he said.

I found this sketch at Stuck?! Sketches and went to work today. Back in July I had tweeted a couple Bengals players, trying to get them to tweet me happy birthday wishes. Well, it worked! I was pretty excited and I took screen shots of my Twitter. I just thought this was a fun memory to record in my scrapbook - who knows if Twitter will even exist in a few years!

My page has four smaller photos instead of two larger ones as shown in the sketch. I used two stamp sets on die cut pieces and label stickers. The 'he said' and the 'hello there' were just stamped directly onto patterned paper and fussy cut.

supplies
stamps: Sweet Stamp Shop (Drops Background); Elle's Studio (Saltwater Summer Happiness); Ormolu (Word Up)
ink: Hero Arts (butter to orange ombre); Versa Fine (onyx black); Memento (Tangelo)
label stickers: Kelly Purkey
die cuts: Elle's Studio
enamel heart stickers: Amy Tan

epic adventure.

This was done for a challenge at Paper Issues online crop this weekend to use orange on a project. When I think orange, I think Bengals. I documented my trip to Pittsburgh last weekend for the Bengals/Steelers game. Here's my page:

supplies
stamps: Studio Calico; Sweet Stamp Shop (Love Across the Miles); Kelly Purkey (Kelly's Destination); The Alley Way Stamps (Star of the Show); Mama Elephant (Wanderlust);
ink: Hero Arts (Just Rust mid-tone); VersaFine (onyx black); Memento (Tuxedo Black);
chipboard stickers, enamel dew drops, label stickers, paper clips: Freckled Fawn
labels: Chic Tags (Autumn Days)
vellum hearts: Studio Calico Seven Paper 
 

destination: Canada.

Over Memorial Day weekend, my friend and I took a road trip to Canada. She had the week off work and had plans that fell through and I had a three day weekend at work so she asked if I wanted to go somewhere. She mentioned Canada and I agreed because I have a passport and I'd never been before.

I wanted to do a layout to sort of summarize our trip and I found a Kelly Purkey Canada stamp set and Canada themed project life cards at Studio Calico and I knew a pocket style page was the answer. I had some random photos I wanted to scrapbook of us crossing the border, what their diet Coke bottles look like, the pandas at the zoo, and the payphones. We couldn't believe they still had payphones - and they were being used! I haven't seen a payphone in years!

Some of the other differences we noted (besides the obvious - currency and the metric system) were that they use "washroom" instead of bathroom or restroom. They said "brown bread" instead of wheat bread. When I asked for a Captain and diet they called it "spiced rum." The areas where we were just seemed more clean and the air more fresh than the US. We also noted that people weren't walking around glued to their phones like they do in the US.

We drove across the border Friday after I got off work. We found a hotel in Chatham late Friday night/early Saturday morning. By this time I'd been up since 5am and was literally falling asleep while she was driving. We got up Saturday morning refreshed and headed into Toronto. We were too early to check into the hotel so we hit up the Toronto Zoo, which was huge. We walked so much that my feet ached at the end of the day. After the zoo we went to check in at our hotel, which was amazing, showered, and decided to hit the hotel bar/restaurant for drinks/dinner. Our bartender was hilarious and we stayed a couple of hours chatting with him. It was so interesting to learn all the differences between the US and Canada. I guess I don't really think about Canada but it just seems like an extension of the US and it's easy to forger it's an entirely different country. Conversation about the differences between our countries turned to strip clubs and he told us there was a male strip club right down the road. We had a couple more drinks (and two shots on him) and we walked a couple blocks to this strip club. 

Imagine our surprise when it was a female strip club. We met a bachelor party celebrating there and actually stayed a while and chatted with them. We walked back to our hotel exhausted and crashed. Sunday morning we woke up to go tree top trekking. Layout coming soon on this adventure, but let me just say this is one of the scariest things I've done in my life.  

On Sunday night we went to Niagara Falls. We had a night tour with fireworks which was pretty cool (but cold and wet). Monday morning we woke up and headed home.

supplies
stamps: Kelly Purkey (Kelly's Destination; Out in the Sunshine; Oh, Canada!); Studio Calico (Aloha add on kit); Sweet Stamp Shop (Across the Miles)
ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black); Staz On (claret; jet black); 
embossing powder: Ranger super fine detail (silver)
ephemera: Pink Paislee (Atlas)

Paper Wings Productions: happy birthday.

Hi there! I'm on the Paper Wing's Productions blog today sharing a card I made featuring the Text Melange stamp set + Ken Oliver Crafts Color Burst Watercolor Powder. All of the details can be found in my post over at PWP but I'll share some sneaks here :)

 Let's Eat Cake clear stamp set colored with Copics + my We R Memory Keepers Fuse tool to make a shaker.

The inside of the card:

Here's my finished card.What do you think? 

For more photos + details, visit The Aviary for my post today!

supplies 
Copic markers: R29; R39; R20; R81; YR04; Y21; Y1; E37; 100
Ken Oliver Crafts Color Burst (Crimson)
sequins: Teresa Collins (gold; white); Studio Calico (pink);
wood veneer: Sweet Stamp Shop (Ahoy kit) 
ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black); StazOn (Claret);  
embossing powder: MyStamp Box

just how fast the night changes.

I joined the CSI case file No. 167 this week. These challenges always seem fun but I can never get it together to get it done. Here's the inspiration photo and colors:

Plus you choose three clues (I used globe, circle, clouds) and one testimony (I used a song title/lyric). In case you're not a big One Direction fan, THIS is the song I used. Here's my page:

This is a shot of the sunrise while we were in Florida in April. Every morning I got up early to watch the sunrise. It makes you stop and think about what happened in the whole world while you were sleeping.

Unfortunately when I finished my page last night, I left it on my desk. This morning I find the foster cat had a party in this room last night and knocked everything off my desk onto the floor and there is a claw mark in my page!

supplies
stamp: Sweet Stamp Shop (Across the Miles; Ahoy kit); Studio Calico (Aloha stamp set)
ink: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (shaded lilac; stormy sky; shabby shutters; chipped sapphire)
stencil: Hero Arts (Sky Stencil pair)
puffy stickers: Studio Calico Seven Paper

family.

I have to go back to work on Wednesday so I'm taking advantage of my free time while I can. Tonight I found this sketch at Sketch N Scrap with the twist to use washi tape. This photo is my boyfriend and his sister on her birthday back in April.

This kraft paper came in the Studio Calico Seven Paper Baxter bundle kit I purchased a while back. I layered journal cards under my photo and I altered my chipboard pieces with heat embossing. For the heart piece, I applied Versamark to a small section, then applied embossing powder and heat embossed it. Then I applied Versamark to the next two section, repeating the process.

For the other chipboard piece, I applied a layer of crackle embossing paste and then sprinkled on embossing powder and heat embossed it. It really gives it a rough looking finish, but with glimmer. It's hard to tell in the photo ;) Thanks for looking!

supplies
stamp: Sweet Stamp Shop (Warm Notes)
rub ons, patterned paper: Studio Calico
puffy stickers: Freckled Fawn; Seven Paper by Studio Calico
label stickers: Lily Bee
chipboard: Creative Embellishments
embossing powder: American Crafts Zing! (rouge, apricot, grapefruit); Cappuccino Star (EP434)
embossing paste: Dreamweaver Crackle Paste

adventure.

I've found a bit of free time lately and I'm enjoying scrapping again. I found this sketch at Stuck?! Sketches and I loved it. I used one large 4x6 photo instead of the two smaller photos.

Believe it or not, this is an actual film camera photo! I was afraid to take my iphone with me (good thing, because I immediately tipped over!) so I bought one of those cheap water cameras. Only a few of the photos turned out but I am glad to have them.

still have to add the date + journaling

Thanks for looking! 

supplies
stamp: Elle's Studio (Saltwater Summer Happiness); Studio Calico; Sweet Stamp Shop (Ahoy kit);
ink: StazOn (jet black); Tim Holtz Distress Ink (peacock feathers)
dew drops: Freckled Fawn
stickers: Lily Bee (Sweet Shoppe); SN@P! by Simple Stories; 
die cuts: Elle's Studio (Summer Lovin' Note Tags)
patterned paper: Simple Stories (Good Day Sunshine); Studio Tekturek (One Way Ticket)
shaped paper clip: The Paper Studio

love you [card]|Stick It Down.

Hi there! Today I'm sharing my card for the February Stick It Down sketch challenge. If you haven't yet seen the sketch on the SID blog, here it is:

I normally make smaller cards, so I had to size this card down to make it work for me. I only used two columns instead of three, but I still used three rows. I went with a love theme, in honor of Valentine's day this month. I heat embossed a hexagon heart stamp in three different colors and fussy cut them out. I choose three coordinating colors of chipboard heart shapes to match my stamped images.

Then I used my Spell Binder's Grand Calibur to die cut a chicken wire die onto a scrap paper. I used the die cut shape as a stencil to make the background on my card. I blending three coordinating ink colors over the chicken wire stencil that I made to get my background. When I was done blending the ink, I removed the chicken wire "stencil" that I used.

blending two colors so far

Lastly I stamped my sentiment, added twine, and adhered my chipboard heart pieces. I like the mix of colors and that this could actually even be a masculine card since my primary colors are blue and green. Here's my card:

Here's how to play along:
1. Please no back linking. Your project may be combined with other challenge blogs, but must be created after our sketch is posted.
2.  Please link back to Stick it Down from your blog post.
3.  You can rotate, flip, or alter the sketch, but we hope to see how the sketch inspired your creation.
4.  Please follow the sketch format, single page layouts for single sketches, etc....traditional only, no digital!

5. Link up your projects HERE. Good luck!

supplies

steel die: My Favorite Things Die-namics (Mini Chicken Wire)

stamps: Sweet Stamp Shop (Simple Sentiments; Pattern Craze)

embossing powder: American Crafts ZING! (grapefruit opaque; leaf opaque; blue metallic)

inks: Tim Holtz Distress Ink (spun sugar; peeled paint; faded jeans); StazOn (jet black)

Yes to... Love.

I found a sketch on the Back Porch Memories blog and made this page. 

I combined the sketch challenge with Kelly's Scrappy Friend word challenge. I used the word LOVE.

That 'yes to...' card is from the SC Walden PL kit. I trimmed it down and then fussy cut 'love' heart from another PL card. I don't formally do project life, but I sometimes do pocket style scrapbooking so every once in a while I pick up at PL kit. I also use the PL cards on other projects so that helps keep my PL card stash from getting too large!

I am loving my new MFT dies. I only used two from this die set but I just love being able to make my own little labels. This is from the Accent It - Labels and Tabs die and I used my Spellbinders Grand Calibur Die Cutting Machine to die cut these babies.

Thanks for stopping by today!

supplies
ink: VersaFine (onyx black)
bobby pin: Studio Calico
dies: My Favorite Things (Accent It - Labels and Tabs)
chipboard: Basic Grey (High Line)
patterned paper: Fancy Pants
stamp: Sweet Stamp Shop (Distressed Chevron)
artist pens: Faber-Castell (deep scarlet red; magenta; scarlet red; orange glaze)
date stamp: Amy Tangerine
staples: Tim Holtz tiny attacher

miss you[card].

I adore this little puppy in the Doggy Dog stamp set by Sweet Stamp Shop. I'm such a sucker for puppy dog scrapbooking supplies and embellishments ;)

Isn't he adorable? I used some of my mini distress ink pads to color him and then fussy cut him. I added the bone border from the same Doggy Dog stamp set and the sentiment from a different SSS stamp set. You can't really tell in the photo, but that embossing powder is sort of iridescent. It's really pretty in real life. Now a dog lover in my life is going to get a kick out of receiving this card!

supplies 
stamps: Sweet Stamp Shop (Doggy Dog; Simple Sentiments; Drops Background) 
ink: StazOn (black onyx); Prima Marketing quick dry fluid chalk ink (Farmer Jeans); Tim Holtz Distress Ink (gathered twig; walnut stain)
embossing powder: Lindy's Stamp Gang (Madonna Robe Blue Gold)

happy birthday [card].

Playing around with ink blending today and pulled out a vintage (retired) Sweet Stamp Shop background stamp. I heat embossed with white and then used some distress ink blending to make a colorful background. I knew I wanted to mount my design on a black card base so my colors would really stand out.

I used another SSS stamp for the sentiment and ink blended with pale pink ink around the edges of the sentiment. I added some cute twine and called it done!

supplies
distress inks: Tim Holtz (faded jeans, broken china, shaded lilac, spun sugar, barn door)
twine: Timeless Twine
stamps: Sweet Stamp Shop (Against the Grain; Simple Sentiments)

you're special || Scrapping Turtle.

Hey everyone! I have a new card challenge posted today over at the Turtle Soup forums. My challenge is to use twine on your card (or you can use ribbon if you don't have any twine).Here's my card:

I used a background stamp from the Sweet Stamp Shop + white heat embossing. Then I did some resist ink blending with an orange and red ink. My sentiment is stamped with the same orange ink and then I added some twine.

ALSO: check out the January store flyer!

supplies
patterned paper: Studio Calico
stamp: Sweet Stamp Shop (Drops Background); Paper Smooches (Sentiment Sampler)
twine: The Twinery (mandarin)
inks: Hero Arts shadow ink mid-tone (Just Rust); Tim Holtz distress ink (Barn Door)

Dylan|Stick It Down.

Today we get to do a unique thing at Stick It Down. Since it's the fifth Tuesday of the month, the design team gets to choose any sketch that has been previously posted and create a project. I'm on the card team, but I chose a single page sketch this time. Here's the sketch I used:

I used 8.5x11 size for this page and used hexagons instead of triangles. Here's what I made:

Visit the SID blog today to see the sketches and designs the other design team members used. Then stay tuned for a fun 2015!

supplies
mist: Studio Calico Mister Huey's (Bazinga; Shine)
stamps: Sweet Stamp Shop (Pattern Craze)
sequins, mask: Studio Calico
label sticker: My Mind's Eye (Cut & Paste)

Haul Video: Sweet Stamp Shop.

happy birthday [card].

My aunt's birthday is this weekend and I got off work early today so I quickly whipped up this card. Hopefully it makes it to her in time.I was inspired by THIS sketch.

 

Mostly I used my Studio Calico March kits for this. I added some washi tape from my stash (Freckled Fawn) and two stamp sets from Sweet Stamp Shop stamp (distressed chevron, simple sentiments). I added some crystals from Prima.

a day without laughter...

I was inspired by the Timeless Twine sketch: 

& this CASE study:

 I used three stamps from Sweet Stamp Shop on this card. The background stamp is distressed chevron & I love this background stamp. I also used warm notes & old fashioned afternoon (sentiment). The inks are Prima chalk ink in moss lawn & onyx black by Versafine. The chevron patterned paper is by October Afternoon, the arrows are Freckled Fawn (inked with American Crafts pigment ink) & the twine is Timeless Twine.

Whimsical Twist blog hop & first challenge [summer]!

Welcome to Whimsical Twist's first challenge! 

We thought it would be a lot of fun to also have a Blog Hop to celebrate our first challenge! How does that sound? During the Hop you will be visiting blogs from several of our fabulous design team members. You will find so much inspiration on the way, that your head might explode! 

If you are just joining in, be sure to go to the Whimsical Twist blog to start. If you get lost along the way, just look at the list below to get you hopping in the right direction. And you can't have a Blog Hop without giveaways and this one is no different! 

In order to be entered into the giveaways, you will need to be sure you leave a comment on each blog on the hop. Whimsical Twist will also be giving away a $15 gift certificate to the shop to one random hopper! We will be announcing the winners of our giveaways on August 12, so be sure to watch for the announcements. 

 Without further ado, let's get this celebration started! Our first challenge is inspired by summer! 

I was really inspired by this mason jar photo from our inspiration board, which made me think of camping. I don't camp BUT we did have a fire over at mom's & made s'mores that were really yummy. So I thought those photos would work really well with my idea.

The background paper is an older piece of Pink Paislee from the Enchanting line & I used a 6x6 patterned paper from the Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm collection. I also used some Studio Calico stamps (July kits), Sweet Stamp Shop (Warm Notes) & the 'remember this' stamp is from shopevalicious.com. The inks I used were both Prima chalk inks - shabby tote & English Ivy. Everything else is from the Whimsical Twist store.

. 

Now, head off to Taniesa's blog to see her lovely creation. If you get lost along the way, here is the order of the hop:

Lisa Lahiff 

Alexandra Polyzou   
Sandi Pressley 

Amanda Johnson

Ashley Hamm

Taniesa Vlasak 

Charissa Miller   
Kimmie Rishebarger 
 Sharm Nidyanandan 

 Laurie Danielle 

Lisa Wilkinson 

Don't forget to leave me a comment before you go so you can be entered into the prize for the $15 gift certificate to Whimsical Twist store! && if you also become a follower of my blog, I'll enter you into a random drawing to win a prize from ME. Winner will be chosen August 12.