Wedding Card - Japanese Kanji

While searching for wedding card ideas I came across the Japanese tradition of gift money or goshugi. A quick google search revealed all sorts of elaborately decorated gift money envelopes, some with kanji (Japanese characters) and some without. So, I decided to break out my watercolor brush (totally the wrong brush) and take a stab at creating the symbol for LOVE. Unfortunately I didn't find this great video until after I was finished. I think mine is a little top heavy but it will have to do. As you can see from the closeup I used watercolor paper, a mica spray and really small pearl accents for the cherry blossoms.

Stuck?! Layout #2 (Feb)

For this month's second sketch from Stuck?! I used a photo from a ride we did in Palm Springs last month. It was quite chilly when we started but we were grateful to have a sunny day after heavy rains the night before.

Serendipity Sketch - February 2017

For this month's sketch from Miyuchi I used two photos from Christmas that were taken at a local bowling alley. Not having been bowling in over 20 years it was a lot of fun and I was amazed by how much the technology has changed with respect to scoring, automatic bumpers, etc. Great fun!

Stuck?! Layout #1 (Feb) - Horses

If you haven't been to a horse race it's really a fun experience even if you're not a gambler. All of the sights and sounds are like nothing you've ever experienced and it's really affordable and family friendly. Here are a few pics from our trip last weekend for this month's first sketch from Stuck?! Sketches.

Serendipity Sketch - January 2017

I came across this wonderful sketch and gallery by Miyuchi at Scrapbook.com. For this layout I used photos from a fishing adventure we had with my niece and nephew over the Christmas holiday in Virginia. The weather was unseasonably warm and we had a ton of fun casting our lures across the pond.

Stuck?! Layout #2 - Hello

For the last few years we've tried to take a crazy Christmas photo in addition to  the traditional posed photo. Lots of fun and perfect for the second January sketch from Stuck?! Sketches.

Stuck?! Layout #1 - Nerdy Nummies

My niece is a huge fan of YouTube star Rosanna Pasino and her first cook book called Nerdy Nummies. So over the holidays we baked a double layer chocolate cake with white frosting all from scratch. For this layout I followed the sketch for Layout #1 from Stuck?!

Instagram Best Nine

12 Tags of 2016 - Year in Review

Another year and another set of tags completed. Woot! Woot! Please scroll down to see all of my "12 Tags of 2016" as inspired by Tim Holtz. If you have a favorite please let me know in the comments.  I'll be anxiously awaiting to see your feedback and what 2017 brings.

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Peace & Joy

Happy Holidays to you and your family. May 2017 bring you much Peace & Joy.

Tim Holtz - 12 Tags of 2016 (Dec)

Happy December! Here is my twelfth and final tag for Tim's 12 Tags of 2016. As with previous years, I relied on my stash and improvised as needed while still trying to stay true to Tim's style. For this tag I used ephemera, inks and sprays from Ranger, poinsettia paper and punch elements from SU, and burlap from an old place setting. On January 1st I will be posting all twelve tags as part of a Year in Review. Hope you enjoy!

Happy Birthday - Masculine Card

It's not often that we make or see masculine cards posted online so I wanted to share this card that I made for my brother. For the top layer I used a piece of red cardboard that was leftover from my November tag. Rather than use the same technique I left the cardboard layers intact. The numbers were created using Stampin' Up! number dies and the background splatter was created using a mica spray.

All American

To say this has been a tough week for our country would be an understatement. That being said, I wanted to share a fun photo of my sister-in-law competing in an All American soapbox derby. Enjoy!

Tim Holtz - 12 Tags of 2016 (Nov)

Twelve down and one to go...another great year of tags in the making from Tim.  As usual, I did not have all the supplies needed but I had similar products and utilized Tim's techniques. The rub-ons are just random images from my stash but I really liked the resist effect it created. Unfortunately my letter dies were far too big for the tag so I used a wood embellishment which actually worked well with the fall theme. Now on to Christmas and winter. Yikes.

Hello World

My nephew was interviewed by his after school program for a post they did on Facebook. Some very memorable quotes for a 9-year old.

Fall Leaves Birthday Card

This week one of my best friends from high school is celebrating her birthday.  She is one of the most caring and strong women I know. Happy Birthday Kim!

Tim Holtz - 12 Tags of 2016 (Oct)

For this month's tag from Tim I used a printable mummy skull that I found off of the internet and created my own industrial look using an eyelet tool and foil tape. I applied alcohol ink directly to the pieces of foil and just let it run wherever it decided to go. For the background I distressed some newsprint collage paper to match Tim's patchwork collage technique.

SBC - Sketch 495

A few weeks ago we rode 25 miles in San Diego's Bike the Bay event.  The highlight of the ride was riding over the 2.1 mile long San Diego-Coronado Bridge. This is sketch #495 from Scrapbook Challenges.

Tim Holtz - 12 Tags of 2016 (Sep)

This is definitely a twist on Tim's tag for September.  As you can see I did not have the embellishments or the stamp that Tim used so I decided to go completely outside the box and use Tim's Crazy Dogs stamp set while still using his techniques.

SBC - Sketch 494

On July 25, 2016 my father-in-law passed away at the age of 92. Pictured below are his children, their spouses, his grandchildren and his great grandchildren. This is sketch #494 from Scrapbook Challenges.

SBC - Sketch 493

How about these three guys to brighten your day? These are my husband's grand-nephews from Oklahoma. This is sketch #493 from Scrapbook Challenge.

SBC - Sketch 492

Last month we saw Peter Gabriel and Sting in concert at the Hollywood Bowl.  Needless to say they were awesome and it was great hearing all of their classics.  While you can't see a whole lot in this photo I thought it would work well for sketch #492 from Scrapbook Challenges.  The background paper was a freebie from Katie Pertiet.

SBC - Sketch 491

Two of the best people I know; living life to the fullest everyday. This is sketch #491 from Scrapbook Challenges.

SBC - Sketch 489

I'm definitely behind on my layouts but I wanted to get this one posted before I got too far behind. This is sketch #489 from Scrapbook Challenges.

Tim Holtz - 12 Tags of 2016 (Aug)

This has been a hectic month to say the least but I finally got around to making August's tag from Tim. As usual, I had to improvise and do a lot of handcutting since I did not have the honeycomb or the wildflower dies. Hope you like it.