Here it is...Sketch Girl #4

The 4th sketch from Sketch Girl was so much fun to work with.The strip in the center of the sketch seemed to call out for buttons to me! I recently got a bunch of purple buttons from my MIL, so I wanted to put them to use. The stamped image on each side is done with the same ink, I just stamped off the first time before stamping on my paper to get lighter results. I love creating a watermark with versamark on vanilla paper, so I wanted to do that again with the "white" space on the sketch. Be sure to head over to the Sketch Girl blog and play along. One person will be selected to be a guest designer for the next month - it could be you!!
Smiles,
Julie
Details: Stamp - SU Baroque Motif, SU Very Vanilla, Misc Eggplant paper, Ink - SU Eggplant Envy and Versamark, and buttons, buttons and more buttons!

Owl Always Love You

I just love this owl from Little Paper Shop and the sentiment is so sweet!
Isn't he so cute? And the owl is a free digi stamp! Little Paper Shop recently changed their web site, adding a forum and gallery. There is a freebie section, where this adorable owl can be found.
Today's card is for Little Paper Shop's weekly challenge. This week is a color challenge using Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss and Bordering Blue. I admit, I did a little substituting by using Old Olive and Brocade Blue :>).
The layout is based on Jen's SFYTT from 8/23.
Details: LPS Owl, Paper SU Old Olive, Brocade Blue, Very Vanilla, CB Embossing Folders, PTI Buttons and some sewing.
Be sure to stop by tomorrow for the latest from Sketch Girl!
Smiles,
Julie

A Treat for You!

Okay, so it is a little early for trick or treating, but this week there is a new Gina K Designs release and one of the challenges for the release party on SCS is to create a tag. I wanted to ink up my Spooky Silhouettes for the first time, so I created a tag for a Halloween treat bag.A big thank you to Gina for hosting challenges every weekday on Stamp TV ...I won one a couple weeks ago and decided to get Spooky Silhouettes since my Halloween stamps are limited. This set is perfect for cards and scrapbook pages (I have yet to scrapbook any of my children's Halloweens)!! I typically do not make Halloween cards, but I think I will be this year :>). Be sure to check out Stamp TV for great tutorials and challenges.
The layout is based on Jen del Muro's latest Sketch For You to Try found here.
Details: Stamp Set GKD Spooky Silhouettes, paper SU Old Olive, More Mustard, Elegant Eggplant, and Pumpkin Pie, ink SU Basic Black and stash ribbon. Paper and ribbon are sponged with purple ink.
Smiles,
Julie

Today is the 28th...

which means that the 31st is fast approaching and that means that it is time for another sketch from Sketch Girl!!
Here is a small shot of what I pulled together for the latest sketch...
With the approach of the end of the month it also means that summer is almost over :>C I have been quiet this past week enjoying the last days of summer and trying to squeeze in lots of fun before my daughter goes back to school. Sand, sun, and parks have taken the place of paper, glue and stamps for just a bit. Although I have not been posting, I have been checking out other posts and there are lots of fun challenges out there that I am planning to tackle this weekend.
Be sure to stop by on Sunday to see my card and the sketch!
Smiles,
Julie
Edited 8/29/09 at 9:23 pm; originally I posted that the Sketch Girls challenge would be up on the 30th, but it is really the 31st this month!!! I guess this is one card that I can honestly say I did not do at the "last minute"!!

I Did it...

I caved in and bought a basic set of copics...shhhh don't tell anyone :>)

Now here is something you can tell everyone...Steph is celebrating her blog by giving away blog candy - a $150 gift certificate to anywhere of your choosing. You could buy lots of copics with that :>)

Smiles,
Julie

Challenge Met

My sister and I challenged each other to complete the latest scrapbook layout challenge by ScrapnGal (of ScrapnFonts). The deadline is tomorrow and I made it :>)! Plus, I am using pictures that my sister took, so I think that is going above and beyond the challenge. If you have never heard of Scrap n Fonts before, they sell...fonts! I hate my own handwriting on scrapbook pages (I think it looks messy), so I am constantly looking for fun fonts to use instead. I also like to use Doodle Bats as digi stamps and there are a ton to choose from. Be sure to head over...there are always free fonts to be found if you want to try one out!Now aren't they the cutest puppies???!!! Lily and Luke are my sister's and they are just as adorable IRL! This LO is going to be added to my Mom's calendar (I make a calendar every year for each set of grandparents), so I needed to keep the embellies at a minimum to avoid weighing down the page too much.
Details: Sentiment fonts - LD Slanted, LD Aloha, and LD Artsy, doodlebat - DB Mom's Hearts, SU Candy Lane DSP, CB swiss dots folder, a stash button, and some sewing.
By the way, I still need to figure out how to take better pics of LOs...any ideas are welcome!!
Enjoy your weekend!
Smiles,
Julie

One Huge Thanks, One Clean and Simple Card

One of the recent challenges at Stamp TV was to use a photo on a card. I did not find time to play along then, so I decided to pull a photo into this week's sketch challenge instead.
I typically have only used photos on my Christmas cards, but I am going to have to pull in photos more often!
This is the perfect card to thank my son's Godmother for his Birthday gift. She probably thinks I completely forgot thank you cards, but I knew as soon as I saw the challenge that I wanted to include a picture on her card {it just took me awhile to get to it :>) }. I kept the card clean and simple to keep the focus on the pic - it took tons of will power not to pull out my sewing machine, LOL!
Details: Sentiment is GKD Retro Boutique, Prima Flowers, retired SU DSP, buttons, and twine.
Happy end of the week!
Smiles,
Julie

All Packaged Up

As you probably already know, I love PTI's templates designed by Lauren Meader.I put this quick "box" together for a shower gift for my sweet cousin who is expecting next month! My daughter wanted to give her own gift and in my mind I was thinking cute teddy bears or something soft and cuddly. When she picked out bibs leaning toward the bold side I did not have any paper to match. I made the striped paper, then sewed it on, added ribbon and a little giraffe on a circle tag, held on by a decorative paper clip. It really was done that fast and it makes such a cute presentation too :>)!

I also made a book for the Dad to be! My Sister picked up goggles, a poncho, rubber gloves and a face mask to add to the book and now the new Dad to be is ready to change diapers!I got this idea from Stamping with Annie B. I picked up a premade journal from Michael's that was a neutral color background with flowers in the center. I then pasted on the stamped image to hide the flowers. Note: I peeked in the packaging before I bought the journal to make sure there were no flowers printed on the journal paper!
Details: Box - PTI "From the Desk of" template and Book - KLM Designs Little Stinker digi stamp.
Thanks for stopping by!
Smiles,
Julie

...and the Reveal - Sketch #3 from Sketch Girl!

The 15th has arrived so I can finally share my project for the 3rd sketch!

Here is the sketch so you can play along...be sure to hop over to the Sketch Girl blog and become a follower. We are very close to reaching 100 followers. Once we do, 3 followers will win a stamp set!!

Now my “card” is really more than just a card, open it up...

and...

It is also a mini scrapbook.

This is called a Tri-Fold Pocket Card and it is this week's New Technique Challenge on SCS. The pockets hold tags where I put my journaling on each side. In addition to the journaling, I wrote a little something for my Mom :>) for whom I made this card.

Last weekend, we went blueberry picking and I was inspired. It was one of those moments when you wish you have more than just your still camera because my children were so happy. My sons both love blueberries, but I did not realize how much until they were grabbing the berries by the handful! There were smiles, laughs and yes, a happy dance!

Seeing my children so happy brought back memories of picking berries as a child so I wanted to make a thank you “card” for my Mom. Hopefully she is not reading this right now, because I will be hand delivering it to her this afternoon!

Now I also have my fellow Sketch Girl to thank for inspiring me to turn this week’s sketch into a scrapbook – Chris has been scrapping away and seeing her work reminded me that I am supposed to be scrapbooking too!!

Smiles,

Julie

Just a Tiny Sneak Peek

The 15th is fast approaching, which means another Sketch Girl sketch! In case you are having trouble waiting, here is a tiny peek at my project for the third sketch. Be sure to check back on Saturday, the 15th, for lots of pics of my project (yes, it is a card that morphed into much more)!!!
Smiles,
Julie

Anyone Hungry?

The limited supplies challenge on SCS this week is to make a card with the main focus being food. The second part to the challenge is that only colors with food in the name can be used!! LOL What a fun (and quite clever) challenge. Little Paper Shop's Katie Cupcake is the first "food" that came to mind and I pulled in the LPS sketch challenge for the week.Here are my flavorful colors:
Barely Banana
Close to Cocoa
Chocolate Chip
Perfect Plum
Very Vanilla
YUM!
I pulled in my CB Swiss Dots folder, then distressed everything with Chocolate Chip ink, even the ribbon.
Well, I am off to have dinner ironically enough!
Smiles, Julie

My Fave CB Folder

Today I am playing along with Lauren Meader's My Time to Create - sketch found here. I was looking for inspiration to create a card for the Cuttlebug Spot challenge #42, which is to make a card using your favorite embossing folder. In case you couldn't guess, Swiss Dots is my fave! The sketch was perfect because I was able to use the dots as the main background. I pulled out my fabric again and cut out a couple blocks to layer with my vanilla CS. Simple and quick - it really went together fast :>)
Details: SU Vanilla CS, Swiss Dots CB folder, patterned fabric, the stamp set is a SU oldie...not even sure of the name (one of the first sets I bought...this was before I started putting the label on the storage container!)
Thanks for stopping by!
Smiles, Julie

In Style?

My latest card is for the Stamp TV color challenge for this week and uses the Whimsy Stamps sketch challenge from last week. Whimsy's challenge this week is friendships, so I will be sending this card off to a friend :> There is still time to play along with each of this week's challenges, so be sure to click on the links!.The color challenge is Peach and Ivory (pink is optional)...I have to admit that I am not a big fan of peach :>) It is so nineties to me - I think my bedroom was peach at some point while growing up and I got sick of looking at the color. To meet the challenge I needed to pull out SU Guava - close enough to peach I hope!
The other thing I pulled out was fabric. The print is fabric! I took Heat 'n Bond Lite (a double sided interfacing) and ironed it to the wrong side of the fabric. I then peeled off the paper backing and glued the fabric down before sewing it. I guess I could have tried ironing the fabric to the paper...not sure if it would work. My fabric stash is huge, so I am going to be incorporating more fabric into future paper projects!
Details: CS SU, stamp and sentiment are "Retro Boutique" by Rupa Shevde available thru Gina K. Designs. This is the stamp set that I won thru Stamp TV :>)!!
Thanks for stopping by!
Smiles, Julie