A Birthday Card for my Daughter (and one for a laugh!)

Finally finished this card for Ailis, hope she likes it (but she will because she thinks I'm the best scrapbooker in the world - it's nice to be idolized, I wonder how long that will last?):

I really struggled with this one, I had a heck of a time figuring out where to embellish and with what. I had to cover up some cutting booboos, so that's why the end result probably doesn't look too much like the sketch by Graphicat I was inspired by:

Anyway, I got to use my new Tickled Pink digi, although next time I think I'll print her out bigger, she was pretty hard to colour with my limited Copic skills. The paper is MME, cardstock, sentiment, and ribbon are CTMH, and the felt flower, fabric button, and lime twine are from Lovely Bug Bits 'n' Bobs. Spellbinders dies, Copic markers, a bit of Broken China Distress Ink, and a Prima flower round out the supplies used here.

And here's the card that Jason made me for Valentine's Day:

He has atrocious handwriting, not to mention he was writing with a Copic marker! It says "A Window to My Heart".

I don't know how I managed to turn over my desk, it was quite scary, but I thought it turned out pretty good considering he's never really done anything like this before. It's definitely going in my SMASH book!

I'm feeling like quite the dork today! Have you ever volunteered for something, and your efforts turned out less than stellar? Well, please, do share! Here's my embarrassing moment for today: I was planning to make cupcakes for Ailis' class for her birthday/Valentine's Day, but seeing their teacher was planning a chocolate fondue for that day and she needed 100 cupcakes for 100 Day (today), I told her I would make cupcakes for today instead. She got me to make 2 dozen, and they were to be decorated with numbers 1-24. Well, I can follow a recipe, but I'm no pastry chef, and my cake decorating skills are virtually nil, but I thought I could manage. To make a long story short, I was up until 10:30 last night making the bloody things and they look absolutely pathetic! The moral of the story is: don't volunteer to make cupcakes, or anything, ever again!!! I no longer care if I look like the slacker mom, I do not need to prove myself! (Yeah, right! Let's see how long that feeling lasts, too.)

Read More

February Counterfit Kit

There are two kits posted over at Counterfeit Kits this month, both by Scrapbook Circle, and they're both pretty stacked! I chose to copy the one above, called Note to Self, because of the beautiful bright colours and school-themed products. One of the papers, Marbles by October Afternoon, caught my eye right away, and I thought I could recreate it with some scraps. This is what I came up with:

At first I wasn't sure if I liked it, but it's kind of growing on me. It's crazy busy, so not sure what I can do with it, but it was quite relaxing and satisfying to make it (used some VERY OLD papers!), so hopefully I can work it in somewhere this month.

Here are some other papers I pulled from my stash, some brand new (top row) and some very old (the three at the bottom right):

Top row is all Simple Stories Yearography, middle is all Studio Calico, and bottom has some BoBunny, MME, CTMH, and Karen Foster.

And finally, some embellishments and alphas to go along with the theme. I started to rip up a piece of corrugated cardboard, but I lost patience and decided to leave it as is until I need it. The pieces of red and green felt are going to be felt pom poms (great tutorial here), and I would also like to print out some of the incredible journaling cards listed here, but those can be added later.

Well, we've had a very successful weekend here at the McCleary home. I managed to host a wonderful b-day party for Ailis, my mom and niece stayed over last night, and everyone is in good spirits today. Hoping for a smooth week ahead, fingers crossed!

Read More

Creative Accents February Challenge - LOVE!

I don't know about you, but I love me a good recipe challenge! It's time for the February challenge over at Seriously Creative Challenges, and we're challenging you to include some L.O.V.E. in your project! Normally, I add layers and embellishments to everything, but I haven't used ovals much since, oh, 2003? (Yep, I used to cut ALL my pictures into ovals, and don't deny it, I know you did too!) As for vintage, well, I just had to turn to my January Counterfeit Kit, and everything I needed to make this card was there:

I quite like how it turned out, and it was relatively easy to make seeing that I already had a coloured image ready to use. It's actually from a postcard I bought ages ago and held onto for who knows what! I cut some book paper for the outer oval, and stamped the card base inside and out with a Tim Holtz script stamp. Here's the inside, finished off with a scrap of BoBunny ledger paper and another piece from the postcard:

Well, by the time this card posts, I will be cheering on my boy in his home hockey tournament. Seems like the game is starting to click for him, and he now realizes he can skate with the puck! (Go figure!) Have a fantastic weekend, everyone!

Supplies: Close to My Heart cardstock, MME and BoBunny patterned paper, Tim Holtz stamp and Distress Ink, Prima flowers, buttons, ribbon, and book paper from my stash

Read More