Jen's Sketch Challenge January 2012

Happy know what 2012 has in store for us, we know that God is in control and we can rest assured He has great plans for us! The beginning of each new year is always encouraging for me. In reality, every day is an opportunity for a new start, but there is something about starting a new year and the possibilities before you. THIS will be the year I get off that extra weight. THIS will be the year I read the entire Bible in a year and stay on track. THIS will be the year I get my finances in order. THIS will be the year I go back to school and finish that degree....what will THIS year be for you?

I don't know what the year will bring for me, but I do know that the fabulous Jen del Muro has brought back the SFYTT challenge for 2012 and I am playing along all year long once again! This month's sponsor is The Cat's Pajamas. I don't have any TCP stamps, but I played along anyway using the sketch.

Play along every month for a chance to win a great prize package at the end of the year!

For this month's sketch, I made a card for my friend's mother's 70th birthday. Her mom insisted on no party, so instead she is throwing a "card shower" for her. Everyone is sending the cards to her house and she will surprise her mom with all of them. Isn't that a great idea?

Supplies

Cardstock - The Paper Co, Stampin' Up!

Patterned Paper - Stampin' Up!

Stamps - Stampin' Up!

Ink - Stampin' Up!
Cricut Cartridge - From the Nest

Jen's Sketch Challenge December 2011

Time for another one of Jen Del Muro's monthly sketch challenges. This is the final sketch challenge for the year, but she has already announced on her blog that she will be doing monthly sketch challenges again in 2012. Yay! When she initially announced she was going from a weekly challenge to a monthly challenge I will admit I was disappointed but it's actually been really nice to only have one challenge each month. I love participating in challenges, but I don't have time to do one every week and if I need to make projects in between there are plenty of other sketches out there, or I can dig into my archives, or just get creative with my own layout :).

If you haven't played along this year, please join us next year. She's had wonderful prizes from some terrific sponsors and it's always fun to see what others do with the sketch.

Here's my contribution....I made this card for Kendall's 17th birthday. Since she's not a girly-girl I decided to go with this little punker and I cut out some skulls with my Cricut and added some bling to their eyes. It's a very fun little card. Enjoy!

Supplies

Patterned Paper - Papertrey Ink, Stampin' Up!

Cardstock - Stampin' Up!

Stamps - Digi Punk Girl - The Greeting Farm, Sentiment - Hero Arts

Copic Markers

Cricut Cartridge - Potpourri Basket

Bling - K & Co

Punches - Stampin' Up!

Dies - Spellbinders

Jen's Sketch Challenge October 2011

Can you believe it's already October? Where did the summer go? October is actually one of my favorite months, but I wish that it did not mean winter was right around the corner. The evenings are starting to cool down and some days a light sweater is appropriate. My favorite thing about October is watching the leaves change. They are absolutely magnificent! I also love the smell of pumpkin candles and making soup and chili and looking forward to the holidays.

Jen del Muro gave us another fantastic sketch to work with this month. Go here to get all the details and play along. This month the sponsor is Waltzing Mouse Stamps. They have the most adorable stamps! Don't forget if you play along every month for the year, there is a chance to win a huge prize package.

For my card I decided to make a birthday card for my dad. I found this fantastic patterned paper last night at Archivers (did you go and get 43% off of all patterned paper????) Me either :).

Supplies:

Patterned Paper - Theresa Collins

Cardstock - Stamin' Up!

Stamps - Stampers Anonymous, Stampin' Up!, Papertrey Ink

Ink - Ranger Industries

Button - Basic Grey

Scrapper's Floss - Karen Foster Designs

Cricut Cartridge - Pack Your Bags

Zig Writer

Gel Pen

Jen's Sketch Challenge August 2011

Time for another one of Jen del Muro's amazing sketches! You have a couple of days left to play along to have an opportunity to win a prize from this month's sponsor Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps. You can see all of the details here.

I decided to make a birthday card for my new brother-in-law using this sketch. He eats, sleeps, lives and breathes baseball so it was very easy for me to decide on a theme for his card! I used my Cricut and these adorable star embellies from Theresa Collins to give it a little something special. I loved this sketch so much that I will be saving it and making some fun projects in the future.

Supplies

Patterned Paper - SEI

Stamps - Stampin' Up!

Ink - Ranger Industries, Stampin' Up!

Cricut Cartridge - Potpouri Basket

Star Embellishments - Theresa Collins

Sunshine and Laughter

I made this card for my step mom Valerie's birthday. I sat down with no design in mind. I don't do that often, but there are those times when I don't know what I'm going to do until I sit down at my table and cling onto something for inspiration. When I sat down to create this card, I started with the patterned paper. I love the sunny colors and the combination of the yellow with the teal. After choosing the patterned paper, I picked up m Storybook Cricut cartridge and decided to cut this flower (I have been eyeing this image for quite sometime.) As I was going through my flower bin I came across these resin flowers that I had forgotten all about. I absolutely love them and am so glad I came across them!

I need to go "shopping" in my craft room more often. I have so many products that I have never used and I need to get out of the habit of using the same products constantly and get outside of the box a little more and try new things! Like resin flowers. They are so yum!


Supplies
Patterned Paper - Crate Paper
Cardstock - Stampin' Up!
Ink - Stampin' Up!
Cricut Cartridge - Storybook
Resin Flowers - Prima
Stamp - Hero Arts
Corner Chomper - We R Memory Keepers

Jen's Sketch Challenge 07-11

Time for another sketch challenge by the fabulous Jen del Muro. You can view the post for this month's sketch here http://iheart2stamp.com/2011/07/02/july-sketch-for-you-to-try/ (Blogger STILL refuses to allow me to add links correctly.)

I love the sketch for this month. In fact, I might do another card using this sketch very soon. It is so versatile...you can rotate it every which way and the possibilities with the little circle elements are endless.

The sponsor for this month is My Favorite Things and you have an opportunity to win some awesome prizes. I didn't se any MFT stamps because I don't own any (yet) but I am going to be placing an order soon. MFT has fantastic dies and very whimsical, fun image stamps.

I decided to build a scene for this card. I will admit, I am not very experienced at building scenes in cards so I have a ways to go, but I had so much fun creating this scene and I was inspired to try this technique more and really strengthen my skills in this area. I always like to stretch myself and CAS cards and cards where you build a scene are the areas I need the most practice in.

I love the stamps and patterned paper I used on this card. I was at Archiver's about a week ago and saw this adorable bear stamp and had to get the tree stamp as well and then...and then.....as I was walking through the store I spotted this paper from October Afternoon and knew I had to get some paper to go with the stamps. I didn't buy the entire collection because I don't see myself making a lot of cards or scrapbook pages with a camping theme, but I did pick up a few pages and they are all absolutely adorable. If we had some camping pictures from a recent trip I would most definitely be creating a mini out of these papers!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy.

Supplies
Patterned Paper - October Afternoon
Cardstock - The Paper Co, Stampin' Up!, Papertrey Ink
Ink - Stampin' Up!, Tsukineko
Stamps - Imaginisce (Image), Hero Arts (Sentiment)
Buttons - Basic Grey (Orange, Green) Unknown (Brown)

Scrapper's Floss - Karen Foster Designs

Cricut Cartridge - From the Nest
Copic Markers - E33, E25, E27, E29
Prisma Color colored pencils

Happy Father's Day

I have been blessed with 3 wonderful Dad's. My father, my step father, who has been in my life since age 6, whom I affectionately refer to as D2 (as in dad #2) and my father-in-law who passed away in 2007. My time with my FIL was cut way too short, but I feel so honored that I got to share my life with him, even for a short time.

Due to our crazy schedules, I didn't have much design time, so I cheated a bit and made two of the same card for both D1 and D2. I had to play arond with the card quite a bit before I got it right. I started with a very flat card and wasn't excited about it, so I used some dimensional adhesive and created this fantastic shadow behind the airplane to give it some motion and was very happy with the way the end product turned out. I also added some dew drops to the clouds, which added a little bit of whimsy to the card, but also added some additional dimension. Both dads were very happy with their cards and appreciated that they were handmade.

That's what I love about our hobby....we get to share it with others and something that we enjoy so much brings other people much pleasure. It is a win-win!

Supplies
Patterned Paper - My Mind's Eye
Cardstock - The Paper Co.
Stamp - Stampin' Up!
Ink - Stampin' Up!
Cricut Cartridges - Heritage, Potpouri Basket
Dew Drops - Cloud 9 Design

Jen's Sketch Challenge 06-11

I so look forward to the first Saturday of the month, because Jen del Muro releases another sketch challenge. For this week's challenge, visit this link http://iheart2stamp.com/2011/06/04/june-sketch-for-you-to-try/ (Blogger is still not letting me insert links using the linking tool....oy!) This month's sponsor is Your Next Stamp. I primarily used my Cricut for this card, with the exception of one stamp that I used along with some embossing to add a little interest to one of the larger panels.

My dear, sweet, wonderful, brave friend Rhonda is on her way to Kuwait. She is a soldier and has a strong desire and need to head to the desert to do her duty. She is an honorable American and we are praying for her safety and the safety of all of the men and women that are overseas fighting for our freedom. It is because of these brave individuals that we get to live life as a free people and I never want to take for granted the life that I have because of those that have fought to make this country what it is.

We had a going away dinner for Rhonda last week and I made this card for her. I want her to know that she is my hero and I am so thankful for her as a friend, but also as an American. God has blessed this country and I pray that He will bless those that sacrafice for us every day.

Supplies
Cricut Cartridge - Stand and Salute
Cardstock - The Paper Co
Card Base - The Paper Co
Fiber - The Twinery
Embossing Folder - Provo Craft
Stamp - Stampin' Up!
Ink - Versamark
Emobssing Powder - Stampendous

Happy Birthday Sam!

My sweet, wonderful, amazing nephew turned 8 this month. Sam has the biggest heart and always makes me smile. He's extremely athletic and loves and adores his family. He has a great deal of wisdom and has the most tender heart. He makes my heart sing and I just adore him.
Since Sam is all boy, I made this cute little rocket card for him. I had fun playing with the layers and think the faux stitching all around the card really made the elements stand out. Incidentally, my rocket scientist husband was nuts about this card....note to self, make hubby a rocket ship card for his birthday next year. Or perhaps Father's Day!

Supplies
Cardstock - Stampin' Up!, Bazzil Basics
Patterned Paper - Scraps from scrap drawer (Sorry, not sure of the brand name)
Ribbon - Stampin' Up!
Cricut Cartridge - Just Because Cards
Pens - Zig Marker, Signo Broad Gel Pen

Special Card - Special Lady

Kendall has been going through Learning RX since October now. I will have to do a separate post all about Learning RX, because it is really worth of its own post entirely. While you are waiting, you can go to http://www.learningrx.com/ to learn more. For some reason, the link function in Blogger is not working for me right now, so you will just need to copy and paste the address. The program has been life changing in so many ways!

Kendall's trainer Katie has been a gift from God. We originally heard about Learning RX from my friend Carrie at work. Carrie's son Kyle went through the program and she told us about it and we went and had Kendall tested and once we decided to move forward, they assigned a trainer for Kendall. As it turns out, Katie was Kyle's trainer also and she is absolutely amazing. She is so kind and patient and amazing at what she does. She is a Christian with a beautiful spirit. We just fell in love with her.

A little birdie (Carrie) told me that it was Katie's birthday, so I made this card for her and we bought her a Barnes and Noble gift card. Katie is an avid reader (also a reading major in college) and belongs to a book club so we knew that would be the perfect gift for her.

She was so grateful for the small gift and card. We are SO grateful for her, it felt good to do something special for her to let her know how very much she is appreciated.

Supplies
Patterned Paper - My Mind's Eye
Cardstock - Stampin' Up!, Papertrey Ink
Stamps - My Mind's Eye (Image), Hero Arts (Sentiment)
Ink - Stampin' Up!, Papertrey Ink
Cricut Cartridge - From the Nest
Ribbon - American Crafts
Pearls - Basic Grey

Jessica's Shower Invites

My friend Jessica from work is fairly new to CO. She is also a California native, so I feel like she's a bit of a kindred spirit and I definitely appreciate what it's like to be away from longtime friends and family.

Well, Jessica has a GREAT reason to be in Colorado. That reason is true love. She and Josh are getting married in May in California. I am so happy for her! I have seen her and Josh together and I see something so special in them. God created them for one another and you can see it and feel it when you around them.

Jessica had a bridal shower in California during a recent visit, but we wanted to throw her another shower here in CO. She and Josh are starting their lives as a couple here and we wanted her to feel like this is home.

Jess has been VERY busy planning her wedding and traveling back and forth from CA, so she got the guest list to me a little late....which meant an evite for this event! Don't you just love evites when time is of the essence? There were a couple of guests that didn't have email so I made a couple of handmade invitations. Jess and Josh's colors are brown, orange and green, so I made invitations to coordinate. I also made some other crafty items for the shower but I can't post yet in case the bride visits the blog!

On the inside of the cards, I printed all of the shower details onto vellum and then backed it with green CS and attached with little orange brads. I didn't post a picture because our address and phone number are on there and I don't want to post publicly.

Supplies
Cardstock - Bazzil, The Paper Co, Stampin' Up!
Brads - Making Memories
Vellum - Stampin' Up!
Cricut Cartidge - Storybook, From the Nest
Nestabilities Die
Embossing Folder - Cuttlebug

Valentine Altered Frame

This was a fun project for me! I have been eyeing these gorgeous frames by 7 Gypsies for months now but just never had occassion to create one until now. Since Jay spoiled me so for my birthday (still need to do a post on that....) I told him he was totally off the hook for Valentine's Day this year. Meaning, he didn't have to get me a thing and I would be fine with that! He didn't quite listen....he had roses in a gorgeous heart-shaped vase sent to me at work (which I loved and was completely surprised by) but since I had given him a pass this year, I didn't want to get him anything expense because then he would feel badly which is not what I intended at all!

So, I decided to give him a gift from the heart. I wanted to make this gift romantic, but without being too girly-girly. I happened upon this gorgeous new line from Graphic 45 called Curtain Call and knew it was perfect. It's filled with music and cinematic images and the colors are black and cream and it's the perfect balance of romance and masculinity.

I was really happy with the way the project turned out overall. I know when I get a few more of these under my belt they will look better and better, but for my first attempt, I was pretty happy with the results.

And, most imporatantly, I was able to bless my wonderful hubby who is ALWAYS a blessing to me!

I cut the frame for this image on black cardstock (Bazill) using my Cricut Sentimentals cartridge and I hand-painted these Prima roses using Ranger alcohol ink mixatives. I just placed a few drops onto my craft mat and then picked up the color using a paint brush. They are super shiny and absolutly stunning!

For this panel, I used an epoxy sticker from Cloud Nine Designs and took the Love and Heart chipboard shapes from Maya Road and painted them with some Red Pepper paint from Ranger and then sprayed them with some Graphite glimmer mist from Tattered Angels. The small tag is from the die-cut sheet that came with the collection. I added a small brad from Making Memories to the top of it.

On this panel, I took some trim from Making Memories and outlined the frame. I used Glossy Accents to adhere the trim because it dries so quickly and has such a strong hold. The tag was cut using my Cricut (the patterned paper is from the same Graphic 45 collection) and I just hand wrote a small message using a Prismacolor fine line marker.

On this panel, I cut another frame onto black cardstock (Bazill) and them took some black flowers (Kaiser Crafts) and topped them with smaller red flowers (Bazill) and finished them off with some decorative brads from Making Memories. The epoxy sticker at the bottom is from Cloud Nine Designs and I backed it with some Riding Hood Red cardstock from Stampin' Up! so that it would stand out.

I kept this panel rather simple. I cut out another frame using black cardstock with my Cricut and then finished it off with some beautiful Prisma mesh flowers.

And finally, I cut another frame on black cardstock using my Cricut then took some letter stickers from Making Memories for the J&S and then took a dimensional sticker from Jolee's Boutique that I colored with some Copic markers.

Some detail on the Prisma flowers I colored with my alcohol ink mixatives.

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

Jen's Sketch Challenge 10-16-10

For Jen's sketch challenge this week, I had a little more fun with my Cricut. In fact, I've been having so much fun with it that I had to change the blade for the first time. I was starting to get tears in my paper when cutting and still had some tearing even after I changed the blade, but after I slowed down the cutting speed and changed the blade depth the problem was solved. I also had my paper slip a little bit so it might be time to start using a new cutting mat. I didn't realize just how much I've been enjoying that machine!

My dear friend Nancy just announced she is pregnant (with baby #3!) and I wanted to make a congratulations card for her and her husband. This isn't there first, but I believe EVERY baby (both the born and the unborn) are worth celebrating and since I can't be in California to celebrate with her, I made a card to mail off to her.

Since she's newly pregnant, we don't know the baby's gender yet, so I used a lot of different pastels on the card. For whatever reason, I feel like this one might be a girl, but I don't trust myself anymore. Up until my friend Kim's first pregnancy I had NEVER been wrong - not once on guessing a baby's gender but I seem to have lost my mojo. Whether a girl or a boy, we will love this baby....still since I have announced my guess here on this blog, I am not so secretly hoping it's a girl. I just like to be right :).

Oh! I used the Fun Flock again on the pom-pom on the night cap. I got a little more to stick this time than the last, but it's still not very much. I am still trying to figure out what the trick is ther, but I love the texture of that stuff so I am going to continue to try.

Anyway, enjoy....

Supplies
Patterned Paper - Little Yellow Bicycle

Cardstock - Yellow (Unknown), Green, Blue, Pink, White (Stampin' Up!)

Stamps - Verve Stamps

Ink - Stampin' Up!

Embossing Folder - Provo Craft

Cricut Cartridges - Storybook, Potpourri Basket

Buttons - Basic Grey

Pearls - Kaiser Crafts

Ribbon - Portafolia

Fun Flock

Flower - Prima Marketing

Glimmer Mist - Tattered Angels

Jen's Sketch Challenge 10-02-10

For this week's sketch challenge on Jen Del Muro's blog, I used some absolutely adorable travel-themed paper that I got from Stampin' Up! a while back. It was from the summer mini catalog and I absolutely love the colors. I purchased the paper for scrapbooking, but I decided to try using it for a card. I used my Cricut to cut out that adorable tag and when you swing it open, there is an adorable image behind it. I just attached the tag with a brad and then cut out a square piece of cardstock, stamped the truck image onto it, and then rounded the corners so that it would fit behind the tag. The stamps are all Tim Holtz and are of incredible quality and I absolutely love the artistry! Anyway, if you haven't done so already, stop by Jen's blog and play along.

Supplies

Patterned Paper - Stampin' Up!

Cardstock - Stampin' Up!, Michael's

Ribbon - American Crafts

Stamps - Tim Holtz for Stampers Anonymous

Ink - Stampin' Up!, Ranger

Emobssing Powder - Ranger Distress Embossing Powder

Punches - Martha Stewart Crafts (Border), We R Memor Keepers (Corner Rounder)

Cricut Cartridges - Sentimentals (Stamp Border, Tag), Heritage (Luggage)

In Memory

**Edited** - I felt the left side of the card needed a little something so I added some bling from ZVA. I think it's just what this card needed.

My dear, sweet, wonderful great-aunt Helen passed away a couple of weeks ago. Aunt Helen lost her husband Al several years ago and her mind was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Because of this, she did not have any real quality of life in her later years and it's a blessing that she is now home with her heavenly father and once again reunited with her wonderful husband.

Aunt Helen and Uncle Al were always so good to me and my family. They were loving and funny and kind. They were incredibly generous with hugs and kisses and laughter. Aunt Helen was also an amazing cook! I remember going to visit at the house and she made these beautiful homemade breadsticks and ginger cookies. Everything looked as good as it tasted.

I made this card for Aunt Helen and Uncle Al's son Keith and his wife Katie and their daughter Natalie. They are such a dear, sweet family and I know that they are happy for Aunt Helen that her suffering on earth has come to an end, but still miss her dearly. Keith was the son that Aunt Helen and Uncle Al always dreamed of and he was the apple of their eyes. The love in that family was evident every moment that you spent with them.

Aunt Helen, I know you weren't really here over the last few years, but still you are missed terribly. I look forward to seeing you again one day in heaven. Until then, you will remain in my thoughts. I love you!

Supplies

Patterned Paper - Webster's Pages

Cardstock - The Paper Company

Ribbon - Unknown

Cricut Cartridge - Heritage

Hardware - Making Memories

Spellbinders Dies

Edge Punch - Stampin' Up!

Corner Punch - We R Memory Keepers