Page Maps Pebbles Sketch Contest

  Hello, friends! I'm rushing to get this post done this morning because we have such a busy day planned. The pumpkin patch at Rocky Creek Farm is a must-visit every fall, and the girls are getting together with some friends this afternoon. Then it's a few hours of piano lessons for me and getting ready for a trip to the farm this weekend.

  I've had a hard week, so creativity hasn't been at the top of my list, but I did manage to get one page done. The Page Maps blog is hosting a sketch contest sponsored by Pebbles. Here's the sketch:

And here's my take on it using my new kit from My Creative Scrapbook:

I've been saving this adorable photo of Mom and Olivia making lefse, and this vintage collection from Teresa Collins is just perfect with lovely fall colors, and lots of family-themed embellies.

  I needed a little craft therapy this week, and even though our trip to the farm this time is going to be hard, it will be wonderful to see my Grandad's legacy in my wonderful family. Grandad lived to be 96 years old, and he was an absolutely wonderful man. This photo was taken six years ago at his 90th birthday party. My daughters just adored him!

Have a safe and happy weekend, my friends, and remember to cherish the ones you love! 

Once Upon a Sketch #2 ... Almost

     Sometimes you love a sketch so much you have to use it twice, right? That's the story with the Once Upon a Sketch challenge this month. The challenge also involved using a particular quote in creative ways, which I entirely forgot about. So this entry isn't actually an entry, but it almost was.

Here's the sketch:

And here's my second go-round:

     I used my last piece of Pink Paislee Hocus Pocus paper for this layout, a Tim Holtz mask and playing card, and I cut the grungeboard sign with my alterations die and inked it. Embossed images from the Toxic Treats stamp set from Stampin' Up served as accents.

The orange flowers started life as white flowers, but that just wouldn't work at all! I misted them with Pumpkin Pie ink and used black glitter around the petals to doll them up a little.

I decided to use the back side of the Tim Holtz playing card and used a rub-on from the collection.

  I hope you're enjoying fall wherever you are today. Thanks for stopping by today, my friends!

Farewell to CPS

     Since this will be the last month for the CPS Challenge Blog, I decided to play along. This was the very first challenge site I ever participated in, so I'm sad to see it go. I know Tami and the design team put a lot of time and love into making all the great sketches they shared over the years, so a big thanks to them!

  This month the challenge is to pick a favorite CPS sketch from the past. I have a special friend with a birthday coming up, and I thought sketch number 153 would be perfect for a "Sending Birthday Wishes" card.

Here's the sketch:

And here's my take:

  I used Pink Paislee's London Market paper pad, some hand-dyed seam binding ribbon from Kristii Lockart, some shimmer painted grungeboard wings (Tim Holtz), and my SU edge die and embossing folder. I did another hand-made button out of the paper collection with my sizzlits die. This card turned out very girly (just like its recipient) so I hope she likes it. 

  Hope you're having a wonderful Saturday!

Candlelight Christmas Mini Album Sneaks

     Some of my club members got to see the nearly-finished mini album at our last meeting, but for those of you who didn't, I'm here to share some sneaky peekies! This mini was tons of fun to create and has lots of space to capture your Christmas memories. We'll be using the GORGEOUS Candlelight Christmas DSP from Stampin' Up, along with some other great SU products and some wonderful Tim Holtz goodness. I don't know how we're going to pack all this crafting into 1+ days, but we're sure going to try to work some Christmas magic! On to the sneaks!

I'm so excited to see you all at the class! Be sure to check the Facebook invite for cost information and a list of supplies you'll need to bring. See you there!

World Card Making Day 2012

     Happy World Card Making Day, friends! I hope you get to set some time aside today to make a special project for someone special in your life!     

     Do you have a stamp set in your stash that is just totally you? That embodies every design element and style that you love? Mine is the Papaya Collage Stamp Set from Stampin' Up. I have several sets that I love, but I think this one is just completely "me."

     My mom's birthday was last week, but we always have a big family birthday bash at the end of October where we exchange gifts and cards. I wanted to make her card reflect her love of nature and the outdoors, and I just had a hankering to do a project with a pretty, feminine feel.

     I kept the layout simple on this project to draw attention to the lovely images in this set. I stamped the leaf motif in Lucky Limeade around the edges, added some Rose Red popped up roses and butterflies, and used the greeting from the Apothecary Art set for the sentiment. I used rhinestone strips for the butterfly bodies to add just a little touch of sparkle.

     Thanks for stopping by today, my friends!

Once Upon a Sketch October Challenge

     I'm absolutely addicted to challenge blogs lately, and Once Upon a Sketch is one of my faves. I made a resolution at the beginning of the year to journal on every scrapbook page, and this blog incorporates journaling into every challenge. 

     The sketch for this month included the use of a quote. Here's the sketch and the quote:

     I've been trying to use up some of my old paper collections, and I was down to my last two sheets of Pink Paislee's Hocus Pocus line when I started this project. This paper is super fun, but I had absolutely no embellies left from the collection with the exception of a few stickers. This scenario stresses me out because I'm so dependent on my coordinating products, and I don't think I'm especially good at thinking outside the box. I found some vintage images from Crafty Secrets, a tag I had already stamped, a few K & Company goodies, and an ABC Primer chipboard sticker, and threw it all together into what I hoped would become a hodge podge of happy goodness. 

I used part of the quote in strips over my tag.

I broke out some Tim Holtz Halloween masks to add some details ...

... and of course, this is last year's photo because I'm always at least that far behind. There's just so much life to live, isn't there?

  We're off to surprise the kids with a trip to the movies this afternoon. We haven't been in more than a year, so it's sure to be a fun treat!! It has stopped snowing and the sun is out, so the day just got even brighter. Have a wonderful weekend, my friends!

Special Cards for Special People

 I love creating cards for special people! It's rare that I actually know who the recipient of my creations will be while I'm making them, so I really got to challenge myself this week to find fitting designs for some cards my mom requested.

     The first special request was a birthday card for her twin sister. My aunt is an amazing quilter, so I wanted her birthday card to reflect that special talent. (I'm so glad she and my mom are twins! Getting her call reminded me Mom's birthday is coming up soon too!) I used a bear paw quilt square as inspiration after seeing a similar card posted by trackscrapper on the Splitcoast Forum. I paper pieced the pattern before embossing it with my square lattice embossing folder.I can't wait to try this with other quilt patterns from my vintage quilt patterns book. 

  The second card is a thank you for all the work my aunt and uncle did while they were "vacationing." They seem to improve any place they visit! I tried to put a little travel theme together on this one and made sure to include some postage with a vintage truck since my uncle is currently rebuilding a classic truck. (Not like this one exactly, but you use what you have, right?)

  There are some more homemade paper buttons on this one -- my new favorite thing!

  I hope you are having a wonderful week, my friends! Thanks for stopping by!

Once Upon a Sketch September Challenge #4

     I have to admit I was a little overwhelmed by the challenges at Once Upon a Sketch this month. I wasn't sure I could manage to create something that met all the fun requirements that the Color Stories challenges introduced, but I decided to give it a try this week. Guess what? It was a blast! 

  For the challenge this week, we had to use the sketch, all the colors in the scheme, two items from the evidence and one item from the testimony. I realized that my Prima Zephyr papers already contained all the colors in the scheme, so all I had to do was choose my photo and get creating! 

I chose to use a page from a vintage music book and wings from the evidence, and I used the inspiration words from the testimony to title my page, "The Years Fly."

I used a lot of fussy cut flowers from the collection  and layered them with dimensionals to add some height to the right corner of my page. Some Prima flowers, a chipboard sticker from the paper collection, and Tim Holtz wings added some more loveliness. I finally invested in my first bottle of perfect pearls (what took me so long?), and I stamped a flourish in matching blue ink and used the shape as a guide to create my pearl swirls. 

I adore the wood accents that match this collection, so I used a couple of those in the upper left corner. I thought the clock was a fitting addition to the theme of the page too.

Once Upon a Sketch challenges always include journaling (one reason I love them so much), so I used a tag from the collection that tucks behind my photo mat.

  I had so much fun playing along with this challenge! I enjoyed looking at the summery Zephyr colors while watching the snow fall here in lovely Montana. I hope you have a wonderful week, my friends!