Focus

"Our thoughts create our reality - where we put our focus is the direction we tend to go."

~Peter McWilliams

 

I thought to myself that it would be a super fun goal to make two distinct cards using items from the Artful Delight August Card Kit for one card challenge (Artful Delight just announced their September kits, you can check them out here!).

The challenge at hand is Moxie Fab World's Card Design Handbook Week: The Focal Point.

The above card features fun patterned paper, as well as a bright orange card base, chipboard plaque and sentiment sticker. All from different companies, but in my personal opinion, all work so well together. Debbie and LeeAnne really do a fantastic job with the variety and cohesion of each Artful Delight Kit. I think that the your eye is drawn immediately to the bold sentiment, and the fact that it is a single word makes it even stand out more. (Again, my personal opinion.)

This next card features all the same product, just in a different manner. Big difference! I think that the focal point here is the red heart and then the sticker sentiment too. Ahh, I'm loving the white space, er, blue space!

 Here's to hoping that you have a great weekend!

Lacy Look

A couple posts ago I hinted that I was going to show you a lacy look that I created, and today I have a super simple, super quick, yet super effective use of the three Bra Sets available from Skipping Stones Design! How about we create a lace pattern with just four basic supplies?!

First, gather up some high quality white cardstock, an alcohol color marker of your choice, the Copic Colorless Blender pen, and a wide strip of scrap lace.

Start by laying down color onto cardstock, to about the size of your choice of Skipping Stones Design Bra stamp. It doesn't have to be neat, and using the broad side of the marker makes fast work of this. Next, loosely lay the lace on top of the cardstock and start blotting the holes in the lace with the Colorless Blender. This actually removes color, leaving the lacy pattern. Finally, stamp your image in crisp ink, and shade like normal.

My card uses one of the bras featured in this month's release, Bras Volume 3 as well as the sentiments from this same set. I stamped the background with a pattern from Damask Dalring for a bit of texture.

I was inspired by the sketch at Retro Sketches to finish off the design of my card. I added some luscious May Arts Black Silk Ribbon too!

Tree Grove

I am the heat of you hearth, the shade screening you from the sun; I am the beam that holds your house, the board of your table; I am the handle of your hoe, the door of your homestead; the wood of your cradle, and the shell of your coffin. A am the gift of God and the friend of man.-- Unknown

I have been so very honored to make creations for Paper Smooches this month as their guest designer and my last one today features all three releases from August. The trunks are from the branch and the tree tops are made from the pumpkin in Spookalicious, the leaves are made from the paisleys in Daisies and Paisleys and the sentiment is compiled from the letters in Graffiti. I was inspired by Moxie Fab World's Card Design Handbook Week: The Repetition Challenge. A pairing of three unique trees, yet they are all stamped with the same elements.

Thank you so much, Paper Smooches!

[I just finished watching the season finale of Pretty Little Liars. I know it is a teen show, and I would never, ever wear the fashions they feature, but gosh, it has me hooked and was such a good episode tonight! Any other fans out there?]

Lessons Learned

Lesson Learned: Listen to your husband.
Hubby: You know, I don't know how the computer runs with all those tabs open.
Me: But those tabs are blogs that I need to comment on.
Hubby: Ok, well, that's a lot of open tabs and one day it is gonna crash on you.
Me: No it won't.
Lesson Learned: Computers can crash, even mine, loosing about 100 open tabs where I wanted to leave comments for dear friends on their amazing creations...

Artful Delight's August Card Kit included the most amazing patterned papers, and I wanted to focus on them through the art of fuss cutting.  Speaking of lessons learned, have you checked out the new Paper Crafts Card Handbook? I'm awestruck!  I started by fussy cutting the beautiful Basic Grey Paper Cottage papers for the background, keeping the pattern in shades of one color (gallon), drawing your eye down with the bird cages in black (quart) and finishing with a pop of blue in another flower (pint). I think I was inspired by Aime's card that was featured in this magazine, as well as on the MFW blog. (I'm entering this card into Moxie Fab World's Card Design Handbook Week: Gallon/Quart/Pint Challenge and Basic Grey Challenges: Anything Goes.)

My next card also focuses on the patterned paper and rub-ons from the August Artful Delight Card Kit. This time I was inspired by the photo at Runway Inspired Challenge and the pop of orange and tone on tone black. 

So here's to a better week of timely commenting on your blogs so that my computer doesn't crash!

The Mr. & Mrs.

Large, rowdy wedding receptions are pretty popular here in Wisconsin. Lots of music, drinks and tons of friends and family. There's no other feeling like being announced as The Mr. and Mrs. when you walk through the doorway at the local hall for your Grand March. You are two of a kind. Mr. and Mrs. A whole new life begins.

I'm lucky enough to be showcasing another card for Paper Smooches as their August Guest Designer! I played with Daisies and Paisleys again, this time opting for the daisy stamps instead of the paisleys! I added a sentiment from the set, as well as from Word Up and the heart from Vegtastic. The images were colored with Copic and a simple May Arts Burlap String was added to ground the flowers and visually separate the sentiments.

****On another note****

May Arts has teamed up with Basically Bare for an amazing showcase of products and samples this week. My project went up yesterday, and as always, there are prizes up for grabs if you wanted to take a peek!

Today is the last day to enter a project for the two sketches up over at Artful Delight! The prize package is your choice of a free scrapbook or card kit! Check out the details here!

A Misty Trail

"Walk on a rainbow trail; walk on a trail of song, and all about you will be beauty. There is a way out of every dark mist, over a rainbow trail." ~ Robert Motherwell

It's Tuesday and that means another sketch challenge over at Skipping Stones Design! We are continuing with the retro sketches this month. Have you checked out the challenge? There is a chance to win a free stamp set!

Once again I loosely interpreted the sketch. I decided to dust off some spray mists too! This card features Heartsong 2 and Sentiment Frames, available at Skipping Stones Design. Hope to see you play this week!

Spoonful of Sugar

"A robin feathering his nest has very little time to rest while gathering his bits of twine and twig. Though quite intent in his pursuit, he has a merry tune to toot. He knows a song will move the job along - for a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, the medicine go down, the medicine go down. Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, in a most delightful way." ~Mary Poppins

I'm delighted to join in on Annette Witherspoons' Two Year Blogiversary Hop! You should have arrived from Annette's blog. Did you like her new blog look? {We collaborated together!} I heard there are some prizes offered up today, more details on Annette's blog! Annette is one amazing crafter, her attention to detail and her fun designs are spot on. Congratulations on two years of blogging!

I drew inspiration from Market Street Stamp's combination Block Party and Paint the Town Color Challenge. I started by stamping the Sweet Lace Background onto vanilla paper in beige chalk ink, and added a few sponged areas of soft yellow. This panel was mounted onto kraft card stock and then I added a luscious May Arts Silk bow and stamped sentiment from Celebrate Cake. The final addition was a chip board bird from October Afternoon.

So the next stop on Annette's blog hop is Bunny!

Fly Abandonedly

 

"Spread your wings and prepare to fly //  For you have become a butterfly  //  Fly abandonedly into the sun  //  If you should return to me  //  We truly were ment to be  //  So spread your wings and fly Butterfly"~Mariah Carey's Butterfly

Happy Friday! I have two clean and crisp cards featuring the rub-ons and stickers available in the Artful Delight August Card Kit up over on the Artful Delight Blog today. I also have a few tips and tricks that I've learned about using rub-ons! {They aren't the pesky creatures I once thought they were!}

 

I'm gearing up for a busy crafty weekend, how about you?

Little Charlotte

**Please scroll down for the Lil' Inkers Designs Blog Hop**

"Little Charlotte she's as pretty as the angels when they sing. I can't believe I'm out here on her front porch in this swing, Just a swingin' (swingin'). Yeah, and we'll be swingin'. (swingin'). Yes, we'll be swingin'. (swingin')." Swingin' by John Anderson.

So my thought process sometimes goes like this: I saw the stick, I saw the cute owl, and I saw the cute owl just a swingin'. I've named her Little Charlotte. (Swingin' was one of the first country songs I ever listened to in my memory!) I had a card featured on the Paper Smooches Blog yesterday for the August Paper Smooches Guest Designer. The owl came from Spookalicious, but nothing spooky about Little Charlotte today. The wings were stamped twice and fussy cut in order to grab the swing and not fall off. The sentiment is from Word Up.

So much fun these Paper Smooches Stamps are!

Lil' Inker Designs

So I've been holding some big news for a while and now I can shout it from the rooftops! I've been invited by Laura to join the Lil' Inker Designs Team as a graphic designer! As my profile mentions that I'm a graphic designer by trade (meaning I have a four degree in it), however my full time job is far from anything design. It is so wonderful to be able to showcase these skills that I've learned in another avenue! Lil' Inker Designs has introduced a new series in their color line-up of stamps, called Sugar Kissed Cottage-in fact, they are available in the store now. The images are so delightfully sweet, and they are designed by Lindsey Amschler. The coolest part is that I got to help out early and put together the sentiments for the three sets, with the assistance of Laura! I hope you enjoy! If you are following the release hop, you should have arrived from Laura and the Lil' Inker's Blog!

This first card was designed using Rain Boy, and colored with prisma colored pencils. He's the sweetest little boy that you ever did see (in stamp form anyway!). I used bright colors 1. because my boys are drawn to bright colors and 2. bright colors cheer people up!

This next card features the School Girl Stamp Set. I colored her with watercolor crayons and a touch of copic markers. She's been fussy cut and adhered onto a patterned paper card base. Isn't that sentiment tons of fun, a great alternative to the general back-to-school sentiments. Of course, with kids going back to school now or in a few weeks, this set is perfect too!

And finally, the third set in this release is called Surprise! and features these two adorable friends or sisters. I colored them with pastel and vintage shades of copic markers and dressed up the card with a simple embellishment of May Arts Burlap string.

There are so many opportunities for cute cards with these Sugar Kissed Cottage sets by Lil' Inker Designs, they are the perfect size for coloring and in my personal opinion have some really great sentiments! I hope you have a chance to hop along today, or through Thursday, because there are hidden prizes along the way that might just involve sets from this new release!

Thank you for letting me share this excitement, and for viewing my cards today. I'd like to know, do you have a favorite set from this release?

Your next stop on the hop is Judith from Jay Gee's Nook!

Lighter Load

Hee, hee, leave it to Skipping Stones Design to make you chuckle this morning! Welcome to the Skipping Stones Design Release Blog Hop and this week's sketch challenge! If you are following the hop you should have arrived from JoAnn's blog. We are going retro this month and featuring sketches from past designers. Also, we are showcasing the newest set in the line-up, Bras 3! This set is packed full of punny sentiments that are sure to make the recipient smile, but at the same time there is a powerful, meaningful message behind them. There are also two great lingerie images too!

I promise I was inspired by the sketch, even though my interpretation might be wide. I saw the circles in this patterned paper and went with that. I added a banner sentiment and ribbon tab to have a place to hang the bra from. The bra actually has a bit of lacy texture to it as well, I'll have a tutorial coming up soon as to how I did that with only two supplies!

I look forward to seeing your creations on this week's sketch challenge. You can find all the details, along with prize information, on the Skipping Stones Design Blog. But now, I'm going to send you over to the next designer on the hop, one of our August Guest Designers and a very talented individual, Tenia!

**I get to share some big and exciting news tomorrow so I do hope that you have some time to visit me!**

Tickled Peach

**Please scroll down for The Craft's Meow/Wand2Scrap Blog Hop post or click here**

My grandmother doesn't use email. She doesn't text. She picks up her land line phone and calls her sisters or children. She sends a handwritten note to her friends. And I'm delighted to say that she was tickled pink to search through my {huge} box of handmade cards and chose a few that would be perfect for the people in her life. Each and every card that she chose she knew who she'd send it to and what it would be for. Now that is one delightful reason to justify why I spend so much time on this hobby.

Sharing a card that was created for The Craft's Meow August Sketch Challenge. Have you seen the amazing sketch provided by Nina? Do you think you'll want to play along? All the information and prize details are on the blog!

I started by repeatedly stamping one of the background elements from The Craft's Meow Retro Foundations onto peach cardstock. (All elements of this set were designed for ease of repetition stamping!) I adhered this background piece to a vanilla card base-after adding a touch of detail with pinked border edges. For the focal point, I stamped the large bloom from Beautiful Spring, cut portions of it and bent them for added dimension. A bit of twine and a banner with the perfect sized sentiment from Love Dwells Here finished the look.

***Now for some enabling***

May Arts just celebrated a swap with Our Craft Lounge this past week. My projects-2 ribbon slider cards-were featured Friday. You have a chance to win free ribbon and a stamp set if you stop on by and leave a comment before tomorrow!

The Craft's Meow's August release week begins on Friday!

Skipping Stones Design has another PMS Sale going on! Check out the details here, you won't want to miss it!

I have a special post and announcement to make this Wednesday, so excited!

***End of enabling***

Blinged Blooms

**Please scroll down to see two cards featuring the Artful Delight August Card Kit!**

Welcome to The Craft’s Meow and Want2Scrap Blog Hop! Today's hop will be full of amazing projects. If you are following the hop, you should have arrived from Jean Martin's blog! This is one great partnership, there are so many stamps available at The Craft's Meow that just scream to be blinged up. 

I chose to feature three sets from The Craft's Meow: to focal point of the paper pieced red blooms from Hope Blooms, the sentiment from God's Blessings, and the background stamping from Inspired by Audrey. I dressed them up with some bling designed by Nina B. for Want2Scrap. How cool is it that three sets work so well together?! (Well, at least in my opinion!) I paper pieced the two larger blooms with red patterned paper and then bumped up the color with a red marker. The stems were also paper pieced, but I kept them white. I re-arranged the bling a bit represent movement in the leaves and growing. I was trying to reiterate the fact that a wedding intertwines two people's lives and is the starting point for a growing future together.

Each company is offering up a prize to folks that complete the blog hop by leaving a comment on each participant's blog. We all like to hear what you think! (The Craft's Meow will be giving a way a stamp set of choice by random draw.) A complete list of participants can be found on The Craft’s Meow Blog.The deadline for leaving comments to win is Sunday, August 12th, winners will be announced on the TCM/W2S blogs by Tuesday, August 14th.
**Please make sure you leave your comments for a chance to win on this post if you are wanting to be eligible for the prize, but it would be awesome if you wanted to comment on my other post today too!**

Your next stop on the hop is one of my stamping idols, AJ Otto!

Feeling Funky Friday

The local radio station always mentions Feeling Funky Friday. I don't get what they do that is funky on a Friday, but none the less the phrase is usually stuck in my head all day long! I perhaps should listen just a wee bit better and find out what the Funky is in a Friday!

Well today my funky in a Friday is showcasing the cool Basic Grey/Hero Arts Background Stamp, Curl Pattern, included in this month's Artful Delight Card kit and the eclectic look you can achieve by pairing it with other fun elements from the kit.  I stepped outside my normal bounds and played with loads of distress inks on the above card. First I embossed the background with white and covered it with two shades of yellow. I adhered this panel to the blue base, after apply the fun rub-ons from the kit for a punch of black. I added a stamped sentiment from Hero Art's So Sorry set (not included in the kit). I was inspired to try something new, requested by CASE Study's Anniversary Challenge, after seeing all the fabulous designs on their latest hop.

This next card is a bit more to my liking, but still a bit funky. Using the same stamp, I embossed it in black onto kraft and then colored portions in with colored pencils, drawing inspiration from the fun buttons! The sentiment comes from Hero Art's A Little Note set (not included in the kit). Love these buttons included in this kit. I'm not usually a button girl, but wow, these are so graphic and modern. I'm going to try my hand with this card in Young Crafter's Unite Button Challenge!

I have to mention, again, how much I adore these kits, not only for the amount of product in them, but because they offer up opportunities to participate in new challenges. Believe it or not, I only own a handful of Hero Arts set, and having this background stamp now opens up so many possibilities for the few that I have!

Both these cards were inspired by Hero Art's August Sketch Challenge and Clean and Simple Stamping Challenge, and A Blog Named Hero's Freestyle Challenge.

Nature is Imagination Itself

 

"The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see Nature all ridicule and deformity, ans some scarce see Nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, Nature is Imagination itself." ~William Blake, 1799, The Letters

Cloud 9 is hosting their second blog hop, have you checked it out? This time the cue is a sketch challenge.

I'm going to attempt to explain how I created this card, which is a bit different for me! I grabbed some patterned paper from Artful Delight's August Card Kit and the large leaves from WPlus9's Woodgrain Silhouette Additions. I stamped onto the patterned paper the leaves in a soft pink, then layered bright red washi tape from Bazzill on top. A quick zig with my sewing machine (don't look too close because it is crooked-told you it was quick!) and I was almost complete. I stamped a sentiment from Birds and Bees and then finished the card with some bold fussy cut large leaves. I like the soft pattern from the paper against the pale pink, and then the deep contrast of the red and black against the background.

I'm excited to see the other creations over at Cloud 9!

 

I.O.U.

I must admit that there are a few I.O.U. tickets stuffed into the piggy bank of my boys. They seem to gather more quarters than anyone I know and it is tempting to grab a few to take to work for a soda during the day. I promise that I always pay up with the pig is cashed, and the boys make sure of it1

I.O.U. tickets! Paper Smooches has this card on their blog today! Why? Because I'm the August Guest Designer, I still can't believe it myself!

I used their new alphabet set, Graffiti, to create a thank you card. The I.O.U. letters were stamped onto solid card stock and perforated at the edge before attaching to the card base. The "thanks" sentiment comes from the classic Sentiment Sampler set and the fun brackets are also from the new Graffiti set. I followed a few trends on this card: ombre, color blocking and an ode to texting!

***In other news***

Been busy as a beaver lately behind the scenes, so excited for everything that is coming up. Gearing up for the August release from The Craft's Meow, just sent in my design for the September release... Did you read that The Craft's Meow is having a Design Team Call? Check it out here! You NEED to apply, trust me!

And...Did you see this? Hmm....could it be a hint of what is to come here on The Bald Dragonfly?

You Are Awesome

There's something to be said about praise: the act of expressing approval or admiration. Three short words, possibly two seconds of your time. Written or verbal, praise is always appreciated and keeps many going. I just wanted to let you know if I haven't told you lately, that you, my readers, are awesome.

A new Artful Delight card kit and sketch challenge (as well as the scrapbook and sketch) were introduced on the Artful Delight Blog this past Wednesday, and if I can say this is one awesome kit too! The envelope was literally full to the brim with amazing contents. Here's a look see at it!

This kit contains 6x6 sheets of Bo Bunny Hello Sunshine collection, Prima Marketin's Doodle Deux collection and Basic Grey's Paper Cottage Collection. There are 8.5x11 sheets of coordinating Bazzill cardstock and embellies including a stamp! Please check out the full contents here!

My card today showcases a clean and simple take on the sketch challenge, along with the chipboard elements, stickers and cardstock from the kit. Amy tried out some loose stitching on one of her cards last week and I thought I'd try it out too! To make the chipboard not so heavy for a card, I simply peeled the top layer off its backing.

Stop by the Artful Delight Blog to check out the new kit and perhaps try your hand at the sketch. I always try for a flexible design open to interpretation: take it clean and simple or dress it up with a shabby and vintage style!

****

One last thing: I was fortunate to have been chosen to continue on the May Arts Design Team and they have showcased the new 2012-2013 Design Team on their blog. The Ribbon Lady is offering up 3 spools of ribbon from their newest release just by leaving a comment of welcome! Check it out here!