Crafting with heat transfer vinyl

Hello Friends! I wanted to pop in quickly today to share a cute project made with heat transfer vinyl (HTV). If you're not familiar with HTV, you are missing out on some fun! There are ton of videos on YouTube if you're interested. So, I recently purchased some gold glitter HTV and I could not wait to use it! I had some canvas totes that I bought from Michael's forever ago, and decided to finally open the package and use one for this project. I wanted to do something for the awesome young lady that braids my daughter's hair, so I cut out the name of her business along with a design from the Silhouette Design Store using my Silhouette Cameo. I'm not fortunate enough to have a heat press so I used my trusty home iron to transfer the vinyl onto the tote.

I was able to get the cutest model I know to hold the bag for me! :-) I really love how this turned out and the glitter vinyl looks amazing in person. I can't wait to give it to her and  you can follow her on instagram @ohmibraids to see her awesome work!

Well, it's shaping it to be a HOT day here. I hope you're staying cool and enjoying the sunshine as well! Have a great day!

Hugs,

Carol

End of year teacher gifts

Hello Friends! Long time, no blogging LOL!! I hope you all have been doing well and getting your craft on! Don't get me wrong, I've definitely been crafting but I think I've become light-weight addicted to Instagram!! If you're not following me there, please do - @carolscustomcards. :-)

Today, I have an end of the year teacher gift that was really fun to make. I ordered some galvanized baskets from WalMart and just filled that sucker up! I added a magazine, a very pretty water bottle from The Pioneer Woman (also from WalMart), Godiva chocolate, Bath and Body Works lotion, custom pencils from Bossy Joscie that said "wake up, teach kids, be awesome" and an Amazon gift card. I added each teacher's name to the outside of the basket using my Silhouette and vinyl, put it inside a clear gift bag and tied it with some ribbon. I made a total of 6 baskets and I was just so happy to let each teacher know what a blessing they have been in our daughter's life.

I love how these baskets turned out and giving is such a wonderful feeling! I hope you let your child's teacher know how much you appreciate them in your own special way as the school year comes to an end.

I hope you have a great Friday and if you're in the states, a fantastic Memorial Day weekend!!

Hugs,

Carol

MFT Card Design Superstar - Coloring Virtuoso

Hello Friends! I'm back today with my second card for the MFT Card Design Superstar contest. I wasn't sure if I would get this posted in time because after Hurricane Irma we had no internet service for a week. Trust me, I'm not complaining because I know things could have been so much worse. I'm just happy that we were spared and I continue to pray for all of those who have been in harm's way this hurricane season.

My card today is for the Coloring Virtuoso part of the contest.

I used the A Phone Call Away stamp set and since I don't have MFT patterned paper, I made my own with some stamps from the Stay Tuned set. That Pure Innocence girl is just too cute!! I colored her with Copic markers and added some wink of stella for a little sparkle on the telephone. Wish me luck!!

I hope you have a great evening and thanks so much for stopping by!

Carol

MFT Card Design Superstar - Clean and Simple Submission

WOW! It's been a LONG time since my last post! I can't make excuses, so I won't. The good thing is, I have been creating but I've been posting on Instagram - it's just so darn easy! But, I am here today with a card that I made to submit to MFT's Card Design Superstar contest. This is my take on a Clean and Simple card which is pretty tough for me because I love patterned paper like nobody's business! I couldn't bring myself to do a ton of white space, but I'm still pretty happy with the result.

I used Cookie Crumbles from MFT along with the matching dies. I'm entering the contest today, so wish me luck! I hope to start blogging again regularly after Hurricane Irma passes. Pray for us down here in Florida!

I hope you have a great weekend and thanks so much for stopping by!

Carol

Sympathy card

Hello Friends! I hope you had a great weekend. My weekend was wonderful, I spent a lot of time with my family which is always a good thing. We started Paige in gymnastics and she spends an hour at the gym on Saturday's. We definitely had to do something so she can use up some of her awesome energy! She really enjoys it and it's cute to see her on the balance beam and running under the uneven bars! LOL!

So, I made a set of cards for my mom a while ago and she always asks for Sympathy cards. I usually have a tough time with sympathy cards because I put so much pressure on myself to make them as pretty as possible. With this card I decided that less is more and now that I have a new heat gun, I decided to do some heat embossing.

I used patterned paper from Papertrey Ink which had the gold embossed frame. I added the beautiful flower using Happy Words from Concord & 9th and the sentiment is also from PTI. The card is simple but I think it has a sweet and sincere feel to it. My mom said she loved it and at the end of the day, it's all about making your "customer" happy! :-)

Well, I wish you all a happy Monday and thank you so much for stopping by!

Carol

Princess Carriage

Hello Friends! I hope that all of you are doing well. Unfortunately for me, I've been under the weather and taking antibiotics. It sucks when you live in the sunshine state, and have a terrible, terrible cold! But, I'm getting my rest on and taking my meds and I hope to be back to my old self again very soon.

Today, I have the cutest project to share. My friend recently had a party for her daughter's 9th birthday, and it wasn't just any party it was a spa party with a Cinderella theme! Talk about awesome! All of the girls at the party got manicures, pedicures, massages, make-up the whole spa package. So, with this lovely theme, my friend asked me to make party favors. Of course I went right to my Silhouette and found this sweet princess carriage favor box.

My friend absolutely loved how this turned out! The gold glitter paper really put it over the top and the colors matched her overall theme exactly. I ended up making 18 of these cute carriages and my friend decided to put Hershey kisses inside and the kisses ending up being the same blue color...talk about coordinating everything! I asked my friend if I could be her daughter because this was one heck of a party! LOL!

Well my friends, that's it for me today. Hopefully, I'll be feeling better soon so I can get back to crafting! Have a great day and thank you so much for stopping by!

Carol

We have a winner!

Hello Friends! Just popping in quickly to announce the winner for my Happy Planner Giveaway. Drumroll please...driftingdreamer101! Congratulations!

Have a great Friday everyone!

Hugs,
Carol

It's Giveaway Time!

Hello Friends! I hope you're having a lovely weekend! Mine has been great so far. I've been spending quality time with Paige and trying to catch up on household stuff...does it ever end??!! I feel like I spend the entire weekend doing laundry!

I'm so excited about today's post because it's Giveaway Time! So, we're still early in the new year and I don't know about you but I'm still trying to get myself organized. Are you a planner? Would you like to be a planner? Well, today's giveaway is for you! I have a planner from The Happy Planner along with a few extras: Stickers, Acrylic Planner Cover page (just in case you don't like the one that comes with the planner) and planner pages for the household (this includes to-do lists, budgets and more). Now that I've explained what you'll get, how about a couple of pics!

Doesn't that make you want to start getting or staying organized?! To enter, just leave a comment about one of your organizational goals for 2017. Please comment by Wednesday, 02/08 and I'll select a winner on Friday 02/10. Please make sure you include your email address in your comment so I can contact you if you're the winner. Good luck!

Hugs,

Carol

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED

Home Sweet Home

Hello Friends! Happy Hump Day! I hope you're having a wonderful week so far. Before I get started about the card I would like to do a little housekeeping. As you can see I changed the name of my blog to Carol's Custom Cards. That's my business name and I felt it made more sense to have everything the same - blog, Instagram, Etsy (one day - LOL!). So, hopefully you found me!

Things have been good this way, enjoying the sunny days and mild temperatures in our area. I'm popping in quickly today with more thank you cards I made for my brother-in-law's real estate business. I am smitten with the Post & Parcel Make it Market kit from PTI. This set is so versatile, it's definitely not just for Christmas!

I used patterned paper from Lori Whitlock called The Story of Our Family. It's a great paper pad with plenty of homey designs. The mailbox, envelope and stamp are all from the Post & Parcel set. These cards are 5x7 in size and my brother-in-law loved them!

Well, that's it for me today! I hope the rest of your week is fantastic!

Hugs!

Carol

Thank you

Hello Friends! Happy second week of the New Year! Does time already seem like it's flying? Oh my goodness, this year is definitely in full swing! I'm slowly trying to get my craft room organized. It's really becoming serious because I seem to purchasing items and have absolutely no where to put them! So, I think it's time to purge, clean out and organize! I'm looking at some of the things I have and I can't even remember that last time I used it, so it's going away. Hopefully I will be in a much better place real soon.

Have you ever heard of Scentsy? I had never heard of it before I was invited to a party, but they're candles. You actually break off a piece of it and put it inside a warmer that you plug in. No more lighting candles! They smell really good and the warmers are adorable. The hostess of the party was so sweet, I had to make her a thank you card.

Isn't that tray awesome! It's from MFT and it's just a die, no stamping. I'm in love with this die! The little vase and flower are also from the die set called Bedside Comfort. I aslo a PTI stamp set called Table Service for the sentiment as well as the strawberry pie. The Scentsy party was hosted by my friend's co-worker and she told me that she brought the card to work to show everyone. I think she liked it, LOL! That's what it's all about, I truly want to send out more cards this year and not just for birthday's. I'm a work in progress...

I hope you enjoy your day, the weekend is almost here! Hopefully you have something fun and exciting planned! Thank you so much for stopping by.

Carol

Happy New Year!

Hello Friends! I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and a happy new year! I know I've been away for way too long, but with the new year comes a new mindset and new goals for 2017. One of my goals for sure is to be more present on my blog and Instagram. I plan to craft much more often this year and get more organized in my craft room. Slowly but surely I am making that happen.

Today I thought it would be a good idea to post my top 6 projects from 2016:

I loved taking that trip down memory lane! I had forgotten about a few of these projects and it's nice to reminisce and see what I can work on this year to make even better projects.

Do you have goals for 2017? Whatever your goals may be, I wish you much luck and I also wish you happiness, love and prosperity for the new year!

Thanks for stopping by!

Carol

Have a ball...

Hello Friends! Wow, it's been over a month since my last post! I'm telling you being a working mom is no joke! I recently got a promotion and things are just busy, busy, busy! Then I get home with my family and things are just busy, busy, busy! Paige turned three earlier this month and we had a really fun bowling party for her, and she had a BLAST! I'm telling you things are just moving a lightening speed in the Weatherspoon household! LOL!

So, I wanted to pop in and give you a quick update on my whereabouts and also leave you with a couple of cards. I recently made a set of birthday cards for my sweet friend Chi. I love mason jars and all things that look shabby chic, so why not make a card that fits this description?

Ahh, there's nothing like good ole fashion lemonade in a mason jar! I think it makes it taste a whole lot better! I used the stamp set Mason Jar Labels from MFT and the Public Library paper pad from October Afternoon and stamped On Your Birthday inside the drawers. Don't you love that straw? It's the little things that just totally make me smile!

So, I'll leave you today with a photo of my little one enjoying her birthday! Isn't she getting big!!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and thank you so much for stopping by!

Carol

Back to School Teacher Gift

Hello Friends! I hope you all had a nice weekend. My weekend was fantastic because I had a date night with my hubby on Saturday. We are making an effort to go out at least once a month so we can have some adult time. We went to a great Polynesian restaurant and had dinner and a show with Polynesian dancers, it was great! After that, we headed to a bar in Ft. Lauderdale and met up with my brother-in-law and his girlfriend. We really had fun! Paige was in great hands with her awesome babysitter so we didn't have any worries while we were away.

So, today I have a teacher gift to share. Paige is in a new classroom and this year she only has two main teachers, so I think I'll do more teacher gifts this year. ;-)

Is this not the cutest pencil you've ever seen?! It's a Lori Whitlock 3D cut file that I found in the Silhouette Design Store. It's a great size, and pretty roomy inside. I fit a super-sized bag of M&M's in there with no problem. The teachers absolutely loved it and it was a cinch to put together. I added the just for you sentiment using a mini stamp set from Papertrey Ink.

Well, that's it for me today. I hope you have a great Monday, and thanks so much for stopping by!

Carol

Belated Birthday Part 2

Hello Friends! Happy Saturday! I hope you had a great week and are ready for a wonderful weekend. We're expecting lots of rain this weekend due to a tropical system out there in the Atlantic, so more than likely we'll be inside most of the weekend. That's fine by me, I love hanging in the house with my fam. :-)

Today, I have another belated birthday card to share (are you sensing a theme?). The sentiment on this card cracks me up!

This stamp set is from Reverse Confetti, it's called The Buzz. I colored the bee with Copic markers and added that great sentiment to a banner I cut with my Silhouette. I used very neutral tones on this card, you know to down play the fact that it's late! LOL! It's sad to say, but I'm sure I'll be using this stamp set again. 

Well, I hope you have a fantastic weekend and thanks so much for stopping by!

Carol

Belated Birthday

Hello Friends! I hope all of you had a nice weekend. Have you been watching the Olympics? The games were absolutely amazing, and I enjoyed every event that we watched. The US did outstanding and it's such a joy to see so many awesome athletes realize their dreams. Loved it!

Well, it's the start to another week and I can't believe that August is almost over! I'm starting to see a lot of stamp companies coming out with their fall and winter releases, so that just means that we'll be singing Jingle Bells pretty soon here at the blog! Today I have a belated birthday card to share. You know, it's really a shame when you're a card maker and you still figure out a way to be late with one of your BFF's birthday's (Sorry Chi!). I made this card using the Some Like it Hot stamp set from PTI.

Can I just tell you that I'm in love with this stamp set?! Don' be surprised if you see red and green flamingos on my Christmas cards this year! (I'm so not kidding!!) The sentiment on this card is from Blue Skies stamp set, also from PTI. Although it's a belated card, it's still cute, right? :-)

Well, I better get ready for work and get this Monday started with a smile. I hope you have a great day, and thank you so much for stopping by!

Carol

Take Note

Hello Friends! Happy Monday to all of you! I hope you had a great weekend. My weekend was fabulous because my mom is here!! She got here on Saturday and we've been chatting and laughing every since. Paige has been full of hugs and kisses since she's been here so it's been great watching the two of them bond.

I'm popping in today to share a couple of notepads. You know I absolutely love a notepad, and these are so great to keep in your purse. You never know when you need to jot down a little note, or make a list for your groceries so it's nice to have a handy dandy notepad.

So, you know I have a thing for typewriters and I just found out a couple of days ago that Michael's is selling a We R Memory Keepers typecast typewriter!!! For some reason, I can't add the link, but I'll work on that because you really need to see it. The beautiful part is it comes in PINK!! What the what!!!! I want it SO bad, but it carries a hefty price tag...$199.00 and you can't use the coupon. I guess I'll need to start saving my pennies, and selling more cards so I can buy one! 

Okay, I digress...I used patterned paper and a print cut and cut typewriter from the Silhouette Design Store to make the notepads. These came together pretty quickly and I believe I made four of them. More than likely I'll add them to my back-to-school teacher gifts. :-)

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful day and thank you so much for stopping by!

Carol 

Hello Beautiful!

Hello Friends! Happy Friday! I hope you're having a great week and getting ready for the weekend! I returned home from Philly yesterday and yes, I had a Philly cheese steak while I was there!  So, I'm heading to work today and then I'll be racing to get home because my mom is coming in town tomorrow! I'm super excited!! All I can say is Paige is going to have a great time! Talk about getting a lot of attention and being even more spoiled than she already is! LOL!

Today I'm sharing a card I made for my stash. Remember, I'm trying to get better with having cards on hand so I don't have to make a card every time I need one...I know, novel right?!

I absolutely, positively love that sentiment! Who wouldn't want to open a card that says Hello Beautiful! The stamp set is from Simon Says Stamp and of course it's entitled Hello Beautiful. I pulled out my plaid paper from Lawn Fawn (again) and the watercolor frame was a print and cut from the Silhouette Design Store. I used some Ranger distress ink to ink up the background paper and that's about it.

Well, I gotta get out of here and I'll work on containing my excitement about my mom coming down...nah not really! I'll try to pop in next week to give you an update!

Have a great day and a wonderful weekend. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Carol 

A Good Day

Hello Friends,! I hope you had a great weekend! Mine was good, but way too short! I'm actually heading out of town on a business trip today, so I spent my weekend washing, packing, shopping, and making sure my hubby has everything he needs for our little princess.

I can't believe that August is already here! I realized over the weekend that I need to start planning Paige's birthday party because October will be here before you know it! I remember when I was pregnant, our friends told us that once she gets here time was going to fly! They were not kidding!! I personally treasure every minute I spend with Paige because she's already getting very independent. It's going to suck when she doesn't "need" me to do things for her anymore.

Okay, before I start crying let's get on to today's card! You all know that I love my coffee, and today I'm sharing yet another coffee card. Hey, it's Monday, what better way to start the week?

This sentiment could not be more true! I try to start every day with a smile and a positive attitude, it's amazing how far a smile will go! So, I broke out my Copics to color the coffee mugs, I know my coloring isn't great, but I tried! I also used my go-to plaid patterned paper from Lawn Fawn. They recently released new plaid papers for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and winter. You know I'll be picking those up! The stamp set I used is called Latte Love from PTI, it's one of my all-time faves!

Well, I hope all of you have a very Happy Monday and a wonderful week. Thank you so much for stopping by!

Carol

Hello There

Hello Friends! Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend. It's been SO HOT, I can't even make it my car without breaking a sweat! My weekend was pretty low-key, but it was still really nice. We had another Food Truck Invasion in my neighborhood on Saturday so of course we had to go! I had a delicious Cuban sandwich along with a strawberry milkshake. Can you say delicious?! It was funny because Paige almost ate the whole thing! We had fun, but it was so darn hot we couldn't stay long.

So, about two weeks ago I took some time to make some cards for my stash. It seems that I'm always scrambling to make a card at the last minute, so the light bulb finally went off and I realized that I need to have cards on hand for any occasion. Today's card is just a simple hello. From time to time, a person may come to mind that you haven't spoken to in a while and when that happens, why not send a card? I know everyone loves to text, but how sweet is it when you receive a card in the mail and it's not even your birthday!

This card was quick to make because I finally pulled out my Mini Misti! Why did I wait so long to start using this awesome tool?? I used it for the flowers and the sentiment. The tool allows you stamp in the same area multiple times without a fuss. I love it!!! I used Raspberry Fizz cardstock from PTI for my card base. I pulled out a die that I got in a $25 goodie box from Amber Kemp-Gerstel to make the holes in the second layer. I finished off the card by stamping flowers from The Sweet Life and the sentiment is from the Scripted stamp set, both from PTI. Although this card is simple, I can see myself making lots of these in a rainbow of colors. 

Well, I hope your Monday is off to a great start and thank you so much for stopping by!

Carol

Classroom Gift

Hello Friends! Sorry for the long absence! Geez, I didn't realize how long it had been until I opened up the blog and saw the last date I posted! Trust me, I've been busy crafting and have lots to share, I just have to find the time to take pics and share with all of you.

So, Paige will be going into a new classroom in August and of course I had to make something for the new room. She'll be going from Tiny Tots to Tot Time and will now be on the regular school year calendar, she's getting to be a big girl! I decided to make a canvas project that can be hung on the one of the walls in her classroom.

I used Echo Park Teacher's Pet patterned paper and the All Apples stamp set from Reverse Confetti. I am loving that stamp set! I see many teacher gifts being made with it. I adhered everything with Mod Podge and also added more on top to give it a nice finish. I'm excited for the school year to begin and I can't wait to find out who her lead teacher will be.

Well, that's it for me today and I hope to be back soon with more crafty goodness! I hope you have a great day and thank you so much for stopping by.

Carol