Groundhog's Day Card

Hello and Welcome!

Since I was a kid, I have loved the idea that a groundhog could magically make our long, Minnesota winters end sooner. I still get excited on Groundhog's Day. So excited I send out cards to my friends. This is the one I'm making this year:

I was inspired by Lydia's card over at Winnie & Walter's blog (link below). I liked how she layered the white sentiment with a colorful shadow and her overall design. I used Winnie and Walter's "Hello" Cutaway and stamps from "The Big, The Bold and The Seasons" and "The Big, The Bold and The Happy."

The groundhog is actually Simon Says Stamp's puppy from their Pawsome stamp set with some creative masking. He is colored with Copic markers. I also used SSS Bundle of Stitched Shapes to cut the stitched frame.

This card is entered in the following contests:

• Winnie & Walter's Rerun No. 8 challenge

• MarkerPop! Challenge #87 "Anything Goes"

Hoping the groundhog doesn't see his shadow and we all get some warm sunny days soon!
-june

Broadcasting Live Layout

Hello and Welcome!

I was so excited when the local radio station KDWB called to interview my son about his YouTube channel- GEOSWARP. Tyler sounded so poised and professional.

I really wanted this layout to be special so I used Kaisercraft's Off The Wall collection and Kaiser's January layout sketch. The Off The Wall collection was perfect with the radios, the video game icons (my son's channel is all about video games), and the masculine edgy look. Here is the layout:

And here is a detail of Kaiser's fun matching die cut Collectables:

This is Kaiser's January sketch:
 

This page is entered in the following contests:

• The Kaisercraft January Sketch Challenge

• The "Anything Goes" Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamps

-june

Janet Jackson Layout

Hello and Welcome!

My husband surprised me with tickets to the Janet Jackson concert!!! And it was as unbelievable as it was Unbreakable! She can sing, dance and put on a big show.

I was inspired to do a layout at Cupcake Inspiration as their (& Freckled Fawn's) design team did several beautiful ones this week and really wanted to join in with a page. I am surrounded by guys, so this was fun doing a more girlie layout.  The layout design is based on the fabulous January Week 4 sketch at Let's Get Sketchy.

The papers are by My Minds Eye and DCWV. The embellishments are by Heidi Swapp and the letters are by Momenta and Making Memories.

This page is entered in the following contests:

• Cupcake Inspirations Challenge 344

• The January Week 4 Sketch Challenge at Let's Get Sketchy

•  The "Anything Goes" Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy a little music today
-june

Delight Christmas Layout

Hello and Welcome!

Tonight I am catching up on my Christmas photos. I wanted to get these last pictures scrapped fast, so I turned to the wonderful sketches at Stuck?!

I fussy cut the poinsettias and used Simon Says Stamps - Large Holiday Shapes die - to cut the stars from DCWV silver glitter paper.


This page is entered in the following contests:

•  The January 15th Sketch Challenge at Stuck?! Sketches

• The "Love Is In The Air / Use Red" Monday challenge at Simon Says Stamp 

Thanks for stopping in.
-june

Let It Snow Card

Hello and Welcome!

I find snow, after it has been shoveled, so pretty. It makes mundane things sparkle. So with that I say:

I had just purchased this fun "Let It Snow" die from Lawn Fawn and couldn't wait to use it with Lawn Fawn's stitched snowflakes cut from DCWV glitter paper. It was so fun creating the background using the smooshing watercolor technique with Distress Inks (Wilted Violets & Mermaid Lagoon) and splatters of silver Color Shine on Tim Holtz watercolor paper. I finished it off with shimmer twine, domed gems and clear sequins. I also cut the inner panel with a stitched rectangle frame from Simon Say Stamp's Bundle of Stitched Shapes.

This card is entered in the following challenges:

• The "Watercoloring" Lawnscaping Challenge

• The "Anything Goes" Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

Thanks for stopping by and stay warm.
-june

The Amazing Spider-bot Layout

Hello and Welcome!

There is never a dull moment at our home with a budding engineer. Aaron, who is only 15 years, is always tinkering with something. I love that he built a programmable, crawling spider robot to entertain the kids at his robotics Halloween party. It also entertained our cats as well. Here is the photo:

I wanted something special for this picture, so I pulled out my Creative Embellishments. Using one of their frames always makes a page. I left the frame raw, but sprayed Heidi Swapp metallic color shine (bronze, tinsel & gold) on the CE gears and spare parts. The letters are by Pink Paisley. The title really came together when I used Cheery Lynn's "Amazing" die-cut. For the background I used Creative Embellishment's circuit stamp around some webbed pattern paper and rub distress ink around the edges. I also splattered the Heidi Swapp color shine mentioned above and added cherry red in the lower right to compliment the spider's red legs. The triangles are a Hero Arts stencil with Dreamweaver's silver texture paste. The fun robot stamp is by Tim Holtz and the robot cat is by The Alley Stamps. As a finishing touch the copper tags are ones I found in Target's $1 bin and I added duct-tape-like washi around the edges.

This page is entered in the following contests:

• The "Love is in the Air / Use Red" Monday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

• The "Create with Critters" Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

• The January Challenge at Creative Embellishments

• Cheery Lynn Designs Challenge #221 "Anything Goes"

Thanks for stopping by.
-june

Beautiful Friends Layout

Hello and Welcome!

I have a really good friend, Sue, who is always up for a spontaneous adventure. So when I saw that my all time favorite artist - Van Gogh - had his painting on loan at the Minneapolis Art Institute, I called Sue and off we went, squeezing it in between taxiing kids and running errands. We have so much fun together!

I had to include this most recent excursion in the scrapbook. So here it is:

I used Quick Quotes pattern papers chalking them with Powder Puff ink, TCW stencil with Heidi Swapp gold ink and a Thicker title. The embellishments include, frosted flourish by Quick Quotes, tags by Heidi Swapp and charms by Basic Grey.

This layout is entered in the following challenges:

• Quick Quotes Challenge 59 "Stencils and Ink"

• The "Best Friends" Monday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

• Challenge YOUrself #25 "Anything Goes"

Thanks for stopping by and hope you find some fun adventures this week.
-june

Greetings Card

Hello and Welcome!

With Valentine's Day coming I wanted to create something fun for my kids.  Also, I recently purchased Papertrey Ink's "Scribble Star" stamp to go along with The Cat's Pajama's "Space Cadet" stamp set. So here is the result - a matchbox candy holder for my space loving son:

Here is a detail of it from the side showing the matchbox fold (and the candy inside!):

I stamped Papertrey's Scribble Star with Versamark and used Stampendous white embossing powder. Then I masked off TCP's Sprinkle's spaceship (love how Alma from TCP names her stamp critters - the cat is Sprinkles) and blended distress inks (Chipped Sapphire, Wilted Violets and Salty Ocean) to create the background. Next I stamped Sprinkle's spaceship, heat embossed it, and colored it with Copic markers.  I stamped and heat embossed the "Greetings" sentiment, which is from The Cat's Pajamas' Wreath Building set.  I added Glossy Accents to the spaceship dome and lights, and added some orange polka dotted washi tape along the bottom for a finishing touch and to hide the staples that hold the candy.

For a video on how to create this treat holder, you can check out Make It Monday at Nichole Heady's Papertrey Ink blog (link below).

This card is entered in the following contests:

• TCP Tuesday #306 at The Cat's Pajamas

• Make It Monday #237 at Papertrey Ink 

• MarkerPop! Challenge #86: Critters

•  Stamping Smiles Designs Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge Two. I used the bottom row: masking-stars-critters

           

Thanks for stopping by,
-june

Hello Card

Hello and Welcome!

Hope you are staying warm. The high temperatures are below zero here in Minnesota this week. Great time to craft!

This card was inspired by Lizzie Jones card on Nichole Heady's blog and uses My Favorite Things card sketch:

To create this card I started with Simon Says Stamps Falling Stars stencil and Heidi Swapp gold art paint (it is a thick paint which acts a little like texture paste). I just rub it in with my fingers. After it dried, I hand cut the curve and popped up the white panels with 3L foam squares. Then I added Papertrey Ink Wet Paint word die "hello" with black foam squares. The "you" is by MFT from their Celebrate Big set. The snowflake is by The Cat's Pajamas.

This card is entered in the following contests:

• The January Create Along With Us challenge at Papertrey Ink

• Wednesday Sketch Challenge 263 at MFT Card Challenges

• The "Stencil It" Monday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

• CAS(E) this Sketch #155

          

Thanks for stopping by,
-june

Love Ya Card

Hello and Welcome!

I've been wanting to make this card for my son for months. I love this NEW (to me) Dragon Love image from C.C. Designs. He is perfect for Valentine's Day:

 I colored the dragon with Zig Clean Color markers and added Glossy Accents to his heart & eyes. The papers are by Basic Grey, the circle die is Lawn Fawn, and the sequins are by Pretty Pink Posh.
This card is based on a card sketch at Mojo Monday.


This card is entered in the following contests:

•  MarkerPop! Challenge #85 "Valentine's Day"

• Mojo Monday 429

• The "Something New" Monday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

• The "Something New" Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

Thanks for viewing!
-june

New Beginnings Card

Hello and Welcome.

I find doing an all white card  REALLY challenging, but that is the contest at Cheery Lynn this week. So I took several of her dies and cut them from white cardstock. Then, armed with the Mojo Monday sketch, I started playing around with them. Well, here is what I came up with:

I used Cheery Lynn's Sunflower, large & small Exotic Butterfly, Add A Flourish and Fiona's Magic Window dies. The sentiment is by Simon Says Stamps from their Work Out set and is heat embossed with Ranger silver embossing powder.

This card is entered in the following challenges:

• Cheery Lynn Designs Challenge #218 "Winter Whites"

• Mojo Monday 429

• The "Something New" Monday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

• The "Something New" Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

Thank you for stopping by and I hope you give all white a try:)

-june

Thinking Of You

Hello and Welcome!

Today's card was inspired by Maureen Merritt's card at Wplus9. I do not have the pretty quilted die sets yet, but I did use Wplus9's Sunshine Layers for the scalloped frame. The loopy square frame is NEW from Lifestyles.

I also used Simon Says stamps Large Holiday shapes for the heart. The sequins are by Pretty Pink Posh. And the sentiment is an old "throw back" from Hero Arts that was heat embossed. In addition to the Wplus9 challenge, I am excited to enter a brand new challenge called Tic Tac Toe and this is their very first contest. Check them out at the link below. Also, I find it quit humorous that both the Monday and the Wednesday challenges at Simon Says this week are the same.

This card is entered in the following contests:

• W Plus 9's Throwback Thursday #10 challenge

• The "Something New" Monday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

• The "Something New" Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

• Stamping Smiles Designs Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge #1.  I used the middle column: sparkle-new(die)-emboss(heat & stitches)