Using my stash...and lovin' it!

I'm off on one of my coveted "banker's holidays" today.  We are having one of those rare "un-sunny" days here in Sunny Southern California, so what a GREAT day to use some of my scrappin' stash to make a few cards.  As usual, the Card Pattern's blog has another amazing sketch this week.

Better yet, this is the kind of sketch that is a frugal scrapper's DREAM!  What a GR8 way to use my stash of all those paper strips I kept thinking I "should just toss in my frugal trash bin"...but just couldn't do it, lol.

I used some of my stash from Kaiser Kraft's Madame Boutique line along with a piece from G45's On the Boardwalk collection.

Adding a few pieces of cardstock (some of which came from my scrap bin) made for some really great cards.  I often choose papers (when I do buy paper) that can be used for feminine AND masculine cards which is what I was able to do here.

First let's take a look at Card Pattern's Sketch 148:

Isn't this sketch just calling out to be used with your scraps?  I just LOVE it!

Since I wanted to make two cards to show that with the same paper, I could make a feminine AND a masculine card, I did just that.  I embellished with some flowers I've had FOREVER, and some of my favorite T!m embellishments, some sproket gears that I've been "hoarding".

I changed my cards to 5 x 5 since I really love this size and LOVE to make my own envelopes out of a sheet of regular letter size copy paper.

As I do on most of my cards, below is the finished inside of the card:

Thanks, Card Patterns, for another GREAT sketch!

Happy Belated Birthday, T!m:)

Being out of the creative "loop" these past few months, I've been re-visiting some of the blogs I just LOVE.  One of them is Studio L3.  Low and behold, I find it's T!m Holtz's birthday yesterday.  So I decide to join in on this week's challenge and make a birthday card for T!m.

Now using my true frugal nature, I am still using ONLY my stash...luckily I have PLENTY of T!m's products I can use to make a card for him.  Better yet, it is actually my oldest son's birthday tomorrow, so while I'm making a card "for T!m", inspired by T!m's products, I will again in true frugal style, give it to my son for his birthday tomorrow.

So I get out some of my favorite T!m products and tools...my T!m Tonic scissors, my T!m sanding tool, some idea-ology time pieces and spinners, some T!m timepiece stamps, some paint dabbers, and I'm ready to go.

For further inspiration, I visit the Card Patterns Blog and find that this week's sketch is PERFECT for my card.  Although I did follow it "loosely", I was still inspired by the sketch:)

Here is the sketch:

and here is my take on it:

I used some paper I love but have to admit have never used (from my "hoarding" days)...it's Graphic 45 from the On the Boardwalk 8 x 8 paper pack.  As stated above, I used plenty of T!m stuff::

• Barn Door Distress Ink
• Pumice Stone Distress Ink
• Ranger Black Archival Ink
• Idea-ology time pieces
• Idea-ology spinners
• 2 different T!m clock stamps
• Chili Pepper paint dabber
• Snow Cap paint dabber

Hop on over to Studio L3 and check out this week's challenge.  There are lots of amazing projects to see!

enJOY:)

Let's Start 2012 off right...with Card Patterns!

WOW, fellow frugal crafters, it's been a REALLY LONG siesta for this frugal crafter!  Did you ever LOVE a hobby SO MUCH that you lived it, breathed it, and slept it?  And if ANYTHING got in your way...be it work, family or friends, you just got cranky?...well I think that's what happened to me...until July 19th, that is:)

You know, some people get hooked on Facebook, Twitter, etc, but I got way out of whack hooked on my crafting!  So there was no other way to fix this than to do it cold turkey...no goodbyes or anything...just "rip that bandaid off" as I always say.

I've always been one of those people that JUMP with both feet in the air and concentrate on one thing so much that I forget everything else around me!  I have long been the "queen" of tuning things out and getting lost in my own little world...then something happened last summer that made me re-think how I spend my spare time...I won't go into details, and it's all good in the end, but I decided to spend the last 6 months making NEW memories instead of crafting about the old.  It was time well spent, and I am finally ready to get back to the hobby I love best...in moderation:)

When asking what my grandkids would like for Christmas, my daughter says..."Well, Mom...I think they'd love a scrapbook"...and that got me thinking that I need to find a "happy medium" between making memories and preserving them...

So I visited my blog a few days ago and thought, why not start where I ended back on July 19th?...with a sketch from Card Patterns!  I have a few January birthdays coming up, and LOVE to make cards, so here we go...and I had a GREAT time easing back into my mojo mode...enJOY!

 In true frugal fashion, I used nothing but my stash.  One of the things I love to do most is take various manufacturers paper and patterns and put them together in one project.  Card Patterns had a great sketch this week, see here for sketch.

Another thing I love to do is carry my card design to the inside of my card.  This one is kind of simple and that's the way I like it...more room for my personal sentiment:)

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope you are looking forward to a year filled with love, happiness, creativity, and good health:)