Convention Postcard contest Part 1

Today was all about family.  I enjoyed lunch with Zane's Grandma.  My mom and I went grocery shopping then brought home take out.  Kind of ironic isn't it.  Buy a bunch of groceries, and pick up pizza on the way home.  Then again, cooking is not my thing and Monday is my day for dinner duty.

Emily and I spent the evening at Zane's mom's.  Tyler and Zane didn't want to go, they must have had important boy things to do.

I have been fretting a bit over what to wear to the CTMH convention in July.  When you work in scrubs, business casual clothes are not something I have a lot of.  I am a jeans and sweater or sweatshirt kind of girl.  Luckily, my MIL and I are pretty close in size and she is the queen of Goodwill finds.  Yup! Not above wearing hand me downs. 

Typical visit to her house......
MIL:  "I picked these up at GW Boutique the other day, I don't like the way they fit."
ME: Try on clothes, pick put which ones I like.  Pay her for them and she takes back what neither one of us liked.  I always make sure I have a $20 in my pocket when we visit.  Now we joke that she is my personal shopper and she takes requests :).  Love my MIL!

I did have a few minutes here and there in between running errands and visiting family to start working on my entry for the postcard contest at convention.  Everyone going to convention received this postcard in the mail, only we didn't know it was for a contest until a few weeks later.  Luckily, I like to "save" things and still had it tucked away.  You know me!  Love a good contest or challenge.  They push  my creative gears.

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 Postcard before.....

Postcard meets exact-o knife.......

(love cutting things apart, to make my own custom accents)

A little more cutting and start layering........

(first attempt)

Scratch first attempt, moved elements to opposite sides.  

Added a mock photo mat, since I don't know what picture I am using yet. 

Used the CTMH stitching ruler and Legacy Writer to add some journaling lines to the journaling block.

Then added some pen stitching and outlining around a couple areas.

Nothing is glued down at this point.

I will be back with an update as I continue to build and add to the layers of the page. 

My work week starts tomorrow.  Ugh!!!  Really wish I could play with paper with my morning coffee.  Maybe I will get up early,  no probably not.

A very productive day

We had a very productive today in the Highland house today.   Emily and her friend spent a good part of the day working on a display board about Slave Trade for a school project.   I have been thinking a lot lately about how I don't seem to photograph the little details of our day to day lives anymore.  These are the things that make up who we are. 

Emily's hands the way they are, this day, this moment in time.  

I managed to revamp my crafty corner, and finish putting together 40 cards I had leftover from various home party projects.   Woo Hoo!  Granted I started them Friday evening and all the pieces were cut.  All I had to do was stamp and assemble. 

But wait there's more!  After everyone headed to bed, the insomniac in me made a pot of coffee and finished the page I posted a couple days ago.  You know, the "thought process" one. 

I added some flowers stamped with the Hooray Bouquet set, lace trim and the "Ivy" name block.  I really didn't know what else to add and didn't have any "carrots" laying around to go with the story.  

 

How's this for a carrot top? Hijacked this picture from facebook today of Hazel.  Love it!

My thought process.....

As you develop your scrapbooking "style" you will notice you have a pattern in how you create. 
I almost always start with a sketch or challenge. 
This helps me get the gears turning.
I then choose photos.  Sometimes I pull from my stash of pictures and sometimes I print off just the ones I want to use. 
Next is paper, generally I use cardstock for the base.
Lately, I have been pushing myself to step out of the box and use pattern as the base.
I start layering, often adhering as I go.
Once I have the bones of the page, I outline.
Which means using my black fine and bullet point Sharpie to outline certain elements of the page that need a little extra "boost" to separate them from the other patterns, etc.
Then comes the Title.  I like to layer the title over pictures and across the various patterns to help pull them all together.

So I have this.............

I really wanted the story to be a big part of the page.
I decided to use a big journaling block to record the conversation behind the pictures. 
I knew right away, I would need something along the top and bottom to "frame" the page, so I stamped a stitching line across the top and bottom.
Notice the black sharpie work around the pictures and letters?
Now, I need to add accents. 
I haven't decided yet what I am going to use, so I will sleep on it and see what my brain comes up with tomorrow.

I generally complete a page over several small increments of time.
Adding little bits here and there until I am pleased with the results. 

Recognize the papers?
They are from the Dotty for You paper pack that is available as a special purchase this month. 

I will be back with the finished result in a day or two. 
Sweet Dreams!

Memory box continued........

While Tyler and Emily were at school today,  I managed to finish up the CTMH memory game box I started on Saturday. 
Then around 1:00 I heard my phone vibrating around on the counter.
Emily wasn't feeling well and wanted to come home. 
Picture this.... me standing in the craft corner, covered in ink, hair all astray, still in my pajamas, thinking "crap! I knew I should have showered this morning".
I was in no shape to go walking into school.
Emily would have been mortified!
Good to know I can still shower and be out the door in 5 in the case of an emergency. 
I am sure the secretary enjoyed my drowned rat appearance. Classy!


Anyways, the product of my inkiness.........

 Since this is going to my Nephew in Afghanistan, I wanted it to be very inky and grungy looking.

The memory box comes with 24 - 3 x 3 chipboard squares inside.  I added various pictures of family members on each one, then stamped random words on them.

I used the same words on 2 of each tile.  Just in case he decides to play a little game of "memory" during some downtime.  Zane thinks I am crazy for that one, but you never know.  Big tough military guys like to play too. 

 

On the backs of the tiles,  I put some bible verses and other inspirational quotes.  

So Daniel, if you read my blog, make sure you are surprised when it comes in the mail.  We love and miss you.  I hope you like the memory box and enjoy the vernors :).

That's all for now, have a great night!

Memory Game

Not much time to craft today,  I did manage to squeeze in 15 minutes to quickly cover the Memory Game box with some retired papers from the CTMH Lucky line and ink it up a bit.

Am hoping to work on the innards tomorrow :). 

New Workshop Kit added and New special starts today!

After much anticipation, the Dotty for You promotion starts today!  I love the colors in this paper pack. With every $35 purchase, you can get this paper pack for just $5.  For close ups of the paper designs, visit the "specials" tab above.

                      


A new Workshop project / kit is available!  Perfect for the boys or military men in your lives.  If you live local and attending one of my workshops in May, you have a choice of the Victory or Pemberley layouts.  If you do not live local but would still like to complete the projects, visit the "workshop projects / kits" tab above for all the details.

Happy Crafting :).

Holy Scrap Mess!

I sat down to tidy up my little crafty corner and stumbled upon a little bit of inspiration.  A few weeks ago I was cutting a bunch of 1/2" circles on the Cricut.  The negative piece was so cool looking!  I found it last night and was totally inspired to create this.

 

The design  was inspired by a sketch by Karan Gerber on the Sketchabilities blog HERE .  I used so many products for this page, hence the name of the title for today.  There are stamp sets and ink pads covering my work area.  I will spare you a picture :).

I started with this.........

 Notice the head shadow?  That would be me.  Taking pictures at 1 in the morning is a bit tricky.   To mix the paint I used about a nickel size amount of Create - A - Shade  pearl paint and 8-10 drops of Black Re - Inker.  

I used a sponge to spread the paint using the negative piece as a stencil.  This is my first time doing such a thing and love it!!! I am still trying to figure out how to get all the paint out from under my fingernails.  (Should have used a bigger sponge).

To make the flower, I stamped the script stamp from the Universal Backgrounds set to make a "pattern paper".  Then punched 2 - 2" scallop circles and 1- 1 1/4 inch circle from the piece. 

Cut about 1/2 inch at each scallop, then cute the smaller circle so you have a "pie" but be sure and leave the center intact.  Sponge on some ink and layer them up.  You then fluff the petals, some going up, some going down.  Super quick and easy!

Supplies Used (all CTMH unless stated otherwise)

Pattern Paper : Bo Bunny , CTMH retired Sweetheart

Cardstock: Black, Vanilla Cream, Sky Blue, White

Ink: Crystal Blue, Grey Wool, Black, Baby Pink, New England Ivy

Stamp Sets: A Typeface, Stitched Together, Universal Backgrounds, Florentine WOTG set

Embellishments: Retired Shimmer Brads, A Garden Color Ready wooden shapes, Banners DE, Mixed Shapes DE, Neutral Bakers Twine

Cutting Tools: 2" Scallop circle punch,  1 1/4" Circle Punch, Quickutz alphabet / Cuttlebug

Other: Create - A - Shade Paint, Black Re - Inker, Black Sharpie

Off to the store to get the supplies for some Zuppa Toscana soup for dinner.  I stumbled upon the recipe on Pinterest and am so excited to try it.  Zane isn't a big fan of soup, so hopefully he likes it!  If not, I suppose he will have cereal :).