a house of cards

NEW Pink Paislee

2012-01-27T19:27:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone! Did you know that Pink Paislee has been showing peeks of their new collections all week long?! They have some AWESOME new collections coming out this release, and I got a chance to play with four of them. ;) My assignments were four 9 x 12" collages for the booth. So basically I made 36 individual 3 x 4" tags. Whew! (It was lots of work, but so fun!) I can show you some peeks of my projects for two of the lines: Indigo Bleu and Prairie Hill.

Here are a couple of sneaks from Indigo Bleu:

I just love the yellows and blues in this collection. There are some many fun embellishments with it too (like tags, border stickers, mini letter stickers, die-cuts, denim brads and wood buttons, just to name a few. ;) ) Can't get enough of it all!

Next are some sneaks of my Prairie Hill project:

I am crazy for the prints and patterns in this collection, along with the clouds, suns, and kites. (This line is right up my alley!)

Make sure to take a closer look at each of the collections on the Pink Paislee blog: She Art, Spring Jubilee, London Market, Indigo Bleu, and Prairie Hill. And don't forget to comment on each post for a chance to win the collections.

Hope you all have a great weekend. Thanks so much for stopping by!

OA Thursday Sketch

2012-01-26T22:38:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone! Just thought I would pop on here really quick before I head off to bed. (An early morning is waiting for me. ;) )

I have been so busy creating lately, but I can't share everything just yet. Soon though. But I do have one card to share. Today was my day to post on the October Afternoon blog, and I created a sketch for the Thursday Sketch Challenge. I have been finding a lot of inspiration for my sketches lately on Pinterest, and this week is no exception. I found this fun image and just knew that it would be perfect for a sketch:

With this beautiful image, I was inspired to create this sketch:

I really love the circles in the image, so that is what I focused on in the sketch. I just added a title, a place for some journaling, and a frame. The sketch would be perfect for an 8.5 x 11" layout or a 4.25 x 5.5" card.

I have been having so much fun making cards lately, that is what I chose to make. Here is my take on the sketch:

I decided to go with a banner theme, and I used the chipboard banner pieces, die-cuts, sticker, and tin pins from the Sidewalks collection.

In place of the title and journaling, I found this sweet border sticker in the label sticker set, cut it into three pieces, and stitched it to the card.

I really love how bright and colorful this collection is. I just make me happy!

Becky Novacek played along with my sketch this week, and you can see her beautiful layout HERE.

If you get a chance to play along with this week's sketch, don't forget to post it in the OA Flickr group. We love to see what you all are creating with OA products!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a great night!

Some fun news...

2012-01-15T13:55:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone! I've got some fun news to share. I was recently added to the Crate Paper Winter/Spring 2012 Design Team. Yay!!! I love their products, so I think it will be tons of fun.

(You can see the announcements HERE and HERE with the full list of designers to join the team.)

Here is a recent card I made using the new Paper Heart collection along with a few odds & ends from the Farmhouse and Random collections.

Thanks so much for sharing my news and for stopping by. Have a great day!

OA Thursday Sketch

2012-01-12T11:27:00.001-06:00

Hey everyone! Today is sketch day on the October Afternoon blog, and I it was my turn to come up with a sketch.

I was needing a bit of inspiration to get a sketch together for the post, so I went searching for some at Pinterest.com. While there, I found this pin:

I was really drawn in by the color and the design. So with my inspiration found, I came up with a sketch:

I put the sketch in an 11 x 8.5" format, but it would work very well for a 5.5 x 4.25" card also. And that is what I decided to create with the sketch.

I used the Farmhouse collection and focused on the yellows and blues. (I am so totally in love with yellow lately!) I used some of the Little Flyers flags, a label sticker and two pieces of a border sticker to create the blocked row. I then layered the chipboard butterfly, die-cut sentiment, and button for the title.

I finished it off with some twine from the Wrap pack and a few more buttons. I was very happy with the end result.

You can check out the original post and see what Amy Heller did with the sketch HERE.

I hope you enjoyed the sketch. If you get a chance to play along with this it, don't forget to post it in the OA Flickr group. We all love to see what you all are creating with OA products!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Hello...

2012-01-09T11:58:00.000-06:00

How are you all? It has been a while since I have been by my blog. With the holidays, etc., it has been ignored quite a bit.

I have been working on quite a few new things, but not much I can share at the moment. One fun thing is that I am staying on with Pink Paislee for another year. Woohoo!!! :D I love Pink Paislee, so I am so happy about that. Rebecca has added some awesome talent to the team and there are some gorgeous products coming out, so it should be a fun, fun year. Here is the official announcement:

Make sure to check out the blog to meet the new team.

I will leave you with a project that I did for the Cricut Circle Blog a few months ago that I can now share. It is a little tin of flowers that I made for a flower assignment.

I used my Cricut Expression 2 and Sweet Treats and Walk in My Garden cartridges for the flowers and leaves. I used some older Collage Press papers and Autumn Leaves buttons that I had in my stash. The tin is from Michaels.

Well, that's it for me today. Hope you are all off to a great week. Thanks so much for stopping by!

OA Sketch

2011-12-22T13:48:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone! It's been a while. I've been busy with family, work, holiday things, etc., and I sort of forgot about my blog. Oh well, that's what happens around this time of year...

I stopped by today to share a card that I made using a sketch done by Vivian Masket for the October Afternoon blog. Here is the sketch:

Here is my take on it:

I had a lot of fun with this sketch. I tried to stay pretty true to the layout/design, but I did move a thing or two around to fit the product/space. I used the trees in place of the photo blocks. I used the heart, the sticker and button, and the snowman in place of the circle embellishments. And I added some stitching in place of the journaling.

This week October Afternoon is teaming up with Glue Arts, and they are giving away a Holiday Style collection kit along with a Glue Arts Embellishment Kit. All you have to do is leave a comment HERE for a chance to win. (Do it soon though, because the winner will be posted Christmas Eve.) Good luck!

Thanks so much for stopping by today. I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Pink Paislee's Winter Wonderland Event

2011-12-09T20:11:00.001-06:00

Hey everyone! It is Day 9 of the Winter Wonderland Event on the Pink Paislee blog (which is my day. ;) ) I made a couple of cards using the new Snow Day collection, and I decided to go with a circle theme.

I shared some tips on sewing around circles, and you can see them HERE. And make sure to leave a comment over on the Pink Paislee blog for a chance to win one of the daily prize packs.

That's all for me tonight. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Random Crafts of Kindness

2011-12-06T10:02:00.001-06:00

Hey everyone! During the holiday season, many people use crafting as a way of expressing love and gratitude, and we want to help spread the crafting cheer. As you get in the spirit of giving this holiday, Cricut is kicking off an exciting program that celebrates all of the ways people craft for others. Random Crafts of Kindness is a program focused on all the inspirational crafting happening around us.

On their Facebook page, www.facebook.com/OfficialCricut, you’ll see lots of examples of how others are crafting for kindness.

I thought it would be fun to make some hot cocoa treat bags to hand out to friends and family this year. Who doesn't love a yummy cup of hot chocolate during the holidays?!?

I started with small brown paper sacks I got at the craft store. I embossed the bags with my Cuttlebug and Snow Dots embossing folder. The bags were a little longer than the embossing folder, so I trimmed the ends with some pinking shears.

I cut out the tag at using my Cricut Expression 2 and Cricut Art Philosophy (from Close to My Heart) cartridge. I then cut out the hot cocoa shapes using my Cricut Expression and Winter Frolic cartridge. I used the new Holiday Style collection from October Afternoon.

I added the stamped sentiment and heart (Cornish Heritage Farms - Heart Warmers stamp set) and layered them on top of the die-cuts. I attached the tag to the bag with some baker's twine.

I then added some hot cocoa packets, candy canes, marshmallows, and a little white crinkle shred to finish.

I thought it would be a fun way to share a little happiness this holiday season.

We hope this inspires you to submit your own random craft of kindness in the Random Crafts of Kindness Facebook contest – your entry could win you the new Cricut Expression® 2 machine! Voters can win, too: they’re giving away one Cuttlebug™ to a random voter each week!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Pink Paislee Winter Wonderland Event

2011-12-01T15:57:00.001-06:00

Hey everyone! Just wanted to share with you all that Pink Paislee is having a Winter Wonderland Event over on the Pink Paislee blog everyday December 1st – December 12th. There will be all different types of holiday projects featuring the new Snow Day collection to help get you inspired this holiday season: layouts, cards, ornaments, wreaths and so much more.

Each day there will be a new project from the creative team that includes step by step tips and tricks so you can create along with us. There will also be FREE printables and daily blog giveaways with secret scrappy gift boxes filled to the brim! (Wow that is 12 total prize packs….hint hint!)

It started today, so make sure to head on over now. You won't want to miss it!

Ohhhh... and one other little bit of info, Pink Paislee is having a Design Team call right now for the 2012 term. You can find out about it HERE. Pink Paislee is a WONDERFUL team to be a part of, so if you love their products and love creating, it would definitely be worth trying out for. The call ends December 18th, so don't delay! ;)

Hope you all have a wonderful evening!

Getting Frosty with Sprinklers

2011-11-30T12:02:00.001-06:00

Hey everyone! Thought I would stop by and share a project I did for the October Afternoon blog yesterday.

I created some frosted glass ornaments using Paper Doily Sprinklers mist and some clear glass ornaments.

It was a pretty quick and easy project and so perfect for the holidays. I also used the new Holiday Style collection to finish decorating them.

You can see my tutorial on how to recreate these ornaments HERE on the OA blog.

Well, that's it for me today. Thanks so much for stopping by!

OA Sketch

2011-11-26T18:15:00.001-06:00

Hey everyone! Hope you have been having a great holiday. It has been busy, busy, busy here.

This week on the October Afternoon blog, I got to play along with Lexi Bridges' sketch. She decided to use a magazine ad as sketch inspiration.

Here is the ad:

I really wanted to make a card for this. Because cards have less space to work with, I decided to choose just one element (the banner) from the ad to focus on.

Here is what I came up with:

I used the new Farmhouse collection: Patterned Paper, Journal Cards, Label Stickers, Miscellany, Flower Sack die-cuts, and Sprinklers.

I just love the mix of yellow, gray, and brown in this collection. Such a gorgeous color combo!

You can take a look here to see Lexi's wonderful take on the sketch.

That is it for me. Hope you all have a great rest of the weekend. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Pink Paislee + Core'dinations Blog Hop

2011-11-15T05:00:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone! All this week on the Pink Paislee blog, the design team will be showcasing projects that combine the Core’dinations cardstock patterns with Pink Paislee papers and embellishments! Did you know Core’dinations makes cardstock to match Pink Paislee lines? It is called the Modern Prints collection and the colors and patterns are a must have this season!

Be sure to read the bottom of this blog post to find out all the ways you can enter to win some prizes this week as we team up with the design team over at Core-dinations to host this fun Blog Hop Party!

For today’s post, I created some Thanksgiving paper cone favors that would be perfect for giving to guests.

To create the cone, I started with an 8″ square piece of Core’dinations embossed cardstock. I rolled the cardstock into a cone shape, and I adhered the edge.

I created a festive topper by cutting out pumpkin and leaf shapes with my Cricut Expression and Create a Critter cartridge. I inked and distress the die-cuts and added some machine stitching for detail.

I then stamped an image from the Amber Road stamp set and cut it out. I then layered the die-cuts, stamped image, and ribbon, and I adhered them to the cardstock cone.

I finished by added a little crinkle shred and candy.

Products used:

If you left off the sewing, this could be a pretty quick and easy project. And you could easily adjust the size to fit whatever type of goodie you wanted to add to the paper cone.

Now, for the chance to win:

There are 3 ways to win cool stuff from Pink Paislee and Core’dinations

1. COMMENT ON PINK PAISLEE BLOG ALL WEEK LONG! Just leave a comment on the Pink Paislee blog all week long for your chance to win a cardstock pack and some extra papers + embellishments from Pink Paislee! Two winners will be chosen at random and those winners will be announced on Saturday November 19th. (And yes, it is okay to leave comments everyday. :) )

2. SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THE BLOG HOP ON FACEBOOK! Go to the Pink Paislee Facebook Wall and share the Blog Hop Announcement wall post with your friends. Just click the little “share” button and post this on your very own personal page for another BONUS chance to win! You MUST click the share button from our page or we won’t know you actually shared it!

3. VISIT OUR FRIENDS AT CORE’DINATIONS! Hop over to the blog at Core’dinations for even more chances to win! Details can be found on their blog!

I hope you enjoyed today’s project. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and be sure to stop by each day this week for more cardstock inspiration!

Good Luck!

Creating with Cricut: Thankful

2011-11-12T10:30:00.001-06:00

Hey everyone! Today, I posted a project on the Pink Paislee blog. My assignment was to create a Thanksgiving/Autumn project using my Cricut Expression machine. I decided to make a home decor piece.

I repainted an old picture frame and added some patterned paper for the background. I cut out the pumpkin shape using my Cricut Expression, Pumpkin Carving cartridge, and some Mistables patterned paper that I colored with Mister Huey's mist in Pumpkin Spice. I added some inked Wood Shop Wood Chip letters over the pumpkin shape for the sentiment.

I then cut out some leaf shapes using my Cricut Expression and Create a Critter cartridge, inked them with multiple ink pads, and machine stitched the veins.

I added a bow, button, and tag to finish it up.

You can see a list of the products I used here.

Hope you enjoyed today's project. Have a great weekend, and thanks so much for stopping by!

OA 5+ Photo Challenge

2011-11-07T19:53:00.001-06:00

Last week, it was my turn to come up with a challenge on the October Afternoon blog. Now a lot of you know me as a card maker. Cards are my favorite things to create, and they are what I am most comfortable creating. I do layouts, mini albums, and altered project too, but not nearly as much. When I was thinking about what kind of challenge to post, I really thought about what would be challenging to me. The first thing that came to mind was layouts. While I do like to take photos, I am not great about doing it. I take a couple here and there, but for the most part I always forget to take my camera with me wherever I go. I never seem to have enough photos to put together a story on my pages, so I stick to one or two photo layouts. Maybe three photos if I am lucky. So my challenge was to create a 5+ photo layout.

And here is what I came up with:

I really had to dig through my photos to find a day that I took a lot of pictures.

I kept my design simple to really focus on the photos. (I think this is the most photos I have ever used on one page. LOL) I love the Print Multiple Photos feature on Photoshop Elements. It prints all of my photos at one time, and has multiple sizes to choose from. I printed out all of my photos in two sizes, and then mixed and matched them.

And I created some fun, little pumpkins to spruce up my title and play on the theme.

Collections used: 5 & Dime, Rocket Age, Campfire, Farm Fresh, Fly a Kite

If you get a chance to play along with this challenge, make sure to upload your finished layout to the OA Flicker Gallery. We love to see what you all create using OA products!

Hope you have a safe and Happy Halloween! Thanks for stopping by!