Cuttlebug Be Inspired #42- Last Week!

The final Cuttlebug challenge: to create a gate fold card celebrating National Friendship Week. my card is a take on the gatefold card, by doing a tri-fold card, i can get it into an envelope and actually send it to my best friend (my Baltimore scrapping buddy!) Laura and I celebrate our 30 year friendship by getting together at least 1x year, for a night, and scrap the night away- as well as eat good food and do some sightseeing! So, as i am planning our overnighter for October, this card finally came to me. i really struggled with this challenge, but knew deep down i couldn't let it get the best of me. I finished all 5 of the challenges!

So, i used the swirls folder for the front and top insert of the card. All papers used from BoBunny Alissa line. Love the colors in this- aqua, pink, green and black! Misc prima flowers, michaels ribbon and heidi grace pins finish off the card. Thanks for looking and for stopping by!

floating flowers???

this card reminds me of the floating screensaver elements on your computer when you let it sit idle for a few minutes.....floating flowers.

i am still developing my cardmaking style. some of you may already have figured yours out. i am still in the early stages of this. let me clarify- i have been cardmaking for 5 years and scrapping for 12. but being a consultant for a paper company, left me learning how to make THEIR cards. i have only been trying my own ideas for the last 7 months. there are so many great products out on the market and my sister has been trying to convert me into using- stickers, tags, metals, rubons, 'other manus paper' and sometimes what i put together works and others days i am left wondering 'what was i thinking?' today, kinda in between. but, the good news is that the more i look at it the more i like it and think that 'busy' will work for someone.....yes?

believe it or not, this card completes 3, count them 3 challenges! Day 153 on 365 Cards- Tag You're It was to use a journal tag as a design element on your card. The circle with blue scallops is a journal tag that is holding my elements all together on this card. Next, the sketch came from Fresh Batch challenge #26 (i just moved my circle element a bit to the right of the card). And lastly, the color combo came from Use It #21. The photo was a linen layout by ROXY that you needed to use as inspiration. Next use old tools (all of my tools, 3 that is, get used all of the time but i used embellishments as a tool, like the felt flower, rhinestone circle, brown brad on the ribbon by K&Co) and use alpha letters (HI). i cannot believe that when all was said and done how i pulled off 3 challenges!!!! btw- i made this card originally for the use it challenge and going over what other cards to make today saw how i could use it for the other 2- love HAPPENSTANCE!

also as a side note: i didn't have any patterned paper to go with the colors of the Use It challenge, so i made my own with stamps, inks and textured paper.

strawberry fields forever....

Designing this card made me think of the Beatles song "strawberry fields forever" and hooked up my ipod for some inspirational music. Currently listening to Bon Jovi (so love him!!!) It's My Life ...."make your own way, its my life, its now or never, i ain't gonna live forever....like frankie said i did it my way...." There I go, off on a tangent!

The sketch for this card is from Papertake Weekly and the design motif is for Cute Card Thursday #71- Let's Get Fruity (to use fruit on your card). Love the sketch and it worked very easily to put everything on it that I wanted. The fruit part- cherries are the current fad. Even though the K&Co Sweet Berry had cherries on it, even though I have cherry rubons, I wanted to stand out by doing something different and went with STRAWBERRIES. See the little strawberries on this patterned paper? It's my fave fruit!!! I remembered that I have had this strawberry button for AGES and it worked perfectly with this card theme! The ribbon came from a thrift store, flower from Kris and the sentiment is SU!

Todays challenge at 365 Cards was to create a card with a flap and a surprise underneath. I went with the swing card. Shut, it is an elegant birthday card, pulled open, the middle flap swings and the sentiment is revealed. Paper, stamp, ribbon from CTMH. Thanks for looking today!

3 cards today, 3 challenges

Sherrod Studio Ella set has so many wonderful images that can be used for a variety of projects (stayed tuned for new fall releases happening next week.....!) This grouping of presents worked well for my christmas card. I tried a new technique called stained glass. You stamp on vellum with versamark and melt EP on your image. The star tree from SU! Peace on Earth set worked wonderfully! Turn over your vellum and color in from the back. Turn back over and you have the look of stained glass! I just have to work on that excess powder that sticks to everything! The DP comes from ARound the Block.

I just love my new DCWV stack called Green Stack!!!! They are 4.5x6.5 and work great for the larger cards (which i have been doing lately for the embellies i am now using!). Chipboard letters, nesties for the frame (which is the sketch challenge over this week at Unscripted Sketches #16), misc ribbon that I picked up today at a thrift store and bobunny rubon. Love Love Love (did i tell you i love this new paper stack!) It!

Finally, this card (5x5) is for the Cupcake Challenge #50- to use green, pink and brown, animals and flowers. Yup, got all of the above. The papers are a mixed batch that I ordered from Taylor Expressions (some basic grey, mme, etc...) Misc ribbon and small primas (that I am desperately trying to use up.....they are like rabbits and multiply in my bag LOL!) I wasn't too happy with the coloring of the monkey (jsut a clear stamp) so I sprinkled on some glitter and Viola! The girls thought this card was A-DOOR-A-BALL, and are laying claim to it for the future! yah mom!

see you tomorrow (don't forget to stop by next week August 7-10th for the sneak peeks of the sherrod studio new releases! we will be doing a challenge and Kim is giving away a new stamp set!)

3 cards, 4 challenges! On a roll....!

Card Positioning Systems (CPS) sketch #26 was perfect for this card. Tall, lean and sexy! The papers used were my stash of Sabrina, from MM. CTMH silhouette stamp and rhinestones. The flowers were fussy cut from the pack of papers, added a flower and brad to the centers. Misc bow and pins. Love this sketch!

This card was made for 2 challenges. Bobunny "orange", used the Love Shack papers and computerized the sentiment (cute,cute,cute!) Took liberty with the sketch at 365 Cards for the Super Sketchy Sunday challenge. I turned the orange on its side instead of flush against the side. I love the brightness of this card!

Last, but not least, this card was created for Fresh Batch SASSC#25. Adjusted the sketch a bit to fit my sentiment (CTMH stamps). The papers were just purchased yesterday on sale, of course, DCWV The Green Stack- these are great papers!!!!

Short but sweet, been spending many hours today creating and the kids are getting restless (this is the time of the summer vacation they are bored and don't want to do anything....)

homo-what?

Okay, 365 cards challenge today was to create an card using a homonym. a what????? so i googled, i got it about the pear,pair words, but what other words could i use..... so, researching (and of course already having my papers chosen and cut to match the 2S4Y sketch challenge for the week and felt that i was already too far into the design to change.....) came across a homograph. now that is a word that shares the same spelling but different meaning. i went with limb- limb of a tree, limb on a body.....see where i went with this???? the card ended up being the sympathy card that i wanted, the papers and designs convey the correct message and DH, well he said "..." oh, i can't really put that in print :) "try over" i think was what he was trying to say. we'll see.

2 card challenges

A new week of challenges, new sites to visit and be inspired, new products to put on my wish list. Yes, it is Sunday, not a new day in the sense of adding more time to my 24/7 habit, but a new day and a new week. School for us starts up in a month (I think 5 weeks) and we have a lot to do to feel like the days didn't just pass us by. I get up everyday at 5am to create, which leaves me time in the mornings and afternoons to spend QT with the kiddos (once they decide to wake up!!LOL!)

Happy Birthday! Reminds me of Frosty the Snowman everytime they put the hat on him, when he came back to life he proclaimed "Happy Birthday!" That is the way to start everyday, not exactly with that sentiment, but the joy to start fresh and with the possibility of a clean slate. Speaking of which, after Friday's card workshop, my "desk" was a clean slate and gave my mojo a fresh start! Card Patterns sketch #25 was my inspiration for this B'day Card. Since I used all BoBunny products, I wanted to add this to their challenge (card #2 to enter) but remembered..... it, too, was a sketch challenge, not a product challenge. So, card 1 is only a "one challenge kinda card." Each piece of this card was edged in black ink to make the colors really POP and the cupcake, circle and blue rectangle piece are all popdotted (love this stuff!)

Use It Challenge #20 was to use an unusual item (seed packets from the $1 store) one stamp (sunflower retired from CTMH), and one diecut (cut out a sunflower and leaves). This card is 4x4 and called a criss cross card. Love this card and the possibilities are endless for what you can do with it. Use a tea bag, hot chocolate, add gift cards, etc....

3 Cards for 4 Challenges!

bobunny sketch challenge- birthday card! Follow the sketch and see what you can create! I won this fab paper pack of Alissa from Bobunny for an ad challenge and couldn't wait to use it! LOVE LOVE LOVE this line! You can never really tell the dimensions in photos, but take it from me, there is tons! I pop dotted the flowers, added pearls and rhinestones. Popped the sentiment (CTMH b'day sentiment), fussy cut some leaves while folding in half to raise them up. These are all diecuts from the line. Love this card! This card also completes the 365 Cards You raise me up #144 for adding dimension- it is very 3d in real life...!

This card is for Kristens sketch challenge to celebrate her 1 year blogversary (can't win since we are related, but wanted to support her for the card!) Used K&Co sweet berry papers, Verve cupcake stamp, rub ons and love these pink dew drops that I got a bit ago. Really needed that last little bit of something for the white space. Finished with a yellow ribbon and heart pin. This also works for the 365 CArd Challenge You Raise me UP #144. Add dimension to the card- cupcake on 3d foam and the circles on 3d foam (2 layers makes it high!) The drops also add dimension as well as the rhinestones on the cupcake flowers.

Last but not least, todays 365 Cards is Scraplift Saturday. I love this sketch from the other day. However, I wasn't totally happy with my card. In surfing the blogs of the DT to CASE, found Tammy Wark's blog and loved how she used a huge flower on her card (found on 7/19/09 sunday). I have had these LARGE flowers from CTMH and "light bulb moment" pulled them out to use. Paper is K&Co. I took liberties and added the flowers, button and pins to add that extra something to the card. It just looked too naked without them. She also used a large scallop to edge the top paper and rounded all of her corners (which I did!). Love all of the glitter and sparkle on this card. Thanks Tammy for your inspiration!

Recycle

Cuttlebug Challenge this week (for a chance to win the awesome new embossing folders debuting at CHA!) is to alter something from the recycle bin. Now, I am going to take liberties with the recycle part. I toss old plastic containers- eeewwww to clean them. I toss old cardboard boxes b/c in Miami those boxes ended up with ants in them or bowevils so it is habit that I got into. What I do recycle, I do reuse. For example: I save all of the gift bags that we receive presents in. They are darned expensive, so I reuse them like crazy. Like this red bag. I refold them and store under my bed in the "rubbermaid container that holds all wrapping paper paraphenalia". Looks good doesn't it???? I even reuse tissue paper! Call me cheap, I think of myself as frugal!

Now for all of the papers....here is where I am taking my recycle liberties. The paper was my sisters (who is on a few DTs) and she was purging her "old" stash. So, wonderful sister that she is, instead of tossing, she gave them to me! I am using old papers in a new way- recycled paper! Yes, could be stretching it a bit......LOL! The papers are: around the block and flair. The cut out of poinsetta leaves are Anna Griffin (hard to tell, but there is 3D on them as the diecuts were meant to be layered. The red and green were embossed on the swiss dots and swirls folders for texture. The Jingle Bells lyrics are Flair paper (you can find lyrics and sheet music on line- just GOOGLE it! easy peasy to make even Birthday cards with the sheet music). The edges were distressed with a Heidi grace tool and inked with chocolate to give the vintage feel. The tag was made out of some old paper, Anna Griffin and tied on with hemp. I wanted to use some old christmas cards that I have stored, but took one look in the garage, shook my head and walked away. Took my losses and improvised. Glued onto some tan cardstock, scalloped the edges and inked in more chocolate.

If you stayed this long, I hope that you liked the final product and it gave you an idea or two on how to recycle old bags and where to get vintage items like postcard tags and sheet music.

Baby Baby don't get hooked on me.....

An old Mac Davis song. My mother used to play his one record over and over again. Sultry, maybe country, but when the word baby is said, my head immediately thinks of these lyrics......makes me miss my mom (she passed away 19 years ago and not a day goes by that I don't miss her or think of her).

I digress, as usual. The challenge this week at Caardvarks is to make a baby card or bridal shower card. I am beyond both of these stages in life, but know more people having babies than getting married (boy do I feel old!) I have spent the last 2 days cleaning my living room/dining room and have been on a purging expedition (besides dusting and vacuuming!) Cleaning out books off of the 20ft bookshelf, passing on some good reads- even going to have a book swap in September! My dining room is where most of my scrapping stuff is and even I am feeling overwhelmed with all of the stuff that I have. No buying new yet. So, Kris (check out her blogversary contest for a chance at blog candy!)passed on some great Anna Griffin baby paper and I can say that I have used most of this line for some cards. The rubons were AG as well, and the teddy bears (how cute are they?) were a dollar store find! These are just the cutest 6x6 cards!

Enjoy your day and as I clean and purge more, maybe I will sneak in a card or 2!

sketch #31, 2S4You

I love squares. I think I am a person that thinks very conservatively, inside a box, so squares are a natural tendency. Back to the sketch....4 squares in a box on a rectangular card. Can't get any better than this!

Papers: bobunny, ctmh button, ac white ribbon, heidi grace pins, ms butterfly punch, mini rhinestones, hemp.

"I Hear those Sleigh Bells ringing, jing, jing, jingling..."

Oh the Christmas spirit is everywhere. The stores are having summer clearance sales, back to school things are appearing (of course you have to buy now while it is on sale and while there are plenty of stock....!), and challenges for Christmas in July are abundant. I am even joining the bandwagon by having my own Christmas in July workshop! These 2 cards are premiering Friday night and I made them for todays challenge over at Cupcake Craft Challenges. Make a Christmas card. Well, in my neck of the woods, we have a number of people that want to make "generic" holiday themed cards. So, to make everyone feel special, I do a bit of this and a bit of that. Love the first one- makes me feel all warm and cozy! The cup is done on the cricut (christmas cheer cart), the foam in liquid applique with a bit of cinnamon sprinkled on top, the papers are Flair and the stamps are a hodge podge from Close to My Heart. The whole card reminds me of a warm bakery/cafe........can you smell the coffee now????

This card design was a big hit last year, done in all blues and light pinks. This year I wanted to do a different color combo- one very out of the box. A fellow consultant made a card last year using the pinks and greens and I loved the combo (hers was christmas trees....). I paper pieced the snowman, colored in with CTMH markers (the stamps are all CTMH), MS snowflake punch sprinkled with glitter and added a rhinestone to give that extra punch! the snowman even has some added dimension by adding glitter in a shaded pattern.

Thanks for stopping by today. Enjoy the summer while you can, winter will be here before we know it.....!

2 cards, 2 challenges today!

I have been following this site for a bit now, but haven't participated until today. I am finally caught up with some sketches from last week and actually had this morning to play along! Color Throwdown was to combine amethyst, garden green and buttercup- the sketch is mine. Love this color combo and it made a great birthday card for my stash! Used CTMH amethyst and buttercup cardstock and markers, my DT stamp Gracie (from Sherrod Studio), for the flowers, MS punch. Misc ribbon from Michael's and Heidi Grace pins.

365 Cards is Super Sketchy Sunday and I really liked this sketch. Bought some new "clearance" items and tried my hand at a felt boarder. It is a little bright green but thought it worked for the bright cheeriness of this card. Even used a rubon for the inside of the card. I think decorating the inside adds and extra pizzazz, but usually forget to do it- LOL! The patterned paper is K&Co sweet berry, the rest of the items are just miscellaneos stuff I have had or been given by Kris.

have a great sunday! off to the grocery store, then the pool, then who knows what. Hopefully a family movie night to see Inkheart.....

more happy holidays!

I combined 2 challenges with this card. Hubby and dd#2 are in NJ for another softball tournament, giving me some girl time with the other 2 and creative time to catch up on some challenges. This is it for today! I combined UseIt #19 with Card Patterns Sketch.

Use It#19 was to - do monochromatic, add a tag (journal tag here is large and matches the paper), fave stamp, and a layered flower.
The paper was purchased on a shopping trip with my sister (Kris is celebrating her 1 year and giving a GREAT blog candy-head over there!) and while we liked the papers (K&Co que sara sara) and the journal tags that came with it, we are both finding it hard to use. The papers have gold foiling, serious embossing, many jewel tones that seem hard to match to something. The papers actually remind me of a indian sarong dress. Just Beautiful! When this challenge came along to do monochromatic, I knew I had the tags and paper, but could I pull off a card???? I went with the purple/deep reds for this card and the prima flowers really added to the overall feel of the card (very elegant holiday card). Satin ribbon from Martha Stewart. Had to add a jewel to the flowers to go with the gold embossing- gave it a much more elegant, rich look!

enjoy the rest of the weekend! I am off to play Wii with the girls and go indulge in some yummy ice cream!

2 sketches and DT card

2 Sketches 4 You sketch for the week proved challenging for me this week. Maybe because I have been making so many Christmas cards that to change gears put my mojo out of whack. Decided to turn the sketch sideways and inspiration hit. Had this Sherrod Studio stamp set out to make a card for my weekly blog item and the 2 just went together. Don't you just love when that happens?

unscripted challenge #15

Thank goodness this was an easy peasy sketch this week at Unscripted Sketches #15 this week! Used Anna Griffin papers, rub ons (snug as a bug sentiment) and the poxy stickers. Love this card for a new baby!