some sweet stitches

I absolutely love the sweet stitches line in the new Spring Occasions Mini from Stampin' Up! It's so vintage and retro, which I love. The paper is so adorable and the colors are fantastic! Don't you agree?

Here's a closer look...

This paper is so cute. It's hard to decide which side of the two sides I like the best. Be sure to check out the mini catalog by clicking on the image in the side bar to the right of the blog!

It just inspires me to sew! Happy Friday!

artistic etchings birthday

I really like how my birthday card for Alicia turned out! I'm so sorry the picture quality is so-so, but I had to snap it with my camera phone. I've been really impressed with the Artistic Etchings stamp set from Stampin' Up! It really has lots of versatility.The "H", the oval die cut adhesive (with brown border) behind the "H", and the small adhesive rhinestone are all from my monthly kits by JBS Mercantile. Even though this project is not necessarily vintage, I did distress the edges. I couldn't resist! I like vintage a lot, but Stampin' Up! is very crisp and clean, so incorporating the vintage items from her kits creates a nice balance for me. You will find that I use lots of products from there. And, I just had to use the sewing machine on the old olive ribbon! Sewing just adds an extra touch!

Materials Used: 
Stampin' Up! - concord crush cardstock and classic stampin pad, old olive classic stampin pad and grosgrain ribbon, artistic etchings stamp set, happy everything stamp set, poppy parade cardstock, cherry cobbler classic stampin pad, circle designer brad, tab punch, 1 and 3/4" circle punch, small square punch, very vanilla cardstock

JBS Mercantile - "H" die cut adhesive letter, oval die cut adhesive, adhesive rhinestone

Another big celebration

Mr. and Mrs. C., my-inlaws/Dynamo's parents, are celebrating an anniversary today!! Congratulations!!! We LOVE YOU!! It's so inspiring to see couples that have been married for many many years like them! Their marriage is an inspiration for us! Thank you for setting an example for your kids!

Above is the card I made for them! Of course I had to use red, the love color! Notice the use of the key stamp on the tag. I was trying to imply that there's a "key" to staying married. I also wanted you to see how quickly you can make a little gift card pocket in a card by sewing a piece of small cardstock to the inside of a card. Simply cut the paper slightly bigger than you need it and sew it up.

Materials Used: From Stampin' Up! - Artistic Etchings stamp set (I LOVE THIS set!), real red cardstock, very vanilla cardstock, 1 and 3/4" circle punch, pretties kit

From JBS Mercantile - rose ribbon, stick pin

Thrifted - sheet music

Other - tag

Happy Birthday, Mrs. C...and her card!

Today is Dynamo's mom's birthday! Happy Birthday, Mom!! WE LOVE YOU!!! The picture above was taken when we visited Florida back in February.

When I got married I gained another set of wonderful parents! Mrs. C has welcomed me into the family as though I was her very own daughter! Thank you so much for loving me! Dynamo has three brothers! I cannot imagine what a supermom Mrs. C must have been (and still is) to put up with those boys over the many years. She loves each of the boys (and me) so very much. She's never too busy to talk to us. She will give you anything she has and more. She'd do anything in the world for us or any of the boys.

We hope your day is fabulous!!

Here's the card I made for Mom's birthday! I'm sure it's there by now, so I'm not spoiling the surprise by showing y'all!

Materials used: From Stampin' Up! - kraft cardstock, pumpkin pie cardstock, very vanilla cardstock, brocade blue cardstock, circle punch, small star punch, glitter, and cherry cobbler classic stampin' pad, brocade blue classic stampin' pad
From JBS Mercantile - Designer paper and large star
From Close to My Heart - Connections stamp set

Two fast pages

I'm not sure I really like the above layout, but it works. Sometimes you have things that don't turn out quite like you hoped. Materials used: Gallery Stamp Set, Paper from Stampin' Up!, Ribbon, white flower, and "June 2010" sentiment from Jenni Bowlin (JBS),

Again, these pages are for the 6x6 mini album I'm working on. I'm not so sure I like the mini album concept, but I'm going to finish it! Below is a simple page of our trip to New York back in December. Materials used: Banner and letters from JBS, Designer Paper and Not Quite Navy Ink from Stampin' Up, Swirl stamp from Close to My Heart.

Send a postcard today...

Yes, you can mail this (it's undergoing testing and when in doubt...use an envelope)!

Using old stuff collected here and there mixed with some new stuff (flower embellishment from JBS Mercantile, heart stamp from SU, Miss You Stamp from Close to My Heart, and chipboard) with a little Mod Podge you can create a 4x6 mini collage to mail.

On the back side...

This great stamp was bought from Terbear Collectibles. It's 3x5, but works fine for 4x6. Here it is!

Once you get your great Post Card stamp, you can then make lots of small surprises for snailmailing! Simply take a 4x6 picture and mount to chipboard, stamp the back, sign, and mail. Easy as pie!

Here are two more I made to send (only require 28 cents)...

Happy Saturday!

Some Friday Cards...

See the new Rough Type letters from Stampin' Up! in the above card?

Paper, Flower, and button from JBS Mercantile. Border punch from Stampin' Up!

See the Vintage Circle Tag hanging from the Very Vanilla Grosgrain Riboon in this last card? Those are both new items from Stampin' Up! Cake and Sentiment from Close to My Heart. Paper from JBS Mercantile.

Have a great weekend!

A little birdie is thinking of you

I just LOVE orange and brown! I LOVE distressing and tearing and making stuff look old. I have no idea where I get this from. I have some packrat traits, which concerns me a little. I LOVE shopping at the thrift stores and rummaging through boxes. Dynamo says I can spend hours looking at "lots of nothing." It just fascinates me to see old stuff and what things used to look like, how they were packaged, the choice of words, etc. Sometimes I feel like my craft projects go from vintage and distressed to clean and crisp. I like to float between the styles. It keeps things interesting. Whatever I feel that day is what I go with. A lot of the time who the card is for makes a difference in the style as well.

Here is a Thinking of You (TOU is my slang) card I recently did. I LOVE the old sheet music. Again, thank you thrift store!


Materials Used: Stampin' Up - Inspired By Nature Stamp Set, Black and Dusty Durango Classic Stampin Pads, Very Vanilla Grosgrain Ribbon, Shimmer Mist (on the bird and hard to tell by pic), Friends 24-7 Stamp Set

Other Items: TOU Stamp - Close to My Heart, Sewing Machine, Rhinestone brad and brown polka-dot paper - JBS Mercantile

Life is a Matter of Moments

It's the last week to celebrate National Scrapbooking Month with Stampin' Up!
Here's another 6 x 6 page that I recently did.
Life is a matter of moments and it's really important to capture those memories in some way. The 6 x 6 album is great for small photos. I don't do a lot of journaling on my pages, but I plan to start. The photo on this page was made to look like an old Polaroid(TM) instant photo using an online program called Poladroid. Be sure to check it out...it's free!

Materials Used in the above project include:

• Pink Piroutte Cardstock, Wild Wasbi Textured Cardstock, Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad, Elements of Style Stamp Set (Stampin' Up!)
• Pages from a really old dictionary, Lace (Thrift Store)
• Old Milk Bottle Cap, Red Polka Dot Ribbon, red flower, pink floral paper (Jenni Bowlin Studio)
• Sewing Machine