I'm Here!

I really am here!  I know I've been quiet, and I am sorry.  I have really missed blogging, but once again, I will use the same old standby of "Life has simply gotten in the way".  Funny, but I hate when that happens... when I can't seem to find a simple block of time to do what I'd rather be doing in life.  Instead, lately it seems it's been all about the mundane... 8 hours of work (stressful at times), piles of laundry, grocery shopping, and other miscellaneous household chores... you catch my drift! I've been slacking hard in ALL areas that I really want to be doing and improving upon.  I really am craving more creative time for ME! I can't even tell you the last time a sat down and scrapbooked a layout.  So sad... I think about it a lot though.  I'd also like to be trying to improve upon myself... to become a more healthy and fit me.  That's proven to be more difficult than anything these days.  But, I am not giving up on either of these areas.  Summer is here and I am going to make these some very important goals and priorities in the weeks ahead.  I can't give up :) 

About the scrapping, and well crafting as a whole, well... one of my absolute favorite things was to be a designer for Core'dinations Cardstock.  Sadly, my time with them has come to an end as I did not make the new team selections a few weeks back.  I was pretty disappointed and I guess I could say that it kind of also had a little bit to do with why I just dropped off the blog radar for a spell.  But I have realized that all good things must come to an end at some point, and no matter what, I loved every minute of my time with such a fabulous and respectable company.  Sooo no regrets, and back to business as usual! Besides, I still have quite a fabulous stash of Core at my disposal and it's always going to be a favorite ;) 

While I'm here, I also thought I'd share a few more projects that I've designed recently for the Curtsey Boutique!  If you haven't yet checked out CarrieAnne DeLoach's  Etsy shop, the Curtsey Boutique, you must.  It is totally full of the sweetest items to craft with.  First up is this card that I designed using some felt doilies and a printed fabric bow (currently not available) all from the shop. 

 

 

 

Other Products Used

Cricut Expression and Kate's ABCs cartridge.

Cardstock: Core'dinations, Teresa Collins Core Amour collection.

Sand It Gadget: Core'dinations.

Patterned paper: My Mind's Eye.

Bling embellishments: Queen & Co.

Rub-on alphas: American Crafts.

Green stickers: Prima.

Ink: SEI.

Marker: Sharpie.

 

And next up... another card.  This one is perfect for all those Graduations being celebrated this month! 

 

For this card design I used one of my favorite embellishments from Curtsey Boutique... the gorgeous gray tulle fabric and felt shabby chic butterfly!  The blue butterfly stickpin (currently not available), the white seam binding and the graph print starburst sticker are also all from the shop. 

I also used an embossed dot coin envelope which I adhered on the inside card flap.  This is the perfect size for inserted a gift card or folded check/money to give to the Graduate!

 

Other supplies-

Cardstock and Sand It Gadget: Core'dinations.

Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye.

Foam tape adhesive: Imaginisce.

Ink: Sei.

Cricut Expression and Fontopia cartridge: Provo Craft.

 

I do have some other design team projects for Curtsey Boutique but I guess I will show them later... that way I can come back a blog again soon!  Anyway, I am excited to be back and I do hope I can make it be a more regular thing.  I do miss hearing from everyone so I promise to be better about visiting you all as well :)  Hope you have an enjoyable weekend... or what's left of it!  Enjoy :)

A New Card... New Week of Challenges!

Today I thought about going out to do a bit of shopping, but then I thought twice and decided it would be much better to just stay home in the comfort of my pj's and do a little crafting.  And I am so glad I did.  Yesterday I had big plans to scrap and make cards but none of that happened because I was stricken with a ridiculous sinus headache that lasted ALL DAY LONG!  So today I am feeling much better and I seem to be back on track because I finished one of the three cards for the 2nd week's Card Sharks contest challenges at the Nook... Yay! 

So this challenge is called KINGS IN THE CORNER!  The challenge part is to create a card fit for royality!  I decided to make mine a Mother's Day themed version and went with the sentiment, "Mom, You Are My Queen Bee, Always".

I used the bee cut from the Sentimentals Cricut cart along with the Queen Bee phrase from Kate's ABCs.  I also added a lil' crown to the bee which I cut using the Teresa Collin's Sophisticated cart... a new favorite for sure! And the hexagon embossed cardstock is from the Core'dinations Pink Paislee Modern Prints collection... good stuff!  I also had fun using a mix of Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist and Glimmer Glaze within the hexagon shapes.  The beautiful papers and brad accents are all from the My Mind's Eye Lost & Found 2 collection and I also added a few tiny golden Kaiser pearl accents to the crown with Cosmo Cricket Tiny Type stickers to complete the sentiment. 

As always, thanks for stopping by and do enjoy the rest of your Sunday evening!  I'm off to start another challenge as I wait for the hubs to get home with our take-out pizza for dinner!  That's what I'm talkin' about!! ;)