Recipe Challenge

Today's challenge at Paper Therapy is a recipe challenge. The project you create this week MUST contain:

2 patterned papers

bling

distressing

ribbon or twine

the color blue

It can have other things, but it MUST contain those things! Here's what I came up with.

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! Happy crafting!

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday everyone! Today is another challenge day over at Paper Therapy. This week's challenge was to use a sketch. Any sketch. Pick a sketch and go with it! A magazine, a sketch site, your own sketch...whatever your little heart desires! :) This is the sketch I used. It's from the "Go to Sketches" magazine by Paper Crafts. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this magazine and find myself turning to it very often!

And here's the card I made. My father in law's birthday was last week and since we're seeing him this weekend, it was time I made his card! Haha! Now I need to get my butt to the store and get a gift card to put in it! I love him and all, but he's NOT getting the Starbuck's giftcard I used for size! ;)

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!! :)

Another Challenge

Wow! To say that I have been a bad blogger would be an understatement! I even have to admit that I've been a bad crafter! Life has just been really hectic lately. Between friends and family having babies, vacation, and an unexpected death of one of my husband's friends has just been..WOW! It was nice to get back to the grind this week though! Today marks another challenge at Paper Therapy. Since July is fast approaching (WHAT?!? Already?!?!), this week's challenge was to use red, white, and blue in your project. This is actually a double duty challenge!! The Card of the Month challenge at Paper Therapy uses the same theme!! Even more motivation to work on this one, right?!?!? Anyway, here's the card I made.

This is an old sketch from over at Cardabilities.

Ok, well, I hope everyone has a fantastic day! It seems like it took Friday FOREVER to get here this week!! Tomorrow is going to be a crazy day. Dave and I will be running a Mudathlon. It's a 3 mile obstacle course in the mud. I'm still not too sure how I feel about this, but it should be fun. And there's a free beer and burger at the end... :)

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!!

Woo-hoo!! So excited for the long weekend!! I'm ready for grilling out, time with family, and just a little bit of relaxing!! Today starts another challenge at Paper Therapy. This week's challenge is an ad challenge. There is no specific ad...go find one that inspires you and create something from it. You can use the colors, the layout, whatever gets the mojo flowing!! Here's the ad I used....

And the card I made from it.

I had another ad in mind when I originally started this challenge, but I'll admit...I waited too long and there just wasn't enough time to work with it. Hopefully soon tho! Anyway, pick your ad, get creating and have your project in our challenge gallery by June 8th! Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Hope everyone has a super weekend!!

Oops!!! Bad blogger...

Well crap! I'm such a bad blogger! I was supposed to have this post up on FRIDAY!!! Oops! I'm going to blame the nice weather we've been having and hope everyone forgives me!! Anyway, Friday started a new challenge on Paper Therapy! It was a color challenge. Bright yellow (Daffodil Delight), hot pink (Melon Mambo), bright blue (Pacific Point), and a neutral were the colors to use. I thought they were really fun color for a cheery, Summer is almost here kind of card! Here's what I came up with!

You have until Wednesday, May 25th to post your take on this challenge in the challenge forums! I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

I've been up to my ears in baby projects lately! I have 3 good friends and a sister that are all pregnant and due in the next few weeks! I'm trying to get all the baby stuff done for them! I've got one and a half more projects to go and then hopefully I'll get a chance to post the stuff on here! Hope everyone enjoyed last week's great weather! Looks like Mother Nature is setting us up for another week of cooler temps and rain! BOOOO!!!! I'm ready for summer!!

Happy Friday!!!!!

Hi everyone! Happy Friday! Happy Good Friday! :) Today's challenge at Paper Therapy is to make something for a special lady in your life. With Mother's Day coming up, I decided to make a card for my mom! I really like the way this one turned out! I got to play with some fun new paper and the fun new stamps and dies from Papertrey Ink!

You have until Wednesday May 11th to get this challenge into the challenge forum at Paper Therapy! I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with!

Happy Friday!!

Happy Friday everyone!! So excited for today! Not only is today the first challenge with the new Design Team at Paper Therapy, but from noon today until 2:00 on Sunday I get to spend the weekend scrapping with my favorite sister and my friend Kris! Woo-hoo!!! So excited! Much needed girly time!! :) (And I get to go to my sister's baby doctor appointment! Yay for the lil' girl coming in July!!) Ok, moving right along! ;) The challenge this week was to use a basket for inspiration. Your project could feature a basket on it or just use something "basket-ish"...whatever worked for you! I chose to use a basket on my card.

This lil' bunny was just too cute so I gave him a basket of "eggs" to carry! Anyway, I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! I know I will! Hopefully I'll have lots to share next week!!

A few cards

Here are some cards that I have made recently. I used this one for a Spring card swap. I really like the way it turned out! I heat embossed and used the "resist" technique to color in the green. First time I've ever done that. Super easy!!

I always struggle with male birthday cards. I'm ok if it's a kid, but get into adults and ugh! It's just hard for me!! Can't really use cute dinosaurs on a card for someone much older than 10, huh? Anyway, here's what I came up with. I like it! It was fun to do all the distressing and making it look all grungy!
I need to spend some more time on YouTube researching Tim Holtz! I think I can definitely get into his grungy style!

Get Your Sketch On

Happy Saturday! Hubs is out of town this weekend, so it's just me and the lil man. Hopefully that means lots of movies, junk food, wine (only for me, of course!!) and scrappy time! Here's a layout I did last night for Get Your Sketch On using sketch #13. I'm not thrilled with it...I feel like it's missing something...but that happens to me a lot with "holiday" layouts. I'm not a big fan of scrapping holidays. I MUCH prefer the everyday things. But oh well...it's another one done and one more closer to being caught up (whatever the heck THAT is!!) ;)

Sassy Lil' Card Sketches

Here's something I did for a Sassy Lil' Card Sketches challenge.

Their sketch...

My take on it...

And my favorite part about this card?!? I actually got my sewing machine to cooperate with me!! Woo-hoo for machine stitching! :)

Cardabilities

I really liked this sketch from Cardabilities. I have a feeling I'll be coming back to this sketch over and over again!! :)

Here's what I made. Simple, but can be used for just about any occasion...my favorite kind of cards!

Operation Write Home

I have been inspired by some of my Paper Therapy friends to start making some cards for Operation Write Home. I had never heard of OWH before, but what a super cool thing! You make cards, send them to the "shipper" and the shipper send the cards overseas so the deployed heroes can send handmade greetings back to their loved ones! So super awesome! And since I was making a card for mom's bestie's hubs who's retiring from the Army, I figured I'd make a few more! :)

These cards aren't ones that the heroes will send back...these are "any hero" cards...cards with words of encouragement for those fighting for us! Again, super awesome! My goal is to make an extra card or two every time I sit down to scrap and once I get enough, send a box to the shipper! Check it out...OWH...it's a super cool thing! And what a great way to give back to those that risk their lives every day for our freedom!!

The last challenge

Happy Monday! Today is the last challenge for the current Design Team at Paper Therapy. It has been a great experience! I feel like I have learned so much, met so many great people, and have come quite a ways in my card making! I can't wait to continue on for another term! :) There will be a few changes (Friday challenges instead of Mondays...and they will be posted every 2 weeks instead of every week)

Today's challenge was to use a bug on your project. There are so many cute lil bugs out there...stamps, die cuts...I can't wait to see what you guys come up with! Here's my card...just a quick 4x4 card that can be used for any occasion! :)

I got my inspiration from a sketch over at UmWowStudio. DeeDee has some cute sketches! You should go check it out!! There is even a chance to win a super cool prize!!

Hope everyone has a super week!!

A Monday Sketch

Happy Monday everyone! Today's challenge at Paper Therapy is a sketch challenge. It's the second to last challenge of this Design Team term. There will be some minor changes coming for the next term...hopefully it will bring about more participation!!

Anyway, here's this week's sketch. You don't have to use it for a card...a tag or whatever works too!! Have fun with it!!

Here's the card that I came up with. I think the lil bunny is so stinkin' cute!! :)

Upload your projects to the challenge forum by midnight on Saturday the 26th. Hope everyone has a good week!

Happy Monday!

Hey everyone! Ugh! What an exhausting weekend! A slow draining, leaky sink turned into a major weekend project!! But the problem is fixed and all that is left now is clean up! It's a good thing I had my project for this week's Paper Therapy challenge done ahead of time!! This week's challenge was a color challenge. If you don't have these exact colors, just use something close.

Here's the card I came up with. I actually really like it...and I like that there's no sentiment so I can use it for whatever come up!

I would love to see what you can make using these colors. Have your project in our challenge forum by Saturday at midnight! Have a great week! I'm off to start cleaning up this weekend's mess!!

Mix It Up

Here's a card I made for the Mix It Up challenge at Paper Therapy. Twice a month two of the members are going to be posting a different challenge. For this one, you were required to use the color green, have some sort of Irish/St. Patty's Day die cut, and use ribbon. Fun stuff!! And there's even a great prize for these challenges. I think you should c'mon over and check it out!! :)

Pick of the Patch

Happy Wednesday!! Today I used a sketch from Sketchabilities. Such a fun sketch!!

And so happy to be able to use the Fall paper that I've been hoarding forever! :)

Sketchy Thursday

Wow, another post! So unusual for me! Hahaha! This time I have a layout that was inspired by a Sketchy Thursday sketch. I always look at their sketches and even use them sometimes, but I have never completed one on time for it to be submitted! Hopefully getting them done on time will be a reoccurring trend! Here's the sketch.

And here's what I came up with!

As you can see, I tend to keep pretty true to the sketches. That's something I'm going to start working on...eventually! ;)

Lucky

Happy Monday! This week's challenge at Paper Therapy was to create a monochromatic project. Ugh..I'm not very good at this...it definitely took me outside of my comfort zone...but I'm pretty happy with the results! :)

I even had a little "help" this week with my card! Notice the dark spots in the middle of the hearts?? Yep, those were the added touches of Justin! ;) I had my stuff set up on the kitchen table and was working on this and another project. I left the room to go grab some adhesive and came back to Justin standing at the table. He said he was "just trying to help" and "dropped" the inky q-tip. Eh, oh well. It adds character, right?!? Handmade isn't meant to be perfect!

So what can you make that's monochromatic?? Since this is the first Monday of the month, the winner of this week's challenge gets a prize!!! Woo-hoo!! Have your project loaded into the challenge forum by Saturday at midnight. Can't wait to see what you come up with! :)

Just some more random stuff

Here's a few more random projects that I've worked on recently.

This one was for the Card of the Month Challenge at Paper Therapy. The only requirement was that you had to use green somewhere on your card. I used a sketch for this one, but I'm a bad scrapper and don't remember what site I got the sketch from! :(

The inspiration for this card came from an old issue of Cards. I *heart* that magazine!!

This one happened by accident. I had the bright idea that I was going to try to stamp on transparencies. It didn't go well...it didn't go well at all! I started to get really frustrated and ended up putting the idea aside for a while. I came back to it and started "practicing" on some scraps I had. This was the first image that I got to stamp clearly! Of course the biggest I could cut the scrap was a little less than 3 inches, but it works! I'll find something to use this card for! ;)

I used a sketch for this one too. It was a sketch from one of the ladies at another message board. She made great sketches...clean and simple...makes for some quick, cute pages! :)

A thank you card

This week I got a great package of goodies in the mail from one of my Paper Therapy friends. Kate was awesome and hosted a posting contest over there and I was the winner. Woo-hoo! Anyway, I couldn't wait to use my new goodies! And since I'm on this sketch challenge kick, I figured it was perfect timing! I used this sketch from Cardabilities. Cute, isn't it??

And here's what I came up with.

For once, things actually came together fairly well! Maybe it's a sign that I'm breaking out of my creative funk!! Anyway, I'm off to go hang out with the kiddo until bedtime and then back to scrapping!! :)

Trying something new

So I haven't been feeling very creative lately. I don't know why...maybe it's the weather...maybe I'm in a funk...I dunno. But whatever it is, I went on a mission to find some inspiration. I work best with sketches so I set out to look for some sketch challenges. I found Sassy Lil' Sketches. It's awesome...they have both a layout sketch site and a card sketch site! This is the sketch from their February 28th reveal.

And here's what I came up with.

I'm not quite sure how all this works just yet, but I know I have to have my stuff uploaded by Saturday, so here it is! I'm hoping to work on a few more things for both Sassy and another site I found. Hope everyone is having a super Friday!! :)

Short Sweet and to the Point!

That's what this post is going to be like! ;) Hubs and I were away this past weekend and of course there's tons to catch up on around the house! Hopefully I'll have time to post some other stuff later today or later this week. Anywho, today's challenge on Paper Therapy was a sketch challenge! And a super cute sketch at that!!

And here's what I came up with. I'm really loving the new stamps I bought from PTI!

Post your take on the sketch in our challenge forum to have the chance to be this week's challenge winner! I hope everyone had a great weekend and has a great upcoming week!

Monday Monday....

Well, today's challenge didn't turn out like I had hoped. I mean, I like the card I ended up making, but it's not what my original idea was. I'm still working on that one...it's just not going well!! I'm determined to get it right though!! ;) Anyway, today's challenge at Paper Therapy was to use the negative part of a die cut on your project. There are so many options for this!! I can't wait to see what you come up with!

Congrats Kristin!!!

Alright friends, here's the deal...my friend Kristin just hit 400 followers on her blog and she's giving away some AWESOME blog candy!! And if she hits 500 followers before March 1st, she's making the loot even better!! Hurry!! Go check her out! Her work is absolutely beautiful!! You'll be truly inspired! :)

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!! I hope everyone gets a chance to spend some time with their sweetie! Dave and I went out to a late lunch yesterday since he has to work today and Justin has an eye doc appt tonight. Anyway, it IS Monday, so there is another challenge posted at Paper Therapy. Today's challenge is to make a Valentine. Here's the one I made.

I also used it for my February card swap at Paper Therapy. The frog prince idea came from a card I saw somewhere, I'm just not sure where (bad scrapper, I know!) Anyway, I'm sure you all made (or will be making) Valentines, so post them in our challenge thread and you may be this week's winner! Hope everyone has a super week!!

Good Monday Morning

Happy Monday everyone! So glad for another week to start! Hopefully all the yucky weather and sickness is behind us! This week's challenge over at Paper Therapy is a color challenge. You need to use the following colors on your project. If you don't have the exact colors, just use something that's close.

Here's what I came up with. I know these colors would have been great to make a Valentine, but I needed a birthday card this week! And I really wanted to play with my new stamps from Papertrey Ink! :)

I hope that everyone has a good week!

When a border punch...

is more than just a border punch! Happy Monday everyone! Today's challenge over at Paper Therapy is to use a border punch as something other than a border punch. When I first read this I was like WHAT?!?!? But after doing some searching on the internet, I figured it may not be so bad. Here's what I came up with.

I used my Threading Water punch for the flower and my Upper Crest punch to give some texture to the blue. Overall this was a true challenge for me and I like the way the end result turned out! Let's see what you can come up with! Upload your designs into the challenge forum by Midnight on February 4th to be this week's winner!! Hope everyone has a super week!!

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend! Did everyone hop along with the blog hop? There were some really great projects out there!! I can't wait to use all the inspiration I found and make a few more Valentine's Day projects!!

Anyway, it's Monday so that means another Challenge at Paper Therapy. This week's Challenge is a color challenge. If you don't have these exact colors (I didn't!) just use something close.

Here's the layout I came up with.

It was nice to get back to playing with pictures! I seem to have gotten away from layouts again and I need to get back to it! Maybe this week... :) So, what can you come up with using those four great colors? All of us at Paper Therapy would really love to see!! Post your project in the challenge forum for the chance to be this week's winner! I hope everyone has a great week!

Made With Heart Blog Hop!!!

Hi everyone and Happy Friday!! Welcome to the weekend and Kristin's Made With Heart Blog Hop! I am stop number 5. You should have arrived here from Paula's blog. If you randomly stopped by, here's the link to Kristin's blog, the beginning of the Blog Hop. Make sure you hit all the stops. I know some of these wonderfully talented ladies are offering some awesome blog candy!!

So with Valentine's Day fast approaching (um, where did January go again?!?) we had to create some sort of Valentine's Day project. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to make and finally decided on altering some letters. Altering is quickly becoming one of my favorite things to do!

The letters came from Hobby Lobby and I'm honestly not sure where the papers are from...just stuff that was in my stash! Same goes for the rest of the embellishments...all stash stuff!

Anyway, I hope you've enjoyed the hop so far and are becoming super inspired to create projects of your own! Please continue on to Nikki's blog for your 6th stop and some more Valentine's Day inspiration!! I'm going to go ahead and list all the stops on the hop, just in case you get lost! ;)

Kristin: http://lilsweetpeasplace.blogspot.com

Stacey: http://staceyscreativecorner.blogspot.com

Nicki: http://idreamcreateinspire.blogspot.com

Paula: http://ponderingsofpaula.blogspot.com

Jenny: http://jennysscrapsoflife.blogspot.com

Nikki: http://nikkistamps.blogspot.com

Kimberly: http://hellocutiecrafts.blogspot.com

Janneke: http://myblog-jannekescreations.blogspot.com

Tabitha: http://zippity-do-dah-tabitha.blogspot.com

Liza: http://pinkcandystripes.blogspot.com

Jessi: http://themyersmemories.blogspot.com

Joey: http://joeysworldofstuff.blogspot.com

Emily: http://branchoutdesigns.blogspot.com

Patricia: http://www.thinkingofinki...s.splitcoaststampers.com

Kate: http://ippitysimplicity.blogspot.com

Dee: http://sprytebyrd.blogspot.com

I hope everyone has a fun filled crafty weekend! I won't be crafting much because we're having my baby's 5th birthday party this weekend, but hopefully next week I'll get to create, create, create! :)

Shape It Up

Happy Monday friends! This week's challenge at Paper Therapy was super fun!! We had to make a card that was NOT a square or rectangle!! This was something totally different for me but I loved it! I followed a tutorial at Lilsweetpea's Place on using Nestabilities to make shaped cards. I used my new scalloped octagon Nestie and this is what I came up with.

I can't wait to give it a try with some of the other shapes! We would love to see what shaped cards you can come up with. Submit them in our challenge forum so you can be this week's winner!!

Oh, one more thing!! Don't forget about the Made with Heart Blog Hop that starts on Friday the 21st! There are some amazing blogs with some amazing Valentine's Day projects! I think there may even be some blog candy! Check back here on Friday for more info! Have a super week everyone!!

Oh yeah, and I've got to give a big ol' shout out to......DA BEARS!! Great game against Seattle...not we just gotta beat those Packers!! :)

A mid-week post

No, I promise I'm not sick! I'm posting mid-week because I'm SUPER excited about a blog hop that I'm participating in! It's my first one and I think it's going to be lots of fun! I know a few of the participants from Paper Therapy and the ladies do amazing work! Anyway, the hop runs from the 21-23rd. It's going to have a Valentine's Day theme! I can't wait!!

In the mean time, here are some of the things I've been up to lately. I had a scrappy coffee playdate with my friend Angie earlier this week and got a few cards started. I love the butterfly paper. So much fun. And I HAD to try out the Nestabilities that I got for Christmas. I LOVE 'em! They're so much fun to work with! Let's just say that there will be more in my future! ;)

I got these awesome mailboxes in the $1 spot at Target! They're perfect for altering to hold Valentine's Day goodies! I made one for Justin and one for each of my bestie's girls!

Anywho, be sure to check back Monday for the latest Paper Therapy Challenge and then NEXT weekend for the Blog Hop! Hope everyone is having a wonderful week!