Butterfly birthday

My MIL likes butterflies. I try to incorporate at least one on every card or project I make for her. I especially like this card using the Mariposa paper stack by Die Cuts With a View. Gorgeous papers every single one of them!

This is my first time using SRM Stickers. I love the clear backgrounds; they look as if they were printed right on there. And you can see the sparkly Spica pen I used to accent the flowers and butterfly in this shot.

Love you

Today's project is a card I made some time ago with one of Amy Brown's beautiful fairy stamps by Queen Kat Designs. Lots of things going on here, but I think it works. I've used the stamp and copics of course, lace, paper doily, flowers, sparkle pen, bling, pearls, buttons, key sticker, sheer ribbon, staples, "love you" digital stamp, and a stick pin handmade by me. :) I think this card will be held in a safe place till father's day when I will give it to my sweet hubs who has been an absolute angel of a nurse during my illness the past couple of months.

You can barely see the sparkle on her wings, but it's there. I used clear spica pen for this affect. I love how it looks.

Handmade stick pin. I'll be doing another giveaway on my blog soon with some of these pins so stay tuned! It's been a while since the last one; I totally apologize, but as you may know, I've been out of commission for awhile. I'm nearly 100% now and back to creating!! :)

Misc. jewels and flowers and bling. You really can't have too much sparkle, can you!

Any questions about this card or any of the parts of it? Please leave a comment and I'll be happy to answer. :) Thanks for looking today!

Come on, Spring!

Won't be long now and spring will be upon us. Well, we hope so anyway, right!? LOL I love new blooms and green grass and all the freshness of a new beginning! And I love these new blooming dies too. Such versatility with these pieces, you can come up with oodles of flower designs. Just play and have fun!!

I've used the new blooms on this layout along with the frog and lily pad, and the dot/scallop edger. The frog die is perfect for this silly picture of Courtney and the huge frog she caught in the pond. Grama still says ewwww no matter how cute Courtney is holding it. ;)

For my next project this week, I used the adorable Mr. Gnome and his stump house. I thought it was the perfect way to congratulate someone on their new home or apartment. I used cork paper for the title background and added a mushroom to the ribbon for a little something extra.

This is the inside message:

Thanks for coming by today. I hope you'll find inspiration to create something new this week.

ETA: Sorry I forgot to link the dies this week! Here is the gnome release from the Scrapping Cottage. The Cottage Cutz dies are to die for. :)

I'm so honored!!!!

My sweet friend Vicki at Green Eyed Girl Crafts has honored me with the Stylish Blogger Award!!! I'm so excited!! Thank you, Vicki!! :)

Ok, the nitty gritty of the award, which I shall be passing along (see below):
1-) Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.
2-) Share 7 things about yourself.
3-) Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers. (eek 15??? I don't even know that many bloggers, to be honest, but I'll pass it along!!)
4-) Contact the blogger and tell them about the award.

Here you are,
Seven Random Things About Me

1-) I'm the oldest of four; me, sister, bro, sister in that order. There are 6 years between me and my youngest sister.
2-) I LOVE organizing and sorting and keeping things neat and tidy. I'd totally love to do one of those Mission Organization type tv shows! Well, ok, or a crafting show. I'm called Martha Jr. by my family. LOL
3-) I love to drive. Love, love, love it. I've taken the kids on vaca, just us, and put over 4000 miles on my car in 3 weeks driving from Washington to San Diego and back, and parts nearby. It was a total blast!
4-) I will go ballistic if you put your socks on me. Especially if you are wearing them. Seriously. Do not attempt.
5-) I HATE snakes. Can't even look at pictures of them without getting anxiety.
6-) Word games. I love word games, spelling, and vocabulary.
7-) Scrapping is the best thing that ever happened to me. I'm able to use all my various crafty talents in more ways than I imagined in this one hobby. It's been a wonderful, wonderful blessing to "meet" so many people, in real life and online, who also enjoy this hobby. Scrappers are the best group of people in the whole, wide, wonderful world!!!!

And without further ado, here are the bloggers to whom I pass along this award:

Nikki, ScrappinNavyWife, my sista from another mista - Her cards rock my socks of. She's so talented and I love her pants off. {hee hee}

Emily, Scrapbook Fool, another DT sister who has a fresh, funky scrapping style that makes me smile. Not to mention she's just cute as a button her own self. ;)

My birthday twin, Pam, whose blog is Two Days in February. Pam makes the most gorgeous vintage looking goodies. I LOVE vintage. I could never hold a candle to Pam's yummyness in that area. And by birthday twin, I mean twin...we were born only hours apart! Isn't that cool. :)

and finally, to my dear friend Darla, who is an inspiration in so many ways. Her blog is called Forced Optimism. She rocks the workouts, the diet, the running....all the things most of us hate LOL....and has done an amazing job becoming a healthier person--all by herself, I might add! On top of that, she's an awesome scrapbooker as well! I love you, Dar, and I'm so very proud of you!!!! Muah!!!

Babies-- awwww!!!

This week I've made baby cards. These adorable new dies by Buggy Designs are perfect for baby projects of all kinds. For my first card I used the baby elephant. He's so sweet in the polka dots.

Believe it or not, I used the baby elephant for this card too! Can you see it? The chubby little whale is actually the trunk from the elephant die!! I don't know if Emma designed it this way on purpose, but it's too cute, if I do say so. WTG, Emma. Other dies I used on this one are the banner from the heritage set, nesting circles, misc posies, and the Khaki skinni mini alpha. The hearts are also on the elephant die. Large scallop border is a deco scissor, the border punch is Martha Stewart.

Can you see I added "water" spouting from the happy baby whale? I used Dimensional Magic (by Mod Podge) for this but you can use any product like that - Glossy Accents, Diamond Glaze, etc.

I love these sweet little accessory pieces Emma designed for the Buggy Button Bear! Aren't they just the cutest. If you don't have the Button Bear die, you really need to get it. He's so versatile. And you simply must get these accessory pieces, how can you pass them up?! While you're at it, get the winter accessories too. There will be more to come in future releases so you might as well get them before too many more are released. You know you'll want them all anyway. ;)

This little lace bow seemed to be the perfect accent. Love the pacifier - and can you stand how cute the diaper is. LOL!

Maddie Anne alphabet

Thanks for coming by the blog. I've missed everyone so much and especially missed playing in my craft room. I'm about 99% well now -- tomorrow I hope to get a 100% from the doc and will be back for good! Just giving you fair warning.... Happy crafting, blog friends!!! It's great to be back!