Card Patterns - Sketch 21

The challenge over at Card Patterns this week is to use the following sketch:

What a neat sketch!! I needed to make a birthday card last night and this sketch was perfect!

Here is my take:

One of the teenagers that babysits our kids turned 15 yesterday. We have known her since she was born. She just loves crafty things, and she really liked this card! I was so happy with her reaction.

I started out thinking the card would be primarily bright pink and orange. But then I remembered I had this ribbon with green stitching, so I decided to incorporate the green as well.

I added the butterflies at the end because that side of the card looked too plain to me.

I just love these colors together, and it was even better because the recipient was so pleased!

Thanks for Looking!

The Griswalds do Florida!

Hi Everyone! Sorry I haven't posted this week - we have been vacationing in Florida. I have some great pictures to share.

On Wednesday, we went to Sea World in Orlando, and Rob's Grandma joined us. She was a real trooper - almost 87 years old, and she walked the entire park with us all day! She is a really interesting lady and we love spending time with her!



We took an airboat ride through the everglades, and fortunately we were able to see about 6 alligators!

This was the biggest one we saw:

Of course while we were here, we went to Primanti's, Fort Lauderdale. The food was just as good as our Pittsburgh Primantis! I thought it was funny - on the menu, they list the Pittsburgher (Cheese Steak - my favorite) as the #2 best seller (same as at home). Someone from another table asked what the #1 best seller was, and the waiter said the pizza - WHAT? Everyone knows the #1 best seller at Primanti's is the beer! Ha Ha!

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge #9

Well I finally got around to checking out Dawn McVey's latest color challenge. Here is the inspiration picture:

And here is my submission:

Ok - this is totally different than most cards I make - it actually turned out the way I pictured in my head! I have been making these little crocheted flowers (don't look to closely - I really don't know how to crochet - I am just winging it!), and I really wanted to use a hat pin which I have never done before. Here are some close-up pictures:

I embossed the backgound paper with a Cuttlebug folder. I printed several copies of this sentiment some time ago, and I thought this would be a good opportunity to use it.

Thanks for Looking!

Color Create - Week 19

The color challenge this week over at Color Create is to use blush pink, lilac, and mossy green. The second part of the challenge was to use die cuts.

Here is my entry:


I just loved this sentiment and I used it for 2 different challenges this weekend.

I broke out the Slice machine this weekend for the cuts. I cut the scalloped frame and the scalloped square from the Noteworthy card. I cut the high-heeled show from the Teen Chillin card.

I also really liked this cream ribbon - I think it gave the card a little elegance.

Thanks for looking!

Crocheted Flowers - Card Patterns 19

Here is the current sketch for Card Patterns this week:

I have to say, I was a little stumped because I wasn't sure what I should use for the centerpiece for this sketch. But I came across a cute little stamp and the rest kind of came together. Here is my take:

I really wanted to use one of my crocheted flowers for this sketch. As I was going through all of my paper, I found some great coral coordinating papers.

I was able to use the Slice machine to cut the scalloped square in the middle. The lace borders was from a Martha Stewart border punch. And I just love this sentiment! I found it on clearance at Michaels last week.

These pictures show some close-ups of the details.

Thanks for Looking!

Crocheted Flowers - 365 Cards - Day 106

Day 106 at 365 Cards is Super Sketchy Sunday. Here is the inspiration sketch:
I was on a mission this weekend to learn how to crochet flowers. I am not starting from ground zero - when I was about 9 or 10 years old, my Mom taught me how to crochet. However, similar to our sewing experiences, there was alot of screaming during these sessions and in the end I gave up and left all of the crocheting to my Mom.

Recently, Nichole Heady had a crocheted flower tutorial on her blog, and I thought "I can do that!" So I spent the weekend trying to make these little flowers for my cards. Perfect timing for this sketch from 365 Cards!

Here is my take:
For those of you who are not aware, I am totally into gadgets! So I had a couple of new gadgets that I wanted to try out, in addition to the crocheted flowers. I used the Making Memories tag curler for the Thanks tag, and I also finally got an edge distresser. I broke out the Slice machine this weekend as well and made the green ribbon tag on the bottom right of the card.

These pictures show some of the details close-up.

I am pleased with the crocheted flower on this card - not too bad for not knowing what I am doing! I hand-stitched the stem and leaves for an added detail.

I have another post going up today for the Card Patterns challenge where I used another crocheted flower.

Thanks for looking!

Depth Perception - Grandma's Brag Book

Well I decided to use this tutorial as my inspiration for the Depth Perception challenge over at Caardvarks.

I like making little mini books as gifts, and these little books are perfect for a few favorite photos for Grandma. Here is the first one:

I really liked this paper - it is from K&Company. It was double sided with coordinating colors / patterns.

I cut a piece 12x5.5. Then I scored at 4" and 8". For the top flap, I trimmed off about 3/4".

I made band for the center out of the striped pattern, and I adhered that all the way around.

For the inner folders, where the pictures will go, I cut the paper at 10.5x3.75, scored down the middle and embossed the outer flap.

Then I just adhered each folder so that they opened opposite of one another.

I used velcro circles so that the whole little package would stay closed.

This is the second little brag book I made:


I used the same layout for this book, just some different papers. Here are a few more pictures:


I am going to try to add 2 pictures to each of the little folders on the inside. I know the Grandma's will love these!

365 Cards - Day 103

The challenge on Day 103 at 365 Cards was to use the following card recipe:

4.25 x 5.5 card
Solid Background
2 patterned papers
Stamped Sentiment
3 Jewels

I played with the recipe and came up with the different submissions. Here is the first one:

Ok - the goal was to give the card a "distressed" look, not a "distressing" look! Ha ha! I am always amazed at how other card makers can make their cards look vintage, and when I try to do that, it just looks like torn paper! Anyway, I will keep working on that.

This is a close-up of the torn flower. I am having fun making these torn flowers. They are so easy to do, and eventually, mine might actually look like Dawn McVeys shown here.

Here is the second card I made:

I tried to stamp directly onto the solid paper, and then I embossed it - not sure if I like that or not.

I was using this patterned paper for another project, and I really liked it, so I used some scraps for this card.

Distressed Flower Card

The challenge at Card Patterns this week is to use the following sketch as your inspiration:


I am limited on materials at our summer place right now, so I decided to try this distressed flower technique that Dawn McVey showed on her blog recently.

I used several scraps of coordinating K&Company papers for the background and the flower in the center.

I also inked the egdes of the flower and the entire card with brown ink.

Thanks for Looking!

365 Cards - Day 100

The theme for Day 100 at 365 cards is "Manic Monday", and the challenge is to use 5 bold colors on your card: RED, ORANGE, YELLOW, GREEN, and BLUE - No pastels!

This is my take:

I had found this cute ribbon with the drinks on it and the colors were perfect. The picture isn't very clear, but I embossed the blue background with a Sizzix embossing plate that has some random big circles. I tried to make a little banner and then I just glued some tiny beads all over, kind of like confetti.

I finally have enough of my craft stuff moved to our cottage. So I was just excited to be able to participate again!

Thanks for looking!

Quick Update

I am not sure if anyone actually reads my entries, but I wanted to give a quick update. I have been a little behind on the challenges lately (and suffering tremendous withdrawal!). With the end of the school year, everything has been hectic.

We are spending more time at our cottage, and I don't have any of my supplies there. But, I am going to try to pack some things this week and take them up. I really don't want to haul my Cricut Expression, so I figured that was a good enough reason to buy a Making Memories Slice machine (I have been searching for a reason to justify that purchase!). I happen to have a Mike's coupon that didn't exclude the Slice. So really, how could I in good conscience pass that up??

Hopefully in the next few days, I will be back to creating, posting, and just wasting time more regularly.

Graduation Card

This is a new graduation card I made last night for the Belli Challenge #66:

I really like these papers - they are from K & Company - their paper packs always have a lot of really unique coordinating papers.

I had this frame leftover in my scraps from another project - I think it is from the Cricut Storybook cartridge.

"Congrats" is from Doodletype, and the diploma and graduation cap in the center are from Locker Talk.

I used some foam stickers to raise the frame and the sentiment as well as the graduation cap.