Core Blog Hop with Peachy Keen!

Are you  ready for some mid-week fun and inspiration from your favorite cardstock brand?  Look no further... you have come to the perfect spot.  A few designers here with Core'dinations have teamed up with some Peachy Keen Stamps designers to bring you a blog hop full inspiration, so put in a load of laundry, grab your favorite drink and spend some hopping time with us! You know you want to, lol!  And this is a 2 day hop so please do visit us again on Thursday. 

Sooo, let's get started!  You will want to make sure you hit every blog along the way, and may I add, there are giveaways up for grabs!  So here's a complete list of our first day's installment...

Day 1
Core blog: http://www.coredinations.com/index.php/cat...scrapbook-blog/
Nikki Foraker http://scrappinnavywife.blogspot.com
Andrea Amu http://imlivinonscraps.blogspot.com/     *YOU ARE HERE*
Michelle Criswell http://www.scrappinwithmybug.com
April Derrick http://memoryvilla.com/blog/
Leanne Garner http://www.createdbyLeanne.blogspot.com
Debbie Standard http://debbiestandard.blogspot.com/
Raven Baca http://love4stamps.blogspot.com

Today for the hop I'd love to share with you a card set that I created using some way cute stamps that I got to play with in our swap with Peachy Keen stamps.  I had the chance to use an adorable collection called, Bee Happy (PK-244).  I designed two different cards using these super adorable bees...

Aren't they just so stinkin' sweet? 

Tons of other cool product went into making these cards.  Of course I cut out those beehives with my Cricut Expression using the Walk In My Garden cartridge.  Just too perfect for those bees.

Absolutely no patterned paper was used for these designs... strictly Core'dinations cardstock and tons of embossing!  The yellow beehive and the yellow background on the second card is Core Impressions Basic Grey Whimsy cardstock in the "Simon" embossed pattern.  The kraft background and kraft colored beehive is the Heritage Kraft (GX-3100-09) from the Graphic 45 Signature Series Core collection.  The cool hexagon embossing on the kraft was created by using the " So Trendy " Spellbinder's M-Bossabilities folder. 

The paper flowers on these are all from the Petaloo Core Color-Matching Series.  I used the larger Camelia flowers in Tulip Yellow and the Mini florals in Mantis Green and Tangerine.  I added some fine pastel yellow glitter to the centers of all the florals.  All the ribbons here are from May Arts Ribbon.  I used some Grosgrain ric rac in orange and Chevron twill ribbon in both yellow and lime green. 

Here are some more closeup photos...

To make the bees I stamped the images onto the backside of some Snowflake (GX-FB010) Core Essentials with a Jet Black Staz-On ink pad.  All the colors to the bees were added using Spectrum Noir markers from Crafter's Companion!  Love those markers... similar performance and impact as Copics, but very reasonably priced.  On the wings I also added a touch of Sugar Shimmer Fairy Dust glitter from Donna Salazar.  After stamping the images, I cut out around each bee, but I cut off the antennae and if you look close, you can see I added my own with some May Arts black Burlap Twine.  I poked a small hole in each bee head and inserted two pieces each of the twine into the holes.  I secured the twine from the back with some double stick adhesive and then I tied knots at the end of each piece of twine.  It was so much fun to create with and embellish these stamped images.  To complete these cards all I had left to do was adhere the bees to the cards with some foam sqaures for added dimension. 

Well, I do hope that my cards were Buzz-Worthy enough, bwaha-haa!  Get it?  Buzzz... bees?!  Okay, I'm finished, lol!  But you are not... still more stops along the way!  Next you will want to be sure to go to visit,  Michelle Criswell http://www.scrappinwithmybug.com .

Enjoy and remember to come by again tomorrow, June 7th for more creativity with Core cardstock and Peachy Keen stamps.

Happy Friday!

Ohh, am I ever glad it's Friday!  Another work week scratched off the calendar, also means it's PAY-DAY and SOUS sketch reveal day at the Stuck On You Sketches challenge blog!  Ohhh HAPPY Day indeed! 

Today's sketch was created by our own SOUS designer and co-creator, Leah Shaeffer.

I adore her sketches and this one was definitely fun to create from...

And, here's what I did using some lovely Fall pix from 2010...

Please click on photo to view the details better!  These pretty petals in a pumpkin were delivered to me from my hubby for our 10th Anniversary... he knows how much I love Fall, so he couldn't have put had a more perfect arrangement sent!  I used Glitz Designs paper, accents and woodgrain tiny alphas here.  The Pretty Petals title piece was cut using the Cricut Country Life cartridge and the decorative flower and leaf accents were all cut using Picturesque.  The frame surrounding the title was cut with Elegant Edges.  Other paper flowers here are from Petaloo and I added orange rhinestone centers from doodlebug design.  All cardstock is Core'dinations.

So there ya have it!  Please don't forget to come visit us over at SOUS and try out the sketch yourself!  We'd love to see what you do!  Hope everyone has a beautiful and enjoyable weekend!

Quiet Moments

Hmm, quiet moments are something of a rarity around here lately, but that's what my page today is all about!  I thought that it would be the perfect title for my layout that I created for the Stuck On U Sketches challenge blog today.  Sometimes the quiet moments are all you need!  Isn't that the truth?  Anyway, this page features one of my favorite photos that I took last summer of the hubster and our doggie niece, Jenna who we were doggie-sittin' for one weekend. But if you procede further on and take a look at my page, you will notice that I have titled my "QUIET" Moments page "QUITE" Moments instead!  Lol... major spelling error!  I will be fixing that, however I guess that's what I get for staying up late to scrap!  I seriously can't believe that I didn't even notice that while I was cutting out the letters and placing them... silly me! 
First of all, here is the cool sketch we got to play with this week...

And this is my page...

Remember, you can click on the picture to view my page is closer detail!  And again, so sorry for my spelling error! 

I love the blues and greens that I used here to reflect upon the serenity of the picture.  All of these papers are from the Pink Paislee Nantucket collection, and the embossed Core'dinations cardstock is all from the matching Pink Paislee Core Impressions line of Modern Prints, which happens to be some of my all time favorite Core cardstock!  For my page I also used the Cricut Picturesque cartridge to cut the dragonfly embellishment.  The "quite" in my title was the Paper Lace 2 font as well.  Other product here includes some baby blue chevron ribbon by May Arts, some green tinsil fiber from Darice, some decorative brads from Basic Grey, green paper flowers from Petaloo, pink alpha stickers from Pink Paislee and mini alphas from Glitz! 

So sorry to be so short today, but I've got a busy Friday ahead and must be running!  Like I said, where are my quite moments, lol!  I hope you all have a great weekend and be sure to stop by the SOUS challenge blog and have a look around to be inspired!  ;) Take care, friends!

SOUS Sketch Reveal for March 16th!

Today is Friday, Yay! So excited because the long-awaited scrappy weekend with my friends has finally arrived! I've taken off work for the day, and I couldn't be any happier that I can get away for a few days with the girls! Now let's just see how much craftiness I can actually get accomplished! ;)

Also for today there's a SOUS sketch reveal up, with yet another sweet sketch to create with!  For my page today I broke out some older My Mind's Eye from their Meadow Lark collection to create this layout about my niece.  Such a terrific black and white line! 

Here's the sketch by SOUS's own Sandi Clarkson...

and this is what I did with it...

I also used the Cricut Elegant Edges cartridge for my cuts here and the flowers are Petaloo paper flowers in Marine Blue, designed to specifically match up to Core'dinations cardstock colors!  Fun!  I love the look of the Marine blue paired with the black and white combo!

Okay... sorry to be short and sweet this morning, but I really do have a bit more packing to get back to.  Everytime I tell myself not to pack eveything I own... afterall, I'm not taking a U-Haul of my scraproom!  Always so hard to narrow down though.  Enjoy the weekend you all, and please don't forget to join in on our sketch challenge at Stuck On U Sketches!  Bye!

A Not So Witchy Hat!

Yes, not all witch hats are drab and ugly... definitely not this hat that I created using some Core'dinations Black Magic cardstock.

I believe it turned out rather pretty if I do say so myself!  Anyway, this Halloween project of mine was featured today on the Core'dinations blog.  We've been having a week long partnering with two other inspiring companies... May Arts and Petaloo!  Check us all out...

THREE awesome companies have come together to inspire you. And our teams have been working hard to create some festive projects for you, too. It’s all about the Holidays. From Halloween to Thanksgiving and even Christmas…you will see festive projects to get those creative juices flowing and hopefully give you some ideas for this time of year.

And of course…there are give-a-ways!!! All three companies will giving away tons and tons of goodies this week so make sure you head over to the Petaloo Blog and May Arts Blog for details and inspirational projects. Don’t forget about Facebook! Join us on our Facebook page here, the May Arts and Petaloo pages, too, for additional chances to win. Make sure you tell them we sent you!

Now getting back to my monogram witch hat, here's a few close-up shots of the details...

Again, I used the Core Black Magic in Warlock, and I tore various strips as to show the texturing of the color core.  I then formed the strips around a paper mache hat that I purchased at Michaels, where I also got the black resin frame used to showcase some orange Tillie dotted Core and a Cricut cut initial monogram.   For the floss-like fibers used in the button ties, I pulled apart the May Arts cording... discarded the white fiber-fill from the inside and just used the flossy threads.

The Petaloo flowers used include Citrus Orange and Nightfall.

 Other supplies include:

Cricut (A Child's Year cartridge - monogram).

Buttons by BoBunny.

Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels.

Script patterned paper by The Girls' Paperie.

Adhesives by Glue Arts.