Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Thinking of You. . .

Well, now that I'm feeling more like my un-injured self again, I thought I'd post a card I made a while back.















It's actually a CASE of a card on the back of the Happy Day Animal's packaging, with a few small changes (swapping the dog for a cat, using a different ribbon in a different way).

This clear set just says spring to me, and the animals are so so cute! Have a great day!

Ouch!


















It was a tough day yesterday. Good thing this isn't real! My in-laws took a disaster preparedness training, and they needed victims to rescue--hence the head injury. It's amazing what a little makeup can do! I also had a broken ankle:


















and some beat-up friends:













We were amazed at the many things the disaster workers had to deal with before they even got to us. It just goes to show you that you have to be prepared to take care of yourself in a disaster situation.

I'll be back later with a get well soon card! ;)

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Tracy's Sketch Challenge

Before it's too late, I thought I'd make up a quick entry for Tracy's Sketch Challenge. You can find it here. Here's my card:


















I used a stamp from one of the Cat's Pajamas, the sentiment is by Daisy Bucket, and the patterned paper is by Die Cuts with a View. Thanks for a great challenge Tracy!

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

After I finished the card from my last post, I still had one of the "mistake" images sitting on my desk (the one with the grass). I hate to throw anything away, so I decided to see if I could change it into something more usable. I grabbed my Extra Jumbo Marvy punch and got to work. Here's the result:














The gray panel is popped up, and the punched out images are behind them. I got the idea to do this from Jennifer Maguire of Hero Arts. You can see her video on this technique here. The hardest part of the whole thing was getting the punched circles to line up behind the circular windows.

I love that I got to clean my desk by re-purposing something from my previous card. Now, what can I do with my gray circles. . .hmmm. Stay tuned!

Monday, March 23, 2009

Tons of Love

In an attempt to curtail spending, I'm working on inking up all of my recent purchases that haven't seen ink yet. It's like shopping in my craft room, which makes not shopping a little more tolerable.

One of my recently purchases was a sentiment by A Muse, which (gasp!) doesn't even appear to be the website anymore. I guess it's a collector's item now, eh?

Here's the card:












You would not believe how many versions of this card I went through. I stamped the elephants once, and colored them in a blue that was too dark. Then, I got the color right, but I had added grass, which didn't go with the rest of the card. Then, the thread for the buttons was too thin and again too short. I just couldn't catch a break! But in the end, I love how this card came out.

I got the button idea from this post by Nichole Heady, and I think it's a good one. My default is to tie knots, but with the hearts on the ribbon all pointing the same direction, it was impossible to tie a knot with the hearts all going the right way, and this did the trick nicely.

The card base was paper I picked up at Archiver's in Indianapolis, the patterned paper by Memory Box, the images and sentiment by A Muse, the button by Basic Grey, and the hearts drawn by moi!

Have a love-ly day!

Friday, March 20, 2009

Another Spring Card!













Well, I have to say, I think this bunny has the right idea. There is nothing better than cruising in warm weather. Sadly, my precious yellow Volkwagen Beetle is out of commission at the moment, but I'm still managing to enjoy the wind in my hair while driving my loaner car. Aren't car problems just the pits?!

Anyway, I made this card using a couple of new acquisitions: Carrot Car by A Muse, a Buttercup notecard, and my new favorite background stamp from Hero Arts, Raindrop.

When I made the card, I was trying to decide what (if any) sentiment to put on it. I was leaning toward this one, but my husband was adamant that it should be something like, "Eat my dust, turtle!" Huh? Who the heck would I send THAT card to??? Men. . .(sigh)

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Inspired by. . .

Well, I've been reading a lot of blogs, but posting? Not so much.

Here's a card I did that was inspired by one of Kristina Werner's Make a Card Monday videos. In the video, she accentuates a scalloped edge by adding some gray paper underneath. I wanted to try it out, so I made up a simple card doing just that:



















The patterned paper is old Anna Griffin, the stamp is by Hero Arts (Heart Winged Butterfly) and the green paper is from Archiver's.

As I mentioned previously, spring's springin' around here, so I'm off to enjoy the sunshine!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Springin' Forward. . .

Well, I'm springing forward in a big way. Not only did the time change this weekend, but the weather around here is warming up, making me one happy camper. I can't wait until it's warm weather all the time! For now though, I guess I'll have to be content with making spring cards.

Here's my first one. It utilizes Tracy's Sketch Challenge this week, as well as a challenge over at the A Muse Lounge-Spring is in the Air.

















I used one of those super-cute Mango Sorbet Tin Plate notecards and an image by Elzybells called Mini Chick Bee. I just added some thin ribbon I found at Michael's and a sentiment by Hero Arts, and voila! a spring card. To me, this color scheme says, "Spring is here!" Bring on the sunshine!

Saturday, March 7, 2009

A Color Challenge. . .

Here's a quickie card I did for Kristina Werner's color challenge this week. Here were the swatches:







And here is my card:


















I actually also used an old sketch by the talented Amy Rysavy. It uses paper and a notecard from Memory Box, the brads are by Making Memories, the milkshake is by A Muse, and the sentiment is by Penny Black. Oh, and the double-sided satin ribbon is from an adventure to the San Francisco Flower Mart.

Looking back, I think I went a bit bright on my pinks, but I'm happy with how the card turned out.

That Tracy sketch challenge is still coming up too. Stay tuned!

Friday, March 6, 2009

A Break In the Clouds. . .


















Taken March 4th, 2009

Well, the bad news is that I still have the energy of a sick person (i.e., falling asleep at 8pm every night). But, the good news is that deadlines came and forced me to stamp, so even in my weakened condition, I made time to get some stuff done and worth posting. Let's start with ATCs.

As I mentioned previously, I signed up for a "Winter Blues" ATC swap with Lee Anne. I hit a road block midway through, but I managed to come up with these, albeit a tiny bit late.















Then, I also caught The Jonas Brothers in 3-D opening weekend, 'cause who could miss that?! In case you haven't heard of them, the Jonas Brothers are a Disney band made up of three brothers that write and play their own rock/pop music. Good thing I have friends with kids that are into the Jonas-ness. I coordinated the trip for 6 of my friends, so I thought it'd be fun if I came up with some goodie bags. At the last minute, I whipped these together:



















Inside each bag is a movie ticket, the 3-D glasses, and a Japanese cracker treat called Pocky. It was just a little something to keep everyone's stuff organized and together. JoBro is how most of my friends' kids abbreviate the band name, and I thought A Muse's Rock Star would be the perfect accent, since all three boys play guitar. Here's a close-up of the topper:















Really, nothing super-special but I think I still managed to impress them. We also did Jonas Brothers trivia and took pictures with their cardboard poster. Fun!

See you soon, with a card for Tracy's sketch challenge!