CASology #67

So this week's CASology cue is Country. There's such a wide interpretation for that word. For me, my first thought was my country, the place I live in. Good old USA. And then it got me to think about my dear husband who is currently serving our country on active duty with the Coast Guard and I just knew I had to make a card for him.

I made a mask of a heart and stamped the sentiment repeatedly within the heart. I wanted to personalize it further by adding the banner across the heart.

Figured I'd stamp the inside while I had my supplies out too.

I love the way the CASology challenge works...can't wait to see what everyone else comes up with. Thanks for stopping by.

Let's Try Orange and Black Again!

Another post tonight. This one is quick since its late. Here's attempt number 2 at an orange and black card for the Dynamic Duos challenge. My card is inspired by a pretty black and pink Lisa Johnson card I saw online a long time ago.

Thanks for taking a look. Nighty Nite!

Supplies:
Paper: PTI Vintage Cream and Canyon Clay
Stamps: PTI Sketched Shapes and MFT sentiment
Ink: PTI Canyon Clay and Memento Tuxedo Black
Other: PTI Double Ended Banner die and Keizercraft bling

Dynamic Duos #75

So it seems that with Halloween next week and pumpkins in season, the crafting blogsphere is filled with orange and black. I wanted to play along with Dynamic Duo's challenge this week which features a deep orange and black with an option of Halloween. This would be great and easy if I had any pumpkins or Halloween stamps in my stash. Truly I have none. I never make Halloween cards but I thought I would have SOMETHING. Guess I've never even bought a Halloween stamp on sale. Seriously, nothing! Makes challenges this month a bit harder than usual! Lol.

Here's a card I made with my new PTI Center Stage coverplate. I fell in love with this as soon as I saw it used during this month's countdown projects. I think I even convinced my friend Joyce to get it. But now that its my hands, I realize its a lot harder to use than I thought (Don't kill me Joyce!) Its not hard to cut with - it actually cuts like butter. Just hard to find an interesting card designs that works with it.

I lifted the sentiment frame off the card front which gives it some dimension. I like how the shimmery die cut word hangs off too. And I cut up my first stamp for this one (GASP! I know!) - the sentiment was just too long and I wanted to fit it onto the frame but in two lines. I'm kinda liking how it turned out. Maybe this cover plate won't be so bad afterall....

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies all PTI except where noted:
Paper: Canyon Clay and Black, Shimmer Black
Stamps: Wonderful Words Birthday
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Other: Center Stage coverplate, Birthday Trio die, Fillable Frames die

ColourQ #211

The ColourQ challenge this week has some bright colors that seem very Halloween to me so I challenged myself to make a different type of card because I don't send Halloween cards. 

I stamped some mums from PTI's Mums The Word in the bright pink and orange. I grounded the flowers with two banners and stamped the birthday sentiment on one of them. I finished it off with a few My Mind's Eye enamel dots.

I'm liking this happy little card. Hope you do too. Thanks for stopping by!

CAS(E) This Sketch # 50

Its happy #50 for the CAS(E) This Sketch challenge.

I built a wreath for my focal point using a stamp from PTI's Turning a New Leaf. I added in some die cut and stamped flowers from PTI Ruby Rose and topped it all of with a tilted banner from Simon Says Stamp. I mounted it on a black card base for some contrast against the bright colors.

Color inspiration is from the ColourQ challenge #211.

Thanks for taking a peek! Hope you are enjoying the weekend.

Thanks Stacy and Becky!

My oldest daughter turned 10 last week and honestly, it hit me like a truck, much harder for me than turning 40 last year did. How could my little chubby baby be 10 yrs old? How could I have a kid who's been around for a decade? How could I be that old? My little baby is gone and is replaced by a very tall, curious, amazing kid.

In celebration of her birthday, I made her favorite red velvet pancakes in the shape of the number 10 (our family tradition) and handmade 55 chocolate covered strawberries for her birthday celebration at school. I had planned a fabulous party for her and her friends at our local roller rink that weekend. But somehow all this fanfare still did not seem enough to celebrate this milestone in my little girl's life. I still needed her to know how much she means to me, show her how proud I am of her in a way that no card could convey.

Then it hit me. I'd make her a scrapbook. So that afternoon before she came home from school on her birthday, I made her an album which highlighted pictures of she and I from her birth until now. Pictures of us on vacation, playing together, everyday sort of pictures. It literally took me less than an hour to put together thanks to Stacy Julian and Becky Higgins. Seriously, less than an hour. Thanks to my category drawers (Stacy's Library of Memories) I was able to pull together pictures of us from the last 10 years. And thanks to Becky Higgins' Project Life mini albums and kits I had on hand, I created this beautiful album for her. Simple, clean design. Just slipped the cards and photos in.



On the first few pages, I wrote her a letter about how I felt when she came into our lives, how's she's changed me, how much she's grown, and how special she is. Since this was so intensely personal, I replaced those cards with blank ones for these photos. Just wanted you to get the idea of what it looks like from these pictures.



The other 'journaling' part of the album included "Things I Want You To Know" which is a collection of quotes and advice I want to share with her. The kind of stuff I want her to know about life and people as she gets older but hard to talk about in just everyday conversation.





And the best part of this album is that it still has plenty of room for additional journaling and photos that I will add each year on her birthday.



I loved how it turned out!

So I gave it to her that afternoon before her sisters got home from school. I wasn't sure what she'd think of it. I asked her to open it up in her room. She was up there for such a long time, I thought she got involved with something else. But when she came down she had tears in her eyes and she just hugged me and said it was the best present she's ever gotten. I did it. I let her know what I was feeling and thinking in my own special way.

So THANKS Stacy for giving me the tools so many years ago that enabled me to get my hands on exactly what I wanted when I needed it once my inspiration hit. THANKS to Becky for your fabulous kits and albums that made my idea look so fabulous.

I hadn't scrapbooked in months and I think this is just the jump start I needed to get going again.

Thanks for sharing my excitement with me!

Getting Back in the Groove

I made a couple of cards today trying to get back in the groove after almost a week of various little celebrations in honor of my eldest daughter's 10th birthday. I'm hoping to do a post this weekend on the album I made for her birthday.

This card is for this week's Dynamic Duos challenge. I doctored up a white embossed card with the modern dots from PTI's Sketched Shapes set. Love the square card - I definitely like the look but don't make them often. Love these two colors together, especially the teal color.

This next card for the ColourQ challenge also uses the Sketched Shapes set. Definitely one of my favorites!

Thanks so much for visiting!

Rainbow Card

The bright and fun colors at ColourQ were perfect for my new Dream in Color set from Reverse Confetti. And I couldn't help adding a touch of sparkle to the card as a border. I've never used lines of scor-tape for glitter before but I've seen it done all over the internet. Amazing! The glitter sticks to it so well with very little flaking.

Sketch was inspired by this week's great challenge at CAS(E) this Sketch.

BIG thanks to all of you who have stopped by my blog in the past couple of weeks. My life has been very stressful recently and your comments have lifted my heart and brightened my days. Thanks so much.

Hope you all had a good week. Thanks again for taking a peek!

Supplies:
Paper: PTI Pure Poppy and Orange Zest, Neenah White
Stamps: PTI Up, Up, & Away, Reverse Confetti Dream in Color
Ink: Brilliance Sunflower, PTI Pure Poppy & Orange Zest, Versamagic Sea Breeze
Other: Making Memories Yellow glitter