Virtual Scrapbooking Night (VSBN) Variety B

I'm so glad I was invited to play at the Virtual Scrapbooking Nights in Splitcoaststampers.  It's not an exclusive group, just one that I didn't know about.  LOL

Since I joined in the month of April so late, I was only able to complete two of the challenges.  I posted my Variety A (1st Challenge) earlier and this is my Variety B (2nd challenge) layout.  This one was to use bundles of three.

As you can tell from the photo, I created three areas of embellishment clusters.  Each cluster has three items...washi tape, enamel dots and a patterned paper punched circle.

I love those photo booth photos taken at my SIL's surprise 60th birthday party.  So fun!!

That gorgeous doily was cut using my Artbooking Cricut Cartridge.  The title says "Be Your Beautiful Self".

This was a pretty simple layout to create.  I layered some scrap pieces of black/white patterned paper, vellum w/gold highlights, doily & the embellishment clusters.  I layered the photo booth photos so that the top photo covered the right hand "title".  It worked out perfect.

WOYWW #412

Hello Wednesday!

Here's a shot of my desk this morning.  I finished this layout last night and my mother's day card.  Those "polaroid" pieces on the left will be embellished for a swap I'm doing.  I cut them using my cricut.  The big bag of Starburst jelly beans were 70% off at my local Walgreens and they are yummy!  LOL

When organizing my craft room earlier this year, I found this 2 3/4" circle punch that I forgot about and have been using it a lot lately.  Isn't that funny?! 

Many people asked about the Rainbow Goldfish container on my desk a couple of weeks ago.  They are cheese flavored crackers in rainbow colors.  They all taste the same, just different colors.

Click over to Stamping-Ground to read all about the WOYWW challenge and "travel" around the world to visit other desks and work areas.  Enjoy and Happy Wednesday!

Virtual Scrapbook Night - Variety A

I'm excited to tell you that I am participating in a month long Virtual Scrapbook Night at Splitcoaststampers.com.  I realize that I love forum chatting and "meeting" new scrapbooking friends.  Since I joined so late this month, I don't think I'll participate in each challenge, but I was able to complete the first one.


Variety A is to use one photo.  Bonus if you use a sketch.  I don't usually scrapbook one photo but I only had one photo of our new years day adventure so this worked out perfectly.  Also, Stuck?! has a one photo sketch this month - SCORE!  Click Stuck?!.  Here's the sketch:

And here's my layout:

Close up of the embellies:

Now let me tell you about it:
I received this 6x6 paper pad & embellies at the 2016 Scrapbook Expo in my crop swag bag.  I love all the bright colors and it's a whole "city" theme, but didn't have any reason to use it.  I'm not sure why I decided to use it with this photo but the purple in my friend's scarf made me think to use purple.  The base paper is from SU! and is also very vibrant.  I scraped some gesso over it with a credit card.  While that was drying.  I grabbed two lt. gray 6x6 sheets to anchor the photo & embellies.  Dripped some black ink randomly & hand drew lines around it.  All the embellies are from the pack except for the black #1 and the punched "arrows".  I was also able to add dots with my Nuvo.  I also stamped the title which I have not done in a long time.


New Years Day:
Last minute plans involved us meeting Victor & Virginia, Larry & Monique at Pete's Fish Market in Moss Landing.  Kenny does not like seafood but I was really excited about going.  So we went.  Food was amazing.  We had a few drinks - played some music and had a great time.  It's quite an experience going to Pete's Fish Market!  After that we headed to the "Hole Enchilada" bar (that's where this photo was taken) - FUN - then we went to Monterey to three different bars before heading to our friends, Mark & Stella's in Salinas.  Ok, first of all, I have never bar hopped - not even when I was young - that in itself was hilarious!  We spent the night in Salinas and were slightly hung over on the drive home.  Good times!!

Homegrown Crop & The Bounty

Carly & I decided to host our own crop in the Command Center - just the two of us. So this is what we did:

• Purchase a bunch of snacks
• Set up a snack table in the room
• Play some favorite tunes
• Make stuff

 It's been a while since I pulled out my artsy stuff and just played so that's what I did.  You've all seen the Elements Stamp Sets from Bloom Arts that I designed (click here to purchase) but what you haven't seen is me using the circle stamps on the Elements 3 set. 

These sets can be used on everything!  Yup...tootin' my own horn.

  I used the three solid circles on Element 3.  I wasn't sure at first how I was going to use them, then I thought I'd experiment with the baby wipe technique.  (You can Google this technique but basically you drip re-inker drops onto a baby wipe and use it as a stamp pad)  Before I stamped on the cardstock, I also spritzed some water on the inked stamp to give it a cool water-colored image.

 As you can see, I also used an assortment of each Elements lined circle stamps to stamp around the water-colored circles.  LOVE!!  You'll see in the finished cards that I water-colored some light yellow over the white areas. 

  OOH AAH!  I'm swooning right now! 

Then I tossed the baby wipe. Once in the garbage, I did a double take. I grabbed it and swiped all that beautiful ink across another card.  You can see what I did with that HERE.  But here's what it looked like before I mixed-media'd it.

 I probably could have swiped more from this baby wipe, but I was done with it for now.  Here's one finished card from the circle background.  Added some gold thread, gold heart washi and a stamped image I made earlier in the day. So sweet! I love the colors & that yellow is so lovely.

Now for the other cards:

This is the swiped ink card.

Three cards from this tiny stamp set! Each a little different.

I used a circle punch to create a reverse mask and stamped inside it. 
If you look closely, I scored some lines above & below the washi tape.



Attempted a Shaker Card.  Love this stamp by Peggy Harris - first time using it!

I was determined to make at least one Shaker Cards since I bought all those sequins during the Expo earlier this year.  I should have put more in the card and I definitely will next time.

It's Been A While

Even though it's right on my bedside table, I hate to admit it, but I haven't opened my bible in a long time. I rarely stay in my bed long enough to grab something to read and it's one of those "out of sight...out of mind" things. (Not very Christian-like but hey if you can't be honest in your own blog, where can you be?) So, the other day like I always do when I read my bible, I said a prayer and then opened it. It opened to 2 Chronicles - read some versus and thought, WHAT? Then I read the introductory & felt so much better about what I read.
The chapters mention names - giving some history of the kings, etc. Nothing in particular. But the intro said the same thing I was thinking. The point is the more faithful the person was, the more he was noted in the Bible and in more detail. In other words, he found favor in God's eyes.  Sort of like a squeaky wheel but in a good way. I like that!
 

I did this simple bible journaling in the left side corner.  I was going to throw out the banner stamp but before I did, I cut out the sentiment that was in the middle.  I decided to keep it afterwards and I'm so glad that I did!  What a great versatile stamp!  The flowers are from Michael's dollar stamps and the letters for TRUST are Tim Holtz letter stack.  Just some simple water coloring from my water color pencils and done!

FCCB #299; Spring

The current challenge on the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog (FCCB) is Spring.  Be sure to click on over to the blog and join the challenge for a chance to win:

The FCCB Design Team is sponsoring a $25 gift card at

Amazon!

To qualify for the prize, be sure to use at least 1 Cricut cut on your project and if it's not obvious, let us know what cartridge you used. If you use a Cricut Explore machine, at least one cut must be from the Cricut catalog of images.

If it isn't a card, you will get two entries into the drawing!

I made these super cute tags for gifts I purchased for the two school R.N.s in our district.  I used the Everyday Paper Doll cartridge to make the nurses.  It was fun personalizing the dolls to look like each nurse.  I used pretty Spring colored papers for the scrubs, the tag bases and the ribbons.

May 6 - 12 is National School Nurse Day which falls in the Spring so I thought this project would be perfect for the current challenge.  They work hard all the time and deserve a little THANK YOU every day!

I love making these messy bows out of ribbon scraps.  Basically, it's just layering multi pieces of ribbon together and then using another ribbon to tie them all together. It's a great way to use all those ribbon scraps you cannot part with (or is that just me?).  I used white string to attach them to the cellophane bag.

Photos:

Don't forget to click on over to the FCCB site.  Take a look at the DT projects as well as the linkers for inspiration.  Pull out your Cricut and join the fun!  You must use at least one cut on your project from the Cricut and be sure to let us know which cartridge(s) you used.  Have fun and Happy Spring!

Sprays & Re-Inkers

I haven't played with my stamping & mixed media supplies in awhile so I am happy to say I spend an afternoon just playing.  Carly and I decided to have our own Stamping/Scrapbooking Retreat in the Command Center on Saturday.  We went to the store and bought some snacks and holed up in the room!

After five hours, I completed six cards and she did one 12x12 layout and two pocket pages.  It was a successful day!

I'll show off the cards I made one at a time, but this one is my favorite.

With other cards (I'll post something soon), I used the baby wipe technique to stamp some images but what I did with this card is...

I swiped the inked up baby wipe to a piece of white cardstock.  It looked like a pretty blob of color.  Then I used watered down white acrylic paint and a stencil to tone it down a bit.  After that, I sprayed some black Tattered Angels spray and dripped some bigger black splotches all over.

I'm joining the Happy Little Stampers April Mixed Media challenge with this card.  This month's challenge is "Sprays".  Click HERE to go to the site.

I had this pile of inked/painted strips of paper from I don't know where and decided to add it to the bottom of the card front.  Added this Cricut cupcake cutout (I already forgot which cartridge) and some gold sequins.  Before attaching to the card, I stamped "happy birthday" completely near the cupcake and then inked off on the top right.

Honestly, these pictures don't do it justice.  This card is pretty amazing!

WOYWW #410

Good morning and happy WOYWW! I've been busy making page kits for the upcoming Scrapbooking Retreat my daughter and I will be attending in May. I know it's early, but the way these weeks are flying by, I don't want to do it last minute. Making kits helps me when putting together layouts. I'll be honest, I don't always use the kits, but they are still nice to have.


Here's my desk...nice and clean!

I know I mentioned this before, but I purchased another Cricut machine over the holidays. Since this machine can only be used with Cricut Design Space, I don't use it as much..  It's not hard to use, but it's just a lot more steps than just plopping in a cartridge. I didn't want to keep the machine in my closet so I purchased this metal shelf for both machines can be on my work desk.

The bottom machine should fit under the shelf until I realized that I didn't account for the brackets.  Dang it!  It's not wide enough, but it still works ok like this.
I feel like she's the mama giraffe and we're waiting for her to have her baby...but here's the latest photo of the braided rug.  It's almost done!


My granddaughter was over the other day and she says she wants it for her room.  I'm pretty sure that's where it's going!  I will tell you, if I ever decide to do another one, I'm DEFINATELY going to machine sew it!


What is WOYWW you ask???!!!  Click on over to Stamping Ground and read all about it.

Christmas Morning Layout

I am following the layout sketch from My Creative Sketches blogspot.  I prefer starting from a sketch when creating layouts since it makes the first step go away.  I had these two photos from Christmas morning and so I thought they would be perfect for the March sketch challenge that ends on April 15th.

Here's the sketch:

Now, my finished layout.

I love the little deer, papers and all the embellishments from this Christmas scrapbook kit.  You can read more about this kit HERE and my fun find!


Now click on over to the CHALLENGE site to see other sketches, layouts and inspiration.

VIDA Sale

I hope you are having a great day! I wanted to share this 15% off credit from VIDA that you can use to shop any designs from my collection.  Be sure to click on over to see my VIDA designs.

Enjoy 15% off Using code AC15-AP17 From now until midnight PST 4/11/17 Your purchase not only supports my collection but makes a global impact. VIDA is passionate about helping to drive social change for artists and makers. Their company offers literacy and empowerment programs for VIDA’s factory workers so they can build a better life for generations to come.

Back to School Mini Album

I posted a photo of this album earlier but I feel like I need to share this album in more detail.  I used paper bags that are 8x8 when folded so the base papers were cut at 7.5 x 7.5.  Paper bag albums are my absolute favorite mini scrapbooks to make!

The papers I used are from DCWV School Days paper pad.  So cute!  I was recently gifted this pad from my cousin.  I love the colors and designs.  Many of these papers have either foil or glitter accents which make them extra fun.

Besides the many pages in the album & pull out pages, I added a waterfall element, flaps, pockets and a band.  (I watched a Youtube video on these and they are so easy to do.  I'm sure I could have figured it out myself, but it's nice to watch someone else first.)

I used Simply Charmed and Doodlecharms Cricut cartridges to make school related embellishments.  This pad also came with stickers, die cuts, etc. so I used those to embellish as well.  I am super proud of the border embellishment cluster I made too.
Take a look at the video and leave me a comment.

WOYWW #409; Update on the Rug

Happy WOYWW everyone! I've never really understood the need for a thimble, but whoa baby, since hand sewing this rug together my fingers and thumb are sore! The rug is coming along nicely and I love how the colors are so random but look so good together. I'm not sure how big it's going to be and once it's done, I'll know where I'm going to put it.

My one piece of advice is to be more aware of the "tails" that were left when adding the strips together. They need to be shorter or at least tucked into the back. I'll figure out what to do with them once I'm done but for now, here's a photo of it -

One with my foot so you can see the size.

Since Monday was the March Madness Championship game and I didn't finish the rug, I'm going to have to work on it during baseball season. If you're a baseball fan, you gotta know that this past weekend was Opening Day so here's to another season of baseball and finishing projects! See my original post regarding the rug & crafting during sporting events here.

WOYWW was created by Julia on her Stamping Ground blog. Each Wednesday, fellow crafters/sewers/artists link a photo of our work areas & link to the site. Then the fun part! We get to visit these sites! I'm having a lot of fun meeting new people and being inspired by their projects, their posts and their comments. Come on over & join us at Stamping Ground.

Happy Hump Day!

Gettin' It Done With Mini Albums Galore!

I took a break from scrapbooking to complete unfinished projects. I completed three mini albums on one weekend and worked on another one the next.  I am a machine!
I'm not going to show you all the details of the albums, but here are some snapshots:

I must have been in a ROCK 'N ROLL mood when I started these two before.  It felt so good completing them but also using up paper and embellishments.  After doing the Command Center organization, I have a new mindset - use your stash!  Seriously...don't just say it, but actually do it!

During my stretching breaks, I watched some YouTube videos on adding flaps, pockets and waterfall additions to the pages.  So cool!

I used Indie Art & New Arrival Cricut cartridges for the Rock n' Roll Baby and Rock Queen albums; and Doodlecharms & Simply Charmed cartridges for the Back to School album.

These albums will be added to my "FOR SALE" pile for future craft fairs/boutiques.  If you are interested in seeing more or purchasing, send me an email at doorknocker3@yahoo.com.

Side Note:  LeAnna was in the Command Center with me on Saturday and usually I say no to a lot of the supplies she wants to use because I might need it later, right?  Oh no, she was in heaven since everything she asked for, I let her use.  She was so excited and finished lots of fun projects!  Fun, fun, fun!!

**Bonus - with the new organization, there is room for her & I to create at the same time!**

Albums Completed:

Rock n' Roll Baby

Rock Queen

Spring

Back to School

Creative With Stamps First DT Post!

YAY!  I'm so excited to finally be able to contribute to the Creative With Stamps challenge site as a Design Team Member.  This month's challenge is Baby or 1st Anniversary. 



I gathered a bunch of baby blue scraps to create the background of this card.  I adhered the strips to a piece of cardstock before adhering to the card base.  The water colored image is popped off the card with foam tape.  I added the white dots on the water colored yellow with a white Wink of Stella glitter pen.  Isn't that kitty so cute?  I also added some lt. blue enamel dots from Queen & Co.

Supplies:
Stamps:  Sentiment by SU!; Baby Kitty gifted from Rubber Paws
Cardstock:  Scraps from my stash; card base is the thick white cardstock from SU!
Watercolor Paint:  CTMH (Close to My Heart)
Ink:  Archival Black from Ranger
Wink of Stella - White
Enamel Dots:  Queen & Co.


Be sure to play along with the monthly theme at Creative With Stamps Challenge blog.