Lewis Ginter Gardens

 

Working again on our 2013 photobook with our trip to the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in Richmond, Virginia.  Such a beautiful place.... it was lovely just walking around, but we also got to see the butterfly exhibit too -- FUN!!!

I loosely used a sketch I saw on the Sweet Shoppe website.  Here's the sketch:

Now, I know this sketch has a ton of embellishments and whatnot, but I wanted to keep mine simple and showcase the lovely DSP (Designer Series Paper).... along with the photos, of course! =)

The DSP is from the paper pack 'Cottage Wall', and although the light purple color was nice....it didn't quite go with my photos.  I was able to darken the paper up to the color you see here.  Within My Digital Studio, here are the steps to change the color of any DSP: 1) Insert a Photo Box to encompass your entire page 2) Select the DSP and bring it in your photo box 3) Choose 'Recolor' in the Design Center (right-hand side of the page) 4) Choose the color you'd like to change your DSP to 5) Select 'ok'.  I chose Concord Crush for my color choice.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Supplies Used:

Background - Cottage Wall DSP #3 recolored Concord Crush

Punch - Flag (filled w/Concord Crush)

Embellishments - Festive Blooms (Whisper White); Bright Blooms (Daffodil Delight)

Font - Long Island (Whisper White); Amaze D and Lucinda Handwriting (Concord Crush)

Independence Day

We only had one photo (from Mike's phone) from our July 4th outing.  We walked 4 miles along the Sammamish River Trail in our neighborhood.  We love it here in the Pacific Northwest.....with so much natural beauty for us to explore.

My page definitely goes along with the Digi-Scrap Challenge on Splitcoaststampers -- Patriotism DGSC119.  You may view the challenge, along with all the pages created with it here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/digital-scrapbooking-tuesdays-f253/dgsc119-patriotism-t589565.html
You'll see many pages that I have completed for this challenge! LOL! I love being patriotic! =)

Thanks for looking!

Supplies Used:
Background - Grad Party DSP #2
Punch - Square (filled w/Cherry Cobbler, Cherry Cobbler DSP and Grad Party DSP#2); Flag (filled w/Whisper White and Cherry Cobbler); Star (filled w/Whisper White)
Font - Bazooka (Cherry Cobbler and Whisper White)

Gardens - DGSCPR0027

I created another scrapbook page for our 2015 calendar.  This is our trip to the Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens in September 2013. (I know.... I was only going to include 'Places we've been to in 2014', but.....sadly we haven't been to many places this year).

I played along with the Splitcoaststampers August Progressive Digi-Scrap Challenge.  You may view the challenge here (at least the first task): http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/digital-scrapbooking-tuesdays-f253/aug-2014-prog-chall-27-task-1-08-05-14-a-t590563.html

Thanks for taking a look!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Brush Sets - Vintage Overlays (Early Espresso), Eclectic Overlays (Early Espresso), Copyright Stamp (cropped for just the swirl - Early Espresso)
Punch - Heart (Early Espresso); Decorative Label (Early Espresso)
Embellishments - Chevron Ribbon (Daffodil Delight); Soft Blooms (Daffodil Delight and Soft Suede)
Fonts - Lover's Quarrel and Loosie Script (Early Espresso); Amazone (Early Espresso and Daffodil Delight

The Memorable Flower

I LOVE how this card turned out! =)

I started thinking about using the two ribbons on a white background with a sentiment on top (right).  I, then, said.... I have so many different stamps....why not utilize two stamps for the sentiment.  Along with the stamp-a-ma-jig to get them aligned perfectly, I used the 'Happy' stamp from the Memorable Moments set and 'Holidays' from the Four the Holidays stamp set.

I felt that the bottom below the ribbon was too plain with it being white, so I added a red strip after embossing it with the Stylish Stripes TIEF.

I wanted to place a 'poinsettia' flower some, so I took out a stamp from the Flower Patch set.....and along with the placement of pearls.... I think it's really an elegant card.

Thanks so much for taking a peek!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Sets - Flower Patch, Memorable Moments, Four the Holidays
Paper - Real Red, Mellow Moss, Whisper White
Ink - Mellow Moss, Real Red
Accessories - Stitched Satin Ribbon (Mellow Moss), Taffeta Ribbon (Real Red), stamp-a-ma-jig, Big Shot, Stylish Stripes TIEF, Flower Fair Framelits, Basic Pearls, dimensionals, glue dots

Petals of Hope

I really like how this one came together.  I wanted to create poinsettias out of the Petite Petals stamp set.... I was originally thinking only three.  I decided to pair it with the Bloom with Hope stamp set.

After stamping the leaves with Mellow Moss.... I felt that they needed to be colored in....since the 'poinsettias' were a solid color and not just the outline.  I colored them in using the lightest color in the Old Olive Blendabilities set.

I felt the Stylish Stripes complimented the panel of flowers and leaves quite beautifully.  I finished the card by rounding the edges.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Sets - Bloom with Hope, Petite Petals
Paper - Mellow Moss, Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White
Ink - Cherry Cobbler, Mellow Moss, Old Olive (blendabilities)
Accessories - Petite Petals Punch, Stylish Stripes TIEF, Big Shot, Corner Round Punch, glue dots

Glittery Flurry

I saw a similar card somewhere online (it was a 4x4 card), and wanted to create one of my own (only in a 4.25x5). Sorry, I don't have the name of the person who created it..... if it's you, please let me know, so I may give you the credit.

Thanks for looking!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Set - Festive Flurry, Many Merry Messages
Paper - Marina Mist, Silver Glimmer Paper
Ink - Versamark
Accessories - Heat Gun, White Embossing Powder, Big Shot, Festive Flurry Framelits, Frosted Finishes, glue dots

Lady Liberty - DGSC119

 

Completed another page in our 2013 photobook! Yay!  Still working in July 2013, but I'm getting up-to-date!  While Mike was working in Connecticut, we decided to drive to see the Statue of Liberty. WOW! I believe everyone should take a trip to see her..... it was amazing!  We took a ferry (from the New Jersey side) <---- much less traffic.  We had such a beautiful day too.

My page fits so nicely with the Splitcoaststampers Digi-Scrap Challenge from July 2014 -- Patriotism (DGSC119).  You may view the challenge here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/digital-scrapbooking-tuesdays-f253/dgsc119-patriotism-t589565.html

Thanks for taking a look!

Supplies Used:

Background - Cherry Cobbler

Stamp Brush Set - Decorative Overlays (starburst - Whisper White)

Punch - Star (Whisper White); Timeless Type Junior Alphabet (words - Land of the Free - Whisper White)

Font - Arial Black (Night of Navy)

Soft Flurry - TCC17

I was inspired by the 'Inspiration Photo' on The Card Concept Blog (TCC17).  You may view the challenge along with all the cards created with it here: 

http://thecardconcept.blogspot.ca/2014/08/challenge-17-be-inspired.html

I was first taken in by Deanna Jean's card (check out her card on the link above) with it's simplicity -- lots of white space, and white on white.

I decided to create a 'Clean and Layered' card, so I could add more layers of color.  I stuck with two colors -- Soft Sky and Whisper White.

It probably looked fine that way, but I wanted to step it up a bit, so I added some Rhinestones to give it an added Sparkle.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies Used:

Stamp Set - Festive Flurry

Paper - Soft Sky, Whisper White

Ink - Soft Sky

Accessories - Basic Rhinestones

Stylish Flurries - FMS150

Decided to work on a few challenges, as well as to create a few Christmas cards too!  When I saw the sketch on the Freshly Made Sketches blog (FMS150), I immediately thought of using the Festive Flurry stamp set.  Not sure if you can see on my photo, but I used the Stylish Stripes TIEF on the bottom strip.

You may view the Freshly Made Sketch Challenge here: http://freshlymadesketches.blogspot.com/2014/08/freshly-made-sketches-150-sketch-by.html

I'm a bit disappointed that I have ink smudges toward the top.  I had set the card aside and then went to pick it up to take a photo of it.....not noticing that I had ink on my thumb. I'm debating whether or not to redo the whole thing (it's that perfectionist in me). lol

Thanks for taking a look!

Supplies Used:

Stamp Set - Festive Flurry

Paper - Night of Navy, Whisper White

Ink - Night of Navy

Accessories - Big Shot, Stylish Stripes TIEF, Festive Flurry Framelits, Taffeta Ribbon (Silver), dimensionals, glue dots

Tulip Festival

I decided to work on a calendar page for our 2015 "Places We've Been in 2014!".  We took a drive up north to the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. Tulips are my favorite flower.... wow! were there many flowers on display too!  We even purchased some tulips to take home.  Beautiful!

Thanks for taking a peek!

Supplies Used:
Background - Pool Party
Stamp Brush Sets - Handpicked for Mom (tulips - Gumball Green, Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie, Concord Crush, Real Red); Decorative Overlays (swirl - Whisper White)
Punch - Flag (Daffodil Delight)
Font - Adorable (Basic Black)

Wallace Falls - SC85

I decided to work on a sketch challenge from the Stampin' Celebration blog (SC85).  You may view the challenge and all the entries related to this challenge here: http://stampincelebrationblog.blogspot.com/2014/08/sc85-sketch-by-anita.html

I had a lot of fun with this sketch, and I will definitely use this page for our 2015 calendar (places we've been to in 2014)! Thanks Anita at Stampin' Celebration for your inspirational sketch!

I did NOT have Island Indigo Dotted paper, so I created my own within MDS -- using Soft Sky for my Dots on top of Island Indigo background.  I saved that image (.jpg file) to my computer as a DSP paper within the MDS software.  I was then able to choose this Dotted Island Indigo paper for my Flag Punch on my page. How cool is that -- creating your own DSP!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Brush Sets - Dots, Dots, Dots (Soft Sky); Decorative Overlays (woodgrain - Early Espresso)
Background - Textured Cardstock (Early Espresso)
Punch - Flag (filled w/Playful Patterns DSP - Pear Pizzazz and Island Indigo; Pear Pizzazz Small Dots DSP; Island Indigo Small Dots DSP -- created by me); Square (filled w/ Crumb Cake)
Embellishments - Twitterpated (button - Island Indigo); Staples and Stitching (zigzag - Chocolate Chip)
Font - Banner (Early Espresso)

Sweet Seaside

I really loved the 'Seaside' stamp set.... one of my favorite 'retired' stamp sets from Stampin' Up!. With the new 'blendabilities markers' came out, I wanted to use them with this lovely set.  I used the 'skin tones' blendabilities set.

I wanted my card to have one think of a beach....relaxation and peace.  I hope I've conveyed that within this card.  The knot you see on the card is a 'sailor's knot'.

Thanks for taking a peek!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Sets - Seaside (retired), Sweet Essentials (retired)
Paper - Baked Brown Sugar, Very Vanilla, Coastal Cabana, Whisper White
Ink - Blendabilities (Skin Tones), Early Espresso, Memento
Accessories - Big Shot, Decorative Dots TIEF, scissors, twine (non-SU), Blendabilities Color Lifter

Prayerful Blooms

I needed a 'get well' card and was inspired by Karen Barber's lovely card with her blooms over all the edges that I decided to create one of my own.  Karen's card had more color and more blooms, so I wanted to be a tiny bit different and just stick with orange and yellow blooms (although, I did use red on the berries).

Thanks Karen!

Supplies Used:
Stamp Sets - Bloom with Hope, Thoughts and Prayers
Paper - Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, Whisper White
Ink - Daffodil Delight, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive, Real Red, Memento
Accessories - Blendabilities Color Lifter

Mike's Milestone

 

Upon seeing this sketch on the Sweet Shoppe website..... I wanted to see if I could recreate something similar for my husband's birthday scrapbook page.  The hardest part for me was to create the strips of paper with the angled tips.

In creating the angled strips, I used the flag punch.  I cropped the punch (lengthwise), to create the angled edge you see.  I copied and pasted another strip, so that it looked like it continued under the photo on the opposite side.  Aligning them was a challenge, but so worth it!

Thanks for taking a peek!

Supplies Used:

Background - Textured Cardstock (Night of Navy)

Stamp Brush Sets - Lemonade Stand (words Happy Birthday - Tempting Turquoise and Basic Black); A Cute Christmas (Tempting Turquoise)

Punch - Square (Basic Black and Textured Cardstock Whisper White); Flag (cropped lengthwise - Glimmer DSP Gold, Textured Cardstock Tempting Turquoise and Textured Cardstock Basic Black) 

Font - Cooper Black (Whisper White)

PanCan Walk 2013

 

Continuing work on our 2013 photobook with our walk to raise funds for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (June 2013).  As many people know.... my Mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in May 2012.  She passed away February 2014, and we miss her so very much still.

As a family, we never got together for a cause before, so this walk was new to us.  At the time, my Mom thought she would be able to join in the walk..... but with her extreme fatigue, she was unable to do so.  Many friends and family members joined in on the walk though.  As both Deb and I don't reside in Cleveland, we chose to walk at the same day/time from where we were (Hutto and Seattle). Our Team "Mom Schwab Team" raised over $2000. Wow! What an accomplishment!

We all enjoyed our experience, and felt that it would be something that we could do each year. Unfortunately, this year....since my Mom passed away.... we all felt too heartbroken to do the walk. Maybe in time we can find something to do as a family (in memory of our Mom).

Thanks for looking!

Supplies Used:

Background - Lap of Luxury DSP #6

Stamp Brush Set - Ribbon of Hope (Concord Crush)

Punch - Square and Dotted Scallop Ribbon (Whisper White)

Font - Bradley Hand ITC (Concord Crush and Whisper White)

Hawaii - MDSM76

 

I wanted to play with a few challenges today.... this one is from the MDS Monday Blog (MDSM76). You may view the challenge here: http://mdsmonday.blogspot.com/2014/08/mdsm76-dt-call.html

This layout was inspiring to me, as it provided a way to showcase some of our Hawaii landscape photos.  Thanks MDS Monday!  I will definitely use this page as one of the pages in our 2015 calendar for next year! So Beautiful!

Thanks for taking a look!

Supplies Used:

Background - Textured Cardstock - Daffodil Delight

Embellishments - Simple Snapshots (border, leaves and flowers -- a few flowers recolored)

Stamp Brush Set - Anchors Away (title words - Whisper White)

Punch - Square (filled w/Whisper White)

Historic Tredegar

Continuing work on our 2013 photobook. This was part of our trip to Richmond, VA seeing the Iron Works 'Tredegar', who provided ammunition to the Confederate soldiers of the Civil War. Such rich history in Richmond.....as I said before, we definitely need to take another trip there.... there is so much to see.

I did not have a 'bomb' stamp, so I created one using a circle punch, a square punch and the 'July Fourth' stamp (cropping just the fuse). In creating the reflection on the bomb (the crescent shape), I custom-made it starting with a circle punch in the My Digital Studio program. FUN!

Thanks for taking a peek!

Supplies Used:

Background - Basic Black with 'Well Worn DSP' #11 overlaying it at 60% opacity

Stamp Brush Set - July Fourth (stars - Basic Black and fuses - Basic Black)
Punch - Square (Basic Black and Textured Cardstock - Basic Gray); Circle (Basic Black); Crescent (Basic Gray)
Font - Wide Latin (Basic Black and Basic Gray); Cooper Black (Basic Black)