Happy Birthday Waltzingmouse Stamps!!

This month, Waltzingmouse Stamps is celebrating its first birthday with EIGHT new sets that will be released tomorrow. As part of the celebration, Claire has a little contest going on over on her blog - play along you can win the whole release! The card I made above features stamps from the L'il Buddies and Sweethearts sets.

I stumbled across WMS last October when looking for Halloween stamps (check out Halloween Party - I don't have it yet but will be getting it this weekend along with a few others!) and have been in love ever since. Waltzingmouse has quickly become my go-to company for fabulous and unique acrylic stamps that fit Nestabilities perfectly.

Thank you, Claire - you are a total inspiration! And, huge, huge, huge congratulations for getting your company off the ground and giving all of us so many amazing stamps and ideas with which to create such "fabby" projects!

Supplies:
Stamps - L'il Buddies, Sweethearts (WMS)
Ink - Melon Berry (PTI), Basic Black (SU!)
Cardstock - Vintage Cream (PTI)
DP - Be Loved (My Minds Eye)
Ribbon - Crafta
Copic Markers

North By Northwest

This week's movie over on the Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge is North By Northwest - one of my favorite movies! The challenge requrement is - uh oh - I completely missed the challenge requirement of adding paper piercing! Or maybe I didn't and you just can't see it? Allright, nevermind.

Because I was fresh out of "Mistaken Identity" paper, I decided to go with a travel theme since Cary Grant and Eva Marie Saint are literally all over the place in this movie! There is a bit of busyness in this paper that I think lends itself well to the chaos of the film. I thought the sentiment was perfect, too. Sometimes we can be so conflicted or lost but our hearts always know the way!

Supplies:
Stamps - Whimsical Words (SU!)
Ink - Chocolate Chip (SU!)
Cardstock - DCWV, PaperSource, SU!
DP - DCWV
Ribbon - Crafta
Die Cutting - Cuttlebug, Spellbinders

Mother's Day

Glen and I are so blessed to have four amazing women about whom we celebrate Mother's Day - our mothers, my step mother, and Glen's aunt!

I really hope they aren't peeking because I finished these cards for them over the weekend. I'm trying to get used to my Copic markers and I'm really liking using them, just don't have too many. Thankfully I had several shades in the pink/salmon family so I could color these flowers.

Supplies:
Stamps - Verve
Cardstock - Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Mellow Moss, Forest Foliage, Rose Red (SU!)
Ink - Pretty in Pink, Bravo Burgundy, Rose Red, Mellow Moss, Certainly Celery (SU!), Tea Dye (PTI)
DP - Porcelain (Basic Grey)
Other - Pearls (Hero Arts), Stickles, Corner Chomper, foam squares, edge distressing tool

Origins

I've had the Basic Grey, Origins paper pad for a while now and haven't used it! A travesty, I know! Anyway, I've had the Old Olive paper and this great floral print sitting on my desk forever and finally made this card! I love how the black pops off of the greens and the little silver buckle was the perfect add for the right side of the card to balance it out.

Supplies:
DP - Origins (Basic Grey)
Stamps - Whimsical Words (SU!)
Ink - Basic Black (SU!)
Cardstock - Old Olive, Basic Black (SU!), Rustic Cream (PTI)
Border Punch - Fiskars
Die Cuts - Cuttlebug, Nestabilities
Ribbon/slide - my stash

Oklahoma!

The movie of the week over at the Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge is Oklahoma and the challenge is to use a bit of gingham in our creations.

Now I haven't seen Oklahoma in a very long time and am not sure I ever finished it when I did watch it but who doesn't know the songs? "Surrey with the Fringe on Top?" Or, my favorite, and inspiration for this card, "Oh What a Beautiful Morning." I thought the sunshine and the sentiment conveyed the "beautiful morning" while the subtle blue of the gingham and the distressing gave it a vintagy, barn feel. In my mind, the twine is an old, rusty piece of barbed wire and little miss lady bug is just along for the ride. :)

Supplies:
Cardstock, ink, twine - SU!
Stamps - Verve, SU!
DP - K@Co
Ladybug - Meyer Imports

April Waltz with Waltzingmouse Stamps!

I am so excited to be able to participate in the 2nd waltz with Claire and all of the talented crafters who love Waltzingmouse Stamps! If you've happened over here, waltz on over to Claire's blog to get started! You can also head over to the 'Mouse house to take a peek at what everyone else has done!

The April waltz is in honor of our mothers and Mother's Day! Daffodils and Narcissus always remind me of my mom since she has them growing all over her yard. I just love walking through her garden! So, it was easy to choose the stamp I was going to use on a Mother's Day card inspired by her.

I used the Spring Baskets set using the masking technique Anya showed us a couple of months ago. It is the first time I've masked and I think I'll be all over it from now on! Not hard at all and it gives a very nice impression of a bit of depth. I colored the flowers using Copics (really the first time I've used those, too) and filled the centers with Liquid Pearls. I hand cut the grass border and added a yellow button sun and some floaty clouds. I also sponged the "sky" with blue ink. Cute!

Supplies:
Stamps - Spring Baskets (WMS)
Ink - Soft Sky, Garden Green, Basic Black (SU!)
Cardstock - Garden Green (SU!), Stampers Select White (PTI)
Button - my stash
Twine - PTI
DP - K@Company
Copic Markers, Liquid Pearls, Foam Squares

Up!

The movie of the week over at the Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge is Up - one of the best yet strangest movies I've seen in a while! Our mission, should we have chosen to accept it, was to create a card inspired by the movie using balloons.

I loved Up! Watched it with my hubby and we were both so incredibly sad at the beginning wondering what the heck Pixar had done this time. To see that Carl and Ellie couldn't have kids and then when she got sick - oh boy! Long story short, that was only about the first 10 minutes or so of the film. The rest of the film is Carl's story of trying to make Ellie's dream come true and in the meantime, having a big adventure of his own.

I started with a fun paper kit from Cosmo Cricket to make the hills (in a world where dogs can talk and birds are named Kevin, striped and polkadot hills seem positively dull...), used a sticker from the kit for the large balloon and 1/2" circles punched from other papers in the kit for the smaller balloons. If you look closely, you will see the small balloons are covered with clear epoxy stickers to give them some dimension. The sentiment I chose was inspired by Carl's new aquaintance, Russell, who came along for the ride quite by accident but was there to give Carl a lift!

After putting the card together, I didn't think it was quite finished so I found some pom poms, cut one in half and spread the halves around to make the clouds! Aren't they adorable?

Supplies:
Stamps - Everyday Button Bits (PTI)
Paper Kit - Garden Variety (Cosmo Cricket)
Cardstock - Vintage Cream (PTI)
Ink - Chocolate Chip (SU!)
Pom Poms - my stash
Epoxy Stickers - PTI

Small Wonder

I made this card for my friends who just had their first baby - a little boy!

Supplies:
Cardstock - Soft Sky (ret.), Kraft, Barely Banana, Whisper White (SU!)
Stamps - Whimsical Words, (SU! I'll have to get back to you with the other set name)
DP - Itsy Bitsy Baby Boy (K&Company)
Ribbon - Crafta

Mojo Monday 133

I always get nervous when I see the Mojo challenges that appear to include lots of patterns and lots of layers and this week was no exception. My husband always says, "it wouldn't be a challenge if it was easy, right?" Right! This week I decided to take the spirit of the challenge and make a card in my style which is a little more simple. Trust me, I've tried layers, and they don't look good on me, lol.

I've had this great crafting kit from Cosmo Cricket for a few weeks now and have been dying to use it. After seeing how the banner sticker was the perfect fit for this challenge, I decided to build the card around it.

Supplies:
Paper/Stickers - Cosmo Cricket "Garden Variety"
Cardstock - PTI "Vintage Cream", SU! "Riding Hood Red" (ret)
Ink - PTI Tea Dye "Chamomile"
Leaf Ribbon - PTI
Flower Punch - Marvy Uchida
Buttons/Twine - my stash

Sense and Sensibility

Oh, Sense and Sensibility is one of my all time favorite movies! I've seen it countless times and love it every time and cry every time Edward declares his love for Elinor! Oh my goodness, who wouldn't want a love like that? I feel super thankful and lucky to say that I've been blessed with that kind of love!

So, the challenge this week was clean and simple and while I think I may have stumbled into territory a bit more complicated than "clean", this card was still pretty "simple" to make! I just got some great lace (which I thought was cloth but feels like it is made of fibers - strange but cool!) and thought it would be great for the period aspect. And, the new stamp set from Stampin' Up! fits just perfectly.

Supplies:
Stamps - "Vintage Vogue" Stampin' Up!
Ink - "Mellow Moss", "Perfect Plum" Stampin' Up!
Cardstock - Kraft Stampin' Up!
DP - "Bittersweet" Basic Grey
Lace - Crafta
Pearls - Martha Stewart

Mojo Monday Challenge #132

The last time Julee challenged us with a round or square choice, I chose the round - first time I'd ever done that and I had a ball! So, when the choice came 'round again, I tackled the square card! I hold back on the square cards because I don't know how to maximize use of the cardstock I have. I really only buy the 8.5 x 11" cardstock so maybe I'll have to get some larger stock so I can tackle some of these great cards!

And, in honor of making two cards trying to minimize scraps, here is the second (not for the Mojo challenge but for my "minimize waste" challenge!)

Supplies:
Cardstock - "Soft Sky" - Stampin' Up!
Stamps - "Big Wish" - Verve
Ink - "Soft Sky", "Perfect Plum" - Stampin' Up!
DP, Chipboard Sticker - "Kioshi" - Basic Grey
Ribbon - Crafta
Punch, Rhinestones - Martha Stewart
Die Cuts - Cuttlebug, Nestabilities