Land of Make Believe pages

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!!

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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?

13

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

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

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: