It's been fun, but it's time to move on, so visit my NEW BLOG!

Please visit my new blog, That's SO Martha! There you will see my explanation for moving on! Thanks for stopping by, I will leave this blog open to share my old creations!

http://thatssomartha.blogspot.com/

It doesn't get much easier than this!

I made a couple of Mother's Day cards today (and a miss you card) that were quick and easy. I used Stampin' Up's new printed window sheets. The first one ended up a toned down purple & gold (Arrr!) and I sent it to my grandmother. I adhered the window sheet to a piece of textured cardstock, under the sentiment tag, with a couple of small pieces of sticky strip. Nothing special about the sentiment tag, just used a scallop punch, couple of brads, sponged the edges of the white for depth.

On the Thank You For Being You card, inside it reads Happy Mother's Day, I adhered this one to a sage colored textured cardstock, behind the sentiment. I used my scallop circle punch and some Crystal Effects for a little fun along the scalloped edges.
The Missing You card is for a mom who I mailed it to, I miss seeing her, she has been a special part of my life. I also mailed a couple of other surprises with it. On that one I used my scallop oval punch with vellum, a regular oval punch, and a couple of brads. I included a sweet sentiment about friendship inside.

Lastly, a quick project that I've been procrastinating on, some hair bow hanger things for my girls. I bought the letters from somewhere a while back, and the ribbon yards, and on the bottom I sewed on these tiny little frames from Maya Road. They have been in my craft stash for quite some time and I think they look kinda cool on these. On the 'V' I did a DTP (direct to paper) technique using craft ink (a pigment type ink, more like paint). Note: The "P" in DTP is not paper in this case, it's the letter.
These all (cards and hangers) took me maybe a total of an hour or so to work on. It doesn't get much easier than this! Hope everyone has a great weekend, gets lots of rest and sunshine, and time with family and friends!

yummy popsicles for a birthday invite...

I can't believe that our younger daughter will be having a birthday, it just seems like she was born not that long ago. I'm so glad one of the girls has a birthday during the warm weather, and as you can see, I'm taking full advantage. I saw this idea on Splitcoaststampers and thought it was the perfect birthday invite. I did several versions.

Details of what I used/did: I thought the Tart & Tangy stamp set from Stampin' Up was so cute, so I used 2 of the 4 stamps from it. I used my JustRite stamper to stamp the word ONE on the front, and one of my oval punches and my new scalloped oval punch (also SU) that I now LOVE!
I used vellum for the scalloped oval and for the inside of the card, which I ran through the printer with the details of the party (some details covered up for obvious reasons). I used a single eyelet to hold the vellum on, because I have tried many types of adhesive for vellum on cardstock, and I've found none that don't show through, not even the vellum adhesive.
I used Crystal Effects (SU) to make the popsicle drip by the bite (punched with SU scallop circle punch). To stick on the popsicle stick, I used sticky strip adhesive.

Can't wait to deliver these invites, and for the party! Thanks for stopping by!

Surprise birthday card for a friend!

I surprised my friend Sarah with a card and a hanging Fuchsia plant and this card, which I made for her last night. The image comes from Long Time Friend (SU!) and normally I would watercolor it, but my Stazon Ink Pads had to all get thrown out from age/dryness. So last night I broke out my husband's Prismacolor pencils! They're awesome colored pencils, and worked really well on the smooth surface of the Very Vanilla cardstock. I paired up the image with So Saffron and Old Olive cardstock. The sentiment comes from Happy Harmony (SU!) and I thought this butterfly was a cute addition.

Sorry I've been so slack in creating. I'm actually working on a sewing project, a jacket for me to wear to work. In the process, I'm planning to make a cute accessory to go with it, and I'll share when it's done!

Have a wonderful week!

Last month we had our 10 year anniversary...

So on March 20th, Nate and I had our 10 year wedding anniversary, and yes I made him a card, though simple. I used some blue, brown and olive papers to match the patterned paper from a paper pack that I liked, and a spiral clip. I printed the sentiment on the computer. It's hard to see the card, this pic was taken with my phone. It came from a Watermark song called Made For You (I *heart* Watermark music). Here are the lyrics to the chorus:

Remember I promised forever
Life brings change
But my promise is the same
And through these years we've been together
Life has made us grow
But through it all I know
No matter what may come
My heart was made for you forever

That night we went out to the emerge art gallery downtown and painted pottery. Nate's pottery has always come out amazingly beautiful (his is above). No matter how he mixes colors or how crazy it may look before it's fired and glazed, it's a piece of art when it's done. Mine is just scraping by average, look below... but it does look nice above the kitchen cabinets blending in with the other pottery in our collection. I'll stick to other types of creativity most of the time.
So although he will never admit his amazing creativity, my husband is a true artist. I'm just good at paper and glue, or sewing a pattern. Happy springtime, until we meet again.

Thought of God

I just love babies, and I realized Sunday, as I was surrounded by 4 pregnant friends, that I needed to add to my baby card supply QUICKLY! So here is a sweet baby girl card. I just love my girls, they inspire me. I hope to inspire them, too! Babies are such a blessing!

I used a new knit flower from Stampin' Up, with an aged gold brad in the center, colors of paper were blush blossom, close to cocoa, and whisper white. Inks used were pretty in pink (Houndstooth background) and close to cocoa (Wordsworth sentiment stamp). I distressed all of the paper edges. Added a little brown ribbon to pull it all together!
For my facebook friends, I'm hoping to add a baby pic today. Thanks for stopping by!

Baby Blessings everywhere!

It seems like lately someone around me is having a baby, or is sharing the news of a baby to come! What a blessing! I love being a mommy, there's really nothing like it.

This card was mostly inspired by the felt flowers that I recently purchased from Stampin' Up. The colors are definitely in right now, I combined the large brown flower with the small blue one and tacked them together with an antique copper brad. Striped paper and a scalloped edge on the right side, backed with some chocolate chip paper. I love this bunny from A New Little Someone by Stampin Up, which I watercolored using Blue Bayou, Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink, and Barely Banana. The "baby blessings" stamp from Wordsworth is one that I tend to go back to again and again, because that's exactly what I think babies are!

Thanks for coming to look! I need to make an anniversary card for my husband before Friday!

Smile!

In celebration of spring which is almost here... we think... I created a spring-inspired card. I used a sketch from Taylor's blog, and did it the weekend of her challenge, but just finally took a picture of it and blogged it. I love my smile stamp from Wordsworth.

Thanks for stopping by! I'll try not to wait another 3 weeks before I post again!

Mini Domino Jewelry

I did these before Christmas but just never posted the pic. I just think this set is adorable with paisley print in pink green and white, and so girly! Hope you like...

Masculine Birthday Card

I got a new mini paper pack from BASICGREY at Michaels the other day, they had it in the clearance area. I just loved the papers in it, so I had to splurge! I made this masculine birthday card, and wanted the paper to be the main focal point because it's so great! I did add a Tim Holtz distressable frame in Olive and a birthday sentiment from Verses stamps. I also had the green snaps from a LONG time ago. I really love the dimension of this card, although not practicle for postal mail. This card just has a tropical jungle feel to it, don't you think?

I've been listing some items on ebay today, so please check my listings out. Today I did mostly craft items, I'll be adding more soon, too, so check back frequently! I'll also be adding maternity clothes and Usborne books. Please send friends my way if you think they could use 'em! Have a great holiday weekend!

Eat Your Peas!

My aunt sent me an Eat Your Peas book for my birthday last fall and I LOVED it! I just kept going back to look at it occasionally. One day, I thought it would be great to use each of the pages on a card front to make a birthday card. I'm showing these pictures with permission from Gently Spoken. I asked permission because their images are copyrighted, but I wanted to share these inspiring images with you. Pages and pages of unique expressions. I'm certain that I'll be doing other Eat Your Peas cards, and I think I'll be using this idea for creating and donating cards to our Home Health & Hospice- their wish list includes cards. Please follow any of the links to check out how Eat Your Peas can inspire and encourage you!
I used Stickles on many of the cards, just to add a bit of sparkle to enhance the images. On the card up top, I also added some adhesive-backed jewels to the centers of the flowers. Thanks to those of you who've asked about me. Christmas and New Year's were nice, we went back to my mom's after New Year's to celebrate her 60th, and then the baby got sick with a bad cold, and then my 4 year old and I did- I'm trying to recover now. I'm hoping to be back in full swing soon, and I have new stuff to share already!