Super Sketch Sunday #18

This was for Amy's Super Sketch Sunday challenge from last Sunday. I know, I'm very late! :) I just haven't been able to keep up with the challenges lately. At least I get them done eventually, right? I am really loving my Zoofari set. It is just adorable. The sentiment is by Stampendous. I thought it went well with this image. This ended up being a quick and easy card. I love when that happens!

Yesterday, I finally got my hands on the new Stampin' Up catalog. My copy still hasn't come, but my upline (thank you SO MUCH, Kathy!) sent me a copy. I was able to look through it a couple of times last night. There are some really great sets in there. Now I REALLY need to clear out some of my retiring sets in order to get new ones! :) Thanks for stopping by and Happy Saturday! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Zoofari, sentiment by Stampendous; Paper- DCWVorange, yellow, black, Whisper White; Ink- Palette in Noir; Accessories- Prismacolor pencils, gamsol, stump, Black marker, small oval punch, Making Memories brads, Cuttlebug Bubbles embossing folder, paper piercer;

Really Quick Post

This was for today's Limited Supply Challenge on SCS. You were supposed to make a Get Well card without any flowers. The second card I have posted was the first one I made. After I finished it, I realized it had a flower on it! So, I had to quickly make this one since I'm running out the door! I haven't used my bees in a while and Julee inspired me to pull them out! Hope you like them! Have a wonderful day and start to your weekend! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Stampendous Bees, Karen Foster Snap Stamps Tiny Casual; Paper- Magnolia, DCWV, Whisper White, Ink- Basic Black; Accessories- grosgrain ribbon, paper piercer, various Stampin' Write markers.

Scallops

This was for today's Ways To Use It Challenge on SCS, Scallops. This was pretty easy for me because I LOVE scallops. . .the scallop punches, scissors and the scallops you can make with the slit punch. For this card, I used the Giga Scallop Oval punch and my slit punch to make the scallops along the bottom of the card. I'm not real crazy about the colors on this card, but I pulled from my scrap bin and tried not to cut any new paper. I haven't used my Cuttlebug embossing folders in a while either, so I pulled out the Bubbles folder. I thought it went well with the dots on the flower. I watercolored the main image with an Aquapainter, but I wish I would have used my Prismacolor pencils and gamsol. I couldn't keep the colors from bleeding everywhere, and they're not as vibrant as I would like them to be. Smaller images are harder for me to watercolor. I don't know about you! Thanks for stopping by! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Ladybug Picnic, Three For You punch box; Paper- DCWV coral, lime and grey, Whisper White; Ink- Cameo Coral, Gable Green, Green Galore, Bordering Blue, Ruby Red, Yo Yo Yellow, Going Grey, Basic Black; Accessories- white gel pen, Sakura Stardust gel pen, Aquapainter, Giga Scallop Oval punch, Mega Oval punch, paper piercer, Three For You punch, Making Memories brads, ribbon from Doodliedoo, slit punch, Going Grey marker.

A BRAK!

Look at this GORGEOUS card I received today! I couldn't believe it! This is from Julee at Poetic Artistry. I can't believe she took the time to send me a card! Have you seen how busy she's been with her Beach Blogger Bingo? Oh my goodness. I haven't had a chance to play along yet, but it's a real hit and keeps her hopping with card sketches and winners! Julee, this card is just wonderful! The bee is SO stinkin' cute! Have I mentioned how much I just LOVE these bees? The colors on this card and patterned paper is just stunning. You can't really see the shimmery white cardstock in the picture, but it's just beautiful in real life. Thanks, Julee! You absolutely made my day!

Wild About Zoofari

I finally cut out my Zoofari stamps and thought I'd use them today for the Sketch Challenge on SCS. This sketch was kind of tough for me. I don't know why. I kept wanting to add things. I finally just stuck with the "fringy" ribbon to somewhat mimic the zebra's mane. I like the colors of this card, but I'm not real crazy about the card itself. I guess you'll have that, though! The background was stamped using my Papertrey Ink Faux Ribbon set. I thought it worked well with the funky zebra. Thanks for stopping by today! I always really appreciate your comments! Have a great day! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Zoofari, Wild About You; Paper- DCWV rust, dark brown, patterned, cream; Ink- Old Olive, Really Rust, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black; Accessories- ribbon from Oriental Trading, Making Memories brads, small oval punch.

Busy Day

I used my Beautiful Beach stamp set again. I just LOVE it! I'm so glad I bought it before it retires. I had this card all made this morning, but didn't have time to take a picture and upload here. We had a doctor's appointment for Arwen and some shopping to do. Well, while we were out shopping, my car died. Luckily, it happened in the Sam's Club parking lot after shopping and they were able to test to see if it was the battery. It WAS the battery, so they put a new one in and we were on our way. Unfortunately, we didn't get home until this evening after all of that and I'm just now posting! Since my brayer was already out from the card I made the other day, I decided to use it again for an "underwater" look card. I really like the way this card turned out. My husband liked it better without the ribbon, but it just needed SOMETHING over there. . .it was driving me crazy! :) I'm sure you all know what I'm talking about! All of the shells are stamped on Shimmery White cardstock, cut out and mounted with dimensionals. It's very 3-D looking in real life! Thanks for visiting! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Beautiful Beach; Ink- Kaleidacolor in Caribbean Sea, Not Quite Navy, Green Galore, River Rock, Tempting Turquoise, Taken With Teal, StazOn in Jet Black; Paper- DCWV tan, glossy white cardstock; Accessories- brayer, ribbon from Joann's.

Reverse Masking

I was browsing through the July Stampin' Success magazine and in it was an article that featured Reverse Masking. I haven't done Reverse Masking in a very long time, so I thought I'd make something with my Text Boxed set from Papertrey Ink. If you don't know what Reverse Masking is, there is a wonderful tutorial here on SCS by the amazing Beate! In short, for this card, the flowers and brayered color was put "inside" the boxes by stamping the box on a scrap piece of paper and cutting out the inside. Then, lay your "mask" over top of the boxes you stamped on the actual project. The mask keeps everything inside the box. I used a Kaleidacolor ink pad in Caribbean Sea and a brayer for the color. The paper for the focal images is glossy cardstock. If you haven't given Reverse Masking a try, give it a go! You'll really like the finished project! Thanks for stopping by and have a great day! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Text Boxed, Papertrey Ink; Ink- Kaleidacolor ink pad in Caribbean Sea, StazOn in Jet Black; Paper- DCWV lime and turquoise, glossy white cardstock; Accessories- ribbon from Michael's, small oval punch, paper piercer, brayer, Stardust Stickles.

Another Birthday

We have A LOT of June and July birthdays in my family. Today is my husband's birthday! Yesterday, my baby sister had her first baby! You all know Arwen just had a birthday, and mine is coming on July 5th! The list goes on and on! :)

I was trying to think of a card to make for my husband and I came across another sketch challenge on Jen's blog, I{heart}2stamp.com. I loved the sketch and used that as a starting point for my husband's card. I thought he would enjoy this seashell card. It's a little more interesting than a normal guy card that I would make with sentiments or shapes and backgrounds. The sentiment I thought fit well rather than the normal "Happy Birthday" sentiment. We celebrated my husband's birthday yesterday at his mom's. His mom made a DELICIOUS dinner! We had such a nice time. The girls LOVE going to "Mema and Alan's". Savannah gets to dress up in costumes and play in the sandbox, while Arwen crawls around playing with blocks and Tickle Me, Elmo. Happy Birthday, Dear! We hope you have a WONDERFUL day! We love you! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Beautiful Beach; Ink- Cameo Coral, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, Bordering Blue, VersaMagic Sahara Sand; Paper- DCWV brown, coral, tan, SU Shimmery White CS; Accessories- horizontal slot punch, brown grosgrain ribbon, paper piercer, Chocolate Chip marker, Aquapainter.

The Birthday Girl

Many of you have asked about Arwen's birthday and her ladybug cupcakes. I don't claim to be a pastry chef or cake decorator, so the ladybug cupcakes were very basic. Just a cupcake iced to look like a ladybug. They may not look that great, but they were delicious! Pink and purple were the choice because I made a normal (red and black) ladybug cake and cupcakes for Savannah when she turned 1, and the black icing stained everything! It came out, but it just made quite a mess, so I learned my lesson! :) Overall the birthday was a success! I just wish Arwen were a little less irritable and able to smile more for pictures. Oh well, at least she's feeling much better now and smiles all the time!

Beate Sketch #7

I have been so behind on challenges lately. This is Beate's most recent Weekend Sketch Challenge. I still haven't been able to get to her previous challenge. . .the circle card. I just loved the simplicity of this layout. It was nice and easy and didn't tax my brain too much! LOL The hardest part, though, is coming up with what stamps to use. For me, I usually go with whatever might be laying on the table in front of me, unless a type of set if specified. Lately, I've been trying to use new stuff or stuff I haven't used in a while. This Changito stamp from Stampendous is new. Isn't he the cutest? I couldn't really find a great sentiment to go with it, so it just ending up being a thanks card. Does anyone know of a sentiment that goes with this stamp? All I could find from Stampendous was "Hang in There" and "It's a Jungle Out There". The sentiment I did use was from my "You're Bugging Me" stamp set from MissyB Designs. I thought the script worked well with the look of Changito! Thanks for visiting today! Hope your weekend is wonderful! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps-Changito, Stampendous; You're Bugging Me, MissyB Designs; circles from Butterfly Kisses, Papertrey Ink; Ink- Chocolate Chip, Basic Black, Bordering Blue, VersaMagic in Sea Breeze and Aloe Vera; Paper- Wild Asparagus , Whisper White; Accessories- scallop circle punch, ribbon from Oriental Trading, Aquapainter, blender pen.

Neglected Nuggets of Gold

Today's Limited Supplies Challenge on SCS is Neglected Nuggets of Gold. It was to use stamps that haven't been used a long time. I have A LOT of those, unfortunately! Ladybug Picnic, however, is one that I absolutely LOVED at one time and couldn't put it down. Then, newer stuff came out and I got different ladybug stamps. . .and well, you know how that happens. Anyway, I dug this one out. I'm glad I did because I have a great picture of Arwen eating watermelon that I wanted to scrap using this set. Maybe now that it's out of the archives, I can do that! The layout for this card came from this weeks Sketch Challenge on SCS. I'm so behind on my challenges! Oh well, what can you do?

By the way, I wanted to thank you all so much for the Happy Birthday and Get Well wishes for Arwen. She is feeling MUCH better. She seems to be back to her normal self, and the fever seems to be under control. I am VERY relieved! I will have to post a couple pics of her birthday! She wasn't really interested so much in the ladybug cupcakes. She did stick her hand in the icing and wipe it all over her sister's face, so that was a priceless video that we captured! :) Have a great day and thanks for visiting! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Ladybug Picnic; Paper- Wild Asparagus; Ink- Basic Black, Rose Red, Going Grey, Gable Green, Green Galore; Accessories- Aquapainter, large oval punch, Giga Scallop Circle punch, Mega circle punch, paper piercer, ribbon from Doodliedoo.

More Text Boxed

This was another try with the Text Boxed set from Papertrey Ink. I stamped the flower box on vellum and then colored on the back of the vellum with Stampin' Write markers in Summer Sun, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive and Pumpkin Pie. Then I flipped the vellum around to stamp "smile" in Basic Black and add some Stardust Gel pen to the stem and leaves. I like how it turned out, very simple. The last minute additions were the ribbon and the piercings. Thanks for visiting! I'm hoping to get to some challenges today. We'll see! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Text Boxed, Papertrey Ink; Paper- DCWV green, cream, vellum; Ink- Basic Black, River Rock; Accessories- Chocolate Chip, Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive markers, Sakura Stardust gel pen, grosgrain ribbon, paper piercer, hole punch.

Happy Birthday, Arwen!

Today's the big day! My little baby is 1 year old today! I cannot believe a year has flown by already! Unfortunately, Arwen hasn't been feeling well the past few days. She's had a fever that is being stubborn and the doctor found no ear infection or anything in her throat. So, we're trying to find out what's going on with her which makes for a really concerned mommy. I'm hoping this won't consume her special day! We have plans to make ladybug cupcakes and maybe get some icecream! Happy Birthday, Sweet Pea! Mommy, Daddy and Big Sister just adore you!

Text Boxed Dream

I got to play a little more with my Text Boxed set from Papertrey Ink. It really is growing on me. I don't usually do well with the block/negative images. I don't always know what to do with them. This card ended up being very simple, but simple is good when you're just playing around! :) It would make a great Fourth of July card with a different sentiment! The colors are Purely Pomegranate and Blue Bayou and I think they make GREAT patriotic colors, don't you? Hope you have a great day today! Thanks for visiting! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Text Boxed, Papertrey Ink; Paper- Papertrey Ink white cardstock; Ink- Purely Pomegranate, Blue Bayou, Basic Black; Accessories- ribbon from Doodliedoo.

Super Sketch Sunday #17

Yay! Amy is back with her Super Sketch Sundays! I don't think she realizes how much I've missed her challenges! Glad to have you back, Amy!

I just got my new Papertrey Ink set, Text Boxed. I didn't think I was going to order this set, but it's growing on me. I thought it fit in perfectly with this challenge. Today, my good friend (and upline) Kathy came to hang out, visit our local stamp store and stamp! We haven't been able to get together like this for a while, so we are having fun! We both decided to do Amy's sketch challenge. I bought a couple of new scallop punches at the stamp store today, which was also perfect for this challenge. Kathy used the You Make Me Smile set for hers along with the new In Colors Purely Pomegranate and Wild Wasabi. Don't you just LOVE those colors together? They look great with that stamp set too! We both had a little trouble coming up with what to use for the wavy lines across the top and bottom in the sketch. I decided to go with the zig-zag faux stitching, and Kathy punched out a rectangle with one of her Marvy Uchida scallop punches and traced the scallops across the card. Hope you like them! We have to get back to stamping! :) Thanks for stopping by! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Papertrey Ink Text Boxed, SU You Make Me Smile; Paper- Certainly Celery, DCWV Yellow, Papertrey Ink White, Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi, Whisper White; Ink- Certainly Celery, Summer Sun, Basic Black, Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi; Accessories- Marvy Uchida scallop circle punches, scallop rectangle punch, circle punch, white gel pen, paper piercer, grosgrain ribbon.

Quick and Simple Card Set

Today's Try a New Technique Challenge on SCS was to create Speedy Cards for Good Causes. Basically it's to make cards that are quick and easy to produce in bulk, or by themselves in about 5 or 10 minutes. The challenge specifically looked at the Need a Lift Forum on SCS and encouraged people to make quick, easy cards with the MOST IMPORTANT thing being to GET THEM IN THE MAIL. I can totally appreciate that. I always think "oh I should send a card to so and so", then the days keep passing by because I haven't created "my masterpiece" and the card never gets sent. The challenge encourages you to just send a card. . .it's the thought that counts, not how many embellishments or techniques you used. So, I made this VERY quick card set with my MissyB Designs You're Bugging Me stamp set. I just LOVE all of the images and they are very simple and quick to color. The most involved part of it was adding the shading in the background. Stardust Stickles adds the perfect sparkle to the wings. I think I made this whole card set in about 10 minutes. I think I'll make up a few of these for gifts! I'm so glad I took a look at the challenge today! :) SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Missy B Designs, You're Bugging Me; Ink- Palette in Noir, Bordering Blue, Ruby Red, Cameo Coral, Lovely Lilac, Summer Sun; Paper- Watercolor paper; Accessories- Aquapainter, Stardust Stickles, Doodliedoo polka dot organdy ribbon.

You're a Bee-auty!

I just LOVE these Stampendous Bees, don't you? I was visiting Jen's blog, I{heart}2stamp.com, and she had the cutest sketch/color challenge posted so I thought I'd participate. The colors were Pretty in Pink, Cameo Coral and Certainly Celery so I thought it would be a nice change for the bees that one would normally see in black and yellow. I tried to add some sparkle to the background shadow with my Sakura Stardust gel pen, but it shows up differently in the picture. . .kind of like scribbles. They are nice and sparkly in real life, honest! :)

We are going to visit my dad today for Father's Day. It's a beautiful day and we can't wait to spend it with him and my mom. He does so much for us without even knowing it, and the girls just adore their PapPap. Happy Father's Day to all you fathers! Hope today's a special day for you! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Stampendous, Karen Foster Snap Stamps Tiny Casual; Paper- Whisper White, Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, DCWV Coral; Ink- Cameo Coral, Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, Basic Black; Accessories- Aquapainter, circle punches, gel pens, staples, paper piercer, Bobbin ribbon, white gel pen.

Happy Birthday!

Today we are going to a 1 year old birthday party. I had this card left over from the Sketch Challenge the other day. Since I had to cut the paper for the background, I had these pieces left that worked for another card. The sentiment is by A Muse and I thought it would work perfectly with the Little Lady stamp set from Papertrey Ink. I'm sure the 1 year old won't really care about the card, but I think her mother will really like it. :) This one year old is Arwen's BFF (Best Friend Forever). They were born exactly one week apart, so my friend Melanie and I have always called them BFFs. I can't believe my baby will be 1 on Wednesday! I swear it was just yesterday that I had her. Time sure does fly, and I know I'll be thinking this same thing when the new baby comes in November. Hope you have a great day. Thanks for visiting! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Little Lady stamp set, Papertrey Ink, A Muse sentiment; Paper- Palette O'Prints, Whisper White, Basic Black; Ink- Rose Red, So Saffron, Basic Black; Accessories- Stardust Stickles, hole punch, May Arts ribbon.

A Package

I got home late last night to find this surprise package in my mailbox! It is from Julie Masse at Stampin With Julie. Can you believe this CUTE, CUTE card? I just LOVE it! As if that wasn't enough, she sent a couple of spools of cute ribbon too! I just thought this was so sweet of her! Julie, you absolutely made my day! It's always great to receive a handmade card in the mail from someone. . .but when they send you a card that features something you really like (ladybugs), it just makes it that much more special. Knowing that someone not only thought to send you a card, but thought about what might make it even more special to you. Ladybugs have become my "signature" throughout my life and it just warms my heart when some of you comment that you saw a ladybug that reminded you of me, or send me a ladybug card. You make me feel so special! And I only just "met" you! :) Thank you for that! You're the best! :)

Patriotic Style

This was for today's Limited Supplies Challenge on SCS, Patriotic Style. You had a choice to either make a patriotic card using stamps that weren't usually used for patriotic themes, or make a non-patriotic card using patriotic colors. I chose to create a non-patriotic card using patriotic colors. I used my new Purely Pomegranate and Blue Bayou. The ribbon isn't an exact match, but I thought it was close enough. I had to pull out the Stamp-a-ma-Jig for this one in order to line up the borders around the flowers. I don't use that as much as I should. Things look so much nicer when they're not crooked! :) Lastly, the "bling" is from Walmart. At first I added some Stardust Stickles to the centers of the flowers, but it didn't show up enough. Hope you're having a great start to your weekend! SUPPLIES USED: Stamps- Three For You punch box; Paper- Whisper White, Basic Black, Purely Pomegranate, Blue Bayou; Ink- Purely Pomegranate, Blue Bayou, Basic Black; Accessories- Bling from Walmart, Stamp-a-ma-Jig, Three For You flower punch, red and blue grosgrain ribbon.

Accordian Bound Book Tutorial

After our vacation, my plan was to make my brother-in-law a little scrapbook of the time we spent with him as a sort of thank you. I haven't decided if this is going to be the book, but at least it's an option. These accordian bound books are the perfect size for if a card just isn't enough, and a whole scrapbook is too much. You can add additional pages by adding to the binding too! So, I thought I'd share with you how to make one of these fun, relatively quick books.

SUPPLIES NEEDED:

-6 pieces of patterned paper or cardstock measuring 8.5"X5.5". (I use cardstock for the binding)

-paper trimmer

-adhesive

1. Take binding piece of cardstock and fold in half.

2. Fold down each end of the binding piece to meet the crease. (the third picture shows a side view of what your piece of paper should look like when finished)

3. Now fold down the new ends you've made to meet the new creases you made with the previous step. (the second picture is a side view. You should have a big mountain in the middle, and two small mountains on the ends.)

4. Flip over your binding piece and open it up. It should kind of look like a table, with two legs from the side.

5. Now fold the "leg" ends into the crease. (the third picture is a side view of what it should look like when finished folding)

6. Open up binding and reverse the center fold so that it is a "mountain" fold and not a "valley" fold. (in order to add more pages to your book, you can make two of these bindings and connect them together before adding the pages)

7. Now you are ready to attach your pages. First, fold all of your pages in half to make 4.25"X5.5" pages. 8. Open up your folded pieces of paper and use a 1/2" scrap piece of paper to trace a 1/2" mark on the inside of edges of each page. This serves as a guide for attaching your pages to the binding.

9. Now start with the back of the binding, and the paper you want to be your back cover of your book. Add adhesive where you made the marks. Place the one side of the paper on the back side of binding, then fold the paper to attach to the front side of that edge of the binding. (the paper should sandwich the binding) Continue adding all of your pages in the same way.

10. In order to tighten up the binding, I had adhesive in between the mountain folds. The second photo is a view of the binding once the book is assembled.

11. Embellish your cover as you like and add pictures and embellishments to the pages, and you've got a completed book!