Penguins

Penguins are adorable. These penguins (Fiskars Winter Wishes stamps) are super adorable. My awesome friend Dayna and her hubby Troy came over this weekend and she got this stamp set from Hobby Lobby. Of course I had to break into it and stamp up some paper before she left.
Pure cuteness.
I anticipate more of them making their way onto winter cards soon.
Thanks for taking a peek!

Vintage Glam

It's been a while since I've blogged - it just seems like I've been incredibly busy. I had Fall break from classes earlier this week and it was wonderful. That also means that this was a short class week which is also wonderful. Then it's back to the same ol', same ol' though until Thanksgiving break. sigh.

I do have a card to share that I made with this beautiful Webster's Pages paper. The glittery chipboard piece comes plain and it's by Want2Scrap. It coordinates with a Spellbinders die that I don't own, so I chose to add glitter. I just used a super fine iridescent glitter, so it sort of plays off the colors that are near it. The two pearl thingys are vintage style buttons I got in a big grab bag at Hobby Lobby. The Thickers are of course by American Crafts and the ribbon is May Arts.

As usual, I'm busy, so I don't have time for more at the moment. Got to get to class and then hurry home to clean up because Alexis's friend is coming over and they have early release from school today. I think we'll be baking cookies this afternoon and doing a craft. Maybe.
Thanks for taking a peek!

Congratulations

I like to make cards that can have more than one use. A Congratulations card can be used for several occasions and I find that the more versatile a card is, the easier it sells. On this card, I die cut the leaves and flowers and layered them with foam adhesive dots. The leaves were cut out of American Crafts Glitter Cardstock. The dies are by Spellbinders (Nested Poinsettia and Foliage Shapeabilities). The paper is from an old Cosmo Cricket collection - I believe it's called "Enchanted." The rub-ons are by Melissa Frances.
Thanks for taking a peek!

Fall Photos

We've been having some nice fall weather and some interesting animal behavior. First up is this sweet little line of kitties that I photographed at my parents' house. It was a little chilly that morning, so when the sun came up, they formed a line so they could enjoy the maximum benefit while still sharing body heat. Pretty smart and very cute :)


We've also been having swarms of butterflies invade the yard. In this photo taken in our front flower bed, there are SIX butterflies on that one plant. Can you spot them all?
We have a bird feeder in the back yard that serves many a meal to the neighborhood chickadees, sparrows, robins and other various birds. Lately, it also seems to be serving fast food to a sneaky squirrel and his sneaky squirrel buddies on the ground. I haven't seen him actually get into this position, but I've seen him eating more than once. He's so greedy, he lets me get within six feet to take his picture.

Nom, nom, nom, nom...


And this is just so you can see how precarious a stunt this really is. How the heck he gets all the way down there UNDER the eaves of the garage is a mystery.
So all in all, it's been an interesting few weeks. :)
Thanks for taking a peek!

Basically Bare

I love to alter chipboard. There is something very satisfying about taking a plain and raw piece and changing it into something else. If you've been following my blog for a while, you might know that I love to make dresses out of ribbons and trim and affix them to plain chipboard dress forms. There are an infinite amount of combinations! The colors, patterns and textures of trim all work together to make a new creation. Not to mention that I can get by without a sewing machine or pattern!

On this card, I used a cutie pie dress form from Basically Bare. They have an AMAZING selection of alterable items made of chipboard, cardboard, stiff felt, canvas and acrylic. This one was perfect for a card, so I started by cutting the pleated May Arts ribbon for the skirt layers. I adhered everything with Beacon Adhesives "Fabri-Tac" - even the gems.

These dresses are so fun because you don't have to worry about perfect seams or edges. Everything is glued onto the back, never to be seen again. They make pretty accents for wedding shower cards, birthday cards, invitations, scrapbook pages, home decor and more.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Leaves are Falling

In Central Nebraska, we don't get much of a fall most years. Sometimes it seems like it's t-shirt and shorts weather right up until it snows. Other years, we get an early hard freeze that kills all the leaves before they have a chance to turn. This year, however, fall has been beautiful so far. The leaves are starting to change to gold and red and we've been having some lovely Indian Summer days with chilly nights. Our tomatoes have been moved to the back porch to avoid any frosts we might get - they're in planters, so moving them is pretty easy. The lawn hasn't been mowed in more than a week and it looks just fine. Right now, I'm sitting in my room with the window open and a crisp, cool breeze is toying with the curtains. All in all, I am enjoying this fall weather.

I love the look of leaves on cards, but using real ones can be pretty tricky. I get a lot of use out of my Spellbinders Nested Maple Leaf set because I can make leaves for spring, summer or fall. It just depends on what colors or materials I use. On this card, I also used half of a Spellbinders Labels Fourteen, American Crafts Thickers, Quickutz adhesive cork, Cosmo Cricket patterned paper scraps and some pearls and a gem.
On this card, I used American Crafts Glitter Cardstock. I just love that shade of yellow! I used a smaller Spellbinders Labels Fourteen die cut along with American Crafts Thickers and Cosmo Cricket "Matilda" chipboard candy corns. Very simple design, but the glitter background really makes it sparkle.

Thanks for taking a peek!