Ella Publishing's List It! Everyday Edition

Today the newest edition of Ella Publishing's List It! series is available. This one is the Everyday Edition.

Like the others in the series, this journaling guide contains 90 prompts formatted onto cool, lined journaling blocks. I got to work with this one to make some cover art and I had a really hard time just picking one prompt. I've got so many ideas for pages and projects in my head, now! Here's the page I made, using the prompt "Keepsakes in my home that make me smile"

materials: cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper: Studio Calico, Sassafras Lass; letters: American Crafts, Basic Grey; stickers, house button: Crate; yellow buttons: Pebbles; envelope, number border, journaling paper: K & Co.; tag: Amy Tan for Studio Calico; string: Divine Twine

I challenged myself to use only items from one kit - in this case Studio Calico's Paper Moon. I almost made it - I added some small letter stickers, a button and the little flag from previous kits. But, this is as close as I've ever gotten - so I'm happy. Here's a close up of my journaling, in list format, written on a Smash Pad sheet which fits into that little Smash envelope:

Here's a close up where you can see the List It! journal block that I printed onto cardstock:

You can pick up List It! Everyday Edition today at Ella Publishing in regular format or digi-plus format!

Have a great day everyone!

List It! Layout and Giveaway Winner!

"I know Fall is on the way when..."   

that was the Ella Publishing List It! prompt I used for this layout. One of the first signs here  in Monmouth County is the appearance of signs like those pictured in my layout all along Route 34 - a local highway lined with farms. At harvest time, you can barely get down the highway it's so crowded with tourists. Pumpkin picking, hayrides (some of them haunted), Jersey Devil themed stuff...you know the drill:

 

materials: cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper: October Afternoon, Stampin Up; die cuts: Studio Calico; letters: American Crafts, Basic Grey; flower: Cosmo Cricket (Gluber), Punky Sprouts (fabric); button: MME; string: Divine Twine

Here's a close up. That's another Gluber - this time with a flower made from cotton duck.

As you can see, I've been enjoying the List It! series - a lot! And very soon, the Everyday Edition will be released. I have another page for that one and I will share it this week.
So, that giveaway - here's who is going to receive the List It! Childhood Edition courtesy of Ella Publishing....

Number 8 - also know as aurorafedora! I will send the eBook code out to you asap - Congrats on your win and thanks to everyone for playing along!

Today we've got my son's bowling birthday party, the sun is shining and the humidity seems to have left us. Enjoy the day everyone!

Ella Publishing's List It! Holiday Edition

Today I've got a layout inspired by Ella's List It! Holiday Edition. I loved working with this book and actually made 2 layouts. I'll share the other one tomorrow. I have to thank Ella Publishing for pulling me out of my layout funk!

Both of the pages I made are Fall-related but this book is loaded with 94 prompts covering all major events & holidays. These make finding inspiration and journaling so easy. Here is a page I made with the prompt "the best Halloween costumes of all time"

Another photo of small me (unearthed when I was working on my Childhood List It! page) I focused this page on 1 costume - one that I actually remember. Here's a close up - while I'm not a huge fan of super bulky scrapbook pages, I'm in love with those Glubers. I know I'm a little late to the flower game but dang, these things are cool. I've been trying to work them into everything. I raided an old Studio Calico kit for this page and used ribbon I loved, but never thought I would use.

materials: cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper: Basic Grey, Crate; journal spots: Basic Grey; tape: K & Co.; buttons: Jenni Bowlin; letter stickers: Kaiser Craft; ribbon, spray ink: Studio Calico; twine: Divine Twine

Tomorrow I've got another fall-themed page. So stop by and have a look while you are checking to see if you won my giveaway. Oh, you didn't enter yet? There's still time. Just click right here. I'll draw the winner tomorrow morning!

Have a great day!

The Ella Publishing List It! eBooks & A Giveaway

Ella Publishing just released a new series of eBooks - the List It! Journaling Guides. This one is the Childhood Edition, but there is also a Holiday Edition and soon, an Everyday Edition. Journaling is not my strong suit. If I can do it in list format, it seems so much less daunting. That's why these are so great - they are chuck full of journaling prompts for lists (This edition has 91 prompts) So simple, so easy.

Each journaling list is formatted onto a cute, curvy, lined journaling block. You can print them. Use them on a project. Make a mini album or journal out of them...the possibilities here are pretty endless. There are even blanks included if you need more space or have some of your own ideas for lists. (If you're digital savvy you can get the Digi Plus version, which includes the complete printable PDF as well as all 91 list files in PNG format, for just $2 more.)

Here's a page I made with the prompt "A typical summer day from my early childhood included" which I printed on kraft cardtock and trimmed out:

all materials from Studio Calico kit "Lawn Party"; cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper, coffee filter: Fancy Pants; banner stickers, chipboard: Crate; corrugated houses: Jillibean; letter stickers: Basic Grey, American Crafts

I grew up in Brooklyn - lived there until I was 8. Most of my really fun kid summers were there. Despite the fact that lawns and playgrounds were scarce, we managed to have fun. I'm sure some of the things we did for fun then would horrify most parents today (myself included). For instance - we were permitted to roam our block until we heard our mother's calling us for dinner. (Brooklyn blocks are huge, and we had free reign to circle the block as long as we didn't cross the avenues that bound it.) We borrowed spray caps from the local police precinct to put on our fire hydrant. They supplied it to you with a giant wrench so you could open the hydrant, put the spray cap on and use it as a giant (and extremely powerful) sprinkler. We would run through the sprinkler in the street. When cars came, we'd move to the let them pass, then get back to the business of getting soaked. Can you imagine your kid walking up the street with his/her friends and a gigantic wrench that it takes 2 of them to carry? Then announcing their plans to play on a busy street? I don't think it's legal to use the fire hydrants in Brooklyn anymore - for anything besides putting out a fire, that is. anywho...back to the layout....

I'm actually not thrilled at how girly this layout turned out. I would like for it to have been more graphic and 70's looking.  I was determined to use up this kit, though. I tried to make a little city out of those corrugated houses - which reminded me of  Brooklyn houses:

That photo is me and mom on a rare swimming occasion.  Here is a close up of my actual list of Brooklyn summer fun:

So, back on the topic of the Ella's List It!; in honor of the release of these great journaling tools, I'm giving away a copy of the Childhood Edition of List It! (regular or digi version) courtesy of Ella. Just leave me a comment on this post and I will draw a random winner on Sunday.

Tune in tomorrow to see a project I made with the Holiday Edition!

Here's another one...

...layout, that is. The one that had to sit overnight while I figured out what to do in that journaling area. Here's my page - more photos from our visit to the beach last Wednesday night...

materials: cardstock: American Crafts; patterned paper, die cuts: Pink Paislee;  metal pin: October Afternoon; flag: Pebbles; letters: Basic Grey; string: Divine Twine

Can you read that it says 'beach boy'? I was a little unsure about turning the one kid upside down to be the 'a'. Kind of makes me think of a reverse crucifixion for some reason. I've got the actual 'a' at the ready if you tell me it looks bad!

Here's a close up of the journaling area. The little kraft tag with the date covers a mistake - a bad stamp of the date right onto the tag. Hate when that happens! So, to make it look like it wasn't a mistake, I put the rest of the journaling on strips, too and that actually worked out ok.

Next up on the blog is a layout I made with some inspiration from Ella Publishing's new List It! Childhood Edition. Will share that one tomorrow along with a giveaway. See you then!

Finally, a layout...

A layout for no reason other than I felt like making one. It's so easy to start making cards and not stop. You get used to working on a smaller canvas with smaller pieces of material. Less embellishment, more stamping (at least for the way I work..) Less time. There is definitely a different set of skills for cardmaking. Granted, some cross over, but the perspective is so different. Ok, enough on the philosophy - it really shouldn't be so complicated...here's my page:

materials: cardstock: Bazzill; patterned papers: Studio Calico, Anna Griffin, Echo Park; chipboard: Crate; flag: Pebbles; letter stickers: October Afternoon; stamp: Studio Calico; embossing powder: American Crafts; pen: Uniball; ink: Versamark; string: Divine Twine

I took my color inspiration from the stripes in the sand chair behind my daughter. I love that summery color combo (I wish that was my chair!) and thought it would make a cool vertical element. I collected papers from a variety of manufacturers to get it right, cut them into strips of varying width and stuck them down to a panel of white cardstock. I was lucky in that the orange strip (a piece of Echo Park) says "fun in the sun" on it. I love that little bit of extra type. Here's a close up:  

I stamped and embossed that pinked circle onto the background. I stitched the inner circle then traced the jagged edges with a white pen.

This is my favorite part of the layout:

...a little detail area (that strip of 'fun in the sun' type) that made it possible to do something I haven't done since Thickers arrived on the scene: skip the big title.

So, I've got another layout on my desk but I'm letting that one sit overnight. It needs something else, I'm just not sure what. Stay tuned this week for more layouts (I'm on a mission!) a very cool Ella Publishing giveaway!

Sunday At The Studio

Card challenge time at The Studio - and this week DT member Fabi supplied us with a sketch. Here's what I made:

Can you tell I'm happy that it's summer? I definitely let the seasons influence what I make - which explains why I despise making Christmas and Halloween cards in the Spring and beach/vacation cards in the winter. Anywho, I cut the letters from this Pink Paislee paper, and punched the circles from this one. Here's the close up.

materials: cardstock: American Crafts; patterned paper: Pink Paislee; stamp: Close To My Heart; tag punch: Stampin' Up; string: Divine Twine

To see the sketch and play along, stop by The Studio. You can also see what the rest of the card team did with the sketch - you will definitely be inspired. Link up you projects and you could win the monthly prize.

Today I will make a conscious effort to make some layouts! It has been ages since I made any and I've got way to much product piling up. Cards just don't require a lot of material.  Honestly, I don't even know where to start - it feels like I forgot how. Guess I'll find out if it's like riding a bike!

Have a great Sunday and Father's Day!

For Your Inspiration Challenge #8

It's Thursday already....wow, this last week of school is flying by! The summer fun has already begun here in New Jersey. Last night we attended the Wednesday night concert at our local beach.

The weather was gorgeous, the music great (our friend's band was playing) and the kids had a blast. It was so nice eating dinner on the beach. I think we need to make that a regular habit this summer.

Today I've got challenge #8 from For Your Inspiration. Steph picked another challenging, yet inspiring image to work with this week. You can view the image here. Here's my take:

Here's the close up. Please excuse my poorly places glue dots:

supplies: patterned cardstock: American Crafts; sticker: SRM;stamp (congrats) Close To My Heart; twill: craft supply

Again, not a coincidence that I chose to make my card a 'congratulations' card. The Paper Crafts Gallery Idol call continues, and I continue to need them (the timing is great!) so it's a win, win.

So, what can you make with the inspiration photo? You know you are not limited to cards - you can make anything - even a cupcake! So stop by the FYI blog to see the photo and some amazing inspiration from the DT - then link up your projects.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab

The weather in the northeast has finally cooled down - enough for me to be able to sit at my desk and make something crafty. My scrap area is in the attic part of our house/a.k.a, a third of the master bedroom. During the day there is not enough air conditioning to keep it cool - especially when it's 100 degrees and humid outside. At night it's fine, but I'm a morning person. Not a lot of craftiness going on at night here, unless absolutely necessary. I wish I was one of those people that can pull the all-nighters. I'd get so much more done.

Today, though, while the sun was shining (sort of)  I made a card for this week's Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab World. Here's the trigger photo:

and here's my card:

This was attempt #3 of 3. I had a few ideas but the first 2 didn't turn out as planned.' I just got that Hambly woodgrain tape and I was dying to use it. I used the 2 colored tapes plus a strip of an SRM sticker to mimic the layers of the ice cream. The wood veneer heart replaces the popsicle stick in the photo. Here's a close up:

materials: cardstock: Bazzill, American Crafts; tapes: Hambly, American Crafts; sticker: SRM; veneer heart: Studio Calico; stamp, punch: Stampin' Up; string: Divine Twine

Busy week up ahead but I'll be back for sure with my FYI challenge card on Thursday and hopefully a few other bits of craftiness throughout the week. Enjoy the day!

The measuring tape massacre

Still had some ideas for the Moxie Fab World 'I'm Sew Excited!' challenge so I spent t little time this weekend making a few more cards. Here are two variations on the 'measuring tape/you measure up' concept. I confess that several measuring tapes were destroyed for these projects - some more successful than others. 

First up, the woven measuring tape card:

For this card, I cut a fabric measuring tape into 4" strips and wove them together. When they were in place I taped them down then sewed the edges to make a square. I trimmed it then used it as the pattern block on my card.

Here's a close up of the woven panel. I had to add that dot of red so the card would not be too drab. It also pulls your eye right to the sentiment. The 'you measure up' sentiment is inside, with a little pocket for some cash or a gift card

materials: cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper (red) 7 Gypsies; sentiment sticker: SRM; pin: Tim Holtz; twill: Close To My Heart; journal spot: Basic Grey; ruler sticker: Little Yellow Bicycle; measuring tape: Dritz

Here's version two - the 'you measure up' tag.

For this tag, I cut some Tim Holtz ruler ribbon into strips then zig-zag stitched them together to make a little panel. I ran that panel through the die cutter to make the circles. I stacked the circles to make the little flower. The tag slides to reveal the sentiment on a second tag underneath:

materials: cardstock: Bazzill; measure tape, hole reinforcer: Tim Holtz; journal sticker: Basic Grey; sentiment: SRM; twill: Close To My Heart; buttons, corrugated tag: craft supply

It's no coincidence that these are 'congratulations' cards - as Gallery Idol 2011 open auditions start today and the theme this year is - you guessed it - 'congratulations.' I'm not usually a good multi-tasker but in this case, the 2 challenges happened to work well together. I love when that happens. So, are you going to audition? There is a pretty major grand prize this year.
Have a great Monday!

Sunday At The Studio

This Sunday's challenge at The Studio was to use sewing or weaving on a card. I sew on everything so I thought I'd give the weaving a go. I had a great time playing around with this technique and now have lots of ideas about weaving paper in my head. Here's how I applied my new found skill for this week's challenge: 

I wove some strips of coordinating patterned paper into 4 x 5 panels (these are all pre-coordinated courtesy of my last Studio Calico kit) then ran them through the Big Shot. I used some nested circle dies. Here's a close up of the woven circles:

materials: cardstock: Bazzill; patterned papers: American Crafts, Studio Calico, Crate; letters: Pink Paislee; string: Divine Twine

After the circles were cut, they started to get a little loose, so I stitched around the edges of each one. The stitch also gave them a little dimension on the card base. Since the little patterns were kind of busy, I kept the rest of the card very simple.

Feeling inspired to weave or sew, yet? If you need more inspiration, stop by the blog to see what the DT created this week. You will not be disappointed! Hope you'll play along and link up your creations at  The Studio.

Today I've got to get working on a large cookie job that just came in - 110 cookies due by Saturday. Hoping (praying) our humidity stays nice and low. Cookies hate humidity. (And I'm not very fond of it, either!) Also need to get invitations ready to go  for my son's soon-to-be-happening pool party. Can't believe that little guy will be 6 on Tuesday! I was planning to make them, but now, I'm not so sure.

Hope you have a great day! As always, thanks for stopping by!

A Moxie Fab Challenge

Ahh, Saturday. Hope your weekend is off to a good start!

Have a card today that I made yesterday for the Moxie Fab 'I'm Sew Excited!' challenge. (Did you see - it's almost time for Gallery Idol again - are you going to try out?) Ok, back to this challenge.....to use sewing-related materials in an innovative way...here's my card:

...a few sewing-related things going on here, most notably, that flower. I made that with a die I picked up at the Expo - an un-even-circly-flower nested die. (Cuteness aside, the best part about this die was it only cost about $5!)

I used it to cut the instructions from an old sewing pattern. Then I brushed them with some white paint and zig-zag stitched the edges to give it some weight. I kept the card fairly monochromatic since there are a lot of details. In this close up, you can see the embossed background;(a sewing pattern from Tim Holtz) and a close up of the flower: 

materials: cardstock: Bazzill, American Crafts; spool, pin: Maya Road; tag, stamp: Stampin' Up; embossing folder: Tim Holtz; twill: craft supply; misc: vintage sewing pattern

Back tomorrow with a card challenge for The Studio. Now it's off to my daughter's dance recital.
Thanks so much for stopping by!

The Flickr Observations

I've been spending some time this week re-populating my sadly neglected Flickr photostream.

While uploading a bunch of the projects I've made over the last few weeks/months, I realized something - somewhere along my scrapbooking way, I became a 'cardmaker.' Good/bad - I don't know. Honestly, when I started making layouts I dreaded the idea of making cards. I'll even say I avoided making them. When I first started my photostream, there were mostly layouts and mini albums - hardly any cards. I realized the 2 major factors contributing to the transition: 1) being on 4/5 card-related design teams, and 2) having almost no time. Let's face it - they are smaller and faster to make. This in turn has explained to me why I've got at least 90% of my last 6 Studio Calico kits shelved and collecting dust. Cards just don't take that much product.

Some other observations I made about the photostream:
1) When you are short on time, the 'stream' is a great way to see what everyone is up to, providing they are not like me and actually updating on a regular basis.
2) So many awesome groups & collections of inspiration on the Flickr - like SRM, PaperCrafts Connection, fellow papercrafters, manufacturers, even scraprooms, cookies, cute packaging & interior design. I've been a little distracted by the Pinterest -  but Flickr never disappoints and isn't as slow to load!
3) You can learn a lot about your own style by reviewing your photostream.  For instance, I learned that I've been abusing the following products: baker's twine, my Big Shot 'top note' die and little wavy banner things. Not a big surprise. I need to lay off these items because I don't want to be known as  'baker's-twine-Big-Shot-loving-wavy-banner-thing-girl.' Time to work on some new tricks.

Thanks for indulging my Flickr thoughts. I'll wrap it up with another SEI layout. I finally dropped them off at Scrapper's Cove on Wednesday and even managed to spend less than $20 in the store. That is a record for me.

materials: patterned paper: SEI; stickers: SRM; tape: Tim Holtz; letters: American Crafts; pin: Jenni Bowlin; ribbon: May Arts

...And yes, my abuse of the Top Note die and the little wavy banner things is not limited to cards, as you can see here. I used the Couture line by SEI. Not exactly comfortable with the shiny whiteness of it all but it worked ok with these photos.

Happy Friday, everyone - thanks for stopping by!

FYI Challenge #7

If you are here for the Polkadot Door Blog Hop, scroll down please :)

It's Thursday - aka 'Fun Day' at my kid's school. I have foolishly volunteered to help out, unaware at the time that our temps would spike into the 90's with serious humidity. It's going to be a hot, sweaty day!

I'll kick it off with this card I made for Steph's new For Your Inspiration challenge. (Have you gotten in on the action from the last challenge? There's a great prize up for grabs.) I found this week's photo, which you can see here, a bit challenging. Ultimately, I was happy with the way my interpretation turned out but it took me a while to get there:

I used a Studio Calico star stamp, embossed with metallic silver powder. Then I cut the center out of another stamped star and popped it up. To add some shine, I threw a little bling onto the white space. Here's a close up of the star:

materials: cardstock: Bazzill; patterned paper: Cosmo Cricket; sticker: SRM; stamp: Studio Calico; embossing powder: Close To My Heart: bling: Stampin Up

I'm so curious to see how everyone else interprets the inspiration photo. Why not give it a try? To see the photo, and the awesome work of the DT, stop on by the For Your Inspiration blog.

Polkadot Door Designs Blog Hop!

June 1 - I can't believe it's June!
Time for the second Polkadot Door Inspirational Blog Hop! I had so much fun hopping through the blogs last time and seeing everyone's beautiful work. Looking forward to hopping along myself, today!

Have you arrived here from Jennifer's blog? Welcome! If you'd like to play along from the beginning, here's the order list:

Polkadot Door
Marivic
Jennifer
Valerie (you are here!)
Amanda
Diana
Sabrina
Nicole B.
Jennifer G.
Polkadot Door Designs

So, let's get to the fun stuff...this month's pretty inspiration photo. At The Polkadot Door you can use all of the elements or just 1 or 2.

As soon as I saw the photo, I knew exactly what paper I was going to use. I picked up this Pink Paislee paper 2 weeks ago at the expo (I'm kicking myself for not getting at least one more sheet!). Here's what I made; a wedding gift tag and card:

I took inspiration from the color palette, the dictionary type, the nest (in the form of a bird) & the "Mr. & Mrs." Here are some more views:

materials: card base: Canvas Home Basics; patterned paper: Pink Paislee; sticker: SRM; wood veneer: Studio Calico; stamp: Stampin Up; corrugated tag: craft supply

patterned paper: Pink Paislee; sticker: MME; wood veneer: Studio Calico; stamp: Stampin Up; pin: Tim Holtz; string: Divine Twine

So here is what you do. Starting with the Polkadot Door, follow the link list, leaving a comment on each blog as you go. At the end, leave a comment back at the Polkadot Door to let them know you completed the blog hop and which stop on the hop was your favorite. There is a prize for participating in the hop, and there is a prize for the inspiration challenge. You could be chosen to particpate in next month's hop!

This weeks sponsors are:

Berry 71 Bleu is providing 3 tags to winner of our Blog Hop (as well as joining our DT this month)...and

Pinkpearlstudio is providing a digital download of scrapbooking goodies to the winner of the Inspiration Challenge.

Time for me to hop along...hope you will, too -Thanks for stopping by!