Sunday, April 29, 2012

Sail Away

Fall of 2010 we spent 11 days in Belize including 5 days on Ambergris Key for awesome sailing and snorkeling!  We have fallen in love with Central America after being in Cost Rica, Belize and Guatemala.  Fingers crossed, Nicaragua will be this year.

On this trip, we combined sailing and snorkeling by taking a catamaran to two famous dive sites - including Shark Alley.  One thing I did learn - do not wear your husband's t-shirt as a cover up if there is a chance anyone will take your picture!

Challenges?  Did someone say challenges?  The sketch was inspired by Sketches in Thyme #76.  The corrugated letters and stamped border on the left are a perfect addition for the April Diva Dare over at Verve Stamps (the Divas there have some GREAT creations - check them out).  The original plan was to also submit this to Shopping our Stash #48 which was a water theme but I didn't finish it in time.  Instead, it will go to their challenge # 49 which is anything with a "B" - in my case, blue, boat, border, and bracket :-)



Recipe:
  • Cardstock = Paper Company
  • Printed Paper = Close to My Heart Dotty for You (I used this earlier today for a card and loved it so much that I knew I had to use again!)
  • Corrugated letters = Jillibean soup
  • Corrugated parenthesis = Close to My Heart Milepost Shapes painted white
  • Green cardstock embossed with Cuttlebug Forest Branches
  • Wave border = SVG cutting file unknown origin; embossed with Cuttlebug Swiss Dots and inked with white
  • Stamped border = Studio G with white ink

Bloomin' in the 'Burbs

Click here for the winner of yesterday's blog hop....

Beautiful day here in Dallas!  My daughter has two soccer games back to back today that I should be at, but I admit to being selfish and wanting a little ME time.  After three hours of laundry and four hours of shopping with a 12-year old girl who has developed a shoe fetish, I needed a break!  (Not to mention I am in denial about having another 5-6 hours of work to complete a project for a client tomorrow....keep calm and stamp on!)  Ha Ha.

So what inspired me today?  Beyond the sunshine, this afternoon's project started with a little old square epoxy brad I won in a challenge over at Sketches4All (thanks, Cheryl!).  I loved the colors and the flower and ideas started popping up.  Then, I saw last week's sketch for Viva La Verve along with my new Dotty For You paper from Close to My Heart and the ideas were germinating!  And finally, the challenges at Paper Players Challenge and Ribbon Carousel's Anything Goes gave me the final fertilizer!






The Tic Tac Toe board from Paper Players Challenge that helped pull it all together was as follows (I managed to get 8 out of the 9 boxes):






Recipe:
  • Cardstock = Recollections; Paper Studio
  • Patterned Paper = Close to My Heart Dotty for You; Paper Studio Old World
  • Embossing on flower pot = Cuttlebug Houndstooth
  • Stamp = Studio 18
  • Ink = Studio G; Color Box Chalk
  • Cutting files = Flowers by Shery K Designs; flower pot is a self-made creation
  • Bling = Paper Studio Affinity
  • Ric Rac = Wal-Mart

Thanks to Everyone (and a new layout with CTMH Stamps)

The hop was great fun!  We received great comments, new followers, and hopefully gave people some new ideas.  And I know I was introduced to a lot of new blogs by everyone who commented!  I look forward to visiting y'all!  We'll be announicng the winners of all the great prizes we offered soon, so be sure to come back!

In between reading your great comments and taking care of some overdue household projects today, I worked on a new layout of a picture of my daughter with my in-laws who live in Wales.  The layout was inspired by Mojo Monday # 238.  I typically do a card for Mojo Monday but I have so many photos yet to be scrapped that I am trying to mix it up a bit.  The background paper was part of a great set of paper I received in a RAK from my friend Rosey over at Sketches4All. 





Recipe
As a Close to My Heart product consultant, I would love for you to check out all the great products.  I especially recommend the Art Philosophy cartrdige for Cricut and all of their stamps.  I love them!

Saturday, April 28, 2012

It's Hop Time - Stick Around for GREAT Prizes

Are you ready to hop?

Thanks for hopping along with us.  My blog is only 3 months old so I'm thrilled to be part of this hop at such a young age - LOL.  We want to invite more of you to become our followers, view our blogs, and share new ideas.  And of course, we want to thank you with some great prizes available as you hop along. 

The hosts are:
To say Thank You, I am offering one lucky visitor a package of goodies - ribbons, stamps, flowers, tags, titles, chipboard album with matching shaped paper, and more!


All you have to do is for a chance at my goody bag is:
  1. Browse through the posts and chose your favorite project
  2. Leave a comment on this post letting me know which was your favorite
  3. After leaving a comment, be sure to follow my blog to complete your entry
One lucky winner will be drawn and announced on Monday.  BUT THAT"S NOT ALL - check out the other blogs in this hop for even more chances to win great RAK!  Thanks again and enjoy!

P.S.  If you're a fan of Close to My Heart paper crafting products - check out my store.  If you've never tried their products - give it a try.  Fabulous quality stamps, inks, paper, and embellishments.  And for Cricut fans, the Art Philosophy Cartridge (with coordinating stamps and chipboard tags) is a must have!!!!

Friday, April 27, 2012

Stickers, Banners, and Bumpers

Just in time for the blog hop, I've been able to get back into the scrap room and the ideas are beginning to come back :-)   In advance, I have to apologize for the picture quality.  My regular camera died and the backup is not cooperating with me.  Doesn't help that I am taking the photographs at night.  Oh well - thank you for understanding :-)

So, onto the layout!  I'm on a bit of a banner kick at the moment and when I came across this photo from my archives, I thought it would work great with a bannered title.  The April challenge sketch at My Sketch World provided the layout inspiration worked in great - and boy was that bumper car going!  Ha Ha.

To go with the banner, I have these great alpha stickers from Close to My Heart that I've been waiting to use - they are white with a subtle resist pattern on them that makes them great for stamping.  My using several different inks I was able to get the perfect shade to coordinate with the paper (though you can't tell from the photo).  I really recommend them - so flexible when you want your letters to be a specific color.  You can get them in my shop here.  The banner was made using the Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge - this cartridge is awesome with soooooo many shapes, overlays, boxes, tags, even a cute font.  It is only available from Close to My Heart and comes with 3 sets of coordinating stamps AND 3 sets of coordinating chipboard tags.  Check it out here.  The full recipe for this layout is below .

Other challenges for this layout:

Don't forget the blog hop - Saturday  April 28 from 7am to 9pm CST.  Lot's of AMAZING prizes!





Recipe:
  • Printed Paper - K&Company Wild Saffron collection
  • Cardstock - K&Company Color Basics
  • Banner - Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge
  • Letters - Close to My Heart Irresistables
  • Ink on letters - Close to My Heart Cranberry; Olive, and Cocoa
  • Twine - Sew Easy
  • Smile - care of Bush Gardens, Tampa

Saturday, April 21, 2012

SCS Card Swap

I promised you more projects this weekend....

With all the cards I've been making recently, I decided to join a card swap group over at SplitCoast Stampers (SCS).  Today I received my first "welcome" card from one of the members - so pretty!  As part of the card swap, my first task will be to make six cards for the April Showers/May Flowers swap.  This is the first - one down, five to go.

(Apologies for the quality of the photo - I will try to retake it tomorrow in daylight)




Challenges:

I used a number of techniques including clear embossing a harlequin pattern on the cream cardstock panel in the middle and digging out some old tools:
  • Base Cardstock = Close to My Heart Colonial White (love the quality)
  • Pink/Black Cardstock = Paper Studio
  • Stripe paper = DCWV
  • Bakers Twine on middle panel = Queen & Company (love their multi-color twines)
  • Flowers = punched with an old paddle punch from Sizzix and popped with 3-D foam tape from CTMH
  • Liquid Pearls on center of flowers
  • Brads on corners of panel = Spare Parts
  • Black circles cut with EK Success circle punch and embossed with Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder
  • Stamp for harlequin pattern = Stampabilities
  • Embossing powder = Hampton Art clear



P.S.  Come back next Saturday April 28 and join a fun blog hop with me with great giveaways and inspiring designs

Friday, April 20, 2012

Soccer Camp

You'll be seeing a few posts from me today and tomorrow as I catch up...my scrapping fingers have been itching to go!

These photos are from the week-long soccer camp my daughter attended last summer at Texas A&M.  It is a great program! The photos have been sitting around waiting for a home in my scrapbook.  Thanks to the banner challenge over at Amanda's Crafts and More along with the PageMaps sketch over at Sketches4All, I was able to finally work out how I wanted to showcase the photos.


Recipe:
  • Houndstooth paper - Affinity Paper pack from the Paper Studio
  • Marbled paper - multi-tone paper from Recolletions with marbeling added via a 12"x12" rub-on from Sticko (EK Success)
  • "Stitching" - rub-on tape dispenser from DaisyD's (I don;t think they are sold anymore but I love their convenience)
  • Texas A&M logo die cut (3 layers) - created by me using Sure Cuts a Lot
  • Banner - Art Philosphy Cricut Cartridge (get it here)
  • Baker's Twine = Sew Easy (We R Memory Keepers)
  • Letters on banner - Colorbok
  • Soccer ball - Jolee's
  • Soccer title (bottom right) - HOTP Soccer Border
  • Sketch - Pagemaps

All Work and No Play

I have been very busy with work this week traveling all over the place.  It began Sunday leaving at 4 pm to go to Minneapolis via Tulsa and Denver.  Back to Dallas Monday night via St Louis only to leave again Tuesday to Richmond via Charlotte and finally back home late last night.  Needless to say, I am tired of airports, dry air, and cramped seating!

Most critically, I haven't done ANY scrapping or card making this week - boo hoo.  But I am back and eager to try to catch up, though it will still be limited as I have a TON of follow-ups to all those meetings.

First thing on my list was a card for the Unscripted Sketches Challenge # 154.  I am also using this for:


Recipe:
  • Patterned Paper = Recollections
  • Cardstock = Co'Ordinations and stash
  • Ribbon = Green - Lilly Belle's (love her stuff); Blue - Micheal's and JoAnne's dollar bin
  • Sentiment Stamps = Close to My Heart Art Philospohy Celebration (included with the Art Philospohy Cricut cartridge in my CTMH shop)
  • Other stamps = Studio G and Ditto by Hampton Art
  • Sketch:



P.S.  Come on back for a blog hop April 28 with great giveaways! Look for details in upcoming posts!

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Thinking of You - Yellow, Black, Grey

I love the contrast of yellow and black and a touch of grey to soften it.  For this card, the layout was inspired by a sketch at The Cuttlebug Spot.  I alluded to the three circles in the sketch with the two flowers and the dove that were part of a card set from Target's dollar bin.  The embossed grey mat and black bow were from that same card set (I sanded the grey mat as it had a glossy finish that I didn't care for).  The frame was done by using half of a braid edge punch by EK Success; the scallop circles were from an EK Success layer punch - I was planning on using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge (get it here - I always say its a must have) but decided to go Cricut-less today.  I embossed the scalloped circles using Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder.  And all was of course blinged up using crystals from Creative Charms (I love their stuff).




Challenges to feed my obsession:
  1. Die Cuttin' Divas - Pastels (pastel yellow)
  2. Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge # 128 - Animals (the dove)
  3. 4 Crafty Chicks # 85 - Material Girl (felt flower and dove)
  4. Sketches4All - Cheryl's Challenge # 9 - Touch of Black
  5. Get Inspired with Chatter Scene - Just Elements
  6. Cuttlebug Spot 3 - Sketch
  7. DYSU Challenge 67 - Glitter/Bling
  8. Totally Papercrafts Challenge # 112 - Things with Wings

This is the sketch From the Cuttlebug Spot that started it all:


CTMH Petal Card

Close to My Heart makes beautiful papers - all of their products are top quality including their stamps, inks, papers, and embellishments.  For this card, I used the Stella paper set.  The flower is cut on my Cricut using the Weaved Flower cutting file from Platypus Creek Digitals and the stamp is also from CTMH.  I separated the two bands with hemp twine and used the same hemp to encircle the center of the flower.  The design is based on a combination of two sketches (see below).

The picture is a bit crooked - I have to get better at taking photos of my work!

I will be entering this into the following challenges:
  1. CAS-ual Fridays # 49 - use colors that are opposite on the color wheel (blue and orange)
  2. Freshly Made Sketches # 30
  3. Stuck On You Sketches - Spring is In the Air
  4. Exploring Cricut - Flowers
  5. Unique Crafters Challenge - Paper Flowers
  6. House of Gill Challenge 31 - Flowers
  7. Ribbon Carousel Challenge 48 - use ribbon or twine  along with their sketch





The design is based on two sketches:



Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Card for my Dad

My Dad's birthday is next month so I am getting a head start before I get back to more general cards for my card sharing group.  I am sure I will still forget to mail it in time (stop laughing, Mom), but at least I will have the evidence that it is done.  Ha Ha.  The sentiment inside was digitally printed from an Oscar Wilde quote I found and hand inked on top for more of an aged feel (like my Dad!).  It's hard to see in the photo and says "The old believe everything; the middle aged suspect everything; the young know everything"  followed by my addition of "Have a great birthday knowing everything".
I am entering this into the following challenges:
  1. Viva la Verve April Week 2 - sketch challenge
  2. Fantabulous Cricut # 106 - Ribbons and Buttons
  3. My Craft Spot # 51 - Inside and Out (include a sentiment on the outside and inside
  4. Shopping Our Stash Challenge 47 - Masculine theme



Recipe
  • Background paper = My Minds Eye; printed paper = Affinity paper stack by the Paper Studio
  • Tag for main sentiment = Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge
  • Stamps = Cloud 9 ("DAD"); Close to My Heart (Love heart on charm)
  • Ink = Tim Holtz Distress Ink Forest Moss; Studio G Brown
  • Ribbon and Button = unknown


Monday, April 9, 2012

Mojo Monday and Scraps Challenges

For this week's Mojo Monday challenge, I kept everything clean and simple.  In fact, I didn't even use patterned paper.  Instead, I created the pattern with stamps including a $1 stamp for the dollar bin at Michael's.  I altered the sketch a bit by turning it sideways, having the ribbon trim run perpendicular to the color blocks, and then putting the medallion in the center rather than in the corner.

The many layers make it a great candidate for this week's challenge at Paper Pretties - even the flower in the center is multi-layered with the pink edge layered on top of the green scallop base!




And as an extra challenge from Sketches4All, Stacy Harper-Watson challenged us to make a card with nothing but scraps from my stash!  All paper was left over from other projects - even the black punched border used as one set of color blocks from the sketch was left over from a project (though I did run it through my embosser for this card).  The center medallion was punched with EK Success punch; the leaves were left over from another project.  The tiny sentiment stamp is from Close to My Heart.  Take a look at what I started with and be inspired to not throw away scraps unecessarily and then to actual go into your stash and use them :-)

Sunday, April 8, 2012

"Hipster" Layout with Close to My Heart

Close to My Heart (CTMH) makes beautiful products - great papers, stamps, inks, etc.  It makes any layout or card easy and elegant!  Check it out here!  For this layout, I used their Pemberly set of paper.

The layout design came from a sketch for Paper Secrets' April sketch challenge.  The paper set I used is CTMH's Pemberly collection.  The light blue of the paper and buttons is perfect for the Little Scrap Pieces "Sky Blue" challenge.  My take on the wavy border in their sketch was to fussy cut along the hexagon pattern of the paper.  The flowers are wooden shapes from CTMH with patterned paper on top cut using the matching shape from CTMH's Cricut Art Philosophy cartridge.  The center and petal tips of the flowers are embellished with Liquid Glass.  The doily at the bottom is also from the Art Philosophy cartridge. 

The stamping on the top and on the center of the doily are from the Card Word Puzzle set using CTMH's ink in Desert Sand and Indian Corn Blue.  The ribbon and buttons are from Hobby Lobby.  My daughter came up with the tile - it's cut on my Cricut using SCAL and a free font called CremeBlack that uses mixed case, stamped with a dots background stamp from Stampabilities.

Phew.... It sounds like a lot but the CTMH products made it easy and so enjoyable!

In addition to the layout inspiration from Paper Secrets, I also have to give a shout out to the Grand Divas tic tac toe challenge for additional inspiration.  I actually ended up doing two columns from the board (see the image below my layout and sketch).  And of course, the hexagons are perfect for Ann's Hexagon challenge over at My Sketch World.

Hope this inspires you.  And remember - you can get all the Close to My Heart products here.


Inspired by this sketch from Paper Secrets

And using the last two rows of the Grand Diva's Tic Tac Toe board:

Friday, April 6, 2012

Easter Card with Matching Envelope

Happy Easter!  I made this card tonight to give to my daughter on Easter.  She is finally too old to hunt for eggs but I still want to give her a little something.

All of the shapes were cut on my Cricut using the Art Philosophy cartridge from Close to My Heart.  The layout is based on a sketch from Die Cuttin Divas Challenge #59 and the eggs make it a perfect candidate for this weeks Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Me Monday # 105, Cooking with Cricut Easter challenge, My Craft Spot Monday Challenge, and Creative Cutter Room Easter Challenge.  Rosey over at Sketches4All also has a new challenge to create a card and a matching item as does The Paper Variety so I thought I'd give both a try.  I don't typically think of decorating the envelopes so thanks for the idea, Rosey!






This is the sketch from Die Cuttin Divas I used:

April Giveaway - Shery K Designs

I have been a fan and customer of Shery K Designs for some time and wanted to share with you the details of her April Giveawy

Enter To Win 1 of 4 Spellbinders die Templates




How To Enter:

  1. Like Shery K Designs' Facebook page.
  2. Share this giveaway on your website, blog, pinterest or your facebook page.
  3. Submit your name and the URL of where you shared this Giveaway Below.
NOTE: For US & Canada residents only, Giveaway Ends April 29th, 2012, and the 4 winners will announce May 2nd.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Christmas in April

Spring is in bloom and I'm making Christmas cards!  Why not?  I have been joining a number of card challenges lately and I admit to now being a bit over-run with Thank You, Birthday, and Just Because cards.  So, I decided why not get a start on Christmas cards?  My daughter has suggested I make some Halloween cards next - we'll see :-)  I should probably at least finish my Easter cards first!

The design is based on a sketch from Mojo Monday Challenge # 235 and will also be used for Throwback Thursday over at My Creative Time (the great sentiment is from one of their stamp sets).  The faux stitching I did around the scalloped matt is perfect for this week's DYSU challenge of Sew It!




Recipe:

Spring Blooms

All the wildflowers are in full bloom here in Texas - the Blue Bonnets, Indian Paintbrush - you name it!  Down the street is Frito Lay's headquarters with acres and acres of meadows around it.  It is the most beautiful place to enjoy the spring flowers so each year, we go there to enjoy the blooms (it helps that my husband works there). 

This photo is from a few years ago but I was incentivized to finally scrap it through the Unique Crafters Challenge Blog whose April challenge theme was paper flowers.  I also entered it in the Sketches4All Stash Challenge with a theme of Anything Goes.



Most of the paper for the flowers was small scraps from my scrap bin and I used Liquid Glass for the very center.  The background paper is ColorBok and the alphas are Thickers.



Sunday, April 1, 2012

Bunny Day Card

I am a bit late getting my Easter cards made so I am trying to catch up - at least for my parents, in-laws, and other family.  This is the first one done.  Very understated with no bling - just some cuts on the Cricut, a border punch, and pastel paper I have had for ages.  The tiny little bows on the bunnies are from the very first set up scrapping supplies I bought nearly ten years ago!

  • Fantabulous Cricut Challenge # 104 Out Like a Lamb - this was a challenge to design something with a gentle animal.  I chose the bunny.
  • Cheryl's Holiday Challenge #8 was to make an Easter project using yellow.
  • The Cuttlebug Spot challenge was to make a card for child with an animal - hence the "Bunny Day" reference!  I typically would have used one of my Cuttlebug fodlers to emboss one of the embellishments but the flourishes were too small and I accidentally glued the bunny to the background before I ran it through!  arrrrgghh....  I DID add texture through the piercing inthe corners - I like the very subtle addition it makes.
  • Stuck on You Sketches March 23 challenge - use a die cut of a bunny (my die cut is from the Quilling Patch blog)