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Friday, September 26, 2014

Card Friday - Things on my radar

Sadly, I have no cards to show you of my own on this Card Friday post...but now that I've been sort of making some, I'm starting to SEE them more...and so, I'm sharing some of the things I'm seeing lately...

Now, to be clear - for me to engage in card making, I have to have the supplies on hand or be looking at a very simple approach. Complicated stuff is not happening for any card making i'm going to be doing.

So...everything I've found myself pinning has been simple and just unique in their way...


First up, these simple, but amazingly beautiful cards I found over on Handmade Cards - Bespoke Greeting Cards. These are elegantly simple, but its the chosen materials that make them so fantastic. My mind has been reeling with the possibilities of alternative materials used in very simple ways.

http://jennigarvin.wordpress.com/

http://jennigarvin.wordpress.com/

Next is this beautiful starry design by JJ Bolton that I found over on her blog Ribbon Girls. I'm in love with the layer, then mist, then layer, then mist, etc...its stunning.

http://www.jjbolton.org/p/blog-page_15.html
Finally, these card ideas I found that are actually in a "things to do with kids" sort of blog - Molly Moo. They are done with potato painting of all things..I'm absolutely in love with each one of them and totally want to make cards like these!!!


http://mollymoocrafts.com/diy-christmas-cards/

http://mollymoocrafts.com/diy-christmas-cards/


http://mollymoocrafts.com/homemade-christmas-cards-2/

The penguins are REDICULOUS cute!!!

What sort of simple and clever card ideas have you found? Link me up!!!

Peace, ya'll!


Thursday, September 25, 2014

Survive Right Now

I've been a headache sufferer for years...over 20.

But how do you document a history of headaches while working a theme of THRIVE?  

I'm laying it all out over on SFTIO today...take a look!



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Peace, ya'll!

Friday, September 19, 2014

Card Friday


My final set of cards from one of my Embelish Kits card kit...A great set of Thanks / Thanksgiving cards. 


This particular card was so simple, and turned out just as cute as can be.


The Thanksgiving card is one of my favorites of this set. I just love the stacked banner and how the stickers look so gorgeous with just a bit of dimensional adhesive.


This final card originally had a Halloween sentiment. I don't really send Halloween cards, so I found some other options in the kit and went with one more "thanks" kind of sentiment. It turned out just as I wanted.


After working through a couple of these card kits, I cannot recommend the Embellish kits enough - especially for somebody like me who isn't really a "card" maker.

Have a wonderful day!

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Thrive?

The more I worked through the ideas and concepts that came up with the word THRIVE, the more I had to ask myself if I really was, outside of my kids, really thriving. 

I decided NOT. 

Not to say that I don't have an amazing life - because I DO...

See the rest of my pondering on THRIVE over on SFTIO today...



Peace, ya'll!


Friday, September 12, 2014

Card Friday

Today I've got three more yummy cards from an Embellish Kits card kit...once again, full of the beautiful colors of autumn.


Once again, this kit taught me some great things about layers and using things in unexpected ways...for example, the flower on this card is made with heart punches. It is covering a flower on the Autumn veneer that didn't quite match the rest of the card.


I have the amazing Fiskars Well Rounded 3-in-1 Corner Squeeze Punch. Is probably one of the best tools I own...but sometimes I forget to use it!  These two cards with the rounded corners came out so cute!  Again, mixing patterns and layering in unexpected ways is something I love about the Embellish Kits.


One other cool little trick I forget to use is the faux stitching that can be created with pens. 


Now that there are so many pen options, this technique can be done in virtually hundreds of ways and look different every time. A chalk pen would look great too.

Have a wonderful day! Happy creating!

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Remembering

Vicariously

THRIVE is a word they use all the time when assessing the health of children. 

I have two of them and they were born later in my life, so they are pretty much the lions-share of my life. 

So..as they TRIVE, so do I...


I'm discussing the story behind the art and Vicariously THRIVING on Inside Out today. Click through to see the rest of the story.

Peace, ya'll!


Friday, September 05, 2014

Card Friday

Its September...time for some cards that have that feel!  Even if its still very summary where I live, I'm in the mood for autumn. THIS is my favorite season and my most favorite collection of colors and textures...

I got an amazing fall card kit from Embellish Kits...the first two cars are so amazing and rich looking. Layers of color and pattern and texture.


Loving the diagonal on a square card. This is done with paper strips, but this kind of design would be so beautiful with washi or ribbon.


This quilted version is also just fun and beautiful. The thing that makes this card so interesting is the wood veneer piece front and center.


One of the things I love about the cards in these kits is the way that they teach me to layer and to combine patterns in ways that I find unexpected.  Its a great lesson for me to apply to my other work.

Have a beautiful day!!

Thursday, September 04, 2014

Made to Thrive

The moment I heard the word "Thrive" I couldn't get the song Made to Thrive by Casting Crowns out of my head. It was one of those things where a song gets stuck rattling around in your brain and you find yourself singing it all the time, not being able to escape it.

So it became my first layout for the new THRIVE kit from Inside Out


Head on over to the Inside Out Blog to see the story behind the art!

Peace, ya'll!


Wednesday, September 03, 2014

Swim (Sort of)

I've had these pictures of Jayden learning to swim for far to long...and for some reason, when I had them printed, I did a TON of them...(really! These 8 shots only scratch the surface of what I have printed!) 

I have no idea what I was thinking when I ordered the prints, but...to make good use of them, I isolated the shots of him clinging to the side of the pool for one layout.

The sketch I started with was simple 3 x 3 photo grid, but my photos didn't have that much interest outside of his sweet little face, so I cropped away at them until I got to the meat of the photos...

Then I set the collage on a "shelf."



Aqua and red is one of my favorite color combinations, but I need a little punch of yellow to liven this up a bit.  Some older embellies from my stash had just the right punch of sunny color.



Little side note...I love that washi tape, but it lost its punch when I put it directly on the aqua paper...So I put it on white cardstock and then attached it to the layout to keep the color looking vibrant. 


Now, I just have to figure out what I"m going to do with the other 30 photos of this day!!  HAHA!

Peace, ya'll!



Tuesday, September 02, 2014

THRIVE

Thrive = to grow or develop vigorously; to flourish; to prosper; to be fortunate or succeed.

What an interesting word to explore!!!

The new THRIVE kit is up over at Inside Out...



Can I tell you - its just awesome!  I love the colors and the words and exhuberance!!!

I was so in love with some of the contents that I had a difficult time choosing which to start with...I almost didn't feel worthy to do the supplies any harm...


This one is full of BasicGrey Highline and Heidi Swapp Favorite Things. There is a gorgeous set of Amy Tangerine aqua thickers and beautiful Distress Paint called Peacock Feathers...

I'm in LOVE with all the glorious color!!!

Go take a look...get yourself one, and play along with us this month while we work through TRIVE.

Peace, ya'll!!