Monday, June 22, 2009

Who Am I Fooling? (AMYRS70)


Okay, I don't know who I'm fooling because I am having the hardest time getting my rear into my mini-studio to craft some cards! Every time I tell myself that I'm going to "make some cards tonight," I get distracted by something else or find myself "just too tired." You would think that I would be chomping at the bit to get crafting as often as possible! I don't know what's going on internally... maybe I'm in a funk or a rut... but I still have creative juices that need to be squeezed! *wink*

Since I'm a stay-at-home mom with two small boys, and because my mini-studio is in the corner of my husband's home office (and he works from home), I'm not able to sneak away to make a card during the day... and dragging my goodies out to the kitchen table to make a card is out of the question with the kiddos around! I am, however, attached to my laptop on the sofa quite a bit while my eldest plays in the afternoons and my youngest naps for three hours (yes, three hours!).

During my laptop-sofa-time yesterday I decided to try my hand at a digital card using Photoshop Elements 6 (PSE6) and a free digi kit I downloaded from Papertrey Ink last year... or maybe it was the year before. I also used some embellishments that I got off of a CD that I won at a papercraft event last year that is loaded with several digital kits by Traci Reed, who is an awesome designer for Sweet Shoppe Designs. I'm not familiar with PSE6 beyond mildly tweaking my photos, which I don't even do that often because I'm not a scrapbooker, but I am excited that I was able to figure out as much as I did on my own! I even figured out how to change the colors of the embellishments! Anyway, I came up with a cute digi card made with Papertrey Ink's "Spiral Bouquet" digi paper and digi sentiment plate... and I tweaked some of Traci Reed's flowers, buttons and rhinestones to match. The layout is from this week's Friday Sketch Challenge by Amy Rysavy over at her "Prairie Paper & Ink" blog. It's not necessarily a "proper" submission since it is completely digital and not even hybrid... but at least I squeezed some creative juice and learned a ton about PSE6! I'm sure there is still so much to learn, and I don't even know if this card would look very good printed out, but at least it's worth a blog posting!

I hope you enjoy my first all-digi card since there may be more digi cards in my future... especially during these lag times in-between "real" card crafting so my blog isn't so dormant! Stay tuned!

Monday, June 15, 2009

Zinnia Hope (TECC72)


Happy Birthday Taylor! This card is my submission for the Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge this week, and it just happens to fall on Taylor's birthday! The stamp I used is "Hope" from the Hope & Grace collection by The Greeting Farm. She's so cute! I also used designer paper from the new "Zinnia" collection by Little Yellow Bicycle. I love the color combo they used! Anyway, this is a pretty basic card. I colored Hope with watercolor pencils, cut her out, and stuck her on with adhesive foam dots for some depth. I used flowers from Bazzill (they had all the right colors!), and accented the corner of the card with adhesive rhinestone gems from Hero Arts.

Paper: Zinnia (Little Yellow Bicycle); white cardstock (Mohawk 110 cover weight)
Stamp: Hope & Grace (The Greeting Farm)
Ink: Rich Cocoa (Memento); watercolor pencils (Derwent)
Accessories: flowers (Bazzill); antique nickel brads (Making Memories); adhesive rhinestone gems (Hero Arts); adhesive foam dots (Stampin' Up); brown marker; white gel pen (Inkssentials)

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Gretel Bird-Day (AMYRS69)


I went to Scrappy Hour at Green Tangerines last night and wasn't very productive! I only finished two cards, including this one for Amy Rysavy's Friday Sketch Challenge. I just got my Swiss Pixies in the mail yesterday and HAD to use one! I used Swiss Pixie Gretel on this card, along with the new "Happy Bird-Day" paper from 3 Bugs in a Rug. I cut her dress from designer paper, used Stickles on her wings, and used a tiny orange rhinestone for her hair tie. I'm still coloring with watercolor pencils, but I'm totally craving a set of Copics! Hopefully for my birthday... I'll keep my fingers crossed!

Paper: "Happy Bird-Day" collection (3 Bugs in a Rug); white cardstock
Stamps: Swiss Pixie Gretel (C.C. Designs)
Ink: Deep Cocoa (Memento); watercolor pencils (Derwent); brown marker
Accessories: ribbon (May Arts); tag punch (Marvy Uchida); flowers (Bazzill, Prima); clear rhinestone brads (Oriental Trading); diamonds glitter glue (Stickles); adhesive rhinestone (Kaisercraft); dimentionals adhesive foam (Stampin' Up); white gel pen (Inkssentials)

Thursday, June 11, 2009

2RedBananas - Banana Split Sunday "Pattern Frenzy"

Aaaaha! I was on my Google reader, checking out all my favorite blogs, when I realized that my Mojo Monday challenge card ALSO works for the Banana Split Sunday "Pattern Frenzy" challenge over at the 2RedBananas blog! Yay! So, here is my card again using 3 different patterned papers at once! I used the new designer paper by Chatterbox from their "Fabulous" line. On this card, I used a small floral pattern for the main piece, a yellow/brown dot paper for the accent piece under the image, and a turquise dot pattern on the dress on the image and as an accent piece under the sentiment. If you want the rest of the info on this card, check out my Mojo entry. How great that I met two different challenges without knowing it!

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Fabulous MOJO90


Here is my submission for this week's Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge! I wasn't too sure about the sketch when I pulled it up, but after seeing the samples supplied by the design team, I was confident I could create a proper submission! I used the Ivy Ketto stamp (love her!), colored her in with watercolor pencils, cut her dress out of designer paper, and adhered tiny pearls and rhinestones to the ivy branch. I'm really happy with how she turned out!

Stamps: Ivy KETTO (Stamping Bella); Just for You (Hero Arts "Card Messages" clear stamps);
Paper: Fabulous (Chatterbox); brown cardstock (Bazzill); white cardstock (Mohawk 110 cover weight)
Ink: Rich Cocoa (Memento); watercolor pencils (Derwent)
Accessories: circle and classic scallop dies (Nestabilities); ticket corner punch (Stampin' Up), adhesive pearls and rhinestones (Kaisercraft); dimensional adhesive foam dots

Monday, June 8, 2009

Maui Luau Weekend - WSC84


At long last... I'm back with a submission for the Weekend Sketch Challenge! Nothing like waiting until the last minute, huh? I just got some new designer paper from Bo Bunny from their "Maui Luau" line. I love the vibrant orange and lime colors! I used a little kitty stamp and a flower from Hero Arts, using a tiny rhinestone on the kitty's collar, and an orange rhinestone on the flower. I also punched out butterflies from the Martha Stewart 3-in-1 classic butterfly punch and put diamond Stickles on their wings. I even used a very large orange flower under the image. I'm happy with how it looks!

Stamp: kitty from "I Love My Cat" set & flower from "Mushrooms" set (Hero Arts clear stamps)
Paper: Maui Luau (Bo Bunny); brown cardstock (Bazzill); white cardstock (Mohawk 110 coverstock)
Ink: Rich Cocoa (Memento); watercolor pencils (Derwent)
Accessories: circle and classic scallop circle dies (Nestabilities); 3-in-1 classic butterfly punch (Martha Stewart); orange creamsicle flower (Bazzill); white gel pen (Ranger Inkssentials); diamond glitter glue (Stickles); piercing tool

Friday, June 5, 2009

Yes, I'm still here! (AMYRTFS2)


I'm so sorry it has been over a week since my last post! Life has gotten in the way. I weaned off a medication and the withdrawal made me very dizzy (among other things) and unable to craft! Now I am slowly getting back into the swing of things... just in time for Amy Rysavy's Friday Sketch Challenge over at Prairie Paper and Ink, which I am the guest sketch designer for this week! YEAH! Here is my sketch and my sample. I made this card larger than my usual 4.25 x 5.5 because it's a birthday card for my mom and I am enclosing a few 5 x 7 photographs. I made this card 5.5 x 7.25 to accommodate the photos. I used one of my new Ketto stamps, which I adore, and I used fairly new designer paper from Basic Grey's "Marrakech" line... I just love the colors of these papers! I recently splurged on several new stamps and papers, so be sure to check back to see my creations with those! I hope to get back on my plan to post every other day, or at least 2-3 times per week. We'll see how that goes! Anyway, here are the stats on this card:

Paper: Marrakech (Basic Grey); white cardstock (Mohawk 110 cover weight)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento); watercolor pencils (Derwent); grey marker (Le Plume - Marvy)
Accessories: circle and classic scallop dies (Nestabilities); mini flower punch (dollar bin at Michael's), 5/8 circle punch (EK Success); flowers (Prima, Basic Grey, Hero Arts); adhesive rhinestones (Kaisercraft); clear rhinestone circle brads; dimensional adhesive foam dots; sponge