Long & Short (CFC #13)

It's Friday!!!!  Do you know what that means?  That's right, I find out if I'm in the Top 5 for Gallery Idol! ;)  Ok, so it's ALSO a new challenge over at CAS-ual Fridays.  This week is a fun, but challenging one.

We are asking you to make a 4" x 9" card and to try and use just a small portion of it for the majority of your focus.  Embrace the white space!  Curious what that looks like?  Well, I just so happen to have a card made up that does just that. :)

Notice how I put my elements to one end.  You might have figured it out by the stamps that I've used that this week's sponsor is Lawn Fawn.  This set is one of the newer ones called "Admit One".  Be sure to hop over to the blog to see what they are offering as a prize and to be inspired by the rest of the team!  Now, go give it a try.

Thanks for stopping by.  Have an absolutely splendid weekend!

A Bittersweet Good-bye (OTWC #58)

Hi everybody, how are we all on this happy day?  I know it has been a while, but I'm here to share with you the newest challenge from Off The Wall Craftiness.  I'm sad to say that this will also be my last challenge with the team.  I will be parting ways from both OTWC and Wilson Designs.  It has been one AMAZING trip through blog land with this group of amazing designers and with Kim.  I'm so grateful for the opportunity that Kim has given me (hers was the first DT that I was offered to be on) and for the friendships I have made with the rest of the team.  So, shall we get on to my last challenge colors? (sniff, sniff and super sad face)

As always, Kim has put together an amazingly lovely montage of photos to inspire us.  With this week's sponsor being Wilson Designs, I pulled out my Spring Silhouettes set and made a one layer card.  I know this has been done, but it is so easy to do and great for making multiples of.

One luck of the draw player of this week's challenge will win this amazing set:

BUT, the fun can't stop there.  Since this is my last week, I thought I'd go out with a bang and create not just one card, but TWO. :)  How pretty is this?

A simple mask and a bit of sponging and you can create your own too!  I just love that verse, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside knowing that Jesus has little 'ole me inscribed on His hand.  Make sure you most definitely hop over to Off The Wall Craftiness to see what the rest of the design team has done.

Have the most rockin' awesome weekend ever!

My Sister, My Friend (PDCC #92)

Today is the last day to place your vote for the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol competition.  Making your vote count by clicking the popcorn image to the right.  If you want to learn more about my entry, CLICK HERE.

Welcome friends, especially those of you who are new followers to my blog.  I see several new faces in that side bar and wanted to say hello and thank you for joining the party.  Around here, Thursdays mean a new color story over at The Play Date Cafe.  I have some romantic and vintage type colors for you this week:

Whaddya think?  I tried a couple of different approaches to this because I REALLY felt like I should do something shabby chic, but it just wasn't falling into place like I wanted it to.  So, I went back to my CAS style and pulled out one of my favorite stamp sets, Poinsettia Patterns from Wplus9.  I made this card for my sister who is going through a rough time.  The result is this:

I gotta admit that I really struggled this week.  I think that trying to come up with ideas for the Gallery Idol thing has sucked a lot of energy and creativity out of me.  It is literally exhausting trying to think of something that is both original and captivating.  I'm sure it didn't help that I spent all day Monday on the boat and then all day Tuesday at the pool.  Anyway, this week's sponsor is The Scrapbooking Studio.  Hop on over to the PDCC blog to see what they are offering up for a prize and to see the rest of the team's projects.  Have a fantastic day!

My Daughter Is So Tweet

If you are looking for my Gallery Idol entry this week, CLICK HERE.  If you need to place your vote, simply click the popcorn image to the right.

Another quick post this evening to let my daughter have a play at this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge.  She has been begging me to be able to play along with a challenge for weeks, so I told her she could give this one a go using the rub-ons I had left from E.A.D. Designs.  Here's her take:

Isn't she adorable?  The birdy is her rub-on.  I love that she is following in my footsteps!  We sure enjoy crafting together.  Thanks for taking a peek at her work. :)

A Tribute To Fabric Meets Paper

So, I thought that in honor of this week's Paper Crafts Gallery Idol theme being to use fabric, that today I would show you some cards I made in the past using it! 

This card uses a tiny bit of fabric as a pleat along the bottom.  I do believe that I entered this into last year's gallery idol contest.

I super love this card that uses rainbow strips of fabric sewn together and then placed behind a cut out heart.  And, from the scrap that was cut off and leftover, I then made this card:

And finally, some of you may remember last year when Moxie Fab World had their "Fun with Fabric" challenge and this card caught Cath's eye and was chosen as one of the winners.

See, there's so much you can do with all of those leftover scraps!  I hope you've enjoyed the little trip down memory lane with me today.  Remember to cast your vote for this week's Gallery Idol (it is getting close to the end now, narrowing it down to the Top 5) if you haven't already!  Be sure to check out all of the other creative uses for fabric that the Top 10 came up with.

Have a great day!

Paper Crafts Gallery Idol: Round 3

Oh my.  Who'd have thunk it?  Me?  In the Top 10?  I must say that I never thought I would make it this far, but I am beyond thrilled to be here and SO thankful for all of the kind comments, words of encouragement and people who have voted.  I think I might be starting to taste that salty air now....

Round 3 - with the theme to use fabric, is without a doubt, my favorite theme thus far.  Awhile back I picked up the hobby of quilting and as most quilters could surely tell you, there are a LOT of fabric scraps that go with that.  I was more than happy to dig them out and see what I could come up with.  I also like this theme because sewing is kinda like my second hobby.  So, as much as the rest of the Top 10 probably don't want to hear it, this one was easy for me.

Now, before I show you what I did, I just wanted to give you a bit of my thought process about how to approach this theme.  There are MANY ways that one could approach the use of fabric on their card, such as implementing it into the background somehow.  Or, maybe by creating some cute fabric flowers or rosettes.  Both are fabulous and work, but I feel they can easily be done interchangeably with paper.  I really wanted to use fabric in a way that paper CAN'T be used.  Fabric has a flexibility and softness that paper doesn't.  So, what can you do with fabric that you can't do with paper?  Well, how about stuffing it! 

With that in mind, let me introduce you to "The Best POP"

Actually, the only part of this card that ISN'T fabric, is the oval sentiment that I created using graphics software on my computer.  The cool thing about this is that even though it LOOKS 3D, that box is entirely 2D.  This is how it looks with the card open.  

I had you fooled, didn't I?

EXECUTION:

So, let's talk about just how I made this.  To start with, I used my handy dandy method of finding a photo and printing it out as my template.  That's how I created the box.  Each side is an individual piece that I covered with white fabric and then sewed on strips of red felt.  I then attached them to the base of the card by gluing the bottom edge to the card and then using dimensionals as I went up the box (two stacked on top of each other at the top) so that there would be a nice place to tuck that popcorn into.  Now, the popcorn.  I was so excited when I found that yellow fabric in my stash.  It has just enough varying yellows and white in it to make it look like it is dripping with butter.  Here's how I made them:

Cut out a "blob" by hand that looks something like this:

Then, freehand stitch a circle in the middle (I used red thread so you could see it better).

Flip it over, take a small tuft of batting and hold it into the middle of the circle while you pull the thread tight.

Voila!  Instant popcorn.  After all of the popcorn was made, I strategically tucked them into the box top and glued them down using a glue gun.  I was careful to use a random pattern so it looked more like they had just been thrown into the box.

VOTING:

Now, it's time for you to go vote.  If you think I nailed this challenge and want to vote for me, here's what you do.  If you have already voted in the past, simply put in your username and password, click vote, find my card and click the "save vote" button at the bottom.  If you haven't voted yet, you will need to follow a quick registration process (they won't sell your info, I promise).  Once you register, they will send you an email that you will need to click and confirm before going back to the voting page and placing your vote under the "vote" section.  You can get to the voting page by CLICKING HERE or by clicking the image at the top right corner of my blog.

Thank you so much for stopping in today to see the creative process behind this card.  Now, pretty please GO VOTE and pretty please with a cherry on top come back again soon! ;)

HAPPY VOTING!

Oops

Get Your Rub On! (CFC #12)

A short and sweet post for today - it's already late and I've spaced on writing my post again until now. (this Gallery Idol stuff is driving me bonkers, I'm almost positive I won't be getting a good night's sleep as I await the results of the Top 10)  So, on to this week's challenge at CAS-ual Fridays.  Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to use rub-ons on your creation.  This week's sponsor is E.A.D. Designs and each of the team has used their rub-ons for their projects.  Here's the one that I used:

I colored a few rhinestones and placed them into the heart for that bedazzled center! Simple but eye-catching.  Be sure to check out the rest of the creations over at the blog for all kinds of crazy awesome inspiration!  Now, go get your rub on!

SPLISHY SPLASHY (PDCC #91)

It's Color Splash time!!!!

For those of you who don't know what that is yet, it's one of our very favorite challenges over at The Play Date Cafe.  We ask you to create a card that is predominantly black and white with a "splash" of another color.  Lucky for you, this week, you get to choose your own splash of color.  I have chosen green as mine.

A super easy card for this one.  I used a flower stamp from Unity and a few others from Lizzie Anne Designs and PTI.  This week's prize will be from The Twinery (you might notice that all of the design team has used twine this week).  We are also saying good-bye to the fabulous Fee.  I'm so sad to see her go as her work is so original and beyond what I can do myself.  You will be missed Fee!  Go take a peek at all of the gorgeous creations from the team on the Play Date Cafe blog.

P.S. there's a really disgusting looking spider crawling around the wall in front of me as I'm typing this.  He's really grossing me out (are all spiders he's or she's and how does one tell?) but I never squish spiders.  I think I get grossed out by the thought of all their guts squishing onto a kleenex.  OH, he keeps coming closer to me and now we're having a stare down....maybe if I make lots of noise he will go away....dang that thing moves fast!

P.P.S. If you have already voted for your favorite in the Paper Crafts Gallery Idol, your time is running out!  Go do it NOW before it's too late. :)

P.P.S.S. I looked away for a second and now the spider is gone - that freaks me out - I hope he isn't in my cup.

CHA Baby! (peeks at some pretty cool crafty stuff)

Here it is, your chance to live vicariously through me at CHA (for those of you who don't know what that is, it stands for Craft & Hobby Association and it is a trade show for manufacturers of all kinds of crafty products)!  I learned a few things about myself at CHA.  First, never drive around a strange city, at night, all by yourself.  You will inevitably get lost and then call your husband for help who will yell at you because you have a GPS right in front of you and can't understand how you got lost in the first place.  Second, make sure to park at the end of the parking garage that is closest to the convention center, NOT the opposite end.  Third, don't wear shoes that you think look cool, but are completely uncomfortable when you know you will be walking around all day long.  Fourth, ALWAYS have business cards on hand!  Lastly, be prepared to be wowed, overwhelmed and hugged a lot!  In all seriousness, this was an amazing experience for me and I'm so grateful for a husband who forced things to work out so I could live out my dream.  Shall we take a look at what I did?  When I first walked in, there was SO much to look at, starting with this amazing tree at the DCWV booth:

And, lookie who I ran into unintentionally within the first few minutes of being there:

What a delight to sit and chat with Susan Opel and Cath Edvalson for a bit - definitely one of the highlights of the day for me.  On the floor was this:

I loved how they gave these frames depth and dimension.  Such a fun way to use them.

An advent calendar - I have been looking for a way to make one for my family and I think this is the winner.  I love that the buttons hold the folded papers close.  I'm thinking each one could hold stickers for my kids.

Don't you just love those tissue paper cupcakes?  Martha never fails to amaze me with her line of products like these from the EK Success booth.

A bright and colorful button dress at one of the button stores! 

And there was inspiration for designers to be found everywhere....like this:

What a great project for the family at Christmas and a great way to use up your paper scraps!  How about this:

I LOVE those little fabric ghosts!  Again, what a great way to use up fabric scraps.  Check this out:

Love this use for Washi tape.  I'm was never sure how to use this stuff, but I love the idea of layering it behind acetate letters - so many possibilities! 

This was found at the Hambly Screen Prints booth and so was this:

 I NEED ONE!  Created using their amazing overlays!

How about a few things to watch for?

What, What, What?  Can it be?  CHUCKS paper!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Fancy Pants Designs, you rock my world and have just jumped to the top of my awesomeness list! 

And, I'm SUPER excited to see that somebody finally came out with a stamp like this -

 

Brick stamps - It's about time! Oh, and what doth my eyes behold.......

(ahhhhhhhhhhh, light shining down from heaven) ANIMAL PRINT AND HOUNDSTOOTH THICKERS!  I take it back, American Crafts, you are my new love!

Moving on.  Now, I don't really consider myself a trend watcher in the least, but it was hard to ignore that there's definitely a color palette to watch for in the Fall.  These papers and rub-ons say it all:

And my super secret trend prediction to watch for (shhhh, don't tell anyone)......

HEXAGONS!!!!!

By far, the best part of CHA was putting faces to many of the names that I already knew; designers like Vera Yates, Julie Campbell, Tiffany Johnson, Windy Robinson, Kelly Marie Alvarez and Shemaine Smith.  I got to chat with fellow Gallery Idol finalists Amber Daigre and Valerie Mangan:

and I FINALLY got to spend time with Mama Bear, my PDCC boss, Julie Murray!  We had such a blast hanging out.  Love you Julie!

Oh, and what's this?

My card made it onto the wall in the Paper Crafts booth!  What a lovely surprise that was. (pssst, did you notice the sept/oct issue cover behind me?) 

All in all, this was just awesome.  I am so thankful for Amber helping me get in and for Julie walking me around the show room floor and introducing me to so many new faces.  Unfortunately, I had a 3 1/2 hour drive home, so I  had to scoot my butt out of there pretty early.  I wish I could've been there all week!  On my drive home, I had this fun view to look at going South on 65, just north of Lafayette:

A wind farm!  Don't tell anyone that I was driving and snapping photos at the same time. :)

I hope you've enjoyed your little tour through the CHA showroom floor.  Maybe next year I will see YOU there!  Have a fantastic rest of your week and don't forget that Gallery Idol is still going on and being narrowed down to the Top 10 this week.  You have until tomorrow at noon to vote.  Adios!

Paper Crafts Gallery Idol: Round 2 Reject

Did you vote yet?  I know, I know.  I keep harassing you, but just as in the TV show counterpart, the results depend on you, the voters!  Each and every vote is important and well, you've helped me get this far (thank you).  Simply click the photo in the top right corner and it will take you to where you need to go.

I mentioned yesterday that I REALLY struggled with this theme.  I had a lot of bad ideas pass through my brain, most of which didn't get to paper.  One such idea seemed better than bad and I decided to execute it (mainly because hubs thought it was clever and original).  Here it is:

Sometimes things just don't come out the way you imagined them and what sounds good in theory, doesn't always look great once created.  Even though I like this card, it felt too blah for GI.  I struggled with making it look 3D and had to do some shading, which I am not too fond of.  Anyway, the letters and the steam (which is actually algae from the "life's a beach" cartridge) were cut on my Cricut.  The bowl and spoon were done by printing off a photo and tracing it.  I told hubs he is the lucky winner, winner chicken dinner recipient of this card in the future!

On another note, as you are reading this, I will be drowning in new product and new friends at CHA.  A HUGE shout out to Amber Daigre for helping me get there.  Have a great day everyone and happy voting!

Paper Crafts Gallery Idol: Round 2

Holy hot and humid weather Batman!  97 degrees by the end of this week with a projected "feels like" of 110 degrees.  Yeah, wishing I had a pool right about now.  I guess the little 3" kiddie pool I own will have to do, so what if my body takes up the whole pool and there's no room for my kids and all of my appendages are sticking out.  You gotta do, what you gotta do to stay cool, right?

Things aren't only heating up outside around here, but inside too.  I'm pretty sure steam was emitting from my head this weekend as I was banging it against the wall trying to come up with the next brilliant idea for round 2 of Gallery Idol.  The theme is Die Cuts.  Oh man.  My knee jerk reaction was Boo, I have so few die cuts.  What on Earth can I do with such limited resources?  But, I formulated a plan and dusted off my Cricut.  I reached for my "New Arrival" cartridge and this is what I came up with:

Give a hearty Hi-De-Ho to "ZOO-tastic"!

 

This card doubles as a gift.  Each of those animals comes off of the hand and can be used as a real finger puppet for a child.  I enlisted the help of my 7 and 4 year old to help model the finger puppets. They also helped me name each of them, so give a high five to:

"SWINGY"

"LEAFY"

"BLUEY"

"MR. POOPS IN WOODS" 

(NOT named by my girls, we can all thank hubs for that amazingly brilliant name)

and here's the whole bunch all together; one big, happy family!

The inspiration:
Last weekend when I was visiting my sister, we were brainstorming some ideas for the first round of Gallery Idol and somehow this idea for finger puppets came up (I guess because she DOES have a degree in Elementary Ed and is ALWAYS pretending like she is a kid - love you Dani).  The finger puppets idea got ditched then, but as I flipped through my Cricut books looking for die cuts, the idea resurfaced.  Those cute little animal faces stared back at me saying, "please, make us into finger puppets".  The idea was born.

Execution:
To create this, I began by creating the part that would go on the finger.  I drew an outline, stitched two pieces together and made sure it fit onto my daughters' fingers.  I then die-cut all of the animal heads and a few of the body parts (like the bear's hands and the monkey's tail) and glued it all together.  At this point, I still wasn't exactly sure how to present them on a card, but then I had a "well, duh" moment when I realized I could just use a hand on the front.  I traced my daughter's hand and voila!  I love a few of the fun details, like the hair and antlers on the giraffe created by glueing twine to the back.  I also love the cut letters "ZOO" made out of transparency and stamped in staz-on onto the back with a zebra pattern.  My daughters REALLY fell in love with those finger puppets.  Every time I would finish one, I'd have them come try it out and they would disappear into the other room with them.  I had to hunt them down to get them back.  In fact, as I'm sitting here writing this blog post, they are begging me to be able to do a "puppet show" with them.  I had to politely remind them that it was for a contest and I didn't want it to get ruined.  So, even if I don't make the Top 10, at least my girls will have gotten a great new toy out of it!

Voting:
So, now it's your turn to help me out.  If you voted in Round 1, you know the drill.  Sign in with your username and password after clicking the link below, then find my entry and click "save vote".  If you haven't registered yet, follow the instructions below.

1. Go to this link: http://www.papercraftsmag.com/contests/gallery-idol-2011
2. First you will need to register, so click on the "registration" tab and fill out all of the information.  Be sure to write down your username and password so that you can come back and vote again (in case I move onto the next round and you need to vote again)  You will then have to check your email to confirm your registration.  They do this so that people can't cheat and vote multiple times.  I know it is an inconvenience, but it is only once and it's for me.  I'm worth it, right?
3. Once you are registered, click the vote tab and scroll through the entries until you find the shoes.  Click the "vote" button at the bottom.  That's it.  Easy peasy.
4. Now go tell everyone you know about my card so they can come vote too! ;)  You have until Thursday at noon (MDT) to vote.  Did I mention that the grand prize is a CRUISE???

Thanks again to everyone who voted in the first round.  It is SO surreal to be in the Top 15 of this contest, but yet a bit bittersweet.  It was sad to say good-bye to some amazing designers this week.  We have all been getting to know each other and it has been so fun.  You never want to see such great talent go.  Again, I am just honored to have made it this far and humbled by all of the encouragement and support you guys have given me.  Thank You, thank you, thank you!

Happy Voting!