Being Inspired

Blogging is about  being inspired. I discovered a scrapbooker who has inspired me so much, I have returned to my first paper love...scrapbooking. Megan Klauer. I love her blog, her work, and her style.

Since joining Studio Calico gallery/forum, I have also been inspired! I am back with some garland that I made myself, clouds that I made myself, both using punches from Stampin Up! the chipboard house and background paper is from October Afternoon, the quilted patterned paper and tag is Studio Calico Take Note Collection.  The black chipboard letters is Cosmo Cricket. If I would have added a Hero Arts stamp, I would have included my top manufacturers in one post! HA!

Casadia

A while back I had a fun idea to start a card chain by CASEing cards, hence the name Case+idea=CASADIA. This little idea has gotten a lot of support from some fantastic bloggers. I want to update you on what has been happening, mostly entirely on Facebook. Facebook has been a wonderful source of fun and friendship for me!

so here is the chain so far...

It started with this show stopper by Laura Bassen. Laura's style is feminine, clean and simple, with a rainbow filled color palate. I could probably CASE all of her cards and people would think I was a design star, especially since my brain doesn't think that magnificently. She is honest with me and we have the best conversations about this little blogging world.

Then came Jennifer Rzasa. I call her style "futuristic CAS." Behind the scenes she has been present in every big blogging thing that has happened to me. She is my mentor, my go to, and supports me even if I said I wanted to start a blog about nose picking. She would say "GO FOR IT!"

Then came my card. I wrote if anyone wanted to join in, praying that some soul out there would not leave me hanging. SHIRLEY BEE to my rescue!

Shirley is a blog follower of mine. Sadly, I don't know how she found me but I am glad she did. She took me up on my challenge and didn't let me down both in task and in card. Here is her wonderful CASE of my card. Pretty sweet eh? How she used 2 stamps to match my font and changed it up with ultra black and neon green (right on trend like a good blogger should be).

Then came Amy Tsuruta. THE nicest lady in blogland. If she is your blog follower (lucky you) and you make a card, and you fear NO ONE will say ANYTHING about it...don't worry, Amy will find something great to say about it and save your post from falling apart. You get to feel like someone is looking at your stuff and liking it...isn't that what we ALL want? Talk about a change up, she made it fresh and fun. I loved how everyone was adding and subtracting elements.

Then there was Lorena. What a surprise! I recently became facebook friends with her and well so far, I have learned that she is a willing supporter of her fellow bloggers crazy ideas! She says to me, I am getting Christmas card vibes...check it out: AMAZING...

But those crafty ladies STILL didn't leave me hanging because just as soon as Lorena came on board, Ashley says I'll go next. Now probably they wouldn't have given me a kidney, but it's close with a pick up of a CASADIA. (I kid, I kid). So what does she do...a krafty change up that's what..

Before I knew it, Lalo came in with this beauty. Lalo is a Hawaiian beauty with so much enthusiasm and "light" that I get blinded by it. Her work is almost mixed media and her style is unexpected, which is why I love her so! She makes me feel like I am a superstar. Everyone needs a Lalo in their life. Especially when they can crank out this on short notice...

I thought it was over, but suddenly, Julie...sweet, sweet Julie says I will see what I can do. And look what she did: an Ultra CAS wonder. Now Julie has picked me up when my blog chips were down. We became buddies though Virginia Lu and facebook and I feel like we go way back. Like our friendship is how it's always been and it feels nice. 

Want to continue my CASADIA? just email me and let me know!

wida.miller@gmail.com

I hope you will. I love to see what you come up with and how far we can go with it!

Spiders are Cute

Hi Everyone!

Soon My Thoughts Exactly Stamp Company will be having a new release. Today I am showing you a sneak peak of a new Halloween set called "Fright Night Friends" due to come out in September. Alyssa sure does have good timing, because I have been working on mastering "cute" cards and once again buttons are in order.

I used some Stampin' Up! heat and stick powder to glitter up my web. I just love the font on this set too. And I did want to put google eyes on the spider (per my 3 year old daughter Anya's request) but his eyes were so cute all by themselves that I left him alone. BUT...it does give me an idea for the next card ;)

See you for the My Thoughts Exactly Blog Hop Sept 2, 2012 for the full reveal. It's a date!

I am entering this in the Moxi Fab  World Asymmetry Challenge. See how everything is over to the left and the "weight" of the card is at the bottom?

Paper Made Bakery August Collectioin

What a fun month for me in my introduction to Paper Made Bakery Kits. Here is the entire collection of cards I made in August.

I hope you enjoyed the collection and will join me again September 3 for the blog hop and start of another kit reveal!

I am going to leave you with a Halloween joke: WHY DIDN"T THE SKELETON DANCE? Because he didn't have noBODY to dance with! HAHAHA...

It's a one stop shop folks.

Paper Made Bakery Sunday Sneak Peek

SNEAK PEEK PHOTO ALERT:

And for the last time this month: I used this kit by Paper Made Bakery:

want to see the entire card? Click HERE

Tomorrow I will post my entire Paper Made Bakery Collection. See you then!

I Used to Scrapbook...and Weigh 93 Pounds

Some things I can get back, some...well, um...

Everytime I come into my beloved scrapbook room, I end up making a card. BUT joining the Studio Calico blog (thank you Laura for the push) has made me want to take a look at pictures again. I am SO behind, but try not to get stressed about it. I scrapbook what I want when I want, and occasionally realize I have huge gaps. This layout is the last one for "FIRST FLIGHT" pics for each of my kids. I like to get a photo with the pilot. Here is Karina's first flight to Akron, Ohio.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hey! I just noticed this fits with Casual Fridays Challenge #67 "using banners or flags". I checked the rules and it says project not card specifically, so here it goes! I think this is still clean and simple. I used a lot of white space.

Runway Inspired Challenge Guest DT #2

Today is my last Guest Design Team spot with Runway Inspired Challenge.  This guest spot is one of the highlights of my card making career. Just to stand next to those ladies on the DT runway is a dream come true. had a fun time making cards for the challenges, but anyone who visits my blog, knows I love to do that as a participant just the same! It was an honor, a pleasure, and made this girl so so happy. THANK YOU! This card is dedicated to you.

Here is the Inspirational Photo for this weeks challenge:

Here is what I came up with:

All products Hero Arts!

But then, in classic Runway Inspired fashion for me, I made another card. So here it is, just for you...going out with a BANG!

I focused on the jacket more this time. I have become addicted to closures, so I made my own with brads. The purse kind of hung next to her so that is how I made my tag. And I hope you can see the pin stripes on the black card stock. The flowers on the blouse I symbolized with the floral embossed pattern.

I hope you will come back and visit again. Till then...

PS reading on Moxi Fab World today and learned about movement in card design. I think I have accomplished this in my second card. I think your eye starts at the tag sentiment and goes up to the bow, then the embossed portion, to the brad enclosure and back to the tag. So I am entering this in the challenge.  AM I RIGHT????

Paper Made Bakery Sneak Peak Sunday

SNEAK PEAK PHOTO ALERT

I made the card using this fantastic kit by Paper Made Bakery:

Do you want to see the ENTIRE card? Click HERE.

I will leave you today with a quote because I am feeling quotey. Yes, I know quotey is not a word.

"Every Accomplishment Starts With A Decision to Try".

good stuff people, good stuff.

Kraft the OTHER Neutral

I used a heart punch and scored it in half, arranged in a circle, and glued it onto a circle punch. The sentiment is from Cheer Up set by Hero Arts. I am entering this in A BLOG NAMED HERO CHALLENGE #10. 

and 

See you all tomorrow for my Paper Made Bakery Sneak Peak.

Also, for those of you who want the Mini Thoughts Set By My Thoughts Exactly Stamp Company which has been sold out...IT'S BACK!!! Click HERE.

Get to Know Me in Photos

I have few photos of me as a baby. This one is from a passport. 

Here I am today. 36.

A wife to the first boy I ever loved. He called me exotic, when I had felt "foreign." It is amazing how powerful words can be.

A mother to the best 4 kids in the world. Their personalities and faces so much like my own. How miraculous genetics is.

A nurse practitioner. This role was is one that is the original me, before all of them came along, I was a nurse. Helping people with good intention and with heart. Intention is important.

A Crafter. This is how most of you know me. Sometimes its nice to share another side.

All these roles make me happy. What makes you happy?

Wida

A Card and a Quote

Getting a lot of bang for my buck with this little Hello Summer Stamp set! I have been trying to work on "CUTE" cards and nothing says cute like a button with a bow, don't you think? For the sentiment I created a shadow look stamping More Mini Thoughts in gray and then again in black.

Keeping it simple today...but on a side note, heard a funny line and thought I would share:

"YOU CAN'T MAKE ANYONE LOVE YOU, YOU CAN JUST STALK THEM AND HOPE FOR THE BEST"

hehe,

Wida

Paper Made Bakery SNEAK PEEK

SNEAK PEEK PHOTO ALERT

The card was made using this kit from Paper Made Bakery. 

Want to see the rest of it? click HERE.  And hey, maybe you could leave a comment there so the boss knows people check out my cards?

It's CUTE, right?

While going to the grocery store with my little people, my eyes found this book in the bargain bin and I fell in love.

That little Eliot Jones is the cutest little person! The story was cute too. The kids made me read it twice. I was inspired to make this card.

Actually every page in the book was cool so you might be seeing more cards inspired by this little book in the future.

and

I really don't do well with "cute" cards so that is what I have been trying to work on. This is my attempt at a cute boys birthday card. I also stink at coloring so I just used an orange distress ink to color the rocket. My beloved Hero Arts newspaper skyline stamp and there you have it. Cute Cute Cute!?!?

Pinch Me

Any one who has visited my blog knows I have a love for one challenge blog above all others. Runway Inspired Challenge has the BEST design team in the business. Ok, maybe I am a little biased, but they showcase cards that make my jaw drop every time. The concept is based on a runway photo which is used to inspire a card. Clever eh?

Last week I won the challenge and the prize was a guest spot with the Design team. PINCH ME because I can't believe it. My dream has come true.

Here is what happened after I won.

For a solid 30 hours I stared at the dress that Jennifer Rzasa emailed me. Why? because I was choking under the pressure of making a card that would be in the company of these women. 

Nothing seemed good enough.

Until...

I remembered THIS video.  

and THEN a trip to Archiver's for some purple distress ink. 

and THEN about 50 photos later, 

I present you my card for the Runway Inspired Challenge #17 (said in a show announcer voice)...

right after these messages, JUST KIDDING!

Here's how I was inspired:

Sorry, this card was removed for publication!

the folded rays on the bust and bodice of the dress --> so I have the rays in the background
the watercolored fabric--> so I have a watercolor background and the watercolored rose
the layers of pleats in the skirt of the dress--> I have popped up the rose with dimensionals
the black hair --> so I used a black sentiment
and of course, the colors in general

I will be also joining in on the next challenge as well...wish me luck. Maybe I can cut down on the choke time to 15 hours? ;)

New Day, New Challenges, New Perspective

I have wanted to try some new challenges and the Lawnscaping Challenge seemed a good one to try. The challenge was to do a one layer card using a Lawn Fawn set. I used Flutter by.

I also found another new challenge called Dynamic Duo's (thanks to who has color challenges and their colors were:

I watercolored my card, the watercoloring wasn't so bad, it was the warped card stock that seemed to be the problem. Guess I should have used a heavier weight card stock. I have only done watercoloring a few times. Normally, I would have cut it out and mounted it on another card stock, but then it wouldn't be one layer, so I backed it with some kraft and I think I like the detail ;)

Chapter 7 of the blogging Handbook: It Didn't Start as a Pity Party. Somehow I ended up down a blog path that makes me think I took a wrong turn. I started this adventure hoping to share my love of crafting and get some stress relief and yesterday landed in Frustration Island. That isn't where I wanted to be and so I am over the detour and back on track as of today, trying new stuff, entering my beloved challenges, and hopefully making great stuff. AND along the way meeting more and more cool people. Thank you Jen Rzasa for digging me out of my hole. This card is dedicated to you.

MTE August Challenge: PUNS!

This is my second post of the day...for my Paper Made Bakery Sneak Peek, scroll down!

My Thoughts Exactly is having a challenge right now!
The topic? Create a project using puns.
I used THIS set :) for the sentiment. fishes not included...they were a recollections stamp set from Michaels ;)

The challenge ends August 26th. There are prizes! Want to enter? Click HERE.

Paper Made Bakery SNEAK PEEK

SNEAK PEEK PHOTO ALERT

Used this kit by Paper Made Bakery...

Want to see the entire card? Click HERE!

Paper Made Bakery August Blog Hop

Hi Everyone,

Today is my first post for Paper Made Bakery! PMB is a monthly kit club. Each kit contains a bunch of goodies to inspire you and get you crafty! August is a great month to try PMB kits because "GARDEN ART" is filled with garden themed items including a cool stamp set from Lawn Fawn. Find out more about PMB here.

August also brings a new design team too, so be sure to hop around to meet the new team, get better looks at the kit contents, and lots of chances to win a free kit! We are:

Paper Made Bakery

Wida Miller <----ME!

Michelle McClure

Lisa Arana

Jennifer Cuthbertson

Amy Tsuruta

Alicia Thelin

Here you can see the dimension of the quilt pattern...

Here is the front view...

Everything used in this card (except the white card stock) was from the kit. 

Want to see how I made it? check out this video...I think it is my best one yet!

The inspiration for this card was a picture I saw by Martha Stewart, shown here. 

Here is the kit's contents...

Your next stop is Michelle...

 PMB uses rafflecopter to give away prizes. If you are new to this idea (as I was) here is a Rafflecopter giveaway  tutorial.  The Giveaway ends on Friday, August 3, 2012 at midnight. See you on Sunday for my regular scheduled weekly posts at the PMB site and sneak peeks here!!!  a Rafflecopter giveaway.