Friday, September 30, 2011

Homework for the Weekend


So my quest for more card sketches for Christmas cards continues. 

Here's a really cute one I found on another one of my favorite Clean and Simple sites.  Love the colors.  Was thinking that Naughty and Nice paper I bought at Memory Lane Tuesday night would be really fun to use on this one. 

So my self-imposed homework assignment for the weekend is to use this sketch to make 6 more Christmas cards.  Wish me luck! 

And have a great weekend!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Remember When. . .


Remember when we were baby card makers and taking lots of classes from Jen at Angie's place?  I ?think? this is where we got this pattern from.  I used it here for a Father's Day card.

All I remember is that I made a bunch of cards for different themes from this pattern.  And I think it was a "go to" pattern for Faythe and Val too.

Here's another of the same sketch with a birthday theme:


And yet another that was my Christmas card one year.



Have a great day today.  Only one more day until Friday and the weekkend - YEAH!!

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Scraps Day #8


I think this week's scrap card is really cute.  I love the texture of the embossing on the left side plus the stitching which anchors the "flags" to the card.  Hope you enjoy both the card and Wednesday/Hump Day.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

New Paper Toile

This post goes out to my best-est Gal Pal Val. . . . .

Uh-Oh! Val - you may be in trouble?!  Did you see the latest video on Paper Wishes with the new paper toile kits that have?  Over-the-top beautiful!.  Check it out if you have time.  Here's the link.

See ya' at the shop tonight.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Bring Your Punches!!!

Take a look at this project. . . . .

How cute is that!!!!  Let's make a few Tuesday night!  One of Marcia's other downlines forwarded this blog post to our SU team this weekend.  Thank goodness for the sharing spirit.  

I think I have all the punches except for the ornament punch which I think Val has.  Mona - do you have it too?  I'm definitely ordering it now.  After the cute fish idea Debbie showed us a couple of weeks ago (here's a YouTube that's similar) and now this, I just have to have it!  I'm going to order it this week plus the cellophane bags that hold the red vines.  My team mates are just crazy for red vines so this is going to make a really cute gift for them.

Here's the blog with all the instructions and list of punches.  Bring what punches you do have.  I think between the 3 of us we have them all.  But I'll check in with you Monday afternoon to see if we're missing anything.

Happy Monday!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

This Year's Gift Card Holder

One other Christmas project coming up is to get some gift card holders made. Cricut Man usually gives his nieces and nephew a gift card for Christmas. Since we've been together I've tried to do something a little crafty to deliver them in. Last year I made these little gift bags/boxes. This year I think I'm going to go back to an old pattern I used years ago. It's kind of a tri-fold holder with fold out flaps. I thought putting the gift card in the center and maybe some old pictures of them or of winter in Montana on the top and bottom flaps would be neat.

Here's some pictures of the last one I made like this (for a very special Gal Pal to thank her for her generosity :-) ).  You can see it has a band around the outside that holds it all together when it's folded up.  Until I stumbled on these pictures, I kind of forgot how cute it was.

Hope you have a good day.  Today is my Friday sort of - will be taking off work tomorrow to take care of Cricut Man.  So I'm not sure if I'll be posting tomorrow.  If not, hope you all have a great end of the week and a good weekend.





Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Scraps Day #7

Another card sample for my Gal Pal who is trying to use up her scraps.  Thought this one was clever using scraps of white cardstock to shape a coffee cup.  Here's the link to the blog where I found it.

Had a great time at the shop last night.  Hope you Wednesday/Hump Day is a good one.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Christmas Card Sketch #2

Well after making 6 of Mona's Christmas card sketch last week, I went on the hunt for a new card sketch to start 6 more this week.  I found a goodie!  Here's the sketch from last Wednesday's Sketch Challenge on Splitcoaststampers:


Roxie, the lady that runs the sketch challenge does a really great job and even gives you the dimensions of the pieces from the card she makes from the sketch.  She's a big Copic person and does beautiful cards.  Here's her card and another from "Stampin' Nana" that was Christmas themed which I used to get my juices flowing:



And finally , here's the link to the Splitcoast Gallery for this sketch challenge if you want to look at more samples.  I've got a couple of samples of my own which I'll bring to the shop tonight.

See you around 5-ish!.  I can't wait!

Monday, September 19, 2011

Fall Tag


Since it's turned cool and grey - a sure sign of the change of seasons - I thought I'd post a pic of a Fall tag I made many, many years ago.  It was a copy cat of a pre-made tag I bought somewhere around town.  I copied and improvised the elements.  Wish I had the original to compare it to but I think I used both on Thanksgiving cards that year.

May try to do a couple of more of these tomorrow night at the shop with the new Fall BoBunny I bought last week at the shop.

Hope to see you there tomorrow.  Have a great Monday.

Friday, September 16, 2011

Go Griz


This was last week's family newsletter card.  Didn't have much time so I decided to do a digital card.  I forgot I had this really cute doodle font from Scrap-n-fonts called "Curly Frames" and then I layered a text box inside with the the Go Griz in another cute Creating Keepsakes font I got from the Free Font Friday site.  I check that site every Friday to see if it's anything I want and I have to tell you they have some really cute fonts most of the time.

I'm taking today off as a "Catch Up With My Life" day today. I found myself being a littlle grumpy with work this week and decided I needed an attitude adjustment. So I'm going to forget work for a little while and focus on some personal things. Maybe even try a card sketch or two :-)
Hope you all have a great weekend.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

10 Sketches


The quest is on. . . After making just 6 of these Christmas cards I've decided making 10 of 6 designs to get the 60 Christmas cards I need this season isn't going to work.  I don't know if it's my short attention span or whether I'm just over stimulated by all the cool paper and  embellishments, but I've been finding that if I make any more than 6 of one card design I get bored and tired with the card.  And I certainly don't want any negative energy about Christmas! 

So I've decided to search my favorite sketch sites (see links below) for 10 designs and make 6 of each.  Easy sketches like the one I used for this card.  Sketches where I can use flat embellishments for easy mailing and sketches that really showcase all the beautiful Christmas papers I've bought recently.

Splitcoaststampers Wednesday Sketch Challenge
CPS Card Sketches

Wish me luck!!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Scraps Day #6


Here's another cute idea for a card made with paper scraps.  I stumbled on it while looks a this blog.

Sorry about the missing post yesterday - we were having internet problems at the house. 

I missed my Gal Pals at the shop last night.  Hope Mona is having an excellent adventure somewhere and I hop Val's mom is feeling better real soon.  But Staci and I had a great time catching up.  And I spent my time picking out matching cardstock for all the S.E.I. papers I'll be using for my Christmas cards this year. 

Hope your Wednesday is a good one.  See ya' back here tomorrow.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Peaceful Wishes


This is a condolence card I made for a good friend from my time in Missouri.  She lost her husband a couple of weeks ago in a very tragic motorcycle accident.  Having walked a similar path of grief, my heart and mind have been with her so much since hearing the news.  I think it will be like that for some time to come.  Although nothing can heal that kind of pain, I do hope that she finds moments of peace in her heart along the way.

And given the 10 year anniversary of 9/11 this weekend, the sentiment of "Peaceful Wishes" also feels appropriate for all the victims and their families and for the rest of us too.

Hope the start to the week is a good one.  Go gently and peacefully today.

Friday, September 9, 2011

What it's all about


Had to post a picture of this adorable card one of the Tuesday Card Group ladies made to say thank you for some kindness the group extended her.  I love the layered scallops.  Can't figure out if the die comes with the holes cut out of the scallops or whether she did them.  Also love the old ivory pearls and the shabby chic ribbon she used.

Although I know this picture is too small to read the sentiment, I'm posting a picture of it for 2 reasons. . . First, I love how she bordered her typewritten note with ink giving it more of that shabby chic effect and then used the ticket punch to trim the corners.  Also love the brads as a special finishing touch.

But most of all I love the part of her note where she describes how the Tuesday card group has become like family and that she looks forward to her time at the shop. . . "sometimes to to really work and sometimes just to chat".  I feel like that too.  My Gal Pals are like sisters to me and our Tuesday night "therapy" sessions bring my life back in balance in so many ways.  I'm so grateful.

Happy Friday!  And have a great  weekend!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Sketch Challenge


Now I hope you didn't panic when you saw the subject line on this blog post :-)  I'm not proposing another Gal Pal Challenge - unless you really want to and then I'm always game!  But I have been watching the posts on the SplitCoastStampers challenge sites - especially the card Sketch Challenge on Wednesdays.  Here's the sketch from last week.  I had a little extra time on my hands this weekend so I decided to use this new Lime Twist paper pack I got at Memory Lane last week and give it a try.  It's got some adorable patterned papers with prints small enough for good card making.  


Once again, the camera doesn't do the colors justice.  The card and the papers were so much brighter and fresher in real life.  And it just so happens many of the colors match the SU ink and embellishment colors.  Yeah!  Love all that built in coordination!!

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Scraps Day #5

Remember this post about how to use strips of coordinating scrap paper to make a unique card?  Well here's a follow up to it with a lot more cute card designs.  Check out the full blog post from PaperCrafts.  Gosh!  The possibilities are endless!!!

Happy Hump Day!

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Copy Cat


I loved Mona's design so much that I did a litttle copy catting (CASE'ing - Copy And Share Everything) this weekend.  Cut out the pieces so I can make 5 more at the shop tonight.

Hope you had a good Labor Day weekend.  Mine was quiet, uneventful but totally delightful.  Looking forward to smooth sailing this week.  Think that will happen?!! ;-)

Friday, September 2, 2011

In Celebration of Back to School Week


This is the card I sent out on Monday to the family with the weekly newsletter.  Since this week was the first week of school for the University and the other public schools in town, I took the apples I stamped a couple of weeks ago at the shop and combined them with some "school" papers.  Typed out a sentiment on the computer with one of the "Free Font Friday" fonts called CK Curley.  I liked how the card turned out - especially the red and lime green color combination - although it didn't photograph very well.

We cap off this first week of school today with WelcomeFeast out on the Oval.  Free hot dogs for everyone.  And looks like we'll be having a Rocky Mountain Blue Sky day for the festivities.  Should be fun and a great way to start the Labor Day weekend. 

Have a great one.  See you next week.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

It's Time!


The house is a little chilly this morning as I write this.  It confirms what I was saying at the shop the other night. . . it's time to start thinking some more about Christmas cards.  I typically make and send about 60 cards.  I told Val that rather than make 60 of the same thing - which is what I've been doing the last couple of years - I'm going to try to make 10 of 6 different designs.  Seems like when I make too many of the same thing I end up hating the card by the time I'm done.  Does that ever happen to you?

This cards is one from Mona's stash and uses a stamp set from several years ago.  I really like it!  And it's a design that could be nice and flat for mailing if I just replace the little star embellishment she used with a punched star.  And I'm really excited and playing with some of the new S.E.I. papers that came in last week at the shop.  I love, love, love the one called stargazing with the brown background, white snowflakes and cherry red dots.


2 more work days until the long weekend and hopefully a little play time in the craft room!  Have a good Thursday.