Easter-Themed Wall Hanging

I just love Easter and the hope that it represents through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead! I completed this wall hanging for a challenge over at Whimsical Scraps and Bugs. We were to alter flashcards and create an Easter-themed project. I decided to make John 11:25 the focal point. It says, "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.' John 11:25" The flowers, leaves, and the frame around the verse are all from Cricut's Home Decor cartridge. The butterflies are from Graphically Speaking. I used stickles on the butterflies (black on the black part and star dust on the blue parts) and I folded their wings up so they are 'flying.'

Here are some close-ups:

Thanks for looking!

Same look, different Mojo--part 2

Here's my take on another Mojo sketch, #75. Again, I used the same stamps from CTMH (love them) and colored them with watercolors and stickles. I like using the same supplies (since they're already out, right?) to create similar but unique cards by altering the sketch.
Here's another view to show the dimension. I used pop-dots under the image and I left the dragonfly's wings free to 'fly.'
This card is a pop-up card. Here's the inside sentiment:
The "Thanks" stamp is from Inkadinkado. I cut out and stickled the leaves, flowers, and butterfly to give the card unity inside and out.
Another view:
Thanks for looking!

Same look, different Mojo--part 1

A couple of weeks ago, I participated in my first Mojo Monday card sketch and I so enjoyed the process that I pulled out that same stamp set (from CTMH) and worked on some previous sketches. This is sketch 77. I colored the images the same way--using watercolors and stickles for the shimmer. The circle that the dragonfly sits on is cut at 1 3/4" from Plantin Schoolbook and the scalloped circle is cut at 2 1/4" from Storybook. The background paper is from DCWV--The Stack VI and the orange paper was embossed using my Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder and I inked the dots to give it a little more dimension.
I will post my other card tomorrow. Thanks for looking!

Aha!!

So I've been working on taking better pictures of my projects. I see other blogs with pictures that are crystal clear with vibrant colors so I know it's possible. My husband has mentioned that he notices a difference between the colors in my projects vs. the colors in the pictures I post of them. I've tried a few things---adjusting the lighting, taking pictures outside, using a backdrop, etc. I have a nice camera, so I know it's user error and not an equipment failure. I am toying with the idea of building a white box (anyone have any instructions for this?).

Well today I saw this tutorial from Gina K on editing photos. Ee gads!! Why didn't I think of that? You don't have to be a wonderful photographer...with a few tricks you can fake it!!

Hopefully future posts will have pictures that reflect the truer colors of my projects--I'm excited to start playing with my photo editor!

Mojo Monday 78--Thank You

I loved this week's Mojo Monday sketch, and I knew right away what I wanted to do with it. I had the perfect occasion to make a thank-you card--Christina sent me a lovely RAK--a SU! stamp set. How fun is that? The set is called "Botanical Blooms" and I'm loving it! So, if you're reading this, Christina, thanks again!!
Thanks for looking!

J&N

This is the second page to yesterday's post. I simply cut up squares of black, gray, and white, and arranged them next to the pictures. I inked the edges of the white squares to go along with the theme of the page, "You color my world." The J&N are cut and shadowed using Plantin Schoolbook.
Here's a look of both pages together:Thanks for looking!

You {color} my world

I did this page awhile back, but never got around to uploading it to my blog. A layout my Mom did provided the inspiration for this page. Thanks, Mom!
I used Cricut's Opposite Attracts cartridge for the title. The journaling above reads:

The laughter. The excitement of discovery. The joys. The pride in seeing you learn new things. The tears. The wonder of watching you grow up. The hugs. The "kiss-a-roonies." The bedtime stories. The snuggles. The memories of you singing "Jesus Loves Me." The fights. The privilege in shaping and molding your little hearts. The silliness.
The tickles. The "beep beeps" when we go through a tunnel. That soft baby skin of yours. The sound of you making fire engine noises--complete with air horn. The thrill of running to see Daddy when he comes home. The messes. The love and compassion you show for each other.
The contagious giggles. The early mornings. The ability to make your ouchies all better. The trips to the zoo. The "peek-a-boo" games. The running to the window to see all the choo-choos go by. The whining. The fun we have at the airport. The bedtime prayers. The ride-on races down the hallway. The anticipation of the future.
The good. The bad. The {not so} ugly. What would I do without my boys?!?

You
{color}
my
world

Thanks for looking! Tomorrow I'll post the second page of the layout.

Discover Spring

I created this page for the Whimsical Scraps and Bugs challenge--we were to use black and white with one accent color, the word 'spring' and some bling. I stole the sketch from Passion Sketch--I rotated sketch 33.
This picture was taken in the spring of 2007--the first spring that Jonah was really aware of his surroundings and curious of the world around him. So fun watching him explore new things!
I stamped the white paper with a floral stamp from Fancy Pants and brightened it up a bit with pink stickles. I embossed the black, gray, and pink strips. I used the Cuttlebug embossing folder Swiss Dots for the black, Divine Swirl for the gray, and Stylized Flowers for the pink. I put pink stickles over the flowers and black stickles over the swiss dots and divine swirls. The flowers are stamps from Autumn Leaves--I put stickles on those as well and a skittle in the middle of each flower. The word 'discover' is cut from Graphically Speaking and 'Spring' is cut from Storybook. The pink ribbon is from American Crafts.

Thanks for looking!

With sympathy

I realized I didn't have a sympathy card in my stash when I needed one, so I had to make one. This is what I came up with--the sentiment and scroll is from the Calligraphy cartridge. The frame is from the Storybook cartridge. I embossed the background with the Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder and ran a white inkpad over the dots for a little bit of contrast. I wanted to keep this one simple and to the point...sympathy cards are not my favorite to have to send. :(

Thanks for looking.

Mojo76

This card was inspired by the sketch over at Mojo Monday. I've mentioned them before on my blog, but it bears repeating that every Monday they provide a fabulous new sketch.

I used a stamp set from Close to My Heart on this one. I love the spring look to it and with temps nearing 70 this week, it's definitely feeling like spring is on its way. The background paper is watercolor paper, and I colored all of the stamps with watercolors. I forgot how much fun they are to work with and how nice the results are! I used dimensionals on some of the flowers to give it a 3-D effect, and the dragonfly's wings are folded upwards to imitate flight. I used stickles on the raised flowers, the butterflies, the dragonfly wings, and the stems to give the card some shimmer. The paper is from DCWV--the Stack VI. I pierced a circle around the sentiment at the bottom for added interest.

Thanks for looking!