Bee Notes

Thought I'd make a trio of note cards to give as a set...still don't know if it works (maybe I should just do 3 of the same design for a set). I used a layout from Michelle Wooderson with a Lockhart bee stamp. The cardstock I used for the base is SO thick, that I don't know if these will work well for note cards, so maybe I should used a less heavy paper next time? Anyways, thought I'd bundle them up for a note set (maybe I'll make a beaded pen with the black DP to go with).SUPPLIES: Paper...stamper's select (PTI), yellow from Joann's, Perf (DCWV); Stamps...itty bitty bee (Lockhart), Just a Note (Stampendous); Ink...Palette Noir; Other...prismascolors, gamsol, square whale-of-a-punch, Mega scalloped square punch.

Kidspiration (sort of)

So usually, if I do a card challenge, my girls get inspired to make a card, too. But I haven't had time to do any challenges the past couple of weeks, and my girls were complaining to me that they wanted me to do SOMETHING, so that they could get inspired. I said, "What if I give us a sketch challenge?" They said, "Yay!" Sooo, here is the sketch challenge (I think it's an old one that I found on someone's blog), and our interpretations...
Here's the messy sketch I gave them...












Here is Sophia's card, made for Peter. It used a cool Curious George stamp that I found at a thrift store. Stamped in black, and colored with Prismacolor pencils.





Anastasia is still loving the Birds Galore set from Inkadinkado. Here, it is paired with Aerial paper by Memory Box. Letters are Small Variety Alphabet by Hero Arts, stamped in Versamark and clear-embossed (Anastasia is all about embossing).





Here's mine. I just bought this Lockhart cherries stamp and was dying to use it. This stamp is so good that it practically colors itself! I don't have any copics yet, so I colored it with some Prismacolor markers (I have a few that the kids used for an art class 4 years ago. I really only have 10 markers, and it just so happened that I had lt and dk green, and lt and dk red! Just what I need for cherries, yay! I didn't have any marker for the colander, so I used prismacolor pencil and gamsol for that.). Paper is Gramercy Park by American Crafts.

I had to laugh, because I wanted to put the image more to the left, but my girls said that would break the rules of the challenge! There are rules? Anyways, sketch challenges are fun because it really takes the stress off of "what is the best placement" for the image and patterned paper (since I'm new at this, sometimes I'll spend forever trying to decide the best placement, when really there are a lot of options and maybe none are best, but all are appealing?)

Origami in the House!!

So I really like displaying my kids' artwork in my house. I've done it since they could hold a crayon. My husband has had to put up with tons of taped up drawings and strange preschool sculptures sitting around the house for over 15 years. I don't know why, but I really like seeing their art. I even had a hard time washing the marker scribbles off of the walls; it was just so cute.

Anyways, last year, my girls watched a video on folding paper cranes, so they started making them, a few at a time, and they'd give them to me. I just stored them in our "China" box. This January, when we studied Chinese New Year, the box had tons of these guys, so I decided to display them over our fireplace. I cut a few branches from our magnolia tree, and voila! Cranes are in the house!

Anastasia has been adding more to our flock each week, since she likes to make a crane out of the church bulletin on Sunday morning. As long as she quiet about it, I guess that's okay...

Cheer Up Fish

Okay, another one for Dad....seems he needs another cheer-up card. He likes to fish, but doesn't have the energy to go fishing right now. I was afraid that a realistic fish picture might be too depressing, so decided on a more "cartoony" look...The layout is a favorite 3-in-a-row one that I've seen on several blogs (it's a fun one for small images). No ribbons on this one, because it's for a guy!!! The picture on the right is the inside of the card...it's really teal print on white cardstock, but I couldn't get the colors photographed correctly. :(




















SUPPLIES: paper...aegean sea, pastel green (the paper company), dazzle blue-green stripe (paper heart); stamps...3 fishes with no name on it (inkadinkado); font... cocktail bubbly (fontspace.com) in teal; other...prismacolors, blender, gamsol, paper piercer,dimensionals, circle punch

Kidspiration #4

These are posted later than usual because my girls didn't get inspired until Saturday (Friday is too busy for cardmaking at our house).

Anastasia is having fun with butterflies. She also extended the patterned paper so that it is on the back of the card; looks really cute. She colored the flower and small butterflies using chalk inks and an aquapainter.





Sophia made this specifically for Peter, and even asked him what sentiment he wanted on it...

Color Inspiration #8

I was going to use this week's challenge colors to make a Christmas card, but then I saw my son's new swimming shorts with these same colors, and thought of the beach...

Anyways, seems like something is missing in this card: maybe I should've used patterned paper for the wave or sky...it just doesn't seem "gnarly" enough.

I wanted a graphic/clean-line cut for the wave (since it is a boy card...my guys like clean lines; nothing sketchy). I used my French Curve (from drafting class, used a million years ago in college) to make the wave. I first made a wave template, then flipped it over and traced onto white cardstock, and cut it out with scissors. I did the same with the blue paper, only I cut in 1/8th inch from template line.

Kind of have to laugh about the orange strips: that is all that I had left of the spicy orange color, so couldn't mat the sentiment...just tried to make it look like the wood on a pier...


SUPPLIES: Paper...The Stack 4 (DCWV), orange and blue (Paper Company), Other..."Beachtype" font printed in Orange, dimensionals, brads (Making Memories)

Mother's Day Cards

Started making a Mother's Day card for my mom this weekend, then my husband suggested I just make 2 of the same design so he could use one for his mom...then I thought, hey I could make 6 of the same design, and have some to give away to other women who are kind of like "moms" to our family...
The card I made was completely based on this card, designed by Debbie Olson. I didn't have any of the supplies that she used, but the design is the same.

The neat thing about making 6 of these guys, is that I could make little embellishment alterations to each one, and get a little different look. Some have wider ribbon, some have brads, some have a few blossoms on dimensionals. I didn't have any fabric ric-rac, so I made some with paper using my scallop scissors.




























SUPPLIES: Stamps...Delight in Life, Big Blooms (Stampin' Up!), Polka Dot Backgrounder (Cornish Heritage Farms); Ink... pink grapefruit, thatched straw, mango madness, tea leaves (Versamagic), Versamark; Paper...Nasturtium (Martha Stewart), Pink #2 (Die Cuts with a View); Misc...Offray ribbon, brads, dimensionals, aquapainter.

Kidspiration #3

Yep, it happened again...after I made my card for Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration, my daughter got inspired, pulled out some cardstock, and made a card. Actually, both my girls were inspired this week...is this happening to anyone else?

Anyways, I had some leftover stamped images and keyhole mats, so Anastasia used them in combination with the woven ribbon technique to make this:




















Sophia used Olivia and a K&Company flower for this cute card.















Don't laugh at this one: They wanted a "Sketch Challenge", so here's my sketch, and their cards (I helped with cutting on the orange card, because Sophia likes things "just so"; Anastasia did her own cutting on the brown one, and she used this week's challenge colors)...


























Lastly is this tiny card, made by Sophia...a lovely bouquet for a cloudy day.











That's it for today; I promised the kids that if they finished their schoolwork early, we could do Sculpey!!! That stuff is so much fun. I think they are going to make a bunch of food for their dolls (should be interesting).

Color Inspiration #7

I so love the colors in this week's color challenge from Kristina Werner. For some reason, I think of satin and chocolate when I see these colors (and fleur-de-lis...why? I don't know).

Anyways...ever have one of those days where you had to obey too many rules for too long of time? (And you can't go home later and rebel against your mom, because you are The Mom). That would be yesterday...Ever have a few card designs in mind, but just don't have the right supplies to get it done? That would be last night...

So, today's card is a combo of using a favorite layout, and breaking a couple of rules...


This card uses a keyhole card design from Kristina Werner, which you can see here and here. I just wanted the owl to goof off a bit this time.

SUPPLIES (same for both cards): Olivia & Pals Stamps: Sassafras Lass; Coffee bean paper: Martha Stewart; Dots Blue DP: Colorbok; Weave Ivory paper: The Paper Company; Mudpie satin ribbon: Offray; chestnut ink: Color Box; dimensionals, coluzzle, paper piercer.




Also made a variation of the keyhole design with this one, but I cut my DP wrong, so the image ended up on top...I think I can still find a good home for this card though.











Don't know why but when I see these colors together, or when I have to work with dark brown papers, I crave chocolate or cake or something sweet...maybe this is why: