Another DCWV card

I stole the design for this card from Mojo Monday-it's sketch 86. I used the green card base and cut a strip of coordinating paper (included in the DCWV card pack) to go along the bottom. I used Martha Stewart's scallop dot border punch and added orange Stickles in the small holes to add some glitter. I found some dark blue paper in my scraps stash and embossed those pieces with the Cuttlebug's 'Spots and Dots' embossing folder. I then inked the raised image with my white VersaMark ink. The sentiment is a sticker that was also included with the DCWV pack.
Thanks for looking!

Thinking of You

A couple of weeks ago, I was shopping in the scrapbooking aisle of Big Lots and came across something I'd never seen before from DCWV--a pack of ready-to-make cards with coordinating paper/stickers. I think it had 20 cards, if I remember correctly, and I paid...$3. Deal! They were made to be 5 1/2" square, but I don't have any envelopes that size, so I trimmed them down to regular A2 size. (5 1/2" x 4 1/4")
So, these were two of the cards in the stack and I finished them quickly by simply adding stickles around the circles and tying ribbon around the bottom. I used an exacto knife to cut a slit in each card on either side of the 'you' circle in order to thread my ribbon underneath.
Couldn't be easier!
Thanks for looking!

dream

The journaling reads:

"I've always loved sitting out on the rock jetty at Morro Bay, with the sea stretched as far as the eye could see...listening to the waves crash against the rocks & feeling the ocean spray...
Secretly, I fantasized about being proposed to at this very spot...ideally it would be as the sun was sinking low on the horizon, with my groom-to-be on one knee, presenting me with a beautiful diamond ring.
Little did I know that, less than 4 years later, a boy named Scott would make this romantic dream of mine come true!!"

This is my submission for the challenge over at Whimsical Scraps and Bugs. We had a color palette to work with, and we were encouraged to use our Cuttlebug along with our Cricuts, of course. I based the design off a sketch from PageMaps. You can find it in the February 2009 archives here--you'll have to scroll down a few to find it.
I used Thickers for the title, Plantin Schoolbook for the hearts and the bracket, Swiss Dots and Perfectly Paisley embossing folders, and some buttons along the bottom of the journaling. The faux stitching is done using a stamp from Studio G and lightly tracing it with brown and red pens. The subtitle on the heart was made using rub-ons from Autumn Leaves. The paper is from the DCWV summer stack.

Thanks for looking!

Flowerpot card-thank you

Here's another flowerpot card I promised in a recent post. This was actually the first one that I made. I used Walk in My Garden for the flowers & leaves, and I used stickles to add some sparkle. The stamp is from Studio G and the border on the flowerpot is Martha Stewart's Scallop Dot punch. Here's what it looks like when the sentiment is revealed:Thanks for looking! I hope everyone enjoys the long weekend. If you or someone in your family is a member of the military, a special thank you to you for your sacrifice! Happy Memorial Day.

miss you

This card was a breeze to make and I love the simplicity of it. It is not my original design and for the life of me I cannot find the artist from whom I stole the idea. I'll keep looking though and make sure to link her blog to this post when I find it. I guess that's what happens when you add about 50 blogs to your bookmarks all in a day...it's hard to find exactly what you're looking for, eh? :)
Anyway, I used Stampin Up' stamps for the flower (Botanical Blooms) and the sentiment (Little Hellos). The border is Martha Stewart's Scallop Dot punch. The rest is pretty self-explanatory.

Thanks for looking!

My Friend-Flowerpot card

Ee gads! My poor neglected blog!! I've been working on a few projects since I last posted that I hope to get uploaded here within the next week or so, so keep checking back. And thanks for my small and mighty group of followers-- you are an encouragement to me! Here's a card for all of my blogging friends today:
I stole this idea from Dawn who got this idea from Stephanie. So, it's by no means my idea at all! But it's cute and I wanted to make a few. You can find directions at either link above if you want to make one of your own. The flowers pull out from the flowerpot pocket to reveal your message. So fun! I love it! (You will be seeing a few different versions of this over the next week as I upload all of my projects.)
For these sunflowers--(aren't they so cheerful?) I used Cricut's Walk in My Garden cartridge. The stamped sentiment is from Studio G.

Thanks for looking!

Happy Mother's Day, Mojo-style

Well it's that time of year again to work on Mother's Day cards. Once again, Mojo Monday pulled through with an awesome sketch that I used to make 2 cards with 2 different looks for 2 special mothers. Without further ado, here they are:
This one is for you, Mom Staley. So, if you're reading this, you get a sneak peak. That's okay, though, because unfortunately your card will probably not arrive on time for Sunday. As I was about to mail it, I thought I might add a finishing touch of stickles around the heart and then I remembered that it has to dry before I put it in the envelope, and the deadline for the mail to go out today had passed by the time it had dried. So, when you are feeling like you have a lame daughter on Sunday who "forgot" about Mother's Day, please feel free to visit my blog and see the card that should be arriving on Monday. Oops. ;)
I used Memory Makers patterened paper and black and cream cardstock for this card. The heart was cut with Graphically Speaking and the black paper was embossed with the Swiss Dots folder. I do not know the brand of the stamps or the ribbon. Here's another view:
And this one is for my special mother-in-law, Rose. This one should be there in time for Mother's Day. :) I used the DCWV "Pocketfull of Posies" stack for the patterned paper. The scallop is a Martha Stewart border punch, "Scallop Dot." The ribbon is from American Crafts and I used stickles for the flower and for the border around the sentiment. The orange paper is embossed with the Floral Fantasy folder.
Another view:And here is the sketch that I used for both of these cards: It is Mojo Monday Sketch #85.
Thanks for looking, and I hope all the moms reading this enjoy their Mother's Day weekend!

Heritage

I created this layout for a challenge at Whimsical Scraps and Bugs. The challenge was to use sketch #81 from Mojo Monday (pictured below) and a favorite verse or quote. If you have looked at my blog recently, you'll already know that I love Mojo Monday for their creative card designs. This time, though, I wanted to use the sketch to create a layout. I chose Psalm 127:3 for the verse which says, "Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from Him." The picture is of our firstborn on Easter of 2007 with my hubby Scott. The paper is from the DCWV "All About Boys" stack. The title font is from the Cricut Calligraphy cartridge and the frame for the verse, the stars, and the circles at the bottom are all from Graphically Speaking. I hand-sewed the borders and the circle around the stars. The circles at the bottom have a stamp on them that says "a son is a blessing; a son is a gift." Brads in the center finish it off.

Thanks for looking!

On Vacation

I won't be posting until the week of May 4th--hubby and I are going on vacation!! Just a reminder for all who may be interested in participating that National Scrapbook Day is Saturday May 2nd. I'll have to take a day the following week to play.
Until next time...

Wedding Card

inside:
This is one of the quickest cards I've done but I like it! A card doesn't have to take hours to make and be really involved for it to be special and personal. Here's how it's done:
Cut a plain white 8 1/2 x 11" piece of cardstock in half width-wise at 5 1/2" Then take one side and scored it in half at 4 1/4". Next, emboss the front of the card using the Cuttlebug folder Bow Frame Card. Cut out the box inside the frame using a paper trimmer or craft knife, which will form a window to the inside of the card.
Using the Graphically Speaking cartridge, select the 'icon' feature and press the "Me & You" button to access the heart. Cut a heart out of a blue scrap piece of paper at 1" with 'real dial size' feature ON. Leaving the 'icon' and 'real dial size' features on, press your shift button and the "Me & You" button again. This time, cut a heart out of a pink scrap piece of paper at 3/4".
Use stickles to outline the embossed areas on the front of the card and the two hearts. For this card, I used silver for the front, pink for the pink heart and aqua for the blue heart.
Once dry, glue the hearts--a little offset towards the top--on a scrap piece of white cardstock, approximately 1 3/4" wide and 2 1/4" tall. Mount this scrap onto a silver piece that measures 2" by 2 1/2". Using your window as a guide so that the two hearts are visible from the front of the card, adhere these layers to the inside of the card. With a silver pen, write 'congrats' or other greeting on the bottom of the white layer, well underneath the hearts so that the sentiment is not visible when the card is closed.

Thanks for looking!

Attention Cricut Lovers!

Kristina over at Creatively Counting My Blessings is offering a Cricut cartridge giveaway--the winner will receive his/her choice of Kitchen Solutions, European Decor Solutions, or Stamping Solutions.
To be entered, all you have to do is sign up to receive e-mail updates from her new store, Your Memories Here, and then leave a comment on her blog (linked prior) to let her know. Easy peasy!

Thinking of You

I made these simple cards to serve as sympathy cards. The one on the left was for a lady who lost her mother and the one on the right was for a man who lost his wife. All of the paper is from Making Memories and the sentiment is from CTMH. I pierced the paper along the bottom leading to the sentiment and inked the edges of the paper with Tim Holz's distressing ink.
I added coordinating paper to the insides of the envelopes. This was the first time I've done this, but I do think it gives it that extra touch.
Thanks for looking!

These are a few of my {favorite} things

This was a challenge for the design team over at Whimsical Scraps and Bugs. We had to do a layout about ourselves...something that we often forget to do. There were a lot of options for this, but I decided to go the route of making a page about a few of my favorite things. It was fun to do, and it forced me to take a few moments to reflect and be thankful for the things that the Lord has given for me to enjoy. Here's my list, which is obviously not in any particular order :)

• My hope found in Christ (okay, this would top the list anyway)
• Chocolate
• Holidays (used the Christmas tree from Christmas Cheer on this square)
  
• The love among my family
• Faithful friends
• The beauty of Creation
• Good sleep
• Comfort of home (used the home from Joys of the Season here)
  
• Crafting

The title is from Plantin Schoolbook; the 'few' is from Opposites Attract. The brackets around 'favorite' are from Printing Press and the heart is from Graphically Speaking.
The patterned paper is from Making Memories, as are the stamps (Ransom) and the cardboard flowers. I used 'Thickers' for the word 'favorite' and for the brackets around the heart.

Thanks for looking!

Ashlyn's First Day of School

I was recently going through some older pictures and I stumbled across these ones from my niece's first day of Kindergarten. She's a teenager now! Unbelievable. She is such a sweetheart...just look at that shy/excited/nervous smile on her face! Anyway, I thought these would be cute pictures to use with my new Cricut cartridge, Sesame Street Font. How cute are those little characters peeking out from the letters? I think this cartridge is going to get a lot of use. The ric-rac cuts and the apple is from Plantin Schoolbook, and the patterned paper is from a DCWV stack.

Thanks for looking!

The Los Angeles Zoo--fauna

The lion was particularly photogenic this visit! But the wildest ones of the bunch?


The little monkeys that came home with us that day!
Thanks for looking!

The Los Angeles Zoo--flora

My sweetie had the day off yesterday so we took advantage of the extra time to have a family day at the LA Zoo. How fun to let the kiddos roam from animal to animal. There is so much scope for the imagination there! The weather was nice--warm but not too hot, and many of the flowers were in full bloom. I don't often devote a post to photography, but I thought I would share some pictures of the varieties of flowers we saw yesterday. Perhaps I'll share some animal pictures with you tomorrow or later this week.

Thinking of You

This is yet another MojoMonday card (sketch 79, pictured at the bottom of the post). I hope you're not getting sick of seeing them! I really want to get back to scrapbooking, but sometimes when my time is limited all I can finish is a card.
I've had the birdhouse stamp for a long time, but I'm not sure I'd ever used it. I used watercolors to color it in. The sentiment stamp (hard to see, but it is to the right of the birdhouse) is from Stampin Up! and it says 'thinking of you.' I inked the edges with distress ink to age it a little and to give it some more depth.
Thanks for looking!

You're "Tea"riffic

I made this card to donate to a stranger named Jen Tapler. She is going to have a charity auction for all the cards she collects with the proceeds going to raise money for the Alzheimer's Association. Jen is seeing firsthand the effects that this disease is having on her father, and I do hope that she will receive many cards that will further the work of the Alzheimer's Association.
As if that incentive is not enough, for those that participate before April 3rd (that's Friday so you have a couple more days), she is having a huge stamping blog giveaway (see details on her blog, linked above). Even if you don't get a chance to participate before Friday, you can still make a card (or cards) and send them to her before April 20th.
I got the sketch from this week's MojoMonday, seen below.
Thanks for looking!

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!