June Bug Layout

If you ever get the opportunity to take a class designed by Kelly Goree, do it! Kelly is uber talented and designs the most beautiful layouts. After I took her class at Scrapbook Expo in 2009, I began to think about paper in a whole new way. (Alright, so the fact that I think about paper at all may be a sign that I need a 12-step program but you scrappers out there know what I mean.) Anyway, take this June Bug paper for example:

When I saw it in the class kit, I hoped we were going to use only the B side. We don't have any pets so what would I possibly do with any of those pups on a page. Well here's the page designed by Kelly:

I don't think I ever would have scrapped those pictures let alone have created such a whimsical page. In fact, I would have neglected those doggone cute pups and just used the dots on any page I created on my own but Kelly Goree is the Queen of Fussy Cutting. And, those two pups...

...really make this page (and yesterday's card) so doggone cute!

In addition to fussy cutting, I noticed how Kelly likes to doodle around the edge of the page. No machine sewing here. Just draw a quick free-hand line and Voila, the layout is grounded. Love this easy technique.

I took another class designed by Kelly at Scrapbook Expo this year. Unfortunately, she didn't teach it but the designs were equally as fabulous. I'll share those later this week. I guess I'll officially make it the Unofficial Kelly Goree Week on my blog. LOL!

Supplies:

Paper, Stickers, Brads: Basic Grey

Pen: Stampin' Up (Black)

Tools: EK Success Corner Rounder punch

Happy First Birthday!

My Grand Nephew just celebrated his first birthday. As I prepared to make his card, I was coming up with zero inspiration. You see, I have another Grand Nephew who celebrated his first birthday in February. I didn't want to make the same card yet I'm a little lacking in the juvenile boy stamp department. Anyway, two days before the party, my niece called and told me she was making a puppy cake. A light bulb went on in my head and this is the card I created:

To start, I cut out one of the adorable pups from a scrap of Basic Grey June Bug I had left over from a layout I created in a class designed by Kelly Goree. (I'll share that layout later this week.) Next, I cut a dog house out on my Cricut and stamped it with the Hero Arts Woodgrain stamp. (I think that is one of my favorite stamps because it is so versatile!) I added the banner and Happy Birthday sentiment from Papertrey Ink's Fly Away set. The banner is actually inverted so I had to affix the sentiment stamp to my block accordingly. I love how you can "mold" an acrylic stamp to fit your needs! After finishing the dog house I stamped the clouds on white card stock. For the grass, I scalloped two strips of patterned paper plus a strip of green card stock that I stamped with stripes.

When I put all of the pieces together on a 4.25 x 5.5 card, my scene seemed too crowded so I opted for a 5x7-inch card instead. To ground my scene, I stamped a scrap of kraft card stock with the dots and scalloped the top edge. For a finishing touch, I used the sun from the Elements Stickers. Since it was hanging off the edge, I adhered it to scrap cardstock and cut it out before putting it on the card. The "1" is actually a white Thickers that I inked red to match my card. I used craft ink for the best results.

Hope you enjoyed your day, Paul!

Supplies:

Card Stock: Stampi'n Up! (Kraft, Wild Wasabi); Papertrey Ink (Stamper's Select White, Pure Poppy, Enchanted Evening)

Stamps: Hero Arts (Clouds, Designer Woodgrain, Stripes; Technique Tuesday (Swiss Dot)

Ink: Versa Mark; Stampin' Up! (Brilliant Blue, Real Red); Ranger (Jet Black)

Patterned Paper: Basic Grey (June Bug)

Stickers: American Crafts (Thickers); Basic Grey (June Bug Elements)

Tools: Cricut (Puppy Love), Fiskars Border Punch (Scallop); EK Success (Corner Rounder)

Greetings from Paradise

My niece, Jenn, loves the beach, so when I saw the Paper Crafts Go-To Sketch Challenge #4, I immediately thought of replacing the scallops along the top and the rectangular strip running down the right side with a palm tree. Here's the sketch:

And here's my take on it:

To create this card, I first stamped the clouds onto white card stock. I filled in the clouds on the bottom of the stamp with distress ink to create the horizon line. After cutting out my palm tree and waves with my Cricut, I used VersaMark ink to stamp a different pattern onto each piece. I also distressed all of the tree's edges. This added both texture and pattern to the card. After tearing the kraft card stock, I stamped the shell. Again, I used VersaMark ink to ink up the edges and add some depth to my sand. Finally, I stamped the sentiment and hung it from the tree using a bit of twine.

Here's a close-up of some of those details:

Happy birthday, Jenn!

Supplies:

Card Stock: Papertrey Ink (White); Stampin' UP! (Wild Wasabi, Kraft); DCWV (Brown)

Stamps: Hero Arts (Clouds, Raindrop Background, Stripes, Flourish Background, Antique Engraving, Love that Sparkles)

Ink: VersaMark; Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Faded Jeans, Broken China)

Tools: Cricut Cartridge (Ocean of Words); Tim Holtz Paper Distresser; EK Success Corner Punch

I'm Back!

It seems like I have fallen off of the blogging bandwagon! I can only blame end-of-school-year activities. Between award ceremonies, final track meets, dance recitals, band concerts and finals, there just hasn't been enough time to sit down and blog. Not blogging, however, does not mean there has been a lack of creating. I have been scrapping and stamping like crazy! In addition to several layouts, I have been making cards like a Hallmark production line. There have just been so many occasions this month and my card-making frenzy is not over yet.

So anyway, today I have a card to share with you. Here's the color inspiration for my card:

And here's my card:

It uses Hero Arts' Big and Small Flowers set that I picked up during my Fresh Face Winner shopping spree. You'll be seeing a lot of this stamp set. Since it was out on my table, i just kept stamping!

To create this card, I first stamped the brown flowers onto a large rectangular block. Next, I cut the yellow card stock into three even panels and matted each on brown. After stamping the sentiment onto the oval piece, I felt that it looked flat so I went back and stamped some small flowers using Versa Mark ink. Here's a close-up:

I finished off the inside of the card with a little extra strip from the original yellow rectangle and a sentiment from Papertrey Ink.

Supplies:

Card Stock: Papertrey Ink (Berry Sorbet, Dark Chocolate); Stampin' Up! (So Saffron)

Stamps: Hero Arts (Big and Small Flowers, Enjoy the Moments); Papertrey Ink (fillable Frames #4)

Ink: Ranger (Coffee); Versa Mark

Ribbon: Michael's

Tools: Spellbinder's Nestabilities (Petite Oval Small; Petite Classic Oval Large)

Whoo Loves You?

As a card maker, I am (I hate to admit) guilty of sending my cards late. It's the old shoemaker's children have no shoes theory in action in my house for most occasions. That's why when I saw Hero Arts' monthly challenge to make a card for Dad or Grad, I decided to join in. I'm proud to say that Sal's Father's day card is signed and sealed and ready to be delivered FIVE weeks ahead of time. Yeah for me! Anyway, here's my card:

I based it on Sketch 166 which I saw on the Card Positioning Systems blog:

Let me tell you a little bit about this card. I got the idea for the owls and the "Who Loves You" sentiment right away. My only problem was that I only own Christmas owl stamps (which are all dressed in ski sweaters or Santa hats) and I didn't want to buy another stamp this week. Then the light bulb went on and I thought that if my owls were hiding in the tree, I could cover up their winter attire. So after stamping and embossing the wood grain for the tree, I got out my hole punch and created some hiding spots for my Christmas owl. (Note: I first cut out three circles from scrap paper and placed them on my stamped image with removable adhesive. I punched right around these scrap circles for perfect placement!) After coloring and dressing my owls (including pearls for the Mom owl), I attached them so that they were peaking out from behind the circles and then used foam dimensionals on the back of the entire piece. Wanting to add more texture, I used my Cuttlebug to emboss the brown card stock behind each owl. Here's a close-up:

When my new phonebook was delivered this week, i thought it was a shame to throw the old one out -- especially since I look up any numbers I need online. So, in the spirit of recycling, I tore out some sheets, scalloped them with my border punch and added glimmer mist. The result, A soft ruffle trim that reminds me of owl feathers. And as luck would have it, using pages from a phonebook is the challenge over at Paper Crafts this week! Talk about a hat trick!

Well now that the card is done, I guess I should start shopping for his gift!

Supplies

Card Stock: Stampin' Up! (Naturals Very Vanilla, River Rock); Papertrey Ink (Dark Chocolate)

Stamps: Hero Arts (Background Flourish; Designer Woodgrain; Curly Alphabet; Owl Christmas; Trees, Birds & Messages)

Ink: VersaMark; Ranger (Coffee, Vintage Photo Distress); Stampin' Up! (Riding Hood Red)

Stamp n Stuff Embossing Powder (Detail Clear)

Tools: Stampin' Up (Circle Punch, Scallop Punch); Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (Distressed Stripes)

Misc.: Stampin' Up! markers; Recollections Pearls; Technique Tuesday ribbon

Badge of Honor

Just had to toot my own horn and point out the new Moxie Fab badge that I'm displaying on right side of my blog. Remember my "It's a Boy" card that I submitted to the Get Sketchy Challenge? Well it was one of the winners! You can see all of the winning entries by clicking on the badge.

I hope you have a Moxie Fab day! I know I will.

Happy Mother's Day!

Just a quick post tonight to wish all of my family and friends a happy Mother's Day! Here's the card I made for mother:

This card came out nothing like I imagined it. First I randomly stamped a small rectangular scrap of paper with my sunflowers. However, since this is a big flower, I didn't get the look I was going for so I pulled out my Nestabilities and cut it into a circle. I placed my stamped piece on the brown scalloped circle (also cut with a Spellbinders Nestabilities) and put that on the white card stock. Still not what I was going for. Then I remembered that I had these circular felt coasters that I had picked up in the dollar bins at Michael's. I put foam dimensionals on the back of the scalloped circle, adhered it to the coaster and put that on the white card. Better but the card was still missing something. That's when I pulled out my Hero Arts background stamp and some clear embossing powder. After embossing the image and distressing the edges, I added a little twine and gem,rounded the corners and finally had a card that was worthy of all the love my mother gives. Here's a closer look at the embossing:

I am submitting this card to Clips-n-Cuts Around the World Challenge #2. (http://www.clips-n-cuts.com/2010/05/around-the-world-challenge-2/). I didn't have a tulip stamp, so sunflowers will have to do!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Supplies:

Card Stock: Papertrey Ink

Stamps: Hero Arts (Real Flowers, Scroll Frames & Messages, Flourish Background)

Ink: Stampin' Up! (Crushed Curry); Tim Holtz Distress (Scattered Straw, Vintage Photo); Versamark

Tools: Spellbinders Nestabilities (Classic Circles, Classic Scallop Circles)

Bling: Recollections Pearl Stickers

Misc.: Clear Embossing Powder; Twine from stash