Sprinkled with Love

Good morning all


Today is a card I did using the Food for Thoughts stamp set from Getting Cricky.  Now remember that for this stamp set, Kristal will donate $1 from each set to the Storefront Shelter for Homeless Children.  What an awesome charity if you ask me.  I just got the stamps the day before yesterday and I love, love, love this set.  Ha, I can't wait to make another card.  Sure wish work would quit getting in the way!!! So I created the cut in my gypsy from the Indie Art cart before I even had the stamps in hand yet.  Crazy that the ice cream cone would be on that cart and thank goodness it was preloaded on my gypsy because I don't have an ice cream cone on any other cart.  Hehehehe  

I added glitter to the ice cream after popdotting it to the shadowed layer.  I also added some glitter to the sentiment tag and the hearts.  


I am sending this card to my niece in Minnesota because she loves ice cream and she will get a kick out of it.  Now head on over to Getting Cricky and order your stamp set and get involved with her challenges.  Who knows, you might win something cuz you know she is ALWAYS giving something away.  Better yet, you might win a guest design spot.  That's how I got involved with being on her design team.  Yeah!!! 

Paper Secrets 7

Hello friends


As you know I am also in a Layout challenge over at Paper Secrets and am loving that I am actually doing more and more layouts. Each week we are given an assignment for a layout. I really don't care if I win the contest, it's just helping me to do more layouts that I should have done a long time ago (or some new ones in this case). If you participate and follow the guidelines you advance to the next week. We started with 27 and 17 moved onto this week. I will keep updating you as I go along. Who knows, I might not be able to participate one week and then I am out, but until then, I am scrapping my butt off, (they used a different word, but my blog is family friendly...hehehe


So here is the sketch:

and this is what I did:

and what's in red is what I used out of the items I was allowed:
hand or machine stitiching
mist
3+flowers
rubons
3+ photo corners
border punch
3+ brads/eyelets
altered or raw chipboard
paint
ribbon/lace


Can you believe I didn't rotate the sketch this time?  This time I actually used my cricut to cut out the background behind the pictures.  I don't know where I got this svg from, but it cut so nicely.   I cut the word OUTSIDE in SCAL also from this velvet paper that I had used on a previous card here.  I tell you, I must go back and buy some more of this paper...it cuts like butter in my cricut.  I was a bit afraid, but oh no, no fear.  The flowers on the bottom are made by me also.  I really love the way this turned out and I am so glad that I am keeping up with the challenge over at PaperSecrets.  See you next week, hopefully.

PaperClay Red, White and Blue Pendant

Good morning all-

Today I would like to welcome you to another Creative Paperclay project.  I have been having such a great time making things and experimenting with all different types of projects using paper clay.  Today I am showing you how to make a easy, peasy simple pendant.


I am a huge lover of anything Red, White and Blue and I also love jewelry.  So I combined those two passions and made this:


First I rolled out my clay and cut a 2 inch by 1 inch rectangle and tiny little stars out of cookie cutters.  

I forgot to punch my hole in the paperclay before it dried, but that was an easy fix with my dremel tool.  I used a little bit and just "sawed" my way through it.  Because paperclay isn't that hard when it dries it took like 2 seconds.  Super easy!!!  What I also like about using paperclay for jewelry is that it isn't heavy.  I've tried other mediums and they can get heavy, especially for earrings.

Then I painted the base of the pendant blue front and back.  I painted the tiny stars white just using regular acrylic paint.  I tell you, that paperclay takes to paint like nothing else and it dries super fast too.  Then I took some puffy paint and added some dimensional stripes with red and placed a few dots in white puffy paint.  I let that dry for a couple of hours and then I added the stars with some glue.  

I added a jump ring and attached a red,white and blue beaded chain and there you have the easiest and quickest pendant ever. The most time consuming is waiting for the paperclay to dry, but within 24 hours you should have a finished pendant. 

I hope I've inspired you to create your own pendant using some Creative Paperclay.  You can purchase Creative Paperclay here or you can even get it at Hobby Lobby or Michaels.

1 Year Anniversary

Good morning

Today is a simple card I made for my DD and her hubby.  They celebrated their one year anniversary yesterday and I wanted to make them a card.

I used SCAL to cut out the tag and added the sentiment "Today is your day" from the Getting Cricky Positive Thoughts stamp set.  There are so many uses for these stamp sets it's unbelievable.  You can adapt them in so many different ways.

I used my cuddlebug and embossed the background paper and inked over the embossing.  I added some ribbon and flowers under the tag and there you have it.  Easy, peasy, 5 minute card.

Simply Sundays "Penned"

Good afternoon friends and Sisters,
Today is another day over at Getting Cricky for Simply Sundays challenge.  Today we are using our pens, for me, that is Amy Chomas' Pen set for Cricut.  Have you tried them?  No, well you better head on over there after you see what you can do with them and place your order.  If you have, then hurry up and use them to create something for the challenge.  The challenge is: Penned! Using pens somehow in your project (gel pens, journaling pens, pens used in your diecut machines, etc) and this is what I did:I've never made a twisted easel card before but one of my DT Sisters recently did and she inspired me to make this and so I was pretty excited to see if I could.  I used the "cross" cut from the Wedding Cart.  I love using my gypsy to create my projects at work and then as soon as I get home all I need to do is place my paper on my mat and within minutes my card is created.  I then layered it on a different tab, hid the outside lines of the cross and penned the inside swirlies on white cardstock.  This was so much fun and these pens are awesome to use.  I used the pink glitter pen and did "cut" it twice to give it a bit more dimension but really I don't think I had needed to do that.   
Then I cut the cross out in shadow style in pink cardstock, again, usually using most of my stash paper so I have no idea who made it.  I recently purchased some "velvet" style paper at my local vinyl store.  It was on sale and well, how can I pass up a "sale"?  I've seen different things done with velvet paper and I wanted to give it a try.  
I then used my stamp from Getting Cricky "Amazing You" set.  The sentiments are so interchangeable and super easy to use.  I love this set because it so in your face...I used "You are" "a blessing".  I was a bit worried on stamping onto the velvet, but it worked perfectly.  I used a white ink and it left a great impression.

Then I used my punch to create a border for the bottom of the card and left the middle open so I can write my message there.  I also added some pink inset into silver pearls for dimension and a place to hold the top fold.  This was definitely a great card to create.  I hope you like looking at it as much as I liked making it.  

Now it's your turn to get those pens a working and link up at Getting Cricky for the Simply Sunday challenge...remember, anything goes...it's totally up to your interpretation.  There is only one important rule to follow and that is to "HAVE FUN"!!!

Lasting Memories #44 "Scrapbook pages that Recycle"

Good Morning,

So here we are again with another Lasting Memories submission.  This week we are using recycle-able things, or reusing something we can re-purpose.  This challenge wasn't hard for me at all...you should see my craft room.  I keep EVERYTHING that I think can be reused, recycled or re-purposed.  When I was growing up, my mom used to say "when we move, we just need to pack Brenda's room, because if you need it, it's in there".  Ha, well mom, I'm still that way!!!  I guess I've been helping save the earth for at least 37 years...uhum!!!  The other day I was going through some of my son's clothes that don't fit anymore and I donate a lot of stuff to Goodwill and such.  He had these awesome dress shirts, but they had some stains so I took the buttons off.  Yup, recycle them babies.  Then I went through the linen closet and found some table runners that I've had for a hundred years and don't ever use.  As I was packing them up when I thought some of them had some lace on them that I could reuse somehow, so out came the scissors.  I was also cleaning out some of my flower designs that have lost their use.  I tore apart a topiary I made a long time ago and kept the flowers, cuz you just never know.  Well, I combined all these things and this is what I came up with:

Now the flowers on the Title are from the topiary set along with the buttons from Austyn's dress shirt.

The tan fabric/lace is from the table runner.  I cut about every 9 holes and weaved a piece of blue ribbon through it.

I punched a flower out of blue cardstock and then layered strips of the lacey stuff around the punch with hot glue to make a flower.  Then I inked the fabric and added a button to form the flower and hotglued some leaves to the back of it.

The tags are cut from SCAL's tags shapes and inked around them.  Then I used more of the lacey fabric and cut strips to attach to the tags.  I also used some leftover twine and made my own baker's twine.  If you want to see how I did that you can check it out here.

Now the title/tag I made for myself.  You see, I just underwent some major dental work and I am so excited to be able to really SMILE for a change.  It's been a long time coming and I feel so much better about myself.  I wanted to commemorate this feat for myself, thus the layout is for ME!!!  I used Getting Cricky's stamps set "Positive Thoughts" and "Amazing You".  Now, some say you shouldn't brag about yourself, but I don't think I am bragging, just feeling good about ME!!!  Believe me, it's a new feeling for me to be this happy and confident.  Even my BFF said that I am smiling more and actually laughing out loud.  My mom used to always say, when you feel good about yourself you are a nicer person and it shows.  Well, mom, again you were right!!!

So I hope I've inspired you to create a layout with things you can reuse or recycle.  Remember, every little bit helps.  If you don't recycle on you layouts, remember to recycle through your garbage though.  It doesn't take very long to separate your items and help save the earth one step at a time.

Festive Fridays 6-24

Good morning and welcome to another edition of Festive Fridays. If you are new to us, sit back, grab a cup of coffee, relax and enjoy some wonderful Christmas Cards. Yes, I did say Christmas...Festive Fridays will be every other Friday with samples of Christmas cards for the entire year. This way, you can be making your cards all year long and you will avoid the mad rush when you could be enjoying the Christmas Season. You should have just come from Debbie. If you stumbled upon this post you can go back to Terri and start at the beginning. There is also a complete list of the Festive Friday hop on the left sidebar under the Festive Fridays blinkie in case you get lost along the way.

Today I made a gift within a card so to say.  You all know how much I love my cricut and I do love my SCAL program just a little bit more, hehehe.  The possibilities are just endless when you can create your own files, etc.  I had purchased a year subscription over at Scrapping Table and just love, love, love her files.  I used a simple "gift" cut 2 times for the base of my card to create a pocket.  I then cut just the "bow" out again in a different color and adhered it ontop of the front piece and added a ribbon around the bow.  I also added a sentiment "Season's greetings" and a cute little tag found in my christmas box stash and some green rhinestones.

Then I took that same gift and created 4 little gifts and welded them onto a rectangle shape.  I cut this out of cream cardstock (all scraps) and created a bookmark.  Then I cut these 4 little gifts again in various christmas paper, added a few ribbons, bows, bling and pearls and layered them onto the bookmark.  

I plan on purchasing a book for one of my friends and thought this would be a cute way for her to keep her place when she is reading it.  Isn't that cute?

I hope you like my Festive Friday card and hope to see you back in two weeks for another christmas card.  Now head on over to Angela and check out what she has for you. 

Fishing You Were Here

Good morning fellow card makers and special friends

Wow, what a great day I had yesterday.  I got so many projects done and I am so excited to show this card off today.  I've had Amy Chomas' pen set for the cricut for awhile now, but haven't used it much...hmmm, asking myself why not, since there is so much you can do with them.  Well, today I want to show you a card I made using some pens, glitter, a Child's Year cut and of course, last, but not least...a Getting Cricky stamp set.  Really, honestly I do love these stamps Kristal came out with.  First, I love them most because they are USA made.  Second I love them because Kristal donates $1 per set to various charities and third I love them because they are so versatile.  All you have to do is let your imagination run a little bit and sometimes if you think outside the box you can for sure come up with a lot of different uses for them. I used the Splashtastic Summer set with the "Fishing You Were Here" sentiment.  LOVE THIS set!!!

This is what I created:

I used Amy Chomas' pens to do the highlighting of the fishes' fins, gills and outline.  I then put them on a stringer and attached them to the side of the card.

I inked the edges a bit with green to give it some dimension and tore the otherside of the paper a bit.  I normally do not like doing silhouette cards, but this cut was fabulous.  I used the Child's Year cart and cut the boy fishing in shadow and normal using 2 different black cardstocks from my stash.  Because I am not much of a silhouette person I also added blue glitter to the pond, green glitter to the grass, white glitter to the fishing line and gold glitter to the fishing pole.

I really love the way this turned out.  I hope you've been a bit inspired to create something using a silhouette cut.  If you have a recent project to share leave me a comment and I will come over and check it out.

Shell-O

Good evening,

I was feeling much better this morning so I thought I'd craft a bit.  I got my new stamp sets from Getting Cricky and this time I got Splashtastic Summer and Amazing You.  I can't wait to get my Freedom isn't Free and Food for Thought sets.  They should be here the beginning of next week so I will have some more cards to show you.  I've already designed a bunch on my gypsy, I am just waiting for the stamps to arrive and then I can finish them up.  If you are interested in any of these stamp set, just click on their links and it will take you directly to Kristal's store.  You better hurry, I know she is running out of some already.

Anyway, I hate making mistakes, especially when the project that I am working on is almost complete.  Yuck!!! But sometimes...well mistakes are a good thing.  I'll explain in a minute.  So I was working on this card I designed in my Gypsy using the Paper Doll Dress Up cart.  I used the shell cut and welded it together.

Then I created another layer and "hid" the outside lines so that I would just have the inside shell lines which I then "drew" with Amy Chomas pen set.  I love using these so much.  I recently also got the sharpie holder and can't wait to try something with that.  If you look at the top of the picture you see layer and then pen.  This way I know what needs to be drawn and what needs to be cut.  I always draw first, then cut.

Once it was all cut out I stamped my PeachyKeen face from the Everyday Character Assorted set and also the sentiment from Splashtastic Summer "Shell-o" in silver.  I then embossed the Shell-o, oh so bold and cool looking.  These stamps are just wonderful!!!  I had also inked around the edges of the shell.  Now here is where the mistake came in; I didn't get all of the embossing powder off around the sentiment...bummer.  Not really, you see I just added more embossing powder all around the shell so it looks kinda like the shell has got sand on it.  It worked out perfectly.  Sometimes mistakes do turn into something better.

I also cut the shell out again in plain white paper and layered inside the card and stamped Just stopping by to say...Enjoy the Summer.  I so love how all these stamps can fit so nicely together.  This was also from the Splashtastic Summer set.

So I hope you enjoyed another card and please hop on over to Getting Cricky and order yourself a couple of sets and make something fun.

With This Ring

Good day guys,


As you know I am also in a Layout challenge over at Paper Secrets and am loving that I am actually doing more and more layouts. Each week we are given an assignment for a layout. I really don't care if I win the contest, it's just helping me to do more layouts that I should have done a long time ago (or some new ones in this case). If you participate and follow the guidelines you advance to the next week. We started with 27 and 18 again moved onto this week. I will keep updating you as I go along. Who knows, I might not be able to participate one week and then I am out, but until then, I am scrapping my butt off, (they used a different word, but my blog is family friendly...hehehe

This week's sketch is this:

 and this is what I came up with:

and what's in red is what I used out of the items I was allowed:

hand or machine stitiching
glitter/stickles/microbeads
3+flowers
rubons
3+ photo corners
punch
3+ tags
altered or raw chipboard
paint
vellum

I used SCAL and a file from Scrapping Table's Wedding theme for the dove and rings cut out of vellum.  I also cut the tags using my cricut.  I glued my pictures down onto some more scrap paper and created a pocket to put my tags in.  I inked around them to make them look a bit aged.  These pictures are of my mom and dad's wedding.  This group picture is of my parents with my grandparents on my dad's side and his siblings.  I am very happy with this layout and I am still going strong.  See you next week for another PaperSecrets challenge.

Pay/Craft it Forward

Good Morning

*** I am still looking for 3 people, be sure to read this post and then hop on board***

I want to share this wonderful idea I ran across on CuteandSome and I loved the idea of this. It's called "Pay It Forward" and how it works is that you bless someone with a random act of kindness (RAK) without expecting anything in return; but, with a hope that someone else will follow the example to do the same. As I understand it, you also hope to establish a never-ending chain of goodwill and connecting/sharing relationships -- doesn't that sound awesome!!! I love reaching out in any way possible and what a wonderful way of doing it than this way!!!

Now part of what I have to do is promise to send one of my handmade original creations to the first five (5) of you who leave me a comment on this post. In return, you must post the picture and this same information on your blog, and also promise to send an original creation to the first five people commenting to you... and so on to your 5 commenters.

Got it?!!! Okay, let's detail it all to make certain you understand:

1. Leave a comment on this post and I will send a handmade project to the first 5 commenters.

2. Create a post on your blog offering the same.

3. Send a handmade item to your first 5 commenters.

4. It must be sent to your 5 people by the end of the year.

5. Please do not sign up unless you are fully committed to making your 5 items!

AND, you do have until before the end of the year to have your gifts to your commenters - we can all do that, right?! I'd say networking this way to reach out and show love is not only kind, but a way of giving in return for the kindness received.

So..., what are you waiting for?!!! All I'm looking for is the first five (5) commenters who are interested! Now, post those comments right here and also tell me what your favorite color is.  Please make sure that I have your email addy somewhere in the comment section so that I can contact you when you've been chosen to get your mailing address!

Blog Award

Good evening all,


boy it's been a crazy busy day for me.  I had the last of my dental work done yesterday and between taking painkillers and naps and then scrapping when I awoke today it's been a gratifying day.  I got a lot done surprisingly.  I also received an award from Audrey over at CuteandSome.  If you have never seen her blog you must.  She has some really great projects over there and her latest Steam Punk box is fascinating.

To accept this award, I have to note 7 random facts about myself and pass it on to 8 other bloggers (that's the really hard part).  I'll begin with those 7 random facts: 

1. I love creating and will try almost anything once.
2. I love attending link up parties, because you can get so much inspiration there.
3. I love elephants...I have a huge collection of them.  Someday I want a giant (not real) one in my front yard.
4. I love watching football, baseball and playing darts.
5. I love blogging and reading all your wonderful comments.
6. I love reality tv.  My favorite is Survivor.
7. I have 3 tattoos and am thinking of getting one more.

So I am supposed to pass this award onto 8 others, but instead I am going to pass this onto my Design Team sisters.  They are truly inspirational.

	Kristal
	Jess
	Kathy P
	Kathy T            Amy             Becka                Erika                  Becky                     Julie                       Rebecca                             Brynn  I am getting really tired now and need to take another nap.  These painkillers are killers for sure.  I am hoping to be able to come back tomorrow for a few more things that I want to share with you. Have a great night.

Link Up Love Party at Getting Cricky

Today is the 3rd Tuesday of the month and you know what that mean...Link Up party at Getting Cricky.  I love that Kristal does this monthly because it gives everyone a chance to see what others make, discover new blogs and showcase their own favorite projects.  There are some rules, so please read them first and then go and link up.


***taken off of Kristal's blog post***

Link Up Love Party: How it Works

*Link Up Party runs from Tuesday 6/21 to Tuesday 6/28. Winners announced 6/29
*Grab my blinkie and post on your blog's sidebar 
*Be a follower of this blog 
*Create a new blog post that is titled Link Up Love Party with K Andrew. In your post, you must mention that the link up love party is a way to get to know each other and find new blog inspiration, mention my blog, with a link back to my blog .
*Post your favorite project that you've done in your blog post WITH ONE thing you are grateful for! 
*Copy and paste the link up code into your blog post so the Inlinkz will show up on your blog
*Spread the word so everyone can join in! 
*You must visit, follow, and comment on the 5 people before you AND the 5 people after you in the Inlinkz. It would be fantastic if you would visit as many as you can--maybe everyone? If you are one of the first 5 then you will need to blog the ones before you and a few more after--as long as it's a minimum of 10 near you in the link up tool/gadget)
If you do not do the above your link will be deleted, because it's just not fair to those who work so hard linking up and showing love to the ones on the list. I have two moderators who will be checking this out to keep it awesome and fun!



So here we go...this is my favorite project right now.  I made this shoe for my mom and she even cried when I gave it to her.  I used Kristal's stamp from Fabulous Friend's set "miss shoe..." and you can find that stamp set here.  I also used the cut from Scrapping Table.  I absolutely adore her files and she just keeps adding more and more.  Now I believe that you have to purchase this set...it might have been a "freebie" at one time, but I cannot find a link to that any longer.  I purchased a year's worth of files and am so happy that I did.  She has some amazing things over there, so please go check her out if you are interested in SVG files.

I added a string of pearls and some flowers and filled a baggie with some sweet treats.  These would make great bridal shower favors or for a girl's night out...what do you think?
Before I forget, I am so grateful for all the people I have met through blogging.  I am really enjoying working with so many talented ladies and creating such a great bond.  
I hope you've enjoyed my creation and hope to see what you've made by linking up to the Link Up Love Party at Getting Cricky.


You can get the link code here:  http://www.inlinkz.com/script.php?id=62685&nojump=1&key=ILe0Cie.tJD/.

Lasting Memories #43 "Inspirational Photo"

So I need to start out writing this post apologizing for being late with this post.  Someone/something from China hacked my blog and I lost a bunch of stuff.  I couldn't add any of my submissions to other blogs that I post for without the file being corrupt.  So I do apologize for the delay.  I do believe everything has been resolved now and I've backed up all of my files and did a scan and everything seems to working okay again.

Let's get started then.  This last week's challenge over at Lasting Memories was this inspirational photo.
(Note: Your LO does NOT have to be about Father's Day .. can be whatever you take from this inspirational photo - some did Father's Day, some of us chose the colors .. it's up to you!!!)

I had the perfect pictures from Austyn's school year.  I always take a beginning of the year photo and last day of school photo.  This way I can see how he's changed throughout the year.  This year he really didn't change too much but he did get a bit taller.  I can't believe how fast he grew...he's almost as tall as I am.

This year he had to take the bus for the first time of his life.  We had open enrolled Austyn to a school in town since we live out of town.  Because of that Austyn had always gotten a ride to school from his older siblings. Last year our oldest son graduated from High School and we didn't have a way to get Austyn to school any longer.  If he went to the school he should have gone he could ride "the bus", but not to the open enrolled school.  This was a bit of a dilemma for us.  He was a bit apprehensive of taking "the bus" because he would need to leave the house an hour before school and he wouldn't get home until an hour later than he was used to.  So here is the layout...

I used the bus from Scrapping Table's "Make the Grade" file.  I used Amy Chomas pen's to draw the sections with my cricut and then cut the bus out using the cricut also.  I love this technique and it's endless with what you can do with the pens.

I created a tag and covered it with notebook paper so that I could do some journaling on it and "hid" it in the bus photo.  Just by adding some ribbon and using my SCAL I wrote out "the bus" and used some glitter to jazz it up a bit. Then I also used Getting Cricky "Positive Thoughts" to every cloud there is a silver lining.  I chose this stamp because he was so afraid of riding the bus, but after he took the bus a couple of times, he made some new friends and loved his bus driver.  He thought it was "cool" to ride the bus...so see, these stamps do fit almost any event.  I absolutely love them...I hope you preordered them from Kristal because I know she was running out on some of them already.  Woot, Woot, way to go Kristal!!!

So I hope I've given you some inspiration to use this "Photo" and create your own layout.  So start scrapping and link up at Lasting Memories.  Again, I apologize if you have been waiting for my post.  Hopefully all problems are resolved now.

Blog Hop WINNER

Good evening


Well, first let me thank everyone again for the super sweet comments on my Sole-Sister shoe card dedicated to my DT sistas.  You guys really made me feel special.  I love working with these ladies and they are so talented and are just sweet all around.  I am still trying to get to all of the commentators.  If you were a new follower I am getting to you, so that I can follow you also.  You guys just so made my day!!! Thank you, thank you.  


Alright, I had 98 comments and 3 emails with the secret word.  The secret word was "precious" at the U-Stream debut.  The lucky commentator was....

Audrey Frelx said...

OMG, I absolutely love this card!!! You knocked this right outta the box, my friend!!!

June 18, 2011 12:44 AM 

Audrey...CONGRATS  Send me your addy and which stamp set you would prefer to burffrau @ gmail dot com.  Then as soon as my stamp sets come in I will send you your choice.  The stamps should be sent out to me Thursday or Friday.

I hope that if you didn't win a set that you go over to Kristal's store at Getting Cricky and order yourself a couple of sets.  Remember that when you do purchase a set she is donating $1 to a charity each and every time.  Also these stamps are strictly USA made and therefore we know for sure they are safe and that they support workers in America.

I was going to show off another set of cards, but with Father's day today time just ran away from me. I promise I will have something towards the end of the week.  I am having surgery tomorrow for the last of my extensive dental work done and will be home recuperating all week.  Hopefully I will be able to get some crafting done also.

Again, thank you to everyone that participated in the blog hop and remember, we will have a blog hop every 3rd Friday of the month.  Sometimes there will even be candy involved.  See you soon my friends.