Spreading the Love!

One of the things I love so much about card making is the joy it brings to others. I know my family and friends always enjoy receiving a special handmade card in the mail...it's such a nice surprise to find in a pile of bills and junk mail! :) Although I also know that sometimes us card makers have a stack of cards just sitting around. When was the last time you sent one of your lovely cards to someone? The owner of my local scrapbook store that I design for is on a mission this month to send at least one card each day to a friend or family member...isn't that great?! I think I might have to take on this challenge myself!

Last night I took some time to work on the new sketch for 2 Sketches 4 You. I really enjoyed working with this sketch and used some of Crate Paper's great Season Collection to come up with this card:

I love the colors and worn look of this collection. My center mat was created using some of the cloud paper and several chipboard pieces as well as a little turquoise ric rac. The half circle is actually a rainbow...doesn't it add so much more to the card than just a regular plain colored circle would have?! I love when something as simple as turning an embellishment on its' side can make such a difference in how a project looks.

I think I will be sending this card to my grandma in California along with a few great pictures of the kiddos!

I hope you all are having a wonderful day! I actually went to the gym this morning (yeah me!) and am looking forward to a quiet afternoon with the boys.

If you want to play along in the 2S4Y challenge you have until Saturday...click HERE for all the details.

It's gonna be a Bright, Sunshiny Day!!!

This morning I woke up to beautiful sunshine streaming through the windows...I love a nice spring day!

So I thought I would share a little sunshine with you all too! Here's a treasury that I created last night:

I just love the warmth and happy feel of this treasury! Click HERE to see the treasury up close and discover the great shops that sell these items.

Now, for those of you who don't know...Etsy has just released a new treasury called treasury east. If you have never been able to get a main treasury, then treasury east is for you. Treasury east allows anyone to create a treasury at any time and the treasury never expires. Now it is currently in the beginning stages and many people think that there should be limits, expiration dates, etc., which I completely agree with because otherwise there eventually will be thousands of treasury easts and really who is going to bother to even look through them? But for now you can enjoy creating your own treasury anytime you like...check it out here. If you still want to try to snag a main treasury because you think that's part of the fun, now is also a good time to do that because fewer people are waiting around for it. Click here to see my tips for getting a main treasury. (Just a note: I think the main treasury is still currently getting more views/exposure since the treasury link from the front page goes to it)

The other day I did try out Treasury East and created a fun rainy day collection...I guess I am inspired by weather lately! :)

Click HERE to see this treasury up close along with links to the shops.

Okay...I hope you all have a wonderful day! I am going to enjoy some outside time with my boys, run a few errands, and finish up my design team projects!

Saturday Night Special!!!

Every Saturday on Etsy there are tons of shops that participate in Saturday Night Specials. And tonight I am joining the party!

For tonight only...technically through tomorrow morning (6 am PST), I am offering 10% off your entire purchase from my Etsy shop, Capturing Creativity.

I have lots of new cards, embellishments and creativity kits in stock, so pop on by and find some goodies for yourself or for a friend! :)

To see a list of the other shops participating in Saturday Night Specials, click HERE.

(If you are looking for my Etsy Inspired Challenge post, please see the post below)

The Joy of Felt - Etsy Inspired Challenge #84

It's time for a new Etsy Inspired challenge! This week we have a lovely, warm, and unique shop for you to be inspired by. Cose Dolci specializes in beautiful handmade living accessories. When I first saw this shop I fell in love with her wool felt bowls. I can picture a few of them in my dream craft room...each filled with a different embellishment. :)

This is one of my favorite pieces from the shop but I was really mostly inspired by all the felt and texture in the shop.

Using goodies from The Caffinated Cropper's 'With a Cherry on Top' kit along with some felt embellishments from my own shop, here is what I came up with:

I really like the softness the felt adds to the card and didn't that pretty blue lace make for a nice little flower?!

So in case you haven't heard yet, our sponsor this week is The Caffinated Cropper. Amy will be giving this week's winner a mini version of the April kit, 'With a Cherry on Top'. One of the many things I love about this kit is that although it is a cherry theme (and there are tons of great cherry goodies in the kit), Amy took the theme a little further...including cherry blossoms and coordinating items that allow you to create a wider variety of projects. And she also does a great job of finding unique items to include. I don't think I ever would have bought one of those pearl 'thingamabobs' on my own, but having it in the kit I was inspired to use it and came up with that fun lace flower, which I love! :)

Amy, the owner, is super sweet herself and has some great companies and designers contributing to her kits. This month's kit includes some great digital stamps from Lindsay Spencer which I love because you can use them even after all your paper crafting goodies are long gone...plus they are super cute! Also included are some fabulous Stickerz from EAD Designs. Click HERE to check out the list of ALL the items that are included in 'With a Cherry on Top'.

So now that I know you are ready to play...
- Check out Cose Dolci and find an item that inspires you...feel free to look through her sold section too.
- Create a project of your own based off the inspiration and link it up to the Etsy Inspired Blog by Friday, April 23rd at noon PST.

If you are new to the challenge click HERE to see all the rules.

Be sure to check out the Design Team projects this week...a lot of them used the fabulous 'With a Cherry on Top' kit!

• Ashley
• De
• Emily
• Heather
• Joy
• Lori (April Guest Designer)
• Savannah (April Guest Designer)
• Shannon

Happy, happy, happy birthday! - 2S4Y challenge card

Yeah it's Friday! And it is a beautiful day here in Washington! I already spent some time outside with my youngest son this morning, got some things ready for a garage sale, and even had a chance to do some crafting during his unexpected nap this afternoon...all that fresh air must have worn him out! :)

When I saw that 2 Sketches 4 You was having a Design Team call, I knew I had to make time to play along in the challenge this week. So I got out more of my new Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety goodies and came up with this fun card:


Isn't that tomato just too cute?! I stuck it on top of a great red felt flower from Creative Cafe to give it that extra punch.

You still have until tomorrow to play along in this challenge...check out the details HERE.

I'll be back tomorrow for the Etsy Inspired Challenge!

Happy Thursday!

Hello all! I have been a busy bee this week...just have a need to let out some creative energy I guess! :) I have two more cards to share with you all today. First up is a card I created for a new challenge hosted by Jenny over at her blog, wee memories. I was totally inspired by the inspiration board she put together and the theme 'April showers'. Click HERE to see the challenge details...there is still one more day to play!


I am totally in love with how this card turned out...thanks for the inspiration Jenny! :) I thought this would be a great card to help cheer someone up and let them know you are there for them during a difficult time.

Next up is a card I created for the Get Sketchy challenge. I had fun playing with some new Cosmo Cricket Garden Variety goodies...although I do still need to work on my sewing skills a bit. :)


Hope you are having a wonderful day!

Happy Birthday!

This week I'm working on some Design Team projects for my LSS, Lasting Memories. I am using the colorful and glittery Studio Basics Birthday line from Creative Imaginations to create a double page layout but I took a moment today to use some of the papers to create a fun (and simple) birthday card.

Using the sketch from Card Patterns, here is what I came up with:


Aren't these papers fun?! I love all the glitter on these papers and those great cupcakes!

Okay, off to work on my layout...have a nice evening!