WRITE YOUR OWN STORY

It has been a long, long time since my last post. Have been doing all types of crafts, but just haven't found the time to post them. When Gingersnap Creations challenged us to use a typewriter, I had a few to chose from, but this one is my favorite.

This is an altered notebook which tells its own story. Used papers that I picked up at Joanns and the typewriters are rub ons that were purchased at Michaels, from their $1 bins which have had a price increase to $1.50, inflation is the pits, LOL!

The edges of the book and all the papers were distressed using a sponge and ink. The brown background was solid paper, I used a gold gel pen and started to journal.

The sketch is from a Mojo Monday, from awhile back. For inspiration purposes I make a copy of sketches and have them in a folder so I can go back and pull from these ideas. Twenty different notebooks were completed this way before Christmas and each one was unique.

Thanks for stopping by, and being supportive.

Suzie

Golden Butterflies

Haven't been around for awhile, have been working on an altered book, and also a baby shower. Will post the invitation, diaper cake and favors that I made for the shower tomorrow, but wanted to post this card for a couple of challenges. You know me I really enjoy doing challenges, but just haven't found the time.

It was my goal yesterday to make a new card, here it is. The sketch is from Our Creative Corner, thought this was a great sketch and they do give me a direction for the card. The picture isn't great, but the tiny butterfly on the left hand corner is dimensional. The paper is from the Mariposa Mat Stack by DCWV which was purchased at Joanns.

Gingersnap Creations just issued a new color challenge, to use burgundy, ivory and black. The center oval was created with my classic scallop die cut from Spellbinders, and then the inside oval, with my cutting system from Creative Memories. The gold butterfly is embossed to tie into the wonderful background paper. I also used VersaMark to stamp small butterflies on the background, unfortunately they don't show in the photo.

Crafty Creations challenge this week is to use your favorite stamp, well that is next to impossible, so a used one of my favorite stamp sets from K & Company. It is a set of clear stamps and has a great assortment of stamps, I should just leave it out all the time, it is used for a wide variety of cards.

Getting ready for work, will share some baby shower stuff tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by, have a great day and weekend.

TAG TUESDAY #45 STUCK ON COLLAGE

Getting ready for work, it's my Friday, get off at 2am and then get on the plane at 6:40 am for my trip to Reno. All of a sudden my plate became very full. Talked with my daughter, Jamie, today and we are just going to spend quality time together and hit a couple of craft stores and possibly a quilt shop in Reno. She is a teacher and on spring break, her youngest son is out of school also, but the oldest is not on break until next week. Am really looking forward to having some "girl time."

Earlier in the week I was extremely productive and got a few things completed, this is a tag that I did for the Tag Tuesday Challenge(better late than never). The challenge was to combine collage and stickers, I have a huge assortment of stickers so it was just of matter of find the paper and stickers that would go together. My papers and stickers have been purchased through the years, and it is usually a couple of papers rather than books of paper that co-ordinate. Buy paper that hits my fancy at the time, because of this fact, I spend valuable time going through papers for collages, but that to me is half the fun.

Found some vintage type paper, and then it was time to take on the stickers, you think they are organized until you try and find what you have in mind. The vintage lady and Eifel Tower werea sticker that I found in the clearance aisle at Michaels. Used a sentiment sticker also, can't begin to know where these came from. The tag is chipboard from Michaels $1 bins, found some other shapes the other day, they are suppose to be mini scrapbooks, but that is what is so fun about crafting, we all improvise.

Finshed the tag off by using a glue pen around the edge and sprinkled with gold glitter. Did use my cutting system to add to oval behind the vintage lady, and red picot ribbon for the tie. Am literally running out the door. Thanks for stopping by, last but not least I hope everyone has a Happy Easter.

A PERECT DAY!

Tell me it isn't so, it can't be April already. Do not know where the time goes. It is so true that the older you get the faster the time goes. On my days off this week I had a couple of perfect days and what able to make some fun cards.

The inspiration for this card was gained from two different challenges. Rosie Dees Challenge is to use the colors, green, yellow, and white. These are such fun colors and just add a smile to my face.

Used my scallop fun for the circle and then cut out the center with my cutting system. The stamp was another one of those treasures that I found at Michaels, just $1, it does pay to shop once in awhile. The sketch is the challenge at Crazy 4 Challenges, it was clean and simple, but I couldn't resist adding the butterflies on the corner. Used brush markers to fill in the stamps, kept the entire card simple.

Really enjoyed making the card, it just seemed to fall into place with very little effort. Have some great news from last night, am going to be getting a new puppy next week, have to wait until we get back from Reno. Billy does know anything about the puppy so this should be fun, am having a hard time keeping the secret.

Time for me to head of to work. Thanks for stopping by today. Have a wonderful weekend.

WHAT A DAY!

It has been crazy around my place, started this posta few days ago, but never got back to it. Got ready for a yard sale, that was for Saturday and Sundy, but I couldn't do Sunday, was in too much pain from Saturday and slo the lack of sleep. Work nights and got up early Saturday for the sale. It worked out okay, but am in a lot of pain, also weeded the yard imbetween customers. When will I learn, that I'm not spring chicken.



I have had this tree stamp for years. It is one of favoriates, but for some reason I haven't used it in a long. time. Ran across it and thought that the sketch challenge at The Pink Elephant Challenge would work nicely. I stamped the tree with Stampin Up ink and then suing a glue pen added glitter to the leaves. Cut an oval mat and then added samller ovals. Trim on the side is ribbon. Then stamped "What A Day", had to go shopping to purchase a new stamp. Thought that it would be neat to add some siz zag stitching aound the edge, like it, but don't know if it really tied in with the rest of the card. The base of the card is 5x7, the tree stamp was to large.




This would be the card for me yesterday, got to work and "What a Day!" Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend, mine starts tomorrow. I have half finished projects on my desk and ready want to get them completed tomorrow, but also need to deal with all the stuff I didn't sale. Oh well, just another day in the neighborhood.


Talked with my daughter yesterday and she and my sister were at a Scrapbooking Show in Salt Lae, so wished I had been there. They found some great new products, can't wait to get there to see what kind of projects we will be doing next.


Thanks for stopping by today, have a crafty one.

Personalized Frame

We often forget that our stamps can be used on different textures than paper. I had 5 x 7 acrylic frames in my stash and thought this would be a fun time to try and stamp on the frames. The first picture shows the flower stamp and my grandson's names, StazOn ink was used to stamp the designs.

Slid a piece of solid colored paper into the frame, to show what the stamps looked like. This shows that you can change the pictures of the kids anytime you would like. The next picture is the finished project with a picture of my grandsons, I added stars behind each of their names. Also distressed the edge of the paper, and did watercolor with my aquapainters on glossy paper and placed this so it was behind the flowers.

The picture is matted with white paper, and I used my cutting system from Creative Memories, to cut the oval picture and mat. The stars are a punch that was also purchased from Creative Memories. The metal shoes are brads and I punched a hole in the center of the yellow stars to place them. Used tacky glue to attach these stars to the frame, these are on the outside of the frame. Will be going to Reno to see the boys in April and will have to take a new picture.

This was so easy to do and want to do some for our family reunions, have the perfect picture that was taken in the 20's. There are unlimited stamps that you can use do this type of picture frame, your imagination can run wild. Oh, by the way the frames are available at Wal-Mart for $1. Scrappy Frogs challenge was stamp on something other than paper, think this qualifies.

Thanks for stopping by today, if you have time please leave a comment, love hearing from my fellow bloggers.

ANYONE UP FOR A GLASS OF WINE?

Cheers! Going to a dinner party and are taking a bottle of wine to the hostess, this card is the perfect companion. A few months ago I saw a tutorial for a felted card, and wanted to really give it a try.

Felted cards are made with napkins, plastic wrap, newsprint and an iron. Our Creative Corner has a challenge to try a new technique, so it was time to give this technique a try. The background is a napkin, that is ironed on to cardstock. There is a tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers with all the detail and also a video. A cocktail napkin was used, found that one napkin could make 4 cards that our 5x5, this particular napkin would be great invitations for a dinner party. I have found myself in the party section of the stores to see if there are any unusual napkins that can be used as backgrounds.



Did not want to add a lot of embellishment to the card, but did add some stitching to the yellow strip to meet the a challenge at Crafty Creations. Love the colors on this card which just happens to be a challenge at Gingersnap Creations, to use 3 colors that you love. My favorite color is red, but I also love autumn colors and with this color scheme this was possible.

The base of the card is yellow, gold is the mat and also the oval, and the final color is the brown tones. The sentiment was computer generated, the ovals were made using my cutting system from Creative Memories.

This has been a good craftying day for me, the creative juices have been flowing, more challenges met, they will be posted in the very near future. Have a great day.

P. S. If you would like to see more videos from Angie Kennedy Juda (which was featured on my post yesterday) you can click here.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAYLENE!

It has been a long time since my last post. Have been on vacation, and gotten back to work, and work has been crazy with New Years and one of the biggest conventions in Las Vegas, working overtime, so no time to have any fun with my blog.



Did manage to make a birthday card for my daughter and take a couple of challenges. Of course it will be late, as I won't get to the Post Office until Monday or Tuesday and her birthday is Tuesday, January 12th. Know that she understands that her mother is always a few days late, since we live so far apart now days. My birthday wish for her in 2010 is health, wealth and happiness. She had a rough year in 2009, but is getting back into the swing of things. Driving in snow to and from work, and trying to deal with the cold weather, she was raised in Las Vegas where the sun always shines.



Kaylene is adjusting well to the single digits, and loves her new family, home and career, know this will be a great year for her and her family.




This is the card that will be sent to her. Crafty Creations has a challenge to use black and white with a touch of color. Sherrod Studios' challenge was to use the gate fold technique.


Kept the card pretty simple, that seems to be my preference. Add a white bow, and some red rhinestones on the oval. The ovals were made with my cutting system from Creative Memories.

The sentiment is to the point, Happy Birthday!

Time for me to head off to work, it may be Sunday for the majority of the country, but it is my Friday. Have some plans for my days off to create a few projects, hopefully that will come about.

Have a great weekend and a crafty day.

Card Tin

Having been making cards all year long for my granddaughters. Last year I made boxes, but have too many cards this year. Bought a white tin at Michaels and decorated lid and around the box.

When I need inspiration for decorating boxes or tins, can always find some great sketches at Mojo Monday. The sketch used is for week #116 challenge, this was such fun to do and am very pleased with the results.

The papers that were used for the first tin was from Scrapbooks...on the Go! Moments Remembered booklet. Used a corner rounder on the background papers, distressed the edges and also the mats for the circle, to give the tin an aged look. Circle cutting system from Creative Memories was used for the circles. A ribbon bow and charm was also added to complete the lid.

Ribbon was also placed around the tin and using 1 1/2" squares were also placed on the tin. This tin is for my daughter Jamie, she receive a paper box last year, this will be so much better has it will hold all different sized cards.

The second tin was for Katie, she plays the harp, wanted to used sheet music for the background and of course here favorite color of purple. The sheet music and 2 girls on the lid came from Graphics Fairy. Added purple rhinestones on the corner, Katie will love it, just because of all the purple.

Third tin is for Nicole, her favorite color is pink. You can never have enough pink.

Have opened a can of worms with these tins, want to make one for my other daughter, sister, and myself.

Need to start working on a few more Christmas projects, hope everyone has a crafty day. Please leave a comment, thanks for stopping by today.

Counting our Blessings

Hope everyone has some time set a side this week to give thanks for all the special people in our lives. Unfortunately, Billy and I will be working on Thanksgiving, but that won't stop me for giving thanks for my wonderful family, they truly are a blessing.

Jamie (my daughter) was going to come to Vegas for Thanksgiving, she lives in Reno,but decided not to this year. Kaylene (my other daughter) will be spending Thanksgiving with her inlaws in Utah. But the bright side is that we will all be together for a few days at Christmas.

Scrappy Frogs challenge until Thanksgiving was to incorporate Thanksgiving Dinner on your project. The wonderful memories came flowing back about our Thanksgiving a few years ago in Utah. Jamie and my two grandsons surprised my mother and I by coming to visit. We had no idea that they were coming so it made that year very special. My Aunt and her husband also joined up for the celebration. It was a no brainer it was absolutely necessary for me to take pictures and add them to my scrapbook.


The two page layout is very simple, and the turkey was made using my cutting system from Creative Memories. The picture on the righthand corner is everyone seating down for dinner and the main focal point is a plate full of huge rolls, they were humongous and we couldn't wait to get our hands on them. My Aunt Elayne usually does all the cookin', she has even published a cookbook, but my sister and I took on the challenge this year.

Thanks for stopping by, have a wonderful week. Leave me a comment love to hear from my blog family.

Blue on Blue

Have taken the time to take on a couple of new challenges. Inspiration come from the list of challenges that are posted on my desk, Billy comments on all the post a notes, but it does help me to check out the daily challenges. This week there was lots of inspiration, and that makes it easy for me to set down and create a card.

The sketch on Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge turned on the light in my small brain, and I couldn't wait to give this one a try.

Later on in the week Gingersnap Creations offered up the challenge of monochromatic. The cards the ladies on the design team are all wonderful. These ladies are such an inspiration for me, each one is so supportive. The idea of doing a card in monochromatic was different for me, but that is why I love this group so much. These ladies always come up with new and fun ideas that push us to take on challenges that we otherwise would not.

The stamps that were used were from Inkadinkado, a Christmas set that was purchased at Michaels. This set has 14 different stamps, have used it on some of my other creations, and have some other projects that will be featured here in the next couple of days.

Wanted to add a little dimension to the card, so dimensionals were added to the large snowflake, (notice a pattern with my cards, last card had dimensionals, now this one.) Loved the small snowflake so much that I got carried away and stamped a couple on the envelope. The circles were made with my trusty cutting system.

Thanks for the inspiration and have a crafty day.

2 x CHALLENGE

Nothing like getting a challenge done at the last minute, but I am told by my friends that I like the pressure. The card that is pictured is for two challenges, Ink on my Fingers which was to use circles and Gingersnap Creations use the colors black, white, and silver.


For the circle challenge my cutting system was used to make a 3 layer circle mat, a bow with rhinestones was then added in the center of the circles. Love the colors of black and white they are so clean. The rhinestone bow was an item in the clearance area at Michaels, it was a hat pin, forgot that it was in my stash. This would have been perfect for the bling challenge at GC, always a day late and a dollar short.






The sentiment was from Stampology, this set has come in very handy. has 10 sayings and are very versitale. The flower and lace border were thank you notes that were also on clearance, (cheated on this part of the card, didn't have to use my punch) cut of the border off the bottom of the card and added it to the black base cardstock. Find myself drawn to the clearance area of the stores that I shop to see what kind of deals are hidden in this aisle.


Time for me to get ready for work. Have a great weekend and crafty day.

The Color Purple

Okay, I really wanted to do something for this weeks challenge at Crafty Creations, we are suppose to use the color purple. While trying to come up with an idea, of course the first thing was a card, but wanted to think out of box and try something a little different. Talked with my daughter about the challenge and her first thing was "One Eyed, Flying, Purple People Eater," not my style.

While driving to work yesterday the "Color Purple" popped into my mind with all the beautiful flowers, (I wasn't really a flower person, until recently, having lived in the desert my whole life, you really couldn't grow flowers, especially me with a brown thumb). LOL! Last year I had made candle covers for the holidays and had taken them to work, to give the office a little more Holiday spirit.

Well this is my finished project, I was going to emboss the background, but had added the lace trim, so I couldn't put the paper in the Big Shot, with out the possibility of tearing the paper as I had already adhered the lace border, also if I had embossed the paper with a white liner that it would have been much more dramatic and the 3 dimentional flowers would even looked better. Oh well, next time, we learn from our mistakes.

The flowers were made by using vellum paper and I sponged it with purple ink. The petals were cut using by cutting system from Creative Memories, love this product. Then to add the glitter, (which was too big, thought it was finer) used a glue pen and sprinkled it on each petal. When the glue and glitter was added, the vellum rolled naturally and the petals became even more realistic. That was a bonus! The stems and leaves were cut, sponged the edges to give a more shaded effect.

Used white eyelets on the edges and laced the cover with picot 1/4" ribbon. Billy liked this project, it is fun and you don't have to go out and buy a new candle for every season. Punched a lace border to add to the top and bottom, also used a brush pen and added the color in each hole and add color to the edge, made the lace design "pop."

Hope that this inspires you to create, Deena at A Necessary Creativity is where I go for inspiration. She has a candy blog right now, check it out here.

Thanks for coming by today, now it's time to work on new projects. Happy crafting!

GC11: Color Challenge--Yellow, Dark Brown, & Green

It was necessary for me to work on Memorial Day, and Billy worked last night and tonight, this is the perfect opportunity for me to do what I call "play."



When I saw this challenge, at Gingersnap Creations, and the Black eyed Susan's, I knew the card to make was a flower gift card holder. The colors are perfect and are so cheerful, that is the feeling I hope anyone who receive it would feel.

To make the flower I used my cutting system from Creative memories and 1" circle punch for the outer petals, using these tools it is simple to make a circle into a flower. The first layer of petals is a print paper, I used small dots, the second layer was solid yellow card stock. This is so versatile you could use prints or solids, there is not limitations, just your imagination. Brown stitch lines were added to give the petals more accents. Leaves were cut and then folded to give dimension. The center pocket is dark brown card stock which I add lines to make the the lattice look, used a gold gel pen and also added dots to the center. The picture below the center of each square is pierced and then added a dot in the center so that it would show more.
I was talking with my daughter Jamie, who is a teacher. she told me about some of the projects she does and that they have a lot of scrap paper. This would be the perfect project for the scraps and am sure that her students would come up with some very creative and unique flowers. The project is easy and fun, once you make one you want to make more.

My other daughter Kaylene is looking for a job and can use some cheering up, these bright colors will definitely put a smile on her face.

You don't have to use it as gift cardholder. by adding a sentiment on a card it can be placed in the pocket, sure anyone would love to receive this flower which would last a long time.

Thanks for the inspiration. Now go out and create something fabulous.