Card Making Monday: Take It Easy

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and an enjoyable Father's Day. Before meeting my own pops for lunch, I snapped a quick photo of the card I created just for him. 

No one loves napping more than my dad, so this stamp set from Lawn Fawn was just right for the occasion. I stamped the chair using orange ink. Next, I used a colored pencil just a shade darker to add shadows. The picture below shows the difference between the two.

The step took no time at all but makes a big impact! It was layered on the card front with papers from the Travel Light Collection by We R Memory Keepers. 

Thanks for stopping by! Make sure to take it easy.

SUPPLIES :: Paper Cut Cardstock / WRMK Travel Light Collection / Lawn Fawn Dad's Day Set / Martha Stewart Crafts Edge Punch / Marvy Circle Punch / Memento Rich Cocoa Ink / Avery Elle Ink / Prismacolor Pencil

For The Love Of Plaid

Hello friends! How has your week been? I've spent most of my week organizing and printing photos rather than getting my hands dirty crafting. I was able to carve away a small amount of time to create this fun layout... 

Every Sunday my family meets for lunch. On one of these afternoons, my father, brother, and nephew all showed up with plaid and blue jeans. I couldn't help but document the occasion. 

The only plaid pattern in my stash that matched the colors of my photos was the background page by We R Memory Keepers. I then added manly patterns and colors, distressing the edges of the paper pieces to give an even more masculine feel. 

The title was a combination of Studio Calico sticker letters, my handwriting, and letters cut on the Silhouette Cameo from patterned paper. Since the letters were the same pattern as the background, I added some faux stitching to help it stand out. 

The layout was completed with some real stitching and ink splatters.

Thanks for stopping by!  

SUPPLIES :: Studio Calico (Woodgrain Sticker Alphas, Dark Calico Mister Huey's), BasicGrey Clippings Paper & Stickers, We R Memory Keepers Partridge

TOOLS :: Silhouette Cameo, Brother Sewing Machine, ZIG Writer Black, CTMH Paper Distresser, Fiskars Scrapbooking Rotary Paper Trimmer, MyStik Permanent Adhesive

Three Wheelin'

Hello friends! I'm sharing a page on the Creations Galore blog today for Layout Tuesday. I'd love if you stopped by! 

Project Life with Practical Scrappers

Good afternoon! So glad you joined me today for another Project Life Feature with Practical Scrappers! Yesterday I shared an introductory post to today's layout. This spread documents a recent ATV trip with my extended family. Our cabin in the Northwoods of Wisconsin brings the whole family together. 

I'm using pocket protectors from American Crafts and Albums Made Easy Kits from We R Memory Keepers. All of the photos were taken with my camera (no cell phone pictures!). 

Love the above photo. It's my dad and his brothers. They like to cut him in half in photos and joke about the pun. Unfortunately, I had a few problems printing off these photos and it looks more like his 1/3 of a brother. Ha! But I just had to document the event! 

The Silhouette Cameo was used in a few spots, such as the 'let's go' cut above. I backed it with faux woodgrain paper to help it standout. The 'trail riding' title was then cut from the same paper.

I used a lot of stitching on this layout, securing sticker letters and adding a border to photos. I really love the extra texture it gave the project. My typewriter also got lots of use on this layout. I typed directly onto the 3x4 card - My Project Life cards from Studio Calico are a little too thick to fit nicely in my typewriter; however, the WRMK cards are thin and perfect! Additionally, I typed some journaling on to white cardstock, cut it into strips, and adhered it to a 4x6 card.

Thanks for stopping by! Make sure to head to the Practical Scrappers blog to see more Project Life inspired posts. 

SUPPLIES :: We R Memory Keepers Memo & Tangerine Albums Made Easy Kits, Ormolu Made Pennants & Little Labels, Simple Stories (SN@P Icons, Letters, & Labels Stickers), BasicGrey (Hey You Flags, Fact & Fiction Chipboard Stickers), Tim Holtz Vial Letters, Chic Tags (Autumn Days Labels, 2 inch Circles Cut File)

TOOLS :: American Crafts Page Protectors, Fiskars Scrapbooking Rotary Paper Trimmer, Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, MyStik Permanent Adhesive, ZIG 2-Way Chisel Tip Adhesive, Bic Mark-It Ultra Fine Point Black, Brother Sewing Machine, Smith Corona Electronic Typewriter, Silhouette Cameo

On Trend :: Trees

The On Trend Team of Practical Scrappers is headed back to nature today with a fun assignment to try: TREES! 

While looking through my photos ready to be scrapped, I came across this photo of trees. Funny, right?! I decided to take a literal approach, posting this picture along with several others of my nephew's first fishing trip.

BoBunny's Trail Mix collection won me over, and I haven't stopped creating with it. You can see a few projects made with the collection here and here. While flipping through my leftover hoarded supplies, I found this 12x12 tree paper. How convenient! I used it as the background and brought in a pice of the bark paper as well. This is one of the few layouts that I didn't plan before gluing items down. Therefore, it's a little crazy and jumbled, but it came together in under 15 minutes!

Just a note about my nephew in this picture. He LOVES behind held this way, and for the first few months he would cry if he wasn't laying in this position. I call him the expert planker. That bottom picture cracks me up every time!

I added a Dear Lizzy tag to the layout with foam risers in place of a traditional title and then placed Trail Mix die cut stickers around the layout. Before placing the sticker down, I used my fingers to round the corners. This gives a little dimension to the otherwise flat stickers.

Head over to the Practical Scrappers blog to see how the other design team members took on this trend! Thanks for stopping by. 

SUPPLIES :: BoBunny Trail Mix 12x12 Sticker Sheet & Patterned Papers, American Crafts Dear Lizzy 5th & Frolic Large Tags

TOOLS :: Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, MyStik Permanent Adhesive, Scrapbook Adhesives 3D Foam Squares, Fiskars Scrapbooking Rotary Paper Trimmer, Close To My Heart Paper Distresser

Drill #13 :: Trendy Triangles

It's time for a new S.W.A.T challenge using one of the hottest trends in the paper crafting world. For Drill #13 we challenge you to use these trendy triangles on your projects! Make sure to link up your creation on the S.W.A.T blog, as one lucky participant will win a $20 gift card to 3 Scrappy Boys!

For my creation, I used large triangles to create movement and define my focal point.

My white background sure is blending in with the blog background, I apologize. To create the triangles, I cut 3.5 x 3.5 inch squares and cut them in half, layering each half on opposite sides of the background paper. I originally intended to have the triangles all pointing the same direction to put emphasis on the step-by-step process of the photos. However, I loved how the photos became an extreme focal point when the arrows were pointed toward the center. 

These photos were from a recent weekend at our family cabin. My brother had sat down on his 3-wheeler with his son, Hunter. Hunter loves behind held like a football (as shown in the second picture) and always needs to be moving. With just a single, short lap around the cabin on the 3-wheeler, the little guy was out cold. His first ride with his daddy just needed to be documented. 

I chose to keep the layout simple - just a bit of patterned paper, sticker letters, and handwritten journaling.

I can't wait to see what you create with this trend! Thanks for stopping by. 

LAYOUT SUPPLIES 

Cardstock: American Crafts

Patterned Paper: BasicGrey (Fact 12x12 Paper Pad), Studio Calico (Roll Call)

Inks: A Muse Studio Splash (Winter Sky)

Tools: Close To My Heart (Distressing Tool)

Embellishments: BasicGrey (Sticker Letters-Studio Calico July PL Kit)

Father of the Year Layout

Good afternoon! Let's start today's post with a little confession: I love Jurassic Park. You may remember a post discussing my trip to see the giant T-Rex from the movie in Time Square last summer. Therefore, I was ridiculously excited for the release of the movie in 3D for its 20th anniversary. My dad, being the awesome guy that he is, took me and my roommate to see it. Poor guy had to take a nap before the movie so he'd stay awake that late! haha I couldn't help but document the entertaining evening. 

I used the Clippings Collection by BasicGrey for this layout. All of the papers matched the colors in my picture of the movie theatre perfectly. Because the page focused on my dad and his desire to support my nerdy enjoyments, I wanted the page to have a more masculine feel.

In addition to BasicGrey papers and embellishments, I added a few things from Ormolu, Chic Tags, and this adorable paper clip from K&Co.

I found this ticket sticker from Hampton Art and wanted to incorporate it into the project. Since three of us went, I cut matching letters from white cardstock with the Silhouette Cameo and layered them onto the page. I added more stars like the one printed on the ticket by adhering a few gold star sequins that were included in a recent Studio Calico Project Life Kit. 

Thanks for checking out today's project! Do you ever document your favorite movies or tv shows?

LAYOUT SUPPLIES

Patterned Paper: Basic Grey (Clippings 12x12 Paper Pad, Fact 12x12 Paper Pad)

Cardstock: A Muse Studio (Sugar)

Embellishments: BasicGrey (Clippings Element Stickers & Alphabet Stickers, Hello Die Cuts), Hampton Art (Little Things Cardstock Stickers), Studio Calico (Star Sequins), Chic Tags (Birthday Cake Banners), Ormolu (Made Pennants, Little Labels), K&Co (Retro SMASH Clips)

Tools: Silhouette Cameo, Close To My Heart (Paper Distresser)

Happy Dad's Day

Happy Father's Day to all! I have to take a moment to say I have one crazy father. He's nuts. Funny and adventurous, with a dark sense of humor and a wild, young at heart spirit. He's caring and compassionate and helpful. He's available, active, and present in my life... Always has and I trust he always will be. It's been exciting to watch him pass all those qualities down to my brother who celebrated his first Father's Day today. It was so cute to see him play with his 2 month old son today. Generations of awesomeness. 

Here's a card I created for my favorite dads... Because, let's face it, I can't not be crafty ;)

I created the card using all BoBunny papers and embellishments from their newest Trail Mix collection. The edges of the papers were all torn with a distressing tool. I love the masculine, rough look it gives. The dimensional embellishment did all the work for me! I just added some black floss to complete the tag before adhering it to the card front. And of course, I added just a few brown paint splatters with Studio Calico Mister Huey's. 

I hope you had an amazing day. 

Manly Fishing Stuff...

Hello folks! I recently shared a layout on the Creations Galore blog that just needed to be shared here with you all. I've been sorting through my pictures from Memorial Day weekend where I spent time with family at our cabin in the Wisconsin Northwoods. It's been hard narrowing down what will go into Project Life pockets and what will be scrapbooked traditionally. While gathering supplies, I came across this new collection from BoBunny called Trail Mix. It was so perfect - The colors, patterns, and embellishments were a great match!

I love the 12x12 sticker sheets that come with BoBunny collections. They have such an assortment of titles, banners, and alphas. I love to layer them onto the layout, occasionally using my fingers to turn up the edges of the sticker to add depth. The oval above was stuck onto a piece of white cardstock. I then cut it out and adhered it to the layout with foam risers. Even more dimension, which really matches with the dimensional glitter stickers I used on other parts of the layout.

Thanks for stopping by today. Boy, was this much more masculine than my attempt yesterday with the Use It Tuesday challenge! And this time I wasn't trying! Sometimes I need that reminder that art shouldn't be forced. This layout was truly just for fun, in my craft room, working it out... And it's quickly become my favorite. Let me know what you think... Have you attempted a trend or theme that bombed?

Time To Use It :: Masculine

Hey there folks! It's time for a new challenge at Use It Tuesday... This week's theme is MASCULINE. Remember, all of our challenges call for hoarded supplies. We want to see what you create! Link up your masculine themed project by Friday, June 21st, making sure to let us know what products you're using up! As always, one lucky participant will be randomly chosen to be a featured guest designer in an upcoming challenge. 

I had every intention of making the most manly page ever when I grabbed the papers that I did for the layout below. I'm not sure what happened. As I grabbed embellishments and put the page together, I'm not sure I made the most masculine themed project! But don't worry... I have many more manly pages and cards coming your way on the blog this week leading up to Father's Day!

I'm all about baby Hunter, my gorgeous nephew. This is the first family picture my brother and his wife took with their newest addition. So precious. 

Let's talk about hoarding. One, these Maggie Holmes for Crate Paper embellishments and papers are to die for, and I just never ever wanted to use them. They're used now! What I don't want to admit to you all is that I only used small portions of each, so I could still technically hoard them! WOAH MOMMA THIS IS BAD! 

Second, I have these adorable paper polaroid frames that I never seem to use. This one in particular worked well for the color and theme. 

Lastly, this Studio Calico border stamp has gone un-inked for many months. Broke it out for this special occassion and put it to work. 

Please join us this week for the masculine themed challenge. I can't wait to head over to your blog and check out your entry! Thanks for stopping by.

Retiring Inspiration

Good morning! It's time for a new challenge from the A Muse Studio Challenge Blog. Rita Holmes is our host the next two weeks and has a great prize up for grabs! Rita challenged us to use one of the retiring stamp sets from A Muse Studio, and I'm so glad she did! 

Haven't heard about the retiring items?! A Muse Studio is releasing a new catalog in March; therefore, we're saying goodbye to a few of our favorite products. As bittersweet as it is, I'm really excited for all the new things coming. 

Even more exciting - this year, the items on the retiring list are on sale! That's right. You'll receive 30% off everything on the list! You'll want to take advantage of this quickly! Many of the sets are already sold out. You can see the retiring list by heading to my webstore before February 28th. 

I chose the retiring set, Brief Notes. This set is so great for creating masculine cards! I paper pieced the blue tie onto the image to match the card layers. A little faux stitching and photo corners added some pizzazz to this clean and simple card. 

Now it's your turn! Head to A Muse Studio Challenge blog to link up your own project for a chance to win a great prize! And don't forget to shop the retiring list for great deals on paper, stamps, and embellishments before they're gone!

CARD SUPPLIES

Cardstock: A Muse Studio (Kraft, Sugar, Sky, Slate, Pumpkin)

Stamps: A Muse Studio (Brief Notes) NOW 30% Off!

Inks: StazOn (Jet Black), ZIG Writer (Black)

Photo Corners: A Muse Studio (Scrapbook Adhesives)

*You can purchase A Muse Studio products from my webstore

Sketch Challenge :: Swing

Hello friends! The weekend's almost over, but the fun is just starting! I'm here today with a new sketch from Unscripted Sketches. Check it out:

There are endless possibilities with the sketch; however, I chose to keep it clean and simple. Here's my take on the sketch: 

I love these stamps from A Muse Studio... I've had them in my stash for far too long! Wanting to keep a masculine theme, I chose brown and green for the card base. 

Rather than have the image on the square in the sketch, I broke up the kraft stripe, cut out the image from white cardstock, and adhered it to the card front with foam risers. 

Head over to Unscripted Sketches to add your own creation and see what our great Design Team cooked up for you! Thanks for stopping by.

CARD SUPPLIES
Cardstock: A Muse Studio (Kraft, Evergreen, French Roast, Sugar)
Stamps: A Muse Studio (Swingin' Day)
Ink: Memento (Tuxedo Black)
*You can purchase these A Muse Studio products in my webstore.

A Birthday Star

Yesterday I shared a card inspired by this sketch from Retro Sketches... Here's a link to the post if you missed it. I enjoyed the sketch so much, I created another card using it today!

I needed to quickly make a masculine birthday card, and this sketch helped achieve that goal! Join me tomorrow morning for a new card sketch from Unscripted Sketches. So many sketches, so little time.

Burlap Love :: Christmas Card Edition

Hello! I picked up this Christmas set last year from MSS but just a bit too late to use them for my cards. Therefore, they were the first ones I grabbed when creating my cards this year. I wanted to create a few holiday greetings with a more masculine feel for some guy friends. Here's to hoping they'll appreciate them and not toss them in the same piles as their junk mail! 

I started by stamping the Bits of Burlap background stamp on sugar cardstock with brown ink. When pulling together the colors and stamps, I didn't realize the irony of adding actual burlap to the card front.

Thanks for stopping by tonight!

 CARD SUPPLIES
Cardstock: A Muse Studio (Sugar, Cocoa, Navy, Evergreen)
Stamps: Market Street Stamps (Bits of Burlap, Essential Holiday Elegance)
Ink: Memento (Rich Cocoa)
Brads: Graphic 45 (Stamped Metal Brads)

Happy Robot

Hello! I hope you survived the Halloween festivities. I had the great pleasure of working the face painting booth at my church for Harvest Fest, a fun, indoor, and safe event for children. We all ate way too much candy, played lots of games, and inked up our faces and hands! 

Now it's back to work, and I'm here today with a fun card using A Muse Studio's Love Machines Stamp Set. The card is clean and simple but full of fun! I stamped the robot in blue ink on the card base, 3.5" x 5". I cut a smaller piece of cardstock, 3.25" x 4.75", stamped the sentiment, and used a punch to create a circle. Adhering the cardstock to the card base with foam risers adds dimension and creates a window for him to peek through.

What do you think of clean and simple cards? 

CARD SUPPLIES
Cardstock: A Muse Studio (Sugar)
Stamps: A Muse Studio (Love Machines)
Inks: Memento (Tuxedo Black), Adirondack (Sailboat Blue)