Halloween 2012

 

It's always wonderful when we get to spend time with family during our travels (Mike's travels for work).  With this trip, back in October 2012.... we got to visit with my sister's family in Texas. Carving pumpkins and going out trick-or-treating was so much fun!

Thanks for looking!

Supplies Used:

Background - My Sweet Pea #13

Punch - Modern Label (Pumpkin Pie)

Embellishment - Taffeta Ribbon (Pumpkin Pie), Chevron Ribbon(Pumpkin Pie)

Stamp Brush Set - Delightful Dozen (Early Espresso)

Font - Chiller (Early Espresso)

Kubota Gardens

 

Mike and I went to see these gardens in Seattle.  We are amazed at all the beauty here in Washington! Such a wonderful place to live and explore.

Thanks for taking a look!

Supplies Used:

Background - Basic Gray

Embellishment - Festive Blooms (Basic Gray, Cherry Cobbler and Whisper White

Stamp Brush Set - Green Tea (Going Gray)

Font - Samurai (Whisper White)

Seward Park

 

Hi... it's me again working on our 2012 Photobook. This is our trip to Seward Park.... in Seattle Washington.  We have such lovely parks with places to picnic or hike trails.  We love it here!

Thanks for taking a peek!

Supplies Used:

Background - Cottage Wall DSP #9

Embellishments - Festive Blooms (Early Espresso and Whisper White); Knots and Ties Trim (Whisper White)

Stamp Brush Sets - Decorative Overlays (swirl - Whisper White); Schoolbook Serif Alphabet (title- Early Espresso)

Punch - Dotted Scallop Ribbon (Early Espresso); Square (filled w/Summer Starfruit DSP Stripes; Soft Sky)

Font - Brisk (Early Espresso)

Vidae Falls and Natural Bridge

Working my way on our 2012 Photobook!  With our trip to Oregon in Sept 2012..... Oops! I just noticed I put August 2012 on the second page.... gotta fix that.  Easy fix when everything is digital!!!!

Thanks for looking!

Supplies Used:

Background - So Saffron

Embellishments - Dotted Scallop Ribbon (Old Olive)

Stamp Brush Set - Decorative Overlays (Old Olive at 80% opacity); Spring Break II (Butterfly - Pumpkin Pie)

Punch - Square (filled w/ My Sweet Pea DSP #10)

Font - Majestic (Chocolate Chip)

Crater Lake

 

Moving right along on our 2012 Photobook, with our trip to Oregon to see Crater Lake. (Sept 2012)

I just love how bottom photos look like it's the whole huge crater lake that it is. Unfortunately, it's not.... just two photos pieced together to show you how vast it is. We couldn't get the whole lake in one photo....unless, of course, we were in an airplane/helicopter above! hahaha

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

Background - Well Worn DSP #9

Stamp Brush Set - Bunch of Backgrounds (Wonderfully Worn - Always Artichoke)

Punch - Cloud (Whisper White)

Font - Adorable (Whisper White and Pacific Point)

Tradition Lake

 

Continuing work on our 2012 Photobook with our day trip to Tradition Lake for a hike and have a picnic.  We had a lovely time among the trees!  August 2012

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

Background - Textured Cardstock (Pool Party)

Embellishments - Eyelet (Chocolate Chip); Baker's Twine (Cherry Cobbler recolored Pool Party); Earth Laughs (flower - recolored Rich Razzleberry)

Stamp Brush Sets - Frames with a Flourish (swirl - Early Espresso); Best Wishes and More (flower - Daffodil Delight); Earth Laughs (flower - Old Olive and Rich Razzleberry)

Punch - Tag (So Saffron); Circle (under eyelet - Textured Cardstock Pool Party)

Font - Shell and Unicorn (Early Espresso)

LeMay Museum

 

These two pages came together very quickly..... so happy that our 2012 Photobook is coming together!!!  We took a drive down to the LeMay Automobile Museum. WOW! What a fantastic display of cars -- old and new! This was in August 2012.

In creating this page I wanted to try and capture their logo on my page:

I used the Anchors Away Designer Series Paper and recolored it Black.  Since the rays were off-center....I added two photo boxes, so that the rays looked like it came out from the top-center of the page.

Thanks for taking a look!

Supplies Used:

Background - Basic Black

Stamp Brush Set - Countryside (truck - Smoky Slate)

Punch (Photo Box) - filled w/Anchors Away DSP #4 recolored Basic Black; Modern Label - filled w/Smoky Slate; Decorative Label - filled w/Basic Black

Embellishments - Glimmer Kit (Silver Trim #1 and #2); Brad (Silver)

Font - Bodoni (Smoky Slate)

The Buttes

 

I completed my two-page spread for the April Progressive Challenge on the Splicoaststampers website.  Each week different tasks are set for us to complete....thus, at the end of the week, you have a completed page(s).  Here is the final two pages from our trip to Arizona.... I wanted to include this very interesting resort -- so rugged and beautiful, as well as, the puzzles that we completed with Mike's parents.  (June 2012)

You may view the first steps of the April Progressive Challenge here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/digital-scrapbooking-tuesdays-f253/apr-2014-prog-chall-23-task-1-04-01-14-a-t585983.html

Thanks for taking a look!

Supplies Used: My Digital Studio software, Stampin' Up!

Background paper - Well Worn DSP #9

Punch - Square (filled w/ Textured Cardstock - Cajun Craze; Very Vanilla); Modern Label (filled w/Very Vanilla)
Embellishments - Taffeta Ribbon (Early Espresso and Daffodil Delight); Staples, Hodgepodge Hardware (clip - cropped); Brad (Early Espresso); Paradise Found (flowers)
Stamp Brush Set - Paradise Found (leaf - Old Olive); Ink Splatter (Crumb Cake)
Font - Pristina (Very Vanilla); Boulder (Early Espresso)

Lady of Lourdes

 

Continuing on with our 2012 photobook.... when we were in Cleveland in July 2012, we drove to the National Shrine there.  We lit a few candles, said a few prayers and touched the Holy Water provided from the spring.  It was interesting to see they had a huge walking 'Rosary' and stairs leading to "The Way of the Cross"(Stations of the Cross) outside.  It was a very peaceful place.

I chose to keep my colors Sahara Sand and Pretty in Pink with a touch of Primrose Petals.  I've recolored Designer Series Paper and embellishments to go along with my color scheme.

I loosely used a sketch I found on the SweetShoppe website for my first page:

Thanks for taking a peek!

Supplies Used: My Digital Studio software - Stampin' Up!

Background - Whisper White

Punch - Square (filled w/ Pretty in Pink; Well Worn DSP #4 recolored Sahara Sand; Sahara Sand DSP dots; Textured Cardstock Pretty in Pink); Flag (filled w/ Sahara Sand, Pretty in Pink and Whisper White); Dotted Scallop (filled w/Pretty in Pink)

Stamp Brush Sets - Spring Break II (flourish - Primrose Petals); Modern Medley (flower overlay - Sahara Sand)

Embellishments - Taffeta Ribbon (Marina Mist recolored Sahara Sand); Walk in the Park II (green leaf recolored Sahara Sand and Basic Gray); Spring to Life (flowers recolored Primrose Petals); Enjoying Everything (flower recolored Sahara Sand)

Font - Pageant (Primrose Petals and Basic Gray)

Supporting Mom - MDSM61

 

Hmmm... not sure why the background colors aren't the same on each page in these photos.  The colors are supposed to look like the second page (the right one). weird!  I may need to re-download them to see if that makes a difference.  Okay, that is the weirdest thing.... it still is that same funky color.    (If you go on the My Digital Studio site.... you'll see the correct color on the first page.  Click here to see it: http://www.mydigitalstudio.net/photo/supporting-mom-1?context=latest )

I used a sketch I saw on MDS Monday blog (MDSM61).  I missed the challenge deadline, but still wanted to share with all of you where I got my inspiration from.  You may view the challenge here:
http://mdsmonday.blogspot.com/2014/04/mdsm61-taras-created-fun-scrap-sketch.html

Anyway.... I'm still plugging along with work on our 2012 photobook. These two pages were a bit hard for me to finish since my Mom passed away (February 2014). These pages reflect our support of my Mom.

My Mom's favorite color is green...and she loves roses. Purple is the color of pancreatic cancer, so working within those parameters -- here are the pages I came up with.  I changed both Designer Series Paper (Watercolor Wonder DSP) to Concord Crush and I used the 'Color Picker Tool' to match the green from my Mom's bedroom wall as my background color.

Supplies Used: My Digital Studio software, Stampin' Up!
Background - 'Color Picking Tool' match the green in the photo for the background
Punch - Square (filled w/ Watercolor Wonder DSP #5 and #10 recolored Concord Crush)
Stamp Brush Set - Ribbon of Hope (Concord Crush); You're Lovely (outlined flowers - Concord Crush and Whisper White); Natural Composition Overlays (linen overlay - Pistachio Pudding)
Font - Kiev (Concord Crush and Whisper White); Majestic (Concord Crush)

Itty Banner Blast - CTS72

I'm excited about this card! It came together so quickly for me -- and that's a plus!  I usually struggle with masculine cards.  I know...this card can be for either gender I bet, but (for me) it's for my nephew.

Thanks to CAS(e) This Sketch blog (CTS72).  You may view the challenge here:
http://casethissketch.blogspot.com/2014/04/case-this-sketch-72.html

Supplies Used:
Stamp sets - Itty Bitty Banners, Banner Blast
Paper - Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit, Smoky Slate and Whisper White
Ink - Midnight Muse, Summer Starfruit
Accessories - Big Shot, Bitty Banners Framelits, Banner Punch, Square Lattice TIEF, dimensionals

Peaceful Blessings

This is a hybrid card.  The center piece with the sentiment and flower stem was created in My Digital Studio, printed on Whisper White cardstock and finished using traditional Stampin' Up supplies.

The words on top of the flower stem is actually from the 'God's Blessings' stamp set.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Supplies Used:
MDS
Stamp Brush Set - Friends 24-7 (flower stem - Smoky Slate)
Font - Regency and Bliss (Basic Black)

Paper - Smoky Slate, Whisper White, Basic Black
Stamp set - Peaceful Petals
Accessories - stamp-a-ma-jig

Garden Prayer - CTS73

 

I saw this sketch on the CAS(E) This Sketch blog and loved all the cards created with it.  So, I wanted to create my own card with this sketch in mind.  Now, the challenge had a inspirational challenge along with it, but I don't believe my card qualifies -- although, there is blue in it! You may view the challenge here:

http://casethissketch.blogspot.com/2014/04/case-this-sketch-73.html

Thanks for looking!

Supplies Used:

Stamp Sets - Thoughts and Prayers

Paper - Not Quite Navy (retired), Whisper White, Not Quite Navy DSP (retired)

Ink - Not Quite Navy

Accessories - Big Shot, Ovals Framelits, Secret Garden Framelits, Baker's Twine (Whisper White), glue dots

Two for the Price of One - MDSM62

I saw this cool sketch on MDS Monday's blog....and saved that sketch to my computer desktop to work on it this week.  Well, I got the time to create it ..... designed it.... and it looks amazing! So, today I went to add it to the MDS Monday's blog, and found out that I didn't read the whole challenge!  Oh well..... time to create again! LOL.  What's great is now I have two wonderful cards! Thanks MDS Monday!

So, if you'd like to view their challenge MDSM62 - click here: http://mdsmonday.blogspot.com/2014/04/mds62-were-matching.html  I've added the sketch here, so you can see it:

The challenge was to create a card with this sketch - AND - to add a DSP that you like and only use the 'matching tool' within MDS to fill in all the other elements on the card. Whew!  I do have to say that it was challenging to complete this task....since the DSP I chose 'Feast of Thanks' had variations within each small strip....as you can see with the striped paper above and below the 'Happy Birthday' piece.

I this card with the words 'Happy Birthday'.  It's from 'Delightful Dozen' and I cropped it to only get one 'Happy' and one 'Birthday' from it, so they show in a single line and not one on top of the other. After grouping them together, I copied and pasted them in rows.  I then added a square punch with my 'Feast of Thanks' striped DSP. I grouped those strips of DSP plus the sentiment together and rotated all of it -.8 degrees. After ungrouping all the elements, I was able to use the color matching tool within MDS to color in my sentiment.  Each balloon is a separate embellishment from 'Piece of Cake' and I used the color matching tool to change those colors to match.  The brad is bronze, but even that I was able to use the color matching tool to change it to be a red bronze. I also used the color matching tool on the tag outline...and with the freeform tool to create the sprinkles underneath the frosting on the cupcake! 

Thanks for a wonderful challenge Cindy (at MDS Monday)!

Supplies Used:

Paper - Naturals White

Punch - Square (filled w/Feast of Thanks DSP #2); Tag (filled w/yellow - color match and Whisper White)

Embellishment - Brad (Bronze - color matched to Red); Piece of Cake (balloons - cropped and color matched blue and yellow)

Stamp Brush Set - Delightful Dozen (words - cropped and color matched yellow and blue); Party Hearty (cupcake - colored Chocolate Chip and Bashful Blue)

Freeform Tool - to color sprinkles blue underneath the frosting using the color matching tool

Now....here's the first card I created with this sketch:

This reminds me of all those times my Dad was fixing the cars or bikes we had over the years...greasing things up and getting messy!

Thanks for looking!

Supplies Used:

Paper - Sahara Sand, Basic Black and Whisper White

Stamp Brush Set - Teeny Tiny Wishes (sentiment- Whisper White), Glimmer Kit (chevrons - Basic Black); Ink Splatter (Basic Black)

Punch - Square (filled w/Smoky Slate); Cog (filled w/Going Gray and Basic Gray

Birthday Peace

Trying to work on masculine cards again.... oh why are they so hard to create?  I'm not sure I'm in love with this card, but I do like it!  Maybe it's needs something more...hmmm...

Well what do you think?

Thanks for looking!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Sets - Remembering Your Birthday, Peaceful Petals
Paper - Marina Mist, Early Espresso, Naturals White
Ink - Early Espresso
Accessories - scissors, Taffeta Ribbon (Early Espresso), Big Shot, Solid Stripes TIEF, stamp-a-ma-jig

Express Hope

My cousin's daughter is making her First Holy Communion this May.  I was honored to create 'thank you' cards for her. She loves bright pink, so I wanted to include it into my design.
I created 30 cards, and sent them off with 32 envelopes in a cute box that I made myself! =)
Here's the box:

Thanks for taking a peek!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Sets - Crosses of Hope, Express Yourself
Paper - Whisper White, Melon Mambo, Smoky Slate
Ink - Smoky Slate, Melon Mambo
Accessories - Stamp-a-ma-jig, Basic Rhinestones, Big Shot, Beautifully Baroque TIEF, scissors

Pennant Wish

I cannot take credit for this wonderful layout and colors.  I was inspired by Sandy Mathis' card.... you can view it here: 

http://www.stampwithsandy.com/2014/03/i-miss-you-fms127-cc5.html

Thanks Sandy!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Set - Perfect Pennants
Paper - Early Espresso, Whisper White, Old Olive, Haiku DSP (retired)
Ink - Early Espresso, Old Olive
Accessories - Big Shot, Banners Framelits, scissors, Taffeta Ribbon (Early Espresso), dimensionals

Hinckley Lake Park

 

Such fun family moments! In July 2012, a few family members got together to go to Hinckley Lake Park and have a picnic.  My Dad taught Ally (my niece) to fish.... and we taught the kids to skip rocks on the water!

We didn't have many photos, but I wanted to showcase the lake, so I made the photo of the lake to span both pages.

To do this: 

1. Make sure your left and ride side pages are side-by-side. (click on the little open page book at the bottom of your software screen -- located underneath the ruler marking on the left-hand side).

2. Create a photo box on the left-hand side.

3. Right-click on photo, and select 'span pages'.

4. Drag the photo corners/sides to encompass both pages

5. Insert your photo.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Supplies Used: My Digital Studio software, Stampin' Up!

Background - Photo

Embellishments - Simple Snapshots (flowers, border, leaves)

Font - Informal (Early Espresso)

Birthday Milestones

 

In July 2012, we celebrated my Dad's 70th and my brother's 40th birthday's at Bucci's J. Bella's restaurant.  My sister and I flew in from out-of-town too (no, Deb's family and my Mike did not attend the celebration).  Both my Dad and Dave were completely surprised -- they thought the surprise party was for the other one.

We had a lovely time getting together.

Thanks for looking!

With the background paper.... I recolored the "To The Nines" DSP to Basic Gray and changed the opacity to 50%, so that it was lighter.

Supplies Used: My Digital Studio software, Stampin' Up!

Background paper - To the Nines DSP #9 (recolored Basic Gray and 50% opacity to lighten the paper

Embellishment - Taffeta Ribbon (Basic Black); Piece of Cake (balloons - recolored Basic Black); Candy Cane Lane (presents - recolored Basic Black)

Punch - Flag (filled w/Basic Black); Square (filled w/ To the Nines DSP #10 and Whisper White at 40% opacity)

Stamp Brush Set - Glimmer Kit (chevrons - Sage Shadow)

Font - Pickwick (Basic Black)

Sedona

 

We had such a wonderful time seeing the red rocks of Sedona, AZ.... a beautiful place!  These photos really don't do them justice... you need to see them for yourself.

In order to get all my photos, embellishments and words at the same angle.... I simply created my page how I wanted it without an angle, selected all the elements (start off the page and click, hold and drag the mouse over the entire page.... it'll select everything), then grouped them together.  After grouping them, rotate to the angle you want by clicking on the gray box in one corner.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Supplies Used:  My Digital Studio software, Stampin' Up!

Background paper - Textured Cardstock - More Mustard

Embellishments - Brads (Early Espresso)

Stamp Brush Sets - Ink Splatter (Cajun Craze); Autumn Harvest (leaf border - Early Espresso); Autumn Days (leaf and pheasant - Early Espresso)

Freeform Tool - Cajun Craze behind pheasant 

Font - Lavanderia (Early Espresso)

Fire Museum

 

Moving along on our 2012 photobook, but still in June 2012.  I've got a ways to go yet to get caught up! 

I was excited to create this background.... I wanted it to look like a burnt brick building.  I used the 'Well Worn' DSP.... yes, this is what it looks like before I manipulated it:

I achieved the look on my pages by first making my background Basic Black.  I place a photo box over the entire area, and added this Well Worn DSP (#11).  Then, I recolored it Sahara Sand. But....that wasn't all! I changed the opacity to 40%, so that the Black background could show through the paper.  Now isn't that cool!  

On another note, that I got excited about was my smoky cloud!  I used the cloud punch, made it whisper white and changed the opacity to 50%.  I then copied and pasted another cloud...but flipped the image, so that I could create a cloudy box with it! FUN!

Supplies Used: My Digital Studio software, Stampin' Up!

Background paper - Basic Black

Stamp Brush Set - The Great Outdoors (fire - Basic Black); Man's Best Friend (hydrant - Basic Black and Real Red); Oh Whale (splash - Soft Sky)

Freeform Tool - coloring in of fire w/Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie and Real Red

Punch - Flag (filled w/Whisper White); Cloud (filled w/Whisper White at 50% opacity)

Photo box (filled w/Well Worn DSP #11 recolored Sahara Sand at 40% opacity)

Font - Broadway (Real Red); Herald (Basic Black)

AZ Sealife Aquarium - DGSC116

 

Continuing my work on our 2012 photobook, with our trip with Mike's parents to the Arizona Sealife Aquarium.  We had a lovely time.... and it was great to see our favorites -- the jellyfish and seahorses!

In creating these pages, I wanted to incorporate the Digi-Scrap Challenge (DGSC116) found on the Splitcoaststampers website.  It can be found here:  http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/digital-scrapbooking-tuesdays-f253/dgsc116-%96-spring-into-change-april-1-a-t586126.html

The challenge asked us to use a template and change it up, adding layers and masks.  I chose a sketch template from Scrapbooks Etc (SE292).  This is the sketch:

It was a little rough in creating these pages.... as I wanted the sun, clam, whale and starfish to 'look' like they were punched out of each colored paper. I achieved it by utilizing the drop shadow feature on the opposite sides of where I wanted to 'punch out' the stamp. I added a Basic Gray stamp underneath the Coastal Cabana stamp to add depth to the 'punched out' stamps too.  

I cropped each stamp, so that it would fit perfectly in the corner or sides of each colored block.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies Used: My Digital Studio software, Stampin' Up!

Background paper - Coastal Cabana

Embellishments - Baker's Twine (Whisper White cropped)

Stamp Brush Sets - A Split Second (splatter - Soft Sky cropped in some areas); Anchors Away (starfish and clam shell- Basic Gray and Coastal Cabana); Oh Whale (whale - Coastal Cabana; wave - Whisper White and Bermuda Bay); All Time Fave (sun - Basic Gray and Coastal Cabana)

Punch - Square (filled w/ Kiwi Kiss, Calypso Coral, Soft Sky, Summer Sun and Whisper White)

Font - CK Teen Scene (Whisper White and Bermuda Bay)

CAF Museum

 

I'm working my way through designing our 2012 photobook.... I'm on June! Yay....halfway done.

I had some fun creating these two pages.... We took Mike's parents to the Arizona Wing CAF Museum. CAF - stands for 'Commemorative Air Force'.  My Dad is a veteran of the Air Force, so seeing the planes that he used to work on was neat.

Within my software... it was hard to find elements that went with my theme.  I found two planes: the one in black is from 'All Time Fave' Digital Kit and the gray plane is from the 'World Tour' stamp brush set (I cropped this to only show the plane and not the words).

Thanks for looking!

Supplies Used - My Digital Studio software, Stampin' Up!

Background paper - Textured Cardstock (Midnight Muse)

Embellishments - Spring to Life (wheat -recolored Daffodil Delight); Staples and Stitching (zigzag - Whisper White)

Stamp Brush Sets - All Time Fave (plane - Basic Black); World Tour (plane cropped to show only the plane - Smoky Slate); Notes (curly cue - Smoky Slate)

Punch - Square (filled w/Daffodil Delight)

Font - Arial Block (Whisper White)

Sunshine Thanks - MDSM60

I was a bit nervous about creating something with this sketch I found on the MDS Monday blog (MDSM60).  You may view the challenge, and all the cards created with it here: 

http://mdsmonday.blogspot.com/2014/03/mdsm60-card-sketch.html

But, after I started playing with it, changing colors and papers and such! I had some fun with it!  I really like the end result too.

Along with the sketch, the challenge asked us to re-color some embellishments on your page/card.  I chose to re-color the circle embellishment (inside the sunburst)...the decorative edge was green....and I changed it to Black.  Also, the sentiment itself is an embellishment (in the Hooray of Parties Kit)... it was gray with the flowers being different colors -- and I changed it all to be white.

Thanks ladies for an exciting challenge!

Supplies Used - My Digital Studio software, Stampin' Up!

Background - Textured Cardstock (Daffodil Delight)

Punch - Square (filled w/Sunshine and Sprinkles DSP #4); Flag (filled w/ Whisper White and Basic Black); Sunburst (filled w/Daffodil Delight); Circle (filled w/ Basic Black)

Embellishment - Christmas Jingle (circle label - recolored Basic Black); Hooray for Parties (sentiment - recolored Whisper White)

Prayerful Flourish

It's always sad to hear when someone's loved one has passed away.  This one was a bit difficult for me.... as she passed away from pancreatic cancer (the same cancer that took my Mom). 

I cannot take credit for this lovely card.... I found Wanda Pettijohn's card on Pinterest.  Here's her card, on her blog: 

http://www.starlightstamper.com/2013/06/flowering-flourishes-anniversary-card.html

And, I see from her blog, she had inspiration from Deena Boos' card. Here's her card and blog:

http://www.myhomegrownart.blogspot.jp/2013/06/flowering-flourishes-wedding.html

Thanks so much ladies for your inspiration and your lovely cards!

Supplies Used: Stampin' Up products

Stamp Sets - Flowering Flourishes, Thoughts and Prayers

Paper - Sahara Sand, Basic Black, Whisper White

Ink - Staz-on Black

Accessories - stamp-a-ma-jig, ruler (non-SU)