Feelin' Punchy...

Hey there!! Me again... :)

I posted a quick tutorial on the Scrap-A-Doodle Doo blog today about using Martha Stewart's punches, and thought I'd share the results here as well! :)

This "simple" layout was definitely a trying piece only because I have never really used the punch around the pages punches for their specified use before, so it definitely helped to read the instructions... Who knew there were specified page sizes?! :)

I  cut up some Webster's Pages papers that have been in my stash way too long and even some Creative Memories papers (geez, they must be like five years old by now!) and I got punchy... Counting the cardstock base, the two photo mats beneath the horizontal picture and the two title box punched mats, I have a total of five (5) punched pages on this one layout (done with emphasis for the Truly, Madly, Crafty Challenge this month!!)

For sure I would recommend using Cardstock over the thinner papers anytime, as I did not have such predictable results with the thinner stock. Otherwise, the paper size thing is important as is punching the corners first... Who knew?

Now I'm hooked and I have a card in progress using this punch as well, so I should be back later on this week with another look at the punch shown above. That being said, I'm kinda getting addicted and there are TONS of styles currently available to play with... which one should I get next? I do need a new butterfly punch since Melanie and her BFF broke it last summer...

Anywhooooo, hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day and can spend some time getting crafty!!

Momma's Gift

Hello blogland and I hope you are enjoying your Memorial Day weekend! I know this is the weekend for honoring fallen troops, and I am totally indebted to their sacrifices... but this weekend I somehow find myself missing my own lost loved ones who did not necessarily fall in war... In particular I'm missing my Mima who has been gone now almost ten years (ridiculous how time passes) and my father-in-law Gilbert who passed over a year ago...

Well... though my heart has been full of thoughts of loved ones, I do have a project to share that I made for my mommy this month... We have grown closer and then further apart and then close again the past few months, and she is probably my number one scrappy fan cause she displays all my artwork proudly.

This Kaiser Kraft Desk Organizer was probably the most crafty fun I've had in a while... I painted the base Golden and then went to town (somewhat) with my left over Graphic 45 Springtime papers. A little ribbon, some prima flowers and lots of Mod Podge later, and viola...

 

The sides of the organizer were painted and embellished with paper clippings from the collection.

The back of the desk organizer was simply a piece of paper from the Graphic 45 collection; it fit PERFECTLY...

All in all, my mom loved the piece and honestly the project probably took all of two hours, with paint dry time included! For a quickie pretty gift, this one was tops!

Those Parisian Nights...

As I mentioned in my last post, our trip to London and Paris was absolutely life changing for my students. Don't get me wrong... it was definitely a moment to remember for me too! :) But for my students, most inner-city girls from Newark who have only dreamt of seeing the Eiffel Tower in eprson, well, it was monumental. One girl was actually in tears the night we were up close and personal with the tower... Another was in tears at the Harry Potter exhibit (which I can't WAIT to scrap!!).

This card was made for Chloe (aka Feisty), who got choked up when she stood under the tower while it was all lit up during our first night in Paris. And who KNEW that it would get all glittery too? It was gorgeous...

I don't think this photo does justice to the stickles on the tower, but I absolutely love love love my Graphic 45... And this card was perfect for Ms. Chloe on so many levels...

I am submitting this card to Cute Card Thursday (for the little bit of sparkle on the tower). Sweet dreams... :)

Springtime in Paris

Hello there bloggers!

In April I had the chance to take ten of my seniors, my daughter, and some parents and family members to London and Paris for nine days. My students had a life changing experience and although it was a gruelling trip, every moment was worth it. But it has taken me THIS long to recover from the rigor and be able to begin crafting with the trip in mind. I'm currently working on mini canvases for my students and will post those when I've finished them (thanks to Stephanie for the idea!!).

But in the meantime, I started making thank you cards for the parent that came along... Although I know she didn't enjoy Paris as much as she loved London, we did have a chance to see the Mona Lisa at the Louvre, so this Tim Holtz stamp was perfect for her. And it allowed me to crack out the UTEE that I've been dying to play with for quite a while now! :)

I had lots of fun making this one because it was made with lots of love for a special mom who inspires me to be a better mom myself... And that always makes papercrafting that much more exciting...  :)

I'll be submitting this one to Charisma Cardz for their Pink and Girly challenge. They are also having a DT call over at Charisma... I'm considering applying because my darling Karmyn is always gushing about how much she loves her spot there, but I'm not sure yet...

I'm also submitting this one to Card Making Mamas for their flowers challenge and Simon Says Stamp's Anything Goes challenge. Thanks for looking and happy scrapping!!!

Rush, rush...

Hellooooooooooo there! :) Just a quick post to share a REALLY quick project I finished in about a half hour today as a Congrats gift for Melanie's dance school secretary... I had made a pretty cool mirror for the school back in October and of course I didn't photograph it... it was all royal blue, black and white (Dance company colors) and had some cricut cuts from the Twinkle Toes cart... Well, the past is in the past. :)

THIS one is simple, featuring Cosmo Crickett Circa 1934 paper and stickers, a black lace flower I made on a gluber with a K and Co brad I've been hoarding since forever and a Prima flower... Done. :)

I'm entering the mirror at Anything Goes, Tuesday Throwdown (the lace flower) and Clear it Out...

I even slapped together a card using up paper from my stash, the matching brad from the mirror and a Ketto stamp my good friend Karmyn stamped for me aeons ago...  



The card is also being submitted to Clear it Out (brad)

I can't stress how quickly these projects came together... it feels good to squeeze some crafty time in between running to get the kids... which I have to do now, so thanks for looking and have a great day! :)

“A mother would have been always present. A mother would have been a constant friend; her influence would have been beyond all other.” (Northanger Abbey)

With Mother's Day quickly approaching, it's crunch time for crafty presents and cards... this Mother's Day I am making my mom, my grandma, and my aunt cards, and making mom a special desk organizer that I'll post pics of later... I am still in embellishing mode for that one! :)

This card is for my grandmother (aka Nana) who is hopefully getting out of the hospital tomorrow... she's been in with a stomach infection for over a week and at eighty years old it's getting harder for her to heal quickly. But praise God, it's looking like she'll be released tomorrow evening, in time for us to celebrate another Mother's Day with her next weekend!

This one features Kraftin Kimmie's Queen Guinevere stamp colored with copics and accented with distress inks. Copics used: Skin - E000, E00, E11, R20; Hair - E50, E53, E31, E33, E25; Clothes- RV10, RV13, RV14, R20; Crown - YR21, YR24.

I am submiting this one to Kraftin Kimmie's Challenge Blog (Mother's Day), Card Makin Mamas (Cake Inspiration), Card Patterns (Sketch 164), Catered Crop ("B"... for Bling on the flowers and crown), and The Crafty Pad (Girly girl and Pink).

Thanks for looking, and happy scrapping! :)

Shadowboxing and Playtime

Hello, hello, and hello! :) It has been a GOOD time to get crafty these past few thunderstormy nights!!! So I finally had a chance to whip up a shadowbox project that has been in the works (in my brain!!) forever! :) My all time favorite Elizabeth Bell Digi is called Pat-a-Cake and I love love love it cause it always reminds me of Melanie and Elijah... Of course, they never do play THAT nicely together. He's more into wrestling with her and pushing her around, but it is nice to dream...

So I blew up the image in MS Word and printed it out to fill an 8 1/2 X 11 sheet, then colored it in with my copics.

Copics used: Girl's hair: E50, E53, E31, E33, E23, E25. Girl's Dress: BG10 BG13, BG15, BG18, E13, E23. Boy's hair: E23, E25, E27. Boy's pants: E13, Colorless blender. Boy's shirt E06, YR07. Skin: E000, E00, E11.

I used the airbrush system for a little soft background and added tons of old Prima stuff that's been laying around looking to pretty for use! :)

I got the shadow box at Ikea and I MAY embellish it up later on too, but right now I am liking the simple look. I just can't figure out where to hang this piece cause it's so pretty I kinda like it on display on my counter... One day. :)

I am submitting this one to Elisabeth Bell's World for their April/May flowers challenge as well as at Crafty Catz who also are challenging participants to use flowers!
Thanks for looking!! Happy scrapping! :)

Gettin all Hollywood with it...

So I don't know about you, but my absolute, hands down favorite way to get scrappy is to do so with my favorite scrappy peeps... My scrapping obsession got real strong when I was a member of Cafe Mom (feels like FOREVER ago) and I came across gals with uber scrappy talent... My girls Karmyn, Tracey, Jill, Kristy, Lizzie, and Amy have still kept in touch since we left Cafe Mom behind, and I love love love ogling their work and following (stalking?) them on facebook these days...

But then I found Scrap A Doodle Doo, and Stephanie convinced me to try a crop. We started out nice and slow, with day crops that eventually transitioned into full weekend crops hosted by the store. I HAD to take it slow or hubby would've had coniptions... Now he's an old pro at having me away for the weekend once a quarter, but those first few crops were... interesting, to say the least! :)

But one of my favorite parts of the Scrap A Doodle Doo crops are the themes... Stephanie, Mama Doodle, and Mark go all out when they plan these crops and they include everything from props to lifesize decorations to yummy goodies and fun giveaways. She's had crops that were decade related (50s, 80s, etc...), destination related (Disney, Hawaiian luau), and even nostalgic (Winter Wonderland, Candyland...). And at each of these crops we had theme inspired surroundings, music, food and fun.

Last October's Destination Hollywood crop was no exception... From a red carpet to the paparrazi, the Doo Crew went all out with Hollywood style fun! Each participant at the crop was gifted with a really cool giveaway featuring Reminisce's Hollywood Paparazzi and Lights, Camera, Action papers as well as their Hollywood 3D Sticker Sheet and some fun holographic stars to help commemorate the event.
The scrappy goodies came in very handy when I sat down to scrap Melanie's Hollywood Sleepover party... I have to admit that I borrowed Steph's idea of having a red carpet paparazzi event and had the girls walk on the red carpet for a photo shoot shown here:

(click on the photo for a larger version)

For this two page layout, I cut the Paparazzi paper in half so it could stretch to a two page layout with the red carpet in the center, and then I added black and red Bazzil cardstock to mat the picture and remaining portions of the page. Then I added the footlights that were at the top of the Paparazzi paper as well as some of the words rom the Lights, Camera, Action paper to add some interest to the layout. I finished up with the little stars that were included in the goodie bag and the three dimensional stickers for embellishment and titles... but of course, I had to stickle them up to give 'em extra pop! :)

So there you have it! Although I haven't yet seen what the Doo Crew has dreamed up in terms of Christmas in July, I'm sure that they have something creative, fun, and inspirational up their sleeves... Hope to see you there! :)

I love the simplicity of this layout and am submitting it for consideration at Crafty Catz (Anything Goes), The Poodles Parlor (Anything Goes), Just Keep on Creating (Anything Goes), and Emerald Fairies (Anything Goes)... I see a theme here with the challenge parameters, just sayin. :) Have a wonderful day and happy scrapping! :)