Who are they kidding?

Once again, life got in the way of my fun.  Today's chore, defrost the freezer.  Now, I'm not great in the cleaning department.  I can organize a closet to within an inch of its life but cleaning, you really want someone else to do it.  However, I'm fairly good at the "specialty" projects, such as cleaning out the garage, storage room or craft room.  But today, it is the freezer and we have one of the GIANT chest freezers.

You know the ones, the type that can fit a cow and

Literacy Alive

a pig

Wally G's PhotoStream

and even a deer.  How do I know? We've done it -- a couple of times.

So, this is a big freezer.

Well, we were convinced this monstrosity of a freezer has a defrost button.  You know, you push it and it heats up a bit and speeds along the defrosting.  So, what do I do, I get on the internet to find the manual (what did we do before the internet?).  The monstrosity is almost 30 years old, the manual that came with it is long gone.  While on the internet I find the manual.  In it, my dear friends at GE say that because of their superbly made freezer, I shouldn't need to defrost it more than once or twice a year.

ONCE OR TWICE A YEAR?  Who are they kidding?  Am I an even worse housekeeper than I think?  Does anyone defrost their freezer that often?  I will admit it, I think the Republicans were in the White House the last time the monstrosity was cleaned.  So, really and truly, how often do you defrost your freezer?  Is this something you plan or do you do it when you are concerned that the ice is starting to climb out of the freezer?  Please, help a girl out here.

Now, on to something fun (although the fact that I don't have the freezer cleaning project hanging over my head is lovely).

This card is to add to my stash for Christmas.  The image is from Tiddly Inks (they are having a great sale today for Christy's birthday).  I actually made two of them, very similar but ...

Because I am taking the admonition to complete the insides now so I won't be scrambling come November/December, here is the inside.  The sentiment is computer generated.

Which do you like better or neither?  Card 1 or card 2 and why?  I love all of the positive feedback but I'd love to know if you have any recommendations for me?  Is there something I should be doing which would make these cards better?

These cards were submitted to Bah Humbug Challenge blog and Crazy Hazelnuts Christmas Challenge.

Some days are just good

Hello Friends -

Today should not be a good day.  I woke up way too early.  It was raining like crazy, the dog was freaked because of the lightening and thunder (he is the biggest scared-y cat you can imagine).  It just shouldn't be a good day but for whatever reason, its been good.

Do you ever wonder what makes for a "good day" or a "bad day".  Do you ever have days where you think, "I shouldn't be in a good mood but I am."  or conversely, "What do I have to be cranky about?"  I'll admit, sometimes good and bad days are in direct relationship to the amount of chocolate I have consumed.  However, I don't think this one is a chocolate induced good day.

I'm thinking it is partially a good day because this card came together nicely.  I was following a number of rules to get to this point:

Rule 1 - it must be a shape card without using an electronic cutting device (cuttlebug/sizzix/etc are encouraged).  I didn't even know you could do this.  I'm so lazy sometimes because I have my cricut.  I must say with all of the frustration and anger at Provo Craft, I think more and more people are going to be figuring out ways to make things without their bugs.  (enough of my commentary -- don't anyone burn down my blog because I said that).

Rule 2 - use a digi from Tidly Inks

Rule 3 - use the following picture as inspiration

This photo should have put me in a bad mood.  What would I do with this photo?  It has way too many flowers in it for my taste and I had the hardest time finding an image inspired by the photo.  I ended up choosing one used by Melissa on the Design Team something I normally don't do but what is a girl to do?

Since I'm still not crazy about my coloring, I paper pieced the scarf and the dress.  I also hated all of the white space around Chi (the character which you can purchase here) so I made my own design paper by stamping a small flower/leaf set all around her.  I also inked all of the edges because it just wouldn't look right otherwise.

The exciting thing, not only did I make this a shape card, I made it an EASEL shape card.  Now how cool is that?  I found a great tutorial on easel cards at the Splitcoast Stampers.  Any time I want to find a tutorial for a different type of card, I head over to Splitcoast Stampers, they'll have it.

I carried the paper from the shawl into the mat on the inside.  I also stamped Happy Birthday on the mat.  I think this one is going to my aunt for her 70th birthday.  It is tomorrow so it'll be a day or two late.  Saying she is 70 really makes me feel old.  When I think of her she is in her 40's or so, certainly not 70.  On the Birthday note, tomorrow is also Christy's birthday, the artist that made Chi and all of the other Tiddly Inks.  So, Christy, you can have this as your virtual birthday card.

Here is a side view of the card.  You can see where the folds happen.

And that is my project for today.

You know what else made me happy today?  The UPS man.  I have a thing for my UPS man, not physically or anything.  He is my very own Santa Claus but he keeps giving all year long. Today he surprised me with a box from Custom Crops.  Now, I don't normally do haul photos or videos they feel a bit icky to me.  Too much consumerism and not enough of the creative/art side of things.  However, this is making me very happy.

I received my Jillibean Soup order.  Almost the entire box was Jillibean Soup.  Who can't be happy when they get all that yummy Soup, especially on a rainy dreary day like today.  Don't you love a big bowl of soup when the rain comes pouring down?

Here is what I now have

This photo doesn't even show the new Strawberry soup and all the kraft goodies.  My Jillibean obsession has gotten so bad that I've now created a box with only Jillibean embellies, prior to this the only designer with their own box was Tim Holtz (it is easy to have a box of just Tim Holtz embellies).  I wonder if Jill (founder/owner of Jillibean Soup) would find that nice or creepy?  I probably shouldn't mention that next week I'll be visiting the town where she lives.  You won't tell, will you?

I took some pictures in the rain today.  I think I'll edit them and put them up for you later today or tomorrow.

Is it still your favorite color if...

Ask anyone that knows me well, they would tell you my favorite color is purple.  Its been my favorite  since I was a tweener.  That being said, I wear very little purple.  I don't have a significant amount of purple in my home.  Here and there I've got some purple -- a purple water bottle, a purple dress I wear for bed, that kind of thing.   When my family recently purchased paper for my birthday I received a few sheets of purple paper.  I think it is the bulk of my patterned purple paper.

Until yesterday, I don't think I had made a purple card in at least 18 months.  And, I don't own purple ribbon -- of any shade.  I didn't have any purple buttons or embellies or anything.

However, I had two shades of purple Tim Holtz Distress Inks.  Now I have purple ribbon, buttons and paper.  I made them myself.  I must say, if you are willing to be a bit adventurous, Tim Holtz can be a HUGE help.  His Distress Inks are incredible and if you buy them in "families" you can do some fantastic things (even more than stamping).

On the other hand, not a week goes by without my using some kraft paper.  It is as common for me to use kraft as a card base as white.  I love to stamp onto kraft paper.  But can I tell people my favorite color is kraft?  I think not.  I'd be laughed right out of the blogosphere.  And my family, well they would have a fit.  You can't make a decision on which  ____________ (fill in the blank) to buy if a person's favorite color is kraft.  Isn't that like saying your favorite color is white?

So, can I still say my favorite color is purple?

On to the Card

I'm certain you would rather see my card.  I've quite rambled on and on about this favorite color issue, and probably beaten that poor dead horse to bits.

So, while making yesterday's card I had so many mis-steps I was able to make two more cards.  I'll tell you about one today and keep one for a "rainy day".

Anyone up for a kraft and purple card (It is the best of both worlds, isn't it)

I've been dieing to use these library book pockets since I bought them almost a month ago at the oh so lovely Kraft Outlet.  Every time I thought I had a place for them I couldn't make it work.  Today, I persevered and it stayed in the project with some yummy Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Milled Lavender.  The design on the top is from Tim Holtz Seasonal Stack.  Underneath the library pocket is a bit of the other side of the Tim Holtz paper.  Do you know how tough it was for me to turn that wonderful print over so I could have the matching purple paper?  Luckily, I bought two stacks of this so I have some still uncut.

A better view of the wonderful Tim Holtz paper.  Doesn't it look wonderful,
almost like a seed packet.

The tag is a stamp from Unity stamps -- It is called Becoming Butterfly although my LSS had it as a set with four other stamps.  I stamped it using the Tim Holtz Concord Grape Distress Inks.  I used a combination of Concord Grape and Milled Lavender for the ribbon and my tiny attacher keeps it in place.

This is my submission for this week's challenge at Kraft Journal.  It not only has kraft in it, it also has the library card purchased at Kraft Outlet.  The theme was spring.  Do you think it turned out spring like?

Make a plan then...

Hello Friends -

A friend of mine recently created a facebook post about a project asking women to write a sign about what they would say to themselves the day before their first child was born.  Here is the link if you are up for a look.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taDqKWWPDAY&feature=player_embedded  It has some fun music and GREAT signs.

 I said my sign would say, "Make a plan then be prepared to change it."

I've always been the type of person to plan everything. My family laughs at the fact I can make multi-tabbed spreadsheets for the vacation grocery shopping.  One tab for everything we need to buy, a second for just the liquor store, yet another for Costco and a final one for the regular grocery store.  I make multiple copies so we I can recruit additional people to take a portion and we can get the shopping done.  This spreadsheet, however, requires an agreed upon menu for the week and so on and so on.  Now, in my defense, they laugh but they all appreciate it and rely on the fact that I won't get us out to an island without enough food for everyone.

When my son was born I was one of those people with a birth plan. I had five pages of how I wanted the birth to go.  I read everything under the sun so I could think out each and every scenario. Well, the best advice in the world came from my doctor.  She said, "Thank you for this plan, I"m glad to know how you would like things to go but I need you to be prepared to make changes if things aren't working out."  And she was correct.  I could make as many plans as I wanted but the Wonderkid has always had his own ideas and they weren't always in sync with mine.  We went from Natural Childbirth to an Emergency C-Section after induced labor.  It wasn't my plan at all but it was the best way to deal with the cards I was dealt.

Today's card was a reminder of the importance of making plans and then being prepared to scrap (no pun intended - hehehe) them whenever necessary.

I stuck to the sketch.  It is a challenge with Papercraft Star and created by Liz Chidester.

But this is what I started out with.  These were both going on the left hand side of the card.

These designs are part of the Tim Holtz Seasonal stack.  Aren't they fun?  And they are completely in keeping with my style.  They would be lovely with kraft paper.

However, this is where I ended up.  It is still Tim Holtz although I stamped this design on white paper instead of cutting out a design.

The card topper is Core'dinations Whitewash with a purple core.  I then used a Cuttlebug 5 x 7 Damask folder to emboss it and I sanded the paper to bring out the design a tad more.  The ribbon is a bit of rayon I died with my Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Milled Lavender and Concord Grape).  The button is a white button I inked with the Concord Grape Distressed Ink and the heart was cut out using the Beyond Birthdays cart.  The sentiment is also a Tim Holtz acrylic stamp.

So, the plan was fine but being flexible and willing to change as the situation dictates makes for a better life ... and a better card.  Wouldn't you agree?

We Have a Winner

Using Random.org I plugged in all of the comments from the blog and my Creating the Hive account, I took out the duplicates and there were 43 commenters.

And the winner is Pixie Camembert.  She said:


Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday to ya! I love getting your blog in my emails - so fun to look forward to and then explore your materials and inspirations. My recent favorite has been the shaker card with the sand - very fun! Thanks so much for the chance to win!
Sally in Stockton


Sally I'll email you separate to find out which prize you would like and to get your addy.  You have one week to choose your prize.


Thank you everyone for playing and I'll be back later today with a project or two.

It's the Little Things

Bedtime at my house is a battle.  The Wonderkid HATES to sleep.  He would rather do anything than lie still and fall asleep and so, every night we learn how long he can hold out before he falls asleep from sheer exhaustion.  Adding to the frustration, I've set-up a routine that I HATE (or at least I hate most of the time).

The Wonderkid only falls asleep with me cuddled right next to him.  I know, I know, every book in the world will tell you not to do this.  Let them cry it out, they say.  Give them something to replace you and let them sleep with that item (I have friends that got their children to sleep by themselves by giving the child their bra).  OK, so I know that is what they say but for the longest time I loved the quiet time I shared with the Wonderkid as he fell off to sleep.  And in honest moments, I still enjoy parts of it.

I love listening to him make up songs about his day.  I love the crazy questions he asks which tell me what about his day was most interesting to him.

And, I LOVE that he'll turn to me and say, "Mommy, know what?" and I'll say, "No, what?" and he'll say (with the most wonderful giggle in his voice because he knows that I know what is coming next) "I LOVE YOU".  Now, how can I tell him he must go to sleep in his own room all by himself and I won't come in to cuddle with him and help him fall asleep?

So, we continue this routine and most of the time I get frustrated and count down the time until he falls asleep.  Last night, though, he fell asleep quickly and I could still see him in the twilight.  I turned and looked at him so peacefully sleeping and my heart turned over.  I stopped breathing for just a moment and I remembered just how much this little person means to me.

So, I bring you this layout using two pictures of the Wonderkid sleeping.  In the top one he is 9 months old and in the bottom he is 3 1/2 years old.

For anyone wanting the details about the layout, the paper is from Core'dinations (Black Magic Petrificus under Sleeping; the letters are White Wash Windowpane; the background is Canvas Texture).  The font on the journaling is Carbon and the titles are all Bernard MT Condensed.  I sanded the word baby and I ripped a strip of the Black Magic.

Reflections

Hello Friends -

I know many people take stock of their life at the first of the year.  They make their resolutions, decide what they want to do different and bam, off they go.  New Year's has never been a big deal for me and I've never spent much time thinking about changes.  I'm normally just too tired after the mad rush from Halloween through Christmas. .  For me, those two or three months are the craziest time of the year.   I want to relax and take it easy for a bit

However, my birthday brings on the thoughts.  This year, everything seemed to line up for some real introspection.  And here I am.  I've felt like something was missing from my blogging and my crafting.  I'm not completely certain what (although I'm getting a better sense) I just know I need to make some changes.  I know I want to "take things up a notch".  

Here is some eye candy to keep you engaged.

I took this picture at the Wonderkid's school while I waited in carpool.

While I was trying to figure out what changes I needed to make, I was reintroduced to a blogger I really enjoy and respect.  It is the Scrappy Jedi.  I may have connected with her because she talked about what she did on her birthday which was the day before mine, or I might have connected because she is living in the South of the US, or I might have connected because I like her writing and crafting style.  However, it got me to thinking about why I like some blogs more than others.

When I started checking out blogs about two years ago I wasn't very discerning.  Part of that came from my need to learn SOOOO many different things.  I was trying to figure out a lot about papercrafting and in case I haven't mentioned, patience is NOT one of my virtues. So, I was gobbling up information almost anywhere I could.  I would follow any blog and I find that I now have over 100 blogs in my reader.  Enter Shimelle and her Blogging for Scrapbookers class.  This class has already been more than I expected.  It is helping me to focus my blogging and hopefully my scrapbooking also.   

Here is another picture, stay with me here.

I absolutely love the colors and look of the Graphic 45 Steampunk paper.

In thinking about which blogs I really like and which I just follow I came to a realization.  I follow because I like the projects but I get excited because I like the writing.  When I get comments on my blog, I'm finding it is true of other people as well.  So, I'm going to give you my top 5 personal blogs (in no real order).  

Capadia Designs has been one of my favorite blogs since I started reading blogs.  Diane, the author, has a great way of explaining the technical parts of the Provo Craft line of tools. I wouldn't have gotten nearly as far as I did with Design Studio without her help and support.  She is able to make anyone feel like she is talking directly to them. She is warm and invites you into her life without wallowing in mundane details or trivialities.  I find that I like what she does with most of her designs.  

Popsicle Toes is another of my lasting favorites.  Honestly, she never makes something that I don't swoon over.  I love her style because she isn't nearly as flowery and pastel based as many papercrafters.  Also, she introduced me to two digi stamp companies and my favorite challenge blog.  Even when I find a blog or challenge I really like without her, I'll find she has been there before.  I love the way Donna (the one with the Popsicle Toes) explains her project, she is a little self-deprecating without totally putting herself down. She lets you into her life but just a little bit.  I can still picture her cat getting her back up because Donna hadn't made a Valentines card from the cat to Donna's husband.  It makes me giggle every time.

Daffodils also from the Wonderkid's school.

From cats to dogs, I mentioned Kath and Buddy yesterday when I decided to show my scrapping MESS.  Buddy has a separate voice on the blog and does giveaways while Kath does the crafting and blathers on about the King of papercrafting, Tim Holtz.  Kath's designs are wonderful.  She clearly loves some of the same companies as I do but the reason I keep coming back, I LOVE to read about her adventures.  I even enjoy seeing her work desk every Wednesday.  For one thing, I get insight into her crafting "system" from the everyday mundane things she talks about (a couple days of cutting cardstock for card bases or ordering and waiting for the post to arrive).  Again, it is her writing style that keeps me hooked and looking for my next installment like a good soap opera (without the crazy drama).

I'm going to round this off with Ink Stains.  Roni pushes the envelope and does a number of crafts that I find challenging and interesting.  No one else has done a weekly tutorial on charms.  She is currently working with her followers to make a shape book using different inking techniques.  She also did a calendar earlier in the year.  She is approachable and fun to read but she is also incredibly creative. 

I'm going to wrap this up with a blog called Greenbean Crafterole.  How can you not love a blog with such an interesting and creative name.  It only gets better from there.  Reading her description of herself is the first clue that you are going to have fun.  She is unique and interesting and always finds a new take on things. 

Watermelon Pickles, they truly are YUMMY.

I hope you will indulge me as I go on this journey and maybe we can learn a little bit through the process.  If you have some ideas, I would love to hear them.

Bah Humbug Metallic Card

Hello Friends -

Today I have a card for the Bah Humbug Christmas Challenge.  The theme is metallic.  I wasn't certain what I would do for this one when I started (it's a given I'll do my best to play with the lovely ladies of Humbug Hall).  However, while I was poking around at Hobby Lobby this week I found Quic Kutz metal sheets.  Now that I start talking about this stuff, I could have used my favorite -- aluminum foil.

Before I blather on any longer I'll show you the card.

Isn't it fun?   I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder which I ran through with that lovely metal sheet.  One bonus to using these over aluminum foil -- they have adhesive on the back.  They aren't very forgiving though.  You can see a couple of little dings in the sheet from when it was at the store.

It seemed just a little bit blank if I didn't add something to the top so I pulled out Nesties Label 11 and cut out  two of the smaller ones.  I punch two holes in the sentiment tag and added some teeny tiny little brads to make it look like an actual label.

Here is a close-up of the tag.

Getting pictures of all this metal is NOT easy.

What do you think?  The lines are clean and the embossing makes a real impression (hehehe - pun intended).

I must say, I didn't think there would be a post for today.  Life just seems to be getting in the way of my crafting.  I wanted to play with paper but I found myself messing in the kitchen instead.  The Wonderkid was responsible for his class's snack today.  I'm not one to grab the bag of crackers and send him off but they won't let me send anything with sugar (or much sugar I sort of cheated this week).

This is what I made.

and

They are pumpkin chocolate chip muffins and bread.  Now, I bake about the same way I do anything else.  I look at a recipe and think of all the ways I could do it different.  In case you haven't noticed, I'm not much of a rule follower.  So, I wanted to add the chocolate chips to this recipe because -- well why wouldn't you want to add chocolate chips to almost any recipe?  But, given the Wonderkid's school I thought I better come up with a way to make it a little more "healthy" so I substituted some whole wheat flour for some of the white flour.  I thought the little ones might not notice because of the pumpkin masking the color.  The only problem is the pumpkin didn't have a strong enough flavor so they taste a bit like corn bread muffins with chocolate chips -- not bad just not great.

The other thing getting in the way of my paper crafting

THIS MESS

I've been reading the blog of a wonderful lady in Scotland, Kath and her dog Buddy.  If you haven't had a chance to check them out I highly recommend this blog.  Every Wednesday she joins with some other ladies and shows you what is on her work desk.  Well, this disaster is what is on my work desk and it is KEEPING me from crafting.  Whenever I start using vinyl, it comes out and recently I found a need for the HTV, also. So it came out.  Then somehow every embellie in the world jumped out of the boxes.  I need to wrangle all of the St. Patrick's Day things and smash them back in their boxes since I don't think I can get away with making any more St. Paddy's Day cards.

So, I'm back to organizing.  I've been talking about getting the Nesties in order and I need to work on the embossing folders.  I feel like I need to do a google search every time I start a blog entry because I can't remember the names of most of them.  Anyway, I'll pop back in tomorrow to let you know about my progress.

Don't forget about my birthday giveaway.  You still have a couple of days to enter if you haven't already.

I'm also entering this card in Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge.

Farmers Market

This weekend I sold Jams, Jellies, Fruit Butters and Pickles at my first Farmer's Market.  I've had lots of friends tell me I should do this and for some strange reason I was resistant.  No longer.  I'm a convert.  I sold 165 jars in about 4 hours.  It was a great day and I'm almost out of stock.  I think I can do one more market before canning season starts again.

In preparation for the Farmer's Market, in between working on contracts and the normal things that happen in day-to-day life, I made a couple of table top signs and the Wonderkid's school asked for banners to let people know about the Garden Activities during the Market.

Table Top signs with the start of a logo.

I'm still working on the logo so all comments are welcome (constructive criticism especially).  I want something that I can use for the canning and for crafting.  I would like to put it at the top of the blog and make it the header for my emails.  It should be friendly and approachable, a little homey maybe but still somewhat creative and fun.  I like the idea of a handwriting font although I'm not sold on this one, yet.  I was hoping the drops could look like ink drops or they might be splatters of tomato sauce, blueberry jelly, etc.  Did I achieve any of my goals?

Here are closer views of both of them.  I cut everything out of vinyl (easy to remove once I have landed on a final version).

Here are the banners for the school's activities.  Remember that I had this request on Wednesday for a Saturday morning event.  Not a lot of time to get everything together. I was cutting at 2 AM and weeding while I waited in line at the large trash amnesty day in our town.

I wasn't the one to hang either of these.  I probably would have done them a little different.  The next one is pulling because they taped it to the supports.  Oh well, I really need to have more hours in the day.

The Wonderkid wanted in the picture.  He is also wearing on of the shirts I made for him last year.

The lettering is from the Cherry Limeade cart.  The flowers and watering can came from the April Showers cart.  I need to remember this font more often.  It is a lot of fun for a sign like this.  I really needed a bit more time to make the cuts work the right way.  It is a bit of a bummer that it isn't a bit nicer.  I keep trying to remind myself that it was only up for about 4 hours.

SPRING IS HERE

Spring has finally arrived in Atlanta.  I was reading  a post from the Scrappy Jedi and she made me think.  

It was a wonderful post about how not to work on your birthday.  Now, I happened to be reading it the night after my birthday and bemoaning the fact that I was crazy busy on my birthday.  However, she showed an incredible picture of a cherry blossom and I kept thinking I should at least try to take some pictures of the cherry blossoms.  This cherry tree has branches trying to get in my window so I hear it even when I can't see it.

Here is an attempt at a picture of the blossoms:

I think it came out OK.  

I also took a picture of the apple tree at the bottom of the drive.  I had a wonderful picture of this same tree during the snow this winter (which was about 6 weeks ago).  I think these two pictures might be begging for a scrapbook page.  What do you think?

As a reminder, don't forget to comment on this post for your chance to win my Birthday Giveaway.

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Birthday to ME!

Today is my birthday (cue the Beatles soundtrack) and I wanted to celebrate with you, the people that read my blog and all the wonderful folks that take part in the different challenges.

So, I am giving away one Martha Stewart cartridge (the winner can choose).  If you don't have a cricut, I will gift you with a set of  Tim Holtz stamps and stickles.  It is a you choose give away.  How much fun is that?

In order to win you must:
1.  either subscribe or follow my blog and
2.  leave a comment on this post telling me which of my projects you like best.

Please leave me a way to get in touch with you if you win.  I will use random.org to select a winner on March 25th.

Doesn't that sound like fun?

Bah Humbug Aperture Card

This seems simple enough but it wasn't.  First, I needed to look-up and make certain I understood exactly what an aperture card contains.  After assuring myself that I just needed to have holes in my card I was off to the races.  For some reason I decided this card would be embossed.

So, I needed to choose an embossing folder.  Let me tell you I went back and forth over folders for a couple of days.  Eventually, I was starting to run out of time and patience.  If you enlarge the photo, you should be able to see the lovely embossing I did with my Cuttlebug and Sissix embossing folder.  Again, I'm not certain what the folder is called.  I promise labeling and organizing my folders is very high on my list of things to do.

After I embossed the red Core'dinations paper from the Jillibean coordinating stack I pulled out my circle Nestabilities and cut a hole in the middle of the embossing.  Now, I'm not certain that is the best way to do make this card.  When I ran it back through the Cuttlebug with the Nestie some of the embossing became  a little less pronounced.  However, I don't think I could have lined the Nestie up in the middle without having the embossing already on the paper.  Any one have a suggestion?

Speaking of lining up the Nestie.  I don't want to tell you how many times I had to cut the card base to get that circle in the correct place.  Lets just leave it with I have lots of scrap kraft paper waiting for new projects.  Luckily I use it quite a bit.  I had to line up all three layers and cut them to get this card to look "right".  The embellishments are simple and straight forward but I think they are fun.  The hat pin, button, twine an patterned cardstock all come from Jillibean Soup.  They call the patterned kraft cardstock one of their "staples".  I think they names of their papers are so cute.

I added a ton of dimension to this card.  The button has two pop dots stacked on top of each other and then placed behind the button.  The Core'dinations in pop dotted and so is the sentiment.  The sentiment stamp comes from the Inkadinkado Holiday Wishes set.

Another St. Patrick's Day Card

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

I've made at least a dozen St. Patty's Day cards this year.  This one is definitely a favorite.  To start with, it has kraft cardstock on it.  It must be good if it has kraft (and it would be good for the Kraft Journal challenge).  Second, it is one of Mary's cuts from SVGCuts.com.  This one is just one layer from the Celtic Card SVG Kit. (This makes it eligible for the SVGCuts.com challenge this week - something from the St. Pats or Easter or Spring collections).  The kit is lovely and all that but you know me, I don't like doing things the way someone else has done them and I love the intricate cuts without a lot of adornment.  I think I could get 4 or so cards out of just that one kit.  I recommend checking it out.

I also saw a wonderful cut today at Fantabulous Cricut. Check out Maquel's card here.  It came from the Blackletter cart and would be wonderful for a St. Pat's card.  I'm going to enter this in the Fantabulous challenge for this week (green, gold and square)

I wanted to place the sentiment on the front of the card.  Initially I used one of my nestabilities but the curves and edges didn't match the base I had created so I tried, again.  Speaking of the base, I made it by copying the celtic knots, then using the shadow blackout feature I made it solid but the outside edge follows the edge of the knots.  Then I copied it two more times and moved the edges until they were the size I wanted and mostly matched the curves.  I'm very pleased with the way the sentiment tag worked out.

The sentiment is an acrylic stamp from Flourishes called Irish Blessings.  I used Versamark and gold embossing powder to make it stand out.

Here is a close-up of the sentiment.  The photo doesn't do it justice, I'm afraid.  It is very tough to photograph gold embossing.

Irish Blessing:

May you always have

A sunbeam to warm you,

Good luck to charm you,

And a sheltering angel

So nothing can harm you.

What is happening to me?  I am the one that always made one card for one challenge and then moved onto another one.  This card is for three, count 'em three, different challenges.  

I still have so many things to get done, though.  I need to make two birthday cards for Thursday and I haven't finished my Bah! Humbug! challenge for this week.  All of that is after my "regular life" -- the school book fair, swim lessons for the Wonderkid and a huge project that WILL be done by Friday afternoon.  I'm also planning some type of surprise for Friday (it is my birthday -- shhh! don't tell).  I haven't decided exactly what I'll do to celebrate but I've received so many wonderful gifts from the blogosphere that I want to give back.

St. Patrick's Day T Shirt

Last night I made the Wonderkid's t-shirt for St. Patty's Day.  I was feeling very together since I have another two days before he needs to wear it.  This is what I ended up making.

The shamrock is from a shape card I won from The Cutting Cafe.  Regina has some fantastic items in the store.  I'm especially happy with her sentiments in a circle and some of the background papers.  The shamrock originally had a mirror image attached to it but I "hung" it off the edge of the mat and only cut one shamrock.

I would have preferred a different color of green for the shamrock but I ran out of the dark green.  As soon as I'm done with this post I'm off to order more Heat Transfer Vinyl (HTV) from Nick at CraftVinyl.com.

The "100% Green" and the recycling symbol are from the Spring Holiday Cards cart.  A little hint if you are cutting it out using vinyl or just looking for the "off cut", put a smaller box around the design so you don't waste all of your vinyl.

Here is a screenshot of what I mean.

You can click on the picture to make it larger.

The original design has a box that is much bigger.  You can see I used the "hide contour" feature for that box and for the face on the recycle symbol.  The edge of the original box is between th 6 and 7 inch marker.  I put a much smaller box around it using my George and Basic Shapes cartridge.  I have that cart and the Plantin cart in my Jukebox at all times.  That way I don't need to switch it back and forth because I use it constantly.  

The other reminder, don't forget to flip your design when using HTV.  You will be cutting on the "wrong" side which is the side that is less shiny.

For this shirt the white layer went down first, the green layer was next and the black was the final layer.  The Wonderkid has already given this shirt his approval.  He told me this morning it is "Bootiful".  I was afraid we would have a fight about whether he could wear it today or had to wait.  Delayed gratification is not his strong suit.  I wonder where he gets that?

Pop back tomorrow for a couple of cards (I think I'm going to be up to my ears in green this week) and maybe a banner or some fun stuff for this weekend's Farmer's Market.

Bluemoon Scrapbook Layout Sketch

This is my take on the Bluemoon Scrapbooking monthly challenge.  Here is a link to the challenge in case you want to join in.  They have a really incredible prize package, you get $40 to spend at Bluemoon Scrapbooking.  Do you know how much damage I could do with $40?  They have some stamps from Australia that I have been coveting.  They also have a little bit of Jillibean Soup paper and canvas stars.  Don't buy all of it though, I want to stock up on what they have. 

Here is a copy of the sketch.

I must admit, sketches often times help a layout come together very quickly. I hadn't used them until very recently but I'm starting to love them. 

I've had this Jillibean Soup paper on my mind for the last few weeks and I must admit I adore it.  I thought it looked fantastic with the Wonderkid's sweater.  If you click on the picture you can get a close-up of the entire layout.

Here is one portion of it.

Does he look like trouble or what?

The outer layer is Jillibean Soup Kosher Salt from the Lentil Soup collection.  I was on their website looking at papers and I couldn't find it.  I may be a very unhappy person.  I NEED my papers and I think I used the last piece of this one.  I'll show you a little trick later in this post, though.

The upper textured layer is from the coordinating Core'dinations Jillibean Soup stack.  I didn't sand it this time, although I thought about it for quite some time.  I loved the way it looked without the sanding.  It is crisp and clean this way.  The button comes from my stash but the bakers twine is a Jillibean Soup beanstalk.  They have a package of red and brown bakers twine.  It is so soft, I was amazed at how wonderful it feels.  

I used a Tim Holtz stamp from Stamper's Anonymous for the circle in the middle of the layout.  It is part of the Visual Artistry sets.  I don't know where they hide the names of each set so I can't help you find it any more than that.  I used Tea Dye and Frayed Burlap Distress Inks.  All of the cream paper has the edges inked with Chestnut Color Box inks.  It matchs the dark brown of the Jillibean Soup papers very nicely.

I promised you a little trick.  It was killing me to cover 10.5 inches of this paper and not do a single thing with it. So, I cut out the center (No one will ever notice except for you and me, and you won't tell, will you?)  Here is a picture of the back of the layout.

I know the photo isn't great but I took it after I turned off all the lights in my light box.  The Jillibean paper is around the Core'dinations.  I couldn't stand the thought of wasting all that paper.  Some might call my cheap, I consider myself frugal and maybe just a little bit of a hoarder.  If I had known I might have trouble finding more of this paper, I would have cut even more of the paper.  Isn't it yummy?  I haven't decided what to do with the piece I cut but I can easily get a couple of cards out of it or even use it as part of a layout.  That piece was big enough, it could be an 8 x 8 layout base.  So, do you blame me?  Am I crazy?  Do you do the same thing?

I think I'm going to go work out a better way of photographing 12 x 12 layouts.  I can't stand the angle that I have on this one.  I haven't photographed a layout in so long I hadn't worked out all the issues.  I'm also thinking I want some new Bristol board for my light box.  It never seems to end.

On a side note, if you are ever in Colorado and looking for a good photographer.  Andrea Flanagan is fantastic.  She took this picture of the Wonderkid.

I think I'll be back tomorrow with a t-shirt for the Wonderkid to wear on St. Patrick's Day.