Graduation Season

First I will start with the cards that I made for friends.  I have several 2014 graduates to send to this year.

I made each card in the colors of the school that the student was graduating from, whether High School or College.  The stamp is from Studio G as it is small enough to fit in the allotted area in the Sizzix Framelits Square.  The coordinating card stock is dry embossed with a Darice embossing folder aptly named Grad hats.   The small die cuts are from Quickutz. 

 Then I had some fun creating a very special card for a very special graduate that lives in our home.  Congrats to her on a wonderful accomplishment!

The card base and border are dies from Elizabeth Craft Designs complemented with Spellbinders Opulent Ovals.  I used black, red and metallic gold card stock along with Pioneer stickers, Quickutz grad hats and diploma, and a Congratulations ribbon from my stash.

Mother's Day beauty in the details

I enjoy using products that are made to go together, and the monthly releases from Heartfelt Creations does just that!  The Sunkissed Fleur die, stamps and papers make this card very easy to coordinate and put together.  Since I have a Mother and Mother-in-law and the paper pack has two of each sheet it is that much easier!  The sentiment is from a set I purchased back in 1998 from DreamInk.  It was huge grab bag of sentiments all in the same script style.  

The vellum layer is die cut with a Spellbinders Classic Scallop and the insert from Classic Petal.  Sunkissed Fleur flowers and leaves are stamped in white ink and embossed with white embossing powder.  Coloring from the back gives them a softer look.  Pearl centers for the flowers and a small organza ribbon finish the look.  

Wedding Season

Requires wedding cards!  This is a relatively quick card to make using Spellbinders Resplendent Rectangles and Heartfelt Creations Timeless Amour dies.  I used cream and metallic silver card stock along with Colorbox silver ink, De Nami silver ribbon, and bling for the corners.  The stamp is from Boxer, a now defunct company.

Enjoy!

Enjoying the process again!

Found my creative mojo and had some fun with it this weekend!  I am taking a class online to refine my style, and thought about how I generally scrap.  Most of the time I scrap chronologically, that's just how my left-brained self functions.  I keep a Excel spreadsheet of the events I want to scrap with an occasional layout devoted to a topic and not a specific event.

I was having a hard time planning a layout for these photos, but then it came to me that this was not about the event or day, but more about the relationship my children have with one another and how it just happened to show up on one day that we spent together.

There are three versions, one for each kid with a slightly different focal photo.

Since I wanted to three similar layouts I started with Scrapping Creations Power Pad that I recieved at a CKC several years ago.  The colors worked well for the photos and I had a variety of patterned papers to work with.  The bracket is a Spellbinders Grand Label Four, the largest cut in half, the red ribbon is Sizzix edger die backed with white paper.  The shadow from Quickutz's Frankie font finished off the layout.  

Mojo resurrected!

Sometimes in your life things just get too busy or too stressful OR both!  Then even in the snippets of time that are available I do not have the creative energy to start the process of crafting.  In all honesty that is how life has been for me over the last nine months.  In the last two weeks I am happy to report that my creative mojo has been resurrected and I’ve been crafting up a storm.  In the interim I did make a few cards for a project I am working on for a friend, which I will share in the next few weeks.

I finished a few pages that I started many months ago.  I am practicing using up my stash and being resourceful with what is in my hoard of scrappy supplies!  I am a “This is what happened” kind of scrapper who enjoys preserving memories of events. 

We joined my sister and her family for an annual outing to a local ski resort.  My mother was there as well and I had well over 500 photos to choose from for ONE day of skiing!  So I went with photo collages to get as many photos as I could on a two-page layout.  (Another trend I seem to always fall to for my style!)  I printed 8 x 10 and 8 x 12 from Costco to make putting these pages together go much more quickly.

The first one is for our daughter:

The flocked snowflake paper was made by heidi grace designs, the snowflake edger punch is by Martha Stewart Crafts.  

This is for our older son:

The snowflake paper is from my stash, the stickers were Sandy Lion, and the title is a Creative Memories.  I am quite satisfied to be using up things in my stash!

And finally for the younger son:

Another stash paper, the snowflake pattern is Provo Craft, the stickers are DCWV, and the title is Creative Memories.  

Mother's Day card

Now showing the card I made for Mother's Day for my Mom and my Mother-in-Law.  Using my stash for papers (Provo Craft Slab III), shopping my existing stamps for background (Fancy Pants Designs Pollen Dust), and loving the options with SpellBinders (Carnation Creations and Labels 4) and Heartfelt creations dies (Decorative Blossom Corner) and stamps (Carnation Florals 1 and 2).  Donna Salazar just put out a very nice YouTube video about using this particular die set, so go check it out:   Donna Salazar's Tutorial.  I used two different colors of ink in the carnation, but it is hard to tell in the photo.  It is amazing how real the carnation looks with all of the layers and crumpled petals.  This card is very similar in design to a card we made in the Heartfelt Creations card class at the Portland CKC.    

Therapy Through Crafting

A few weeks ago a very dear friend of mine received the news that her breast cancer had returned.  It was devastating news for her and her family.  As a long distance friend, there is not much that I can do to support her, other than pray on her behalf.  As a friend I also experienced grief at the news and decided to craft refrigerator magnets for her upcoming prayer time.  Thus I could be there is spirit, if not in body.  I also found time crafting the gifts very therapeutic, time to pray and bless each one for her healing and for those who provide support around her.

 I used SpellBinders dies for the border, ovals, and the foliage.  The Foliage is stamped with a Heartfelt Creations stamp, Leaf Medley.  The Roses are a HFC Vintage Floret.  I really like the Vintage Floret die and stamp because there is a 5 point bud leaf included.

I made 24 magnets for my friend to share with people who came to her prayer meeting.  I had no time to get them in the mail, so the photos were taken outside the FedEx office just before I shipped them to Southern California.