Coughs and Trucks and Pugs - Oh My!

I hope you are all having a wonderful weekend now that spring has sprung! I have had the great misfortune of catching a nasty bug that has successfully knocked me out of commission. So since I am currently unable to muster up the energy to spend quality time in my beloved craft room, I thought I'd take a moment and share a couple of exciting life events with you all! 

A month ago we lost our snuggly, snorty, sweet pug, Ashley. Ashley was my husband's best pal before we met and I've loved the old gal for the better part of a decade. She lived a good, long, happy life and made it to the ripe old age of 15! We miss her every day but now that we've had a little time to grieve and adjust we have decided to bring a new pug into our clan!! We have adopted a darling little puppy and we can pick him up next month! Dr. Peter Venkman (we also have a kitty named Egon - where are my Ghostbusters fans at???) will make a great addition to our family! My terrier mix Trixie is a bit neurotic and I can't wait for her to have a friend again! Also, the hubby and the kiddo are pretty psyched as well!

And to add just a tad more excitement to my fever addled brain, Hubby got a new shiny red Tacoma today! Kiddo named it Clifford. I think it totally fits!

So, even while I'm unable to create pretty things in my current state, life goes on and excitement abounds! Thanks so much for sharing in these joys with me and my family!  I truly love this crafty community and am excited to share a little of me with you all. Happy weekend!

You're So Cool: Lawnscaping Challenge 102 ~ Distress Addicts

I'm so happy to be back in my craft room tonight!  I have been having a difficult time sleeping since the time change and I'm starting to feel like something out of The Walking Dead!  But I found a burst of energy after checking out the newest Lawnscaping Challenge: Distress Addicts inspiration blog.  I love me some Distress Inks so I had to play along!

For this card I actually started with the front panel rather than the background.  I didn't even really intend for this to be a card, it was more of a Copic shading exercise but it turned out so cute I decided to go ahead and finish it up.  I used the little popsicle guy from the Here's the Scoop Lawn Fawn stamp set and the heart border from the Feathered Friends Lawn Fawn set. I'm not usually a primary colors kind of gal but since I was trying to get used to shading with the different color groups of Copic markers, I ended up going with a bright, fun rainbow.  The heart border is colored in with Stardust Gelly Roll pens (I LOVE how they sparkle!) and the white dots on the popsicle cheeks are the white Gelly Roll pen. 

The background was inspired by the Distress Addicts challenge.  This was one of those projects that I had to think about for a day or so before I finally settled on an idea that felt "right" for the card.  Those cool popsicle dudes were just too great to put on just any ol' background!  I knew I wanted to use Distress Inks for the challenge and stick with my rainbow color scheme.  I decided that the chevron lines from the Chevron Backdrops Lawn Fawn set would break up the vibrant color just enough to keep it from being overwhelming.  I stamped the chevron in VersaMark ink and clear embossed it using Simon Says Stamp Clear Embossing powder.  I then used my mini blending tool to blend in Barn Door, Mustard Seed, Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean, and Seedless Preserves Distress Inks.  The white, shiny chevron lines look really neat in all of the color!

To finish up I cut a few pieces of cardstock to create a border around my panel and break up the background a bit.  I mounted the panel using Scotch Foam Tape and then threw on some clear/iridescent sequins just for some added interest. 

I really encourage you to check out the Lawnscaping Challenge 102: Distress Addicts!  Such a great company with such adorable images and products!  Thanks for stopping by!  Check out my Etsy shop for this card and tons of others featuring Lawn Fawn products!  Happy Wednesday! 

Sabrina: Unity {be inspired} Challenge #9

Another week is under way and I just couldn't resist trying my hand at the Unity { be inspired} card layout inspiration! It's past my bedtime so I'm going to keep this post short :)

 

I used patterned cardstock and polka dot dry embossing to mimic the two distinct sides on the layout. The focal point is the lovely Sabrina Fashionista in her birthday snapshot!  I used washi tape to create the illusion that the photo is taped on as well as for the added embellishment in the upper left corner that is found on the inspiration layout.  The hearts in the photo are texture paste applied through a stencil and distressed with Peacock Feathers Distress Ink. Sabrina is colored with Copic markers and finished off with a little Wink of Stella and sequins - naturally! 

Thanks for stopping by for this super quick post! Enjoy your week! 

FWF: Coffee! Coffee! Coffee! (and Books!)

Happy Friends With Flair!!  It has been an exceptionally fun FWF for me - my amazingly crafty little one entered her first card in Unity Friends with Flair today so we've been creating up a storm together! I love sharing my passion for crafting with her!

 

For my card I used Ellie girl.  She is near and dear to my heart since I, too, love coffee and a good book! I colored her with Copic markers, still working on perfecting my Copic coloring.  I used Lawn Fawn Stitched Rectangle dies to cut out a panel and then dry embossed it in a herring bone pattern using my Big Shot.  I cut a circle out and popped the embossed panel up with some Scotch foam adhesive.  The patterned paper and the sentiment banner are both cut from a leftover journaling card.  I used some washi tape and sequins to jazz it up and posted Ellie on there with double layer of foam to add some dimension.

 

 Thanks for stopping by to take a peek at this week's entry!  Don't forget to visit Kennedy's First Friends with Flair to see what fun my daughter cooked up tonight!  See you all later!

 

Kennedy's First Friends With Flair

Hi, my name is Kennedy and I am seven years old and this is my first Unity Friends with Flair!  I like to craft with my step-mom, Tara.  She has a shop on Etsy called Curl E. Cue's.

   

This is the stamp set Plenty of Pandas by Unity Stamp Co.  I picked it because I thought it was a good idea to have a little panda say "I miss you!" to my grandma who lives far away.  First, I got my card base and I stamped the panda and cut it out and then I got the Starry Sky stamp set by Lawn Fawn.  I put Post-It notes on the bottom half and embossed the stars with clear embossing powder.  I got the moon from the same stamp set and I embossed it with Enchanted Gold powder.

 

I colored it with the Broken China Distress Ink pad then I put washi tape on.  I put foam tape under the panda, all over his ears, hands, feet, body, and part of his head.  I stuck it on there.  Then I put my sentiment by him in sort of a between straight and diagonal line.  Then I put little sequins on.  I put Wink of Stella on his ears, arms, legs, eyes, nose, and mouth.

 

This is my first Friends with Flair card and I hope you liked this!  Thanks!

 

Lawnscaping Challenge #101: Hello Friend

Happy Hump Day, all!  Today I put together a card for the Lawnscaping Challenge #101: Dots & Stripes!  I adore Lawn Fawn stamps and products and couldn't resist this whimsical challenge!

I chose the Feathered Friends stamp set and paired it with the Stitched Journaling dies - all from Lawn Fawn.  I used the stitched journal card die to create the window for my shaker card and added the little border of hearts from the die set below for a little extra adorable!

 

 

I then stamped the little snuggling birds from the stamp set along with the wire for them to perch on and several of the two different sizes of feathers.  I colored the images using Copic markers to coordinate with the fun colors in the paper I selected.  The papers are from the Now and Then 6x6 pad from My Mind's Eye.  

Once I had colored my images I fussy cut everything out - even the little wire! - and colored all of the edges with a black marker to make them look like they were cut out perfectly (I assure you they were not, this is a great trick!).

   

My sentiment was stamped on a more solid paper from the same pad in VersaMark and heat embossed in white on a banner I die cut using banner dies by Sizzix.  I had to elongate the banner to accommodate the sentiment.  This is an excellent way to get more use out of your dies.  Simply allow the die to hang off the cutting plate in your die cutting machine where you want it to stop cutting and then reposition the die to run it through again and continue cutting.  

Once everything was cut out I assembled my shaker using two layers of Scotch foam tape behind my window panel.  I put the feathers and some sparkly clear sequins in the shaker and, of course, covered all my little images with clear Wink of Stella glitter brush pen. 

I hope you enjoyed my entry in the Lawnscaping Challenge #101: Dots & Stripes.  Thanks for stopping by!