While Walking My Dogs

And the Grand Give-away Winner is… {31 Days of Cards}

Posted on February 1, 2015 by gracieed

I want to thank everyone who has taken part in the {31 Days of Cards} Series. It’s been so much fun reading your comments, giving away the cards every day and connecting with the winners.

Before we get to the Grand Give-away Winner, the winner of yesterdays daily giveaway is: Deb who said, “So creative! I really love the butterfly and glad to see you use it in multiple cards.”.

Thank you for the kind words and Congratulations Deb! I hope you enjoy your card.

Here’s an overview of all the cards in the series.

1. Thank You Card
2. Birthday Card
3. Anniversary Card
4. “How’ve you bean?” Card
5. Birthday Card for a Guy
6. “Ruff Day?” Card
7. “Just a Note” Card
8. New Baby Girl Card
9. Congratulations Card
10. “Pawesome” Card
11. “Feel Better Soon” Card
12. Colorful Festive Birthday Card
13. Valentine Card
14. Baby Boy Card
15. Sympathy Card
16. “A Just Because” Card
17. Valentine’s Card #2
18. Valentine’s Card #3
19. Shaker Birthday Card
20. Card-in-a-Box
21. A See Through Shaker Card
22. A Window Card
23. Washi tape Card
24. Die Cut Flower Card
25. Valentine Card #4
26. Valentine Card #5
27. Wedding Card
28. Birthday Card
29. Christmas Card
30. Medallion Flower Card
31. Circle Punch Flower Card

So without any further adieu, it’s time for the Grand Give-away. Drum roll please…..

The winner of the Grand Give-away (all 31 cards) is: Peggy

Congratulations Peggy!

If we could clap, we’d be applauding like crazy right now!!! We couldn’t be happier if we were on a walk, eating treats and napping all at the same time.

Posted in 31 Days of Cards, Accountability, Cards, Challenges and Contests, Christmas, Goals, Homemade, Paper Crafting, Thankfulness, Tutorial, Valentine, Wedding | Tagged 31 Days of Cards, accountability, Cards, Challenges and Contests, Christmas, goals, homemade, paper crafting, Valentine | 3 Comments

Paws || Walk On – 1.25 – 2.7

Posted on February 1, 2015 by gracieed

Every now and then when I’m walking dogs, I will just stop, ask them to sit for about 30 seconds and then I will say “walk on”. That is there cue to start walking again. I do this for a couple of reasons: 1. They’re super focused when they’re on the walk and I like to know I can get their attention any time I need it. 2. It’s good to continue to incorporate training into their daily routines. Just as we need to continue to refine our skills, so must dogs.

This always reminds me how important it is for me to pause and reflect on the past week and then think about the next one as I “walk on”.

Paws | Week of 1.25-1.31

• called my Grandpa in England.
• started prepping my wall tree for Valentine’s Day.
•finished the #clutterfree30 challenge on Instagram with @cleanmama. It’s was a great exercise, but I think I need to do it every month.
• prepped, posted and finished January Card Series || Cards for 2015.
• made progress with tidying my craft room. Organized my sequins by color.
• worked on my Journal52 Art Journal (Quest46 #7)
• went out to dinner to celebrate a friend’s birthday.
• mailed off cards to the daily winners of my January Card Series || Cards for 2015.
• finished January’s Photo-a-Day challenge.
• attended Women’s Breakfast at church.
• helped a friend with a sewing project
• finished reading Unbroken.
• had lunch with friends.
• watched my amaryllis grow. Not really, but it felt like every time I turned around it had grown a couple of inches.
• met for coffee and knitting with friends.
• prepped a Valentine’s craft for a Pinterest party. (Blog post to come)
• finished reading Yes Please by Amy Poehler.
• started reading Silenced by Dani Pettrey
• walked the dogs almost everyday. Decided to keep track of our walks on a calendar. So far for 2015: 26 out of 31.
• had dinner and played cards with friends.
• still working on Margaret’s scarf. Made a serious mistake and had to rip out several inches. This is taking longer than I thought.

Walk On | Week of 2.1-2.7

• call my Grandpa in England.
• watch the Super Bowl.
• knit and drink coffee with friends.
• skype/knit with my friend who lives in San Diego.
• starting a new Photo-a-day challenge for February.
• decorate my wall tree for Valentine’s.
• enjoy an afternoon with a friend making cards.
• continue to work on Margaret’s scarf.
• make and post cards from January Card Series || Cards for 2015 in my Etsy shop.
• repeat the #clutterfree30 challenge.
• clean my craft room after the {31 Days of Cards} challenge.
• work on Quest46.
• pay bills.
• begin prepping for taxes.

My favorite quote from the week: “The only thing that you absolutely have to know, is the location of the library.” Albert Einstein.

Have a wonderful week,

I liked Jonas so much I let him share the couch with me.

Posted in Accountability, Books, Cards, Cleaning, Decorating, Dogs, Goals, Homemade, Journal 52, Knitting, Paper Crafting, Quest46, sewing, Yarn | Tagged accountability, books, Cards, Cleaning, Decorating, Dogs, goals, homemade, journal 52, knitting, paper crafting, Quest46, sewing, yarn | Leave a comment

Card #31 – Circle Punch Flower Card- {31 Days of Cards}

Posted on January 31, 2015 by gracieed

I can’t believe I’ve reached the end of this card series. Thank you all for joining me for the past 31 days and for leaving such wonderful comments that have motivated me and made me feel very appreciated. It’s been fun to make a few new friends through this month long adventure. I hope I’ve inspired some to reignite their crafting passion and for others to maybe venture out and try something creative. In any case, I thank you all for coming along with me. I made Card #31 in your honor.

But before we get to Card #31, the winner of yesterdays daily giveaway is: Girl Gone Expat who said, “What a great idea! Have to remember that one next time I bring out my scrapping gear! Beautiful card.”.

Thank you for the kind words and Congratulations Girl Gone Expat!

I hope you enjoy your card.

Don’t forget to leave a comment on this post for today’s card. Remember each day you leave a comment, you are entered into the drawing for the Grand Giveaway for all 31 cards. Easy, peasy.

Card #31 – Circle Punch Flower Card

I started by assembling all my supplies.

After Card #30, the Medallion Flower card, I wanted to do another flower card. This time, I used the same circle punch, but after punching the circle, I used the same punch to cut out a petal shape.

And of course, the card wouldn’t be complete with out a butterfly – a copper one this time.

For this card I used teal cardstock (4 1/4″ X 11″) for my base, orange cardstock (4″ X 4 1/2″) for the frame, lighter teal cardstock (3 3/4″ X 3 3/4″) for the inside frame and patterned paper for the flower.

I started by punching 4 circles from the patterned paper. Then I put each circle back into the punch and cut out 2 petals shapes from each circle. I inked around each petal to give the piece some dimension. I then punched out a circle from a piece of white cardstock to attach all the petals.

I glued the petals in pairs across from each other. Once they were all glued down, I pierced the center of the flower and attached a pearl brad.

To finish the card I rounded the corners of the teal cardstock base, punched the orange cardstock with my scallop border punch and inked the edges of the orange and light teal cardstock. I die cut a butterfly, inked it with Versamark and embossed it with copper embossing powder. The pictures really don’t show how cool this butterfly looks.

I glued the light teal cardstock to the orange, attached the flower, the butterfly and cream embossed the sentiment. The final touch was a couple of pearls attached to the center of the butterfly.

Here is the finished card.

Remember to leave a comment below and be entered to win this card today and possibly the Grand Giveaway of all 31 cards on February 1, 2015 (tomorrow).

Until tomorrow,

Wait! What do you mean this is the last day? It can’t be the last day. What are we going to do next?

Posted in 31 Days of Cards, Accountability, Cards, Challenges and Contests, Goals, Homemade, Paper Crafting | Tagged 31 Days of Cards, accountability, Challenges and Contests, goals, homemade, paper crafting | 9 Comments

Saturday Snippets | January 31, 2015

Posted on January 31, 2015 by gracieed

Welcome to Saturday Snippets. This is where I share links and odd bits of info from the past week.

1. Was introduced to and read the book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondo. In my world – Revolutionary!!!!!

2. If you use a glue gun a lot, here’s a tip that I’m definitely going to try.

3. Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and while I’m pretty sure I won’t be doodling hearts all over my front door, or any door for that matter, I’m a sucker for a good doodle. Check out Lori McDonough’s, from Fresh Picked Whimsy, free Valentine Heart Doodles.

4. After spending an entire month making greeting cards, I have such appreciation for one of my favorite card designers, Vicky Papaioannou. On top of being incredibly talented, she has the best accent. I could listen to her all day.

5. Interested in doing a photo-a-day challenge? Here’s one for February from the Idea Room.

Well that’s all the snippets I have for today. Have a wonderful Saturday,

We’ll be here out of your way while you’re doing this tidying up thing.

Posted in Accountability, Crochet, Education, Goals, Homemade, Saturday Snippets, TV & Movies, Yarn | Tagged accountability, crochet, education, goals, lists, Saturday Snippets, TV & Movies, yarn | 2 Comments

Card #30 – Medallion Flower Card- {31 Days of Cards}

Posted on January 30, 2015 by gracieed

Thank you all for your get well wishes. I feel much better today. It’s amazing what a good night’s sleep will do for you.

Before we get to Card #30, the winner of yesterdays daily giveaway is: Mary Jane who said, “Oh Grace, this card is beautiful! Hope you are feeling better soon.”.

Thank you for the kind words and Congratulations Mary Jane!

I hope you enjoy your card.

Card #30 – Medallion Flower Card

I started by assembling all my supplies.

I love medallion flowers. They look so complicated, but they’re really easy to make. It’s important to have reversible paper because that just adds to the interest.

The size of your circle will determine the final size of the medallion flower so you can adjust it for any project your have in mind.

For this card I used burgundy cardstock (5 1/2″ X 8 1/2″) for my base, cream cardstock (4″ X 5 1/4″) for the frame and reversible patterned paper for the flower.

I started by punching 8 circles from the patterned paper. I inked around the edges of each circle to add some dimension and interest. Then the folding began. With each circle I folded one edge about one third of the way to the middle. After that I folded the opposite side of the circle to meet the edge to make a cone shape. Repeat this step 7 times. I used my adhesive to seal the cone shapes closed.

I stamped my sentiment on the lower portion of the cream cardstock and then attached each ‘petal’ of the flower to the upper portion of the card. When the flower was formed I glued a button to the center.

I finished the card by wrapping sheer ribbon around the cream cardstock and securing it with a double knot just under the flower. I then used my tape runner to adhere the card front to the burgundy base.

Here is the finished card.

Remember to leave a comment below and be entered to win this card today and possibly the Grand Giveaway of all 31 cards on February 1, 2015.

Until tomorrow,

Just in case anyone’s interested – this is where I sit when mom’s working on her crafts.

Card #29 – Christmas Card- {31 Days of Cards}

Posted on January 29, 2015 by gracieed

Before we get to Card #29, the winner of yesterdays daily giveaway is: Emilie who said, “I love the flowers.”.

Thank you for the kind words and Congratulations Emilie!

I hope you enjoy your card.

Card #29 – Christmas Card

I started by assembling all my supplies.

I know it may seem odd to have a Christmas card at the end of January, but there are two good reasons: 1. I wanted to share the card I made for Christmas this past December and 2. I didn’t feel well today and up to designing a card. I’m hoping it’s just a 24 hour funk, and after a good nights rest I’ll be back to normal.

For this card I used white cardstock (5 1/2″ X 8 1/2″) for my base, navy cardstock (4″ X 5 1/4″) for the frame, grey pearlized cardstock for the oval frame and white paper for the background wording.

For the wording background, I printed the Christmas story from the 2nd chapter of Luke and trimmed it to fit behind the grey cardstock oval frame.

Using my Silhouette Cameo Electronic Die Cutting machine, I die cut the Nativity silhouette out of the navy cardstock. And using my Big Shot Die Cut Machine, I cut the oval frame out of the grey pearlized cardstock.

I used my adhesive to attach the background wording to the grey oval cardstock and then that whole piece to the navy cardstock frame.

Because the Nativity die cut was such an intricate piece, I placed several dots of liquid adhesive on the back and then placed it on top of the oval. Once the glue was dry, I attached the whole front panel to the white cardstock base. Prior to this step, though, I stamped the “Merry Christmas” sentiment with navy ink on the inside of the card base.

I finished the card by placing a rhinestone on top of the “i” in “Believe” and painting the word “Believe” with my Wink of Stella glitter brush pen.

Here is the finished card.

Remember to leave a comment below and be entered to win this card today and possibly the Grand Giveaway of all 31 cards on February 1, 2015.

Until tomorrow,

I don’t like it when my mom doesn’t feel good.

Posted in 31 Days of Cards, Accountability, Cards, Challenges and Contests, Christmas, Goals, Homemade, Paper Crafting | Tagged 31 Days of Cards, accountability, Challenges and Contests, Christmas, goals, homemade, paper crafting | 11 Comments

Card #28 – Birthday Card- {31 Days of Cards}

Posted on January 28, 2015 by gracieed

Before we get to Card #28, the winner of yesterdays daily giveaway is: Marjorie who said, “Beautiful – love the contrasts!”.

Thank you for the kind words and Congratulations Marjorie!

I hope you enjoy your card.

Card #28 – Birthday Card

I started by assembling all my supplies.

This is one of those versatile cards that can be used for many occasions with the change of color and sentiment.

Today’s it’s for a birthday celebration.

For this card I used white cardstock (4 1/4″ X 11″) for my base, white cardstock (4″ X 4 1/4″) for the polka dot background, navy cardstock the the flowers and patterned cardstock for the scalloped border.

I started by die cutting the scalloped border and dry embossing the polka dot background using my embossing folders.

I stamped the flowers with Versamark ink and white embossed them on navy cardstock. I cut them out individually and attached a green rhinestone to each one.

Using my adhesive I attached the polka dot background and then the scalloped banner. Once those two pieces were in place, I stamped the sentiment with navy ink.

I finished the card by attaching the flowers in an overlapping fashion and painting them with my Wink of Stella glitter brush pen.

Here is the finished card.

Remember to leave a comment below and be entered to win this card today and possibly the Grand Giveaway of all 31 cards on February 1, 2015.

Until tomorrow,

You know I’m pretty versatile. I can nap on the sofa, on the chair, on the bed AND on my dog bed.

Card #27 – Wedding Card- {31 Days of Cards}

Posted on January 27, 2015 by gracieed

Before we get to Card #27, the winner of yesterdays daily giveaway is: andresue who said, “Another amazing card! I don’t know how you keep coming up with the beautiful designs! :)”.

Thank you for the kind words and Congratulations andresue!

I hope you enjoy your card.

Card #27 – Wedding Card

I started by assembling all my supplies.

For my birthday I was given a package of burlap note cards. Now I am a confessed lover of burlap as a craft supply and have even used it as an embellishment for cards, but I’m fairly certain I wouldn’t have thought to use it as the card base. I knew I was going to use these cards for this series, but I really thought it would be a guy-related card and not the card you see today.

I actually think burlap looks its best when it’s paired with something completely opposite like glitter and sheer ribbon. I’ve been eyeing the sentiment stamp I used today for the past few weeks and have also been itching to use my butterfly die cut again. All those thoughts conspired to produce today’s card.

For this card I used burlap cardstock (5 1/2″ X 8 1/2″) for my base and a combination of silver and dark purple scrap cardstock for the butterflies.

I started by die cutting the butterflies. I cut four of each color and then silver glitter embossed the silver cardstock butterflies.

I stamped the sentiment with Versamark ink and silver embossed it on the same dark purple cardstock I used for four of the butterflies. I trimmed the sentiment banner down and punched a hole in one end.

I cut a piece of purple sheer ribbon and tied it vertically around the card near the fold. I tied a simple knot and attached the sentiment banner with another knot.

I then used glue dots to attach the butterflies one of top of the other from the top of the card to just above the sentiment banner.

Here is the finished card.

Remember to leave a comment below and be entered to win this card today and possibly the Grand Giveaway of all 31 cards on February 1, 2015.

Until tomorrow,

I’m a confessed lover of breakfast, lunch, dinner, treats, walks and chasing stuff.

Posted in 31 Days of Cards, Accountability, Cards, Challenges and Contests, Goals, Homemade, Paper Crafting, Wedding | Tagged 31 Days of Cards, accountability, Challenges and Contests, goals, homemade, paper crafting, Wedding | 8 Comments

Card #26 – Valentine Card #5- {31 Days of Cards}

Posted on January 26, 2015 by gracieed

Before we get to Card #26, the winner of yesterdays daily giveaway is: Audrey who said, “Awesome card! Where do get and/or what brand of acetate sheets do you use for your shaker cards; I was wanting to make some shaker cards. Thanks for the info.”.

Thank you and Congratulations Audrey! I use Grafix clear acetate sheets and purchased them at Amazon.

I hope you enjoy your card.

Card #26 – Valentine Card #5

I started by assembling all my supplies.

Now you know I had to make a dog-related Valentine’s Card – didn’t you???

For this card I used light brown cardstock (4 1/4″ X 11″) for my base, dark brown cardstock for the embossed background (4″X5 1/4″) and scrap kraft and red cardstock for the oval frames.

I started by dry embossing my background piece out of dark brown cardstock using an embossing folder. I saw this one the other day with dog paws and just had to have it.

After that was completed, I cut my oval frames out of the red and kraft cardstock using the oval die cuts.

Then I used my stamps to create the dog and stamp the sentiment. I stamped the body of the dog with Versamark ink and embossed with black powder. After setting with my heat gun, I stamped the sweater edges with red dye ink and the sweater print with light brown. After this was complete, I used my scissors to cut out the entire image.

Since I didn’t actually have a sentiment stamp that said “I Ruff You”, I used my scissors to cut apart my clear cling stamps to make the phrase. I colored the words with my Distress markers and stamped them on white cardstock. I backed the sentiment banner with kraft cardstock and ink the edges with red ink.

After all the pieces were complete, I used my adhesive to attach the oval frames to the embossed background. I used foam adhesive squares to back the sentiment banner and the dog.

To finish the card, I punches some hearts from the red and kraft cardstock and glued them around the card. I used my Wink of Stella glitter brush to brush over the hearts and the word ‘Ruff’.

Here is the finished card.

Remember to leave a comment below and be entered to win this card today and possibly the Grand Giveaway of all 31 cards on February 1, 2015.

Until tomorrow,

Finally… you’re talking my language.

I Ruff You too.

Posted in 31 Days of Cards, Accountability, Cards, Challenges and Contests, Goals, Homemade, Paper Crafting, Valentine | Tagged 31 Days of Cards, accountability, Challenges and Contests, goals, homemade, paper crafting, Valentine | 11 Comments

Card #25 – Valentine Card #4- {31 Days of Cards}

Posted on January 25, 2015 by gracieed

Before we get to Card #25, the winner of yesterdays daily giveaway is: Peggy who said, “Another cute card!”.

Thank you for your kind words and Congratulations Peggy!

I hope you enjoy your card.

Card #25 – Valentine Card #4

I started by assembling all my supplies.

This card uses washi tape much like the card from Day 23, but I decided to use my heart punch to create another option for Valentine’s day.

For this card I used link pink cardstock (5 1/2″ X 8 1/4″) for my base, dark pink cardstock for the frame (4″X5 1/4″) and white cardstock (3 3/4″ X 5″) for the front panel.

I started by choosing 5 coordinating rolls of washi tape. I took a piece of white cardstock and starting laying down strips of each washi tape repeating the pattern twice. Once the tape was on the cardstock I took my brayer and rolled the paper to make sure the tape was adhered well.

I then started punching hearts from the washi cardstock to be used on the front panel.

After creating the heart embellishments, I gold embossed the sentiment, inked the edges of the white cardstock and adhered the front panel to the pink frame.

I cut a piece of red and white twine, attached it with tiny staples and used foam squares to adhered the hearts to the twine.

I finished the card by attaching the whole front panel to the pink base.

Here is the finished card.

Remember to leave a comment below and be entered to win this card today and possibly the Grand Giveaway of all 31 cards on February 1, 2015.

Until tomorrow,

We’re really excited about Valentine’s Day. Actually our mom is really about Valentine’s Day and we tend to get excited about things she gets excited about. It’s how we roll.

While Walking My Dogs

And the Grand Give-away Winner is… {31 Days of Cards}

Paws || Walk On – 1.25 – 2.7

Card #31 – Circle Punch Flower Card- {31 Days of Cards}

Card #31 – Circle Punch Flower Card

Saturday Snippets | January 31, 2015

Card #30 – Medallion Flower Card- {31 Days of Cards}

Card #30 – Medallion Flower Card

Card #29 – Christmas Card- {31 Days of Cards}

Card #29 – Christmas Card

Card #28 – Birthday Card- {31 Days of Cards}

Card #28 – Birthday Card

Card #27 – Wedding Card- {31 Days of Cards}

Card #27 – Wedding Card

Card #26 – Valentine Card #5- {31 Days of Cards}

Card #26 – Valentine Card #5

Card #25 – Valentine Card #4- {31 Days of Cards}

Card #25 – Valentine Card #4

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