Got lemons? Make lemonade!

Here is a card I made to help de-stress myself here at the end of the school year.  My computer is trying to go haywire and I'm about to throw it through the wall!    If only new ones didn't cost so much.......

Anyway, I got this idea to make a card with this saying - originally I was going to type it, but our computer will not let me do so!

Anyway, I used the tart and tangy stamp set to make my lemons.

The inside of it has a pop-up lemonade stand.  I got this idea from Andrea Walford and Sophia Landry - they had a fun folds card class online if you want to take the class...

I just loved this idea and decided (as always) to take their idea and make it my own! I used chalk and blender pens to color my flowers for all seasons pots and made a journaling spot with the top note.  Cute and rustic.

Window fold card

Here is a little flower window card I made using the Fancy Flower punch from the spring mini catalogue.  This punch is plenty strong, so it is great for a window.  I think the card is a little busy in retrospect, but I like the idea.  I'll just have to try it again.with a new set of DSP and colors!

I used the old Bella paper with Riding Hood Red, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White, and Basic Black. I also used the Vintage Vogue set and matching wheel for the inside of the card. 

Happy birthday, Brinklee!

On the Sketches for All challenge site, there are two different challenges I did today.  Both of them were for Brinklee's birthday (our little cousin who turns 1!).  The top card used a sketch and also had to be black, white, and green.  I used the Pony Party stamp set for this card and some paper from a Making Memories pad as well as several strips of scrap paper.  I sponged the Top Note die cut with Wild Wasabi to make it match the card since I didn't have any Wild Wasabi scraps. 

I watercolored the pony with 3 colors.  I started with Pretty in Pink, then Pixie Pink, and finished with a touch of Pink Passion.  Finally, I colored in the mane/tail with my Going Gray/Basic Gray markers. 

For the sparkly 1, I used a sticky cut number and sprinkled green glitter all over it. 

***Let me just say, that if you want GOOD watercolor paper, you need to get SU watercolor paper!  I got some at Archiver's with a free coupon.....and I have not been pleased with it at all.  I usually like most things, but it does NOT blend colors at all and shreds immediately when water is added.  I was able to watercolor 3 different colors quickly using the heat embossing tool to dry it out in between and the SU paper held up great!

The other challenge we did, was Halleigh's job while mommy was making Brinklee's birthday card.  We had some leftover bear diecuts from her birthday, so she made a birthday card, too.  Don't you just love the upside down skirt?!??!  Just kidding!  She did it all herself, so that makes me just as happy as can be! 

Another "intense" card

My darling husband likes to call these fun fold cards, "intense" cards.  In fact, he asked me last night who this birthday card was for and I answered, "Myself!"  I thought he was going to fall onto the floor he laughed so hard at me!  Honestly, when I make a card like this, I really will give it away......I promise!  It just takes me a few months to let go of it!  I'll wait for my best friend's birthday at the end of the summer so that way I can admire it for a while first! 

Now....don't tell me you don't do the same thing!  I know some of my club members in my SU club that don't give ANY of the projects we make away! 

Anyway....here's just a sneak peek at another fun fold card.  This one has a bit of a gate fold, but it also folds out from the inside to allow you to insert a gift card or a sweet personal note.  Sorry about the shadow on the bottom of this picture....the sun was already down, so all I had was indoor lighting....

As you can see, this is the returning Baja Breeze and the retiring Cameo Coral combo from last year's summer mini.  I love that paper and the Great Friend stamp set.  I added a few little embossed butterflies to the note spot to give it a final touch!  I love butterflies! 

Pirate pop up

I am taking a Fun Folds card class from one of my favorite bloggers, Andrea Walford and Sophia Landry.  They have such terrific ideas and always provide great tutorials for them!  If you want to take the class, you can hop on over to their blog in the right column for information.

I will not post the card that they presented as the project, but I will share a card that was inspired by one of the featured tutorials.  Here is a pirate card that I made for a boy's birthday.  I put some sprinkly background on all the white paper for visual texture.  For the front, I cut out a ship (I hope it looks like a ship!) and embossed it with the lattice embossing folder from the summer mini.  Next, I took my brayer and rolled Basic Black ink all over this to make it look more rustic.  I just handcut a pole and flag for the finish of the front. 

For the inside, I used the provided pdf file to make a treasure box for my pop up piece.  I used the woodgrain paper from the winter mini catalogue for the treasure box.  I added a few other stamps from the Birthday Greetings stamp set and the My Favorite Things stamp set for a personal note. 

Happy together - crystal effects and titles

Here is a page I created using the May 1st sketch at Stuck Sketches.  I don't really know what it is about this page, but I just really love the way it turned out.  The color scheme, the flowers (which I won on a Sketches for All contest, BTW!), the silly pictures....it all just came together perfectly. 

 And here is a close-up of the title - Liz Goldhawk (who has a blog in the right hand column) inspired me to use some crystal effects, so I used it on my entire title in it and I loved the finish!  I had some aqua colored chipboard letters and my paper already had the word together on it, so with the crystal effects smeared across the letters, it really made it stand out.  Finally, The Pink Elephant contest this week was to use pink, so there is just a quart of pink on this page to make it perfect!

PageMaps and Sketch Inspiration pages

Here are two coordinating pages I did based on a few sketches I found recently.  The top page is based on the ever inspirational Becky Fleck's PageMaps sketch.  http://www.pagemaps.com/ I used the Autumn paper from the fall mini catalogue for the patterned paper and then a hodgepodge of other matching items.  For instance, I used several different stickers/journaling spots from Simply Scrappin' kits that are several years old (I just can't throw them away....I'll find a page like this for all those embellies!!).  Our local dollar store carries lots of interesting scrapbooking items, like these chipboard letters from K and Company, and then there was some beautiful velvety ribbon I found on the clearance rack at my SU website! 

For this page, I took the same Chocolate Chip background and used a chipboard scalloped circle to frame the picture.  I spritzed the chipboard with a mixture of shimmer paint/alcohol/Chocolate Chip re-inker (Homemade Shimmer Mist).  I created a few swirls with my Swirly die cut on my Big Shot and stamped a few flowers in More Mustard and Real Rust with the Flower Fancy stamp set.  I added a yellow rhinestone (from the dollar store again- K & Company) and a little pumpkin by Making Memories and here was the finished page. 

As for my school countdown.....14 days to go until summer break!!!  As for tomorrow....more pacing circles to monitor state testing......ah, the fun of the end of the school year!!

Good friends, great times!

Last October we went to visit Toby's best friend growing up, Perk.  He lives outside of Chicago, so we don't get to see him very often!  We got to stay up late and let the kids play all evening and all day the next day.  They had quite a wonderful time together and we definitely enjoyed getting to spend time with good friends and eat some GREAT food! 

The top page uses my new Log Cabin Smooch Spritz!  I sprayed it all over a chipboard frame for a shimmery, bronze look.  I used some homemade shimmer mist with Real Red ink in it for the scalloped edges.  For my title, I stamped first, colored in Good friend with embossing powder and heated it up.  Then I stamped the circle images on top and wiped off the spots on top of the embossing powder.  I stamped a flower image in VersaMark ink and then rubbed Real Red ink all over it for a subtle look on the flowers.  Finally, I dry embossed a few pieces of flowers using the polka dot embossing folder and my Big Shot!

For this side of the page, I trimmed up the

scalloped edges and added a bit of ribbon.  My favorite part of this page, though is the stamped image I made to look just like the girls playing together.  I used the All in the Family stamp set to create an image of the three girls and then watercolored the hair, skin and clothing to match each of the girls!

Quick card for Make, Take, and Donate

Okay, this is a total card lift from the SU Idea Book and Catalogue!  A similar card is shown in the back with all of the card kits, but I haven't purchased this particular card kit, so I just made this with lots of free paper from the hostess level one paper packs!  I used Crushed Curry and Bashful Blue paper as well as Real Red and Basic Gray DSP.  I stamped a few images from the Starring You stamp set and added a little red glitter to the star.  I finished it off with some Bashful Blue gingham ribbon from the clearance rack that I love so dearly!  Quick and easy and great for guys!!!

Make, take and donate card class coming soon!

Here is a graduation card I made for the upcoming Make, Take, and Donate card class at our church's Oasis recovery program.  The class is simply a $5 donation to Oasis and we will make this card as well as 2 other cards in the class.  You make all three and then at the end you have the option to donate one to the thrift store to be sold on behalf of Oasis.

To make this card, I used Basic Black, Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant and a touch of Summer Sun ink. 

I stamped the owl from the Go, Graduate set in the summer mini.  I stamped it in Black StazOn ink on watercolor paper.  Then I colored it using watercolor pencils and a blender pen.  I added a bit of detail with my Signo Uni-Ball white gel pen.  Finally, I cut out a Congratulations "C" in Summer Sun from the 8 Great Greetings stamp set. 

Punches used:  Eyelet border, scallop circle, 1 1/4" circle, 1" circle

Well, I gave a kids scrapbook challenge, so I thought I would show you my little 3-year old's masterpieces!  She wanted to make a card for her daddy and a cow puppet to play with.  She did most everything by herself with only a little bit of help from me!  No matter what, she had a blast using mommy's stamps and making special projects with mommy.  They were good rainy day activities!

Handmade flower challenge

The Pink Elephant is having a challenge for you to make your own flowers, so I decided to create this layout.  I used some pics I took with the action shot mode on my camera.  I loved how the pictures showed my daughter jumping into her daddy's arms. 

It made me think of a song that says, "When I'm weak...I am safe in your arms."  I thought that would be a great title for the page, so I made a tag using that as the title. 

Finally, I finished off the page by making some flowers.  I used a retired stamp set, Stitched Exotics to create the flowers.  I stamped them, cut them out and took an empressor to shape the flowers and make them more 3-dimensional.  I sprayed all of them with some vanilla smooch spritz and then added a little yellow rhinestone in the middle of the red flowers.  For the yellow flowers, I punched a 1/2" circle and pressed the center in to make the edges pucker.  Then I stamped a tiny flower from a new stamp set called Itty Bitty Bits and punched it out with the matching Bitty punch.  I finished those off with teeny tiny pearls.  For the finishing touch, I took some hemp twine and curved it across the layout to connect all of the flowers.