Helping Hand Card

Well I did it, I finally caved and used a digital image! I didn't think I ever would, but I came across this image and fell in love with it. Check out Dustin's blog for details as well as other freebie downloads. Honestly, I never thought I would see the day that I would use a digital image like this for my cards. I love stamping, and it makes me cringe to hear these digital images being called digital "stamps". I confess I was along the lines of others who saw them as nothing more than glorified clip art. No offense to anyone intended. :-) I've come to realize that there is plenty of room for all types of media in this obsession of mine and that by excluding digital images, I was missing out on some really adorable images. Just don't expect me to call them digital stamps. LOL It's hard to see in the pic, but I did use some liquid glass on all of the circles & flowers on the DP on the left side of the card. That's also why the paper looks a bit wrinkled. That's the only thing I hate about using LG, it can buckle the paper. And here I thought I was so careful and put it on lightly enough so as to not do that. Oh well. The sentiment is computer generated - the name of the image is "helping hand" and I thought the sentiment was just perfect to go with it for a thank you card. I hope everyone has had a fabulous summer. The kids go back to school on Monday, and needless to say I am excited for a bit of peace and quiet, or even being able to listen to my Ipod without an interruption every few minutes. I have another paper project in the works today and will be posting it on Monday. Until next week, happy scrappin'.


Supplies Used:
Paper: CTMH Animal Crackers Creative Basics
Ink: CTMH Dutch Blue & Clover Meadow (on the edges of the paper)
Misc: CTMH Dutch Blue eyelets, Red Sheer Ribbon from The Ribbon Retreat, computer generated sentiment, Helping Hand digital image, Prismacolor markers, prismacolor glitter, liquid glass.

More ramblings...

I can't believe the kids go back to school in two weeks! This summer has really flown by. I don't have any artwork to share today. We had a busy weekend of working around the house and doing back to school shopping. We are heading out later this week for a 4 day camping trip in Yellowstone, so I won't have much craft time this week either. I have all sorts of ideas floating around in my head for new projects that I just haven't had time to translate into paper. So I apologize in advance if my postings are sporadic over the next 2-3 weeks. Getting the kids back in school and taking care of some other stuff is going to have to take priority over my paper crafting addiction. I'll also be busy making sure DH has everything he needs to get ready to go back to school as well. He is starting an MBA program. That should be really interesting since he works full time and is going to continue to do so!

I also want to take a minute and thank Cynthia over at the Christmas Planner website for featuring my holiday planner. She did a short but sweet write up on it. I am honored. :-D If you have a few minutes, check out the website. There are some super cute projects on there and some great ideas. It's never too early to start planning for Christmas.

I hope everyone is enjoying the last days of summer. Until next time, happy scrappin'!

Recessed Window Card

The tutorial on SCS this week is for a Recessed Window Card. You can find the tutorial here. The tutorial looked pretty easy so I decided to give it a try. Two hours later, I was finally done. Of course I just had to be different and not go strictly by the tutorial and create a window size of my own choosing. So much for it looking so easy! LOL It actually was pretty easy. I think I just made it more difficult than it was by changing the window size. The image is one I received in the mail today from an image swap and I just couldn't wait to use it. :-) Please pardon the crooked paper on the front. I really do know how to glue things on straight, so I'm not sure what happened there. When I showed my daughter she said she loved it, and then when I told her to ignore the crooked paper, she replied "How on earth did you do that? You NEVER get the paper crooked!". I don't know that it's that I never get the paper crooked as it is that I usually trash the cards when I get the paper crooked. LOL I hope everyone is having a fabulous week. Until next time, happy scrappin'!



Supplies Used:
Paper: SU Tempting Turquoise Cardstock, CTMH Tulip Cardstock, American Crafts Tea Party Paper Pack.
Ink: SU Tempting Turquoise
Stamp: House Mouse (unsure of name - from an image swap)
Misc: Prima flower, orange rhinestone from Michael's dollar spot, ribbon from The Ribbon Retreat, Prismacolor Markers.

Some ramblings & a holiday planner...

Oh I am such a bad blogger!!! I told myself when I started this blog that I would post new artwork at least 2-3 times a week. I haven't posted anything on here since last week! Yikes! So anyways, I've had ideas floating around in my head and have even printed off multiple different tutorials from SCS. I just haven't made much. I've been enjoying watching movies with the kids and reading books, and of course I've also been busy doing back to school shopping and we are getting ready for a family camping trip to Yellowstone next week. I guess at times even the passion for our favorite hobby waxes and wanes, nevermind that life simply gets busy, busy, busy.

So anyways, as most of you know, I participate in a couple of craft shows each year, and I'm always looking for something new to create that I think might sell well. I've had an idea floating around in my head for quite some time now for a holiday planner, but I was hoping to make it a little better and to have a Bind It All to use on it. While the BIA just isn't in my price range right now, I decided I could still make a holiday planner.

The base for my planner is a small composition book that is only 48 pages. I bought 4 dozen of them for a class last year (online from Sam's Club), only to realize they were not the right composition book for the class I was doing. Ugh! They were more trouble than they were worth to return them so I simply kept them. They've come in handy for when my scrappers in training, oops, I mean daughters were bored and wanted to decorate notebooks just like mom. So we've used up a few that way, but I still have plenty left to use. LOL

It's a pretty simple planner. I didn't want to get too complicated since it'll most likely just get tossed after New Year's. I think it'll be great though for jotting down notes and keeping them all in one spot. The calendars on the inside front cover were created in Microsoft Excel (thanks to my DH). The font is CTMH Fountain Pen. The receipts envelope on the inside of the back cover was made using a 6x6 envelope that I decorated with the same papers as the cover, and then used a sticky backed velcro dot to close it. The flower paper clip bookmarks were made using ordinary paper clips from Wal-Mart, Prima Flowers, 2 dimensional glue dots, and Gold Ice Stickles - although the red of the flowers bled, so it doesn't look as gold as I'd like it too. *sigh*

So enough of my rambling - thanks so much for putting up with me!!!








Supplies Used:
Paper: Creative Imaginations (Renae's House), Bazzill Cardstock (red), CTMH Topiary Cardstock, White Cardstock.
Inks: CTMH Topiary & Holiday Red.
Stamps: CTMH Holiday Jubilee, December Word Puzzle
Misc: Buttons, Scrapper's Floss, Ribbon, MS Glitter, Gold Ice Stickles, Quickcutz Tab Die, Ribbon from The Ribbon Retreat, Prima Flowers.

Mojo Monday Sketch 98

Mojo Monday's Sketch 98 was a really fun sketch to work with. For some reason I always feel like I have to have lots and lots of layers, and never seem to remember that it IS okay to use my card base as the base layer of my sketch once in a while. :-) Although I did not add a sentiment to this card at all, I think it would be lovely for a wedding shower, a thank you note, or just a simple note to say hello. I think this paper pack is one of my all time favorites. Not only do I like pink & brown together, I think it is fun yet elegant. Okay, enough of my rambling, and on to the sketch and my card. ;-)




Supplies Used:
Paper: More To Adore Paper Pack (CTMH), Colonial White & Hollyhock Cardstocks
Inks: Versamark, Chocolate (CTMH)
Stamps: Flower Collage Trio (TAC)
Other: Baby Pink Bigger Brad (CTMH), Chocolate Designer Ribbon Round Collection (CTMH), Embossing Powder, Prismacolor Marker

Playing Catch Up...

Well I did finally get my SCS problems solved. All we had to do was reset the modem & wireless router. Too bad it took us 2 1/2 days to figure it out! Anyways, I am playing catch up and finally getting around to posting last week's Mojo Monday Card. I had the card all made, and my love affair with liquid glass finally came back to haunt me. Yep, it made the ink bleed. It was not a pretty sight. LOL So I deconstructed the card and recreated it - it just took me a while to get around to it. I realized after I took the picture, that one of my kids must've gotten some water on it because I noticed a couple of small water spots. Oh well, I guess you can't win them all. I'm not the best at the whole brayer/sponging backgrounds technique. I definitely have a lot to learn. This attempt was better than previous attempts, so I must be making some progress! ;-) I'll have this week's Mojo Monday sketch on Thursday. Thanks so much for stopping by!






Supplies Used:
Papers: Rustic Trail Paper Pack (CTMH), Cocoa Cardstock & White Daisy Cardstock (CTMH)
Inks: Chocolate, Garden Green, Sweet Leaf, Crystal Blue, Dutch Blue, Cocoa (All CTMH)
Stamp Sets: Beary Best (CTMH)
Other: small circle punch, Cricut, Liquid Glass, Embossing Powder, Prismacolor Markers, Liquid Applique.

Computers can be so frustrating!!!!

I'm beginning to think that perhaps it is just me, but I cannot get onto Splitcoaststampers at all!!! I have been trying for two days to get on there with no luck. I've tried Firefox, IE6, cleared my cache & all cookies, and even had DH reset my IP address (I suppose being married to a computer programmer does have it's perks). Meanwhile I am sure the people who have sent me PM's on there about swaps think that I am MIA. Has anyone else had any problems getting on there? Or is it really just me? It is the ONLY website I cannot access right now. Ugh! I guess I'll have to try from the public library this afternoon. Okay, vent over. Thanks for listening!