Did I Miss the Deadline?

(lol) Just kidding-- I never miss  a deadline;) It just took me a while to decide to go for Cosmo Cricket's design team call-- I just kept going back and forth, back and forth, back and... (you get the picture). I've been a Cosmo Cricket fan for a few years now-- ever since I filled Campbell's 1st year album with the Dutch Girl collection. My hesitation about going for the design team revolves around the fact that my strength lies in my card making, and since I've mostly been scrapping with Cosmo Cricket, I had to put together a few things for my audition.  So anyway here's what I have to share.

Lets start with my most recent Cosmo purchase... Girl Friday Crafting Kit--of course! What would this girly, girl household do without a collection like this? 

Inside reads: "Congratulations on your engagement!"

Mini note cards-- the perfect gift accompaniment 

Why not send a cute invite to a girlfriend to join you for a night on the town?

Here is a head's up to all of my girlfriends out there-- a few of these may be heading your way;)

I was thrilled to find some dp from CC's Jack's World collection in a kit from SIS Boutique (their kits are so smart). It is such a bright and happy collection- great for passing some love on to a friend.

Inside reads: "I'm so joyful you are in my life. Hugs, Windy"

Another mini...

Some finishing bits (aka using up the scraps on my desk): 

a few quickie stick puppets to keep my girls entertained for a few hours

Lastly, here's a little throwback that I dug out of storage from the Hey Sugar collection. I bought the kit it to scrap a Florida vacation album- thought the pink and teal would match my tropical girly pool and beach photos perfectly, but it also make adorable cards.

Inside reads: "A Toast to You. Congratulations on Your Big Day!"

Yet another mini (yes, I'm a card miniaturist)

A little love and lace

You can also find a few sketches with CC here: 2 Sketches 4 You and here: CPS.

Well, this is the end... as you can tell, my top product picks are dp, ribbon and my scissors/punches. I'm paper crafter who would love to be a card maker for your design team. While I'm relatively new to the paper crafting scene, I'm not afraid to submit to pubs, nor am I shy about posting to my blog and participating in online communities.

Thanks for your time and consideration. I not only LOVE your designs, but also the honesty and sense of humor at your blog. Best of luck with your search!

Windy

Psst-- for my awesome Card and Page followers, I will be back later with some page ideas for you using these collections. I've been so inspired by creating these cards, I can't wait to let it flow in my pages:)

Products: patterned paper (Cosmo Cricket), ribbon (American Crafts/teal, May Arts/rose grosgrain, Offray/pink satin, Piggy Tales/ lt. teal, Making Memories/yellow lace, May Arts/burlap string, Paper Studio/red & white stripe, BoBunny/pink dot, May Arts/teal sparkle, Webster's Pages/cream lace), button (Basic Grey), pearls and bling (Hero Arts), red metal heart (Colorbok), cardstock (Bazzill).

Tuesday Tips: Two Fun Blogs to Visit

Happy Tuesday All!

Today I just wanted to quickly share two fun creative sites that I stumbled upon, stumbling around out in blog-o land. I've been following them for the past week or so and have found that they are not only inspirational, but have some great fresh ideas that can be adapted to anyone's style and also offer some USEFUL freebies:) I love practical, sharing, creative people!

How About Orange?

Creature Comforts: Design for All Creatures Great & Small

Take care! Windy

First Comes Love... Then Comes...

Hope you all are having a restful weekend. I had a few cards and gift tags to make today so I thought I'd play along at CPS and Card Patterns to help check them off my list:)... this first one is for a wedding that is coming up in a few weeks. 

CPS122

Then, one of the kiddos from Campbell's class just got a new baby brother & sister.  

 Card Patterns Sketch 21

What do you think? I had to incorporate brown somehow because I only had brown envelopes on hand:)

Thanks for stopping by! 

Windy

Products: patterned paper (My Mind's Eye), cardstock (Bazzill), letters (K&Co.), glitter (Stickles), flower (Prima), pearls (Mark Richards), ribbon (Offray).

CPS121: Love

Hello everyone! The girls and I are unwinding after hot HOT day at the pool. The girls are taking a late afternoon nap, so I hope to squeeze in a few sketches. I actually bought this "Hey Sugar" Valentine's Day kit from Cosmo Cricket to scrap a Florida trip (don't you think those are great Florida colors?)... anyway while it is out I thought I'd use its Valentine's parts on a few cards.

Happy Friday! Windy
Products: all paper products form Cosmo Cricket; tulle from Bazzill.

Raspberry Suite's Color Challenge #10

Here is my take on Dawn's challenge this week:)

This one was a quick one-- a little laying; a little punch, button and ribbon action; stamp and cutting; a mini hand-made tag and your finished:)

Sweet dreams! 

Windy

Products: patterned paper (SEI & My Mind's Eye), ribbon (Bazzill), button (vintage), flower punch (EK Success), stamp (ColorBok), letter stickers (Making Memories).

So what's your style?... Wednesday Wisdom from Dr. Seuss

So after reading Cath's blog yesterday over at Moxie Fab World, I started thinking a lot about my own personal style. Do you ever do that? Or do you often do that? I'm always thinking... do I have to define my style? Sometimes I feel like the products I use really determine my style-- and I love to buy it all... so why would my style ever be the same:) lol. I guess if I were to try to define my style I'd fall somewhere between sometimes fun and cute...

and sometimes classy and elegant...

or sometimes kind of like this... how would you describe these? Clean and simple?

Inside reads: "... growing up is not."

I guess they may be fun and cute too?? I don't know. (These are all entries I made for Papercraft's Gallery Idol birthday card competition). So when I start to worry and stress about defining my style, I remind myself of the following quote:

Be who you are and say what you feel, those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. - Dr. Seuss

Then I keep plugging away... having faith that what will come, will come.. and go back to just enjoying my creative therapy:)

I hope you all had a wonderful Wednesday! Hugs, Windy

Tuesday Tip: hundreds of ideas at your fingertips

Odd how the creative power at once brings the whole universe to order. - Virginia Woolf

Looking for inspiration for the week? If you want to get some great ideas on cards, stop by a color challenge blog. If I'm looking to get the creative juices flowing, I will sometimes visit either Kwernerdesign.com's Color Inspiration or Raspberry Suite's Color Challenge. By the time these challenges close you can find hundreds of cards just full of ideas (and the best part is that you can find cards by both pros and everyday scrappers:)

While looking for some ideas, I got inspired to tackle Color Inspiration #55. Here is my creation:

It's fairly minimal for me, but I think it works. I hope you all have an awesome productive week! 

Windy

Products: patterned paper (My Mind's Eye, My Little Yellow Bicycle), pearls (Kaiserscrapbook), chipboard (Basic Grey), ribbon (Martha Sewart), stamp (Technique Tuesday).

Card and Page Monday with Webster's Pages

Happy Monday all! Here is my card and page for you this week. Products here are from Webster's Pages... I think they are my absolute favorite manufacturer:)

Journaling reads: ... just beautiful... both of my girls... both still babies. I will cherish this moment forever.

I love, love, love Webster's trim... it makes awesome flowers. 

Thanks for stopping by- I wish you the best week! Windy

Cardsignings Across the USA!!

Swarovski Crystals is partnering with CFH for the next couple weeks to get 30,000 cards signed! They're gorgeous cards with a little crystal bling added to them . . . and about 150 cards are at each of their store locations til July 4th to be signed by customers. (Some of the stores have a sweet deal offering a free tshirt with purchase, check and see if yours does!) The signing is free—so please take your friends and family with you. Email them about it too! Click on the image above or ---> here <---to search for a store location near you!

If you have a store near you, stop by and help send good wishes to those who deserve it most! 

Windy

2 Sketches 4 You-Laura's Sketch 28... a bit more for Father's Day

Here is my take on Laura's Sketch 28. I used it to create my husband's Father's Day card.

Inside reads: Your 2 yr old wanted to get you a hotdog... Your 4 yr old wanted to get you a new car... maybe next year they'll want to get you gifts we can actually give you. Love, your girls.

I made this one into a tri-fold card so I could place a recent picture of the girls inside and add some journaling to remind him about their quarky little personalities. 

Inside flap has a heart from each of us.

Thanks for stopping by-- I look forward to seeing all of the other cards inspired by Laura's sketch this week:)

Windy

Products: patterned paper (GCD Studios, Making Memories), cardstock (AC Moore), hearts (ColorBok), ribbon (Michael's Inc.)

Happy Father's Day!

Here is a little tribute to my wonderful husband. I am so thankful that we have him... he is beyond wonderful with our children and that couldn't make me any happier. Here are two layouts that pay tribute to him (if you've read my blog from the start these may look familiar, but I think its time to pull them back out again:)

Journaling reads: You are the world to your daddy... You are such a Daddy's Girl because you love him so much & you mean the world to him. Here your are playing around at Aunt Jackie's house in Dayton. It is often said that a truly rich man is one whose children run into his arms when his hands are empty. Your daddy's arms are rarely empty. This favorite picture shows how much you two love each other. Soon you will be too big to sit on his shoulders, but you will never outgrow his heart.

Happy Father's Day to all of the dads out there who, like my husband, make their children smile every day.

Windy

Card and Page: Bits of Blue with Yellow

Good Thursday-- well... almost Friday everyone! Here is card and page post for the weekend. I love to combine bits and pieces of different collections from varying manufacturers. The selection of paper and color combos is defiantly the part that I enjoy most about scrapbooking.

I created the page below first and then used my scraps for this card. Hand cutting from patterned paper is also a favorite of mine-- you can see where I cut out the large flower from the My Mind's Eye patterned paper, cut it out again, layered it and folded it up a bit for added dimension.

Journaling reads: How did I get so lucky to have such a wonderful you?

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great weekend:) Windy

Products: kraft (Jillibean Soup), patterned paper (Basic Grey/yellow circle print, My Mind's Eye/blue glitter floral, Making Memories/blue houndstooth), pom pons (American Crafts), ribbon (The Paper Studio), bling (Prima), rub on sentiment (My Mind's Eye), alphabet stickers (Making Memories), layout sketch (52 Weeks 52 Sketches).

Card Night!

Hello everyone! I hope your week is going well. Today Campbell had her first ever play date where I didn't stay with her. As I dropped her off at her friend's house I couldn't help think about how fast the past four years have gone. I see her now-- still a little girl, but I also see glimpses of what is to come... especially as she runs into play with her friend without taking a second look back at me--she is an independent, confidant child.

Here are a couple birthday cards that I made tonight to enter into Paper Craft's 2009 Gallery Idol-- talk about a gallery full of ideas! There are over 600 cards posted there... if you need some inspiration its a great place to visit :)

Inside reads: "... growing up is optional. Happy Birthday!"

Products: patterned paper (My Little Shoebox), flower border sticker (K&Co), lace (Making Memories), tulle (Bazzill), pearls (Kaiser Scrapbooks), font (CKBecky).

Products: patterned paper (SEI, American Crafts), apple stickers (K& Co.), burlap string (May Arts).

Thanks for visiting! Windy

Father's Day Challenge

Hello! Are you all busy making any cards for the father's and grandfather's in your life? It is hard for me to get motivated to make Father's Day cards, because to be honest with you the men in my life just don't get as excited about a card, as say... my mom or mother-in-law... or even my four year old daughter;)

So I needed GCD Studio's Father's Day Challenge to get me going. I think I'll give this one to my father-in-law... my girls have already tackled their Daddy's card. 

Happy Tuesday! Windy

Products: patterned paper (GCD Studios), pom pons (Stone Creek Creations), ric rac (Bazzill), cardstock (Core'dinations), floss (DMC), letters (Making Memories).

Raspberry Suite's Color Challenge #9: Card and Page

Hello all! Happy Monday to you! When I saw the colors for Raspberry Suite's Color Challenge 9 (green grass, black and cream), I just was so happy. They screamed, craft me!  So here is the card I created for this challenge.

While cleaning up my scraps, I uncovered this photo on my desk and decided to make a little wall hanging for my scrap space.

 

I just love this photo of my brother and husband. Dawn's color choices compliment this photo beautifully. Now all I need to do is find a place to hang it:)

Thanks for stopping in! Hugs, Windy

Products: patterned paper (My Little Shoebox, K& Co.), ribbon (DeLuxe Designs), card sentiment (Anna Griffin), tulle (Bazzill), other (vintage button, floss), frame & chipboard (Making Memories).

Color Inspiration #54 & card-a-licious combo

Here is my take on Kwerner Design's Color Inspiration # 54 in conjunction with card-alicious 23.

I hope you all enjoyed the color challenge as much as I did, I found it very hard to adapt to my style-- have a great week:) Windy

Products: patterned paper (My Mind's Eye/Bloom & Grow), ribbon (American Crafts), frame & paint (Making Memories), sentiment (Anna Griffin/Darcey Collection), flower (Sunset Fields).

Give it with flowers...

I have a girlfriend who loves flowers, but doesn't tend to them well. She loves cards, but doesn't usually keep them around for long (she's a "cleaner outer"). So I created a card like this one for her on the morning of her birthday with flowers from my yard... you can't beat the beauty of nature's creation. 

Needless to say, she loved the card. Do you anyone who you could create a mini card bouquet for? :)

Thanks for stopping by! Windy

Products: patterned paper (SIS), mylar overlay, blue ribbon and stamps (Anna Griffin), vintage black ribbon, flowers (from my garden:)

A few sketches that inspired a page...

After playing with Kazan's Sketch 28 over at 2 Sketches 4 You...

and Sketch 86 over at Got Sketch? ...

I just couldn't stop so it all flowed into this page... 

... sometimes you do get those super productive nights. Hope you are having a restful weekend! Thanks for visiting Card & Page:)

Windy

Products used: patterned paper (My Little Yellow Bicycle Zinnia collection/purple pattern & stripe, Making Memories/Emma Dots, Doodlebug/ Pink Punch Dot), rub ons (My Little Yellow Bicycle Zinnia collection), scrap ribbon, flowers (Sunset Fields), glitter/stickers (Doodlebug), chipboard letters (Making Memories). 

Happy Birthday, Baby!

Just a quick post because today my baby turns 2! Happy Birthday to the little one who can now do everything "by myself... myself!"

(yes, she is already a Barbie girl, thanks to sissy:)

Happy Friday everyone! 

Windy

Products: patterned paper & pink pearls (My Little Yellow Bicycle/Zinnia Collection), glitter/sticker (Doodlebug), sentiment (velvet sayings/Making Memories), other (vintage Barbie playing card, scrap ribbon).

Wednesday Wisdom- A Little Love for Our Grandfathers

With Father's Day coming up, I thought I'd pay a little love to my dad. Here is a layout that I will always cherish... it shows how his love spoils my daughter and how happy he makes her, inspiring her to dance, laugh, pretend... sing. What a wonderful thing! I know how lucky we are that we have him in our life.

Journaling reads: "Just living is not enough," said the butterfly. "One must have a little sunshine, a little freedom and a little flower." - Hans Christian Anderson

It was love at first sight, Grandpa hit a bulls eye in your heart when he gave you this purple butterfly dress. Once you put it on I didn't think you would ever take it off (you even wore it to bed the first night you had it). All I could think about was how I was going to wash those well worn butterfly wings.

I need to scrap a few more layouts with my girls and their grandpas-- perhaps that will be my goal for this week. Here are a few quotes about grandpas/grandfathers that might inspire a layout for you.

Great fathers get promoted to grandfathers. - Unknown

A grandpa is someone you never outgrow your need for. -Unknown

The baby is not yet born, and yet you say that his nose is like his grandfather's. - Indian Proverb

Every generation revolts against its fathers and makes friends with its grandfathers. - Lewis Mumford

A grandfather is someone with silver in his hair and gold in his heart. - Unknown

Thanks for stopping by! See you all again soon:)

Windy

Products: all paper (Basic Grey), jewels (Prima), ribbon (Luxe Designs), chipboard *Technique Tuesday), other (vellum, Judikins Diamond Glaze)

Tuesday Tips: Without a Sketch

The creative process is a process of surrender, not control.   - Julia Cameron

This week I think I'm going to try a new type of challenge... I've tried a lot of sketches lately, so something new will be fun. I love ribbon. Yes, I'm a fan of flowers. Blue? Love it... if you want to join me, head over to Cardalicious for this week's challenge. 

There are few others that have peeked my interest and one may help you get started this week:

Lighten you load with a "Use it or Loose It Challenge" at How Much is Too Much?

Looking for the right color? Check out Color Combos Galore.

Does the word "yes" inspire you? See what it sparks for designers at One Little Word.

Are you a journaling fanatic? Do you not journal enough? Check out The Story Matters. I visited this site for the first time tonight and will defiantly be back!

No matter what your inspiration, here's to a crafty productive week!

Windy

Orange you glad it's the weekend? (ha ha)

I hope you all are having a lovely weekend. Brian is camping out in the backyard with the little ones so the house is quiet. The evening is simply perfect... mid 60s... windows are open... you can smell fire pits burning throughout the neighborhood... Mamas scrapping peacefully... a perfect night!

Here is a card and page using a couple of sketches. For the card I used Card Patterns Sketch 18.

The stamp reads: "to love and be loved is to feel the sun from both sides."

I had these three little pictures laying around, so when I saw Got Sketch?'s Sketch 84 I knew it was time to get those scrapped. I find fall pictures the easiest to scrap, even though I'm not too fond of orange... it is still my favorite time of the year and scrap subjects.

Thanks for stopping by-- enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Windy

Products: patterned paper (My Mind's Eye, Basic Grey, Scrap-N-Style TV) stickers (Making Memories, EK Success), flower (Autumn Leaves), fiber (EK Success), chipboard (Basic Grey), glitter (Doodlebug), stamp (Technique Tuesday).

Raspberry Suite's Color Challenge # 8- Gift Tag

Here is my take on Raspberry Suite's Color Challenge #8. Just lovely colors... bright pink, brown, kraft and cream.

A couple tips for making this card:

1) I used Distress Ink like a regular ink pad-- I love the old, worn, crackled look.

2) The flower is made by winding Coco Ruffle Trim by Webster's Pages into a flower shape. It just makes a lovely flower.

3) The leaves of my flower are made simply with a heart punch. I used Distress Ink around the edges and crumpled them for texture.

Thanks for stopping by! I can't wait to see what everyone else creates! 

Windy

Products used: kraft paper (Kraft Kuts/Fancy Pants Designs), patterned paper (pink dot/BoBunny, Hopscotch Girl/K&Co.), die cut (Andrea Victoria/My Mind's Eye), ribbon (dot/American Crafts, ruffle/Webster's Pages), stamps (journaling box and bird/Anna Griffin, sentiment/Studio G, flourishes/Making Memories, pearl (Kaiser Scrapbooks).