{Little Star}

Hello friends! Well, we survived Christmas and as much as I love creating Christmas cards I have to admit I am ready to take a from making them.  So, to start off the new year (almost) I a here with a baby card I created for a sweet friend. I have so many friends expecting babies in the spring and summer I know I am going to need to build up my stash of baby cards! I recently ordered some adorable stamps from Unity. I knew I had to have the Itty Bitty set "Twinkle Twinkle" .Oh my gosh total cuteness overload. I used the Cornish Heritage Farms backgrounder "Ticking" that I stamped in A Muse Studio Shell pigment ink. Next I stamped the sentiment in SU Early Espresso ink. I stamped the hanging stars on a scrap piece of yellow bazzil textured card stock and cut out the stars. I stamped the stars again on my ticking background and added the yellow stars. I added a machine stitched border and finished off the card with a button tied with thread. I love this cute card and I hope you do to! Thank you for visiting my blog today!

Today I am playing along with the following challenges:

4 Crafty Chicks Challenge # 70 - Something new

City Crafter Challenge # 89 - Make the cut

Sweet Stamps Challenge # 47 - Celebrate

Simon Says Stamp Challenge - Anything Goes

{Warm Winter Wishes}

Christmas is almost here! Whew, what a  crazy month. We moved into a new house Dec 1st and in between everything involved with getting settled, and Christmas preparations this month has flown by! Anyways, today I am showing you a card I created as this months Guest Designer at Your Next Stamp featuring the "Fancy Frame Stamp set and Die". The patterned paper I used is from the Echo Park Seasons Greetings collection.  The polka dot label was stamped in SU Cherry Cobbler ink. Such a pretty shade of red! The gold doiley is from Wilton. Today I am also playing along with the newest challenge at Play Date Cafe - Here is the inspiration picture:

So pretty!

I hope you have a wonderful day, and thank you for visiting my blog today!

{Moxie Fab World Part 2}

  Hello back again with another card for a different challenge over at the Moxie Fab World. I created this card for the "Get Inspired Week"  Get Inspired By Fashion Challenge.  Here is our inspiration picture:

As you can see I took my inspiration from the houndstooth pattern, and the warm vanilla tones of the card. Seriously, I could use vanilla card stock for every card I make! The patterned paper I used on my card is from October Afternoon. I decided to make a Holiday card using PTI's Holiday Photo Finishers stamps, and matching die set. I think I captured the vintage feel of the picture by using actual antique embroidered lace that I picked up at an estate sale last year.  I finished off my card with a wooden button tied with twine. I am very happy with my little card, and I hope you like it to! Thank you for visiting my blog today and have a wonderful week!


                                                          

{Moxie Fab World Part 1}

  I just have to start out by saying I LOVE THIS CARD! I usually try not to gush (out in the open) about my cards too much, but this card turned out better than I could have hoped. Today I am posting a card that I created for the Moxie Fab World "Get Inspired Week" Pot Pourri Challenge. I used an "Itty Bitty" stamp set from Unity Stamp Company called "Brave Girl Boots". Here is the inspiration picture:

   Now how you ask did this picture inspire me to create my boot kickin',  lacey, velvet ribbon inspired card? Well, the chairs in the picture are so pretty, but to me the stamped boots capture the same lines, and designs as the chairs. I used vanilla satin ribbon from Offray, and beautiful patterned paper from Sassafras Las.  The font of my sentiment also matches the monogram "R" in the picture! I used PTI's Mat Stack #4 that I stamped the CHF Lace backgrounder stamp on using A Muse Studio Latte pigment ink. So subtle, yet so pretty. The punched border was created with the EK Success "Swirl" edger punch. (A punch I received in my PC magazine World Card Making Day prize package!) I hope you like my card as much as I do, and always, thank you for visiting my blog today!

                                                                     

{Happy Holidays}

Hello friends, wow, what a week! We are getting nice and settled after our move.  I have been busy putting my craft room back together and I promise to post pics to show my progress.  Today I am excited to post a card I created for this weeks ColorQ Challenge. Here is the color inspiration picture for this weeks challenge:

Such bright festive colors aren't they!?

    To create my card I used PTI's Christmas Poinsettia,Holiday Photo Finishers, and Retro Background Basics. The beautiful shimmery damask card stock is from A Muse Studio.  It feels great to be "back". I hope you have a wonderful week and thank you for visiting my blog today! 

ps- If you have received the current Paper Crafts Magazine issue I have TWO cards in the issue. Yippie!

{Your Next Stamp YNSC57 Challenge and Blog Hop}

Hello friends and welcome to YNSC57 . The challenge this week is to create a winter/holiday card using YNS. This is my first challenge as a Guest Designer and I am so darn excited to be here! Today YNS is sponsoring a blog hop filled with great prizes, 3 $10 gift certificates to the YNS store. Sweet! You should have arrived to my blog from Kerri's blog. Today I am posting a card I created with the adorable "Ellie Loves to Knit" stamp. I colored her with copics and promarkers. The patterned paper I used is from My Minds Eye. I added a fun foam glitter snowflake and a pretty blue rhinestone. Both the polka dot ribbon and white ruffled ribbon are from Hobby Lobby. I hope you like my card! I hope that you play along with our challenge and be sure to hop along and visit all of the DT blogs so that you'll have a chance to win 1 of 3 $10 gift certificates! Your next stop on the hop is the super talented Jen R. 

Thank you for visiting my blog and have a great day!

                                                                                       

{YNS - Your Next Stamp December Guest Designer}

  Hello friends! Whew, I'm back after spending the last 4 days moving! We only moved 12 miles so it wasn't too bad, but still a lot of work! I'm working on getting my craft space put back together. I am thrilled to have a room more than double the size of the room in our last house, and I have SO much beautiful natural light. I am so excited! Anyways, today I am here to share some exciting, ok, thrilling news! I am the December Guest Designer for YNS - Your Next Stamp!! Yay! I've been a  fan of their adorable images for quite awhile and being asked to be a guest designer was awesome! The adorable card above was created with an adorable set designed by the amazingly talented Jenny Suchin for YNS that will be released this month. I used the Simple Stories "Baby Steps" collection. Is it not the cutest paper ever!? It matches that cute lil elephant so well.
    Be sure to check back tomorrow for the YNS Monthly Challenge and new release blog hop! There wil be  LOTS of wonderful prizes and tons of inspiration so be sure and join us for the fun!

                                    

{Good Tidings}

Hello friends. I am sorry that it has been so long since my last post, we are in the middle of moving 12 miles away and things are pretty hectic around here. I've packed a lot of my craft room but still have enough that has not been packed to make a card or two. hehe.  Today I am playing along with the current CAS-ual Fridays Challenge which features this sketch:

I really enjoyed this sketch! To create my card I used the A Muse Studio background set "Mad For Plaids", and the Papertrey Ink set "In the Meadow". I cut out the beautiful felt poinsettia with the PTI Christmas Poinsettias metal die set. I don't talk about it a lot but I used my Perfect Layers tool to achieve the perfect mats on all of my layers. Recently I was chosen by Perfect Layers to be on their "Brand Ambassadors Team" and because I seriously use my PL tool ALL the time I thought it would be fun to spread the love on one of my most favorite tools. And believe me if I wasn't behind this item 100% I would not be mentioning it on my blog at all. I use this tool practically every time I add layers to a card. If you would like a set of your own, I have a fun discount code for 5% off, (not a huge discount but hey, it might cover taxes.)   *wink*

vzalis5%

 To finish off my card I added 3 little jingle bells to finish off my card. I hope that you like my card! Tomorrow I have some exciting news and I can't wait to share it with you!  As always thank you for visiting my blog and have a wonderful week!
 
 
 

{Papertrey Ink November Blog Hop}

I know I'm a little late getting my card posted but I still wanted to play along with the November Papertrey Ink Blog Hop . Here is our beautiful inspiration picture:

To create my card I used the PTI sets In The Meadow, and Holiday Photo Finishers and matching dies. The pretty background is the "Picotage Print" backgrounder from Cornish Heritage Farms. I used my brand new EK Success Large edger punch called Patterned Circles (thank you Paper Crafts Magazine!) to create the pretty lace borders on my card. I finished off my card with buttons, twine, and a couple jingle bells.  I hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, ours was spent packing and getting our house ready for move in but all is well, my next craft room is HUGE and I am so excited to get everything set up! Have a great weekend and thank you for visiting my blog today!

                                                                 
                                                               

{Thinking of You and a Winner!}

  Hello friends, today I am posting a card I created using the PTI set "Life". It is an oldie, but I still think it is such a pretty set. To create my card I stamped the flowers stems several times in two shades of purple from Martha Stewart crafts, and latte pigment ink by A Muse Studio. I added little dots of white acrylic paint using the berries stamp from Holiday Photo Finishers by PTI. The sentiment is from the Essential Sentiments set by A Muse Studio. I think it is a pretty card, and I apologize for the not so great picture, today is cloudy and dark, not great for picture taking!  Now to announce the winner of my Fresh Pigment ink pad giveaway! TRG picked commenter #18

True Random Number Generator




Min:

Max:

Result:

18

       AubreyLaine you are the lucky winner! Please email me at alwaysctr at yahoo dot com to claim your prize!  If your name wasn't picked don't worry, you will have another chance to win some Fresh ink pads for yourself, I have more to giveaway soon.  I hope you all have a great week, and thank you for visiting my blog and have a great day!

{Modern Poinsettia}

Good Afternoon friends! Today I am posting a card I created with two challenges in mind, this weeks Papertrey Ink MIM Challenge, and the current color challenge at CR84FN Color Challenge, here is the beautiful inspiration picture:

To create my card I used the Papertrey Ink die set Christmas Poinsettia, and the background stamp set Tin Types and Holiday Photo Finishers stamps and dies for the sentiment lable. The pretty background stamping on the poinsettia is from the Cornish Heritage Farms backgrounder stamp "Lace". I am so happy that CHF is about to re-open their store! To follow along with the MIM challenge I used my glue pad, and glitter to add pretty little floral accents to my tin type background.  I have to tell you that I was soooo close to scrapping this card, as in giving up, but I invested so much time in adding the black hand stitched border to the three layers of the poinsettia that I just couldn't give up. lol  I hope that you like my card, and again I want to remind you about my awesome blog candy giveaway of 6 FULL SIZE Fresh Ink Pads, these are identical to the A Muse Studio pigment ink pads so if you have been wanting to give them a try here is your chance to try them for free! Here is the link:

http://lk2thestarz.blogspot.com/2011/11/holiday-lights-and-amazing-giveaway.html

{A Season of Sweetness}

    Like many of you my journey into the world of paper crafting began with Stampin' Up. I was a customer, and a Demo for 5 years. But, as time went by so many wonderful stamp companies were brought to my attention and well, here I am today! So today I thought I would show some of my SU sets some love. To create my card I used the adorable SU set "Merry Crittermas". The animals in this set are SO cute, and so much fun to color. I colored my guy with pro-markers.  The argyle background was created with the Papertrey Ink set "A Little Argyle". If you will look closely you will see that I paper pieced the squirrels sweater with the same stamped argyle pattern. I think he looks adorable, and so festive! The scalloped borders were created with the SU Ribbon Scallop punch. I also added two strips of die cut strips using the PTI Photo Finishers Die set. Finally I finished off the card with ribbon I have been hoarding for 3 years that I picked up from Big Lots. I am down to one roll and will be so sad when I finally run out. The button is from the Cranberry button collection by A Muse Studio.

    I also want to remind you about my awesome blog candy giveaway, 6 FULL size Fresh Ink pads! These are identical to the A Muse Studio pigment ink pads, and believe me you will LOVE them! This ink is pretty much my go to ink these days. Here is a link to my giveaway blog post: 

    http://lk2thestarz.blogspot.com/2011/11/holiday-lights-and-amazing-giveaway.html

                             Thank you for visiting my blog today!

                                           

      

{Holiday Lights and an Amazing Giveaway!}

  Hello and welcome to my blog! I hope you had a good day, mine was spent packing, crafting, and running after my 11 month old that is now walking. I can't believe it!  I was thrilled to have some time to play, and here is the card I created today! My card features a super fun set from Papertrey Ink called "Holiday Lights". I cut out the die cut using the Stampin Up Sizzix "Top Note" die.  I stamped the lights on the light strand in several different colors of Impress Rubber Stamps Fresh Ink, I just love the rich, deep color of their pigment ink. The sentiment is also from "Holiday Light". I added a green background embossed with the Cuttlebug Folder "Seeing Spots". I finished off my card with a small red bow.

    Now you ask what about the giveaway you mentioned in your title post?

     Well, I was given a very generous donation from Impress Rubber Stamps, 6 FULL size Fresh Ink Pigment ink pads. They retail for 5.95 each so this giveaway is valued over $35! One lucky winner will receive six ink pads! To enter my giveaway just follow my blog (if you don't already), and leave a comment on this post! Because of shipping costs this giveaway is for the USA and Canada only. (sorry)  I will use random.org to pick a winner on Sunday November 20th. Thank you for visiting my blog today and have a wonderful day!

 

                                                      

{Pretty Pretty Poinsettia}

 Good Evening friends. Today I created a card using one of my favorite Christmas stamp sets, Papertrey Ink's "Christmas Poinsettia" and the matching die set. I cut out the poinsettia's and stamped them with the coordinating stamp set using A Muse Studio Cranberry pigment ink. The background was stamped in A|S Pebble ink using the SU background stamp "French Script". I added a couple of rows of machine stitching around the stamped background.  The sentiment is the PTI set "Photo Finishers" and matching die set. I stamped two flourishes from the same set. I think it adds the perfect finishing touch to the sentiment! Finally I added a few yellow beads from Making Memories adhered using Crystal effects. I hope you like my card and I thank you for visiting my blog today!

Today I am playing along with the following challenges:

Stampin Royalty Challenge # 97 - Inspiration Picture

                                                       
                                                  

{Something Totally Different - Moxie Fab Style}

           Wow, two days in a row I'm on a roll! Hah! Actually, I just have so much amazing inspiration all around me I just have to create! Today my inspiration comes from the latest Moxie Fab World  Tuesday Trigger:

                                                             Beads and Baubles   

I tried to capture the colors, floral theme, and some of the design elements of this weeks trigger.

                                      
    To create my card is used patterned paper from 3 Sassafras collections, Ellie's Tale, Sweetly Smitten, and Count Me In. I love, LOVE these papers! That beautiful daisy is from the Prima "Daisy Doodles" collection. The glazed brad in the center is from Basic Grey. The cute felt stitched letters are from Making Memories. The background stamping is the PTI set Retro Borders stamped in SU Crumb Cake ink. I am addicted to background stamps and truthfully I have to resist using them on EVERY card I make! I added two die cut/embossed leaves from Marianne Design that I distressed with a sanding block. The green gingham paper is from A Muse Studio. I love that it has a white core, perfect for distressing! To finish off my card I added a few rows of machine stitching with my handy dandy Janome Sew Mini.  I had fun making this card, and thought a bright, sunny card would be just the ticket. I hope you have a great week and always, thank you for visiting my blog today!

Today I am playing along with these challenges:

Create Me Pink Challenge #3 - Flowers


                                                            

{Distressed Holiday Wishes}

Hello friends! Today I am posting a card for this weeks CAS-ual Friday Challenge "Over the Edge".

   To create my card I used patterned paper from My Minds Eye. I love the rustic, distressed look of the paper! I stamped the sentiment on Offray twill ribbon using the PTI set "Photo Finishers". The pretty velvet ribbon is from the Noel Collection by Making Memories. I added a die cut swallow from A Muse Studio and a matching strip of paper underneath my ribbon. To finish off my card I used my corner rounder on all four corners. I love this simple card, and think it is very "Tim Holtze'ish"..lol  Not my usual style but pretty nonetheless.  I hope that you have a great day and thank you for visiting my blog today!
 
  Today I am also playing along with these challenges:

Do You Stack Up Challenge #44 - Teal/Color Inspiration

Our Creative Corner Challenge - Masculine Card/Project

OCL90 - Distressed and Stressed

{Create: Cards Challenge - No Sentiment}

Good Afternoon! You will notice in the next two months that Christmas cards are my favorite kind of card to create! I've had my best luck creating Christmas cards for publication, three cards in the current Holiday Cards and More issue and for this years WCMD win, all Christmas! I will try my best to throw in a few non Holiday cards, but I can't make any guarantees. hehe.  Today I am playing along with this weeks Cards Challenge which was to create a card with no sentiment. I tell ya that was a little harder then I thought it would be, but I'm happy with my end result. To create my card I used a tree die cut that I stamped with the PTI set "Holiday Lights". For my lights I used half back pearls. The patterned paper is from the Paper Studio, and Stampin Up. I used an EK Success edger punch to create the pretty border, and I finished off the card with a wooden button tied with twine and a vanilla satin bow. Thank you for visiting my blog today, and have a great day!

 

{Papertrey Ink Make It Monday #39}

Good Afternoon! Today I am posting a card that I couldn't wait to share with you! I am playing along with this weeks PTI Make It Monday Challenge which was to create a multi-stamp background. To create my background I used three snowflakes from the PTI set "In The Meadow". I stamped them in three different colors of ink A Muse Studio Sky and Ocean pigment ink, and SU Soft Sky. I used the PTI set Holiday Photo Finishers and matching die to create the die-cut label. The sentiment was stamped in A|S Slate ink. I added an A|S Bermuda tied with sugar twine, and I added to little bells I picked up at Hobby Lobby. The felt snowflakes are from American Crafts.  To finish off my card I spritzed my card with Shimmerz Spritz "Jeni B Bleu". Here is a close up of how beautiful the sparkle is when you hold the card up to the sun:

Today I am also playing along with these challenges:

CAS-ual Friday Challenge # 26

Wee Memories Challenge # 74 - Brads, Buttons Bows

I am so happy with my card and I hope that you like it to! Thank you for visiting my blog today and have a wonderful day!