A Little Green Elephant...

Hello again! Ready for another FABULOUS challenge over at CAS-ual Fridays this week!

Here it is~

I love that quote! I was originally gonna use it word for word, but I have a friend who's been going through a rough time lately, so I felt that a little bit of humor would brighten her day.

And a green elephant.

That's sparkly.

Who wouldn't be cheered up by this little guy?!

Oh, what's that, you say? You want to see the whole card? Okay!

Here it is~

Isn't that a cute sentiment? I rarely use this set and have been trying extra hard lately to do so!

Thanks for taking a looksy at my little green elephant! I appreciate your looks and your comments! Hope you take the time to play along with us at CAS-ual Fridays sometime! Keep smiling and happy crafting! :)

Trick or Treat--Retro Style!

Hello everyone! I'm back! Bronchitis got the best of me there for a while, but I've got my meds and I'm up and running! Or rather, up and stamping!!! :) Here are the two fabulous challenges I'm entering this evening:

Play Date Cafe #102: Slime Green, Frightful Fuschia, Putrid Purple, & Black as Night

Just Us Girls #105: Black Magic

So, I wanted to make a fabulous Halloween card! Those colors OBVIOUSLY scream Halloween, as does the black magic technique! It was just fate...

Here's what I came up with~

I wanted to use the black magic technique with the sentiment. I stamped the "Trick or Treat" in white on a black background and then used crayons to color it. I also wanted to use some way cute hounds-tooth paper that I've had for a while to create a retro pumpkin. Of course I added a bunch of bling to finish it off!

Here's a close up of the black panel~

Thanks for popping over to take a peek! I love your comments--they make my day! I hope you've been inspired to create something retro today! Perhaps a punched pumpkin?! Hope you have a spookily fun and crafty Halloween! Happy stamping!

OLW67: Thoughtsgiving

Well...I'm in love with OLW! It happens to be one of my absolute favorite challenges! This week is no exception! The challenge was to create a one layer card to let someone know that you're thinking of them.

Here's what I came up with~

A close up of the glittery flower~

This is a card to let a friend of mine know that I'm thinking of her and that even when life doesn't go our way, I'll be there! She's had some not so good things happen lately and I want her to know I love her and that life can still be awesome!!!

Hence the sentiment~

Anyway, we're also supposed to give a $5 donation to a cancer foundation. I am not going to be doing so online. I have been invited to come to a garage sale to help raise funds for a local family who's son needs money for medical expenses, and so I will be making my donation there! :)

On a separate note, I need ANY suggestions on how to photograph my one layer cards and get a good color on them--my white continually has a blue tint! I've tried all sorts of different lighting. What do I need to do?

I hope you've been inspired to try out CAS style cards and that you'll join us next time at OLW! Happy simplifying!

Spooky Blingy Christmas!

Wow, what a title, right? Well, it's appropriate for the project I have to show you tonight! I'm entering this fun wall hanging in the Simon Says Sparkle & Bling! challenge and the Wee Memories Hootin' Halloween challenge!


Well, before I show you my fabulous piece of artwork, let me tell you the story of how it came to be!

Once upon a time, I made a new friend. We had fun getting together to talk for visiting teaching while we were in the single's ward. Then, I got left the single's ward and got married. Seven years later, my awesome friend and I reconnected on Facebook and decided that we needed to craft together! We wasted no time, and got together TODAY! And we decided to make cute wall hangings for the sisters we NOW visit!

It was sooooooooooo fun! We are gonna make this a regular thing! Anywho, we wanted to make a Halloween wall hanging, but I thought it would be cool to make a wall hanging that was reversible for Christmas! Thus, our craft was born! With my basement empire and her Cricket Expression, we cranked out these beauties!

Here's the BOO side for Halloween~

And a close up of the B~

The O~

The other O~

The JOY side for Christmas~

The J~

The O~

And the Y~

Okay, I admit. The ones we made were less blingy. But I cannot resist a good detail or two here or there!!! :) Unfortunately, my right pointer finger and my left thumb got a little bit burned...because I don't know about hot glue gun safety, apparently.

BUT, despite my injury, I hope you're inspired by these challenges and my little craft to create something sparkly today! Happy blinging!!! :)

Two SWEET Cards :)

Okay. I am running out of time! This week I have my DH's birthday, a dentist appointment, two visiting teaching appointments, an online college course to complete and sundry other activities. Oh, yeah. And work. And sleep? We'll see...AGH!

Okay. Done with my freak out. I am combining two challenges into one post to help me out. Why? Because both cards use the same stamps! :)

This week at Less Is More, we were challenged to create a CAS card that was the color of our eyes. Mine are blue.

Here's the card~

A close up of the glittery details (it's all glitter, you can't see it very well :( )~

And the other challenge I'm using this stamp set for is CAS-ual Fridays. I used a very simple layout and then added my ribbon loops to participate in this LOOPY challenge. :)

Here's the card~

A close up of the details~

Thanks so much for stopping by! Sorry this post is so short, but, really, isn't it about the cards?! ;D Happy stamping! :)

Pumpkins & Gratitude

Wow. I do NOT have a lot of time this week. Soooo...I have to combine challenges. Which I don't do a whole lot. BUT, these challenges just fit really well together, so it must be fate!

So, here are the challenges I'm submitting this card into:

Make My Monday: Autumn Resist

CR84FN39: Orange, Yellow, Brown

Wee Memories #70: Favorite Technique

and

JUGS #104: Sketch (Happy Anniversary!)

These are all FABULOUS challenges, so I hope you get a chance to join us each week!

Now to the card! I knew that the colors from CR84FN screamed fall, and I'm in LOVE with a new pumpkin image that I recently bought, so I knew that I'd be doing a fall card. And fall to me means gratitude.

Hence the sentiment~

Now, I LOVE doing resist techniques, so it was appropriate to combine Wee Memories with Make My Monday. And the pumpkin needed to be embossed and then colored with a resist technique. So that's what I did!

See?~

And then I saw the JUGS sketch. And my card was put together!

Oh, you wanna see the finished product?!

Ok!

Here it is~

This is another card I'm using for the Gratitude Project. Click on the button on the top left of my blog for more info. :) Happy stamping!

Simply Inspired

This week's OLW challenge is to be inspired by Janelle--blog here! She is so amazing! She was recently diagnosed with cancer and her blog is incredibly inspiring. Check it out!

Anyway, I know that the challenge is one layer cards, so I did make one, but Janelle is so inspiring that I had to CASE two cards! Both CAS style, but only one that is a single layer.

Here's the single layer card~

It's inspired by this post by Janelle, which shows some wonderful thank you cards for friends who have helped her lately. I am also going to use this card to tell someone that I feel blessed to know them.

Hence the sentiment~

The second card is also CAS, but it uses another layer of patterned paper and a punched out sentiment. The inspiration for this card can be found here.

Second card~

Close up of the sentiment~

I love these two cards inspired by an inspirational phenomenon! I love telling people that I'm thankful for them--because I truly am!

Since giving gratitude is a passion of mine, I've decided to join the Gratitude Challenge and use these two cards to give to two sweet people I'm thankful for. If you don't know what the Gratitude Challenge is, you need to check it out!

THANK YOU for coming to my blog today! THANK YOU so much for all your sweet comments--it brightens my day! THANK YOU for taking time to make me smile! I hope you are inspired to give thanks today and always! Happy thanksgiving! :)