Boy Valentine's / Just Because

My son loves anything military. So when I found this airplane stamp at River City Rubber Works I bought it, hoping he'd think it would make fun Valentine's cards. He was really happy with the idea. We kept them really simple since he was making them for his whole class, and since he's a boy. I don't think he really cared about a matching layer behind or any extra stuff, so this is what we did. We had a lot of fun making them together. He told me that "stamping's not so bad when it's cool stamps." And I'm really excited about this card. When I got all of my new PTI cardstock, I decided to make some kind of color swatch. So I just cut 2x2 pieces of cardstock and put an eyelet in the corner of each one. That way I can run a ribbon through to keep them together, and when I get new colors I can easily add to the collection. So I had this with me the other day when I went to the scrapbook store, and found this Basic Grey paper that I loved. And it matches lots of colors I have! I don't know why I never made a color swatch thingy before. I think it's going to be really useful, especially when shopping for paper. That way I won't end up with cute paper that looks terrible with all the cardstock I have. I cased this project from Split Coast Stampers. I finally bought a scallop circle punch, and I think I'll be using certain stamp sets more now. I like big pieces, and now that I can layer a scallop circle behind it so easily, I can see myself using it a lot more!

Mojo Monday

This is my card I made using the Mojo Monday sketch for this week. To see all of the other cards people made for week 71, click the link here. I love using these sketches and look forward to them each Monday. I thought that this week I would actually pull out my Verve stamps and use them for this week's sketch, but then I went in a totally different direction. I decided to do a Valentine's Day card, and so I used one of my favorite stamps from the Time Well Spent set by Stampin' Up.

Mojo Monday Week 70

I loved, loved, loved the Mojo Monday sketch this week! I knew the second I saw it what I wanted to do. I have a friend who is pregnant with her 3rd baby right now (#1 and #2 are boys) and she is kind of hoping this one is a girl. She's almost far enough along for "the ultrasound" and I am hoping to give her this card if she gets happy girl news. I got a new stamp set from The Angel Company called Wild For You. I knew that the giraffe would be so fun to use for this card. I did have to make the card a 5x5 to try and fit my sentiment on the way I wanted. I found this designer paper a long time ago at a local scrapbook store when they were "going out of business." I bought every sheet they had. If ever a girl has fallen in love with designer paper, it was me when I saw this paper. I loved the different shades of pink and brown and the swirly circles. I loved everything about it. Another company ended up buying this scrapbook store and they stayed open as a scrapbook store. So when I go in I always check to see if they have this paper and if they do I buy some more. I just love it! And the big circle really is a deep brown that matches the card. It's not black...I promise!

Edited to add: the paper is Peachy Keen Dazzling Dish. If you find some, buy it. You won't regret it!!!

Cuttlebug Challenge #5

The challenge this week at The Cuttlebug Spot is to use your favorite embossing folder for a card. My favorite embossing folder by far is the stylized flowers folder. Back before Mother's Day, I didn't even realize what a cuttlebug was. Then I started seeing cards at Split Coast Stampers with the most beautifully embossed backgrounds. That was my introduction to the cuttlebug. This embossing folder in particular always caught my eye! Thank goodness for a wonderful holiday like Mother's Day and a wonderful husband who bought me my cuttlebug to help me celebrate Mother's Day!

Cuttlebug Challenge #4

This is for Challenge #4 at The Cuttlebug Spot. Today's challenge was to use 2 different embossing folders together on the same card. I actually did this last week for a card for my niece. And I loved the way it turned out. Today, I just couldn't get a card to work out the way I wanted. First I had one all complete, and it just didn't look right. I decided to tweak it, and then when I asked my husband his opinion, he didn't think it looked right after I changed it. I don't know what was going on, but nothing was working. Well, I do know what was going on. I'm pre-occupied with my kids' Halloween invitations that were supposed to be done, oh, yesterday, and instead of working on them, I'm working on challenges. So I gave up and got out my favorite little girl to stamp. From Stampin' Up's Summer by the Sea. I always like this stamp, and decided to make something work. So this is the card I came up with. If I can go back to my other card, and fix it to work somehow, I'll post it later.

Let it Snow!!!

Today I had a friend coming over to stamp and scrapbook with me. I was really excited, because it's been a while since I've had a friend over to craft. So I decided to see what the challenge was on Split Coast. But before I went there, I was looking at the Verve Stamps blog and found that their challenge was to use embossing, so I knew that I'd want to use embossing today. And then I headed over to Split Coast and saw that their challenge was to use plaid (or flannel, as I told my friend on the phone...haha!). So I decided to combine the two. I pulled out my Bundle Up set, that I had to have because, well, it is so cute! The Let it Snow stamp is from a cute little Queen and company stamp set I got. And the snowflake is from Hero Arts. So, I had my stamp set picked out that I wanted to use, and then I found this paper that I bought quite some time ago on ebay. I loved all the browns and pinks. So I got busy, and this is what I came up with. I love the way it turned out. And then, even though the card is "Let it Snow," it is such a gorgeous fall day today, that I went out in our yard on the rocks to take pictures. I had a fun day, and it was nice to have some company today!

Happy Meal!

This is for a recipe swap on Split Coast Stampers. My friend is hostessing, and she wanted people's favorite meal, or the meal that makes them happy! I love chicken enchiladas, and they are one of my favorite dishes. When I was pregnant with our daughter, our oven decided not to work. So for a few months I wasn't able to make my favorite dish. When our daughter was finally born, my family was coming out to celebrate, and my husband bought a little roaster oven that I was finally able to cook chicken enchiladas in. The enchiladas had never tasted so good. When I signed up for this swap, I knew this would be the recipe I would submit. When I found this paper shopping one day, I loved the look of it. I loved the colors and the shimmery sparkle. I used the circle stamps from my Stampin' Up Riveting set, and clear embossed them to give them some sparkle like the paper.