Find Joy

I knew about 1/2 hour into this project that it was just not coming together the way I wanted. I really loved how the cards looked in the gallery yesterday for the color challenge and I wanted to play along with the sketch challenge today. 2 hours later, yes that's right 2 hours later I have a card that is soooo not my favorite. Well, this is why I haven't been doing color challenges unless I LOVE the colors. I think it's so hard to work with colors that you are not completely inspired by. The flower is from My Favorite Things Boho Blossoms. The background swirl is from Doodle This and the sentiment is from Polka Dots & Paisley SU! The black panel is embossed with the swirl Cuttlebug folder. Tell me what you think, honestly, please! I think I will go for a little walk and hope that my mojo is not gone:)

Thanks for stamping by!

Laura~

Hey Chick...

Hi there! I made this for the new MFT sketch challenge and also for the Way to Use it Challenge, to use 2 different decorative papers. I used a lot of machine stitching on this card, but other than that, pretty easy. I used my water color pencils with a blender pen to color the chicks and a grey Copic marker for the shading. The grass was done with 3 diffent colors of waterpencil without blending them.

Hope you are having a wonderful start to your week. Thanks for stamping by!

Laura~

Birthday Delivery

Happy Sunday! This card is cased from MJ, her gallery is listed at the very bottom, Beauty Lies Within! She is this week's featured stamper and WOW is she talented. So this card is for my dad. His birthday was yesterday, but I am having him over for dinner today. I am making a pork roast in plum sauce with rice and a ginger fruit salad...I am hungry already!

I wanted to keep this fairly masculine but not too serious. My dad is my biggest fan so I think he'll like it:) I colored the truck with my colored pencils and blender pen. I really like the aged look I can achieve with the pencils. The present is a MFT stamp. I like the burlap for a little bit of a whimsical touch. The slider is from JoAnne's.

Thanks for stamping by!

Laura

Enjoy Life

This is a combined challenge for Beate's Weekend Sketch and for today's inspriration challenge. I got these wonderful dimensional stickers at the $1 spot at Michael's and thought of them when I saw the basket of lemons at the bottom of the inspiration picture and went from there. The flower is cut from the reverse side of the yellow dp which is from K&Co. Wild Asparagus pack.

I hope you all are having a wonderful weekend! Thanks for stamping by!

Laura~

Happy Easter

Hi there! Well, you can't get much more paper on a card, quite the difference from last post. I think I was having some sort of paper withdraw...I wonder what that syndrome would be called, lol! I got this gorgeous Cosmo Cricket paper a couple of weeks ago when QVC had a papercrafting day. This is from the Today's Special Value. Did you get it? This paper is soooo scrumptious, I love it! The bunny and flower are from My Favorite Things Eggstra Special set. I colored him with watercolor pencils and a blender pen and added quite a lot of distressing with Ranger Distress Ink. So let me tell you about the sewing....it started out OK and then the paper wouldn't move and the bobin got jammed and the paper went wonky. I kept going 'cause I hate wasting paper (I might run out you know, ROTFLOL...see previous post) anyway, I decided the wonky stitching went with the feel of the card, so there you go.

Thanks for stamping by!

Laura~

Sweet Little Birdie

Hi! A friend of mine had sugery on both her feet, eeeccchhh! She has had many people step up to help her with her kids and bringing food over, so she needs some thank you cards. Well, she knows just the girl to ask! She didn't want them to be too fussy so this is what I came up with! I just stamped the image on Papertrey white cardstock and colored it with my watercolor pencils and a blender pen. I glued a small clear rhinesone to the center of the flower. I also used my new grey Copic marker for the shading. I really do like the Copic markers, but I don't want to spend hundreds of dollars on them right this minute, KWIM. There is far too many other things I want right this minute, lol! So my plan is to buy a few at a time from my local art supply store. If I have a project with several color in mind I will get those and before you know it, bam....I have a whole bunch! And I will still have more paper than I could possibly use in my lifetime! The inside is stamped 'thank you' with SU! Short & Sweet. I also distessed the right edge with a paper distresser.

I love these so much I made another set to sell at imakeartcards.com. We'll see how they do!

Thanks for stamping by!

Laura~

JammieBella

Hi there! This is for the color challenge at SCS... pumpkin pie, certainly celery, orchid opulance. It took me awhile to find my orchid paper. I don't ever use it. That is why we have color challenges. I got this Bella as a RAK from Sara (Deipara). Thanks, Sara!!! She actually sent me about 40 images and this was the first that I used. I am now hoarding Bella images, please help, lol! Do you notice anything else? I got my first set of Nestabilities, wooohooo!!!! I love them already. They don't take up any room at all and are easy to use (I have a Cuttlebug) I am still trying to work out the whole embossing thing, cause I didn't buy the special mat. But I am not complaining because I have them in my hot little hands. I bought the entire set of ovals just in case you are wondering. If you go to cutathome.com and sign up on their e-mailing list, after a day or two, you will get a coupon for 40% off a single item. Enter the code at checkout and you get a whole shape set for just over $50. That works out to about $2.50 per die-cut. You just can't beat that!

Oh yes, the card. I colored the image with a blender pen and ink pads and added a little shading with a grey watercolor pencil. I just bought a grey Copic marker today (at an art supply store) for shading, I am curious to see how that works out. I used my CB for the flower background.

Thanks for stamping by!

Laura~

Namaste'

Hi there! Well, I made it through my family reunion this past weekend. I hosted one of the dinners at my house with about 35 people in attendance. I made a few side dishes and had the rest of the dinner catered, which I highly recommend for that many people. I have made all the food in the past for this event and made myself crazy at the same time. This was much for enjoyable for me.

Ok, the other thing I have to mention is this. I live in Las Vegas and rarely go see shows, but because of the company we went to go see Stomp Out Loud last night. Can I just say that it was one of the most enjoyable shows I have EVER seen. Have you seen it? The show moved smoothly along and was funny and clever and utterly entertaining and was an absolutely perfect show for the whole family, my kids adored it! I cannot wait to see it again! Check it out if it is ever in your area.

On to the card! I just love, love, love this stamp set from My Favorite Things! I practice yoga off and on (if I am being completely honest more off than on, lol) and I have some friends that also practice. I will be working on some gift sets over the next few days, I can't wait to give them as gifts. This card is for the MFT Sketch challenge this week. I think I will always keep the embellishments for this set simple and serene because that's how it is meant to be. Oh, I got the jewel metal flower from Michael's, isn't it gorgeous!

Thanks for stamping by!

Laura~

New Hut

I am playing along with one of the new Dirty Girl challenges at SCS and my new congito monkey stamps! The finished card measures 3 1/4 x 5". I used Ranger Distress Ink to distress around the outiside of the hut and watercolor pencils for the monkey on the banana leaves. I printed the sentiment on the computer.

I am getting ready to have a small family reunion at my house this weekend. I have relatives coming from as far away as Nebraska. I haven't even thought about cleaning the house yet...all I want to do is stamp, KWIM? Do you think they will understand if I just give them a card, lol!

Thanks for stamping by!

Laura~

A little monky business!

Hi there! imakeartcards.com, the fun online card store where I sell some of my cards, had a little challenge to make some window cards. I did these two. I really don't like to do window cards...I feel like I have to think too hard about it. That being said I really just adore this little monkey from Stampendous. I used classic ink for the background leaves and watercolor pencils on the vine, the cutout leaves and the monkey. I used Ranger Distress Ink and a sponge dauber for all the shading on the outside edges.

For the flower card, I colored the stamp and then outlined the image with my brown SU! marker. I added a little machine stiching and there you go! A sweet little card.

I want to say thanks again for all the very nice comments and can I just say how fun it is seeing your baskets. This group of stampers is the most talented, generous group. I am so happy to be a part of it!

Thanks for stamping by!

Laura

My Favorite Things Guest Designer Announced

I am so excited...the winners were announced for the My Favorite Things Guest Designer Challenge for March and I won! I cannot wait to get my inky fingers on Kim's newest creations! I want to thank you all for your very kind and encouraging comments over the last several days. Making the basket and then the turtorial have really made me go outside my comfort zone, but what fun I have had!

Thanks for stamping by!
Laura~

Basket Tutorial

You asked for it, here it is!!!! I just want to take a minute to say how thrilled I am to do this tutorial. I signed up at SCS in July of 2007. I really wasn't doing much with my stamps up until then. I found that the challenges really motivated me to get some cards done and every week it seems I found a new tutorial showing me something I hadn't tried before. I feel like I have something to learn from everyone, from those like Beate who do tutorials to anyone who posts a picture in the gallery. I am so happy to be contributing to this wonderful addiction...mmmm hobby. So here is my first tutorial!


Supplies:

1- 12 x 12 sheet of cardstock
Paper Trimer,
Ruler,
Hole Punch,
Scissors,
Pencil,
Glue Stick,
Double Sided Sticky Strip,
Distressing Ink, dauber (optional),
Ribbon,
Brads.




1. From Cardstock cut (all 12" long)

8 strips 3/4" wide,
9 strips 1/8" wide,
7 strips 1/2" wide,
2 strips 5/8" wide.




2. Ink edges of wider strips on the side that will be the outside of your basket. (This is optional, I like the depth the ink adds to the basket)


3. Create the base of the basket by crossing the 3/4" strips as shown. Use a glue stick to secure each overlapping section in the center.




4. From the 1/8" strips Create three 36" long strips with a glue stick. This will allow you to use a more continuous weave when you start your basket.

With distressed side facing down, start weaving with the 1/8 " strips. Start about 2" from the center. It will be loose when you start and you shouldn't have to tug too hard on the weaving strip. If you are having a hard time getting started you could use a little glue to hold the 1/8" paper in place. After the first row of weaving is done it is helpful to fold up the 3/4" strip where it meets the 1/8" strip. This becomes the bottom of your basket.


Continue weaving in the other strips of 1/8' x 36" strips. With a continuous weave you have to skip a weave when you get back to your starting point. It shouldn't be too noticable once the weaving is finished.

5. Glue the ends of 2 of the 1/2" strips together to create a 24" long strip. Weave that above the smaller row. This will not be a continous weave. Trim the remainder of the strip and glue that to the end of another 1/2" strip. This will be long enough to do the next row of weaving. Repeat for the third row. You will use what's left of the 1/2" strips for some finishing work on the basket.

6. Trim corners of one end of the 5/8" strip. Adhere 1/2" strip to the top with 1/2" folded behind to create the finishing detail as seen in the picture below on the right.

Trim each strip to 8"
7. Starting 1/4" in from decorative edge, make 6 marks 1 1/4" apart. Punch holes, adhere brads to front side, flip over and attach 5 1/2" length of ribbon with double sided tape behind the 3rd and 5th brads. Add strip of double sided tape to entire length of both trim pieces.

8. Attach trim pieces just above the last row of weaving. Leave enough unattached to tuck the tail end of the second piece under the first.

10. Trim excess strips to slightly under the top of the trim.

11. Adhere sticky strip to 2 longest lenghts of leftover 1/2 strips.

Adhere to inside top of basket to cover trimmed edges.

Easy peasy right!

I am sooo excited to see what you come up with. Please, please, please leave a message with a link to your baskets!

Thanks for stamping by!

Laura ~

Longaberger Inspired Basket

This is for the My Favorite Things Guest Designer Challenge. The challenge is to make a candy holder. I wanted to make a round container. I looked around my house for inspiration and found a Longaberger Basket I have had for years. I studied it for a little bit and thought how hard could it be to make a basket....well two hours later...the hardest part was getting the actual weaves started and then getting the finshing trim at the top done. It's a funny thing that baskets know what they want to be once you get them started...I am feeling a little zen today...I ordered the Serenity Now Set from MFT last night during the release party, lol! Plus I was up part of the night weaving the basket.

So I love this little basket, tell me what you think!

Thanks for stamping by!

Laura

Bright Friends

This is a combined challenge card, sketch and color. I wasn't going to do the color challenge this week but I found this Daisy D decorative paper in my stash and thought I could work with it for the color challenge. I know I have said this before but I have such a hard time with the color challenges. I mostly like this one, but really only because I distressed it. I keep thinking I need to quit distressing stuff, but I really like it!

Thanks for stamping by!

Laura~

My Favorite Birthday

Hi! This is for this week's My Favorite Things Sketch Challenge. I really NEED to get some more of these wonderful stamps...but I guess it's good to use what I have, that is one of the things I want to work on this year. I am so completely blessed to have a stamp room full of fabulous stuff. I could probably stamp for an entire year and not run out of supplies....maybe just colored SU cardstock, KWIM? I did get to use my new CB die cut flower on this card! I paper pieced the dress with the DP and colored the rest with colored pencils and my blender pen. Hope you had a wonderful Monday!

Thanks for stamping by!

Laura~

Boho Smile

This is for the Featured Stamper challenge. I hadn't seen Renee's gallery before, but will visit again! I just love the layout of this card. I changed the stamp and the colors and the layout a smidge. The dp is from My Mind's Eye. I distressed all the paper with Ranger Distress Ink (brushed corduroy). I think this ink has to be my most reached for item recently. It is really stormy here in Vegas today....I know it's not the snow everyone else is getting (thank goodness). I am just saying it's kinda nice to be home all warm and snuggly.

Thanks for stamping by!

Laura~

Retro Pick-up

Hi! I wanted to play some more with my K&Co. paper. I thought the little pick-up from Loads of Love would be kinda cute with this flower pattern...what do think? I colored the truck with colored pencils and a blender pen. I distressed the whole thing with Ranger Ink brushed corduroy including the flower. The twine frame was a last minute addition. I put the eyelets in because I thought the main image needed a little something and then thought it would be cute if there was a little twine, so there you go!

Thanks for stamping by!

Laura~

Are you ready for some football!!!

This is for the limited supply challege, something inspired from the BIG GAME and Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge. Can I just tell you how much fun I had with this card! I rarely do boy cards and just love how this one came together. The BG grass paper I have had for like 100 years and thought I would never find a suitable use for it. The football image and the sentiment are from the same $1 stamp set from Mike's, hello, how fun and I have really been wanting to use them! I doodled the plays on the cream background paper. I actually googled football formations so they would be somewhat authentic (that doesn't mean I understood what I was looking at mind you)

Thanks for stamping by!

Laura~

New Endeavor

I was invited to sell my cards on a wonderful site called imakeartcards.com. Amy, the owner, emailed me and asked if I would like to be a partner, of course I said yes! I had been thinking about selling on ETSY (I may still do that) but this is a great way to test the internet waters. Please go check out the store, you will recognize some of the other partners from SCS. I just finished a big local order for cards, so it will take a little time for my gallery to get filled at imakecards.com.

Thanks for stamping by!
Laura~