Sweet 16

Oh, Sweet 16! I remember turning 16. We all wore Gunnie Sax dresses to my party, sang Meatloaf's Paradise by the Dashboard Light at the top of our lungs, and danced to the BeeGees. My friends carried out the ritual of cutting off a lock of my hair, putting it into a brandy snifter with 16 pennies plus other memorabilia, and sealing the glass with wax. Anyway, back to the post. I have a Sweet 16 card to share with you today. This card was pretty simple to make... once I finalized the design. You would never know that from the pile of scraps left over from the numerous false starts I had. I think I spent more time on the cards that wound up in the trash than I did on this one. LOL! So, here is my card:

I started by stamping the swiss dot pattern onto my Stampin' Up! card stock with Versamark ink and heat embossing it. I added the patterned paper and covered the seem with my ribbon. Next, I arranged my alphabet stamps to spell out "Sweet." Again, I stamped using Versamark ink and embossed it. I ran that piece through my Cuttlebug using a Nestabilities die to cut and emboss the oval. I also cut the scalloped oval using my Nestabilities. Finally, I added the oval layers to my card using dimensional foam squares. Adding the bling probably took as long as it did to make the card but I think it was worth it. After all, it's not everyday you celebrate being Sweet 16.

As I was finishing this post, Melissa took one look at the card and said, "Mom, you scraplifted yourself." Check out this post: http://eterno-lyyours.blogspot.com/2008/11/all-she-wants-to-do-is-dance.html. I guess I did!

Ingredients: Stampin' Up! card stock; KI Memories Pop Culture patterned paper; Technique Tuesday (Swiss Dot) and Heidi Swapp (alphabet) stamps; K&Company Wedding stickers; Versamark ink; Stamp 'n Stuff Detail White embossing powder; Dashes, Dots & Checks ribbon; Michael's rhinestones; Nestabilities; and Cuttlebug.

At Sunset

Do you remember what paradise looked like from a few posts back? Well this is what it looked like at sunset. With the exception of one or two nights when a thunderstorm blew through (probably the remnants of Tropical Storm Faye) this layout depicts what I saw at sunset. Sal was always behind the lens of his camera, the kids were horsing around on the beach, and the sky was painted with the most beautiful colors! The pictures in this layout may not all be perfect but the memory is.

The papers are all from Basic Grey's Granola collection. Have I ever told you how much I love Basic Grey? LOL!! I cut the word "sunset" using my Cuttlebug dies. (This layout is BC -- before Cricut!) I didn't want the word "at" to have as much emphasis so I stamped it with my Technique Tuesday Endless Summer stamps. I inked the edges of the layered papers and even distressed the journaling strips for extra texture. Two of the shell die cuts and the middle paper are affixed with 3D foam squares to give the layer added dimension. (Sorry for the shadows on the picture)

Ingredients: Basic Grey paper; Deluxecuts embelishments (shells); Technique Tuesday Endless Summer stamps; Stampin' Up! ink and marker; Cuttlebug dies.

A Quick Post...

...to show a quick card I made this afternoon. I needed a sympathy card, and I needed it quick so I came up with this:

I ran the cardstock through my Cuttlebug, punched out the butterfly and stamped the sentiment. The card took me about five minutes to make, once I settled on the design. Unfortunately, I went through several designs and inked up several stamps that I didn't use. The clean-up took longer than the making the card. UGH!

Anyway, I broke open the Martha Stewart butterfly punch that Sal and the kids got me for my birthday. I think I'm going to be using that punch a lot. Note that I punched the butterfly out twice to make it two-dimensional.

Ingredients: Cardstock: Stampin' Up; Patterned Paper: Basic Grey; Stamp: Hero Arts; Ink: Stampin Up!; Bling: Michael's; Tools: Cuttlebug Leafy Branch Embossing Folder, Martha Stewart Punch.

I have a few more layouts that I need to photograph so that I can share them with you later this week. So far, 2009 has been a very scrappy year!

The Divine Sisterhood of Scrap

Every Saturday, Sisterhood of Scrap (http://sisterhoodofscrap.blogspot.com/) spotlights an artist's sketch. When they put the call out to scrappers to design a layout to feature with the sketch, I gladly answered the call. This week I had my fourth layout featured. Here it is:

I don't know if you can see the detail on the solid card stock. I ran it through the Cuttlebug. To get the embossed image down the entire 12-inch strip, I placed the embossing folder sideways and passed the strip through three times, moving the folder as I went along. Next, I sanded the raised images to make them pop. I love how the diamonds mimic the pattern on Mark's sweater!

I'm usually behind in my scrapping so I'm pretty proud of myself for actually doing a Christmas layout in December -- even if it's a layout of Christmas 2002! LOL!

Ingredients: Bazzill card stock; Imaginisce patterned paper; Imaginisce embellishments and rub-ons; American Crafts; Queen & Company Felt Fusion; Cuttlebug Diamonds in the Rough embossing folder; Signo white pen.

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Do Over

Do you remember, as a child, shouting the words "Do over!" when something didn't go your way. Well every time I would thumb through my scrapbooks, I always wished that there was a way to "do over" a layout I had done using some of my favorite pictures of Melissa when she was a baby. I loved the pictures and I loved the paper, I just didn't like the finished layout. Then I found out about Undu and my "do over" became a reality.Using Undu, I was able to lift the pictures from the page without damaging either. Pretty amazing, huh?

Here's a picture of the original layout. You may want to get out your sunglasses for this one.

It was one of the first layouts that I ever completed. I remember being so excited about finding paper to match Melissa's outfit. What I didn't realize then was that the paper was competing with the picture. And what was I thinking when I used green mats!

Here's my "Do Over":

Journaling reads: My sweet little girl...you were all smiles at Mark's birthday party. You would never know from these pictures that we would rush you to the ER just hours later with a fever of 105 degrees.
As you can see, I still used that polka dot paper but I softened the look by only letting a little bit show and inking the edges with Stampin' Up! Whisper White. I roughed up the solid DVWV cardstock with sandpaper. I even sanded the Heidi Swapp chipboard letters. (I needed to get the vacuum out after completing this layout!) My Cuttlebug also got put to use to cut the circles with my Nestabilities and emboss them with a Cuttlebug embossing folder.

In the new layout, I'm happy that the newly cropped pictures take center stage, not the paper. What do you think?

I'm tempted to call "Do Over!" again on some of my other layouts. If I do, however, I may never catch up on my scrapbooking!

Fifteen

In less 15 hours, I will be at the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Valley Forge, PA, soaking in all sorts of scrappy goodness. With only 15 hours to go until my first class, I thought it fitting to post a card I made for my neighbor's 15th birthday.

As you can see, I seem to be on an embossing kick these days. This time I used my Cuttlebug and Becca Feekan at http://www.amazingpapergrace.com/ inspired me to dig out my chalks to enhance the embossing. If you have a few minutes, check out all of the amazing cards she has made with her Cuttlebug.

I'm bringing my camera to CKC so I'll have pictures to share next week.

Ingredients: The PaperCompany cardstock; DCWV birthday patterned paper, Cuttlebug Number Collage embossing folder; Stampin Up! Birthday Whimsy stamps; Stampin Up! Tempting Turquoise ink; Eyelet Outlet photo corners; The Stencil Collection chalk.

Feeling hot! Hot! Hot!

I finally got a heat embossing tool and immediately had to make a card with it. I'm a little behind on my cardmaking (you know, the ol' shoemaker's children have no shoes syndrome!) so I decided it was time I made a graduation card for my friend's daughter. I used her school colors and heat embossed the initial of her alma mater. The design is from this week's Card Positioning Systems challenge (http://cardpositioningsystems.blogspot.com/2008/07/cps-74-brought-to-you-by-just-rite.html). Here it is:

Here's a close-up:

I just loved watching the the dustlike embossing powder turn all slick and shiney. I wish I could do that to the dust that is gathering on my furniture! Anyway, I think I'm going to be playing with this alot in the coming days!!

Ingredients: Valuepack cardstock; K&Company patterned paper; SU! Small Alphabet; SU! Headline Alphabet; SU! Real Red ink; Versamark Watermark stamp pad; Stamp 'N Stuff Clear embossing powder; eyelets from EyeLet OutLet; Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder; Dashes Dots & Checks ribbon.

Seems Like Yesterday

It seems like yesterday that my sister, Diane, married Frank, her college sweetheart. Well it's been 25 years! Here's the card I made to mark the occasion:

I didn't have a fancy cake stamp so I made my own with three different stamp sets. First I masked the candles on the cake in the Stampin' Up! Birthday Whimsey set. I wanted the cake plate to sit on a pedestal so I inked up some swirls from the Autumn Leaves Swirls V:I set. I added the numbers by Studio G last. I traced the "25" and pedestal with a shimmer that I bought at a scrapbook show last year. I ran the patterned paper through my Cuttlebug to emboss it and I think it's just the something extra that the card needed.

I've been on a cardmaking kick lately but I promise to post some scrap pages later this week.

Additional Ingredients: Bazzil cardstock; K & Company patterned paper: Stylized Flowers Cuttlebug embossing folder; Colorbox Petal Point ink; Eyelet Outlet photo corners; Heidi Swapp Bling rhinestones; ribbon from my stash.