Saturday, July 4, 2009

For the Birthday Queen!



My fabulous sister Amy's birthday was this week, and this card is for her! I had a lot of fun playing with trim from the clearance rack at Walmart, glitter, and my new Home Decor cartridge for my Cricut (for the crown). I loved the sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You this week. It's the last week of the card showdown and you have got to check out the finalists' cards -- totally amazing and inspiring!

The pp is from Kaiser Scrapbook, and I cut the big A with SCAL, using Fontleroy Brown. TFL!

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Cardmaking on the go...

Greetings from beautiful western Washington! I'm here with my kiddos visiting my husband's family for the entire month of June, which means two things: #1 - I actually have a little more time to scrap than usual, because I don't have my usual never-ending list of household chores and once the kids go to bed I have actual free time, and #2 - I'm limited to the supplies I could cram into my rolling and shoulder totes. When I was packing my supplies I really only picked supplies for the layouts I had planned and didn't think too much about cards, but I've had several dfferent card needs come up unexpectedly. Definitely a challenge, but I've been having fun seeing what I could do with the supplies I had on hand.



I was glad to find a stamped Tilda stashed in my tote from my last crop for this card, and I borrowed my MIL's colored pencils to do the coloring. The paper is from a Crate Paper baby collection, the label shape I cut with my Cricut and my new Home Accents cartridge (I think I used that one for just about all these cards). The rub-on and the ribbon are from Stampin Up.




Once I got here I realized I had completely forgotten to do Father's Day cards for my hubby's dad and grandpas and my own grandpa, but I didn't have a lot of paper that was really masculine. I used scraps from this cute American Crafts line on kraft paper, and a stamp and curly label punch from Stampin Up. "Dad" and "Grandpa" were cut with the George cartridge.



For this card I used this week's sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You. I have to admit this was a tough one for me, but I was really pleased with how it came out. There's that label shape from Home Accents again, plus the flourish photo corner behind it. The paper is from Crate Paper, and I used my Heidi Swapp edge distresser to rough up the edges of the rectangles. That is definitely my favorite cheap tool!



Last week while we were here we were so sad to learn that my husband's grandma has breast cancer. We headed over to her house a day or two later for some quality time, and I wanted to take a quick card to let her know we care. She's such a bright, strong person I wanted to make a card that would reflect that. This paper again is from Crate Paper (same as the first card) and the butterfly is from Home Accents. I used my SU scallop border punch and rub-on.



This one is for my sister, who unexpectedly had to get her gallbladder out soon after I got here. I was so bummed I couldn't be there to help out, but I definitely wanted to send her all my love and moral support. I love this Crate Paper -- I couldn't resist buying it when I saw how well it matched this cool dandelion shape from the Home Accents cartridge. The oval frame was cut with George. The stamp, label punch, border punch, and ribbon were all from SU.



This last one was for a wedding of some close friends of my in-laws. Not the colors I would usually use, but these were their wedding colors and it really seemed to fit the bride and groom's personalities. Inside it says "You make a great pair!" My mother-in-law laughed when she saw it -- turns out the bride's email address starts with greenpear. I must have cardmaking ESP!

Whew! I feel very productive -- maybe less really is more! I've also finished a couple of layouts, but I haven't been able to get a good picture so you'll just have to stay tuned... :)

Saturday, May 16, 2009

My recent projects...



Whew, what a busy couple of weeks! I don't even have kids in school yet, and still May turns into such a busy month. I haven't had a chance to play along with 2 Sketches 4 You in a few weeks, so when I needed to make a tin to hold cards for a door prize, I jumped at the chance to incorporate this week's sketch. I used American Crafts paper (doesn't this just say spring to you?) and DCWV cardstock. I loooooove how the grass turned out -- I just cut a lot of strips into one strip of green cardstock, then curled them around a paintbrush. I created the flower with several scalloped circles from the Cricut Mini-Monograms cartridge, and "Create Joy" is from the Beyond Birthdays cartridge. The tin itself is from Quickutz, which I picked up at the warehouse sale for 50 cents. Yippee!

This next one is a super quick teacher gift for Sammy's preschool teacher. I gave Sammy my scraps and he created a card to go with it. So cute! The Paper is from DCWV, and the apple is from the Cricut Doodlecharms cartridge. The tag is from George, and I used waxy flax to attach it. The stamp is from Stampin Up, and the little scalloped circle is from Mini-Monograms again (I love having that cartridge just for that shape).

Friday, April 24, 2009

Mom (don't peek, all my moms and grandmas!)


I love making cards for Mother's Day -- it gives me a chance to do all sorts of pretty feminine things. I made this card using this week's sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You, which gave me the perfect framework to try out my newest cut file. Ranunculus is my new favorite flower, and I wanted to try something that would mimic the many ruffly layers and the intricate leaves, and this is what I came up with! The pp is from Crate Paper, and I cut "Mom" with the Cuttlebug Harmony alphabet. I also used a ticket corner punch from SU and finished with a dose of Glimmer Mist. I love the sophisticated sheen that creates! Just make sure you adhere all your elements securely -- it has a tendency to make the edges curl up. TFL!

P.S. If you're interested in the ranunculus flower cut file, I'll be listing it in my etsy shop later today. Thanks!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Hindu Wedding Card

...Well, my best shot at one, anyway. My family has befriended a family of refugees from Bhutan over the past few months, and they invited us to a wedding today for one of the nephews. I wanted to make a card to go with our gift, but I have to admit I have next to no knowledge of Hindu traditions and symbolism, and I was really concerned about making something that would inadvertently be a major faux pas. Yay for Google! I did a little bit of research and found that some of the major elements of Hindu wedding ceremonies are the color red, flowers, and blessings. This is not my usual style, but I really hope the couple enjoys the card -- it definitely used all of my brain power!



Materials: PP from My Mind's Eye (Magnolia collection), large red flower from Heidi Swapp, Ivory flower from Making Memories, orange flower unknown, brad from All My Memories. Gold sentiment and details hand-drawn with gel pen. Ticket corner punch from Stampin Up.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

You're My Favorite



Yesterday marked one year since the death of my sweet little sister Carissa. For those of you who didn't know (or know of) her, she was an angel. She had Down's Syndrome, and she radiated a true spirit of Christ-like love. She always told everyone "You're my favorite!" And she meant it each time. My younger sister Amy declared April 13th to be "You're My Favorite" Day, a day when each of us could really focus on letting everyone around us know why we love them and why they're our favorite. I made this card for my parents using this week's 2S4Y sketch. I used Chattebox paper and an artisan label I designed myself then cut using SCAL and my Cricut. Oh, I also cut flowers using the George cartridge and added a Fancy Pants flower and a big American Crafts brad. TFL!

Thursday, April 2, 2009

My silly Joshy (a digital layout)


My little guy Joshy, who turned 3 in December, is so silly. He is always cracking us up. Right now he is really into being a super hero, so I thought a comic book style page would be the perfect accent to that. I used the "Comic Book Junkie" kit by Jan Crowley, which you can find at OScraps.com, and a cool turn-your-picture-into-a-comic-book-graphic tutorial for PhotoShop, which you can find here.

If you click on the pic above, you can see a larger image where you can read the journaling. TFL!