A nice surprise...

My Father's Day nautical card collaboration with DH (we'll call him Steve....) won a prize on Moxy Fab World yesterday! What a nice surprise. Hope he doesn't get a swelled head over this...or worse...want to split the prize package!!

If you haven't checked out Moxy Fab World, it's a great place with lots of inspiration and great challenges. Cath Edvalston from Paper Crafts Magazine finds the neatest trends to share and gives tons of inspiration on incorporating those trends into paper crafting cards/projects.

Today's card was sent to me by my ultra-talented friend Wendi for my birthday. She always amazes me with her creativity and her talent. That's why it's so hard to make a card for her birthday just a few short weeks after mine! I gotta get my thinking cap on!! Thank you Wendi.

It's cold and rainy here today...hope it's a bit nicer where you are...

Thanks for visiting,
Ivanka

Nautical Father's Day Card

So I have to admit that husbands can come in handy for cardmaking ideas at times!! I was stuck on ideas for FIL's card this year, so I asked the big guy if he had any ideas...and he did! The idea to use an old nautical chart for FIL card was perfect. He's an avid sailor and I think will really like the card.

The stamp is from Anna Griffin, charm is from Frost Creek Charms, Cuttlebug embossing folder.

I may have to ask for 'creative input' more often!

Thanks for poppin in,
Ivanka

Survived the weekend!

This is one of the few times that I can say that I'm glad the weekend is over. This was recital/concert weekend! Two dance schools and a music school all scheduled their end of the year recital/concert on Sunday June 14! What are the chances??!!

It was a bit tricky getting everything organized, but we tackled the day and now I'm glad it's Monday! It's too bad they were all on the say day, we were so rushed running from one event to the next, that we didn't really enjoy it all. We ended up ordering the DVDs of the dances so we can watch them again and enjoy them without the stress this time.

This door hanger is for the Caardvarks Depth Perception Challenge. I had a few of the door hangers left from when the girls used to do crafts. I covered it with My Mind's Eye, 29th Street Market paper. I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder on Grandma's Kitchen paper from We R Memory Keepers. The image is Cotton Scraps from Crafty Secrets, chipboard is from Maya Road, flower is from Petaloo, buttons are (green)Basic Grey, (silver) Melissa Frances.

Thanks so much for dropping by. Check out the DT all the entries for this challenge on Caardvarks. There is some seriously gorgeous inspiration over there.

Ivanka

Saturday Afternoon...

...and there are 7, 13 year old girls in the pool! Yup 7 of them! Julia's been friends with most of them since Kindergarten, but what I want to know is when did they get so tall and so big? They've all grown up so fast.

I snuck away for a few minutes and so here I am sharing a card for Kazan's sketch 28 on 2S4Y.
Very fun sketch to play with. The top 30 is selected in their 1st anniversary card showdown and they're all such talented cardmakers. The weekly sketches are continuing too...so much fun going on over there.
I used My Mind's Eye, Wild Asparagus paper, and Fancy Pants paper for the label, which is a QuicKutz die cut. The letters are from American Crafts. The butterfly is a Sizzlits die cut.

Thanks so much for stopping by...off I go back to the screaming, giggling bunch in the pool!

Ivanka

Card Patterns #18-Take 2

Good Morning, it's Friday. What do you have in the works for today? I'm not sure what we're up to here, Julia has a PA day so is off from school, but is still sleeping...today I'm following the adage "let sleeping teenagers sleep", so it's still nice and quiet around the house. It's a beautiful morning out there so I definitely want to get out and enjoy it.

The card I'm sharing today is based on this week's Card Patterns sketch again. I liked this sketch so much that I did it twice! It really is a great sketch and it helped me get this birthday card made for a friend.

The paper is from Fancy Pants Design, I just love the bright summery colors. I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder, Nestabilities die, Hero Arts Happy Birthday stamp and Martha Stewart cupcake.

Hope you're enjoying whatever you're doing today. Thanks for dropping by...Ivanka

To Love and Be Loved (CPS #119)

Have you ever noticed that there and 'card' people and there are 'non-card' people?? By that I mean that there are people who really appreciate a hand made card and those who just say 'oh that's nice', they like them, but that's as far as it goes. (I've heard that DH's can sometimes be like that!)

Yesterday, I met a new 'card' person and it's just so nice to have someone truly appreciate your cards. I sometimes bring a box of cards to work with me and leave them on the counter for anyone that comes by. I've had great response to my box in the past, but yesterday my new 'card' person came by and was truly happy to have found my box. She bought 5 cards.

It made my day.

So today is a day to myself, to catch up around the house and to create...I need more cards to fill up my box.

I made this card using CPS sketch 119. Love this sketch, very fun to work with. I used textile texture Cuttlebug embossing folder, My Mind's Eye Bohemia paper, Fancy Pants Delight Cards and Prima Flowers.

Thanks for stopping by...Ivanka

Card Patterns Sketch 18

It's so nice to be able to get some much needed cards made using challenge/sketch blogs. Here's another Father's Day card done using Card Patterns sketch 18.

I've had the quote saved for quite a while and it's nice to finally use it. Sorry but I don't know who it's by to give credit. I used Cuttlebug's argyle embossing folder, buttons from Melissa Frances, sticker letters from Making Memories, rub on from American Crafts, BoBunny dotted paper and We R Memory Keepers Grandma's Kitchen paper (blue).

Thanks for stopping by...Ivanka

Cuttlebug Challenge/Father's Day

Isn't it nice when you come across a challenge and you instantly know what you're going to create for it?? I love it when that happens.

This week, I needed to make some Father's Day cards so when I came across this weeks challenge at Cuttlebug Challenges to use your Basic Grey stash, I was a-grinnin'! Little did they know that I had a tidy little stash of BG dating back several centuries! (Yes, I am that old!)

This image (that I love!) is from Crafty Secrets Summertime Images and Journal Notes. I thought it was just perfect for a Father's Day card. Isn't that the coolest looking car? I used BG Motifica (a blast from the past, that's for sure!), Argyle embossing folder, Stampin' UP hardware and Rebecca Sower sticker letters. Love those, I'm so glad I still had some. They are perfect here.

Here I used Motifica and Aged and Confused BG paper, Argyle embossing folder and another Crafty Secrets image that is so perfect for a Dad card. The stickers and adhesive tags are from Rebecca Sower again. Check out Rebecca's Blog, she still amazes me with her talent. She was the first artist that made me look around for something to alter and to think outside the box.

Digging deep into the stash again, I came up with this sticker from Scissor Sisters. I don't believe they're around any longer, but I did come across some of their things on eBay. They were neat vintage images. I used Motifica BG again and a script embossing folder.

I have to thank the Cuttlebug Team, they got me using my stash and getting some much needed cards made. Thank you ladies!

2 Sketches 4 You Ultimate Card Showdown

Oh my, the weeks just fly don't they?! Holy cow, I blink and the week is gone. It's been a busy one but I did manage to get everything done on my 'to do list' on Thursday so that I could sneak in a manicure/pedicure on Friday. What a nice treat...I was using up last years gift certificate that Steve and the girls gave me for my birthday. So now I have pretty toes!!

I also managed to sneak some time for creating. I wasn't sure I would have time but I really wanted to join in on the 1st Annual 2 Sketches 4 You Ultimate Card Showdown. Have you visited the site lately? The prizes they have lined up are amazing! Not to mention all the card inspiration over there is truly out of this world!

Here is my card for the 2S4Y Ultimate Card Showdown.

Cardstock: Bazzill Dotted Swiss
Patterned Paper: Grandma's Kitchen, We R Memory Keepers
Image: Childhood Images & Journal Notes, Crafty Secrets
Velour trim: Making Memories
Flower: Prima
Twine: May Arts
Rubber Stamp: Stampin' UP!
Ink: ColorBox
Sticker Letters: Making Memories
Rub on sentiment: QuiKutz
Other: Button, lace, chipboard heart, sand paper

Thanks for stopping by. Good luck to everyone who entered the Card Showdown! I'm excited to see what the next few weeks bring! Some amazing card that's for sure!

June already??

I cannot believe that it's June already...where have the last few months gone?? The months are just flying by!

The weather today is not very June-like, it's cool and windy. It really feels like April weather. Oh well, summer will come, soon I hope.

This is my card for the May image swap on Cuppas and Cards . It is such a cute image and it was a bit of a challenge for me since I'm not a huge stamper (or a very good color-er!) but it turned out not too badly. I used Twinkling H2O's to color the image, everything else is from my stash.

Thanks for popping by...