happily ever challenged #6

And speaking of PTI forum member there Ted has posted a fun challenge in his blog! You can check it out here. The gist of it is a recipe challenge, where each component of the recipe depends on your birth year. My challenge required a card that:

• has a red base
• included sewing
• used beads
• has a shape (circle, square, etc) in the main image

Now, all of these requirements were reasonable enough for me to execute... except for beads! ACK.... seriously!?? OK, that's why they call it a challenge, right? So, here is what I came up with.



Luckily for me I just recently acquired the Round and Round anniversary stamp set! Circle... check! The sentiment is stamped from Through the Trees and heat embossed. Sewed the paper and the sentiment strip... check! Red base... check! OK, beads. I don't really "do" beads, but yet I had a big assortment set of little micro-beads in my stash. One of those things I "acquired" a loooong time ago figuring I'd try them out and I don't think I had ever used them. So I pulled out the red ones, and painstakingly hand-sewed them on as the little "berries" on the branches in the stamped image. Beads... check! I'm so proud!

It's always good to get outside of your comfort zone now and then, creatively speaking. Sometimes you might even find something new that you like. This time, I did NOT! I did learn, however, that I don't like working with beads. And I guess that's good to know!

Thanks for the great challenge, Ted!

my newest obsession: Papertrey Ink

So, I recently discovered this amazing company/site for stamps and stamping supplies, Papertrey Ink. When I asked my scrappy/stamping friends who had heard of it and why they never told me about it, one responded: "We didn't tell you because we love you, and we don't want to get you kicked out of your house." VERY good point, my friend! I have quickly fallen head over heels in love with PTI's stamps and ink, and I plan to start collecting as much of it as I can! I've received one order so far, and am anxiously (read: "impatiently!") awaiting my second order, with some awesome goodies from their recent May release! (In the meantime, I have started to accumulate a lengthy wishlist! After all, they've been around for a few years... I have a lot of catching up to do! )

So anyway... the point of this post is not to simply gush about PTI, but to share some of the cards I've made as I've been getting acquainted with the goodies in my first order! This first one uses their Through the Trees set, and Fresh Snow and Pure Poppy ink. I have looked and looked for a good white ink, and never been happy with the options out there. But now, I have found one that works!


This next one is pretty simple, using Turning a New Leaf, Fresh Snow ink again, and the sentiment is from Through the Trees.

This this last one, I used the leaves from Turning a New leaf again, and used the Round and Round 2009 anniversary set. This is a limited edition set that was only available as a purchase bonus last year, but there are a number of people on the PTI forum who earned multiple sets. I was lucky enough to purchase a set from a forum member - this is such a wonderful set! The sentiment is from an Inkadinkadoo set that I've had for a while, and I added the 3 little gems from Creative Charms to dress up that cute little butterfly a bit!


As you can see, I'm having lots of fun with my PTI goodies! Expect to see a lot more stamping from me in the foreseeable future!

daydream every day

I just loved this photo of my little Tyler, caught sitting under a tree on a beautiful spring day. The page, features Bo Bunny Flower Child. This line is just GORGEOUS! And so versatile - I might not have thought that a line called "flower child" would be the best choice for a boy page, lol, but with the double-sided sheets and great variety of patterns, it was perfect! I love the bold colors and patterns.

I gave my craft knife a workout, cutting the pattern from flower child for the cool border effect, and layered a scrap of red from the back side underneath for the great contrast. The Psychedelic Die Cut provides most of my background, but I cut the right edge off to add the border and journaling elements.

I stamped the "perfect moment" caption in the circle of the paper pattern using some Post-it notes to "mask" the edge of the circle. I love the effect!

You can see the sketch for this page on the Allyscraps blog!

Journaling:
A beautiful spring day...
...the shade of a perfect tree...
...a blade of grass to contemplate.
What a wonderful time for a daydream.

BIG giveaway!

Life Preservers Kit Club is hosting an AMAZING giveaway. A HUGE giveaway. You can have a chance to win their May Mega Kit plus some awesome Creative Charms Vintage Poppies products. The May Mega Kit features My Mind's Eye Little Boy Blue and Crate Paper's Brook. Here is what is included in the kit:

• 4 Sheets MME Pattern Papers (3 are double side and one is a die cut)
• MME Alphabets
• MME Accessory Sticker Sheet
• MME Tickets
• MME Sticker Sheet
• 4 Sheets Crate Paper Brook
• Crate Paper Brook Journal Sticker Sheet
• Crate Paper Chipboard Sheet
• 8 Sheets Bazzill
• 2 Yards May Arts Premium Ribbon
• 4 Creative Charms Vintage Poppies Embellishments
  

To see the entire kit go to: Life Preservers May Mega Kit.

To win just leave a comment on the Creative Charms blog! GOOD LUCK!

do this in memory of me

I'm so happy to be guest designing this month at Allyscraps! If you haven't seen it yet, there is a May 1 Sketch Challenge posted with one of my sketches. You still have a few days to get your entry in for that great prize!

Check out my post today for the "3-in-1" sketch that goes with the layout above! I just love the wonderful new Bella Blvd. Estate Sale line, and it was perfect for these pictures from Ryan's First Holy Communion from last year. Yes, it's true... there is a hint of pink on this page, a real rarity for me when scrapping the boys, LOL! But I thought it was just subtle enough to complement the pinks in the stained glass window and the alter flowers on the large photo! :)

Journaling:
Your 2nd grade class had been preparing virtually all year for this big day – your First Holy Communion. What a milestone on your journey of faith. Daddy and I pray that as you grow, your faith will always be a strong and guiding principle in all that you do. May you forever find strength in the grace of God’s love and mercy.

How about a pretty Mother's Day card?

I'm so excited and proud to share that I was asked to be part of the Creative Charms Design Team! The company makes such pretty and unique charms, brads, and other embellishments, and they are so fun to work with. You can check out lots of inspiration from the whole team on the blog!

For my first Creative Charms project, with Mother's Day fast approaching, I thought what better way to put some of these gorgeous Sparkled Flowers, Sparkled Butterflies, and Gradient Gem Stickers to good use? I made this card for my mother-in-law (shhhh, don't tell her! :). I used gems from both the blue and green packs - I love how they dress up these chipboard letters that have been in my stash forever!



Love the dimension!



Here are some close-ups of the pretty, sparkly goodness:





And with all those great October Afternoon paper scraps left on my table, I put together this easy little multi-purpose card and added the Vintage Brads for that perfect finishing touch!



Thanks for letting me share!
- Debbie

graduation day

I know, I know!! I haven't been updating my blog... mostly because I haven't been scrapping! It's been a crazy, busy semester. But... it's almost over and I expect to get a lot more scrapping done in the coming month! :)

In the meantime, here's a page that seemed to take me the whole semester to finish, LOL! Since Tyler is about to finish 1st grade, I guess it's about time I scrapped his kindergarten graduation. :) I LOVE this Scrap Within Reach Paper Boy line! With so many pics I kept the page design simple.

Journaling:
Your big day - kindergarten graduation! But unfortunately, it didn't work out quite like we expected it to. A nasty tummy big was running through your class that day and kids were dropping like flies! Some didn't even make it to the graduation that evening. You weren't feeling well, but then perked up so we went; but a few minutes before the ceremony was to begin, you threw up all over your graduation gown. You sat with us and walked up onto the stage to get your diploma, but that was the extent of your participation for the evening. Still, it was definitely a memorable night!

my card-making marathon!

Each year at Easter, the Catholic Church welcomes new members who have been part of the RCIA program over the previous several months. As part of this celebration, our church asks each organization/group within the church to provide a card, signed by the group's members, for each person who is joining the church. This year there are 7 people receiving one or more of the sacraments of initiation (baptism, first holy communion, and confirmation) at the Easter Vigil. Since our Cub Scout Pack is one of the groups asked to provide cards, I got the bright idea to make the cards myself, LOL!

Once I had settled on the basic design, I pulled a variety of papers from my stash so that each card would be unique. I didn't expect it to take as long as it did to put these together, but I'm really happy with how they turned out. I used my Pazzles to cut the word "Christ" for the sentiment, and did the rest of the wording on the computer. The inside of each card says "Sharing with you the joy of new life in Christ! Congratulations from Cub Scout Pack 40".

Happy Valentines Day

I just wanted to share the card I made for my hubby, using the Carnival Ride collection from Scrap Within Reach. I love this line and have had it in my stash for a while but just not had a chance to use it. I thought it was great for this card since it has some reds in it but it isn't too frou-frou and a little bit non-traditional for Valentines Day. :)

Now I have the card-making bug... might have to try to get a few more done this week! Happy Valentines Day!

7th heaven

This is my final page for my January Guest Designer gig at Allyscraps. I love this fun and boyish Bella Blvd. Super Stud line! It was perfect for these pics of the boys devouring some chocolate covered strawberries at our wonderful Mother's Day brunch last year. And I couldn't resist working in a little bit of a "math pun" on this page, LOL!

The sketch I created for this page can be found on the Allyscraps blog. I'd love to see your take on it!

Journaling:
The huge chocolate fountain was clearly the highlight of the awesome Mother's Day brunch at Oglebay.

so happy to be cousins

I love this adorable boy-ish Kaisercraft "Superhero" line, perfect for a photo of my boys and their two cousins. Other supplies include Maya Road's Noah alpha, which I painted, and replaced the "a" with a fun little heart from this chipboard set. Of course I used my new favorite Nutmeg Thickers again, and that cute chipboard snail from the Maya Road Bugs set, just because it seems fitting with "boys" theme of the page.

My sketch for this page can be found on the Allyscraps blog, so be sure to check it out!

Journaling:
Nicholas and Nathan used to be pretty shy whenever we saw them, but as they’ve gotten older that has changed. Now when the four of you get together, you are like old friends! You both love to see your cousins, and it’s so fun to see how you have bonded with them. I hope that you four “Gaydos boys” will always stay connected and grow to be not just cousins, but lasting friends.

38 days, 4 teeth

I had to scrap these pictures of Tyler, chronicling how he lost all four of his front teeth in just a little over a month! I converted the photos to black and white, which worked much better for the page since he was wearing something different in each one and they really didn't go together very well. I used another great line from Fancy Pants - Rough and Tough. Such fun patterns, great for boy pages but versatile enough to be used for a lot of themes!

My sketch for this page can be found on the Allyscraps Blog, along with an awesome take on the sketch from Dana, so check it out!

Journaling:
The dentist saw those four wiggley teeth in November and was sure they would all be out by Christmas. He was close! You held onto that last one as long as you could, but just before New Year's, out it came. You started 2010 with quite a hole in your mouth!

the fruits of your labor

Ahhh, this was a fun page to work on! Not only because I love these photos of my boys and ADORE the rich colors and gorgeous patterns of the Fancy Pants - Trick or Treat line, but also because this is part of my January Guest Designer work for Allyscraps! And if you want to check out the sketch I created that goes with this page, you can find it on the Allyscraps Blog.

As you can see, this line is very versatile and definitely not only for Halloween layouts. Along with the Fancy Pants, I used some of these fun new Nutmeg Thickers. You will be seeing more of them this month, for sure!

By the way, in case you are very picky about the little things, like I am, I wanted to share a tip that I figured out as I was working on this page. Notice how the journaling is aligned? Here is a close-up view:



I wanted it to be justified for very clean, graphic look. However, when I typed it in Word and simply picked "justified", the partial last-line was aligned to the left margin. I wanted the partial line to be aligned to the right instead, so that the "straight edge" of the text was with the photos, and the "indented edge" was with the rounded corner. Here was my solution: I inserted a string of periods, just before the word "the" at the beginning of the last line, until the periods "pushed" the text over to the far right margin (actually, I let it push the text down to a new line, and then deleted the last period). Then I selected the periods and changed the text color to "white" so that they were invisible. Viola! This gave me exactly the alignment that I wanted. Perhaps there's another way... but this worked for me, and I wanted to share it!

side by side

It's true, it's true... I'm scrapping again! LOL! After a bit of a hiatus while things were crazy during the Fall 09 semester, I've been back at my scrap table recently. This page features Cosmo Cricket's Boyfriend line. It's an older photo, but a memory that I wanted to scrap - the first day that both boys rode the bus to school. It was so sweet how Ryan held Tyler's hand and took care of his little brother.

Journaling:
It's Tyler's 1st day as a bus rider, but I know he's in good hands. Ryan is right by his side the whole time! 8-22-08

geared up to learn

This Bo Bunny Grease Monkey collection was positively made to go with these pictures of our Cub Scout Den visiting a local auto repair shop for a presentation about changing oil and basic car maintenance. I designed and cut the large gear using my Pazzles machine. For the "tire treads" on the background, I also used the pazzles to cut the design as a "stencil" from scrap cardstock. Then I applied ink with a piece of felt, dabbing through the stencil until the coverage was just right! It worked great!

Journaling:
What a fun & educational Cub Scout outing! The Den went to Elizabeth Auto Care. Dave showed you how they change the oil in a car, check the other fluids, and perform the emissions test. He explained how the oil is processed & recycled. They even gave you each a bucket of small goodies & gifts afterwords. How nice!

Here is a close up of the Maya Road gear-date-sheer. I applied some of the Bo Bunny rub-ons to the bottom layer, and a sticker to the wrench, to tie the embellishment into the rest of the page. I used the Making Memories tiny alpha stickers to add the year, and also changed out the center brad to one of the "screw top" brads". I love the effect!



Here is a closer look at the inked tire treads:



I created a 2-pager sketch with this page! You can check it out here, and enter a page in the Sketch Challenge for a chance to win a gift certificate to the store here!