Where is the sun?

It is another cloudy, humid day. The sun peeks out of the dark gray clouds here and there but for the most part, it has been like this all week. I keep wondering where the nice, summer weather is. My container garden is not liking all the rain we have been having. We got an inch just yesterday afternoon!!

On a more positive note, all this rain has given me time to hole up in my craft room and create. Guilty free crafting is the BEST!!!

The creations I am going to share today are a set I made for the birthday of one of Char's friends. I guess the girl is mad about pink so that was my theme. Sometimes just knowing someone's favorite color helps jumpstart creativity.

The first thing I created was a card.

I totally copied this card design from Maile Belles. I used the Paper Trey Ink set "Birthday Day Style," which was designed for PTI by Maile.  I changed it up the card design a bit to make it my own. I chose to use pinks and oranges, I matted the stamped, focal sheet in raspberry fizz and instead of using clouds and enamel dots, I chose to embellish the card with sequins and rhinestones. I LOVE how this came out!!!

It looks good with the gift, right? (Excuse the photo please. Not my best!!)

The next thing I had to do was create something to go inside the bucket to hold the money that I was giving along with the nail stuff. I used the same basic design again but on a square envelope.

I cut the envelope using my Silhouette die cut machine, which helped me to make this project in record time.

I used different styles of Washi Tape to seal the back and added a die cut balloon. You cannot have the front look good and not the back, right?

I originally wanted to wrap this all up in a cellophane bag but after going through my stash of bags, I realized that I did not have any of the right size in stock. I had to go to plan B. I had bought a pink gift bag at Target a couple weeks ago for something else and decided to use that instead. So I had to make a tag.

I used Paper Trey Ink's " 2012 Birthday Tags Stamp Set," 2 1/4" oval dies and tag sale # 5 die to create this.

I filled the bag, added pink tissue and tied the tag on with some different colors of curling ribbon.

I think the whole thing came out perfect and just right for a girl obsessed with pink.

That is all for now. I hope you are enjoying your Saturday and the sun is shining where you are!!

Have a great Day!!

Nora

A day late and a dollar short-this is my life!!

Happy Thursday!! School is OUT and I am finally getting back into the groove of being home for the summer. I have been on vacation for four days and after doing some much needed cleaning and laundry, I finally had time to do things I wanted to do. I have been scrapping and making cards like crazy and I cannot be more excited. I have a TON of projects I want to do around the house this summer but the weather is not cooperating with me. I know rain is good but can I say that I am sick of it? It just brings the yucky humidity. Me and humidity DO NOT get along.

Today I am posting a card that I meant to post yesterday for a challenge that ended Wednesday on the Simon Says Stamp! Challenge Blog.

The contest was to create a card with fruit on it and use some type of American Craft product. I used the strawberry from the Lawn Fawn "Summertime Charm" stamp set as the focus for this card.

The first thing I did was to stamp a bunch of strawberries on a piece of white card stock. I then colored them in with the Copic Marker colors below. I am not an expert at coloring and as you can see, some of the colors bled out of some of the strawberries. I tried all the tricks to fix it but I couldn't.

I topped the strawberries with Glossy Accents and set them aside to dry. My next step was to make the berry basket. I didn't have a die cut or a pattern for it so I kind of winged it. I started out with a 2 1/4" square. I angled the sides and then weaved 1/4," inked strips of kraft card stock over the square to create the basket. I think the inking really helped the basket to look more realistic. I completed the container by rounding the corners on the bottom of the basket with a corner rounder.

I then die cut the strawberries out of the card stock using the matching Lawn Fawn dies.

My card was now ready to be put together. For the background, I used a few layered sheets of Studio Calico patterned paper. I stamped a sentiment using a Paper Trey Ink stamp and then started playing around with the basket, strawberries and punched leaves until I liked how they were arranged. I added a doily over the top of the basket as well. The last step was to add the acrylic dots. Here are a few more detailed shots.

You can see in the photo above that I used pop dots on a couple of the strawberries to give them a bit of dimension. I like the overall design of the card but am not so sure about the background. I think I should have used a different color.

I want to thank you for visiting my blog today. Have a great Thursday!! Stay Cool!!

Nora

Cheese!

Happy Thursday!! I decided to post a quick page I created that focuses on some prints from a photo booth. We went to our first Bar Mitzvah last year and this was one of the souvenirs that we came home with. It was so fun!!

I started this page by stenciling the brown circle design on the kraft background. I then used a toilet paper roll and ink to create the larger circles. The red paper was created by using different colored ink and some stamps. I tore the left edge, adhered it to the page and then used three kinds of tape and a white paper frill border. The camera, title and round sentiment sticker were adhered last.

I hesitated to even post this because I am actually in the photo. I am not a big fan of photos of myself!! However, I loved how this page came out and I think the design enhances the photos.

Thank you for stopping by!!

Nora

A Birthday Set!!!

Hello!! Just stopping by to show you a little set I created using some Avery Elle stamps.

I first created the card. I stamped background using a stamp from "All Squared Up" in orange on a 4" by 5 1/4" piece of white cardstock. I then stamped different colored hexagons using some matching stamps in the set. In some of the spaces that I didn't stamp, I put dots of Stickles glitter glue for a little shine.

I then adhered the background to an orange card. Next I adhered a yellow paper frill and a piece of patterned paper 1/3 of the way down from the top of the card. I stamped the circle in orange and the sentiment in pink using the same Avery Elle stamp set. I adhered it over the pink watercolored border. I added the punched heart because I thought the card "needed" an extra something.

Here is a close up of the details of the card.

After all the glitter glue was dry, I stamped the inside of the card.

I used a PTI sentiment stamp and stamped the hexagons from the Avery Elle "All Squared Up" set in different colored inks that matched the front of the card.

I really liked how the card came out so I decided to make a matching tag. I figured that the next birthday gift I give I will be ready for. I will have a card and a tag to embellish the gift!

I copied the design of the tag almost exactly from the card. The only difference was I stamped the PTI "make a wish" sentiment instead of the "just for you" sentiment. I added a bit of orange Stickles glitter glue to make the top of the i. Now all I need is someones birthday.

Thank you for stopping by!! Have a great Day!!

Nora

Birthdays!!

May has been a month of birthdays. It is too bad that I was not great at remembering everyone's special day. No matter how hard I try, I just cannot get my cards out on time. That does not mean that I don't try.

The first card I created was intended for my sister and is very simple. I actually copied the design from a pin but for the life of me, I cannot find it on my board.

I used layered a die cut piece of Kraft card stock over a piece of Basic Grey Paper. I then die cut a word window from white and stamped the celebrate using different color inks. I an pretty sure the celebrate is a PTI stamp but for the life of me, I don't know from which set. The finishing touch was to add some sequins.

I also stamped the inside using PTI's "Birthday Style" set but I forgot to take a photo of it.

The next card I created for my nephew who turned 14 on Saturday. It seems like yesterday that he was born!! Charlotte thought this and my last card were too "girly" but I over ruled her opinion!!

Again I totally lifted this card. The chevron stamps are from Avery Elle and I used Stickles glitter glue in red, green and orange to make the card pop. I think next time I would use glitter paper as I had a hard time staying in the lines. The sentiment is from PTI and I added the sequins for more pop. I like how this card came out for the most part and will be duplicating it in the future.

The last card was really simple. Again, I copied the original design from somewhere unknown. I need to go through my Pins on Pinterest because I have too many to shuffle through to find the posts to give credit to the original designer. I apologize if any of these were yours.

I created the present using Washi tape. I created the bow by die cutting pieces of felt using the smallest die from PTI's notched flower dies. I die cut three felt flowers. I folded the first one in half and adhered it together using a glue dot. I folded the next two flowers in quarters, adhering them together with glue dots and then cut the edges to "fluff" them out a bit. I then adhered each quarter on top of first. I like how it came out but think that I will try using an alternative adhesive as the glue dots did not hold the felt all that well. I stamped the sentiment from PTI's "Birthday Style" set and created the banner myself.

That is all for today. Thank you for stopping by!!

Nora