Geometric Gelli Print Card

Hi All!!

Just a quick post tonight.  Our day was spent in HORRIBLY HOT, HUMID weather (with included a downpour) while watching the Oldest Kiddo play flag football.  While I only watched from the sidelines, I am drained!! LOL! How these kids can play 2-3 games in this type of weather is beyond me!!

I realized while looking through the cards I have yet to post (YES!! Believe it or not, I'm actually behind in my postings!! You might want to look out your window to see if pigs are flying!) I realized that all the cards that I have shared lately have been birthday cards.  While one can never have too many birthday cards on hand, I find it a bit sad that my creativity of late has been dictated by need versus free flow creativity.

It is what it is.

Another quick card needed for yet another teen boy.  Pulled out my Possibility File (experiments that might have potential)  and found a few similar Gelli plate prints that I die cut into various square sizes.  A few snips, fussing over the placement and Wah-La!! Card was done.

Can I just say that the money I spent on the two sentiment dies from Cottage Cutz was just about the best investment I have made in a long time?!!! I am going to wear these dies out!!

Sorry for the lack of chatting, I need to get the cattle prod out for two Kiddos (and The Toad) who are busy talking about the games today instead of focusing on homework that needs to be done NOW. 

'Till next time................

A 5 Minute Card

Happy Wednesday!!  I've been trying to find the time to post since the weekend, but with the kiddo's now in school full time, time has been spent getting back into the groove of after school sport practices and then directing the focus on homework.

This card was literally a 5 minute card to put together.  Inspiration seemed to have left the building so when another teen boy card was needed at the last minute I went through the pile (quite sadly, that is a literal description) on my desk and came up with this rejected background that was made while I was playing with the stamping with embossing folders technique.   On this particular piece, I believe (ahem.  I am a TERRIBLE detail blogger lately!! I'm guessing here as to what I did!!) I used the Distress Stains again, but this time I actually ran the embossing folder through my Big Shot to emboss the image.  The stains seemed to dissipate, leaving a more blotchy, random look.  I grabbed the piece, trimmed and then using my "old style" label maker, punched out the sentiment and used the mini stapler to add a little extra to the simplicity of the piece.

For the LIFE OF ME, I cannot get a decent photo when I use this label maker!! I don't know if it is the shine of the tape, the shine and combination of the raised lettering, but my camera just can't seem to focus on the whole picture!  Apologies, but hopefully, you get the gist of the idea!!

A splash of color.  Embossed, raised background.  A simple sentiment/embellishment combination. A quick card but for a young teen who was probably more interested in the gift card inside.  Works for me!!  Maybe I should call this reality stamping, LOL!

A 5 minute card and a 5 minute post!!  Laundry and Back to School Night on the agenda now!!

'Till next time...................remember that some times rejections can lead to other opportunities!!

Embossing with Distress Stains

Hey People!!  Can you believe it is the middle of August already?!!  This past week has been dedicated to trying to get this house under some type of order before the Kiddos start back to school next week.  Needless to say, I didn't get as much accomplished as I had hoped, but a couple of steps in the right direction will make the To Do List a bit easier to manage, I hope!!

I am sharing yet another card that uses the stamping with embossing folders technique  that I have used on the last three cards I have shared. On this particular card, I used Distress Stains instead of paint for my background medium.  I also went for a more masculine look, which, if I do say so myself, turned out quite well!

Due to an unfortunate idea gone horribly wrong, I was left with only a portion of my original stained print. I made the best of what I had left and went for a minimalist look.   Rather than leave the panel whole, I cut it into strips to break up the pattern just a bit.  The dies are from Cottage Cutz.  Clean and simple and perfect for a masculine card!!

I apologize for the slightly blurred picture.  Once again, my last minute photo sessions and not downloading immediately to check out the outcome has become my nemesis. 

That's it for me today. I have two cards that need to be made tonight; one for a teenage boy and a baby shower card.  No time to chit chat as one is needed by tomorrow afternoon and the other Monday afternoon.  One would think that I would quit this procrastination creating, LOL!! 

'Till next time...........................

LOOK!! More Butterflies!!

Hello there!!  It's been a bit longer than I had planned between posts, despite the fact that I actually have a couple of cards that I have made and need to share.  Ahhhh!! The joys of being busy!! 

After my last card, it would appear that I had a rough time branching out from the butterfly genre.  I needed another teen card for a young lady mere days following the panic creating for the last birthday celebrations. Those creations can be found here and here, for those of you who may wish to refresh your memories or get a gander for the first time.  

I usually try to create cards that are not overly "girly" for the fairer peeps of my boys, as I would rather they not be embarrassed to give the cards.  

Not to mention that if one is going to embarrass their children, one should be able to see them squirm, am I right?!!

Despite my best efforts this card turned out to be a bit more "girly" than I was aiming for. BUT!! I used the last of my scraps from the papers made for the previous two cards and I got the card done fairly quickly, which in itself, is rather a miracle.

I apologize for the poor lighting of this card.  I took the pictures just before leaving to take the youngest kiddo to the party and didn't have time to download to make sure I had something presentable. You will just have to use some of your creativity to "lighten" the card to a brighter shade!!

As I said, the making of this was fairly simple.  I dug through my hoard and found a box of Glimmer Mist Masks and spritzed with a combination of light pink shades of Glimmer Mists. 

Would someone PLEASE let me know why I even own PINK Glimmer Mists?!!! It is driving me crazy as to why I would have purchased these colors!! But, apparently, I'm using them, so maybe I'm more of a "pink" type of gal than I want to acknowledge! 

The butterflies were die cut using a Tim Holtz die and a Martha Steward punch.  A bit of bling for the bodies.  Stamped the sentiment, adhered the butterflies with rolled glue dots down the center of their bodies so that the wings could be bent and popped up for "flight".  The front panel was cut slightly smaller than the card base and popped up with some dimensionals.

Easy peasy.  

I promise that my next couple of cards will NOT have butterflies, LOL!! In fact, I'd say they are at the opposite end of that spectrum!  

'Till next time................................

Winged Birthday Wishes

Hey there!! Today I thought I would share the second card I made using the same background technique I shared in my last post  but in a different way.  If you followed the link to the video of the technique  you will recall that it was recommended to use water color paper for the background. Call me a rebel a curious soul, but I wanted to see how the technique looked on different papers.  I used a heavier paper, (sorry, I think it was from Walmart.  I no longer have the info on it as it was a NEED STURDY PAPER NOW purchase and I was willy nilly in throwing away the information), along with the water color paper to compare the outcomes.

Recommendations are a good thing.  I liked the outcome of the technique better on the water color paper.  Much crisper image, but if you are looking for a more "water colored" or slightly more imperfect image, try it on card stock.  I'd be interested to see how the images compare from heavier weight to lighter weight card stock too.

Anyhoos!! I decided to use the results from the card stock paper with some punches.

I wanted a very light background paper as the butterflies added quite a bit of pattern on their own.  Again, the card size is a bit larger, 5x5.5" (?).  And I have NO IDEA what retired paper pack I used from my stash on this card as I had pulled out just about every pad I own trying to find a subtle background that wouldn't  distract from the butterflies.  Geesh.  I'm really slipping.  Obviously I'm not pushing any specific products, LOL!! I'm quickly becoming the antithesis of a design team member!!  I DO know that the punches are a combination of Tim Holtz, Martha Stewart and retired Spellbinders.  And the sentiment is retired SU.  Inks are the same as the last card: 

Distress Paints in Fired Brick, Spiced Marmalade and Wild Honey.  A mixture of Glimmer Mist Pearl and Luminarte Radiant Rain Pearl Blue. Embossing folder Sizzix Tropical Paisley.

I tried to get a photo of the shimmer on these winged wishes, but I couldn't capture the subtle shimmer. 

More shimmer to come!!

'Till next time.........................I hope you have a fabulous and creative week!! 

Creative Brain Strains

Hey there Peoples!!  I thought I had better pop in before you all assumed I had fallen off the face of the earth!!  Actually, as crazy as life has been around here lately, falling off might be a much needed little vacation! haha!

Creativity lately has been sorting through HUNDREDS (literally) of pictures I have taken of the girls and boys varsity basketball teams this season and editing photos for collages for the coaches and seniors.  It continues to amaze me how many BAD photos I take, LOL!!  I need to take about a million more pictures to figure out my camera settings for the awful lighting in gyms and action shots.

Last weekend I did find the need to create a card for another one of the Oldest Kiddo's classmates. Yes, I said last weekend.  It's been one of THOSE weeks.  

Did I mention that it was for a young lady?

Did you know that  lack of creating + having to make a girly card that isn't too girly for a teen age boy to feel comfortable in giving = major creative brain strain?!!

Despite my incredibly rusty wheels, I managed to get the card done before the Oldest Kiddo needed to leave for his party.  I began by pulling out my Chevron stencil and taping off so that I'd only ink a designated portion onto my card front.  I was trying for an ombre look, so I used a combination of blue and green Distress Inks.

Then I dug out some Pink Paislee, Coffee Filter Words by Christy Tomlinson and die cut several flower layers.  A little sponging of ink, a blingy center brad and a sentiment stamp and I called 'er done.   And yes, it is beyond pathetic how long it took me to get this accomplished.  Seriously People, I spent more time trying to figure out an idea than the actual making of the card took.  Pathetic.  That's all I can say.  Pathetic.  

I should take this moment to apologize for the less than stellar lighting of this card.  I finally finished making the card after dark and was just too dang tired (and lazy) to dig out my photo tent and lights.  Trust me.  I won't let that happen again.  

A little side note:  when I showed the Oldest Kiddo the card (after struggling with it for quite a while) he didn't look that thrilled.  When I questioned further, his response was "Would it be really hard to change the colors to purple and gold?  The party is a combination birthday/Superbowl party and her favorite team is the Vikings.

Uhhhh.  Sooooo not happening Kiddo!! 

That's about it for me today.  I've actually have another project sitting on my desk as I type, just waiting for me to finish up.  Hopefully, I'll have that up and posted before the month's end, LOL!!

'Till next time!!

Birthday Vine

Hello there Peoples!!  I hope you had a wonderful Day of Thanksgiving yesterday!! I actually spread out Thanksgiving over the past week.  Youngest Kiddo and I went back to Colorado and spent 4 days with family.  Got home late Monday night, and have been trying to play catch up since!!

I missed my chance to say "Thanks" to those of you who stop in, browse and comment. But, I believe it is never too late to say "Thanks" so please know that I appreciate each and every one of you who do take the time from your busy schedules to visit this little ol' blog!!

Today's card is the last of the cards I made a few weekends back.  I'd like to say that I got out of my stuck in a rut, stuck in a rut layout, but alas!  I'm afraid that this layout is just a CAS (clean and simple) version of cards One and Two!!

Details:  card base is Gina K's Pure Luxury Ivory, 5.5" square.  Design Paper is My Mind's Eye Madison Avenue that was sponged along the edges with Distress Ink in Vintage Photo.  The flourish is Sizzix Flourish 2, that was die cut from SU Chocolate Chip and spritzed with various Glimmer Mists (sorry, it was a grab and spray type of thing and I forgot to note which ones I grabbed and sprayed!!).  The little flower petals were punched from an old SU punch (has 3 little flowers on in).  I sponged slightly in the middle with a Q-tip with Distress Ink Warm Lipstick and shaped with a stylus and mouse pad.  The little 1/2 self adhesive pearls are from my stash. The sentiment is from SU's retired stamp set It's Your Birthday and was stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa. 

That's about it for me today!! I have the goal of starting to put out my Christmas decorations this weekend and need to do some preparation cleaning first!!

'Till next time.............................

Gelli Circles

Yesterday I was needing to make a card for a 13 y/o boy's birthday.  I had a very CAS (clean and simple) idea floating in my head and was certain that making the card would be quick and easy.

Don't you just hate when reality decides that you need to be brought back down to earth?!

First, I discovered that I didn't have the correct sized sentiment stamp for the visual impact that I was wanting to achieve.  Then I wasted  spent an absurd amount of time going through my stash of junk supplies trying to find something else that might make the original idea still a possibility. 

The good news: I "found" lots of supplies that I had forgotten I had and look forward to pulling them out and playing with them!

The bad news:  I own NO SUPPLIES to make teenage boy cards. 

Okay.  That was a lie.  But, keep in mind that I was on a time deadline to get the card done in just a short amount of time so that the Youngest Kiddo could give it to his friend after school let out. And Fridays are always half days.  Time was a tickin' !!!

I had just come to the conclusion that I had forgotten how to make cards, specifically cards for young teenage boys, when inspiration hit while thumbing through my file of "possibilities" (the file that I keep of technique prints that didn't make the cut for some project, but I liked enough to file for another day). 

Ahhhh!! I so love it when an idea comes together!!

I pulled out a bright "fall" colored Gelli Print and actually garnered up the nerve to cut it into circles using a variety of sizes of Spellbinders Classic Circles.

Then it was a matter of arranging, rearranging and just commit already! 

I debated on the sentiment for quite a while.  I REALLY  liked the card front without it and thought about just stamping the sentiment inside. But, somewhere I got this ridiculous notion that a card HAS to have a sentiment on the outside.  

I need to get over that.

Luckily, the different height of the circle layer on the base layer only caused a little blip with the stamping of the sentiment.  It rather annoys me, but I highly doubt that the birthday boy will even notice it!!

Geometric shapes with the slight patterns of a Gelli Print.  PERFECT combination for those cards needed for teen boys!! 

'Till next time.............. 

Splattered Birthday

One of my goals for this year is to actually use the supplies I already have in my overwhelming stash versus buying the newest version that has come out.  I have to say that overall I have been successful, but it does require some serious pondering when one has an inspiration but lacks the supplies to accomplish the look.

I needed a card for a 12 y/o boy this past weekend and really liked this card by Heather Campbell.   I lack owning any "splattered" stamps or stencils.  I experimented with some alcohol inks and Distress Ink refills and a can of compressed air (the type you use to clean off your computer keyboard).  I finally settled on the Distress Ink splattered look.

I dropped Distress Reinkers in Tumbled Glass, Shabby Shutters and Barn Door onto Pure Luxury card stock and "splattered" by spraying the drops with the compressed air. I then wet a small paint brush with water and dipped it into another drop of Barn Door reinker and tapped it against my hand to get the smaller splatters. Stamped the sentiment (from SU's retired It's Your Birthday) using Archival Jet Black ink. Rounded the corners using a punch and matted onto a scrap of Riding Hood Red paper.  Base is Pure Luxury.

Clean, simple and quick!! Can't complain about that! LOL!

That's about it for me today!! I am seriously behind in my mile challenge with my cousins so I need to crank out the miles this week!  School starts the end of next week and there are about a million little chores to get done before the big day!!  Oh! Some days I seriously need a clone!

'Till next time.................

The Process of Creating

The Oldest Kiddo has been invited to a classmate's 16th birthday bash this weekend, which resulted in a swift kick in the rear to clear off enough space on my desk to make a card.  To make it more of a challenge, the party is in honor of a lovely young lady.  

Eeeaaak.  A sweet 16 card that can't be so girly that my son is uncomfortable in giving her the card.  

During the process of creating this card, I made an enlightening discovery.

It is now understandable as to how I can take HOURS creating a simple card and have a huge mess made in the process.

I thought I share just a teeny tiny behind the scene look as to how my brain functions when I create. I will spare you the complete process, as I'd hate to put anyone's creative mojo into shock.

The Sweet 16 celebration is to take place at the beach and the invitation had a wonderful color combination of soft sea green and a blue/teal, which I used as my starting point.  Went through all my "beach" stamps and decided that they were either too cutesy or not what I envisioned for a 16 year old.  Pulled out a couple of old SU retired stamps and had the idea to go a bit more trendy with a more geometric type look.

I then pulled out some distress inks and smooshed (technical term) them randomly on my craft sheet and spritzed with some glimmer mist.

Nope. Didn't like the look today.

Then I took Glimmer Mists in Honey Dew and Patina and spritzed on my craft sheet.  Smooshed (that technical term again) my paper in the mist and came up with a background that I liked.

PERFECT soft, sea foam look I was going for!! 

Then I stamped the sketchy circles from SU's retired So Much set using Memento Rich Cocoa ink.  Added the circle dot stamp with Distressed Tumbled Glass.

And here is the final project

Did your head spin 360 degrees?!!

Yeah.  This is how my brain works.  I start out with one idea, then I go off on a completely different path!  

After I got the first basic background done, I die cut the numbers and wasn't feeling the groove. Dragged out several different paper packs and nothing was bringing that background to life. Mind you, this is after cutting SEVERAL different colors of card stock for the base and matting layer thinking that would help the creative flow.  Nothing was flipping that "OH YEAH" trigger.  I think the background had turned out too grungy or masculine for this particular young lady.  So, I started messing with different ideas on scratch paper (I'm a slow learner). I liked the sketchy circle, I just had to find a way to use it in a more feminine way.  Finally, the idea to use SU markers in Rose Red and Old Olive randomly on the stamp clicked with the die cut numbers. First tried making the flower in a solid red, but didn't like that.  Went with the basic white with a bit of Rose Red sponging on the edges.  Stamped the sentiment in Old Olive, cut the flag banner by hand and sponged the edges and curled it.  Got everything all layered for Oldest Kiddo's approval before final taping was done.

Oldest Kiddo;"Oh. That's cool. Thanks Mom."

Showed him the original background.

Oldest Kiddo; makes weird face. "Nah. I don't like that one as much. It doesn't fit *L and I think it is too busy.  I like the white better."

Smacking my head.

Details:  Card base and white layers:  Gina K pure luxury card stock. DP:  Basic Grey Sweet Threads. Stamps:  SU (retired) So Much and Celebrate Everything. Inks:  SU Rose Red, Old Olive.  Dies:  Spellbinder's/Donna Salazar Rose Creations.  Tim Holtz/Sizzix Word Play.  

'Till next time.........let the creative path lead where it may!

Round and Round...

.....the hands on the clock continue to fly! OH MY!!

The household is still adjusting to adding another teenager to the mix.  Funny, the Newest Kiddo drives himself to school, does his own laundry, makes his own lunches, but, yet, there is more time spent going grocery shopping, following up on school work, going grocery shopping, following up on whereabouts, going grocery shopping, following up with teacher's, going grocery shopping.

Not to mention more friends hanging out after school on Friday's.  Which is fun.  And noisy.

I still haven't gotten my crafting area set up.  I have SO MUCH JUNK  craft supplies that need to be gone through, purged, or boxed up to be given away. The thought is rather overwhelming, and so, I look for any little distraction to keep procrastinating facing the task full on.  I just keep picking at it instead.  Yes, continue to stay tuned.  I'm thinking big ol' blog candy boxes are going to be hitting the post office soon.  

And no crafting area means no creating.  BUT! Lucky, lucky you!  I have a card I made just prior to the Christmas holidays to share today.

It would appear that all teenage birthday celebrations are to be last minute. And since this particular celebration happened two days before I hosted Christmas Eve dinner for the family, quick, clean and simple were the only options for the makings of this card.

Basic details:  Top fold 4.25x5.5" Pure Luxury card base.  TenSecond Studios Peacock metal embossed with embossing folder.  Burnished off the color of the metal on the raised portions.  Adhered to base with TSS Humungo tape.  Stamped the sentiment from a retired SU set.  Slapped an iTunes gift card on the inside and sent the Oldest Kiddo off to the party!!

While this card was made for a teenage boy, switching out the metal color, maybe adding a little bling on the sentiment flag and wahla!! Teenage girl card!!

Okay. I am going to FORCE myself to face the pile of crap craft supplies for at least an hour.  

Or, maybe I'll go exercise, clean the kitchen, mop floors instead.

hehe

'Till next time...................

Christmas Joy

It's raining here in Southern California.  No snowflakes falling for Christmas Eve.  While I'd like just a light dusting of the white stuff just for today and tomorrow, I'm perfectly satisfied without the cold temps and dealing with the white fluff otherwise!!

So, today I'm sharing a very simple wish of Christmas Joy.  However you celebrate this season, I wish you Joy.

Basic details:  Base Gina K's Pure Luxury White.  DP:  BoBunny.  Spellbinder's Create a Flake One.  Metal:  Ten Second Studios.  Sentiment:  stickers from my stash.  

Until next time..............

Chocolate Rose

OOOOO!! I'm doing good!  I have managed to get another card done today before the month has past, LOL!!

Seriously, I do consider this an accomplishment, considering my incredibly overbooked calendar!!

I needed to make a dear friend a birthday card.  I had an inspiration piece in my mind and thought I had mapped out exactly how the card was going to look.

Does anyone else experience the artistic curve ball of having your perfectly thought out idea totally fail? I actually experience this creative detour more often than not. And while I usually don't mind this creative detour, I happened to have just a teeny tiny time crunch staring me in the face.

As in I was down to a total of about 45 minutes to come up with Plan B, get into the shower, get somewhat presentable and head out the door.

I stuck with my color inspiration and desire to use metal.  I had to forgo the original focal point idea (had to do with various swirls and such) and went with Plan B to go to my basic card layout of late with a flower focal point.  

Sigh.  Sometimes you just have to stick with the tried and true!

Basic details:  Metal is from TenSecond Studios in Dark Chocolate and Peacock.  I cut a strip of the Peacock and scored with my Scor-Buddy.  Adhered to the card with Scor-tape.  The rose was die cut with Donna Salazar's/Spellbinders Create a Rose.  Embossed with Spellbinder's M-bossabilities Ornamental Iron.  Sanded off the raised portion to expose the aluminium.  The same steps that can be see in this Black Metal Rose post.    The swirls and leaves were die cut from more of the Dark Chocolate Metal using Spellbinder's Doodle Parts and the leaves from the Create a Rose set.  The rose was adhered together with a hot glue gun for time's sake.   The sentiment stamped and I called her "good enough"!

This is the last week of school before the Christmas break.  I have about a million things that need to be completed but am hoping to get at least a half dozen completed, LOL!! 

'Till then................

A Trio of Thanks

Life continues to travel at warp speed around here.  Creativity has been along the lines of making Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle costumes out of paper bags and 12 x 12 sheets of colored paper (for the "6 pack abs, shell and masks).  And the making of the belt, initial monogram and shirt stripes for Batman's sidekick, Robin.

And let's not forget the making of Hawkeye's (Advengers) forearm protector and arrows and what ever that thingamajig that holds the arrows on his back is called.  

All made by the request of Oldest Kiddo, who is the President of his class, so that his class could get as many as possible spirit  points on "Super Hero Day".

 I'm pretty much a sucker for my Kiddo's requests.

In the kitchen, I've been adapting and trying out some new vegetarian and even some vegan recipes, in the attempt to get the proclaimed carnivore males in my family to eat more veggies and adapt to a more healthy lifestyle attitude towards a plant based diet.  There have been some new recipes that have gotten the approval to be in the meal rotation.  And some recipes that need some "tweaking" to fit our taste bud's preferences.

And, of course, there are those recipes, that while they were edible, were deemed, "Thanks, but we can skip this one from now on". 

Notice how I haven't mentioned the creating of cards, paintings, mixed media projects?  Yeah.  Well, ummm.  It would seem that particular creativity is still basically non existent in my craft area.  The only showing I have is the CAS (clean and simple) Thank You cards that I HAD to make for the Youngest Kiddo's birthday.

Did I mention that said birthday was LAST MONTH?

Insert large, audible sigh here_____________________________.

I did notice a possible hint that Mojo may be thinking about moving home again.

Mind you, it was just a hint.  A little, tiny, teeny hint.  

I started with this very CAS card and was over all pleased with the layout, considering the lack of desire to create the cards in the first place.

I then mass produced all the required pieces and walked away to make dinner.  An Asparagus and red bell  pepper Quiche with a spaghetti squash "crust".  It made the rotation list.  Sorry, I digress.  When I came back to assemble the cards, I just happened to place my three pieces in such a way that I was inspired to make this version:

Then, I switched the order around and made version 3. 

All three versions together:

click on picture to enlarge

Which one is your favorite version?  Let me know! After your comments, I'll let you know which one the Toad voted on to finish the mass production of the thank yous.

Basic Details:  Card base is SU's Mellow Moss.  Flags are made from the last piece of dp that I found at my LSS and forgot to look at the company before slicing into strips.  Oooops.  The matting layer is faux.  I used a dark green Copic marker to outline each flag.  The sentiment is from Cuttlebug's Olivia alphabet.  

And is it just me, or does each and every one of these stinkin' photos looked blurry?!  Sigh.  I'm telling you, I don't even have the gumption to retake all the photos again.  Sorry folks.  I need to have a heart to heart talk to mojo and get back on track.  Or, at least parallel to the track!!

Ok! I'm off to finish unpacking from a weekend away with the Oldest Kiddo and his Cross Country team.  Tomorrow brings an all day field trip with Youngest Kiddo to see an exhibit on Cleopatra.  

Hmmm.  Wonder if mojo is hiding in Cleo's box of jewels?

'Till next time.....

Using Maps

I get lost easily.  I absolutely have NO sense of direction.  While a college student, my "friends" would find it funny to lead me out a different door from the many buildings on campus and watch me try to figure out which way I needed to go.  

I swear I am the only person who can get lost while using a GPS.

But despite the fact that I have no idea where I am going (in more ways than one!), I have gotten better at knowing the general direction in which to head.

But I still print out maps and try to follow someone else if I possibly can.

I continue to be lost as far as having any "original" ideas for creating.  It is what it is.  Life is just too busy right now and I can't seem to push myself to explore a new direction.  I'm not really fretting over it.  I know the general direction that I would like to go. I just have to figure out which doorway I'm starting at.

In the mean time, I'm not above using what "maps" I can find to help me on my way.  I needed a birthday card for The Toad's grandfather and wanted something simple, as in, requiring very little thinking on my part!
I found this sketch from an old SCS sketch challenge (June 7, 2011) and it got me to a CAS finished project in time for the family celebration.

click on photo for larger image

Basic details:  Base is Pure Luxury Ivory, 5.5" square.  Timepiece Collection design paper from Bo Bunny. Some sponging along the edges with Distress Gathered Twigs.  Sentiment is oooold SU Warmest Regards stamped with SU's Cranberry Crisp ink.  After I took this photo and was editing, I decided that the card needed three more self adhesive black pearls under the "Happy" to balance the card better.  Just use your imagination on that.  I literally applied the extra pearls as I was putting the card in the envelope while walking out the door! LOL!

That's it for me today! I'm trying to take advantage of a rare day off from work to tackle the laundry and find my kitchen counters!!

'Till next time........remember there is no shame in using a map to reach your destination!!

Camouflage

Can you believe it?!  It's been less than a week (okay, I admit it, I'm scrapping the edge on that one!) AND! I'm posting again!!

Quick!  Someone grab the camera just in case pigs are flying!

ANYHOOS!  After surviving the traumatic ordeal of making a teenage GIRL card, I was able to get back into a more comfortable creative zone.  I needed to make a card for the youngest kiddo's birthday.

Now, while I am more at ease in making masculine cards, here is the reality check that I am dealing with lately; it would seem that my kiddo's and their friends are getting into a "rut" as to what their interests are.  When they were younger, each year was a different interest:  the latest action hero, DS (remember those?! snort), wild animals, race cars, Bionicles, etc.  Now, it is narrowed down to guitars/music, basketball, cross country with a bit of Air Soft thrown in for the oldest and basketball, Air Soft and Xbox for the youngest. Problem is, I have already made cards with those interests for a couple of years running now!  EEAAAKKK!  People!  There are only so many "YOU ROCK" cards one can make for the same kid!! LOL!

Since the Youngest Kiddo was receiving a new Air Soft gun for his birthday, I went with a "Commando/military" theme.  I pretty sure I still had some left over camouflage design paper left over from a previous project. Turned out I was sadly mistaken.  So, I pulled out a pale green paper, that I think might possibly be some old SU Mellow Moss, some Copic markers, a picture from the Internet of Camouflage patterns and made my own.

remember: you can always click on the picture for a larger view. 

Disclaimer:  IRL there did NOT appear to be all the streaks from the markers.  I keep staring at this picture, stare at the card, shake my head and just let out a sigh.  

The HARDEST part of this card is the dog tag.  I have had these dog tags in my stash for evah!!!  O...M...G!!! Pulled out the Stazon ink, found the Happy Birthday stamp in my forgotten stash of PTI (I only own a few sets from when PTI first started producing stamps...this is from the Borders and Corners, Rectangles set) and LITERALLY stamped the image AT LEAST  20 times before I got a half way decent impression.  I don't know if it was because I was trying to use a clear stamp and Stazon on the slick surface or what. I would either smudge the impression by slipping when putting pressure on the stamp or the stamp would stick, and I mean STICK to the tag and when gently pulled off, and would pull the ink off too, leaving a wonderful HUGE blotch, larger than the SMALL blotch I finally settled for!! I finally decided that this is a "worn out tag", applied the chain, strategically placed rolled glue dots to hold it in place and called the thing DONE!!  Originally, I had planned on stamping another tag with the Youngest Kiddo's initials and add it to the chain that he could then wear.  Uhhhh. NO.  After trying to get this ONE image stamped somewhat decently, I decided that this was IT!!  

Basic details:  Card base from SU's Chocolate Chip cut to 5.5" square.  Basic black mat.  Custom camouflage paper.  Tag, from stash.  Stamp: PTI (I don't know if they even sell this set anymore...it was THAT long ago I bought it!!)

That's about it for me today!! I actually made another card last weekend too!! I'll pop that up here in a day or so.  I'm dragging out the posts as long as I can, LOL! 

'Till then..............enjoy some creativity this weekend!!

Rock Star

It would seem that my creativity is on an extended vacation. It has happened in the past so I know the duration of it's absence can vary from a few days to several months.  I'm a bit fearful that this round might be leaning towards the latter!

Unfortunately, the call to create reared it's ugly head despite the fact that notification was given that creativity is currently not available.  The Youngest Kiddo was invited to a classmates birthday party later this afternoon (Yes, I know.  Once again, I am trying to create with no mojo at the last minute!). I will also admit, that due to the severe lack of creativity, I once again considered buying a card.

And I wouldn't have felt any guilt.

But, I didn't.  All because of artistic ego.

You see, Youngest Kiddo has been attending this classmate's birthday parties for several years.  And every year I have made the birthday card that reflected the birthday theme for that year (as indicated by the homemade invitation and excited verbal updates by the birthday kiddo).  Last year, the creative mother told me that she always looks for the Youngest Kiddo's card because she knows it is homemade with the theme so she SAVES the card in her son's scrapbook.

Talk about pressure!

I'm not sure that this year's card meets the expectations that I have now exaggerated to myself.  I like the design concept in theory, but not sure the final outcome is what I had hoped for. It's close, just not quite there.

I recommend clicking on the photo for a larger view.  On my computer, the larger view IS in focus!

But, I'm not tweeking it.  This is the SECOND card made as the first had the misfortune of having the re positional stamp fall off the stamp block on the very last image being stamped, resulting in a wonderful blur of ink.  **Helpful tip:  if you are using a re positional stamp multiple times and cleaning the ink between each stamped image, I HIGHLY recommend that you check to make sure that the moisture from the cleaning did not loosen the bond of stamp to block.  Just sayin'. 

Basic creative (ha!) details:  Base: Gina K's Pure Luxury white, top fold.  Stamps are also from Gina K/Tami Mayberry Live Life Loud.  Distress Ink in Broken China and Peeled Paint were randomly applied to the stamp to create the mottled/tie die look.  The same inks were used to create the Wrinkle Free distress background, misted with Tattered Angel's Glimmer Mist Pearl.  The sentiment (same stamp set) was stamped with Distress Ink Gathered Twigs.  The sentiment was die cut and embossed with Spellbinders Label 12 and sponged along the edge with Broken China distress ink.  The sentiment was adhered using dimensionals.

That's about it for me today!  I'm trying to get motivated to tackle going through my craft area and PURGING, since creativity is out of town. I just finished the kitchen purge and am hoping that motivation doesn't decide to take a vacation too!!

'Till next time..................

16 Attempts......

.....for a very basic CAS (clean and simple) card is a sure sign that MoJo has left the house!

I know it has been a while since I've last posted.  Our smaller office is growing (a good thing), requiring me to work almost every day (both good and bad.  Good in that work has picked up, bad in that work has picked up, not allowing me any free time!!).  During this busy time, I've made an important discovery.  My MoJo does not do well with stress!!  In addition to the stress of work and having our charting system crash (which means I'm not able to get ANY of my paperwork done!!), by the time I get off work, drive an hour to watch the Oldest Kiddo play in summer league basketball, drive home, throw in a load of laundry, throw a basic dinner together, spend some time with the family,  I not only have no energy to attempt creating, I also have no desire to create.

That, my blog friends, is NOT a good thing for someone who needs to create for her self preservation!!

16 ATTEMPTS it took to come up with this card.  I'll spare you the details of the other attempts.  Let's just say that the idea in my head looked better there than it did on paper!!

And I'm still not thrilled with it, but since I still needed to make thank you cards for the Oldest Kiddo to send out from his birthday IN MAY, I had to accept what is, is!!  I don't think that birthday's are given the same grace period of sending out thanks as weddings are!!

Basics:  Top fold 4.25x5.5" Pure Luxury White.  The "Thanks" stamp is one I have had close to 15 years!"  The "You Rock" sentiment is from Tami Mayberry's "Live Life Loud" set. Both were stamped using my stampamajig and Distress Peeled Paint Ink.

The flourish is from SU's "Extreme Elements".  I first inked in Peeled paint, stamped off then inked in Distress Tumbled Glass.  I didn't  worry about contaminating my stamp pad.  After I finished all the cards, I smooshed my Tumbled Glass ink pad onto a scrap piece of paper until the green tint mostly disappeared.  A little hint of green doesn't bother me!!

Posting will be scarce for a while I'm afraid.  I'm covering full time next week for a vacationing therapist. Did I mention that our charting system crashed?!  Not sure how long it will be before we have something new in place.  Which means at some point and time I will be required to take all my hand written notes and re enter them in the electronic system....grrrrrr.

In addition, I NEED to start cleaning out my crafting area.  I use the spare bedroom as my creative area/office/junk room.  Come August, it looks like we will have one of the students from the school living with us.  As of right now, he does not even have room in this mess to put a bed! LOL!  Stay tuned for the chance to win some boxes of free goodies!  I have got to downsize MAJORLY!

'Till next time....if you find my MoJo, would you please give her a message?  Tell her I'm sorry life has been so busy, but if she'll come home, I PROMISE to make some creative time!!

Rockin' the Blues

Hey there People! Are you sitting down?  Yes, it's true!  I'm back with another post today!  Geesh! Is this the third post in 6 days?!  I highly recommend grabbing your cameras and heading outside.  Pigs are very likely flying right now!!

*****

Before I get to my card for today, I'd like to take this moment to thank all the men, women and families that have sacrificed so much for this country.  They are the ONLY reason we have the all these freedoms that we tend to take for granted. There are not enough words so I will stick to a simple THANKS for all that you have given to the rest of us. 

*****

This has been a crazy busy weekend for us!  In addition to the 90th birthday celebration, we also have the family celebration for the Oldest Kiddo, for which I am pretty much expected to make a card for!  His actual birthday is later this week, but bummer for him, it falls right smack dab in the middle of finals and then he has to help with graduation duties as an underclassman next weekend.  This just seemed like the better weekend to try and pull off the family party and we'll figure out a better time to plan a get together with his friends later.

This was actually a fairly quick card to put together once I came up with the idea. That was the kicker.  Coming up with the idea.  Making cards for teenage boys is very hard when their interests don't change much over the last couple of years!  I want the card to be relevant  , but not the same o, same o!!  I found my inspiration from this card of Susan's.  I liked the simplicity of only two colors and the grungy genre.   I think it took me maybe 10 minutes total, and that would include having to re stamp the entire card.  It would seem that somebody pulled a lazy stamper moment and did not stamp off or even pretend to clean the sentiment stamp the last time she used it.  This resulted in a completely different shade of color on the almost completed card.  

Basic details:  One layer card, top fold from Pure Luxury White.  Lightly inked the splatter stamp from SU's Extreme Elements with Distress Tumbled glass.  Stamped SU's Extreme Guitar with Distress Broken China and added a bit of shading with Copics.  The stars are from Extreme Elements stamped with Distress Peeled Paint.  The sentiment and the other grunge element is from Tami Mayberry's Live Life Loud set and were also stamped with Distress Peeled Paint. 

It would seem that I REALLY need to address the after effects of the creative tornado that has gone through this room over the last few weeks!  Mojo is finding it very hard to even think in this mess!  

'Till then, enjoy the simplicity of creating!!

Have you ever.....

....made a card and wished you could make it for another purpose?

Happy Hump Day!!  Seriously, how do the weeks fly by so quickly?!!  The end of May is like tomorrow. Slight exaggeration, but you know what  I mean!!

 I was asked to make our marketing gal's birthday card this week.  Which is fine, except, I always feel just a tad bit of pressure when making her a card as she enjoys paper crafting also.  I know that she appreciates the time and effort that goes into a homemade card, but, at the same time, I feel that I need to bring my "A" game to the creative process.

This is usually when Ms. Mojo hits the road.

I really had no creative gears grinding this morning so I started cruising various blogs for ideas/sketches, and as a result of the amount of blogs that I looked at, I'm afraid that I have no idea where I got the idea for this layout.  I believe it was from Jennifer Mcguire's blog.  If I'm wrong, and I got it from your blog, I apologize!!

Anyhoos!!  I really like how this card turned out.  And there lies my quandary.  I wish I could use it to make my mother in law's mother's day card!

And yes, I could make another card using the same layout.  But I have already pushed my self imposed rules of creativity by CASEing the layout of this card.  

Ridiculous?  Yes.  But, that would seem to fit the space for my middle name!

I bet you would like me to quit my ramblings and get to the card, huh?

Card base is Gina K's Pure Luxury in Ivory, with the corners rounded with my 1/2" Zutter corner rounder.  The background panel design paper came from Creative Imaginations "Loolah" 6x6 pad that I got in a class kit at CHA.  The DP for the flowers is unknown.  It was in a pile on my desk and I can't figure out what line it came from.  It matches perfectly to the background paper, but that paper is single sided and this paper is double sided. Maybe little elves are leaving me gifts?  I die cut the double sided paper with Spellbinder's/Donna-Salazar's Carnation Creations for the flower and inked the edges with Distress Ink in Warm Lipstick.  Spellbinder's Daisy Heads  leaves were cut from SU's Kiwi Kiss paper and sponged with the same ink (I can't find this die on the Spellbinder site.  It might be retired?). A couple of Maya Road heart trinket pins  were tucked in above the leaves.  A 1/2 self adhesive pearl finishes the center.  

The ribbon is one I found at my LSS (local scrapbook store).  The "Happy Birthday", is retired from SU's Warmest Regards set, and was stamped in Archival Coffee ink on a scrap piece of Ivory card stock and curled to make a wavy banner.  

I now need to figure out a card for my MIL.  If you don't see a new card in the next few days, you will know I caved in and just CASEd this one again!! haha!!

'Till next time.................enjoy some creativity!