Imaginisce & Cheery Lynn! Plus my i-Space :)

Such a fun week at Imaginisce and Cheery Lynn Designs! We've teamed up to inspire you with gorgeous paper collections and beautiful dies! Be sure to visit the blogs this week, there are lots of goodies to be won! :)

I was so thrilled to be gifted several Cheery Lynn dies, the selections I received are beautiful! I created a sweet card using Imaginisce's "Sole Sisters" papers and from Cheery Lynn: Mediterranean Lace Rectangle Frame die, Exotic Butterflies dies and Cuties1 border die. And I used my Imaginisce petal roller for the border die to create fun flowers and also added some bling with my i-rock :)

Here's a close-up so you can see the amazing detail on these dies!

Thank you Cheery Lynn Designs!!

Also! 

Last week I shared my scrap space with Imaginisce readers and I decided to share on my blog as well :)

 In a perfect world, I would have a big beautiful scraproom with all the pretties, bells and whistles. It's my dream to someday have my own craft room to get away, relax and do what I love with paper and glue. But reality is, I live in a small apartment with little space for anything. Maybe some of you can relate to my limited space dilemma? But I'm proud to say I was able to put together my scrap space within a 6ft x 5.5ft area in the corner of my livingroom. It's quite compact and stuffed, but not too shabby.. it works for me! :)

Against the only wall is where I keep stacked drawers and shelves that are completely filled with cardstock, tools, embellishments, stamps, inks, embossing supplies etc.

I rarely ever use my scanner, so on top of my printer is where I keep a caddy of some Imaginisce tools. I love how all my i-Top, i-Rock and d-stress tools and accessories fit so perfectly in there!

Underneath my desk, I have 2 shelf/drawer towers on each side of my chair. I put all of my loose patterned paper in 2gal Ziploc bags below with coordinating embellishments in the drawers above. I have pets and the bags help keep pet dander off my paper, and also, they help in organizing my paper by manufacturer, color, theme etc.

There isn't sufficient lighting in this area of the room and it can get pretty dim, so I installed some lights under each side of my desk so I can easily see and locate my supplies. At the right side of my chair, I keep most of my Imaginisce paper collections and supplies.. like my i-Magicut, i-Bond, sticker stackers, chipboard, diecuts, etc. I like it all there in one place because it's so easy for me to grab anything and everything I need. I was a HUGE fan of Imaginisce way before joining the team, so these drawers are jam packed with many many great Imaginisce collections! :)

On top of my desk is where I keep my pens, markers, scissors, sewing floss, buttons etc and awesome Imaginisce tools.

Well, that's pretty much the entire tour ;) As you can see, it is a bit cramped.. but, what I love most about having a small space is that everything is in reach. My computer is near for inspiration, all of my supplies and tools are either right beside me or directly behind me, and I have enough elbow room to create and make messes :) I also have a little bit of wall space to display some of my favorite projects.

I leave you with a random thought....

Thanks for stopping by! :)

Boys Rule projects :)

Today I'm sharing a few projects I made using the March and new April Boys Rule kits :) The projects were posted at the Boys Rule blog, but I forgot to post them here as well - bad Abby! lol Better late than never, I say :)

My first project is the current sketch challenge at Boys Rule.. it's a great sketch! You still have time to enter so I hope you'll play along with us!

This is my nephew, cruising along on his lil Harley. I kinda went circle crazy with this layout but I really love all the color I was able to jam in there - love color! I used the Echo Park "A Boy's Life" collection which was included in the March kit. Also created with the same kit is this fun inspirational card..

I love to toot my son's horn whenever I can lol - He was chosen for the honor roll again this quarter so I made this for him. The prior few years he had been struggling in school (3rd-5th grades), but now he's in 6th and he's doing sooo much better! All As and Bs.. I'm sooo proud of him! This card includes patterned paper, cardstock stickers and some doodling.. easy peasy!

Those projects above were made with the March kit which is now sold out.. but the April kit is now available for purchase. Laura Lee had some unexpected delays in collecting all the items for the April kit, so our DT boxes were not complete... yet. Right now I just have the papers, some stickers and a few embellies.. but the rest will be here really soon! Woot! I am already loving this April kit.. it's Awesome! And I mean that literally lol It includes papers and embellishments from the Simple Stories "Awesome" collection. Gorgeous!! Here are a few items you can expect in this great April kit...

Loooooove love love!!! But there's so much more that will be added to it.. I can't wait to show you the complete kit.

With the items I have so far, I created this photo frame for my son.

All items I used are in the kit except for the twine. And I don't have the sprockets in my kit yet, so I made my own with my Spellbinder's dies. I love this photo of Braydon, he was only 11 y/o here, but he looks so grown up.

There's going to be some "Awesome" projects created and shared with this kit this month at Boys Rule!! Be sure to visit and be inspired :) I'll be back later this week with the next Boys Rule sketch challenge.. fun!

Have a great week!

happy birthday - Artful Delight

Today I'm sharing a card I created using the January Artful Delight card kit. I think there may be a kit or two still available, click here to pick up one of these gorgeous collections for yourself! :)

I tried something different with my card, I wanted to use mostly cardstock instead of patterned paper.. although I did fussy cut that small heart from the Jillibean Soup Hearty Barley paper. 

I used my Cuttlebug and embossed the cardbase for something new-to-me and I love the Basic Grey/Hero Arts stamps set included in the kit!

Tomorrow, the 23rd, is the last day to enter your project at Artful Delight based on this sketch...

We're loving all the entries so far but it would be great to see more!! And if you're the randomly chosen winner, you receive the Artful Delight February scrapbook kit! I was given a sneak peek at the February kit and it's AWESOME! Trust me, you'll really want this kit!! So find some time and get your layout entered! :)

Have a great Sunday!

Challenges resume at The Paper Variety!

I'm so thrilled that The Paper Variety is back for a new year and a new design team! We took a break over the holidays but we're back and better than ever! 

Why are we better, you ask? lol Because there are a lot of changes! Nice changes! Like I mentioned, a new design team - these gals are fabulous! We've totally revamped the blog.. everything is so much easier to navigate now. :) And instead of weekly challenges, they're now twice monthly so you have more time to create and enter your projects. Also, we have DAILY inspiration that include designer projects and tutorials too!! Plus... Yes, there's more! Plus.. monthly giveaways on our Facebook page! And no worries, not everything has changed.. we still have great challenge prompts and great sponsored prizes! I really really hope you all will join us! You'll be soooo glad you did!! :)

Today begins a new challenge and it's a fun one!!

I LOVE this color theme! Black & white with any color is just gorgeous!! I had so many ideas rolling around in my noggin.. should I create something trendy, or fun, or whimsical? Well I switched gears from happy & fun and decided to go with an elegant sympathy card. 

Everyone needs sympathy cards on hand and not too often do we think to make them. I thought it would be a nice card for this color theme :) I used my Serenade Cricut cart to cut the spray and the white butterfly is the ever so popular Martha Stewart punch. The purple butterfly is actually a Martha Stewart clear stamp....

I tried something totally new-to-me and used Ranger's PUFFS (a gift from my sweet friend, Kim!) It works just like you would use regular embossing powder, with your watermark stamp pad and heat gun.. although PUFFS leaves a neat fuzzy surface.. almost like flocking... or even like a shag carpet! lol I love it!! Thanks Kim!!

So what do you win if you enter this TPV challenge? Look at this beauty!

An October Afternoon "Farmhouse" collection!! Isn't it gorgeous!?!? Yes, it is!

We hope you'll join us for ALL the crafty fun at TPV! :)

TPV's Birthday Challenge! (and Birthday Sundaes!)

This week at The Paper Variety, we're celebrating someone's birthday! :)

Who's??

Mine!

lol :)

Friday is my birthday and I'll be the big 3-9! Woot!

At TPV, we're celebrating with a challenge fit for the occasion :)

I created this shaped card using my new Live Simply cricut cart. 

I love this lite-cart, all the images are soo cute!

I used my Paper Studio woodgrain embossing folder for the trunk, Echo Park Dots & Stripes for the top of the tree and the banner flags, and my Paper Smooches stamps for the fun sentiment. I just had to add googly eyes to that cute owl, too!

I also followed this inspiration photo challenge at Birthday Sundaes.

Such a sweet photo, but I don't own many cupcake themed supplies. So instead I chose to pull inspiration from the flags and all the colors that I could see in the photo.. brown, green, blue, yellow, orange, pink and white! Whew! :)

I hope you join our special challenge at TPV by entering your birthday banner project! You could be the random winner of 2 My Mind's Eye boy and girl "Hip Hooray" collections! :)

Also!

I have to tell you!! :)

Next week, beginning Sept 7th, is 

The Paper Variety's 

one year anniversary celebration!!

 We're kicking off the party with a blog hop, lots of inspiration 

and blog candy!

FIVE daily challenges with FIVE awesome prizes!

And a Facebook giveaway, too!

PLUS we're giving away a $20 gift card just for helping us promote!

Isn't it fabulous!?!?!

You don't want to miss this! Seriously! 

See here for all the details on how to make that gift card yours!

You have until Tuesday noon to link up your birthday banner project. 

Hope to see you join us! :)

Thanks for visiting me!

Abby :)

Card Challenges - Get Well

So my Artful Delight fellow DT member, Courtney, makes gorgeous shaped cards with her cricut. They really are spectacular, you should give her blog a visit. I've always wanted to make shaped cards like she does but I don't have many card cuts on my cricut carts and the ones I do have I'm not a big fan of. So I pretty much thought I was out of luck unless I wanted to go spend a fortune on new carts.

Well.. then all of the sudden I had a

DUH moment!!

I realized that I can pretty much make mostly any cut that has a heavy top or side into a card. All I have to do is just adhere another shadow cut to the back of the first one.

 DUH Abby!!

How many of you already know to do this???

And why didn't you tell me??? lol

Sooooo.. I took my new discovery (that practically everyone probably already knows about) and made this super sweet snail card with my new Live Simply cart. :) I also used my Paper Smooches stamps for the sentiment.

I entered this card into four challenges.
Fantabulous Cricut - Splash of Color, Yellow.
My Craft Spot -"Sew Much Fun"
One Stop Craft Challenge - Anything but Square
You had me @ craft - Made it Myself Link Up Party

In the morning, I'll share another shaped card I created using this same technique for the upcoming challenge at The Paper Variety.

Thank you for inspiring me, Court!! :)

Have a great Wednesday!

Abby

Fowl-La-la-la-la...

There's a new challenge up at The Paper Variety! It's a pretty simple one so I hope to see many of you join us! :)

For my project, I created a fun holiday card using my Hoot-n-Holler cricut cart. I love how these bright colors pop from the dark woodgrain embossed background. I used pink floss to hand stitch a frame :)

The random challenge winner will receive a super sweet prize! This Cosmo Cricket package comes with 3 Mini Decks, Ready-Set-Chip and buttons!

Paper projects are due by noon Tuesday so you have lots of time to create! We'd love to see your project! :)

See here for all the details and to check out all the great DT examples, too!

Happy Wednesday!

Abby

Card Challenges

Last night I was feelin crafty and decided to join some more card challenges. :) I was blog browsing this past weekend and followed some links to find some new challenge blogs, they all look really great and I'm planning to become a frequent participant - yay! :)

The first one is for Card and a Half. :) They presented this cute sketch..

And here's my interpretation. The challenge is sponsored by Imaginisce and that inspired me to use Imaginisce Berry Sweet :) I also used my Paper Smooches stamps for the sentiment....

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Next up is a card for The Play Date Cafe. They have color challenges every week. Fun Fun!! :)

Here is what I came up with. Just some solid cardstock and I used my new stamps from My Favorite Things stamps :) Love this color combo!!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

And finally a card for Woodware USA clear stamps. I don't have any of their stamps (yet!) but thankfully use of their product isn't required to enter their challenges. I did some searching through past challenges and their prompts are really fun! This week they have a sketch to follow...

Pretty, huh? :) I thought the snowflake was so pretty so I didn't want to over-embellish the card. I used my cricut for the snowflake and the sentiment is from my new set "Winter Wishes" from Scrappy Moms clear stamps :) Love that sentiment!!

There is still time to enter all of these challenges :) Give them a try!

Thanks for visiting!

Abby

Artful Delight

Today I followed the January sketch at Artful Delight.
I loved the sketch, so many possibilities.

I used all solid cardstock and embossed them with my Cuttlebug.
I created the cupcake and then did plenty of hand-stitching,
I still have a sewing machine on my wishlist! :)

Only a few days left to enter Artful Delight's sketch challenge,
so if you'd like to - join me by participating today! :)

Thanks for visiting!

-Abby

Cardabilities #16

Time for another fabulous sketch at Cardabilities!

Check out this beautiful sketch! I don't create very
many scene projects so I was really happy to see
this sketch as our inspiration this week.
A true challenge for me :)

I decided to go with a get well card as I don't
have very many of those. I wanted to make it
Spring-like and colorful to cheer a special friend.
Cosmo Cricket's Togetherness was a perfect
collection to use.

We hope you'll visit Cardabilities and view all
the gorgeous DT examples. You're sure to be
inspired to join us!

Thanks for looking,
Abby :)

Cuttlebug Spot Challenge

I'm a last minute entry in the Cuttlebug Spot challenge. Had to give it a try since the random winner receives a $50 gift certificate. I made this card in 15 minutes, a first for me!! lol But I still like it!

I used Cosmo Cricket's Nutmeg, I love that collection!

Thanks for looking! :)

Cardabilities Reveal-Sketch

It's mid month, time for a Cardabilities Sketch! And this reveal is
extra special for me, it's my first project submitted as part of
the new Cardabilities Design Team! I'm super excited to be
a part of it all. Cardabilities has awesome sketches and a
fabulous design team to inspire you to create gorgeous cards!

Here is the current sketch, beautiful isn't it!?

And my project...

I used my new Cuttlebug (so fun!) and Crate Paper "Snow Day" chipboard
which was gifted to me from my friend, Suz. :)

I just love this sketch as well as all the DT projects. We hope you'll join us
and submit your card so we can leave you lots of love :)

Also, this sketch is sponsored! Be sure to read all the details. You could win a
prize package valued at $35 from Scrap Shotz! Here's a peek...

Have a great weekend!

-Abby