quick and simple thank you cards

I've been so blessed to received goodies from some super generous companies lately, and I wanted to make some cards for them, to show my appreciation.  Plus, I did a little crafty shopping a few months ago, (something I RARELY do) and I haven't had time to get everything inky yet. So, I thought I'd share some product today, that is making me absolutely HAPPY! This first card shows off a SUPER FUN stamp set from Paper Smooches, called I Heart Art.  It's perfection for a card for a crafty friend!  

I whipped up a couple of these cards at one time. They were quick and simple, plus a great way to use up some scraps.  (That paper is Dots and Stripes, from Echo Park.) There's just a little bit of coloring on here, on the easel, and I used some awesome new colored pencils, from Tombow. The Irojiten colored pencils are so smooth - I swear, it was like I was coloring with butter. (Well, not exactly.) But seriously - if you are in the market for colored pencils, I highly recommend these! I have been a Prismacolor pencil girl, for years - and I only have a couple of these Tombow pencils, but they have me craving the whole set!!!  They are absolutely gorgeous. (Sorry. I totally drool over great pencils! It's the art major in me. I can't escape it!) 

Next up, is another quick card, featuring Penny Black clear stamps - AND their paper. This 6x6 stack, called Madison, has bright colors, and cheery patterns.  I am all about BRIGHT and CHEERY so this paper is the perfect addition to my stash! 

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be back in a day or two with some more quick thank-you cards, and to share some more of my new favorite things!

xoxo

(other card goodies: cardstock - Discount Cardstock, twine - The Twinery, blue pearls - Hero Arts, ink - Clearsnap)

Crafty laundry love! (giveaway alert!!!)

If you didn't win in the Purex Baby giveaway, I promised you I'd have more goodies to give.  And I DO!  (But first. . . . a card!)

I really enjoyed the color palette I used on the laundry-love cards I shared a few weeks ago, so I stuck with it and created this little baby too.  The Paper Smooches Squeaky Clean stamp set is really fun, and I'm anxious to get it inky again! 

The winners of this next giveaway will win this card (or one almost like this!) , plus a coupon for a free box of 

20 Mule Team Borax. 

Borax is a fairly new-to-me product.  I bought it for the first time, last year, and I was completely amazed with all the ways it can be used.  Here in Florida we have incredibly hard water, and Borax is a great addition to laundry, the dishwasher, and even in household cleaning, to help break up those hard-water stains.  It's a terrific laundry booster, by adding 1/2 cup to each load along with your detergent.  I shake it onto my damp bathtub, and scrub it on like a normal powdered bathroom cleaner.  I was amazed how well it works. (And it's all natural - did you know that Borax is a natural mineral with nothing added?! Amazing!) You can find a great list of uses on the 20 Mule Team Borax website.

Borax is hosting a Fresh Year, Fresh Laundry sweepstakes.  Enter to win the $1,500 Grand Prize, or 171 coupons for free Borax! (Why 171? Because the total prize equals $2,013. Clever huh!?)
Please enter from my unique URL. . . it will show Purex and Borax that I'm actively helping to promote their companies!!! (And well - you know, maybe you'll WIN!!!!)

Plus, I have two coupons for FREE BOXES of 20 Mule Team Borax to give away to my sweet crafty readers.  (Maybe we can come up with some new crafting technique using Borax???)  Just leave a comment on this post - you can comment once per day through Monday, January 21st.   I'll draw TWO lucky winners!

CONTEST IS CLOSED! THANKS FOR ENTERING!!!! :)

I'm trying my best to mesh together these giveaways for great household products, onto my CRAFTY-centered blog.  I hope you are enjoying them, and I hope it is an enriching, rather than irritating, feature.   As a member of the Purex Insiders, Purex along with other great companies offer me the chance to try their products, and share their products.  They are incredibly good to me, and I want to do my part to promote them.  (Free stuff is always good though, right? And I'm pretty sure you're cleaning your house in between crafty projects. . .well, you should be, anyway!)  I'd love your feedback though (and your comment will enter you for a chance to win!) so let me know what you think!

A baby fresh giveaway!

I've been looking at the Squeaky Clean stamp set, from Paper Smooches Stamps, for months. I finally made it mine, and thought it would be perfect to create some laundry-inspired/cleaning cards.

Looking for more of my cards featuring Paper Smooches? 

Check HERE!

Winner winner tomato dinner!

Big thanks to everyone who participated in the Muir Glen and Paper Smooches giveaways!

I am happy to announce the winners today!!!!  I chose randomly through all of the comments and Rafflecopter participants, so without further ado. . . . 

Isha Gupta won the Vegtastic Paper Smooches stamp set. 

and Angie Hagist won the Muir Glen goodies! 

Ladies, please get me your contact information and you'll have fabulous belated Christmas gifts heading your ways!

Big thanks to Muir Glen, and Paper Smooches Stamps for offering up such wonderful prizes to give away!  After Christmas, I have another non-crafty giveaway coming up, so keep on stopping by - you  never know what I might have to share!

I expect this will probably be my last blog post until after Christmas (unless I get my act together and schedule some posts while we are traveling between Christmas and New Years - but let's be honest, at this point, those chances are pretty slim! HA!)

Hugs to each and every one of you!!!! See you in the NEW YEAR!!! 

xoxox

last minute christmas cards

Scroll down to enter the Paper Smooches Vegtastic, and Muir Glen tomatoes giveaway 

(Giveaway ends on Saturday!)

Although our family doesn't send out Christmas cards to a long list of family and friends each year, I do like to have some cards on hand for Eric's coworkers, our neighbors, and to attach to gifts.  

A few days ago, I took a break from the 27,853 items on my to-do list, and just made some cards - because I WANTED to.  I collected up a pile of October Afternoon paper. A few of the sheets are from  one of their holiday collections, but some of them are not - and I love that! I also had one sheet of OA Christmas stickers, and my new Christmas stamp set from Paper Smooches, that I was super excited to ink up!! (Kim's sentiment stamps are just SO FUN fun to play with!) 

So here's what I came up with.  I put together about 8 cards that night, and felt like I accomplished a lot! I love putting together patterned papers and using up some serious stash!  If you still have a few cards you need to throw together, I hope this will inspire you! All of these cards follow the same basic formula.  I just adjusted each one depending on the sentiment I wanted to use, and how it coordinated with the patterned paper.  (For instance, on darker or busier patterned papers, I matted and mounted my sentiment on a separate block of cardstock.)

 So get busy - take a few minutes, and make something fun!!! And if you are totally sick of Christmas cards, use the same formula and grab some birthday stamps - get a head start on next year's special occasions!  Thank so much for stopping by, my friends!!!! And don't forget, if you haven't entered my Paper Smooches Vegtastic, and Muir Glen tomatoes giveaway, scroll on down and give it a shot!!! (Giveaway ends on Saturday!)

Merry Christmas!!!! xoxo

We Must Ketchup!

If you've followed my blog for a while, you may remember this card.  When Kim Hughes came out with the Vegtastic stamp set at Paper Smooches, I knew I *HAD* to have it because I have a major thing for tomatoes.  Seriously.

You see, my maiden name sounded just like tomato, and there's something about school-age nicknames. . .they STICK, don't they? Eventually along the way, I grew to embrace my inner tomato and I just became Laura Tomato, Tomato, or 'Mato, (because every nickname needs it's own nickname.)

My friends gave me all sorts of tomato gifts each year - tomato candles, tomato dish towels, ceramic tomatoes - my dad even found me a tomato license plate for my first little red car!  Even my email address is still TomatoL - it was my first email address, and it's been my only email address.

Okay - so back to present day, you see why I NEEDED this stamp set.  I had to have that tomato.  A few weeks ago, I received an email from the folks at Muir Glen (you know, the organic tomato people?) They contacted me because they came across this card, from the original blog post, and wanted to share it. Of course, I said SURE!!  They've even agreed to share some Muir Glen goodies with us! And once Kim, at Paper Smooches, heard about the fun, she decided to offer up her Vegtastic stamp set!

SO - it's your lucky day. A chance to win a fabulous prize pack from Muir Glen, (a tote bag, dish towel, and even some delicious Muir Glen tomato products!) as well as a Vegtastic clear stamp set.  Two winners will be picked - one for each of these great giveaways!


a Rafflecopter giveaway


Thanks so much for stopping by today!!! If this was your first visit, I hope you'll come hang out with me again! Also feel free to find me on Pinterest.  You can find Paper Smooches on Pinterest, as well as Muir Glen!  Have a sweet tomato day!!! xoxo

back to school!

My biggest went back to school last week, and I am super-pleased to say that he is off to a terrific start.

Little one thinks that he should be heading off to school, and he carries his backpack out every morning, complete with a packed-lunchbox snack (which he promptly eats as soon as big brother has been deposited at the school door.)

And in honor of the fresh start of the schoolyear, a card created for the Discount Cardstock blog.  Clean and simple and ready for school.  I'm pretty sure Mr. B's new teacher will be receiving this card somewhere along the way!  I used precious stamps from Paper Smooches.  I am obsessed with that tiny notebook paper.  It is SO cute.  And I used my smallest hole-punch to punch holes in the papers! LOVE!

card goodies: cardstock - Brilliant White (DiscountCardstock.com) stamps - Paper Smooches, ink - Close To My Heart, twine - The Twinery

LOVE Flip-It card

Okay, I've managed to get ONE blog post together for you, for while I am adventuring across the Hamptons and NYC.  :)

This is a card I created for the Discount Cardstock blog, using Doublemates card stock.  The cool thing about Doublemates is that it has two colors - Heritage is gray on one side, and black on the other, and the Pretty Pink has two shades of pink.  This card stock is a LOT of fun when making Flip-it cards with the Sizzix dies! I hope you like it! :)

LOVE Flip-its card

By Laura Williams

1. Die cut card with Sizzix Flip-its Square die.  Trim strips of card stock and adhere to card front.

2. Stamp sentiment on card, and onto dark pink scrap of cardstock.  Trim and adhere heart.

3. Trim strips and adhere to inside of card.  Stamp and trim hearts, and adhere. 

Discountcardstock.com supplies:

Heritage Doublemates 90#, Pretty Pink Doublemates 90#

other supplies:

die - Sizzix Flip-its 

stamps - Paper Smooches Stamps

ink - Clearsnap

I'll see you when I get back from the city!!!!!

xoxo

Pop Tones! {my new love!}

Discount Cardstock has some NEW fabulous card stock, called Pop Tones, that I simply MUST share with you today! The colors are absolutely DELISH, and they have super fun (and delicious names) like Berrylicious, Limeade, and Banana Split.  (And right now, the Pink Lemonade is on sale!!! YUM!)

On this first card, I used Limeade card stock, and stamps from Lawn Fawn (Chevron Backdrops) and a sentiment stamp from Paper Smooches. I stamped a piece of card stock and stuck it inside the envelope too, to create a liner. I LOVE the way it came out, and it is such a quick and easy finishing touch!

 

 I used Berrylicious card stock on the next card . .. along with a chocolate envelope (also for sale at Discount Cardstock.) I paired some My Little Shoebox papers and sticker, along with another Paper Smooches sentiment.

I hope you like this bright summery FUN! I've had fun playing with these great new cardstock choices, and I can't wait to stock up on some MORE! If you need to grab some cardstock, I highly recommend Discount Cardstock.  They have a great selection of the companies you normally buy (like Bazzill, Neenah, and DoubleMate) plus they have some of their own FANTASTIC colors and patterns, like the Posh Paper Collection, with lots of beautiful textures and colors. They also carry envelopes, and pre-scored cards!  

color and pattern perfection!

So last week, I won this FABULOUS new stamp set from Paper Smooches, called Potporri.

It is a BLAST to play with!!!!! Here are two cards that I made, featuring fun backgrounds that I created with the Potporri stamps.  I paired them with some sentiments also by Kim Hughes, from some old Cornish Heritage Farms sets.

I LOVE the way the big flowers turned out, and the blingy centers (buttons from Close To My Heart) were the perfect finishing touch.

I found this color scheme in the latest Better Homes and Gardens magazine.  It was an article about paint colors - but I said "ACK! I must make a card with these!" ( I really did say it!!!!) And so. . .

I did!!! And I liked it so much, I made TWO! 

Thanks BUNCHES to Kim Hughes and Paper Smooches Stamps!!! Winning fabulous stuff is SO MUCH  FUN!

CFC25 - Just Add Color (baby twin girls card!)

My neighbors just had twin baby girls a few weeks ago.  I reached right for the PERFECT stamp set, one of Kim Hughes sets, from way back in the days of Cornish Heritage Farms.  (Kim's stamps from CHF are some of the VERY FEW discontinued stamps that I keep have in my stash!)  

I have never used the "twins" stamp, and I was super excited to finally have a reason to use it! (The photo below is the inside of the card.)

Thankfully this was a card with a PURPOSE and it immediately LEFT my house :)  because I have GOT to purge my gigantic collection of cards - since they didn't sell at this weekend's craft fair (see previous post for my sob session) I have GOT to figure out what to do with them all.

I am also entering this card into the challenge at CAS-ual Fridays, for this week's challenge, CFC25, "Just add color".  I used colored pencils to add color to my little baby girls! I was so excited to see that I was recognized as a VIP for last week's challenge (CFC24) - SO FUN!!! I have the super-cool badge in my sidebar now!  (Thanks CAS-ual Fridays!!!)

Thanks for coming by! Sorry about my double-posting day! Just gotta do that every so often!
xoxox

(card goodies: card stock - Discount Cardstock.com, stamps - Kim Hughes Collection from Cornish Heritage Farms, colored pencils - Prismacolor, tulle ribbon - October kit from Apron Strings Designs,)

crafts for sale! :)

One of my favorite childhood books is, Caps For Sale.  I don't have any caps for sale, but I will have some CRAFTS for sale, (but hopefully I won't have to balance them on my head, and hopefully they won't be stolen by monkeys . . .if you're confused, read the book!) Next month my church is having a craft fair and I've decided to have a booth.  My plan was to try and sell of the 200 or so cards that are sitting ALL OVER MY HOUSE.  But I've gone a little crazy, making OTHER things to sell as well.  Hopefully they will sell, otherwise I'll have a lot more than just cards sitting around!

The Christmas tags are about the only things (other than cards) that are fully packaged and ready to go. There are assorted patterns of paper, but they all have a red base, and extra twine for hanging. I LOVE the way these turned out!

a mini composition book.  these books are a little less sturdy than the ones shown below.  I think I'm going do do some kid-themed ones, and package them with a few crayons.

 Thanksgiving Place Cards . . . .loved pulling out my old Kim Hughes stamps from Cornish Heritage Farms, to make these.  They took some time, with all the cutting - but I enjoyed it.  I'll probably sell them for less than what my time is worth, but I had fun - so it's okay!

 A full sized composition book.  I have one all packed and ready to go, but I forgot to photo it.  This one is sort of a vacation/beach theme - a vacation or summer journal maybe????

 another set of Christmas gift tags.  These will have self adhesive on the back.  Pretty quick and simple.  I'm hoping to make up a bunch more of these.  I wasn't originally planning to sell them in the tin, but they might be kind of cute - a tin of tags?????

These are the "nicer" mini composition books.  They have the nice binding on them, and they are a little more detailed.  I love the way they turned out!!!

I haven't finished them yet, to photograph them, but I've done a bunch of candy pails (like the plain pail shown above) They are decorated and have lots of ribbon tied on them.  I'm going to fill some with candy, and some with crayons.  I'll show them to you when they're ready!!!!  I have a few other projects I am hoping to get done.  I still have some time!

This has been a great project to use up a lot of STUFF. . .patterned paper that's been sitting around, and the MASSIVE tangle of baker's twine that a couple of friends and I bought in bulk.  :)  I promise I'll share more pictures when it gets closer!!!

Also, speaking of SALE. . .I still have stamps for sale at 2Peas - you can find the threads here:
assorted stamps for sale
Close To My Heart stamps for sale
PM me at 2Peas if you are interested, or email me at TomatoL at aol dot com.

(project goodies: patterned paper on all of these projects is October Afternoon, all cardstock is Discount Cardstock,  felt pineapple - Sassafras Lass, Thanksgiving stamps - Cornish Heritage Farms, to/from and "just a note" stamps - The {Stamps} of Life, "tooty fruity. . " stamp - My Favorite Things, frame stamps on mini comps - Gina K)

a little more banner madness

I created this card a month or so ago, using the same cute little banner stamp from Paper Smooches "Hang Ups" stamp set, that I used on yesterday's card.  It's super simple, and sweet - just the way I roll!

I'm kind of obsessed with teal, if you hadn't already figured that it.  This Frosted Teal Prismatic cardstock is TOTALLY my go-to color.  (We've probably discussed this many times, but I feel the need to say it again.)  It's perfect for summer.  And it's perfect for winter.  And for us in Florida, those are about all the seasons we have! 

I am determined to be in bed before 10pm tonight.  Mr. "I Wake Up at 4:45am" is about to be the death of me.  Especially now that school is out, and everyone else wants to sleep in! So off I go, to clean off my craft table, and hit the hay! Thanks so much for stopping by!

xoxo

birthday fishes!

I LOVE having friends close by with a like-minded stampy addiction.  That way, we can share stamps, and share ideas.  It's the best.  I made this card using Paper Smooches stamps from my stash, plus my sweet girl, Angie's stash.  (Thanks, Ang!)

This card is based on last week's CPS sketch, #221.  

We've come through our first day of summer vacation SWIMMINGLY. . .a trip to the library, 20 or so books, a strawberry lemonade and cookies from McDonald's, and then a major rainstorm this afternoon (which hopefully made our peppers, tomatoes, and basil plants VERY HAPPY!)

Have a fabulous week!

xoxo

Card goodies:

Discount Cardstock Products:

Intense Teal Prismatic
Intense Orange Prismatic 
Sunflowers Medium Prismatic 
Intense Kiwi Prismatic 
Dotted Swiss Mermaid (Deep Sea Trio)

Other supplies:

stamps – Paper Smooches

 ink – Close To My Heart, 

twine – The Twinery

another SMOOCH!

another card using this week's CPS sketch, along with our fabulous sponsor, Paper Smooches!

So here's the deal . . .

there's no fish in this stamp set.

See?

Here's what I did.  I used the circle-shaped paper lantern for the fishy body.

And the larger heart for his tail.

And for the fins, I stamped the hanger, trimmed it, and cut it in half down the middle. I put one half on the top, and one half on the bottom.

And then I drew his little smiling face.

Ta-Dah!

I LOVE the way this blue paper looks as water.  It's the posh sky blue crepe, from Discount Cardstock, along with Brilliant White, and Kraft.

Thanks for coming by today! The week is half-way through! I am finally starting to feel caught up on sleep, after our trip to Disney World.  Tanner slept for THREE HOURS today, so i think he is starting to catch up too!!

XOXO

so thrilled!

thrilled to be home after a fabulous trip to disney world! the boys had a FANTASTIC time, and eric and i did too!  i'll share a few pictures this week. . .but for right now, i'm thrilled to share a Paper Smooches card, based on this week's CPS sketch.  this is using kim hughes Vegtastic stamp set.  smiling vegetables - REALLY, could there be ANYTHING quirkier, and cuter!? i just LOVE them.

i have a VERY unhappy toddler at my feet - apparently he is also suffering from some walt disney world withdrawal.  so i think i'll cut this short, try to regain some peace, and finish unpacking! it's good to be home, but missing the happiest place on earth!! thanks for coming by today, after my little trip away!

hugs! happy monday!
xoxo

(card goodies: cardstock - Frosted Aqua Prismatic, Brilliant White (Discount Cardstock) twine (The Twinery) stamps (Paper Smooches "Vegtastic") buttons)

did you stamp your veggies today?

perhaps it's because the little mr. has been waking up at 4:45 in the morning, but i am feeling SO loopy and brain-fried lately!!! yesterday, i did and said silly things that made NO sense all day long. but today is a new day. (a new EARLY day which started once again at 4:45)

the hubs and i spent most of the day yesterday working on our family budget. {insert dark scary music here!} it's fairly bleak, but i feel fairly optimistic.  we've budgeted for our trip to disney next month, and we have the cost of the whole thing accounted for now, so that makes me feel good! we can enjoy it, and not worry about the money.  (thank goodness for credit card points, anniversary gifts, thriftiness and gift cards! woohooo!)

so - back to the veggies.  it's a bit early, so i haven't eaten my veggies today - but i did STAMP my veggies a few days ago.  ;)  (i warned you. . .i'm loopy and weird these days!)  paper-piecing kim hughes' Paper Smooches stamps makes me deliriously HAPPY! they have crisp clear lines and they are easy peasy to use.  so so much FUN!!!!

i hope you have a FABULOUS weekend! we had to turn the air conditioner back on yesterday - sigh. it's going to be NINTY THREE today.  seriously?! in APRIL!? even for Florida, that, my friends, is a little extreme.

(card goodies: stamps - Paper Smooches, patterened paper - Echo Park, kraft cardstock - Discount Cardstock)

we must ketchup

Love.

Love. 

Love.

Simple and sweet. 

I paper-pieced this tomato using Santa Red and Intense Kiwi Prismatic, 

(from Discount Cardstock of course!)

I couldn't be 

HAPPIER

that Kim Hughes started her own stamp company.

And did you know, she got MARRIED today!?

LOVE.

LOVE.

LOVE.

(Hey, so I haven't really figured it out yet, but I linked my blog up to Facebook, through Networked Blogs. . .so if we're "friends", and you use that, follow me, okay!? I'm pretty sad and pathetic right now, with no followers!)

peas love happiness. . .and cake.

Hi, my name is Laura and I have a sugar addiction.  I feel like all of my posts have been about CAKE lately.  But today, I am balancing it out with some healthy (and adorable) vegetables. 

I have a giant cupcake in the oven right now - using this adorable GIANT cupcake pan.  I had to get a bit creative, because as I put in the 2nd of 3 eggs, I realized. . .I had no more eggs.  But thanks to Google, I found out that bananas can be a decent substitute for eggs in a cake.  Who knew!? So, my giant chocolate cupcake has become a giant chocolate-banana cupcake, and I think it is actually going to be QUITE delish. Hooray!!!! (It can't hurt that I doctored it up with sour cream and pudding mix - also two amazing additions to boxed cake mix!)

Okay - now that I have educated you about cakes, let's talk VEGGIES.  I rarely go out and buy a new stamp set.  Seriously, hardly ever.  I have what I get from my lovely Close To My Heart consultant (AKA, my mama!) or what I get for an assignment, or CPS sponsorship, and that is IT.  Crafty supplies are rarely in the budget.  BUT when Kim Hughes opened up her new stamp company, Paper Smooches, I knew I was in serious trouble!!!!!  And when I saw the new vegetable stamp set - it HAD to be mine!!!! (I have a big collection of tomatoes, so I HAD to have that smiley tomato - but that's a story for another day.) 

The stamps came in the mail yesterday, and as soon as I got the boys in bed, I got to work!!!! Here is the first card I created!  I used darling Echo Park paper (Life Is Good) and the cutie-patootie peas, (which I paper-pieced of course!)

And now, HOPEFULLY the cake is ready to come out of the oven! (All those extra ingredients are causing it to take FOREVER to bake!) I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday! XOXO

spring? almost!

Is it feeling like Spring yet?

Well, maybe not quite. Although here in Florida, it's probably a lot closer to Springtime than where most of you live! I will admit, although it's chilly today, I was in flipflops and capri pants a few days ago. And now that I think about it, there was pollen all over my car too - so perhaps Spring IS just around the corner.
I have had some time to just PLAY lately, using whatever stamps I felt like, no assignments, no duedates - so I pulled out these cute Kim Hughes stamps from Cornish Heritage Farms. I've had them for ages now, and they had not touched much ink yet. It was wayyy past time! I paired them with some new October Afternoon papers, and Papertrey Ink buttons.

(card goodies: stamps - Cornish Heritage Farms, paper - October Afternoon, ink, ribbon - CTMH, buttons - Papertrey Ink)