Chirstmas Card storage - MAKEOVER!

For my Just Us Girls ALTERED candle project, click here!

It's ALTERED, blinged, festooned with goodness...

Christmas Card STORAGE, that is a keepsake of its own...

Learn how I MADE it, here, at the lovely site of Want2Scrap™,
you'll MAKE my day if you check it out! Hope YOUR day is

FABULOUS!

Yee Haw!

I'm doing a Cameo...

{For my Just Us Girls Card, click here!}

... CARD with Cameo, that is!!!

I'm playing along, as a MUCH honored guest designer this week,
with the SUPER talented folks over at my FAVORITE, weekly destination
for sketch inspiration and a whole lotta good mojo! When I think about how often I rely on
their excellent compositions and fantastic Design Team inspiration {and it's GOING on
YEARS now!!!!}, I have to say Card Patterns is a very important part of my personal
foundation of creating! I had the privilege of being acknowledged in their top six a few
weeks ago {woot*woot!*} and if you've ever seen THE AMAZING people who play with
CP week after week, you can imagine how DELIGHTED & HONORED I was to be noticed!

With THAT said, let me share their FANTASTIC sketch of inspiration for THIS week....!




I can't even begin to describe HOW fabulous this sketch was to work with. I selected some
totally *swoonable* new {to me} paper from Crate Paper and had me a splendid stroll
though crafty town, USA! {I know it was in the USA, because Crate Paper prints that ALL over
their paper! I thought it was VERY cool!} Anywhoo, I let the paper and sketch guide the flavor
of this card. I would have LOST the bet, if I'd tried to wager where, oh where, this project
would take me! I love a craft session where I TRULY work from every corner of
"Scrapland"... I don't know what was more fun, completing this, or FINDING stuff!
{Have I ever mentioned HOW MUCH I LOVE THIS SPORT!?!} Mannnnnn!





If you've never tossed your crafty intentions into the mix over there
at Card Patterns - If you have the means, I suggest you try it - It is SO choice!
{Sorry, Ferris... Bueller... Bueller - FLASHBACK!}

Oh, dear! WHAT a crafty week it has been around HERE! Truly!

Some VERY exciting stuff is in store for next week, as WELL!
I have some SUPER news to share and a VERY, very special,
therapeutic and DEAR to my heart project - Oh, BABIES!

Thanks, as ALWAYS! I do think about and feel blessed when you
have stopped by and given me a few of your wonderful words!
My best to you!

Yee Haw!

Supplies -

C/S - Stampin' Up!
D/P - Crate Paper; Basic Grey {oval sky shape only}
Stamps - Wplus9 Design Studio
Ink - Stampin' Up! {Pigment}
Ribbon - Recollections
Bling - Want2Scrap {colored with alcohol ink!}
Button - Buttons Galore & More
Die Cut Shapes - Ovals and Scallop Oval - Spellbinders; Cameo - Cricut
Lace - My Stash

When I was a kid...

...I did not understand why this photo was referred to as "the bombshell"....



But, NOW, I do.

That's my beautiful mom! Just the other day, whole family got together to celebrate her 71st birthday - and it was WONDERFUL and yes, she's still AMAZING!




I was inspired by this FANTASTIC photo of my mom, our shared appreciation for Tim Holtz {she REMEMBERS the ephemera, and I have a ball using it!}, and this OUTRAGEOUSLY fun sketch by Card Patterns....





I had to do a little tweaking to make this all work, but I was delighted where this sketch took my materials and creative flow!



Just a fun journey of wonderful memories, juicy embellishments and scrumptious materials - Yeahoooo! What a hoot! I am SO grateful to have a mom who truly inspires me - so making a card, using her, as a beautiful, classy & elegant embellishment, was great fun! Speaking of classy, I thought I'd toss "mom" into the Moxie Fab Classy & Elegant challenge!!! {Go, MOM! hee hee} She's someone I look up to, look FORWARD to talking to, and look to, for continued enlightenment and inspiration. If it weren't for her encouragement, I would have missed so many of life's treasures... If it weren't for her, I would have never been brave enough to pursue my art, and go for... something like - this:

1st place in the in the Sonoma County Fair - Yeeeeeeeeee Haaaaaawwwwwwww!

Also, if it weren't for mom, I wouldn't have MY girl, and her happy ribbon moment...!

We were AMAZED and delighted by our good results in our LARGE{-er} local fair, where the competition is SERIOUS, but the rewards are SWEET! There is some AMAZING local art and talented crafters a-plenty in our lovely county, let me tell ya! It's a HUGE honor for the little gal and me to share a piece of our recognition... Hope you don't mind - we're standing a bit taller for the big nod! Truly!

I am SO delighted that you took the time to stop by my scrappy, crafty lil' blog! Here's hoping that you're enjoying the BEST of what summer has to offer where you live and create! Have a WONDERFUL day!

Supplies -

C/S - Stampin' Up!
D/P - Stampin' Up! {Embossed script}; Tim Holtz {Movie Theater ephemera}
Stamps - Stampin' Up!
Ink - Tim Holtz Embossing Ink, Dye Ink
Micro Pearls Powder - Tim Holtz/Ranger
Distress Stickles - Tim Holtz/Ranger
"Mother" die-cut - Cricut
Scallop Border - Stampin' Up!
Word Beads - Michael's
Vintage Rhinestone Buttons - My stash
Fragment - Tim Holtz
Antique Index Holder - Tim Holtz

Say HELLO to my little friend....

I'm HOOKED on this darling set, by Kerrianne!

It's from WPLUS9 design studio's latest release {see Dawn's blog for more info!} and it's such a blast to create with! There are SUCH darling images & sentiments, and hey, it's summer! I love sushi, fishing and kids swaddled in brightly colored, brand new beach towels.... combined with some groovy colors influenced by the old SNORKEL paper collection from Cosmo Cricket! And YEAHOOO! I caught me a heap of craftin' fun!

The water's FINE, so jump on in! Get YOUR craft ON, and have a splashing good day!



Supplies -

C/S - Stampin' Up!
Stamps - WPLUS9
Ink - Stampin' Up! & Versa Fine
Chrystal Effects - Stampin' Up!
Die Cut Letters - Cricut

All Eyes On ... BABIES!

Hey, babies! {Yep, ANOTHER baby card!}

My craftilicious friend, Dawn, from Stamp Away With Me and Wplus9DESIGN STUDIO, has another one of her cool tutorial posts "All Eyes On", and it's featuring PAPER PIECING! And, ooooow ~ oooooow, how I loves me a little paper piecing!!! Check out her inspiring tutorial and what the other girls, Kerrianne and Maile did with this juicy assignment...!!!

I got RIGHT on board with this fun technique! After all, it's PAPER! {And aren't we ALL crazy for paper!?!} I sooooooo love creating "little scenes" and for some reason, WINDOW scene jumped into my brain... I created a REAL window using some awesome heavy transparency material, sandwiched under the pink, outer layer, of my card and then added some vellum drapes, doodled with some tiny daisies for perspective...

But on this card, the PARTY IS ON THE INSIDE!!!!

I LOVE the word "congratulations".... Even more, I love a stamp that EXPERTLY conveys that sentiment, in the right scale. I wouldn't keep gushing about Dawn's use of font and terrific sentiments, if I didn't really mean it ~ DAWN keeps making the best stamps and SENTIMENTS! Although, I've been hooked on all things "Kisses & Cuddles," I was SO happy to pair this sentiment from "Just A Note" for the perfect peek-a-boo combination! {See Dawn's blog for more details on her terrific stamp collections!}

Double click on the above photo for the down and dirty details of the paper-piecing magic.. I had fun sifting though designer paper trying to find the right scale of design for my vision of this darling baby carriage.. Using a small bit of ink and aqua brush, I added a little bit of detail shading to the carriage, just because... THAT'S HOW I ROLL!!!

{Oh, I'm corny tonight ~ SORRY!}

Anyway, lovely friends! Thank you from the bottom of my fluffy, happy, baby-lovin', floating hearts... I'm delighted that you stopped by!


Supplies -

C/S - Stampin' Up!
D/P - October Afternoon & Stampin' Up!
Vellum - Stampin' Up!
Stamps - WPLUS9design studio
Sentiment die-cut - Cricut {Wildcard}
Heart Punch - Martha Stewart Crafts
Ribbon + Bling Flower - Maya Road
Heavy Transparency - Hambly

Thankful to play and share my first pup..pub.. {CARDS PUB ! Wahoo}

Oh, crackers! December ALREADY!?!

Totally in denial about the Christmas shopping thing... BUT THAT'S ANOTHER STORY! I'm here for the craft! Cards! Paper, ink, sparkley stuff! All of that! I'm alllll REVVED up over the 12 days of TIM... ur... Tags. Tags by Tim! Timmy, Tim, TIM ~ the Timinator! You know the guy! That man with all of that lovely crafty stuff... the king of DISTRESS {not STRESS! ~ hence, why we're not discussing CHRISTMAS shopping...} Anywhoo, no. I haven't cranked out a tag... but I really got my "Tim-On" to finish up THIS card for the Get Sketchy Challenge!

Hellooooooooooooo! Just a lil' shot to build anticipation! {HA HA! I know, WHAT?} I just love trying to tantalize with an artsy shot.... (But, please, don't grade me on this... ) Here's the Sketch from the Get Sketchy gals and HAVE YOU SEEN WHO THEY HAVE FOR THEIR GUEST DESIGNER this week? OMG! Well, go see and then come RIGHT BACK!

Okay.. It's DAWN McVEY! {Dontcha LOVE her!?! Adorable sample, and fab inspiration!}

What a scrumptious sketch! AND there was a bonus challenge to keep it Autumn-ish, so I had to quell my "snowmanitis" for the day and tap back into my inner HARVEST....

I have been sooooooooo loving all of my miniature leaf punches lately! Seriously! They were just the thing I needed to seal the deal on this card... But wait ~ here's a close up!




I used some card stock weight vellum, TIM HOLTZ alcohol ink {Yeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!} and had a lil' distressing party... Some latte, some caramel, a little gold... la la la! Let it dry, punched my leaves, folded for leaf veins and then dragged it trough a little Dusty Durango Dye Ink... Wahooo! Got my DISTRESS-on! Mmmmmmmm, yep... I did! I DID! Indeedy do!



Keeping with the Tim-theme... Distress STICKLES! Perfect Pearls! Yummmy stuff! I was glad to have an excuse to break out this paper, probably the MOST awesome paper set - EVER!!! From Stampin' Up! Yeah, BABY! So, it was a symphony of craft here in Scrapland today and some SUPER fun finishing touches, ala TIM! Whoopee! Oh, and one more THING... Now that it's officially DECEMBER... I can share this with you ~

My first ever PUBLISHED CARD! Ha ha ha! {And a little laughter from the PEANUT gallery - pay no attention to the LAUGHING PUPPY!} I just wanted to share a picture of MY CARD in CARDS{!} and needed a lil' "scale" for my photo... I beg your pardon for having to share, but folks "in the real world" don't always get it... This was a SUPER thrill!

Thank you, lovely friends ~ for sharing all of the fun, love, support and CREATIVE JU-JU! Y'all ROCK! I sooooooo appreciate you stopping by!

Supplies -

C/S - Stampin' Up!
D/P - Stampin' Up!
Stamps - Stampin' Up!
Ink - Stampin' Up!; Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink; Versa Mark
Scallop Border Punch - Stampin' Up!
Glitter - Stickles/ Tim Holtz
Die cut sentiment - Cricut/ Wild Card Cartridge
Leaf Punch - Family Treasures

Lovely, lovely....

LOVELY colors... can create magic. Magic, like the way you might be drawn to a beautiful flower, a distinctive painting, a fabulous outfit or just the right pair of shoes.. Color is MAGIC! It is yet ANOTHER form of magic power we wield as paper artists... That why I LOVE color challenges! Last week when I played with the swatch from Scrapmaster's Paradise, I just let the colors do the talking. I entered at the last minute, it was my FIRST time playing in their "paradise," and the last thing I expected, was to MAKE IT INTO THEIR TOP 5! Holy CRACKERS! I got the nod! Thank you so much to Samantha, the Scrapmaster, herself, and her amazing designers! I'm humbled and "aw shucks" and SOOOO appreciative! I finally got a moment to play with their new swatch, so here's my share for the "Scrapmaster's Paradise Color Combo #10!"

How would you describe these delicious polka dots of fun? HAPPY! Harvesty? Autumnal? DELIGHTFUL!!! Maybe all of the above. They make me think of our local Harvest Fair on a perfect Fall day, sunny and sparkly and crystal clear... Ummmmm. Now I can SMELL fall. Ahhh! {See...., MAGIC!}

Speaking of MAGIC... do you like my stamps? Ohhhhhh, Stampin' Up! They keep me hungry for MORE, year after year! Aren't these little bee's... {uh, oh: here she goes!} THE BEE'S KNEES! {Slap your knee RIGHT NOW! You have to! Humor THAT good!?!.... kidding...!} "Just Buzzin' By" SO adorable! Those were my stamps of choice to answer the color portion of this challenge, but here's the fabulous sketch from Card Positioning Systems #128 that inspired me a few steps further!

I couldn't get over my good fortune when I realized that a darling friend of mine had recently shared a wondeful 6x6 paper pad from WeRMemoryKeepers, Madame Royale, that had many of these gorgeous colors: WHO KNEW!?! Once again, I love the JOURNEY! Thanks for visiting my happy little blogging place today! Have a GREAT day, won't you!?!

Supplies:

C/S - Stampin' Up!
D/P - WeRMemoryKeepers
Stamps - Stampin' Up!
Ink - Stampin' Up!
Tiny Corner Rounder - EK
"Hi" letters - Street Signs by Cricut
Flowers - Sizzix
Scallop Border Punch - Stampin' Up!

Much obliged, pardners!

I beg your pardner... uh, PARDON! I've been lost in FAMILY celebration recently! My SWEET Mama, Sheila, just celebrated her 70th {*goodness!*} birthday... And we did it RIGHT, friends! Lots of good folks, dear old friends and family... a gorgeous day, and enough food to feed a small army! It was lovely!

And it took all of my creative mojo and tired it out for a good while! (The rest of me is a little tuckered, too!) BUT I'M BACK! Back with some good old WESTERN DELIGHT! I got inspired by my fabulous CAT'S PAJAMAS STAMPS, "It's a Western Thing!"

I decided to... THROW MY HAT!!! ...into this week's Card Patterns sketch challenge!
And if you know me... You know that where there's STARS.. there's usually some SERIOUS
Western Style inspiration! Yee HAW!

What a cool sketch! I love the layers of shape and composition! It really set the stage for the use of lost of materials, tools and PAPER! Lots of color and texture: what fun!

Speaking of FUN! Just to mix it up, you'll see that this swanky pup, by the lovely and talented Alma de la Rosa at The Cat's Pajamas, has been a little altered... The magic of detail scissors! He's all "aw-shucks" and holding flowers, INSTEAD of guns! To see how he looks with "stock-usage" check out my post from a few months back where he was shootin' it up in his lil' Western town! I love trying to get new "milage" from the same images! Yippie-cia-yai-yeah!

I am MUCH obliged that you stopped in today to set and visit-a-spell! Please KNOW how much delight I take in reading your comments and just knowing that you've taken the time to visit! Have a wonderful day, ya'll!

Supplies:

C/S - Stampin' Up!
Ink - Staz On, Stampin' Up! Classic Dye and Craft Ink
Stamps - The Cat's Pajamas
Brads - Michael's
Twine - Yaley
Embossing Plates and Machine - Sizzix
Flowers - Unknown
Ticket Shape - Cricut
Mini Star Punch - Marvy

Time Traveler...

One of the most magical parts of scrap booking is the ability to travel back through time... Most of us love pictures and ALWAYS have, since we were little and just learning the meaning of "captured moments," and how photographs can preserve our memories. This past weekend, I had the terrific fortune to "retreat" with some wonderful crafty, scrappy gals, good music, yummy food (A LOT of laughter!) and memories. I left for this retreat planning to fall in love again! I was not surprised by this phenomena, since I literally took myself on a second honeymoon (quite unexpected, at THAT time...), by spending one retreat working on, nothing else but, my wedding album! (I'm not making any poor {as in taste} jokes here, btw! *you're welcome!* tee hee)

Anywhoo, THIS retreat I swooned over MY BABIES! I've gotten ridiculously behind in my "time-line" scrap booking, but no worries: WHEN I get to it, time is preserved in my pictures and then I get to tell the story and relive life's little moments! Wow! (I think I just tossed out names of 15 scrapbook stores or companies just in this one little post.. *chuckle* )

If you've ever scrapped in a group setting, you know that we scrappers are prone to "sharing", not only our GENEROUS supplies, but also OUR stories! Stories and exclamations of love, more stories, more sharing and sometimes even TEARS! Lot's of tears! But it's allllllll good! It's all a part of the journey!

So here I was, on this retreat, reliving the time in my life when my BABY (who had her 8th birthday last month!) had just turned ONE! Goodness gracious! This is my maiden voyage into posting scrap work, so bare with me: photography gets tricky for me here! Not only is this new to my blog, but I was working VERY freely, scraping pix printed LONG ago, pre-digital, so I'm making due with bad lighting, unfortunate color choices and a whole lot of red-eye (not so different from MY CURRENT PHOTOGRAPHY, actually! heh heh), but what the heck: we're all friends here! So, for your pleasure, my wee girl and boy (had recently turned 4 in this pict.!), gettin' their groove on! Check out the boy's grin: was he the proud, big bro or WHAT! Recently, I've been working on much more technically challenging work, so this is good and simple fun with lots of help from CRICUT combined with old AND new materials alike! Check out this little dangly tag I made combining and OOOOOOlllllldddd "Junkitz" tile, some card stock, fiber and HAMBLY!!! Whoooooooooo!

Here's one more shot of the page: I had a tough time getting it to focus on the ENTIRE L/O, so we'll see if this one shows up a bit nicer!

The photo got a little smoky in this one, but the colors and detail seem a bit more true to life, so what the heck! Thank you SOOOOOOOOOO much for letting me share with you, AGAIN! I was delighted by lots of fun comments on my last post as I zipped up and headed off for fun! Now that I'm getting unpacked and re-organized... hope to be visiting lots of you, soon! Can't wait to see what you've been working on!

Supplies:

C/S - Stampin' Up!
D/S - Basic Grey
Rub on and transparency - Hambly
Fiber - ?
"2002" tile - Junkitz
Cricut cartridges - All Mixed Up & Street Signs
Quote sticker - ?