Sites of the week

YAY!…It’s Saturday! Of course, that means that I have another SKETCH FOR YOU TO TRY! This one is, as my mom would say, “a toughie.” I had this one in my sketch book for some time now, but have been reluctant to post it. I hope that you all will try to play along and have fun doing so. Feel free to make the circular panel an embellishment, like a big flower or whatever your heart desires.

My buds Carole, Shannan and Susan also have some samples to show you on their blogs. Just click on their names to be whisked away to their sites.

Here’s the sketch…

My sample, using Elzybells stamps…

I huuuuuuge THANK YOU to Bethany Paull for being February’s Guest Designer. Here is her sample. She says that she is not happy with it, but I think it is cute!

Mom Update:
Thank you all, again, for all your support. My mom has started to receive the cards from all of you and she has said that each and every one warm her heart. It means a lot to me and to her…THANK YOU!!
She should be coming home today. YAY!! Your continued good thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated!

I’ve had my eye on GLUE products for a while now. In January, I was lucky enough to meet Kelli and Vicki {the GLUE girls} at the scrap and stamp show that Susan and I went to in January. I love their products!! The quality is outstanding {and you might now that I picky!}. I picked up the 3 tier cupcake stand and a 3×3 vertical album. I finally got my 3×3 vertical album finished…YAY!
Before I get into the “how to” details, I have to tell you that I do not scrapbook. I made our wedding album and have not scrapbooked since. The idea of scrapbooking seems glamorous, but in reality it is tedious. Granted, this is just my opinion. I do realize that many find great joy in it, as I do stamping and paper crafting. So, this is the scrapbook/album for all those un-scrapbookers, like myself, out there.
To start the project, I painted the wood with white acrylic paint. I added Bella Baubles and {cheapo}Michael’s baubles to the bottom edges. I attached the ribbon with the thinnest red line tape I have. The bling on top of the ribbon is Heidi Swap Flower Jewels {loooove these!}. I created the pages with my scallop rectangles Nestabilies die and then layered paper and pics.

The vertical album and the “cover”…

The quote for this page was found on the internet and printed out. I covered the chipboard heart with pink polka dot dp and then piled on the Diamond Stickles.

The first of the photo pages…

The pic that I used for that page is when Ellie sat on the countertop and helped me make brownies. I love how she is so proud of herself helping me stir the batter. Too cute!!

And the winner of an abundant amount of crafting loot is…

from random.org

185 Kelsey Forester
Happy Birthday Tony!
Hope you have had a great day!!

Please email me your info {email link under my pic}.

I have a couple projects for you today. The first one is a card I made for my half brother and his family. His mother recently passed away suddenly. Sympathy cards are always hard for me to make. I want to make them pretty, but not too overdone. I want the person to know that I put time and effort into my work, but I don’t want the card to overpower the message that I am trying to convey. KWIM? The most important thing to me is that the person that I am giving it to knows that they are cared about and that I am sorry that they are in pain. It’s also hard to find the perfect words to go into a card. I have to admit, sometimes Hallmark wins me over for sympathy cards. This card uses Julee’s Mojo Monday sketch FROM THIS WEEK!! Stop the presses, I’m on time on this one for once!!

I have another project that I want to share with you today, too. This was one of the projects that was an example for last month’s My Favorite Guest Designer Challenge over at Splitcoast. It is made from scallop circle punches. You may have seen Lauren’s tutorial using Nestabilities the other day. I have just about all of the Nestabilities and when I saw her tutorial I just wanted to smack myself on the forehead! Duh!, Why am I still using punches for this project!? BTW…you may want to keep your eyes peeled for more of these…Lauren and I have been chattin’! All stamps in this project are from MFT.
From The Front…

Different View…

**If you have not already entered, please see the post below for some BLOG CANDY!!**

Today is Tony’s 31st birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! I made him a birthday card that corresponds to this month’s Dirty Dozen Challenge:

Challenge Focus: Stamps Designed by Fellow Dirty Girls. -OR- alternate option - use any fellow Dirty Girl’s galllery creation as an inspiration to semi-CASE something of your own.

Required Element: Spring Color Combo - whatever feels like Spring to you!

Restricted Element: NO CuttleBug/Big Shot/Wizard or similar diecut/embossing machines.

Ok, so maybe I missed the mark with the black for “spring.” I couldn’t do all pretty colors for Tony’s card! When I think of spring, I think of all colors. Not just the Easter pastels, but flowers in bloom {bold red begonias here in TX}, the bright blue sky, new sprigs of grass emerging. I am typing out this “spring stuff” as I am sitting here in gray sweats and slippers…hmmm, not so spring! For the use of stamps designed by fellow dirty girls, I chose the Lined Paper Backgrounder from Cornish Heritage Farms {by Lisa Strahl}. Sidenote…I got to meet Lisa at CHA and she is just the sweetest {Waving HI to Lisa!}. Since I don’t have a whole bunch of DD designed stamps, I had to incorporate some of my SU! stuff {Typeset alpha and So Many Scallops}.

In addition to it being Tony’s big day and DD Challenge day, it is also CELEBRATE MFT {details HERE}. Here is the card that I made for this month…

So, have I ever mentioned that I absolutely ADORE American Crafts paper?!? LOL! I have about 10 sheets of this {ok, more than that} in my stock pile of paper that I love and never use because I must hoard it {empathy, anyone??}. The tan paper is the flip side of the polkas. I colored the girls with Copics and did a little paper piecing to make it all matchy-matchy. The bag on the left has a prima and Swarovski crystals on it and the bag on the right has tissue paper coming from the top {thanks for that idea Ana!}. This card is on it’s way to a new friend, even they are priceless!!

Mom Update:
I spoke with my mom in the morning and she sounded much better! This is good!! She is still in quite a bit of pain, but they are managing it with some strong meds. She will be in the hospital for at least the remainder of the week so that the docs can keep a close eye on her. Thank you all again for your thoughts, prayers and well wishes!!

As I promised yesterday, I have some goodies to give away! YAY!! Although it’s been a tough few days with my mom, I have a lot to be happy for. I am super excited to be a part of The Cat’s Pajamas team now {as well as my other super DTs}, I just got my issue of Take Ten in the mail and I have 2 spreads that came out great {thanks Christen!}, I have had so many gracious compliments on my work in the latest issue of Paper Crafts and this month is iheart2stamp.com’s birthday {blogaversary}. I truly feel on top of the world and I really appreciate all the support this community has given me. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! So to celebrate, I wanna give some stuff away…YAY!

I am giving away all the loot in this pic {stamps, ribbon, alterables, embellishments, glitter, SWAROVSKI CRYSTALS}, plus a favicon from Sara! **Please note that if you win, Sara will need access to your blog info. She’s Susan’s sis and I trust her, so no worries…k?** What the heck is a favicon, you ask? It’s that cute little graphic in the address bar that identifies your website/blog.

How do you win?
Tomorrow {Feb. 20} is Tony’s birthday. Leave him a happy birthday wish on this post and rag on him for being “sooo” old {31} You can get one bonus entry for doing the sketch from this past Saturday, but you will need to put it in a separate comment on THIS post. Sorry to be a pain that way, but I ask that you link it on this post as well to make it easier to do the random number generator. A winner will be chosen on Thursday morning. Good luck!