Five Faves #2 and Rainy Days of Spring

Hi everyone!  How are you coming along with that assignment I gave you yesterday?  Still thinking about it?  ;)  Well, we have three down, and only two of my favorite Close to My Heart embellishments left to share with you this week!  Ready?  Here we go!

It is actually storming as I write this, and the grey skies that come with spring are one of the first signs of nature brightening up--ironic, no?  Without the rain we could not expect to see green grass or brightly colored springtime flowers.  I absolutely love sentiments that use this concept as inspiration, and I found the perfect one to use on this card I made for Heart 2 Heart's latest challenge to make something with a rainy day theme. 

I used the Chantilly Scrapbooking Kit My Acrylix set to make this rainbow colored umbrella.   I used my Five Faves #2 to add a sparkly little scallop border and handle....Glitter Paper!!!  I had to add some sparkle as a reminder on this one that in the gloom of rainy days there is the promise of hope for things to come.  :)

I stamped these little raindrops using a teeny tiny stamp from the Chantilly Cardmaking Kit with Sky Pigment Ink from the Whimsey Exclusive Inks Mini Pigment Pads Set.  These pigment inks sit on top of the paper so show up a bit brighter on colored cardstock.  Dye inks soak into the paper, thus loosing just a bit of its own color in the process.  Look at the difference below when stamped on Whisper CS...

pigment ink on the left with glitter glitz, dye ink on the right

I added some Glitter Glitz to the raindrops after they dried.

I decided to give the inside of the card the royal treatment too...

 This card came together just as I imagined it, so major WIN for me today!  :)

Now, I realize this sentiment I chose isn't available any longer, but one of our newest Close to My Heart My Acrylix stamps has JUST the perfect expression included...B1421 Scrapbook Statements--Women.  It is the one on its side, of course, lol!  The only reason that I didn't use this one, is that I don't have it yet!  ;)

Babies, Babies, and More Babies!

What a DAY!  Ugh!  I have literally spent the whole time dealing with researching property taxes so I can appeal ours.  My brain is FRIED!  Time to move on to something a little less numeric, lol...

It seems as though everyone I know is prego these days!  I just made two baby cards last week that I can't wait to show you.  But FIRST, here is the card I sent my Senior Director, Mandy Leahy, after she had her little sweet pea in August.

Mandy's team name is the Damask Divas for a reason--she {hearts} all things damask!  I had to work it in somehow to the perfect card for welcoming her new little Diva and came up with this:

Slam dunk!  I don't have any baby stamps per say, so I had to be creative and completely LOVED how it turned out!  The stamp set I used on the front is the August Stamp of the Month.

This "hello life" circle is from the It's Your Day My Acrylix set.  Now if that doesn't say, "new baby" I don't know what does!

Ok, so on to the cards I made last week!  The first is for my hubby's cousin who had a bouncing baby boy on the 11th of this month.  I loved using the "hello life" stamp from Mandy's card so much that I wanted to use it for more baby cards.  I had tons of fun laying this one out with different textures, especially the new burlap ribbon. 

The pattern paper in this one is from the Victory Paper Packet.  The cardstock I used besides the White Daisy are two retired colors, Dutch Blue and Brown Bag.  These small numbers from a retired Stamp of the Month commemorate his awesomely special birth date. 

Hello, Burlap Ribbon!  Meet my friend, the Pewter Brad.  ;)

An Outdoor Navy Button, twine, and ink on the corrugated star all come together for some great dimension.  I used the stitched side of the burlap ribbon that I had cut off earlier to tie on the tag.

I have to say, I was very happy to have a little girlie card to make next!  Bring on the glitter!  ;)

This card is for a former teacher at my girlies' school.  It is their very first baby, and we are super-excited for them!   I dug out my Lucy Paper Packet in her honor.

I really like adding the date to these type of cards to commemorate the occasion.  Guess what?  The Cotton Candy Cardstock that frames the date is actually a remnant from another cut I made a while back.  Now you see why I keep my scraps! 

Alright, my big moment of inspiration came while making these butterflies.  I had trimmed the bottom of the card with the Cotton Candy bulk ribbon and had scraps left.  One look at them laying on my desk, and I had turned them into bodies and antennae!  The cute little feelers are the bottom edge of the pom pom ribbon that I had trimmed off to glue the body flat to the wings!  Thank you, liquid glass, for making this moment possible.  ;)

The numbers I used are from the Storybook Numbers My Acrylix Set.  I also used the Chevron Butterfly and "hello life" stamps from It's Your Day.   The Pear Ink on this flower from the Hooray Bouquet My Acrylix Set just jumps off the paper.  I love how it looks with the Cotton Candy Ink.  The last thing this card needed was bling.  Shimmer Trim first, then some Sparkles and Glitter Glitz.  Absolutely princess worthy.  :)

There, now I am DE-stressed!  Thanks so much for checking out my latest cards.  Now I have to go unpack some boxes that my Fed Ex man just brought--all the supplies for my Advent Calendar Workshop are here!!!  Woot, woot!  More DE-stressing coming right up! 

Color Dare #7

Alright!  I am officially back in the swing of things after summer vacation.  I feel so accomplished after surviving the 109 degree heat in Nashville.  ;)

On to this week's Color Dare!  This one is a great color combo--we are to use the secondary colors of orange, green, and purple in any shades we choose.  I chose Sunset, Sweet Leaf, Topiary, and Petal, along with the neutrals Colonial White and Chocolate.

This is seriously another case of hand-hitting-forehead inspiration because it came to me as I was designing card layouts for my next workshop.  I quit the cards and went right to work.  You see, while I was cutting, I ended up with a leftover strip from the Victory Paper Pack that I took one look at and just HAD to make it into a bookmark.  This one will be for my niece's baptism birthday this Saturday, so the timing was phenomenal, and definitely from above!  In fact, most of the pieces I used were in my leftover drawer with cuts that I had not used on other projects--the only ones I did especially for this one were the Petal colored flowers.  Reheated leftovers--yummo!   ;)

Here is the original version:

Now here is the Glitzy version!

I realized while threading the ribbon that the paper would be better with a little more thickness here where it ties in.  I easily reinforced it by making two flower cuts with the AP Cart on our cardstock, punching a hole through the center, and adhering one to each side of the bookmark.  Walla!

Here is the recipe for my reheated leftovers:
Art Philosophy Cartridge
Victory Paper Pack
Colonial White, Sweet Leaf, and Petal Cardstock
Colonial White and Topiary Inks
My Acrylix Rock the Block Stamp Set
My Acrylix Card Word Puzzle Stamp Set
Ribbon and brads from the Sunset Mini Medley Assortment
Glitter Glitz in Stardust

Bookmarks Galore!

Happy Sunday!  Today, I happen to have a theme--baptisms and bookmarks!  Today, we had the awesome experience of witnessing three good friends being baptized and professing their commitment to God.  I wanted to give each of the girls a little memento of their special day, so decided to make some bookmarks for their bibles commemorating the date.  Here is what I came up with:

 Nothing overly fancy, just a great way to always remember this occasion.  I really did want to include the date, so I got out the November 2011 Stamp of the Month, Cherish the Day.  The stamp set perfectly captures my sentiments. 

I also used the following CTMH products: 
White Daisy cardstock
Dotty for You Paper Pack
Smoothie, Black, and Sweet Leaf Inks
Paradise Assortment Baker's Twine
White Daisy bitty brad
Just Blooms Paradise Paper Shapes
Trinity Alphabet (how appropriate!)  ;)

Sooooooo...it is also my niece's baptism birthday tomorrow!  I made her a bookmark as well.  I think these are a useful gift, and something easy to send in the mail with a card. 

CTMH Products Used:
Colonial White and Lagoon Cardstock
Pear, Lagoon, and Outdoor Denim Inks
You Are...the April 2012 Stamp of the Month
E1025 the Rock the Block My Acrylix stamp set
Paradise Assortment Baker's Twine
Glitter Glitz

May God bless you all in your baptisms today, and happy baptism birthday, Abbie!