Taking Life One Page at a Time

Hi, everyone!

If you've come looking for my latest card, you'll find it at Chapter Three!

Please come visit me at my new post-OWH blog.  :)

Backgrounds, Backgrounds, and More Backgrounds!

Hi, everyone!

Welcome to the very last post here at Cards by Sybrina. Tomorrow will find me blogging away at Chapter Three.

A couple of folks have asked why I'm changing up things. Well, this blog has been dedicated to card making, primarily card making for Operation Write Home. Now that I've retired, I've found that I'm expanding my interests. So, I'd like a blog that reflects more than card making.

That said, my very first post will be about a card. LOL! Hope to see you at Chapter Three tomorrow.  :)


Now for the backgrounds that I made for the Day 4 of the Background Online Card Classes.

• I used a Paper Smooches die to create the template/stencil shown below.

• Replacing the cutout strips gives a nice tone-on-tone effect. But, I'm not committing yet.  :)

• Next, I inked up a Distress-Ink-rainbow background...

• Placing the inked up paper behind the template/stencil is so... colorful! Thinking this might make for a great kiddie card.

• I used Paper Smooches wave dies to try out one of Kristina's techniques. Thinking that I might need to angle some of the top cuts. And, I am going to play with the color of the next-to-the-top wave strip. (Something's not quite right, but can't put my finger on it.) Still waiting to adhere the wave layers -- waiting to see what Kristina has in mind to turn this into a card. May want to stay with just one layer of dimensionals.

• Finally, I tried some tone-on-tone lettering. Depending on how this is used for a card, I may go with smaller letters and run the card horizontally. Still hedging my bets on this one, too.  :)

Parting Thoughts

Hoping to get caught up with Day 5 lessons tomorrow.

Our Words 2 Scrap By August Challenge goes live tomorrow... as does Chapter Three. Hope you have a chance to stop by.   :)

Have a great weekend and happy scrappin'!

Still Inking Away

Hello, everyone!

Today was hubby's birthday! And, we had a wonderful day -- lunching with the dads, going out for ice cream this evening.  :)

So, I haven't had a chance to check out any of the Day 4 Online Card Class videos. But, I did have a chance to ink up another background. Then, I made cards with a couple of OCC backgrounds, including the background from day.

Card 1: Sparkle!

The card below was my only successful smooshing. The tenth times the charm, right?! But, boy oh boy, it was worth it because it really does sparkle. Since the panel was smaller than the ones made by Kristina, I matted it like an abstract painting, added a simple sentiment, and called it a day.  :)



Canson watercolor; Bazzil black
Distress Inks: mustard seed; peacock feathers, fired brick (or pickled raspberry)
Stampin' Up! good greetings sentiment, heat embossed in DI black soot
SU brads; adhesives: Scotch ATG; Recollections foam squares
My Favorite Things shimmer mist
 

Card 2: happy...


This card features the background I made today. To finish it off, I used Jennifer's inlaid strips technique -- resisting any of the shortcuts.  I initially forgot to heat emboss "birthday to you" and the sentiment really did seem to get lost. When I saw the difference the heat embossing made, I went with a two-ply "thanks" and applied some Glossy Accents for a little extra oomph.  :)

Canson watercolor; Bazzil black; Cardstock Warehouse white
Distress Inks: fired brick and mustard seed
Winnie & Walter cutaway, enhanced with Glossy Accents
Winnie & Walter sentiment, heat embossed in DI black soot
adhesives: Scotch ATG; Ranger multi medium

Parting Thoughts

A new Words 2 Scrap By challenge goes live on Saturday. Hope you all will check it out.

Did you hear there's an online OWH party on Saturday? It's scheduled for 12:30 Pacific Time.

Finally, tomorrow's post will be my last one at this blog. You can find me at Chapter Three starting on August 1.

Think that's it. Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Online Card Class - Day 3

Hi, everyone! Still having fun in the Online Card Class. Today we took a break from making backgrounds to make cards from the backgrounds already made. 

I have two cards to share.   :)


For the first card, I used tips shared by Kristina to make a shape card, topped with a pretty bow.

Distress Ink scattered straw and pine needles; stash pink
Winnie & Walter big, bold sentiment in various Distress Inks
Hero Arts background cling stamp in scattered straw
Stampin' Up! bow punch; Spellbinders Nestabilities scallop dies
adhesives: Scotch ATG; Glue Dots

For my second card, I incorporated tips shared by Jennifer. Since my cards are now going to hospitalized kids, the menopause room is getting a little glittery! And, this glittery card is going to be linked up to the current Shopping Our Stash bling challenge.   :)

Canson watercolor; Distress Ink scattered straw and pine needles; stash pink
Our Daily Bread Design background stamp, heat embossed with clear Zing powder
inking in DI pickled raspberry
Winnie & Walter cutaway from Recollections glitter paper
Winnie & Walter sentiment in StazOn jet black on acetate
Stampin' Up! small flower punch; EK hole punch
adhesives: Scotch ATG; Glue Dots; Ranger matte multi medium

So, what fun things will we learn tomorrow in class?! Until then, thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Playing with Inks

Hi, everyone! Spent the night getting inky trying out the techniques shared during Day 2 of the Background Online Card Class.

Left Card: pigment ink on top of dye ink
Middle Card: stamping on top of stamping
Right Card: resist on pattern paper

first attempt at plaid

Lessons Learned:

• Jennifer, Kristina, and Laura are unbelievably talented. They just make it all look so easy and effortless!
• In spite of the stash I have, I never seem to have just the right stuff to achieve the look I want from these techniques, like those stamps used by Laura to create her plaids and the pigment ink used by Kristina. Hmmm...
• Need to go to Pinterest and search out nice color combos for plaids.
• Can't wait for Day 3!

Speaking of stash, there's a new bling challenge going on at Shopping our Stash. Here's my card.

Canson watercolor; Distress Ink ble
Hero Arts image, heat embossed in Distress Ink with Zing powder
Stamper's Anonymous stencil inked in DI spiced marmalade and mustard seed with Ranger blending tool
Creative Memories oval cutting system; stash sequins

Love the cheeriness of this little card. Think this one is going in my SAS4Kids box.  :)

Have a great day! Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'! 

Online Card Class: Day 1, Card 2

Hi, everyone! The first day in the newest Online Card Class was so amazing, I just had to try my hand at another card.

For this card, I went with blending -- and water spatters. And, I have to say, I'm much happier with the way this card turned out!

my blended background of DI mustard seed and salty ocean

Canson watercolor' Stampin' Up! black
Distress Inks: mustard seed, salty ocean, and black soot
Winnie & Walter big bold happy cutaways and sentiment
adhesives: Scotch ATG; Zig 2-way glue pen

I chose to ink the bottom third in yellow so that the birthday sentiment would pop. The "happy" cutaway is 2-ply to give it a little stronger presence.

Think this will be my nephew's birthday card. I purposely went with blue and yellow -- avoiding pinks and purples.

Can't wait to see what Day 3 holds. And, would still like to go back and try one or two other Day One techniques! Thanks so much Jennifer, Laura, and Kristina on a rockin' Day One!

 

Parting Thoughts

Two quick reminders:

• Words 2 Scrap By! challenge ends tomorrow. There's a $20 gift certificate to Simon Says Stamp up for grabs. Hope you'll check it out!
• As of August 1, I'll be blogging at Chapter Three. I'd love for you to visit me there.  :)

Online Card Class: Day 1, Card 1

Hi, everyone! This is the first day in the newest Online Card Class, and oh my gosh! Jennifer, Laura, and Kristina are just amazing!

For this first card, I tried Kristina's smoosh technique. I tried smooshing using acetate. Somehow, no matter how hard I tried, my results didn't look anything like Kristina's. But, I was bound determined to make my background work.

You'll have to let me know what you think...

my smooshing attempt

After smooshing, I added some spattering -- including some black spatters. Then, I mounted the background on some black cardstock and embellished.

Canson watercolor; Stampin' Up black; Distress Ink scattered straw
Distress Inks: pickled raspberry, peacock feathers, scattered straw, black soot
MFT stay tuned sentiment; Unity image
Creative Memories circle cutting system
SU brads; adhesives: Scotch ATG, Zig 2-way pen, Recollections foam squares

This card was based on OWH Sketch #259, the very last Operation Write Home Sketch. Think I'll link it up to the post even though I already sent in my last box of OWH cards.

So, what do you think about this background? This card? I'm a bit ambivalent about this card, but am super crazy about the card I'll share in my next post.  :)

 

Parting Thoughts

Two quick reminders:

• Words 2 Scrap By! challenge ends tomorrow. There's a $20 gift certificate to Simon Says Stamp up for grabs. Hope you'll check it out!
• As of August 1, I'll be blogging at Chapter Three. I'd love for you to visit me there.  :)

CIE Christmas in July

Hi, everyone! It's the third Monday of the month. So, I'm here with a card for the Card in Envy challenge that starts today.  :)

This new challenge is Christmas in July. Well, let's see... I love Christmas and I love July. Sounds like a perfect challenge to me!

Amazingly enough, the inspiration for the card below came from the napkin at the right. I came across this several years ago and thought it was as cute as cute could be. I've finally  gotten around to translating my little napkin into a little kiddie holiday card. This little card will be headed to Send a Smile 4 Kids.   :)

Stampin' Up! cream, black, and cherry cordial; Distress Ink core; Echo Park this n that dp
carrot: Creative Memories burgundy pen; Distress Ink fired brick applied with Ranger water brush
punches: SU owl builder; EK hole and snowflakes; Martha Stewart branch; Sizzlits button
stash ribbon; Darice googly eyes; Imagine Crafts shimmer mist
Sizzix and Cuttlebug embossing folders; Creative Memories oval cutting system
adhesives: Scotch ATG; Zig 2-way pen; Glue Dots; Ranger multi medium
 

As pleased as I am with the final result, there were a number of times I was almost ready to throw in the proverbial towel.

• A big challenge was translating the square inspiration design to an A2 shape for CIE. Doesn't sound like it should be that tough, does it? Well, it was for me. I thought the little round face in the napkin was really cute and I didn't want to lose the whimsy that it brought to the snowman.
• It also took a while for me to get just the right look for my little face. The face felt flat until I added some pink -- and a little shimmer -- to those cheeks. Then I struggled with the mouth -- trying lots of different circle combinations before achieving just the right smile.
• However, the face was easy compared to the hat. Boy, oh boy, did this take a lot of trial and error to get right. And, I have to say that I couldn't be happier with this little hat.

So, I hope everyone will stop by Cards in Envy and play along with our Christmas in July challenge.

And, I think I'm going to link this little card up to the Send a Smile 4 Kids challenge to make a card with bright colors.

Parting Thoughts

The OWH deadline to get any and all remaining cards to Sandy is August 1. My last box was mailed on Friday. After all, it's a long way from Ohio to Washington... right?!

There is also a fun challenge going on at Words 2 Scrap By. Our Friend with Chocolate challenge has a $20 gift certificate up for grabs. Hope you'll visit W2SB and join in our July challenge.

Lastly, a couple of updates. I am going to be applying my creative mojo to support Send a Smile 4 Kids. And, starting on August 1, I will be blogging at Chapter Three. Hope you will check out my kiddie cards -- and other retirement endeavors -- that I blog about at this new Web home.

When a Door Closes....

Hi, everyone! Happy weekend!

So, today was a bittersweet day. I sent my last box of cards to Operation Write Home.

In addition to the cards I had made, I mailed over 60 Any Hero cards that were made by local children during an Arts in the Afternoon session at the public library. The theme of this summer's reading program has been Super Heroes. When our librarians learned that I make cards for our deployed troops, they suggested we have a card-making activity at the library.

Thanks so much, Cathy and Grace!

Opening Doors

With the closing of OWH, I've done some thinking about card-making and blogging. So, I've come to a couple of decisions.

• Starting today, I am going to focus on making cards for family, friends, and kids -- supporting the efforts of Send a Smile 4 Kids. Today's card is my first card SAS card.  :)
• Starting August 1, I will be blogging at Chapter Three. My Chapter Three is retirement. And, since beginning my Chapter Three, I have expanded my interests to areas other than card-making. So, "Cards 'N Things" will be one of several pages on my new blog. I sure hope my Scrappin' with Purpose and Cards by Sybrina friends check out my new Web home.

My Very First SAS4Kids Card

 

Today's card was inspired in part by the cards made by the children at our library. One of the kits I prepared was a patriotic pinwheel-like card. Since the current SAS4Kids Challenge is to make a brightly-colored card. Sounded like a perfect pinwheel opportunity to me! Then I found this wonderful tutorial.... and the rest is history.  :)

 

SU retired (garage-sale find) dp; Distress Ink core; Cardstock Warehouse white
SU word window and owl builder (for pinwheel center) punches
SU brad; computer-generated sentiment in Comic Sans
SU/Sizzix embossing folder
adhesives: Scotch ATG; Glue Dots; Recollections foam squares

 

According to the video, there was a Stampin' Up! pinwheel sizzlit a few years ago. Well, unfortunately that was before my SU days. So, I pieced together several pieces of retired SU paper and some solid cardstock. I then cut and scored a 2-inch square to create the pinwheel shown above.

 
Not only do I love the colors of the pinwheel, I'm thrilled that this is a penny slider card! And, following the tutorial, this card came together much quicker than I anticipated.  :)

I was amazed at how easy it was to make the slider channel using the Word Window punch three times. I actually punched the left and right sides first and then lined up the center punch to create the channel.

Next, foam square adhesives were used to mount the blue-on-white cardstock on the red base. As described in the tutorial, double layers of foam were used around the channel to allow for easier sliding.

In addition to the SAS4Kids challenge, think I'm going to link this card up to:

• the current Simon Says Stamp Monday Blog's Anything Goes challenge and
• the Shopping Our Stash Paper Piecing challenge (for the paper-pieced pinwheel).

Parting Thoughts

There are still a few days to enter the Cards in Envy Just Beachy challenge before a new challenge starts on Monday.

And, the Words 2 Scrap By Friend in Chocolate, which has a $20 Simon Says Stamp gift certificate up for grabs, is still going on.

Have a great weekend! Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Splish Splash

Hi, everyone! I'm here today with a card for today's Operation Write Home Sketch Challenge. It's just really hard to believe there's only one more sketch challenge after this one.

Doodle Pantry bath ants precolored image
Distress Ink and Core-dinations core papers; Cardstock Warehouse white; Stampin' Up! black
Sizzix/SU embossing folder; computer-generated sentiment
Really Reasonable Ribbon ribbons
circles: various punches, including SU owl builder, and Creative Memories circle cutting system
adhesives: Scotch ATG; Glue Dots; Zig 2-way pen; Recollections foam squares

Doodle Pantry bath ants sentiment
Distress Ink core paper; Cardstock Warehouse white

I feel as though I'm cheating a little bit -- well, quite a bit -- using a precolored image. But, I've loved these little bath ants from the moment I first saw them and just couldn't resist making a couple of cards featuring them. One card is going in my final OWH box and one is going for a card drive for a little girl in Michigan.

 

Parting Thoughts

Words 2 Scrap By  Our July W2SB words are A Friend with Chocolate. The DT came up with some fabulous cards. If you haven't yet stopped by, we hope you will come by to check out this month's challenge and then come back to link up a card or project.  There's a $20 Simon Says Stamp gift certificate that will be awarded to one talented crafter!

 

Cards in Envy   Since last Monday was the first Monday of the month, a new CIE challenge went live. The challenge for the next couple of weeks is to make an A2 card with a summer scene featuring the beach, ocean, or sea. Cards should be flat enough to be sent via USPS without any additional postage.

OWH   Think this little ant card may be the last "new" card for my box. I have some previously made cards that need a little triage before they go to Sandy. So, those cards will be my focus this week -- with a goal of mailing my cards next weekend.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Love and Missing You Cards

Hi, everyone! So happy to have spent some quality time in the menopause room these last few days -- making love and missing you cards for OWH.

Looks like that this week's Mojo Monday sketch really got my mojo going! The current Shopping our Stash challenge is Gingham Style. Since one of the DT cards uses the same embossing folder, I'm going to link up this missing YOU card for that challenge, too.   :)

DCWV la crème stack; Stampin' Up! core neutral; Craft Smith hot buy card sets
Winnie & Walter big, bold sentiment words, heat embossed in Distress Ink black soot
EK hole punch; Martha Stewart button punch and Sizzix button die
Sizzix/SU embossing folder; SU linen thread
adhesives: Scotch ATG; Zig 2-way glue pen; Glue Dots; Ranger multi medium, Recollections foam squares
inking in DI vintage photo with Ranger blending tool

That DCWV paper was a gift from a friend at work.  (Thanks again, Marcie!) It is such a classic and elegant pack that I thought it would be perfect for a few masculine OWH cards.

Turns out I liked the card above so much I decided to add a little red and make a few masculine love cards. Think these will bring a few smiles to their recipients.  :)

DCWV la crème stack; Stampin' Up! and Recollections black; SU cherry cordial
Winnie & Walter big, bold die
EK hole punch; SU heart and owl builder punches; Paper Smooches heart die
Creative Memories square punch
adhesives: Scotch ATG; Zig 2-way glue pen

Parting Thoughts

Words 2 Scrap By  Our July W2SB words are A Friend with Chocolate. The DT came up with some fabulous cards. Hope you will stop by to check out this month's challenge and then come back to link up a card or project.  There's a $20 Simon Says Stamp gift certificate that will be awarded to one talented crafter!

Cards in Envy   Since Monday was the first Monday of the month, a new CIE challenge went live. The challenge for the next couple of weeks is to make an A2 card with a summer scene featuring the beach, ocean, or sea. Cards should be flat enough to be sent via USPS without any additional postage.

OWH   Hoping to get back to my OWH box tomorrow or Friday. So many cards to make, so little time before the August 1 deadline.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!


 

missing YOU

Hi, everyone! Hope the week is going well.

Have you seen this week's Mojo Monday sketch? It's one of those that's a little more embellished than one of my typical cards. So, I challenged myself to make some missing you cards for my final #finishstrong OWH box.

Kaiser hippy girl; Distress Ink core paper
sentiment: Winnie & Walter big, bold, stamp sets; heat embossed in Distress Ink victorian velvet
Stampin' Up! petite petals punch and stamp set
punches: SU small flower and owl builder (for tiny circles)
Spellbinders nestabilities scallop die; Marvy circle punch
Sizzix embossing folder; stash sequin
adhesives: Scotch ATG; Zig 2-way glue pen; Scrapbook Adhesives foam squares

I love the oldie-but-goodie papers I used on these two cards. They are from a Kaiser 6" by 6" pad of paper that was used in one of the very first card-making classes I ever took. Sadly, Pizzazz It! is no more, but my memories -- and some papers -- still remain.  :)

Parting Thoughts

Words 2 Scrap By  Our July W2SB words are A Friend with Chocolate. The DT came up with some fabulous cards. Hope you will stop by to check out this month's challenge and then come back to link up a card or project.  There's a $20 Simon Says Stamp gift certificate that will be awarded to one talented crafter!

Cards in Envy   Since yesterday was the first Monday of the month, a new CIE challenge went live. The challenge for the next couple of weeks is to make an A2 card with a summer scene featuring the beach, ocean, or sea. Cards should be flat enough to be sent via USPS without any additional postage.

OWH   Hoping to get back to my OWH box later today. So many cards to make, so little time before the August 1 deadline... Maybe I'll use the Mojo Monday sketch to make a few more missing you cards.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

CIE Just Beachy

Hi, everyone! This is the first Monday of a new month which means it's time for a new Cards in Envy challenge. Our CIE challenge for the next two weeks is to make summer cards that feature the beach, ocean or sea. 

Lucky for me, I have a stamp set and some great 6" by 6" paper that are absolutely perfect for this challenge. I just adore this Lawn Fawn stamp set and these Fancy Pants papers.   :)





Fancy Pants beach bum
Lawn Fawn life is good images and sentiment in Distress Ink black soot and walnut stain
Stampin' Up! on film framelits; Paper Smooches waves dies
SU owl builder punch (for crab's eyes); stash sequins
inking in DI various inks with Ranger blending tool
adhesives: ATG Scotch; Glue Dots; Zig 2-way glue pen
crabs and starfish embellished with Glossy Accents
technique: fussy cutting for crab, starfish, and banner

computer generated inside sentiment

I love the card shown above, but it took a while to get here. "Eureka" moments included changing the film color from black to red and changing the ratio of sky to sea from 1:1 to 2:1.  I hope the photo captures the cheerfulness of these colors because this card really feels so bright and happy -- much like a day on the beach.  :) 

Hope you will all join us for this summertime beach challenge!

Parting Thoughts

Words 2 Scrap By   I also hope you will join us at Words 2 Scrap By for our July Friends-with-Chocolate challenge. A $20 Simon Says Stamp gift certificate will be awarded to one lucky crafter!

Finishing Strong with OWH   So, I have about nine more days to get as many cards to Operation Write Home as I can. As you probably know, August 1 is the deadline for getting cards to Sandy. Since my package needs to get from Ohio to Washington, I want to give it plenty of time to make the trip.

Think that's it for today. Have a great week!

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

Thanks for Helping Out at Home

Hi, everyone! Hope it's been a wonderful holiday weekend for you and your loved ones.

I'm here with a thank you card for this month's OWH Our Daily Bread Design challenge.

Bo Bunny Liberty; various solid cardstocks
OWH Hero Arts sentiment, heat embossed with Versamark and Zing copper powder
Stampin' Up! star and owl builder (for tiny circles) punches

Don't know if you remember this Hero Arts OWH stamp set. Thought I needed to make a few cards with this specific stamp for my last box to Sandy. And I still love that Bo Bunny collection!

Gotta make sure to get my cards to Sandy in time to make the August 1 Finish Strong deadline.  :)

 

Parting Thoughts

There's a new friend-with-chocolate challenge going on at Words 2 Scrap By -- with a $20 Simon Says Stamp gift certificate up for grabs!

And, a new Cards in Envy challenge goes live tomorrow.

I'll be back tomorrow with a CIE card.  Until then, thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

W2SB #19: A Friend with Chocolate

Hi, everyone! It's time for another Words 2 Scrap By challenge! And, it's a challenge that all of us chocolate lovers are sure to enjoy.   :)

Before I get to the inspiration behind this challenge and my card, I'd like to thank everyone who played along with our It's a Man's World challenge. We were thrilled to see so many amazing cards and projects! And, while I'm at it, let me give a huge shout out to Annie for hosting such a fun challenge and offering such a generous prize.  :)

The Story Behind our July W2SB Challenge

There seem to be several Chocolate Days interspersed throughout the calendar year. For this month's challenge, we have chosen to celebrate the July 7 Chocolate Day. And, when I think of crafting to a chocolate theme, that adorable Inkadinkado kid quote "All You Need in Life is a Friend with Chocolate" comes to mind.

This little kid quote always reminds me of my friend Susan. Susan and I started out as colleagues who ate lunch together during our high school lunch period. During one of the lunches, Susan described the less-than-pleasant day she was having. When I went back to my room, I remembered that I had one of those fundraising candy bars in my desk. At the next class change, I went to deliver this bit of chocolate to Susan. When I gave the candy bar to Susan, her response was, "Is this still good?" -- to which I replied, "I didn't know chocolate could go bad. I don't think I've ever had chocolate last long enough for that to be a problem." As it turns out, Susan thought the candy bar was left over from a sale at the beginning of the school year while it had been purchased just recently during a fundraiser for a neighborhood school. More importantly, we both had a huge laugh about the situation and became the best of friends. So, when I hear the words A Friend with Chocolate, I think of Susan.  :)

My Friend-with-Chocolate Card

Unfortunately, I don't have that adorable Inkadinkado stamp. Guess that means a little computer word processing is in order. Since this birthday card is going to a friend who works in a school, I chose to include little Sophie's name and age.   :)

Debbie Mumm (for JoAnn's) baby girl; DCWV sweet matstack
stash blue cardstock; Core-dinations chocolate lover brown; Distress Ink core
stash Sandylion pastry stickers; Mark Richards gem
Stampin' Up bow punch
computer-generated sentiment, inspired by Inkadinkado kid quote
adhesives: Scotch ATG; Glue Dots

Prizes, Anyone?

How about another opportunity to win $20 to Simon Says Stamp?! In addition to our W2SB Winner's Badge and a Guest I-Teamer spot, we will award an SSS gift certificate to one talented crafter. Hope you all will have a chance to play along with our friend-with-chocolate challenge.  :)

Parting Thoughts

Think I'm going to link my chocolate-y card up to the current Shopping Our Stash bauble, button, and bow challenge. It for sure has one big bow -- and maybe three baubles, if those little chocolate pastries count. :)

There's still time to play along with our Cards in Envy Just Beachy challenge.  We'd love for you to join us for this fun challenge.

Helped organize and facilitate an Any Hero card-making event on Monday. Will try and share more about this on Friday.

Think that's it for now. Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

MM12: You're Awesome in Dinosaur!

Hi, everyone! Welcome to a dinosaur-inspired edition of Monday Musings. Today's card was made using the new Stampin' Up adorable dinosaur stamp set.  :)

BasicGrey granola; SU early espresso; DI core paper
SU no bones about it images, heat embossed in vintage photo and walnut stain with clear zing powder
Sizzix birds and branches decorative strip; Paper Smooches leaves die; PS twine
inking in DI spiced marmalade and vintage photo
adhesives: Scotch ATG; Zig 2-way pen

Truth be told, I really struggled with this little card -- pretty much throwing out everything I made on Saturday except for the banner and the card base. My big AHAs came when I switched out the blue for the green and stamped the dinosaurs on the lighter colored BasicGrey paper. Even then, the card felt a little flat until I added the DI rusty hinge cardstock. That added just the pop of color that the card needed.

I'm going to link this card up to:

• the current Shopping our Stash For The Boys challenge,
• the June 2015 Work It Wednesday Simon Says Stamp challenge,
• and the current Anything Goes challenge on the Wednesday Simon Says Stamp blog.

Parting Thoughts

A huge thanks to everyone who played along with our June Words 2 Scrap By challenge. We'll be back on Wednesday, July 1, with our new challenge.

And, the Just Beachy continues this week at Cards in Envy.

Hope everyone has a fabulous July 4th holiday weekend. Until then, thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!

FNW12: thanks so much

Hi, everyone! Welcome to this OWH-Sketch-inspired edition of Friday Night Writes. Actually, I'm publishing a little early because of the impending Words 2 Scrap By challenge deadline. But, first, a look at a couple of nature's cutest critters.

#WhenItsEvenTooWetForTheFrogs

This wet spring has been a banner year for frogs. We have lots and lots of these little guys hanging our in our yard. But,who would have ever thought we could have too much rain for our frogs? Apparently our ground is so wet that a few of our buddies have sought out refuge to higher ground, so to speak.

The top photo shows two youngsters hanging out between the side of our house and our downspout. Originally, there was one little guy (gal?). But then he (she) spread the word and was joined by a friend/brother/sister.


The bottom photo shows a bigger frog who perched himself on the cap of our lamppost. If you look closely, you can see him on the left side of the lamppost, pictured in the center of this photo.

All three of these critters have returned to their normal stomping grounds. But, maybe they'll feel a need to return to these newer hangouts if we get all the rain that is being predicted.

thanks so much

 

Today's Any Hero card is inspired by OWH Sketch #256, which is posting over at Stars & Stamps tomorrow morning.

 

Bo Bunny liberty; Bazzil admiral and watermelon; Distress Ink antique linen
Paper Smooches natural beauties sentiment
Fiskars and Paper Studio star punches; ??? corner rounder (for tiniest stars)
Stampin' Up! owl builder punch (for circles)
Paper Smooches twine
inking in DI vintage photo with Ranger blending tool
adhesives: Scotch ATG; Zig 2-way pen; Scrapbook Adhesives foam squares

 

It's hard to believe there will be only two more sketch challenges before our August 1 Finish Strong deadline to get cards to Sandy. I know that my main job between now and July 15 is to get my last box ready to go. 

 

Parting Thoughts

Words 2 Scrap By   TODAY is the last day to join us at W2SB for a chance to win $20 to Simon Says Stamp for our June challenge. Yep, $20 to SSS!!!

Our thanks to Annie for hosting our challenge this month and offering up such a generous prize for one talented crafter.  :)



Cards in Envy   And, there's a Just Beachy challenge going on at CIE. Hope you will stop by and play along with us at CIE.

Have a great weekend! Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!