Black and White

I TOTALLY jinxed myself when I last blogged saying that I had been starting my Saturdays with Beate's sketch challenge. So naturally last weekend seemed to fly by in a blink with this past week no better. I wasn't able to start my day today either with the sketch challenge - it was more like starting my afternoon with it! But in any case, after skipping last week, I used this weekend's sketch challenge for the basis of the bridal shower card that I need for tomorrow's party. A family friend from my childhood is getting married this May and tomorrow is the shower. I used her invitation as the inspiration for the card - her invite has a very classy black and white motiff with lots of swirls, which reminded me of the SU set Baroque Motiffs - so that's what I used. I don't know if I have ever made a black and white card - I don't even usually use black, I don't think. But I do like how this turned out... although considering I only used black ink (Palette Hybrid - Noir), a couple brads, ribbon, little bit of paper piercing (under the sentiment in the oval and around the big panel) and EVEN HAD A SKETCH TO FOLLOW - it still took me quite a bit of time to finish it! I have now idea why... I will sit there and fidget with my cards to no end (not that they look any better because of it! - oh well). Good thing this isn't my day job...

But I have been scrapping quite a bit, relatively speaking. I have been challenging myself to finish a page a weekend (yes, this is a challenge for me...). I have been staying on track and have even come close to finishing a 2-page spread tonight. I just love the quiet of the night - it is such a relaxing time for me, that I really don't mind forgoing sleep just to have this time to myself. I love having this time especially when I am scrapping because I get to slowly go through pictures of the people who are most important to me and maybe times, it is almost like I am seeing the pics for the first time. I have come to realize that I get so caught up in the hustle and bustle of life and the important events (baptisms, family weddings, holidays, vacations, etc.) that I am photographing that often times there are so many things that I have forgotten about already or maybe even missed the first time. I know that I really have to slow down... but it is easier said than done, right? In any case, this is why I really want to stay on top of my scrapping, because for me, the process has become just as important as the final project.

Random thought for the day...

Sunday, already??

Where do the days fly? It seems liked I blinked and here I am on a Sunday afternoon with a new work week just around the corner. So before the day gets away from me again, I wanted to post this card that I made yesterday morning. Over the last few weekends, I have been getting my Saturday started with Beate's latest sketch challenge. The kids and I usually head down to the basement where I do all of my papercrafting after we get up in the morning and I have been able to kick out a quick card before I go to start breakfast and we are off to the usual Saturday activities (sport of the season, birthday parties, errands, etc - you kwim!). For this weekend's sketch, I used one of the stamped images that I got with my latest eP order. I guess this must be a Stampendous image?

I really liked this flower bunch - it is so fresh and sweet. And I used my copics for the first time to color this image! I bought 6 copic sketch markers to try out and I really, really like them. They are pretty easy when you want to color in something quick - vs. prismas/gamsol/stumps or watercoloring with re-inkers and aqua painter. I am going to have to get a few more though - most of the ones are kinda dark - more of what you would use for shading, but I didn't take that into consideration when I bought these - I just bought colors that I liked! :P Oh well. I think that I did ok with the ones that I had. I even add a little grass to the flowers, so they would look like they were planted in the ground.

Have a great week! See you again hopefully before next weekend. :)

Quick birthday tag and entry!

Happy (early) Tuesday morning! Just wanted to get in one post before heading to bed. I wanted to squeeze it in after I finished my February challenge with my stamping friend, Jennifer. I can't post it yet, as she stops in from time to time on my blog and I definitely want it to be a surprise. AND I am actually getting it out during the month of the challenge - LOL Hey, it's the little things, right?!

So anyhow, back to tonight's post. Birthday parties are a very regular occurrence when you have 3 children who are all in school. I don't think it is an exaggeration to to tell you that we have one almost every weekend - and sometimes more than 1. I seriously should just stock wrapped gifts in my pantry to save myself time each weekend going out to get gifts. Luckily there is great toy store in the next town over that has a great assortment of gifts, most of which are educational and make for great birthday gifts. AND THEY WRAP and MAKE THE PRESENT LOOK GREAT there at the store. Definitely works for me. Love that one-stop shopping experience.

Birthday presents obviously need birthday cards, or lately it seems for me, tags. Quick and easy - and a bonus considering no one is keeping these cards anyway. This is the one I made for this weekend's party. My middle guy went to a karate party, so I knew which one to use right away. All I had to do was write the To: and the From: on the back of the tag and he was good to go.

I love this karate stamp from IA. It is perfect for the my kids and their friends at this age, since they are young and love dinosaurs to boot. Plus, do you know how hard it is to find karate stamps for kids? ....Well, I guess not that hard anymore! ;)

Hope you are off to having a great week!!

Stamps Used: Karate stamp from Inky Antics, Sentiment from PTI's Shapes by Design; CS: SU Brilliant Blue, Green Galore, PTI: White CS; Ink: Palette Hybrid Noir; Other: SU Ribbon and Twine, Prismacolors and Gamsol to color the dino

Birthday Shapes

Happy Friday (at least that is when I started this entry, although now that I see what time it is, I'm sure it will be early Saturday morning by the time I finish!)!!

We got a few inches of snow today (ughh! - I can't wait for spring already!) and the kids had the day off from school - SNOW DAY! So I decided to work from home to save myself the agony of the commute and also so my husband could do some work that he had to get done out of the house today. I was hoping that I would get a chance to get some extra stamping in given no commute, but oh well, not meant to be. I was pretty much logged in all day and on calls as well, plus all of the stuff that goes on when all the kids are at home - getting food on the table, trips to the bathroom (for my 2 1/2 year old), answering all of their queries for all sorts of things and of course, refereeing the squabbles! ;) But I can't complain because they were overall so good today - I got a bunch of work done and I made it through all of my calls without their voices inadvertently being heard! :) I didn't get a chance to sit down at my stamping table until after I put the kiddos to bed. But that's ok, because I did get a card done and I still have the whole weekend to be with my family.

I knew exactly what I was going to use to make my card - my new PTI stuff. My order came on Wednesday, but I didn't even get a chance to open the box up until today. I got a ton of stuff this time - up to this point I only had a couple of sets and the white CS, which I loved. But as I told my stamping friend, Jennifer, I really drank the kool-aid and bought myself a ton of stuff LOL! So here is the first card that I made with my new stuff. This is the first time in awhile that I didn't use PP on my card. It took me a little while, but I came up with my own panel for the card, which is btw, based on Beate's newest weekend sketch. I used one of the new sets they just released - Shapes by Design. The floral disk is definitely my favorite image of the set, so of course I had to use it first. I also really like the font used for the sentiments of this set. All of the CS is PTI-including their 2 new colors, which I am LOVING! The colors are so pretty and I love the weight of the paper. I only use the PTI white CS now, and can definitely see myself amassing all of the colors as they are released each month. Plus with the matching ribbon and inks, how can you go wrong?

Sweet Heart

Happy Monday night! Aren't Mondays are so much better when you have the day off?! ;) I had an awesome weekend with my family - just the right amount and balance of busy-ness and relaxation so that I am not too tired for work tomorrow or wishing that we made more of the weekend.

Today I made this card using AmyR's latest Friday sketch. I think that it is going to be for either my new little nephew or for my husband's soon to be born little cousin. Either way, I am really happy with the way it turned out. I've been feeling better with the cards that I've been making and I have also been making very good head way on my scrapbooking. I don't know if I ever will catch up and have books for every memory since the kids were born, but I've decided to scale down my expectations and just work on keeping current for 2008. I have done Christmas 2007, New Year's and a couple of events in January, so I'm off to a pretty good start, imo. I stamped the giraffe (isn't he just the sweetest?!) on shimmery white CS and colored it in with an aqua painter, dew drops and SU craft ink. I cut him out and popped him up on dimensionals on the layered oval. I made the oval piece with my CM oval makes and the largest Marvy scallop oval punch.

I love the style of this SU stamp set - it looks great watercolored, even if it isn't perfect. The PP is from Chatterbox (used both sides) and the base CS is SU Bashful Blue. Another scrap that goes back in the box just a little bit smaller! ;)

I hope that you have a great week, and I hope that I get a chance to drop in before next weekend.

Make A Wish!

I made this card using Beate's weekend sketch for my co-worker's birthday. It is the first time that I have made a card for anyone at work. Up to this point, I have kept work very separate from my hobby... the two worlds are very different from each other, LOL. But, I have become friends with this co-worker over time - she is a mom too, so we have that in common (even though her daughter is way younger than my kids - less than a year old). She knows that I scrapbook and I showed her TY cards that I made recently before I mailed them off. But other than her and our assistant actually, there are no other women who are moms in my direct group. I don't work with too many women really. My other work friend in my group is about my age, but is single and lives in NYC, so you can imagine, our lives are TOTALLY different when we leave work at night, ;) starting with a waaayyyy shorter commute. Ahhhh to be single and carefree in the city again... but of course I would never trade my life now for that again really, I was just saying - LOL.

Anyway, I picked this Stampendous image (sorry the card is soooo bright - I am having a really hard time with my camera lately, and I can't figure out why!) for my friend, because somehow we are always the ones who decide to get some kind of dessert to celebrate birthdays of the other members of our team. I think it is the mom-instinct in us... or maybe because we look for any excuse to run out and get an afternoon snack, expecially when it is from Crumbs - their cupcakes are sooooo yummy!)

Again I used a LAD sentiment - from the same set I seem to be using over and over again. I just love the laid back font... very me in a stamping kind of way, I guess. I better find another sentiment set to use soon! Or get another set from LAD soon... :) The PP is from an SU DP from last spring... another scrap used up! :)

Glittery Valentine's Day!!

I just finished putting the finishing touches on my Valentine's cards for the boys and my husband. I hadn't really done anything sparkly in a little while, and for some reason, the sparkly mood just hit me full force tonight. LOL Hopefully they won't think that I went too far overboard! :)

I didn't go too pink for the first card, which I made for the boys. Being the only girl (and not an overly girly one at that, except in very small doses) in our house, you don't see too much pink around here. But since it is Valentines, and I AM the only girl in the house, I definitely wanted to add some pink to their card. The little embelly at the bottom right hand corner of the card was made by coloring the outer chipboard circle in Bayou Blue and smooshing the heart in the middle in Pink Passion. I then dumped Dazzlin' Diamonds on the heart to have it some extra pizazz. The green DP behind it was made using the SU Tab Punch, but (obviously) not folding it up into the tab, and just using it flat. I thought it was a nice touch, right? And then Stickes on different parts all over the card for more sparkle and some paper piercing too. I combined a LAD sentiment and a SU image and just then put the card together. I think the boys will like it (fingers crossed!)

The second card is for my husband. The big heart chipboard is from SU. I inked it up with Pink Petunia VersaMagic chalk ink and then again poured Dazzlin' Diamonds all over to make it the obvious focal point of my card. I combined 2 different BG Two Scoops papers, that I thought still complimented each other. The letters were cut out and popped up on dimensionals. And then 2 green brads and that's it. I hope that he likes it too! :)

I can't believe tomorrow is already Valentine's Day and that February is already half way over! Where does the time go?? I'm keeping my fingers crossed that work coorperates and I can get home early to celebrate the holiday with the boys. Even though it is supposed to be a romantic, couply holiday, we always spend it together We have fun looking at the kids' valentine's that they get in school and then have a nice dinner together. I like it better that way - we save the couply thing for our wedding anniversary anyway. I hope that you all have a great Valentine's day tomorrow!! Enjoy!