5/29/11

Simply Sunday with Banners

Oh I have so much to share with you today so go grab a cup of coffee and enjoy!  Today is my first "offical" post as a member of the Getting Cricky design team, so YAY! For this challenge Kristal asked us to create something with banners and I got a little excited so I made not one, but two projects for you :) Make sure you hop over and join in the fun for her Simply Sunday challenge this week!

For my first project I went plain and obvious and made a fun little spring banner to hang on my sun porch and because I don't have a macro lens for my camera yet I have several close ups for you to take a peek at. Remember if you want to see a full view of any of these you can click on the pictures.


For this fun little banner I used Memory Box dp's and the blue is some random that I had a lot of  in my stash.  I used my Silhouette to cut my font.
In this close up you can see the faux stitching that I did around each letter and the detail of the fun K & Co. stickers I used to embellish some of the flags. Its super hard to see in the pictures but I used a Fiskars texture template to emboss a floral pattern on the blue flags.

And in this fun photo you get a better look at this adorable phone book flower I made. Because I didn't want to rip up one of my dictionaries yet I am using an old phone book. So I cut all my layers with a cut from the Silhouette store and then sprayed them all with some Maya Mist in Salmon and Yellow. I love my Maya Mist! Because I'm impatient I used my heat gun to dry them. I added a couple pop dots in my layers to give it some extra dimension and then just scrunched them all up randomly. That beautifully colored pearl is from American Crafts.

And my last close up for you is to show off that fun little birdy! She is a Cottage Cuts die designed by
Peachy Keen Stamps. Isn't she ADORABLE??


















Now for your viewing pleasure, my second project :)
Because I'm thrifty, I grabbed an old frame from my decorating closet. Yes I have a closet full of this stuff, lol!
I didn't like its color so I grabbed the good old stand by spray paint. I layered an obnoxiously bright lime green (I'm talking the color that they use to mark underground power lines bright) then I added my favorite crackle spray paint. (If you click on the picture you can see it better) Then I went to town with my new Memoryworks line of paper and its coordinating sticker sheet. I covered my Maya Road chipboard flags with some of the paper and sprayed some with Maya Mist in red and yellow. And finally painted some cardboard with Memory Makers paint. Now I have something fun to hang by my front door and I can finally take down the Easter wreath, haha.

Now if your still with me CONGRATS and thank you! Just keep reading a little longer.... Incase you didn't know Kristal is releasing a new line of stamps, Horray! They are totally adorable and for every set purchased she is donating $1 to the charity she has chosen to help homeless children! What a fabulously great heart she has! Now if you would please go over to her blog and click on the products tab and place your pre-order and please tell her I sent you over :) Don't forget to see all the other DT members blogs and leave them some love too! You can find their addys on my side bar.

Alright I think I've kept you long enough. Just do one more thing for me today, say a prayer for all of our HERO'S since this weekend is for them and sometimes we all forget. They do so much silent work and sacrifice for all of us and with all the world turmoil and natural disasters they aren't even home to enjoy their family's like most of us are doing.

5/28/11

Sihlouette meets Glitter Ritz

So last night at about 11:00pm I had a flash of inspiration and decided to play a little bit to see if something new would work. The results, lots of frustration with fabulous results! There are still some kinks I need to work out with this technique but I LOVE its "look" of simplicity and elegance, I will definitely be trying more of this. Let me tell you these pictures do these cards no justice!

*Gasp* I made a card with NO layer and NO dp. If you knew me you would know that this almost put me into convulsions, LOL.


So to try this technique you HAVE to have Be Creative Tape from Elizabeth Craft Designs. You can find it {HERE}, make sure you poke around and order some of this AMAZING glitter while you are there too! I could try to tell you how much I LOVE this glitter but I would just end up sounding ridiculous, haha, so please just believe me :)

So after you have your product choose an image to cut on your Silhouette or other favorite cutting machine and load your adhesive sheet with both backings onto your carrier sheet, now you will have to play with settings on different cutting machines but here is what worked for me on the Sihlouette. Choose "Label Sheet (with adhesive backing)" from your media choices and modify the cut speed settings to 4 or 6 depending on the intricacy of your design. *This technique will not cut well on small intricate designs*. Now check the double cut box and send your image to the Silhouette for cutting.

After cutting your image remove it from the carrier sheet and very carefully remove the brown backing from the adhesive and place it on your card (this is the most difficult part). If you want to use more than one color of glitter on your design you will need to make a few extra cuts with a utility knife at the edges of your designs.

Now choose your darkest color glitter first and remove the protective sheet from the adhesive that you want to color. Pour the glitter on and rub it in (burnish) with your finger, remove the excess and continue on with the same process for your other colors till you are finished.


Ok, Wow this post has gotten really long for a simple card!!! I will play with this technique some more and let you know what I learn and maybe I'll even try my hand at a video for you. *YIPES* did I just say that?? Anywho I hope you like what you saw today, till next time!

5/24/11

A few shaped cards

Let me start this post on a personal note sending out my prayers for all of the tornado victims this week! My heart is just breaking for all of them, having been through a tornado in my life seeing the images on the tv gives me goosebumps and that feeling of helplessness all over again!  I know what the power of a community coming together can do when mother nature shows you her angry side. I know it doesn't seem like you can start over again and you don't know where to even start but it will get better I promise! Red Cross was a life saver for our community bringing around hot meals and setting up a crisis center, what a blessing! Let's all keep them in our prayers especially those that lost loved ones!

Alright on to the crafty stuff. Well I did get into my craftroom this last weekend and made a few cards :) I decided to play with some shaped cards since they seem to be popping up everywhere these days and I get bored with just plain ole' A2 cards. This first card was super easy with my Silhouette! And Oh my *Gasp*! I made a card with no stamping on it.


For my second card I used My Mind's Eye dp and the fabulous border at the bottom is a Silhouette cut. The stamps are from Craft Lounge, love them!
And for my last card I again used MME dp. The top die cuts are Spellbinders and Heartfelt Creations and the bottom cut is again a Silhouette cut. My stamps are from Unity Stamp Co. The lighting when I took this picture unfortunately wasn't the best so you can't see the copper Tattered Angel's glimmer mist on the diecuts ;( This card looks so much better in person!
Until next time!

5/20/11

No Project...Just SUPER EXCITING NEWS

I tried to get a project finished for this evening and then I got side tracked cleaning my craft area so I could concentrate on the task at hand. It was MUCH needed, lol. Then I got lost in the Silhouette Studio library looking at downloads for my project...Did you know that there are 438 pages to browse through?? Haha, I only made it through about 25 of them thinking I HAD to see all of them before I gave up and used the search function. And my final excuse.... my husband decided we were going to have our first campfire of the season and how could I refuse a little family time?

But I wanted to hop on here tonight and share my BIG NEWS! Its been killing me not telling:) I'm so excited to be joining a very talented group of ladies over on Getting Cricky with K Andrew on her new design team!!! This is the first design team I have ever tried out for :) Kristal "K" is truly one of the sweetest people I have ever met (not in person yet). She believes in EVERYBODY and I love visiting her blog daily. She has many challenges and hops and her philosophy on blogging rocks! I can't tell you how PSYCHED  I am that she has asked me to help her in her mission :) THANK YOU KRISTAL! I can't wait till everything gets started!

Alright enough Becky Babble :) Good night all. I'm hoping to get lots of crafty time in tomorrow!

5/19/11

Link Up the Love Party

I am an avid follower of Getting Cricky with K Andrew as many of you know. Kristal "K" is one of the sweetest people I know! She truly believes in everyone! She is such a great cheerleader and speaker of goodwill, I'm so fortunate to have her in my life and consider her a friend! This week she is hosting her monthly Link Up the Love Party. This fun little party is all about connecting with new people and spreading the LOVE! There are so many talented people around us in this world and its fun to get to know them. Sending a little love and making people smile is such a spirit lifter form me, I know I LOVE  reading all the comments on my blog! Kristal also has a challenge every other Sunday called Simply Sunday. This week the challenge is called Retro Daddy. I have created a second card for this challenge because I have more than one Dad in my life.
First the details about the Link Up the Love Party:
(copied from K's blog)
Link Up Love Party: How it Works

*Link Up Party runs from Tuesday 5/17 to Tuesday 5/24. Winners announced 5/25
*Grab my blinkie and post on your blog
*Be a follower of this blog
*Create a new blog post that is titled Link Up Love Party with K Andrew. In your post, you must mention that the link up love party is a way to get to know each other and find new blog inspiration, mention my blog, with a link back to my blog .
*Post your favorite project that you've done in your blog post
*Copy and paste the link up code into your blog post so the Inlinkz will show up on your blog
*Spread the word so everyone can join in!
*You must visit, follow, and comment on the 5 people before you AND the 5 people after you in the Inlinkz. It would be fantastic if you would visit as many as you can--maybe everyone? If you are one of the first 5 then you will need to blog the ones before you and a few more after--as long as it's a minimum of 10 near you in the link up tool/gadget)
If you do not do the above your link will be deleted, because it's just not fair to those who work so hard linking up and showing love to the ones on the list. I have a moderator who will be checking this out to keep it awesome and fun!


Now the card for my father-in-law :)
I LOVE how this card turned out it is perfect for the retro theme of the challenge :)

 Card details:
Main Image: found online (sorry I don't know where)
Die cuts: Spellbinders
Stamps: Unity Stamp Co.
Dp: My Mind's Eye Lime-twist
Embossing powders: American Crafts
Inks: Colorbox and Momento

 Thanks for looking today! Make sure you come back tomorrow, I have a SUPER EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT! (I'm about to pee my pants I want to tell so bad)

Ok and I just realized that I don't follow directions very well so you can click {HERE} to see one of my most recent favorite projects, lol!

Now GO check out all the other fabulous talent that has joined us :)




5/18/11

Retro Daddy Simply Sunday

Hello world! Today has been an eventful day in our household on top of self initiated potty training (and no not for me my funny friends) we have spent the afternoon playing with play dough, finger paints and looking for my lost kitty. My kitty Boo who I have had for seven years escaped last night and has not returned as of this evening ;( Along with all of this fun today I was able to finish my card for K Andrew's Simply Sunday challenge over at Getting Cricky, Yay! I am so excited because the last few weeks have been pretty hectic and I haven't been able to participate in a while. Make sure you hop over and leave her some love, she is a super sweet lady! She has tons of fun events and a public blog hop going on right now called Link up the Love :)

So without further ado here is the card that I made for my dad this year. I have thoughts for a second card but that will have to wait till after bed time.
I made that fabulous cut with my Silhouette with an image that I found online, have I mentioned how much I LOVE that thing yet?? LOL! My stamp is from Unity Stamp Co. and my dp is from Creative Imaginations.

I hope you all enjoyed today's nap-time creation I will leave you with a cheery good bye from my crafty little helper today :)

5/17/11

Huge giveaway at Tatertots and Jello!!

Ok so I've told you all how much I love my Sihlouette but I only have the original and Jen from Tatertots and Jello is giving one away an SD on her blog! Go check her out her blog is AWESOME even without the giveaway :)
This is what she is giving away to one LUCKY person!

5/10/11

Grandpa's Sandbox

Well I think I finally found my groove with scrapbooking again :) I have been making so many cards that I had thought I forgot how to scrapbook. Thanks Unity and My Unity Place  for kicking me in the panties, lol. I made this fun LO for the black and white challenge over on MUP.

My dad built an 8x8 sandbox for my boys. I think it's the biggest sandbox I've ever seen! Ian lives in it when we are at my parents house. I think its so cool that he plays with all the old metal bulldozers and dump trucks that my brother and I played with as kids, they just don't make them like that anymore.





All of my dp on the LO are from Crate Paper and so are the chip stickers. All of the stamps are of course Unity. The embossing powder is Zing from American Crafts. The letters are Thickers and that fun strip of ribbon is Foof-a-La.


Thanks so much for looking at today's nap time creation :) I'll leave you here with a picture of me and my boys on Mother's Day <3

5/9/11

Unity NSD weekend

I hope everybody had a little piece of time to enjoy National Scrapbook Day this weekend. I decided to play along with Unity Stamp Company on Saturday while my husband and son were out enjoying the beautiful weather. I took part in the festivities over at My Unity Place and I also decided I wanted to try my hand at the challenge on the Unity Blog. Did you see the prize??? $200 in Unity red rubber gloriousness!! I don't think I've seen another company as generous as this! To play along they asked us to make an 8x8 kraft base recipe card, easy enough I think. So here is what I came up with this evening...

 The recipe for this super yummy strawberry margarita pie tucks in that little pocket I made by folding my paper over.

I stamped and heat embossed that lovely frame around my picture to showcase all that
yumminess :) All of my dp is from October Afternoon and my letter stickers are from Echo Park.



Oh how I hope I win this challenge! I could put that $200 to really good use! I do love my Unity!!!
Now here is the LO that I made for one of the four challenges over at My Unity Place.

I don't have a copy of the picture that I want to go on this LO yet. I need to get it from my Grandma. It is a black and white photo of my grandparents on their wedding day in front of my great-grandparents house. In the pocket will be a copy of the letter that my Grandpa proposed to my Grandma in while he was serving overseas in the Korean War. I am so blessed to have such a treasure and awesome piece of our family history!!

That fabulous silhouette was cut on my Silhouette digital cutting machine and all the stamps on this LO are from, you guessed it, Unity Stamp Co. I LOVE how this turned out! My grandfather died 10 years ago last saturday and that was the prompt for me to do this LO even though I don't have a copy of the picture yet.

Alright this post is getting LONG again, sorry! So I will leave you with a picture of my oldest son who snuck out of bed tonight and was spying on us and fell asleep on the stairway. I can't tell you how many pictures we have of me as a kid sleeping in odd places :) PRECIOUS is the only thing I can say out him!

5/6/11

To Every Fabulous Mother out there!

Happy Mother's Day to all you fabulous Moms! I hope that everyone has an amazing love filled day! I love this day more than birthdays because everybody has a birthday but not everybody gets the honor of being able to so proudly say I'm a mom. I love being able to so off my adorable boys to the world and this gives me the perfect excuse to showcase THEM! Being a mom is the best thing in the world! I love the challenges of helping them learn new things as they grow and watching them succeed. Everyday is something new in our house and my two boys keep me on my toes for sure :) Here is a picture of my two lovely men....

Ian is my older little man, he is the spunky, charming, entertaining one. Look out Ladies he's going to be a Casanova! Ethan is my littlest man and he is the quiet, observant one I think that he is going to be my brainiac :)

Now to share the card that I made for my own mother. (I hope she doesn't peak and see it before Sunday.) I needed some inspiration to jump start me so I went looking for a challenge. I decided to play along with All Things Unity challenge #30 for this card because their challenge for this week is called "all felt up" and I just bought some colorful wool at Hobby Lobby the other day for another project I'm working on and I have extra. The goal is to make people want to touch or "feel up" your card, lol! Love it! I'm really happy with how this card turned out too:) 


My Supplies used:
Card Base: The Paper Cut
DP: My Mind's Eye
Stamps: Unity Stamp Co
Bling: Prima and American Crafts
Wool: Darice
Die Cutter: Spellbinders (label)
Punch: Ek Success (Flower; its a boarder punch) and We R Memory Keepers (corner rounder)
Ink: Palette, Versamark and Colorbox
Embossing Powder: unknown (sorry the label is gone)


I also want to share with you what I've learned about myself and the diet my husband and I started this week. #1 I'm not good a dieting! 
#2 This diet makes you drink too much water than I like and doesn't allow for enough coffee!
#3 I really like vegtables
#4 I am loving cooking dinner every night now that I look up the recipes at the beginning of the week. No guessing... and no surprises for my husband
#5 Me cooking really stresses out my neat freak husband because I'm a messy cook. (But I clean up after myself)
and this weeks winning recipe was Cilantro Lime Shrimp. 

Now doesn't that look YUMMY? It was :)  You can find the recipe {Here}. I added fresh mushrooms, red onions and halved grape tomatoes to our dish and didn't serve it with rice or noodles like the recipe suggests. Another one of my favorites from this week was Cauliflower Fritters, found on the same site, but my husband wasn't a huge fan...
I hope everyone has an extra special weekend and sorry for such a long post!



5/2/11

GIU winner and randomness

So no project today but I do have some random ramblings and a winner from my GIU week.

Do you ever feel like your stuck in a rut? While I do and today I decided to turn a new leaf. My husband and I have decided to try The 17 day diet, that's not the new leaf for me.... I HATE cooking dinner, but not because I hate cooking. I can never decide what to make for dinner, its such a chore and one that I absolutely despise. Almost as much as I hate folding laundry, lol! So today I did a little online research during my son's nap-time with the hopes that if I can pre-plan meals it won't be such a chore for me and I found this wonderful site. Ginas Skinny Recipes Even if your not dieting I recommend you check out this site so many mouth watering recipes. My husband is kind of a stick in the mud when it comes to food and doesn't like to try new and funky things but really wants to try this diet and I think that these recipes are normal enough even he will eat them.

I also feel like for some reason my blog needs to focus on papercrafting only and I'm not sure why because I am so much more of a person than just my hobby.... Maybe its the pressure that once you are into blogging you have to appeal to an audience and be on design teams and so on. Not saying I wouldn't love to be on a DT, because I'd be lying!! But from today forward I'm going to share with you more about my life than just my papercrafting, though it will still probably be my main focus. One of my very wise friends put blogging into perspective very well for me this week, this is NOT a competition, this is a place built for MY happiness! Maybe the only place in this world that I have complete and total control over, lol! So I hope you will continue with me on my journey :)

Now what you have all really been looking for amongst all of my random babbling, hehehehe. The winner from my GIU week. Drum roll please..........


Blogger Sarah   who said...
I love home decor projects....bringing pieces of you into your home (instead of the premade art/creations you can buy in the stores). Plus they mean so much more to you and your family in the long haul. :-)
April 27, 2011 7:24 AM
 
Thank You Sarah for faithfully leaving me a comment EVERYDAY during my GIU week and becoming one of my new followers :) There were many of you but this is the name that my 3 year pulled out of the bowl. So Congrats to Sarah. I will be emailing you in a minute.

Until tomorrow, I'm off to make grilled chicken breast with steamed red,yellow and orange peppers as my main dish and cauliflower fritters (shhh, don't tell my husband or he won't eat them) as my side dish.

Have a great one!