30 Days of Inspiration-Day 2

Happy Friday! Back today with some more inspiration. I went shopping last week with my sister to buy some spring/summer shoes and fell in love with these from Zoe and Zac....

They were my inspiration piece for this card...

It's hard to see but the sentiment was stamped on canvas to resemble the canvas on the shoe. I also pulled the idea of using cork from the shoe (there is cork paper under the sentiment). Basically, I just wanted the card to have a "natural/earthy" feel because that's what the shoe company is all about. I included a flower because of the flower pattern inside the shoe and I added the pop of red because of my nail polish. I snapped this picture the other day as I was leaving wearing my new shoes....

I hope you can play along. I would love to see how these shoes inspired you! You can read how to HERE (at the end of the post).Gotta run...getting ready to go watch Alex rock out. His band has a gig tonight. Can't wait to see him play!

I'll be back tomorrow...

30 Days of Inspiration...

*ETA: Scroll to the bottom of the post to see how to submit your work inspired by the inspiration pieces. Can't wait to see what you create! I will announce the winners of the prizes at the end of the month!
Introducing...For the month of April, I will showcase a card, project, or layout each day and show what inspired the piece. It can be as simple as today's inspiration, a paper trimmer....I absolutely love this trimmer. By NO means did I need a new trimmer (I have three other ones!) but I recently purchased this one from Fiskars because Jennifer told me to. She was right, it's amazing. She is the best enabler! LOL

Here is the card I created using the trimmer as inspiration...

It's obvious that I pulled my color combo from the trimmer and I'm so glad I did because I would never group these colors together, but I think the combo works great! I also stamped a Hero Arts fern stamp (you will see A LOT of Hero stamps used during these 30 days!) using baby blue acrylic paint inspired by the botanical print on the trimmer. (Click HERE to see how to stamp with acrylic paint.)

And...if you look close, the paper underneath the gray is a grid line patterned paper to resemble the grid on the trimmer. Oh, I also rounded the corner of the gray piece just like the trimmer. The metal accents were used because of the metal guide on the trimmer (which is super handy btw!).

Okay, now for the fun part. I am getting LOTS of prizes lined up so here's how you can play along! ....

-Leave a comment to any of the posts (today's post and/or future posts) with a link to your creation inspired by the object for that day. For example, today you would leave a link to a creation inspired by the trimmer above to this post. Make sense?

-At the end of the month, I will I will pick several winners (for different categories) to send out prizes to. So play along everyday or just the days you feel inspired. Can't wait to see your creations!

Email me with any questions! Thanks for stopping by!

Mini Canvas

Hello! Had some time to play today and whipped up a few cards using some mini 2x2 canvases I recently purchased. I'm in LOVE with them now and plan to buy lots more to create an art piece in my home. Aren't they adorable?... Here are my cards....On the first card, I used my Copic markers to color the canvas..... On the second card, I used layers of acrylic paint....And on the third card, I blended distress inks... That's all I got for now. Off to enjoy this BEAUTIFUL Saturday. Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Girl...

"Laugh when I feel like it....Cry when I feel like it....That's just how my life is....That's how it goes... Oh watch me go I'm a happy girl...And I've come to know that the world won't change... Just 'cause I complain... Let the axis twirl....I'm a happy girl"

Some lyrics from one of my favorite songs by Martina McBride. Kinda the soundtrack to my life right now. I mentioned in my last post of having the case of the "blahs". But now I feel back and energized. Some things that might have played a part in that are...

The April issue of Cards Magazine....

My first publication is in there!
Still pinching myself that it says my name! :)

Another perk is I found the magazine on a little day trip that Ted and I took last Wednesday. He took off work and we drove to Indianapolis. It was so much fun and relaxing. We went antique shopping, had some lunch in our favorite small town and on the way back stopped at a scrapbook store and that's when I saw it. :) I know that Cards is sending me a copy but I couldn't wait! I had to buy it. LOL

One of my friends volunteered to do a fun photo shoot with me and the magazine. I'll be creating a layout soon with the pics to share here!

Let's see, what else? Oh, this movie came out on DVD this weekend.....I bought a copy and have been watching it a lot this weekend! Don't you just love lazy weekends? They are the best! And then I saw the trailer for Eclipse....

It comes out June 30th. I can't wait to see it!

I also had a little time in my craft room. I managed to make a card using happy spring colors...
I made the fabric flower by cutting it out from the pattern of the new Dear Lizzy fabric paper from American Crafts...

I bought several different sheets so you'll see them popping up on future projects here!

I have lots of more things planned but I thought I'd share some things that are making me happy right now. :)

Be back soon....

Baby Boy & Girl Congrats Cards

I know I haven't been around very much here on the blog. I've been super busy and haven't felt very creative. However, I did whip up a few baby congrats cards and thought I would share before my blog gets dust bunnies. lol I love making cards with the same design but different papers/colors. Super easy!

That's all I got for now. Thanks for stopping by. I'll be back when my case of the "blahs" wear off. :)

Shrinky Dinks 101 Video

Hello blog buddies. Finally have the video ready that you've been waiting to see! I love using shrinky dinks as embellishments in card making.

In this video, I explain some beginner tips focusing on stamping on the shrinky dinks papers. Thanks for watching and please leave a comment and let me know what you think...would love to hear your thoughts!

If you want to watch it at YouTube instead, click HERE.

HERE is the first card shown in the video. This is the second card shown..... Visit http://www.shrinkydinks.com/ to purchase shrinky dinks paper and paint markers and to also view their video of the shrinky dinks baking!

Be back soon...

40 years....

My mom and dad's 40th wedding anniversary was today. We decided to celebrate by going to their favorite restaurant, Montgomery Inn Boathouse. Not only is their food incredible, the views are amazing as well. It is right on the river. If you do not live here in Cincinnati, you must try it if you come to town.

I thought I should dust my camera off (since I haven't taken a picture in what seems like forever!) and snap a few shots of the day........

After our dinner, we gave my parents their gift. We put three pics in a frame. The first from when they got married, the second one was right around the twenty year mark, and the third was recently taken. At the bottom of the frame, we had a plaque engraved with their anniversary date and celebrating 40 years........Here is a close up of the top of the frame.....

and this sweet girl cracks me up. This is my niece Lydia. I took her picture and when I was done, she told me, "again!". So here are her "poses". LOL....

What a ham! LOL

and here is a great example of how my sister always comes prepared....she brought J.T.'s DVD player so he could watch a movie and ring pops for all the kids. Easy to say, they enjoyed it! ....
J.T. .... Sisters, Taylor and Lydia....

The happy couple....

my Mom and Alex.....

Dad with his children (my sister Melissa, me, and my brother Mike)...

Dad and Mom with the Grandkids....
Uncle Ted and Lydia (she has him wrapped around her finger! lol).....


My niece, Taylor...

Alex and I.... and there's nothing like a wagon ride by the river to end the day! :)

Happy Anniversary Dad and Mom. Love you! Just look what happens to you after 40 years of marriage....from this.....
to this.... LOL!

I will be back tomorrow with some crafty stuff. Just had to share some personal pics. It's been too long! Hope you had a great weekend and thanks for stopping by!