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Something From Nothing: Metals

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It’s been a particularly productive week, but finding time to get to the computer to blog has been difficult. I broke down and decided to take Shimelle’s class Something From Almost Nothing for two reasons. One, several of my blogging friends were taking it, and second, I have plenty of stash to work with even after cleaning out and giving away a LOT of my supplies since the holidays.

The first prompt involved using your metal stash. I have several little drawers filled with metal letters, words, and frames as well as a little box devoted to brads. One items I saw used in the prompts was bottle caps. Ever since I bought them (probably 3-4 years ago) I have wondered what I was thinking. So I pulled them out and this is what I came up with.

StarBottleCapCard
Matt thought this was a particularly cool card–“Wow, a card with beer bottle caps!” Well, not exactly, but it sure is the idea.

3BottleCapCards
Three very similar cards, but all with a slightly different shape and size.

BottleCapDetail
These cards will need to be hand delivered or put into a padded envelope, but I like the flowers.

And a card with brads. I saved this paper when I cleaned out earlier this year and cut it into little squares. But then didn’t know quite what to do with it.

BradCard
I have quite a bit of it left for another project or two or three.

When I was perusing my metal goodies, I found a set of Making Memories metal frames. Then I started going through the little square photos I have in a drawer (a tip from Stacy Julian’s Photo Freedom). I found a set I have piled on my desk for a later layout, but these four fit the frames perfectly. Since the three of us were just talking about Kiawah the other night at dinner, the journaling came easily.

MetalFrameLO
I have a lot of ideas for prompt #2 (patterned paper), and hope to get to some of them this week, but the days are pretty filled with appointments and errands that need to be done before we leave for California early Saturday morning. I knew when I signed up that I would never be able to keep up, so I’m pleased to have created a few things for the beginning of class.

Jillibean Goodness

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In addition to the CPS 156 Challenge, I’ve made several other cards using the goodies I won on the Jillibean blog. The embellishments are so versatile and can be found at Scrap-Mart. I already owned most of  the Jillibean papers I used.

JillibeanBDWishesw 

All Jillibean products unless otherwise noted:  Patterned paper (New England Clam Chowder & Lentil Soup), Canvas flowers (Green Grid), Twine (Pigs), Sentiment (Birthday Party), tag (Spellbinders), brads from stash, epoxy tile sticker (EK Success), cardstock (Papertrey Ink Dark chocolate)

JillibeanSongw
Patterned Paper (Jillibean Soup Staples “Light Blue Sugar” both sides), Stamp (Jillibean “Hand Made”), Copic markers, button and rickrack from stash, flowers (Prima) 

JillBDw
Jillibean stamps (“Birthday Party”), cardstock from stash, Copic markers, Making Memories glitter alpha

JillibeanFabulousw
Cardstock (Papertrey), patterned paper (Jillibean Soup Staples ” Red Sugar”), Jillibean canvas flowers (Red Polka & Brown Letters), rickrack (Jillibean Bean Stalks “Red & Black”), sentiment (Papertrey “Signature Greetings)

CPS 156

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I’ve been playing with the fabulous goodies I won on the Jillibean blog a few weeks ago. Today I used some of them to make a card for the CPS 156 challenge. Here’s the sketch:

156 

And my take on it:

JillibeanSmilew 

I hand cut and folded the edges of a sunflower from the Lentil Soup “Vegetable Soup” paper. In the center I added one of the great new canvas flowers “Green Grid”, a button (PTI), and some twine from the Jillibean Stalks “Pigs”. I added a strip of the B side of the same patterned paper as a border with a piece of twill from the Bean Stalks “Red & Black.” The sentiment is from Papertrey’s “Signature Greetings.”

Project 365 & A Card

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Here’s the February Photo 365 Layout. I used an Ali Edward’s template and simply listed the photos under the collage. That’s really all the journaling I need for this month. I chose photos that represented what happened this month as well as a couple of favorites from the month. I decided to go with graph paper again. If I have enough in my stash, I think that will be the consistent element in the layouts. I’m not nuts about the font style of these Doodlebug stickers, but I’m determined to use my stash, and these were the only ones that were the right color.

February365LO
Journaling:

1. Snow, lots and lots of snow 2. One of my favorite photos of the month 3. The night sky 4. My new high-tech point and shoot camera 5. Valentine flowers and cupcakes 6. Books read  7. The 2010 Olympics  8. Goodies from a road trip to Buffalo 9. Wacom tablet & pen class

I’ve been wanting to try the Flower Soft I got in Buffalo, so while I watched the news tonight I put together this card. I love the soft, spring-like feel to it, and have a spring birthday recipient in mind for it.

FlowerSoftTree
Cardstock: Papertrey (Sweet Blush, Spring Moss) & Bazzil textured white, stamp: Memory Box,  pearls (A Muse Creative Candy), sentiment: Papertrey (Vintage Picnic), silk ribbon: Papertrey, Flower Soft & glitter

Happy Birthday, Matt

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It’s a rare three post day. Matt turned 27 today. We decided to eat at home instead of going out since he’s taking the Graduate Record Exam tomorrow. We’ll celebrate both tomorrow night at his favorite restaurant.

MattBDw 

The birthday cake never varies:  a cookie cake from Wegmans. This year I forgot to order one ahead (gasp!) so it has a bit more frosting than usual.

BDCakew 

And his gift:

MattiPodw

Cosmos Cricket “Boyfriend” had the perfect paper for a card:

MattBDw
MattBCInw

Alice in Wonderland Challenge

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I’ve been thinking about Rhinda’s Alice in Wonderland challenge, and really didn’t have any idea what to do, but finally decided to give it a whirl. I ended up with this card, just in time!

MadHatter
I used my Maya Mist for the very first time on sticky back canvas, and then stamped three different watch stamps for the background. I ran a Jillibean “Repair Tag” through my corrugator (haven’t used that in years) and added a quote from Alice in Wonderland. The image was a download kindly given to us by Rhinda. A Heidi Swapp watch finished the card front.

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

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Tonight is the February Blog Hop for Papertrey Ink. The challenge was to choose one of the designers who is an inspiration to you, find a project they’ve completed, and make it your own. I could choose almost any of the Papertrey designers, and I get lots and lots of inspiration from their blogs. I chose Debbie Olsen whose work blows me away time and again. Her coloring with Copic markers is the very best, and details in her cards are amazing. I spend a lot of time on her blog looking at her techniques. Here’s the card I chose from Debbie’s blog:

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It’s a perfect example of her beautiful work. I chose to replicate the paper-pieced violets from Papertrey’s new stamp set “A Year of Flowers: Violets,” but chose to stamp the smaller violets in the set.

Violetsw
The shape of my card is also a “lift” from Debbie’s blog seen here. I used Papertrey’s “Perfect Pastel” papers to piece the violets and mounted them on a piece of Memory Box “Gossamer” paper. The ribbon and safety pin are from my stash. The sentiment on a Quickutz tag is from “Vintage Picnic Sentiments” (Papertrey).

Three Challenges

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I recently acquired the Cosmo Cricket Mini-Decks for both Material Girl and Garden Variety. The papers are so bright and cheerful; just what’s needed on these cloudy February days. And they seemed perfect for all three challenges as well.

The first is the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger. This is the first time I’ve played along with this challenge. The inspiration piece was this:

Daisy Cottage Lampshade 

I took the yellow and gingham and used some papers from Garden Variety:

Wish 

Pure Poppy (PTI), Quickutz tag and rub-on, Hero Arts “Big and Little” flower stamps, ribbon and safety pin from stash

The next challenge is CPS 155. This is one of my favorite challenge sites. Here’s the sketch:

CPS155
And my take on it:

Just@Note
Cosmo Cricket “Material Girl;” Summer Sunrise, Dark Chocolate & Terracotta Tile (PTI); stamps by Judith and PTI (“Take Note”); Jeni Bowlin journaling spot.

And last, but not least, the sketch from Sweet Sunday Sketch:

SSSC57

And my card:

PubSign
 

 

Cards

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It’s been a busy, but fun-filled couple of days. Thursday I spent the afternoon with two friends crafting. Yesterday Tracy and I went to the Fingerlakes region with two good friends for lunch and a visit to a couple of favorite wineries. I’m hoping to scrap a few photos from the trip this afternoon. I’ve also been watching a lot of television thanks to the Olympics. Because it’s hard to me to just watch TV, I’ve been making some cards as I watch.

Topiary

Cardstock (Rustic Cream & Ripe Avocado-PTI), stamps (Memory Box “Vintage Notes” & Cavallini “Birds & Nests”), Antique Linen distress ink, Prisma colored pencils, Amuse Creative Candy, ribbon from stash

InBloom
Cardstock from stash, Midori ribbon, “In Bloom” stamp (PTI), Copic markers, Hero Arts pearls, Bitty Dots patterned paper (PTI), Nestabilities scalloped circle

4You
Raspberry Fizz cardstock (PTI), Patterned papers ( Soup Staples-Jillibean), gems (Michaels), AC Thickers fabric alpha

TrueFriend1
Pure Poppy & Vintage Cream cardstock (PTI), Early Bird patterned papers (Cosmo Cricket), sentiment from “In Bloom” (PTI), Amuse Creative Candy, rickrack from stash

And a card I made earlier for the Scrap-Mart Design team with the new Impressability plate and Spellbinders die.

Sweetwm 

Sentiment “Everday Button Bits” (PTI), Core’dinations cardstock (embossed and sanded), Nestabilities oval and scalloped ovals, ribbon from stash.

And last, but not least, a long overdue photo for Rhona who wanted to see the quilt that hangs over our fireplace. I bought it over 15 years ago in Pennsylvania when we were visiting Amish country.

Quiltw
 

2 Sketches 4 You 46

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I haven’t participated at 2 Sketches 4 You for awhile, but I wanted to play around with some sticky-back canvas and used this Week’s sketch 46 as a starting point.

Sketch
 

I rotated it 90° to better suit my image.

Sketch46w

Kraft Cardstock (Papertrey), yellow cardstock from stash, patterned paper (Bella Blvd), stamps (Through the Trees-Papertrey, celebrate-Amuse), sticky-back canvas, inks (Antique Linen Distress-Tim Holtz, Vintage Cream-Papertrey), button (Making Memories)

Happy Valentine’s Day

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I have some Valentines and Valentine treats to share today. First a couple of cards; one for my daughter and son-in-law and one for my son. Tracy’s card is one I made awhile ago, and knew I would use for Valentine’s Day.

Valentinew
This Memory Box tree is such a versatile stamp. I have another idea for it that I hope to make this week.


MattValentinew
 

MattValentineInside1w

 

MattValentineInside
 I found the dimensions for this clever gift card holder here. Coming up with a valentine for an adult son is a bit tricky, but this seemed quite appropriate and I know he’ll enjoy the iTunes gift card.

I also made some treats for Valentine’s Day. The graphic for these cute bags was downloaded here.

ValentineBagsw
Each bag held two heart brownies:

HeartBrowniesw

We were invited to friends for dinner last night, and I brought dessert.

ValentineDessertw 

Two little heart-shaped cakes with raspberry sauce, whipped cream and fresh raspberries. Yum! I had extra batter so I made some cupcakes for a friend and his family (since neither Tracy or I want extra treats hanging around here!)

Cupcakesw
 

Last, but not least, my beautiful valentine from Tracy.

Azalea1w
I’m loving that it’s a plant, and we’ll be able to enjoy it for weeks. Since spring is still many weeks away, we’ll be in need of some bright, cheery flowers. Hope you have a Happy Heart Day!

Papertrey Anniversary Challenge

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The anniversary festivities are winding down at Papertrey Ink, but there was another challenge today. The “assignment” was to create a set of floral embellishments, and then use one to create a card. For today’s flowers I used Jeni Bowlin papers form the mini sets. They are easiest to crumple since they are text weight paper rather than the stiffer scrapbook papers. I used my Nestabilities “Blossom” and cut three different sizes from seven different papers. I sewed some Papertrey buttons to the middle.

PapertreyEmbellies 

For the card I used Pure Poppy and Kraft cardstock from Papertrey, a piece of cream cardstock from my stash, the Houndstooth Embossing folder by Cuttlebug, a Quickutz tag and leaves, and piece of gingham ribbon. The sentiment is an Amuse stamp.

CPS 153 & Papertrey Ink

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Papertrey Ink is sponsoring the challenge at CPS which I always enjoy. The number of people who have already posted cards this week is truly amazing. These two sites must be a great combination. Here’s the sketch:

CPS153 

and my take on it:

CPS153w
Cardstock (Bazzill); patterned paper (Papertrey “Hodge Podge”); stamps (Papertrey “Blooming Button Bits”); button (Papertrey); silk ribbon (Ellen Huston); gems (Michaels & Kaisercraft)

Scrap-Mart

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I thought I would share some of the projects I’ve done for the Scrap-Mart Design Team. They picked up a lot of new lines at CHA, and are expecting lots of new products for their existing lines. I’m especially glad they’ve decided to pick up both October Afternoon and Jillibean as those are two of my favorite paper lines. I received some of the new American Craft papers to play with (next up in my project list), and they are wonderful. I’m waiting to get the new Hands Free mat for the Slice. They’ll also be stocking the 12 new design cards.

This is the first time I’ve ever used Just-Rite stamps. I had one of their self-stamping units and wasn’t very pleased with it. Now I have two sets of the hand-held stamps, and there’s so much you can do with them. It’s also my first experience with Unity Stamps, and they’re a quality stamp, mounted much like the new Hero Art Clings. So here are a few of the projects:

JRValentine 

Just Rite Stamps

SMJanSketch_hi

Sassafrass Lass papers

ThinkingofYouOrange 

Sketch challenge at Scrap-Mart with Sassafrass Lass papers and brad

You'reTheBest

Copic markers

PuzzlingLO 

Sassafrass Lass paper and Copic markers

YouMakeLifeBright 

Unity Stamps

ThankYo 

Unity stamps

Another Papertrey Ink Anniversary Challenge

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The challenges at Nicole’s blog just keep coming, as do the amazing announcements about new products. This one was more challenging than usual. It had two parts. The sketch was easy enough, but the color combination took quite a bit of thought.

Here’s the sketch:

PTI Sketch 

There were several color combinations, and you had to use the one associated with the first letter of your user name at PTI. Here’s the one for K:

PTIColorPalette
I truly would never think to put these five colors together, but I’m pretty pleased with how the card turned out in the end.

Best
Papertrey cardstock in colors seen above, Sizzix leaf die, sentiment from Blooming Button Bits, flower punch with gems from Michaels, Martha Stewart border punch