Jen's Sketch Challenge 11-27-10

Kendall is turning 16. I can't believe it. Yes, growing up is natural and she is supposed to grow and mature. Still, it's hard. I am sure it is for any parent. She was just 9 years old when God brought us together. She was shy and un-affectionate and tentative and quiet and kept to herself. She spent most of her time in her room by herself. Now she freely gives hugs. She has lots of friends. She loves to come out and socialize. We are close. She talks to me and shares what's going on in her life and with her friends and I am so thankful. I was her age not so long ago (ok it was a while ago, but it doesn't feel like it) and I was not nearly as open with my parents as she is with us. She is so grounded. She is an extremely hard worker in school and at home. She is honest. She is funny. She is sweet and kind and loves God. She amazes me and I am incredibly proud of her.

But she's turning 16. And, I don't know how much longer she will want to be close. She will get a job and a boyfriend and want to spend ALL of her time with her friends. It's coming, I know it is. And all I can do is hope that what we have today, what we have provided in guidance and support will stay with her as she goes out into the world and is confronted with challenges and temptations and that she will continue to do the right thing. I'm very confident she will, but it's still scary. I suppose this feeling is very typical for parents, but it's new to me.

But I know that we have given her our all and loved her completely and provided guidance and that's all we can do. As scary as it is to watch her grow up, it is also beautiful to see the way she has blossomed. She has such strength of character and has taught us just as much (if not more) than we taught her. She will be ok.....I just know she will!

Anyway, here's a card I made for our little rocker chick for her birthday. I had some gorgeous rub-ons that I was going to use on this card. I got them for 50% off at Archiver's and thought I was getting such a bargain. Until I tried to use them. Apparently they were 50% off because they had been sitting forever and WOULD NOT come off of the backer sheet. I tried and tried and tried and eventually had to give up. They are now in my garbage can. So sad.....but, I was very happy to find this awesome guitar on my Potpourri Basket Cricut cartridge. Is it not the cutest? I absolutely love it! I couldn't find the angel wings that were also on the rub-on pack that I planned to use, but I found these great stars on the same cartridge and some patterned paper that I had in my stash and I think it's still an appropriate rocker-chick card. Because, flowers and hearts and lace will not do for this unique girl we have. She is special in every way!

I used Jen's sketch from yesterday for this card. I took a little bit of liberty with it and moved the small panel to the left instead of the right. I should have angled the guitar in the other direction to fit the panel in the right spot, but I am happy with the way it turned out. That's the great thing about these sketches. You can make small modifications and make them your own, but still use the primary design Jen provided. I love it!

Supplies

Patterned Paper - Unknown (got a while back from Tuesday Morning)

Cardstock - The Paper Co

Ribbon - Offray

Buttons - Unknown

Scrapper's Floss - Karen Foster Designs

Spellbinders Dies

Cricut - Potpourri Basket Cartridge

Stamp - Hero Arts

Punches - Stampin' Up!

Rhinestones - K & Co.

Jen's Sketch Challenge 11-20-10

Time for another one of Jen's fantabular (Jay made that word up and I have adopted it...because I like it) sketch challenges! It seems like every week lately I have a card to make for a purpose, instead of just doing projects for fun. This is fine, but I do enjoy just creating to create and hope I can get back to that point sometime soon! I am grateful that Jen provides these wonderful challenges for me every week though. I have a jumping off point and when I'm in the midst of several projects at once, it helps to have somewhere to begin when I'm making a card.

This week, I made a birthday card for my wonderful, sweet, amazing friend Carrie's 40th birthday. Carrie and I have been friends since we were 18 or 19, so over half of our lives now. Carrie was dating a guy that I had dated previously and he introduced us. They didn't last, but Carrie and my relationship did and we have been friends ever since. She is so kind and generous and artistic and funny and makes me so happy. She lives in CA so I don't see her much, but I love her just the same and look forward to every moment we have together.

Since Carrie loves purses and has loads of them, I thought it appropriate to put a purse on her card. I also added some bling (since Carrie is the queen of accessories) and some Glossy Accents to make it extra special.

Enjoy!

Supplies

Patterned Paper - Basic Grey

Cardstock - The Paper Company, Stampin' Up!

Stamps - Unity Stamp Co (purse), Stampin' Up! (sentiment)

Ink - Stampin' Up!

Cricut Cartridge - Storybook (frames)

Border Punch - Stampin' Up!

Flower - Kaiser Crafts

Button - Basic Grey

Scrapper's Floss - Karen Foster Designs

Glossy Accents - Ranger Industries

Orange Rhinestones - Mark Richards

Copic Markers

Jen's Sketch Challenge 10-30-10

I'm very late posting on this card for Jen's SFYTT back on 10/30/10. I do have a good excuse this time. I made this card for my mom's birthday and wanted to wait until the package was delivered before posting a picture of the card so as not to ruin the surprise.

I had lots of fun with this butterfly. My friend Stephanie gave me this wood mountain butterfly stamp just because. Just because she knows how much I love butterflies and wanted to make me smile and she did! I was at a mutual friend's birthday party and Stephanie presented her with a gorgeous pointsetta stamp and told me she had a gift for me as well. It was completely unexpected, but very much appreciated! I had lots of fun coloring the butterfly with my Copics. I also love the way the tags turned out that I cut using my Cricut. Once again, Cricut to the rescue!

Supplies

Patterned Paper - Webster's Pages

Cardstock - Stampin' Up!, Bazzil, Neenah (for Copic coloring)

Stamps - Creative Impressions (Butterfly), Stampin' Up! (Sentiment)

Cricut Cartridge - Sentimentals

Edge Punch - Stampin' Up!

Corner Punch - We R Memory Keepers

Flower - Prima Marketing

Glimmer Mist - Tattered Angels

Ink - Stampin' Up!, Tsukineko

Pearls - Kaiser Crafts

Copic Markers - YR02, YT87, Y13, C1

Jen's Sketch Challenge 11-13-10

Time for another fantastic sketch by Jen Del Muro! This week is another sponsored sketch, so be sure to stop by Jen's blog and play along. I find my time so limited lately that I rarely end up making a card aside from the weekly sketches, so I really appreciate having at least one project per week and absolutely love the challenge that a sketch provides.

I had a couple of friends over yesterday for a crafting day! We had such a wonderful time. I made a pot of chili in the crockpot and some cornbread muffins and the girls came over at around 11:00 and were here until 6:00. We played Christmas music and holed up in my scrap room and worked on Christmas projects all day. I also set aside time to make a birthday card with this week's sketch for a friend from work.

I have to tell you that I am absolutely loving this paper from Crate paper. The yellow and turqoise combination is so beautiful. I would probably not normally put these two colors together, but they compliment each other so well. I also love the hat on the stand. I can't remember life before my Cricut ;).

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

Supplies

Patterned Paper - Crate Paper

Cardstock - Stampin' Up!

Brads - Stampin' Up!

Stamp - Stampin' Up!

Ink - Stampin' Up!

Flowers - Prima Marketing

Cricut Cartridge - Heritage

Nestabilities Die (Oval)

Word Punch - Stampin' Up!

Snowy Christmas

I made another Christmas card last week. Unfortunately, this one took me like 5 days! I just wasn't feeling the mojo and ended up re-doing the bottom panel. I started off with the rafia ribbon tied in a bow and a gigantic red button on top (to the left) with no twine and just kept staring at it, unhappy and unable to move foward, so I took the panel off and added the rafia with a criss-cross and then cut a snowflake on my Cricut and added a smaller red button with twine and was much happier with the results and found that the rest of the card came together rather quickly after that. The red around the top panel is dauber paint and you can't tell in the photo, but you can sort of see through it in parts, which gives it kind of a rustic look.

I love that little snowman also. I paper pieced his scarf and the band around his cap and I think he looks rather dapper. I am definitely getting into the Christmas spirit!

Next up....shopping.

Supplies
Patterned Paper - Jillibean Soup, Little Yellow Bicycle
Cardstock - Stampin' Up!, The Paper Company, Neenah
Rafia Ribbon - Paper Reflections
Twine - Stampin' Up!
Button - Basic Grey
Stamp - Verve Stamps (Snowman), Stampin' Up! (sentiment)
Ink - Tsukineko, Stampin' Up!
Nestabilities Dies
Cricut - Joys of Christmas Cartridge
Copic Markers - YR04, YR18, 100, C1