Racing to 5: The Twins Turn 5!

Dear Reader,

Have you been engrossed in the Olympics this weekend?  I have been watching a smattering of different sports: cycling; soccer/football; swimming; basketball; beach volleyball; table tennis; gymnastics; rowing; and equestrian events to name a few.  I am actually watching more variety than usual as I tend to be most consistent in watching swimming, diving, gymnastics and track and field.  What have you been watching?  Anything surprising?

Last night I needed to create a couple of cards for my twin cousins that are turning 5 this year!  It is unbelievable that they are already starting school this year.

I decided to try using the Toy Box collection from Crate Paper that came out last summer/fall as it is perfect for boys.  I love incorporating the twins' age into the cards and on the die cut sheet there were two race cars in perfect colors-one in blue and the other in orange and the blue one had the number 5 already on it!  I found a little number 5 from the Prairie Hill Bitty Block alphabet from Pink Paislee to add over the 9 on the orange car.

There is a little bit of stamping on these cards using the cool number label from the now gone (but not forgotten) The Girls Paperie stamp set from the On Holiday collection.  I stamped the label twice with Versamark and embossed it in white.  I colored in the 5 using an orange Copic marker.  Then I sprayed the labels with 3 different blues: Studio Calico's Mister Huey's in dewey and bonny blue and Dylusions Spray in London blue.  I wiped away the excess spray from the white sections of the label.  I never tire of how magical emboss resist is.  I adhered the cars to their respective labels using dimensional adhesive.

The rest of the card is extremely simple with panels of Toy Box collection patterned paper, a little washi tape that is reminiscent of school and rounding the bottom corners.  I finished it up by edging the card with black soot Distress Ink.

Here are the cards once more before they are shipped out to the twins:

I hope they like it!

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit!

Shay.

Race Cars 5th birthday cards
Stamp: number label from On Holiday collection, The Girls Paperie
Ink: Versamark, Tsukineko; Tim Holtz Distress Ink in black soot, Ranger
Cardstock: solar white, Neenah Papers
Patterned Paper: play date and explore and  from Toy Box collection, Crate Paper
Tool: corner chomper, We R Memory Keepers; heat gun; Tim Holtz ink blending tool, Ranger
Other: die cuts from Toy Box collection, Crate Paper; white embossing powder, Judi-Kins; Bitty Block alphabet from Prairie Hill collection, Pink Paislee; dimensional adhesive, Scotch; Mister Huey's Color Mists in dewey and bonny blue, Studio Calico; Dylusions Ink Spray in London blue, Ranger; washi tape from Studio Calico Leica add-on kit, Love My Tape

Trio of Tags

Dear Reader,

Back in June I used stamps by paper wings productions to create some fun and pretty quick tags.  I wanted to share a trio I made with just a few supplies like Memento Ink, Distress Ink, water, Prisma colored pencils, perfect pearls and paper wings productions stamps.

Any of the Papier Family stamp sets work amazingly well with the London and Paris stamp sets.  It is incredibly fun to create scenes with these stamp sets together.  

And for those wanting to celebrate the Olympic games you can't beat the London stamp set!

Enjoy the opening ceremony of the Olympic games today and thanks for taking the time to visit,

Shay.

The paper wings productions stamps used: Double Dot Border, London, Marcel, Paris, Sophie, Text Melange, Triangle Border and Writing Backgrounds.

Get to the Point

Dear Reader,

I am on a roll...out of necessity (my driving force).  I had another card for a cousin to make.  Sadly, I forgot it was her 18th birthday or I would have included 18 in the card.

As for inspiration for this card: when she recently sent a thank you card it was simple, graphic and gender neutral, so I thought rather than going the frou frou/bohemian look I sometimes do for young women (why I do this I am not sure other than maybe I am still imprinted with a spread in Vogue when I was around 18 which was a gypsy/bohemian chic look) I would go with bold colors and graphics.

Again, I went to my stash of embellishments picking out some die-cut tags from a package by Studio Calico from their State Fair collection.  I recently had been playing with a piece of yellow chevron paper from the original Amy Tangerine collection I absolutely adore (I love the grey stripe on the back too) and thought the yellow would look great with the blue and red.  I added another piece of patterned paper from Studio Calico I had on hand.  The sentiment is courtesy of yellow Thickers and red Jillibean Soup letters.  The last touches were the yellow twine and a yellow arrow from Studio Calico to mimic the arrow on the red and blue tag and draw the eye to the sentiment.

I like to add a little decoration to the inside of the card that mimics the front and also uses up scraps or extras to minimize the mess on my table.

One more view before it is shipped out:

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit!

Shay.

Graphic Birthday Card
Patterned paper: Oh Happy Grey from Amy Tangerine collection, American Crafts; Telegraph (I think that is the name or Primrose) from Field Guide kit, Studio Calico 
Cardstock: solar white, Neenah Papers
Other: yellow foam Eric Thickers, American Crafts; Alphabeans in roma red, Jillibean Soup; (yellow arrow) Scrap Pads from Memoir collection, Studio Calico; Die-Cuts from State Fair Collection, Studio Calico; yellow twine

Look Ma No Stamping!

Dear Reader,

I am a big fan of a high saturation of bright white with splashes of color and touches of inky black.  A master of this is Christine Middlecamp. Sigh.  Her work is gorgeously layered and so vibrant like this project HERE.

Last night I found I needed a birthday card for an aunt of mine and I wanted to explore these colors and go a different route in making the card or in other words: make a card with no stamping!

After exploring my big tub of embellishments I picked out the Sidewalks collection flour sack from October Afternoon, elements cardstock sticker sheet from the Out of Print collection by Basic Grey and die cut stickers from the Countryside collection by Studio Calico and a lovely woodgrain embossed white tag from my new July ohDEERme kit from Freckled Fawn.  I happened to have some older paper from the Lemonade collection and a scrap from June Bug (both favorites of mine) by Basic Grey out from another project that worked with these items.

I realized I needed touches of black to make the colors pop a bit more so I added some black lines to the sticker from the Out of Print collection and adhered the yellow butterfly to a black scallop circle cut from cardstock.  The black and white twine tied on the tag and it's pattern paper backing seemed like a natural fit.  To the card base I added a piece of doily I had left.  The card still looked a bit bare in the bottom right to me so I punched the corner and added a strip of patterned paper behind it to add another element of green and interest.

One last shot before it gets sent off:

I hope my aunt likes it.  I had fun making a card a bit different than the norm for me.

I appreciate you taking the time to visit!

Shay.

Celebrate! birthday card
Cardstock: white, Georgia Pacific and black, Neenah Papers
Patterned Paper: Strawberry Patch and Tee Time from Lemonade collection and Picket Fence from June Bug collection, Basic Grey
Tools: postage border punch, Fiskars; floral corner punch, Martha Stewart Crafts; scallop circle die, Spellbinders; Cuttlebug, Provocraft
Other: elements cardstock sticker sheet from Out of Print collection, Basic Grey; element sticker sheet from Countryside collection, Studio Calico; flower sack from Sidewalks collection, October Afternoon; woodgrain tag from July ohDEERme kit (from curtsey boutique www.curtseyboutique.etsy.com), Freckled Fawn; doily from stash; baker's twine, Divine Twine; Precision Pen, American Crafts

Flight of Fancy

Dear Reader,

Today I am here to share with you a fun video done by my talented friend, Julie Mogford.  Some of the projects featured in the video were made by yours truly.

Please feel free to share the video with your friends and family!

Thank you so much for taking the time and energy out of your busy day to visit!

Shay.

A Step in My Evolution

Dear Reader,

I have been stamping off and on for more than a decade.  I am not always sure it shows.  I am still finding my voice.  I have a lot to improve on although this is a good thing as I have so much more to learn and new places to venture.  

Working with paper wings productions stamps has really made me branch out and try new things.  Some work out and others are...a step in my evolution.  I recently created a 12x12 mixed media canvas using some adorable paper wings productions stamps:

Prince by handmade by Lissie girl

Princess by handmade by Lissie girl

And these trees that I love:

Howlin' For You by Rag & Bones Studio

I also used the lines from this stamp set (I have been using them a lot):

Hanging Stars by Fine & Fancy

I used a lot of patterned paper on this one in addition to the stamps.  All of the background paper and stars come from various Studio Calico patterned papers along with the castle and the crowns.  The Prince and Princess and horse drawn carriage are from 6x6 paper pads: Paper Heart by Crate Paper (gorgeous collection that I still love); Kissing Booth by Basic Grey and Madison Avenue of Lost & Found by My Mind's Eye.  Any coloring in came from Copic markers.  The paint is all acrylic.  The detailed marker is a black Precision Pen (outlining the scallop border for instance) from American Crafts which worked well over the dry paint.

I need to say I used matte Multi-Medium by Claudine Hellmuth Studio by Ranger for the first time to adhere the pieces of pattern paper to the canvas and it worked like a dream.  I am sold.

For more instructions and details check out this post HERE.

Is it a success?  Sort of.  Would I change some things?  Yes and maybe I will.  

Do you also evaluate your projects to gauge what needs improvement?  What was the last project you sighed with a sense of well-being about?

As always your time and attention are greatly appreciated!

Shay.

Fear of Scrapbooking

Dear Readers,

I admit it: I have a fear of scrapbooking.  I love seeing others' layouts and have had the desire to scrapbook (and doing many things to motivate me to scrapbook), but I find a 12 x 12 canvas, using photos and chronicling my life very intimidating.  I wonder if I am alone?  

In the last few of months I have done a whopping 3 layouts which is amazing considering this year was the end of a decade of not scrapping at all.

I have an ambivalent relationship with cameras.  As someone who abhors having their picture taken (this is actually a family thing as there will often be at least one person running and hiding when a camera is pulled out.  Personally, I like to dodge behind big objects or put myself behind taller people), they can make me nervous. Even being behind the camera is sort of uncomfortable as I feel I am consorting with the enemy and I usually limit what I photograph to dogs, things and places rather than people relating to my life.  On the other hand, give me odd pictures or discards which only touch my life peripherally or not at all and I am endlessly intrigued.

I made this layout about photos belonging to my grandparents and the story of how I obtained them and the questions arising from them was the story I chose to tell. Why do my grandparents have pictures of a "toga"/dress up party from the 1970's?  Who knew. The pictures are amusing and cool.

To make scrapbooking easier for a novice like myself, I used a defined color combination (aqua, coral and yellow), Flight Plan Mission 002 and the Glee Club kit by Studio Calico and a lot of stamping using paper wings productions stamps including Day Framer, Flourish Fun 1 and Happy Day sets (I first blogged about this layout HERE).   By limiting my choices, it took away some of the anxiety.

Truth be told I had fun making this layout.

Do you enjoy scrapbooking?  What inspires you?  How have you honed your skills?

Thank you for taking time out of your busy lives!

Shay.

Who Are You
Stamps: Day Framer, Flourish Fun 1 and Happy Days, paper wings productions
Ink: speckled egg, Jenni Bowlin for Ranger
Kit: Glee Club, Studio Calico
Other: Tiny Attacher, Tim Holtz; Precision Pen, American Crafts; calico cream Mister Huey's, Studio Calico; corner punch, Martha Stewart Crafts; stickers from 5 and Dime collection, October Afternoon