Stamp, Stitch, & Splatter

Hello Paper Crafters! I'm here today presenting Drill #15 with the S.W.A.T Team! For this drill, we challenge you to use three fun techniques - Stamp it, Stitch it (machine, hand, or faux), & Spray or Splatter it! 

We can't give a great challenge without a prize! One lucky participant will receive a $10 gift card for 3 Scrappy Boys! 

I love all three of the techniques in this challenge and was THRILLED to use them all on one project! I started by adding brown ink splatters to my cream cardstock base. You can achieve this look over an even mist by removing the cap/nozzle and gently tapping the straw above the areas you'd like to ink. 

After Distressing the edges of two paper squares and adding a few patterned circles, I machine stitched a square to hold all of the pieces together. I love the added texture! 

I finished off the card with stamping! Looks like I did the three techniques in the challenge backwards! I paper pieced the bun and stove and adding it to the center. I grounded the image by cutting a small banner from brown patterned paper. I also stamped the sentiment onto a strip of cream cardstock, cut it up, and arranged it on the card front. Lastly, I embellished the card with a few star wood veneers. 

Thanks for stopping by! Make sure to head over to the S.W.A.T blog to see my fellow design team member's gorgeous creations. Link up your own project by September 28th to be entered for a chance to win! 

SUPPLIES :: A Muse Studio Cardstock & Doily, Lawn Fawn Plus One Stamp Set, Pebbles Walnut Grove 6x6 Paper Pad, Studio Calico Star Wood Veneers & Mister Huey's Dark Calico, StazOn Jet Black Ink

TOOLS :: Close To My Heart Paper Distresser, MyStik Permanent Adhesive, ZIG 2-Way Chisel Tip Glue, Cutter Bee Scissors, Fiskars Scrapbooking Rotary Paper Trimmer, A Muse Studio Acrylic Block, Brother Sewing Machine, Martha Stewart Score Board

Hello My Dear

The finishing touches have been made to my nephew Hunter's baby album, at least in terms of his grand entrance into the world and his first few days. The last layout to be constructed was this one of my sister-in-law's parents meeting Hunter for the first time. 

These square cutouts from Studio Calico were the starting point for the layout. From there, I layered patterned papers and other embellishments in the same color scheme. 

The SMASH Date Stamp from K&Company is one of my most used tools. The open box is perfect for journaling a word in a different color ink. To balance out the amount of red located at the bottom left corner of the layout, I added the word "love" in red pen to the box.

Not much journaling was needed as many of the layouts in this album were from the same event. Therefore, I added the word "grandson" to an arrow die cut from Chic Tags to complete the page.

Thanks for stopping by today!

LAYOUT SUPPLIES
Cardstock: American Crafts
Patterned Paper: Studio Calico (Temple), October Afternoon (Paid In Full), BasicGrey (Fact)
Embellishments: American Crafts (Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Buttons & Accents, 5th & Frolic Large Tags), K&Co (SMASH Date Stamps), Chic Tags (Birthday Cake Labels)
Inks: StazOn (Jet Black), Bic Acid-Free Markers

On Trend: Nautical

Ahoy! It's time to set sail with the Practical Scrappers team for another paper crafting trend. This week we're exploring NAUTICAL. Anchors have been showing up everywhere - from stamps to paper to embellishments. 

For my contribution, I chose to use nautical themed colors and patterns to create this baby page. 

Most of the paper and embellishments are from Crate Paper. I love the faux wood/boardwalk paper strip that ties in all of the browns. The page was made for my parents; therefore, the tag was added in the top left corner for future journaling.

I just couldn't resist a few gold sequins which also came in the ephemera pack from Crate Paper. I love red, blue, and gold color combos.

Thanks for stopping by my blog. Don't forget to check out all of the great nautical inspired projects up on the Practical Scrappers blog today! 

SUPPLIES
Cardstock: American Crafts (Dark Kraft, White)
Patterned Paper: Glitz Design (Yours Truly Stripe), Crate Paper (Maggie Holmes Click), My Mind's Eye (Oxford Lane Floral Burst)
Embellishments: Crate Paper (Maggie Holmes Ephemera Pack, The Pier Ephemera Pack)

You Can't Touch This

Good afternoon, paper crafting friends. Today is the first Use It Tuesday challenge of May. Not only do we have a great challenge for you (we'll get to that soon), we also have a Design Team Call! Be sure to check it out! 

All challenges at Use It Tuesday call for you to use your hoarded supplies. In fact, a challenge requirement is that you tell us in your post what you used. This challenge goes beyond the hoarded items, asking you to use a beloved item that you love so gosh darn much you avoid using it at all costs. That's right - "You Can't Touch This!"

Now don't worry... I have faith in you. You can do it! Along with my fellow design team members,  I was able to dig into my own stash and find a collection of papers from BoBunny that I never wanted to use. The Country Garden collection is full of the most beautiful paper designs. How could I ever cut them to create a card... Or cover up its beauty with photos and embellishments?! Well I sucked it up, called myself ridiculous, and got over it to create this layout below.

The large background paper is from the Country Garden collection. I actually forced myself to create a few different layouts with the pieces that will be shared over the next few days. This layout documents the first time my mom and dad met my nephew. I wanted it to be soft, but to still have boyish elements. Therefore, I layered 6x6 patterned papers from the large collection of 6x6 paper pads I have laying around. Pulling together the oranges and light blue helped keep a masculine feel among the floral elements. 

I opened my May Studio Calico Project Life Kit right before starting this layout and found a few things to use right away, including this adorable paper clip with fabric flag. Included in the kit was a fun stamp set from Amy Tangerine. I used the ampersand stamp from the set and stamped it directly onto the page using Galaxy Gold Brilliance ink. I added some sticker alphas over the top. 

I stamped it a second time onto white cardstock and adhered it to the page. Using the cut out image allows me to layer the pieces and have added movement. A few additional embellishments from around my craft room complete the layout. I just love those bird shaped wood veneer's from Studio Calico! I had yet to open them, so I'm counting that as an additional hoarded item. I used two large birds and one small to stay within the theme of the page. I plan to make copies of all of my nephew-related layouts and print them off for my mom as a gift. Therefore, I haven't added any journaling yet. I'll let her add her own personal thoughts to each page. 

Thanks for stopping by to see my take on the challenge. We love looking through all of your fabulous entries, so please link up to the Use It Tuesday site by noon EST on Friday, May 24th. One lucky participant will be a guest designer on an upcoming challenge! 

Excited for Baby :: Card & Update

If you've found your way here from Practical Scrappers, keep scrolling to find the On Trend post. This is my second blog post for the day :)

We have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of my nephew; therefore, my mind has been stuck on all things baby. Here's a cute picture of my brother and his beautiful wife... 

Ah! Baby, Baby, Baby! You can come any day now, little guy! With all that said, here's a cute card I created with him in mind.

CARD SUPPLIES

Cardstock: American Crafts, Paper Cut

Patterned paper: We R Memory Keepers (For The Record Collection)

Stamps: Lawn Fawn (Plus One)

Ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black)

Ribbon: A Muse Studio (Onyx Sheer)

Bling: Kaisercraft (Gold)

Punches: EK Success (Scallop Edger, Corner Rounder Large)

March Card Sketch :: Baby Time

Oh my! I have spent my entire morning thinking it's Tuesday and almost forgot to post this great card sketch from Patty as part of the Practical Scrappers team! 

How great is that sketch?! Practical Scrappers brings you a card sketch and page sketch each month, and Patty sure does not disappoint! Here's my take on this month's sketch:

I loved the layers of circles in the sketch. I used my Martha Stewart Circle Cutter to create a few circles from my 6x6 paper pad. My sister-in-law is due to have a baby boy any day now; therefore, I wanted to stick to more masculine colors. I paper pieced the bear to give him some color and faux texture. 

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you're inspired. Make sure to visit the Practical Scrappers blog to see more cards from my fellow design team members. They really outdid themselves! 

CARD SUPPLIES

Cardstock: A Muse Studio (Pumpkin, Sugar)

Patterned Paper: BasicGrey (Hey You Collection)

Stamps: A Muse Studio (I'm Here, I Was Here)

Inks: Memento (Tuxedo Black, Rich Cocoa)

*You can find A Muse Studio products in my webstore.

Sketch It Saturday :: Rocking Horse Card

Hello and happy Saturday! It's time for a new sketch from Unscripted Sketches. 

I realllly stretched this week's sketch. But that's what sketches are for, right? For inspiration. Feel free to take the sketch and flip it, rotate it... just mix it up! And don't forget to link up at Unscripted Sketches so we can give you a little blog love. We'd love to see what you create! 

CARD SUPPLIES

Cardstock: Paper Cut, American Crafts
Patterned Paper: BasicGrey
Stamps: KaiserCraft
Ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black)
Punches: Marvy

Welcome, Little One

Happy Monday! In a previous post, I shared some great news. If you haven't read the post, let me sum it up: I'm going to be an aunt! My brother and sister-in-law had their first ultrasound and found out the sex of the future-spoiled-thing. Let me just say this: The kid's already freakin adorable. I'm going crazzzzzzzy, because they're choosing to keep the gender a secret to everyone but immediate family until the baby shower. How can I buy lots of clothes, and make cute gifts, and plan a shower without TELLING ANYONE?! Since I can't contain all of my excitement, I created this fun little card:

Note the blue AND the pink?! No secret clues here. I cut two strips of A Muse Studio patterned papers and tore one edge to create the look of Washi Tape. Next, I paper pieced the grey and pink elephant. I adhered the elephant to white cardstock and cut out the image. The white edge makes the image pop in front of the cork. Yes, CORK! The Canvas, Cork, & Burlap Challenge at Moxie Fab World has really inspired me. Since remodeling my craft room, I had cork squares just laying around to be thrown out. The material, once used as an inspiration board, tore apart easily. It was just the right color and texture for this adorable card! The sentiment was stamped in black ink and added to the card with foam risers to mimic the dimension of the cork. The faux stitching was added with a black marker after all the pieces were assembled. 

I hope you've enjoyed today's card. Many baby updates to come... 

CARD SUPPLIES
All A Muse Studio
Cardstock: Sugar, Blush, Seattle
Patterned Paper: Onyx Gingham, Blueberry Polka Dot
Stamps: Little Peanuts (sentiment), Under the Big Top (elephant)
Ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black)

Exciting News

I'm going to be an aunt! YAY! Can you tell I'm excited?! My brother and his wife are expecting a little bundle of joy. You might remember this post about their wedding. I can't wait to spoil the snot out of that kiddo. It's still too early to determine whether the future greatest kid ever is a boy or a girl; therefore, my mind has been on all things gender neutral. This card was inspired by the recent events: 

I love clean and simple. Therefore, I enjoyed keeping all the elements of the above card white and black. Buuuut... It might need a little color to appeal to the special someone I'm sending it to. I added just a little color as shown here:

You've got to get your hands on this set by Market Street Stamps. There's so many stamps packed into this one set... The ideas for several different cards came quite easily. 

Thanks for stopping by today and celebrating the exciting news our family has received. Expect to be spammed with baby pictures in 6 to 7 months. 

CARD SUPPLIES

Cardstock: Paper Cut

Patterned Paper: A Muse Studio

Stamps: Market Street Stamps (Baby Basics)

Inks: Memento (Tuxedo Black), Prismacolor Pencils

Sketch With Us

It's another week and a new sketch at Unscripted Sketches. Head over to play along and see more inspiration from our great Design Team. Here's my take on the sketch:

Sketch It Saturday -- Recycle!

Hello! I hope you're having a wonderful Saturday. I'm back from Copic training and ready to share with you this week's sketch from Unscripted Sketches.

In addition to using the above sketch, we're celebrating Earth day by adding at least one recycled item to our cards! Here's my creation:

The 'flags' were made from the piece of paper containing the company's name and barcode on a 12x12 decorative paper. I just love when companies add patterns, allowing them to be used as borders, flags, and more!

Both the twine and the paper for the button were rescued from my wastebasket!

I loved working with this sketch, as well as the challenge to use recycled elements. Are you ready to create your own? We'd love to see your take on this week's sketch. Head over to Unscripted Sketches and link up!

CARD SUPPLIES

Cardstock: A Muse Studio

Patterned Paper: Making Memories

Stamps: A Muse Studio

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black