Sunday, January 30, 2011

It's Sunday Scrap Day #4 - Sort of



It's Sunday Scrap Day at Always With Heart. Though not an official blog challenge, Jules invites everyone to play along. The goal is to make a card using only scraps. Unfortunately my card doesn't qualify tonight because I stamped out the images. Stamped sentiments and piecing are allowed, but no other stamping. Still I did manage to use only scraps and set a goal to make the card as quickly as possible; this little guy took only 15 minutes. In fact it took me longer to set up the picture, pull it into photoshop, crop it, and tag it than it did to make it. I will admit, the polka dot background was already in the scrap pile as is, so I didn't have to pull out the Big Shot. I also had extra incentive to pull this together quickly because it was already 8:15 when remembered I needed a thank you card for a friend that took me to dinner last night.

I hopped over to SCS and looked around the Featured Stamper gallery and decided to case this lovely card by Tillymint. Congrats to Tilly for being chosen as this weeks Featured Stamper.

Well it's getting late and the last of my laundry is calling out to me. Thank you for dropping by.


Supplies:
Stamps: SU - Sweet Summer and unknown "thank you" (it was sitting on the counter and I'm sure I'll find where it belongs someday)
Ink: Basic Black and Green Galore
Card Stock: SU! Whisper White and Gable Green
Extras: Buttons - SU!; Ribbon scraps unknown; DMC thread; Cuttlebug embossing folder

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

WOYWW #86



Well nothing new this Wednesday; same kitchen counter, same mess.

I'm currently working on a card for my best friends daughter. Arin will be 16 soon and I wanted to make a Sweet 16 card, but nothing is working. I've pulled out a pink pearl flourish, and painted and glittered clipboard (the 16) but the only thing I like with the pink is black. Now I can't decide if black is appropriate for a 16 year old girl. I know that not so long ago when I was 16 .... **looks around for the lightening to strike** .... I would have loved a black and pink card. However thats me and not Arin. I'm thinking I need to let this go and change directions; maybe try again to make something in lavender, her favorite color.

As for the use of the kitchen counter as my craft space; there is light at the end of this tunnel. I found a cabinet maker who is going to draw up a "desk" for me. I found a really simple counter height table at Crate & Barrel 2; its the perfect height and size for my small craft room. However the one at C&B2 was $500 and white laminate, no way was I paying that for something so simple. We discussed modifications and once we work out a final design I should have a great desk in 6 to 8 weeks. Woohoo!!!

Looking forward to getting my pretty kitchen back to rights.

This is a picture of the C&B table ...

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Hugs and Kisses for Sunday Scrap Day



There is a very lovely lady here in blogland named Jules that has set up a self-challenge to tap into her scrap bin each Sunday. Although not an official challenge she invites anyone to join her in the quest to reduce the scrap bin here at Always With Heart. Even if you do not wish to play along, I highly encourage you to take a look at her blog; she has many beautiful cards to see.

Todays Sunday Scrap Day card is once again two challenges. SSD3 and Splitcoast Stampers Clean and Simple challenge (#102). Last Monday's CAS challenge was a sketch challenge.

This card was really fun to make and I am so please at how it turned out. The ribbon presented the biggest challenge; the bow is not tied because it is three pieces of ribbon stitched together. That is the reason the tail of the ribbon is so short. The ribbon that is wrapped around the card front is actually two pieces with the seam under the bow. Unless someone actually takes the card apart, they will never know that is not a whole ribbon. :)

I used SU! Pretty In Pink and Crumb Cake card stock ... all scraps. I ran the second layer of the Crumb Cake through Cuttlebug's Diamond embossing folder. I then took Ranger Dabber paint (pink) and ran a paint brush along the bottom edges of each diamond. Once it dried, I used a sanding block and ran it over the raised diamonds, removing most of the paint and giving the edges a softer feel. I mirrored the diamond shapes with the Pretty In Pink using a Spellbinders die. The "Hugs & Kisses" is also an old scrap; it's a K&Company clipboard that is at least 3 0r 4 years old. The bit of lace started out as white, but I pressed it into a Distressed Ink pad (Tea Dyed), then ran it under water to even it out and give it a worn feel. Once dried, I attached it to the back side of the clipboard. I added Kaiser Craft pearls (love KC pearls) popped on a Prima rose and called it done.

Thank you for stopping by.

SCS Challenges

I wanted to post a couple cards I made this week for two of the Splitcoast challenges.

This card is for Mother Marks Tea Pot Tuesday challenge 129; I also used a sketch challenge from a few weeks back #311.


The stamp is by Inkadinkado and the Dp is Basic Grey's Max & Whiskers. The card stock it Crumb Cake and Riding Hood Red by SU.


This card is for last Sunday's Featured Stamper 206. The original design was by Tracy whose galley is a beautiful display of elegant and fun CAS cards. I really love her style. Here is the link to whoistracy FS206 card.




Sentiment is by Verve; DP is Memory Box Pixie; unknown cream card stock; Mambo Melon card stock to frame the sentiment.

Thank you for stopping in.
Happy Sunday.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

WOYWW #85 - Back to crafting

It's been several weeks since I've posted for WOYWW and only yesterday made my first blog post in the same amount of time.

On December 29th I took a pretty bad fall in my driveway which unfortunately keep me down for a while. After that, it was my job that was swallowing up all my time (including a couple weekends). But finally my body is on the mend and the yearend finances for our company are done, so it's back to card making. Though the craftroom is coming along, it's still not done (it too was stalled due to the accident); so my kitchen counters are still my workdesk.

This last weekend saw three Mojo Monday cards completed. It felt good to be able to make/finish those cards. As usual I didn't even bother cleaning up between them, I just kept piling up the mess. And I'll be honest, I won't clean it up tonight when I get home and make a card already forming in my mind. :)

Well I'm off to work, but will be back this afternoon to take a look at what you all have been up to. Thanks for stopping by and its good to be back to crafting. :)





Monday, January 17, 2011

Mojo Triple Play

It's been several weeks since I've been able to do any crafting or other fun things. On December 29th, I took a pretty bad fall and unfortunately it messed up my knees enough to keep me down for a few weeks. My hands and wrists weren't doing so well either for at least a week after the fall. Luckily I hit my head on the dirt so no issues there. I had to keep my right knee up and iced for two weeks and then of course closing the year end books at work kept me away from crafts until this weekend.

So here are three Mojo Monday Sketches (two of which I started when they appeared but didn't get a chance to finish) including todays sketch.

Thank you for popping in.

MOJO MONDAY 174:




I've been holding this stamp and paper aside for some weeks now waiting for the perfect sketch, and I think 174 is it.
Stamp by Inkadinkado; Paper by Basic Grey; Buttons by SU and Basic Grey; Ribbon unknown.


MOJO MONDAY 172 and Always With Heart - Sunday Scraps:




I really love how this one came out. This is a double challenge; Mojo Monday and Jules' Sunday Scraps (I would link, but for the life of me I can not figure out how to make them work).

Jules has set a challenge goal to use her stack of scraps every Sunday. Like Jules, I have bags and bags of scrap DP, CS, ribbon; even half stamped/colored items. The goal is to not cut into anything new or whole, but to use only the scraps. The Mojo Monday 172 sketch is just perfect for using up scraps. In the case of this card, there is a huge ink blob on the blue card stock under the circle and square. I also only had enough ribbon to make a quick fold under. That ribbon doesn't even go all the way under the circle. :) I was able to get just enough Dasher paper together to pull this off, and my Old Olive card stock is more scraps than whole sheets so that wasn't an issue. This was just so much fun to make this card happen.

Stamps - Verve Kind Words; DP by Basic Grey (Dasher); bling by Kaiser Craft; card stock SU and Bazzil; Ribbon unknown.



MOJO MONDAY 171:






UGH!! The center panel is on there crooked and I didn't even notice until after I took the picture. Oh well. I like how this one turned out. The Mambo Melon trim looks really bright in the photo, but It blends beautifully IRL. I used a lot of different products to make this one come together.
Stamps - Verve Beautiful Kindness and SU!s Aviary; Basic Grey Paper and brad; SU Chocolate Chip and Mambo Melon card stock and Chocolate chip craft ink; SU! Mambo Melon ribbon.