Celebrate...and a Toot!

I have quick post tonight to share a card I made for my sister for her birthday. The inspiration for this card came from a Christmas card I received this year. I loved the idea so much, but I didn't want to wait for next year to make it so instead of a holiday sentiment, I used a birthday sentiment. Here it is:

To create the grove of trees, I inked my stamp up and stamped the image three times so that each image was lighter than the one before it. I did this step two times. To create the snow, I took the "leaf" image and stamped with Versa Mark ink and topped it with white, sparkly embossing powder. I also embossed the sentiment so that it sparkled too.

Now for the toot! My year is ending on a high note. Remember my "Money Doesn't Grow On Trees" card from this post which I created for the Hero Arts Cards That Give Challenge? (See this post: http://eterno-lyyours.blogspot.com/2009/12/money-doesnt-grow-on-trees.html. Well, I just found out today that I am the "fresh face" winner! You can see my card and all of the other winners on the Hero Arts blog. Here's a link: http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/2009/12/31/cards-that-give-challenge-winners/ . Well maybe money doesn't grow on trees but rubber stamps do! I can't wait to go on my Hero Arts spending spree!

Wishing all of you a happy and healthy 2010!

Supplies:

Card Stock: Stampin' Up! (Whisper White); American Crafts (red).

Stamps: Stampin' Up (Branching Out); Technique Tuesday (Everyday Words by Ali Edwards)

Ink: Ranger (Jet Black0; Versa Mark

Embossing Powder: Stampendous (Sterling Silver); Ranger (Bridal)

Ribbon: Celebrate It

Money Doesn't Grow On Trees!

Or does it?

I was inspired to create this card to hold or incorporate a gift (in this case, money) for a challenge over at the Hero Arts blog. You can go here (http://heroarts.com/blogs/club/2009/12/16/who-said-money-doesnt-grow-on-trees/) to read the original post and to get some great inspiration from Jennifer McGuire.

To create my card, I stamped the card base with VersaMark ink and then heat embossed with white embossing powder. After stamping the snowflakes and adding a little sparkle to the center of each with Stickles, I stamped the branch onto the blue diecut. I then folded my $20 bill in thirds and rolled it. I secured one end with a paper clip and the other with a piece of twine. Please note that no $20 bills were harmed in the making of this card. LOL! To finish off the card, I paper pieced the owls and affixed my wise "sweatered" friend on pop dots to add dimension.

These cards were a big hit on Christmas Day!

I have to say that this is the first time I have used Hero Arts acrylic stamps and I am now a huge fan! They inked up just as well as rubber stamps and they didn't require and conditioning. Like Technique Tuesday stamps, they are a high quality stamp made right here in the U.S.A.!

Supplies

Cardstock: Stampin' Up! (Kraft, Brocade Blue, Whisper White)

Stamps: Hero Arts (Designer Woodgrain, Owl Christmas)

Ink: Ranger (Jet Black); Stampin' Up! (Whisper White, Handsome Hunter); Technique Tuesday (Lava); VersaMark.

Markers: Stampin' UP! (Chocolate Brown, So Saffron)

Embossing Powder: American Crafts Zing (White)

Misc: Distress Stickles (Rock Candy); Bling (Recollections)

Tools: Cuttlebug, Spellbinders Nestabilities (Labels 1)

Brace Yourself

I think I may have mentioned that I am not a chronological scrapper. I scrap whatever inspires me at the moment. Sometimes it's new pictures, sometimes it's old pictures, sometimes it's the paper or embellishments that inspire me. Well, when Mark had his braces put on 16 months ago, I knew that I wanted to capture that moment a scrap page.I even bought the brace smile embellishment in preparation for the page. Mark was reluctant to have me take his picture at first and I thought, "There goes my scrapbook page." Thankfully, his curiosity won out and I got my pictures after all. I finally got around to working on the layout at the beginning of the summer and now, in celebration of his braces coming off (two months early!!!), I'm sharing the page. (Don't know what it is about cream backgrounds, but I had trouble photographing it).Here it is:

The journaling, which is a continuation of the title, reads "...for wires, rubber bands and monthly visits to Dr. Widman's office."

Here's a close-up. The background paper is actually a tone-on-tone paper from Basic Grey's Boxer collection

I added the priceless tag to a bar code that I cut using my Cricut and the Graphically Speaking cartridge. Finding the "60 watt smile" embellishment in Michael's when they had all of the K&Company embellishments on clearance this summer was just a bonus!

Supplies:
Patterned Paper, rub-ons, cardboard stickers: Basic Grey (Boxer).

Die-cut: Cricut (Lyrical Letters; Graphically Speaking).

Embellishments: K&Company adhesive chipboard (Wild Saffron); Colorbok Woven labels (Inspiration); Jolee's Dimensional Stickers (Braces); Making Memories brads

Ink: Color Box Chalk (Creamy Brown).

Punch: Stampin' Up! (Photo Corners).

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have a quick post to share with you tonight as I wait for my Apple Crumb Cake to finish baking in the oven. Last weekend, I felt crafty but with my scraproom literally spread out on the dining room table as Sal worked to finish up our office renovation, I just didn't have the space to scrapbook. So, inspired by a challenge over on the Hero Arts blog, I created Thanksgiving place cards out of scraps and trimmings. So glad I did because I haven't had a spare moment since. Here is my place card:

I cut out and embossed the basic shape using my Cuttlebug and the largest shape from Nestabilities' Label 1. (My arm got quite a workout since we will be 12 for Thanksgiving dinner. LOL!) Next, I stamped the wood grain image and used distress ink to fill in the background. On the rust scrap, I used stamped the Dots & Flowers backgroundwith Versamark ink, sprinkled with clear embossing powder and heat embossed before punching out the flower shape. I punched out the leaves as well as the scallops on the stripe paper, assembled and added to the main place card with pop dots. I can't wait to see how they look on my table!

Hope you all have a happy Thanksgiving.

Supplies: Card stock: Stampin' Up!. Patterned Paper: Memory Makers (Autumn Splendor). Stamps: Hero Arts (Designer Woodgrain; Dots & Flowers). Ink: Stampin' Up!; Tim Holtz Distress Ink. Punches: Stampin' Up! (Scallop); Martha Stewart (leaf); EK Success (flower). Diecut: Spellbinders (Nestabilities Labels 1); Button and twine from stash.

Once in a Century!

So what were you doing on July 8, 2009 at 10:11 a.m.? While reading various blogs this past summer, I saw a lot of scrappers preparing pages for this once-in-a-lifetime moment and decided to join in the fun. After all, what better way was there for me to tell the story of what Mark and Melissa did this past summer. So I took pictures (well actually I had Mark and Melissa reenact the moment) but sadly didn't get to the layout for a while. Finally, here's my layout called "07-08-09 @ 10:11":

First, can I just say that having a title with all numbers is a great way to use up some of your sticker stash. LOL!

Here are some details about the layout. I knew that I wanted to journal on this layout but I didn't want a strong journaling block so instead, I used the Jenni Bowlin tickets. The journaling reads: "It only happens once each century. Melissa was at field hockey camp & Mark was training for East Meadow High Cross Country."

I added texture to the layout by running the blue medallion paper through my Cuttlebug using a Swiss Dot embossing folder. I then lightly sanded the paper to make the dots pop. I used the Pink Paislee arrow sticker and added a Making Memories tiny alpha "w" to mark that this date happened on a Wednesday. I then added more tiny alphas to the top of the arrow to create my "Where Were You?" subtitle.

I added doodled rub-ons and some lines with a white gel pen to add a little touch of whimsy.

My visual triangle was completed by the "LIVE" Bingo card. I was thrilled that numbers 7 through 11 were on the card so I highlighted them with a stamp as if I was playing Bingo!

Melissa pointed out to me that I could do another layout like this next year on August 9th at 11:12 a.m. I just might do that!

Supplies

Patterned Paper: Pink Paislee (Captivating); Basic Grey (Recess)

Stamps: Technique Tuesday (Rounds Medium) -- back used to stamp Bingo card

Ink: Stampin' Up!; White Signo pen

Chipboard: Basic Grey (Offbeat)

Stickers: Pink Paislee (Captivating and Enchanting); Making Memories (Chloe's Closet Tiny Alphas)

Embellishements: Pink Paislee flower; Jenni Bowlin tickets and Bingo card;

Rub-ons: K&Company (Urban Rhapsody)

Tools: Cuttlebug (Swiss Dot embossing folder)

Discover

My computer crashed. Yes, we saw the dreaded blue screen that signifies the death of all things Dell. And, although Sal has been able to perform CPR in the past, this time our hard drive could not be saved. For me, being without the Internet is almost as bad as being without chocolate or reality tv. But, I'm finally back, typing on a new keyboard and seeing the world on a wide-screen monitor.

Since you've had to wait for nearly a month for a post, I thought I would start with one of my favorite new layouts. Did you ever have a day where everything just went right? Well that's how I felt about creating this layout. It didn't hurt to have adorable pictures of my grandnephew for the subject. And, a recently organized scrap space (which was necessitated by excessive shopping at CKC) meant that so many embellishments found their way to the page instead of staying hidden in a bag for months until the glue on this layout had dried and I could declare, "This would have been perfect, if I just had remembered that I bought it!" LOL! Anyway, here is my layout.

I am so proud of myself for using five (you can count them!) different patterned papers and on this layout. (for those of you who are counting, the green dot is actually part a stripe on the ruler paper.) Talk about using up my stash!

Okay. Let me walk you through the layout. I featured papers and embellishments from the Chloe's Closet line from Making Memories which I had scored on clearance at Michael's this summer. I inked the edges of the papers on my main photo block. I made my own custom die-cut piece by tracing the scalloped edge of another piece of patterned paper which didn't match my layout onto the blue grid paper. I then added a subhead using tiny alphas.

Next, I cut out my title using my Cricut. For extra texture, I "pleated" my ribbon using staples to hold down the first fold and glue dots to hold down the top one.

I wanted to to emphasize Thomas' age (5 months) with the ruler paper. After a few trials and a little help from a friend, I punched the number five out of the paper, glued it on a button and affixed that to the center of my flower. My adoration of the Martha Stewart butterfly punch continues, but I wanted to change it up a bit. I had some floss left on my craft table from another project so I wrapped that around the butterfly to form the body and antennae. Oh, and one more thing for you to notice: I used my Janome Sew Mini on a layout for the first time. I love the extra texture the stitches give to the layout!

To finish up my visual triangle, I added a cluster of flowers and and chipboard buttons, the date, a stick pin with beads and, for a touch of whimsy, the acetate frog.

Supplies: Cardstock: American Crafts; Patterned Paper, buttons, flowers, stickers: Making Memories (Chloe's Closet); Punches: Stampin Up! Circle and Scallop; Chipboard: K&Company (Wild Saffron); Acetate frog: Colorbok (Friendly Forest); Paper Pin: Around the Block; Ink: Colorbox chalk ink; misc beads from stash.

On the Boardwalk

One of my favorite classes at CKC this year was the Shape Up Your Layouts class sponsored by Memory Lane. The premise of the class was to learn how to use die-cut papers on a layout. We worked with beautiful papers from Making Memories and My Mind's Eye to create four unique 12x12 layouts. We also walked away with color pictures of another ten layouts. If you ask me, this class was well worth the price of admission.

This layout uses the die-cut paper in its entirety as the background paper. We cut down strips of solids and patterned paper to layer on top, The scallop edge on the solid pink was made using a Fiskars border punch. (On a side note, I like the Fiskars border punch so much more than the Stampin' Up! Scallop border punch that I own.) So here's my layout:

I used letters from my stash to create the title. I also recycled the stick from the free Skinny Cow I got at the Vendor Fair. (The stick reads: All's well that ends with dessert. Talk about finding a unique embellishment!)

Journaling reads: Bethany Beach 2002 -- There's nothing like an ice cream smile!

Patterned Paper and Tag: My Mind's Eye; Stickers: American Crafts Remarks (Sarah Script), Making Memories Tiny Alphas (Sabrina); Flowers and Buttons: Making Memories (Noteworthy); Border Punch: Fiskars; Ice Cream Stick: Skinny Cow.

WCMD

Happy belated World Card Making Day. A couple of personal things kept my creative juices from flowing over the weekend but this morning, I was inspired to make a Halloween card based on Carla Peicheff's sketch which you can find here http://moralia.wordpress.com/2009/10/03/its-here-world-card-making-day/. Here it is:

This is one time when it paid off to have all of my Halloween goodies stored together because, other than the sketch, I had no plan. I just kept digging through my stash as I went, looking for the next layer.

So, It's October 5th and I've actually made a Halloween card! If only I can mail it on time then it will be a real treat for the special person who is going to receive it!

Ingredients: American Crafts card stock; Making Memories patterned paper (Halloween); Little Yellow Bicycle laser paper (Halloween Words); Queen & Company felt fusion; Creative Imaginations epoxy sticker; Bazzill paper flower; Technique Tuesday stamp (Swiss Dots); Tim Holtz distressed ink (Spice Marmelade), Ranger ink (Jet Black); Stampin' Up! punch (Scallop); ribbon from my stash.

Cloudy With A Chance of Balloons

Just a quick post tonight to share a card I did for a Melyssa's challenge over at ShortCuts. The challenge was to showcase clouds on a card. You can see all the entries here: http://sheetloadshortcuts.blogspot.com/2009/09/melyssas-cloud-challenge.html. Here's my take on the challenge.

To create my clouds I cut out a scallop circle using my Stampin' Up! punch. I then inked around the scallops (moving it as I went along to create various cloud shapes as I went along) with distress ink. Easy peazy!

After stamping my balloons, I cut them out and applied Glossy accents for a little shine. I used a foam pop dot on the center balloon to add extra dimension. This card is going to my friend's son for his 10th birthday but the design could easily work for a get well wish.

Ingredients: Stampin' Up! card stock (Whisper White and Dusty Durango); Stampin' Up! ink (Dusty Durango, Crushed Curry, Wild Wasabi and Chocolate Chip); Tim Holtz Distress ink (Broken China for clouds); Stampin' Up! stamps (Birthday Whimsy); punches(Stampin' Up! Scallop Circle and EK Success corner rounder); Inkssentials Glossy Accents; twine from my stash.

Photos First

At the Creating Keepsakes Convention, I had the opportunity to take the Photos First class with Marnie Flores. If you ever have a chance to take one of Marnie's classes, do so. Not only is she a fantastic teacher, she is very funny and upbeat. The thing I loved about this class was that I completed three layouts using a total of 27 pictures!!! Those are my kind of layouts. None of those single photo layouts with lots of flowers. After all, I've got years and years of pictures to get on my pages. The other thing I liked about this class is that the projects depicted in the registration information were the projects we completed in class. There were no surprises here! And Marnie posted very detailed directions on how to crop the pictures. While I waited to cut my pictures down to size at the crop, this information was very helpful in picking my photos. So on to the layouts...

When I first saw the Side By Side layout on line, my initial reaction was "Ack!" Where was I going to find nine pictures that would go with bright green and pink papers. Making my pictures black and white was the perfect solution. What I like most about this layout is that it includes pictures from all different events

All materials are from the class kit except the green and white sticker that I ran along the bottom of the pictures to cover up a cropping mistake. This turned out to be a happy accident because I love how that strip grounds the photos.

The journaling reads: Separated by age and by miles, the Iandoli cousins are always close in each other's hearts. Side by side are Thomas, Jennifer, Mike, Jenn, Paul, Jim, Joe, Lisa, Mark, Sarah (with Athena), and Melissa.

Layout Two used one 5x7 (landscape) and eight smaller portrait photos. This time, the challenge was finding eight portrait images that would still have impact in this smaller format. I pulled my pictures from a Tiffany lamp exhibit that I attended last year. Voila! I had the perfect match. (Please note that the kraft card stock did not photograph well.)

All materials are from the class kit except the brads and letters. I swapped out the letters from the class kit for these Making Memories letters and the Tim Holtz ink I used to distress them.

Finally, the last layout showcases another nine photos -- this time on just one page! Seeing the bright rainbows, I was drawn to my pictures from our float trip down the Colorado River. I like how Marnie designed this layout using the scalloped edge from the Sasssafras Lass paper. I also liked how there was a lot of journaling space so that I could add a lot of details about this trip.

This layout may look relatively simple but let me tell you that these photos were difficult to line up. Thank heavens for repositionable tape! In the end, it was worth the effort. I love the result.

Journaling reads: Starting at Glen Canyon Dam early in the morning, we set off amidst the shadows of the canyon for a 15-mile float trip down the Colorado River. The 55 degree river temp chilled our feet as they hovered above the cold water. After enjoying spectacular views of the sandstone cliffs, petroglyphs and Horseshoe Bend, we arrived at Lee's Ferry, the gateway to the Grand Canyon.

All in all, I would give this class two thumbs up. I REALLY liked the designs of each and every layout. We got a full set of chipboard alphas (both positives and negatives) and their was plenty of glimmer mist (green for the second layout and blue for the third) to go around to alter the letters.

Can't wait to see what Marnie will be teaching next year!

If you've read this far, you deserve a little reward. Here's a link to some blog candy over at Tami Mayberry's blog: http://tamimayberry.blogspot.com/2009/09/little-update-via-blog-candy.html

A Dahlia For Your Birthday

Ever since I got home from CKC, I've been dieing to use my new Dahlia Nestabilities and make a card based on the inspiration piece that Scrap-mart had on display in their booth. I even dug into my new Basic Grey pack of LilllyKate that I bought at the Friday night crop. I have to keep using my scrappy goodies if I want to justify buying more! LOL! Anyway, here's the card I made for my niece, Lisa, on her 18th birthday:

I chose an entirely pink pallet so that I can enter it into the Monochromatic Card Challenge on shortcuts.com.

I hope everyone enjoys the long holiday weekend. If you have time to browse the blog, check out the fantastic giveaway over at CraftCritique.com (http://www.craftcritique.com/2009/09/best-of-craft-critique-and-giveaway.html)

Ingredients: Stampin' Up! card stock; Basic Grey patterned paper (LillyKate); Spellbinder's Nestabilities (Dahlia); Making Memories stickers (Sabrina Tiny Alphas); American Crafts ribbon; pearls from Michael's.

Bliss

Oops! Between my trip to CKC Valley Forge and my vacation to California, I have fallen a little behind in sending out anniversary cards this month. So, here is card I made for a July anniversary. I'm posting it along with my best wishes for those who did not receive their cards in August. Anyway, here's the card:

It was inspired by the beautiful Brenda Walton chipboard piece that I had found on sale at Michael's. To make the butterfly, I first stamped with Versa Mark ink. I sprinkled gold embossing powder on top of the stamped image. Before heat setting it, I brushed a little of the embossing powder off for a distressed look. I colored in the image using distress inks (my new favorites!) I did not use dimensionals for the butterfly since this card had to go through the mail.

Hopefully I'll catch up on my card making in time for those September birthdays and anniversaries but there's no guarantee since I'm off to the Scrapbook Expo in Somerset, NJ this weekend!

Ingredients: Stampin' Up! (Whisper White) and DCWV (Brights) card stock; K & Company
(Brenda Walton) patterned paper and chipboard; Hero Arts (Heart Winged Butterfly) stamp; Versa Mark and Tim Holtz Distress (Shabby Shutters and Broken China) inks; Stamp-n-Stuff embossing powder (Gold Tinsel); Martha Stewart border punch (Doily Lace).

Oh Baby!

Just a quick post tonight to share a baby card and matching gift bag. This set was very special because it was made to welcome my new great nephew into the world.

Here's a close-up of the card. Notice the zigzag stitch at the top of the orange layer. That was made with my new Janome Sew Mini that my mother gave me for my birthday.

As much as I wanted a sewing machine, I have to admit that I was a little intimidated about taking it out of the box. As I was reading the directions, Sal came into the room and pretty much took over threading it. Apparently he knows how to use a sewing machine from years of watching his grandmother do so. Who knew that after 21 years of marriage, I would uncover this hidden talent!

This card was cased from the fabulous Carla Peicheff. You can see her fabulous original here: http://moralia.wordpress.com/2009/05/29/a-few-baby-cards/. While you're on Carla's blog, take a look at some of her other projects. Her work is stunning and a constant source of inspiration to me.

Card Ingredients: Stampin' Up! card stock; DCWV patterned paper (Nan's Nursery Baby Boy); Making Memories ribbon (Passport); Stampin' Up! border punch (Scallop Edge); Making Memories stickers (Tiny Alphas); Signo pen (white); Cricut (Graphically Speaking).

Bag Ingredients: Michael's gift bag; DCWV patterned paper (Nana's Nursery Baby Boy); Fiskars border punch (Threading Water); Inkadinkadoo stamps (Baby Boy); Versa Mark ink; Stamp 'n Stuff embossing powder (detail white).

I'm Back!

...from the Creating Keepsakes Convention, that is and I've been feverishly working to finish up the projects from five (yes, five!) wonderful classes including the very latest (and I mean hot off the CHA press latest) from Basic Grey for a total of 12 layouts and five cards. It was the best CKC to date. While I work on finishing up my projects and getting pictures, I have some layouts from the beginning of the summer to share.

When Mark received his Four Sport Award at the Sports Awards Ceremony in June, it drove home the fact that I had not scrapped a single team picture or portrait from his middle school years. So I set about changing that. Here are the four layouts:

7th Grade/Fall:

7th Grade/Spring:

8th Grade/Fall:

8th Grade/Spring:

Okay, so before I tell you about these pages, can I just say that I can not get over the remarkable transformation Mark underwent in only 18 months!

Now, back to scrapbooking. I bought these papers at last year's CKC (I think Hartford) and back then, I bought two or three of every piece of pattern paper. My style has evolved since then and now I find myself truly using scraps. In one recent layout, I only used a 1-inch by 12-inch piece of patterned paper. Therefore, I had more than enough paper to complete all four layouts even with the wood grain pattern being the B side of the track paper.

Other common elements included the journaling. For each page, I used kraft card stock and Ali Edwards stamps to give "the details." The journaling is simple -- Mark's location in the team picture (as you never know who will be looking at these books years from now) and his best time for that season.

I used two of my favorite border punches -- Upper Crest by Fiskars (seen above) and Spiral by Stampin' Up! (seen below).

Finally, I bought so much of this paper (what was I thinking!) that I had enough left over to make a card for Mark to give to his godfather, another running enthusiast. Here's the card:

Layout Ingredients: American Crafts card stock; Rusty Pickle patterned paper and stickers (Run It Game Time); Technique Tuesday stamps (Today You Journaling Frames) Fiskars border punch (Upper Crest) and Stampin' Up! border punch (Spiral); EZ Laser designs and Sticko embellishments; Color Box chalk ink.

Card Ingredients: Stampin' Up! card stock; Rusty Pickle patterned paper and stickers (Run It Game Time); Technique Tuesday stamp(Simple Sentiments ); Versa Mark ink; Ranger embossing powder (black); Maya Road Micro Chips (Neutrals); twine from stash.

The Last of the Latest & Greatest

I've been in a scrapping frenzy around here, trying to finish up and use up as much of my CKC class and Vendor Fair goodies from last year before I head off to CKC next week. And, as usual, the more I scrap (which has been A LOT!) the less I blog. Sorry about that.


Today I want to share the last completed projects from the Latest & Greatest Basic Grey. I love these classes and have signed up to take another one. The only challenge (sometimes) is finding the right pictures for each layout. After a lot of digging through old pictures, I think I found just the right ones. Here's the finished layout featuring Basic Grey's Wassail line:

In All Together for the Holiday, I personalized the class kit by adding Thickers, rub-ons, silk flowers, plus chipboard and jelly sticker embellishments.

The journaling reads: What a special day! It was the first Christmas that Donna, Diane, Ricky and I had spent together in years. It was wonderful to be all together again!

Rather than using brads in the center of the flowers, I chose the MAMBI jelly stickers because the words added more meaning to this layout.

The next layout features the Granola line. Here it is:

As soon as I saw these papers, I knew that I wanted to do a layout about my Dad who passed away in 1998. I printed all of the photos in Sepia and sanded the edges of each. I found the "cherish" rub-on in my stash and thought it was perfect!

Again, I personalized the layout. This time I used a border punch (on the page above), rub-ons, Thickers and distressing techniques.

Well that's it for the Latest & Greatest Basic Grey until next week when I come home from CKC with four more Basic Grey layouts. I can't wait!!!

Ingredients -- All Together for Christmas: Bazzill card stock; Basic Grey patterned paper (Wassail); Imaginesce rub-ons and flowers: Me & My Big Ideas jelly stickers and embellishments (Noel); American Craft Thickers.

Ingredients -- Miss You: Bazzill card stock; Basic Grey patterned paper (Granola); Stampin' Up! marker (Chocolate Chip); 7 Gypsy rub-ons; American Craft Thickers.