A Sincere Thank You

Well friends, today's post will end my month as the Guest Muse on Mercy's blog. I feel truly blessed to have been given the opportunity to work with Mercy and her Design Team. What a fabulous bunch of talented, supportive ladies!

I had the group in mind when putting together my card for this week - ladies, I cannot thank you enough!

Here is this week's sketch - I *really* like this one!

And here is my card:

*happy sigh*

That fancy, beautifully intricate circle is part of the Faux Fun Circles set from Waltzingmouse Stamps. I stamped it in Versamark and embossed it in gold before cutting it out with a coordinating circle nestability. Isn't it perfect? The sentiment is from Say It With Style and was also embossed in gold. I inked the edges with Antique Linen Distress Ink and added some purple rhinestones. I have been in a purple mood recently.

The patterned paper is from the Guide Lines collection from Papertrey Ink. I pulled out the purples - Lavender Moon and Plum Pudding - for the rest of my card. Some curvy crazy stitching along the bottom and purple satin ribbon finish it off.

Thank you, Mercy, for a great time this month! I loved working with you. And thank you for your visit - I am always so glad to see you. Thank you also if you stopped in yesterday for the first Waltzingmouse Stamps Customer Blog Hop - it was a great time, you all did a *fantastic* job! Whew! I have a lot to be thankful for.

Have a great day, my dears!

#Anya

Recipe:
Stamps: Faux Fun Circles, Say It With Style - Waltzingmouse Stamps
Cardstock: Vintage Cream, Lavender Moon, Plum Pudding - Papertrey Ink
Patterned Paper: Guide Lines collection - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Antique Linen Distress Ink - Ranger
Other: Plum Pudding satin ribbon - Papertrey Ink; Circle nestabilities - Spellbinders; gold embossing powder; purple rhinestones; sewing machine

WMS Customer Blog Hop

Good morning! Welcome to the first Waltzingmouse Stamps Customer Blog Hop! As a DT member, I am really excited to see all the wonderful creations that you have made! I know how much *I* love WMS, but it is great to see so many of you sharing your support as well!

You should have come here by way of Peggy's blog and the next stop after me is Nancy. If you just happened to stop by here, I am so glad that you did! You can visit the Waltzingmouse Stamps Blog to start the hop from the beginning.

Here is my spring-themed creation. Mother's Day is in spring! :) Never too soon to start thinking ahead!

My inspiration started with Jen del Muro's SFYTT from last week. I turned to the very springy Spring Baskets for my card, and pulled out a fun color combination.

The background was stamped with the herringbone pattern stamp from Little Box Labels. I combined two sentiments from Spring Baskets - I love to do this, and Claire's sets work really well for this.

I colored the flowers with Copics, pulling colors from the patterned paper and then I added some burgundy rhinestones to tie into the card base color. Fun stuff!

Thanks for stopping by - I hope you are enjoying the Customer blog hop! Your next stop is Nancy. Have a great day, I am going to get hopping!

#Anya

Recipe:
Stamps: Spring Baskets, Little Box Labels - Waltzingmouse Stamps
Cardstock: Scarlet Jewel, Lavender Moon, Vintage Cream - Papertrey Ink
Patterned Paper: K&Company
Ink: Bravo Burgundy - Stampin' Up!; Antique Linen Distress Ink - Ranger; Versamark - Tsukineko
Other: Copic markers; Burgundy rhinestones; sewing machine

Make a Wish

It is finally Friday, everyone! Yay!

Just a fun little card to share with you today - I love this kind!

The card sketch was based on this card made by Betsy Veldman. I loved the long panel in the middle and I copied the layout in my sketch notebook. I turn to my little book often for inspiration!

The patterned paper is from the Que Sera Sera Collection from K&Company. I stamped the bird cage from Elegant Birds (My Cute Stamps) and embossed it in gold. Then I blended the distess inks right over top, pulling colors from the patterned paper. I glittered the edge of the label with Antique Gold glitter, then pulled a big gold button from my vintage button jar. I thought it was a fun touch for the card. Very boho, huh?

Now don't forget about the Waltzingmouse Stamps Customer Blog Hop on Monday! Make sure you head over to the Waltzingmouse Blog and sign up for it! It is going to be a great time, I am really looking forward to it!

Take care, my friends!

#Anya

Recipe:
Stamps: Elegant Birds - My Cute Stamps; Mixed Messages - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Rustic White, Aqua Mist - Papertrey Ink
Patterned Paper: Que Sera Sera Collection - K&Company
Ink: Antique Linen, Tattered Rose, Worn Lipstick, Dried Marigold, Scattered Straw Distress Ink - Ranger; Dark Chocolate - Papertrey Ink
Other: Labels Four Nestabilities - Spellbinders; Scalloped Scallop edge punch - EK Success; Antique Gold glitter - Martha Stewart Crafts; gold embossing powder; gold button

Sweet Surprise

Hello friends!

Just in time for our third Papertrey Princesses challenge, I bring you.. the second! Better late than never.

I love this challenge, which came from Lee! We were challenged to create a three-dimensional project and to take inspiration from the objects we were planning to put inside. Here's the link to Lee's challenge.

I snooped around the kitchen (looking for treats) and found my husband's favorite - a bag of Lindt white chocolate Lindor truffles. Perfect to package, and perfect for my current obsession with the color yellow.

Yum!

I used this pattern for a crayon box, put together by Jen del Muro. It was simple!

I embossed the swirly vine from With Sympathy and then added a row of gold pearls around the window. The sentiment, from Cupcake Collection, was embossed in gold. I tied it all up with some of the new silk ribbon from PTI - very nice! I loved the combination of yellow, white, and gold and it was fun to make something other than a card. This was a great challenge, Lee - thank you!

And thank you for your visit, I hope you have a great day. Michele is hosting the next Papertrey Princesses challenge and I can't wait to see what she comes up with!

#Anya

Recipe:
Stamps: With Sympathy, Cupcake Collection - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Lemon Tart, White - Papertrey Ink
Ink: Versamark - Tsukineko
Other: Silk ribbon - Papertrey Ink; Gold pearls - Michaels; Dotted Scallop edge punch - EK Success; Standard circle nestabilities - Spellbinders; white and gold embossing powder; Crayon Box pattern from Jen del Muro

Serendipity Spring Sketch

No spring in sight here! We're still knee-deep in snow, and it just keeps falling.

Today is challenge day over at Serendipity Stamps, and this week we're doing a sketch challenge with a spring theme.

Here is the sketch:
And here is my card:

Aren't those ducklings darling? ;) They are the Three Ducks (981F) stamp from Serendipity. The sentiment is Happy Spring (847C). The ducks were stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink and colored with Copic markers. I added some Diamond Stickles to the eggs. These little guys are just too cute. They would be adorable fuzzy - Fun Flock anyone?

I kept the rest of the card simple, just adding some stitching at the top. I really love this color combination of purple and yellow, and the patterned paper brings it all together.

Thank you for the stop today, now make sure you visit the other Design Team members!

Amy
Jennifer
Kathie
Lynda
Sue

Take care!

#Anya

Recipe:
Stamps: Three Ducks (981F), Happy Spring (847C) - Serendipity Stamps
Cardstock: Barely Banana, Lavender Lace - Stampin' Up!; White - Papertrey Ink
Patterned Paper: Hot Off the Press
Ink: Tuxedo Black Memento - Tsukineko
Other: Copic markers; Diamond Stickles - Ranger; sewing machine

Elegant Eggs

Good morning, my dears.

Today I am sharing my creation for the Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge team.

Here is this week's sketch:

And here is my card:

I combined both of the baskets from the Spring Baskets set from WMS to create a very elegant egg basket. I paper pieced the fancy eggs and the bows, using patterned paper from Fancy Pants Designs. I used some Copic markers to add some highlights to the basket and then I cut it all out - not for the faint of heart, I warn you! :)

I added some silver glitter to cushion my eggs (it also serves to cover up the seam between the eggs and the basket). The Happy Easter sentiment is also from the set. Those are elegant eggs, aren't they?

If you didn't see it yesterday, Waltzingmouse Stamps has announced some great news! You can read about it on my blog here, or head straight to the WMS blog and check it out there! Exciting stuff!

Have a great day - thank you so much for stopping by!

#Anya

Recipe:
Stamps: Spring Baskets - Waltzingmouse Stamps
Cardstock: Sahara Sand, Rose Red - Stampin' Up!; Soft Stone - Papertrey Ink
Patterned Paper: On a Whimsy, Delight - Fancy Pants Designs
Ink: Jet Black Archival Ink, Vintage Photo Distress Ink - Ranger
Other: Antique Silver glitter - Martha Stewart Crafts; Stardust gel pen - Sakura; Swiss Dot Cuttlebug folder - ProvoCraft; Petite Oval and Petite Scalloped Oval Nestabilities - Spellbinders; sewing machine

WMS Customer Blog Hop

Some great news today from Waltzingmouse Stamps!

First off, an exciting new product release.. Template Temptations! WMS will now be carrying digital templates, available in both PDF and SVG formats! Woo! Claire has more detailed information here on her blog with a link to the template section of the store.


The second bit of news is that next Monday, February 22nd, WMS will hold their first customer blog hop! The theme is Spring, and we'd like to you to use Waltzingmouse Stamps - any type of project is game! More information is here on the WMS blog. All you need to do is sign up there with Mr. Linky, make your project, and post it along with the WMS blog hop graphic the day of the hop! I am really looking forward to hopping along with you and seeing all the fantastic things you create!

Take care my friends, I'll be back with my card for Mercy's Tuesday Sketch Challenge tomorrow!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day, friends!

I hope you all have a great day. I am trying to catch up on some things around the house, so I'll be short and sweet today.

This is the Valentine I made for my sweetie. I really like it.. not too frilly, but still incorporates some of my favorite elements.

The card size is larger than normal (4-1/4 by 7 inches), based on last week's sketch challenge on Mercy's blog (you can click on the photo for a larger view).

I used Top Ten and Top Ten Additions, stamping each word and then punching it out with different sized heart punch. I added some stitching and some dimension, shooting for a collage-y type look. A perfect Valentine for my husband.

So glad that you stopped by today, and I hope to see you again soon!

#Anya

Recipe:
Stamps: Top Ten, Top Ten Additions - Papertrey Ink
Cardstock: Kraft, True Black, Pure Poppy - Papertrey Ink; Riding Hood Red, Cranberry Crisp - Stampin' Up!
Ink: True Black, Pure Poppy - Papertrey Ink
Other: Medium Heart Punch, Large Heart Punch, Bracket edge punch - EK Success; Extra Jumbo, Super Jumbo Scalloped Heart Punch - Marvy; Lace Heart edge punch - Martha Stewart Crafts; sewing machine

There's No Place Like CHA..

I love lazy Saturdays. I just like to poke around the house, doing a little of this or that.

I have another card to share that was created for the current Moxie Fab World Blog challenge. This card isn't quite as Anne Taintor-ish as the other, but I loved this image from the Vintage Fashion ATC transparencies and thought it was close.

I was trying to think of something snarky I could say about shoes, but kept coming back to Dorothy's 'there's no place like home' from the Wizard of Oz. I wondered what place a crafter would want to be and thought CHA! (I know *I* would like to go to CHA - this summer I just might make it to Chicago!) So I took it and ran.

I added the rectangle border (cut with my Slice) and red glitter as a nod to Dorothy's ruby slippers. The newsprint background is actually from a shopping bag, and I tried my hand at one of the scrunched-up scalloped circles. The sentiment was computer-generated. Maybe not an exact match for the challenge, but certainly inspired by!

Enjoy your Saturday!

#Anya

Recipe:
Cardstock: Vintage Cream, Kraft, Rustic White - Papertrey Ink; Real Red - Stampin' Up!
Patterned Paper: Stampin' Up; K&Company; newsprint background is a shopping bag
Ink: Antique Linen Distress Ink - Ranger
Other: Vintage Fashion ATC Transparencies - Prickley Pear Rubber Stamps; Garnet glitter - Martha Stewart Crafts; Slice and Studio Essentials Design Card - Making Memories; scalloped circle punch; paper piercer; pinking shears; computer-generated sentiment

Many Blessings

Happy Friday everyone!

Today's card was made for Jen del Muro's Sketch For You to Try (SFYTT). I am a big fan of Jen's sketches and have been an un-official participant for some time. I keep a notebook of sketches I like and Jen's have made it in there on many occasions. Anyway, I wanted to break out some of the other stamps I had not yet used from the Spring Baskets set.

I paper pieced the centers of the little flower clusters using paper from the Cosmo Cricket Girl Friday collection. I colored the flower petals and leaves with my Copic markers, pulling colors from the patterned paper. The Sweet Blush background was stamped with the knitted pattern stamp from Faux Fun.

I added some different kinds of stitching and a cute little button from my stash. I am addicted to Rustic White cardstock right now. I have been using it on everything, and just love the cozy look it gives.

That's all for me today! I hope you have a great weekend - I still have so much I want to share - check back for some weekend posts! Thank you for your visit!

#Anya

Recipe:
Stamps: Spring Baskets, Faux Fun - Waltzingmouse Stamps
Cardstock: Rustic White, Sweet Blush - Papertrey Ink
Patterned Paper: Sunday from the Girl Friday collection - Cosmo Cricket
Ink: Pink Pirouette - Stampin' Up!; Antique Linen Distress Ink - Ranger; Tuxedo Black Memento - Tsukineko
Other: Standard circle Nestabilities - Spellbinders; Copic markers; sewing machine; button