Sailing On

This is a little card for a little boy.  

The sailboat  is cut from GYPSY WANDERINGS.  And the water is cut from the GIVE A HOOT cartridge.  After cutting the water, I ran it through the Cuttlebug in the Divine Swirls folder. I thought it would give the water a look of moving waves.  I then took a white Color Box ink pad and randomly  hit it.  And lastly I went over the embossed swirls with pale blue glitter glue. I cut the sailboat twice and then cut the sail off one and glued it to the other.  I wanted the sail to be a different color than the boat. The ribbon I used is from Stampin Up.  And the chipboard letter blocks are from K&Company.  I found them on a clearance shelf at Target.  All paper is from DCWV.

Challenges

My Sheri Crafts   All About Boys

An Irish Blessing

February has come to an end, and March is upon us.  And that means the "luckiest holiday of the year" is right around the corner.  Yes, St. Patrick's Day, is not only a lucky day, it is such a fun day.  Probably more Lucky Charms cereal is sold this time of the year, so all kindergarteners can graph, count and sort them.  We all tend to look for rainbows in the sky and just hope that somewhere a pot of gold will appear.

I made this card for my dad.  He is 87 years old and of Irish decent.

 One of my fondest memories as a child was playing with a music box he had.  It was a statue of a knight.  And it stood on a round base that turned.  When the base was wound, it would play "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling".  My dad's mom. my grandmother, was born on St. Patrick's Day, March 17th.  So it was always a special day in our family

The sentiment is on the inside of the card.

I hope my daddy likes the card as much as I enjoyed making it.  

The cut of the card base, hat, and shamrocks come from the cartridge A CHILD'S YEAR.  The paper I used is from Recollections and Autumn Leaves.  I created the print for the front of the card and sentiment inside on the computer, using the Lucida Handwriting font.  The ribbon is by Offray and was purchased at JoAnns.  

I wish you all this Irish blessing.

Challenge

Cricut Card Challenge  St Patrick's Day

Crazy About Cricut   A Green Project

My Creative Time   St Patricks Day Theme

Crafting With Christina   St Patrick's Theme

Boots are Absolutely Fabulous

     I have only had one pair of cowboy boots in my life.  And that was when I was a little girl.  I have not been interested in them as an adult.  I guess because I am not very tall.  Well, actually I am short.  And I don't think they look good on short people.
     But if I were to have a pair of them, I would  have a pair  like these.

I used my Gypsy to make the card.  The boot comes from the OLD WEST cartridge.  I used the gypsy to weld two boots together.  The card opens at the top.

     The boot come s from the OLD WEST cartridge, and is cut at 5.25".  It will fit in an A2 envelope.  I used paper from K&Company and Recollections.  I used Color Box chalk to ink around the edge of the boot and boot straps for a distressed look.  I added a spur to the heel of the boot.  It is also from the OLD WEST cartridge.  The center of the spur  is a tiny red brad.  And the silver spur paper is from AC Specialty.  The swirl is cut from the ELEGANT CAKES cartridge and cut at 1".I added some small red rhinestones to the swirl.  I also used small god beads to add interest and style to the boots.  And lastly I tied a red bow mad of bandana ribbon to the top of the boot.  The sentiment is from Scrappy Moms stamps and says "absolutely Fabulous".  

     The inside of the card has small gold beads with another Scrappy Mom's stamp that says,"Your the Best".  

      

     I am so happy with the outcome of the card.  I can't wait to send it to someone, and hope they will like it as much as I do.  Oh, how I wish I could wear cowboy boots!

Challenges

Always Crafting  Whimsical Wednesday Challenge  Destress

Jitterbuggin   Make a shaped card

Fantabulous Cricut Challenge  Make a Shaped card

  

A New Award

I am so thrilled and honored that Glenda at Glendas Cards has sent me A Thing of Beauty Award.  Grace at Gracenotes For Today created this beautiful and special award.

There are some Rules of Acceptance for the Award!

1. You can right click on the award and save it to your desktop so it can be added to your blog.

2. Choose 5 worthy Recipients and list them. Give a reason why you think their blog or work is special!

3. Then list 5 things about yourself including one thing you enjoy about crafting.

One small request. It is not a rule but Grace would greatly appreciate a link back to her blog attached to the award badge when you display it on your site. Grace has kept the requirements few and simple so people will not feel it is a chore to accept the award. It is meant to be fun and encouraging! Since there are only 5 recipients each time, select them carefully and thoughtfully.

This is a very difficult decision to make, because of so many beautiful blogs full of such amazing work.  Here are my five.

     1.  Stephanie at Always Crafting  Stephanie's Whimsical Wednesday Challenge is spectacular ant the projects she does are gorgeous.

     2.  Audrey at Cute and Some has a wonderful blog full of great information and amazingly elegant projects. 

     3.  Jennifer at Musings of a Crafty Mom has such a wide variety of projects.  And each and every one of them are first class fabulous.

     4.  Andrea at Divine Domesticity Has a beautiful blog full of so many techniques and pretty designs.

     5.  Mary at CARDZ TV  has such an adorable blog of videos that are full of cute and pretty projects.  And Mary has such a sweet spirit on her videos.   

And now here are a few things about me.  I love to sew and learn new sewing techniques.  I enjoy traveling to new places and revisiting some of my favorite ones.  I have two of the sweetest and cutest little dogs ever!  I love antiques and enjoy collecting vintage tablecloths, delphite blue and jadite glassware.  And I enjoy paper crafting because it is another outlet for my left-handed, right brain creativity.

Hem Your Blessings

I have been wanting to make a card with a sewing machine on it for a good while.  I love the cut of the sewing machine on the NIFTY FIFTIES cartridge.  So that is where I began.

After cutting out the machine, I just thought it was missing something.  I liked the colors I chose for the machine, but I thought it a little drab looking.  So I remembered I had some little thin embossing folders with small dots, mini sewing stitches, and little buttons.  That was the answer to my problem.  I used the buttons and small dots folders and got the look I was going for.  

I then took some DMC embroidery thread and wrapped it around the spool of thread of the sewing machine.  And then continued with the thread, as if I were threading the machine all the way down to the needle. I added a small dimensional sticker to the machine that says "With Love".  I then cut the frame out using the CELEBRATIONS cartridge and threaded ribbon through it.  I added a little row of rick rack to the base for some additional color.  And then finished the card with three small buttons.  

The inside sentiment says "Hem your blessings with thankfulness, Sew they won't unravel".  The papers are from The Paper Studio and DCWV.  The little sticker is from Studio 112.  And the rick rack and buttons are from my sewing stash.  

Challenges

Fantabulous Cricut Challenge   emboss it.

Lindascreativity   embossing

Paper Playtime   anything with technology  

Tuesday Throwdown    3-D 

Leiebster Blog Award

Jen over at Musings of a Crafty Mom was so kind to give me this award.  Hey Jen,  Thanks so very much!

The Liebster Blog Award is given to bring new blogs into the light. It's a great way to share blogs that might not otherwise be noticed and should be. As a recipient of this award I am to pick 3 - 5 blogs, pass it on and do the following:
             Let them know you chose them.
            Copy and paste the award to your blog.
            Have faith that your followers will rally and show their crafty love back out to those awarded.
            And have fun!!
And so here without further ado here they are.

1. Vivi @         http://vivienpapel.blogspot.com/
   JoVan @   http://cardsbyjovan.blogspot.com/
   Kim @      http://mycardlife.blogspot.com/
   Shtale @   http://scrapbookingcraze.blogspot.com/
   Pholly @   http://phollyphlox.blogspot.com/
   
   So go take a visit to these blogs and leave them some love!
   Hey Jen, Thanks for the award.  I take this as a huge compliment coming from a Gator! LOL
   
   
      
       

A Great Giveaway

Cindy at the Scrapping Room is giving away some awesome blog candy! 

#1. The Your Story Bundle-- which includes . . .  

• 12" YourStory book binder/laminator machine
• 12-9x11.5 Laminating Pouch
• 12-4.5 x 65 Laminating Pouch
• 1-Paper Trimmer
• 1-8.5 x 11 black binder
• 1-8x8 White binder w/window
• 1- 4x6 black binder linen
• 1-8.5x11 Binder Brown
• 1-12x12 black binder
• 1- user manual

Gift #2. Is the Christmas Village Cricut Cart; and

Gift #3. A Precision Scissor Pack

Now for the how to's and the when . . .

1. Must become or be a follower and leave a comment with contact information.
2. Link the giveaway to your sidebar.
3. Post about the giveaway on your blog.

That's 3 different comments one for each entry. She will use random number generator to select 3 separate winners, the first drawn will win the Yourstory, the 2nd number will win the cartridge and the 3rd number will win the Scissor Pack. The winners will be chosen on March 6, 2011 and if you leave your e-mail she will contact you and if not she will post and you will have 5 days to contact her or she will choose another winner.

Flaunt It Friday #12

The weeks Flaunt It Friday  challenge is to use a specific emblem cut from the FOREVER YOUNG cartridge.

The papers are from DCWV and The Paper Studio. The pink paper and black frame were embossed using the Cuttlebug.The black frame was then stamped with a gold inkpad from 

Color Box. The lady is cut from FOREVER YOUNG.  The Flourish is from the PICTURESQUE cartridge with glitter glue added. And the little bird is cut from the GIVE A HOOT cartridge.  I added small gold beads from Recollections and ribbon Hobby Lobby.  The sentiment stamp is from Scrappy Moms Stamps.  

Challenge

Flaunt It Friday #12  FOREVER YOUNG

My Sheri Crafts   All About Girls

My Favorite Season

Most people would think that with me being a teacher, that I would claim summer as my favorite season.  But, that would be incorrect.  My favorite season by far is FALL.  I love to breathe the cool air and watch the colors of the world change right before my eyes.  But there are other reasons too.  Fall is football season.  And there is nothing better than watching Bama play.  Roll Tide Roll!!  And lastly, three of my favorite holidays are in fall... Halloween, Thanksgiving, and My Birthday!

I am just so pleased with the finished product of this card.  The cake is cut from SWEET TREATS, and the pumpkin and leaves are cut from the SPEAKING OF FALL cartridge.  I embossed the card base and the cake using the Cuttlebug.  After embossing the cake, I used a tan Color Box stamp to go over the embossing of the cake.  The paper, and rhinestones are from The Paper Studio.  The ribbon was in my stash.  And the little leaf brad is from Oriental Trading.  I am not sure where the sentiment stamp came from.  But I do know I really like this card.  Maybe because it reminds me of my favorite time of the year.  

Challenges

  Cooking With Cricut  Embossing 

Fantabulous Cricut Challenge  Weather Forecast  What's Your Favorite Season

Strong Coffee and Strong Hairspray

I have a good friend who uses the most hairspray of anyone I know.  And it is cheap hairspray too.  I told her that it is not good for her hair and is hard to wash out.    She told me that she wanted her hair to hold and didn't care if she had to sandblast the hairspray out of her hair.   We had a big laugh.  And I will say that her hair does always look perfect.  So I guess it works for her.

I love old Fire King Jadeite glassware.  It is one of the many things I like to collect.  Here is a coffee cup.

When I saw the Cricut Cardz challenge is week is to use a cup, I knew just what kind of cup I wanted to use.  Well, when i saw that the Jitterbuggin challenge was to make a birthday card using a sketch, ding, ding, ding, bells went off in my head.  I knew I wanted to used my new stamps from Crafty Secrets to make her a birthday card.  

I have always said that coffee can never be strong enough for me.  The first time I saw this stamp, I just had to have it.  And it has made the perfect birthday card for my friend!  LOL!  There is a cafe in town that serves the most devine cake with butter cream frosting.  And the slices are about 8" tall.  Yum!  So the inside of the card says lets celebrate your birthday at Olexas with our favorite cake and coffee. She is going to love this card! 

The circles were cut with the LACEY LABELS cartridge.  The coffee cup is from the CHRISTMAS 

CHEER cartridge.  The paper is from DCWV.  I used and EK punch to create the border.  The rick rack is from my massive sewing stash.  And the cute stamps are from Crafty Secrets.  

Challenges

Cricut Cardz Challenge  use a cup cut

Jitterbuggin Challenge  Make a birthday card using the sketch.  Add rick rack.

Whimsical Wednesday Guest Designer

I am thrilled and honored that Stephanie over at Always Crafting has asked me to be the guest designer this week for the Whimsical Wednesday Challenge.  Stephanie's work is drop dead gorgeous!  So the mere fact that she recognizes and likes my work just inspires me even more.  Thanks Stephanie!   The challenge  this week is to do a project inspired by this photograph using the colors yellow, black, and one other in the photo.

Don't you just love this room.  How great would it be to be curled up in that cosy chair, in front of the fireplace reading one of those great books!

 Here is the card I made.  

In making the card, I wanted to not just have the three colors but also have a feel for the lines and textures in the room.  I began with the artwork over the fireplace,  I cut the frame from the SENTIMENTALS cartridge  The large figurine is cut from the PICTURESQUE cartridge.  And I added a couple of clusters of grapes to the artwork.  (When making the card I found that there is only one cut on one cartridge of grapes.)  And that is the PAPER DOLL DRESS UP cartridge.  I then added  a piece of ironwork,  inspired by the firescreen.  It was cut from ORNAMENTAL IRON. 

 The flourishes in the lower right corner have a sense of draping on the card as the the throw does on the chair and ottoman.  The rusty- rose color is the third color I chose to work with on this project. 

 I created the yellow flowers from the WALK IN MY GARDEN cartridge and gave them a butter cream yellow brad for the center.  I added the small checked ribbon to the top of the card as a representation of the lines in the stone fireplace. When adding the yellow ribbon and bow to the card, I used two shades and textures of yellow. I wanted to use something light and airy as inspired by the large windows and window treatment.  And lastly I added a sentiment stamp from Whimsy Stamps and a small dimensional sticker from Studio 112. 

 Papers used are from The Paper Studio, K&Company, and Stampin' Up.  The black checked ribbon is from a local smocking shop, the butter cream yellow ribbon is from Stampin' Up and the sheer butter cream ribbon is  made by The Ribbon Boutique from Hobby Lobby.  All distressing was done with a god Color Box stamp.

Now, go on over to the Whimsical Wednesday Challenge and show us how this photograph inspires you.  You will also want to visit Margie 's blog at Bella Bug Creations  for some more inspiration.  Margie does such beautiful work.  You will not want to miss seeing her wonderful projects. Thanks for stopping by and I would love for you to become a follower here at A Little Bit Of Detail.  Have a great day!

Challenge

My Creative Time  Use Walk in my Garden cartridge and include flowers

A Walk on the Wild Side

Take a walk on the wild side and do it in style.  How fun it is to wild with some vibrant colors.  Take a look.

This is a "Thinking of You" card to hopefully bring some cheer to a friend.  The boot is cut from the PAISLEY cartridge.  The papers used are from The Paper Studio.  The border is created with an EK border punch. 

 The lower left corner stamp is from The Girls Paperie by Margie. 

 And the upper left corner stamp is from Studio 112.  The flowers, rhinestones and brads are from Recollections.  The ribbon is from my stash.    

I do hope that this will bring happy thoughts and cheer to my friend.  

Challenges

Paper Playtime  Animal Print

Valentines for my Kindergarten Class

What an exciting day we are having today here at school.  This morning everyone brought their valentines to pass out.  I get baskets at the $1.00 store for their containers.

 I like to use baskets because they are a good size, and they have handles which make it easy for the children to carry.  We line them up in the hall outside our classroom.  I send groups of 4-5 out to deliver their valentines to their friends baskets.  It is a great reading experience for the children.  Most have no trouble recognizing their friends names.  These are the valentines I made for the children.

The inside of the card says, "Happy Valentines Day,  I WOOF You".  Our class party is this afternoon.  That is when the children will get their baskets and open their valentines.  

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

Challenges

My Sheri Crafts

Happy 102 Birthday

What a great day Monday will be.  Not only is it Valentine's Day but it is the birthday of a very special lady,my friend Ruth.  I am so excited for her to be celebrating her 102 birthday.  I have gone to church with her my entire life.  She has been a dear friend and a part of our family for as long as I can remember.

Ruth is such a special lady.  She is in amazingly great health.  She has an incredible memory, great wit, is super intelligent, and still insist on cutting her own lawn.  This spring she told me one Sunday morning at church how excited she was, because she got a new lawnmower.    Ruth probably bakes more cakes than anyone I know.  She is always taking a cake to someone.  Her (made from scratch) carmel cake is the best ever.  And she has given me the recipe.

This is the card I am taking to her for her Valentine Birthday!

The heart is cut from the SWEETHEARTS cartridge.  The papers are from AC Specialty and The Paper Studio.  The ribbon is from Michael's.  The heart border is made with a Martha Stewart punch.  And the puffy sticker is from K&Company.   The heart was embossed in the Cuttlebug.  

And here is the inside of the card.

Ilook forward to giving Ruth her card and wishing her many more great birthdays.

This photo was taken this fall.  Isn't she just adorable!!!Happy Birthday Ruth!

With Heartfelt Sympathy

This week I received an email that a friend's husband died.  He had been  undergoing cancer treatment for several years.  And while he had been sick for some time.  No one thought he was near the point of death.  It was such a surprise to us when we heard of his passing.  This is the card I made for my friend.

The butterfly was cut from the HOME ACCENTS cartridge.  The papers are from K&Company.  The sentiment is a rubber stamp from  Hobby Lobby as well as the ribbon.  The border was done with a Martha Stewart border punch.  As difficult as it can be to make sympathy cards, I am very pleased with this one.  

Challenges

Paper Cutz  Ladybugs Bees or Butterflies

A Valentine of Blue and Green

Here is my latest Valentine card.  The card is centered around the colors blue, green, and white. All papers are from K&Company.  The ribbon is from Hobby Lobby.  The tag is from K&Company and the little disk flower and small tag are from Studio 112,($1.00 bin at JoAnn's).  The teaset is cut from the HERITAGE cartridge at 2.75".  It is toped with a small pale green peal from Reflections.  The small blue pearls are also from Reflection.  The Love You stamp is from Michaels.  I cut the borders with a large and small heart borders punch from Martha Stewart.  The white border was embossed with the swiss dots folder in the Cuttlebug

Challenges.
Cricut Cardz Challenge   Valentine card using blue, green, and white.

A Valentine Card

I am really behind in making Valentine cards.  So this week I have got to put it in full gear.  I had planned to spend a good portion of the weekend working on Valentine cards, but those plans got changed.  My mom wanted to go shopping.  So we did that.  She and my dad are both in their 80's and in reasonably good health for their age.  However, my mom has Macular Degeneration, and it has advanced a good bit in the last year.  She does still drive, and is a good driver.  She just does not go outside her "comfort zone".  And she also has difficulty distinguishing between some colors.  So we went shopping all day Saturday.  It was a lot of fun, but we were very tired by the end of the day.  I ate dinner at my parents house and then helped my mom do some things on her computer.  Needless to say, I did not get home until late Saturday night.  Today was church, lunch and then home to work on cards.  But my mom called and wanted to go to Home Depot and select paint for the laundry room and a hall.  So off I went again.  Now it is Sunday night and I am finally working on cards.

This card is made with papers from DCWV.  I used the CRICUT LITE CELEBRATE WITH FLOURISH.  The top layer of the heart I embosses with a Sizzix folder in the Cuttlebug.  The colors are distorted in the photo.  The colors are teal, ecru, and pink.  I don't know why the pink looks orange.  I guess it is the lighting.  I added pink Stickles to the stripes of the heart and added three pearls for a little more flourish.  The little flowers are ecru with silver threads in them.   They have silver brads for the centers.  I purchased them from Michaels.  To the upper left of the heart there is a small"vintage" rose sticker.  I used an ecru and silver braided ribbon to pull it all together. And lastly I added a LOVE stamp also from Michaels.  This card is much prettier than the photo shows. I wish I had better lighting.  

Challenges

Always Crafting   Include a heart, flower, and a Cricut cut.

Lots of Lips

Now, I know that I am no Andy Warhol.  But I do like his work.  So, we I saw that over at Flaunt It Friday  that the new challenge was to do a project using the lips from the INDIE ART cartridge, I started thinking. The lips reminded me of Marilyn Monroe.  And Marilyn Monroe reminded me of Andy Warhol's art.

 

So I decided to make a card in the Andy Warhol style. Using the same image several times, but with bright colors not typical of the object.  So this is my take on the lips from INDIE ART.  

The lips were cut at 1.75" in four different colors.  They were also cut in the shadow image in darker shades of the same color. And they were cut again in the blackout image in black.  The paper is from The Paper Studio, and the rhinestones are from Recollections.  In keeping with the same theme, I used the lips image on the inside of the card. I added the Smack image for the sentiment, and three rhinestones for some bling.  

The card is not as glamed up as I usually like, however, I am very please with the outcome.  I got the look I was going for.Thank you Andy Warhol for the inspiration!

Challenges

Flaunt It Fridays  Indie Art lips

Jitterbuggin  Non-Traditional Valentine  No red or pink

Cricut Cardz Challenge  Valentine for a man

Paper Cutz  Valentine card with no hearts

Happy Chinese New Year

Today was very exciting at our school today.  We had our annual Chinese New Year Celebration.  The day began with the kindergarten  parade.  There was a big dragon, lots of lanterns, banners, masks, fans, and musical instruments!!  It was so much fun.  We made a huge dragon for our bulletin board in the hall.  Our class lead the parade with our dragon and beautiful masks!  The school was full of parents and friends.  All other grades sat outside their classrooms in the hall to see the parade.  It was such a great event!!

Several of the teachers at our school had plans to go eat at one of our favorite Chinese restruants  to celebrate the beginning of the new year.  However we had freezing rain this afternoon so we all were anxious to get home from school.  It took forever for all the children to be picked up from school.  Many businesses closed at the same time as schools were dismissing.  Therefore all streets were parking lots and wrecks were everywhere.  But, eventually all children were pocked up and we were able to go home.

This is the card I made to celebrate the new year.

The lanterns are cut from the PAGODA cartridge at 4", 4.25" and 4.50".  After cutting the lanterns I trimmed off the ribbon and tassels from the cut.  I added tiny rope ribbon to the lanterns.  And I frayed it at the bottom for the tassels.  I used K&Company for the paper.  The red foil base paper is from AC Specialty.  The red and gold trim at the bottom of the card came from some of my sewing stash.  The sentiment I created on the computer.  I inked the edges with gold ink.   

I found several cute sentiments on the internet.  The inside sentiment is a digital download.  I just thought it was so cute when I saw it.  

Tomorrow, one of the parents of a child in our class is coming to tell us about his trip to China and show us his photos.  We are excited to hear and see what he has.  

Challenges

My Sheri Crafts  Chinese New Year or Asian Theme

Daring Cardmaking Asian Theme or anything with a rabbit