Dreamweavers Stencils May Challenge

Two posts in one day, crazy I know, but I always take my birthday off of work, so I have a little extra time today. (To enter my birthday/blogaversary giveaway scroll down.)

Anyway, I received some Dreamweaver stencils last month and finally got the chance to experiment with them today. For this card I ran the stencil through my Vagabond, but I used one of the little foam pieces that comes with all CTMH stamp sets underneath the paper for some cushion. This gave the embossing a little more definition. The other neat thing about doing this is that it actually gives the paper a linen like texture. I tried to take a picture to show it, but it's really hard to see.



Once I had my cardstock embossed with the stencil image, I put the stencil over the embossed side as a mask and added a little color using Garden Green ink and a sponge.

I added a little distressing on the edges of the cardstock and voila, a simple card.

It was fun to try something new, and I've got a lot of other techniques that I want to try with these stencils, so stay tuned.

Supplies Used:
Paper/Cardstock: Black and White Daisy cardstock
Stamps: Say it in Style
Ink: Black and Garden Green
Other: Dreamweaver fern stencil; Vagabond; Tombow Adhesive; Edge Distresser

Birthday/Blogaversary Candy

Pretty amazing that it's been almost a year since I started blogging, and just over a year since I signed up with CTMH. It's been a WONDERFUL year. I've gotten to meet so many great people, customers as well as blogging friends. What a fantastic community this is!

On a personal note, I've been challenged creatively, I'm learning new things, have discovered a love for cardmaking and paper piecing, and am staying on track (meaning that I'm regularly working on it, not that I'm up-to-date) with my scrapbooking. All wonderful things.

I've also been the fortunate and grateful recipient of all sorts of great products and giveaways, and now I want to host one of my own.

So, to celebrate my birthday, my blog's birthday (June 18), and the fact that I'm creeping up on 100 followers, I wanted to offer up this little prize which includes all sorts of goodies from some of my favorite companies and even some retired items I've been hoarding.



The prize includes:

DCWV Tres Chic stack
Smooch Spritz Green Olive and Pralines & Cream pack
Stampin Up The World Over stamp set
Cuttlebug Embossed Tags cut & emboss folder
Cuttlebug Vintage Collate cut & emboss folder
Cuttlebug B replacement cutting pads
Pink Paislee Soiree rhinestone chains
Little Yellow Bicycle Hello Summer 10 Things Pocket
Little Yellow Bicycle Hello Summer Chipboard Slider
Bella Blvd Blooms a Bella
Bella Blvd Super Stud Clear Stamps
American Crafts Let it Snow stamps
Provocraft Madeline Alphaletterz
Two Creative Memories Black Photo Sharing Cards
Creative Memories Tuscany Storybox
Hydrangea Hippo black yarn trim
CTMH - Petite Perks stamp set
CTMH - Paper Garden My Stickease Assortment
CTMH - Color Ready Kraft Borders
$10 CTMH credit

Lots of crafty goodness, and who knows, there might be a few surprises in the box too.

All you have to do to be entered is leave a comment on this post. If you're a follower or a customer, please leave a second comment.

I'll draw a name using Random on June 18th and announce it on the blog on the 19th.

Thanks so much for being here and for being such an encouragement to me!

Authentique May Sketch Challenge

A quick card for Authentique's May sketch challenge. I'm using their new Delightful collection.

This is the sketch, and you'll see that I've made a few adjustments, tilting the mat for the center panel.



For the main panel, instead of creating four individual squares, I used a technique I saw here that I've been wanting to try, but on a larger scale.



In a nutshell, you score a grid on the cardstock and distress the paper a bit with ink, then stamp on top of it. I used a stamp from the Togetherness set which is actually stamped in second generation with Tulip ink.

The trims are from Hydrangea Hippo (elastic lace) and also from a bulk ribbon buy I made from Express the Moment.

Thanks for coming by!

Supplies Used:
Paper/Cardstock: Authentique - Delightful papers; CTMH - White Daisy bulk card
Stamps: Togetherness, Say it In Style
Ink: Tulip
Other: CTMH - Dimensional Foam Tape, Sponge Dauber; Tombow Adhesive; Hydrangea Hippo - Elastic White Lace; Express the Moment - Grosgrain ribbon; Corner Rounder

Chin Up Chickadee!

There was another perfect storm of challenges for me this week. I created this card for the Moxie Fab World Doilies and Lace Challenge, for Three Cool Chicks' Day #2 Doilies, RCC #54 Fancy Flowers, and I'm also going to enter into the Gallery Idol competition.

This is a fun mish mash of products. The paper is from a retired CTMH collection, called Wings. The little bird is a Fancy Pants rub-on from the It's the Little Things collection, the alpha stickers are Dear Lizzy (I added a little extra color with a sponge dauber to make them a little more blue), there's May Arts twine, and some great crochet lace that I got from Hydrangea Hippo.

The cluster of embellishments is also a mish mash. I'm using some of CTMH's retired crocheted flowers mixed with designer wood buttons, Twinery twine, May Arts twine and Dear Lizzy brads. I used one brad in the center of the large crocheted flower, and I actually popped the brad center off and put it into the small button (a little trick I learned from Jennifer McGuire).



If you want to know where to get that great doily, the answer is that I don't actually know. I'm a big fan of Stephanie Howell who uses a lot of doilies in her work. A while ago she mentioned that she takes home the doilies that restaurants use to decorate the plate under soup bowls, which I thought was a slightly hilarious and totally genius idea. Imagine my delight when I had to attend a conference last month and found this great doily on the bowl with the mints that were at my seat. I MIGHT have de-doilied the entire conference room following the conference.....

Anyway, I hope that you're having a great holiday weekend and staying cool. It's been pretty warm here this weekend, and the girls and I will be headed to the pool at my parents' tomorrow.

Supplies Used:
Cardstock/Paper: CTMH - Wings Collection; Cocoa and White Daisy cardstock
Ink: CTMH - Cocoa and Lagoon
Other: CTMH - Crocheted flowers; Designer Wood Buttons Dear Lizzy - brads and alphabet stickers; The Twinery cappucino twine; May Arts twine; Hydrangea Hippo natural crocheted lace; Random hotel doily

Not in Control Layout

This is something a little different for me. Scrapbooking something that doesn't include photos, and isn't trying to capture an event/moment.

I've followed Courtney Walsh for a while. She recently started what she calls Faith Fridays where she gives us a prompt to scrapbook about, and encourages us to create pieces that reflect where we are in our faith. This doesn't come naturally to me, but it's something I really wanted to try. This layout is actually for her very first prompt, which was from four weeks ago. I knew I wanted to create a layout for it, but have been wrestling with how I would do it. The prompt was this: Document Your Truth: your latest revelation, your latest word from God. The most recent thing you don't want to forget. Your ah-ha moment...

So I've been mulling this over in my mind for about a month. In the meantime, Scrapbooking from the Inside Out held an online crop this past weekend/week. One of their challenges was "In the NOW". We are supposed to document what is going on now, what we are delighting in now, and we were also challenged to make the layout without photos. Another of the SFTIO challenges was texture, to use at least two on the page.

This brings us to the actual project. One of the things that I constantly struggle with is being in control, and lately this has been especially true. Each of the frames on this layout contains a scripture that supports my truth, that I am not in control. They are great reminders, and promises for me to hold onto. In case you're wondering exactly what they are, these are the verses: Jeremiah 29:11, Matthew 28:20, Jeremiah 33:3, Joshua 1:9, 2 Corinthians 12:9, John 15:27, Isaiah 41:10, John 16:33.

Some of the frames were stamped onto kraft cardstock, cut out and then adhered to the layout, others were stamped directly onto the base piece.

For the texture portion of the challenge, I used some milepost shapes which I pressed into my black stamp pad to highlight the ridges. There's some grosgrain ribbon that is tied with May Arts twine on each of the tags. I also used some burlap ribbon to frame the layout.



This turned out a lot simpler than I thought it would, but I like how it emphasizes the overall message, and it was a project that I needed to do. It's a great reminder for me.

I hope that you have a great long weekend and get to do some extra crafting!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock: Cranberry, Black, and Kraft cardstock
Stamps: CTMH - Posterboard Alphabet, A Typeface, 10 Things, A Moment in Time; Unity - Frames in the House
Ink: Black
Other: CTMH - Milepost Shapes, Cranberry Grosgrain, Bonding Memories Adhesive; May Arts: Twine, Burlap Ribbon; 3L Dodz Adhesive; Tombow adhesive; Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher; Pigma Micron Pen

Guest Designer at Crafty Steals

I'm so excited about today's post! A while back Andreana at Crafty Steals invited me to be their guest designer this month. What fun! They sent me an amazing goodie box filled with some wonderful products, in particular, Pink Paislee's Hometown Summer collection.

As soon as I saw the papers, I thought of quilts, so I wanted to create some projects that with a quilt theme.

Celebrate Summer Card



To create the quilt blocks on the bottom of the card, I used my trusty square punch (1"). Some of the squares were cut in half diagonally once to form the larger triangles, and some cut again to create the smaller triangles. Then I put adhesive on a base piece of cardstock and carefully laid them on top to create the quilt pattern.



The top portion of the card features another of the goodies that Crafty Steals sent, a Mister Huey's spray. This color is Dark Calico, and I used a sponge with quick downward strokes to spread the mist as soon as I sprayed it to create that wood effect. The flags and pinwheel are attached to some flat toothpicks. The Summer stamp is also from the Hometown Summer collection, and the twine on the darker buttons was also sent by Crafty Steals (did I mention how fabulous that box of stuff was?!)

Who Needs Fancy Toys Layout



This is probably my favorite of the projects. I wanted to create a really bold quilt element. Since those four quilt pieces are so bold, so no big title, and I left the background very plain, just added a little faux stitching, and I left my threads hanging for some extra texture.



These photos are old ones of Ellie, from about 2 1/2 years ago, and I added a little hidden journaling behind the simple title piece.

Creating those large quilt elements is actually pretty easy. Here's a quick tutorial:

1) Cut 4" squares from four different two sided papers. Then cut them in half diagonally to create triangles. Score each of the triangles 3/4" from the long end. Then sew two triangles together along the scored line as seen below:



2) Open up the sewn triangles, they will look like this:



3) Turn one of the pieces 90 degrees and place it directly on top of the other, lining up the center squares. Use a little adhesive to take the pieces together.



4) Stitch across the center square (perpendicular to where the two triangles are joined together.




Just Because Card



Since the first two projects were definitely more vintage/traditional quilt pieces, I wanted to show a more modern take on the quilt and also showcase some of the papers that really weren't highlighted in the first to projects.

More punches for this card, the 3/4" square and 1" circle. This is really easy to do, and just takes a little (but not a lot) of precision. I'm also going to enter this card into Moxie Fab World's Gingham challenge.

Thanks Card



Finally, just a fun, eclectic card. Another of the papers had these great letters (interspersed with images of little boy/girl figures). The paper is perfect for creating names or sentiments. This was just a quick card, and I pulled some embellishments from the things that Crafty Steals sent (sweet bubble/twine) with some items I had on hand. That fun pom pom trim is actually stitched down using the green twine that Crafty Steals had sent.



I hope you enjoyed the projects, if you have some time, please head over to Crafty Steals site and take a look around. They have challenges, tutorials, and some great, great deals. I had a wonderful time guesting for them, and so appreciate the opportunity.

Christmas Morning Layout

Another Christmas layout that I also created for Shannon Tidwell's Sassy Scrapping class. One of her challenges was to create a layout using a single collection. (Sorry about all the fingerprints, I have got to get one of those photo cleaning cloths...)

I'm using American Crafts' Hollyday collection. There are a lot of papers that are glittered. I generally prefer to use plain/matte papers, I'm not a huge bling fan, so I wanted to really pump up the sparkle/bling on this layout. I used several of the sparkly papers from the collection: the striped paper (Papa Noel), as well as some which I used for embellishments (peppermints (Kris Kringle) and the ornament seal (Man with all the Toys)) from additional papers.



I also used two of the sparkly trims that come with the collection and the collection's glittered thickers.



Since there is so much sparkle on this layout, I didn't want to clutter it up too much with journaling, so I tucked the journaling into one of the collection's mini envelopes, and I added a little gem and sticker to the embelope as well as some of the embellishments cut from the papers.



This is definitely more bright and shiny than I usually do, but I like it, it's so festive and it really did come together quickly. I now think I need more sparkly stuff....

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used: American Crafts Hollyday collection (Papa Noel, Kris Kringle, Man with all the Toys, and Santa Claus papers; Red Reindeer Glitter Thickers; Vellum Envelope Bits; Remarks Stickers; Garland collection ribbon). 3L Dodz adhesive; Tombow adhesive.

Peek A Boo layout

This layout is for Polka Dot Whimsy's online crop. I had hoped to complete a bunch of projects for the crop, but I've been pretty busy with some other obligations/commitments, and I only managed to eke out this one layout for the stitching challenge. I'm also entering it into Basic Grey's Weekly challenge, to make a multi-photo layout.

These photos are from almost three years ago. I had taken Ellie up to my parents for a visit as I had a wedding to attend up there. It's fun to get to go back and scrap some of the events/moments I didn't get around to previously, and it's doubly fun right now as this is close to the age that Carina is, and they really do look a lot alike.

The papers I'm using are from Basic Grey's Konnichiwa collection, and I've broken out of my rut and actually used a patterned paper as the base. Granted it's probably the most subtle pattern in the whole package, but progress is progress, right? I've utilized a number of the papers on this layout, including the two papers that the flowers and the string of lanterns are fussy cut from.

I knew that I wanted to stitch the string that the lanterns are on, but I was nervous about using a straight stitch. I was afraid that the pressure would cause it to move around/break, so instead I used a very narrow zig zag stitch, and I really like the way it came out. I also used a little stitching on the small letter stickers.



It was a fun layout out to put together, although a little time intensive due to all the fussy cutting, but I'm really happy with the results, and I'm so glad that I got a chance to scrap these photos.

Thanks for coming by, hope your week is off to a great start!

Supplies Used

Basic Grey - Konnichiwa collection; Tombow Adhesive; CTMH Bonding Memories Adhesive; Sweing Machine

The Alley Way Be Inspired Challenge #4

I won one of The Alley Way Stamps' new releases this past month, so I wanted to be sure that I played along with the latest Be Inspired challenge.  Above is the inspiration picture for the challenge. 

I was inspired by the colors, and when I was flipping through my new Cosmo Cricket Social Club mini deck, the paper I used on the top of the card jumped out at me.  Isn't it perfect?  It totally says peacock to me, and the colors are perfect for the challenge.  The rest of the patterned papers are also from Social Club.

With paper selection out of the way, I turned to the stamps.  I love the sentiment on this card, but I wanted to have a pair of mitts (the set only comes with one).  I used a technique that I first saw here (mirror stamping tutorial), where you stamp the image onto the back of another stamp and then stamp that onto your cardstock.  You don't get the clearest/sharpest image when doing this, so you will need to go back over the outline with a marker.

Besides that, a simple card to put together.  Hope you are enjoying the weekend!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  Cosmo Cricket Social Club; CTMH Autumn Terracotta and Colonial White Cardstock
Stamps:  The Alley Way Stamps Kitchen Gadgets 2
Ink:  CTMH - Cocoa
Other:  Pigma Micron Pen, Bone Folder, Bonding Memories Adhesive, Tombow adhesive

Flashback Friday 23.0 - First card with a butterfly

This month's challenge at Flashback Friday is to share the first card you made with a butterfly/butterflies.

This card was from this past December, and was created for Case Study #68.

Sorry for the dark photo, this is back before I was editing them.  The colors are actually significantly brighter.

As I recall, this was my first experience with both the spray pen (which I have grown to love) and the Just Blooms butterflies (which I also love, but don't use nearly enough). 

It's fun to look back (even if it is only a few months) and see things I would have done differently....guess that means I'm progressing, or something.

If you've never played along at Flashback Friday you should try it - a little retrospect is always a good thing.  You have until this Friday to play along with this challenge, so get going!

CTMH Supplies Used
Stamps: A Little Everything
Ink: Honey, Creme Brulee, Autumn Terracotta, Black, Twilight Reinker
Paper: White Daisy, Black, Honey
Other: Just Blooms Flutter Paper Shapes, Sponge Dauber, Blending Pen, Spray Pen, Dimensional Foam Tape, Liquid Glass

Sassy Scrapping Christmas Present Layout

I was the lucky recipient of a spot in Shannon Tidwell's Sassy Scrapping class.  I'm a little bit behind, but that's the great thing about these workshops.  They are self-paced, and you always have access.  This is a layout that I created for Week 1, (Finding and Using Inspiration). 

Shannon gave us some tips about places she turns to when looking for inspiration, and challenged us to use one of those sources to create a layout.  There were some really good ideas, my favorite was to use a movie poster, but since I've been pressed for time lately, I didn't do the research to actually go look for a movie poster to use as a jumping off point.  Instead, I turned to the easiest/most readily available source, Pinterest.

I was browsing through my boards, and this pin, leapt off the page at me.  These origami bows are great for dressing gifts, but I thought that it would also make a wonderful, bold statement on my page.

I followed the directions found here, practicing first on regular printer paper, and then I used some of my patterned paper (this was an 8" square and produced a bow approximately 5" x 5").  Many of today's papers are quite thick and since there are a lot of folds involved, I'd recommend going with a lighter weight paper.  Most craft stores also sell origami paper in solids and fun patterns, so if you don't have any lighter weight papers, that's a good option.  A bone folder is also highly recommended.  I used an older CTMH paper from the Mistletoe collection (before they changed the formula to a thicker weight). 



This is a really FAST layout to do.  I just created the bow and then cut two 1" strips for the ribbons for the package.  The photos are 4" x 4".  Instead of using a big title, I cut a tag using my Art Philosophy cartridge and put the title on that to echo the present theme.  The tag is decorated with just a little bit of solid red tape (from Target) and some May Arts twine.  

I wanted to anchor the page a little, and thought about stitching, or writing my journaling around the edges, but then I saw this tape (also from Target).  The tape actually has two rows of those dots, but I only wanted a thin border, so I just folded the other half over onto the back side. 

I had a really good time putting this one together, and am actually thinking of investing in an origami book....  Hope your week is off to a great start, Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  Mistletoe papers; White Daisy and Kraft cardstock
Other:  Bone Folder; Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge;l May Arts twine; Target tapes; Dodz adhesives; Tombow adhesive

TSG MOABH

Happy Mother's Day! 

Welcome to the 3rd annual Mother of All Blog Hops sponsored by There She Goes Clears Stamps!   This weekend, we (customers and trendsetters) are featuring favorite There She Goes Clear Stamp sets.  Not only that, YOU have a chance to win some fabulous prizes!

To find out how, please go to the There She Goes’ blog and read the simple instructions.



 

My card for you today features the Little Moments stamp set, which is designed by Torico and filled with all sorts of sweet images.  When I started stamping and making cards, I admired these these hand drawn 'people' images, but since I haven't been able to invest the time and money in learning to color, I didn't think these types of stamp sets were for me. 

I was wrong.  These are perfect for piecing....all you need to do to be able to piece is cut with scissors and have paper scraps, and we all fit that bill!  In fact, paper piecing is quickly becoming one of my very favorite techniques. 

I used a ton of different papers in piecing this, and they all came from my scrap bag.  The background papers are from the Dotty for You and Roxie collections.  The baseboard is a piece of Colonial White cardstock that I scored twice (although it's hard to see it in the pictures).  The frame is also cut from Colonial White cardstock.  I scored the corners and then very lightly brushed some Cocoa ink over the entire frame with a sponge.

A little May Arts Twine and a brad for a nail, and that was it.  I left the frame hanging free, so when you're handling the card there's quite a bit of movement, and I adhered the image using dimensional foam tape

Thanks for coming by.  Enjoy the rest of the hop and have a wonderful Mother's Day!
Please click on the InLinkz below and follow it to the next blog!

 

 

hi hi hi for Unity April Color Challenge

I was lucky enough to receive the Frames in the House stamp set from Unity last month during their release/Friday the 13th extravaganza, and put this card together for their April challenge, whcih is a color challenge.

The frames in the house set has a whole slew of cute little frames, and my plan was to use a bunch of them and make something more involved, but that card just didn't want to be made.  This card was dying to get out.  Isn't it funny how stamps sometimes have a mind of their own?

It's pretty self explanatory, so I'll save my words for tonight.  Got a bunch of other projects that are in various states of conception and completion, so I should get back to those.

Hope you are having a wonderful week...halfway through!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  CTMH - Colonial White bulk card base; CM - Green cardstock; Reflections - Pink Cardstock
Stamps:  Unity - frames in the house
Ink:  CTMH - Black
Other:  Bonding Memories Adhesive; Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher

Second 2 Little Monkeys Layout - for Sweet Stamp Shop Scrapbooking Challenge

So here's the layout I've been proming.  This is my second Halloween layout.  The previous one is here.  As I mentioned in that post, to save time, when doing similar layouts for both girls, I try and batch process:  use the same theme/papers/embellishments, even the exact same layout.  But for this one, the pictures just wanted to do something different.  I used the same title and papers, but it's a totally different layout.

This is busier than I normally go in terms of patterns/design, but I like the results.  I used a large platter to create the round shapes, and I was able to use both cuts on the orange paper, one on the left and the other on the right. The papers are from Fancy Pants Designs It's the Little Things collection.

The title was made using CTMH's Solos 2 and Cocktail Alphabet sets which I then fussy cut....always a good chore during TV time and we're watching a lot of playoff hockey now.  The 2 was stamped in black on Creme Brulee cardstock, but I wanted it to look a little darker, so I carefully traced around the edges to make it stand out more.

I was working on this layout during National Scrapbooking Day, when Nicole at Sweet Stamp Shop issued a challenge to incorporate one of their stamp sets.  Well, what represents Halloween better than some candy?  So I inked up the Sweet Tooth stamp set.  I used the border stamp on the left and right borders as well as the large and medium candy stamps to create the clusters on each page. 

This layout was a lot of fun to put together, and I already showed it to my daughter who loved it.  Wish I could have gotten some more scrapbooking done on NSD, but this'll do.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock;  Fancy Pants - It's the Little Things Feathered and Shuffle papers; CTMH - Goldrush, Black, Creme Brulee, Holiday Red, and White Daisy cardstock
Stamps:  Sweet Stamp Shop - Sweet Tooth; CTMH - Solos 2, Cocktail Alphabet
Ink:  CTMH - Black, Goldrush
Other:  CTMH - Bonding Memories Adhesive ; CM - Photo Splits

Deconstructed Birthday Card for CASual Friday, Simon and Love My Tapes

I've been wanting to try our both the Deconstructed Sketches and Simon Says Stamp Challenges for a while now, and this week provided a perfect storm of challenges for me.  The challenges at Simon Says Stamp, CAS-ual Friday, and Love my Tapes are all birthday related, and you can see the Deconstructed sketch above.  Here's my take on the sketch:

When I saw the sketch, I immediately thought of candles, but I wasn't quite sure what to use for them.  I considered paper and washi tape, but when I saw this ribbon (which came in an Express the Moment bulk ribbon sale bundle) I was sold.  The ribbon is 1/2" wide, so I cut pieces of cardstock 3/8" to adhere the ribbon to and so I could just fold the top and bottom over to get a finished look.

The flames as well as the bracket/oval/letters were all cut with the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge.  The flames are actually a leaf shape.  I cut them from Buttercup cardstock and then used my blending pen with Honey and Goldrush ink to add shading.


Normally, when I think of CAS, I think it's got to be a white card, but I really wanted to amp up the color on this card, so I used that great turquoise cardstock.  I love how saturated the colors on the card are.  What do you think?  Still CAS?  I'm kind of on the fence, but I'm gonna link it up at CAS-ual Friday's and see what they think.

I know I promised another layout, and it's coming.  Tune in tomorrow to see it.  Have a great night!

Supplies Used
Cardstock:  CTMH - White Daisy, Black, Buttercup; CM - Turqouise
Ink:  Honey, Goldrush
Other:  Ribbon from Express the Moment bulk bundle; CTMH - Cricut Art Philosophy Cartridge, Blending Pen, Bonding Memories Adhesive; 3L - Small Dodz, Black adhesive foam; Tombow adhesive runner

Fire up the Grill Card for SSD#126

I haven't played along over at Skipping Stones Designs' challenge in a while, but when I saw the sketch this week, I knew it would be the pefect challenge to try out one of my new toys.  I recently won Nina Yang's birthday blog candy - an American Crafts' Knock Outs set.  It's a really neat little system, and allows you to cut a variety of borders.  I've been playing around with it, so expect to see lots more fun edges and borders on stuff.

Anyway, I thought I would put the scallop insert to good use and created this simple card.  I used a couple stamps from CTMH's Summer Days set, some Christmas ribbon from Michael's, and a little Twinery twine. 

I did actually get to do a little bit of scrapbooking yesterday (National Scrapbooking Day) a well as tonight, so I should have another layout to share soon.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  CTMH - White Daisy and Black Cardstock; DCWV - Green cardstock (from mini stack)
Stamps:  CTMH - Summer Days
Ink:  CTMH - Black
Other:  American Crafts - Knock Outs Scallop Border Punch; CM - Custom Cutting System - Circles; The Twinery - Peapod Twine; Michael's - Gingham Ribbon

Life is Good for Tuesday Morning Sketches

Quick card to share today.  Not sure if it's because I've been doing so much scrapbooking lately, or if it's because it's because all the stuff I'm scrapbooking is from the Fall/Winter, but I was itching to do something a little different last night.  So, I whipped up this card for the Tuesday Morning Sketches challenge using the Splendid Day stamp set.

I knew that I wanted to use the large tree on the panel at the right, and then the rest just kind of came together.  The sentiment is actually curved, but I straightened it out for the card - one of the great features of acrylic stamps. 

The flower and kite are pieced.  For the kite, I inked up the stamp, and then wiped it against the pad to get a streaky look.  Then I added a little extra color on the edges and smoothed it out a bit using my blending pen.  For the tree top I stamped on Garden Green cardstock using Garden Green ink.

That great orange ribbon matched my Goldrush ink perfectly and is May Arts, which, incidentally,  you can purchase from the Ribbon Carousel - this week's sponsor at Tuesday Morning sketches. 

Hope you hare having a great Friday!  I'm actually off today, and taking a short break from cleaning to post this....back to work!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  White Daisy, Garden Green, Chocolate
Stamps:  Aplended Day
Ink:  Chocolate, Garden Green, Goldrush, Pacifica, Cranberry, Tulip
Other:  Ribbon from May Arts; Bonding Memories Adhesive; Tombow Adhesive

2 Little Monkeys layout

I've got another Flip Flap layout for you today.  This is the Halloween layout for the little one.  The photos on the left are from the parade they had at school, and on the right from trick-or-treating.  I got the outfits very deeply discounted at Old Navy the year prior, so I had to kind of guess at sizes.  It's a bit snug on her, but they were pretty cute together.

The photo above shows the base pages, and below, you see the layout with the Flip Flaps closed.

And here is the layout with the Flip Flaps open.  I can't say enought how much I love this product - it's a great time saver....otherwise I would have had to do a whole other layout  to get all the photos in.  

I don't think you can tell from the photos, but I machine stitched all the cardstock pieces using zig zag stitches after I adhered them to the cardstock base.  Besides that, it was a pretty layout to put together.  I've got a couple few other fall layouts to finish up and also some Christmas layouts, and I am kind of feeling pressure to get them done - which I don't like.  So I may deviate from the 'have tos' and work on some 'want tos', we'll see which side wins out....

Supplies Used

Paper/Cardstock:  Fancy Pants Design - It's the Little Things Papers; CTMH - Creme Brulee and Desert Sand cardstock

Stamps:  CTMH - Chocolate Alphabet Large; Solos 2

Ink:  CTMH - Black

Other:  CTMH - Bonding Memories Adhesive, Flip Flaps; Ribbon from Express the Moment Bulk sale; Sewing Machine

Christmas Eve with Cousins Layout

I'm getting back to our Christmas photos (hopefully it doesn't seem too scattered around here, some December layouts now, and I'm working on Halloween tonight).  This is one of those layout that I'm doing in double, one for Ellie's book and one for Carina's book.  They are almost identical, a couple of photos are different. 

A couple things to be careful of when you do doubles:  1) don't make it too complicated and 2) make sure you're keeping track of your product.  If you've only got one sheet of a particular print, you need to either make sure you have enough for both layouts, or have something comparable on hand to use on the second layout.  Sorry if this sounds obvious, but I have definitely been guilty of violating both of these rules before (sometimes at the same time) and it always amounts to more time, and time is precious.

For this layout, I placed my photos where I wanted them, and I knew I was going to do journaling around the outside, but it needed a little more pizazz, so I added the twine.  This is my favorite way to lay down twine.  I hate to use a lot of adhesive when I'm working with twine because I feel like it makes a huge mess and invariably ends up somewhere I didn't want it, so instead I pierce holes in the corners/junctions and thread the twine through.  I think it looks cleaner, neater, and the twine lays more naturally.


The little sparkly pieces are cut from American Crafts Hollyday collection Man With All the Toys paper, and the letters were cut using the Cricut Plantain cartridge using the Little St Nick paper from the Hollyday collection.

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  CTMH - Cranberry Cardstock; American Crafts - Holly Day Man With All the Toys and Little St. Nick
Other:  CTMH - Bonding Memories adhesive; The Twinery - Peapod Twine; Kaisercraft - Toffee Apple Tiny Alpha Stickers; Cricut Plantain cartridge