Zippers, zippers, everywhere

I saw the challenge yesterday on the Just Us Girls blog to create a flower from an old zipper. (There's a link to a tutorial!) Well, I used to sew A LOT. I made most of my girls clothes when they were little, most of mine in my younger days, and once made a suit for my hubby. I taught Costume Design for 8 years at the same university where my hubby still teaches Scenic design in the Theatre and Dance department and have made some pretty unusual garments over the years. Consequently, I am no stranger to zippers and a zipper flower intrigued me.

I haven't sewn much recently except for my grandsons' Halloween costumes but I knew I had to have a stash of old unused zippers somewhere.....but where? I finally unearthed them late last night in an old sewing box in the bottom of a closet! I won't admit to how many I found but only 3 had silver metal teeth and I chose to use the yellow one. Here's how it turned out. I think you may be seeing more of these from me. :) I posted a card last week that I made for a friend undergoing surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from her pancreas. The surgery went very well, they are very hopeful that they got all of the tumor and she is recovering well from the surgery. The surgery was last Tuesday and she's hoping to be released from the hospital late this week. The scripture quoted on this card says it all.
The "details":
Scripture quote - Paper Makeup Stamps
Patterned papers - A day at the Beach paper pad by The Paper Studio
Nesties - Circle, Peony, and Labels Ten
Opaline pearls by Basic Grey
Quote was smudged with VersaMagic chalk ink in Sea Breeze

Have a great week and thanks so much for stopping by!

Sending a little encouragement

Everyone can use a little encouragement now and then, right? Today my card has a great Paper Makeup Stamps quote/poem that you can find here. I've always liked it but I think this may be the first time it's ever seen ink. Shame on me! I used the Mojo Monday 183 sketch and flipped it on it's side.
I paper pieced the butterfly with the same paper as the backing of the sentiment. Here's a closer photo of the sentiment so you can see it better (and it shows the sparkle in the ribbon more. :)


Here are the "deets":

Papers: All four patterned papers are from the Mirabelle paper pack by The Paper Studio
Stamps: "I'll just be me" wordart and Danni's Flutterbies by Paper Makeup Stamps
Nesties: Circle, Lacey Circle, and Labels Fifteen
Ribbon: Ivory Sparkle Organdy Ribbon by The Ribbon Boutique

I have a charming little 5 1/2 month old guest all day today while her mommy and daddy are working so my crafting time might be pretty limited. Hopefully I'll have something new for next week.

As always, thanks for stopping by!

Providing a little "lift".

I was quite pleased with the way this card turned out if I do say so myself. The image and the sentiment is from Paper Makeup Stamps Oo La La stamp set. This is actually the simplest of the 3 corsets in the set and one of the 7 sentiments.


The layout is the Sketch Saturday #147 and I'm loving this layout. I'll be using it again I'm sure. I paper pieced the corset and colored the stripes and ruffles in with copics. The "buttons" are teeny little rhinestones that match the larger ones on the purple panel. The colors are the CR84FN Color Challenge. I really need to work on my photography skills as you can barely see the ivory lace under the purple grosgrain ribbon.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!

The JUGS Challenge with PMS

Paper Makeup Stamps is sponsoring the Just Us Girls Challenge this week! Now most of you who read my blog know that I'm PMS owner-Katie's mom. I've only been stamping as long as PMS has been in existence and almost the only stamps I own are Paper Makeup stamps. So what to choose?!?!?I looked through my papers for the challenge colors and all these yellow suns made me smile. Hmm, there's still lots of stamp choices of Beautiful Day Fairies that would be happy being out in the sunshine but I decided to go to one of my favorite sets, Sailing By. I paper pieced the smallest of the two sailboats and the lighthouse. I created a landscape of sorts with paper and added the sentiment. It's one of 5 sentiments that come with this set. The sun, 'water', and lighthouse papers came from a day at the Beach paper pad by The Paper Studio. The pink and 'sand' papers were in my scrap drawer.

This card is for a friend who is having surgery tomorrow for what we are hoping is very early stage pancreatic cancer. I'm praying for "smooth sailing" for her recovery.

Hope your week goes smoothly and thanks for stopping by!

Let's Swing!

I had a great afternoon in my craft room making cards. My craft room now looks like a mini tornado went through but clean up can always come tomorrow, right? Challenge #58 this week at Raising the Bar was an inspiration challenge based on this adorable little image:

I immediately thought of one of the Beautiful Day Fairies at Paper Makeup Stamps called "Greg". You can find him here. I used the colors in the Color Throwdown #133. I colored Greg with Copic markers. I used a Curved Rectangle nestie to cut him out, distressed the edges with Adirondack eggplant ink and mounted it on eggplant cardstock.The quote is also from PMS. So are you ready for spring? Let's swing!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Feeling a little blue?

I'm not blue/sad, just working with blue for the Copic Creations Challenge. My image today is Sally Sheep from Paper Makeup Stamps. Isn't she sweet? She can be found here. Copics used here were B32, B34, B39, and B21 for her dress and hat; W00, W1, W4, for her face, ears, hands, and feet; and E41 and E30 for her fleece.


I used the Get Sketchy #78 layout (and I'm almost too late to enter that one!) My dp is from the Max and Whiskers Basic Grey paper pad. My sentiment is from the Little Moments Sentiment Set at PMS.

Enjoy every moment of your day and thanks for stopping by!

A Tree for Earth Day

Here it is the middle of March already! Hubby and I had a wonderful spring break last week in NYC. We saw 4 Broadway shows and also saw our own college senior Theatre students perform in their NY Showcase for NYC agents and casting directors. It was a little rainy and not as warm as I hoped, but being in "the city" for a few days is always fun. I don't think I'd like living there but we have good friends who do and they wouldn't live any where else!

Since I was away from home all last week, I didn't get any St. Patrick's Day cards done. So, my family is getting store bought cards this year. (Shame on me!) My husband's grandmother was born in Northern Ireland and came to the US as a young girl. Our oldest daughter is married to an Irishman (their name is O'Keefe) and my mom has some Irish heritage too. Erin Go Bragh!

I'm submitting my card for today to two challenges. Crazy 4 Challenges is to use a tree in honor of Earth Day. My tree is the Willow Tree from Paper Makeup Stamps. I stamped it with Rich Cocoa Memento ink on green cardstock. The more patterned paper is from the Kioshi paper pad by Basic Grey, the background paper is an individual sheet I picked up at Hobby Lobby. The base is Bazzill Rain Forest.

My layout follows the Mojo Monday 182 sketch. The purple organdy ribbon is from my ribbon stash (actually left from dd's wedding decorations 5 1/2 years ago!). Opaline pearls from Basic Grey finish the top corner. Enjoy your St. Patty's Day and remember to go green and preserve our earth for the next generation!

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm Thinking Spring!!

Are you thinking spring? We had a wonderful week-end in SC helping our grandson celebrate his 5th birthday. Boy, do they grow up fast!! He (and his little brother) get sooo excited when we visit. It really makes my heart happy. And as a bonus, it was warm and sunny. We played outside all afternoon on Saturday (party in the park!) and were outside again on Sunday until we had to leave for the airport. It was 78 degrees!!! Now the trip home with tornado warnings in Indiana is a story for another time!

Today I'm playing along with the Cardabilities Sketch Challenge using a great sentiment from Paper Makeup Stamps that you can find here. I got my color scheme from the CR84FN challenge to use light pink, bright pink, and chartreuse. The butterflies are a Martha Stewart punch. The butterfly papers and the paper backing the sentiment are Echo Park and they are in the Mon Cheri card kit you can get at Paper Makeup Stamps. The kit has enough paper to make several cards. My green and light pink cardstock is Bazzill. I used Memento ink in Bamboo Leaves to stamp my sentiment and I cut it out with a curved rectangles nestie. I popped the sentiment and the butterflies up on dimension dots that you can see a little better here.Thanks so much for stopping by!

It's challenge time

I'm often very impressed with how crafters interpret a sketch as I tend to take sketches pretty literally. Here's my take on this week's Mojo Monday sketch.

I used the colors in this week's "Just Us Girls" challenge: melon, light aqua, and kraft. I paper pieced Ashlie's Solo Snail, a Paper Makeup Stamps image found here. My sentiment is from PMS too.

Other items used: Kaiser brads for the flower centers, Martha Stewart Doily Lace punch, lacey circles nestabilities, ribbon that I'm pretty sure was gifted to me by dd and dp from the Summer Dreams matstack.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cards for kids

These cards were actually Valentine's Day cards for my grandsons but they could be birthday cards or almost any occasion depending on what you put on the inside. The first one could be a "You did a great job" type of card. I kept them quite simple so there's not many layers or embellies. The image and the sentiment on the first one is from the Dino Essentials Set at Paper Makeup Stamps.
I colored in the bones using copics and used two different nestability shapes to cut the image (inverted scallops) and the backing (blossom). The stars are felt "buttons" and now that I see the photo, I'm wondering why I don't have thread in the small stars like I do the large one. Hmm?


The second card uses Rex and another sentiment from the Dino Essentials set. I paperpieced Rex with a single paper that I picked up at Hobby Lobby and didn't check the name. The buttons here are felt too but at least both of them are "sewn on". :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Raise the Bar

No pink or red on a Valentine's card is the challenge at Raise the Bar. These cute little bunnies are Billy and Bianca Love Bunnies found at Paper Makeup Stamps.


The green, peach, and purple color scheme was inspired by the paper which is from Basic Grey's Kioshi Paper Pad. Billy and Bianca were colored with copics. Lavender Stickles add sparkle to the ribbon tieing them together. The sentiment is a freebie stamp (as long as supplies last) at PMS with every order. It was stamped with green ink and then Stardust Stickles make the heart sparkle.

Thanks for stopping by!

Color Throwdown #128

It's almost Valentine's Day and I've made several Valentine cards this year. This one is for the Color Throwdown this week and is a CASE of a card done by the talented Lisa found here.


My sentiment is from the Sending You Love set at Paper Makeup Stamps. It's perfect for Valentine's Day but can be used anytime of year that you want to send a little love to someone. I colored in the little heart with a copic and added some stickles for some sparkle. I used the Eyelet Squares nestie for the backing. I hope you enjoy your Valentine's Day with the ones you love.

Thanks for stopping by.

JUGS #70

I had a lot of fun participating in the Paper Makeup Stamps VIP Blog Hop yesterday. If you haven't checked out all of the great eye candy, you should and it's not too late to enter for a really great prize!

Today I'm entering this week's JUGS Challenge. It's a fun sketch challenge that you can find here. I'd been working on several Valentine cards and was ready to do something other than red/pink.I used Spare Parts paper flowers centered with a multi-colored button that I got at Mood in NYC. (Anyone who watches Project Runway will know what Mood is :) The sentiment is from the PMS Hugs and Kisses set. I used a nestie to cut it out and chalked the edges with cat's eye ink in Prussian blue, added an eyelet and tied it on with embroidery floss.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

The Things We Love

Paper Makeup Stamps is 2 years old! We're celebrating with a VIP blog hop based on "the things we love". The entire design team invited special crafters to play along in this hop and I'm so happy to be asked to participate. You should have arrived here from Ginger's blog. (Ginger actually stayed in my craft/guest room last summer on her way home from CHA with Katie! :) If you didn't get here from Ginger's blog, you should go back to the Paper Makeup Stamps company blog so you can start at the beginning. There's also a master list in case you get lost. And don't forget to enter yourself to win a super fabulous prize!

This is my "stamping birthday" too because I bought PMS stamps at the first PMS release to support my daughter's new venture. Then I thought I should figure out what to do with them. Katie has been an excellent enabler and now with several tools, more "nesties" than any one person should have, drawers full of flowers, bling, buttons, brads, ribbon, punches, paper, ink pads, etc., I love my PMS stamps and my new crafting hobby!

For this hop, I chose to use an image and a sentiment from the new PMS set called "Sending You Love". I paper pieced the mailbox and the little flag. My dp is from the "dots, stripes, and plaids" DCWV matstack and has a sheen in it so I had a little trouble getting a good photo.
I used stickles on the stamped hearts and some tiny little heartshaped bling to add even more sparkle. The flower is Prima with a glitter brad center. I also pierced the edges and then hand stitched some embroidery floss around the edge. Here's a closeup of my mailbox:
Now on to Jami to see what fabulousness she has for you. Hope to see you all tonight at the party!

Brrr...it's still winter!

Well, it's definitely still winter where I live so I thought I'd play along with Mojo Monday and try a round card with a winter theme. My snowflakes are Spare Parts brads and the one on the red ribbon is a snowflake button I picked up in December at JoAnn's.

My sweet little snowman image is from the Snow Happy set at Paper Makeup Stamps. The top dp is from a Debbie Mumm paper pack called Noah's Ark and I suppose it's supposed to be rain but it sure reminds me of the sleet that's coming down right now. You can see it and the brads a little better in this close-up.

I work at a university and we almost NEVER get snow days. Every grade school and high school within 75 miles was closed today and will be closed tomorrow and several other colleges were closed today, but not us :( The sleet is coming down now and while I sure don't want more ice and damage to the trees just one "snow" day would be nice. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Is Spring around the corner?

I'm hoping that spring is around the corner but we sure could have lots of wintery weather here in central Indiana in February. I seemed to be thinking spring with the colors on this card.

The JUGS challenge this week was to create a 3-D flower. I looked at the tutorial and the GORGEOUS samples from the JUGS dt but I decided I wasn't ready to try those yet. So, my large flower was created with punches in 2 sizes with 2 layers of each size. I curled the edges of the petals just a bit and centered each flower with a rhinestone.

My dh gave me a Grand Calibur for Christmas! I used the Labels Four Grand Nestie to cut the cardstock and the dp. My sentiment is from Paper Makeup Stamps and can be found here. I stamped the sentiment with Versafine black ink and colored in the hearts with an R81 copic. I used a standard size Labels Four nestie for the sentiment and for the dp backing that is peeking from the top and bottom of the sentiment.

The organdy ribbon came out of my ribbon box. After I took the photo and loaded it on my computer, I remembered that I had stick pins with pink hearts that look quite good in the knot of the bow and add a nice finishing touch....but you'll have to take my word on that part. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope you had wonderful holidays. I know we sure had fun. We spent Christmas at Katie's house in SC. We had a really, really fun time playing with the boys and just spending time with the family....but it snowed!

We were supposed to being going south away from the cold weather, but what fun we had playing in the snow the day after Christmas.

But my real reason for this post is to play along with the Makeup 4 the Weekend challenge! The challenge is to make a card using black, white, and silver. I like how it turned out, but as usual, my photo skills aren't the best. All of the stars are the same shiny silver, honest. They are silver star brads that I still have from the Celestial Possibilities makeup kit and I was so excited to discover I still had them when working on this card. It's a white card base, black cardstock and silver glitter paper for the backing of the sentiment. The wide white organdy ribbon and the white satin ribbon were from my ribbon stash. The silver snowflake is Favorite Findings. The sentiment is from the Purpose of Friendship set.

The January release party for Paper Makeup is this Friday night at 9 EST and there are lots of fun new stamps being previewed this week. Hope to see lots of my cyber friends on Friday night!

Paper Makeup Blog Hop

I'm so happy to be part of the Paper Makeup December Blog Hop! You should have arrived here from Katie Cotton's blog (and she just happens to be my dd and I'm soooo proud of her!). If you didn't come from Katie's blog, go here so you can start at the beginning and not miss anything. One lucky commenter will receive a grab bag of PMS stamps so be sure to let everyone know what you think! Comments can be made through December 14.

I used Noel for my card. He's just a sweetie and trying so hard to find his Christmas cheer. I colored him with copics and cut out the image with the Peony nestie. My papers are single sheets that I picked up at Hobby Lobby and the sentiment is from the PMS Little Moments sentiment set. I used the TESC #134 for inspiration for the layout.

The next stop on the hop is Tina so go see what holiday fun she has for you. Thanks for stopping by!

Mojo Monday 167

We had snow here in central Indiana most of the day yesterday. Not much accumulation, but lots of slick roads!

I've been trying my hand at square cards lately and used the Mojo Monday 167 sketch for this card. The papers are from the DCWV Christmas Combo matstack. The sentiment is a Paper Makeup Stamps sentiment that can be found here and just happens to be one of my favorites. I stamped the sentiment with cranberry ink and embossed it with A La Mode sparkle embossing powder. It adds a nice little shimmer to it. My photo skills aren't great but if you enlarge the photo, it shows up a little better.

The ribbon is from my ribbon box and the Prima flowers are centered with a Spare Parts glitter brad. Thanks for stopping by today!

It's nearly "Holly"day time.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow and that means Christmas isn't far behind.

I just have to share a story that happened yesterday. I came home from work at noon because I really didn't feel well (and that's pretty usual for me). My dd skyped us last night and my husband was talking to our grandsons when the oldest asked, "Where's Gramma?" "She doesn't feel good", dh replied and turned the laptop toward me as I'm laying on the couch feeling really lousy. My sweet 4 year old grandson decided he would sing me a song to make me feel better. He sang I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus (or at least the first two or three lines). It must be something new he's learning at pre-school because I had never heard him sing that one before! If there was anything that could make me feel better, that was definitely it! (I went back to work today.)

And now for my card. I've always been a little fearful of coloring the Moody girls from Paper Makeup Stamps but I decided to give it a try since I received Moody for Holly (found here) for my birthday. She just seemed to fit the color challenge this week at JUGS. I colored her with copics and framed her with a cut-out using the inverted scalloped circle nestie. My red dp is My Mind's Eye Quite Contrary collection. The sentiment is also from Paper Makeup Stamps.


Hope everyone finds Christmas in their heart this holiday season.