CSI Case 20 and Sketch Savvy...Little Lady Bug

Happy Memorial Day!!  Don't forget to thank a service man/woman for their sacrifices today!!  Thats the least we can do while we enjoy our freedom...

Paper: Imaginisce Twitterpated, CTMH Let's Get Together (yellow) and Emporium (light green)

Cardstock:  White Daisy, Black, and Kraft

Stamps:  Just the Ticket, Rustic Alpha, Small Chocolate Alpha, Ambiance, and Fluttering Frames

Ink: Cranberry, Buttercup, Pear, and Tsukineko Memento Black Tuxedo

Other:  CTMH flowers, Imaginisce Brad and Twitterpated Rub-ons, Plantin Schoolbook Cricut Cartridge, Copic Marker (lipstick red), and Marvy Pen

While I was busy being pregnant and miserable, my favorite sketch blogs, Sketchy Thursday and Pencil Lines decided to call it quits.  I am still upset, Sketchy Thursday's sketches always struck a chord with me and between their great sketches and amazing DT, it was instant inspiration.  Anyway, I've been blog surfing a little trying to find new sketch sites and in the process, learned about CSI.  You've GOT to check out this challenge site, it's SO much fun!!  I desperately tried to put together my layout yesterday for Case #20 and get it submitted in time, but, I just wasn't fast enough.  I did however complete it from start to finish in one day...thats practically record breaking for me!! ;O)  Of course, I got no work done and my house is a disaster! ;O)


So, here's a quick synopsis of how it works, you have to complete a sketch (cards don't count) using all 5 colors provided, 2 options from Evidence, and 1 from Testimony.  They even provide digital papers and embellishments to download and print!!  I used...
Evidence:  Insects/Bugs and Kraft Background (I snuck a mushroom in just on principle)
Testimony:  Set Journaling on top of something and Inspiration Word: cute (in my journaling)

The other site I learned about while I was blog surfing was Sketch Savvy.  It's absolutely fabulous and reminds me a lot of Sketchy Thursday sketches, but, even better!!  I chose to use Sketch #70 from back on January 20th.

Mojo Monday Baby Shower!

Yaaay!  I finally got a chance to play a little this week and even had a good excuse!  I have a baby shower today and needed a card.  I was counting earlier, including me, I've known six different people that have had babies since September of 2011 and I know five more having babies between May and this September!!  It's like there's something in the water lately! ;O)  Stay clear of Alaska if you don't want a bundle of your own!!

I played along with this week's Mojo Monday sketch and used my favorite digi stamp from Meljen's Designs.  Believe it or not, she still has it in her freebies here!!  They currently have a blog challenge to use one of their stamps with pink and green.  Wish I had checked before I did this card...I may just have to do another one! ;O)

Paper:  DCWV Nana's Nursery Baby Boy (Really Old Stack)

Cardstock:  Pear, Gypsy, and White Daisy

Stamps:  Meljen's Designs Digi Sweet Little Donkey, New Arrival, and Card Word Puzzle

Ink:  Tsukineko Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black and Gypsy

Other:  Copic Markers, Stickles, Robin's Nest Dew Drops, CTMH Bitty Sparkles (Colored with Copic Markers to match), Fiskars Border Punch, Casa Collection Ribbon, Crop-a-Dial corner punch, and Nestabilities Die Cuts

Our Little Girl Is Here...

Olivia Laray finally arrived a couple of weeks ago and we are slowly getting into a routine and getting more sleep!  I hope to have time to be crafty soon.  In the meantime, here's some pictures I thought I'd share of our new little angel!!  Her brother is totally smitten! ;O)

Hip Hip Hooray....

I made this card this past summer for Dave's Granny and have yet to get it in the mail!!!  How bad is that!!!  I don't know what is wrong with me!  Anyway, figured I'd share it here at least and hopefully, it will give me the motivation to walk it to the mailbox! ;O)

Paper:  Key To My Heart

Cardstock:  White Daisy and Tulip

Stamps:  Card Chatter-Happy Birthday and Happy Forever

Ink: Tsukineko Memento Ink in Tuxedo Black, Juniper, and Tulip (Sponged around cardstock)

Other:  Copic Markers, Stickles, Recollections Adhesive Sparkles, CTMH Hollyhock brads, EKSuccess Corner Rounder, Crop-a-Dile Corner punch, and Celebrate It White Ric Rac Ribbon

My Work In Progress...

So, we found out this week what we are having...it's a healthy baby GIRL!!!  She's about the only thing I've managed to work on lately!! ;O)  She was less than cooperative during the sonogram, so our pictures aren't exactly stellar.  This was our first experience with a 3-D sonogram, kind of disappointing I have to say!

I have one card I will share with you tomorrow that I completed forever ago and never posted.  I also have a couple layouts in the works I'm hoping to share soon.  Sorry for my lack of productivity!  I have a feeling I won't be very consistent until after our little trouble maker makes her appearance this spring!!

Happy Birthday to Me...

Hey everybody!!  I'm finally starting to feel more like myself, o.k., well, less nauseous anyway...still extremely exhausted!  Anyone who says they "Loved being pregnant" didn't have to work!!  

I photographed these beautiful cards, that I received for my birthday ages ago, but, am just now getting them posted.  Aren't they gorgeous!!

The first one is from my friend Barbara, isn't the background paper great?  She totally did that with embossing powder and a fancy tool....I need to ask her how, I've never seen anything like it!  How great is it!!  She also did a great job on the ice cream cone from the stamp set with the Fanfare Workshop on the Go with embossing powder again...I never think to stamp tone on tone.  I love how it looks!  If you want to see more of her work and read her creative take on life, check out her blog here at "Grammy's Place"!

The second one is from my mother-in-law, Diana.  How great is it!  I just love the colors!!  She used the Splendor paper pack.  Can you tell they are great customers! ;O)

I'm Still Alive...

Sorry it's been FOREVER since I posted last.  Its an understatement to say the last few months have been a roller coaster for us!  First off, July was a reporting month for me at work, which by default, means a nightmare of long days and legal "help"!!

My reports were submitted on time with less drama than has been the case recently, but, it was hard to celebrate because my little man had a tonsillectomy looming.  I was an absolute disaster in the days leading up to the surgery and barely held it together by clinging to the thought that the worst of it would be over as soon as Owen was out of the hospital.  Unfortunately, although the surgery went well, the aftermath was worse than our worst nightmare.  I'll spare you the bloody details, but, we ended up back in the emergency room and Owen's recovery took more like a month than the week we were promised.  My faith in the medical profession could not be lower at this point and I am so thankful to have gained some knowledge over the past couple years about all the alternative medicine and treatments available to us.  I have no doubt that Owen would not be where he is today without the help of naturopathic medicine.  I'm happy to report he's fully recovered and does seem to be better off without those giant tonsils closing off his throat!  His ear infections persist however, and we'll have to figure that out.  But, we're able to keep them from flaring up with some ear drops.

Here's my brave little man just after his surgery in his dad's arms.

This is my little dude back in the Emergency Room just 4 days later.  You'd be surprised how fast they'll see you when you're covered in blood with a little one in your arms!  I was really proud of this guy, even in the ER, they had to poke him 3 times to get an IV going.  He wasn't happy, but, took it like a man!

So, thats not the end to our drama.  I had an idea before Owen's surgery, but, was able to confirm it just recently with a doctor.  Owen's going to have a little brother or sister soon!  We're all excited, but, a little overwhelmed.  This little buggar is making me SO sick!!  It's not smells this time, but, instead, movement.  I have trouble watching t.v. or using the computer...especially, when you have to scroll through stuff and FORGET about using my Iphone or Dave's Ipad!!  Even writing about it is making me nauseous!!!  Needless to say, I am not spending too much unnecessary time on the computer looking at blogs and scrapbooking doesn't seem to be an option either.  But, I'm into my second trimester now and have my fingers crossed that things will improve shortly!!  

Thanks for sticking in there with me!!  I have a few things I hope to post in the upcoming days and hope to get back to my craft table this weekend too...wish me luck!! ;O)

A Way Late Birthday...

In the race to get my example cards done for the senior card club flyer, I had to come up with one for my aunt who's birthday was way back in April...oops!  I haven't done real well this year getting anyone's card to them on time...I have really good intentions and its not like I forget...I just can't seem to get it together and life/time seems to blow right past me.  Anyway, this is obviously very similar to the Cranberry/Moonstruck card scraplifted from Katy Lyn that I posted earlier.  I tried to girly this one up though. 

Cardstock: Blush and White Daisy

Stamps:  Birthday Celebration (retired), Nursery Bash (confetti; retired), and Card Chatter-Birthday

Ink:  Blush, Sunset, and Black

Other:  Crop-a-Dial Corner Punch, Stickles, and Zig pen

Card Club for Seniors...

So, I've been trying to find painting classes in the Valley that my grandmother and I could do together.  Mostly just as an excuse to spend some creative time with her.  She's an amazing painter and I keep hoping some of that artistic vibe will rub off on me!!  Anyway, I haven't had much luck finding any classes close enough, so, I decided to start a card class at the Senior Center and ask her to be my assistant instead.  My thinking was that this way, she'll get some social time, I get a little creative time with her, and best of all, I get to give back to the community in a small way.  Well, it was a great idea in theory, but, now I'm SO nervous.  I'm not sure what to expect from the ladies that attend, if I get any to come at all!!  Normally when I do a scrapbooking party, we stick to one project and I have an idea of what skill level to expect.  This is definitely out of my comfort zone, so, we'll see how it goes...here's what I come up with for the first class...

The first card is loosely based on Mojo Monday Sketch #195 posted on June 13th.  This one was the toughest for me and I especially don't love the inside.  I think I'm going to improve it by swapping out the ribbon for some white ricrac I just picked up this weekend.  Part of my plan for this card club was to take the opportunity to use up my ridiculous stash and not buy anything additional, but, this ribbon just has to be upgraded!

   

Paper:  More to Adore

Cardstock:  Chocolate, Blush, Hollyhock, and Colonial White

Stamps:  Say it in Style

Other:  Nestibilities Circle and Scalloped Circle dies, EKSuccess Corner Rounder, Martha Stewart Corner Punch (on the inside), Wild Card Cricut Cartridge, Hollyhock Brad, Stickles, and Casa Collection Ribbon

The next one was totally and completely scraplifted from fellow consultant Katy Lin.  You can see her amazing cards here.  I don't have the stamp sets she used, but, compromised by using this old retired set called Birthday Celebration.  I also don't know how she gets such clean border lines, I'm going to have to keep practicing I guess!  Be sure and tell Katy congratulations when you stop by her blog...she just got married this past weekend!!  You should take a look at the invitations and decorations she made for the wedding, absolutely A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!

Cardstock:  Cranberry and White Daisy

Stamps:  Birthday Celebration (retired), Nursery Bash (confetti; retired), and Card Chatter-Birthday

Ink:  Cranberry, Moonstruck, and Black

Other:  Crop-a-Dial Corner Punch and Zig pen

The last card is similar to the one I made for all the grandmothers in our family for Mother's Day which you can see here and also the one that inspired them both that Bryan at Scrap Guy posted here.  This time however, I took a cue from Bryan and cut the flowers and leaves using my Cricut instead of hand cutting stamped images.  Wow, SO much easier and SO much cleaner looking!!  I noticed the August issue of Scrapbooks Etc. has one of these cards featured on the front cover...they've been around for years, but, are apparently making a come back!  Who knew I was on top of a trend! ;O)  If you're interested in making your own flower pot pocket cards, you can find the directions here on the Splitcoast Stampers website.

Paper: Key To My Heart, Boom-Di-Ada, and Animal Cookies Creative Basics

Cardstock:  Tulip, Craft, and Colonial White

Stamps: Say It in Style and Flutter

Ink:  Creme Brulee, Tulip, and Cocoa (for shading)

Other:  Adhesive Gems (dollar bins at Michaels), Martha Stewart border punch, Twill Ribbon, and Cricut Cartridges (Wild Card, Accent Essentials, Designer Calendar, and Plantin Schoolbook)

I'm hoping to start the card club out slow by giving them a little taste of some simple paper crafting and stamping tools.  I'll have everything cut and ready to assemble when they arrive, so this time it will be mostly just gluing with minimal stamping and maybe using some punches.  If they're up to card making every month, I'll incorporate a new technique each time we meet.  Anyway, any suggestions are greatly appreciated!!  The club won't meet until the end of July, but, I'll be sure to share with you how it goes!!

Celebrate with Heart 2 Heart and Clean and Simple...

I haven't played along with a Heart 2 Heart challenge in FOREVER!  When I saw this week's color combo challenge, I just couldn't resisist...I think I'm getting this in just in the last minute though!  The color challenge is below, I chose Twighlight as my blue and used this weeks Clean and Simple Stamping Sketch #147. 

    

I just love this color combo, it would be great with fall pictures.  I love Barn Red, but, never think to use it on my own.  I also never remember to use my background stamps, but, I was inspired by Vicki Wizniuk's entry in the Heart 2 Heart challenge which you can see here.  She's amazing with the background stamps and it always seems to add that certain touch that makes her cards.  I'm going to try and remember to incorporate the stamps as often as possible too!!  

Paper:  Tinkerin' and Boom-Di-Ada

Cardstock:  Barn Red, Twighlight, Bamboo, and Colonial White

Ink:  Bamboo, Twighlight, and Cocoa

Stamps:  Simple Beauty, Say it in Style, and Universal Backgrounds

Other:  EKSuccess border punch and corner rounder, Stickles, Bamboo brads, Crop-a-Dial Big Bite hole punch, Plantin Schoolbook Cricut Cartridge (flowers), and Twill Ribbon

Enjoy The Ride...

I apologize for this card being posted without any explanation!!  Blogger crashed right in the middle of it, but, for whatever reason, the pictures still posted.  So frustrating!!

Anyway, I have seen other bloggers using the Clean and Simple Stamping sketches for quite some time and was finally able to check out their blog for myself.  It's not my typical style, but, I just fell in love with their sketches!!  This is my first card using their blog as inspiration, but, I know it won't be my last!! ;O)

Paper:  Paper Loft-Cosmic

Cardstock:  Olive, Kraft, and White Daisy

Stamps: Horizon, Happy Birthday, Enjoy Life, and Vintage USA 

Ink:  Olive, Outdoor Denim, and Cocoa

Other:  CTMH Rubons and EK Success Corner Rounder