February Scrapbook Page

Ok, this is the last post today, I promise! I also promise myself that every month I would do at least one scrapbook page. Yes, I know that others do one page a week but I should really be focusing on school and not doing any! :P So, I did this layout for my 2009 NY Marathon scrapbook and I used the Tuesday Morning Sketches' colors and ten lacing brads for the Scrap Our Stash 10 for '10 challenge. This is the first time I've ever done any journaling on a page and the first time I've ever had a scrapbook page all laid out in my head before I laid it out on paper. In fact, I took this photo of my shoe when I took off the real shoelaces to retrieve my d-tag from my shoe. This is an 8x8 page so that shoe isn't 10 inches tall it's more like 6. :) That's pretty close to real life which goes pretty well with the real d-tag (BTW - the d-tag is the timing device that they use for making sure that people actually run the race and to get an official finish time) and the real color of the laces. The TMS colors this week are chocolate chip, vanilla, and light orange. I did pretty well with the vanilla and chocolate chip but deviated a little bit with the light orange. See, the shoe laces that I actually wore on my shoes were BRIGHT orange and matched the d-tag. So, I'm sorry Melissa, I hope you understand! :)

Scrap our stash 10 for '10 - Easel Card

So, I'm on a bit of a post streak today even though I'm not "supposed" to be working on crafty stuff! I am killing 2 birds with one stone with this card, (1) It's a b-day card for our girly swap and (2) I used 10 stars on the card which met the Scrap Our Stash February challenge. The stamps that I used are the rocket and stars from the robot set that Laurie brought me from California at Christmastime. This is the first easel card I've ever made and let me tell you it was super simple. I cut a piece of  paper 4" wide from a 12x12 sheet of cardstock. Then I scored it a 4" and 8" and folded them in. Then I scored the middle 4x4 square at 2 inches. I glued the top two inches to the back of the card front and then did a lot of creasing of the scored folds. I feel like I either need to find someone else's tutorial to show you or I need to make another card and make my own tutorial. Ok, I'm going for option #2. See you after Orlando! :)

Scrap our stash - Spring Cleaning!

After reading the Scrap Our Stash challenge blog, I decided to take part in their spring cleaning challenge. This is a quick post just to show off my DISASTER of a crafty area. Once I took the picture I had to clean it up. I think I'll let you look at this mess for a while before I post the "after" photos.

Room details:

Location: My basement

Flat surfaces: 4 - two computer desks, one table that was formerly a bar, and the empty keboard tray on one of the desks

Shelves - two corner shelves and a printer stand (that is exactly 12 inches wide!)

Drawers - Three stacks but only one is 12x12 friendly. :(

Junk - Yes, did you look at the photo?

Silhouettes of a crafty hiatus

Here's a card using something old (Bazzil Basics black stock), something new (Dream Silhouettes stamp from Sweet n' sassy stamps), something borrowed (Stampin' UP Sentiment that I borrowed from Molli), something blue (ribbon from stash). No, the card's not getting married but it is serving as an important messager. Unfortunately, one of my friends is grieving over the unexpected death of her father and since I live so far away I'm sending her this card.

The embossing powder is such a dark blue, that it looks black. It works anyway. :) Also, I have a pretty heavy hand on the stamp so the bottom two lines aren't as crisp as they could be. I'm working on that.

Even though I claim to be on a crafty challenge hiatus this card is for:

• Get Sketchy #27
• Raise the bar #7
• Cute Card Thursday #101

Hope you enjoy my poor attempt at a hiatus!

Card details:

Paper - Black by Bazzil, Salmon adhesive cardstock by DCWV, Striped pattern by My Mind's Eye

Stuff from my stash - Ribbon, Buttons, Flowers

Stamps - Sentiment from Stampin' UP and Dream Silhouettes from  Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps

Embossing Powder - Mettalic blue from Ala Mode

Waltzingmouse Stamps Customer Blog Hop (AKA - My very first blog hop!)

Welcome! This is my very first blog hop and I'm super excited! I hope this is just the beginning for me! :) (Ok, I'm a bit excited right now! :D ) You should have come here from Julee's blog and if you've just stumbled on my blog today, you'll want to start from the beginning at the Waltzingmouse Stamps blog. Because I'm across the pond from Waltzingmouse Stamps and still lusting after a set from Claire's awesome collection, (my next set of stamps will be from Waltzingmouse Stamps though! Right, hubby?) I am very happy to be sharing with you Waltzingmouse Stamps' first digital templates. I hear that digital stamps may be next! Yay!

On to the project! I used the super cute Spring Basket Template both ways (tall and short) to make a basket and a "vase" for Easter. I let the hubster pick out the colors and I'm sure by the time he reads this he'll already know why! (Hi, honey!)
For both of these, I used whitecore pastel cardstock from DCWV and did all of my decorative trimming with a scallop blade in my Fiskars rotary trimmer.  For the handle on the short basket I used a blue piece with an "inverse scallop" on top of a normal scalloped yellow piece. For this project, I started with 12 x 12 paper and trimmed it to 11 x 8.5. I used the trimmings to make my handles. Each handle is 1 inch wide and 10-12 inches long. I should also mention that I broke the rules a little and folded over the liner so that the little basket had a flat edge with contrasting scallops on the outside panels. (This involved a teensy bit of trimming and some engineering with the handle.) Apparently, I can't follow a template any better than I can follow a sketch which is how my tall basket turned into a short vase.
I feel inclined to share how I made my basket into a vase. So, here's what you need to do - put your basket completely together except for the liner. (We'll get to that later.) Take a very sharp craft knife and cut across the base of the "basket" piece (you should end up with 6 flaps where you had a solid basket. Using sticky dots or glue glue each of the flaps to the inside of the "shaft". Attach the handle. Next, you can either glue in the liner and do the same cutting process or you can cut it into 6 pieces before gluing it into the basket and the shaft. Next, you need to decide if you will be using fresh flowers or silk flowers. If you are using fresh flowers you can cut a sandwich baggie in half (so that it's short) to wrap the stems in (to protect the paper) and then place them into the vase. Voila!
Thanks for joining me on this magical hop adventure. Next, up is Tamara and don't forget that you can always check out what's going on at the Waltzingmouse Stamps Blog!

One last challenge post before I go!

I have to go back to school tomorrow and between school, work, two onsite interviews in the next week, I just don't see much crafty time in my immediate future. Ok, really, I just don't have a good enough reason to make crafty time this week...yes, I'm still on about DT calls. :D I had a lot of fun making this card because anytime I use a manual eyelet setter the dog goes bonkers running around the basement! (I couldn't get my Big Bite to set the eyelets properly. :( ) Here's the scoop on this card it's for a couple of new challenges and another Get Sketchy Challenge.

• 
  
  TCP Tuesday #97 Color Challenge - Olive, light blue, ivory
• Get Sketchy #26 - Sketch
• Cute Card Thursday - Challenge 100 Metal Mania!

I don't know what got into me, but I decided that the card needed to open a bit differently. It swings open by the metal brad in the upper left corner. This was initially going to be a birthday card with a donut in the middle but blue and green donuts didn't really look all that appealing. *yuck!* Instead I inked up my coffee set from Skipping Stones and played a bit with my blue embossing powder and glitter pen. I tried some distressing of sorts with a craft knife to change the look of the cup. I like how the cup turned out and I'm glad that the card looks good all together. However, I'm a little annoyed that I put two smudges on the card after spending  hours on the thing. Argh!

Details:

Paper - Solids from stash
Embellishments - Blue Sticky Ribbon thing from Michael's Clearance bin (but from an unmarked package)
Eyelets - K&Company
Stamps - Skipping Stones' Funny Coffee Vol. 1

Swappin' Sistahs...a little late this time!

So, I am kind of late with this post and I'm also late getting to a meeting right now. I'm making this one quick. Which is quite ironic considering how many hours I spent working on this thing!

Also, my brads may or may not match. I had to buy new heart ones...only the dog and my cats know where the ones Ren-Yi sent are.

Ok, so today's going to be one of those days. I've already written out this post twice and it won't save. So, I'm just going to say that the inspiration came from a TCP Tuesday Inspiration Challenge and to answer Laurie's question - this is how the card opens:

I'll update this post properly when I'm not at work and not angry. Argh!

Friday is relaxtion day...

This will be the first of many posts in the next couple of days. It will also be the first in a cluster of posts before a slight crafty drought. Unless I make a DT...*crosses fingers* Here is my card for this week's Tuesday Morning Sketch, Die Cuts R Us Challenge 26, TCP Tuesday, A Spoon Full Of Sugarand the Whiff of Joy Challenge pearls and swirls challenge.

This card is based on a difficult sketch from TMS, I just tweaked the sketch ever so slightly (turned it and nudged the middle elements up). I really tried to follow the sketch...so, close! I used pearls and swirls but I wish I had some off-white or sage/olive pearls instead of the white ones. But I think there's enough sage and tan around that it reflects those colors. Ah, colors...

So the first papers I picked out were green, purple, patterned, and designed. Major fail once I found the DCRU challenge to use non-designer, non-patterned papers. So, I used solid papers from my stash and even used a roller stamp from my first PeachyCheap purchase. I was inspired by the Skipping Stones Hop(e) for Haiti and, so I finally inked up my funny bras stamps. I paper pieced the bra and hanger together and I'm pleased with them together. Then, I busted out my corner punch, embossing powder, and Cat's Eye Chalk for distressing, and got to work. Hope you like the end result!

Details:
Embossing Powder - Sage Metallic and Gold Metallic from A La Mode
Stamps - Glitz Giant Roller Doodles and Skipping Stones Funny Bras Vol. 1
Embellishments - Pearls by The Paper Studio
Corner Punch - Fiskars 4-Corner Punch
Ink - Gold by Martha Stewart
Paper - Solid sage greens and tans from stash

Sometimes, the dryer is the only free place for photos!

I'm not a particularly confident person when it comes to my crafty skills. However, I saw a DT call and I'm thinking that I'm going to apply. So, if you could, comment lots on this card...give my crafty confidence a little boost. :) On to the card!
This card is for the Sketch N Stash Challenge, the SPCC Color Combo #35, Your Next Stamp Spring Color Combo, A Spoon Full of Sugar Challenge #91, and the Pollycraft double-up challenge. Ah, multiple challenges, how I love thee. Anyway, I'm really excited about this card because as part of the SNS Challenge, I needed to use some new/neglected/never used part of my stash. So, I used two new stamps, new ribbon, my neglected buttons (Ok, only one neglected button! Ha!), and my neglected glitter paper. I'd just like to say that I love this card. It's so summery and it makes me feel warm. Ah, summer, are you here yet? (Because let's be honest, "spring" is another term for "mild winter" in Montana!)

Card Details:
Glitter Paper - DCWV
Solid Paper - Bazzil
Ribbon - Offray
Sketch - Sketch N Stash Challenge
Color Combo -  SPCC Color Combo #35
Stamps - Sun image from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' Spring Scenes and sentiment image from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' Snow Friends
Ink - Marvy Brush markers
Button - Stash from Goodwill

The card that HAD Glitter on it

Apparently, I have a thing for making the background hearts show. (See post below) That's, again, why I tweaked this card's sketch (thank you CPS). This card is a fail on manly love card it has ribbon, a HUGE pink heart, glitter, and the word love strewn across the front. It's still pretty simple though, and I know he'll love it! I kind of wish that Sami had a use Stampin' UP! stamps challenge because, through a random chain of events I actually used a SU stamp on this card (do you "love" it? ha ha ha)! I had a different heart over the ribbon that I glittered but I decided that I liked this one better, it seems to bring in the colors from the background paper well.

Hope you're having a happy Friday! I'm thinking I may work on a card for the Caardvarks wedding challenge Monday since there's NO SCHOOL! Yay! (But no school means I have to work, of course!)

Details

Patterned Paper and punchout - Target

Red Cardstock - The Paper Company

Ribbon - Scraps from Laurie's Swappin' Sistah's supplies

Love Stamp - Stampin' Up

Sketch - CPS #153

Ink - Copic Marker...I'm a rebel...yo...

Quick and dirty!

I got glitter EVERYWHERE while making this card. Yes, I'm aware, there's no glitter on the card. This afternoon I only had an hour and a half to make the cards I needed to have done for Valentine's Day. I used the Get Sketchy sketch for this week and (as usual) tweaked it just a bit. I used my new curvy cutter cutting system to cut out all of the pieces on this card. I like the system and it was definitely the way to go for me. I can now cut some basic shapes in very large sizes and small sizes. Both of which I need. Way cheaper than buying a bunch of nesties (which don't go as big as I need) but just as effective!

As usual, I tweaked the sketch just a little bit. I wanted more of the whole hearts to show on that background paper. Now that the hubby is away from his RSS feed for the weekend, I can post his new V-Day cards! :D (Yes, cards. I'm a technical writer, what did you expect?)

Please note that I have again made a "glitter/flower/massively-pink/ribbon"-free card for Mr. Man! Yay! By reducing bumpy embellies on the outside, I also maximized the amount of room I have to write in on the inside!

Details:
Red Cardstock - The Paper Company
Patterned Paper - Target $1 bin
3-D Pop Dots - Some random adhesive company! :)
Sketch - GS #25

To my devoted husband...

I love you very much. However, I am aware that you read my blog. Also, I posted "your" V-Day card on my blog. This arrangement bothers me greatly, because that means that you've seen your card. On another note, that card is quite small. I need room to write. Long story short, you're not getting that card...for now anyway. Don't be surprised come Sunday.
Love you,

Your psychotic wife!

The Box

So, you get another short post today but since I work on Friday night (loads of fun!) I intend to finish a couple of these posts! This is another Tuesday Morning Sketch inspired creation. I learned something that they never taught me in school - Measure twice, cut once, try folding and fitting, CUT AGAIN, and glue once. Another thing that can't be taught in school is how to cope when your measurements weren't good enough the first time! (That glue was permanent...those were my only two sheets of paper. *sigh*) This box went from being a two piece get-up (a box with a lid) to a one piece contraption (a box with an attached tip-open lid). I used the exact same paper, ribbons, brads, and flowers as I did on the card set inside. There are even some envelopes in the box! Yay! I have just a smidge of ribbon and a couple of flowers left so I may have to decorate a pen to put in the box as well! Enjoy my slightly cock-eyed attempt at a card set!

Details:
Medium Weight Natural Chipboard - Grafix
White Cardstock (inside box) - The Paper Company
Polka Dot Paper - My Mind's Eye "All Girl" Stack
Flower - Fabric Fancies "Aquamarine"
Brads - SEI "Wintersong" Collection
Pearls - The Paper Studio
Ribbon - Goodwill Stash
Adhesives: Zips (ribbon adhesive), 3M Clear Scrapbook Glue

It's been a while...

I decided that I would use the Tuesday Morning Sketch to make a sweet little notecard set this week. You'll see this set of cards again next week because I'm going to use the next sketch to make a sweet box for this card set.
That's all for now, I'm grossly involved right now in my thesis. It's like housework, I need to do it while I'm motivated!