journals

Lauren's Template Challenge

So, I've been a big fan of Lauren Meader's for quite some time now, so when I found out she was opening up her own store I was beyond thrilled for her! And I was so excited because I knew she'd have amazing stuff for us too! Her store, My Time Made Easy, has now been open for 3 months, and so far each month has been more amazing then the last...and all of her templates and other items have been amazing! I've been playing with just about all the templates released to date, as well as a few of the stamp sets (So Sentimental and the Fanciful Flourishes sets are both my new favorite sets I own!).
I have decided lately to really start pursuing my passion and try to become published so that maybe one day I can be a designer! I don't know if it will ever happen, but I'm certainly trying to get myself out there and see what happens! I just so love making all sorts of cards, packaging, etc that not only gives me an outlet for my creativity, but it allows me to give really special gifts to my family and friends! Which I just love doing! So, thanks Lauren for helping us all to do this!!!

Anyway, Lauren has put out a challenge for this month and will feature a guest designer for April! WOW! Who wouldn't love to be choosen for that?!
I have another entry today...one of my favorite projects I've made to date!

I used the Card Catch All template for....cards! :-) I made this elegant card set for someone as a thank you gift. I love the black and white with just a few little touches of purple! It turned out really pretty together!

Here is the template by itself! I made the whole box and inserts in solid black and then added a purple satin ribbon to the bottom. I punched out a few small butterflies in purple and added the flowers with a rhinestone brad.


I then stamped the "Live well, laugh often, love much" sentiment from So Sentimental in purple and stamped the fram in black, also from So Sentimental (LOVE it!). I cut it out and added a purple frame under it - although there is a cut file for this (Thanks Lauren!) I totally forgot I had it so these were cut by hand! :)
I added another frame at the top that says For Your Kindness...and you guessed it! It's from So Sentimental as well! I'm telling you, this is a great set!

I made a set of 8 cards which all fit right inside the card carry all tote. I did make the divider, so I could divide up between Birthday and Thank You cards. I made 4 different designs for my cards, trying to keep them all simple and elegant...but I made 2 of each design (flipping the colors, to give a little more variety)


For the first card design, I decided to use the large flourish from the Fanicful Flourishes set and added just a few small butterflies. That fourish is so beautiful on its own that I didn't think it needed much else! I folded up the wings and attached the butterflies with mini pop dots to give it some dimension! I really like how these turned out!


For the second design, I cut out a few of the butterflies from Lauren's Flutters and Flowers Cut files! SO quick and easy with the Cricut machine! LOVE that feature that she offers!!! On each butterfly I added a small rhinestone to give a little something extra! Again, folded up the wings and added with a mini pop dot!
The sentiments were all from the So Sentimental set...such a versatile set! I know I'll be turning to that one again and again and again!

For this design, I decided to use the flowers I used to decorate the box! I just used a large purple prima flower and topped it with a plain white prima and added a clear rhinestone brad for a little sparkle! A few tiny butterflies (martha stewart punch), folded and pop-dotted on :) and they were done!

I decided for my last design to incorporate one of the medium sized flourishes and 2 of the large butterflies to pull all the designs together. I added the rhinestones again to the butterflies for that little sparkle and they were ready to go!

And, here it is all together!
Thanks for stopping by! I'd love to hear what you think!!!
Good luck to everyone!

Supplies:
Carstock - black, white, purple (from Walmart - bright textured cardstock pack)
Template - Card Catch All, Flutters and Flowers
Stamps - So Sentimental, Fanciful Flourishes
Other - prima flowers, medium clear rhinestone brads, 5/8" satin purple ribbon, martha stewart butterfly punch, rhinestone stickers

First Baby Carriage - Lauren Meader's template challenge

So I just got this new template this week and it's super cute! My pics didn't turn out great, so I'll try and reshoot them tomorrow...but the carriage is adorable! Another fabulous template! (Thanks Lauren!)

I used Lauren's new flourishes stamp set (my new FAVORITE set of stamps!) along with just a little bit of ribbon and a few buttons! I didn't want it to be too much, just sweet and simple.

Supplies:
template - Baby Buggy from Lauren Meader
cardstock - textured cardstock from AC Moore
buttons - michaels
stamps - Fanciful Flourishes
rhinestone brad
punch - martha stewart

Pink Violet Journal

This is one of many journals to come...I want to sell them at our church's upcoming Girls Weekend Out this coming June to raise money for our New Life for Girls Craft Nights!

I found these ADORABLE journals at Michaels for very cheap and altered them. I added the black and white mats, and ribbon. Then, I used my Big Shot and Nestabilities to cut out the rectangles and added the sentiment...which I LOVE - "Don't tell God how big your problems are, tell your problems how big God is!" AMEN!

I pulled out my brand spankin' new copic markers...yes, I know...I'm very far behind everyone! :) I've never really tried to color large images like this before, so this was literally my first attempt at shading, etc...what do you think?! I think it turned out pretty good, especially for my first attempt! I'd love to learn how to do it better!

I cut out all the individual leaves and flower and assembled together directly onto the front of the card.

The image is new from Papertrey Ink - Year of Flowers Violets. I am totally loving this set because the images are so elegant! Just beautiful!

Oh, and you can't tell, but the three tiny circles in the middle of the flower are covered with stickles for a touch of sparkle!

Supplies:
Cardstock - black/white
Stamps - Year of Flowers - Violets (PTI)
Ink - Copic Markers

JUGS Critter Template Challenge & Katie Cotton Challenge- post #4

Here's the last of the bunch! Isn't he adorable?!

I made him the same was as the pink one, only this one will be for my son, so I had to make him blue! I added some dark blue cardstock to give him a little something on his ears...oh, and he has a bushy tail!

Now, how cute will they look as a bunny family?! Totally cute! Can't wait til Easter morning!

JUGS Critter Template Challenge - post #3

Here we go again! My little pink bunny turned out so cute, that I went ahead and made another girly bunny...this one purple :)
See my last post for details!

JUGS Critter Template Challenge - post #2

This is my second entry for this week's JUGS challenge. I actually started making this little bunny today before I realized it was the challenge for this week!

It was so fun to make! SUPER easy and quick, and totally adorable!

I cut the basket out with my Cricut (OF COURSE!) onto a medium pink cardstock. Once the base was assembled, I cut her out of a light pink textured cardstock and adhered into place. I added a little color to her cheeks, eyelids, and nose...then popped on a pink flower with a rhinestone brad to give her a little sparkle!
Then, I made the basket by following Erin Lincoln's tutorial (although, I made a quick and easy template of all the pieces in Illustrator and cut with my cricut!!!). I added a little basket "weave" with a marker and even a few little eggs into the basket!
Finally, I added a strip of score-tape across the top of the basket and sprinkled some pink glitter on top!

LOVE how this turned out! I'm going to give this one to my oldest daughter (5)...and now I'll have to make one for each of my other two...to be continued!

Supplies:
Paper - cardstock from Michaels/AC Moore
Template - MTME Bouncing Baby Buggy, MTME Bouncing Bunny
Ink - Copic Markers
Other - glitter, score-tape, prima flowers, rhinestone brad, sponge dauber