Here's an oh-so-sweet and oh-so-girly card I made for my little girl, Livi. She's only 6 years old (almost 7), but she did a very grown-up thing, and I couldn't be more proud. She donated 11 inches of her hair to Locks of Love!
She's now sporting a spunky shoulder length "do" that's very "big girl", and it looks darling on her! And the best part is that what she did is helping someone else!
I made this little mini album for some friends of ours who just celebrated their 18th anniversary. Denice loves scrapbooking, and she sent me the nicest email about the toilet paper tube mini album I posted last week, so I decided to make her one!
These are the inserts that slide into each of the toilet paper tubes.
Here's a close-up of page 2 ...
and a close-up of page 3. If you'd like to take up scrapbooking but are a little intimidated by a 12x12 layout, try one of these! They're fun to make and super easy! 
A number of you have emailed me or left comments on my last post requesting instructions for the toilet paper tube mini album. I found the tutorial on the demonstrator side of the Stampin' Up website, which explains why many of you are not able to find it. I'm not sure if I have the right to post a link to the tutorial directly here. Julie Griffith wrote the tutorial, and if you go to her blog, you can see a few of the toilet paper tube mini albums she created and a video of different ways she binds them together. It really is super easy to make, and I'm confident that you can do it without the instructions. In fact, I jumped right in and didn't really even read the instructions step by step myself. I'll outline a few things that are good to know, and you'll have no trouble creating one of these on your own.
I spent a little time today creating this mini album for my mother-in-law. She just had surgery, and I wanted to send her something special. I found a tutorial for a toilet paper tube mini album on the Stampin' Up website, and it's the perfect size! I'd really like to get this in the mail this weekend, and I knew if I picked something too big I would end up putting tons of time into it, and I'd be lucky if I got it in the mail by the end of the month!
Here's a peek at each of the tubes... I mean pages. Do they look familiar? I *borrowed* a few ideas from some of the cards I've made recently. What a time saver!
The next three pictures show the inserts that fit inside each of the pages. I *borrowed* the idea for this flower from the talented Julie Ebersole.
I think I'll have my write a little something to their grandma on the back of this insert. Grandmas love notes from their grandkids!
I will definitely be making one of these again! It's kind of funny that the pages are made out of toilet paper tubes. They make for nice sturdy pages, that's for sure! Thanks for stopping by! I hope you have a fun weekend planned... with some time for stamping, of course!
I had some brackets left over after making this card for the A Muse Lounge Challenge yesterday. Then I remembered Glenda's latest Random Amusing Challenge to use up those scraps, and I just had to play along! I stamped Ivy Ketto on a scrap of watercolor paper and punched out the little tag from a scrap of natural cardstock. This was a great challenge and the perfect opportunity to put some scraps to good use!
Aren't these daisy hippos fun? I couldn't resist adding them to my last Stamping Bella order. They would be cute for lots of occasions, and I can't wait to use them on a baby card. The funky little flower stamped in the background is from My Cute Stamps. I've been eyeing a few of their sets and just couldn't hold out any longer! I made this for some dear friends who surprised my daughter with the sweetest dress. Cindy's favorite color is purple, so I just HAD to find a way to use it on her card. I'm somewhat challenged when it comes to the color purple, but I have to admit that I love that purple hippo!
I made this card for a little boy in my daughter's kindergarten class. To make a long story short, Livi lost her glasses at school last week, and Noah ended up finding them. That wonderful little boy saved me from having to buy her another pair, so I'm extremely thankful! I'm not sure that he'll appreciate the card, but I'm certain he'll love what's inside... a WalMart gift certificate. Livi says he loves Star Wars, so it's my guess that he'll be picking himself out a new Star Wars toy... and he deserves it!
Look familiar? Here's a slight variation of yesterday's card. This one's an envelope card, which is my favorite these days. I made this for a friend who surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Wasn't that sweet of her?
Here's a happy little card I made with some new goodies I ordered from 2Peas. It's not often that I use solid images, probably because I love the detail you get from coloring in outlined images. But it was nice to try something other than watercoloring for a change... although I did watercolor the elephant's ear. I just couldn't resist coloring in those flowers! I'm not sure what color scheme I've got going on here, but it was fun using some colors I wouldn't normally think of putting together.
I found a little stamping time this afternoon and decided to make another envelope card. My crimping skills haven't improved since my last attempt, so I used another embossing folder instead. Cuttlebug needs to come out with a crimped embossing folder for those of us who are crimping impaired!
Monday's Technique Lover's Challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers was to make a crimped envelope card, and I thought it would be fun to give it a try. I improvised and used a 4-bar envelope instead of an A2 and my swiss dots embossing folder instead of a crimper. For some reason, I'm "challenged" when it comes to using a crimper. I can never seem to get the paper to feed through the crimper straight, so when it comes out, the lines are slanted! I'm sure there must be a trick to it, or maybe it's just me and nobody else has that problem! Anyhoo... I was excited to use some of my new Whipper Snapper stamps. I've had them a while, but just haven't had the chance to ink them up yet. These images are Anna Wight designs. Her stamps are amazing and lots of fun to watercolor! This is going to my mom. She loves chickens, so I think she'll like it.
Yesterday, my mom mentioned that she needed a baby card. I couldn't stand the thought of her buying one, not when I could easily make one. I bought this clear set at Michaels a few weeks ago when all their Martha Stewart was 30% off. I love the set. It's classic "Martha". The images are sweet, and they stamp nicely, but you have to pull the stamps apart. I found out the hard way that they rip easily. Luckily, I was able to salvage the torn stamp and still make it work. 
A friend of mine is expecting a baby boy any day now, so I thought I'd better get busy and make her a card. I needed a little inspiration, so I browsed through the baby cards over at Splitcoast Stampers and ran across this amazingly sweet double pocket card by ChristineCreations. Oh my, is that girl talented! I love the Bella Rose papers she used, but they were a bit too girly for a baby boy card, so I switched things up a bit while keeping the same overall design. I have a mountainous (is that a word?) stack of paper I've been trying to use, and I was happy to find these cuties from a Nana's Nursery stack I bought a while back at JoAnn's. They were just the boyish colors I needed. I also pulled out some stamps I haven't inked up yet and some ribbon I've been "collecting" (yes "collecting"... not "hoarding").
I made this card for my mom who surprised me last week with a new pair of boots, a scarf, and matching gloves. She has such a big heart, which is just one of the things I love about her. She is fun to make cards for because even though she isn't a paper crafter herself, she loves my handmade cards and saves every one of them in the drawer of her nightstand. Isn't that sweet?
I was searching through some of my stamp sets the other day looking for some fun images to watercolor, and I remembered this cow by Anna Wight. Isn't she darling? She's part of a set called Bundle of Joy, and this would make a sweet baby card simply by changing out the sentiment.
Today I thought I'd try watercoloring. I'm not very good at it, but I figure that if I keep practicing I'm bound to get better. I've tried aqua pens, and for some reason, I just can't seem to make them work. So I used a blender pen, and I found that it was much easier to control. It amazes me how many different shades of color you can get with a single color of ink. With my riding hood red ink pad I was able to get a wide range of colors from the very palest pink on her tights to the deeper reds on the cherries in her basket. Pretty cool, eh?
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