SFYTT 02/21/09

Time for another one of Jen's Sketch for You to Try challenges. I love this DSP from Stampin' Up. The colors are incredible and all of the papers are textured, which make them really interesting. I complimented the DSP with Baja Breeze and Chocolate Chip cardstock. I used my Coluzzle to make the ovals and my Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder for the main panel. I embossed the stamped image (from Unity's November KOTM) with white SU! embossing powder. The aluminum sentiment is from Colorbox (from the $1 bin at Michael's) and I added the rhinestones to give it a little bling.


Be sure to visit Jen's sight to see the beautiful creations everyone made using this sketch.

Kristina Werner Color Inspiration #42

Time for another one of Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration challenges. I didn't think I was going to pull one off this week. The colors are gorgeous, but I wasn't feeling the creative juices flowing. So, I started off by going through my patterned paper to see what I had in these colors. I liked the Kiwi Kiss polka dots and found the More Mustard design and then saw the mushroom

stamp from my Unity February Kit of the Month and decided to do some paper piecing. I used the Really Rust stamp pad to stamp the flourishes onto the really rust cardstock on the bottom panel to make it a little more interesting. I also love the sentiments that came with this month's kit. Happy....just one word that means so much!

I have no voice right now and have been under the weather for about a week now, but I am still happy. I know how much I have to be thankful for. My voice will come back when it's ready and in the meantime, I have lots of time to spend creating!

Joyful Greetings

My Unity February Kit of the Month came on Tuesday and it was filled with some gorgeous stamps! I just love getting my new kits every month. First of all, they are extremely affordable ($25, plus s/h) and you get lots of stamps in every single kit. The last two months the stamps have been really big and I'm finding that even if there is a stamp or two in the kit that I'm not crazy about at first, they either grow on me or I find a use for them. That was the case with this card. I started out with the greetings tree and knew I wanted to do something with More Mustard and Chocolate Chip and everything kind of went from there. I decided instead of using Very Vanilla as my card base, I would use Kraft cardstock instead. When I started putting all of my elements together (before using any tape), I noticed that the Kraft base was going to be too bare. That's when I remembered my wheat stamp from January's Kit of the Month and I think it added just the right touch. When I originally saw this stamp, I thought, "Now what am I going to do with a wheat stamp?" And now I'm so glad I have it, because I think I will use it in the future as well.

I love the hardware on this card as well. I got it ages ago at Michael's but never used it. I think it fits the Enjoy sentiment just right. I'm happy that this turned out to be a sort of masculine card, because I am not good at making those. I know, I know, it does not contain motorcycles, tools of any kind, airplanes, or flames, but I think it still fits the bill. I'm going to give it to a friend at work for his birthday. It's a non-traditional birthday card, and he's a non-traditional guy. Perfect!

Kendall Adds to Her Awards Display

Today was the awards ceremony at Kendall's school for the 2nd quarter. Kendall got not one, not two, but three awards today! She received an award for honor roll (which she is extremely deserving of, because she works VERY hard in school and is extremely disciplined and motivates herself every single day. She also was named Student of the Quarter in both her Reading and Performing Arts classes. We're so proud of her. Congratulations Kendall!!!!

Cut it Out

I decided to participate in one of the Try a New Technique challenges at SCS. As I was going through the list, this one by Lynn in St. Louis instantly appealed to me. Probably due in part to the fact that I just got some new embossing folders for my Cuttlebug and this was a good excuse for me to try using another one.

Here is the challenge:

"Today's technique is simple. We're going to create a border or other page element by just cutting out part of an embossed design, patterned paper, or a stamped image, and use it as a part of your card. You can use a Cuttlebug embossing folder, or if that isn't available to you, dig out some of that patterned paper you've been hording (yes, I mean you!) and find a pattern that will give you images to cut around (this will all be more clear after you see my sample card). And if you don't have any suitable patterned paper or an embossing folder, you can alway stamp an image and cut around it. So let's get busy and "cut it out" today!"

I decided to use all three of the ideas she had. I cut around my patterned paper (from the $1 bin at Target), I cut around my embossed paper (an argyle design using my Cuttlebug) and I also stamped some images and cut around them (the hearts). I finished it off with some chipboard letters that I also got from the $1 bin at Target (those were pre-cut, I can't take credit for them!)


Although it has hearts on it, I don't particularly think it has to be another Valentine's Day card. I think it would be suitable for any day that you want to make someone you love feel special.

Happy Valentine's Day Sketch

It's Saturday....that means another one of Jen Del Muro's Sketch for You to Try (SFYTT). While Jay and Kendall were spending a little father/daughter time watching a movie tonight, I sat down in my craft corner and put together this card. I realized after I finished that I used Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive cardstock on the last one of Jen's sketches I did, but I really like the combination of these colors. I started by choosing my DS and found this cute DCWS paper that I got in a pad at Michael's a while back and then started putting together the cardstock that I wanted to use. I used my one of the new embossing folders I got for my Cuttlebug and did the panel at the top first and then decided on these cute SU stamps to use. The flowers I cut out with my circle punch (they have a dotted border around them, which I cropped out with the punch) and then added the colored brads for a little extra pop. I added the ribbon and sentiment last. I hope you like it.

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! Jay and I had a nice day together. We got up this morning and Jay made French toast (WW friendly version!) and we opened our presents to each other. Jay got me some black pearl drop earrings and a matching necklace and some Godiva chocolates (not so WW friendly but I don't care!) I got him a nice button-down shirt, The Prestige on DVD, and a $15 iTunes gift card. I also gave him the monkey kiss V-day card that I made (I could not resist!) We didn't want to deal with the crowds tonight, so we went to a late lunch at Applebee's and saw He's Just Not that into You at the movies. Such a funny movie, we both loved it!

We gave Kendall her presents on Thursday night so that she could wear her new shirt to the school dance last night. We got her and Nicole a little heart notepade, keychain with their initials on them, a photo album, a nail file, some Valentine socks and these cute shirts. Here are some pics. We didn't take any of ourselves today, sorry to disappoint!