CTS #141

Good morning everyone!  We had a little peek of autumn last week and now it's all warm and toasty again.  :(  At least I know the cool days are just around the corner.  I'm hoping for a nice LONG autumn this year because I am totally not ready for winter.  My boys love this time of year and have been taking adventure trips in the woods and around the pond on our property each afternoon.  I love watching them head off on their own to explore and be kids.  I am a firm believer in letting kids have time to be kids and have time without mom hovering over every little thing they do...not that I do that.  Ha ha!  My husband snapped this cute picture as the boys were heading out for a big adventure down at the spring.  Micah doesn't usually get to go off on his own like his brothers do but I made an exception for this day and he was just SO excited to be one of the "big" boys.  They got all outfitted with walkie talkies (so I can check in with them) and pocket knives (just the bigs) and when they returned, they had big stories and a list of new things they "need" for exploring.  This makes me one happy mom.

What else makes me happy?  Making cards and playing along at CAS(E) this Sketch.  I hope you liked our sketch for the week and I really hope you'll enjoy my card.

I started with a fun subtle pattern as my card base and then stacked four cuts from Boxed Up Birthday Greeting Die and layered vellum balloons that I cut with the Birthday Balloons Greetings Dies between the layers of my stack.  That allowed me to attach my vellum without being able to see the adhesive through the vellum.  I hate that!  Next, I marked were my strings should go and stamped them using Birthday Balloons Greetings Stamps before I attached my birthday stack to the cardfront.  With the strings stamped, I attached my birthday stack and finished it off with some stars and sequins.

I can't wait to send this birthday card to my nephew.  I think he'll get a kick out of it!  I hope you'll come join us this week at CAS(E) this Sketch.  Have a great day!

Here's what I used for my card:

   

Lil' Inker Designs August Monthly Meetup

It's that time again!  Time for this month's, Lil' Inkers Designs' Monthly Meet Up Challenge.  I'm ready to get started.  This challenge is super special this month because it's Lil' Inker Designs' 5th birthday!!!  We are celebrating with a fun new release stamp and die set that you are going to want in your collection!  I can't wait to share my card and see what you guys create for this awesome link up!  Let's get this party started!  I'll get to all the nitty gritty of the challenge after I show you the fun new birthday products and my creation.

Are you ready for a super fun birthday release?  The Birthday Balloons Greetings Stamps and Dies are available today so you can join in the fun.  These are SO cool!  The stamps have the most awesome sentiments and designs inside the image.  I just love them!  The dies are awesome to use with the stamps and on their own.  There is SO much fun to be had, just check out my card.

I started my card with some fun cloud paper as my background then cut a piece of paper from the Ombre Stripes paper pack to pop up with some foam tape.  Then I cut some balloons using the Birthday Balloons Greetings Dies and cutting my images from colored vellum, navy paper which was impressed with the Quilted Swirl Stitched Pattern Die and finally out of white for stamping my Birthday Balloons Greetings Stamps image on.  After deciding how I would layer these balloons, I stamped my strings and attached the balloons.  I finished the card off with some stars and sparkle bling.  I hope you like it!

Now, here are the details of this awesome challenge!

• Make a new project or share something you've been working on featuring LID goodies!
• Post this project to your blog or favorite gallery. 
• Link your project to our challenge by using the InLinkz tool at the bottom of the challenge post.
• You can also win by sharing your project on Instagram and using @lilinkerdesigns, #lilinkerdesigns #monthlymeetupchallenge.
• You have through August 18th at 11:30 PM EST to link your project and share on Instagram to be eligible to win a prize.  
• Projects should exclusively feature LID goodies to be eligible to win but do not need to exclusively feature LID goodies to join our Meet Up.
• This month's grand prize is a $50 gift certificate to Lil' Inker Designs and Laura will also be giving a $25 gift certificate to one lucky Instagram poster! 
• Winners will be announced in a new blog post shortly after August 18th.

So, get to your crafty space and start playing!  We can't wait to see what you are doing with the amazing products from Lil' Inker Designs.  I'll see you over on the Lil' Inker Designs blog!  Can't wait to play along with you.  Also don't miss out on the amazing sale to celebrate this awesome occasion!  Check it out:

Here are the products I used today: