Birthday Card for "Freshly Made Sketches"

Just a quick post to show off a birthday card I made yesterday for Brenna's little friend.  Most of the products I used are from Close to My Heart, but the ink is Distress Ink.  I love this little hedgehog stamp - I definitely need to find more ways to use it!

And here's the sketch I used for my inspiration, from Freshly Made Sketches:

Now I'm off to finish my husband's birthday card - it's a little more involved than this one, so hopefully I'll be able to post it before the end of the year!

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Simple Card for CAS(E) this Sketch!

Here is a quick card I made on Sunday for a friend of mine who just purchased her first house.  I thought the "life is good" stamp was a fitting sentiment!

I used sketch #149 from CAS(E) this Sketch! blog:

Everything came together quite easily.  I used a die cut leaf from my November Counterfeit Kit as a mask, and just sponged some Distress Ink over top - Picked Raspberry and Peacock Feathers were the colours.  Then I splashed some Dylusions spray, stamped a little banner, and called it a day!

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look, and don't forget to leave me a comment!  I would love to hear what you have been up to lately!!!

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New Card for Freshly Made Sketches

I was commissioned to make a thank you card the other day, so I grabbed a sketch (pretty much the only way I can make a card!) and put this one together:

I decided to use a grey base for my card because I conveniently had the right size piece of cardstock already on my table - don't you love it when that happens?

I have quite the stack of 6x6 paper pads in my desk drawer - they used to sell them cheap at my semi-local Winners store - and went through those to choose something feminine.  I decided to go with these ones from MME's Miss Caroline pack.  

Then, I didn't want the inside to be all boring, so I added some more patterned paper, Silhouette die cuts, and enamel dots:

I really like how this looks!  I vow to decorate the inside of my cards forevermore!

And here is the lovely sketch I used from Freshly Made Sketches:

So that's it for today.  My work space is currently all clear, so now the only thing to decide is what project to tackle next.  Maybe I'll do some art journaling....

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A Simple Birthday Card for CAS(E) This Sketch!

Happy Monday!  I don't know about you, but my weekend was just crazy busy.  It's almost like Monday is time to get back to normal, ha!  Never thought I'd say that!

Anyway, yesterday morning, my hubby tells me, "Hey, it's my brother's birthday next weekend and I bought him a present - since you're going to be seeing him later today, do you think you could make a card to go with it?"  So I got to work, but whenever I think I'm going to do a quick, simple card, I overthink things and then it takes waaaaaay longer than it should...Whatever, I got it done, but if I were to go back and do it again, I would probably back that die cut banner with some white cardstock just so it would be a bit more legible.  

I used this super great sketch from CAS(E) This Sketch, which made the placement of my circles and enamel dots easier - again, overthinking tends to lead to overwhelming! 

Even though this card didn't turn out exactly as I'd hoped, I'm still happy with it, and I think I might make some more, just in case I have a manly birthday come up on me unexpectedly again!

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"Wine Diva" Easel Card

I bought this super cute stamp set by Art Impressions a while ago, and I've been DYING to use it, but just haven't found the time.  Well, yesterday was my friend Kaley's 29th birthday, so I decided it was a great opportunity to ink up this sassy diva and see what I could come up with.

All the papers and washi tape used are from Close to My Heart, and I coloured the image with Copics and Spectrum Noir pens.  I'm not the most expert at colouring, but I'm quite pleased with how the image ended up.  She looks bright and bold, which is exactly what I was going for.

I also found a new challenge to take part in!  I used the skech from Fusion Card Challenge as my inspiration, although I did end up changing the orientation and leaving out the doily.

And that's it for now, but stay tuned to this blog for more of the Wine Diva - I've already coloured up two more of this same image and just need to find a way to incorporate them into some cards!

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July Counterfeit Kit

Well, I decided since I was on such a scrappy roll in June to try and carry that momentum into July, starting with another Counterfeit Kit.  This month, the gals over at the CKC blog have challenged us to come up with a kit based in this one from Scrapabilly:

And now for my kit, starting with the papers:

Honestly, I don't even know how I ended up with this mix! I started pulling turquoise and neutral papers, and then I think I grabbed some of those "Swagger" papers from Fancy Pants, and it changed the whole look, so I decided to base my kit off the "Swagger" papers, and I kind of ended up in a whole other direction.  Do you have whiplash yet?

Then I pulled out my scrap box, and yanked a bunch of stuff that seemed to go:

Most of it is CTMH, but there's a bunch of other stuff too.  What is scrapbooking without scraps, I say?

Some bee-yoo-tee-full die cuts, most cut with my Cameo.  The butterflies are Bo Bunny:

And finally another bunch of die cuts and wood veneer.  I also made my own wood grain paper using some Kraft cardstock, an embossing folder, and a white Gelato rubbed and smudged over top.  Thanks to a tutorial posted on CKC for "Forgeries on the Fourth" for that inspiration!

So yeah, a very masculine kit for me, but I think with the extra flowers and butterflies I can make it work.  Don't be surprised if I sneak in a bit of pink!

I'm off with the two older kids on a little road trip tomorrow - Vancouver, here we come!  Not sure how much scrapping I'll be able to do this month when I get home, it'll be a rather late start, but we shall see what can be done.  Until then, my friends!

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June Counterfeit Kit

This month it seems like the ladies from Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog are doing something a little different.  Rather than copying a kit from a kit club, we've been tasked with copying one of the new lines from Basic Grey.  Here's the one I chose:

I was really drawn to the bright colours (I think everyone knows how much I love my brights!) and the geometric feel of some of the papers.  I also liked the idea of working some brown into my kit.  So, here are the papers I pulled from my stash:

Going from left to right, back to front, I have:

2 from Echo Park - "Paper & Glue"

3 from Simple Stories- "Vintage Bliss"

4 from MME - "Collectable"

2 from CTMH - I forget the name of the collection but it was a monthly promo kit

2 + a sticker sheet from Echo Park - "Everyday Eclectic"

2 from Kaiser Craft - "Take Note"

And here is a real mish mash of things that seemed to go:

Scraps of paper from CTMH and Simple Stories, wood veneer pieces from CTMH, brads from Stampin' Up, 2 packages of die cuts (one from Bo Bunny and one from Simple Stories), 2 bottles of acrylic paint, and a journaling card from Echo Park.

And that's it!  Kind of a small kit this month, but then again I'm not anticipating much crafty time in June, so maybe best not to be too ambitious.  I can always add more if need be!

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"Trouble" for NSD and Sketch 'n' Scrap

Most people reading this blog probably realize that last Saturday was (inter)National Scrapbook Day, but just in case you didn't, yeah, it is a thing!  I had kind of forgotten about it (I know, bad scrapbooker!) until I started reading my blog roll in the morning, and then shouted out to my family, "It's NSD, I am going to scrapbook ALL.  Day!"  You can imagine how well that went over.  So my ambitions were somewhat downgraded to, "Okay fine, but I want to make at least one page."  And here you have it:

I've been wanting to scrap these photos for a while, and finally I found the perfect sketch to go with them:

It's from Sketch 'N' Scrap, and as you can see, I didn't deviate much.  Papers are from Simple Stories, twine and wood veneer by Close to My Heart, glitter tape from Michael's, and a ticket stub from Tim Holtz.

A couple close ups of the journaling:

I'm quite happy with how this page turned out, and the fact that I finished it in one day!  I even had time to start another layout, but haven't touched it since.  Maybe tomorrow...

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New Counterfeit Kit for April

I know, I know, soooooo late this month! If you want to know why, read my previous post, but basically I've just been busy with traveling and family stuff.  I remain optimistic that I WILL be able to make a dent in this kit before the end of the month.

So, without further fanfare, here is the kit that the gals at Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog have chosen to copy this month:

This is the March Messy Box from A Beautiful Mess.   I'm seriously loving the brights mixed with the black and white, and I found some great things to forge, like the cards.  Here's what I came up with:

Bit of trial and error involved, but I'm pretty impressed with how they turned out.

I thought if it's a "Messy Box", I better include some messy stuff, like Dylusions and acrylic paint.  I also added some washi tape:

Some tissue paper, die cuts, and gold alphas:

And finally, some patterned paper that seemed to go along with the theme:

Back row is Amy Tangerine, middle row is all Recollections, then bottom row has two Dream Street papers, one from Simple Stories, one from KI Memories, and I'm not sure where the last one is from.

Rather a small kit, so I might be pulling other stuff from my stash as I create, we shall see.  Very excited to get messy, though!

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March Counterfeit Kit - "Sunny Skies"

Well, February was pretty much a write off as far as scrapbooking went!  With two birthday blasts, and now the flu running through the house, it's been pretty hectic, but now I'm ready to get some serious work done!  What better way to get motivated than to put together a kit?

Here's the kit the scrappy ladies at Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog have decided to copy:

Pretty, huh?  Here's mine:

I started with the papers, as usual, specifically the one in the back left.  (I apologize for the photo quality, but it's the best I could do with my dark living room!). The back row is all from Close to my Heart.  The next row down is all Simple Stories, except the last which is from Fancy Pants.  The third row has 1 Prima, 2 MME, 1 Echo Park, and one Carta Bella.  And the very front row is Amy Tan.  The last paper reminded me of the doilies in the original kit, so I chose it thinking I could fussy cut them or colour them.

Here's the rest of my kit, "Sunny Skies":

Bit of a hodgepodge, but basically I've got:

2 sheets of Echo Park Everyday Eclectic stickers and one partially cut up piece of patterned paper 

Some die cuts from MME 

Some die cut doilies, Polaroid frames, journaling cards and banners from the days when my computer was functional and I could use my Cameo

A stamp set, twine, wood veneer shapes, cork stickers, and washi tape from CTMH

Flair buttons from Studio Calico

Gelatos!  I don't have the exact colours of what was in the original kit, but close enough.

A little tin of orange buttons in lieu of sequins

Kraft tag stickers

Blue and clear gem stickers 

Two rolls of glitter tape from Michael's 

Whew, think that's it!  How about you, are you joining in this month?  You should, because I can't tell you how motivated I am to kill this kit, haha!  If you need a kick in the pants, you should give it a try, it's a fantastic stash buster!

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January Counterfeit Kit

Hey everyone, hope you had a wonderful holiday season!  Ours was both good and bad, but maybe I'll get to that later.  First off, here is the beautiful kit the Design Team at Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog chose for us to copy this month:

Wow, I really love the soft colours of this kit, so that's what I let inspire me.

And now let me introduce you to the products I've put together for my January Counterfeit Kit:

In the back row I've got some Echo Park "Everyday Eclectic", middle row is Basic Grey, Prima, Fancy Pants, and Kaisercraft, and the front row is all card stock from CTMH.

Then I have more paper!  (I seem to have gone a little overboard with the paper this month!)

Back row is MME, Carta Bella and Authentique.  Middle row is all Simple Stories.  Front row is CTMH.

I had a bit more trouble with embellishments this month.  Nothing I had in my stash really jumped out at me, so this is what I ended up with:

I've got some wood veneers that were lost for about a year and I finally found, some cork, washi, chipboard, a stamp set, tags and inks (the Distress Stain is "antiqued bronze" which is as close to gold as I had).  I also pulled together a bunch of previously die cut pieces that kind of go with a camera/captured moment theme. I reserve the right to pull various embellies from my stash as the month progresses, because I can't help but feel that this here is a rather sad assortment!

Well I think I'll leave my Christmas story for another time, as I really want to get this posted so I can play with my yummy kit!  Thanks for dropping by!

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