Lily Pad Cards 1st Birthday Blog Hop!

Hello!  Welcome to the Lily Pad Cards First Birthday Blog Hop!  You should be joining us from Elizabeta's blog Cards by Eli.  As a past Guest Designer, I was so excited to get an invitation from Deborah to participate in this very big celebration!

There are three prize packages with a total retail value of over $300!  Very cool, huh?  These prizes will be awarded by random draw.  There are two ways to be eligible for the prize drawings. You can "like" us on Facebook but if you do not have a Facebook account, you can also be eligible for the drawings by leaving a comment on the Lily Pad blog.  To better your chances even more, leave comments on the blogs participating in the hop (including this one!)  For each comment you leave, you'll get your name entered again! (but only one comment per blog, please).
This blog hop will last for 1 week.  That means you can leave comments for a chance to win prizes until 12:00 p.m. EST on Sunday, April 8.

Here's the card I created to wish everyone at the Pad a very Happy 1st Birthday!

I've included closeups to show some of the details of the card.
I chose to use a shabby/vintage style for this card.  It's one of the many styles I enjoy creating (as you'll see, if you scroll through my blog)!

My supply list for this card:

card stock: naturals ivory (Stampin' Up!)

patterned paper: lost & found portabello road 6 x6 pad (My Mind's Eye)

stamps: postmarks, birthdays by the numbers (Papertrey Ink)

die: love lives here (Papertrey Ink)

other: kraft twill, kraft felt (Papertrey Ink), vintage buttons and trim (from an estate aution), scor-tape, thread, sewing machine

Thanks for stopping by!  The next stop on the hop is Tara's blog Inking on the Edge.  If you hit a bad link, you can always go back to Lily Pad to view the master list of blog links.  Please report any bad links to aris@inlinkz.com.

Happy Hopping!!!

A Squirrely "Hang in There" card

Hey, happy Saturday!
I'm just posting a fun card that I created today.  This one isn't going into any challenges.  It's just a card that came from an idea I had late yesterday.  I love this little squirrel stamp from Paper Smooches...and I finally bought some of those "wiggle" eyes at Michael's a couple of weeks ago!  So I just had to combine the two :)

Here he is...

I fussy cut the little squirrel and popped him up on dimensional adhesive, except his paws...they're glued to the patterned paper.  I attached the eyes with a dab of Glossy Accents.  This patterned paper is a discontinued pack from Stampin' Up!  It's so darn cute, I wish it was still available!  Love the clouds and birds on this particular piece of paper.

I'll be putting this card in my Etsy shop today.  There's a link to my shop in the upper right side bar, if you'd like to browse.
Thanks for taking a look today!

***********

What's in it?

card stock: pool party, chocolate chip, close to cocoa (Stampin' Up!)

designer series paper: sweet pea (SU)

stamps: hang ups (Paper Smooches)

ink: basic black, close to cocoa, pumpkin pie (for his nose) (SU), Versamark

other: clear embossing powder (SU), label punch (SU), 5mm Creatology wiggle eyes (Michaels)

Happy Easter - 2 Challenges

Hey, the weekend is almost over.   How did that happen?
My friend Kris hosted a card making event on Saturday.  We had sooooo much fun!  I've met so many wonderful women through this obsession hobby of mine.  It's such a blessing.

In addition to the cards we made on Saturday, I managed to find a few minutes late today to create a card for 2 challenges.

CAS-ual Fridays CFC #45

We've been challenged to use a project using pastels and black.

Retro Sketches RS#4

I've played along at CAS-ual Friday's many times. It's one of my favorite challenge blogs.  But, this is my first time joining in at retro sketches.  Ya' gotta love that hand drawn, coffee stained sketch!  How fun :)

Anyway, my card combines both challenges.  Take a look...

When the CAS-ual Friday's challenge was to use pastels with black, I knew that I wanted to use a soft yellow.  We have some beautiful yellow tulips blooming; so that's the reason yellow came to my mind right away.
I kept this card fairly simple.  Since I wanted to use just the one pastel color with black, I added some texture to the card base.  Interest without added colors.  For the blooms in my stamped image, I added just a touch of color with a Prismacolor pencil.  The rest is pretty straightforward.
I'm going to have to cut short this post.  Tomorrow is a work day and I've still got some things to accomplish before bedtime.
Thanks for taking a look!

What's in it?

card stock: barely banana, whisper white (SU)

stamps: easter blossoms (SU)

ink: onyx black (Versafine)

other: lace impressions plate (PTI), sand colored pencil (Prismacolor), standard circles large die (Spellbinders), dimensional adhesive, corner rounder

Hang In There - and 2 Challenges

Hey, I'm back with my second card for today.  And this one was soooo much fun to create.

First things first, though.  This card is going into 2 challenges.
CAS-ual Fridays CFC#44

The 1-2-3 is:
1. A pattern
2. An image
3. A sentiment
AND...you still have to keep the style clean & simple.  I tried to do that.  "Simple" sometimes isn't easy to do though!

The second challenge is Color Throwdown #183.  And, you've just got to love these colors.  Well...I do, anyway.  Take a look for yourself...

Summer-y, huh?

Hence, my summer-y themed card :)

I've been on the search for some cloud dies for a while now.  Last weekend I attended a stamping expo.  And, you guessed it.  I found these cute dies by A.Muse Studio.  I also picked up this grass die.  Love them both!
I sponged baja breeze ink onto the white card base, using a scalloped punched circle as a mask.  The grass is die cut from a piece of patterned paper.  I stamped the branch on kraft card stock then cut it out by hand.  The swing is actually a rectangle stamp.  I just curved it a little when I placed it on my acrylic block.  I created the seat of the swing using a ruler and markers.  As I said...fun :)
Thanks for taking a look!  I've got to go make dinner.

What's in it?

card stock: stamper's select white (PTI), kraft (SU)

stamps: hang ups, sentiment sampler (Paper Smooches)

dsp: in color patterned paper pack (SU)

ink: baja breeze, crumb cake, chocolate chip, really rust (SU)

other: grass die and cloud dies (A.Muse Studio), white baker's twine (SU)

A Name Change!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  Yes, I do have some Irish heritage...and the red hair to prove it. :)

So.  On to the reason for this post.  I've been thinking, for some time, of changing the name of my blog.  You should have seen the list of names I came up with.  But most of them didn't seem quite right.
As you can see...I've settled on one.  And I love it.  It really sums up my passion for crafting!

I'll also be making some changes to the look of my blog.  But that will have to wait until I've got a chunk of time to dedicate to it.  Hopefully, in a few weeks ;)

Thanks so much to everyone that follows/reads my blog.  It means a lot to me.  And, I LOVE reading your comments.  I've "met" so many kind and caring people through blogging.

P.S. Before I go, I have to share a photo of our crocus.  My favorite color!

 

 

Our winter has been so mild that our crocus are blooming already.  Eighty degrees in mid March, is rare in N. Illinois.

Thank You - and a Lily Pad Challenge

Hello!  It feels like a long time since I've posted, even though it's only been a week.  I usually only have the time to create and post on the weekends, since I work full time.  But watch out when I retire!  Um...that's still a few years away, though :)

Anyway.  I'm playing along in the Purple Onion Designs Presents Kathy's Lily Pad Palette Challenge.
Kathy's colors are so pretty.

This is what I created.

I masked the blooms before stamping the leaves, so that it would appear that the leaves are behind them.  Well, hopefully it does!  I used Creamy Caramel ink for the leaves.  But, on my first try, that color was too strong.  So I started over and stamped off onto scratch paper before stamping the image on my card panel.  Much better!  The matted panel is attached with dimensional adhesive to give it a little lift.  The sentiment is stamped in Early Espresso.
Well...that's it from me today.  It's been a very busy weekend, so only 1 card to post.  It looks like all of our March weekends are filling up, so you might not hear much from me this month.  But I'll try!
Thanks for taking a look,

What's in it?

card stock: stampers select white (PTI), whisper white, crumb cake (SU)

ink: pink pirouette, crumb cake, creamy caramel, early espresso (SU)

stamps: rosie posie, think big favorites (PTI)

other: kraft satin ribbon (PTI)

Smile ~ CR84FN Color Challenge

Hi!  I've made a card for one of our nieces today.  It's a "just because" card :)
This card is going into the CR84FN color Challenge 49.  I couldn't resist those wonderful colors.  See what I mean...

Aren't they soft and spring-y?

Here's my card.

I had SO much fun making this card.  The photo is of a family member...taken in the late 1950's.  Isn't it sweet???  I chose a doily print dsp to tie in with the age of the photo.  And, I used some decorative edge scissors to trim the photo (this isn't the original photo, but a copy).  This edge looks similar to the ones on vintage photos of that time.  Yes.  I'm showing my age :)   Oh, and I used a linen texture impression plate for the kraft panel.  I love that texture!
Thanks so much for taking a look today,

What's in it?

card stock: daffodil delight, crumb cake (kraft), basic gray (Stampin' Up!)

stamp: wonderful words II (SU)

dsp: flirtatious (SU)

ink: onyx black (Versafine)

other: linen impression plate, heart border die, kraft satin ribbon, kraft wool felt (Papertrey Ink), photo paper (Kodak), decorative scissors (Fiskars)