Jen's Uncharted Territory

Birthday card for DH

2012-02-11T16:54:00.001-05:00

Yep. Mr. Man has a birthday tomorrow so I kinda needed to come up with a card. Valentine's may come later but the cards have to be done first to hit the post office in time. It occurred to me last night that I'd better cook up a card pretty quick. I picked up a fun set of manly-man stamps from Stampin' Up last year and have been wanting to use them so here was my chance.

I dinged up the Vanilla cardstock with True Thyme and Forest Foliage inks to match the patterned papers.

Ingredients:
Print paper: (Complete Boy stack) My Mind's Eye
Cardstock: (Very Vanilla, Crumbcake) Stampin' Up
Stamps: (To a Classic) Stampin' Up
Ink: (True Thyme, Forest Foliage) Stampin' Up
Misc (Pastels) Stampin' Up, (Gear) Tim Holtz, Watch parts

Challenges
My Mind's Eye #32: Theme: You. While it doesn't say "Happy birthday to you," I think it's pretty well implied. Also, 80% of the card content has to be MME. I'm not sure if I have that but all print papers are from the Complete Boy stack (striped and dotted papers in the back and the punched circles) so I'm hoping this counts.

Valentine's card #2 for the day!

2012-02-10T21:17:00.002-05:00

Yeah. Did I mention I went a bit crazy with the Valentine's cards today? This one turned out SO much better than I could have hoped. I don't usually use markers to color my stamps since I don't 1. stamp with "solid" stamps often and 2. stamp with solid ornate stamps at all. Until now. I stumbled on a Stampin' Up Valentine's stamp I got after the big day last year. Needless to say, it's been languishing unused and pretty much forgotten on the shelf. However, I found it again today and decided it needed a bit more than a single ink-pad treatment so I thought I'd try my markers, not truly expecting anything great. I actually stamped off the hot pink once just to see how it was starting to look. When it looked good, I thought I'd leave it that way and maybe get a lighter pink off of those areas. And it worked. SHOCKER! :) Here's the final result with an updated REAL light photo.

The "love" sentiment is a bit more blah than I'd like but the stamped image is definitely the focal point anyway.

Ingredients: All Stampin' Up except markers
Paper: Whisper White, Real Red, Pink Passion

Stamps: Be My Valentine, Wonderful Words

Ink: Basic Black

Punch: Heart-to-Heart
Markers: Le Plume II

Challenges:
Craft Your Passion #96: Anything goes with no patterned paper
Apron Strings Bingo Card: Paint or Ink. I hope I'm not pushing this one too far but I'm saying ink/markers on the stamped image since it's its own type of beast and not just a plain stamped image.

Just to get EVERYTHING out there from today, I also banged out this simple little thing for my 4yr old. He's an absolute olive JUNKIE and I bought this set just for this one stamp for him. It's an SU set on SU paper and colored with SU pastels. The 2nd sentiment is from a Katie & Co. stamp.

First sewn "layered" card... finally!

2012-02-10T21:01:00.002-05:00

I LOVE all of these projects I've seen around with the multi-layered punched papers sewn down so the layers stack 3-dimensionally and I've wanted to try one. For a while. A long while. Really. Problem is that I just don't like sewing. At all. Really. However, I had to hem some pants for DH earlier this week and the machine is still out and ready to run so today was the day. As easy as it was, I really should have done this much sooner.

Ingredients: Hey look! More of that SU patterned paper! :)
Paper: (Patterned paper, Whisper White, Real Red) Stampin' Up
Stamp: (Picture This) Stampin' Up
Ink: (Real Red) Stampin' Up
Punches: (Full Heart, Heart to Heart) Stampin' Up, (Corner rounder) EK Success

Challenges:
CAS-ual Fridays #39: Love Ya To Pieces (Paper-piecing. OK. My little heart is SMALL but I think it really kinda finishes off the card. It really wasn't the same without it.)
Tip Top Tuesday #69: Valentine's
Frosted Designs: LOVE (While it doesn't SAY "love," that's what the heart "says."
Apron Strings Bingo Card: New to you technique

"Wooden" Valentine Card

2012-02-09T22:56:00.000-05:00

I say wooden because so much of this card has a woodgrain stamp or emboss to it.

It's maybe a bit plainer than I'd like but I didn't want to go crazy with it either so voila! There it is!

Ingredients:
Paper: (Whisper White, Real Red, Kraft) Stampin' Up
Stamps: (Love Bandit, Woodgrain, I {Heart} Hearts) Stampin' Up
Ink: (Basic Brown, Basic Black) Stampin' Up, (Walnut Stain) Ranger
Misc: (Woodgrain embossing folder) Sizzix, (Top Note die, Heart punch) Stampin' Up

Challenges:
Craft Your Challenge #96: Anything Goes + No patterned papers
Whimsical Designs: Colors of Love (Red, White + 1 color (brown))
The Kraft Journal: La La Luv You

Love Potion Card

2012-02-07T19:38:00.002-05:00

I have to admit, I really like this one. I wanted to add some more layers of color to the base card itself but I wanted to keep it on vanilla so I decided to trim down the vanilla card itself and just put it on pink and brown backer cards. You can see what I'm talking about better in the 2nd photo.

Ingredients:
Paper: (Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Regal Rose, Whisper White, DSP) Stampin' Up
Stamps: (Love Potion #9) Unity
Ink: (Basic Black, Real Red) Stampin' Up
Misc: (Heart punch) Stampin' Up, (Icicle Stickles) Ranger, Copics

Challenges:

Shopping Our Stash #38: Hearts, Valentines or Lace: I'm again using more of that SU Valentine's paper I bought 2 or 3 years ago that I've just been holding onto.
iCopic #68: Hearts
Stamp, Scrap & Doodle Saturdays: Die Cuts or Punches: The heart is punched- there would have been 2 but the one on the left was too much.
Whimsical Designs: Bringing out the Old: Again, that paper! I LOVED it! I HAD to have it! I haven't used it until this year because I just didn't want to use it up. Go figure. :)
Unity: Valentine's
Sweet Stop Sketches #144: I held fairly true though I moved the sentiment up and removed the embellishment on the left. I tried to add something there but it just ended up very cluttered with the 3 potions pop-dotted right next to it.

I'm also using this towards my "Bingo" card over at Apron Strings (3 patterned papers)

Valentine's/Wedding card

2012-02-02T21:48:00.003-05:00

I made this card as a wedding card with a Valentine's look. I need a card for my cousin and his wife for their wedding but since their reception is Feb. 17, I thought giving it a Valentine's slant would be both appropriate and nice. The crowns are gold-inked which you can really see in the right light and I went back and added a bit of pearl pen to their "spikes" which you can see in the close-up.

Ingredients:
Cardstock: (Whisper White, Real Red, Regal Rose, Crumbcake (kraft), Chocolate Chip) Stampin' Up
Ink: (Regal Rose, Basic Brown) Stampin' Up, (Gold) Encore
Stamps: (Posh) Teresa Collins, (Happy Harmony) Stampin' Up
Misc: (Baker's Twine) Whisper Graphics, (Lace Punch) Martha Stewart, (Pearl Pen) Viva Decor

Challenges:
Frosted Designs: Sketch #11: I was a bit loose with the sketch but I think it's definitely still close enough to be recognizable.

Moxie Fab: Tuesday Trigger: I definitely went with the color scheme from these and I couldn't help but use the little birds - those dots and Pearl Penned crowns match the non-pareils wonderfully! :) And man! I want a petit-four right now!!!

Stamp, Scrap & Doodle Saturdays: Anything Goes
Create: Valentine's
Simon Says Stamp: Kings & Queens
Kraft Journal: Romantic
Tip Top Tuesday: Valentine's
Sarah Hurley: #59: Love is All Around

Valentine's Banner

2012-02-02T11:39:00.003-05:00

ell, you knew it was coming, right? We've made it through Halloween, Christmas, and Winter so here's the newest addition to my collection, Valentine's.

The long short of this is that the large hearts were traced off of a wooden heart and hand cut from SU designer papers. The letters were glittered and pop-dotted onto the hearts (which were simply glued together.) I used a jumpring to dangle small, embossed cardstock hearts from the larger ones. As with my other banners, I put eyelets in where the ribbon attaches to the hearts to help strengthen them. At both ends of the banner, I hung a small glass "bubble-heart" for accent.

Ingredients:
All paper: Stampin' Up
Cuts/Punches (Wow, that sounds violent!): Alpha: Cricut (George), Small Hearts (SU punch)
Other: Glitter: Martha Stewart, Jumprings, Brown satin ribbon, Eyelets, Glass hearts (Oriental Trading), Embossing folders (diamond, dot & "flower")

Challenges:
Better Living Through Scrapbooking #2: Pink & Brown (Ok, so there's more than P&B but they're definitely not in the background!)
Tip Top Tuesday: Valentine's
Die Cutin' Divas #50: Anything Goes

I'm also linking this up at link parties over at Tatertots & Jello and The Grant Life.

Tim Holtz Technique Pendant

2012-01-17T23:55:00.001-05:00

And now for something completely different...

L3's challenge this week is to use a technique Tim posted a while back. In short, you ink up a non-porous surface with reinkers, futz around with it until you're happy, let it dry, stamp an image onto it with archival ink and then wipe it off immediately. A chemical reaction causes the archival ink to also remove the reinker. I have to say that it didn't go particularly well but in the end, I ended up with one piece that I can wear without embarassing myself... though I had to "erase" it 2x to get to this point.

Ingredients:

Ink: (Pesto, Stonewashed Alcohol Reinkers) Adirondack, (Perfect Picture Black) Inkadinkado

Stamp: (Etruscan) Stampin' Up

Misc: (Fragment) Tim Holtz, (Crystal Effects) Stampin' Up, Photo Paper, Jewelry Findings

Here's another that didn't turn out so well but I saved it since it was still one of my better attempts:

Challenges:

L3: Grungy Monday #33

Simon Says Stamp: Anything But a Card

Zoo Layout

2012-01-17T12:44:00.000-05:00

Well, I just did something I didn't think I could... and I like it! :) And no, I'm not referring to doing my 4th layout of the week (though that definitely counts too!) I'm referring to doing a layout for my son with floral papers. I strongly think it's because the colors are so bold but whatever the case, maybe I can do it again sometime.

Something else I did to conserve materials was to start using the foam in between the pop-dots. I don't know where I got these dots but there's SO much in-between material- WAY more than the dots themselves and there's nothing wrong with it. It may not be pretty but who's gonna see it?!

Ingredients:

Paper: (Cotton Bloom) DCWV

Misc: (Twine) Divine Twine, (Old King Cole & Billy Goats Gruff Alpha Chipboard) Piggy Tales

Challenges:

Shopping Our Stash: Make/Use a border (I trimmed the edges on the blue scalloped pieces to make some borders. As for the stash, I'm using up those aforementioned pop-dots which were one of the first things I ever bought.)

DCWV Jan Stack-a-holic Template:

Gigglin' All the Way

2012-01-16T23:24:00.000-05:00

Back when we were in NJ, there was a great kids' playplace called Giggles. You know. One of those with arcade games, skee ball, ride-ons, a carousel, a "hamster wheel" (the climb through unit like you see at some McDonalds still), lousy pizza (REALLY lousy pizza- I'd never order from the pizza joint next door knowing how crappy it was at Giggles!) The challenge over at Sketch Inspiration works perfectly for these photos.

Because the photos are so "noisy", I kept them embellishments down to just some rubons and stickers I cut to make stylized photo corners.

Ingredients:
Paper: (Basic Black, Yoyo Yellow, Whisper White) Stampin' Up
Stickers: Creative Memories
Rubons: (Leaps & Bounds Rub-On Boy) Colorbok
Chipboard Letters: (Rough & Tumble) K&Co.

Challenge Sketch:

Company Chairs Card

2012-01-15T16:24:00.003-05:00

Maybe I should feel "blech" more often- I'm getting more done. I've got a nasty cold, hopefully not the start of the flu, and while I feel a bit gross, I also feel like making some things finally. Nov. and Dec. were pretty dry so I'm taking advantage of it while I've got it running!

I mentioned in my last post that I'd ordered some Unity stamps back in Dec.- this was another one I picked up.

I didn't "dinge" up the vanilla cardstock initially but it just looked too stark. I think the distressing (though I didn't go so far as to tear up the edge) helps.

Ingredients:
Stamps: (Enjoy Your Company): Unity
Paper: (Crumb Cake, Brocade Blue, Very Vanilla): Stampin' Up
Ink: (Brocade Blue, Very Vanilla): Stampin' Up
Misc: (Lace edge punch): Martha Stewart, Lace scrap

Challenges:
Desert Island Scrappers #23: (No DSP, distressing, sentiment)
ippity OpportUNITY: Something Borrowed, Something Blue (the paper is at LEAST 2yrs old, the lace is antique and I actually won it from someone else's blog. The stamps are quite new and well, there's blue.)
CAS-ual Fridays #35: Scallops

Crappy Day card

2012-01-15T14:19:00.001-05:00

Hey! You want to see something that's REALLY different for me? A CAS (clean and simple) card that's MEANT to be CAS! Whoo hoo! I REALLY gotta try this more often- even with the cut image, it was very quick to make!

I ordered a bunch of Unity stamps at the end of the year when they had some great sale prices. This is one that I really considered NOT getting but I just couldn't stop chuckling everytime I saw it. While red may not be my favorite color, I love the way it looks with kraft paper and those little hearts screamed for red outlines.

Ingredients:

Stamps: (Crappy Day): Unity

Ink: (Real Red): Stampin' Up

Paper: (Crumb Cake, Whisper White): Stampin' Up

Misc: (Ribbon): Offray, (Ice White Pearl Pen): Viva, Pop-dots

Challenges:

The Kraft Journal: Favorite Colors

Skipping Stones: Sketch #110

Little Red Wagon Layout

2012-01-14T17:08:00.001-05:00

Maybe I didn't care for my last layout but I definitely like this one. If you've been with me long, you know this really doesn't look like my normal layout but that's ok- I really need to try some different looks- been with this hairstyle too long, ya know? ;)

Ingredients:
DSP: (Mistletoe stack) Making Memories
Cardstock: (Very Vanilla) Stampin' Up
Ink: (True Thyme, Cranberry Crisp) Stampin' Up (these were used to tint the OA sticker)
Misc: (Bingo card, Merry Christmas sticker (under the round photo) October Afternoon

Challenges:
Moxie Fab: Punches Challenge: The black "lace" was actually black paper w/ cream spots. I punched the spots out to make a lacy paper.

Sketchy Thursday:

They Might Be Giants LO

2012-01-12T15:44:00.000-05:00

OK. 2nd "not my favorite" post of the day but I'm THRILLED to have this one done finally. These photos and papers have been in my "to-do" pile since, yeah, wait for it, July. Seriously. I actually took it all to CKC with me to do at the scrap. Obviously THAT didn't happen. Last night I decided that they just HAD to be done and now they are. YAY!

It all turned out a rather busy but that's ok because it kinda reflects the concert that way. Somewhere along the way, completely unrelated to the concert, I received 2 sheets of TMBG stickers so I stuck some on the page and the rest to cardstock that I then cut out and pop-dotted on top of the first ones. The confetti was some of the what was shot from confetti canons at the concert (there's actually a confetti photo behind the title.) I tried to do a glitter rub-on of a guitar in the top right corner but it didn't go so well- the solid drum in the bottom left corner worked MUCH better. Finally, the journaling is on a strip of vellum. White or colored paper was too obvious.

Ingredients:
Cardstock: (Black) Stampin' Up, (Purple) ?
Print paper: (Numbers) ?
Misc: Rub-ons & guitar tag: Piggy Tales

Wedding party invites

2012-01-12T15:33:00.000-05:00

This may not be my favorite card in the world but the "customer" decided on the look so we're all good. My cousin is getting married this month and my mother and aunt are going to have a bit of a post-wedding party a few weeks later for the newlyweds knowing they wouldn't have one otherwise. I volunteered to make the invites and sent several examples of what I thought would be nice (everything was beach-related because the couple wants to move to FL soon.) However, my aunt wanted to go in a different direction and while they're beachy, they're not where I would have gone. And hey. That's ok. Not my party. :) Sorry for the bad photo but I haven't been able to get a good one of this card. This is my best one but it meant sitting in direct sunlight and getting hard shadows.

The short ingredient list:
Stamps: (Best Blossoms) Stampin' Up, (Party Invite) Stampendous
Cardstock & Ink: Stampin' Up

Latest Mantel Banner Installment

2012-01-06T12:11:00.002-05:00

I'm really liking the whole "banner hanging from the mantel" thing - it helps jazz it all up a bit. I know Valentine's Day is right around the corner (though I'm sure it's still Apr. 2011!) but I wanted a generic "Winter" banner right now- I'm just not ready to think Valentine's quite yet. I'm head over heels for the BoBunny Snowfall line so I had to run out and get some the other day JUST for this project. Unfortunately, I didn't see any BB accessories I liked for it but as I was heading out the door, I saw some Little Yellow Bicycle packs that I loved. Turns out, that if you "vintage" them up with a bit of distress ink, they go REALLY well with the Snowfall line. SCORE! I hung them from the bottom of the "tiles" with 2 jump rings each after reinforcing all punched holes with eyelets I've had hanging around forEVER.

Later Noted: It was pointed out to me that this could use some close ups and you know what? I agree. Thanks Samantha! I added 2 sets of photos- the 1st without a flash, the 2nd with. The 1st shows more detail, the 2nd truer colors.

Ingredients:
Paper: BoBunny (Snowfall)
Snowflakes: (Paper Snowflake Kit from Winter Twig): Little Yellow Bicycle
Ink: (Faded Jeans & Walnut Stain): Tim Holtz
Misc: (Chipboard Letters): Heidi Grace, Jump rings, Eyelets

Challenges:
Simon Says: Something Old, Something New (the eyelets have been here for years, the vintage looks old, and the paper was bought the day I made this.)
Craft Your Passion: #91: Anything Goes Distressing
Tip Top Tuesday: #67: Anything Goes
Paper Crafts January Gallery Challenge: Winter

Trying to get organized... again!

2012-01-06T11:37:00.000-05:00

I have the problem everyone else does- too much space, not enough space to hold it or time to use it. I've been trying to purge some of it (which will hopefully result in a grand ol' giveaway here!) and the rest I'm trying to organize in such a way that I can actually find it. I made leaps and bound last year but I'm finding that it's just not all working for me.

This is what I have now:

The drawers in the first photo are cluttered and sometimes, I just can't figure out where things should go. For instance, all of my Tim Holtz stuff is together and just in an unlabelled bin. The massive pile of paper in the corner is my son's artwork that I need to photograph and get rid of. I want to make some books of the photos- they'll obviously take up less space and be a bit more organized.

The second photo is a dresser that matches my son's bed but the changing table is still in his room. He's been out of diapers for about 8 mos. so I'd like to switch the dresser for the changing table, photo below.

We had a crib that matched this table but it never converted to a bed and daybed the way we wanted so we sold it before we moved. However, I think the changing table would be a fabulous workspace in my room- the Cricut and Big Shot would actually have a table top I could use them on. And, I'm trying not to use the dresser in my space because it simply doesn't belong there. Therefore, I switch them and I gain more storage AND workspace and he gets a matching room. Hmmm... maybe THAT'S what we'll do this weekend! Once I have the right furniture in here, maybe I can get fully organized too. What a concept!

A Very Happy New Year to all!

2011-12-31T16:27:00.001-05:00

If you party, please party safely. If you don't enjoy a quiet evening! Happy New Year all!!

Finally- a Tim Holtz 2011 tag- Tag #1!

2011-12-29T13:07:00.003-05:00

I actually managed to get this in while it was 2011- I was beginning to think it wasn't going to happen. The first tag he posted was probably my fav so I've started there (there will be a few that I won't even consider making... sorry Tim.)

Generally, I like the way it turned out though I missed the "rub off quite a bit of the embossing powder" step so the whole tag is more white than I'd like- it makes it a bit hard to read "SNOW" in glitter. Oh well. First try, I'm ok with that.

I hand cut the pinecone spiral since I don't have the die- one turned out better than the other but pinecones can look darn scruffy. I almost went and got 2 real pinecones for this- I have a bag FULL of these types that's been sitting around for years waiting for the right use. I decided to stick to paper though. The banner was hand cut too. The pearls, crystal and bells have been in my stash for YEARS (the bells probably go back into the early 90's) and I just put them on headpins and made dangles of them. The ribbon was baby blue and I dirtied it up a bit with the Denim and Walnut inks.

I'll try to get back on here later to document the exact items I used to make it:

Ink: Faded Jeans, Walnut: Tim Holtz, Basic Brown: Stampin Up

Paper: Manilla folder, music paper from a song book

Punches: Fern: ?, Holly: ?

Embossing folder/dies: Snowflakes?:?, Flourish?:?, Happy Hauntings: Cricut (letters)

Misc: Embossing Powder: Joanns, ?:Stickles, Ribbon: ?, Mini bells, pearls, beads, Glass glitter:?

Challenges:
Shopping Our Stash #32: Use ribbon
Top Tip Tuesday #66: Anything Goes
Simon Says: Tim Holtz Tag
Whimsical Wednesday: Tag

Favorite project of the past year?

2011-12-29T09:36:00.000-05:00

First, let me say a belated "Merry Christmas to all!" I hope your holidays were cheerful and generally uneventful (we spent 5hrs in the ER the night after Christmas because a 4yr old doofus refuses to keep his butt in his chair at dinner. In the end, no stitches in the split lip. I'm hoping no one else ended up in the same boat.)

Second, Whimsical Designs is having a "Happy New Year or favorite project from the year" challenge. I think my fav might be the ATCs I made back in Sept:

There may be a few other cards and layouts I like more but I'd never made an ATC, really wanted to and REALLY liked the way these turned out so overall, they've got to be at the top section of my list.

Final Christmas Cards

2011-12-14T21:45:00.000-05:00

You may remember a while back (the beginning of OCT?! Are you KIDDING me?!) I was trying to figure out my Christmas cards. In the end, the vellum seemed to be my and a majority of your preferences. However, after I got into the card and I reconstructed my Christmas card list (remember I dropped my computer and shattered the hard drive back in May? Well, buh-bye card list!), I realized I was going to need ~50 of the music paper rosettes. Ummmmm.... no! 1 or 2, sure. 50? No! So, I cooked up an alternative. I used my snowflake die to pop out a bunch of musical paper snowflakes that I then dingied up with walnut ink. The final cards have different sizes of snowflakes but they're all pretty cute. I got lucky when I ran out of buttons and couldn't find more to match- the director at my son's preschool offered to let me dig through a MASSIVE button box they have for crafts. In less that 2min I had about 15 buttons. Thank you Renee!!!

Sorry for the miserable photos- our kitchen has lousy lighting and the flash really picked up the shimmer from the vellum.

Ingredients:

Paper: Garden Green, Kraft Cardstock, Old Olive Vellum (SU)
Stamp: Silhouette Song Bird (Unity)
Ink: Cranberry (SU), Walnut Stain (Ranger)
Misc: Embossing folder (Tim Holtz), Snowflake die (Stampin' Up), Music paper (Chopin Waltzes for the Piano), Button, Linen Thread (Stampin' Up)

Challenges:
Crop Stop: 49: Music
Crafty Hazelnut: 50: Traditional Christmas
Playing in Paradise: 45: Include a tree

Clorox Christmas Card

2011-12-07T21:53:00.000-05:00

Tatertots & Jello is working with Clorox to sponsor a giveaway to someone recalling a messy moment or a craft project they did with Clorox. I'm in the 2nd group in this case though we use a LOT of Clorox wipes in a normal week (we have a 4yr old boy. What do you expect?)

A while back I tried using a Clorox Bleach Pen on kraft paper and LOVED the results. Anything snow-related on the card was done with a bleach pen. I just used it like a marker - VERY easy to do and highly recommended though you might want to do it with a light fan nearby to help reduce the bleach smell that hangs around until everything is done. In case you're wondering, it does dry quickly.

I received information about Clorox’s Bleach It Away campaign and am sharing my messy moment/craft fail/bleach project for the chance to win prizes from Tatertots & Jello and Clorox. You can find out more information about this campaign – www.BleachItAway.com. If you share YOUR messy moment story, you can enter to win $25,000 and daily prizes, and you can get a coupon for Clorox® Regular Bleach.

Christmas Banner

2011-12-06T21:07:00.004-05:00

Hey! Remember me! Long time, no post! I'd love to say I've been swamped under crafting but not so much. I've been working on Christmas cards but that's about it. It's been more like crazed Christmas shopping, decorating, cleaning, subbing at Beast's preschool, dealing with the utter shock that it's Dec. (I'm SURE it must be April!), blah blah blah.

One thing I did manage to do was finish our Christmas banner for the mantel. It's a bit plainer than I envisioned but I like it this way- definitely clean and simple. I was having a hard time coming up with the right font for this one. I thought of doing Cricut letters but wanted to simplify my life with stickers. I found some really ornate gold ones that probably would have worked beautifully but then I saw these. It's a bit hard to see but they're raised and clear but have a silver backer so they have a rather glassy-like shine to them.

Ingredients:

Cardstock: Stampin' Up

DSP Little Yellow Bicycle

Stickers: Martha Stewart

Misc: Burlap, Stickles, Red Hemp, White eyelets

Challenges:

Scrappin' Chics: Home for the Holidays

Sarah Hurley Challenges: Christmas

Crafts Unleashed: Christmas

Craft Your Passion: Anything Goes with Glitter (Hopefully Stickles count towards glitter- I Stickled the edges of all of the circles)

Paper Crafts: Dec. Gallery Challenge- holidays

Desert Island Crafters: #21 (Not a card, Christmas theme, Glitter (see my Stickles comment above if you will please!)

Whimsical Designs: Layer it

Somewhat Simple: 12/7 projects

Tip Junkie: 12/6 projects

Tatertots & Jello: 12/9 projects

What would YOU charge?

2011-11-11T11:28:00.004-05:00

Hey all- I have a question for you. Someone would like to buy some Christmas cards from me this year and I'm trying to figure out what to charge.

Card 1:

Stampin Up Papers- 3 layers. 1 stamped sentiment. Multiple stamped off trees.
The most tedious part of this one is simply the white gel pen inked on branch and ground top for accent.

Card 2:
Stampin Up Papers- 4 layers. 2 stamps to be lined up w/ the Stamp-a-ma-jig. Copics colored image (colored to look as much like his dog as possible). Heat embossed snowflakes in the snowglobe. 1 layer is Big Shot folder-embossed. 1 brad.
Overall it's simple and fairly easy- just quite a few steps.

I was thinking #1: $3 and #2: $4. Thoughts?

I'm also entering the 2nd card into the

Frosted Designs Challenge: Embossing
Craft Your Passion: Anything Goes + Brownhttp://craftyourpassionchallenges.blogspot.com/2011/11/challenge-83-multi-sponsor.html (the brown dog... maybe pushing it but it does say ANYTHING brown and he is brown...)

Digital bird card for Tip Top Tuesday Guest Designer post

2011-11-08T22:30:00.000-05:00

I was invited to be a Guest Designer by the lovely ladies over at Tip Top Tuesday and boy was it an experience! Initially the challenge was to use an image from Robyn's Fetish and to make a card where EVERYTHING on the card was the same shape as the card- all stars, all squares, etc. Since I'd never made anything but rectangular and the very occasional square card AND I'd only used a digi once, needless to say it was interesting. In the end, the challenge was scaled down to anything as long as it was Christmas since everyone seemed to be struggling with the the shape limitations. I somewhat stuck with my original plan of scalloped circles though the outer shape is a circle- I couldn't get a scallop that big. As it was, I used this as my excuse to finally buy myself a set of nested scalloped circles from Spellbinders... just don't tell my husband. ;) I tried to add crinkled scallop flowers and then scalloped medallion flowers but everything was just too cluttered so I simply embossed the scallop layer with 2 more Spellbinders dies. It's almost impossible to see in the pix but the scalloped paper is Shimmer White from SU and I used a pearl shimmer paint on top of all of the yellow/gold coloring.

Ingredients:
Paper: (Real Red, Whisper White, Shimmer White) Stampin' Up

Other: (Nested Scallop Dies) Spellbinders, Copics, (Pearl Pen) Viva, (Frost White All Purpose Ink)Tsukineko

Fun advent calendar giveaway for Linda's birthday at ScrapCat Cards

2011-11-07T13:54:00.000-05:00

Check it out at Scrapcat Cards:

Happy early birthday Linda!!!

Black and White wedding card

2011-11-02T23:27:00.000-04:00

We were recently invited to a wedding that had a black and white invite so I thought I'd make a somewhat-matching card that we'll put a gift card into (it's a wedding gotten to by airplane- we're not taking a big gift!)

It's a bit hard to see in the flat photo but the flower petals are all curled... though by the time the card gets to the wedding... well, at least I know they started that way.

Ingredients:

Cardstock: (Whisper White) Stampin' Up, (Black) Michaels

Stamps: (En Francais, Antique Background) Stampin' Up

Ink: (Whisper White, Basic Black) Stampin' Up

Misc: (Brads) Making Memories, (Cloth Brad) Bazzill Basics Paper, (Tattered Flowers Die) Tim Holtz/Sizzix

Challenges:
The Sweet Stop #132:

Top Tip Tuesday #58: Make your own backgrounds

Stamp, Scrap & Doodle Saturday #15: Monochromatic

Sweet Stampin' Challenge 10/29: Anything Goes

Quick post: Halloween at our place

2011-11-02T15:21:00.000-04:00

We had trick-or-treating

A very cool mantle (if I do say so myself)

And a very upset little boy after he wasn't allowed to hand out the last few pieces of candy (we had more kids than candy at the door so mommy had to do a bit of tap-dancing to take care of it.) Yeah, he's sobbing through an Oreo. We couldn't help but laugh. :)

Happy Halloween!!

2011-10-31T09:57:00.000-04:00

I haven't fallen off of the planet, just haven't been crafting much in the past 2wks. I had a wee bit o' surgery the other week and while it wasn't major and recovery is pretty easy, I still haven't felt fantabulous and I picked up Beast's cold on top of it. I've sat down at my craft table a few times but just haven't felt any inspiration beyond cleaning up the table and room a bit... which it desperately needed so maybe it wasn't a bad thing. :) However, I've got a GD project to do for Top Tip Tuesday so I need to get back on the ball this week.

Anywho, enough about all of that. If you're up north, I hope you're with power. If you're without power, I hope you get it back quickly. And to all that Halloween, hope it's a great one full of fun and yummies!!

Happy Halloween all!!

"What you can't live without" LO

2011-10-17T00:25:00.002-04:00

The 1st challenge of Oct. over at Better Living Through Scrapbooking is "what you can't live without." Took me a while to think about that. Junky candy? I'm in the process of proving to myself that I can live without it (or at least without as much as I usually have.) Hubby and Boy? Yeah. Definitely but I wanted something else other than them (sorry boys.) Crafting? Yeah but I wanted something more tangible. Then I realized I've always had cats in my life, always will and the few years I was without, I visited cats of my friends. Some cats are friendly. Some aren't. Some like to be held and cuddled. Others, not so much. However, I always like having cats around. When the world's just not fair, sometimes you don't want to go to a person to grunch but a cat. Cats don't tell you where you're wrong (or occasionally right). They don't judge. They're great listeners (until they get bored, irritated or hungry) and usually petting them makes both parties happy. So. I decided I couldn't live without cats. And no. I DON'T want to be the crazy cat lady in another 10-40years, thanks for asking!

I found the sketch over at Sketchy Thursday and loved it so I had to squeeze it in this week.

Ingredients:
Paper: (Kraft- Haunted) My Mind's Eye, (White, Aqua & Turquoise) Stampin' Up,
Misc: (Sticky Borders) Close to My Heart, (Calico White, Heirloom Blue, Bonny Blue Mr. Huey's) Studio Calico, (Masks) Tim Holtz

Challenges:
Better Living Through Scrapbooking: What you can't live without + 2 of the following 4:
~~1. Use a small picture (no bigger than 3×5) as the main picture on the layout~~ Almost but I used 3 pictures
2. Use misting (glimmer sprays, ink sprays, etc)
3. Journal around the edges of your page
4. Use only paper embellishments, no fabric, metal, plastic, etc.

Sketchy Thursday: 10/13 Sketch:

GD Kiddie Kicker LO for GHWI

2011-10-16T12:02:00.000-04:00

In English, that's Guest Designer Kiddie Kicker layout for Getting Hippity with Ippity.

Aletha sent me a sketch for this project and I needed to use the set I picked out from my previous win - I chose The Best.

Sketch: My Take:

Now you'll notice that there's NOTHING on that sketch that indicates it's a layout and not a card. It was actually intended to be a card but for some reason, I saw LO and never even considered card. I didn't figure it out until I saw it publically posted with some inspiration pieces. Well DUH Jen!!! Luckily, Aletha was happy to have something different so it was all good.

Ingredients:
Stamps: (The Best) Unity
Cardstock (Ballet Blue, Bashful Blue, Whisper White) Stampin' Up, (Jet Stream) Core-dinations
DSP (Soccer paper) Karen Foster Designs, (Hostess sampler pack) Stampin' Up
Ink: (Black) StazOn, (Faded Jeans, Walnut Stain Distress Inks) Tim Holtz, (Ballet Blue) Stampin' Up
Misc: Transparency sheet, (Jack & Jill alpha stickers) Doodlebug Designs, (Crochet thread) DMC

Pancakes with Santa

2011-10-14T11:21:00.000-04:00

PageMaps had a great sketch up last week. I generally don't have a lot with only 3 or 4 photos but there are a few and our Santa Breakfast the other year was one so it worked nicely. I've been wanting to get into my LYB Christmas Magic materials- they've been around for close to a year and I've only used a smidge of them.

Man. I GOTTA find a better way to get photos of layouts. They look curved, the photos get light-marks on them... blech! Suggestions?

Ingredients:
Rub-on letters: October Afternoon
Everything else from Little Yellow Bicycles' Christmas Magic 12x12 Tablet and 8x8 Paper and Punch-Out Tablet.

Challenge:
PageMaps: Studio Purge Sketch Contest
Top Tip Tuesday #55: DSPs and Handmade Flowers

Glowing Hours Halloween card

2011-10-10T10:47:00.000-04:00

Another stamp I LOVED and HAD to get when I saw it at CKC the other month.

Ingredients:
Cardstock White, Kraft, Purple?: SU
DSP: Haunted: My Mind's Eye
Stamps: Glowing Hours: SU
Ink: Basic Black, Concord Crush, Eggplant Envy: SU
Misc: Bling, Ribbon, both unknown, Y15 Copic

Challenges:
Unity: WCMD #2: Halloween
Sweet Stamps Challenge #35: Anything Goes
CREATE: Halloween card
Simon Says Stamp: Things with wings (the bats may be small but they're there and I love 'em!)

I'm thinkin' Christmas

2011-10-02T19:09:00.004-04:00

I've been wanting to give some Christmas cards a test run for this year so I gave one a try today. I first made it with vellum but didn't have much luck distressing it. Sanding it just left it icky and unevenly scratched. Trying to rough the edge really didn't do anything. I still liked the overall look but wanted to try to see it distressed so I made it with CS. I sanded the CS and it just looked paler and when I added some walnut distress ink, it lost the sanded look. Unsurprisingly, the edge roughed very nicely. In the end though, I like the vellum more- the crisp edges of the trees and the shade of the kraft paper coming through look better to me- a lot more depth.

Vellum Cardstock

Ingredients:
Paper: Garden Green, Kraft Cardstock, Old Olive Vellum (SU)
Stamp: Silhouette Song Bird (Unity)
Ink: Cranberry (SU), Walnut Stain (Ranger)
Misc: Embossing folder (Tim Holtz), Music paper (Chopin Waltzes for the Piano), Button, Hemp Twine

Challenges:
Scrapbookers' Paradise #35: Distressing
Paper Players #66: Something musical
Stampendous Oct: CAS

A new way of working

2011-10-01T19:53:00.000-04:00

This sounds silly but I've always wanted to try making a simple card. My cards tend to always include hand coloring or fussy cutting or, more frequently, both. I've been wanting to try something nice and simple, quite possibly with a felt accent on it. Within the past week, I've gotten a few great kicks in the butt to do so.
1. I received a FABU goodie box from my Write.Click.Scrapbook birthday party win this summer, many thanks to the talented Lisa Kisch. There were some great felt pieces in that package.
2. A few weeks ago I won a SRM sticker package from a Scrapbooking News and Review giveaway and I really wanted to try to use some of them- I've never used stickers except a few rare alphas.
3. I saw some really fantastic simple cards from Piradee Talvanna in an American Crafts Studio blog post.

I definitely CASed Piradee's 2nd card- these didn't come naturally to me but I want to make a stash of these for birthdays and such. I like the ice cream cone card more than the flower but I'm just happy that I made these two. :)

Ingredients:
Cardstock (Stampin' Up)

DSP: ? These were from a stack of random cut 6x6's I received from someone

Stickers: SRM

Felts: Flower (Pebbles?), Ice Cream Cone (Joann's)

Challenges:
SRM: World Card Making Day

Glitter Dragonfly Card

2011-10-01T18:49:00.001-04:00

I picked up this ENORMOUS dragonfly stamp at CKC. I saw it, liked it, saw it was $5, yeah, $5 (and there are a few other stamps on the sheet), and it was mine. I wasn't sure how exactly I'd use it but this is pretty close:

I wasn't quite sure how I was going to finish up the card until I saw the CropStop challenge for including "friend" or "friendship" on a card for World Cardmaking Day. I tried stamping the F/Friends in blue on blue w/ and w/o Crytal Effects and/or glitter "friends", blue on white, blue on silver and finally silver on blue. Silver on blue seemed to work the best. The card still seems to want a little something but I haven't figured out what yet. I tried a bit of ribbon and cord but they didn't get it done.

Ingredients:

Stamps: Dragonfly (Tattered Angels), Friends (Stampin' Up)

Ink: Black (Staz-on) Silver (?)

DSP: Little Yellow Bicycle

Cardstock: Stampin' Up

Misc: Glitter (Martha Stewart), Plastic sheet (packaging from who knows what), Sharpie Pens

Challenges:

CropStop: Stamp your sentiment + Friend/Friendship
Whimsical Wednesday: Anything Goes
Frosted Designs: Fussy Cutting

Another CKC project finished

2011-09-26T22:13:00.000-04:00

I wrapped up my Prima "Get Your Grunge On: A Boy Album" project the other day. Forgive the photos but they're very quick and dirty.

This whole project was foreign to me. I've never really done a mini album, I scrap events- not photos, I don't do individual books about anything - just pages for the overall book, I journal everything since pretty much everything is event-based and therefore has something to be said about it, and as I'll say again, I really don't use flowers- ESPECIALLY for things about my son.

Since this wasn't going to be a normal album, coming up with a theme was tough but I wanted to do it otherwise it would be another unfinished project sitting around collecting dust. Flipping through photos, I realized that there were about 15 or so that I REALLY like and this would be a great place to collect those. The colors that Prima gave us for the book worked really well with the photos and the flowers definitely grunged up nicely.

Alice in Wonderland ATCs

2011-09-24T23:36:00.005-04:00

So these are new to me. I've seen ATCs but I've never made any. I love the look but collaging isn't really something that comes naturally to me (I was a yearbook editor in college and I beat it into my staff that we WEREN'T doing collage pages- EVERY photo needed to be on a grid and captioned. Now you know why I scrap like I do and seem to be allergic to tilting photos.) Also, I don't know what you do with the cards once you've made them. I know people trade and collect them but do you trade something that someone gave you? If not, WHAT do you do with it? I would think they just start to really accumulate and I'm trying desperately NOT to accumulate more.

All of that said, Simon Says Stamp and Show's challenge right now is to create ATCs and I thought if not now, when?

White Rabbit: LOVE this image and I've also been wanting to do something steampunkish so again, here was my chance. I added pearlescent shimmer paint to his fur.
Mad Hatter: I've always associated him with the price on his hat (In this style, 10/6) so I went with numbers and prices, and the word "DIVA" because it just seems to fit his personality. The hat (not the label) has the pearlescent shimmer paint.
Cheshire Cat: Definitely my fav character in Alice and not just because I'm a cat person. I added a lot of shimmer to the card that only shows if you tilt it the right way. The shimmer paint is on his stripes and the background was sprayed with a Pearl-ex mist- green/gold. The elements are travel related since he's always popping in and out and floating where ever his whims take him. I also put an odd little doll in because Chessie is odd and maybe a bit creepy taken the wrong way. Her dress is also shimmery.

Ingredients:

Stamps: AiW characters (Lost Coast Designs), Doll (Kraftin' Kimmie), DIVA (Stamping Bella), Letters on WR's ATC (Studio G)
Paper: Manilla folders (Staples), Halloween in Wonderland (Graphic45), Green (SU)
Inks/Colorants: Very Vanilla (SU), Walnut Stain (Ranger), Pearl Shimmer Paint (Tsukineko), Copics, Green "Stickles" (Studio G), Mist (Green Pearl-Ex)
Misc: Postage Stickers (Sticko), Gears (Tim Holtz, Watch parts), Numbered flower (October Afternoon), Watch accent (Graphic45), Glitter (Martha Stewart), Adhesive strips (I glittered- Close to My Heart), Crown stencil (Tim Holtz), Black acrylic paint

Challenges:

Simon Says Stamp and Show: ATCs
Stamp, Scrap & Doodle Saturday: Favorite color/s: I really like blue and tend to work with it a lot- almost too much (Boy is 4- enough said). However, with fall and Halloween coming, I'm loving green and purple, particularly when added to Halloween projects.
Sweet Stampin' Challenge: Anything Goes
Scrapbooker's Paradise Ponderings: #34: Quote from favorite book. The only catch is I'm not sure that I got it right. I THOUGHT the rabbit said, "Oh my ears and whiskers!" (I've been known to mutter that when I'm running late) but when I went back to the book tonight after I finished, I found, "Oh my fur and whiskers!" Gotta do a little more research into that one!!
Sarah Hurley Challenge Blog: #50: Vintage

Everyone else's bday parties LO

2011-09-24T15:29:00.000-04:00

I saw the sketch challenge over at Apron Strings and had to give it a whirl- love the sketch! And these photos worked beautifully for it!

Ingredients:

Cardstock: Yoyo Yellow (SU), Blue (?)
DSP: Night Light (October Afternoon)
Stamps: Favorite Teddy Bear, Crazy Alphabet (SU)
Sticker: Storybook Collection (Cosmo Cricket)
Misc: Journalling Card (Becky Higgins), Misters (Studio Calico), Twine (Whisker Graphics), Watercolor Pencils

Sketch #17 in the challenge: replace the large photo on the right-side with at least two smaller photos or embellishments.

Silly little card

2011-09-23T15:29:00.001-04:00

I made this silly little card this evening. I generally do cards aimed at a birthday or holiday but this one is just meant to brighten someone's day... not sure I've ever done one of those outside of an SU party. I definitely went in different directions than I usually do by both changing that "theme" and by using, yes, wait for it, FLORAL PAPER! AHHHHH! :)

Ingredients:
Cardstock: Yellow (Stampin' Up), Shimmery Raspberry (DCWV)
Print paper: Pocket full of Posies (DCWV)
Stamps: Tricycle (Unity), Sentiment (Technique Tuesday)
Misc: Glitter (Martha Stewart), Copics (for buttons)

Paper Crafts Color Inspiration #9:

Card Patterns: Sketch 133:

Sweet Stampin': Flowers
Shopping Our Stash: No coloring (the paper I won this summer but I rarely use floral papers so this definitely something that could sit for a while. The yellow paper is left from my son's birth announcements. He's 4 now.)
Crafter's Cafe: GHWI #6: Buttons, Bows or Bling
Southern Girls: #28 Anything Goes
Fab n' Funky: #91: A Theme Hard for You

Blog candy over at Creations by Alison

2011-09-23T10:09:00.000-04:00

This is for her followers and I usually don't push the "You must be a follower" candy but she has some great work.

Where ya been?!

2011-09-12T22:23:00.000-04:00

You may be asking yourself that about me. Then again, since it's only been 2 days, you may not. I'll guess the latter actually. However, whether or not you're interested, I'll give you an idea. This time of year I get crazy cravings for fall- cool air, crisp breezes, fall colors, sweatshirts and jeans. Of course, this year I have to smack myself on the head to remind myself that I live in NC and none of that will really happen for another month though these 85deg days are an improvement over this summer. However, what it all really means is that I have a crafting frenzy come upon me and this year it hit me bad. So far we have

The Halloween banner last week
The conversion of a tshirt my husband gave me over a year ago- he wanted short sleeve instead of long (not crafty but had to be done since I found it!)
More non-craft but MUST BE DONE: Hemming up a pair of jeans I bought LAST summer...yep, they've been languishing for over a year. I'm not a seamstress by ANY stretch and doing things like cutting off 6" of a pair of relatively expensive pants stresses me out a bit... so I don't do it quickly. Why buy them? Because I tell myself this will be the time I'll hem them with no reservations. Uh huh. Sure Jen. You keep telling yourself that.
The continuation towards completion this week (I hope) of a Halloween project I started a few years ago. Yeah. A few. Like... 6 or 7 probably. Yeah. It's bad. I do that- I start something, get bored, decide I don't want to sew anymore (Did I mention REALLY don't like sewing), whatever, and the project gets dropped for a year or 6. And there's another part of it this project I started and can't even find. *sigh* This is the pattern the projects are from:

A big pile of lightly felted sweater pieces on my table being turned into felt leaves. I'd love to show you a picture but darn if I can lay hands on a camera right now. I picked up a few wool sweaters at Good Will the other day and tried felting them in the wash. 1. Hmmm... put them in a tied up pillow case when washing so the PILES of lint that come off don't go down the waterways? I wish I'd known that before I washed them 4x. Hopefully it wasn't enough to foul up our washer lines!!! 2. Top-loading washer= good for felting. Top-loading washer without the central spindle= not so good- there's not as much agitation= lightly felted. Adding golf balls to the pillow cases before tying helps and didn't seem to bang around in the washer too much... I hope.

These were sort of the inspiration for where I was going with this:

So hopefully, once I finish this pile of goodies, I'll get back to papercrafting. I just received a set of Unity stamps from Aletha over at The Crafter's Cafe. My Halloween potion card was randomly picked for that challenge so I won a fab set of stamps AND I'll be a guest designer in Oct. Whoo hoo! My first GD position. It may have been random but I'll take it! I also signed up this evening to be a "Growing in Unity" featured designer in 2012. I really need to start doing more of this - sticking my foot in the door because while no one's slamming it in my face (been there, felt that!), no one's going to hold it open if they don't even know I'm outside.

Hope you're all having a good week! I'll get some pix up when I've got some goodies to show and I can uncover a camera.

Sorry about the previous post!

2011-09-09T15:21:00.002-04:00

I was trying to figure out putting posts on multiple pages before I understood how Pages work. Silly me. Sorry about that.

Birthday Balancing Act card

2011-09-09T10:27:00.002-04:00

There are 2 challenges on blogs I follow for circus/carnival/fair themes. At first I was going to let them move to the marked read pile in Reader because I couldn't think of anything I had related to those themes. Then I remembered the "Jest Between Friends" stamp set. It certainly isn't new but it's still one of my favorites.

I'm REALLY happy with the end result on this one. YAY! :)

Ingredients:
Paper: Print: Creative Imaginations, LLC Black: Michaels
Stamps: Stampin' Up
Ink/Colors: Momento Ink, Copics
Twine: Whisker Graphics

Challenges:
Paper Crafts: Sept. Gallery Challenge
Scrappin' Chics: Carnival/Fair
Southern Girls: Layers and/or birthday
The Stamping Boutique: Birthday

Great giveaway over at Life in the Craft Lane

2011-09-07T15:43:00.000-04:00

This month, Julie McGuffee is giving away a DVD set from "Scrapbook Soup." Personally, I hadn't heard of the show but I had a look at the site and they look fantastic. Entries are gained by going around the circle of blogs and finding the ones with the Scrapbook Soup logo- easy enough and some fantastic projects along the way. Have a look!!

Halloween Pennant Banner

2011-09-06T12:38:00.003-04:00

I did it. I FINALLY made a pennant banner. They've been the rage for how long? And I'm FINALLY getting around to it? I really like them- I just hadn't gotten to it until now.

Let see. The crazy ingredient list.

Designer paper: Purple: Basic Grey, Orange/Green: Target $1 aisle
Cardstock: SU, Michaels
Glitter: Martha Stewart
Cricut Cart: Happy Hauntings
Eyelets: Making Memories
Punch: SU
Misc: Buttons: ? Glue... I have to mention this because it's Beacon's 3 in 1 for paper and it ROCKS!!! I got it for CKC, used it there first last weekend and I'm already through 1/2 of it because I'm using it for EVERYTHING!

Challenges:
Quick Quotes: #2: Anything with a Banner

Retro Rocket Baby

2011-09-05T17:39:00.001-04:00

Last weekend at CKC, the October Afternoon "Rocket Age" line was HIGH on my shopping list. I ended up finding a collection pack and snatched it up FAST. What I can't believe is that I already cut into it. This from a woman who's been hoarding papers from CKC LAST year until just recently. Hooray me! :)

I saw October Afternoon's Thur. sketch challenge and really liked it. I considered the papers I had, thought of the Rocket Age ones and then remembered some older pictures of Boy. Ok. Truthfully? These are from RIGHT before he turned one and they're the oldest pix of him I've ever scrapped.

Here's the sketch:

It's not a whole lot to turn into a 2pg spread but it just worked SO well to do so. The only things that aren't from the OA line are the small star accents (I stamped stars from an SU wheel and cut them out) and the solids (red- SEI, blue- Bazzill). I saved as much paper as possible by actually cutting the background papers to size and adhering them to a white 12x12 that's included in the album. When you only have 2 sheets of each paper and you LOVE it,you waste NOTHING! In fact, the meteor on the 2nd page and the astronomical chart in the top corner of the 1st were cut from the page that comes with the collection showing small pix of what's actually in the set. In other words, I cut up the index page. I'd never thought of it before but they were the perfect sizes and worked perfectly. Like I said, I'm using this one VERY frugally.

Distressed Fall Card

2011-09-01T20:56:00.001-04:00

It's simple but I like this one. If I were to do it again, I would use a different stamped image- the tree doesn't translate very well, but I still like it.

Ingredients:

Paper: CS: Very Vanilla, Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive: Stampin Up; Dotted DSP: ??

Stamp: Lovely As a Tree: SU

Ink: Basic Black: SU; Walnut, Linen: Tim Holtz; Pesto, Espresso, Ginger: Adirondack

Misc: Button: SU, Tiles: Tim Holtz, Brad: ??

Challenges:

Simon Says Stamp: Stamp-tember Blog Hop

More Tim Holtz Tags

2011-08-31T17:43:00.000-04:00

I've taken several more TH tag classes over at the LSS, I just hadn't posted the photos.

These last 2 have definitely been my favs- LOVE the last one. :)

How I Spent Last Weekend or What I did at CKC

2011-08-31T17:25:00.003-04:00

I signed up for 5 classes but after taking one look at the vendor faire, I knew I needed to take another class- I had too much shopping time for too few vendors. The Charlotte faire isn't nearly the size of the Valley Forge faire, the only other CKC I'd attended. It was a GOOD faire and I was more than able to spend WAY too much money, just not BIG so it didn't require the time to browse that I'd allowed. There were a LOT of premade/laser cut LO vendors and a LOT of vendors selling precut ribbons. I was bummed not to see Dollar Scrapbooking or another vendor from VF (don't remember name) that sold pop dots and other goodies for $1.

I don't have pix of everything but what I do have is:
Make and Takes

Studio Calico's Misting and More. Loved this class! Some great techniques and a great chance to use SC's Mister Huey mists. The BOGO coupon from this class was great. I walked away from the booth with 2 sampler sets and 2 individual bottles of spray. Also, I won a set of stamps as a Door Prize (DP) (there were 2 or 3) and EVERYONE in class was given a full set of stamps (I think it was SC's last show and they were getting rid of some stuff.)

Lickety Split's Gifts Galore for Food II

I wasn't sure what to expect or if I'd like the class because I don't care for premade/laser cut LOs and that's what LS specializes in. In the end, GREAT class and I'd take the class III they're developing for next year. These weren't rocket science projects and easily found online but honestly, I don't think I would have ever made any of them if I hadn't taken the class and now, I think I'll be making quite a few. They also gave us the makes to create a birthday countdown calendar that goes on a muffin tin (to be made at home). The only thing we needed to supply was the tin. I put it all together last night- very cute. I don't have a picture of it but the nice thing is that it can be easily bagged up and saved flat for another year while the tin can be used for another calendar (I think I'll make a Halloween one.) There were quite a few DP's including a LOT of extra bags of M&M's purchased for class.

Technique Tuesday's In Bloom. Again, this wasn't rocket science and I've actually made several of these flowers myself but several were new, there were some tweaks that were nice to learn, and it makes for a nice little guide. Everyone got a coupon for the booth for a small set of stamps with a $10 purchase. Quite a few NICE DP's in this class.

These are some flowers I've made on my own prior to this class. Again, not sure I NEEDED this class but I'm pretty happy with the output.

Technique Tuesday Explosion Box (still working on that one). This was the class I picked up and I'm really glad I did. I'd considered it but passed initially. I love the box- the big problem's going to be finding photos for it. The only problem I ran into was that the outer "page" of the box seemed a bit too big and I had to do quite a bit of trimming last night to get it to fit into the lid. "" for coupons and DP's.

CK Material Girl layouts (I'm working on the first, I probably won't do the 2nd as instructed as I didn't care for it). Overall, I like the first though not as much as I thought I would. The sticky fabric was kinda neat to work with- I may look into getting some. A few DP's but I don't remember what. No coupons.

Prima Marketing's Get Your Grunge On. The album is nice but probably nothing I couldn't have done on my own. However, I hadn't worked with a chipboard album before and there was a FABU tape that Prima puts out that we used for binding some page edges. While the class was pricey, the kit was HUGE. I probably won't use near the number of flowers included on the album because while the pages ARE boyish, I just don't think putting too many flowers in it is. Overall, good class with a killer kit of goodies (including a fab reusable wood/plexi box full of chipboard letters.) No doorprizes or coupons but the kit was intended to make up for the lack of DP's.

I also went to the Friday night crop. I hadn't gone last year so didn't know what to expect. I've heard mixed reviews of the goodie bag everyone gets- I thought it was great! I had no problems with the amount of space we each had to work in and the lighting was good in my world. There were lots of vendors that set up for either the whole evening or just 20min or so. Sorry I missed the cool shirts at Quick Quotes, thrilled I was the first person to discover Technique Tuesday setting up and I was able to grab first choice of their grab bags. There was one game played based on a TV show... "what can you do in a minute" or something like that... sorry, not a big game/reality show watcher. A LOT of REALLY nice DP's and what floored me was that EVERYONE got a DP! NICE!

Sesame Place layout

2011-08-28T16:50:00.001-04:00

Sorry but this is going to be quick. I got back from CKC yesterday evening and I'm just trying to get things put away/rearranged/cleaned up/blah/blah/blah.

The first Aug. challenge over at Better Living Through Scrapbooking: Was there an event or moment you found yourself wishing to capture but without a camera on hand? Make a layout or project that conveys the point without a photo. Find a way to replace the picture with something that represents the subject in some way.
Use at least 2 of the following:
1. Hand-stitch on your project
2. Include at least 3 red items
3. Stamp on your project
4. Use a non-patterned (solid colored) paper for the main background of the layout

We went to Sesame Place last year and one of the many "blechs" of the day was that I couldn't find my camera before we left so no photos. This challenge was the perfect time to finally scrap what I had from that day and put it all behind me. :)

Obviously I used solid papers and I found tape wasn't keeping the map pocket together well enough so stitching it was the perfect solution.

Bubbling Halloween card

2011-08-23T12:04:00.000-04:00

Ingredients:

Stamps: Unity's Love Potion #9.
Paper: G45's Halloween in Wonderland, the strips of a paper that I can't identify. :)
Misc: Cuttlebug spiderweb folder, Copics, Dimensional glaze, Stickles
I created the bottom sentiment in Word to match the DSP.

Challenges:
Crafter's Cafe Unity/Ippity challenge #4: Color challenge
A La Card Monkey: Challenge 70: Halloween/sketch

2009 Halloween Layout

2011-08-17T11:12:00.000-04:00

Well, I just did something that if you'd told me a month, or even a few days ago I'd be doing, I would have laughed at you. I used 5 different patterned papers on a layout. Ok, ok. So they were from the same DCWV stack but still! You have to understand that I didn't TRULY buy any patterned papers with the intent of REALLY using them until last year. Sure, I'd bought some and used bits and pieces here and there but I've only recently decided to REALLY use them. I went to Joann's last week to get the new DCWV autumn stack but decided in the end that though I need more Halloween paper like I need a hole in the head, I liked and would likely use the Ghosts & Goblins stack the most. Guess I was right on THAT one.

This was one of my baggies of photos I wanted to scrap (I've gone through a lot of my photos and separated different events into sandwich baggies of photos- then I can just grab a pack and go or I can easily flip through all events looking for 1 that has x number of photos if I find a layout I like) and the DCWV August Stack-a-holic Template Challenge sketch works really well for them... or at least I think it does. I thought it worked so well that for once, I didn't really even tweak the sketch. Ok, well, maybe a smidge but less than usual!

Everything is from the Ghosts & Goblins stack except the green paper (not sure whose it is honestly), and the letters (Halloween rub on- October Afternoon, Number stickers- Piggy Tales)

New craft board with giveaway

2011-08-15T20:38:00.000-04:00

I just saw this over at Scrapcat Cards by Linda...
There is a new group over at a place called Crafters Cafe. They would like to invite you all to come check it out, say hi, and would love for you to join them. Even better, someone wins this candy!

Udderly Tickled Pink card

2011-08-14T22:20:00.000-04:00

I really need to get a gift in the mail to a friend's daughter for her 4th bday but first I needed a card.

This one is real simple and unfortunately cropped a bit odd- the base card is white. The inside says, "Udderly tickled pink" and then I wrote "it's your birthday." I penned in bowties on the cows just because I thought they needed a bit of "pop".

Ingredients:
SU papers, stamps and watercolor crayons. Staedtler watercolor pencils

I'm entering it over at Sweet Stampin' Challenge's Down on the Farm challenge and Southern Girls Challenge #25: Black & White with a Pop.

Who's it going to be layout

2011-08-14T12:32:00.001-04:00

I set up the easel outside the other day for Boy to go to town and he went to town, city and metropolis. Once we ran out of drying line for paper art, he moved onto body art (I'm a big fan of the leaves he used to complete the look).

I spattered the Jackson Pollock side, background and title, with acrylic paints. I used metallic crayons on the Kat Von D background paper (they have a really nice shimmer that don't show up well on camera) and watercolor crayoned the name. I then smudged the crayon onto the title background paper for a bit more finish.

I was entering this in the CK Summer Camp Arts & Crafts challenge but just realized that submissions had to be made within 24hrs of the challenge post. Oh well.

Ingredients:
Papers: Stampin' Up & misc
Cricut cartridges: Happy Hauntings, A Word Party
Sizzix die: Naturally Serif
Coloring supplies: Metallic crayons: Crayola, Watercolor Crayons: Stampin' Up, Acrylic paints

Reminder of 2 monthly challenges/giveaways going on

2011-08-10T22:31:00.000-04:00

Life in the Craft Lane is giving these away this month:

and Better Living Through Scrapbooking has their first Aug. challenge up. Check 'em out!!

I'm back in the saddle again!

2011-08-08T23:56:00.001-04:00

Obviously, it's been a while. First there was the recovery from those 8 days on the road which led straight into our parents coming and visiting for a long weekend to having Boy at home with me for a week while recovering from the visit. Needless to say, little crafting has been done since mid-July. BUT... I'm getting back to it... 5pgs! Yay!!

Let's see. What's to be said? ... Ummmm.... not much. :)

I'm entering this in the My Mind's Eye #26 Layout challenge- the first page is from a sketch they provided and the print paper, journal card, and all embellishments are theirs. Hopefully it's enough. It's supposed to be 80% their product. The blue papers aren't theirs (Core-dinations) but I'm not sure if they go 80% surface area or 80% number of items. Oh well. It is what it is.

I made a decision not to fuzz faces here. I hope I don't offend anyone but I've included no names so... I used the invite as the title and subtitle- I thought the banner she created made a nice title replacement and banners are just all the rage- why recreate the wheel? KISS and all that good stuff. :) The invite is actually slipped into a pocket I made with the photo strip below it. That keeps the deets of the party (address, date, etc.) bit more "secluded" but available if desired.

I'm entering this in the Simply Betty #3 challenge- make a pocket and Scrappin' Chics use a banner/pennant challenge (hope I'm not cheating with the direction I went in with it!)

I like this one though it's a bit plain. The photos took so much room that I didn't want to interfere with them (all 3 of these pages/spreads have that going for them- LOTS of photos!) The thing that bugs me is that my paper keeps warping when I use mist like I did on this page. I flattened it between books but as you can see from the bottom edge, not so great.

I'm entering it in Whimsical Wednesday's Sense of Humor challenge. I love the smile Boy has as a pirate (he enjoyed that one) and the photos of him as an alien are funny- I'd love to know what he was thinking in that first one.

Do Over layout

2011-07-21T15:49:00.002-04:00

This one went right outside my comfort zone and box. It has pink on it. It has flowers on it. It's about me. What the !#*% is THAT all about?! :)

So. The first July challenge over at Better Living Through Scrapbooking is

“When I Grow Up”

Make a layout or project about what you want to do – what’s your dream job or what career goal are you working toward? If you’re already doing that job, show why you love it.

I could write a novel about all of the jobs I've considered, planned on, and/or worked towards. Did I mention the long list of ones I've done? I worked all of that into this because I think where I'm coming from is as important as where I'm going sometimes... or maybe not and that's just one of those hangups I need to get over... I'll get back to you.

Ingredients:
Paper: Pink, Kraft, Vellum: Stampin' Up
Stamps: Botanicals. Antique Background: Stampin' Up
Ink: Pretty in Pink: Stampin' Up, Versa Mark
Misc: Chipboard letters: Heidi Grace, Flowers: Marcella K, Embossing folder

Challenges:
Better Living Through Scrapbooking: July #1
1. Use one of the following combinations as your main color scheme: -Pink and brown, ~~-Blue and white, -Yellow and green, -Red and black~~
~~2. Use paper lace on your project. (Buy it or try making it yourself with a paper punch or die cutter)~~
3. Use rhinestones (gems, bling, whatever you want to call ‘em) They're in some of the flowers
~~4. Include a fabric flower on your project.~~

Apron Strings: Old with the Old, In with the New #13
Today's challenge is use your oldest kit with the scariest (to you) embellishment in it and combine it with a new embellishment or paper that has no "scare factor."

GAB #24: Use something you have never or rarely use. Pink. Flowers. Those flowers in particular (my aunt gave them to me 3yrs ago at Christmas I believe.) Chipboard letters. This layout SCREAMS of things I don't usually use. :)

Well, that's a funny thing. The scariest was the flowers- I don't do flowers. I just don't. At least not on layouts since I typically just do ones for my son. The newer, no scare one was SUPPOSED to be the chipboard letters. However, they were dull. I stamped on them. It didn't show. I inked them. They were the wrong color. I embossed them. It didn't show. I ran them through 2 more times. The ink almost vanished. I sanded them for contrast. They started to fall apart. I stopped there though they're still rather dull. Now I think chipboard letters are scary. *sigh*

Well, we did it

2011-07-18T23:49:00.000-04:00

1787 miles. Through 6 states. 6 major stops in 3 of those states. 8 days. A few major meltdowns but nothing more than what was expected from a 3yr old. Home at 1:18am yesterday. All laundry is clean, most everything is put away. Good to visit. Good to be home.

Signing off for a few days

2011-07-08T23:57:00.001-04:00

Well, tomorrow's the day. The day when we start what's going to be more than 1550 miles on the road. Some people call it a vacation. I'll let you know what I call it when we get back. The question is to how well Boy handles being on the road that long. My hope is that since we'll change places every few days and every stop will bring new people/kids he likes and hasn't seen in close to a year, if not more, and there will be a few 4th bday celebrations for him along the way, it'll stay fresh for him. Fingers crossed!!

Nikki Sivils giveaway!

2011-07-06T19:02:00.000-04:00

Check it out- she's giving away her new CHA lines before they're released!!

Parade Page

2011-07-06T18:31:00.001-04:00

7/8 Update: I did add another strand of twine to each twirl and I definitely like it more:

What can I say- getting my papers picked ahead of time is DEFINITELY working for me. This page is pretty simple but that tends to be my style. I'd like to go more decorative but when I'm working, I just can't come up with loads that I want to pile one. However, on this one, I think I'm going to add more twine to the swirls- they're a bit too thin this way. I realized once I had everything done and made that one of my pleated paper circles had a decorative edge, the other straight but at this point, they can just be that way. They were a PAIN to make- the paper was only 1/2" wide and the pleats were on the 1/8th" so they were small to work with.

Ingredients:
Paper: Cardstock: Stampin Up & Michaels DSP: October Afternoon
Misc: Twine: Whisker Graphics, Rubons: October Afternoon, Stickers: Thickers

Challenges:

Whisker Graphics from Facebook- use any WG product
Apron Strings: Out with Old, In with New Day #3: Use old scraps with some new products. The only paper that's "new" is the 12x12. All of the photo mats are from my scrap folders and some of the papers have to be at least 5-6yrs old. Yeah. I know. On the other hand, the twine was from a FB prize I won from Whisker Graphics- it arrived in the mail yesterday. That's pretty new. :)
Practical Scrappers: July Sketch: I got pretty loose with this but it was definitely my launch point.

Land of Make Believe pages

2011-07-04T19:30:00.003-04:00

Check me out! 3 pages in less than 24hrs! Whoo HOO! :) I think I found something to get me a bit in a groove. I have a lot of photos bagged up in Ziplocs by event. I usually find a sketch, find the bag that will work with it (those 2 sometimes reverse), then find papers and accents for them and THEN scrap it then and there. This time, I picked out 2 bags (events) of photos the other evening, picked out the papers and accents and the specific photos I wanted to use (I print out a bunch that I think are good but generally don't use all of them) and then set both stacks aside. Last night when I found a sketch for the Halloween page and went to scrap it, it went pretty darn fast and today's definitely did. Splitting the material search and the sketch/crop/put-together into 2 separate events seemed to help. I was kinda trying it out before I go to CKC later this summer since I want to take a few pages for the evening scrap. However, I'll definitely be doing some more of this to see if it keeps working for me.

So. Onto the spread. Sorry for the crummy shots- too stormy here to get anything good today.

Ingredients:
Paper: Cardstock: Stampin' Up, DSP: BoBunny
Accents: BoBunny, Gauche Alchemy (Punchinella aka Sequin waste)

Challenge:
Apron Strings: July 1: Out with Old, In with New. Use your old summery stuff (I've had the BoBunny paper and accents hanging around for quite a while now waiting for the perfect summer use) and your newest metallic. That 2nd part was hard because I don't use a lot of metallics. I was going to sprinkle the suns with glitter and stumbled on something I got the other day from a Better Living Through Scrapbooking prize: Gauche Alchemy's Punchinella. It's sequin waste and when a hole is trimmed out of a large orange piece, it makes a nifty sun.

Halloween Page

2011-07-04T15:12:00.001-04:00

Obviously I don't scrap chronologically. :)

Ingredients:
Papers: Black: Michaels, Halloween print: Target, Black DSP: The Paper Loft, Orange/White: Stampin' Up
Stamp: Stampin' Up
Ink: Vintage Linen & Walnut Stain: Ranger
Misc: Accents: K&Co., Glitter: Joann's

Challenges:
Craft Your Passion: Challenge 65: Anything Goes
Desert Island Crafters: #11: Use 3 from the list of 10 "ingredients
4: Distress Tool (Loosely- I used distress ink on the title and the journalling), 6: Crystals (I scattered olive green crystals here and there on the page) 7: Halloween Paper, 10: Pop Dots (all of the accent items are pop-dotted)
Sketchy Thursday: 6/30: I used the 2nd page as my sketch... loosely.

BLTS Challenge 2- Then and Now

2011-06-29T23:15:00.001-04:00

First, just a reminder that Better Living Through Scrapbooking June challenges end tomorrow. I see a few people jumped in this month but since they're from "anonymous", I'm not sure if it's any of you. If it is, go and comment on the challenge posts because there's no way to know whose entries those are! That would be bad when it comes to prize-drawing time!

Second. Second challenge. This didn't go quite as I planned but when I was part-way into it, I realized that I just couldn't comfortably get where I thought I was going. Originally, I was going to do a 2013 column with wants/expectations but that didn't feel right. However, that's why the title is just "Then" because it was going to be past-then #1, past-then #2, and the then of the future. Instead it's more of a "now" without being in the title.

Challenge:
Make a project showing you and a longtime friend, a family member, or a significant other and how you’ve changed together over the years. Obviously, this is pretty much just me. I honestly wasn't coming up with anyone else that I wanted to feature for this and I'm trying to exorcise some of my own demons this year and putting them to paper may help a bit so I stuck to myself on this one.

Use at least 2 of the following:
1. Include a playing card or game piece. (Scrabble tiles)
~~2. Make frames for the pictures on your project (out of paper, ribbon, etc)~~
~~3. Include at least 3 brads~~
4. Include a clock or watch (can be an embellishment, a sticker, paper, etc). I thought I had a large clock stamp somewhere but I can't lay my hands on it. I have some embellishments that would be nice but I LOVE the White Rabbit image and even without the pocket watch out, he's an indicator of time, always checking it, always in a rush.

Crayola Factory Layout

2011-06-28T14:20:00.001-04:00

This is the first page of a 2pg spread... I'll get to the 2nd page tomorrow hopefully. Sorry for the sun-glare on some of the photos- if it's not middle of the night and no light, it's middle of the blazing day. *sigh*

Ingredients:
Paper: Prints: October Afternoon, Cardstock: Stampin' Up
Misc: Dicuts: October Afternoon, Large Chipboard C: Heidi Grace Designs, Other letters: Piggy Tales, Dimensional Glaze: Stampin; Up, White glaze pen

Challenges:
Sketches in Thyme: June Open Challenge
Apron Strings: My blues are more aqua and royal/navy but it's as close as I could come.

October Afternoon:

Meet Me on Monday

2011-06-26T23:34:00.001-04:00

1. What is your favorite food?
Back to the wall, one favorite... Thai Red Curry. It could be shrimp, chicken, beef, tofu, mussels... I don't care.

2. What color scheme is your bedroom?
We bought a house with 40+ cans of paint in the garage. Yeah. No kidding. Luckily, the previous owner had GREAT taste in decorating. Our room is a taupey-brown with a white ceiling so we added a brown and turquoise theme through curtains and bedspread.

3. Do you carry a donor card?
Yep- it's on my driver's license.

4. In your opinion, is the glass half empty or half full?
I'm more pessimistic than I'd like. Most of the time I think it's shattered on the floor.

5. Vanilla or Chocolate?
Funny thing is, I don't like plain chocolate. I worked at M&M Mars for 10+ years and when I worked at the office where the actual M&M's plant was, I HATED the smell. I also was one of the original 13 Dove Chocolate at Home (Dove Chocolate Discoveries now) home consultants (should have stayed with that one, no? Imagine the downline!), part of the reason I got out was I HATED the smell of melting chocolate. That said, I will chew your arm off to get to a piece of chocolate covered fruit. I love chocolate cake, rocky road ice cream, brownies... seriously dislike chocolate ice cream, can't stand chocolate chip cookies... I wish I understood it.

Life in the Craft Lane site

2011-06-23T20:02:00.000-04:00

You guys should check this one out. Julie McGuffee has a site called "Life in the Craft Lane." It's tied in with a webring- Designer Crafts Connection. The participants have a range of creative passions from papercrafting to jewelry-making to altered art and mixed media and much of their work is just amazing!

Once a month there's a giveaway that involves going around the ring, essentially a blog hop, and looking for a particular image, just picking out a project you like... each month the scavenger hunt is different. This past month I was the winner and the prize was 2 awesome scrapbooking reference books. Julie, the "ringleader" (sorry, I couldn't help myself) said she'd throw in a few page kits. Ok. I was picturing something that could make 2 or 3 pages, NOT 4 full Lisa Bearnson page kits that make 6 pages each PLUS a pack of extra goodies PLUS page protectors!

The July giveaway is promised to be spectacular and I wouldn't doubt it. I HIGHLY recommend checking it out!

CAS Birthday Card

2011-06-23T14:32:00.001-04:00

Crafty Steals is celebrating their 2nd bday and posting a few challenges along the way. One today was around a sketch that I thought would be perfect for a stamp I've been wanting to use and a bday card I need to make for a friend.

Ingredients:
Stamp: Verve (I bought the set for this one stamp... though the whole set is great thankfully!)
Ink: Elegant Eggplant, Pink Passion: SU
Paper: Whisper White, Pink Passion: SU, Print...?

Crafty Steals Challenge:

Layered Poinsettia Card

2011-06-23T10:25:00.004-04:00

Deets:
The poinsettia was stamped/embossed/colored/cut four times from kraft paper and each of the layers was popdotted to the next.

Ingredients:
Stamp: Poinsettia: Holly Berry House, Sentiment (Four the Holidays): SU
Ink: Gold: Encore:
Paper: Kraft, Very Vanilla: SU, DP: Little Yellow Bicycle & Making Memories
Misc: Jeweled Gold EP: Stampendous, Copics, Dew Drops: Robin's Nest

Challenges:
Winter Wonderland: Christmas Flowers
iCopic: #35: Anything but White
The Emerald Faerie: #3: Petals
Veronica's: Part of CropStop Summer Hop: Make it pop/3D (Ok. It's not summery at all but it pops!)
Pear Tree Designs: #54:

BLTS Challenge 1- What I do after a bad day

2011-06-22T10:09:00.000-04:00

The first challenge this month at Better Living Through Scrapbooking was to scrap what we do to de-stress or what we do after a bad day. I wish my habits were a bit more positive... another thing to work on. I'll get to that eventually... maybe.

We also need to do at least 2 of the following:
1. Use a sketch for your layout. (below)
2. Stamp without ink. Use paint, glue for flocking or glittering, etc. (mist... still ink but a bit different than an ink pad for stamping. I wasn't wild about the result so I went back with a black pen to do more coloring)
3. Include a bird in your layout in some way, whether a picture, stamp, sticker, etc
~~4. Use an item you have laying around on your project. Anything at all, as long as it’s not specifically made for scrapbooking.~~

Ingredients:
Paper: Print: My Mind's Eye, Greens: SU, Journalling tag: October Afternoon
Stamps: Letters: Studio G, Crow: SU
Coloring: Basic Black: SU, Mist (to color crow): Log Cabin Smooch Spritz: Clearsnap

Challenges:
BLTS June Challenge #1
Sketchy Sunday: TG023

Better Living Through Scrapbooking- June Challenge #2

2011-06-21T18:57:00.000-04:00

The 2nd challenge of the month was posted yesterday- Then and Now. I highly recommend checking it out. So far, no one has entered either challenge yet this month so your chance of winning is pretty darn good.

"Creative Girl" tag

2011-06-20T23:25:00.002-04:00

I picked the Creative Girl stamp up for a few bucks the other week at the Unity sale. I didn't know what I was going to do with it but I HAD to have it. There's a lot more I've got to find to do with it (I'm seeing some cards in its future) but when I saw My Unity Place was having a tag challenge, I thought it would be perfect.

I actually used a panel I saw online as my starting point but I knew I wanted to use a lot of blue (I'm still there after the ornaments card last week.) There are actually 5 copies of the stamp on this tag.

1. her dress

2. her body/hair (the red heart is a separate layer)

3. the embossed silver swirl background

4. the edge sentiment (the red heart is a separate layer again)

5. the 1st blue background which I distressed the edge of

The last layer was embossed and the embossed areas were tapped with TH's Denim and Walnut Stain. I didn't care for those- they didn't pop enough, so I went back and tapped them again with silver ink. Better. Much better.

Ingredients:

Paper: Home Collection: Deja Views, Brocade Blue, Whisper White: SU, Manilla Folder, Michaels

Stamp: Creative Girl: Suzi Blu/Unity

Coloring: Silver ink: Encore, Brocade Blue, Basic Black inks: SU, Tuxedo Black ink: Momento, Copics

Misc: Lg. eyelet, Elegant Lines embossing folder: SU, Silver EP: Joanns, Misc ribbons

Challenges:

My Unity Place: Make a tag

Craft Your Passion: #63: Paper Piecing

Southern Girls Challenge: #21: Anything Goes

Non-traditional Christmas card

2011-06-14T11:12:00.001-04:00

This has GOT to be one of most edited cards I've ever done. It started out with nativity scenes, colored with Copics and mounted on scalloped circles on a b/w card. This is what I ended up with.

Yeah. A bit different than the start with lots of changes in the middle. I like it though- not your traditional red and green. I put a layer of black behind one side of the ornaments to play up the "shadow" even though they're pop-dotted and tie in some more similarity with the black paper layers in the background and on the sentiment. I also clear-embossed the ornaments with 3 layers of EP to give them a bit of gloss and more depth.

Ingredients:
Stamps: Antique Background, Tree Trimmings, Four the Holidays: Stampin' Up
Paper: Whisper White, Brocade Blue: Stampin' Up Black: Michaels
Ink: Brocade Blue, Whisper White, Basic Black: Stampin Up
Misc: Clear EP: JoAnn's Pearls, Silver cord

Challenges:
Winter Wonderland: Swirls & Pearls
Pixie Dust Studios: #78: Let's Cool Down
Top Tip Tuesday: #38: Open Challenge
Sweet Stamps: #19: Embossing
A La Card Monkey: #60

Meet Me on Monday

2011-06-12T22:33:00.002-04:00

1. What is your favorite yogurt flavor?
Hmmm... Key Lime? Raspberry? Lots of possibilities there.

2. Ankle or knee socks? and on the same theme, white socks or coloured??
White ankle socks. I'm much too casual for anything else. In the winter with my Sketchers, I will wear nifty cotton, colored, print mid-calf socks for a change of pace.

3. How is the weather right now?
This evening's storm finally broke the mid-90 degree temps we've had for 2-3wks. This week is supposed to be mostly low-80's. Still warm for someone who prefers 40-60 degree days but it's an improvement if only temporary.

4. Are you a fast typer?
I don't know my typing speed but after numerous college papers, a Master's thesis, and many years in documentation, to put it simply, yep.

5. Red or White Wine?
As long as it's not dry, pretty much anything. I used to like dessert wines- that sweet. I've backed off of that but I still like a touch of sweetness. And oaky/woody flavors... ummm... I may as well lick a tree. :)

Quick Graduation Card

2011-06-11T23:50:00.001-04:00

I realized this morning that our neighbor's daughter was graduating from high school today. Oops. No card, no gift. While they're not required, with these folks, it would be a nice gesture. Enter quick grad card. I actually CASED the basic card from a grad card I saw in Paper Crafts (May/June: Julie Masse's "You Did It!" card.)

Ingredients:

Paper: Old Olive, Whisper White: Stampin' Up, Star print: Michaels, Chipboard scrap (for mortarboard)

Stamp: Studio G

Ink: Basic Black: Stampin' Up

Misc: Pearl-Ex Mists (Interference Bronze), WOW brad: Making Memories (?) Pastels: Stampin' Up

Challenges:

Apron Strings: Five for Friday. Use 1 Sheet cardstock, 1 Sheet patterned paper, 1 Set brads, 1 Set chipboard, 1 Length ribbon. Obviously I blew this one a bit with the use of a stamp, pastels, mist, and white paper but I stuck as close as I could to the challenge while accomplishing what I needed so I thought I'd throw it out there anyway.

Scrapmaster's Paradise: Lime-a-licious Challenge. Sorry. No lime, only Olive.

Better Living Through Scrapbooking - 1st June Challenge

2011-06-09T22:47:00.000-04:00

I mentioned that I really like the Better Living Through Scrapbooking challenges. I'm struggling a bit over the first one this month but I wanted to share it with you in case you wanted to enter. I highly recommend it!

What do you reach for after a bad day, a disappointment, or when a project or plan fails? Do you have a favorite comfort food or a preferred activity? Do a project showing what makes you feel better again.

Use at least 2 of the following:

1. Use a sketch for your layout. You must credit the artist that created the sketch in the comments section of this post. If you use an online sketch, include a link.

2. Stamp without ink. Use paint, glue for flocking or glittering, etc.

3. Include a bird in your layout in some way, whether a picture, stamp, sticker, etc

4. Use an item you have laying around on your project. Anything at all, as long as it’s not specifically made for scrapbooking (price tags from clothes, junk mail, etc).
Be sure to upload your project to the mini-gallery by May 31, 2011 to be eligible for this month’s prize. Happy Scrapping!

Happy Summer card

2011-06-08T09:57:00.002-04:00

Flirty Anya was another stamp I picked up last week during my shopping spree (but wait! there's more!) I generally don't go girly (somehow I think you've heard that before) but I thought she was cute without being cloying and it doesn't hurt to have a girly stamp or three. When I saw there were some summer challenges, I thought she'd be perfect. As for the sketch, I took it rather literally for a change though I did have to move the sun- I realized I colored her highlights on the wrong side for the sketch to work as it was. Oops. The little things you don't think of right off the bat sometimes.

Deets: The light blue paper in the back was misted with the Interfernce Blue PearlEx mist I made. The sun and crab have Crystal Effects on them and are pop-dotted (the crab is actually attached to the background on one side to make him look more like he's crawling along.) Anya is paper pieced- the dress, flower and hair were all cut from different papers.

I actually did 2 of this card- 1 to keep and 1 to send to a friend whose teaching year is almost done. I kinda prefer the Anya's placement on the 2nd- she isn't in the water quite as much.

Ingredients:
Stamps: Flirty Anya: The Greeting Farm Everyday Flexible Phrases, On the Beach: Stampin' Up
Inks: Tuxedo Black: Momento
Paper: Real Red, Whisper White, Yoyo Yellow, Pink floral (hostess pad): Stampin' Up Others: Michaels Coloring: Copics, PearlEx mist (Interference Blue)
Other: Crystal Effects: SU Sandpaper, Word Window punch: Stampin Up, Memory Makers tearing strips

Challenges:
Pear Tree Designs: #52: Summer Delights
The Corrosive Challenge Blog: #119: Summer Colors
Sarah Hurley Challenge Blog: #42: Summer
Sweet Stampin' Challenge: Playing in the Summer Sun
create: Summer cards with waves
Kraftin' Kimmie: #81: Cut it Out
Playing in Paradise: #18: Paper Piecing
Card Patterns: Sketch #118

Rockin' Father's Day Card

2011-06-07T10:28:00.001-04:00

This is the card for my husband for Father's Day. I've been wanting to get a Kenny K stamp for a while now and finally did last week. The inside of the card says "You rock my world."

The piece behind the pop-dotted Rock Chick is chipboard that was in a package I received to keep things flat. It was a great weight, in perfect condition, and I knew I'd used it for something. :) I embossed it and spritzed it with mists. The horizontal piece is the same minus the embossing.

Ingredients:
Paper: Kraft: SU, Print...? Chipboard: leftover packaging
Coloring: Black Momento, Copics, Log Cabin Smooch Spritz, Bronze Mist (made w/ PearlEx)
Misc: Diamond Plate embossing folder: Cuttlebug, Brown bling: Creative Charms, Brown Sharpie

Challenges:
Desert Island Crafts Challenge: #9: Use at least 3 of 10:

   1. Use glimmer Mist or similar
   3. Something recycled (chipboard)
   5. Chipboard
   8. Glitter or Bling (the button is actually glittery too)
iCopic Lover: #33: Brown hair
Craft Your Passion: #61: Anything Goes
Crop Stop: #22: Sketch + extra embossing challenge

Meet Me On Monday

2011-06-05T22:10:00.001-04:00

Java's changing it up a bit and doing 4 questions now...

1. What is was the last piece of candy that you ate?
I actually just had a few jumbo jelly beans left from our Easter basket. Yep, that's right. My parents still load up my childhood Easter basket every year. Let's not talk about Christmas stockings!

2. Do you "read" in the bathroom?
When else would I have a chance to look through PaperCrafts and Creating Keepsakes?! :) Seriously. In a house with a 3yr old, you grab whatever private moment you have to call your own. (Java mentioned that this is apparently National Bathroom Reading Month. Why? Would someone please tell me why?)

3. I can't stand when someone _________?
does something rude/stupid on the road and doesn't wave to acknowledge that someone else did them a favor of not rear-ending/t-boning them! Is it really that hard to say, "Thanks, my bad."?

4. Do you do daily, weekly or monthly grocery shopping?
It's supposed to be weekly but it tends to be a few days in the week by the time I hit all of the appropriate stores having great sales and/or getting the things I forgot/didn't know I needed the first/second time around.

Great challenge site with LOW entries

2011-05-31T08:41:00.000-04:00

You may have caught that I've done several layouts for challenges over at Better Living Through Scrapbooking. What I didn't mention is that I've randomly won 2 of the 4 monthly prizes given out this year and I only entered 3 of them. Unfortunately, last month, I was the only entry and as of midnight last night, I believe I had the only entry for May. Seriously folks. Go check it out! The challenges are a lot of fun and usually out-of-the-box.

Martha Stewart does NOT live here! layout

2011-05-31T00:00:00.002-04:00

Better Living Through Scrapbooking had a fun challenge for May- scrap something that shows you're not June Cleaver/Martha Stewart. No matter how much work goes into it, our house just never really seems clean. I yanked some contrasting photos from MSL magazines just to rub my nose in it. :) I'll try to get a better photo in the morning when there's a bit of sunlight happening (never heard THAT before have you!?)

Ingredients:

Paper: October Afternoon (Charles), White paper from Michaels, notebook paper

Accent pieces and cards: October Afternoon

Other: Pastel chalk, Workable Fixative (chalks smear too much not to seal them up!)

Challenges:

Better Living Through Scrapbooking: May #1: “So NOT June Cleaver”. Do at least two of:

1. Letter the title by hand.

2. Use notebook paper somewhere on the project.
~~3. Use packaging from a scrapbooking or crafting product.~~
4. Use chalk on your project (I simply chalked the title).

October Afternoon: Magazine Inspiration Sketch

Meet Me on Monday

2011-05-15T23:58:00.002-04:00

1. Crunchy or smooth peanut butter?
Crunchy. All the way. Can you believe it? A straight answer! From me... just wait! There's more!!

2. What is your favorite color Rose?
I love those steely blue ones though I'm not sure I've ever seen one in person. If you've ever seen "Bed of Roses," you'll know the ones I mean. As for one in person, we had the most gorgeous white with blushy pink highlights at our old house... until the deer chomped it to the ground one too many times and it went the way of the dodo.

3. Do you remove your shoes when you walk into your home?
First things off. Seriously. Usually even before a coat.

4. What is your favorite season?
Fall. End of story. I hated TX for that reason. The leaves didn't change. The weather was either hot, humid and miserable, or cold, humid and miserable.

5. Approximately how many hours a day do you spend blogging?
Actually putting things on my blog, less than an hour. Reading other folks' blog entries... hahahaha! I don't know. I don't want to know. Plase don't approach me with that number because then I'll truly have to face how addicted to it I am.

The first of the "Movers" pages

2011-05-15T23:31:00.001-04:00

We went and caught the Imagination Movers last month and while it's going to take a while to get all of the pages done, I've at least gotten started.

Bloody thing took about 3hrs to do but there's a lot of shrink film involved. All of the gears were cut from shrink film on my Big Shot, colored (I tried Sharpies, craft ink and colored pencils- the blue were done with colored pencils (my Brilliant Blue Craft Spot is more of a Night of Navy!!) and the red is craft ink. The title is done from rub ons on a transparency and I colored the white "MOVER!!" yellow with a Sharpie. I wanted to put gears subtley on the blue paper so I cut some Cricut stamp "film" and mounting foam with the same die on my Big Shot and voila, now I have gear stamps.

Ingredients:
Paper: SU: Brilliant Blue, Real Red, Yoyo Yellow
Ink: VersaMark, SU: Real Red craft ink
Other: Sharpies, Clear matte shrink film, Sizzix: Tim Holtz Gears die, October Afternoon: Rubon letters, Crayola: Colored pencils

Challenges:
Scrapbooker's Paradise #15: Use 3 OLD things: I won't admit to how long the shrink film has been in my stuff unused. I'd say I found it at Michaels about 6 yrs ago and HAD to have it. I opened the pkg. last night. The Cricut stamp material was given to me with the Cricut as a birthday gift 2yrs ago. I opened it last night for the first time. The colored pencils I used have been used a bit over the years but I use watercolor pencils a LOT more and I got these pencils back in college if I recall... they may actually go back to high school. Ouch.

Stamp, Scrap & Doodle Saturdays: Use old supplies

DCWV/May Arts: I kinda blew it on this one... maybe. Since my laptop is still a dead thing, I now check out challenges in the basement, copy the sketches and challenges I want to try out onto paper or just copy the sketches onto a single image and print them out on one page, then run up to the 2nd floor to do the work. That means I sometimes miss details about WHOSE sketch I'm doing. So I LOVED the sketch for these photos, got it done, and then realized I had no idea whose it was. I'd given up on it when I was cleaning out my Reader docs tonight and stumbled on it. Of course, it means that I have piece for DCWV/May Arts with none of their products on it. However, I don't see that as a requirement and I really like the layout so I'll send it in anyway. What's the worst that can happen- they say "thanks but no?" I think I can survive that.

How the Grinch Stole St. Patrick's Day

2011-05-10T10:45:00.000-04:00

You may remember (or not) that I made a St. Patty's Day tie for my son and it didn't go over so well. Yeah. I know. Oh WHAT a surprise. Shocker. Blah blah blah. I had to try ya know! So, here's the page that goes with it.

The sketch was from a challenge over at Big Picture Classes this past weekend.

Ingredients:
Stamps: Ornamassortment: SU, St. Patty's Day: Studio G
Ink: Green Galore: SU
Misc: Grinch stickers: EK Success (I've had these hanging around for a few years... happy to use them but didn't think this is how they'd go down.), Journalling card: October Afternoon
Paper: Michaels

Challenge:
Sweet Stampin' Challenge: Childhood Memories

I've been published!!

2011-05-08T23:08:00.000-04:00

It's not Paper Crafts or Creating Keepsakes or anything like that but I've been published in a way! I submitted my Mother's Day card to Consumer Crafts and they asked if they could include it in their Mother's Day email. Of course I has to think about it... NOT! I'd put a picture of the blast here but I'm still sans laptop and have some limited abilities. In any case, it's a start!

Graduation card

2011-05-08T22:33:00.001-04:00

I found out on Friday that a neighbor was graduating with her Master's degree so I wanted to make her a card. I'm embarassed to say that I don't remember where she's been going so I didn't want to try to mess with school colors and a master's is usually just black anyway so I went with classic black.

The stamp is from studio g and the 2 glitter papers from Michaels and Target. I used watercolor crayons to color the caps and made the tassel on the 3rd from a bit of black and golden yellow embroidery floss.

I'm entering this into
Tip Top Tuesday #32: Anything goes

What the Boy Likes layout

2011-05-08T22:25:00.000-04:00

I did this layout for a National Scrapbooking Day challenge over at Big Picture Classes. The challenge was called 10-10-10 and the intent was to write 10 words about someone, use 10 techniques and 10 different materials. I wanted to capture things Boy likes right now (and some he doesn't) rather than 10 words though I think I'll do that at a later date. I'm not 100% thrilled with the layout but I feel like I essentially met the challenge what accomplishing something that I wanted so I'm satisfied.

Techniques
Punches
Listing
Stitching
Stapling
Paper piecing
Altering
Misting
Distressing
Changing the challenge

Materials
Print paper
Card stock
Watercolor pencils
Photo
Ink/stamp
Journal cards
Feature cards
Thickers
Vellum
Distress ink

I'm also entering this is the
Sweet Stampin Challenge: Childhood Memories

I swear! It jumped!

2011-05-05T22:31:00.000-04:00

I maybe quiet for a bit as one of my best friends was badly injured today. That's right. My laptop slid right out of my hands this afternoon and landed on a hardwood floor about 4' down and as flat as possible- probably the worst way it could have hit. If you tilt the hard drive, it sounds like it's full of sand- generally not a good thing. I ordered a new drive tonight and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there was no damage to the motherboard. Time will tell but hopefully things will be back to norm in less than a week.

Teacher appreciation gift

2011-05-05T14:50:00.002-04:00

I was then I wasn't then I was then I wasn't then I knew I should. Yep. Teacher appreciation gifts. I know Beastlet has given his preschool teacher a run for her money so I decided I really REALLY should. The school is celebrating teacher appreciation next week and has asked the parents to do certain things through the week but I just thought we should recognize her during the "real" week. However, I didn't want to spend a fortune on something, would like it to be somewhat practical and would like it to look like a preschool present. Then I saw this frame

on Tip Junkie. I have some paper mache frames I won from Consumer Crafts this winter that I was saving for a rainy day to make something out of with Boy. PERFECT. So I had him pick out crayons he wanted to use, buttons he liked and then he grouped them up and I glued them on. I kinda like the all-crayon frame more but I think Miss Lindsey will like this just as well.

Fish card

2011-05-05T12:36:00.001-04:00

Very simple but I like it. I stamped the inside with individual letters so it's a bit rough and off-centered, "Just keep swimming".

If anyone knows a good way to keep the tape from showing through vellum, let me know. I've tried actual vellum tapes with the same success as normal Tombow seen here. I know you can strategically put bows and things on them but I just wanted this plain and clean.

Ingredients:
Paper: Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White, Vellum: SU, Light Blue: Michaels
Ink: Basic Black: SU, Tuxedo Black: Momento
Stamps: On the Beach, Just Beachy: SU Alphabet: Studio G
Misc: Copics, Joann's Glitter

Challenges:
Pixie Dust Studio Challenge #7: Let's make a splash
Here Come the Boys #1: Anything Goes

I made this card to send to Dustin Pike who will be giving it to a sick boy named Dylan. Have a look at Dustin's site for more info.

Meet Me on Monday

2011-05-01T21:56:00.000-04:00

1. What is your favorite kind of muffin?

Oh jeez. This is like so many other questions- there's no picking one. There's raspberry muffins with ginger streusel, apple, great strawberry muffins, chocolate w/ chocolate chips...

2. What was the first car you ever owned?

A Bimini Blue Ford Tempo. (That's not it in the photo but it's the exact same thing.)

3. Which TV Show were you sad to see end?

Hmm. There aren't a lot of shows I get into that last and I don't get tired of before they go the way of the dodo. The only one I can think of that I would have liked to have seen more of is "Dead Like Me." It was quirky, well cast, and had Mandy Patinkin going for it. "Pushing Daisies" was also another fun one I was sorry to see go.

4. What is your lucky number?

I love Friday the 13ths.

5. Pretzels or Potato Chips?

No-buttered, lightly salted soft pretzels (though I like hard pretzels too) and potato chips (mmm... occasional crab chips.) Side notes: My husband always says junk food from PA tastes the best. When I was in elementary school, we took a field trip to the UTZ potato chip and Snyders' pretzel plants in Hanover, PA. Watching that machine wrap the pretzels was pretty darn cool.

Latest Tim Holtz tag

2011-05-01T20:35:00.000-04:00

We only made one tag this month. It wasn't that it was hard but it was a bit tedious and time-consuming. I kind of wish the 2nd row of petals came out further- it doesn't scream "poinsettia" to me right now- more like "red summer flower" but that's why I'm taking the class- to figure out how to use the materials and do things like this the way I'd like.

Mother's Day card

2011-05-01T17:13:00.003-04:00

I'm REALLY happy with this card I made for my MIL for Mother's Day (next week?! Seriously!?)

Ingredients:

Paper: Floral: My Mind's Eye stack, Whisper White, Rose Romance (?), Regal Rose (?): Stampin' Up

Stamps: Vintage Labels (?), A Touch of Nature, Bliss: Stampin' Up

Ink: True Thyme, Rose Romance: Stampin' Up

Etc: Pearls, White grosgrain ribbon, Alene's Tacky Glue

Challenges:
GAB #13: Any 3D Project
Verve Apr. Challenge: Flowers
Sarah Hurley #39: Butterflies/Things with Wings
Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps #76: Flowers
Stamp, Scrap & Doodle Saturday #30: Mother's Day
Sweet Stampin' Challenge: Try something new (the roses and a 2-layer butterfly are new to me)
Paper Craft Planet: 3d Roses (the instructions for the roses are here. I stamped flowers from A Touch of Nature and used these instructions to make them into roses)
Emerald Faerie Challenge Blog #1: Anything goes
Cute Card Thursday #162: Any sketch... from Card Positioning System #119:

DIY Baker's Twine

2011-04-29T23:15:00.000-04:00

You've GOT to check this one out- I saw it yesterday on UCreate. Lindsay at the Frugal Crafter has some quick and easy instructions on how to make your own Baker's Twine and it looks GOOD!

I saw a sale last week for baker's twine and I was tempted to get some but $8.99 per color is still a lot since I want 3 or 4 colors and what do I need a ridiculous amount like 250yds for?! I need like 3 or 4yds! Seriously! This thing Lindsay has come up with is easy, BRILLIANT, scalable, BRILLIANT, color-customizable, and did I mention BRILLIANT?!

Decorated Altoids box

2011-04-29T20:59:00.002-04:00

I've been wanting to do one of these but just hadn't gotten to it. It wasn't quite as easy as I'd been led to believe- the inner papers weren't able to cut to fit well and I struggled with the ModPodge around the hinges. However, for a first go, I'm pretty happy with it.

I started with the flowers keeping their chipboard centers but took them back out and replaced them with pearls.

With pearls

With the chipboard centers:

I'd love to tell you more about the papers but I think they're ones I picked up loose at Michaels so all bets are off. I think the chipboard shapes came from a K&Co. set I found at Walmart in the clearance area for $1. I inked the chipboard with white craft ink, Rose Romance, Garden Green and Only Olive from SU and then used Crystal Effects on them. It didn't work real well- the inks kept bleeding and moving around in the CE so it was a bit messy and they didn't color the way I would have liked. I need to do more work with chipboard- not something I've used much until now. I used TH's Walnut ink to age the papers a bit and used glossy ModPodge to put the papers on.

I think this will be used to house a gift card for my Mom for Mother's Day.

I'm entering this in
Craft Test Dummies Go Green Linky Party
Pear Tree Design's Challenge 46: Colourful

I'd love to talk to you when you talk to me but...

2011-04-29T09:28:00.000-04:00

I saw this post this morning on The Pursuit of Happiness and decided I really wanted to repost it. I try to respond to comments I receive here in blogland but frequently I'm responding to noreply@blogger.com which doesn't make for happy conversing. Have a look at the quick walkthrough Lisa posted if you'd like to change your profile so someone can respond to your comments. This could be important in the near future, say if there was a giveaway and you won and I needed to get in touch with you... hint hint!

Who Says it's Spring?!

2011-04-27T23:25:00.002-04:00

You may (or may not) remember that I did a Winter layout back in Feb. for a Better Living Through Scrapbooking challenge. At the time I said I wanted to do one for each season. Well, it's time for spring... if that's what it's called here.

April's 2nd challenge is Spring In My Yard”

Take a photo of one or more signs that spring has arrived in your yard and build a layout or project around it.
Use at least two of the following criteria:
1. Use a monochromatic color scheme (green)
~~2. Include some ribbon~~ (I almost added some leaf ribbon but it was a bit too yellow and a bit too much)
~~3. Use your printer to create one element on the layout other than the picture.~~ (pix only)
4. Title your layout, but do not use the word “Spring.” Find some other word or words to get the point across. (I frequently say, "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas any more" and it just jumped at me for this project.)

I know this is a SUPER simple page but I just want to keep these 4 seasonal pages pretty clean so they can work with one another pretty easily. I was going to use rubon letters but I didn't want white or black so I simply hand did them in a similar style. I used a green Copic and Sharpie, print paper from an SU hostess 6x6, and generic green buttons with light green embroidery floss.

Getting back on track

2011-04-27T11:38:00.001-04:00

Well, my MIL is gone so now I'm in recovery time. Between the time we were at her house and she was here, it was 13 days and let's face it, when you travel and have company, normal chores and cleaning just don't happen so it's taking me a few days to get all of the cogs moving again. I have some scrap and card projects I want and need (Mother's Day is WHEN?!!!) to get done but I think the earliest that will happen is tonight. In the meantime, since there was no Meet Me on Monday this week, I thought I'd drop out "5 things you probably don't know about me" for giggles.

Let's see.
1. I have a master's degree in computer animation and graphics. I have quite a few friends at little animation shops like Pixar and Dreamworks. I never ended up getting into the field even after 4 years in grad school due to some bad timing, a few bad decisions and such. In the end, I think I may be happy having a life instead. :)

2. I HATE chocolate chips cookies... but love liver and tuna casserole. Don't ask me. I don't get it either. (Just to clarify, that's liver (no onions please) one night and tuna casserole a whole different evening. I agree- the thought of a liver and tuna casserole turns my stomach too!)

3. I just can't give up my 80's music.

4. When I first saw stamped cards, I thought they were so disgustingly "country-cute" and couldn't figure out why anyone would spend time or money doing something so cheap looking. Of course, I eventually learned there are LOTS of stamps out there there aren't country, cute or cheap. We won't discuss how many of those stamps sets I have on my shelves.

5. I LOVE a cool, windy, fall day when I can wear shorts or jeans and a great big sweatshirt. A day like that just has a unique feel to it. I REALLY dislike hot days. North Carolina living is going to be rough this summer.