Friday Night Writes

Hi, everyone,

Hope it's been a good week for you. The week's been good around here. 

Thanks to those all who visited this blog during the past week. Special thanks to those who left comments -- including Linda, who may have solved my penguin-in-a-tree conundrum. And, I need to thank Paula for her blog support. (Paula, crossing my fingers that this post publishes as scheduled!)

Good News... Bad News

Work is going really well. The good news is that I am working on a project that I really enjoy. However, it's a project that's pretty mentally draining. Normally, I use card-making as a nice, change-of-pace, re-charging diversion. But, I have to confess that I've pretty much vegged -- or, on one or two nights, done a little "home" work...

... which brings us to the bad news. I only have one card to share -- and not even one of the cards I had planned to make.

A Colleague's "Going Away"/Congrats Card

One of my favorite team members has accepted a position with another department. It's a good move for him -- one that involves a promotion and a raise in pay. But, we have been cubicle neighbors for the last couple of years and I will miss him terribly.

So, I made the card below to wish him well in his new position -- hoping that this new position is the admission ticket to the career adventure he's been hoping to find.

Kaiser Up, Up, and Away paper and embellishments

OWH's Wonderful Partners

During National Scrapbooking Weekend, Marianne linked "sister cards" for my OWH patriotic challenge. And, I was so taken by the sentiment on one of her cards, that I just had to have that stamp set to use on future Any Hero cards.

I immediately went to Stamper's Best and placed my order. I have to tell you the customer service was amazing. I can't believe how quickly my order was processed -- and how quickly it arrived at the house!

This is the third OWH sponsor with whom I've done business. I've also ordered from ODBD and Heinrich's. Each time, the service has been amazing  -- just amazing!

So, this is a big shout-out to these wonderful folks! I highly recommend purchasing products from OWH's fabulous partners.

Parting Thoughts

I have to get those retirement party, graduation, and 95th birthday cards made this weekend. The celebrations are next weekend! So, wish me luck!

Oh, and hubby and I have our second must-do garage sale tomorrow. So, wish me double luck. There's no telling what we might find. :)

Have a great weekend!  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'!

Monday Musings

Hope everyone had a great weekend!  I'm excited to have Package #3 ready to send to Kris. I'm mailing off 22 Dad cards, 22 general sentiment cards, and 7 Any Hero cards. :) 

For those of you making Dad cards for OWH, the deadline for Father's Day cards is fast approaching.

I have 3 cards to share today.

Card #1: Inspired by Ashley's Sketch of the Month

Last Saturday, I had a chance to catch up with Ashley and Tiffany from Pizazz It! When we were talking about their new sketch book, I mentioned that one of my favorite books is one that shows a 12 by 12 layout and a card inspired by the layout. 

Ashley is sponsoring a monthly sketch contest -- with the winner getting a copy of her new sketch book. The card below was inspired by this month's sketch!  

Jillibean Soup's Watermelon Gazpacho collection; Core Vintage (Flower Power) collection; unknown red cardstock

I'm especially excited about this card for two reasons. The first is that Ashley and I going to make this a regular thing. She's going to post her monthly sketch and I'm going to create a sketch-inpsired card!  Very cool!!! [And, seriously, if you haven't checked out her book, please do. It's sooooo well done. I'm pleased to say that I am a proud owner of an autographed copy!  :) ]

My second reason for being excited about the card is its the first Jillibean card that I've designed and liked. I love the bright colors and whimsical looks of her papers. But, for some reason, I seem to struggle putting the patterns together. (I think it might be in part that the pattern sizes are not as distinctively different as in a Bo Bunny collection.) This time, however, I think I got it just right. Using the red and Core card stock made such a difference. I actually really, really like this card. :)

Card #2

This is the last card that made it into this week's shipment. And, it was the last of my Saturday crop cards that needed to be finished. There are a few of those irritating scanning shadows... but this card's shadows aren't too bad.

Kaiser Lush collection; border punch; embellished with sheer white ribbon and pearls

I'm actually glad that I took the rest of the week to finish up these cards. I was starting to get in a design rut towards the end of the day. New days brought fresh perspectives for different finishing touches.  :) 

Card #3: OWH Sketch #118 

For whatever reason, this week's sketch came far more easily to me than last week's. The Any Hero card below is the first card for OWH Package #4!  :)  As usual, I rotated the sketch to make a horizontal card. Other than that, I think my only other changes were to slightly adjust the position of the square and place the side banners on top of  the square instead of next to its edges.

 

Bo Bunny Liberty collection; Bazzill admiral card stock; Hero Arts gemstones

I just love this Liberty collection -- and Bo Bunny paper in general. As I mentioned before, the different pattern sizes just make it so much easier for me to mix and match layers. 

And, many thanks to Donna and Carol for their reassuring words about not worrying when I use sketches as inspirations, rather than as blueprints. (Ashley says the same thing in her book, too.)

Parting Thoughts

The family who lives next to my father-in-law had to put their beloved dog down a few days ago. Since hubby and I are big dog lovers ourselves, making a card for the family is at the top of this week's card to-do list. After that, I hope to get started on some kid cards for OWH using some of the stickers and embellishments I picked up at last Saturday's garage sale. 

As always, thanks for visiting. Have a great week and happy scrappin'!

Friday Night Writes

Welcome to the first edition of Friday Night Writes. A couple of things to blog about tonight.

Our Family's Greatest Generationer

 A proud Army Air Corps Pilot

Some of you may already know my father-in-law was a bomber pilot in World War II. He is an amazing man -- so kind and loving. And, as I have learned about his wartime experiences, I've come to recognize that he is also a very brave and humble man.

These pages from a family scrapbook will help us remember the past year's tributes and honors which include going on an honor flight to the WWII Memorial in DC, riding in a B17, talking to local high school students, and participating in a panel of war veterans. 

Our Family Scrapbook

While I usually put titles on the left side, the two pictures on that page

were so perfect that I just had to lead with those. The right page is one big pocket

to include additional newspaper clippings and photos of his trip to DC and school visit.

My father-in-law is standing in front of the B17 that he rode in from Dayton to Columbus,

holding a photo of his flight crew. This photo that graced the front page of The Columbus Dispatch captured a glorious moment on a gorgeous fall day.

This photo graced the front page of the local Suburban News paper. Its caption refers to the

onlookers as "admirers". The admirers on the left are actually a neighbor and his son and my hubby is on the right. Interestingly enough, my husband teaches American  History but had heard almost nothing about his dad's experiences until a post-flight interview after his arrival in Columbus.

A clipping showing the B17 touching down at Bolton Field.

A memento of an Honor Flight that will be long remembered...

While at the memorial, the veterans were greeted by Senator Bob Dole, who makes it a point to meet most all of the Honor Flight honorees. Upon returning to Columbus, each veteran received a packet of cards and letters from employees of Nationwide Insurance (a sponsor of Central Ohio Honor Flights) and local school children. One letter from a high school freshman touched my father-in-law so much that he contacted her teacher so that he could mail a reply to her. The pride my father-in-law took in these cards and letters is what made me realize I need to make Any Hero cards.

I am so happy and thankful that my father-in-law has experienced such a wonderful year. But, his military service is only a small part of what makes him so special. The love and devotion he showed to my mother-in-law during the final years of her life ... well, there just aren't words. Tom Brokaw got it right -- the Greatest Generation indeed.

OWH Cards

I only managed a couple of cards this week. Both were made from remnants of my Kaiser Secret Bird Society paper. Unfortunately, I struggled with a third card -- actually for a couple of nights -- but just never got it quite right. Hopefully, I'll be able to get a few more made this weekend.

Both cards are tri-folds  :)

 News from the Homestead

Two points worth noting:

• The scrapbook pics were taken with our new digital camera and uploaded to a laptop! You have no idea what an accomplishment this is for us tech-challenged folks. Thanks to Yolanda for her vote of confidence!
• All of the photos in this post have watermarks -- another huge accomplishment! Thanks to Julie for her recommendation to use http://www.picmarkr.com/.
• The one downside of these techie accomplishments was fewer made cards...  Let's hope I get lots better at all of this!

Well, this post ended up being a little longer than I had planned. Sorry about that. 

Thanks for stopping by. And, with the crazy weather going on, hope everyone is okay. Be safe!

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'!

Sketch 108 = VCMP Challenge 13 = Any Hero Card 7

One last OWH VCMP post.

VCMP Challenge #13 was to make a card with embossing. I chose to make an Any Hero Card using this week's sketch -- and took the liberty of rotating the sketch to make a horizontal card.

Sentiment: OWH Digi,
Cuttlebug star embossing folder,
Paper: Pages of Honor paper from SignifyPink
and navy with stars from Creative Memories

Okay, family Valentine cards and VCMP cards are done. Time to get going on those Mother's Day cards. :)

Happy scappin'!

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!

My First OWH Shipment of the Year!!!

First of all, my thanks to everyone who has left such nice comments about Sketch #106 and my congratulations to everyone for posting such great cards! And, for folks who left blogging advice, my sincerest appreciation. A techie colleague at work is going to help me out during lunch. :)

I'm thrilled to say that I sent my first box of the year to Kris! I am really pleased by this shipment's assortment. It was a nice mix of feminine, masculine, and patriotic cards. And, it had 5 Any Hero cards!!! Woot! Woot!


Some of the cards have already been posted for OWH challenges or featured here. So, I will just share the ones that have not yet made a public appearance.


Building on my "Your Service Means the World to Me" Any Hero card, I included 11 cards along the lines of the following made from the DCWV Travel Stack. The sentiment is computer-generated.

It also included 11 of the following cards, which were made distressing Ranger Core Paper and embossing with Sizzix folders -- including one of Tim Holtz's folders. As with the previous cards, the sentiment is computer-generated. Although I would have preferred to attach the sentiment with a little more pizazz, I was at a day-long crop at a school and out of pop dots. But, in all honesty, the less-embellished cards are the ones my hubby prefers. Here's hoping there are some troops that feel the same way.  :)

Finally, for the females, there were 8 of the following made from Kaiser's Secret Bird Society paper. I used Creative Memories square punches, Martha Stewart's punch-around-the-page butterfly punch, and Dixie's ribbon technique. Thank you, Dixie!

Think that's it for tonight. Thanks for coming by. Happy scrappin'!