Inchie Fun!

I went to bed last night reading the July issue of Card Makers magazine. They had a large section of the magazine devoted to inchies. I must have had inchies floating through my brain all night, because I woke up with an idea for a card.

One of the things that I really love is that I actually whipped out two cards from the same idea. I could not decide if I wanted the card to be horizontal or vertical, so I made one of each! As I look at them, I can tell how much time I've been spending studying Kristina Werner's work. Notice the rounded corners, the kraft cardstock, and the scalloped edge. I'm sure that's all swimming around in my brain because off Kristina. I read her blog religiously!

I just love this little snail from A Muse stamps. This is the first time he's seen ink, even though I've had him since early May. I think this would make a cute gift set, but I'm wondering which version is better. Do you think the vertical, or horizontal version works better? Leave me a comment and let me know which one you like better!

Here are the Copics I used t0 color him up. When I was coloring the shadow, my five year old said, "Ooooh! You're making the slime!" I was hoping it looked like an actual shadow, but I'll take slime too! Have a fabulous day!

Recipe:
Paper: Kraft and cardstock from my stash, PP DCWV Green Stack
Stamp: Snail and sentiment from A Muse Artstamps
Accessories: hemp twine from my stash, Copic markers, CM square punch

Mojo Monday Week 92

Yeah, yeah... it's Friday! Oh well... here's my submission for this weeks Mojo Monday sketch. I've spent most of the week cleaning up my crafting area, and now that I can find things, I can create again.

I got this stamp at Stampin' Moose here in Wasilla and it's my first of the Hanna Stamps! He's quite cute and it's so appropriate for me to be making cards with a moose, dontcha' think?

I had a lot of fun creating this card. I got to play with my Copics and do paper piecing with super fun Basic Grey paper. BG is so yummy!

Here are the Copics I used to color Riley up!

Recipe:
Stamps: Hanna Stamps and A Muse sentiment
Paper: Basic Grey Urban Prairie
Ribbon: American Crafts
Cardstock: random from my stash
Accessories: sewing machine, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities

Stitching on Cards

Who knew I'd ever pull out that crazy sewing machine that Rocky bought to sew on paper??? Well, I did and I'm loving it! I think stitching on cards or layouts is a fantastic way to add interest and that extra something that makes your work just pop.

While trolling the internet for new videos, ideas, and tutorials, I found a blog with a great tutorial about using your machine to sew on paper. So if you're interested in learning more about this, I suggest you hop over to Julia Stainton's blog ~ Belle Papier ~ and check out her tutorial. Off to make a card now... have a great day!

Playing with New Toys! CAS#4 at SCS

Boy oh boy, did I go on a shopping palooza while in San Diego! I had so much fun visiting the local scrapbook and stamping stores and stimulating the economy along the way! I have two new favorite stores in San Diego~ Paper Tales and Scrapbook Your Life. If you are ever in San Diego, hit these stores and have fun! Great place to shop and spend your money... I sure did!

At Paper Tales, I had an A Muse party! I bought rubber and clear acrylic stamps. I've been wanting to get my hands on more of these stamps, so I went to town. I also bought a whole bunch of Cosmo Cricket paper, which I can't wait to dig into and do something fun with.

I also got to visit Blick Art Materials down in Little Italy, which I'm guessing is one of the Dick Blick stores I've been hearing so much about on the many blogs and websites I spend too much time reading. Did I have a blast buying up Copic markers that I've become completely obsessed with! Oh man... If my husband is smart, he will start chaperoning me to these stores. I am dangerous when I go by myself! I picked up 10 new Copics and am so happy to be home to play with them...

Not only did I have fun shoping in real life, but when I got home, I had an order from Our Craft Lounge waiting for me, as well as my CTMH hostess club order. I am in new supply HEAVEN and don't know what to play with first!

Tonight, I decided it would be my Copic markers and a great Our Craft Lounge set called Swinging By. I just loved inking up and coloring these images in a very simple card for a friend. Coloring with Copics is such an addiction and I wish I could find a local class. For now, I'm going to just have to explore on my own and watch tutorials on You Tube. Let me know what you think of the card... Honest, constructive feedback is always appreciated!

An overall view of the finished card. This is the most clean and simple card I've ever made! There are usually lots of layers and ribbon and bling on my cards. Tonight, I really just wanted to focus on the coloring of the image. I did add some paper piercing to give a little more interest to the card, which also happens to fit the CAS#4 challenge at Splitcoast Stampers. Boy am I nervous to put my work up in their galleries! They're such an amazing group of artists, but if I want to improve, I figure who else to ask for feedback?

This is a bit of a closer view of the main image and my coloring job... what do you think?

And these are the Copics I used! Wow! Such fun to play with these amazing markers. Truly the best investment I've made for my craft room.

Supplies Used:
Card base: Strathmore card for stamping
Stamps: Swinging By from Our Craft Lounge and Journaling Boxes from Hero Arts
Ink: Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Copic markers - see above photo for colors, Zutter Corner Rounder, Tim Holtz Design Ruler, Making Memories paper piercer

My Sister's Keeper

My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Oh man... I finished this book a few days ago. It required a big boo-hoo at the end. I was so shocked by the twist at the end. Never saw it coming! I enjoy the way Picoult tells the story from so many points of view. Beautiful, touching, heartbreaking... Great read!


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Welcome ~ Color Inspiration #54

It feels so good to be back at my table so often. I am getting quite the stash of cards! This card is for the color challenge at Kristina Werner's blog. Her challenges really get me going, but I have to work fairly hard at them, because I don't have any Stampin' Up papers. I dig and dig through my stash to find things that come close.

I have quite a few friends on the verge of giving birth to baby boys, so I know this will come in handy quite soon. Hope you like it! I didn't use a sketch and I moved a bit out of my comfort zone for this one.

Recipe: Cardstock is from my stash
Patterned paper: CTMH from the Emporium collection
Stamp: CTMH In The Wild
Ink: CTMH Autumn Terracotta (this is the closest I could get to SU's pumpkin)
Rub-Ons: CTMH Love Letters in White Daisy
Letters: American Crafts Thickers - Subway foam letter stickers
Ribbon: Offray
Coloring Medium: Grass is colored with Copic Sketch markers YG03 and YG06, blue shadow is Prismacolor Light Cerulean Blue

Father's Day Is Coming ~ Are You Ready? Mojo Monday 90 & 365 Cards

For once, I am! Ahead of schedule no less! I got an idea for a present for my hubbie when my local scrapbook store sent an email about an upcoming class. I'm not able to go to the class, because we're going to be in San Diego... yipee!!! I haven't even seen the final outcome of the project, but I got the gist and put my own ideas to work.

I'm hoping Rocky will like this enough to hang it up in his office. The first picture is from when Max wasn't even 2 yet. T he second picture is of a baby Jack. And the third picture is the two boys last fall on a berry picking hike in the mountains. I really love the way the wall hanging turned out!

So, I decided that of course he needs a matching card and the Mojo Monday sketch and 365 Cards blog got me going! At 365 cards, Monday's challenge was to use Red, Orange, Green, Yellow, and Blue. Thankfully, the Scenic Route paper I used for the wall hanging had all of those colors! (Yes, look closely... there is an orange stripe on that card!) Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Recipe:
Pattern Paper: Scenic Route
Cardstock: Random from my stash
Stamps and Ink: Close To My Heart
Accessories: Bind It All, O-Wires, Cricut Cuttin' Up Cartride, Offray Ribbon, Uniball Signo White Gel Pen (THE BEST!)

USA! CPS 119

Boy am I on a roll or what? I haven't made this many cards in a loooooong time! I made this one after checking out the CPS blog and seeing their new sketch. This card jumped right into my mind. I don't know if it's going to end up being an actual 4th of July card, or a birthday card for a July 4th baby I know. This week's sponsor at CPS is Hanna Stamps. I don't have any of their stamps, so maybe I'll get lucky this week!

This was a fairly quick card. I stamped the background, cut the cardstock, popped up the "S" and the butterfly and added a little bling. I like it when something fun comes together quickly!

Recipe: Almost all products are from CTMH
Paper and stickers: Blue Ribbon
Stamp Set: Circle Around
Ink: Sunflower, Cranberry, Indian Corn Blue, Outdoor Denim
Accessories: CM square punch, random bling and ribbon found in my stash

A Year in Cards ~ May

Kristina Werner does a class at Two Peas in a Bucket called A Year in Cards. Each month, she does three cards with a similar theme. I haven't been able to participate since February, but I'm going to work my way backwards and get them all done. It would be nice to have so many cards available in my stash. This month's theme is Sympathy.

This card took the most time. Kristina's recipe calls for a 5x5 card, but I cut it down to 41/4 x 41/4, which threw every dimension off and I had to spend a lot of time cutting and re-cutting to make it all look right. All of the cardstock came from my stash. I've been told I may not buy any more cardstock until I use up the mountains that I already have, and I'm really wanting some Stampin' Up! cardstock. So everything I do from now on will be cardstock heavy!

I used the From Me To You and Argyle Backgrounds CTMH stamp sets for the flower and the dots at the bottom of the card and a Hero Arts stamp for the sentiment. I colored the Flower with Copics Y11, Y15, and Y17. I'm not too good at working with Copics yet, but I'm trying. I really hope they'll come up to Anchorage one day to do a certification class.

This card uses more of that cardstock stash, both for the base and the butterflies. I made a circular mask and used CTMH Spot On Backgrounds for the circle on the card as well as the butterflies. Of course, my favorite pen the Uniball Signo, is used for all of the faux stitching and the hand written sentiment. I'd say that is the scariest thing that I've been doing on cards lately. I don't especially like my handwriting, but I've been doing my best to copy the way the fabulous Kristina Werner does things, so I went for it.

This is pretty much the easiest card ever! Again, CTMH stamps from the With Love set for the flower and Hollyhock CTMH ink. My new favorite product - Thickers in Sprinkles white vinyl - for the sentiment, and a random strip of red cardstock, again from my stash!

Thanks for looking and if you haven't visited Kristina's blog, get over there are get inspired! She rocks!

Party On! Mojo #89

It's about time I've actually gotten to my craft table. It is summer after all and I've got all kinds of free time! I think I've rested enough and am really ready to let the creativity flow. I made this card for the Mojo Monday challenge. It's a 5x5 card using mostly Basic Grey and CTMH. Don't look to closely at the stitching please! I'm still working on turning corners and sometimes it goes all wonky on me.

Recipe: CTMH stamp Good Times and ink Star Spangled Blue
Pattern Paper and Stickers: Basic Grey Cupcake collection
Ribbon: Offray
Accessories: Nestabilities Large and Small plain circles, thread

Nineteen Minutes

Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I enjoyed this book, even though it disturbed me deeply, especially as the mother of two boys and a teacher. I know how important it is to identify bullying behavior and put an end to it early. It's so damaging to a young person's psyche. I was bullied quite a bit by girls I went to middle school with and I know how deeply it can damage your self image. It took me years to get over the painful things that were said and done to me. I'm one of the lucky ones. How many kids end up committing suicide or killing others?

Yes... I do something other than cut up paper, run with scissors, and sniff glue! I'm loving the Goodreads website. Have you been there?

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