Trial and Error. . .

Happy Monday!

Did you have a good weekend? It was overcast and gray both mornings here in northern California, but each day it burned off just in time to reveal some pretty nice weather. So, my weekend was fun and sunny. Best of all, I got all of my projects done from last week, so I was freed up to do a few cards.

These three cards are all based on the same sketch, an oldie-but-goodie from Taylor Van Bruggen, Sketch #44.

Here's the sketch:



















Fun, right?

Well, I started off with this card:


















I was bound and determined to cut the striped patterned paper (rather than layering another blue circle on top of them), and that's where the challenge began for me. I really liked how this card turned out in terms of colors and patterns, but the circle wasn't quite even. I had cut a 3 inch square first, cut them apart and then punched the circle out of each corner before gluing them down. That didn't work.

For my next attempt, I tried using my Coluzzle to cut the circle out of the full 3 inch square, then cutting it apart and mounting it. (I also cut the center image to be the same size circle.) That had slightly better results, but the circle still seemed uneven:



















But, I think I got it on my last card. On this attempt, I used two different sized circles on my Coluzzle, the third track from the center for the patterned paper (which I pre-divided and glued down to a scrap of paper), and the second track from the center for the center image. Here's the result.


















Three cards later, I'm finally happy with the result. Does anyone else go crazy over little details like this?

Not a Card. . .

My evening schedule has gotten pretty booked up, so I'm probably not going to have a chance to make any more cards this week. But, before I go running, I thought I'd share a simple paper craft that I came up with for Girl Scouts.

















I know I know, not a card. But hopefully equally cute!

I adapted this design from a kit developed by Paper Source and shown on their blog. Unfortunately, the rest of the things I'm working on are not quite as fun or cute: writing out directions for the owl, working on a newsletter and labeling things for a Used Rubber Stamp Sale at Stamp on Over. Keep your fingers crossed that I get through all this stuff quick so I can get back to STAMPING!

Hope to see you soon!

The Road to A Friend's House. . .

My recent car troubles have made me aware of how much I really do love my car, so I thought I'd pull out my Beetle stamp (actually called Girl in Car) and show it a little love as well.

I was inspired by the card in this post by Taylor Van Bruggen. Chickie is talented, I tell you!














Although this card is a bit brighter than my usual color palette, I really like the patterned paper and how everything works together. Another card on my birthday list: done!

Have a great day!

Turtle Time!

Hi there! How was your weekend?

Mine was pretty laid-back. I had been planning to go camping with a group of friends, but at the last minute it was discovered that we had no reservations and the campground was booked. So, I got a bonus weekend at home to catch up and get things done with. I ran errands on Saturday, went for a walk with a good friend, and then spent part of Sunday playing in a park with another friend's 2 year old. Fun in the sun!

It's getting to be birthday season around here, so I thought I'd get started early (SHOCKER!) and get these cards done.

This one is for my friend Kat. She loves turtles (who doesn't?!), so I had to come up with a layout incorporating my tiny turtle from Denami Designs. Here's my first attempt.


















I like this card, but I think I can do better. Perhaps I'll find time later this week to try it again with these cuties. See you soon!

Now That's Better. . .

Well, Thursday's shaping up to be much better than Wednesday was. I have a plan (albeit an expensive plan) for the car, and better yet, it's my mom's birthday!

















With a present like that, who cares that you're turning 50 again, right? Here's a close-up of the tag (made with A Muse and Hero Arts stamps, of course!)















We're taking her out to dinner tonight to celebrate another year of fabulous-ness. Have a great Thursday!

Halloween Tag. . .

Oh, Wednesday. You started off so promising (I actually got out of bed ON TIME!), and then you just came up short. Everything was cloudy and gray, and then I was faced with a vehicle crisis which culminated in me in tears on the phone to my husband. Yay for husbands. Boo for big car repair bills and tough decisions. And onto today’s card.

Today’s card isn’t a card, but in fact a tag. I’ve been making so many Halloween cards lately that I had a lot of strips of patterned paper lying around my workspace, so I figured I’d try and use them. I just stacked them on top of one another, added a scalloped edge, and voila! a tag was born.


















Here’s hoping for a better Thursday. Actually, I KNOW it’ll be a better Thursday because it’s someone’s birthday. See you tomorrow to find out who!

Lego Fun!

Happy Tuesday!

With all of my movie watching, I almost forgot to post the birthday card I promised you on Friday. On Saturday, we went to a friend's son's 11th birthday party. The birthday boy had requested Legos, so of course I had to make a card to match the present we got him.















I had seen a gift bag with oversized circles to make it a Lego block, and I adapted it to make my card. Robot Kid seemed like the closest thing I had to a Lego guy, so I popped him up and added him in. The sentiment is by A Muse, and the speech bubble is from a clear set by Hero Arts.

Have a great day!

Brewing Up Some Fun!

Well, I've taken on a new endeavor that has kept me stamping this week: I'm watching all of the Harry Potter movies on DVD in order. I've gotten to movie #3 (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), and even though I saw them all when they were in the theaters, I'm loving seeing all of the characters/actors grow up in the films. Plus, it's been so long since I've read and seen some of them, I forget how they end!

Anyway, watching all of the amazing scenery and costumes has got me thinking about witches and magic. I recently acquired A Muse's Witch Girl and the "What's brewing?" sentiment, and I thought I'd give her a spin. Here's the card:


















The patterned paper is by K & Company, the notecard by Memory Box, and the cardstock is by Bazzill.

Have a magical day!

Simple Halloween Card

I recently discovered that Hero Arts came out with some new single clear stamps for Halloween and Christmas. This simple Jack O' Lantern jumped out at me, and I had to ink him up last night to see what he was about.

Here's the quickie card I made with my first impression:


















The layout is an adaptation of a card in this post by Natasha Trupp. I'm always looking for new ways to use smaller stamps on cards, so this sketch is a keeper for sure! Here's a close-up:














This weekend, we're attending an 11 year old's birthday party, so there's at least one birthday card in my immediate future.

Have a lovely weekend, and enjoy the nice weather while it lasts!

Ideas from All Over

In my wanderings through blogland, I'm constantly coming across ideas or cards that appeal to me and my creative spirit. Since I've been in a bit of a slump recently, I've been going through my starred items in Google Reader and trying to re-capture the things I love in others' cards and apply them. Here are a couple that piqued my interest.

The Hero Arts Blog is a treasure-trove full of cool ideas and inspiration. While I'm not usually able to participate in their weekly challenges, this week they're all about sketches and I couldn't resist, especially because they involve circles. Here's the one that jumped out at me first:



















And here's my take on that sketch:

















The other card that caught my eye was in this post by Natasha Trupp. My card actually came out a bit different than hers, but the basics are the same:














That's all for today. See you soon!

Cupcake Challenge

Well, Tracy's done it again. While I was posting my card for this week's challenge, I wandered through some of the past challenges and came across one that really inspired me, Sketch #46.

I've had this birthday cupcake panel sitting around my workspace for forever, and it just fit the sketch so well I just had to use it!















The image is from the Cupcake Set by Hero Arts, and the sentiment is from a mini clear set, Happy Greetings.

See you soon!

Hello Pumpkin!

Hi, and happy hump day!

It's been a few weeks since I've been able to tackle Tracy's Sketch Challenge, so I thought I'd jump back in with a card for fall. Here's a card for Sketch #47.















I took some liberties with the sketch, adding the pumpkin paper panel (say that 5 times fast!) and moving the image toward the center just a little bit, but otherwise it's the same.

The image and sentiment are by A Muse. I stamped the awning twice and cut one out and mounted it to give it a bit of dimension, and trimmed the panel and its frame with deckle edge scissors.

See you soon!

Camp Care Packages

The month of August always makes me think of away camp, maybe because I start hearing the good stories around now.

A couple of my friends have daughters that are gone to camp this week, and I love to send them care packages full of treats to eat or share. Here's one of this year's packages:













I figure it's more fun to unwrap lots of little packages instead of just one big one. There's some candies, notepads, erasers, and flavored lip balm in this one.

Of course, I had to make some mini cards to go in with the packages.













I punched the brown bases out with the Marvy Giga Scalloped Circle, then layered the brown ground paper and the blue sky paper over it (with stars stamped on with a Memory Box stamp). The tent was stamped and colored separately, and the moon is a punch from EK Success.

Back soon with more to share!