My Very First Card Challenge!

I just love Dawn McVey's blog, so am happy to be participating in my first ever card challenge anywhere by posting this card for her color challenge.

Dawn asked us to use these colors in our card: Lemon Tart, Dark Chocolate, Aqua Mist (love!) and Vintage Cream. You can find the details here: Color Challenge No. 21.

Here is my card, Sweet Little Baby.

I'm giving this card to a friend of mine who just delivered her first baby a couple days ago! I used Waltzingmouse's Seasons of Love heart stamp for the card. The stamp is supposed to be intended for Christmas or Valentine's day, but I thought it was sweet enough to use it for a newborn baby. The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Bitty Baby Blessings, which is a super cute baby stamp set.

The patterned paper is from Papertrey Ink's Bitty Dot paper collection. I'm using it for the first time and it is amazing! I'm usually not very big on using patterned papers, but I just love how it adds so much to the card.

Here's a detail of the card.

Since we're already on the topic of babies, have you noticed all the excitement going on over at Nichole Heady's blog? She has just announced a brand new baby stamp set: Baby Button Bits. Take a peek if you haven't yet! It is ADORABLE! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by today! I'd be delighted if you would follow my blog by clicking the link to the right. Also, thanks for all of your really sweet comments about my cards and my new blog. I thank all of you for making it so much fun! You are a great bunch of people.

Wishing you a sunshine-filled day! :)

Cardstock: Vintage Cream, Papertrey Ink
Patterned Paper: 2008 Bitty Dot Paper Collection, Papertrey Ink
Ink: Aqua Mist, Dark Chocolate, Papertrey Ink
Buttons: Lemon Tart, Papertrey Ink
Stamps: Seasons of Love,Waltzingmouse Stamps, Bitty Baby Blessings, Papertrey Ink

Simply Sunshine

So I made a final decision about the blog name! I went through several different incarnations trying to decide which one fits best. (You may have even seen one of the other versions when you glanced here last.) After much deliberation and overthinking, I decided upon Simply Sunshine. That seems to best describe the place I live and also my style and attitude towards crafting. I like my cards to be simple and a little bit happy and sunny too! What do you think? :)

So here is the first card I have for you today.

I used PTI’s Garden of Life stamp set for this card (my favorite PTI flower set). If you look closely, there are green gems in the center of the flowers. I just love the card and it took me all of 5 minutes.

I’ve been reading tons of blogs lately and noticed there’s this trend going around where everyone picks one word for the year and that word provides focus for the year’s goals. It is an awesome idea, and of course I couldn’t just pick one. I picked two: Begin and Fast. This card really exemplifies my focus on that goal. Beginning is hard for me but getting it done quickly is even harder!

The sentiment is wonderful too—Friends are the flowers in the garden of life. Too true!

My next card uses PTI’s Heart Prints and Sweet Love. I think hearts leaning towards each other is one of the sweetest images ever. The position reminds me of a couple cuddling together. I want to explore that idea more.

Is that bow a little bit silly? I had a heck of a time with it. Did I mention one of my New Year’s resolutions is to tie a better bow? Seriously. I am really trying though!

How about this?

Is this better? Hmmm...Isn't it interesting how a bow can make the card look completely different?

That is all the cards for today! I am working on some challenges (including Ted's Valentine's Day challenge and Dawn McVey's color challenge) and I will post those within a couple of days. I am also starting a card project which I will tell you about soon.

Just a couple more things.

Someone asked about the kissing technique I used in my previous love cards. I'll post a quick tutorial at the end of the post. Sorry, no tutorial pics though. I’m not quite that sophisticated yet, lol. :)

Also, thanks to Ted for being my first blog follower! I welcome you to click the button to the right and become a follower too. It would make my day!

And thanks for all of the sweet comments you left. I really appreciate it! It is wonderful to hear from all of you. :)

I encourage those who haven’t started a blog yet to try it out! It’s really a lot of fun. A little tip: if you want to jazz up your blog and are just starting out (like me) a couple of great websites to try are www.shabbyblogs.com and www.thecoolestblogontheblock.com. They both have a whole bunch of free banners and backgrounds you can add to your site with simple directions on how to add it.

And now I will leave you with the Kissing Technique Tutorial (which sounds much more sexy than it really is, lol.)

Here is the Kissing Technique Tutorial:

1. Ink up the stamp you want to reverse.

2. Impress it onto any blank solid stamp (in this case I used a blank solid heart from Heart Prints, but you can use any stamp that has a solid surface like that).

3. Stamp the solid stamp on the paper. It works best if you lift it up slowly. The image might be slightly lighter than its regularly stamped counterpart, but it’s usually not too noticeable.

Have some fun with it! :) I really enjoyed that technique and plan to use it a lot more. Also, it didn’t occur to me until after I posted that card that I used the kissing technique to make the fish kiss. In retrospect, I thought that was kind of ironic and sweet. ;)

Thanks for stopping by! Wishing you a sunshine-filled day! :)

No. 1: Love

I can think of no better way to begin my first post than with the word love...love for my family, friends, and also love for card making, for the friends I've found through card making, and for Papertrey Ink! 


I just recently starting playing with this newly released Papertrey Ink stamp set, Tiny Treats. It is a blast to use! So many fun possibilities with this set. Without further ado, here's my first card, Love is in the Air. 

I'm still new to copics, but have to say they are fun to use. I need to practice though! I stamped the fish and then reverse stamped it by "kissing" it to a blank stamp. I just think these fish are made for each other! Their cute smile makes their smooch so much sweeter.


The next card uses the cats from Tiny Treats, Purr-fect Friend.

I thought that sweet cat needed a best friend, so I reversed the image too. I just love how their tails are curling towards each other. Too cute!


The inside of the cards.

I cut out a hearts nestabilities and framed the outer portion around the white embossed Happy Valentine's Day sentiment.

That's all the cards for today! I have more of these small Tiny Treats valentines to post later as well as some Heart Prints cards. 


Any thoughts you have about the new blog would be greatly appreciated, including constructive feedback. I am still not sure about the blog name, but I like the idea of sunshine, since I live in Florida, the Sunshine State. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Thanks so much for stopping by to take a look at my first post! I really appreciate it. Have a sunny day! :)