I Love You A Latte

I really wanted to use this coffee image which I found on a cup rolling around on the floor of my husband's car.  I also had to use it right away since DH wanted to throw it out as soon as it hit the dining room table (my craft room).  Why it can stay in his car for weeks but can't last a day on my crafting table, I cannot understand.  The image is a not a proper rectangle, but more a  trapezoid which adds a bit of interest.

Anyways, I starting trolling for layouts and was totally inspired by Alica's baby cards.  This layout comes from this week's Sketch Saturday's Challenge.  And for me it really was a challenge.  It's far more detailed than I often go.  I don't think I've ever done floating pearls before.  I was starting to hyperventilate by the time I was doing the corner details.

The DP came from scraps of a card swap I did years ago.  The sentiment is the only coffee one I could find.  It came from Stampin' Up's retired Pun Fun set.  The plaid background is the packaging from a set of Waltzing Mouse stamps that I received as a gift.  All other paper and ribbon were from my scraps pile.

Stay posted for tomorrow's card.  It uses the second image from the same cup.  I really wish I knew where he got this coffee.  I love this image.

Challenges this Card Meets:
Sketch Saturday's Challenge.
Speedy TV's Simple Salutations - Coffee or Tea
The Craft Room Challenge - Use Your Scraps

Through the Cafe Window

This card makes me think of the old-style cafe windows where you would have the flounced curtains, the ones with a top valence and a second set about 1/3 down the window.

I've really been playing with my Nesties. The corner "punches"are really one of my square scalloped Nesties cut in 4. The stamped image is from SU's Flower for All Seasons which I received from Crystaland the DP is a scrap from SU I received in a swap.

They layout is from Cute Card Thursday's sketch this week. I find sketches challenging but they help me to create slightly more elaborate cards; says the woman who included no embellishments on the card.

Challenges This Card Meets:
Mark's Finest Papers - Diecuts and Punches (used both)
Meljen's Designs - Anything Goes
Tuesday Throwdown - Anything Goes

Christmas Joy

I coloured this image months ago when I wanted to practice playing with my Copics. While the colouring isn't perfect, I love the festive feel of it and decided to use it anyways. I think the flower soft on the stocking and the stickles on the ornament just make this image. I didn't add any more embellishments since Christmas cards are the one type of cards that I have to be able to mail.

Challenges this Card Meets:
Delightful Challenges - Red, Green and White
Paper Sundaes - Using Up Stash
Mark's Finest Papers - Use Stripes
Christmas Card Challenges
Incy Wincy - Sparkling and Glitter

Witching You a Happy Halloween

This week's Bellarific Friday is to make a Halloween card. Didn't need any more incentive than that! Love playing with this image. Witchybella is coloured with Copics. The layout is from this week's Friday Sketchers. It made this so much easier. All items are at least 2 years old from my stash. How's that for scary?

Coffee with Friends

One of life's little luxuries, at least for me, is being able to sit down with a cup of coffee or tea and just catch up in person with friends without interruption. Everyone is so busy and babies need their mommies. Somehow, when asked to make a friendship card, I gravitate to images of coffee and tea.

I love this image by Elizabeth Bell. It was part of the Sugar Nellie, Sweet Ebony collection but I don't know if it's available now. I received some images as part of my Express Image Swap last year and I liked them so much, I never coloured them. Yes, that sounds silly to me too. But I was afraid to use them all up or worse, make a mistake. However, I started cleaning my craft area and have two kiddie shoeboxes of images. I don't think I'll run out any time soon!

The girl was coloured with copics weeks ago when I had lost my mojo. I then outlined the nestie with Frosted Lace Stickles. The paper is from my stash. I've had it for years and liked is so much that I never used it. Can you spot a theme here? The ribbon was recycled from gifts.

Blogging is awesome! After writing about how flowers don't fit the winter theme of this card, I remembered my snowflake punch and added the punches and bling in all the corners. Of course the pink snowflakes remind me of "The Cat and the Hat". Oh well.

Challenges this card meets:
Charisma Cards - Anything Goes
Cute Card Thursday - Sketch
Delightful Challenges - Make it Sparkle
Oldie but Goodie - Pink and Girlie
One Stop Craft - Snowflakes in September
Paper Jewels - Friendship

Repaid in Diapers

I was given these diaper punches as part of an image swap. I loved the teddy bears, the bottles, the hearts, the carriages, the ducks but wasn't sure what to do with the diapers. They aren't usually something that you celebrate when you get a new baby. I then saw this sentiment on Splitcoaststampers and put in the back of my mind that it would make a good card but didn't put 2 and 2 together for months! Now my cousin is having his first baby and I wanted a card that would appeal to him as a new daddy. Hope this works! I would have preferred not to have flowers as the background but it is the only folder I have from Crafts-Too which I love because it is large enough to use as a one layer on standard cards.

Yes, I used "spelt" instead of "spelled." Both are considered correct. "Spelt" is the English (British) form which I chose because DH is English and being Canadian myself, I choose to keep the traditional spelling. "Spelled" is the American form of the word. I know it seems picky but given the fact that the card is going to a teacher, the devil is in the details.

If anyone knows who I can credit the sentiment to, please leave me a comment. I haven't been able to find the card in which to link.

Masculine Christmas

There are always a few every year - the single men who still get Christmas cards. I was so impressed last year when I hosted a Christmas swap when I received two very masculine Christmas cards that I decided to try the same. Then it turned out to be this week's Cards for Men challenge.

The card has a very vanilla base and sentiment block. The DP is a two sided piece that I cut into blocks. The sentiment is from SU's All Year Cheer. Love that set!

Challenges this Card Meets:

Cards for Men - Christmas in July

Creative Card Crew - To Die For

Fussy and Fancy - Christmas in July

Pile It On - Favourite things (Christmas and for crafting - my Big Shot!)

Many Thanks

I received this image as part of the Canadian Express Image swap on SCS but loved the set so much, I chose it as one of my Sale-abration sets. This card was super easy but quite dramatic looking IRL. The image is coloured in Prismas with baby oil. So Saffron paper and ribbon were used. The patterned paper is from Creative Memories. It was a freebie set that while I really like it, doesn't match my scrapbooking style. The sentiment is from SU's All Year Cheer.

Challenges for this card:
Creative Card Crew: April Showers Bring May Flowers
Daring Cardmakers: Diecut Crazy
Lili of the Valley - Here Comes Summer

Miss You A Latte

I must admit, the jury is still out on this card. DH likes it but it feels a bit too retro to me. I've never enjoyed the 50s-60s look. What do you think?

The card is for a coffee card swap I'm in. The sentiments says "Miss You A Latte..." and on the inside it says "Let's meet for coffee." I created these on my computer.

The images are part of my stash from the SCS Canadian Express Image Swap. The great part is that some of the images were not clear and layering helped hide some of the flaws.

The ribbon is from Michaels, the DP is from my Coscto pack, the pearls are dark brown. The tag is popped up on some recycled rubber.

Great News

Dear Friends are expecting for the second time. How exciting! I know I probably should have used more gender neutral green or yellow but I love Bashful Blue. Besides I had a scrap the right size. (sigh)

Love the simplicity of this card. The punch came from Kristina in the Canadian Image Swap on SCS. I am going to have to get this one eventually. The blue was run through the Big Shot with my Swiss Dots folder. I always grab this one for babies since it reminds me of minky blankets - so soft.
The ribbon is from Michaels and the sentiment from SU's All Year Cheer is embossed in white.

Challenges for this card:
Cupcake Challenge - Childhood Memories (DS was never without her trusted minky blanket!)
Cute Card Thursday - Touchy Feely
Papertake Weekly - Cutie Pie (What baby is not!)
Meljen's Challenge - 3D Elements (Stamp image is on pop-up dots, knot of ribbon, embossing)

Caffeine Inspired

Can you guess which company inspired my creation this week?

I'm always needing gift-card holders. Thank you for the daycare person, the secretary, a gift for family. This one is wonderfully simple. I folded an envelope in half. I then cut the top flap from the center line out so that the top opens on one side only. The flap was licked down and the holder was ready to be decorated inside and out.

The image came to me from the Canadian Express Image Swap that I occasionally participate in on SCS. It was coloured with markers and the whipping cream is white fun flock.

Challenges this gift-card holder meets:
Colour Create Challenge - Your choice of pastels
Saturday Spotlight - Inspirational Coffee

Blood Sweat and Tears

I saw this week's sketch on The Pink Elephant challenge and I knew I just had to play along. It is just a really fun sketch. I wanted a card for a boy though and pulled out this Stamping Bella image - Tyler the Jock. Isn't he cute? The problem was the embellishments. I'm constantly looking for ideas to jazz up guys cards. Twill and buttons don't totally do it for me. I've been known to use leaves and twigs if I'm making a card up that day but they don't store well. I've also used CDs, candy, sequins but I'm always looking for new ideas. What do you use?

This card uses my old jeans and my husband's favourite sweater. The moths got to it and I couldn't even give it away. DH loved that it's still getting some use. He asked me to save it for embellies. It's so soft that I know the texture will be appreciated by whoever I give it to. It will make a great little boy's birthday card or I may save it for a Father's Day card. I left the sentiment on the inside blank. I often tailor them to to the individual.

As for the Blood, Sweat and Tears, I have never truly mastered how to use my rotary cutter. My mother does all my cutting for my quilting. I do all her hand embellishments. It makes a good trade. Needless to say, I cut myself and bled on my first attempt. The baby woke up and started to cry while I was trying to find a bandage and I was sweating bullets my DH would wake up and realize I was working with the banned cutter before I could get to the baby. Can you tell I've cut myself before?

Challenges that this card meets:
The Pink Elephant - Sketch
Cards for Men - Happy Birthday
Creative Card Crew - Going Dotty
Charisma Cards - Something for the Kids

Baby Quilts

Do you ever have an absolute compulsion to use up your scraps? I had so many strips of white paper that my folder of white scraps wouldn't fit in my accordian storage anymore. I simply had to do some spring cleaning.

I was trying to figure out what to do when I started mindlessly weaving the strips but they looked so boring! I then swapped out some of the white for blue and red strips I had on the table. The colour combo looked nice but I couldn't figure out what to do with it. I then noticed a card front I'd made at a class to look like a patch-work quilt and decided that the weaving did the same thing. I still didn't have an idea for embellishing though so I swapped out the red for green to make a baby quilt. I then used my labels one to give it a shape and ran the card front through my Swiss Dots to make the blanket look like the Minky Blankets that my son loves. What a simple card for one that I played with on and off all day! I liked the effect though so I made a pink one really quick as a thank you to an aunt that quilts. I like this one better.

This is really quick idea that I'll probably make a bunch of just because it is a pretty way of using up bits.

The stamps are SU - So Many Scallops that I received from Trish in the Canadian Images Swap. I really like this set. Thanks Trish!

These cards meet the following challenges:
Creative Card Crew - Going Dotty
Cute Daisy May - Anything Goes
The Pink Elephant - Spring (Babies and flowers are spring-like and so are the colours used)
Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Anything Goes
One Stop Craft - Spots and Dots