MM3: Let's Hear It for the Dogs!

Hi, everyone! Hope your weekend was a good one.

#LetsHearItForTheDogs

Speaking of weekends, I had a chance to hang out with over 100 four-legged friends at the Hilton Head Humane Association's 18th Annual Dog Walk on Saturday. Fortunately, the rain held off for all the festivities, which included the 0.5 mile beach walk as well as talent and best dressed competitions. And, did I mention there was cookie and milk for the humans and plenty of biscuits for our furry friends?! Such a fun time for such a worthy organization!   :)

 

Miles

I walked in memory of Sportie and Clifford and in honor of Miles. Miles, who is afraid of other dogs, stayed back in the villa with hubby.

All three of these loving pets were adopted from the Capital Area Humane Society.

Today's Card

The Any Hero card below was inspired by Operation Write Home Sketch #243. Sharon's sample card was just so pretty, and I loved all the sketch elements. But, I just couldn't make a few of the vertical strips work with my base paper. So, I chose to beef up my single strip, making it a banner a multi-layered banner under a piece of jute.

Stampin' Up! (neutral) core paper; Bazzill admiral; Bo Bunny liberty
Recollections jute/burlap
Paper Smooches sentiment from natural beauties stamp set in Distress Ink vintage photo
Marvy and Paper Shapers circle punches
adhesives: Scotch ATG; Scrapbook Adhesives foam squares; Zig 2-way Glue Pen

Parting Thoughts

Our May Challenge
May 1 - May 21

Our May Words 2 Scrap By Challenge publishes on Friday, May 1. We're hoping it clicks with all of our crafty friends.  :)

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

FNW3: A Project a Year in the Making

Hi, everyone! We had an absolutely gorgeous day on the island today. Just saw the weather station's report on the bad weather in Kansas. Hope you have had an uneventful weather day if not a pretty one.

#FromTouristToResident

These last couple of months have been like living in a semi-dream state. We're no longer tourists -- although a look at our wardrobe might provide evidence to the contrary. However, since we are only here a few months out of the year, we're not full-fledged residents.

This trip, we've taken strides to move away from tourist status and move closer to resident status. We've ventured out to learn our way around more of the island. We're started building relationships with a few locals -- folks living in our villa association and working in area establishments. And, I've signed up for tomorrow's beach dog walk that benefits the local animal shelter. I'll let you know how that goes next time we meet.  :)

Today's Card Project

Today's project -- yep, project -- has been nearly a year in the making. Its origins date back to last May's Simon Says Stamp CREATE event. During CREATE, Tim walked us through creating one of his Configurations. The pic below shows my CREATE 2014 Configurations.  :)

On the right, you'll see a little book of tags in the bottom compartment. Soon after making this Configurations, I decided to use this little book to record my memories of CREATE. It seemed like a really clever alternative to a traditional scrapbook page. And, lo and behold, I finally got around to doing just that last night and today!

Step 1: Decorate the cover. I had a rub on that we received at CREATE that I wanted to apply to the cover. Turns out I waited too long for that to happen. So, I did some old fashioned stamping and punching -- using Stampin' Up's Petite Petals, SU baker's twine, SU owl builder punch, and Idea-ology collage paper -- to decorate my cover.

Step 2: Plan Out the Tags. I disassembled the book, laid out the tags, and used sticky notes to label the topic for each tag.

Step 3: Write (and Edit) My Text. I first wrote out draft text for each tag on a separate piece of notebook paper before actually writing the tags themselves. I know myself too well and thought it better to be safe than sorry.  :)

Step 4: Write the Tags. Yep, this is where I took a big gulp and put pen to tag.

 

Step 5: Reassemble the Book -- and Admire My Handiwork. 'Nough said.  :)

Parting Thoughts

Looking forward to a fun time at tomorrow's dog walk -- walking in honor of our little rescue. Also hoping to make a card for tomorrow's Operation Write Home sketch.

Congrats to Linda L, who won the April Words 2 Scrap By Challenge. We're hoping our next challenge, which posts on May 1, will click with our fellow crafters.

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

MM2: For Audrey

Hi, everyone! Hope the week is off to a great start. I'm here today with a card which I think turned out pretty (in pink) well... and a few thoughts about Audrey Hepburn.

#myloveofAudrey

I was so touched when I read the quote by Audrey Hepburn in today's Cards In Envy post. For starters, the quote is gorgeous... and, from what I've heard and read, seems to epitomize the spirit of this amazing lady.

I believe in pink.  

I believe that laughing is the best calorie burner.

I believe in kissing, kissing a lot.

I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong.

I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls.

I believe that tomorrow is another day.

And I believe in miracles.

~Audrey Hepburn

You see, I was actually named after an Audrey Hepburn movie. In my mom and dad's courtship days, they went to see the movie Sabrina. After viewing the movie, my mom declared that if they were to ever have a daughter, she would be named Sabrina. (Yes, it's spelled differently, thanks to my mom. And, Mom's spelling of my name looked so beautiful in her handwriting. Not so much in mine.)

So, I think Sabrina was the first "classic" film I ever saw. It is such a wonderful picture. (If you've only seen the remake and are a movie lover, you really need to check out the original starring Miss Hepburn, Bogey, and Bill Holden... seriously!) While I'll never come close to living up to the legacy left by Miss Hepburn, I do my best to try and make my mom proud. And, after seeing Sabrina at such a young age, it kind of puts my love of classic movies in perspective.

Okay, enough about that. Now, for today's card.  :)

love....

The card below was inspired by the current Cards In Envy Pretty in Pink Challenge. And, I must confess I'm pretty pleased with the way this turned out. It feels a bit more "sophisticated" than my typical cards. Maybe there's hope for me yet....  :)



Carson watercolor paper; Distress Ink worn lipstick core paper
Simon Says Stamp trellis stencil; inked in DI spun sugar and picked raspberry
Unity (grab bag) sentiment stamp in picked raspberry
Winnie & Walter "love" cutaway from watercolor paper inked in DI peacock feathers
Paper Smooches stitched and heart dies; stash (Hero Arts?) sequins
adhesives: Scotch ATG; micro Glue Dots; Zig 2-way glue pen; Recollections foam squares

I cut out a large oval and masked off an edge of it to ink the stained-glass-like element. After seeing the result, I chose to add die-faux-stitching to just the other three sides to frame out the rest of the card. (A quick confession: Since I knew I wasn't bringing my Big Shot with me, I made this card before leaving the stash in the menopause (aka craft) room. Thankfully, Cards In Envy allows sneak peeks of upcoming challenges.)  Finally, I hope the pink in the card actually looks pink. I promise it is -- spun sugar, pickled raspberry... and a worn-lipstick punched heart.   :)

As it turns out, the current Operation Write Home Mid-Month Challenge is to create a card featuring stitching. Perfect timing!

Parting Thoughts

April Challenge
April 1 - April 21

There's still one more day to link up a card for our The-Earth-Has-Music Words 2 Scrap By challenge. Hope you will join us. (And, a new challenge will start up on May 1!)   :)

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

FNW2: A Few of My Favorite Things

Hi, everyone! Welcome to the second edition of the newly relaunched "Friday Night Writes".

Not quite sure where the week has gone. I seem to have spent lots of time reading, doing lunch with hubby, going for walks, and picking up a few things for our villa. However, I don't seem to have spent much time crafting. Hmmm....  At least I have one card to share. But, first a look at a couple of island purchases.  :)

Favorite Thing #1: Re-Design on a Dime

When we bought the villa, it was in great shape and came completely furnished. That was fabulous news because it meant it was turn-the-key-and-settle-in-ready. The bad news is the décor was not quite what I would have chosen. Pair that with a hubby who values function over aesthetics, well... Luckily, the island has some great stores to help with that challenge.   :)

a wonderful consignment shop find

The island has some wonderful consignment shops, including Annie's Attic. And, with the help of a super friendly sales clerk, I found an adorable fish picture for our upstairs guest bath -- aka my bath when the two of us are here by ourselves. This little print, which was perfect for our bathroom and had even been professionally framed, came at a fraction of a cost of what I would have paid in a gallery. I love finding just the right thing at a local, shop-small business.  :)

an island mini crafting station

I've also been at work setting up a small crafting station in our guest bedroom, nestled into the corner of the room. I repurposed an existing Sauder bookshelf using some great accessories. Baskets hold punches; stamp sets; inking supplies; and miscellaneous supplies, including adhesives and markers. Drawer dividers and a pen/pencil holder serve as organizers for miscellaneous tools and supplies.

Of course, my biggest challenge will be limiting what I bring to what will fit in my new craft station.  :)

Favorite Thing #2: A "New" Challenge Blog

Okay, this challenge is the My Favorite Things Sketch Challenge and it has been around for a long, long time. Yet, it's new to me.

And, though it may be impossible to believe, I recently made my very first My Favorite Things purchase. Crazy, but true. So, I've decided to link up a card to the current MFT Sketch Challenge. Don't know about you, but I always find it quite exciting and just a little scary to link up to new challenges. But, here goes!

Echo Park times & seasons 2; Recollections black; Carson watercolor paper
Stampin' Up! too kind images in StazOn jet black;
TPC Studio sentiment; Paper Smooches natural beauties (for tiny heart)
punches: SU petite petal; SU owl builder (for tiniest circles); EK hole; Creative Memories corner rounder
adhesives: Scotch ATG; Scrapbook Adhesives foam squares; Glue Dots; Zig 2-way glue pen
 

As you can, see I flipped the sketch so that the diagonal strip is at the bottom. When I decided to go with the flowers, I thought the strip worked much better here.

I'm also linking this card up for the current Simon Says Stamp Monday Blog's In-The-Middle Challenge.

Favorite Thing #3: Words 2 Scrap By

April Challenge
April 1 - April 21

There are still a few more days to enter the current The-Earth-Has-Music Words 2 Scrap By challenge. Our challenge is open until April 21. Hope you will join in our April challenge!

Parting Thoughts

Hoping to make a little more time for crafting this weekend. We'll see how that goes.

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

The Return of "Monday Musings"

Happy Monday, everyone! Hope the week is off to a great start.

As I mentioned in my last post, I used to post twice a week when I first started blogging. Friday posts shared cards/projects created during the week, and Monday posts shared weekend creations.

At least for the time being, I'm bringing back "Friday Night Writes" and "Monday Musings". So, welcome to the rebirth of "Monday Musings"!

#MovieLoversParadise

Coligny Theatre -- A Movie-Lover's Paradise 

One of my favorite things to do when on the island is visiting Cologny Theatre. This theatre is an
ideal place to watch indie and art films. :)

For starters, it is a single screen theatre, with a staff of one or two people. It is entirely possible that you will have one person sell tickets, handle concessions, and start the movie.

Speaking of concessions, popcorn and drink prices are $3.50, $4, and $4.50... with ticket prices of $6 and $7. Of course, you can buy a ticket booklet of six tickets for the price of five -- and receive concession stand coupons, to boot!

Once you have your ticket and goodies, it's time for the pre-show. Only at Coligny, the pre-show is a series of photos taken by the island camera club members... and maybe one or two trailers. That's it. Then it's time for the art/indie film to begin. Film viewing at its purist!  :)

Oh, and the best part, is that this wonderful little theatre is a 2-minute walk from our villa. Truly, movie watching heaven on Earth! Saw Effie Gray there this afternoon.

Card #1: Bo Bunny Liberty to the Rescue... Again

My first card is an Any Hero card inspired by Operation Write Home Sketch #252. When packing up card-making supplies for my island trips, I always include a pad of Bo Bunny Liberty paper. (I just adore this paper collection -- still crazy about it after all these years!) It's hard to go wrong with a little Bo Bunny Liberty, some Bazzill admiral, and a bit of burlap.  :)



Bo Bunny liberty; Distress Ink antique linen; Bazzill admiral and watermelon
Recollections jute/burlap
Paper Shaper and Marvy punches; Fiskars star punch; ??? corner rounder (for tiny stars)
adhesives: Scotch ATG; Zig 2-way glue pen

The sketch calls for a big circle. But, my circle cutting system didn't make the trip. So, I swapped it out for a rectangular-ish piece of burlap. Think it turned out okay in spite of the substitution.

 

With All My Heart

 

Not too long ago, a picked up a Heidi Swapp stamp -- my first Heidi Swapp purchase. I was actually drawn to the font -- with the idea it could make some non-frilly, more masculine love cards for OWH.

 

When I opened the package this weekend, I was surprised to find it included a small heart stencil. Hooray! The cards below are the first two cards I made with this Heidi Swapp set.

 

Bazzill watermelon; Stampin' Up! black; Carson watercolor
Heidi Swapp stamp and stencil set
sentiment in StazOn jet black; heart in Distress Ink fired brick
SU owl builder punch for tiny heart and circles

 

Bo Bunny timeppiece; Recollections black; Cardstock Warehouse white
Heidi Swapp stamp and stencil set
sentiment in StazOn jet black; heart in Distress Ink vintage photo
Really Reasonable Ribbon ribbon
SU owl builder punch for tiny hearts

So, do you have a preference between the more traditional red, white, and black or the more muted brown-and-black version? I still need to do a little something with the inside of the former and clean up the ribbon (with better scissors than I seem to have here) on the latter.

 

Look for more cards with this stamp and stencil set. I really like the look of it... and want to play with some other possibilities. 

 

Paper Smooches Guest Designer Search

 

The May Guest Designer Search is going on at Paper Smooches. Think I'm going to link up this little birthday card I made for a good friend.

If the card looks familiar, it's because I blogged about it last month. Really like the stitched die border. Also like the fun, whimsical look that I don't achieve as often as I wish I would.

Please click here for card details.

 

Parting Thoughts

Thanks again to Leslie and the Shopping Our Stash gals for teaming up with our The Earth Has Music Challenge at Words 2 Scrap By. You have until midnight EST tonight to link up a card for SOS #196 and until April 21 to link up a card -- maybe the same card -- to W2SB #16. 

 

 

Think that's it for now. Actually, that's quite a bit for a Monday.  :)

 

Have a great week. Thanks for visiting today's edition of Monday Musings and happy scrappin'!

 

The Return of "Friday Night Writes"

Hi, everyone! When I first started blogging about my adventures in card making, I was working full time. So, I decided to post twice weekly -- on Fridays and on Mondays. This gave me the opportunity to share whatever I had worked on during the week and the weekend.

Retirement me finds myself struggling with balancing crafting and posting. So, I am going to relaunch my "Friday Night Writes" and "Monday Musings". That said, welcome to the first edition of the rebirth of "Friday Night Writes"!

#grateful

A Favorite Island View

Well, I'm back on the island again. And, today has been such a wonderful day.

The morning began reading a wonderful novel for an hour or so down at the beach. Then hubby and I walked the beach and went out for a quick lunch. The afternoon included a post-lunch nap and settling in on the couch to watch a little of the Masters.

I've recently been thinking of the song "Something Good" from the Sound of Music when Maria wonders what she's done to experience such happiness. I wonder the same thing. The one thing I know for sure is that I'm so very grateful.

Card #1: Child's Play

My first card was inspired by the current Cards In Envy Child's Play challenge and by a card made by Lin at Scrapbook Art in Lewis Center at an Operation Write Home card-making party. When I first saw the CIE challenge, I immediately knew the card I wanted to CASE!

For my version, I decided to use different shades of pink, embossing my circles to create visual interest and texture. The wave at the bottom of the card was based upon the shape of the Word Art text, using a bendable ruler to replicate the shape for the card's layers.



Distress Ink core; Stampin' Up! gray
Sizzix and Cuttlebug embossing folders
Paper Shapers and Marvy circle punches
SU owl builder punch (for tiny hearts and gray circles)
My Favorite Things television dies (for antennae)
Darice googly eyes; SU baker's twine
computer-generated (Word Art) sentiment
adhesives: Scotch ATG, Glossy Accents, micro Glue Dots, Zig 2-way glue pen

Card #2: thanks so much

My second card was inspired by the current Mojo Monday Sketch. I've started playing along with the Mojo Monday Sketches to force myself experiment with more layers and embellishments than I typically use.  Think I'll also link this up to the current Simon Says Stamps Wednesday blog's April-Showers-Spring-Flowers Challenge.  :)

The Paper Smooches sentiment was masked off using sticky notes to stamp on two lines. I just don't have the heart to cut the sentiment in half.

MME breeze; Stampin' Up! grays; Recollections black; Cardstock Warehouse white
Paper Smooches sentiment from natural beauties in Distress Ink black soot
SU petite petals image in DI black soot on DI mustard seed
punches: SU petite petals; Paper Shaper & Marvy circle punches
SU baker's twine; adhesives: Scotch ATG, Scrapbbok Adhesives foam squares
 

Parting Thoughts

My thanks to Leslie and the Shopping Our Stash gals for teaming up with our The Earth Has Music Challenge at Words 2 Scrap By. You have until Monday night to link up a card for SOS #196 and until April 21 to link up a card -- maybe the same card -- to W2SB #16. 

 

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!  Have a lovely weekend.  See you at Operation Write Home's Stars & Stamps blog tomorrow and back here on Monday  :)

SOS #196 + W2SB #16 = 1 FUN WEEK

Hi, everyone! I'm here with some pretty exciting new! This week, Leslie and the gals at Shopping Our Stash are teaming up to share projects inspired by the quote, "The earth has music for those who listen."   :)

• Please click here for Shopping Our Stash #196.
• Please click here for Words 2 Scrap By #16.
• And, please click here to see my original W2SB #16 post.

The card I'm sharing today at SOS is shown below.

paper: Tim Holtz idea-ology collage; Basic Grey
Tim Holtz remnant rub
Making Memories leather label holder
Really Reasonable Ribbon ribbon
Stampin' Up! owl builder punch (for six tiny circles)
tool: Fiskars crimper

This "tweet" Tim Holtz remnant rub image is framed by a leather label holder that I've had in my stash for who knows how long. I also pulled out my long-neglected crimper to achieve the texture on the bottom panel.

Hope you will join us and our friends at SOS in playing along with both earth-has-music inspired challenges.   :)

HELLO

Hi, everyone! I'm here with a card for this month's Operation Write Home's ODBD masculine card challenge.

Stampin' Up! crumb cake
Simon Says Stamp scribble flower stamp set in various Distress Inks
Kelly Purkey alphabet stickers; Paper Smooches stitch die
Marvy and Paper Shaper circle punches
adhesives: Scotch STG; Recollections foam squares

I have to give mega kudos to Shari Carroll for the inspiration for this card. It is a CASE of a card that she and Jennifer McGuire taught in a Simon Says Stamp CREATE 2014 card-making class.

The card we made at CREATE was one layer. For my card, I first stamped circles and borders on crumb cake, and then punched them out to adhere on the card. The "flatter" images are actually two-ply so they are slightly raised. The "raised" images are attached with foam adhesives.

On the inside, I sort of mimicked the design on the front of the card. I stamped images in Distress Ink antique linen, using second-generation stamped images, at the bottom of the card.

I have to say I really like the tone-on-tone-on-tone crumb cake effect. And, it even received considerable praise from hubby -- he "really liked it"!

Parting Thoughts

April Challenge
April 1 - April 21

We have a new challenge up and running at Words 2 Scrap By. Sure hope you will check it out. We'd love to have you play along.

Thanks for stopping. Have a blessed Easter.

W2SB #16: The earth has music...

... for those that listen.

These are the words for our April Words 2 Scrap By challenge, which inspired the card below. They seem pretty appropriate for a month that celebrates Earth Day and Arbor Day.  :)

light gray: Tim Holtz ideaology ; black: SU core; gold and dark gray: Basic Grey
SU mask/stencil in Distress Ink vintage photo, applied with Ranger blending tool
Stamper's Anonymous image, heat embossed in DI black soot
butterflies: Tim Holtz remnant rubs
computer-generated words; Paper Smooches twine, attached using WRMK Sew Easy
Creative Memories oval cutting system
adhesives: Scotch ATG runner; micro Glue Dots; 2-way Zig glue pen; Recollections foam squares

I have to confess that I love this month's words, but really struggled with my card. That said, I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out. There are a few design elements worth mentioning.

• It may not show up well in the photo, the bottom dark gray strip is pleated. Combined with the vertical stripes added to the gold paper, I like the overall effect achieved.
• The twine was added for two reasons: 1) to help keep the pleats in place, 2) to add additional texture, and 3) to bring the "golden" color to the bottom of the card.
• The word strips were inspired by Tim's chit chat stickers. But, I couldn't find "note" in my chit chat stickers. So, I printed these myself on the gold paper. (And, I only had one small piece of paper to use... and was thrilled when it actually turned out okay!)
• At first, I didn't have any paper behind on my chit-chat-inspired words. But, I didn't feel they had a strong enough presence. So, I adhered them to black cardstock. Then they had too strong of a presence. Finally, I added the dark gray cardstock and, as Goldilocks would say, they felt just right.   :)

Parting Thoughts

April 1 - April 21

Hope you will join us this month at Words 2 Scrap By. Our challenge is open until April 21. And, we have a few Imagine Crafts goodies up for grab this month.

Thanks for stopping and happy scrappin'!