Paper Cupboard

FWF and a layout.

2012-01-20T05:45:00.000-05:00

Good (cold) morning!

If it's Friday, it must be time for some Flair. Be sure to check out the Unity blog to see what the big deal is today. In the meantime, how about a little stamp action on a layout?

Aww, ain't we at least a little cute? This photo was taken right after the one in this layout, so of course we look happy ;). I love simple designs like this one -- easy to use over and over again, changing the feel by changing the supplies used.

Speaking of supplies, check out the Unity goodness there near the bottom!

Before I adhered the block of heart-print paper, I sketched a quick line at the bottom, moved it out of the way, and then used the line as a guide to stamp the dashed scallop repeatedly, masking the side edges and offsetting the rows (did it freehand, even. imperfections are fine with me!). The sentiment makes perfect sense, seeing as this photo is from midnight on New Year's Eve.

A glittery button-twine star, stitching around the border and around the photo, and some various tapes and stickers and such, and all is well.

Hope you enjoy the rest of the Unity goodness out there. Have a lovely day!

other supplies: Crate Paper (Paper Heart, Random) papers and border sticker, AC Thickers and tape, Hambly and Tim Holtz tapes, Best Creations glitter paper, October Afternoon button, Twinery twine, Tim Holtz tiny attacher, Stampin' Up punch and ink, and Colorbox ink.

ooh, sparkly :)

2012-01-16T19:46:00.001-05:00

Hey there!
I'm still working on the dang December album photos (all 80 of them...each of which is inexplicably rotated 90 degrees...blergh. Any insight on doing batch editing in Picnik?).

So, in the meantime, how about something new?

{Warning: slightly mushy photo ahead!}

Oh geez, are those people smooching? And is one of them me? Why yes, that's what you see here. It was midnight on New Year's Eve, one of very few times I condone brief PDA. So I scrapped it, using my latest goodies from Scrappy Chic, namely the Yours Truly line from Echo Park. I had to grunge it up a bit with ink to make it work with the background, which I made all by my lonesome, using some vintage pattern tissue (scrunchily adhered to cardstock with spray adhesive) that I stamped a bit (using these new Hero Arts stamps) and then topped with a coating of glitter spray. (If you use this stuff, put your project in a box and go outside -- it isn't too messy, but there's definitely overspray...you know, made of glitter, so it's gonna get everywhere otherwise).

You can see the glitteriness a bit better here -- even more if you click to enlarge. I adhered some twine behind the photo mat in messy loops just for kicks.

This might be the first time I've used something other than alpha stickers for a title, but this cut-apart element from the EP line said just the perfect thing :). You can see another Hero Arts stamped heart peeking out the side there, too.

So, I've been using scrapping as an escape from an otherwise so-far busy semester, which means you'll be seeing some more pages soon. And the dang album. One of these days.

Until then, have a lovely, hopefully-not-too-cold day!

FWF times three.

2012-01-06T11:01:00.001-05:00

Hi there!
It's Friday, so it must be Friends with Flair over at Unity -- be sure to stop by and see what great deal they have in store today.

In the meantime, I have three whole cards to share! January is a busy birthday/anniversary month in our circle of family and friends, so I always try to get the whole month's worth of cards done right at the beginning so I don't panic later ;)

Three of this month's cards use fabulous Unity stamps. Here's #1:

A CAS anniversary card for some friends, using December's Kit of the Month, Filled with Love, paper-pieced simply with some love-y Sassafras papers. The oval shadow is from Amuse.

#2:

A birthday card for a college pal using the multi-butterfly stamp from Picture Perfect (which I finally picked up during one of the big Unity sales last month), as a background. The sentiment is an oldie from SU, ribbon from PTI, and a Martha butterfly punch.

#3:

Har. This one makes me chuckle. It's for my art-loving aunt, so I know she'll appreciate its quirkiness. I used the fabulous multi-frame stamp from Picture Perfect. How handy that there are just enough frames to spell out "birthday"! The "happy" is from PTI, and the letters are from all over the place.

I've finally started to edit the photos of the Big Fun Christmas Project (aka my first December Daily). When I have enough stamina, I'll finish them up and post 'em soon.

A quick note for local folks: Don't forget that Scrappy Chic has its Grand Re-Opening party tomorrow (Saturday 1/7) from 2-4! Plans include a Smash-style photobooth (like the first photo here), so you know it'll be a good time! :)

Until then, have a great day! It's sunny and shockingly warm here -- I should be outside!

My top 10 of 2011 -- sort of.

2012-01-02T16:02:00.000-05:00

Hello again, all!
Now that the new year is in full swing (or as full swing as it can be on day two!), I figured it was time to take a stroll through last year's projects and pick my favorites.

My original goal was to pick 10 cards and 10 layouts...but as I was scrolling through a year's worth of blog posts, I realized I made a boo boo -- I think I might have deleted a couple of older Picasa web albums...not a big deal, except a few month's worth of blog photos were in them. Oops!

So, I'll just go with ten total projects instead, with a big date gap in the middle. Without further ado, here we go!

From February:

A layout featuring my pal's sweet dog. Read more here.

Jump to June:

Baby predictions, the old-fashioned way. See original here.

The first card I had published. Never gets old. Read more.

In July:

Simon is about 12x this size now. Still cute. See details here.

From my Growing in Unity week. Original is here.

in August:

More kitten, with banners this time. Close-ups here.

My sweet man's birthday. One-layer happiness here.

October:

Still love this mini. All the pages are here.

Stepped into a new style and surprised myself. Spongeworthiness here.

November:

Got a little lost in an 8-layout post, but man, I love this one. And yes, more kitten. See them all here.

So, what can we conclude? I definitely like to scrap animal photos, especially of Simon. (Dex got attention too...I swear!) Also, scrappy projects just barely outnumber card projects, which I'm pretty sure reflects my creative output last year. I like patterns a lot, but no one color dominates. Nor does a single style, which either makes me versatile or mildly schizophrenic. I'd prefer versatile, though ;) And I definitely shouldn't delete web albums willy-nilly!

I can also say with some confidence that my December album (aka the Big Fun Christmas Project) will be one of my favorites as well -- but as I finished it yesterday, it's technically a 2012 project. You'll see it soon...and again in the 2012 year in review!

Hope you're having a great day!

What the heck?

2011-12-31T10:33:00.000-05:00

Where on earth have I been? I know I'm in good company in not blogging much during the holidays, but I haven't blogged AT ALL in weeks! I've missed my bloggy friends!

I've been inspired by some year-in-review project posts, so I think I'll do one of those soon. (See here and here for some inspiring cards from my craft pals!). I have also been keeping up with my Big Fun Christmas journal (see here and here for its humble beginnings), and I'll get some photos of that soon to share.

For now, though, will you settle for a layout? Thanks!

This photo is from the wedding (duh) of a couple of sweet kids. I can say that they're "kids" because one of them is my husband's former student! We've become pals in the intervening years, and were honored to attend their wedding. Don't you love this photo of them? They're so cute.

I made excellent use of my ever-expanding washi tape collection here, creating a shiny/patterned/textured background for my title and caption. The paper collection is My Mind's Eye's very pretty Love Me, part of my long-neglected December kit from Scrappy Chic.

I fussy-cut some banner flags from my extra paper, popped them up on foam, highlighted the hearts with stickles, and then "strung" some twine all over the place (it's glued down, which was easier to do than I thought it would be). I think the swirly lines break up all the straight lines from the tape. In my head, anyway. Wanna see a secret?

More photos! I had a handful of not-great shots that still helped tell the story of the night, so instead of featuring them, I created a little accordion fold right in the middle of the layout. I'll definitely try this trick again!

I had some leftovers, so I combined them with that pretty plaid pattern from the same collection for a quick card. The stamped twill started out white, but I inked it up with some Distress Stain (spun sugar, from my stocking!) before stamping and adhering it. Stamps are from this Studio Calico/Hero Arts set, also sourced from Scrappy Chic.

Local folks, have you been up to the store since their big expansion/re-organization? I love it! So spacious-feeling and much better-lit. Can't wait to get up there for a crop!

Well, it's good to be back. I hope you all have a very happy and crafty 2012! Happy New Year!

Sure could use a little...

2011-12-05T19:18:00.001-05:00

...Peace, that is.

Man, is it busy around here! The usual holiday bustle, plus some non-holiday bustle, plus plenty of school bustle (the end-of-semester grading binge is officially underway).

So, for a moment, peace:

This was my "personal challenge" line from my Scrappy Chic kit - it's BoBunny and absolutely lovely, but also very busy and glittery...plus the kraft-brown-blue-snowflake combo was a bit perplexing. I tried to find some peace in all that busyness, and I'm pretty pleased with the result. The tree stamp above the title is the same one I used on the ornament in the photo (shall I call it craft continuity? I think I just created a new concept).

It's a little hard to see, but some of the trees have distress stickles on them -- the subtlest of all glitters, in my book. I love those letters -- they're from Pebbles and are perfectly matte.

I kept the busiest patterns to smaller accents, but the glitter definitely still stands out -- in a good way, though. A twine bow finishes it off.

Here's to peace. Have a lovely day!

CHA mini album (finally!)

2011-12-01T10:55:00.000-05:00

So, remember way back in July when I had such fun at CHA in Chicago? And I was all geeked about making a mini out of my photos? Well...sometimes time just slips away from us.

But! No longer! Here it is!

I started with a Maya Rd. chipboard binder that is kind of like this one, only a bit bigger. I got mine at Scrappy Chic (where they're having another yard sale this Sunday [buy my stuff! get great deals!]).

In honor of my favorite line from CHA, almost all the papers and embellishments are from the Amy Tangerine line by American Crafts. Still love it, by the way.

So, away we go! Click to enlarge any of the collages:

Cover: lots of misting, along with Amy Tangerine fabric paper, Thickers, tape, and accents, plus OA mini alphas. Tip: to use tape on top of fabric, just lay it down over some stronger adhesive. I used scor-tape, and it worked great!

Inside pages, part one: things we did.

Pages are misted, then layered with photos, tape, stickers, and other accents. I included my name badge, too.

Inside pages, part two: people we met. The last page is a photo of the city skyline as we were driving home.

I haven't really added any journaling. I might just throw in people's names or list events or something. Nothing too tricky -- after all, it took all these months just to make the thing!

Anyway, now it's December -- how did that happen? I'll be getting started on my Big Fun Christmas Project any moment now (I've been impatiently waiting!). Do you have any special holiday crafting plans (for yourself or for gifts?) Let me know!

Until then, I hope you have a lovely day!

CFC29 = Super-Quick Holiday Cards!

2011-11-28T07:05:00.001-05:00

Well hello there! I took a little blogging break for Thanksgiving (and the shopping, leftover-eating, and gutter-cleaning that followed), but today I'm back with a quick batch of holiday cards that just happen to use this week's CAS-ual Fridays sketch:

Clean and Simple, indeed. I grabbed some of my recent holiday acquisitions, as well as some stamps from the stash, and whipped up four cards in about twenty minutes!

When I'm pressed for time (or mojo), I don't fuss with the sketch -- I run with it! Here, the upper two cards use paper from the Simple Stories Christmas line (the 6x6 pad), while the bottom two use the same North Country collection from this post (but the 6x6 pad instead). All the papers came from Scrappy Chic (where else?).

Besides the top-right card, which uses a quick bit of stamping (an older SU set) and paper-piecing, I let the papers stand on their own and just stamped the sentiments (all from Papertrey Ink). It's a little hard to see, but I also pierced lines around the sentiments too.

Quick, easy -- and I can cross four more cards off the list. Hooray!

I'll see you again soon -- have a lovely day!

Happy (almost) Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T17:17:00.001-05:00

Whether you're in the US or not, it's always nice to pause and think about all the good things to be thankful for. And if you ARE in the US, well...why not stuff yourself silly too? That's right, tomorrow is Thanksgiving here, and besides the thankfulness and all the great chow in store for me tomorrow, Thanksgiving is also prime crafting time.

For most big holidays, I make tags for my family. This year, I got all Tim Holtz-happy and broke out my underutilized TH embossing folders, along with about 5 different colors of Glimmer Mist, three styles of 7gypsies tape, and some Prima leaves to make these:

Ooh, pretty. :)

After the mist dried, I hit each tag with some Distress Ink (using one of the foam applicator thingies) to catch the highlights of the embossed designs.

All the ribbons were pulled sort of randomly from my stash -- I just picked fall-appropriate colors.

Those flowers look like the ubiquitous rolled-ribbon flowers, but I actually made them with strips of vintage pattern tissue - it works the same as ribbon, I just had to be a little more delicate as I twisted to keep the paper from tearing. The stamps are from Waltzingmouse, and they're conveniently placed to disguise the seam in the embossing (my tags were bigger than my folders, so I flipped them around and embossed the bottom inch or so separately).

The back features my favorite tiny gnome (and an appropriate sentiment) from this Unity stamp set (their big sale ends today, in case you were looking to spend some dough). The papers on the back are all from We R Memory Keepers' Autumn Splendor collection.

Everything you see here (except the Waltzingmouse stamps) came from Scrappy Chic -- some recently, some from days past. Their big sale starts Friday, in case you were looking to spend some MORE dough (and at a locally-owned small business, natch).

I had fun getting all misty and inky and stuff making these, and I hope the fam digs them, too!

Time to get back to the oven -- one more dessert to go, and my contributions to the feast will be complete. Yum. I'll get photos, don't you worry.

Have a lovely day, and have a great Thanksgiving, wherever you may roam.

Hip Holiday layouts

2011-11-21T11:43:00.001-05:00

Ok, maybe these layouts aren't hip, but they do feature Hipstamatic photos...have I mentioned lately how much I love taking photos with that delightful little iphone app? It makes everything look festive/artsy/skillful without trying ~~too hard~~ at all.

I wanted to scrap two very blurry photos of one of Andrew's choirs singing at last year's holiday concert. Here's an explanation of the event:

And here's the whole layout, using Prima's awesome and quirky holiday collection, North Country. It's very un-Prima, which is good for me -- as you know, floral girly stuff and I are not the best of friends (Look! Did you notice I used a flower right smack on this layout? I impressed myself with that one!). I ganked the layout design from a layout in this post, which was based on a layout from Shimelle's Pretty Paper Party class (whew!). Yes, "gank" is a word, though CASE would probably be a better option.

It's a little hard to see in the photos, but I layered some red tulle trim under the photo edges as well as under a Hambly transparency strip -- since tulle is so lightweight, it didn't add much bulk, even though it's all pleated and stuff. Ooh, and speaking of ganking, I totally ganked the title from the musical Mame:

Yet another song to get lodged in your brain. Enjoy. :)

One more layout today, this one featuring some Webster's Pages paper from the Botanical Christmas collection:

Kept it simple, since the Webster's paper is so pretty all on its own. I like that I unintentionally ended up with a visual triangle of trees, though :). My favorite part is the bow, which I made with some ribbon from my stash that I'd had forever:

The bow-y part is made the same way as the one on this card, only with a loop of ribbon instead, and then I just added the short tails behind and the long bit behind the pictures -- 4 separate pieces of ribbon come together so neatly, eh?

A little Stickles on the top of the tree, some alphas from Basic Grey and Studio Calico, and I called it a day! These layouts are out for the viewing at Scrappy Chic, if you're curious to see them in person. They have some great Black Friday (and Small Business Saturday) sales planned, so shop well!

Speaking of "calling it a day," today our second bathroom got torn apart (thanks Dad!) -- it's reno time. On top of that, I made mac and cheese for Thanksgiving, along with a batch of ice cream from this fabulous book -- seriously, this chick has her ice cream science down!! Oh, you know, plus I worked and stuff. Busy day!

Hope yours has been lovely! I'll be back (maybe) Wednesday with my family tags for Thanksgiving. Hooray!

Christmas progress -- slowly but surely

2011-11-19T14:52:00.001-05:00

Hi all -

Quick post today. First, a card using this week's CPS sketch:

When I'm stuck, design-wise, I love finding a sketch and just going with it. That's the case right now with me and Christmas cards -- I have plenty to make, but not a ton of inspiration (yet). So, here's what I did with the sketch:

Simple and faithful to the original. I used some Simple Stories 6x6 paper (from their 25 Days of Christmas collection) -- it's a prettier, warmer olive irl, but it's awfully grey around here, so the colors aren't the best. The sentiment is from SU, and the two narrow panels behind it are embossed with some cheery snowflakes. Some white ink around the edges, and I can cross one card off my to-make list.

Before I go, I've added some pages to my Big Fun Christmas Project journal:

I took some of my favorite pages from the Little Golden Book I used as the cover and stitched them onto some kraft cs pages (first I folded up the bottoms and stitched them into pockets). I love how colorful the vintage images are!

That's about it for now -- back to your regularly scheduled Saturday. :)

Cats and Dogs in October.

2011-11-16T12:03:00.001-05:00

Hi there, and happy Wednesday! I have a three-layout post for you today, all featuring pets. What could be better? Oh, I know -- how about three great lines of paper from my October kit from Scrappy Chic?

On with the show:

You know, sometimes it's worth scrapping somewhat crappy pictures of yourself...as long as they feature a cute and distracting kitten! These are all self-portraits I took when Simon was just a baby. He was so much snugglier then...now his snuggle attention span is pretty dang short. Oh well. I've used a great line from Glitz Design -- definitely shabbier than I usually go, but I think the colors are just gorgeous. I inked my title alphas purple to match and threw in some Distress ink splats for good measure.

So, in case you were wondering, yes, we DO have two cats :). I already showed y'all this picture on an earlier post, but I just had to scrap it, too -- this still wins the prize for the most non-growl-inducing physical contact Dex and Simon have had. Plus, ain't it cute? Here I used Studio Calico's awesome Autumn Press collection (including those kraft butterfly stickers -- yummy), along with a bit of Amy Tangerine, some Maya Rd. tickets, plus doilies and burlap from my stash.

Look out below! It's not one, but TWO DOGS on a layout. You see, Andrew and I are definitely cat people (he'd like a dog someday...I think that particular someday is quite a way from now!), but my parents are definitely dog people. I grew up with dogs, I like dogs, and I know what a pain in the behind dogs can be (hence: cats).

Anyway, this cute photo of my mom and her dogs (Zeus and Roxy) just makes me smile. They're very good at waiting their turn for scraps. The paper line is Summer's End by Fancy Pants -- suitable, since the photo is from the end of August. The frames are pre-printed on the page, making embellishing quick work. Did some layering under the photo, gave some veneer butterflies a dose of ink (thanks for the tip, Liz), threw in a fussy-cut leaf from another sheet, and used the negative from the butterfly stickers on the previous layout along with some watercolors as an accent up at the top.

I have more from October's kit...plus what I've done so far with November's kit...plus some progress on my Big Fun Christmas Project, plus some holiday cards...So, yeah -- you'll be hearing from me again soon! In the meantime, local folks can check out these layouts and a bunch more over at Scrappy Chic. (Happy Shopping!)

Have a lovely day!

Eight-in-one.

2011-11-14T06:49:00.001-05:00

Hey y'all -- Happy Monday!

I have been on a layout tear of late, and I figured I'd try to catch up on some projects. The eight layouts below were all made just for me, just because. Some I made at a crop at Scrappy Chic; others I made after being inspired by my Pretty Paper Party class over at Shimelle Laine's website. Eight is a lot, so let's get on with it:

{a quick note: I realized for the first time that I can make photo collages right in Picnik -- and with a lot of options and control over proportions. Makes me happy! A click here will enlarge the whole thing.)

Clockwise from top left: 1. Photo/CHA; Paper/Authentique. 2. Photo/CHA; Paper/Kaisercraft. 3. Photo/CHA; Paper/Studio Calico, Echo Park, Dear Lizzy, Anna Griffin. 4. Photos/Detroit Jazz Fest. Paper/Crate Random.

Notes: 1. I love this photo of Chris and Katie on the escalator -- we were looking for a banquet, but we weren't finding it...yet. 2. The Paper Crafts people had copies of their then-newest issue -- the first time I had a card published! I totally snuck this photo :). 3. Holy pattern-combo, batman! I love the cluster of embellishments -- all of which were within arm's reach on my desk! 4. Holy photos, batman! I count nine. One of them might look familiar from this post, but this layout's all about the fireworks.

Next:

(The Picnik collage tool has a "wonkiness" control -- great for not-quite-straight on photos like these!)

Again from top-left: 1. (cute)Photos/our bedroom :); Paper/Prima, Studio Calico 2. Photo/our bedroom; Papers/Crate, Authentique, Grant Studio [mostly kit leftovers]. 3. Photo/our bedroom (see a pattern?); Paper/all scraps. 4. Photos/my aunt's backyard; Papers/My Mind's Eye (various lines), Crate.

Notes: 1. Holy cuteness, batman! I love these photos of Simon snuggling up next to Andrew's back - under the covers, no less! 2. Another snuggle -- this time from June, when Simon was just a little guy. 3. Oh, that photo -- this is definitely frame-worthy. I let it take center-stage on the layout because I love it soooo much. 4. This is CASEd from one of the class sketches -- I CASEd it again because I love it -- that layout will follow soon.

Patterns I can see in these eight layouts: Clearly, I like to scrap about Simon and Andrew! I also really like kraft. And grey. And I guess I'm not afraid of mixing patterns or paper lines. I also like doilies and mists quite a bit right now, though the mists don't always photograph clearly. Single-photo layouts come together most quickly for me, though I'm pretty proud of my two-, three- and NINE-photo layouts too! I've been intentional about layering more, and I think it's starting to stick. What do you see? Let me know.

Anyway, I hope this wasn't sensory overload for you! I know the details are sketchy -- if you'd like to know how something was done, or where my embellishments came from, etc., just ask in the comments.

Next up: catching up on Scrappy Chic layouts! See you soon -- have a lovely day!

Friends with (bandwagon and stash-busting) Flair Friday!

2011-11-11T06:30:00.000-05:00

Hey there -- happy Friday!

Since it's Friday, it must be Friends with Flair Friday over at Unity -- be sure to stop over and see today's great deal and all the other bloggers participating.

First, the card. Yes, I've finally joined the hexagon bandwagon. Have you noticed how they're popping up all over in the paper world? I can appreciate geometry and all, but I didn't have any hexagon punches or dies, and I wasn't really sure I wanted to invest dough in yet another bulky tool...and then I saw this tutorial over on the Cosmo Cricket blog using a quilter's template -- and about $5 later, I'm in business. Here I used the smallest size, but I can make hexagons up to 5.5" -- think of the scrapping possibilities! Anyway, take a peek:

I think this is the earliest I've ever gotten my Unity KoM! In celebration, I immediately got that cute cardinals-and-holly image inked up (with some markers), along with the pretty snowflake bg. To go along with it, I used a sentiment from the September kit. Close-up time!

The snowflakes are much clearer here, and you can see that I blasted the thing with some shimmer. Pretty! The "bow" is just some ribbon that I stuck in a brad before popping it through the card front. Easy!

Second, the stash-buster {Warning: there's no Unity in the rest of the post, so if you need to hop along, you won't hurt my feelings ;)}. All the hexagon papers up there are leftovers from my Big Fun Christmas Project this year -- a mini-album made entirely from my favorite holiday goodies, the papers and embellishments and other bits that I've ~~saved~~ hoarded over the years. I also have a vague memory of seeing someone make an album out of a Little Golden book, and I just couldn't resist it! {That idea is pre-Pinterest, so I no longer remember where I saw it. Does anyone else remember seeing such a thing in blogland? If so, let me know so I can give credit, eh? Thanks!}

Alrighty, then, here's the stash I've used:

Ooh, pretty! The top photo are the fronts, the bottom are the flip sides. I cut a couple dozen sheets down to about 6.5x7.5" to fit inside a Little Golden book I picked up at a used bookstore -- it's definitely one I remember owning, though, so that makes it funner :). I broke out my long-neglected Crop-a-Dile Big Bite to punch holes through the whole stack at once. Man, that made an exciting noise ;).

Here's how I turned the book into an album cover:

A little fancy box-cutter work, a pair of pliers (and then wirecutters) for staple removal, some Crop-a-dile work, and I was in business! Luckily, Little Golden books are very cheaply assembled, so it wasn't exactly hard work disassembling one. Here's the whole thing put together:

...and there's my messy grid pad underneath it ;). Since I did my initial assembly, I've added some extras -- envelopes, tags, etc. My favorite thing? With the exception of just a couple papers (namely the reindeer Hambly transparency and the Amy Tangerine fabric paper you can see up above [from Scrappy Chic, of course!]), everything else is at least a year old, and several papers go way, way back. I've kept them because I love them, but now I'm using what I love, and that's even better. I'll keep you posted as I add to the album (especially once I start adding photos!). I wish I could say it'll be a December Daily, but I'm not exactly that disciplined...so it'll probably just cover the whole season in bits and pieces, more Smash Book style, perhaps. I can't wait!

Anyway, thanks for hanging in there through a shockingly long post! Anyone else out there have a Big Fun Christmas Project planned? Let me know about it below.

Hop along, and enjoy your weekend!

Looking up in Wonder.

2011-11-09T06:25:00.000-05:00

Hey there, people! I mentioned last post that I've made a lot of stuff for Shimelle Laine's Pretty Paper Party class (which has been quite inspiring). Today's layout is inspired by all that fearless paper- and pattern-mixing that's part of the class, as well as Shimelle's sketch of the week, which just happens to be perfect for square photos...

...and it just so happens that I have a pile of square photos to scrap -- they just arrived last week from my first order at PostalPix, an iPhone app that allows one to order photos straight from the iPhone photo library (convenient!), AND they offer square prints, which is perfect for a Hipstamatic fiend like me (awesome!) If you're interested, the prices, quality, and speed of delivery are comparable to other developers I've used as well.

Anyway, when I saw the GORGEOUS Head over Heels collection from Lily Bee, I knew it had to be part of my November Scrappy Chic kit, because I could see this photo in my head and knew it would be a great combo. (Note: y'all know I am NOT usually a floral-paper kind of girl, yet here I am! I think the class is working....). My goodness, shall we get on to the layout already? Ok!

Holy cats, is that a cute baby or what? I can brag since she isn't mine, right? Ha. I took this photo of my friend's daughter, Sahana, back in April, and it still gets me every time. Since she's looking up (in wonder), I bumped the photo block to the bottom of the layout, but left the title up there at the top to give her something to look at ;). The title work is my second-favorite part of the layout (besides the photo, of course!):

I laid down a bunch of strips of my latest washi tape acquisitions (from Hambly and Amy Tangerine - so yummy) before layering on my title (letters from Studio Calico, October Afternoon, and My Mind's Eye [the pretty fuzzy ones]). Love. My supplies (including my embellishments, which are from Pink Paislee, Kaisercraft, and Elle's Studio) are all from Scrappy Chic, and this layout will soon be there too, so keep an eye out, local folks!

Thanks for an inspiring sketch, Shimelle! For now, I have to get back to the real world, sadly -- in the meantime, have a lovely day!

Paper Smooches SPARKS - November edition

2011-11-07T07:18:00.000-05:00

Hey folks -- happy Monday!

I have so many things to show you -- somehow, when I should be doing fun things like grading and cleaning, I end up making stuff instead! Such a sacrifice, I know.

Anyway, today I thought I'd kick things off with a layout that's all about the stamping -- a rarity for me, actually, even though I'm as much a stamper as a scrapper. It seems like I have a hard time putting the two together, but when I saw the current Paper Smooches SPARKS challenge image, I had a flash of...something...maybe not exactly brilliance, but a flash nonetheless.

Here's the challenge image:

Yum - Orla Kiely. Love this design! Plus, since I won some Paper Smooches stamps from Emily's blog a couple weeks ago, I was all set to get 'em inky! I was inspired by the colors and the multi-directional repetition of the image, as well as the little signature in the selvedge. Here's my layout:

Holy stamping, Batman! I repeated the camera from Perpetual Bliss over and over (and over) again, adding the lens cap (at least that's what I think it is) in lighter and darker orange, plus some hearts in navy. Some Echo Park paper scraps form the crazy mat for my photo (Dots and Stripes Metropolitan and Candy Shoppe), and I added the sentiment several times in white(ish) on the navy bits to echo the signature on the fabric.

I turned one of the cameras into a little medallion accent to highlight the theme of the page: we often forget to get photos of ourselves, but I almost always love the ones we remember to take! This particular photo was from Jazz Fest back in September.

Well, I can't say I'll always stamp THIS much on my layouts, but I'm sure encouraged to break out the rubber and ink more often when I'm scrapping.

Coming up this week: I'll be sharing my October projects for Scrappy Chic, and if I'm really ambitious, I'll have a pile o'layouts inspired by Shimelle Laine's Pretty Paper Party class. Can't wait!

Now, back to the real world. Grading, here I come! Have a lovely day.

Friends with (winning) flair!

2011-11-04T15:09:00.001-04:00

Hi all, and happy Friday!

Be sure to head over and see what great deal Unity has for their Friday Feature -- it's always a good one. In the meantime, it's also Friends with Flair Friday, so how about a card? Ok, then:

Aw, ain't it kinda sweet? Friends of ours just let us know that their first bundle of joy is on the way -- but it's kinda early, so they're keeping it on the DL for awhile. Still, I couldn't let the card-making opportunity slide by! This card also happens to fit right in with the Unity Kit of the Month sketch challenge for November (bonus!) -- I used stamps from April's KoM (the cutie-pie onesie, which I trimmed out and "hung" on some Twinery twine), and from February's KoM (the sentiment). Papers are from Echo Park's For the Record collection, which I still love to bits. So yummy. I die-cut and embossed my own tag, which gave me a chance to break out my ancient eyelets (bonus again!).

Before I go, I thought it was high time I posted the winner from my little giveaway -- out of a whopping four qualified and desirous entrants, here's the winner:

That'd be Lindsey! Congrats, Linds -- I'll be emailing you shortly.

Have a lovely weekend!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T17:25:00.000-04:00

Hiya! Just thought I'd pop in really quickly to wish y'all a spooktacular Halloween!

We get plenty of trick or treaters in our neighborhood, so I'm all stocked up on the sugar. While I wait for the early birds to show up, I thought I'd share my sole contributions in the Halloween-card department this year:

(anyone notice anything odd about this photo?)

Sponge-tastic! I first masked and sponged the moon, and then the sky for each one -- a purple dusk on the left, a reddish dawn on the right (red in the morning's a sailor's warning, right? Or maybe it's "some reddish work done at night." Or maybe I've read The Crucible too many times.). I mixed ink brands on the left (SU, Distress, old PTI) -- it's moodier and (I think) eerily foggy-looking. The inks on the right are all SU, and they seem more serene and even-tempered. Yes, I assign character traits to my inks. Even when it isn't Halloween ;)

{An aside: I don't normally trumpet Tim Holtz's products...he's talented but perchance a tad overrated. However, the whole Distress line of inks makes me very happy (including the stickles and stains), and his ink applicator thingamabob really does make inking a breeze. Dang it. I get all of my TH goodies at Scrappy Chic, where the man has quite the following among customers. I guess they're on to something.}

Back to the cards: After inking like mad, I then stamped my little scenes using my very first stamp set from Waltzingmouse, Hocus Pocus. Those stamps inked like champs right out of the packaging, and they definitely pass the squish test. If there's one thing I hate, it's really well-designed stamps that are cheaply made -- they squish when you stamp 'em. Not these, though! I think I may need more....

Anywho, some paper from Echo Park and a bit of narrow velvet ribbon finish 'em off. Now, if only I'd remembered to send them to someone! Oh well, it'll be a belated Halloween this year!

Don't forget, you have until midnight tonight to enter my little giveaway in the post below this one. As of right now, there are a whopping four entrants, so I think your chances are mighty fine!!

Now, I'm off to scare the little munchkins with my spooooooky semicolon costume...but that's another post.

Have a ~~lovely~~ creepy day!

Thanks -- and a thankful giveaway :)

2011-10-27T16:46:00.000-04:00

Hi all!
I'm peeking out from under my mountain of essays just for a minute to share some thank-you cards I made a bit ago -- they've all reached their destinations now (the homes of my bloggy friends who sent me these birthday goodies).

First up, for my buddy Meg:

Meg was kind enough to send me my first Market Street Stamps, and I used the cane bg here, along with some gorgeous Crate paper (also from Meg!). Most of the rest of the supplies are PTI. Thanks again for all the goodies, sweet Meg!

Next up, for Lindsey:

Linds has a family member who is a big squirrel nut (pun. ha.), so I kinda ran with that theme here but kept true to Linds's CAS style, using an older squirrel stamp (Memory Box, maybe?) for the bg and another stamp from Meg for the gridded acorns (which are stamped on watercolor paper, btw -- hence the imperfect impression). The acorn caps and dies are PTI, and a bit of faux stitching finishes this one off. Thanks for the adorable snowman stamp, Linds -- I would've used it on the card, but I don't want to tempt the snow gods into sending some of the real stuff just yet ;)

Finally, for Emily:

Whoa, this is a big card. About 4x9, which makes it a you-know-what to get a good photo ;). I kind of went wild here, with a very busy bg (more paper from Meg -- one of my favoritest Pink Paislee lines), stamped-and-die-cut bikes (Em is a supreme fussy cutter, unlike me, so I go with dies!), and some ribbon and cs in coral, which she likes way more than I do! I also included a little twine bow made with the twine she sent along. You rock, Em!

Now, how about a little giveaway? I'm very thankful for all my regular (and irregular) blog readers, and I have some stamps that need a new home with one of you:

All three sets are new -- the Prima tree is brand-new, while the Sassafras stamps are older but unopened. If you think they should come and live in your house, drop me a line in the comments below. You could tell me about your Halloween costume, your holiday crafting plans, the weather, your kids...anything at all. Can't wait to hear from you! Everyone who comments by the end of Halloween (that's Monday, 10/31, at 11:59 EST) will be entered to win. Who knows? A few other goodies just might find their way into the envelope, too :) Enjoy!

Have a lovely day.

SiSiS: Stuff I Scrapped in September, part three.

2011-10-24T22:17:00.002-04:00

Howdy and Happy end-of-Monday!

Today I collected 3/4 of a mountain of essays to grade (the rest will come tomorrow), so I thought I'd sneak in a post before it all gets too busy around here. How about a couple layouts featuring that cute boy I'm married to? Ok then:

I always try to snap a photo of the boy on his first day of school -- sometimes he obliges (grudgingly), and sometimes I have to sneak one (last year's features Andrew brushing his teeth!). This year he obliged, probably so I wouldn't scrap a toothpasty version of him :) I used the same Fancy Pants goodies that I used in this post, along with a few bits and bobs from my stash, plus a fun "keep calm and..." stamp from Maya Rd.

The title is layered over some tape, and I made a little rosette with a glue dot and some embroidery floss.

This next layout needs a little explaining -- you see, we play pub trivia every Tuesday, generally with a friend or two. For awhile, we had a dream team of four -- Andrew and I, plus our friends Rob and Jon. Between us, we had a wide range of generally useless information to draw upon. ;) One night, the stars aligned and...

We got a perfect score! Here's the rest of the team as we were celebrating with root beer floats :). I included our score sheet from the game and some crossword-patterned paper from Grant Studios. See the chipboard buttons? Well, you might think they're just a design detail, but the uppermost button stack is strategic -- it's covering a woman in the background who looks like she's about to pick her nose. Ha! I don't know who she is, but I'm guessing she wouldn't appreciate being featured on the page. So, hello, button!

Anyway, since this game our buddy Rob moved out of state for a job, so now we mostly play as a team of three. We do ok, but we haven't since had a perfect game. Maybe tomorrow?

Anyway, that's all of my September projects for Scrappy Chic. I have more from a scrap session at the store, plus a bunch I've done since...whoa. Lots more posting to do!

Until then -- have a lovely evening! Wish me some grading luck, will ya? Thanks.

SiSiS: Stuff I Scrapped in September, part two

2011-10-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

Hiya and happy Friday!

Today I have three holiday layouts for you -- two Christmas, one Halloween. And since I don't have a ton of recent holiday photos (especially Halloween), I decided to make some more mini-me layouts with the three holiday lines that were part of my September kit from Scrappy Chic, which is where you can find all of my supplies. Check it:

as always, click a photo to see it bigger.

Halloween's up first. I know I have a shortage of Halloween photos for scrapping purposes, but I still went through five years' worth in one layout! These are my first five Halloween costumes -- all homemade, all well-loved (even the crazy-looking clown makeup!). My grandma can sew like crazy; she made all the clothes for her kids for years (that's five kids, people), and when I was little she made most of my special-occasion outfits, too -- Halloween, yes, but also Easter and Christmas dresses, first-day-of-school ensembles, etc. She can still sew, but these days readymade clothes cost quite a bit less than homemade for the most part -- plus she's moved on to (many) other hobbies. But I digress. The page uses Echo Park's Halloween line plus some ribbons from my stash. Aside from photo editing and printing, the whole thing took about 20 minutes. Works for me! Oh, and that princess costume in '81? cut down from a bridesmaid's dress from (I think) my aunt's wedding. And I thought modern bridesmaid's dresses could be crazy looking! Big floral flouncy border, anyone? Oy. Next:

A jolly old elf, indeed. What else could I use with that adorable elfin print (plus plaid, plus snowflakes) from American Crafts? The Thickers are a reflective shiny silver, which is why they look a little odd in the photo -- they sure gleam in person, though! In the 1981 Santa photo (on the left), you will see one of my favorite childhood fabrics: velour. Spiffy! On the right (1982), I'm wearing one of my home-sewn ensembles -- I loved that jumper. Another super-quick page, too. One more? Ok!:

I admit, this one's my favorite. The little photos are from '81, and the papers and die-cuts are all from the Teresa Collins Christmas line (except the big kraft snowflakes -- those are Maya Rd). The paper started out with a white background. Really white. Too white. Mists to the rescue! Some olive, some krafty tan, and I get shimmer, color, and less white. Since you can't see the photos, really, here's a closeup:

The same sewing grandma made me the stocking that year -- it would have lasted nearly forever, except one of my parents' dogs chewed it up pretty well when I was in college :(. On the right, you can see our family's extensive collection of macrame plant hangers in the front window, plus the toboggan that got a lot of use in Hines Park for years (Dead Man's Hill, anyone else?). Let's check out the cluster at the bottom:

More die-cuts (the cream phrase stickers are Cosmo Cricket's new Tiny Type words). That cluster is not hiding a mistake -- I hid my journaling behind it :).

Whoa -- that's a lot of photos! I do have a few more goodies to share with you (the boy pages). Last post, I'd mentioned that I hadn't scrapped much in October. In the past few days, I've made a half dozen layouts plus a couple cards! Whoa! The reason? Partly because I have a new kit to use, but mostly because of an online class I decided to sign up for from Shimelle Laine's website -- it's called Pretty Paper Party (how could I resist?), and it's really inspired me to break into my stash of new and old papers and create away! Thanks to Sue for recommending it -- it is pretty awesome.

All right then, have a lovely Friday!

SiSiS: Stuff I Scrapped in September, part one.

2011-10-19T12:00:00.000-04:00

Hey folks -- I'm back!

So far in October, I've done very little scrapping -- and I have a bunch of it to do before month's end, so I guess I'd better get on that. However, September was pretty productive for me, so I thought I'd share a few batches of those layouts with you.

You can see some of my scrap-related projects from September in this post, and in this one. Here are some layouts you haven't seen yet:

First up, a bright and cheery layout about the little sort-of surprise party we had for my aunt's 59-and-a-half-th birthday (like that? Thought so.) I used some Basic Grey goodies here -- the fun Indie Bloom line, specifically. I fussy-cut (yes! me!) a big ol' flower and some leaves to frame my cluster of little photos, and used another subtler pattern to anchor the cluster and my title. Six photos is a lot for an 8.5x11 scrapper, but I was up for the challenge. Also, we did not make her wear that silly hat and vest all day -- just long enough to get some photos! Next:

These photos are from the exact same party, just later in the day. My uncles decided to fire off this tiny antique cannon that had been used primarily as a yard ornament -- and it worked. And it was LOUD! Who knew? It's a little hard to see in the photo, but the whole thing is not even two feet long! The title is true -- my uncles are seriously easygoing guys and mild-mannered in the extreme. I guess gunpowder just riles them up, eh? Ah, men. Anyway, I used Crate Paper's Farmhouse line here -- the ruler print is two sheets from the 6x6 pad lined up together, while the quilty squares are un-fussily-cut from a 12x12 sheet. The letters started white, but I inked 'em. Fabric-covered letters are handy for that! Oh, and those asterisks are from Studio Calico -- they started as plain wood veneer, but I hit them with some Distress Stain (thanks for the tip, Liz).

Pretty much everything here is available at Scrappy Chic, so shop (locally) away!

I'll be back soon with either a couple of pages featuring the hubster, or a few featuring little me. Which would you like to see next?

Have a ~~blustery~~ ~~grey~~ ~~wet~~ lovely day!

A Week of Challenges, day five

2011-10-14T07:00:00.000-04:00

Howdy, folks!
I made it! I've posted for a whole five days straight. Welcome to my last day of challenge cards.

Today's challenge is a Unity three-fer! It's Friends with Flair Friday (if you head over there, you can find out what the special is today). Also, the monthly Unity challenge is to use falling leaves, while the Unity Kit of the Month sketch challenge looks like this:

I combined them and tweaked the sketch a little to come up with this:

All three stamps here come from different Kits of the Month: The leaves from September, the apples from July 2010, and the chair from March. I'm not sure that chair would fit in as well if the color scheme weren't so fall-ish, but I decided to just go forth and stamp with confidence...and I think I like it! This card is for my (other) aunt, who sent me a birthday gift card to one of my favorite (non-stamping) stores -- Trader Joe's! I mean, where else can I get wine, chocolate, cheese, AND friendly, Hawaiian-shirt-clad employees? Yum.

Well, thanks for stopping by -- and thanks to my "regulars" for putting up with me for a full five days. Who knows? You may be rewarded sometime soon...but that's for another day. ;)

I'll have a batch of layouts for you next, so hang onto your hats, and have a lovely day (and weekend)!

A Week of Challenges, day four

2011-10-13T07:00:00.000-04:00

Welcome back!

Time for the fourth challenge of the week -- this time, one that's brand-new to me. You see, my pal Emily has recently fallen in love with Paper Smooches stamps from Kim Hughes. It came as no surprise that she was asked to be their guest designer this month, nor that she also won a spot on the Paper Smooches Sparks design team. How could I not play along? Plus, check out the inspiration challenge image:

I almost want to run over to make them myself. Yum! I just love the warm colors. My only problem? I have no Paper Smooches stamps. Dang! I do happen to have two of Kim Hughes's sets from (the late, missed) Cornish Heritage Farms, though -- so I'm in luck, because those count too! I took all the mushroom stamps (six total) from Forest Friendzy and Spring Trees and created myself a sweet little scene:

The grass was stamped twice along the bottom, then masked and topped with all those cute 'shrooms. I pulled my colors from the inspiration image, and added a masked-stamp-and-sticker sentiment (the original sentiment reads "welcome spring"), plus some puffy pink(!) clouds. A tiny bit of gingham fabric tape echoes the gingham tomatoes (my favorites).

If you're interested in the stamps I've used, try looking for them on ebay. What I'm interested in is winning some Paper Smooches goodies so I can keep playing along! If you are too, the challenge is in effect until October 19th.

Four down, one to go! Tomorrow's card is a three-challenge-er, so stay tuned! Have a lovely day.

A Week of Challenges, day three

2011-10-12T07:00:00.000-04:00

Me again! Today's challenge card is a real challenge for me -- not so much because of the colors, which I think are lovely, but because I only have two stamps from Market Street Stamps (thanks again for those, Meg!), and they're both backgrounds! Here's the challenge image:

And here's what I came up with:

I had fun coloring in the little squares of the Pretty Perfect Grid background, and I used the Cane background as an accent. The sentiment is one of my earliest stamp acquisitions -- it's from Stampin' Up, and the date on it is 2002. I think it was from a set of mixed sentiments or something. Oy, I've been doing this for awhile! Anyway, I used a nestie for the sentiment, and the canvas impression plate from PTI for the background. I kind of like the contrast of squares and rounded edges...not that I planned it that way! Just a happy accident.

If you'd like to play along, the challenge runs through Monday the 17th, so there's plenty of time to get all colorful :). If you head over to the challenge page, be sure to check out Meg's trippy contribution -- I love it!

Well, look at me -- three down, only two to go! Yee-haw!

Have a lovely day!

A Week of Challenges, day two

2011-10-11T07:00:00.002-04:00

Back again with another challenge card -- this time for the Play Date Cafe. Here's the inspiration image:

While this set of colors would indeed make for a cool Halloween card, I went birthday instead:

This tag is for my mom, who has a birthday coming up later this week. She always gets tags, because she like to hang them all up in one of their kitchen windows. Cute! Another special fact about this card: it uses all stamps that she and my dad (who are we kidding -- she does the shopping in their house!) got me for my birthday a few weeks ago. She picked well!! The stamps are from a couple of the Studio Calico by Hero Arts sets that I've been drooling over at Scrappy Chic. My eyeballs see the challenge colors as lime (A.Muse studio ink), Purely Pomegranate (old SU), and Dusty Concord (Distress), paired with black and some Honeydew twine (the Twinery)

Ooh, how about a bonus tag! This one is also for my mom, who is a huge Detroit Red Wings fan (Huge, people. It's scary):

I stuck it in her mailbox as a surprise last week, when the official hockey season kicked off. The stickers are from my stash, the octopus is from Paperworks and gets pulled out once a year just for this purpose ;). The back of the tag reads "Go Wings!" Yep, she liked it.

I have a bit of bad news, too -- my dad, who might not do the shopping but instead is self-employed as an awesome all-around fixer/painter/renovator/Bill-of-all-trades, just got his work truck stolen. With all his tools and equipment inside. From the street in front of their house. And insurance won't cover the loss. Boo!! That really stinks. I'd like to help him out somehow, but I think he won't take assistance from his own child, y'know? Any tips for sneaking Home Depot gift cards into his pocket or paintbrushes into his mailbox are welcome!

Anywho, if you'd like to play along with these colors, the challenge closes at the end of the day today. Happy creating, and have a lovely day!

A Week of Challenges, day one

2011-10-10T07:00:00.001-04:00

Hi all!

It's been awhile since I've played along with any of the fabulous challenges out there in blogland, so I decided to try to hit up a bunch of them, especially since I had a ton (a TON) of cards to make (mostly thank you cards) and very little mojo to make them with.

I think challenges are a great way to spark creativity...so away we go!

This first card is actually for a ColourQ challenge that expired, but I thought the colors were intriguing and way outside of my usual palette, so I gave it a whirl anyway:

Lavender-ish colors aren't usually my bag, but I thought this was actually really pretty! I find that when one part of a design (here, the colors) is tricky for me to work with, I compensate by relying on an oldie-but-goodie layout. Here's what I came up with:

Well, when a color is "pear pizazz," why not start with a pear? This one is from Unity's September Kit of the Month, All Seasons. I stamped it on watercolor paper and then used a water pen to blend the leaves a bit. Yes, I actually fussy-cut something! I replaced Wisteria Wonder with the now-retired Almost Amethyst and stamped my houndstooth bg, and added hits of chocolate and black in the sentiment, bling, ribbon, and mat. Layout-wise, I heavily leaned on the rule of thirds, a long-time go-to for me.

This particular card will go to my aunt, who sent me a birthday gift and has always loved purple. Score!

This is but one of a whole bunch of cards I have for you this week -- I may even {gasp!} blog daily! Wish me luck. ;)

Have a lovely day!

ETA: Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends! May you eat well!

mini me.

2011-10-06T21:44:00.000-04:00

Hi there!
Time to share that mini I've mentioned a couple of times. It's my first "real" mini, the first one I've made just for us. I love it. Making it made me happy -- I loved the challenge of working on a smaller canvas, making choices about products and trying to find a sense of flow from page to page. Fun times. Wanna see it? Ok:

It's the front cover! Woohoo! I used a Maya Rd. chipboard album -- it's shaped like a picket fence, but since I didn't use the die-cut-to-more-obviously-represent-a-picket-fence page, it just looks like an arched rectangle-y thing, which is just fine with me. The tags on the ring are mostly from We R's travel line from a couple months ago, as are most of the photo mats and about half the background papers. The front tag is an actual Amtrak luggage tag I grabbed from the station. Other elements that run through the album: Basic Grey basics papers and mini alphas. A Martha Stewart skyline border punch. Distress Stain splats. Stamps from Teresa Collins's travel line. On we go:

click-a-roo to enlarge any of the photos.

In the interest of upload sanity, I collaged the interior-page photos and then numbered them for your convenience ;) Ephemera on the travel/lodging pages: our train tickets, hotel key, and CTA card (people in cities with good public transit, thank your lucky stars [and your bus drivers]). On the food pages: business card from the home of the most delicious waffle I've ever had...on three consecutive mornings; a chopstick wrapper, another business card [old-skool Italian this time]. I could've done the whole album on food, but that's been done before. I'd link you to my food album post, but the photos seem to have disappeared. Hmm....curious. Anyway, let's move on!

We went to Chicago in the first place for a concert -- a guy named Mark Kozelek (who is really good, and whom Andrew loves). We also had a day full of record store hopping. Ephemera on these pages: receipts and/or business cards from all the record stores we hit; the much-loved scrap of map I used to cross-reference where my phone map-app was telling us to go. If you can't read the text on the sign photos, feel free to click, enlarge, and chuckle a bit (if you're a nerd like me). Up next:

Sorry the upper photos are kinda tiny. We went to the Museum of Contemporary Art since Andrew hadn't been there yet, and we've been to the big art museum several times. Ephemera about art: bits from the museum brochure. The exhibits were nifty! The back cover has my favorite photo from the trip (shh, don't tell Andrew). Throughout, I typed my journaling on some Pink Paislee tickets from my stash, and added a few more notes on tiny-tags-in-envelopes from Melissa Frances. If you want any other specifics on products or places, just give me a holler.

Ah, what a great trip! This little album now lives on our bookshelf. I think I might be addicted -- I have another in the works right now! Stay tuned...

...and have a lovely day!

Baby got BAK.

2011-10-04T14:31:00.000-04:00

Well, if that Justin Bieber song didn't get stuck in your head after my last post, I sure bet you've got a song in your head now!!

I've always wondered why we crafty folk refer to the cards and other goodies we get in the mail as "RAKs" (Random Acts of Kindness) even when they aren't random at all! Recently I got some lovely cards for my birthday, which I shall hereafter refer to as "BAKs," or "Birthday Acts of Kindness." Sound good? Ok, on we go!

First, from Lindsey over at Bashful Blogging, comes this cheery Bird-day card:

Linds is a whiz with color, and I really love the pops of yellow all over the place. Plus, Linds knows I love a pun!! I haven't spied this one on her blog yet, but keep an eye out for it! (She also knows I love a good surprise!).

Next, a card from my birthday-sharing buddy Emily that makes me look way nicer than I actually am ;) :

Gorgeous! It uses my favorite shades of orange, pink, and green, along with those glorious wings, which I bet Em knows I'd never in a million years have the patience to fussy-cut at all, much less as perfectly as she did here. You can read more about it in her blog post here.

And finally, from my uber-creative-with-her-Silhouette pal, Meg, comes a card she knows I LOVE:

Ack! If you recognize this one, it's because it's kinda famous -- it was part of her amazing final round submission for Gallery Idol a couple months ago. You can see the whole rad suite here. And yep, the tape pops out:

Since my bday often falls on the first day of fall (as it did this year), this adds an air of poignance...or something ;)

Thanks for the BAKs, crafty pals! You made my birthday brighter. And a little more full of loot, too -- there were some fun stampy gifties that came along with each card! I'll be sure to let y'all know when I use them. Woohoo!

Have a lovely day!

Baby, baby, baby....

2011-10-01T13:33:00.000-04:00

Is there an insidious Justin Bieber song stuck in your head now? Good. Be lucky I don't believe in having music on my blog!

(Sidenote: one of my students {college students here, people} was wearing a Justin Bieber shirt today! One of her classmates pointed out: "Hey, aren't you older than he is?" Her response? "So? Hotness knows no age." It was funny, and only moderately creepy.)

Anyway, one line I got to work with this month is the adorably useful baby line from Simple Stories, Baby Steps. Their lines are amazingly well-coordinated and perfect for people who want pretty scrapbook pages in very little time -- their paper lines all include cut-apart elements that fit those handy divided page protectors...so I gave it a shot and made {gasp!} a two-page layout! Whoa.

click for a bigger view. Yes, that's my school desk calendar behind it ;) We take our photos when and where we can!

Aside from finding enough photos of my cutie-pie baby friend Sahana, this whole double layout took maybe 15 minutes. Score! The rose trim is adhered on top of the page protector, while the other accents are adhered to the panels inside. I used some smaller elements matted onto that pretty plaid pattern, along with some ribbon, brads, and letter stickers. Imagine how rewarding this kind of scrapping would be for beginners, or busy folks, or for gift books, for that matter.

Speaking of which, I discovered a whole extra page that I'd gotten but totally forgot to use, so I got to make a couple more projects -- these for a friend who is expecting. First, a quick card:

I paper-pieced a quick Papertrey cupcake with some scraps, plopped it on an extra cut-apart panel, added a button and a mat (perfect match for PTI's spring moss), and away we go! Here's the little memory book that accompanied it (yep, another mini-book!):

The cover features some faux stitching, twine from the Twinery, and a flat bow made from some scrap ribbon (flat=easy to mail). The inside is all made from just one 12x12 sheet of 4x6 elements, quickly stitched into the cover:

Plenty of room for photos and/or journaling, yet small enough to keep in a purse -- the mommy-to-be is not a scrapper but is a great photographer, so I bet it gets filled up pretty quickly! Speaking of quickly: another 15-minute project! Score. Here's my question for any mommas out there: would you actually fill this up, or would it sit in drawer somewhere until your kid turned 18 or something? Just curious ;)

So, there you have it: three quick and cute baby projects. One Bieber song stuck in your head.

Happy World Card Making Day, y'all -- I'll be doing all my making (card and otherwise) tomorrow at Scrappy Chic instead :)

Have a lovely, crafty kind of day.

A mini-book goes back to school.

2011-09-29T06:49:00.000-04:00

Oh boy, there's so much fun paper stuff to play with right now! This month, my kit from Scrappy Chic had paper from eight (!) different lines -- about twice as much as a normal month. So I better get sharing, eh? First up, let's start with one of my new favorite projects: a mini book! This one happens to be blank, just waiting for some fun school-related photos and goodies. I'm not really partial to back to school lines usually, mostly because the only folks going back to school in the fall are my husband and I, and we call it "work"! But this line (from Fancy Pants), is just awesome....

See? Cute, right? This little guy measures about 6x3, and I made it following this tutorial from October Afternoon -- it was so easy! I altered the directions a little, making the cover wider than the inside pages and leaving the inside-cover flaps open, like a dust jacket. Here are some of the inside pages:

The bottoms of each pocket are stitched shut, and the pages are bound in by stitching as well, so this is pretty sturdy. I used some of the cut-apart cards to embellish the inside, along with a few circle-punched scraps and some stickers from Cosmo Cricket and Jillibean. I love those little pockets -- you could stuff them full of tickets or notes or other school ephemera. I wish I'd had one of these back in the day when everyone exchanged those little school pictures -- do kids still do that? They'd look great here instead of stuffed in a desk drawer, which is where mine always ended up!

The sneaker print is probably my favorite :) Now, I used a different sheet of double-sided paper for each set of pages, but it would be just as easy to get two sets of pages from each 12x12 sheet, making this an extremely economical project! If sewing isn't your thing, a good strong adhesive or some staples would do the trick for binding as well. I'm thinking fun little holiday or baby or birthday gifts -- what a way to make a dent in my paper stash!

Let me know if you give it a whirl. In the meantime, you can see this in person at Scrappy Chic -- last time I checked, it was hanging out by the registers.

I have lots more for you, so expect some fairly regular blog posts until I'm all caught up. Also, I'm looking forward to making even more projects this weekend when I crop at Scrappy Chic with the lovely Liz -- if you're at the store on Sunday, stop by and say hi!

Have a lovely day....

Happy Birthday, times 2!

2011-09-23T07:41:00.000-04:00

Well, happy Friday to all of you, and Happy Birthday to my crafty pal, Emily Leiphart! Em, I hope you get to party down today!

Often, when I make a card that's going to be mailed right away, I jump the gun and get it all sealed up in an envelope before realizing I haven't taken any photos. Doh! This isn't one of those times, luckily.

other supplies: Unity and PTI stamps, SU inks, My Mind's Eye pp.

Can you tell I tried to channel my inner Emily on this one? Twinery twine, a mix of patterns, and I even {gasp!} colored that little party birdie! Ok, so I watercolored him, whereas Em is a Copic genius, but still.

[Speaking of that little bird, he's from a company new to me -- pictureshow stamps -- and he's actually their logo. Ain't he cute? I picked him up at a local stamp show, where they were selling tons and tons of images in mounted and unmounted versions. Their etsy shop only seems to sell mounted stamps, and a smaller variety, so if you are lucky enough to see their booth at a show, be sure to stop and browse.]

Ok then, back to business: Emily, I hope you have a fabulously crafty birthday!! I'm happy to be your stampy pal, and it's extra-special because we happen to be birthday buddies! That's right, it's my birthday too, and I'm already overwhelmed by all the birthday kindness that's come my way. I'll be sure to post some of my craftiest gifts from my craftiest pals soon.

Before I go, how about a cute cat photo for the first day of fall? It just so happens that our cats are perfectly coordinated for the season!

...dinner time is the only time they get this close to one another without any pouncing or growling, by the way ;). Don't they look like they're holding hands? Ha. Simon and Dex wish you a happy autumn, and so do I. Have a lovely day!!

I swear these pages are cute!

2011-09-21T07:41:00.000-04:00

So, a few weeks ago I met up with some folks at Scrappy Chic to do a little cropping. I made a whole mini-book (more on that later), and then whipped up a couple of quick layouts near the end of the day. Since I used my design team goodies for those layouts, it seemed silly to take them home, photograph them, and then bring them all the way back to the store for display. I just snapped some photos right there on the table and then left the layouts behind. Turns out, that might not be the best idea -- fluorescent lighting plus iphone does not exactly equal stellar photography. Try to see beyond it, ok?

It might help that the photos feature the cutest kids I know, though!

click to enlarge...if you think it'll help!

Here's our godson, in the middle of asking one of about a million and a half questions, mostly about the bowling tournament that was on TV. After awhile, we (who know little about bowling to begin with) started giving silly and nonsensical answers, but he didn't mind :)

paper from imaginisce and my mind's eye; other goodies from ac, basic grey, and my stash.

The clickety-clack of a manual typewriter at a crop is always sure to spark everyone's "remember when" stories. Fun times.

The second one features photos from the same day, same kid, plus his little brother and some very messy ice cream!

ruby rock-it paper, fabulous stamp from suzanne carillo/art gone wild

I made a little journaling flag with a toothpick. I have a feeling I'll try that one again soon. Also, isn't that hanging-clouds stamp amazing? I love it. These days, a wood-mount stamp has to be pretty awesome for me to buy it (storage space issues and such), and this one definitely qualifies! (Got mine at Scrappy Chic, of course, but you can see it here if you scroll down a bit.)

By the way, if you happen to be local, Treat Dreams in Ferndale has amazing and well-made ice cream for the whole family! Blue whatever-that-is makes kids happy, but the salty caramel ice cream made me very happy. There's also a cute train table for kids to play at, which distracted these kiddos soon after the photos were snapped ;)

Friends with (cake) Flair Friday

2011-09-16T07:59:00.000-04:00

Two posts in the same week? I must be getting my act together!

Today is Friends with Flair day over on the Unity blog -- be sure to head over there to see the great deal they have in store for you. I made the card below a couple weeks ago for the same gnome-loving friend from this post. I used a couple of KOMs (shouldn't that be KsOM?), along with the sketch for the September Kit of the Month Sketch Challenge, and came up with this:

(sorry about the slightly blurry photo -- getting used to nighttime project photography is taking some time!)

My gnome-loving friend is also a talented cake-baker-and-decorator, so I also whipped up some recipe cards to send along as well. The recipe card stamps and the arrow on the card are from August's kit, while the cake is from May.

I'm a lazy-butt colorer, so I went with some simple outlining and accenting, and added some rhinestones to the spots on the cake. Maybe my pal will be inspired for her next cake design! The fun, fun papers are from Echo Park's Happy Days 6x6 pad (from Scrappy Chic, of course). Love the retro-cheery feel and the gender/age versatility of this collection!

Thanks for stopping by! I'll be back with some layouts and my newest scrappy venture: mini-books. Oh goody!

Have a lovely day.

got the no-bloggin' blues!

2011-09-12T19:25:00.000-04:00

Well hey there, old pals!
I haven't blogged in, let's see here...two and a half weeks! That's just crazy.

I must say, while I have been making some things. I've also got the autumnal nesting bug -- cleaning the house, canning, baking, even (gasp!) weeding! Pair that with getting back into the swing of the school year (oh, and an adolescent kitten -- sheesh, Simon can be a pain in the cat-butt these days!), and the blog has been sadly neglected.

Anyone else with me? I've noticed some of my other regular reads have been a little quiet too....Of course, that hasn't kept me from getting behind on blog comments, too!

Anywho, how about a couple of quick cards to get back into the groove?

Here's one:

This is a quick Halloween card I made, currently on display at Scrappy Chic. I'm always drawn to fun Halloween products, which is silly since I don't really have much Halloween stuff to make or scrap. However, I couldn't resist the stuff you see here: Authentique's Halloween line (the 6x6 pad and die-cuts, specifically), and an uber-cute Hero Arts stamp set. I love that cat! Solid stamps like these are great for lazy stampers like me -- and they're already distressed-looking, making them a fine match for the paper line. There's a bit of May Arts ribbon there as well -- at about 40 cents a yard, how could I resist that one?

So, in short, I'm a sucker. But it's a cute card, no?

How about one more?

This is a dual-purpose card: it's a housewarming card for a pal of mine who moved from my town to one about an hour north of here -- sad to see them leave the 'hood, but I'm happy for her -- she used to drive almost two hours each way for work, and now she's way, way closer. Plus, we share a love of the film Amelie, so the gnome is especially appropriate.

The second purpose: it fits right in with my good stampy friend Emily's Moving Challenge -- she also just experienced a big move! In fact, I made her a card using the same house stamp from Unity -- you can see it in her post here. The adorrrrable little gnome and sentiment are also from Unity -- I got the set at Scrappy Chic, in case you're local and want to indulge ;)

Ok, enough from me for now! I'll try to blog a bit more regularly -- there's a lot of scrappy goodness coming up soon! Have a lovely day.

Scrappy scraps and a sweet cat

2011-08-24T09:35:00.000-04:00

Hello all!

Well, it's back-to-work time for me -- classes start tomorrow (I teach English at a community college). I can't believe summer's over, but I must say that it was a good one! Eventful enough to be memorable, but not so eventful that I felt busy all the time. Good stuff.

One thing I definitely got was plenty of quality cat time. One day, I was hanging out with Dex, and when I went to take a few self-portraits of the two of us, I ended up with this awesome lens flare...so I had to scrap it, of course!

I know you can edit photos to add an "artsy" lens flare, but it makes me happy that this one just occurred all on its own. I used some bits and bobs left over from another project here -- randomly-cut scraps of papers from Pretty Little Studio, a company that's new to Scrappy Chic. Their paper lines are 8x8, which is pretty unique, and they also make lots of cute tags and other paper accents -- like that train ticket on the layout.

To enhance the sunny photo, I used a canvas bloomer from Basic Grey, misted with the same yellow that's on the cardstock background, and enhanced with some little dewdrop/page pebble thingies. The nice long title is Amy Tangerine (sigh...love), and I stitched a bunch, both across the title stickers and around the photo.

Simple, easy, bright and fun. I sure hope my semester goes that way, too! Have a lovely day.

Birthday Time!

2011-08-20T09:38:00.000-04:00

Yes indeed, it was Mr. Cupboard's birthday this week! Now, normally I'd bake a cake for him (I do love to bake), but I happened to have a Groupon to a tasty local bakery...and this cake was tasty indeed! Cute, too -- cake decorating is a bit beyond me, mostly because my handwriting is so terrible! Anyway, birthdays mean cards, right? Here:

Yeah, that's a talking mixtape. Don't your mixtapes talk to you? ;) Aside from the speech bubble, this is a one-layer card -- all those lovely straight lines made for some simple masking. The fabulous tape is a new addition to my collection -- I bought it locally here, but you can also order it directly from Yellow Owl Workshop (there's other cute stuff there!). The background stamps and sentiment are all PTI, and the bubble and the grosgrain embossing on it are fun My Favorite Things goodies. I also broke out a very old $1 Studio G alpha set for the names. Knew I was hanging on to it for something!

If you were wondering about the odd angle of the card in the first photo, well, let's just say Dex really wanted to be in the picture, so I let her hold the card open for me here ;) I used some older We R Memory Keepers stamps on the inside, with another alpha and a heartfelt sentiment.

As for the birthday celebration, we spent some time with family, some time eating, some time shopping for music, and some time with a beer. Nice day!

Ah, well...school starts later this week, so that probably means I'll be a little cranky soon. I do love my job, but who doesn't love summers more, after all? Thank goodness for craftiness -- an excellent antidote to the back-to-school blues!

Enjoy your weekend! I have a roller derby bout to officiate tonight -- should be fun!

Who says summer is relaxing?

2011-08-14T22:04:00.001-04:00

The past couple of weeks have been super-busy around here! Luckily, they've been fun-busy, not work-busy: a fun couple of days hanging out in my favorite city (that's Detroit, y'all) with my hubby to celebrate our anniversary earlier this month, followed by prepping my stuff for the yard sale at Scrappy Chic (where I did quite well, thank you very much), followed by canning a big batch of cherries (oh, the pitting!), followed by spending the past four days or so Up North with the fam, camping it up. Whew!

I have made some stuff in between, but I haven't taken the time to get photos up and ready for the ol' blog...so I guess it's time to catch up, eh? Today, I have a couple projects using my kit from Scrappy Chic.

Oh, look at that sweet little face! (And he's so much bigger than this now -- they grow so fast!) I think he deserves a layout, don't you? Ok!

Oh, Simon is just so cute. And photogenic. That husband of mine is pretty adorable, too, don't you think? ;)

This fabulous paper (reminds me of a modern version of an old quilt) and banner (which is self-adhesive, conveniently) are from possibly the cutest little-boy-but-also-good-for-lots-more line -- Paper Boy from Ruby Rock-it, a smallish Australian company. I love the colors, especially the bright pops of yellow, and I love that the line is just so versatile...of course, I went and made a little-boy-cat page anyway ;) (Just so you know, there's also a Paper Doll line that includes a fabulous lime green. Yum.)

Grounded my title with a little collage of October Afternoon label stickers (I will NOT hoard my stickers. I will NOT hoard my stickers...). I'd say that red "g" was an intentional design decision...but I was just out of orange. Looks jaunty, no?

This month, one of my crafting goals is to whip up a card whenever I make a layout -- I do always have leftovers, after all. So here's a super-quick one:

Same stickers, paper, border as above, with a bit of faux stitching for added flair. Done in five! Any other quick tips for stash-busting out there? I'd love to hear them!

Well then, there's probably plenty more news to share, but for now, I'll get back to being un-busy. Besides the laundry, of course...;P

Amy Tangerine: part two!

2011-08-03T23:32:00.000-04:00

Like I said in my last post, I am finding this whole line pretty dang irresistible! Today I've got two projects made from the same piece of (really cool) paper. First, another simple layout: the second night of CHA there was this banquet dinner thing with a couple of bands (including a pretty dang good Abba cover band!), and in the corner was a photographer, a backdrop, and a table full of props. You'll get to see all three (!) of the photos we took together someday, but this one, the third, is definitely the best. Ain't we cute??

Here's the thing about paper with premade stitching accents: usually, they suck for 8.5x11 scrappers...because they usually go around the border and I have to chop them off, making it awfully silly to pay extra for the stitching, don't you think? The cross-stitching here is cleverly placed in comparison :). I broke out my handy circle cutter for (surprise!) the circles, and added the black faux stitching with a pen. Take a closer look for a sec:

The bit between the rows of stitching is stamped with my new favorite camera stamp, and I colored in the hearts using quick 'n dirty gradient coloring -- I inked up a blender pen with some dye ink once, then colored my way down the line. The alphas are some older Basic Grey that happened to match perfectly. Sweet! So, if you're wondering why I scrap 8.5x11 rather than the more common 12x12, the answer is simple:

Leftovers! Trimming paper down for a layout always leaves me with a handy 3.5x12-inch strip, perfect for quick cards made with whatever supplies are already out. Here, it's the same stamp set, a bit of trim that was just sittin' there, givin' me the hairy eyeball, saying "use me already."I also used a fun little trick I learned in my Jen Starr ink class: if you just kinda pound the business end of a Distress Stain onto paper, it makes a near-perfect splat mark! To finish off the inside, I used more stamps from the same set:

(And another splat, too.) The paper on the inside is left over from my layout's journaling strips above. I'm so frugal!

You can see another layout made with the same stitched paper in this post -- you'll just have to scroll down a bit (below all the product pics). I think people sometimes balk at the stitching, but I'm really starting to dig having someone else do all that work for me ;)

Before I go, don't forget to go vote in the last round of Gallery Idol before Thursday at 2 Eastern -- I'd suggest you vote for Meg, of course! (Congrats [again] on making top 5, lady!!) If you read this post, you'll appreciate just how much awesomeness went into her designs.

Thanks for stopping by -- have a lovely day!

Amy Tangerine: part one...

2011-08-01T14:46:00.001-04:00

...of several, probably. I just can't keep my mitts off of this line! I was lucky enough to score just a little taste of what is sure to be a full-blown addiction at the American Crafts booth at CHA. You can see American Crafts' intro to the line on this blog post, and Amy's intro here, among other places.

I decided to start simply, and with the most logical photo possible: one from the Amy Tangerine booth. Here's what I came up with:

Psst: if you're reading, Amy, thanks for being so utterly gracious (and talented, too)!

Aside from the alpha stickers (ok, and the staples and date stamp), the only materials I used were one sheet of paper, a photo mat and the tear strip from a second sheet of paper, and the Amy Tangerine stamp set (which I loooove...even though it's a bit squishy). No fancy embellishments, no paint/mist/ink (aside from the stamps, duh), nary a punch or die-cut to be found. The narrow blue strips were cut from my leftovers after trimming down to 8.5x11 -- the b-side is a lovely vibrant blue. I trimmed a few of the sun rays to weave the left-hand strip under. Easy!

Now, about that title...

It's a bit of a grad-school lit-nerd joke. I was in this class once where we were discussing a work of metafiction -- aka a work of fiction that is ABOUT a work of fiction. Someone's parting shot in that particular discussion was, "Well, I guess it's good, but it's a little too meta for me." For some reason, it just cracked us all up...because we were lit nerds, I guess. So: this page is about meeting Amy Tan, featuring a photo of the Amy Tangerine booth, made with Amy Tangerine product. Hope it isn't "too meta" for you!

Sidenote: That stamped camera there looks way better in real life, but I think I should've embossed it instead. The ink was way more vibrant white when I stamped it, but it looks like its faded. I may yet fix it!

I hear this line is shipping to stores now -- the minute it shows up at Scrappy Chic, I'll be sure to tell you! Well...I'll tell you right AFTER I go raid the shelves myself!! In the meantime, I have another layout and a card all ready to share, plus a bunch more ideas in the works :)

Have a delightful day -- and stay cool! Whew, it is crazy-hot out there (or out here, anyway)!

Winning!

2011-07-30T07:00:00.001-04:00

Hey everyone! Thanks once more for coming by this week for Growing in Unity!

All told (not including a few rogue deleted posts), I counted 76 comments this week. I've used the handy random number generator at random.org to come up with a winner:

Congrats, Liz! You lucky duck, you :) Here's her winning comment (from Day Three):

You'll get your choice of one of the following sets:

Check out your options and email me your choice, ok? Nothing like some new rubber to get a girl stamping ;)

Thanks again, everyone. Hope to see you around the blog again soon! Have a great weekend.

Growing in Unity - Day Five!

2011-07-29T00:01:00.000-04:00

Well, hello again!

This is my last Growing in Unity day, and it's been a really fun week! I've loved hearing from so many new people -- thanks for stopping by! Today, I have a whole set of cards to share:

It all began with this card here:

This one just so happens to be a publication reject -- I think I submitted it for two or three different calls, actually. I guess I like it better than the editors, though, so here it is! I decided it needed a friend:

Same design, different details. And here's another:

Ooh, I flipped the design! And then I needed one more, a vertical format, just for kicks:

I might re-make this one with the sentiment positioned higher, but you get the idea. Anyone else have a tough time getting good photos of side-folded cards -- or anyone have tips out there?

All four cards use sentiments from Unity's fabulous She did it Anyway (a Melody Ross co-branded set) and I think they'll make a lovely little gift sometime in the future. Encouragement cards can be hard to make without going hokey, y'know? I think these would do the trick for me.

Each card follows the same pattern: a stamped sentiment (thank goodness for the stamp-a-ma-jig!)with negative die-cut images popped up on a white A2 background. All the colors are Paptertrey Ink -- in the order of the photos: aqua mist, raspberry fizz, sweet blush, and hawaiian shores. The dies are PTI, too, except for the last one -- the swallows are from Amuse Studio. Ink is Basic Gray from Stampin' Up. If die-cutting isn't your thing, punches would do the trick, or any of the great images from this set would fit in just fine instead.

Don't forget: comment every day this week for a chance to win your choice of the following Unity sets:

I'll use our friend the random number generator to choose a winner Saturday -- everyone who posts a comment by midnight Eastern time tonight (Friday) will be counted. Good luck, and I hope to see you next week...I might not post daily (whew!), but I'll have some awesome Amy Tangerine projects to share -- oh, how I love that line! I feel so lucky to have some of it in my possession before it hits stores!

Have a lovely day!

Growing in Unity - Day Four

2011-07-28T00:01:00.003-04:00

Howdy, folks!

Another day, another Unity project! Today I have a layout...yep, more CHA photos! Well, pre-CHA, technically. Here you go:

{pardon today's photos -- we had a case of the grey rainies around here!}

All the stamps here (flowers, date tag, border, background stamps) are from this month's KOM, ...better together. Let's take a closer look at one of those flowers:

All four of the flower stamps in this month's kit have buttons in the center. That's just asking for the real thing, don't you think? I did a bit of quick and simple paper piecing with each flower, topping them with buttons from my embarrassingly large stash of buttons. (PS: one bonus of being an 8.5x11" scrapper: leftover paper to piece with!) In this photo, you can also see an additional flower that I stamped a bit in the background.

{Sidenote: the blue panel on the page is also misted with turquoise glimmer mist. Last weekend, I took an all-ink class with Jen Starr, who's a Ranger and Tattered Angels educator. I finally understand my mists! Hooray! Tip of the day: Spray with conviction! Tip two: mist the back of your paper with plain ol' water, and it curls up way less.}

More simple piecing here. Used my Smash date stamp for the date. Handy little bugger. The papers here are all from Pink Paislee's Daily Junque collection, which I luuuurrve -- the colors are so fresh together! I'm pretty sure my good stamping pal and last week's Growing in Unity gal, Meg, is getting this collection for making it into the Top Ten in the current Gallery Idol competition -- and I think you have until about two pm local (Eastern) time today (Thursday) to go vote for ~~Meg!~~ whomever you like (aka Meg!).

Whew! One more day to go! I'll be back tomorrow with a totally simple card set. In the meantime, I have some comments to catch up on! Y'all are so sweet! Be sure to comment today and every day this week for a shot at winning one of the following sets:

Enjoy your day! See you tomorrow.

Growing in Unity - Day Three

2011-07-27T00:01:00.012-04:00

Hi all! I have another card for you today -- one that's pretty quick and simple, but is still, well, fabulous! Check it:

The stylish lady, animal-print background, and the "you're so" sentiment are all from the March KOM, Just You. The "fabulous" is selectively inked from the awesome Coco Chanel sentiment in Undeniably You.

The card is an exercise in making myself use a stamp I have a hard time reconciling with my style -- in this case, that leopardy bit in the background. I admit wussing out a bit and keeping it subtle, but it does make a nice frame for my fabulous lady, no? I'm ok with that.

Speaking of Ms. Fabulous, she's colored very (very) simply with Copics -- simple Copic coloring is all I'm capable of!

I gave her some pearl accessories (pearls from SU), and popped her up for a bit of (mailable) dimension. If you'd like another take on this stylish chica and the leopard print, check out this post on Kasia's blog -- so cute!

Don't forget to leave a comment on this post and all the Growing In Unity posts this week for your chance to win a stamp set from this crazy-good list:

(Click on any set title to see it on the Unity site)

See you with another layout tomorrow -- have a great day!

Growing in Unity - Day Two

2011-07-26T00:01:00.000-04:00

Welcome back!

As promised, here's a layout featuring Unity -- in two ways: the stamps (of course) AND the photo!

As I mentioned in this post, meeting Maren was a total treat. This is the first of many CHA photos you'll see scrapped over the next couple months, I'm sure! I stitched on a twine "wire" for my birds, which are embossed -- as is the swirl in the lower-right corner. Note to self: next time, stitch the twine AFTER embossing. That was a "duh" moment, for sure. ;)

Peek closer:

The birds and swirl are available as part of the Donna Downy Unity set Embrace You. Love the large scale -- perfect for pages! Embossing on textured paper gives a more rustic-looking texture, which I like. The ticket behind the title is from Here's the Ticket.

More embossing here -- I selectively inked a sentiment from May's KOM, think HAPPY thoughts, and added in some tiny type stickers to complete the thought. This was a great chance to use papers from my July Scrappy Chic goodies -- Pebbles's Floral Lane collection, which is super-cheery. Grunged up the cheer a bit with layers of tape from 7gypsies and American Crafts. Cheerful grunge: I like it!

Hope you do, too! Remember to comment all week for a chance at some Unity goodies! I'll be back tomorrow with more. Enjoy your day.

Growing in Unity - Day 1

2011-07-25T00:01:00.001-04:00

Happy Monday, everyone!

All week, I'll be sharing a bit of Unity Stamp Co. joy with you all. The timing is great -- visiting the Unity booth at CHA last week was definitely a highlight of the show! I can't wait to get my paws on all of their new releases. You can get your paws on some Unity goodness too -- be sure to leave a comment on each post this week for a chance to win a stamp set! Hooray for free stuff ;)

I'll have a mix of cards and layouts for you this week. Today, let's start with a card, shall we? For this sweet and simple card, I used the Echo Park co-brand set, With Love:

This card is about 6x3.5" and uses a sheet from Sassafras's Sunshine Broadcast 6x6 pad, which makes a fun background for the bike and sentiment. I stamped the bike a second time on a leftover scrap from the same page, cut the wheels out, and attached them to the original image with brads and tiny washers so the wheels are able to spin! Clever, no?

You can (kinda sorta) see the dimension at this angle. A few pearls (Pebbles) and some twine (Papertrey Ink) finish off the card. By the way, the twine hides the seam where I pieced the background together so the border of the original 6x6 page would be continuous. Tricky!

I may save this one for our anniversary in a couple of weeks, but it would also make a lovely engagement or wedding card, don't you think?

Stay tuned for a layout tomorrow! Don't forget to leave a comment before you scamper off, though. Have a lovely day!

CHA, Day 3...finally!

2011-07-24T17:38:00.000-04:00

Hi there!
In spite of my best intentions, it's taken a few days to get around to posting about our last day at CHA -- there's been so much to catch up on (including sleep)!

So, here we go:

Aside from placing all the remaining orders for (fabulous) product for Scrappy Chic, Chris, Katie and I really wanted to make sure we hit all the fun photo opportunities together on the last day. Here are a few:

We all had to get Smashed together -- I like my eyepatch-tiara combo! Chris as a hook-handed Statue of Liberty and Katie's giant mustache are very stylish, no? Chris thinks it would be a great idea to recreate the Smash photobooth idea in the store -- if you agree, be sure to let her know!

Between the three of us, we probably got more pics with Amy Tan than anyone else at the show!

Dyan Reavely's awesome mixed-media style (for Ranger and Stamper's Anonymous) makes Katie very happy -- plus, she's super-nice!! Hi, Dyan!

What's a paper arts event without a Tim Holtz photo op, really? Katie only had to fight the crowds for a minute to sneak this one in ;)

"She did it -- I swear I'm innocent!" October Afternoon's saloon-themed booth made for some fun photos.

The one and only Maren Benedict took our order at the Unity Stamp Co. booth -- and of all the very sweet people we met at the show, I think she might be the sweetest! Plus, we ordered some awesome stamps, and I can't wait for them to come in. Bonus: I'll be the Growing in Unity gal all this week (starting tomorrow), so be sure to come back and check out more Unity goodness and get a chance to win a set just for commenting!

Now, how about a little eye candy?

Spellbinders has some cool new dies (nesties postage stamps, anyone?), but my faves are both on this card -- their new Edgeabilites line has really versatile border dies, and those butterflies are just gorgeous! I also like that a lot of the new Grand Calibur dies will work with regular-sized machines. Nice.

Ok, not the best photo, but Lily Bee's fall line is really pretty and warm and versatile.

Simple Stories! The new lines are just as fun as 100 Days of Summer -- plus their samples show just how quick and easy scrapping can be while still being totally charming. I now feel the need to try my hand at divided page protectors.

We won a drawing for this great G45 product, along with that super-cute lunch box all done up in their Wizard of Oz line. Excitement!

And finally --

We had to leave eventually, right? It was so much fun, made even funner because Chris and Katie are such a blast! Thanks, Chris, for taking us along.

Here's our view on the way home:

See you next year, I hope!! Hooray for CHA!

CHA, Day 2

2011-07-21T01:48:00.000-04:00

Whoa, it is late! It's been a long time since I've kept these crazy hours. How about a bunch of photos and perhaps a bit less verbiage this time around?

First, people:

Katie and I getting Smashed at the EK booth before the show opened this morning. We asked a very kind cleaning lady to take the first one. Thanks, mystery lady!

We keep running into Susan and Cath from Paper Crafts -- here, in the Studio Calico booth.

We all got photos with Nicole Harper of Studio Calico fame -- but she's also a friend of Scrappy Chic --it's her "local store," even though she drives TWO HOURS from Ohio to shop and crop there! That's dedication. Plus, she's super-nice. Hi, Nicole!

Katie had a nice chat with Teresa Collins...without realizing it :)

Hijinks ensued at the evening event. Just wait until you see the official photos!

Ok, onto some projects!! Prima (not usually my style) has beee-you-ti-ful stuff...and we ordered a LOT of it! Here's a taste of projects even I approve of:

Lots of fun goodies and amazing projects at Maya Road, too:

Ordering Studio Calico was easy because it's all so dang amazing:

We'll be ordering Unity tomorrow, but I stopped in today to say hi and snap some photos of projects:

(this one's for you, Em!)

And one more big order near the end of the day: American Crafts. Oh boy oh boy, that's a biggie!! There are really only samples up for Amy Tan's line, so how about a few more of those:

There's more -- of course! -- but I can't spoil all the surprises, right? Just know that we are ordering awesome stuff (Echo Park, Crate, October Afternoon...pretty much everything we've been drooling over), and the hardest part will be waiting for it all to show up in the store.

For now, sleep. Tomorrow: the rest! Have a lovely evening!

CHA, day 1

2011-07-20T01:40:00.000-04:00

Oh my, it's been a long, productive, FUN day!

We waited in line in the morning:

all bright-eyed and stuff.

Met some cool people:

Kelly Purkey is cute, I'm in bad lighting.

Katie and the super-nice (super-beautiful) girls from Glitz

Shari Carroll, queen of Hero Arts

Amy Tan of Amy Tangerine -- one of my favorite new lines!

Jennifer McGuire -- did you know she was born in Frankenmuth?

Tim Holtz in the background, surrounded by his usual throng.

Me and my card, in the Paper Crafts booth.

And of course, saw lots and lots and LOTS of very cool products. Since you can see most of the lines online in various places, how about some cool projects for now?

Studio Calico -- my other favorite. Love.

Graphic 45 has outdone themselves, as usual.

October Afternoon - super-cute line!

Hambly transparencies on a lamp? Sure!

Super-cool mini from Amy Tangerine

from Silhouette -- this one's for you, Meg!

Oh, Echo Park is so fun.

Winter Twig from LYB -- because one Twig is never enough!

Crate. Oh, Crate. Also a favorite (can they all be favorites?)

So much fun stuff at Kaisercraft.

So take all of those companies, plus dozens more, multiply that by a catalog or two apiece...and that's what we've been up to -- lugging catalogs (rolling tote is a must), reading catalogs, drooling a little on catalogs...and planning orders! Most of what you see above will sooner or later come home to live at Scrappy Chic. And then at my house, too. Who needs groceries?

And of course, there's more!! But that will wait for another night -- man, it is late!! Good night, y'all -- see you tomorrow!

CHA, almost!

2011-07-18T23:59:00.000-04:00

Hi all!

Blogging from Chicago (hooray for free wifi in the hotel!). Drove in today with Chris (owner of Scrappy Chic) and Katie (faithful and talented employee), checked into the hotel, checked in at the conference:

an official welcome banner!

an official pass, on a lanyard even!

ate some chow at the Taste of Rosemont (who knew Rosemont had a taste?):

food=happy faces.

headed to an event at a nearby hotel:

wait, is that an Oompa-Loompa? Why yes it is!

but stopped first for a quick visit with an old friend, or something like that, kind of:

ran into Susan Opel from Paper Crafts magazine -- she was my student teacher once :)

the event was very colorful:

wait, is that Willy Wonka? Or Wilhelmina Wonka?

but we didn't win anything during the drawings :(

Not even a gumdrop centerpiece -- cute though, no?

Still, a fun night was had by all:

Way to throw a party, Moxxie!

PS: yes, I'll edit the shadows out of these photos eventually...

And tomorrow, the real show begins!! Stay tuned....

Whoa! Where have I been? Where am I going?

2011-07-16T15:30:00.000-04:00

Well, as it turns out, I've been to Chicago, saw Weird Al in concert, had tea, Cotswold-style, at Greenfield Village, hit a Tigers game, and managed to hang out with the fam at home in between. Whew! So...not much blogging, but plenty of new photos to scrap soon!

I have done a bit of scrapping, though, especially with my Scrappy Chic kit for July. What with all the new-cat/injured-cat business in our house these days, could you blame me for jumping on We R Memory Keepers' latest line, Friends Furever? Tired pun notwithstanding, it's pretty cute collection for cat AND dog lovers, and there's lots of orange, which looks good with Simon. Who has a beard! Here:

click to enlarge

A little orange goatee, to be a bit more exact. I used papers from the new line, along with some alpha stickers I've had hanging around for awhile (the green Studio Calico ones are in one of my favorite-ever fonts. Thanks, what the font, for telling me! Thanks, Meg, for telling me about what the font!!) I also used these glass (plastic, maybe?) little drop thingies. Look closer:

When you're done looking at cutie Simon, see those dots on the arrow? I think they're called dew drops? Anyway, I kinda like 'em. I was surprised at that. Other stuff here: a semi-failed attempt at misting, some paint splatters, some flocked lace stuff from ages ago. Simple little layout. Cute little cat!

That photo above was taken right after Simon came home: he weighed about 2.5 lbs and was as fuzzy as all get out! Here he is now:

5 lbs (that's double, people. Whoa!), less fuzzy, cone-free!, but still cute. I checked: beard is still in place as well.

Now, as for where I'm going: CHA!!! I'll be right back in Chicago at the trade show next week (not the Consumer SuperShow, so don't ask me to buy anything for you, silly ;) ) Chris, owner of Scrappy Chic, is very generously taking me along to shop for the store!

I'll get a front-row seat for all the new releases for the next 6 months or so. Can't wait!! My goal is to blog some finds and fun and such in the evenings, assuming I can stay awake after shopping and walking, walking, walking the show floor. If you have anything you'd especially like to see in those posts (or in the store, local folks), leave your requests in a comment, K? If you just can't wait, you can find links to a lot of what's already been sneak-peeked here.

And in other people-going-places news, my good pal Meg has already sped through the first round of Paper Crafts Magazine's Gallery Idol competition -- her card for round two, which I'm sure will be absolutely fabulous, will go live tomorrow afternoon. If you agree that she is absolutely fabulous (and why wouldn't you?), feel free to vote for her in Round Two! You can keep up with the competition here, and with Meg via her blog here.

Oh, Simon...

2011-07-03T15:46:00.000-04:00

...you sure are a cute kitten! So cute, I had to put together an 8x10 collage of your pictures in Picasa. I was all set to print it out...but oops! I forgot to reset the paper size, so I ended up with about a dozen photos crammed into a space barely larger than 4x6! What's a scrapper to do? Make a layout anyway, of course:

(You can click to enlarge, but you'll probably see all these photos again anyway, only bigger. Also, I swear everything is straight on the real layout!)

Meet Simple Stories, a newer (or newly reworked, I think) scrap company with sort of an Echo Park vibe. This layout uses their 100 Days of Summer collection, which is sunny and fun and just a little vintage all at once. I love it! It was part of my Scrappy Chic kit for June, and I got a lot of use out of it.

I also got some use out of my Sew-Easy:

Cute, no? I haven't been in the mood to drag out my sewing machine lately, so old-skool hand-stitching is taking its place for awhile. You can also see the nice bit of distressing on the dp here, too.

So, about that cute Simon kitten...here's what he looks like now:

He broke his poor little leg on Monday, had a splint, had surgery (Thursday), had a big 'ol bandage...and now has a nekkid chicken leg (you can barely see it in the photo) and a lovely bonnet to wear. Or e-collar. Or Cone of Shame...whatever floats your boat. He also has to more or less live in a crate for the next month or so. The cone's only until the stitches come out, luckily. Poor baby. He's pretty fine with it all, though -- one easy-going kitty!

Anyway, you can see what we've been up to this holiday weekend -- I hope you're up to something a little more fun!

A first for me...

2011-06-30T11:47:00.000-04:00

Hi there, y'all! How's your summer going?

I must admit, mine got a little bit brighter when I saw this:

Not necessarily because I needed to be reminded of the truth of that sentiment, but because of where I saw it: the July/August issue of PaperCrafts:

And not necessarily because it's on an awesome card (though I do think it's a pretty good one), but because I MADE IT. AND IT'S IN A MAGAZINE! Back in January, one of my New Year's resolutions was to get one of my cards published. So I submitted to the then-current call for PaperCrafts -- the July/August call. Well...they picked up three of my projects!! THREE! Whoa. Might be the first time ever I could check off a resolution before the end of January :) You can see more information on the current issue here.

As much as I like to play with techniques and such when I stamp, I'm pretty sure that clean, graphic, simple design is what I'll always come back to. Hence, this card:

Sentiment: Unity; Paper: Basic Grey; Cardstock: Papertrey Ink

Really, really simple stuff -- a fun edge paired with the simplest stamping of all. A marker swipe to highlight, and I called it a day. You can see this project, as well as my other two (!), in this month's issue, which has lots and lots of other fun stuff in it, too -- not just my fun stuff ;)

Also, submitting cards has become a bit addictive...you'll be seeing more from me in upcoming months, so stay tuned!

An old wives' tale...

2011-06-22T14:23:00.000-04:00

So, as you may have noticed, I know a bunch of people who are having babies :) The other week, I was at a shower for one of them (see her card here), and, as it turns out, one of our friends who was there is ALSO having a baby (no card for her just yet, but it's on my list). Having two expectant mommas at one shower is maybe not too surprising...except that they have the same name. So:

(click to enlarge if you like)

Here we have Jenn (on the left), and Jen (on the right). Left-side Jenn does not yet know what she's having, so she's trying out an old wives' tale on right-side Jen, who is having a boy. You can read about what they're doing here, though their variation uses the wrist instead of the belly. How accurate are the results? I'll be sure to let you know ;)

I used my Counterfeit Kit to make this layout (along with my Scrappy Chic design team kit -- yay!). Here are a couple of fun details:

Punctuated a die-cut border with a whole row of Basic Grey brads. I haven't ever used this many brads at once before!

(other supplies: Sassafras and My Mind's Eye papers, American Crafts velvet trim, Jillibean twine, AC Thickers, Papertrey dies and buttons)

More border punctuation, this time in the form of buttons and Basic Grey Details. The star on the left started as a plain Bazzill chip, which I painted with an off-white dabber and pink crackle paint. By the way, I really love that grey dot paper from Sassafras -- it's just about the perfect shade of grey for...well, anything, really! Grey has been a go-to color for me for awhile now, in crafting and in clothing. Any go-to colors for you?

Have a delightful day!

RAKs in, RAKs out!

2011-06-20T13:52:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday! Hope your weekend was great. Mine was spent submerged in tasty (mostly homemade) food and drink -- yum!

My mailbox has been busy, too -- in both directions! First up, a giant HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my pal Lindsey -- be sure to stop over and wish her well on her big day. Here's what should be in her mailbox...whenever the Canada Post snafu gets worked out, anyway:

The girl can grow some awesome flowers, so this seems suitable, no? I've used PTI dies and stamps with some of that fabulous dots and stripes paper from Echo Park (from Scrappy Chic, of course!) -- the blue stripes are from a 6x6 pad, while the green is 12x12 -- love the variation in scale. Have a great day, Linds, and I sure hope your card gets to you eventually!

Next up, a local RAK:

We have some new next-door neighbors, and they seem really nice. What better way to keep it friendly than with a little gift? The card uses mostly scraps from my desk -- papers from Crate and Amuse Studio, a house die-cut from a coaster with a stickles-filled heart at the center, and a fitting sentiment (PTI). Peeking around from the back is a jar of homemade strawberry-rhubarb jam for a little housewarming gift (oh, is it ever yummy, too -- we've almost polished off a whole jar ourselves, and I just made it a few days ago!). The recipe I used is in this book, which has all kinds of totally doable canning recipes. Highly recommended!

And now for a couple of incoming RAKs, both from the fabulous Meg!

This is part of a trio she already blogged here, and I just love it! I'm also fairly certain I'd never have the patience to deal with all the tiny pieces she popped up so perfectly. Fabulous!!

Also, to celebrate Simon the kitten's arrival:

How cute is this? I swear, that woman is a genius with her Silhouette! Plus, it's punny in addition to being so well-designed. I absolutely love it!! I think Simon might approve:

...or he will, once he wakes up ;)

Here they are together:

I just love my stampy friends and neighbors! I hope you all have a delightful day!

Don't fear the fuchsia!

2011-06-17T09:19:00.000-04:00

...or the lime green, for that matter. I must admit, when I first saw Basic Grey's Lauderdale collection, my first thought was, "Whoa, that's BRIGHT!" And it is. Very. My first instinct was to use black and white photos to tone it down a bit, but then I realized that these photos of our crabapple tree in flower were exactly the right shade of fuchsia -- perfect!

I love this tree. Anyway, I used mostly Lauderdale here -- the flowers and most of the papers (lookie! I used flowers! That doesn't happen too often).

The Thickers and October Afternoon alphas paired up pretty well for the title. In the detail shot, you can see that the Thickers actually have a bit of dotty texture to them, which I picked up with a line of Kaiser pearls from the ol' stash, along with the dotty canvas flower (BG) and the bubble-wrap stamp in the corners (also Kaiser).

I added some dimension to the big flower with a spiral of tulle. The striped paper and glazed brads are from My Mind's Eye.

I made this page with my Scrappy Chic kit from May -- I admit, I gave myself this line because I thought it was a bit challenging, but you know what? I had a lot of fun with all that color! Not a challenge at all. You can catch this layout in the store if you'd like -- be sure to wear your shades!

More babies...

2011-06-15T07:14:00.000-04:00

...and more baby cards. It seems to be the season for new babies around here! So, without further ado:

First:

I used ~~some~~ almost all Amuse goodies on this one (stuff I got when they were on major clearance -- bonus!!). The pieced banner is all one stamp that actually started as a straight line, but I snipped a little bit between the individual flags, kind of like you'd do when sewing a curve, and presto: a flexible banner stamp! Sweet little overalls and a sentiment seal the deal.

Next:

Definitely more on the frilly, girly side, no? I couldn't resist trimming that sweet frame from some older Sassafras paper (which is saying a lot, since I kind of hate trimming stuff out!), and pairing it with some trims and embossing and a button-enhanced PTI sentiment and twine and all that other fun and frilly stuff. I did, however, use the same aqua paper on both cards -- from Pink Paislee's stunning Daily Junque collection, which I might hoard for forever or so.

Short and sweet for me today -- gotta get back to the NEXT baby card! Whew!

Hope you're having a lovely day.

An Inside Joke = Baby Card

2011-06-13T08:44:00.000-04:00

Well, I guess it won't be "inside" any more if I'm blogging it!

Let's back up. When I was in Atlanta a couple months ago, I got to spend some quality time with a pair of old friends (you can see them in this post). It happens that they are expecting their first baby next month, which is, of course, very exciting. With a new baby comes all kinds of STUFF -- all that equipment, the toys, the clothes...but here's the thing: these friends of mine kind of hate STUFF. In fact, they pride themselves on consuming very little, making use of what they have, buying locally and/or upcycling, etc. STUFF is not part of who they are.

I asked them how they felt about the influx of STUFF that was about to enter their lives with this baby boy, and the response was: "What? What stuff? We're just gonna dress him in some old burlap and call it a day." Kidding, of course. I hope.

So Friday was the baby shower. Here's the card:

Ah yes, it may look like a straightforward congrats card, but let's take a closer look:

Yeah, burlap stars! She got the joke right away. I also added some burlap-y texture to the navy frame, plus I upcycled some denim into the focal star (and I have a new pair of cutoffs for the summer: bonus!). I surprised myself by really, really loving this card. It isn't too "baby," but it also has a bit of a country vibe, which isn't usually my first instinct -- yet I think it works here.

As it turns out, Paper Crafts is running their Gallery Idol competition right now -- the theme? Congratulations cards. Love it when a plan comes together. Especially when it isn't a plan, but a happy coincidence! You can see the full gallery here. Lucky for me, I have a couple more people in my life who need congratulating, so I'll have a couple more entries soon!

Have a delightful day -- the weather looks great here!

Other supplies: PTI: sentiment, neutral cardstock, small star dies; SU: color cardstock, large star die, brad, ink; Spellbinders: labels 1 dies; Stamper's Anonymous: texture stamp.

Blue skies...

2011-06-10T10:39:00.000-04:00

Who doesn't love them? And spending time with your favorite person under those blue skies? Even better! This layout features one of my favorite photos of Andrew and I, at the Jazz Fest in Detroit last fall. It was actually a really chilly, windy day, but the sky was just so blue! I scrapped (and blogged) that experience here, but today, my focus is on that sweet boy of mine:

Ok, that and these fabulous goodies from Sassafras! This layout just so happens to fit their sketch challenge for June, which you can read about here. Here's the sketch:

I stayed pretty true to the layout, just swapping the title and journalling. I also used some of my favorite patterns from the new Sunshine Broadcast line -- LOVE this line. Simultaneously subtle and colorful, if that's even possible. I also used some older Sass goodies (I have a LOT of them) as accents and such, like the flowers, journal card, even some stamps I've had forever.

The "happy" is one of the few non-Sassafras bits here -- it's actually the first time I broke out these dies from Papertrey Ink. They're a perfect title size.

Also, since all three of the papers I used happen to be from the wee bundle (that's a 6x6 pad, y'all), this layout also qualifies for this month's challenge over at Scrapbooker's Anonymous -- to use three or more 6x6 sheets on a layout. What a smart challenge! I tend to forget that I can use my 6x6 stash on more than just cards. Thanks to my scrappy pal Sue from their design team for the inspiration! If you'd like to see this layout in person, be sure to head over to Scrappy Chic, where it'll be up on the wall someday soon.

Have a delightful day!

Counterfeit Kit(ten) Challenge: June

2011-06-09T08:27:00.000-04:00

Hi folks!

After taking a couple of (otherwise busy) months off, I decided to join in for the Counterfeit Kit Challenge for June. They chose a fun kit from a new kit club called Burlap and Buttercups (click the link to see the original kit). I love the spring/summer colors in the challenge kit:

In addition to stuff from my stash, I also wanted to include some goodies from my design team kit from Scrappy Chic -- nothing wrong with a twofer! Here's what I came up with:

New goodies from Sassafras's latest collection, Sunshine Broadcast (part of my DT kit), some of the new Pow! glitter paper from American Crafts (which has a lovely, mess-free texture AND works in electronic die-cutting machines, not that I have one....), and a bunch of other goodies I've been itching to use.

Just what will I be scrapping, you ask? I'll give you one guess....

I'll have a bunch more posts coming up -- I've unintentionally stockpiled a whole bunch of projects (and by "unintentionally," of course I mean "I've been a lazy blogger.").

Friends with Flair! (and a kitten)

2011-06-03T08:20:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday, everyone!

As the school year winds down, I always find myself making a stack of thank you cards for my husband (who is a HS choir director) to give to all those great people who make his job easier. Today, I have one to share with you that uses some Unity goodies!

This is a large-ish card for his fabulous accompanist -- it had to be big so that all his kids (about 100) could sign it, and it had to work on a couple levels -- musically, sure, but she's also expecting her second child, a little boy, and a lot of the kids want to congratulate and thank her at the same time. Thus: a baby-appropriate-musical-butterfly card. Yup.

I stamped the flower frame from Unity's May Kit of the Month, die-cut it with a nestie circle, and watercolored the frame and flower. The butterfly (from the February KOM) is paper pieced and overstamped with a music background from Papertrey Ink (the sentiment is from them as well). His little wings are popped up a bit for dimension that will survive handling by all those teenagers (I hope!).

I stitched in an aqua liner to make more room for signatures, repeating the same frame on the inside to save a bit of space for an "official" thank-you message. (Pardon the yellow nail polish!)

If you didn't already come from there, go check out the official Friends with Flair post at the Unity Blog -- there's lots of good stuff to check out, including some great sales!

Before you go, meet Simon:

He's all of 8 weeks old, and very feisty and sweet, all at once. You'll be seeing more of him, for sure!! Can't wait to start scrapping his cute little face :)

Hope you have a delightful weekend!

other supplies: papers from My Mind's Eye Lime Twist collection, ink from SU, twill from the stash

...with sympathy...

2011-05-26T15:04:00.000-04:00

My husband's uncle Zareer passed away last week. He was a very kind man, and lived a good, long life with his family in India. He traveled to the States with his wife a few times, including a special trip for our wedding, which was great! Our wedding pictures are from the pre-digital era, otherwise I'd show you a super-cute photo of Zareer holding our friends' 6-month-old son at our rehearsal dinner -- the youngest and oldest attendees in one shot. Perhaps some scanning is in order :)

The sympathy card we send to his wife needs to be relatively flat to survive the rigors of the Indian postal system, which is far from speedy. Here's what I came up with:

I used a soft gold metallic cardstock, some die-cut leaves for (flat) flair, and a simple stamped frame and image (all but the base -- Papertrey Ink). The focal point was originally stamped on white cardstock, but that proved to be far too bright, so I grabbed some distress stain in antique linen and blotted it on to tone it down a bit and give a softly mottled look.

Since the base is a bit smaller than a standard A2 card, it'll still fit in a regular envelope even with the leaves. I sure hope it survives the long trip! This is also the first week I've played along with Papertrey Ink's Make it Monday challenges -- this week's challenge is to make a sympathy card.

In other news, Saturday's roller derby bout went really well -- pretty exciting stuff, excellent skating, no injuries...and it was a lot of fun. My NSO (non-skating official) team did a great job, too! In other other news, d'you like my new blog header?

Have a delightful day.

Supplies: Round and Round set, Mat Stack 1 die, Turning a New Leaf dies (Papertrey Ink); Night of Navy, Tangerine Tango, and Old Olive inks, Old Olive cardstock (Stampin' Up); Distress Stain (Ranger); Gold brushed-metallic cardstock.

Chevron Chic!

2011-05-21T12:02:00.000-04:00

Happy Saturday, y'all! It's an absolutely gorgeous day here, so I'll type fast and then go play outside :)

I've got a card for you today -- one that I've had in my head for awhile, and it just happens to fit in with something happening over at Moxie Fab World right now -- Cath's Chevron Chic Challenge!

But first, the inspiration. When I was in Atlanta last month, I visited my pal Michelle and her sweet little family. Michelle happens to have a real knack for interior design, and the nursery is no exception. Check it out:

Teeny, tiny room, but with such style. Love the curtains, love homemade mobile and the wave of butterflies on the wall (which she hand-cut from magazine pages, btw), and love seeing proof that little girl rooms do NOT have to be pink and purple! (You can see the sweet resident of this room more clearly in this post).

So, without further ado, here's the card inspired by the challenge and the room:

I stamped a stylish background using Background Basics: Chevron Stripes from PTI, then punched a whole lotta butterflies from a Gardener's Supply Company Catalog -- no hand-cutting for me, thanks! A sticker sentiment was all it took to finish it up. I think I'll have to send it off to Michelle now, don't you?

Before I go, wish me luck -- the first public scrimmage for my roller derby team is tonight! Don't get too excited -- I'm not a skater, I'm an NSO (non-skating official). But I'll be out there with my clipboard tonight, keeping score like a boss. Go Dimes! And thanks, Kasia, for your good wishes! It's nice to know another skater/stamper out there :) For the rest of you -- I'll do my darndest to get some scrap-worthy photos to share with y'all.

Now get out there and have a fabulous day!

other supplies: SU Basic Black ink; Studio Calico Label and letter stickers; Martha Stewart butterfly punches; nesties

all carded out...

2011-05-17T17:23:00.000-04:00

...whew! I've been making all kinds of cards these days, but I gotta keep 'em under wraps for now. So, how about a layout instead?

The photo you're about to see is kinda funny...my first night visiting some pals in Atlanta, we were out to dinner when a Face Time request came in from my sweet husband. I think he was hoping to video chat with me, but he got to catch up with our friends instead! I stole a quick shot of them deep in conversation.

feel free to click for a closer look

They had to use headphones, though, since it was kinda noisy in the restaurant. Ok, it was a bar. But a bar with delicious food! (warning: didgeridoo on website. I think.)

I whipped this layout up in my flurry of Scrappy Chic projects before Mega Meet earlier this month. Here I've used Cosmo Cricket's Upcycle -- I love that overlapped scallop print, and it wasn't too much of a pain to do some trimming to turn it into a nice wide border, just ripe for the stitching.

And this is my new solution to my all-too-frequent "dang, I'm out of E's again!" quandary: hack through the chipboard and use the negative backed w/paper! I'm pretty pleased with myself for that one.

Anyway, I hope your day is as lovely as can be. It might be chilly and grey outside here, but I'm warm. And my house is full of the scent of lilacs -- what more could I want, really?

a recipe page, plus!

2011-05-10T19:01:00.000-04:00

Hi all!
Before I get on with today's project, I gotta say that Mega Meet was so fun! I worked in Scrappy Chic's booth pretty much all day Friday and Saturday, and had a lot of fun meeting people, running make and takes, and meeting up with my crafty pals, like Sue:

And, of course, it was super-fun working with Chris and the gang! Here I am with Chris, her fab mom Linda, and fellow dt member/scrappy pal Liz, having a yummy little snack:

Fun times were had by all :) I still have more (way more) booth projects to show you, but today I thought I'd make you hungry instead. Check it:

Unity posted a challenge for National Scrapbook Day: to make an 8x8 page using a recipe (and a kraft base.) Now, I'm pretty sure I've never scrapped an 8x8 page -- or any square page, for that matter! I'm an 8.5x11 kinda gal. However, I had a lot of fun with this one! I made a strawberry shortcake trifle for my Mom on Mother's Day, using her (family secret) recipe for the shortcake, and Martha's (probably copyrighted) recipe for pastry cream from her latest Pies and Tarts cookbook.

For the background, I stamped the sweet little strawberry from the Garden Variety co-brand set over and over and over again, and then colored each one in using watercolor pencils (I'd forgotten I had them until I heard that a pal of mine had picked some up -- thanks for the reminder, Em!) .

Let's look at some details:

You can see the background better here, along with some epoxy accents I made with my new Epiphany shape maker.

(sorry about the color in this one...) I also played with my new Sew Easy from We R (available at Scrappy Chic)...and I only missed once ;) (letters from Girls' Paperie.)

Here, I added a label from Kitchen Logic behind a three-strand twine bow -- did a little watercoloring around the edge just for fun. (Twine from the Twinery, papers from October Afternoon and PTI, pins from my stash).

Whew! Lots of pics for one post, eh? Anyway, I hope you check out the Unity challenge, and I hope you have a delightful day!

Mega Meet time!!

2011-05-06T06:43:00.000-04:00

Yes indeedy, it's that time of year once again -- time for Mega Meet! It's a shopping, cropping, shopping, crafting, shopping kind of event. And of course, Scrappy Chic will be there -- and so will I. The design team has made all kinds of goodies for the booth, using products from KaiserCraft, 7gypsies, Cosmo Cricket, and Tonic. (Psst...starting today, you can get the brand-spankin'-new, not-available-anywhere-else lines from Cosmo Cricket and 7gypsies! Save some for me!)

Anyway, here's a mini-album I whipped up the other day, chronicling all the delicious food I ate in Atlanta last month --

The mini itself is KaiserCraft; the papers and tickets and label stickers are 7gypsies, and the alphas (small and large) and Gluber (LOVE those things) are Cosmo Cricket. I don't have good photos of every page -- and besides, I don't want to make you drool on your computer checking out all the yummy treats -- but I do have one more shot for you:

You can see more of the papers and tickets and stickers, along with a fun bubble-wrap stamp from KaiserCraft and some bits and bobs from my stash of embellishments. Oh, by the way, I made the Gluber flower using some of that now-ubiquitous rose ribbon, and it took literally less than 30 seconds. So fun.

Well, keep an eye out for this album in booth 722 -- and keep an eye out for me, too! Have a delightful day.

Easter...plus a week!

2011-05-01T13:36:00.000-04:00

Hi there!
In the midst of my last batches of essay-grading, exam-planning, pie-making, laundry-doing, yard-working and roller-derby-bout-preparing (!), I managed to make some Easter tags for my family -- and yes, I really did make them LAST week! Blogging just fell to the bottom of my list, so they're going up here a little late :)

Here's my last-minute, throw-'em-all-on-the-floor pic:

(click for a closer look)

Grabbed a bunch of Honey Pie scraps (a three-year-old Cosmo Cricket collection that I still think is really cute), die-cut some cardstock tags (spring moss and aqua mist from pti - yum), added a paper rosette (Tim Holtz die), die-cut border (new pti die), and buttons to each, along with some super-quick stamping (spring jar fillers and retro bkgds -- also pti). Ribbon, twine, and I called it good. And quick.

Oh, and in the centers of each rosette I added either an epoxy shape or button made with my new button and shape-making tools from Epiphany -- won 'em on the CK blog. They are fun, and even more fun, they were free!

I have a stack of other projects to post...and I will, soon. Soon-ish.

In the meantime, I'll also be prepping for the big ol' Mega Meet next weekend -- look for me and my projects at (who else?) Scrappy Chic's booth! I'll be there Friday and Saturday -- if you are, too, stop over and say hello!

Have a lovely Sunday.

I'd just like to say...

2011-04-20T17:41:00.001-04:00

...that I'm an excellent auntie. I have no kids of my own, and no "real" nieces or nephews, yet I get to be "aunt Angela" to countless of my friends' children. Want to see the latest? Meet Sahana:

other supplies: October Afternoon 5&Dime paper, EK punch, Basic Grey and Prima alphas, Technique Tuesday stamp.

Adorable, sweet baby girl. Hope it comes through even in this slightly blurry photo....

I finally got to meet this little bundle in person when I was in Atlanta a couple weeks ago -- stayed with her mommy (my college bf and maid of honor) and daddy for a day before I flew home. I have plenty of baby girl photos to scrap now!

This particular layout uses the Daily Junque line from Pink Paislee's collaboration with House of Three. I LOVE this line. It didn't grab me at first, but grew on me like a fungus until I just had to get the whole collection pack over at Scrappy Chic. These particular papers are very pink and girly, but the color variety in this line really makes me happy. Here's a photo of the whole paper line:

photo from lil' lamb's boutique

I also used a couple of dies from Lifestyle Crafts (formerly Quickutz) -- the misted circle border under the title, and the letters in "sweet." The store is carrying a nice variety of these dies now, and I was surprised at how much I liked them. If you stop by the store, be sure to check out the layout and all the fun new goodies hanging around!

Have a delightful day.

"April is the cruellest month..."

2011-04-18T07:16:00.001-04:00

...and today, it's extra-cruel -- it's snowing out! Boo! I don't think too much of it will stick, but it's still a far cry from springy-feeling :(

So, in protest, or maybe in hope, here's a page featuring quite the opposite: My first evening in Atlanta. High 70s, beautifully sunny. My good friend and I were exploring neighborhoods on foot, and we wound up here, in Piedmont Park, just as the sun was barely beginning to set, silhouetting the buildings of midtown in the distance. Folks were jogging, playing softball, throwing around frisbees and playing with their dogs and whatnot -- and Jen and I had just had very, very delicious handmade popsicles. Ahh....

The page features some papers from GCD's Melody Ross collection that evoke a vintage version of exactly this kind of weather. I trimmed the daisy-sniffing lady from one paper and added it to the impressionistic floral I used as my background -- I think it looks like she's always been there, though :)

The rest is very simple -- a nice long title (AC Thickers and Basic Grey small alphas), a few embellishments (Prima resin flowers, Pebbles pearls), and a date stamp (Technique Tuesday). I really just wanted the photo to be the focus here. I think it worked!

You can get all these fun goodies at Scrappy Chic, where you can also see this page in person. Might help you forget all about that stupid white stuff falling from the sky.

Here's dreaming of warm walks in the park...have a lovely day!

Oh my, how time flies...

2011-04-14T21:40:00.000-04:00

Hi folks -

Sorry it's been so long! I had a blast in Atlanta, and I've already started scrapping my trip...but we'll get to that soon enough. Today is all about a card -- a Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger card, to be (very) specific! You can read all about the challenge here.

The inspiration image was, well, extra-inspiring! Take a look:

I was so inspired, in fact, that I made the card right away, but had to wait for a little sunny-ish daylight to get a photo. Here you go:

Supplies: Papertrey Ink Love Lives Here die, Birds of a Feather and Gingham stamps, Vintage Cream cs; A Muse studio Ovalicious stamp, gingham cs, and papaya ribbon; SU Real Red, Garden Green, and Tempting Turquoise inks; glitter.

I just love the colors in the original image. So happy. I got to break out some of my newest goodies here: the PTI die and gingham stamp, plus some very fab, even newer goodies from a muse studio -- I used Ovalicious for the oval (surprise!), plus some gingham cardstock and pretty papaya ribbon (thanks for that, Meg!).

I even broke out the glitter -- the real, makes-a-mess-that-lasts-forever kind. See?:

Happy little heart. Oh, by the way, that house? I die-cut it from coaster. Not the pay-for-it kind, but one from my favorite local watering hole. Seems to work fine for me, and it was free!

Well, Cath, you picked a great one this week -- I might even have to make another -- maybe something ruffly or ric-rac-y or flowery...hmm...wheels are turning!

Anyway, welcome back to the old blog -- I have a few more things to show you soon since I feel compelled to make up for lost time -- and I hope you're having a lovely day!

The kit that won't die...

2011-04-04T19:28:00.000-04:00

Hey folks -
Been awhile! Nice combo of busy-ness and mojo-lessness, but I'm not complaining -- plus, the house is cleaner than it's been in months!

Anyway, how about a layout? Even though the "official" deadline for Counterfeit Kit projects for March is quite past, I still have a few more (and still more leftovers I could keep using!). Here's one:

Ah, good times. In case you haven't noticed yet, I kinda like beer -- the good, the snobby, the microbrewed. We earned a free beer tasting at our local watering hole, and of course I scrapped it!

I used mostly the add-ons from my Counterfeit Kit, which you can see here. I love that Cosmo Cricket paper (Social Club) in the background. Patterned dots make me happy -- it doesn't take much, people!

Also, those thickers might be my new favorite. Closeup time:

(ooh, can you tell these two pictures were taken during completely different weather/lighting conditions? I sure can!)

We invited 8 friends and family members to the tasting, and we chose them based on their love of beer rather than on whether they actually knew each other or not -- a risky venture, but feed and water your friends and they'll have a good time, just like plants! And so we did.

Hope you're having a lovely day, wherever you may be. The blog may be quiet again for a bit, as I'll be in (hopefully) warm and sunny Atlanta. Don't bother robbing my house or anything while I'm gone -- Andrew makes a good guard dog :) If I spy anything particularly crafty, I'll be sure to tell you all about it.

Counterfeit Kit Blog Hop - March!

2011-03-28T00:01:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone! Hope you're busily hopping along from blog to blog :) You probably just came from visiting Margie -- if not, feel free to start at the beginning, over at the Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog.

This month's challenge was to scraplift yourself. I admit, I totally have a go-to layout for such occasions, and it sure didn't fail me today. Here you go:

One horizontal photo on top of lots of horizontal strips and embellishments and punched bits and such, with a title to the left. It ain't complicated, but I like it, mainly because it looks different every time. In this case, of course, I used lots of goodies from my Counterfeit Kit, especially the main kit. You can see my kit photos here, and other projects I've done this month at the kit post, as well as here, here, and here.

I especially like the way the title came out:

Squeeze, indeed! I also like how the arrow points at my Uncle Mike, who didn't quite make it back in the shot before the camera timer went off -- oops! We took this family photo while camping up in Benzonia, MI last August (which I also scrapped about here, just in case you're curious and/or want to see my fam in a different set of matching shirts!)

Here are the layouts I lifted this design from:

There's more about the "Super Classy layout," featuring my quite-young Dad, here. You can read all about more goofy family members (and their mustachio'd layout) here.

So there you have it -- successful self-scraplift! I'd love to hear your go-to tricks for making stuff in a hurry.

Hop along now, and go see what Lesa has to offer. Have a delightful day!

The tree to my apple....

2011-03-25T18:52:00.000-04:00

Well, let's just say I'm happy it's Friday! Are you?

How about a layout to celebrate? Before you take a peek, remember this: when my mom and I happen to meet someone for the first time, we often get a bit of a double take. Wanna know why? Ok, here you go:

Ok, so the photo isn't the best -- it's an old one of my mom in her early or mid-twenties, and it definitely has that 70s glow to it -- but yeah, we kind of look alike ;) Hence the title of my layout, which is the first I've done involving a rebus, as far as I can tell!

I am definitely one apple that's pretty dang close to the tree. I used some of my favorite bits from this month's Counterfeit Kit here, including that tree-print and apple-print paper (both Studio Calico), and some fairly new Thickers, which came nekkid but which I inked up a bit for contrast. I also finally made myself use a Kaisercraft doily that I've been hoarding :)

The tree is paper-pieced (drew the tree top freehand, even), and both it and the apple in the title have a little extra flair:

Crackle Accents to the rescue. I'd forgotten my bottle in a drawer somewhere, and now I remember how much I love it!

So, I'm totally turning into a Counterfeit Kit Challenge nerd -- this month, I printed out my kit photos (see link above), and I've been checking off items as I use them! NERD! But, between this and a couple more projects you've yet to see, I have used and/or used up about 85% of the items in the kit. Score!

I'll be back for the Counterfeit blog hop on the 28th -- the challenge was to scraplift myself...which I do all the time anyway, so that wasn't too hard.

Hope you have a great weekend, and I'll blog at you soon!

It's almost here!

2011-03-20T16:47:00.000-04:00

Spring, that is -- last I heard, the "official" start of spring is at 7:21 this evening (local time -- Eastern Standard, that is). Hooray! Spring is my second-favorite season, but this year it just might be #1, since winter was so dang long and cold and snowy!

Well, until spring is really here, how about a nice, warm layout? Ok, here you go:

It might be a little grey out today (sorry the photo is a little grey, too) -- but these photos were from a beautifully warm day, and a delightful little restaurant in Detroit called Le Petit Zinc. I was there with friends from work -- last summer, the three of us went on several outings geared toward being tourists right at home -- this little lunch followed a shopping trip to the nearby John K. King (huge-a-mungous) used bookstore. What a lovely day. If you're local or planning a visit, be sure to hit both!

I used my Counterfeit Kit to make this layout -- mostly from the main kit, and a few goodies from the add-ons. How about a detail shot or two? If you insist:

I misted my bg paper a bit with some reddish and yellowish colors before building my page on top. I just love these Sassafras alphas -- perfect font, excellent value, and every color/pattern is just yummy.

I took a little extra time concocting this cluster -- there are die-cut, real, and chipboard buttons (and none are threaded -- my patience only goes so far sometimes!), punched and fussy-cut bits, label stickers and even a bit of bling. I can't say I thought too hard about the assembly, though -- I find if I just start sticking, it all turns out fine in the end, but if I over-think every move, well...it just looks over-thought!

Well, I hope this brings a little sunshine to your first day of spring. Have a lovely day!