I've been making hand made cards since my younger son was only a few months old, and he just turned ten earlier this month.  When I first started, my cards were really simple and honestly quite terrible. Yikes.  Over the years, they've been stitched on, water colored, fussy-cut, die-cut.

And my sweet mother has a drawer FULL of them at her house, every single one I've given to her over the last ten years.  So, when I make a card for her now I'm extra specially careful to make it a keeper because it's going into the drawer.


Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

It's been ages since I've had something crafty to share, but I've got two new cards to blog this week. Since I'm out of my regular card making routine, this all takes me longer than it used to. It was fun to grab my iPad and crank through a few episodes on Hulu and make a big old crafty mess.  I have quite a large supply of stamps and Die-namics from My Favorite Things, so I was pretty sure I could put together something.  And I got to enjoy an episode of Scandal on a quiet Sunday morning, so it's all good!

Up fist I have the card that I made for my new baby cousin.  I'm so excited to meet this little squish later this afternoon.  Sweet Patrick is my cousin's little baby and they're home for the weekend. I'm so excited that our family has grown by one tiny adorable little boy.


Clean and simple cards are such a hot trend, but I can't help myself I do love lots of layers and added details.  I started by grabbing my selected palette of colors - navy, kraft, fuse green and whip cream.

Then I reached for my Sailboat Die-namics.  These are so classic, and so ME!  At first I picked up my Let's Get Nautical Die-namics but realized the scale of the anchor was off.  Happily I recalled I had my Sea Charms, the scale was just right for a small accent.

Up next I reached for my assortment of Cover Up Die-namics and selected the Stripes Die-namics.
As I layered my elements I wanted something to cover the bottom third of the card.  I die-cut a rectangle and overstamped with the Typewriter Text Background Stamp from MFT.

Rather than use the anchor as a charm, I diecut it from a Navy circle and used the negative, I paired that with two MFT Buttons for a little trio.

If you've been collecting the Blueprints Die-namics then you'll have a variety of small elements to mix and match.  I found this stitched strip in one, and this large fishtail in another.  It's a great way to have perfectly even, square cornered cuts.

That's it for me today, I have a girly-girly card to share with you. I'm off to go edit photos and will have it to share with you tomorrow! 

So while yes, Together certainly IS the nicest place to be. Every now and again, I'll take alone in my peace and quiet, just for an hour or two.  

This adorable image is from The Cat's Pajamas and is titled Ewe Complete Me.  The set has a whole slew of cute sentiments to go with the image, I hope you'll check it out.

With my new work schedule I've got Mondays and Wednesdays off.  For the last few months I've used it to run errands, clean house and do laundry. Today I decided that I wasn't going to do any of those things. (Yikes!) Today I tucked myself away into my crafty cave and made two cards, then took my dog for a well deserved play at the dog park, and now I'm blogging.

I do feel a little guilty about the sink full of dishes, and I'm going to try get the sink cleaned up and switch over the laundry before I head off to pick the boys up at school, but it honestly did my heart good to just be still and create.  Do you have those days? Please say yes.

I was excited to see that the MFT Sketch Challenge worked perfectly with the Die-namics I was itchy to play with. Maybe, hopefully, I can make the Sketch Challenge my new Wednesday routine since it's my regular day off?  I hope you'll excuse the background of my dining room, after all I have no idea where I've hidden my light-box which used to be used every single day!



My Die-namics today are Let's Get Nautical  and I added the sentiment "You Keep Me Anchored" from the companion Go Overboard stamp set.

The insides of cards never photo nicely, but here's a peek:



Here's the original sketch for the day, be sure to head on over and add your own sample too!

Five out of the last 11 school days have been snow days, and in the last 17 days we've had 60 inches of snow fall.  It is beyond crazy.  During that time I've done endless loads of laundry, shoveled, played in the snow, walked the dog (because its so deep outside he refuses to go out alone) and made all manner of yummy comfort foods.  Finally I said "NO" to the long list snow day to-do's and did some snow-day stamping.  I've missed having a hobby so this was a lot of fun!



Up first I have a card to share with you for the Retro Sketches Challenge this week.  

I used the Cute Cameras Die-namics as my focal point.  It's such a cute die set!  The sentiment "smile" was found in the coordinating Picture This stamp set. The small rectangular element in the sketch was stamped with the Diagonal Background Stripes using Steel Grey ink to Grout Gray cardstock.  I added a little trio of MFT Buttons to the top right hand corner.


Using my Blueprints to diecut all my basic card layering pieces makes for nicely cut, squared off corners. And honestly, my paper trimmer blade is just never sharp enough.  Blueprints make it easy peasy!

With a whole lot of snow accumulating outside, I settled into my Hulu-watching and made a second card.


I pulled out the Die-namics Lightbulb and the companion Watt's Up Stamp Set.  I die-cut the light-bulb from some Grout Grey card stock and then softly sponged the edges with a bit of Lemon Drop ink for a soft glow.

I added a little Fishtail Banner using a piece of Steel Grey card stock which was over stamped with the Diagonal Stripes Background a teeny Sno Cone Button.


Voila - two valentines to pack away for the boys this weekend!  Off to my crafty-cave to see what else I can put together! Have a great day!