S'more i{heart}papers

I'm posting s'more cuteness from i{heart}papers today. This is my last post as guest designer for them!  I can't believe two months have already flown by! What fun!

I wanted to make a happy little campfire themed card since we've been having our fair share of backyard fire pit evenings this summer.  With roasted marshmallows, s'mores and sparklers, of course!  The evenings this summer have been absolutely perfect for such an activity and we're really enjoying them!

I used Lawn Fawn's Love You S'more & Into the Woods sets to create this card.  I paired the stamped images and sentiment with one of the speech bubbles from Avery Elle's Oh Yeah Dies.  The stamping was done with Memento Rich Cocoa Ink & the cute little fox was colored with Copic Markers.  Both the speech bubble and fox were popped up using foam dots to add a little dimension to the card.  I added a little yellow flower sequin from Lawn Fawn for interest and a little glimmer to the roasted marshmallow with a Wink of Stella Brush Glitter Marker.  I'm thinking this card will go to our neighbor who has been a steady playmate for the boys this summer!

We roasted marshmallows on our trip to Michigan last week!  We discovered a new park in the town we were staying in which had a fire pit and a fun little water play area.

DH ran after some marshmallows and matches while the boys collected some twigs and we had an impromptu campfire one evening!  DH once again explained the process involved to achieve a perfectly roasted marshmallow to the boys.

However, someone once again ignored the message...

...because he actually likes 'em this way (fully ignited and then blown out like a birthday candle)!

Owls are taking over my brain now as we prepare to celebrate DD's first birthday with extended family this weekend!   We did let her enjoy a little chocolate on her actual birthday just because that's what a girl is supposed to do on such an occasion!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Celebrate School

It's Friday again and, after receiving some school papers in the mail for the upcoming school year, I couldn't help but think of school things!  I made a school themed card, knowing how excited kids get during the days leading up to the beginning of a new school year.  At least, the elementary aged ones I know usually feel this way about it!

Stamps:  Paper Smooches (Smarty Pants - bus & stars, Market Fresh - dashed line, Salutations - sentiment)
Ink:  Memento (Tuxedo Black), SU (Daffodil Delight)
Die:  Paper Smooches (Notebook)
Extras:  Wink of Stella Brush Marker, Copic Markers, black rhinestones (wheels)

I created my card using supplies from i{heart}papers.  I first die cut a notebook shaped panel of white cardstock using a Paper Smooches die.  I then stamped the dashed line and one word sentiment.  The bus was stamped, colored with Copic markers and then fussy cut before being popped up using foam dots.  I stamped a trio of yellow stars and added a little sparkle to them using a Wink of Stella Brush Marker.  For a little extra touch of fun, I added two small black rhinestones to the wheels for some extra dimension.  I adhered the entire main panel to the card base using foam dots.

I am joining in the current Paper Smooches Anything Goes Challenge as well as linking up with the current RUN challenge over at CASology because school bus drivers will soon be doing test RUNS of their bus routes in preparation for the new school year!

The family and I are actually on vacation as I'm typing this today.  DD is taking a nap after having a no nap kind of day yesterday.  It's good when a baby gets at least one nap per day...for everyone involved!  I'm enjoying the quiet along with a free cup of coffee & the guys are off climbing sand dunes and making more sand castles (or something of that sort...DH decided to replicate the Hoover Dam yesterday...).  We're enjoying Michigan beaches and blueberries straight from the bush.  This is what our family looks forward to every summer!  DD will enjoy it more next year.  This time, she is eating her fill of blueberries...and sand.

Have a great weekend!

It's Kate's Birthday Blog Hop!

Today is a very special day because it's Kate's birthday!  Kate happens to own and operate one of my favorite online stores, i {heart} papers. To celebrate her, the design team and guest designers are having a little blog hop to share our birthday cards and wishes!

I created a clean and simple birthday card using some fun speech bubble dies from Avery Elle and stamped fun words in them from the coordinating stamp set to match today's occasion!

I started out by stamping the celebrate sentiment (Paper Smooches) in bright pink and then used a portion of a sentiment from the same set to add the "you".

 

The speech bubbles were popped up with foam dots for dimension and hot pink gemstones were added as simple embellishments.

I hope you have a wonderful birthday, Kate!

Be sure to hop along to each designer and leave these talented gals some love!

Lindsay 

Lisa, guest designer

Lori 

Melissa, guest designer - you're here!

Sarah 

Sheri 

Tracy 

Vera 

And please stop by Kate's blog to wish her a happy birthday!

 

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

A Big Huge Thanks

Today is DS1's first double digit birthday.  I'm not exactly sure how I feel about it!  Something about the double digit thing seems to be bothering me.  "Only eight more years..." is what my subconscious is whispering.  Eight short years, I'm afraid.

Today, I'm guest designing again over at i{heart}papers, so for my card today, I reached for this cute hippo to create some simple thank you cards for DS1:

Stamps:  Avery Elle (Hipster-Potamus)
Ink:  Memento (Tuxedo Black), Hero Arts (neon ink)
Dies:  Avery Elle (Chevron Bits)

DS1 has been making a birthday list and while some of the listed items he'll only be seeing in his dreams, we usually pick one or two gifts for him that we think he'll use for a while.  What would be on a 10-year-old boy's wish list?  (It's always good to know, isn't it?!)

• Peanut Butter Cap'n Crunch
• a Fitbit
• a camera to replace his broken one
• an Ipad
• a Butterfinger candy bar (maybe more than one...)

I seriously considered the camera since used ones can be found fairly inexpensively on Ebay.  However, he forgot that he's talked about a scooter a few times over the last year and his mother has a way of keeping track of things people casually mention in conversation.

Have a marvelous Monday!

A Hello Hoot

Owls.  I was exposed to them at a very young age...

Now DD seems to have an affection for a certain pink polka dotted one that I happened to stick in her crib along with her elephant and soft doll.  I figured since her room is done up in an owl theme, she might as well have an owl in her stuffed animal collection, right?!  Little did I know she'd latch onto it like she has!

Inspired by owls, I created a card for today using supplies from i{heart}papers who is having a 30% off moving sale until sometime in early July as they make their move!

I used the fun owl in Paper Smooches' Kitschy Kitchen set, inking it up with four different colors of neon ink!  I framed it with the stitched circle die from Lawn Fawn's Stitched Party Banners die set.  The little cursive hello can be found in Lawn Fawn's Love 'n Breakfast set.  I decided to add a little something extra to the eyes with black rhinestones.  As always, I used Memento Tuxedo Black ink for the black sentiment!

It's raining cats and dogs here today, so rainy day activities abound.  DS3 fell asleep on the couch a few minutes ago and DD seems to be amazingly sleeping through all the rumblings going on in the sky!

Have a marvelous Monday!

i {heart} papers Moving Sale!

It's Friday already and I found a little crafty time this morning (accompanied by the three boys)!  I'm always amazed at the energy boost a little creative time gives me!  It's almost as good as a cup of strong coffee!  Almost.

There's a moving sale going on over at i {heart} papers right now that you'll want to take advantage of if you're due for a little stash update!  There's a lot of inventory to unload before the big move, so they're providing a little incentive for you to help them lighten their load!

I created a little celebration card and am linking it up with CASology's current CELEBRATE challenge!  July 4th is coming up rather quickly!  So hard to believe it's almost here already!

I'm absolutely loving my Wink of Stella Brush pen right now!  I can add a touch of sparkle so easily!  I added some to this popsicle for a frosty appearance!

Have a fabulous Friday!

Cool clear set (Technique Tuesday)

Lawn Fawn Plus One set

Copic Markers

Silver Sequins

Tuxedo Black Ink (Memento)

Wink of Stella pen

InLinkz.com

A White on White Birthday

I'm discovering I'm quite behind on mailing out birthday greetings to family and friends.  While crafting away with the boys, I made a simple birthday card for one of our nephews.

The banner and numbers were die cut and then the entire main panel was popped up with foam dots. The sentiment was stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and three silver sequins were added as embellishments.

All supplies from  i {heart} papers:

Stitched Banner Die (Lawn Fawn)

Modern Numerals Die (WPlus9)

Cool clear set (Technique Tuesday)

Tuxedo Black Ink (Memento)

Silver Sequins

InLinkz.com

As I promised, you get to see DS2 and his Titanic drawing...

He created his canvas by taping four pieces of white cardstock together.  He's already started on another drawing.  This kid is happiest when he's drawing or writing!

It's day three of summer vacation and I've already heard those words we parents all love so much..."I'm bored."  A few weeks ago, DS1 was complaining about having too much homework.  Now he's complaining about not having anything to do!  Isn't that so very human?!  The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence and the anticipation of something often times brings more happiness than its acquisition.  A few chores should change his outlook.  Hehehe.

Have a great Thursday!

Exciting News!

 

I have exciting news to share with you today!  I have been asked to guest design for the months of June & July over at i {heart} papers!

Today, I thought I'd share a card I made using a few of the oh-so-cute Lawn Fawn stamps and accessories that are in the store.  A rather happy card was what I came up with!

I die cut the little frame using the Lawn Fawn #awesome dies.

The frame was glued directly to the card base.  I kept the middle piece of the frame and stamped a bright yellow sun image from Lawn Fawn's Hello Sunshine stamp set in the middle of it.  I then adhered the stamped panel over the outer portion of the die cut frame with foam dots.  I stamped three cloud images with Memento Ink's (Tuxedo Black) (my favorite black ink these days) and fussy cut them before popping them up over and around the sun.

The little red heart is from Lawn Fawn's #awesome stamp set, which coordinates with the die I used.

To add a finishing touch, I added a trio of three yellow flower sequins from Lawn Fawn's mixed sequins and left it at that!

I hope you'll stop by and see all the crafty goodness i {heart} papers has to offer!  I love the variety of items in their store & am looking forward to creating more projects using their products!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!