Thankful for You Friendship Card

Hello, sweet friends! A sparkly welcome to my new friends/followers! I'm delighted you're here. :o) After a bout with a bug, I am back and have a little friendship card to share.

My arm injury remains an issue for most things, but I am grateful to be able to color again without pain! **happy dance** One of my crafty goals this year is to strengthen my Copic work. Coloring makes me happy and I am eager to improve.

Santa gave me purple goodies for Christmas, so I had no choice but to play with my favorite color again. ;) My fear of Copic over-saturation resulted in a lack of proper blending in the clothing, but rather than get negative or frustrated over it I'm just excited to do better next time. I am determined not to lose my joy during any blessed moment of crafting this year!

This sweetheart is Little LuLu by Lissy Bee Stamps, which is Elisabeth Bell's newest stamp adventure! I was blessed to win this from Elisabeth herself at the launch festivities and I was beyond excited to receive this in the mail from her. It felt extra magical. ♥ I love her to bits! I was a little heavy handed with the Glamour Dust accents, if there can be such a thing. ;) LuLu is stamped upon a Spellbinders Labels Four die and layered upon a Gold Labels Four.

I used several other new goodies in my simple little card, all of which I adore. The middle panels are made with the Die-Versions Whispers Butterfly Punch Border, which was a birthday gift from my sweetest friend. ♥ I've been anxious to use it, but had to finish Christmas cards first. :o) I love it so much! I used the die to emboss the purple layer beneath, pushing the butterflies through the openings a bit. Tattered Lace Beloved Borders trim the fluttery panels.

My new flowers are from Wild Orchid Crafts, including the gorgeous purple carnations and lily. Cheery Lynn Designs Mini Fanciful Flourishes frolic beneath. The sweet butterfly charm tucked within the blossoms is also new, as are the beautiful Maja Design papers. The floral and heart designs are from Ska Vi Ta En Fika, while the scrolling ivy is from Coffee in the Arbour.

The pretty hearts are Cheery Lynn Two of Hearts, which I topped with a pearl heart for triple the love. The sweet sentiment is from My Craft Spot's Tiny Tags 3, which I stamped upon a Spellbinders Nested Lacey Pennant. The fluttering border on top of my card is the Joy! Crafts Butterfly Edge, one of my favorite dies ever. It is layered for a slight shadow effect.

Thank you for fluttering on by! I wish you a beautifully blessed day. :o)

Inspiring challenges entered:
 *613 Avenue Create~ Techniques (Copics, die-cutting, sponged sky with distress ink)
 *Crafty Gals Corner: Sweethearts (Add a heart!)
 *Darnell's NBUS: Use new goodies and support her fabulous blog! (Either brand new or neglected since purchasing.) I have used new papers, image stamp, flowers, metal die, charm, and pearls!
 *Moving Along with the Times~ Dies and/or Punches (I used oodles of dies)
 *The Paper Shelter~ Punches and/or Dies (I used oodles of dies)

Butterfly Love

Hello, sweet friends! I hope you're having a sparkly week! I'm posting on the lovely My Craft Spot blog today, sharing this whimsical shaped card. Many of you have left such sweet comments on Kimberly's store-closing announcement on her blog, which warmed my heart. She is a treasure.

One of the many things I've always loved about Kimberly's products is that they inspire a journey. They're never something I squeeze in at the end of a project to complete it... rather, they are the beginning and encourage a heartfelt vision all on their own.

Today's crafty adventure features the fabulous Postage Stamps set, which is versatile and fun! (As I type this, there are still a few available for purchase.)

There are so many beautiful sentiment choices on this set, but I naturally gravitated to LOVE for my butterfly shaped card. This gorgeous svg file (Beautiful Butterfly) is from Cardmaking Paradise. Extra love is tucked within the wings, where tiny purple hearts guide this special messenger.

I layered two postage stamps to double up on love, as this butterfly has a heart as big as Kimberly's. :o) The papers are from Pion Design's My Precious Daughter collection and I used Wild Orchid Crafts pearl sprays for the antennae. 

Everything on my stamp is included in the set. The faded script background was first stamped on a scrap paper to use up most of the ink, as I wanted it to look well-traveled. Above my sentiment are classic postage goodies, made sweeter by Kimberly's circular options. (I forgot to stamp the actual circle around just for you, but of course she didn't neglect such a detail!) The bottom border is one of several available to add extra touches of beauty.

The stamps were cut out with the coordinating Postage Stamp Metal Dies and tucked within flourishing blossoms of love. ♥ The roses are from Wild Orchid Crafts, which are placed atop Cheery Lynn Designs' Mini Fanciful Flourishes. Recollections pearls are sprinkled within the vines and wings. To include a message on a pretty tag, a pocket is added to the back of the butterfly... enabling this to sit out as a home decor piece, if desired.

Thank you for fluttering on by and I wish you a blessed day! :o)

Wonderful challenges entered:

 *613 Avenue Create~ Anything Goes (Optional: Matching envelope)

 *Crafting From the Heart~ Anything Goes

 *DL.Art Thankful Thursday~ January Linky Party (Anything Goes)

 *Love to Create~ Anything Goes

 *Simon Wednesday Challenge~ Anything Goes

 *SweetStamps~ Something New (Papers, stamps, metal dies)

 *Through the Craft Room Door~ Anything Goes

 *Through the Purple Haze~ Anything Goes

 *Winter Wonderland~ Favorite Color Combination (Purple/Pink/Green)

 *Word Art Wednesday~ Encouraging/Uplifting sentiment

My 2014 Favorite Creations and My Craft Spot Closing

Happy New Year, my sweet friends! I pray you all have a blessed year of sparkling love and joy. :o) I was away for the holiday season to spend time with family and rest my healing arm, and am happy to be back to light crafting. :o)

Before I share my favorite creations from 2014 for a fun linky party, I have some sad news. Unfortunately, My Craft Spot is soon closing. :( Kimberly is the sweetest store owner I've ever had the privilege to know. Being on her Design Team has been a dream come true and I'm still stunned at its unexpected ending. I'm so thankful that Kimberly wanted me on her team and I will cherish every memory made... and will forever use her beautiful products.

Kimberly is having a huge sale before closing, so grab what you can before they are gone for good. Many things have sold out, but there are still a lot of fabulous products available at excellent prices! (You must enter through the links below to activate sale prices!)

Click HERE to go shopping!

You must enter through the above link to get this discount or enter the following html in your browser:

http://mycraftspotshop.com?code=30sale

(The discount shows up after you add an item to your shopping cart)

Have fun shopping!

Now for some crafty reminiscing! The lovely Debby is hosting a linky where everyone shares their favorite 2014 creations! Oodles of fun, right?! :o)

One reason I'm putting both of these things in one post is because most of my favorite projects used My Craft Spot goodies. Being on her team was a highlight of my year and I think that was portrayed in my work for her... so I'm including my favorites in this post to fill it with the warm fuzzies Kimberly's products inspired. :o)

I've opted to put my selections in two categories: my five favorite cards and 3D projects. Click on the title to visit the project posts for details. :o)

My Favorite 3D Projects:

1. Sliding Recipe Box


2. Christmas Tussie Mussie


3. Double Sliding Lid Box


4. Easter Box


5. Birthday Wand Centerpiece



My Favorite Cards:

1. Christmas in the Heart


2. God's Timing


3. With Love


4. Sweet Sailboat


5. O Holy Night

If you endured all of that, thank you for sticking with me! I have been truly blessed to have met some beautiful friends on this crafty journey and I look forward to seeing all of your inspiring projects this year! Have a sparkly weekend, friends! :o)

Bags and Boxes at My Craft Spot!

Hello, sweet friends! I apologize for being unable to visit the last few days. My mom had to be hospitalized and after some horrendously scary moments, I'm happy to say she is doing better. I'll be around soon to visit you. ♥

Today begins a fun new challenge at My Craft Spot with the theme of bags and boxes! It's especially lovely giving treats and small presents in homemade gift packaging. I look forward to seeing your creations!

I made a happy little gift bag for a kiddo, along with a coordinating card. My card was playing reindeer games on me, rolling a bit for the group shot. ;)

My box was made with one of Kimberly's marvelous SVG files. This Curvy Box file comes with 3 different window options, or you can cut it solid.

The window is backed with pretty vellum, chosen as it reminds me of snowing love! :o) The festive sentiment is from the Christmas Chalkboard stamp set, which I heat-embossed in wintry blue.

The whimsical (and beautiful!) tree-shaped sentiment is from Merry & Bright, which I stamped in Cottage Ivy and Rich Cocoa Memento inks. It is stamped within a tree cut file from the Silhouette Online Store. My tag is tucked beneath Sky Blue crinkle ribbon and sweet jingly bells.

My card features one of the many fabulous sentiments from Tiny Tags Christmas, which is cut out with the coordinating Tiny Tags metal dies. How I adore this precious stamp set. :o) I attempted some masking to incorporate Lady Bug Red, but then didn't position it perfectly after... sigh!

For my Rudolph, I used the Floppy Reindeer cut file from Little Scraps of Heaven. The Christmas tree is from Spellbinders' Fanciful Holiday, which is accented in Recollections red rhinestones. My snowdrift was made with Marianne Design's Fancy Edge with Lattice and my papers are from Doodlebugs Frosty Friends collection.

Be sure to visit My Craft Spot to see some of my teamies' sweet creations! You have two weeks for this challenge, so I hope you'll play along! :o) Thank you for visiting! Have a blessed day!

Challenges entered:

 *613 Avenue Create~ Anything Goes (Optional: Gift Packaging)

 *Christmas Cards All Year 'Round~ Anything but Square or Rectangle

 *Cute Card Thursday~ Bells and/or Bows

 *Love to Create~ Create a Scene

 *Simon Wednesday Challenge~ Bling it On

 *Word Art Wednesday~ Encouraging/Uplifting sentiment

Mini Christmas Cards!

Happy Tuesday, dear friends! I'm posting on the My Craft Spot blog today, sharing tiny Christmas blessings!

Craftily speaking, are you feeling the Christmas time crunch? This past weekend was my last chance to add to my contributions for the I Feel the Love Project Christmas recipients. We have been creating for sick children (and their parents) who are spending the holiday in the hospital.

Inspired by the incredibly sweet Tiny Tags Christmas stamp set, I tapped into my simpler side to create a set of mini cards.

Tiny packages... big heart! 

All of the beautiful Tiny Tags Christmas sentiments were cut out with the coordinating Tiny Tags metal dies. The precious little mittens are hanging by a bow of Chocolate traditional twine. While I always love adding ribbon to my projects, I especially love it on small cards like this where detailing will innately be minimal. I used Harvest Wine crinkle ribbon here, one of my favorite shades.

The only thing sweeter than a festive cupcake is a miniature version delivered by Santa himself! (How I adore this stamp set!) The swirled frosting is accented with garnet (not black as it appears!) and green rhinestones and topped with sparkling holly and berries. Snow White crinkle ribbon and Chocolate traditional twine are my trims.

Lastly, a happy hot cocoa bear to bring joy to a precious child's heart. The cut file is Yummy Cocoa by KaDoodle Bug Designs. Garnet rhinestones accent the dollops of whipped cream for touches of peppermint. Sky Blue crinkle ribbon serves as a fluttery wintry breeze and touches of Star Dust were added throughout.

My papers are from various Docrafts Papermania collections and my bows are centered with Star Dusted Wild Orchid Crafts roses.

Thank you for fluttering on by! Have a beautiful day. :o)

Sweet challenges entered:

 *52 Christmas Card Throwdown~ Pick a Previous Challenge (August Stash: Glitter and Bling)

 *613 Avenue Create~ Anything Goes (Optional: Create Your Own.. which I followed!)

 *Christmas Card Challenges~ Anything Goes (Optional: Green)

 *Cupcake Inspirations~ Photo Inspiration (Ruby, White, Forest): (Cupcake and polar bear cards)

 *Simon Wednesday Challenge~ Christmas/Holidays

 *SweetStamps~ Sparkle

 *The Ribbon Girl~ Anything Goes Card

 *Through the Purple Haze~ (Use a Sentiment)

 *Winter Wonderland~ North/South Pole (Polar bear card)

Friendship Gift Box!

Hello, crafty friends! I'm posting on the My Craft Spot blog today, sharing this pretty little friendship gift box! :o)

Like many of you, I am ecstatic that Kimberly is delving into SVGs! The Present Box cut file is fantastic and the options with it are endless. Ever since I made a Christmas one, I've been antsy to create a non-holiday version. One reason I love this file is that it can be used for any occasion... or just because. :o)

The purpose of this one is to celebrate friendship! I am blessed with an especially lovely friend and I used some of my favorite My Craft Spot products to design her a box of happiness. The slightly dark pictures better portrayed the paper colors, so I kept them as is.

She treasures nature, so frolicking around the box are butterflies from the Jar Full of Flowers stamp set. I colored them with Copics in blues and purples, fussy-cut them out, and sprinkled the wings with Glamour Dust.

The sweet sentiment is from Stamping All Around Spring, which I cut out with the coordinating Tiny Doilies metal dies and layered with one of the gorgeous Tiny Doilies 2 metal dies. The shapes in that set are so beautiful and I always enjoy an opportunity to use one. To hang it, I glued it to the bow portion of the Memory Box Precious Snowflakes set.

The big poofy bow that comes with this cut file is spectacular and I love adding a little surprise to its center. Since the theme of my project is ever-blossoming friendship, I tucked in a rose and placed the tiniest butterfly atop it. She's my special messenger to wish my friend joy every day. :o) (I truly am this sappy.)

The pretty papers are part of an early Christmas gift from my sweetheart. :o) They are from Maja Designs' Vintage Autumn Basics collection and are inked with Walnut Stain distress ink. The sweet roses are from Wild Orchid Crafts.

Have a blessed day! :o)

Challenges entered:

 *613 Avenue Create~ Anything Goes (Optional: Calendar)

 *Dream Valley~ True Blue

 *Live and Love Crafts~ With Love

 *Love to Create~ Get in Shape

 *Love to Scrap!~ Shape Shift

 *Papertake Weekly~ Anything Goes

 *Pile It On~ Sprinkle It (I sprinkled Glamour Dust on the four butterflies)

 *Through the Craft Room Door~ Anything Goes

 *Word Art Wednesday~ Encouraging/Uplifting sentiment

Sentiment-Focused at My Craft Spot!

Happy December, my sweet friends! I hope you had a sparkly weekend. :o)

Today begins a fun new challenge at My Craft Spot! This week we want to see creations featuring a sentiment as the focal point. With so many gorgeous stamp sets available, the hardest part is choosing one to design around. :o)

I still have several Christmas blessings to make for charity and my loved ones, so I used this challenge to showcase one of my favorite sentiments from Kimberly's newest release. :o)

Doesn't this greeting fill the heart with joy? It is from the O Holy Night stamp set, which I adore! It so beautifully celebrates the true meaning of Christmas. ♥

I framed the heavenly words with snowflake flourishes from Kimberly's Ornate Labels- Christmas stamp set. The lovely papers are from Pion Design's Silent Night collection, which I've been saving for this perfect sentiment. The heartwarming scene is surrounded in nature's beauty, courtesy of stunning flowers from Wild Orchid Crafts.

Pretty crinkle ribbon in Light Denim lies atop a layer of wide lace from The Ribbon Girl. The bow is centered with a Wild Orchid Crafts scalloped pearl and I tucked several Cheery Lynn Mini Fanciful Flourishes (right and left) into my flowers.

A little closer in on the bottom blue paper to better show the pretty snowflakes, which are centered with tiny pearls. The heart pearl and metal filigree corner are also from WOC, while my card base was created with Cheery Lynn's Horizon Square Boutique Stacker Frames. The central focal point is cut out with a Spellbinders Standard Circle (small) and layered upon a Picot Edge Circle.

Thank you for fluttering on by today! I wish you a day of love and joy. :o)

Challenges entered:

 *Cheery Lynn Designs~ Tis the Season

 *Christmas Card Challenges~ Anything Goes

 *Moving Along with the Times~ Inspired by a Song (O Holy Night)

 *Simon Wednesday Challenge~ Anything Goes

 *SweetStamps~ Christmas Spirit

 *Through the Purple Haze~ All About Christmas