Friday, September 21, 2012

Scrap Pile Challenge

We are in week five of our kitchen remodel so I thought it would be a good time for a Scrap Pile Challenge. Most of the pieces for this card were leftovers that that I had cleaned off the dining room table when I was packing up the kitchen. The card base had been cut and scored.  The flower made from a Nestabilities die was ready to go. Even the cardstock for the sentiment was scalloped and somehow trimmed to the right size.  All I needed to add was a background stamp, a sentiment stamp, the black mat and a few jewels.  Easy, peasy, right?  Here's my card: 
 And here's a close-up of the flower and the embossed sentiment.
Supplies:
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink;
Patterned Paper: Fancy Pants (Love Collection);
Stamps: Hero Arts (Dash Pattern); Papertrey Ink (Think Big Favorites #13)
Inks: Versa Mark; Ranger (Jet Black):
Tools: Spellbinders Shapeabilities (Blossom 1); Fiskars Border Punch (Scalloped Sentiment)'
Misc.: American Crafts Zing Embossing Powder (Opaque White); Recollections Rhinestone stickers.


Sunday, September 16, 2012

Cave Tubing

I realize that I haven't shared as many layouts on my blog as I have cards so today, I have a layout.  This one was inspired by the wood embellishment that reads "All Time Best Day Ever" and it includes some very imperfect pictures that were taken with a disposable underwater camera when we were in Belize.  Here's my layout:


I started this layout by making a grid with my pictures.  I cropped the picture on the bottom (which was mostly black since it was taken inside the cave) to fill the gap under the 4x6 vertical picture.  I think its 4x2 size works much better than the original and really pulls your eye to the opening of the cave.  The papers are all My Mind's Eye.  The green stripes are actually washi tape.  I heart washi tape! I created the effect of the water using my EK Success Zig Zag punch.  I really like how this carried out the theme of my page and  grounded my journaling.  

To create my title, I stamped cardstock using the Hero Arts Envelope Pattern stamp.  I love the texture that this adds to the letters.  Then, I used my Cricut to cut the title out three times.  Why three times?  So I could stack each letter.  These homemade Thickers add more dimension to my page!

The journaling reads: After a 1-hour bus ride with our very entertaining guides, we reached the site, picked up our tubes and hiked to the river.  The only way across was to swim or jump off the cliff like Mark did.  After a 30-minute hike through the hot jungle, we reached the caves, got in our tubes hooking our feet under the arms of the person in front and began our float trip.  Best day ever! 

Supplies:
Cardstock: Bazzill;
Patterned Paper:  My Mind's Eye;
Embellishments:  My Mind's Eye (wood sub-title); October Afternoon (Tidbits & Tin Pin);
Tim Holtz (mini paper clip): Queen & Company (washi tape);
Stamps: Hero Arts; (Envelope Pattern: Travel Journal)
Ink: Ranger (Coffee)
Tools: EK Success Border Punch; Provo Craft Cricut. 





Monday, September 10, 2012

Dear Lizzy Happy Birthday!

Sorry for the unexpected hiatus from blogging.  We took a cruise to Bermuda the first week of August. Upon my return, I had one week to finish packing up the kitchen for the remodel.  We are completely gutting the room and raising two headers so the dust and dirt have gotten in the way of all things paper.  Another thing that has gotten in the way of crafting is a temporary lack of space.  Right now, the dining room table and chairs are in the living room under drop cloths; the kitchen table and refrigerator are in the dining room and we are "cooking" in the basement in a toaster oven and microwave or, when we can walk through the kitchen, on the BBQ out back.  With all this mess, scrapping and card making have taken a back seat.

When, I needed to make a birthday card for my niece over Labor Day weekend, I had to make space.  So, I pulled out the keyboard tray on my desk and basically made this card on my lap.  Since my space was limited, I let the pattern paper do the work.  Here's my card:


To create it I pulled cut strips of pattern paper in a variety of widths.  Since I didn't have much desk space to work on, I used just one 6x6 pad of coordinating papers. For the sentiment, I used a combination of Thickers and stamping.  (Did I ever confess to my Thickers addiction.  I seem to buy them in every color -- especially pink and green -- and then only use the black and brown ones on my projects.  I thought this card was the perfect time to start using up my pink Thickers!) To finish off the card, I added a piece of ribbon, chipboard embellishment and button, and rounded the corners.

Supplies:
Patterned Paper/Chipboard: American Crafts (Dear Lizzy Neapolitan);
Stickers: American Crafts Thickers (Honey puffy letters);
Stamp: Papertrey Ink(Tag Its #10);
Ink: Ranger (Coffee);
Embellishments: ribbon (My Mind's Eye Lost & Found); button (Melissa Frances).