"14 Things I Love About You" Pocket Tags

Winner at Die Cut Divas

Coffee of the Day - Butterscotch

Hello, everyone!

I am here to share a special project with all of you today and on the Really Reasonable Ribbon blog. but there is a small catch - we have to keep this hush, hush quiet until Valentine's Day because my oldest son is giving this to his girlfriend! we don't want to ruin the surprise, now do we?! ;)

some of you might remember the Tag Advent Calendar I created for Christmas. this is similar, but the theme is "14 Things I Love About You!"  I took the photos before my son wrote on the tags. had to give the guy a BIT of privacy! grins!

you will see many ribbons and trims from the Really Reasonable Ribbon store. I'll share the complete list at the bottom of the post to make things easier.

to keep things as flat as possible, I only added flowers to the very first piece. doilies, washi tape, vintage buttons, die cuts from Sizzix, and various other little goodies decorate each pocket.

papers & some small tag elements are from the Authentique Crush collection, a few stickers are from SRM Stickers, number stickers are from Melissa Frances, digital numbers are from Miss Kate Cuttables, coffee cup die is from Simon Says Stamp. lots of stickles used! :) chipboard cupid is from Blue Fern and bark heart is from Live & Love Crafts. hard to see, but each tag is stamped with a beautiful cupid stamp by Deep Red Stamps. other various stamps used are by My Favorite Things and SU!

Ribbons and Trims:
Brenda white crochet lace
Sweetheart Stripe Grosgrain
Diamond Satin Mineral Ice
Lipstick Red Seam Binding
Sun Rose Seam Binding
Red Burlap String
Pink Burlap String

Mulberry Flowers:
Magnolia (watercolored just a bit to match pinks)
Aster Daisy
Open Roses

don't forget to play along in the new challenge over at RRR. it's a theme we all love - "Anything Goes with ribbons or trims."  thanks so much for stopping by!

Challenges:

Outlawz Sat Paper a la Mode - Tag, You're It

A Gem of a Challenge - Love is in the Air
Brown Sugar - Valentine/Love
Creative Corner - Valentine's Day/Love
Crop Stop - anything goes with a product from their store (Authentique, Sizzix)
Crafty Girls Creations - anything goes
WAW - anything goes
Dragonfly Journeys -Queen of Hearts
Corrosive Ch - love, love, love
Die Cut Divas -  Love, Marriage, & Anniversaries
Paper Creator's Crafts - Must Be Love
Pink and Main - Love
Double Click Skittles - use a heart
Inky Chicks - love (letters) and/or hearts
Digi Choosday - not a card

Dad, You Rock!

Coffee of the Day - Moon Pie

Today starts a new challenge over at Top Tip Tuesday. in honor of the upcoming Father's Day holiday, we want to see your masculine projects. Our sponsor this fortnight is Birdie Brown. gosh, does she ever have some cutie images! you can also find some great freebies and a fun challenge on her blog.

my card uses her latest freebie, Rockin' Doggie, and his matching sentiment. I made this card for the guys to give to David, as it goes pretty well with part of his Father's Day present. shhhhh..... can't tell you what that is just in case he peeky peeks over here before the big day! ;)

Papers are some digital ones called Celebrate Today from Design House Digital, star border is a MFT die, linen thread is SU!, buttons are from my stash, as is little black grosgrain ribbon snippet under metal clippie.  the guitar is covered in rock candy distress stickles and silver metal portions are painted with shimmerz. frets are accented with my clear spica glitter gel pen. the bg of the main image is actually a pale blue, but I couldn't get it to scan no matter what I tried. 'Dad' stickers are Melissa Frances. his sunglasses are covered in crystal effects.

Posts are going to be a bit sporadic for a while. lots of medical stuff coming up. ick. cancer really really stinks. and y'all are weary of hearing about it, I know. but not half as weary as I am of typing it all out. just glad I can craft when I'm feeling up to it. I am very blessed in that regard - well in lots of ways actually. :)

Challenges:
Birdie Brown - June freebie challenge
Twisted Tuesday - clothes make the man
Papertake Weekly - hello boys
Creative Card Crew - metal (file clip)
The Kraft Journal - just for him
Loves Rubberstamps - masculine
Tuesday Throwdown - you're the man
City Crafter - all about him
Craft Your Passion - Father's Day/masculine
Creative Craft - we love you, Dad
Country View Crafts - die cuts
Ladybug Crafts - for the men in our lives
Really Reasonable Ribbon - masculine plus ribbon or trim
Crafter's Cafe - father or for a male
Heck of a Challenge - bingo: yellow, die cut or punch, green
Eureka - Father's Day
Get Inky - boys and/or men
Lexi's Creations - Father's Day or special male birthday
Tammy's Scrappin' Corner - manly card or Father's Day
Clear it Out - male cards with metal (buttons are from old stash, as is shimmerz paint. metal is an old file clip)
Crafty Sentiment - card for a male
Going Grey with Scrap Creations - Father's Day

Several Cards - Finally!

Coffee of the Day - Santa's White Christmas (yep, it's been one of those weeks. our holidays are all mixed up!)

I finally have a few cards to show you. this has been one of those turned upside down and inside out kinds of weeks. the guys have been home for Spring Break, but we've hardly seen them. Tyler and Mick have started  new jobs at the same restaurant in Kent, so they've been driving back & forth all week for training. the restaurant opens on Monday.

as I had posted earlier, our water heater went kaput the first part of the week. David spent a few days trying to track down a proper replacement and then install a new one. because we live in a Century home, not just any hot water heater will work in our basement. it's hard to find one that will fit, and of course they don't come on the cheap end.... then yesterday as Tyler was driving to work, his car started to act funny. it's about an hour drive to Kent from here, so he stayed on the phone with Dave pretty much the entire time. Mick had been staying with his girlfriend's family for several days because he is singing at their church Easter morning. (He was going into work during the day and then going over to the church in the evening for rehearsals.) So David drove over to Kent to work on Tyler's car yesterday morning and ended up spending all day there.

When Mick arrived, everyone discovered that he was super sick with a nasty flu/cold. So he was sent home to recuperate. I immediately mixed up a tea brew in preparation for him, and he's been in bed ever since. whew.....hopefully Mick will feel well enough to make it to church tomorrow to sing. we've all been invited to Jocelyn's family Easter dinner afterward, then the guys head back to school. :(

now for the cards after you have sat through the boring life stuff! ;)

the first card I actually made a while back and then forgot to post! everything today is courtesy of Create with TLC or Baubles by Bri.

papers are K & Co. Julianne, images are Create with TLC sprayed with walnut ink after printing,  flower is a gorgey one by Prima, buttons are vintage, ribbon is May Arts, tiny file folder is from JoAnn's. I used my beloved tiny attacher from Tim Holtz and lavel maker and finished it all off with a little metal clip.

A new Paper a la Mode challenge begins today at The Outlawz, so this is my DT submission to hopefully inspire everyone!

next card is for my best friend and her family. they have been going through a lot lately, and I wanted her to know I've been thinking about her. even though we text all the time, it's nice to get a reminder in the mail. sentiment is Create with TLC, image is Baubles by Bri, papers are Melissa Frances Attic Treasures, buttons are vintage, as are the seam tape ribbon & lace trim. the tag was sprayed with both Clam Bake & Coffee Shop glimmer mist. several washi tapes were added and then a tiny arrangement of some flowers that seemed to match the ones in the main image were added near the largest button. I added dots to the flower stems on the main image with my white gel pen to mimic the ones in the little flowers.

a publication update for you - I have several cards being published in a UK magazine next month. I'll give you more information as soon as I get it. another card will be published in an online magazine in a few months. yep, I'm excited! :)

I'm working on my May Arts spring challenge project in my spare time. have a few extra ribbons I ordered coming in over the next few days. hope that what I plan turns out to be a neat project! I've been picking up little pieces here, there, and everywhere, so you never know what is going to show up on this! tee hee! the competition is very fierce, so I'm trying to bring my A+++++++ game to the ring. yikes!

--------> keep your eyes open because I am finally going to be posting my 500+ followers blog candy soon!

Challenges:
Whoopsi Daisy - use a digi
One Stitch at a Time - use a digi
613 Avenue Create - anything goes
Lacy Sunshine - layer it up (in my thoughts card)
Chocolate, Cards, and Coffee - bring on spring (in my thoughts card)
Creative Corner - anything goes
Digital Tuesday - spring colors (in my thoughts card)
Crafty Ribbons - anything goes with ribbon (knowledge card)
Paper Crafting Journey - ribbon or lace
Party Time Tuesdays - anything goes
CRAFT - Mother's Day/Female (in my thoughts card)
Crafting by Designs - vintage Easter or Spring (in my thoughts card)
Totally PaperCrafts - metal (knowledge card)
Creative Card Crew - for a man (knowledge card)
LEJ Designs - vintage or retro
Allsorts - vintage

Floral Sympathy

Coffee of the Day - Santa's White Christmas (see yesterday's post for story behind it)

Hippitty Hoppity Hooray it is Friday! and all of my family will be together this weekend! hooray! yep, I'm a happy happy mom! :) Tyler and Mick come home today, plus we will see Jocelyn, Mick's girlfriend on Sunday. yipppeeeee! oh this momma loves her little ducks, I tell ya!

I hope all of you felt properly LOVED yesterday..... and everday as well!  David absolutely adores his coffee. as you can see we are having it again this morning. makes us miss the fabulous coffees we found at Barnies in Florida... the flavored coffees we can get up here just aren't quite the same. Ryan was able to drive down to spend the day with his girlfriend, Ashley yesterday. they had a lovely time together and also celebrated their one year anniversary of dating! :)  oh, do you remember when you counted those milestones? I do... still remember my first date with hubby. even the date. yep. those dates always have an importance, even all these years later.

I want to share the 2nd of the sympathy cards with you. I had mentioned a few days ago that I needed a few for some of my blogging friends. I tend to make these 'as needed' because I am able to really pour as much love and prayer as I possibly can into each one as they are made. Since I'm not a quick crafter, that means for several hours I am thinking and praying for the people these cards are going to. never is this needed as much as when someone you love has died. the range of emotions run the gambit, and often you feel so very alone. I don't know if the people who receive these cards can tell, but at least I know and God knows that I want them to find just a small bit of peace & comfort between the folds of the paper.

The image is Buttercups by Doodle Pantry, paper is 5th Avenue by Melissa Frances, trim and buttons are vintage, wonderful flocked and glittered flowers are Prima, stitching stamp is Gina K, and rhinestone flourish is Want 2 Scrap.

Challenges:
QKR Stampede - anything goes
Sparkle and Glitter - all the things I love (my vintage trims and buttons along with Primas & distressing! only thing missing is zombies! tee hee!)
Polkadoodles - shabby chic
Doodle Pantry - anything goes with one of their images
Incy Wincy - add texture
Lia Stampz - anything goes
Stampin' for the Weekend - distressing
Sweet Pea - use a digi

Jar of Love

Coffee of the Day - Pumpkin Spice (thank you, Gina!!)

this card is made for Theresa's Hope You Can Cling To challenge, 'Read All About It'. I love the added use of text themed items on my cards, so this was a fun challenge to play along with!

The beautiful image comes from A Day for Daisies, pretty vintage ad paper is Melissa Frances, flair button (which also contains text) is Pink Paislee, tickets are Maya Road, buttons are from my vintage stash. crochet trim and floral spray are also from my stash. flowers were sprayed with tea rose glimmer mist. flowers in main image were covered in shimmerz paint.

Tomorrow is my day to serve as Hostess at SCS Hope You Can Cling To. I do hope you will stop by both here and over in the chat forums to join me! :)  There are soooooooooo many prizes up for grabs thanks to the generosity of many wonderful sponsors.

Challenges:
LUFP