Rainbow Card Challenge; Orange

Day Two of my Rainbow Card Challenge means it’s an ORANGE card. This card was made by using a new die I recently purchased at Tuesday Morning.

I riffled through my orange scrap pile and grabbed some pieces of paper that caught my eye. I used three different shades of orange cardstock and two different orange patterned papers. 

Some stamping and splattering complete the card.

Check out the YouTube video:

Products Used:
Hero Arts Geometric Sun Fancy Die
French script and music notes background stamps
Only Orange & Tangerine Tango ink pads from SU!
Peaches & Cream, Citrus Cooler and Black Licorice color silks from FSJ
Art Philosophy Congratulations stamp (with Cricut cartridge) from CTMH

Be sure to check back daily to see all the rainbow color cards in this series!

Rainbow Card Challenge Kick Off; Red

I’ve created another challenge for myself and it starts today! I’ve created a Rainbow Card Challenge which means I plan to create one card a day going in ROYGBV order starting of course with red.

The idea is to create a card using the one color and only that color. Each card will be different and hopefully push me to think outside of my norm.

This card uses a sketch from Stick It Down, lots of scraps, and my Cricut. 

This challenge series includes YouTube videos as well. See how I put it together and hopefully encourage you to create your own.  

I used an old stamp from Stampin Up! and a piece of twine that I balled up and attached to emulated a ball of yarn. Watch the video:

Also click over to the Stick It Down blog for more sketches!

Gift Bag Embellishment; Cricut

I had a request to make a heart shaped gift box and I found this one on Design Space. I used Red Glitter cardstock for the front & back and Basis Red cardstock from CutCardStock.  I love using CutCardStock for all my cardstock needs because they are a great weight and cut easily with my Cricut.

Even though the bling of the glitter cardstock is pretty, it still needed something. I did a search for flowers in Design Space and found this cluster. I used scraps of cardstock and patterned paper to cut these images.

Look...honestly, there's not much to this project but if you're a non-crafter, it blows your mind. LOL So pretty and so sparkly!

Check out the quick YouTube video:

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TGIF; Thankful Friday #260

TGIF and Happy Thankful Friday! It is raining and wintery over here in Central Valley CA. In fact, there's even been sights of snow! WHAT!?! Nuts!

But that is not what I'm thankful for this week. This week I'm thankful for baked goodies. I mean honestly, I can be thankful for that all the time, but this week I was blessed with some homemade cookies for basically just doing my job.

I love that! I love that someone took time out of their day to make cookies for someone else. That is a RAK (Random Act of Kindness) that I can completely appreciate!

Do you do that? I don't. I mean, every so often I'll do something surprising but not bake someone something. :)

What are you thankful for today? Let me know in the comments! 

Family Layout; CutCardStock

Oh, this layout went through a lot of changes but I'm so happy with the result. I love the grungy patterned paper that I used and so happy that I let that one piece of paper direct the entire layout.

My sister-in-law came to visit us for a few days last year and I'm so glad we took photos. This layout started with Basis Red cardstock from CutCardStock. I decided to mat the red with Wedding Cake White cardstock. Before adhering the red to the white, I gutted the middle of the white cardstock so I can use it later.

Watch the YouTube video to see how to gut your mat & find out when it's a good idea to do so.

I followed a sketch by Scrap Our Stash and added a piece of patterned paper across the layout. That paper was matted using white cardstock and a scallop punch.

After matting each photo, I placed them over the patterned paper.

Now here's when things took a turn...I originally cut a cute heart with flowers inside to use as the main embellishment. I just couldn't get into it. It didn't look right. I realized pretty quickly that this cutesy heart didn't coordinate with the grungy patterned paper. So I grabbed a brick background stamp and red ink and randomly stamped in the bottom right and upper left corners of the layout.

Once that dried, I added both black and white splatter in those same areas.

Now to find a heart that actually coordinates with the grungy style. I cut a scribbly heart with my Cricut and a piece of Basis Black cardstock. Before cutting it out, I sliced out the word "family" from the inside of the heart.

It was a little tough to put together but I just used the image on my screen to adhere the pieces in the right spots.

Check out the YouTube process video to see how this is all put together.

All cardstock is from CutCardStock and patterned paper, ink, stamp and embellishments are from my stash.

Be sure to check out this project on the CutCardStock blog as well as many other paper projects that will inspire you!

Be sure to also check out the Scrap Our Stash challenge site. They have great sketches and challenges each month!

Sketch n Scrap Card #236; Dog Sympathy

For this month's Sketch n Scrap card sketch, I decided to make a dog sympathy card. I was gifted a small container of stamps from a friend and inside were stamp sets for dog & cat sympathy. We just recently lost our family pet and I realized that many people experience this type of loss all the time.

The sketch:

My card:

You can watch the process on my YouTube channel. I post two videos a week and one will always be scrapbooking and the other will be whatever I'm creating in the Command Center which as you know is the name of my blog and my craft room.

Be sure to click on over to the SNS blog and/or FB group page to see more sketches and inspiration from the DT and other creatives.

Patterned paper by Pink Paisley

TGIF; Thankful Friday #259

TGIF and Happy Thankful Friday! This has been a weird week for me. I have vertigo so my world is literally spinning! That's not what I'm thankful for this week but I am thankful that my world allows me some downtime. 

I am able to take some time off work, both at home and at my job.

What are you thankful for this week?

Sketch n Scrap Layout #267

Do you love sketches as much as I do? They sure do help jump start a layout and that's why I love them. Sketch n Scrap posts two scrapbooking layout sketches AND two card sketches a month...each month. Check them out!

The sketch I'm using today is #267.

When I pick which sketch to use, I use the sketch that fits into my schedule. This one intimidated me a little because it looks like so much is happening but all contained within a perfect puzzle.

I decided to use photos from my daughter and my annual Summer Reading Marathon a.k.a. SRM. We've had this marathon contest since she was six. The winner gets treated to Baskin Robbins at the end of the marathon. She's 29 now so the contest is a little better matched now. :)

I used a variety of color cardstock from CutCardStock and initially thought I'd embossed each piece using a different embossing folder...well...after I adhered them to the base sheet, I realized I forgot to do that so I decided to do some random stamping on each one.

And added some stamped stitching too.

All the embellishments were stamped & colored using stamp sets from CTMH.

There's actually a lot going on here so check out the YouTube process video to see how I put it all together and make sure you click over to SNS blog and/or FB page to enter the current month's challenge.

Circle of Life Canvas

My daughter in law has asked me to create a canvas for their home years ago and for some reason I just never got around to it. Well she doesn’t have to wait any more.

Here’s the final piece:

And this is how I created it:

I started with adding a variety of marked/inked and random junk papers. I adhered them using Mod Podge on the 16x20 canvas.

Added words in pencil and then put white gesso over everything to tone down the variety of colors & markings.

Once dried, I spritzed ink sprays all over. I'll be honest, I instantly regretted it but continued since I didn't want a huge puddle of teal spray on the canvas.

The nice thing about creating a mixed media canvas is if you don't like something, you just need to cover it! I was going to put another coat of gesso but decided to go for it with the acrylic paints. I started in the middle with white and continued adding different color acrylic paints building on the circle.

Then stamped a variety of words all over the canvas. Once the ink dried, I added different colors of paint to blend the words in and to add highlights around the circle rings.

I love the final project! It can be hung any way and any direction!

I also added black & white splashes and some black markings in the four corners.

To me a canvas is not complete without painting the edges too. I did something different on this one. I used a black ink pen to write the lyrics to the Circle of Life song from The Lion King and a quote on the circle of life. Which is perfect since I named this canvas, The Circle of Life.

I hope they like it!

TGIF; Thankful Friday #258

Happy Thankful Friday! I hope you are finding lots of things to be thankful for this week. Me, I am thankful for jelly beans. LOL I know it's not much but sometimes it's just the little things. I (used to) have a mason jar full of jelly beans that I keep at my desk at work for when I need something sweet.

Now, you'd think that would last a while, but no! I can eat half the jar without skipping a beat! Do you have a guilty pleasure? What's your go to snack?

Have a great week and remember...

Every day may not be good, 

but there's something good in every day.  

Be Brave Scrapbooking Layout and Video

I'm still over a year behind in my scrapbooking and every time I think I'm catching up, another month goes by!
 

This layout uses the Like A Girl scrapbooking kit by Photo Play - I'm making it my mission to actually use the kits I've been hoarding! 

This page came together pretty quickly since the entire layout was made using scraps from the kit. With the exception of one full piece of paper, very little scraps and some stickers, I killed this kit!

Watch the YouTube video to see the process. Even though the color scheme is a little off, the butterflies really help it coordinate.

I really love the little bit of inking I did on this one!

Blessings Shaker Card; CutCardStock

I have a fun project today featuring cardstock from CutCardStock. Anytime you order using this link, I get a little bit of a commission - no extra cost for you!  Have you ever made a shaker card? They are so fun and easy. I have a YouTube process video below so go check it out!

I made this custom card for a friend years ago and she needs a few more. She loved it so much, she wanted the same design. Good thing you can save projects in Cricut Design Space. I did change a few things and if you continue reading, I'll let you know.

Here's the final project:

And here are the details:

The crosses were cut using a cross image from the New Testament collection in Design Space. All of the colors used are listed below and are from CutCardStock.

The nice thing about these images is that there are notches/lines on the cross base that help lineup the shadows.

So here is where I made a change, on the original card (you can see the post HERE), I cut the banner with cardstock and then stamped the word "blessings". This is fine but one of the letters moved a little. I had to restamp a couple of times before I was satisfied with the end result.

For these cards, I used a banner image and typed the word "bles" and "sings" using the same font & size. The reason why I separated the word in two is because I used the Curve Tool to slightly curve each section since the banner curved differently.

Once the word fit in the banner, I used the Flatten button to flatten the image so I could use the Print & Cut feature in Design Space. 

I know it seems like more work, but it looks so good! And, like I mentioned above, I can save the project to use again and again. No smearing ink; no stamp movement and no guessing where to start & end the letters! Click HERE to get the project on Design Space.

Before putting the shaker card together, I added some color splashes to the top left corners of each oval frame.  I also cut two pieces of slightly smaller 4 x5.25 pieces of clear transparency for each card to hold all the shaker bits. I adhere one to the back of the oval frame and then the other is attached after adding foam adhesive and filling with shaker bits. This creates a pocket and makes it easier to place on the cardbase. I used Cougar Smooth White Cardstock for the banners, card bases and shaker card base (oval frames). This is by far the best white cardstock I have used and I highly recommend it!

If you want to check out the CutCardStock Blog post click HERE.

The remaining steps are probably best explained through the process video below:

One of the coolest things to do when creating shaker cards is creating the shaker bits. I don't know about you, but I have a lot of sequins, glitter, confetti flakes, beads, etc., to make thousands of shaker cards! I use a small container and then add all the pretties together to make a perfect combination. So sparkly and pretty!

Color Cardstock Used (all CutCardStock products):

Cougar Smooth White, Pop Tone Cotton Candy, Carnation Pink, Lunar Blue and Blast Off Blue

6x12 Layout Insert

It's fun to mix it up a little with your scrapbooking. I created a 6x12 layout to insert between my July layouts for 2021. I used the For the Love of Summer scrapbooking kit from Photo Play - the same one I used to create THIS layout. Yes, this is getting inserted next to it in the album.

Since the area to be creative is half the size, it's a little easier to complete an off size layout. Once I got the placement of the photos, it really just needed some embellishments. I used stickers from the sticker sheet in the kit and some random stickers that I keep in my stash. I kept the stickers in a diagonal from the bottom left to the upper right to keep it pleasing to the eye. I didn't want an embellishment explosion.

I love the hand drawn hearts I decided to add using a black pen. It's not much, but just a little more splatter.

Check out the YouTube process video to see more!

The third photo was place on the back of this layout. I didn't film the process, but here's the back side:

TGIF; Thankful Friday #257

TGIF and Happy Thankful Friday! This week I'm thankful for my daughter. She cooked dinner every night this week! It's so nice coming home to a cooked meal.

Tonight is always Pizza Night in our household. We've been doing Pizza Fridays since the 90's. I'll be honest, sometimes I get tired of pizza but the tradition is something I love and am thankful for. 

What are you thankful for this week?

Leave a comment below! 

Dollar Tree Valentine's Project

Do you go all out for Valentine's Day? I don't normally but something about having grandchildren certainly changes that! 

I bought these plastic hearts from the Dollar Tree (or should I say $1.25 Tree?). They came in a set of four. I decided to gift one to each of my granddaughters and my two coworkers for Valentine's Day. 

I didn’t realize it, but the package also included four pieces of red/white twine and four Happy Valentines' Day tags in there. Nice surprise and great bargain!!

I used my Cricut, white vinyl scraps and the Annie Leu script font to cut their names. This is becoming one of my favorite fonts in Design Space. 

Steps:

• Cut names with vinyl
• Adhere name to hearts
• Fill with treats
• Add twine and bow
• Give to your loved one!

This was a quick and fun project and I'm so glad I bought some during my last shopping trip to DT.

Here’s a quick video if you prefer a visual: