Cardabilities-Sketch #79

Hey Everyone,

So I played beach volleyball Thursday night (which I play regularly) and did something funky to my shoulder when I jumped up for a block.  It got progressively worse in pain over the next couple of days when I headed to the ER Saturday night to find out that I tore my rotator cuff.  I still need some other imaging work done to confirm the diagnosis but as of now all signs and symptoms lead to an RC tear.  YUCK!!!  I have a soccer game to coach tomorrow (which I'll still do!) and a baseball game to play on Tuesday (which I'll now have to miss.  BOOOOO!)
Soooooooo, luckily card making doesn't require too much strenuous shoulder action so I managed to put together a little something this evening that I would like to submit to this week's sketch challenge over at Cardabilities.

The embossing folder is from cuttlebug.  The patterned papers are from Authentique.

I am all over the 'Nerdy' theme these days.  It does crack me up to think how nerdiness is 'cool'.  I was a nerd way back when nerds were sooooo not cool at all.  I'm totally not complaining.  It's about time the nerds shine.  This little girl-nerd stamp is sooooo uber cute!  I had to colour her up to look like me...or one of my daughters.

Here is the sketch inspiration:

Thanks for dropping by!  (Wish me some quick shoulder healing vibes!)

Liz

Avery Elle - July Challenge (Part 2)

Hey All,

It's happened to me again...the folks at Avery Elle and their July Challenge have sparked my creativity and I've gone and done multiple entries for their latest challenge.  Yay!  What can I say...I love a good challenge!

So here's my second grey matter concoction:

The sentiment stamp is from Avery Elle.  The chevron die is also from Avery Elle.  The wooden feather is from Studio Calico.

These chevrons had a feather-ness about them.  Maybe it's the shape of them?  I added a twine down the middle which seem to make it come together more as a feather.  I put washi tape behind the die cut. The punched out parts were used for the other chevron "feather" atop a yellow ribbon.  The sentiment was heat embossed with Versamark ink and silver embossing powder on vellum paper.  Add a trifecta of sequins and some twine on the wood feather and ta-dah!

Here is the inspiration (one more time!)

I hope my take strikes a chord with the folks over at Avery Elle!  Wish me luck!

I'd also like to submit this to Sister Act Card Challenge: Anything Goes #17

Thanks for stopping by!
Liz

Avery Elle-July Challenge

Hey Blogworld,

Wow, this is my second post today!

The folks over at Avery Elle are hosting another one of their AE I<3U Challenges.  The July challenge is a photo inspiration and it conjures up 'simple and oh so trendy' in my head right now.  I knew I wanted to participate!  I love the feathers trend and I'm working hard on my CAS skills so I hope I'm getting there!  The winner of this challenge gets to be a guest designer for Avery Elle.  How awesome is that!?  Their products are so great!  They ink up really good and stamp super clear and all the other products are creativity central!  Great stuff!

Anyways,  here's what my grey matter came up with!

The sentiment stamp and the heart stamp are from Avery Elle, the feather stamps are from Hero Arts and Distress Inks were used to ink up the background.  The wood feather is from Studio Calico. 

I focused on the feather images and the colour palette for my card: blue, yellow, pink, black and grey.  The feathers were stamped with Versamark ink and embossed with clear embossing powder over the sentiments that were previously stamped in black and grey.  Mustard Seed and Salty Ocean Distress Inks were applied with a Ranger sponge applicator.  Then I spritz and flicked the ink with pearlized water.

Here is the inspiration photo:

I'd also like to submit this to the following blog:
Sister Act Card Challenge: Anything Goes #17

Thanks so much for dropping by!
Liz

Greeting Farm Greatness!

Hey Everyone!

I just wanted to drop a line to say how wonderful I thought it was for the folks over at The Greeting Farm Blog to send a special shout out to some special little designers.

For this week's "Wowed me Wednesday Showcase", Farmer Thanh posted a special kudos to some of her favourites in the TGF Kidz contest.  The winner was chosen by a random draw but I know there were some really amazing projects created that I'm sure the kids worked really hard on and I'm glad Thanh gave them all a moment to be recognized and shine!  So very very thoughtful and sweet!  Thanks for that!  Now...having said that...I'm proud to say that my little C2 made the fave-cut for this little TGF Kidz post!  YAAAAAAY!

Please check it out!

Here is her card.
And here is the Shout out!

Thanks for stopping by!
Liz

New Twisted Tuesday Challenge: Playing Bingo!

For the Use It Tuesday Guest Designer Post Please press HERE!

Hey Everyone!

Another 2 weeks as passed (crazy fast!) and that means another challenge is up and running over at Twisted Tuesday Challenges!  This week's challenge:  Playing Bingo.  A slightly different "twist" than the Bingo challenges you may be accustomed to ('cuz we're twisted like that ;)).

Here goes:
Challenge:  Use a letter (other than in your sentiment stamp) on your project.
Twist: Also use a number!

Please check out the Twisted Tuesday Challenges Blog for all the challenge details and for links to the other design team members who have some fabulous inspiration (as always) for you this fortnight!

Here is my creation to hopefully get those creativity gears going!

The license plate frame stamp and the journal block is from Autumn Leaves and the letters were die cut from a QuickKutz alphabet die.  The JFK luggage tag stamps are from Hero Arts.  The "Places We Go" and "Look what I found" stamps are from October Afternoon and the "Road Trip" sticker and textured tag is sits on are from the Dollar Store (!!).  The star ticket piece is from 7 Gypsies.  The patterned paper is from

Every year my family and I take a road trip to New Jersey to visit my BFF.  They are just across the GW Bridge from NYC so invariably we find ourselves journeying out to the Big Apple for a visit.  It goes without saying that parking in NYC is crazy hard to come by and often crazy expensive.  We found this particular parking spot, right in front of the Ed Sullivan Theatre, right next to the (then new) pedestrian walk along the road near Times Square on the first pass through the street and with very little effort.  It was like it was waiting for us!  We parked the van (seen in the photo behind my hubby), looked for somewhere to pay (found nothing) and thus with (alot of) skepticism (and some reassuring remarks from my BFF who insisted we were safe) we went about taking in the sights.  We were gone for maybe 2 hours.  To my surprise, our van was still there, unharmed and no ticket in sight.  SWEET!  Truly a parking spot to be envied!

The sponsor this week is:

They're on Facebook and I'm sure there's great stuff to be had here so you'll definitely want to play along!  I can't wait to see what you create!

Thanks for stopping by!

Liz

Use it Tuesday: Guest Designer (Wahooo!)

Hey Everyone!

I'm so very excited to be the Guest Designer over at Use it Tuesday this week!  I was so very fortunate to stumble upon their challenge blog and have been participating ever since!  Totally a challenge blog right up my alley!  They challenge you to use those hoarded up items of your scrapbook stash in your creations.  Goodness knows I need a push to get all my goodies out of the cubbies and drawers and shining in some paper crafting goodness!
The challenge this fortnight is "What Was I Thinking!?"
Basically, use something in your stash that you look at now and think exactly that phrase!

To be completely honest I try to be quite scrupulous when it comes to purchasing (especially) the larger ticket items (i.e. >$50) and I think I've been quite good at thinking it through before purchasing so (dare I say) there is not much in my stash that I can say I've thought "What Was I Thinking".  But there is this tool I have...a Xyron Design Runner.  I bought it with great ideas swimming through my head swearing I would get great use out of it.  (Not to mention I had purchased it with a 40% discount coupon which I later realized was entered incorrectly by the cashier and I actually got it 60% discounted from the original price of $99.99!). But then after using it once (over 5 years ago shortly after purchasing it) I realized it's not as easy or as versatile a tool as I originally thought.  So into the drawer it went never to be seen again....until this challenge.  I opened the drawer shaking my head at how little use I got out of this item.  As I used it once again I realized (again) how it definately was not one of my smarter purchases.  It is difficult to position accurately and awkward to use as you have to move it slowly and steady (which is a difficult task when it get stuck on layers of paper or the edges of your card).  Maybe it's just my inexperience that causes all the issues.  Either way, I'm glad I got the chance to use it again and hopefully not so much time will pass when I decide to use it again.

Here is the result!

The patterned papers are form My Mind's Eye.  I used the Design Runner to print the curved "escape" part as well as the bunches of travel sentiments on the right half of the layout.

This layout has a more vintage romantic feel to it than I'm used to creating but I like how it turned out!  Definitely a style I'll add more of to my creations!

Thanks to the folks over at Use It Tuesday for allowing me to Guest Design!  Be sure to head over and join the challenge!  (and tell them Lizzie sent ya!)

Thanks for stopping by
Liz

TGF Kidz!!!

Hey Everyone!

An extra special post today.  The folks over at The Greeting Farm are having a contest for the kidlets: TGF Kidz and my little 6 year old C2 was very excited to join!  She couldn't wait to get her creativity started on making a card!  I admit,  I'm little anal when it comes to my kids using my stuff so the rule is, I'll share my stuff if you have a plan of what you are going to make and I'd like to see your plan.  I can't just give them free reign of my stuff (yet) as I forsee a huge disaster of adhesive, broken dies and wasted paper.  Luckily for me C2 is the planner type and she dove right into my card sketches and picked on she liked and then picked the Greeting Farm stamps she wanted and off she went!  She die cut and scored and paper trimmed and coloured and picked out and laid out and embellished everything on this beauty!  I admit I helped with the stamping of the sentiment and the images but the rest was ALL HER!  So proud!  And so was she!  Yay!

The images are from TGF, the punched butterflies and heart border are from Martha Stewart, the sentiment and banner die are from Simon Says Stamp and the patterned paper is from Me and my Big Ideas.  The images were coloured with pencil crayons.

Way to go C2!  I guess the crafting scissors don't fall far from the crafting table....(tee hee!)

Good Luck Sweetie!

Thanks for dropping by!
Liz

Birthday Fun with Anya and Cardabilities!

Headed to a cottage today with some friends.  AMAZING TIME!!! The weather was amazing.  The kids had a wonderful time swimming in the lake, eating, playing games and I had a great time hanging with great people!  It was a 2 hour trek there and a late night night drive back but worth it!  Can't wait to go back!  I really wanted to post this birthday card I made based On a sketch over at Cardabilities.

The patterned paper is from MME.  The image is from the Greeting Farm and the sentiment and banner die are from Simon Says Stamp.  The wood chip pieces (believe it or not) are from the dollar store and the shiny teal paper is a paint chip sample from Martha Stewart (!).  I embossed it using an embossing folder from Sizzix.  The lace trim is from Recollections.

Here is the sketch from Cardabilities (Sketch #78):

 And the photo inspiration from Anyone for Anya is here:

I had acquired a stack of Martha Stewart paint chips from the local hardware store eons ago.  I got them with a bunch of home decorating paint idea pamphlets to use as colour combo ideas in my layouts.  As I was purging my craft room and decided to recycle these pamphlets I came across this stack of paint chips and love love loved this shiny-icy-cool colour and knew I wanted to use it ASAP.  Not another minute to be wasted in my stash for this little treasure. :)

I'd also like to link this up to the challenge over at the following blogs:
Anyone for Anya: July Photo Challenge.
Sister Act Card Challenge: Challenge #15 Anything Goes
The Greeting Farm: Farm Fresh Friday: Dies and/or Punches
Whimsy Challenge Blog: Challenge#61 Ribbons/Lace
Use it Tuesday: Challenge #59 Birthdays

Thanks for dropping by!

Liz

Challenge #53: "I" Want to See Your Folder

Hey Everyone!

Happy dance time again!  It's the Tuesday of the month where a new challenge arrives over at Twisted Tuesday Challenges to inspire and stimulate your inner crafty nerd!  Myself and the rest of the design crew have some wonderful projects to share and inspire!  Check it out over at Twisted Tuesday Challenges!
The CHALLENGE this fortnight is to use something on your project that starts with the letter "I" (ink would be the easiest :))
The TWIST:  Use an embossing folder on your project as well!

I know the gears are turning!  This was a fun project to do!  After brainstorming a bunch of things that could go on a layout that start with the letter "I" (ice cream, icicles, ink, India, insects, irises, instruments) I finally settled on "icons".

Here is what emerged from my grey matter:

The patterned paper is from DCWV, the ribbon are from Michaels, the journal stamp and people stamps are from Autumn Leaves, the letters are from Making Memories and the zig-zag embossing folder is from Lifestyle Crafts.  The "to do" stamp is from Recollections.

I popped all the photos up using pop dots and printed the icons from images downloaded from the internet.  The title I lifted from a sign I saw while perusing the internet (how fitting).  I extended the size of the journal block by masking the bottom part with a sticky note and then restamping it while masking the top part.
Everytime I look at this layout it makes me laugh at how fitting the title and the icons are in my life...(and I'm sure I'm not alone!)  Maybe I've got it all wrong.  Maybe the distractions are actually the laundry and house work....hmmmm  I think I'll ponder that a little bit! ;)

I hope I've inspired you to join us this fortnight and please check out the other DT members creations to seal the challenge deal and get you up and creating.  Be sure to linky up over at Twisted Tuesday Challenges.  I can't wait to see what you create!

Thanks for stopping by!
Liz

Patriotic...and some ribbon

Hey everyone!

I'm nursing a "summer cold"...are we ever safe from these cold bugs!?  I'm sure the back to back to back summer fun outings didn't help either (Zoo on Tuesday, Marineland on Wednesday, Canada's Wonderland on Thursday).  Not to mention our weekly beach volleyball games starting at 910pm this week!  Feeling a little better now (at 2am) and had creative second wind!  I might be feeling this something worse tomorrow...but at least I got some fun crafting in!   This layout was inspired by the folks over at Simon Says Stamp Challenge (Patriotic), My Mind's Eye Blog July Challenge (Red, White and Blue) as well as the folks over at The Greeting Farm with a similar theme (Red, White, Blue and Ribbon) for Farm Fresh Friday this week.

The patterned papers are from MME: All Boy and the dicut snowflakes panel I cut from my Silhouette.  I coloured the Greeting Farm image with Copics.

I've been meaning to scrapbook this memory for a while.  I've had the story in my journal for over 3 years and I stumbled upon these pictures and it reminded me of this day.  It truly was sooo thoughtful of our church friends to think of my girls!  Such a sweet random act of kindness!

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you are all enjoying your weekend!

Liz