1st Birthday Card

I made this card about a month ago, but forgot to post it - mostly because I forgot to send it and didn't want to spoil the surprise as my SIL reads my blog. My nephew turned one last month and this is the card that I made for him - I finally remembered to get it in the mail last week, and they received it, so it's safe to post ;-)

I used MCC #33 but changed Sorbet to Autumn Terracotta to make it more boyish. I used a PageMaps Card Map for the layout of this card and the fun CTMH Nursery Bash stamp set - it's one that I don't use nearly enough, but it's darling!

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Thanks for looking!

Butterfly Wings - Sneak Peek!

I got the new Stamp of the Month sets for the upcoming Spring Catalog (which is fabulous, by the way!) - this one is for March, it's called Butterfly Wings and it's been SO much fun to play with! I made these cards for my niece and SIL who share the same birthday, which was on Monday. For my SIL I included a class picture of her in 5th grade - the school was giving away any extra pics they had so I picked this one up - I hope she enjoys the flashback ;-) My niece just turned 10 and we gave her a fun Snowflakes card kit - she should have fun creating! Oh, and I also did these cards for some of Marjorie's Color Challenges - the first one (which is my favorite) is for MCC #41 and the second is for MCC #37

EDIT: This first card is also for this month's Original's Challenge.

Thanks for looking!

Thanksgiving Cards

Here are some cards I made for Thanksgiving using just two stamp sets - Fall, and Give Thanks. I hope you all have a great Turkey Day!

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For the first four cards, I used MCC #40 . The first one shown here is the last one I did and I think it's my favorite - it's super simple but I really like how it turned out.

I added Chocolate to this one...

This was the first one I did and I usually don't do 5x7 cards so I tried reducing it to a standard sized card but didn't like it, so I ended up doing the larger size anyway. Then the rest were all 5x7 after that - I really like that size - I just don't like using a whole 12x12 piece of CS to cut just one card base.

Two Challenges in One!

Today after church I had a chance to play - David had some Stake meetings, Brailee was napping, and Kaylee and Brianna were playing so nicely together, so I decided to tackle some challenges. I got these fun new Felt Flurries yesterday from SU! and as soon as I saw them, I knew they would match CTMH's new Tulip color perfectly. Since Marjorie's latest Color Challenge #39 uses Tulip, I decided to give it a try - plus she is also having a Blog Candy Challenge, which is to make a winter themed card, using the sketch she provided, so this card covers both challenges!

I really struggled with this color combo at first...and then I realized that I was trying to use Breeze instead of Ocean ;-P and it just didn't go with Heavenly Blue. Once I got the correct color in there, it went together just fine! I had fun paper piecing these darling snowmen from the Frosty Friends stamp set - I just LOVE snowmen! I added a bit of crimped Topiary for the tree, and a touch of Autumn Terracotta and Sunflower marker for the carrot noses and stars. I really think this is an interesting but darling color combo and I had a lot of fun with it. I also did lots of edge distressing and added some Liquid Applique and Fun Flock on the hat and boots.

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Thanks for looking!

MCC #38

I have had these pictures just sitting on my desk for the last 2 months with this dot paper from Silhouette and some Juniper and Ponderosa Pine CS (since it matches her dance costume so perfectly), but I just wasn't getting the motivation to scrap them - that is, until Marjorie's Color Challenge #38 came along! So I just added Bamboo from Marjorie's color challenge to my original idea, used Black instead of Desert Sand, got to play with my fun new Dazzling Die-Cuts for the first time and hooray, I have another page done! I stamped the Die-Cuts with one of my favorite background stamp sets, Adorable Backgrounds, using Juniper ink, and heat embossed (using Clear EP on Juniper CS) and cut out the title using Friendship Alphabet. I'm not so sure about the 'a' at the end of her name - it seems to get lost to me - what do you think? I'm wishing I had matted the letters on Black CS, but I really didn't want to cut any more ;-) Any suggestions? Also, a very subtle thing I did - I traced each Die-Cut piece using a black marker to give it a very sharp black edge - it's hard to tell in the pic, but it made them pop and I'm glad I decided to do that rather than sponge the edges in black, I really like the clean look. After all that, I ended up with a really quick layout (besides the title cutting which took about 15 minutes) that I'm really pleased with! I forgot to mention, I was inspired by a PageMaps sketch for this one - it's an April 2008 MiniMaps.

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Thanks for looking!

MCC #35

Now that I know Lynn received this card, I can post it without spoiling anything ;-) This was a card I created for MCC #35 and sent to Lynn for her birthday last week. I used the colors that Marjorie chose, but added Chocolate. I created the cupcake by running the wrapper piece (that was cut from some paper from Life Delights) through my paper crimper. Then I used the retired I Scream to stamp on the back of the Smokey Plum CS to create the bottom of the cupcake - this way I was able to make the cupcake the size I wanted. Then I dry embossed the outline of the cupcake top and sanded and cut out. I used Liquid Glass over the entire top to make the sprinkles stick. The sprinkles were punched out of Creme Brulee CS. I think it turned out fun and so different from something I would usually do - I hope it turned out okay, especially since it went to a fabulous stamper/card maker!

Turn that frown upside-down!

These pictures of Brianna just crack me up and I couldn't wait to scrap them. They were taken on our last camping trip this year, in Star Valley. These pics also worked great with one of Marjorie's old color challenges, so I used MCC #30.

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Brianna was so mad, and I don't remember why, but as soon as I started taking pics of that grumpy face, she turned it around really quick and got right in the camera with a big ol' goofy face. The big pic on the right page is blurry and her face is so nice and dirty in these pics, but they totally show off her fun personality.

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I used a PageMaps sketch from September 2007 and made a circle with Red Sparkles and a hand drawn arrow. I also used paper from the Game On pack, along with some Black Textured CS (I used the back for the gray arrow). I was going to emboss the words 'turn that' but I couldn't find my black embossing powder - I still plan on making those words darker, though, they seem really faded to me. Oh, and I used my Threading Water Fiskars punch for the scalloped edge, and Spot On Background stamp set on the Dimensional Elements.

Thanks for looking!

Birthday Cards & Gifts

Here are some birthday cards and gifts that I have made recently and haven't posted yet...
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For my SIL Liz - she likes orange - or at least I hope she still does ;-P Happy Birthday yesterday, Liz!

For my SIL Hannah - I really had fun with this card and I took a lot of pics of this one so you get how it looks. I took inspiration from Originals: Window Cutout, but instead of a 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 card, I turned it into a standard sized card (4 1/4 x 5 1/2). I embossed the star from Shining Star with Cranberry EP onto black CS and cut it out - then I mounted it on a piece of white CS and cut out again. then I cut out the center of the front of the card leaving a 3/4 inch border and attached the star. I also used the dot paper from Silhouette (I LOVE that pattern!), some Cranberry Ribbon, Black Waxy Flax, and some Black Bitty Brads.

I played a little more with it after my original pic, adding dashed lines around the star - did I add too much? Which do you like better, the first or second version?

For my nephew Damon who turned 6 last month - just a simple card using the most boyish stamps I own - when you have 3 girls there's just not too much boy stuff around ;-P Brianna picked the color since he is her bud. I stamped the Tool Time stamp sets using White Daisy pigment ink - and used Moonstruck B&T papers, Say It In Style stamp set for the sentiment, and some fun blue staples.

for my nephew Isaac who just turned 8 and was baptized this weekend! I used MCC #34 and Solos (G, R, 8, and the new Punctuation set). I was inspired by a sign at a local fast food place, advertising 'Join a GR8 team!' So I thought it would be perfect for an 8th birthday!

I also made him this journal/notebook - inside the front cover is a picture of Christ getting baptized. This was inspired by Originals: Tie Back Tag but created an 8 1/2 x 11 cover with it.

for my MIL - Happy Birthday today! She loves pink, can you tell? I took inspiration from Originals: Ribbon Envelope but turned it into a 6x6 card. I used Adorning Corners and For Every Occassion - I used some mini clear window circle stickers on the dark side of Blush textured CS to create the embellishment in the corner. I used the light side of the Blush textured CS for the front of the card, along with paper from the Paper Garden pack.

Here is another baby gift - that is LONG overdue! This is a fun puzzle (?) frame that I found - I don't know how else to describe it - each of the squares slides around like those puzzle games. I started this gift right after she was born, then the pics she e-mailed me, I couldn't get to print, so after I finally remembered to tell the mom I needed another picture, I was able to finish it up a few weeks ago when I finally got that picture. I just hadn't given it to the mom and baby yet (sadly she is almost 6 months old now) - I scheduled it to post here so I would finally remember. What a horrible friend I am ;-P

Brilliant Backgrounds

So since I'm not buying any new stamp sets right now, I decided to break out some of my other ones that haven't seen any ink, yet. Brilliant Backgrounds is one of them. I always love the background stamps, but this one just hadn't been put to use, yet.

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Here I used one of the background stamps to stamp kiss the letters in the title, and then I used it as fun corners behind some of the pictures. This is also my try at MCC #28 - I just changed the Bamboo to Outdoor Denim. On this 2-page layout I used Desert Sand textured CS, Crystal Blue textured CS, Buttercup CS, Outdoor Denim CS, Rustic Alphabet, Spot On Background stamp set, Brilliant Background stamp set, clear buttons, and sassy strands, and a PageMaps layout.

Here I used another background stamp from that set to stamp my dimensional element letters, and the bookplate. When I saw the layout on page 25 of the Summer Idea Book, it inspired me, as it added pink to this Game On paper pack, plus the title was Pink Ladies, which is exactly what Kaylee's softball team was named this year! On this page I used Game On paper pack, Calendar Stamp set, Brilliant Background stamp set, Hollyhock CS, Hollyhock ricrac ribbon, Blush dot ribbon, Monogram letters for the title (except I didn't have the letter 'I' so I had to cut my own out of scrap chipboard), black bigger and bitty brads, black photo hangers with hollyhock brads, and black spiral clip.

And this page doesn't use any stamping, but it's just another quick one that I got done yesterday. This baby has it's first scrapbook page done and it's not even born yet - hooray! I have never got around to scrapping ultrasound pics yet, but this page really got me in the mood to do the rest of the kid's 'first' pictures. For this page I used Heaven Sent Level 1 page and stickease, so it was really quick and easy.

Family

I ran across these old pictures the other day and knew they would be perfect with one of Marjorie's Color Challenges, and it's finally one of the more current ones, so I got to play a little today. This layout is for MCC #29 - my SIL, Sandy came over today with her box of new stuff from the new CTMH catty. I don't have a scrapping budget as of lately so I don't get any new stuff for a while, so it was fun to see the awesome new products and play with some of it, too!

I'm pretty sure I got the date pretty close - all I know is that these pics were taken at least after August 1990 and before March 1991 and for some reason, I just have it stuck in my head that it was around Christmas. I'm close, anyway! I forgot to add my pull-out tag with names, I will have to include that soon! If anyone can see the pic decently, can anyone guess which is me?

Products Used - all CTMH unless stated otherwise: NEW Chocolate Alphabet Large, Chocolate Textured CS, Honey, Barn Red, and Olive CS, The Works Alphabet, Christmas Greetings stamp set, sanding block, edge distresser, Scallop Circle template (from OT)

Sisters

Here is a quick page that I did today for the latest PageMaps Blog Challenge and MCC #27 - I thought the bright colors were perfect for these B&W pics that I found. The Blog Challenge was named a Vacation Challenge, so I don't know if mine counts since it's not about vacation, but I found these pictures before I found any compatible vacation pics, and I had to scrap them right away! Plus, all my vacation pics need at least a 2-page layout ;-)

I recently saw the lacing on a layout on Melissa's blog and had to try it right away - it added a fun touch, love those sassy strands!

Oh, and this includes another sneak peak at an upcoming Stamp of the Month, the journaling piece on the right came from Annotations, which is October's SOTM. I didn't think the detail stood out enough with the light Kiwi ink, so I used my piercing tool to pierce the design - I LOVE the results!

Products Used - all CTMH (except the Fiskars Threading Water Punch - LOVE that thing!): Watermelon Textured CS, Sanding Block, Kiwi and Sunny Yellow CS, Hodge Podge Alphabet, Annotations, Checklist, Bubblegum Sassy Strands, Piercing Tool,

I love YOU the most!

My mom sent the girls these sweet letters and pictures shortly after her most recent trip here - they were so precious that I didn't want them lost or forgotten, so I scrapped them! I used MCC #20 for these pages - for those who aren't familiar with Stacy's abbreviation, that means Marjorie's Color Challenge. I used to do at least one of her challenges per month, but it's been a while lately, and this is even an old one, so it shows how far behind I am! You can check out all of her color challenges HERE.

Here is the layout with a sneak peak of CTMH's upcoming December Stamp of the Month, Heart Throb! I usually don't like Valentine stamp sets, but I just LOVE this one! I am working on another layout today using this stamp set again, hopefully I'll get it posted tomorrow.

Products Used - all CTMH: Imagine Layout Sweet Symphony (page 24), Watermelon, Hydrangea, and Moonstruck B&T papers (all retired), Heavenly Blue CS, Extreme Caps, Rustic Alphabet (stamp kissed with Heart Throb), Because I Love You stamp set, Dimensional Elements Flower Garden, Heavenly Blue Embossing Powder, White Daisy Embossing Powder, Moonstruck and Hydrangea Bigger Brads, White Daisy RicRac Ribbon

Marjorie's Color Challenge #21

Here is the layout that I did for Marjorie's Color Challenge #21 - school was her inspiration for these primary colors and I just knew it would be perfect with this picture that Kaylee brought home on the last day of school - her class had T-shirts that they each signed. For privacy issues, I've blurred out the other kids faces - I only used Microsoft Paint to do it, if anyone knows a better looking way to do it, I would love to know!

I used a fun PageMaps layout from January 2007 for this one - I love the fun angle. Products Used: Cranberry CS, stamped with Spot On Background stamp set, Topiary CS crimped with paper crimper, Sunflower CS on Stampin Up! Chipboard star - stamped with Spot On Background stamp set, Essential Alphabet stamp set (for the letter K), Classic Caps stamp set (to spell out the rest of Kindergarten), Star Struck stamp set, Typewriter Keys stamp set (for the date), Cranberry Ribbon Rounds (retired), Sans alphabet, White RicRac ribbon, and coordinating Bigger Brads.

Thanks for looking!

Inspiration Challenge - Week #11

So I couldn't decide on an inspiration challenge for this week, until I received this catalog in the mail yesterday - it was just so fun and simple, and inspired me immediately.

I hope you'll joing me in this week's challenge - use it to inspire you to create anything! You can use the colors, theme, layout, whatever you pull from the picture to inspire you! Please leave me a link to your creations so I can post them in a link here so we can all see how you were inspired.

I've loved this PageMaps sketch since it came out earlier this month and I was just waiting for the right picture to use with it. Well, the sun from the catalog inspired me and reminded me of this sketch and I instantly thought of the song, "You are my Sunshine" - so I found this leftover picture that I really wanted to scrap but didn't have room for on the original layout, so here is what I did with it. I used Marjorie's Color Challenge #18 but I added Sunny Yellow and Crystal Blue to go with Brianna's swimsuit and the sun idea. I have since added liquid glass and prisma glitter on her name and the word 'sunshine' to make them stand out more. I used WordArt to print the song lyrics to go with the circle - I think it turned out fun!

Products Used - all CTMH: Pink Carnation B&T paper (retired); Pink Carnation, Crystal Blue, Baby Pink, and Sunny Yellow Sassy Strands; Free Spirit stamp set (I heat embossed the swirls for the sun rays), Sunny Yellow Embossing Powder, Delightful Alphabet; Baby Pink, Pink Carnation, Key Lime, Sunny Yellow, and Crystal Blue CS

Thanks for looking!

More Hot Springs Pages - last ones, I promise!

I finally finished scrapping the last of my Hot Springs photos - I used more photo storage pages, which is an awesome way to get lots of pics done!

I used Marjorie's Color Challenge #17 again, and this time I used the color combo as is - didn't change a thing - you're shocked, aren't you ;-) It's not your typical color combo for snow pages, but all the colors in the challenge are in the pics, so it worked (for me, anyway).



You can't tell in the pics, but there are lots of snowflakes stamped along the edges and corners of the two pages - I really struggled with the empty space and had to fill it with something, even though you can hardly tell it's there!

I cut up another photo storage page and added it here so it opens up to reveal more pictures...

Here is the photo storage page that goes between the layout...

Products Used - All CTMH: Bubblegum, Sunflower, and Orange CS, Holiday Red Seasonal B&T paper (I used the textured back), Boutique Alphabet, Flurries stamp set (retired), January Word Puzzle, HodgePodge Alphabet, a Dimensional Element photo clip, Font CD for the journaling, and Photo Storage Pages

I love you mom! Happy Mother's Day!

Here is a page I just did in honor of my mother - who I love very much ;-) There is a church that I drive by every day and each week they display a new thought or quote - the one I used on this page has been their thought for this week and I remembered these pictures I had of me and my mom that were taken 10 years ago, so I was inspired to put them together.

I also used Marjorie's Color Challenge #15, but left out the Crystal Blue. I used a PageMaps layout, Barn Red CS, Bamboo CS(which I scored and sanded to create the stripes), White Daisy CS, Connection Club Rub-Ons, the font CD for the quote, Calendar stamp set, and an Autumn Leaves brand Clear Stamps Alpha set (the name escapes me right now).

Thanks for looking and I hope you all have a Happy Mother's Day!