WILD About You

Hi everyone,

When I first saw today's OWH Midweek Throwdown, I had no idea what I would make. Then, I remembered a croc embossing folder and some animal print paper -- and the card below was born!

Midweek Throwdown Recipe:
embossing folder: Sizzix
border punch: EK Success
2 patterned paper: BasicGrey 12 by 12 pad
1 piece of jute twine
(sentiment: computer-generated (Andy font); paper and twine inked with Adirondack espresso)

 

I must admit, I'm pretty wild about the way this tag turned out -- and everything about it is hand-crafted. :) 

• The sentiment is computer-generated and printed on the back of a piece of Core-dinations Vintage paper. 
•  The core paper was mounted on two "solid" papers from the same BasicGrey pad.
• Each layer of the tag is inked with Adirondack espresso.
• The jute twine was also pressed into the Adirondack ink. It is double knotted and "secured' with a dab of glue on the back of the tag.
• Finally, the tag was adhered using 3D glue dots.

My initial thought was to add a few brads. However, I decided to leave the tag and card exactly as shown.

Hope a hero is as wild about this card as I am. :)


As always, thanks for visiting and happy scrappin'!

Much Obliged

Hi everyone,

As our big project at work is coming to a close, I thought I'd share a thank you card that I made for a couple of new team members to commemorate the completion of their first book.

Marsha's adorable little cowboy

The inspiration for this card came from one of Marsha's Top Ten of 2012 cards -- an adorable little cowboy that I featured in an earlier post. For reasons that will remain known only to the team, a cowboy theme was appropriate for these thank you cards. :)

I apologize in advance for not being sure of the all of the materials used. My list of supplies went missing -- and my brain's been gone for a while now!

dp: BasicGrey vanilla bean and stash; cardstock: Distress Ink core???
embellishments: garage sale brads, drug store string; tool: the Paper Studio star punch
computer-generated sentiment

I did an Internet search for cowboy lingo. The inside sentiment read, "... you did a powerful bang-up job, and we're much obliged!"

I'd love to know the color theory that makes this card work. It's definitely not monochromatic nor analagous. But, it doesn't seem to be truly complementary either.  Hmmm...

Parting Thoughts

Hope I have the stamina tonight to work on a card featuring the colors in Ohio's state flag for this week's Midweek Throwdown color challenge. But, pardners, I'm feeling mighty tired this evening. :)

Much obliged that you stopped by and wish you some powerful scrappin'!

2 for 1

Hi everyone,

A quick post to share two cards inspired by this week's OWH sketch.

                   

Card #1: A Birthday Card

This first card is pretty true to the sketch, following a 90 degree rotation.

Paper: My Mind's Eye, stash cardstock
Sentiment from Whipper Snapper, heat embossed in Distress Ink Vintage Photo
Techniques: Leisure Arts candle idea described in last post
Tool: hole punch

I initially used a AAA battery to roll the candles -- and found the technique worked well with designer paper, but not heavier cardstock. However, the candles seemed too thick for OWH. So, I went with the "smashed" versions instead.

Card 2: An Any Hero card

I was a little more liberal in my interpretation of the sketch for this one.

Paper: We R Memory Keepers, BasicGrey kraft, miscellaneous cardstock
Tools: ek success and the Paper Studio star punches; crimper, distresser, hole punch
Embellishment: strands of jute

The background paper is one that I really struggle with in this Red, White & Blue collection because it is such a strong image. After layering the red and white-starred paper, it felt okay pairing these two patterns together. And, I think it helps that the stars were punched from the same cardstock as the cream layer behind the red and white-starred paper.

Parting Thoughts

Hubby wasn't a huge fan of either card. They were both too busy for his taste. They are actually a little on the busy side for me, too -- just a little out of my normal comfort zone. But, I think they work. 

Have a great week. Thanks for visiting and happy scrappin'!

Monday Musings -- An Early Edition

Hi, everyone,

Thanks to everyone who visited this last week. Extra thanks to those leaving such kind comments.

Hope everyone had a chance to get outside this weekend. Yesterday was a rainy, kind-of-raw day here. But, today's been gorgeous!

Yesterday's weather was perfect for tinkering with this week's CAS-ual Friday challenge. And, in spite of today's beautiful weather, I managed to squeeze in an OWH card.  :)

Card #1: OWH Sketch #119

Sketch #119 was the inspiration for the Any Hero below. Of course, I turned the sketch horizontally. I swear that one of those circles is is 2.5 inches in diameter! (And, what would I ever do without my Creative Memories circle and oval cutting system?)

Papers: Bo Bunny Liberty, Bazzill Admiral and Watermelon, BasicGrey kraft; jute and blue mesh; border punch

I played a little with the layering of the papers for the circles before deciding on this combination. Other than that, this card came pretty easily. The criss-cross patterns of the jute, mesh, and kraft paper really seemed to work well together.(Sadly, it;s about the last of my blue mesh.)

Card #2: CFC50

This week's challenge is a spring-inspired challenge to make cards featuring flowers or trees. Since I'd been wanting to try out a technique shared by a Stampin' Up! consultant at the recent Pizazz It! scrapbooking event, I was pretty excited to work on a flower card. And, I must say, I'm really pleased with the way the card below turned out!

card base and sentiment oval: core paper; Punches: Stampin' Up!: all else: garage sale finds

Stampin' Up Technique: Secure end of twine/floss with tape at back of flower; loop twine/floss across diameter of flower, moving around the circumference of the flower, and taping the end of the floss to the back of the flower to secure it. The consultant used baker's twine in her demo, but the lighter weight of the floss seemed a better match for the delicacy of this paper.

There are three things that I love about this card:

• The way the embellishments came together so nicely. And, the fiber I used for the stem has a natural fraying element to it, which made for a perfect leaf. :)
• The image was taken with our new digital camera. I decided to forgo the usual scanning because I knew the shadows would not do justice to this little flower.
• Most of the elements were made from garage sale finds: the funky fiber, the buttons, and the lovely Stampin' Up! paper. 

The one thing I don't like is that the card is probably a little too delicate and a little too thick to send to OWH. Feels like mail fail. Guess it'll just have to go to a friend who is need of a smile. :)

Speaking of Garage Sales...

  

Yesterday was the first garage sale of the season for hubby and me.

• The good news: I always enjoy spending the day with hubby.
• The bad news: The sale itself was disappointing -- aside from a couple of cute magnet stocking stuffers.

But while I had my camera out to photograph Sure to Bring a Smile, I took a couple of photos of some of my best scrapbooking/card-making garage sale finds.

 

A great cabinet that holds brads, gems, buttons, Distress and Alcohol Inks and their applicators. The little clown is a souvenir from a visit to FAO Schwarz in NYC 30 years ago -- and is a constant reminder to be as creative as possible!

Not quite sure what the original owners used this for, but it's been a CD holder and is now a card organizer. Years of tole painting classes came in handy when I changed its appearance to better fit the room's decor.

a wonderful cutting board and the book full of dies that came with my $25 Zip'e Mate

 

a pair of chairs that came painted white with butcher-board-like seats that matched perfectly with the room decor

A fabulous find! A drawer for punches, another for stamps... The top actually folds down (to make a changing table), which I originally used to layout 12 by 12 pages. However, the baskets from Pottery Barn fit the space so perfectly it's as if they came together. So, the baskets now hold stamp pads, pens, rulers, etc. I painted the drawer fronts and sides to better fit the room decor, but the base color was already white.

So, what are your favorite garage sale finds?  I'd love to hear about them!

Parting Thoughts

Not quite sure what the week holds card-making wise. I still have a couple of Tim Holtz's classes to watch. And, I'd like to try to use up some scraps with last Monday's {Mojo}Mondays challenge.

 

Have a great week and happy scrappin'!

Friday Night Writes

Hi, everyone,

Thanks to everyone who left comments about last Monday's cards. The font change on Dad my hero and the layering on last week's Any Hero card seemed to be fan favorites.


And thanks to everyone who wished me well at tomorrow's crop. Your comments helped remind me to focus on treasuring the time spent with friends -- and not sweating the housework part quite so much. :)

About this time last year, a favorite LSS was forced out of business when the landlord choose to enter a new lease agreement with a national chain instead of renewing its lease with an established small, local business. Tomorrow's crop is a time for employees and customers of Pizazz It! to reconnect! I'm even more excited because my dearest friend in all the world is coming in tonight for a day and a half of gabbing, eating, shopping, and cropping. Who could ask for anything more?!!!

Again, thanks to everyone who reminded me to see the forest, and not focus on the trees. :)

{Mojo}Mondays

Several of you have mentioned {MojoMondays}, so I decided to pay the site a visit and try my hand at this week's sketch.

Paper: Bo Bunny Liberty, BasicGrey kraft; Medallion: Bazzill painted with Midnight Blue acrylic; Fiber: garage sale Funky Fiber find

 

A special welcome to those of you visiting from the {Mojo}Mondays site. If you're wondering why this card that looks like a hybrid of Father's Day and The Fourth of July, that's exactly what I wanted to create. My goal was to make a Father's Day card for a patriotic dad. :)

About 95% of my cards are made for Operation Write Home, a non-profit that makes cards for troops deployed over seas to send to loved ones back home. If you haven't heard of this wonderful group and might be interested in helping out, please take a minute to visit this site.

Two Cards fit for Puzzle Lovers

Have any of you ever used the puzzle maker at discoveryeducation.com.? Those of you who are teachers may have already heard of this great little tool. I've actually used it to make cards.The first card below is a sample of Father's Day cards I made for OWH last year.The second card is one of two Valentine's Day cards I made for nephews aged 10 and 11.

After using puzzlemaker.com to create the puzzle, I used some word processing magic to provide the solutions. Another option would be to provide clues and have a crossword-puzzle-loving dad fill in the squares himself. :)

In this case, I left it as a puzzle for the boys to do. I went with red, black, and white -- and "V-Day" text -- to not be too girly to get from their aunt and uncle.

There are lots more puzzle options at this great site. If you're into puzzles -- or know someone who is -- have fun checking it out!

Parting Thoughts

It's getting close to my friend Linda's arrival time. So, I'll sign off for now.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!  Happy scrappin'!

Friday Night Writes

Hi, everyone,

It looks like it's going to be a pretty busy weekend around here. So, how about a quick post?

OWH Midweek Challenge

 

This week's OWH challenge is to make a Thinking of You card. I decided to rework the ribbon-stamped card from last week. It was just way too overworked to send as it was. It's looking much fresher now. :)

Bo Bunny Konstrukt paper, Kaiser rhinestones

Help Requested

The card below is my first attempt at a My Dad, My Hero card. I really like the gold embossed medals -- and embossing around the edge of the sentiment. I also like the ribbon -- although it didn't scan well. And, I like the sentiment itself, but not its appearance. It seems to need something, but I don't quite know what. Any suggestions?

Stampin' Around image by Stampin' Up!, computer-generated font

ODBD April Challenge

It's time again for another ODBD Challenge for OWH. This month's ODBD challenge is to create a card with critters. Since I liked these little song-inspired, lovesick CAS butterflies so much, I posted them for this challenge as well. 

BasicGrey paper, Martha Stewart punch

Parting Thoughts

Wishing everyone a blessed Easter celebration!

Monday Musings -- Another Early Edition

Hi, everyone,

Hope it's been a good weekend for you. The weather is absolutely gorgeous here -- just a tad on the chilly side, but the sun is shining and the windows are open. :)

I'm hoping to work on a design later today for that "My Dad, My Hero" card idea that's been rolling around in my head. But, for now, I have 2 cards to share. So, I thought I'd go ahead and post a little early. If this becomes a habit, I might have to think of a name other than Monday Musings. :)

OWH Sketch #115

Donna is the sample maker for this week's sketch cards -- and they are so cute. I just love the patriotic one! Nice work, Donna!

The card below is this week's Any Hero card. Again, I inked up the inside of the embossing folder. I love the texture and extra dimension that this technique gives. 

Paper: Bo Bunny Liberty, Bazzill Watermelon; Cuttlebug embossing folder; Stickles; Stampin' Up Night of Navy ink

This sketch might make for a great "My Dad, My Hero" card. And, I'll have plenty of patriotic paper to choose from when those Bo Bunny 6 by 6 Liberty pads arrive. Looks like I've got a little designing to do...

CFC46: Name That Tune

This week's CAS-ual Fridays blog challenge  is to create a card inspired by a song. After a little pondering -- and some internet searching -- I decided upon Love is in the Air. A pair of head-over-heals-in-love butterflies immediately came to mind. :)

The next decision was to find just the right paper with just the right color combination. The key palette ingredients were a blue background (so these little butterflies could dance romantically through the sky), a coordinating pattern fit for the lady, and a second coordinating pattern fit for the gent. This BasicGrey paper that I found in that unexpected Tuesday Morning spree a few weeks ago fit the bill perfectly. Finally, the inspirational song title (printed in graceful Lucida Handwriting), parallel flight paths that included hearts and loops, and some champagne-colored heart gems provided the finishing touches.

Paper: BasicGrey Granola 12 by 12 pad; Butterflies: Martha Stewart Punch around the Page; 

computer-generated font; mini champagne-colored, heart-shaped gems

I  debated about adding black rhinestones to ground the corners, but decided against it. It would be a shame if anything took away from the gems on the butterflies themselves. 


Love is definitely in the air for these little creatures. :)

Parting Thoughts

Those of you who show your cards to hubbies might get a chuckle out of this glimpse into my world. Hubby said that as he was driving home from Spring Break he realized he'd gone a whole week without hearing anything about cards, squares, triangles.... (Sound like anyone you know?) I just had to laugh -- and told him that his confession was blog-worthy!

My goal for the week is to have a "My Dad, My Hero" card to show on Friday. Until then...

Have a great week!  And, happy scrappin'!

Monday Musings: The Early Edition

Hi,

Since my men are gone, I'm a little ahead of schedule. (Boy, not too often we get to say that, huh?!) So, why not post a little ahead of schedule?

OWH Sketch #114

Another Sketch, Another Any Hero Card! This week's sketch calls for the background rectangle to be divided into two sections. I considered a couple of options before deciding upon a more subtle approach. 

Paper: Bo Bunny Liberty, Bazzill admiral, BasicGrey kraft
Cuttlebug embossing folder, red and blue Stickles

I was really struggling with the square until I added the layer of kraft. The navy by itself was just too strong. I'm thinking navy behind the embossed kraft would have made the card even stronger. But, not too bad -- and I'm thinking of tweaking this a little to make a few "My Dad, My Hero" cards.

I'm really liking this Liberty paper. I picked up a few 12 by 12 sheets recently and found out there is a 6 by 6 pad. My LSS wasn't able to order it since it was last year's collection. Luckily, I found it online at ODBD. So, a few pads of this great paper is headed my way!

OWH's Father's Day Challenge

Looks like we rocked the Mother's Day card challenge. So, we're moving on to a Father's Day card challenge. (It's still not too late to send in a few "Love You, Mom cards.)

I was able to carve out a significant amount of card-making time yesterday. And, cards for dads were my number one priority! All of the following cards were made from Kaiser's Konstrukt 6 by 6 pad.



Kaiser Konstrukt paper, Zip'eMate letters

Kaiser Konstrukt paper, Zip'eMate letters, Kaiser rhinestones
small rectangle: crimped and inked

Kaiser Konstrukt paper, Zip'eMate letters
Sentiment: Jillian Vance Celebrate Dad stamp set
(Sorry about the scanning distortion on this one.)

Wish that the scanned images did  better justice to these. Cards with "bumps" don't tend to scan as well... Hope the designs come across anyway.

CFC45

This week's CAS-ual Friday challenge is to make a card using pastels and black. The card below was also made from Kaiser's Konstrukt paper.

Kaiser Konstrukt, American Crafts black cardstock
Kaiser rhinestones, Celebrate It ribbon, Fiskars border punch
Butterflies are tri-layered: bottom, purple; middle: black, top, polka dot.
(Another disappointing scan. The shadow takes away from the prettiness of the card.)

Designers always tell us to not be afraid of black. (I sure remember hearing that a lot on Trading Spaces!) Yet, there's a natural tendency to stay away from it. So, I'm really glad I gave this a try -- I love the way this card turned out!  :)

Parting Thoughts

Hoping to get a few more cards made today. But, my first goal is to catch up on Tim's Thursday and Friday online classes.

Thanks for stopping by!  Happy scrappin'!

Monday Musings

Hi, everyone,

Thankfully the past weekend was much calmer than the end of the week. This allowed for time to make cards and watch basketball -- often at the same time!

OWH Sketch #113

Isn't it interesting how some cards are born so quickly -- almost effortlessly? Guess this week's sketch was really lucky #13 because this was one of those times.

The sketch inspired the Any Hero Card below. To use the digi sentiment, I rotated the design to make a horizontal card -- and I tweaked the smaller rectangular strip just a tad.

Paper: Bo Bunny Liberty collection, BasicGrey kraft, Bazzill Watermelon and Admiral;
Fabric: leftover blue mesh, Canvas Corp burlap sheet jute; OWH digi

I was thrilled with the texture and dimension added by the mesh and jute!  :)

CFC44

This week's CAS-ual Friday challenge is to make a card with a pattern, an image, and a sentiment. And, I think this little lion card below fits the bill.

• Pattern: Croc Embossing
• Image: Paper-Pieced Lion
• Sentiment: "Have a ROARing Good Day!"



DLTK pattern, EK Success 3-heart punch,
Sizzix croc embossing folder, Kaiser rhinestones,
computer-generated font

The idea for this card first came when I was in need of an animal to make a kiddie card for OWH's Virtual Card-Making Party. After a little searching, I came across an adorable lion pattern at DLTK. And, if I do say so myself, a ROARing cute lion was born.  :)

One Last Cupcake

Remember that adorable cupcake illustration by Elizabeth O. Dulemba? Well, it turned out that I printed and colored a 6-pack of those, the last of which was used on the card below.  This card will be going to a colleague who has become a treasured mentor.

Paper: ???? -- from my leftover stash -- and wish there were more of the gingham print
Acrylics: Cranberry Wine/Midnight Blue, Golden Straw/Russet, Moroccan Red, Light Ivory
Scalloped Circle: White Bazzill Chipboard, painted with Cranberry Wine
Accents: Pinkish/Purple Gems and Metallic Penned-Sprinkles

 A Thank You for a Friend

On Friday, I mentioned that a friend at work had a surprised me with a great display rack to use for my card-making endeavors. As a little thank you, I put together a packet of cards for her.

5 handmade cards, "wrapped" in tulle

The finishing touch: A tag-like thank you card tucked inside its own envelope



In the pack, I included the following cards: a masculine thank you, a romantic vintage,  a primary-colored ABC, a "Kind Words Can Conquer", and a feminine pink/cream/black animal print. Seemed like a nice variety.

The tulle bow made for the perfect "wrapping". And, the thank you tag, which was made by mixing and matching assorted leftovers/garage sale finds, topped it all off very nicely. :)  She was definitely surprised -- but probably not as surprised as I was last week!

 

Parting Thoughts

Time to link up some cards.  :)

Have a great week!  Happy scrappin'!

Friday Night Writes

Hi, everyone,

Hope it's been a good week. It's actually been a crazy week for us -- an unexpected family matter needing some attention. But, life's feeling a whole lot calmer now.  :)

Hooray for public WiFi access!

OWH Midweek Challenge

This week's challenge  was to make a Miss You card for our troops to send home to a loved one.

Kaiser Konstrukt Collection

One of the things that most excites me about this card is that it was the first time I used any of the letter die cuts that came with my Zip'e Mate garage sale find! The typewriter style seemed kind of nail-like and fit well with the construction theme of this amazing paper. I lightly pressed the letters into a black ink pad to better feature the letters themselves. And, while I love the patterned paper, it felt like it needed some black to ground it.

My First Dad Card of the Season

The real reason I bought that 6 by 6 pad was to make Father's Day cards to go with the adorable sentiment featured below. Hoping to crank a few more of these out in the next couple of weeks.

Paper: Kaiser Konstrukt Collection, BasicGrey Kraft
Sentiment: Gillian Vance Celebrate Dad stamp set

For a Kiddie

I found some adorable monkey paper on clearance at my LSS, Scrapbook Art. It seemed like it could make a few cute kiddie birthday cards. So, here's the first of several monkey cards to come.

Paper: Creative Imaginations, Doodlebug surprise party
Stickers: Mrs. Grossman
Font: computer-generated (Andy)

Two points worth noting: 1) This was my first time to pierce using my new Sew Easy tool. But, I chose not to use threads since this kiddie card might very well get a little extra wear and tear. 2) The glitter is really baked in well -- like with DCWV cardstock.  :)

One Friend's Trash...

Earlier this week, I was working away in my cubicle when a friend/fellow crafter/fellow OWH supporter came by bearing a gift.  She was no longer using the display rack shown below -- and knew exactly the person who could give it a good home.

Thanks so much, Mary Kate!  
Hope to have time to get together a surprise for your in-box on Monday!

For now, it has a place of honor in my craft room -- aka the menopause room. But, should we have a holiday Craft Show this year at work, it will proudly be displaying this year's card collection!

Parting Thoughts

Keeping my fingers crossed that things remain calm and I'll find some time to pull together that thank you for Mary Kate, as well as make a few cards this weekend.

Thanks for stopping by. Happy scrappin'!



Monday Musings

Hi, everyone,

Welcome to the second edition of Monday Musings.

OWH's Midweek Challenge

I must admit I was less than thrilled when I saw this week's challenge.

• The only digi that I've used is OWH's "Thank You, Hero; You Make America Proud" sentiment,
• I own no copics, and
• I can't begin to come close to the amazing coloring that I see on fellow cardmaker's works of art.

But, I thought what the heck and found an adorable cupcake at Elizabeth Dulemba's site -- one of her Coloring Page Tuesday creations. I e-mailed Elizabeth and found out that she's a huge supporter of OWH -- and is even featured on the OWH site. All she asks is that we give credit where credit's due with a copyright line created especially for OWH use.

Illustration by Elizabeth Dulemba
Background Paper: Paper Pizazz (that I've had at least a decade)
Image printed on watercolor paper and colored with watered down acrylics,
and embellished with gold metallic gel pen

So, the coloring is certainly not to the quality of my fellow OWHers. But, I'm pretty pleased with this first effort -- which is a good thing since I have 5 more colored cupcakes ready to go. :)

OWH Sketch #111

This week's sketch challenge has inspired 1 Any Hero card and 2 OWH cards -- and that's just for starters. All three cards have a patriotic flavor as they were made from Bo Bunny's Liberty line. 

 

Embossed, with embossing brushed lightly shaded with ink
and embellished with gold stickles



Embossed, with embossing brushed lightly shaded with ink
and embellished with blue stickles

  

Bo Bunny Paper enhanced with BasicGrey Kraft



And, I'm hoping one of these 3 cards will meet the March ODBD challenge.

This Week's Goal

I'm hoping to finish up those 5 cupcake cards and get a package in the mail to Kris by the weekend. That half Mother's Day/half general sentiment cards challenge seems to be approaching a little too quickly!

Have a great week!  Happy scrappin'!

OWH Sketch #109

Can't think of a better way to spend the observed President's Day holiday than supporting our troops through OWH!  :)

OWH Sketch 109 is a great look. I was drawn to its simplicity and immediately knew the 3 main papers I wanted to use. And, I quickly decided to forego a cut-out star and go with a heat-embossed, framed star image.

After that, however, I felt like Goldilocks struggling to find just the right amount of detail and embellishment for the card shown below.

Paper: K&Company's Americana mat pad, BasicGrey kraft
Embossed Image: Stampin' Up!

• The kraft needed a little pop off the navy. So, I decided to go with a little white -- but I had to be careful not to use too much white and take away from the framed star.
• The framed star needed a little background to pop off the kraft and red -- but my first two choices of paper were too busy.
• The brads added nice texture and shine -- but the card still needed a little something more.
• I thought about red or navy corners for the top left and right corners of the kraft rectangle -- but, since the corners took away from the embossed star and red strip, the corners were too much.
• Hand-drawn stitching popped into my head. This looked nice -- but was still not quite enough. The kraft still seemed to be the dominating focus when I wanted it to be the star and red strip.
• Rubbing brown pastels intermittently on the kraft helped add more dimension -- but the kraft was still too dominant.
• Finally -- the card looks just right after adding the stamped sentiment!!!  The tone-on-tone sentiment nicely enhanced the kraft without detracting from the embossed star and red strip. And, since this is an Any Hero card, "Thanks!" was exactly what the card needed. [When hubby said he really liked this one, I knew I had landed on the right combination of details and embellishments. :)]

This was one of those times when there was a whole lot more involved in designing the card than will meet the eye. Isn't it interesting how some cards come together so quickly and others... well, not so quickly?

Happy scrappin'!

6 for 6!

Hi, everyone,

Yay!!!  OWH Sketch 107 = 2012 Any Hero Card #6

This card might have been CAS-inspired, but it took 3 tries to get just the right look.  :)

Paper: K&Company Americana Mat Pad and BasicGrey kraft
Embellishments: garage store brads and generic packing twine

Long -- but good -- day at work. Calling it a night.  So glad the DVR is set to record "Smash!" because there's no way I'd make it up to 10!

Happy scrappin!

2 Birds with 1 Stone -- CAS and ribbon challenges

CAS cards -- what a wonderful idea for an OWH Blog Skip!  Thanks to our CAS blog hostesses for posting such lovely cards.

There are so many OWHers and cardmakers who make fabulous cards -- with great vignettes, amazing layers of textures, and wonderfully colored images. And, then there are my cards. Well, for those of us who have seen Steve Martin in "The Jerk", remember the scene in which his character discovers his kind of music? I must say that's what I felt like when I first came across the term CAS!  :)

I, too, enrolled in last month's Clean and Simple class. The class was full of creative and inspirational ideas! Fortunately, there is lifetime access to the lessons because our desktop computer experienced some technical difficulties -- and I have not yet viewed all the lessons.


In spite of this, I'd like to share three cards inspired from this class. The first card will be included in my next OWH shipment. The second card was featured on last Sunday's OWH Sketch Challenge #106 post, while the third card is going to be linked to this month's ODBD challenge, which is to do something creative with ribbon. The last two cards were sent out in this week's shipment.


Card 1: Masking Technique, Tone-on-Tone Palette

Techniques: Masking and Heat Embossing;
Supplies: Hero Arts Cling stamp, Stampin' Up sentiment,
Martha Stewart punch-around-the-page butterfly punch

Card 2: Layering Elements

Technique: Layering Elements
Supplies: BasicGrey kraft, Creative Memories dp

Card 3: Stamping on Watercolor Paper

Technique: Stamping on Watercolor Paper, Embossing and Distressing
Supplies: DMC floss, Hero Arts stamp, watercolor paper,
Sizzix folder, Ranger core paper,

Time to make a couple of CAS cards for friends before starting on more Mother's Day cards for OWH! 

Thanks for stopping by. Happy scrappin'!