Oceans of Joy

This is absolutely my favorite Christmas card that I've made so far this year!

I was inspired by some cards I've seen on blogs that used non-traditional colors

and themes, and by the Hero Arts November Cardmaking Challenge.

The Hero Arts seahorses were layered with two teal inks and some

silver embossing powder, then decorated (like a Christmas tree!) with

strings of enamel dots. The layered seastar and the sentiment are also 

from Hero Arts. I finished it off with a spritz of Spectrum Noir Sparkle.

The background paper is Plunge from the Making Waves collection from Fancy Pants.

Oh Christmas Tree!

I've been making Christmas cards for a while now,

and I've recently gotten into creating trees with 

circular shapes. I just cut assorted Christmas patterned paper with small circular dies that I have, and arranged them in a tree shape. I also used some enamel dots and gemstones. 

Most of the paper on the card above is from the Candy Canes and Jingle Bells collection, and the card on the right is made with the Glistening Boughs collection, both from SEI. The background on the card on the right was made with a Twigs embossing folder from Spellbinders. 

Soccer!

This is my 4-year-old grandson all ready for his first-ever soccer practice!

I did this layout for the Pinkfresh Studio October Challenge - Get Inspired.

Everything on the page was done with the Indigo Hills collection, 

except for a few puff sequins from the Felicity collection.

I love the sticky notes in this collection, and as soon as I saw the round ones,

I knew they would lead me to a soccer layout!

I used the more linear paper to contrast with the "roundness" of everything else,

and I really like the look of the leather alphas on top of the blue ones.

Voyage Beneath the Sea Shadowbox

Voyage Beneath the Sea is my all-time favorite Graphic 45 collection! 

I used it to make this layered shadowbox for the Graphic 45 October Challenge.

I'd never seen a shadowbox like this before - the frame has 4 layers. That made

it easy to create a 3-D effect by putting parts of the scene in the different layers.

I really loved making this!

An Eerie Tale Halloween Wreath

I made this Halloween Wreath for Graphic 45's September Challenge (#DarkSidewithG45) using paper from An Eerie Tale and a bit from Raining Cats and Dogs. I did a lot of fussy cutting and machine cutting as well. I was trying to think of a good way to add dimension to a very flat project when I saw Olga Heldwein's guide to making crumpled autumn leaves on the G45 blog - there was my answer! I used the technique to make flowers and leaves and they added so much to the wreath! You can see them in closeups below. I also took a photo from the side to give a better idea of the dimension. 

Thank You (Spring/Summer)

This is third of three cards I made for My Favorite Things' 

2016 Card Design Superstar Contest. 

The three represent different seasons and different themes,

but all use the same MFT dies and stamps, Peaceful Wildflowers,

and they are heat embossed on each card.

I wanted to use them in three different ways, 

so this one features a row of flowers with happy Spring/Summer colors.

Sparkle is provided by jewels, sequins, and shiny paper! 

May You Find Peace This Day (Winter)

This is second of three cards I made for My Favorite Things' 

2016 Card Design Superstar Contest. 

The three represent different seasons and different themes,

but all use the same MFT dies and stamps, Peaceful Wildflowers,

and they are heat embossed on each card.

I wanted to use them in three different ways, 

so this one features a frame of flowers with my favorite Winter colors.

Sparkle is provided by jewels and silver pen dots. 

Thinking of You (Autumn)

This is first of three cards I made for My Favorite Things' 

2016 Card Design Superstar Contest. 

The three represent different seasons and different themes,

but all use the same MFT dies and stamps, Peaceful Wildflowers,

and they are heat embossed on each card.

I wanted to use them in three different ways, 

so this one features a wreath with lovely Autumn colors.

The golden netting and burlap provide texture,

while the glitter paper, golden leaf, and sequins provide the sparkle!

Welcome Home

Travel is my passion, but I'm always happy to come home to this!

The layout was inspired by ScrapbookSteals Mid Week Mojo.

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Travel Box

I found this wooden box at a thrift store - I'm not sure what it's purpose was, but I decided it would make a great travel box. A photo can go in the front, and there's room inside for other photos and mementos. I was inspired by Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge - Contain It!

All of the paper and die cuts are from Graphic 45's Come Away With Me collection.

Below are photos of the lid, back, and sides of the box.

Celebrate the Spelling Star

Celebrating my granddaughter's Super Speller award.

The layout is based on ScrapbookSteals' Mid Week Mojo sketch challenge.

I was also inspired by Simon Says Stamps' Monday challenge - Celebrate!

Colors and design elements were influenced by PaperCrafter's Corner's

Magazine Monday - a black background with bright red trim, white accents, and stars.

My favorite part is the tiny notebook under the photo - in it is journaling!

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Love This (2)

My favorite uncle drew this cartoon in my birthday card - 

it's my sister and I, and I'm the one hollering! (This is the second one

with the same photos, as I'm making one album for each of my children.)

The layout was inspired by Scrapbook Steals Mid Week Mojo sketch challenge.

I was also inspired by Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge - this week it 

was to use texture. I used modeling paste on a circle burst stencil and colored it, ribbon

 and gathered washi tape for the bottom stripes, and a flower I made from fancy ribbon.

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Love This!

This layout features a card for my 10th birthday, with a cartoon inside

drawn by my favorite uncle. It's my sister and I - I'm the one hollering!

The layout was inspired by the July Bo Bunny Sketch Challenge - 

just love their Double Dot paper! I also used elements from 

PaperCrafter Corner's Magazine Monday Challenge - the pretty blues 

and mustard yellow, little kids, blue and white clothing, and a date.

Oceans of Joy card

More practice for my Online Card Classes Heat Wave heat embossing class. 

Regular embossing on the coral, jellyfish, and sentiment. But the white-dotted background? 

Surprise! You can use embossing power on water sprinkles. And on glue dots, too.

Stamps and Die Cut: Hero Arts

Embossing Powders: Hero Arts and Close to My Heart

Embossing Ink: Versamark

Background Ink: Hero Arts

Ink on Jellyfish: Zig Clean Color Brush Marker

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Card: 12th Birthday

A card for my grandson, who's turning 12 tomorrow!

I'm taking the Heat Wave embossing class from Online Card Classes,

so I heat embossed the balloons, strings, and sentiment.

For the inside of the card, I did a pop-up, with photos of him through the years.

Cardstock: Carta Bella

Alphas: Portfolia

Balloons: Cricut Expression

Embossing Powders: WOW and CTMH

Inks: Versamark and Memento

Sentiment: Lawn Fawn

Red, White, and Cute Parade!

My daughter and granddaughter were in the 4th of July parade with 4-H - it rained but it was still fun!

This layout was entered in the Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge: Red, White, and/or Blue.

All of the materials are from Simple Stories Sea to Shining Sea.

San Francisco

My hippie days!

Part of albums about my life that I'm making for my kids.

I was inspired by PaperCrafter's Corner Magazine Monday Challenge (see below).

I chose to use a bold white title, a smaller white subtitle, colors (pink, orange, purple, green) and flowers.

Happy Mother's Day

A card for someone's wonderful mom!

Dream - Soar - Wonder

My granddaughter's school talent show.

The layout was inspired by Bo Bunny's April Sketch Challenge (see below).

All of the paper and the cameo are from Bo Bunny's Beautiful Dreamer collection.

The embellishments on the right are from Becky Higgins and Simple Stories.

Service

This page is part of an album I'm making for Coast Guard members. (They will choose the photos.) The layout was inspired by Scrapbook.Steals Mid Week Mojo sketch challenge (see below). All of the materials are from these collections: Scrapbook Customs Coast Guard, Simple Stories Hero, and Simple Stories Sea to Shining Sea.

April Calendar: Raining Cats and Dogs

I like to make calendars, and this is an April page. The popped-up pieces are from Graphic 45, and the background paper is from a Paper Studio calendar kit. Paper Crafter's Corner has a weekly Magazine Monday Challenge, in which you need to make use of one or more elements of the magazine cover (see below). My page includes umbrellas and rain, words at the top and bottom of the page, and a multitude of background colors.

Prom

Whoa! 1965! Check out the flip hairdo and the long white gloves.

The layout was inspired by Scrapbook.Steals Mid Week Mojo sketch challenge. I've also submitted it to Pinkfresh Studio's April challenge, which requires the use of thread. I hand stitched around the star, the pink triangle, and the round journal card, and I underlined the words in the title and the journaling with thread. All of the materials are from Pinkfresh Studio. The paper is from the Happy Things collection.

Goodbye Card

Kodiak is a big Coast Guard town, so we always have a lot of people transferring out in the spring and summer. (This year that includes my daughter and family - sniff sniff...) I made a few cards to say goodbye to some of those fine people. 

Then & Now

Pat and I have been friends since we were 5.

Here we are in my front yard - 40 years between photos!

Teen Scene

Another page in the album "My Life" for my kids.

Wish I had more photos from those "good old days!"

Layout inspired by ScrapbookSteals Mid Week Mojo sketch challenge.

I also entered this into Scrapbook.com's March Color Challenge 

and submitted it into GetItScrapped's Calvinball game.

High School 1961-65

Some of my High School activities

All materials except alphas from SEI's Neon Vibe collection