Father's Day Creations!

Hello there readers!  It has been quite awhile since I've written to you and again LOTS has happened!  I'll spare you the details and just give you the headlines:

• I had a complication after my c-section that caused me to end up need a lot more recovery time - but luckily now I'm healthy!  
• Sammy is healthy!  She'll be 8 months tomorrow and she's absolutely just the most fabulous baby ever!  Being a Mom is the absolute biggest change but best thing about life!  
• By Husband switched jobs, which was stressful but now he is MUCH happier in his new situation!  

Needless to say, it's been a stressful few months!  I really didn't do much crafting during this time, but I did get back in the saddle for Father's Day!  

First - this I made a month before Father's Day but I couldn't wait to put it up in our house!  It's a shadowbox that holds bottlecaps!  I saw it in Pinterest and figured I could make a nice one for a LOT less than the one that I saw had cost.  I was able to make the entire thing for about $32!  =)  I got the vinyl lettering on Etsy for $9 and the shadowbox at Michael's with a 40% off coupon for $20!  Then my husband cut a hole in the top of the box for us to toss the caps in!  I love how it turned out:  

In addition to the shadowbox, I made some Father's Day cards for my husband's first Father's Day and my dad's first as a Grandpa!  We had a LOVELY weekend of friends and family!  Here's the first card: 

I created a golf hole with copics and cardstock, and used my Paper Smooches stamps which I love! My daughter's room is owl themed, so I couldn't resist adding the DeNami Design owl and I LOVE that Lawn Fawn sun too!  My husband loved it!  

Then onto the next card: 

On this one I freehand cut out the tree and used mostly Lawn Fawn stamps to create the sentiment and cloud background!  I had the owl rubber stamp from ages ago (an oldie but a goodie!) and I colored everything with copics!  Grandpa definitely thought it was "Owlsome" hehe!

It's been a long time since I got inky and I must say that it felt REALLY good!  I'm hoping to have more time to work on stuff in the future - both including cards and scrapbooking stuff!  

I hope you enjoyed these cards today!  =D  Have a crafty week!  

DeNami Color Challenge #11

Good evening bloggers!!!!  I have another card to share with you today!  I know, THREE in one week?!?!?!  But there are some great challenges out there right now!  I was SO pleased with how my card for the 10 Minute Craft Dash Challenge came out, that I decided to do a similar stamped circle for my card for DeNami's Color Challenge #11!!!

Isn't the color combination just fabulous this time?  I started with the same stamped circle idea, added some different types of layers, and made a fun, floral and glittery background:

I LOVE how versatile DeNami's stamps are!  This little floral stamp has been used in SO many different cards that I have made!  It can be added to a fun, funky card OR to an elegant card and can be used with just about ANY sentiment!  I've even made it look like a poinsettia at Christmas time!  =)  I also love how the small scalloped circle can be used in many ways too!  I used it here as a layer of my circle to highlight that beautiful orange color!  And of course I love me some glitter and ribbon: 

That ribbon started out as plain cream silk ribbon and I colored it with a copic!  I love making my own custom colored ribbons!  =) 

Well I hope you all enjoyed my card today!  I'm working on some new projects and hopefully a post on my updated crafting space soon!  =D  Until next time readers! 

Supplies: 

DeNami Design - F170 Birthday Wishes Circle	DeNami Design - D95 Solid Scallop Circle	DeNami Design - Ornamental Flowers Petit Four	Stampin Up Cardstock - Pumpkin Pie	Papertrey Ink - Vintage Cream Cardstock
Basic Grey Out of Print 6x6 Paper Pad	Ranger Distress Ink - Spiced Marmalade	Memento Ink - Cottage Ivy	Ranger Adirondack Ink - Espresso	Papertrey Ink - Tag Its #1 Stamp Set
May Arts - 1/4" Silk Ribbon in SK01	*Ranger STICKLES LIME GREEN Light Glitter Glue	Copic Sketch YR15 - Pumpkin Yellow	Copic Sketch YR68 - Orange	Copic Sketch - E57 Light Walnut

InLinkz.com

DeNami Sketch Challenge #9

Good morning and happy Friday readers!  Today I have a card to share with you for the recent DeNami sketch challenge that took a little time but was SO worth it!

First, I have to say that I love. LOVE. DeNami's new ornamental flowers Petit Four set!  I just can't stay away from it!  I've also been loving my Tim Holtz distress inks too!  So, here's what happens when those two things come together:

So first of all, I made the background using Peeled Paint, Shabby Shutters, Tumbled Glass and Broken China.  Then, after it was dry I stamped over it with DeNami's ornamental flowers in Versamark and used clear embossing powder to create the textured background!  Then, I used a gel pen to color in the little white dots just for a little more white!
For the second layer, I stamped the flower and leaf in two colors each (kind of rolling the stamp around the edges of the darker color) for a multi colored effect.  I really liked the way it turned out!  Then I distressed the edge with Shabby Shutters.  Finally, I finished the top layer with a scallop punch, some copic coloring, and a little bling!  I also added some white grosgrain ribbon at the bottom and more bling (you can NEVER have enough bling!)

I'm really happy how this one turned out!  It really shows off just how many ways you can use those amazing little DeNami stamps!  =D  Here's the sketch that I was working off of:

So there you have it!  I had so much fun playing along with this sketch! =D

One last thing... I'm hoping that you've checked out my BLOGOVERSARY GIVEAWAY entry on my blog!  There is a $25 gift card up for grabs... possibly to DeNami Design if you like!  Check it out... it ends Friday, August 26th!!!  =D  


Ok everyone, have a LOVELY weekend!  =D

DeNami August Mini Cards Blog Hop!

Hello fellow followers in blogland!  It's that time again, time for another DeNami blog hop!  This months theme is to create some Mini Cards using DeNami Design stamps!

Hopefully, you came here from the wonderful, incredible, amazing blog of one Paulina Nakamura!  WOW I can't believe I have to follow her, but I'll do my best!  =)  Of course, if you need to start back at the beginning or see the full list, check back HERE at the DeNami Blog.    

So, this time around I chose to use my DeNami stamps to create a fabulous card set!  It's a seasonal/all occasion set containing five cards that all have similar elements!  Here's what I came up with: 

As you can see, each card is 3.25" by 3.25" and has 6 similar elements: a DeNami critter, a sentiment, pearls, baker's twine, glittered areas using the Spica glitter pen, and an accent panel on the inside!  Finishing off the insides was an idea that I got from this "All About Stamping" video of contributing designer Britta Swiderski!  She used patterned paper, but I chose to use solid colors that match some elements on the front for each mini card.  Here are the insides of the cards: 

I used several DeNami stamps, including three from the new release!  =)  Here's close up pictures of all of the cards: 

 

 

I love LOVE making mini card sets, and this one was no exception!  I really enjoyed the chance to have each card contribute its own look while still making each card a part of a set that has similar elements!  Did you spot the Lawn Fawn stamps in the holiday card?  I thought it was appropriate to use one card to show how well DeNami and Lawn Fawn work together after the fabulous Denami/Lawn Fawn blog hop this past week!  =)  

OK well you still have lots of hopping to do!  Your next stop is Heidi Spoelhof, whose cards are AWESOME!  You won't be dissapointed for sure!  =)  

Enjoy your hopping friends!  Don't forget to comment on each blog for a chance to win a $20 DeNami gift card!  =D  Have a happy, hoppy day!  =D 

The Happiest of Anniversaries -- with many more to come! =D

Hello everyone!  So, today is a VERY special day for me... it's our 3rd Anniversary!  3 years ago today, I married my absolute best friend and we had the most amazing wedding!  It was a very special day with lots and LOTS of fun for everyone!  Our wedding was REALLY big (about 400 people, we invited 500!) because Zach has a gigantic family and my family knows EVERYONE.  =)  It was a really perfect day, and we took LOTS of pictures!  =)

For our 3rd Anniversary, my husband and I had a fabulous dinner last Sunday out at a restaurant that is right on the Allegheny River... we had a fabulous view and the food was excellent!  Today we did things a little more low key, having a dinner at a local restaurant (one we'd never tried before because we always love trying new things!), then we went out for dessert, and shared a little champagne this evening!

One special thing that we always do for our anniversary is to share some blueberries.  I know this might sound strange, but during our wedding sermon (which was quite possibly the STRANGEST wedding sermon ever given!) the priest started talking about the price of blueberries in Washington state (we live in Pennsylvania).  He then tried to tie it back to the Beatitudes -- I wish I was joking but this really happened. I couldn't hide my complete shock over the chosen topic and many of our friends and family were too.  It's ended up being this funny blessing though, because we always remember the sermon about blueberries from our wedding and laugh!  We decided on our first anniversary that we'd always have something with blueberries for our anniversary!  Here's us tonight with some blueberry yogurt (with fresh blueberries of course!) at a Simply Yogurt:

OK so onto the project!  I'm not much for scrapbooking, but I did make a really nice scrapbook of our wedding!  It has lots of fab photos, journaling tags, stamping and all sorts of other techniques!  The full album can be viewed HERE, but I didn't want to put up the entire thing on my blog.  Here are a few of my favorite pages:

The Front Cover -- the embellishments are handmade clay flowers!

This is my favorite picture that we took at the wedding!  It really shows just how happy we were that day!

 Just married!  I made several pull out tags for this scrapbook -- the blue one in this picture reads: "After the ceremony, we took pictures and went for a limo ride!  The pics started in the church and ended in a beautiful courtyard!  This was the slowest part of the day, and we had SO much fun!  =)"

I also love this picture and quote!  This picture really highlights my dress which I LOVED!  =)

We took a lot of pictures with our parents, but this one from the rehearsal ended up being my favorite.  I like it because in order, it goes: Zach's Dad, my Mom, Zach, Me, my Dad, and Zach's Mom.  It reminds me of how easily our lives blended together!  =)

Our relationship started because Zach taught me how to swing dance!  Of course at our wedding we had to show off!

I wanted to include as many pictures as possible, so on a few pages I made photo collages like this to showcase more pictures!  This one is my favorite!

Another favorite picture of mine, and we are planning on living a long happy ever after!  =D

WOW ok I know long post!  Again if you want to view the whole scrapbook in picture format, go HERE!  Thanks for visiting and reading about our anniversary and wedding story!  I hope you enjoyed it!  =) 

Well it's been a LONG time! =D

Hi there everyone!  Sorry I haven't posted in a REALLY long time (like most of July!) but I've been super busy between selling my Grandpa's house and helping with that, helping some friends in need, and visiting some family!  Needless to say my crafting time has been limited at best!  I have also been working on some non-card related projects when I have been crafting, so my card-making time has been even more limited! 

Here's one non-paper project that I was working on -- I reupholstered the top of our cedar chest!  Here's a picture:

The top of this cedar chest used to be orange vinyl and was very worn and loved (it was my grandmothers and SHE had reupholstered it years and years ago!), and so I added some foam padding and stapled away!  Since I got the brown suede on super clearance (about $3.50 a yard!) the whole project cost less than $20!  =) 

OK, so I also got some new DeNami Design stamps recently that I've been dying to ink up!  Here's some of the projects that I made with my new DeNami stamps!

This first project was originally supposed to be created for the Embellish Nautical Trends Challenge, but even though I finished it in time I didn't get it posted in time!  None the less, it's still cute and worth posting:

I love these owls... I can't get enough of them!  And I've always wanted to make a life-preserver!  Doesn't the baker's twine just add another layer of fun?  I also used a white gel pen and texturized the preserver to make it look like it's been scratched and used!  I also love this sentiment, which is a new stamp for me from DeNami!  =) 

Ok onto the second project!  I got the ornamental flowers Petit Fours in my last mail order, and I wanted to make something a little more elegant than I usually make, so I went for an all black and white card:

I really really love this set of flowers!  I added some rhinestones for a little extra bling, and some ribbon with an elegant bow.  =)  This sentiment is also from a Petit Fours that I bought from DeNami -- it's a great set of sentiments that add a LOT of diversity to my collection!  =) 

OK well this was a rather long post but it's been awhile!  I hope you enjoyed it!  =D