Birthday Card and Gift

Good morning all! My prayers go out to all of the family's of the Veteran's who have been lost in war. I spent much of this morning reading about many of those who have died in Iraq and Afganistan and the families and loved ones they left behind. I feel fortunate and grateful for
all of my blessings thanks to those who have fought for our country so that we can be free.

I made this card and little purse for my sister to give to her friend at work. For the card, I used white metalic cardstock from Paper and More. This cardstock is 110 # and though it may be a bit expensive, it is worth every penny to me because it is so strong and beautiful. I then put Cuttlebugs Distressed Stripes on metalic text paper, again from Paper and More and then added some DP from Paper Pizzaz that I bought from Michael's. The gorgeous swirled pearls came from a dollar bin at Michael's (can you believe it)? I added MS butterfly punch at the top left. The ribbon came from Sharon's Ribbon Store. Isn't this pink just beautiful? The flower was made with PaperTrey Ink's Beautiful Blooms II Dies, which I made with the different sizes. Man, I love PTI's dies.

The little purse was perfect to hold the gift card my sister put inside. I made it with Spellbinder's Nestabilities Labels One and Petite Nestabilities Circles. As you can see I used SU's Pretty In Pink cardstock and I used the same DP and Ribbon as I made for the card. You can find this adorable Template at Create With Julia dated January 7, 2010. You really need to check out her blog...She has some of the most amazing creations and I love all of her little altered boxes, baskets and purses!

Here's wishing you all the best of a new week. Thank you so much for your generous comments and for just taking the time to visit!

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge (FTTC68)

Hi Everyone ~ I am so excited to be your challenge hostess for Flourishes Timeless Tuesday (FTTC 68)! I am challenging everyone to use “make our own flowers!”

I know you have seen all of these wonderful dimensional homemade flowers being used everywhere. Now is your chance to make your very own and sport them on your cards, too! They look quite amazing, but they really are not that hard to do You can use anything from paper to lace to create your flowers. However, if you would like to see a few tutorials from SCS on paper roses, rolled flowers, or tissue flowers, just check out the links. Also, Dawn Burnworth, has also done a tutorial on ribbon flowers here. Whichever form of flower you choose to create, we would love to have you play along with us! Remember to link your card with the Link system at the Flourishes blog for your chance to win a $10 store gift certificate. Also, check out the blog for more ways to win!

For my card I used Flourishes Calendar Set 2 "Morning Glory!" I stamped the image on Metallic White Cardstock from Paper and More with Versamark and heat embossed it with Silver Embossing Powder from Ranger and colored with my Copic Markers. I then sponged around the image with SU's Almost Amethyst and added some tiny rhinestones. I cut the image and the background out with Spellbinders Labels 4. The background was glitter paper that I bought from Hobby Lobby...ya gotta love that paper! The DP also came from Hobby Lobby. The sentiment came from Flourishes "Many Sentiments" and it was stamped on Spellbinders Oval Nesties with Versamark and heat embossed in Silver Embossing Powder from Ranger. The ribbon is 1.5 Silk Purple Ribbon, which I purchased at Flourishes called Violet.

My flower is simple...using Spellbinders Peony Nestabilities and Lavendar tissue paper in two sizes. I simply cut 6 of each size, put a brad through the middle and fluffed it up adding a little bling to the middle of the flower.

Check out the other team designers to see what we all created with "make our own flowers!"

Cindy

Dee

Silke

Barbara

Maki

Betty

I hope you all enjoy this challenge as much as I have had putting it together. Have fun with it and enjoy!

Paper Trey Ink Delightful Dahlia

Hi to all! I hope you have been enjoying this wonderful weekend. Yesterday the weather was fabulous, today, not so good...it is too humid and it is going to rain probably 60% tomorrow, but we need the rain desperately so I do not really mind it. I am excited about the impatiens (sp?) my sister planted for me. If you will remember, she is the one with the green thumb...definitely not me. She said that if I just made sure and watered them at least every 3 days, they should stay alive and look beautiful in about another month...So I am doing what she said...and praying that I do not kill the darling flowers. She also told me that they would multiply! Can you tell that I know nothing about gardening? However, I can tell you guys that I am super excited about the thought that I might be able to grow something beautiful...Okay, so that is not all...my greatest friend Debbie is giving me some tomato plants (3 of them) and my sister is also getting some and she is going to show me what to do with growing the tomato plants. I absolutely love, love tomatos here in the south. At this time of year, there is nothing like a tomato sandwich. I like only Rye bread (Dr. Oz said it is the only kind of bread we should eat). But picture it...rye bread lathered with no fat mayo and sliced fresh tomatos, a little sea salt and ground pepper and add a glass of cold no fat milk....yummers!!! Sry...I get on a real kick when I think of fresh veggies. I also like to take my fresh tomatos, farmer's marked fresh cucumbers, and purple onions and pour Italian Dressing over it and put it in the fridge to cool. Another yummers!!!

Okay I am ready to talk about my little gift set here...This is one of the most favorite cards and gift box I have ever made. Feel free to click on the photo so you can see a close up. I used my White Metallic Cardstock from Paper and More. I then used Metallic Text Paper to emboss the new impression plates called Picnic Plaid. Isn't it just beautiful? There are two sides to these impression plates and I am absolutely sold when it comes to these great plates. I then used the Delightful Dahlia Die Collection, to punch out my background and stamped the Delightful Dahlia stamp on the Bitty Dot Basics Sweet Blush DP. I stamped using Versamark Ink and then used White Embossing Powder and heat set it The leaves also come with this stamp set and they have their own set of dies as well. I used Spring Moss DP to cute the leaves out. I used the Petitie Nesties Oval to Stamp my Enjoy! Sentiment in Silver Embossing Powder and heat embossed that, adding a Swarovski Crystal. I also added these crystals to the centers of the flowers and put my Silver Pearls, which I received as a gift from Silke Ledlow (thank you Silke!)...and topped off the gift box with Sweet Blush Polka Dot 5/8" Ribbon and a Pink Button with silver cord. The ribbon and the button also came from Paper Trey. Inside the box, I put 2 vials of Midnight Path Oils from Bath and Body Works...LOVE the smell of this stuff! In fact, it is the only fragrance that I really like.

I must give credit to Julia at Create With Me for the Rob Pattinson Magnetic Bookmarker I posted a while ago. I got the idea from her...but I was having soo much trouble with posting my photos that day that I failed to mention her inspiration! You have GOT to go check out her blog if you do not know her already...I can guarantee that you will be inspired from the get go and back.

Okay I have talked your ears off here...so I will give you a little break. Thank you for the visit and for your comments...I really do appreciate them all. I have great news to share for next week. Well, it is exciting and a humbling experience that I will share!

Thanks Peeps...Have a great week ahead!

Happy Mother's Day and Crafty Secrets Flowers

Happy Mother's Day to all of the wonderful moms, especially my cyber friends!

I love everything Crafty Secrets and this one is a favorite. I made this card around Easter time and I do not remember where the DP came from. I am pretty sure it is SU DP. I used the Sweet Peas from Crafty Secrets. The butterfly is of course MS. The ribbon from stash. And the Flower I made with the Spellbinder's Poinsettia, moved it around a bit and put a brad in the middle. Added that butterfly gem and I was done.
Since it is Mother's Day, I am making this short to spend time with my family! I have been blessed by the most wonderful daughter ever!!! She is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I hope all of you have been blessed by the same wonderful experience that Amy has brought to me! She makes me smile EVERY DAY! Again, Happy Mother's Day!!

Beautiful Blooms from Just Rite

I should not, but I have been swearing...Blogger has been giving me fits!!! It keeps erasing my pictures. Anyhoo...I hope you have been enjoying this weekend as much as I have been. We have been having the most beautiful weather here. Lows in the 40's and 50's and highs in the 70's and 80's. The strawberries and blueberries have been just as sweet as can be.
I just bought some from the Farmer's Market and that is why I mentioned them. But then again, so are the other fruits and fresh vegetables at this time of year.

I made this card for my very good friend Kathy. I have known Kathy all of my adult life. We went to college together and she had a dorm room right across from my room. We have been working together for the last 20 years and her office is right next to mine. I have been fortunate to have her as my friend. She is one of those friends who will be there for you even if you don't ask her to.


I made this card using SU's Blush Blossom Cardstock with Vellum Fleur De Lis Gold DP on top of the cardstock. I used Spellbinders Oval Nestabilities using Gold Cardstock with the scallops and I heat embossed Gold Embossing Powder for the image and the sentiment. The image is from Just Rite's Beautiful Blooms and the Sentiment is from Paper Trey Ink. I colored the image with my PrismaColor Pencils and Gamsol. That little butterfly is a punch that I used to hide a booboo :) I used a Swarovski Gold Crystal for the middle of the bloom. The beautiful Gold Metal Flower is from Flourishes Finishing Touches.


For this little purse packet that I made, I used the same papers and added a MS punch for the bottom. The flower and Gold Pearl is from stash. As you can see when you open it up, I put magnets so the top and bottom would stay put. There is a place to put a gift card or what I put in there (because Kathy is nuts about Robert Pattinson) I made a bookmark. I got the pictures online and glued them to white cardstock. Then I ran the bookmark through my laminating machine and added some magnets to the inside as you can see.

I gotta tell you peeps...Kathy was thrilled with that bookmark...and you could tell that she was pleased with the card and the purse. I also made one of those tea light birthday cakes that you see on SCS, but I forgot to get a picture of it and it matched the card and purse too.

I hope you like my little gift set as much as I had fun making it...For goodness sake this hobby is addictive. I would love it if I could stay home and do this all day long. But hey, I am not complaining...at least I have a job...when there are so many people

that do not have a job.

Just looking at these pics of Robert Pattinson (You Know Twightlight), you have got to admit...he is a hottie! Shame on me, this boy/man could be my son...LOL

Here is wishing you all a great week!Thank you for all of your comments and for stopping by...