H2H Challenge: Sketch Time

First of all, I'd like to thank those that serve this country: past, present, or future. Thank you on this Memorial Day, and everyday, for your sacrifice.


And now, because it is Monday again, it's also time for a new H2H Challenge. This week we have another sketch for you:




All the DT members did an excellent job with this and I'm sure they had fun with it like I did. I turned the sketch on its side to accomidate my card a little more, but other than that, I followed it pretty precisely.


Stamps: CTMH Extreme Happiness
Inks: CTMH Desert Sand, Cranberry, Pansy Purple, Sunflower
Papers: CTMH Moon Doggie Reflections Kit


I don't know, maybe it's because school is out now and the boys are always asking about when we can go swimming, but I couldn't get the Moon Doggie paper out of my head when I saw the sketch. It just reminded me a boardwalk somehow. So even though I will probably never actually be at a beach, much less get in the water...I have an irrational fear of open water...


it was relaxing just to make the card and pretend I was somewhere tropical.

I inked up the larger flower from the Extreme Happiness set with Cranberry ink, the after stamping off once, I sponged on some Pansy Purple ink to give it more definition. To create the matte under the flower, I turned over the flower stamp and lightly stamped the back of it onto Colonial White cardstock. Then I cut it out and flipped it over. I sponged the edges of that and adheared the flower to the perfectly shaped matte. Just another reason why I love these My Acrylix stamps so much!


So get creating and join the challenge this week! If you need more inspiration, be sure to check out the rest of the team members' pieces:

♥ Carol-Scramping with Carol
♥ Helen-Hooked on Stamping
♥ Jayma-Playing with Paper
♥ Katy-an inside to my heart....
♥ Mary-on Life and Creating
♥ Tracey-Tracey Mason's Studio

A Long Time Ago In A Craft Closet Far, Far Away...

Last night Engineer and I took the boys to see Star Wars In Concert.

Awesome, it was!

There was an exhibition room full of movie memorabilia, posters, costumes, backdrops, and even a couple of the galactic residents themselves. We stood in line for pictures with Clone Troopers, Vader and Leia, but the boys quickly got tired of that...said it reminded them of Disneyland.


So after checking the time we got some snacks, took our seats, and waited for the show to begin. Lights, lasers, movies and music...what a performance! And I don't mind my geekness showing for a moment when I tell you I teared up a bit when the whole thing started. Maybe you have to be fan to understand that...Engineer sure gave me a weird look when I told him.

With everything else I needed to be working on today, I just couldn't get that theme music out of my head and I figured the only way to do that would be to make a card. Yeah, that doesn't really make sense to me either, but I got to have some fun before the boys got home from school. I found some perfect clip art pages and looked for one that would fit the card I had in mind. I colored it with my Copics, but since I was going for the actual cartoon look, I didn't do any shading...which was really weird to do.

And now, I give you Master Yoda:


Stamps: CTMH Weathered Backgrounds (retired)
Inks: CTMH Desert Sand
Papers: CTMH Desert Sand, Bamboo, Colonial White, Garden Green


And I decided to give this to my brother-in-law who is turning 40 this year. Problem is, his birthday is not until December! So I better not lose it, right?

Here's what it says on the inside:



So DeAnna, you can't let your hubby see this! Got it?



And on that note, I've got to fly.


It's the last day of school (!) and I'm sure the boys will want to start their summer vacation right away.

A Day Full Of Sparkle

Today is my cousin-in-law's birthday.
Happy Birthday, Vero!

Last year she heard me discussing Twilight with some fellow scrappers and became curious. After watching the two movies, she quickly read the series. Now, she suffers from full blown Twilight-itis and has passed it on to her daughter.

It is in honor of that...common obsession interest I made her this card for today. I used this week's sketch from Mojo Monday, something I've always wanted to do, but never done. Don't know why.


Stamps: Artful Inkables Fictionally Inspired, Into the Moonlight
Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black
Papers: CTMH Black, Tulip, That's Amore Reflections Kit

I realize that even though I wished her a sparkle-filled day, nothing on the card actually sparkles. But any true Twi-hard like her would know what I meant.

H2H Challenge: Background Basics

Welcome to another week of the H2H Challenge Blog! I really enjoyed last week's color challenge, but I think doing three different cards using the same colors has effected me somehow. All I can think of is blues, greens and browns! You'll see...


This week, the challenge is to stamp your own background. I love using our My Acrylix stamps to make background papers like this, being able to see through the stamps sure makes it easy to get everything lined up! As you can see, I was still stuck on the same basic color combo as last week, maybe that will pass soon. I'd sure hate to be making Christmas cards in these colors. Well, no I take that back. Seems like a good challenge for myself, but that's a card for another time.


Stamps: CTMH Wonderful Friend (June 2010 SOTM), Noted Backgrounds
Inks: CTMH Brown Bag, Olive, Garden Green, Indian Corn Blue, Outdoor Denim
Papers: CTMH Brown Bag, Outdoor Denim, Garden Green, Colonial White

I did an emboss resist technique, but not until after I stamped out my herringbone background using the Noted Backgrounds set. Then I brayered on some Outdoor Denim, Brown Bag, and Olive ink over the two stamped images. The argyle pattern adds another stamped background layer to the card. I cut one of the pieces from the DE Booksmart in half and inked them up with Brown Bag ink to create the two clasps on the side. Two antiqued copper brads from the Metal Assortment set complete the look.

And now that I seem to have my dad's Father's Day card done early, I only need to remember to put it in the mail!

And how hard can that be.


Don't forget to check out the other Design Team members' blogs and see all their great contributions this week!

♥ Carol-Scramping with Carol
♥ Helen-Hooked on Stamping
♥ Jayma-Playing with Paper
♥ Katy-an inside to my heart....
♥ Mary-on Life and Creating
♥ Tracey-Tracey Mason's Studio


You have until Sunday night to enter your stamped background piece on the H2H Challenge blog, and you want to make sure you do because we have another awesome prize sponsor this week. You can visit Ruth and see her prize package at her blog: The Scrap Chic

And Just One More Color Challenge Card

I have just about 4 hours until my card class begins so I thought I'd take the time to share my last H2H color challenge card.

It's not really the kind of card I usually make, no sketch to follow, nothing but the colors to inspire me. So I pulled out a couple of new stamp sets, Birthday Boy, and Over The Rainbow and got busy. I wasn't sure I liked the final card at first, but it's grown on me.

And now it's full of graduation congratulations for my little brother-in-law.



Stamps: CTMH Birthday Boy, Over The Rainbow
Inks: CTMH Topiary, Ocean, Desert Sand
Papers: CTMH Splendor Reflections Kit, Ocean, White Daisy

Engineer has taken the three boys and gone to his step-brother's high school graduation...yes, HIGH SCHOOL. I have the house to myself for the weekend. I think I'll do a little bit of , a little bit of , and a lot of . Maybe even throw in some in the boys' room...while they're not here to "help" me.

Have a great weekend...I know I will!

Another H2H Color Challenge Card

This week I was getting card kits ready for Saturday's Life is Sweet class. But because I still had the H2H color challenge supplies out...I couldn't help myself and after all the kits were done, (work first, play second) I made a couple of more cards using Ocean, Topiary, and Desert Sand.

What do you think? It was heavily inspired by this card from the Poppy Paperie blog. The colors were so close...it had to be done!


Stamps: CTMH A Twinkle
Inks: CTMH White Daisy, Ocean
Papers: CTMH White Daisy, Ocean, Topiary, Desert Sand

It is 3x4 and just the right size for a gift card...and my father-in-law's birthday is this weekend...how perfect!

On second thought, it doesn't exactly scream "motorcycle-loving-retired-Naval Officer"...does it.


Eh, I'm sure he'll like it anyway. Tomorrow I'll share the other card I made with this now thought consuming color combo. And there is still time to join in this week's challenge! Go to the H2H Challenge blog, get inspired and get crafting!

H2H Challenge: Colorific

Good Monday Morning! Hope your weekend was restful and/or productive...whichever you intended it to be. We had friends over for dinner and games Saturday night which meant all my recent crafting had to be put away. But that was fine with me because I finished up my secret project and got it in the mail a whole day before the postmark deadline!
Now just to wait around for July for the results. I know you other CTMH consultants that did the same secret project are feeling the same thing!

So to pass the time, let's get to this week's H2H Challenge!



What images come to mind when I say the word Ocean?





Okay, what about Topiary?





And if I say Desert Sand?




Yeah, me too! That's what made this week's color challenge so...challenging! But I sat myself down, found some inspiration and got to work.

But first, for those of you not familiar with those three CTMH colors, here they are:


And here is my card using them:


Stamps: CTMH Cherish The Moment (May 2010 SOTM), Argyle Backgrounds (retired)
Inks: CTMH Ocean, Topiary, Desert Sand
Papers: CTMH Colonial White, Ocean, Topiary

What's that? CTMH doesn't have Ocean ribbon? Yes, I know but I also know how to remedy that. I took some of my favorite Colonial White ribbon and ran it a couple of times over an Ocean ink pad until I was happy with the color. Voila, instant color coordination!

So find some inspiration by looking at all the great DT artwork and get started on your own!

♥ Carol-Scramping with Carol
♥ Helen-Hooked on Stamping
♥ Jayma-Playing with Paper
♥ Katy-an inside to my heart....
♥ Mary-on Life and Creating
♥ Tracey-Tracey Mason's Studio

Happy Birthday To Me

Another year has come again, today is my birthday! I received lots of wishes on Facebook and cards from my CopicCrafters group which I will open later tonight. We had a nice dinner at Claim Jumper (thanks for the recommendation Cori!), but opted to stay away from the Chocolate Motherlode cake. I didn't want to slip into any kind of sugar coma.
Seriously, can any one person eat a slice of that thing?

So Engineer is in the kitchen right now making some yummy, healthy oatmeal muffins for my birthday dessert. How great is he?!

Did I do anything crafty today? You bet I did! I have a top secret project I'm working on that has a deadline in a couple of days. All I have left to do is stitch six silly little buttons onto it and I'm done. How long do you think it took me to finish those six silly buttons?

All. Day.

Hard to not prick yourself when someone needs attention until his brothers get home.


To make sure I had something to show you today, I'm going to share another Studio J layout:


Studio J: Route 66 Reflections Kit


This is a couple of shots I took this past Spring Break while we were at my parents' house. We were lucky to have my sister and her kids there with us. My brother works in the same town and brought my niece to come play with us.

I asked them if it was alright to share this with their kids pictures on it...some people can be a little picky about that sort of thing. My sister said sure. My brother also agreed, but said it counted as my birthday wish.


Silly brother, already got my birthday wish. Engineer and the boys got me 20 new Copics, 5 from each of them!

H2H Challenge: Neat Techniques

Who's ready for another weekly H2H Challenge?


Okay class, settle down. This week's challenge is to include a technique, any technique, in your art piece. If you'll all turn to your Wishes book and look at the card on page 92...wait, some of you don't have your own books?



I'm speechless.

What are you waiting for? If you're a card maker, this book is a life saver! Run to the nearest CTMH consultant (that would be me) and get your own...don't worry, I'll wait. Here, I'll make it easy for you: Wishes

Okay, now we can continue. As I was saying, Wishes is not only full of card templates and ideas, it also features tips and techniques on almost every page. The one I used here is from page 92 and is called ghosting.

I've never used this particular technique though it is quite similar to emboss resisting. It just adds an extra step.


First, here is my card:


Stamps: CTMH Wonderful Friend (June 2010 SOTM)
Inks: CTMH Olive, Brown Bag, VersaMark
Papers: CTMH Colonial White, Garden Green, Brown Bag

You see what I did there? The sentiment says 'the greatest treasure is invisible'...and I've made my watch invisible...because I have no time right now...thus making it very treasurable to me.

It's a very meaningful card I tell ya.


Right, back to the technique class.

When you choose your image, you'll emboss it with clear embossing powder onto a light colored cardstock. Then sponge around the image with a darker ink. Right here would be the end of an emboss resist technique. To do the ghosting technique, you'll need to get out your iron. Yes, I said iron. I have one we got as a wedding present years ago and I think I've actually used it on clothes a total of 5 times in 10 years. So it has since become my craft iron. After you've embossed and inked your image, take a scrap piece of cardstock and place it over the image. Using a hot iron, run it over the scrap cardstock. Now don't leave it on too long...I don't want to be responsible for any fires!

The heat from the iron will melt the embossing powder to the scrap cardstock. When you remove it, all that's left is the ghosting of the image.

Pretty neat, huh class?

Okay now, you've all got your assignments. Head over to the H2H Challenge Blog and see the other techniques featured by the DT members. Be sure to get your pieces posted by the Sunday deadline...there is another Prize Sponser this week!

Okay, class dismissed!