Doily Congrats with WMS

I needed a wedding card for the wedding DH and I will be attending this weekend. As the bride and groom are more outdoor people and the wedding is in Yosemite, I went with a green and brown color scheme. But then to add some daintiness to the card, I went with Waltzingmouse's Doily stamps and some seam binding lace. I think it will go along well with the wedding in the great outdoors!

As for me, I'm also looking forward to my first trip to Yosemite!


Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday with Lace and WMS

Hello! Just a short post as it is getting a little late here, and I need to head to bed! I just finished this card for a friend I'll be meeting up with tomorrow. I will miss her birthday this weekend but we're going to meet up for dinner and a drink for the occasion. :)

I used some of my seam binding lace in various yellows, oranges, and reds. Then all the stamps are from Waltzingmouse Stamps.

Thanks for stopping by!

Marin County Fair

It's so great not doing pages in chronological order. If I did, I would be about in May 2010 for my general scrapping book and then July 2009 to get my wedding book even started! I had made the switch a while ago, but just being able to do another page from just last month still makes me happy. I thought the pictures from our trip to the Marin County Fair were just so fun and would be a fun page to scrap. Coming off the page about the Sonoma State Beach page, this is another in that weekend.

I wanted the pictures to tell the story more than anything. And as I chose this particular fair because of the graphic promotional materials (that's what DH says anyway), I had to include one of the main graphics from the map brochure. :) This was also the opportunity for DH to try out cotton candy for our "cotton" anniversary. We ate some of it, but it was more just the thought that counted since it wasn't his favorite.

Thanks for stopping by!

Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Hop - Flower Power!

Hello! Welcome to the next stop on the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Hop. You should have come from Rachel's Blog. If not, be sure to start at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog for all the hop participants.

This month those hopping along are showing off creative ways of using flowers with our counterfeit kits for July. Now my entry in the hop is about Christmas, and no, I wasn't trying to do the whole "Christmas in July" thing...it just happened that way! I was inspired by one of the Gallery Idol participant's take on the current fabric challenge for the Top 10. She did embroidery with the help of this great stitch tutorial. To make a long story short, I figured the same could be done with crinkle ribbon, or in my case, lace trim!

So in the bottom right is my take on the flower challenge. I did the lazy daisy stitch with the help of drawing a circle on the layout and punching holes with my Big Bite. I then threaded the lace ribbon in petals of the flowers. I finished the flowers off with some fun Christmas brads. On top of that, I used the Twisted Sketches #111 sketch from this week as my inspiration for my layout.

And there you have it. Thanks for stopping by. Your next stop is off to Glinda's Blog!

Here's the list in case you are interested:

Counterfeit Kit Challenge:  http://counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com/

Karen:  http://icouldbescrapbookinginstead.blogspot.com/

Milissa:  http://millermall.blogspot.com/

Angela:  http://colestoucan.blogspot.com/

Christy:  http://myscrapbookevolution.blogspot.com/

Emily: http://aplaceformyscraps.blogspot.com/

Alanna:  http://scrapping-and-life.blogspot.com/

Linda:  http://lindaspaperie.blogspot.com/
Caryn:  http://thescorpiancrafter.blogspot.com/

Rachel:  http://creativekokes.wordpress.com/

Laurie:  http://lalybi.blogspot.com/

Glinda:  http://razzledscrapper.blogspot.com/

Gabrielle:  http://nomorelittlemonkeys.blogspot.com/ 

Sonoma Coast - Counterfeit Kit Challenge Layout

Hello!

I'm finally posting a layout that I've had on my desk a few days, just waiting to be glued down. This is a layout from July 4th weekend with my DH as we explored up north in Sonoma County along the coast. I was inspired to do these pictures now due to one of the pieces of paper in my Counterfeit Kit with a bunch of summery sayings by American Crafts. Instead of using the page whole, I cut apart the sayings to make my own kind of paper. And some of the little flower images in the page turned into cool buttons with the help of my new button tool! :)

I can barely believe that July is almost over! Summer is going by too fast!

Thanks for stopping by!

Sometimes good things take time...

So in May I posted a layout about my trip to the Great American Ballpark with my bestest friend in Cincinnati. It fit the Waltzingmouse Stamps waltz theme for red, white and blue. It used the Bitty Banners from WMS.

I was happy with it, but after taking the picture of it to put on the blog, the layout sat out of an album (I need to reorganize what I'm doing with my albums since the latest one is bursting...but that's for another time). Every time that I came into my craft space I felt there was something missing to the layout. So one day I just tried a few more things: added the white stars from the Way Out West WMS set and the chipboard sayings. I also had the bright idea to emboss the stars....

DO NOT PUT A HEAT GUN BY SPORTS TICKETS!

I accidentally started to turn the tickets on the layout black on the side! So then the layout sat out of an album again for a few weeks. I needed something to hide that unsightly burn mark. Enter the star from The Craft's Meow set designed by Claire of WMS! This was what I needed for the theme of red, white and blue and the baseball theme of the pictures.

So here's what it now looks like. I think I'm finally happy that the layout has that extra punch that it was lacking. I even added a baseball with an epoxy pop dot sticker. Nothing like making your own embellishments! What do you think? The second round a bit better? Would you have even known that I had burned the tickets if I hadn't told you?

July Counterfeit Kit!

It may be halfway through July already, but I didn't want to miss out on participating with the July Counterfeit Kit Challenge. I had a great time picking papers for this kit. As there are a lot of little pieces in the original kit, I just plan to put those in as I create my projects rather than pick them out. But I was able to include a few fun other things including polka dot letters, travel Thickers and a Smash book date stamp. See, it's new in the package...I think it's time to take it out!

You might also see I got another fun toy thrown in there too. I was so lucky to get picked for the June prize over at the Counterfeit Kit blog! Woot! I'm going to try to use it in my July kit for sure. Thanks again to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge coordinators and SoCal Scrapbooks (the June sponsor).

Now to make some fun projects!

Mojo Monday #198 - Happy Birthday

A simple red, white and black card for the latest Mojo Monday contest. I was inspired to use just one accent color due to the buttons for the flowers. I even included a little lace...a rarity for me! Stamps are Papertrey Ink (Everyday Button Bits) and Waltzingmouse Stamps (Frame It).

Thanks for stopping by!

July 4th Weekend and WMSC54

Just a quick little post about the July 4th weekend and a card for the Waltzingmouse Stamps Sketch Challenge #54.

My card for WMSC54 is the card that I gave to my husband for our anniversary this past long weekend. It's our second anniversary so the theme is cotton, but I couldn't help but to incorporate a little paper too. For cotton, we got some cotton candy at the county fair that we went to. :) It was the first time my husband had ever tried cotton candy! The sentiment for the card is from Half Pint Heroes.



Here's a few other pictures from the weekend. We drove up to Santa Rosa Sunday after attending the Marin Country Fair. Then Monday was a tour of the coast at Sonoma Coast State Park with stops in Sonoma itself and Napa. We even caught some fireworks Monday night back at home...a perfect ending to the anniversary weekend.

Thanks for stopping by!

Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Hop!

It's that time again...the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Hop! This month the theme is "The I's Have It," where each counterfeiter shows how they interpret the challenge incorporating the letter "I." If you have come from Milissa's Blog, you're on the right track. (You can refer to the list below or return to the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog if you get lost along the way.)


With that out of the way, I present to you my interpretation of the challenge. I don't usually do layouts just about myself, but since I had a birthday photo from last month that I wanted to scrap, I thought I would give it a try. The picture was a fun one of the Angry Birds that my DH got for me. Pair that up with the calendar page from Fancy Pants Designs that I have now included in two counterfeit kits, I was determined to use it this time!

I found some fun number/calendar stamps by Autumn Leaves at a recent used stamp sale at a LSS too. I found these were perfect for the calendar blocks. And the title, since it was my 29th birthday recently, seemed appropriate. :) You can always hope to not turn 30, right? Hee hee!


So there you have it... Thanks for stopping by my little blog on your hopping journey. Your next stop is Amarilys' Blog. I can't wait to see what everyone came up with for this challenge. I hope you enjoy the hop! 




Here's the blog hop list for reference:

Counterfeit Kit Challenge:  http://counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com/

Karen:  http://icouldbescrapbookinginstead.blogspot.com/

Milissa:  http://millermall.blogspot.com/

Laurie:  http://lalybi.blogspot.com/   <--- You're here!

Amarilys:  http://amadrian8.blogspot.com/

Rinda:  http://gallorganico.blogspot.com/

Stacey:  http://ohschwietscrap.blogspot.com/

Helen:  http://craftimperfect.blogspot.com/
Emily: http://aplaceformyscraps.blogspot.com/

Becca:  http://lajoliefleurrouge.blogspot.com/

Glinda:  http://razzledscrapper.blogspot.com/

Jen:  http://jennifer-shaw.blogspot.com/

Bethany:  http://inspiredscrapper-bethany.blogspot.com/ 

Ad-Inspired Card Layout

Over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog, one of the June mini challenges is to create something with inspiration from an advertisement. I found this Citi ad and thought it would make a great card layout.

Here's the ad:

Here's my take with a card using papers from my June kit:

A fun challenge! And I used my June counterfeit kit! This is only my first project for the month I've posted, but I am ready for the Counterfeit Kit Blog Hop on the 28th, so this card is actually my second project I've created. With a few days left of course, I hope it isn't the last.

Thanks for stopping by!

WMS June Waltz - July 4th/Americana!

So there was no need to schedule this post. I just finished this page for the waltz today. Doesn't get more Americana than a baseball game, does it? This layout is from my trip to see my best friend in Ohio for a Cincinnati Reds game, which happened to be opening night of the Reds' season. And this California girl had to borrow a winter coat that night cause it was a little chilly by the river! Hee hee! I used Bitty Banners for some fun Americana banner embellishments to the page.

Okay, a short post cause I'm now going to head to bed. I look forward to seeing what everyone else creates for this month's waltz. Be sure to check out the WMS Forum for all the waltz details!

Thanks...now to catch some zzz's! :)

WMSC #51 & Gallery Idol

Just a quick post today. I wanted to make sure that I got this card submitted as I've been working on it for the past two evenings. It has a lot of fussy cutting to get all those flower layers. I did think that layering the little flower images in the Say It With Style set was the perfect excuse to combine the WMSC51 sketch (by a good friend even!) and a submission for the Gallery Idol open auditions. It was the inspiration for the scored box and the three flowers. I want to say that I just flipped the sketch so it was from the left instead too. You can see it right? I teamed the flowers with the trusty "Congratulations" sentiment from the same set.

Here's the sketch:

Thanks for stopping by!

Counterfeit Kit Challenge - The June Kit

After participating in the Counterfeit Kit Challenge a few months back and skipping a few months as I was busy with school, I am happy to say that I'm all ready for June! I enjoy putting together the counterfeit kit based off a brand new kit because it helps me shop my stash, where in some cases I find papers I didn't even know I really had! That goes for this June kit, for example. Here's my kit:

There are a lot of flowers and pink in this particular kit. Flowers and pink are things I like about the papers when I am shopping scrapbook stores, but I seem to keep to simple designs and even plain cardstock a lot lately in my scrapbook pages. But by trying to stay as true to the challenge inspiration kit as possible, I'm hoping to stretch my creativity limits with the pages and projects I use it for this month. I have no particular projects, photos or layouts in mind when I look at this kit right now, but I am looking forward to what I'm going to do with it. (One thing I do have in mind is making my own embellished butterflies, hence the inclusion of my trusty Martha Stewart butterfly punch.)

Best of all, I get to participate in the Counterfeit Kit Challenge again! I look forward to seeing what others do with the same kit as inspiration.

Thanks for stopping by!

WMSC #50 & June CASE Competition

I needed a birthday card for a friend. I never seem to have enough birthday cards on hand. Heck, I don't have the biggest stash of cards to just give out...need to work on that! But when I do need one, I know the latest Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge is always a good place to look for inspiration. Sketch #50 was no exception. I also decided to base my card off of DT member Anya's card she made for the same sketch. I just changed around which WMS stamps I used: the cupcake from Frame It and the polka dots from Off-Beat Backgrounds. I really liked the simplicity of the design.

Be sure to check out the WMSC50 and June CASE competition going on. :)

Now off to the post office with this one so it can make it to its destination on time, hopefully!

Thanks for stopping by!

New additions to the family

Little did we know when we adopted two new kittens into our family how helpful around the house they would be. They help you use your computer (or iPad) and then even help with the laundry! Guess they are keepers! Also, since they have now been officially scrapped they have to stay in the family now. :)

Meet Pixie (the black and white) and Micron (the grey and white). They are our two new members of the family. We got them last weekend and have been working on getting Hannah used to not being the only cat in the house. So far, so good, as long as we take it slow. She at least stays in the same room as the rest of the family now. The first few days she wanted nothing to do with us if we had kittens in our laps. But can you blame her? If anything, having the kittens has brought more kitten-like qualities to her though. She loves that we have new toys and play with her fishing pole and feather toys more now, even if she does have to share them with these newcomers.

For this layout I was inspired by the sketch over at Sketch Support. It looked like a fun sketch to try out and I'm liking the use of the four different papers. Sketches are good at making me stretch out and do some more papers on a page than just one or two. I even got to use some old embellishments that have been in my stash for a while. Win-win!

To close out this post, here's some more pictures of our new additions.

Love, Honor & Cherish - Wedding Card

Have a good high school friend getting married this coming weekend so I made this little card using her colors from the save the date and invite that we got in the mail. I really like the royal blue with the black. I tried out my new Momento Tuxedo black ink with this one. So nice to have fast-drying ink! I always want to do a card start to finish so I think this ink will be a great way to do that without the chance of smudges. :)

A pretty simple card really, but I think it's effective. I've since sent it on its way to Iowa. :) I hope she likes it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Congratulations - WMSC48

Over at the Waltzingmouse Stamps Sketch Challenge there is the challenge #48 going on right now. I always find great inspiration from the sketches over there and today was no exception.

I needed a congratulations card and the many circles were my inspiration for all the hearts. First, the box was going to be full of the hearts, but I decided instead to change it up a little and use the Say It With Style frame and sentiment in the middle. Also tried a new trick to get my ribbon through the card front but only in the space of the center square. I'm pretty happy with the result. :)

Be sure to head over to the challenge blog and play along!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Wedding Layout

Here's a layout from a May 2010 wedding DH and I went to in sunny Florida. The couple had the wedding on the beach in Ft. Lauderdale. (Actually, it was exactly one year later today!)

The picture I used is one of their professional photographer shots. They had group photos with their guests after the ceremony. This shot was of most of the crew from Peoria. Since it was of high DPI I decided that it would be better to make it fit over a good portion of the page so that all these people were not tiny in a regular 4x6. I'm kinda liking the different style even.

Well, I should be off to study, but I think instead I'll try and work on a few things in the craft area. I did learn of a new engagement card that I need to make now. I'll be getting a SIL here pretty soon!

May WMS Waltz - Masculine Cards

Just getting this card in a little late (but it is still the 17th here in California!). I was inspired by what I was seeing people do with the Western sets for this month's WMS Waltz for masculine cards. So I got out my own set and tried my hand at it. It took a little work to get the right difference in ink coverage for the three western rider and horse, but I think I got it now.

The card was missing a little something so I added some twine (the substitute for ribbon but still okay for guys, right?). I think it finishes the card off nicely.

Thanks for stopping by my little blog. Hopefully this will be the start of my comeback to the paper crafting world. Just two finals left this week and then I'm free for the summer!

Two cards for WMSC44

I was inspired by the latest Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge #44 for these two cards I created today. For one, it was a great sketch that reminded me to use those Cuttlebug embossing folders I had in my stash! I sometimes forget how cool an effect these little folders can make, and such a simple technique too.

Here's the sketch:

Here's my two takes! For both, I turning the sketch on its side. I tried out the sketch with this first one, which is a basic interpretation of the sketch. The stamps used here are from Holiday Labels 14 and Frame It. This is a card being sent off to two friends that found out they are having a little boy come August. :)

And then also wanted to try it out with some paper with a white core so I could sand the embossing a bit for a fun, distressed look. More of the crinkle ribbon was used on the second. The stamps used here are from Holiday Labels 14 and Frame It once again. I did some masking to the sentiment so it would fit inside this small label.

And now I've sent off all the packages and cards I need to for the lot of birthdays of family and friends that happen about this time. Some will even get there early...some about right on time. But they are all out, so that makes me happy. :)

Thanks for stopping by!

WMSC42 - Birthday Wishes

I'm in the middle of getting together a few birthday cards in the mail here today. I needed another and turned to the trusty Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge blog for some inspiration. The sketch for WMSC42 was just perfect for what I wanted to achieve with this card. I simply asked DH for a color and went from there. It had been a while since I had done a WMSC challenge so it was high time to submit again. :) And great news to see another Mischief Maker has been added...congrats Kelly!

I did do one little trick for this card. Did you catch it? I used the March released Bitty Banners for my sentiment part of the sketch. Only thing was that I wanted it a little longer so I stamped it twice for almost twice the length. Just masking off the particular end I didn't need for each time I stamped accomplished this quite easily. I also pulled out my trusty Martha Stewart butterfly punch and some pearls for a little added touch.

Here's the sketch:

Okay, off to get these cards in the mail!

WMS SOAP CASE Challenge

(Do I have enough acronyms in that post title?)

Waltzingmouse Stamps Stamp Of Approval Copy and Steal Everything Challenge.

Yay for Fridays! I just finished my first week at my new job and so far so good. I'm in training right now of course, but things are looking good. I think I'm going to like this new company and job. I even had a little bit of time to get out some WMS stamps!

Here's my entry for the CASE challenge. I CASE'd Anya and her great gradient stamping. I switched to the Say It With Style set (one of my all-time favorite sets). Also in there is the sentiment border from Fancy Phrases. And from a purchase from the Scrapbook Expo a few weeks ago, I used some of my new crinkle border ribbon.

Thanks for stopping by!