Make My Monday: One For The Boys

Whew.  Masculine cards are HARD, you know?!  Luckily, I found the perfect digi in my printed stack and it was FATE!  Oh, I guess I should tell you that this week at Make My Monday we'd like to see you make ONE FOR THE BOYS!!!  I've gone monochromatic and steampunk, friends.

Here's my card~

Details~

I used the digi found HERE, stamps by Pink Paislee, eyelets from my stash, and all other supplies are by Stampin' Up!.

I am SO PROUD of this card.  It was so hard for me to fix on what to make and I think that I definitely succeeded.  Sorry to toot my own horn, but I am just so darned happy with myself!  I was going to bow out of this one due to lack of inspiration, but then I saw the digi and the houndstooth paper and it was on.  This could be used for any number of reasons, but maybe a graduation card--that was the suggestion on the site that I got the digi from.

 Thanks for taking time out of your day to come and visit me!  I really appreciate it!  I hope you have a little more time to come and play along with us this week!  And go see the other fabulous inspiration that the other DT members have for you, too!  Happy stamping! :)

U Rock {my world}

I am just LOVING the globe image I got in my new Pink Paislee set. I've used it on these two cards here and here and have a new card to show you using the same image!!! :) It's SO versatile--especially since I've got quite a few sentiments it works with!

Here's the card~

Details~

I LOVE this card!!! It literally rocked my world. I was so incredibly happy with how it turned out. I'm seriously thinking of hoarding it... ;) I really hope I don't sound full of myself--I'm just incredibly happy when an idea translates to paper better than I imagined!!! :) And it's not because of me, I know that God has given me this talent and I am so grateful for it!


I'll be entering this card into two fabulous challenges: Try It On Tuesday's Card for a True Love challenge (I was too late! :( )and the Do You Stack Up? Love challenge. I hope you'll come join in the fun with us! Happy stamping!!!

52 CCT Sketch Challenge #2

Well, hello! Fancy meeting YOU here! ;) So glad you've decided to pop over to my little piece of blog land! I have two fabulous cards to show you--it's a new week at 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown, and Jacqueline and I have a new sketch for ya!

Here's the sketch~

Card 1: Steampunk Peace, & Detail~

Card 2: No Peeking!, & Detail~

What do you think?! I thought my steampunk card was rather clever--I just bought a new set with the globe and wanted to use it somehow, and this idea just came to me! :) I also think the non-traditional colors make a huge difference. :) So, what will YOU create with our sketch this week? Can't wait to see! And hop on over to Jacqueline's blog for some more inspiration! Merry stamping! :)

Love of a Lifetime...

Hello, friends! I do hope you'll indulge me--you see, today is my wedding anniversary!!! 7 years ago today, I was sealed for time AND all eternity to my best friend--Matthew. :)

Here we are on our wedding day (insert sounds of adoration)~

Anyway, I thought that I would blog a little about my DH and all the challenges and fun times we've had...with pics thrown in...crafty pics. ;D

Okay, where to start? My DH is the BEST husband that anyone could ask for!!! Have any of you ever read the book about the different love languages people have? Well, my husband had the best one--service. From the beginning of our marriage, he has been willing to do ANYTHING for me! I don't get flowers and/or chocolates but once or twice a year, but I will always have laundry done and a clean house because my DH is always willing to do it if I don't feel up to it. This weekend I have been under the weather, and he has gone out of his way to bring me more water to drink or a healthy snack to keep my energy up. AMAZING!!!

Now, the lack of flowers and chocolates frustrated me a bit at the beginning of our marriage, but now I'm grateful that he doesn't get me flowers--because I don't have to do laundry or dishes or vacuum, etc. all the time!!!

But about flowers...here are the ones he gave me for our anniversary this year~

I arranged them in my pumpkin baskets (thrift store finds). This is how thoughtful he is--HE MATCHED THE FLOWERS TO MY DECOR!

And speaking of decor and thrift stores, he is sooooo patient with my OCD about decorating. And very understanding about ALL of my thrift store/garage sale finds. ;D

Like the ones up on my shelf in the living room~

Did I mention that when we're at Goodwill, garage sales, etc. he goes out of HIS way to look and see if there may be something crafty I could use?! YES!!! He really does this!!!

He also is a great supporter of my paper crafting. He encourages me to branch out. Like when Make My Monday (one of my absolute fave challenge blogs of ALL time) had an entire month of Steampunk challenges (NOT my comfort zone). He totally got into it with me, encouraged me and TOLD ME to go buy supplies I'd need!

Here's one of the cards he inspired (it made Top 3!!!)~

AND...he like to cook and bake. Yes, ladies, do not faint from sheer amazement--he DOES! He is more than willing to cook dinner for me anytime I don't feel like it!!! And he makes really fabby desserts, too!

Look at the blueberry cobbler he made for our anniversary dessert~

Yep. He is amazing! :) I am the luckiest girl in the entire world to have such a fabulous husband! BTW--how about the recipe for the blueberry cobbler? It's really easy--but soooooooooo incredibly good!!!

Easy Blueberry Cobbler

Ingredients~
1 can blueberry pie filling
1/2 pkg. white or yellow cake mix
Butter

Instructions~
Preheat oven to 350*F. Lightly grease a 9"x9" pan. Put pie filling in bottom of pan. Sprinkle cake mix over the top. Place pats of butter on top of cake mix (will melt and create a "crust" on top). Bake for 50-55 min. or until top is golden brown. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.

YUM!

Anyway, I think you get the point by now...I have the world's greatest husband! Happy anniversary, darling! I'm so excited to spend forever with you! Love you!!!

PS~ He's HILARIOUS, too...just in case you thought he wasn't and that was his one down-fall (he has none...). :D

MMM Final Steampunk Challenge

:( Sad. :( Sad. :( Sad. :(

:( This week is the last week for Make My Monday's steampunk month. :(

I have to admit--I really was thinking about passing up the whole steampunk thing. I'd never done it and was wary of buying stamps I thought I'd never buy. BUT--I'm so glad I didn't! I've learned so much this month and I've had such fun! Plus, everyone I've shown my creations has loved them and so I know that people will continue to love steampunk cards from me!

Anywho, I REALLY enjoyed this week's challenge (found here). It was to make a creation using steampunk and the creation could be anything...except a card!

I had an empty nut jar, and I knew that it was fate!

Here's the project~

I used an interesting color scheme--gold, silver, brown/yellow, and blue. I wanted to make the jar into something I could give away as a gift to someone. I used the sentiments "hello" and "time flies" so that I could give the jar to a friend I haven't seen for a while. :)

I used ribbon around the lid and as a bow...I think ribbon is very Victorian, don't you think? I also used lots of metal on the project--especially to accent the dry embossed gears. Since I used the sentiment "time flies" on top of the jar, I put clocks around the whole jar.

Close up of the front panel~

Close up of the clocks around the side~

And more details~

I wanted a cool top, so I used paper to create a rosette with a sentiment on top of it. Rosette are

trés Victorian, non?

Close up of the top~

What do you think? I was so pleased with how it turned out!

Thanks for looking--I appreciate you!!! Thanks, gals MMM, for another fabulously awesome challenge--cannot wait until next week! Happy crafting!

MMM Metal Steampunk

WOW. I was really worried about this one! I had no clue what I could use for the metal in this week's challenge. Luckily, I have ideas "pop" into my head while I'm falling to sleep. Wanna know why I have "pop" in quotations? I'll tell you!

This week at Make My Monday, we are continuing our monthly theme of steampunk with an added twist--metal. And I needed to figure out how to get metal! Well, we recycle and one night as I was drifting off to sleep, trying to remember that the recycling needed to go out, it came to me! Soda pop cans! Hence, the "pop" in quotations--HAHAHA, very punny, right? ;D

Anyway, I cut my soda pop can into a long sheet, dry embossed it with my Tim Holtz steampunk mini dry embossing folders, cut out the images, glued the metal onto the paper with a hot glue gun, and VOILA~but before you see it, I have to apologize for the pictures. They're not that good and do not do the card justice... :( I think I need to buy an Ott light...anyway...

Here it is~

I added some more metal elements to the middle of the gears with some Filigree and Ice rhinestone brads from Stampin' Up! I also used silver elastic cord instead of ribbon to continue the metal theme.

Here is a close up of the gears~

And for good measure, the metal man~

And, of course, the sentiment~

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek at my little met-ally steampunk project. It was really fun! I LOVE steampunk now, and I'm so glad I found Make My Monday challenges! I hope you're inspired to join us next week! Happy crafting! :)

I Love Green, Don't Ask Me Why!

Hello! I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I work with children who have special needs and we do a lot of learning through song. One song we sing on a regular basis is called I Love Colors. The verse for green always makes me hungry:

Green is the color of grass and trees,
Green like peas and broccoli.
Green is the color of a key lime pie.
I love green, don't ask me why!

It gets stuck in your head. Oh, and I don't eat grass and trees, I just love veggies and key lime pie! ;D So...anyway, what does this have to do with the card in this post? Read on!

I am so glad to get to practice my steampunk style again this week with Make My Monday! This week the challenge was to make a steampunk project with a monochrome color scheme. So, I chose green! (Oh, THAT'S how it works in!) ;D And I have to say, the results are YUMMY!

Here is the card~

I used a bunch of different stamps to create the background on top of the already glittery fun paper. Can you even tell?! That's where the steampunk images are mainly...oh, well. Let's look at some other aspects of the card!

Some details~

The clock~

Thanks so much, ladies, for another fun challenge! I am excited for next week! I hope that my little post inspires you to find inspiration everywhere! (Is that redundant?!) Happy steampunking!

MMM #14- Steampunk ATCs

WOW. I have never in my life even thought of attempting to use steampunk. I've thought it was a neat idea, but I never thought I'd ever do anything in that style. Until Make My Monday decided to use it as their monthly theme! So, off to my local stamping shop I skipped and bought me some Victorian/steampunk style stamps.

And then I got busy.

And had fun.

Lots of fun...and made 3 ATCs.

I'm so happy with the results!!!

Without further ado, here are my 3 submissions for this week's challenge: Steampunk ATCs (ATC: artist trading card, 3.5"x2.5", any medium, usually shows off a technique)

Card 1 "Time Flies"~

Card 2 "Welcome"~

Card 3 "Timeless"~

Thanks, ladies, for another fun challenge that got me out of my comfort zone! I can't wait for next week!!! :) Happy steampunking!