Sweet Shop Challenge - SSS42

I decided to play along with the Sugar Babies over at The Sweet Shop today and create a card based on this week's sketch...a round card - how fun! Of course I think I got way too carried away with DP and embellishments on my card...it's got everything but the kitchen sink on there! LOL! My circle was created with my largest plain circle Nestibilities die and then I simply added smaller scalloped and plain circles to create the layers. The DP is my "I can't stop using it" stash of Bo Bunny. This darling image, One of a Kind, is a new release from Sweet 'n Sassy...isn't is adorable! I love the look at the bird's faces as they contemplate their friend's purple feathers! And how about that square paper behind the birds...it's wood! Real wood! Isn't that cool? It's a new product that I picked up at Wholly Scrap. It's thin like paper but made of real wood, like a veneer. It looks awesome embossed and I've got to find a way to use it in a larger format so you can see the wood grain. Well...the grocery store is calling me, poor kids have asked if they can eat candy for breakfast since there's nothing else....so I think it's about time! Enjoy today's card and be sure to hop on over to The Sweet Shop to see the other fabulous creations!

Keep it Simple Sunday

Today's Tip: Create a mat and frame with beautiful paper and Nestibilities!

Today's card is a bit of a twist...I used a Papertreyink sentiment stamp for the center of my card and some darling, tiny round stamps to create the 'wreath' around the sentiment. The stamps are from a wonderful little Etsy store, Norajane. However, I did not buy stamps from this store...I purchased two wonderful pillows and when my pillows arrived I was pleasantly surprised to find that three little stamps has magically made their way in to my package. Now how did Ms. Norajane know that I was a stamper? ;-) (Aren't the pillows darling!! As it that sweet face!) To create my card I stamped the sentiment and then used the small stamps to create a circle around the saying. I used three different colors for each stamp. Then I used a die cut and a piece of designer paper to create the top layer of the card. A circle was next cut out of the center, the sentiment, etc. was added behind the circle, and a frame was added around the opening. This entire section was adhered to the card with foam tape. Head on over to Norajane's Etsy store to check out her amazing pillows and adorable stamps! And enjoy today's Keep it Simple card!

Papertreyink Third Anniversary Challenge

That's right...I'm posting two times today! I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to participate in the Papertrey anniversary celebration and challenge. Nichole has been posting some amazing contests, giveaways, and news on her blog and since I like nothing more than a challenge...(and a chance to win some free PTI goodies!), I decided to play along with today's 'Resist Emboss' challenge. The goal of the challenge was to create a project using the resist emboss technique. For those of you who have never done this technique before, it's super easy. You simply stamp a solid image in VersaMark ink onto write or cream cardstock, emboss with clear embossing powder, and then rub ink over the image so that it "pops" out. The embossed section "resists" the ink. Nichole has a nifty video on her blog demonstrating the technique. I opted for a tag tonight and wanted to grunge it up a bit...ala Tim Holtz style. I've been missing my crazy days of tag creating during the holidays...Although my family sure is happy to be eating again... To begin, I first stamped a script image, from the Background Basics: Text Style stamp set, over the entire tag. I then stamped and embossed a leaf image from the Turning a New Leaf set directly over the top of the script image. Next came lots and lots of ink, which I applied using a blending tool. I added a tiny scalloped trim on the top and bottom of the tag 'cause I like all things scalloped! The next step was the lengthy, but oh so enjoyable, one of stamping, coloring, and cutting out the leaves and flower from the Friends 'til the End set. And since I can't bear to not crinkle, age, or distress my projects I added some depth to the flower and leaves by...well...can you guess? By crinkling, aging, and distressing the edges of my floral pieces so that they were more life like and had more dimension. In case you hadn't noticed...I dig dimension...

My piece was finished by added some ribbon and a button (from PTI) along with a sentiment, which is also from the Friends 'til the End set. Oh yeah, I should also mention that I added some glossy accents to the center of the flower for...well...cough, cough...dimension (and shine). Enjoy and hop on over to Nichole's blog to check out all the fun stuff!

Sweet 'n Sassy Digi Day Challenge

OK...I'm technically a day late for the Sweet 'n Sassy challenge that was hosted over at Scrapbook News & Review yesterday but better late than never, right? :-) Yesterday our digi day started with a BIG announcement...Every day is going to be digi day at Sweet 'n Sassy!! No more waiting until Thursday for the digital releases, they'll be released as they're developed! And Korin has already posted ALL of March's releases here! The challenge, issued by Micki, was to use buttons on our creations. I decided to use an adorable Cocoa Mouse image on my tag, along with a newly released sentiment that is part of the "One of a Kind" image set. My dp is from Basic Gray and my sweet heart button is from Papertreyink. Enjoy and be sure to head over to SNR to check out the other wonderful creations posted by our DT and members of our group!

SALT Challenge - The Beatitudes

The SALT challenge blog has posted a new challenge this morning! Our challenge topic is the beatitudes from the book of Matthew. You can read Hazel's write up on the SALT blog. Just a quick note on my creation this morning as I'm running late with my posting! :-) Since I really wanted to include the entire beatitudes section from Matthew, I decided to go with a digital scrapbook page. I adore digital scrapbooking, although I'm not all that good at it, not having a ton of experience but I enjoy it all the same and hope to learn more as time goes on. I chose to focus my layout on my two sweet boys, the best kind of scrapbooking is highlighting the kiddies! Since the writing is small on the screen, simply click on the photo to enlarge the picture.

And now, my friends, I must depart!! Much to do today...sorry for such a short post!! Be sure to stop by the SALT blog to see the other amazing work submitted by our DT!

Happy Spring!

Oh baby, I wish it were Spring outside today! We woke up to no heat in the house and snow falling outside. Brrrr...Thankfully, we have a fireplace so we were able to get a bit of warmth downstairs before the furnace guy got here to fix our almost $200 problem that only took five minutes to fix....Humm....I think I'm in the wrong line of work! LOL! Either that or I'm going to start heating with wood. Ever feel like you'd like to be more in control of your own "stuff", like food, heat, electricity? That's it, I'm moving to a farm in the mountains! Right...me, the bears, and the great outdoors that should make for quite a combination!! LOL! Anyway, today's card features another soon-to-be released Sweet 'n Sassy digi image, Early Bird. Isn't it wonderful? I'm thinking this would be a great image for a window card...And how do you like my birch tree? I didn't want there to be too much brown in the picture since the nest was brown. I found that if I colored the little lines to the tree in brown and then went over the lines with a colorless blender, that a tiny bit of the brown ran and created a great very pale color for the trees. The lovely papers used are from Bo Bunny, purchased at Wholly Scrap. My fab layout is from today's Splitcoast sketch challenge, which is being hosted by Korin...owner of Sweet 'n Sassy! Why not hop on over to SCS and participate in today's challenge.... Enjoy! PS - And if you didn't weigh in on yesterday's cards, scroll down and check 'em out!

Keep it Simple Sunday (or Tuesday)

Today's Tip: You only need a few scraps of paper and one stamp to create quick and easy cards!! Sorry for the delay in Sunday's posting. I needed to make room for the Sweet 'n Sassy blog hop yesterday!! Yeah!! How exciting that we're going all digital! The images that will be announced in the next few months are amazing!! OK...today I'm calling all bloggers and card makers to weigh in on a few card designs...the ones posted today. And I want honest opinions!! Seriously! As long as you don't call me names, I can take the criticism...LOL! Here's the deal...I recently started working a few hours a week at the scrapbook store where I teach, Wholly Scrap. And I've suggested that we start offering a beginner card making class, where I'll discuss the basics of stamping and then we'll make four quick and easy cards. The goal is for the class attendees to not feel overwhelmed by card making but enjoy it and want to dive further into the hobby. So...for these cards, I used this darling line from imaginisce called Scooter's Vacation and let me tell you, the paper is to die for! Also included are some sweet little stamps that retail for a whopping $1.99! I used half a sheet of 12x12 paper and sweet little Scooter to make these cards. They were super easy, I made all four in less than an hour!

And all of the sentiments were cut from a piece of the patterned paper. Isn't that fun? I only needed one stamp to create four cards. Love that idea! However, my concern is that they're too plain, you know? Maybe that's just because we've all grown so used to layers, ribbons, and bling that a simple card can seem dull...what do you think?

My other concern was that Scooter was too light (although this is the color he is on the paper...you can see him peeking out from behind my paper strip on this last card). I tried coloring one but decided I liked him better in a cream color. I might try making these same cards but using a blue or red background paper. Humm...I'm indecisive. When I first made them, I thought they were so cute but maybe I'm just trying to convince myself! ha ha ha Anyway...that's my winded post for today! Thanks for leaving an opinion on these cards. We hope to announce the new class soon so I need to finalize my samples. At the very least, you can see how easy it is to make a boatload of cards with minimal supplies! Now someone remind of that the next time I declare that I need a new "thing" to add to my already too large collection! Enjoy!