A Few Cards

Yep, two posts in one day.  Go figure.

I have all sorts of new scrappy things to play with: paper, stamps, embellishments, markers... the list goes on and on and on.  So since it's raining and kind of yucky this afternoon, I decided to to to my office/studio and play.

First up,  a card for this week's 2 Sketches 4 You challenge.  This is for Laura's sketch 50:

After rotating the sketch, I made this sweet hybrid card using BasicGrey's Green at Heart line, combined with Papertrey Ink's new Dotti Biscotti paper.  (Editorial note:  Even if you didn't like the paper [which I do], how can you resist that name!)  These papers worked perfectly with the butterflies in Amy Wolff's Weekly Gazette pack; I just added a bit of bling for their bodies.  The butterfly wings float over the surface of the card.

Hi:  Supplies:  paper: BasicGrey, Papertrey Ink,textured cardstock: Core'dinations, 

border and letter stickers: BasicGrey, gems: Brenda Walton for K&Co., ink: Clearsnap, tool: Cuttlebug (Provo Craft), die: Spellbinders, adhesive: Scotch, Therm O Web.Digital supplies: , Butterflies: The Weekly Gazette by Amy Wolff Designs, 

software: Photoshop Elements 8.0 (Adobe).

Next I did two cards for Cammie's challenge at the Papertrey Peeps blog.  For the first time, I finally used (and won't admit how long it's been gathering dust) my Medallion stamp from Stampin' Up!  It pairs beautifully with gems.  I did one sympathy card and one thanks card, using different gem placement each time.  The bottom one was embossed with Ranger's Distressed Embossing Powder, and has a really rough texture that nicely plays off the shine of the pearls.

Many Thanks and Deepest Sympathy. Supplies: Kraft paper: Stampin' Up!, 

Stamps: Stampin' Up!, My Sentiments Exactly, Gems: American Crafts, 

Ink: Vivid (Clearsnap), Versamark (Tsukineko), Embossing Powder: Ranger, 

Tool: heat gun.

And finally, I used a sketch from the May/June issue of Paper Crafts magazine; in particular, I was inspired by Monika Davis' card using some magic mesh.  That's a product that's been collecting dust in a drawer for too long.  The Father's Day card follows the sketch pretty well, and I love the tree transparency.

Happy Father's Day.  Supplies:  paper: K & Company, other, 
stamps: Papertrey Ink (Borders and Corners Oval, Daily Designs Sentiments), transparency: Deja Views,mesh: Magic Mesh, brads: American Crafts, 
ink: Stampin' Up!, Fluid Chalk (Colorbox), tools: Crop-a-dile (We R Memory Keepers), oval punch (Marvy Uchida), adhesive: Scotch.

The Key card deviated away from the sketch, but had its origins there. It's actually a see-through card, with the brown frame highlighting the heart and key that are adhered to the inside back of the card.

Key to My Heart.  Supplies: paper: BasicGrey, transparency: Deja Views, 

mesh: Magic Mesh, tools: Cuttlebug (Provo Craft), dies: Spellbinders, adhesive: Scotch.

Storybook Stew

Matthew's first grade school play was yesterday. The four classes put on Storybook Stew, and each did an adaptation of a different fairy tale. Matthew's class did The Sky Is Falling and he was one of the forest squirrels. They had two showings, one at 9:30am for the Kindergarten and pre-K classes, and one at 1pm for the parents.

Since I was way back in the theater, I bumped my ISO up really high (1600) and got some decent, if grainy, pictures of the kids on stage. Matthew's the one to the immediate left of the tree in the first picture, and directly in front of the tree in the second. He had a great time, and we could hear him from our seat. (Yes, he is the loudest human alive.) We were a little surprised, though, because he's always telling us he doesn't like to sing where people can hear him.

After the play they had a cast party. Here's a picture of all three of the play's squirrels.

Aren't they just the cutest?

Groovy Challenge

A few years ago, I scanned a bunch of slides for my parents.  Naturally I kept copies of all of them.  Tonight I decided to do a layout of one of them. This was a lot of fun to create.  My challenge to you is to pull out an old photo in similarly, uhm, attractive clothing, and post it on your blog, Facebook or in a card or layout, for all to see.

Groovy, Baby!  Digital Supplies: Template: December Daily by Ali Edwards, 

Paper: Summer Safari by Jessie Edwards, Classic Cardstock Christmas by Katie Pertiet, 

Edge: Sand Scratched Photo Frames 1 by Anna Aspnes, Swirl: Flocking Christmas 

by Anna Aspnes, Font: AR Christy.

Journaling:  The early 70s were not kind to fashion. Bright, screaming yellow must have been “in”.   Mom was dressed up for an evening out, and we were in our pajamas, ready for the babysitter.

Being Satisfied With Doing Less

Many of you know I started back to work with a number of steady contracts in mid-December.  I've spent that time enjoying working again - I truly love medical writing and getting into the data.  But trying to re-balance my other household and child duties meant that my craft time suffered.  I'm finally feeling a bit more balanced again, have learned to streamline some chores, and am getting more time for crafting.

The March 2010 edition of ScrapStreet.com Magazine highlighted BasicGrey's Origins paper line.  Here are my projects:

Happy Birthday.  Supplies:  Paper: BasicGrey (Origins),Stamps: Papertrey Ink, 

Twill: Stampin' Up!, Flower: Prima, Tools: scallop punch (Fiskars), acrylic block, 

Specialty ink: Tattered Angels, Ink: Ranger, Other: leaves.

Friend.  Supplies: Paper: BasicGrey, Rub-ons: BasicGrey, Stampin' Up!, 

Pen: Copic, Specialty ink: Tattered Angels, Ink: Clearsnap, Ranger, 

Twine: Stampin' Up!, Dies: Spellbinders, Sizzix, 

Tools: circle punches (Marvy), Cuttlebug (Provo Craft), rub-on tool (BasicGrey), 

Adhesive: ThermOWeb, Scotch.

Welcome, Little One (a layout of my sister's Christening).  Supplies: Paper: BasicGrey, 

Stamps: HamptonArt, Papertrey Ink, Ribbon: Making Memories, other,

Twine: Papertrey Ink, Tools: scallop punch (Fiskars), corner rounder (Creative Memories), 

fingertip knife (Fiskars), glass cutting mat (EK Success), acrylic block, sewing machine, 

Markers: Copic, Zig, Ink: Clearsnap, Ranger, Other: thread, button.

So my recent scrappy obsessions (when time permits) include Papertrey Ink products, Copic markers (and coloring pretty images with them), and hybrid projects.  I have had this wonderful photo (ca. 1973) of my grandparents feeding the calves on their farm in a frame in my house for years.  But a long time in the sun has taken its toll, and it's time to put the photo into an album or risk it fading to nothing.  This Webster's paper, with its old-world feel, combined with some of Katie Pertiet's digital stamps (the cow one in particular), made for a fun layout.

 La Vie Est Bonne.  Supplies: Paper: Webster's Pages, Bling: Prima, Ink: Ranger,

Specialty ink: Smooch (Clearsnap), Pen: atyou Spica (Copic), Tools: finger tip knife (Fiskars), 

glass mat (EK Success), minimister (Ranger), Adhesive: Scotch, EK Success, Digital supplies:  Brushes: Countryside Clusters and My Family Genealogy Definitions by Katie Pertiet.

 A few of the Street sisters and I entered a digital card-making contest.  Alas, we didn't make it too far. My challenge was to do an easel-style card.  Digital stamps of Alice and the mushrooms, paired with some Fancy Pants rub-ons and Cosmo Cricket papers, made a fun card to send to my niece.

Spring Wishes. Supplies: Stamps: Papertrey Ink, Paper: Cosmo Cricket, 

Kraft paper: Stampin' Up!, Die cuts: Fancy Pants, Markers: Copic, Ink: Clearsnap, Ranger, 

Twill: Stampin' Up!, Tools: acrylic block, Cuttlebug (Provo Craft), Die: Spellbinders, 

Adhesive: Scotch, Therm O Web, EK Success, Glue Dots,  

Digital Supplies: Stamps: The Greeting Farm.

Earlier this week, I decided to try out the Copics on some highly detailed digital stamps. I selected and sized them using Photoshop Elements, then printed them out and colored them in the evenings while watching TV. I really love how this card came out. 

Spring Bird.  Supplies: Paper: Webster's Pages, Cardstock, stamp: Papertrey Ink, 

Markers: Copic, Ink: Ranger, Bling: Walmart, Cloud 9,   

Digital supplies: Paper: Classic Cardstock: Cleansing by Katie Pertiet, 

Brushes: Birdwatcher Silhouettes No. 2 by Katie Pertiet, Birdwatcher Clusters by Katie Pertiet, Software: Photoshop Elements 8.0 (Adobe).

And finally, I'm trying out a new venture.  I've begun to make some digital templates and quick pages, under the name 4Two2 Frameworks. Grab the freebies on the ScrapStreet blog:  Framework No. 1 and Castle Cutie Quick Pages.

I made the layout below with one of my quickframes: Jeremy's hands holding a frog.  Can you tell I'm a mom to boys?

Spring Doings

Spring blooms are nearly done here, but I thought I'd share what's around my yard:

The early season cherry trees were really beautiful this year:

And the lorapetalum put on quite a show as well.  Here is a photo of the nearly 5-foot tall bush in front of the house...

and here is a close-up of one of the flowers.  I think they look like exploding fireworks.

This is the later-season cherry tree that's in the backyard.  When we moved in nearly 9 years ago, it barely reached the eaves of the roof on the shed next to it.  Now it towers over that whole area.

And the phlox near that cherry tree is so pretty, nestled up in front of the day lily leaves:

The day before Easter, we went to the NC state zoo in Asheboro.  They were giving "Easter egg" treats to a number of the animals.  They blow up a ballon, cover it in paper mache and paint them to look like Easter eggs.  Once it's dry, they deflate the balloons and put snacks into the eggs, and place them around the animals' enclosures.

The cougars were such fun to watch!  They really went into hunting mode, and stalked their prey before pouncing on it and ripping it to shreds.  Here's one climbing up a tree to get the egg:

The black bears weren't quite as observant as the cougars, and it took them a while to figure out food was available.  But once they figured it out they had a ball getting their treats out.

The boys were on spring break last week, and it got into the low 90s on several of the days.  We traditionally open the pool at Easter, and by Tuesday, when it hit 92 or so, the pool was ready to use.  Ready from a balanced chemicals and clarity perspective, that is.  The water couldn't have been more than 63 degrees.  But that did not stop my boys from getting in.

They were freezing, but managed to submerge and have fun for a good 15-20 minutes before they were cold enough that the testosterone was no longer in charge of their brains.

Oh, and the dog went too...

I'll have a few scrappy creations for you tomorrow or Friday.