Winter Wishes

Here is the card that I made for the Just Us Girls Wild Card Challenge.  You had to use a photo on your card/creation.  I choose to use a winter photo that I took last January during an ice storm.  Everything outside was covered in snow and ice and it was so pretty!  I cropped and printed the photo, and added it to my white card base that had been embossed.  I added a layer of brown cardstock behind the photo and attached the whole thing to the card with stampin' dimensionals.  The red bird is from the Sentiments stamp set by American Crafts.  I stamped the bird with red ink and carefully cut him out and attached him with stampin' dimensionals.  Some red ribbon, a brown button with red embroidery floss and a sentiment that I created on the computer finished off this card. 

Winter wishes to you...

~pat~

CCAYR November Challenge

Ok...all you one layer card people, this challenge is for you!!  A one layer card was the challenge for November over at CCAYR.  The bottom line was, one layer besides the card base and then any amount of embellishements...ribbon, brads, etc...  I don't know about  you, but this was quite the challenge for me.  At first, I thought, no problem, but then I kept wanting to add layers and that was a big NO NO!!  Here are the 2 cards that I came up with.

The first card used a technique that I have been meaning to use for quite some time.  You know how you get lots of store bought Christmas cards from other people during the holidays?  Well, I have seen where other papercrafters have used those cards to create a brand new one.  I loved the color combo of the black and silver on this card, but it was just a little too plain for me.  Sooo...I trimmed the card down to fit on my black card base and added some black ribbon, a little silver brad for the i dot in "wishes" and the awesome silver snowflake that I found at Wal Mart the other day.  I am really pleased with the outcome.  Now, I wish I had some more of these cards.

Here is the 2nd card for the challenge.  I can't tell you how many time this card almost ended up in the trash.  For some reason, I just kept thinking it was not a lost cause.  I stamped the christmas tree image from the Christmas stamp set from Recollections.  I used my Scor-Pal to emboss the rectangle around the tree.  I colored the tree with copics and colored pencils and added tiny gold brads for the balls.  The balls were many colors, that didn't do it for me, before I finally added the brads.  I created the sentiment on the computer and added a gold brad to each side.  Finally some green ribbon and mounted the whole thing on a green card base.  Whew...this poor little card almost didn't make it, but now that it is finished, I am really liking the simplicity of it.

Stop by the CCAYR blog and check out all the one layer designs.  You might win something if you care to create your own and link it to the site or if nothing else, you might come away with some great ideas for your own cards this year.

Thanks for stopping by and Happy November to you!

~pat~

Happy Boo to You!

I need to get all my Halloween cards finished as it is getting very close.  I think, I have them all made, but just need to post them on my blog before the holiday is here and gone.  Then, you would be like...uuhhh...a little late there Pat!! 

On to the card...a white cardstock base with the two bottom corners rounded.  A piece of patterned paper by The Paper Studio and orange cardstock that was embossing with Swirls by Provo Craft.  I generated the sentiment, "happy" on the computer and used the Halloween clear stamp set by Recollections for the pumpkin and "boo!".  I colored the pumpkin or should I say, Jack-O-Lantern, since he is carved, with the few Copic markers that I own.  I cut out the image with the circle die cuts, layered and added a big black brad to the top.  The image was mounted on the card with pop dots.  That all there is for this card. 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a Super Sunday!

~pat~

My Favorite Pumpkins

I made these cards for my 2 favorite pumpkins, my granddaughters.  I started with a square card base (4.25").  I fell in love with this adorable pumpkin patterned paper by The Paper Studio (Jack-O-Lantern) that is cheerful and not frightful at all.  I am not a great fan of Halloween and never have been.  I like the cute and not the scary.  My next great find was the puffy epoxy stickers by Recollections that I found at Michael's.  They are a great find at 99 cents and even better if they happen to be on sale!!  I created their names on the computer and then cut them out with my square Nesties die cuts.  I added the sticker and some orange brads to complete.  Sorry that the picture is a little washed out.  I think the shine on the epoxy pumpkin stickers made it hard to get a good pic without being washed out.

Here are 2 little treat containers that I picked up at Michael's on sale for 99 cents.  They may be cheaper now as we get closer to Halloween.  I just added the circle die cuts and another 99 cent sticker by Recollections.  The containers will be filled with all kinds of yummy Halloween treats for 2 special little girls.

Thanks for stopping by today and Happy Friday to you!  Have a great weekend.

~pat~

Thanks So Much!

The patterned paper was the inspiration of this whole card. Amplified Bandstand by American Crafts...love their paper as it is cardstock quality and 2 sided with a coordinating color or pattern. I used the back side of the paper to make the scalloped border at the bottom, The stamp is from Eight Great Greeting by Stampin' Up. I inked it up with Almost Amethyst (SU) ink and it was a pretty good match. After die cutting the image, I left the die cut on and sponged the edges. Some red brads to bring out the red in the patterned paper were added and the whole image was attached with stampin' dimensionals.

Thanks for stopping by today!

~pat~

More Thanksgiving Blessings

The same sentiment as yesterday, but only a little bigger. I have fallen in love with this patterned paper, Cinnamon Stick by Cloud 9 Design. All the flowers are embossed and they remind me of fall mums. I cut the sentiment out with my oval Spellbinder's die cuts and add a leaf cardstock sticker by K & Company and some jumbo brads. I kept the card on the simple side to showcase the great patterned paper.

Thanks for stopping by!

~pat~

Thanksgiving Blessings

I found this freebie sentiment online by Digiments and decided to use it on a card. I printed a whole page of these sentiments in various sizes. The great thing about the digital images is being able to make them the size you want. How great is that?!! I am stuck on Old Olive cardstock right now. I started with a card base and added the Old Olive cardstock that was embossed with the Houndstooth embossing folder and a piece of a great fall stripe paper by K & Company. A strip of brown cardstock in the middle and added the whole piece to the card base with some stampin' dimensionals. I cut out the sentiment with the oval Spellbinder's die cuts and added some brads. Thanksgiving will be here before you know it. YIKES!!

Thanks for stopping by today!

~pat~

Make a Wish

The card was so easy I am almost embarrassed to post it.





A cardstock base, a piece of patterned paper, a border punch and a couple of stickers and waa laa...you have a really quick and easy birthday card. The patterned paper is by KI Memories, the stickers by Recollections and the border punch by Martha Stewart. That is pretty much it for this card.

Thanks for stopping by!

~pat~

Little Monkey Birthday

When I saw these adorable monkey stickers by Recollections, I had to have them. They match perfectly with the patterned paper by DCWV, Nana's Kids. The patterned paper has some sparkly glitter on it and the money sticker has googlie eyes. I embossed a circle with the Tiny Bubbles embossing folder by Provo Craft. The sentiment was created on the computer and a green brad finished off this card.

Thanks for stopping by!

~pat~

TESC86 Give Thanks

I took the plunge and decided to try Taylored Expression's Sketch Challenge #86. I always have great intentions of doing some of the blog challenges, but then my ideas don't always go along with the sketch or color challenge. I end of going my own way and doing my own thing. But if nothing else, I did get some great inspiration. Today, I did it!!

I started with some Old Olive cardstock and a piece of K & Company patterned paper is a great fall colored stripe. The tree stamp is a great little stamp by Studio G...found in the $1 bin at Michael's. Can't beat a great stamp for only a buck!! I used my stampin' spots to add all the color randomly on the stamp, hoping for the best and I love the way it turned out. I added some sparkle to the leave with my Stardust gel pen. I did create the sentiment on my computer and cut everything out with my rectangle Spellbinder's die cuts. A strip of Old Olive cardstock scalloped and embossed with the Swiss Dots embossing folder by Provo Craft. 3 little antique brass brads were the finishing touch.

Thanks for stopping by today!

~pat~

Garden Poems

Garden Poems...What a sweet name for a sweet stamp. If you can't already tell, I am a flower addicted stamper. I love flowers all of kinds, stamps and real. Here is a card I designed using the Penny Black stamp, Garden Poems.

This card screams ME....flowers, yellow and polka dots. I started with the main image and colored it with my Prismacolor pencils and OMS. I added fine glitter to the center of the flowers. The patterned paper is by SU, part of the Good Morning Sunshine collection. A big brown button and some green polka dots ribbon were added to the layered image. I left off a sentiment and may add one later when I decide how I am going to use this card...for a birthday? think of you? get well? or just because I like you?

Thanks for stopping by today!

~pat~

Trick or Treat...

Trick or Treat...Smell My Feet...I thought since we are quickly making our way through the month of October that I'd better get busy making some Halloween cards before the holiday is here and gone. Here is a little card that I came up with.

I started with the patterned paper by The Paper Studio. I love the orange, purple and lime green mixture. It screams Halloween to me!! The stamp in by Recollections and all I did was stamp the image in black ink and just color in the stripes on the socks with an orange glittery gel pen. It's hard to see the sparkle in the photo. I added some black rick rack and embossed just the top of the card with the Spots and Dots embossing folder by Provo Craft. That's it...quick and easy peasy!!

A question for you....Why don't my photos enlarge when you click on the photo? They used to and I don't know what happened?? If you can help me with this issue, I would appreciate it.

Thanks for stopping by today!

~pat~

Happy Belated World Card Making Day!

Happy World Card Making Day to you just a little bit late. I didn't get much done on Saturday, but Sunday was a great day to make lots of cards since it was raining much of the day. Not a great day to take pics though. I am hoping the sun comes out today so that I may get some photos of all the cards I made. Here is one of the cards that I made....





I went with a fall theme with this card and didn't include any sentiment. I think the card speaks for itself. I picked up the cutest fall cardstock stickers by K & Company a few weeks ago and have been itching to use them on some fall cards. Pretty easy card...some patterned paper by The Paper Studio, an embossed strip of pumpkin colored cardstock, some brads and the pumpkin and leaf stickers. I checked out all the challenges out there for WCMD, but ended up doing my own thing in the end.

I think Fall is here to stay now.
I will be posting the rest of the cards soon.
Thanks for stopping by today!

~pat~

CCAYR October Challenge

It's October!! EEK! Where in the world are the month's going so fast? The challenge for October over at CCAYR was to make a Christmas card using the color pink and a ribbon in honor of Breast Cancer month.

I used the snowflakes embossing folder by Provo Craft to create the background paper. The sentiment was generated on my computer and cut out with my oval die cuts. A scalloped edge that was paper pierced, faux stitching, snowflakes punches, a pearl stone and some pink ribbon all add a special touch to this pink Christmas card.

Why is it when you have specific elements that have to be implemented in a card, other ideas always pop into my head instead of what I need to do. I have to admit that I really struggled with this challenge and I really don't know why? Pink and a ribbon? How easy can that be?

This card was the inspiration of the patterned paper by DCWV. Quick and easy...some snowflake punches, brads, sentiment and some sheer white ribbon completed this card in record time once I decided on my embellishments. A little different, a little contemporary and I am liking it a whole lot! I hope you do, too!!

Check out the CCAYR blog and see what exciting designs the other design team members came up with. Don't forget if you do 5 cards using this challenge in the month of October, you can be the winner of of great prize!!

Thanks for stopping by today!

~pat~

Snowflakes

Here is a card without a sentiment. I may add one later, but right now it is sentiment less ( if that is really a word?) and I kind of like the card as is.

I liked this snowflake patterned paper by The Paper Studio and that was the inspiration for the card. I layered the patterned paper over a piece of brown cardstock. The snowflake is a plastic glittery snowflake ornament found in the Christmas dept of your craft store. They come with a piece of clear mono filament line attached to hang, but that wasn't needed and I cut it off. I just layered the snowflake on some circles that I cut out with the circle nestabilities and added a pearl to the middle. Some sheer brown ribbon finished off this card. I hope you like it. I really do and may use it for my Christmas cards this year. If I do, then I will probably add a little sentiment to the bottom of the card.

Let me know what you think and thanks for stopping by today!

~pat~

Fabulous Fall Flowers

I am not sure this photo gives justice to this beautiful card. Maybe if you click on the photo, you can see the detail and colors better. I absolutely love the Good Morning Sunshine patterned paper from Stampin' Up!! I just used a square of the fall-looking flowers as my main detail. Cut into a square and layered on top of a scalloped square got me off to a great start. Another piece of patterned paper, a piece of brown cardstock embossed with the Bloom Flowers embossing folders is bring my background together. To finish I used a strip of green cardstock that was embossed with the Swiss Dots embossing folder. Just a little more texture! I couldn't stop there... rhinestone in golds and browns by Studio G were place in the center of the flowers and a little leaf cardstock sticker by K & Company added the final touches.

I hope you like this card and it gives me a little card making inspiration. I would love to hear from you. Thanks for stopping by today!

~pat~

Monkeying Around

How about a cute little 1st Birthday card? Something about monkeys and little boys that seem to go together.

I loved how the monkey sticker and the patterned paper matched so well. The patterned paper is by DCWV (Nana's Kids). I embossed the red cardstock with the Birthday embossing folder by Provo Craft and added a strip of blue to separate the two. Using my square Nestabilities, I made the layered squares for the money sticker. I generated the sentiment on my computer and add a little personalization to the card. The whole image was attached with pop dots. Two large red brads finish off this adorable monkey card. The monkey sticker is by Recollections and can be found at Michael's at a very reasonable price and even more reasonable when on sale!!

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

Thanks for stopping by today.

~pat~

Welcome Little One

I absolutely am in love with this card! I love the design and all the colors.



The patterned paper is from DCWV (Nana's Nursery for Boys). Just two pieces of patterned paper and a piece of green rick rack to separate them. Did you know you get more bang for your buck by buying rick rack in the sewing dept. instead of the papercrafts section?!! I used my computer to generate the sentiment and punched it out with the Curly Label punch by Stampin' Up. Using a coordinating patterned paper and the same punch, I cut the punched shape in half and only used 1/2 of the punch on the bottom of the sentiment. A little green button added the final touch to this baby card.

Let me know what you think and thanks for taking the time to stop by!

~pat~

Round Warm Wishes

How about a cute little round Christmas card? The Spellbinder's round die cuts made this card a breeze to make. I love my Spellbinder die cuts and use them often!! I think it was one of the best investments I have ever made.

Starting with various sized circles and some snowflake DP by The Paper Studio was my starting point. I used my computer to generate the sentiment. The snowflake die cuts by Spellbinders with a white large brad in the center complete this quick, easy card. It's not too early to be thinking about Christmas cards and gift ideas. I always have great intentions, but when it come right down to it, I will be still be scrambling on Christmas Eve to finish everything. Who knows, this year may be different?!

Thanks for stopping by today!

~pat~

Purple Polka Dots

I love this purple polka dot embossed designer paper by DCWV. All the embossed white polka dots add texture to the paper. The flower punches are from Martha Stewart and Marvy Uchida. I added purple brads to the flower centers and the sentiment was created on my computer. It is so easy to add any sentiment you want and don't own the right stamp for by just creating it on your computer. Some layering and stampin' dimensionals finish off this card in record time. This would be a great layout for a time when you need to make multiple cards at once.

Enjoy your Sunday and thanks for stopping by today!

~pat~

Thinking of You in Pink and Brown

A fairly simple card using SU's Thoughts and Prayers stamp set. This is a great versatile stamp set to use for many different occasions. The background is embossed with the swiss dots embossing folder. I inked the tree image with brown and green ink and added the pink brads. I used the square die cuts by Spellbinders to cut out all the images/sentiment.

I hope you are enjoying the weekend!

~pat~

Christmas Cards All Year 'Round September Challenge

EEEK! Where did June, July and August go?! The challenge for September was anything goes. I just stuck with traditional Christmas colors...reds and greens with the exception of the snowman gift card holder done in blues. Why do I alway think snowmen and blue go together? The first two images are gift card holders made with SU stamps. The tree and the snowman head were stamped twice and attached with stampin' dimensionals. I added some glitter to make them a little more festive. The last two images are cards made with the Winter Wonderland stamp seat by Recollections. I used my colored pencils and OMS to color in the images.

It's not too early to be thinking about Christmas and getting started on your cards and gift card holders. Stop on over to the CCAYR blog and check out all the other designer's ideas.

Thanks for stopping by!

~pat~

It's Another Butterfly Happy Birthday

When I spotted this DP at Michael's, I just had to have it! Love the daisies, butterflies and bumble bees. It is so summery and summer is going quickly. The DP is Flower Trails by Imaginisce. The little red flowers and the daisy centers are embossed and shiny. The sentiment was created on the computer and cut out with die cuts. The butterflies are punched with the butterfly punch by Martha Stewart and then embossed with the swiss dots embossing folder by Provo Craft. I added a black brad to the center of the butterflies. A red polka dot ribbon finish off this card.

I hope you have a bright sunshiny day and thanks for stopping by!

~pat~

Butterfly Birthday Wishes

The inspiration for this card came from a gift bag. I had the glittery "birthday" sticker from Soft Spoken and wanted to use that as part of my sentiment. The "wishes" was computer generated. The sentiment was cut out with a die cuts and added to the card with stampin' dimensionals. The Lime Green Gingham DP is by The Paper Studio and the bottom half DP is from the Nana's Kid's packet by DCWV. The colors all coordinated with each other. The butterfly is a punch by Martha Stewart used with another piece of Nana's Kids by DCWV. I love how bright and cheery this card came out and it is really sparkly IRL.

Thanks for stopping by today!

~pat~

Sunflower Thinking of You

Today's card has a sunflower theme. I used the Daisy Heads die cut from Spellbinders for the flower petals. It comes in three different sizes and I used the smallest one. After cutting the flowers, I sponged the edges with More Mustard ink by SU. The flower centers were made my punching circles and then embossing them with the Tiny Bubbles embossing folder by Provo Craft to create a realistic sunflower center. The centers were then attached to the petals with Stampin' dimensional. The DP is from the Good Morning Sunshine collection by SU. The sentiment is from the Trendy Trees stamp set by SU. A whole lotta SU going on here!

Thanks for stopping by today!

~pat~

Digital Sentiment

This is a card I made using a digital sentiment that was sent to me to use in a design for a digital design team audition. I didn't make the team :( but decided to post the card I made using the digital sentiment. I used the Trendy Trees stamp set from Stampin' Up and Delicate Dots DP, also from Stampin' Up. Die cuts were used to make all the layering. I kept the card on the simple side since the sentiment was suppose to be the main focal point of the card.

Thanks for stopping by!

~pat~

CCAYR August Challenge

Wow...here we are in August already!! Where has the summer gone so fast? The August challenge for Christmas Cards All Year Round was to use the following colors on one card, Yellow, Orange, Lime Green and Hot Pink. Not your typical Christmas colors and it was quite a challenge for me at first, but once I got going it all fell into place and I am really liking what I came up with so much I couldn't stop at just one. I am thinking that if I lived in a tropical/beachy area these colors would make great Christmas cards.




The first one is left on the clean and simple side with various circle sizes and textures. The sentiment was computer generated.

The second one was my "Christmas Tree" theme with various sized triangles and textures.

And last but not least, I used my Cuttlebug with the circle and snowflake die cuts to create this one. The pink swirl paper is Pink Stitched Swirls by The Paper Studio.


Don't forget to stop by the Christmas Cards All Year Round blog and check out all the other team designs. If you make 5 or more cards, you could be a big winner.

Thanks for stopping by!

~pat~

Happy 4th of July!

A 4th of July card I made using minimal supplies. The DP is Coco Berry Bubbles by The Paper Studio. Using my cuttlebug, nestabilities, some navy, red and white cardstock to create the circle and my computer for the sentiment. The stars were hand cut and the red one was embossing with the Swiss dots embossing folder. Some paper piercing and pop dots for the stars finished this card. Very red, white and blue!

Wishing you all a wonderful day celebrating our nation's independence and a great big THANK YOU to those serving in the military and their families.

Thanks for stopping by!
~pat~

July Christmas Cards All Year 'Round Challenge

Here is the July challenge for Christmas Cards All Year 'Round Blog. Being July, it's a red, white and blue Christmas card. Mine was quite simple to make taking advantage of my cuttlebug with embossing and die-cutting. The sentiment was computer generated. I hope you like it and go check out the CCARY blog to get in on the fun and try to win the July prize. There are lots of wonderful design ideas from all the other design team members to get your inspiration going.

Thanks for stopping by!

~pat~

Sweet Baby

This is a quick and easy baby card that I made in an assortment of colors to have on hand. I started with the base color and added the white embossed (Birds & Swirls) as my next layer. I created the Sweet Baby sentiment on my computer matching the color of the print with the base color of the card. I used my rectangle nestabilities to cut out the sentiment and the scalloped layer and added it to the card with stampin' dimensionals. Some sheer white ribbon and a flower punch and white brad complete this card in very little time.

Thanking for stopping by!

~pat~

Wow...and good news!

Wow...I can't believe it's been 3 months since I posted on my blog!! I do have some great news to announce and I have been keeping this a secret since I found out, but now, I can spread the word. I have been chosen to be a part of the design team for Christmas Cards Year 'Round challenge blog. I will be doing a Christmas card according to the challenge each month. I will start designing on July 1st. I already have my card done for July, but I can't show it on my blog until then.

Go check out Christmas Cards Year 'Round and get a head start on the holiday season. If you do 5 cards in one month there is a great chance that you could win a prize. It's fun and what do you have to loose? You love to make cards and you know you will need lots of them for the upcoming Christmas season, so it's a win-win situation.

Thanks for stopping by and hopefully I will get some cards posted this week.

~Pat~

Page Plans Week 48

It's Sunday and time for another Page Plans card sketch. This week's theme was a monochromatic green theme and it was a challenging sketch by Chris. Well, green and March makes me think of nothing else but St. Patrick's Day. I used a heart punch to make the shamrock and ran it through the cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots folder. Green pretty much explains this card. Green buttons, rick rack, brads, ink and gemstone add interest to the one color card. I freehand pierced the shamrock stem and sewed it with green embroidery floss. The DP is by DCWV, green with embossed white polka dots. This was really quite a challenge for me using only one color, but then it's always great to have a challenge.

~pat~

Page Plans Week 47

This was a great sketch by Lesli. Go check out all the other designers over at Page Plans and give it a try! I started with a red cardstock base and a piece of white cardstock that was embossed with the Numbers embossing folder (Provo Craft) with my cuttlebug. The number background seemed to fit well with the apple theme. I used a piece of apple DP by DCWV that I trimmed and used with a strip of red cardstock that was scalloped on the bottom edge. I used the Martha Stewart apple punch and various pieces of DP by DCWV and green cardstock for the apples. The middle apple has the sentiment, "a happy hello", stamped on it. This was a really quick easy card to make.

~pat~

Page Plans Week 46

Woo Hoo...it's a new month over at Page Plans and some new "Springy" cards coming up this month. This is a really great card sketch by Chris Ross. Being a new month and wanting to get away from all the red and pink from Valentine's Day and not wanting to dwell on winter any more, I went with some nice pastel colors. I started with the chick stamp by Imaginisce. They are cute little 99 cent stamps. I colored the chick with my Stampin' Up markers and blender pen and then cut it out with die cuts. The polka dot paper is from DCWV (Nana's Kids) and the plaid strip is from Image That. Some die cut flowers, assorted brads and white rick rack (I am loving the rick rack on cards lately) pretty much finish off this card. Just a hint...I buy my rick rack in the sewing section instead of the papercrafts section. It is cheaper and you get more!! The little stamp, Happy Spring is a stamp set from some blog candy (Hi Krystie!!) that I won and it didn't have a brand name on it. It a really cute set with flowers and lots of little bitty sentiments. I hope you are having some spring like weather where you live.

~pat~

True Love

Here's a card to true love! I have had this stamp set by (I am not sure), as I have had it for quite some time and just now inked it up. I wanted to keep the images black and white and go with that theme for the whole card hoping to give it an elegant feel but a little on the fun side. I used black and white card stock and black ink for the image and sentiment. I did color the flowers with my stardust glitter gel pen to give them some sparkle without adding color. Lots of embossing, border punching and die cutting on this card. 3 white heart brads and some white sheer ribbon finish off this card. I am really pleased with the outcome.

~pat~

Don't forget to say...I Love You!

One day a woman's husband died, and on that clear, cold morning, in the warmth of their bedroom, the wife was struck with the pain of learning that sometimes there isn't any more.
No more hugs, no more special moments to celebrate together, no more phone calls just to chat, no more "just one minute". Sometimes, what we care about the most gets all used up and goes away, never to return before we can say good-bye, before we can say "I LOVE YOU".

Suppose one morning you never wake up, do all your friends know you love them?
I was thinking...I could die today, tomorrow or next week, and I wondered if I had any wounds needing to be healed?
Friendships that needed rekindling or three words needing to be said.
Let everyone of your friends know you love them. Even if you think they don't love you back, you would be amazed at what those three little words and a smile can do.
Live today to the fullest, because tomorrow is not promised.

If you have read this far and wondered why I posted this on my blog?? I do know all too well that we are not promised a tomorrow. My youngest son, Benjamin passed away on this rainy, dark, gloomy day 14 years ago. He was only 5 and lived his life to the fullest each and every day. I look forward to the day when I will see him again.

~pat~

Teacher Thank You!

Oh My Gosh...I am loving my new Martha Stewart apple punch. I absolutely love the way this card turned out and in record time too! It was designed and put together in less than 20 minutes...now that's a record for me!! Start with a white card base and a piece of DP (Provo Craft and it doesn't have a design name on it??). The apples were punches twice, once with green card stock and then again with the designer paper (SU Candy Lane). I cut the leaf and stem off of the top layer and place then directly above the bottom apples with some dimensional dots. The "Thank You!" is from The Paper Studio Company (JoAnn's) and was stamped in black ink.

Go and thank a teacher today!

~pat~

Dinosaur Birthday Wishes

I seem to sometimes struggle with children's birthday cards and especially boys. I love this little $1 dinosaur stamp that I picked up at Michael's. I stamped the dinosaur on watercolor paper, colored him with my stampin' up marker and a blender pen, cut it out and ran it through the cuttlebug with the swiss dots embossing folder. I love the little dots on the dinosaur...makes him a little more realistic. Needing a little bling, I colored all the spikes and his toenails with a stardust glitter gel pen. The Birthday Wishes is my most favorite Studio G clear stamp...another great $1 buy at Michael's!! The DP is from DCWV Nana's Nursery Baby Boy paper pack. The card base is some pre-made cards that I picked up on clearance somewhere quite some time ago. 3 brads finish off this cute, but simple little boys card.

~pat~

Strawberry Birthday Wishes

I love this DP from DCWV, Nana's Nursery Baby Girl. It has some of the cutest DP. When I eyed the strawberry paper, Tart 'n' Tangy stamp set from SU came to mind. I stamped the strawberry in Regal Rose and then again in Green Galore (both SU ink). I cut out just the top part of the strawberry (the green part) and cut glued it on top of the pink strawberry. It needed something, so out came my green glitter pen to add the right amount of sparkle. I use circle punches and circle die cuts to cut out all the various circles. Studio G stamp...Birthday Wishes has become my most used and favorite stamp lately. 3 green brads finished off the card. I liked this card so much, I made 2 more to have on hand.

Do you have lots of excess cards, because you are like me and just love making cards?? I sorted through all of my cards and that was lots of cards, and decided to do something heartwarming with them. I send a box full of cards to Cards For Heroes to be mailed overseas to our military personnel, so that they have cards to send home to their loved ones. I cleaned out my stash and did something great at the same time.

~pat~

Page Plans Week 45

Great sketch by Lesli this week! There is quite a bit going on with this card...some embossing, lots of scallops and some glitter. I used the Happy Birthday embossing folder on the top 2/3rds of the card. The lower section is a strip of embossed DP (DCWV Nana's Kids paper pack), I don't think you can tell in the photo, but the white polka dots are raised. A piece of DP (DCWV Sweet paper pack) with a circle punched out and layered with a piece of pink crdstock behind and a piece of white card stock that was scallop on the top and bottom. The cupcake is by Lockhart Stamp Co. and was colored with my stampin' up markers and blender pen. The icing is covered with glitter. Make a Wish is a rub on. The big pink polka dot ribbon was the finishing touch.

Need some more inspiration?? Hop on over to Page Plans and check out the other designer's work. They always do an awesome job!!

~pat~

Altered Notebook

This is a plain spiral notebook that I purchased at Target at least a year ago or more with great intentions of altering it into something great. Well...the day finally came. Using some Designer paper, ribbon, a stamp, a flower bread and some punches...it went from plain to pretty. The notebook came with a pen that I covered in the same designer paper. Now it is ready to give as a gift or maybe a gift for me to keep some important information right where I can find it.

Have a Super Saturday!

~pat~

Cupcake Birthday Wishes

I started this card with a sketch, but it ended up being my own sketch after I decided not to go in the same direction as the original sketch. I used the cupcake DP from the DCWV Sweets paper pack as it matched the pre-made card base. The sentiment and cupcake stamps are from Studio G (Michael's clear $1 stamp). I think this is one of my favorite little $ stamps. I stamped the sentiment and cupcake on water color paper, colored in the cupcake with my Stampin' Up markers and used a blender pen to blend the ink. The pink strip was embossed with one of the Frills embossing border. 3 jumbo pink brads finishes off this yummy birthday card.

~pat~

Flower Power

I have had the Flower Power Card Elements Kit from SU sitting here for quite some time and decided now is the time to use it. Wanting to do something non-winter and more on the cheery side, the colors in this kit are an awesome combination...More Mustard, Old Olive, Rose Red and Perfect Plum. I pretty much CASED my card from the one I saw on Laura's blog that I fell in love with. I used the Wow Flowers stamp set, as it coordinates with the card kit. I added different buttons, brads and ribbon. I love this card and can't wait to send it to someone.

~pat~

Sympathy Card

OK...Do you find sympathy cards some of the hardest ones to make?? I wanted to make a sympathy card for a friend who just lost her dad and I wanted to keep it simple. I saw this sentiment somewhere and decided to use it as my main image for the card. I generated it on the computer and then used the Upsy Daisy stamp set (SU) to stamp the daisies. I inked the daisy stamp with Buckaroo Blue ink (SU) and stamp off twice and the 3rd time right over the sentiment. It gave the daisies a faded, background look. I used my rectangle Nestabilities to cut out the sentiment and then a scallop rectangle to go behind the sentiment. The dark blue card stock was embossed with the swiss dots embossing folder. I used the slot punch (SU) on the right side of the sentiment to pull the white sheer ribbon through. The main image was attached with dimensionals. It's simple and to the point. Since, I was so pleased with the way it turned out, I made a couple more just to have on hand.

~pat~

Page Plans Week 44

Wow...here we are at week #44 over at Page Plans. That means that I have done 44 plus cards since I was selected to be a part of their design team. This week's sketch is by Chris Ross and It's a great sketch to work with. I can't wait to see what the other team members did with this sketch. I started with the DP by KI Memories and went with the circle theme. I used the Bloom Dots embossing folder for all of the embossed flowers, various circle punches, dimensional dots and some brads. The green strip of paper with the yellow scalloped border underneath was paper pierced and then hand sewn. I am really getting into this hand sewing on my cards. I used the Wow Flowers set by SU for the sentiment. It was stamped twice so that I could cut out the center flower, add a brad and some dimensional dot to add some interest to the card. Maybe a little on the retro side??

Have a wonderful week!

~pat~

Lots of Paper Piercing

I used one of the Page Plans card sketches from earlier this month to create this card. I started by stamping the "Love You Much" stamp by SU (Love You Much) in Real Red ink and Old Olive for the flower stem. I used my markers to color the stamp. Not quite knowing what I wanted to do with the love letters, I decided to paper pierce them to look like faux stitching and I have to admit that I do love the outcome. Stitching....mmm...that's when I remembered the card I did earlier this month for Page Plans and how much I loved the way it turned out. Two pieces of Candy Lane DP (SU), a piece of red and brown card stock were cut and pieced on the front of the red card base. The red piece was embossed with the hearts embossing folder and the brown with spots and dots embossing folder. Do you think I love my Cuttlebug??? You bet I do!! I paper pierced the holes between the different paper to make the red and brown stitching. 3 jumbo heart brads were added to the bottom corner. The main image was cut out using the square Nestabilities. I colored the flower leaf and added a punched out red flower and a crystal gem to the center of the flower. The whole image was added with dimensionals.

Happy Heart Day to You!

~pat~

Blog Candy Giveaway!

Blog Candy Giveaway!

I "won" a homemade gift by leaving one of the first 5 comments on Tammy's blog, so now I'll see who my first 5 are. The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you!

This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It'll be done this year! (I'm not known for being punctual with these things, but I'll do my best!)
4- You have no clue what it's going to be. I have tons of ideas, but who knows what it will be? Not you, that's for sure!
5-The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog! (then come here and post, I WILL check your blog *wink*)

The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!

So....who will be the first 5 people?????

~pat~

Pink and a Button

On to Challenge #3 over at Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner. Pink and a button were the must haves to qualify for this challenge. Pink is never an issue for me...I {{heart}} pink!! I embossed the top half of a white card base with the Bloom Dots embossing folder. A piece of American Crafts DP on the bottom with all those pastel polka dots. I added a scalloped strip where the dp and embossing meet each other. I used the Simply Said (SU) stamp set to stamp the main image, colored the stems with my Certainly Celery marker and added some little flower punches with brads in the middle. I cut the image out with my oval Nestabilities, layering it with a pink scalloped one and popped it up with dimensionals. Two white button with lavender thread were added on either side of the image. The sentiment by Inkadinkado with stamp on a piece of pink card stock, cut out with my smallest Long Rectangle Nestability, rounded the two left edges and attached to my card. It's pink and it has buttons!

Three challenges down and three to go!

~pat~

Sketch and Emboss

Challenge #2 over at Kraftin' Kimmie's Korner was to use the provided sketch and the card must include some embossing. I think, I am stuck on purple! A green embossed card base to match the green in the DP (Nana's Kids mat pack by DCWV) that is very sparkly. The dinosaur is a stamp that I pick up quite some time ago at Michael's in the $ bin. I am always on the look out for kid's stamps. I stamped the dinosaur twice, once on the yellow card stock with the sentiment below and a second time on water color paper and colored him in with my markers and used a blender pen to blend the color. I used my purple sparkly gel pen to add sparkle to his spines and toenails. I cut the dinosaur out and popped him up with dimensionals. A strip of purple card stock and some jumbo green brads completed my card. The whole image piece is popped up with dimensionals.

I hope you have a Dino-Mite Day!

~pat~

Purple Birthday Card

Purple Birthday card...I think this one qualifies. I am working on the week of challenges over at Kimmie's blog to celebrate her birthday. There is a different challenge each day for 6 days.

I started with a white card base and rounded the right edges. Lavender Lace cardstock (SU) was used on top and embossed with the Happy Birthday embossing folder. A strip of DP...Slumber Party Dotted Line and I don't know who makes it??? A layer of lavender lace and a layer of Pixie Pink on the bottom with the scalloped edge. I just used a pair of small scallop scissors to make the bottom of the pixie pink piece. The cupcake from Party Hearty (SU) was used as my main image. I stamped the cupcake in lavender lace ink and again in pixie pink ink. The cupcake was cut out with my nestabilities and the top icing part of the cupcake was cut out, popped up and lots of glitter added. Make a Wish! (Penny Black) was stamped in lavender lace ink.

~Pat~