Celebrating you!

I'm playing along in a card challenge today.  Yes, finally!

It's the City Crafter Challenge Blog Birthday CASE #4 (week 359) and we're casing a beautiful card created by Marina.

It's so feminine and pretty, isn't it?  I immediately thought of lace when I looked at the cake image on Marina's card.  So that's the direction I took, as you'll see below.

Marina's colors are soft and subtle, but I decided to go a bit bolder with my color choices.  This card has lots of dimension!  I cut white card stock for each of the cake layers; covered each with teal felt, then over that I wrapped lace and ribbon trim.  The cake "plate" is a piece of gold foil paper.  After stamping the candle flame I added some Stickles to give it a little sparkle and shine.

It was fun to finally get back to my blog and play along with a challenge.
Thanks for stopping by!

Thank you - Tuesday Trigger Challenge

This the 3rd of the Thank You cards that I mentioned in previous posts.  I family member requested them, and I'm more than willing to make them for her.  She does so much for all of us, so I would do anything I can for her.  She's dealing with a lot right now, I just wish there was more I could do to help her.

If you read my blog posts via email, just click HERE to go directly to my blog, to see all 3 cards.

This card is going into the Cath's Tuesday Trigger - "I've a notion".  Cath's blog over at Moxie Fab World is a must for any stamper.  She provides SO much inspiration and shares so much info.  Not to mention the interviews she shares.  Well...I digress!

This is the inspiration photo for the current Tuesday Trigger.

Oh my, I love vintage lace, ribbon and buttons.  So this photo got my attention immediately.  I HAD to find time to play along.  Here's what I created.

I pulled out my boxes of vintage lace and trims and used 2 of them here.  The wide ecru lace and the narrow taupe/cocoa trim.  The other 2 (the gray velvet & the sand colored fancy edge ribbon) are from Stampin' Up!...a discontinued ribbon pack called Beachfront. I used a border punch on the card front, then backed it with some gray cs. I even sorted through my vintage buttons to find this cute little silver button. I threaded a piece of SU's 1/8" vanilla taffeta ribbon through the button holes, then tied it in a bow.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by.  I hope you'll leave a comment!

Supplies:

Card stock: cameo coral, basic gray, very vanilla (SU)

Ink: basic gray (SU)

Stamps: communique curves (PTI)

Tools: label punch (SU), doily edge punch (MS)

Others: gray velvet ribbon, very vanilla taffeta ribbon, fancy edge sahara sand ribbon (SU), narrow taupe ribbon and wide lace from my stash of vintage trims, vintage silver button, scor-tape, foam tape

Just a note - 2 challenges

Hello!  I have a card (and a project) to share this morning, but this will be a quick post.  We'll be heading out to a 21st birthday party/tribute.  Our nephew Matthew, who died of leukemia two years ago, would have turned 21 years old today.  His family wants to celebrate his life and the way he lived his life.  So that's what we'll do today.  His motto was "Play Hard and Never Give Up".  Matthew LOVED the outdoors.  And he especially loved dirt, mud, snow...and any vehicle that would go fast through those elements.  So we'll be Muddin' for Matt today.  My BIL and SIL have acres of woods behind their farmhouse, with lots of trails.  And I got a sneek peek of the trails (we avoided the muddy ones) yesterday.  It's so cool!  Matthew would approve :)

Anyway, I said this would be a quick post, didn't I?

My card today, is going into 2 challenges.

retrosketches  re#19

CAS-ual Fridays CFC60 - use text in your clean & simple design

This is how I combined the two challenges.

I loved this sketch, and I could see that it would work so well with the "text" challenge.  And, I think it did!
I used a book print impression plate on the main panel.  Then stamped the little note book panel with the postmarks background stamp.  Then just added the "just a note" sentiment to the little page.  So fun :)
Oh.  I almost forgot.  This card and the project below is going to a customer of mine.  Just for fun, I'm including a photo of the coordinating shoes that I created for her.

I used pieces of acetate for the toe box of each shoe.  I love the results but, oh my...that stuff is difficult to work with.  Have you ever tried to score and fold acetate?  Anyway...project completed!
Thanks so much for stopping by!

Supplies:

card stock: blushing bride, whisper white (SU), acetate for the shoes was recycled from stamp packaging

ink: blushing bride (SU), onyx black (Versafine)

stamps: bb:postmarks, happy trails (PTI)

other: lace (from my stash), book print impression plate (PTI), spiral edge punch (SU), pearls (Recollections), foam tape, scor-tape

Forever - A wedding card for retro sketches

I've created a wedding card today.  I was so intrigued with this week's sketch by N@Ali over at retro sketches.  Oh so interesting.  And oh, so challenging.  Here's the sketch:

Yikes.  I absolutely *love* all of those little elements.  The variety of shapes and sizes.  The seemingly random placement of the elements, until you study the sketch for a while.  All of the pieces are connected...they flow.  This sketch made me smile.  So I just had to find time to create a card for this challenge (between gardening and cooking.)  I'm glad I did, because this card was fun to create.  It took a long time...but still it was fun :o)

This is my interpretation of the sketch.

I used a vintage piece of wide white lace as my starting point.  I pulled out several die sets and stamp sets for this wedding card.  By the way I used one of the new SU ink pads; a color called Primrose Petal.  Wow, this new type of pad is juicier than the "old" ones.  It was so easy to get an even and crisp impression...even with those tiny sentiment stamps I used.  SO nice!  Oh, I also used one of SU's new designer vintage faceted buttons.  It's that shiny clear button near the right edge of the card.

Anyway, I still have a little work to do in the kitchen so I'd better go.  Thanks so much for taking a look today.  I hope you'll leave a comment!

Edited to add:  This card will be placed in my Etsy shop.

What's in it?

card stock: primrose petal, whisper white, baja breeze (SU)

stamps: eclectic edges (CTMH), tiny tags, tiny tags II, love lives here, love & marriage (PTI)

ink: primrose petal, baja breeze (SU), frost white (Color Box)

dies: tiny tags, heart border die (PTI), scallop lace envelope die (Sizzix)

other: baja breeze seam binding, white baker's twine (SU), pearl pin (Dritz), designer vintage faceted button (SU), glossy accents (Ranger)

Shoes to share...

Hi all!  A very quick post to share with you a pair of paper crafted shoes that I made recently.

I used Stampin' Up's Always Artichoke card stock for these shoes.  Then I pulled some wide vintage lace from my stash and adhered a strip across the toe box.  I then created a bow using the same lace and topped that with a vintage style brad from SU.  At that point I felt that the shoes still needed a little "somthin".  I found some tiny clear rhinestones in my stash.  Aha!
I placed a few at the top of the heel...inside and outside the heel.   Just a few, mind you :)

I've placed these in my Etsy shop.  Feel free to browse :)

Here are the finished shoes.

Ahhhh...have I mentioned lately, how much I love papercrating?  Oh.  Ok.
Thanks so much for taking a look!

Lily Pad Cards 1st Birthday Blog Hop!

Hello!  Welcome to the Lily Pad Cards First Birthday Blog Hop!  You should be joining us from Elizabeta's blog Cards by Eli.  As a past Guest Designer, I was so excited to get an invitation from Deborah to participate in this very big celebration!

There are three prize packages with a total retail value of over $300!  Very cool, huh?  These prizes will be awarded by random draw.  There are two ways to be eligible for the prize drawings. You can "like" us on Facebook but if you do not have a Facebook account, you can also be eligible for the drawings by leaving a comment on the Lily Pad blog.  To better your chances even more, leave comments on the blogs participating in the hop (including this one!)  For each comment you leave, you'll get your name entered again! (but only one comment per blog, please).
This blog hop will last for 1 week.  That means you can leave comments for a chance to win prizes until 12:00 p.m. EST on Sunday, April 8.

Here's the card I created to wish everyone at the Pad a very Happy 1st Birthday!

I've included closeups to show some of the details of the card.
I chose to use a shabby/vintage style for this card.  It's one of the many styles I enjoy creating (as you'll see, if you scroll through my blog)!

My supply list for this card:

card stock: naturals ivory (Stampin' Up!)

patterned paper: lost & found portabello road 6 x6 pad (My Mind's Eye)

stamps: postmarks, birthdays by the numbers (Papertrey Ink)

die: love lives here (Papertrey Ink)

other: kraft twill, kraft felt (Papertrey Ink), vintage buttons and trim (from an estate aution), scor-tape, thread, sewing machine

Thanks for stopping by!  The next stop on the hop is Tara's blog Inking on the Edge.  If you hit a bad link, you can always go back to Lily Pad to view the master list of blog links.  Please report any bad links to aris@inlinkz.com.

Happy Hopping!!!

Lovebirds - CR84FN46

Hey, hey!  This is my second post today.  I'm trying to make up for lost time :)
This card is going into the following challenges ~
Unscripted Sketches #142 - this time it's a "piggy-back" challenge.  The additional piece of the challenge is to create a pocket.  Which I did!

CR84FN46 - the challenge colors are pink, yellow and a neutral (I chose ivory)

The photos in the challenge graphic are so pretty, aren't they?  I thought of a pretty, girly, lacy card.  So, that's what I created.

Yeah, this is one of those cards that took a very long time to create.  But, I think it was worth it.  I did some stitching on a couple of the pieces of patterned paper, including the tag.  I sponged most of the edges with a bit of barely banana ink.  The crocheted "pocket" is a piece of vintage doily that I bought at an estate auction.  A few heart die cuts.  A die cut tag to tuck inside the pocket. A bit of pink ribbon leftover from a previous project.  A tiny key, a couple of gems.  Then the two Crafty Secrets stickers - Love and Lovebirds.  And, finally my card was finished!  I'm planning to put this in my Etsy shop...but, it might be difficult to let go of it. lol ! 

Click on the name to go to my Etsy shop:  My Little Bird Studio
Thanks so much for taking a look.  I hope you'll leave a comment...I love reading them!

Supplies:

card stock: naturals ivory, pretty in pink, barely banana (Stampin' Up!)

dsp: flirtatious (SU)

ink: barely banana

other: love sticker and lovebirds stickers (Crafty Secrets), tag-it #5 die (Papertrey Ink), classic heart die (Spellbinders), linen thread (SU), mini key (7 gypsies), pink gems (The Paper Studio), pink ribbon from my stash