cards, a layout, and a gift bag

Cards for Kate

Cupcake Card (for Kate)

Supplies: Cupcake stamps, Upper Crest Border Punch, Binding Edge Punch, Corner Rounder, White Cardstock, Pink Cardstock, Distress Ink, glitter.

Monkey says Hi (for her little brother Will)

Supplies: Scenic Route Patterned Paper, tag, Scallop Sentiment Border Punch, Monkey Stamp from The Angel Company, ribbon, white cardstock.

You’re Special (for her big sister Olivia)

Supplies: white cardstock, gcd studios die-cut tag, Chatterbox Dimensional Stickers, black pen.

Thinking of You (for her parents Aaron and Holly)

Supplies: Kraft cardstock, Chatterbox Dimensional Stickers, distress ink, Hero Arts Stamps (Dot Pattern and Happy Hello).

For all the details on the Cards for Kate Card Drive, please check out Jennifer McGuire’s blog entry HERE.

Layout to share

Supplies: We R Memory Keepers Frenzy-Dither patterned paper, Pink Paisley stickers, K&Company stickers, black cardstock, orange cardstock, Scallop Sentiment Border Punch, rain dots.

Gift Bag

I gave away a RAK on the Fiskateer message board and this is the packaging for it.

Supplies: Upper Crest Border Punch, Scenic Route paper, ribbon, XL circle punch, chipboard flower, lunch bag.

Use Your Stash update
6 new things added for a total of 7, only 43 to go, woo! hoo!

Have a fantastic week!

Cards for Kate

Jennifer McGuire, Jana Millen, and Kristina Proffitt have put together a Card Drive for a sweet little girl named Kate and her family. If you’re a scrapbooker or cardmaker then you might have already seen this but I thought I’d share it on my blog just in case to help get the information out there.

Creating one card can make a difference! Please help give encouragement and strength to the family by participating in the Cards for Kate Card Drive.

Here is some info about Kate:

About 6 weeks ago the life of the McRae family changed forever when their precious 5 year old daughter, Kate, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. Dad (Aaron) is a pastor in Arizona and he and his wife, Holly have two other children, Will and Olivia. Of course this is devastating for the whole family and many are praying for them. (Go to www.prayforkate.com to learn more about this family and their struggle). Kate has a rough road ahead of her for quite awhile. When you hear their story you will want to do anything you can to help.

Cards can be for any member of Kate's family:

• Kate (age 5) - The sweet girl who is battling cancer.
• Little brother Will.
• Bigger sister Olivia.
• Mom and Dad, Aaron and Holly.

For more information and full details on creating the cards and where to send them, please check out Jennifer McGuire’s blog HERE.

Thank you!

a quick card and a new Use Your Stash Challenge

I made this cute little card for a challenge on the Hero Arts blog… I think I’ll send it to my Grandma! The thought bubble stamp originally had journaling lines on it but I covered the lines while inking the stamp because I didn’t want to use them. I also added a little flower to the lower right, inside corner of the card (which isn't shown) and added the bird to the envelope so everything coordinates.

Supplies: kraft cardstock (yes, again!), Fiskars 1/2” Corner punch, Hero Arts stamps (Happy Hello and Getaway Travel), ribbon, markers.

Use Your Stash Challenge

I’m issuing my own Use Your Stash Challenge. The basics: set your rules and do your best to stick to them. The last time I did this challenge, it was to create 30 layouts before I bought anything new. During that time, I made a mini album and used quite a few We R Memory Keeper Photo Sleeve Protectors and I adjusted those totals accordingly.

This time, I plan to make 50 things! Those things can be anything… a card, tag, layout, altered project, whatever… just as long as I am using up my stuff. I’m not going to buy anything until I hit 50 things (I am not including adhesive, without that, I can’t really make anything!). I am not giving myself a deadline… whenever I get there, I get there.

If you want to play along and make a dent in your stash, just set a goal and start creating (you can pick any goal you want, it does not have to be 50). If you want to create things, great. If you want to do just layouts, awesome. If you just want to make cards, wonderful! If you want a deadline, go for it. If you want to skip the deadline and do it at your own pace, fantastic. This is pretty much a whatever works for you type of challenge – just stick to it!

If you’re playing along, feel free to leave a comment and let me know what your goals are, I’d love to hear!

(and yes, I’m counting this card towards my total so that’s 1 down, 49 more to go!)

If you’d like to see my progress for my Use Your Stash Challenge and what I’ve created, click HERE.

Happy Creating!

lo: it’s the smile that melts your heart

A quick layout from yesterday… it might just be my new favorite! :-)

Supplies: kraft cardstock (it never gets old!), Noteworthy Hillary Green Floral by Making Memories, Hello Sunshine: Picnic by Cosmo Cricket, Scallop Sentiment Border Punch, alpha stamps, Creative Café Just Write journaling stamp, Heidi Grace chipboard hearts, chalk ink.

Links to Share

I visit various scrappy places online and wanted to share a few of my favorites (in no particular order and certainly not the entire list):

• Kwernerdesign blog – she has awesome videos and gorgeous cards!
• Write. Click. Scrapbook. - inspiring! Simple scrapbooking at it's best.
• Jennifer McGuire, ink. – fantastic videos and beautiful cards!
• Cosmo Cricket – have you seen The Boyfriend line? I so want this collection!
• American Crafts blog - great challenges (and because I seem to have acquired an addiction to Thickers)!

Other stuff

It’s crunch time! School starts one week from today. The shopping is pretty much done, text book pick up is this week (one kid down, one to go), meet the teacher for my youngest, one more appointment, I think the girl needs a hair cut… odds and ends to take care of. Coming up next week… I’ll be enjoying a quiet house.

Here’s to a productive week!

lo: ookey spookey

This actually started as a card if you can believe it! I had set out to use a sketch but it wasn’t coming together as planned. I ended up using Shari’s sketch #3 to make the little collage of patterned papers on the lower right hand corner of the layout. I tend to avoid Halloween layouts like the plague because they just don’t come together easily for me. Thanks to some stamps and Scenic Route paper, this came together in a snap! Of course I have tons of past Halloween photos to deal with still but this is a start.

Supplies: kraft cardstock (my favorite!), Scenic Route patterned papers, Hero Arts Striped Circle Clings Stamp, Hero Arts Halloween stamps, small variety alphabet stamps, Fiskars Tag punch (I cut it down some to make it fit), extra large circle punch, large circle punch, Fiskars Threading Water border punch, black pens, rain dots, chalk.

Other stuff

I’m excited to share that I was chosen as a Hero Arts Fresh Face for last week’s “Sneaky Inspiration” Challenge. I saw the blog post this morning and it totally made my day! It was for my Thinking of You card. Thank you Hero Arts!

Have a wonderful day!

owl card with window

I used a sketch from the Hero Arts blog to make this card. I thought it would be cute if the front had a window… I am thrilled with how it turned out!!! I love the little owl too... I've got such a thing for owls! If you are ever in need of inspiration, I suggest checking out the Hero Arts Flickr group… you will get a serious dose of creativity!

Supplies: White and blue Bazzill cardstock, Happy Hello stamps, Prima flowers, Trim with Flair, rick-rack, Quickutz Nesting Circles, Versamark Ink, white embossing powder, embossing gun, corner rounder.

Other stuff

School starts in two weeks and I’ve pretty much entered the land of chaos trying to get organized for it. Going through everyone’s old clothes, buying new clothes, picking up school supplies, shoes, backpacks… the list goes on. I am really looking forward to getting back to the routine that goes with the school year. :-)

Happy Tuesday!

lo: remember this

A quick layout for the day… I love how it turned out! So simple yet somehow I think it’s perfect. I used American Crafts paper (Character Chronicle, Backyard Ribbit) and a Darling Chipboard Thicker Accent along with some Hero Arts stamps (Favorite Journal).

Other stuff

I’ve been in such a scrappy zone lately… it’s a good place to be. Sometimes I forget how much I love this hobby. It’s a good thing I’m doing a lot now because I have a feeling it’s going to come to an abrupt halt fairly soon. School starts at the end of this month and all the craziness and running around associated with it needs to happen… good times! lol!

Thanks for stopping by! :-)

card: thinking of you

I made this card for a challenge on the Hero Arts blog. In Sneak Peek #1 I was inspired by the use of glitter, the gingham ribbon, and the Upper Crest Border Punch. The stamps are Hero Arts Happy Hello. I’m not a huge glitter person so this was a bit outside of my comfort zone but I am pleased with the end result. I love the look of glitter, I’m just not a big fan of the mess (as I type this, I can see little sparkles on my keyboard!).

Happy Monday!

stash challenge complete!

I am officially done with the challenge. woo! hoo! It feels good to be scrapping again – just for me – and really enjoying myself.

Pure Joy – I’m counting this as one layout. Love these page protectors, they’re awesome! Supplies: We R Memory Keeper page protector, kraft cardstock, red cardstock, Upper Crest Border Punch, Scenic Route Chipboard, Scenic Route patterned paper.

Wildlife Ranch – these four layouts are very simple but I am happy with how they turned out, sometimes done is done and I'm totally fine with that. Supplies: White cardstock, Cloud 9 alpha stickers (Hanna’s Story), yellow cardstock, Making Memories alpha stickers, black pen, journal rub on.

I officially ended up with 33 layouts complete! go me! time to shop!

Here’s to a great week!!!

easy kids craft: make a jelly fish

This was not my idea, all the credit goes to my 7 year old. He actually wanted me to make him a big stuffed animal – which would have been fine – but then he started drawing more pictures to turn into stuffed animals I adapted his idea to work with felt.

What you need:

• A big piece of paper
• Pencil
• Felt
• Scissors
• No Sew Glue (I think Elmer’s glue would work also if you weren’t going to wash the creation)

Directions:

1. Draw a jelly fish. My son was pretty darned detailed with what he wanted, right down to the colors.

2. Cut shapes out the felt. I eyeballed this, aiming for the basic shape. This is about making something quick and fun that your child creates – and turning it into a physical item – they’ll be excited to have something, they won’t care if it’s perfect or not.

3. Assemble pieces and glue.

4. Cut multiple strips of yarn. Also cut a small strip of felt to glue all the yarn strips onto. Glue away!

5. Once all the yarn is glued onto the felt strip, add glue on the back of your creation towards the bottom and press the strip – yarn side down – onto the bottom of the jelly fish.

6. ta-da! You’re done. Take photo with your child and the jelly fish – and make sure they give you a big, cheesy, fake grin like my kid did.

Variations:

1. Draw whatever – just do it on a big piece of paper so it’s easier to see the basic shapes.

2. Cut shapes out of felt. Remember, you’re going for basic shapes that are going to get layered so I think free hand cutting will be fine.

3. Assemble pieces and glue.

4. If you’re adding anything that’s going to hang, glue it onto a separate piece of felt and then add it behind the creation (like in step 5 above).

5. Enjoy!

Hope you (and your kids) like it. I have a few more to make... have fun!