Sharing from Scraps

Happy Wednesday morning, I am in the middle of one of my big projects but thought I would share this idea with you. Anything bigger than 2"X2" is considered a scrap in my world, that size was determined many years ago by my Quickutz and the 2"X2" dies. LOL and I wonder why my scrap bin over flows! I digress - when I am doing a larger project I do all my prep work in a mass production fashion. These scraps are 2" by 5 3/4", instead of tossing into the garbage I take them to my binder, punch and bind them with scrap o-rings, I save my o-rings too even if there is only 1 but that is another project. I then keep them in a bin to use for notes by the TV, work table, etc. Some of them I embellish and throw in my purse to share with a favorite waiter or waitress, store clerk etc. In college I worked as a waitress/bartender and then for 7 years was a waitress in the sky, working as a flight attendant. There was nothing that brightened up my day more than someone who truly appreciated the little things I did. This tiny gesture costs me nothing but a few moments and some scraps but it reminds someone out there that what they are doing counts and that above and beyond does not go unseen or unrewarded. So, what's in your scrap bin, make someones day, share.

This is 80lb white linen text, 3/8" o rings, raffia and the stamped image is from a clear alpha set I found for $2.00 on sale. Hugs

BBTB2 Challenge-Paper Doll Dress Up - Blog Hop

My goodness it is Monday, a full moon, the last Monday of the month - A Blog Hop. A busy Monday morning, hope everyone has a great week. Our BBTB2 Challenge this week, to use the Genie Lamp from Paper Doll Dress Up. I have had the lamp cut out for a while now and it has been sitting on my table waiting for inspiration. Then last week I was in Wal-Mart and looking at their new carts, when I picked up "Handy Man", I knew that it was going to play a part in my project for this week. So I did an altered composition book. The genie was cut from Disney cart "Dreams Come True", the lamp of course from "PDDU" and all other elements were cut from "Handy Man". The genie has embedded crystals in his cuff, his drill was cut 3 times and staggered so that it looks like it is actually on and vibrating. I created the background paper on the computer. All coloring was done with the Copic markers and airbrush system.
Inside look at the comp book, I have used my favorite Avery Label pockets on all sections, business cards and/or receipts may be kept safe or paint/fabric swatches. The dividers are also Avery. I did 4 sections, Inside, Outside, Garage, Car. I am offering this up as blog candy along with 2 sheets(8 1/2" X 11) of my "Genie Do" background paper, so if you think you would like the "Genie Do" book, all you have to do for a chance to win is sign up as a follower and post a comment, if you are already a follower of my blog then just leave a comment. Random.org will choose a random number Friday, July 2nd, 6AM. In the mean time have a great week and travel safely for those of you who will be on the road. Hugs

Oh Alice - Crazy for Daisy Chains

Happy Friday, I almost thought I was not going to get this finished, I have played way too much this week, lol. This is for the Oh Alice Challenge, I am lovin this challenge and site. They asked that we use some flowers, i.e. "Crazy for Daisy Chains". This is a 6"X6" card, the background is from an antique piece of stack from Michaels. All other images were cut from white cardstock and colored with Copic markers and airbrush system. The hat and clock, well that is from the Wal-mart exclusive "Celebrate with Flourishes" cart, it is entitled "New Year" on the cart but all I saw was the Hatter's Hat! I did not have an Alice stamp so had to do a line drawing for her. Inside it says "It's late, It's late, but holds the biggest wish for a Happy Birthday, ever!!". Have a great weekend. Hugs

Sailing

My favorite cart right now is "Wall Decor", this is a 6"X6" birthday card. Wall Decor sailboat boarder, waves and clouds used as stencil. All colors Copic markers. EK Success photo corners and silver nail heads for embellishment.

For the inside of the card I took it to photoshop cropped it to 2"X2" then printed it out and cut it with a QK scalloped square. Photo corners again by EKSuccess.

In my quest to coordinate, I went ahead and created an envelope in photoshop to match my card, this will be an ongoing quest to get the colors and sizing right, this will be an insert card with pressie, it will not have an address on the front.

PS - Okay my friend just advised me it is Wednesday, ya know I feel like I have now been pulled backwards out of the "Wormhole", may never the same again, lol. I think I am going back to drinking my beer at lunch and 2 wines in the evening, I tracked better then or maybe I didn't track better, I just didn't care! Oh my goodness, such a silly girl. Hugs

A Memory Book

I did a memory book for Traci (store owner) of the book signing for her store. Over all size is 7 1/2" X 5". I used the Cinch to bind the book. I took one of the pictures with the book to photoshop and cropped it for the front. The spoon was cut with Cricut Cartridge "From My Kitchen", the bottom of the spoon has a star and some thread tied in a bow. Then misc. ribbon on the rings and tag. Coloring was done with Copic markers.
I kept it pretty simple as her customers will be looking through it. I did not post any of the photo pages, since I posted a couple of the photos yesterday. The above begins the book reading
This is the next to the last page, I am going to insert one of the book marks I did for the reading on the last page.
This is the back of the memory book.



this is the bookmark. I used the Magnolia "Ooops Tilda" Happy Tuesday, Hugs

BBTB2-Challenge/Once Upon A Princess

Happy Monday everyone. Our challenge this week to use the rainbow from "Once Upon A Princess", I don't have that cart (can you believe it?) so here is what I did. I cut a stencil from "Wall Decor" for the clouds, sprayed them onto the top flap of the card, cut out the arches from "Independence Day" and used those as my rainbow. I have a list of cuts I want to try and the Toucan is at the top, so I thought he would be fun on one of my Huggie cards, he is one "Life Is A Beach", his branch and bottom boarder were cut from "Wall Decor", I truly think that cartridge was designed just for me, LOL. The font is from QK. Inside it says "No miracle is too small to thank." All coloring done with Copic markers and the airbrush system. Have a blessed week. Hugs

The Book Reading

Yesterday was Harlene's book reading, oh my goodness what a great day, the children were adorable and they loved the Cooking Fairy. The weather was outstanding, cool breezes all day and mid 80s and that is very unusual for mid-June.
This is Traci and Harlene, Traci (Once Upon A Shelf) owner and Harlene in the store. After wards more talking and laughing and then we had dinner at the amazing "Fat's Asian Bristro", I am still full. It was a weekend to remember. Happy Sunday, Hugs

Paper Candy Cup Flower

Happy Weekend All, I am so on the run this morning, but had to share this with you. Yesterday my dearest friends arrived, we talked into the wee hours my time, remember I get up at around 3AM and we gabbed over gelato with port (well if that is not a treat nothing is) til about 9:30 last night. Yawn, we have book reading and signing today and then a fun fun dinner. Hope your weekend is FAB! This flower was created using the little candy paper cups, it takes 4 cups and if you are interested let me know and I will give you details next week, just leave comments.

Another view. Be safe, be happy. Hugs

Christmas Card Holder

Happy Friday all, hope everyone has a great weekend, I have a packed one ahead of me and looking forward to seeing a dear dear friend who is in town. I am always on the lookout for a different way to display Christmas cards. A friends Mom did this technique with a hardbound book and I was given one. It sits on one of chests in the studio and it holds cards not quite complete. The other night I was watching TV and picked up a Martha Stewart "Everyday Food" magazine, it is much smaller than a normal magazine, sort of the size of a Reader's Digest. You fold the pages in half to the center, with a hardbound book they will fan out completely when the two end pages are glued to the cover, with the magazine they fan out but do not lay flat. That is when I thought they would be cute sitting in a manger and so I made one for it. I love the colored pages the magazine gives. It's a cute, functional quick project. Hugs

Sweet Things

Good Morning everyone, well it is very simple this morning, but I do love this card. It is a shape card done with Design Studio and "Summer in Paris". Black card stock and silver pp with swirls. The card opens from the top down. On the atomizer is a Nestie oval and it says, "it's the little touches in life that makes it sweet". Overall size is 7 1/2" X 5". Happy Thursday, Hugs

Sketch Pad with Cinch Review

Okay, how come it is Wednesday already, this week has gone by faster than the speed of light. I still have loads to do, I need it to slow down a bit, lol. I needed a new sketch pad for my line drawings and I received the new We Are Memory Keepers - "Cinch" this week so seemed like a good idea to make one and give the new toy its hour. My feelings so far? As always WRMK has done their homework. They have eliminated the math issues that BIA had, I love that the punches are circles and 3/16" at that, now eyelets can be easily used for the covers (although I did not use them on this project). The closure for the rings is a dream come true, no more pointy rings, so all in all the poor BIA will be sitting on the shelf. The over all dimensions on this is 5 1/2" X 8". I used faux leather for the cover (white), the heart was done with a Nesties and I used a doilie as a stencil and sprayed with Copic Airbrush and markers, layering the colors. Misc. ribbon.
This is the inside cover and a new product from Avery I have fallen in love with, I got these at Staples, they are by Avery and they are see through, repositionable pockets with a tab, and they have a whole line of similar tabs in sizes and shapes, these are fantastic, so the pocket will hold my pens. Have a great day, Hugs

The Mad Hatter's Watch

Good Morning, "Oh Alice", has a new challenge. It is a take on a wonderful Alice watch with a Mad Hatter Theme. Let me say, I will forever think of Johnny Depp when I hear the Mad Hatter's name, he was born to play this role. What a fun challenge.
The basic elements for the watch, I picked up at Michaels, the medallion by "Blue Moon", the leather necklace also "Blue Moon" and the charms - sewing machine and scissors also Blue Moon, I love their stuff! The watch background paper is from a Costco stack, the watch hands from an EKSuccess punch, I copied a photo and then punched with the small Nesties oval. Misc. ribbon, beads and jump rings. Happy Tuesday, Hugs

Birthday Card

The card had to be red, white and black, had to have monkies and a drum. So here it is. The monkies cut from Cricut cartridge "Paisley", the photo corners EKSuccess, the drum cut from "Joys of the Season", Balloons from "Lyrical Letters" and background paper is BasicGrey "Tuxedo". All colors were done with Copic markers.
Again, BasicGrey is background, Nesties oval and heart and the "50" is from QK. Bottom was cut with Fiskars Deco Scissors. Happy Monday. Hugs

Huggie Card - A Tutorial

Happy Saturday everyone, I do hope everyone will have a great weekend. Full sun, some cool breezes and lots of leisure time. I promised I would do a tutorial for those of you that had questions about my Huggie cards and especially those who do not have or did not want to use design studio. I kept my example as simple as possible so as not to interfere with the purpose of the tutorial. There are so many ways this could be done and if you are interested in doing some, take a few of my suggestions or all of them but most of all let your creative process take hold in this and make it yours. My first Huggie card was done with Design Studio "Alice was Here", see below, if you want to do the shapes for your Huggie, i.e. the cup and table top you are going to have to do it with Design Studio, pretty much no other way. The below technique will give you the same feel though and you do not have to use Design Studio to achieve it.

These are the essential ingredients, your card blank, mine is 5"X5" but it can be any size you desire, just remember that you will have to adjust the size of the huggie when you change your card size. A 1" X 11" strip of double sided cardstock and your embellishment. You will notch the strip 5" in at both ends, one notch at the top to the middle and one notch at the bottom to the middle. I then open one of the notches up a little with a pair of scissors to make it easier to close. Do not open up both notches as it will tend to pop open. Then score left and right at 3 1/4". Your card blank, when I created the card in Design Studio I had a problem with the folding of the pieces over the top, it looked bumpy because they are folding over 2 pieces of card stock, so what I did was create my card using a 5" square and a 4 7/8" square, the 4 7/8" square being the top that folds over, and this solved my problem and also gave my card some interesting dimension about 1/8" boarder on the sides and a nice peek a boo bottom to use decorative scissors or a boarder punch on. If you want the peek a boo bottom score your card top at 4 3/4".
Now choose your embellishment and begin putting your card together.

This is a close up of the enlarged notch, I did with scissors.

I embossed the front with the new Swirl Cuttlebug folder and used Fiskar Decorative scissors for the bottom boarder. This is how the Huggie looks before embellished. Now here is an interesting feature, you can use the Huggie in several ways, you can permanently attach it to the back with adhesive or you can use it as a slip, if you really want to get artistic you can notch the back 3 or 4 times and weave it through the back, giving the back some added dimension and style but you will need to cut a block for the inside of the card if you choose this way, to cover up the notches.
I choose to do one of the Cuttlebug butterflies as my embellishment, I cut it twice, embossed one of the butterflies with the same folder as I did the front, the other butterfly is just plain, I fold up the wings of the embossed butterfly and adhere just the body to the plain the butterfly, this gives your butterfly the feel of flight. When you are adhering the embellishment to your Huggie keep in mind you do not want to glue your notches together, so you are going to adhere it just to the outer side of the notch.
this is the first opening.
This is the second opening of the Huggie card. These cards lend themselves beautifully to initial cards so I added the initials of one of my dear friends. The card is done. Thinking ahead a little these would make wonderful Christmas cards. Enjoy the process. Hugs

Huggie Card

Good Morning. Well there is no "Alice" to this card, needed to do something different so I could keep the inspiration flowing. I have decided to call these "Huggie" cards, they look like they are being hugged closed. Once you get one under your belt the process is much quicker. This is a 5" X 5" card. Created using Design Studio, George, Lyrical Letters (love this hummer) and Winter Wonderland Cricut cartridges. Coloring by Copic markers, photo corners EK Success and patterned papers are all BasicGrey.
This is the inside, PSX Stamp for "Merci". Happy Friday. Hugs
P.S. I have received some emails and questions on the Huggie Cards, so stay tuned - tomorrow I will do a tutorial on how to construct these for design studio and for those who do not use design studio. Hugs

Alice was Here

More Alice
Wow this is really a late post for me, but this took me 1/2 of yesterday and the rest of today to finish. This is a shape, sort of gate card created using Design Studio, George, Joys of the Season and From My Kitchen "Cricut cartridges. The card opens twice. There is also a slot in the saucer that the teacup slids into to keep it closed.
This is the second level of the opening, you then lift from the bottom up.
And here is the greeting. The papers are Paper Salon and Chole's "Black Current". The Paper Salon is "plates" and origally off white and blue, I recolored with the copics because it was not jellin with the rest. Inside it says "...to wish you a Happy Birthday!!" Hope everyone is having a good Thursday. Hugs

It's Late

Continuing with my "Alice Theme", oh I love the White Rabbit. If you have seen the movie, next time you are in Barnes and Noble be sure to check out the "Alice in Wonderland" A Visual Companion by Mark Salisbury. Fascinating information and all those stills from the movie, also some interesting shots from the sets, showing how they did some of the more difficult scenes.
My friend Donna shared with me last week a blog I was not familiar with, so today I visited and oh my what fun, "The Oh Alice" blog, their challenge this week is "The Muchness" Challenge, mine Copic markers and inspiration, the two go together like peanut butter and jelly. So I decided to throw my card in the hat so to speak.
This is a 4/12"X6" card, the background paper is from a scrap so I am not sure who did this one. The ovals are Ellison and Nesties. The black oval on the front was embossed with the "Clock works" embossing folder by Cuttlebug. Photo corners by EKSuccess. The rabbit is one of my line drawings. Inside more ovals to carry over the theme. The banner says, "it's late, it's late but not forgotten, computer generated. I scanned in my finished rabbit and then printed him out smaller and cropped with a Nesties. All coloring done with Copic Markers. Happy Wednesday, Hugs

BBTB2-Challenge/Doodlecharms

What a sweet challenge BBTB2 has for you today, our sponsor and host this week "Sweet 'n Sassy" digi stamps. Please visit our BBTB2 Blog for a wonderful adventure in color and design.
I have so many "Alice" cards floating in my head, I find myself going back to the scenes with the mushrooms, I love what they did with all the different colored mushrooms and that became my inspiration for this weeks challenge. They were almost illumined.
This is a 4"X6" card, the background paper is BasicGrey. I used the "Sweet 'n Sassy" mushroom as my focal point, I then added my line drawing of mushrooms in the foreground. I doubled the sun from "Doodlecharms" in 2 sizes and 2 colors to give it dimension and it acted as my block for the sentiment, which was computer generated. I wanted a closure to give the illusion of a door for my "Alice" theme and used 1 part of a 2 part pant/skirt closure found in the sewing notions dept. of WalMart. Inside the card says, "She is at The Tea Party drinking a cup of tea in your honor. Happy Birthday." Happy Monday, Hugs

Too Many Birthdays

Good Morning, hope your weekend is running smoothly. Temps are mounting here but it is a beautiful morning. I am so taken with Walt Disney's "Alice in Wonderland", I do think it is the best one they have ever done. I pre-ordered it and for the last 6 days have watched all or parts of it. The inspiration in it is amazing, so you could possibly see quite a few "Alice" inspired cards. This one is 4 1/2" X 6". Cuttlebug "Queen of Hearts" embossing folder, photo corners by EkSuccess and misc. hearts, sentiment computer generated, black and white polka dotted ribbon trims it off. Stay Cool, Hugs

Pansies and BBTB2 Blog Hop Winner

Good Morning Everyone, Happy Friday. One of the first things I do in the mornings is go out and check on my fauna and flora, yesterday morning I realized a pansey had taken root and bloomed in a pot I had emptied of last years past blooms, I was so excited I grabbed my camera, the photo did not turn out that great even though I did post it, cause I love the pansies. I decided to do a line drawing. This is my subject of inspiration today. I found some 4" X 6" envelopes I liked at Wal-Mart last week and so this is a 4" X 6" card. The background papers are by Jolee and BasicGrey. The photo corners by EKSuccess. The oval is by Ellison. The butterflies are Martha Stewart.
Are you ready for my blog hop winner. Random.Org choose - Drummmm rollllll, Please. Number 14 - Sandy Bayles, you were chosen, please send me your address so I can mail out the 4X4 Post it Note Holder. Have a great weekend one and all. Hugs

Father's Day

This is another A-2 Gate Card with Bar and Notch closure. Using those scraps. The oval is Nestise and says "I am the twinkle in your eye. I am the song in your heart. I am forever thankful you are my Dad." The musical notes are by QK. The large star cut from Cricut Cartridge "Paisley". Misc. crystals. Coloring done with Copic markers and airbrush. Inside verbage is from "Hero Arts" calendar Stamp for June. Happy Wednesday. Hugs

A Gate Card - Thank You

I hope everyone had a safe and happy Memorial Day Weekend. I love these gate cards because it allows me to use up my scraps. It is a gate card, I create mine by cutting an 8 1/2" X 11" piece of card stock in half on the horizontal, I then score both ends at 2 3/4" on my Score It board. I then cut1 patterned paper & 3 coordinating pieces at 2 3/4" X 4 1/4" and then trim just a bit off each side because I like a little of the white showing. On this card I used the patterned paper on the left side and coordinating piece on the right and then 2 more coordinating pieces inside. I adhere the right outside first, then notch it with my notching tool. The bar is cut from the StampinUp word bar punch and attached to the patterned paper with a brad. The patterned paper is then adhered to the left side. The two inside coordinating pieces are then adhered inside. I used my wonderful new photo corner "EK Success" punch that Carole sent to me, love these corners, I used 12 of them inside and out. I embellished the little flowers with crystals and used my favorite bee stamp on the outside coordinating paper. I used my gel pens on the bees. Happy Tuesday, Hugs