Sweet Sketch 160...Still Dieting!

How fun to be playing with a favorite Bugaboo character and see a sketch challenge they are sponsoring at Sweet Sketch Wednesday. A very sweet sketch it is, too.  So Mildred jumped back on her scale in her Mayberry bathrobe :-)   I have used All Close To My Heart products with this wonderful Bugaboo digital:
                                                                                     Mayberry patterned paper
                                                                                     Chocolate, Smoothie, White Daisy cardstock
                                                                                     Chocolate and Smoothie ribbons and buttons

a bit of liquid glasss on her glasses and the scale

Just for Fun

It has been a busy week - my first week on school break - and I have made great strides on 'The List'!Nothing makes me feel better than crossing things off a list :-)   It's been house and yard most days, but I spent Wednesday (the best sunshine for June so far) with my grandsons at the new community pool.  What fun!  So not much crafting - just these two fun cards. Both use Bugaboo digital images, and both have paper piecing.  The pink one was started for a CASual Fridays 'pretty in pink' challenge, but wasn't finished in time. 

Happy Sunshine!

Two challenges today: Just Us Girls #142
                                       Unscripted Sketches 164 with bling
It's photo inspiration week at Just Us Girls. Check out the fabulous work being posted there!

Well, yes, there is sunshine...just not in western Washington!  It's up there behind all those clouds.
This is an old, but very favorite image of mine from Bugaboo Stamps.  It reminds me of the fun of raising three little boys. I used Unscripted Sketches #164, rotated.  This is a brand new site to me, and it looks like a new favorite for inspiration.

That's it for now. May there always be some sunshine in your life.

Less Is More: Week 73 Recipe

Last week's 'Shiny' challenge was such fun! So I was back at Less Is More today for the new challenge - paper piecing.  I looked at every stamp I own !    Nothing 'spoke' to me, but finally I settled for the Close To My Heart A Tree set. I stamped it with Cocoa ink on Colonial White card stock, then on some Olive paper from the retired Lucky paper pack. The subtle pattern on the paper is lost in the stamping...  The sentiment is from a retired CTMH set called Treetops. The olive grosgrain is from the ribbon stash.  I am just not sure how I feel about this card after spending a long time to do something simple. Challenged.

Cardabilities #57 Pop-out

It's my first day of summer break!  A few garden chores before the rain began to really soak us...then to the craft room.  Last week I saw the Cardabilities sketch and have had it in my mind...I used Close to My Heart Dotty for You papers,  Lagoon card stock for the inside, and EK and Martha Stewart punches for the larger butterflies.  The small butterflies on the front are fussy cut from the Dotty paper and stitched with some Lagoon waxy floss.  The sentiment is from the CTMH Just a Number set.

inside

Happy Birthday

This is a sketch challenge at Catch the Bug. I've used a Bugaboo image and Close to My Heart Dotty for You papers, Sunset and Lagoon card stock, and baker's twine. I used the water brush pen to color and made the balloon shiny with liquid glass.  Such happy colors!

SSS 113 Smell the Coffee!

This is the Stella Says Stamp sketch at Catch the Bug, rotated.  I have used Close to My Heart Dotty for You papers and Sunset and Sweet Leaf card stocks with Bugaboo's fun digital image and sentiment.  School is almost out...three more days. Then lots of time to smell the coffee. I like it.

A Little Gift

A dear stamping friend gave me two CD cases, and explained how she had decorated them. I was excited to try it...it has been a few months, but I finally got around to trying my hand at it yesterday. I wanted to create a set of note cards as a gift for a high school graduate.  I made this, and tucked in a pen and some stamps along with the note cards.  It was fast and easy, and I got to use some of my favorite retired paper from CTMH.  The finished cards are 31/2" x 5". 

School will be out in 4 days...time to dig in my garden and craft. Can't wait!

Something Shiny! Less Is More

For Less Is More, week 72 challenge: This sweet shoe is a Bugaboo digital, the sentiment from CTMH's Wicked set.  One is colored in CTMH Honey, the other in Tulip. Both have been given a very generous layer of Liquid Glass, and are very shiny. More sparkle with some bling on the daisy center and the straps.  Simple, but they just shine and make me smile.

JUGS140 & Retro Sketches 15 Techniques!!





There have been some awesome challenges this week, and three blogs inspired me. Just Us Girls has an Acrylic Distress technique that I had never heard of.  It sounded like a lot of work, and turned out to be quite easy for a spectacular result. You cut a shape, emboss in a folder, paint it with Acrylic, sand, ink, mist with water and wipe.  It does require a bit of patience while allowing things to dry....not being the most patient sort, I did help things along a bit with my heat embossing gun.  I suggest you go to their site for a link to directions which will be more helpful than mine.
Then while exploring I saw some unusual cards made using a "flower pounding" technique. The artist at Creative Lynks suggested checking out the Cuttlebug site for directions.  Basically, you find fresh flowers from the yard, place them in a folder of paper (watercolor is suggested and that is what I used), and running it through the Cuttlebug in an A/B/C sandwich.  This took more experimentation...I discovered that it was best to use only the flowers pulled away from all stems/pods.  The leaves and stems mostly just made a big, wet, brown mess.  It's a very delicate coloring you get from the flowers, and you can use both sides of the folder.  This image was made using bachelor button, forget-me-nots and some hot pink perennial that has been like a weed in the garden forever.  (I am sure they have a name, but I don't know it.)
Finally, I used the Retro Sketches #15 here to put it all together.  What a fun morning!

School Goodbyes



Twisted easel

Center fold

Well, there are still a few weeks of school left, but retirement and good-bye parties are this week.  I have had fun making a card for each of those who are leaving.  A few years ago I did a special order of school paper to use on these projects.  All the card stock, stamps, and ink are Close To My Heart products. 



Easel

Birthday, birthday!

Tomorrow is DH's birthday and I just couldn't resist teasing him a bit with this delightful digital from Bugaboo.  I had fun coloring him and giving him silver hair and mustache.  The designed paper is CTMH Dotty for You, a limited edition collection just retired - like DH :-)

PDCC134 Beautiful Friendship

Play Date Cafe (here) color challenge.  This was tough!  I am afraid it took me hours and a lot of paper in my recycle bin to get this.  I used CTMH Baby Pink, Taffy, and Sunset Dotty for You card stocks; Paradise Flowers; and two Sunny Yellow buttons.  The sentiment is from CTMH's Beautiful Friendship set.  The card fold is one a fellow consultant, Andrea Bisignani at www.scrapsontheside.blogspot.com, posted a while back.  Really love the way the folds open. 

Poppies

This digital image is from Waxyfruit Stamps, called A Study of Poppies. The set comes with images of one, two, and three poppies.  I used odorless mineral spirits and PrismaColor pencils to color it. The sentiment is from CTMH.  I have been waiting (not so patiently!) for my own garden poppies to bloom.  There are a record number of blossom heads waiting to burst, and two opened today as the sun reappeared after a drizzly week.  Just love that burst of color!