Sandshrew Birthday Card

     My grandson has me googling Pokemon again. Every year I ask what is your favorite Pokemon; and every year I get a different answer. This year the answer is "Sandshrew". Ok I did the research; I made the card.

     I started off by going to etsy to check out the Pokemon digital papers. I love doing this. I found this paper by Valentay. I chose it, because I can't stop admiring this green and black weave pattern. I immediately gave in to my desire and cut a 4 x 5.25 piece and slapped it on the front. Let's face it - if you like it that much, you might as well be drowning in it. I have been on a Burniston pop-up card kick lately so I grabbed her Snowman Twist Circle die set. 
     The little Pikachu on the front is cut from the digital paper. The Sandshrew on the pop up is a blackline color book image I found online. I printed it on Copic friendly paper. 

     I don't remember how I decided on the exact color for the Sandshrew, but I can tell you that this is also my current FAVE hair color a the moment. 

     Yes, I did make the card to match the gift I got him. This was his first reply when I asked, "What would you like for your birthday?" 

Materials List:      

     

     Patterned Paper: Digital Paper - Pokemon by Valentay

     Card Stock - Gina K - Grass Green

                                     Black and White

     Dies - Burniston - Snowman Twist Circle 

                               Word Set 2 (Birthday)

                               Word Set 6

              Elizabeth Craft Designs - It's a Boy/Girl

     Copics: Body - Y21, 23, 26, 28

                Stomach - W2,3,4

                Ears and Toes - C 0,1,2

                Eye - BG05

   

Challenges

TN: Follow My Heart

     Here are my February pages for my Traveler's Notebook. I used the TN Time challenges of Lori and Lisa to drive my pages. 

     Lisa has a brand new sketch to help with the page planning. Lori asked that we scrap that which we love and include a heart. I found this piece of ephemera (tennis shoes with shoelaces entwined in a heart shape.) This is perfect for documenting that which I love - my husband. 

TN Sketch #2 by Lisa Hidy

     I found this paper with strips of rainbow hearts. It worked ok for the journaling strips.

     In this pic Huey is making our first meal in the RV. It is Cajun étouffée. We had my daughter and 2 year old granddaughter over to share the meal. Of course, Papa Huey made mac and cheese for Brooklyn.
     I found another subtitle "When I follow my heart, it always leads to you." How better to follow my heart, but in CUBS high tops? I made these shoes using my silhouette. I used my Big Bite to place eyelets in the shoe. The CUBS logo is from an advertisement in my husband's Vine Line Magazine. 

     For the shoelaces, I wanted ribbon that was 1/8 inch wide and flat. I found this organza ribbon with 1/8 inch satin ribbon edges on each side. I cut one side of the ribbon off and used it for the laces in the shoe.

Materials List:      

     

     Patterned Paper: Bo Bunny - Calendar Girl (February & December)

                              Authentique - Cheerful

     Card Stock: Gina K - Jellybean Greeen

                                    Ocean Mist

                       Echo Park - Pink

                       Hot Off the Press - Silver Sparkles

     American Crafts: Graph Paper

     Silhouette Files: High Top Shoe Invitation by Jennifer Rush

                             Clipboard by Jillibean Soup

     Embellies: White mini eyelets

                     White Ribbon

Challenges

TN Time with Lori - Use a Heart - #3 - March 10

TN Time with Lisa - Sketch #2 - #3 - March 10

Happy Spring Seasons

     I just completed a year-long series of classes, in which we made 16 cards and 4 calendars using the Graphic 45 Seasons collection. The good news is that my students seem very content with their seasonal cards. The bad news is that I have a 3-inch stack of leftover paper. I decided to make layouts with the scraps. Here is my layout using the Spring Collection. 

     I used this Sketch N Scrap sketch. I made it into a two-page layout  by making a 90 degree clockwise turn.

Sketch #172 by Lisa Hidy

     These professional photos, taken in a field of bluebonnets, are just what this spring layout needed. 

     For the title I used a Karen Burniston die "Happy Spring" I made a collage by adding a Elizabeth Craft bee die cut, a metal key, and a piece of ephemera.

     I love these strawberries. These are also from Elizabeth Craft dies. I cut them from all white card stock. I used Distress inks to ink them. They were then shaped with my flower shaping tools.

     I remember the day these pictures were taken. It was last year the day after Easter. My husband's nephews family came to Houston from New Orleans with their three boys. They took them, as well as two of my grandchildren to a bluebonnet field near Brenham, Texas to take these pictures. After the photo shoot, they went to the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory for a tour and samples.

     On the second page, I made another similar college. This one frames a piece of ephemera - perfect for journaling - with a bee, a strawberry, and a postal stamp. Looks like I forgot to write something on the journaling card.

Materials List:

     Patterned Paper: Graphic 45 - Seasons

                                                     Spring & Spring Collective

                                                - Patterns & Solids

                                                     Blue Solid & Ivory Solid

     Card Stock: My Colors - Brown Eyes

                                        Desert Cactus

                      Paper Cuts - Metallic Gold

     Die: Burniston - Happy Spring

            Elizabeth Craft - Bees

                                    Strawberries

     Ink: Inking - Vintage Photo

                        Shabby Shutters

                        Forest Moss

                        Hickory Smoke

                        Fired Brick

     Embellies: Elizabeth Craft - Solar Gold Ultra Fine Glitter

                     Metal Key

Challenges

Doc McStuffins Birthday

     My granddaughter is nuts for Doc McStuffins. It is the only show she watches. I made this card for her birthday.

     I have gotten into the habit of buying novelty papers on Etsy. This one is made especially with Doc McStuffins in mind.

Card with Envelope

     I started out with a Sketch N Scrap card layout. When I saw this, I immediately thought of a bandaid, which is part of Doc's logo. I could have cut the bandaid in a flash with my Silhouette, but I was sitting by my scrap stash and didn't feel like getting up. I cut a rectangle from a light brown scrap. I rounded the corners, cut it into three pieces, and finally used my 1/8 inch hole punch to make 18 holes. Voilà! A bandaid!

Sketch #140 by Lisa Hidy

     As wonderful as the Etsy paper collection was -- there was no Doc McStuffins for a focal point. I used a Google image search to find a Doc color page. I printed it on Copic friendly paper and colored with my Copics.
     The "Happy Birthday" sentiment is from a Karen Burniston die.

Inside of Card

Materials List:      

     

     Patterned Paper: Digital Paper - Toy's Doctor by vangelysdesign

     Ink: Gina K - Passionate Pink

     Stamps: Gina K - Bella Elephant

                               Hippo Bird Day

     Dies - Stamps of Life - Hearts 2 Die For

              Burniston - Word Set 2 (Birthday)

     Copics: Face - E11, 15, 18, 93

                Hair - E15, 18

                Stripes - V15, 17

                Jacket - C000, 00

                Skirt & Shoes - RV14, 17

                Flower - RV14

                Bandaid - E33

   

Challenges

Birthday Girl

     My granddaughter had wonderful 2nd birthday party at the Little Gym. They got to play on the gymnastic equipment, do a group activity with a giant parachute, and bounce on a blow up mattress. The favorite thing was they took the blower for the mattress, turned it on, and had more than a hundred scarves that the children could put in front of it and watch them fly.  
     After playing they went into the party room for snacks and birthday cupcakes.

     The left page of this layout is made from a sketch by Lisa Hidy from Sketch N Scrap. I extended the layout to a two pages.

Sketch #170 by Lisa Hidy

     I used Echo Park's "Birthday Wishes" paper. The pink and orange solid is also Echo Park. I picked up a pack of 25 sheets one day at Tuesday Morning. It is reversible and always seems to match the pink and orange in the Echo Park papers. I guess that is their intention. ALL of the cupcakes on this layout are from 2 die sets by Karen Burniston. The little flourishes are from one of those die sets as well. The letters for the title are from Silhouette and are actually intended to go with this paper. In fact, the font matches the journaling cards and stickers. 

     The "i" in "Girl" needed to be dotted and I misplaced the one that was cut on the Silhouette, so I used a brown pearl. I added smaller brown pearls to the top of the miniature cupcakes and at the corners of the picture mats. 

     On the right page I was trying to work in a lot of pictures. It seems that birthday parties always have a bunch of them. I decided to make a waterfall of pics on the page. The picture mats are off set by 5/8 inch. It is an easy way to work in an extra 13 pictures. I also added a strip of yellow polka dot paper between each pic.

     I added a 4 x 6 pic and a group of mini cupcakes to the layout. The title and the cupcakes are pop dotted onto the pages. 

Materials List:      

     

     Patterned Paper: Echo Park - Birthday Wishes

                                                   Birthday Girl Dots

                                                   Girl Journaling Cards (Candles)

                                                   Girl Birthday Hats (Yellow Polka)

                                                   Girl Stripes

                              Pebbles - Birthday Wishes (Sprinkles)

     Card Stock: Bazzill - Apple Tart

                       Echo Park - Sunny Ahead (Pink/Orange)

                       My Colors - Dark Molasses

     Silhouette File: Birthday Girl by Echo Park

     Dies: Burniston - Cupcake Pop Up

                              Birthday Charms

     Embellies: Brown Pearls

Challenges

Alphabet Challenge - U is for Use Stitching - #56 - *