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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"My Brave Girl" for Scrap Much?

Hey, everyone, I'm doing a quick post here to show you a page I just finished!  I want to get it linked up to the Scrap Much? site in time for their sketch challenge, which is why my photos are unfortunately a little...just bad!  But it gets dark so early here now, around 4:30 p.m.  Needless to say, I wasn't getting any natural light at all, so I did my best.

Here's the double page spread in its entirety:

I took Ailis to Prince George last month to get her braces on.  It was a big event in her life, and she took it all in stride, as per usual.  She's such an easygoing kid!

Here's a closer shot of just the left side:

And then one of the right:

And here are a couple of close ups of my embellishments:

All products are from my November Counterfeit Kit.

And here is the lovely sketch from over at Scrap Much?:

And that's it for now!  I have one more page that I'm almost finished using the same November Counterfeit Kit, but I'm out of town for work tomorrow so probably won't get it done by the end of the month.  Ack, how did it get to be December already?  I'm totally not ready for it, and freaking out just a bit.  Can you believe we hardly have any snow, and I haven't even brought my winter coats up from the crawl space yet?  What's it like where you are?  Feeling Christmas-y yet?

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"Best Day" for Sketch 'n' Scrap

Have you ever been at an event and you just get so wrapped up in visiting or cooking or dealing with the kids that you forget to snap ANY photos?  I find it happens less now that I have a smartphone, but still, it does happen occasionally, and it almost happened again this Thanksgiving!  We had a wonderful family dinner this year, but I only took 4 photos to commemorate it, oops!

I love how this layout turned out, mostly because of the photos of my goofy kids!  

I used products mostly from my November Counterfeit Kit, although I did cheat a bit by adding a feather, a doily, and some olive green card stock that weren't part of my original kit.  

My other favourite things about this layout are the Kelly Purkey wood veneer pieces and the gold "foil" title, arrow, and doily.  Here are some close ups of those details:

And, as per usual, I've used a sketch for this page, this time a lovely one I found on the Sketch 'N' Scrap blog:

And that's it from me for today.  I hope you're getting lots of crafty time for yourself this month, and thanks for stopping by to say hi!

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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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"Love This" for November Counterfeit Kit

So I ran into a couple of problems while making this layout!  It was pretty funny actually, but I was following this sketch from "Scrapbook Challenges":

when I realized I had placed the background paper upside down!  I didn't even see that some of the flowers in the background paper have stems until I'd cut some parts out and glued other pieces down, and then gasp!  All the stems were pointing up to the sky!!!  Jason said, "Nobody's going to notice that."  But once I knew it was upside down, I couldn't un-know it, you know what I mean?  So I tried flipping the sketch upside down, and guess what?  I love it!!!

I had these photos printed up the other day, and I just knew I wanted to make a page with them ASAP.  They feature my daughter, Ailis, and one of her besties, Jaylen.  They were on the cross-country running team for their school this year and had a really great race here at the district meet.  

The digital frame and stamp on the photo on the left is from an app I have on my phone called Rhonna Designs.  I seriously love this app, it's the one I go to most when I'm wanting to play around with photos.  Highly recommended!

Can you see what I did with the die cuts from my November Counterfeit Kit?  The title, I turned gold (well, bronze, but close enough, right?) with Versamark ink and some embossing powder, and the hearts, I inked up with some matching Distress Ink - Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers, and Shabby Shutters.  Here's a close up of the banner (also inked with Shabby Shutters) and two of those hearts:

I also decided to glue down some twine, and you DON'T want to know how long that took!  My little bottle of Claudine Hellmuth matte medium was running seriously low, and grrrrrr!  Frustration!  I might have let loose a few choice words, oops!  All in the name of art, I tell ya!

Well, that's it for now, although I do have another page using my kit in the works, so please stay tuned!  Thanks for looking!!!

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November Counterfeit Kit

Yay, it's time for a new Counterfeit Kit!  (I actually made a kit last month, but I didn't post it or use it, oops!)  This month, the task is to copy the Cedar Lane line from Pink Paislee:

Gorgeous, isn't it?

I decided to do up an "inspiration list", things from the original kit that caught my eye and which I could use as a jumping off point for my own kit.  (I can't take credit for this list idea - a few of the Master Forgers shared their lists this month, and that's what inspired me to try it this way!). Here's my list:

So, I decided to start with the brush script font, and found this great free font, called "Rebel Heart", to make some die cuts using my Cameo.  I won't tell you how long it took me to find this font, but if you love fonts and want to use this one, here is the link:

Rebel Heart at dafont.com

I copied some die cuts from the original kit to make the ones that say "love this" and "best day" with that particular font.  The leaves, arrows, and hearts are some I already had from the Silhouette online store, and the others are from a freebie cut file from Shanna Noel that the Master Forgers put up on "Forgeries on the Fourth".    

I decided to cut most of my die cuts from white or cream cardstock so that I'll be able to colour them with inks or sprays to match my project when the time comes.  I'm most excited about my gold arrows and half-n-half hearts.  I just inked them up with Versamark, then melted some embossing powder on them.  The embossing powder is actually labelled "Metallic Bronze", but I think it turned out close enough to gold!

As for the papers, I started with the floral piece on the upper left, and went from there.  I kept it pretty minimal this month.  I might have to add on a bit, I'm thinking! Anyway, I've included leaves, a diagonal stripe, some woodgrain, arrows, turquoise, pink, and grey.  Yep, I like it, I think I can work with this!

And again, I went a bit minimal on the embellishments.  I found some cute autumn-ish stamp sets in my stash.  Haven't used those in a while!  Then there's some twine and buttons, the metallic bronze embossing powder, some cork stickers, wood veneer pieces (a little gift from my friend Alison!) and a wood grain embossing folder.  

So yeah, now I'm motivated to get some pages done this month.  I just realized my last post was over a month ago, yikes!  Let the scrapping begin!!!

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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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New Projects to Share!

A few weeks ago, I brought Nolan and Ailis down to Vancouver for a little summer holiday.  Despite a couple minor hiccups, we had a fabulous time, much better than I'd anticipated!  I had them each pick one thing that they really wanted to do.  Ailis chose Playland, and Nolan chose the Aquarium, and of course, I was a snap-happy momma!

I was pretty excited to get a layout done of some of our trip photos, so when I saw this sketch from Sketch N Scrap:

 I pulled out two photos from the Vancouver Aquarium and set to work with my July Counterfeit Kit.  Here's what I ended up with:

  

The glare on the photos is actually from the flash reflecting off the plastic dome the kids had stuck their heads up into.  They're so goofy, they make me laugh!

At first I wasn't too keen on how this layout was turning out - the colours were too predictable, and there wasn't anything special about it.  That's where the texture paste came into play, which I spread through a stencil and then brushed some Lindy's Stamp Gang spray over top.  (My bottle is plugged up, but painting it on worked well in this case!)  I inked most of the edges, too, which I haven't done in a loooooong time, but it seems to add some dimension, so I'm happy now with the final product.

Here's a couple of close-up shots, one of the banner in the upper right:

and another of the journaling:

Which brings me to my second project to share - a birthday card for my 13 year old baby boy!  I don't even know how this happened, how is Nolan now a teenager?  I'm freaking out a bit here!  

Anyway, I wanted to make my boy a card, and I knew I wanted to use one of my new CTMH stamp sets, so I looked around for a suitable sketch, and I found one at Freshly Made Sketches, a new-to-me site:

And here's what I came up with: 

I really love how this one turned out, so much that I might have to duplicate it again soon!  As for Nolan, I think I may have gotten a grunt in response to this card, but that's about all I expected - he is a teenager, after all!  And I did miss the deadline to get this card submitted, but that is also nothing new!

So that's it from me for today - thank you for stopping by to take a look.  We hosted a BBQ here on Friday night, and it forced me to clean up ALL my scrapbooking clutter, so now I have an absolutely fresh counter to mess up.  Now I just have to decide on a project to work on...

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New "Starting Point" Layout: "Your Time to Shine"

The coolest thing about this page is that I didn't use a sketch.  What?!  I know, right?  I've been stuck in this mindset where I feel like I can only create a page using a sketch, but why?  Habit, maybe?  Anyway, when I read my good friend Alison's post, reminding me about Shimelle Lain's "Starting Points", I decided to break free and just go for it.  Here's what I ended up with:

This was surprisingly easy - I started with a 4.5"x12" strip and a 4.5"x6.5" rectangle layered onto my background cardstock.  The two smaller border strips were also part of the original starting point recipe.  From there it was just a matter of figuring out how I wanted to layer my photos and what embellishments to add.  That part was relatively simple, too - I only needed to dig into my Counterfeit Kit to find some suitable die cuts (the lacy border, doily, stars and title) and then ink them up to match.  

I've been wanting to scrap these pics for a while. I took them last spring when the kids were visiting my mom-in-law at her long term care facility.  I know it's hard for the kids to visit her there: there's lots of older folks who are less independent than their grandma, which can be kind of scary.  But they did really well and got her laughing so hard with their antics - definitely a memory worth preserving!

Well, I hope you enjoyed stopping by my blog today.  If you are stumped lately with your scrapping, I highly recommend trying a Starting Point layout - I will certainly be using this process again!  And considering it's only Saturday, I might even try it again this weekend!

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July 2015 CKCB Members' Blog Hop

Hey everyone, and welcome to my first ever post for a Counterfeit Kit Challenge Blog Members' Blog Hop!  You should be arriving here from Gabrielle's blog, but if you got lost somehow along the way, you can always head back to the CKC blog to find the full list.  

If you would like to see the kit I put together at the beginning of the month, you can visit my post here.  Are you done with that?  Okay, well then, here is what I put together with my my mishmash bunch of supplies:

I freaking LOVE how this page turned out!  It is something entirely different than what I would normally put together, mostly because of the products I had to work with.  Individually, the papers are rather masculine and/or bold, but because of the feminine photos, doilies, and butterflies, I ended up with a completely girly page.

The Design Team members at CKCB put together a few challenges each month to further inspire members to deplete their stash, and this month's challenges are:

Challenge #1:  Picture This:  Use at least 4 photos on your project

Challenge #2:  Old Tool Challenge: Dust off an old tool and get creative

Challenge #3:  Project Altering Experience: Include an altered embellishment

I decided to go with Challenge #3 and alter an embellishment.  The doilies in my kit were originally white.  This is my take home message for all the folks out there who enjoy using a die cut machine - save time and effort by cutting a bunch of stuff at once using white or cream cardstock.  That way, you can colour them to match your project however you like!  In this case, I used a pale blue Gelato to add some colour to my doilies:

I've also been known to use Dylusions sprays or ink with this technique as well.  

Here's a close-up of another doily and my journaling:

And finally, this sketch from Stuck?! Sketches that seemed to go perfectly with my photos:

You still have time to try your hand at these three challenges, so give it a go!  And for more inspiration, check out the rest of the blogs in the blog hop:

CKCB          http://www.counterfeitkitchallenge.blogspot.com

Jemma        http://just-jimjams.blogspot.co.uk

Karen          https://pinkycrafter.wordpress.com

Tina             http://tinasscrapcorner.blogspot.com

Julene          http://julenebydesign.blogspot.com.au

Susan          http://littlethingsbigdays.blogspot.com

Laura           http://intheairingcupboardcrafts.blogspot.co.uk

Leslie          http://lcsmithsaved-outofthemire.blogspot.com

Gabrielle      http://nomorelittlemonkeys.blogspot.com

Roxanne      http://roxyrolla.blogspot.ca  YOU ARE HERE!!!

 Lisa                 http://lisahausmann.blogspot.de  GO HERE NEXT!!!

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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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"We Were Here" for Sketch 'N' Scrap

Hey everyone, here's a fun page I finished last night using my June Counterfeit Kit and a sketch from Sketch 'n' Scrap.  You wanna know what makes me the most excited about this page?  I finally got to use my Cameo again!!!  When my computer died ages ago, I didn't realize how much I'd miss my nifty cutting machine, but yeah, miss it I did!

Here's the sketch I used:

I just love those sunburst lines in the background and knew right away which cut file I wanted to use.  I love the clouds, too.  Both details seemed to go well with the theme of my page, which was a family outing to the Vanderhoof Air Show last summer as part of Nolan's birthday celebrations.  I deliberately left journaling out, thinking that I'll do another page to accompany this one with the other (big) bunch of photos I have left from that day - maybe a pocket page?  What do you think?

And finally, a photo from Awards Day!  My girl Ailis won the award at her school for Jr. Academic Student of the Year!!!  Jason and I are so proud of her!

Well, I think that'll be it for me for June!  Five layouts in total with my kit, not too shabby if I do say so myself!  Thanks for stopping by.

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"Absolutely Fabulous" for Stuck?! Sketches

Here's a sweet little layout I just finished with my June Counterfeit Kit and a couple of other challenges in mind.  That's my little Brenna Bean on her 5th birthday earlier this year.  It was her first real birthday party with friends rather than just family invited, and she was sooooooo excited!  

Even though this page is not fully stacked with embellishments, I really love how it turned out, especially the die cut flowers and the colour combo.

Here's the sketch I used from Stuck?! Sketches:

Wow, I really loved this sketch as soon as I laid eyes on it!

The flowers I made from a Tim Holtz die with various patterned papers and some Stampin' Up brads.  They were made specifically with a challenge from the gang at Counterfeit Kit Challenge blog in mind:

Challenge #1:  Patterned Die Cuts:  Use only PATTERNED PAPER to create a layered die cut for your project.

Fun stuff, I love these types of challenges!  This one completely changed the look of my page from what I might have made with pre-made embellishments. 

Anyway, it's late on a Friday night, and I want to get a card made for a little boy's birthday party tomorrow, so I better get at it or I'll be forced to gift cardless (gasp!) or perhaps even buy a card (what?!)

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