Muse #20

Here's the Muse by Laurie Willison.

I took my inspiration from the color, the three images and the band of ribbon across the top.

I cut the Popsicles from Simply Charmed out of kraft cardstock and yellow, then coated the yellow with Glossy Accents.  I switched out the ribbon for twine and generated the sentiment on the computer.

Thanks for stopping by to visit.  I hope you come back again.

RetroSketches #63

Read my previous post and you'll understand why I say "I'd better stick to what I know."  What's that you say?   I should challenge myself now and then?   I promise I will, but only when my mind is in Creative Mode, a place it's not been lately.

After the stamping disaster, I pulled up the sketch from Retro Sketches and instantly got an image.  Maybe all that "I can't believe it" shaking cleared my head.  Whatever the reason, I came up with a passable card for the challenge.

The little pencil is from Simply Charmed cut from scraps.  The other paper is from Colorbok called Antique Paperie.  I've had this for a while and never used any of it.  I antiqued everything with Old Paper Distress Ink.  I chose the sentiment  from My Craft Spot because it looks hand printed.  Doesn't anyone do cursive anymore:  It's stamped with Hero Arts Wet Cement, the closest to a graphite color I have.

I'm feeling much better about my card crafting capabilities.  On to the next challenge.  CHARGE!!!

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you charge ahead to your next adventure in the paper world.

Bird is the Word

You younger bloggers out there may have never heard this nonsensical, repetitive song from the mid-sixties, unless you're a Family Guy fan.  I heard (from Google) that it was sung on there.

A-well-a, everybody's heard about the bird
Bird, bird, bird, b-bird's the word
A-well-a, bird, bird, bird, the bird is the word
A-well-a, bird, bird, bird, well, the bird is the word

And on and on and . . . . Once I saw the CASology clue this week, that's all I could think about.

Don't ask me why.  Just one of those brain glitches I guess.  But try as I might to think of something else for the word "word" it just wouldn't come so I surrendered and made a bird as simple and funky as the song.

If you look closely, you can see that there are actually words in the patterned paper I used.  The bird is cut from Simply Charmed with glossy enamel for his eye.  I think I'll put "A little bird told me it's your birthday"  on the inside.

Thanks for stopping by to visit.  Unless I'm out building an ark, I'll meet you here tomorrow.  Have a wonderful day however you choose to spend it.

Retro Sketch #59

I keep saying I'm going to think outside the box and I think I've done it on the next few cards I'll be posting.  Today's card is for Retro Sketches

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Normally I would cut the double layer banner and put flowers on top.  Instead I came up with this.

This will make a great Father's Day card so I'm ahead of the game. The card base is embossed with the houndstooth folder.  The tie is from Simply Charmed, cut from Little Sports paper by FancyPants. The word "dad" is from MS Seasonal and the tie and letters are popped up on foam tape.

I do need to say that my Dad never wore ties quite this sedate. Mom used to make him some out the most colorful material.  In fact I was looking at a few of them yesterday when I was organizing their closet and Mom said to throw them out.  I should have taken a picture to post.  You would have gotten a chuckle out of them. Some I swear were more than 4 inches wide.

Thanks for stopping by to visit and enjoy your day.

I'm Getting There.

The quilt top is done and ready for the longarm quilter.  The ornaments are made for the grandchildren and sent off.  (I'll post a picture of them at a later date.)  I usually give them on their presents but that means they don't get on the tree until the following year.  I decided to change that and give them early. 

The women's Christmas luncheon at the church is over.  I was in charge of the program, which was simple:  a couple of readings and a game of Christmas Bingo.  I made these for bingo prizes.

I must say I scraplifted this idea from My3escrapbookking.  She used Create a Critter for hers but mine are from Simply Charmed.  The penquins are 5" tall and the boxes are 3" square.  The faces are stamped with Peachy Keen stamps.  Here is a side view.

 

I put tissues, hand cream and lip balm in each one.  They were a hit.

Now it's time for me to start on my Christmas cards.  I see that a lot of my blogger friends have had theirs done for a while.  I can't make up my mind what I want to do that is easily reproducable.  There are a number of seasonal challenges this week so maybe I'll come up with something as I work on them. 

Orange

The word orange reminds me of an old, old knock knock joke. 

Knock knock,
Who's there?
Banana
Banana who?
Knock knock
Who's there?
Banana
Banana who?
Knock knock
Who's there?
Orange
Orange who?
Orange you glad I didn't say banana?

Depending on who is telling this joke, the banana part can go on and on. 

A lot of food images came to mind for the challenge at CAS-ology.

I didn't want to go in that direction.  Looking around my craft/sewing room, my eyes settled on my scissors.  I have several of those orange handled  Fiskars;  a large pair of "for fabric only" ones, a smaller "clip my threads" one, one in my knitting basket, one in the bathroom to cut my husband's hair, and one for paper (amongst many other paper cutting ones.) 

I cut the scissors from the Simply Charmed cartridge out of silver paper and the handle layer out of the perfect color orange.  I printed the word "CREATE" on the computer.  Now I have another pair of orange handled scissors to add to my stash.

Here's another view to show the shininess of the blades.

These CAS-ology challenges are really that for me - a challenge.  I am more of a many layers, lots of printed patterns and inking kind of card maker.  I had an idea for last week's challenege "Sugar" but didn't get it done in time.   That's really crazy since they are so simple to do once you come up with an idea.   I was determined to do this one. 

Here's to You!

My son-in-law's birthday is coming up and I decided to use the challenge at Celebrate the Occasion for my inspiration.  They asked for "a male birthday card - must be tall".  I started looking through some of my Cricut handbooks for something that would fit a tall card and came across this bottle in Simply Charmed.  What better way to celebrate than with champagne.

The card is 3 1/2" by 7".   I found envelopes on the internet that fit this size card.  I cut the bottle from green vellum I got a long time ago.  It's rather dense vellum but just perfect for a bottle.  At first I though I would need to put a white layer under it but then said to myself,  "Wait, the bottle should be transparent, right?"  I talk to myself a lot. lol

I did cut the confetti from the top of the white and the green and swapped them out so I could color it with distress inks.  I printed the label on a transparency and rubbed it on so it would look a little worn and then inked the edges.  I used adhesive under the label section and across the top of the bottle neck so it wouldn't show through.  The little tag, the stamped sentiment and the twine are all from My Craft Spot.  I probably should attach this to a real bottle of champagne. wink, wink

Wedding

I really like entering the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge because it's one of the few that features cuts from a Cricut machine.  This week the challenge is Wedding Bliss.  I don't often need a wedding card so I don't have a lot of Cricut carts with wedding images.  I've seen some wonderful things that other bloggers have made with their intricate cuts of brides and grooms but I settled for a simple cake from Simply Charmed.

To  make it special I knew I needed some sparkly paper.  Both the aqua and white frosting are glitter paper from DCWV's Linen Closet.  The silver cake plate is a scrap from a  DCWV shimmer stack.  The background paper is from MMI Lost and Found.  I didn't want to add anything more for a sentiment so I just stamped the Mr & Mrs from the Tiny Tags 2 set from My Craft Spot right on the background.  I inked the stamp with VersaMark first, then colored it with a marker in the aqua color.  That allowed me to heat emboss with clear embossing powder.  A band of shear shimmery ribbon and it's done.  

Not the best but not the worst card I've ever done.  I'm either in a funk, or I hurried too much, or I just couldn't get into the wedding theme.  Take your pick.  lol

Too Sweet

I am WAY behind on my scrapbooking.  If I'd stop with the cardmaking, I might have more time to get some done, but I'm addicted and you know how that is.  I did decide to do a layout for the Cricut Chirp Challenge - Too Sweet to Eat.  

I do my layouts on 8 1/2 by 11 paper so they fit in regular binders. 

This is a two pager. 

I stayed with my two granddaughters one weekend while their parents took their brother to a soccer tournament.  It was just before Easter and they wanted to make decorated cookies.  Of course I had to document the occasion. 

I cut the word "cookies" from MS Elegant, using the shadow for the tan cookie dough and then layered with pastel colors.  The little chick in the egg is from Simply Charmed and was the inspiration for a couple of the cookies.  I cut the shadow for it from the same tan cookie color.  The two "cookies" on the second page are cuts from Accent Essentials that looked like some of the cookies we made. 

We had a fun time and the cookies were not "too sweet to eat".  We all had to try at least one. 

Hot Diggity

I've been a little behind on my cardmaking and missed a couple of challenges.  It's hot today so it's a good time to stay inside and catch up.  First on my list is Celebrate the Occasion whose deadline line is in a few hours.

The challenge at Celebrate the Occasion is Hot Dog!!  Pretty self explanitory.  I only had one cartridge with a hot dog on it and that was Simply Charmed.

I wanted to make a "real" hotdog so I hid the contours for the face that appears on the bun.  I like my hotdogs with catsup, mustard and relish so I had to add another cut for the catsup and then I experiemented to make some relish.  I added some green paint to Glossy Accents and then poured in some glitter so it would be chunky.  The color isn't quite right but I think it looks pretty good.  I inked the bun with Vintage Photo Distress Ink and popped it up on foam. 

The background paper is from Echo Park's Walk in the Park and the mat is from a Core'dinations stack and the same paper I used for the hotdog.  I made the little tag from a Tiny Tags 2 stamp and the Tiny Tags die from My Craft Spot.

I have another card ready for a noon tomorrow deadline and I'm off to make a card for my pastor who had to have a pacemaker implanted this past week.  She didn't preach this morning but was in church to receive the love and support of the congregation.

Yum! Cherry Pie

Traverse City Michigan is the cherry capital of the world and cherry pie is my favorite, so it's no surprise that I chose to make one for two challenges: Fantabulous Cricut's "Yummy, Yummy" a summer dessert and Little Scrap Pieces' "Sweet summer treats".  I don't live in TC but am a Michiganian.

The pie was cut from Simply Charmed.  (I removed the big cherry on top.) The paper for the cherry part was actually a red and orange polka dot since I wanted to give it some variation but once I embossed it with the Bubbles folder, the dots don't show.  All the better.  The crust is a tan piece of scrap that is inked with Frayed Burlap Distress Ink and the plate is another scrap.    The background paper is from a 6 x 6 paper pad called "For the Record" by Echo Park.  I didn't like it plain so added the black liner.  The tag is from the Tiny Tags set from My Craft Spot as is the black and white twine.

Thanks for stopping by.  I think I'm going to the store to get some cherries.  lol

School Time

I got a new punch from Fiskars and was anxious to use it on a card.  I thought maybe the sketch from Freshly Made might be the answer.

When I saw the "any shape", it conjured up more ideas - and a card was born.

The card base is kraft cardstock.  The new notebook punch was used on a lined paper from Lost and Found by MME.  The chalkboard paper was something I had in my stash.  I now wish I had cut it square but I tend to stick to the actual sketch, much to my creative detriment.  And what better for a school theme than a pencil that was cut from Simply Charmed.  I made it red to coordinate with the lines in the paper.  It was looking a little plain so I did some pen stitching around the edge.  I like the overall idea buy may tweek it a little for another card.

April Showers

April showers not only bring May flowers but can produce beautiful rainbows.  That was my focus for two challenges titled "April Showers" this week - CardzTv and Fantabulous Cricut.

This card is 3 1/2" by 7".  The background is Core-dinations textured canvas in doveflower with the sentiment printed on by computer in blue.  The images are cut from Simply Charmed.  I hid the contours to leave off the faces.  The edges of the white clouds are rubbed with Faded Jeans Distress Ink.  The rainbow is sprayed with Dazzliing Diamonds Glimmer Mist and the raindrops have been covered with Glossy Accents. Everything is popped up on dimensionals.   I think all those little details make a big difference.

Birthday Symbols

Sometimes I get an idea in my head but the execution doesn't turn out the same.  I had an idea for the Mojo Monday sketch challenge this week.

I wanted to put little birthday symbols in place of the circles.   Maybe they should have been bigger because I don't think they look quite right.

The card is 5 1/8 by 7".  I layered it with red and then a confetti/streamer paper.  I cut the images from Simply Charmed at 1 1/2".  I was amazed at how well they cut in that small size.  Even the tiny layer pieces.  I used the Spots and Dots Cuttlebug folder to emboss the strip the images are on and layered it on red.  The sentiment was stamped with red and the ends cut with my square punch.  All in all, it's a cute card, just not what was in my mind.  I may try this again using bigger images or smaller card.