Polka Dots {The Twinery}

I like a challenge, but I also LOVE freedom to create my way.

It's the best of both worlds with The Twinery's new challenge! 

You get a simple theme to get you started and then have the freedom to create whatever you want within that theme.

Here's the current theme:

I am really excited to share the card I created for this challenge. It is one of those that was fun to dream up and I really love the finished product.

Well - hello there, beautiful!

I used The Twinery's Charcoal twine to complement the papers that I used from Crate Paper's "On Trend" collection.

Be sure to visit The Twinery's blog where you can get all the challenge details and enter your project to win a fabulous prize!

Supplies:
Twine: The Twinery (Charcoal); 
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink (Rustic White);
Patterned Paper: Crate Paper ("On Trend" 6x6); 
Stickers: Lily Bee Design (ABC Stickers - Buttercup); 
Button: Foof-a-la;
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer, Scissors, Round N Round Squeeze Punches); Scor-Pal (Scoring Board);

PS - I'm linking this up for the Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger: Set The Table. 

Love those natural colors and the layout of the image!

The Play Date Cafe Challenge {The Twinery}

This week over at The Play Date Cafe is a new color challenge sponsored by The Twinery.

This challenge is a perfect excuse to break our your Denim, Stone, and/or Buttercream twine.

I created this quick and easy card using Buttercream twine and papers from Heidi Swapp's "No Limits" collection. 

Thanks for stopping by - and be sure to head on over to The Twinery's blog to see more inspiration for this challenge!

Supplies:
Twine: The Twinery (Buttercream); 
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink (Soft Stone);
Patterned Paper: Heidi Swapp ("No Limits" 6x6);
Stickers: Lily Bee Design (ABC Stickers - Buttercup);
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer, Scissors, Heart Squeeze Punch); Scor-Pal (Scoring Board);

Please allow me to introduce myself.

Well hello there!
Please allow me to introduce myself.
You may be stopping by for the first time today or you may have been here often before, but I thought it was time to formally introduce myself.

My name is Tifany.
I am a wife (going on 10 1/2 years now), a 30-something homeschooling mother to three kids (ages 9,7, and 4), and a girl who tries to follow Christ.
Just like the rest of you my life has many components: I make stuff, I eat stuff, I read stuff, I paint stuff, I draw stuff, I think about stuff, I live with {disease} stuff, and sometimes I get a wild hair and go and do stuff.

Why introduce myself now - after blogging for over 5 years? 

Well...I've decided to do a little tidying up around here, starting with a fresh new look for my blog. And with that fresh new look will come some new content - things I haven't really explored on this blog before.
Crafting will still be the main content on my blog...but that is not all that I am involved in so I didn't think it should be all that I blog about.

Some things you might see coming from me in the near future:
recipes, book reviews, homeschooling ideas, encouraging thoughts or quotes, information about lupus and/or fibromyalgia, and whatever else I think might be worth sharing.

I hope you'll stay tuned for all the stuff I'll be sharing. {My plan is to have a post for you every Tuesday and every Friday.}

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful day!

Cheer Up

Hello!

I just wanted to share a quick card today created with my houndstooth chevron arrows stamp that was released in Unity Stamp Company's July 2012 SMAK kit.

Wishing you a cheerful day!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Discount Cardstock (Brilliant White 130#, Orange Dotted);
Stamps: Unity Stamp Company (July 2012 SMAK); Cornish Heritage Farms (Quirky Alphabet);
Ink: Ranger (Archival - Jet Black); Memento (Dandelion, Cantaloupe, Tangelo);
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer); Scor-Pal (Scoring Board);

ValenTWINE Jar {The Twinery}

Hello!

I hope you are joining in on the big Be Our Valentine Blog Celebration over on The Twinery's blog - there are lots of great Valentine ideas being showcased AND some great giveaways!

I still haven't let go of the idea of Christmas/winter (after all our snow did just finally melt away this week) - so for my Valentine decor project I wanted to create something inspired by all the fun snow globes that were popping up for the Christmas season. 

For my "ValenTWINE Jar" I started with some basic crafting supplies:

• Plain white cardstock
• The Twinery's twine
• Washi tape
• A Mason jar
• Punches

I started by covering the plain white cardstock in strips of washi tape. Once the cardstock covered enough area, I used a variety of heart shaped Fiskars punches to punch two of each heart.

I punched holes in the lid of my canning jar using my Crop-A-Dile Big Bite and threaded The Twinery's twine through each of the three holes. I used Platinum Shimmer, Strawberry, and Blossom twine. I triple-knotted each strand of twine to hold it in place, but I also did add a bit of tape to make sure it would stay. 

{We will be covering up the top of this...so it doesn't matter how it looks right now.}

I adhered each heart (back-to-back, with the washi tape covered side out) to each strand of twine that was hanging below the lid at a length that would work well inside my canning jar. Then I added some plastic "diamonds" in the bottom of my jar and added my lid. 

To finish off the lid I cut a cardstock circle the size of the lid insert and covered it with strips of washi tape. I just placed it on top of the lid and used the outer ring of the lid to hold it in place, but you can also glue it to the lid insert to keep a steady hold.  

I added a bit of washi tape to the outer ring of the lid and topped it with a twine bow and a bit of bling.

Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to stop by The Twinery's blog to see today's great giveaway!

Supplies: 

Cardstock: Georgia Pacific (White);
Twine: The Twinery (Platinum Shimmer, Strawberry, Blossom); 
Washi Tape: My Craft Channel;
Embellishments: Maya Road (Vintage Bling); eBay ("Diamonds");
Other: Kerr (Mason/Canning Jar);
Tools: Fiskars (Heart Squeeze Punches, Scissors); 

Follow Your Heart {The Twinery}

Hello!

I hope you are joining in on the big Be Our Valentine Blog Celebration over on The Twinery's blog - there are lots of great Valentine ideas being showcased AND some great giveaways!

Today is "Cards & Pages" day and I am playing along - here's my card:

I used The Twinery's Charcoal twine to jazz up this "Follow Your Heart" card.

Be sure to stop by The Twinery's blog to see today's great giveaway - and please come back on Friday (the 8th) to see a fun Valentine decorating idea using The Twinery's twine.

See you soon!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Discount Cardstock (Brilliant White 130#, Black Dungaree);
Twine: The Twinery (Charcoal); 
Stamps: Market Street Stamps (Follow Your Heart);
Ink: Ranger (Archival - Jet Black);
Markers: Copic;
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer, Scissors); Scor-Pal (Scoring Board);

Oh, Happy Day! {The Twinery}

Sometimes I think we get so caught up in life that we might just forget to stop and appreciate the fact that we've been given another day - and we just need to make the best of it!

I love the sentiment "Oh, Happy Day!" - it reminds me that there is something to celebrate in every. single. day.
I tried to keep the design of my card light and fun to echo that joyous feeling. 

And of course the Buttercream twine adds just the perfect little happy touch!

Go ahead and make this a happy day!

Supplies:
Patterned Paper: American Crafts (Dear Lizzy - Neapolitan);
Stamps: Market Street Stamps (Simple Salutations);
Ink: Ranger (Archival - Jet Black);
Twine: The Twinery (Buttercream);
Tools: Fiskars (Trimmer, Scissors); Scor-Pal (Scoring Board);

Stay Tuned {The Twinery}

The Twinery will be kicking off February with a BIG Valentine celebration.
Be sure to join in February 1-9 for tons of inspiration (& prizes)!

I'll be joining in right here on my blog on February 5th for the Cards & Pages day:

 And back again on February 8th for the Home Decor day:

See you then!

Mitten Mini Album

I combined two of Maya Road's coaster albums to create this Christmas mini album. It is a combination of chipboard pages and clear acrylic pages - and all together it creates a beautiful little spot for our Christmas pictures. 

I guess I should get those pictures printed, shouldn't I?

I used a non traditional color scheme here - black and white with a splash of green - and totally love the result.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Supplies:
Album: Maya Road (Clear Acrylic Mitten Coaster, Chipboard Mitten Coaster); 
Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye (Lost & Found Two: Rosy 6x6); Crate Paper (Portrait 6x6); Lily Bee Design (Picket Fence 6x6); 
Stamps: Unity Stamp Company (Snowflake from Snowflake Kisses);
Ink: Ranger (Archival - Jet Black); 
Paint: Apple Barrel (White, Black);
Accents: Maya Road (Snowflake Transparencies - Black, Christmas Words Mini Chipboard Set);
Rubons: Hambly (Sewing - Black, Elegant Labels - White); Basic Grey (bel-489);
Tools: Fiskars (Craft Knife, Scissors); 

ARTISTA Archives... {Unity Stamp Company}

My first images with Unity Stamp Company debuted back in June of 2012.

Since starting to design for Unity I've had over 45 individual images/sentiments plus an alphabet set put into production as stamps. Many of my images are in the Kit of the Month, S.M.A.K. Kit, or Stamp of the Week, but the ones that are in individual kits are now all together in my little corner of the Unity website - you can find it here.