simply caffeinated

gnomes and a spark

hi there! i've got a couple cards to share today. this first one is for the current paper smooches sparks challenge. the inspiration was this gorgeous bracelet. i was definitely inspired by the soft colors, but i also was inspired by the small round beads. i used little images and a sentiment from the swanky snowdudes set. i really love non-traditional colors for holiday cards. the little holly leaves have pink jewels as the berries, and i added some crystal effects to the heart. super clean and simple, just how i like it! :) 

 

my second card is one i made for this week's cas challenge on scs. it was a sketch challenge, and i pulled out my happy little gnomes (pink cat studio digital) again for this one, and then used a paper smooches sentiment with it. i hope you are having a fabulous day! thanks for visiting! :)

catching up...

hi there! so school started wednesday and we are back to crazy busy over here! picking up, dropping off, carpools, getting supplies, paperwork, the list goes on and on! where did my lazy summer days go? even crazier than that, the weather here in southern california has been *hot*. like reminds me of las vegas hot. and yesterday we got a little treat because just before 4pm, the power went out!!! it was out for about 8 hours! total craziness! the fun news is that they cancelled school for today for my kids because the power loss was so extensive, lol! so i am back in lazy summer mode again, if just for today! :) i've got a couple cards to share, these first 2 are for 2 challenges, this week's cas-ual friday challenge (paper piecing with a fall theme) and this week's free for all challenge on scs (also paper paper piecing). since paper piecing happens to be my favorite technique, i had to play along! the first one is for a tween starting school, i thought it would be cute to paper piece some lockers in a rainbow colors. the lockers are an old retired stamp from a muse, and i used the paper smooches alphadots set to create the sentiment.

the next card uses the new halloweenies set from paper smooches. i have been waiting for kim hughes to create a halloween set and i am so happy it is finally here! :)

 

this last card i created for this week's cas challenge over on scs. the challenge was to create a card using shoes. i scoured my stamps and finally found this retired stamp from a muse. just a super cas one layer card. i hope you are having an awesome day! thanks for visiting! :)

 

thanks for the lift

hi there! i just have a quick card to show you today. i created this week's cas challenge on scs, which is also the last challenge for the summer cas dt. so sad! i am bummed that the 3 months is over, i have had a total blast being on the team this summer. but of course i will still be playing along because i love the cas challenge! this week's challenge is use kraft and primary colors to create a cas card. i used a new set from paper smooches called sunny side up. the set will be released on september 1st, but since i belong to the paper smooches club, i get my stamps early. how cool is that? if you come to my blog often, you might already know that i *love* me some paper smooches! so being a member of the club was a no brainer for me! :) i paper pieced the umbrellas, and added the little face that also comes in the set, and then the sweet sentiment. i hope you like it! thanks for visiting! :)

it's teacher time!

hi there! i am really looking forward to this week because i have a bunch of fun projects lined up to share! i may have mentioned once or twice (or maybe a hundred) times that i *love* making teacher gifts! besides being fun to make, i love how excited my kids are to give them to their teachers, it just really makes me happy. so starting today until friday, i have projects lined up each day to share. and i am even more excited about it because my awesome friend geeta is also doing teacher projects on her blog this week! she always has super creative and fun ideas and i can't wait to see what she has planned. :) first i'd like to share my card for this week's cas challenge on scs. it is an inspiration challenge based on the word *hot*. the first thing i think of when it is hot is the beach! :) i used a bunch of my retired a muse stamps, plus a sentiment i just ordered from a store called colorful creations in ma. love that sentiment! :)

ok, now onto today's teacher gift!  

 
i don't think you can ever go wrong with a cute set of notecards for a teacher. i give them all the time and the teachers say how much they like them and use them! so this is a clean and simple set i made doing some paper piecing on the apple from the paper smooches set falling for you and the thank you from paper smooches word up.  then i made a little box to hold them.

 
i used a clear card box from papertrey, and cut it down to fit my 4.25 square cards. then i added large eyelets to the sides of the box and added a ribbon handle. i created a tag that matched and attached it with a small binder clip. i *love* office supplies, lol! :) i really hope you like my teacher gift today! be sure to go check out geeta's creation for today and then come back here tomorrow for more teacher time! thanks for visiting! :)

 

clean and simple teacher thank you

hi there! i say it all the time, but i love making teacher gifts. i have been busy over here making a bunch of teacher gifts for the upcoming school year, so when i went to make this week's cas challenge card, i immediately went with a school theme. :) i used the fruitastic set from paper smooches for the apple, and i masked the face off to have it just be a plain apple. the sentiment is from another paper smooches set called word up. i also used some paper from a muse, the distressed dots paper from pti, a paper clip and the spiral edge punch from su. next week i will be posting all of the teacher gifts i am making, starting monday. do you like making teacher gifts too? if you happen to need any ideas, be sure to come back next week! :) thanks for visiting! :)
 

less is more

hi there! i've got a couple simple cards to share today. life has been super busy this week and i haven't really had any time to create anything, and then when i finally got a minute, i wasn't really feeling super creative. but then i saw this week's less is more challenge is to create a fruity card, and i just couldn't resist playing along! i just got this new fruitastic set from paper smooches and i have been wanting to play with it! i created these 2 super cas cards, using the little cherries and these cute bananas! :)

 

and here is one more card, for this week's cas challenge on scs, belated birthday cards. i decided to go with a bee-lated sentiment, so i printed on the computer using a kim hughes font. i also used a metal rimmed tag, the little bees from the paper smooches perky plants set, and the martha stewart fringe scissors for the grass. i hope you are having a bee-utiful day! thanks for visiting! :)

 

cas-ual friday

 
hi there! i am playing along today with this week's cas-ual friday challenge, called the long and short of it. the challenge is to create a 4x9 card with lots of white space. *love* this challenge because i *love* white space! :) i made tons of rainbow colored tags for the card i made last week using pti's tiny tags die, so i decided to use these cute little heart ones for a similar card for my dad. he is going through a really rough time health-wise right now so i thought i'd make him a card letting him know i am thinking of him. i do have an orange heart but i thought skipping it and adding the sentiment in orange would be a cute idea, especially since the sentiment was miss you. :) since these are tags, this works for this week's cas challenge on scs too, using tags. i hope you are having a wonderful day! thanks for visiting! :)

shut the front door!!!

 
hi there! i am *so* excited because i am this week's featured stamper over on scs! get out!!! i can't believe it! what an honor and what fun! :) i've got 2 cards to share today, both are for this week's cas challenge, to use tags. i love love love tags so this was my favorite cas challenge yet, lol! this first one is my first card for the challenge, i used my favorite tiny tags die from pti, a rainbow of colors, baker's twine and a sentiment from paper smooches. the second card is also for the featured stamper challenge...i couldn't resist the chance to play along, ha! i case'd this card from last week. i just changed the image and sentiment and used different patterned paper. i hope you have an awesome day! thanks for visiting! :) 

you're swell

 
hi there! just a quick card to share today. this week's cas challenge on splitcoast is a sketch challenge based on debbie's adorable card. i seem to have the ocean on my mind, so when i looked at the scallops on her card, i had to make mine rows of waves! :) the cute sentiment is from paper smooches new surf and turf set, the sailboat is a retired stamp from a muse, and the waves are a fiskars wave edge punch. i cut the sailboat out and popped it up, and i also added a tiny little clear dome sticker on the sun that i don't think you can see in the picture. i hope you are having a *swell* day! thanks for visiting! :)

one last card!

this is my sixth post today! go check out is #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5. :)

oh man! was that fun or what? head on over to scs to see all of the amazing cards that are being created for these challenges! everyone has until july 8th to play along so if you didn't have a chance today, you still have time. here is my last card for today, it is for challenge #22, to create a cas birthday card. i went super clean and simple again but i am happy with it. the sentiment is from the paper smooches set sugar rush and the little gifts are from the set santa paws. you can tell i was really loving my paper smooches stamps for these challenges! :) i hope you are having an absolutely wonderful fourth and thank you so much for visiting! :)