Oooops! Missed Deadlines, No Worries!

I made this card a few days ago for the Limelight Papercrafts sketch 35, but what with the holidays and doing some shopping, I didn't get it submitted in time. But, no worries . . . it's a Christmas card, and it's the Christmas season, so I'm sure someone will love finding this card in their mailbox!

The challenge was to use the sketch below, including patterned papers in the card. Here's the sketch . . .


And here is my take on the sketch . . .




. . . and a few spotlight pics . . .

Product List:

Cardstock - Bazzill

Papers - Fancy Pants Designs - Christmas Magic Line . . .

• Background - Bough of Holly
• Center Card - Christmas Magic Cards
• Stripes - Yuletide Greeting

Pearls and Crystals - Prima Marketing "e." line

Stickles - Stardust

Velvet Ribbon - Not Sure, but I think One Hundred Wishes

Sentiment - Holiday Clear Stamps - Walmart 2008, VersaMark Ink, Ranger "Queen's Gold" Embossing Powder

Thanks for visiting! Becky

CPS # 143 - Merry and Bright

This is the first card I've done for a CPS sketch in almost a year, and it felt really good to get back into the groove and work on something from a sketch. I just love all the coordinating papers from Fancy Pants' Christmas Magic Line. And if you need new ribbons, you should visit Annie @ Glitter Your World for some gorgeous products!

Here is the sketch . . .



. . . and here is my take on the sketch . . .





. . . and a few spotlight pics . . .

Product List:

Cardstock - Bazzill

Papers - Fancy Pants Designs - Christmas Magic Line . . .

• Background and cutout ornaments "On The Tree" (reverse sides)
• Center Card - "Christmas Magic Cards"
• Brown Circle - Chestnuts Roasting

Pearls and Crystals - Prima Marketing "e." line

Velvet Ric-rack - Glitter Your World shop on Etsy

Stickles - Platinum, Diamond

Sentiment - Holiday Clear Stamps - Walmart 2008

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please forgive the dark pictures - I had hoped to get home in time to take them outside in the sunshine, but I had to take Mama to run a few errands and by the time I got home, the sun was almost gone.

Thanks so much for visiting! Becky

Daring Cardmakers "The First Letter"

Good Saturday Morning! It was one of those almost sleepless nights last night, so I spent a big part of it playing quietly in my office/studio. The result is this card for Daring Card Makers dare this week to put as many items on your card as you can that begin with the same first letter as your name. Luckily there are TONS of pretty things that start with a "B", so I took the dare and ran with it!

I began with the color scheme of Beige, Blue and Brown - a combination that I love, so that first choice was easy enough. Then I sat down and wrote up a list of things I could use that started with "B" and I got all of them but one on there, and added another, so It worked out well! If you include the three "B" colors, I had 11 different elements that qualified! Here we go . . .

This card is titled "A Beautiful Birthday". The sentiment was printed onto ivory cardstock and cut out with my Cuttlebug and the Spellbinder Nestabilities small circle set, using the 3rd smallest die.

I'm sorry about the lighting, but there are clouds moving in today and the sun wasn't very cooperative!

One of the things on my list was 'Brackets', so I took a chipboard Bracket, inked it heavily with brown ink and heat embossed it using clear embossing powders. I don't know if you can tell the texture, but it has a kind of bark-like look to it. That Bracket became the limbs of a tree.

Of course I wanted a Bloom on this card, so I used some Petaloo flowers , with a Blingy frosted Brad.

Also on my list was "Buttons", and I used three vintage white milk glass Buttons, threaded with Brown Bakers twine.

Of course one of my favorite elements on a card is a little Birdie, so I made this one of Brown Bazzill cardstock, with a Blue Bazzill wing, which I inked slightly with Brown ink. I used foam squares to pop the Birdie off the page a bit, too.

Another on my list of favorite elements has to be a Butterfly! I traced this one onto a piece of very old paper from a very old journal, then cut it out and folded it so the wings would be more 3 dimensional.

And my last "B" on this card is Bling in the form of gold German glass glitter on the Butterfly, a pretty green rhinestone for the Birdie's eye, platinum Stickles here and there on the Bracket Branch so it looks like it's kissed by the sunlight, and more crystal Stickles on the leaves.

I hope you've enjoyed visiting today! I'll be back as soon as I have a chance to make something else, but it's almost Thanksgiving in the US, and I'll be cleaning and cooking in preparation for our big day. And wherever you are, I wish you blessings! Becky

Rosie Dee's Challenge, and other new cards . . .

I've worked on a few more projects these last few days. It helped that I got all the new stuff from my gift card from LAST Christmas! But first, let's start with the invite I made for Rosie Dee's Challenge. The theme this time around was 'Fresh Brewed', or a coffee theme. I made an invitation to a Mom's Day Out for 'Coffee and Conversation'. I'm pleased with how it turned out!







I simply used Bazzill cardstock, plain white cardstock, a bit of shimmery organza ribbon, a silk flower, and a pink pearl from the 'e.' line of bling from Prima Marketing. It's not in the pictures, but I even added just a 1" long strip of the stick on magnetic strip so it could be put on the fridge as a reminder. That stuff is fairly inexpensive, and a neat way to make sure your guests have the invitation up where they will see it. The image is from a clipart software, and I used a bit of Stickles 'stardust' on the coffee cups and steam for a little shiny bling.





I hope the folks at Rosie Dee's enjoy this card as it is my first time participating in their challenge.



Now, on to a few other projects I've worked on recently. First is a couple of very easy Christmas cards. The first one was so easy I didn't need more than one picture!





Bazzill cardstock, a small strip of an old paper from a stack I bought years ago, cut with a pinking edge. I used a bit of Stickles on the red in the pattern for some shine. Old lace top and bottom, and a matching button finishes it up. So easy and quick to make!



The next card matches the one above, but is a bit more involved.







The same Bazzill cardstock and old paper. I cut a pinking edge on the paper and stitched around it with brown thread, then inked the edges a bit with brown ink. Then I took a bit of red cardstock and cut out a circle with the Spellbinders Nestabilities small circle set, and ran it through the cuttlebug with the 'textiles' embossing folder, and touched the high spots with some Stickles. The top of the ornament is just a piece of silver cardstock , drawn freehand with a small hole cut in top, and threaded with a bow of brown bakers twine.











Next it's 'Warm Wishes for a Joyous Birthday'. The image is from a clipart software, and the stitched tulips are machine done. The cardstock is Bazzill and the papers are from the Basic Grey 'lemonade' line, including sun dress, poppy field and picnic table. I used a lot of Stickles 'stardust' on the sun dress and poppy field papers, added some burgundy velvet ribbon, a big rhinestone, a lace bow, and there you have it!









And I'm still not too sure about this card. Is it too blingy? Is the bow too large or too small? Do the blue pom-poms and the green paper clash? I don't know, but I do think it's cute, and would be really cheery for someone. All of the paper is Bo Bunny, with the pink base of 'Alissa Kissable',the white background (my favorite!) and the black paper is 'Alissa Twirls', the green is 'Alissa Adorable'. I used a rub-on from Melissa Frances, lots of jewels from the 'e.' line from Prima Marketing and the black and white ribbbon, and blue/green pom-pom fringe. I also used lots of Stickles in various colors including icicle, crystal and stardust.










And this last card is my favorite of this batch, partly because I love the cheeriness of it, and partly because the whole design just flew from my fingertips! The base is bright orange Bazzill cardstock. The floral paper is Sassafras Lass 'Vintage Yummy' "blossomed" and I used the pretty scallopped edge as the edge on my card. There is more Bazzill cardstock with a rub-on from Melissa Frances, a printed image from a clipart software, ribbon, lace, orange hydrangea blossoms, a rhinestone flower and an old, OLD rhinestone that I have not a clue how it made it's way into my bling drawer! I also used 'icicle' Stickles on the centers of some of the flowers.

I hope you've enjoyed these cards, because I sure enjoyed making them! Hope to be back with more soon, but probably not too soon because tomorrow begins the pre-holiday house cleaning. Wish me luck - I'll need it! Blessings all, Becky

Catching Up . . .

Well, when I got started making cards again, I found I couldn't stop . . . and that's a good thing! I'm just going to share with you a few things I've made in the last few weeks. I'll apologize now, because most of these things were made from my stash and a lot of them weren't in the original packaging or the names were gone, so I can't give you a lot of info about most products.

First up, a card from some old paper - Fancy Pants, I think - that I love because of the old sewing pattern design.



The buttons are threaded with brown bakers twine, the yo-yo is made from vintage fabric with a pink fleur-de-lis pattern, the brown paper was embossed using the Cuttlebug 'textile' embossing folder.



There is a pink ric-rack in the bottom paper design, and I topped it with some real pink ric-rack.




Next up is a few tags. First up is 'Inspire' . . .



The stripped paper was embossed using the Cuttlebug 'divine swirls' folder, the word 'inspire' is a rub-on, but the doodling is hand done.



I used a safety pin to attach a cute dragonfly charm to the ribbon at top.



Next up is 'Thanks For Being You', which was made using Daisy Bucket Designs papers. The paisley shapes were cut with a Cuttlebug and the Spellbinders Nestabilities paisley dies.



The wording is rub-ons, the swirls are from the cuttlebug folder. I used a bit of stickles on the black lines to emphasize them, and a blue button.



The peach button on top is attached with a brass safety pin. I removed the 'head' of the pin, put the button on, and put it back together.




The next tag says Discover, Grow, Imagine and the wording is stickers.



Cardstock, paper, stickers, ribbon and a button make up this very simple tag.




I love this next card! It's a tri-fold of sorts, but the main part folds under the top tab.





The 'stamps' are stickers that I've had forever, so I can't remember who they are by.





The words Blessing, Thanks and Appreciative are rub-ons. The cardstock is Bazzill.



Another tag, a Christmas one this time. The cardstock is Bazzill, embossed using the Cuttlebug swirls embossing folder. The snowman pic is from clipart software, printed on my printer.



The snowflake is 3 dimensional, and is also from clipart software. I found the snowflake, re-sized it into 3 sizes and cut them out. Then I added Stickles, let them dry, punched holes in the center and held together with a frosted brad that matched perfectly.



The hanger is red bakers twine, red buttons add another touch of color. Wouldn't this be a cute invitation for cocoa after church, or maybe a mom's coffee morning?



One more card, and I just love it! It's got a fabric flower pin on the front that can be removed and worn, so you can say Thank You with a little gift.




A shimmery pink organza bow, cardstock embossed with the Cuttlebug textile folder, a few Stickles for some bling, and a gold heat embossed sentiment.



As you can see, the flower pin has a safety pin that can be used to pin it to a blouse or sweater.





And of course I saved the best for last. I made this for me, but really think I'll end up giving it to my Mama - she'll love it! I guess you would call this a 'plaque', although it's made from chipboard. It is 7" X 5", covered with a pretty vintage Post Card paper.



The hanger is vintage lace, the bow is pink velvet. The cotton fringe is very thick and full, and topped with a seafoam velvet ribbon and large marquis rhinestones. The verse is original by me.



I used a chipboard butterfly and traced it onto a bit of the same Post Card paper, heat embossed it with clear embossing powders and folded it on either side of the center. The center is topped with Platinum Stickles - my new favorite color of Stickles.

The floral print is printed on my printer from a clipart software and backed with the reverse side of the Post Card paper. I used a bit of the platinum Stickles on the stems and leaves of the flowers. The picture is also bumped up with some foam squares for depth.

I did a lot of inking and distressing on this piece with a brown ink, and it looks very 'vintage-y'.

So, that's what I've been working on lately, and I went shopping today (so sad, I finally used my scrapbooking store gift card that was a gift from hubby last Christmas!) so I have some new things to play with, and am working on some Christmas-y things right now. I'll have more to show you soon. Oh! And don't forget to check back on my other blog to find out about our recent trip to Savannah, Georgia.

Blessings friends, Becky