For my favorite graduate :-)

Hello blogger friends!

I know this is a super a tad late...lol.

Back in May, I was asked by a beautiful young lady to do her makeup and photos for her prom! Needless to say, I was really honored as I'm neither a makeup artist or a photographer (although, I love to do both)

She was really into the 20's style look...and ended up looking so BEAUTIFUL!

Here she is with her date:

I just fell in love with her simple lace dress with the black sash. I did a really simple look and did a bold, gorgeous red matte lip. 

In the spirit of this look, I made her a card for her graduation which was the following week...

She loved it and 'got' it immediately...lol.

In addition to the card, I presented her with a framed photo that I put a few extra special touches on...

I've known this lovely young lady since she was about 13 and I must say, it's been a real pleasure.

She's funny and silly and super sweet <3

Here's to you Ceara! 

Good luck on all of your future endeavors...

Thanks so much for stopping by. Please take a moment and add yourself and/or leave me a message...I'd really appreciate it!

Color Throwdown #198

Hello blogger friends!

Last night, I submitted a card to a color challenge with 3 minutes left until submissions were to close! 

(Talk about LAST MINUTE!)

In the spirit of color challenges, I'm submitting my first entry into the Color Throwdown #198 and from what I can tell, I'm going to be the first entry! 

(Probably a first & last for me...lol)

With all that being said, here's the inspiration photo:

I mean seriously, how BEAUTIFUL is this color combo?!?

Here's my first entry for this challenge:

I couldn't capture the color of the gray the way I wanted...it's reading black to me in EVERY photo!

(iPhone photos...please forgive me)

This challenge will be open until July 2nd at 6 p.m., so I'm going to attempt to submit multiple entries. I'm so in love with these colors!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

 Please comment and let me know what you think, and join me! 

The Play Date Cafe #137

Hello Blogger friends!

I'm having to keep this post short and sweet...I stumbled upon this color challenge at about 10:30 tonight and I loved the colors so much that I HAD to give it a try (despite it closing at midnight)

Here's the challenge:

and here's what I came up with Quick, fast and in a serious hurry!

Here's a side view to show the dimension...

I'll come back tomorrow to add the list of supplies used...right now I need to submit! 

(It's 11:57!!!)

My 1st Tuesday Trigger Challenge!

Hello blogger friends!

I've been following the Moxie Fab World blog for some time now, but I never been brave enough to participate in their challenges...I mean, have you seen the talent of those participants!?!

I put my fears aside and decided that I just HAD to submit something for this weeks Tuesday Trigger:

Man-tastic indeed!

I really loved this combination of colors and the petal shapes that make up the image.

It instantly reminded me of an EK success punch that I used in my very first card challenge.

Enough chit-chat...

Here's my take on the challenge!

I made custom embellishments that give a chipboard effect by stacking multiple punched pieces onto one another. I really like the depth and shadows that they create!

Here's a closer look:

I'm contemplating adding glossy accents to some of the colored petals for a little shine, but I'm wondering if it'll lose it's masculine quality...What do you think?

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Please comment and join my blog. Have a wonderful day.

A little POP of color...

Hello Blogger friends!

I just finished a post about the four card sets that I made for a charity auction, and I wanted to make sure that I created a post for each set so that they could be seen individually and in all their glory...

I just adore the first set...

When I started making this set, the only thing I knew is that I wanted to use a stamp set that I hadn't used before...

I'm sure there are are many of you out there like me...stamp hoarders enthusiasts who see that set that you just HAVE to have, and then get it home and have the slightest clue on what you'd intended on doing with it. (Ok, I may be the only one)

Anyway, when I saw this set in my local craft store, I knew I needed it!

To make a long story short, this was what I came up with.

 I really love the gray with each color...

 (Lucky me! This color combo works great for this CR84FN Challenge too! Don't you love when that happens?)

This is the only set with orange in it because the green (that's the 5th color in the other sets) wouldn't have worked because the flourishes are green :-)

If you have any questions about this set, please comment below...Love them? Like them? Hate them? Let me know! I welcome all feedback.

Thanks so much for stopping by, have a wonderful day!

Crafting for a good cause

Hello Blogger friends!

I'm not even going to attempt to try and explain why I haven't posted in such a long time...Life happens, you know? I'm in the process of a huge transition (moving from GA to NY) so blogging has unfortunately fallen by the wayside. I apologize. 

Ok, now onto the actual post :-)

I was asked to submit something for an auction to raise money for a wonderful school in NY called The Shield Institute. They service children and young adults with special needs. 

(My fiancee is the Art teacher there)

I made four card sets:

I intentionally used the same colors in each set so that they would all be cohesive. I'll be creating posts for each set so that you can see each card separately. I hope you enjoyed...please comment and let me know what you think. 

(By the way: If you'd like to donate to The Shield Institute click HERE and give whatever you can)

Thanks for stopping by & have a great day!

A 'Rocking' Makeover!

Hello Blogger friends!

Forgive me for waiting soooo long to post! I'm really trying to learn to balance my time between everything there is to do in a day. Honestly, it seems like the days are going by faster and faster! 

In addition to the everyday running around, I've added a new addition to my family! My sweet puppy Brooklyn <3

OMG! Couldn't you just eat him up?!?!

(I'll post about him another time)

Anywho, Today's post isn't about my cutie-pie pup...

It's about this:

I know, possibly among one of the saddest sights you've ever seen! LOL...

Let me explain, It all started a week and a half ago...I was sitting in this same chair casually watching TV with my bestie (the owner of this specimen) when I got a spontaneous jolt of inspiration! To make a long story short, I wanted to make it pretty...

After finding a beautiful material and coordinating trim at JoAnn (for 50% off!), we got to work. After removing the not-so-nice fabric, we enlisted the help of the oh-so-eager-to-help little ones...they really enjoyed sanding :-) 

 (the little one supervised)

Once all of the sanding was done, I covered the batting/stuffing with cut-up grocery bags in preparation for spray painting the wood...

This is it after the paint job and a fresh piece of material for the seat.

(No, it's not dirty material, it's a tea stained color we found at Walmart. Don't judge, it was only 75 cents!)

Here it is all finished!

(We both loved how it came out!)

Here's a better look at the gorgeous fabric...

The before & after...

Thanks so much! Please comment and let me know what you think :-)