Shabby Chic Sweet Childhood Kisses Card

Hi Everyone~

Well, today is the first day of school! Yes, I could be cleaning...I could be running errands....BUT, I really wanted to try out the challenge over at the Let's get shabby blog. I have never done a shabby chic card before or at least not knowingly ; ) I am not so sure I have an eye or insight into what shabby chic really is, but I love the look of the cards over there and other cards that I have seen that say shabby chic, so I took a stab at it. I would so love to do more cards like this if I can get the hang of it. Let me know what you think, and if you have any tips that you think might help me out, I would graciously appreciate them.

I posted this card in color and in black and white so that you can get a real vintage feel for it in the black and white photo.

Now, back to the real world. I guess I should go try to get something done for the day before those kiddo's get back home from school. I am sure there will be lots of paperwork for me to fill out tonight.

I hope you all enjoy these last dog days of summer, and thank you very much for stopping by for a look at my new venture into the shabby chic world. Have a beautiful day!

MMSC16 Butterfly Flower Fairy and Baby Card

Hi everyone! It's nice to be back to posting an MMSC card. I really missed not posting one last week. I can't believe that we are on the MMSC16 already and that it is almost Fall, and school is starting this week!! I want to say a special thank you to our sponsor this month...Simon Says Stamp They have been very generous to us , and we hope that you will stop by their store and see all of the wonderful items that they have to offer.

This was a nice card for me to do to get that last bit of summer into my cards. I just love working with the feminine cards, so of course, I used lots of pink, frills, and sparkle for this card. It was just perfect for me. I want to thank Michelle Perkett from Enchanted Inspirations so much for providing these images for us to use this week. I completely enjoyed them. If you haven't seen Michelle's artwork yet, you have to take a few moments and pop over there to check out all of her beauties!! She is very talented! I chose to cut and pop her image due to the sketch this week and my inexperience with sizing digi's properly. I needed to be sure that this sweet image fit onto my card, so I had to trim away the background, but I would love to do this image again sometime with the full background as well. This card is just full of glitter and glitz.....that's the way I like them! I couldn't resist making the inside just as sweet and sparkly as the outside, so I went to work creating the magical inside to this card which includes a very feminine and frilly pocket graced with jeweled butterflies and a pretty flower.....AND just to go the little extra mile, I created a little journal tag/photo card that fits perfectly inside the pocket. I also made a matching, decorated and lined thick box envelope to match and complete this set, but I forgot to load the picture on here, and don't know how to place extra pictures inside of the post once it is already written. Sorry about that!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed looking at my card and hope that you find a bit of inspiration to entice you to want to create your own entry for this week's MMSC challenge. Check out Priscilla's blog for any other MMSC news and details.

Thanks for visiting me today, and don't forget to sign up for my blog candy. There are some wonderful goodies in there to be had by some lucky winner.

Have a wonderful day!!

Challenges for this card:

Whimsy Stamps Challenges

Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge

Stamptacular Sunday Challenge

Back to School Teacher Hello Gift Bag SuInk

I found this Anna Griffin Template set while at the craft store the other day, and I couldn't wait to try one of the templates out, so I figured since school starts next week that I would make this cute little gift bag for my youngest's teacher this year. This is the very first time that I have tried to make something like this, so I know I probably need some practice to refine it, but all in all, I think it turned out pretty cute. I sort of wish I would have chosen a different ribbon, but it will do. I filled the bag with scented bath crystals and candles that are wrapped with a ribbon and tag. The little note on the back of the bag is from a Stampin' Up template and opens up to a lined envelope that has a note to the teacher from my son. Was very quick to make and a nice way to have my son start the school year with his new teacher. I am quite sure I will be making more of these.

If you would like to try something like this out too, check out my blog candy that I am about to post on here. I have the very same template in there as a part of the candy, and there are 5 other templates to make some other really cool things too. I am entering this into the SuInk Challenge this week that is asking to create a Back-to-School project, and this is a perfect fit, I think. If you are wanting to make a back-to-school item too, hurry up and enter it into their challenge. What fun!

Thanks for dropping by. Let me know what you think, and don't forget to sign up for my candy before you leave.

Have a great day!!

SSCC1 Cornucopia Horn of Plenty Wood Card Harvest or Thanksgiving

Hi~ Just another little post to share with you a card that I made for the Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge. It is a new challenge blog that is just wonderful. What a great place to share with those who believe in Christ and want to share with everyone their amazing faith. Drop over there and check out their blog. It is a wonderful place for inspiration in more ways than one. They have a wonderful stamp set from ODBD that they are giving away as a prize too. Just beautiful! Anyway, this week, they wanted you to create a card with food on it and to ponder the words from Jesus: "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." John 6:35 (NIV)

I found this stamp to be the first one to come to mind for me, so this is what I created. I wanted to make a gatefold card for this because it seemed to fit well and I really was in the mood to make one, since I haven't done one in a little while. I chose traditional harvest colors and colored my image with Prismacolor pencils. If you take notice, I have used wood paper from my good friend Sue's store that I am absolutely loving using on my cards. This particular wood that I chose is rather thick, so this is a very heavy card being that I used the wood inside and out. I used a thinner wood directly behind the image in a darker color and then another thin strip of wood across the bottom with the gems on them. Stop over at Sue's to see if you find any wood paper that you might like to use on your creations. She has some awesome digi stamps too!

I hope you like my card, and please leave me a comment with your thoughts. I love to hear your input. I also hope that you will check out the SSCC blog too. I hope to keep playing with them as often as I can.

Thanks for dropping by for a look, and have a wonderful day!

Clematis Flower Digi Card...I'm A Digi Newbie!

Hi everyone! I took a little leave of absence from the MMSC for the next entry since my husband was home, and I wasn't sure if I would have time to get my entry in on time. I will be back for the MMSC16 though. In the meantime, I thought I would share this card I made with one of the MMSC sponsors Sue's digi image. I was not thrilled with the way my card came out, so I didn't want to post this earlier, but I do love her images, so I wanted to share for you to see her wonderful work. I will have to try this again. I am not great with the digi's yet, so I think it will take me some practice to get it right. I have a terrible time sizing and printing the digi's. My MMSC16 card will be another digi image, so let's see if I can do any better with that one. Let me know what you think when you see them both together. Remember, it will not be the MMSC15, but the one following that. Thanks! I will appreciate your input.

Horses at Sunset Wood Card MMSC14, Belli, and Kitchen Sink Challenges

There is a bit of history behind this card, but I will spare you other than to say that I had a very sweet lady request a card from me about a month or so ago that had horses on it. Sadly, I did not have a horse stamp or any images with horses on them. Luckily, I have some really wonderful friends that are willing to share with me and knew my story and wanted to help by sending me several images of horses to use on my cards. It is too late for the little girl's birthday that it was meant for, but I am happy with the way my card turned out nonetheless.

This card was made for the MMSC14 sketch. I am thrilled to share with you that I used wood paper from a good friend and fellow DT member Sue's online store who also happens to be our generous sponsor for the MMSC this week. . If you haven't been over there yet to check out her store, you have to make the trip. It will be worth your while. I never really even thought of using wood or anything close to it on my cards until she introduced this to me, and I promise you that once you try this, you will not know how you ever created without it. It is the absolute perfect supply to have on hand for cards that require a masculine touch, woodsy, outdoorsy, wildlife or honestly any kind of card you have in mind, because I have seen Sue make baby cards for little girls that look sweet and feminine as well as wedding cards. Stop by her blog and have a look at her slideshow to see some of these beauties. I have done a few of them on my slideshow too, but you will see more of a selection on hers. She also has some great digi stamps on her store site along with so many other great products that you will want to bookmark her site for future reference. It's a one-stop shop.

Sue is being very GENEROUS to our Bonus Winner this week as well!! Our MMSC14 Bonus Winner this week will be receiving all the goodies pictured below including the 4 digi’s shown from McMahon Five Designs. As an added Bonus, if the winner is displaying the McMahon Five Designs logo on their blog they will receive 4 more FREE DIGIS of their choice from her store, so be sure to sign up for the Rewards program and while you are there, start making up your wish list :)

I also used my scor-pal tape on this card which is really awesome stuff and so easy to use. You can use it on pretty much anything and it is so strong and durable. I just love this and have started using it on my handmade envelopes as well. Way easier and less messier than using glue and waiting for it to dry. Thank you Diana for giving us the opportunity to try out these wonderful products. You have been a wonderful sponsor to the MMSC and it has been fabulous working with you!

I hope that you enjoy my sample card this week and that it may in some way inspire you to create something wonderful for yourself or someone special in your life.

I am also entering this into the Belli #71 Challenge which is asking to use wood on your card and the Kitchen Sink Crew Challenge that is asking you to do up the corners of your card which for this card I used the pretty gold gems. Check out their fun challenges and join along with them as well as the MMSC.

Thanks, as always for dropping by my blog for a look. I appreciate your visit and your comments and look forward to seeing your entries this week as well.

Now a bit of info from the MMSC Blog:

Don’t forget that August is “Refer your Friends for Freebies” month. If you are new to the MMSC blog, be sure to hop on over to Priscilla's blog to get all of the details.

A Huge Congrats goes out to our Midnight Masterpiece Gold Star Award winner this week: Craftypagan Your card really rocked!!! Enjoy your award!

The MM DESIGN TEAM AWARD this week is a very special lady who is very deserving of this honor. She continues to show us each week what a wonderful teammate she is. She is so dedicated to her friends, family and recently just gave birth to a beautiful baby girl!! She is a wonderful Mother to all of her daughters as well as a dedicated wife and inspirational DT sister. I am very proud to be working alongside such a talented and sweet friend. This week we would like to honor.....Shawne with the Mrs. Congeniality Award!! Stop by and check out her Blog. Thank you for being such a great friend to us!! We wish you the very best with you and your entire family. Treasure every moment with them, and we look forward to your return with us as soon as your new sweetie allows you the time.

Something About Simon $100 CHA Prize Giveaway!!

I have to give some attention to the very generous ladies over at Simon Says Stamp. They have graciously offered to be a sponsor of the Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge and have donated a $50 voucher to their store to the lucky winner of our August sketch challenges. You don't want to miss out on a fabulous chance like that, so be sure to play along for your chance to win this amazing prize! Not only have they done that for the MMSC group, but now, they are offering an unbelieveable blog candy! $100.00 in CHA products to a lucky winner if you enter by August 14th! Make sure you make a stop over there to check out the details at the Simon Says Stamp blog for your chance at this very generous prize! While you are paying them a visit over there, drop by their store: Simon Says Stamp They always offer some of the best products and are very sweet to deal with. It will be worth your time to drop by, and you will see that you will want to keep going back for more.

A Few Days of Family Fun Away..... Splish..Splash at Splash Lagoon!!

We haven't had much of a summer here in Western Pennsylvania. It has either been cool or rainy all summer long. It has been hard to plan any type of vacation with the weather like this. We don't really like to travel very far with the kids, so we ended up going to a place called Splash Lagoon. It is in Erie, Pennsylvania, and it is an indoor water park that is open all year around. What fun the kids had here. If you love the water and the excitement of riding amusement park rides, this is a great spot to take the family. Surprisingly, it was very affordable and very nice and clean. Hard to find all of those things in one place. There was so much to do there for kids and adults. Now, I am not a huge fan of the water UNLIKE the rest of my family, but, I seriously enjoyed the paradise cove hot tub. WOW!! So, even though it was a mini vacation, we have tons of fun memories to last us through the year, not to mention lots of fun videos to look back on.

Ok, back to reality now. I hope I can get my mindset back to crafting after all of the water fun. See ya in a couple of days with the next MMSC post. Have a great weekend everyone!!

MMSC13 Patchwork Quilt Cherished Teddies Baby Card

MMSC Weekly News:

Our sponsors this week are Scor-pal who have some fabulous products, so go over and check them out. Their scor-tape is awesome.....so strong and easy to use. Also, if you don't have a scor-pal, you have to try it. It is perfect for cards, envelopes or making any type of scoring.

Our other sponsor for the month of August is none other than....Simon Says Stamp..!!! Check out the Midnight Madness site for all the details, including this voucher for $50.00 and how you could win it..........There are many more exciting things coming up on Midnight Madness...so please stay tuned!

Now, onto my post for the week:

I think this is the biggest card that I have ever made, but if I wanted to follow Priscilla's sketch, I had to go with a bigger sized card. This one was alot of work, but I do so love the cute and frilly baby cards, and I love the cherished teddies too. I could not for the life of me get a good picture of this card. I took well over 100 pictures and still could not get the picture to come out sharp. I am hoping that nothing is wrong with my camera. I did the best I could, but you will not really get the full effect of how pretty this card is in person with these pictures. I want to share with you that I used the shimmer sprays from Lindy's on the yellow portions of this card to give it a golden shimmer and even on the image background with some frosted lace to soften the image. I hope you enjoy my sample card this week and will give the sketch a try for yourself.

Have a great week, and please leave a comment and let me know that you dropped by. Thank you.