Catching Penguins in 2013

Here is a card I made for a managing editor at work who taught a class I took this semester on Children's Publishing. I learned a lot and he was such a nice and interesting teacher. I knew I wanted to incorporate a penguin in the card since we both work for Penguin Random House.

I found this adorable penguin stamp at Michael's and I colored it with the few Copics I have.

• 100- Black
• R29- Lipstick Red
• R20- Blush
• G40- Dim Green
• G16- Malachite 
• N-1- Neutral Gray No.1

I added some twine on the bottom and used 3D Zots for the picture as well as the sentiment, "Take Time to Chase Snowflakes."

I really liked this stamp and it will definitely be put to use again next year.

Hip Hip Holiday!

Happy Holidays!! 

I hope everyone had a wonderful time with their family and loved ones! I was scrambling for a week to finish my Christmas cards and sadly, I didn't do a very good job. I had a few days off that were spent with my dentist (4 fillings and one wisdom tooth pulled!) So suffice to say, I wasn't as productive as I hoped to be.

I will be posting the few cards that I did get to finish however. This first one was done for my friend Matthew. I had previously made a birthday card for his girlfriend Katie and now I was making her a Christmas card. His only request was that I incorporated a Hippo. I cut the Hippo from the Create a Critter cartridge as well as the "hip hip" sentiment. Then I went to the Create a Critter 2 cartridge for the Santa hat and the "Holidays" sentiment. I embossed white paper to be snow and used this really neat snow pen I got from Hobby Lobby that creates the snow effect with heat. I then embossed some snowflakes on the top of the card and added some red stickles. Please pardon the picture below. I sent Matthew his card before I realized that I didn't take a better picture of it first. Basically, I'm a bit of a scatterbrain this month. =)

A Tricky Holiday

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

Hope everyone has fun tonight and stays safe! This year, I experienced my first work party and it was nuts to say the least. I went as Vanellope Von Schweetz from Disney's Wreck it Ralph and it was great fun.

My coworker Melanie came as the 11th Doctor from Doctor Who. I'm Vanellope from Sugar Rush!

However, I have no idea where the time went this year. I only got to make a few Halloween cards. (And I even realized I didn't mail some out in time so my friends are getting them late!) So here is what I came up with:



For my friend Andrew, I used some fun Halloween buttons that I got on my last trip to Hobby Lobby. I tied them with festive twine. The paper is from a My Mind's Eye Halloween pack and I used a Martha Stewart paper trimmer for something a little extra. I didn't like how blank the bottom looked so I used these costume stamps. This was from a $1 pack I also found at Hobby Lobby. (How I adore thee!)

For my friend Gale, I took out my Copics and went to work on a Steampunk girl stamp I've had for awhile now. It took me a few tries. I feel like I am out of practice! I added buttons on this card as well and used some Distress inks for her background.



For my friend Monique, I cut out a design with my Elegant Edges Cricut cartridge and used a witch stamp I got at Hobby Lobby for the center. With a silver sharpie, I made some indents on the edges to give it that paper sewn look and added some jewels.

My friend Rachael received this card with a Pumpkin head character that reminded me of a character from Return to Oz. I used some orange stickles to outline his circle and added a fun Halloween ribbon I found at Michael's.

My friend Tana received the card with the Dia de Los Muetros inspired characters. I used the elegant edges cartridge to make the cut out juuuust as big as the card which took a few tries. I really suck at measurements even after all the time using the machine. I also wanted another excuse to use this awesome ribbon so I added it on here too.

So I guess now begins the Christmas card making? Here's hoping I have better luck with those.

Wishing you all a Spooktacular Holiday!

NYC Birthday Girl

A few weeks ago, my buddy Andrew asked me if I would make a card for his sister's birthday. When I asked what kind of card he would like, he said anything that had to do with shopping or New York. Luckily, I recently realized that I work not too far from one of my favorite craft stores here in the city, The Ink Pad. I ran over one afternoon and picked up a NYC stamp. Here is what I came up with:

Before I stamped the skyline, I took out my distress inks and tried to recreate a night time palate. It was a bit difficult to be honest and it took a few tries. I used a combo of Weathered Wood and Black Soot and just to give it a bit of light, I gently dabbed some Victorian Velvet in the middle. To create the moon effect I simply put a circular piece of paper down before blending my colors and then swooshed some weathered wood on it after to make it look cloudy.

When I added the skyline stamp, I used a silver sharpie to highlight some areas. In retrospect, I wish I had used a different marker. I added the silver with a paint brush because it was SO overpowering, but I really should have used a thinner marker.

The sparkly heel was cut from the Bridal Shower Cricut cartridge and I cut out an identical one in black to give it some dimension. I added a Birthday Girl sentiment to finish it off. Hopefully this was a good combination of New York and shopping!

2 Year Anniversary + A Thank You

Today is my 2 year blog anniversary! I was so excited when I realized the dates the other day. With so many changes happening in my life, it's been so nice to have crafting to turn to.

Today I have a thank you card I made for my coworker, Melanie. Funny enough, she used to work at the Borders that was a block away from my old job! So we probably walked right past each other numerous times in the past. Such a small world. Melanie has been so helpful as I transitioned into my new job and it's just great to have someone nice and funny to chat with during the day. It's also great how much we have in common. =)

To show my gratitude, I wanted to make something special. I realized it has been awhile since I last used my distress inks so I took those out to create this card.

I found this flower stamp from Hero Arts that I totally forgot I had! The distress ink colors are Shaded Lilac on top, Spun Sugar in the middle and Tumbled Glass on the bottom. I realized after that while I like the vivid colors, I think I'm going to buy a bigger sponge and see what kind of effect that has to the paper. I used white embossing powder for the flowers and stamped the sentiment to top it off.

A little while ago, I found a wax sealing kit at Michael's and decided to give it a try.

How cool is that? I was so giddy when it came out that I started yelling at my boyfriend, "I NEED RED WAX SO IT CAN LOOK LIKE I'M A LANNISTER!" Game of Thrones reference. I'm totally buying that wax soon. I just love how sophisticated it looks! Do any of you use wax seals on your cards? How do you like it?

Here Comes the Bride!

My friend Gale got married a few weeks ago and it was SUCH a beautiful wedding. If you recall, I helped her create the shells for her invitations along with our pal, Andrew. For her wedding card, I wanted to focus on one of the best parts of a wedding- The Cake! (I'm all about the food, ya know)

Now, I forgot to actually take a picture of the card before I gave it to her so I had to ask her to send me one. So you must forgive this somewhat crooked picture! haha

I took some glossy gray card stock for the base. Then cutting out different pieces of white glossy paper, I embossed each layer differently. It still looked somewhat plain to me so I added jewels for extra embellishment. The top sentiment says "On Your Wedding Day." P.S.- Her actual wedding cake was DELICIOUS.

It was a great party and here is my favorite picture of the three of us!

Kitties, Birthdays and the Color Pink

Once again, my pal Joe requested a card. This time for his niece who was turning seven. He informed me that she liked the color pink, kittens, and princess dresses (is it weird that I have the similar tastes of a seven year old? haha) This is what I came up with.

The kitty is cut from the Create a Critter cartridge and I used some sparkly cardstock for her dress. It was left over from a Valentine's Day Martha Stewart pack I have. And what seven year old birthday party would be complete without balloons? I decided if Nicole was anything like me when I was seven, she'd like seeing her name on EVERYTHING. I added some heart brads to the corners to finish it off.

I found this birthday stamp at Hobby Lobby and I just fell in love with it. Hopefully, Nicole enjoyed her card!