More Funny Buttons

I couldn't resist making another card for today's SCS CAS challenge (theme: humor). I just couldn't keep this "A stitch in time . . . keeps the buttons from falling off!" out of my head today!
This time I used the colors from the Off the Wall Craftiness Challenge #48,
and the sketch from this week's Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #37:
Thanks for taking a look!
Emily

Card Recipe:
Paper: SU bermuda bay textured CS, SU so saffron CS, snow storm CS, DCWV pink CS
Ink: Marvy LePlume II black marker
Accessories: MS loop PATP, CM corner rounder punch, scoring tool, embroidery floss, needle, foam tape, sewing machine, buttons from my stash, Websters Pages Bloomer (aqua)

Keep Yer Buttons On!

Today's CAS challenge on Splitcoast is "Tickle Your Funny Bone." I just had to play along with this week's humor theme!
This sentiment--"A stitch in time . . . keeps the buttons from falling off!"-- *always* makes me chuckle. :D And what a fun card to make--I got to play with my button stash AND my baker's twine from The Twinery!!

I took my colors from Mona Pendleton's Create For Fun challenge, CR84FN18: orange, yellow, and kraft.
We had a super busy but extremely enjoyable weekend. I want to tell you about the fun we had on Saturday, but first a little back story. My 8YO son is an avid Cub Scout. Each fall his Pack holds its big fundraiser for the year: selling Boy Scout popcorn. This year his Pack added a new selling incentive: each cub would get Cub Cash, a credit equivalent to 20% of his popcorn sales, to use toward paying for various Pack activities (like camping, outings, etc.) during the program year. Saturday was Scout Day at a New Hampshire ski area (about 75 miles from us) and DS's Pack chose that as the March outing. We don't ski, but snow tubing is another option at this ski area, so we decided to give it a try. DS had enough Cub Cash to treat all four of us to four hours of snow tubing!! Wasn't that sweet of him? It was a blast. The weather was perfect: clear blue skies with an air temperature of almost 50F so we stayed toasty, but there was plenty of snow on the ground. Zipping down those nicely groomed lanes on our inner tubes was quite a thrill, and we all loved being towed up the hill in our tubes by the lift. It was our first snow tubing experience but definitely won't be our last. DS is already talking about selling enough popcorn next fall so we can do it again!

I hope you had a fabulous weekend as well!!

Thanks for checking out my little slice of bliss for today!
Emily

Card Recipe:
Paper: kraft cardstock
Ink: SU tangerine tango, Palette noir black, Ranger tea dye distress ink
Accessories: CM corner rounder punch, sponge dauber, buttons from my stash, needle, LemonDrop and Mandarin baker's twine from The Twinery

Another for St. Patrick's Day

Yesterday's Splitcoast Free for All Challenge to use your good luck charms, greens, and leprechauns was perfectly timed for adding to my {small} collection of St. Patrick's Day cards. Here's another one that I put together.
A blogging and SCS friend, Bonnie Klass of Stamping with Klass, has what she calls a "UFO box," her term for her collection of UnFinished Objects, and she often describes part of a card she's made as having been rescued from her UFO box. What a great idea!! After I read about that for the first time, I started my own UFO, well, . . . pile . . . on my stamping table. And sometimes I add images that, for whatever reason, just aren't quite right for the project I'm working on. But there really isn't anything wrong with them, so into the UFO . . . pile . . . they go. This bouquet of shamrocks image was rescued from my UFO pile (added a few weeks ago while working on this card). I thought it would work well with CPS Sketch #207.
Here are a few more challenges I piled on for this card:

• Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge: FTTC107, to make a St Patrick’s Day card or use the color green as your main color
• Delightful Challenges: Welcoming Spring
• Cute Card Thursday: Signs of Spring
• Stampin' Celebration Inspiration Challenge #42: to be inspired by the colors and theme of this photo

OK, so that wraps things up for now. Thanks for dropping by!
Emily

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Flourishes Irish Blessing
Paper: MFP snow storm CS, MFP lily pad CS, The Paper Company
Ink: Versamark, Palette virdian leaf
Accessories: MS modern garland border punch, SU 0.5" and 0.75" circle punches, Stampin' Pastels, sponge applicator, buttons from my stash, gingham ribbon, rhinestones, safety pin
Techniques: Poppin' Pastels

Color-Splashed St. Patrick's Day

I'll be heading out to help in my son's classroom in just a little bit, but I wanted to share this clean and simple St. Patrick's Day card that I made this morning.
I was inspired to play along with today's Splitcoast Free for All Challenge, Got a Lucky Penny?--to use your good luck charms, greens, and leprechauns for this challenge. The timing on this challenge was just right--I won't need many St. Patty's cards, but I've only made one so far this year, and we are less than two weeks away! And I decided that a St. Patrick's Day card would be the perfect opportunity to play along with the new Play Date Cafe challenge: "Player's Choice" Color Splash Week! The idea is to make a black and white card with just a splash of a single additional color, and this week we get to choose whatever color we'd like. Obviously, I chose to add a splash of GREEN!!

I used two little shamrock charms from a bulk bag of pastel-colored buttons that I purchased several years ago. I arranged three green heart-shaped gems and a bit of green embroidery floss as a third "lucky charm."

Here are the challenges I incorporated into this card:

• The Play Date Cafe: Week #71
• Card Patterns Sketch 104:
• Paper Sundaes Challenge: Use a Charm
• Delightful Challenges: Welcoming Spring
• Cute Card Thursday: Signs of Spring
• Stampin' Celebration Inspiration Challenge #42: to be inspired by the colors and theme of this photo

Thanks for stopping by to check out my little slice of bliss today! Have a super weekend!
Emily

Card Recipe:
Stamps: The Angel Company (shamrock image and sentiment); SU Baroque Border wheel
Paper: MFP snow storm CS, MFP black CS
Ink: SU basic black, Palette viridian leaf
Accessories: SU designer label punch, EK 1" square punch, foam tape, shamrock charms, green heart rhinstones, green embroidery floss, peapod baker's twine from The Twinery

StampinB 100th Challenge

A new Thursday brings a new Stampin' B's DT Challenge!! This week we are celebrating our 100th challenge, and challenge hostess Joanne says, "Strike up the band!" Her challenge to us is to create a project using something music related. I had the best time taking on this challenge and so, without further ado, let's meet my card. Ta-da!!
You probably can't take your eyes off my funky and fabulous felt bird, right? This sweet feltie was a prize I won at Get Sketchy last fall and comes from the cute Etsy shop Crafty Paper Girl. I couldn't wait to use it on a card, and today's StampinB challenge was perfect!

The sheet music behind my felt bird was taken from a vintage hymnal I bought last year at a local used book store expressly for deconstructing to use in papercrafting projects. And I was so pleased to dip into my droolworthy Pink Paislee Sweetness pad for the background DP.

Challenges that inspired this card:

• Tuesday Trigger in the Moxie Fab World: An Idea in Yellow. I was so inspired by the colors of this photo and picked up the bright yellow, pale blue, and dark brown to use in my card.
• EtsyInspired Challenge #128: to be inspired by the wares of the Etsy shop The Hidden Alphabet. I was inspired by the intricate damask-style pattern in this photo (and chose the DP that I used because of it), as well as by the bold frame.
• Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge: MMSC93
• OneStop Craft Challenge: Spring Flowers (in my punched borders)
• Stamptacular Sunday Challenge: Frames
• Paper Sundaes Challenge: Use a Charm
• Critter Sketch Challenge: Use a sentiment (mine is "Music" on my tiny tag)
• A Spoon Full of Sugar: Tag
• Tuesday Throwdown: Tag
• Papertake Weekly: Anything Goes
• Clear It Out Challenge: Anything Goes
• 4 Crafty Chicks: Stitching
  

I hope you've been inspired to play along with the Stampin' B's!! If you do make a card, post it on your blog or SCS gallery, and link it up to the Inlinkz tool on the Stampin' B's blog. We'd love to see what you create!! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by to check out my little slice of bliss for today!

Recipe:
Paper: SU chocolate chip, SU bashful blue, Pink Paislee Sweetness DP, page from a vintage hymnal
Ink: Ranger tea dye distress ink, Palette haystack, SU chocolate chip
Accessories: MS poinsettia chain punch, SU jewelry tag punch, sponge dauber, Crafty Paper Girl feltie, foam tape, heart charm, brown burlap string, sewing machine, rhinestones
Techniques: machine stitching, ink distressing

Springy Birthday Wishes

I've been getting projects ready for the new Stampin' B's DT challenge (check back tomorrow for my sample!) and Mark's Finest Papers March Release Blog Hop which will be taking place next week on Tuesday through Friday, March 8-11. Busy, busy!! But I squeezed in a springy birthday card today. Still gathering birthday cards for all those March birthdays we'll be celebrating!
Last week while making this card, I ended up with an extra scallop-framed panel containing a square of text from a vintage book page (it was too big to use on the card I originally made). I've been mulling over how best to use it ever since. Well, today it hit me and I decided to try stamping directly on the text. LOVE how it turned out! Perfect for my 5" x 5" square birthday card.

This week's PTI Make It Monday Challenge #4 is to use fun foam (craft foam). The video tutorial that accompanies the challenge shows cutting sheets of foam into shapes using dies. Well, I'm a simple gal. When I started off down the road on my extended papercrafting journey, I made a conscious decision to avoid investing in expensive tools and equipment. There just isn't money in our budget or space in our house for extras like these. So, no dies, embossing folders, die cutting machines, or Copics for me. I do have some punches (and I make do with colored pencils or watercolor painting for coloring images), but otherwise I look for creative design solutions, make do with what I've got, or do without. Anyway, back to my PTI challenge story. So, die-cutting craft foam was out for me, and I quickly found that sheets of craft foam are too thick to fit in my punches. Not to be deterred, I fished around in my kids' craft supplies and dug up a few pink foam circle shapes--and not a whole lot else. Those reminded me of my PTI Button Bits stamp sets, and the rest of my design fell into place!

In addition to the PTI creating with fun foam challenge, my card was shaped by these challenges:

• My colors were inspired by this week's CR84FN17 color challenge:
• My hot pink flowers were inspired by the photo inspiration for this week's jac-inks Challenge #3:
• Simon Says Stamp Challenge: 1 image (the PTI leaves image), 2 DPs (my text background and my chartreuse gingham), + 3 types of embellishments (foam circles, brads, ribbon)
  
• Stamptacular Sunday Challenge: Frames
• Stamp Something: Flowers
• OneStop Craft Challenge: Spring Flowers
• Critter Sketch Challenge: Use a sentiment
• A Spoon Full of Sugar: Tag (I made my sentiment tag by stamping inside a ticket.)
• Tuesday Throwdown: Tag (I made my sentiment tag by stamping inside a ticket.)
• Papertake Weekly: Anything Goes
• Clear It Out Challenge: Anything Goes {for using up your stash}. I'm using up foam circles, a ticket, ribbon, brads, and hot pink card stock scraps from my stash.
• ABC DT Challenge: Happy Birthday

In other news, over the weekend I spent a bunch of time clearing unneeded stuff out of our attic. Wow, I was amazed by how much baby and little-kid stuff we had accumulated!! Now I am working on getting it ready to donate so we can get it out of the house. There's a {huge} pile waiting to be sorted and itemized for our records, but it feels SO much better acting on this. My kids were a huge help hauling stuff down the attic ladder and then down another flight of stairs. Of course, they were so curious about what was in each bag and box. It probably felt like Christmas to them!! (Especially since so many of the boxes and bags held toys and books--now that's exciting stuff.) It was a blast seeing what items they remembered and what things they had completely forgotten.

I also came across a few boxes of books that were mine when I was growing up. We found an old Pink Panther comic digest that my 8YO son claimed (along with some Encyclopedia Brown books) and this book of paper dolls that my 12YO daughter snagged. She has been having a ball clipping out the movie star paper dolls and their elaborate costumes and dresses, working a little bit on it each day before school and again before bedtime. She's getting quite an education in 1930s fashion--and loving it. :)

Well, thanks for stopping by for my little slice of bliss today. I hope you'll come back later to check out the new StampinB challenge!
Emily

Card Recipe:
Stamps: PTI Blooming Button Bits, PTI Everyday Button Bits (sentiment)
Paper: SU chocolate chip CS, SU pretty in pink CS, Jillibean Soup DP, various unknown scraps, book page ripped from a vintage history book
Ink: Marvy LePlume II black marker, Ranger tea dye distress ink, Palette chartreuse
Accessories: SU 1/2" circle punch, foam tape, sponge dauber, pink foam circles from my stash, pink brads, satin-edged sheer ribbon, ticket, sewing machine
Techniques: machine stitching, ink distressing

Fabulous Lanterns

Happy Saturday! I had a lot of fun with my kids this week, who were off for February Vacation Week. We had some fun adventures (including a morning at the arcade on Thursday and a trip to Build-A-Bear Workshop yesterday to redeem their coupons for a free bear accessory) and had a fabulous time perfecting our recipe for fruit and yogurt smoothies. Delicious!

I was having some serious mojo issues last weekend and at the beginning of the week, but by the end of the week I was getting ideas for creations left and right! Now my problem is finding time to make cards for all of the ideas I have. Yikes! Not enough time! Regardless, I was excited to check out yesterday's Free for All challenge on SCS. The theme was Aloha Friday, to make anything tropical, Polynesian, Asian … in a tribute to all of our island friends.

This had me stumped at first, but not for long. I remembered that not long ago I bought some great Jillibean Soup DP with images of paper lanterns. Lightbulb! I cut out three lanterns from the pattern and strung them on some razzleberry-esque baker's twine. A "May your day be Fabulous!" sentiment was a perfect match for these fabulous lanterns. And then I remembered that I have a few little Asian coins from an old collection of scrapbook embellishments. Voila!! Done. :)
I took my colors from this week's ColourQ Challenge #73: pear pizzazz, brocade blue, brilliant blue, razzleberry, and white. Aren't they pretty?
Well, thanks for tuning in for this little slice of bliss. I'll see around again soon!
Emily

Card Recipe:
Paper: snow storm CS, Jillibean Soup DP (Summer Squash Soup Collection)
Ink: Palette bourdeaux
Accessories: Baker's twine, scissors, dimensionals, SU decorative label punch, Asian coins from Treasured Memories Vintage Accent Kit by Nicole

Papertrey February Blog Hop Challenge

I'm thrilled to be taking part in my very first Papertrey Ink customer blog hop today! This month's theme is "Scallops." So fun! Here's my take on the challenge (which you can read all about here).
I made my scalloped frame by punching 1/2" circles and individually adhering them to the back of my main panel. I also used a scalloped border punch along the bottom of my long panel. My birthday wishes sentiment (from the Papertrey Ink set Everyday Button Bits) is stamped on an adorable blank ticket that I won in some blog candy from Paper Crafts Go-To Gal Teri Anderson. How cute is that?? And that yummy layered flower? It's a Frosty Pink Lollipop by Prima. I thought it might make a fantastic focal point.

I'm also playing along with Papertrey's Make It Monday Challenge #3: Glitter Strips with Scor-Tape. Such a cool idea! I laid down two strips of 1/4" Scor-Tape side-by-side and piled on some Pink Paislee Chocolate Pixie Stix glitter. Love how this turned out!

I incorporated these additional challenges into the making of this card.

• Mojo Monday: Sketch #179 (My first Mojo sketch. I've always been too intimidated to try, but finally screwed up my courage and dove right in!)
• Simon Says Stamp: Coffee and Cream, to add the colors brown and cream to your creation.
• The Shabby Tea Room: Buttons and Bows
  
• A Spoon Full of Sugar: Birthday Wishes
• Flourishes Timeless Tuesday: Birthday Card
• Delightful Challenges: Use scraps (except for my background DP, all other paper portions were created from scraps!)
• Stamptacular Sunday: #99, S.O.S., to make a card for SomeOne Special. This birthday card will go to one of the special gals in my book group who will be celebrating her birthday next week!
• Tuesday Throwdown: 3D, pull out your 3-D tape/supplies and pop it up. (I used foam tape to pop up my main panel.)

Thanks for taking the time to stop by my blog today! I appreciate your visit. :)

Have a super weekend!
Emily

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Papertrey Ink Everyday Button Bits
Paper: BasicGrey Kraft DP, SU chocolate chip CS, We R Memory Keepers Tiffany's DP, various unknown scraps, book page ripped from a vintage history book
Ink: Marvy LePlume II black marker, Ranger tea dye distress ink
Accessories: SU 1/2" circle punch, SU scallop border punch, foam tape, Scor-Tape, Pink Paislee Chocolate Pixie Stix glitter, sponge dauber, buttons from my stash, brown burlap string, Prima Frosty Pink Lollipops flower, ticket, sewing machine, salvaged ribbon from whoopie pie packaging
Techniques: machine stitching, ink distressing

Stampin' B's Challenge: Flowers

Subtitle: Inspired by Our New Shower Curtain

Wishing a Happy Thursday to you!! Thursdays are the days that a new Stampin' B's DT challenge is posted, and this week we have a springy one. Our hostess, Vicki, says that all you have to do is use a flower on your card. Easy, right?

My flower project (that's a hint that today I have a non-card to show you) has a little bit of history to it. About a month ago, my hubby and I repainted our master bathroom. And along with that came new throw rugs, curtains, mirror, storage cabinet, and shower curtain. It took a looooooooooong time to find just the right shower curtain, but as soon as I saw it, I knew it would be perfect.

Our new shower curtain.

Now every time I'm in the bathroom and see my lovely new shower curtain, I can't help but think of my {ippity} Now & Always stamp set!

See what I mean?

I just knew that at some point I would have to make a project that captured our shower curtain with my {ippity} set, and that time has arrived. Without further ado, let's meet the result.
This altered canister started life as a Viactiv calcium chews container. I think that my altered version will make fabulous gift packaging for a girlfriend's birthday. I also think that the DP I created echoes our shower curtain nicely. I made it by white embossing the open-pattern chrysanthemums and stamping the closed mum image in Versamark and applying pink chalk with a sponge applicator.

I also incorporated these challenges:

• Wee Memories: Source of Inspiration Challenge. My inspiration for this week's project was our new shower curtain!
• All Things Unity: Alter It. Alter anything (I chose an empty Viactiv container) using Unity or {ippity} stamps.
• Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge: MMSC92

Well, that's all I have for you today. I hope you've been inspired to play along with the Stampin' B's!! If you do make a card, post it on your blog or SCS gallery, and link it up to the Inlinkz tool on the Stampin' B's blog. We'd love to see what you create!! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by to check out my little slice of bliss for today!

Recipe:
Stamps: {ippity} Now & Always, {ippity} Moonbeams and Heartstrings
Paper: SU chocolate chip, SU pink pirouette
Ink: SU chocolate chip, Palette toile pink, Versamark
Accessories: MS chrysanthemum punch, MS modern garland PATP, SU boho blossoms punch, Stampin Pastels, sponge applicator, dotted grosgrain ribbon, rhinestone, foam tape, button from my stash, pink burlap string, white EP, heat tool
Techniques: Poppin' Pastels, altered container

A CAS Birthday

Here's a quick and easy birthday card I made for Splitcoaststampers' CAS (Clean and Simple) Challenge to make your own background:

Card measures 4.25" x 4.25". I made my own background by scoring a grid pattern on a 60 mm x 60 mm white panel and stamping a small fleur de lis element in each square.

This card is also my entry for City Crafter Challenge Week 45 "Nothing To It," to make a creation with nothing on it: no bows, no lace, no flowers, no buttons. I think it's easy to see that I've added nothing to this card!

Finally, I took my colors from this week's Off the Wall Craftiness Challenge (OTWC46):

Thanks for dropping by!
Emily

Card Recipe:
Paper: snowstorm CS, various CS from The Paper Company
Ink: Palette: l'amore red, paris lights, reflection blue
Accessories: scoring tool, SU small oval punch, dimensionals
Techniques: scoring