PL Week 6

I mentioned before one of my goals this year was to get back into scrapping, which includes my Project Life pages. Over the years my approach has changed. I still design my pages digitally, and I suspect at some point I may opt to have the pages printed in a book, but at the moment I print them and slip them into an 8.5x11 page protector. Often I'll turn off some of the embellishment layers before printing so I can add those elements using traditional methods so I end up with a hybrid layout. I like adding the little embellishments which uses some of my stash, and not spending the time trimming and lining up photos or slipping them into pockets. And, let's face it, there are very few options for the latter since I stick with 8.5x11.

The area where my approach has changed is how I record. I don't get caught up in documenting every week. Some weeks are busy and I actually remember to take lots of images; some days I forget to take photos and sometimes when I take photos the images are just total crap. So I focus on capturing what makes sense. I don't have a week 2 for 2018 and I probably won't have a week 7...and I'm okay with that.

MFT Sweet Succulents

I got this set last year but am just getting around to getting it out of the packaging. Definitely should have broken it out sooner because I'm in love with these images. Its been so much fun to play around with different combinations of cati, pots and backgrounds. What little free time I had this week found me at my craft table stamping and coloring.

This is the first card I made this week. It got more complicated from there with blended backgrounds and masking. Simple or complicated, I love them all and now have several "get well" and "thinking of you" cards in my stash.

21st Birthday

My nephew turns 21 this month. He's the third one of my nephews and niece to hit 21 so we won't even go into just how old that makes me feel. Not only does he turn 21, but it is also his golden birthday. I don't think it gets much better than 21 on the 21st. We're gearing up for a big celebration, though I'm going to leave the partying into the wee hours to those much younger.

The special day (and guy) deserves a special card. This one came together pretty quickly thanks to the Silhouette design store, some old chipboard numbers, glitter paper, and glitter tape. I use the Radiant Banner card from Hero Arts. Did a gradient fill and then just printed the background onto some Staples photo supreme matte paper. I love this paper for printing. It always delivers vibrant, crisp color. It's a bit more of a challenge if I use it for print and cuts. I think it has a high fiber count because I have to use a well-loved mat or risk tearing the paper when I try to release the cut images. It also requires a double cut and preferably a new blade. But I deviate, since this time I just printed the image and trimmed by hand.

Honestly, I can't remember the manufacturer of the chipboard numbers. They've been in my stash for a very long time. I'm not big on chipboard and you know I generally like my card pretty flat. These have quite a bit of dimension but since this card is hand delivered it is not a problem.

I really like the card but I'm guessing that he'll spend more time admiring the check inside the card than the card itself.

Valentines

Quick post to share the last of my Valentine cards. Again, kept it simple using mostly premade embellishments from my stash of supplies. I loved the window card I created last week so I made a few more though this time round I put a bit more thought into the assembly so I wasn't lifting and repositioning.

Used Papertrey Ink cardstock for the base. Rustic white. Love this stuff, especially the weight of the cardstock which will hold up to layers, stamping and distressing. Definitely one of my favorites. And while the specks in the rustic line tend to darken when photographed in person I think it has the perfect blend of modern, earthy tone which I like for masculine cards.

Happy Hearts

It was a snow day in our area today. Kids off from school and those who could worked from home. I was undecided whether to send Valentine greetings off this year but since I had a little free time today I pulled out my stash of supplies to whip up a few cards.

I kept it real simple: white cardstock, a few dies, and some really, really old embellishments from Making Memories, Paper Bliss, Little B and a few odds and ends I've collected through the years. No stamping involved. These cards have a little more bulk to them but are still mail friendly.

I really love how this card turned out with the clear window. Nice modern feel and not too frilly.
On the other cards, I scored a diamond patterned to provide additional depth and interest.

Have a few more cards I started which I'll finish up tomorrow. The hoard descended upon me this afternoon so I had to take a break from card making to Valentine box making with my nephew. He's leaning toward a Minecraft design...of course, because it's complicated. It may be a few days before I get back to those cards.

Cool Cat Card

Today I'm sharing a card I made using stamps from MFT. I mentioned in a previous post I was on the search for 2018 go to birthday card. Something universal and easily mass produced. Undecided if this will be the one, but I did make several in one sitting.

This card uses stamps from MFT's Cool Cat and Twice the Wishes sets. I love the images in the Cool Cat set, especially the little fat cat. So adorable. With a lot of cat-loving friends, I anticipate I'll be pulling out this set often. The bow and party hat are from a Mama Elephant stamp set and adds a cute little festive touch.

I don't have a balloon stencil so I improvised by using an old punch and copy paper to create a mini stencil. I punched several, secured them onto my cardstock and then used Mustard Seed, Carved Pumpkin and Abandoned Coral Distress Inks to blend the design. I chose bright, warm colors to combat the grey skies of winter but you could opt for a cool palette or even make each balloon a different color for a real festive, party look.

JUMPING IN WITH BOTH...HANDS

Welcome 2018. The last months of 2017 sure went quickly and despite good intentions, and there are always good intentions, I never made it back to the blog. Even now, in the new year, I'm a bit late, after all, it is already February.

Last month I spent most of my time parked in front of the computer participating in MOC6 (month of challenges) at the Lilypad. I'd been planning to jump back into scrapping this year and apparently the Cosmos decided to give me a nudge via email. The goal, complete all 31 challenges. The reward, a $20 credit to the digital store. A new challenge was posted every day. Some focussed on storytelling, some on techniques and others on creativity. The challenge ends tonight so if you're stumbling onto this blog you're probably too late to participate in this year's MOC, unless you're a super fast scrapper. I'm not, but I did manage to complete all the challenges. I had a blast, learned some new things and made a small dent into the backlog of photos I'd been collecting. If you are a digital or hybrid scrapper what I can recommend is for you to check out the site and forum. The group is super friendly!

Here are 2 of the pages I completed last month. In the past, I frequently digitally mapped out the design of my layouts and then did a traditional scrap.  These layouts would certainly be easy to recreate with paper & embellishments but I think I'm going to leave them as is. Perhaps they'll end up in a printed album. We'll see.