Day 9: Much more Masculine!

So tonight I pick up my husband... ALONE! My brother is going to babysit so the kids can get to bed on time, and I get a little alone time to catch with my man.

I decided to make a more masculine card for today. My card base is Espresso, cut with the Framelits Die so it went off the edge. I glued the piece of Gray DSP on the inside and added my sentiment and heart. 

I couldn't resist tying a piece of Espresso Baker's Twine on the top.

Wow. Sorry about the picture quality. I colored just the 'love you' from the Scripted set with my Espresso Marker onto White, but the 'much' that is under the 'you' still showed up a little, so I added a heart of Textured Gray that I punched with my newest punch: Small Heart! I love punches!!! A Rhinestone jewel adds a little sparkle! 

Here's the inside. A little strip of scrap Textured Gray ties it all in..

 Happy Thursday!

~Natalie

I'm a little bit obsessed...

..with this card! 

Mojo Monday had a challenging sketch: MOJO227:

 

and Our Creative Corner had a great Recipe Challenge:

This week's challenge is entitled, ' Love is in the air'.  Make a St. Valentine's Day paper craft item (card, scrapbook page layout, 3-D item, or an altered item) using the colors Pink, Grey, and Kraft.  Now, I'm a girly-girl, so add some sparkle to your paper craft item (rhinestones, glitter, metal) anything that shines!  And don't forget to include a heart-shape.

So here's to hoping my pearls 'sparkle' enough.

My card base is Vanilla, then a layer of Textured Gray. I ran come Crumb Cake through my Big Shot with an Impressions plate and layered a Vanilla stamped and colored on that.

The DSP is also embossed, then I wrapped the Crochet Trim around the card and added my layered sentiment: Textured Gray embossed with the Oval folder, Large Oval Punch for the Crumb Cake and Small Oval Punch for the Vanilla. My sentiment is stamped with Gray, then a Pink heart and some pearls. I scrunched up some Crumb Cake Seam Binding, tied a Triple Bow and adhered it with glue dots.

I sponged all the edges with Soft Suede and roughed them up with my Bone Folder. 

The Very Vanilla layers are also sponged with Pretty in Pink.

If you look close, you can see I stamped the inside sentiment with both Suede and Pink, for a shadowed effect. It looks way better in person! ;)

 I loved this layout and recipe so much, I didn't want to give this card to the friend I made it for... So I had to make another! This one is for my wonderful sister-in-law. I used a rose image for the background, used 3/8" Taffeta, and not so many pearls. I'll be mailing it, so I wanted to keep the bulkiness to a minimum. 

And here's the one I made my Mother-In-Law. We don't get to see her as often as I'd like (she's awesome and I love her so much!), so I'll be sending her this as a Valentine's card!

Well, tomorrow I get to pick up my husband from the airport!

I made his card tonight, so I'll be sharing that with you tomorrow. You'll see it before he does! haha!

Have a wonderful night!

~Natalie

Day 8: The 'U' in us

A super simple, tiny card for my husband's last day away.

Seriously tiny! This one measures 2 1/2" by 3 1/4"! 

Naturals White for the base, Pretty in Pink, Cherry Cobbler and Basic Black hearts are made using the Fashionable Hearts embosslit and stacked with glue dots.

Very simple and sweet message inside. Can you tell I was crunched for time?!

Sorry for the sideways picture. It isn't letting me rotate... But here's a quick shot of the stack of cards I put in my man's suitcase. He hadn't said anything about the cards in all the texts and emails he's sent me, so I asked him today what he thought of them and if he was actually opening them!?! He said yes and then called me a sweetheart. :)

Yesterday I spent some time on a card, using two different challenges, so I'll be sharing that with you later. I figured if I was going to save all these ideas, I should probably start using them! And I love love love the card I made! Have you ever just sat back after you're done and thought "Wow!"?! 

Yeah. Just wait!

Thanks for stopping by!

~Natalie

My type of Real Red

 That's right! I'm using up my Red DSP! haha! 

I know. It's getting old. I promise this is the last...

So I chose again the polka dot pattern DSP, and ran it through my Big Shot using the Polka Dot embossing folder, only turned so the dots are indented. I adhered the Real Red satin ribbon over some Naturals white that I'd punched using the Lace Ribbon Border Punch. The next layer of card stock and DSP is mounted with Dimensionals, as well as the Type Writer. I've used the sentiments from this You're My Tye set, but this is my first time inking up the type writer! Not hard to cut out, either!

I punched out the smallest heart of the Heart To Heart punch, brushed the edges on my Real Red stamp pad and gave it a little shine with my white gel pen.

Added some hearts inside, and it's done!

Hope you like it!

~Natalie

These are the challenges I used for my card today:

JUGS122 

PPA128

Valentine 7: Tagged Sweetie

Happy Tuesday! 

My kids didn't think it was a happy Tuesday this morning. They all complained of being tired and not feeling good... But after some French Toast and OJ, they were ready for the day. 

I think I'll be putting them to bed early tonight!

So on to the card...

I started with a Naturals White card base again, and stamped 'Amour' from the Clearly for You set in Chocolate Chip and Real Red.

One of my newest purchases was the Two Tags Die cut, which I had been eyeing for quite a while. Well I finally got it out; the new Mini and Sale-a-bration stuff is just too awesome to put down!

Here I cut the Tag out of Textured Chocolate Chip card stock, layered it with a scrap of White, rounding the corners and stamped with the {XO}llent sentiment in Chocolate Chip.

The Real Red DSP is punched with the Scallop Circle Punch, layered over the White and topped with a strawberry. For the berry, I colored the stamp with Limeade, Red and Chocolate markers. I tied a little Espresso Baker's Twine to add a little texture.

I stamped the strawberry again inside the card, without re-inking. 

Well, that's all for now.

~Natalie

Valentin'es Day 6: Home Team Colors!

As you can see on my profile, we make our dwelling in Iowa. And by rights are die-hard Hawkeye fans. 

Their colors are Black and Gold. 

Well, I used Daffodil Delight, but all in all, these are our family's favorite colors. 

You may have noticed I've been using Naturals White on most of my husband's cards. I simply took a 8.5 x 11 sheet of card stock and cut it into little cards. I forget the measurements. I had this little piece of Black DSP laying on my desk, as well as some left over ribbon, so I threw together this little number.

This is my first try at 'doodling' with my white gel pen. I think I'll use this technique again soon! It's super easy and gives it that extra 'umph'... and added a little shine to my Black heart.

Hope you like it!

Have a great Monday!

~Natalie

Mojo226

Mojo Monday had a great sketch last week: MOJO226. And since they are closing their challenge tonight, I've gotta get this new creation posted! Here's their sketch:

Here's my card:

There was a color challenge a while back of Black, Poppy Parade and Lucky Limeade, but I can't remember where I saw it. SplitCoastStampers, maybe. So I tried that out, too!

This was a surprisingly easy image to cut out. Maybe it was my mind-set, but I won't be apprehensive about using this image again! I left the middle white, to give it a more lacy look. The ribbon is wrapped 3x around and I scrunched the bow a little after tying it. I ran the edge of my scissor snips along the tails, and they got a little out of control, but I like it. It's different.

I stamped the inside with the end of the pen in this set. 

If I do this card again, I will stamp it on the edge of the front, too.

A little side image..

Pretty simple, but it got my creative juices flowing.

Hope you like it! Let me know if you have questions.

~Natalie

Day 5 Valentine

Just a quick post of a little card today. :)

Card base is Naturals White, although this first picture looks a little off.

P.S. I Love You set for the cupid, Fabulous Phrases for the sentiment and a little heart from some random retired set. I used textured Chocolate Chip card stock and Espresso Baker's Twine. Pretty in Pink or Blushing Bride ink, can't remember which.

I used my Score tool along the edges, for a little more texture.

I hope my man likes it. -and you too!

Have a blessed Sunday!

~Natalie

Day 4: Stripes & a Berry

Happy Saturday!

We all said good-bye to my hubby this morning, lots of kisses & waved from the porch.. It wasn't quite the send-off I was thinking it would be. My older daughter woke up sick last night and had a fever this morning. Lots of couch time with blankets, snacks and lots of fluid!

Here's the card I packed for the husband to open today:

I used my Stripes Embossing Folder on my card base! Can't remember the last time I used it. 

I followed the theme by using striped paper; each one is punched with the 1 3/8" square punch.

After using the Real Red DSP on yesterday's card, I decided to stick with it. 

(It's retired! You gotta use that stuff up!)

I colored my berry with Lucky Limeade, Real Red and Chocolate Chip Makers and stamped it on Whisper White card stock. I punched it out using 1 1/4" square punch, which layers perfectly on the DSP.

I stapled some little 'tags' of Real Red 1/8" Taffeta ribbon to the side of the image for a little embellishment.

A little berry and an '{XO}llent!' sentiment inside finish it off.

Thanks for looking! Hope you are having an inspiring day!

~Natalie

Day 3: Cupid Love...

Happy Feb 3rd! 

I know I'm a little late, but hey! It's Friday!

First I would like to thank the DT at Friday Mashup for picking my Punch Art card HERE as one of their top picks! It was my first challenge with them! Look at my badge!

Ok, on to the LOVE! ;) 

Now, before you start thinking I'm a crazy lady for giving my hubby all these cards, let me assure you! Normally we are very (way too) practical when it comes to holidays like this, but since I've been working on keeping up with my blog, I thought this would give me the perfect opportunity to make a bunch of little cards to let him know how much I do appreciate him and his support in all I do.

Here's the card he got today.

I started with a Naturals White card base, stamped the cupid in Chocolate Chip on some retired Real Red DSP, then inked the edges of the DSP with my Real Red pad. 

The Espresso Baker's Twine is wrapped around 3 times and tied in a bow. 

(It's Cupid! He's gotta have a bow! hehe)

The 'Love You' is stamped with Real Red on Whisper White and punched out using a 1" circle. I added the 'I' with my Real Red Stampin' Write Marker. The circle of hearts is Chocolate Chip on Real Red card stock, then punched using the Scallop Circle Punch. I punched out an additional scallop circle and layered it behind, for a not-so-scalloped look. 

One more cupid inside, and it's done!

Hope you liked it! Pretty simple today. 

You will notice that the cards I'm making for him are on the simple side, since I had to make them so quickly. He's leaving tomorrow morning for Canada and will be gone most of next week, so I made a stack of cards and have labeled them all according to which days he is to open them.

I know. I'm a dork. But I think it will be fun.

:) More tomorrow!

~Natalie

#2 Valentine's Card

I was busy today, catching up on my Valentine's cards! 

Here's #2 for my hubby.

 I may have went a little overboard on the pink, but it is a Valentine! :)

The ribbon is the Pretty in Pink 3/8" Taffeta (retired, but now they have Pink Pirouette), cut in half. I've never done that on 3/8" ribbon, but I had this piece left over from my daughter's little card, so I thought it would do nice on this one. (Also, this would be great if you don't have the color you want in 1/8" taffeta, and definitely easier to tie!) No bow, so it's not "too" girlie.

White gel pen was used on the black heart for a little shine!

Here's a side view where you can see the inside.

Thanks for looking!

~Natalie

A little Love...

 So last month I mentioned I was getting pretty excited about Valentine's Day. Well it's official! I've decided to make my husband a little Valentine's card each day leading up to the 14th. 

So here's my first card. I made it yesterday and was really hoping to get it posted by the end of the day, but I have been under the weather and life happens.

I started but running the Embosslit through my Big shot a couple times, so I had a variety of hearts to choose from. Among them was a scrap of Crumb Cake, which I trimmed and roughed the edges with my scissors.

I got the idea of using the leftover frame of the Fashionable Hearts Embosslit as part of the card from Carrie Gaskin's card HERE. Isn't it a great idea?!! 

My colors were inspired by the ColorQ's challenge this week of using Real Red, Basic Black, Regal Rose, Kraft & White. Well, as you can see, my colors are a little off (I just used up some scraps on my desk), but I have about 3 days to try again!

This card uses Cherry Cobbler and Pretty in Pink instead.

  I had a scrap of Pink Pirouette DSP, so I trimmed enough to layer behind my focal point. I needed a little more texture and decided to use White Baker's Twine to tie in with the Textured White card base (of which I roughed the edges.). Yes, my sentiment from the P.S. I Love You set is crooked. ugh. Oh well. It's handmade. ;)

I stamped the heart of hearts on the inside and wrote right on top of it. 

My youngest was of course looking over my shoulder half the time, and wanted one for herself, so I made her one with her favorite colors. I'll be making my two older kids their's today and sharing them later.

Off to stamp!

~Natalie