Thankful and Grateful

My pet peeve is misspelled words. Misspell (mispell) is one of the most commonly misspelled words! Really?! I actually critiqued a Valentine card from my husband before we were married. He's pretty suave, but he can't spell!



Grateful is another commonly misspelled word. OK, I've done it! I spelled it GREATful for a long time until spell check corrected me. *GASP* Maybe I need to keep my pet peeves to myself!

I will be the first to say I am not perfect. I still have to reference a dictionary or English grammar source on occasion. It takes me forever to write a blog post! Sigh...the OCD struggle is real.

Today starts a new challenge at Cupcake Inspirations and it is a theme/color challenge!



I thought a fall scene would be a great background for my card today. I was inspired by this video on Ranger Ink's Instagram account.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BawUW9OHn2a/?taken-by=ranger_ink

Here's my take on the challenge!

[caption id="attachment_12089" align="alignnone" width="3126"] Club Scrap Adirondacks Jumbo Unmounted background image and sentiment from the Adirondacks Greetings Unmounted stamp sets.  JFF Rubber Stamps Pines Along the Stream image in the foreground. Club Scrap® card stock and Bristol watercolor paper. Distress ink blending on the background.[/caption]

Make something using our fall theme and link up for a chance to be picked as one of our sweet six! I'll look for you in our gallery!

Thankful and GRATEful! (*rolling my eyes* that just looks wrong!)



 

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Have You Ever Thanked Your Feet?!

Have you ever thanked your feet? Yes, you read that right. It wasn't like I couldn't think of anything when I read that quote. My feet were the first thing that popped in my head! I don't think much about them unless my bunion is hurting or I need a pedicure. I just stuff them in uncomfortable shoes and walk on them all day. I attend a gentle holds meditation yoga class on Fridays. When you are in a pose and hold it for three minutes, your mind travels to some interesting places. I happened to be looking at my foot while I was in an uncomfortable pose. I was having trouble concentrating and I wiggled my toes. If you've never had foot trouble, lucky you. I had plantar fasciitis for  a year. I spent more money on shoes than I would like to count. I woke up in the morning hobbling to the bathroom because of the tightness and pain. If I sat down too long I would hobble around like an old lady. I suffered through it for a long time before I did anything about it, then I tried yoga. The relief wasn't immediate, but with regular practice it finally healed. No injections, no surgery, no medication...just plain old exercise healed my foot. If you had told me that in the beginning I would have rolled my eyes and avoided you. I was the person who didn't like to sweat. Now, I think it's funny when I hear people say that. I'm glad my feet led me down this path. It isn't one I would have chosen, but I am stepping closer to a healthier and happier life every day. To my feet: When I can reach you, I'll hug you!

I made a set of cards inspired by today's quote. Thanksgiving is in two weeks, WOW! I'm thankful, I feel blessed and I LOVE to eat!



When I need a little inspiration, I turn to my collection of Club Scrap® Idea Decks. I started off making some cards for the Club Scrap®  11/17 Idea Deck Challenge. This K♣ card features cutting and assembly instructions to create a gate fold, hinged binding, matchbook and a card with a mini card to embellish the front!



Card #1 Hinged Binding

This card is my design team contribution for the Just For Fun Rubber Stamps November 2017 Monthly Challenge. The focal image is a new release from JFF Rubber Stamps, Harvest Bounty and features card stock from the Club Scrap® Orchard collection. I colored the stamp with Distress Inks and stamped once, dried with a heat tool and stamped again with Sepia Archival Ink and dusted with gold Perfect Pearls. I misted with water to get the background color "bleed". The sentiment is a masked portion of one of the Club Scrap® Adirondacks Jumbo Unmounted stamp greetings.



Card #2 Gate Fold

This vertical gate fold design is nice change from the standard horizontal gate fold version.

[gallery ids="11748,11750,11749" type="columns"]

I typed up a short version of the inspiration quote in Photoshop Elements and printed on card stock to add to the front panel.

[caption id="attachment_11751" align="aligncenter" width="594"] Love ya Like a Sister (BOLD) and Homemade Apple fonts.[/caption]

I used Post It tape to make tiny masks to stamp a little pile of fallen acorns.  There's still plenty of room on the inside panel to write a short note!

[caption id="attachment_11749" align="aligncenter" width="3104"] Acorn images stamped with Cocoa Memento Ink and colored with Spectrum Noir alcohol markers. The bottom of the acorns was colored with a Versamark marker and dusted with gold Perfect Pearls.[/caption]

Card #3 Matchbook fold

I had just received my Club Scrap® Trattoria kit and HAD to use the grazie stencil! That mustache is adorable! I also added the tiny bow tie embellishment that is included in the embellishment pack. The googly eyes were a last minute detail along with a little Diamond Stickles for sparkle. I totally forgot I had a photo corner punch and added some for a fun frame effect. He looks so serious until you give the card a shake!



Card #4 Card with a mini card embellishment

The Club Scrap 11-17 Card Sketch challenge was inspiration to decorate the background for the next card.



The sketch was a perfect match for the Idea Deck design!

[caption id="attachment_11753" align="alignnone" width="3288"] Trattoria Greeting Unmounted Stamps and love charm, Orchard card stock.[/caption]

The "Olive You" sentiment reminds me of junior high. Someone told me that if you looked in the mirror and mouthed the words "olive juice" it looks like you are saying "I love you". I couldn't wait to test it out at school! Back then, I didn't get the result I was expecting, but my husband thinks it's cute when I say it to him now! The tiny metal "love" charm was the perfect embellishment to go with the sentiment!



Thanks so much for stopping by and have a fabulous Saturday! Oh, and don't forget to thank your feet!



CHALLENGES ENTERED:

Crafty Calendar Challenge Autumn Colors November Challenge

Crazy 4 Challenges C4C410 Layer it Up! 

Addicted to Stamps Challenge #156 Autumn

Crafty Cardmakers #199 Thankful!

 

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Trick or Treat!

There's a new color theme challenge up on the Cupcake Inspirations blog!



This week's challenge is sponsored by Newton's Nook and they are generously donating a $25 gift certificate to our randomly chosen winner!



My card features one of the images from the Newton Dreams of Paris stamp set. 

With a little trimming, Newton naps on the Stitched Mouthed Jack-o-lantern!

[caption id="attachment_11699" align="alignnone" width="3752"] Club Scrap® card stock, Just for Fun Rubber Stamps Stitched Mouthed Jack-o-lantern, witch hat from Stamper's Anonymous Crazy Things CMS237 Tim Holtz Collection, Cuttlebug spiderweb embossing folder.[/caption]

Make a something using our color theme and link up for a chance to win!

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Behind Every Favorite Song is an Untold Story

Music is a universal feature of the human experience. Every human culture has music. We are moved by it. We are inspired by it. We feel connected to it. It reflects something profound about who we are and our experience of the world. The power of an old song can trigger vivid memories that seem to transport us back in time and space. Every one of my favorite songs has a story to go with it. Some of them I might share and some I'd like to keep to myself *WINK*!

Music has been a huge part of my life. My mom is one of nine children and family functions were always filled with music. Someone would play guitar or ukulele and everyone would sit in Grandma's living room and sing along. The repertoire consisted of old songs that Grandma sang as a little girl during the Depression, folk songs, old hymns, the Beatles, Gene Autry, Hank Williams...you name it, they could play it and sing it! My paternal grandparents had a piano at their house. My Papaw taught me to play Chopstix and Heart and Soul. I begged to take piano lessons and took them until I started high school. I can still read music and play when I visit at mom and dad's. My husband gave me a ukulele for Christmas about five years ago and I taught myself to play. I can entertain myself for hours, until I'm hoarse and my fingers are sore!

Today's post is part of the Club Scrap Artist Team Challenge Blog Hop. The challenge this month is to visit the Club Scrap YouTube channel, choose a video tutorial with a technique that inspires us, then make pages, cards or other projects inspired by that video. I chose the Piano Hinge Book. I have a guitar tabs app on my phone, but having a collection of favorite songs in a handmade book is priceless. This way I can make notes (or write down a story) in my own handwriting. That will be a lost art one day!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLGoKrycsOs]

[caption id="attachment_11577" align="alignnone" width="3111"] Club Scrap® Piano Hinge Book, All that Jazz card stock and border strip. Ribbon and gems from my personal stash.[/caption]

I copied and pasted my favorite music in a Photoshop Elements document and printed on Club Scrap® card stock. This was a song my Grandma would sing when she played guitar. I loved her voice.



Maybe I won't need reading glasses to see this in the firelight!



The piano hinge binding is so intriguing. I love how the pages mesh together like cogs on a wheel!



I'm the last stop on the hop today. Be sure to visit the Club Scrap® blog for Karen's post and the full list of bloggers for more Club Scrap YouTube inspiration!

Thanks for stopping by, come back anytime and be sure to let me know you were here!



SUPPLIES USED:

Club Scrap® is a monthly kit club and the kits are a limited-edition product. If you happened to miss out on some of Club Scrap’s paper kits, you should really check out all the corresponding digital kits! You’ll find all available products used in this project with links listed below. I link to sources for your convenience. Affiliate links used at no extra cost to you. Please feel free to message me with any questions!

Club Scrap All That Jazz Digital kit

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Scandinavia or BUST!

I've been member of Club Scrap®  for a long time. When I joined in 2008 I was a newbie scrapbooker. I had a few necessities like glue, scissors, and cheap paper, but when I received my first kit I was in HEAVEN! I had no idea that supplies like that existed! Not only did the kit have all the supplies I needed to create scrapbook pages and cards, it came with INSTRUCTIONS! I am that person, the one who reads the instructions for everything. When it's all said and done, I will know how to put something together backwards and forwards. I'm sure it's an annoying quality to those who know me well, but I will take things apart if someone puts it together wrong. Well, if you're going to do it, do it right the first time! (I hear my Dad's voice in my head every time I say that!)

This binder is full of priceless information - instructions, tutorials and lots of inspiration! It is my collection of Scrap Raps. Club Scrap® used to publish a monthly magazine that was included with each kit. The current Scrap Raps are online on the Club Scrap blog, but anything prior to 2012 is in here!

That is where I found this little gem!

[gallery ids="11434,11435" type="slideshow"]

All I had to do was follow the instructions and it was "done right the first time"!

[caption id="attachment_11430" align="aligncenter" width="4680"] Club Scrap Scandinavia kit.[/caption]

Of course I had to fill the luggage with something. The instructions suggest filling with standard greeting cards and envelopes...so I pulled out my Idea Deck and chose a couple of cards with instructions for the A2 size recommendation.

Card Set A

[caption id="attachment_11431" align="aligncenter" width="423"] Cutting and assembly instructions are on the back of each card.[/caption]



Card Set B





They all fit in there AND there is still room for more or matching envelopes.



My husband gave me the nicest compliment when I showed him my finished project, "You made that? Out of paper?!"

It's easy when you know how! (WINK!)

Kelley is your next stop on the hop. If you'd like to start at the beginning of the hop, click here to head to the Club Scrap blog where you'll find the full list of bloggers.

Thanks for stopping by, come back anytime and be sure to let me know you were here!



SUPPLIES USED:

I link to sources for your convenience. Affiliate links used at no extra cost to you. Please feel free to message me with any questions!

Club Scrap Scandinavia Kit



Club Scrap White Pigment Ink



Club Scrap Assembly Line Cardmaking Idea Deck - Vol. 2



 

• Tonic Studios - Tim Holtz - Stamp Platform


• 


• Price: $36.99

• Ranger Ink - Tim Holtz - Distress Oxides Ink Pads - Fired Brick


• 


• Price: $5.39

• Ranger Ink - Tim Holtz - Distress Oxides Ink Pads - Peeled Paint


• 


• Price: $5.39

• Ranger Ink - Tim Holtz - Distress Oxides Ink Pads - Black Soot


• 


• Price: $5.39

• Ranger Ink - Tim Holtz - Mini Ink Blending Tool - Round


• 


• Price: $6.29

• Ranger Ink - Tim Holtz - Mini Ink Blending Tool Replacement Foams - Round


• 


• Price: $6.29

 

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Meow at the Moon!

I asked Chris for suggestions for my post title. He liked Howl at the Moon, but cats don't howl.  Or do they? We've never had a cat, so I don't know. My neighbor's cat sounds like it is howling at 3 am...right under my bedroom window. I wonder sometimes if my dog is deaf, but he hears me when I open the backdoor to feed him or call him to go for a walk. He's not doing his job! Anyway, Meow at the Moon is what evolved. It doesn't really sound that scary, but don't underestimate the Tiny Black Kat!

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzxFjfB8Dfk]

My brother gave this book to Chris for Christmas many years ago. I read it first and "The Price" was exceptionally good! I probably shouldn't have read that story before bed though. Hmmm, maybe that howling at 3 am should worry me a little...



I'm up on the Just For Fun Rubber Stamps blog today with a spooky Halloween scene!



I didn't do anything fancy here, just some stamping and ink blending. I created this scene using three stamps - the Tiny Black Kat, Haunted Moon Tree, and Bats and a little help from my new Tim Holtz Stamp Platform! Sometimes the silhouette stamps need to be stamped twice to get a good solid print. I used Distress Oxide in black soot to stamp the silhouette images and regular Distress Inks for the background and the moon. The Tim Holtz mini ink blender was the perfect fit for the moon! The BOO letters were stamped with some tiny alphabet stamps from my stash.

The October Card Challenge is going on now!

You have until Tuesday, October 31st at 9:00 PM (EST)to enter. Make something spooktacular for a chance to win a gift certificate from Just For Fun Rubber Stamps!

CHALLENGES ENTERED:

Sweet Stampin' Challenge Bingo Board for Halloween



Color Throwdown #465



As You See It Challenge: Delicious Shivers! #161



 

SUPPLIES USED:

I link to sources for your convenience. Affiliate links used at no extra cost to you. Please feel free to message me with any questions!

 

• Tonic Studios - Tim Holtz - Stamp Platform


• 


• Price: $36.99

• Ranger Ink - Tim Holtz - Distress Oxides Ink Pads - Black Soot


• 


• Price: $5.39

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads - Peeled Paint


• 


• Price: $4.49

• Ranger Ink - Tim Holtz - Distress Ink Pads - Mini - Seedless Preserves


• 


• Price: $2.69

• Ranger Ink - Tim Holtz - Distress Ink Pads - Mini - Faded Jeans


• 


• Price: $2.69

• Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads - Black Soot


• 


• Price: $4.25

• Ranger Ink - Tim Holtz - Mini Ink Blending Tool - Round


• 


• Price: $6.29

 

Read More »