back to the paper!!

Vacation and traveling is always fun, but I enjoy getting back to my paper and adhesive. :) Last was spent kicking the tires at a few colleges on the Teen's list and MEETING MY NEW NEPHEW!!

He is so tiny compared to what I remember Thomas being, but boy is he a cutie & absolutely perfect!! I can't wait to spoil him as he gets bigger....

We checked out Reed College (outside Portland), Stanford, and Whitman College on our way home. Thomas has a strong preference for the smaller schools. Would like to be one of hundreds not one of thousands. A good thing to know, as we start to narrow the list and look for the $$$ to help cover the costs.

Once we got home & got the car unpacked, I was ready to hit the paper and adhesive again. I was surprised how much I missed my play time. Just a few minutes a day does wonders for me. :)

The patterned paper is more from the Fall Stack from DCWV. Big shape is the debutante frame die cut from memory box. I'm really loving their dies! (I wish I had discovered them earlier! There are tons of really cool dies. I just wish Impress had more sales....) The sentiment stamp is from a Doodlebug set by Hampton Arts. Small layered labels are Nesties. All edges are inked with black bird chalk ink. :) The sketch is one from the OWH blog hop a few weeks ago...

Next up was this guy, using up the last of the sheet of candy corn paper. Border punch is Drippy Goo from Martha Steward. Candy corn die cuts are QuicKutz. Stickers are from the fall sticker stack from DCWV. The green cardstock is also from the coordinating fall cardstock stack. I also did a couple of Love you cards with the same design. I orginally found the sketch for this card on Pinterest.

It feels good to be back playing with paper again! A few more things to do/get for the teen & he's ready to head back to school. Tennis practice starts next week!! How this summer has flown by! I can't believe it's almost over already!

I have a few more cards to share with this stack of paper and then I'm moving on to general winter cards. Just not feeling the Halloween mojo.... Time to move on to something thats working. :)

Hall-NO-ween

The challenge this week for me is using up some fall & Halloween papers by making hall-NO-ween cards. What is a hall-NO-ween card you ask? For OWH, it means a card that isn't a scary card for one. No skulls, cross bones, or head stone type images. Don't want there to be the potential for the last communication from a Hero to home, having a gruesome, death meaning image on it, even if it does scream "it's a Halloween card!!" 2. Halloween isn't a holiday that is big on sending cards, so not many are really needed. 3. If it has a more general feel to it, for example, pumpkins that say miss you as apposed to Happy Halloween, it has a much longer shelf life. Frank from earlier this week was a first attempt. Frank feels a little too much like Halloween to be a hall-NO-ween card, so I tried again.

This guy is closer. The spider web embossing may make to much like Halloween, but it's not SCREAMING HALLOWEEN at least. If nothing else, it will help fill in the fall boxes.
(I started with a card I saw on Pintrest. The stamp is from CTMH and embossed with black embossing powder. Patterned paper stripes are from DCWV fall stack. Embossing folder is a Sizzix Tim Holtz folder. Sentiment stamp is from the Hero Arts set for OWH).

This was my next try.... Still not quite there. The background paper is obviously Halloween... {...sigh...} This is way harder than it looks. ;) The other pp in the stack overpowered the little QuicKutz embellishments, this one works, just not for a hall-NO-ween card. May just have to break down and make Halloween cards to use up this stack and just send some to Sandy this year and store the rest for next year & keep them out of her guest bathtub.

(Started with owh sketch #130. Leaves & scarecrow are QuicKutz with edges chalked with dark brown chalk. Patterned papers are from DCWV fall stack with all edges inked with blackbird chalk ink.)

OWH sketch challenge #131

Thomas & I spent a good part of yesterday in the scrap room playing with paper while watching/listening to the Olympics stream on the laptop. It seems so very weird to be working with fall papers and Seattle hasn't even had summer yet!

I started with this weeks sketch #131 from the Stars & Stamps blog. I changed it up a bit by using ribbon matted with dark brown cardstock & tucked the 3 pieces behind it. The letter stickers needed some definition so I outlined them with a very fine black pen.

I didn't really like the red center piece so I changed it out to yellow and used black letter stickers for this card. I like it a lot better. :)

I made several of each for my next OWH box for Sandy. Then Thomas & I were off to see Rock of Ages at the local $2 theater. Took me back to my high school days and the $0.99 theater downtown..... Broken seats, stale popcorn, smuggled in candy, 80's music...... Ahhhh. The teen could hardly stand to be seen with me (especially when I would sing along with the movie...). The only thing missing was my Letterman's Jacket & hanging out at the frozen yogurt place after the movie. :)

Both of these cards were made for my friend Cindy who was missing her Mom yesterday.... Wish  we could have done something together to make you & your Mom smile....

Both cards used OWH sketch #131. Patterned paper is from a fall stack by DCWV. Stickers are from the fall alphabet stack by DCWV. Ribbon is most likely May Arts. Buttons are from stash....

a mojo kickstart---

I saw a very cute card of the day on the OWH facebook page while I was in Georgia shooting my softball boys last week. A Hero commented on that card & requested more of them for him & his friends in their next box. The mojo was sparked-- except I was on the other side of the country from my stamps & paper & craft stuff...

this is what happened when I finally made it home... It is a complete CASE of the original posted. I never thought to use this stamp except for Valentine's Day cards. ;)

Then I started looking around for the fall seasonal stuff, since it's time to start shifting gears for OWH and start making fall & winter cards.

A cute fall card!

I have WAY to much Halloween stuff. WAY TO MUCH! What was I thinking? Even for scrapping, really. 1 two-page layout at the most per year for Halloween. Yikes, I have a whole folder full of it! Halloween is not a big card writing holiday, so I'm trying to find ways to turn some of it into Hall-NO-ween cards that can be used after the holiday.

I think Frank pretty much says Halloween, but at least with a different sentiment it can help fill out those fall boxes...

(1st card--patterned paper is My Minds Eye. Bird stamp is from Inkadinkadoo.)
(2nd card-- patterned paper is from the Sharon Ann collection by Deja Views. Bird stamp is Inkadinkadoo.)
(3rd card--patterned paper is from a DCWV fall stack. Frank stamp is CTMH. Ribbon is Martha Stewart. Letter stickers are from a DCWV fall alphabet stack.)

finding a little mojo

After seeing the post about Kelly Paper & their paper selection on Facebook, I decided to stop by the Seattle store today after work. Turns out they are just a few blocks from work & are open at 7:30!!! Perfect! since I am usually done around then. :) (the Seattle store is also open from 9-1 on saturdays even though it isn't listed on their website...)

I found a ream of AWESOME white cardstock. Not the one I originally went in for, but it might just be even better. (Jeremy, the assistant manager, pointed it out when they were out of the one I originally went in for...)When I got home I had to test it out with my markers. If they bled all over, no sense in getting any more. Here's the results---

I gave it Sandy's fold test- no collapsing. It's sturdy enough to hold up to lots of embellies. It passed my copic test. No bleeding or feathering. Even with the red-violet which I usually have trouble with. It gets a 2 thumbs up from me & I will be purchasing more once I use up the white that I have.

Oh! This is the paper that I got-

It works out to about $0.06 per sheet or $0.03 per card base. Not much more than I was paying for the GP110 at Walmart. Definitely worth it for the added heft and yummy-ness! 

Now off to discharge a few boxes of card hospital patients at Sandy's house and then to pick up the Super Stamper at tennis practice. Will hopefully be back to play some more later this afternoon....

stamp is house mouse. copic markers. echo park striped paper. bazzill cardstock for the pink. glossy accents on raindrops and eyes.

been a little distracted.... again

My poor little blog has been neglected. Again. :( So sorry to my followers. I have been making cards though...

These are a few of what I have made... All of the papers were scraps from the scrap pile. Stamps are Hero Arts & Technique Tuesday for the dog, (I think...). Idea sketches are all OWH if I remember correctly. (If you would like more details, leave me a note & I'll get back to you after the 4th, when I get home from vacation.... ;)  )

I spent some of my distracted time helping Sandy with some triage of a couple of huge boxes. Most just needed stamping, the Super Stamper did that part  & tucking. But there was also some lining needed. Luckily, only a few had to go to the morgue. They were pretty much DOA. The diagnosis? Glitter overdose. There was no saving them....

The scrap room is getting more organized. I hope to have it in order before school starts the end of September.... I'm hoping that with an organized space, I'll still be able to play with paper as I get some down time & not have to spend a ton of time looking for stuff. :)

back to making cards

The adrenaline rush is over. Pictures edited and ready for the Bride to see. Finally get reclaim my sanity by playing with a little paper. :)

I started with this sheet of cut-outs from Beary Patch-

then headed to my scrap files to see what scraps I had that would work with these cuties. Then came the sketches... And this is what I ended up with.

I dressed the cut-outs up with a little crystal laquer and popped them with dimensional adhesive. The letter stickers are from making memories. The sentiment stamp is from TPC Studios.

Now it's time to re-pack the camera bags for a softball tournament. Back into my comfort zone!

I survived!!

My poor blog has been a little neglected this month. I got a post up the first and then one for the OWH Memorial Day hop, (which I had forgotten that I signed up for until the reminder email landed in my inbox. oppps!). To say I was a little distracted the past few weeks would be an understatement.

Many, many, months ago a very good friend asked if I would take her wedding pictures for her. I was very reluctant to take on this very important task. See, I'm a sports photog. Action shots. Candids, mostly. No telling people where to stand. How to hold their hands, in their pockets? Down at their sides? Tilt the head a little or straight? Oh, just thinking about those things gave me hives! There is no, "I'll try again to get that shot at the next tournament if I don't get it this week." There are no do-overs in wedding photography. But Cindy wore me down. She knows I'm a softy. :)

So in preparing for this hive inducing adventure I pestered & annoyed all of my photog friends. They all told me I would be fine. I have the skills and the gear (some of which gear I borrowed), I could do it. For months they told me this. Just put on your bossy hat & go for it. Bossy? Me? Could I be bossy? (Apparently I am. I don't see myself that way at all. May have to rethink that perception of myself....). I spent hours pouring over my photography how-to books. Surfed the internet for posing ideas. Made lists and notes like crazy. Emergency chocolate was packed in the camera bags weeks in advance. Photog friend was on speed dial. When the big day came, I was ready.

mostly.

I was not prepared for the BRIDE to be late. Gown malfunctions.  Flowers needing to be picked up and pinned on. Pastors to be located. Wedding coordinator? What wedding coordinator? Wait, that was me too. Only having 30-40 minutes to take ALL of the formal pictures....

There was NO time to be scared or stressed once everyone was dressed, flowered, and finally rolling. No time for a speed dialed friend & a talk back from the ledge. I am soooo glad I had my lists & Thomas to walk by and say, "Breathe, Mom, breathe".

 Thomas was my second shooter for the day. My rock. My "here is a piece of chocolate". My calm with his shy little smirk. My "I must keep it together in front of my Monster. He can't see his Mom fall apart and turn into a puddle of goo..."

BUT, I learned A LOT about myself one week ago Saturday.

 I am pressure player.

I can be assertive, OK, bossy, when it's called for.

I can still do what I'm most comfortable with, (candid, non-posed stuff) within a wedding setting.

 I don't have to really understand Photoshop to be a REAL photographer.

Weddings are not something that I want to do a lot of. But the next time one is brought up, my reaction won't be, HELL NO, it will be lets negotiate. ;)

Happy One Week-aversary Mr & Mrs Bailey! I hope you had a GREAT time at the Happiest Place on Earth!

now back to the final selecting of pictures for the Bride... 1200+ pictures take awhile to sort through.... ;)

OWH Memorial Day Hop 2012

 

Welcome to our stop on this years Memorial Day Hop!! Our card today--

  I started with sketch #117 from the Stars and Stamps blog. Sentiment is from Basic Grey. Sailboat patterned paper is from the Paper Patch from years & years ago. The small red stars were punched with a fiskars hand punch and glued to the blue pieces. No new pieces of paper were cut to create this card, all paper came from the scrap files. :)

Thanks for stopping by! Since we are supposed to keep the hop posts short & sweet, I'll end by saying if you need more ideas or inspiration, stop back later! Most of the cards I make are done using the OWH sketches. I keep trying to expand my sketch horizions, but keep coming back to OWH. :)

today's share from the land of scraps

I am happy to say that I am sooo glad to be done with these Bo Bunny scraps! It all starts to look the same after a the first dozen cards..... They have been wrangled, used, & the rest recycled! I'll share them all this week for a closer look.

This little guy started with sketch #49 from the Stars & Stamps blog (I really need to branch out and find some new sketches, but these just work so well!). The birds were fussy cut and highlighted with crystal lacquer. I stitched around the outside of the card with my old sewing machine to match the stitching on the paper. Ribbon may be from Bo Bunny too. I don't remember, but I don't think its May Arts.

this guy started with a sketch from www.oz-somestamps.com (its from her archives from 2008) and then changed up a bit to work with the birdies. The birds were again accented with the crystal lacquer. Stitching around outside was done on the sewing machine with only one side of the sentiment sewn down. Sentiment stamp is from TPC Studio.

Last card from this sheet uses the backside of the birds this time. Sketcy #86 was used as a starting point for this card. All edges of the paper were inked using chalk ink. The paper flower is from Bazzill Basics Paper and highlighted with the same ink as used for the edges. Heart shaped brad is from the stash. Sentiment is again from TPC Studios.

Scrap pile is getting smaller & box for Sandy is getting fuller! Thanks for the awesome inspiration Scrap Wrangler!

some wrangled scrap mojo

Ever since watching the Scrap Wrangler, aka Sandy, I've been even more motivated to get my scraps WRANGLED!!! I think the solid colored cardstock scraps are pretty much contained. My OCD kinda took over so not only were they thinned down QUITE a bit, but all like textures were put together in the folder... Thomas just stood there shaking his head. Yes Thomas, Mom HAS lost her mind. ;)

Next up is all the patterned paper bits and pieces.... These are harder since they seem to be stuck in with the larger sheets, or in folders  tucked in EVERYWHERE. Aaaarrrrggghhhh! The pieces I've been working with this past week are all from a Bo Bunny calendar kit I did several years ago. The scraps have now been used or recycled. :)

This guy started with sketch #29 over at the Stars and Stamps blog. All the papers except the dark brown and white are from Bo Bunny. The orange for the layers came out of the stash. The sentiment is a clear stamp from Fiskars.

This guy started as sketch #99, again from Stars & Stamps blog. All papers except brown cardstock are Bo Bunny. I fussy cut the pumpkins and covered them with Crystal Lacquer to dress them up a bit.

2 of this one go into the OWH box. :) Again with the same Bo Bunny paper... The pumpkins are cut with Quickutz dies and edges chalked with Pebbles earth tone chalks. (yup. honest to goodness, old school, chalk that has been in the stash for AGES got used instead of chalk inks...). Sentiment stamp is from Hero Arts. Ribbon is most likely from May Arts, another older piece from the stash. Sketch used #22, also from Stars and Stamps blog.

These cards go into the longer term storage for OWH. Sandy doesn't need pumpkins until the 4th of July. So instead of filling up her guest bathtub, I'll hang onto them and drop them off later in the year.

I have the rest of these calendar scraps made into cards and will be posting them over the next week or so. :) Happy Wrangling!

OWH sketch #119

Sorry I didnt' post any cards last week. I got sidetracked taking care of the paperwork required to register for school. Yeah! I'm taking the huge step and heading back to school in September. 10 year goal is Masters in Nursing.... If I'll be working until I'm close to 70, I might as well be doing something that I get some job satisfaction from, & unfortunately, UPS ain't it.

I did manage to find time to wrangle some scraps and make a couple of cards... Here's my take on this weeks sketch from OWH.

All patterned papers are from Bo Bunny (and are left over from a calendar project from several years ago...). Sentiment stamp is from a Basic Grey collection by Hero Arts. Liquid pearls by Ranger. Border punch by Fiskars. Background is really a dark blue, not purple...

I have high hopes of cleaning out & purging the scrap room before September. I want to create a distraction free study zone before school starts, so all the assorted craft stuff needs to fit back in the scrap room & not in several rooms.... Next up for school is testing & then registration.....

a few Disney cards

I was sidetracked last week working on a project for my new little Nephew. Well I guess it's for his mom & dad since he's not here yet... I had a few scraps leftover, so instead of heading for the scrap file I used them to make some cards.

This is what I started with. I don't know if they even sell these anymore. I got them at either Joann's or Michael's back when I first started scrapbooking.

I started with sketch # 116 from the Stars and Stamps blog. Next came the sheet of patterned paper from Hot Off the Press. All of the punch outs coordinate with the paper & are from Hot Off the Press as well. :) I dressed up the punch outs with stickles and then covered that with crystal lacquer to seal in the glitter (after I had run them through the zyron and stuck them to heavy cardstock to beef them up...). The ribbon is May Arts. The solid colored backgrounds are from a package of short cuts from Creative Memories that has been in the stash for a very long time. A very long time. :)

Here are what the rest of them look like. :) A few more cards in the box for Sandy. A bunch of loose pieces used up. No stray scraps heading for the scrap file. A most productive day! :)

you're fabulous!

the next set of scraps have been taking up space in the scrap file for FAR FAR to long. ;)

I have NO IDEA who made the patterned paper. It's from when Thomas was little, like 3-4 years old little (he's 15 now...). I've been hanging on to all the pieces that he cut the paper into... Not any more!! Got a couple cards out of the pieces and the rest--RECYCLED!!! Even the solid cardstock pieces came out of the scrap files. No whole pieces were cut to create this card! Started with sketch # 55 from Stars and Stamps blog. Sentiment stamp is from Hero Arts.

Same unknown paper here again. I ran a skinny line of stickles around the edges of the centers of the flowers and then covered it and filled in the center with crystal lacquer to dress the flowers up a bit. Did the same on the edge of the sentiment piece. Thomas thought they looked kinda plain & boring. He suggested the black mat too. :) This card used sketch #57 from Stars and Stamps. Sentiment is from basic grey.

another special to me card

Finally a paper cutter that cuts really straight! Yeah! AND another set of scraps used up & the teeny tiny pieces recycled!!!

This card makes the last of the Rhonna Farrer scraps (although I think I still have another page kit that has this paper in it to use...). Yeah! More scraps made into cards for OWH!!! Actually making pretty good progress on this years resolution to clean out my scraps! Ribbon is May Arts. Sentiment stamp is from OWH set by Hero Arts. Flowers are Prima and brads are Making Memories. Sketch came from a card magazine from years ago, I didn't make a note of which one, when I added it to my idea book...

On to the next pieces in the scrap pile. Yaaahoooo for progress!!!

so special

Another card using the papers from Rhonna Farrer--

I have no idea where the sketch for this one came from. I thought I had saved the link, but if I did, I can't find it. If you recognize it, PLEASE let me know where it came from so I can link it up. Thanks so much! (this is what happens when you get old and get sidetracked on another project before blogging your cards, & then come back to blog later... Argh. This getting old thing really SUCKS!!!)
Flowers are Prima. Brad is Making Memories. Sentiment stamp is from the OWH Hero Arts set. Border punch is EK Success.

eta-- it's a MOJO monday! sketch #235

making progress!

I ordered a new paper cutter & it finally came! My old fiskars served me very well for many, many, years, but the time has come to replace it. It just wouldn't cut straight anymore no matter how new the blade was. I settled on the Tonic Studios 12' guillotine cutter. There seems to be a little bit of a learning curve & I had to rearrange my scrap table to make it fit, but we're becoming fast friends!

While waiting for my new cutter --

The patterned paper is from Rhonna Farrer (by Autumn Leaves, I think....). Sentiment stamp is Hero Arts. Flowers are Prima. Brads Making Memories. Edge punch is EK Success. Sketch is from card patterns #159. I found them by googling looking for some new sketch inspiration. :)

the last of the picnic table paper

One last card with the picnic tablecloth paper, well at least for the pieces that were in the scrap file. I'm pretty sure I have a couple more sheets in the stash. :)

The patterned paper is Francis Meyer. Stamps are Close to My Heart & colored with copics. Sentiment stamp is from one of the OWH set by Hero Arts. Sketch is # 39 from the Stars and Stamps blog. I'm trying to branch out with other sketches, but seem to keep going back to the OWH sketches. {...sigh...} ;)

On to the next scraps on the pile!!!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

summer thinking of you

A nice summer picnic thinking of you!

Started with sketch #36 from Stars and Stamps blog. Patterned paper is Francis Meyer. Picnic basket stamp is from Close to My Heart & colored with copics. Sentiment stamp is from Hero Arts.

I posted this card several days ago on OWH's facebook as part of a before and after. Here is the before--

amazing what a little black matting will do for a card. :)

time for some summer!

Time for summer cards! Even though spring is SUPPOSED to be here, the weather is still very winter-like here in Seattle. The next scraps in the pile scream summer picnic. The red patterned paper reminds me of the picnic table cloths that my Mom & Grandma would break out every summer.

I started with sketch #49 from the Stars and Stamps blog. Patterned paper is from Francis Meyer. Stamps are from Close to My Heart & colored with copics. Embossing folder is from Stampin' Up. Picnic basket is popped up with dimensional adhesive.