Get Sketchy #7: Baby Congrats

A friend of mine doesn't know she's getting this little card, but she recently let everyone know that she was pregnant. I thought it only fitting to send a little card her way.

I followed the Get Sketchy #7 sketch for this card.

DETAILS:

Paper - Solids from Die Cuts With A View, Swiss Dot Green by Bazzil Basics

Ribbon - "Congratulations" by Martha Stewart

Flowers - Prima

Brads - Joann's

Shape - Baby Carriage from Quickutz Silhouette library

I'm Seeing Green!

I couldn't help but make another card tonight. I know, you'd think after 7 cards in as many days for the Caardvarks Sketchfest I would want a break but I just had to get one more done for some great challenges that I recently found. I was able to combine a few into one card.

First there's the reason for the green-ness of this card. That is for Waltzing Mouse Stamps by Claire Brennan. Just a few days ago came across her blog and stamp store from a link from my fellow stamping friend Belinda. I am quite impressed by her stamps, especially the new ones she'll be launching on Tuesday! She definitely knows how to make her stamps versatile! Claire, your stamps are awesome! I'll definitely be checking out Waltzing Mouse Stamps more often. :)

Unfortunately I don't own any Waltzing Mouse Stamps at the moment, so my favorite stamps are from Studio G. Yes, they are the $1 stamps, but I have found this little set very versatile (coincidence, I think not...I like versatility in my stamps) and love the little background stamp and this butterfly. I used both in recent challenges here and here. What better way to combine the two than with this card!

Next, Our Creative Corner (OCC) came up with a challenge this week for making monochromatic cards. They could be any color, just once you picked that color, you were limited in only using shades of that color. In keeping with the Waltzing Mouse challenge, I just extended it for OCC's challenge by keeping my entire card green! The design team examples were amazing! Such inspiration! I did find that doing all one color is quite fun.

Finally, the Stamp Something Challenge Blog (another new find on my part of blogs I'll be following) has the challenge to "do something with your favorite sketch or layout." This sketch by Heidi Van Laar has to be my favorite and one that I did here for the Caardvarks Sketchfest. I also had done something similar here (card #3) awhile back. I just love the three panels!

Here's the sketch:

So, whew! I think that's it. A lot packed into one little card! Thanks for stopping by!

DETAILS:

Layout - Sketch by Heidi Van Laar

Paper - Die Cuts With A View Solids, Pattern Paper for Butterflies from K&Company, Custom printed paper with Studio G Stamp

Stamps - Studio G Bohemian

Alphas - Paper Studio

Ribbon - Target

Embossing Powder - A La Mode - Clear

Caardvarks: Sketchfest Saturday - Final Sketch!

Final day of the Caardvarks Sketchfest! Can hardly believe that I've done 7 cards in as many days. The sketches were all by Heidi Van Laar and she's definitely made me go beyond my comfort zone in a few of these to test my card making skills. It's all been in fun though and I really enjoyed the week...thank you to Caardvarks and Heidi!

My dear husband gave me the idea for this little card today to end my Sketchfest experience by saying I should make a Halloween card, so that's what got made. I didn't put up much of a fight because I wanted to try out the black/purple combination I've seen from other blogs and I had some cute Halloween ribbon that I recently got at Target. (I swear the $1 bin ribbons just keep jumping into my basket every time I go by!)

Took one of my Michaels $1 stamps by Recollections and modified it a bit with the leaves to make it a bit more 3D and found the little ghost on one of my printed papers. They both got popped up with foam squares. Doubled up my Target ribbons too. Aren't the little stars cute?

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for the wonderful comments! Congrats to all Sketchfest participants that made it through the week!

DETAILS:

Paper - Patterned Purple by K&Company, Black Scalloped Edge Cardstock by Paper Studio, Ghost from Unknown Patterned Paper

Stamps - "Happy Halloween" by Studio G, Pumpkin by Recollections

Ribbons - Target

Other - Black Embossing Powder used on Pumpkin, Circle cut out by Fiskers Circle Cutter

Caardvarks: Sketchfest Friday

Day 6! I really love this sketch for today's Caardvarks Sketchfest! I thought I would revisit a technique I have used before by making panels from one of my linear type stamps from Hero Arts. And while I understand I'm in a slight rut with brown backgrounds for my last 3 cards, this time I did it on purpose to do the really pretty pink and brown combination...I hadn't done this color combination in a long time and had an itch to do it. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

DETAILS:

Paper - Solids by Paper Studio, Brown Striped by Quick Quotes

Ribbon - Friendship Lines by KI

Stamps - Flower Swirl by Hero Arts, "Hello Friend" by Studio G

Caardvarks: Sketchfest Thursday

Hanging in there in the Caardvarks Sketchfest? We're on day 5!

Here's my take on the sketch for Sketchfest Thursday. I'm a little later than usual with my card post but I did have fun making it. I used inspiration from the design team and used a big flower as my side focal point. Then I had a heck of a time trying to figure out what to do with the group of three. Finally it came down to just smaller flowers! Yay! See, simple! Now how come it took me like 3 hours to come up with that? :)

Like that ribbon I used? Yea, it was originally a light tan and I could barely read the "Happy Birthday." Add some darker marker to it and "tada" now the text pops! I'm so happy that that part worked out easily.

Alright, it's late...enough of my rambles. Good luck to all the other participants and thanks all for your lovely comments!

DETAILS:

Paper - Flowers cut from Colorbok 12x12 sheets, Dot paper by K & Company

Ribbon - "Happy Birthday" by Martha Stewart

Button - Dress it Up

Caardvarks: Sketchfest Wednesday

And on to Day 4 of the Caardvarks Sketchfest! I pretty much kept to the sketch as is this time. I liked the idea of layering 3 papers in the bottom corner...fun sketch! I had a heck of a time getting three yellow papers from my stash to play nicely together though and instead introduced the greens. I think it worked out well in the end.

The dinner party last night went well. We had 4 guests, yummy taco soup, and even yummier margaritas! The place did get clean, and to prove it, I'm including a picture of my crafty area! (Course after making this card things moved around again, but you get the idea) This area sits behind our couch, which serves to divide the living room and my craft area. It's what you do when you live in a little place! We have another bedroom that is empty now that I could move it to but DH and I have found we can socialize more in this arrangement...and he can usually help with creative input for which I'm grateful! Just that it comes with a bit more pressure to keep it clean. :)

Now on to the card!

DETAILS:

Paper - Insert Paperned Paper by W R Memory Keepers, Background Patterned Paper by Unknown, Solid Yellow by Paper Studio

Alpha Rub-Ons - American Crafts

Caardvarks: Sketchfest Tuesday

Day 3....

Here's my entry for Caardvark's Sketch for Tuesday. I moved the sketch to its side. First this card was going to be all purple, then I liked the polka dot piece and then blue and green came into the mix. Isn't it interesting how that happens? I did get to use some Thickers that I had been hoarding for a bit though. :)

Now off to clean this house! We're having company tonight for taco soup and I swear that the place only really gets clean when there is the incentive that people will be seeing it. haha!

Thank you to all that comment....I will try and make my rounds for comments after dinner hopefully. Good luck to all Sketchfest participants!

DETAILS:

Paper - Colorbok Cardstock with Punchouts

Alphas - American Crafts Thickers

Embellishments - Making Memories

Caardvarks: Sketchfest Monday

Day 2 of the Caardvarks Sketchfest!

I went with my new butterfly stamp on this round's card. I also tried a new technique for me of paper piecing each butterfly's wings. I think I'm just liking this Fiskers cutting tool too much. I then went with a brown card design to finish the sketch...just felt right to do I guess. I am happy to have used these chipboard alphas from Colorbok as they have been in my stash for awhile now.

Thanks for stopping by! Good luck to all of the other Sketchfest participants!

DETAILS:

Paper - K & Company for patterned paper, Paper Reflections for white and brown

Ribbon - Target

Stamp - Studio G

Alphas - Colorbok

Other - Distress Tool used around butterfly panel

Sweet Stop: SSS22

I was directed to The Sweet Stop blog by my friend the other day. I noticed that they were having a "Sketch with a Spin." Before the challenge post went out I instantly thought of pinwheels from the word "spin". Knew I didn't have to incorporate that into the sketch at all and found out that the "spin" was that there was a color combo specified to go along with the sketch. Well, I still had the pinwheel thing going in my mind so ta-da! there's a pinwheel on my card! It moves too! (you have to help it, but it does move)

Anyway, I also got to use this cute little background stamp from Studio G (yes, more $1 stamps!) that I got the other day. I think it turned out super cute. So anyway, I had pinwheels on the brain with this card....

Hope you enjoy and thanks for stopping by!

DETAILS:

Paper - All from Paper Reflections

Stamp - Border Flower/Line Stamp from Studio G

Pinwheel Template - Template from Heather Bailey

Embellishments - Buttons from Dress It Up, Brads from Making Memories

Pals Paper Arts PPA8: KISS Challenge

Over at Pals Paper Arts they are having a KISS challenge (Keep It Simple, Sweetie). I thought instantly of these little stamps that I got in the Michael's and Target $1 bins. I enjoy getting a lot of stamps for so little! While the card is simple, it took a steady hand to get that little leaf cut out....but not too shabby for my first attempt with just a little Fiskers blade! (After doing the spider for this card, I couldn't bare being so restricted with scissors as my only way to cut out cute little stamped designs.) After that was done, the card assembly was very simple. I hope you enjoy and thanks for stopping by!

DETAILS

Paper - Orange by Bazzil Basics, Rusty Red by Paper Reflections

Stamps - "Falling For You" and leaf trail line by Studio G, Leaf from Target

Other - Gold and Black inks by Studio G, Clear embossing powder by A La Mode

Caardvarks: Sketchfest Sunday

So the ladies at Caardvarks are offering quite a challenge this week...7 sketches in as many days! Today marks the first sketch and I will admit that the oval definitely threw me off for a good part of the day before I could really get into the groove of being crafty. My Quickutz Silhouette helped with that part and then I was free to be a bit more creative. Not that anything wanted to cooperate exactly but I am pleased with the final result. I plan to give this card to my dear friend that was my Maid of Honor. We live way too far apart now, but I think she'll like getting something fun like this in the mail. :)


Now to see what comes next tomorrow!

DETAILS:

Paper - Patterned Green from K & Company, Tan from Paper Reflections, Swiss Dot Green from Bazzil Basics

Stamp - Little Chick and "Hello Friend" from Studio G

Embellishents - Ribbon from Target, Green Flourish by Making Memories, Flower from Prima Flowers, Brad from JoAnn's Essentials

SPCC #14 Top 5!

WHOO HOO! I was pleasantly surprised to visit the SPCC blog today and found my little hot cocoa card I made for SPCC #14 featured as one of the Top 5! Thank you to the SPCC Divas for choosing my card! I feel so special. I added my Top 5 button on my sidebar. If you're interested in color combos be sure to check out the SPCC.

On cloud nine...

SPCC Color Combo #15 & 2 Sketches 4 You Sketch #35

I was busy again last night making another card! This time I made a Halloween card with my new goodies I got at Joann's (I just love that $1 bin!). I've also been blog hopping a lot lately and saw so many new techniques that I want to try. So for this card I combined the SPCC #15 color combo of rust, black, and white and the 2S4Y Sketch #35 for my layout (just flipped), adding techniques of distressing the black and creating my own "designer" paper by stamping and embossing the candy corn on the rust paper. I even cut out that little spider! I had a lot of fun making this card and I hope that you enjoy it too.

Thanks for stopping by!

DETAILS:

Paper - Paper Reflections Rust Orange, Black, White

Stamps - Spider by Recollections, "Happy Halloween" and Candy Corn by Studio G

Ink - Black Ink by Studio G, Embossing Powder Clear by A La Mode

Embellishments - Flowers by Making Memories, Card Holder by Joann's, Ribbon from Target, Distress Tool used on Black

Get Sketchy #5: New Home Card

I needed a card for my aunt since she just bought a new house and moved last weekend. Thought it would be a nice thing to do so that she gets mail at her new place, and from California too! With that in mind, I found this cute little house sketch after just doing a Google search and went from there. I used the Get Sketchy #5 challenge sketch as the card layout inspiration. This card is also my first attempt at using my new Fiskers Circle Cutter...I did alright with it, but definitely need some practice!

Enjoy and thanks for stopping by!

Showing the inside, where I put the other panel of the sketch, where some of it is seen when the card is shown but the continuation is inside.

DETAILS:
Paper - K & Company, House found on Internet and colored with colored pencils
Flowers - Prima Flowers
Brads - Recollections and Making Memories
Stamp - "Thinking of You" by Studio G
Ribbon - "Guy Lines" by KI

Back to Scrappin'

The whole purpose of this blog was to be a place to share my scrapbook pages, life, and other randomness. It seems that the randomness, while still crafty, took over for quite some time and today I'm finally getting back to the scrapping that is the spotlight of this blog. Due to some not so subtle hints from DH I am finally starting my 2009 scrapbook. Our first adventure was to Chicago right after the holidays in January but before DH (at that time FI) was to head back to California after spending the holidays with my family. Since he had a flight out of Midway we figured a fun weekend in Chicago was in order. The highlight of the trip and of course this page was seeing the show "Jersey Boys." If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it..."Wicked" first, but "Jersey Boys" a close second.

DETAILS:

Paper - All from Paper Reflections

Title - Font from daFont.com "Ballpark Weiner," Die-cut by Quickutz Silhouette

Embellishments - Cuttlebug/Sizzix Dot Border, Prima Flowers, Recollections Brads, Fiskers Flower Punch

JessicaLynnOriginal Sketch Challenge #2

So after I submitted my entry for the Sheetload of Cards challenge, I checked out JessicaLynnOriginal's stamp site (she's the sponsor of the Sheetload challenge). The stamps over there are SUPER CUTE! Anyway, found her blog and saw that she's hosting a challenge of her own. Seemed simple enough so I thought I would try it out. Here's what I came up with:

The sketch was actually quite fun! Hope you enjoy and thanks for stopping by!

DETAILS:

Paper - All from Colorbok

Stamp - Michaels $1 bin

Embellishments - Flowers from Hero Arts, Pomegranate Punch Ribbon Paper Trim from Flair Designs, Buttons from Dress It Up

Sheetload of Cards: September Challenge

Tried out the new Sheetload sketch last night. The added requirement this month was to make the cards fall themed. I found this little turkey and the sentiments and had to make that my focus for this card. I hope you enjoy!

DETAILS:

Paper - Red, Orange, Yellow from Die Cuts With A View Mat Stacks, Brown Glitter and Brown Leaf from Sarapapers Paper Pizzaz Sheets

Embellishments - Turkey, "happy," and "turkey day" from Colorbok Doo-Dads

Die-Cut Pattern - Orange cut with Quickutz Silhouette Digital Design file, Scalloped Circle

SPCC: Color Combo #14 & Moxie Fab: Around the House

SPCC offered up a "guy" color combo this week of Ballet Blue, Soft Suede, and Basic Grey. My card could probably go for about anyone I would think though (although the DH has already said that it should be his). Then Moxie Fab World wanted projects that feature "around the house" items.

The inspiration for this card was the little sentiment that I found in a blister pack I had bought awhile ago at Big Lots from Around the Block. The "Happiness is Chocolate" just fit the color scheme so well! To go along with my sentiment I figured I needed some hot chocolate in a mug...and as I was playing around with my Quickutz Silhouette last night I found a cute little coffee/cocoa/latte mug set on the digital design store. It still amazes me that that little machine can cut these TINY little details out so well! I almost have to watch it that I don't ruin the die cut more than worrying about the machine! But I am learning and having fun in the process. I also pulled out my glue pen for this card...why hadn't I used it before? Makes life so much easier! :)

I hope you enjoy!

DETAILS:

Paper - Brown, Grey, and Blue from Paper Reflections, Glitter Brown from Sarapapers Paper Pizazz Sheets

Sentiment - "Happiness is Chocolate" from Around The Block Fun Words

Ribbon - American Crafts

Embossing Powder - Stamp N Stuff

Die-Cut - Mug set from Quickutz Silhouette Digital Store

2 Sketches 4 You: Laura's Sketch 34

I have seen a lot of people say they are doing the 2 Sketches 4 You challenges and this week I had to play along! The sketch was clean and simple so I kept with that theme and went super easy on my card too. This card only took like 15 minutes (would have been less but as I was already playing around with my heat gun last night, I decided to emboss the sentiment here too). I think my husband is still a little leery of me making holiday cards already but we'll appreciate it come December when it's time to send them all out!

DETAILS:

Paper - Die Cuts With A View

Snowflake - Walmart Christmas

Ribbon - Target

Stamp - "Let it Snow" border Penny Black Inc.

Embossing Powder - Stamp N Stuff

Christmas in September

It's hard to think of Christmas already, and especially with moving to California where I won't be worrying about driving in snow anymore, but card makers and challenges are starting to get into the holiday spirit nowadays. I had to join in on the action and make this fun little snowflake card! Enjoy!

This little card goes along with the Caardvarks sketch challenge (Sketch 3) and Moxie Fab World's holiday stamp challenge.

Details
Paper: Snowflakes by Creative Imaginations, Textured Blue by Unknown
Brads: Recollections Bright Mini Circles
Stamps: Snowflake and Happy Holidays by The Paper Studio
Ribbon: Target
Buttons: Dress It Up