Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Freshly Made Sketches: Sending Best Wishes

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches and it's my sketch!!  I cannot tell you how exciting it is to see all of your creative takes on my own sketch!


This sketch works with my love of little scenes in a corner of a card.  That doesn't mean that the rest of the card has to be empty (although I love my white space), but my favorite thing to create is a cluster of images. I created a snowy hill in my corner topped with a trio of sparkly trees.

Trio of Trees

Be sure to check out all of the other cards by the Freshly Made Design Team - such amazing inspiration! Then I look forward to seeing what you create. There are so many players each week.  I am constantly amazed at the wide variety of fun and creative special touches on each card!

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Merry Monday and Wanna Sketch: Cascade of Ornaments

Yesterday I counted my Christmas cards and got a little nervous.  I thought I was further ahead, but apparently I am going to have to seriously focus over the next few weeks.  An important part of that focus is to go quick and easy. This card was not quick and easy - and I couldn't even tell you why.  New rule for me: stop obsessing.  I knew that I was playing along with the current Merry Monday challenge which was to use ornaments in silver/gray and blue.  I tried a dozen or more combinations of blues and didn't love any of them.  I also knew that I was using Lisa's Wanna Sketch.  These new ornaments were an easy choice - but choosing a sentiment took forever and I'm still not thrilled.   I wanted one with a little more "shape" so that I could tuck the ornaments around it.  Please tell me that I am not the only one who picks sentiments based on shape??!

Cascade of Ornaments

Here are the details on the ornaments.  This was the one happy mistake on the card.  I stamped the blue, then used my anti-static embossing buddy so that I could do the silver centers.  But the powder still stuck to the blue and I decided I liked it!

Cascade of Ornaments close



It was a very interesting day in my house yesterday.  My Facebook status update said...
Andrew just put together a big crockpot of cheeseburger soup to take to his school's dinner for veterans, and he will be playing the Star Spangled Banner on his trumpet. I am proud of him and of Lutheran High School for honoring our veterans.

Fifteen minutes later, I added this...
Edited: Sadly, this didn't end well. (Everybody is fine.) Andrew skidded on his way to school with the soup and went over a guard rail into the other lane. The Jeep did not survive, nor did the soup. Scott can't figure out how the Jeep stayed upright - this could have been much, much worse. 
Andrew is fine - although sore everywhere this morning. The Jeep is totalled. Somehow, there were actually moments of comic relief.  The crockpot of soup exploded everywhere inside the Jeep.  It covered all the windows from the inside.  As it started to drip, the really bitter temperatures froze it into little soup icicles. As police cars and ambulances and tow trucks showed up, each of them had to go take a look at the odd sight of the inside of a card completely covered in soup icicles!  Given that the entire metro area was on accident alert, it was going to be a long night for all the rescue workers, so a little comic relief was probably welcome.

One sweet lady commented on my Facebook post, "Soup can be re-made, people can't!"  She is so right and that is how we are choosing to deal with this whole event. But it has been a wake-up call for me that the fears and concerns of parents don't end just because a child is soon to head out on his own.  You worry so much when they are little - but now I'm learning that although the worries change, they are still always with you.



The paper is from the BoBunny Woodland Winter 6x6 pad. It must be old because I cannot find it at any of my favorite stores. The cord is a long retired silver cord from Stampin' Up.

Monday, November 10, 2014

Little Owls with the Curvy Keepsake Die

I am in love with the Curvy Keepsake Box Thinlit by Stampin' Up.  I gushed when I made these pumpkins on an earlier post.  I don't do a lot of gift boxes or dimensional crafting so I need tools to make it easy and this one does.  Not only that, but there are incredibly talented designers who do amazing things with this die.  Just search on Pinterest and you'll be amazed at what comes up!

Yesterday, we had a nice dinner with my brother and family since they will be gone on Thanksgiving.  I have two nieces - Natasha is 9 and Karina is 6.  I made pumpkins for them for Halloween and I wanted to have a Thanksgiving gift made for last night, but not overtly Thanksgiving since it feels a little early. I found these owls by Debbie.  I don't often post a total CASE but these are absolutely charming!  Debbie's came out a little taller and not quite so chubby - I think I stuffed them a little full of candy treats!!

Little Owls

We had a classic meal - but before the meal, my little 14-year old gourmet put together an hors d'oeuvres tray.  I just had to show you this because he was quite particular about what went on it and it took us three stores to get it right.  I'm sure for many of you, this is a fairly normal tray - but my guy is 14..... and a he's a guy!  And he's being raised by a meat and potatoes father and a mother who grew up with hot dishes, jello and Hamburger Helper!  This isn't just meat, cheese and olives.  According to my son, it had to have uncured soppressata and peppered salami, garlic marinated mushrooms, Castelvetrano olives (although apparently I got the wrong kind - I was told they have to have pits to get the full flavor), and Peppadew sweet piquante peppers.  My favorite were the little skewers which have a cube of aged gruyere and a chunk of Cipollini onion (which we got at the olive bar at the grocery store so I'm not sure if they were roasted or what).  These taste like little bits of French onion soup and are heavenly.  My mouth is still watering!


After dinner, we played a rousing game of Left, Right, Center.  I'd never played it with 6 and 9-year olds and it was SO fun!!  It's a silly little game - perfect for young children, or older merry-makers after a few alcoholic beverages.  I was having too much fun to get a camera, but the image of eight people leaning over the table yelling "left" or "right" - the most intense being the 6-year old - and the image of my SIL who lost her chips early and sat there wondering what was so fun - and then almost winning - it was a great night!


Here's a link to the box  and the scallop die.  I also used miscellaneous circle punch, hole punch and banner punch (snipped off to make the nose), and a retired ribbon.

Friday, November 7, 2014

Curtain Call Reminder: Let Go and Let God

Just a reminder that there are still a few days left to play along with the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge: Boho Bright.  One random participant will receive a $30 gift certificate to Verve Stamps !


Don't you just love those bold colors with a rustic look.  That was my inspiration for this card - bold colors, and a neutral woodgrain background!  On my first post for this challenge, I used the same stamp sets. I love the fonts in Let It Be and there are a wide variety of sentiments.  I think the bold butterflies in So Fluttery work perfectly with these sentiments.  It was quite a struggle on my original card to find exactly the colors in the inspiration piece.  For this card, I just stuck with "bold" on "neutral"!

Let Go and Let God

I'm using the current Sweet Sunday Sketch.


In all my years of blogging, I have always included a supply list on my posts.  I know when I am reading all of your blogs, I always find products that I love and NEED and I want to know what they are.  I've been loving the bloggers who include thumbnails and links to the products. I finally decided that I needed to figure it out and was surprised at just how easy it is to do!!  Here's my first thumbnail listing of supplies!

Thursday, November 6, 2014

Catered Crop: Gratitude Attitude

It's time for a new challenge at the Catered Crop: Gratitude Attitude.  The challenge is to "make a thank you card for any occasion, or, since it's the season of thanks, make a Thanksgiving card."

I have just a few more weeks to use my beloved autumn colors and fall stamps.  Winter/Christmas is a close second, but my favorite time to craft is in the fall.  So I deliberately went for a gratitude card, but I did use a designer paper to give a slight twist on fall colors.



Grateful

I love a pop of blue with my fall colors - such a fun contrast!

I also used the current sketch at retrosketches. I thought the decorative bottom panel would be a nice "shelf" for my "grateful" die.



As usual, Linda has curate a Pinterest board of inspiration "gratitude" for the Catered Crop challenge.


Also, on this coming Sunday, you can see all of the inspiration of the design team on the Catered Crop blog plus cards from the winners of the last challenge.  Hope to see you playing along!
  • Stamps: Papertrey Ink Autumn Acorns
  • Paper: Papertrey Ink Dark Chocolate, Melon Berry, My Favorite Things Natural, Stampin' Up Coastal Cabana, Fancy Pants True Friend 6x6
  • Ink: Papertrey Ink Dark Chocolate, Classic Kraft, Melon Berry, Harvest Gold
  • Accessories: Papertrey Ink Autumn Acorns die, Edgers 3 die, Melong Berry Button, Penny Black Words of Gratitude die

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Freshly Made Sketches: A Whole Lotta' Happy

It's time for a new sketch at Freshly Made Sketches!  This one is brought to us by the great and talented Linda Callahan.


I needed a birthday card for a 10-year old girl who I don't know very well.  I wasn't sure whether the card should be girly, or sporty, or what?  So I settled on bright balloons.  I thought about putting a balloon where the snowflake is on the sketch, but all the other balloons were up high and the lower balloon seemed out of place - like it was already leaking helium!  As I was browsing dies for ideas, I came across this big speech bubble die - and I love it!!!  Thanks so much to Linda for the inspiration!

A Whole Lotta' Happy

I hope to see you play along with this one - there are so many directions to take this sketch, I am looking forward to seeing what everybody creates!
  • Stamps: WPlus9 Whole Lotta' Happy
  • Paper: Papertrey Ink Limeade Ice
  • Ink: Papertrey Ink Limeade Ice, Berry Sorbet, Harvest Gold and Smokey Shadow, Versmark
  • Accessories: WPlus9 Happy Trio die, Mama Elephant Speech Trio die, Sizzix embossing folder, Stampin' Up Heat 'n Stick Powder, Martha Stewart Fine Crystal Glitter

Saturday, November 1, 2014

Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge: Every Little Thing

It's time for a new challenge at the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge: Boho Bright!


Our sponsor for this challenge is Verve Stamps A randomly selected participant in the Boho Bright challenge will receive a $30 gift certificate to use at  Verve Stamps, while the LEAD will be invited as a Guest Designer in a future challenge!


I love Verve Stamps.  I have for years.  They have a fabulous mix of elegant and funky, Christian and everyday, floral and even robots(!).  Even with my vast collection, I do have to admit that I stared at the inspiration photo for a long time trying to figure out what to do.  I finally decided I was going with the bright colors - they are way out of my comfort zone, but I had a ball working with them - and I think my card will serve its goal of brightening someone's day!

Every Little Thing


I am totally in love with the script of this sentiment!  It's from Let It Be. Each sentiment in it is scripted slightly differently but all are fun and unique.  The flower is one of my favorites for a bold and simple look - it's from Lean on Me and it also has some fun sentiments (and a coordinating die!).  I just got the butterfly after wanting it for ages.  The die is great on its own, but there are also some nice patterns for it in the So Fluttery set.

Although it's a little hard to see with all of the busy-ness of the card - the sentiment is on the Tagged Rectangle die.  The greenery is the Sprightly Sprigs die which I always have handy because it works with fun flowers, bold flower, and even elegant flowers.

Make sure you visit each of the designers' blogs for more inspiration!

Boho Bright Designers

Guest Designer, Hannelie Bester


Follow us!

  • Stamps: Verve Let It Be (sentiment), Lean on Me (flower), So Fluttery (butterfly)
  • Paper: Simon Says Blue Violet, Stampin' Up Marvelous Magenta (really old!), Papertrey Ink Limeade Ice and New Leaf, My Mind's Eye Bramble Rose 12x12 pad (from Hobby Lobby)
  • Ink: Simon Says Blue Violet, Versamark
  • Accessories: Verve Tagged Rectangle die, Sprightly Sprigs die, Pointed Flowers die, Papertrey Limeade Ice button, misc sequins
Stop by the Curtain Call Inspiration Challenge: Boho Bright for the challenge details and to play along with us!