Get Sketchy

I thought I would share some more Graphic 45 paper and Stampers Anonymous work with you.  I probably should tell you that the paper collections are from the Playtimes Past and Communique collections.  The SA stamp is called Good Thoughts.  For this card, I used a sketch from Get Sketchy, and I am going to show you the outside and inside of the card.

As you'll see, I used very little other than paper on this card.  A couple of Bazzill and flowers and a CTMH rub-on border.  The circle and cardstock flowers are cut with nesties and the corners with an EK Success punch.

I woke up this morning to this lovely sight in my backyard:

Such a cute bunny!  I know they wreak havoc in my flower beds, but we are firm believers in keeping our yard and woods as natural as possible.  Now I went to stand out on the deck to get a closer picture, but found I had a problem in the backyard.  There was a hawk at the base of the deck next to the woods (yes, our house is that close to our woods), and it was quietly inching it's way up to rabbit.  Instead of a picture, I put Miss Chanel (our beagle) out to do some protecting of the yard.  She got everyone moving, and I got to see the hawk soar away.  Even though they are preditory to small animals, they are just beautiful to watch fly.

On another nature-type note, yesterday afternoon I smelled smoke when I had the windows open.  It was a windy day, and I didn't know if someone had neglected to follow burning bans or if something was wrong.  We (meaning me and Chanel) got in the Jeep to check it out, and there was a huge grass fire a couple of miles from our home.  Helicopters and several fire departments were there trying to break down the fire wall, and it took several hours to stop the spread.  It turns out that it had started much further away in a ditch off the highway.  Scary thing for the folks nearby whose homes were in the path.  There is still a heavy smoke smell in the air, and it's a constant reminder of how careful we must all be when the ground is so dry.

I'm off to work now.  I'm anxious to catch up later and see what you've all been creating!

I Have Been Quiet, But I've Been Creating!

I realized today that I haven't posted in a bit.  I have been busy doing this and that and working, but in the quiet times I have been creating.  I thought I'd share some of the results with you today!

First up, I have a sketch from CPS & what I did with it:

I used: Graphics 45 paper, Stampers Anonymous stamp set, Bazzill flower, Coffee Shop Glimmer Mist, and random ribbon, button, and gems.  I was psyched when we received the Graphic 45 paper and SA stamps at work.  Such great vintage material!!

Now I just have a couple of layouts to share.  I have been working on Shane's 1+ years, and I'm having a blast lookinga t these pictures all over again!  The layouts are not real technical, but they turned out exactly as I wanted them.

The first is Sassafrass Lass papers & stickers, Thickers letters, Deja Vu transparencies, and some really cute little boy pictures!

The next layout is made with some new papers - Fancy Pants My Family.  These papers are just great!  I added some CTMH outdoor denim embellishments and Makimg Memories dotted letters.  Again, there are some pretty cute pictures of this little boy of mine.

Winner of OWH Sketch Challenge

Thank you so much to all who played along!!  I was so happy to see what you created with my sketch!!  The winner of the blog candy is Gloria.  Please contact me with your information, and I will get your package out to you right away!!

OCC Sketch Blog and ICS Challenges

I want to share to more cards that I finished this afternoon.  The first is from OCC Sketch Blog:

I took out some Basic Grey Kioshi, Martha Stewart ribbon, and a Stampendous sentiment.

The next sketch is from ICS:

For this card I took out some Cosmo Cricket Joy Ride.  I used my Slice Travel card to make the arrow and sun.  The stamp is Hero Arts.

Papertake Challenge

I liked the simplicity of Sketch #37 at Papertake Weekly:

I used very little to make this card.  These are Promise of Spring papers, ribbon, and stamp from CTMH.  The tulip image is from Fred, She Said, and I colored the beautiful flowers with my watercolor pencils and waterbrush.

The Scrappiest #56

I wanted to make a companion page for the Cosmo Cricket Mr. Campy layout I showed you the other day.  I used a sketch form The Scrappiest for this one.  Really, I don't know what we'd do without all the fabulous sketch artists out there!!  I remember the days when I would sit and look at pictures and paper and wonder what to do and how to arrange them.  I am so grateful for sketches!!

Except for the clear buttons, this layout is all Cosmo Cricket Mr. Campy.  Be watching in the days ahead.  3 Bugs in a Rug just came out with some new camping paper, and I can't wait to use what I purchased!!

Just Add Ink Color Challenge

When I saw these colors over at Just Add Ink, I was so inspirted to create a card.  These are such warm lovely colors together!

For my card, I used all CTMH products. 

Sassy Lil' Sketches

I have turned over to scrapbooking for some time.  There are SO many pictures to scrap and just not enough time in the day!!  I've done quite a few pages today, but for this layout I used a sketch form Sassy Lil' Sketches.

Ins't it a versatile sketch?!  Except for the clear buttons and letters, I used all Cosmo Cricket Mr. Campy product.  The buttons are CTMH and the letters are Basic Grey Indian Summer.

OCC Sketch Blog & Our Creative Corner

I want to know if this has ever happened to you.  I woke up at 3:00 am this morning with a card design in my head, and I couldn't go back to sleep.  I ended up coming to my craft room and creating the card.  Well, if I'm tired by mid-afternoon, we'll all know why!!

The challenge over at Our Creative Corner was to think Easter.  I tend to send traditional cards for Easter, so I wanted my card to be something striking.  Have I ever told you that this is my favorite holiday?  I find huge comfort in my life every day knowing that Jesus is real and His resurrection was real.  This holiday is a precious reminder to me that I can live Easter every day of my life.

All products from this very simple card are CTMH.  Purple represents the royalty of Jesus.  White represents purity and life.

I also created another spring card using the sketch from OCC Sketch blog.  For this card, I used Cosmo Cricket paper and K&Company paper flowers.  I used a little glossy accents on my butterfly wings and top flower to add shine.

Just Add Ink & OWH Stars and Stamps Cards

I am so happy - I got my taxes done this morning!!  It's such a burden lifted to finally have them e-filed. Having cleaned everything I wanted to over the weekend, I am now free to play the next couple of days in my craft room.  YIPPEE!! 

The first card I want to show you is from the Just Add Ink sketch. What a lovely sketch!!  For this card, my ink is actually Ranger Paint in Lettuce.  Negative image stamps are so much fun to work with.  This stamp is a cling from Hero Arts. There are two rows of scallops that I created with my EK Success corner rounder.  The phrase stamp is TLC from CTMH.  The adhesive pearls and olive ribbon are also CTMH.

The next card is created from a sketch over at OWH Stars and Stamps.  I used some of the new Bo Bunny paper, Roughin' It for this one.  The tree stamp is Four Seasons form CTMH, and the phrase is a Hero Arts stamp set called Life is Not Perfect.  I've embossed the sentimetn with Zing Vanilla embossing powder.

Winner of Saturday's Blog Candy!

The winner of Saturday's blog candy is BEKAH'S WORLD!  Please e-mail me at girlygirlrose43@msn.com with your information and I will get that in the mail for you tomorrow!!

Don't forget, there's another opportunity to win Blog Candy!!  Complete a card using the sketch on the side of my blog.  Attach it to Mr. Linky on this post.  I will be drawing for a random winner on Sunday, March 28th!!

Scrap Fit Spring LO

Over at ScrapFit, they were having a blog hop this weekend along with a challenge.  I had great fun visiting the blogs and collecting an element that had to be on the layout.

I have wanted to scrap these pictures for some time.  Isn't that baby robin amazing?  I love spring and the new life it brings to us!! 

Items used: Bo Bunny dp, CTMH Veranda dp, Stampendous stamp (bees), CTMH flowers, fabric (handmade yoyo flower), American Crafts badge button, Slice Spring design card, CTMH ribbon (colonial white) and slide, Martha Stewart yellow marker, Glossy Accents (bee wings), random buttons and ribbon (pink)

OWH Spring Break Bloghop! I've Got a Challenge & Prizes for You!

Welcome to my stop on the OWH Spring Break Bloghop! If you've arrived here from Kathy's blog, I am so glad to have you join me! If you've stumbled upon this hop, you may want to start at OWH Stars and Stamps to read all the wonderful blogs.

I started making cards for Operation Write Home a couple of years ago. I have had several family members that have served in wartime. My father was in the Korean War, and you are looking at a picture of him from the Air Force Base in Wyoming waiting to fly to Japan. He was just shy of being 18 years old. He served as a medic during the war. As is common, he didn't talk much about his service. But when he did, I knew that this time in his life changed him.

It is an honor and a privilege to be able to send cards to Operation Write Home. My freedoms are reliant on the men and women serving, and I feel very blessed. If you would like to donate handmade cards to Operation Write Home, please click the above link. The deadline for sending Mother's Day cards is April 1st.

I've got a couple of different prizes to give away during this bloghop. YIPPEE!! We all love prizes!! Here are the two ways you have a chance to win:

1) Leave me a comment on this post. I'd love for you to be a follower of my blog and visit me now and again, but that is not a requirement! Deadline for commenting is 11:59 pm CT on Sunday, March 21st. I'll let Random Generator pick, and I'll post the winner on Monday, March 22nd!

2) I've created a card sketch for you! Follow this sketch, flipping and turning it anyway you'd like. For an added twist, I want you to create a SPRING card keeping in the theme of the bloghop. Use Mr.Linky at the bottom of this post to attach your direct link to the card (make sure it goes right to your card!). if you do not have a blog and want to play, send a picture of your card to girlygirlrose43@msn.com. The deadline for this sketch is Saturday, March 27th at 11:59 pm CT. Again, I'll let Random Generator choose again, and I'll post the winner on Sunday, March 28th!

Here's the card sketch:

This is what I've done with the sketch. I've embossed the big dandelion puff. If you click on the picture to make it larger, you'll see that the puff sparkles. Here's a great tip for those of you that like sparkle, but not the mess of glitter. Add a tiny little bit of prisma glitter to your embossing powder. It will heat set with the embossing powder and it will not fall off. This is especially important when making cards for OWH. No glitter allowed, so this is a great way to add sparkle!


I'll bet by now you are wondering what the prizes are. Here's a picture of the whole package valued at $60! I am going to divide it into two prizes. Two lucky winners will each receive half of these flowers, stickers, rub-ons, gems, felt, etc. Are you excited?!!



Your next blog on the hop is Amy (click here). Be sure to leave her some love! I've been checking out her blog and love her artwork!! Happy creating and hopping!

**JUST A NOTE - Mr, Linky is where you attach your card from the sketch to be eligible for the sketch drawing.  If you are commenting, please click on "comments" under the Mr. Linky box.  Thanks!!**

Shane 1991

I found these pictures of Shane from 1991 and wanted to put them to a page. He always loved being in the kitchen with me, and I never minded. It was good for him to make a mess and learn along the way. Today, he is a very good cook who easily finds his way around the kitchen, and I am very glad of that!

For this layout I used a CTMH Animal Cookies Level 1 pre-printed layout, buttons, felt, and waxy flax. The star is Ki Memories, the tag is Little Yellow Bicycle, and the letters are Thickers.

I have many, many pictures to scrap yet. I am glad of this because I can scrap from whatever year I want. I am not in a rush to get it done and be completely caught up. Rather I have really enjoyed the process for several years. It is so wonderful to look back on pictures, think of past days, and to really put heart into a layout.

How do scrap? Are you chronological or are you like me - grabbing pictures from here and there that inspire you?

The blog hop is on Saturday, so don't forget to stop by! I have something special planned for my vistitors!! After that, you won't see me for a bit. I have lots of housework to do that I have been neglecting. Taxes are also nagging at me, and I need to get them done so that the burden can be lifted. By the time those things are done, I'll be ready to get back in the creating mode!!

Hope the sun is shining where you are and that you are having a good day!

A Few More Mother's Day Cards

In this second post of the day, I am continuing with Mother's Day cards for Operation Write Home. I'm not really on the ball rather the deadline is April 1st so I needed to get going! In these cards, I've used some new K & Company paper.

The first card sketch is from Inspirational Card Sketches:

The striped flowers on the left of the card were cut with my Slice Think Pink card. I layered the blossoms with prima flowers and CTMH buttons. The ribbon, pin, and swirl clip are CTMH and the stamp is Stampendous.

The second sketch is from Clean & Simple, and I had a hard time keeping it clean and simple!

The clip, buttons, and ribbon are CTMH. The stamp is Stampendous, and the flowers are Prima. I am not sure the where my little blue gems came from. Cute sketch!!

Finally, the last card is from Everything But the Kitchen Sink:

I took a little liberty with this fabulous sketch, but I think it all worked out okay. Along with the beautiful paper, I used CTMH elements.

I am done for the day now, so I'm off to watch American Idol! I am having a little trouble this season because I am just not thrilled about anyone yet. The judges and their behavior has been quite annoying, so I think that's hindering the good stuff. Tonight the Idol 12 need to sing Rolling Stones music, so I think this will separate the good from the bad pretty quickly. Have any favorites yet?

Mother's Day and Kioshi

I am working on Mother's Day cards today for Operation Write Home. It is so much fun to use the rich new spring papers! For all the following cards, I am using Basic Grey's Kioshi. I think I have become attached to it because even though it is spring paper, there are warm undertones.

So let's take a look at the first sketch from OWH Stars and Stamps:

I sae this card in a unique sort of way. Rather than two diagonal pieces on the front, I created a diagonal pocket. Because this card is 5x7, it will give one of our soldiers a good amount of room to write on the insert and on the back of the card. The stamps used are Recollections and Stampendous. The gems are CTMH and Hero Arts. The ribbon is from Walmart.

Great sketch from the OCC Sketch Blog:

The stamps is a Stampendous wood mount. The gems are from Michael's, the button and waxy flax from CTMH, and the ribbon is from Wal-Mart.

My final Kioshi card is a sketch from CPS:

Believe it or not, I love clean and simple cards. I am very taken by this sketch because of that. I've rounded the corners with my Corner Chomper. Ribbon is Walmart, stamp is Stampendous, and bitty sparkles are from CTMH.
Well, I'm off to make some more cards. I just love having days off!!

Just Waiting

If you been living with a normal than longer winter, you might be just like me and waiting for the buds on the trees. It was such a gorgeous day today!! I worked a little today, but it was a great joy to be out in the warm spring weather. It was in the 50s today, so when I got home Jerry and I took Miss Chanel out for a walk. What a happy beagle! She found lots of new sniffs in the fresh spring air and came home ready for her puppy nap.

I can see now that it will be hard to craft once it gets nice out. We so love the outdoors, and I have lots of plans for our yard and gardens this year. We also have a number of 3-day getaways planned. Summer in Minnesota is always tooooooo short, so I guess we do as much as we can!

I am super excited to tell you a little about a blog hop that takes place on Saturday. You are going to be able to hop on 75+ blogs starting at Operation Write Home Stars and Stamps. There are going to be prizes galore and some tutorials and challenges. That's your teaser! Be sure to hop over here on Saturday to see what I'll have going on!!

Looking forward to sharing some artwork with you this week and checking out what's cooking in your craft rooms!

Fishing

There is nothing particularly special that I've done with this layout. However, it speaks volumes about who my husband is. I love looking at the fish he's caught. And do you see the blue water and leaves on the trees? What lovely pages to work on!!

For this page, I used dp from Papers Best. It's a company only about 45 minutes from here, and they make outdoor papers. I simply matted the pictures and put a fishing transparency over the page. The two embellishments are on top of the transparency.

Cards, Cards, and More Cards

I have a day off today, so I spent some time making cards. I had a blast trying different techniques, working with sketches, and trying new colors. When it's rainy and chilly, there's not much else to do!

I was playing with alcohol inks again. Today I used butterscotch, lettuce, and stream. I thought it would be perfect for this masculine card. Items used with the inks are Bazzill fudge CS, CTMH glossy paper, Karen Foster charm, Northwoods and CTMH stamps, and random hemp.

I also made a 3x3 card with the same inks. It will fit perfectly into the Cards challenge this week. All products used for this little gift card are CTMH. If you'd like to see another 3x3 card I finished with alcohol inks a couple weeks ago, click here.

I used a sketch and color challenge to complete my next card. The sketch is from CPS:

And the color challenge is from Colour Q:

For this card, I went back into my Cosmo Cricket Material Girl papers. These are so yummy!! I added some hand-stitching, Prima Flowers, and CTMH buttons and edge anchors. The stamp is also CTMH.

This next sketch from Papertake allows for a lot of possibilities:

When I left work yesterday, I picked up some of the new Basic Grey Kioshi paper. If you are looking for a beautiful spring line, check out this set of papers. I really like the mixture of colors. I added Bazzill and Prima flowers, a Stampendous stamp, and some random ribbon. Makes for a good spring card.

The Tuesday Trigger this week over at Moxie Fab, is so pretty! I am quite certain I will make more cards in these colors - they are just lovely!

I used CTMH White Daisy CS, Garden Green CS, Veranda paper, stamp set, and Prima flowers.

In the next card, I mixed a couple of challenges again. The sketch is from ICS:

The color challenge is from Picture Perfect:

This is a very elegant card using a Recollections flourish stamp set. The sentiment is from CTMH. The flowers are Prima and the gems are random (and where I have snuck in the blue).

Yes, I do know I blasted you with a lot of cards in this one post! I thought it might be easier than showing them in separate posts. You can always skip the words and just look at the artwork. My hope is that when you look through my blog posts, you are seeing even just one tiny thing that will inspire you to create!

I am finding it hard to stay away form my craft room right now (and my poor neglected house proves that point!). It helps me cope with this terrible spring fever I've got! Do you know that our first snow fall was October 12th? We've been having snow and cold and winter for 5 months now. The rain this week is really shrinking the snow, so it won't be too long until we hit spring and I can garden again!!

Hope you're having a great day!