For my daughter's first birthday we went with a cupcake theme.  In the hospital for her birth, my husband nicknamed her CupKate and it stuck.

I began the idea of a cupcake invitation with these die cuts that I first stamped with the coordinating frame and then with the cupcake image.  Thinking ahead I stamped extras just incase some didn't turn out right.

I colored the cupcake wrapper with Copics and used hot pink slick puff paint for the frosting detail.  After the paint was thoroughly dry, I applied purple glitter glue for the sweet star. When they were ready, I realized I had forty-eight cupcakes that were usable--way more than I needed.

This is the invite.  The aqua is glitter cardstock and it is a pain to adhere things to, but I really the sparkle it adds.  I used a ridiculous amount of Scor-tape on these to get the ribbon and Mat Stack to stick.

The inside had the party info and a cute little coordinating cupcake which I embossed with aqua embossing powder.

I was pleased with how the icing turned out.  It had a great subtle bumpy texture as if it was hand frosted. :) It dried much quicker than I thought it would so that was a bonus too.

With the extra cupcakes, I whipped up these thank you cards.  I used letterpress paper so it took the embossing folder nicely.  

I still had extra ribbon so I made these drink labels for the party.

And yes, we served cupcakes. :)

Paper: PTI - Raspberry Fizz, Plum Pudding, Stamper's Select White; The Paper Studio - aqua glitter cardstock; Lifestyles - white letterpress paper
Stamps: PTI - Tremendous Treats: Birthday & Tiny Treats: Birthday
Ink: Memento - Tuxedo Black, PTI - Raspberry Fizz
Dies: PTI -Mat Stack #5 & Modern Alphabet, Spellbinders - Labels 4
Embellishments: Tulip - pink Slick Puff Paint; Bo Bunny - striped ribbon; purple Stickles; Cuttlebug - thank you embossing folder; Fiskars - corner rounder

This week's Make It Monday Challenge over at Papertrey Ink is glitter detailing.  Hold the phone! Glitter?! YES!

Now you must know I have a love/hate relationship with the sparkly stuff; if I am near it I get it in my eyes & hair, on my face & children, and sometimes even on my husband. I have learned that Stickles glitter glue works better for me than the loose kind. 

I used the Canvas & Linen impression plate on New Leaf cardstock and then embossed it with a Sizzix folder, sewed the perimeter, and added glitter with gold Stickles.  

I embossed the sentiment, added a strip of Scor-tape to help me pleat the ribbon, and attach it quickly. 

The die cut & stamped poinsettia got some foam adhesive for dimension and it also helped it sit better on the pleated ribbon.  I applied clear Distressed Stickles all over the green center and dotted gold Stickles on top. 

The inside got some stamping love with off-the-edge poinsettias.  I used another sentiment from Christmas Poinsettia set on the inside, which I placed in the Fillable Frames #4 image--it fit nicely too! 

Thanks for looking! 

Paper: PTI - New Leaf & Stampers' Select; Staples - white cardstock; The Paper Studio - red
Stamps: PTI - Christmas Poinsettias & Fillable Frames #4
Ink: PTI - New Leaf & Pure Poppy; Versamark - Watermark
Dies: PTI - Christmas Poinsettias
Embellishments: Ribbon Boutique - red satin ribbon; Filagree - gold embossing powder; PTI - Canvas & Linen IP; Sizzix - diamond embossing folder; Stickles - Gold; Distress Stickles - Clear Rock Candy; white thread

Taking a small break from all the feminine cards with this masculine thank you card.  Simple but interesting with the chevron.  

The nice thing is it came together quite quickly as I already had the green chevron strips die cut.  

One day a few months ago, I felt like die cutting things so I cut several chevron strips from a rainbow of colors. I keep them in a little drawer and they have come in handy a few times now! 

I glued these green chevrons down with Zig Two-Way Glue Pen but I think next time I use some of these chevron strips I am going to run them through my Xyron sticker maker.  It will make this even easier. I might just do that today!

Thanks for taking a look. :)

All items are Papertrey Ink.
Paper: New Leaf & Enchanted Evening
Stamps: Think Big Favorites #4
Ink: Fresh Snow
Dies: Chevron Stripes

Mmm...texture.  It's my favorite!  This card has some fun textures with the embossed vine background, pleated ribbon, embossed edge on the Spellbinder mat, pointed petals on the flower, and smooth button.  

It is hard to see in the picture but the flower has text stamped on it.

This medium pink, aqua, orange, and cream color combination is pretty cheerful. 

How do you mail cards with thick layers like this one?  The orange mat is raised with dimensional foam and so is the flower that also has a thick button.  I'm thinking in a bubble envelope.  How would you send a thick card?

Thanks for looking!

Paper: PTI - Berry Sorbet & Aqua Mist, Close to My Heart - orange polkadot
Stamps: Think Big Favorites #3
Ink: PTI - Berry Sorbet & Smokey Shadow
Embellishments: cream seam binding, PTI button - Aqua Mist, PTI - beautiful blooms II #1, Spellbinders - labels 4, Cuttlebug - vine embossing folder
Other: Cuttlebug

I have been wondering how I was going to utilize this squiggly lines paper so when I was browsing my pattern paper stash during my WOF card series marathon, I grabbed it.  I had a feeling this particular polkadot paper may work so I found it and was delighted that it went together; combing different companies' stuff is fun for me. 

I had received a sweet gift of Close to My Heart patterned paper and stamps a few months back but was hoarding them as they were too pretty to use.  Enter my new resolution to use the things I hoard because I love so much.  The pack contains several polkadot papers in many colors.

The flowers got some bling and slightly distressed edges to finish them off.

Next, I added some torn aqua cardstock and ran with it.  I don't use lavender paper often but was excited that it went with the squiggle paper so I used it as my base.

The sentiment is from a Stampabilities set and was stamped in dark gray.

That's it for today.  Thanks for stopping in.

Paper: My Mind's Eye - squiggles, Close to My Heart - pink polkadot, PTI - Aqua Mist & Lavender Moon

Stamps: Stampabilities - faith set

Ink: PTI - Smokey Shadow

Embellishments: PTI - beautiful blooms II #1, The Paper Studio - rhinestone brads

Other: Cuttlebug, Crop-o-dile

Tiny tags on cards make me smile as they are just so cute.  This one I hand cut so it was easy peasy to make.

The rose is a triple layer stamp.  I could get lost in the detail of these three shades of pink.  

Thanks for dropping by!

All items are PTI unless noted.
Paper: Raspberry Fizz, Rustic Cream, Stamper's Select White; My Mind's Eye - green polkadot
Stamps: The Sweet Life, Friendship Jar Fillers: Spring
Ink: Sweet Blush, Hibiscus Burst, Raspberry Fizz
Embellishments: Raspberry Fizz saddle stitch ribbon, Paper Studio - pink grommet, Ribbon Boutique - thin white satin ribbon
Other: Mat Stack #4 die, craft knife, Crop-o-dile, Cuttlebug

I liked the last card so much that I made another but with buttons instead of gems and a different sentiment.  I can see this being a go-to card to have on hand.  

After stamping quite a few cards for my WOF series at this point, my stamp cleaner/scrubber was d-i-r-t-y.  I do like it a lot more than wiping my stamps with baby wipes when done like I used to do.  Not only do my stamps get cleaner but it also lets the ink adhere more evenly the next time I use them.  I notice it more with solid image stamps like these flowers.  Also, I found with baby wipes that only one certain kind of wipe in one particular brand for me was
 1) not leaving lint
 2) not leaving streaks 
 3) actually took ink off (well seemed to)
With the stamp scrubber/cleaner I had discovered that the staining on my stamps were not all in fact stains.  The wipes were not completely cleaning the ink off the stamp resulting in a stained look.  I only have a few stamps that are actually stained now. And let's face it, rubbing a stamp on the scrubber real quick is so much easier and less messy (and cheaper) than using a wipe.  Is this news to a bunch of people? No, but I hope it helps someone because I wish I would have gotten my scrubber/cleaner a lot sooner.  

Thanks for looking (and putting up with my rabbit trail)!

All items are PTI unless noted.
Paper: Raspberry Fizz, Rustic Cream
Stamps: Natural Beauties
Inks: Winter Wisteria, Hawaiian Shores, Simply Chartreuse, Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest, Raspberry Fizz, Smokey Shadow, Camomille
Embellishments: buttons

Rainbow of ink colors...I'm seeing a pattern here...Yes, I really like colorful things. They make me happy, what can I say?  

Again, I have played with the Natural Beauties set.  However, this time around I used the solid flower.  In the photo the gems look silver but they were clear.  Looks like the silver backing wanted its fifteen minutes of fame.  Don't you love 'fabulous' on this card?!  Dawn McVey's handwriting is truly fantastic.  

Thanks for looking.

All items are PTI unless noted.
Paper: Simply Chartreuse, Rustic Cream
Stamps: Natural Beauties, Signature Greetings
Ink: Winter Wisteria, Hawaiian Shores, Simply Chartreuse, Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest, Raspberry Fizz, Camomille, Smokey Shadow

Today's card is simply a rainbow of butterflies.  I bought this set right after it was released but barely used it until lately.  Now, I can't get enough of it but it is now fall.  Yep, that is my luck. ;) 

All items are PTI unless noted.
Paper: Raspberry Fizz, Rustic Cream
Stamps: Beautiful Butterflies, Stampabilities - faith set
Ink: Raspberry Fizz, Hawaiian Shores, Simply Chartreuse, Summer Sunrise, Orange Zest, Smokey Shadow

Today I have a fairly simple floral card to share from my WOF series I did.  These flowers from the Natural Beauties set is so much fun to stamp with! I really enjoy how the flowers are so detailed and how the ink is disbursed to look like shading.  Swoon!  

Thanks for taking a peek.

All items are PTI unless noted.
Paper: Simply Chartreuse, Rustic Cream
Stamps: Natural Beauties
Ink: Raspberry Fizz, Royal Velvet, Hawaiian Shores, Simply Chartreuse
Embellishments: The Paper Studio - gems

Here is today's WOF series card.

This ribbon makes me happy.  I bought a bunch of it for my daughter's birthday invites and was pleased to have extra to use on other projects. See those flourishes? They emboss beautifully and make for some fun texture.

Thanks for looking. :)

All items are PTI unless noted.
Paper: Raspberry Fizz, Aqua Mist, Lavender Moon
Stamps: Natural Beauties
Embellishments: Bo Bunny ribbon
Other: Mat Stack #4 die, Cuttlebug, The Paper Studio - flourish embossing folder

This is the first of a series of different cards I made for my church's Women of Faith (WOF) event.  I believe I made 70+ in a week and a half.  This is quite a feat as I have three small children and a life that refuses to pause--imagine that. ;)  Being the overachiever that I can be sometimes, I strived to make each card different.  I must say that this quality quickly becomes my own enemy many a time.  Those who know me know exactly what I mean!

For this card I used a polkadot embossing folder on some Raspberry Fizz cardstock, stamped on a Mat Stack #4 die cut, and add some colorful Bo Bunny ribbon.

All items are Papertrey Ink unless noted.
Paper: Aqua Mist, Raspberry Fizz, Rustic Cream
Stamps: Think Big Favorites #3
Ink: Orange Zest
Embellishments: Bo Bunny ribbon
Other: Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug - polkadot embossing folder, Mat Stack #4