Sketch 6

This past weekend Shimelle released two new sketches...so happy! The focus of this latest sketch was adapting a page sketch for Project Life. Although I don't use Project Life, I do appreciate its simplicity so I really loved this concept.

OWH - Sketch #161

Happy Sunday and welcome to my blog. Here is my card for sketch #161 from Operation Write Home. The sentiment showcased in the oval is heat embossed and from Stampin' Up's Alphabet Soup set (2006). I created the scalloped edging by attaching 1/2" circles along the back of the oval and I chose a background paper with a raised velvet pattern to add additional texture.

Sketch 5

Here is my take on sketch 5 from Shimelle. The theme was simple designs for patterned papers on the diagonal. I chose to stay digital and decided to continue scrapping my christmas photos.

OWH - Sketch #159 and #160

I spent the last week vacationing in Palm Springs so I was inspired by the sun.  Here are my cards for sketches #159 and #160 from Operation Write Home. I stamped both images with Black StazOn to prevent them from smearing. I then used Stampin' Up! blending pens and markers to add the color to the sun and cut it out using my coluzzle.  The moon was stamped on vellum and left plain since I didn't want it to compete with the busy background.

OWH - Sketch #158

Here is this week's sketch from Operation Write Home. The heart banner and the text were cut from Newsprint DSP using my silhouette. I then applied cherry cobbler ink using a sponge and added faux stitching in white. Both were originally intended for my Tim Holtz tag but they just didn't work out.  I thought they went well with the woodgrain texture in the background since they were fairly light and airy.  

Sketch 4

Here is this week's scrapbook sketch from Shimelle, "Scrapbooking with Square Photo Prints". All the paper layers are from Stampin' Up's! Delight In the Day set.  The title is from Sahlin Studio. The page was created using MDS software.

Tim Holtz - 12 Tags of 2013 (Feb)

Happy February! Here is my take on Tim's queen of hearts tag. Although I love his stamp set, I chose to use a free printable from Martha Stewart as the anchor for my tag. I used Cherry Cobbler ink on the tag base, the ribbon and the hearts.  The custom brad, key, rhinestones, woodgrain embossing folder, tag punch, rub on sentiment, other inks and cardstock are all from Stampin' Up! I covered the entire tag base with crystal effects and dried it with a heat gun to give it that textured shiny effect. The black twine and safety pin came off of a clothing tag from christmas.

OWH - Sketch #157

Happy Sunday!  Here is this week's sketch from Operation Write Home. The patterned paper was my starting point and is the "B" side of the Floral District poppy paper I used in last week's sketch. The newsprint was left over from a Tim Holtz tag I did last fall. All products are from Stampin' Up!

Sketch 3

Well now I'm on a roll and I can't wait to do the next sketch from Shimelle.  Here is sketch 3 with a focus on two photos in two quadrants.  This is also the last of my Gettysburg photos from December so I'll be moving into Christmas for the next sketch (I think).

Sketch 2

I am slowly but surely catching up.  The focus of this sketch from Shimelle is using two 4x6 portrait photos.  I chose these photos since they had similar colors and seemed to work well in a 4x6 format.

Sketch 1

Since I haven't been doing much scrapbooking lately I thought it would be fun to follow along with Shimelle and her scrapbook sketches.  In this sketch her focus is on the large photo....something I would have never thought of using as a background.  I used Stampin' Up!'s My Digital Studio software because my photos have yet to make it to the printer.

OWH - Sketch #156

Here is this week's sketch from Operation Write Home. I had planned to stick with the masculine theme but I've been wanting to use this poppy themed paper  from the Floral District designer series paper pack and this sketch seemed to be the perfect opportunity to showcase the flowers. I also added some flower brads which just happened to match the Pumpkin Pie card stock perfectly. The background is textured Chocolate Chip on a Naturals White card base. The sentiment is a rub on from the Chit Chat set.

OWH - Sketch #155

Here is my take on last Sunday's sketch from Operation Write Home. I used the ferris wheel stamp from the Feeling Sentimental set (available Jan 26th) and added a rub on sentiment from Chat Room. The natural trim ribbon is also new from Stampin' Up. Another masculine card!

 

Soda Pop Tops

In Stampin' Up's new Spring Catalog they came out with cute soda pop tops in two different sizes, 1" and 1/2". I thought it would be cool to run it through my Big Shot machine to flatten it out which would also solve the problem of mailing a bulky card. Pretty cool, it actually worked.

OWH - Sketch #154

One thing I realized last year is that I have very few masculine themed cards. So what better way to start off the new year than with a Father's Day card for Operation Write Home's Sketch #154? I used the antique bike stamp from the Feeling Sentimental sale-a-bration set (available Jan 22nd) and layered it over Fan Fair designer series paper. I distressed all the edges with Espresso ink.

Catching Up

Back in September of 2012 I started following along with Operation Write Home's weekly sketch challenge and was doing pretty good until the holidays. I haven't totally caught up yet but here is Sketch #152 and Sketch #153. My cards are definitely loose interpretations of the sketches...just in case you're wondering.

Tim Holtz - 12 Tags of 2013 (Jan)

Happy 2013 and welcome to my blog. Once again I will be posting my version of Tim's 12 Tags of 2013 made from all Stampin' Up! products (unless otherwise noted).  For this month's tag I chose to go with Not Quite Navy card stock and the new Honeycomb textured impressions embossing folder. I distressed with matching ink and added silver ink highlights with water. The gears and the text were cut from Crumb Cake cardstock using a Silhouette. The ticket tag is also new and from the set called That's the Ticket. (Note: the filmstrip is not Stampin' Up!)

Merry Christmas!

Here is my Christmas card for this year. Having grown up with origami I was excited to bring a little bit of my heritage into this card. The original inspiration came from a post I saw on Pinterest. Later I googled "origami tree" since many of you asked about instructions after I posted my Christmas card preview. Here are the step-by-step instructions courtesy of "Pixie too". After making 50 of these cards I would recommend that you use a scoring board instead of a bone folder especially for the smaller pieces.

I hope all of you have a safe and happy holiday and wonderful new year!

Gift Tags

Our final swap for this year.....gift tags.

Celebrate Life

OWH - Sketch #150

Here is my take on Operation Write Home's Sketch #150. I started with a Christmas theme in mind but ended up using Stampin' Up's new Feeling Sentimental Set (available January 1st).

Christmas Card Preview

As usual my great idea for this year's Christmas card turned out to be quite an effort but the results were well worth it. Below are some preview pictures of my card.  Now I just need to get them all in the mail.

OWH - Sketch #148 and #149

Here are sketches #148 and #149 from Operation Write Home. I'm very happy with how they both turned out. The bird was recycled from another card swap and the felt ornament worked perfectly as the circular centerpiece for #149.

Tim Holtz - 12 Tags of 2012 (December)

What a great way to end a year of tags. This month's December tag is Christmas themed (of course) but there's also a bonus tag from January 2012.  Once again I'm using all Stampin' Up! products when available but there are two non Stampin' Up! items; the poinsettia bling and the crackle paint on January's tag.   Hopefully, I succeeded in demonstrating that you didn't have to go out and buy all new products to emulate Tim Holtz's technique.

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and I'd like to wish you all a safe and happy holiday season.  At the bottom of my post is a link to all 12 tags.  I can't say that I had a favorite but I was amazed every month at what I could create.

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

Double Slider Card Swap

Here is the final card swap for this year's technique album, the double slider card.  I thought I would be creative and turn the card sideways which created all sorts of problems including the huge blank space on the top of the card.  Oh well.  The cake effect once you pull out the slider was completely unintentional.  I also posted some instructions here.