Been MIA for a Few Days

Hi Everyone! I've been MIA for the past few days. . .I just needed a little R&R from card making and blogging. I've recently started playing tennis which unfortunately, has taken time away from my card making. I just need to find a way to fit both activities in a day. After playing tennis, I'm usually tired and not in the mood to make cards. My husband said because I've been a sedentary person for such a long time and am now starting to become active especially starting an exercise program or sport, my body needs to adjust to the physical activity. Well, I hope I'll adjust sooner rather than later.

I've been having fun playing tennis and as a family, we decided to take tennis lessons. We just missed the summer classes so we're going to start our lessons in September.

Anyway. . .tomorrow is TIC Day #4. . .be sure to stop by and check out what challenge I'll be posting tomorrow! I'll also fit some time to make a few cards. Tomorrow is my "walking" day. I walk about a mile. . .a mile isn't much but there's a part of my walk that includes a block of climbing uphill so it is pretty strenuous. I'm starting a diet and exercise program for myself and my goal is to lose 25 lbs in 6 months. Wish me luck! Hopefully, I'll be able to lose some weight and actually achieve my goal.

If you are interested in my weight loss progress, check out my blog site "Journey to Skinnyville". I just started it so there's not much to read but I've posted 2 entries so far.

Hope y'all are having a nice evening!

TIC Day #3 - Extreme Make-Over Submissions

Good Morning, Y'all! This is a submission for this weeks TIC! This one is from Monika of "M.A.D. Stamper". Her original card looks awesome but she felt it was too plain so she decided to spruce it up a little by adding a few elements to her card.

This is the "made-over" card. The subtle changes highlighted the focal point with a circle scallop framing around the cake and she stamped additional presents bordering the bottom of the card. I love the changes to the card. Great job Monika and thank you for once again participating in my TIC! I really appreciate it!

TIC Day #3 - Tuesday's Inspirational Challenge - "Extreme Make-Over" Sample

Happy 4th of July Everyone! Jus' posting this card sample for this weeks TIC. So far the samples I've created for this challenge were "adding" elements. This time, I decided to "remove" elements of the card.

After completing the card to the right, I felt it didn't achieve the "feel" that I was going for. I wanted something a little more elegant looking. The paper clips sort of took away the elegance of what this card could have been. Scroll down to the "after" picture to see what I did to make-over this card.



This is the "made-over" card.

I decided to remove the paper clips, change the color of the rhinestones and add leaves to the flowers. I think the simplicity of the card now gives the card an elegant look.





Card Details:

Stamps: Doodle This, Word on Word, Inkadinkado (floral background)
Ink: Rose Red, Pretty in Pink, Green Galore, Watercolor Crayons
Paper: Rose Red, Sage Shadow, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Darice rhinestones

Submission for Jen's 10K Blog Candy

I just remembered that today is the last day for Jen's Blog Candy at "Pieces of Me". I rushed and finished up this card so I can submit it to Jen. Jen is celebrating her 10K hits! Participants need to create a card with a piece of clothing or fashion item as inspiration. I used a blouse with this pretty print as my inspiration!

I'll write more detail on the card later today.

TIC Day #3 - Tuesday's Inspirational Challenge - Extreme Make-Over Sample

Happy 4th of July Everyone!! What are you folks doing to celebrate Independence Day? We'll be heading to the community park located 10 minutes away from our home and join in the festivities. There will be fireworks later in the evening. . .I believe at 9:00 p.m. We'll be heading down at about 3:00 or 4:00 to check out the entertainments and of course, eat! It sounds like it'll be a lot of fun.

I wanted to use this card as my sample for my TIC #3 - "Extreme Make-Over". What I didn't like about the card was that every element of the card were located to the right of the card and I don't know, in my opinion, it didn't look balanced.


To balance the card a little I added a half circle punch to the left of the card and added a brad. It's a small change but I think it looks better with the changes. What do you think? Do you prefer the "before" or the "after" card?

Anyway, why don't you play along with my TIC. I would love to see your "Extreme Make-Over" Card. Click Here for the details of this weeks challenge.


Card Details:

Stamp: Beautiful Blossoms
Ink: Lavender Lace, Old Olive, Green Galore, Bordering Blue, Lovely Lilac
Paper: Bordering Blue, Green Galore, Night of Navy
Accessories: Making Memories "Definitions", Basic Basic Ribbon, Card Connection Star Charm, Gold Metallic Cord, JoAnn gold brads, 1" and 1 1/4 circle punch

TIC Day #3 - (Tuesday's Inspirational Challenge) - Extreme Make-Over

Hey, Hey Everyone! It's TIC time again! This is the third installment of my TIC! I hope y'all are going to join in and participate this week!I had previously posted this card as a "Random Card" but decided to use it as a sample for this week's TIC. After watching "Extreme Makeover" this evening, I thought it would be a great idea to have my TIC be an "Extreme Makeover" Challenge!

Here are the rules

• Find a card that you previously made that you may not be quite satisfied with and do a makeover on it.

• Reconstruct your card by changing elements or adding new element to the card to change the look of the card but still maintain aspects of the original card.

• Do not make a brand new card and completely change the whole layout. If you have to create a new card, it can't be a complete change to your card. It has to have several elements of the original card.

• You may cut out the primary layout and re-apply it on to a new card base that is of a different color and still maintain the original layout but it has to be an obvious change to the look of the card.

• It don't have to be an EXTREME Make-over. . .just a make-over!

• Send a BEFORE and AFTER picture of the card by adding your link to the card on your blog site or email the pictures to me at lbmcd66@hotmail.com. If you plan email the pictures, don't forget to send me your blog address, website address, or gallery address. I will be posting a link on my blog site along with pictures of your cards.

• Your card do not have to be rubber stamped. It can be a paper pieced, a scrapbook embellishment type of card, hand-drawn, etc.

• Be creative with your make-over. It's fun to see the difference between the original card and the reconstructed card.

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All submissions must be turned in by this upcoming Sunday! I will randomly choose a winner from the participants and post the winner on Monday. I am giving away a RAK card as a "thank you" for your participation. Any card made with Stampin Up images will be posted on Stampin Inspirations and all card not made with Stampin Up images will be posted on Card Inspired.
Check out my sample of my "Extreme Make-over" card.

The card I posted as a sample for this challenge is a card I, originally, was not quite satisfied with. I didn't like the sentiment to the side of the the tag. The sentiment did not fit well with the layout and I saw it more clearly after I took a picture of it. I decided that maybe I should add a sentiment using a circle tag instead.Now . . .here is the made-over card. I think it looks better with the circle sentiment. What do you think? I think it's more in proportion with the overall layout!

It's not an "Extreme Make-over" but it is a make-over that I think made a big difference to how the card looked.

Card Detail:

Stamps: Hero Arts Row of Perky Flowers and SentimentsInk: SU Pixie Pink, Prismacolor Markers, Sakura Souffle Opaque PenPaper: SU Rose Red, More Mustard and DCWV Scrapbook PaperAccessories: American Craft Elements Ribbon, 1 and 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Sizzix Scallop Die, Fiskar Scallop Scissors


Here is another example of an "Extreme Make-Over" card that I made. You may disagree with the change but I felt that my card was a bit plain although I liked it the way it was, I thought maybe adding a metal saying would add a little bit more character to the design.

This is the make-over card.

Card Details:

Stamp: Beautiful Blossoms and Warm Words

Paper: Positively Pink, Green Galore

Ink: Cranberry Crisp, Positively Pink, Almost Artichoke, Green Galore

Accessories: Hodgepodge Hardware Pewter, Making Memories Eyelet Quotes -Children, Organdy Ribbon (unknown)

Random Card - Buckle/Slot Card

This card is similar to the "Big Buckle" card that is shown on SCS but this one is slightly different. The "belt" strip is smaller and instead of using a the "Word Window Punch" to punch a slot to insert the strip, I cut two vertical slits using a blade. The strip slides through both strips to keep the card closed. The SCS tutorial's strip basically inserts into the punched slot. I made a card a few days ago on Card Inspired that is similar to the SCS Tutorial.

I wanted to create something a little different with this card. I covered the slits with the large Prima flowers because I didn't do a good job cutting the slits (they were a bit crooked). The Prima flower solved my problem.

Card Details:

Stamp: In My Thoughts and Baroque Motif
Paper: Rose Red, Sage Shadow, DCWV designer paper
Ink: Rose Red and Green Galore
Accessories: Target large Prima Flower, Foo-la-la buttons, Ribbon (unknown)



This is the card opened up. I placed a tag to the left panel because I didn't like how the slit appeared on the inside of the card. It didn't look very professional looking so the tag's purpose is to cover it up.

TIC Day #2 - Three Way Baby! (Tri-fold Cards) Last Tri-fold Card IDea

Happy Sunday Everyone! This will be my last tri-fold card idea I'll be posting! Today is the last day to submit your card to me! I hope for those who participated, you had fun creating tri-fold cards! There's so many ways to create one and it's great to see the different ideas that y'all came up with!

I'll be drawing the winner for the RAK card I'll be giving away! I know it isn't much but it's just my way of saying thank you to those who participated! I really do appreciate it.

Now on to the card. . .this is again a horizontal tri-fold card with a scalloped edge. This is I think the easiest tri-fold cards to create.

Nothing much to the card itself. . .I stamped the flower using the new SU stamp set "Pick a Petal". This is a very versatile stamp set. You can come up with so many different variations of a flower with this set. I created the sentiment myself using my computer and printing it out. I didn't have a "summer" sentiment stamp so I had to create my own. The color combo is Only Orange, More Mustard, and Summer Sun. I actually don't like the colors orange and yellow but I think they fit perfectly for summer themed cards!

The rest of the design was basically matting the Summer Sun cardstock with DP by DCWV. I just used scraps left over from another card I made for my Card Inspired blog site. I made a similar tri-fold card on Card Inspired but used a Prima Flower and a different layout. Be sure to check it out. It's the same fold but arranged differently.

I'll still be accepting submissions until 12 midnight and will draw the winner from the participants sometime tomorrow.


This is the second fold of the card.

This is the card completely opened up.