For a Birthday or Bridal Shower?

First off...I have a question for you....how do you get rid of your unloved craft items? In the past I have donated stacks of patterned paper and scrapbooking supplies to a member of our local Freecycle group and to the Family Resource Center of St. Croix County. Last week, I decided I was going to try Ebay...not worth it. By the time I pay for listing fees, final value fees, and PayPal charges, I think I owe them money. I have two listing this week, lot of girl and a lot of boy patterned papers, and then I am done with selling on Ebay for awhile...just not worth it. If anyone has a great idea as to how to unload unloved supplies...leave me a comment.

I have a birthday card to make and a bridal shower card to make so the card I made for the stacked ribbon challenge on SCS would fit the bill for either, I guess. Stamp sets: SU! Close as A Memory and Circle of Friendship. Patterned paper is Die Cuts With a View Luxury Stack. Thanks for looking.

A Masculine Birthday Card

Oh, I have been just terrible about making cards lately. I have missed my in-laws' anniversary and now this will be late. It is my cousin's birthday today...and here is the card I made for him. (Shhh...don't tell him Theresa!) I used a retired The Angel Company stamp set and the sentiment is Happy Harmony set from SU! I watercolored using reinkers and a paintbrush. I stamped the image and sentiment using Timber Brown Staz on.

My Last Post of the Night

My last pages. Tomorrow I will post the great make-n-take projects we did. Thanks again for looking.

Here is more from my productive weekend.

Here is more...and I have one more post to go....

Hastings, MN scrapbooking retreat

Whew, I just had the best weekend...I went to a crop put on by A Scrap N' Time in Hastings, MN. We had great food, fun conversation, and all day and night to scrap. Here is the result. For most of the pages, I used magazines and books for inspiration and for the layouts. Thanks for looking.

It Aint Easy Being Green challenge

Today a Scrapbook Variety challenge was posted on Splitcoaststampers. The challenge is to use green on a scrapbook page. Here is what I came up with. Patterned papers, border die cut, and tag are by Crate Paper, Samantha collection. Title letters are American Craft Thickers. Stamp on the tag is SU! set, So Very. Thanks for looking.

Cutie Patootie

This is a card I made for the Inspiration Challenge on Splitcoaststampers. Stamp set is SU!, Time for Fun and sentiment is from the Nice & Narrow set. Patterned paper is by Me & My Big Ideas- Sanctuary. Rhinestone brad is SU! and the rhinestone flower is KI Memories Color Lab, Alpine. Thanks for looking.

Yo Ho Ho!

I did a little shopping last week and found some neat clear stamp sets, some bold patterned paper and used them to create this. The photo is of my 3 year-old son on his birthday. Clear stamp is Autumn Leaves, Gypsy Style by Rhonna Farrer. The stitches on the bottom of the patterned paper were done using Autumn Leaves, Messy Stitches by Katie Pertie. Patterned paper is Me and My Big Ideas- Sanctuary. Journaling square is by Luxe Designs. Thanks for looking.

A little humor

I friend sent me a bunch of funny cartoons today. Here is one I thought was pretty funny:

Birds, birds everywhere

I earned a free stamp set for hostessing our stamping club last month. This set is called "Spring Solitude" and it comes with a stamping wheel. On the first one...I used the branch as little trees sprouting. The second one was for a color challenge on Kristina Werner's blog, kwernerdesign. The sentiments are from the set, Happy Harmony by SU! Thanks for looking.

Rub-ons + Faux Cloisonne

Here is a fun technique for you....faux cloisonne. It is an easy one, too. Stamp with VersaMark on glossy newspaper, heat emboss with gold, cut it out and set it against a black background. This is the week's technique challenge on Splitcoaststampers. The stamp I used is from SU!- Friendship Blooms and the rub-ons are from SU! and from Me & My Big Ideas. Thanks for looking.

Title Blocked?

This week's Scrapbook Variety Challenge on Splitcoaststampers was to use a pre-made title on your page. Oh, I have a stash of junk (stickers) I never look at, so I pulled them out and lo and behold...I found the perfect title for these photos I took of my 3 year-old. He put his pants on all by himself after going potty...but they are on backwards. He could not sit still long enough for me to get a good photo...hence the reason for the blurry images. The stamps I used on the circles are from my new hostess SU! set I got called Spring Solitude. The sticker had a weird greenish-blue frame around it, so I painted it a better shade of blue. Thanks for looking.

Zindorf Inspired

Sometimes when blog surfing I find a person's blog that I just LOVE. That was the case yesterday when I found Michelle Zindorf's blog. Wow...her cards are amazing and she posts tutorials on nearly every creation. I followed her tutorial and created this.

Here is a link to her blog with tutorial on how to make this card. http://zindorf.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/2008/03/07/grassy-hill-sympathy-tutorial/

Hybrid Card

Everyday I check the digital freebies on Digifree blog. Most of the time I don't download anything, but today I found the cutest word art....and it fit today's Ways To Use it challenge on Splitcoaststampers: use the computer. Here is my 5 minute card.

The wordart download was found here: The Hawt Mama Blog . The background texture was created with my Cuttlebug and Cuttlebug embossing folder- textile. Thanks for looking.

Based on a Sketch

On QVC last year...they sold a huge collection of My Mind's Eye Bohemia paper and embellishments. It was the first time I every bought anything sold on TV and it was so exciting getting all the wonderful supplies in the mail...but...now I still have a TON of paper and embellishements left to use...and so I am trying to make a valiant effort to use some of this stuff up. So...here is a page with MME Bohemia paper and tags. This is based on Sally's sketch for VSBN. Thanks for looking.

Dwight and Snow Angels

This past weekend was Virtual scrapbook weekend on Splitcoaststampers. I did 2 pages so far. The first one was for the "Seinfeld" challenge which required you using 7 embellishments. I used 7 rhinestone brads on the bottom strip of patterned paper. The patterned paper I used is from SU! and is called Bali Designer Paper. The second one was "The Office" challenge...use office supplies on your page. Thanks for looking and I hope you get a good laugh from the "Dwight" page!

An Early Start on Christmas Gifts

Here is a 3 min. project that I did on Friday for the Scrapbook Variety Challenge on Splitcoaststampers...to use green and red. Of course my mind went to Christmas. The patterned paper is by Scrapworks-Season of Joy.

3 Scrapbook pages

On Saturday it was Virtual Scrapbook Night preview on Splitcoaststampers. What is Virtual Scrapbook Night you may ask...well, it is essentially like a crop...only you participate over the computer. There is a coordinator and hostesses. The coordinator thinks up a theme...the theme this VSBN is TV talk. The hostesses think of challenges that relate to the theme. There were a total of 4 challenges posted. On Suday I had a chance to complete 2 of them...and also a regular Friday scrapbooking variety challenge. The challenge was to take the Blogthings quiz, "What Color Crayon Are You" and use that color and its opposing color on the color wheel on a page. If you scroll down on my blog, you will see that I am a green crayon. So...here are the pages.

RJ's 3rd birthday

I am not feeling too well...everyone here has had a terrible cough and now I can tell I am starting to get it.

Even though I am not feeling well, I did make a scrabook page today. For this scrapbook page I used 3 Bugs in a Rug patterned paper. Thanks for looking.

Foof-a-La Indian Summer

Here are a scrapbook page and card made from the Foof-a-La Indian Summer patterned papers I got in February's kit from The ScrapRoom. The layout for the scrapbook page was inspired by a page I found on Christy Tomlinson's blog: just because. The card was for Splitcoaststamper's Featured Stamper challenge....to be inspired by a card in gbedwright's gallery. Here is her card: Embrace Life. Since I had the scraps out on my counter, I figured I would use the same paper for the card that I used for the scrapbook page. I should do that more often instead of throwing all the scraps in my scrap bin. Thanks for looking.

These Boots

Finally I found the urge to create a scrapbook page. The patterned paper is Scenic Route- Loveland and I used a pencil eraser and white acylic paint to create the frame around the photo. The brads on the circles are Making Memories Heart Pebble Breads. Thanks for looking.

A few cards to share

I must have gotten a little burned out from the Layout a Day Challenge because I haven't scrapbooked since Feb. started. Until I get my scrapbooking desire back, here are a few cards I have made.

The first one is for Splitcoaststamper's Ways to Use it challenge...WT153- The Height of Fashion. The stamp is a $1 stamp from Michael's and the saying I printed using my computer. The second one is for my mom's birthday and is for the week's color challenge on SCS- Tempting Turquoise, Green Galore, and Kraft. The hummingbird stamp is from Inkadinkado and the sentiment is from SU!'s Summer by the Sea. Thanks for looking.

Ink, Spray, and Smash Technique

I made this card for the Try a New Technique Challenge on Splitcoaststampers. The technique involves taking glossy cardstock, dropping ink on the cardstock randomly, and then spraying the cardstock with water. Then you take another piece of cardstock and smash it into the first. The results are pretty cool. I used Real Red and Cool Caribbean reinkers from Stampin' Up. The owl is from Inkadinkado. Thanks for looking.

A Valentine's Bon-Bon holder

On Martha Stewart's website...she had instructions on how to make bon-bon holders. I have been intending on making them for a couple of days now, and finally tried it. It was so easy. Paper is by My Mind's Eye- Wild Asparagus. Thanks for looking.

Inspired by On-line Shopping

Truth be told...I am frugal. I don't get a thrill spending money...in fact, it makes me a bit anxious. One thing I do love to do is browse on-line shopping sites for inspiration for cards and scrapbook pages. My stamps get used in a more untraditional way when I use a design from another source as an inspiration piece. Take this card for example....I was inspired by this collage art found at Anthropologie: Fruit Tree Collage. I used a small leaf stamp from SU!'s Watercolor gardens to create the tree. What do you think...a pretty unconventional use, I'd say. Thanks for looking!

A couple more cards

Here are a couple more cards. The first is for Anna Wight's sketch challenge on her blog Sassy and Sweet. A nurse at the nursing home lost her father (who was also a resident at the nursing home), so I made this card for her. My stitching needs work, but I can't quite figure out where my tension needs to be set at.

The second card was inspired by the Featured Stamper on Splitcoaststampers: Renée. Here is her card: Pick a Petal! I actually do not have the stamp set that she used, but I made a faux version by using my oval punch to make the petals and then just drawing the lines with a fine-tip Sharpie pen. Thanks for looking.

Celebrate Good Times

Another card for the SCS Limited Supply challenge...get inspired by the Super Bowl. Pig stamp is by Art Impressions and the sentiment is SU! Wonderful Words.

Valentine's Day cards

Here are a couple of cards I made to send for Valentine's Day.