Scrappin' Thomas and Some Pics

Whew! That is how I feel tonight. We just got back from a fun trip to the West side of Michigan visiting the Silver Lake area and Michigan's Adventure Amusement Park. It was a great trip but after a long night with a sick little girl and a 3-4 hour drive home, all I can say is "Whew, glad to be home"!

So I finally got to scrapbook a week ago with my Scrappin' girls. I had missed the last one and I worked on Adi's thank you cards the month before that. So I started off with the double page sketch that I assigned my girls for the month...yup I assign them sketches...I am such a drill sargeant. One of my favorite plaes to get scrapbooking sketches is Page Maps by Becky Fleck. You can see the sketch I assigned at the bottom of this post. By the way, why is it so hard to get pictures of scrapbook pages?! Any advice on that one?

I decided to finally scrapbook some pictures from my son's Day Out With Thomas experience from 2007...yes I am that far behind! Anyway, I had won a whole set of Thomas and Friends stamps by Cornish Heritage Farms on a fellow blogger's site, {stampin' gal val}. She designs for them and was given a set to give away! So I finally broke them out for this page.

The Thomas paper is from Jo-Anns and I didn't note the manufacturer. The rest of the paper is either from Jo-Anns again or Stampin' Up!. I forgot to note manufacturers on the non-Su! paper...when I was working on this it was very late! Oh well, standard stuff at Jo-Anns. Page 1 of the double page turned out good...page 2 not so much. I don't like the journaling area...I like the idea of it, but my execution was not so good. Oh well, it doesn't bother me enough to change it!

It has been a long while since I have shared some cute kid pictures...so how can I deny you any further! We went to the Detroit Zoo less than a month ago to see the Dinosauria Exhibit and I managed to do a mini photo session with my son...and I didn't just get the crazy "cheeser" smile that he normally does.

So enjoy my cutie boy and I will show my cutie girl in the next post! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Various Thomas and Friends (Cornish Heritage Farms), Quirky Alphabet Upper (retired), Brushstroke Alphabet (retired); Paper - Basic Black, Whisper White, Thomas Paterned Paper and other Solids (unknown, but bought at Jo-Anns); Ink - Basic Black; Accessories - Pewter Brads, White Gel Pen, dimensionals

Pendant Ornament

So I didn't plan my days very well while the kids are gone. I was so excited to get the house clean and actually live in a clean house for a little while, that I did that yesterday and saved my yardwork for today. Well guess what...today it is raining! I saw the forecast ahead of time and it said scattered showers, so I figured I would be ok. Looking pretty rainy out there...maybe it will clear up this afternoon so I can get a little bit done outside. I definitely have other stuff to keep me busy, so no worries!

This is my final non-winning Spellbinder Pendant Project Contest entry. I will admit that it is a little plain, but I thought it was cool nonetheless. This is made up of 4 Fleur-de-Lis Pendants scored down the middle and adhered back to back of each other. The same was done for the center part in Real Red using the smaller Fleur-de-Lis Pendant. I uesd some silver cord down the middle to hold the Real Red middle pendant and to give a loop at the top to actually hang the ornament. Then I used some self-adhesive Red Rhinestones to "bling"it up a bit. Fairly plain and simple, but getting the whole thing adhered together was a time-consuming process.

Finally got my scrapbook pages that I did last weekend off of my camera, so I will be posting those soon. Until then, have a great Wednesday and thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - None; Paper - Bashful Blue, Real Red; Ink - None; Accessories - Silver cord (unknown), self-adhesive Red Rhinestones (Darice), Mono Multi Glue (Tombow)

Kaleidoscope Raspberry Tart

Freedom! Let me say it again...Freedom! Freedom from what you might ask...Freedom from being on a child's schedule and freedom to do what I want when I want...for 3 days! My parents took both kids for 3 nights, so I am on my own schedule now. Today is house cleaning and date night and tomorrow is yardwork and Mom's Night. Although I have discovered that being left without a schedule allows me to sleep in longer than I usually would...I actually slept till 9 am this morning! A good thing, but also a little detrimental to being productive! I am sure that I will be missing the kids terribly by the time Thursday comes around, but until then I shall enjoy my Freedom!

So this is the second of my non-winning entries in the Spellbinders Pendant Project Contest (see the winners HERE). This was using the Kaleidoscope Pendant. I am not going to lie to you...this one took AWHILE! You may not notice right away, but the pendant has been broken up into 8 slices! So that means it was cut out 4 times (I repeated 4 patterns) just to make the base pendant. Then I used the pieces that are cut out of the pendant (the stuff you normally throw away) to decorate the embossed areas on the center Rose Red pendant. The same was done for the embossed areas on the base pendant with Kiwi Kiss cardstock. Just imagine trying to figure out what patterned paper was what on a teeny, tiny scrap! What was I thinking?! All of this was layered on a Kiwi Kiss layer and popped up on a base layer that was made up by the 4 patterns again. Some white gel pen dots and white taffeta ribbon finished it off.

I still really like the card, but I don't think I would tackle it again due to its time-consuming nature! Well off to start the house-cleaning! Enjoy your day and thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - None; Paper - Raspberry Tart DSP, Rose Red, Kiwi Kiss; Ink - None; Accessories - Kaleidoscope Pendant (Spellbinders), White Taffeta Ribbon, Ice Circle Rhinestone Brads, White Gel Pen (Signo), dimensionals

Kissing Love Birds

So you know how you get those very touching moments as a parent when a child tells you they love you without you saying it first? Well my husband and I got the exact opposite moment this evening! We got the "You guys are so mean, I don't want to live here anymore!" moment...ahhh the joys of parenthood! This was after Elijah got a timeout for pushing his sister. When asked where he would live, he said "I am gonna live with Grandma & Grandpa!". Too funny! But all is better now and he is back to wanting to live with us...didn't even get to packing a bag...can't wait for that one!

So this is the first of my non-winning Spellbinders Pendant Project Contest entries (you can see all of the winners HERE). I used the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #96 for the layout. I just got (used) the Verve Anniversary Birds set and I, low and behold, needed an Anniversary card for my parents. Since this was for my parents and my Mom has an obsession with the color blue, I pulled out the Parisian Breeze DSP that was retired in July. Each bird is paper pieced with solid Baja Breeze cardstock and the Parisian Breeze DSP. They were placed upon a circle of white which was on top of the Contemporary Hearts Pendant. The Pendant was sponging with Chocolate Chip ink and bits of white and Baja Breeze were added to the back to fill in some of the holes. Then I used the Contemporary Hearts Borderabilities to create the strips of Chocolate Chip which I added a strip of Baja Breeze to. Then a little Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon (love that taffeta ribbon!) finished it off.

I am off to organize some more pictures and figure out what pictures I am going to scrapbook tomorrow night...yup you read that right...scrapbook! I feel like it has been ages since I have done any scrapbooking! Me and my girls (well not all of them) are getting together to do a little scrappin' tomorrow night. I assigned them a sketch and everything...look at me crackin' the whip! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Anniversary Birds (Verve Stamps); Paper - Basic White (Papertrey Ink), Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Parisian Breeze DSP, Kraft; Ink - Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip; Accessories - Contemporary Hearts Pendants and Borderabilities (Spellbinders), Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon, White gel pen, sponge, dimensionals

Love Pendant and Shaking Moment

Ok I am still shaking right now! Partly because I just got done doing a workout (Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred...tough workout!) and I can barely lift my arms, but mostly because I just got an email saying I had a project accepted for the March/April 2010 Issue of Paper Crafts Magazine! That is right, I am going to see my name in print in a magazine...with one of my cards, of course! Totally shocked and amazed right now...I actually started crying when I called my husband to tell him. Sorry I can't show you what got accepted, but when the magazine is released, I will be sure to point out which one is mine (I have no problem exploiting myself!). So now I have to learn about all of the paperwork and such that goes with having something accepted. Woohoo!!!

So this card, obviously, is not the one accepted. This is the last of my cards for the Verve 2nd Anniversary Sketch Challenges. This is also the last card I did in a night of 3 cards...so it was a wee bit late when I made this...so don't judge me too hard! I do like parts of it, but as a whole...let's just say it is not my best work! So I chose to try (oh why did I decide to try this one) the SCS Color Challenge #228: Not Quite Navy, Really Rust, and Pretty in Pink. Really? I guess it combines ok, but man was it a tough one...and like I said not 100% pleased. I used the Renaissance Hearts Pendant (the small one) for my main circle...layered onto a larger circle and a scallop circle. I sponged the Really Rust through the die for the funky heart shapes and then sponged the edges of the pendant. This was my attempt to tone down the pink...it just felt so bright up against the Really Rust and Not Quite Navy. The patterned paper is a retired Hostess Prints Pack (on Pretty in Pink). I used the Renaissance Borderabilities along the bottom of the card and sponged Craft Whisper White ink through the die...note to self I need smaller sponge daubers...my normal sponge was a pain in the you know what! I finished off the card with some rhinestone stickers (need more...I have been using these a lot lately!) and some white taffeta ribbon.

Ok I have calmed down a little by typing this, but when I think about getting accepted, I start to shake all over again! So exciting! Well anyway, thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - None; Paper - Not Quite Navy, Really Rust, Pretty in Pink, Pretty in Pink PP, Whisper White; Ink - Really Rust, Whisper White Craft; Accessories - Love & Happiness Rub-ons (retired SAB), Circle and Scallop Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Renaissance Hearts Pendants and Borderabilities (Spellbinders), White Taffeta Ribbon, Rhinestone Stickers (Me & My Big Ideas), dimensionals

Dance-Sing-Live

So why does being a Mom have to be so difficult sometimes? I need to remind myself that if it were easy than it probably wouldn't be a rewarding during those good times...right?! I am trying to get my 4 year old son to understand that his sister is a real person and not a doll that he can move around to suite his desires or a toy that he can randomly go up and smack on the head or in the belly! My poor little girl puts up with a lot. He is not doing it in a mean manner, but he is definitely not giving her the space she deserves! And man, I get so very,very frustrated when I have to repeat the same thing over and over again to him! Ahhhh! Ok, I need to look at the last line on this card and do as it says...let it go!

So on to the card at hand...this was one of the other cards I did for the Verve 2nd Anniversary Sketch Challenges (which I was not one of the randomly chosen winners...insert sad face here, but I do now have 5 cards ready for upcoming birthdays and such...insert happy face!). This was my second card in my night of three...so not entirely sure I like all of it, but I like portions of it! I used the circle Nestabilities to cut out the sentiment from Verve Stamps Beautiful You set and then sponged it with Pretty in Pink ink while it was still in the die...gives it that white edge. I used the flower from the Beautiful You set to make the patterned paper on the left and used some of the To the Nines DSP on the right side. The pretty in pink square was embossed with the Cuttlebug Textile embossing folder.

I have one more of my Verve Sketch Challenge cards to post and now some losing (although I still like them) Spellbinders cards I created for their Pendant Project Contest...so I will talk to you later! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Beautiful You (Verve Stamps); Paper - To the Nines DSP, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink, Whisper White; Ink - Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink; Accessories - Circle and Scallop Square Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Corner Rounder Punch, Cuttlebug Textile Embossing Folder, Pink Satin ribbon (Offray), Antique Brass Jumbo Eyelets, sponge, Crop-a-Dile, dimensionals

Fall Garden Birthday

Would you believe that I actually got all of the Verve 2nd Anniversary sketch challenges done! I did the last 3 last night...which of course means I stayed up way to late and the last card or so, may have been a bit rushed...but they are done, so now I am in the drawing for the entire August release! Keeping my fingers crossed!

So I have 3 cards to show you, but I am going to break them up into 3 posts...mainly because I hate writing really long posts...and multiple cards means long post!

So this is my favorite of the 3 I did last night...you will probably see the quality of the cards go down hill as I will show you them in the order that I made them. This was done with a fresh head though, so it turned out good. This is using the AVS205 Sketch and I stuck to the sketch pretty closely (of course my flowers make up the circles in the sketch). I finally inked up my new Greenhouse Garden stamp set that I have had for a week or so. Love the whole 2-step Stamping thing for flowers...they just always turn out so pretty! So of course I love how the flowers came out. I stamped each flower in one of the new In Colors: Rich Razzelberry, Dusty Durango, and Crushed Curry. Then I stamped the detail image for each flower in Elegant Eggplant, Really Rust, and More Mustard...perfect combinations to get the tone-on-tone style flower, but more vibrant than just using the same color. I embossed two strips of Crushed Curry and rubbed some More Mustard over the top to give it a bit more definition. Then just used textured cardstock on my bottom layer with some faux stitching with my respective darker color. The sentiment comes from the Women of Life set by Papertrey Ink.

Off to clean a sink and get a little cleaned up for dinner. Family dinner out and maybe a movie for Mom and Dad tonight...that is if my husband doesn't fall asleep again like last night. See I wasn't even planning on stamping (or completing all of the sketches), but he fell asleep after saying he was going to take a tiny nap at 9:40 pm...yeah, he never woke up until 2 am...and I was actually still up! So here is to coffee or some sort of caffeine so we can watch a movie...geez we are so sad sometimes! Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Greenhouse Garden, Women of Life (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Basic White (Papertrey Ink), Rich Razzelberry Textured, Dusty Durango Textured, Crushed Curry, More Mustard, Whipser White; Ink - Rich Razzelberry, Dusty Durango, Crushed Curry, Elegant Eggplant, Really Rust, More Mustard; Accessories - White Taffeta Ribbon, Swiss Dots Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Paper Piercer, Mat Pack, dimensionals

Birthday Circle Flowers

Look at me go! I got another one of the Verve Stamps 2nd Anniversary Sketch Challenges done! Not sure I will get the remaining three in by the deadline though...unless of course I hit some major creative genius in the next 24 hours...and have the time to actually make them. I don't think that thinking about what I would do for each sketch will count for much...but man if they could only see what is in my head...genius, I say! Hehe!

Anyway, I used the 3rd Sketch for this card: AVS203. I have been wanting to make the circles from the Circle Circus set into flowers for awhile now, so I am glad I finally did! So fun! I decided to highlight the new In Colors as well. The stem though that I used for the flowers is taken from the Blooms and Stalks set by Sassafrass Lass. Each "flower" was cut out by hand and popped up on a dimensional with the largest flower getting the scallop circle punch behind it...which conveniently enough makes up that portion of the sketch! I used the Word Window punch to get the Happy Birthday sentiment just right and used some Pink Polka dot ribbon that I found at WalMart that matches Melon Mambo perfectly!

I guess the rest is fairly self-explanatory. Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Circle Circus, Birthday Whimsy (retired), Blooms n' Stalks (Sassafrass Lass); Paper - Soft Suede Textured, Bermuda Bay, Whisper White, Melon Mambo; Ink - In Color Markers; Accessories - Pink Polka Dot Satin Ribbon (Offray), Scallop Edge Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Word Window Punch, dimensionals, scissors

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner!

Wow I got some awesome news this morning in my Google Reader (the place I keep track of all of my favorite blogs!)...I am one of the 7 winners from the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge Contest 98!! And that is out of more than 500 entries!! How exciting! Now I get a new Verve Stamps set...love my Verve!!! The card that got picked was my Masculine Tree Birthday card for my husband...maybe he is my good luck charm! And for the unusual title of the post...I have no idea, but that is a saying that I picked up somewhere!

Working with some more of Julee's sketches for the 2nd Anniversary of Verve Stamps, I created this card. Plus I combined it with a One Layer challenge by one of the Verve Divas...two for one! Gotta love that!! The sketch that this is based off it below...I think I may have streched using the sketch a little bit, but I love the result!

I stamped the Upsy Daisy (sorry, I just love this set!) in Versamark and clear embossed it. Then I paper pierced a rectangle around the image, masked the card off, and sponged Tempting Turquoise over the image and out to my masking. Giving it the illusion of a layer, but really it is still one layer...I can be so tricky (well at least I think so!). I added some faux stitching to my paper piercing with a Chocolate Chip marker. Then I added half of a rhinestine circle to make up the semi-circle element in the sketch. Lastly, I added some So Saffron ribbon with buttons and a rhinestone sticker in the centers. This card was actually fairly quick for me and I love the result!

Oh and I keep totally forgetting about a very sweet blog award that I received from Nicole Anderson (she is just the sweetest!) like a million years ago. Thanks Nicole for the lovely award...it means so much coming from you! And of course you need to check out what this lady can create...major inspiration there! So now I am to nominate some others that I feel are worthy of such an award...there are so many, but I will highlight some:

Teresa Kline - I recently found her blog after she actually commented on my blog...all I can say is WOW! She is totally awesome and I totally didn't realize she had been inspiring me every Monday as she is one of the Mojo Makers on the Mojo Monday Blog. But now I get inspiration from her on more than just Monday!

Susan Liles - Ok who doesn't love her style?! I am sure she is definitely not new to anyone, but I cannot not give her this award...I just love everything she creates! She is funny, crafty, and kind...can't get better than that!

Diana Gibbs - So anyone that is a SU! Demonstrator knows that she is one of this year's Artisan Award winners, so you know that she is fabulous! But if you don't read her blog, you will not see how funny she is and all of the cool animals that she comes across...although some I am not so sure I would want to see in person!

Jan Tink - A riot and an awesome inventor (or unventor as she puts it)...she is always full of new ideas that amaze me. What this woman can do with stamps, ink, and paper is simply amazing!

Deborah Anton - One of the sweetest bloggers around and uber talented, not only with stamping, but jewelry as well. I pretty much love everything she does!

Hoping to participate in some more of the Verve 2nd Anniversary sketch challenges this week...I would be amazed though if I managed all of them...you would probably be pretty sick of me by then! On that note, I will skedaddle. Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Upsy Daisy, Happy Everything; Paper - Basic White (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Versamark, Tempting Turquoise, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip marker; Accessories - So Saffron 5/8" grosgrain ribbon, Button Latte, Rhinestone Stickers (Me & My Big Ideas); Rhinestone Circle Sticker (Best Occasions), Crystal Clear Embossing Powder, Glue dots

Birthday Tree Mojo

I have a crazy week going on right now. I am the Song Leader for my church's VBS. So I know all of the Crocodile Dock songs by heart and have to teach the kids motions to some of them (about 7 out of 10 of them). It is really very fun, especially when the kids get into it. I will tell ya though, I am getting my exercise in with these songs and the motions...I feel the more animated I am, the more the kids will participate...so believe me when I say I am a workin' up there! I actually am tempted to wear my heart rate monitor one of these times, just to see how much I am workin'. Plus in addition to all of that, we have a big camping weekend this weekend, so i am trying to get laundry and packing done. Ahhh! Oh well, it makes for a fun, but fast summer!

So let me get to the task at hand here, huh?! This is my take on the current Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #98 (see the sketch below for reference). I needed a card for my loving husband whom will be turning 35 on Thursday...oh yeah one more thing to add to the week! I have very little true masculine stamps, so I turn to trees a lot for them. So low and behold, my hubby is getting a tree card! I turned the sketch to make it vertical and so it would fit with my tree. This is the Season of Friendship stamp set (so glad to see it made it into the new catalog!). I stamped the leaves in Mellow Moss and Always Artichoke randomly and cut out with Circle Nestabilities. I sponged the edges with Sahara Sand and layered it on a Sahara Sand circle. My tree was stamped in Chocolate Chip ink and cut out along with a bunch of leaves. The tree and circles (I like how the circles seem to almost make up the shape of the tree with the occasional stray leaves) were popped up on a square of Bashful Blue reverse-embossed (meaning I just flipped it over) with the D'Vine Swirl Cuttlebug embossing folder. All of that is on a square of patterned paper from the To the Nines Collection. Finally the card was finished with some hemp twine and a Happy Birthday greeting (from Papertrey Ink's Women of Life set).

Ok that is it for me...should probably get packing or maybe just sleep. Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Season of Friendship, Women of Life (Papertrey Ink); Paper - Mellow Moss, Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue, Sahara Sand, Whisper White, To the Nines DSP; Ink - Chocolate Chip, Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, Sahara Sand; Accessories - Circle Nestabiltites (Spellbinders), D'Vine Swirl Embossing Folder (Cuttlebug Provo), Hemp Twine, dimensionals

Love Birds for Lifetime

Finally getting back into my Mojo...Mojo Monday Sketch Challenges that is! I recently got the Verve Stamps Anniversary Birds stamp set (used) and I needed an anniversary card...it is like a match made in stamping heaven! So I used the current Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #97.

I wanted to use at least one of the new In Colors and try a new color combo...so I came up with Bermuda Bay, Bashful Blue, and Certainly Celery. I think they work pretty well together if I do say so myself (patting myself on the back). The birds were stamped in Bashful Blue and the branches were stamped in Certainly Celery...the leaves were stamped and cut out and added later so they would stick past my circle for some interest. I layered it on to a scallop circle (Scallop Circle Nestabilities) of Bermuda Bay. Then I paper pierced (freehand...can you tell?) around the outside of the circle. All this was placed over top some retired Banbury DSP and Bashful Blue cardstock with a little paper piercing (this time with the Mat Pack). The sentiment was colored with Bashful Blue and Bermuda Bay markers, layered, and placed into position. A couple of Ice Rhinestone Brads and a photo corner punch of Certainly Celery finished off the card. I am not sure the addition of the photo corner really did much for my card, but it was in the sketch and you know us engineers and following the rules!

Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Anniversary Birds (Verve Stamps); Paper - Bermuda Bay, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Whisper White, Banbury DSP; Ink - Basful Blue, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue and Bermuda Bay markers; Accessories - Ice Circle Rhinestone Brads, Photo Corner Punch, Paper Piercer, Mat Pack, Circle and Scallop Circle Nestabilities, dimensionals

Birthday Fairy Spotlight

I made this card like a month ago I think...but never posted it because I decided it was for a friend's baby's first birthday...and that wonderful friend actually reads my blog! Well that beautiful baby turned 1 today (well at least her party was today) so I can now show the card.

I am positive that this was based on a sketch from someplace, but I did not write it down when I made it and cannot remember what sketch it was based off! I can't seem to find it on any of my usual sketch locations! Anyway, I used the fantastic fairy Birthday Lauren from Paper Makeup Stamps. She was stamped in Black Stazon ink on watercolor paper and the colored with markers and a paintbrush (and water of course!). On the based fairy I colored around her and then spotlighted around the present with a colored image.

The colored present was then sparklefied (yup just made up that word!) with some Diamond Stickles. The scallop circle was cut with the scallop circle Nestabilities and some white gel pen dots with Diamond Stickles on top were added to the scallops. The patterned paper is the retired Bali Breeze DSP.

I think everything else is fairly self-explanatory. Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Birthday Lauren Fairy (Paper Makeup Stamps), Women of Life (Papertrey Ink); Paper - So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, Cameo Coral, Taken with Teal, Bali Breeze DSP, Watercolor Paper; Ink - Black Stazon, Chocolate Chip, Cameo Coral, So Saffron, Taken with Teal Markers; Accessories - Circle and Scallop Circle Nestabilities, Chocolate Chip 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Scallope Edge Punch, Diamond Stickles, White Gel Pen, dimensionals