True Love...

I was going to clean up my craft room and got distracted after I found a basket of Cricut die cuts. Creativity struck ( or was it avoidance of the huge pile of laundry I need to fold?!) and this card was born! Now I’m in a Valentine card making mood. My craft room will have to wait!

                

The card was posted in the Club Scrap 01/16 Card Sketch Challenge. All card stock is from Club Scrap. Stamp image from the Club Scrap Love Inkorporated 2011 kit.

Do more of what makes you happy!

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Bird Crazy and Dylusional!

I buy art supplies and they collect dust. It's probably a sickness, but (shrug) that's what I do. It's not that I don't want to use them, it's just...making time and time's a tickin'. I have done something artistic every day since January 1. I didn't really plan on making a New Year's resolution, it just happened and I have been sticking to it.  It takes 30 days to make a habit right? We'll see.

December 31, 2015 I cracked open my brand new Dylusions art journal ( I have two for some reason?) and stared at the empty pages. I peeled the plastic off of the new Dylusions spray inks I bought, closed my eyes and picked one. I sprayed all over the page. Red is my favorite color and I guess that was all it took. I put the finishing touches on my page on New Year's Day and even took pictures for a blog post!



On journal page two (I drug this one out for a few weeks), I used Sharpies and practiced blending. I LOVE the Tim Holtz Bird Crazy stamps! After work I would sit on the couch with a lap desk and color my stamped images with Sharpies that had never been opened...(rolling my eyes). I WAS going to buy some Copics or Spectrum Noir markers, but I saw a video on shading and blending with Sharpies and decided to test it out. As long as you have the right paper, it works!



This guy is my favorite...



Just one more...



I guess I can hold off on the expensive markers for awhile. I'm sure there will be something else I will want to buy when I need some Hobby Lobby retail therapy.

Do more of what makes you happy!

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Keep it Tight!

Football season is over and on to the next adventure...POWERLIFTING!

So proud of this kid and all of his teammates, they swept the meet! The ASH Powerlifting Team has a winning reputation and placed first in Nationals last year. Looking forward to a great senior season!

Of course I had to document this event with a scrapbook layout or two, proud mom that I am...





These pages are made using elements from Club Scrap's Dashing digital kit from 2011 and the Surefire Strategy ALSB Formula from Club Scrap's Idea Deck Vol.2 10♥ card.

Here's to a winning season and an awesome group of athletes. It's a GREAT day to be a TROJAN!

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I'm Baaack!

I took a blogging break this fall. I focused on family, literally! This is my youngest son's senior year in high school and I was the self appointed football team photographer. I have been taking pictures of the ASH football team since he was a freshman. I started out just taking photos from the stands and finally took the leap to the sidelines during his sophomore year. This year I recruited my oldest son to help me, he has a fantastic eye for composition and a flair for videography. I am so proud of our work! This was our first collaboration...

Many, many hours of work went into this and I wouldn't trade it for the world. I set up an ASH Trojan Football YouTube channel to share all the videos we  documented for the ASH football players (and their families!) to watch and enjoy in years to come.

I also took on a huge first time project, making the senior football players' banners to hang in the stadium.



I didn't stop there, I also made starting offense and defense banners as well...

I loved the way these looked hanging on the fence coming into the stadium. LOTS of fan selfies were taken with these behind them!

And last, I need to give a shout out to my husband. He cooked for the team every home game, carried my equipment, gave me insight on the field so that I could get the best shots, drove us to all the games, was the Trojans' biggest fan and won't take credit for any of it! I love this guy!



I handled the end of the season much better than I thought I would. We made it to the playoffs but lost to Hahnville High School. It was a GREAT season for the Trojans and I'm so proud of my Trojan for leaving it all on the field every game.







AND...He always makes time for his fans!



Here's to a great season, an awesome football team and the best family. It's a GREAT day to be a Trojan!

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July 2015 Twinchie Swap

Since it is mid-summer, and I am yearning for the beach, I chose the BTSS stamps for my twinchies for the July 2015 Twinchie swap at Club Scrap. Many moons ago I was an FFC Crafter for Club Scrap. One of the first classes that I taught was creating ALSB pages for the By the Seashore (BTSS) kit. The kit papers are long gone, but I still have my stamps!

One of the techniques that I taught in my class was the Tim Holtz Perfect Distress stamping technique. It looked sooooo good with the BTSS stamps!

             

 So, I got out my Perfect Pearls and distress inks and my little pieces of flair came together.

I chose the salty ocean distress ink, because of the theme of course! Red-orange was the complementary color for the blue-green of my paper so I chose perfect copper Perfect Pearls. I love how it turned out! The blue and the copper made an iridescent magenta color when they mixed.

I heat embossed little pieces of pearlescent vellum with copper foil embossing powder to complement the Perfect Pearls. I wanted to add a little something extra and I found a stash of tiny seashells. I added one to the front of each twinchie.

Here's a close up...

In celebration of summer, I have an unmounted sheet of BTSS stamps (scroll up for the pic) AND a bottle of Mount it adhesive to give away! Just leave your comment below and I'll choose a winner on July 24.

Hope you are enjoying your summer, ♪♫ Feelin' hot, hot, hot!♫ (or is it just me?) 

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Embrace Your Art Daily #188

Art Journal Prompt # 188 Dressform...

SUPPLIES LIST

Dress form from the Summer in Paris Cricut Cartridge

Scissors from the Sentimentals Cricut Cartridge

Ruler washi tape

Framed stencil from Club Scrap's Homestead Lite kit

Dylusions melted chocolate paint

Faber Castell gelatos

Font stamp from the Club Scrap Apothecary kit

Simplicity dress pattern background

Embrace your art daily! Check out the art journal challenge here. Go make something beautiful!

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Pick a Card...Any Card!

I am behind on sending out birthday cards! Whenever I need a little push, I flip through the Club Scrap Idea Decks for inspiration. This was the card I chose, mainly because the cards were easy to put together AND I could make four at once!

The cutting instructions are on the back of the card. Gosh this makes things soooo easy!

For added interest, I embossed a few of the panels with my Cuttlebug and dusted the embossing with Perfect Pearls. I forget to use that stuff. I love the shimmery metallic look it gave to the bees!

I embossed the stamped sentiment on vellum with Club Scrap embossing ink and Ranger Ink gold embossing powder. All card stock is from Club Scrap. 

Thanks for stopping by, now go make something that makes you happy!

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Lime, Brown, Shoes, and Purses make me "distress"!

I made this tag with three challenges in mind...The July 2015 Dylusions Facebook Challenge, Club Scrap's July 2015 Tool Challenge, and Tiare Smith Designs Embrace Your Art 365 Challenge. Whew! So, here's my girl...shoes, purse, lime, brown and distressed!

I sprayed the tag with Dylusions fresh lime ink and then placed the Club Scrap Vogue stencil on top and misted with Stewart Superior Amaretto mist.  I used a combination of Dylusions and Club Scrap stamps to put my fashionista together like a paper doll! I painted her outfit with Dylusions funky fuschia and fresh lime inks and stamped the pattern on her dress with a stamp from Club Scrap's newest kit Cantina. I stamped the purse with an oldie but goodie stamp from Club Scrap's Steppin' Out kit with their fuschia ink. I added a coat of Glossy Accents to make it look like patent leather. I typed the quote in Photoshop and printed on Club Scrap card stock. 

Jellyka St. Andrew Queen's font 

"There is a fountain of youth: it is your mind, your talents, the creativity you bring to your life and the lives of people you love. When you learn to tap this source, you will truly have defeated age."
Sophia Loren

Go make something beautiful!

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July NBUS Challenge

 Per Pam at Club Scrap..."What’s NBUS, you ask? NBUS=Never Before Used Stuff. This month's challenge is to create a page, card, ATC series, tag, or whatever using a SUMMER stamp you’ve never used from your stash (anything that says summer to you – quotes or objects from Summer PSL, Cantina, something that looks like a sun, flipflops, beaches, Cape Cod, bees, dragonflies, Castaway, water, etc)." So this SCREAMS summer to me!

The wave stamp is from the Club Scrap 2015 Reunion kit. The margarita glass is part of the stencil from this month's Club Scrap Cantina kit. The bathing beauty and sentiment are Dylusions stamps. Oh, and the background stencil is from the Club Scrap Artifacts kit. All card stock is from Club Scrap. 

The bathing beauty was too big to stamp on a card, so I made a giant 6*10 inch tag. I want to party with HER! Dont' you?!

I also entered her in the Embrace Your Art Daily Challenge hosted by Tiare Smith Designs. Be sure to check out the Club Scrap challenge board and the Tiare's prompts and the make something! 

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Cardabilites Sketch Reveal #126

I'm branching out a bit and found the cardabilites blog with this fun sketch. It's simple and I can use my scraps. Here's the sketch...

I don't like a lot of bling on my cards, so I skipped the cluster embellishment. I added a small gem and embossed a few of the images with copper foil embossing powder. I even got out one of my border punches AND my Cuttlebug to cut the decorative journaling element. What?! (They sit under my desk and collect dust...tsk, tsk...)

The sentiment stamp and flourish are from the 2010 Club Scrap Vogue kit and the legs are from the Legs Eleven Dylusions stamp set. 

I'm linking up to their linky party for a chance to win a monthly kit from the Flying Unicorn. Details are on the cardabilities blog. Get out your scraps and make something!

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July Card Sketch Challenge

I like that this card sketch is designed for using ATC's as an embellishment. I have a box full of them! What better way to show off those mini works of art?

July 2015 Club Scrap Card Sketch Challenge 

This sketch is so simple and I have tons of scraps that I can use to put it together. I found a scrap piece that I used as my card base, but didn't have any ATC's that I liked to embellish it with. So, I fanned through my stamps and found this one of the ladies from the Club Stamp Extra! Extra! kit from 2004. I just got my Dylusions stamps in yesterday and this sentiment was perfect for my card!

I encourage you to check out the challenge. The sketches are a great way to help you whip up a card or two and your participation enters you to win a gift certificate from Club Scrap! What do you do with your ATC's?

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June 2015 Card Sketch Challenge

This was definitely a challenge for me since the sketch didn't really "hit" me.

While I was cleaning up my work space, I found some of the swapped twinchies I've received in the swaps in the Club Scrap forum. (I hope you ladies don't mind, but those mini pieces of flair look so cute on a card and not hidden in a box on the shelf!) They fit perfectly AND I didn't have to do anything but arrange and glue them on! I love when things come together that fast!

Check out +Julie Heyer's Cape Cod Scrapper blog post for free ALSB cutting instructions for the sketch. Her cards are really cute too! Click here to see all the creations submitted for the challenge on the Club Scrap forum. 

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June 2015 ALSB Challenge

I FINALLY downloaded the National Parks digital kit! I keep forgetting to download on the first of the month and the link expires. The ladies at +ClubScrap provide awesome customer service. The link was reactivated within 24 hours. I need to start setting a reminder to myself before I wear out my welcome!

My niece spent the day with me and we had a blast. I thought this kit would be fun for our outdoor adventure. I used the ALSB (Assembly Line Scrapbooking) idea recipe card that is included to design my LOs. Love the colors with my pictures!  She even made a mini scrapbook with the pictures we took to share at home. Love this goofy girl!

National Parks digital kit and ALSB LO1

National Parks digital kit and ALSB LO2

I participated in the monthly ALSB challenge in the Club Scrap forum too. Check out the awesome LO's other members have submitted!

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June 2015 Birthday Club Swap

I made these for the June 2015 Birthday Club Swap on the Club Scrap forum. Actually, I made them for the May birthday swap, addressed and stamped the envelope, put it outside in the mailbox and my 17 year old thought it was new mail and put it on my desk. I didn't find it for two weeks, way past the deadline to submit! If at first you don't succeed, try, try again...

Cards made with the Idea Deck Vol 2, 4♦ card.

I submitted these in the May 2015 Card Sketch Challenge. This was the sketch that we followed:

Tricia created a set of cutting instructions for the sketch on the Club Scrap blog. So many creative submissions with this sketch! There are no rules other than to try to follow the sketch as closely as possible, and, of course, the card should use at least 50% Club Scrap supplies. The winner(s) will be chosen randomly from the cards posted in the thread and will receive a GHM Gift Certificate from Club Scrap. A minimum of ten participants is required to qualify for a prize drawing. Check out the forum for the new challenges as they are posted!

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National Parks Blog Hop!

Welcome to the June Blog Hop! This month we are road trippin' with the National Parks kit!

The last week of May my family and I took a trip to Colorado. When we got home, my pizza box was waiting for me on the front porch. I make a point NOT to peek at the Club Scrap kit spoilers, I love the surprise. And what a surprise! The National Park kit was PERFECT for my vacation photos!

This month's technique challenge was just the project I was looking for when planning how to scrap my vacation photos. All of the pictures were taken with our cell phones, and I discovered the Walgreens photo app for my iPhone. I uploaded my pictures and when I picked them up, the Instagram and Hipstamatic photos were printed 4x4 size. Perfect for the little square album! I adjusted the size to fit my photos and voila! 

I made a Pinterest National Parks mood board and found some really neat vintage travel posters. I resized them and printed them out on the cream cardstock. 

I had so many pictures! I ended up making little flip books on each page. 

 A few of the 4x6 photos needed a place and I trimmed them to fit in the little  pockets on some of the pages. I backed them with card stock so that they won't bend with use. I love this vintage travel poster! 

This was the pic on the reverse side of the Vail poster. Lots of group selfies on this trip!

These little flip books filled up fast! 

There's a whole lotta fun memories crammed in this little book.  It is so fun to share with all the interactive bits. I'll definately be making this project again and again! Next up on the hop is Annette's Digital Musings. Thanks for stopping by!

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