The Ocean Is Calling

     Here is yet another project that is the result of the paper crafting cruise I just returned from. One of the activities we participated in, was a layout and card contest. We were given a package of Echo Park's "Let's Be Mermaids" card stock. There was almost no solid card stock to be had. I was able to get my hands on 3 sheets of My Colors - Poolside. We made the mermaid on the first night on the ship. We were supposed to put it on our doors, but I added it to my layout. 

      The "Turtle Crossing" sign was originally on a post card. I can't remember if I purchased it in Cozumel or Grand Cayman. 

     There were two tags in the package that were cut from My Colors - Tropical Splash. I cut them down to banners: one for the title and a small one on the right page. I also cut 2 thin strips between the stripes on the second page.

     I don't know if you have ever been to Cozumel, but there are a ton a jewelry stores and every single one of them lures tourists into their shops by promising a charm for just walking in. I collected 8 charms that day: a palm tree, a cross, a sea turtle, a heart w/rose, a latticed heart, 2 mermaids, and a cruise ship. I added the turtle to the layout.

     I made this little replica of a turtle beach. The turtles were fussy cut from the paper and the fish were from the sticker sheet. The turtle banner is cut from one of the journaling cards. I used a white gel pen to draw in a little handmade border. 

     I visited a Turtle Center in Grand Cayman. I have always had a particular interest in Sea Turtles since reading "Turtle Bay" with my 3rd graders. We had a ton of fun with that unit. I added a picture of me holding a sea turtle and a couple of them swimming in the tanks. 

     We received 5 tickets towards door prize drawings for participating. We could make a layout and/or a card. I spent so much time on the layout that I didn't have much time to put into the card, but another 5 tickets was a huge incentive. Here is the card I quickly put together: 

front of card

inside of card

     Epilogue: I did not win anything with my 10 tickets, but my layout was voted Best of Show and I received a free die of my choice from Karen Burniston. WooHoo!!!

Materials List: 

     

     Patterned Paper: Echo Park - Let's Be Mermaids:

                                                  Stars of the Sea

                                                  Fish Friends

                                                  Whale of a Tale

                                                  Happy Sun Rays

                                                  Journaling Cards

                                                  Stickers

     Card Stock: My Colors - Poolside

                                        Kraft

                                        Tropical Splash

     Embellies: White Pearls

                     Sea Turtle Charm

                     Lime Embroidery Floss

                     Postcard - "Turtle Crossing"

                     White Gel Pen

               

Challenges

Bimini Moose Scrapbook Challenge - Anything Goes - #5 - Winner!!!

Lean On Me

     It's going to be difficult sharing a specific supply list for this card. The paper is from three pieces that were handed to me -- two pieces of patterned paper and a piece of solid.

     These two girls and sentiment are from a Stampingbella stamp set called "Lean On Me". I colored this image using copics. 

Skin: E50, 51, 53, 93

Blonde Hair: Y21, TR23, Y26, Y21

Shirt: YR14, 16, 18, 20, 21

Skin: E11, 13, 15, R22

Hair: E49, 74, 77, 79

Shirt: BG45, 49

Sketch #132 by Lisa Hidy

     I used this Sketch N Scrap sketch to add some interest to the papers I was given.

     These hair colors are some new ones we used in my Copics class. I love blonde hair. This combo was most unusual when I was told we would be using it, but I am very happy with the way it turned out. I liked it so much that I have already used it twice more since the class.

     The dragonfly is supposed to be an ornament to put on a hair barrette. I was selling an envelope full of these as well as some butterflies at my garage sale a couple of years ago. My daughter said, "Mom can't you use some of these on cards." I ended up taking them back into the house. I have used two of them so far.

     This stamp set has a coordinating "Polaroid: Cut It Out" die.

Autumn Scarecrow

          I tied the bow with twine, leaving the ends of twine hanging down. They looked like birdy feet. I found this Elizabeth Craft Designs die instead of fussy cutting birds and feathers. I needed 30 kits of these for the class I was teaching, I made the first hat and brim. I then traced the pieces onto black paper and fussy cut. I placed them on the Pixscan Mat (Silhouette), took a picture, and uploaded it into the Silhouette program. I got a perfect outline of it and cut 12 x 12 pages full of them on the Silhouette. 

Inside of card

     I made a collage of elements from the front of the card. Just being my picky self, I placed yellow leaves behind the leaves with holes in them. There is a penny under the lady bug for weight and 2 more behind the scarecrow cheeks to hold the card behind the ladybug. I covered the back of the scarecrow's head to cover the pennies, nose threads, and brad that holds the bow.

     I will be making 16 cards and 4 calendars with this Graphic 45 Seasons Paper. All of these SEASON cards can be made using:

• one sheet of each of the patterned paper 
• one sheet of each of  Prints and Solids

In order to make All Seasons cards and calendars, you only need purchase the following items once:

• Tags and Pockets
• Chip Board
• Ephemera
• Stickers
• Season's Patterns and Solids 

Stay tuned for more cards this year.

Spring

Spring Double Gate Card

Spring Shutter Card

Spring Seed Pack Holder 

Spring Center Step Card

Spring Calendar

Summer

Summer Poppy Block Card

Sweet Summer Pocket Card

Summer Pen Nib Butterfly

Summer Embroidery Hoop Easel

      Summer Impossible Calendar

Autumn
Autumn Joy Fold Plus
Autumn Patchwork and Feathers
Autumn Shaker
Autumn Scarecrow - You Are Here!
Autumn Calendar

Winter
Winter Birdhouse
Winter Cozy Snow Day
Winter Pop Up Gift Card Holder
Winter Box on Card
Winter Calendar 

Materials:     

     Patterned Paper: Graphic 45 - Seasons (Autumn)

     Card Stock: My Colors - Kraft

                                        Golden Rod

                                        Tuscan Sun

                                        Mint Julep

                                        Brown Eyes

                                        Ecru

                                        Harvest Orange

     Ink: Distress - Frayed Burlap

            Momento - Rich Cocoa

     Die: Graphic 45 - Large Tag, ATC & Flower

            Quick Cutz - Nesting Frame 3

            Elizabeth Craft Designs - Birds

                                                 Lady Bugs

                                                 Rectangle Pull Card

           Burniston - Word Set 1 - Greetings

     Punches: My Jewelry Shoppe - 1 x 3/4 oval

                   Emagination - 1/2" sun

     Stamp - "A Little Hello"

     Marker - Sharpie

     Embellies: Brown Embroidery Thread - 3 strands

                     Burlap - 1 1/2 x 3 1/2

                     Pearl - Gold

                     Googly Eyes - 1/4"

                     Orange, Red, Green Raffia

                     Brad - Under bird to hold bow onto card

                     3 pennies for weight

Challenges

Brown Sugar Challenge - Autumn - #92 - *

Cards 4 Galz - Fancy Fold - #3 - Winner!!!

Crafty Catz - Not Square - #32 - *

Crafty Friends - More Than 1 Die - #65 - *

Double D Challenges - Mood Board - #75 - *

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Anything Goes - #13 - *

Send A Smile 4 Kids - Celebrations - #15 - *

My Time to Craft - Kraft Card Stock - #21 - *

Destin Sand Box

     It's ironic that I had this post marked to go live this morning - as Hurricane Michael bares down on Destin's coast. We have vacationed in Destin every year for the past 27 years. I remember Hurricane Opal, also a cat 4, that devastated the area in 1995. They had to rebuild everything after Opal.

     About 8 years ago Huey and I decided to bring back a bag of Destin sand with residue of the BP oil spill. Huey wanted to show it to friends at work. We ended up sifting the oil out of the sand and keeping it. I decided to use it as filler for this shaker card.

     I just returned from a Caribbean Cruise on Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas. We visited Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica. It was a scrapbooking cruise. One of the planned activities was a card swap. Of the 40 scrapbookers, 17 participated. The only qualification was that we had to use one of Karen Burniston's dies somewhere on the card. Here is my swap:

     My first thought, when I prepared to design this card, was that I wanted the card to be something unique -- something that no one had seen before. I had the idea to put a shaker in the bottom of a box card. I actually searched Google and Pinterest to see if I could find any other card that had this and was unable to find one. I wouldn't be surprised if someone was to tell me that they were able to locate one.

     In the interest of time, I decided that it would be too much die cutting to use dies for the card base and the waves. Silhouette didn't not have a rectangular box card, so I designed my own Silhouette file -- including the window in the front and the scalloped edge on the top. I made the wave inserts and the waves that bordered the back and sides to the exact size I needed. This was a huge time-saver. 
  

     I was up in Fort Worth at my daughter's house for Labor Day weekend. We die cut, assembled, and inked the suns, flamingoes, palm trees, crabs, sharks, turtles, and shells. It took the the two of us 6 hours.

     I constructed the shakers independent of the card. I cut acetate to the desired size. I edged each side with "Black Double Coated Window Glazing Tape: 1/8 in. thick x 3/8 in. wide" which I purchased on Amazon (75 feet for ~$14). I filled the cavity with 100% pure white Destin sand, blue/turquoise sequins, die cut shells, and attached a red anchor from the top, I sealed it with a rectangle of Seafoam card stock.

     I used a Silhouette file to make the flamingo on the back of the card. I originally designed the card for my father-in-law's 80th birthday with a Elizabeth Craft lighthouse on the back. I needed to get girlie for the cruise - so I changed the lighthouse to a flamingo.

     Here is a pic of all 21 that I ended up making.

Materials: 

     Patterned Paper: My Colors - Mosaic Blue

                                                Seafoam

                                                Firecracker

                                                Snowbound

                                                Tuscan Sun

                                                Cafe Ole

                                                Parrot 

                                                Sweetie Pie

                                                Cosmos

                                                Cloak Gray

                                                Rose Heather

                                                Black Magic

                                                Sandy Beach

                              Metallic Brown

     Stamp: Gina K - Hello Sunshine

     Ink: Momento - Potter's Clay

                             Lady Bug

                             Tuxedo Black

            Gina K - Cherry Red

                         Moonlit Fog

     Die: Burniston - Beach Charms

                             Sea Animals

                             Tropical Scene

            Elizabeth Craft Designs - Shells Small

     Silhouette File: Doodlebug Designs - Flamingo-Fun in the Sun

                            Higgledy Piggledy Crafts - Rectangular Box Card

                                                                  Wave Inserts

     Embellies: White/Black Twine

                     Blue/Turquoise Sequins

                     Destin Sand

                     Acetate

                     

Challenges

Crafty Gals Corner - Fancy Fold - #3 - Winner!!!

Creative Friday - Shaker Card - #6 - *

Dies R Us - Die sold by Dies R Us - #55 - *

Scrapy Land Challenge - Die sold by Scrapy Land - #23 - Winner!!!

Simply Create Too - Shaker Card - #3 - Winner!!!

Tuesday Throwdown - Anything Goes - #12 - *

Caribbean Cruise Name Plates

     Just got back from the Scrappn' Savvy "Mermazing Cruise". We had soooo much fun. We sailed on the "Liberty of the Seas" out of Galveston to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, and Jamaica. 
     We made a mini album in a suitcase with Karrie Allen, we used Copics to color with Becky Morehead, and made pop up cards with Karen Burniston. Other activities were a PJ party and mermaid making party. We had a layout and/or card challenge (which I will be posting later). We were given a bag of goodies to create whatever we imagined. There was a card swap. There were door prizes, a craft store for shopping, and of course, the cruise activities as well.
     A couple of weeks before leaving on the cruise, we received a package in snail mail. It contained a lanyard, a luggage tag, and Karen Burniston's "Princess and Mermaid" die. We were asked to make a tri-fold name plate for our work space on the cruise. The only requirement was that we had to use the Burniston die somewhere on it.
     I made matching name plates for my roommate and me. I used My Colors card stock (Poolside) for the bases. The background paper was a pre-cut sheet that I purchased at Tuesday Morning years ago.

     

     The shell is a Silhouette file called "Mermaid Card" by Daniela Moscone. The mats are cut from metallic brown paper. The lining of the shell is super unique textured paper I found on the clearance rack at Joann's long ago. I die cut one of Burniston's mermaids and added a pearl. There are two punched holes at the bottom with white ribbon threaded through and tied into a bow.

     I found this FUN font from Silhouette. It is "zp Mermaid Tails" by ScrapNfonts. You may choose which letters have mermaid tails by using lower case. I repeated the orange paper for the mermaid tail and let it hang over the edge of the name plate. The palm tree islands above the letters are leftover die cuts from the swap card. It's always fun to find a handy scrap like that just waiting for a place needing embellishment.

Challenges

4 Crafty Chicks - Something Old & New - #40 - *

(New Die / Old Papers)

Jo's Scrap Shack - Anything Goes - #35 - *

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - Anything Goes - #43 - *

Pixie's Crafty Workshop - Snippets #336 - #35 - *
Scrapy Land Challenge - Die sold by Scrapy Land - #22 - *

Anniversary

     My sister called and said that she couldn't find any 50th anniversary cards at the Hallmark store. Really? Hard to believe. I had already made my card for the occasion (my brother's 50th). To see my card go here. I decided to use the same paper and repeat some of the elements. The two cards look like they came out of the same box of cards. 

     For this card I started with a sketch by Lisa Hidy. As I compare the sketch to the card, I have to say that I certainly expanded on the one small daisy in the sketch. Getting carried away on cards is my specialty!!! 

     I punched 7 holes in a piece of patterned paper and laced ribbon through. This is matted and placed onto the card with crocheted lace on the bottom edge.

     I die cut a tag from a piece of Ephemera and embossed "Happy Anniversary" using Stampendous "Aged Scarlet" embossing powder. 

  

   The collage of flowers is from 49 Market. I love the way they package their blooms. They are packaged by size and with 2 or 3 coordinating colors in each package. I happened to have this package on hand when making this card. They were actually marked for another project, but you know how that goes. I'll just have to get some more.

     I can't believe I forgot to take a pic of the inside of this card. It was truly lovely - just a teaser. I had even included a pocket to hold a gift card.

     The corner of the envelope is stamped with Gina K's "Stippled Flowers" - love these!!! The leaves are a 2-part stamp which I did directly onto the envelope. The flowers are a 3-step process. I die cut this and pop-dotted it onto the envelope. The die cut on the flap is just a little something I found on the sale rack at Hobby Lobby. The pic on the packaging showed it as a roof on a house -- I saw an envelope flap. And look -- it fit perfectly. Surely this is what it was intended for. 

     I apologize for some parts of this blog entry being cut-and-paste from the last one. it is hard to find something new to say about the exact same thing. 

Materials

   Patterned Paper: Bo Bunny - Bella Rosa - Reflections

                                                                       Amore

   Cardstock: Bo Bunny - Double Dot - Wine

   Die:  Graphic 45 - Large Tag, ATC, & Flower (leaves)

            Gina K - Stippled Flowers

   Stamp: Gina K - Sending Love

                              Stippled Flowers

   Ink: Distress - Frayed Burlap

   Embellies: Ribbon - 1/4" wine organza

                     Eyelets - 8 mini

                     Stampendous - Aged Scarlet embossing powder

                     Crochet Lace

                     49 Market - Floral Mixology - Blood Orange

Challenges

Crafty Catz - Anything Goes / Tag - #32 - *

Cute Card Thursday - Anything Goes - #197 - *

Little Miss Muffet - Anything Goes - #45 - *

Anniversary Blessings

     If you have been following my blog, you know that I have been working on a 50th wedding anniversary mini book for my brother and his wife. When it came time to make them a card, I decided to use the same paper -- Bo Bunny's Bella Rosa. I started with a wide band of paper down the front. I used a hole punch to make holes for lacing. There is crocheted lace just under this band. 

     I used a piece of silver Foil Vellum with a pic of a shuttered window. I placed this over patterned paper with small font dictionary print. The sentiment "Blessings on Your Special Day" is embossed onto the vellum with Rose Gold Embossing powder by Gina K.

     The collage of flowers is from 49 Market. I love the way they package their blooms. They are packaged by size and with 2 or 3 coordinating colors in each package. I happened to have this package on hand when making this card. They were actually marked for another project, but you know how that goes. I'll just have to get some more.

     I also made a card using the same materials for my sister to give the happy couple. They looked like they came out of the same box. To see that card go here. 

Card with Envelope

Inside of Card

     The inside of the card contains one of my fave stickers. I usually see something similar to this in the Graphic 45 paper lines, but here it is in Bo Bunny. The "50" is from the sticker sheet. I added a couple of matted banners and a paper flower like those on the front of the card.

Envelope

     The corner of the envelope is stamped with Gina K's "Stippled Flowers" - love these!!! The leaves are a 2-part stamp which I did directly onto the envelope. The flowers are a 3-step process. I die cut this and pop-dotted it onto the envelope. The die cut on the flap is just a little something I found on the sale rack at Hobby Lobby. The pic on the packaging showed it as a roof on a house -- I saw an envelope flap. And look -- it fit perfectly. Surely this is what it was intended for. 

Materials

   Patterned Paper: Bo Bunny - Bella Rosa - Reflections

                                                                       Amore

                                                                       Foil Vellum

                                                                       Sticker Sheet

   Cardstock: Bo Bunny - Double Dot - Wine

   Die:  Graphic 45 - Large Tag, ATC, & Flower (leaves)

            Gina K - Stippled Flowers

   Stamp: Gina K - Sending Love

                              Stippled Flowers

   Ink: Distress - Frayed Burlap

   Embellies: Ribbon - 1/4" wine organza

                     Brads - 4 mini copper

                     Eyelets - 10 mini

                     Gina K Rose Gold Embossing Powder

                     Crochet Lace

                     49 Market - Floral Mixology - Blood Orange

Challenges

Craft-Dee BowZ - Handmade Bow - #24 - Winner!!!

Creative Knockouts - Lots of Layers - #32 - *

Perfect Time to Craft - Anything Goes - #75 - *

Shakespeare Gardens - 1968

     Here is a step back in time to my brother's honeymoon in1968. They traveled to Quebec. The pocket watch in the corner is a symbol of this look at the past. This is a page from a mini book that I completed for their 50th wedding anniversary. 
     
     These pictures were taken in a Shakespeare Garden. A Shakespeare Garden is a themed garden that cultivates plants mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare. Signs near the plants provide relevant quotations. Other plants typically of the Elizabethan period, but not mentioned in Shakespeare's works, may also be grown there. I tried to find more information about the garden they visited, but wasn't able to find reference to the one in Quebec. I am wondering if it is still there.

     My favorite part of this layout is the striped paper I found, which I cut on the diagonal. I added a couple of pieces of Ephemera and of course a Bible quote (There is one on every page of the book.) 

Sketch 162 by Lisa Hidy

     A fun little addition to the page is an arrow with "peek" written on it. The flap is held down with a magnet. When you flip it open, there is a secret message: "Un autocollant de voiture, s'il vous plait." I was only 11 when they returned from this trip, but I remember the story of them trying to get a bumper sticker for the car. Evelyn's high school French did not include the words "bumper sticker", so alas, they were unable to get one. In case they should repeat their trip to Quebec, I have provided them with the translation.
   I made the adjacent page to coordinate with this page, so I will included it here.

     This page shows the couple with their first child and first grandchild. I repeated my fave striped paper as well as the same Ephemera, more arrows and a Bible verse.

the two pages side-by-side

Materials:
   Patterned Paper: BoBunny - Bella Rosa (Shutters, Rustic, Stickers)
   Cardstock: Bo Bunny - Double Dot (Wine, Dusty Rose, Island Mist, Shadow)
   Dies: Sizzix - Ornate Labels
            Papercrafter Magazine - Nesting Dies
   Embellies: Tim Holtz - Foliage
                     Silver Wire
                     Bo Bunny - Timepiece
                     Gems - Gray

Challenges

Bimini Moose Scrapbook Challenge - Anything Goes - #2 - *