Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Tuesday Morning Sketches

Good day crafters. Today at Tuesday Morning Sketches we have a great sketch and a great sponsor, Sweet n Sassy Stamps. When I first saw the sketch I thought, "Yikes!" but it's not as difficult as it looks. I really had fun putting this card together.

I was given these wonderful looking flowers called Anemone. I never heard of them. I went to Google and looked up the flowers, more for color than anything else. I learned that the word Anemone comes from the Greek word for "windflower." According to Greek mythology, the flower came about as a result of Aphrodite's tears over the death of Adonis. It's also thought to bring luck and protect against evil. I thought this was a good story. The thought behind my design was to create a crown around the flowers to represent Aphrodite.

 
I love how my card came out. I am not a "purple" person and then when I combined it with green and the bright splash of cranberry...I really stepped outside of the box. I hope that you like the results as well. I hope that you'll join us this week. I love looking at all your creations.

Be sure to stop by the rest of the design team to see their amazing creations.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Handmade Flowers and Tuesday Morning Sketches

Hello Crafters,

Okay, it's been nearly 20 years since I made a flower arrangement. This week's challenge at TMS is to make handmade flowers. I thought, "Oh this'll be easy...HA!" Let me tell you. I began two weeks ago trying to make Kanzashi flowers. I did fine and made a couple of really cute ones, but when it came to making my card I was not at all happy with the fabric patterns I selected. I then tried to fold Dahlia flowers and total ruined about two 12x12 sheets of cardstock. No matter what I did I kept tearing the paper or didn't fold equally and they looked stupid. Then I went onto making paper roses. Of course I got stuck singing the Marie Osmond song!! 

Well, after all that and about 10 sheets of scrap paper I managed to get two paper roses!! I rolled and rolled and ripped and screamed and yelled...but I finally managed to get two...two roses! I am not really happy with this card, and I'm sort of embarrassed to post, but I guess it's not horrible. I've seen worse out there! I would certainly like to perfect making roses. I think this technique is really cool looking and I would love to get better at this craft. 

This week, Melissa is our sponsor. She has a prize already to go, so I hope you'll stop by and play along. 

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave me some love!! 

Have an awesome day.  

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Tuesday Morning Sketches and Prairie Fairy Designs

It's a beautiful Tuesday Morning Sketches day! I can't believe that we're a week away from the start of fall! Although fall is probably my most favorite season. It's not too cold and it's not too hot - it's just right.

This week TMS is sponsored by Prairie Fairy Designs. I selected the Cherry Blossoms image. I like that I have it as a digi because I can change the size to make a scrapbook page as well as a card. I love Cherry Blossoms. Although the blossoms are a spring flower I still love their beauty. I have been really intimated to color something this complicated, but I have been practicing coloring with markers and blenders and I think I did well, if I may say so!!

I decided that I needed to flip the sketch. The blossoms seemed to fade away when it was portrait oriented. I like the landscape look. Once again this is a great sketch to make a simple card or challenge yourself to something more creative. I can't wait to see what you come up with. I printed the image twice and layered the blossoms to give them some dimesion. I really wanted the blossoms bigger, but I spent a couple of hours coloring and cutting. When I stepped away from it and came back...I realized that I think it's perfect just the way it is!

I hope you like my card.

Have an awesome Tuesday!

Monday, September 13, 2010

Thinking of You

Good Morning Crafters,

I wasn't tired last night and decided that I needed to make another card. One of my co-workers lost her mother this past week. The children have been asking where Ms. Clarke is and it's hard to tell them why she is gone. I thought I would make this card and have the students that she services in my room sign the card.

I cleaned my craft room yesterday, of course after making two cards it looks like I never cleaned!! There is paper everywhere, scraps all over and stamps strung from one end to the other. I'll just clean it again when I get home from work.

I love this card. It came out a lot better than I expected. I tried stamping the section where I used bright pink with a darker yellow to match the DP, but it just got washed out. I like the splash of color. This is a stamp set I bought about a year or so ago and have never used it. When I was cleaning I was organizing my SU stamps and thought this would be the perfect image for a sympathy card.

I hope you like it. Have an awesome day!!

Sunday, September 12, 2010

There She Goes #71

It was a beautiful day in Denver today. The weather was absolutely perfect. I had a very relaxing day. I had plans to make two cards, but my sister called because my nephew needed help with math. I wish that we weren't a million miles apart because it would go a lot easier face-to-face, but I'm glad we have the technology we have today!! I hope that he finished his homework and that Melissa didn't have a breakdown.

My card is for the There She Goes month long birthday party. This card is also for one of my favorite people at work - the school nurse. Noelle is awesome. I fell one day at school and it took all that I had to hold back the tears and she was so kind to me. She is just a wonderful lady.


This week's challenge at TSG is to use kraft, black, and teal. I really had to strectch. I managed to find a small scrap of kraft and I only have SU markers and used teal. I love how this card came out. I took me nearly an hour to draw the dots on the nestabilities die cut I used. That's because I cut the bigger one and didn't like it and had to do it all over again. I hope you like it too!!

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave me a comment, I love hearing from you.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Tuesday Morning Sketches and Glitterbabe's Art

Good Morning Crafters

Tuesday Morning Sketches is being sponsored this week by Glitterbabe's Art. I selected a digital image from their freebie section...I did this because I happen to love birds and bird houses. So be sure to head on over and check out their selection. The sentiment comes from There She Goes Everyday Greetings.

This week's sketch is great. It appeals to those of you that want to make a quick and easy card and to those that want to really challenge their creative ability. For my card I totally broke away from my "pink and green" theme!! I also wanted to try coloring with a different medium - Sharpies. I love Sharpies. I came across this YouTube Video where the woman was showing how to use Sharpies like Copics - NOT!! Sorry nothing beats a Copic, I just can't afford them. So I used my Sharpies and I do like how it came out.


Well thanks for stopping by and I can't wait to hear your thoughts. Don't be shy...leave me a message!!

Have an awesome day.

Sunday, September 5, 2010

TSG #70 and SSS #72

I am hoping that I make this just under the wire! I really want to play with There She Goes month long 2 year birthday party. Although I hate combining challenges together I decided I really liked the sketch at The Sweet Stop so I combined it with the TSG Challenge - 1, 2, 3: 1 piece of patterned paper, 2 solid cardstock colors, and 3 emblishments (I hope that paper piercing counts as an emblishment). I really like how this card came out. I just love this DP paper. I decided to combine it with orange.

This card won't be one that goes into the pile...I am going to give this card to one of the kindergarden teachers at school. Her birthday is coming up and as I said I plan on giving cards to all the staff members.

Well I can't believe that I had two posts in one day. I hope that I'll have another tomorrow or at least later this week. I have promised myself that I have to find a balance between work and crafting. I need the crafting time - it's been a real relaxing day and I really enjoyed it!

Hope you like my card too!!

Others' Kindness - Card Patterns #80

I am in the mood to make cards...even though my house looks like a tornado hit it! I am definitely not the domestic godess...I am the domestic devil!

Well I went through some sketch challenges and have decided to play in a few. Let's see how much more I can do tonight and into the night. For the first challenge I decided to play at Card Patterns. I liked the sketch and it's simplicity.

I've created this card for Katie, a coworker. Our district decided to come up with a "teacher-friendly" lesson plan system online. There was their first mistake. Most teachers that I know think an overhead projector is incorporating technology into their classrooms. Some of the teachers I know struggle at turning on a computer! I'm pretty technology savvy, and this system was far from "friendly." It had me in frustration tears. When I worked for Qwest one of my jobs was to take new systems and figure out how to "break" them. Katie promised that the Lesson Planner could not be broken...guess what?? I broke it! Our technology department was stunned - imagine that!!

Katie is a sweetie, although she is trying to learn the system herself, she came after school on Friday to give me a hand with where I struggled. We both walked through it and it was a success. Now I feel better and am at the point where I can help the teachers around me. The system will make my planning life a lot easier! We both walked away happy little teachers. I wanted to thank her for staying on a Friday night and for understanding my frustrations.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you like my card.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

My Tribute to Sandra MacLean

Sandra MacLean is probably one of my absolute favorite crafters. I learned of her when she became a Trendsetter over at There She Goes. I instantly fell in love with her style. She is one amazing colorist. I just oogle (if that's a word) over her work. I wish that I could buy every card she makes!! I have been fortunate enough to win a couple of her cards. One such card is the one I have cased here. I have this card hanging on my bulletin board in my craft room. I look at this card daily.

About two weeks ago I was playing with my reinkers and a blending pen and I colored the image. Well tomorrow is one of our school staff's birthday. I don't care what they say at work - I'm going to give everyone a homemade card. So I took what I colored and made a version of Sandra's beautiful card. I didn't sew on the card, because my eyes are so tired that I didn't want to get crooked lines! I hope I did Sandra proud.

The next image is a card that Sandra sent as a personal gift to me. When TSG had their release last month, the new set Winning the Race had/has a special place in my heart. I am about to celebrate my 3 years of being cancer free. Well I contacted Sandra immediately and told her I had to have her card. It is just so amazing. She is the most amazing and sweetest woman that I have never met. She was kind enough to send it to me. I took it over to Michaels and had it framed. The photo does not do it justice, but it is just beautiful. Now I am seeking the most perfect place to hang my card.


This is my way of thanking Sandra for her amazing kindness and inspiring me everyday.

THANK YOU SANDRA!!