The Loveliest of Sounds

It was amazing...the little guy's mouth opened every time in surprise. It only took the mama hiding behind her hands then revealing her face and saying "Here I Am" to make the most loveliest of sounds fill the room. Giggles, chuckles, laughs...they kept coming over and over.

Here I am!... Whew, it feels as though it has been ages since my last post. I stole some time away from here to spend with my parents while they were visiting from out of state. Thanks for your patience.

Today's card features Kraft-for this week's CAS-Tastic Challenge! I wanted to showcase the versatility of kraft paper-it can be so classy and sophisticated, manly, yet feminine, too. I combined all of these to create an Anniversary card (or it could be a birthday card for a man or woman as well!). Softpencil is offering up a generous $10 gift certificate to one random participant.

Please check out the other krafty creations from the CAS-Tastic Design Team:
Angie
Deb
Maylee
Agata
Barbara
Bonnie Rose
Regina

Supplies Used: Cardstock: (Kraft) Papertrey Ink (White) Georgia Pacific Clear Acrylic Stamps: (Medallions and Sentiments from Mehndi Medallions) Wplus9 Ink: (Onyx Black) Versafine (Antique Linen Distress) Ranger Other: Thread

LeapFrog

The greatest discovery that ever was for my two little boys is searching for allusive, mobile and green creatures with four legs amongst the grass. Every night the hunt begins. Sometimes they catch one, sometimes they miss one. Sometimes they catch a few at a time. I chuckle when they want to keep these creatures in their sand pail, and fear the time that they won't remember when they've stuck them in their pockets for safe keeping.

A new to me site called the City Crafter Challenge has a wonderful collage of green to be inspired by, and a perfect opportunity to ink up my first ever Unity set! Kind of a fun card to give to someone struggling with the decision on whether or not to...do something, eh?

Supplies Used: Cardstock: White (Georgia Pacific) Kraft (PTI) So Saffron (Stampin Up) Patterned Paper: Green from Stack 5 (DCWV), Stamps: Leap for Life (Unity-thanks AJ!) Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine) Other: Twine (PTI) Button (Cloud 9) Tools: Circle Punch (Creative Memories) Black Journaling Pen (Pilot)

My Dear, Kind Friend

I have the great honor of knowing more blogging friends than I have fingers and toes, as my husband likes to say, and I am ever so grateful for you.

This week's CAS-Tastic Challenge is a sketch challenge! I'd love to see what you've created using the sketch that I designed for this week! There also is a random prize of four images by Sassy Studio Designs.

Please check out the other sketch interpretations from the CAS-Tastic Design Team:
Angie
Deb
Maylee
Agata
Barbara
Bonnie Rose
Regina

Supplies Used: Cardstock: White (Georgia Pacific) Lime Green (Archers Paper) Green (Close to my Heart), Rubons: All Family (Heidi Grace) Other: Button (PTI), Twine (PTI) Tools: Scallop Border Punch (Fiskars)

Super!

I've been told she doesn't care for glitter, she doesn't care for the color pink. She likes baby animals, the color orange, and everything earthy and bright. This teenager has a heart of gold. I've never met her, but hopes she likes her birthday card just the same.

The delicious Color Cue Challenge combination and Limelight Papercraft's sketch challenge from last week were a perfect match for this card. I first stamped a background pattern of the outlined fern and butterflies on blue, then ink distressed the edges and sponged a bit of color inside each element. I then stamped a woodgrain pattern on the orange pattern and gave it the same treatment as the blue. I took the digital file found here, created colored silhouettes in my photo editing program and printed on white paper. I went back to add the spots with a brown maker. I like the contrast of the distressed treatment on the colored paper against the stark white and clean design of the printed fawn patterned paper.

Supplies Used: Cardstock: White (Georgia Pacific) Blue, Orange (Recollections) Stamps: Woodgrain Silhouttes (Wplus9) Digital Image: Skinny Fawn (TiffanyDoodles) Pigment Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Tempting Turquoise (Stampin Up) Other: Rustic Twine (PTI) Button (Fiskars) RubOn: ChitChat (Stampin Up) Tools: Corner Round Punch (Stampin Up)

Continuing On...

Funny how a trip to the local pumpkin patch resulted in many cats being held and not any jack o' lanterns picked. Thus began my oldest boy's love for anything with four legs and fur. He's got a gentle soul, as my grandmother says.

I figured I will continue to share some layouts as long as I am working on them while my mother is here. It's been a lot of fun, reliving these memories of when my babies where "smallish" yet. This could get addicting, I must work on my skills for photographing anything bigger than an A2 size, or find a scanner that works with my current system.

The layout for this page was based on design at Sketchy Thursdays. The pennants were cut by hand and outlined with a journaling pen, the same as the patterned paper.

YeeHa! Layout & Man Card

A cowboy themed party is what we had for my youngest on his first birthday. I am very biased when I say he made the cutest buckaroo in town.

The layout's colors were derived from The Scrap Doctor's Jolly June Yellow Challenge.

And to not forget the men in my life, I made a masculine yellow card as well for the challenge.  The design is inspired by this bag at SandBoxStudio's Etsy Shop, for the Etsy Inspired Challenge.

YeeHa! Layout: Supplies Used: White Scrapbook Page (Creative Memories) Cardstock: Yellow (Recollections) Patterned Paper: (Creative Memories) Stickers: YeeHa (Hobby Lobby) Other: Black Journaling Pen, Corner Round Punch (Creative Memories)
On Your Birthday Card: Supplies Used: Cardstock: So Saffron (Stampin Up), Green (Close to my Heart) Pattern Paper: (Creative Memories) Rubon: Chit Chat (Stampin Up) Other: Twine (PTI) Tools: Corner Round Punch (Creative Memories), Staples

Be Easy On Me...

Long gone are the days of chubby legs and diapers. He's now long and lean, smart beyond his almost four years. This is why I love to scrapbook. I can remember and he can remember. We can laugh and we can see how similar, yet how different he is. The stickers

Scrapbooking was my first crafty love. I've always felt a bit timid showcasing layouts here on my blog since I do not add a lot of embellishments or raised product to my cards. I've admired from afar the scrappy blogs of Natalie, Valerie and Amy (to name a few) and how they can make it work by showcasing layouts and cards. I'm still learning on the photography end of things, so please be patient with me as I try to figure this process out. Since I scrap on white bases and needed to show the edges, the shadow defines the scope of the 8.5x11 page.

I was inspired to create a sticker border on my layout for the challenge at Method Playground. I've hoarded these fun stickers and I was glad to finally use them. The stickers themselves have all these quirky words of  advice, in animal terms, so I thought it would be fitting to journal about how I can teach my boys things about life, yet they teach me even more.

Since these stickers were just so darn cute, I also created a card featuring a cute little clam. The sketch at Limelight Papercrafts was a great choice to feature the sticker with a lot of white space. I also enjoyed using string on my layout, which was a required element for the challenge.

You Teach Me Layout- Supplies Used: White Scrapbook Page: (Creative Memories) Cardstock: Yellow (Recollections), Stickers: Actopus to Zelephant (K&C Co.) Tools: Black Maker (Pilot) Scallop Border Punch (Fiskars)

Happy as a Clam Card- Supplies Used: Cardstock: Yellow, Green and Orange (Recollections), White (Georgia Pacific), Stamps: Woodgrain Background (Stampin Up) Pigment Ink: Old Olive, Really Rust, Summer Sun (Stampin Up) Sticker Sentiment: Actopus to Zelephant (K&C Co.) Other: Baker's Twine, Thread

The Sky's the Limit!

Never did I imagine that when I started my blog and sharing my cards a year ago that I would have so many friends, have so many places to visit for inspiration and be so very thankful to all of you! Thank you so much for your support during the 2010 Papercraft's Gallery Idol Competition! Making it to the Top 10 is an amazing accomplishment-I am so glad that I stayed true to my style, what I like and what I can do for each round. I am grateful to have gotten to know 19 other crazy talented, simply sweet ladies a bit better during this whole process!

The sky's the limit for me! 

You should have seen my hands as I dyed ribbon for this card. Both my boys told me I looked like Cookie Monster. After the ribbon dried, I sprayed adhesive on cardstock, adhered the ribbon in strips and stamped the image.


Supplies Used: Cardstock: White (Georgia Pacific) Stamps: You're Dandy, Look Up (Praciticing Creativity Designs) Ink: Onyx Black (Versafine), Night of Navy, Bashful Blue, Ballet Blue Pigment (Stampin Up) Ribbon: White Satin (Offray) Pearls: Nightfall (Queen & Co.) Other: Thread

Hybrid?

I like to blog hop like the rest of them and time after time I am so inspired. Do you ever get the itch to try something new?

I guess I could say that this is my first try at a purely hybrid card. I downloaded a scrapbook page, altered it a bit in my photo editing program, printed and sanded the edges before adhering. After adding a few embellishments, (rub-on sentiment, rhinestones, gel pen and glossy accents on white leaf...) I was done! Thanks to Alice and Natalie for their inspiration in creating hybrid cards and layouts that inspired me to take a leap of faith for this card.

This week's CAS-Tastic Challenge is a Color Challenge: to create a clean and simple design using Yellow, Blue and a Neutral. I would be tickled pink (er, yellow, blue and a neutral?) if you would join along. Plus, there is a fabulous random prize up for grabs, offered up by Michelle's Scrapbooking & More!

Please do check out the other yellow, blue and neutral combinations from the CAS-Tastic Design Team:
Angie
Deb
Maylee
Agata
Barbara
Bonnie Rose
Regina

Supplies Used: Cardstock: White (Georgia Pacific), Gold (Recollections) Free Limited Time Digital Image: Blue Leaf  from You Are Awesome (Jessica Sprague), Rub On (Stampin Up) Other: White Gel Pen (Signo), Glossy Accents (Ranger), Rhinestones


***Voting is still open for Round 3 of the 2010 PaperCraft's Gallery Idol Competition! Have you checked out the fantastic ribbon cards yet and voted for your favorite?***

The Giving Tree

 "Come, boy, sit down. Sit down and rest. And the boy did. And the tree was happy..."

This card is my entry for the third round of PaperCraft's Gallery Idol Competition. Our challenge this time was to think outside the box and create a card using ribbon in creative ways. So...looped ribbon leaves, sheared ribbon grass and tiny flowers adorn a real twig to create my version of The Giving Tree, one of my most favorite books to this day! Do you agree that sending someone a handmade card "just because" is a very fine gift in itself, sure to make them happy?

You can vote here! Voting for this round ends Thursday, June 24th at noon. I'm so thankful for your support and comments that have kept me going and getting me this far! I'm beyond excited!

Supplies Used: Cardstock: White (Georgia Pacific) Bashful Blue (Stampin Up) Stamps: Clouds from You're Dandy (Practicing Creativity Designs) Pigment Ink: Bashful Blue (Stampin Up) Sticker Sentiment: (SRM Stickers) Ribbon: Always Artichoke Grosgrain (Stampin Up) Pale Green Grosgrain (Offray) Embellishments: Flowers (Prima- thanks to the kind and fabulous Laural!) Tools: Black Marker (Pilot) Other: Twig