Smile!

Wow! It has been a long time since I was able to get in my scrap room and create anything. Life has been keeping me hopping. My mother has been very ill for the last month and spent time in both a hospital and a nursing home before finally getting home this week. With all of that and school starting, I have been so busy that I haven't had time to do anything just for fun.

This afternoon I found myself with several minutes of actual free time. I almost didn't know what to do!

I sat down and my computer and actually took time to cruise through some of my favorite challenge websites and, before I knew it, I was cutting paper and making cards. It felt SO good!

I owe a big THANK YOU to the gals over at CAS(E) this sketch for providing the inspiration for this card. I loved sketch #91. It was so simple and versatile.

I decided to use the sketch as a way to use some of my many stamps.

I started by using a chevron stamp to create the banner on the left hand side. You can't really tell in this photo, but I actually used 4 different shade of yellow/orange inks to create a subtle ombre effect as the chevron or arrow moves down the card.

Then I stamped a sun using another shade of orange ink and added a few subtle embellishments using yellow stitching, a button, and an orange glitter pen. I decided that I wanted the circles to be a bit more free-form and fun, so after I punched the circles I used my scissors to handcut the edges before inking them.

I stamped a greeting and embellished that with 2 tiny brads. Then I matted the whole thing on a piece of subtle orange stripe cardstock from my stash.

The final card is sure to bring a bright smile to the face of the recipient.

Challenge Accepted!

I love challenges! They really inspire me to put my creative juices into action and try something new.

Early in July, my buddies over at Scrappin Mojo posted their monthly challenges. One of the gals, Mary, decided to try something different. Instead of giving us a sketch to create a card, tag, or layout, she asked us to create our own sketch and then use it to create a finished piece.

All month long I have been racking my brain trying to come up with something a little different. I kept envisioning stacked circles of different colors, each one cut in half and stacked with varied colors on top of one another.

After weeks of experimentation I finally came up with the following sketch: (Please ignore the wavy lines. I was trying to use the Paint program to create my semi-circle from a complete circle and I'm just not great with digital art- LOL!)

The neat thing about this sketch is that I had to actually cut 4 circles: 2 of the larger size and 2 of the smaller size. When I cut them in half I had enough pieces to create 2 complete elements for the center of my card, so I was able to easily create 2 cards instead of just one.

Here's my finished card...... OOPS..... cards....

I would love to see what you create using this original sketch. If it inspires you, please leave a comment, photo, or link to your finished project.

Happy Anniversary....

Tomorrow is my 21st wedding anniversary.   It is hard to believe that I have been married to my sweet hubby that long. It hasn't all been easy, but he has always been there as my strength, support, and listening ear.

I took some time this morning to create a special card just for my hubby. It started with this great sketch from Case This Sketch.

I like to layer my cards so I used 6 different layers of paper. I added some inking, embossing, stamping, and sewing. I used one of my favorite Stampin' Up stamp sets, Wonderful Favorites. I love it because it is so versatile!

This was my first time ever making a 6X6 card, but I really like that size! I think I will definitely be making more of them.

Time to SHOP!!

I have "earned" the right to spend $40, but I'm trying to decide whether to spend it now or to wait until I accumulate more. I'll be in the stores tomorrow, so I think I'll wait to see what is on sale, before I actually commit.


Regardless of whether or not I spend the money now, I plan to continue with my crafting. My next set of 12 projects begins with a graduation card I have crafted for my niece. I colored in the image with my Prismacolor pencils and blended with odorless turpentine.



The robes look a bit "orangey" on the web, but they are actually red in person.