STB - june 10 2024

It's another week of June 2024 in my STB memory planner. 

Farmers markets. Thrifting. The local library for books and magazines. Music in the park. Outdoor dining. Gotta love summer in MI.

More love for that circle tuck die and PP. And stickers. And alpha stamps. And washi of course!

Stopping the blur. 

STB - may 20 2024

Moving on with May 2024 in my Heidi Swapp STB memory planner...

Lots of travelling happening in our family this week.

The robin's nest above the front door didn't necessarily please me when I arrived in Michigan. But the lily of the valley in full bloom sure did.

I don't work with green a lot, but I liked how it worked with the old Pinkfresh PP I decided to use and the green in the photos. I like the graphic, modern feel to the patterns. And can you tell I like the new-to-me file folder die cuts?!? Great place to hide journaling and extra photos.

STB - april 29 2024

Moving into May 2024 in my Heidi Swapp STB memory planner.

Quite the hodgepodge, but hey, so was this week. Biggest memory: the damn mosquito that bit my leg when I was gardening. It got red. It got swollen. I got a sore ankle out of the deal too. Quite the week to remember.

But the big May 1st hike around our 'hood. And a delicious dinner at friends'. Stopping the blur.

 

happy valentine's day 2023

Lordy, lordy look who hasn't posted for two months! Not sure anyone cares, but if nothing else but to remind myself sometime down the road here's why... I'm not making as many cards lately. I make the occasional one that is necessary (Valentine for example) and otherwise use up ones from my stash. More on that later.

This was the Valentine I made for DD this year. I was inspired by something Heidi Swapp created. Did you see this fun piece in her reel? I love the little interactive window elements. I used another of Heidi's ideas from another piece and included "5 things I love about you." Three in the windows on the front and two on little pull out tags in a pocket inside.

I pulled out all kinds of supplies from my stash - PP to stamp on, stamps, dies, inks, colored pencils, twine. All the things. Loved the process. Hated the clean up :) 

On a side note, something keeping me busy lately is getting my stamps and dies into the Evernote app so that I have an overview of what I actually own. And for a project like this it would have been very helpful to use Evernote to see which Valentine/love/vintage etc stamps I own instead of flipping through everything.  I own a shitload, actually, but alas they're not all in Evernote yet. 

When I have everything inventoried, I aim to destash about a third of my shitload. Just keep watching ;) 

Here are DH and DS versions.

What has actually been taking up my time more recently is a foray into the world of memory planning. An oxymoron if I ever heard one, but I'm learning to live with it ;)

Are you a planner? I am the world's worst planner. Ever. So why would I get into memory planning? My cousin introduced me on to the Heidi Swapp memory planner world and by golly it's a great idea. It's basically scrapbooking daily life in a simple format - photo driven with some journaling to record the memories and some decorating just for fun. Heidi calls the process "Stop the Blur" as in keep track of everday life so when people ask you what you did last Tuesday you can actually answer. You can check out the idea here. 

So before jumping into it (and buying all the things) I decided to give it a try using a notebook from the dollar store and supplies I already have. I print photos at the drug store and pop them into my book often hidden in interactive elements. Here's a peek. 

Full disclosure, I just recently did buy all the things :) I've been enjoying this process this since last fall so I'm gonna make the switch to Heidi Swapp's memory planner format. If you are a memory planner, I'd love to hear any of your tips for a newbie!!!

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

monogram projects

A while ago I made a couple projects with the Altenew monogram challenge in mind. Well apparently it's come and gone while I was snoozing but I'm gonna share my projects with you anyhoo! BTW there are many cool ideas in the gallery if you, like me, like to personalize your projects.

You may recall this pop up box card. Well it needed an envelope to match so I made one and added this monogram to it.

Recognize the floral? It's Altenew's Sketchy Floral stamp and I stamped and colored it with alcohol markers before die cutting a circle out of it. The circle became the monogram above and the panel became the birthday card below. I added the same image heat embossed in silver on black behind the negative.

One more project. Not Altenew, I believe I intended to hook up at Pinkfresh, but this was for DS's friend's bday. I used alcohol markers to color the Pinkfresh Adore Alpha letters and added STAMPlorations Number Plate too.

Guess I need to make better use of my calendar ;) Have a great day!

I'm playing at:

ATSAM - Make your Mark (#2)

Challenge up your Life - Flowers (#2)

Die Cut Divas - Slimline cards (#3)

simon says stamp - slimline friends box card again

A bit ago I made a pop up box card in primary colors. DD actually asked me to make one for her friend and then another one for another friend! She loves the idea of all those kids showing love and support for each other. And I love that ;)

For this gal I decided to go with pastel colors. I love the result. So did she and DD. I hear it's displayed on her dresser :)

SSS Better Together Slimline Friends stamp

 Pinkfresh Live More puffy stickers

Pinkfresh Adore Alpha die 

Action Deutschland - PP, Copics, stickers

Cut and scored PP to make a 7x7x7 cm pop up box. Added more PP to inside flaps. Added puffy stickers to the box as well as the "K" for the gal's initial.

Then on to the gang. I stamped and colored them in colors to match the stickers. Fussy cut them. Adhered them to the box (or plastic strips which I adhered to the inserts inside the box). Also added balloons with the tiny messages. And finally some more puffy stickers in between the kiddos.

Adds such a fun factor to card sending, don't you think?

I'm joining the fun at:

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday - Favorite Technique (lately pop up box cards!)

Pinkfresh Studio February Challenge - Alphas/Words

Just Add Ink - 542 (loved the pastel, tropical vibe)

Happy Little Stampers - Feb AG with Dies

use those scraps

I was cleaning up my paper scraps mess from last week's cardmaking sessions and decided to actually make cards with some of the scraps rather than put the scraps back into my scrap storage. Makes sense, right? How come I never do it?

I took a look at the Distress Ink mop up scraps which were red and realized I needed an anniversary card ... soooo, why not die cut lots of little hearts? This card was born.

Amuse Studio Heart die

Hero Arts All Occasion Messages stamp

Heidi Swap spray ink

The next scrap was from this card way back when. It was pulled out of scrap storage for my pop up box card bouquet making but didn't get used cuz of the blue. So was it to go back to scrap storage? Again? Nope. The negative of the bloom got backed with a portion of it and I even managed to get the sentiment out of skinny little areas of the scrap! That, folks, makes me happy!

Pinkfresh Studio Floral Square Frames die

Penny Black Many Thanks die

The leftover little hearts from the first card had to go somewhere ... four of something isn't the easiest to design with. So I added a sentiment as the fifth element and voila! A birthday card.

Amuse Studio Heart die

Inkystamp Geburtstagsgruesse stamp

I'm joining these challenges:

Use Your Stuff - Out with the Old (YEP! All three cards!)

Penny Black Saturday Challenge - AG with option of  "Something New" (card #2)

The Cat's Pajamas - January

 

playing with pinkfresh floral square frames

Hello. I'm joining the January challenge again, which is basically 2020 in review! There is a link in the post to a larger version of this photo if you want to see what strikes your fancy.

Nathalie's creation for the challenge post totally blew me away. Go check it out - hers is the first project in the post! She was inspired by the June Die Cuts and Cut Files challenge. So I guess I was too. Mostly I loved her color choices, keeping plenty of white too. And the cool stenciled texture in the BG. Hers is a LO. 

Mine is a card. Here's my first one.

Pinkfresh Folk Elements die (just $5 right now)

Pinkfresh Adore Alpha die

STAMPlorations X Marks Spot stencil

Distress Oxides, embossing paste

Well my intention was to have the white X pattern all over the card front to tone down the swipes of ink. What I got was embossing paste that picked up the color of the inks. Anyone know - was this cuz the ink wasn't totally dry or is that just a property of the oxides?

I went with it anyhoo. Die cut the little folk elements to match the ink swipes. Added the sentiment using those wonderful alphas. Voila.

But I was still intrigued. Wanted white X pattern all over the card front. So I created this slimline and stenciled white paint and got what I wanted!

See the white pattern all over the cardbase in this close-up?

Pinkfresh Floral Square Frame die

Pinkfresh Adore Alpha die

STAMPlorations X Marks Spot stencil

SSS You die

Distress Oxides, PP, sequins, acrylic paint

Otherwise pretty easy. Die cuts from ink-swiped CS. Little PP flags. Sequins. I pretended I was a scrapbooker and brought out all the embellies ;)

This card was not without an oopsie either though. Did you notice it???

I'm playing at:

Make my Monday - Hello (1st card)

Happy Little Stampers - AG with Dies (1st card)

Die Cut Divas - Frame It (2nd card with those floral square frames)

Bastel Traum - #97 Love (2nd card)

Country View Challenges - Squares (2nd card)

 

playing with pinkfresh dainty blossoms

Hello there peeps! Needing a birthday and sympathy card, I pulled out the Dainty Blossoms from Pinkfresh. I'm joining the January challenge which is basically 2020 in review! There is a link in the post to a larger version of this photo if you want to see what strikes your fancy.

What struck mine? Well lots. But a few things remained in my head as I headed to my craft room. Rainbows and die cuts. June and September. Nathalie's creation for the challenge post totally blew me away too. I'm working on two cards inspired by it. I'll share those later.

I love the stylized illustrations in some of the Pinkfresh stamp sets. Dainty. So I combined some B/W stamping with pastel rainbow die cuts for my cards.

Birthday...

Pinkfresh Dainty Blooms die

Pinkfresh Aviary stamp

distress inks, gold CS

Sympathy...

Pinkfresh Dainty Blooms die

Pinkfresh Aviary stamp

Pinkfresh Up in the Clouds PP

Die cut the blossoms from leftover DI scraps (#1) and PP (#2). Stamped the images. Adhered the die cuts. Stamped the sentiment. Easy peasy CAS squeezy.

Hope you and yours are staying healthy and happy. I'm ready for the gray days in Germany to skidaddle. But I'm lucky to be able to spend lots of time in my craft room. Thanks for visiting.

SSS Wednesday Challenge - Layer it Up
Time Out - You (one thing about me... I mop up all my leftovers and then save those scraps. At least sometimes I use them too!)

when you're swatching your new catherine pooler inks... part 4

So the other day I finally got around to swatching my new Spa Collection inks from Catherine Pooler. And I had some time on my hands so I had a play...

Meet the fifth and sixth card to emerge from this playtime.

Catherine Pooler Spa inks

This design is basically the same as yesterday's, just with different colors. I was aiming for a modern Christmas vibe. (DD doesn't think it'll fly, but oh well.)

I used an old solid square wooden stamp and a Stampamajig to create my backgrounds. Again, each square only has one layer of ink. Can't beat the coverage. I then stamped the little images with the same colors to get the tone-on-tone result.

I used solid images from various Christmas sets and sentiments from Technique Tuesday and Inkystamp.

Tomorrow's makes are CASEs of Lisa S. working with The Stamp Market hexagons.

Today I'm hooking up at:
Christmas at Sweet Stampin - June AG option non-traditional colors
Watercolor Wednesday - AG Feminine
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - AG
STAMPlorations - CAS Challenge