Rock On!

This is my 2nd post for the day, so make sure you scroll down to check out my card! Dang it, I missed the deadline for CPS on that one, so I'm just kicking myself...

I loved the colours over at Design Dollies this week (they've got a new format for challenges this year, so make sure you check it out!) so I went through my stash of photos to see which ones would go with Kraft, Blue, White and Red. I had a few options, but I chose these ones from almost 12 years ago because they would work with the sketch this week from Sketchy Thursdays. My friends and I went to a large outdoor concert, and every time I look at these photos, I laugh - what dorks we were/are! Anyhoo, I really like how this one turned out, even though it is very busy. It features tons of machine stitching, some fussy cut bits, some ribbon photo corners, and I was able to use scraps from 3 different paper packs. See the chipboard journaling spot there? It was the wrong colour, so I inked it up with a sponge to get the two-toned effect.

Well, that will be it for crafting/blogging today. I've got my mom here, and my hubby's uncle is going to show up in a couple of hours to stay over on his way through town, so I've got mega clean-up to do. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Supplies (all CTMH): Colonial White cardstock, patterned paper from Zippidee, Blue Ribbon, and Rough and Tumble paper packs, Outdoor Denim, Indian Corn Blue, and Cranberry stamp pads

Other: Creative Memories pen, Top Line Creations tags and letter stickers, unknown ribbon

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December Daily Day 6

December 6th was Jason's birthday, so basically I ended up in the kitchen all day! It was a good thing I had my mom and Jason's mom to help out with the kids and cleaning, because I don't entertain all that often and I don't have it down to a science like others I know (and love, hee hee!) It all turned out great, and we had a lovely evening. Jason keeps thanking me and saying how it was the nicest birthday party he's ever had.

I wanted to include plenty of photos and journaling, so I added a small page with a Prima journaling card attached back to back with some Creative Memories patterned paper. I used stamped images from Close to My Heart (the ticket-type cards on the left and the presents on the bottom right). The numeral is Grungeboard inked with Distress Ink and then covered with Perfect Pearls.

And there you have it, Day 6. I'm getting a bit behind, so I'm off to do Days 7 & 8, and hopefully I'll have another post later in the day!

P.S.- The Design Dollies elements challenge this week is "candles", so I will enter this page. I wasn't about to put 38 candles on Jason's cake, so I just put the number 1 candle on and said, "This is because you're #1!"

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B-Day Card for my Man!

When I saw the colours for Design Dollies this week (Black, White, Grey and a pop of Orange), I thought they would be great for a masculine card, and seeing Jason's birthday is on the 6th, now I have a bit of a headstart. I really like the clean lines of this card, don't you? I was going to put it in for the Design Dollies elements challenge, too (which is clean and simple with brads and beads) but I don't have many beads, and definitely none that would go with this card.

Supplies (all CTMH): White Daisy cardstock, Exclusive Inks stamp pad in Black, Noted Backgrounds and A Little Everything My Acrylix stamp sets, and Irresistables bracket

Other: Cosmo Cricket blackboard asterisk, unknown chipboard button and heart, Creative Memories grey and black cardstock

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Early Christmas Card

Here's a card I whipped up for Papercraft Star #16 challenge, which is a sketch (I rotated it) and for Design Dollies elements challenge, which is a Christmas theme. I used a freebie image from Bugaboo stamps (I love her, she is SUCH a lush!!!), coloured her hair, skin, star, drink, and baggy panty hose with Copics, and the rest of the image with CTMH markers. Oh, shoot, I just realized I forgot to put gems on her earrings! Darn it, I'm going to do that right now... okay, so picture her with red gems for earrings, and red lips. Now she looks HOT, right? Inside, I wrote, "Blah, blah, blah!" because this is a card for a friend who doesn't really do Christmas, and she's a lush, too, heehee! Alrighty, the in-laws are coming for Thanksgiving, and I should be mopping the floor or something equally entertaining instead of blogging a half-finished card. Sigh. To all my lovelies out there in blog land have a great weekend, and hopefully I'll manage to get some crafty time to myself over the next few days, or I'll go maaaaaaad!

Suppies (all CTMH): White Daisy and Tulip cardstock, Jingle patterned paper, Exclusive Inks markers in Tulip, Juniper, and Black, Exclusive Inks stamp pad in Tulip, Petite Perks stamp set (sentiment), White Daisy organdy ribbon

Other: Bugaboo stamps image, Copic markers

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Layout #66

I made this layout for the Design Dollies Trifecta last week, but I missed the posting deadline! I was really grumpy last night, too, because it just seemed like I was busy all day doing stuff for everyone else - laundry, baking, cooking, comforting, etc. etc. - and all I really wanted to do was finish this bleepin' page. That's the life of a mother, ain't it! Everybody else's wants and needs come first. Ah well, eventually I got to scrap this old photo again, and play around with stamps and ink and glimmer mist, so all is good in the end. The top right piece of paper was made with stamps coloured in with water colour pencils and stamping ink/blending pen combo, and the bottom left piece I made by brayering a piece of white c/s with ink and stamping over top. I realized as I was journaling that this photo is almost EXACTLY seven years old. The same photo makes an appearance in another album, but it is one of my faves, so I did it again on its own.

Supplies (all CTMH): cardstock (Colonial White and White Daisy), Exclusive Inks stamp pads in Black and Garnet, Exclusive Inks marker in Black, Intrinsic Backgrounds and Felicity My Acrylix stamp sets, watercolor pencils, blending pen

Other: Creative Imaginations, Scrap Within Reach, and Little Yellow Bicycle patterned paper, Black Staz-On ink, Hero Arts stamps, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist, unknown ribbon

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Quilted Birthday Card

This is my first foray into the world of quilting, and I must say, I'm glad I wasn't using fabric! Yikes, what a mess that would be! I needed to make a birthday card for my brother-in-law, so I looked through mags until I found this quilting idea in the summer issue of Scrapbook and Cards Today. You have to sew 1"x6" strips of patterned paper together, then turn the block 90 degrees and cut it into 1" strips, which you then sew together randomly. I wanted to use the Design Dollies colours this week, so I rummaged through my scraps to find strips of Red, Green, Blue, and Orange. I also had this chipboard piece that came in the mail from Mel in Australia, and the peachy orange and pale blue coordinated perfectly with the patterned papers. And then the problems began: what to put on the chipboard piece and where, I won't bore you with the details. But finally I settled for a cupcake in the middle. Huh. So, although I don't completely love this card, I did enjoy trying a new technique, so it wasn't a total loss, and really, Mike's never going to know what an almost-disaster this was! He should be happy to be getting a card at all, because I think he missed out last year, woops!

Supplies: Prism cardstock, Crate Paper, unknown, and CTMH patterned paper, CTMH Moonstruck ink, Good Times stamp set, and Clear Detail embossing powder, Versamark Ink, unknown chipboard

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Layout #59

I've wanted to do a page like this for a long time! I found a box of school memorabilia at my parents' house, and in it was an autobiography I made in Grade 6. It is sooooo cute! Really, it's like an ancient scrapbook, or something from a time capsule. Anyway, on the very last page I had to write my future plans, and I was shocked when I read it! It is right on! Well, except for the part about being in a rock band or an actress, but everything else, down to going to university and getting married and having kids. Doing this page, I figured out my printer's scanner (the photo is even printed out on cardstock) and I got to use prompt #5 from my Scrapbook Play book: copy your journaling from a childhood journal. The ruffle is from a band used to wrap a Woolrich sweater that I kept in my stash forever. I basted it, then pulled the stitching to form the ruffle. I used a sketch from Design Dollies, and also their elements challenge (this week's challenge was to use a school photo of yourself), and I also used the colours from a Scrap That challenge in an effort to win their monthly kit. All in all, I'm very pleased with this layout, and now my kids can see just how nice my handwriting was!

Supplies (all CTMH): patterned paper and cardstock from Topstitch Level 2 paper pack, Classmate Alpha My Acrylix stamp set, Exclusive Inks stamp pad in Chocolate, Exclusive Inks marker in Cocoa, Liquid Glass

Other: Prima flowers, handmade ruffle, unknown jumbo flower, brown cardstock circle, and glitter, Bic pen

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Argh! I give up!!!!

I love the colours for Design Dollies colour challenge for this week: black, white, green and pink. I have tons of pink and green scraps from Ailis's baby album, so I thought I could whip up a beautiful card. Boy, was I wrong! These cards turned out nothing like I had envisioned, and I am soooooo frustrated that I think I'm going to skip card making for the time being (at least until my Copics come in and I can play with the digi stamps again!) I used a pattern from CTMH's card pattern book, Wishes, for the first card, and after deciding it was kind of blah, I used Mojo Monday's sketch for the second card. Still kinda blah! So I decided to throw in a funny photo that I took a couple of days ago to brighten your day. Jason was playing with Brenna after a feed, and this was a result of her favourite game, 3-2-1-BLASTOFF! Enjoy, everyone!

Supplies (card 1): CTMH White Daisy cardstock base and Black cardstock, unknown pink and green cardstock, Jolee's Boutique sticker, Basic Grey rub-on

Supplies (card 2): CTMH White Daisy cardstock base, stamp pad and embossing powder, Chocolate Alphabet (small) My Acrylix stamp set, Doodlebug Designs patterned paper and sugar-coated cardstock, Maya Road chipboard paisley, unknown pink patterned paper, ribbon and lace, white acrylic paint, MAMBI glitter sticker, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist

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Fiver!

This here is a birthday card for my friend Jill. She looooooves cowboys! Her birthday's not until November, but hey, at least I'm ahead of the game. I've been holding onto this postcard with the cowboy for at least 13 years, and now I know why! And the card qualifies for 5 challenges! That's gotta be a record for me. The challenges are:

1. Design Dollies: colours this week are Royal Blue, Teal/Aqua, and Orange
2. Some Odd Girl: ribbons and rub-ons
3. JUGS: cowboy-inspired
4. Our Creative Corner: use sketch 28

5. Pile it on: OK, I just realized that my card doesn't meet the requirements for this challenge, but I've already linked up to all the other sites with this title on my post. So I guess it's not a fiver, but still, the effort was there.

So, I hope Jill's not reading this blog, otherwise the surprise will be ruined. And I hope her husband's not too jealous of the handsome cowboy I'm sending her!

Supplies (all CTMH): White Daisy cardstock, Splendour level 2 patterned paper

Other: Cosmo Cricket rub-on, unknown ribbon, postcard

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Threefer!

Is that even a word, "threefer"? What I meant was three challenges in one, like two-for-one, only with three, get it? OK, I should probably be going to bed, 'cause I'm gettin' a little goofy! I was away on a little holiday last week, so when I came home yesterday with some new goodies, I was just rarin' to go. I love this stamp set from Tim Holtz with the bird, swirl and handwriting (which you can just barely see in the background there), don't you? I think I'll be using it a lot. Anyhoo, my 3 three challenges are these:

CPS 179 Part 1: a sketch, never tried one of their sketches before, but I love it. Of course, I had to flip it around a little and change it up some, but the idea is still there.

Design Dollies: colours this week are yellow, white, and kraft. LOVE it, may use it again for a layout, stay tuned!

Stampin' Royalty: make your own background paper. I used two different background stamps to make two different backgrounds. Must get more background stamps, very versatile things, they are!

And there you have it, a nice little birthday card for my Auntie Judy, whose birthday I missed by about 3 weeks, more like 4 by the time it gets to her. Oops!

Supplies (all Close to My Heart): card base, White Daisy cardstock, ribbon slide, and flower brads, Intrinsic Backgrounds My Acrylix stamp set, Exclusive Inks stamp pads in Creme Brulee, Desert Sand, and Cocoa

Other: Tim Holtz Urban Grunge stamp set and Tea Dye Distress Ink, unknown ribbon and paper flowers, staples

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Design Dollies Elements Challenge

The Elements Challenge over at Design Dollies is a recipe this week: baby blue, ink, masking, word print paper, and stripes. Whoah, talk about a challenge! I started with the mask, which you can just see on the blue paper. It's a fleur de lis, and I couldn't get it all in, but it's really pretty. Then I got out the word print paper. I wanted a vintagey feel, so I searched high and low until I found this old postcard with the mannequin on it and cut that out. Then stripes...Would you believe that anything with stripes that I had on hand did not go with this doll or this mask or this paper? Then I looked through the whole stash of stuff I got for my Design Dollies prize pack, and saw this yellow and white striped paper clip. Isn't it awesome? That's when the yellow was introduced, so then I needed more yellow, hence the flowers. The bee and the dollar store slide frame thingey? They were totally random, and the bee rub-on was so frustrating. I went through a ladybug and another bee until I got it on there, and I still messed it up, so that's why it's half covered, shhhhhh! The word bubble sticker is actually from a package intended for baby pages. I didn't think I'd ever use 'em, so I gave 'em to my daughter, but now I think I'll steal them back! I don't know who's going to get this card, but I hope they damn well appreciate all the trouble and time I went to!

Supplies: CTMH card base, blue cardstock, and pink patterned paper, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist and Glimmer Screen, K&Co black patterned paper, 7 Gypsies brads, Uniek sticker, Tulip rub-on, unknown flowers and paper clip, doll cut from postcard

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Layout #47 - P.K.

Do you ever think back to the time before you had kids and think, "Hey, I did some pretty cool things!" Well, this layout is titled "P.K." which stands for Pre-Kids, and it shows one of the adventures we had with a group of friends one December. There's a little cabin in the mountains near where we grew up that's first come, first serve, and a group of us went up after Christmas. You have to snowshoe to get to the cabin because it's too steep and treed to snowmobile up to, then you have to snowshoe up further in order to board down. It's a lot of work for not much boarding, but the powder makes it all worth it, and we had a lot of fun just hanging out in the cabin once it got too dark to do anything outside.

So once again I took on the Design Dollies colour challenge for this week, which is teal, brown, cream, and a pop of red. Honestly, I can't believe I fit this many photos onto one page, with journaling! I stole the design from one I saw in Scrapbooks, etc. because I loved the grid idea. And now these photos are scrapped (finally!) and there's proof that I was maybe just a little adventurous P.K. Who knows, maybe we'll take the kids in a couple of years!

Supplies (all CTMH): Juniper, Colonial White and Cocoa cardstock, Perfect Day patterned paper and My Stickease, Colonial White buttons and brads, Exclusive Inks stamp pads in Juniper and Tulip, Exclusive Inks marker in Juniper

Other: Sakura white pen, Creative Memories brown pen, Prima journaling paper, unknown crochet trim and ribbon, Autumn Leaves stamp, K & Company button brads

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So You Think You Can Scrap!

I did most of this layout during commercials of Wednesday's episode of "So You Think You Can Dance". It was quite the challenge, and I almost finished the whole page, but it needed some fine-tuning and I didn't actually get it done until this morning. (Incidentally, I'm kind of disappointed with the show this season. It's kind of got that "been-there-done-that" feel to it, and I'm missing that wacky Mary!) The colours over at Design Dollies are baby pink, black, and red this week, and the Stampin' Royalty challenge was to use stencils (finally am going to enter one of their challenges, yay!) so I combined the two to make this page of my 16th birthday dinner. I got to play with one of my new Glimmer Screens, a new stamp set (Little Princess), and some Perfect Pearls, so I had a lot of fun making it. I kept the journaling simple by just stamping some phrases, because this was over half my life ago, and I don't really remember it all that well. I used to keep a diary at that age, but I think I got rid of it - too much embarassment if anyone ever cracked that open! Aren't the pictures bad enough?

Supplies (all CTMH): White Daisy cardstock, patterned paper from More to Adore Level 2 paper pack, Exclusive Inks stamp pads in Blush and Black, Exclusive Inks marker in Tulip, Clear Detail embossing powder, Be Yourself, Classmate Alphabet, Picture Perfect, Little Princess, and Reminisce My Acrylix stamp sets, pewter mini brads

Other: Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist and Glimmer Screen, Ranger Perfect Pearls, unknown ribbon

P.S. this is layout #45 of 120 for the year!

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Hey, remember when I posted this?

Well, I won the Design Dollies June challenge! I am so over the moon!!!!!! They are sending me a prize package and everything! How cool is that? If you've never tried a Design Dollies challenge, you just have to, because they are so unique and a lot of fun! Thanks, Dollies, I love you!

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Underwhelmed!

The Elements challenge at Design Dollies (click on their blinkie in my side bar, they have awesome challenges!) this week was to complete a graduation themed project, so this page takes us back exactly 17 years to my high school graduation. Unfortunately, this is THE best picture of the ceremonies (no zoom lens!) so I put the gem frame around my face to sort of focus the attention there. Did it work? The colours this week are Yellow, Brown, White, and Royal Blue, and I'm proud to say that every piece of paper on this page started out white! I did some random stamping, clear embossing and brayering, and even pulled out the ol' water colour pencils and blending pen to pretty up the flourishes. I also followed this week's sketch pretty closely, so yay, another Trifecta completed!

If you're wondering about the title, well, it comes from a song by a Canadian band, Sloan. Come to think of it, I think the song came out around the same time as my graduation. Anyway, it sums up my feelings on that day pretty well. I know most people are really excited about graduating, but me, on that day, I felt kind of bummed. Did anyone else out there feel like that on their graduation day?

Supplies (all CTMH): White Daisy cardstock, Exclusive Inks stamp pads in Moonstruck, Creme Brulee, Cocoa, and Desert Sand, Clear Detail embossing powder, Tickled Pink, Intrinsic Backgrounds, and Key to My Heart My Acrylix stamp sets, watercolour pencils, and gem frame

Other: Dymo Label Buddy

P.S. this is layout #39 of 120 for the year

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Shhhh, this card's a secret!

It's my 11th anniversary on Saturday, and so I decided to try a different style of card. I saw this type on Vicki Wizniuk's blog, and decided to give it a try, and I love it! First, I random stamped some White Daisy cardstock, and it looks really cool, so I'll have to think of a way to use up the remnants. I used Black textured cardstock from Close to My Heart, which is a lighter colour on the other side, which is why it is greyish on the inside. I cut the card base first, before I realized it would be grey on the inside, but I like that too. So now I just have to write something on the inside to my hubby. That will actually be the hard part!

I used turquoise, yellow and black as my colours to go with the Design Dollies colour challenge for this week. Thanks for the inspiration, Dollies!

Supplies (all CTMH): White Daisy and Black Textured cardstock, Hearthrob My Acrylix stamp set, Exclusive Inks stamp pads in Twilight, Creme Brulee, and Black

Other: trim by Bazzill

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First Ever Stitching on a Project!

I got a sewing machine for Christmas from my parents, and I've hardly had time to even look at it, but after I started making this card, I decided it needed some stitching on it. I started playing around with scraps, and then I went for it. Can you see it around the edge? The ribbon was a bit tricky, and it ended up a bit crooked, but still, I'm pretty stoked! Can't wait to stitch on more projects! I wonder if I'll ever use the machine to sew fabric? The cool jeweled flower is a bit that broke off of one of Ailis's hair doo-dads, and it's been floating around my house forever. It fit perfectly inside the rhinestone circle frame, which fit perfectly on a round chipboard piece I've had and forgotten about for at least 3 years! Don't you just love using up scraps?

As on the last post, I was playing with using bright colours with Kraft cardstock for a Design Dollies challenge. I also used a card pattern from the Card Patterns Sketch blog (#61), but I think I missed the deadline for that one. It was a nice simple sketch, just what I like.

Supplies (CTMH): Exclusive Inks stamp pad in Smokey Plum, Say It In Style My Acrylix stamp set, rhinestone circle frame

Other: unknown card base, pink and Kraft cardstock, orange paper, ribbon and chipboard piece, jeweled flower from hair thingey

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Design Dollies, Sketchy Thursdays and Who's That Girl

Whew, long title there. This is also layout #23 in my quest to complete 120 layouts this year. Hmmm, I might be a bit behind...

So Sketchy Thursdays has a sketch this week that I sort of followed, plus they joined up with Who's That Girl this week, and their challenge is a theme: "Right Now". Then there's Design Dollies, who wanted to see the colours Brown, Orange, and Teal. Let me say, I wouldn't have chosen those colours on my own, but I love the results, especially the turquoise. I think it adds quite a pop! I also had a hard time mixing and matching all kinds of stuff from my stash! It's hard to read my journaling, but I wrote that I'm into reading, coffee, Sirius Iceberg 85, organizing, and night time snuggles with Brenna.

Supplies (all CTMH): patterned paper (orange) from You Rock Level 2 paper pack, Exclusive Inks pen in Cocoa

Other: Doodlebug Designs teal paper, Beary Patch brown paper, Making Memories trim (I think), Cosmo Cricket rub-on, Hot Off The Press "5", Colorbok "I", Magenta gold letter stickers

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