'Tis the Season to Be Thankful! (You'll Love This One!)

It's that Happy-FALL-Ya'll time of year and I just love making fall handmade cards, especially when they involve pumpkins and fun colors. Bonus points for this card because it has this absolutely adorable vintage van from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. 

This blog post contains affiliate links. When you shop through my links I receive compensation at no cost to you. Thank you from the bottom of my crafty heart!

The Vintage Van clear stamp set from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps is first of all ABSOLUTELY adorable - but it's also incredibly versatile which makes it an extra fantastic stamp set. For this card, I decked out the van with pumpkins on top, but there are options for Christmas and birthdays, plus all year long. At the end of this post, you'll see a fun birthday card idea.

There are some really fun details in this stamp set, and it's really packed with goodness: packed with images to customize the van, packed with sentiments, and even tiny sentiments to add to the license plate. On this card, I used a combination of colored pencils and watercolor pencils to color the images. Then I paired it with some REALLY fun patterned papers. I absolutely love this combination of prints and colors together.

I used some of the same colors for the next card, but it's a card for any time of year. There's the versatility I was talking about! I added the balloons to the side mirror and the van is ready for a birthday celebration. This card is a similar layout, but it's gone from fall to all-year long. (Wouldn't this be adorable for Valentines too?!) 

I fussy cut these projects, but this stamp set also has a coordinating die set, and you can grab them bundled together for extra savings. 

Check out the Vintage Van set at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, plus all their darling stamps, dies, stencils, and more. 

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Simple Fall Cards Full of Leaves and Thanks

I am an absolute sucker for leaf stamps and dies. (We probably discuss this every year on my blog.) So I jumped at the chance, when a dear woman from church asked me to make her some fall cards.

I got so carried away, that I made extras and sold quite a few card sets to other lovely friends who liked the idea of sending out some autumn love! I'm looking forward to sending out what's left, and sharing my thankful thoughts with loved ones!

The first three all follow the same design, using stamps and dies from Lil' Inker Designs.

The Leaf Love die set is one of my absolute GO-TO die sets for fall. And Lil' Inker has a coordinating stamp set, called Leafy Greetings that fits right inside each leaf. Seriously cute! These cards came together SO quickly. I had fun mixing and matching the dotted papers (from Echo Park) and digging deep into my stash of washi tape. Because crafting is my job AND my hobby, sometimes it's a fun break from WORK, to dig into my non-work stash, and show it some love! 

(Find some more Leaf Love projects I created HERE!)

When I'm mass producing cards, I definitely work assembly line style...I trim all the card bases, then score and fold them all. On these cards, then I trimmed and adhered the paper all at one time, all the washi etc etc. The leaf dies come attached to each other, and I keep them that way - it's so quick to die cut all the leaves at once, and in no time at all, you've got a yard full of paper leaves to stamp! YAY! 

Next up, on these two cards, I used the sentiment from  Leaf Silhouettes from Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps. Dang, I've had this stamp set a long time, and I just keep on loving it so much! I even used it on a project for the cover of Paper Crafts Magazine, many moons ago! I paired the sentiment with leaves from Technique Tuesday's I Give Thanks stamp set. Another one I just keep using over and over. This set has coordinating dies for the leaves, but I actually trimmed mine - it was a good project to do while sitting in the school car line! The background is made from washi tape, and a background stamp (I think it's from Stamping' Up, but I'm not sure what it is!)

I hope you're feeling inspired to go create some autumn goodness now! I'm thankful for YOU, and I'm so glad you stopped by! xoxo 

Farewell Blog Hop {Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking magazine}

Hello friends! Today is an example of the width and depth of community that us paper crafters share, much of which was established by Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking magazine. Within hours of the announcement that PC&S would be ceasing publication, people were already coming together, and making plans to celebrate and honor the magazine and the lovely people who work to make it happen. We've spent the past few weeks sharing memories, photos and projects. Today I thought I'd share some of my favorite published cards in Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking.

First up, I created this card using multi-ink stamping, with Sweet 'n Sassy stamps. It turned out just the way I had it in my head, and I loved it. Even sweeter, this card ended up on the cover of the September/October 2013 issue, one of my favorite covers of all time! (that chalkboard text, swoon!)

Next, this Great Job card, featuring adorable Paper Smooches stamps. The whole thing is paper-pieced, down to the tiny apple leaf. This card was featured in Paper Crafting Tips and Tricks, from November 2012.

And last for today, a Nifty 50 party ensemble. I created this ensemble as part of my Go-to Gal tryout, and it was later published in the Party Ensembles book. Fun facts? That 50 Nifty Crosswords book? Yeah, it's not even a crossword book. It's a word search book. It was the right size though, and I knew no one would see the inside! The crossword paper, was just a crossword puzzle I printed from the internet.

And now, hop along your crafty way through this gigantic blog hop! 

You should have come here from Gayatri Murali 

and next up, is Maria Fischer

(If you're just joining us. . .head to Jennifer McGuire to start at the beginning!)

PS - I'm sharing a fun project over on the Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking blog today, for the very last time. . .stop on by and see what I created! xoxo

A sweet and sassy farewell

Today brings my last post for Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, as November's guest designer.  If you haven't been over to the SNSS blog today, head over there next and see one more card I created! 

And if you're coming HERE from THERE, here, as promised, is my final bonus project! 

Sometimes a card layout just HITS me.  I see something, and all the sudden the card just pops into my head.  I'm not even sure what I saw that gave me the idea for this card. . . but I had to go sketch it down RIGHT AWAY before I forgot.  And later on, when I had a few minutes, I whipped this up.  

The patterned paper is from Cosmo Cricket's S'more Love collection, and the colors are so warm and bright and just perfect for how I feel about fall.

Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope your Thanksgiving weekend was beautiful and warm and just perfect.  

xoxox

(card goodies: stamps - Leaf Silhouettes by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, patterned paper - Cosmo Cricket S'More Love, cardstock - Bazzill Prismatics, from Discount Cardstock, ink - Stephanie Barnard Collection by Clearsnap)

Sweet n Sassy blessings

It's my day! I'm on the Sweet 'n Sassy blog today, with my third project. Will you join me???? 

(I'll tell you all about some of my favorite products that I used on this card!)

Wishing YOU a season of blessings as you prepare (if you live in the US) to celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday. 

xoxo

autumn for winter! (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps)

It's Tuesday which means that I'm chillin' at the Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps blog today.  Just a little sneak peek of my project today! I got tricky on you and used an autumn stamp set to create a Christmas card. Impressive, eh? ;)

Come on over and see what I've been up to!

And in case you're coming from there, and you've already SEEN what I've been up to, how about I share something else, just so you aren't bored to tears. . .

a recipe perhaps?

We've made this sweet potato chili a few times lately.  I can't decide how I feel about it. I LIKE it - but I can't decide if it's better as a side dish, along with some grilled chicken, or quesadillas. . .or on it's own as a main dish.  Either way, it's pretty tasty, super easy, and I generally have all the ingredients in the house.

Sweet Potato & Black Bean Chili, from Eatingwell.com

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 1 small sweet potato, peeled and diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon ground chipotle chile, (see Note)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1 1/3 cups water
• 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed
• 1 cup canned diced tomatoes
• 2 teaspoons lime juice
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and potato and cook, stirring often, until the onion is slightly softened, about 4 minutes. Add garlic, chili powder, cumin, chipotle and salt and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add water, bring to a simmer, cover, reduce heat to maintain a gentle simmer and cook until the potato is tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Add beans, tomatoes and lime juice; increase heat to high and return to a simmer, stirring often. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer and cook until slightly reduced, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in cilantro.
2. (I left out the cilantro and chipotle chile. And once I left out the lime juice too. And it was still good!)

Okay, there you have it. . . craftiness, and food. I leave you now in good conscience! Have a terrific day! 

xoxo

Feelin' Sweet 'n Sassy in November!

I am so happy to be designing with Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps this month.  I have a project up on their blog today, and I'd love for you to stop by and visit me there!  Here's a little sneaky peek of it! It features a fabulous stamp set, Leaf Silhouettes.  And if you are stopping by, from the SNSS blog - welcome! I hope you'll hang out here with me often!

Have a fabulous day!

oxox

Sweet and Sassy news!

It's November, which means I have FUN NEWS to share! This month I am a guest designer at Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps!  These are two cards I created a few months ago using one of my favorite SNSS sets, called You & Me.  Throughout the month I will have some great new projects to share with you, featuring some of the newest stamp sets from Sweet 'N Sassy! Visit with me on the SNSS blog every Tuesday this month! Wooohooo!

like peas and carrots!

This week's CPS sponsor is Sweet 'N Sassy Stamps.  I ADORE this stamp set, called You & Me.  It has the cutest little smiley images and sweet sentiments in a clean and simple font. (a font can make ALL the difference on a stamp set, in my humble opinion!)

I busted out my Touch Twin markers to color these little guys.  I have LOTS to learn in the marker department. . . I pretty much just muddle my way through, and wing it, hoping I don't massively mess it up!  But I really like the way the peas turned out!  Although I left out the aqua (which is totally shocking, since it's like my FAVORITE color EVER) I was going to submit this card for the Touch Twin color challenge, BUT - funny how I didn't upload it in time. OH WELL! If you haven't ever played along with the Touch Twin challenges, you should! They are a lot of fun!

When you read this, I will be at Animal Kingdom, at Walt Disney World! I'll say hello to the elephants for you! :)
xoxox

like peanut butter and jelly . . ..

Last night I busted out my BRAND NEW Touch Twin markers, and my BRAND NEW stamps from Sweet N Sassy Stamps, and whipped up a card for the Touch Twin challenge blog! I haven't been able to participate the past few times, so I was happy to get this accomplished, having finished up lots of the other work on my to-do list! This month they are having a color challenge.

I fell in LOVE with this stamp set the second I saw it. . . .peanut butter and jelly!? Um, YES. Sign me up, baby! :)  And the colors for the challenge were pretty perfect with it!  I had to fudge on the yellow a little bit, because I didn't have that color.  So I went with Yellow Ochre instead, and I think I used Pastel Peach on the sandwich bread.  And okay. ..just at this VERY moment, I'm realizing that I didn't use Bronze Green. . .I used Bronze. (Partially because I totally missed the word GREEN on there, and partially because I don' thane Bronze Green anyway, so I probably would have gone with plain old Bronze.) Close enough. . .that's what we're going with.  ;)  I tried.  And I got it done, hopefully that's what counts!

I almost forgot!

This was one of the projects I did for Sweet 'n Sassy during November, and I think I forgot to share it HERE! I busted out the embossing powder and heat gun for this . . . which I NEVER do. This was a plain white gift bag, that really took all of five seconds to dress up. Patterned paper, an embossed snowflake, and Wahhh-LA! I whipped together the matching card just as quickly.
To get those fun snowy edges around my snowflake images, I dragged my cardstock through the embossing pad, just like I was inking up the edges, and then dusted the embossing powder over them. It's super easy, it's okay if it's a little messy, and I think its fun! (You can click on the image to see it closer up.)
We are heading out to SeaWorld today, to celebrate the BIG Little Man's 5th birthday. We went last year for his birthday, and had such a fun time, we decided to do it again this year. . .but this time with a three-month-old in tow. Wish my luck. (I know, I am seriously insane to be doing this!!!)
Have a great weekend, I'll be back with something to share on Sunday or Monday.
XOXO

just in time. . .

i almost forgot, i promised you a card today!

here's another using those SWEET Sweet 'n Sassy snowflake stamps. You can read more about this card, on my blog post over at the SNS blog.

it's Girls Night around here tonight. . .and thank GOODNESS. today my eldest dear little tot decided to have such a tantrum that he made himself THROW UP.

eww.

eww.

eww.

Apparently, not stopping at the playground after school was just about the worst thing I could have done to him.

Sob.

;)

sweet n sassy and CPS 141

I used my Sweet 'n Sassy stamps to create this week's CPS card. You can see this card over on the Sweet 'n Sassy blog today too. I finally found some time to make some cards this week. The moments have been few and far between these days! I always think I will work in the evening after the kiddo and the baby are in bed . . .but by the time that happens, I am ready to CRASH!

I guess I better sleep when I can, because there are nights like last night, where I was giving the baby a bath at 4am, thanks to a. . .umm. . let's just say. .. "diaper incident" which just couldn't be cleaned up with anything less than a full bath (and a rug, changing pad, pajamas and sheets which had to go in the washer.) Never a dull moment!!! And then just a few hours later I was cleaning spit-up off the couch.

Thank goodness for Resolve, Febreeze, and Oxyclean!

XOXO

feelin sweet. . .and SASSY!

This month, I am so happy to be a guest designer at Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps. In fact, I blogged there today! To see the warm autumn card I'd like to share with you today, I'm going to send over there to see it!!!

Here it is!

(I'm such a tease, aren't I??)

I will have some more work to share with you throughout the month using Sweet 'n Sassy's digital and clear stamps. Some wintery gift wrap ideas to get you started on holiday gifts, (and not just Christmas!) and some cards too. Enjoy!!

XOXO