My Favorite Things Sketch Challenge #239

Greetings from the campground! I made this birdy-card early this morning at home and brought it along to post while here.

I enjoyed this sketch.  Initially when I saw it,  I thought "doily", but this morning I saw some of the paper I had lying out from yesterday and went for it.

You can check out this MFT Sketch by clicking HERE.

Here is my card,  image taken on a nice little rock... perfect how I did a nature-y card this morning and it worked out that I'm posting it in the woods! 

Here are the boring details: The paper is all DCWV, from both the Latte stack (from about 2012) and the Gilded stack (which I bought a few months ago).  The birdhouse was from a Recollections pack of three,  and the bird and eggs were made with the Mod Podge molds and blue "glue". I coated the edges of the paper with Tim Holtz's dauber in Walnut, and I also dabbed the bird and eggs. Then I used some hemp and metallic cord... pardon me, but I'm doing all of this from memory, and I can't recall the brand of the hemp. I used my old typewriter for the sentiment. 

Just Us Girls #303

Wow, just in the nick of time! Had one minute to link this!

I had one hour until the link closed, and my supportive hubs goes, "Do it!"and fixed me a drink! I'm a lucky girl.

Here is the picture-inspiration provided by Just Us Girls for JUGs Challenge #303:

MOJO M-M-Monday #408

I loved seeing "Tall & Skinny" come across on the challenge Monday morning... how cool!  I am totally down with those proportions! I cut and scored cardstock for a finished card size of 3.5x5.5". Here's the sketch:

I can't take any credit for coordinating papers for this card because, in my sleepiness yesterday morning, I just grabbed a BH Project Life scrapbook card set and started trimming, re-rounding corners, and chalking. Easy-peasy. I slapped part of a doily on there in lieu of a ribbon (I was being super-lazy), added some pink "pearls," and pretty much called it good.

Here she* is (*this is definitely a female card):

... and just a little detail...

...and to get to the Mojo Monday Blog page for good ol' 408, click HERE.

Supplies:

• Becky Higgins Project Life cards
• Wilton doily
• Liquid Pearls
• Bulk flowers
• A Martha (bleepin') Stewart circle punch (I am a fan)
• ChalkBox in Creamy Brown

Retro Sketches!

I stumbled upon another sketch challenge blog... Awesome!  Retro Sketches Blog has a really cool look, and I just want to go back and back... It's freakin' pure creative work: follow the sketch and have fun. What?! I love it. Here's my *first* attempt... 

Here's the link to Retro Sketch Challenge 174...

...and the sketch is right here:

Here is my take on the sketch... I didn't stray far at all. What I loved the most was burning up scraps from my box of scraps! Yeah!

Yay!

Inkspirational #87: Anything Goes With Kraft

Here's an entry for ya. I was really excited when I stumbled upon The Inkspirational Challenge Blog, and their current challenge totally has my number! It is Challenge #87: Anything Goes With Kraft... Yes it does!  Couldn't wait... I think my favorite cards start with a blank kraft slate.  Natural looking, casual, fun... I like it.

Couple notes: the sentiment was spawned after I was sifting through my Thickers and found some I needed to use up... you know: two vowels and a couple z's and w's left. So I played Wheel of Fortune and put some possible words and phrases together... I love doing that. Came up with "Stay cool." I made the sun stencil out of a Cinnamon Toast Crunch box.  I added some Stickles in Ice and some sequins.

MFT Color Challenge #26

Ugh... This was a tough color challenge, at least for me (see palette below).  Obviously everybody at MFT Color Challenge has talent and vision!  I had four stacks of color going for two days before I slapped this guy together...

All of my paper was from my scrap-paper box.  The green "pearls" were from a Viva Paper-Pen in Moss Green.

Starting Saturday off right...

Woot. Busted this out after having stared the paper last night for an hour:

Here's basically what I used:

• We R Memory Keepers and BasicGrey background paper
• Flags made from BasicGrey Fiction pad
• Letters from October Afternoon and some Thickers up on there...

The wood that I laid the card on for the photo-shoot is the floor of my craft-shack... hubs is building walls as I type!  Happy, happy, happy...

And what luck! I was cruising some blogs and looking for inspiration and found Challenge Up Your Life... I made this project JUST this morning without thinking of any challenges, so because my "mind was pure" when I made the card, I think I'll enter it!  Seems like a great group: awesome challenge and awesome cards by the team.

MFT Sketch Challenge #238

I loved this sketch as soon as I saw it.  Later today I'd like to revisit it and create a card with stars... they look great on the blank sketch!  The sketch is below, and here's the link to My Favorite Things.

This will be my first time entering an MFT Sketch Challenge. (I've played along before, and even completed a card for Sketch #237 but it was on the shelf drying as the deadline passed... rrrr).

...and here she is:

Brass tacks:

• Background paper by Authentique
• DCWV double-sided cardstock
• Grungeboard flourishes by Tim Holtz, painted with Holtz's Distress Paint in picket fence and topped with some snowy Martha Stewart glitter
• I believe the grey and white striped flowers are from Jolee's Boutique... they were in my stash with no packaging...
• The "pearls" are Viva Decor's paper-pen in cream

Enjoy! May you all have uninterrupted scrap-time and fresh motivation!

Two-For-One

Checking in for my craft-therapy... Definitely need it after the weekend with my f-f-family! (That sounds bad. It wasn't so bad-- some of my visits just leave me thinking, thinking, thinking...)  So... Hit up a few challenge blogs for some therapy! I think it worked because I haven't bitten my nails in an hour nor have I poured a mid-day cocktail! Uhhh, hahaha...

 I'm entering this card into the Just Us Girls Challenge #302 color challenge and the Mojo Monday Challenge #407 sketch of the week.

I'm happy with the card and I think I'll make another with a birthday greeting in place of the "thanks."  Here she is:

Much of this card was made from materials in my stash, but here's what I could tell you for certain regarding supplies:

• Kaisercraft paper in "Collage" from the Kaleidoscope Collection
• Turquoise Scotch Washi take
• Stickles glitter paint in Black 💎 Diamond
• Miracle tape from Viva Las Vegastamps

The rest of it is generic or was in my stash without its* original packaging. Boo.

* Shout out to Jane Juska for the grammatical help.

Just Us Girls #301

I've never played along with "Just Us Girls" before, but I followed a link from a card-blogger to the JUGs site-- so cool! And the current challenge drew me in: it's "Trend Week," and they are focusing on *gold*... I love using gold in my crafting... which is actually surprising to me considering that I was a teen in the '90s, and yellow gold was O-U-T as I was forming my life-long fashion opinions!  Now I'm totally into it when crafting... I actually don the occasional yellow gold jewelry when appropriate, and I have a weird habit of purchasing gold shoes.

Here is a link to the current JUGs challenge...

And here is my offering:

I love this card.

My supplies:

• MME "On Trend 'Awesome'" paper
• BasicGrey feathers
• Generic gold transfer paper applied with Zig 2-Way-Glue to edges of card and paper
• Sentiment brushed using Liquid Leaf in classic gold

Damn. Missed the linky by an hour.  That's ok. Still love this card. 

Mojo 406!

Two Mondays in a row.  I am feeling totally pleased that I've made a couple cards for Mojo Monday this week... especially because the sketch was difficult for me-- I couldn't see past the shapes.   After I made the first card (with the flags), I was, you know,  fairly satisfied, but then this morning I busted out the baby card. Totally redeemed myself... to myself.  As I wrote in the last post, it's been a while, and since I'm  still getting back into a more dedicated craft-mode, these challenges get my brain back in shape... altering layout, changing shapes... ahhh, good workout.  My best work?  No.  But it's just like running: you just have to start.

Here is the sketch put forth by the good people at MM, specifically, J-Til:

And here is my first attempt:

• Old music paper (like, literally 100 years old: was in a box of my great grandmother's,  from her youth)
• Authentique paper, "Harmony" collection
• DCWV card stock
• Flowers from Jolee's Boutique
• Tim Holtz crackle paint
• True vintage bakers' twine

And now for my second attempt.  As you can see,  I flipped the layout provided by MM and then adjusted the layers so that the "square" is above the "rectangle" (ahem... both of which I took liberties with...):

• Bella "Baby Girl Mini Theme" paper
• Adrienne Looman "Plum Seed" collection paper
• Wilton doily
• Martha Stewart twine
• Mod Podge flower mold
• Color Box chalk ink in creamy brown

Here is the link to Mojo Monday 406...

*JUST A NOTE: trying a new format of images... Can't tell if they are clear or not... I'll check on another device tomorrow...

I'm back! Mojo 405

"It's been a while since I could say that I wasn't addicted..."
It has been a while since I could say that about papercrafts.  But it's also been a while since I've posted anything... years, in fact. It's been a busy couple of years, but having this summer off reminded me that crafting is very healthy for my brain,  and so I am resuming craft-blogging and mild competing as a form of accountability for my self-prescribed craft-therapy!

Of course I knew where I'd start: Mojo Monday! Great one-stop shot for inspiration,  motivation, and most of the participants share my addiction... it's good to be around paper junkies-- no judgement here! Only pushers!

This sketch was a perfect one for me to break back in: clean and simple.  I didn't follow exactly,  but I used a 4.25x5.5" card to start with (it's just what I had in front of me... I usually like to design with 5x7"), so everything I wanted to add was too big. Oh well. I think it's pretty cute.

Here's a link back to Mojo Monday...