You're All I Need Tonight.... How's that for Inspiring?

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Flyboy @ sketches: CY

My favorite recent layout is currently posted at Sketches: Creatively Yours. Called "Flyboy", it is a fun creation capturing some priceless pix of my nephew Julian at the park last year.

I love these Little Yellow Bicycle papers from the Zach'a Life line. Very "boy" inspired.

The sketch was as helpful and inspiring as the papers, be sure to go to
Sketches: Creatively Yours (look for a link on the sidebar)


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Activity Over at Sketches

I have been inactive yet Sketches: Creatively Yours has been running quite smoothly. In this slide-show, my latest several assignments can be seen as well as some challenging and inspiring sketches:

I hope you enjoyed it!

Missing U!!

It's been a crazy couple of months! The computer is acting up on a semi regular basis and I have a hard time getting online these days. Work has been hectic and continues to be. I recently got a zoo membership so I have been enjoying the outside air up there and I have neglected my design team duties! Oh, I have created and turned in my assignments faithfully but have been terrible at posting here and visiting/commenting on fellow team and creative heroes creations!

I want to apologize! I have been lax in this area for far too long so PLEASE go to Sketches:Creatively Yours and catch up on all of the lovely talent!!

Peep Show

Ok, you know you're getting tired when you start getting this silly. I used yet another foamy, glittered rabbit on this "Peep Show" ATC.

The background is from a Yogi Tea box (those things are lovely inside) and the "curtain" is some ribbon. The cornice is from 2 pieces that used to be a MME frame, they're pop-dotted for dimension. The brad is Making Memories. The bunny's top is a shiny silver scrap of paper (that reflected my pink iPhone case) and a bit of ribbon.

I know this is silly, but it was fun and funny to make.

It's Reveal Day!

Due to some blogger issues, the actual reveal came a day late over at Sketches: Creatively Yours. I was anxious for reveal day because I am so excited about my projects. I used the sketch both in the intended layout as well as a sort of flip/rotate version.

Disney on Ice events ruled my submissions this week. Pictures of Annabelle and a story of her cute-itude as well as Lightning McQueen and Julian's fascination are showcased in these layouts.

This first one is Making Memories papers with an unknown transparent overlay and EK Success Snow White embellishments. The ribbon and trim is from Prima and the attitude is all Annabelle. She was so excited to dress up as Snow White for Disney on Ice and she told everyone "You Can Call Me Snow White" and even got into a bit of a verbal battle with her brother because he kept replying to her "command": "I will call you Annabelle". We were in stitches.

The second one is almost all Little Yellow Bicycle - The "stop" sign is Bazzill as are the "racing stripes". The tire was cut using the Cars Cricut cartridge using black and shiny silver cardstock. The rest is Little Yellow Bicycle (I'm in love with the Zach's Life line). Julian LOVEs Cars and Lightning McQueen is his Favorite! So, when the Cars characters ushered in the Disney on Ice show, it was no surprise that he was captivated and that this would be his favorite part of all. The experience was, in face, "Totally Cool"

In addition to these fun layouts of mine, you have to head over to Sketches: Creatively Yours and see all of the other lovely interpretations of Noella's sketch! You won't be sorry!

Recycling Again

I'm supposed to be putting things away "over there" but instead, every time I go to the table - I start making things! I'm not surprised any more. This is who I am.

I made this card out of some packaging from my nephew Julian's most recent Cars toy - a "big" Mac (truck). I saved the backdrop of the packaging because it was so cute - the spectators and the stands.

I tried to salvage more of this packaging but as I was pulling the image layer off of the cardboard layer it ripped. I cut the cloud shape out where the rip was after adhering the image to my card blank.

I rooted around my saved items and found a picture of Lightning McQueen (I still remember Belle calling him Lightning Bee-Queen and laugh). to cut out. I added dimension by adhering the image to a piece of toilet paper roll. The "Hi" bubble is done the same way.

I know Julian will like getting this card in the mail. I'll have to save it and send it when I think he needs it most :)

Now I really need to go find a home for all that stuff that's piling up so that my little Sheldon doesn't eat any more of my scrappy supplies!

Second Term

I am happy to announce that I've been brought back to the world of Sketches: Creatively Yours for a second term. I'm pleased as punch to be back for a second consecutive term.

I'm excited to work alongside friends both old and new yet again. It's a comfortable feeling to know what's expected and very exciting to know that the level of inspiration will be so high.

Please follow along with us while we create over the next several months, I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself and be inspired to create!

The Board

I have been making these ATCs almost as regularly as I scrap or make cards. They were piling up with no place to go. I hadn't made them a storage box yet and they were falling out of the nooks I kept tucking them into.

Until I had an idea.

I would take them to work and decorate my space. All I needed was a length of wire and some mini-clothespins - oh, and some push pins.

I coiled the wire and then pulled it straight, keeping a bit of the wave (you don't have to do this part). I then made a loop at one end (to put the pushpin through later) and started threading the wire through the spring-hole of the clothespin. I determined the length of my first row and how many clothespins I would want on this row. Then I made another loop. I put the wire on my cubical wall and then stretched a short length of wire to the next row (allowing room for the clothespin and a card) and continued forming rows until my wire ran out.

The fun part was putting the cards up, it can be rearranged, added to and taken from, and it has been the object of much admiration by my coworkers.

Annabelle and Julian were even thrilled to see their pictures there when they came to visit me at work last week.

March Finale

The term is coming to a close at Sketches: Creatively Yours -- who would believe it's gone by so quickly??

I had 2 projects debut there over the last 10 days. I have been so busy that I kept forgetting! Luckily I didn't forget to do them and send them along, I just forgot they were posted!

 The first was posted last Saturday:

The "Elephant Zoo"

I switched Ali's sketch up a bit to work this one. I turned the sketch clockwise 90 degrees and trimmed my enlarged photo in strips to fill in the vertical length. I then rotated and angled my journaling area. I used the Hambly Elephant overlay as my decorative element and border.

The small photo was added with a pink camouflage ribbon bit just so that the uninterrupted image could be seen and admired.

Our local zoo is referred to as the "Elephant Zoo" because of this large sculpture of a tribal elephant. It's important to Annabelle that we distinguish our zoo from the small petting zoo with this name :)

This second creation was posted on Friday:

Happy Birthday (Mary)

It's March and thoughts of Green abound. From St. Patrick's Day to the longing for warmth and new growth, I moved from my vast amount of Pink creations to a comfortable and relaxing green.

I was late for my sister's birthday but it's a good thing or she could have gotten caught up in the Pinkness that I was enveloped in this past February.

I used any green or neutral scraps that I could find on my desk. This included an unused piece of gift-tissue. I embellished this simple card with a rescued bit of natural ribbon and an egg-carton flower. I had seen the information on these and they'd stuck in my head. I love doing them, they're so pretty. When I sent it in to Ali at S:CY; she told me where I had gotten the idea... from HER!! Oh MY! I looked at so many flower tutorials, which I didn't save anyplace but in my head. I'm not surprised I forgot. If you're interested in Egg Carton Flowers - go here!

So, there you have it. My final projects for my Term with Sketches: Creatively Yours. Thank you for following along and for all of your comments and support!

A Card for a Departing Manager

My bestie asked me to make a card for her boss, who was leaving their department for another. She's worked with this boss for 4 years and when I asked what she liked, I stumped my friend.

I finally got out of her that this lady likes the outdoors, camping, etc. That's ok, but doesn't really give me a lot to go on where a handcrafted card is concerned. I figured I'd go with natural textures, and keep the "fancy" stuff to a minimum.

As I rummaged through my scraps, I was starting to give up on my supplies when I found the Cosmo Cricket "Gretel" scraps. Particularly the strip that says "If nothing ever changed, there'ld be no butterflies" Change is precisely what this card is celebrating so I had my jumping off point.

I found a MM butterfly in a brighter version of blue and added some cut-out elements from one of the "Gretel" scraps to add depth and detail.

The pearl embellishments were an afterthought but the colors were perfect.

When I got up this morning, I decided I wanted a replica or reminder of this lovely card so I used some of the scraps, another Making Memories butterfly and the remains of the pearl bits from last night to make this sweet little ATC.

It was a hit at my work and looks sweet on display on my wall.

The card for my friend's boss was also a hit.

I love when things work out that way.

Greenie Day Revisited

Repost from 2009

Happy St. Pat's!

Mimi, my grandma, used to call it "Greenie Day" and she would show me this lovely shamrock pin. It never had the tag removed until I got her jewelry. I now wear it every "Greenie Day" to celebrate St. Patrick's Day and to remember my grandma.

I hope you remember to wear your green and if you don't, I hope you don't get too many unwelcome pinches ;)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

and...

(new for 2010-courtesy of my cousin Jeremy via Facebook) "When we drink, we get drunk. When we get drunk, we fall asleep. When we fall asleep, we commit no sin. When we commit no sin, we go to heaven. So, let's all get drunk, and go to heaven! HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!!! ERIN GO BRAGH!!!"

You're Gonna Want This (Blog Candy and A Call...) Info

It's time for some Blog Candy over at Sketches: Creatively Yours. Just go to this topic and post a comment by Thursday, March 18th to be entered in a drawing for some Savvy N Sassy ribbon. To get another ballot in the drawing just create and share a card using the sketch shown.

Also, don't miss the chance to apply for the Sketches; Creatively Yours Design Team. You can read the details here.

You're sure to have as much fun as I have if you're chosen. Good Luck!

Hope it Makes'em Happy - Mail

Who doesn't love to get mail? I don't mean junk mail or bills, but "someone thought of me" mail? I figured my niece and nephew would love to get some mail of their own, so I made them each a card and tucked a package of stickers (Mickey Mouse for Julian and Princess Tiana for Annabelle) inside.

For Julian's card, I went all BLUE because he loves all things blue, it's his "favorite". So I pulled out a bunch of blue scraps and a blue smiley.

The smiley sticker is from my friend Heather, I knew one day I would use it :) The chipboard shape is Making Memories, as are the star brads. The elephant print paper is Basic Grey Marrakesh The measuring tape paper is from a cheapie paper pack I got at Big Lots!  The card blank is an Avery (i think?) printable card that I've had for several years. 

For Belle, I started with purple, because it is her current favorite. I added a piece rescued from a Snow White dress-up costume package. Snow White is her current favorite princess.

I used Making Memories patterned paper and Bazzill cardstock on another Avery card blank.

The cut-out paisley is from a DCWV Once Upon a Time piece of paper and the "Princess" Chipboard is from Sandylion.

Snow White was cut out of a packaging/hanger from a Snow White dress-up costume.

I hear they got their mail and were VERY HAPPY!! :)

It's Sketches Time Again

I had so much fun (once again) using the sketch for my DT assignment for Sketches: Creatively Yours. This sketch was for a card, it's by the talented Ann Seleshanko.

The card was one of my "raisin box rescues". There are some fun Mickey Mouse fruit snacks with comics on the single-serve boxes. I have been hoarding the comics for just such a project as this.

This one was made with several green items, part of some packaging was used both for the background and for the brown pinked square around the comic strip.

I love Donald Duck!

Supplies:

Card blank (local craft store)
Gingham paper: CTMH *scraps
Green cardstock: Imaginesce packaging
Kraft cardstock: gift tag packaging
MM ribbon / unknown rickrack
Sketch: Sketches: Creatively Yours

Best Vacation Ever?

I've been on a trip recently. A trip down Memory Lane.

This past Thanksgiving my sister Leah was in town. She asked for some photos from when she was living with us here in Utah. I made an earnest promise that I would get the photos down and scan them. I meant it, and I was going to do so. But I didn't.

Recently Leah contacted me and asked if I could look for some older pictures as well and I felt pretty lame about not even pulling the photo box off the shelf yet so, rather than make another earnest promise that would be shelved for months more, I made a point of getting the box down, taking it to work with me so that I could go through the photos on my breaks. This was a nice past-time since I had no book to read - which is my usual breaktime activity. I found good shots, cute shots and some cute-not-so-good shots. You know, adorable and priceless pictures that had terrible lighting problems.

I was happy to get started scanning, now that the pictures were out and in my head and heart and hands. I tried to hook up my scanner, but even though it was practically new, it was older than my newer Laptop computer... so it was not compatible. Yikes, what on earth would I do? Then I remembered that Cindy's mom's all-in-one was newer so I was able to borrow that and hook it up. I sat and watched the Olympics' Open Ceremonies, and Scanned. Then I took a 2 week break.

When I was invited to my Uncle Hondo's house for dinner, I realized I had a great chance to get the photos to Leah so I spent all morning Saturday scanning the rest of the pictures. I did a lot of tweaking of the old, poorly lit, grainy, small originals and got a bunch of printable and a few questionable images. They're my childhood... I remember so many events surrounding these images, my sisters, fighting, singing, playing, going places, visiting with Grandparents. In one of these pictures my sisters and I are playing in the front yard with cardboard box kitchen appliances. In another, my beloved bicycle is in the background, humble and homely and still fondly remembered. There was the "photo op box" at Mimi's apartment, that big green utility box that probably shouldn't be played on but we played on and around it... every time. A picture of the three girls (pre-baby sisters) with Grandma, we're all wearing our "Reno" tees that Grandma and Grandpa brought with them.

We had some crappy times, but we had some good times too. It amazes me how much more of the good I can remember when I see these beloved images.

Clearing the Table

this is probably my favorite card, ever! I was goofing around with some pieces that were lying around on my table. I used an Imaginesce rub-on on a piece of packaging (that's actually a nicer green IRL). and then I took the packaging for the Imaginesce rub-ons and folded it in half for a card.

I had no idea where I was going with this, I didn't even know that the rub on piece and the card piece would be part of the same project, but when I saw the KI Memories, La.Di.Dah soft rubber frames and the colors on this one, I knew I had another piece of packaging that would be great with the orangey background of the first. One thing led to another and these pieces came together to create this simple, yet elegant "congrats" card. The stamp used for the sentiment was a studio G $1 stamp that I just got yesterday.

Another one of my "clear the table" projects today was to use as many "bits" that coordinate as possible to get rid of them for once and for all. I had some MM Vintage Findings paper - the sheet music  pieces in the top left corner and over towards the top right. Some stamps and other creamy-beige papers as well as a strip of paper, a bit of ribbon and a clock face that had a battle with some ink and glimmer mist. the brackets were salvaged and had been lying around, as were the tulle flowers. The "love" was stamped using another Studio G stamp I got yesterday. I had to pull out one chipboard letter and the brown paper at the bottom, everything else was lying around in one form or another.

The first project I posted was mostly a green project, reusing the packaging that my supplies came with. This last one is also green because the base is from a paper grocery sack covered with scraps and embellished.

It is a gift tag that is tied to a gift bag which is also partially re-purposed. The gift wrap was too flimsy to create a gift bag out of for the heft of the gift inside, so I made the base of the bag out of a grocery bag and covered the base with the gift-wrap. I punched holes around the top so that I could run ribbon through to "stitch" it holding the two layers of papers together. The flower embellishment that you can see peeking at the corner of this photo was from a different gift bag that gave its life to give me flowers.

February Birthdays

I have a lot of February birthdays - lots of Aquarius and Pices friends and relatives. I was helping my niece and nephew make a birthday card for their aunt Mary (my youngest sis) and I ended up with quite a few large scraps from their left-overs.

I tried to give this little flower-butterfly to Belle for her card, but she wasn't interested... so I put a card together myself and used it.

I have some more cards to make, but this got me off to a good start.

addicted to flowers

I have an addiction, and it is flowers. It doesn't matter if they're silk or paper or crocheted. I have the hardest time using those from my stash but since I discovered the multi-layered flower, I'm overcoming that hurdle. I spent a bit of time yesterday looking for flower tutorials and found a few good ones that I'm going to have to try before I share them here.

Then I wake up and find out that my friend Pam is having a blog candy event giving away flowers! Head over to Pam's Eclectic Stuff and see all of her beautiful creations, follow her blog and post for entries into a drawing for some gorgeous and glimmery flowers.

Here are some of my recent attempts to overcome my hoarding of lovely blooms:

There Lived a Beautiful Princess - scraps and MM blossoms make this pretty pink 6x12.

Nine is Fine - more MM layered with some paper doily petals and some Prima flowers, as well as some blingy Provo Craft flowers; some Colorbok glitter sticker letters and a Thickers "9" are arranged on a piece of black gloss cardstock that was once part of some bling packaging for McKenna's #9 Birthday card.

Love Heals - I hated to have to make this card, my Aunt was recently diagnosed with Breast Cancer and I wanted to send her my best wishes with elegance. Making Memories and Prima flowers on this card which was run through the Cuttlebug. The pink ribbon is some crushed velvet MM ribbon and the stick pin is also MM.

Its That Time Again....

Time for a new sketch at Sketches: Creatively Yours. I used Ali's fabulous sketch for a Canvas which I made for a friend, I didn't know if it would fit my assignment but since it was so helpful in the composition of the canvas, I figured I would give it a try.

I love Disneyland and in Disneyland I love Pirates of the Caribbean... but not as much as my friend DJ. So when it came time for a Christmas gift, I knew I was going to do a canvas and I was pretty sure it was going to feature Pirates.

I created this canvas by first painting a mix of red and yellow then dry brushing some yellow over the top of the dried paint.

Some Pirate paper and ribbon then a couple of detail photos from the POTC Ride. The trap-door was always intended, but it was initially not going to be functional. I later decided to put the Grungeboard hinges to work (the door hides a photo of DJ, my friend Cindy and me taken at Disney). I used glimmer mist and some distress inks on the hinges, key and locking device to get a metallic-yet-rusty appearance. The door is a piece of chipboard from a notebook back that was painted, then inked, then glimmer misted and then inked some more. The skull and crossbones is a Rusty Pickle chipboard that I painted and then used UTEE on. I placed some "ruby" bling as eyes in the skull.

When I tipped the piece (which was being worked on horizontally on my desk the whole time) the door kept falling open so the latch idea was an afterthought. I fastened a loop of ribbon on the main canvas and lined up the latch with the loop so that it will slip through the keyhole. Then I inked and UTEE'd a toothpick that I tied to a piece of twine and fastened to the back of the canvas. It looks kind of like a rusty nail, which is kind of the look I was going for.

Once I sent the canvas photos to Ali for my assignment, I realized I wasn't done with this sketch, even though it was past the deadline. I used the sketch for this cute layout of my cute puppy. Papers are Bazzill, Basic Grey and MM. The stars are a combo of Doodlebug and some Target Dollar Spot brads, the foam letters are Target Dollar Spot items as well.

Good Bye!

We had to say farewell to our sweet girl Dott. She was ill, injured and suffering and we couldn't let her continue like that. Over the past month she'd become a lot less active and in the last two weeks she started having weakness in her hind legs. She took a tumble down some of the stairs and was unable to use her rear legs at all. We made the tough decision to have her euthanized this past Wednesday.

I'd rather not think of those things, instead I'll remember her funny ways:

Her constant need to be petted, which if we quit, she would continue by doing walk-bys and head-butting our hands.

Chasing and playing with wrapped cough drops (cheapest toys ever) but not eating them.

waking us up in the middle of the night spinning her ball in its ring or chasing dust bunnies through the hallway.

Escaping the love of the kids - only to chase after them when they finally gave up.

I'll remember that she was silky soft, with lovely blue eyes and a very regal attitude, she was "Princess" Dott after all.

Dott was born in May either 19 or 20 years ago. She was almost completely white, with a small dot of dark on her nose. We - with the help of my sisters - called her Dott because of this and we had nicknamed her "Splinter" because she looked a little rat-like as a new kitten and reminded Mary (Cody) of the ninja master in the cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. As she grew and her color started to change, her dot disappeared and left behind it a "smear" of white prompting Cody to start calling her "Smear". These were the early days of Princess Dott. She was then and remained regal and outgrew her silly nicknames.

Dottie was not a mere princess by the time she neared 20 or 21 years old, she had been crowned Queen and she received all the treatments of royalty in her final years.

Fare Well sweet girl!

Sheldon is Featured on Sketches: Creatively Yours!

Ok, so I was just doing my assignment and he happened to be the muse of the moment, but still, he's handsome and deserves a little ego boost, after all, he's being constantly reminded where he belongs in the puppy hierarchy here at home. Poor little guy is so beat down that he cries and chews the walls!!

Oh, wait, that is probably just teething and separation anxiety. He's an active dog for sure.

Back to the meat of the topic, a new sketch by Deanne Burton is up at Sketches: Creatively Yours and I really enjoyed using it to create what will be the first page in Sheldon's puppy book.

The title is made up of 3 types of Thickers stickers and some chipboard dog shapes from my friend Pam. In fact, the ribbons are also from Pam! Thanks sweetie!

This picture was taken the day Sheldon came home with us.

Make sure you stop by Sketches: Creatively Yours so you can see all of the beautiful interpretations of Deanne's sketch, as well as the actual sketch itself! You're sure to be inspired, there's a lot of talent represented!

A New Sketch = A New Card

The card sketch by Deanne Burton - Guest Sketch Artist at Sketches; Creatively Yours was a Godsend when I had to make a sympathy card for a friend.

Sympathy cards are hard but with Deanne's sketch I had a starting point! I used my Cuttlebug for the background of the card and a bunch of lovely things I've been hoarding.

I was going to submit this for my chosen assignment and at that time my computer became infected with a pretty ugly virus and I wasn't sure how long I'd be without, so I asked Ali for a later assignment. I'm kind of glad I got the later assignments so even though my computer was back online with much time to spare, I decided to surge forward with things the way they stand.

It won't be long before I can share what I've done for the assigned sketches and I can't wait. I'm in love with both and even though I didn't get to keep one of them, I know the person who got it loves it! Stay tuned for these reveals at Sketches: Creatively Yours.

Meet Sheldon

Sheldon is 5 months and 11 days old. I met Sheldon at the PetSmart closest to my home (which is still about 20 minutes away) 2 weeks ago. We had gone in for dog food and there were 3 adorable Lab/Pit mix puppies. Two were boys, and there was a girl. The first boy we tried to walk was very uninterested in walking as he had a rawhide treat waiting for him. Sheldon didn't seem to mind being separated from his treat for a quick walk around the store.

I tried to be good, I was not going to be taking him home. I managed to convince myself and I left the store with dog food and no extra dogs. I even managed to go almost two weeks without thinking too hard about him. But as I sat the other night, I was curious. Did Sheldon get a home? What about his brother and sister? I Googled 'Sheldon' and 'Tooele Animal Outreach' and found Sheldon's webpage with a phone number and an email address. I sent an email "Is Sheldon still available?" By morning, I was trying to be patient but I couldn't seem to settle down about it so I called the number listed on Sheldon's web page and left a message. It turns out that Sheldon was still available and more people than just me had started to inquire about him just yesterday. As it happened, my email put me first in line.

We headed over to Trudy's house, (Sheldon's Foster Mom) and made everything legal. It was heartbreaking knowing we were separating him from his sister, but we know our limits, especially with our dominant female Harlee. I am so glad there are people like Trudy and her family - they have fostered hundreds of dogs! The success stories on their living room wall was awesome.

From there, we made a trip to PetSmart for puppy chow and a baby Kong (these things are wonderful for chewers). My mom wanted to meet Sheldon so she came out to see him. We then dropped by Dani's house so that Annabelle and Julian could see Sheldon. When I had told them about him yesterday, Belle told me she wanted to "see Sheldon" at her house (not in the photo I tried to show her) so we had to swing by. She loved running from one end of the yard to another with Sheldon on his leash. She had to hug him before we left. While we were there we met my sisters' new dog Ginger. She's a funny looking little thing with her Dachsund body and Basset Hound feet. But she's a cute little dog, perfect for my sis and her family.

The biggest test of the day was a toss-up between Mickey meeting Sheldon and Sheldon meeting the stairs. I think the biggest would have to be the stairs. Mickey is getting used to this little thing being around. He's still got to be watched, he's barking randomly and being very possessive of his Mom(s). Sheldon's hardly fazed by Mickey but he is NOT happy with the stairs. When we spend most of our time upstairs, this could be tricky. We tried to lay a trail of puppy food on the steps but he's not going past the highest step he can reach with his back feet firmly planted on the main floor... so I am lugging him around after trying pretty diligently.

Currently, Sheldon is napping. He's lying stretched out at my feet on a blanket and he's snoozing contentedly... I think he may get used to the peace of only 2 other dogs around, but maybe it will take a few days or so.