Friday To-Do list!

Yess, it is finally Friday!  And since I was supposed to work today but they called me and told me not to come in due to a low count kid day, well, that means I have more time to do other things here at home!  I just need to decide what all I should tackle first... there are many things I could easily put at the top of my to-do list! Painting for one!  Oh gosh, there are so many rooms in this house that we want to paint and the problem is, it's a big game of procrastination.  So I am thinking that removing the wall paper border down in our basement would be a perfect place for me to start this afternoon perhaps.  And I also believe it's a good day to start cleaning out some cupboards, closets and the hutch in our living room.  Then in between all that I guess I might as well do a few loads of laundry too!  I think that's a good start.  When the dh is home on vacation two weeks from now we plan to do some more painting, primarily the front door and the window shutters.  The door is white and the shutters are currently hunter green and we plan to re-paint them all a black/gray color.  Can't wait to see what it'll look like!

Before I move on to the to-do list though, I will share with you some of my latest cards that I made with Core'dinations cardstock.  They are all Summer related themes, so I hope you'll enjoy them!

This first card I used "A Child's Year" Cricut cartridge.  I love the nostalgic and silhouette imagery on this cart! 

For the sand and accenting on the starfish, I used Tim Holtz's Distressing powder in Frayed Burlap to give the perfect grainy effect with the Vintage and Core Essentials cardstock!

 

And this card was a fun and easy one to put together with coordinating products from SEI's "a FAIR day" collection.  I love the glittery accenting in this line paired up with Core Couture glitter cardstock.  I also used some Core Essentials spritzed with Glimmer Mist. 

And last... a card with some Core Essentials in the Pastels range.  Mmmm,some cotton candy would taste sooo good right now!  I cut the banners and cotton candy with the Cricut Carousel cartridge. 

And speaking of Core'dinations... I just had a great box delivered to me yesterday containing all the new releases of Core!  Girls, it all looks sooo wonderful... esp. that dreamy looking Tim Holtz Kraft Core line!  Ohh my, I can't wait to create with it all, so I guess I'd better write that down on my to-do list as well!    Think that's it for now.  But, I will be a busy girl for the rest of the day.  Time for me to crack the whip on myself!  Have a great weekend everyone :)

My Pink Stamper Design Team Submission {You Give Your Heart To Make a Difference!}

Good evening all my crafty bloggy friends!  Hope everyone is having a good week and that you all aren't melting away into puddles!  It's been very HOT here today and I believe I'm soon going to head on down to the basement and hide out in my craft room because it's sooo much cooler there!  But first, I needed to post about a card that I put together that I think is my new favorite.  Don't you love it when you create something that you yourself totally dig?  I love when that happens!  So, this card also happens to be my submission for the My Pink Stamper design team call which comes to a close tonight.  Yes, I am squeezing it in during the last lap, but I just had to give this one a go!  Afterall, if Cricut is involved I'm weak... I love my Cricut wayy too much, lol! 

To submit for this dt selection, we all had to follow the challenge to create a project using a favorite Cricut cartridge, and to incorporate the colors of brown, orange, green and turquoise, and other optional color of choice. The only other color in my card is white accenting of the sanded cardstock core and in the mini alpha sticker lettering.  Have to say, I like that combination of colors... earthy, yet cool. 

Guess maybe that's why I went with an Earth motif and woodgrain for my card's theme.  Give a Hoot is one of my very favorite Cricut cartridges and that's where I found the image for the heart shaped world diecut used on here.  I used a variety of Core'dinations cardstock, including the Glitter Core Couture in a turquoise shade for representing the Earth's water.  I tied some vintage crinkled seam binding in orange around the heart shape and attached the piece to my card base with dimensional foam squares.  Sticker alphas completed the card's sentiment.  Ohhh, that woodgrain piece... that is actually packaging (backing) from a set of alpha stickers that I bought from Target awhile back!  Yes, I even recycled on my earthy card! 

Card Supplies and Recipe:

•  Give a Hoot Cricut cartridge - Heart Earth - cut @ 4" from green Core Essentials cs), Heart Earth layer - cut @ 4" from turquoise glitter Core Couture cs).
•  Other cardstock, all by Core'dinations (Green Core Impressions BasicGrey Whimsy dot-line cs, orange Vintage Core cs, brown Core Impressions Cosmo Cricket criss-cross cs).
•  Woodgrain sticker packaging from Target.
•  My Little ShoeBox Mini Alphabet stickers in Sunrise orange.
•  Pink Paislee cardstock alphabets Whimsies in Pumpkin.
•  Trimtex vintage seam binding in orange.
•  Stampin' Up small scallop border punch.
•  Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Spiced Marmalade.
•  Recollections foam dimensional squares. 

Okay, that's my card!  Now I'll cross my fingers and hope for good news!  Thanks for stopping by! :)

Peachy Keen!!

Howdy!  If you haven’t seen the July Challenge at Core'dinations  make sure you check it out here. You have until July 27th to enter for the chance to win some fabulous Core goodies! Make sure you link us up on that post or link us on Facebook.

All you need to do is use this color palette as your inspiration. Again, there are more deets on the original post….

Anyway, here is the awesome inspiration photo for this fantastic color challenge which came from Pinterest!

Isn't it the perfect, delectable Summery feast for the eyes? 

And take a look at the colour combo that dt member Lydia Jackson devised through Colour Lovers to match up to the inpiration...

Such a terrific palette!  Anyway, I was inspired to create a card for this challenge, and I was happy to use these turquoise, peacock blue, and peachy colors together.  And the peaches in the photo looked soo yummy and fresh that I even decided to use a peach as my card's theme,

"You Are Sweet As A Peach"!

I used a variety of Core'dinations Core Essentials and Vintage cardstock and my peach image came from the Cricut "Just Because Cards" cartridge.  To make the peach more realistic, I inked the edges of the cuts with some Ranger inks and also did some light sanding to the outside edge.  The leaves were embossed with the Cuttlebug Herringbone folder and I used patterned paper and stickers from the "a FAIR day" sei line!

So now I hope that you too will be inspired to take on this fun colour challenge!  Remember, you have until July 27th, so hurry up and play along with us to win some delicious Core!

In other news, I was very saddened to learn of some heartbreaking news this morning that a fellow scrapbooking friend in our communities has passed away rather suddenly after her battle with breast cancer.  Her name was Chris Hertel and she was such a dear sweet soul who gave so much of herself.  She lived right here in PA, and although I've never met her in person (and we used to live rather close to one another, her in Greensburg, and I in Altoona)... we did communicate via message boards, emails and our blogs.  Chris also created some of her own digital designs and was kind enough to share them.  Her houndstooth print has been one of my favorites for quite sometime and I have downloaded and printed it so often for many of my projects.  In fact, earlier last week, I was pleasantly surprised to have one of my card designs using her houndstooth print, picked up for publication in the upcoming December issue of CARDS magazine!  I was so thrilled that it was a card using her design and I was eager to email her to tell her to be on the watch for it later, but I never got the chance.   Here's a link to another blog post of mine with another page that I created not too long ago.  I tell ya, I've used it a lot!  I will certainly miss her spunky spirit and friendship in our scrappy community!  She fought a good fight and all I can say is that the world was only a happier place with her in it!  I pray that her beautiful family will lean on one another and find much comfort, strength and peace!