Creation Vacation

I decided that I needed a "creation vacation", so I took the day off of work to give myself a long weekend. This gave me the opportunity to visited a couple of my favorite local craft supply stores- Michaels, Joann's, and Lancaster Creative Reuse.

After rummaging through the clearance racks, I walked away with a lot of embellishments that I am eager to use! One of my favorite finds was Doodlebug Design clear stamp set "You Said It". I just began using clear stamps (I must have been living under a rock for the last several years) and the versatility of this is a great addition to the collection.

To kick start my creation vacation, I visited the ladies at The Playdate Cafe to seek inspiration. Their color story this week was Cobalt Goldenrod Peony.

Of course, I wanted to play with at least one of my new toys I bought, so I used the Doodlebug stamp set to create a birthday card for PDCC142.

 Thanks for stopping by!


Recipe~
Cardstock:  DCWV mat stacks brights for the pink, blue cardstock from my massive scraps bin, K&Company Sweet Nectar for pad for card
Stamp: Cricut cartridge Doodlebug Design clear stamps "You Said It", Color box inkpad in Ocean
Embossing: Sizzix Texure Boutique machine, Swiss dots folder
Adhesives: This to that foam dots, Glue Dots
Twine: The Twinery's golden yellowy orange

 

PDCC #124

Just a quick hello! It has been a hectic week, but I always have time for The Play Date Cafe challenges! The team over there is so supportive and I love seeing how everyone interprets the weekly challenges. People's creativity absolutely amazes and inspires me!
This week, PDCC #124's colors are raspberry, harbor and honey mustard. They are such happy colors (thank you to the talented Ms. Jaclyn Miller!). I immediately turned to my DCWV's Mango Frost matstack for the latter of the two colors. I stacked these colors on this long card and rounded the corners.

I decided to give my Cricut the day off for a change. I decided to use my Twinery charcoal black twine to create a sentiment. This was the first time I've used the twine in this manner, and I doubt it will be the last! Thanks for checking it out!

Summer lovin'

This week's PDCC #123 was a doozy. You may remember these bright colors I blogged about earlier in the week. I wasn't so happy with how my braided card came together, so if first you don't succeed, try try again! (Oh, my mom would be so proud!)

These colors scream summer to me, and summer screams the beach, drinks and Kenny Chesney! So why not combined the best of both worlds! The unseasonably warm weather we have been having in PA has been leaving me thinking about summer plans. Hopefully by sending this card to one of my friends, it will be a hint that a beach trip is in our future! I can smell the sunscreen now....

"The sun and the sand and a drink in my hand......with no bottom!"

Show and Tell

As much as I enjoyed the card challenge I participated in earlier this week, my real infatuation remains making personalized cards for my friends and family. I feel it is my own little way of giving back and to show how important they are to me. I know sometimes I may go overboard spending hours brainstorming over the “perfect card”, but I do it willingly and with a smile on my face.

My latest project was for friends of ours who became first time parents last Saturday (YAY!). I had attended their baby shower two months ago, where I learned they were going with a sage green and jungle theme for the nursery. As part of their gift, I made them this gender neutral framed collage for their little one.

So when the baby boy arrived on Saturday, I could individualize a card for the proud new parents of  little Jack. I used the same animals from Create a Critter (one of my all-time favorite Cricut cartridges) as I did on the collage. I used my embosser for some texture and finished it off with a couple of sprays of Aleene's Gloss Finish Spray Acrylic Sealer.   

Congrats again Nick and Courtney!

First challenge- ACCEPTED!

This weekend, my fabulous and very handy husband helped me install some additional storage in my craft room. After the screws were all screwed and the nails all nailed, I had to sit back and bask in my personal paradise. And I was inspired.In the many craft blogs I follow, I had heard of card challenges, but never participated in one. I cyberly stumbled upon The Play Date Cafe and instantly fell in love with the challenge PDCC #120.

I am a complete sucker for neutrals and muted colors, so when I read the rules were to use the colors above (baby blue, orangesicle and basil), I accepted the challenge and got to work. I used two of my favorite tools in my craft tool belt- my Cricut for the tree (used cart Straight from the Nest) and my cuttlebug embosser for the leaves and the bottom hill layer.