Scrap'n Surprise!

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Introducing Sky!

Today my card showcases an adorable little Toread nymph by the name of

"Sky".

She is cute, precocious, and very worldly.

I have visions of her scurrying around from here to there, crossing oceans and forests, without anyone being the wiser...

They may be "mythological" , but just like the unicorns and elves, fairies and gnomes,

do we really, truly believe they never existed?

LOL! I 'd like to think they did, and still do, in some far away corner of the world.

I may only get as far as across this country, but this card will deliver a message of exploration and excitement... well, for me , anyway.

Each and every Toread has its' own personality depending on how each person colors it! Go crazy with your markers and see what you can do!

I had a blast using:

7 Gypsies papers

Alcohol-Based Markers

Stickles

Recollections Brads

Leaf Charm, Blue Moon Beads

Cotton cloth, Dollar Store

Bye!!

Friday, October 12, 2012

Showcasing "Bouquet de Fleur" by DCWV!

My layouts this month

are made with the luscious new stacks from

DCWV

"Bouquet de Fleur",

and, hopefully, demonstrates how very versatile this stack is!

My first page is a very sweet and "girly" layout!

I fussy-cut the pink swirls from the pattern paper.

I wanted to take the elements of the adorable photos and bring them into my colors and embellishments. Hence, the tulle ruffled ribbon, quilt-like squares of pattern papers, and the large purple resin flower. The baby's momma is always saying how quickly the time goes by with her little ones, so I added the sweet, little clockface charm from the

Blue Moon Beads', "Trinket Shoppe" collection.

You can find the papers and the charms at your local Michael's.

The rhinestone swirls are from my Zva stash,

and the white satin flowers I've had for years.

My second layout is a more masculine one

of her older child.

It is so hard for me to look at these photos and not be a little sad...

I babysat this adorable little boy from the time he was 3 months old until he was 16 months old. I shared with him learning to crawl, talk, walk, and felt as close to him as my own grandson.

He is getting so grown-up now. He still calls me "Nanna Jan", and we get together as often as time allows. How I envy my friend (their Momma) being able to stay home with these two precious children. They really are angels!

This stack has so many options, as you can see by these pages.

The plaid lent itself perfectly with the pattern on the tie,

and the green fussy-cut leaves fit well with the outdoor scene,

along with the jute twine and silk leaves.

Again, to add to the "time passing quickly" theme, I hung a small clock face from the same Blue Moon collection on the layout.

I am slowly getting back into scrapbooking the photos that I hold dear to me, and will surely start doing more if I continue to receive gorgeous photos like these on a regular basis! Cards are fun, but the memories that these will preserve are priceless!

Thanks for letting me share with you today!

Now, time to start making your own memories!

And DCWV papers are the best place to begin!

Thursday, October 11, 2012

Birthday Fishes!

Have you ever thought about hanging a tag

UPSIDE DOWN?

I always think of tags as hanging DOWN,

or off from one side...

I wanted the balloon string attached to the tag,

but wanted the tag to "float" UP.

Here's what I came "up" with...

This is the

Skipping Stones Design

sketch that inspired it all:

Flipped it over, and there you go!

Have fun playing!

There are no rules...just things that aren't done as a rule!

This fun little card also entered into the "Birthday" challenge at
By The Cute and Girly blog!

The wheels are turning at DYSU!

This week's challenge at
Do You Stack Up?

Anything with Wheels!

Our wonderful sponsors:

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps

* $10 Gift Certificate

Jelly Park

* Winner's Choice of 10 Digis

Pink Cat Studio

* Winner's Choice of 5 Digis

Here is my card using one of our previous sponsors' images,

CI-325 from Crafty Individuals!

I love the way this stamp heat embosses! Every sweet, tiny detail shows up!

I've found myself needing more masculine cards,

with male friends and family having birthdays and short stays in the hospital.

That's also why this was left without a sentiment.

This way, I can use it for anything!

In case you're wondering, the black metal embellishment is a piece from an old library magazine storage container. I simply cut the corners and edges that contained the metal strips, and then flattened them and sanded slightly. The containers had gotten wet and were in poor shape anyway, so rather than throw them away, I recycled!

A length of mesh or two, some sprockets attached with brads, some ribbon,
and we're done!

Enter to win some fun images of your own!

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Winter Blues

Brrrrr!

It's so easy for me to joke about the freezing weather sitting here in 100 degrees,

but come next Spring, I'll get pleanty of teasing about how I'm sweatin' it out!

The sketch challenge at

Craft's Meow

this week is a terrific one!

And they are taking part in the "Hope You Can Cling To Challenge"

over at SplitcoastStampers!

Of course, it wasn't until I had my sketch card finished that I saw that!

Now I get to make a few more cards during the course of October

for the challenge at Splitcoast!

I haven't had this TCM stamp long, and this is my first chance at inking it up!

"Let it Snow"

And, rather than just straight cutting the edges of my background paper, I chose to

wiggle the scissors around a bit. All it did was make my paper look crooked.

Next time, it's paper cutter only!

Well, I love the little snowman image, and hopefully, that will be the main

focus when a recipient gets this card!

I plan on sending this, along with a few others before the end of the month,

to the MD Anderson Cancer Center.

I plan on going through my box of previously completed cards and throwing those in the package, also.

This is something we can all do to help the cause and clean up all these cards we tend to "accumulate" over time.

If they've been posted before, no reposting and entering the contest with each!

Just remember, this is for the cancer patients!

Thanks for visiting me today,

and please, it's Breast Cancer Awareness month!

Do something to help your fellow BFF's, "breast friends forever"!

~Jan~

Monday, October 8, 2012

Java, anyone?

DCWV

has so many terrific paper stacks,

but this one keeps making it's way into my hot little hands!

I love the shiny, metallic embossed fall pattern

in Autumn Melody!

And the tag sheets in the paper stacks makes throwing together a

card or layout so very quick and easy.

This card is one of my extra-special ones!

It has "Smell-a-vision"!!!

If you saw my earlier post this month, I demonstrated how to infuse the aroma of spices in your projects without burning/distorting them by getting the powders too hot.

This project was done very much the same way,

but I used instant coffee rather than spices.

Stamp your shape or image onto heavy scrap paper.

This time I used kraft cardstock...just happened to be convenient.

I stamped my heart image several times in case I didn't like one combination of chunky embossing powders, glitters, and instant coffee.

Mix the above ingredients, and sprinkle evenly over the paper,
enough to cover the area needed for your cut shapes. (If you can stay within the lines, good! If not, just trim it up after)

I then melted it from the underside, NOT burning my fingers or the paper,

and then after cooling COMPLETELY, I cut out the heart shape that I wanted.

(If you want to see my earlier tutorial featuring pumpkin pie spices, go here.)

After securing my charms to the mug handle with ribbon, I glued down the aromatic heart.

Oh my goodness!

I'm not even much of a coffee drinker, but this smells amazing!

These adorable charms are from Blue Moon Beads, "Trinket Shoppe".

This is sure to get someone's attention when they open the envelope!

This card is also entered into the "Glimmer and Sparkle" challenge at
Simon Says Stamp.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Mischievous little Imp!

HOORAY!

This is a very big day for me!
Remember I said I had a big announcement to make in October! Well, here it is!

Today is my first Design Team post for the

Crafter's Companion

blog!

I am so excited to be a part of their team!

It was my decision this year to make it onto a design team or two that truly inspires me and who carries products that I dearly love!

Well, here I am!

Between the lusciousness of the pattern papers at DCWV,

and the wide range of wonderful images and scrapping products from

Crafter's Companion, I'd say my creative life is complete!

If this release hasn't already captured your heart, it will soon!

These adorable nymphs make any card or project so much fun!

Because I have a grandson, my immediate decision was to use the

only little boy released so far in the collection.

He is sneaky, sweet, and adorable - just like my grandson.

I never know whether to hug him or put him in time out!

Both are usually called for! ;)

Toreads, "Xeru"

I can't wait to send this out!

It's bound to get a response from someone I haven't heard from in a while!

Getting out my markers and coloring this was so much fun!

And because he IS appears a wee bit precocious, I felt the red hair was appropriate

(hey, we've all known a few strong-willed red-headed children!)

I certainly hope you have had fun going through all of the projects this week!

I know I can't wait to grab my markers and start coloring those sweet little nymphs!

And my fun at Crafter's Companion has just begun!

~Jan~

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Three's no crowd here...

This week, JustRite has terrific a new challenge!

"Three's company", meaning you must use three or more coordinating patterns

on your project.

This one I simply couldn't resist.

That and the fact that I have a very limited number of JustRite Stamps, and would love to win some! They have some of the sweetest stamp sets ever!

The ones I love the most are those that coordinate with my Spellbinder dies!

Could a person ask for more?

I am trying to get some Christmas mojo, which is pretty difficult when the temperatures are still over 100 here in Arizona.

I used an OLD Christmas stack from DCWV that isn't from last year,

but the year before!

Talk about pulling out your old stash.

I actually like all the patterns in this stack and have no idea why I still have any of it left. But there it is...

I wanted to give this "postal card" image from "Greetings from Paris" a holiday feel, and decided to go simple.

Just like a card would have been posted years ago.

Things were simpler then..sorry. I regress.

The sentiment is from JustRite's

"Christmas Nested Sentiments", another stash from the past.
(This one I couldn't even find on the store site)

I started out thinking I would layer several elements, and really pile it on,

but then chose to stop while it still looked like a holiday card we would have

received back in the 40's-50's. (No, I wasn't born until the later fifties

so I wouldn't actually remember!)

Hope you enjoyed today's trip down memory lane,

even if they were all someone else's memories.

Live, Laugh, Love!

DCWV

FOREVER AND ALWAYS

This is to be a hand-delivered card, for sure!

I absolutely LOVE black roses.

I don't know why.

I liked them long before the "Twilight" series made vampires and

red and black famous.

Even though this card is orange and black to reflect Autumn colors,

my favorite colors are red and black.

The sentiment is an older Cloud 9 that I've had around forever, as are the roses.

The little orange flowers were a find at the Dollar Store!

Maybe it's me, but I love the simple elegance of this card.

Get your own "Forever and Always" stack at Michael's now!

Friday, October 5, 2012

DCWV goes Neon!

Today my pet project is a

SNACK BOX!

It's so much fun making gifts,

but it's especially fun making gifts for those little people in our lives!

When my grandson, Hayden, comes to visit, we often take little "day trips" to various local attractions. And having a little treat along the way really helps keep a 7 year old in check!

This was so easy to put together!

The FUN neon paper colors from the "Neon Chic" paper stack from

DCWV

will make my little guy happy,

as will the goodies inside!

Don't worry, the apple sauce is all-natural, and the juice low-sugar!

The first thing you need to so is to decide what snacks will be included.

That way, you can cut the circles the appropriate size for your containers.

Also, the size of the finished "lunch box" needs to be determined.

I wanted something large enough to hold a fruit cup and a small juice drink.

Cut a "snack holder" that is the same width as the lunch box, and deep enough for your holes and the portions that will be glued to the lunch box.

I scored 1 1/2" from edge for the portion to be glued to the BOTTOM of the box, and 2" from the other edge that will be glued to the back side. This provides a nice slope that holds your snack containers.

SEE PHOTO ABOVE

My outer box dimensions are 7 1/2" wide and 6" tall, 3" deep.

So, I merely cut two pieces of the Neon Chic papers 11" x 7 1/2"

and scored them both on one end at 3".

I then overlapped one end of the two pieces and glued one as the bottom of the box.

One remaining top was slit down the center the length of the handle,

and the other has two small 1 1/2" slits made for the handle to be inserted.

Be sure to round your corners BEFORE you cut out the handles!

CUT TWO

Score 1/2" up and glue the wrong sides together to made a stable handle, and insert ends into the two small slits in top. Fold them back and cover the underside of that top with matching paper and cover tabs and will appear more finished from inside.

The top with the long slit will slip over the handle and provide the "lid".

Glue in "holder" for your snacks,

and decorate accordingly!

I used the chalkboard paper stack, "All Chalked Up" from

DCWV

so that the personal message can be changed.