Mojo Monday week #88

I finally found my craft mojo again!

I wanted to catch up on some challenges, so I thought I'd start with Mojo Monday week #88 before the Mr. Linky expired. Hopefully I'll make some more stuff in the next few days. Tomorrow's pretty loaded with helping the Job's Daughters with their rest stop fundraiser, and then we're all going to an Eastern Star meeting for the girls to perform a Masonic Tribute ceremony.

What a difference natural light makes on the photo too huh? I should have done it this way from the beginning. Live and learn.

Materials: All CTMH. Colonial white, goldrush, and buttercup carstock. Sweet Baby ss, Connections ss, hollyhock and honey inks, hollyhock twill ribbon, colonial white brads.

Other: DCWV spring 2 stack, Robin's nest skittle, Cuttlebug swiss dot folder.

Card set #2 for auction

Ha Ha!! Might help if I actually post the picture. Oops!

Here's the second set of cards I made for the LOSNA acution. These cards use the same Tickled Pink pp and also the May SOTM. A little *bling* to add a little umph, and ta-da! Another set of super easy cards. There are three different images for the set. I placed them in my new clear boxes I bought from Clear Bags.com. Love that site!

I actually finished of a paper pack too! I never do that! I only had a few little scraps left and so I added them to Sammie's play stash when I was at Nona's.

Materials: All CTMH. Tickled Pink pp, Be Yourself SOTM, black ink.
Other: Clear gems

Card set for auction

Here is one of the card sets I made for an upcoming silent auction in November. I used the Tickled Pink ss and random stamped the card base. I then just used a 1/2" strip of the coordinating pp across with the nested focal image on top. Super simple. Going to stamp the matching envies later.

All the money raised from the auction is going to the Shriner's Hospital in Spokane. Such a worthy cause. I love the Shriner's Hospital and their dedication to children. This hospital is for children with any type of aliment and it is totally FREE of cost! My family has always been a huge supporter, especially since everyone in the family belongs to one or more Masonic groups.

The auction in November is hosted by the Ladies Oriental Shrine of North American (LOSNA). This group of very giving ladies are all related to a Shriner and all the money they raise from their events goes exclusively to the Shriner's Hospital. I recently joined LOSNA in January of this year after much pleading from my mother and grandmother who are already members. The first meeting I went to, the ladies announced that we had raised enough money to buy a $7000 piece of equipment the hospital desperately needed. This act quickly got my hooked into all the great things LOSNA can do.

Please research both the Shriner's Hospital and LOSNA on the web and see all the beautiful and giving things both of these fine organizations do for your community!

Materials: All CTMH. Tickled Pink pp and ss, Fringed Phrases ss. Blush, sweet leaf, and heavenly blue inks.

Other: Labels One-Nestabilities, stickles.

Sorry I've been M.I.A.

It's been a really long time since I've posted anything. Things have been so crazy. Josie moved out two weeks ago. *sigh* It's been a bitter/sweet experience. I miss her, but at the same time I love having my place to myself.

Three and a half years ago she asked me if she could move in before the ink was even dry on my title. I had huge plans to make the second bedroom a guest/scrapbook room. Didn't even get a chance to have it from day one. My kitchen table has been my scrap area all this time.

Then, after Josie moved, I was trying to decide if I should install new flooring throughout my condo. I thought it would be an opportune time since Josie's room was empty. I've always like the look of laminate flooring and despise the nastiness of my cheap carpet. The contractor that converted my condo picked the cheapest junk her could find. It stains so easy. So, anyways....after days and days of researching and getting quotes, I decided that it's all a little too much out of my price range right now. Good thing too, because I just got an e-mail from my HOA that we are going to have to pay an assessment soon to pay for some issues the complex has. Oh well, there's always later.

My cat, Simon is still sick too. :( Going on for just over a month now. He was getting better a few weeks ago, but a few days after he took his last antibiotic, he started going downhill again. It's been quite tiring getting up earlier to feed him before I leave for work at 5:45am, then coming home during my lunch hour to feed him again, ...then...feeding him yet again when I get home and lastly before I go to bed. In addition to this torture I have to shove two pills down his throat. One antibiotic for his kidney infection, and one steroid to help him get his appetite back. I feel like I can't leave the house at all sometimes. I really hope he gets better fast.

So now I have been trying to figure out how I want to layout my scrap closet. Since I've been in this crazy limbo with my craft area, I haven't made anything. I also haven't really been feeling very crafty lately. Hopefully soon I will. I have some extra time on Sunday to play.

For now I'll leave you with the "before" pictures of the scrap closest. I'm also going to share these next few days some card kits I made for an auction coming up this November. I made them quite a while ago when I went over to Nona's for a crop. Better late than never I guess!

Enjoy!

Fast, simple, fun

I'm really diggin' this "Be Yourself" SOTM. I went through my ribbon stash to get some color inspiration and I think the simplicity of the colors in this ribbon is perfect. I also liked that it had a fun and vibrant color to play with. I think I bought it from the ever addicting dollar bins at Target....like a moth to a flame. ;) These two cards took me about 20 minutes to make. Yeah!

Materials: All CTMH. White daisy, black, and citrus leaf cs, Be Yourself May SOTM, Tickled Pink ss, black and citrus leaf ink.

Other: Swiss dot embossing folder--Cuttlebug, circle punches--EK, ribbon--Target.

Mojo Monday #86

"All my single ladies! All my single ladies!"

When I received my "Be Yourself" ss yesterday, one of the silhouettes reminded me of Beyonce, and thus a card was born.

The sketch is from Mojo Monday and I thought it would be perfect for this stamp set. Aren't these stamps fun?! I stamped the "Beyonce" image twice and cut out the bodice of the dress and stamped on it with a background stamp to make the dress more pronounced. I used the same background stamp to add a little something to the scalloped edge. A little Stickle and some rhinestones for bling tied it all together. The sentiment is hand written. This card is a whopping 5.5"x8"!! One of the biggest I've ever made.

Materials: All CTMH. Be Yourself May SOTM, That's Amore L2pp, Western Flourishes ss, chocolate ink, cocoa marker, garden green grosgrain ribbon, rhinestones, sponge.

A day late and 44 cents short

I meant to post this yesterday, but I forgot....then I forgot that the postage went up and I was out of stamps...oops! Can you tell the pic of Simon was taken with my phone? Sooo grainy!

This card I made for my Veterinarian as a thank you for treating my cat, Simon for his kidney infection. He did such a great job diagnosing and treating Simon that he is quick to the recovery track. Yeah!

I colored the stamped image to look like Simon, complete with the black spot on his nose. Cute!

Materials: All CTMH. Game On L2pp, Purr-fect ss, Say it in Style ss, twill ribbon, hemp, black brads, black and hollyhock markers, black ink, paper piercer, sanding kit.

Other: scallop circles-Spellbinders, pop-dots.

To my Mom

Happy Mother's Day Mom. I love you.

This card was inspired by Aaron Brown's card here. Sometimes I forget about techniques and I'm glad there are resources like Blogger that help re-trigger these ideas.

Materials: All CTMH. Animal Cookies creative basics pp, Rustic Alpha ss, Tickled Pink promo ss, tulip ink.

New toy!!

Yeah!! I got my new Impressibilities in the mail today! I couldn't wait to play! Isn't it SUPER fun?! When I saw these at Cut at Home, I had to have them. I bought this butterfly plate and a flower plate that I will make goodies with later. This was a great excuse to make a card for Kelly Jo's Color Chef Challenge #5. I used the watercolor technique to stamp my butterfly. Just simply ink up your stamp the way you want, then spritz it with water before you stamp it. It gives your image a really cool blended watercolor effect.

So, how I used the Impressie......

I ran the plate with the embossing mat through my Cuttlebug to emboss the image. Then I simply sponged creme brulee ink all over with the darker goldrush ink on the outer edge. This really made the image pop. Can't wait to try it with darker cardstock and sanding. You can also use the plate like a letter press (which will take me a few tries to figure out).

Stay tuned for more artwork using these Impressiblities. Visit the Cut at Home site to get your own. If you sign up for their e-mail list, you can get a 40% off coupon too!

Materials: All CTMH. Goldrush, creme brulee, juniper, and vanilla creme cardstock. Goldrush, creme brulee, and juniper inks, colonial white pigment ink, Butterfly Wings ss, Say It In Style ss, botanicals die cuts, juniper brads, paper piercer, sponge, sanding kit.

Other: "Butterfly" Impressibilities plate-Nestibilities, Stickles.

Back in the Mojo of things....

Now that my crazy, busy week is finally over, I can get back to crafting! Yeah!! Let's start off with this week's Mojo Monday sketch challenge. I've been hoarding this Caprice paper for a while and had a sudden urge to use it. Then I just got creative with the stamping and used three different stamp sets to create the main image. A little pop-dot and liquid glass for dimension helped pull it all together. Enjoy!

Materials: All CTMH. Caprice L2pp, Connections ss, With Love ss, Western Flourishes ss, Tickled Pink ss. Chocolate, sweet leaf, and crystal blue inks, chocolate grosgrain ribbon, liquid glass, pop-dots.

Other: Scallop punch-EK

Make & Takes from my annivesary party

It's been a while since I've posted anything. This has been a very busy week! Not only did I have to get things ready for my anniversary party, but I was in charge of my condo's semi-annual garage sale.

The local town has theirs only twice a year and it's so huge that people just park their cars and walk from one sale to the next. All the locals know to stay away from the area because they won't be able to drive anywhere! So to try and capitalize on the flow, my condo complex plans one to coordinate. There were tons of people that came. Made a good stash of money for the vacation fund!

Here are the three cards that guests could make for my party. I wanted to make a few Mother's Day cards and use the Tickled Pink paper and stamp set to help promote it. Then one manly card that they could use for Father's Day or whatever they wanted. They used the new Animal Cookies and Back Country paper. Taught the rock & roll, stamp kissing, and paper piercing techniques.

You only get a peek at the middle one because it's the one I'm sending to my mom and she checks out my blog.... no previews for mom! ;)

Materials: All CTMH. Tickled Pink promo paper and ss, Animal Cookies creative basics paper, Back Country L2pp, Treetop ss, Say it in Style ss, Rustic Alpha ss. Blush, hollyhock, crystal blue, sweet leaf, tulip, olive, and outdoor denim inks. Clear buttons, hemp, pop-dots, paper piercer, egde distresser.