maria's craft room

Christmas Break

  Hi there!  I decided to take pity on all of you (and myself) and take a break from posting Christmas cards...at least for one night!  This is another super simple design that is a snap to mass produce.  I used the strip of poppy cardstock at the top in lieu of ribbon (money saver!!)  and added a small amount of pep by using a black Spica glitter marker to add the dots to the butterfly body.  Done!

Big yawn.  Off to bed for me - I spent the better part of the afternoon and evening helping my sister take the twins to the doctor for wellness visits/shots.  While Jack and Grace are just adorable, it takes so much energy to keep an eye on them.  Especially after switching shifts @ work to get in an hour early.  I don't know how moms do it.  Seriously!  Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time...M

Supplies:

Ink:  SU basic black; Papertrey berry sorbet and pure poppy

Cardstock:  SU, Papertrey pure poppy

Stamps:  Papertrey Butterfly Wishes

Other:  black Spica glitter marker

Merry, Bright & Silver

  Hi everyone!  Oh my - am I fooling you into thinking it's December?   Christmas card after holiday card after yet another Christmas card.  Yes, I'm still stamping away on my craft fair items.  But at least I tried embossing!  I've always been kind of scared of embossing.  No rational reason...just a hang up I have.  (Yes, among other hang ups!)  As the fair approaches I find myself whipping out simpler and simpler cards.  Hope I don't bore you!  I do feel a little guilty about these cards.  But if only you knew how many I'm finishing!  Whoo hooo there's smoke coming off of my stamps.  (Perhaps I had too much caffeine at dinner?  Perhaps.)  I am a multi-tasker though.  I'm stamping, blogging and watching Dancing With the Stars.  Don't you wish you could move like those professional dancers?  I sure do.  Off to stamp - thanks so much for stopping by.  I appreciate the time you take to visit me here!

Until next time...M

Supplies:

Ink:  versamark, SU basic black

Cardstock:  Papertrey select white

Stamps:  Papertrey Merry & Bright

Other:  silver embossing powder

Inspired Merry & Bright

  Hello and happy Saturday night!  How are you doing?  I'm up to my eyeballs in craft fair cards and tags, but happily so.  Since I've been spending my time mass producing for next week's event, I needed to spark my creativity to come up with something to post here tonight.  I found my inspiration on Melissa's blog.  Fittingly so, considering she designed the Merry & Bright stamp set!  I changed up her design slightly and paper pieced instead of just stamping.  Truth be told I like her version better, but I didn't want to outright case it.  I'm weird that way.  And guess what?  My Philadelphia Phillies just clinched the NL East pennant.  Whoo hoo!  We're happy dancing in our house tonight!!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Until next time...M

Supplies: 

Ink:  Papertrey dark chocolate

Cardstock:  Papertrey select white; Memory box

Stamps:  Papertrey Merry & Bright

Other:  Cuttlebug swiss dot embossing folder, May Arts and SU ribbons, staples

Papertrey's September Blog Hop

  Hi everyone!  I decided to make some gift tags for this month's blog hop challenge.  I can't seem to put my new Rustic Snowflakes set down, so it was no surprise that I incorporated it somehow! 

 

I used kraft stock and an old tag die for the tag itself.  Next I rubbed the edges with my New Canvas Palette ink pad and then stamped the snowflakes in gold.  The larger snowflake is from Rustic Snowflakes, the smaller one is from Holiday Treats, and I stamped the 'to/from' from Boxes, Bags and Tags in basic black ink.  Thanks for stopping by!  I can't wait to see what everyone else made.

Until next time...M

Supplies:

Ink:  Palette new canvas; Encore gold; SU basic black

Cardstock:  Papertrey Kraft

Stamps:  all Papertrey:  Rustic Snowflakes, Holiday Treats and Boxes, Bags and Tags

Other:  gold ribbon from Papertrey, tag die from Sizzix

Golden Trees

  Hello!  Is it Friday yet?!?  Whoo!  I'm still plugging away at creating my supply of cards for the craft fair.  Tonight's card is a design I came up with after work today.  It's pretty simple, really.  I embossed a piece of Papertrey select white stock using a Cuttlebug folder, dragged my gold inkpad over it and swiped the edges, too.  Then I mounted it to a select white card base and added the sentiment piece.  Done!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Until next time...M

Supplies:

Ink:  Staz On black; Encore gold

Cardstock:  Papertrey select white; SU brushed gold

Stamps:  Papertrey Merry & Bright

Other:  SU large oval punch, Cuttlebug embossing folder

Stamping Away

Hi - just a quick note to say that I've spent all evening stamping away at craft fair cards.  I must admit that I'm too pooped to do the photo thing, though I did have Dancing With The Stars on while in my craft room tonight.  Were the contestants amazing or what?  That Rocco is quite a looker (gee, me finding an Italian man attractive?  shocker!)  and Warren Sapp is just so surprisingly good at dancing!  But I felt bad for host Samantha Harris.  A football reference flew right over her head when she gave Warren his total points for the evening:  22.  Warren said he was doing his best Emmitt Smith...hello Samantha!  The reference had nothing to do with Emmitt's dancing and everything to do with the fact that 22 was Emmitt's number!  Ummm...maybe I'm just too into DWTS and football.  And maybe I should be a little charitable and give Samantha a break.  Anyway, I'll have a pic or two for you tomorrow.  Have a great Wednesday!

Until next time...M

Rustic Red

  Hi there!  I'm having so much fun watching Dancing With The Stars that I almost forgot to post this.  I just love DWTS.  The dancing, the banter...I look forward to every season.  It makes me imagine that I could dance that well, too.  Emphasis on imagine!!!  Gee, does this design look familiar?  I took yesterday's design and changed up a few things.  I added ribbon and staples because, really, what's a card without some embellishments?!?  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Until next time...M

Supplies:

Ink:  SU basic black; Papertrey pure poppy

Cardstock:  Papertrey kraft, pure poppy

Stamps:  Papertrey Rustic Snowflakes

Other:  Cuttlebug swiss dot embossing folder, various ribbons from my stash, staples

Winter Wonderland

  Hello everyone!  Can you believe it's Sunday night already?  Hope you're doing well.  I have had a great weekend - - spent time with family, did some baking, had a date with the husband, crafted like crazy and believe it or not I even spent hours doing housework!  (Yeah, the housework was done because we had family coming over.  I admit it.)  If only you could see my craft room at this moment!  It's far, far too messy for me to post a picture, but I have Christmas/holiday/winter cards stacked everywhere.  As I look around my room I'd swear that it was December!  True to form I've been procrastinating about that craft fair I have coming up.  Now that it's just two weeks away I've switched into frantic production mode.  This is one of the cards I created especially for the fair.  I decided to try the strip of embossed cardstock instead of using ribbon on this particular design.  What do you think?  I'm on the fence about it, but I still made a ton of them anyway.  I found that overall I went with a lot of stamping and not a lot of layering on the 'fair designs'.  Go figure.  No time to spend on tons of layers now!!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Until next time...M

Supplies:

Ink:  Papertrey aqua mist; SU basic black and old olive

Cardstock:  Papertrey select white and spring moss

Stamps:  Papertrey Rustic Snowflakes

Other:  Cuttlebug swiss dot embossing folder

Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #58

  Hello there!  Hope all is well.  I'm having a fantastic day - beautiful weather, new craft supplies and the house all to myself.  Ahhh...it's like a mini vacation!  So I took some time to play with Beate's WSC.  I sort of changed the design from a square to a rectangle, but you still get the idea.  I used my new Papertrey set, Rustic Snowflakes, and I (finally) incorporated one of my Heidi Swapp acetate snowflakes.  I've had them so long that they were *gasp* dusty!  And check out the polka dot paper - it's actually part of the packaging for another Papertrey set.  I love it!  I'm hoping that it's a sneak peek of colors to come.  Guess what?  My cell phone rang this morning and it was Courtney!  What a fantastic surprise.  It was so nice to get to talk with her and hear her latest update.  So different from just exchanging emails!  (She and her family were displaced by Ike.)  All I can say is that I've met some of the nicest people through craft blogging.  So go put yourself out there...start a blog...leave comments on other blogs...you just never know who you will meet!  Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time...M

Supplies:

Ink:  SU basic black; Papertrey aqua mist; Palette new canvas

Cardstock:  Papertrey select white, aqua mist and spring moss; SU old olive; SEI unk aqua; Papertrey packaging from Made of Snow set

Stamps:  Papertrey Rustic Snowflakes

Other:  Papertrey aqua mist twill, SU old olive grosgrain, SU 1 3/8" circle punch and scalloped circle punch; sewing machine, Heidi Swapp acetate snowflake

LSC #7

  Hi everyone!  Guess what?  I'm now an official member of the Loonie Stampers Challenge team!  Whoo hoo!  So now you understand why I spent so much time working on today's post.  I never had any trouble with a LSC until now...I froze! Dee set the challenge parameters this time and we were to use black, summer sunrise and plum pudding in a 'scary' combination. 

  Would you believe I don't own any Halloween stamps?  Luckily my friend Fran lent me her Spooky Sweets set.  The only thing that may need an explanation is the web -  I used a portion of a Cuttlebug embossing folder and then traced over it with a stardust glitter pen.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Be sure to visit the other Loonies:

Charlene

Dee

Jewels

Regan

Wendy

And play along with whatever supplies you have at home.  The more the merrier!  Just leave us a link in the comments below.

Until next time...M

Supplies:

Ink:  SU basic black, going gray

Cardstock:  SU basic black; Papertrey select white and plum pudding

Stamps:  Papertrey Spooky Sweets

Other:  Papertrey summer sunrise twill ribbon, Cuttlebug embossing folder and slider tag die, stardust glitter pen, foam dimensional (under spider) 

Snow Day Wishes

 Hello!  Hope you're doing well.  I know it's a little early in the school year to be wishing for a snow day...and yet it's on my mind.  What can I say?  So I dug through my stash of stamps and came up with this cute Gina K snowman.  I kept it simple by using black ink on going gray stock and added some sparkle by coloring the accents with stardust and glitter markers.  A cuttlebugged background, some SU ribbon and a tiny Cuttlebug tag round out the details. 

And I'll have a surprise for you tomorrow.  I'm working on it now and I just hope I finish in time!  Thanks for stopping by!

Until next time...M

Supplies:

Ink:  SU basic black

Cardstock:  Papertrey select white; SU going gray, basic gray, basic black

Stamps:  Gina K snowman, Papertrey Take a Bough (joy)

Other:  Cuttlebug embossing folder and tag die, SU real red ribbon, stardust glitter pen, red and black Spica glitter markers

Kristina's Color Challenge #23

  Hi!  It's time for another of Kristina's color challenges.  I think that if I hurry this post along I just might be able to submit before the deadline.  The inspiration piece features a floral design but I've spent so much time lately with those darn punched out purple flowers that I could only muster up some leaves tonight!  To shake things up a bit I opted to do some stamping off for different intensities of color.  Daring, aren't I?!?  Living right on the edge as usual!!! 

  

  Here's Kristina's inspiration graphic (click to enlarge).

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Until next time...M

Supplies:

Ink:  SU so saffron, pumpkin pie, bravo burgundy; Papertrey dark chocolate; Ranger antique linen distress ink

Cardstock:  SU chocolate chip and bravo burgundy; Papertrey vintage cream

Stamps:  Papertrey First Fruits

Other:  May Arts ribbon, SU distressing tool

More Purple?!!?

  Hi and Happy Tuesday!  Is it too soon for more purple?  As you know it's not my favorite color, but I tore through my scrap pile this weekend and it was just full of purple.  Gee...so I have a habit of starting purple things and then casting them aside.  Imagine that!  All of my cleaning efforts collided with the need for a birthday card for my sister and this was the result.  Good thing my sister likes purple!  You would not believe the number of purple flowers I found in my mountain of mess.  What was I thinking when I punched these out???  Anyhow, you'll never guess how old my sister is (ha ha).  Lucky for me I'm stuck at 29.  The base is vintage cream, the background words were stamped with lavender moon, and new canvas ink was used to create the polka dot pattern on the plum pudding blossom.  And - big sigh - did you happen to catch last night's Eagles/Cowboys game?  The first half was incredible and then...and then...the Eagles lost the game.  Just another day for a Philadelphia fan, my friends.  Just another day.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Until next time...M

Supplies:

Ink:  Palette new canvas, Papertrey lavender moon

Cardstock:  Papertrey lavender moon, vintage cream, plum pudding and Papertrey Guidelines collection patterned paper

Stamps:  Papertrey Polka Dot Basics, Papertrey It's a Celebration

Other:  mega and giga Marvy flower punches, Papertrey plum pudding satin ribbon, SU distressing tool, Heidi Swapp chipboard numbers

Ribbon Scrap Rainbow

  Hi there.  It's Monday night and the Eagles are playing the Cowboys.  I just love football!  The husband and I (and Deuce...can't forget him) are on the couch already and plan on watching everything from pre-game through to the end of the post-game analysis.  Hope the Eagles win.  I didn't even set foot in my craft room this afternoon!   So tonight I'm sharing one of my Papertrey GSS entries.   This card was more about the idea than the actual design.  I was accumulating quite a collection of ribbon scraps and challenged myself to find a way to incorporate them into a card.  I ended up with what I'll call 'party streamers'.  So here's a challenge for you:  recycle some scraps - ribbon, paper...whatever! - and make something with them.  Feel free to link your creations in a comment below.  Thanks so much for stopping by - I'm off to watch the game!  (And guess what:  we both took tomorrow as a vacation day!  Can you say 'sleep late and spend lots of time in my craft room'?)

Until next time...M

Supplies:

Ink:  Papertrey dark chocolate

Cardstock:  Papertrey select white and spring moss

Stamps:  Papertrey It's a Celebration

Other:  SU slit punch, Papertrey ribbons, SEI and Foo-fa-la buttons

Beate's WSC #57

  Hello!  How's your weekend progressing?  Things are moving pretty slowly around here.  I think we're hoping that all of the yard work will magically take care of itself.  I'm even a day late on posting an entry for Beate's latest weekend sketch challenge!  I've had these flowers punched out and in a pile on my desk for a few weeks.  It feels great to finally use them.  I used a Souffle pen to add the dots to the plum pudding layer and a distressing tool to add some interest to the lavender moon petals.  The husband is taking a nap (relax...the Eagles don't play until tomorrow night) so I couldn't fire up the sewing machine.  I went with faux stitching done with a SU marker.  I'm not a fan of faux stitching but it works in a pinch.  Ooops.  I just realized I didn't correctly follow the sketch challenge.  Oh well!  I had fun and that's all that matters.  Here's a closeup of the flowers:

      I like to lightly bend up the petals on these to get a dimensional effect.   No special tools needed...just a stubby fingernail or two!  Thanks so much for stopping by.  I'll be up late tonight for Papertrey's release party so maybe - just maybe - I'll have something else to share later.  Or I could just go to bed early and set the alarm to get up in the middle of the night.  Hmmmm.  Tempting!

Until next time...M

Supplies:

Ink:  Papertrey plum pudding

Cardstock:  Papertrey vintage cream, plum pudding, lavender moon, Guidelines patterned paper

Stamps:  Papertrey Floral Frenzy

Other:  SU 1" and 1  3/8" circle punches, Marvy flower punches mega and giga, Papertrey plum pudding grosgrain ribbon,  SU distressing tool, Souffle pen, SU elegant eggplant marker