mini accordion album - what fun!

So did you see the first ever SBCfest over at Scrapbook.com? I happened to catch some of the videos and in this one Andrea L totally inspired me to give a mini album a try. I had never created one of these! SUCH fun. 

So many ideas. So many supplies. So many hours ;) I'm just going to share some photos of the completed project. It's on its way to Australia as we speak.

Action Deutschland PP

Essentials by Ellen rectangle dies

Renke numbers die

Waffle Flower greenery die

PTI tag dies

Lawn Fawn Milo alpha stamp

 inks, vellum, stickers, washi, sequins, pearls

Unfortunately I'm way too late for her birthday so I decided a little book to record this moment in time could be fun too rather than a card. I used the letters of her name in page titles (9 plus cover) with interactive pieces for lists of favorites - movies, fashion, eats, etc. Also included a few pages where she can add special photos - her at 30, her cake, etc. Used all the fun techniques too - shaker, flaps, belly band, pockets.

Hope she has as much fun completing it as I had making it! Have you ever made one of these? If not, I strongly recommend it. How about in a smaller size to hold a gift card? I know there are more of these in my future ;)

I'm playing at:

Happy Little Stampers - AG with Dies October

Cut it Up - #262 Big

which one would you choose?

Been meaning to share this post for a while. A bit ago I was asked to make two cards for guys' 60th birthdays. One for a winemaker I actually know. The other for someone I don't know - except my friend said he's with the police and likes meat! Um. OK.

Should you have any questions to supplies, just ask.

Winemaker was easy.

Grateful for wine labels I got from Jacqueline years ago, I put one to use and carried on the gold theme with grapes and various collage elements.

As for the other guy, I was pretty clueless. So I searched the internet for milestone card ideas. Made several so she could have a choice. Which one do you think she chose? Which would you choose?

I kinda carried on the wine feel for this one.

And then gave a gatefold card a la Jennifer M. a try. Great way to stretch your cover plate dies too!

Next up, gave another cover plate die a shot. With kinda police colors ;)

And then I grabbed an alcohol-inked BG from my stash and turned it into a more playful card.

How about a deluge of confetti to celebrate?

Then there's the party props to support the giant "60".

And finally, the only "meat" stamps I owned...

So which one did my friend choose? Yep, the hot dogs! Though I'm happy to report she bought the blue geometric cover plate version and the alcohol-inked one too ;) Do you have a favorite?

Hope your Thanksgiving is/was wonderful. We celebrated last Sunday and I must admit I'm happy the preparations are over, though I'm still eating leftovers ;)

I'm joining the fun at:
ETA: Did someone say Circles? I'm hooking up at Day of the Month Card Club.
SSS Wednesday Challenge- Anything Goes
AAA Birthday - Number

it still ain't over...

Back with a couple more of my CAS watercolor cards, like here and here. Today it's about hot stuff and hot colors.

Hot, right? Amy Tangerine Associate die meets Paper Smooches sentiment. And the red spectrum of the rainbow watercolored paper.

I'm playing at:

ATCAS #56

ATSAM #130

CASology #132

 And here is a hot version of yesterday's card.

QuicKutz monogram die meets Lawn Fawn sentiment and the red to yellow spectrum.

Playing here:

Bright and Beautiful

Lawnscaping #99

There's more to come. I've changed the design up a little too. Thanks for visiting.

it ain't over...

... 'til the watercolored paper is used up.

Remember this post and these watercolored pieces.

Following the same card design and AAA Cards Challenge #32 I created this.

Decided to use the "love" to create a sympathy card this time. Die cut Amy Tangerine Associate "love" from my bolder watercolored paper. Selectively inked a sentiment from Altenew Ori Kami. And called it quits.

Next card was created with the current Lawnscaping challenge in mind.

I love the "be unique" sentiment from Clear to See. I just changed it up a bit, using my QuicKutz Monogram U die. TIP: If you try this design, stamp the sentiments before adhering the stacked die cuts so that your die cut doesn't interfere with your acrylic block.

I'm playing in the current Cards and More challenge #125 - Turquoise, Purple and Gray - with both cards.

Warning. The watercolored paper ain't used up yet...

melancholic

The mailman just came. And gave me a box. From Paper Crafts and Scrapbooking. *sigh*

This will be last box to come, returning some published cards and those that were in the queue for upcoming issues.  *sigh*

But peeking out from beneath the melancholy, just like the tiny bit of sun trying to poke through the never-ending cloud cover here, are warm feelings of thanks for the relationships formed, the inspiration provided and the good times had with the crew over at the mag. They didn't have to, but they sent a handwritten note with each box. Class act, eh?

Since it won't be gracing the April issue, that polka dot card made for a private call is heading over to the Dots challenge at Addicted to CAS.

Thanks for coming by. Have a wonderful day. And keep on creating!

up in the sky (Lawnscaping, Seize the Birthday, TCEC)

Quick one. A birthday card for a six-year-old gal. Lawn Fawn PP. Some balloons and some clouds. And a part of a sentiment stamp from Stampendous from which I have certainly gotten my money's worth. (It's actually from a baby set.)

Toughest part was deciding on which PPs to combine and then tying those stinkin' little threads!

I'm joining the fun at:

Lawnscaping Patterned Paper

The Cutting Edge #12 cuz I'm up in the air (and have clouds!)

Seize the Birthday without toppings

Supplies:

Paper:  Bringmann, PP Lawn Fawn

Stamps: Stampendous

Ink : Versafine

Tools: balloon and cloud die PTI, number MFT

Other: thread

say cheese and thank you (WW, SSS)

Image Source

Before we get down to card business, may I just point out that it's easy to work when your workplace looks like this. That's a 2014 Dry Riesling waiting to be born, folks.

Harvested last Saturday.

Dolce vita ;)

So... good thing the deadline has rolled around or you might have seen even more cards for the challenges over at Winnie and Walter in celebration of WCMD.

This time I'm having a go at Lea's - On Trend - where it's about cameras.

I've purchased a few camera images (dies from Amy Tangerine and MFT) cuz I think they are cool, but I must admit I hardly use them :(  For which occasion? With what kind of sentiment? Well then there was this gold journal card in a set from We R Memory Keepers that I just bought... And it all kinda came together.

Before you see my card, I've got a word for you - "JOCEWIDA". Rhymes with "dolce vita." OK, now take a look.

JOCE - as in Jocelyn O. I'm totally channeling her here with her wonderful, whimsical layers. Hers always look heavenly.

WIDA - as in Wida. Who likes to string a thing or two across a card every now and then. Thanks ladies!

Here you can better see the sentiment on the journal card which led me to think of a card to thank someone for a nice time. Like a dinner. As in "I'm so glad we had this time together" (definitely dating myself, but got that tune in your head now?)

I trimmed the journal card down and added a watercolor wash around the edges as well as some splatters on the card base. So I'm hooking up at the current Watercolors challenge at Simon Says Stamp on Wednesdays. And cuz I stuck with the pink, peach and gold colors again, I'm hooking up at Gayatri's color challenge at W&W.

So love it when you stop by. Have a good one.

Supplies:

Paper:  Bringmann, DCWV, PP Lawn Fawn, vellum

Stamps: 

Ink : watercolors, embossing paste

Tools: sentiment die PTI, camera die MFT

Other: journal card, crochet thread, stapler, sewing machine

talking nerdy ap (PCS)

After the party. That's what "ap" stands for. As in, my life before the party and after the party. Yep, I've made it to the other side!

Suffice it to say, a good time was had by all :) I'll share bits and pieces of it with you over time. For starters, here's the green table. The first one to your left when you came into the room...

And this made table numbers obsolete and allowed our 80 guests to quickly see with whom they would be sharing a table... Can you say "color blocking"?

But now on to the talking nerdy part. Playing catchup in blogland, I came across the Paper Crafts September challenge "Talk Nerdy to Me". Well, when I think nerdy the first thing I think of is Michael A. wearing his calculator on his belt in high school. But the next thing I think of is glasses. (Which Michael A. actually also had, but which I do now too). Which reminded me of a card I'd made for a submission call.

So I'm hooking it up to the gallery at PCS. There's still time if you have a nerdy card to share. Happy weekend, folks. It's nice to be back ;)

Supplies::

Paper:  white CS Bringmann

Stamps:  Lawn Fawn

Ink : Janny Bowlin

Tools: 

Other: washi, Glossy Accents

19 to go (AAA, CFC)

Three more invites for our "161" party...

The first two are brought to you courtesy of the, hmm hmm, weekly, challenge over at AAA. I'm squeakin' in under the wire.

Inspired by the DT over there, I pulled out my STAMPlorations Chevron and Arrows and stamped the arrows (not well, but I'm thinkin' my non-cardmaking friends who will be receiving this may forgive me). Added some frosted embossing paste through a Studio Calico stencil. Die cut the sentiment from a panel I masked, stamped with the chevron from Lawnscaping Interlocked Backgrounds and inked.

As for this bugger, don't look too closely. The star sequins... trying to hide the spots I mangled. Maybe cuz it was midnight. Maybe cuz I adhered the color blocked CS strips with double sided adhesive. Maybe cuz this poor die is just getting tired of all the work it's doing lately...

It wouldn't cut through the color blocked panel! What I wanted, was to use the negative parts to fill in the white space of the largest circle. What happened, was that after I ruined the first die cut when realizing it wasn't cut through and running it (incorrectly aligned) through the Big Shot again, even five passes on the new one wouldn't get that bugger to cut all the layers.

Plan B. Die cut a white one and adhere it over the embossed-but-not-fully-cut circle and put that whole package back into the largest circle. Could have saved myself 20 minutes and a battered front panel by just die cutting a white sentiment and adhering it over the color blocked panel in the first place! But I had wanted the negative die cut look... (still whining)...

One more for you, by no means original, for the current CASual Fridays challenge.

Got the masculine going. No kraft. Ribbon's there. For one of our single, male friends. Thanks for stopping by today and enjoy your weekend.

36 to go (WW, Lawnscaping, NBUS)

Have you seen this inspiration photo for the Playdate over at Winnie and Walter? Gorgeous, don't you think? Speaking of Winnie and Walter, isn't it incredible how they designed a stamp that is instantly recognizable all over blogland.  Know which stamp I'm referring to? The Big and Bold series.  Those sentiments - I used them here - are wonderful.

But, today it's not about those sentiments ;) It's about my invitations for our "161" party, 'member? So I pulled out those colors of ink, the Big Bang Confetti stamp set for its maiden voyage and my Party Time Dieversions die and went to town creating. Seriously.

Found my inspiration in the W&W gallery. Here are my first two invites for this challenge.

Some ink-to-acrylic-block-misted-and-squished-to-paper technique for the BG. Some heat embossed twinkles. Some sequins. And the die cut.

And this one is a pocket. I 'm planning to PC generate the who/what/when/where info for the inside of the invites, but on this design I can fold it up and stick it in the pocket. Isn't this fun?

I'm playing at Lawnscaping Challenge - Embossing

and have you seen this? Ms. NBUS herself, Darnell K,  has a 500 followers celebratory challenge going on right now to break out the NBUS and U it! (Should you have no clue what I'm talking about... click on the link. You'll be very happy you did ;)))

I'll be back at ya tomorrow with more invites using W&W and these scrumptious colors. Thanks for looking.

Supplies for #1:

Paper:  CS Bringmann

Stamps: Winnie and Walter

Ink : Distress, Versamark

Tools: die Dieversions

Other: sequins

Supplies for #2:

Paper:  CS Neenah, PP Lawn Fawn, vellum

Stamps: Winnie and Walter

Ink : Distress, Versamark

Tools: die Dieversions, wonky border die MFT

Other: sewing machine