Sunday At The Studio

This week at The Studio we've got our monthly sketch challenge. This was a great one and the only requirement was to include a handmade embellishment. Here is what I put together:

This layout is about our old house - the house we lived in from before my husband and I were married, until after we had our 2 children. When I think of our great old house at 38 Walling, I will always think of my kids being babies. Having their first Christmas' there, swimming in their first kiddie pool in the tiny backyard, trick-or-treating on our street. Here's a close up of the embellishment: 

materials: patterned paper: Sassafras Lass, Basic Grey; cardstock: Bazzill; pocket: KI Memories; journal spots: Jenni Bowlin; letters: American Crafts; sticker: Making Memories; silver button: MME; stamp: Scrap Rat; tag, buttons, key: craft supply

I pretty much stuck to the sketch for this page. I made my flowers first by stamping the circle shape on patterned paper and cutting the 'petals' in from the side to the center. For the centers, I punched a second patterned paper with a shape similar to the stamp and cut the same petals. I added small buttons to the centers.

So stop by The Studio and check out this cool sketch and the inspiring and beautiful work of the design team. Upload your layout for a chance to win a cool prize. Things will be changing a little bit at The Studio so stay tuned for that exciting news!

And the winner....

or should I say winners...when I kept seeing comments saying how hard it is to find these:

I thought I'd share the wealth of my local NJ Barnes & Noble, and grab and extra copy to give away. So, without further ado...the 2 winners are lucky #16, Karen Baker - yay Karen!!

and lucky #7, Tonya - yay Tonya!!

Congrats ladies, I'm sure you will enjoy this fun and informative issue of Stamp It! Drop me a line at valfm66@yahoo.com to claim your prize.

As always, thanks for your comments and for reading my blog!

TCB Tuesday

A busy week is shaping up and suddenly, there are a lot of crafty deadlines looming. (If I have to have deadlines, crafty ones are definitely what I prefer!)  Thought I'd start a new series on the blog called TCB Tuesdays, where I just talk about some random stuff (take care of biz). Show a random project or 2. Welcome to the first edition, which may or may not be weekly :)

Have you seen this yet?

Paper Crafts Stamp It! Techniques I just got my copy in the mail, but right before that, I bought one at the store. (Would you like to have it? Just leave a comment today and I'll draw a winner on Friday.) If you are even remotely interested in stamping, this publication is chock-full of awesome techniques, along with great instruction. I was thrilled to see my lowly little tag on page 65, with step outs, taking up an entire right hand page:

By far, one of my favorite pubs so far. I've got to give a shout out to Julie Fei-Fan Balzer here, as she is the one who taught me how to stamp with Distress Ink and water (the technique I used on that tag). Thank you Julie - can't wait to take more of your classes!

Speaking of classes, I was thrilled last week to nab a spot in this class:

Claudine Hellmuth's Collage Discovery Workshop at the Ink Pad in NYC. I've always wanted to take a class on collage and now I get to take this one with Claudine. Yipee! I'm totally psyched. Couldn't be more thrilled. I hope I can keep up and not make ugly collages. (performance anxiety will certainly kick in!)

My Twisted Sister Steph is starting a new challenge blog. It's called "For Your Inspiration Challenge Blog." The challenges will be photo inspired - but Steph wants participants to create in whatever medium the feel compelled to use. What a cool twist - she even mentions baking as one of the mediums - I'm all over that! I'm dying to see what everyone comes up with, so tell your friends! Sounds like a fresh new approach to the challenge. Steph is also holding her first  design team call for the FYI blog - you can check out the details here.

I'm a little bummed this week that I will not be attending CHA, which was high on my list of 'must do's' at the end of last year. Alas, the logistical ducks did not line up as I had hoped. I'm anxiously awaiting the blog dispatches from the show and all the fantastic photos that will surely flood the crafty interwebs over the next few days. Let me vow here, wild horses will not keep me away from CHA Chicago in July! (I love Chicago!!) Anyone else have plans to attend CHA this summer?

Ok, so that's my first TCB Tuesday. Leave me a comment for a chance to win that magazine!!

Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab

I loved the color combo for this week's Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab World and felt compelled to give this one a go. Here's this week's trigger photo - a little home decor inspiration courtesy of West Elm:

This has to be my all time favorite home decor color combo: taupe and any kind of gray/blue. I've got it all over my house. I'm actually forbidden from using taupe on any projects at work because I tend to abuse it :) (If it was up to me, all our client's homes would have a little taupe!) But here in the cardmaking world, I'm free to 'have at it'. So here's what I made:

Cardstock: Bazzill; patterned papers: Basic Grey (Basics) & Stampin' Up; tape: Tim Holtz; glitter: Ranger Stickles (Tiara); string, punch, label: Martha Stewart; stamp: Stampin' Up; marker: Copic

I punched those flowers with a Martha Stewart punch (the mini hydrangeas). I colored some of the little circles with a light blue Copic marker & highlighted others with small dots of glitter (although it's kind of hard to see.) The frame, which mimics the shape of the pillow, is Tim Holtz tissue tape.
Thanks for having a look!

Sunday At The Studio

The start of another week. Have no problem with January whizzing by. Especially since it's about 8 degrees here and snow is predicted (again!) for this week. Bring on the Spring already!
Sunday means a new challenge at The Studio. This week Amanda asked us to make a page about a long-term goal or plan. Here's my page:

Focused my page on my need to get fit this year. Move more, eat less...that's the plan. I wrote my journaling on the back of the tag - which is a plain manila tag from Staples, stamped with my new Studio Calico grid stamp - on the back the Studio Calico lined stamp. Also in that pocket is my Weight Watcher's monthly pass card from the month I joined. Most of the material on this page came from my Studio Calico January kit. Here's a close ups of the tag pocket area:

materials: cardstock: American Crafts; patterned paper: October Afternoon, Sassafras Lass, Basic Grey; journal tag (shaped), red letters, butterfly chipboard: Basic Grey; letter stickers: Sassafras Lass; pocket: KI Memories; misc: buttons, tag, measure tape ribbon.

I'm always blow away by what The Studio design team does with these challenges. This week is no exception. So why not stop by and play along? (psst....we love it when you play along with us!)

The only good thing about these freezing cold days is I don't feel guilty about being at my desk all day. So off I go! Enjoy the day everyone!

Twisted Sketches #43

Happy Saturday all!
It's my week up on the Twisted Sisters blog - where Anam's twist this week is 'bling'. Since I'm not a huge fan of super blingy-bling, I decided to use metallic floss to stitch the swirls & buttons. I also used silver thread to sew the perimeter:

materials: cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper: Teresa Collins; buttons, thread, floss: craft supply

So stop by the blog and check out this weeks sketch and play along. As usual, the design team has plenty of amazing inspiration to help you get started!

Pretty snow, a new Ella Ebook & some rejects

Can you believe we are already 3 weeks into January?! I was reminded of this fact by Julie, as I am now 3 weeks behind in my art journaling. I need to get that back onto the priority list before the month is out. While it's hard to get a grip on how fast time is flying by, it's also good news, as we are now already 3 weeks into January, which also means 1 more week of January, a short hop through February and then it will be time to call the pool guy to schedule our opening. There is definitely light at the end of the tunnel now. But for today, we are looking at this:

 
a very winter sky:
 
Not much, thankfully, and the kids only have a 90 minute delay. But it sure is pretty!!

There's a new Ella Ebook out this week! I've been lucky enough to see a preview copy and as usual, Ella Publishing has not disappointed.

Creative Ideas for Events & Holidays just came out this week and it is loaded with cool challenges that will inspire you and help you take a fresh approach to your holiday and event projects. Can't wait to dive in and work on some pages! You can get your copy right here.

And now for 2 more projects from the reject file. A little bright and cheery compared to my recent offerings. First up, a little covered notebook. Pat at the Scrapper's Cove gave me a pile of these blank notebooks. They were so easy to cover. Might have to make a lot more of these and give them as teacher's gifts at the end of the year:

This card was made with the same collection of stuff. A little Cosmo, some October Afternoon and some Bazzill kraft. That printed tape on the edge of the notebook is Martha Stewart (it's actually from a Christmas collection.)

Now, must finish my page for The Studio this week while the sun is still shining! Taking photos of projects is so hard this time of year!

'3's a charm' & some good news

Have you been checking out the Ella Publishing blog for the past few days? The Ella Friends have all been working with the same 2-page sketch by Donna Jannuzzi to illustrate the versatility of sketches and 2-page layouts. The sketch can be found in this book:

That's Double-Page Design. A very handy tool for getting back in the swing of making double pagers. It definitely helped me. I shared 2 of my layouts here last week, here are some detail shots of layout number 3, now up on the Ella blog.

You can check it out the full layout here.

Now, some more good news. I am so excited to be a new member of the Practicing Creativity Design Team.

(Like, beyond happy!) Founder Courtney Baker releases new stamps each month & they are pretty fab.  Got my first official set as team member yesterday and I'm looking so forward to getting crafty with those new releases. Can't wait to share them with you at the end of the month! Meantime, check out the shop here, and the blog here.
Ok, off to work for me, now - and supposedly more snow on the way. sigh. Counting down the days til' Spring now, for sure!!

Simple Things Sunday

So happy to be playing along with Rebecca's Simple Things Challenge. I think this might be my all-time favorite photo. We had a snow day on Wednesday and my kids were busy playing in my son's room. They asked me for an empty box, which I provided, and they said something about animals and a tea party. I walked by the room a little while later and peeked in and that's when I saw this:

The most adorable thing I've ever seen. Sometimes my kids fight all day long and drive me nuts. And sometimes they do cute stuff like this and it stops me in my tracks. I'm so blessed and lucky to have them.

Sunday At The Studio

It's Sunday at The Studio and that means a brand new challenge from Amanda. This week she asked us to make a page about what we like to do/would do if we had some time alone. That wasn't too hard for me since I fantasize about a day like this all the time! Here's what I made:

Images removed for publication

I heat embossed the clocks with a Close To My Heart stamp set and some clear embossing powder. The numbers up the side are from the same set. The remainder of the page is mostly last month's Studio Calico kit.

Images removed for publication

It's hard to see but I also used new my new Studio Calico grid stamp (swoon) love that thing. I've got a serious thing for grids these days! Here's a close up:

Images removed for publication

So, why not play along this week. There's a cool Crafter's Workshop prize up for grabs. Did you know next month, which is fast approaching, we'll be doing card challenges at The Studio too? Yep, things are going to change up a bit. I'm looking forward to being on the card team and inspiring all my cardmaking pals to play along for the cool prizes!

Today, I get to travel to the happiest of happy places. Disney World & Christmas morning all rolled up into one: Ikea. This is my favorite time of year to visit this little patch of Swedish heaven. I'm going to pick up my first Expedit.

I'm still working on organizing the new scrap space and the storage this item will provide is essential. (I will be using it on it's side, as a divider between my space, and our bedroom on the other side. If I was brave I'd get the giant one & use it like a wall, but I think that would freak out my hubby.) As soon as I get the whole thing worked out, I will post photos. Next step will be a massive paint job, which I am not up to tackling myself.
Happy Sunday all!

Saturday post #2

My second post today is another quick card. This one for the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger. I just loved the trigger photo this week - the bright white contrasting with that wood window frame.

I love the contrast of white with pretty much anything, but particularly against that warm wood finish. So clean and crisp with those pops of orange. Love it! So here's what I was inspired to make:
materials: cardstock, stamp: Stampin Up; patterned paper, brads: Basic Grey; bird: Studio Calico; pin: K & Co; tape: American Crafts; twine: Martha Stewart
Thanks for stopping by!

Island of misfit card projects...

Or as I also like to call it, the reject gallery! Thought I'd share a couple of rejected items today. Expanding on the theme from this card I made last week for Twisted Sketches, I made these 2 items:

Definitely feeling this pale, wintry palette. Maybe because it's winter here in the northern hemisphere and everything has been covered in white since December 26? Perhaps. And there is that Pink Paislee paper again. I just replenished my stash, along with a couple of other items from 2 Peas.
Actually have a little quiet time on my hands today. Nothing pressing in the scrapbooking world, no deadlines looming, so I think I'll participate in a few challenges. Anything I absolutely must try out there?

Just a card.

Just a quick post today. Here's a card I made yesterday in the midst of my 2-page layouts.

materials: cardstock: Bazzill, patterned paper: SEI; pin: Tim Holts, stamp: Stampin Up; ink: Jenni Bowlin

I was thinking about the felt challenge over at the Create blog and it just came to me. Clean, simple and felty. So I grabbed what I needed and made the card in about 15 minutes. I'm a really slow cardmaker, so the fact that it got done so fast just feels wrong - but 'good' wrong :)

Double time.

It has been AGES since I made a double page layout. Working on a project for Ella Publishing, and reading through the fabulous Double Page Design (which btw, has fantastic sketches to get the mojo going) I made 3 layouts. Layout #3 went to Ella. I wasn't completely satisfied with it, but I ran out of time to do a fourth, otherwise I would have. Here's how it went down with layouts #1 & #2.

Layout #1/unfinished - "Please Smile" was the intended title. I decide at the start to keep it simple, because I know subconsciously,  this is not going to be 'the' project - just the warm up. Here it is, right before I kicked it off my desk to start over on something else:

The first thing that occurs to me as I sit down to make this layout:  I need more space. I need to clear all the stuff away on my desk and make room for the giant 24 x 12 project! I realize also, that I have forgotten everything I used to know about making a 2-page layouts. Luckily, I was working with a sketch, so figuring out what size to make the pictures was taken care of. Where do I put the patterned paper? A standard practice of mine is to mount a solid sheet of cardstock (cut down to 11 x 11) on a piece of vibrant patterned paper. It's my way of getting the zing of a pattern without overwhelming the page. Since I rarely buy patterned paper 2 sheets at at time, this was not an option for these 2-pagers. I went with that krafty Bazzill dot.

Here's where I think I this went wrong:

I was trying to fit those Maya doilies in when clearly, they had no place here. Too contrasty. I needed something more subtle. (too bad they weren't clear). I was also dying to do that 'outlining the stamped letters technique', which I've been really into lately, but I botched it here. Maybe once I add the rest of the letters (probably in Thicker form) this will resolve itself. Otherwise, I will resort to the 'cover it up' tactic of fixing a mistake. I'll finish it and post my fixed up version later this week.

On to layout #2: "Evolution of a Christmas Card Photo" a finished project depicting the photos leading up to the one we used on our Christmas card.

While I really like the idea of replacing the vertical element with patterned papers, I think I should have made the strips smaller and used papers they weren't so bright. The photos are already bright, and there is so much repetition, since they are all very similar. I added the glittery rings later to break up the all that color and make the visual triangle with the red glitter frame. (They are just stamped letter 'o's heat embossed with glitter Zing & trimmed out.)

I don't hate this layout - it does exactly what I wanted it to do. (Show the progression and highlight the big muffin that had to be photo-shopped out.) I just wish it was not so bright.

You'll have to wait to see number 3...I'll let you know when that one goes live on the Ella Publishing blog. Meantime, if you need some assistance in the 2-page layout department, a copy of Double Page Design would  be extremely handy!

Sunday At The Studio

This week at The Studio, Amanda asked us to make a page about our passion. I've got a few, but decided I'd focus (no pun intended!) on this:

and here's a close up of the stitching, which is kind of hard to see:

materials: patterned paper: October Afternoon, MME; letter stickers: Making Memories; frames: K & Co.; sticker: Webster's Pages; inks: Jenni Bowlin, Studio Calico; stamps: Studio Calico, Picture Show; washi tape; date stamp

I can't seem to stop using those white Making Memories letters from last month's Studio Calico kit. I wonder if they have such non-sticky adhesive on purpose? I thought maybe I had a bad batch but I have them in red, too, from the month before, and they don't stick either. I don't really mind, because I like the subtle texture from the curled edges when I stitch them down. If I didn't sew everything, however, I have no idea how I'd get them to stick down.

So now it's your turn - we'd love to see your pages! Stop by The Studio for some gorgeous inspiration from the design team.

Today I'll be working on some 2-page layouts. It's been a long time since I worked on any 2-pagers. It feels so strange to make something so big but that is all I ever used to make. I also need to catch up on my art journal. It was the last crafty thing I was working on before I got that nasty stomach virus last week. I hate to admit that I kind of associate the whole thing with that violent illness and I've been avoiding it as a result. I need to get over that asap!! Speaking of art journals - my pal Jan is doing hers on individual tags. You can check them out here. (They are gorgeous!) I think this is the coolest idea.

Unrelated to all the above...I don't know fellow crafter Katie Renz. I'm not even a regular reader of her blog - but I found it this weekend via this post at Craft Critique, and the story I read there brought me to tears. I can not stop thinking about it. I think of the challenges I will face today, this week, this month - and they can't even compare to the work that this girl has ahead of her.  I am officially putting things in perspective and refocusing on the stuff that really, truly matters.

Twisted Sketches #41

Saturday again, already. I don't mind that these winter weeks are flying by. Let's get to the nice warm spring & summer days, asap!! Today I've got a card that I made with a new sketch from Anam at Twisted Sketches:

materials: Patterned paper: Pink Paislee; Tissue tape: Tim Holtz; butterfly: Making Memories; stamps: Studio Calico, Stampin Up; ink: Jenni Bowlin; border strip: Basic Grey; pen: Le Plume

I really like this card. For the first time in a very long time, I feel like I've made something that really suits my style - whatever that may be. Crafters seem to be able to answer the 'what's your style' question so easily. Not me. I always struggle with that question. It is my goal this year to figure out the answer and build a body of work that supports my definition. This is definitely on the right path...I know that for sure!

Another reason I like this card is that background paper. While I'm not a huge fan of the super girly/glamour  look, I am in LOVE with the Parisian Anthology line from Pink Paislee. I was originally turned off by the muted colors and super girly design of some of the elements, but I picked up a few sheets of the paper anyway. I didn't realize how easy they would be to use and now I need to get back to my LSS and get my hands on more sheets of that grid paper (seen as the background above) as well as the others in the collection. Like this script design:

I had 2 sheets of this and used this it up the first day I owned it. Love papers with script on them.They also have these cool 8 1/2 x 11 page protectors. Have you seen these?

Those 5 x 5s would be perfect for the hundreds of  proofs I have in a box from my 'yet-to-be-scrapbooked' wedding. What a great line.

Ok, enough of my love affair with this paper line - why not stop by Twisted Sketches and check out the sketch and the work of the fabulous design team. Would love to see what you make if you play along!

Must blog today...

so here I am! I won't whine anymore about being sick earlier this week and how it turned all my plans, crafty and otherwise, upside down!

Lots of craftiness on the desk right now. I've got a few assignments to work on and actually found some time yesterday to submit some projects for publication. I'm a little rusty so we'll see how that goes. It's been a few months since I've submitted anything. I enjoyed my break but now I'm ready to put that back on the schedule.

I was working on this until the illness set in on Saturday night:

This is the opening page of my art journal. (excuse blurry photo) I purchased myself a little pile of arty things on Saturday morning to motivate me, including that pen, nibs and ink. I didn't get very far before I got ill but I was totally enjoying working with that medium again. I loved working with pen & ink in school. It's been ages. Also got my blank journal. I tried to find a watercolor paper book, or at least a mixed media paper book but none were available. Personally, I don't mind lumpy pages. It's going to be a lumpy year!

Found out the other day that the design team at Scrapper's Cove has been dissolved.  It's a little sad since I've been on that team since 2008 but it's ok. It was a good, long, fun run that led me to break out of my normal style, submit my work for publication and start the blog, which in turn led me to meet many new friends. Overall, a great experience! Working with Sue, Chris and Pat at the store was a pleasure - they are celebrating their 5th anniversary this weekend so clearly, they are doing their jobs right! Looking forward to being a regular shopper again!

Sunday At The Studio (on Monday)

So sorry for the delay - been a little under the weather for the past 2 day. So without further ado - here's my belated post for The Studio!

This week's challenge at The Studio was about hindsight. Amanda challenged us to make a page about a mistake that you've made and what you wish you had done differently. I could do a whole book of these kinds of pages! My life is full of blunders and mis-steps. Here's what I made for this challenge:

materials: all materials: Webster's Pages + Tim Holtz tissue tape

For this page I focused on regret. We lost my former sister-in-law tragically this year. (That is a photo of us on the day she married my brother back in 1996). Although she and my brother were no longer together, her special place in our family was never filled and we always considered her one of us. When I heard she was gone so suddenly, I immediately started to think of all of the things I wish I had said to her. How I wished we had stayed close. I have so many regrets where Michelle is concerned that I could probably fill the entire back of the 12 x 12 layout with words. I didn't, though. Instead, the few sentences that sum up my feelings are on the back of the tag. Here are some details:

The Studio girls did an amazing job with this challenge - as always - and you can see their efforts right here. Stop by and play along. Maybe you'll win this month's prize?

Happy New Year...and a Winner!

Happy New Year everyone! Hope you had a fun night, whatever you did - and hope you have a great new year ahead! While I love the concept of 'starting over' and a fresh calendar, I'm not a fan of New Years Eve. I don't like to go out and frankly, would just like to sleep through the whole thing if I could. Once New Years Day is here, I kick into organizational overdrive. My first area of attack this year will be my scrap area, which is overwhelmed right now. I'm not a huge resolution maker but anything I do plan to commit to this year is bound to show up here:

In an art journal I plan to start today. Have you seen Julie's art journal project? Looks like fun - I'm going to give it a try. Today I need to go out and get my blank book so I can start. I haven't been out much since last Sunday, due to that massive snow storm we had, so I'm off to a slow start. That's ok, though. It's a no pressure thing, according to Julie!

And now, for the winner of the Per Annum planner.....

Yay Sasha!! You are commenter #7 - you are the winner!! Shoot me an email and I'll get that prize into the mail.

And lastly....just so my first post of 2011 contains some actual craftiness...here's a card I made yesterday. Loving this Webster's Pages that I picked up at the Scrapper's Cove a few weeks ago. What a great mix of graphic & vintage.

Have a great day everyone!