Blog Hop

Happy Tuesday Everyone, I am so excited to be included as a participant in Blog Hop hosted by my very own sister Barb and Debbie. They are no less than major magicians with their Silhouette wonder cutting machines. Helen is also joining as a participant :).

 

I am the odd duck out of the bunch, I don't own a Silhouette. I used my Cricut and Sure Cuts Alot software to do my cutting. Now on to the fun part. My sister Barb made the most adorable little ladybug .svg file.

 

 

I layered by background, printed off the sentiments from MS Word. I glued my little Love bug together than popped it up with foam tape.

 

 

 

Supplies: Natural white and red cardstock, Designer Paper-XX, Barb's - SVG File, Sizzix die cut, misc twine.

Debbie has create an elegant and beautiful card template, you need to visit her blog to see :) check for the blog hop list below.

 

I did run into a little bit of an issue with an over tacky new Cricut mat so I ended up just using half of the template. That is the most important part however because it has the intricate lace edge. I used a black layer matt then added the lace layer.

 

Supplies: Natural white and red cardstock, Designer Paper-Bo Bunny, Inspired by Stamping-Hearts, Debbie's SVG file, Recollection-Pearls, misc embossing folder.

 

Be sure to visit the hostesses (Debbie and Barb) of this Blog hop to see the fabulous creations they have created and of course to get the files themselves so you can join in the fun. Please leave a little comment love when you visit. Also don't forget Helen too, she too will have created something fantastic.

 

 

Debbie - Paper Pulse Blog Spot

Barb - The Life of Mrs Miles

Helen - Pinky Papercraft

 

Cheers,

Nina

Merry Monday #47

I am struggling a little (again) with how fast this month zoomed on by, it is just me or did January just disappear on us?

It is time for a new Merry Monday Challenge and this week Lesley created a Tic Tac Toe chart for us to choose elements from. I chose Red & Green, Clean and Simple and ribbon for my options.

 

I made this card really simple, I love this stamp and wanted to ink it up only using brown.  This DP coordinated perfectly, and I used a very thin ribbon as an accent. I did add a single layer of matting to both the background and sentiment.

 

 

 

Please visit Lesley's Always Playing with Paper to see what the design team has created.

 

Supplies: Natural white and brown card stock, Designer Paper-Echo Park, Inkadinkado-Winter Cabin, Fiskars-Seasons's Greetings.

Cheers,

Nina

Seize the Birthday #3

A super quick post for this week's Seize the Birthday Challenge. Time seems to have gotten away on me this week and I did not get into my craft room as much as I would have liked.

 

I added simple layers for this card. I heat embossed the hat then cut it out then added a little glitter with a marker to the hat ribbon for a little something extra. I used die cut buttons to finish.

Supplies:Natural white and gray card stock, Designer Paper-Echo Park, Close to my Heart- Everyday Life, TPC - Happy Birthday, misc die cuts.

Cheers,

Nina

Playing in Paradise #101

Happy Friday everyone, we have a new Playing in Paradise Challenge today, Jesse had challenged us to use Mists.  I don't own any so I  improvised a little, I do have Spritz's which are similar.

 

 

 

This is where I will add a little warning.. for those lovers of house plants you might want to skip this next paragraph. House plants were harmed  in the making of this card.. not too badly.

 

I chose leaves from a few of my plants (brown edges I promise) to create masks on the paper. I layered different colors of Spritz and Perfect Pearls mixed with alcohol in a mini mister to get the spray effect.

 

I did not want to take away from the faint image so I made this a simple card and just added a little twine, a button and sentiment.

 

 

Scrapbooker's Paradise online store has a nice selection of Spritz colours.

 

 

Please stop by the Playing in Paradise blog to see what the challenge team has created and to play along.

Supplies: Cream and brown card stock, TPC-Happy Birthday,  twine, button.

Cheers,

Nina

Happy Birthday & PPC 100 reminder

** You have until noon (MST) today to get a project in to Scrapbooker's Paradise,  Playing in Paradise challenge. There are great prizes up for grabs.**

 

This card has been sitting on my craft desk half made for a good week, I had an idea in my head that just did not pan out so I turned it into a simple looking card.

 

I have been digging through my scraps lately and found I have a lot of half or quarter sheets of DP left. So I think I might try to use some of them for quick cards.

 

I created a couple of layers and inked the edges. The sentiment is heat embossed then layered as well. I finished with a doily and a glossy dot.

 

Supplies: Cream and burgundy card stock, Designer Paper-, TPC-Happy Birthday, SEI-Granny's Kitchen doilies, Hero dots.

Cheers,
Nina

Merry Monday #45

We had a stunning day here on the island yesterday, the sun was out and it was gorgeous. Makes it a little hard to think winter thoughts, it is a good thing I don't need to think winter to make Christmas cards :).

 

Welcome to a new Merry Monday Challenge, this week the theme is birds.

 

 

I don't think I could make a more simple card. I love this delicate DP so I let it do all the work. I embossed it with a Snowfall embossing folder then added some ribbon and gems. I finished with a embellishment that I matted with red and brown card stock.

 

Please stop on by Lesley's Always Playing with Paper blog to see what the design team has created and to play along.

Supplies: Cream and brown card stock, Designer Paper-Jellybean Soup, Recollection embellishments, Spellbinders, embossing folder, ribbon, recollections gems.

Cheers,

Nina

Seize the Birthday #2

I used a little monkey fun for this weeks Seize the Birthday challenge. I have had these little adhesive accents in one of my drawers for as long as I could remember, it got caught when I was searching for something and it annoyed me enough that I decided to use it.

 

 

I put a strip of kraft paper through my crimper then tried to stamp it.... un huh I am not sure what I was thinking either, I was lucky and it stamped ok and gave me a look I was happy with. I lightly inked all the edges then added a little twine and paper button. The monkey was last to be added.

Supplies: Cream and brown cardstock, Designer Paper-My Mind's Eye, The Stamps of Life-standup4sentiments, twine, circle punches, Paper Bliss monkey.

Cheers,

Nina

Freshly Made Sketches #69

It seems like forever since I played a Freshly Made Sketches challenge. I love the simplicity of this one.

 

I heat embossed the hearts with a Red Tinsel embossing powder then fussy cut them out. I stamped the sentiment and added a matte and I used a glitter pen for the tiny heart. I had a piece of this My Mind's eye DP in my scraps, I love the glitter dots that cover it. I added some twin before popping up the hearts and adding the sentiment.

Supplies: Cream and brown cardstock, Designer Paper-My Minds Eye,Heidi Grace Designs-Urban Acres Blvd, Inkadinkado-Hearts, twine.

Cheers,

Nina

Playing in Paradise #100

How exciting the Playing in Paradise challenge has reached #100.  I am so lucky that I am hostess this week for this celebration. I chose "Let's Celebrate together" for the theme.

 

The wonderful thing about any any celebration is that they can be any size, shape or form.  We have some friends who just got engaged... definitely something to get excited about and CELEBRATE :).

 

I have to admit, I let the designer paper do all the 'talking' with this card. When I saw this Kaiser Craft DP I knew that it was perfect for this card.

 

I used a Sizzlets to cut and emboss the heart, and my Cricut for the Lacy embellishment. I haded a small strip for ribbon to complete the card.  I used work to emulate the font from the front of the card to say Congratulations on your Engagement. Unfortunately my husband had signed the card before I could take a picture.

 

Supplies: Natural white and black cardstock, Designer Paper-Kaiser Kraft, Sizzlet, Cricut and misc ribbon.

 

Be sure to stop by the Playing in Paradise blog to join in the celebration, see the fantastic creations that are samples.

 

Cheers,

Nina 



Tuesday Morning Sketches #181

Today's post is for the new Tuesday Morning Sketches. I am in need of a few Valentine's cards so that is the theme I have used.

 

I used my Sizzix Embosslits  to die cut hearts, the background is embossed with tiny hearts. I finished with ribbon and the sentiment.

Supplies: Cream, pink and brown cardstock, Designer Paper-Upsydaisy, Inspired by Stamping-Sweet Valentine's, Sizzix Embosslits, ribbon, embossing folder.

Cheers,

Nina

Merry Monday #44

We are right back at Monday :) did everyone have a good weekend? We have a new Merry Monday challenge for you. Lesley has created a new sketch for today.

 

I wanted to play with my new tree die cut, and I added a little holographic embossing power to look like snow... sorry I did not get a good picture of it. I embossed the background, added the sentiment as well as the the button with twine and finished with some pearls.

Hop on over to Lesley's Always Playing with Paper to take a peek at what the design team has created and to join in the challenge fun.

Supplies: Cream and brown cardstock, Designer Paper-Fancy pants Designs, twine, Dee's Distinctively die cut, Verve-Christmas in the Air, button, embossing folder.

Cheers,

Nina

Fab Friday #9

Ok so this is a quick second post this evening, I hate combining posts so be patient with me. I am trying another new challenge, this one is Fab Friday.

 

 

I probably made this a little more complicated than it needed to be. I heat embossed these little coffee cups then fussy cut them out. I did the same with the cup sleeve and lid. I embossed the center strip then added the sentiment, twine and button.

Supplies: Cream and brown card stock, Designer Paper-Flair Design Inc, TCP-Coffee Cafe, Fiskars-Latte Love, twine, button, embossing folder.

Cheers,

Nina

Inspired by Stamping Inspiration Challenge #41

I did a little stamping this weekend, and I decided to try the current Inspired by Stamping Inspiration Challenge.

 

 

This My Minds Eye DP had all the colours for this challenge, I embossed the layers and added lace ribbon. I heat embossed the frame and sentiment then popped it up with foam tape. I finished with pearls.

 

Supplies: Cream and brown card stock, Designer Paper-My Mind's Eye,Inspired by Stamping-All Year Wishes II, Hero Arts ribbon, embossing folder, recollection pearls.

Cheers,

Nina

Playing in Paradise #99

Bad blogger.... it ate a whole scheduled post. I hate when that happens. So this is my second attempt at this post. 

 

We have a new Playing in Paradise challenge for you today and even more exciting is our new challenge team member Linda, we are so happy to have you join us.

 

We are pushing Linda right into the deep end of the pool and she is our hostess this week.  The theme she has choosen is a "Place in Time".

 

I am the worst at pulling out my camera when I traveling or for special events.  I doubt I could put together a single scrapbook page never mind a book.. huh probably why I card :).

 

The local China town puts on a wonderful event year for Gung Hei Fat Choy, this year the Chinese New Year is Feb 10th.

 

I hauled out one of my many many 6 x 6 paper pads for this card, I created layers then heat embossed the lantern and flower. I added some twine as if the lantern is hanging then finished with the sentiment and glitter dots.

 

It did not matter which way I turned my card the glitter of the flower would not let the camera get a good picture. It turned out quite nice though.

Supplies: Natural white and black cardstock, Designer Paper and Stamps-BoBunny, Kaiser Craft-Christmas, twine, glitter dots.

Please stop by the Playing in Paradise blog to see what samples the challenge team has created, be sure to play along. You will want to keep an eye out for PPC100, we have a grand celebration planned.

Cheers,

Nina

Seize the Birthday #1

Woo-Hoot, the much anticipated new challenge is here. Seize the Birthday posted it's first official sketch today. I am looking forward to this challenge, it will be fabulous to get a small surplus of Birthday cards.

Along with the sketch this week, there is a catch.. it must be a girly card :).

I did intend this to be a clean and simple card but in typical Nina fashion it ended up being a little more complicated. 

 

I heat embossed the cupcake top and base then hand cut them. I added a little twine around the middle to hang the sentiment. I inked most edges and finished with some gems. 

Supplies: Cream and brown cardstock, Designer Paper -My Mind's Eye, Fiskars-Cupcakes and more, The Stamps of Life-mini4circle, twine, Cuttlebug die cut,Spellbinders, Kaiser craft gems.

Cheers,

Nina

Birthday Celebration

Happy 19^th Birthday Zachary!!

 

Zach was not overly keen on having a Birthday cake so I picked up cupcakes from the local Oh La La Cupcakes so I had something to put a candle in. You have to sing Happy Birthday with a candle :).
The tiny cupcake was a perfect treat for me too.

 

Whew.. I feel a little older now :).

 

 

Tuesday Morning Sketches #180

A quick masculine card this morning, I used the current Tuesday morning sketches as my inspiration.

 

 

 

I went with a simple card for this sketch, I embossed the background then added a couple of strips of DP. I heat embossed the sentiment then used Spellbinder to cut out the circle. I finished with some ribbon and and a brad.

 

Supplies: Cream and brown cardstock, Designer Paper-Simple Stories, Technique Tuesday-Happy Birthday Seal, Spellbinders , embossing folder, ribbon, brad.

Cheers,
Nina

Chicken Wire birthday.

My sister Barb got me all excited about a new embossing folder so of course I had to run out and buy it. So we decided to have a little sister challenge using the new embossing folder.

This embossing folder comes in two parts, embossing folder and border. I love that the embossed sections are not so deep that they split the paper.

 

I decided on a masculine card with layers, adding texture to the background and one panel. I heat embosses the sentiment them finished with some circle embellishments and pearls.

 

Pop over to Barb's blog to take a look at the fantastic card she created.

Supplies:  Natural white and brown cardstock, Designer Paper-Basic Grey, The Stamps of Life-birthday2celebrate, embossing folder, misc pearl and punches.

Cheers,

Nina

A Little Audrey..

I love this sentiment, it is so true. This is another card I made a few weeks ago and did not want to forget to post.

I had my little list of items I wanted this card to include, flowers (check), lace ribbon(check) and a soft patterned designer paper... you get it. This paper has been hiding in my stash mostly because I was not fond of the flip side and seems to miss this soft elegant side as I flipped through.

I started with layers and added a soft brown inked edge. I added some texture to the panel under the sentiment and inked the edge of that as well. I finished with the ribbon, flowers and gems.

Supplies: Cream and brown cardstock, Designer Paper-Prima, Inspired by Stamping-Sweet Valentine's, lace ribbon, spellbinders, flower embellishments, gems, embossing folder.

Cheers,

Nina

Merry Monday #44

We are back with a brand new Merry Monday Challenge today, our first of 2013. Are you ready to get a start on this year's Christmas cards?

 

Lesley has decided to switch it up a little so this weeks challenge is a colour challenge.. for anyone who follows or at least pay attention to my blog knows that I struggle a little with colours. I cheated this time and let the paper do all the work.

 

 

I still have tons of Christmas papers to use for all the Merry cards I will make this year, a few that keep getting passed up.  I look forward to getting a chance to us them.

 

I picked this ornament spellbinders up over the holiday season for $7 crazy right.. so anyway I could not wait to use them. I pulled out one of those above mentioned paper that pretty much covered all the required colours and voila a card is born, urm made. I did added a sentiment, a little silver twine and some gems to finish up.

 

 

Supplies: Cream and turquoise cardstock, Designer Paper –October Afternoon, twine, Spellbinders, Fiskars -Season's Greetings.

 

Stop by Always Playing with Paper to take a look at the Design Team's samples and to join in the challenge fun.

Cheers,

Nina

Ribbon, ribbon and more ribbon.

I spent a ton of time organizing 2 small drawers of ribbon this weekend. What took so long? The drawers may be small but I have way more ribbon them I thought I did. Well over 200 wooden craft sticks later I have some order.

Enough about the mess, I do have a card for you this evening. I made it a few weeks ago but though I would share it. I found some fabulous 8.5 x 11 cork sheets in a local stamp store, it was quite easy to work with.

Supplies: Natural white and navy cardstock, Designer Paper-Authentique, misc cork, twine, Inspired by Stamping-Ahoy Matey, misc pearls

Cheers,

Nina

Inspired by Stamping - IBSIC #40

Grr blogger is being bad, it has taken me two days to get this post up.

I thought I would try a new challenge, I usually don’t do very well with colour challenges but I had this paper that I have been wanted to use that included two of the required colours.

I think this paper is so pretty, I love that it has the muted font. I makes for a nice simple card to use the paper design.

 

I added a double matte for the base then added the DP, I created a tag used the same process. I made this pretty little bow with my mini Bowdabra and added a lavender button from my stash. 

Supplies: Cream, violet, blue and green cardstock, Designer Paper-My Mind's Eye, Inspired by Stamping-The Sky's the Limit, misc ribbon and button.

Cheers,

Nina

Playing in Paradise #98

Happy Friday everyone, we made it through the first week of 2013. I am not one for New Years resolutions and I don’t  endeavor to make any changes in the new year other than to stop over eating all the wonderful treats that appear over the holidays.

I did not craft as much as I would have liked over the holiday but maybe that is a good thing as I am jumping back in with some fresh Ideas.

Playing in Paradise welcomes a new Challenge team member this week. Welcome to Dawn, it is so exciting to have you join us. Dawn is our hostess this week and has challenged us to use something new. I have to admit this was not too difficult for me, I have been an active online shopper this holiday season and I have lots of wonderful crafting goodies to choose from.

 

 

Right before Christmas I ordered an obscene amount of twine from the Scrapbooker’s Paradise online store… seriously there is a large selection and I think I order just about ordered 1 of every colour.  I had a picture of the box filled with all the spools but I lost it so I took a smaller picture of a few up on my shelf.

I could argue that this sweet paper is also new, I broke the seal on my 6X6 paper pack for this card.  I used die cuts for the two sizes of balloons, then added some foam tape to the background. I added the twine, pulling it tight to gather it and added some little ties. I finished with an heat embossed sentiment.

 

Supplies: Natural White and navy cardstock, Designer Paper -Jillibean Soup , The Stamps of Life-balloons2cut, Fiskars-All Yeay Cheer, twine.

 

Stop by the Playing in Paradise blog to join in the fun and play along with this week’s challenge and to welcome our new challenge team member.

 

Cheers,

Nina