Butterfly in the Sky

Hi friends!  I hope you all are having a beautiful day!  We had a pretty nice day even though I wasn't feeling well.  We had lunch, walked for a little bit, ran a couple errands, and ended the day firing up the BBQ for the first time this year.  There's a lovely breeze and everyone's in a good mood. 

Here's a card I made while I was chatting with my friend Savannah the other day.  Something VERY bizarre happened that day.  I had mojo and she didn't.  This is the FIRST time in all the years I've known Sav that this has ever happened.  Poor dear!  Moral the story, it happens to the VERY best and most creative crafters so be kind to yourself.  Onto my card.  I used a Unity butterfly image from {...moment by moment} and the sentiment is from My Thoughts Exactly More Mini Thoughts.  The paper is Crate Paper Paper Heart and I used the Cards Mag sketch for this.  

Have a great day, friends!  

Rainy Day Challenge

Hi friends!  I hope you're having a great day!  We are doing ok.  The kids went to a birthday party today and had lots of fun.  They are so cute!

Today, I'm sharing a card I made for the Lily Pad Cards Rainy Day Challenge.  The challenge is to make a card with a rain theme.  I decided to ink up some Lawn Fawn because really, who could resist this cute umbrella?  The umbrella is from Plus One and the sentiment is from Partly Cloudy.  The paper is Echo Park Dots and Stripes.  I also added coordinating Stickles to each umbrella handle.    

Have a great day, friends!  

A Walk on the Bright Side Recap

Hi friends!  I hope you're having a great day!  Today, hasn't been very good here.  Here's hoping that tomorrow is better.

Today, I wanted to recap all the projects I made with the Paper Made Bakery April Kit: A Walk on the Bright Side.  There are only a couple more kits left so get yours while you can!  It's a fabulous one!

Have a great day, friends!  

Farewell to Flutter By

Hi friends!  I hope you're having a great day!  I'm not feeling fabulous but I think I'll get over it.  I'm going to take it easy this weekend.  We have a birthday party on Sunday but that's about it.

I was sad to hear that the Flutter By Wednesday's challenge is saying goodbye this week.  This challenge is how I met my friend Danni (the creator of the challenge) who I absolutely love.  I was on this team until I had to go on maternity leave with Parker.  I made tons of friends and throughly enjoyed making butterfly cards.  Of course, I had to play along with their last challenge #200!  There is a sketch by Jen Shults to play along with.  Here is my take on it using My Mind's Eye papers and brad.  The pleated trim is from Creating is Fun.

Have a great day, friends!  

Right at Home

Hi friends!  I hope you're having a fabulous day.  Today, wasn't that great.  I'm feeling a little sick still from my procedures and hope that passes quickly.  Sigh...I have a really hard time trying to take it easy.  I think I need to write it on my hand or something.  

Today, I'm sharing a card I made for a couple challenges.  I used to Card Positioning Systems sketch #262 for this card.  I also made this for Touch Twin Marker Challenge #15 using the theme In the Neighborhood.  Now, I didn't use my Touch Twins for this even though they are amazing!  I just didn't have the colors I wanted to use.  I'm entering this in the Hero Arts Sunshine challenge as well.  What's sunnier than a yellow house?  The stamps are from Hero Arts, an OWH set.  I LOVE that Hero Arts made Operation Write Home stamps!  What an awesome company!  I used Cosmo Cricket Baby Jane paper, Copics, and Glossy Accents for the windows.  The washi tape is from Target and the gems are from Michael's $1 section.     

Have a great day, friends!  

A Favor Please and a Card

Hi friends!  I hope you're having a great day.  I'm recovering from my procedures and I'm still awaiting test results.  In the meantime, I'm having a hard time taking it easy since there's just so much to do around here.

First up, I have a favor to ask of you all.  I'm in a contact to win a Mother's Day photo shoot with my boys.  I don't have any professional pictures of me and both boys so this would be awesome for me.  To vote for me, you HAVE to be on Facebook.  Just click HERE and like the photo.  Easy peasy!  It should look just like this:

And I'm sharing a card I made a while ago for a publication call that wasn't picked up.  I decided not to submit it again because I'm not in love with it.  However, I still think it's a cute card for sending to a friend or relative for Christmas.  I used My Thoughts Exactly Holly Jolly Tags for this card.  The paper is Basic Grey Nordic Holiday.  I used May Arts lace and Holiday Divine Twine for this.  The punch at the top is from Martha Stewart.

Have a great day, friends!  

PMB: Envelope Card Peek

Hi friends!  I hope you're having a great day!  I just wanted to let you know that I'm posting on the Paper Made Bakery Blog today.  Please stop by and leave me some love!  :D  Here's a peek at what you'll see over there!  

Love My Tapes Mother's Day Blog Hop

Hi friends!  I hope you're having a fabulous day!  Today, I'm going in for my procedures so if you could spare a positive thought or prayer for me, I would really appreciate it.  I've never had any kind of procedure where I had to be put under before and I'm a bit nervous.

Let's get onto the HAPPY!  Today, we are having a Love My Tapes Mother's Day Blog hop.  There is a PRIZE, so be sure to hop along to all the blogs and leave comments.  There are only SIX stops so it will take just a few minutes to do the hop!  One person will win: 1 lace tape, 1 fabric tape, and 3 washi tapes!  You have until April 26th to leave your comments!  We also have giveaways on the Love My Tapes Facebook Page so be sure to come join us there too!  The blog hop starts on the Love My Tapes Blog.

Here's my card for today's hop!  I used black dot washi tape, 17mm beige lace tape, and Chloe fabric tape.  I used the fabric tape to make the flower on this card.  The papers are from Authentique and the bling is Recollections.  The letters are Thickers from American Crafts.

Next up on the hop is GIOVANA!  Enjoy the hope and remember to leave comments for your chance to win!

Here's the order for you, in case you get lost:
Love My Tapes Blog
Ashley N Newell (you are here)
Giovana Smith
JJ Sobey
Lisa Tottle
Rita Barakat 

One Layer Joy Card

Hi friends!  I hope you're having a great day!  Today, I'm doing the prep for my medical procedures tomorrow.  It's not so fun but that's ok.  As long as we get some answers, I'm fine with it.  If you could spare a prayer or positive thought about tomorrow's procedure, I would appreciate it!  I've never been put under before and I'm a little nervous.

Today, I'm sharing a card that I made for a call that wasn't picked up.  I tried to create a one layer card but it's really just not my style.  I'm not sure I'll attempt this kind of card again.  I used WOW Embossing Co stamps and a couple different inks for this.  I also used a little bit of Stickles on the chandelier.

Have a great day, friends!  

So Sorry For Your Loss

Hi friends! I hope you're having a great day. I'm ok but I'm trying to pull it together to do fun things for the kids. We went to the park and had pizza with a friend today and it was nice. I'm exhausted even though I didn't really do much. The kids are happy so it was worth it.

Here's a card I made for publication that wasn't picked up. You win some, you lose a lot! ;) I'm sad that this card didn't make it because I think the doily ruffle is pretty cute. I just trimmed around a doily and then bunched it up and adhered it to the back of the music patterned paper. I used the Feb Paper Made Bakery Kit for this card. All the elements come in the kit and it's ON SALE right now!

Have a great day, friends!

Airmail Love

Hi friends! I hope you're having a lovely day! I fear today is going to be another rough one for me. I have no idea what brings on this pain and discomfort. I've tried examining what I did the day leading up to it but I haven't found any overlaps. Oh well. Hopefully, it will pass soon and I'll be back to myself.

Today, I'm sharing a card I made for The Cat's Pajamas TCP Tuesday 206. This one was a HUGE challenge for me because it's SO trendy. I'm pretty uncomfortable when I feel things are on trend. I'm not much of a trendy person. I just kind of do whatever and hope that it works out.

I looked through my Cat's Pajamas Stamps and this Puppy Love set really stuck out at me. I thought the envelope and this sentiment worked so well with this airmail theme. I also pulled out some airmail goodies. I used an Airmail Envelope from Glitter and Gloss. Aren't they the cutest? I also pulled out some Airmail Divine Twine which is one of my favorites. I pulled out some washi tape from Love My Tapes and some from Target and went to town. The general layout and idea for this card remind me of my friend Lauren from Lauren Elise Crafted. She's so trendy and young. Here's my attempt at trendy. Hope you like it!

Have a great day, friends!

Fruitastic Gradient

Hi friends! I hope you had a lovely day! I had another rough one. Hoping that tomorrow is a better day. The weather is very nice though. The kids are playing outside a lot and that's nice.

Here's a card I made for the Paper Smooches Sparks DT Call. For the call, you can pick any of the previous challenges and make a brand new card for it. I picked this photo to the left. You can see it on the Sparks Blog HERE. I love the colors!

At first I wanted to do a rainbow but then I thought FRUIT SALAD! Fruitastic is one of my favorite Paper Smooches sets and the banana is one of my favorite stamps. I set the fruit on some washi tape because I wanted to bring in the blue color from the artwork without making a blue fruit. The paper is Echo Park Dots and Stripes except the green which is just card stock.

Have a great day, friends! Cross your fingers for me about the call! :D

Vintage Lace Tape Card

Hi friends! I hope you're having a great day! I'm blogging over at the Love My Tapes Blog and I wanted to share my project with you.

I love using lace tape for vintage cards! It's so easy to use, you can put it on card even after you glue the layers down because it's tape and doesn't need to be tucked under like ribbon. I used a cream lace tape and dark pink lace tape for this card. I used some Cosmo Cricket Evangline papers and tag on this card. I added some seam binding to the tag.

Have a great day!

May Arts Candy Colored Challenge

Hi friends! I hope you're having a lovely day. I'm having a bit of a bad day as far as not feeling well. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.

Here's a project I made for the May Arts Candy Colored Challenge. I always love working with May Arts ribbon and this time was no exception. Please pop over to the post and VOTE FOR ME! :D Everyone who votes is entered in a drawing to win a full spool of all the ribbons that the entrants got to work with. Even if you don't want to vote for me, you should STILL cast a vote for the chance to WIN!

Have a great day, everyone! Have a happy tomorrow!

PMB: Wobbly Mailbox Peek

Hi friends! I'm blogging on the Paper Made Bakery Blog today using the awesome A Walk on the Bright Side kit. I would love if you hopped over there and check out what I made. It's a fun one! Please leave a comment if you head over there, I would LOVE to hear from you! Here's a peek at what you'll find:

Happy Anniversary Dustin!

Hi friends! Today is my 7th wedding anniversary. I've been so busy all day that I haven't gotten a chance to blog. I was taking care of the kids and trying to make some projects for the Paper Crafts Mag call. We had a lovely dinner while my friend watched the kids for our anniversary.

Here's a card I made for Dustin for our anniversary. I used this image as the prompt. The image is from the current Paper Smooches Sparks challenge. And I'm PRETTY SURE you have an idea of who gave me the idea for this card. It has a CARROT on it after all. It's Savannah. That gal loves carrot cards, did you know? I made her one for her birthday.

I was inspired by the colors in this image as well as the multiple lines of text. The patterned paper is Authentique Gathering. The stamps are Paper Smooches Vegtastic. I added some Cosmo Cricket and Making Memories letter stickers and some tiny attacher staples. I also did a little distressing with some Memento Rich Cocoa. I used a circle Nestie and a corner rounder as well.

Have a great day, everyone!

Creating is Fun Mother's Day Blog Hop (Giveaway)

Hello friends! I hope you had a lovely weekend. To start your week off right, Creating is Fun is having a Mother's Day blog hop complete with a PRIZE! One lucky person who does the hop and leaves comments will win a $25 gift certificate to the Creating is Fun Shop. Not only that but Creating is Fun is currently having a HUGE SALE! You can get 40% off everything in the store by entering coupon code: Aprilfun40.

To start the hop head over to Martha's Blog, she's the owner of the store. Be sure to leave comments on every stop to be entered to win! Not only that, I hear there are a couple hidden blog candies on the hop too!

Here's my card for this hop. I used a doily, peach lace, and cream/natural lace from Creating is Fun. The paper is from Cosmo Cricket Evangeline, the image is Sweet Stamp Shop, and the sentiment is from Unity Stamp Co. I just finished with a little pearl. I'm also entering this into the Simon Says Stamp and Show Anything Goes challenge.

Next up on the blog hop is Rebekah! Be sure to leave a comment here for a chance to win and check out the awesome sale!

For My Teacher

Hi friends! I hope you had an excellent weekend! We had an okay one. Mostly just ran errands. Actually that's ALL we did. I ended up back a Kaiser today. I had to go get drops for my eye infection. Oy vey! It is itchy! But the nurse said I should be feeling better in about 3 days.

Here's a card I made for a call that wasn't picked up. This is not my normal style but I think it's cute. I'll probably save it for one of the kids to give to a teacher next school year because as someone who has taught kids, this is really cute to me. All the elements of this are from Glimpses by Signify Pink's School Daze collection. I thought it was fun to make it look like a cork board with a little memo and the brad is the pin.

Have a great day, friends!

Simply Silhouettes

Hi friends! I hope you're having a great weekend. We are ok. Just lots of running around and errands. It's sunny though so that's lovely!

Today, I wanted to share a couple simple cards I made with silhouette stamps. This is the current Gallery Challenge for Paper Crafts Magazine. I just wanted to make very simple cards. I normally make lavish vintage cards with silhouettes and thought it might be fun to change it up.

This first card used a Jenni Bowlin image on some Webster's Pages paper. I wanted to keep the embellishments minimal so that you could still see the gorgeous paper. The lace is from May Arts, the flower is CTMH, and the gem is Doodlebug. The sentiment is from Unity Stamp Co.

I went even more simple with this next card which is a mini card. The image is from Wow Embossing Co's line of stamps and the sentiment is from Flourishes. I really love kraft, white, and black. It speaks to me.

Have a great day friends!

CARDS Mag Sketch

Hi friends! I hope that you're having a great day! I'm glad we're coming to the end of the week. I'm just so tired and I'm in need of some rest. I'm kind of sad because my wedding anniversary is on Monday and I don't feel well enough to do much. Perhaps we will go out to dinner or maybe just wait. Enough blabbering from me.

Here's a card I made for a challenge on the Create Blog from Northridge Publishing. The challenge was to use the sketch that is featured in the April issue of CARDS Mag. I decided to flip the sketch upside because I'm just loopy like that. I used a sentiment from My Thoughts Exactly More Big Thoughts. The stars are from Unity's Stylin' Stars. The paper is from Authentique Genuine. I used Lemon Divine Twine on the stars.

Have a great day!

Hello Sunshine

Hi friends! I hope you're having a great day! I'm a sorry mess today. I think I have some sort of cold that's causing a runny nose, sneezing, and pink eye. You would think after all the antibiotics, I couldn't get pink eye but somehow I still managed. Yeesh. :) I'm actually in ok spirits though.

Today, I'm sharing a card made for a couple challenges. I made this for the Hero Arts Sunshine and Showers Challenge and Retro Sketch #6. I pulled out my Copics and colored her skin, are you surprised? I even strayed away from my normal skin combo and used E50, E51, and E53. The papers are Basic Grey Konnichiwa and the stamps the matching ones from Hero Arts/Basic Grey. I added some gems, Stickles, and letter stickers.

ETA: The adorable Arielle Gordon told me that I could also enter this in this week's ColorQ #132.

Have a great day, friends!

Use Your Negatives!

Hi friends! I'm blogging today on the Love My Tapes Blog and wanted to share the projects here as well.

I took some pieces of fabric tape and made a rectangle on some card stock. Then I die cut it. This first card features the butterfly I cut out. I made it using (from left to right) Ava, Lily,Madison, Emily, and Brooke fabric tapes. Then I used the 17 mm Beige Lace Tape on the card. The paper is Cosmo Cricket Evangeline and the sentiment is from The Cat's Pajamas Simply Said. I used the Sketch N Stash #85 for this. My stash item is the Cuttlebug butterfly die that I never reach for anymore.

For this card, I used the negative of my die cut. I figured that I shouldn't waste it. I used the same papers and stamp set as the above card. I added some seam binding and some pearls to this card.

Have a great day friends!

Chipboard Hoarder!

Hi friends! I hope you're having a great day! I'm having a few issues right now. :( I wonder if I can just will myself better? I guess I'll try!

Here's a card I made for a challenge over at Cosmo Cricket. You can read about it HERE. It's a perfect challenge for me since I am a chipboard HOARDER! I will buy a ton if I find it on sale. It's just so easy to make a card with chipboard. So, I dug out my Cosmo Cricket Pixielicious. I always forget how much I love a collection when all the new ones come out. Just look at these gorgeous colors! The stamp is from My Thoughts Exactly Mini Thoughts. These MTE stamps from last release are SO easy to use! I reach for them all the time! I finished this card with some seam binding. I made this card using Mojo Monday sketch #236.

Have a great day, friends!

Soft Pencil Blog Hop

Hi friends! Hope you're having a fabulous day! Today, I am participating in the Soft Pencil Blog Hop to celebrate Elizabeth opening her store back up! YAY! If you've followed my blog for a long time, you'll know that that I was the Softpencil team a long time ago. Of course, when Elizabeth asked me to participate in her hop I said yes. The blog hop starts on Elizabeth's blog so if you haven't been over there, please go there to start the hop!

Here's the card I made with Sunny with Flowers digi stamp. I colored it up with my Copics and then die cut it with a circle Nestie. The papers are American Crafts Dear Lizzy Neapolitan. The white satin ribbon is from Creating is Fun. I used the JUGS challenge #131 for this card.

Next up on the hop is Alidalis! Be sure to leave comment on all the blogs because there are PRIZES to be won!

PMB: Gift Card Holder

Hi friends! I'm blogging over at the Paper Made Bakery Blog today. I would love if you would check out my project and leave a comment! Here's a peek at what you'll find over there!

Wish You Were Here

Hi friends! Hope you're having a good day. I found out today that I'm going to have to have some medical procedures done to try to figure out what's wrong with me. In two weeks from today, I will be getting an EGD and a colonoscopy. I've never had a procedure where they put me under before so please think positive thoughts. I'm hoping that this extreme will finally bring answers.

On a positive note, I ended the day getting featured HERE on the Retrosketches blog. And getting 1 card accepted into Create: Stamping and 3 cards accepted into CARDS Magazine. I've met the goal I set for this year so what do I do now?

I got some brand new stamps today and decided to ink them up. This is the Across the Miles set from Sweet Stamp Shop. I had this idea before the set came so it came together pretty easily. I'm entering this in the Sweet April Challenge over at the Sweet Stamp Shop Blog. The paper and letters are from Amy Tangerine American Crafts Sketchbook. I added a bit of Stickles to the star I stamped. I live in Northern California. Get it? I wish you were HERE at my house, with me. :D Ok, I might live a little lower than I stamped. I'm not that great at geography but you get the point, right?

Have a great day, friends! I'll be back tomorrow with two posts.

Oh Baby!

Hi friends! I hope you had a lovely weekend! We had a great Easter with the kids! :D Brady enjoyed himself so much and as my little introvert, it really warmed my heart when he said "Mommy, that is a VERY nice Easter." Of course, Parker thinks that any day with candy is the best ever so I didn't have to worry about that.

Today, I'm sharing a baby card I made. We have several new babies coming into our family this year and I'm so excited! I'm loading up on baby cards to send. I used My Mind's Eye Miss Caroline Howdy Doody for this card, that's the paper, journaling die thing, and the pin. The lace is from Creating is Fun. I added some seam binding too.

Have a great day, friends!

Happy Easter!!

Hi friends! I hope you have a lovely Easter if you celebrate it! If not, have a lovely Sunday! We have already opened Easter baskets and hunted eggs here at our house and it's only 8:30am. Dustin has to work so we're on our own until later. Then we are going to his parents's house for dinner. YAY!

Today, I'm sharing the cards and gift packages I made for Brady's teachers. I decided to use a spring sentiment just in case they don't celebrate Easter. My sweet friend Kendra Sand was sweet enough send me some of these peeps die cuts. I used them with some Lawn Fawn paper and a sentiment from Easter Greetings from My Thoughts Exactly Stamps. I used my MFT grass die, a Martha Stewart punch, and some Cotton Candy Divine Twine to finish.

Here's a close up of one card.

And here's a super simple package I put together for the teachers. I just put candy inside. I used a White Polka Dot Bitty Bag from Whisker Graphics and some 19mm white lace tape from Love My Tapes.

Have a fabulous day, friends! Hoppy Easter! ;)

So Lucky

Hi friends! Hope that you are having an excellent weekend! I'm feeling ok. A bit tired from all the activity but I'm trying to push through it. I should be coming back later on today with a Easter project but in case I don't, HAPPY EASTER!

Here's a card I created for a couple challenges. First up is a brand new challenge called A Blog Named Hero. This is for challenge one which is Play Favorites. The new Hero Arts/Basic Grey Konichiwa Lantern stamps are a new favorite of mine. I fell in love with them at CHA and I'm so glad I got them! I used the Hero Arts April Sketch challenge for this card. The paper is Basic Grey Konichiwa. I love when things match, did you know? I added some Stickles to the flowers on this card.

Have a fabulous day, friends!

Egg Carton Crafts

Hi friends! I hope you had a lovely day! We had a VERY full day! We went to an Easter egg hunt put on by our town then had lunch. We came home then colored eggs and made crafts with the empty egg cartons.

Here are the bugs the kids made. I saw something like this on Pinterest, it's from Kaboose (project HERE.) Then just pulled out what supplies I had and tried to re-create it. Well, the kids just got to use the supplies how they like and we helped them with the cutting and gluing.

And then I decided to use the egg carton to make my own craft. I saw this idea on Pinterest but I didn't use a specific tutorial. I just kind of went with it. I used two of the egg carton cups, trimming them and cutting petals. Then I sprayed them with shimmer mist. I added a crotchet flower and a pearl button from Creating is Fun.

For the card I used Chupa's Sketchbook Saturday Challenge #54. I am also entering this in the Moxie Fab World Household Items Challenge. The paper is Cosmo Cricket's Tea for Two. The stamps are Mini Thoughts from My Thoughts Exactly. Both trims are from Creating is Fun. The leaves are made using a Martha Stewart punch.

Have a great day friends!

Happy Good Friday!

Hi friends! I hope you're having a wonderful day! We went to the Children' Museum today and the kids had a blast! I'm a bit tired right now but nothing too bad.

I wanted to share a couple more challenge cards with you today. I always feel the need to blog challenge cards right away because there have been so many times I didn't blog them on time and the challenge ended.

First up, I made this card for the Some Odd Girl April Challenge (color challenge) as well as the Oozak Challenge #1 (anything goes.) I used Nutsy Kaylee for my card with a sentiment from Tiny Baker Tia. Can you believe how much I like those SOGies to color for them all the time? The ribbon is May Arts, washi tape is Love My Tapes, bling is Kaisercraft, the paper is Pink Paislee, and I used Copics to color.

My next card is another one for the Lawnscaping #31 challenge (to color) and Card Positioning Systems sketch #259. The stamps and paper are from Lawn Fawn, I colored with Copics, accented with Stickles, and added a Zva bling flourish.

Have a great day, friends!