Fun in the Sun

Echo Park's Paradise Beach papers (available at StopandScrap) lent themselves wonderfully to the Color Throwdown challenge this week, CTD198.

I also used this week's Mojo Monday sketch, MOJO247; this week is round or square and I opted for square.

I used some stamps from Verve, they are a perfect match for the papers.

Well, that's it for me. I am going to my parents' tomorrow to convince Cody to come back home; he's been down there a week spending time with them and with his cousins. They've been swimming, gaming, and fighting....at least the fighting didn't start til they had been together for 4-5 days. But, the house is entirely too quiet without him and I just miss him like crazy.

Thanks for Everything Friend

The final Viva la Verve sketch for June is another one I couldn't wait to use. I grabbed more October Afternoon paper as well as a few sets from PTI ( Pretty Peonies, Flutterby Friend) to make a thank you card for a friend.

I love, love, love the peony image and am so thankful there's a die that coordinates; makes everything easier.

Sweet Birthday Wishes

Chupa had a great sketch this week, SSC65, and I couldn't wait to play along. I wanted to use a doily for the large circle panel and found some cute lined paper in my October Afternoon packs. The flowers were cut with my Cameo (as was the doily) with more October Afternoon papers, they have a large pearls center and look so cute with the petals popped up.

The sentiments are from PTI's Strawberry Patch and Strawberry Patch sentiments; the leaves are from PTI's Turning a New Leaf.

Sky's the Limit

Duke's 2nd cousin graduated from High School this year and is headed to college in the fall. I wanted to make a gift card holder for her as I am sure that there will be lots of shopping to do before then. We don't know her well, but I don't know many girls that don't like bright colors.

I used this octagon card shape for the front; choosing colorful papers of delightful patterns from Echo Park's Summer Days collection. I popped up most of the hexagons for a little more dimension.

I pierced the paper beneath the sentiment from PTI's Up Up & Away.

I used this tutorial from Silhouette America to make the insert for the gift card; we just need to pick it up so I can get this in the mail.

Just Because

Just a simple card today, this one was made for the 3rd Viva la Verve challenge for June.

I cut out the elements with my Cameo and then just added them to the card panel. I love being able to get everything the right size within the software and then just lay out the paper and cut.

The flowers and sentiment are from Verve.

Miss You

This week's sketch at the clean&simple blog, FTL195, is another goodie. I loved the open panel and instantly thought of hexagons. Guess I've caught the fever too.

I grabbed some Echo Park's This & That Charming paper and cut hexagons on my Cameo. I just grabbed a few and arranged them randomly, a few are popped up.

I wrapped the panel with some twine and tied on a little button. The sentiment is from PTI's Fillable Frames.

Embrace Life

This week's sketch from the clean&simple blog, FTL194, is another keeper. I grabbed my beloved Echo Park papers, these are from the Summer Days collection.

I managed to cut everything with my Cameo, the flower center is a tiny silver pearl. The sentiment is from Verve, I love the font.

Oh Me, Oh My

I don't know about you, but I am always on the lookout for cute ideas to package inexpensive items. We go through lots of MiO and I've been looking for a fun way to package it to give as little pick me ups. I'm also going to set these on tables for my son's birthday party in August since we'll be having a pool party.

When I found this super cute pail cutting file in the Silhouette Online Store I thought it'd be the perfect vessel for my idea. I used paper from Echo Park's Sweet Day collection; it is so summery and gorgeous! I grabbed the striped paper to make the pail itself and used the other side for the umbrella. The umbrella was decorated using a sentiment flag.

The handles were added using some small chocolate brads. I just threw in some reusable ice cubes and added the MiO and the umbrella. Looks all beachy and festive!

We drink from mason jars here at my house, so I used a jar cutting file pieced with some more paper from Echo Park's Sweet Day collection; I then used vellum as an overlay before tying on the twine.

The sentiment on the circle panel is from Hero Arts/ Studio Calico You Are The Best set and is sort of a play on words for the MiO....I thought it was clever. ;-) The sentiments on the flags are from Verve.

You Rock

I had some October Afternoon papers out on my table and decided to use them for the Sketchbook Saturday challenge, SSC63. I like the tilted panel inside the frame.

I used some Verve stamps for the main sentiment as well as the one on the banner; adding a star punch to the end of the banner.

Much Appreciated

I needed to make a thank you card for a friend recently and wanted to use some new papers; Echo Park's Sweet Day. The colors and patterns are crazy cute.

I used my Cameo to cut everything out, also adding a perforated line just inside the butterfly, circle, and flag panels for a little texture.

The aqua butterfly was stamped with a flower image from last year's Anniversary set from PTI; leaves are from Simple Sunflower.

The butterfly was embellished with some silver pearls and the wings popped up with a dimensional that I cut in half.

The sentiment is also from PTI, one of the Fillable Frames sets.

A Father's Day Original

I used last week's sketch from the Sweet Stop for this card; made for Duke's step-father. I pulled out the Echo Park Note to Self papers and ran with the theme of music and played on the viewmasters as well.

I used a Market Street Stamps background to stamp on the viewmaster itself and then cut to fit the corner of the panel. The sentiment and music notes are from PTI as is the original stamp. Once I punched it out, I added some crystal effects so the card wasn't so flat.

Sweet As Can Be

I needed another thank you card to send out and grabbed the new Pretty Peonies set I received last week. I have been itching to use the flowers!

The dp is from StopandScrap, Webster's Pages Sumer Picnic & Everyday Poetry collection. It is so soft, romantic, and pretty. I stamped the library card directly on the dp in a rose colored ink; adding the butterfly in light pink and the leaves in an avocado ink. The leaves go all the way down the right side of the library card.

After die cutting the flower panel, I stamped the solid peony and leaves with more rose and avocado inks; I also rolled the peony in a darker pink on the bottom edge. *I stamped most of this in the dark since we lost power that day. Wish it was a closer color match to the paper, but it'll do.

Finally, I added one part of the sentiment to the library card panel and the other to the strip in the library card pocket. And, then some gems to the center of the peony.

Happy Birthday Kaden

My nephew, Kaden, celebrated his birthday earlier this month. He's such a fun kid, he needed a fun card.

I used Jen's SFYTT for June; that big circle had me thinking about a moon. I opted for a rocket card with lots of colors.

I added some crystal effects on the windows of the rocket itself, so cute. And then, grabbed my stickles for the star, flames, and the 6. While I normally wouldn't use glitter for a boy card, Kaden is pretty over the top and I'm sure he'll love how sparkly it is.And, well, it goes with the theme! LOL

First Class Dad

This is a super simple card I made for Cody to give his Dad for Father's Day. Since he's a postal worker, I decided on this postage stamp sentiment cut. I just sized for a regular sized card and wrapped some twine around it to emulate a package of sorts.

Simple, but it packs a color punch!

Father's Day 2012

With Father's Day right around the corner, I thought I had better get started with a few cards. My dad is a coffee-holic, so I thought a coffee themed card would be the way to go.

I grabbed some masculine papers; these are from Authentique's Loyal collection and they couldn't be more perfect for Father's Day. I got mine at StopandScrap.

After deciding on Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch challenge, SSSC160; I cut all the elements for this card with my Cameo. The crowning jewel is the to go cup and sleeve; it's stinking adorable. The sleeve was run through my crimper to look even more adorable. The steam is from Lil Inker's Coffee Cozies set.The sentiment on the outside and inside of the file folder is from W Plus 9's Woodgrain Silhouettes.

Chirp Up!

We're doing a review of sketches for this week's My Time Made Easy challenge, MTMEPPS64. We're reviewing sketches MTMEPPS34 through MTMEPPS40; so just choose your favorite and link it up on the My Time Made Easy blog.

I chose sketch MTMEPPS39; it's perfect for a quick and simple card. Plus, there's lots of opportunity to embellish.

I used a few images and sentiment from Swinging Silhouettes; I love the branch image and those super cute flowers. The fonts are pretty playful and are a contrast to the papers I used. Both papers are from the Spring Abound collection. The bow was the final touch; I used black stitched ribbon for some punch.

Now, be sure to stop by the My Time Made Easy blog to see what sketch the other gals chose and to be inspired all over again.

Gifts for the Swimmer

*I only photographed one set, I actually made two.

Today, I have a gift set for a few of the swimmers in my family. My parents' pool was opened up last weekend and the kids are so excited to jump in and get wet. We're hoping to make it there later today to join the cousins for some fun.

I made a couple of cute gift bags using Echo Park's Paradise Beach papers; each gift bag houses a noseplugs/ earplugs set. I decided to dress them up by punching circles in coordinating cardstock and then stamping those cute flip flops from We R Memory Keepers Down the Boardwalk stamps. They just couldn't be cuter. The sun was cut on my Cameo with the backside of the flip flop paper and then a button threaded with twine was added in the center.

Next up is the Zinc Face Cream; I again punched some circles in coordinating cardstock and then added the super cute 3-d bow using more paper from Echo Park's Paradise Beach. I cut this on my Cameo, but they are easy enough to make without a machine and the little touches like this make an inexpensive gift look more special.

Finally, I included a chapstick holder. I adore the pinwheel, it's so adorable and screams summer to me. I added a cute button threaded with some twine for the centers; I made it a little more realistic by adding the lollipop stick.

Wishes & Dreams

The sketch on the clean&simple blog, FTL193, lent itself perfectly for the card I needed to make for a friend this week.

The colors in this Prima's Doodle Deux paper are so bright and cheery, it's bound to bring a sunny spot to her day. The papers are available at StopandScrap.

For a little texture, I stamped the flowers with the dandelion cluster from PTI's Daydreamer set, sentiment is from the same set.

Enjoy Every Moment

The Viva la Verve sketch to start of June is a keeper; I love all those shapes. I was also able to use this for the challenge at Crazy 4 challenges blog, C4C139, which was to have a butterfly on your card.

I started with some papers from Webster's Pages Summer Picnic & Everyday Poetry collection. The palette is pretty soft with little punches of color throughout.

The sentiment is from PTI's Anniversary set this year, Pretty Peonies. I finally earned it and it came in the mail last week. I also stamped over the sentiment with the crackle background (also from PTI) in yellow ink to tone down all the "white" space on the sentiment panel; it was looking a little harsh against the softness of the dp.

The ribbon matches the Webster's Pages Summer Picnic & Everyday Poetry collection, it's so pretty and easy to tie. I added some gems to the bottom left corner as well as the butterfly body.