Thursday, October 31, 2013

Peace on Earth for Verve Diva Dare and Simon Says


Playing along with this month's Diva Dare today.  The challenge this month is to incorporate a tag into your project.  I decided to keep this one very clean and simple, and also went with a 'use your stash' mentality.

My tag is one of many that I have pre-cut using the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge.  Since I don't have space to have all my machines out and available all the time, when I cut one, I tend to cut a whole sheet, and then I have a stack handy and don't have to pull the Cricut out every time I want a tag.

The papers are from last year's Fancy Pants Home for Christmas collection, and the sentiment is from Verve's Peace on Earth set.

The gems are old - MME Merry and Bright, and the grosgrain that peeks out beneath the sentiment piece is CTMH Cranberry Grosgrain (also old).  It's hard to tell from the photo, but that blue piece is actually popped up off the tag for some extra dimension.

So there you have it, a very CAS new, but old card.

I'm also linking up with Simon Says Stamp this week since it's an Anything Goes challenge.

Thanks for coming by and hope that you have a safe and fun Halloween!  (They are calling for rain here today, so we're keeping our fingers crossed that it somehow misses us....)

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  Fancy Pants - Home for Christmas collection; CTMH - Colonial White Cardstock
Stamps:  Verve - Peace on Earth
Ink:  CTMH - Cocoa
Other:  CTMH - Cranberry Grosgrain, Dimensional Foam Tape; Cricut - Art Philosophy cartridge; May Arts - White Burlap String; MME - Merry and Bright Gems; Tombow - Mono Adhesive

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Thinking of You - Stretch your circle punches


Quick card to share today.  I created this one using my circle punch and scraps.  Really easy to do and a great way to use up those extra strips of paper.

Instead of punching the normal way, you slide your strip in half way and punch a half circle.  You really don't have to be that precise - I just eyeballed it, and then created an interesting design with my half circles.

To make my life less crazy, I ran all the half circles through my little Xyron X machine - makes assembly a breeze!  The sentiment is from Uniko Studio and I added a bit of black/brown twine to attach it to the card.

Hope you are having a great week!  It's been busy here.  We have been working furiously on a first grade cheetah project not to mention obsessing over the fact that Halloween is tomorrow.....

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  Studio Calico - Snippets collection; Simple Stories:  24/7 Collection; CTMH - White Daisy and Whisper Cardstock
Stamps:  Uniko Studio - Flower Power #1
Ink:  CTMH - Cocoa
Other:  May Arts - Black and Brown Burlap String; CTMH - Dimensional Foam Tape; Xyron - 1 1/2" Sticker Maker; Tombow - Mono Adhesive

Monday, October 28, 2013

My little book of lists - Punky Sprouts Teenie Beanie Mini


Ack!  I just realized that I forgot to set this post live here on the blog last month when it was posted to the Punky Sprouts blog.  Last month we teamed up with Epiphany Crafts, I was pretty psyched as I've been wanting one of the Epiphany tools for a while.  Anyway, it's a little aged, but still a fun mini.  Enjoy! 

Lists seems to be kind of the rage right now.  They are a quick and easy way to do journaling if you are pressed for time or have some writer's block, and an easy way to create meaningful layouts without having to do a ton of journaling.

The Teenie Beanie mini was the perfect size for this.  I used papers from Echo Park's Everyday Eclectic collection, and some washi from my stash as well as some Lawn Fawn alphas.  The Epiphany tool was so easy to use too.  I'm thinking I need to get some more!

The Teenie Beanie has two fabric pieces in it.  For this first one I use some old (ugly) alphas that I had, stuck them down and misted over top.  So easy, but I love how bold it is.


I divided up the mini into several categories so I can 'file' the lists in different areas, here's an example of a To Do list.  You could certainly be more mundane like:  things to do today, honey do lists, stuff to get at the grocery store, stuff to pack, etc. 


Since I'm so bad about journaling these days, I thought I would try to include more 'diary' type lists.



And of course lists with long term goals/plans.


Hopes might sound a lot like dreams, but I consider this more about other people - things that I wish for my kids, husband, the world around me.  For this canvas piece I used my SC circle graph set and just misted over it and added the title with an ultrafine Sharpie.



Finally, a look at the back of the album - all of the reverse sides of the pages were finished with paper from Everyday Eclectic and washi or another thin strip of paper at the top, but I didn't photograph them all because I thought it would make the post too long.


Thanks so much for coming by!

Punky Sprouts:  Teenie Beanie Sprout - Available here:  http://getpunkysprouts.com/store/?page/63371/shop-punky
Epiphany Crafts - Oval Tool and Bubble Caps Ovals
Other:  Echo Park - Everyday Eclectic Collection; Lawn Fawn - Riley's ABCs; Memento - Tuxedo Black Ink; CTMH - Bonding Memories Adhesive; Dylusions - Vibrant Turquoise, London Blue, Bubblegum Pink, and Squeezed Orange ink sprays; Queen & Co - Black Text Washi; Webster's Pages - Composition and Color Washi Tape; Misc Washi from stash; Studio Calico - Circle Graph mask; Tombow - Mono Adhesive; American Crafts - Precision Point 08 Pen; Ultrafine Sharpie Marker; WRMK - Cropodile


 

Saturday, October 26, 2013

Thanksgiving Coundtown/Gratitude Decor with Punky Sprouts


A while back my friend Elena shared this project on her blog.  I love the idea of getting the kids actively thinking of things they are grateful for, so I adapted the idea and came up with my project for today.

I used a piece of Punky Playground covered with patterned paper and this tree cut file from the Silhouette store.  A bunch of gorgeous Punky Sprouts buttons 'ground' the tree.  At first I used just the softer button colors to match the background, but then I decided it would look too light once the bright leaves were added, so I mixed in some of the brighter colors, and also layered buttons on buttons, because you can never  have enough buttons, right?  I also added a little bit of the crocheted trim that Punky Sprouts is now carrying on the back so we can hang this.


Then I cut a whole bunch of Lawn Fawn stitched leaves dies in different colors of cardstock.  Beginning in November, I'll have Ellie add one leaf to the tree each day, writing on it something she is grateful for.  At the end of the month, she'll have a beautiful leafy tree and a reminder of how blessed she is.


I love how this turned out.  It was so easy, and the best part is that nothing here was new, all the papers/cardstock came out of my stash of old things.  This is a quick and easy 2 hour project that will turn into a keepsake.  I showed it to Ellie today and she actually wanted to know if we would do this every year!

Have a wonderful day and thanks for coming by!

Supplies Used:  
Punky Sprouts:  Assorted Buttons, Punky Playground, Crocheted Lace - Available here:  http://getpunkysprouts.com/store/?page/63371/shop-punky
Other:  Lawn Fawn - Stitched Leaves Dies; MME - Merry and Bright Patterned Paper; Fancy Pants - Summer's End Patterned Paper; Various Scrap Cardstock pieces; CTMH - Liquid Glass, Bonding Memories Adhesive

Friday, October 25, 2013

Artful Delight Friday - the finale


It's a bittersweet day here.  This is my last Artful Delight post as my term is ending.  Fitting that I should share a Thanksgiving card I think.

I loved this black viney paper and I really liked the contrast with that gorgeous shade of blue Bazzill cardstock.  This takes a little time and a steady hand, but is really not that hard to do.  Just follow one of the lines all the way across, and you get a really elegant look.


I popped the cardstock up using Tombow foam tabs, the little ones are perfect for the flowers that are kind of on their own, and then I added a little pennant with one of the Lawn Fawn sentiments.

Here are the rest of my cards for the month:



 

 

I want to thank Leanne and Debbie for having me this term.  I thoroughly enjoyed my time.  This was my first experience designing for a kit club and a lot of fun!

Have a great weekend all!

Supplies Used:  October Artful Delight Card Kit; Memento - Tuxedo Black Ink; Tombow - Mono Adhesive and Foam Tabs

Thursday, October 24, 2013

With Love for WMS Pajama Party


Just squeezing one in under the wire here.  I always intend to play along with the Waltzingmouse Stamps Pajama Parties and then it gets to be the day and I miss out.  Thankfully their sketches are open for a week, so I was able to get this one done this evening.


I used two sets:  Woodgrain for the background (stamping Cocoa ink on Cocoa cardstock), and Folk Art Medallion.

I layered two pieces of 3/8" Cranberry grosgrain over the burlap trim so that it kind of resembles layering a wider piece of ribbon, and added some Maraschino twine for a little extra interest.

Pretty simple, but lots of fun to make.  Short but sweet tonight.  I have GOT to get some sleep!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  CTMH - White Daisy and Cocoa cardstock
Stamps:  Waltzingmouse - Woodgrain and Folk Art Medallion\
Ink:  CTMH - Cocoa and Cranberry
Other:  CTMH - Burlap ribbon, Cranberry Grosgrain, Liquid Glass, Dimensional Foam Tape; The Twinery - Maraschino Twine; Tombow - Mono Adhesive and Power Tabs; Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher (to secure trims together, hidden by stamped images); CM - Corner Rounder

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Looking Down


Thought I would share a card I created a while back for a call that didn't get picked up.

I used one of Carina's old sneakery type sandals - basically just saturated it with a Jenni Bowlin paint dabber and then stamped it on my card.  I followed that up with this great Reverse Confetti sentiment.  It was stamped first in Saddle, and then just slightly offset with Chocolate ink.

A fitting card for a Wednesday, no?  Look up!  we're halfway through the week!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  Papertrey - Kraft; CTMH - White Daisy and Cocoa cardstock
Stamps:  Reverse Confetti - Dream in Color
Ink:  CTMH - Saddle and Chocolate
Other:  Ranger - Jenni Bowlin Brown Sugar Paint Dabber; Tombow - Mono Adhesive; Shoe

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Ice cream LOVE @ Ben & Jerry's



I've been neglecting my scrapbooking again....always seems to be the case, but I decided to get back into the game and play along with the current Font Frenzy challenge at Scrapbook Circle.

These are photos from our vacation this summer in Vermont.  There's no going to Vermont without a healthy dose of Ben & Jerry's!


I used AC's Mayberry Line.  I'm loving it and thinking I'll end up using it a lot for these vacation photos, the colors and patterns are just perfect for summer.

The challenge was to use at least two different alphas, not too hard considering the amount of Thickers I own!  I was happy to be able to use those green journal thickers.  The Journal series is my all time favorite, but I really only have these green ones left and they're not an everyday color.  Incidentally if anyone out there knows where I can get more or has some they don't need, please contact me, because I don't think I have enough white/black ones to actually spell anything anymore.


It's a pretty clean and simple layout, partly because I just need to get stuff scrapped, but also because I knew I wanted to include the drip art pieces that the girls made and they are so bold and colorful I didn't want the layout to get too busy.

In case you're wondering why there are only three tickets, we all went on the tour, but Ellie has a little mini album of her summer activities, so her ticket is in there.

That's all for today.  Thanks for coming by!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  AC - Mayberry Collection; CTMH - White Daisy Cardstock
Other:  AC - Journal and Boardwalk Thickers, Black 05 Journaling Pen; Tombow - Mono Adhesive; Sewing Machine

Monday, October 21, 2013

Birthday Card Round-up


So I'm still plugging away at my birthday card challenge for the year (to make a card for each of the kids that Andrew teaches). 

This is a big week - six cards in one day!  I had already made the elephant one you see below last week, but I went really CAS and easy for the other three.  Got to play with some new supplies too which was fun.

I'm not going to list all the supplies for these, but if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.


 


Hoping your week is off to a wonderful start!

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Make it Monday - Textured Stamping


I've always wanted to play along with the Make it Monday challenges.  They showcase some great techniques, but until recently I owned so few PTI items, that I really couldn't participate.  I was recently able to add some to my collection, and this week's technique was a really fun and easy one, so I thought I would play along.

I don't actually have any solid PTI images, so instead, I turned this pen image over and used the textured technique for backstamping.

I wanted to create an ombre look, but I was foiled by my inks....you know how sometimes inks look darker wet than dry, well that's what happened here, but overall I'm still pretty happy with how it turned out.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  Crafter's Companion - White Cardstock; CTMH - Black and Cranberry cardstock
Stamps:  PTI - Happy Trails
Ink:  CTMH - Ruby, Tulip, Cranberry, Hollyhock, Smoothie, Sorbet; Memento - Tuxedo Black
Other:  Tombow - Mono Adhesive

Saturday, October 19, 2013

Joy for Sparks Challenge


I had some time this weekend, so I thought I would play along with the Paper Smooches Sparks challenge.  It's been ages since I did, and I was feeling like doing some piecing.

This week's challenge was a sketch, and I thought I would pull out my Warm Hearts set, and I really haven't gotten to use it much at all.


The papers are older, a mix of Echo Park Seasons Greetings (patterns) and Fancy Pants Home for Christmas (solids).

I first cut the background and polaroid so I could lay out the scene.  I wanted the trees to spill over the frame a bit for dimension.  The tree image was stamped twice on each of the patterned papers, on the blue base and on some kraft cardstock for the trunks. I fussy cut and adhered the entire image even though I knew I was going to pop up the outer trees because I didn't want you to be able to see the blue behind them.

The snowdrifts I just free hand cut, and added a line of color using a Spectrum Noir marker and then softening it with the blending pen.

Some snowflakes were stamped for the sprinkled elements in the sketch, and I did some very light distressing with Antique Linen Distress Ink on the base.

I adhered the tree scene and snowdrifts to the blue sky piece and then that entire piece to the card base.


After embossing the sentiment, and adding the fussy cut hearts, I adhered the polaroid frame with dimensional foam tape and then popped up the extra tree pieces I had stamped for the outer trees.  A little bit of twine finished it off.

I had a great time making this one.  Hope you enjoy it and are having a great weekend!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  EP - Seasons Greetings Collection; Fancy Pants - Home for Christmas Collection; CTMH - White Daisy, Colonial White, and Kraft cardstock
Stamps:  Paper Smooches - Warm Hearts
Ink:  CTMH - Cocoa; Versamark; Ranger - Antique Linen Distress Ink
Other:  CTMH - White embossing powder, Dimensional Foam Tape; Liquid Glass; Twinery - Maraschino Twine; Tombow - Mono Adhesive; Kuretake - Glue Pen; Spectrum Noir Markers - BT2, Blender

Friday, October 18, 2013

Artful Delight Friday - Thankful for You



Hey everyone!  I'm here to share my Artful Delight card for this week.  Very clean and simple this week.  I decided to focus on this gorgeous print from the Basic Grey Persimmon collection. 

I cut a strip of the patterned paper, stamped the sentiment, and centered it over the same portion of the pattern on the main piece.  I wanted to create a definitive shadow/dimension underneath, so I put a piece of navy patterned paper (which is kind of a misnomer because that piece isn't really patterned) directly beneath it before popping it out with foam adhesive. 


A thin strip of the navy paper, also adhered with foam adhesive serves as a border and I added a few of the flower sequins from the kit as well.

So glad you could come by today!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Supplies Used:  Artful Delight October Card Kit; CTMH - Outdoor Denim ink, Dimensional Foam Tape; Liquid Glass; Tombow - Mono Adhesive

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Little Tangles Challenge #23 - Sketch



Hey everyone!  I'm happy to be guest designing for Little Tangles this week.  I was fortunate enough to be on the inaugural challenge team, so it has a special place in my heart, and I'm honored to be guesting this week.

It's a sketch challenge this week and I pulled out my favorite N&T set - Party Dots.

I stayed very true to the challenge, a pretty clean and simple card and a simple color palatte too.


I stamped the large circle element with Hero Art Mint Julep.  The sentiment was stamped in CTMH Slate ink.  The striped element was created by stamping one of the On the Strip borders with HA Wet Cement ink onto Slate cardstock.  The shadow inks are so forgiving that I like to use those for more solid images.

For the bubble/polka dot strip I stamped the border from Party Dots several times with both colors of ink and then went over the entire strip with some distress ink to soften the white.

The white panel is popped up with foam tape for some dimension and a little bit of glitter tape adds some sparkle.  To get the two different widths, I cut the tape just larger than the width of the cardstock, then I added it to the top edge, with a thin strip hanging off.  I carefully cut that thin strip off and added it to the bottom of the panel.

Hope that you will play along with the challenge, there's a free N&T set in it for one of you!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  CTMH - White Daisy and Slate cardstock
Stamps:  Neat & Tangled - Party Dots and On the Strip 
Ink:  Hero Arts - Mint Julep and Wet Cement; CTMH - Slate; Ranger - Iced Spruce Distress Ink
Other:  American Crafts - Glitter Tape; CTMH - Dimensional Foam Tape; Tombow - Mono Adhesive

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

One more for SC WCMD Challenges


 
I had some extra time yesterday, so I threw together one more card for the Studio Calico World Card Making Day challenges.  This is another two-fer.  For the sketch, below, and also the use your scraps challenge. 


Since I was cleaning up the scrap space yesterday, I made a little pile of scraps I thought I could use if I had time to make another card.  Happily I did, and this is what I came up with.  (The rest of the scraps will head to the girls' scrap bin for their projects.)

I went a little less layered with the sketch, I like seeing a bit of daylight between the different boxes, and I changed up the pennant to run the width of the card and added a line of stitching because it looked a bit stark.  Some string and dots finished it off.  This isn't my normal style, but I really like how it turned out. 

I'm not sure the origin of a couple of the scraps, I know they are from MME pads, but I can't remember which ones, there's also some Little Yellow Bicycle, Echo Park, and Glitz, and the pink piece is the zip strip from some Elle's Studio paper.

Thanks for coming by!

Supplies used
Paper/Cardstock:  CTMH - Colonial White Cardstock; Misc scraps
Stamps:  WPlus9 - Quite Like You
Ink:  CTMH - Cocoa
Other:  MME - Find Your Wings Enamel Dots; CTMH - Dimensional Foam Tape; Sewing Machine/Thread; Tombow - Mono Adhesive

Monday, October 14, 2013

Card for SC WCMD Challenges and what I did this weekend


Hey everyone!  I'm enjoying a blissfully carefree day today.  Carina's preschool is open, so she is there and Ellie went to a friend's for an all day playdate.  I've managed to mostly clean up my crafty mess, and get some DT assignments complete as well.

This card is for a couple of Studio Calico's World Card Making Day challenges.  The first is to use five of something, in this case I've repeated the Happy, as well as used five dots and five staples.  This also qualifies for the use your scraps challenge as all of the papers were scraps that I had laying around.

Came together really quickly and it will go into Andrew's birthday card pile.

As to what I did this weekend, well, we headed down to Atlanta for my older sister's wedding.  Here are a few shots of the event.

Cousins - Carina and Collin are serious about saying 'CHEESE' these days.


With the bride.


Ellie with my younger sister.


And a couple shots of Carina....she felt inclined to continue to spread petals in the front of the church until she mercifully ran out.  She then made a play for Ellie's leftover petals, but did not get them.



We had a great time, and the girls did some serious dancing.  The lighting wasn't great in the sanctuary/restaurant/reception area, so I don't have many pictures - hoping the photographer doesn't keep us waiting too long.

Hope that you are having a wonderful weekend!

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  CTMH - White Daisy and Black; Various scraps
Stamps:  Lawn Fawn - Riley's ABCs
Ink:  Memento - Tuxedo Black
Other:  MME - Cut and Paste, Kate & Co, Find Your Wings, and Mistletoe Magic Enamel Dots, All is Bright Faceted Gems; Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher; Tombow - Mono Adhesive













Sunday, October 13, 2013

Time Spent with Friends - WPlus9 Monday Mood Board


I've been wanting to play along with the WPlus9 mood boards for a while now, but somehow I always run out of time, so I'm excited to be a little ahead for once!

I was inspired by the colors and the flowers from the board.


This card is a bit of a stretch for me.  I'm not great 'free' stamping to create flower clusters, so I did practice a bit on some scratch paper before I committed to cardstock.  I'm pretty happy with how this turned out.  I think the trick for me is to stop while I'm ahead.  When I look at it, I think maybe I could stick something else in this space, or it needs something here....my tendency is to over stamp and that leads to trouble.

Anyway, hope that your weekend is going well.  We'll be flying back from Atlanta this morning as my sister's wedding was this weekend, and I'm grateful for an extra day off tomorrow.

Supplies Used
Paper/Cardstock:  CTMH - White Daisy and Outdoor Denim cardstock; MME - I know the red chevron print is from a 6x6 MME pad, but it was separated and roaming free, so I'm not quite sure which one at this point.
Stamps:  WPlus9 - Folk Art Florals and Spring Tags
Ink:  CTMH - Outdoor Denim, Twilight, Garden Green, and Cranberry; Hero Arts - Butter Bar
Other:  The Twinery - Marigold Twine; Tombow - Mono Adhesive



Saturday, October 12, 2013

Amazing Bubbles Card from Handmade Cards

Just popping in to share a card that was published in the recently release Handmade Cards issue of Paper Crafts.


I love this card, and I was so excited that it was picked up for publication.  I ripped off a crafty project that my sister had done with my daughters to create it:  adding food coloring to bubble solution and the blowing the bubbles onto paper/posterboard to create modern art.

In this case I used reinker instead of food coloring.

The stamp set is from CASual Fridays, and some Little Yellow Bicycle gems finished it off.

Hope that you are having a wonderful day and enjoying your weekend!

Friday, October 11, 2013

Artful Delight Friday - Hello


Hey everyone!  Hope that your week has been treating you well.  Popping in to share my Artful Delight card this week.

This week I chose to focus on the Paper Smooches Gently Seasoned set that is included in the kit. 

I stamped the tree on this neutral acorn print from the Echo Park Fall Reflections collection.  I added the leaves/circles in four colors of ink, and then I made the patterned paper 'work' for me.  This is what the sheet of paper looks like.



I thought that the swirls/flourishes on the bottom could double as landscape, so I used some Spectrum Noir markers to color it in.  Love how it turned out!


Some additional patterned papers were used for the mats and I cut a skinny piece of the jute ribbon for some texture.

Thanks so much for coming by, have a wonderful weekend!

Supplies Used:  Artful Delight October Card Kit; CTMH - Chocolate, Cranberry, Autumn Terracotta, Goldrush, and Honey inks, Dimensional Foam Tape, Liquid Glass; Spectrum Noir Markers - GB5, GB10, TN7, EB7; Tombow - Mono Adhesive