Branch Out Father

Did Father's Day kind of creep up on you like it did to me! I feel so behind! I usually like to do something special for my husband from the kids, but I am running out of time! I have one idea that I have seen online that I plan to do, but man I feel really unprepared! Oh well. I did at least remember to get my Father's Day card out to my Dad in time though...in fact it may be a little early...yea me!

So this is my Dad's Father's Day Card. I used the current Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #91 for this. I love the Branch Out set...something about that tree that just brings peace to my heart. I chose to pull out some of the patterned paper from the To the Nines Collection. The tree was stamped in Chocolate Chip ink on Sahara Sand cardstock and the leaves were generation stamped in Always Artichoke. To give the card a little extra pizzazz, I added the little birdhouse in Only Orange (not a color I use very often). I really like the bright color that the little bit of orange added to the feel of the card because the To the Nines DSP is a little subdued. Then of course to make that birdhouse a little more of a focal point, I added a nice white dot at the opening with my white gel pen and some Orange Peel Stickles. The distressed edges give it that manly feel even though it has sparkle and ribbon...well at least that is how I justified getting sparkle and ribbon on a guy card! :) The last thing I added was the orange and white striped brads that I happen to have on hand. They are K&Company brand bought awhile ago.

Well that is all for me...I need to get a little better prepared for my stamping event Friday night. Thanks for stopping by my engineering world!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Branch Out, All Year Cheer II; Paper - To the Nines DSP, Sahara Sand, Chocolate Chip, Only Orange; Ink - Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Only Orange; Accessories - Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon, Orange Peel Stickles, White Gel Pen, Brads (K&Company), dimensionals

Simple Father's Day

My local customers have already seen this as I have a class for it on Friday night! But I thought I would share here as well. It is a simple photo holder that I altered and a matching card. I simply took a photo holder from JoAnns (2 for $5 bins), popped off the embellishments they had glued on, sanded it down, and adhered some DSP to the sides. This is using the To the Nines DSP from Stampin' Up!. Then I used some chipboard and corduroy button (why have I lived so long without these...they are awesome!) to decorate one side of it. Pretty simple, but I think with a pic of the kids, will make a nice decoration on his desk at work (or at home!).

For the matching card, I just took strips of the same DSP, the punched out chipboard star, and a corduroy brad to get a complete card. Like I said, very simple, but it works!

Sorry not much else to say today...feeling kind of yucky...not a cold, just my body adjusting to post-breastfeeding life (yup, my baby girl is officially weaned!)...way too much information! Sorry about that!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Everyday Flexible Phrases; Paper - To the Nines DSP, Sahara Sand, Chocolate Chip; Ink - Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip; Accessories - On Board Essentials Chipboard, Chocolate Chip Corduroy Buttons and Brads, Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon

Butterfly Sympathy

This will be a quick post.  I am trying to get packing for a weekend camping trip and I have barely started yet.  We were dealing with a death in the family and had all of that stuff to deal with this week, so packing got put to the wayside!  Oh well...busy day today.  

I needed a sympathy card for my husband's Aunt...it was her husband (my husband's Uncle) that passed away, so I decided to face the Mojo Monday Sketch #90 head-on...this one intimidated me a little bit.  Probably because it is not something I would probably ever put together on my own!  But that is what sketch challenges are all about.  

I found the sentiment in the Verve Stamps Beautiful You set to be fitting.  I don't think it was what was intended for the sentiment, but it struck a cord with me that it seemed fitting for a death...the caterpillar being our physical bodies here on earth and the morphing into a butterfly being what could be viewed as our death, but really being our reunion with God in heaven.  Like I said, not sure that is what was meant by it, but I liked the thought.

I used the DSP Parisian Breeze from Stampin' Up!...I like the Specialty Designer Paper.  This was my first time using it...it is heavier weight and has a nice texture to it!  The butterfly was taken from an old retired set, Botanicals.  I finished that butterfly off with some Crystal Effects just to make it pop a little bit more.

Well not sure there is much else to say...have a great weekend!  Off to pack!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Beautiful You (Verve Stamps), Botanicals; Paper - Parisian Breeze DSP, Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Whisper White; Ink - Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze; Accessories - Circle and Scallop Circle Nestabilities, Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon, Ticket Corner Punch, Crystal Effects, dimensionals

Fishy Mojo

Finally got around to trying my hand at the current Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge (it's a contest week!), MOJO89, but I got a small stamp camp project done (show that later).  I can get a lot of "crafty" things done when my husband is out of town, but I stay up WAY too late!  Oh well.

So I recently took advantage of the buy 3 get one free paper deal that SU! had last month and actually have some patterned paper on hand.  So knowing that I was making a card for a birthday boy, I chose the Rainbow Sherbert DSP and pulled out an oldie, but goodie:  Fishy Friends.  I stamped him in Basic Black and then colored him with a blender pen and ink pads in colors from the Rainbow Sherbert collection.  Knowing that it is a contest week at the Mojo Monday blog, I wanted to make my fishy a little extra special, so I cut extra fins for him and attached them so they are coming out of the paper (see the detail shot) and added some sparkle...fish sparkle right?  I love how he is 3-dimensional!  

My bigger challenge came for the embellishment aspect of the sketch.  I don't have anything that goes with the fish, besides more fish, so I found this polka-dot circle in a Blooms and Stalks set by Sassafras Lass and thought that might work.  I stamped it in Apricot Appeal (added stickles, of course), layered it on a circle of Gable Green and then on a larger circle of Green Galore.  My final addition was to add the circle of triangle turquoise eyelets (way long ago retired from SU!), which made my day since I don't use them very often!  Oh and the sentiment is from the Very Punny set that was an SAB set a couple years ago. 

Most likely all of this was way over the top for a 5 year old, but his Mom will appreciate it!  Thanks for stopping by my engineering world!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Fishy Friends, Very Punny, Blooms N' Stalks (Sassafras Lass); Paper - Rainbow Sherbert DSP, Gable Green, Green Galore, Tempting Turquoise, Whisper White; Ink - Gable Green, Green Galore, Tempting Turquoise, Apricot Appeal, Basic Black; Accessories - Apricot Appeal grosgrain ribbon, Tempting Turquoise Triangle Eyelets, 3/4" Circle Punch, 1-1/4" Circle Punch, Crop-a-Dile, Diamond Stickles, dimensionals

Birthday Fairy

So I cheated a little for my daughter's birthday...if you missed all of the creations (cards and cake) and the pictures of my sweet Adilane check out this POST.  Anyway, I created this card for her...but I created it a few days after her party and about 1 week past her birthday!  I wanted her to have a card from us for keepsake purposes, but I ran out of time before her birthday and party to make it.  Oh well, she will never know right?!

I used the Birthday Lauren fairy from Paper Makeup Stamps...have I expressed how much I love these fairies!  Anyway, I stamped her on watercolor paper with black Stazon ink and watercolored her using SU! markers and a watercolor brush.  Once she was all dry, I added some Diamond Stickles and Cotton Candy Stickles to give her wings and the present a little sparkle...a fairy has to sparkle in my opinion!  The color combo is the same that I used for her birthday party invitation and thank you cards.  The layout is based on a layout provided during the last Verve Stamps Release found HERE.  I really like how the one rounded corner of the main image just added that extra something...can't really explain it, but I like it!  

Since the watercolor paper I have (any suggestions out there for some...I haven't tried SU!'s yet...mine is just some I got at JoAnns) is not really white, I used a strip of it (instead of regular white cardstock) under my strip of Rose Red cardstock.  The sentiment comes from the Women of Life set by Papertrey Ink.  The only other thing special I did was apply some of the Cotton Candy Stickles to my 3 Rose Red brads.

That all for me for now.  I am hoping to try the current Mojo Sketch tonight and then also get a class/workshop prepared.  I am dangerously close to hitting pending status as a demonstrator, so I think I may try holding a Mystery Hostess Workshop at my house later this month, but I need to come up with some stuff for that.  Have any of you done this type of workshop?  I may also add a small project (that they would have to pay for) in addition to regular workshop make-n-takes.  Here's hoping I meet my sales requirement before the end of the month!

Thanks for stopping by my engineering world!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Birthday Lauren (Paper Makeup Stamps), Women of Life (Papertrey Ink); Paper - So Saffron, Rose Red, Certainly Celery, Watercolor Paper; Ink - Black Stazon, Rose Red, Certainly Celery, Rose Red Marker, So Saffron Marker; Accessories - Rose Red Brads, Diamond Stickles, Cotton Candy Stickles, Scallop Edge Punch, Corner Rounder Punch, Paint Brush, dimensionals

Flower Birthday

Well I will warn you that this post may make you faint from all of the adorable cuteness I am going to show you...ok that is just my not-so-humble biased opinion!  I will try and put the actual crafty stuff up front so if you really don't want to see the cuteness, you can skip it...but really, why would you when I am talking extreme cuteness!  

So two weekends ago (wow has it already been that long!) we celebrated my daughter's 1st birthday.  I have been admiring the Women of Life set from Papertrey Ink for awhile, so I decided to get it and make by daughter's birthday around it.   So first up is the invitation.  Pretty sure that I did not use a sketch challenge for this, but honestly I use them so much, I am not sure!  The color combo (Rose Red, So Saffron, Certainly Celery) was what I put together to get a spring feel to the invite.  I scalloped the bottom strip of Certainly Celery to give it a grass feel for the flowers.  I popped up one of the flowers (actually made it bigger than the others) and added a "1" to it.  I then printed the inside with all of the party details...btw, anyone have any recommendations of printers that will easily print on cardstock?  I have to print mine a half of a page at a time and even then I still get jams!  

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Women of Life (Papertrey Ink), Dot Alphabet (bought at WalMart); Paper - Rose Red, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Basic White (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Rose Red, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Basic Black; Accessories - Swiss Dots Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Scallop Edge Punch, So Saffron 5/8" Grosgrain ribbon, dimensionals

I recently created the thank you card that I will eventually be sending out...I want to include my daughter's 1 year pictures which have yet to be 

taken (huge GASP from anyone that knows me...I cannot believe I am this late either...I am so the type that gets these pictures taken as close to the actual birthday as I can).  Stuck with the same color combo and elements, but just went with the one large flower with "Thank you" over it.  For this one I did use a Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge for the the layout:  MOJO88.  I created a little background paper with the extra leaf stamp in the Women of Life set on the Certainly Celery behind the flower.  

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Women of Life (Papertrey Ink), Noteworthy (retired); Paper - Rose Red, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Basic White (Papertrey Ink); Ink - Rose Red, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Basic Black; Accessories - Swiss Dots Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Scallop Edge Punch,Certainly Celery 5/8" Poly-twill ribbon, Circle and Scallop Circle Nestabilities, Ticket Corner Punch, dimensionals

For the actual party, we had about 14 kids or so ranging in ages from 6 months to 13 years old.  So I tried to come up with a craft that all of them could potentially enjoy (well except for the babies...they just don't have that coordination thing down yet!).  

I had them paint small clay pots and then go through the activity of planting a flower in their pot.  I later tied a ribbon and a name tag to their pots.  My Mom helped me pre-paint the 4 babies pots since they were not going to be painting.

It turned out good and I think the kids all had fun with it...now I just hope that all of the flowers survive...mainly the two for my kids...I so do not have a green thumb!! 

O.k. so now on to the cake for the party...don't worry the extreme cuteness is yet to come!  I really do love to decorate my kids cakes and I love it even more when it coordinates with the invitation or theme of the party.  For Adi's cake, I tried to use the invitation as my inspiration.  It turned out pretty much like I envisioned it...the flowers on the side of the cake were a bit of a challenge and they could definitely be better.  I used a really large tip for them and I could get a really pretty flower if I was doing it vertically, but for some reason trying it horizontally just 

did not want to work real well.  Oh well, this is probably where practice makes perfect right?!  

The color red on the cake was the only other issue I had...I really wanted it to be the color Rose Red like the invite, but after a whole bottle of one color and some additions of other colors, I just could not figure out how to get there...felt like I needed a color degree or something to know what drop of color would get me Rose Red from the color I had.  It was definitely pinky-red, but just not quite the right shade...something only I noticed I am sure!  The side view of the cake shows the not-so-great flowers that went around the whole cake.

Now you can see the extreme cuteness that is my adorable daughter...again in my not-so-humble biased opinion.  So the first picture shows her with her cake...I love the look on her face...kind of a look of concern (like what is happening) and kind of a look of disbelief (you are setting that in front of me?!).  She didn't blow the candle out and I did not leave the whole cake in front of her in case you were curious!  We cut off a piece of the cake and let her go to town.  

She quickly went to this (frosting anyone?):

And this:

And this (yes she actually did touch my camera...she was quicker than I thought she would be!):

Ok pick yourself up off of the floor after fainting from the extreme cuteness so I can leave you with some extreme sweetness.  Happy Birthday once again to my sweet Adilane Rose!  Thanks for stopping by my engineering world!

Furry Lion and a Scrapling

A few posts ago I talked about finding a cool site that offered a FREE ezine called Sheetloads of Cards....sketches with designer samples...can't get much better than that!  Each month they have a Show Us Your Sheetload contest using the current month's sketch.  So I tried my hand at it, although I only made one of the cards...so much for having extra on hand!  Oh well!  

So I knew I wanted to use the Wild About You set because this was for a 3 year old's birthday.  I also knew I had to break out some of the fluff that I bought a few weeks ago, but have not used.  It was I-know-I-want-t-try-this-stuff kind of purchase...it is so fun by the way...just love the little bit of texture it gives the image!

I happen to have the striped paper (DCWV) on hand, so I decided to make my color scheme around it...problem was that the yellow is not really near any SU! color!  Ugh!  Summer Sun was the closest, but it was too bright, so I inked the lion in Summer Sun and then lightly pressed it on to Creamy Caramel to try and tone it down.  I got pretty close, so I went with it.  The mane and head were pieced together and I added the fluff to the mane of the lion.  So cute!

I kept the strips behind the lion image solid Ruby Red and Pumpkin Pie, but faux stitched them with the zig-zag stitch stamp in the Organic Borders set from SassaFras Lass.  Added the corner punch and greeting tag in Kraft cardstock with a little bit more zig-zag and some antique gold brads.  

For the scrapling card, I used the part leftover from cutting the square card base and my stripes (just like the sketch told me to).  I then added a flower with the center paper-pieced with the striped paper from Blooms N' Stalks (SassaFras Lass).  Added an antique gold brad center and some fluff to my leaves just to carry the same feel of the original card.

Well that is all for me!  My mojo always takes a little hiatus after a big event, so I am still looking for it after my daughter's 1st birthday party...not feelin' any stamping tonight...maybe tomorrow!  Thanks for stopping by my engineering world!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Wild About You, Organic Borders (Sassafras Lass), Blooms n' Stalks (Sassafras Lass); Paper - Kraft, Striped Paper (DCWV), Ruby Red, Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White; Ink - Summer Sun, Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, Ruby Red;  Accessories - Photo Corner Punch, Antique Gold Brads, Ticket Corner Punch, Brown Fluff, dimensionals