Show and Tell

Another Sketch Card

I should say... another birthday card from a sketch. Lots and lots of birthday cards here lately!

Since I hadn't made a card using a Card Positioning Systems sketch for a quite awhile, it seemed like a great place to look for inspiration for yet another birthday card. This sketch is CPS197. Instead of making a long card as the sketch shows, mine is a standard A4 size.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I also decided to let patterned paper steal the show on this one. The only stamping is the sentiment.

AND TELL:  stamp is from Papertrey Ink (Tea for Two Additions); cardstock is Stampin' Up (Marina Mist, Ruby Red, Not Quite Navy); patterned paper is Sassafras Lass (Cherry Delicious collection) and Cosmo Cricket (Garden Variety mini deck); ink is SU (Basic Gray); felt is PTI (Pure Poppy); also used PTI's Signature Series: Flower die, SU's 5-Petal Flower punch, and yellow embroidery floss.

Wish I had more time to chit chat, but it is that busy time of year. Maybe tomorrow I'll have something to say and the time to say it. :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

welcome, baby

I've got a busy day tomorrow. I'm invited to a luncheon in honor of a new mom and her baby boy. I purchased a small gift and a gift card, but wanted a cute package for them. That definitely called for some crafting time. The gift bag was inspired by this week's sketch at Card Positioning Systems, CPS174. I'm usually a square things up kind of girl, so adhering a panel askew was a bit of a stretch for me. But — I did it. :)

 

 

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I wish I could tell you that the little button birdie in the nest was my very own idea but — not so. I saw a similar gift bag in a bookstore the other day when I had lunch with my friend. That one didn't have a feather, though. So, I guess I thought of that all on my own. In fact, I made a special trip to Michael's just to buy a bag of feathers for this very purpose. And now I have enough feathers to last the rest of my life. Guess I'll have to start figuring out ways to use them on my upcoming projects — that might be fun!

I also used a sketch from Paper Crafts Go-to Sketches to make a gift card holder.

 
Here's the back. That's where the gift card is hiding — stuck on with some removable glue dots. I think I may have done things differently if I had thought it all through before starting, but this way works. The circle flower on the front of the nest is one that I removed from that crazy card that I thought looked like a monkey face (here - scroll down a bit).

Of course, I needed a tag, too — and once I get going with a theme, I tend to stick with it. So, here's the tag.

 
AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Turning a New Leaf, Round & Round, Daily Designs Sentiments, Simple Alphabet); cardstock is from Stampin' Up (Sahara Sand, Whisper White) and PTI (Aqua Mist, Melon Berry); patterned paper is from PTI (Bitty Box Basics Dark Chocolate) and Heidi Swapp; ink is from SU (Wild Wasabi) and PTI (Dark Chocolate); buttons and twine are from PTI (Hawaiian Shores, Dark Chocolate; Rustic Jute); ribbon and feathers are from Michael's; also used Creative Memories Cutting System (circles), SU Lots of Tags Label 1 Sizzlit, Cuttlebug Tiny Tags die, a SU circle punch, and a white gift bag from WalMart.

Well, time to give you a Flylady report for Day 27 of the Beginner BabySteps. The task is to figure out what's for dinner the night before you're going to eat it. Novel idea, right? So — last night I moved a couple chicken breasts from the freezer to the fridge for tonight's dinner. Then remembered that my cousin and his family will be here tonight and we're going out to eat. Oh, well. They're not quite thawed yet anyway. They'll keep. :)

Actually, I did add "what's for dinner?" to my before bed routine because I am famous for forgetting to thaw the meat. Hopefully I'll remember to look at my control journal, right? That is not automatic yet... And I did use my "Weekly Plan" Wednesday — meaning that I spent some time planning menus and making a grocery list so that when I went shopping on Thursday after work I wouldn't get home discovering that I spent $100 and still had nothing to eat. (Well, that was a bit of an exaggeration, but that's how it feels sometimes. Do you ever do that?)

I think that's it for tonight. My cousin should be here soon. And tomorrow afternoon is Stamp Club — we're swapping recipe cards, so tomorrow I'm sharing my lemon cake recipe with you. Hope to see you then — and thanks so much for stopping by today!

fill this day with joy

We'll just launch into it here. Today's card is inspired by Card Positioning Systems sketch 161.

 

 

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Once again, my current favorite colors and papers. Once again, old sheet music. This time I shabbied the card up a little by brushing white ink along the colored papers and tea dye ink along the whites. 

AND TELL:  stamp is from Papertrey Ink (Everyday Button Bits); cardstock is PTI (Stampers Select White, Hawaiian Shores) and Stampin' Up (Green Galore); ink is PTI (Berry Sorbet, Fresh Snow, Tea Dye Duo); buttons are PTI (Berry Sorbet); button twine is PTI (Rustic Cream); also used butterflies pre-cut from Stampin' Up's Beautiful Butterflies die, music cut with PTI's Large Scallop die, Sizzix Large Snowballs embossing folder, and Creative Memories' corner rounder. 

Today I am off to get some things done. I've been doing lots of creating and lots of blogging, but not much else during my Spring Break. Time to be a little more productive.

Before I go, though — over the past few weeks I've shown you some pictures of the beautiful trees and blue skies we've been having. Today I'm going to show you some of the ugly reality that comes along with that.

And I don't think this picture of our neighbor's car taken a couple of days ago really shows it adequately, but can you see that yellowish, greenish film covering the car? That's the pollen. Our whole city has turned this color. The cars are disgusting. All surfaces are covered with the gunk. I was noticing the crevices in the parking lot at Curves are filled with yellow-green powder. I love the warm temperatures and the gentle breezes, but my eyes are constantly irritated. Between the pollen, the dust, and my contacts I'm just going to give up mascara until we get some relief. Hopefully relief will come this afternoon. Spring storms are supposed to be rolling in and the pollen will finally be washed away. And maybe we'll all be able to breathe and see again.

Thanks so much for dropping by today. Remember, if you want a big fat envelope of used church choir music, you just have to let me know. You can read the "conditions" in my previous post. I hope you have a fabulously productive day that is filled with joy. (And I hope I do, too!) See you tomorrow for my blogiversary celebration! 

Goin' shabby on ya

Or is it vintage? My natural style is so not shabby or vintage. But, it is fun to play around with different colors and styles sometimes. Expand your horizons, you know? This card was made using this week's Card Positioning Systems sketch as a starting point, CPS159.

As soon as I saw it I thought of using this swirly piece of grungeboard that I had painted and glittered at least a year ago. It's been knocking around in a drawer of miscellaneous stuff, losing glitter here and there; it was time it found a home.

And, when I ordered from Emma's Paperie at the beginning of March, I decided to get a pack of Webster's Pages petite papers. At 6" x 6" they're a small scale of their 12" x 12" designs and well suited to card making. They're also different from what I'm typically drawn to — but, well, you know... expanding my horizons.

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I really inked up those edges, didn't I? And, you know what? I'm starting to like it.

Also, see that little bird on there? I tell ya, I can't get away from them!

AND TELL:  stamp is from Verve (Philippians 4:4); cardstock is Papertrey Ink (Ocean Tides, Plum Pudding, Vintage Cream); patterned paper is Webster's Pages (Petite Papers Triple Pack: Seaside Retreat, Garden Gala & Nature's Storybook); ink is PTI (Plum Pudding, Tea Dye Duo); also used a Tim Holtz grungeboard swirl, white acrylic paint, chunky silver star glitter, and a little leftover piece of sheer cream colored ribbon.

So, I've been admiring a floor lamp in the West Elm catalog. I've left the catalog folded back so that page is showing sitting on the counter for a few weeks. I've measured and envisioned the lamp in its new home by the chaise in the living room where I want to read my Bible every morning. Today I drove to the West Elm store to buy the lamp.

The sky was blue, the trees blooming. A lovely day for a drive.

I get to the store (have to circle the block twice to find a parking place) and look around. I'm thinking, "None of these lamps look right." So I ask. Katie the sales lady and I search the catalog. We look at the website. She asks me questions like, "Were you looking at a recent catalog?" And, "Could it have been a catalog from another store, maybe Crate & Barrel?" (Puh-leeeze! I know my catalogs!) So, I leave disappointed. No lamp for me today.

But, it's still a beautiful day.

And, when I get home I grab the catalog...

and close it so I can see the...

cover...

the CB2 cover.

Oops. :)

Thanks so much for stopping by! Hope we get a chance to visit again soon...   

Singing Hello

Here's another bird card for you today. It was inspired by CPS 158 from Card Positioning Systems.

 

 

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It's a happy hello, don't you think? The leafy stem was threaded through the buttonholes. I thought that was kind of fun. Used more of that doorprize paper from Emma's Paperie. I bought these stamps from them, too — but that was last year. When the "birds" challenge was issued on the CARDS blog, I just pulled every birdie thing out that I could find and played and played and played (as you'll see in the coming days). 

AND TELL:  stamps are from Basic Grey (Birdie Trio, Hello); cardstock is Stampin' Up (Cool Caribbean, Confetti White) and Papertrey Ink (Berry Sorbet); patterned paper is My Mind's Eye (Confetti collection); ink is Stampin' Up (Green Galore, Summer Sun, Cool Caribbean, Basic Black); button is PTI (Aqua Mist); rhinestone is Kaiser (clear); also used Stampin' Up's Top Note die, old sheet music, and Two-Step Bird Punch (for leafy branch). 

Now for the other preschool leprechaun visit.

This guy apparently had smaller feet...

 
...because he walked through the paint after wielding that giant-sized brush to make a shamrock.

The kids were quite surprised when they came in from the playground and discovered that there had been a mischievous visitor...

 
... who had not only been in the green paint, but had also used green yarn to tie all their bags together.

A girl in another class (one that I didn't get any photos of because I had been the leprechaun in their room and nearly got caught in the act!) told me that she knew how the leprechauns got in the school. They had been in her car in the morning and hopped out when she got out, following her inside. 

As I was reflecting on the day I was thinking about how the kids had fallen into 3 camps on this whole leprechaun thing. There were the whole-hearted believers. They were the excited ones who followed the footprints to the doorway and threw it open to see if the little guy was hiding out there. There were others who intellectually knew that no leprechauns had been in the building, but got caught up in the excitement and the fun of it all — enjoying the pretending. Then there were those other kids. The realists. The practical ones. Like the girl in the class I showed yesterday who snatched up a footprint and shook it in the face of whoever was nearby saying, "This is just construction paper! Our teachers cut these out! There were no leprechauns in here!" I did notice that she didn't turn down the gold coins that the "leprechaun" had hidden in her lunchbox, though. :)

I've got a busy Saturday ahead of me, but am going to try to squeeze in a few minutes to post another card. Thanks so much for spending a few minutes here today. I really appreciate your visits and your comments! Have a fabulous weekend!   

Glitter Saves Anything

Well, I'm not sure if that's really true, but if you're new at coloring with Copic markers and completely over-color an image, glitter sure helps!

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At least, I think it helps. I had plenty of trouble coloring the flower and kept trying to darken it, then lighten it, then change it in this way or that way. Lots of experimenting going on. Finally I decided that I wasn't really getting anywhere with it — at least not anywhere I wanted to go — so I thought I'd try the glitter trick. I ran the flower through my Xyron sticker maker, putting the adhesive on the colored image, and then poured Prisma glitter over it. Maybe it's a little caked on, but it actually looks pretty decent in real life.

The layout of the card was inspired by Card Positioning Systems sketch of the week, CPS 157.

One more kind of funny story about the coloring. I had stamped the images and taken them downstairs to color while we were watching TV. As I sat down to color, Ken was questioning me about the markers, what I was doing, etc. I told him I was going to practice my coloring. A little while later I caught him looking at me kind of strangely. Since I knew I was going to be cutting out the images, I was coloring outside the lines so that I wouldn't have white edges. After explaining why I was scribbling, he confessed that he had been thinking that I certainly did need to practice because even he could do better at coloring than I was doing. He can always make me laugh. :)  

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Year of Flowers: Violets, Background Basics: Retro); cardstock is Stampin' Up (Confetti White) and PTI (Plum Pudding); patterned paper was in my stash; ink is SU (Pale Plum) and Memento (Black); copics are the Lavender Moon trio from PTI plus a couple of greens that I had (and since I have no yellows I used SU watercolor pencils in the center; also used an EK Success border punch. 

Yesterday it was beautiful here. Sunny. 74 degrees. Today — cloudy, much cooler, with scattered showers. I usually wouldn't mind, but our final fundraiser of the school year is scheduled for today and tomorrow. Black and white photos of the children on the playground. 

It was showering pretty good first thing this morning, but it finally stopped enough that the photographers were able to towel-dry the play equipment and take the pictures. The first couple classes got sprinkled on and I'm sure that provided some challenges for the picture-takers — especially trying to protect those gorgeous cameras from the raindrops. (I have serious camera-envy...)

Later on, though, their challenges came in other ways. Typical little-kid "I'm not going to let you take my picture" ways. Yes, the photographers definitely earned their money today. :)

That's it for now. I think I'll be back tomorrow AND Friday, too. Woohoo! And then we'll see about the weekend. Thanks so much for stopping by — I enjoy our visits! 

14

Daughter number two of our neighbors to the left turned 14 on Monday. Unfortunately, feverish me couldn't go to enjoy cake and ice cream — but I was able to quickly put a card together for her, thanks to Card Positioning Systems sketch 153. (And the possibility of winning a Papertrey Ink prize — I know, you're probably sick of hearing about those opportunities to win!)

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Now, I am hoping beyond all hope that Chloe likes purple. I'm thinking we had a conversation about the color once and that she does, but — I don't know — I could have dreamed that or something. Anyway, purple, very purple, it is. And, since Chloe likes to read, I quickly folded an origami heart bookmark and stuck it in with her card. (Find a tutorial on this website under the useful origami tab.)

We absolutely love our neighbors to the left (whom we refer to that way, because they are — physically, politically, oh — and probably in every figurative way). They are there for us whenever we need them. We've shared Thanksgiving and Christmas meals together more than once. We're the kind of neighbors where you do a quick knock and walk in the unlocked door (and hollar if they're not in the immediate vicinity). They watch our dog when we're out of town. The big girls (both teens) have stayed with us when their parents were out of town. The dad walked through the house with me last week when Ken was out of town and I got freaked out about our door that mysteriously locks itself (long story). And they're always so sweet to include us in their kids' big events. Like birthdays. I'm sorry I couldn't be there in person to celebrate with Chloe, but I hope the card helped her to know how special she is to us. (Oh, and in case you were wondering, they call us their neighbors to the right. :) It's all in good fun.)

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (2009 Autumn Tags, Fresh Alphabet, Vingage Labels, Turning a New Leaf, Big & Bold Wishes); cardstock is PTI (white) and Stampin' Up (Lovely Lilac, Lavender Lace); ink is Stampin' Up (Lovely Lilac, Lavender Lace); ribbon is PTI (Fresh Snow grosgrain and satin); also used Kaiser clear rhinestones, Stampin' Up's 1-3/4" circle punch, and Nestabilities Label One die.  

Today it was back to work. It was good to be "back in the saddle." However, there is much work to do. Both there and at home. And the school blog has been sorely neglected.

So — barring any Papertrey Ink challenges that I can't resist — I'm going to have to take a little break from here. Not long, mind you. Just long enough to get some things done. And maybe even write in and send all these Valentine cards that I've been making. (What a concept — mail a card. Do people really do that?!)

I'll miss you, but I won't be gone long. Thanks so much for visiting and I hope to get back together with you real soon!

You make the sky blue

What a lovely sentiment. Seriously. Who wouldn't want someone to think that about them?! 

This card follows CPS150 from the Card Positioning Systems blog. Well, sort of. Pretty close. OK. Let's just say it was my starting point.

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I haven't been using my Unity stamps enough, so it was high time that I pulled them out and gave them some inky love. I also shabbied up the sentiment panel by running the blade of my scissors along the edge. Don't do that too often, but it does add an interesting texture to a project.

This card also uses some of my stash of scrappy punches. I'm going to talk more about that in a minute.

AND TELL:  stamps are from Unity Stamp Company (September 2009 KOM: go ahead...WISH!, January 2010 KOM: Savor the Journey); cardstock is Stampin' Up (Soft Sky, Barely Banana) and scraps; patterned paper is assorted scraps; ink is Stampin' Up (Close to Cocoa, Bashful Blue); also used miscellaneous cut and punched shapes and mini-flower brads. 

Since I'm dipping into my stash of already punched shapes quite a bit lately, I thought I'd show you how I've established my collection. You'll probably think I'm crazy. Or cheap. Or that I have too much time on my hands. I can assure you that the last is not true. The first two? Maybe.

As many other papercrafters do, I toss my scraps into a pile when I'm working on a project. Often the pile grows quite high before I break down and do something with the scraps. Here is the way my scrap basket looked early this morning.

When my pile of scraps reaches epic proportions, I prepare to start trimming and punching. I pull out some of my smaller punches and add them to the basket.

 

(Obviously, I got distracted from the task at hand and wound up with more scraps in my basket on top of my punches. It's scary how often this happens to me!)

Tonight while we're watching TV, I'll bring the basket and my paper cutter downstairs and get to work. I trim the larger pieces with the paper cutter, preserving the scraps that have straight cuts and are a decent size. Those can be used for stamping sentiments or images for future projects. They'll be returned to the drawer where I keep paper of that color. I have a drawer each for reds, oranges, yellows, greens, etc. Not a perfect system, but it's working for me so far.

The smaller irregular pieces I'll use my punches on. Those punched shapes will be added to the proper little plastic baggie. This is how I store extra punched and die cut shapes.

Then if I decide I want to do a messy circle flower or if I need a little leafy shape or whatever, I can dump out a bag and (hopefully) find just what I need.

 
Now, do you ever wonder what Ken's doing when I'm playing with paper?

Here is what he's doing today.

We had our first floor remodeled a couple of years ago. Now we've started on the upstairs. Ourselves. Well, I should say, Ken's doing it himself. I make the decorative choices and he does the work. It's a great arrangement.

{Hi, Honey! Yep, I'm going to blog about you!} 

Today he's painting the stairwell to the bonus room (his office — he works out of our house). After the painting is done, he'll start back on the steps. They used to be carpeted, but now will be wood. It's going to look gorgeous when he's finished! Truly, he is probably the hardest working person I know. He's my own little energizer bunny! Plus, he makes the sky blue, the birds chirp, and the trees sway. Oh, and the walls green. :)

Thanks for stopping by today — and if you hung in there with me until this point, wow! I'm impressed. Have a great Saturday. I'll see you tomorrow with a couple clean and simple cards. 

be mine, valentine

It's a weekend. And not just a weekend. A l-o-n-g weekend. Yippee!

I haven't had a chance to do a card using a Card Positioning Systems sketch for quite awhile and decided it was time to get back in the swing of sketch and color challenges. So, here is one for CPS149. Great sketch, huh?

 

 

 

 

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The pink card that says "valentine" already had the inked look, so I bit the bullet and lightly inked the edges on this one. Are you proud of me? You know, it's good to step out of your comfort zone once in awhile. Although, I think I only stuck my toe out — the inking is so light that you might not even be able to see it!  

AND TELL:  stamps are from Papertrey Ink (Heart Prints); cardstock is PTI (Vintage Cream) and Stampin' Up (Confetti White); patterned paper is from Crate Paper Blue Hill Collection (Breeze); ink is PTI (Sweet Blush, Tea Dye Duo); ribbon is PTI (Vintage Cream satin, Sweet Blush grosgrain, Vintage Cream twill); also used a printed card from My Mind's Eye (valentine), the EK Success medium heart punch, and A Child's Year Cricut cartridge.

Not too talkative today, so I guess that's it. Thanks for dropping by! I hope you've had a great Saturday. I plan to be back with another card tomorrow. See you then!

It's Katy's Day!

When I started my blog in April 2009 (just 4 months ago!), my first regular reader and commenter (that wasn't related to me) was a young lady in Florida named Katy. I don't remember exactly when she found me, but over the months I've enjoyed checking her blog and keeping up to date on her family as well as her crafting. She's active on the Papertrey Forum and I'm amazed at how she is always ready with a link that answers someone's question. And she's always spot-on. We even got to meet briefly at the CHA SuperShow (which I wrote about here — including a picture of us together).

Through our communiciations during the weeks leading up to CHA, I learned that her birthday is August 26. When I found that out, I knew that I needed to create a card for her. Just when I was getting ready to start, Dawn McVey's latest color challenge came through — so this card meets that challenge, but it's really inspired by my fondness for Katy and her encouragement to me over the past several months.

I also used sketch CPS130 from Card Positioning Systems. 

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To make the patterned paper, I stamped Background Basics Text Style in Melon Berry and then randomly stamped images from Floral Fusion over the writing. Since the little pink flowers seemed too bright when I first started, I stamped each one off one time on scratch paper before stamping "for real" (Hibiscus Burst ink). The sentiment was stamped first with Spring Moss and then stamped again (slightly down and to the right) with Vintage Cream to create sort of a shadow effect.

Here is a little peek of the writing panel I attached inside the card.

AND TELL:  supplies are from Papertrey Ink unless noted — stamps (Floral Fusion, Background Basics Text Style, Star Prints); cardstock (Hibiscus Burst, Spring Moss, Vintage Cream, Melon Berry); ink (Melon Berry, Hibiscus Burst, Spring Moss, Vintage Cream, Tea Dye Chamomile); ribbon (Hibiscus Burst satin); gems (clear rhinestones); also used Fiskar's Apron Edge punch, Stampin' Up's die Lots of Tags Label 3. 

Thanks for stopping by today — and if you get a chance, click on the link to Katy's blog (in first paragraph above) and wish Katy a happy birthday! She's a sweetie and she deserves the best!

Tomorrow I'll start showing you the gift that I made for Ken's mom for her birthday. It's similar in nature to what I gave to my mom (here), but with that bright-colored, trendy, Evelyn twist. Have a great Wednesday!