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Thursday, May 29, 2014

Graduation Cards 2014


Hi friends, thought I would stop in with a few graduation cards I made this year! I recently bought this For the Graduate set used online. I already had the matching dies, and I did not have a graduation set amongst all my stamps, craziness!


It was a good time to invest in the set, too. My brother recently finished electrician school, my SIL recently finished college, and a friend's son just graduated high school.

This was for my brother:

This was for my SIL, I made these to match the gift bags I'd bought for their presents. :)

This one is for our friend's son. I used the colors from his high school and added a pocket to the inside for a gift card.


Thanks for stopping by! :) 

Monday, May 26, 2014

Soft and Sweet Sock Monkey (TCPTUES267)





Hi all! It's Tuesday, so I am "swinging" by today with a sweet card for TCP Tuesday 267!

Here are the Details on how you can join in on the fun:
  1. Every other Tuesday a new challenge will be posted here on the TCP Blog as well as on our Splitcoaststampers forum and ourFacebook page.
  2. If you want to play along you just upload your design using the InLinkz button on the TCP blog. If you want to display your pretties on Splitcoaststampers use keyword TCPTUES267. Only the entries uploaded to the Inlinkz button will be considered for Swanky Stamper at the end of the month.
  3. You must have your project posted by the Monday, 12 midnight EDT before the next challenge to be eligible to win the Cat Cash.
  4. Cards and projects are not required to use of a Cat’s Pajamas Stamp or CutUps die.
  5. On the following TCP Tuesday, the winner will be chosen at random from the previous challenge and will receive a Cat Cash Voucher for $10 or $15 if a TCP product is used.
  6. At the end of the month, The Swanky Stamper will be selected from all the weekly entries. The Swanky Stamper will receive some of the stamps from our next release and get to play along with us at our Pajamas Party and Blog Hop. AND… They’ll even get a special spot in the Gallery highlighting the project that won them the gig and a snazzy badge to display on their blog.
  7. The Swanky Stamper will be announced the First Monday of the month on Splitcoaststampers, Facebook page and the TCP blog.

Sometimes, when I design a card, I will select a keyword or 2 that help me dictate my design. In this case, I chose the words "soft" and "sweet" so those were the words running through my head as I selected my papers, inks, and stamps. I brought in soft texture in with the velvet ribbons.
I used Sock It To Me stamps and the Luggage Tags CutUps on my card. This is a wonderful set for paper piecing. I think I've pieced it every time I've used it! :)

I gave my sock monkey some soft patterned jammies to wear! You may also notice that up to the left of his head, I used the Lacy Floral Doily CutUps  as a stencil and used my new Gelatos instead of a spray ink to fill it in. Fun effect!

That's it for me today! Hope you can come play at the Curtain Call! Thanks for stopping by! :)


Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Happy Blogoversary to Me


Hi all, welcome to my 728th post as today is the 4th anniversary of this blog! I can hardly believe it's been 4 years since I began this fun and crafty journey with you all. I made a card to celebrate. :)
I love this sentiment "Life: Paved with success, and a bit of road construction along the way." That's so funny and also so true, don't you think? 4 years ago, I was an inactive full-time SAHM with three little boys. Now I'm a triathlon training/racing, working 2 part time jobs, published artist, owning and running a website, Cat Pack member, mom with three *much* bigger boys!

It's funny how life changes, I think I may be just as busy now as I was then! Having little ones and staying home can be so overwhelming. Hats off to *all* the moms out there, because I'm convinced it's all hard.

And while my life hasn't always been easy, and there have been some "speed bumps" I certainly would not trade one second. As the incomparable, and very wise Maya Angelou once said "I wouldn't take nothing for my journey now." 
This card is a slider card, super fun to make. I used my Travelin' Man stamps, my Slider CutUps and my Easy Rosettes CutUps. 
It will be interesting to see where this Green Bun ends up. As for me, I'm looking forward to my 40th birthday this December, and also looking ahead to all the possibility a new decade will bring! I also have an exciting new opportunity that will begin in July, it's going to be amazing! :)


Lots of Love, blog friends!



Saturday, May 17, 2014

Fun and Bright Confetti Cards (Reverse Confetti May Color Challenge)


Hi crafty peeps! I have called a moratorium on housework for me today. The boys are cleaning the kitchen and I am doing "Whatever-the-heck-I-want" with a dash of "deal-with-it-or-have-the-crabbiest-Mom-alive" because when you are working multiple part-time jobs, training for a race, AND getting three kids to each of their multiple activities/schools all the time, sometimes you get a wee bit cranky! ;) But, now I am much happier because I'm not doing housework and I got to make two cards-yea! :)

So, I used to make 2-3 stamp orders per month from different companies. But these last months, we have been focused on paying off bills and saving money, so I have not ordered any new stamps (except this one set) in at least 3 months, maybe longer? Am I feeling all right? Yes, just been very busy anyway (see above). The other day I decided I have been doing really well on not spending and I had been wanting to order some stamps from Reverse Confetti since they opened (like a year ago?) and finally bit the bullet and made my order. :) It came so fast and (as knew I would be!) I am so thrilled with the quality of the stamps, and these fun images! I got these sets:

Freida Fox, Peacock Pretties, Oliver Owl, Label Me, Label Me Confetti Cuts, and Class Act.  Now, I'll be honest and tell you I wanted about 10 other things, but needed to rein myself in. ;)

These cards are for the Reverse Confetti Color Challenge for May. The colors are: Orange, Light Pink, and Dark Pink.
I actually made several elements for one card and then decided it was too much and should spread the love out between 2 cards. So glad I did, because I got to use all but 2 of my new things. 

My first card features this incomparably adorable fox! When I saw other designers using this set, I knew I would have to have it. You see, we had a fox family living under our house when we bought it, they came back several years in a row. The kits are adorable, but the dead animal parts and the daddy fox scaring our dogs finally got old, so we finally scared them off a couple years ago. But I think it made me always hold a soft spot in my heart for foxes. :) I'm sure this cutie would never scare a dog off! ;) 

I used the "invisible Copic technique" on this card. You can read more about that here as I haven't used it in awhile, but it is a lot of fun! :) 

The background was done by heat embossing the stamped image (from the peacock set) in VersaMark ink/clear EP and then coloring Gelatos over the embossed images. Then, I sprayed the whole panel down with water so it would get that soft blended look, pretty fun! It married well with the soft look created with the invisible Copic look. 

I matted Freida with a mini bag, the card would have been too busy otherwise. That kraft panel behind her really helps frame her and delineate layers. Her dress and scarf are paper pieced. 
The sentiment is from the peacock set, and I added a pin tied with ribbon (Tim Holtz), and some washi behind the sentiment. 

My second card was a lot less involved, but I still love the way it turned out. The kraft panel is dry embossed with a Sizzix EF and the folder was brayered with white craft ink.
The pink peacock feather was colored with the bright pink Gelato, spritzed with water, and stamped. The orange feather is just regular ornage dye ink stamped on pink card stock. Both were fussy cut. 
The sentiment is from the Label Me set. I created a mat by die cutting two more of the labels in bright pink and cutting one in half lengthwise and one in half the other direction. Then layered all the pieces behind the sentiment stamped label all peeking out a bit to create the mat. This is a great technique to use with any die cut that you don't have a larger size in the same shape to mat with. 

Of course, finished the card off with a few Candy dots and some washi. 

Thanks for sticking by me through this monster post! I hope you like my cards, have  fabulous weekend! :) 





Thursday, May 15, 2014

Lean On Me-Curtain Call Guest Designer


Hi all! I'm super excited to be playing along with Stacey and the gals at the Curtain Call today! 
The Cat's Pajamas is sponsoring this challenge and you could use your winning certificate to get this cute set I used today, or anything else you like! :) 


A dear friend's little girl just had surgery, and I thought this card would brighten their day after a hospital stay.

PJ the Bear is paper pieced, and I used a printed bag to pop my tickets into. 
I would love it if you can play along. :) 

photo source:  catchmyparty.com

We have a fabulous new sponsor, The Cat's Pajamas, for the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge: Pajama Party!  The LEAD of this challenge will receive a $25 gift code to The Cat's Pajamas!





Pajama Party Designers

The Cat's Pajamas Designer, Noelle McAdams (you are here)

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

I Treasure Our Friendship (CQC241 and RS114)


Hello there! I am actually home without a ton of "have to's" for ONCE and thought I'd play some challenges today!

This is for the ColourQ #241, here's the palette:


And also for Retro Sketches 114, here's the sketch:

These colors seemed "watery" to me, and I have been in the pool so much these last weeks, that I have mermaids on my brain! I may end up growing a tail myself one of these days, I will keep you posted. ;)


I tried to do a little shading on her hair, but the truth is, I need some Copic classes to teach me more. My basic, self-taught Copic skills have gotten me this far, but I'd like to get better at that! I hope I can get to that soon. Her hair is more brown and less reddish in real life. 

For that back 3 paneled piece, I took a strip of Chocolate Chip card stock that was 1 1/2" x 4 1/2" and scored it at the 1 1/2" and 3" marks. Then I punched some papers out of the challenge colors and layered them onto the strip. My mermaid was Copic colored and fussy cut before she was added to the card with some foam squares.


That's it for me today, thanks for swimming by! :) 







Monday, May 12, 2014

Happy 40th to my hubby! (TCP TUESDAY-Anything Goes!)




Hi all! My hubby turned the big 4-0 last weekend! So I thought I'd pop in to show you some of the party decorations, etc. This is my contribution to the TCP Tuesday Challenge we have going on right now! It's an "Anything Goes" Challenge, so just whip out those TCP stamps and dies and make something fun! I used my Numbers CutUps, and my my Star Rosette CutUps extensively for this party! :)


Here are the Details on how you can join in on the fun:
  1. Every other Tuesday a new challenge will be posted here on the TCP Blog as well as on our Splitcoaststampers forum and ourFacebook page.
  2. If you want to play along you just upload your design using the InLinkz button on the TCP blog. If you want to display your pretties on Splitcoaststampers use keyword TCPTUES266. Only the entries uploaded to the Inlinkz button will be considered for Swanky Stamper at the end of the month.
  3. You must have your project posted by the Monday, 12 midnight EDT before the next challenge to be eligible to win the Cat Cash.
  4. Cards and projects are not required to use of a Cat’s Pajamas Stamp or CutUps die.
  5. On the following TCP Tuesday, the winner will be chosen at random from the previous challenge and will receive a Cat Cash Voucher for $10 or $15 if a TCP product is used.
  6. At the end of the month, The Swanky Stamper will be selected from all the weekly entries. The Swanky Stamper will receive some of the stamps from our next release and get to play along with us at our Pajamas Party and Blog Hop. AND… They’ll even get a special spot in the Gallery highlighting the project that won them the gig and a snazzy badge to display on their blog.
  7. The Swanky Stamper will be announced the First Monday of the month on Splitcoaststampers, Facebook page and the TCP blog.

One of my biggest projects for hubby's party was this banner (used the Pennants CutUps for this!)

I added this hat to the mantel. It was from the Dollar Tree and I just embellished it with my TCP Numbers and Star Rosette CutUps. It made it so cool and special, and only took me a few minutes with some glittery papers.
For the cake, I made these fun cake picks with some paper straws and the Numbers CutUps again....
Time is the name of the game in my world these days, so I also simply embellished these birthday centerpieces (also from Dollar Tree, I am busy and also maybe just a smudge cheap lately-haha!)
I had to tease him a little bit, so I got some iron on vinyl for my Cricut Expression, and made him a fun t-shirt to wear.

That's it for me today! Come play along at TCP! :)