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I appreciate my Followers!

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Love Letters

Life has taught us that love does not consist in gazing at each other
but in looking outward together in the same direction.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wind, Sand and Stars, 1939, translated from French by Lewis Galantière

Good morning!
It is my turn to post the Clean and Simple Challenge at The Outlawz and this week your challenge is Love Letters!

May has been designated as National “Date Your Mate Month.” Apparently, dating is considered an important part of building a healthy love relationship and becomes even more so after a couple marries.

Your challenge, if you decide to accept it, is to make a "Just because I love you" card or project for your significant other and share something about that person that you appreciate and value about him or her.

For those of you who do not have significant others - you can do something for your bestest friend and again, share something about that person that makes him or her special to you!

You can use anything you want as long as you keep it CAS!

My card is for my husband.. We have been together over 30 years. 28 of them married.
We've had our share of ups and downs over the years like everyone else, which I think has made us both stronger as individuals and as a couple.
He's not perfect, but he's perfect for me and I love him very much.

Size A2

The card was made by heat embossing a piece of white card stock. I then cut the heart out and sponged with ink. Once dry, I glued back into place and added the die cut U with a foam dimensional

SUPPLIES
Card stock, "Weathered Background", Ink and white embossing powder from Stampin Up!
Dies "Hearts One" and "Donna's Alphabets" from Spellbinders

CHALLENGES ENTERED:

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Through the Craft Room Door Anything Goes Challenge

May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun
And find your shoulder to light on,
To bring you luck, happiness and riches
Today, tomorrow and beyond.
Irish Blessing

THIS CARD IS A FEATURED CARD FOR THE WEEK OF JUNE 1, 2014 AT THE OUTLAWS CHALLENGES

Good morning
A beautiful new day has dawned this morning and a new Anything Goes challenge has started at Through the Craft Room Door.

This week our sponsor is Di's Digi Stamps and the winner of this week's challenge will recieve a $12.00 credit to the store

Click HERE to come play along!

Here is my card for the challenge


Size 5.5 x 5.5

Card stock from Bazzill and Stampin Up!
Image "Swallowtail Butterfly" from Stampin Up!
Sentiment "Sincere Salutations" from Stampin Up

The remainder of the supply list and the tutorial for the technique used on the Butterfly will be available in the next on line edition of the TTCRD magazine. 
 Thanks for stopping by!


{HUGS} Cara


CHALLENGES ENTERED:
http://cardmaniachallenges.blogspot.com/




Sunday, May 18, 2014

"Dig out those Gardens"

In my garden there is a large place for sentiment.
My garden of flowers is also my garden of thoughts and dreams.
The thoughts grow as freely as the flowers, and the dreams are as beautiful.
Abram L. Urban

Greetings and salutations my Crafty Peeps!
It's Sunday!
Which means a new Clean and Simple Challenge has started at The Outlawz!

With May making its grand entrance, Charlene is challenging us this week to show our "Gardens", You know, garden tools, pots, plants, garden gloves etc.! Just remember to keep it CAS!

My Card
size A2

After running through my Big Shot, I sponged the card stock before removing from the die. Colored the image with watercolor crayons and Prisma color pencils, added the little dots around the image to give it a bit more interested and attached to the card base with pop dots.


SUPPLIES
Card stock, sentiment (set unknown), label punch, ink, blender pen and watercolor crayons from Stampin Up!
Image from JRL designs
"Flowers" embossing folder from Sizzix
"Beaded Oval" die from Spellbinders
Prisma Color pencils
Black precision pen from American Crafts
Pop dots

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Shannon's Birthday is today!

But friendship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life, and thanks to a benevolent arrangement the greater part of life is sunshine.
Thomas Jefferson

Good morning!
I certainly hope today finds your healthy and happy!
Speaking of happy - Today is my good friend Shannon's Birthday!

Happy Birthday Shannon!

Shannon and I were introduced to each other by a mutual friend that put together a small group of ladies for crafty days. We realized that besides sharing a love of paper crafts and critters, we both had the same kind of quirky sense of humor, enjoyed being a bit naughty at random times and were good at pushing each other out of our comfy nests when it comes to various challenges!

Anyway, we've developed quite the friendship and spend time together wandering craft stores, crafting or hanging out by the pool when we have a chance.

I made this card for her and I hope her day is as wonderful as she is!

I made a card similar to this years ago when I first got into card making.
Thought it was a fun card then, still do!

In our home, birthday cakes have three candles
One candle is to remind us of the past, so we don't forget the value of memories.
One candle is to remind us that today is a gift, that is why it is called the "Present".
One Candle is to remind us that the future awaits us with open arms and we need to walk forward with Faith.

So here I have made Shannon her three candles for the Past, Present and Future.


Close up of "frosting: swirls

The card requires a legal size envelope

SUPPLIES
Card stock from Stampin Up!
DP "Colorful" from Ki Memories
Sentiment from Inkahootz!
EF "Divine Swirls" from Cuttlebug
EF "Spots & Dots" from Cuttlebug
Star punch (used for candle "flame") from EK Success
Scalloped scallop border (used for cake "frosting") from EK Success
Drippy Punch (used for cake "frosting") from Martha Stewart Crafts
Corner Chomper punch from We R Memories
Rhinestones (sparkle on candle "flame") from Paper Studios
Glitter from Glitterex Corp
Candles were cut from scraps


Sunday, May 11, 2014

"Make your own paper" CAS challenge

May brooks and trees and singing hills join in the chorus too,
And every gentle wind that blows send happiness to you.
Irish Blessing

Good morning!
Today is the start of another Clean & Simple Challenge at the Outlawz.
This week Linda has challenged us to make our own designer paper. 

Challenge excepted Linda!

I love making my own papers and this is one of my favorites!
This effect is created by adding drops of ink to glossy card stock. Then you take another piece of glossy card stock, mist it and lay it on top of the inked card stock and you smoosh them together, smoothing out from middle to edges.
Then peel apart and let dry.

Note: keep colors to 3-4 max and go light on the darker colors or you could muddy everything up

You never know what you are going to get!
It's always a surprise to see what comes out and in this case I love every piece that came out of this batch!


Card size - A2
SUPPLIES
Card stock for Cardbase from X-ped-X
Glossy card stock from stash
Reinkers - I used Stampin Up!
Sentiment from The Angel Company (Just because)
Image from Stampin Up! (Seeds of Kindness)
Rhinestones from Paper Studios

Thanks for stopping by!
{Hugs} Cara

Saturday, May 10, 2014

Happy Mothers Day!

Mother.
That was the bank where we deposited all our hurts and worries.
 DeWitt Talmage

Hello!
Mothers Day is tomorrow but my plan is to take my mom out for lunch and maybe a movie today.
For those Mothers out there, I hope your day tomorrow is awesome and you are treated as royalty!

This is the card I made for my mom!


Size 5 x 7
SUPPLIES
Card base - unknown - bought years ago!
Card stock from Stampin Up!
DP from Me & My Big Ideas & Provocraft
Pink corrugated strip - stash
Pink gem - stash
Silk flower - stash (from a flower stem I deconstructed a while back)
Sentiment - unknown
Swiss dots embossing folder from Cuttlebug
Diamond pane embossing folder part of Wedding Suite set from Cuttlebug
Marvy scalloped square punch
Marvy square punch
And this sketch by Kim Keane for "My Creative Sketches"


Thanks for stopping by!
{Hugs} Cara

Friday, May 9, 2014

Mothers Day (Mother in Law)

A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest.
Irish Proverb

Good morning ... Mothers Day is coming!
I made this card for my Mother in Law
I have to say I am most  grateful that I do not have the stereotypical Mother-in-Law!
She is not intrusive.
She does not tell me I need to treat her "boy" better. 
She never told me how to raise my kids.
And while she may not approve of everything I've done is the 30 something years I've been with her son, she's never been spiteful or mean.

I think I am one lucky Daughter in Law!

Here is the card I made for her!
Yes, the banners are hand cut. I keep telling myself I should buy the banner dies from SU! but I can't bring myself to invest, at this time, the money on something that I can, more or less, cut by hand. :O(


Size: 5 x 7
White card stock and sentiment (Messages for Mom)  from Stampin up!
Green & Pink card stock from Bazzll
DP from Making Memories "Brooke Paisley)
Scallop dies from Sizzix
Pearl Swirl from Recoleections

I used this sketch from Paper Crafting Divas
 

Thanks for stopping by!
{Hugs} Cara



Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes

When buying a used car, punch the buttons on the radio.
If all the stations are rock and roll, there's a good chance the transmission is shot.
Larry Lujack

This week our sponsor is Sandi Samples!
This truck from Sandi is actually one of the first digis I ever attempted.
I received it when we had a digi image challenge at The Outlawz and I was trying out something new!

MY CARD
Size: 5.5 x 5.5

I printed the image on some mottled blue DP then added additional color with my Prisma Color pencils.
I added glaze to the headlights, stamped the image on the door to mimic an old work truck sign and added a touch of glitter to the star with a black glitter pen I bought from Ikea a while back (best gel pens ever!) After fussy cutting it out, I added it the card base with foam dimensionals.
Enjoy!

Supplies:
53-Old Chevy Truck digi from Sandi's Samples
Blue DP from Provocraft
Prisma Color Pencils
Stamps from Stampin Up! (Circle of Friendship) & Inkahootz!
Bazzill card stock (card base)
DP - stash
Black corrugated paper - stash
Silver dots - stash
Aleen's paper Glaze
Black Glitter pen
foam dimensionals

Now - A funny story about this image!
My nephew is a car buff. (That comes from growing up with a dad & grandfather who are into buying and restoring Studebaker's).Using Sandi's image, I made this card for his 16th birthday!



This year he turns 18! I had decided a while ago that I wanted to use this image for his card, so Sandi sponsoring this weeks challenge was a great reason to pull in out and get to work!

 Not even thinking about the fact the I used it for his 16th birthday!
Not even thinking that I made the truck the same color!
 Totally unplanned and of course being the good Aunt that I am (lol) I am thinking that this will be a tradition for me to make his "even" birthday cards with this image!
 (Wonder if he will notice LOL!)

Thanks for looking. And stop by Through The Craft Room Door to play along with us!
(Hugs) Cara

CHALLENGES ENTERED:

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Sunday, May 4, 2014

"Let's have some PUN" CAS Challenge

May the holes in your net be no larger than the fish in it. 
Irish Blessing

Good morning my Fair Crafty Peeps
We are certainly working on stepping things up for you this over at the Outlawz Clean and Simple Challenge!
Pryn's challenge for us this week is to create a CAS card or project that features a pun for your sentiment. 
What is a pun, you ask? One definition is, 'a play on words in which a humorous effect is produced by using a word that suggests two or more meanings'.  Example:  An image of a mustache paired with the sentiment, "I mustache you to get better soon"! There are too many of them to mention...let Google be your friend if you are stumped.

Believe me, this challenge was not all that easy!
This was not my original plan, I'd intended to make a Fathers Day card that said "You can bet your sweet Bass". However, since some people are easily offended I chickened out and made my second choice.
It's still fun.
I colored the fish with water color crayons & a blender pen. then added pearl smooch to the scale dots and red glitter to her lips

size 5 x 7

Supplies
Card stock, water color crayons & party hat punch from Stampin Up!
Wave border punch from Fiskar
Fish image from Inkahootz!
Sentiment - created on computer and printed out
Party hat punched from scrap of glitter paper
Smooch
Glitter