Happy Sunday, my friends!  I hope your day is going well so far!  Welcome to day 2 of birthday week at the Cupcakes & Sunshine blog!!  I am hoping to post everyday with something until Thursday, when I draw the winner of my birthday giveaway.  The only way you can win is to visit THIS post....so be sure to do that!

I have a sweet little cupcake card to share with you today!  It is based on Sweet Sunday Sketch 51, and Dawn's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge 21.  Be sure to check both challenges out...they are fabulous!

Instructions: Fold light aqua cardstock in half to make card base.  Round the corners of a block of cream cardstock.  Round the bottom corners of a strip of yellow dotted paper and adhere to the bottom of the cream block.  Punch an apron lace border to plaid paper and adhere above that.  Wrap ribbon around the seams, and finish with a bow.  Tie a button around the bow using twine.  Punch three cupcakes from chocolate cardstock and patterned paper.  Adhere to the top portion of the block, and accent with soft yellow pearls.  Stamp the sentiment below the ribbon using chestnut pigment ink.  Adhere the entire block to the aqua card base using dimensional adhesive.

On another note, Renaissance By Design has a huge amount of stuff on sale to make room for new product.  Including.....their RIBBON.  This is the ribbon that I use a large majority of the time, and it ties fabulously!  I really suggest it if you are looking for ribbon that makes for a wonderful bow. 

Want to see a really neat photo I took yesterday (well, I think it is pretty cool anyways)?  I am glad I took it, because today everything is starting to melt.
It's a perfect little Sadie print frozen in time.  Earlier this week we got wet snow, and then the temperature dropped very quickly.  I saw this one paw print, and knew I had to photograph it!

And Josh got me these this week:
And not for my birthday, but because I booked my first wedding of 2010!  I don't think he will buy me flowers every time I book a wedding, but this time was pretty special!  It is like hanging your first dollar on the wall, or something.  I was very excited to book it, and it sounds like it is going to be an amazing wedding.  Can't wait to capture it for the couple and their families!

Well, I need to get going.  I have some more packing to get done before we head out for Sheridan this afternoon.  Here is hoping the roads are nice and clear!!  Have a great rest of your Sunday! ♥

Until later,
~Lea

Welcome to birthday week at my blog!!  I talked about this a few posts ago, but I will recap.  I turn 30 next Thursday, and it is a number that I am not that excited about.  But, I have decided to focus on just being positive about it, especially considering I don't look 30!  So, that is what I am dwelling on!  Anyways...it is going to be a week of birthday cards and fun random stuff about yours truly.  To cap off the week.....I will be posting the winner from my Imaginisce giveaway on my birthday, which you can read about more HERE.  Be sure to check that post out and do the requirements so you can be in the running for some fabulous paper!

I have this cutie of a card to share with you today!  It is based on Get Sketchy 20.  When I saw this sketch....I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.  It doesn't traditionally follow the sketch, but I think you can see the inspiration!! It also just happens to fit the current challenge at Crazy 4 Challenges...actually, my whole week will fit this challenge!  Hee hee!

Instructions: Fold white cardstock in half ot make cardbase.  Round the top corners of a block of cloud paper and adhere to the front.  Cut the hills freehand from two different green papers and ink the edges with lime pastel chalk ink.  Adhere to the bottom of the card.  Round a corner of a block of orange dotted paper, and then trace a circle to it.  Cut out and ink the edges with tangerine chalk ink.  Adhere to the front.  Cut the clouds/layers from white and glittered cardstock at 1 1/2" using a Cricut and Graphically Speaking cartridge.  Layer them together and adhere to the front.  Stamp the sentiment to the right cloud, and accent the other with jewels.  Stamp the tree and gnome to cardstock and patterned paper.  Piece them together, and adhere to the front of the card.  Cut out a flower and adhere it to the gnome's hat and accent with a jewel.  Stamp the grass and mushroom directly to the card.  Stamp the mushrooms to red paper, cut out, and adhere.  Fill in the dots and stems with white pen, and accent each one with a jewel.

So, I thought I would share some random stuff with you about me this week....just in case you want to get to know me better.  Today I thought I would do a little A-Z of what is on this....
Lea's Ipod A-Z: Augustana, Band of Horses, Barenaked Ladies, Black Eyed Peas, Bryan Adams, Casting Crowns, Colbie Caillat, Crazy/Beautiful sndtrk., Dave Matthews Band, Dirty Dancing sndtrk., Edwin McCain, Fergie, Iron & Wine, Jack Johnson, Jason Mraz, Jason Myles Goss, Jason Upton, John Mayer, Joshua Radin, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Kings of Leon, Leona Lewis, Live, Matt Nathanson, Mazzy Star, Metallica, Miranda Lambert, Muse, Natalie Grant, Natasha Bedingfield, New Moon sndtrk., One Republic, P.M. Dawn, Paramore, Pearl Jam, Pet Shop Boys, Plumb, Rascal Flatts, Robert Pattinson, Romeo & Juliet sndtrk., Sara Bareilles, Sheryl Crow, Sierra Noble, Sophie B. Hawkins, The Sundays, Taylor Swift, Tom Petty, Twilight sndtrk., U2, UB40, Usher, 311.

That is my favorite music in a nutshell.  There are some other random stuff on it...but that is the gist! We are heading to Sheridan tomorrow for a visit with the fam until Wednesday night, or possibly Thursday morning.  But no worries....I will just be blogging from there!  I need to go get some errands done, and then spend some more time getting cards done.  So, I will chat at you later!  Don't forget to go to that post I linked in the beginning and sign up for my birthday giveaway!! ♥

Until later,
~Lea

....is the set I picked out from Gina K Designs, who is our sponsor this week at CPS.  And I want to rename this set to "Warm, Wonderful & Freaking Awesome!"  I had so much fun using it....I ended up making a bunch of cards with it.  Which I am going to share with you today!!  So, bare with the long post.....because I am going to make it worth your while.  Details for a giveaway will be at the very end of the post!!!  So, here we go!

This is my card for this week's sketch at CPS.  Isn't the sweater so ca-ute!!  I love it!

Instructions: Fold kraft cardstock in half to make card base and round bottom corners.  Round bottom corners of a white cardstock block and adhere to the front.  Attach blue paper frill to a strip of winter patterned paper, and adhere to the front.  Accent strip with jewel snowflake, ribbon, and large white puff.  Stamp the sweater and hat image to blue snowflake paper and cut out.  Adhere to the front of the card, and accent with white puffs and jewels.  Stamp the sentiment directly to the white cardstock, and accent with jewels.

This card is based on Mojo Monday 120 sketch, and the current Just Buggin' challenge 19 to use your Cricut & stamping .  Can I just say that this ribbon rocks for tying bows.  I purchased it at Michael's during their Thanksgiving sale...thankfully I bought two spools of it because I love it.  And I got it for next to nothing....gotta love that!

Instructions: Fold kraft cardstock in half to make card base and round bottom corners.  Add red paper frill to the bottom of the hat paper strip, and adhere to the front.  Ink the edges of a block of dotted paper, and adhere to the front.  Add the rub-on mittens to the bottom of the card.  Add the ribbon to the front, and finish with a bow.  Cut the scalloped circle and its layers at 2 1/4" from red & white cardstock using a Cricut and Winter Woodlands cartridge.  Layer together, and stamp the sentiment to the white circle.  Adhere the front.  Stamp the hat and mittens to patterned paper, and cut out.  Layer together and adhere to the front.  Accent with jewels and a white puff. 

This next card is based on Kazan's Sketch 43 at 2 Sketches 4 U this week.  They always have such fabulous sketches every week.

Instructions: Fold red snowflake paper in half to make card base, and round the right hand corners.  Ink the edges of the card with warm red chalk ink.  Ink the edges of a strip of striped paper with warm red chalk ink, and adhere blue paper frill to the right side.  Adhere the entire block to the left side of the card.  Round the right hand corners of a block of kraft cardstock, and adhere to the front.  Stamp the three snowflakes in frost white pigment ink to the kraft block.  Stamp the sentiment in ruby pigment ink directly below the snowflakes.  Accent the snowflakes with blue pearls.  Add ribbon across the bottom of the card.  Top with a bow, button, twine, and pins.

This cutie is based on sunday's sketch at 365 cards.  I used a mix of Gina K & RBD stamps on this one...I think they go together really well!  The RBD stamps are the marshmallows & the steam flourishes.

Instructions: Fold kraft cardstock in half to make card base.  Round the top corners of white and red cardstock, and adhere together.  Attach to the front of the card.  Punch a border to a strip of red snowflake paper, and adhere to the top of a white diamond paper block.  Adhere the entire piece to the front.  Tie ribbon around the bottom of the card, and accent with a button and twine.  Accent the seam with a strip of brown jewels.  Stamp the cocoa mug to dotted paper with chestnut pigment ink, cut out, and adhere.  Accent with red jewels and glitter.  Stamp the steam, sentiment, and marshmallows directly to the red cardstock with frost white pigment ink.  Accent with jewels and pearls.

And the last one...but definitely not the least!  This uses Get Sketchy 19 and current challenge at Bitten By The Bug 2 to use the "In Style' cut from the Graphically Speaking cartridge.  I am so happy that Heather Binnie decided to take over when Regina needed to step away from BBTB1.  I have always loved checking out the inspiration from the blog, and hope to participate much more this year!

Instructions: Fold kraft cardstock in half to make card base.  Round the left corners of a block of winter paper and adhere to the front.  Cut a curve from red snowflake paper, and adhere to the right side.  Cut the "in style" image and its layers from kraft cardstock/dotted paper at 2 3/4" using a Cricut and Graphically Speaking cartridge.  Layer them together, and back with red cardstock.  Adhere to the front, and add the word "winter" to the top with white glitter stickers.  Stamp the hat and mittens to blue snowflake paper and cut out.  Adhere to the front of the card and accent with jewels and white puffs.  Accent the curve with red and blue jewels.

Are you still with me??  I know, I know....this is a lot of stuff!  I am almost to the giveaway....I promise.  So, Josh and I went on a little date last night to see this:
I talked about how it was sold out when we went to see it this weekend in an earlier post.  Well, it was totally meant to be because we ended up with free tickets to see it!  Josh got them from work because they were about to expire....so we got to go on a date for free! (well, kind-of.  We did get some popcorn and a drink.)  Gotta love that!! The movie was SO good....I would definitely recommend seeing it if you haven't.

Alright....you have earned your chance at this giveaway!!  So here are the details.  I have one sheet of each paper from the Imaginisce Polar Expression collections to giveaway today.
As you can tell....I love this paper.  LOVE it.  And I want someone else to be able to love using it too!  So, the details of the giveaway are simple.  Number one: become a follower of my blog if you aren't yet.  And number two: leave me a comment.  Easy peasy, right? And to make it really fun....I will draw the winner next Thursday.....which also happens to be my birthday!!  I love giving and receiving gifts...so I thought it would be nice to give something to someone else on  my birthday.

Well, I need to go work on the laundry (still loving the turquoise) and clean the kitchen up.  I really hope that you are having a wonderful week so far! ♥

Until later,
~Lea

...is beautiful!  I have two projects to share with you today, and they both feature cuts from the Winter Woodland cartridge.  I have wanted to use the figure skater cut since the first time I saw it....but never had a good idea for it until now.  And even paper figure skaters are beautiful...I just love this cut!!

Both cards fit the current challenge at The Pink Elephant....except for one small detail.  When I read the challenge this afternoon, I looked at part of it wrong.  The challenge is to use two patterned papers, 3 buttons and snowflakes....for some reason I read it as "a" button...not 3.  So, my cards only have a button on each one...hopefully I won't get thrown to the sharks. ;)  Tee hee! It is also based on Taylored Expression Sketch #96...which is a FAB sketch.  Check it out if you haven't already!

Instructions: Fold white cardstock in half to make card base and round the bottom corners.  Punch holes in the shape of an arc to a block of kraft cardstock and round the bottom corners.  Adhere to the front.  Round the bottom corners of a block of snowflake paper and adhere to the front.  Round the top corners of a block of white cardstock and adhere to the front.  Add ribbon around the seam, and tie a button to the middle of the bow with twine.  Cut the figure skater and layers at 4.5" using the Cricut Expression and Winter Woodland cartridge.  Adhere together and attach to the front of the card.  Accent with white puff balls and pearls.  Stamp "Baby It's Cold Outside" inside the arc using ruby pigment ink.  Finish the sentiment with letter stickers on the white cardstock block. 

This next card uses the sketch for Just Us Girls Challenge 14.  I actually did this card twice.  I did it last night with different papers....and it was a hot mess.  It was awful...I hated it.  So, this afternoon I sat down with it to figure out what I didn't like about it.  For this version, I used completely different papers, I didn't use the background layer for the text, and a different accent cut....and it is SO much better.  I think the biggest difference is the papers though....sometimes colors and papers just don't work out!!  So remember that....if you hate a card you make, try to rework with different product.  Now I love this card!!

Instructions: Fold kraft cardstock in half to make card base.  Round the corners of a patterned paper block and adhere to the front.  Punch a scallop border to brown cardstock, and cut a thin strip.  Adhere to the bottom of a strip of snowflake paper, and adhere to the front.  Round the top corners of a block of kraft cardstock, and adhere to the front.  Cut the lettering and shadows at 3.5" using the Cricut Expression and Winter Woodlands cartridge.  Layer together and adhere to the kraft block.  Add a ribbon and bow to the right side of the card, and accent with a button & pins.  Cut the ice skate accent and layers at 2" using the Cricut Exression and Winter Woodlands cartridge.  Layer together, accent with pearls, and adhere to the front.  Finish accenting the card with jewels.

I bought something at Target tonight that was just meant to be.  I have wanted one of these for three years, but wasn't willing to cough up $250 for one:
Well, Josh and I went to Target tonight to pick up some household items.  We were casually meandering through the Christmas stuff after we picked up our necessary items...not committing to anything even though it was all 75% off.  Then my eyes fixed on this box....one lonely little tree box sitting on a shelf beckoning me....calling my name....whispering "you know you want to buy me".  And it happened to be the EXACT white tree I have wanted for three years...and I got it for 62 bucks.  YIPPEE!  I was (and still am) a giddy little thing right now...it does kind-of suck that it has to go in the crawl space for now.  But, it gives me something to look forward to!!

Well, I better get going for now.  I hope that your Monday after New Year's has been a fabulous one!!  Talk to you soon! ♥

Until later,
~Lea