Everyday Display Board - Birthday Display Board

Hi Everyone,

I made this for my friend Caty's daughter Chosie, who just turned 13 a few days ago - I can't believe she is an official teenager now!!! 

This is an Everyday Display Board from Creative Memories (it is 18x18 and comes in Black and Chocolate too) and is magnetic (with little white magnets) that allows you to display pics, things to do, etc. and then be able to change it around - it also has a hanging element, although I like to put mine on a bookshelf to be displayed. If you are interested in one of these, check out my Creative Memories site. I love doing these display boards because you can change all the elements so easily. 

Inside the little brown pouch (its so sweet  - it has little blue butterflies on it), I made 13 little tags with ribbon - and on each tag was a wish for her birthday. I had so much fun making this birthday present for Chosie - it really made me so happy and fulfilled to make something special that she can hang in her room. 

I can't wait to make one for my parents - that is the next project.

Hope ya'll are doing well,

Thanks for coming to visit,

Ciao for now,

Sankari

Thank yoU!

I am so excited to even be mentioned on Taylor's Blog! She highlighted the card below on her blog and I am just over the moon! I am so psyched. I was just getting ready to go to work and was feeling blah - but then seeing this - I am totally re-energized! Thank you for coming to visit and thank you all for your sweeeeeeeeet comments!

Have a great evening!

Sankari :)

Have A Delicious Birthday! Card

Hi everyone,

Good Sunday morning!

I feel like its been a whirlwind of a few days so far - lots of birthdays and birthday cake and wrapping presents and general craziness.... but fun. And in the lieu of fun - I had so much fun making this card - that I was cracking up while making it :)

I think I just made my favorite card! This was made for Taylor's Friday Cupcake challenge. I love her challenges - and I have missed participating in them when we were on vacation. When I first saw this card challenge - I said "Woo-hoo!" Why you ask? Well, I love cupcakes and cutting circles - so what could be better than a card challenge with cupcakes and circles??!!! Not much!!!  (how many "C's" were in that last sentence ?!? LOL!)  Her awesome sketch challenge (to the left) this week incorporated a lot of circles - 9 to be exact!.... and what popped in my mind was to do an action sequence where a cupcake was being eaten.

So I pulled out my stamps and found the cute little cupcake stamp with the cherry that would fit into my 2 inch circle. And then I stamped, masked, aligned with my Stampamajig and stamped and masked again. I took my black pen and then created "bites" in the cupcake and crumbs on the table and created a table by drawing a straight line with my ruler on all the circles at one time.

 

The last circle is my favorite. I think I am going to name this little guy Harold because he looks a lot like my son's teddy bear named Harold. So out came Harold and masked parts of the stamp so that it was just him in the last piece. I then paper pieced Harold and covered him with stickles and painted his eyes white. The ribbon was inserted at two slits on either side of the card and finished with a bow. The sentiment was created in Word,  to read "Have a Delicious Birthday."

This card totally makes me smile :) I was debating trying to draw Harold eating the cupcake in each circle and drawing that out - but then felt it was easier and simpler just to suggest the bites.

 I love the brown and turquoise and pink together. It was a total fun card to make and I think my favorite card so far.  

I loved drawing the little crumbs and afterwards I went over it with a little pink color pencil and a little bit of stickles. 

Its hard to see from the pic - but I love little Harold with his glitter glam and sweet smile after eating the cupcakes.... He is just the cutest... I think the hardest part of making this card was all the masking and use of the Stampamajig... but it was such a fun process and I enjoyed it so much. I suddenly had all these ideas for other cards using this sketch its just a matter for finding enough time in the day to get everything done.... I wish there were 8 days in a week and in between Sunday and Monday could be Stampday. 

Anyhoo - all this talk of cupcakes has gotten me hankering to fix some cupcake yumminess for Sunday brunch.

So off I go to raid the pantry!

Hope all of you are enjoying a super fabulous  Sunday!

Thanks for coming over to visit!

Ciao for now,

Sankari

Card Recipe:

Stamps: Clear Stamps (Inkadinkado & Brenda Walters)

Paper: Cardstock DCVW

Ink: Staz-on Black

Accessories: Ribbon (Offray), Stickles (Red, Crystal, Eucalyptus), Corner Rounder, pink and white paint, Black  and Brown Archival pen from Creative Memories

Show watched:  Deserving Design by Vern Yip :)  don't ya'll {heart} Vern?!

Butterfly Thank You Card!

Hello All,

Today is a bright and sunny morning and we have big plans to make a quick stop at the post office, hit the park and stroll around the town square (I will be strolling as the kids sit in their stroller... have you ever noticed that the more you write the same word - the stranger it looks?? anyhooooo.... I digress....)  This weeks fun color swatch from the lovely ladies at the Color Throwdown (yes! I still love saying that word! who doesn't??!!) are these lovely 5 colors above. 

I was trying to figure out how to play with it... I think the color that really inspired me was the soft sky - it is a beautiful summery color and so I wanted to create a little summer scene.... but I was too lazy to clean up my craft corner (see post below) and so I decided to play in photoshop. The sentiment reads "Thank you for your kindness" and after printing it out, I added a brad (from American craft) on the main butterfly, some stickles on the butterflies (you can't go wrong with a little stickles on your card) and threw some ribbon (from Offray) and added some Faith dots with my paintbrush.  

I like the way this card came out. Its very soft and was made for my friend who just sent us a huge package of goodies. So I am off to the post office, but first need to go and clean up the breakfast mess (my daughter is learning to eat by herself - i think we need to get a dog so that I don't have to mop up 3 times a day (get a tarp on the floor you say? yes her range in throwing food is in the same league as legendary pitcher Nolan Ryan) so... off I go to clean the floor.... again! 

Hope you are all doing well and have a chance to get out and play today.

Thanks for visiting!

Ciao for now, 

Sankari

Fun in the Sun - Summer Card

Hi Everyone,

It was so much fun to jump back into making a card after almost a week and half of no inking... and for some reason everything felt like it took longer - I couldn't seem to find anything... I think that I might have to clean up this craft corner again... sigh!

Anyhow - I had so much fun with this awesome sketch from Laura from 2 Sketches 4 You - it made my head spin with all kinds of ideas. But the idea that was the loudest, was to do something summery. I found this beautiful stamp with the image of two little children holding hands a few months ago and HAD to get it because it looked soooo much like my son and daughter together at the beach. And since we just came home from the lake where we were by the water everyday - it felt so good to make this card.

I had to rotate Laura's Sketch 90 degrees clockwise and switch the bottom elements of the sketch around & then things seemed to come together. I had so much fun coloring this sweet stamp - my daughter has a beautiful dress that is the color of this dress and my son wanted me to color his shorts green - so that is the inspiration for the colors .... somehow creating this card makes me want to go back to the beach/lake :)  but without all the driving with 2 kids in the van. 

Hope all of you are having a stamp-fabulous wednesday.... wow this week is flying by!

Thanks for visiting,

Ciao for now,

Sankari

Card Recipe: 

Stamps - Clear Stamps and I have to find the rubber stamp of the boy & girl to see where it comes from

Ink - Martha Stewart Metallic and Black

Cardstock - DCWV cardstock neutrals

Accessories - Ribbon from Offray, American Craft Brads,  Platinum Stickles, Circle punch for the scallops

Show watched - As the World Turns (from last year on Hulu) how sad is that.....?

RAK from Mackenzie!

Hello Everyone,

Here is a lovely card from the lovely Mackenzie that greeted us as we returned home from our summer travels. I made a card for Mackenzie's Aunt Joan a little while ago - which was so fun and enjoyable to make a card for someone special. 

I love this sweet card - the scoring that you can't quite see in this picture really makes this card so sweet and the sweetest thing of all was the beautiful message inside :)

Thank you so much Mackenzie! I am always amazed by this blogworld where you can connect with someone you have never met - I think that crafters are just awesome! Meeting and getting to know all of you amazing people who blog has made the world feel smaller and cozier! Cheers to all of yoU!

Ciao for now,

Sankari :)

Got Cake Birthday Card

Hello Everyone, 

We are back from our summer travels and are all a little exhausted but happy to be home. I have to say that I am really impressed with how well the kids did in the van with all the driving - I think we clocked over 50 hours in the van driving on our road trips this summer - and with two little ones - that is not that easy - but they did great! 

On a side note - are you all as shocked as I am to walk into a store and see all the Halloween stuff???! I don't think I am ready for that at all - it still feels like summer to me..... :) 

Anyhooooooo - here is a little card that I made for my MIL that I didn't post before we left - its a fun card made with Clear stamps and left over scraps.... I really love this little guy holding his cupcake. The only fun little thing is that the little cherry is a red brad. Well, I can't wait to get crafting - but I still have to unpack all of our stuff... but hopefully today my fingers will get a little inky :) 

Hope all of you are enjoying these last days of the summer holidays and also enjoying all this lovely sunshine. 

Thanks for coming over for to visit - come back soon :)

Ciao for now,

Sankari

Easy Breeze-y Days of Summer :)

Hello All,

We just got back from the cabin yesterday (thursday) and it was just wonderful. The cabin is in Northern Minnesota and is maybe  3 hours from the Canadian border - it is so beautiful there! I love this picture of my daughter navigating the waters up at the lake (and in the distance, my DH and son are getting ready to go out into the waters ). 

The cabin experience is always wonderful - lots of relaxation - lots of swimming, boating, swinging in the hammock and hitting the flea market :) The kids just loved loved loved being in the water - I think they could just be there the whole day - they could have eaten breakfast, lunch and dinner in the water... :) Ahhh the easy breezy days of summer....  LOVE it!

Today is the first day that I have had internet in almost a week!!! Isn't that crazy!!! Especially when you realize that you might be a blog addict! Anyhoo we are leaving Minnesota in two days and are soaking up all the warm sun and fun family times while we can. Hope all of you are enjoying your summer and are all happy and healthy!!! 

We will be home at the end of the weekend - can't wait to craft soon!!!

Wishing you all sunny smiles,

Ciao for now :)

Sankari

Minnesota!!

Yay! We arrived in Minnesota! And the kids did great in the car the whole time (well, maybe except for 45 minutes when it was around their bedtime... but other than that - it was a pretty smooth journey :)

Can you believe its AUGUST!!! Wow!!!

Hope all of you are well!
Will post some pics soon!
Thanks for visiting!
Ciao for now,
Sankari

Black Butterfly card

Hello Everyone,

This is card quick quick quick (did I say quick?) card that I made for the Fabulous Julee's Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge and for the color inspiration challenge hosted by the Amazing ladies at the Color Throwdown. And even though we are going on our 2nd summer roadtrip - I had to make a card first :) We are heading out of town in about --- oh - 3 hours - and I haven't packed = aie!!! 

Why haven't you packed - you ask? well - first I had to do laundry and then I thought -I might as well make a card while I make a card - love Julee's Mojo Monday's and I love the Colors that are being thrown down - and to leave town and not make a card seemed wrong - so I HAD to make a card.....

But, the only thing is - I am not sure if I like how it turned out... this was made so quick - like less than 20 minutes - it would have been sooner - but I had to figure out which stamp I wanted and then I had to find it.... but anyhoo - what I was saying - is that it was so quick that it kinda surprised me - but I am still not sure about the end result - and since I have already cleaned up my scrap corner (it really is literally a corner :) I can't adjust things - and even if I wanted to adjust things - I have to pack -- which brings me to the conclusion that I need to finish my blatherings and just post this :)

If you made it this far in reading this - I thank you and ask you to pardon my early morning ramblings. We are off to Minneapolis today (!) and will be spending time with my in-laws and our friends up there - going to the CM convention, going up to the cabin by the lake and definitely walking around Lake Harriett :) Sooooo I can' wait - just hope the little ones do well on the road :) I  hope that all of you are doing well and are enjoying your thursdays :)

I will try to post some pics and some cards this weekend - so hope you come back for a visit :)

Alright - off to pack!

Thanks for coming over :)

Sankari

BFF!!! Blogging Friends forever

My friend Julia just sent me this Blogging Friends Forever Gold Card!!! Thanks so much Julia - you are so sweet and its been so much fun to visit your blog !

So The Rules that come with this award (there's always a catch right!?!?!) :

1. Only 5 people allowed.
2. 4 have to be dedicated followers of your blog
3. one has to be someone new or recently new to your blog and live in another part of the world.
4. you must link back to whoever gave you the award.

I have chosen the following people who are gracious enough to check out my blog and leave me nice comments!

1. Brooke - She is one awesome, hot pink toe-nailed, amazingly talented stamp artiste with a great taste in the best movies, great songs and great style (Cards and all!!!! 

2. Savitri - She is one amazing stamping, scrapping, digi-twinkle fingers genius :) only thing is I don't understand why she doesn't like buttermilk (i had to throw that one in there you know :)

3. Christiane - I am officially calling you technique queen - She always introduces me to new techniques and is just the sweetest person ever.

4. Maria -Her blog is where my whole blogging addiction began :) She is so sweet and uber talented and full of amazing sketches and cards! And she just survived an earthquake! Maria totally inspires me - because of her integrity and sweetness and of course her beautiful card making abilities :)

5. I know that this "rule thing" said I had to limit this to five people, but I can't.... its too hard.... sooooo I would like to also pass this onto Mackenzie (whose blog I just found and adore - she's got great style (I mean whoever makes a "Stamp Naked" card in the shape of a t-shirt - is rockin' the style tip!), Maria G. (I love that she does all the same sketch challenges that I love and makes those sketches come alive) and Christine (who is SO sweet and makes incredible cards - just stunningly gorgeous!) and my Fairfield blogging buddies Heather, (who is lyrical Venus herself!) Ananda (who is Bliss incarnate) and Kristen (who gets to live with La and Lu!!! Two little bliss balls!!!) :) ( I am not good at following the 5 only rule - huh?)

Thanks to everyone who comes to this blog for a visit - and also to all those who leave a comment - thank you for all of your sweet words and comments they  have really brightened up my day :)

Hope all of you are well 

Sunny smiles and hugz to all :)

Sankari

2 Cards for Taylor's Sketch Challenge

Hello All, 

Two posts in one day!!! Three cards in one day!! Woo-hoo!  These two cards are made fromTaylor's Cupcake Challenge Sketch. I really loved this sketch - so I had to make two cards. They were both so much fun to make. Since we are leaving tomorrow to go to Minneapolis for a week - I wanted to get these cards made. The birthday card is for my cousin, whose birthday was last weekend (sorry Padmini :) but I am sending it today!!) and the Season's Greetings card is for the challenge from the amazing ladies at the OCC, whose challenge this week was to make a Christmas in July Card. 

The holiday card was made with cardstock with unknown origins - it has been in my scrap pile forevah... the buttons are from my button stash - they have been sliver stickled :) and the sentiment is a rub on from I don't know where (these were bought pre-bloggin days when I didn't keep track of where things came from). I added the textured dots by painting them in and finished it all off with some Crystal Stickles.

The birthday card has the same situation where I don't know where anything comes from - except that the brads are from American craft (i love that the cherries are brads) and dots behind the cupcakes are crystal stickles. The cupcakes and sentiment are from Clear Stamps (?) and they were stamped three times onto white cardstock, colored, cut and stacked ontop of each other. The gold dots were painted on as an afterthought - I tried to keep this card dot free - but I couldn't help it - I think I have become a dot addict... help!!! :) LOL! Well, what can I say - I love Faith's cards - and suddenly I feel like its not complete with dots :)

Okay - we are now off to the post office and the park and where ever else the road may take us - perhaps for a little Radiance dairy ice-cream!!! YUM!

Thanks for coming over to visit!

Ciao for now,

Sankari

PS - Oh my gosh! I just noticed that these cards are ribbon-less!!! Gasp!! How could I have let something like that happen :) !!!!

Dragonfly Card for 2 Sketches 4 You!

Hello All,

Here is a fun card that I made forLaura's Sketch challenge #5 - from 2 Sketches 4 You. I love this sketch and wanted something bold and bright for it... so I went with the black, white and red theme. 

The sentiment "Thinking of You" is stamped is embossed in red and is from the SU! Little Hellos set. The dragonflies are from Clear Stamps and the smaller ones are stamped in silver and the larger one is stamped in black on red cardstock and then cut out and attached with a brad from Spare Parts and lifted out of the page for dimension. The ribbon is from Offray and the black square brads are from Spare Parts. There are black stickles (!!!!! i {heart} black stickles) going around the black cardstock. I loved making this card because it came out just like I had in my head and it was just fun to use bold colors! 

Can you believe it's Wednesday already! Whaaaaat???? How did that happen?! We are heading out to Minneapolis tomorrow to see my in-laws and also this weekend is the CM Showcase Convention, which also happens to be in Minneapolis ( how conveeeenient :) I can't even express how many things have got to get done before we can head out on the road, but first things first - I wanted to post this card :)

Hope all of you are enjoying your Weds. and enjoying the summer sun 

(can you believe its almost August!! Gasp!)

Thanks for coming over for a visit,

Ciao for now ;)

Sankari

Hang in There Card

Hello All, 

I getting ready to go to the post office yesterday to mail a card for Mackenzie's Aunt (if you would like to make a card for her please click here), but then I wanted to make a card for Mackenzie herself since she is also going through some roughness during this time. So I made this quick card using the SU! Mini Mates set and I followed the fun fun fun sketch that you see in the top left corner, provided by Jen dM from "i {heart} to stamp". I love her fun sketches!

 

I really loved this little guy hanging from the tree - he is so cute. I colored him and stickled him and then layered him on the 

alternating pink and brown cardstock. The ribbon is from Offray, the buttons are from my box of random buttons and the Prima flowers have brads from Spare Parts. The dots are from Martha's Craft Paint and I scalloped the pink cardstock with my corner rounder. 

I hope Mackenzie enjoys it as much as I did making it for her :) I really enjoyed this sketch - it was fun way to include color and break up the visual space

I can't believe that today is almost done - where did the day go? I think when you have kids running around - time just flies - and then all of the sudden the day is over and here I am cleaning up again for the umpteenth time - sheesh!

Hope all of you are well

Thank you so much for visiting me, 

Have a good night :) 

Sankari

Happiness Always Card

Good Monday Morning Everyone,

Our county was in a flash flood warning last night here in Iowa as we had a major storm system pass through... we had water leaking in through our doors and windows  so fast - it was unbelievable... I don't know how many towels we used to soak everything up.... but everything is okay and today looks like its going to be a bright sunny day.

I just wanted to share a quick card that I made for Mackenzie's aunt, who has been suffering from MS. If you would like to make a card for her aunt, please head on to her site by clicking HERE. Her aunt Joan loves dark purple and flowers and so I made a card with my favorite SU! set Happy Harmony. The background is made up of 2 different purple cardstock and the stamped sentiment and flowers were embossed in bronze ink on white cardstock and layered onto purple cardstock, gold cardstock and the really pretty Golden Meadow Cardstock from ProvoCraft and was finished with a purple ribbon from Offray. I also had to add some stickles onto the dandelions for a little sparkle. I really love the purple/gold combination and feel inspired to use this combo more often. 

I am off to the post-office to mail this card - it always amazes me how happy I feel when I make a card for someone special - its almost like you are sending them a little beam of sunshine from your heart :)

Hope all of you are having a wonderful Monday,

Thank you so much for visiting :)

Ciao for now,

Sankari