Frosted Designs - sewing

Have I said I just LOVE the challenges over at Frosted Designs, lately?  I am so excited to participate in this current challenge!  You see, I've been wanting to practice sewing on my cards for some time and was thrilled at the opportunity to design for our Fabulous Friday challenge with "sewing" as the theme.

Here is what I came up with. 

 Can you see the subtle stitching around the outside of the background pp?  I just LOVE it!  Yahoo!

 Check out all of these buttons I have going on, too!  Do you notice the shell button and the candle buttons?  How cool!  Also, I'm proud to say the green centers of the flowers are made from some Christmas tree ornaments I bought after season a few years back.  I took them apart and never did use the parts...until now!!!!

 Here is some more sewing on the inside of the card, too.  This Frugal Scrapper was on a roll, huh?

Please stop over at the Frosted Designs blog and join in on the challenge!  As usual, there is an AMAZING prize waiting for one lucky winner from Prairie Bird Boutique!  They have some awesome embellishments, so don't forget to hop on over and check them out, too!

Card Patterns Sketch 167

Happy Memorial Day to all my crafty blogger friends! 

Please remember all the men and women that have and are defending our country today:)

I'm sitting here in my crafting room today, full of inspiration with the help of Card Patterns, of course.

I was inspired by sketch 167 to make a card using some of my "old" stash of papers and some of my "new" My Favorite Things and Technique Tuesday stamps.

First let me share this week's Card Pattern's sketch:

Isn't this a great sketch?

Here is my take on it:

I just LOVE these stamps and the paper I found in my stash is just PERFECT for a Father's Day card:)

enJOY:)

Card Patterns Sketch 160...and another class at EA?

Happy Easter to all of my blogging buddies!

I had a pretty quiet morning and found some time to work on some great cards.  For inspiration, I used the current Card Patterns sketch:)  While this sketch is AWESOME, I found it a bit of a challenge to transform it to a masculine card (which was my other goal today).  In preparation of hopefully teaching another class at Ever After Scrapbooks at the end of May/beginning of June, I wanted to concentrate on masculine cards so we could celebrate the men in our lives.

While I did make 4 cards, I'll give you a sneak peek, using the one I made based on the Card Patterns challenge this week.

Here is the challenge sketch:

And here is my masculine "take" on it:)

For this (and the others that I'll show you later) I used the Graphic 45 Kraft Reflections line.  What I really like about this line is that most of the papers can be used for either feminine OR masculine cards.  I also love the neutral tones that give you the opportunity to add any splash of color you want.

I've had fun playing along with the Card Patterns blog this week and am really happy with my project:)

Supplies:

Patterned Paper:  Graphic 45 Kraft Reflections
Cardstock:  Bazzill Basics
Rhinestones:  Queen & Company Nightfall
Stamp:  From my stash (can't remember brand, sorry)

enJOY:)

Frosted Designs - Things with Wings:)

Hello Bloggers:)

Frosted Designs has another AMAZING Fabulous Friday Challenge...to design a layout, card, or "off the page" project using "Things with Wings".  For my take on it, I've created an eclectic card using some random findings from my scrap stash.  For the "Things with Wings", I used my TH caged bird die.  If you look really hard at this card, you can see I even used part of the cage.  I also made my own "rose" along with a Martha Stewart edge punch, some of my Graphic 45 paper (a girl's gotta use her stash, right?), and a TH stamp.  Hop on over and join in on the Fabulous Friday fun HERE. 

enJOY:)

Creative help from my friends...:)

I'm still in the card making mood, but a bit low on mojo, so I went over to surf my friend Melody's blog and WOW, did I find lots of inspiration over there!  I decided on a card she actually posted 2 years ago for my inspiration today.  Here is Melody's card and here's my take on it.  Thanks for the inspiration, Melody!

As you may notice, I wasn't careful with my stamping, so had to take a brown sharpy to it, lol:)

Supplies

Patterned Paper - Basic Grey Bittersweet line
Stamps - My Favorite Things for sentiment, Lamp ????
Cardstock - Bazzill Basics
Ink - Memento in Rich Cocoa, TH Distress Ink in Vintage Photo
Border Punch - Martha Stuart

Other - Ribbon from my stash

enJOY:)

Missing you...Happy Birthday, Amanda:)

It's March 4, 2012 and 29 years ago, my MOST WONDERFUL dear daughter was born.  She has grown into an AMAZING, SMART, TALENTED, BEAUTIFUL woman, and I'm VERY PROUD of her.

Alas, she still lives on the east coast and is busy attending nursing school and raising two BEAUTIFUL children...and I miss her every day!  We talk often and try to visit each other as much as possible, but I still MISS her.  Amanda, this card is on it's way to you:)  Love you dear daughter.

I was searching through some of my buddies' blogs and came across a BEAUTIFUL card a friend of mine made.  It "spoke" to me, so I decided to use it for inspiration as I designed a card to send to my daugther.

For my inspiration, please visit Gloria's blog.  Thank you, Gloria!  My take on Gloria's card is below:)

Supply list:

Patterned Paper - Basic Grey Bittersweet Line
Stamps - Technique Tuesday
Cardstock - Bazzill
Butterfly - from a Michael's pack of butterflies
Straight Pins - from Michael's, altered using beads from the "Bead Gallery" at Michael's

Other - Ribbon, lace from my stash

enJOY:)

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:)

Frugal Sketch 102 Samples

I had so much FUN working on samples for my Frugal Sketch 102 today!  You see, I decided a while back that I wanted to start writing to my grandkids that live in PA...kind of a way to go back in time to when people used to write letters to each other...on paper, WITH A PENCIL no less, lol...

So I decided to use the Frugal Sketch introduced yesterday as my inspiration for these two cards:

For Alayna's card (the top card), I used some new paper and some REALLY OLD stamps!  You see, I've had this pkg of "chick" stamps for AT LEAST 5 years...and haven't even used them yet.  Since my granddaughter just LOVES animals, I knew she would think this chick was cute.

For Jayden, I used a Tim Holtz bike stamp (perfect for a little boy's card).  I also used a REALLY OLD stamp set for the "Superstar kid" sentiment as well as some REALLY OLD paper from my stash.  The birds on Jayden's card are also from a Tim Holtz set.  I first stamped the freshly inked stamp, then stamped a few more times without re-inking the stamp.  I love the way the re-inked birds just look further away.

Please see the post below for the sketch.  If the sketch inspires you, feel free to play along.  I hope to put a new sketch up once every two weeks or so.

EnJOY!

My First Card Sketch

I've decided to "play" this weekend and opened my In Design program which I haven't used in a REALLY LONG TIME.  Once I played a bit, I decided the BEST way to practice would be by having SOMETHING to accomplish...and I ended up with my very first FRUGAL SKETCH...now I know it's kind of basic AND I have to admit, I had way too much time playing with "fill" colors, but I'm REALLY PROUD of myself for remembering so much from a program I haven't used in over a year!

So if you are so inclined, feel free to use this 5 x 5 card sketch to design your very own card.  Since I don't have one of those fancy linking options, you'll have to leave a comment with a link to your card, but I'd LOVE to see what you've come up with....AND to all of you who prefer to make layouts, I'm sure you can incorporate this into an awesome layout!

Here you go.....the VERY FIRST "Frugal Sketch".

Remember, if you find this, my VERY FIRST Frugal Sketch inspiring, please feel free to leave a comment that includes a link to your project.

enJOY:)

Havin' a "BLAST" with Cosmo Cricket:)

The card I made to share with you all today was SO much fun to make!  I had a "BLAST" with it:)  I started with a piece of Cosmo Cricket "circa 1934" pp and used my limited supplies (of cardstock, buttons, "some" ribbon, etc) to make yet another 5 x 5 card that I'm THRILLED with!

I just love the fact that my stepmother's neighbor (after seeing some of my cards) went over to her house and brought back some "embellishments" from her home to let me use on my cards:)  The "snaps" and button were courtesy of her kindness.  THANKS, Theresa!

My stepmother also had some scrap material that I used for two strips and a button tie.  I think it blended well with this card, don't you?

Here is a close-up of the snaps I used.  they were the perfect addition to this card!

I decided to leave the inside of this card "blank" so there would be room for a nice personal note.

enJOY:)