Tag It "With Joy"

With Christmas fast approaching, I thought I'd create a stash of tags. I LOVE tags! Who doesn't? They are so fun to create and you can bust out a ton in no time. Does that color combo look familiar? It should...it's the current color challenge for Inspire Me #3. If you haven't played along, you should, these colors are so fun to play with.

For this card, I used Papertrey Ink's Vintage Cream, SU!'s Rich Razzleberry, Night of Navy, and Bashful Blue. Aren't those ornaments fabulous! They are from SU!'s Tree Trimming Trio. I just love them. I cut them out and popped them with some dimensionals, and finished the tag off with some Rich Razzleberry ribbon. To save time, I created some tag shapes and printed them onto cardstock and mass cut them with my paper trimmer. Unfortunately I don't have and dies for tags, but this works well for me.

Thanks for stopping by and hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

Inspire Me Challenge #3

Time for another challenge! I figure I'll just keep posting them, maybe someone will want to play along. ;o)

Here are the details: Use the colors above to create a card, tag, scrap page, whatever. I have named them with SU! colors, but feel free to use whatever brand you have on hand. Post your creation to your blog and then leave a link to the post (not your homepage) via Mr. Linky below, and be sure to link back here from your blog so others can play along. Feel free to use the image above, just right click on it, and select "save picture as", save it to your PC, and then upload as usual.

The deadline for this challenge is Sunday November 8th, at 9:00 p.m.

Inspire me ladies!

Sorry, this challenge is closed. Check back soon for the next one!

ETA: A late entry...because I can do that! ;0) Maile Belles

Hi! and a template

Today's card is one of my personal favorites as of late. I love the clean simple graphic style of this one. I've had those letters laid out for a while and everytime I would pass by them thinking..."I've got to use them on something". And Friday night, it came to me. I was inspired by Maile's paper tearing...she is just SOOO good at making it look perfect. And I just ADORE this color combo! Isn't it soothing?

The great thing about this card is it's actually a money holder.

And there is plenty of space on the inside to decorate as well. I may have to go back in and "finish" it before sending it to someone. Just have to wait for the right occasion. ;o) I've posted the template with dimensions below.

Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by!

Over The Top Award

I want to thank Daniela over at Purple on Paper for this award! She thinks I rock. LOL And you know what, I think she does! If you haven't visited her blog...you should, she has some GREAT stuff over there! Thank you so much Daniela, it's always great and very humbling to know that you inspire someone.

Here's the rule: I need to pass this award on to five people, post on their blog to let them know I left this award, and then I need to answer a list of questions in ONE word.

1. Where is your cell phone? hand
2. Your hair? blonde
3. Your mother? strong
4. Your father? colorful
5. Your favorite food? french-fries
6. Your dream last night? none
7. Your favorite drink? coffee
8. Your dream/goal? self-employed
9. What room are you in? living
10. Your hobby? crafts
11. Your fear? rejection
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? alive
13. Where were you last night? home
14. Something that you aren't? organized
15. Muffins? yes
16. Wish list items? long
17. Where did you grow up? all-over
18. Last thing you did? sew
19. What are you wearing? jeans
20. Your TV? LCD
21. Your pets? poodle
22. Friends? support
23. Your life? hurried
24. Your mood? stressed
25. Missing Someone? always
26. Vehicle? Jeep
27. Something you're not wearing? ear-rings
28. Your favorite store? Michaels
29. Your favorite color? blue
30. When was the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? awhile
32. Your best friend? loving
33. One place that I go to over and over? Starbucks
34. Facebook? yes
35. Favorite place to eat? Thai

So some of those aren't technically one word...but that's what hypens are for, right?! ;o)

1. Elise @ Mamacow Creations
2. Jane @ (anything but) Plain Jane
3. Jessica @ Recapturing Wonders
4. Pam @ Stamping with {Serendipity}
5. Winter @ Winter Wonderland

Narrowing it down to 5 is hard! All of these ladies are constantly inspiring me and you should check them out if they are new to you!

Ribbon Flower Tutorial

As promised, here is the tutorial on creating flowers from ruffled ribbon. Hopefully you find it easy to follow. You can find my original card featuring these flowers here.

Supplies Needed:
Ribbon
Needle and thread
Scissors
Sticky Strip

This works well with satin ribbon (I haven't tried it yet with others, but would love to see if some of you try). I am using a satin 7/8" ribbon to create a large bloom. I am also using a contrasting thread color for some contrast in the tutorial. I would suggest using the same color thread as your ribbon.

This is actually really easy. The basic concept is something I learned from my mother a couple of years ago when she "bustled" the skirt of a costume for me. First, thread your needle and tie off a triple knot at the end, leaving about 2" of thread after the knot (in case the knot slips through the ribbon, you can pull it back). Then, using a straight stitch, stitch straight down the middle of the ribbon. The longer your stitches, the bigger your "ruffles" will be. Shorter stitches will create tight "ruffles", great for making buds.

After you have stitched a few, you can check your progress by holding the ribbon with one hand, while gently pulling the side of the thread with the needle with your other hand. This should cause the ribbon to bustle as the thread is pulled taught.

Continue stitching until you have reached the desired length. You can keep checking your progress by pulling the thread every so often.

Once you've got it to the length you want, pull on the thread to bustle the ribbon, tie it off, and trim. The tighter you pull the closer and tighter your ruffle will be. Play with it a little to get your desired look before you tie it off.

Now use your fingers to curl it up and shape it.

That is pretty much it! Now we just have to adhere it to a card. I use Sticky Strip as this much material really needs something strong to hold it. Line up a few rows of Sticky Strip on your cardstock in the correct size for your flower and add your flower. I layed mine out on the side first, and then picked it up in a little scrunch with my finger tips and then just sat it on top of the Sticky Strip.

You may have a little area where the ribbon overlaps that will need a little me adhesive. Just cut off a little more Sticky Strip and add it where needed. Below is a shot of where mine needed a little more.

Last but not least, add some leaves of your choice!

I hope you've enjoyed and I love to see what you've done with it if you decide to try it!

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #18

Today is a two for one post. Over at Dawn McVey's blog she is having another color challenge. Such a pretty palette.

I love the bright bold and clean lines of that first card. There is actually a story behind that one. ;o) It was my original plan for the challenge, but after working and re-working and giving up in frustration because I just couldn't get it to look right, I ended up with the card below. But like all things, sometimes if you just walk away for a bit...the answer will come to you.

Now, if you take those same colors and give it just a tad deeper in overall shade, they make a gorgeous rustic Christmas palette.

I just love that snowflake from SU!'s Berry Merry set. And all of the inked edges on this card just make it feel so cozy. And that felt ribbon...I just can't get enough of it!

Thanks for looking and I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend! BTW, I will work on putting together that tutorial this week on the ribbon flowers. Thanks so much for all of the kind comments!

Moxie Fab "Not Your Regular Ruffles" Challenge

OK this challenge was super hard for me. I was not feeling it AT ALL...but I was determined not to let it stop me. LOL. Over at Moxie Fab World there is a challenge to incorporate ruffles into you card. Much easier said than done for me.

As I was hand sewing some ribbon to create a "ruffle", I noticed that it naturally curled up when I was done and layed it down. And as I looked at it, I got an idea....hmmmm, I wonder how that would look as a flower. So I got out my Big Shot and cut out some leaves, and started to layout my card. I am actually really happy with how it turned out. I decided it needed some little buds as well, so using a smaller width ribbon I created a few.

Here's a close-up of those yummy little flowers.

If anyone is interested in how to make the flowers out of ruffled ribbon, just leave me a comment and I'll create a little tutorial.

ETA: The tutorial for creating these yummy flowers is now available, you can find it here.

As always thanks for looking! And on a side note, please say a little prayer for Deanna, Somer Thompson's mother. She was a friend of my niece's, they all used to walk home together. And it all took place in my childhood neighborhood, about 5 streets down from my mom, where my boys play almost everyday. So if you could, say a little prayer for her so that she may have the strength to make it through this devastating loss.