Thinking Spring!

I am thinking spring! Are you? It certainly doesn't feel like it though. The weather woman says the typical high for this time of year in Massachusetts is 50 degrees. We have been lucky to hit 4o lately! I am happy that the sun was shining bright today though...I am ready for the sunshine and all finished with the snow for this year....let's hope Mother Nature agrees with me. This card below reminds me of spring...

I really wanted to do something with craft color. So I cut this circle image and paper pierced around the edge. I used this pale green card stock for the base and stamped my "all my thanks to you" image in basic brown ink and punched out using the tag punch. I used this craft designer paper for the background. I also loved this daisy ribbon. So when I saw this adorable flower pot button that I adhered with a glue dot. Then for my own daisy, I used a yellow button and a smaller brown button in the center. I thought it came out very cute! I felt it tied the whole card together.

Well, we are going to start week 2 of spring soon, so lets hope for some of that spring like warmth!

Have a great weekend! :) Enjoy your family, friends and life!

~melanie

Rub ons!

Today I just wanted to share with you a couple of cards that I did not even use stamps on, but rub-ons! Stampin' Up! has these really cute coordinated rub on sheets in different colors and designs.

First I used this cute little owl image rubbed onto So Saffon card stock and then trimmed with scissors. I used Sahara Sand printed designer paper bordered in Tempting Turquoise and mounted on a base of So Saffron. I rubbed on the hello sentiment and the leaves/tree like images. Finally a knot of tempting turquoise gross grain ribbon. Super Fun.

Next, I used a base of Old Olive Cardstock and rubbed on the funky flower image. I knotted a Real Red designer button knotted with a piece of twine mounted on the flower with mini glue dots. Then I did stamp! The Birthday wishes sentiment is stamped in chocolate chip ink. Finally I rounded the corners at the bottem of this card.

Both of these cards were made using the Play Date rub-ons set. I love it, it is very cute and funky!

Have a great day! Thanks for stopping by!

~Melanie :)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Have you ever seen a leprechon? Well my daughter Lily is hoping to catch one!
This is the trap that she and my husband made for her to bring to school. Isn't it so fun?

She painted the shoebox and my husband cut the hole for the little bowl. Then Lily used my big shot to die cut leaves that we taped inside the cup to look like a tree.

There is a string colored brown coming down the tree for the Leprechon to climb. ...and when he does....boom....the cup falls on top of him and traps him! Why would he want to climb the tree? for gold coins of course! Bill had the idea to put one in the tree for him and Lily had the idea to put a trail to "lure him in"! I love this!

Thanks for stopping by today! Don't drink too much green beer (it's only Thursday! LOL)

~Melanie :)

Birthday Bits!

I have been making a lot of birthday cards lately. I realize that is the kind of card that is probably sent or given the most. We all look forward to getting birthday cards don't we?I had a lot of fun making this card. I used lots of layers on the front. Many shapes of punches to layer under my sentiment. I think this card is my favorite. I have been seeing a lot of cards lately with text backgrounds so this is my first time using this paper. I love it. And the butterfly with the pearl body is so whimsy. Below is a glimpse of the inside of the card. Many times I leave the inside of the card blank for personalization, but for birthday cards, I do like to decorate inside as well as out.

Another one of my new favorite cards is below. I love the pretty flowers. I stamped them in yellow but used 2 different yellows to add dimension. Again I worked with layers for the sentiment. I am loving layers.

Inside the card is stamped the same image just a lighter version. I stamped off the stamp first and then stamped it inside. Make a wish... is the perfect birthday sentiment. Funny, these flowers also remind me of dandelions and when they are all white and puffy you can make a wish and blow off all the seeds!

Both of these cards are available for purchase in my oniline etsy store. I am really trying to amp up my mini business. I appreciate everyone who has had me make cards or gifts for them! I am available to do custom cards as well, so if there is a certain card you are looking for but don't see, drop me a note!

Thanks for stopping by and checking out my work today. I hope you enjoyed!

Have a great day!

~ Melanie :)

Sew Cute!

I love these new SU! Sets. They are called Sew Suite and Pattern Pieces (available in the mini catalog through April 30th)

I had to have them and I am so glad I got them! Fun to work with. I used to sew a lot too, so I think that pulled me in. I accessorised the set with the paper and buttons from the sale-a-bration catalog - free with a $50 purchase. Pretty cool huh?
The dress forms are so cute, and so in right now. I punched them 3 times and then I punched a 3rd time on the back of the paper I wanted to use and cut it out and paper pieced on top of the middle form.

I had a lot of fun making these and a lot of other cards lately.

If you like these and want to see others and purchase, check out my Etsy store link to the right of my blog. I plan to update my store with lots of new merchandise this weekend. How fun is it to receive a card in the mail, for a birthday or just to say hello? And how special for that card to be handmade? Says I love you or I'm thinking of you! Prices are comparable to store bought cards, but so much more special!

Thanks for stopping by today and have a great weekend! :)

~Melanie

Happy Birthday Spinner Card

This card I gave to my friend Lisa for her birthday. It was the first card I made with the spinner set from SU! The spinner uses a brad in the center and the little arrow. You can point it to whatever you want it to say. The set has 4 stamps, 2 square and 2 circle with different holidays/reasons to celebrate. It is fun. I used my markers to color the stamp because I wanted a multi colored stamp. I used this coral paper which I love! (too bad it is discontinued) and I paired it with So Saffron Yellow and pink. I versa stamped the cupcake wheel onto the coral paper and then used the scallop border punch along the top edge. The button is from Paper Trey Ink and the thread is embroidery thread, which I bought a whole bunch of in different colors to use with my buttons.Inside the card I stamped a make a wish sentiment that I bought in the dollar bin at Michaels and I used my new cupcake punch from SU! to make this die cut cupcake! How cute!My daughter Lily was in my craft room with me that day and she wanted to make a card too. This image is from Michael's $1 stamp bin. It is a great stamp with a big holder on top, perfect for kids to grip. She then colored with markers, used my 2" SU! circle punch to punch out the image and layered it on real red card stock.

My friend Lisa is in FLA right now, she was supposed to be enjoying a vacation with her family, but her Grams ended up in the hospital and is very sick, so if you could just say a prayer for Lisa and her 2 little girls, that would be great.

Thanks for stopping by today, have a nice Sunday!

~Melanie

Red, Pink and White...

but not another Valentine's Day card! I did make this the same time as I made some of my Valentine's day cards though, hence the red and white colors. When I have my paper out, I tend to just keep going with it. The idea for this card was CASED over at splitcoaststampers.com. Unfortunately, I do not remember who posted the original. I really liked the buttons over the flower look, so I punched out 9 Real Red flowers and used a variety of pink and white buttons to layer. I found a cute little white heart button that I used for the center. (I did say it was near Valentine's Day!)

So I decided to make this a birthday card and stamped the bday image. I made a pretty lacey bottom to the white layer and mounted a pink background at the top. Finally I used my Real Red grosgrain ribbon and made a knot. I really love Real Red, I love the bright crispness of the red color!

Well, it will be about 10 degrees today here in Massachusetts, so much for my hopes of spring coming early! My friend is swimming in FLA right now, 80 degrees! She is wearing a bathing suit and I will be wearing long johns! Well, next week she better bring back some of that sunshine and warm weather!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a nice day! :)

~melanie

More Valentine's Day

I know, it is March 1st!, but I have finally downloaded my Valentine's day pictures. I wanted to share them. Every year for Valentine's Day my sisters and our kids get together for lunch and to exchange Valentine's day cards. These cute little buggers I made for my nieces and nephews this year.These adorable robots are from Pink Cat Studio. they are digital images that I downloaded, printed on my home printer and colored in with my Stampin' Up! markers.

The card stock is from Stampin' Up also and I hand wrote my sentiments. I think they are just adorable! Well, I did say we get together for valentine's day lunch, so below is the lunch we prepared. Macaroni and cheese because that is always a big hit and then these adorable hot dogs that my sister found on familyfun.com website. It is all edible! The arrow is made of a piece of uncooked spaghetti and cheese for the tip and end! How adorable is that? It was a very big hit.

Well, thanks for stopping by today! March 1st huh? Let's hope for some warm weather to melt all this white (brown now) stuff! I am ready for some warmer air and sunshine!

~melanie :)