Sympathy card

I seem to be in need of so many sympathy cards these days.  So very sad to lose loved ones, isn't it?  I always hope that my cards bring some comfort during times of loss.

This seems to be my sort of "go to" card for condolence sending...with a few variations along the way.  I love this daisy memory box die and it always works up so beautifully. 

The dotted line is from the Paper Smooches Dots and Dash dies.  A cool set to have on hand.
The cardstock is Papertrey Ink cardstock....a nice thick cardstock.

And the sympathy sentiment is one I got at a stamp show many years ago.  It stamps a nice clean image every time.


Well, today it is a "Rainy Day in Georgia"...a great day to craft or clean out closets.  Which should I do? I've already cleaned out a closet this morning so maybe I will treat myself with a little crafting time!

Happy Crafting and Keep Creating!

Project Life: Week 39

I had a few minutes yesterday to finish up Week 39 of my Project Life.  I'm doing well....getting caught  up! LOL! 

Here is the left side:

The week card and the journaling card as well as the enamel dots are all from Doodlebug...I love Doodlebug...such cute stuff for kid pages.  Here's a closer shot of the "week" card:

I used Memory Box dies for "week", the brackets and the "39".  I put a little glossy accent on the little bluebird and some tiny googly eyes on the owl.  I love the googly eyes and I think the little kiddos will like them, too!
The "grandparent" stamp on the bottom right photo of the kids and me is a Unity Stamp.
Here is the right side:

I used a journaling stamp from Unity Stamps and papers from a DCWV stack from my stash.  The burlap and felt stickers were left over from a project from another week and are from Little Yellow Bicycle, I think.
I also did an insert page this week with a 5x7 photo of my grandson, David.   The front side is just simply the photo placed in a 5x7 Becky Higgins page insert.  Isn't he the cutest little boy?

 The back side I used a Becky Higgins 4x6 journaling card and added a little paper and some enamel dots and did a little good bit of journaling!

And that, my friends, means that Week 39 is FINISHED!!!  Woohooo.....which means I can get on to WEEK 40 and the birth of WADE!

It will be a few days, though...I'm back at my daughter's to help out for a few more days so am away from my crafty stuff.  And while I'm here I don't do crafting.  I play Batman and Babies and Dollhouse and Cars and read Curious George and New York Baby for the 116th times.  Life is grand!

Happy Crafting to you, though!

I Have You in My Heart

Sadly I had need of another sympathy card so made this one today with some We R Memory Keeper papers, a Memory Box tulip die cut, a spellbinder die and a little wood veneer bird by Recollections.  The sentiment is from a Hero Arts clear stamp set.

I hope it brings the recipient some comfort knowing I'm thinking of her.

On a brighter note I was in Michael's yesterday and they now have, packaged under their brand Recollections, little wooden veneer pieces that are exactly like Studio Calico but a little less expensive.

And always...Happy Crafting!

Project Life: Week 8

Woohoo...Week 8 done!
My grandkids were here visiting last week and, as a result, I took a ton of pictures...so the most difficult or time consuming part for me was figuring out which pictures to use.  I am bound by no rules, I tell myself....I do not have to do a 2 page spread for each week....I can do more if it so behooves me (how many chances do you get to say "behoove"?!).  But it did take me a while to go through my photos and then get them printed in the sizes I want.  More about that later...
Anyway, here we go with pages for (drum roll, please....) WEEK 8 starting with the left side:

I used Thickers and a Memory Box die for my "Week" card.  The papers are from My Mind's Eye On the Boardwalk and Anthologie.  Simple and fast and I loved the beachy colors!

Here is the right side:

Same papers....I did use a little Studio Calico wood word bubble which is just oh so cute and how I felt about that great German restaurant we went to!  JAWOHL!

I also used a little stamp set from KI Memories for the little glasses.  I just made a shadow with the reverse side of the stamp and then stamped the words and cut it out.  I added a bit of Glossy Accents to the lenses.  To make them look real.  Yeah, right! LOL!

Isn't my little puppy cute?  She was all happy because we had just pulled into the park....all kinds of great smells at the park! LOL!

Since I am using Design A from Becky Higgins for my main layouts I have 4 4x6 and 4 3/4 inch slots to fill on each page.  Sometimes I get the photos printed out in wallet sizes.  So, what I've done is I created a template in Photoshop Elements for a 2 photo 4x6 print.  That way I get my two photos at a one photo price....instead of printing each separately and paying for a full photo.  Get it?
My template looks like this (nothing special here):

And I also created a template for a 3 photo 4x6 print like this:

I reuse these again and again!
I even did a 5x7 3 photo template which looks like the one above except it is sized for a 5x7 print.
I just open Photoshop Elements and plop my photos in to the slots and mask out the parts I don't want.  Make sense?  No?  Basically by having the templates which I can reuse I save a good bit of time and maybe a few cents here and there!
I had so many photos from last week that I am also doing an insert page.  My page protectors will be here on Wednesday so will post that page(s) later in the week.
And my planning sheet which you can see HERE has come in very handily!  It's available for download (there is a link there) if you need it.
I'm all about shortcuts!

Happy Crafting!
 

Project Life: Week 4

....or as we Project Lifers say..."PL".  I'm such a part of a club, you know...  So, I finished Week 4 last night.  I really have been trying to do my pages on Sundays BUT I was busy this past Sunday afternoon/evening and just never got the mojo going. I got down to business last night.  I had used my worksheet that I posted a few days ago....you can see it here if you are using Design A of the Becky Higgins Project Life template or page insert. It save me a bit of time because I knew what photo was to go where and where I needed journaling blocks.
This week I failed in my quest to use things I already had as I bought this really cute journaling sheet from My Mind's Eye called Collectable.  It just worked perfectly for this week I thought.  It was a big week for us...my son turned 26 on Monday so I wanted to journal my memory of the day and night he was born.  We had a huge snowstorm in Atlanta (ok, for you northeners....less than 4 inches doesn't look like much but for Atlanta it is a city stopper)....and in the hospital I was in with him we had over 7 inches!  It was just so beautiful and so magical and I really didn't worry much about the chaos outside the hospital created by the storm because we were warm and safe inside.
Here are my layouts and a few closeups:

I am still doing a lot of cutting with my Silhouette Cameo....like here...this journaling box and the #4 which I created with my own little brain:

And this cute little stick figure tennis player which I bought in the Silhouette Online Store:

I also used a little stamp set from Hero Arts for this little journaling box:

And check out this tiny camera cut out with a Memory Box die:

There is another one on one of the layouts which is a slightly different camera....can you find it? ;)
And that's Project Life for Week 4.  Week 5 is beginning with some excitement for me....I'll post it next week! :)

Happy Crafting!

Simple, Simple Bo Bimple!

Well, today is the LAST day of November....I really think we should have 31 days in each month.  I just don't like when we get ripped off a day, you know?  Less time to do the things we need to do!  Anyway, tomorrow we begin December and in just a few short weeks we will be celebrating Christmas and then the New Year! YIKES!

Things seem to go by in a whirlwind at this time of the year and sometimes you need to just step back and take a breath and slow things down so as to enjoy the moments.  Between decorating, baking, attending parties and events....well, it is so easy to get caught up and feel stressed and rushed.  Ain't gonna do it!!!

So to get myself into a calm and peaceful crafting mood (?) I made this very simple but oh so pretty (at least it's my calm and peaceful taste!) card.  I used a Memory Box die called Country Landscape, a Cuttlebug embossing folder and paper.  The sentiment is Hero Arts and was stamped with some Jenni Bowlin ink. The white paper is from Simon Says Stamps and the blue paper is Papertrey Ink.  That was about it except for some simple penwork.  It's mostly flat and unadorned....just a little foam tape behind the diecut....but that is it....SIMPLE!

But I like....

Well, off to event number one tonight!

Happy Crafting!

Fun with Gelatos

I have been watching a few "how to use Gelatos" videos out there in cyberspace and I thought they looked like fun.  Gelatos, if you aren't familiar with them, are made by Faber-Castell, they are pigment sticks of bright, vivid color.  They can be used for making your own backgrounds and for stamping....I guess there are lots of ways they can be used....and I'm having a great time learning and playing around with them!
Here is my first attempt (well, my only attempt!).  I used the blue set of Gelatos (Joann's and Michael's both carry them in sets for about $9.99 a set....of course I would NEVER pay full price and picked up a couple of sets with some heavily discounted coupons! :)) and SCHMEARED (my word) on some white cardstock after running it through the Big Shot with a Quikutz embossing folder (used the debossed side) and then used my finger to blend them.  I sprayed with some Pearl Glimmer Mist for a little sheen.

Unfortunately you can't see the effects of the Glimmer Mist but it sure is pretty in real life! the wonderful die is one of the new Spellbinder dies....look at how intricate it is....and it has little windows you can open! Too pretty!  I also used a Memory Box die for the tulips and put a little Glossy Accents on them.

A tip I learned with intricate dies is to use wax paper between your paper and the die....it helps to get good cuts and to remove the little pieces from the die without tearing.

I'm entering this in the Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Simon Says....Thinking of You/Sympathy.

Happy Crafting!!!

The Best Things Come in Small Packages

That's what they say anyway....the best things come in small packages.  Being a small person I've used that to my benefit many times.
I don't know if that's true....my Silhouette came in a big box...my Big Shot came in a pretty big box...I guess size is relative though and those boxes were small next to...say...an elephant.

Anyway, I do like small things....and when I was at a local stamp store the other day (Impressive Ideas) I picked up this Memory Box die called Wildflower Patch which was quite teensy and proceeded to put it in my basket.  The teensy sizes of the flowers was just so appealing to me.  I like teensy!

I ran them through my die cut machine and they cut beautifully and they are just so darned cute!  I colored them with Copics and adhered them to a small 3x3 card and used a Papertrey Ink sentiment on it.  Perfect for a teensy eensy gift box! :)

Not much too it....but so cute and tiny.  Clean and crisp.  You know?

Happy Crafting!