Pretty Purses

Okay, are these not the cutest little purses you ever did see?

While I was blog hopping I came across this post Curtain Call over at It's a Stamp Thing and I had to CASE it!

Finally put ink to this Things I love stamp set by SU!

I made a couple of purses so then I had to make a couple of cards! I hope you enjoy these cute little cards as much as I do! But, I have a very busy day and must get off of my computer! Have a great one :)

~melanie

Circle circus

I had so much fun making this card. I made my own designer paper.

I used the Circle Circus stamp set and stamped 2 of the circles in a random pattern over whisper white paper. I used Real Red and Brilliant Blue ink. I also stamped the red circle on the edge of the cardstock inside the card.

I used a stamp from the Everything Nice set and used my Stampin' Write markers to color the stamp to get the alternating colors on the sentiment. Then I stamped happy birthday inside the card.

A corner rounder, a circle punch, some real red ribbon and my card was beautiful!

Well, ready to start another week. I am able to post this AM because I have been up since 3:30 and not able to sleep! Finally after laying there for 45 minutes, I decided to just get up and be productive. I was able to design a Christmas card last night, so I am hoping to finish the set and photograph for you later tonight!

Have a great day!

~melanie :)

Punched Owl

I love the new 2 step punch from Stampin' Up! This one is like the 2 step bird, but is an owl! How adorable is this guy?

One punch has all the pieces to make this cutie. Just punch multiple times for whichever colors or DSP paper you want then glue it all together.

On this little guy, I used crystal effects on his eyes to help hold on his little pupils and to make his eyes shine! Isn't this just adorable?

Well, got to get to bed. This back to school week has worn me out! Getting myself to work and the kids to bed is exhausting!

Thanks for looking today!

~melanie

Splitcoast Sketch Challenge

These 2 cards I made using SSCC296 over at splitcoaststampers.com

Both are made using a retired SU set that I had bought at a yardsale during the summer. I forget the name right now (the problem of having a craft room in the basement and a computer in the living room and no laptop! Do you feel sorry for me? Just Kidding)

Both cards were made using all SU products: paper, DSP, stamps, ink and accessories. Much of it is retired,but I have lots of stuff to use up! I admit it when it comes to craft supplies, I am a hoarder!

Well, thanks for looking today, I hope you are having a super Labor Day Weekend!

~melanie :)

Back to school week!

Well, it is that time of year again! I love that commercial on TV where the kids and dad are back to school shopping for supplies and the dad is cruising on the cart and the kids look horrified and the music is playing "It's the most wonderful time of the year...."

I am so glad that fall is coming. I like summer, but I love the cool weather of fall. Also, we really need some structure in our house right now. It has been so chaotic during the summer, staying up later, no routines. I am so looking forward to routine!

Above are my gorgeous daughters Allison and Lillian ready to go to the bus stop for the first day! Ally is in 2nd grade and Lily is entering Transition. Full days for both of them! :)

So, do you think I have gotten any stamping done this week? Of course not. I have spent the last 2 days doing errands and dragging along my 2 little ones. My husband thinks the house should be clean I bet, but it looks worse now than it did yesterday morning! I went to the grocery store this am and realized how tired I was, so I put half of the food away and left the non perishables all over and took a nap with the kids! That felt good! Now, waiting for the girls to get off the bus and then heading for a swim to my mom's...it's 95 degrees out today!

The house will get clean later :)

And, hopefully some stamping!

Thanks for stopping by, ~ melanie

More Christmas

I made more Christmas cards! This one was so easy and so pretty!

I used Bashful Blue card stock, cut in half 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 and folded to make a standard 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 size. I ran my folded card stock in my Elegant Lines embossing folder (page 216) through my Big Shot (page 206) so only the front would be embossed.

Then I used Basic Pearls (page190-a great product, self adhesive) in a couple different sizes to add a little bling! I also used smooch spritz in Vanilla Shimmer (page 197) to add a lotta bling and sparkle to the entire card front.

Finally I used my 5/8" Organza Ribbon in Whisper White to tie a knot along the left side.

I really love how this card came out. And even though my description sounds long, it was pretty simple to make.

I have also made another one with Rhinestones and Silver cord and stamped in Happy Birthday! A quick and easy card that can be changed for any occasion.

I hope you enjoyed this card. I will probably try and make some non Christmas cards in the next few days. :)

Thanks for looking!

~melanie

Christmas!

What Christmas? It's not even Labor Day! Well, I need to start thinking Christmas.

I made a few sets of Christmas cards this week. Here is the first:

The layout for these cards was from Taylored Expressions TESC125

I thought the layout was so cute, then I saw my new Christmas DSP from Stampin' Up! and I thought the cirlces in the sketch reminded me Christmas ornaments.

I added pearls and then used my new smooch spritz to shine up the cards (you can see from my picture that I am not good at photographing glossy items, but you can imagine the effect!)

Well, it certainly got me in the mood for Christmas card making and I will be making more soon!

Happy End of Summer!

~melanie

Always

Well, I have been having fun this week in my craft room! This is the first card I made for the colourq challenge. But then I decided to use my second card. Usually, when I start to play with certain colors or papers, I make a few cards with them at once.

This stamp set is Always Elegant (page 67 of Idea Book and Catalog)

I stamped the image in Wild Wasabi multiple times across the Vanilla Card stock, then flipped my stamp and stamped in the opposite direction to fill in the blanks...I made my own DSP!

I then used Cherry cobbler to stamp the Always sentiment and to border the Vanilla Paper. The main card stock is Baja Breeze.

The ribbon is taffeta Daffodil Delight and a cute button.

Super Simple, but Always Elegant!

Today we are getting ready for my daughter's Cheerleading Jamboree! She is 7 and so excited to cheer for a game! So, I gotta get my butt in gear and get myself and her ready!

Thanks for checking out my card today, have a great weekend!

~melanie

Tea Time

I am really loving all these cute cards with tea and coffee themes. This card was made using SU! Morning Cup set. This card is all Stampin Up!

So, I mentioned that I love to do sketch challenges right? Well this time I decided to do a color challenge. See ColourQ challenges at http://colourq.blogspot.com/

I did improvise a little because my ribbon is actually Marina Mist, but it blended in nicely!

So, we all make mistakes right? Well check out the image below. This is my card before I had to fix my error. Do you notice it? I stamped my sentiment crooked! Why did this happen? Because I was being too lazy to use my super easy Stamp-a-ma-jig tool which would ensure that my image would be placed exactly as I liked it to be.

So, I had to fix this by getting a new piece of vanilla card stock and then restamping my image and mounting it on cherry cobbler card stock after rounding both top edges. Actually, I like the new card better. I guess good can come from mistakes.

I hope you enjoyed this card and remember....it can always be fixed!

~melanie

Aviary

I just love this new Stampin' Up! set called Aviary. 4 little birds and 4 different cages as well as one stand post. You can mix and match the images to create different designs!

So, how do I get my ideas for card layouts? Well, some I think up on my own or just make as I go, but what I really like to do is scour blogs for challenges. This layout (which I really adore) came from Taylored Expressions TESC 117. Sketch from Taylored Expressions, but all supplies from Stampin' Up!

recipe:

stamp set: Aviary

cardstock: Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Soft Suede

DSP: Greenhouse Gala

accessories: Daffodil Delight taffeta ribbon, Scallop trim border, corner rounder punch

Well, I hope you like my little bird card.

Hope to share more soon.

~melanie