Wednesday, March 4, 2015

JustRite's New Release-Coffee House!

Good morning to you my fellow crafty ladies! Today is day two of the March release from JustRite.  Do you like coffee? Do you LOVE coffee?  
I can't function without it in the morning....and it is my favorite part of the day.
Just me and my coffee, my computer, a quiet house, and the moments before the craziness of the day begins. ;)
Today's set is called, Coffee House!  

I embossed the image in white, used my Peerless watercolors to color the image, and then cut it out. 
I cut a pierced circle using a Spellbinder's die.  The sentiment was stamped in pink and I went over the steam with white liquid applique.  While I was heating it, I sprinkled a bit of glitter on it for sparkle.  Because we all know that sparkly coffee is the best! I used Spellbinder's pierced rectangular dies to matte the image.  I stamped the teeny cup in white and water colored it.  I used it for the center of my bow. 
Here is the entire set!  I just love it all!  The coffee stain is calling my name and NEEDS to be used on my next project!


Be sure to hop on over to the other designers' blogs for loads of inspiration using this cute set!

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

JustRite's March Release-Wild Romantic Roses!

I love the beginning of the month because that means it is time for the new release from JustRite!
Today's set is a 2 step stamp called, Wild Romatic Roses. This stamping technique makes the flowers have so much depth.
I had this piece of gold and blue paper that I found during my cleaning craze! I drew inspiration from it for my color scheme.
I stamped the flowers and leaves and inked the edges of the panel in a soft pink.  I added pearls and a Dear Lizzy sentiment near the bottom. I tied gold flecked ribbon with a little gold twine. I added a pearl for a final finishing touch. 
I am completely in love with this set! 

For more inspiration be sure to stop by these other talented ladies' blogs.








Monday, March 2, 2015

Crafty Secret's Design Team Challenge and Linky Party! (And a Full Photo Tutorial too!) :)

It is the first Monday of the month, and that means it is time for our Crafty Secret's Design team challenge.  The challenge? 
Feature flowers, green, growing things, garden journals or farm images. Easter banners, Easter baskets, or home décor! Use an “upcycled” item in your project: a bit of corrugated cardboard, packaging material, paper bag, twist ties, jars and bottles or anything else that would normally go to the landfill.

Although it still feels like January outside, it is indeed March! Which means St. Patrick's Day is right around the corner.  And even though I am 100% Polish, we all have a wee bit of Irish in all of us, don't we? ;)
Obviously, mine is going with the "green" theme. 

Lots of green patterned paper with touches of gold and white.
I love this image of this girl and her dog.  
If you are interested in seeing how this card was put together, here is a step by step.  :)
First I printed designer papers from the Garden Papers collection,  in various patterns of green.  I grabbed a Tattered Angels chipboard frame, and an image from the Seasonal booklet.
I glittered my frame using glossy accents, gold glitter, and of course the image I selected from above. 
These are the layers of cardstock I used. 
I cut the patterned paper into one inch strips and inked along all of the edges with black ink.  
You can't tell from this picture, but remember the angled piece of card stock from above?  I adhered the strips on an angle on that piece of card stock.  
Here is a shot on the backside.  You can see that I adhered the pieces on an angle. 
Cut the excess off with scissors. 
Here it is all trimmed up. :) 
I wanted a four leaf clover for the corner near the bottom, so I pulled out my very ancient heart punch and punched four hearts.  I glittered them up and hand cut a teeny weeny stem to go with it.  
I had these white glittery leaves (cut from my Silhouette) sitting on my desk and knew they would work perfectly for this card.  I also wanted to incorporate a bit of gold for an additional layer.  
I layered the gold under the diagonal paper.  I adhered the white leaves.  Tied gold ribbon around the top.  I then attached the gold frame, added a bit of white ribbon and twine to the top.  For a finishing touch I added an acrylic flower to the center of the bow, gold sequins, and a few green rhinestones.   
I hope you will join us for this month's challenge! 
Be sure to visit the other designers' blogs! 
Their projects are gorgeous!


Have a great day and thank you for stopping by!




Friday, February 27, 2015

Birthday Hat!

Good morning! 
I was going through my photos and realized there were quite a few projects from my reign over at Splitcoast Stampers, that I had never shared here. 
I created this girly birthday hat using my Silhouette.
I added lots of pretty feminine details. 
Lace. Flowers. Glitter. Melissa Frances trim.
A few pearls later and it is the perfect hat for a little girl.
I am looking forward to a 3 day weekend.  Monday will be a "me" day because I am the only one off from school.  
Next week, I will have lots of crafty stuff to share as we head into a new month! So stay tuned!
Have a wonderful weekend!

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Chicago Special Parent Magazine!

I know many of you follow me on Facebook, but in case you don't, I wanted to share something fairly exciting!  (At least to me!) ;) 
Cort had an amazing opportunity to be the first teen to grace the cover of Chicago Special Parent magazine. 

Even our dog, Myla got in the photo! 


If you don't follow Cortney's journey on Facebook, and would like to, click HERE!
She would love it if you "liked" her page!
Have a great day!

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Hello!

Good morning!
I am off from work today, so I am enjoying a hot cup of coffee before my feet hit the ground running.
Cortney is having Botox in her legs next month and today she has to see her neurologist. So we are off to the doctor once again.
And since the weather in Chicago has been extremely cold (breaking records cold), that I needed a spot of sunshine in my day.
Hence, the bright happy colors!
I am up on the Scrapbook Adhesives Blog today.
I have all the details there on how I created this Hello Shaker card!
I gotta run!
I'll be back tomorrow!


Monday, February 23, 2015

Be Mine!

I forgot completely about this card I made. It was supposed to be for Valentine's Day, but since it is the end of February, let's pretend I made it for a wedding, or anniversary, or something! ;)
Since my room has been clean, I am cranking out projects left and right and this was the result of leftovers I had.
I used a Simon Says Stamp die that has lots of circles. I didn't have the heart (no pun intended) to throw them away.  They were left from THIS card I made with the die.
So I adhered them to a strip of card stock and machine stitched them with gold thread.  
The heart was left over as well and I covered the heart die with gold sequins. I put a bit more of the gold thread behind the heart for interest.  Added my arrow and sentiment from SRM stickers.
Yesterday I was eating a Swedish Fish and it pulled out my crown.
Ugh.
Oh, did I mentioned I also SWALLOWED the crown?
So my dentist told me to try and "fish" it out. (Again, no pun intended!) If you know what I mean, and she will be sure to SANITIZE it!
Guess you know what I will be attempting to do this morning. 
No more Swedish Fish for me.
It's hell getting older!
Have a good day my friends!