UnstampaBelles Challenge: Anything but a Card

The ladies over at the UnstampaBelles Challenge are REALLY challenging us this week!  Not only can you NOT use stamps of any kind, but you need to create something other than a card :-)  Since cards are my go-to...this was a challenge for me :-)

Luckily, I've been busy working on some baby stuff, and one of my project totally fit the bill!  I wanted to create my own mobile for our nursery, and I lucked out by finding the "bones" of a DIY mobile on Amazon.  The fun part was then to pick the papers to match my room and decide on a shape.  I went with stars this time, but the beauty of this mobile is that you can change them out whenever the mood strikes.  Genius!

These stars are from my Plaintin Schoolbook Cricut cartridge.

So, please stop by the Unstampabelles Challenge and show us your fabulous creation!!

Day at the Beach

Our new camera finally made it to us yesterday, so hubby and I immediately took it out to play.  It was a really pretty day today, so we swung by the beach and got some documentation of my Mega Belly :-)  Only 8 weeks to go until our little guy makes his appearance!

My hubby is such a talented photographer, I'm always in awe of the beautiful pictures he takes.  He even managed to make me look human sized :-)   Love him!

Practical Scrappers: 10 Things to Do with Buttons

Today over at Practical Scrappers, the ladies are showing us fun and creative ways to use buttons in layouts and cards.

My take on the challenge is one of my favorite tricks to create custom embellishments.  I have a huge jar overflowing with different sized buttons, but the colors are sometimes a little funky (I will admit to buying most of them on a killer deal!)  So in order to make sure they match to my creation, I just cover them with fabric!

It's very easy to do, too.  Just cut a circle of about half an inch larger than the button on all sides.  Then, hand sew around the perimeter of the fabric (as messy as you like, it will be on the back), place the button in the center and then cinch the fabric all the way around!  When you flip the button around, it will be encased in  your pretty fabric.  Super easy.  If you don't want to sew, you could even glue gun that bad boy, and make it even easier on yourself :-)

For my card, I covered the buttons in green and pink and made them into happy birthday balloons.

Please stop by the Practical Scrappers site and check out what other great ideas the ladies are showing off this week!

Go Fish Challenge: Ribbons

Today is a bit of a bitter sweet day as it's my last challenge as a designer for the Go Fish team.  I have loved my time with that group of very talented ladies and know that wonderful things are in store for the challenge in the future!  It was also my very first design team, so it has a special place in my heart <3 p="">
The challenge this week is to use Ribbons!

I went with a giant DIY bow for this challenge.  It's an easy bow to recreate and just involves taping down various sized loops of grosgrain ribbon.  Easy peasy!  

So please stop on by the Go Fish Challenge and show us your ribbon creation!  

Practical Scrappers: Ten Things to Do With Zippers

It's another beautiful sunny Tuesday here in North Carolina, and today I get to share with you my take on using zippers in paper projects!

The Practical Scrappers challenge was to use zippers in a fun way, and I decided (after a lot of zipping and unzipping) that my green zipper looked just like a friendly alligator :-)  This would be a fun one to use for a card for a little boy, and I made it birthday-themed.

You could use this trick for creating fun monsters or aliens, or anything else little boys love.

Over at Practical Scrappers, the ladies have lots of other fun ideas, so please stop by and check them out :-)

Practical Scrappers: 10 Things to do with Vellum

It's another Tuesday so the Practical Scrappers are showing us 10 more creative ways to use an item you probably already have hidden in your stash....this week, it's Vellum!!

After last week's fun with clear embellishments and transparencies, this week we're keeping with the see-through theme :-)   I used a sheet of vellum to create a watercolor effect on the background of this card.  I simply colored onto a large stamp with various colors of copic markers, stamped it onto the vellum, and voila!  A fun and easy effect!

So, please stop on by Practical Scrappers and check out some other creative ways the ladies are using Vellum this week!

UnstampaBelles Challenge: Quilling

Hello again!  It's the first Monday of the month which means it's time for another fabulous UnstampaBelles Challenge!!!  This month the ladies are challenging you to show us your Quilling creations.  Fun!

I will admit that I have never attempted quilling before, and I was pretty hesitant at what kind of jumble I might create, but with a little patience and a bit of glue, I really fell in love with this style of papercraft.

My card is pretty basic, but I really encourage you to stop by the UnstampmaBelles to check out the other ladies' creations.  They are pretty incredible!!!  It's amazing what can be made with bits of twirled paper :-)

Your card for this month's challenge MUST include quilling in some way and also....rememeber...No Stamps :-)  Have fun and I can't wait to see what you create!

Go Fish Challenge: Using Gold

Today over at the Go Fish Challenge, it's all about Gold!  Show us any paper project featuring this flashy color for a chance to win!

For my take on the challenge, I kept with simple black and white and let the gold shine all on its own :-)  The big news at my house is that I've finally reconstructed my light box that was destroyed in our move.  Yay!!!  I love the way my card photos turn out when I use it, and it's been far too long :-)  My new house is very dark and with so many overcast days lately, my cards have been photographing a bit drab.  Hopefully this will perk things right up!

So please swing on by the Go Fish Challenge Blog and show us your shine!!!