Mojo Monday #112

Now that I am posting these, I am realizing I skipped Sketch #111. I'll work on that! In the meantime, here's a card I did for my mother's birthday. I used the hummingbirds on the Kleenex box I was using as a go-by for my coloring job!! ;O) I need some work with those darn Copics, but just hardly ever get a chance to practice with them!!

I've had this digital hummingbird image for months now and have been determined to use it for my mother's birthday card as she is a big fan. We do get the occasional hummingbird here in Alaska, especially in Southeast, but they are definitely a rarity!!

The image was a freebie from the digital stamps website Squigglefly and I just thought it was beautiful! They have quite a few super cute images I'd love to own, including the cutest turkey ever! ;O) I created my own background paper with another freebie called Jewelled Wings from a website called Brusheezy that has TONS of free brushes for Photoshop. This particular brush is incredible and it was fun to do digital random stamping. The hummingbirds are difficult to see in this picture, but that was kind of the point, I wanted them to be subtle.

Patterned Paper: Me & My Big Ideas Modern Milan stack

Cardstock: CTMH White Daisy, Cranberry, Clover Meadow

Digital Stamp/Brush: Brusheezy Jewelled Wings and Squigglefly Hummingbird

Stamps: CTMH Say It In Style

Ink: Tsukineko Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black

CTMH Cranberry ribbon and Copic Markers

Scary Cute!

I did these sketches all out of order and therefore, I haven't taken a photo of my Sketch #32 yet. So, we're moving on to Inspired Blueprints Sketch #33 posted on October 16th.

O.k., so I was uninspired when it came to my titles, but the pictures are from two different years and nobody will know when they are in albums....shhh....don't tell on me! ;O)

So, this layout started being a lot of fun, but quickly got super difficult for me!!! I really wanted to use this Three Bugs in A Rug paper that I'd picked up from a LSS that had the cutest little dalmatian dogs on it! But it's obviously not your standard Halloween colors. So, I tried to mix it up some and add in some more fallish colors using CTMH cardstock. I think I'm happy with the results, but it was definitely a struggle and took way too long!!!

Patterned Paper: Three Bugs in A Rug (To The Rescue line)

Cardstock: CTMH Creme Brulee, White Daisy, Autumn Terracotta

Stamp Sets: CTMH Homestead Alpha, Large Chocolate Alpha, Frightenin' Fun, and

Ink: CTMH Olive, Goldrush, Autumn Terracotta, and Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black (so the Stickles wouldn't make the ink run)

Inkadinkado Foliage Trails

CTMH paper leaves, Jolees Boutique Spirder stickers, black lace was by the yard from a LSS, Recollection sparkles and pearls, Martha Stewart glitter, and Black Stickles

Snow Cute!

Not only am I behind on Mojo sketch challenges, October really put me behind on Inspired Blue Prints sketches as well!!! To make it even worse (or maybe it's a good thing...depends on how you look at it!), the Blueprints blog was celebrating their one year anniversary by publishing weekly sketches instead of the typical biweekly posts!! ;O) So, although I kept up with the creating part, my posts definitely were deficient this past month....I'll try to get all caught up in the coming days! Here's Sketch #31 posted on October 1st:

I had SNOW much fun with this one!!! O.k., my title is corny, but I have a LOT of snowy pictures and I'm already running out of title ideas. But, I did have fun with this layout and have to say, its one of the few of my own that I am completely thrilled with! I kept Irene from Scrapperlicious in mind for this one and incorporated elements from several of her layouts. Believe it or not, this was the first time I used quite a few elements that I've had for years. For example, I absolutely LOVE this snowman stamp from the Wonderful Winter set and bought it about 4 years ago when I first started with CTMH, but have never used it!!!

I have also had the Aspen Level 2 paper for over a year now and although its probably my favorite pack, I haven't touched it!!! The paper pack has quite a bit of Twighlight mixed into the patterns, but it clashed with Owen's vest. So, I stuck with a couple of the darker patterned pages and mixed in my own Dutch Blue cardstock instead.
Patterned Paper: CTMH Aspen Level 2

Cardstock: CTMH Outdoor Denim, Dutch Blue

Stamps: Key To My Heart, Jingle Borders, Snowflake Kisses, Wonderful Winter, Winter Wonderland

Embossing Powder: CTMH White Daisy, Craft Essentials Kaleidoscope

Ink: VersaMark, CTMH White Daisy Pigment-based

Chipboard Snowflakes: Maya Road painted with Delta Creamcoat Paint (from CTMH) and dipped in Martha Stewart clear glitter

LOTS of Silver Stickles and Black Stickles on the snowman, Robin's Nest Dew Drops, Wrights snowball ribbon (JoAnns), Copics to color the snowman's hat and scarf, and Sakura Medium White Gelly Roll Pen

Mojo Monday #110

I am so behind on my posts, I don't know if I'll ever catch up with my Mojo cards!!! This one was for Auntie Shawn Day...it went together in just a few minutes...which was necessary since I was down to the wire on this one. I spent so much time at the hospital with my grandmother the weekend of this particular holiday, I didn't have a chance to get the card done to go with Shawnie's Hawaii pages. I ended up scrambling and throwing it together just before she got home from work!
Paper: Basic Grey Ambrosia collection

Cardstock: CTMH White Daisy (card base), Twighlight, Black, Autumn Terracotta

Flowers: Bazzil Basics, CTMH, Prima

Ribbon: Casa Collection (JoAnns)

Brad: Basic Grey

Punches: Martha Stewart and Fiskars??? ($1 punch from Michaels)

Sparkles: K&Company

Loved

I've been blog surfing lately, checking out other peoples work to try and help me break out of my Close To My Heart rut! ;O) I love CTMH's style, but I started scrapping with their supplies and sketches and feel like I never really came up with my own style. So, I made it my mission to start branching out and I started with this layout. O.k., so mostly I lifted this one from the Scrapperlicious blog created by a woman named Irene in Malaysia. I came across her blog about the time she posted a layout entitled, "Cute" and I totally fell in love! Her work is amazing and I hope to incorporate a little of her style into my work in the future. She seems to love layering both with paper and embellishments/inks which really makes her work stand out.

Above is the sketch she posted on the Scrap in Japan blog (in a post titled "Challenge 11") when she was a guest designer. The blog is mainly in Japanese and even the blog address is misspelled, but they have amazing sketches and examples to go with them!!

So, here's my version. This was so much fun and so out of my box!! I believe that Irene used a masking technique with alcohol inks and a Heidi Swapp mask to create the flower background. I have never used alcohol inks and didn't want to add yet another thing to buy to my list. So, instead, I used the emboss resist technique using Versa Mark, clear embossing powder, Treasure Life and Treasures stamp sets, and finished it off by sponging Cocoa ink over top. I also used the Cocoa Ink to distress the scalloped circle as well. The patterned paper is from Basic Grey's Wisteria line, I so love it!!! I also used Cocoa and Pansy Purple cardstock, embroidery floss from Making Memories, Pewter Designer Brads, Bitty Brads, and pearls from the CTMH Connections Club. The flowers are from Prima (purple), Bazzil Basics (brown), and CTMH (white). The lace was a by the yard purchase at JoAnns.

I have to say, we don't have much sunshine these days and the colors are off a little in the picture. I swear, in person, the purples are much more complimentary!!

My family thinks this is a little girly for my little boy. But, I had fun doing it and I've given up on trying to only make manly layouts, its more fun to use flowers!!! ;O)

Last One...

Although I was completely OVER Halloween cards by the time these were all done, I really had fun making some of them. I'm going to go ahead and post all of the rest of the cards in one big post so it doesn't bore everybody! Hopefully, it doesn't get too long...don't forget to scroll down!

The images used for all three cards were Friday Freebies from Digital Delights by Louby Lou. She has since moved her freebies to the Paper Craft Planet website and SNR Card Universe. I've been a member of the Craft Planet site for a while now and I am hoping that her move will be just the incentive I needed to start joining some of the groups. I have used so many of her images now, I need to make a point to thank her for them.

All three cards used K&Company Halloween stack for the patterned paper, Hydrangea, Black, White Daisy, Clover Meadow, and Orange cardstock/ink from CTMH, various ribbons I picked up at JoAnns, lots of Stickles, and Robin's Nest Dew Drops. I also colored all of the images with my Copic markers, I need more practice with these...

I had to dig in the archives for a sketch just right for this bear, don't you just love him!! For some reason, I had the February of 2009 sketches printed and thought this one posted on the 2nd was perfect.

I pretty much used all of my stamp sets for this one....Creepy Cobwebs (Boo!), Happy Haunting (cobwebs and Happy), and Witch's Brew (Halloween) all from CTMH. I also used the little spider from my Hero Arts Happy Owl-Oween stamp set. Plus, I got to use my Prima flowers, how cute are these!!! Some of them have skull and crossbones on them...I didn't know that until I got them home! ;O)

Mojo Monday #109 for Grandma

I had finished this card earlier in the day before I got the call that my grandma was in the hospital. I am so thankful that she is still here and that I was able to give her the card after she got home. This cat just reminded me so much of a little stray that she took in a couple summers ago named Anna. I truly believe that having Anna is a big part of the reason that she keeps going, even at 88!

I used a little chalk to color the cat's cheeks as I haven't figured out how to do that with the Copics yet! I also used the Merry Monsters (EEK!) and Witch's Brew (Happy Halloween) stamp sets from CTMH and the Happy Owl-Oween set from Hero Arts (spider and Owl dressed as a cat...I know, its hard to get that!).

Spooky Mojo #108

This one went together especially quickly for some reason and the little ghost image just cracks me up.

Don't you love that Martha Stewart border punch? I was thrilled to nab it up on clearance at Michael's and ended up with two more punches this past week that were even further discounted. So, I have lots to use next year! I used the Happy Haunting and Merry Monsters stamp sets from CTMH for this card.
Thanks for looking if you lasted this long! ;O)

Mojo Monday #107

October was absolutely insane for my family and I. The worst part being, my grandmother had a small heart attack and spent the majority of five days in the hospital. That was enough to remind me how quickly you can lose someone you love!! She's slowly recovering and with that, things around here are starting to return to normal. Believe it or not, I was still able to keep up with the Mojo Monday sketches during the month, mostly due to my attempt to make Halloween cards for the whole family. I had tons of fun and will be posting those along with several layouts I completed during the month over the coming days. So, check back again soon!

I realized I did not have a single scrap of Halloween paper when I started these, so, I decided to create my own. I used the emboss resist technique and every Halloween stamp set I own! ;O) Off the top of my head, I know I used Frightening Fun, Creepy Cobwebs, and Happy Haunting from Close to My Heart as well as an owl set from Hero Arts. I also threw in some spider stickers that I've had for years from Jolee's, Robin's Nest Dew Drops, black and silver Stickles, and the most fun ribbon from JoAnns. The cardstock is all CTMH's of course, White Daisy, Black, Clover Meadow, Hydrangea, and Orange (ditto on the ink colors).

I wasn't totally happy with my random stamped paper. I've never done it with the intent to use it on cards (which takes a whole lot of extra stamping), but I learned a whole lot and it held me over until I could get to the store and "force" myself to buy more paper! ;O)