Shamrock Fun

Today was a super fun day that I just have to share.  I took part in my first ever Shamrock Run in Portland - such a blast.  I ran the 8K and I finished strong (for me, anyway).  I love events like that when lots of people - in this case over 30,000 - come together to have a great time and celebrate something.

Even though I'm exhausted and my legs feel like jelly, I managed to make a card.  I'm subbing for Heidi who is on a brief hiatus.  The challenge is titled "Fresh Baked Goodness", and to me that means something sweet and delicious.

Here's my card

That's some yummy Hambly paper in the background, and a Cosmo Cricket coffee cup in front.  A little sentiment stamp from Papertrey Ink, and the card is complete.  Oh yeah, I should mention the pierced "steam" coming off that coffee.

We've got some new and fabulous DT members coming your way later this week, and more great challenges as well...

Cityscapes are on the Rise at Moxie Fab World

I am so excited about this card!  I hadn't been over to Moxie Fab World in ages, and when I popped on this morning, they had just issued a challenge to create a cityscape.

Being primarily a cardmaker, I was looking for inspiration to create a card...specifically a 60th anniversary card for my great aunt and uncle.

So I read the challenge and the first thing I thought about was one of my favorite children's books, The Little House.  Here's an image I grabbed off of Amazon's website so you can see what I'm talking about:



It's about a little house that starts out in the country and the big city grows up around it.  Eventually it happily gets moved back out to the countryside.  Although the book is not necessarily about durability, it really does stand the test of time -- as if no matter what happens around it, the house stays the same.

So that's how I arrived at my card design...

I used my Cricut to cut out a cityscape (using a portion of it to sponge a background image) on both patterned paper and chipboard (to give it dimension).  Here's the card:

I thought this swirly paper from Basic Grey would be perfect, depicting how hectic and crazy the world can be.  You'll notice the sweet little house in the middle (with a sparkly red heart above the door).

The clouds are actually petals from some Scenic Route paper that seemed to work with the other paper I chose.

Here's a close-up of the front so you can see how I raised part of the cityscape off the card using Pop Dots:

The inside reads "Happy 60th Anniversary"

I was truly inspired to create this card and very happy to share it!

Feeling Fierce

Nope, not me actually - but that's the challenge I threw down on the 365 Cards blog for today!

Here's my card:

I love Glitz and this patterned paper and the sticker frame with some built-in blink really did the trick!  The color scheme and the faux diamond, plus some edge distressing complete the look I was going for.

And of course I've got an SRM Sticker on there as my sentiment ;-)

It's almost time to select some new DT members, so stay tuned at 365 Cards for that big announcement next week.

And did I mention that we just hit 1500 followers??  Woo hoo!!!

It's Friday, and I'm Taking Over...

Okay, not really - but I am stepping in for Sophie, who is on vacation.  I decided to throw out a challenge called "Fun with Buttons", which is all about making button-y embellishments.

I've seen these sorts of things before from manufacturers, and I remembered thinking, "How hard would it be for me to make that myself?"

So I grabbed some felt, floss, and some buttons, and I created my own.  What exactly am I talking about?  Well, check it out....

I traced some circles onto 3 different colors of felt.  Here's an example of one of my circles:

I cut out the circles, and I wasn't too worried about perfect cuts (and you'll see why in a moment):

A little blanket stitching around the edges and it turned out pretty cute, I think:

Here's my stack of 3 circles, in different sizes and colors (including the floss):

But I did say something about buttons, didn't I?

Well I found a couple buttons in my stash that stacked perfectly, plus I liked the color combo (red and green), and I stitched them to the felt circles.

Sort of fun and.....quirky?

So here's the finished card:

I went simple on the other decorations because I wanted the embellishment I made to really stand out.  I used SRM Stickers (I love those things!) and some cool die cut trim from Bazzill Basics. 

I can't believe we are fast approaching the end of our 2nd year at 365 Cards.  I've also announced a DT call, so if you think you might like to join a fab team of card makers, give it a shot and send me an app!

Inspiration Week at 365 Cards

Hi Bloggy Friends!

So all week long we are celebrating words that inspire meaningful cards.  There are a lot of words out there that are beautiful and meaningful, but for each of us there was a word that really stuck out. 

For me, it was Courage.  For several personal reasons I think this words really applies not only to me, but to some dear friends in my life, particularly the one for whom this card was made.

Sometimes having courage means facing something really big in our lives, and sometimes it means simply getting up in the morning and facing the day ahead.  The card I made is for someone who has to do the latter, and it will not always be easy, so I'm hoping this card will bring her some comfort.

And here's a close up shot:

I think it's going to be a great week loaded with inspiration, so please come over and join us!

Robyn's Fetish Returns to 365 Cards

This week we welcome back Robyn's Fetish Digital Stamps and More and I just adore their digi stamps!  Today I've got a Valentine's-themed card - *gasp* - is it time to switch holidays again??  My oldest daughter is always asking me, "What's the next holiday, Mom?", and I think this card will answer her question:

Here's a close-up:

Since I stuck so closely to the sketch, I decided to add put my patterned paper (K&Company) on some chipboard to raise it up off the card and create a little dimension.

The ribbon is Stampin' Up and I colored in the image with Copics.

Have a great week and come play along with us at 365 Cards!

Happy New Year!!!

It's New Year's Eve, and I managed to find a little time to scrap.  I needed to make a card for family member's birthday, and I figured that I would snap a picture and pop it up here.

I think it's pretty much CAS style.  That plastic sheet with the silver print is from Hambly and I love, love, love it!  It classes up any project.  The sentiment is a Scenic Route rub-on, and the ribbon is Stampin' Up.

Here's a peek at the inside:

I tell ya, I can not have too many SRM stickers in my stash.  I wanted to continue the sentiment on the inside of the card, and I just knew there was a spot for one of those fabulous stickers.

I will be celebrating in a very low key manner tonight, since I'm still recovering from strep throat - yuck!  But I'm not too sick to ring in the new year with friends :-)

Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve!!