Monday, August 30, 2010

CAS82 ~ Guest Designing Again! :)

Hello out there!!! How are ya?!
I hope your week is starting off well.

Today I wanted to share with you the card I made for this week's CAS challenge over on SCS. I was chosen as a guest designer this week! yay! :) I love making clean and simple cards so I was dancing with joy when I was chosen!

This week was an inspiration challenge. We had to create a card using the word "delicious" as our inspiration. I am a huge sweets lover...LOL (need to keep away but I can't help myself)....so of course, the first thing that popped in my head was....CAKE!!!


size: 6x4.5 (fit perfectly in the invitation envies you can get at Wal-Mart now!)

I used my Cricut with the George basic shapes cartridge to cut my rounded rectangles. Then I used my Big Shot with the Elegant Lines embossing folder to emboss each piece separately.

Now what's yummier...when you're talking about sweets.....than Birthday cake?!!!

~Supplies~
cardstock ~ whisper white and pretty in pink
stamps ~ A Word For You (SU!)
ink ~ real red
accessories ~ Cricut, George cartridge, big shot, elegant lines embossing folder, SU! pearls, pink rhinestones (Kaiser Krafts), white gel pen


Thanks so much for visiting today!

Until next time...
Blessings...

Thursday, August 26, 2010

Just Keep Swimming!

That's what I've been telling myself these last couple of weeks. With the kiddos off to school, the house is so quiet during the day. What to do, what to do?! I think I'll craft! hahaha

Here's a card I made a while back for a CAS challenge over on SCS. I thought it went "swimmingly" with my title today!


I received the image in a swap, so I'm not sure who the company is. The dp was also in a kit swap I received. The sentiment is from the SU! set Word Play. I added some brown grosgrain ribbon and a gold star brad to finish it off :)

Thanks so much for stopping by...have a great day!

Until next time...
Blessings...

Melina

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Pencils for the Teacher

Anyone have a sharpener? :)

How are you today? I hope you're having a great week so far...


I used a digi image that I picked up a couple weeks ago...it was free....but I didn't label it and now I can't remember which company it's from. Do you know?

Supplies:
Papers ~ real red c/s, tangerine tango dsp, natural white
Accessories ~ SU! Decorative label punch, MS 3 hole border punch, linen thread, watercolor pencils, blender pen, computer generated sentiment

I thought this would be a card to give to one of our kids' teachers. They both have wonderful teachers this year!

Until next time...
Blessings...

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Unsung Hero

We are having a special service next Sunday for our Pastor and his family. It is their 6th year of being at our church.
Our Sunday School class thought it would be nice to have an "Unsung Hero" recognition for our Pastor's wife. She is the most precious lady you could ever meet, so humble, meek, and understanding. She is so kind and easy to talk to....just a lovely person all around. A Pastor is recognized many times on several occasions, but it is seldom that his help mate has the "spotlight". Don't get me wrong, our Pastor's wife would never ask or expect this so called spotlight but we would like to honor her for all that she does. Being a Minister's wife, it warms my heart that our church family thought of this great idea!!

So, I made some sets of cards to go in her basket we're presenting her...


Supplies:
very vanilla card stock
accessories ~ elegant lines embossing folder, large oval punch, big shot machine
Stamps ~ perfect punches
Ink ~ cherry cobbler

Align CenterSupplies:
papers ~ crumb cake, early espresso, cajun craze & white card stock
Stamps ~ leaf lines, itty bitty backgrounds
Inks ~ early espresso, cajun craze
accessories ~ sponge daubers, blender pen


Supplies:
papers ~ crumb cake, marina mist, peach parfait & white card stock
stamps ~ punch potpourri
inks ~ marina mist
accessories ~Xlarge bird punch, XL decorative label punch, crumb cake ribbon, pearls

~Be back soon with more craftiness~

Until next time...
Blessings...

Melina

Friday, August 20, 2010

Competing Princesses August Challenge!

It's Friday!
It's Friday!


Are you jumping up and down with excitement?! Come on....jump around....get happy!!!
I LOVE Fridays :-)

Today is the debut of another card kit competition I'm in.
We are the Competing Princesses!
We consist of ladies in my blog group over on SCS.
We have 2 teams:

Moira ~ Team 1's Captain
April
Colleen
AnnMarie
Lesley

Nancy ~ Team 2's Captain
Melanie
Terria
Me

Please go visit each one of these fabulous ladies' blogs. The links are located in my left sidebar under our Paper Princess Blog Sisters Badge.

So, for August, April from Team 1 and Melanie from Team 2 agreed on a theme and sent kits out to their team mates. They went with "Sizzling Summer". Everyone created a card with their own card base and the items from the kit. I am so excited to see what image the other team's hostess sent out and what she sent in her kit too. Also, it's going to be great to see how my own team mates used the same kit I got.

Here's what I came up with. Thanks Melanie for this cute kit!

Ain't he darling?!
I added the black card base and the small piece of orange polka dot dsp (from SU!). The rest came from Melanie! ;-)
I colored this cute little guy with SU! markers and watercolor pencils.
This is my first time using dew drops. I love them. I'm going to have to me some!

Now, go see what everyone else created! :)
That's an order! Ha Ha ~JUST KIDDING!~
Please go see?!! *giggle*

Until next time...
Blessings...

Melina

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Are You Ready for Fall?!!!!

I AM!!!

The 100 degree temps just won't let up here in 'Bama! I'm so ready for some 70's! :)

Today I wanted to share with you my first Fall creation of the season...


All SU! Supplies:
Card stock ~ White, Cajun Craze
Stamps ~ Leaf Lines, Watercolor Trio
Inks ~ Cajun Craze, Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories ~ Chocolate chip ribbon, linen thread, Chocolate chip chalk, sponge daubers, blender pen
Techniques ~ Ink pad palette watercoloring

I love these crisp Fall colors!

Thanks so much for visiting today and remember, if you don't have a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I would love to help you! Just visit my SU! website...the link is in my right sidebar...the place to shop 24/7 for all your crafting needs! :)

Until next time...
Blessings...

Melina

Monday, August 16, 2010

Dueling Darlings Challenge #1

Hello!
Is it Monday already?!

I'm a part of a group of ladies that thought it would be neat to send out some images, paper and embellishments (1 hostess per month sending these kits to ladies on their team) and put 'em all together on a card. This may sound a little confusing. The idea behind it was for each lady to have the same kit, use her own card base, and then see how differently the same kit can look.

There are 2 teams. Each team has a kit sent by their August hostess. Our August theme was Ice Cream! Yummmm...



Look at the cute things the Dueling Darling Dazzlers August hostess sent!
The image is called Sweet Ki Ki La Rue from CC Designs.

Here are my teammates...

The Dueling Darling Dazzlers!
Jeanette
Michelle
Debbie
April
Terry
Paola
Me!

Now, the other Dueling Darlings team....the Divas, had their own August hostess that sent out kits using the same "Ice Cream" theme.

The Dueling Darling Divas! Visit Kelly's blog to link to all the Divas creations!
Kelly

Neither team has been able to see their teams creations or the other teams kits until today!
Be sure to click on the team members names to view their sweet cards :)

Thanks so much for visiting me today.

Until next time...
Blessings...

Melina

Friday, August 13, 2010

You Want Something from the Goody Basket?

Hi!

I had a card class the other night and I wanted to do a little something for the ladies that came so I had a goody basket. Each lady that came, got to pick 1 item from the basket. There were 3 pack 3x3 gift cards, top note die cuts, beautiful wings embosslit die cuts, and page accents. Here's a few pics....


Old olive 3x3 cards embossed with vintage wallpaper folder. The sentiment is from A word for you stamp set stamped in pumpkin pie ink.


3x3 cards with Crumb cake card stock and a piece of cherry cobbler punched with my eyelet border punch. The sentiment is stamped in cherry cobbler ink.


More 3x3 cards with vanilla textured card stock and some circles punched from pumpkin pie dsp. The sentiment is stamped in old olive ink.


Here's some page accents. I stamped the large flower from Vintage vogue in marina mist ink then used the rock and roll technique and inked on cherry cobbler around the edges. Then I took the smaller flower from the same set and inked it in Wild Wasabi and did the same technique with cherry cobbler ink. I added a large pewter brad to the center.

Have a great weekend!

Until next time...
Blessings...

Melina

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Scrapbook Accents Set

Hello! :)

I'm sharing a border set with you today. I finished these up last night.
I've not worked on scrapbook accents in a long time so it took me what
seemed like forever!
My set is Spring themed. I'm in a group swap (on SCS). In my return package
I will get Summer, Winter and Fall made by some great crafters.
I have made a set of these for myself so I'll have a border set for each season!



The stamps I used were from a dollar bin acrylic set.
I love how the inking and distressing came out on the patterned paper.

Thanks so much for visiting today!

Until next time...
Blessings...

Melina

Monday, August 9, 2010

Awwww! Jeanette Gave me an Award!


I got a yummy award!




To accept this award I need to do a few things:

1. Thank the person who gave it...

Jeanette, you are the sweetest evah! You inspire me in so many ways and you are a WONDERFUL friend. You always have an ear to listen and a shoulder if I need it.
I ♥ U!

2. Copy the award and put it on your blog


3. List three things which you love about yourself...

Ewwww, I'm not good at this!
* I love that I'm a child of the KING! Thank you Lord
* I love that I'm not a materialistic gal. I'm happy with
what I've got (well of course, unless there's some crafty
thing I absolutely need HAHA).
* I love being crafty! I think that is a great quality ;)

4. Post a picture that you love...



Here's my crew on our trip to San Antonio, TX we took last month.
This was taken on the River Walk. We had a blast!

5. Tag 5 people you'd like to give this award to...

Melanie ~ Girl, you are a great friend! I love your creations!
Mwah!

April ~ You are a great friend! I love your craziness!!!
Your creations are fantabulous 2! ;)

Marsha ~ Your vintage creations are GORGEOUS!
Thank you for inspiring me!

Meg ~ Girl, your photos are top notch! All your projects inspire me!

Cheryl ~ Your scrapbook designs are FABULOUS! Your blog is a wealth
of information!

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Criss Cross Christmas!

Lookie! Lookie! What I made at my Demo meeting! :)


I was so thrilled when I got there and my upline had a card for us to make.
She wanted us to use/try the spritzer from SU!
That's what we used on the wrapped panel and the insert.
The colors are cherry cobbler, old olive, very vanilla and the jolly holiday dsp.

Here's a couple pics of the elements of the card.






This is a criss cross card. It's made with 2 ~ 4.25"x5.5" card bases (cut tall). Then you cut the front of each base on the diagonal. Adhere the two back bases on top on each other. The dsp piece is cut slightly smaller than a regular card front then cut on the diagonal and adhered to the 2 diagonal front pieces. So the insert won't fall out, adhere the two front pieces together then at the bottom of the card base.

Being the simple crafter I am, I would have been happy with this criss cross base and the insert, but I have a wonderful upline that goes the extra mile....so we added this wrapped panel! I thought it was an excellent touch!

I love the look the spritzer gives. I just might have to get this on my next order. :)

I hope you're having a great weekend!
Thanks for stopping by

Until next time...
Blessings...

Melina

Saturday, August 7, 2010

Happy Weekend to Ya!

Hi!
Are you gettin' crafty this weekend?

I plan to get a few things done...if I could ever get myself up from this computer...LOL!
Here's a card I made for my SU! card class next Thursday.


Supplies:
Card stock ~ chocolate chip, white, daffodil delight dsp stack
Ink ~ perfect plum, daffodil delight, chocolate chip
Stamps ~ Just Believe, Thoughts and Prayers
Accessories ~ pewter brad, 1/16" hole punch, circle punch, oval punch, corner rounder punch, sponge dauber


How this color combo came about is beyond me. Brown, purple and yellow....who would have "thunk" it?!
Around the brad, after I placed it, I made small pen marks at four different points, took the brad out and used my 1/16" hole punch on the four pen marks. I thought it gave the card a little extra something.

Card challenges I used with this card:
Cupcake Craft Challenge #102 ~ Distressing
Little Red Wagon ~ Circles
Cute Card Thursday #124 ~ Whateva!

Thank you so much for visiting with me

Until next time...
Blessings...

Melina

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Butterfly Elegance

This is my second post of the day.
Scroll down to see who won my blog candy giveaway!!! ;-)

Hello ladies
I have a quick post tonight.
This card is one I've made for my card class next week.
I love my new Elegant lines embossing folder! This is the first card I've made with it.


Supplies:
Card stock ~ very vanilla, melon mambo
Ink ~ wild wasabi
Accessories ~ big shot, elegant lines embossing folder, very vanilla satin ribbon, sponge daubers, modern label punch, butterfly punch


I sponged wild wasabi ink on the embossing.

I'm also entering this card in the Cupcake Inspiration Challenge #70 this week.

Thanks so much for visiting me!

Until next time...
Blessings...

Melina

My Blog Candy Winner!!!!

Hello ladies!

Remember my blog candy I posted last month? Well, I only had 5 comments on it. Don't get me wrong....thank you so very much to the 5 that commented....I just wish I would have had more so I could have added all the other yummy stuff to the candy.

Anywho, drum roll please................................................MiamiKel is the winner of 50 stamped images from me!

Here's what she said:

"Oh Melina, congratulations on your blog-a-versary! Here's to many more! What a generous soul you are to have a yummy give-away - I'm already a follower :) Such a blessing you are and here's to many more creations yet to come! x0x0

July 15, 2010 12:08 PM"

Kelly, email me at melinap@centurytel.net with your snail mail address and I'll get these out to you asap.

Thank you so much to the ladies that participated! You are appreciated :)

Until next time...
Blessings...

Melina

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Being Frugal

Hello friends!

Today I wanted to share with you a very simple card.
I know what you're thinking, "Melina, make a simple card....Noooooo"
hahahahaha detect the hint of sarcasm? I know, all my cards are simple.
I LOVE simple. When I first got into paper crafting, I knew my projects would never measure up to others because I don't use lots and lots of layers or embellishments or big, bold stamped images...well I have been known to do 1 large stamped image a time or two ;)....but I digress.....anyway my point is I create simple projects.
I really think it all stems from being a frugal person in all aspects of my life. We live in a small house, we drive older cars, we shop for clothes only when the ones we already have are too small (for the kids anyway, if that's me and Brandon, we lose weight! ha) or have rips and stains, I still have shoes in my closet from the 90's and I still wear them! We grocery shop twice a month and our menus are planned so when we go grocery shopping we're not just picking up anything....we know what we need when we get there.
Now, don't get me wrong, if we need something, we get it. But, as I sit here and type this I'm looking around my house and most everything in it has been given to us or bought at a discount. I hate paying full price!
I am a SU! demo and I get new stamping supplies by selling old or making handmade items and selling them. I build the money up and then make 1 big order.
We believe "debt free is the way to be"! Now I assure you we have a ways to go to be that way, but we're slowly trying to make it there.
One thing I have been asked along the way is how we get to go on vacations every year. You know there are some people that don't take a vacation each year!!!! GASP! Our family would absolutely go mad! We love doing our weekend getaways and our 1 week vaca each year. Well, it's simple really. *Don't indulge daily* whether that be eating or shopping. My husband takes his lunch and he doesn't stop at Starbucks every morning! :) When we go shopping it is a necessity not a luxury. And, as far as our kids, they don't get everything they want when we go shopping. But we've found that they appreciate everything they do receive. Example: Each of our children get a pack of wrapped undies at Christmas from their granny (my husband's grandmother). We all know that's what it is going to be. Our kids are the only ones that actually open them! They come to us and say (whisper) look mommy, I don't have this kind! or Wow look. Now some people might think oh that's sad. But, we believe it is very respectful and humble that our kids appreciate the little things.
Anyway, being frugal is how we get to go on our little getaways. We love our vacation time. Even now, we're looking at campers (used of course) to cut down on hotel costs for our getaways!
Okay, so I've went overboard with telling you about our frugal lifestyle just to say that's the reason I love simple paper crafting and this card is no exception:


Supplies:
card stock ~ white
Ink ~ Marina Mist, Early Espresso
Stamps ~ For All You Do, Silhouette Sentiments
Accessories ~ Early Espresso taffeta ribbon, circle punch

I love it's simplicity. Less is more...I say! :)

Before I go, I want to tell you about a blog I came across today. Thanks Trudy! ;)
Really Reasonable Ribbon's Ramblings. They have a challenge on the 1st and 15th of the month. On top of their challenges though, their design team posts projects during the week. Great projects! Their current challenge, of which I'm entering this card, is black and white and of course, you have to use ribbon! Check it out: RRR #5

Thanks so much for listening to my 'ramblings' today.

Until next time...
Blessings...

Melina

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Already August?!

Hiya! :-)
It cannot be the 1st of August! Whoa! Where has the year gone? It's a little sad to me. Of course, I'm a silly sentimental sap too! LOL
I do have something special to look forward too though and that is Fall. It is my very favorite holiday. I love all the colors!

The card I'm sharing with you today has a shade of Fall to it. I love the new In Colors from Stampin' Up!. This is my first project using Concord Crush. I really like it!


Supplies:
card stock ~ Concord Crush, Peach Parfait, Razzleberry Lemonade dsp (retired), white
Ink ~ Elegant Eggplant
Stamps ~ A Word For You
Accessories ~ Big Shot, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, circle punch, MS 3 hole border punch, corner rounder punch, white thread, purple Kaiser rhinestones

There is a very special couple at church who had their wedding anniversary today. She is a very bubbly, chatty, funny lady so, I wanted to make a little different card for her....not the "normal" anniversary card.

This card follows the sketch at Get Sketchy (#49) this week.
I'm also entering it in the Pile It On (#30) challenge to use Butterflies, Bugs or Bees on your project.

I hope this is the start to a spectacular week for you!

Until next time...
Blessings...

Melina