WCMD Challenge #2..Inspiration Mexico

The second challenge from the {Capture the Moment} blog was a project inspired by Mexico. I have not been to Mexico, although it is my very favorite cuisine and I almost thought about making a card about a burrito but I thought better of it. When I think about Mexico I think about the Molas really more Panamanian but you can find them further north as well. I used to work in a frame shop and people would bring them in and I was fascinated by the handwork. My first love was fabric and quilting so the intricate pieces inpired me. I love how the bright colors stand out against the dark backgrounds.

For my "Mexico" card I made a cricut creation. I cut the same shape in different sizes out of black cardstock and multi-colored cardstock. I used pop dots to raise the whole black piece (the negative of the cutouts) and then stuck just the middle's of the colors down, slightly bending the petals. I then used the pop dots again for the centers. I lined everything with my trusty white signo- uniball pen.

Well, making this card wiped me out and I could use a mojito and a siesta. I unfortunately will not be able to make the other two challenges..time was not my friend! The WCMD was a fun, think out of the box, challenge. I am glad I could at least partially participate.

World Card Making Day!

Today is World Card Making Day. On all my favorite blogs everyone has challenges and is posting their card creations for the day, so I can't help but partake. My current all time favorite blog is {Capture the Moment}  They are having a challenge that caught my attention...winning some of their product! I love, love, love their stuff, so I HAVE to enter.

TheWCMD Challenge #1: Japan
We are traveling to Japan!

I personally have never been to Japan but my neighbors were stationed in Okinawa for three years and they were very gracious to always send us souvenirs. I have always loved the woodblock artwork and the colorful kimonos. I used this picture as my inspiration.

 

I did a simple card on kraft cardstock. The stamps I used were from PapertreyInk and Close to My Heart. I blocked the sides and in between the stamping with 1/4 inch quilters tape and then I pulled it off and used a gold metallic marker to the line the masked areas. The fan was created by stamping and using a watercolor technique to fill in the flowers and then I used a white signo uniball pen to fill in the spots surrounding the flowers. I then used my Scor-Pal (so glad I bought this tool) to create the fan creases. Thanks for looking and I now I have to work on the next challenges they have so I can be entered again to win the yummy product!

Butter 'Em Up at Back to School

Wow..summer is over and school is in session. I thought it would be in good brown nose fashion to make something for the kids teachers. Really I just love any excuse to make something from my stash. The little projects I made were simple but the teachers loved them and they doubled as incentives for the kids in class.

I covered a small box from Michael's dollar section with a patterned paper, then inked the edges. I then stamped the lid with the stamp set Teacher's Apple from PaperTrey Ink. I filled the box with Smarties and on the tag (forgot to get a phot of that) wrote "Just making sure your class has some smarties". Too cute! My son's teacher said she expects something like this every day, only 179 more to go!

Supplies:

Stamps:PAPERTREY Ink

Paper: Close to my Heart

Ink: PAPERTREY Ink & Ranger

Ribbon: misc.

I am going to buckle down and start creating more often and get posting as much as I can. The kids schedules are super full and we are constantly on the move. I have arranged my volunteer schedule at school so that I am technically only obligated to one day, although I have a hard time staying away, there is so much to be done. We have great volunteers though, very dedicated and reliable.

Halloween is right around the corner and I have lots of plans for crafts....I love halloween colors! Keep checking in for inspiration.

Stepping out...

So I have become a fan of Two Peas in a Bucket's Tuesday Warehouse tour. On one tour I was watching they quietly said the name of a company, showed a few sheets of the paper, I was instantly intrigued and I had to find out who they were. I mean come on I read every publication I can get my hands on, spend countless hours scouring the internet for new ideas, how could this new company slip by my radar? So I rewound the video clip 800 times, listened for the name and started my search.

Much to my happpiness I found them quickly! Bella Blvd. I was immediately in love, the colors were great, (they have loads stripes which are my fave!) fresh ideas from the gallery and best of all the italian connection! I love anything that reminds me of my honeymoon.

So smack dab on their homepage is submission call...Hmmmm, I say to myself-Why not? So I order some product from Two Peas, they were afterall the ones to inspire this whole journey, and once it arrives start to create. Who knows if anything will come of it but I have talked way too long about doing something like this so, I am stepping out of my comfort zone!

I will cross my fingers and hope my stuff catches their eye!

Scrapbook and win...the competitor in me comes out!

TGIF! I love Fridays, it is my favorite day of the week. No homework (for the kids), the knoweldge of not rushing through the morning coffee the next day, and most importantly should I be able to stay awake past 9 pm, I can scrapbook. I used to be a consultant for Close to My Heart, well I still am I, I am just a Jr. consultant and not very active at all. I was my best customer, I love the product but I had a hard time promoting "myself". Any one who has done at home sales knows what I am talking about. The reason I bring this up is because they are holding a contest for National Scrapbooking Month, which is in May. They have all the details and info here at Scrapbook and Share. When I was first involved with Close to My Heart I entered the monthly challenges they had for consultants and I won both that I entered, pretty good huh? So you just never know, you have to be in it to win it.

The following layouts are the ones I submitted and won. It's been quite a while since I did this so my style has changed a bit but they still make me happy.

Entering contests consumed me for a while, not that I entered hardly any but I would think about that more than just going with the creative flow. I wanted nothing more than to be published. I wanted to be able to make a career of something I loved to do. I haven't given up on that dream of course, I just have not limited myself to what I think publishers want to see. I make what I want to make and I don't even limit myself to chronology. I do whatever feels right for that moment. How liberating right...to do what YOU want!

Well, I hope that you will consider entering for a chance to win the Scrap and Share contest and remember, You have to be in it to win it!

Long time , No Blogging!

Alrighty then! So it has been an extremely long time since I have posted. I have even been known to check my own blog just to see if something magically appeared..no such luck. It was my intention once the kids began school to pursue this venture in hopes of having a creative year. However, I have been bogged down with day to day stuff and instead of updating my own blog at the end of the day I spend countless hours surfing other blogs. This is not to say that I haven't been creative. For instance I got "creative" with money an in an effort to be a "good American" I used part of our tax return to stimulate the economy and I bought the Cricut Expression. I must admit this machine is not only better than sliced bread, I think it could slice bread. I promise to post some pictures of what this thing can do.

Recently I found a blog of a supper creative woman named Nicole Heady and I have been "lifting" her ideas. This was my favorite, the Cupcake Take Along. I couldn't resist and I ordered some of their products and went to town.

The Supplies used for this particular project were: Cardstock;PaperCompany, Patterned Paper;Stampin'Up, Glassine bag and test tubes;Paper Trey Ink, Ribbon;JoAnns

I also made one for each of my kid's teachers, they were for Valentine's Day, and I made one for my brother for his birthday. They are super cute and fun to make.

I end this post with a great quote by Emily Dickinson: "To live is so startling it leaves little time for anything else"

I will be posting more, both creatively and just to update the ever so comical thing I call being me. My goal is to not have it be 9 months between each post!