Southernmost Point - Key West

My pictures from our Key West trip went well with the layout sketch over at PK Glitz so I had to try it out. I also tried something new for me - that background is a little bit more on the wild side per my usual - by matching up with the marker in the pictures! So that I didn't cover up too much of the background, I used a transparency sheet embossed with the cuttlebug circles folder under my photos. My journaling square turned into a triangle that also matches the marker. It was a fun page to make...hope you enjoy!

Here's the sketch:

Here's my take:

DETAILS:

Paper - Solids (Martha Stewart, DCWV)

Stamps - Alphabet (Hampton Arts), Flower (Studio G), Ink (Colorbox), Embossing Powder (Stampendous), Journaling lines (Waltzingmouse Stamps)

First 5K

My page for the Scrap Our Stash challenges is up! This page fits in with the June challenge - Stitching (an entry is due by tomorrow if you still want to participate!) and the Sketch #2 challenge (this one is due by July 15!).

There's lots of stitching going on with this page: the background patterned paper is a series of stitch lines and I stitched all of the red and green panels. The sketch that fellow DT member Robin submitted went perfectly with my photos, which were part of a collage print that I had printed at Walgreens that I just simply cut apart. That tip was part of my Frugal Friday post on the same site and here on this blog.

This page is about my first 5K race back home in Iowa. With working on RunMonster, I've now turned into a runner as I do testing of the various features in the app. I completed the Couch 2 5K program in time to make it for the Symphony of Lights 5K around Thanksgiving. It was DH's first 5K too although it wasn't as big of a challenge for him to run the race, hence why there are photos of me running because he decided to run backwards during some of it. The experience was great fun. We later did the Bay 2 Breakers 12K in May....a layout of that race will be coming soon. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas 2009

I was inspired to get a Christmas page done when I saw the latest Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge. I think part of it was also my friend Belinda's little wreath on a window sample too. But anyway, here's the sketch:

And here's my take:

I went back to the first Waltzingmouse Stamps set that I purchased: Sewing Box Christmas with the little holly leaves. My craft desk was littered with the little leaves last night as I turned it into an assembly line of stamping, clear embossing, and cutting. It took until today to really set up the wreath on the paper how I wanted it (which including needing about three more leaves). I decided to add some dimension by popping up a leaf here and there. Buttons in pearl red completed the deal. And what's a wreath without some sort of bow, or in my case a star tag from the Seasons of Love - Tags set!

Thanks for stopping by!

DETAILS:
Paper - Solid (Martha Stewart, Making Memories - Fa La La), Patterned (Making Memories - Fa La La)
Stamps - Holly Leaf (Waltzingmouse Stamps, Sewing Box Christmas), Star Tag (Waltzingmouse Stamps, Seasons of Love - Tags), Ink (Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Pine Needes, Color Box - Black and Maroon, Ranger Watermark Resist), Embossing Powder (A La Mode)

Frugal Friday Tip - Scrap Our Stash

This week's Frugal Friday Tip for Scrap Our Stash is by me! (since the post is already up on Scrap Our Stash, I decided to move up this post...)

For this Frugal Friday tip, it sometimes pays to pay attention to your junk email, specifically those that offer things for free! It was by doing this that I stumbled upon a Walgreens email that offered a free 8x10 collage print. No strings attached, just a free 8x10. I've since seen that they do the same promotion every few weekends, especially for holidays (one such offer was just last weekend for Father's Day).

Anyway, I've found collage prints to be a fun and easy way to get a variety of picture sizes for a one-page layout with multiple photos. With my series of photos in this post you can see I start off with one of these collage 8x10 prints I had printed of a recent trip to the Hemingway House in Key West, Florida. The process was easy to create the print online: just upload your photos, select collage print, and shuffle the photos around until you get the proportions that you desire. Getting the print can be done in a store or shipped (for a little extra). 

For this particular event, I wanted the picture of my DH and his kitty buddy on the bench as my focal point. I simply shuffled the photos on the store's website until I liked the proportions of the resulting collage layout with a bigger picture of my focal image. The sketch below the print and furthest to the right is one I found that would work for multiple photos of about the same size as I have here. (As a side note: you may have a sketch in mind when you make your collage print or do what I've done here and find a sketch after the fact; either way works!)

My second picture shows all of the photos cut apart. As the photos have whitespace between them you could also leave borders around the photos. 

Finally, my last photo shows the completed page following the sketch and allowing for different photo sizes. I find this is a great way to get out of a rut of only 4x6 photos, which I was currently in. I would trim up the 4x6's but now collage prints already scale the photos to the various sizes for me! 

As another example, here is a layout that merely uses a 5x7 collage print entirely.

Of course, Walgreens (or any other drug/pharmacy store) is for convenience due to the prints being on sale or sometimes free. This tip can easily be done at home with  your desired photo paper size and a photo printer. Just start off with a canvas in Photoshop of the same size as your paper and drop photos in scaled to different sizes. Thanks for letting me share my Frugal Friday tip! :)

Baby Congrats!

When I heard about two friends of mine that were expecting, I instantly came up with some cards that I could send them to celebrate the occasion. I thought that if such big news was being shared, a card was definitely needed. It was also a great excuse to get out my Who's That Girl? - She's Having A Baby set from My Favorite Things. (I got the set cause I found it cheap and I knew I would be needing it someday...this is that first someday!)

I followed the sketch over at Cute Card Thursdays:




Here's my take:

I went to one of my favorite techniques, paper piecing, for this card. I then used the same paper for the two horizontal panels. Using my resist watermark ink, I stamped the "congratulations," one of the sentiments in the set.

Thanks for stopping by!

DETAILS:
Paper - Solids (Wausau Papers, DCWV), Patterned (K&Co)
Stamps - My Favorite Things - She's Having A Baby, Ink (Colorbox, Watermark Resist), Embossing Powder (A La Mode - Black), Colored Pencils
Embellishments - Bling (Studio G)
Technique - Paper piecing, Sketch

Yet another guy card

I'm kinda having fun making guy cards right now, so I decided to make one more. :) I went in search of a sketch, of course. Having a good sketch is the best starting block I need when creating a card. The sketch I found was the one over at P K Glitz for their guest designer challenge.

Here's the sketch:

Here's my take:

One requirement of the challenge was to use glitter/embossing powder. I decided I would try out my glittery Stampendous embossing powder in royal blue. I teamed that up with Waltzingmouse Stamps Off Beat Backgrounds, the zig zag stamp. I also used the polka dot pattern in the same stamp set. And finally, continuing from my card yesterday I took some more chipboard stars and recovered (they had started out pink), distressed, and made them into buttons with a little twine.

Thanks for stopping by!

DETAILS:
Paper - Solids (Wausau Papers), Patterned (Karen Foster)
Stamps - ZigZag/Polka Dot Stamps (Waltzingmouse Stamps - Off Beat Backgrounds), Watermark Ink (Ranger), Royal Blue Glitter Embossing Powder (Stampendous)
Embellishments - Chipboard Stars (Stash), Twine (Stash)

Waltzingmouse Stamps June Waltz - Guy Cards

Happy WMS Waltz Day! It's the 17th of the month so another waltz is underway at Waltzingmouse Stamps! This month's theme piggy backs on that holiday coming up this weekend, Father's Day. Cards on the waltz celebrate the guys in our lives.

Masculine cards are not always easy to come up with, but Claire has greatly helped the card making community with her Free Spirit stamp sets (sets I still need to get!) and fun plaid patterns in her Off Beat Background and Pic Nic Patterns set. Off Beat Backgrounds was my stamp set of choice in the cards I have to share today. Of course right after this blog post I need to get these little guys in the mail so they even have a chance of getting there at a reasonable, if only slightly late timeframe.

CARD 1:

I did this card last weekend to be on top of my game (why I didn't then take a picture and get it in the mail, I'll never know). Making a plaid pattern with the smaller plaid set was my go-to stamp of choice. This card is the first time I've tried out the plaid, so forgive a few crooked patterns in there. :) The process was quite fun and I know I'll be trying it again soon. Finishing off the card I used a Vintage Labels #1 border stamp and had just the right letters in my stash with these metal coins to spell "father." A little bit of ribbon tucked in opposite sides and the card was complete!

CARD 2:

This one was finished last night. No plaid here, but Off Beat Backgrounds grid lines (engineering paper! and the reason I got this set...hee hee) and faux stitching stamps were itching to be used. I got a little bit of inspiration from a new blog I found Sketches! by {tamara}.

Here's the sketch:




Here's my take:

I'm in the mood for distressing lately so this sketch followed my mood exactly. I found the "Happy Father's Day" sticker in my stash right away and knew it would fit in perfectly. The grid lines are stamped with my watermark ink pad (love that technique!) and then brown stitches complete the frame. A little twine and a chipboard star that started its life pink is now a rough distressed orange with a little paper coverup. :)



With that, I thank you for keeping up with my long post...I just got so excited to show you both when it came down to it. And I do love Waltz Days! Be sure to check out Claire's post with more information on how to participate and win great WMS stamps!

Thanks for stopping by!

Miss You Tree Card

Just a quick little post here as I make sure to make it for the Mojo Monday 142 Challenge. :)

The sketch for this little card is of course inspired by the Mojo Monday challenge, but the colors were from a CARDS magazine publication call. They wanted projects with red, orange and yellow. I set out with those colors and came up with a card but I later deemed it not worthy to submit (maybe it will be posted on this blog sometime). Tried again with these colors the day after the deadline and wondered why it couldn't have been this easy the first time, you know? Anyone ever have that problem: you get some challenges/submission requirements and the day AFTER you figure out something much better?

Anyway, I'm kinda liking the simplicity of this little card and I hope you do too! Now off to scrap some more! :)

DETAILS:
Paper - Solids (Wausau Papers)
Stamps - Grid Background (Waltzingmouse Stamps Off Beat Backgrounds), Ink (Ranger Distress Ink - Antique Linen); Tree (Studio G), Ink (Ranger Distress Ink - Worn Lipstick, Colorbox - Yellow & combined to create the orange); Miss You (Studio G)
Embellishments - Ribbons (Target)
Techniques - Scoring (Martha Stewart Scoring Pad), Distressing (EK Success tool)

Moxie Fab Bicycle Challenge

Over on the Moxie Fab World blog Cath has challenged her readers to create projects with a bicycle theme, specifically the "I Want To Ride My Bicycle Challenge." This is inspired by the many items in the craft world that are starting to take note of the whimsy in bicycles. As I was printing some photos for some other layouts my eye came upon a photo my husband had taken using his iPhone in April. It is a shot of me riding through the sea of yellow flowers along the path that runs along the trails in the South Bay by the Google campus here in Mountain View. I remember being in that field of yellow was quite impressive and I think this photo captures the experience well.

To try and translate that on a scrapbook layout meant that I went outside my usual scrapbooking style, but I wanted that photo to definitely be the focus. I found a stamp that I felt went along well and a perfect vellum sticker from amongst my stash. As I'm getting some enjoyment out of my new scoring board, I figured it would be the best compliment for the rest of the page. I have to admit that it was kinda fun to make this page. And thank you, Cath, for this challenge so that I got to use this little photo! :)

DETAILS:
Paper - Solid (Martha Stewart)
Stamp - Silhouette Spray (Hero Arts), Ink (Color Box - Cocoa)
Embellishments - Phrase Sticker (American Traditional Vellum Sticker), Scoring (Martha Stewart Scoring Board), Corner Punch (EK Success)

Final Peru Page: Plaza de Armas - Cusco

Can you believe it? I'm finished with the Peru scrapbook! This was the last page that I needed to do due to needing to reprint one of the pictures, but I got that done today and now the page is complete too. I started this book back on January 20 (or at least that's when my first blog post was about it) and I guess that means it took me 6 months. The pages are in a black All My Memories scrapbook which I like because it could handle a bigger page count and has a strap for keeping the book together when closed. Not terrible that it was on sale at Archivers long ago too. :)

This book only rivals the two-week European vacation book about DH and I way back in 2006. It is fun to see my style has changed a bit since then. I wasn't aware of scrapbook/card blogs, challenges, sketches and the like. Most of the pages in this Peru book are based on various challenges and I have found that this makes the pages more unique as I tried new techniques and color combinations. So thank you to each challenge that made me step out of the box in my scrapbooking.

This final page fits in with the Creative Prompts 4 You challenge, "Be Green." (No, I didn't plan the green page to fit in too..haha!) For my recyclable I used a bag that we got in Peru from the place we bought some postcards from. Always being one to keep anything in case it might be good for a layout, I stumbled upon this bag when I was making sure I had hit all the high points for this book. I thought it would serve well in creating my own patterned paper. I just simply cut the strips of the Nasca Line drawings apart and put them at an angle, easy!

So with this page I complete the Peru portion of my blogging...haha! I've tagged all of the pages I've posted on this little blog with the label of Peru, so check them all out here if you're interested. Of course not all pages were on my blog, but a good portion of them were. And hopefully if anyone is ever interested in visiting Peru my pages might help you see how much fun it really is.

Thanks for stopping by!

LIM to SFO

With DH off to San Francisco for Apple's WWDC, I find myself with the house to myself for a few days. Of course the cat and my craft desk keep me company too. :) I thought I would take a little break and try to get a few scrapbook layouts finished. My deadline for getting this honeymoon book done is coming quickly (family visits are coming up in July)...and I think I'm ready to move on too. Not that Peru hasn't been fun to scrap!

Towards the end of the book there's always the need for a flying home page. So here's my LIM to SFO layout consisting of pictures of us waiting at the gate for our flight out of Peru. Our time in San Salvador was very brief: get off one plane, go through a bit more security to go to the US, and get right back on another plane, so no pictures there this time. Hubert joined us at Gate 23 in Lima this time though. :)

I found it interesting and worth showing in this layout the tax to get out of Peru ($31.00) seen on the one boarding pass. Every time we were on a flight we had some sort of tax in Peru. I think it was $8 each way for Lima to Cusco. It's an extra step that needs to be done at the airport on top of going through security and getting to the airport with plenty of time helps. And influenced by my DH, I used two sets of my American Crafts Thickers to create the LIM (small airplane) SFO title. DH likes to do that sort of tweet whenever we head out on a plane so I thought it was fitting.

On another note, I got my little photo studio set that I ordered from ThinkGeek. Using a gift card I got for my bday (thanks Mike and Katie!) I decided the sheet and overturned IKEA table was due for an upgrade. I'm already liking the fact that I can do layouts in it too. Hopefully my pictures will only get better from here. Here's my fancy new setup:

Thanks for stopping by!

Scrap Our Stash Sketch Challenge

Be sure to check out the Scrap Our Stash blog today! Yours truly has a layout featured using the first sketch in the Scrap Our Stash Sketch Challenge. The challenge started May 15 and goes until June 15, so still plenty of time to participate.

Fellow design team member Robin provided the sketch:

And here's my take:

This layout is of the food from my travels to Peru. We liked this place so much that we went there twice for the yummy brownie desserts. I tried to incorporate many elements of the sketch with the striped and angled background, title placement, number of focal elements and circles made from ribbon. The ribbon was just something fun to do and I think it turned out pretty neat!


I hope you consider participating in the challenge! :)

Lawn Fawn Kitty Critter

Good morning! I finished this little cute and simple card last night, but as I'm still waiting for my photo box and my previous one (consisting of an upside down table from IKEA and a white sheet) has been dismantled so the table can actually be used as a table, I needed to wait for the morning to take the picture. :)

I got out my new Lawn Fawn Critters in the 'Burbs stamps (The critter sets: Critters in the 'Burbs and Critters in the Sea were too cute to pass up!). Also, my scoring pad, the Martha Stewart one that was on sale at Michaels recently. And using the color combination over at Embellish Magazine, this card was made! I thought a big sentiment went well with the little yellow cat. I'm partial to yellow/orange cats since my own Hannah is an orange tabby. Sometimes she likes to help write us with our computer work even.

Thanks for stopping by!

Challenges:
Embellish Magazine (Color Combo)
Pile It On Challenges (Quirky)
Splitcoast CAS Challenge (Sentiment as focal point)

DETAILS:
Paper - Solids (DCWV & Wausau Papers)
Stamps - Cat (Lawn Fawn Stamps - Critters in the 'Burbs), Ink (Colorbox - Cocoa), Embossing Powder (A La Mode - Clear)
Embellishments - Scoring (Martha Stewart Scoring Pad), Alphabets (American Crafts Thickers)

Waltzingmouse Stamps Sketch Challenge #1 & CPS 170

Long time no post, right? I kinda took a break from my craft desk for a better part of a week to focus on some computer programming, you know, that thing that I went to school to do. With the release of RunMonster to the App Store, things have gotten a little more exciting around here as we try to answer user feedback and start hyping the app to new customers. We had one big break last week that gave many hits to the website and we now have more than 3500 downloads! Cool, huh? Of course, all good apps need to keep updating so there's always more work to be done!

But today after successfully moving my craft desk to our spare bedroom I had a little time to play. First off was to make sure to get an entry in for the Waltzingmouse Stamps Sketch Challenge #1. Claire and her design team kicked off a new challenge blog Saturday with the first sketch. As a big fan of WMS and sketches, this is right up my alley!

Here's the sketch:


Here's my take:

I decided to use Faux Fun Circles and Fancy Phrases for my card today. I am also very much into using my distress inks and pulled out my new Worn Lipstick color for the first time. I love how the color just fills in the background of the stamps with this technique! This was my first time using the Fancy Phrases stamps too and I am liking that many of them fit in that fancy little circle space. :)

Challenges:
* WMSC 1 (sketch)


And once I got going, I couldn't just stop at one card. I needed a graduation card here soon too, so that inspired the theme of my next card.

I used CPS 170:





Here's my take:

Keeping this card simple was the name of the game here. For one, it's for DH's cousin so I didn't think he'd appreciate girly elements. I did make it fun by being sure to use the school colors (Oregon State) though since he's in the band. As a band geek myself, I know school pride runs pretty high. I did take liberty in flipping the sketch vertically. The main focal point is a graduation sticker from a set I've had in my stash forever. So nice to use my stash!

Challenges:
* CPS 170 (sketch)

So I know things got a little long here, but thanks for sticking with me. I hope to get in a few more projects along with my coding to keep up the blog with fresh posts. I do enjoy this little blog of mine. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

DETAILS:
(card 1)
Paper - Black Polka Dot (DCWV) & Stash (don't you love it when scraps can be used?)
Stamps - Waltzingmouse Stamps (Fancy Phrases and Faux Fun Circles), Ink (Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Worn Lipstick), Embossing Powder (A La Mode)
Embellishments - Ribbon (Michaels), Button (Stash), Dry Embossing (Cuttlebug Folder - Swirls)

(card 2)
Paper - Patterned (Basic Grey), Solids (DCWV)
Image - Graduation Sticker (Sandy Lion)
Embellishments - Border Punch (Fiskers)