crafting this and that

Hi!  Just a quick post for TGF's Heart Journal--week 14 .  This week's assignment is to create a page with only 2 main colors.  I've noticed the tip hasn't changed the last 2-3 weeks.  So maybe they are out of tips??  Anyway, I decided to try the black and white pencil coloring on kraft. This is the last Pickle stamp (Wild Rose Studio) that I bought.  He is probably my favorite though my kids liked the 2 penguins together the best.  I tried my best with the Prismacolor pencils.  I wasn't in a rush but knew I couldn't spend the whole day on it.  So I had to keep the layout pretty simple cause there's so much to do.  Just rubbed some gray/black charcoal for the background. Plus my kids have early release the next few days due to conferences so that will really cramp my style. Thanks so much for reading!

Hi!  Thought I'd take a little break from Lego and post some Halloween treats I made for some of my kids' teachers.  I used PTI's Favor it box 6 die and the coordinating Halloween Treats and Sweets stamp set and dies.  I have to admit that this is the set that broke my PTI boycott.  Hehe.  I was doing so well not purchasing from them every month but when I saw this set I really wanted it.  Sooo cute!  Though the box is a bit small I think for stuffing with candy for the kids.  So for all of these, I used cardstock for the boxes and just used felt for the front to conserve (or hoard) my felt.  Plus I think the card stock makes it a bit sturdier.  Nichole had a project using all felt but after I cut an entire one out of felt, it didn't look like it could keep it's shape nicely.  I stitched some of the features on the cat.  And look more googly eyes! Here's a spider and skeleton.  A mini hand sanitizer from Bath and Bod...

Hi!  It's week 13 of TGF's Heart Journaling .  The theme this week is to create a page based on a number.  I knew which number I wanted to focus on since it was recently my daughter's birthday. Yes, she was born on the 13th (and coincidentally it's the 13th week of this journaling).  She was supposed to be born on the 12th but I guess she was pretty stubborn that she had to wait til the 13th.  I went into labor about 10 pm on the 12th and she was born almost 24 hours later!  Yeah, I was so out of it during this delivery.  I remember telling the doctor I didn't really want her born on the 13th cause it seemed to unlucky.  He actually asked me if I wanted to wait til the 14th!  At that point, no.  I didn't care if she was born on the 13th.  Plus she has shown us that she is a smart and wonderful little girl, and that 13 is not unlucky at all. We're just a few weeks away from the Lego robotics qualifiers.  So I may not be able...

Hi!  I received my order from My Favorite Things recently so I got a chance to make my next page using their current sketch .  This one is for September 2012. Here's the sketch.  I decided to rotate the sketch to fit the image and my scrapbook/calendar better.  The image is Pure Innocence Morning Glory.  I kept the background really simple.  You could call it laziness, hehe.  But I like the way the image stands out.  I taped some washi tape across the cardstock, pretty simple.  I used my new Prismacolor pencils and tried to blend (burnish?) without using OMS.  I will need more practice.  I used my white pencil to help with the blending since I don't have a colorless blender yet.  Then I drew in some grass for her to stand on.  The other page. Thanks for reading and have a great week!

Hello.  And I have another card!  Because I let my husband do all the laundry and play with the kids this afternoon, hee hee!  Plus fall break is ending and our relatives left this morning so it's been relatively quiet today. Anyhow, it's been a long time since I did a TGF challenge, but I made one for Farm Fresh Friday Spy Day #2 .  And finally used some paper and stamps that I'd bought a while ago but never got around to making anything with. I colored Thursday with my black and white pencils.  Excuse the spot in the middle of her face, of all the places for the kraft paper to have a dark fleck, it was where I decided to stamp her face!  I've tried this coloring  once before , I didn't realize it was so long ago.  Maybe I should have watched Deconstructing Jen's video again  now that I look at her post and realize her image looks colored way differently.  Used some patterned paper from Crate Paper, which probably looks a l...

Hi!  Wasn't it nice to see a post from Cheryl??  She needs more time to craft.  Anyway, I was inspired by the sketch at Some Odd Girl and the recipe challenge #20 over at Paper Works Co to make a little something.  It's my first time with the Paper Works Co challenge though I've visited the site often for their cute Rachelle A. Miller stamps.  Thought I'd give this challenge a try after spotting it on Corinne's blog as well.  The recipe calls for an image that "floats," ribbon and brads/eyelets. Here's the SOG sketch. Here's my card using SOG's Witchy Tia.  I was so excited for so many different reasons to make this card.  Kristy over at SOG celebrated her birthday with a sale so I picked up some digital images.  I think it's still on until this weekend.  But you might remember me saying I didn't like my printer because my images always smeared with my Copics even after a night of drying or heat setting.  BUT I realized with ...

Hello.  I finally made a card!   I feel like I'm being relatively productive, but when I actually need a card, I don't have anything in my stash!  I think I agonize too much over what to make and where to put things and it takes me forever to finish a card!  I'm finally posting it now since it arrived in the mail to the intended recipient, whew, luckily it made it on time.  I thought I would have more time over fall break, like not needing to wake up so early to get the kids ready for school, but I don't know where the time goes, maybe watching too much X-factor! First I wanted to use my new Spellbinders heart circle.  Which was part of my problem because I couldn't find any card sketches online last week that used a big circle!  And then I didn't want to waste too much time web surfing when I had to get this into the mailbox.  Then I wanted a birthday-ish image, so out of all the Wild Rose Studio clearance stamps that I had bought, this one se...

Hi!  It's me again!  So I do still have 2 loads of laundry to fold and a stack of library books that I need to record for my son's reading log but I did make another card today and almost completed it by the time I went to pick up the kids.  Hehe.  I wanted to make a thank you card because my 2 boys recently received this huge bag full of Pokemon cards from my daughter's classmate who no longer wanted them.  My boys were so happy to say the least.  There must have been well over a few hundred cards!  It was so generous of him especially since we know it can be hard for kids to give things away even if they don't play with them any more. So I found some inspiration over at TGF's Spy Day challenge . I basically followed the layout and this is a different kind of card for me since it has so much going on in terms of patterned papers.  But I like how fun it looks.  I opted not to include the twine and bling just to keep it more kid friendly....

Hi!  TGF Heart Journaling time again!  It's week 12, so finally at the half way mark.  This time the theme is to make a watercolor effect.  So I went with my kids' watercolors and my hubby's old watercolor pencils. Yeah, it's Christmas again!  This penguin is also from Wild Rose Studios and is called Pickle.  He's cute!  So I tried to make a tree with the watercolors and did the background as well.  This is the reason why I don't draw and instead buy stamps.  Hehe. I used watercolor pencils for Pickle and I like the way that came out.  Found the quote online after searching for a bit for something that would match my scene.  I didn't really know quite what I was going for, just that I wanted to use this stamp.  Gee, the time goes by so quickly.  I hope I can finish another card before picking up the kids.  But stuff like chores and laundry get in the way. Thanks for reading and have a great week!

Hi!  Wow, 8 kids plus our own 3 for lego robotics practice can get pretty wild.  After hanging out with all the kids, you can really see how great each one is.  But after about 4 hours of robotics, you really need a break!  And boy, can the kids eat!  Anyway, I wanted to make a card after seeing the current sketch over at the Deconstructed Sketch no. 22 .  The triangle in the middle reminded me of Christmas trees so I flipped it and made a Christmas card. The trees are made from PTI's tree die.  The little tag plus the sentiment is also from PTI and the snowflake is an MFT die.  I embossed the cardstock with a snowflake folder from Sizzix and the red DP is embossed with another Sizzix folder. I chose TGF's A Cheeky Xmas and colored her in with pencils.  Can you tell I'm slightly addicted to pencils now?  Though I thought her hat was kind of difficult to color.  I outlined the fluffy parts with a light blue copic pen.  T...

Hi!  Here's another card for Splitcoast Stampers Hope you can cling to challenges .  This time I made a card for the pink critters challenge .    I went with a super simple layout, the same one as the card HERE .  Again I used colored pencils and tried the no stamped lines technique.  The elephants are from Paper Smooches' A Little Lovin and I think they are so adorable.  The sentiment is also from Paper Smooches' (Sentiment Sampler).  And I made a little pink ribbon with bling. Thanks for reading!

Hi!  I saw that TGF was one of the sponsors for Splitcoast Stampers Hope you can cling to challenges .  They have a whole bunch of challenges listed and will be adding more to benefit breast cancer patients at MD Anderson Cancer Center.  You can read all the details on their forum.  One of the challenges listed is hosted by Beate and is called Encircled with Love (make a circle card) . I knew I wanted to make a card with TGF's Fancy Anya because of the way her hands are apart enough to place a small ribbon between them.  I used my lacey circle nestabilities and tried to just keep it simple and it's blank so the recipient can use it for whatever kind of card they wish to. Still practicing my pencil coloring using just my kids' pencils.  I also wanted to try the no lines look that I first saw on Carisa's blog .  You can see it HERE .  She did hers with Copics but I'm too chicken to try it with pens so thought I'd ease into it with pencils. ...

Hi!  I almost thought I wouldn't be able to make a card for TGF's first Monday Funday Challenge to use scallops .  But I found some time tonight though I should've actually been cleaning the house and getting ready for my daughter's Lego robotics team to come over to our house for practice. Anyway, here is my card.  I stuck with something simple and sweet.  This is TGF's Cuddle Anya.  Isn't she super cute?  Love her and her hat and bear.  I used a scalloped square and actually went around and punched holes to give it that eyelet look.  The background is stamped with Hero Arts canvas.  The tree die cut and sentiment is from PTI. I thought I'd practice my pencil coloring again.  I used my kids' regular color pencils.  Now I think I need to practice the hair. Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday!  Thanks for reading!

Hi!  I made a simple card to share.  It's a Thank you for my son's preschool teacher's aide.  Her last day is this Friday so even though my son has only known her for a couple months, I thought we could at least make her a couple of thank you cards.  Why do preschool teacher's aides have such a high turnover rate?  It makes it so difficult for children. My card was inspired by the Deconstructed Sketch #21 , PTI's Make It Monday #35--custom washi tape , and Lawn Fawn's WCMD challenge--thank you cards . I liked the sketch and I wanted to keep my card really simple just to show the custom washi tape.  Cardstock and sentiment is from PTI.  Paper doily is from Martha Stewart. The widest width scor tape I have is half an inch so I taped 3 strips edge to edge on the tissue paper to make a wider one.  I stamped Lawn Fawn's hearts from Teeny Tiny Backdrops.  Then taped it onto a piece of clear cardstock (PTI) before cutting it with PTI's butter...

Hi!  Yes, I have another post!  I know, it's kind of a lot but I have to post before the deadlines.  It's week 11 for TGF's Heart Journaling .  This week's theme is Bloom & Grow.  I thought of doing flowers but then found this quote online by Robert Browning about growing old together and of course I thought TGF's Grandparents set would be perfect. Aren't they so super cute?  I want to be a sweet grandma like that.  I also used TGF's My House set for the homes in the background. I used my kids' colored pencils to color them in.  I kind of like the pencil look and seems easier to shade than with Copics though I'll have to work on the skin tone.  While I was working on this, it reminded me of my embarrassing moment of the week.  I was at my daughter's friend's house and I saw his parents' wedding picture.  It was dated 1991 and for some strange reason that I still don't really know, I thought my husband and I were married in...

Hi!  I made a card for TGF's WCMD/Splitcoast Stampers Announcement Challenge .  We were to case any one of TGF's former or current DT members.  So I checked out Joni Wilson's blog and found this super cute card .  I really liked that it looked so fresh and clean and something that I normally don't do.  And it was just a sweet, little card. Here's my card.  I used Birthday Ian.  He is so cute!  Then I stamped the word love from one of Lawn Fawn's sets and the brackets from MFT's Say What set. A nice and simple card.  I should make more cards like this. Thanks for reading!