Frogs and Toads

I am so excited to say I finally got some scrapping done! All this in one day! I have continued the idea of challenging myself to add new things to each lo and this one was lots of fun. The toads crown(paper pups) is glossy and glittery with some really cheap Joann's glittered embossing powder ( going to try UTEE and MS glitter next) and several fonts are for a large "title." There's a bit of Spica glitter pens around the large cirlce and the word princess which didn't show on camera, and I layered the lettering with patterned paper. Even if it was a little too conservative with the colors, I am getting better about having more on the page. The greens are a little mixed but not too obvious in person... and I wish I had more imagination for embellishments, but ....Best of all it is complete! (I added more journaling on the back and I think this style suits me.) Thanks for looking!

A Baby boys album

I recently finished up an 8X8 album for a friends baby. One year later I have learned a lot and been able to use up some "boy" papers. :) Thanks so much to my fellow cricut board members who inspired me and whose ideas I have used here with my own interpretations of colors and etc....

more pages...

and more pages...

more pages...

and even more pages...

last pages from baby book...

Ya Buggin' Me: BLOG CANDY! Big Shot Bigz Top Note Die & MORE

Thanks so much for your generosity! Gotta love some blog candy...check this out!
Ya Buggin' Me: BLOG CANDY! Big Shot Bigz Top Note Die & MORE

Wow! Has it really been that long since my last post? I have had a busy week, but no scrapping. Just visiting with some fellow message board friends who each drove about six hours to come see me! Yep, I do feel special!

I am currently working on finishing up an 8X8 baby book for a friend so tune in shortly for tons of pics of the whole thing...mostly scraplifted with a dash of my own creativity...LOL.

Enjoy the rest of your summer...hurry, it's almost over! :)

My first SCAL cut using inkscape!

I am so excited. I finally tried my hand at inkscape and SCAL.(Thanks to Pam and some others who have posted help) I have cut some true type fonts in the past but this is my very first attempt at a file. It was relatively easy but it's also easy to see how it can get challenging. I modified the girl with the blankie and teddy bear from A Child's Year to create a bunny...well sort of. I think I am going to love having the new upgraded SCAL...It has layers and grouping and along with inkscape the possibilities are HUGE! But the basics are still pretty easy to use so if you are on the fence don't worry. Just go step by step! *edited to add that I do not intend to copy any images for use without purchase. This was an exercise only and I used one of the simplest images I could find. I plan on using inkscape for combining text and images I already own with my SCAL program which I feel does not infringe on any copyrights. It would not only be illegal but also unchristian to copy and use any images on carts not owned. Integrity is what you do when no one is watching! Thanks, it's just what I feel I have to do...

Challenge Layout

This layout was fun since it was a challenge to myself to use new ideas. There was even a sticky note list to refer to when considering "what can I do here" It was good to have a written guideline!
Here's my list:

• Do not mat the photos
• Do not match colors exactly
• Do not put watermelon cut outs on the page, nothing too literal
• Put at least one embellishment on the page
• Try one new technique
• Stamp on the page
• Get it done(don't over think it)!

It was pretty sucessful for a challenge. I used grommets and brads thanks to my cropodile big bite, also a watermelon looking background using Plantin Schoolbook mountians, as well as a new technique of paper tearing (I know I'm a little late on trying that) LOL.

Plus I stamped on the page using a combination of my Studio G's as well as a Stampology Sentiments stamp set, using Staz-on Timber Brown ink. I really like clear stamps since I can lay them out to make sure of the placement first.

Also, there are chipboard letters with inked edges(DCVW RAKed to me by Enfys,TY!). The B! was cut from Street Sign font cart and glittered with Martha Stewarts glitter and inked.

My friend Stephanie helped out a lot when she recommended inking using a dauber in a circular motion...Thanks Stephanie!! I just used a q-tip and the small "journaling box" turned out much better than the lettering.

Even though I am not a card maker...

June is the wedding season, especially for my friend Jann. She had two weddings in two weeks time! Her DD was married in a sweet small ceremony, in order to celebrate while her new husbands family was in the US visiting from the UK. While her son was married in a large (350+) wedding in June as well. Their family deserved some sunshine in their lives and these were bittersweet moments since the recent death of Jann's mother and some recent family troubles.

This card was made for her daughter, which was somewhat intimidating since she has quite an artistic flair of her own! I had insider information that the bride's dress had black embroidery and she chose blue with white flowers, one of my favorite color combinations as well, so I tried to make it elegant yet at least a little modern.

I think I made at least five tries at this card! Turns out I used the" love" cut from the wedding solutions cart pop dotted from a blue background with three mats! The blue border on the left is the cardstock punched from the EK Sucess trimline punch while the white was stamped with a border stamp from the Fiskars wedding clear stamp set, with blue Brilliance ink (it shimmers IRL). I also found some sentiments from the Fiskars set to stamp along the one corner.I first lined them up on the card and then just placed the acrylic block on top to make sure it was placed just right. The inside was Corinthians just printed out...I don't know about you but I always get nervous when it comes time to write on my cards! She was a beautiful bride and I hope she enjoyed it!

A Tweet Card

I had great fun creating this thank you card for a friend who very generously sent me a surprise recently. (Thanks again Megan) First of all I love surprises and second of all she sent me a cart!! Yes a real, whole, Home Decor cart arrived in my mail box! So of course I had to do something special for her card. When I recently found this grafix craft plastic at M's I had to get some to play around with. This card then just popped into my head after playing with all the images on Design Studio. I love all birds and wanted to do something a little new so here it was.

The clouds and the green (it was a tree) were from Pooh and Friends. The sun I believe was from Doodlecharms, then of course Home Decor was for the bird and branch. The branch was cut from white cardstock then colored with Copic markers. The bird was all yellow so i added some interest with my Copics again. I added a little shimmer to the sun and the cloud with Copic's Spica glitter pens...such a favorite of mine. The first layer is a blue cardstock on the inside with the sun on the corner. Then the inside of the front has the green tree top on it to hide the adhesive a bit and give the bird something to stand out against. Next the very front of the card has the branch, bird and clouds, with the sentiment clipped to it. I just happened to have that laying out :) and was able to add some ribbon to ti! :) The whole card base was a sheet of Grafix "craft plastic" .007mil. It came in 8.5X11 sheets, 25 to a pack. I found it at Michael's hiding with some stacks off to the side. This card was amazingly simple yet really something a little different. I added a little note inside written on a piece of white cardstock. It was hidden behind the art from the front so it didn't spoil the card!

Happy Birthday to the USA!...Stars & Stripes Forever

I am so pleasantly pleased to see how much my DD's love the USA. My littlest one couldn't wait to celebrate the "Happy Birthday" party! Not quite two and she does have it right! We have several grills burning, food shared, and at least two dozen kids (and a few lighthearted adults) running through the collective backyards, with games, water slides, music and fun going on everywhere. Today is a beautiful day to share and reflect on our many blessing throughout this country.

In celebration I am posting my patriotic creation. My only one...LOL. I created inchies for a swap with my message board friends recently. I planned it all in my head then designed them in Design Studio relatively quickly. I discovered quite by accident that the arrow key will move an item exactly one eighth of an inch each time.

The bases were created by by overlapping one inch strips, then the rest was created with Plantin Schoolbook elements(I used the 's from the first inchie for the third. All the white is glittered and the "stars" and the "stripes" are pop dotted. I used a red-white-blue pattern to create a coordination between them all. For the glitter, I ran the white pieces through my xyron and then put on the colored pieces as well as pop dots for the two raised bits and then glittered with Martha Stewart's glitter. That was the easiest method I found. Once I had that all figured out, they went together fairly quickly! And yes the outside dimension for each of these is one inch! :)

Win the cruise!

Did you know that by law all contests must be "no purchase necessary" Well it's true! So I added the cricut ticket link to my blog just 'cuase! Good Luck to everyone! Click the link for all the details. i am not affiliated with ProvoCraft or Cricut in any way...Except that I use many of their products :)

A Lovely Blog Award!

I was truly honored to receive a blog award....Thanks so much Denise! She has a great Project 365 blog. I see this as a wonderful opportunity to share some of my newest favorite blogs with all of you in turn.There are some talented ladies out there! Here are my 15 new favs! Well they're all new since I'm new to this!

If you see your blog here, collect your own award, post it, and send out the same award to 15 new blogs. Also post a link back to the blogger who gave you the award...me :)

And now, in no particular order:

Scrappingklo- the Bwahahaha got me!
Margaret's lovely blog - with a tutorial...
Brandilynn's- beautiful blog...
Miss Bliss'- nice work!
My Life's Simple Pleasures- a pleasure indeed...
Big Mamas Craft Room -nuf said :)
Cheryl's Spot- a lovely place to visit
Confessions of a Bling Princess- has a great bling to it
Dreamofscrappin- just dreamy!
Just-a-scrappin- WOW!
Just The Scraps- always something new and great
Scrapping Melissa- bold and beautiful
A place to BE HAPPY- a happy place
Crazy About My Cricut- Niiiice
LA's Cricut and SCAL Creations- one word SCAL files...ok more then one word! :) ~

Thanks so much to all these lovely ladies for sharing their wonderful talents!

Eeyore, Rabbit and Tigger

I had fun making these for a message board friend recently...and I learned a few things too of course. These cuts were from the Disney Pooh and Friends cart cut at 4". Since Rabbit is only on the cart once and doesn't have his name icon, I cut him one from the Hello Kitty Font cart. After the fact I realized there might be something for SCAL!

They turned out pretty well for a small disney cut and I learned that that paper changes and stretches when you cut it, and pull it from the mat. I ended up laying all the pieces on the black base cut and then glueing them one at a time so that I could make sure they were fitting just right. The piece that gives you the most trouble isn't always the one you think! I usually squeeze some glue onto my Splat Mat and dredge the pieces through but sometimes I just put dots all along the piece. My CutterBee reverse action tweezers are a life saver for this! They have a fine tip and are nonstick as well. Plus, they hold without having to squeeze. If you have never used a "reverse action" tweezer it can take some getting used to, but when you do, you'll love them! The glue I use is Scotch fast drying glue with the fine tip. I have really loved this glue. :)

My Best Work...

Not too long ago, a friend from the cricut message board(Hi Sock!) offered a RAK (random act of kindness, AKA scrap goodies). Her conditions were that we post our best work. Well, that got me to thinking...my girls really are my best work. A photo I just printed had turned out great, even though it wasn't planned. The girls all had on matching outfits that day, just to go out to play, and they stood still for a fraction of a second for me to get one of the best pictures! So, I immediately got to work on this layout.

I started with a few matching papers and tried to use the Close To My Heart "Cherish" book (which I love, more on that later). But as luck would have it, I ended up with my own thing...The journaling box is one of my favorite quotes by Mother Theresa, "You can do no great thing, only small things with great love." I also tucked a tag under the picture for more private journaling. A new thing I am loving!

Summer has begun

So, the summer solstice has come and gone and the kids are already bored, despite VBS last week and tennis starting this week for G! Since I might not have as much time to create as I would like, I was inspired to dig through my "websharing" file for things I have created in the past...one of which is my very first layout. For a good laugh!

I am lucky to have a wonderful friend and former neighbor in Grove City, PA who is a Creative Memories consultant. She was so excited about teaching how to preserve memories and get me off to a running start! I still hear her say "done is better than perfect" every time I am stuck on a layout. I still try to remember that, except for a few special layouts, I need to get it down to the page! I love the creativity that scrapbooking and papercrafting allows me. I hope to post some old crafts and some new tips and tricks coming soon! I learn through my mistakes, and since I've made many of them, I should have a few things to share! :)

Another Birthday!

Another June birthday....another card. The best part about my crafting is when I give it away! I love that my daughter felt special getting a custom made toad card. Even if it wasn't perfect, it was just for her. She had a great party day on Sunday and so did I. For a change, we had her party at the local pool instead of trying to do it at home. It was one of the best parties ever! No stress! I just enjoyed making the goodie bags as requested by my silly spicy DD G! Frogs, toads, snakes, and at least a cute penguin! She requested a skunk but it didn't make it home with anyone! LOL (For my Cricut friends: all animals from Animal Kingdom except for squirrel from Disney's Happily Ever After, tag welded from a circle tag and a scalloped circle on DS using Mini Momograms )