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!

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

The fruits of a very fun weekend...

This past weekend was such a blast. About every 6 months we have a Cricut SWARM -- a crop with a bunch of my online Cricut friends from here in the area. On Friday we cropped and shopped (well, mostly shopped) together at the Scrapbook USA Expo, then on Saturday we had a crop at a local scrapbook store. So fun! And amazingly enough, I actually got a ton done this time! My goal was to get a lot of scrapping done, since I've mostly been making cards lately.

I've been planning this lo since Eliza was a month old -- these are pictures from her month-day every month, ending up with this adorable pic on her 6-month birthday. I got the pics printed in B&W because the colors were all so different. There are three tags with more 6-month photos and journaling behind the big photo. The PP is from Basic Grey, and the flowers are from MM and Heidi Swapp. I cut the 6 with Base Camp at 3 1/2", and the letter stickers are from October Afternoon.


Aw, my cute little Josh. He is so afraid of my mom's big dog, Beau. Beau just a big puppy and thinks the boys are puppies, too, so he gets a little exuberant. Joshy usually runs straight in from the car to Nana's house, but one day he mustered his courage and told Beau to "SIT!" and he actually did it! I happened to have my camera out -- lucky day! The chipboard letters are from Scenic Route and rub-ons are from American Crafts. The paw prints are from the Cricut Paper Pups cartridge and the pp is from Basic Grey. I used embroidery thread to sew on all the buttons -- thanks again to my friend Amy for reminding me to stick the buttons down with glue dots before trying to sew them on -- sure saves a lot of hassle!


This one is not my favorite, but I was glad to get a lo with so many photos done! Last November we took a little ferry trip with my in-laws and it was so fun.






These last two are for my album about Dan and me. I usually just have one photo at a time, so I do this book in 8x8. This first one is our first couple picture, taken right when we started dating so Dan could show me off to him mum. We're so young! The pp is from Chatterbox, and the little branch dies are from Sizzix. I cut "Beginnings" at 1" with the Cricut Base Camp cartridge. I used a Heidi Swapp edge distresser for the edges of the paper -- it's my favorite cheap tool!



This pic is from only a couple weeks later, from the few days in between when Dan asked me to marry him and when I said yes. In my defense, we'd only been dating a couple weeks and he really took me off guard! :) There's a big long story that goes with it, which I think you'll be able to read better if you click on the pic and get the bigger version. The pp and chipboard letters here are from Scenic Route, and the ribbon is from SU (yay, Sale-a-bration!). Letter rub-ons are from American Crafts.


Of course, I couldn't leave cards out completely!

This one is an ATC (artist trading card) for our crop. I completely spaced the swap until I got there, so that was my first project of the day. I embossed the background with the Cuttlebug, then used my SU "Pocket Silhouettes" set and scallop and ticket corner punches to put together the rest. Phew!



This one was for our "Rummage Challenge," which I was in charge of. Each participant, before leaving home, was supposed to go to THAT PLACE in their scrapbooking area where supplies just pile up and get forgotten -- you all know what place I'm talking about! -- close their eyes, and rummage around. The thing they brought out was their main supply for the challenge, then I also rummaged in several of my areas and brought more supplies they could incorporate. It was cool to see how creative people could be! One of my rummaged supplies was a Mary Engelbreit desk calendar from 2002 -- I've kept it all these years because the illustrations were so wonderul and I knew I wanted to make cards from them someday. I picked this sweet quote and used scraps from my "Beginnings" layout to create this card. The label and scallop border punches are from SU.


I was half packed to go home when I decided I really wanted to finish just one more project, so I made up a few of these cute, quick cards. The background is embossed with the Cuttlebug, then I cut the scalloped oval with the Cricut Storybook cartridge. "Happy" is cut from Base Camp at 1". To make 5 quick cards, I loaded 5 scraps of bright adhesive paper on my mat and cut the word "happy" on each one. Then I just took one letter from each for each card. I outlined each oval and wrote "birthday" with a black marker. Easy peasy, and so festive!


Phew, you made it to the end! I had a blast this weekend, and it was wonderful to have so much to show for it. My kids thought the scrapbook pages were great -- they just love seeing themselves on layouts. Can't wait til our next SWARM!

Monday, March 23, 2009

Amazing Magnolia Blog Candy!

One of my most-visited blogs is Pretty Pressings, which has the most beautiful cards using the Magnolia stamps. If you haven't drooled over these lovely stamps before, you're sure to after browsing through Rosa's cards. She's giving away 6 beautiful sets right now, so make sure you check it out!