Friday, November 30, 2012

Black and White and Berry

Made another card tonight using the sketch for Alota Rubber Stamps.  It's such a versatile sketch!  Stuck to a very clean and simple look - just black and white with a touch of magenta.  The center was embossed using a Cuttlebug embossing folder.  The color choice was inspired by Cupcake Craft Challenges #220.



Dream

I created this card just because.  This one piece of paper had been out on my desk for a while as I really like the greens and subtle browns but hadn't yet decided what to do with it.  When I realized the ScrapFit girls had a color challenge with green and brown I thought "perfect time to use that paper".  The colors are a bit off in the photo - the ribbon is less brown and what looks like blue in the paper is more green.  The design inspiration came from Alota Rubber Stamps (their stamps are so sweet).

Happy Weekend!



Thankful for Mom's Recipes

Here's another layout I did for recipes from my Mom.  I make this A LOT and it always gets rave reviews so as with a few other recipes from Mom, I am given them a place of honor in a scrapbook setting them aside permanently for me and my DD.  I can only say "Thanks, Mom" for another get recipe!

The papers and all but one of the embellishments are all My Minds Eye.  I love mixing and matching their collections - in this case, I have Lime Twist, Miss Caroline, and two stickers from Stella Rose.   - perfect for their monthly challenge.  The sketch is based on Sketch #26 from A Cherry on Top and the idea of leaving out the photo is from Lasting Memories.

Enjoy!




Thursday, November 29, 2012

I'm on a Roll....

Created another Christmas card tonight - it came together super quick with a few scraps and a great digital stamp from Eureka!  Design is based on this week's sketch from My Favorite Things.

P.S. - Check out Sketches4All in December for a special challenge sponsored by Eureka!  I'll post details in a day or two.


Challenges:

My Minds Eye Thank You Card

So much to be thankful for this year - and especially lately.  I have been leading a huge project at work for a client that has consumed the lives of multiple people for 10+ hours a day for many weeks.  As it draws to a close, I cannot be appreciative enough of my awesome team who have made it all possible.  This is one of many thank you cards I owe them!



The papers are all My Minds Eye from their Nostalgia collection.  I think they're all B-sides but I often find myself using B sides so much more often.  In the case of this collection, I just love the soft blues and subtle patterns.  The button is also MME from Lost & Found collection.  The twine on the button and the ribbon are from MME's Holly Jolly decorative trim collection - the blue ribbon in the set is one of my favorites - so delicate in color and texture!  And I can;t leave Verve out for the sweet little Thank You stamp!

Challenges:

My First Washi Tape Project

OK - I broke down and decided to go with the trends!  I have had a set of washi tape for a little over a year and had not managed to even try it.  I finally got tired of it sitting on my desk begging to be used and showed the set some love by creating this card.  I decided to go a bit clean and simple, letting the tape be the focus (if I am getting out of my comfort zone using tape, mine as well go all the way with CAS as well).  Sentiment is from an awesome collection from Verve (Words of Wisdom).  I used a Sharpie to faux stitch the top portion of the card and edged the taped section with tiny satin ribbon from Hobby Lobby.

Challenges:

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Authentique Sketch Challenge Part 2

As promised, here is a second item I made for Authentique's November challenge - this time a card using the same sketch.  For the card I used the Authentique Loyal collection and one scrap I had left from the Splendid collection.

Authentique November Layout Challenge

I know I've been quiet for a while - just lots of big projects at work.  But I had to pop in to my scrap room for a little R&R! This layout is for this month's Authentique sketch challenge.  It uses one of Authentique's newest collections - Celebrate including several papers, stickers, and letters on the banner.  The title letters are Thickers.  I added a bit of misting and buttons/pins from MME

I'll have a second post later today of a card based on the same sketch.




 

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Christmas Preparations

In between layouts, I've been creating a few Christmas cards.  This was was made with Bazzill Believe paper set and a stamp from Close to My Heart.  Sketch is the the November Wk 1 sketch from the Viva la Verve challenge.  It's perfect for the Sweet Stamps blog challenge as well as the Southern Girls challenge.


Saturday, November 10, 2012

Missing my DH

My father-in-law in Wales underwent triple bypass surgery last week so my DH flew out to be with him and help with the recovery.  It's rather quiet around here without him - he's been gone since Oct 28th and won't be back until Nov 21st.  Though I am getting a lot of work done guilt free with the craft room all to myself (we share the office/craft room), I still miss his sarcasm, complaints about the sound of my Cricut ("are you using that thing again?"), and scrutiny of the mail ("MORE paper???"). 

So this card is for him when he gets back, in case he felt left out of my paper crafting whilst he was gone :-)  Sketch is from Viva la Verve November Wk 1 and the stamped sentiment is also Verve.




Friday, November 9, 2012

Scrapping Recipes

Inspired by a blog post at My Minds Eye, I decided to start scrapping some of my absolute favorite recipes from my mom.  She will be pleased since no matter how many times she gives me the recipe for something, I always seem to misplace it.  These recipes from Mom are just as memorable as many of the photos I scrap so why not give them equal pride of place?

The sketch is the latest from Let's Get Sketchy.  All the materials (except background cardstock and letters for the title) are My Minds Eye.  I may have gotten a little carried away, but I love their stuff!

Papers = Lime Twist
Buttons = Lost & Found Two
Tickets and flower = Miss Caroline
Starburst = Indie Chic
Words and letters for "YUM" = Stella Rose, cut from various tags


Over the RIver

I thought this was a sweet photo of my daughter and her Grandmother ("Nana") skipping down a hill in in Wales.  We don't get to see my in-laws very often now that we live in the states but Alex went along on one of the trips my DH took over there a few years ago.  Hikes through the countryside is a daily ritual and this day was no exception.  (And yes, the dear sweet lady DOES take her handbag everywhere including full-on hikes.)

Papers and stickers are Echo Park (Times and Seasons); cardstock is CTMH; tag paper is from Serendipity; title is computer generated, and frame is from an SVG cutting file (MTC-SCAL).  Sketch is courtesy of Sketch N Scrap for their latest sketch challenge.





Sunday, November 4, 2012

Paper Secrets and October Afternoon

It's time for another challenge from Paper Secrets.  This month they are spotlighting October Afternoon.  I love the new Woodland Park line so I used the Huckleberry Hill on this layout plus several other sheets and embellishments from the 9to5 and Witch Hazel lines.  The title is a mix of alphas from Thickers (Amy Tangerine), October Afternoon, and text cut on my Cricut.  The blue chipboard mini-frame is from Thickers - it was black so I mixed up some acrylic paint to match the blues in the papers and added some Glimmer Mist since the paint was so flat.


(And don't laugh at me in the photo - I was only six days post-pregnancy and a big fleece was about all that fit me that was still suitable for the English January weather!)



The Weigh-In

Is the story of the stork true?  Are babies really brought to us in little bundles hanging in the air?  Looks that way...but it's actually just the way they weigh the babies in the UK.  Once a mother and baby are sent home, the NHS (National Health Services) provides a mid-wife to visit Mum and Baby several times in their home for the first week or two.  This ensures all is well without requiring Mum to visit the doctor.  In this case, the mid-wife was weighing my DD just 6 days after she was born.  The mid-wife and at-home visits is literally a foreign concept to us Americans and my American mother who was visiting had to record this moment.  It took 10 seconds to capture the moment and only another 12 years to scrap it.  Ha ha!


The inspiration for this came from the following challenges:
  • Sketches 4 All - November Mayhem - "5-Course Recipe" (I'm hosting this challenge so come on over and join the fun)
  • Rochelle Spears - Stash Challenge (journal pocket, chevrons, metal) - the chevrons are stamped on the journal pocket which is topped with a decorative copper brad
  • Kristi B - create a border with eyelets, brads, buttons - I used eyelets running down the length of one of the paper strips
  • Scrappin' n' Happy - Color combo (yellow, gold, red, brown, teal) 
 

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Challenge Time - Win a Limited Edition CTMH Stamp Set

I am honored to be sponsoring November's monthly challenge over at Sketches4All - click here for the forum post.  You will need to join the forum but its fast and easy and so worth it!  And this isn't the only challenge we have this month - our Design team members and even some of our members host many other challenges.  So come on over for fun, inspiration, and to meet a great set of people.  They really have become part of my family over the last year or so.

So what's the challenge this month?    It's all about "corners".  Show us how you can dress up your corners - be it corners of your layouts, photo corners, or the corners of cards.  Create a layout of you child doing time out in a corner :-)  Stamping, embellishments, folds - you name it.  Use your creativity on how you want to define "corners" and have fun !

I am a Close to My Heart consultant (http://scrappydistractions.ctmh.com/) and am offering the winner a limited edition clear acrylic stamp set from Close to My Heart - Baroque Borders.  This set has beautiful detail with images large enough for use on layouts as well cards and tags.  It was a limited release until August and is no longer available.  So join in the fun for your chance to add this to your stamp collection!




Rules:
  • Creations must be new as of November 1
  • All entries to be posted to this post in the forum by midnight November 30
  • Enter as often as you wish but we'll only count one entry per person
  • Winner will be decided by random draw
To kick-start your inspiration, here is my take on corner adornment that I created in October.  I used two of the stamps found in the stamp set on each corner - one using Pumice Distress Ink and the other using Aged Mahogany Distress Ink.