Thanks ...

Thought for the Day

“We all have our time machines.

Some take us back, they’re called memories. Some take us forward, they’re called dreams.”

~ Jeremy Irons

Good morning!

Today I am sharing a couple Thank you cards I made with scraps from my desk and use it later bucket.

The layout is based on Reverse Confetti sketch #41

Supplies: 

• Card stock for base from The Paper Studio
• Card stock from American Craft and Stampin up!
• DP for card on right is unknown
• DP for card on left is from Close to my heart “Blossom”
• Flower gems are from my stash
• Sentiment die from Little Yellow Bicycle

Thanks for stopping by!

(Hugs) Cara

Oh Happy Day! ...

The joyful news that He is risen does not change the contemporary world.  Still before us lie work, discipline, sacrifice.  But the fact of Easter gives us the spiritual power to do the work, accept the discipline, and make the sacrifice.  ~Henry Knox Sherrill

Good morning!

I’m here to share my card for the new color challenge which starts today at The OutlawzChallenges!

Our sponsor this month is DigiStamps4Joy with a prize of a $10 gift code to the store!

This week Jeanie is challenging us with a Tic Tac Toe Board!

For this card I am using an image called Easter Egg and Chicks which was actually the DS4J Progressive Freebie Challenge for the month of March.

I am using the far right column top to bottom

Colors: Pink and Purple

Twists: Die cutes, bling & flowers

Supplies:

• Image printed on Stampin Up! Whisper White card stock and colored with Staedtler and Stampin Up! Water Color Crayons
• Card stock: The Paper Studio (Base) & Stampin Up!
• Corner Punch: Stampin Up!
• Flower: Prima
• Ink: Stampin Up
• Label Punch: Stampin Up!
• Pearls: Stash
• Sentiment: Bo Bunny

Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget to stop by The Outlawz Challenges where a new challenge starts every day of the week!

(Hugs) Cara

Spring Blossoms ...

The first fact about the celebration of birthdays is that it is a good way of affirming defiantly, and even flamboyantly, that it is a good thing to be alive. ~G.K. Chesterton, "Our Birthday," 1935

Good morning!

Today we start a new Anything Goes Challenge at Through the Craft Room Door!

Our sponsor this week is Erica Falk-Huzar - Fun Stampers Journey Coach

I’ve had this floral set of stamps for a few months now and am happy to finally get a moment to ink it up for a nice birthday card for a friend. The layout is based on one I saw on pinterest from Scrappin and Stamping in GJ

Supplies

• FSJ Embossing folder "Birthday Bash"
• FSJ Sparkle Silk
• FSJ Stamps "Spring Blossom"
• Card stock from The Paper Studio and Stampin Up!
• Ink from Memories
• Pearl on flower from Recollections
• Pearl swirl from The Paper Studo
• Sentiment from Stampin Up! "All Year Cheer I"

Thanks for stopping by!

(Hugs) Cara

Happy Birthday Honey ...

Birthdays! What music in the world! In these unresting times, when nothing intellectual, economic, social, political, seems stable; when customs and traditions hoary with age are mixed with explosive elements, this oldest of institutions is not in danger of yielding to destructive forces. ~J.R. Macduff, Birthdays, 1893

Good morning!

Today I am sharing the card I made for my husband’s birthday which we celebrated a couple days ago…

I decided to play around with my very small collection of alcohol inks. First, I adhered some aluminum foil to a piece of card stock. Then played around with the inks, a straw and spray bottle of alcohol. Once I was satisfied with the way it looked and the ink was dry I ran it through my Big Kick in an embossing folder (note: Just because you think it is dry, might wanna hit it with the heat gun a few seconds to make sure – or you can clean up your folder with a cotton ball and alcohol).

The layout is based on a card I found on Pinterest from ceciliacards.blogspot.au

Supplies:Adirondack Alcohol Inks from Ranger/TH

• Aluminum Foil
• Card stock (base) from the Paper Studio
• Card stock from Stampin Up!
• Design Paper Unknown (found at local flea market)
• Die “Ornate Labels” from Sizzix
• Die “Stitched Banners” from Gina Marie Designs
• Embossing folder “Blister” from Spellbinders

Thanks for stopping by!

(Hugs) Cara

Bits & Pieces ... it starts!

Thought for today

“What if today you gave yourself permission to be outrageously kind?

What if you extended as much good will and kindness as you can possibly muster to every person you meet? And what if you did it with no thought of reward?

I’m sure of one thing: it will be a day you will never regret.”

~ Steve Goodier

Good morning!

I have been working to declutter my playroom with the understanding that it will always be a work in progress. I am not necessarily a tidy person and can trash my craft room very quickly when I am in create mode but at the end of the day, I hate the clutter that my craft room has become. My space already has an awkward layout and now my craft stuff is spilling over into the guest bedroom. It’s like the Blob and it needs to be stopped! (mainly because I hate having to search for something in that room and I will have to do a quick clean up (read: shove under the bed) if we have guests over to stay.

I like my stuff hidden but accessible so I have some ideas in the works but still mulling them over before I invest the time and money to gut the room (again) and start over.

One of the ways I am working on decluttering is to challenge myself to get into the habit of using left over stuff on my workbench so I am not tossing in the bucket to be “used later” … we all know what happens in the “use later” bucket and it’s not pretty!

Today I am sharing a couple very simple Thank you cards I created using some design paper I found buried on my work table.

Both cards are 5 x 7

Supplies

• Card stock for base from The Paper Studio
• Neenah Metallics Cardstock
• Design Paper unknown
• Studio Glitter glue
• Memories India Ink
• Sentiments from Stampin Up! All Year Cheer I

Thanks for stopping by!

Cara

Happy Hellos ...

The shortest distance between two people is a smile. ~Author unknown, modification of Victor Borge’s "Laughter is the shortest distance between two people." 

Good morning!

I’m here to share my card for the new color challenge which starts today at The OutlawzChallenges! 

Our sponsor this month is DigiStamps4Joy
with a prize of a $10 gift code to the store!

This week Kimberly has given us quite the challenge pallet this week of 5 colors and a optional Texture twist:

For this card I am using an image called Toad Stools. Since I am unable to find it in the shop, I am unsure if it is still available.

Supplies:

• Image printed on Stampin Up! Whisper White card stock and colored with Staedtler and Stampin Up! Water Color Crayons
• Brown Manga pen
• Card stock: The Paper Studio (Base) and Stampin Up!
• Rhinestones from my stash
• Sentiment die: Avery Elle
• White Gel Pen

Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget to stop by The Outlawz Challenges where a new challenge starts every day of the week!

 (Hugs) Cara

From the Heart ...

Accept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields.... ~Khalil Gibran, The Prophet, 1923

Good morning! 

Today we start a new Anything Goes Challenge at Through the Craft Room Door!

Our sponsor this week is My Favorite Things with a $25.00 store voucher

I created a clean, 5 x 7 one-layer card using painters tape to create an edge mask. This is one of my favorite ways to create one-layer cards

Supplies

• Bubblegum Silk from Fun Stampers Journey
• Card stock from The Paper Studio
• Ink from Stampin Up! and Close to My Heart
• Sentiment from Stampin Up! All Year Cheer
• Stencil "Clockworks" from Stampers Anonymous (T.Holtz)

Thanks for stopping by!

(Hugs) Cara

Bucket O Flowers

Flowers are those little colorful beacons of the sun from which we get sunshine when dark, somber skies blanket our thoughts. ~Dodinsky, www.dodinsky.com

Good morning!

I’m here to share my card for the new color challenge which starts today at The OutlawzChallenges!

Our sponsor this month is DigiStamps4Joy
with a prize of a $10 gift code to the store!

This week Sharon is challenging us with a lovely inspiration photo shown below. 

I love all the flowers and the vintage feel of the photo so for this card I am using Daisy Bucket (JA57) to create a Mothers Day Card.

Supplies:

• Image printed on Stampin Up! Whisper White card stock and colored with Staedtler Water Color Crayons
• Card stock: The Paper Studio (Base) and Stampin Up!
• Studio G Glitter glue
• Stash: White Rhinestones, Vellum

Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget to stop by The Outlawz Challenges where a new challenge starts every day of the week!

 (Hugs) Cara

CHALLENGES ENTERED

DigiStamps4Joy - #1 Anything Goes

XO Mom XO

It’s not easy being a mother. If it were easy, fathers would do it. ~From the television show The Golden Girls

Greetings and Salutations my Crafty Peeps!

I am playing along with the Progressive Freebie Challenge taking place right now on the DigiStamps4Joy Facebook Group

This month our image is this adorable image “Mom with Teddy” … how fun is this?!

I am back to using my water-based inks and crayons for coloring again. I find that I prefer them to my Pro-markers and Prismacolor pencils.

Supplies

• Image “Mom with Teddy Bear” printed on Stampin Up! Whisper White card stock and colored with Stampin Up! ink and a water brush
• Design paper behind the image is a digital paper from Touched by a Butterfly
• “XO” die from Romance set by Momenta
• Cardstock from Stampin Up!
• Embossing folder “Love Set” from Sizzix
• Glitter glue from Studio G added to the roses
• Rhinestones from my stash colored with a yellow sharpie

Thanks for stopping by!

(Hugs) Cara

CHALLENGES ENTERED

DigiStamps4Joy #147 - Anything Goes

Autumn Gold ...

Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons. ~Jim Bishop

Good morning!  

Today we start a new Anything Goes Challenge at Through the Craft Room Door!

Our sponsor this week is Fabrika Fantasy with a prize of 2 images from the shop

Here is my 5 x 7 card using the pre-colored image "Autumn Owlet" printed on Stampin Up! Whisper White Cardstock

Supplies:

• Image "Autumn Owlet", pre-colored, printed on Stampin Up! Whisper White Cardstock
• Cardstock from The Paper Studio (Base), Stampin Up! and American Craft
• Fall Leaf embossing folder from Darice
• Plaid embossing folder from Darice
• Sentiment from Stampin Up! Teeny Tiny Wishes
• Sequins from Craft Medley
• India Ink from Memories

Thanks for stopping by!

(Hugs) Cara

Bette Davis Eyes ...

An animal's eyes have the power to speak a great language. ~Martin Buber

Good morning!

I’m here to share my card for the new color challenge which starts today at The OutlawzChallenges!

  

Our sponsor this month is DigiStamps4Joy
with a prize of a $10 gift code to the store!

This week Ursula has challenged us to use the colors peach, light green and green with an optional twist of adding metal

For my card I am using The “O” Look (mp254)

Supplies:

• Image: Stampin Up! Whisper White card stock and colored with Staedtler and Stampin Up! water color crayons
• Cardstock: The Paper Studio & Stampin Up!
• Embossing folder: Cuttlebug “Polka Dots”
• Ink: Close to My Heart
• Metallic card stock from my stash (used for layering and the small circles on the side)
• Sentiment: Stampin Up!

Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget to stop by The Outlawz Challenges where a new challenge starts every day of the week!

 (Hugs) Cara

All Beasts are Magical ...

If all the beasts were gone, men would die from a great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beasts also happens to the man. All things are connected. Whatever befalls the Earth befalls the sons of the Earth. ~Chief Seattle of the Suquamish Tribe, letter to President Franklin Pierce

Hi there! Today is April first and we have a new challenge for you at SheepSki Designs.

This month our challenge theme is “Animal Magic”

The image I am using this month is Finnian - image no 45

Supplies

• Image colored with Staedtler water color crayons
• Bling from Close to My Heart
• Cardstock from Stampin Up and American Crafts
• Sentiment die from Avery Elle
• Studio G Glitter glue

Now ... You have two ways to play along with SheepSki Designs!

BLOG ... Where you can use any hand colored image for a chance to win 3 images ... BUT, if you use a SheepSki Designs image and are the winner, you get an additional image choice

or

FACEBOOK ... Where you must use a SheepSki Designs Image for a chance to win 3 images

As a bonus, when you are done shopping in the STORE, if you use my code SKICARA10 at check out you will receive a 10% discount off your purchased! So, come along and play one or both! Can't wait to see what you create!

(Hugs) Cara

Cats or Dogs? ...

In order to keep a true perspective of one's importance, everyone should have a dog that will worship him and a cat that will ignore him. ~Dereke Bruce

Good morning! Today is April 1^st and the start of a new Progressive Freebie Challenge at The Outlawz Challenges.

Each month we send you a free digital image to use in the Freebie/Progressive challenge. Once your creation is completed, upload it into the freebie challenge and you will automatically receive the next month free digi.  We will have one image per month so you have plenty of time to create a project using the image.

If you would like to participate, please register with your name and email address to: outlawzprogressivechallenge@gmx.com

Our sponsor this month is SheepSki Designs

Etsy

Blog

Facebook

My 5 x 7 card 

Supplies

• Image “Virgo Cat” printed on Stampin Up! Whisper White card stock & colored with alcohol markers
• Butterflies: ScrapBerry’s
• Card stock: Stampin Up!
• Design Paper: Stash
• Embossing folder: Stampin up! “Falling Petals”
• Ink: Memories India Ink
• Pearls: Stash
• Sentiment: Stampin Up! “All Year Cheer I”

Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget to stop by The Outlawz Challenges where a new challenge starts every day of the week!

(Hugs) Cara