Transparencies - Paper Girls

This week's Paper Girls Challenge was to use a transparency - you know, those clear sheets that have designs on them that we rarely use.  Well, again they hit on a page that I had put supplies together for and never did.  It was the day my DS was born.

I had found this transparency awhile ago, and it was just sitting around waiting to be used.  I loved the saying for this particular moment - the one where he was born.  So again, since I had put the supplies together so long ago, I don't remember where any of them came from.  I can tell that most of them are scraps I put together.  Enjoy.

OWH Blog Hop Challenges

Starting last weekend, the design team at Crop Chocolate has held a blog hop spurred on my National Cardmaking Day as well as Operation Write Home.  A couple months ago, on CC's message board, there was talk of making cards for OWH, which is an organization that collects homemade cards to send to the troops so that they can in turn write to their friends and families.  Everyone there thought this was such a great idea, and so the DT decided to host a blog hop for it, which they made coincide with National Cardmaking Day (which was this past weekend - Oct. 6).  And of course, as with most of CC's blog hops, their were challenges involved.

Usually I attempt to make something for all challenges, but I had challenges myself in my schedule.  The weekend that the hop started, I was sitting in a booth at a craft fair trying to sell my wares.  Then this past week was my DD's 4th birthday so I was busy cleaning the house and getting ready for my parents to visit and for the party.  I also had to work on a special order I received at the craft fair (more on that later).

All that being said, I was able to fit in some crafty time and made some cards.  Also, some of the cards that I made within the last couple of weeks in order to add to my inventory for the fair fit a couple of the challenges.  So I am going to enter them also, as my thought was to send whatever didn't sell to OWH anyway.

So enough talk, and now to show off what I did get to make.

First off, for Amber's challenge, she asked us to follow a sketch and use embossed solid paper, two different patterned papers, and some sort of twine, ribbon or trim.  And to make as many as we could.  The sketch she gave us was very simple and easy to use.  I didn't mix it up much LO wise, but did use different colors.  I managed to make 16 of them. 

Products used:  EP Victoria Gardens 6x6, EP Times and Seasons 6x6, MM celery ribbon, Bazzil blue cs, SU always artichoke, crushed curry, naturals ivory and ballet blue cardstock, Cuttlebug embossing folders, SU tag time stamp set, SU cranberry crisp and buckaroo blue inks.

Next up was Michelle (by belle)'s challenge.  She also picked an OWH sketch for us to use, and she wanted us to make as many as we could.  I ended up with 12.  I also combined this with CC's weekly challenge last week (to make a project and put step-by-step instructions on instructagram.com).

Products used:  Teresa Collins giving thanks paper, EP Be Mine 6x6, MME Ooh La La For Her 6x6, SU regal rose, naturals white, crushed curry, sage shadow wild wasabi and ballet blue cardstock, MM embossed metal silver hearts, MM embossed copper butterflies.

Next I did Brit's challenge - to use up those scraps.  All of the scraps I used for this one were from one pack of paper - EP's Happy Days 6x6.  I made some thank you's and some happy birthday cards.  One of them actually uses EP Springtime (can you guess which one?). 

Products used:  EP Happy Days 6x6, EP Springtime 6x6, SU regal rose, naturals white cardstock, MM vellum tags, Recollections adhesive embellishments, Recollections adhesives shapes, Deja View Wonderful words rubons, MM eyelets.

I also did Miwa's challenge, which was also to use up scraps.  She gave us some sketches she used as examples, but I decided to not use them and used others.  So I used EP's Springtime 6x6 pack for hers.  Also a combination of birthday and thank you.

Products used:  EP Springtime 6x6, SU regal rose, naturals white, and sage shadow cardstock, Sassafrass blossoms - modpods, Recollections adhesive embellishments, SRM sentiment stickers, Mrs. Grossman's sentiment stickers, mm vellum tag, MM embossed metal heart, BG fabric flowers bloomers.

Between the two challenges, I made 20 cards (10 of each paper pack).

I also managed to do Nina's challenge.  She asked us to pick out one paper pack and use it up.  For this one I chose EP's For the Record.  When I first bought it, I wasn't sure about it, but it has really grown on me.  I made thinking of you, Happy Hello's, congratulations, get well, and sympathy cards.

Products used:  EP For the Record 6x6, SU crushed curry, naturals ivory, and wild wasabi cardstock, misc cardstock, Mrs. Grossman's sentiment stickers, sassfrass blossoms, MM vellum tags, MM eyelets, MM Chloe's Closet brads, SU circle circus stamp, Sassafrass paper whimsies.

I managed to make a total of 23 cards from this pack.  I still have some scraps left and could probably squeeze a couple more out.

Finally I made a few that fit Kathy's one challenge.  She asked us to use "something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue".  I only got 6 done for this one, but I really like them.  They are get well and sympathy cards.

I used MME's Ooh La La For Her 6x6 pack, Imaginisce bitty blossoms and itty bitty blossoms, MM mini pewter circle brads, Sassafrass blossoms, SRM sentiment stickers.

I hope you enjoyed looking at what I made.

Babies - Paper Girls Challenge

This week's Paper Girls Challenge was to create a project about babies.  And since I am so behind on scrapping my two babies (well, they aren't really babies anymore), I grabbed the chance to at least get one LO done.  I chose to do the day that my DS and I came home from the hospital.  It was a very vulnerable moment for us as new parents.

Since a few years ago, I had planned out all these pages in advance (to save time later picking out supplies), I unfortunately don't remember most of the products I used.  I do know that I used SU's Nursery Letters stamping wheel, and SU's garden green ink.  As for the rest, I'm not really sure.

I had fun reminiscing about those days 7.5 years ago, that it might just give me the inspiration I need to finish some more of his pages, and maybe some of my DD's pages (that was only 4 years ago).  LOL

So thanks Paper Girls for the push I needed.

GO BIG - Paper Girls

This week's Paper Girls Challenge was to GO BIG!!!  We were supposed to use a larger size photo - 5x7 or bigger.  So I decided to use one of the many photos from my first 3-day walk.  It happened to be one of the port-o-potty lines!!!  At every pit stop, there was a line of port-o-potties for us to use, and we found it humorous, as it is rare to see so many at once.

Walking as far as we do also starts to get to your emotions and patience.  So one of the ways we tried to make ourselves laugh, was when we saw a sign announcing a pit stop, we would start saying that we needed to "go potty", which one time got us to "the loo".  You kind of had to be there to fully appreciate the humor in it.

Anyway, here is the LO:






The products I used were: SU In Color blue cs, and Pink Passion Ink; OT BC stamps and button; MAMBI paper; MM cheeky shimmer stickers - pink; cs scraps; MM glitter clears - flowers; lattice border punch.

I had fun making this LO.  Hope you have fun looking at it.

Getting Messy, Summer and Scraplift

So this week, I decided to try to combine three challenges!!!  And I have to admit, it was a little daunting at first figuring out exactly how to do it.  I had many ideas floating around in my head, but they all seemed too complicated.  And of course, I waited til the last minute for one of the challenges to finish it. 

The Paper Girls challenge was to get messy - that was pretty easy to figure out, it was just what shape I was going to mask. 

The Crop Chocolate challenge was to celebrate summer, and it had to incorporate water - that was easy, I had pictures of my DS from swim lessons last year to scrap. 

The third was a challenge from two of the ladies at Crop Chocolate - to scraplift a LO they did on a retreat they went to.  The LO included a large heart made up of different size circles of different colors and patterns.  You can see the LO and the story behind the challenge here.  This was the hard part.  I didn't really want a heart on a swim page, so what shape could I use????  At first I was thinking wave, but I got scared off by the sharpness of the wave end (yes I'm a wuss sometimes).  Then since I picked pictures of my DS going down the water slide, I thought: what about a splash shape? 

So I went into my Silhouette library and found a perfect splash shape and cut two different sizes.  The large one I used as is, and added the word SPLASH on it.  The smaller one I used as a mask, and then added also to balance the LO.  Within the masked area, I added buttons, and punched circles to create the splash.  At first I didn't really like how it turned out, but then I decided that maybe adding some depth to some of the circles might help.  So I added some glossy accents to some of the smaller circles.  Here is a close up of the "splash".    I still not thrilled with it, and I'm wondering if it's because I tried mixing the buttons and the paper.

I also used the ink and sponge on the edges of the argyle paper to diffuse it a little bit against the rest of the patterns - it was standing out a little too much for my liking without it.

Here is the finished project.  I think overall, I like it.  I just need to practice more on using circles to make other shapes (and some shapes are harder than others to do). 

Products used:  Silhouette, EP Sweet Summertime 12x12, Bazzill blue cardstock, TH distress stain - chipped sapphire, BG buttons, SU brilliant blue ink, circle punches, AC thickers - patchwork, Glossy accents.

Paper Girls #13 - Birthdays

So after a tough challenge last time, Paper Girls decided to go easy on us (well at least me) this time.  They are at #13, and they went with a theme of Birthdays!!!  Now who doesn't need to create a birthday card or LO.  I know I have quite a few cards I need to make.

So I decided to make 2 cards.  However, these two are going to be another part of the raffle I mentioned last time to support my Pink United team.  So because of the cause, I had to incorporate pink in them.

The first card uses the following products:
Recollections white cs, EP Be Mine 6x6, velum, Deja View Wonderful Words rubons-birthday, Imaginisce to love and cherish flowers, Tattered Angels sunflower glimmer mist, BoBunny All stuck up brad, Bazzill paisley chips, TH iced spruce distressink, TH adirondack raspberry alcohol ink.

The second card (which I happen to like better) uses the following:
Recollections cream cs, Martha Stewart butterfly punch, MME OohLaLa for her 6x6, SU corner punch - ticket, MM celery ribbon, Deja View Wonderdul Words friends and birthday, vellum.

Well, I hope you enjoyed looking.  Come back soon for more items for the raffle.

Mesh for Paper Girls

So the Paper Girls Challenge this week (#12) was to create a project using mesh.  Well, this one stumped me a little bit.  I had never thought about doing something like this before, but I couldn't ruin my streak with their challenges now.  So, as I looked at their DT's examples, I got inspired by one of them - Amber - she used the mesh as a mask for misting.  So I tried this to.  I don't think mine turned out quite as well as hers did, partly because I think I was using a finer mesh than she did.

We had just finished a bag of clementines, so I snagged the mesh bag, cut it open and sprayed my glimmer mist over it onto my card stock.  You can see where the remainder of the glue from the label was, but I knew I would be covering that part, so I wasn't upset.

After I let that dry overnight, I started stamping different sentiments that lend themselves to the SGK 3-Day banners that are carried throughout the walks.  The intent of this project is to put it into a frame and use it as a raffle prize to raise money for my team's (Pink United) participation in the 60 mile walk through DC this year.

Then I cut out a couple sentiments using my Slice and adhered them using pop-dots.  Then I stamped the words "everyone deserves a lifetime" (one of SGK's phrases), fussy cut them, and mounted them on darker paper, and used pop-dots to adhere it to the cardstock.  Then I added some pink ribbon brads and some clear flowers to add some interest.  I still feel like something is missing, but I'm sure that will come about as I look at it and think about it.  I just needed to step away at this point.

Products used:  SU Naturals white cs, Slice, Think Pink design card, Expressions Family design card, FP Doodles and Things stamps, SU pink passion ink, SU regal rose ink, Tattered Angels sunflower glimmer mist, Clearly Wordsworth Happy stamps, MME Stella and Rose Hazel "memories" stamps, Recollections Doodle birthday stamps, brush markers, MM Fa La La stamps, OT BC stamps, OT BC brads, MM flowers bright glitter clears.