Treasure this day...

Good morning! We had the most lovely weather this weekend, and we took full advantage of it. Steve raked leaves (Mikey and I jumped in the piles - Johnny was napping, so don't tell him or he will be mad he missed out on this), we all went to Frankenmuth on Sunday and had a lovely time. We walked around the village, threw pennies in the pond, and found lots of things to add to our lists to Santa :)

We came home, went to the neighborhood playground, and then came home and hung our Christmas lights. I know, I know - it is early. But weather in Michigan can go from 70 one day to 40 the next, and I don't fancy hanging lights in piles of snow :) But I promise I won't plug them in until after Thanksgiving. Not too much.

Today I plan on working on some scrapbook layouts, a couple of cards, and I hope I can get that flower tutorial done as well. I also plan to walk on the treadmill, but now that I am sitting here, drinking my coffee and chatting with you, I might skip that. Listening to the soundtrack to Forrest Gump and sipping my java is making me feel cozy and very un-treadmilly.

Here is a little card I made last week for a few challenges. It was difficult at first, as the challenge at Cute Card Thursday was primary colors. Normally not a primary color kind of gal as I lean towards the faded/muted tones. But that's why it is a challenge, right? :) Pairing this challenge with the color scheme of black and red from Creative Inspirations, I used the sketch from PaperTake Weekly, and made this any occasion card:


Ingredients
Image: Gorjuss Girl from Sugar Nellie
Papers: BoBunny, Paper Pizazz
Embellishment: ribbon from stash
Copic markers, colored pencils, ink

Visions of Sugarplums... Pixie Peek!

It is no secret I love pinks and greens. With two boys, I love the chance to girl it up with some pretty pastels! With Christmas around the corner, however, these colors are perfect for more than just "girly" cards. Gingerbread and candy canes, frosting and minty goodness are for everyone! This little card was super fun to make. I have been so busy with Halloween preparations, it was nice to push aside my black cardstock and pull out some red and pink!

More wintery wonders await you at the Pixie Cottage blog... the Design team has been working like Santa's elves to bring you some Pixie Peeks!

Ingredients
Papers: Heidi Grace, Daisy Bucket, Core'dinations
Image: Gingerbread Men by the Pixie Cottage
colored pencils and Ranger Distress Ink


With all this sweetness, I had to enter this card into the Cute Card Thursday challenge using the sketch from A Spoon Full of Sugar.

Back to School...

Well, my munchkins had their first day of school today. It was a "Parent/Child" day, so no bus and I got to sit in a teeny little chair and play trucks :) Tomorrow is the "real" day with the big yellow bus and the whole kaboodle. Johnny didn't want to go at first, but once we were there and he saw all the cool puppets and circle area, he didn't want to leave. Yay school! Mikey is a seasoned pro at school - he has the same room he had last year, and was right at home :)

I thought it fitting that today's card was a school theme for Cute Card Thursday, and I am excited because the card is also part of the first challenge at Crazy 4 Challenges! I just adore these papers from Basic Grey. I don't have many pieces left, so I am not sure what I will do next fall! I need to find more...

I had already done little trees, a schoolhouse, and decided for this card to make a little shelf of books. I paper-pieced the books. Printing the titles on in teeny font, then folding and cutting, distressing, then adding the "pages" with little cuts to look like real books. I used my most favorite ribbon, the teastained ruler ribbon. I plan on having some of this cute ribbon in my Etsy store soon, so if you like it, better check it out! Perfect for card-making and scrapbooking.

Ingredients
Paper: Basic Grey, Crate paper
Stamp: Studio G ("Back to School")
Embellishments: Little red brad, ribbon, chipboard circle
Ink: Ranger distress ink

Hey baby... loving Mary Engelbreit

I am a huge fan of Mary Engelbreit. Huge. My little workspace is plastered with prints from her calendars and posterbooks (I was looking through my stash of old calendars, and I have been saving them sine, oh, 199osomething), and I just love her sense of whimsy, her great use of color... When I started stamping years ago, some of my very first stamps I bought were ME stamps. Cute Card Thursday had a challenge of "new beginning", and the first image that came to my mind was one of my most favorite ME stamps. A prefect baby stamp, it works for Stampin' for the weekend's Baby challenge too! Using a fabulous sketch from EverybodyART, I created this card. I loved this sketch, and know I will be using it again :)


I really enjoyed building this card up. Lots of texture with buttons, quilted fabric, layers of paper and chipboard, paint, a little safety pin...


I really feel like my obsession with cardmaking is coming along quite nicely.

Speaking of Mary, did anyone read her article in the magazine "Where Women Create"? It is new on the shelves, and I sooo want to live in Mary's world...


Ingredients
Papers: MyMindsEye (I so love their papers...)
Stamp: Mary Engelbreit and GStudios (sentiment)
Embellishments: Fabric (moda), silver safety pin, buttons, thread, chipboard
Ink, paint, colored pencils