Happy Thanksgiving!!! And look: Crafty Sales!!!

Ok, I know I've been MIA for a while from my blog. But I have great news for all my crafty friends out there! It's Thanksgiving, which means shopping and sales this weekend!

1. MFT Sale:

I saw the email and flipped! 30% off!!! MFT is, by far, one of my favorite stamp companies out there. Totally going to check to this out tonight!

2. Simon Says Stamp Sale:

Again, I saw this in my email and flipped! 30% off!!! Definitely browsing and shopping this weekend!

3. Lil' Inker Designs Sale - Starts Friday:

Smaller stamp company but have lots of great stuff! I have several stamps and die from them. Very clever and punny products. The best thing about this sale is that no code is needed! 

4.  Concord & 9th Sale:

This is a newer stamp company with great products. I only have two stamp sets from them and I like them a lot. Definitely worth checking out. 

Happy shopping crafters!

Detashing: Halloween cards

It's October. This means it's officially fall/pumpkin/apple cider/Halloween time! This is my favorite season: perfect hoodie weather and I can still go outside without getting too hot or cold. Plus, who doesn't love apple-picking-pumpkin-spiced season?

So I went through my scrapbooking supplies and found a bunch of Halloween stuff. I decided to make them all into cards (so that I can clear out some space for other craft things). There's a glimpse of my first batch:

By far, my favorite of this batch is this one:

It's simple and clean. I love the sparkly bat and the color combo! I think it's great for any age, kids or adults.

Challenges entered:
SSS Monday: Halloween
SSS Wednesday: Halloween Inspiration

First day of fall.... already!?

It's officially fall today. That's crazy; time is flying by so fast! This means that Christmas is just around the corner and it's the start of holiday craft show season. I'm excited, but at the same time, I know how busy I'll get!

Without further to do, I've been doing through my Christmas stash:

That is a small glimpse into my Christmas card box. I told myself that I will update my Etsy this year and really push my online store. That's my goal for the next few months! This also allows me to get many uses out of my stamps and crafty tools. (I love playing with my toys! Who doesn't?!)

Here's one that I really like that I made recently:

This was inspired by the song "White Christmas" (call me old-school, but I love the Frank Sinatra version - so classic and has that warm holiday vibe). I think of this song every time I write a Christmas card. 

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know

Where the treetops glisten and children listen to hear sleigh bells in the snow

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas with every Christmas card I write

May your days be merry and bright and may all your Christmases be white

I applied some clear wink of stella on the "Merry," so it shimmers when you hold it in the light. So pretty! The ornament gems were randomly picked and adhered using Rangers multi-medium.

Challenge:
Simon Says Stamp: Inspired by Music

Healing Smiles

Happy Mid-September everyone! I'm back from taking a craft blogging break this summer. There are all these stamp companies doing their fall/holiday release this week and is making me very excited! I can't wait to play with this year's holiday stamps!

Meanwhile, Altenew is doing really exciting things! They're having their Ultimate Challenge Blog Hop!

There are so many inspiration and card shares on all the artists blog! I highly recommend you take a look.

I got their Doctors Rule stamp around early spring and was so looking forward to making some cards for my doctor and medical friends. (I know, I'm really nerdy!) Recently, I made this:

I love how this card is super simple and realistic! This card is so sweet and great not only for medical professionals but also to others that had cared for you during illness. I love how this card came out! Here's a closer look at the "pop-up" heart.

I stamped the heart image three times and had fuzzy cut all three. Then, I cut out a portion of the image each time, and stacked them on top of one another to create the "pop-up" effect. Lastly, I did a simple embossing for the sentiment. 

Challenges entered:
Altenew Ultimate Challenge
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Clean and Simple

Wonderful Sip

Since I had my Misti out already (from the last post), why not make a whole bunch of other things!

I wanted to use my coffee stamps to make something summer-like and colorful. I combined three different stamp sets to make this:

Of course I had to make matching envelopes too.  

Challenge entered:
Simon Says: Anything Goes

Succulent Revival

My older sister and her husband came home last week for our younger sister's wedding. She caught me red-handed as the succulent neglecter. I had no idea how my plants were all dying... guess I haven't been a very good gardener lately. Nonetheless, with her help. my succulents are back in recovery and good shape! I can't wait for my baby plants to grow into a bigger size!

With that, I decided to make a succulent card:

I also kinda went on a Misti-craze and made a whole set of card! I used several different shades of greens/mint. Then, I double stamped smaller plant with some light purple ink. 

I really like the layering of the inks. I purposely didn't blend the ink and hoping for an effect like this. I'm so happy with the results. 

Challenge entered:

Simon Says: Anything Goes

Birthday Sprinkles

I made this card for Ashley's birthday (about a month ago) using the new PTI's Just Dessert stamp set.

My favorite part about this card is the texture. It's very settle, so I'm not sure if you can see it in the pictures. There are some sprinkle-like dimensions/texture on the cake. I did this by stamping out the image, then stamp it again in VersaMark and clear embossing. I also did it for the strawberries.

Challenge entered:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Make it Girly