Birthday cards

Since I had my craft supplies out last weekend, I made some birthday cards:

Supplies Used:
My Mine's Eye 6x6 paper pad - Michaels
Baker's Twine
Stampin' Up! Spice Cake Buttons
Stampin Up! Embossing Folder
Stampin' Up! Smokey Slate Cardstock
Stampin' Up! Pool Party Ink
Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
Neenah Solar White Cardstock
Lawn Fawn So Much To Say Stamp Set

July Homework

I made two cards with my July homework sketch for stamp club.
Here is the sketch:

First, I did not modify much from the sketch and made a card using some of my recent purchases:

Then I flipped the sketch and came up with this card:

I really liked the color combination in the second card, so I will have more cards to share using those supplies.

Most of the supplies are from Stampin' Up!, but I also used a paper pack from Michael's (by My Mind's Eye) and a Papertrey Ink stamp.

Trying Something New... A Video

I have learned a lot from watching crafting videos online, but I have never made one. I thought I would start off with an easy "haul" video showing some new products that I ordered from Stampin' Up! through my monthly stamp club.



Here is a card that we made at stamp club with the new "in colors" (Pistachio Pudding & Crisp Cantaloupe):



The stamped image is from the Simply Sketched set that I showed in the video. I also really like the 3/8" ruffle stretch trim used in this card. Some of us tried the different images from the set and it was fun to see the various results. (Thank you Pam for allowing me to share this card.)

I have been doing some reorganizing, so I may share a video of my craft space in the future. Once I learn more about iMovie, I want to add in a title page and do some editing.

June Celebrations

The month of June flew by since John and I were both busy at work. We had fun on the weekends and Alex was invited to 5 birthday parties last month. The kid has quite the social calendar, and he is already planning what he wants for his 5th birthday party next spring. One of the parties was at a martial arts center, and I was impressed with the staff.



I love Alex running towards the piñata in this picture at one of the birthday parties.



We had a quiet father's day. Alex made John a treasure box at school and I made him a card. I enjoyed mixing some of my old and new supplies.








My birthday was also in June. I woke up to see a new craft cart from Ikea waiting for me in the kitchen. I was surprised that John managed to hide my gift for over a week since there are not many hiding places in our current house.



Towards the end of the month, it was time for Alex's summer haircut. He wanted it "spiky" and I knew that it would make him look older.



I am happy to start July with a long holiday weekend! Last night we walked to a park to see the local fireworks.

Thank You Card

My current round of stamp club wrapped up tonight, but I am continuing with this monthly activity even though work is busier in the summer and fall for me. Stamping is a fun stress reliever and I enjoy meeting people through crafting.

I used the color combination from the recent 10 Minute Craft Dash and an Operation Write Home blog sketch to make a thank you card for our stamp club organizer, Pam.

Supplies:
Stampin Up!: pattern paper, Bashful Blue cardstock, stamps, punches, So Saffron ribbon and buttons (most items retired, current items linked)
Other: red card stock

Summer Weekend Fun

Last weekend, Alex and I attended two birthday parties for his preschool classmates. We had a great time, and I got to chat for a while with the other parents. Alex has been at his current preschool for over a year, and I appreciate that the center is small.

One of the birthday parties was at Vasona Park, and we rode the train. Alex was more interested in the train whistle than in posing for a picture.

Today we went to Happy Hollow Zoo & Park. I have been interested in taking Alex here for the past year. We met up with a couple of other families from our Las Madres group and had a fun time. We mainly rode the rides and did not spend time in the zoo part. (We can always go back for another trip.) Alex enjoyed the kiddie roller coaster, bike track, and all of the slides.

Hello 10 Minute Card

For this card, I combined the current Little Tangles challenge and the color combination from the current 10 Minute Craft Dash challenge.

It is a fun change to push myself to make a card in less then 10 minutes. My time for this card was 9 minutes and 43 seconds.

Supplies:
Stampin' Up: Bashful Blue card stock, So Saffron ribbon, patterned paper (retired products)
Neat & Tangled: Just Hello stamp set
Other: Neenah solar white card stock, Memento Summer Sky Ink, Bazzill Dotted Swiss red card stock.

On Monday night I will post a card I made in more than 10 minutes with the same color combination. My usual approach to cards to is take my time and add embellishments until I am happy with the card.

Card for Lawnscaping Challenge #59

I created a card for the Lawnscaping Coloring Challenge. The kangaroo and joey were colored with Copic markers (E33, E36 & R21). For the challenge, I played with some Lawn Fawn stamps and supplies from Stampin' Up!





Supplies Used:
Lawn Fawn Stamps - Say Cheese and Critters Down Under
Stampin' Up! - Tempting Turquoise card stock & button, Pool Party Baker's Twine and Cloudy Day Embossing Folder
Other: Neenah Solar White card stock