Friday, March 23, 2012

Closing up Shop...

Hello Everyone!

Well the time has come to say goodbye.  I spent all day Tuesday packing away all my crafting supplies in order to prepare for our move in the early part of June. Even though we still have a few months to go, I am afraid that there are just too many other things going on for me to dedicate time to crafting and blogging.
Whether or not I will continue to blog from my new home in the future, I have not decided. My time and responsibilities there are expected to be much more in demand than they are currently. Regardless, however, if I blog or not, you can always know that I will find time for card making, scrapbooking and paper crafting. It is a hobby that I enjoy too much to give up completely. It keeps me sane in my often crazy world and does a lot to make me feel as though I can accomplish something. I will continue to support various card charity organizations including Operation Write Home and those featured in SCS monthly cards for a cause challenge.
Have a wonderful spring/summer season. Thank you so much for all your wonderful comments you have left for me. I do appreciate them more than I could ever tell you.

Hugs to all!!

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

OCL Floral Challenge: Wishing You Happiness

 Hi Everyone!

This year for Christmas, I received a Barnes and Noble Nook Tablet and I absolutely love it! One of my most recent purchases for it was a subscription to CardMaker Magazine. I love being able to keep issues of the magazine and not have it cluttering up space in my craft room. I also like being able to see all the different techniques and find inspiration as well.
Today I am sharing a card that I CASE'd from the March issue on page 38. The original design of the card is by Robin Arnold. I can't seem to access an online version of the magazine, so I am not able to show you the original card unfortunately.
I was also happy to finally play along again with the weekly OCL challenge. This one was to use Flower Stamps. I chose OCL's "Fabulous Florals set" I stamped 5 large flowers using Mellow Moss and So Saffron ink from Stampin Up as well as Victorian Velvet Distress ink and cut them out using my petite scalloped nestabilities; and then layered them as shown on to a Label 1 nestablities. The "Wishing You Happiness" sentiment is also from OCL. It is from their "Say it Big" set stamped in Victorian Velvet ink on Vintage Cream card stock
The patterned paper I chose is from Stampin Up and from All My Memories and I coordinated it with Autumn Rose, Harvest Gold from PTI as well as some Mossy Green and light pink that I just had in my stash.
 All in all a simple card; but I hope you like it.

A few challenges for today's card:

Make it Monday: Anything Goes
Use Your Stuff: Anything Goes
Our Craft Lounge: Flower Stamps
Stamp n Doodle: Circles or Ovals

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Monday, March 19, 2012

Mojo Monday Thanks

Hi Everyone!

Well Spring Break is done and everyone was back at school, so I got a chance to play around and do something crafty for a while. It's been a while since I've been able to play with the Mojo Monday sketch, so I decided to give this one a whirl and see what I can come up with. I wanted to make a card with some pretty spring colors so I chose some pattern paper from Prima Marketing Collection.  Raspberry Fizz, Blue and pink papers coordinated with it. The flower and leaf stamps and die cuts are from Verve's Sunny Day set. The sentiment is from Basic Grey's "Special Lace" set stamped in Tumbled Glass Distress ink on Vintage card stock
I actually did another project; but it's not quite finished, so hopefully I'll have that up first thing tomorrow morning.

Challenges for today:

Creative Inspirations Paint: Thanks
Amusing Challenges: Color Challenge
Craft Your Passion: Focus on Sentiment
Creative Monday: Anything Goes
Lollipop Crafts: Focus on Sentiment
Mojo Monday: Sketch
Oh La La Creations: Thanks

Have a great evening everyone, I'll see you tomorrow!!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Sit Back, Relax!!

 Hi Everyone!

This week is Spring Break for us and we were shamefully lazy yesterday on our first day! I did get a chance to put together a fun card to share with you; but never got around to posting it. I haven't put ink on the adorable Hot Betty from OCL in a very long time. I thought it was about time I showed her a little love. This card is for March's SFYTT challenge. I really am going to try to do every sketch this year. (We'll see how that works out with my move in June/July!) I did take a slight bit of liberty and eliminated the circle element from my card. I tried a couple of things there; but I just couldn't get a good feel for something there. I think it holds true to the overall layout though.
 This was a fun card to make. I mean, who doesn't have fun coloring Betty! I used some pretty spring colors including Cameo Coral, Harvest Gold and New Leaf. The floral pattern paper is from Basic Grey "Sweet Threads" collection.

  She also fits quite a few challenges that were listed over the last few days. Unfortunately, I don't have the option of a lazy hazy day today, so I'm afraid that's all for me today. Hopefully, I find some more time later for creativity and have something tomorrow (or Thursday) to share with you!

 All Sorts: Say it with Flowers
I Heart Stamps: March SFYTT
Just Us Girls: Faux Embossing
Just Some Lines: Two items at least 6 months old. (I chose my stamp
set and the flowers/buttons)
Mark's Finest Papers: Bingo (I chose Buttons, Bling and Piercing)
Paper Sundaes: Feminine Flair
Totally Gorjuss: Anything Goes with a Button

Have a great day!

Friday, March 9, 2012

Happy Hi!

Hello Everyone!

It has been quite a while since I've played with my OCL stamps, so I thought I'd dust off a couple of sets and get creative with them over the next few days. I wanted to make a cheerful spring card since the weather here has been so beautiful lately. Of course, that was yesterday and now today it's 45 degrees, cold and windy! I decided to use the OCL set "Out for a Spin" This is such a cute set and I don't use it nearly as often as I should. I chose Fine Linen, Pink, Sage Shadow and Not Quite Navy to go with the pattern paper from the hopscotch collection by Basic Grey. I used the Top Note Die from Stampin Up for the center panel and yes, even took the time to do some real stitching around the edges. And yes, it took FOREVER! Oh well, I guess it was a good thing the TV show I was watching was entertaining! Because this stamp is a bit large, I chose to make a longer card instead of a standard 5 1/2 x 4 1/4. This card measures 6 1/4 x 3 1/2. It will fit into a 6 1/2x 4 3/4 invitation type envelope. I stamped the bicycle with Memento ink in Rich Cocoa and then used Copic Markers to color it in. It's a bit hard to see in the picture; but I did add a tiny dot of glitter to each of the flower's centers.
Ok, so that's all for me for now. I hope you all have a fabulous day; and I'll see everyone again soon!

Challenges:
Try Stampin on Tuesday: Sketch
Top Tip Tuesday: Real or faux stitching
Cooking it up with Katie: Emboss, Stitch and Punch
Paper Shelter: Anything Goes





Wednesday, March 7, 2012

"You're Special"

Hello Everyone!

Wow, it has been a while hasn't it?!! Sorry about the unexplained absence. I was busy setting up a new webstore to try and sell some of my creations and then I just took a break from crafting for a while. Today was the first time I was really in the mood, so I brought out the crafting table and got to work. Recently I won a little contest from Hero Arts and was able to choose a couple of goodies, Yay! I chose two stamp sets "Special Lace" and "Tapestry Script Background"
For this card I chose to use the Tuesday Morning Sketch layout for my inspiration. Smoky Shadow, Autumn Rose, Scarlett Jewel and white for my color choices.
Hopefully, this will be the new beginnings of some regular blogging once again.
Before I go, however, just want to give you all a quick link for my new web store: RTJmomGreetings I would just be delighted if you stopped by and looked at what I have to offer.

A few challenges for this card:

1. Craft Your Passion: Anything Goes
2. Creative Mondays: Anything Goes
3. Make my Monday: Spring Flowers
4. The Pink Elephant: Layers