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! :)

LIM #34 Sketch

Happy fall, y'all! I LOVE sketches--I really love seeing what people do with the same layout. It's so much fun! So, I was ecstatic when I saw this week's challenge at Less Is More.

Here's the sketch~

Isn't is great?! You need to pop over and see everyone's entries! Oh, wait! What about mine?!

Here it is~

I love Thanksgiving, and I love getting and sending thank you cards. So, I decided to let the season inspire me! I also wanted to use my coloring abilities (I know they aren't the greatest) and so I used a lined image so that I could use my favorite--blender pens! I wanted the sentiment to pop, so I stamped lighter brown leaves around it to kind of highlight it.

Close up of the images~

Close up of the sentiment~

Thank you for taking a peek! I hope that you get inspired by the sketch and create something today! Happy stamping!!!

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!

JUGS 3D Fall Project

So much fun! I love fall! AND I LOVE the holidays it brings--especially Thanksgiving! Each year, my mother asks me to make a little treat and place cards for out holiday table. The JUGS challenge this week (make a 3D fall project) was perfect for creating a little treat favor! This treat favor is one of my favorites! It uses a test tube to create an "Indian Corn".

Here it is~

And a close up of the tag/leaves~

The leaves were really easy to make--just punch out an oval, fold it in half and make quick cuts!

I didn't have any Reese's Pieces to put in it to make it a REAL Indian corn, so I had to use what I had on hand-jelly beans leftover from Easter.

Don't judge! You KNOW you have months old candy in your house somewhere! ;)

Thanks so much for taking a quick look at my little 3D project! Thank you, ladies at JUGS for a fabulous challenge--so much fun! Happy crafting!!!

OLW #65: Sentiment-a-mania!

I think this is a great challenge!!! It really excited me and made me want to stamp my heart out! Over at One Layer Wednesday this week, the challenge was "to make a card where the sentiment is either the focus of the card or shares the focus equally with the image." Love it!

Here's my card~

A closer look at the cute sentiment~

I've had this set for years and years and NEVER use it. I think I've used it 3 times the entire time I've owned it! And it just screamed OLW!!!

Thanks for a great challenge! I had fun! I will try to make some more cards along this same theme, because it's just so fun! Happy stamping! :)

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! :)

1000 Challenge + Christmas Cards for the Troops!

Hello, friends, it's nice to be here with you in Blogger land! ;) I've really started to completely enjoy blogging. For a while, I was feeling like it was a chore, so I took a hiatus and realized how fun it could be with the right attitude! I've been basically faithful for months now, and I'm lovin' it!

Anyway, back to the REAL reason for my post! Less is More wants 1,000 people to post for this challenge, so they made it ANYTHING CAS GOES! So, I decided to try something that I have thought would be cute for a while, but was too afraid to try and fail at.

I
Succeeded!
At
least
I
think
I
did...

Here's what my idea was--utilize my embossing folders and cute sentiments to create one layer cards. It was success on my first try. :) I'm so excited because it came out 98% the way I wanted!

Here's the card~

Did I succeed? I hope you agree that it's a fun and great card! Can't you just imagine the possibilities?! Oh, I'm so excited to make more cards like this!


On another note, if you don't know yet, the Spotted Canary is having a great challenge--they are asking people to craft Christmas cards for those serving our country. I you'd like to participate, then go to the Spotted Canary site and register here! You get 25% off your purchase storewide when you sign up, if you need an added incentive. :)

Thanks, ladies, for an easy challenge this week--I enjoyed getting to just let my creative juice run free! I hope you're inspired to create something today, and I hope you join me in making Christmas cards for the troops! Merry stamping! :)