bye, bye sweet August! CPS #182

The last day of August is heading into evening & I sure do hate to see it go!  I know it's not the official end of Summer but it feels like it so I made one more Summer-y card today to say farewell to my favorite month.  I tried to capture the feel of bright, sunny days & beautifully colored Summer flowers.  I found a great sketch over at CPS #182 and used it as my design inspiration.  The supplies I used are kraft CS from Jo-ann's, the bright funky papers & "pops" layered sticker are from Basic Grey (sugar rush & origins), the flower is from the $1 bin at M's, the tiny gems are from The Paper Studio, the ribbon & button are from my stash & the alphas are from Momenta, The Paper Studio & Bazzill.  I used a little white paint on the edges & the Clouds decorative scissors by Fiskars to cut the scalloped strip.  I like the loud colors & the crazy mix of accents on this card, it's a sweet goodbye to a wonderful August.  Thanks for looking at my card,  delisa

Color Throwdown #107

Good morning & happy Tuesday.  I can't believe it's the last day of August already...wow, time flies when you're having fun and I've had a great summer.  I hate to see it go, it's my favorite time of year, and I still feel like making just a few more Summer-y cards before Fall descends on my desk with it's much deeper, warmer hues.  So, I found the perfect card challenge to do a fun Summer card.  Color throwdown is another great card challenge blog passed along by my great friend Sue. This is so much fun because they give you a wonderful color palette and you create any style of card you want.  I love playing with color, it's one of my favorite things about crafting :>  I think the green on my card may be a little brighter but it's pretty close.  I used pp's by Paper Studio, Bo/Bunny & Lasting Impressions, the chipboard & rub-on stitches are from K&CO, rick rack & pom pom fringe is from Jo-ann's, ribbon is from HL, floral rub-ons are Basic Grey & the little yellow button is vintage.  I love using things like the fun pom pom fringe on my cards, it's jaunty & fun & makes me happy!  I've had the chipboard fruit for awhile and was glad to use some of it and also the ribbon is older too so I'm glad to make use of it.  I hope you have a wonderful last day of August & that it's sunny & bright where you are  :>

Digging Deep/Going Green

Hello everyone, hope you're having a great day!  After a week of "stay-cation" & hubby being around it was nice to get back to the regular routine of things :>  We had some wonderful days of boating & dining out but not much time for creating so I was ready for a challenge this morning.  I came across this cool challenge at 365 cards called "digging deep" and it's all about gathering & using things you've had for awhile but never used.  Lately I've been trying to do exactly that, use up things that I've had for awhile and I LOVE doing that as I have quite a stash of art supplies.  I like to think of it as green crafting :>  I also got very lucky with this challenge because you have to use at least 2 sheets of patterned paper that you've never used before and I just got this cool paper pack called "Material Girl" from Cosmo Cricket & have been dying to use it on a card so I started with that.  I also used some of my favorite dotted paper from BoBunny on the little leaf of the flower. I used a diecut tag & tiny type alpha stickers from Cosmo Cricket.  The chipboard alphas are from Heidi Swapp and probably 2 yrs. old, I inked & distressed them to match my card.  The ribbon is at least 6 mos. old (from Offray), the buttons are vintage ones from my stash, the stick pins are from Jo-ann's & Dritz, rub-on alphas from Karen Foster, stamp set , from EK Success & never used (I used it on the little tag inside of the pocket), inks from Tim Holtz (old paper) & Color Box (aquamarine)!  That's quite a list :>  This was a fun challenge & I enjoyed using supplies that have been sitting around too long.  Thanks for looking at my card & happy crafting this week,  delisa

Life is sweet!

Life is sweet these days & I'm so blessed! In too many ways to count  :>  Family, friends & time to create are at the top of my list.  I've really been enjoying card challenges lately, thanks to my very inspiring friend Sue, and I came across this sweet one at 365 cards, Day 178.  Sugar is the inspiration so I immediately thought of the cute "kitchen-y" papers from Cosmo Cricket's Early Bird collection.  I love these papers, they remind me of the fabrics of granny's aprons & housedresses & baking up sweet, wonderful things in the kitchen.  I used papers & diecut from Cosmo Cricket, a doily, a piece of vintage newspaper, Distress Ink by Tim Holtz, glitter, vintage buttons from my stash, ribbon by offray & I think the metal charm is from Karen Foster.  I guess I didn't really keep it simple on this card, but I like the sentiment anyway  :>  thanks for looking in,  delisa

I love purses!

I love fun, funky purses!  So when I saw this cute challenge at 365 Cards, day 173,  I just had to post this fun little purse that I made for invitations to my niece's "diva birthday party".  She loved them & I had a ball making them for her  :>   The supplies I used are: patterned papers from Paper Studio, Doodlebug Designs, Lasting Impressions & Jo-Ann's; cardstock; assorted trims & faux fur & pearl strands from Jo-Ann's; ribbons & a flower that I diecut from glittered paper.  On the inside I used a pink flocked paper and added a "mirror" cut from shiny silver paper.  Purses are so much fun to make & even more fun to decorate.  Thanks for the great challenge 365 Cards, love it!   DeLisa

Splitcoast stampers easy paper flowers !

Hi everyone!  Another beautiful day here in my town :>   Handmade flowers are getting more & more popular and I love seeing them on cards, layouts & other paper projects.  So the other day I came across a wonderful tutorial on splitcoaststampers  website for making these easy, kinda shabby style flowers.  The steps are all there along with photos to show exactly how to do it, and if that's not enough there's also a short video showing a flower being made.  So this is probably one of the easiest handmade flowers to make...you've got to try this, you'll love it.  I made up several flowers in different sizes and was so pleased with how quick & easy they are!  I used them on this sweet "just because" card (I like to send cards to family & friends for no special occasion except just because I miss you & love you...aw, shucks.)  The pp's I used are BoBunny dots, MME & Lasting Impressions solids.  The tag is from K&CO and the rub-on if from mini marks by American Crafts.  I used a strip of quilling paper to make the stems & a tiny touch of twill to finish.  I like to layer different techniques on my cards, I think it's fun and adds alot of interest to the card.  I used 4 techniques on this card:  painting (along the outer edges),  machine stitching, distressing (the edge of the tag) and decorative scissors.  They're subtle little touches that I love to add and seem to be staples on most of my cards.  I will be trying more handmade flowers & I will share them with you & I'd love to see any that you might find.  Have a great day,  delisa

ATC challenge

Hi everyone!  I saw this ATC challenge earlier this week at 365 cards and just had to make one.  I love doing atc's but it's been awhile since I've made one so this was lots of fun.  It's a smaller version of a card that I made.  The pp's are from Penny Lane (MME) & Basic Grey (the Lemonade collection, I think).  I made the little butterfly with my MS punch, love this punch!  The tiny chipboard swirl is from a bulk pack by Bazzill and the sheer white ribbon is by Offray.  The little rub-on phrase is from MM and the tiny, heart stick pin is from Heidi Grace.  I also used some Tattered Angels glimmer mist on the papers for a shimmery look.  I really have to get back into making & trading atc's, it's so much fun and I love collecting them.  Thanks for visiting my blog & happy crafting,  delisa

CPS #179

Here's a card I made for CPS sketch #179, posting a little late but I really liked this sketch & didn't want to miss out on this one.  The pp's are from Paper Studio & BoBunny. The diecut is from K&CO & the yellow, scalloped border is from Bazzill. The chipboard alphas are both from HL.  I love how the twine looks topped with a cool felt button from JoAnn's.  This was a fun sketch & very easy to recreate!  Have a great day & thanks for looking at my cards  : >

it's delightful...it's de-lovely!

Hi everyone!  Ahhh...a perfect Summer day here in the midwest, a little break from the heat & humidity but still sunny & beautiful  : >   I know that the signs of Fall are slowly creeping into the stores and will be in full swing in just a few short weeks but I love the Summertime and I'm going to enjoy it for as long as I can.  So, I still have a few more summer-y looking cards to share.  The bright, cool, funky papers are from the "DeLovely" line by Cosmo Cricket and the colorful felt flower is by K&CO.  The chipboard alphas are from my stash and I added dots to them with a white marker.  I've really had fun working with these colorful papers and am still using them on my Summer album which I will share soon.   Have a great day & enjoy what's left of your Summer!

white space challenge

Hi everyone!  Hope you had a great weekend.  I spent several hours in my workroom doing some cleaning & re-organizing Sunday.  Things just seem to get out of control in there and I have to stop sometimes and try to regain some semblance of order :>  Not my favorite way to spend the day but it looks so much better and just a little more time should get things looking good and ready for the next "creative storm"  LOL  I do have one card to share with you today.  It was a personal challenge for me to create a card using the white space technique (actually I didn't use a white card base at all...I used kraft cardstock but I think the concept is still the same.)  My color scheme was inspired by the cool felt flower from K&CO. The bright green paper is Cosmo Cricket from the "DeLovely" line and I used just a little of my favorite BoBunny dotted paper in pink.   The mini alpha stickers are from MM...love these mini alphas!  I didn't leave a lot of negative space but I think it's enough for the colors to really stand out.  I have been hooked on the kraft cardstock and love using it, it seems to go well with whatever papers you put with it and if you buy a bulk pack it's very affordable for card bases & other projects.  Hope you enjoy my card and have a great week,  delisa

CPS Sketch #178

Good morning everyone, happy Friday!  I have a card today that is based on CPS sketch #178.  I love this sketch blog, they're always great designs and easy to work with.  The examples from the design team are great inspiration but  I also like to make my own card before I look at the others, just to see what I come up with.  So here's my little card using Core-dinations cardstock, a cute musical embossing folder and a fun chipboard birdie & flower from Cosmo Cricket (one of my favs!)  I love making these fun paper ruffles and have been using them alot on my cards, I like to stitch & distress them and make them curve a little. I think they add some "movement" & dimension to cards and are a fun embellishment.  The Tiny Type alpha stickers & tag are also Cosmo Cricket and available in alot of yummy colors.  I added some twine and a button from my HUGE stash to finish. Oh yeah, I also gave birdie a little bling...why not?  Birds are such a popular theme right now, I'm thinking...a mini album with all birds, that could be fun   :>    Have a great weekend and happy crafting everyone!

Happy Summer Daze

Hi everyone!  Welcome to my new blog  "happy paper daze" !  I hope to share with you my joy of cardmaking & papercrafting & the whole world of papers & embellishements that are out there for you to explore & enjoy.  I've tried many crafts over the years and enjoyed many different things but for the last several years my heart belongs to paper ;>   Love it, love it and love it some more !  So I'll be posting some of my creations using my precious paper and also news & tips about the latest trends & my right now favorite things.  I hope you'll check in with me to see what's going on in my happy paper daze and share your comments/ideas. 
   Since it's been such a long, hot Summer here in the midwest I've been on a kick of using bright, cheerful colors to make some fun cards to send to family & friends "just because."  I found this cute little pack of embellies at M's (Michael's, y'all) and just loved the colors of these.  This little guy looked so happy & fun that the I had to use it on a card.  The pp's are from my stash & have been around awhile.  The fun border is from K & CO and I added some pearls to it and the glittered chipboard is from Hobby Lobby. 

   The "happy" card was inspired by my friend, Sue, and her fun inchies!  The dotted papers are from Bo Bunny and the cute border & chipboard are K & CO.  I love this happy little card & it's message  :>  Thanks to Sue for loaning me her 1" sq. punch...makes the job alot easier  LOL  I'll be doing some more of these "inchies" cards and am saving lots of little scraps.  I hope you're all having a great Summer & making the most of all of those things that are summertime only treats.  I'm doing a little album right now about my favorite Summertime things & can't wait to share it with you.  Have a great day,   delisa