Happy Spring!

Ok so we are not quite there yet... but it's coming! With the sun breaking through our gray winter skys now and then we begin to look forward to Spring showing up.
Last Spring, one of my friend's Mom was visiting her, and knowing that she enjoyed crafting cards I suggested that she join myself and another friend to do a craft during her stay. Since she is more apt to do cards back home we decided to do a mini album for something different from her usual.

One day my friend and I planned out the design, then the next day we got together and all three of us worked on our own individual version of it. We each chose an element associated with Spring to use as our primary element in our mini... my friend picked birds, the Mom picked dragonflies, and I picked flowers. We each followed the basic design scketch with our differing elements and differing picks of colors, resulting in each one being quite unique.

I haven't put photos in mine yet; (there is a piece of blank cardstock in place of where each photo will be for now so I know what photo dimention I will need).
I wanted my mini to be bright and cheery, yet with a little softness. If you look close you'll see some basic principle scketch elements like: the background paper on each inner page goes...1/2 patterned top with 1/2 solid bottom, then opposite is full solid paper, next is full patterned paper, then opposite is 1/2 solid top with 1/2 patterned bottom and then it repeats. Also my 1/2 solid background piece was always alternating pink, then blue, then pink, etc. Along with using the flower element on every page in some way I also made sure that every page had some kind of sparkly aspect, from rhinestones to glitter. Some supplies and techeniqes used here are metal embelishments, glitter-stickers, (regular, foil, glitter & flock) rub-ons, punches, Glitter Ritz, brads, glitter-glue, stiching, stamping, heat-embossing, dry-embossing, paper edge distressing, different rhinestones, paper and fabric flowers.

Love is...

A couple who are sweet friends... always considerate of others, very warm and friendly to all, not to mention fun-loving... are having their 11th wedding anniversary. They invited me to go out of town with them for an event they wanted to share with me but I declined. this event would encompass the celebrating of their anniversary. Since I would miss it I decided to make a gift to send along for them to open on their special day. I made them a framed 8x10 digital photo collage. Of coarse I had to make them a personalized card too. So here they are...


The card is made using an Ivory colored cardstock for the base (supplier unknown), cut to a 5x7 size. I used Stampin' Up for the (Chocolate Chip) cardstock on the bottom, the (Sending Love) patterned paper on the top, (Rose Red) cardstock for one heart and the new Pinking Hearts Boarder Punch to make the detailed ivory cardstock strip in the center of the card. The ribbon is from Close To My Heart. I cut the hearts using the Cricut (George and Basic Shapes). The rose cardstock heart was also dry-embossed using a Fiskars embossing plate with the Big Shot Express. The verse was printed on the ivory cardstock heart using Word on my computer. Inside the card says "Happy Anniversary".

This is the digital layout that I put together on my computer using Photoshop Elements. I had found this photograph of the swans on the lake in an email someone sent me a while ago. I saved it in my photos but later noticed the resolution quality was not the best. So for this I used a special effect to make it look more like a colored pencil drawing, which made the photos pop a bit more than if the background had just been another photo. I loved the swans swimming towards each other amidst the beauty of color as my background.

Happy Valentine's Day Hubby!

This year my husband and I would be apart for Valentine's Day. I decided to make a card to send him, along with some other goodies. This is what I created...

I went with brown, light teal-blue and red for the colors. I achieved a masculine look by distressing the card with brown ink and by using this really cool red cardstock that looked and felt kind of like old leather for the big red heart on the front(Provo Craft - Texture Red Hot Pepper). I used Close To My Heart (Chocolate) Cardstock for the base of the card; K&Company patterned paper for the inside and one of the hearts; the distressed diamond pattern cardstock is from My Minds Eye; the Chipboard X and O are from Cosmo Cricket and the textured red cardstock to mat the inside hearts is BazzillBasics. I used Glitter Ritz to highlight the diamond paper heart and the smaller heart on the front under the XO. I used my Cricut to cut out the hearts with "George and Basic Shapes" cartridge and all the writing was done on my computer using Word.

I love how this card is a three way open... it reveals a little at a time, and then when fully opened it stands very nicely.

The heart inside has a quote on "Love" and the center of the card has a verse on "Marriage", quoted from Kahlil Gibran's "The Prophet"... some of my favorites, and that were a part of our wedding ceremony as well. They apply perfectly to our marriage, so they were perfect to use for this card.

Going Over-Seas... to buy or make?... that is the question!

I have way too many family and friends with birthdays in January! This year I planned to make my Dad a nice card. So I went to the local card shop to look at some there for ideas and inspiration. Well I found one that I liked the look of and had a sentiment that was perfect! So I decided to just buy it and send it rather than making one. After all my Dad lives in Portugal so I wanted to get it in the post sooner than later.

Well my Mom and her hubby live in Australia and his birthday is in January too. So I went looking for an appropriate card to buy and send... again wanting to mail it as early as possible so it would arrive on time. Well I could not find anything suitable that I was happy with... so I decided to make him one!

Funny how things work out.

I spent forever working to make this just right, (even though it may look simple). I used my Cricut (Everyday Paper Dolls) to cut the tree, the landscape and the kangaroo. I used my Big Shot Express with a Cuttlebug folder (Swiss Dots) to dry-emboss the tree top. The balloon and party hat I made by hand. The fuzzy on the hat is a tip of Chenille that I cut and shaped. I used a clear epoxy sticker to accent the balloon and real string too. The "Happy Birthday" was computer created and then gone over with (Stickles) glitter-glue to make it pop better. The tree and the bottom edge of the card were embellished using "Flower Soft". I used (Tattered Angels) Glimmer Mist and (Tsukineko) Walnut Ink Antiquing Solution to distress the landscape. Stampin' Up cardstock was used, along with their chalks (to give the kangaroo some dimension), and their markers (to accent the kangaroo and the tree trunk). Oh, and the edge of the landscape layers were distressed using the (Close To My Heart) distressing tool.

I know, I know... could I used any other products, tools and techniques? The variety is what makes this simple looking project take time to create. Well we crafters see all these cool supplies and all the newest tools come out on the market, we buy them, collect every kind of everything that's out there... at least now I am beginning to use my stash!!

Anne, who I used to refer to as "my Friend's Mom", is really my friend. I miss her being around since she moved to Nova Scotia not too long ago... it seems like forever ago, and yet as though it was only yesterday that she left. She is a fellow paper-crafter and she is also a florist. It was her birthday this January so I made this card to mail away to her.

I used Stampin' Up (Elegant Eggplant) cardstock as the base, and their (Brushed Gold) cardstock for the spine of the card as well as the mat in the center on the inside. I cut up and used an old greeting card, that I got in the mail ages ago from some charitable organization, to do my card front and the inside.

You'll notice a flower boarder and a pot of flowers that I embellished using "Flower Soft". This was interesting to learn to use... I liked the effect I had when I only used a small amount to just highlight the flower boarder on the front. Once I filled it out further I wished I hadn't added so much... but it was still nice.

I used a pale lavender Mulberry paper as a mat on the front of the card and tore out the window to let the inside design of the card show. Over all I liked the elegant and soft look of this card.

One of my closest friends, and fellow paper-crafter, was having a birthday this January. Naturally I felt making a card was a requirement... although we have both slipped into the ease of just picking one up at the local dollar store, or where ever, some years... I know... shocking to think we would.

Well this year I felt her birthday was a perfect opportunity to make a card trying various tools and techniques that I have access to, but may not have played with yet, or not for some time anyway. It took me a while to put this together with so much variety of fun to be had... so I told her she better keep it till she dies!... which I hope is far into old, old, old age. Boy, she'll have quite a stack of cards from me by then if this trend keeps up.

So I used Stampin' Up (Tempting Turquoise) cardstock for my card base and a mat on the front, along with their (Lavender Lace) cardstock for my center background (which was dry-embossed using the Cuttlebug D'vine Swirl Embossing Folder with my Big Shot Express), and also for the embellishment that was made using a (Martha Stewart Punch Around The Page) shell design boarder punch. The Flower Stamp is also from SU.

I used a Patterned paper from K&Company for the bigger background and for the cake which was cut out using the Cricut (Everyday Paper Dolls - LOVE this one!). I used Versamark Dazzles and clear embossing powder to make the cake's icing look yummy! The Big paper flower is from BBP and the smaller green one is Imaginisce. The other two flowers are punched or cut. "Happy Birthday" is computer generated, while I hand cut the candles and accented with SU marker. The jeweled candle flames and jeweled flowers are (Forever in Time) from Michael's Craft Store. The mini lavender fabric flowers on the cake are cut from of "ribbon" of these that I picked up years ago, somewhere, on my many travels.

Good thing I only used these few varied techniques and tools or I'd still be writing out my descriptive info... lol.

So Happy Together

My Step-daughter is building her own little family now. She has the sweetest baby boy and has recently found a wonderful guy to help raise my darling step-grand baby. They are so happy together, when I saw this photo I just had to do something special with it. So for Christmas I made up this layout and gave it as a gift to her new fella, welcoming him to the clan, and letting him know that he is in a place of love... on many levels. Being this was a gift to a guy, again I went for that rough, masculine style that comes so beautifully from a little distressing and the right color combinations. (Sorry the photo of this layout is a little out of focus). The verse is an original of my own reflections that reads:
Love is the Truth of who we really are.

Yet we must choose to express this Truth.

When we choose to spend time with
others living as love each moment becomes a great gift.

Moments become memories through which we feel togetherness.

Together we become FAMILY.

Family love is a great gift that anyone can choose to share with another... but most of all it is the greatest gift we give to ourselves.

Family Framed

To add to my husband's wall of photos in his "home away from home" for work, I thought he might like this 5x7 photo of his parents, siblings and their children. So I did up this simple layout and put it in a 8x10 black frame. I wanted it to be somewhat masculine for him but added a little glitz with a rhinestone embellishment and some foiled adhesive rub-ons. I love rub-ons!... and was thrilled to find the perfect title and verse for this layout. The already uneven looking background paper was distressed a bit more using Tsukinek Walnut Ink Antiquing spray.

Boyz 2 Men

My boys love to challenge each other and show off... all three of them! So I decided to do up a Scrapbook Layout and frame it for my husband to put up in his apartment in Alberta, where he is working away from home. I figured he would enjoy seeing a display of the fun he and the boys have together in the love and play they share when they get the chance. I highlighted the colors they wore in the photos to do the layout; (black, blue,red); and put the finished product in a black wood frame. I distressed the photos by sanding the edges and tore the background paper to give the layout a more rugged, masculine look. The playful title was made up of sanded paper covered chipboard and painted Grungeboard for the "b" and the "m". I also added clear embossing to the raised textured stripes on the Grungeboard to show off the dimension better.

Keeping Memories... Alberta Mini Album

I made my first trip to visit my husband in Alberta since he began his new job there, and decided to commemorate the trip by creating a Mini Album of my week of travel there and back. I started by exploring local scrapbook stores while he was at work during the day. I chose this great scrapbook store in Sherwood Park to spend a couple of days working on the beginnings of my Mini Album. The staff of Scrapbook Divas was awesome and the shop has a great selection of supplies to choose from. So I made myself comfy in their crop room and got going. I finished it off over a couple of days at home when I returned. It now sits on my coffee table for all to enjoy. So here it is for those who may not get a chance to sit on my couch and pick it up off the coffee table to browse. Enjoy!

Alberta Mini Album... First Pages

I Love the way the pages of this Mini Album have arrows pointing in every direction... perfect to represent the many turns and detours of my road trip, especially when trying to find my way around big centers I had never driven in before.

Alberta Mini Album... The Rest of the Story

I also added a compass to represent the sense of feeling lost and needing some help to find my way driving around on this adventure. I chose bright colors for the Mini Album to show the fun and excited (to see my husband) nature of the trip as well as to be inviting for someone to pick up the Mini Album to have a peek. Yet I added distressing to soften the look. I uses flowers as one of my main embellishment features as we were just finishing summer, and worked within colors that are representative of summer (yellow, green, red and orange) yet may also flow into representing fall (gold, orange, red). I carried over the arrow theme with chipboard arrows on the pages as well. I added some bling with glitter and rhinestones for a little fun. I wanted to use all my chipboard page surfaces and even had to add a page, but did not want my photos on the back page to get damaged over time so I made a protective back cover out of opaque acrylic. The pages are busy but I think over all it turned out well.

Copy Cat... only kinda.

This was a simple birthday card that I made for my Step-daughter for her 21st. I had helped her create a birthday card for her Mom and liked what she came up with so much that I was inspired by her design to create this design for her card. I made sure this was somewhat different than her original, but the big flower element, the half solid / half pattern background and the keeping within a color family with the varied pattern papers were all elements we employed in the card she made too. Otherwise my color choices are totally different, her card was horizontal while mine is vertical, and there are other differences too. Just interesting how when you help someone create, what they come up with can so get you going on wanting to create something similar... but different.

Friendship Framed

This is a photo of a gift I made to give my husband's best friend and his wife as a moving away present. It is a Scrapbook style layout that I framed for their new home to remember us by.Because my husband has another very close friend that was included in the photo I decided to make another version of the same idea as a friendship gift to them. Now they too are looking at moving away.I'm glad our friends can take us along wherever life takes them... in their hearts and on their walls.