Welcome, Little One

I am a little shocked that it has been almost a whole week since I have posted. I had a SU! workshop on Tuesday, so I was busy getting ready for that and then I decided to take a little stamping break. I am re-reading "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" before the movie comes out. I only have a few pages left and now I am left feeling sad that I am done, so I guess I will re-read the 7th book as well.

Today's sketch is so fun with all of the layers and circles. I made a scrapbook page for one of my workshop projects that incorporated this paper and stamp set. As soon as I saw the sketch, I knew that that "idea" would work well for this card. Although this paper doesn't scream baby, necessarily, I like how the page and the card turned out. I will probably recreate the page, since it got sent home with one of my guests.

When I first saw the "Urban Oasis" paper, I knew it was a definite "must-have". It was on my first order when it became available, yet this week was the first time I have ever used it. Shame on me, especially since it is retiring in a few short days.

I started out by using different patten papers to build the base and then worked on the circle details. I stamped the sailboat three times; once in Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze and Basic Gray. I trimmed the pieces out to create the multi-colored sailboat and raised it up with dimensionals. The star was simply stamped and then punched and mounted onto a white circle. I chose to use my 1 3/4 inch circle punch for the circles. I finished it off with a bit of Baja Breeze ribbon and a few Kiwi Kiss Courduroy Brads for a little texture.

Next week is the last week of school, so I need to get my rear in gear and get some end of school gifts put together. I will share them as I get them done!

You won't want to miss the other SFYTT designers.
Jen Del Muro and Ashley
Amy Rohl
Carole Burrage
Susan Liles and Amy Sheffer

Thanks for fluttering by!

Happy Father's Day!

As I mentioned yesterday, I needed to make a few more Father's Day cards. I decided to skip the cards and just create a "book box" to house the Barnes and Noble gift cards that we will be giving. When you open the box, there is a greeting inside from all of us. I really like the idea of having the gift box and the card combined. The box measures about 4 by 5 3/4 so it is relatively small. I just measure the gift card enclosure to get the measurements and went from there. I made a box similar to this back in my Dirty Dozen days, but it was larger and was made to hold a set of notecards. I actually ended up by giving that project away to the school librarian last year.

I had more fun with some of my backgrounds to create the book cover. I used the retired twill background on the Handsome Hunter cardstock and the Sanded background on the Creamy Caramel portion. I have noticed that SU! is slowly getting a smaller and smaller section of backgrounds and it makes me sad. I sponged the edges to give it a bit of depth and realism. I added some sewing to the edge of the caramel piece for some extra detail.
I didn't want to overwhelm the cover, so I kept the stamping simple. I used "Father Knows Best" by Papertrey Ink.

I stamped the compass image using white and then one of the sentiments in black.

The "title" of the book was simply stamped with the "Happy Father's Day" sentiment that is included in the set. The cover wasn't heavy enough to stay closed on it's own, so I glued two pieces of ribbon to the inside and back cover and tied it together. I left the tails long so that it wouldn't be hard to tie back together, if it ever does.

I hope that the "Dads" like their fun little gift. I sure had fun making them! Thanks for fluttering by!

Special Dad and Moments to Remember SFYTT

I decided to make two cards for today's challenge. This card is actually the second one that I made and the following one is the first. I had mentioned that I really wanted to make some more Father's Day cards, but I put all of that away and decided to work on something a little more "me". Once I sat and looked at the large circle, I decided that I wanted to try making a large accordion flower for the circle. I am so glad I did, because this was such a fun card to create. I have literally been stamping all morning! I haven't done that in ages!

I knew which papers I wanted use, which I use quite often. These are from a K & Company slab called "Bailey". They are double sided papers, so I used both the front and back and then pulled in another pattern from another piece. I think I will be giving this card to my daughter's kindergarten teacher with her end of year gift. Her teacher is older and I think she will appreciate this vintage design.

I added a touch of sewing and glitter to all of the distressed edges; something I love to do! A few buttons and ribbon completed the design. I am really excited to put together a fun ensemble to coordinate with the card for her teacher.

Also, I had mentioned that I would share my coach thank you projects, but I was in such a hurry I didn't have a chance to photograph them. The coaches really seemed appreciative, though. I am so glad that we have a break from sports until the end of July when football starts up again.

I am seriously in love with this sketch except for the fact that it gave me fits today! LOL! I am actually going to crank out a few more Father's Day cards later today with it. I ended up liking some other paper better, but had already committed to this paper from SU! It is from the Manchester collection. I will add them as I get them done. I apologize for my tardiness today. I slept in, made the kiddos breakfast and then got started; my computer then gave me fits and I wanted to smash it, but here I am! LOL!

I knew I wanted to use Papertrey Ink's "Father knows Best" set, yet I knew that the tree image wouldn't fit into the circle. I decided that the compass would work just fine. I decided to create a background with it as well to make it have a little more presence. I did cheat a bit and add the "Happy Father's Day" flag sentiment which really shouldn't be there.

I used my compass to trace the large circle since I don't have a punch or nestie large enough for that; yet as I am writing this I am realizing that I own a Coluzzle and I am kicking myself! LOL! Getting the circle trimmed out was one of the reasons I was having fits. GRRRRR.....I guess I have too much stuff and I certainly do forget what I have!

Nonetheless, Jen has come up with another amazing sketch!
You won't want to miss the other SFYTT designers.
Jen Del Muro and Ashley
Amy Rohl
Carole Burrage
Susan Liles and Amy Sheffer

Thanks for fluttering by!

Eleven Wonderful Years

I can't believe I have been married for 11 years today. I decided to make my husband an Anniversary card to celebrate the occasion. It is so hard for me to not make things feminine, so I hope that he doesn't mind all of the gems, bow, etc. We aren't really doing any gifts this year since we have just been to Disneyland, he just celebrated his birthday and Father's Day is Sunday. We will be going to dinner and a movie tonight, though. A date is sometimes the best present anyway!

Whenever I think of "Anniversary" I think "Wedding", too. I didn't want it to look too "Weddingy" though. I think I met somewhere in the middle! LOL! There is a lot of texture and detail on this card that was hard to photograph. I used my Ornare piercing template on the black strip to add some texture and dimension. I also ran the Sahara Sand cardstock through my cuttlebug using the Textile embossing folder. It is one of my favorites, yet I rarely use it these days.

I used three Papertrey Ink stamp sets for this card; Damask Designs, Fancy Flourishes, and Heart Prints. I think they all came together nicely fo create a cohesive design. I stamped the flourish onto white using black ink. I then stamped the hearts using Sahara Sand ink and then cut them out and popped them up. The sentiment is stamped in black onto Sahara Sand cardstock and then trimmed. The other sentiment is computer generated and just printed out and trimmed. I added some Martha Stewart gem stickers on the flourish, the sentiment and at the bottom. I finished the design off with some black satin ribbon and a button. I guess I need to go get ready for tonight! I will be back tomorrow with one of Jen's new Sketches! Thanks for fluttering by!

Background Check

Hello! I am so pleased that I am here two days in a row! Can you see me smiling? LOL! The girls (my daughter and the girl I babysit) are out of school for 3 days while they do Kindergarten testing, so I decided to stamp this morning. I haven't participated in the SCS color challenge in ages, so I decided to give it a try. I haven't used *any* background stamps for such a long time I opted to use those rather than any pattern paper. I chose to use "Bella Toile" and "En Francais". I really don't have that many backround stamps anymore that haven't retired. Once I had the background done, I didn't know what focal image I should use. As I sat there deciding, I realized that the "Bella Toile" Background stamp had a great focal image on it.

I just inked up a portion and stamped it onto my oval that I cut using my nestabilities. I had fun coloring it with re-inkers and prismacolor markers. Once I had it colored, I added a touch of crystal effects to parts of the flowers and then sprinkled it with chunky essentials glitter. I was afraid that the large glitter would distract from the flowers and all of the detail, but it worked out nicely.

I decided to add a few pearls to the corners once I had punched them with the ticket corner punch. I also added a vintage button replica threaded with linen thread and adhered it with a glue dot.

My son has his last baseball game tonight, so I will be putting together coach treats. I will share them with you when I am done! Thanks for fluttering by!

By the Sea

It has been a while since I have stamped just for me. I decided I would check out this week's Mojo Monday sketch challenge and get to work. I really liked the non-traditional size and fun details on this week's sketch. I was in the mood to make either a pretty card, or a vintage design. As you can see, vintage won. Since Summer is only a few days away, I pulled out my "By the Sea" set by TJ Designs. I have never actually used it on a completed project until today. I have wanted to use it several times, but everything ended up in the trash. I have envisioned what I have wanted, but have never achieved the right look until today. I think it helped that I paired the stamp set with the coordinating Collage Pack. You can find all of these items on theTweetyJill website.

I love combining stamped images with these wonderful vintage images from the collage pack. I added a little bit of zig-zag stitching to the bottom of the card as well as some vintage glass glitter and a sea-shell from my stash. I actually ended up sponging the seashell as well as the card to give it the same time-worn feel. It just looked too white next to all of the distressing.

I added a bit of gingham ribbon as the finishing touch.

I have quite a few teacher gifts, etc. to get ready before my kid's get out of school on July 2nd, so I will be sharing those designs with you as well. Thanks for fluttering by!

Super Son SFYTT

I was in need of a card to give to my son because he is just amazing. He has really been blowing me away with the way he keeps his room super clean, does his homework without me having to even ask; he literally walks through the door from school, washes his hands and gets to work. Yes...we still have our moments and he still torments his sister, but I wanted to let him know that I have been noticing all of these great things and that I really appreciate it. I also bought him a new shirt and a Backugon (sp?) figure thingy and left it all on his bed for him to discover. He seemed really pleased with it all.



Another thing that I noticed, is that he is really growing up fast and I don't have many "cool" stamp sets to create cards with. Lately, I have only been making him sports oriented cards, so as I dug through my stamps, I realized he has grown out of all of them. I decided to use some skulls and cross-bones paper from the Rockabilly assortment and use the old "Ahoy, Matey" set. I think this is probably the last time I can use it and get away with it. LOL! I realize that I colored the pirate in what may seem to be Christmas colors, but really I was just using the colors that are included in all of the sheets of the Rockabilly paper. In the end, I don't think he looks like a Christmas pirate.

The sentiment is actually from two different stamps from the "Star Prints" stamp set from Papertrey Ink. I just combined the "You're a Super" and "Son" onto one block. I colored the images with an assortment of copic and prismacolor markers. The poor little pirate looked too clean, so I splattered some black ink onto the image using my color spritzer tool. I added a knot of red grosgrain ribbon to mimic the head scarf and to tie in a little bit of red into the design besides the coloring. I had fun creating this for my son, even though I kept it simple. He really is a super son!

You won't want to miss the other SFYTT designers.
Jen Del Muro and Ashley
Amy Rohl
Carole Burrage
Susan Liles and Amy Sheffer

Thanks for fluttering by!