Bliss Boy

Yo people -

Over the weekend I managed to whip up three layouts for Scrappy Chic (which gives me stuff to post -- bonus!).  Today, you get one -- here it is:

Who says you can't use purple dotty papers on a boy layout? Not me! The little cutie is our godson in a photo from a year and a half ago -- now he's a slightly larger cutie! At Buddy's Pizza (the best pizza in the world, btw -- right, local/MI people? Right? Anyone out there?) they give out dum dum suckers at the door to anyone who wants one, and balloons to the kiddos. Someone had the genius idea of tying the balloon to the sucker stick, which made our little man very, very happy -- except he kept looking up at the balloon instead of where he was going! Ha.

Here's a close-up of the title:

The Thickers in the title are all wonky and overlapped and stuff. I got that idea from some layouts by the brilliant Liz, and I dig it. The "out" is also Thickers -- ones that started white but got inked in grey and purple. Hey, American Crafts? Could you PLEASE make some grey (not silver, not glitter) Thickers that aren't huge and all caps? I don't like to YELL in my titles. Thanks.

In case you're curious, here's that upper corner bit:

Most of the goodies in this layout are BoBunny's Peacock Lane, with some Basic Grey label stickers (I think I'll use their Basics collections forever), a cut-up frame from Little Yellow Bicycle that was in my DT kit a few months ago and never got used, a stamp from Stamper's Anonymous, and probably some other stuff I'm not quite remembering.

I'll have a card or two for you soon. Plus the other two layouts. Hooray!

Today, I had a fun, ladylike little lunch at a tea room, where it was hard for me not to laugh at all the frilliness (I'm not very ladylike, you see). I'm also nursing a couple of whopper blisters from an evening of roller skating on Sunday. What are you up to?

It might be a little out of season...

...but I like it. Here's a layout for you:

Yep, it's a Thanksgiving photo. That's a chunk of my cute little family, playing a game after Thanksgiving dinner. I had fun piecing together this one, using a bunch of products -- Girls' Paperie and Sassafras papers, a bunch of different letters, some crocheted trim aged with khaki glimmer mist, etc. I even broke out the typewriter for the journaling, something I'm usually way too lazy to do!  Oh, and it's Thanksgiving in June b/c I submitted this for a call...it didn't get picked up, but oh, well -- into the album it goes!

I'm in the midst of a little frenzy of layouts after spending most of the past couple weeks busy with house and people stuff. Back into the studio I go! What are you up to today? I hope it's fun!

Gettin' Back in the Groove

All righty, then, I'm pretty sure the internet snafu is taken care of. Isn't it funny how we come to depend so heavily on such invisible forces?

I have two cards for you today. Here's the first:

I must say, this one gave me fits. Well, not this card, but the "plan A" version of it, which is not fit to print. You see, this card is for the 50th anniversary of a friend's aunt and uncle. The uncle is a retired Russian history prof, and the pair are visiting Russia for their anniversary. Isn't that sweet? The Russian flag is white, blue, and red -- sounds familiar! So my challenge was to make an anniversary card that used those colors but didn't look like I should run it up the flagpole for Independence Day. My first attempt used the same sentiment and flower-stem image (both from PTI's Everyday Button Bits), but it turned into a swirly, buttony mess. So with plan B here, I Kept It Simple, Stupid. Added flower images (from Green Thumb) instead of buttons, classed it up with some bling, etc. It also weighs a good 2 pounds less. I'm satisfied.

Next:

This card, on the other hand, was a pleasant breeze. This is for the same friend to send off to Germany to friends who've just found a new home. It had to be flat and relatively light for mailing purposes, so I went with a cute little scene, pieced together in fun colors. I also finally broke out Good Neighbors, an SU Sale-a-Bration set that hadn't really seen ink yet. The sentiment is from PTI's Daily Designs Sentiments, which is quite the handy little set. Blue paper is from their new 8x8 pad -- Ledger something-or-other? It's too new for me to remember names :). Love their cloud dies, too! The grassy knolls are cut from my Nook & Pantry pad -- Basic Grey, of course. Cute and flat and ready to send!

It's nice to be back. If I get a few moments, I might post again tonight...who knows?  Have a delightful evening.

I'm Cheesed.

My internet is out.

How, pray tell, am I typing this?

Well, if you must know, I took my computer to my favorite neighborhood bar (with wifi).

I think this is funny enough to warrant a quick post here on the blog-o.

Hopefully ATT will get on the ball and get a-fixin' soon. Then I'll post some stuff! And I can continue my voracious blog-reading habit. I'm tweakin.'

TTFN

Purple Pals!

Howdy!
This has been kind of a non-crafting week so far -- busy doing other stuff, I guess. We redid our kitchen back in the winter, and the final step is happening now -- the backsplash! It was backordered for a couple months -- good thing it wasn't the countertop or stove or something! Anywho, it's gorgeous. The whole kitchen, I mean. My dad did all the work (my dh and I helped!) -- he's pretty amazing. I think I'll have to do a mini-book about it or something.

Besides that, my car's been in the shop, I've had a couple of fun outings, cleaned the house, fought the spotty internet connection...you know, the usual.

I have made one thing, though; here it is:

This was a super-fast layout -- it's all from BoBunny's Peacock Lane collection (the stuff you see in the post a couple below this one). The background is BoBunny, too -- their dotty paper is fun and comes in glitter dot, too!  This is also a very two-dimensional layout, which is rare for me. The alphas, border, and swirls are all from the sticker sheet -- no dimensional accents at all!  Well, there's one lonely bit of bling -- can you see it?  I dig it, though, and it sure makes scrapping go quickly!  Hope you like it, too.  You can see it in person one of these days at Scrappy Chic.

PS -- I just found out I'll be going to CHA in Chicago next month! Anyone else going? I'm so geeked about meeting the rockstars of the craft world...and I'm told I need to get some comfy shoes. Any recommendations? I refuse to wear running shoes in public.

Off you go...

Hey there -
The other day, I met up with some old friends from grad school who were in town for a conference. We were joined for awhile by our old boss/prof/friend, who's just taken a new teaching post that will take her across the country. I wanted to make her a little something:

I got to use some of my newest treats on this card: new stamps from Unity (I always forget that their stuff tends to be larger-scale, and it's always a nice surprise), some tissue tape from Tim Holtz (love, love, love), and one of the new SU colors - Cherry Cobbler, which is quite delicious (bad pun intended). A little sponging on the edges, a wing-like knot of ribbon, and there you go - a non-traditional bon voyage card.

I dig it. Do you?

New Goodies and a Layout

Yo!
I assembled the new DT kits for Scrappy Chic earlier this week. There's a lot of fun products out right now -- fun for summer and everyday stuff! I ended up with this:

Peacock Lane from BoBunny -- lots of teal and purple here, with some yummy lime green. Now that I think about it, I was totally wearing these colors in one of my senior pictures, circa 15 years ago! It all comes back around.  I picked up some extra goodies (the thickers, sticker sheet and an extra pattern) to supplement. Can't wait to dig in!

Here's the second line:

There are only a few companies whose new releases ALWAYS hit the right note for me -- Studio Calico is definitely one. Again, I picked up a few extra sheets, plus the FabRips. I've already busted these out, too -- here you go:

Tee hee. This layout makes me chuckle. I do love to dress up, but I certainly don't do it very often, and almost never in 4-inch heels! Mostly Studio Calico here. I love, love, love the new corrugated 12x12s from Creative Memories -- that's the background layer here. Used some Thickers for the title (big shocker), as well as a bit of a Melody Ross border strip left over from last month's kit. You can check it out in person at Scrappy Chic, of course!

Oh, and check this out:

In the detail shot, you can see the glitter a whole lot better, plus the pleated FabRip. That stuff is super-easy to use! Dig.

So, I had a major score selling my old stuff at the craft yard sale last weekend! I won't be spending "real" money at the store for at least a few trips!  I already picked up some goodies -- a CoreDinations cs pack, cute Maya Road envelopes, and some embellishments I would usually feel guilty spending money on...but it's kinda sorta free this way, right? :)

K, I guess that's it for now. Let me know what you think!!

Lucky! and... Lucky?

Howdy folks.

I have a layout to share with you today! After so many cards recently, it's kinda cool to get back to a bit of scrapping.  Here it is:

This was super-fun to make. Lots of Jenni Bowlin goodness here -- most of the papers, plus those fun little butterfly stickers (with Kaiser gems) -- here's a close-up:

Super-cute, no? I think they come in pink, too :)  That dotted paper is from October Afternoon's Thrift Shop line, as is the rub-on, the journaling spots and the card I added the title to.  The journaling might be brief, but I think it looks pretty cool:

The spot is adhered to a nice scrunchy pile of sewing tissue! I have a big pile of vintage patterns, and it feels good to break them out and use 'em! I just folded up one of the patterns and die-cut the whole thing at once. Simple! There's more from the same pattern running down the middle there.

Not only does this layout use lots of supplies from Scrappy Chic (where you can see it in person if you like), it's also for a little contest from PageMaps that you can read about here.  (And here's my shout-out to Liz -- I heard about PageMaps from her, and they're quite useful!) It's a sketch challenge with some yummy Webster's Pages goodies as the prize!  Here's the prize and sketch:

Maybe you should play along!

Now off to explore my new DT goodies -- more layouts will surely follow!

Thanks for stopping by -- feedback is always appreciated.

Just a quick one...

I just unloaded 4 boxes of scrappy goodness at Scrappy Chic's Scrapbook Yard Sale. I hope lots of it sells! All kinds of Stampin' Up! retired sets, and a whole lot more. It already looked pretty insane before the real sale began this morning!

I also have a couple cards to upload, but it's too grey today for pictures. I've actually been making lots of goodies lately, but I'm planning on submitting them to various publications, so no sneak peeks here! It's kinda hard to make stuff and not immediately post it here or in my splitcoast gallery -- I'm so used to that instant gratification!

Making the finals for the CAS DT was a hoot -- and even though I didn't make the final cut, I'll still get to do a guest designer stint sometime this summer, so that's cool. The three ladies who did make it are insanely talented, as are the other guests and semifinalists. Found a lot of new blog buddies to follow, too!

A new Unity set (Brave Girl) came in the mail yesterday, and I got some new Papertrey goodies earlier this week -- maybe I'll go play for awhile!

Later, folks. Hope you have time to create today!

Whew!

Alrighty then, I'm done! Done with the CAS design team final challenge, that is!
Here it is:

Our challenge was to use water as our inspiration. After considering more traditional ideas (it is beach season now, after all), I went with a quote I've always loved and made a steamy kind of card instead.

The kettle is from Cornish Heritage Farms, and I pieced it with some bitty dot paper from Papertrey. Used a little silver pen to highlight the handle and knob. The steam is sponged on with Fresh Snow pigment ink, and the sentiment is stamped in Palette Noir and Real Red.  Only having two bits of red looked off-balance, so I added a snippet of red gingham ribbon to complete my visual triangle.  Oh, and the card base is SU's new Marina Mist, which is a yummy blue!

Now it's all over but the waitin'! The DT will be announced sometime Friday evening. I'll be out for most/all of Friday night, so I sure hope I'm in a place with wireless! The suspense might kill me otherwise.

Anyway, on to more crafty goodness -- there are a couple of pub submission deadlines coming up that I'll work on next!

Enjoy your day! I'd love to hear what you're up to!

A Short Stack and a Hooray!

Good morning!

Got a bunch of cards to post, so let's get rolling!

First up, for Susan's One-Layer Wednesday challenge -- this week, it's to incorporate repetition:

Seriously, someone needs to stop me -- I can't stop using Say it with Style! Here, I used a pile of SU ink colors to make a smiley rainbow :)  This would be fun to repeat using a bunch of sentiments as a nice little set, I think.

Next, for Scrappy Chic:

A quick pair of matching cards, using Little Yellow Bicycle's Snugglebug line -- great for welcoming a new little one! Those alpha stickers are from Sassafras, and they're sparkly irl.

Finally, also for Scrappy Chic:

Aw, ain't he cute? The stamps are from October Afternoon, and I pieced the images and hills using the same paper line as above. I also broke out the Copics to color in the skin and hair. Scrappy Chic will be carrying Copic Ciao markers now -- very cool! I'm glad Chris went with the Ciaos -- they're less expensive (tee hee). I'm by no means a pro with these things, but they do blend very nicely and, since they're alcohol-based, they lay down very smoothly, without lines. That's good for me, because I've always been a bad colorer -- one day, maybe I'll tell my kindergarten coloring story....

Anyway, now for the Hooray!  I made the final round of the Clean and Simple Summer design team search. Whew! I spent some really fun time on the forum last night, stalking and chatting with the other semi-finalists (all of whom are totally talented!). One more challenge to go...time to get the inspiration flowing again! Wish me luck.

Later, folks -- enjoy your day!

Waiting and Posting...

So, I'm currently stalking the SCS forum where the next round of CAS finalists will be announced. In the meantime, I'll do something useful, like post here! 

Here's my card for the third challenge:

Can I say that I love, love, love this card without sounding like a jerk? It's a happy card. The challenge was to incorporate dimension. The "hills" are stamped with text, inked and adhered. Used dimensionals for the hill in the foreground.

Balloons are die-cut and stamped with Up, Up and Away from PTI. Clouds are die-cut too, but with yummy wool felt! The medium balloon is on one layer of foam, and the biggest is on two layers. It really pops!  

If you'd like details on colors and such, please check out this card in my Splitcoast gallery -- there's a link in the sidebar.

The next challenge is to incorporate motion, so I went with a shaker card. The back and front frames and acetate layer are all cut with nesties, and I used scor-tape to adhere the acetate to the back of the front frame (make sense?). That scor-tape sticks to anything!
The front frame is elevated by very carefully placed bits of foam tape, with a sprinkle of old-skool sequins for the shaker bit.  The lovely patterned paper is from October Afternoon, cs from SU, and stamp from PTI.

So, am I worthy? I guess I'll find out...soon, I hope!