Blogger is a jerk!

I don't know what happened but apparently Blogger ate all of my images. I'll check back this afternoon and if they haven't reappeared, I'll reload them this evening. Hope you had fun reading my grumbly rumbly!

Waltzingmouse and Stamping Around - A challenge made in heaven!

(This is my second post of the day. To see my TMS submission, please click here.)

I'm on my way to a 1-year-old's birthday party. (I made this piggy bank for her birthday.) To make it a bit easier to handle this adventure I got a bit crafty this morning. I used the Stamping Around Inspiration challenge as, well, my inspiration. I picked up the pretty colors and the stacked plates as elements in my card. To be honest, I am pretty excited about this card because it is pretty different from the cards I normally make. I was inspired by the Raise The Bar challenge to mix it up...and I did! I actually sewed. More than that, I sewed beads onto the card. This is my first experience with Gamsol and colored pencils too. All in all, I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out.

A Hallmark Holiday and a Tuesday Morning Sketch

So, I don't make cards for people. Well, I make cards and give them to people, but I don't make cards for people to give away to other people...this is confusing. I don't make cards for hire. But when my mom asked me to make cards for "provider's day" I caved like a piece of limp celery and found myself struggling to make something. I wanted it to be simple and durable because they were going to be passed around the office for signatures but, I didn't want them to look like I just slapped it all together. So I picked a sketch (Tuesday Morning Sketches #38) and got to work. I made three cards and gave myself heartburn. I'd say "never again" but I know I'll give in to my mom again!

SRM Stickers has inspired me...

...to make a baby card! First of all, I'd like to thank Get Sketchy for introducing me to SRM Stickers. Secondly, I'd like to thank SRM for making an incredible line of stickers that I REALLY want. In fact, I want them enough to make a baby card! *Gasp!* So, for any of you who know me well, you know that I'm not going to have kids until after the hubby and I go to Europe on vacation. (That same group of people also knows that I'm about to graduate with 6 years' worth of student loans coming due in November!) So, pretty much what I'm saying is that I'm not having kids any time even remotely considered soon...or so I hope! But my friends are...
So, I made this card for the next happy lady that I know who happens to become impregnated with a female form of these so called "babies." (Can you see why I'm not all gung-ho for my own yet?) I had a lot of fun making this card though. It gave me a chance to try my hand at faux stitching...and then covering it up! Which lead to my first experience with Stickles...and if you give a Stephanie a cookie...
Anyway, I used letter stickers for the first time in ages. And I used a new trick I picked up a few Frugal Fridays ago on the Scrap Our Stash blog (the base card is from the packaging for the stickers)! I used this week's Get Sketchy Sketch #30 (and blog hop EXTRAVAGANZA!) for the layout of my mini card. Well, it was a 4x4 mini card until I saw the packaging for the stickers and then it turned into a 4 3/4 x 4 3/4 card! I'm still claiming it's a mini! Hope you like it. I'm going to go practice saying "your baby is so cute" for a while, I've got at least 9 months with most of my friends! ;)

A good way to say I *heart* you!

So, not too long ago I got some pretty roses and a card from the hubster. Also, not too long ago, I was in my LSS and I saw a set of stickers that I just had to have. (I'm getting somewhere, stick with me!) Last night, while the hubster was riding away on the exercise bike I snuck away to my craft cave and made this sweet card for him. A little background - this summer I went to the SF Museum Of Modern Art and I saw the famous Robert Indiana "LOVE" painting. I fell in love! Does that explain why I just had to have these stickers?
Enough with the sappiness, here's the scoop on the card. It's for 2 challenges, the March Scrap Our Stash challenge and this week's Die Cuts R Us challenge it's a recipe - 3 jewels/buttons, ribbon, 2 die cuts, and one stamped image.
I used my (old) first set of Nesties (labels 3) to make my two die cuts and couldn't keep my hands off of the fuzzy flocked paper in one of the (new) DCWV stacks I got for Christmas (Downtown Loft). I pulled the shades of brown from my (old) stash of cardstock and did the same with the ribbon. The stamp is from the drawer of doom (aka - clear stamps without backing live there) and I used Al A Carte embossing powder. My jewels/buttons are, in fact, jewels but you can't see them very well in this photo. There is a pretty heart one on the LOVE sticker and two little round ones accenting the embossed swirly. As you can see, I still can't tie a bow...but that knot is HOT!
PS - I took this photo in my liquor cabinet....I don't drink much but I drink well! :)

And now for something a little different!

The Tuesday Morning Sketch this week is actually a challenge to make something other than a card. Of course, once I figured out what I was making, I had to make a card to go with it. :) Here it is, Serena's first birthday gift!

What is it? It's a piggy bank! This however is the point where I've been instructed to "step away from the laptop if you want to go to Michaels." So, I'll be finishing this post from the road! :)
 Unfortunately, my new phone didn't play well with Blogger so, I'm finishing this post now. Here's the run down on the project. The jar is a pickle jar that I wrapped in My Mind's Eye butterfly patterned paper. I used this week's Frugal Friday tip from Scrap Our Stash to make my own "Thickers" from foam that I've had FOREVER, an alphabet that I bought on clearance, and my favorite Distress Ink pad, Worn Lipstick. This is the first time I have ever used my perfect pearls too, a little interesting but it seemed to really make the card and jar match. I am not going to lie, I really liked this project because I used a hammer, a nail, and a power drill to make the hole in the lid. Too much fun!
For those who asked - I bought some memory glass, a Weathered Wood Distress Ink pad, and a couple of other small things. Unfortunately, I have to drive 80 miles one way to go to the nearest Michaels so, it also meant a trip to Costco, Ross, the mall, and dinner with a friend. It's always fun to go with the hubby! He's a pretty great guy!

A sweet bit of Irish for you!

 

Welcome to the St. Patrick's Day blog hop with Waltzingmouse Stamps! I'm happy to be bringing you my card for this hop. Last hop, I brought you WMS's first digi templates and this time I'm using WMS's first digi stamps! Thanks, Claire! I used a bit of inspiration from CPS Sketch #55 and the supplies from our Swappin' Sistah's swap. (Thanks, Laurie!) For the first time, I actually used some Aidirondack Alcohol Inks on one of my cards. I also kind of wish that I had ironed my ribbon! :) Thanks for joining me on this hop and here are the details for following the rest of the hop!

(Details below have been"stolen" straight from Claire's blog here)

Here's how to follow the hop - pop on over to the WMS Forum here and register if you haven't already, it takes just a sec and they don't ask any awkward questions, lol.

Go to the 'Play Room' and you will see the March blog hop posts, one is a list of participants and the other is a thread for chat and the Leprechaun hunt!!!

The Leprechaun Hunt!
As you work your way through the hop you will see that the DT ladies are participating, check the DT photos very carefully, if you see any leprechauns, note them and count them all up. Post your Leprechaun tally in the chat thread that accompanies the hop list and I will pick a random winner from the correct answers to win a free Stamp set of your choice, Claire will pick the winner on Saturday night!!!

Now, happy hopping, remember the master blog list is in the forum here.

Wow! That was hard!

So, I found this challenge blog.
It's a movie challenge blog.
It hurt my brain.
I like the torture! :)
This week's challenge on Cinema Saturday is to do a card/layout based on the movie "Dear Frankie" and using a map. I did it! I used red as the background for the layout because when I watched the trailer it was the one color that stood out time and time again! Also, the map is recycled out of a NYC Guide Book, perfect for the Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge LAST WEEK. Oops! But it does work for this week's Pollycraft Challenge of sparkly things. Yay for glitter!
It was hard for me to get everything about two Broadway shows onto the two 8x8 spread but I think it turned out well. I was going to use a tiny clothes pin to hold all of our tickets but I decided that a pocket would be better because it would allow me to do some journaling on the pages. I can't believe that I've gone from hating journaling to making it an essential part of my scrapbook layouts! Oh, I'd also like to note that I did TWO pages in March! Woot!

A quick post to kick off spring break!

I'm coming in under the wire on this one but I just wanted to share this card that I made for Stampin' Around's color challenge. The colors were sugar pink, pale yellow, pale green, and a neutral such as kraft or white. This card is for a couple of other challenges but I am up way past my bedtime (I was up at 4 am for work today) and I need some sleep. I'll finish the post tomorrow. Maybe I'll also learn more about procrastination...nah, another day! Oh, yeah, I almost forgot! It's spring break! I'm free! (For a few days anyway!) Have a great night!