Thursday, June 30, 2011

Mickey Mouse card kit

This card was CASE'd from Julie Gripenstraw MacKim who makes cards for Operation Write Home as well.  Several OWH cardmakers started making cards with this paper with lots of little square images of the Disney characters.  The sentiment on this card is a free one from Scrap-a-licious Times.  They looked like perfect cards to make for card kits for our Operation We R Grateful event being held on July 7 and July 28 at Cat's Creations Scrapbooks in Mineral Wells, TX .  So, here is the first of many CASE'd Disney cards!

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Hambo Hoedown - Doghouse Blues

Sorry for the late post today - I'm getting ready to leave on vacation and had lots to do, but there was NO WAY that I was going to miss doing the Hambo Hoedown challenge and risk getting out of the loop on the progressive challenge!

This week's digi image from Hambo Stamps is called Doghouse Blues.  We were challenged to also use dog tags, dog bones or metal charms.  I found this VERY old Frances Meyer paper with dog bones on it in my scrap stash.  It must be at least 11 years old because I used it for something in my classroom the first year I taught in 2000!  The sentiment (punched with Stampin' Up Word Window punch) is mounted on a bone that I cut with my Cricut Expression using the Create A Critter cartridge.  So, I think I did a good job of covering all the bases with the dog bones, don't ya think?  I used my Nestabilities for the circle and scalloped circle, added some Diamond Glaze to the windows, and, of course, used paper scraps from my stash.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Card Kit - TLC image & sentiment PLUS bonus pinwheel card

I am making card kits for a cardmaking party at Cat's Creations Scrapbooks in Mineral Wells, TX in support of Operation We R Grateful (email me for details at mallisonr@aol.com).  I thought this image and sentiment from TLC Creations was very masculine (which is always good for Operation Write Home cards) paired with some very old My Mind's Eye Wild Asparagus papers.  I used an OWH Stars & Stamps sketch as well.

The bonus was that I had enough scraps leftover to make a card kit of pinwheel cards using the same papers!

Monday, June 27, 2011

My First Card Kit - Yankee Doodles

Cat's Creations Scrapbooks in Mineral Wells, TX is my local scrapbook store.  Cat is joining in the fun with Operation We R Grateful by being an official drop zone AND hosting not one but two different Make n' Give classes - July 7 (6-8 PM)and July 28 (4-8 PM).  I have volunteered to help with the events since I am so involved with Operation Write Home (OWH) and making cards the troops can use to write home to friends and family.  I decided to make some kits.  Here's the first which was CASE'd directly from our fearless OWH leader Sandy Allnock.  The paper is We R Memory Keepers Yankee Doodles and the sentiment is from Scrap-a-licious Times.  I am also entering this card in the Designed 2 Delight Saturday Challenge - Red, white and blue and/or Christmas too.

My kit sample:
Sandy's original card that I CASE'd:

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Kaylie's "Dream" Card

The other morning my 8-year-old daughter Kaylie woke up and came to my bedside to tell me about a dream she had.  It went something like this:

Mommy, I just had the best dream I've ever had.  I dreamed I was in the scrapbook store and I was making a card.  It had a cupcake on it that I made with your Cricut.  And, it said, "You're so sweet!"

Well, we made her dream card!!!  She chose all of the colors and papers.  When she chose the rub-on letters, unfortunately we couldn't fit "You're" onto our card layout, so we just improvised and shortened it to say "So Sweet" which is still a wonderful sentiment for the image, don't you think?  Perhaps we have a budding card designer in our midst!  We know she's already great at coloring images, don't we?! (Look back at older posts to see examples of cards where Kaylie colored the image.)

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Designed 2 Delight - Tropical Summer

What a great image this is from Designed 2 Delight's progressive challenge!  I wanted to do bright, summery colors with it, so I turned to Echo Park's Summer Days paper - pretty appropriate, right?  I love this teal color so I made that the focus and used OWH Stars & Stamps sketch #30.

Friday, June 24, 2011

Hambo Hoedown - Pig Inmate digi

This week's image for the Hambo Hoedown progressive challenge was the Pig Inmate digi stamp.  We were also challenged to use twine, jute or some other fiber, but it could NOT be ribbon.  So, I used My Mind's Eye Lime Twist twine to create the bars on the jail cell.  I used my Nestabilities scalloped rectangle for the mat for the image which, coincidentally, gave me the perfect "grooves" to wrap my twine and get perfectly straight lines.  Unfortunately, I was not smart enough to plan it that way - it just happened!  The sentiment on the front of the card has a layer that I created with my Stampin' Up scalloped circle punch.  To me the card looks a bit stark without any patterned paper, but jail is kind of stark and bare after all, right?!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

I Miss You - Sandy Lion paper

I was on a roll using up this paper from Sandy Lion (see post from Friday 6/17 for another card that used it).  I followed OWH S&S Sketch #72 and used the sentiment stamp from Stampin' Up's Three Little Words set.  Pretty simple - paper scraps and a stamp!

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Vintage Patriotic Flag Boys - TLC Creations

The image and the sentiment on this card are both from TLC Creations.  The paper is from Best Creations Inc.  I followed OWH S&S Sketch #37.  I should have posted this on June 14 which was Flag Day, but it totally slipped my mind....old age, what can I say?  However, I'm NOT too late for the Meljen's Designs Challenge #63-Red, White and Blue!

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

A New Kind of Pinwheel

This type of pinwheel was a tutorial on the OWH Stars and Stamps blog on June 1.  I finally got around to trying it out.  The tutorial was very well written, but the photos were a bit deceiving - to me anyway!  I had no idea that those little strips of paper were so tiny!  My 8-year-old daughter Kaylie LOVES to work with tiny little things, but Mommy not so much.  After all that work though, I was very pleased with the finished product.  However, the other kind of pinwheel that I've done before has larger pieces, so I'll probably stick with it.  I know, I'm getting old!

Can you believe this patterned paper is the same Sandy Lion paper from last Friday and Saturday's cards?  It looks totally different when made into a pinwheel, doesn't it?!

Monday, June 20, 2011

Designed 2 Delight - Fresh Cut / Orange & Pink Challenge

This week's Designed 2 Delight progressive challenge image is Fresh Cut.  I paired it with the Designed 2 Delight Saturday Challenge to use orange & pink together.  Now, this is the kind of challenge I really like - one that gets me to do something I normally wouldn't.  This is not a color combination that I would normally choose, but I think it turned out well thanks to my Basic Grey paper and cardstock scraps from my stash.  Of course, I also used an OWH Stars & Stamps sketch!

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Hambo Hoedown - Laughing digi and Color Challenge

This week's Hambo Hoedown Challenge was to create a card with the Laughing digi and to include red, teal and either white, ivory or kraft.  I used OWH S&S Sketch #71 along with We R Memory Keepers Yankee Doodle papers.  The letters that spell out "Happy Day!" came from the 12 x 12 Yankee Doodle paper pad.  I love this Yankee Doodle paper because it's so versatile - it's not only perfect for patriotic cards but for any occasion!

Saturday, June 18, 2011

OWH Stars & Stamps Tutorial - Starburst

I saw this OWH Starburst tutorial and thought, "Hmmm, I'll give it a whirl."  It wasn't too bad although I did have to kind of improvise on the placement of the wedges of paper - it's definitely not an exact science.  I would guess that if I do more of these that each one might look slightly different because you can't place the wedges exactly the same every time.  Once again though, I certainly DO like the finished product!

Card Recipe:
Patterned paper: Basic Grey Nook and Pantry
Stamp: Stampin' Up Greeting Galore
Tools: Nestabilities circle and scalloped circle, Stampin' Up scalloped border punch
Ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink walnut stain

Friday, June 17, 2011

OWH Stars & Stamps Sketch #73 (a card with a pocket)

Hmmmm, I wasn't quite sure what I thought when I first saw sketch #73, then someone on the blog (maybe Sandy) said something about making it into a pocket.  I thought to myself, "Yeah, I could do that!"  I've been having fun with my felt embellishments that I got in the $1 aisle at TARGET (yes, it was Target not JoAnn's as someone pointed out on the OWH FB page).  This card uses one from the package of butterflies I got.

Card Recipe:
Patterned Paper - Sandy Lion
Felt Embellishment - Darice from the $1 aisle at Target
Bling on the flowers - from my stash
Floss - We R Memory Keepers
Cardstock - scraps from my stash
Tools - Nestabilities circle and scalloped circle, tag punch by Marvy Uchida, hello stamp by Hero Arts

Thursday, June 16, 2011

My First Square Card - You Take the Cake

I saw a square card that I just had to CASE.  I don't usually do square cards because OWH cards have to fit into an A2 envelope (to fit more in a box!), but I just made it 4.25 x 4.25" so that it would fit!

Inspiration Card:
My Card:
Card Recipe:
Patterned Paper and Twine - My Mind's Eye Lime Twist: Fly A Kite collection
Digital Image - Cindy Close
Sentiment Stamp - Stampin' Up Party Hearty set
Tools - Nestabilities circle and scalloped circle, We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

Designed 2 Delight - Mary, Mary

For this week's Designed 2 Delight progressive challenge, we were given this digital image called Mary, Mary.  For me, this image evoked more the idea of Tiptoe Through the Tulips (Oh my gosh, is that an old song or what?  Wasn't it by some long-haired dude named Tiny Tim who played the ukelele or did I just dream that up?!)  I didn't dream it up.  Here's the YouTube video for all you young 'uns who don't have a clue what I'm talking about!  BWAHAHAHAHA!

I paired the image with a sentiment from TLC Creations.  I never fail to find the perfect sentiment for my images from Paulette's HUGE collection!    Lucky for you, Paulette at TLC Creations is giving away blog candy RIGHT NOW.  Follow the link above to her blog and follow the directions for a chance to win some of her great digi stamps! 

The paper is My Mind's Eye Lime Twist from the Life of the Party collection.  I used OWH S&S Sketch #42 for this one.

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

More American Crafts Embellishments

Okay, so I *HAD* to use the whole package of embellishments before I could move on to something else.  (See yesterday's post for the other embellishments from this package.)  I know, I know, I'm a bit OCD, but there are advantages to that little flaw, too!

These cards use OWH S&S Sketch #57, Best Creations Inc. patterned paper, the American Crafts felt embellishments, and cardstock scraps, of course.




Monday, June 13, 2011

Love Me Some Rusty Pickle!

I had these American Crafts felt embellishments and dug through my scrap pile to find some paper to coordinate with them.  I came across scraps of Rusty Pickle Candy Land paper from a mini album class that I did at my LSS.  I love the bright colors of this collection.  I always seem to be drawn to the bright colors - have you noticed that?!  So, I used OWH S&S Sketch #36 and completed two cards.  I have more of these cute embellishments, but I'm out of my Rusty Pickle paper.  :-(

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Thanksgiving in June?! With OWH, Anything is Possible!!!

Yes, it's true.  This week's Midweek Throwdown Challenge on the Stars and Stamps blog is to make a Thanksgiving card.  It felt weird, but I did it!  I dug out some paper from one of my favorite companies We R Memory Keepers.  It's from the Maple Grove from last fall.

By the way, if you haven't heard, OWH and We R Memory Keepers have teamed up for a big card drive for the troops called Operation We R Grateful.  If you send some cards in or take them to a participating retailer, you could be eligible for all kinds of prizes, even a cruise!  So get busy and make some cards, even Thanksgiving or Christmas cards are fine.  We do things EARLY at Operation Write Home...takes a long time for those cards to get overseas, be written on and make their way back to the United States to loved ones missing their heroes!

Saturday, June 11, 2011

Hambo Hoedown - Three Ties Digi and a Sketch

This week's Hambo Hoedown Challenge required using an image with three ties - one plain, one with dinosaurs and the one I used - as well as following a provided sketch.  I used Echo Park Splash collection for my patterned papers along with cardstock scraps from my stash.  For punching my shapes, I used Nestabilities for my ovals and SU punches for my circles.  The sentiment is from the SU set Holiday Blitz.

Friday, June 10, 2011

6 cards for just 50 cents!

HA, I've done it again!  I bought a package of 12 self-adhesive felt cupcakes at JoAnn's for just $1.  I used 6 of them on cards and used scrap paper and OWH S&S Sketch #27.  Voila, 6 cards for just 50 cents...and they are cute!

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Make a Splash - Cricut Whale

During last Thursday's OWHtv episode, Sandy showed some extreme card makeovers using Cricut images.  It inspired me to learn how to do the layered images since I usually only use the fonts for scrapbook titles.  I had been wanting the Create A Critter cartridge since I'd seen so many cute cards made with it.  I ran out to JoAnn's and got it along with the Cricut magazine from Northridge Publishing (I used my JoAnn's coupon on the magazine since I couldn't use it on the cartridge).  Kaylie and I decided to CASE the Make a Splash card by Melyssa Connolly on page 50 of the June/July 2011 issue.  Kaylie was excited to use the Cricut and helped choose the papers to make the whale.  Once the whale was made, she kind of lost interest in the project and left me to finish the job!

The photo shows the page from the magazine on the left and our creation on the right.  Kaylie thinks ours is better!  LOL
I am entering this card in the Cupcake Craft challenge - Things with Tails.

Card recipe:
Cricut Create a Critter Cartridge - Whale, Splash and Frame
Echo Park Splash Collection - patterned paper
Sticko - rub-on letters for "Make A"
Tim Holtz distress inks - walnut stain
Stash - cardstock, newsprint vellum, googly eyes

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Basketball - Bugaboo Stamps

My 8-year-old daughter Kaylie colored this image for the Dallas Mavericks who are in the NBA finals.  She has been following the team with her daddy since they made the playoffs.  Last night they won game #4 to tie the series 2-2 with the Miami Heat.  Go Mavs!  The digital image is from Bugaboo Stamps.  I had all the paper and ribbon in my stash and used my Nestabilities oval and scalloped oval around the image.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Designed 2 Delight - Spring Fence

This week's image from Designed 2 Delight is called Spring Fence.  I paired it with Shabby Green Door's Farmer's Market paper which has a wonderful country feel.  I used OWH S&S Sketch #71 to pull it all together.  This card will also be entered in the Card Cupids Challenge - more than 3 layers.

Monday, June 6, 2011

Live Life Glamourously-TLC and Bugaboo

Yet another image colored by my 8-year-old daughter Kaylie!  This is a Bugaboo digital image and a sentiment from TLC Creations.  I used OWH S&S Sketch 29 this time.  The patterned paper is very old and came from my stash of scraps.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Hambo Hoedown - Strawberry Kid digi and a Button

This week's challenge at the Hambo Hoedown was to use the Strawberry Kid digi along with a button or two.  The Strawberry Kid comes from a collection of 8 new digital images from Hambo with a mostly fruit theme and a token veggie or two.  In addition to Strawberry Kid, there's Banana Kid, Grape Kid, Carrot Kid, Orange & Yam Kids, Apple Kid, and Tree Kid (hmmm, some fruits grow on trees, right?!).  They are really adorable and you can buy them separately here.

My card uses OWH Sketch #2.  I used paper from Shabby Green Door's Farmer's Market collection.  The paper with the light background is called Strawberry Jam (Good one, huh?) and the blue paper is called Blueberry Cobbler - all in keeping with our fruit theme!  The punches I used on the sentiment are my "go to" punches from Stampin' Up.  The cardstock, ribbon, nailheads and button with twine are all from my stash.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Miss You Balloons-Melonheadz Illustrating

My 8-year-old daughter Kaylie has been on a roll coloring images for me which is great, but I can hardly keep up with her!  Here are 4 different color combos she used on Miss You Balloons from our good friend Nikki at Melonheadz Illustrating.  Nikki created this image in honor of Operation Write Home reaching a milestone of 1 million cards sent overseas to our troops.  Click on the badge to the right for more information on how you can help us reach 2 million cards!

The first two cards use OWH S&S Sketch 35 and paper from Echo Park Splash collection.


The next two cards both use OWH S&S Sketch 31.  The top one uses Echo Park Little Boy collection (one of my very favorite paper collections from Echo Park).  The bottom one uses paper from Best Creations Inc.


Doesn't Kaylie do a nice job coloring for me?  Leave her some love in the comments.  She'd be tickled pink to hear from you!!

Friday, June 3, 2011

Cards with Images Colored by Kaylie

Remember I told you that my 8-year-old daughter was getting into the act by coloring my images.  Well, today I have 4 cards for you with images that SHE colored!  Tomorrow she will take some time off from coloring to attend her favorite summer event: The Texas Scottish Festival.  She loves to learn the Scottish country dances, listen to the bagpipes, and do the kids' crafts!  Funny, huh?!

First is an image from Bugaboo Stamps.  I used OWH S&S Sketch #33, American Crafts paper and my white Viva Pearl Pen to make the dots.
Next is the Sumo digi from Hambo Stamps.  For the challenge I used the sentiment "Wishing You a Ton of Happiness," but she really liked "Sumo-body Loves You" so I let her color another image and made a card with her preferred sentiment.  I used the same patterned papers I did on my cards for the Asian feel as well as the oval and oval scalloped Nestabilities for the sentiment.
The third card is a cute Ladybug image from Designed to Delight paired with an adorable sentiment from TLC Creations.  I used OWH S&S Sketch #40, cardstock and black ric rac from my stash and my black Viva Pearl Pen.  I don't think I let the pearl pen dry enough before I moved the card, so they don't look very even, but I'm practicing and learning.  Still love Viva Pearl Pen!
The last card in this series of colored images by Kaylie uses an image AND sentiment from TLC Creations.  Because my daughter ONLY likes green grapes, she insisted on coloring them green.  I'm least proud of my paper choices and color combos on this card, but it is what it is - sometimes it happens that way, right?  I used OWH S&S Sketch #49, American Crafts paper for the yellow and the strip with flowers and the dotted paper was in my scrap stash with no company name.  I used a scalloped rectangle Nestabilities around the image and lots of distressing inks.