playing it.

I'm linking my card to:

Crafty Hazelnut - patterned paper

Happy Little Stampers - dies

Scrap-Creations - Birthday

Die Cutting Divas - Dessert

Thanks for stopping by!