Limited Supplies

You know how I love the different challenges on SCS and a whole lot of other blogs, so many I can't keep up. I have to remind myself that I don't have to do them all, it is just for fun and a place to start for inspiration. This week I decided to try the Limited Supplies challenge over at SCS. This was a first for me, but it was fun. The challenge was to create 3 cards with all the same supplies but use 3 DIFFERENT layouts, plus you had to use HPH and ribbon. I know, I know, I was supposed to post a picture of that last scrapbook layout from the Summer Days kit, but my new toys (yes, my beloved Copics )dictated how I stamped today (and that in itself was a challenge since my colors are so limited). Here is the trio! Check out My Gallery for pics of each of the individual cards. Have a great weekend!

Here's one for Crystal

Here's another quick post, we're off to T-ball, but my good friend and stamp-shopping cohort, Crystal has been bugging me (in a nice, excited way) to get a card uploaded made with my new Copic markers. Yes, I did it, I caved and actually bought some. They are everything I expected! I had to place orders with two different online stores to find the colors I wanted in stock. I got my first 12 markers yesterday. This was my first image I colored and I think it turned out pretty good if you don't look too close at Billy's hair line. LOL! My colors are limited until my other 14 markers show up here hopefully next week. So here it is Crystal, just for you! Thanks for all your enabeling!

NVR-what does it mean?

Did you figure it out? I think I talked about this term in a previous post, but for those who don't know, NVR stands for No Vendor Requirements. The other GSG swap I joined this month was a Show your Stuff, NVR swap. We could use any paper, stamps, ink, and embellishment we wanted. I love to do these every now and then because it gives me another excuse to use the non-SU stuff I'm slowly accumulating. Here is the card I did.
Hobby Lobby runs a sale on their designer paper (ds), 4 for $1, every now and then. I have SO MUCH ds paper that I really don't need any more, but sometimes when this sale is running I feel the need to get more. I've had this ds paper for over 6 months and have never touched it (see, this is why I don't need anymore, I don't use all of what I have). The paper is from My Minds Eye and I love it, so I got to use it here. The stamp set is Papertrey Ink, Out on a Limb. I even got to use some of SU's last years In Color cs, Buckaroo Blue. I paired that with soft sky and choc. chip and created this beautiful color combo! I added some brown Prima flowers, some dew drops, and even some stickles to the berries on the branch. It is so fun to show off my stuff!
Random thoughts about swap cards. Do you swap? If you do then you can probably relate, maybe not. Maybe I'm the only one who experiences these swap hurdles.
1) Don't you hate it when you think you measure your ribbon correctly, cut it all only to realize you are a bit short to even tie a decent knot?
2) Along the same lines, don't you hate it when you don't have the amount of cs you need to complete the card? Yes, I usually check this before I start the project, but I was sure I had enough textured soft sky cs. When it came down to it, I was short by 4 card fronts and had to improvise and make my own faux-textured cs (I used my canvas background stamp and ink it in versamark to create a subtle pattern on the sky piece). Can you see it on the right side of this picture?
3) Do you ever plan a project based on the number of brads you have left, in a not-as-popular of a color. As I used up the rest of my bashful blue brads on the other swap card, I am left with all of the Apricot brads from the soft subtle pack. I'm thinking I need to incorporate this color into my next project.
and last thought for now,
4) Do you ever cut cs pieces twice? I do my swap card assembly style. I cut all my cs first, then stamp, then assemble. Sometimes I get distracted in the middle of one of my steps and when I get back to it, I've been known to double cut one of my pieces. Like on the card I posted yesterday, I double cut the little 1 3/4 inch kraft squares. Now what to do with the extras? Guess I need to pair them with my apricot brads ;)
Okay, enough rambling for today, but before I do does anyone know what this card is missing? Can you believe it? Leave me a guess, and I'll tell you tomorrow. Thanks for stopping by!

PTI Blog Hop! and creating on the fly...

Tonight starting at 8pm EST, Papertrey Ink is hosting their monthly blog hop. The first month I found out about the event a day late. I wanted to get in on the fun. The second month I was out of town during the fun. This month, I almost missed it but while blog hopping earlier today I saw the reminder on Nichole Heady's blog. That was at 4pm. I had to get Joshua off the bus, settle the baby after his nap, and comfort Ryan who has another bought of strep throat. I created the following card on the fly. The challenge this month was to use scorelines as accents on your cards. I had yet to try this technique, but I knew if I ever got to it I wanted to try it with vellum. I scored my vellum with a grid pattern and right away it reminded me of the lines on peanuts (Nutter Butter cookies to be exact-yummy!). My mind then went to the Year Round Pun set with the punny sentiment, "Nuttin' Better than a true friend." Then I pulled out my Limitless Labels and true to it's name I found a way to use the little nut included in that set (it's not a peanut, but the acorn works). The card base is Lemon Tart and I added a scored border around the main rectangle (you can barely see it, click on the photo and you should get a better view). I used my photo corner punch to add the pointed edge along the white strip. To keep with the textured pattern feel of the card, I added some Berry Bliss twill ribbon and some saffron brads. It feels good when everything just falls in place. The crafting Gods were on my side this evening. Thanks for stopping by. I hope to chat a bit and join the fun after I get the boys to bed tonight!

Any Size Card!

I've been busy working on swap cards. Here is the card I made for my GSG swap of Any-Size-other than-A2 Card Swap. I chose to do a 4 .25 inch square, kick-stand card. I was on my Kraft cs kick when I designed this card, so that is the base. To make the kick-stand style card, I cut off 1 inch of the bottom front of the card and then when I attached the main front image I lined that up with the bottom of the back of the card (keeping it a 4.25 in. square). I used the summer picnic ds paper to set my color scheme, which also allowed me to use my new wide celery ribbon. Aren't the little stick people so cute? They're from All in the Family and stamped in Black stazon, then colored with WWC and aqua painter and paper pieced with scraps of Summer Picnic paper. The sentiment is the word set that coordinates with All in the Family, called Family phrases (it's a new-to-me set!). I added a few bashful blue brads and it was finished. If you haven't tried making different size cards (other than the standard, A2 size), I challenge you to step out of your comfort zone and try something new. I hope to share the other cards I get back from this swap. I know some of the girls are doing circle cards and I can't wait to see them. Check back tomorrow to see my NVR swap card. Don't know what NVR, is, well I'll tell you tomorrow.

Hugs,

3 Little Monkeys!

A quick post for today, after a busy weekend of doing a whole lot of nothing (anyone ever feel that way?!) I wanted to share another scrapbook page with you. Can you guess when this page was made? Yep, it is another page from my Sizzlin' Summer Scrapbook class. I only have one more layout to share with you, I swear (that one is coming later this week). I really wanted to share this one with you since it shows, once again the versatility of the kits. This page has nothing to do with summer, yet I was still able to turn it into a cute page. All the cardstock and paper used comes from the kit as well at the red striped and orange polka dot strips. I made the star by first punching out a small striped star (used on title block) and then lining up the large star punch to create the outline of the star. This is my favorite thing to do with these punches-making that large outline. I think it just looks great on anything. The square I journaled on was initially thought to be used for another photo but since I only had these two pictures I turned it into my journaling block. I stamped the title, Happy Together with my Happy Everything set, but you could hardly read the word together since I stamped it red on red, I went over it with my white gel pen and added the 3 Little Monkeys to complete the page.
They sure are my cute Little Monkeys! Hope you all had a great Holiday weekend!

Fun Polka Dots!

Two,fun cards full of festive polka dots (say that three times fast) from the Polka Dot Basic set. Dawn McVey (dawnsings) is the featured stamper this week over at SCS. I knew right away which card I wanted to CASE. Here is Dawn's Card . I love the colors she used and this card (plus a handful of other cute polka dot cards she did) pushed me over the edge to buy this set. I started by creating the polka dot paper and the chipboard star. The card on the right is the card I intended to use for this challenge, when I couldn't get the large chipboard star to fit on the card, I decided to make two. The second card is my FAVE! but the first one turned out great too. Thanks for the inspiration, Dawn. If you haven't stopped by her blog, you need to. It is just fantastic!