Happy Holidays Card

Hello and Welcome!

With the holidays upon us, it is time to get Christmas cards ready to be mailed! Here is my latest one:

The cute puppy image is by Gerda Steiner Designs, and was colored with Zig Clean Color markers. The sentiment is also by Gerda Steiner. The Snow Scribble frame is by Poppy Stamps. The background stars are a Winnie & Walter stencil, colored with Distress ink.

This card is entered in:

• The November Challenge at Gerda Steiner Designs

• MarkerPop! Challenge #109

• YNS Sketch and Color Challenge #53 at Your Next Stamp

• The "Christmas To Die For" Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

• The National Christmas Card Day challenge at Simon Says Stamp

Happy holidays!
-June

Fast Pages with Quick Quotes and Stuck?!

Hello and Welcome!

It's fun playing around with paper and embellishments, but sometimes you need to get pages DONE. Right now I've got dozens of summer photos I really want to scrap, but the holidays are upon us and it's snowing! So, it is time to get a bunch done and in the book.

Ideally, I want to get pages done quickly, but still have them look great and enjoy the process. Here is my step-by-step on how the achieve this feat creating this page:

First, I gather the basics - photos, a favorite paper collection, a few embellishments, and a sketch. One of the paper lines I like to work with is Quick Quotes pattern papers, because they are designed to enhance photos, not compete with them. It is a big time saver for me when I don't have to "fight" the paper. Today I will be using Quick Quotes Whistlin' Dixie line.

Also, by using a sketch, a lot of the design work is already done for you. It is just a matter of putting it together, another big time saver. Today I am using a Stuck?! sketch - there are many fabulous free designs available in the Stuck?! Sketches archives.

Next, use white (or kraft) paper as your 12x12 base. It looks good with almost all photos and pattern papers, and it is one less thing to think about. Then, create the "top" layer that holds your photos. This saves me time as now I only have one element, instead of several photos & papers, to handle. Plus, I can set it aside so I don't get goop on my pictures.

Design Tip:
  When photos are dark, mat them with a white boarder. It brightens them up and helps them stand out.

Add the pattern papers, following the sketch design. I chalked all of the paper's edges with QQ's Feather Gray Powder Puff Ink. I used Creative Embellishment's brick chipboard for the decorative edge to add some texture.

The title and journaling were created on Quick Quotes Whistlin' Dixie strips with hand written text, both big time savers. I ripped several edges, which adds texture. It also keeps you from having to worry about keeping everything square and straight - another big time saver if you're a perfectionist like me.

Design Tip:
  When using photo and papers with lots of different colors, incorporating striped pattern paper with those colors (as I did in the title area) ties everything together.

Design Tip:
  Large plain background areas can draw your eye away from the photos. In this case, I added gray background stamping to break up the white background.

I finished up the page with chipboard embellishments by Creative Embellishments including the column, leaves, apple & butterfly. Some were colored with QQ's Powder Puff Inks. For interest, DCWV cork and silver thread were added by the journaling.

Hope you find these ideas helpful for getting your pages done fun, fast and fabulously!

This page is entered in:

• The November 15th Challenge at Stuck?! Sketches

               

• The November Challenge at Creative Embellishments

               

• The "Trio-Tastic" Monday challenge at Simon Says Stamp - I used three photos

Thanks for stopping by and happy scrapping,
-june

Joy Joy Joy Card

Hello and Welcome!

There is a fun and fast one day challenge at Papertrey Ink with a beautiful inspirational photo. Plus there are always great challenges going on at Simon Says Stamp - this week items in three's (joy) and Christmas dies (joy). Here is my card for the contest:

This card is made with Papertrey Ink's Star Scribbles stamps embossed in gold. Papertrey's Wet Paint diecut "enjoy" which I trimmed to say JOY. I finished this card off with Ranger's Liquid Enamel dots. This card was also inspired by the beautiful color combination at MFT.

This card is entered in:

• The November Blog Hop Challenge at Papertrey Ink

• The "Trio-Tastic" Monday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

• The "Christmas To Die For" Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

• Color Challenge 58 at MFT Card Challenges

               

• The National Christmas Card Day challenge at Simon Says Stamp

Thanks for stopping by,
-june

Deer Be Gone Page

Hello and Welcome!

I love to garden, but the deer have overrun our neighborhood and have made growing plants almost impossible without fences or chemicals. That is until my clever teenage son and my husband created the Deer-Be-Gone! (You can see it in the upper left hand corner of the photo.) It shoos the deer away without hurting them and keeps my plants safe. Many of our neighbors have asked Aaron to make one for them, too. And check out these beautiful Day Lilies:

I created this page using Adrienne's recipe challenge over at Pinkfresh Studio. The "5 ingredients" include: 3 pattern papers (Pinkfresh's Felicity and Life Noted collections), 2 title fonts (Pinkfresh's Life Noted), gold (3 chipboard elements with gold lettering from Pinkfresh's Life Noted), 3 circular elements (Pinkfresh chipboard & Tim Holtz gears), and use a punch (photo corner). I also was inspired by Simon Says Stamp's Trio challenge and used 3 Pinkfresh chipboard pieces, 3 diecuts (deer, gears & pine branch) and 3 different Pinkfresh pattern papers.

This page is entered in:

• The November Challenge at Pinkfresh Studio

• The "Trio-Tastic" Monday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

Happy Thanksgiving,
-june

Happy Holidays Card

Hello and Welcome!

With all the wonderful Christmas card inspiration out there now, it is so fun creating. I really wanted to use Winnie & Walter's Happiest Of Holidays set, so here my latest creation:

The sentiment and cute bird are from Winnie & Walter's Happiest Of Holidays stamp set. The bird was colored with Zig Clean Color markers and fussy cut. The "happy" is  W&W's Cutaway from The Big, The Bold and The Happy. This card is based on a sketch by Your Next Stamp. The pattern is by Lawn Fawn and the sequins are by Pretty Pink Posh.

I really wanted to make the snowflakes extra sparkly, so after diecutting these three Memory Box snowflakes, I added Crystal Stickles and topped them with white glitter. You almost need sunglasses! Here is a close up:

This card is entered in:

• Your Next Stamp Sketch Challenge #52

              

• The "Christmas To Die For" Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

• The Rerun No. 16 "Happiest of Holidays" challenge at Winnie & Walter

• The National Christmas Card Day challenge at Simon Says Stamp 

Thanks for stopping by,
-june

Fa la la la Tag

Hello and Welcome!

I was inspired to make some super sparkly snowflakes by Melissa Bickford on Day 19 on the 25 Days of Christmas Tags. Loved her plaid background too. Here is my take:

The three snowflakes (note: the top one is 2 snowflakes layered on top of each other) are diecuts by Memory Box. The pattern paper is by Lawn Fawn. The sentiments are by MFT.

This tag is entered in:

• The 25 Days of Christmas Tags challenge at In My Creative Opinion

• The "Trio-Tastic" Monday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

• The "Christmas To Die For" Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

Thanks for stopping by,
-june

Poinsettia Tag

Hello and Welcome!

I am loving the inspiration at 25 Days Of Christmas Tags. In the past I only used those cheap To-From stickers, but with all the fun ideas at Tracey's site, I really want to add some home made tags to the gifts this year. And speaking of Tracey, this tag was inspired by her tag on Day 20.

This tag was made with Papertrey Ink's Wet Paint sentiment and my new Jessica Lynn Original's poinsettia stamp colored with Zig Clean Color markers, heat embossed with Ranger's Princess Gold embossing powder and misted with Sheer Colorshine for extra sparkle. I was also inspired by the cute "Thanks" cupcake photo from Cupcake Inspirations.

This tag is entered in:

• The 25 Days of Christmas Tags challenge at In My Creative Opinion

               

• The "Thanks/Thanksgiving" Monday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

• The November Create Along With Us challenge at Papertrey Ink

• Cupcake Inspirations Challenge 385

              

Thanks for stopping by,
-june

Ice Cream Layout

Hello and Welcome!

My teen has been informing me a lot this year that he is now too old for many childhood traditions. He is right, but he is my youngest and I've been doing the "mom thing" for almost 30 years; it is hard to just switch gears. So when I saw this almost 6' young man running for the neighbor ice cream truck with his allowance in hand, I had to get my camera and savor the moment.

I love GrandDiva's Sketch this month with all the layers, banner and single photo. Perfect for this theme. It especially worked well with these Doodlebug Sunkissed papers and it even had a place to add that cute ice cream truck and doily. I also liked Rochelle's This or That challenge. Digging in my stash I found a few wooden ice cream embellishments by Elle's Studio that really added to the title design.

Design tip:
Adding white (or other neutral) cardstock mats around pattern papers as well as the photo can contain loud patterns and allow you to layer them without things getting too busy or clashing.

This page is entered in:

• Rochelle Spears' November This or That Challenge 

              

•  The November Sketch Challenge at GrandDiva's Creative Corner

              
Thanks for stopping by,
-june

Water Fight Layout

Hello and Welcome!

Have you ever set up a family event because you wanted to use a certain scrapbooking paper?

Well, I've had Karen Foster water gun pattern paper for years and decided to use it up. So I gathered the water cannons, turned the guys loose on them and grabbed my camera. They had a blast (literally) and I got some great pictures. But when I came to scrap the photos the paper was too loud to use. Oh no! Being determined though, I fussy cut the squirt guns from the paper and used them as embellishments. Hooray! Here is the page:

This is a close-up of the fussy cut squirt gun that started it all:

The background papers are by Fancy Pants dating back to 2009. I mixed it up with more current wood and cardstock embellishments - Carta Bella' Beach Day (2016). I finished off this page with Robin's Nest Dew Drop, love how they look like real water droplets. This page is based on a fabulous sketch at Stuck?! Sketches.

This page is entered in:

• The November 1st Challenge at Stuck?! Sketches

              

Thanks for stopping by,
-june

Shabby Chic Tag Card

Hello and Welcome!

Normally I am a Clean and Simple crafter, but once in awhile I like to change it up. This card is for my good friend, Sue, who often takes me out to lunch in exchange for cards.

I used Cheery Lynn's Mini Exotic Butterfly and Mini Fanciful Flourish dies. The sentiment is Simon Says Stamps "enjoy" die which was trimmed to read "you." Behind the flower I used MFT's Mini Doily and Royal Leaf dies. The tags background was also stamped and misted with tiny gems added.

This card is entered in:

• The "Thanks/Thanksgiving" Monday challenge and Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

• The "Thankful for YOU" challenge at My Favorite Things

• Cheery Lynn Designs Challenge #242 "Autumn Colors"

Thanks for stopping by,
-june

Ornament Card

Hello and Welcome!

I was feeling nostalgic and decided to bring out this Hanging Christmas Ornament stamp by Hero Arts. It's an oldie, but goodie. I remember getting it at Archiver's.

All of the ornaments are colored with Copic markers after they were heat embossed with gold powder. To add dimension, I fussy cut 3 of the ornaments, added Glossy Accents and pop-dotted them. Here is a detail.

The sentiment is also by Hero Arts and heat embossed with white powder on black card, which I cut into a banner.

This card is entered in:

• The Holiday Cardmaking Challenge at Hero Arts

• The November Challenge at a2z Scrapbooking

• The National Christmas Card Day challenge at Simon Says Stamp 

Thanks for stopping by,
-june

Card Expo Layout

Hello and Welcome!

I love papercrafting expos! The shopping, inspiration and camaraderie - there is nothing like them. This page was the highlight of my trip to the Rubber Stamp Expo this summer:

This page was created from supplies from The ScrapRoom's Sept. Flavor Of The Month including pattern papers & stickers from Dear Lizzy's Saturday collect. The letters are Thickers and the cats are a Taylored Expressions diecut (which are from my stash). The winning card cat stamp is by Cracker Box Stamps. This page is based on a sketch at My Creative Sketches.

This page is entered in:

• The October Sketch Challenge at My Creative Sketches

              

Thanks for stopping by,
-june

Let Your Dreams Soar

Hello and Welcome!

This summer our family was responsible for the robotic team's demos at the Eden Prairie Air Show, a huge metropolitan event. It was so much fun and there was so much going on, but I did manage to get some great photos, too. One of my favorites is this one of my son, Aaron, watching the amazing planes flying in tight formation. Aaron is 15 years old and just starting to dream about where his adult life will take him. I tried to capture that wonder in this layout:

The space themed inspiration at Scrap Our Stash was perfect for this photo and really got my creative ideas humming. I also really like that Scrap Our Stash pushes me to get my horded items out of the bins and onto my pages - in this case, to use stars. As you can see, I put a noticeable dent in my Studio Calico wooden and button stars. And as an added bonus, Rochelle Spears' This Or That Challenge this month is to use wood or cork. Yay!

Design tips:
    Tip #1 - Acetate can be tricky to work with especially on dark or pattern paper. Here I fussy cut a cloud cluster from pattern paper and layered an acetate diecut on top attaching it with Tombow's vellum adhesive. This gave it a "home" and added to the theme.

    Tip #2 - I like the look of white journaling on a black background, but most white pens can be difficult to work with. Instead, I used Uniball's Silver pen, it pops on dark paper and is much more smooth and reliable than the white pen. Here I used it for journaling and to run a frame around the outside of the layout.

Most of the papers and diecuts are from Shimelle's Starshine collection.

This page is entered in:

• The November Book-Inspired Stash Challenge at Scrap Our Stash

               

• Rochelle's November This-or-That Challenge

               

• The "Shine Bright Like A Diamond" Monday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

Thanks for stopping by and go give some of these ideas and challenges a try,
-june

Photo Booth Layout

Hello and Welcome!

In the summer it seems that I'm spending so much time making memories it is hard to get them all scrapped. Now that the days are shorter, and everyone is back to work or school, it is time to have fun reliving those good times. Here are some goofy pictures from the State Fair:

When I saw the sketch at Elle's Studio, I thought it would be prefect for these photo booth pictures.  All of the journaling cards, wood, diecut, cork, puffy and letter sticker embellishments are from Elle's Studio's Shine, Sycamore Lane, Sunny Days & Love You More collections.

I also was inspired by Challenge YOUrself to add that "fun" banner in the corner and cork "thankful" in the journaling. Plus Simon Says Stamp's challenge encourage me to add some shine with the Pretty Pink Posh clear sequins. Here is a detail:

This page is entered in:

• The October Sketch Thursday challenge at Elle's Studio

              

• Challenge YOUrself #35 "Be Thankful"

               

• The "Shine Bright Like A Diamond" Monday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

• The "Thinking Of You" Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

Thanks for stopping by and hope you can find some time to relive some of your summer fun.
-june

Puppy Cheer Card

Hello and Welcome!

My local scrapbook store, Crafter's Haven, had an open house this weekend with all kinds of make & takes, homemade goodies and great holiday cheer. The owner even dressed up like Mrs. Claus and the staff as elves. I was so inspired, I just had to make a card with my new purchases.

Even though it was in the 70s here in Minnesota today (probably a record), I decided to make a card involving the "S" word - yes, you know it - snow. I just could not wait to try out my new Poppy Scribble Snowflake Circle die. I added Latina Craft's Flogger dog with a cute Santa hat by Gerda Stamps which were colored with Zig Clean Color markers, black Glaze pen and Stickles. The sentiment is from My Favorite Things' Trim A Tree stamp set and it was heat embossed. The background banners were cut from Simon Says Stamp's Bundle Of Stitched Shapes. The pattern papers are by Lawn Fawn and Paper Studio. The card design is based on a sketch at Latina Crafters. I finish things off with ribbon and red gems.

This card is entered in:

• The November Challenge LCSC #65  sketch at Latina Crafter

                            

• PSC #26 "Plaid is Rad" at Poppy Stamps

• The "Thinking of You" Monday challenge and Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

• The National Christmas Card Day challenge at Simon Says Stamp 

Thanks for stopping,
-june

Going To Paris Card

Hello and Welcome!

My friend, Sue, just booked tickets to Paris for a girlfriends get-away! So excited for her. She invited me, but I couldn't get away. I think it is so cool she is off to France. Although I can't join her, I thought it would be fun to celebrate with her and live vicariously. So I made her this card:

Recently I discovered a stamp company called Latina Crafter and they have the cutest little Westie stamp called Flogger. I think you will be seeing more of him as I find Flogger so darn cute. They also have a challenge with a travel theme this month, which worked well for Sue's card. Flogger was colored with Zig Clean Color markers and Antique Linen Distress Ink with his eyes & nose highlighted with a black Glaze pen. The pattern papers are by Graphic 45. The suitcase sticker was stamped with Simon Say Stamp's "Hi Friend" from their Pawsome set and Stazon ink. The colors of were inspired by the Your Next Stamp inspirational photo. And I finished off this card with cheese cloth.

This card is entered in:

• The November Challenge LCSC #65  travel theme twist at Latina Crafter

              

• YNS Color Challenge #51 at Your Next Stamp

               

•  The "Thinking of You" Monday challenge and Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a fun travel adventure soon,
-june

Wrapping Paper

Hello and Welcome!

I'm trying something new, making gift wrapping paper. Fun teen boy paper is hard to find. Here is my creation:

 

I followed the Make It Monday video on Nicole Heady's blog and used Papertrey Ink's Scribble Star along with Simon Says Stamp's All Boy stamps on thin orange cardstock. I colored it in with Souffle markers. Then gold dots were added with Ellen Hutson's Bohek Dots stamps and gold embossing powder. I finished it off with ribbon and a tag.

This card is entered in:

• Make It Monday #266 at Papertrey Ink

• Ellen Hutson's October Pin-Sights Challenge 

• The "Thinking of You" Monday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

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

• The October Work It Wednesday challenge at Simon Says Stamp

Thanks for stopping by,
-june