Merry and Bright

Start with a great sketch and some well coordinated supplies and making a card is easy peasy.  I put this card together in under 30 minutes.  The supplies were sent to me by my friend Abby as part of a challenge I mentioned last week.  I belong to this awesome Yahoo group called Scrappin'-n-Chattin'.  We had a cool swap this holiday season where we sent supplies to another gal in the group and she had to make a card out of the supplies.  I used this sketch from Frosted Designs:

I also used Glossy Accents on the chipboard poinsettia and I love the result.  It was the first time I used it but it will not be the last.

My First Large Banner -- The Paper Variety Challenge #62

The Paper Variety has another fun challenge today and it allows for a lot of creativity....use an ornament on your paper project and you could win your choice of a great prize package from one of my very favorite Etsy shops....Precocious Papers. This could be yours:

or this:

Aren't they lovely?

For my project I decided to attempt my first full sized banner.  I recently bought Spellbinders Nestabilites Nesting Pennants and used them to cut the nesting pennants for my banner. 

I used an ornament from one of Echo Park's Christmas collections from last year.  The beautiful red cardstock is from Stampin' Up and the green pin stripe paper isn't even from a Christmas-themed collection....it is from an 8x8 October Afternoon Thrift Shop paper pad.  I just loved the cozy, homespun feel it added to the project. The gingerbread men and holly clusters are from October Afternoon Very Merry collection. I bought one of the Santa Sacks that October Afternoon is offering on Fridays and wow! was I floored by the large selection of awesome papers and embellishments I received. I added some red rhinestones from my stash and drew some dash lines... and all done in under 90 minutes.  Not a difficult project and I really like how it turned out.  Lookout.... I am sure I will be making plenty more banners in the future.

Did you hear the BIG news?  The Paper Variety has a design team call going out right now.  It is a 6 month term and I can testify that Abby and Suzanne are the bestest to work with.  I have really enjoyed sharing my projects with you through The Paper Variety and I am soooo sad that my 6 months is coming to an end that I just might re-apply....why don't YOU apply too?  Check out all the details HERE.

A Winner!!!!

A couple of weeks ago I asked my blog readers to post what they were most grateful for going into Thanksgiving week and I would pick a winner and send a surprise out to them.  I was supposed to post the winner on Thanksgiving and I totally forgot.  Sorries!  Anyway without further ado here is the winner:

Suzy said...

I absolutely love this frame Sandi! You make such fun projects with lots of different product/textures. Hmm.. something "little" I'm thankful for.. that I have a hubby who sends me a text or an email throughout the day to let me know he's thinking of me and wishes me a good day. I always seem to open them when things are hectic and they definitely calm me down and make me look forward to going home to a quiet and happy home! :)

Suzanne I will be sending you out a special surprise very soon....thanks for your sweet comment.

Last Summer

We had such a great visit last summer seeing my family over Labor Day and Dave took some really great pictures of the grandkids including this picture of Abby at the pool.  I used Nikki Sivils Summer collection on it and am entering it into her B/W photo challenge.  I also used a sketch from My Scraps and More which you can see HERE.

Card Patterns Sketch #142

I am in a great Yahoo scrapbooking group called Scrappin'-n-Chattin'.  We do a lot of scrappin' (crafting ...not fighting...LOL) and boy do we chat a lot so we are aptly named.  One fun thing we are doing this holiday season is a swap where we send a gal in the group the papers and makings of a card and she has to make a card from it.  Well Kim Martin (see her awesome blog HERE) sent me these beautifully coordinated items and I found this perfect sketch at the Cards Patterns challenge blog:

And everything just came together perfectly.  Thanks Kim! I am also linking this up at Lily Pad Cards Simon Says Stamp Button challenge and the Paper Issues Holiday Madness challenge.

The Artful Delight Sketch Challenge

I absolutely love the December card kit over at Artful Delight and would LOVE to win one.  Leeanne has a sketch contest every month and gives away a kit for the prize.  The deadline is tonight in about an hour and I just got in under the wire with this layout of my granddaughter last month at the apple orchard.  I love Jillibean Soup Apple Cheddar Soup papers and embellies and used them on this layout along with some embellishments from the October Artful Delight kit....love that scalloped felt border and those felt roses!  I used this sketch:

The sketches are always really versatile and easy to work with and this sketch challenge is one I look forward to every month.  I am soooo glad I was able to squeak this one out.

Edited 9/18/15 to add: I am entering this page in the current linky party at Paper Issues -- How 'Bout Them Apples?

The gift that almost wasn't.......

I found this little 12 inch unfinished wooden sled at my local thrift shop last summer for under a dollar.  I knew I could do something with it for the holidays.  I picked up Echo Park's Season's Greetings paper collection and layered chipboard recently and decided it would be perfect for this altered project.  I had no idea what a rough time I would have.  I used Tim Holtz/Ranger pewter crackle paint on the the runners of the sled.  I neglected to read the bottle and follow the directions to paint raw wood before applying the crackle paint.  What a terrible time I had.  My wonderful husband literally had to "talk me off the ledge".  I wanted to throw it out and uttered more than one choice word.  I was so frustrated with myself and the more upset I was, the worse the project got....I dripped pewter paint on the beautiful red paper and in trying to remove it tore the paper.  But Dave helped me settle down and I put it aside overnight and calmly worked on it over the next several days until it turned out presentable.  I am entering it in the Facebook contest that Echo Park is currently running and also over at Frosted Designs this week where their challenge is to use die cuts on a projects.  The paper, small letters and layered chipboard are all from Echo Park Season's Greetings, the larger letters are from Echo Park's collection Little Boy and the ribbon , sparkling snowflakes and rhinestones are all from my stash.

I made this door hanging for my son Matt and his wonderful wife Amy.  It is currently getting packed up and tomorrow will be on it's way to the midwest.  I hope they like it.  And a million thanks to my patient and loving husband for his support of me and my hobby.  I love you Dave!

Also linked up to Paper Issues Holiday Madness

To a real Classic

My husband's Uncle Charlie is one of my favorite people....he is always upbeat, positive and makes me laugh.  He also loves old cars and has owned more than one classic in his life so I thought Echo Park's Times and Seasons collection would be perfect for his birthday card.  I made an easel card for him just for something different and so I could enter it into the easel card challenge over at My Craft Spot.  I even typed on the card with my vintage Smith Corona typewriter from the 50's.  We picked up the typewriter at a flea market recently and I bought a brand new ribbon for it from a place on the internet.  I love it!!

My Wish for you.........

I love the song "My Wish" by Rascal Flats and always think of my sons and grandchildren when I listen to the lyrics.  I wanted to use the lyrics on this page with a picture of my son and grandsons after a day of apple picking at County Line Orchard in Indiana.  The love the natural sepia effect of the late afternoon sun in the picture.....now that's some nice photography.

I used this awesome sketch by Julie Bonner:

I also used Jillibean Soup Apple Cheddar Soup papers and embellies.  I love Jillibean Soup....they are definite in my top 1 or 2 paper companies.  I am entering this in the Bird is the Word "Wish" challenge.

Edited 9/16/15 to add: I am linking this page up to the current issue at Paper Issues--How 'Bout Them Apples?

Tag......You're It!

This week's challenge at CAS-ual Fridays was to create a card with a tag on it.  My teenage nephew Kyle's birthday is coming up and I wanted to make him a card.  Do you know how hard it is to make a card for a teenage boy??? On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give it a 9!  But I came up with this clean and simple design with Bo Bunny Ad Lib paper and a cool Paper Smooches sentiment and I am happy with it.

Giving Thanks -- The Paper Variety Challenge #60

This week we are challenged to give thanks with a paper project.  In writing this blog post I am reminded of all I am thankful for.....a husband who loves me, 2 sons whom I am very proud of, a wonderful daughter-in-law and four healthy, beautiful grandchildren.  Those are the easy and obvious  thing to be grateful for...but I want to remind myself to be thankful for the often overlooked things in my life....a steady job for both my husband and I, my healthy dad and in-laws, my comfortable home and a little extra money once in awhile to spend on our hobbies.  What are you thankful for today?

To celebrate  my thankfulness and hopefully to inspire you, I have created this altered picture frame for a good friend of mine:

Don't you just love that flower?  It was gifted to me from my friend Theresa.  She makes the most amazing flowers.  You need to check out her blog HERE.  I am entering this project over at Paper Issues "Thankful for Fall" challenge and Simon Says Stamp Thanksgiving challenge. Check out all the awesome drool-worthy Thanksgiving and Fall projects on those sites.  I love all the inspiration I get from the internet.

So who wants to win a prize??  Just make a little project this week using the words "thanks" or "thankful", enter it over at The Paper Variety and you could win this lovely stamp set from My Creative Time:

 And for an extra bonus, just for fun, leave me a comment on this post as to what you are thankful for today....not the obvious things.....look for some little thing in your everyday life that you often overlook or take for ganted and give it a shout out.  I will pick one comment and send you a little gift. I will post the winner on Thanksgiving. 

PS Another thing I am grateful for is YOU...the reader of my blog.  I am thankful you have taken the time to check out my projects and read my random thoughts.  Have a wonderful week.

Happy Thanksgiving

I have started creating my Thanksgiving cards.  Luckily I only have 6 to make and this is my second one. I came across a great card sketch site and I just love their sketch this week over at Card Patterns:

In addition to great sketches they also offer some cool prizes.  You should really check them out.  I used up a bunch of things I have had for sometime.... Basic Grey Indian Summer paper, cappucino twine from the Twinery, the border punch has been in my stash for nearly a year and is from my friend Kim and the cardstock is from Stampin' Up.  The flower and sentiment I found in the bottom of my stash drawer.  I love the little pop of aqua on the sentiment.  Since I used so much of my stash on this card I have decided to enter it over at C'est Magnifique Use Your Stash challenge.

Oak Tree

Here is the last project I worked on this weekend.  When I first started scrapbooking 4 years ago my husband bought me a kit at Sam's with a bunch of stuff in it.  One of the things in it was a little oak leaf punch.  I never used it until now.  I looked for it and found it among my other punches (thank goodness I am semi-organized!) and used it on this project....the leaves were the perfect size.  My friend Abby had cut me a few of these trees nearly a year ago when I admired them on one of her projects and I hoarded them until I used one on this project.  The sentiment is an SRM sticker....love how easy those make card making.  I was inspired to let some of the tree branches hang off the side of the card by the currnet challenge this week over at CAS-ual Fridays which is Over the Edge.  There is so much talent over there and the best challenges...I just love to look at not only the DT creations but also the entries every week.

Also entered in:

My Craft Spot Challenge #32 Gobble 'til you Wobble

The Cuttlebug Spot -- Anything Goes Challenge

Paper Issues -- Thankful For Fall

Buttons, buttons, who's got the buttons?

I had fun playing with buttons and bling today on the Christmas tree for this card.  I saw a wonderful tutorial from Shari Carroll that inspired this card recently online.  You can see it HERE.  The first thing my husband asked me after telling me the card was pretty was "That looks like a very special card....who are you going to send it to and how is it going to fit in an envelope?"  It is rather odd sized but I think it will fit nicely in an 8x10 padded envelope.

I am entering this card in the following challenges:

 Simon Says Stamp button challenge 

Lily Pad Cards texture challenge

Paper Issues Snow Day

Abby and Mom go Trick or Treating

My daughter-in-law Amy joined Abby in dressing up this year,  Abby was "Miss Spider" and Amy...well she was Mrs. Spider??!  I think they looked good and creepy and loved the pictures so I wanted to scrap them right away.  Sketchy Thursday had the perfect sketch this week which you can see HERE. Add to that an awesome prize and I quickly got to work on my entry.  In addition to the sketch challenge, I am also entering it over at the Family challenge at Frosted Designs and the masking challenge at my scrapbook group Scrappin'-n-Chattin'. I masked the little journaling area in the lower right hand corner where I put the date.  Three entries with one page?  Not bad for a Saturday afternoon's work.

My first banner

Flashback Friday has another cool challenge this week -- to post my very first banner that I made.  I went back to August 2010 and found this Christmas card that I made for my granddaughter Abby. I was involved in a 30 day Christmas card challenge and made 30+ Christmas cards that month.  That was a pretty plain banner, I must admit, but hey it was my first attempt.  I still love banners on my projects but I jazz them up a bit now.  This was taken with my little Sony Cybershot camera (which I have recently passed down to my grandson Jacob).  It also was way before I had my light box and I photographed all my projects outside and rarely cropped or photoshopped them.  I've come along way, baby!

Christmas Cards

Last weekend, even though he was not feeling up to it, my darling husband drove me to my favorite scrapbook store 90 minutes away in Orlando.  He also never said anything about the money I spent.  I am a lucky gal and I know it.  I bought several new collections and Season's Greetings from Echo Park is one of them.  I broke into it tonight for these two cards and I might say I love it.  Such great papers!  For the above card I used this sketch from Card Positioning Systems:

 I am also entering it into Scrapfit's Workout #55 'Tis the Season.  I have loads of Christmas cards still to make yet so I also made this one tonight:

I also used Echo Park's Season's Greetings for the above card along with this sketch 139 from Card Patterns:

What a lovely sketch! And I love the way the card turned out also.  Well I have about 40 Christmas cards done....only 50 to go!!  Have you started on your holiday projects yet?

The Paper Variety Challenge #58

The Paper Variety has a really FUN....can you say REALLY FUN challenge this week and that is to create a paper project that makes us laugh,  The design team came up with some laugh out loud projects and I can wait to see what all the entries are.  I love to laugh and I love a great sense of humor which is one reason my husband won my heart....he always makes me laugh.  Well here is my entry:

My son Adam is always posting some offbeat pictures on Facebook and recently posted this one of a skeleton hanging in his closet. Well, I couldn't resist!  Don't you just love all the skeleton heads on the background paper too?  Perfect for this layout, I thought. I used this sketch from My Scraps and More (I just rotated it):

Anyway, you know we have the bestest prizes in the blog-land,over at The Paper Variety, don't you?  Well, this week is no exception.  This week you can win a $20 gift certificate towards :

Awesome prize, isn't it?  So what are you waiting for?  C'mon, make us laugh and you could go away with a great prize too!

Three cards

Here is the last Halloween card I made and it was for my hubby.  I used this card sketch from Frosted Designs:

Then there is this card for the Bo Bunny sketch challenge:

I used last years beautiful Christmas collection Winter Joy and followed this sketch:

I also used SRM stickers for the sentiment and lots of bling.

My final card that I am sharing with you tonight is this one:

I made this card for my friend Marti as she continues on in her fight against cancer.  She is an amazing woman....always positive and upbeat.  I love to send her little words of encouragement every week.  I heat embossed the sentiment which is from the "Inside and Out Set #2" stamp set from My Craft Spot which I won recently over at Birthday Sundaes.  I used this sketch from CAS-ual Fridays:

I am also going to enter it in Wee Memories Brads, Buttons or Bows challenge.  Can you see the teeny, tiny button in the center of the bow? Don't you just love it?