Something to Scrap About

Wee Memories #80 and Our Creative Corner

2011-12-30T18:10:00.000-08:00

Note that if you are looking for my Year in Review Blog Hop post you can find it here.

I needed a few more Christmas cards so I decided to enter a few more challenges. I know Christmas is technically over, but I have an Orthodox branch on my family tree and when my maternal grandparents were alive we always celebrated Jan 6th, too. So that's my current excuse. ;)

For the current Wee Memories Challenge here we have this card:

I love the Sounding Joy set and it's perfect for church cards.

The second card is for the challenge at Our Creative Corner called "Home for the Holiday", We were to make a card inspired by something in our holiday decor. I love my Christmas tree this year so I was inspired to make this card.

Here is a picture of this year's tree.

Card Details - All Products Stampin' Up

Verse Card

Stamps: The Sounding Joy
DSP: ??

Cardstock: Real Red

Ink: Early Espresso

Tree Card

Stamps: Snow Swirled

Cardstock: Island Indigo, Pool Party, Whisper White
Other: Ribbon, Pewter Embossing Powder, punch

Top 12 of 2011

2011-12-29T11:50:00.000-08:00

I saw this event at a blog thanks to Splitcoast and since I was thinking of doing a 'Favorite cards of 2011 post anyway, I decided I would participate. I can't get over how tough it was to decide on my favorite twelve cards.

A few things to note:

-When I was choosing my 12, I had about 16 I loved. To narrow it down, I tried to choose ones that didn't get many comments when they were originally posted.

-I've included links to the original post. If you want to see details re: products used, that is where you will find the info.

-I have taken the time to go through all my blog posts and improve my labelling. The list of labels is on the left hand side of my blog. I do my best to label all my cards both as 'cards' in general and by set name. I'd love it if you took some time to explore my blog and make some comments. Always looking for more subscribers and followers, too. I got my 30th yesterday. Woo hoo! I hope to hit 50 in 2012.

On to the cards:

#12 - Original post Jan 7th If I had added just a bit more bling to this card, it would rank higher. As it is, I still really like it. No matter how much I wish it wasn't the case, I am a clean and simple cardmaker.

#10 and #11 Original post here I really should have gotten around to colouring these... other than that I think they're cute. I do still have them so there's still time...

#9 Original post here. This poor card got NO love. I was said.I thought it was cute.

#8 Original post here. Admittedly, I should've coloured Mr. Froggy.

#7 Original post here. This card is one of the few where I didn't use ANY stamps.

#6 Original post here. I love how the colours of this one turned out. Such a great girly card.

#5 Original post here, I adore this card. It was disappointing that it got no love.

#3, 4 Original post here. These two are a couple more class cards I tweaked.

#2 Original post here. I love how this turned out; I was just fooling around with scraps.

#1 Original post here, This card was done in a class, but I tweaked it. Turned out super cute, if I do say so myself! This set is now one of my all time favorites.

Catered Crop - Favorite Holiday Card

2011-12-28T12:17:00.000-08:00

There's a challenge going on at Catered Crop that I really like. All month they've been giving us the chance to post our favorite cards of the past year. Each week there has been a different theme and this week it is holiday cards. If I am reading correctly you are allowed to backlink, too. I decided to do a separate post with links to the original post because that is what everyone else seems to be doing.

The rules:
- Link up your favorite Holiday projects from 2011. If you want, you can post one you make this week.

-Leave a comment on the projects of the two people who posted in front of you.

-The deadline is 8:00 PM Saturday, Dec 31. A new one will start on Jan. 1 The theme will be encouragement cards.
-You can enter as often as you want

Here is my card. The original post is here. I remember at the time that I was disappointed that this blog post got no comments, because I really, really, liked this card. I love the colours, the paper, the image, and the overall design. I used a really good sketch.

I also really, really loved this card. The original post is here. I am linking the original posts in case people want to see the card recipes.

Christmas Greetings!

2011-12-24T15:42:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post today. I want to wish everyone a joyous holiday season! I so appreciate the fact that people take the time to read my blog and post comments. May 2012 bring you everything you desire.

I also have a challenge card for you today. I loved this challenge at the Weekly Christmas Card Challenge blog. I had a kit for 5 cards sitting on my desk and this challenge provided the impetus needed to get them done. They were from a class I missed and I didn't have a picture, so I got to wing it. Of course, I had to change them up... there are 2 that are the same, but the remaining three I got creative.

Here's the set. Sorry I forgot to crop these pictures; it's been a busy day.

Here are 3 of the four designs. I didn't bother to take a picture of the one with no ribbon, because I'm not happy with it. That version only happened because I can't FIND the last piece of ribbon. If it doesn't turn up I shall have to choose a different one.

Which card is your favorite?

Card details - all products Stampin' Up:

Reason for the Season

2011-12-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe that it is only a few more days to Christmas! And I am completely done everything. I have one errand to run tomorrow, but the gifts are wrapped and ready. I had all the cards I made for the chuch delieverd on the 21st, which is a record for me.

Over the past little while I've gotten so many cards and scrapbook pages finished. I just haven't had the energy to get them blogged. I have some that are for current challenges, so I will post those first, over the next few days. Once I'm caught up with those, I'll post the others. I have to say I'm really glad that many challenge blogs are taking a break for the holiday; it gives me a chance to catch up. One goal I have for 2012 is to really decide which challenges I want to focus on. I find I try to follow too many and I get overwhelmed.

Without further ado, here is today's card... I am posting two because I can't decide which one I prefer.

Does anyone remember the name of this Stampin' Up DSP? It's from 2-3 years ago . The stamp set is All God's Children. All products are SU, except the tags themselves. I cut them with the Big Shot, but the dies are from Sizziz... the old red ones, if I recall. I used the Big Shot and the dies at the scrapbook store.

The cards are for the following challenges

Stampin' Sisters In Christ: Challenge #120 - Luke 2:14

Pals Paper Arts: PPA125 - Tag, You're It
Mark's Finest/Speedy The Cat: Christmas Card

SUO Challenge 34

2011-12-13T17:11:00.000-08:00

I am so behind on my blogging and challenges that when I saw the latest SUO challenge I had to put something together. And what better than one of my favorite Christmas sets, Dasher. I have always resisted this set because it's a single stamp. I still actually don't own it; I used a friend's stamp. But I am definitely buying it at one of our SU group nights in early 2012. It is SO much more versatile than I realized.

Life is very busy right now... still getting ready for the Christmas performance at our church's Christmas dinner on Dec. 18th. I'm having my extended family and hopefully some friends for a gathering on Saturday, too. I just had a wonderful open house with my church friends on Sunday afternoon. Luckily almost all my presents are bought. The tree is up, the apartment is decorated, and I am generally pretty much ready.

Card Details:

Stamp: Dasher
Cardstock: Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Pear Pizzazz

Ink: Early Espresso

Other: Pewter Embossing Powder

All products Stampin' Up

TSG 131

2011-11-25T01:26:00.000-08:00

Saw a great challenge over at the TSG blog and I had to share it with everyone. They are calling for people to make a set of 5 quick and easy cards. These totally fit the bill.

What I love about this set of cards is that they each took only about 10 minutes, but they look great. We did them in a stamp a stack group and everyone's turned out a little differently. I'm not normally not particularly confident with the whole concept of random stamping a background. This time it didn't faze me because when I think about snowflakes and snowstorms, they ARE random.

Here's the whole set:

And here are close ups of the 4 that are obscured by the front card.

This one could hae used a little more bling, and maye a few more snowflakes...

I almost feel like this one has too much bling on it...

I think this one is my favorite

Or maybe this one...

I'm generally pretty pleased with the whole set, though. I wasn't sure about the text-y dsp initially, but I liked it in the end. And for once I loved the fact that SU Classic Black ink tends ot come out looking purple. It reminded me of the colour of the sky late at night.

Card Details:
All products Stampin' Up!

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, basic black

Ink: Crumb Cake, Soft Suede, Early Espresso

Stamps: Snow Swirled, Serene Snowflakes, The Sounding Joy

Other: Border punch, jewels

Paper Players Challenge #70

2011-11-04T15:36:00.000-07:00

I actually made 3 cards for this challenge.... the biggest problem I've had is deciding which one to officially submit. This first card, I like the basic design. But as you can see, there are a couple spots where I got ink in unintended places. So that one is out.

This card, I also basically like. I couldn't decide what to do for a sentiment, though, and it doesn't feel 'finished' to me. It needs some brads or buttons or ribbon or something. I may yet go all out and use all three.

In the end, this card was my favorite. I like the design, I like the colours, I'm basically happy with the stamping... it's as good as I was going to get, anyway. Some days you just have to accept that.

Card details - All products Stampin' Up!
Grateful:Stamps: Always Thankful
Cardstock: Peach Parfait, Pool Party, Very Vanilla
DSP: Spice Cake
Ink: Chocolate Chip

Untitled
Stamps: Always Thankful
Cardstock: Peach Parfait, Pool Party, Very Vanilla, Pear Pizzazz
Ink: Chocolate Chip

Gratitude
Stamps: Days of Gratititude
Cardstock: Pool Party, Pear Pizzazz
DSP: Spice Cake

Ink: Early Espresso, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive

Organizing my space - Part 1

2011-10-27T12:22:00.000-07:00

Well, I had a wonderful time scrapbooking on the Oct. 14th weekend. Once I got home and started unpacking I realized I had a wee bit of a mess - to the point that some of the paper I took with me and didn't use woud not actually go back into the paper hoilders. And then I discovered a stack of paper I had bought over the summer and had not yet actually even attempted to put away. So I have decided it's time to finally get my stash organized and purged.

Mid purge... I forgot to snap a pic at the start of the process.

The stack of paper I am putting aside for the next LSS garage sale.

My paper holders, nicely labelled and put away in my armoire. All the drawers have clothing in them. The cupboard was empty so a couple years ago I decided to use it for sb related items. I also have my closet split in half this way. Pics of that to follow.

A close up of my paper holders. I've got my paper organized by manufacturer; it's just how my mind works. I've labelled the holders on the side there so it's easy to see what I have and find the line I'm looking for. As well, the beauty of putting the labels here rather than on the hard plastic dividers is that they seem to come off easier. That will be helpful when I run out of certain company's paper and I know I won't be getting any more (Sniff. I miss you, Scenic Route).

The bottom shelf... yes, my SU card making cardstock needs to be reorganzed, and possibly moved to a better location. I have more than that and it's NOT all going to fit. I don't actually know what's in that box beside it... I'm afraid to look at this point. :)

And 3 cards I made last week... we had our Stamper's Group last Tuesday. I actually made 6 cards, 3 for me and 3 for a friend who couldn't make the group that night. These are the 3 she chose - I made each version of the card a little different.

Card Details - All products SU!:

Christmas Card

Stamps: Snow Much Fun

DSP: Frostwood Lodge

Cardstock: Early Espresso, Garden Green, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler

Ink: Early Espresso

Other: Markers, SNAIL adhesive

Birthday card

Stamps: Unknown

Cardstock Whisper White, Basic Grey, Bravo Burgandy

Ink: Old Olive? Possibly Always Artichoke

Other: Embossing folder

Cupcake card

Stamps: Create a Cupcake, Circle Circus

Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Tangerine Tango, Old Olive, Basic Black, Whisper White

Ink: Early Espresso, Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive, Tangerine Tango

Other: Cupcake punch, Word Window punch, Round Tab punch

Four sketch challenge cards

2011-10-15T01:37:00.000-07:00

Second post of the day.... if you want to see my take on Mojo Monday 210, go here,

Freshly Made Sketches #6

Repeat Impressions Sketch O511

Halloween Challenge: Cupcake 163 Repeat Impressions DCC1012 Simon Says Stamps, Fussy and Fancy Friday Challenge

The Red Rubberneck TRRSS2

Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge - TSSC195

Mojo 210, PPA, Our Creative Corner, Papercraft Star

2011-10-15T00:54:00.000-07:00

I actually made 5 cards this evening. I was at Scrapbooikin' Adventures is having their 5th Anniversary celebration. As much as I have always loved getting together to celebrate the anniversary, I've enjoyed it even more in the past couple years, because the event has been a fundraiser for BC Crops For Kids. As someone who would not be here had it not been for the help and support of the excellent staff of BC Children's Hospital, I'm thrilled to be able to give back by participating in these fundraisers. And, ok, it doesn't hurt that it allows me to engage in my favorite pasttime.

The first night of the retreat weekend is a nice, relaxing, low key crop night. I used the time to make cards and to prep for tomorrow, which is a long day. Saturday is the Annual Scrapbookin' Adventure all day event where we use our own product and create 20 layouts. It's a great way to dig into our stash and power scrap. I love the fact that we all use the same basic layout design to start, yet everyone's page ends up being unique.

Speaking of mojo, for the first time ever I have completed a card for the Mojo Monday Challenge! I am also submitting

This card fits 4 challenges... Mojo Monday 210, Papercraft Star 46 (a leaf), Pals Paper Arts 115 (fall theme) and the latest colour challenge from Our Creative Corner. The colours really threw me this time: Pool Party, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip and Cajun Craze. It was the latter colour that drove my batty. I'm still not sure I like how I used it; I think if I were to redo this card, I'd use the Cajun as my mat colour or the base. There's just too much showing; it's overpowering the rest of the card. Ideally I'd haved it for my ink colour, too. It's one of the few colours I still don't have, though.

Card Details - all products Stampin' Up
Cardstock: Pool Party, Old Olive, Cajun Craze, Whisper White

DSP: Spice Cake

Stamps: Fall Whimsy (image), Always Thankful (sentiment)

CPS 238, My Craft Spot #28 and Southern Girls #29

2011-10-08T07:59:00.000-07:00

Got two more cards made last night.

This first one is going to eventually be for my honorary niece. She was born on Halloween, which gives me a wonderful excuse to sometimes stray from more traditional birthday stamp sets. I won't do it all the time, as I know from friends with Christmas birthdays how annoying it can be to never get a regular birthday card.

Check out the other challenge cards at the Card Positioning Systems blog and the My Craft Spot blog

This card is for the Southern Girls challenge. I follow their blog regularly and this week was the first time I could get my act together to get the challenge completed on time. I find I get confused when the challenge is coming from Australia/NZ as I can never remember who's ahead time-wise. I love this new stamp set, Always Thankful. SU did a really good job on the mini catalogue this time, in my opinion.

There's no greeting yet because I can't decide if it's going to be my dad's birthday card or a Thanksgiving card.

Card Details:

Witching You

Stamps: Haunting Halloween (SU)

Cardstock: Concord Crush, Pear Pizzazz, Peach Parfait (SU)

Ink: Basic Black (SU)

DSP: Imaginisce

Untitled card - all products SU

Stamps: Always Thankful

Cardstock: Pool Party, Pear Pizzazz, Peach Parfait

DSP: Spice Cake

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Two more cards... 3 challenges

2011-10-07T19:58:00.000-07:00

This post will be a short one. I realized as I was checking my Pinterest 'current challenges' folder that there were a few other challenges due today that I had almost completed, so I quickly got them done.

The first one is for the Wee Memories favorite technique challenge; I did embossing resist. I actually had this one done the day it was due and this week I had no time to post.

This one is for:

The Paper Players: Musical Theme
Card Patterns Sketch 135

Card Details

Snowflake card

Stamps: SU Snowflake sketch... name tba

Patterned Paper: 3 Bug In a Rug

Cardstock: Whisper White, Pacific Point (SU!)

Ink: Pacific Point, Bashful Blue, Wisteria Wonder (SU!)

Other: border punch (SU), jewels (Bo Bunny), music themed embossing folder (Cuttlebug)

FTL 159 + Cards For Men Challenge 20

2011-10-07T18:18:00.000-07:00

Hello there fellow crafters, bloggers and general web surfers!

I can't believe how long it's been since my last post. Life just got very busy over the summer. Lots of changes happening in life, some good, some bad, some neutral. I've been helping out a great deal more at church since the summer, because we had two fabulous people resign, our Children's Ministry Director and our Youth Director. Between that, spending time with family, helping with summer reading, and enjoying what good weather we did have (I swear, there was some!), the crafting got away from me, which meant no blogging.

I did spend the day at the scrapbook store today and I finished a couple challenge cards. This card is for FTL Challenge 159 and Cards for Men Challenge 20. I always love their sketches and this one was no different I particularly love it when a sketch immediately brings to mind a second challenge with which I can combine it.

As soon as I saw it I knew exactly who I wanted to make a card for, the colour scheme, and the set I wanted to use. I bought the set Stampin' Up set Sporting when it retired. I had dithered about it for ages because I wasn't sure I'd use it beyond a few scrapbook pages. Now that I'm making birthday cards for the church, the set is perfect for our sports enthusiasts, both male and female This SU designer paper is very versatile. The side not shown, which is actually my favorite, is on the 'girly' side. I hadn't really noticed the stripes before and they turned out to be perfect for this card.

Card Details:

Stamps: Sporting, Bring On The Cake

Cardstock: Pool Party, Pear Pizzazz

Ink: Chocolate Chip

I do have a few pictures from the summer to share, but they shall come later. I swear I will now be back to blogging 2-3 times/week. It seems that in the summer crafting was replaced by a slight Pinterest obsession. :) If you'd like to follow me on Pinterest, I'm here.

See you tomorrow with another sketch challenge I completed.

Inspiration In Action Case Contest

2011-07-15T08:53:00.000-07:00

As soon as I saw this contest posted on Gretchen Barron's blog, Inspiration in Action, I knew I as going to enter it. Of course, even though we had almost 2 weeks to create submit our projects, I still managed to leave mine to the last minute. I just could NOT decide which card to CASE; there is so much incredible artwork in this catalogue. Ultimately I chose the leaf card on page 29. I tried to get a picture of the card but it wouldn't work.

When I first saw the card I thought the ruffled ribbon was actually distressed cardstock, so that's what I did. The original version of my card had ribbon as well, but it looked wrong, so I got rid of it. I also changed the stamp set and the colours, while staying within the realm of a fall colour scheme.

Card Details: :All products Stampin' Up

Cardstock: Old Olive, Pumpkiin Pie, So Saffron

Stamps: Fall Whimsy, God's Way

Ink: Pumpkiin Pie, Old Olive, More Mustard

Misc: Word Window Punch

Inkspiration Sketch challenge #77

2011-07-15T01:06:00.000-07:00

I loved this clean, linear sketch from Inkspirations. It immediately made me think of the set Sunny Fun from SU! I really wanted to do a girl-y card, and since when I think popsicles, I think orange and pink, the card came together quickly.

Card Details:
Stamps: Sunny Fun
Cardstock: Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry, Whisper White
Patterned Paper: Razzleberry Lemonade
Markers: Only Orange, Melon Mambo
Misc: Eylet Border punch, Word Window punch

Card Monkey 64 - Christmas in July

2011-07-14T23:34:00.000-07:00

Not too much to say tonight as I'm tired and tomorrow is an early day. Made this card for the latest a la Card Monkey challenge. I'm a sucker for any challenge that helps me get ahead on my Christmas cards. In fact, I'll have to sit down one day soon and count up how many I've done as I've gotten behind at posting my cards for the Splitcoast Christmas Card Challenge.

The card came together very quickly because, since I knew I wanted to do this sketch, when I made Wednesday's card, I stamped an extra image and saved my scraps. All I had to do tonight was trim down a few pieces, adhere, and add my ribbon.

Card Details:

Cardstock: Tempting Turqoise, (SU), Bazzill
Patterned Paper: 3 Bugs in a Rug
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Markers: Taken With Teal, Certainly Celery
Misc: ribbon

1 Card. 2 Stampin 411 Challenges

2011-07-14T04:04:00.000-07:00

I am officially hooked on sketch challenges. This sketch is from The Operators at the Stampin 411 blog. These challenges are a good stretch for me because they require participants to use only Stampin;' Up products. I rarely do that with my cards, preferring to use SU! for the card base and then dig into my scrap stash for the other pieces. Of course, I still fall in love with at least 2 packs of SU! DSP/year. So I have a quarter of a Crop Hopper full of dsp that I haven't touched. And I'm not getting rid of it, because I genuinely do love it. The most I have done is purged out a few duplicate sheets that I didn't love enough to need a second piece.

Because it's so foreign to me to use all SU! produces in my cards I decided I would combine the Saturday Sketch challenge and the Color Challenge. In this case, the colour combo, Pacific Point, Tempting Turquoise and Pear Pizzazz is one of my favorite combos for boy birthday cards. What I found, though, in searching for SU dsp that fit the challenge, is that the combo can work for a feminine card. This card will be for a friend's birthday.

Note that the green cardstock is Pear Pizzazz, but the green flowers on the dsp are NOT... this dsp is very old. As I see the two colours together, I think my friend is right - I don't REALLY need a Pear Pizzazz ink pad. I'll probably have to get a bit more of the cardstock though.

After all, a girl can never have too much green...

Card Details -all products SU!:
Cardstock: Tempting Turquoise, Pacific Point, Pear Pizzazz

DSP: Unknown

Misc: Tempting Turquoise ribbon, Designer Label Punch, Curly Label Punch

ESS 138

2011-07-13T23:27:00.000-07:00

Tonight's card is for the latest challenge at the Eat Sleep Stamp blog. It's actually one of my favorite sketch blogs. I just never seem to get them done on time... mostly because I get confused re: the due date/time.

My original plan was to use all Stampin' Up products and combine it with a colour challenge. In the end, I realized that I only had an hour to get the card made, so it would be easier to use paper from my scraps. That and a wonderful friend helped me with some organizing yesterday and many scraps were added to my accordian file, which is now stuffed to the gills, as the saying goes. I am DETERMINED to use up a bunch of scraps, so the only time I'm cutting into my SU dsp is when the challenge specifically calls for SU only.

The only non-scrap used was the base, which is 5.75x5.75. None of my scraps are big enough for card bases, and really, I also have so much unused cardstock that I'm good with that. I'm finding more and more that much of the cardstock I bought because it was on sale just isn't working with my pattern paper. So from now on I'm only buying 12x12 cardstock as I need it for projects, with the possible exception of neutrals like white, black and dark brown.

Card details:

Cardstock: Bazzill
Patterned Paper: 3 Bugs in a Rug
Stamp: Sidekick Sayings
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Misc: markers (Tombo), ribbon, (misc), ribbon slide (Maya Road)

Christmas In July - Part 2

2011-07-11T18:00:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday my Stampin' Up demo had a little 'Christmas In July' get together. It was a way for us to play with the new Snow Much Fun set, share our thoughts about the new catalogue, and get start getting in the Christmas spirit, in anticipation of the September release of the Holiday Mini. I can't wait; it's my favorite mini of the year. As much as I look forward to Sale-a-Bration in the New Year, that is more about the concept of the program than the actual mini-catalogue. Christmas is my favorite time of year and I absolutely love getting new stamps for my cards.

As mentioned, we made four cards. The first one, my favorite, is posted here. Of the remaining three, this tree was the one I loved the most. The two new blue hues are gorgeous, and I love how they look with the silver embossed tree. I don't have this set yet, because it is only available in wood mount. Soon I am inevitably going to give in and buy it, as I've wanted it for ages. I really didn't stray at all from the original design of this card, as I loved Jaime's design.

I love the colours of this second card. The Lucky Limemade goes really well with Marina Mist and Riding Hood Red. I wasn't fussy about this latest green, as I had hoped it would be brighter. It's definitely growing on me... what can I say, I'm a sucker for greens and blues. I can take no credit for those bows; Jaimie did them for me, because frankly, I'm just not that coordinated. I stuck to the basic design of our hostess's original cards, simply adding some glitter to my ornaments to give them a bit of extra pop.

This card was a lift of the one on page 40 of the new IB&C.

This last card turned out far better than I expected. I am normally not great with the schwoopy type flourish stamps. I'm still not super happy with it, but by my standards it could've been worse. When we cut off the top of the Top Note die, one of the other women in attendance got the idea to layer the cut off piece under the bottom, raise it with Stampin' Dimensionals, and sponge it. I think it was me that came up with the idea to add the pearls, because I've become obsessed with bling ;) The card is a CASE of the one on page 43.

Card Details:
Season's Greetings card

Cardstock: Pool Party, Island Indigo, Whisper White, Brushed Silver

Stamps: Snow Swirled

Ink: Island Indigo

Misc: Silver Stampin' Emboss, Stampin' Dimensionals, ribbon

Merry Christmas (ornaments)

Cardstock: Lucky Limeade, Riding Hood Red, Marina Mist

Stamps: Delightful Decorations, Four Frames and unknown SU sentiment

Ink: Marina Mist, Riding Hood Red

Misc: ribbon, Dazzling Diamonds, Ornament/Scallop Trim border/ Decorative Label punch misc ribbon

Merry Christmas (flourish)

Cardstock: Bravo Burgandy

Stamps: Curly Cute, Season of Joy

Ink: Bravo Burgandy, Always Artichoke

Misc:Top Note die, Basic Pearls, misc ribbon

All products listed are SU!

Two cards - multiple Monday challenges

2011-07-11T01:57:00.000-07:00

Last night I totally got on a roll. I think it was frustration as much as anything. I got a Making Memories trimmer at Christmas and had to return it because it was defective. Well, because I do most of my paper crafting at home, I hadn't the replacement yet (I just use the trimmer at the LSS; easier than taking the risk of dropping mine). I opened it today. And I had the same problem. Won't cut the paper (it basically scores it), the red locking device will NOT stay on, and it just does not work for me. So I'm taking it back yet again and getting the Fiskar's locking trimmer my friend has. I love it and I've never had a big problem with Fiskars products.

I think the reason I was particularly frustrated tonight by the trimmer troubles is that I was expecting to FINALLY get a Mojo Monday sketch challenge completed, as well as work on some challenges that are due today. I didn't get the Mojo Monday card done, but a good friend loaned me her trimmer so I was able to do two cards last night that qualify for a today's challenges. In fact, I my creative juices were flowing enough that I was able to combine multiple challenges with both cards.

This first card is for:

Paper Players #55 - Colour Challenge: Baja Breeze, Poppy Parade, Basic Gray, Crumb Cake.

Card Patterns Sketch 123

Party Time Tuesday - Square Card

This card is for a friend's daughter who loves the colour red. I'll colour it later, as I don't have any markers or watercolour pencils in the challenge colours. I had to use neutral ribbon for the same reason. I have to say that I quite like Crumb Cake, which completely surprise me. I am normally not a fan of Kraft cardstock.

I will colour the image; I just don`t have the right colour markers so I decided to leae it blank for now. I will probably use lots of red in the popsicles, because it is the favorite colour of the little girl who will be receiving it.

The basis for this next card also involved combining a colour challenge with a sketch that I found suitable. The one difficulty I have with SU colour challenges is that I don`t have any of the Patterns dsp packs; all mine have patterns with multiple colours on them, and those colours may well. not work with the challenge.

This second card is for:

Pile It On - Embossing

Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge 111

PPA 101 - Summertime Bues

Wee Memories Scrappy Saturday - Summertime

Phindy`s Place- Buttons

Crazy 4 Challenges C4C95 - Summer Themed

HSS74 - Button it Up!

Card Details

Wish

Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Poppy Parade, Crumb Cake, Basic Grey

Stamps: Sunny Fun

Ink: Stazon On Black

Misc: Very Vanilla ribbon, embossing folder, brad, border punch

Happy Birthday

Cardstock: Not Quite Navy, Bashful Blue, Marina Mist

Stamps: Seaside

Ink: Stazon Black

Misc: embossing folder, buttons, border punch

Circle Frenzy - Sarah Hurley Challenge

2011-07-10T15:33:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post as I squeak this card in under the wire. The sad thing is that except for the sentiment, it's been ready for hours. Couldn't find something the right size for my word window punch.

I kept this card clean and simple; it's for my cousin's 13th birthday tomorrow. She loves purple, and this set was perfect, because I knew I'd need to make my own patterned paper. There was nothing in my scrap stash I liked. I stamped a layer in the various colours, then made a few extra purple flowers, which I laid right over top of the original ones, raised up with pop dots.

I had hoped to complete the Mojo Monday sketch today before the due date, but my new Making Memories trimmer is apparently defective. I literally just took it out of the box today. As I have had this problem happen twice now, I'll be taking it back and buying a Fiskars.
Card details
Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Pixie Pink
Stamps:Big Flowers
Ink: Lovely Lilac, Pixie Pink, Melon Mambo
Markers:Lovely Lilac

Christmas in July Part 1

2011-07-08T16:01:00.000-07:00

I love making Christmas cards. So I was excited when I saw so many "Christmas in July" card challenge sthis week. I made 4, but I'm going to enter my favorite one in the challenges, because it fits the criteria for the most challenges, and it's one that, while I did start with an idea from a class, I ventured the farthest away from the original card. It also uses one of my favorite cards from the new catalogue.

I am absolutely in LOVE with this snowman. So much so that it's going to be VERY hard for me to resist buying this set. Now, I am the LAST person who needs to be buying more Christmas sets. But I remember my regret over not buying Flaky Friends and Frosty so I am not sure I want to miss out on this set.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

OWH - Christmas in July

Our Creative Corner - Christmas in July

The Paper Players - Christmas in July

TSG114 - Glitter, Gliz, Bling

Card Details - all products SU!
Stamp: Snow Much Fun
Cardstock: Soft Suede & Cherry Cobbler, Eaarly Espresso (DSP)
Ink: Staz On Black, Pear Pizzazz, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso
Other: Blender Pen, Dazzling Diamonds, Basic Pearls, sponge daubers, modern label punch

JUGS91

2011-07-08T15:27:00.000-07:00

I loved making this card; as soon as I saw the sketch I pretty much knew what I wanted to do. It was the first chance I had to ink up my Summer Splash set, and I expect I'll be making many cards from it over the next while. Love this set!

I had intended to change the shape, because of my lack of circle punches at home, but I got creative and traced one from a ribbon spool. I actually adhered the paper right to the spool using temporary adhesive. I think I needed it in a few more spots, as you can see one area at the bottom where the curve is uneven.

Still, I'm pretty happy with it. I may yet change the sentiment out and make it into a birthday card. I didn't have anything with me that fit into the word window punch.

Hope you like this card.... have a great day!

Card Details:
Stamps: Sunny Fun, Summer Splash (SU)
Cardstock: Old Olive (SU)
Inks: Pacific Point, Certainly Celery (SU!)
DSP: Creative Imaginations
Ribbon: misc
Other: Word Window punch; Basic Pearl (SU!)

A final Father's Day card and some pics

2011-07-04T19:25:00.000-07:00

I didn't mean to take time off from blogging. Life has just gotten in the way of late. The friend I normally get together to stamp with has been in the hospital, so I've not gone up to the scrapbook store in a few weeks. I've actually been doing a great deal of sorting and organizing of my stash, and I had too much disorder and chaos to make a space to craft at home. I forgot to get a picture, but one night I cleaned out all the drawers in the kitchen that had various papers in them and ended up with a big bag of recycling.

I do this clean-up every year. Every year, I call my poor friend, who is a bookkeeper and does my taxes for me, to ask her 'Is it 5 years or 7 before I can toss this file folder with the tax info in it?' And every year she says, "It's 7, Tania.' This year, I got smart. I finally wrote 'Toss in 20--' on the front of each folder.

In the process of cleaning up the kitchen, I found 2 cards I forgot to post. The first is one I made at the scrapbook store. They had a make and take day that I missed, but my friend who lives in Parksville (where the store is located) showed me hers and got me the pieces so I could make it. I didn't use it this year, as it's not really my dad's style. I'll probably let a friend have it to use for her dad next year.

The month of June has been a whirlwind of retirements, assemblies, and various other activities. My cousin J, aka as The Terrific Twelve Year Old, completed grade 7 this year. Her mom and I threw her and her friends a 'Welcome To Summer/Graduation' type party. They had a blast. Food, music and hanging out in the backyard.

Here she is with her certificate and school picture

And her teachers.

The candy buffet she set up... I provided the dishes. We saw the ideas on Pinterest and she was hooked. She did NOT get the fancy bowls, though... not worth the money (and, happily, she saw it that way, too). It left more money for the 'disco ball she asked me to get for her.

Now, when she first said those words, I was leery. Really, what is an almost 13 yr. old going to do with a mirror ball after the party? Luckily she actually wanted this:

Why do I fear this could be a sgn of communication miscues to come?