A Note For My Fabulous Mother

Welcome to May!

Here is a sweet card I made using my Frou Frou EZMount™ Stamp - Love Letters.

Sketches4all's May Design Team Challenge is to "Honor a Woman in Your Life".  I think this card I made for my Mom is perfect for this challenge.  Here is the scoop: 

Your challenge, this month, is to create a project "honoring ANY special woman in your life". You can create a layout, card, tag, altered project, etc, as long as it follows this theme and is based on this sketch by Pagemaps:

* Projects must be new as of today, May 1st.

* You can NOT combine challenges.    

* This challenge will close on May 31st at midnight EST.

* The Design Team will vote for their FAVORITE ENTRY and announce the winner on June 2nd.

There is an awesome sponsor:

www.scraputante.com

 

This prize package contains:

Vintage Vogue collection Kit

24 sheets of paper,a package spool buttons,

coordinating ephemera!

 

**Thanks Kelly!**

To make my project, I stamped her out onto Ultra Smooth Premium White Cardstock with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and colored her with my Spectrum Noir markers.

I just layered some patterned paper onto a Kraft card base and added a bit of bling and a flower.  Easy Peasy!  I popped up my sentiments for a bit of extra dimension using double sided adhesive squares.

You should go check out this collection of Frou Frou stamps over at Crafter's Companion.  They are to die for!!

Until next time...happy scrapping!

Stacy

Happy Monday!

Happy Monday!! 

I'm kind of on a roll, well at least for me I am!  Here I am posting two days in a row!! LOL  Okay, pick yourself back up off the floor and check out this layout I made for this weeks Colorful Creations So You Think You Can Scrap Challenge.

Here is the challenge this week:

Use Your Words--NO PHOTO layout

Create a layout centered around a poem. NO PHOTOS. You must use the ENTIRE poem on your page.

You must also have the following on your page:

• Journaling (this does not include your poem)
• Memorabilia – Do you have ticket stubs, maps, or newspaper clippings? Now is the time to use them on your layout.
• Create some sort of pocket to hold your memorabilia, place this on your layout.
• Twine-use some twine on your layout in some form or fashion
• Custom Embellishments – Make your own embellishments, ie flowers, washi tape, chipboard pieces, ATC card, etc….YOU MUST NAME your custom embellishment
• Color Combo: You must also use this color combo ( USE ALL the colors, You may use white, black or kraft as your background)

Here is my layout:

 

I used all the colors required and a white base.  I sprayed and dripped and masked using Peach, Teal and Primrose Color Shine.  I recently bought a 6x6 American Crafter's - Color Crush paper pad at Target that had the perfect colors in it.  Kismet!

 

 



I made a hidden pocket behind the poem to stash the Chuck E Cheese's photo memorabilia inside.  I made the little flower and tied some bakers twine around a bit of paper on the lower left side.  And then I journaled all around the edges of the page.

 

 

The bling looks really dark in the photo but it is just a dark teal that is the same as the color chart.  I custom colored some clear cling with one of my Spectrum Noir markers - BT5.

 

The poem I used is Children are a Gift from God by Sandra Tolson.  I edited it slightly by changing the number of "packages" from "3" to "5" because I have 5 kids not 3.  Here is what the poem says:

 

God sent me five packages That needed special care "Take care of these tiny gifts For they are very rare." "Watch over them with all your love And let them feel your touch Take care of their every need For you are needed very much." "These gifts will grow up very fast As you soon will see Love them with all your heart And let them be what they will be." "When these gifts have fully grown Look at Heaven up above Know they exist because of God And all his precious love."   I'm surprised at how much I like this layout.  I wasn't sure I would like it without photos but once I found the Chuck E Cheese's photo to put in the hidden pocket with the perfect color on the edge it all just fell into place.   What do you think??  Like it?  Do you often do layouts without photos?  We are down to just 12 people left participating on this challenge.  At the rate we are going it might take all year to finish it!! LOL I don't care!  I'm just enjoying the challenge of it.   I used a sketch from the sketch challenge at Let's Capture Our Memories blog.  (love this sketch!)  I plan to enter this over there too.     Finally, here is a photo taken by my dd who is 5 years old.  I hope she isn't going to be one of "those" girls who photographs herself all the time!!!  LMBO!!  (jk)    Thanks for visiting today!  Until next time...happy scrapping!   Stacy



With This Ring

Happy Sunday!

How was your weekend??  We were lucky to get to spend Saturday having a family cookout with some visiting cousins.  Kids spent pretty much the whole time swimming in the pool. (They are back out there right now!!)  It has been a super sunny and warm (90s) weekend.  Really beautiful.  It was really fun to hang with the cousins. 

Today my hubby, two older boys and "the cousins" went to see a movie while I stayed home with the other 3 kids and scrapped.  They went to a new theatre near our house that has fancy reclining chairs.  Super cool theatre!!  They were thrilled with the theatre and the movie they saw.

I was lucky to get to finish up a double page layout of photos from my goddaughter, Michelle's wedding.  I'm a little slow since she was married two years ago but what can I say?  lol  I'm really proud of how it turned out.  What do you think?

 

I used my new Martha Stewart Circle Edge Punch to make the doily type circles.  Her wedding colors were black, white and purple.  I had her write up some information and her feelings from the day and I put it on a hidden tag.

 

 

I used some Color Shine in Tinsel and Amethyst to spray the wooden letter that I used for the title. And I was happy to use some of my Purple Twilight Skittles from my friend, Carri.  (Get yours here)

 

 

My goddaughter said she liked it so I'm happy!  I'm entering it in the Anything Goes challenge at Creative Inspirations Paints and at Mema's Crafts Anything Goes Challenge.

 

 

I also wanted to share a card that my 5 year daughter made.  She did all of it except I tied on the ribbon she wanted.  I think it is cute!  She used Sheena Douglass A Little Bit Scenic - Flying Colors stamps.  She was thrilled with how it turned out.

 

Thanks for stopping by today and checking things out.  Until next time...happy scrapping!

 

Stacy

Crafter's Companion Friday Giveaway!

Crafter's Companion is back doing weekly giveaways!! YEAH!!  This week you could win the new Diesire  8 x 8 Embossalicious Grande Dots embossing folder.  Double yeah!



Here is a gorgeous card from Edna Taylor for you to drool over!



It's easy to enter: just leave a comment OVER AT CRAFTER'S COMPANION letting them know which Embossalicious folder is your favorite no later than Monday, April 29 at 6:00 PM EST.  (Winners must have a US postal address)
Go on now to the Crafter's Companion Blog and enter to win.!     Good luck, and thanks for stopping by today!

We WON!

Happy Thursday!

 



Yesterday my son's lacrosse team had a game and they won it 15-0.  WOOT!  It was very exciting especially since my son scored one of the goals for our team!!  Double WOOT!! lol  Just had to share the news...  They had two games last Saturday and they won them both also.  So hopefully they can keep up the good work!!

 



Now on to scrappy stuff.  I am loving this card I just made using Sheena's A Little Bit Sketchy EZMount Stamp Set - Only Words - From The Heart and Sheena's A Little Bit Sketchy EZMount Stamp Set - Flower Power.  I really think this collection of stamps from Sheena is spectacular.  I find myself pulling them out and using them over and over and over again.  (As you can probably tell from my projects if you follow my blog! lol) 

 

 



I stamped out the sentiment with Memento Paris Dusk ink onto Ultra Smooth Premium White Cardstock and embossed it with clear embossing powder.  I did the same thing with the flower stamp.  However, I did color the flower with my Spectrum Noir markers using CG1, CG2, CT1 and TB5.  After coloring them (I stamped out a few), I fussy cut them out. 

 



I pulled out my Ultimate Tool (which everyone should have) and made the bi-fold card base with dark blue cardstock. 

 



I was recently at Target and I couldn't help but look at their tiny collection of scrap goodies.  I found this American Crafter's Dots & Stripes 6x6 paper pad that I just had to have.  I loved how the lime green papers worked so well with the nice dark blue cardstock base.  As you can see this card went together super quickly. I layered the papers on my card base, added the sentiment, adhered the flower with a double sided adhesive square for dimension and then finished up the front by adding a tiny bit of Stardust Stickles to the flowers and a few Lettuce Skittles to a couple of the corners.  (Get your Skittles HERE)

 



I finished up the inside of the card also using one of the flowers I had made and two of the smaller flowers from Sheena's Flower Power set.  I left an area blank so I could add a personal message when I mailed it.

 

2nd card made with my Party Paws CD-Rom.

 

 When I made the Party Paws card that I posted on Monday, I printed out a second shaped card paper to photograph for my blog post but when I finished up the post it was just sitting there on my scrap desk all cut out and ready to be made into a card.  So of course I had to finish it up!  I printed it out on different paper so it is a little brighter.  I used Ultra Smooth Premium White Cardstock instead of Luxury Centura Pearl Cardstock.     Both worked great and look good but I think I'm liking this one better.  I love the crisp, bright colors.  The LCP cardstock has a pearl finish which is gorgeous but softens the colors a bit.  Tell me what you think.

1st card made with my Party Paws CD-Rom.

 



Well that is enough for now.  I'm working on a double page layout that is almost done so that will be coming soon.  Thanks for stopping and looking today.

 

Until next time...happy scrapping!

 

Stacy 



Party Paws Papercrafting CD

Have you guys tried out the new Papercrafting CD's from Crafter's Companion yet?  I recently bought the new Party Paws stamp set bundle and the CD came with it if you purchased the bundle. 

 



So yesterday when I was feeling no creativity at all I thought I would check it out in hopes that it would inspire me to scrap.  And boy did it!!!  There is so much on this little CD-ROM!  It is loaded with goodies to get you creating.

 





I looked and looked (It was easy to get caught up in just looking because there is so much to see!) and then I finally decided to make a shaped card.  This was super quick and easy.  I just pulled up Shaped Cards and picked which one I wanted to make.  Then I decided on the size and printed two copies out onto a piece of Luxury Centura Pearl Printable Snow White Cardstock. 

 

Next I cut out around the printed image of the main card. 

 

Then I trimmed around the bottle and the champagne glass on the second printed sheet.  I adhered these pieces to the first card base with double sided adhesive squares to give dimension to my card.  And then for a bit more fun, I put Glossy Accents on the champagne glass and bubble to give it extra shine.

 

 



I pulled out my Ultimate Tool and scored a fold line.  Then I went back to the CD-ROM and pulled up the Sentiments.  I chose two, one for the inside and one for the outside. 

 

 

After printing and cutting them out, I inked the edges of one and added it to the inside of my card. 

 

 

I grabbed some ribbon from my stash and my Ultimate Tool and made a bow.  I added this sweet little bow and 3 Meadow colored Skittles to the other sentiment and then adhered it to the front of the card with double sided adhesive squares.  I just love these Skittles that my friend Carri at DoubleClick - AKA Abusybee Blog makes. They come in a ton of fun colors.  You can get some of your very own HERE.

 

 

So there you have it, a super fun, super quick card that took minutes to make.  I'm thinking you should get this CD-Rom for your very own collection.  What do you think?

 

Thanks for visiting today!

 

Until next time...happy scrapping!

 

Stacy



Happy Mail

Who doesn't like to get happy mail?  I am a sucker for a mystery box or a warehouse sale so when I saw that Maya Road had one up for sale of course I had to get it.  Here is what I received:

Can you believe that giant spool of pink ruffle ribbon?!  I just had to laugh when I opened the box.  There are 24 yards of ribbon on that spool!!!!!!!!!!  Hilarious!

It was a fun box to open.  There are some cool goodies that I will have fun using and some that I will probably be giving away.  Perfect for giveaways or RAKs.

 



Yesterday I was super excited to get a box of goodies from Crafter's Companion.  I adore their new Frou Frou collection so I had to get it all!! lol   I ordered the paper crafting bundle which includes:

• Frou Frou Papercrafting CD
• Frou Frou Digikit CD
• Frou Frou Paper Pack
• Frou Frou Lace Acetate & Parchment
• Adorable Scorable Card Collection

and I bought all 8 EZmount stamps.  I'm thrilled with all of it and I can't wait to start getting scrappy.

 



Anyone else out there in love with mystery boxes and happy mail like me? ha

Girls Day Out

What's up?  Well today is Thursday so that means that I have a Colorful Creations - So You Think You Can Scrap Challenge to inspire me.

This week the challenge was to make a layout and to:

Make your own patterned papers (no pre-printed papers allowed)
Make your own washi tape
Make your own paste
Make your own pinwheel

Here is what I came up with:

I personally like to start off with a sketch to help inspire me to get me started so I went to Let's Get Sketchy and grabbed their current sketch challenge sketch to use.  I'm not sure if I qualify for their challenge since I am entering this in the SYTYCS challenge too.  I will try and see what they say. lol

Here I have sprayed the lace with the Glimmer Mist.

 

Here is the paper after the lace was taken off.

 (I used a Purple Pansy Glimmer Mist so that you can see the pattern better)

 



I started by laying a piece of lace over the backside of a piece of Luxury Centura Pearl 12" x 12" Printable Snow White Cardstock and then spraying it with Jingle Bells Glimmer Mist.   After it dried I made some texture paste out of acrylic paint, baby powder and glue.  I spread it on through a stencil in two corners and then set it aside to dry again.  After that dried I sprayed the paste areas with Solar Gold Radiant Rain Shimmering mist.

 



I used a Sheena's A Little Bit Scenic - Flying Colors -swirl stamp and made two of my patterned papers. On one of them I stamped with VersaMark ink and then added clear embossing powder.  And for the other one I used the same stamp but just stamped with Sunshine Yellow Ranger Adirondack Brights ink on the yellow paper for a tone on tone look that is subtle. 

 



I grabbed my new 6x6 Embossalicious Embossing Folder - Lattice and embossed the teal paper strips.  I just love the great texture it gave.

I made the washi tape by laying a piece of clear tape on top of some green tissue paper and then trimming it.  Next I ran it thought my Xyron machine to make it sticky on the backside.  Not the prettiest tape but good enough to fulfill the challenge requirements! lol

And finally we come to the pinwheel.  I think pinwheels are super easy to make.  Just cut out a square of paper, find the center and cut in most of the way from each corner.  Then all you have to do is grab on corner and fold it into the center and continue doing this with the other 3 corners.  I actually made a large pinwheel to start but it didn't work for me so I grabbed a couple of pieces of scrap paper and made these two little tiny pinwheels.  I just glued down each folded corner piece and then added a brad to the center.  And layered one of them on a flower.  I like the two little ones much better than the one giant one!! LOL

I will let you know if I make it to round 15 of the So You Think You Can Scrap Challenge tomorrow.

Thanks for looking!!

Until next time...happy scrapping!

Stacy

Interesting Statistics

Just an FYI to all my fellow paper crafters!!!

My friend, Brandi, found these statistics on a website called My Creative Memory... and I thought I would share them with you.  They are VERY interesting!!!!

Did you know that scrapbooking is "happening" in over 35% of households across America, making it more popular than golf?!?! That's right!!! It's a BOOMING industry with NO signs of slowing up!!!

 

 

— By Emily Fassanella

PMA Marketing Research Analyst

 

 And here are some other facts:

~ Did you know the average scrapbooker in the U.S. is between the ages of 25-34 years old?!?
~ How about that scrapbookers spend an average of $4 BILLION dollars a year on supplies?!?
~ At least 29% of households have tried scrapbooking.
~ Homes with children under the age of six were 80% above average on their scrapbooking activities.

 

What do you think about that??

 

Stacy

Happy Birthday Sheena!

Hi guys!  What's up?  My last house guest left yesterday and I am just trying to get caught back up with real life and my scrap life!  4 weeks with house guests can put you behind! ha

I did manage to make a CAS card to share.  I actually made the card as a birthday card for the fab designer, Sheena Douglass but when I went to type up the name of the stamp I used, I realized that I had used a Stamp It Australia Sentiment Swirls stamp that was stored alongside my Sheena stamps.  BOO

I love the Stamp It stamps too but I wanted to use a Sheena stamp obviously!  Oh well  I will still show it to you but I didn't send it to her.

 

I pulled out my new Darice 6" x 6" Embossalicious Lattice embossing folder and embossed the circles with my eBosser.  I thought that would add awesome texture to the card.  I hear that sequins are "in" so I pulled out some sequins from my child's craft box and added a few for sparkle and "hipness"! lol

 

I used a sketch from Onlinecardclasses.com for inspiration.

 

Thanks for stopping by and looking today.  Hopefully I will be getting back in the swing of things soon and will be posting more frequently!! 

 

Until next time...happy scrapping!

 

Stacy

 





We Love Nana

Welcome!

Today I have a layout to share with you.  It is the layout I have made this week for the Colorful Creations So You Think You Can Scrap challenge #13.  I actually have two versions...because after I made it using the strict requirements of the challenge I didn't think it worked for me.  So I changed a couple of things (minor things) and I like it better.  Although the sun went behind a cloud so the photo is very good.

So, here is the challenge for this week:

You MUST use ALL of the following!

1. Use only PURPLE papers (printed, card stock, or home made)
2. All embellishments must be BLACK OR WHITE
3. 2 Hand made flowers
   
4. 2 Different Stamps (your flowers will not count)
5. 2 Hearts
6. 2 Different Ribbons
7. Faux Stitching (hand drawn)
8. Bling (clear bling will be accepted)
9. Feathers
10. Stay true to sketch (using a 12 x 12 OR 8.5 x 11 double page layout)

And here is the layout I made first:

 



 And here is the layout after I changed a couple of things:



Can you see the minor changes?  I moved the word, NANA.  (still not sure if I like it or not) I added two purple paper hearts to the title work.  And I added another stamped purple swirl from the Sheena  - A Little Bit Scenic - Flying Colors stamp set.  I have found myself using this set OVER AND OVER AND OVER!!  You need to go get this set for yourself!  Unfortunately it doesn't show up in the photos very well.  (maybe if you click on the photo to enlarge it it will show better)

I also used a sentiment from my Humphrey's Corner Collection - Easter Wishes stamp set.  It just worked for over my journaling.

Fingers crossed I make it to the next round. lol

My mom is still here visiting, my god daughter is coming today and staying the weekend with her husband and tonight my two older boys have a band concert.  (exactly at the same time that my god daughter's plane lands of course!)  So it's busy at my house!! 

If you stopped by to join in on the Sketches4all Spring Blog Hop and Scrap-A-Thon than click HERE to start hopping!! 

Crafter's Companion April Flower Challenge

Hello!!

How has your week been going?  Mine has been extra busy but I did have time to make a card for the Crafter's Companion April Flower Challenge.  I used the new Party Paws Stamp Set - Bamboo.  I figured since he was holding a big ole flower he was the perfect choice!! lol 

I stamped it him out on Ultra Smooth Premium White Cardstock with Tuxedo Black Memento ink.  Then I colored the image with my Spectrum Noir markers. 

I'm totally into making Easel cards and actually felt like I was making them too often.  But I decided that an easel card just worked for this project. 

I found some pretty floral paper in my stash and used it on the base of my card.  I stamped out two sentiments and colored them with a Spectrum Noir marker to color match them to the colored image.  I punched out one sentiment to use as the center of a flower embellishment and the other one I trimmed into a banner shape and adhered it to the inside of the card with double sided adhesive squares.  This raised it up a bit and gave the card a stopper to hold it while it is open.

I finished up by making a little banner out of scrap pieces of my paper and a bit of red bakers twine.

I like it!  I hope you do too.  And I hope you get a chance to join in on the flower challenge this month too.  You could be the big winner of the $30 gift card to the Crafer's Companion online store!!  What are you waiting for?

If you stopped by to join in the Sketches4all Spring Blog Hop and Scrap-A-Thon you just need to click HERE get to hopping!! 

Thanks for stopping and looking today.

Until next time....happy scrapping!!

Stacy

Sketches4all Spring Blog Hop & Scrap-A-Thon

Welcome to the Sketches4All Spring Blog Hop and Scrap-A-Thon!

 

We're so happy that you could join us!!  The Sketches4all Spring Blog Hop and Scrap-A-Thon starts today Monday, April 1, 2013 and ends on Sunday, April 7, 2013.  Winners will be announced on Wednesday, April 10, 2013.  You will have until April 17, 2013 to claim your prize.  After that you will forfeit your prize.

 

Now on to the fun stuff!!  There will be inspiration, there will be challenges and there will be PRIZES!!  Our Grand winner will be crowned “Queen of The Hop” and will win this fabulous prize:

 

The Grand Prize will be a 24 pack of Spectrum Noir Markers in Pastel, Ultra Smooth Premium White Card stock for Alcohol Markers - 20 Sheets, a Spectrum Noir 36 Pen Zipper Bag and a Mulberry Wood –Gone Fishing stamp set.  We will also have a 2^nd prize of a $25.00 {US} gift certificate!  And each design team member will offer a challenge with a prize for the Scrap-a-Thon in the Forum of Sketches4all. 

My challenge is a Sketch Challenge.  I would love to see you join in and be in the running to win:

Green Washi tape
Wooden Frame
Prima Bling
October Afternoon Flower Sack
OA Grow Book
OA Flags
OA Miscellany (variet of die-cut cards/shapes, buttons, ribbon and raw chipboard
OA Here and Now Chapter book pages
OA Sidewalk Buttons

You can find all the challenge details HERE.

 

Here is the project I have made to inspire you to participate!

 



You will need to be sure and visit all the blogs on the hop and comment along the way and then head over to Sketches4all and join in on as many of the Scrap-a-Thon challenges as you can. You are entered to win prizes based on how many challenges you complete.

Before you leave please help us welcome our newest Design Team member's Brenda and Libby.    I just know they will be bringing so much creativity and inspiration to our site!

We are also so lucky to have Rachelle as our April Guest Designer .  Rachelle will be offering a challenge for us this month that you are not going to want to miss out on!! 

And speaking of Rachelle, if you came from Rachelle's blog, then you are in the right place on the hop.  If not, you might want to start at the beginning on Becky's blog.  And to help guide you along the way, here is the Design Team lineup for our blog hop:

 
Becky
Brandi
Brenda
Cheryl
Fia
Jessica
Libby
Lisa
Rachelle
Stacy You are HERE
Sketches4all

Now that you have reached the last blog on the hop it is time to head on over to Sketches4all and check out the Scrap-A-Thon.  (If you haven't joined the Sketches4all community, it only takes a minute to do so.  We hope to see you there!!)

Have fun!!