Celebrate!

So today I made a card just for fun! I find myself obsessing lately about my cards. I was trying to take a nap today and all I could think about was color combos and layouts for my next card...haha! Anyways, don't you just love the pompom ribbon!!! I got it at my local scrapbook store, Paper Tales, it came in a package with a bunch of other beautiful ribbon, including velvet and lace ribbon. I can't wait to show you more on my next card! I stamped the background on the orange paper with my damask stamp using Versamark, love that stuff! Today was so nice out, I took the girls to the park for a little bit and my daughter went down the slide today for the first time by herself. She is 2 1/2, but very cautious, usually we have to force her down the slide and she cries....poor thing. But today she actually went down on her own, loved it, and kept wanting to go again! What a cutie. OK, well have a great day!

~Maryann

{Supplies}

Paper - Kraft, Dark Chocolate, Vintage Cream (Papertrey), Tangelo (Bazzill)

Ink - Dark Chocolate (Papertrey), Versamark

Stamp - Damask Designs (Papertrey)

Other- pompom ribbon (Webster's Pages)

Aloha!

Isn't that little monkey so cute?? The little flower in her hair is adorable. The stamps are from a set called Mindy's Zoo by Autumn Leaves. I picked it up the other day when I was at Target. There are so many cute animal images, great for birthday cards or even new baby cards! I called the images in with my Prisma and Gamsol, you can see in the closeup there are a couple of smudges. That was from when my older daughter decided SHE wanted to color also. =)

Anywho, my card for today is from Jen's Sketch For You To Try. I kind of didn't follow the sketch exactly cause I didn't have room on the bottom to put the ribbon and flower. But I really like how it turned out none the less. As I am sitting here typing away I am listening to my two girls play together. My older daughter is reading to my younger one, how sweet!! It just melts my heart watching the two of them together. I feel so lucky to be able to stay home with them and watch them grow and interact with each other, what a blessing!

Have a great afternoon, and give your loved ones an extra squeeze today. =)

~Maryann

{Supplies} All supplies Papertrey Ink unless noted otherwise

Paper - Summer Sunrise, Hibiscus Burst, New Leaf, Stamper's Select White, Friends 'Til The End patterned paper

Ink - New Leaf and Brilliance Graphite Black

Stamps - Mindy's Zoo (Autumn Leaves) Birds of a Feather (sentiment)

Other - Summer Sunrise Swiss Dot ribbon, paper flowers (Prima), button (Basic Grey), rhinestone (Michael's),Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol

Kristina's Color Inspiration #50

Hey everyone!

So I have been waiting patiently for Kristina to post her 50th challenge. =)

And she did not disappoint with her color choice. At first I was kind of hesitant because I wasn't sure how the colors would look together, but I think they look fabulous!! I love color challenges because they always force you to think out of the box when it comes to your color choices. I know I would have never though of this combo, and am happy to have these challenges. If you have never done one I encourage you to try it!! They are so much fun! And Kristina does a wonderful job in picking her colors. For this challenge she was pretty strict, since she is giving away some prizes for this challenge. You couldn't use any other colors, even black, and you had to use all 5 colors. I used my Scattered Showers set from PTI that I got in the mail the other day. I think it is so cute and there are a ton of sentiments in the set. If anyone reading this has never heard of Papertrey Ink, then you are missing out!! They are pretty much the only company I buy my stamping supplies from. Not only do they have new stamp releases every month, but they also have matching paper, ink, ribbon, and they just added buttons too!!! Their quality is amazing as well.

Anyways...I just love how this card turned out. The flowers on the bottom are from the set Boxes, Bags & Tags, which I got a long time ago and have never used unfortunately. Hope you enjoyed looking!

~Maryann

{Supplies} All supplies Papertrey Ink unless noted otherwise

Paper - Dark Chocolate, Lemon Tart, Pure Poppy, Stamper's Select White, Teal Paper (Martha Stewart)

Ink - Pure Poppy, Dark Chocolate, Summer Sunrise

Stamp - Scattered Showers and Boxes, Bags & Tags

Other - Lemon Tart Saddle Stitch ribbon

With Sympathy...

Recently some of our close friends baby passed away. I knew I wanted to make something special for them, since it is such a difficult time for them. I knew Papertrey Ink had recently come out with a stamp set called, With Sympathy:Loss of a Child, and that it would be perfect for what I wanted to make for them. The sentiments are perfect.

I wanted to give a quick shout out to the customer service over at Papertrey. I had e-mailed them and told them what happened to our friends and that I had ordered the stamp set and wondered if they could send it out ASAP. I knew they are super busy this time of month with their stamp release and understood if it couldn't get done. Well Julie in customer service e-mailed me right away saying how sorry she was and that she would send out the package right away. I got it within a week, which is pretty good since I live in CA and they are located in Ohio. I was so appreciative of their fast service. Thanks Papertrey!!

The first picture shows the card I made for them. I made the background with my new Damask Designs set....love it!!!!! The sentiment and tiny footprints are from the With Sympathy set. The flowers are Prima and the button is PTI.

The framed picture is the project I wanted to make for them. I purposely covered the last name on the picture, so that's really not supposed to be there. =)

Anyways...I hope our friends like our gift.

Have a great day everyone!

~Maryann

{Card Supplies} All Papertrey Ink unless noted otherwise

Paper - Vintage Cream and Hibiscus Burst

Ink - Hibiscus Burst, Brilliance Graphite Black

Stamp - With Sympathy: Loss of a Child and Damask Designs

Other -Paper flowers (Prima), Vintage Hibiscus Burst button, Hibiscus Burst twill ribbon

{Picture Supplies} All Papertrey Ink unless noted otherwise

Paper - Hibiscus Burst, Sweet Blush, Stamper's Select White, Bitty Dot Basics patterned paper

Ink - Hibiscus Burst and Brilliance Graphite Black

Stamp - With Sympathy: Loss of a Child and Fresh Alphabet

Other - Paper Flowers (Prima), Rhinestones (Michael's)

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #65

Morning!

Today looks like it's going to be a beautiful day! I'm just drinking my coffee while the girl's play. We don't really have any big plans for today but hopefully but whatever we do, it'll be outside for sure! My card for today is for Taylor's challenge. I used one of my Bella's, which I have not used in a while. I'm going to one of my girlfriend's tonight for a martini party, and made this as a thank you card. Nothing like being on top of things. =)

Everything else is from PTI, except the sentiment which is also Stamping Bella.

Cosmobella is so fun to color in with my Prismacolor pencils. For a while I was using my Copics, but just couldn't figure out how to blend them very well. I then bought the Prismacolor pencils and love the look they give! Anyways, hope everyone has a great day!

~Maryann

{Supplies} All Papertrey Ink unless noted otherwise

Paper - Hibiscus Burst, Dark Chocolate, Sweet Blush, Stamper's Select White, Bitty Dot Basic patterned paper

Ink - Brilliance Graphite Black

Stamp - Cosmobella and sentiment (Stamping Bella)

Other - Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Sweet Blush Saddle Stitch ribbon (PTI), Scallop border punch (Martha Stewart)

TCP Sketch Challenge

Howdy!

It's finally cooled down here. The past two days it was in the high 90's and I think it hit 100 degrees on Monday!! Crazy weather for April. Now it's cooled down and it's in the 70's. So for my card today. I used the sketch challenge over on Carol's blog for TCP Tuesday. I really liked the sketch!! The paper I used was from SEI's Oasis paper pack. I love this paper. It's kind of hard to tell but the green paper has a paisley pattern to it, real pretty. The stamps are of course The Cat's Pajamas from their It's a Western Thing set. The images are so cute! And the sentiments make me laugh. Anyways, hope you're having a great day!

~Maryann

{Supplies}

Paper - SEI Oasis

Ink - Brilliance Graphite black

Stamps - It's A Western Thing (The Cat's Pajamas)

Other - Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, Brads (Basic Grey), Giga scalloped circle punch (Marvy Uchida)

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #64

Hello!

I have a quick post for this today. Trying to get my card in for Taylor's Challenge before the deadline! This is a sympathy card I made for a friend. I tried to make it colorful and cheery. Hope it makes her feel better.

~Maryann

{Supplies} All Papertrey Ink unless noted otherwise

Paper - Sweet Blush, Lavender Moon, Berry Sorbet, Plum Pudding, Friends 'Til The End patterned paper, Stamper's Select White

Ink - Summer Sunrise, Berry Sorbet, Plum Pudding

Stamp - Wishing You..., and Remember

Other - Scallop circle punch (Marvy Uchida) Berry Sorbet grosgrain ribbon

Lauren's Saturday Sketch Challenge

Hello everyone!
So we're all up and getting ready for church but I wanted to make a quick post before we walk out the door. Lauren posted a "design team" call for her Saturday Sketches and I thought I'd take a chance and submit some of my cards. She posted 3 different sketches and I made a card for all three, so here goes!
The first card I made was for my mom for Mother's Day. Aren't the colors so cheery! The brads are from K & Company. They're from the Que Sera Sera line. Aren't they gorgeous!! The patterned paper is from that line also. The mother's day stamp is from Hero Arts. Everything else is Papertrey Ink (of course!).
The second card is all Papertrey Ink supplies. I love the color combo of Ocean Tides and Plum Pudding!! And that cute little bird is from their stamp set Birds Of A Feather.
The final card is another fun one I made for a friend. All supplies are Papertrey Ink again, except the flowers which are Prima and the rhinestones, which are Michael's. Once again I used the Wishing You set from PTI. Love that set!
Hope everyone has a great Sunday!
~Maryann

{Supplies Card #1} All supplies Papertrey Ink unless noted otherwise
Paper - Dark Chocolate, Hibiscus Burst, Spring Rain, Stamper's Select White, Bitty Dot Basic patterned paper, Que Sera Sera patterned paper (K & Company)
Ink - New Leaf, Hibiscus Burst, Summer Sunrise, Brilliance Graphite Black
Stamp - Honey Bees, Happy Mother's Day (Hero Art)
Other - Brads (K&Company), Rhinestones (Michael's)

{Supplies Card #2} All supplies Papertrey Ink unless noted otherwise
Paper - Ocean Tides, Plum Pudding, Lavender Moon, Stamper's Select White, Guide Lines patterned paper
Ink - Plum Pudding, Burnt Umber, Brilliance Graphite Black
Stamp - Birds Of A Feather
Other - Rhinestones (Hero Art)

{Supplies Card #3} All supplies Papertrey Ink unless noted otherwise

Paper - Spring Rain, Sweet Blush, Stamper's Select White, Friends 'Til The End patterned paper

Ink - Spring Rain, Hibiscus Burst

Stamp - Wishing You

Other - Hibiscus Burst Twill Ribbon, Prima Flowers, Rhinestones and Pearls (Michael's)

Merci!

Hello!

Hope everyone is having a great Saturday. The weather here is amazing. It is around 89 degrees! Can you believe it. We took the kids to the pool today and our little one, who is 9 months, went swimming for the first time. She loved it. Now everyone is napping and relaxing so I have some time to stamp. The card for today is one I made for a friend. She is someone I use to work with and every couple of months all the girls from my old company get together at different people's houses for a Girl's Night Out. We had dinner and drinks and just talked and talked. It was a blast. I wanted to thank her for such a nice night so I made this card for her. The teal paper is some that I found in my stash and I'm shocked I haven't used it before. It is so beautiful. It is Martha Stewart paper from one of her paper packs. I got it a long time ago and when I went back today I couldn't find it anymore...bummer! The rest of the supplies are Papertrey Ink. Of course the stamp is from the new Wishing You... set that I absolutely love. Well have a great rest of the weekend!

~Maryann

{Supplies} all supplies Papertrey Ink unless noted otherwise

Paper - Lavender Moon, Plum Pudding, Guide Lines patterned paper, Stamper's Select White, Teal paper (Martha Stewart)

Ink - Plum Pudding, New Leaf, Brilliance Graphite Black

Stamps - Wishing You..., Birds of a Feather

Other - Plum Pudding Swiss Dot Satin Ribbon

Your Teepee or Mine?

Today I have a card that I did for Susan's TCP Tuesday Stamp Challenge. The challenge was to use the stamp set " Havin' A Pow Wow". I had bought this set a while ago and never inked it up so I thought this was a good chance to try it out. The images are so cute and I love the sentiments that go along with them! Hope you like the card!

Have a great day!

~Maryann

{Supplies} All supplies Papertrey Ink unless noted otherwise

Paper- Dark Chocolate, Pure Poppy, Stamper's Select White, Bitty Dot Basic patterned paper

Ink - Pure Poppy, Brilliance Graphite Black

Stamp - Havin' A Pow Wow (The Cat's Pajamas)

Other - Pure Poppy twill ribbon, Prismacolor Pencils, Gamsol, Star Brads (Making Memories), Red Button (Basic Grey)

Sketch For You To Try...

Morning y'all!

I'm sitting here drinking my coffee and feeding my little baby some Cheerios! What a great morning so far. Today I have my card that I did for Jen's Sketch For You To Try. I'm a little late on posting it, but better late than never! I used the new Wishing You.... set from PTI. I love love love it! It's so much fun to play with. There are so many fun and cute flower images and you can interchange all the flowers and stems, making it fun to play around with! I will be using the set often, so be prepared to see a lot of it. =)

Well off to go make some breakfast. Have a great day!

~Maryann

{Supplies} All supplies Papertrey Ink unless noted otherwise

Paper - Sweet Blush, Ripe Avocado, Hibiscus Burst, Bitty Dot Basic patterned paper

Ink - Hibiscus Burst, Ripe Avocado, Summer Sunrise, Graphite Black (Brilliance)

Stamp - Wishing You...

Other - Rhinestones (Michael's)

Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenege # 63

Happy Saturday!

Hope everyone is having a restful day. Today it's kind of cloudy and rainy out, which is a total bummer. I hope it warms up for Easter tomorrow. The girls dresses are sleeveless and I don't want them to be freezing. My parents took my older daughter to Sea World today and my little baby is napping so I had some stamping time...yeah!! I decided to use Taylor's Sketch to make the girls Easter cards. I was going back and forth on what colors I wanted to make the card and am sooo pleased with how they turned out. I love the Berry Sorbet and Lavender Moon colors together...so girly! All the paper and ribbon are from Papertrey Ink. The cutie patootie stamp is from A Muse, it's called Carrot Stand, and I got it from a local shop here in San Diego. It's called Paper Tales. It is the most adorable store, they have a ton of cute stuff for stamping and scrapbooking. They also carry A Muse stamps, which I think are so cute. And they are the same price as the web site..score! OK...hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend. Have a great Easter tomorrow!

~Maryann

{Supplies}

Paper - Lavender Moon, Summer Sunrise, Stamper's Select White, Bitty Dot Basic in Berry Sorbet (Papertrey Ink)

Ink - Brilliance Graphite Black

Stamp - Carrot Stand (A Muse)

Other - Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, Lavender Moon grosgrain ribbon, Summer Sunrise grosgrain ribbon (Papertrey Ink)

Kristina's Color Inspiration Challenge #49

One more post for today. I decided to start doing the color challenges over at Kristina Werner's Blog . I've seen a bunch of people, whose blogs I frequent, do her challenges and I was inspired. She always picks the most gorgeous color combos, and today was no exception! This is from her #49 Challenge. I didn't have the exact color paper she picked, but I used what I had. All of the paper is from Joann's loose paper. I'm not sure the brand name and they don't have color names on them either....sorry! The flower stamp is from the set Remember and the sentiment is from 2008 Holiday Tag Collection, both Papertrey Ink, and the ribbon is from Michael's.

~Maryann

{Supplies}

Paper - Loose paper (Joann's ), Stamper's Select White (Papertrey Ink)

Ink - Brilliance Graphite Black

Stamp - Remember and 2008 Holiday Tag Collection (Papertrey Ink)

Other - Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, Ribbon (Michael's), Pearls (Michael's), Scallop edge punch (Martha Stewart)

It's The Weekend!!

I love the weekends! Getting to spend time with my family is the best.

This weekend is especially meaningful because it is Easter. Easter is a time for us to celebrate the death and resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ. Easter is one of my most favorite holidays because we really get a chance to focus on the real reason we are celebrating the holiday. Tonight we will go to Good Friday service. Good Friday service usually is a somber service because we think about what Jesus went through on the cross that day. The fact that Jesus was crucified so that we can be forgiven of our sins. But we also can look forward to Sunday when we can celebrate his resurrection and know that he is alive again.

I have been busy today baking for the holiday and making cards for Easter and also for a friends birthday we are going to tomorrow.

The first card is one that I made for my parents for Easter. The patterned paper is from Cosmo Cricket's Honey Pie line. It kind of has an embroidery look to it. I love it! The punches with the chicks in it are actually punched out from one of the patterned papers. Isn't that so cute!

The next card is one that I just made for fun. I went a little crazy with the stitching! I'm still learning but am loving the look it gives to my cards. Just need to keep practicing! All the materials on that card are from Papertrey Ink.

Finally, the last card is one that I made for the birthday party we are going to on Saturday. It is for a guy friend, hence the lack of frilly embellishments. =)

It's pretty simple but I love it! The paper is from SEI's Oasis line. It's so pretty, but I don't use it as often as I would like.

Hope everyone has a great Easter weekend spending time with their loved ones.

~Maryann

{Easter Card Supplies}

Paper - Lemon Tart, Summer Sunrise, Stamper's Select White (Papertrey Ink), Cosmo Cricket Honey Pie patterned paper

Ink - Summer Sunrise (Papertrey Ink)

Stamp - Fresh Alphabet (Papertrey Ink)

Other - Lemon Tart Saddle Stitch Ribbon (Papertrey Ink), Rhinestones (Studio 18, Michael's)

{Star Card Supplies}

Paper - Spring Rain, Bitty Dot Basics in Plum Pudding, Raspberry Fizz, and Spring Moss, Stamper's Select White (Papertrey Ink)

Ink - Plum Pudding, Raspberry Fizz, Spring Moss (Papertrey Ink)

Stamp - 2008 Holiday Tag Collection (Papertrey Ink)

Other - Plum Pudding, Raspberry Fizz, and Spring Moss Saddle Stitch Ribbon (Papertrey Ink), sewing machine

{Birthday Card Supplies}

Paper - SEI Oasis, Stamper's Select White (Papertrey Ink)

Ink - Cote d'Azure (Palette)

Stamp - Fresh Alphabet (Papertrey Ink)

Other - Spring Moss Saddle Stitch Ribbon (Papertrey Ink)

Quick post

So today I have my card from Jen's sketch challenge. I made the card for my father-in-law who's birthday is next week. I always have trouble making masculine cards. I think I did a pretty good job, by omitting any over the top embellishments. All the paper is SEI Black Orchid and the stamps are from Papertrey Ink. Gotta go..I have my 9 month old squirming around on my lap..haha.

{Supplies}

Paper - SEI Black Orchid, Stamper's Select White (Papertrey Ink)

Ink -Brilliance Graphite Black

Stamp - Men of Life (Papertrey Ink)

A Little Birdie Told Me....

....that it was going to be a beautiful day today. =)

Hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday. This morning we went to church and now we a relaxing before we have a bbq to go to. This card I made for Dawn's color challenge and surprisingly it was a challenge getting these colors to work together. It's hard to tell from the picture but my card base is the vanilla/cream color. I stamped the bottom of the Kraft paper with my new Martha Stewart punch. I love it! The ribbon I got at Target in their wedding section. They have all different color satin ribbon and it is 15 yards for around $5! Not bad! Hope everyone is enjoying their Palm Sunday!

~Maryann

{Supplies}

Paper - Vintage Cream, Kraft, Pure Poppy, Stamper's Select White (Papertrey Ink), melon paper (Martha Stewart)

Ink - Pure Poppy (Papertrey Ink), Brilliance Graphite Black

Stamp - Birds of a Feather (Papertrey Ink)

Other - Scallop Punch (Martha Stewart), pink satin ribbon (Target)

Yum Cupcakes!

Happy Saturday!

My card today is for Taylor's Challenge and I even decided to use a cupcake stamp! I've had these Hero Art Stamps for a while but just don't seem to use them that often. I used a mixture of My Mind's Eye Paper and paper and ribbon from Papertrey Ink. I've been going through my stash of paper and finding some paper I didn't even know I had...haha.

Anyways...today is a beautiful and hopefully we'll be able to get out and go to the park or the beach. Just to get the girls out and let my older daughter run around and play!

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

~Maryann

{Supplies}

Paper - Raspberry Fizz, Spring Moss, Stamper's Select White (Papertrey Ink), My Mind's Eye Tres Jolie patterned paper

Ink - Brilliance Graphite Black

Stamp - Hero Art

Other - prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, Giga scalloped circle punch, Raspberry Fizz saddle stitch grosgrain ribbon (Papertrey Ink)

Trying My Hand At Sewing.

So here is the card that I made using my new sewing machine. I still have to get the hang of how to stitch straight, but I think I did a pretty good job for my first time sewing! This card was a pretty easy card that I put together last night while I was in the middle of making dinner...haha. Sometimes I get ideas in my head for designs or color combos and I can't stop thinking about it until I make the card. Yikes....you know you are obsessed when....

The patterned paper is My Mind's Eye Garden Party. I've had it forever and like many others I tend to hoard my pretty paper! I have so much paper, it's ridiculous, but I don't like using it. Weird...I know! The stitching was done in a light pink and I wish you could see it better in the pictures. I added the buttons and ribbon on the side to balance my card. Hope everyone is having a great day!

~Maryann

{Supplies}

Paper - Hibiscus Burst, Stamper's Select White (Papertrey Ink), My Mind's Eye Garden Party patterned paper

Ink - Hibiscus Burst (Papertrey Ink)

Stamp - Scribbles Alphabet (Autumn Leaves)

Others - Hibiscus Burst vintage buttons, Hibiscus Burst Twill Ribbon (Papertrey Ink)

My New Toy!

Well it's actually not a toy, it's a real sewing machine. But it is so cute and small! I bought it a couple of weeks ago from Hancock Fabrics and finally got it in the mail a couple of days ago. I was a little intimidated since I have never sewn before in my life, but after looking at some tutorials on GinaK's blog, I was able to figure it out in about 20 minutes! The machine is really easy to use and you can do 8 different stitches on it! Pretty cool! I'll post a card that I made a little later on just to show you my lovely sewing abilities! =)

Funny Mom Story

So today I went to Target to pick up a couple of things that I needed. This occurrence usually happens at least once a week....haha. You know you go to Target way too much when the cashier says to you, "You come here a lot don't you?". Yikes...that's embarrassing!

Now onto my funny mom story. So I decided to buy a pair of some cute little undergarments they had. Well my 2 year old decided it would be really funny to put them on her head, which of course mortified me. But the more I told her to stop, the more she kept laughing, and putting them back on her head. This of course made me start to laugh and soon we were both laughing hysterical. I was tempted to let her walk around Target with pink underwear on her head, but I though people might say, "What is wrong with this lady, why does her daughter have underwear on her head?!"
Then we came home and made rice krispie treats, which were sooo good. They are so easy to make and such a fun activity to do with you toddler. My daughter loved mixing the bowl and then of course licking the spoon!
OK....sorry for all of the rambling, now onto my card for today.
This color combo was inspired by Dawn McVey. I really love the bold colors! I think it is so cheery. It makes me feel happy...hehe. I am just loving the Bitty Dot Basic paper from Papertrey Ink. I could use the paper on all my cards! I stamped the flowers from the Honey Bee set and added some gems. The edge on the bottom is from my Fiskars Punch. And then I finished it with some Summer Sunrise Grosgrain Ribbon. Hope you like it!

{Supplies}

Paper - Summer Sunrise, Ripe Avocado, Bitty Dot Basic patterned paper, Stamper's Select White (Papertrey Ink)

Ink - Summer Sunrise, Ripe Avocado, Raspberry Fizz (Papertrey Ink)

Stamp - Honey Bee (Papertrey Ink)

Other Summer Sunrise grosgrain ribbon (Papertrey Ink), Gems (K & Company), Fiskars Punch