Wednesday, October 3, 2007

I am continuously amazed at the generosity of "strangers" in the blogging community. I received a huge box of blog candy today from Jen at the Doodleblog stuffed full of goodies:



And a beautiful little card to go with it:



Thank you so much! I can't wait to play with all this stuff!!

My latest cards:


I've been playing around with different coloring methods and for these I used just plain ole' kids' waterpaints. I was quite pleased with how it turned out but I need to see if I can find some teeny tiny brushes for small stamps like this.

Saturday, September 29, 2007

What I've been doing....

I'm determined to get a post up today even if I have to do it one-handed. My 5 month old is working on tooth #3 and just wants to be held. I have actually been quite busy the last four days. And yesterday was Christmas as my latest CTMH order came in. Let's just say I spent enough to get both the card set and stamp of the month for free! I'm still trying out all my goodies!

These cards are from Di Hickman's card sketch #4. I loved this design and plan to do some more cards like it with different papers.


This card is my own design for my parents' 40th wedding anniversary. Aren't they a cute couple?!



Every month I send out pictures of the kids from the previous month to various friends and families. I like to make cards to include with them and this month seemed a good one to use my papers from the Target dollar bin. My only complaint with the paper is that it's so very thin, which I guess is to be expected when you get 12 sheets for a dollar! I loved the matching ribbons. The stamps are from my new CTMH stuff.


Of course I had to try Beate's weekend sketch challenge which was a file folder card. Too cute! I'm thinking about making this a little larger and using it to hold 4x6 photos for the grandparents or maybe as a holder for Christmas photos to give out.

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

In The Groove

A while back I won some awesome blog candy from Wendy at Inkin' & Thinkin'. Here are all the cool things she sent:


She sent 10 of her class layouts all cut out and ready to use. I am so enjoying all the goodies. The thing I was most excited to get, though, was the BoBunny toolkit; specifically the bendable ruler. I am just now getting a chance to use it. I sat down tonight and whipped out 4 cards with it. Totally love the results!

I've been inspired by Maria at Card Inspired and her "Project Reduce Scraps". I used this Chloe's Closet Cider Days paper and rub-ons kit. I'd like to say that no 12x12 papers were cut in this endeavor, but alas, I had to cut up the dotted paper which was the only whole sheet left in the kit. I've still got enough scraps in this kit to do probably 4 more cards but that will have to wait until another day!



To create these, I bent the ruler up into a shape until I was happy with it. Then I traced it onto the patterned paper (the one on the top) and carefully cut it out. I then used that to trace the same shape onto the cardstock and cut it out. On the one I used a third layer and made it the same way. I then laid these layers over the patterned paper on the bottom. The kit came with some nice rubons and a ribbon which I used as well.

Monday, September 24, 2007

My daughter's monthly scrapbook

Today I thought I'd show you the album I'm making for my second daughter. On the 23rd of every month, I take a picture of her with a stuffed animal (a Lemur, which has quite a history in our household!). I then write up all the pertinent stuff about her for the previous month. I write it like a letter to her, telling her the milestones she's accomplished, what she likes to do, and how she's growing. I then assemble pictures using LumaPix Photo Fusion into a 6x6 collage. I really like the program because all I have to do is choose the pictures that I want and tell it I want to create a 6x6 image. It does all the layout and I'm always impressed with the results. You can tweak it by hand too. I think it was about $35 and it has been well worth the cost to me. Every month I have the same format: the first page is the picture of her with Lemur, converted to B&W; the second and third pages are my letter to her about that month; the fourth page is the photo collage. The papers are Basic Grey and I have several different patterns to alternate amongst the months, but the pink and brown are consistent. I wish I could take credit for this idea but I can't. I copied it pretty much verbatim from the Simple Scrapbooks special issue "album shortcuts". Awesome issue, by the way, especially if you get it with that 40% off coupon at JoAnn's! The album in the background is an 8x8 and I think at the end of the year I will do her 1 month and 1 year photo side by side for the front cover. I have already done all the work of cutting the papers so each month, all I have to do is write and print. I print the journaling on the computer.


Friday, September 21, 2007

Card and Layout with SEI papers

About a year ago I bought a kit full of SEI's Paisley & Petals line. I have made so many things with this kit but these are about my last few projects with it. I think I can make one or two more cards if I'm careful!

I did this layout first. 3 weeks after my second daughter was born my best friend came up and took care of me for 4 wonderful days. She kept me fed and filled my freezer with food for later. She cleaned (and I do mean cleaned!) my house. All while managing to keep my 3 year old in tow and take care of the baby and let me get some sleep!



Then I decided to try Beata's Weekend Sketch Challenge #20:

When I first finished it I was not happy at all with it!

Then I decided to turn it around and I liked it a little better.


That's all for now. This has been a busy week and I'm looking forward to a little R&R this weekend. Oh, and doing some creating of course!

Tuesday, September 18, 2007

CPS #31


Between preschool, grocery shopping, lunch out with hubby, and a play date, this card took me all day to do. But by golly I got it done! Usually when I use a sketch I pull out a pack of papers that I want to work with and see if I can make it work with the sketch. For this one, I pulled out my GinX "Some Kind of Green" pack. A couple of the papers in this line incorporate the dark pink. Somehow the card ended up using only the green paper with the pink cardstock. Pink and green.... I don't know. What do you think? The horizontal strips are ribbons. The card is A2 size.
Card Position Systems Sketch #31

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Distressing Inks, Free Spirit Stamp

When I started this blog, I was hoping that it would motivate me to post a new creation every day or at least every other day. Well, that part isn't going so well! The good news is that I finished a card and a scrapbook page today! I'm still playing with ways to photograph my stuff. The general consensus is that you need bright light and a macro setting on the camera and no flash. Problem is, I can't turn the flash off in macro setting on my camera (Canon EOS Rebel). So I guess I don't have enough light. Another project to work on!


Last week I got to go to a class by my CTMH Consultant to play with the new distressing brush kit and distress chalk inks. Fun fun! I pulled those out today along with the Free Spirit stamp from CTMH to create this simple layout about my daughter's baptism. I don't know if you can tell from the pictures but I used the distress inks on the edges of the cardstock and also on the edges of the title block.



This was a simple card for a good friend of mine who loves tea. I found a teacup pattern on the net and printed it on plain cardstock and then just used that as a template. The Free Spirit flourish stamp was already inked up and I liked the way it turned out. Inside I used some cute Susan Branch tea stickers.

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

More Arctic Frog Cards

I actually got to make 4 cards today! I love this Arctic Frog paper so I continued with it today. The first 3 cards were variations on yesterday's theme, 2 thank yous and one birthday.




The last card I did from CPS' CPS #30 sketch. A bit plain, yes? My plan is to stamp something in that lower left corner and make it probably a birthday card.


I'm getting really frustrated with the quality of my photos. I guess I need to get on SCS and see if anyone there has any tips. If any of you have some good tips, please let me know!

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

More Library Cards and a Thank You Card

Sometimes when I get in a creative slump, I fall back on mass production of something I've already done. I did that yesterday with these 2 library pocket cards:


They are from the same Crate Paper line as the previous ones. I'm loving this type of card because it's small so I don't feel compelled to write a novel inside - just a quick hello.

Then I finally got to sit down today and make something new, a thank you card:
The paper is Arctic Frog. I love the name and the designs! The stamp is Close to My Heart. The card fits in a regular small envelope. I have gone back and forth and played around with sizes and almost always I come back to this size. I like things simple and sometimes the larger cards come out too busy for my liking.

Monday, September 10, 2007

I started this blog hoping that it would keep me accountable to making time for the things that give me satisfaction. I think that is very important for anyone (making time for themselves) but I have learned the hard way that it is particularly important for moms with young children because you never seem to have a moment to yourself and when you do there are a thousand things crying out for your attention.

Anyway, I sat down yesterday to plan out my Christmas list. Yes, I am rather chronically organized and I start thinking about gifts in September. I decided this year that most of my gifts are going to be packs of handmade cards. So I made the list to see how many I needed to make. Wow - should have started this list earlier! I came up with needing 108 cards!! If I only give myself October and November to do them, that means making about 3 cards per day. We're talking some serious cardmaking! So now I am even more inspired to make better use of my time. I am going to try to make my first card tonight and post it tomorrow.

Friday, September 7, 2007

Library Card

I made this little card for a neighbor. I made the pocket by looking at a pocket that I had and eyeing the measurements. The insert is an actual library card that I wrote a quick note on. I finished it off with some stamps and ribbon. It just so happened to have fit in a regular sized envelope!

Seems like most people credit the products they use. I'm terrible at remembering things, especially if I am using scraps that no longer have the identifying information on them (as is usual with my cards). I know this paper is Crate Paper. That's all I remember! The stamps I think are Heidi Grace. I usually finish off my projects with a self-inking stamp from VistaPrint that says "Handmade by Kelly".


































Thursday, September 6, 2007

About me and my scrap space

This is my first entry in my new blog. I kept another blog for almost 2 years while I was going through secondary infertility and then severe post partum depression. Hopefully all that is behind me now and I am looking forward to focusing on my family and doing things that bring me fulfillment. One of those things has always been scrapbooking and card making. I've been doing what I think of as "modern" scrapbooking for almost 4 years now. I've recently really gotten into stamping and cardmaking. I've been soaking up other people's creative ideas on blogs and thought it was high time I give back to the community, so to speak.

I thought I'd start my blog off by showing you my creative space, since I love to see other peoples' creative spaces. It's small, by my design. Not too long ago, I finally gave into the temptation to purchase a Mimi rolling tote. I made a deal with myself that if I got it, I would have to make all my supplies fit in it. Or most of them at least! Here's the big picture view of where I create:


There's my Mimi tote with most of my stuff in it.


I use a long folding table. On one end of it is a holder for books and magazines and next to that are some of the albums I'm currently working on. In front of that is a basket with my stamps and in front of that is a basket of the supplies I use most often, like scissors and a paper cutter.


Next to all that is a box with my acrylic blocks. I made the decision to go completely with clear acrylic stamps to cut down on storage space. Next to that is a CD storage case to hold my ink pads. I saw this idea somewhere on Splitcoast and I would love to thank whoever came up with the idea. I am using empty CD jewel cases to separate the inks.


This is the smaller bag that goes with the Mimi tote. I don't use it as much as I thought I would but it is handy when I'm ready to go to a crop to just stuff everything on my desk into to carry. That little cardboard box in front of it - that's my mini-trash can! I use that for the small scraps of paper!


On the floor I have my punches. I go back and forth about these. Three of them are pretty large and they really don't fit in my tote. But I do like to use them occasionally. So for now they are sitting on the floor until I can find a basket for them.


My space wouldn't be complete without the computer. I print a lot of the pictures for my scrapbook pages and I also like to print out a lot of my journaling on the computer. I use a Dell laptop and Canon i960 printer. I also have a Canon CanoScan LDE70 scanner.


This is the overflow shelf! On the very top are some empty boxes. Below that is a cardboard box with extra supplies such as adhesives and such. Next to that are some of my empty mini-albums.
Below that on the left is a stack of 12x12 sheet protectors. That is the size of the majority of my scrapbook pages so one day I bought a ton of them (I think about 200) and got a really good price. It's nice to always have a sheet protector! Next to that is a box of more albums and next to that are even more albums. Seeing a trend here?!
Under all that is a shelf of paper, both loose papers and stacks of papers. I also keep some of my paper kits on this shelf.


I hope to post to this blog fairly regularly. One of my goals is to regularly make things and I will try to post things as I make them. Hopefully I can provide some small inspiration to some of you out there. Most of my crafting is done late at night, after my 3.5 year old and 4 month old are in bed. It's the only time of day when I have zero interruptions. Sometimes I will stay up until 2am making stuff! Which is tough when the 4 month old doesn't ever sleep more than a 4 hour stretch! And I had to get up early this morning on top of that. I can hardly keep my eyes open tonight; in fact, I actually typed part of this post with my eyes closed. That may explain if any of it is incomprehensible!