Three Star-Studded Tributes for Dad

Hi, everyone.

First of all, and most importantly, my thoughts and prayers to anyone affected by today's incident at the Boston Marathon. What a scary world this can be...

OWH Design Bootcamp: Odd Numbers

On my recent road trip, I had a little Father's Day paper, some Distress Ink core, a few Father's Day stamps, and a couple of star punches. Each of the cards below were made during my trip. And, each of the following cards were made with some basic design elements in mind: 1) strong focal points, 2) the rule of thirds, and 3) odd numbers of elements.

Having an odd number of items is something I consciously do on almost every card. It's gotten to the point where hubby says, "No, you can't have two of those. It's gotta be an odd number." 

Moxxie VIP Father's Day dp; Distress Ink core
EK hole punch; Paper Studio star punch
Stamper's Best sentiment stamped in Stampin' Up! Night of Navy

Moxxie VIP Father's Day dp; Distress Ink core
EK hole punch; Paper Studio star punch

Moxxie VIP Father's Day dp; Distress Ink core
EK hole punch; Paper Studio star punch

The last two cards were inspired in part by a sketch on page 78 of Leisure Arts' Card Sketches for Paper Crafters.

Parting Thoughts

Take care. Be safe. Hug your loved ones.

Round and Round They Go

Hi everyone,

Today's post features two cards with circular objects.

ODBD Challenge

When it came to choosing a scallop for this month's OWH ODBD challenge, I had two chipboard elements from which to choose. When I remembered my pad of travel-themed paper, the Picture Perfect element won.

Momenta dp; K & Company Wild Saffron Adhesive Chipboard; ivory Ric-Rac
techniques: inking with Adirondack Espresso

To make this card, I flipped the sketch on page 136 of Card Sketches for Paper Crafters. Since this card ended up being only 3.5 inches wide, I'm going to use 12-by-12 inch cardstock instead of 8.5-by-11 inch paper if I make any more cards from this sketch for OWH.

Tuesday Tutorial

Today's second card also features circular objects. I actually made this a while ago at a day-long crop. At the crop, a Stampin' Up! consultant led some make-and-takes using the Spirelli technique featured in this week's Tuesday Tutorial. 

designer paper and oval punches: Stampin' Up!; cardstock: Bazzill; DMC floss; stash embellishments

I loved the way the technique turned out. However, I decided this little flower was too delicate  to make the trip overseas and back. So, instead of sending it to OWH, it is going to be hand delivered to a friend celebrating an early April birthday.

Parting Thoughts

Next two items on the crafting to do list:

• make a card for the  Midweek Throwdown Tic-Tac-Toe challenge and
• visit the Stars and Stamps blog to see the amazing cards made during the week by fellow OWHers.

Thanks for stopping. Happy weekend and happy scrappin'!

OWH VCMP: Christmas is for Kids

Welcome party-goers! Happy Birthday, OWH!

Please click here to return to the Master Thread.

Snowmen and Christmas trees...   It must be time to make holiday cards!

The theme of this stop is "Christmas is for Kids -- Big and Small". The challenge is to make two Christmas cards -- an Any Hero Christmas card and a Christmas card for one of our heroes to send to a child.

So, I have two cards to share with you. While the cards are very different, they have a couple of things in common. Each card was inspired by a fellow card-maker/designer. Each card was made from stash 6-by-6 designer paper that I've had for awhile. And, each card was made using one of my favorite techniques, heat embossing with clear powder.

For a Child: Frosty's Lil Friend

Frosty's Lil Friend was inspired by Kathryn's adorable Santa card and by the all of the cute "shape" cards in one of my favorite craft books of all time. Thanks, Kathryn, and thanks, Leisure Arts!

Paper: s.e.i. Kris Kringle collection; AC Christmas collection cardstock; garage sale fiber, buttons "dressed" with DMC floss

For a Hero: Three Times the Greenery

Three Times the Pine was inspired by Ashley's September scrapbook layout design. Thanks, Ashley! 

Bo Bunny Father Christmas collection, stash cardstock; Hampton Arts stamp; heat embossing with clear powder; various "cutting" tools

Blog Candy

By Stampendous!

Is there blog candy you ask? Yes, there is!

I stopped by to see Terri at Scrapbook Art in Lewis Center, OH. I was hoping to find some cute kid-Christmas-card-related item to offer and picked up the stamp set shown at the right. Bet one lucky card maker is gonna make some adorable kid cards with this stamp set!

 To qualify for the random drawing, link at least one Christmas card for a hero or a child by 11:00 A.M. EST, Sunday, September 9. Followers who link a card will receive an extra e-ticket in this raffle.

Parting Thoughts

Can't wait to see all the holiday cards for our heroes and the little ones in their lives. :)  In a couple of days, I'll post details (techniques used, decisions made) about the cards shown above.

Special thanks to Allison for organizing this year's Birthday Bash VCMP!

Finally, merry card-makin' to all and to all a good time!

OWH Midweek Throwdown

Hi everyone,

Hope the week is going well.

I have two cards to share. [Well, maybe 1.5 cards would be more accurate. :( ]

A Masculine Card: All Buttoned Up

The first card is for this week's OWH Midweek Throwdown. This week's challenge is to make a masculine card.

Kaiser Up, Up and Away; ek border punch, Martha Stewart button punch; ribbon, DMC floss

I've been making quite a few pocket cards based on a sketch from that wonderful Leisure Arts book. I added dimension to the buttons using several different inks. Wish I remembered which ones I grabbed when finishing this card. :)

An Unfinished Card: Not Ready for Prime Time

This little card was inspired by a cute patriotic door plaque I found at a flea market.

Core paper; hand-drawn stitching

 My two concerns:

• It feels like it still needs something -- I just don't know what. Maybe some Baker's twine?
• The top third is taped down, with the fold in the middle tan section. The problem with this is that there is not nearly as much space to write as I thought there would be.

Is it worth sending to OWH? If yes, any suggestions, ideas for making it better?

Parting Thoughts

Loved yesterday's OWH tutorial on 6 by 6 pads!  If you haven't yet seen it, it's definitely worth checking out.

Really excited about this weekend's VCMP!

Until then, happy scrappin'!

The Word of the Day is "Pocket"

Hi everyone,

Thanks to all of you for your response to Making a Difference.

I have three pocket-related things to share today.

A Pocketful of Well Wishes Cards

The following 3 cards were all made for family and friends using a sketch from a fabulous card-making book. Really, this book is so wonderful I literally squealed with delight when it arrived in the mail -- much to hubby's surprise! :) 

Aside from the gem on the first card and the tulle on the second card, all three cards were made entirely from garage sale finds (a pile of Stampin' Up two-sided dp, prima flowers, brads, ribbons) and menopause room stash (cardstock))!

The first card most closely follows the sketch on page 180. However, it doesn't quite fit in an A2 envelope and requires hand delivery. So, I modified the design for cards requiring envelopes.

Ashley's Pocketful of Talent

Surf's Up! was inspired by one of Ashley's monthly sketches.

We R Memory Keeper's Down the Boardwalk collection; gems

For my card, I focused on the center part of the left side of the sketch.  I love this paper collection and thought the colors could work well going into late summer/early fall.

A Little Extra Pocket Cash

A big thing happened in my little blog world this week. The 25th follower joined Scrapping with Purpose! To celebrate, I'm raffling off a $25 gift card.

So what do you need to do to qualify, you ask? Two simple things:

• Be a follower by noon on Saturday, August 11.
• Leave a comment letting me know whether you would like a card to Michael's or JoAnn's.

In appreciation of those of you who have been following up until now, followers as of August 6 who leave a comment will receive two raffle entries.  

While I haven't been the best blog follower/commenter as of late, I really appreciate those of you who have made this a regular stop.

Parting Thoughts

The good news is that they really like me at work. The bad news is they really like me at work.

My most recent project, which has been a red-hot frying pan, is winding down. But, I found out today that my next project will find me jumping into an even hotter skillet!

Not only do I think blog posts are going to be fewer and fewer, I fear that card-making may also be far more limited than I would like -- especially thinking about the upcoming push to make cards for our heroes.

Hoping I'm wrong, but not counting on it.


As always, thanks for visiting. I'll be looking for comments from followers by August 11.

Until my next post, happy scrappin'!