Three Moos for You...

I had the opportunity to participate in a really fun little swap making "moos". Moos are very little pieces of art - 1 1/8" x 2 3/4". There were three categories in the swap and I took one spot in each... the fat free moo can have nothing over the edges, the 2% moo is allowed to have things hanging over the edges, and the whole moo is an ATC with a moo on it.

For my fat free moo I created a fun background using stencil pastes. First, I covered chipboard with black stencil paste and let it dry completely, than covered the black stencil paste with crackle stencil paste. Before dry, I stamped into the crackle paste with foam stamps. After it was dried and cracked, I painted it using pastels, then covered the whole thing with glossy medium. I added a little dragonfly brad before adhering it to a background.

For the 2% moo I created a background from stamps and glimmer mist. I used a piece of swirl ribbon for the 'water' and the palm tree is a QuicKutz. I used a little Pebble Beach mud puddles to create the sand, and heat embossed the stamped seagull in black.

The whole moo is pretty much created from papers and tags from Graphic 45. I accented it with gold eyelets. Very simple but there stuff is so pretty it just looks good by itself!

I had a lot of fun with these - fun to try techniques in little bits, very sweet and simple. Hope you enjoy!

Naughty Naughty.....

A little while back I saw a very intriging new ATC swap hosted by one of my very favorite hostesses at Splitcoast stampers - Joyce always comes up with the most interesting new swap ideas! The swap is called "Nude Windows".... the idea being to have a tasteful nude shown in a window scene. Well, at first I wasn't sure what I thought about that, but then I thought, there are some very cool things you could do with this swap. So I had to get over my prudiness and join in! This was one of those swaps where inspiration automatically hit - I knew exactly what I was going to do! Yippee - that almost never happens for me :)

So, first I found the right kind of image on the internet and downloaded it - that was all kinds of interesting because you can just imagine what you end up with when you search for "vintage nudes" on the Internet! I found one, though, and proceeded to get to work.... and here is my ATC:

The first thing you are probably noticing is that this is not your typical ATC - yes, it is 3.5" tall and 2.5" wide, but it's also about .75" deep. I really wanted to do a balcony, and I decided it had to be 3D... so hopefully no one will mind when they get a really fat ATC!

I started by cutting pieces of foam core for the background and the balcony, then covering them with a stucco patterned paper. I also cut small strips to cover the inside of the windows and the front of the balcony, then inked all the edges. I glued the balcony onto the bottom of the wall piece and let that dry. In the mean time, I cut out my nude ladies and glued them to some Graphic 45 paper that I thought looked a lot like wallpaper. I glued pieces of lace to the back of the window, then tied them back curtain style with gold cord. Then I glued the nudes to the back of the window. I cut tiny strips of paper into small bricks, inked the edges, and used them to frame the window. I cut the balcony trim with a fence pattern I downloaded onto my QuicKutz Silhouette and glued it across the front of the balcony.

Finally, I constructed the vines using long pieces of wire and Vintage Christmas Flower Soft. I poked holes in the top of my windows, glued the top of the wires in, and draped them in a manner which is hopefully "artfully" across the wall, and that was it! This was SUCH a fun card to make - brought me right back to my dollhouse roots and I really love the result! Have a great week and thanks for stopping by!

VSN Star Baby Card with a mono twist...

This past weekend held two great scrappin opportunities at Splitcoast... VSN and VSBN were both on the same weekend! Unfortunately, I was sick sick SICK for most of the weekend, so I only got one card done before deadline, but thankfully they allow more time for the scrapbooking challenges so I'll try to get some done during this week!

The challenge I participated in was A - to make a monochromatic baby card. This was perfect timing since my latest nephew was just born last week - baby number 5 for my littlest brother and the 5th baby to be born while he is deployed somewhere else!! This time he was in Afghanastan while baby was being born, but he was able to get the day off and watch via webcam. I have to write to the military and ask them to stop deploying them so they don't end up like the Duggars! Anyway, here's the card I made:


I chose a star theme in honor of daddy's military service. My latest issue of Pat Huntoon's Technique Junkie's Newsletter included this cool technique for monochromatic cards - cutting shapes the same color as the base, embossing them, and then rubbing a little ink over the embossed areas to high light them. The technique is called Mono Dies. Instead of inking mine, I used Core'dinations cardstock, which contains a colored core instead of just a white core, so I sanded the embossed images and got a lighter version of the same color - looks very cool IRL! I glued the shaped down randomly.

The circle is actually a window and the "Baby Boy" (from Cloud 9 stamps) is stamped on the inside of the card in Taken With Teal ink. I used my Nestabilities to cut a slightly smaller circle from the bottom layer than the top to give it a matted appearance, and allowed one of the stars to hang into the peekaboo window - I saw that in my latest issue of Scrapbooks etc. and thought it was sweet.

Across the top of the card is a coordinating piece of patterened paper from Paper Pizzaz, a border punched with a Martha Stewart border punch, a piece of crimped cardstock, and a button sewn onto a slightly darker star which I also embossed and sanded to match the ones below. I decided to tie a bow instead of a knot to go with the baby theme, then attached the button and star with glue dots. Very simple and fun to make - hope they like it!

PAT 14 ATC's

One of my favorite ATC swaps is the PAT ATC, which stands for "Pick A Theme". Basically you sign up according to groups, everyone in the group picks their favorite theme, and then everyone else in the group makes a card for everyone else. Then, you receive back cards in your favorite theme. It's really fun and inspiring, and causes you to look up things you never knew about, and make cards you might otherwise have made. Very challenging sometimes! Back in February I did these PAT 14 cards and just forgot to upload, so thought I'd share now and talk about my thinking behind them and any techniques.

These cards are for Group 7 in the swap, which was about Holidays.

Starting at the top left and moving clockwise, the themes are Valentine's Day, Christmas, Easter, and Groundhog Day. The Valentine's card is actually embossed metal. I started with a red metal base and then cuttlebugged (cb) it with the flowery background. I sanded the raised portions, then ran it through the cb again with flat plates to deboss it. When that's done, you get a flat piece of metal but the sanded portions add a lot of depth. Then I ran it through the cb again with the owl die, and then rubbed Staz On across the raised portions so that the owl would really stand out. I added small detail with stickles glue and covered the edges of the metal with double sided tape and glitter so there would be no chance of anyone getting cut, then mounted it on cardstock and added the sentiment. Overall it turned out a little busier than I would have liked, but it was really fun experimenting with the cb techniques!

The Christmas ATC uses a simple paper technique called Herringbone that I got from Pat Huntoon's Technique Junkie newsletter - in fact, that's where I got the double cuttlebug technique idea as well, so if you're not subscribing to that newsletter you should really consider it! For the Herringbone technique you start with a large piece of double stick tape and then add small strips of paper in the Herringbone pattern. With that done, I added a little fabric word strip and metal snowman embellishment.

The Easter ATC used some of my favorite Imaginsce Peep's Sake paper and a stamp from Serendipity. For a little dimension, I stamped the flower part of the stamp on tissue paper, colored it with Copic's, and then added the petals in thin layers of tissue on a pop dot. IRL it looks very delicate and pretty and I liked the effect.

For the Groundhog Day card I started by creating the background. I used a torn post it to mask off the top from the bottom and then sponged ink on for the sky; then I swapped the post it to the top and sponged the grass in. The tree was cut from a thin layer of cork for some texture, and the cloud was simply hand cut and inked. The ground hog was cut with the cricuit. I handmade a little "winter" and "spring" dartboard and dart, since I'm pretty convinced that's how he decides if we're having more winter or not!

These cards were for group 14, which was a Lot D group, which means any theme goes.



The themes moving clockwise from the top left were Nathan Fillion, Music, Tears, and Shells. OK, so before I had to make this card I was a Castle fan, but I never knew a lot about Nathan Fillion. Now I know at least this - he's quite a hottie!! There are tons of really gorgeous images of this guy on the Internet, so I had a blast with this one. I decided to make my card into a mini wanted poster and captioned it "Heart Thief"...tee hee! I used the burnt edges technique on the image, which involves tearing it out and then ink the edges in layers of mustard, chocolate chip, and black. I mounted it on some distressed wood patterned paper and added mini brads as the nails.

The music card was simple to do and one of my favorites when it was done. I used a printed piece of mulberry paper I've been hoarding as the background, then added some of my favorite Melissa Frances ribbon and a pretty image I got from Ten Two Studios. I punched a hole in the image, added an eyelet, and then hung little jingle bells from the card so that it actually makes it's own music. The treble clef was just some gold cord I glued down in the required shape.

For the "Tears" card I found another beautiful image from Ten Two Studios which you can't see very clearly here, but one of the children does have some beautiful tears in her eyes. The background was Core'dinations cardstock that I cb'd and sanded to reveal the core color. I added some vintage lace from my stash, then finished the card with a little flower and bow.

The final card in this group was "shells". The background is some patterned paper from Zsiage. The shells are dry embossed from one of Martha Stewart's embossing plates. First I did the dry embossing, then I used the template to mask off the background so I could chalk the raised portions. I added little eyelets and some beachy twine to complete the card.

This next grouping is for Group 18:



The themes for this group were different flowers. Moving clockwise from the top left, the themes are Lillies of the Valley, Violets, Lilacs, and Cherry Blossoms. The first two are pretty simple - just stamped and colored with copics, then added to a patterned paper background with some paper lace from Creative Imaginations. The stamp set is an old SU one, Flowers of the Month. The lilacs card was done using a stamp from Serendipity... after it was cut and colored with Copics I masked it and stamped the wording in the background. I added a little purple flower soft for texture, and a butterfly with wings raised by pop dots using a Martha Stewart punch stamp. The white frame is from SU and the "lilac: is computer generated.

For the cherry blossoms card I stamped the image on tissue paper, colored it with copics, and mounted it on a light background to help the colors stand out. The little symbol was cut twice using my cricuit and then glued off center for a little dimension.

The next group is a Vintage group - yippee!! Love to do and receive Vintage work - it's my favorite.



The themes for this one are Vintage Valentines, Vintage Laundry, Vintage purses, and Vintage Mother's Day. The Valentine's card uses digi paper from Ten Two Studios, some old paper lace from my stash, an old image from my stash, and a vintage style button also from stash. Hurray for stash! The vintage laundry piece also used paper from Ten Two Studios. The little image I found on the internet - it's so small on the ATC but it's so cute - here's a close up of just that:



I printed it contact size and then adhered it to a little tag layered with patterned papers. I added a vintage button to the top, and then pop dotted it to the background of the card, also made with Ten Two patterned papers and vintage lace. I added some punched letters from the Ten Two digi paper and a little purple flower from stash, along with some feathery leaves I punched using a Laura Ashley punch. I added the gold photo corner to finish off the card.

For the Vintage Handbag I used more Ten Two Studios digi paper, crochet lace from Jo Ann's. tiny pearls from Michael's, and a stamp from See D's. I cut the image out and added a little cord handle and more tiny pearls to embellish it.

For the Mother's Day card, more of my favorite digi paper from Ten Two Studios and an image from the Internet... I used a border punch from SU with some tiny pearls to embellish it, then just added a flower with a vintage brad center.

Group 20 was another luck of the draw group, and it had some very varied topics!

The themes for this group were Vintage Valentines, Don Knotts, Altered Artwork, and High Heeled Shoes. For the Vintage Valentines I used a Fan Kit from Ten Two Studios. I printed it out and then xeroxed it until I could get it REALLY small... the real kit is much larger. The BINGO card is also from them and pretty much prints exactly the right size for an ATC... they have several themes to choose from in the BINGO cards so I had fun with those. All I needed to add were little pearls, a premade bow, and a little cupid I've had for ages and had no idea what to do with! I think he looks cute there :)

The Don Knotts card was a fun one - I always loved the Andy Griffith show and one of my favorite recurring gags was Barney locking himself in jail! I was able to find an image of that on the Internet, as well as an actual map including Mayberry and Mount Pilot! I used the map as my background and marked the cities with a little stickles. I added the image and hung an old key like the one hanging just out of reach in the jail... too fun!

The next theme is Altered Artwork and I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be going for with that one... hopefully I got the right idea! I took a Van Gogh painting and used that as my background image. I "altered" it by using a picture of Mona Lisa in a paper doll kit I got from Ten Two Studios - again I had to really reduce the image to get it down to ATC size, so there was a lot of little cutting going on! Overall the effect is a little strange, so I'm hoping I understood the theme right and that the recipient will like it!

The high heeled shoe uses more digi paper from... yep - Ten Two Studios! Love their stuff - can you tell?? I added some photo corners using my Quickutz and some blue pearl embellishments from Michaels. The brown ribbon is from SU and the little shoe is actually a vintage button I had in stash. Simple, but I was happy with it.

For group 21 the theme was writers/poets.



Themes clockwise from top left are Robert Burns, Edgar Allen Poe, Shel Silverstein, and Ogden Nash. And here are perfect examples of why I love the PATs... I'm not big into poetry, so before joining this group I'd never heard of Robert Burns or Ogden Nash. OK, truth, I didn't get thrills from anything I saw by Robert Burns... he probably has something famous out there that I'm simply not aware of... from what I did find, I didn't really get it, but I hope I made a good card for him anyway! (Lot of brogue in his poetry - kind of hard to read...) I found a little passage I liked and printed it out - it's about a young girl in a field, so I had a great little stamp set from Papeterie. I mounted it on some of my favorite K&Co paper and added some little pearls to embellish.

I am a Poe fan, so I chose The Raven for my card, mainly because I had this cool raven stamp! The background was created using blended Distress Inks from Tim Holtz, then I stamped the image and heat embossed it in black. I added strips of words from the poem and a tiny picture I found of Poe on line.

The Shel Silverstein card focused on his puzzle piece poem. I printed it very tiny on paper that looked a little like an old sidewalk, and kept it simple by printing out a tiny picture of Silverstein and mounting it on a Quickutz of a puzzle piece.

I'd never heard of Ogden Nash before and I have to say, he has some funny little poems out there! Just simple, silly little things with clever rhymes and a keen sense of humor - I had a hard time picking one to use! The background paper is from Memory Box, and the cow is from MFT stamps. I stamped him twice and popped his head up, then added little strips with the poem and a bow to top it off. Because it's short and sweet, here's the poem:

The cow is of the bovine ilk

One end is moo

The other, milk.

Isn't that funny?? I can't imagine a man sitting around and thinking stuff like that up!

The last cards were for group 22 and were the most fun to make - the theme for the group was shaped ATC's! This was pretty cool since they still have to work in the size - 2.5"x3.5".


The themes are just what you see - butterfly, dog, teapot, and mask. All images were created using multiple layers of thick paper and my cricuit. Nothing too special about them besides the shaping, but, trust me, that was challenging enough!

I'm working on PAT 15 cards now, so should have some more of these great multithemed little gems to share shortly!

Some recent ATC's..

I've been involved in multiple ATC swaps recently and again just haven't had time to upload, so wanted to take a minute tonight and start... I'll do some now and some in days to come to fit them all in as I still have an altered book to start tonight...

The first two cards are part of a new swap group I joined called Stampin D'Amour... it's been a great swap so far and all the swappers are very talented!! My card for February has a Mardi Gras theme:


This was such a fun card to make! I started with a layer of striped patterned paper (Spring Swirl from Best Creations) and mounted it on glitter black cardstock. I stamped the white swirls with VersaMark and then heat embossed them with white. Then I stamped the black frame (the stamps were Fancy Pants...) and heat embossed that. I printed the sentiment on purple cardstock and cut it to fit the frame. The fiber on the side is one I've had for a while - I think it came in a kit from BJ's. For the mask I used a downloadable pattern on my QuicKutz silhouette along with some hologram paper I got from WalMart (yeah, I'll shop anywhere for scrapbook goodies!). I added the pearls to the eyes and some old jingle bells to the edge of the mask to finish the card.

The card I made for April's swap is an Easter themed ATC using a digi kit I got from Ten Two Studios - LOVE that store! The design makes a foldable ATC - here is the outside:




And then here is the inside:


I LOVE vintage style and I just thought this was so funny! For the outside, I basically printed the card and added my own embellishments.... some blue flower soft to add texture to the flowers, a blue rhinestone in the middle of the bow, and some green fiber to simulate Easter grass. For the inside, I used clip art included with the kit but then some different background paper I had from Bo Bunny... I thought the colors went together better than what was in the digi kit. I inked all the edges in brown and added a row of rhinestones to the top to finish it off. I hope they liked it as much as I liked making it!

The next swap I was in had a supernatural theme - I love all things supernatural so this one was a blast for me! I'll admit it - I'm a big Twilight fan, so I wanted to do a vampire card, but didn't want to actually do Twilight. So, I searched the internet and found an old image of Lugosi at his best - and I came up with this card:



For the background, I used some Coredinations Black Magic paper, which I embossed in a Cuttlebug folder and then sanded to reveal the colored core. I punched the scallop trip from SEI velvet paper and added some gems from Kaiser. The roses were some old ones I had in stash, and the spider web paper is from Making Memories.

I decided to make a mini Ouija board for the second card:

I was able to download the image right from the Internet; I then cut it out and coated it with a sepia tinted glaze to age it. I cut the little planchet out from brown crinkled paper and inked the edge in gold; Then I added the old ghostly photo, which I also downloaded. Very simple but fun card to do.

The final cards I am sharing today were part of a Simon Says swap on Splitcoast; we each signed up for spots in a group, and then were emailed a list of instructions for the cards. Here is the first card I did, which was for Group 2 in the swap...

For this card, the parameters I received were: to use a cool color for the base (mine is light blue), to have the word stormy be the adjective for the card, to use a new technique (I used the "bleach swipe" technique for the first time... first, I took a piece of Not Quite Navy cardstock from SU and swiped it with bleach, dried it with a heat gun, then swiped and dried again two more times. This particular cardstock turned purple when I bleached it, which was unexpected but I thought very cool... Next, I stamped the SU sanded background stamp on it using Navy ink to pick up what was left of the Navy in the background, and then I sprayed the whole thing with Tattered angels Ocean Mist spray... Then I stamped the Tattered Angels compass over that... very cool technique and the first time I'd tried it. I got it from Pat Huntoon's Technique Junkie newsletter...) , to use a rectangle (my image), to add red (my photo corner), to add a line (part of the sanded background stamp, to add a quote, to put 2, 4, or 6 embellishments on the card (the black crystals), to add something light (the light house), and to add patterned paper (the photo corner again). This was so fun - I loved the new technique I learned, and it was a challenge pulling all the elements together!

Here is the card I made for Group 3:

The elements for this card were to include: primary colored base (the red), the adjective for the card is "clumsy" (from the image and the quote), to use an old technique (I did double resist, which was a technique I learned from SU...you use glossy paper, heat emboss a stamp (I used the glitter snowflakes), then stamp again in Versamark without embossing and just brayer over it (that's the flourish and the grey ink ), to use a triangle (I arranged my snowflakes in a triangle on all the cards), to use red (the base again), to stitch something (the sequins and beads are stitched on), to add a quote (this was from the actual Bambi movie), to put 1, 3, or 5 of something on the card (the snowflakes, beads, and seqiuns), to add something dark (the gray ink), and to use a magazine picture (I actually used in internet picture instead because the theme I came up with was very specific!).

Hope you're enjoying your weekend... I had fun today swimming with the kiddoes and now I'm off to work on my first altered book - happy crafting!!

A Few Pages in April...

I know, I know - I'm completely out of the posting habit at this point! I'm trying to get back into it, and I have a lot of great projects to share, so I'll keep trying! I just finished my third semester finals yesterday, so I'm feeling very relieved and ready to play catch up on some of these thing!

Here are some scrapbooking pages I completed as part of an online scrapbooking class I was taking through Big Picture Scrapbooking... the class is over now and I'm just getting to the uploading part... I have a lot of layouts to finish for the class as well, so they'll keep popping up as I work through the material. The class was Design Your Life by Cathy Zielski - I'm a big fan of her work and the class was very useful in teaching actual design elements - yea!

The first layout was based on a particular color palette we were supposed to use... orange, yellow, and black.

I used paper and embellishments from Basic Grey's Ambrosia pack and some black crystals from Zva Creative. The big brad was an old one from my stash. The first part of the title and the journaling were printed directly onto the cardstock, the "flight" is some of the letter stickers included in the Ambrosia pack. The journaling says "Some days I feel just like this butterfly, perched precariously on the edge of the world, waiting for the right time to stretch my wings and fly. This is the time of my rebirth, a time I am turning my life into something new and beautiful and meaningful. Every day I wonder, am I brave enough? Am I strong enough? Am I committed enough? And every day I answer myself by letting my hope take flight." This page was inspired by all the changes I have recently made in my life and my hopes for the future.

The next two pages are the same layout, one for my daughter and one for my son. I loved the idea of encapsulating little daily activities to remember our lives by... here's my daughter's page:

I used paper from Magenta and printed the title directly onto the patterned paper. I accented the page with gems and pearls from Zva Creative bling, and some antique lace I had. The little frame is from SU. The butterfly and bird are cut from the patterned paper. The journaling is:
-Put on only soft, comfy clothes
-Brush your hair as soon as you wake up
-Make your own breakfast
-Take breaks by jumping on the trampoline
-Feed the animals (whether they need it or not!)
-Play with your doll Alex and other stuffed animals
-Watch two or three iCarly episodes
-Run fast and jump on me when I get home
-Wiggle your butt when you want something
-Give me SO many reasons to smile

And my son's page:


The paper and sticker are from Pebbles Inc. - the title I printed right onto the patterned paper from the computer. The journaling is:
-Wake up super early, usually before 6 a.m.
-Turn on the computer first thing
-Smile when Mrs. Laws gets you out of the car
-Jump on the trampoline with sissy
-Spend hours surfing YouTube
-Reenact your favorite videos with beanie babies
-Ask for "chips wiff cheese pweese"
-Take at least two baths or showers
-Ask for tickles just before bedtime
-Remind me how lucky I am to be your mom

Hope you enjoyed these layouts - what I loved about the class was the simple layout designs, which allows you to focus on the pictures and the meaning behind the page - hope you like them as well!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! I'm getting a special treat, having the opportunity to catch up on some scrappin! I have two quick projects to share... the first was a super fun wall canvas that I got through Quick Quotes...

For the layout I followed the kit instructions pretty closely, but I did alter the papers and some of the embellishments so that they would match. The papers with the kit were pretty loud and I wanted something soft and pretty for my daughter's room - I was really happy with the new choices. The kit basically contains three pieces of canvas that you color with ink and then glue together. Then there are a lot of vellum elements from Quick Quotes that you use in various ways, so it's pretty fun. I really enjoyed doing it and my daughter really loved it (her birthday was yesterday... nine... OMG!)

I also completed another layout for my design class at Big Picture Scrapbooking by Cathy Zielske... this lesson was on using white space:

The only thing about this picture is that it is much bluer looking on the computer than it actually is IRL... the paper is actually a very light teal blue, but I was altering the photo so you could see the white flower outlines and this is how it turned out. So I think it's a little prettier IRL than what you can see here.... very classic looking. All papers are from SU... also, the metal label holder and border punch are from SU. The title is a combination of rub ons from Creative Imaginations and the Magenta font from QuicKutz. The flowers are from Prima and the centers are just rhinestone accents from my stash. I'm very happy with the page IRL and really enjoying the class.

Hope where ever you are you are having fun this Valentine's Day!

Whoa! They snuck in a VSN!

OK. so I admit I've been a little busy lately... or maybe just forgetful... but I almost missed this weekend's virtual stamp night at Splitcoast! Whoops! I did remember late last night and so was able to put a few together this morning, but I had to stop because I still have some ATC's to get done for PAT 14!!! Wow, I'm on a total papercrafting binge!

The first challenge I participated in was #1, which was to use colors from a country flag that is participating in the Olympics. I chose the Bahamas, mostly because I liked the flag colors the best out of the one's offered, but Ialso because I was having a flash back to the old movie Cool Runnings, which was about a Jamaican bobsled team. I imagine Bahamanians are at similar disadvantages competing in winter games!! So, their flag colors are black, teal, and gold. I used papers from Basic Grey's Off Beat collection:

I acented the card with little gems from Kaiser Craft. The stamp set is from Stampin Up.

My next card was for challenge 5 - to feature the letter 'S', to use pink, no neutrals but white, and to use the kissing technique. Here's what I came up with:

The patterned paper is Cloud 9, and the image is from Serendipity Stamps. I used QuicKutz for the letters - the "S" is Blossom and the other letters are Eliza mini. I used a nestabilities to cut out the main image, which was colors with Copics. The heart under the 's' is where the kissing technique is.... I used a QuicKutz to make my own foam stamp and the kissing was done on a background stamp from Glitz designs.

My final card was sort of fun because I don't usually do a lot of masculine cards. It is for challenge 6, to spotlight a sport, use Olympic colors of blue, red, yellow, black, green and also to use the 'spotlight' technique.

Yes, I'm pretty sure there's no ATV racing in the Olympics but this is about as sporty as I get! I used paper from an old Basic Grey collection and the ATV stamp is from Stampin Up... the distress stamp in the corner is from Glitz designs. The brads are from stash.

It's kind of a ho hum day outside today here... perfect for more scrappin, so I'm off! Have a fabulous end to your weekend!

A couple more quickies...

Just a fast update on two more pages I got done this month... I'm SO excited to have gotten so much scrapbooking done this month. Last year through the whole year I got very few pages done, so I feel like this year I'm starting off the right way:)

I signed up for a few classes at Big Picture Scrapbooking and this first layout is from Design Your Life by Cathy Zielski...

This is my very first "hybrid" page... the journal block was a download for the class. It's great to learn how to do some of this stuff and I hope to keep learning! All the paper and embellishments for this layout were from Bo Bunny's Grease Monkey Line. I love love LOVE these pics, because my little guy is just busy being a little guy. Sometimes with Autism you don't have a lot of normal, everyday moments... with Josh in particular, because he has a lot of sensory needs, he is very often stuck in stimming patterns and has a hard time joining us. So to find him outside just being a boy is a special moment! He even played witha worm... how cool is that??

This next page is a companion to one I made during VSBN... I do favor double page spreads so I usually make a second page to any one I start... I just have a hard time putting two pages that don't match next to each other in an album... a little obsessive, I know:)



All the paper and embellishments on this one were from Cloud 9, and the sketch is from Inspired Blueprints... #20. Gotta run - going bowling tonight with the kiddies and have a bunch of ATC's to finish for PAT 14, which I hope to share with you soon... have a fab weekend!

Imagine... it's almost the end of VSBN!

One more possible upload day for VSBN... I just barely got my next page in on time! The challenge I chose to work on today was K, which was to incorporate the word "Imagine", scrap about someone who brings peace and goodness to your life, use the color pink, and talk about what your peace color is and why. Whew!! First of all, here's my page:



This was my daughter age three... all the world was her oyster and still is! She loved pink, glitz and bling. I had this paper kit from Fancy Pants I'd been dying to use, and I thought the kraft base would be a cool contrasting background for a very blingy girl. The castle was created with my cricut Happily Ever After cartridge , and the title word using the new 'Songbird' font. The flowers are prima and the bling is all from Zva Creative. This page was a case... I usually don't do a lot of casing, but during the G challenge I found several cute pages and this one particularly stuck out to me, so I just wanted to get it done... the original page is Missing You by Jana Eubank and you can see it here.

The next part of the challenge was to talk about what color peace is to you. For me, it's pink! I'm in the middle of a divorce... in fact, last September would have been 15 years. There were a lot of good and bad things about the marriage, some things I do miss. But one thing that always got on my nerves was that my ex had a lot of opinions about the way things in the house should be - it was a constant source of arguements. One of the things I'm celebrating is my newfound ability to decorate any way I like.. hee hee hee! Therefore, the first thing I did in my new room was paint it PINK! Not a masculine thing about this room, and I love it:) Here's a peak:



I love the peace and serenity of my new room and the way it expresses me and what I like - it's great to come home every day and feel comfort in the things around me. So here's hoping that everyone finds a little piece of their own peace this weekend... have a great one!

Cuddly and Sweet...

So today is my last final this term - hoozah!! Image production.... not so much fun, but I'm glad afterwards the week will be over! I had two tough ones yesterday and when I got home I decided to take a little nap and woke up at 3:30 this morning! Obviously, I couldn't get back to sleep, so I decided to get another VSBN challenge done... Yes, I will hop on any excuse to get some scrappin done:)

I decided to work on Jan10VSBNE - the challenge was to use three hearts on your layout, each made of different material. Here's my page:



I used Cloud 9's 'Be Mine' collection. There are tiny hearts bordering the background paper, hearts printed on the ribbon, hearts on the second layer of background paper, a jelly heart above the photos, a chipboard heart below the photos, and a cluster of rub-on hearts in the upper right corner. I used a sketch from a new sketch site I found, Inspired Blueprints - very cute sketch, so glad I found the site!

All right, I'm off to study for a few hours... hope everyone has a fabulous Friday night and a great weekend:)

More scrappin pages....

OK, finals are on!! I've actually been studying this week but managed to pull out a few more pages for VSBN at Splitcoast Stampers... :)

The first page I did was for challenge G to case a page... I chose a really cute page from Scrapmom205, Hoe Down... and here's my page Feed the Animals:


I used paper and chipboard embellishments from Imaginisce's Wild Thing collection, sticker letters and journaling block from Scenic Route, and a giraffe sticker from my stash. Part of the challenge was also to create a handmade embellishment - I created the vines on the right side of the page using a QuicKutz vine and some stickles.

I also finished this DPS tonight for challenge H, which was to scrap doggie pics with a doggie quote.... here's both pages together:

And then quick views of each page individually so you can see them a little bigger:

I used paper from Basic Grey's Sultry collection, and some stamps for the quote from Cloud 9. The quote is "Happiness is a warm puppy" from Charles Schultz. Seemed to be true for my dd!! I'm gonna run because I have to go memorize super fun facts like radiology governing agencies and protection acts... yummy! Will slide in another page or two before the weekend if I can... have a great day!

VSBN!!

Hooray hooray, it's time for a VSBN!! I love a good excuse to scrapbook, especially since I have finals this week and so I really SHOULDN'T be scrapbooking... but, after all, how often does a VSBN come along??


I've been able to complete two challenges so far and have ideas for more so this post will be a quickie... the first page completed a lot of requirements... here is I am Autism:



The journaling says: You may think I'm not like you. Sometimes I need to rock or clap or make loud sounds. Things might seem strange when I'm around. But those are just surface things. If you watch me you will see I love to laugh and dance and sing. I learn things in my special way. Most of all I love to play. Open your heart and you will see - underneath it all, you're just like me.

The VSBN challenge was to title the page "My name is _______" and to journal something unusual about a person. As it happened, we are trying to raise money for Autism Speaks (check out our team at www.walknowforautismspeaks.org/palmbeach/teamjoshie2010 ) and our local scrapbook store is supporting our team, so I needed to create a page to advertise it - this challenge kind of prompted to idea for the journaling. Then, I also have been taking an on line class at Big Picture Scrapbooking and haven't had time to complete any of the assignments yet (yikes!), so I encorporated the sketch from my class (called Design Your Life with Cathy Zielske - very cool class!) So, lots of purpose behind this page! I was pretty excited to get the title to print in the picture - my first time playing with pse... the paper is from Creative Imaginations. I chose it because the puzzle piece is sort of the universal symbol for autism support.

The next page was for a challenge to create a page resembling an album cover called Busted Stuff... here's the page:


The placement of the main photo and the cut out photo are cased from the album cover, as well as the torn effect... I also used "Busted" as my title since I have PLENTY of photos of my son getting totally busted! I used paper from Bo Bunny's Grease Monkey line because it comes already looking paint spattered and distress - perfect for this page! OK, off to scrap now - hope to have more to post for tomorrow!!

ATC Technique Swap II

Happy New Year everyone! I don't know about where you are, but it's COLD here! Which is strange, considering I live in Florida - it's actually in the 20's tonight! So I'm getting ready to snuggle in, but thought I'd share some technique cards I mailed out today for an ATC swap... I would like to say that I learned all the techniques I used from Pat Huntoon's Technique Junkie Newsletter - I got a subscription this year and I've really been enjoying it! You can contact her at phuntoon@optonline.net if you're interested in a subscription...

The first set I made used the mono masking technique - I have previously shared a tutorial on this technique but this was my first opportunity to swap with it. Here's my new mono masking example:

I enjoyed making this one because I've always loved the blue and white color combo and it was fun to be able to make a card using it. I used a SU set, Infinite Goodness with Night of Navy ink and cardstock along with Whisper White cardstock. The eyelets were from my stash.

The next technique is called Herringbone - it basically involves a specific placement of little strips of paper. Here is my example, using patterned paper from Basic Grey's Eva collection:


I made several of these using the paper in different areas and this turned out to be my favorite. When you don't get the colors and patterns right it just kind of looks like a mess, but I thought this one turned out pretty cute. I didn't want to add a lot to the card because ATC's are so small that a lot of embellishing would have covered the technique, so I just added a small flower and a gem.


I thought this next one was a cool idea and something I had never thought to do - emphasizing a stamped object by coloring around it instead of inside it. The technique is called Coloring Outside the Lines. It took me a while to decide on an image to use, but I finally picked this coffee cup from Flourishes...



I found some patterned paper that went pretty good with my copic colors in a 6x6 Basic Grey Marrakesh pack and decided to pop the image by matting in black; I added the black button which I think kind of makes it look like a little door or something... Anyway, it seemed like a good idea at the time:)

The next set I made used the Brick Wall technique - this technique I learned from Splitcoast Stampers. I had already made one ATC using it for the Pat 13 swap and it turned out really cute - this one not so much but it's OK I guess. I think I needed a more defined image on the bricks.

I stamped the background mat with a Glitz background stamp to give it some texture. For the second layer I tried some collage stamping; this is something I'm usually not particularly good at because my nature is very symmetrical and thus everything I stamp tends to look symmetrical rather than having the random effect neccessary for collage stamping; this one wasn't too bad considering past attempts. The sheet music stamp was also from Glitz; the other stamps were all from a cute little Crafty Secrets set that I won from them last World Card Making Day... I love their stuff!! After I stamped all the images I used the Faux burnt paper technique around the edges. The image on the brick wall is actually a face but it doesn't come out very clearly... I added a little flower and lock from my embellishment stash. Overall a lot of work went into this one so I was a little disappointed that I didn't like it very much when it was done, but I learned from it so that's a good thing.

The last technique I tried is called Jenny's Coat... it's a variation of Joseph's Coat using patterned paper instead of a stamped background.

I ended up not being very happy with this one either. I tried really hard to get the ink to cover the patterned paper but it still shows, so the cool effect is kind of lost. Maybe if I had chosen a lighter color of pattern paper it would have worked better; if you cross your eyes you can kind of see it as it was intended, so maybe everyone who receives one will do that! I again used paper from my Basic Grey Marrakesh pack for this card - I love the colors and thought it would be cute, and it probably would have been if the ink would have covered a little better. The cat stamp is from Will n' Way stamps... I bought it at a lss several years ago and have never used it, so I was glad to finally try it out.

Thanks for checking out my ATC's.... hope it's warmer where you are than it is here!!