Crazy Love #3

Today's Valentine's Day card is actually one that I made for the holiday but also decided to keep it vague enough that I could use the same design for more generic occasions.  The flowers and pink color scheme lend itself well to the romantic holiday, but they also could be used as a general note or even Mother's Day card.

I've been looking to make some more versatile designs so that I can have more cards on hand for last minute occasions.

This entire card was made with bits that I got from an estate auction last year so while I can't identify most of the elements, I'm glad that I was able to work my way through more of my stash.

Identifiable Elements:

• Gold puff paint - Studio G

All Out of Sympathy

I really got down to it and finished organizing all the cards that I have in my stash to make them easier to locate in the moment and in doing so I realized that I didn't really have any sympathy cards.  Like any at all.  So I decided to make one up today just so I'm ready in case if I need to be.

I don't make many sympathy cards because I've been fortunate enough to not need them that often, so I was extra careful to make sure that I didn't make it too "loud" or "crazy" like some of my other endeavors can end up.

I'm really glad that I was able to find this nice sentiment stamp at Tuesday Morning not too long ago as well.  It's nice and simple which means it can be used on a lot of different style cards.

Identifiable elements:

• Sentiment stamp- Picket Fence Studios
• Brown ink- "Chocolate Chip" by Stampin' Up!

Crazy Love #6

Today's card took a lot more time than I initially expected because I decided to try something that I haven't done in awhile which is coloring!

I got to use a few colors that I haven't played with in a bit like the light blue (it was a bad day to try and photograph it so it looks a little dingier than in person) and as with a few of the cards in this series I really like not having totally traditional colors for Valentine's cards.

The coloring took some time, especially because my hands were a little extra shaky this morning and my sneezing was off the charts but it definitely could've turned out worse.  I would like to try and incorporate coloring into my work more often since it looks nice and is fairly relaxing to do.

Identifiable Elements:

• Light pink marker- Primrose Petals by Stampin' Up!
• Dark marker- Raspberry Ripple by Stampin' Up!
• Sentiment stamp- "Something to Say" by Stampin' Up!
• Flower stamp- "Secret Garden" by Stampin' Up!

Hoarder's Hump Day

This birthday card is more proof that I really love my monochromatic color schemes.  I've been trying to break out of them lately, but not today.

I designed the whole card around the pretty metallic blue floral paper that I just love.  It's almost all gone but I can't bear to through a good thing away.  (I understand that's probably 100% my hoarding talking but I can't help it).

I wasn't planning on doing the entire background in the splatter but I messed a small part and the only way to hide it was to keep going.  If I ever made the card again, I'd definitely stick with my original plan to leave more negative space and just try to be more careful.

That being said, I think the card turned out swell overall and I know the person I sent it to will appreciate it.

Identifiable elements:

• Ink- Bermuda Bay by Stampin' Up!
• Flower punch- Stampin' Up!
• Blue paper- Bermuda Bay by Stampin' Up!
• Splatter stamp- "Swirly Bird" set by Stampin' Up!
• Sentiment- "Create a Cupcake" set by Stampin' Up!

Scrap The Girls July Challenge

It's another great day to take on another great scrapbooking challenge!  Today's challenge was a color pallet inspiration one from Scrap The Girls.  I made the page for a photo I had pinned up on a bulletin board when I was in elementary school which is why the photo itself is pretty beat up.

The color inspiration really spoke to me since they're a combination of colors that I don't often lean towards.

I also tried to use a lot of my mom's old stash which is why I actually have no idea where any of the pieces came from, unfortunately.  There's a chance that some of it was even left over from my grandmother's stash when she gave up crafting.

I tried to keep the sketchy watercolor feel that the image accompanying the pallet had with the watercolor paper, die cuts, and the tiny sketched flowers on the large golden background paper.  Of course, because it's me, I made sure to get some bling and glitter on the page as well!

This was a very fun challenge and I can't wait to see what they come up with next!

Skittles

I'm still trying to make it through my stash and luckily I'm getting some pretty nice pages out of it.  I had a lot of random photos of this little pooch that my friend had in college named Skittles so I decided to make and entire page dedicated to her.

I didn't have any pictures of the two of us printed but she liked me more than most people because I brought her empty water bottles to play with.  I'm not above bribing a dog for their love.

I'm glad that I got  to use this background paper because I've always really liked it.  It didn't occur to me that I could use these flowers with it until I accidentally set them down next to each other when I was digging through my stash.  Fate was at work that day!

Identifiable Elements:

• Background paper- "Enchanting Garden" from the Simple Pleasures Collection by Three Bugs In A Rug
• Flowers- Textured Elements by Petaloo

Down With The Thickness

This was an attempt for me to use the massive silver flowers on this page.  I ordered these online and they did not look as huge and dimensional as they actually are.  They are about an inch thick and I thought I would never actually use them.

I'm very surprised that I was able to make them work with the page aesthetically and equally surprised that I was able to physically secure them to the paper.  

I'd like to say that I've learned my lesson about blindly purchasing things online but I know in my heart that I haven't.

Hopefully next time I won't end up with such a surprise but at least this one made for a decent page!

Identifiable Elements:

• Background paper- "Push Me Pull You" by Studio Calico
• Brown dots- Enamel Dots by We R Memory Keepers
• Silver flowers- Sunrise Sunset Collection by Prima Flowers
• Background swirls- Adhesive Borders by K & Company
• Sequins- Mixed Sequins by Advantus Corp.

BFFFL

It's been awhile since I've had the time to sit down and do some scrapping but I went ahead and made this page.  I had totally forgotten that I had bought the glittery quote stickers.  Usually I don't like quote stickers but I remember realizing that these were ones I could actually use and I'm glad I got them!

I love the way the page turned out and I'm glad I got to add a little more sparkly to my life in the process.

I'm thinking I might have to reorganize some of my scrapbooks by year since I've been trying to put them on as many pages as possible but that's a project for another day, I believe.

Identifiable Elements:

• Flowers- Burlap Daisies from the Forever in Time collection by Paper Craft Collection
• Gray dots- Enamel Dots by We R Memory Keepers
• Sequins- Mixed Sequins by Advantus Corp
• Thickers- Alpha Chips by Me & My Big Ideas

Out With the Old

I have decided to challenge myself to do some real work clearing out my old stash this month.  I'm looking to potentially relocate to another state and quite frankly, the ammount of craft items I'd have to haul with me is intimidating.  To do this I'm going to be doing double time 4 days a week.  Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays I will be featuring 2 Fast Cards and Wednesdays will have 2 Hoarder's Hump Day pages.  Each of these days I will try and use as many of the same elements for both projects to try and cull the herd.

I would say "new year, new me" but 1. I've always disliked that phrase and 2. I don't have any delusions that this purging of the stash will become a real habit.

Today's cards aren't as closely related as I hope to make moving forward but they were made from the same background card stock and both are birthday cards.  

Since I'm mostly purging my collection I won't have many elements that I can identify.  This is all about finally getting rid of the excess (and hopefully not purchasing much more).

Identifiable Elements:

• Green flowers - Burlap Daisies from the "Forever in Time Paper Craft Collection" by MultiCraft Imports Inc.
• Floral background paper - "I Love My Family" by Echo Park Paper Co.
• Blue washi tape - "Summer Party" collection by Echo Park Paper Co.

Warming Up to Yellow

As I've mentioned multiple times on this blog, yellow is my least favorite color by far.  That being said, I think this page might be slowly changing my mind.  I'm still trying to cut back on the massive amount of scrapbooking stash I have and decided to go a little crazy with the yellow flowers on this page.  I really like the way that they ended up looking.

I think being able to bring some black into play (which is one of my favorite colors) helped me tone down the yellow and endear me to it more.  I think it also gives the page a bit more dimension than it usually would have had.

Identifiable elements:

• Flowers- Textured Elements by Petaloo
• Cameras- Rub-Ons by Hambly Screen Prints

Hiatus is Over

I really didn't mean to get as far behind with this blog as I have but I suppose that's just life.  I'm back (hopefully for good this time) and I made this page in celebration.

This page was really fun for me to make and I really like how it turned out.  I had fun using papers I love and getting to use some of my stash at the same time.  For awhile I had felt fairly uninspired but after my unintentional break I got some of my mojo back.  Plus, with it being as dreary out as it is this time of year, the bright colors really cheered me up.

Identifiable Elements:

• Background paper- "Mayfield" by Studio Calico
• Letters- Alphachips by Me & My Big Ideas

Hoarder's Hump Day

My mission to thin out everything I've been hoarding for far too long continues!  This page was the last of the yellow alphabet that I have always loved but now I am left with a random assortment of letters that can't be made to spell anything useful so it is time we parted ways.

The page itself is a little bland but that's bound to happen when I'm working with parts of my stash that are more than out of season.  The colors for these pieces were hard to match since they were slightly "off" of just about all of my newer elements.

I'm not really sorry to see any of these bits go.  There's a reason that they haven't been used yet.  That being said I'm pretty impressed with the way this page turned out.  I don't dislike it despite the fact that I tend to dislike these colors and the style.

Identifiable Elements:

• Border stickers- "Pretty Party" collection by Crate Paper

Go With the Flow(ers)

I'm in love with this page.  It started out just as an adventure to use the background paper since I've decided I would like to get rid of the small filing drawer I have a lot of my paper in.  It's heavy, hard to open, and difficult to see what I have.  I could just take the papers I have in there out but I think it would be wiser to try and actually use what's in it first.

To compliment this page I happened to pick up these canvas flowers on a whim just a few days ago.  I had no idea at the time how great of a purchase they would be!

I don't have much to say about this page.  I just really like it and I think that speaks for itself.

Identifiable Elements:

• Background paper- The Color of Memories by American Crafts
• Gems- Bucket of Bling by Horizon Group USA
• Flowers- Petaloo
• Letters- "Summer Fresh" collection by Simple Stories
• Block words- "Summer Fresh" collection by Simple Stories

Fast Card Friday

Today's Fast Card Friday truly was fast.  I used all pre-made pieces and was able to slap it together quite quickly!  I thought this would be a good card to use as more of my friends are taking major steps in their lives with getting new jobs or buying their first houses.

The other great thing about this card was that I was able to use up the last of a rhinestone sheet and the last of these pink flowers which means my goal of clearing my stash is even closer to being completed!

Because of this goal I unfortunately can only identify one piece of this card but at least it's one of the important bits!

Identifiable Elements

• Pink flowers- Paper Shapes in Gerbera Cotton Candy by Bazzill Basics Paper

Make It Work

Today's page inspiration came from a set of border stickers that I've had for quite some time but always found an excuse not to use.  I decided that today would be the day I would use some of them and find a way to make them work!

It really was a struggle for me to find paper and other elements that I found "match".  I've not been as on board with the eclectic style that I have seen a lot of lately in the scrapbooking world so it was difficult to remind myself that things don't need to "match" in order to "match".  (Do you think I've said the word "match" enough there?)

I don't hate the way this page turned out so that in and of itself makes this venture a success.  I was also able to use those bright blue letter stickers that I've deemed to bright to use on multiple occasions.  The page isn't too fancy but it turned out better than my negative attitude going into it had expected.

Identifiable Elements:

• Background paper - "Record" by Studio Calico
• Yellow flowers - Burlap flowers by Petaloo
• Blue pearls - Double Dot Jewels by BoBunny
• Yellow paper - "I Love Family" collection by Echo Park Paper Co.
• Red paper - "I Love Family" collection by Echo Park Paper Co.
• Border stickers - Border Stickers from the Random Collection by Crate Paper

Hoarder's Hump Day

Today's hump day was definitely needed.  I'm still trying desperately to get my craft room organized and part of my biggest problem is the sheer volume of stuff I have to find space for so I figured the best way to solve that problem would be to just use it all, right?!

I have a TON of journal note cards which I honestly know I will never use for their intended purpose so I took some and punched all of these pretty flowers out of them.

I also got to use more of the transparent paper that I used for a SOS challenge last month and I only have a little left so thankfully that'll be gone soon too.  Since this is a true Hoarder's Hump Day I unfortunately can't name many of the bits that I used for this page.

Identifiable Elements:

• Background paper- American Crafts
• Transparent paper- "Raven Dots" by Bazzill Basics Paper

Glitter Gone Wild

Today's page really tested my patience to make.  I impulsively decided to cover a majority of a piece of plain blue card stock in gold glitter to make a cool looking pattern, but I didn't totally think it through.  Not really a total shock given my personality.

While the glitter background turned out really cool, it presented a massive problem in which I couldn't get anything to stay glued to the glitter.  I ended up lightly scraping away some glitter to get glue and mini glue dots to stay attached to the page after trying multiple other techniques (I almost resorted to gorilla glue but wasn't sure how that would affect my photographs).

Despite the fact that this page took me literal days to make when most of my pages require about a quarter of that effort.  I really think it looks cool.  I'm not entirely sure how well it'll hold up, but we'll see.

It really should be used for a Hoarder's Hump Day since I can only identify one element in it but at the effort equated to the page being more than that.

Identifiable Elements:

• Jewels - Jewel Borders by Forever in Time Paper Craft Collection

Fast Card Friday

Today's fast card is fast in that it doesn't take long to put the pieces together but it does take a bit of time to dry.  I still consider it fast because without drying time it only took me about 10 minutes to create.

This card was fun to make because I tried out something different with glitter glue.  I lumped a whole lot of streaks of glitter onto the white piece that I had stamped flowers on then unleashed my inner toddler and smeared it with my fingers to get them to mix together.

Finger painting is just as fun as an adult.

I got a little messy myself but I think the otherwise clean lines of the card balance out the visual interest of the glitter.

Unfortunately the blue and green glitter glues had no label as I won them from a contest many years back.

Identifiable Elements:

• Flower stamp- Secret Garden by Stampin' Up!
• Birthday stamp- Bring On the Cake by Stampin' Up!
• Ink- Basic Gray by Stampin' Up!
• Gold glitter- Glitter Glue by Studio G
• Green paper- Neutrals cradstock stack by DCWV
• Rhinestones- Adhesive Gems by Simply Creative

Fast Card Friday

I promise that background color is green.  It was a weird day lighting-wise on balcony today when I took this and my phone was cooperating.  I have no idea why it looks like baby food yellow but in person it is green.  A Fast Card Friday calls for a Fast Photo as well and I didn't feel like fighting with it today. 

This card was incredibly simple to make.  When you're in a rush, stamping one image in multiple colors can add some quick visual interest.  I also got to use up the last of my black leaf stickers.  I'm sad to see them go because they were really nice to work with but this just means more space for more fun stuff!

Identifiable elements:

• Green paper- Neutrals cardstock stack by DCWV
• Black leaves- ECD Outline Stickers 2598 by Elizabeth Craft Designs
• Flower stamp- Flower Shop by Stampin' Up!
• Thank You stamp- Something to Say by Stampin' Up!
• Blue ink- Marina Mist by Stampin' Up!
• Green ink- Cucumber Crush by Stampin' Up!

Perfect Paper, More Perfect Photo

This page was difficult to photograph because of the absolutely beautiful paper that I used for the background.  You can almost see that it has a glossy emboss and is slightly iridescent in way where it can be either white or light pink depending on how the light catches it.  I thought it would be perfect for this photograph because it is one of my favorites of my grandparents and I from when I was little and it matches perfectly.

I tried to use the tan paper to make sure that the photo really stood out and used minimal embellishments for the same reason.  The only thing I'm considering adding is to this is the year it was taken in if my mom remembers since there wasn't any date on the back.

Unfortunately, I don't know who makes the paper since I got it from a massive clearance pile awhile back but I've listed below the parts that I do know.

Identifiable Elements:

• Beige enamel tear drop shapes- Enamel Shapes by We R Memory Keepers
• Light blue framed stickers- Watering Can Label Stickers by October Afternoon
• Embossed flower stickers- by Vintage Blue
• Textured tan cardstock- "Neutrals" collection 8x8" by DCWV
•  Letters- Marquise Pearl Letter Stickers by Thickers