February's HCCC

That's right, people!

Only half-way through February and my
Hazzard County Card Challenge is complete!
(insert self-pat on the back here - hee!)
I had a friend that needed a bit of lovin'
and since she's a five hour car ride away,
we decided to pack up the love and send
it through the mail :)

Some sunshine-y happiness:
This card honestly would never had happened
without this month's challenge. I pulled out
the sparkles like they were going out of
style and dug through my cuttlebug
accessories hoping for some inspiration.
But, really, it all began with the cloud stamp...

The clouds were stamped with Versamark Dazzle
and embossed with a sparkly embossing powder.
You should see them shimmer in real life!
I also went around the embossed edge of the
yellow label die with a 2-way glue pen and then
shook on some Dazzling Diamonds. So pretty!
Lastly, I covered the small punched heart with
Glossy Accents. It looks like a shiny epoxy sticker
now. Love it!! After embossing the blue panel with
a hearts embossing folder, I wanted a little bit
more definition, so I took my white ink pad and
gently wiped it across the top - perfect!!
I just wanted to keep this sweet, cheery card
sitting on my mantle but, alas, it will be
sent in the mail, along with lots of love
and prayers.

Can I just say I love these challenges?
Always push me to take things one
step further - so good for the creative mojo :)
Happy stamping, friends!

Happy, happy, happy!!

My youngest sister-in-law just turned 18!!

SHUT THE FRONT DOOR!
The first birthday I celebrated with her,
she was only 8. 8, people! And now she can
legally gamble. I'm not sure how that happened.
Anyways, gone are the days of cutesy, little
girl cards and, yet, she's totally not into floral,
lacey 'mature lady' cards :)
What to do??
Well, it was tough figuring but, once
I started, it all just seemed to come together :)

Introducing...the 18 year old's birthday card:
It all started with that little snippet of ribbon.
I knew Michelle would love the colours, so I
went from there. I stamped the ledger in Old
Paper (when I purchased this stamp online I
thought, being a background stamp, that it
would cover the entire background of a cardfront.
Unfortunately, as you can see, it doesn't. I was
kind of bummed. I still like it, but I really
wish it covered the WHOLE background.
Do any of you know of a ledger stamp that
is truly a background stamp? I'd
appreciate any links - thanks!)

Pulling the colours from the Cosmo Cricket
ribbon, which I just stapled in place, I stamped
the word 'happy' ('So Very', a retired SU! set)
in Pumpkin Pie, Cameo Coral, Chocolate Chip,
Baja Blue and Kiwi Kiss. I punched the edge
with my spiral notebook punch from SU! and
layered some cameo coral cardstock beneath it.
The swirly flowers are a Basic Grey rub-on.
Generally I'm not a fan of run-ons, it just seems
silly to buy something that you can only use
once, when you could buy a stamp and use it
over and over and over again? But I picked
these up at a clearance sale for a dollar and
I do like how it turned out.

To finish things off, I added a Basic Grey
brad - which I've been hoarding for a year! -
but figured my sister's birthday was a
worthy enough occasion to break it out ;)
and a little snippit of matching patterned
paper to finish off the inside. The sentiment
inside says 'birthday wishes'.

While this card is totally outside of my usual
'creative box', I love how it turned out. I
especially love how it uses material from
four different companies (SU!, Unity, Cosmo
Cricket & Basic Grey) and yet looks so
'together'. It was super fun to make, and
I think I'm gonna stretch myself to do
stuff like this more often!

Thanks for popping by!

You're on my mind

Just a little note to let a friend know

I've been thinking of them:

Started with a kraft base with white sponged
around the edges. Stamped Old Letter Writing (HA)
in Baja Blue on the white layer and then distressed
the edges with Old Paper and sewed around the
outside. Used the spiral note punch (SU!) on some
patterned paper and stamped the sentiment from
Upsy Daisy (SU!) with the Baja Blue again and
wrapped some thread around that panel.

Finished by stamping the violet on 2 different
patterned papers and embossing them with
white embossing powder. I cut out the different
layers and used Vintage Photo distress ink on
the edges. I popped up the layers with foam
dots and finished by adding some sweet little
yellow rhinestones to the center. A sweet,
happy little card - just what I was hoping for!

Our valentines are coming along slowly but
surely. Crafting with kiddies always takes
a bit of time and patience but, in the end, I'm
always glad we spend the time doing it (even
though I *may or may not* get a tad
exasperated in the process sometimes!)
Stay tuned next week for lots of Valentines
goodness coming your way! :)
xoxo