Dot & Whimsy

Well, hello!

It feels like forever since I've blogged.  

The end of the month always seems a little slow in the

Papered Cottage blogosphere...just getting projects lined up 

for the weeks to follow :)  

This is the very last challenge that I'll share at 

Bittersweet.

I love this final kit with all of the blues, greens and yellows.

Until recently, I've not noticed that I lean towards using this

color scheme quite a bit.   Echo Park definitely hit this one out of the park

(no pun intended) with For the Record 2!

We love a "Pinspo" Challenge at the Nook.

Pinspo is simply finding inspiration on Pinterest.  

Normally we post photos for cardmakers to work with, but this

week I've decided to let them choose their very own inspiration.

I found mine on Pinterest:

And here's my card:

So, if you're ever stumped for an idea (which I often am)

head on over to Pinterest!  It's fun to see the amazing things that people create & share!

See you soon ♥

is the name for the very first CARDS Challenge for September at

My Scrapbook Nook forum!

The Nook will be closing its doors at the end of this month, but boy, they're

going out with a bang with this final kit by Echo Park Paper:

The blues, greens and yellows are a perfect way to end the Summer.

For my challenge, I've asked participants to create a card using:

Something Borrowed: this can be anything unconventional to scrapbooking.

 Scour the house for an unusual item...use a cookie cutter as a template, 

fabric from an old dress, jewelry, or the image from a gift card as the inspiration

...just anything that inspires will do!

Something Blue:  make any color blue as your main color scheme.

Here's my take on the challenge:

Something Borrowed:  I always save bits and pieces of interesting clothing...especially denim.

  I cut a small piece from an old shirt and lined the back with a bit of batting and then machine

stitched into a heart design.

This card is two-part as I wanted to share some more of the lovelies that can

be found at PRO 31 DESIGNS

The blue braided trim and pearls, as well as the turquoise paper flowers 

are all in supply at www.pro31designs.com :)

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That's all from me today...be blessed!

Aren't you so glad that it's Friday?

Can I get a little

The craziest thing...we watched the weather before going

to bed last night.  We were hoping that we'd get some rain, but the

weatherman told us that it wouldn't happen. At 2 AM we awoke to 

the loudest thunder and the brightest lightening that I've ever seen.  A loud

pop struck at the front of the house and this morning we find out that one of 

our large oak trees was hit by lightening...about 20 yards from the boys' 

bedroom!  It rained all night; it's still raining :)

Sometimes you love it when the weatherman is wrong...this is one of 

those times.  We greatly needed the rain!

Wanted to share my last card for this month's 

at My Scrapbook Nook

The challenge is: Round-And-Round

I asked that everyone use at least FIVE circles on their card.

Here's mine:

I chose to use nothing but the red/pinkish tones from the 

My Mind's Eye Indie Chic Collection and coupled it with the bright green

and pale yellow from the Jillibean labels (also in July's Kit).

Also, we're having a 

These are challenges that have been posted and will be posted all

Summer long at the Nook.

My challenge is a PINSPO Challenge 

(Pinspo= Pinterest+ Inspiration)

I've asked everyone to use this subway art as inspiration for

their card

 Here's my card...using the JUNE Nook Kit

by Simple Stories

Have a greaaat weekend, friends!

We're mixing things up a bit over at 

this week with a product

Each Design Team Member was asked to create a project

using THREE (3) different collections from Imaginisce.

I went with a 12x12 layout and a neat sketch from Page Maps

I used patterned papers from {Hello Cupcake: Red Dot}

{Sole Sisters: Stripe} and {Makin' Waves: Blue Chevron}

These are ALL the reverse side patterns of the papers, which makes most ALL

Imaginisce products easy to Mix & Match :)

Cardstock by Coredinations.

Here is the sketch:

And yes, I stayed exactly with the sketch...as if you couldn't tell all ready LOL

It's a week's worth of MIX & MATCH projects, so come on by and see us

MY SCRAPBOOK NOOK
It's Wednesday and that means that I have another Cards Challenge.

This week it's a CARDS SKETCH CHALLENGE to be exact!

The Sketch:

My Card:

For my interpretation of the sketch, I moved everything to the center.

Using the July Nook Kit, I layered a couple of the Jillibean Soup

labels and added a punched heart to the center.  

Everything is from the kit with the exception of the punched leaves,

orange pearls and jute twine.  

My Scrapbook Nook always have the BEST kits with the most 

up-to-date papers and embellishments!

-Join Today-

See you all tomorrow for the

UNITY HIP HOP!

It's CARDS Challenge time at 

This month we've been delighted with the new and popular

It reminds me off an Indian Summer with the warm ocher, rust,

raspberry, olive green and neutral tones.

For my challenge this week, I've used the letters in the word 

to create a play-on-words, so to speak.  Players are to use one of these

words on the front of their cards:

G-Grateful

I- Inspiration or Inspired

N- Neverending

G- Good Bye

E- Everlasting

R- Romantic or Romance

I wanted to show two totally different looks using this Nook Kit.  

I even used the same doily cut-out on both cards: for the bottom card I just flipped

it over and used the reverse pattern; I built my card from there :)

Danni Reid, Jessy Christopher and I are the hosts of the CARDS forum

at The Nook.  Beginning this month, we've altered the way in which we award prizes.  

I think this will encourage more to play along with us as there are TWO 

GRAND PRIZES totaling $40 ($20 for Monday and Wednesday Cards Challenge Winners)

If you're interested, check out the details right -->HERE<--

And don't forget to sign-up to receive My Scrapbook Nook Kits!

They're always packed with the latest and greatest papers and embellishments

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That's all from me today!

  I have a couple of projects to work on and then it's 

off to the parents' later on this afternoon for a cookout, swimming and then fireworks 

in town.  Hope all of my American friends have a HAPPY and SAFE

Wow, I tell ya it seems as though my blogging has gone

from feast to famine over the last couple of weeks!

I'm happy to report that I have finished the last of my CHA

projects for Authentique Paper and Simple Stories.  Just wait until you 

see all of the beautiful paper lines that these two companies are coming out with!

Halloween and Christmas and Fall and School and, and...

well, that's enough really!

I also received a fun assortment of new goodies from Imaginisce this

past week too.  Yep, more Christmas and Halloween!

Ahhh, I love the smell of ink and paper in the mornin' :)

 And to get into the spirit of things, I'm adding lots of songs to my

Christmas Oldies Playlist...life.is.good!

I posted my very last card for I Heart Ippity this week.

After a full year, I've decided to hand over the reigns to someone new!

Here's a peek at the card:

Once again, I've used one of the newest releases for Ippity

I paired it up with my go-to paper of the month, {Summer Fresh} by Simple Stories.

If you choose to shop Ippity, please make Heather Flaherty your Ippity Chick...
she would so appreciate it!

MY SCRAPBOOK NOOK
July is my month for CARDS Challenges at The Nook!
I'm really excited to be working with the newest kit featuring
My Mind's Eye {Indie Chic}

Here's a little samplin'
If you're interested in this kit, I wouldn't wait too long...I'm sure it will
sell out pretty fast.

PRO 31 DESIGNS
I've been invited to be a Guest Designer at a fairly new internet shopping site,
Pro 31 Designs, during the months of July and August.



If you love creating beautiful and romantic projects, then you will love
the supplies offered by Pro 31 Designs!  Teresa Collins, My Mind's Eye,
Graphic 45, Butterflies, Cameos, Lace, Crystals...you get the idea :)
I can't wait to get started!
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I'll be back tomorrow with the Unity Stamp of the Week
Happy Weekend!

Happy Wednesday!

I have my last CARDS Challenge for the month up at 

For this week's challenge, I roped in members of the Nook Forum

to help cook up a unique soup.  

1. TWINE
2. BUTTONS
3. BUTTERFLIES
4. DECORATIVE EDGE
5. MIST
6. STAMPED SENTIMENT
7. STICKERS

 Just use any FIVE on your card and use a Nook Kit.

I've used the May {This & That} Kit by Echo Park

For my card I used twine for stitching the buttons, butterflies, decorative edge,  

stamped sentiment, sticker strip and mist.

Stamp sentiment (Every Breath) by Unity Stamp Co.

Simple and sweet...my kinda card :)

See you all tomorrow and as always, thanks so much for stopping by today!

...and they'll take a yard!

I love that old saying.

It's the theme for my CARDS Challenge at

this week :)

For the month of May, we've enjoyed the beautiful collection of

Echo Park Paper's This & That.  One of the papers is lined in different colors

and sizes of yard sticks, or rulers.  I love it! With that design in mind, I thought this 

would make a great challenge.  I sought out several photos

from Pinterest and Etsy.  I'm not showing all of the inspiration photos here, but you can

check out the entire challenge at our Nook Blog or on the Forum.

These butterflies from Maya Road are cute.  Since they're canvas, you could mist them,
paint them, stitch on them, etc.  I decided to leave them plain.  But because they're not
really stiff and I wanted the wings to 'stand-up', I inserted a brad through the center
and then pointed the prongs upward...this made the wings stand up just as I wanted!
I love this card...it has so many great textures, yet it's simple <3
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Thanks for visiting me today :)
 

So I actually got out of the house today.

(I'm the type that can spend days at home and never get bored!)

I went and visited with Michi at Scrapbooker's Emporium

in Texarkana and will be teaching my very first mini album class

there in August :)  I can't wait!  

Then I went to Wal-Mart...I hadn't been in close to two months; seriously.

I came across two friends who were shopping.  They both said the same

thing "I'm just trying to get my stuff and get outta here!"  I guess a lot of us share that

same disdain for stepping through the doors of Wal Mart LOL

But it's done.  Thank the Lord, it's done. 

Now on to scrappy stuff!

I had the best intentions of blogging my other projects that were 

featured here and there yesterday (and Wednesday!), but I just didn't get around to it.  

So, here we go...

I have been in love with this stamp ever since I laid eyes on it

and can't believe that I'm just now getting around to using it:

I used my watercolor pencils and Zig markers on this one.

And the best part?  I dug waaay back into my paper collection and brought out

some old Basic Grey...I love to use up the old stuff!

You can order Ippity (Unity Brand) Stamps here:

For this Wednesday's CARDS Challenge, I went with a sketch.

Once again, I am a self-proclaimed pretty-pitiful-sketch-artist...but hey, I try hehe!

I've really enjoyed working with the Echo Park This & That Collection

this month...both the masculine and feminine sets are drool-worthy.

I wanted to carry the 'cloud' motif up towards the top of the card, so I hand-cut 

these two clouds from cardstock and then embossed.

I made this one for my son, who'll be graduating two weeks from today :)

Both cards were quick and reinforced my love of using sketches!

A hint for June's Nook Kit?  It has to do with SIMPLE and FRESH...hmmmm?

I've said it before and I'll say it again...I.love.these.BINGO.cards

You can get a huge collection pack of 'em directly from VSM!

This collage art is layered with lots of vintage goodness.

I have several photos and details up on the blog.

And this is the card that I made for my mom for Mother's Day...she loved it :)

Most every single thing on both projects came from Vintage Street Market!

I'll upload the newest mini album that I made tomorrow.

Off to grab a bite to eat and relax.

Enjoy your weekend!

I hope this Wednesday finds you well!

I'm sharing my latest CARDS Challenge at 

My Scrapbook Nook today.

The theme for this Wednesday's challenge is 

I've really been having loads of fun with the May Kit featuring

Echo Park's This & That...lovin' the colors, the designs and elements.

It's not hard to get your creative juices flowin' when you have such a

variety of beautiful things to work with!

One of the patterned papers is lined with vintage style BINGO cards,

so I thought this would be an appropriate recipe-style challenge :)

Use the following on your card:
B-Buttons, Brads or Bling...any number will do
I-Ink...stamping, hand-lettering or penwork
N-Nine...count 'em up. you should have a total of NINE things on your card
(will include all of the required elements, plus any additional elements of choice)
Your buttons will only count as ONE, but you can count each different patterned paper you use :)
G-Green accent/element...can be paper, sticker or embellishment
O-One Sentiment

Here is my card:

Aside from This & That kit items,

 I also used stamps from The Craft's Meow (Sew Lovely)

and Sizzix Button Dies.

Come on over and play along with us!  This challenge expires next Wednesday

and the winner will receive a beautiful Card Kit.  

Check out the deets here.

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Thanks for stopping by...see y'all soon!

Ahhh, to be a child of the 80's

Guess jeans, Swatch watches,OP t-shirts, penny loafers and

BIG HAIR!

My kids found this picture of me, taken when I was 18.

Now, was that some hair, or was THAT some hair?  I have riotous curly hair

and this particular day it happened to fix just perfectly :)  Julia Roberts had nothing on me hahaha!

I did this layout for my sponsored challenge over at the My Scrapbook Nook

MOVIE MADNESS CROP.

The challenge is entitled "The Red Carpet"

and the only instructions are to use shades of red on a layout or card.
I used the April Nook Kit featuring STORYTELLER by Crate Paper.
The Maya Road chip frame also came in the kit, and I spritzed it with Mister Huey's
REAL RED...perfectly matches these papers.  For the flowers I used the
I Top Punch from Imaginisce and the Trio flower punch from EK Success.

You still have plenty of time to come over and play along with us!

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Tomorrow I'm up at Imaginisce for our Canvas Corp. Blog Hop.

I have some really fun stuff to share with you.

Also tomorrow is the Monday EAD Blog Hop.

Lots to do...lots to see!

Have a blessed Sunday

Hope you all are celebrating NSD with your favorite scrappy goodies and friends!

I'll be visiting and playing along at several places online...I have the entire day set aside for 

nothing but me and my scrap room :)

First, let me mention that Sydnee did indeed get another BLUE RIBBON in 

the 100 Meter Dash at yesterdays' 4th Grade Field Day.  She was soooo happy!  

And just in case you've never seen real-honest-to-goodness-baby-greased-lightening...this is it:

She also got FIRST Place in the Long Jump (out of 10 girls) and Second Place in the 50 Meter Dash 

(she had a bad case of the rubber-neck and kept looking back to see who was behind her!) 

 She's a natural athlete, much unlike her dear old momma LOL

So proud of my girl...she's a true J*O*Y

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Wow, do I have some news that I've just been BURSTING to share...I've had to keep this a secret

since Monday

.

.

.

That's correct-o-mundo!  I'm a Unity Design Team Member.

  Let me tell you, these girls are the most laid-back and welcoming bunch that I've ever met. 

 You know that feeling when you meet someone and instantly click...well, that's us.

  In just a few days, we've already had loads of fun :)

Here is a layout that I created for the occasion of NSD and the announcing of the newest 

Design Team Members.  For this layout I used the Ippity stamp

I literally did this layout in 30 minutes...only made possible by this terr-i-fic sketch by Angie Blom

and of course, the sensational FAB{U}LOUS papers by Simple Stories

Okay, enough about ME for a moment LOL... here is some news that you'll be extra excited

about.  Nothing like a few great promotions on National Scrapbooking Day, right?

Just visit the blog this weekend to find out more details!

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I'll be at the My Scrapbook Nook 

most of the day today!

The Nooker to collect the MOST points over the weekend will win a 

Please come and join us...for the day, the whole weekend, or for just a bit.

Tons and tons of really great challenges and a couple of games to boot :)

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We're also celebrating at Imaginisce's Blog with a Design Team 

My scavenger hunt hint:

 Visit the blog to see the full list of hints.
Once you have figured them all out, email your answers (in ONE email) to
carilocken5@gmail.com

 You have until May 7th to complete the hunt and turn in your comments

 (a comment for each participating Design Team Member's hint)

WINNERS will be announced Friday, May 11th :)
The prize?  The NEW i-magicut ribbon cutting system!

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I'll be posting my challenge for My Scrapbook Nook here on the blog around 5PM CST

I hope everyone has a SPLENDID National Scrapbooking Day (uh hmmm, weekend)!

My daughter has been overwhelmed with poison ivy/oak

rashes for going on three weeks now.  The first week, it was around the left eye only.

It cleared up within a couple of days and we thought she was on the road to

relief.  Then this past Saturday we got up and dressed for dance recital pictures.  

I noticed that her right cheek was a little red...it had 'that' look and I suspected that 

while riding the four-wheeler Friday afternoon, that she'd gotten into the poison yet again!

By the end of Saturday evening, she was all puffy, red and itching all over her entire face.  

So, Sunday, we're at the quick care clinic where she gets the much-needed steroid injection

and some other medication.  Syd is not a big girl at all size wise and boy her little face just

puffed up!  As the week has progressed, new patches of rashes have shown up from 

head-to-toe!  She has been such a little trooper and finally, finally made it back to 

school today after missing this entire week and three days two weeks before.

Field Day for the 4th grade is tomorrow and she absolutely does not want to miss it.

She has won a BLUE ribbon in the 100 Meter Dash for the last two years.

I'm not quite sure that she'll be up to 'speed' this year given all that she's been through.

So, I've told you all of that to get to this....

I made up a cute little treat bag to give to her on Field Day...I'm hoping it will

brighten her spirits...just in case the blue ribbon isn't in her reach this year :)

This is my Totally Terrific Thursday project for I Heart {Ippity} 
I will fill this Kraft Bag with some of her favorite sweets, like the
Nutella snack packs...yummm!

I used the sentiment stamp from

and I created the sun using a 1.5" round punch and the 

26mm I TOP Punch from Imaginisce (also makes great flowers!)

Sticker letters by October Afternoon.

Hand-cut flowers from MME Stella Rose

Kraft bag from The Kraft Outlet 

The very first May CARDS Challenge is up at

In keeping with the themes of the This & That Collection

from Echo Park Paper, I've gone with a 

Quilting Bee Challenge!

Here is my card

 I used this quilt inspiration that I found at Etsy

Just go to the Nook link above to see all of the quilting samples to
choose from. You can also see the samples, as well as Hilde and Deanna's
takes on the challenge at the Nook Blog!

Okay, friends...time to get something productive done today.  I spent most
of the day yesterday tweaking my new blog...don't you like??? :)
Thanks much to Kate at Whimsical Blog Designs...she offers affordable blog designs
and even premade blog templates!

Have a lovely Wednesday!

Like a good challenge?  

Come and join our Monthly Challenge at Imaginisce.

For this month's challenge, you're only required to:

1- Use the color pink

2- Use flowers

3-Use bling

And use at least 75% Imaginisce products to be eligible for the prize.

The prize: the lucky winner will receive 2 paper packs of their choice!

For my project, I created this colorful card using the 

Makin' Waves papers & dimensional stickers, I Rock Bling and

Blossom Flowers.

Won't you join us?  Just link up your finished project by the end of the month!

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NATIONAL SCRAPBOOK DAY
We're celebrating in a BIG way this weekend at
My Scrapbook Nook 
&
Imaginisce!
The gals over at The Nook have come up with some really amazing
challenges for you to play along with this weekend.  Our theme is:
MOVIE MADNESS
You guessed it...everything to do with the Big Screen!
Tons and tons of fun awaits you...come on over and join us :)
 At Imaginisce, we'll be having a Design Team Scavenger Hunt, so pull out
that magnifying glass and your thinking cap.
Prizes, prizes, prizes!
I'll also be awarding a prize pack right here from my blog.
I'll be sharing some NEW NEWS that I'm really, really stoked about ;)
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 Be back tomorrow with my first Nook CARDS Challenge for the month...see you then!

It's the countdown to the weekend...happy Thursday!

First up, I want to make mention of the truly sweet and adorable

I have it

.
.

oh wow!

El-to-the-yumm-o

Grab yours today...new members receive a fabulous GRAB BAG
plus you receive your 13th month FREE!
 If you sign up, please tell them that Shellye sent you :)

Erika Gasser
Aleksandra Gadji
Patricia Roebuck
Bente Fagerberger

Leah Killian
Stacey Michaud
Carol Monson
Danni Reid
Jessy Christopher
Katarina Damm-Blomberg
Hilde Aaslund
Anna Sigga
Marinette Lefevre
Lilith Eckles
Shellye McDaniel
Pamella Brown
Gina Rodgers
Deanna Misner
Nicole Nowosad

Congratulations to our new team members...
they are truly amazing...really, truly :)
 I invite you to our wonderfully inspiring Message Board...
drama free and fun LOL
Come on by and see what we're cookin' up for you!

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If you love designing cards or other paper/craft projects with stamps and
would love the opportunity to design with Ippity brand stamps,
then give Heather a holler! She's hosting a Guest Design Team Call and
will accept applications until the end of this month.
IHI was my very first Design Team and
I love how much it has evolved in the past year.
 So if you're thinking that you would like to give a Design Team
 a go, this would be the perfect place to get your start :)

And being that it's Thursday and all....

I have a Totally Terrific Thursday card to share today.

Again, I have pulled out the {Storyteller} Collection by Crate Paper
and the {How You Doin'} Ippity Stamp Set

I'm so in love with Mister Huey by Studio Calico...in my
 personal opinion, it's the best spray mist that I've used to color
 plain chipboard.  The {Real Red} is simply a perfect match
 to the Storyteller papers.For the butterfly centers?
I really wanted to bring out the green in the leaves of the paper,
 so I took three decorative stick pins from Maya Road and snipped
 off the pin part...voila!

That's all for today...I should have a brand new blog look within a day or two,
so don't be shocked if you don't recognize it the next time you stop by.
See you soon!
Shellye