High Hopes Challenge 13 - Dry Embossing

This weeks challenge over at the High Hopes Blog calls for Dry Embossing. Believe it or not I started with Dry Embossing before I ever gave traditional embossing a shot. I ended up using both on this card.



Since I made Valentines for my boys with the last challenge, I thought I'd make Valentines for my daughters this time around. The background paper was embossed with my cuttlebug, then I chalked it with shimmer pastels. I really do like those chalks! A simple purple ribbon runs across it. I lack stamps appropriate so I printed out a simple sentiment then cut and embossed with the Label 2 Nestability. The little butterfly was a stamp I did in pink, then outlined it with marker, I added some embossing powder for a little glitz.

I didn't realize the little purple heart on the flowers looks like it's falling in this pic. It's weird how you don't notice things until after you've taken a picture. I think they turned out really cute.

Crafting for a Cause

As if I actually *need* an excuse to do what I do, I think I've found my good cause to create for! If you are a card maker, I'd like to ask you to take a moment to visit Cards for Heroes.

As a military wife, it's easy to see why I'd be drawn to what this organization does. It really does hit home. Most of our men and women that are deployed have regular access to shoppetts where they can get the necessities. Gone are the days where they counted on care packages to get their toilet paper and snacks. But one thing that they seem to not have, cards. This might seem like a very insignificant thing, but when there's family back home having birthdays, going through holidays, it's frustrating when there is no card available. Thankfully my hubby had an internet connection, he ended up ordering cards online whenever a child had a birthday. But these came with his greeting either printed by computer or by someone else's hand. It's just an awkward feeling. How great would it have been if he had cards like these to mail home to wish his little ones a Happy Birthday.

So, I think now I know who I can create a card for when I have time, but no one in mind. Not like I'm going to single handedly create a ton of cards, but every little bit helps. With some time I'll have a decent amount to donate myself.

So, if you're a card maker, and looking for an excuse to do what you do, well, I don't mean to be an enabler, but check out this video. :)

High Hopes Challenge 12 - Torn Paper

Unfortunately I missed their challenge 11. :( Though I'm a little late, at least I made it for number 12! High Hopes Challenge 12 that is. To use torn paper.

Though I love the look of torn paper, I've never actually used it on a card, so this was a good challenge for me. I decided I would take the opportunity to make Valentines Cards for my boys.



As you can see I stayed as far away from typical Valentines colors as I possibly could! I didn't really have any sports or cars stamps which is what they're in to, so I had to settle for the least girly image I have, Changito the monkey! lol I also decided to bypass my favored Prisma Pencils and just color it in with regular old Crayola markers. After all, this card is for a boy!

I started with the yellow cardstock, added a layer of patterned paper (that's been torn) and a sheet of white paper that's been torn, embossed with the Fiskars feather plate and slightly chalked in green. I thought the general shape of the feather's mimicked jungle leaves. I chalked the torn edges in the same green as the feathers, then stacked them all up with a thin strip of yellow running across the top of it and brads to hold it all in place.

Then I stamped my main image, sentiment and bananas. Colored in the images, cut around the main one with decorative scissors, and cut the sentiment out with my nestability oval. Adhered it all over a thin ribbon and ta-da! I wish the photo showed the slight chalking done around the palm tree, it's another one of those things that it just looks better in person.

Anyhow, I hope my boys will like them. (There's two made the same.) At least they're not girly!!

For a friend...

It felt so good to be able to get down to my roomier craft table and create something pretty. I even went so far as to stamp an envelope to match! (Yeah, it has been waaaay too long!)



The main image is Beary Sweet Sign from High Hopes with words from another set stamped on the sign. The white paper is from that hand made paper pack I mentioned yesterday. It's hard to see the detail but this one has leaves in it. I have more sheets so I'll have to work on highlighting that with other projects.

Before and After

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. With the holidays upon us, no school, and no extra activities I've been seriously enjoying down time with the family. Today however things went back to normal. Naturally, that depends on one's definition of normal. :)

These past few days my hubby started feeling that urge to create something. Vacation is nice, but most men tend to need something to do or they go stir crazy. So I introduced him to my wish list for our basement. My craft table is in our basement along with a ton of other stuff. Our basement is partially finished, two rooms are complete, the rest of it is framed out, some of it has bare drywall. It quickly became our storage place, but with a lack of storage solutions it looked more like a dump! I can't believe I'm going to share these pictures with the whole wide world, but here goes nothing!

Before:


At the far end there is my small crafting table. The pile of stuff in the foreground is just stuff that I needed to get stored away. What started as an innocent "I'll find a place for this later" turned into a monster with a life of it's own. Thanks to the hubby's "bordness" I now have a craft area with awesome storage places!

After:


I promise there's no special cropping, the mess is actually gone! And buried deep in there were some old buttons and ribbon I was overjoyed to discover. But my favorite thing of all, is the fabulous pegboard! The stuff was just sitting in our garage, left over from my in-laws visit nearly two years ago!

Closer:


I just absolutely love that my stuff is right at hands reach. I would spend so much time trying to find my stuff, dragging things off shelves. My ribbon is right out in the open, and since lots of my little crates are off my table top I have much more room to work. I'm so in love with it. lol It's not nearly as pretty, or 'inspiring' as other craft rooms I've seen on the net, but it is functional, and I really like functional!

Before:


Here's another corner. This one is my inventory/shipping area. Since my holiday craft show I've begun collecting glass jars and pop top cans, hoping to have an ample supply for next year. However I had no where to put them, so bags and boxes started to stack up, making it hard to find anything.

After:


Hubby was dieing to use his power tools, and he put them to good use by building the shelving unit for me. Add two shelves above my inventory area and I'm super pleased!

So that's been keeping me busy, along with working on my new website. I'm hoping to have it up sometime in February. I'm loving how it's turning out, but it's certainly taking a lot of time!

The other day I was in one of my favorite discount stores, and they had a terrific pack of handmade papers. I'm hoping I get down to my new and improved scrap area soon to use them!

First Assignment

As I shared earlier, I was absolutely thrilled when I was accepted as part of the Christmas Cards All Year 'Round Design Team. I anxiously awaited my first assignment, and got it on December 16th. The task? Use classic green & red, and a stamped or rub-on sentiment. Though Deanne had the kindest of intentions, super easy restrictions to make it easy on us during the holidays. I found however that I struggled with having so many possibilities.



This originally started at two separate cards, but I wasn't happy with either of them so I combined the main elements and ta-da! It's great when these type of things seem to just happen. :)

The ornament background is embossed with a fiskars plate using my cuttlebug, then the raised portions I colored in with my primas. The layer behind that is embossed with swirls and sponged green. The Christmas tree was cut with my cricut using the Christmas Cartridge. I sponged over the top layer to break it up visually a bit, then I 'filled it in' with green stickles. That glitter glue is good stuff! The Merry Christmas tag is cut with nestabilities, sponged around the edges and adhered above some red ribbon. It's a pretty simple card really, just the coloring and shading took me forever!

So now I anxiously await my next assignment. :)