Big Heart Valentine

Just a quick post...well as quick as I can be sometime! I need to be getting things done so that I am ready to leave for a Florida vacation on Monday. It is not super warm where I am going, but it will be warmer than here! My sister and I are taking my kids down to visit both sets of their grandparents (my parents and my husband's parents both"winter" in the same location). So with the grandparents around, I am hoping I might get to sit back and relax for a little bit too!!

Anyway in keeping with my quick post idea...this is my card using the current Mojo Monday Sketch...Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #124. I actually did a little double duty on this card. One I got the Valentine's Day card done for my son (now to remember to pack it with me!), I participated in the Papertrey Ink Anniversary Challenge to do the emboss resist technique, and I got my Mojo on! Yeah me! Anyway the image is from Happy Heart Day from Stampin' Up! Sorry you are seeing a lot of this one...I think it is one of my few Valentine themed sets! The heart image is from an old SAB set, Mini Messages. I did the emboss resist technique on the background behind the elephant...wasn't planning on the whole heart cloud thing at first, but I like how it turned out that way! I did a little cut grass under my elephant (that was embossed and cut out by the way) and tried to repeat the cut grass look below the sentiment...think I got more of a grass skirt look there, but fun nonetheless. The red panel was embossed with the Cuttlebug Heart Blocks embossing folder. I think that about sums it up for the card.

Have a great remainder of the weekend...I need to get packing. I am a little nervous about flying with my kids...I have never flown with them before. Thankful my sister is coming along, but still nervous my daughter is going to scream (and mind you she can hit octaves and decibels I have never heard before...and probably won't be able to hear again because she does this kind of screaming right into my ear) the entire flight. Wish me luck! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Happy Heart Day, Mini Messages (SU!); Paper - Whisper White, Bashful Blue, Real Red, Green Galore (SU!), Basic White (PTI); Ink - Versamark, Bashful Blue, Real Red; Accessories - Stardust Stickles, Cuttlebug Block Hearts Embossing Folder (Provo), Oval Nestabilities (Spellbinders), white gel pen (Signo), stitched red grosgrain ribbon (unknown), dimensionals, scissors

Round Happy Heart

It is Sweet Stop Time! That means it is time for Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #42. This was a fun one...but a little hard at the same time! A round card...very cool, but not something I do very often (if ever)! I decided I need some more practice at watercoloring...especially with the Aqua brushes. Feeling a bit more confident with them now...way too much water was coming out my first time. I think I did a bit better job this time and I even included the light grey outline around the image to help it pop a little off of the page. You can see how I did in the detail shot...be kind though, I am still working on this! My image is from the Happy Heart Day set from Stampin' Up! and is stamped in Brilliance Graphite Black. The patterned paper is Sweet Love - Big Love by Little Yellow Bicycle. The ribbon is some that I picked up in the dollar aisle (might have been the $2.50 section) at Jo-Anns around Halloween time last year. I just love how sparkly it is!

Now the thing that stands out most on this card are the very cool and very big flowers. I love the look of them...do you think they are too big? I think I like the fact that they are so over the top! But they are big and thick, so this is definitely not a card to mail and maybe not even put in an envelope! This will be my son's teacher's Valentine card (in addition to the one that he will make himself...gotta give a nice one too), so it will be hand delivered. Anyway, I take no credit for the idea of these gorgeous flowers. Mercy Kerin at Lord Have Mercy posted a tutorial on how to make them...so fun and easy! You can see the amount of dimension they add in my detail shot...like I said, not very mailable! The card was finished off with some red sticker rhinestones...found mine in the jewelry section of Jo-Anns. The main circle was then mounted on a scallop circle that forms the card base...hint it is actually two scallop circles with one that has a score mark near the top, then they are adhered together above the score line, so the bottom one is what allows it to open...did that make sense?

Oh and did you hear, there are two new Sugar Babies! Please welcome Lisa Hjulberg and Nancy Brown! Now go check out what they and the other Sugar Babies have created: Ann, Audrey, Candace, Jodi, Julie, Lisa, Nancy, Nicole, Renata, and the Sugar Mama, Korin. Better yet, make your own card with the sketch and link it up to the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge Blog! Word is that the "powers that be" are looking through all of those submissions to find the next Guest Designer for the Sweet Stop...so get your project linked up!! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Happy Heart Day (SU!); Paper - Sage Shadow, Pink Passion, Real Red cardstock (SU!), Sweet Love-Big Love pattern paper (Little Yellow Bicycle), watercolor paper; Ink - Brilliance Graphite Black (Tsukineko), Sage Shadow, Pink Passion, Real Red, Close to Cocoa (SU!); Accessories - Circle and Scallop Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), 5 Petal Flower Punch, Scallop Edge Punch (SU!), Sparkle Red Ribbon (Wyla), Red Rhinestone stickers (unknown), scoring blade, aqua brush, dimensionals

Chill Out

I am so excited...almost giddy! My favorite show is back on tonight...LOST! My schedule is clear (well except for putting kids to bed, but that is the best part about DVR's...won't miss a moment!) and I am very excited to see how they will finish off this series! Anyone else a LOST fanatic like myself?

The second challenge during the Virtual Stamp Night (VSN) on SplitCoast Stampers was to create a card with snow or ice on it (Chill Out). After learning how to make faux polar white Flower Soft (see tutorial HERE), I was all about the snow! The tutorial shows how easy it is to make your own flower soft and even color it if you so desire...fantastic!! Anyway, since there was going to be snow, it had to be a winter themed card, but I am really tired of winter already, so I had to add a glimpse of spring. That is how my color combination of Melon Mambo, Soft Suede, and Bashful Blue came about...really liking the combo! Anyway, the tree was stamped in Soft Suede and then the edges of the paper were sponged with Bashful Blue (really only leaving the center white...so more than just the edges). I added lines of glue to the branches and sprinkled on my faux Flower Soft. Very pretty (check out the detail shot below)! The bird was stamped in Melon Mambo and cut out and placed in my tree.

The sentiment, stamped in Melon Mambo, is from the Beautiful You set by Verve Stamps. I keep reading that sentiment and trying to take it literally...the winter will not last forever and it will be warm again before I know it...right?! I finished off the card with a white taffeta bow and three hot pink rhinestone brads (unknown brand).

Here is my friend Stephanie's card for the same challenge. I love the snow on the words brrr! So cute. She was pretty funny with the yarn. It was on the supplies list for the VSN so she was bound and determine to use it even though this wasn't the challenge that required it! Leave her some love and I will be sure to pass it onto her!

That is all for me. Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Season of Friendship (SU!), Beautiful You (Verve Stamps); Paper - Bashful Blue PP, Melon Mambo textured, Soft Suede, Whisper White; Ink - Soft Suede, Bashful Blue, Melon Mambo; Accessories - faux Flower Soft, white taffeta ribbon (SU!), hot pink rhinestone brads (unknown), dimensionals

Opening Ceremonies

So my friend (hi Steph!) and I participated in our first Virtual Stamp Night (VSN) on SplitCoast Stampers. It was so much fun...although they do challenge you sometimes, so our brains felt a little exhausted at the end...or maybe that was just the frustration of the VSN forum acting up. The second challenge wasn't uploaded until 8:30 instead of 8 pm. But the moderators did a fantastic job of making up for the very slow uploading. My cards turned out fairly good...there is probably little things that I would change on some of the cards if I gave myself more time, but I found I could make a decent card in 45 minutes!

Anyway, the first challenge was titled Opening Ceremonies. We were to pick a flag of one of the countries that participate in the Winter Olympics and create a card based on those colors. I couldn't not pick team USA, so my colors were Red, white, and blue. Sticking with the winter theme (not that we had to, but for some reason I did) I chose to use an old SU! set, Bundled Up.

I actually pieced the sweater together before I realized that my friend actually had a red marker (if I would have known I would have just colored the stamp) and cut it out. The snowflake border was stamped along the top and bottom in Whisper White Craft ink. Final touch was white gel pen dots around the Night of Navy strip (trying to tie it to the dots on the sweater).

Now here is Steph's card...she knows I took pictures of her cards, so I hope that means she didn't care that I show them here. Any love you leave for her, I will happily pass along!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Bundled Up, All Year Cheer I; Paper - Night of Navy, Real Red, Whisper White; Ink - Night of Navy, Real Red, Whisper White Craft; Accessories - White Gel Pen, dimensionals

Masculine Stars

Whew it has been a cold week here! I hate it when it is just darn right bitter outside. So I will stay inside, play with the kiddos, and maybe even get some crafting done! I am looking forward to participating in my first Virtual Stamp Night (VSN) on SplitCoast tonight! I even have a friend coming over to play with me...how fun! I will admit though I am very nervous I am going to have a bunch of unfinished cards as you are suppose to finish them in 45 minutes...yeek! I usually take longer than that so we will see how I do. Check it out if you can!

Now onto the subject at hand! It is Sweet Stop time! That is right it is time for the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #41. I was in desperate need for a masculine card...actually over a week late for my brother-in-law's birthday...so I pulled out the Seeing Stars set from Verve Stamps. Note to self: Find and buy more masculine stamps....seriously I feel like I have absolutely none! So stars it is for now. I stamped and embossed the star on Basic Grey Ambrosia - Tangy pattern paper and cut it out. I adhered it to Whisper White cardstock and framed it with Bordering Blue cardstock that was distressed a little and sponged with Chocolate Chip ink. The base Ruby Red layer was stamped with the Sanded background stamp from Stampin' Up! The sentiment, from the Verve Stamps Starlight Starbright stamp set, was also embossed and layered on another piece of distress and sponged Bordering Blue cardstock. I added the pointer things (what are those called?) at the bottom of the star held in place by some star brads from Oriental Trading. Those same stars were added to the top corner of the card. Lastly was some black cord wrapped around twice and knotted on the side. I think I achieved a masculine card...always so hard!

So now go check out the other sugar babies beautiful creations: Ann, Audrey, Candace, Jodi, Julie, Nicole, Renata, and the Sugar Mama, Korin. Better yet, make a card with the sketch yourself and link to it on the Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge Blog! Have a great weekend and if my cards turn out somewhat decent from the VSN, I may post them! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Seeing Stars, Starlight Starbright (Verve Stamps); Paper - Bordering Blue, Ruby Red, Basic Black, Whisper White cardstock (SU!), Ambrosia - Tangy pattern paper (Basic Grey); Ink - Versamark, Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip (SU!); Accessories - Pewter Hardware (SU!), Pewter Star Brads (Oriental Trading), black cord, black embossing powder, heat gun, dimensionals

Sweet Gymnastics

Well it is a cold start to the week here. Yesterday we had a day of warmer weather (not sure it quite reached 50 degrees), but it was enough to take the chill out of the air and melt all of the snow...made our second snowman finally topple over...he had been leaning since the second day we made him! But today...today the chill is definitely back and I feel I have to struggle to stay warm. It is only in the 20's, but I think it feels worse because of that warmer day. Makes me look forward to (hopefully) warmer weather when I take the kids to Florida to visit their grandparents that "winter" down there.

So I thought I would share another scrapbook page with y'all. My son started gymnastics a year and a half ago...still loves it, so we continue to sign him up...very curious to see how far he takes it or if he does at all...one of those times I would love a time machine just so I could see real quick into the future! Anyway, while at the scrapbook event that I made this page at, one of the vendors had gymnastics paper...and it wasn't all girl gymnasts pictures nor was it all pink and girly! So I bought some and used it here. It makes up the background for the page...love it! I once again used a sketch from PageMaps and I stuck to the sketch pretty close on this one. The stars are from the Verve Stamps set Seeing Stars and they were stamped and embossed on the colored cardstock and then cut-out by hand. The title was created with the Cricut Schoolbook (I think!) cartridge...the Cricut is my sister's so I don't have it to verify...and I hand drew the white lines with a white gel pen so that they would look like the stars. The journaling took a little bit due to the fact that you cut out each word, but I like the look. I am going to apologize in advance for my lack of remembering what kind of paper I use on my scrapbook pages! I usually can remember the patterned stuff, but a lot of the solid stuff I don't pay attention to...sorry!

Well off to try and stay warm and maybe do a little stamping! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Seeing Stars (Verve Stamps); Paper - Yellow (unknown), Gymnastics (Reminisce), Baby Safari Boy Small Dots (Little Yellow Bicycle); Ink - Whisper White Craft (SU!); Accessories - Cricut Schoolbook Cartridge (Provo Craft), red rick-rack (JoAnn Essentials), white gel pen (Signo), White embossing powder (SU!), heat gun, dimensionals

Cocoa's Warm Wishes

Can you believe it is already time for another Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge! Well it is and we are still so excited by the amount of participants that played with us last week! We were up to 51 when I last checked! Fantastic! Like before, I checked out all of the creations, but I apologize if I missed someone!

The current sketch, Sweet Stop Sketch Challenge #40, is a great one. Did anyone else have trouble with the sentiment only spin last week? It was nice to not have a restriction this week. So I decided to finally try a Digi stamp! This is my first time trying out the Digi stamps...and I am confident I need some more practice! Plus the Digi stamps tend to be ones that you have to color a lot and again I need some more practice! But, I gave it a go and it turned out ok. I used the Sweet n Sassy Digi stamp, Cocoa's Mittens. Isn't he just the sweetest mouse you have ever seen?! Totally wouldn't put a trap out for him...unless I was trying to keep him for a pet! I printed him out on watercolor paper (so excited that my printer was able to handle the watercolor paper...it has major issues with cardstock so I was nervous!) and then watercolored him. I actually tried a new method for me for watercoloring but using one of the aquabrushes and my ink pads...need some more practice, but it worked out. I just couldn't get the shading that I wanted...kept having too much water! I cut him out (even around the tail) and popped him up on a square. I punched out two arctic snowflakes of Very Vanilla and attached them to some squares with Red Rhinestone brads. The patterned paper is Stampin' Up! Merry Moments and I finished that off with a strip of red rick-rack.

So I hope you will play along again with the Sugar Babies this week! Check out all of the other beautiful creations by the other Sugar Babies: Ann, Audrey, Candace, Jodi, Julie, Nicole, Renata, and the Sugar Mama, Korin. Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Cocoa's Mittens Digi (Sweet n Sassy Stamps), So Many Sayings (retired SU!); Paper - Merry Moments DSP (SU!), Night of Navy, Very Vanilla, watercolor paper; Ink - Very Vanilla Craft, Night of Navy, Real Red, Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink; Accessories - Arctic Snowflake Punch (Martha Stewart), Red Rick-Rack (JoAnn Essentials), Circle Red Rhinestone Brads (SU!), Aqua Brush (H2GO), dimensionals