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CPS 186

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It's been a long time since I participated in a CPS challenge. They've always been one of my favorite challenge sites. This week's sketch is a bit challenging, but I had some new Jillibean papers on my desk and a new Spellbinders Nestability so I decided to take it on. Here's the sketch:

186 

And here's my take on it:

CPS186
Cardstock: Chartreuse (Papertrey) & Core'dinations Core; Patterned paper: Pasta Fagioli (Jillibean); twine, canvas flower, journaling sprout, cardstock sticker: Jillibean; button from stash

Papertrey September Blog Hop Challenge

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Bloghoplogo

I love the Papertrey Blog hops and feel lucky to have gotten this card done in time! Here's the challenge:

One of the most fun things about this hobby is the people you meet,
whether in person or online, and the things you learn from them.  Now is
your chance to show off any skills you might have learned from a fellow
stamper, and perhaps even give them a little shout out to thank them
for the inspiration they have provided.  Create a project using one of
your favorite learned skills and perhaps after a little blog hopping, we
will ALL learn some new tips and tricks and continue to pass on the
love of this hobby!

Nicole Heady, one of the owners of Papertrey Ink, inspires me every month with her creations for the monthly release parties. One of the techniques she uses frequently  that I have always admired is drawing a frame around her main focal image. I have tried occasionally to master this technique, but my ability to draw a neat, well connected frame around an image is far from masterful. Now with the new "Framed" set of stamps, I can replicate this look with ease.

BirthdayWishesPTI
For this card, I stamped the leaves from "Turning a New Leaf," masked some of the leaves and then stamped the frame. The butterfly is from "Butterfly Dreams" and colored with Twinkling H2Os. The sentiment is from an old PTI set, "Faux Ribbon." One of the things I love the most about Papertrey stamps is how they can be mixed and matched. Sentiments from this older set fit beautifully into the break in the frame of this brand new set. The cardstock is Select White and Enchanted Evening, and the gems are from Creative Imaginations.

Moxie Fab Offset Scallop Challenge

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I love scallops and Moxie Fab issued a challenge for
projects with offset scallops. It was a perfect opportunity to get our my
Papertrey Ink scalloped border dies. 
I started out hoping to use some of my new Teresa Collins papers, but
ended up with just cardstock and a chipboard star from her Celebrate
collection. I also used my Tin Type Impression plate for the first time and
just love it.

MoxieScallop
Cardstock: Spring Rain
and Pure Poppy (PTI); Chipboard start: Celebrate (Teresa Collins); Stamp:
Fillable Frame #5 (PTI); Dies: Medium Scallop and Mat Stack #3 (PTI);
Impression plate: Tin Type (PTI); ribbon from stash; white Filigree Embossing
Powder (Superior)

Here's a layout I did for our California album that also uses scallops. These remind me of Minnie Mouse, although we don't have any photos of Minnie.


DisneyFunw

Cardstock: American
Craft, Chipboard alpha: AC Thickers "Sprinkles;” Patterned papers: Chicken Noodle "Dried Egg
Noodles" & Soup Staples "Red Sugar" (Jillibean)

More Cards from Bits & Pieces

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In the little bag of goodies I found the other day were several partially colored images or pieces of projects that had never been completed. Here's another round of cards from my "Finish It Up" session.

DaisiesinJar
This card is a total lift from Maile Belles. I loved her card and reproduced it pretty closely, just changing the color of the daisies and adding some Judi-Kins Expresso Speckles to the centers. All the rest of the supplies are from Paper Trey Ink. The ribbon is their off-white silk ribbon which I colored with a Copic marker.

PumpkinThankYou
The picnic basket was in the baggie, so I stamped the pumpkins from the same set (Vintage Picnic by Papertrey Ink), used my Tin Type Impression plate (for the first time!) on the Paper Source card, die cut the Spiral Notebook page and stamped it with lines from It's Official (both PTI). The ribbon's from my stash, and the sentiment from Communique Sentiments (another PTI set.) Must say I have lots of Papertrey stamps and I love the way they can be combined so easily.

MumsThanks
The mums (Autumn Abundance–PTI) had been colored on this image at one of my crafty sessions with my friends, so I finished coloring the vase with Copics, die cut it with a Nestability Labels One and layered it onto two scraps of paper from the scrap drawer. I used a Martha Stewart border punch on the bottom and a sentiment from the 2009 Autumn Tags set (PTI).

Feels good to have some finished cards and a few less scraps laying around!

Bits & Pieces

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I had a little time the other day and found a baggie filled with bits and pieces of stamped goodies and some tags from Make & Takes at CHA. I decided to turn them into some cards. Here are the cards I made from the CHA projects.

AppleHi
The orange dotted tag and the ribbon were both from a Make & Take at CHA that came home in pieces. I don't remember where I was or what the finished project was supposed to look like, but I had saved those two pieces. The little gift card and envelope were in my stash, and I think they came from Paper Source. I added the letter stickers, stamped "For You" on the inside of the gift card and then a get well message inside the card.

IppityMake&Take
This tag was done at the Ippity booth with my friend, Eva. All I did was put it on a Dark Chocolate(Papertrey) card. It could be a birthday card, thinking of you . . . I'll do the inside message when I decide to use it.

HAMake&Take
The circular tag was a Hero Arts Make & Take at CHA. I layered a piece of A Muse gingham paper on New Leaf (Papertrey), and have a quick Christmas card ready to send.

And a bit of happy mail to share. In July I was a winner in a Zva Creative Blog Hop, and my package arrived this week filled with brand new releases.

ZvaPrize

Cards

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I had a card published in the most recent Cards magazine. I thought I'd share it here along with a few others none of which I've posted before. This is the card that was picked up for the Cards magazine. I subscribe
to the digital version and haven't received a hard copy yet, though a friend sent me a digital copy of the page.

SewSweet 

Cardstock: Terra Cotta Tile, Vintage Cream (Papertrey Ink); Patterned paper: Material Girl (Cosmo Cricket); Rub-on: American Craft; twill: Scenic Route; Tag punch cut to size.

Here are two birthday cards . . .

MakeLifeSweet 

Cardstock: Bazzill; Patterned paper: Kioshi (Basic Grey); stamp: cupcake (Hero Arts) & sentiment (A Muse); Doily (Martha Stewart); silk ribbon (Ellen Huston); glitter pen (Copic); pearls (A Muse)

HappyBirthday

Cardstock: Bazzill; Chipboard flowers: Lily Bee; Doily: Martha Stewart; die: Ribbon Trio (Spellbinders); Patterned paper: Lily Bee; Button: Sassafrass Lass; stamp: Savvy.

A baby card . . .

BundleOfJoy 

Cardstock: Lavender Moon, Scarlet Jewel, & Vintage Cream  (Papertrey Ink); Patterned paper: Bitty Dots (Papertrey Ink) & Making Memories; pearls (A Muse); stamp: Baby Button Bits (Papertrey Ink); Nestability die: Labels Four; brad: Making Memories.

A "just because" card . . .

OctAftHi

Cardstock: American Craft; Patterned paper: Go Fly a Kite (October Afternoon); Slice Basics 2 and Calendar cartridges; button: Sassafrass Lass; twine from stash; DMC floss


And a get well card . . .

 

WishingYouSunshine
Cardstock: Hawaiian Shores (Papertrey Ink); Patterned paper and die cut: My Mind's Eye; stamp: Blooming Button Bits (Papertrey Ink); flowers: Prima; brad: Making Memories

A Butterfly

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I woke up the other day and said to Tracy, "I had an idea for a card for Marcy. I should get up and make it." Here it is.

HelloFriend
But there's a story here, too. The same day I made this card my BIL posted a message on Caring Bridge that Mercy was pretty frustrated with her slow progress after extensive chemotherapy. Her blood count has been slow to recover as well as her energy, so she's still in the hospital. He told her she should think of herself as a butterfly still in the cocoon, building its strength for its later flight! Such serendipity doesn't happen often. I hope this card brightens her day!

Cardstock: Ripe Avocado & Vintage Cream (PTI), turquoise from stash; stamps: Turning a New Leaf, Birds of a Feather, & Butterfly Dreams (PTI); Twinkling H2Os were used to color the butterfly.

Notepads

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I was asked to create some notepads to be given as gifts. Since I don't know the recipients, I decided to make some extras so there would be some choice. I like having a few on hand myself. I'm not terribly happy with the photos for this post, but I'm still trying to figure out the best place in the new studio to take photos. I thought they were fine, took the notepads off to my friend, and then wished I had checked the photos more carefully. They were all taken in exactly the same spot with the same light, but it sure doesn't look that way. Here's a look at three of them.

3Notepadsw
And a close up view of the focal images on six of them. I had a lot of fun mixing up the stamp sets and finding images that would work with the sentiment stamps. I found a flower in Beautiful Blooms II, one of the labels in Vintage Labels, and a tag image in Tags for Spring that worked really well.  All the stamps are Papertrey Ink.

NotepadDetailCollage
Most of the papers are also Papertrey Ink. The first pad in this group uses Basic Grey "Kioshi" papers, and the last one uses Cosmos Cricket "Delovey" papers. All the buttons are Papertrey Ink, and the pearls/gems are from my stash.

Aside from trying to find the right light to take photos, the new studio is proving to be very efficient. I LOVE working in here. I have so much more work space and everything is so convenient. It's the perfect space for me. We're still finishing up the details. A new track lighting fixture arrived from Pottery Barn this week and needs to be installed. My fold-up Ikea table and printer's drawer need to be moved into the new space, and then I think we're done. Photos should be coming next week, I hope.

We're off to Filmore State Park this afternoon for our annual three days of camping with good friends. Our friends found this spot earlier this year, and I'm looking forward to a new place to explore.

Babies!!!!

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Yes, that's right, it's plural. Sarah and Adam are expecting twins!! We've known for a while, but they didn't want anything to get out before they told their congregation yesterday. We are all very excited, but evidently twice the hormones equals more than one share of morning sickness. Thus my trip to California earlier this month. Although it's actually worse at night than in the morning, Sarah is beginning to feel a bit better. Hopefully, it will clear up soon as she has a busy schedule this fall taking two classes at Berkeley and teaching one at San Francisco Seminary. We are so excited for them and for us!!!

Early this morning I thought there'd be a bouquet of balloons gracing this post. I looked out our window about 3 am and saw a huge bouquet of balloons tied to one of our yard decorations in the front. Sadly, the wind and rain blew half of them away by the time it was light, although I did rescue the second bunch from the driveway. I think I know who the balloon ladies are, but if there was a note, it also disappeared. 

On another front, the studio move is nearly complete. There is just one large and one small job left to do, but I am in my new space (photos later when it's all done) and loving it. It feels very extravagant to have such a beautiful, large space just for me. Matt says the change makes so much better use of the space, and I think he's right. The little room where I've worked for the last 7-8 years really looks tiny now that I'm out of there. We need to paint that room, and buy a bookcase and perhaps, a small coffee table and then we'll be done. Everything is put away for now.

Neither of my hutches from the old desk worked on the new one, so I had more organizing and purging to do over the weekend. Everything has a home now, and there's still way too much stuff for one crafter. I'd love to have you come over and share!

Here's the last of the cards I made before the move. (You can't have a post without some photos!) The first one is a definite lift of a card I saw on Dawn McVey's blog last week and just had to copy.

BDCard
Cardstock: Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink); patterned paper: Turning a New Leaf  & Bitty Dot Basics (Papertrey Ink); ribbon: Ripe Avocado (Papertrey Ink); doily: Martha Stewart; stamps: Take Three: Summer  (Papertrey Ink); flowers & brad from stash.

Love
Cardstock: ColorMates (WorldWin) & Bazzill; patterned paper: Basics & Kioshi (Basic Grey); stamp: Scenic Route; gems: Kaiser; Nestability Heart (Spellbinders)

Tomatoes and Moving

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I feel like my life is consumed by tomatoes and moving. Little by little we're getting my studio moved to the bigger space. We've just about done as much as we can now until the desk and new lateral file cabinet arrive,. Hopefully tomorrow, more likely on Friday. I found new valences for the studio, and like the pattern, but they need to be shortened. For now I've left them up and will take care of it when the rest is done. I think I have everything I need for the studio, but I'm quite sure we're going to need a bookcase and perhaps a table for the den. It's so hard to tell until my current desk is out of there. I'm hoping the hutches on the current desk will fit and look OK on the new one. The hutch that could have been ordered with the new desk was too wide for the wall space I have.

As for tomatoes, we picked another 17 pounds yesterday and canned more sauce today. Tomorrow we'll need to go back to the garden again, and I'm going to try another batch of salsa–a little milder this time.

Saucew

When I went out on the patio to take a photo for tomorrow's Team-up Thursday post, I saw that our hibiscus was blooming again. It's such a beautiful plant and blooms pretty continuously all summer.

Hibiscusw

I did get a layout completed today, but haven't had a chance to photograph it. But here are a couple of cards that I haven't posted. The first is for a friend whose husband passed away recently.

Sympathy 

Cardstock: WorldWin Colormates; stamps: "With Sympathy" Papertrey Ink; ribbon: Impress; gem: Michaels; ink: Encore Metallic

And a real quickie for the card box:

SuperStar
Cardstock: Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink); patterned paper: Basics Manila (Basic Grey); stamp: "Star Prints" (Papertrey Ink); stars: Small Details (Basic Grey)

Classes & Cards

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There are two free classes going on right now. I've been reading the posts and downloading the pdfs, but haven't had time to participate yet. Both are very worthwhile, so if you're not aware of them it's worth checking them out. The first is at Big Picture Scrapbooking and is called the Festival of Ideas. Each day a new lesson is posted by one of their instructors and there have been a couple of great projects. You can still register and all the lessons are archived.

Bigideafestival 

The second is a free class on journaling at Elle's Studio. Like Festival of Ideas, each day brings a new instructor with ideas and beautiful samples of their work. Ali Edwards, Lisa Dickenson, and Christine Middlecamp are just three of the people who have posted lessons so far. This is a three week course and there's a link on the sidebar so you can access just the posts for the course.

Logo

Once I get into my new space, I hope to get some work done based on both these classes and the weekend crop at Shimelle's which I totally missed.

I do have a few cards to share that I created before all the craziness began. One of my dear friends is having surgery on Monday, and I was glad that I had this card on hand.

Recovered
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink & scraps from scrap files; patterned paper: A Muse; stamps: Papertrey Ink; gems: Kaiser 

This card will soon be off to a friend who is undergoing chemo. I'm trying to get a card off to her every few days. She's doing remarkably well, and her spirits and sense of humor have not been diminished by this ordeal.

4You
Cardstock: Papertrey Ink; patterned paper: Jillibean; vinyl alpha: American Craft Thickers; gems: unknown

Friend

Cardstock: Papertrey Ink; patterned paper: "Early Bird" Cosmos Cricket; stamp "In Bloom" Papertrey Ink, rickrack from stash; gems: A Muse Creative Candy

Cards for Scrap-Mart

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Before I left for CHA I made some cards to take with me. Laura and Howard wanted cards they could display in the Scrap-Mart booths. They particularly wanted cards that used Nestabilities so most of these do.

HeyThereLabel8
Cardstock: Pure Poppy, True Black & Kraft (PTI); clear stamp: Unity; Nestability Labels Eight (Spellbinders); Flower embellishment made with Jenni Bowlin papers; ribbon from stash

QuoteLabel2
Cardstock: Raspberry Fizz (PTI) & Solar White (Neeah); stamps: Vintage Label Two (Waltzing Mouse) & Unity; patterned paper: Flutter (Making Memories); Nestability Label Two (Spellbinders);Felt flower from PTI felt and Beautiful Blooms die, gem from stash

ThanksLabel4
Cardstock: Ripe Avocado (PTI); patterned paper: Flutter (Making Memories), ribbon (Paper Source), gems (Hero Arts), Nestability Label Four (Spellbinders), stamp (Jillibean)

CelebrateYourDay
Cardstock: Pure Poppy (PTI); stamps: Unity and Signature Greetings (PTI); patterned paper: October Afternoon; buttons from stash

And my favorite of the bunch:

SmileLabel1
Cardstock: Rustic Cream (PTI); stamps (Just Rite) & library card (PTI); patterned papers: October Afternoon, Nestability Label One (Spellbinders), Scalloped punch (EK Success); buttons (Sassafrass Lass)

Photo Cards

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Right before I left for Chicago, I needed to create some photo cards. A few weeks prior, I had picked up some Museum Parchment inkjet paper for just such a project. I'm very happy with the way they came out. I love the texture of the Museum Parchment paper. I've had the embossed photo cards for years and have no idea where I got them or who manufactured them. I wish I knew because I'd like to purchase some more.

Magnolia1 


Magnolia2
 

Magnolia3

These were all taken this spring in Highland Park where there is a lovely collection of magnolia trees.

Colored Pencil Class

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On Saturday I was lucky enough to attend a class in colored pencil technique taught by Dave Brethauer, creator and owner of Memory Box. I first heard of Dave many years ago when I visited Impress Rubber Stamps in Seattle. Before he opened Memory Box, Dave worked for Impress. When I heard he was coming to Buffalo Stamps and Stuff I knew I wanted to attend. Two of my friends rode up with me, and none of us were disappointed. Dave is a wonderful teacher.  He gives clear directions, demonstrates techniques, and makes sure everyone in the class has the individual attention they need. We made five cards in class, all of which I like since they are definitely "clean and simple" cards. My technique needs some work, but I know I'll enjoy the practice. One thing I learned is that it will be better for me to do work on tiny images without wearing my contact lens which is for improved distance vision. At home that won't be a problem.

Here are the cards we made.

Reindeer

CarolingBirds

RedBird

Poinsettia

SwirlyTrees

I'm writing this post on the porch of the cottage Tracy's family has rented on Consesus Lake for the week. It's just a perfect day, sunny and warm, but not too hot. Tomorrow morning VERY EARLY I leave for CHA from Buffalo. It will be a very early morning, but I'll be in Chicago in time for breakfast. I'm really excited about the chance to attend CHA, something I never thought I'd do. I've broken down and decided to take my computer so if there's time at night, I'll try to post some photos from the show.

Papertrey Pixie Challenge and Garden Update.

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I finally finished a card last night that has been on the "to do" list all of June . Why I wait until the last minute, I do not know! Karen H. posted this challenge at the beginning of the month. It's a photo of fat quarters and we could use the square design, the colors, or sewing on our card.

201006_PixieIP_HowAboutOrange_JessicaJonesFQlg
I used a
little of everything from the challenge. I deliberately did an uneven
stitch around the edge of the card, cut the scalloped squares with a
Nestability die, and added something different to each square. The
green and orange also come from the challenge colors. I colored the
flower and the button twine with my Copic markers. Thanks
for the challenge, Karen! It was a good one.

JunePixieCard
Cardstock: Kraft (PTI); patterned paper: A Muse; brads, flower, & buttons from stash; sentiment: Friendship Jar (PTI); button twine (PTI)

We went to the garden yesterday for the first time in over a week, and I was amazed at how much the plants had grown. The tomatoes are nearly as tall as my shoulder, the pole beans are crawling up the poles, and the lettuce and herbs are lush and full.

Garden6.30w 

The empty spot you see in the middle is partly the path we left to get into the middle of the garden but also where the peppers are planted. They are the only plants not doing too well.

FirstProducew
We brought home enough lettuce for a week and picked just a portion of
it. Before we go to my brother's this weekend, I'll go back and pick
some to take to him. By then there should be a couple more zucchini ready to pick. We also harvested two large zucchini which I'll use
to make zucchini bread today or tomorrow. These goodies were an
unexpected surprise!