Glow Little Lightning Bug

Wow, summer is cruising by at a breakneck speed. This upcoming weekend we are celebrating my husband and sister's (and co-blogger) birthdays. It was funny because Lindsay and I just had a conversation about her age and she couldn't remember if she was turning 31 or 32 this year. After a certain point, do some people just stop counting? My uncle "sold" his birthday to his grandson for a buck. Now Cole has 2 birthdays and my uncle said he never has to worry about getting older again. Maybe it's not a bad idea. For now, I think I'll keep my birthday. I quite like it. 

I sat down today to make a card for my sister and fellow crafter. I saw Cas-ology's challenge this week was GLOW and right away inspiration struck. I combined it with The Friday Mash-up's Challenge #168 and an idea was born. The only thing I could think about was lightning bugs. 

You see, our great grandmother used to live in Webster Groves, a suburb of St. Louis. I don't know if it was the humid weather or the location, but her backyard was always full of them. There were so many that we used to catch them in jars. This is a fond memory both my sister and I share about the time we spent there. 

There aren't too many opportunities to see lightning bugs around here. I have the bonus of living further out of our small city and near a retention pond that has some long grass. I see lightning bugs throughout the summer right from the comfort of my backyard, but my sister doesn't have that. 

I started by stamping PTI's Friendship Jar on paper, but then changed to vellum as it gave a better appearance of glass. I used my Copic markers to give the jar a blue hue. Gotta love those beautiful blue mason jars. I used a sponge dauber to make the glow from the lightning bug and used a black brad for the bug itself. I used PTI's Ombre Builder for the dotted background and their Sketched Shapes for the birthday sentiment. 

This card will be a nice way to remind here of summertime and the memories of our childhood. I love her to pieces and I hope she has a nice birthday, however old she is turning. ;)

A Quick Thank You

I needed to send out a quick thank you card for Owen's birthday and Cas(e) This Sketch #84 provided the perfect and simple solution. I've seen this layout around and I admire so many beautiful cards that use this template, but hadn't attempted it myself...until now. 

I started by placing a mask over the space I wanted my sentiment to go. I actually could have made it a bit smaller, but you live and learn as they say. 

I went to a classic color combo, especially fitting for a thank you from Owen, of Pumpkin Pie, Soft Sky, Old Olive, Crumb Cake, and Island Indigo. I used PTI's Scribbled Circles to create the pattern and a large "Thank You" stamp from PTI is a coordinating color. 

Simple, clean, and ready to put a stamp on. 

Cool as a...Popsicle

I was in love with the Summer Sweetness stamp set by Papertrey Ink before it ever arrived at my door. I love the cool popsicle designs. They are very summertime indeed. 

Not only was I inspired by Cas(e) This Sketch Challenge #82, but also by the fast approach of one of my favorite holidays, Fourth of July. 

I used both the Circle Scribbles and Summer Sweetness by Papertrey Ink to create this sweet card. 

I used a little Crystal Effects by Stampin' Up to make the popsicle look wet and juicy. 

Overall, I love the layout and think this could be a go-to design for me from now on. Happy weekend and stay "cool."

Happy Birthday Mom!

Owen was actually due on June 13th, which is also my mom's birthday. Usually people aren't that I excited to share a birthday, but my mom wanted nothing more than to share a birthday with Owen. He was born at 8:54 pm on June 12th. My mom was disappointed. She swears that her birthday is now June 12th so they can share. 

Although her and Owen don't share an actual birthday, she said that he was the best birthday gift that year. How can I ever top that?

I made her a card inspired by a sketch on Papertrey's June Inspiration Archive. 

A simple card for my mom's special day. 

A Busy Weekend

With the school year over, it is time to kick it into crafty high gear. Kidding, but I love that I have a bit of extra time during the day to craft while school is out, otherwise it usually has to take place between 9-10pm. I don't know about you, but this isn't really my best time to think. So...with it being my first official day off for the summer, I decided to whip up some cards. 

This upcoming weekend is going to be a busy one. My baby turns 2 on Thursday. I can hardly believe that time has gone by so quickly already. My mom's birthday is on Friday. We are having a birthday party for Owen on Saturday and Sunday is Father's Day. Way to pack it all in one weekend, eh?

Let's go backwards. Today, I decided to spend some time making Father's Day cards for the grandfathers/fathers in our lives. 

I used a couple challenges and a new Stampin' Up set: Work of Art to make a simple and clean Father's Day card. 

First, the inspiration: 

Pals Paper Arts Challenge #206 provided the colors

Fusion gave us the card layout

and Cas-ual Fridays Challenge #132 set the manly card parameters. 

Walla...a card fit for a father!

I used Papertrey's Signature Greetings by Dawn McVey for the sentiment, some thick twine, and a big shiny button. I'm glad to make a card for two great fathers. We are lucky to have them as grandfathers to Owen and fathers to us. 

Father's Day

Nick did not want kids. It wasn't really something we ever talked about. The closer we got to 30 though, I started to get the itch. Unfortunately, he didn't. I had thoughts in my head about growing old and having no one to take care of us, no wedding or graduations to attend. We got pregnant...not planned and honestly, I think it took Nick by surprise. He had no interest in kids and I was scared about what kind of parents we would be. 

With that said, you would never know that he didn't want kids. He is a great dad to Owen. I know that our work schedules are difficult and we are both essentially single parents during the week. He does the work on a mom and dad sometimes and I appreciate all the love and care he takes with our son. He loves him so much and it shows. I know that Owen wasn't really in our future, but once he got here, you could never tell that it wasn't planned that way. 

We both have our faults as parents, as everyone does, but I could ask for a better dad for my son. 

I put together a special Father's Day card for him to show my and Owen's appreciation. 

I took inspiration today from Colour Q's Challenge #244 and from Cas(e) This Sketch Challenge #79. 

I used Stampin' Up's Work of Art stamp set and Papertrey Ink's Signature Greetings for the sentiment. 

Happy Father's Day this weekend to all the dads out there!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there. It is another great day in WI. The weather is beautiful. Today my hubby and little guy took me to buy veggies for our garden and flowers for the two pots in the front of our house. Man, flowers are expensive. I can't wait to work on landscaping the yard so we can plant bushes and perennials and be done with the racket. I love buying veggies for the garden though. I can taste the tomatoes already. 

I made a second Mother's Day card this weekend and this time they were going to my mother-in-law and grandmother. I decided to play along with Pals Paper Arts Challenge #203 even though the colors aren't very springy. 

and came up with this. 

I wanted the card to be light and fun, so for the first time, I played with masking and Dear Lizzy sprays. I used the Opaque White and Shine sprays. I like that this lightened up the Navy cardstock and made it its own piece of DSP. I added a piece of DSP from the Retro Fresh pack and a couple copper sequins for good measure. Although I made a little mess with the sprays, I am in love with the over all look. I used Papertrey Ink's Signature Greetings by Dawn McVey again, but this time punched them out with the Word Bubbles framelits. 

I have another graduation coming up soon and I think I could play around with the colors in order to make this work for a guy. 

Happy Mother's Day today! Relax ladies and enjoy yourself. 

A Sunny Forecast

There was finally sun in the forecast this weekend and boy do we need it. In honor of Mother's Day, and the beautiful weather, I put together this sweet little card for my mom and sister for the celebration on Sunday. 

I borrowed Colour Q Challenge #240

and Cas-ual Fridays Challenge #131: Three Thirds

to make a sweet little card for two lovely women. 

I used Papertrey Ink's Signature Greetings by Dawn McVey for the "You're a Peach" sentiment and just a bit of twine, a button, and a bit of sparkle around the edge for a finished off look. 

Enjoy the weather and have a fabulous weekend moms!

Hello Lovely

Going back to school after Spring Break was hard this week, especially since the sun and weather decided to improve since we were off. I think Mother Nature knew that it would get those preteens all riled up to see the sun and not be able to enjoy it. 

I honor of the beautiful weather, I decided to whip up a spring inspired card. I was excited to mash together supplies from both Stampin' Up and Papertrey Ink. I used the Watercolor Wonder DSP along with Coastal Cabana, Apricot Appeal, and Primrose Petals ink and cardstock from SU and I got to play with Papertrey Ink's Wet Paint stamp set. It is too cool!

This all meshed together to match two challenges this week:

The Friday Mashup #154

and for Papertrey Ink's April Inspiration Archive

for this sunshiny card! Hey Spring is finally here!

Bundle of Joy

There has been a long running joke at school for about the last two years: don't drink the water. In a school building with a majority of female teachers, the baby bug hits hard. It was wonderful to be able to take time off from school to be with my baby when he was first born, but hard as a teacher to walk away at any point of the school year and give control of your class and your kids to someone else. Fortunately, we have and had some pretty amazing long-term subs in our building. And God knows, middle schoolers can be tough. 

That's why when this combination of challenges came along, it was like kizmet. 

Curtain Call's Baby Booties Challenge provided the inspiration

Colour Q #235 provided a "challenging" color selection (I used Crumb Cake because I didn't have anything River Rock in my stash)

and Cas-ual Friday's #130: Good Egg gave me a bit of added direction

to create my take on a congrats baby card.

I used the Oh, Hello stamp set and Oval framelits to cut out the chevron oval. I used a variety of sequins and the wooden arrow for added elements. I used Signature Greetings by Dawn McVey (love her) for Papertrey Ink. 

In the end, I felt like using Coastal Cabana on the chevron may have been like trying to create an image only 3-D glasses could see. I think I should have done the sentiment in dark brown and create an additional oval layer and Coastal Cabana. Oh well. Practice makes perfect...but does that really apply to card making, I don't think so.

Happy crafting!

Pucker Up: A Punny Card

I love a good pun, especially on a stamp. My students and I watch CNN Student News everyday and we always look forward to the puns at the end of the episode. Naturally, Cas-ology's Joke Challenge was the right spot for a sweet (or sour) little pun!

I took a bit of inspiration from Papertrey Ink's Sketch and this month's On Trend topic: Twine

as well as a combination of color combos (they were virtually the same) from Pals Paper Arts #198 and Color Throwdown #286. 

From this, a super simple, punny card...

Although I love Pool Party, I used it in a subtly in the twine pieces I wrapped around the base of the card. I love twine as it provides an alternative to bulky ribbon. I first took and inked up the lemon stamp (from the Crazy, Mixed-Up Love set) with Daffodil ink and then rolled the edges in Summer Starfruit to get a bit of dimension. A little yellow button to tie it altogether and wahlah!

Have a "pun"tastic day my friends. 

Dude, You Rock!

I don't know how many times I can say this, but I loooove Dawn McVey's super cute, scrawly handwriting in the Signature Greetings set. She is fabulous and I adore this set. I love the mix of handwriting with traditional text. 

I've been in the mood lately to make some man cards, as I never seem to have enough around. I think making a good man card has a lot of elements to it: color choice, use of stamps vs. creative use of paper, and how all the elements come together at the end. I think less is more when it comes to these cards. 

I used Cas(e) This Sketch #71 for a very simple layout and the rest they say, is history. 

I used a previous die cut frame (with Hardwood image already stamped) that I had lying around forever. I rounded the edges for a more finished look. I stamped a variety of circles from Sketched Shapes (another favorite) and then, BAM! a cool sentiment like, "Dude, You Rock!" right over the top of it all.  

Dude, I'm in love!

Hoping you are loving all you are creating as well. 

Wonderful Friend

Mother Nature obviously didn't get my previous message because it is snowing today. I was so happy because the last of our snow melted yesterday when it was in the upper 50's. I guess that is what I get for living in Wisconsin. 

The weather has given me an excuse to craft (like I needed one) and I put together this pretty little card with inspiration from Poppy Sketches #1.

I used a variety of leftover materials to put this together and off course some big sequins. 

A sweet and simple card for using in a moments notice. I love having cards like this on hand that can be used for a variety of occasions. 

Great Chemistry

Well the weekend is shaping up to be a good one, but the rest of my Spring Break looks terrible with weather in the 40's and possible SNOW! Someone tell Mother Nature that Spring is here please. 

My teaching partner is phenomenal. She was on maternity leave during the middle part of this year and I almost lost my s**t. Pardon my language. I never realized how much I relied on her until she wasn't there. I just wanted to show her my appreciation for all she does for our students, me, and our team with a little card. 

We work in a two-person team so she is the Math and Science/ELA teacher and I am the Math and World Geography/ELA teacher. I just got this stinkin' cute stamp set and dies from Papertrey Ink called Love Potion and away I went. 

I used Cas(e) This Sketch #70 for a very clean and open layout. 

and Dynamic Duos Challenge #96.

I chose Pool Party for my "other" color. I also used a smidge of Navy for the sentiment, because I am obsessed with Navy right now. 

PTI's coordinated stamps and dies are perfect for whipping out easy and adorable cards and card pieces. I hope my teaching partner loves this card as much as I do. Side note: The inside says, "We've got great Chemistry!" I love it!