Challenging Card Sketch

Here's a sketch that will make you put your thinking cap on!



There are lots of layers and shapes in this sketch.  But it was fun to play around with.  I used the paper that was in last week's MDS download, Etcetera.  I really love all the soft colors in the collection.   The saying is from a calendar download.  I copied it a few times, cropped it and changed the colors.  It turned out pretty cool if I do say so myself!

 

Check out what the other Paper Craft Crew members came up with HERE.  I especially like Pam's easel card.

Let's see what you can do with the sketch this week.

In Remembrance of 9-11

Our lives changed forever on the morning of September 11, 2001.  So many people were impacted by those terrorist attacks, whether they had a friend or loved one in the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center, or in the Pentagon, or on Flight 93 which made a crash-landing on the fields near Shanksville, PA. Twelve years later or a hundred years later, we will never forget the 2,997 people who lost their lives that day, and we will never forget the changes that have impacted the United States and the world since that fateful day.  Since September 11, 2011, countless troops have died in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other war zones around the world.

Where were you on 9/11?

Cruise Tee with MDS

When Ashley came to visit, one of the things on our "to do" list was to design and make a tee shirt to wear on one of our theme nights on our upcoming cruise.  The theme for one night is "Back to the Bowery with Alabama".  Alabama is celebrating their 40th year together and they started their singing career at the Bowery in Myrtle Beach.  So with our trusty My Digital Studio, these are the shirts we came up with:

We got a deal on the shirts - nice white tees at Belk's for less than $10 - Sale!!    On the front are flip flops from Holiday Blitz stamp set (MDS).  We added a text box and typed:   Alabama and Friends Festival At Sea and the dates of the cruise.  On the back, we took a picture that I had taken at the beach of my feet in the sand and put the stamp from Summer Possibilities (dance barefoot) on top.

 

 

Luckily, Ashley had done these tees before so she remembered that we had to print them onto the transfer sheets in mirror image so it would turn out right on the tees.  I probably would have ruined my transfer paper before I realized it!! 

 

They were really quite easy to do.  We designed our pictures and printed them onto Iron On Transfer paper.  I bought my transfer paper at Staples but you could also get it at craft stores.  Then just follow the directions on the transfer paper and iron it onto your shirt or whatever you are making.

They were fun to make.  We didn't figure Sonny would want to  wear these so we found some great sales - again at Belk's on tropical tees and shirts for him to wear!

Envelope Punch Board

The latest cool tool from Stampin’ Up is available NOW!  It’s called the Envelope Punch board.  I have one here in my stamp room but with everything I have had going on the past week, I haven't gotten to play with a whole lot.  I did make one envelope last week when Ashley was here.  But this week I plan to play with it a lot more.  I was thinking I wouldn’t need it with my diagonal score board but this is much easier and I LOVE that it punches the notches out so nicely. It’s also more compact and with at least 66 sizes, that’s pretty cool!

Envelope Punch Board  Item #133774  $19.95 

More Details:

• It creates totally customizable envelopes in up to 66 different sizes (not to mention a million different color and pattern options depending on the paper you want to use). Even tried and true envelope sizes will only take you moments to create!
• It’s small and lightweight; this makes it easy for you to take it on the go!  Portable and easy to store.
• It even has a slick scoring tool as well as a punch that lets you create rounded corners on your envelopes.
• It’s easy to keep it all together; the stylus storage compartment and two punches are designed into the tool so you don’t have a bunch of little pieces to keep track of (even the instructions are printed right on the tool so you won’t lose them!).
• The price is terrific-especially for a tool that does so much!
• It will be in next year’s annual catalog, so it’s here to stay.

Envelope Punch Board Projects

I am having such fun with the Envelope Punch Board.  Not only can you make all sizes of envelopes but I've also made tags and file folder cards with the board. 



I watched a video on Patty Bennett's blog for the file folder cards.  Here is a card I made for a friend's birthday next week.  I used a SU DSP stack that is retired.  The "happy birthday" is a die that I have had for a long time.  Believe me, it is not as easy to use as Stampin' Up's thinlits!!

I used my new Wetlands stamp set for the birds.  Love it!  I stamped the little birds in Baked Brown Sugar.  I think this was the first time I used this color.  I tend to go to Soft Suede automatically and forgot all about Baked Brown Sugar.

Today I also made these cute tags using the Envelope Punch Board.  I found a U Tube tutorial that I had pinned to Pinterest.  Check it out HERE if you want to make these little tags.

This is the tag and a little tag holder that I made

Everything on this project was made with the Punch Board.  It is a handy little tool!

Woot! Woot! Be Awesome!

Woot!  Woot!  (Seriously .... do you use this slogan?  I don't think I've said it!)  But it looks cute on this card.  This is my interpretation of the Paper Craft Sketch this week.  Most all of the pieces on this card came from the digital pocket card set, Happy Together.  I decided to do a square card this week.  I don't usually make square cards because of having to spend extra postage to mail it, but hey - this is digital - I probably won't print it out and mail it anyway!

This week's sketch had a lot of of bits and pieces on it.  It was definitely a challenge to do this week.

We had a great time in Greenville and arrived back home around 4 yesterday.  It was good to see our friends again and Greenville was the perfect spot.  I was pretty wiped out last night and had planned on doing absolutely nothing today.  But, I looked at my calendar last night and realized my Newcomers coffee was this morning.  We had a nice fashion show at the coffee.  Afterwards a group (of 21!!) went to lunch at Oh Charley's.  The waiter and waitress did a good job taking our orders and getting our food to us in a timely matter but paying the check was another story!  We waited 35 minutes for him to return with our change / credit cards!  I really think the manager should have stepped up and helped him out.

Shelli

As I told you last week, Shelli was in a really bad accident.  Her husband posted all the details in Shelli's blog on Saturday.  If you are interested in reading it, click HERE.   Sounds like she is one lucky lady!

Friends in Low Places

We've had a nice visit with our good friends (in low places) Sharon and Don.  They flew to Atlanta from Dallas to spend time with a sick friend and we met then in Greenville, SC.  It's great to spend quality time with friends and reminiscence about the good old days! 

Greenville is a really cool city - very pedestrian friendly and walkable with shops, bars and restaurants over a 5-6 block area of downtown.  We saw lots of families with small children and a bunch of people walking their dogs through town.  Scattered throughout are receptacles with pet bags in them to clean up after your pet.  It is a very clean city.  Sonny and I lived in Greenville 40 years ago and I worked downtown.  But it was not the downtown that I saw on this trip - far from it!!  I am not sure when the revitalization began but they really did a great job of planning out this area.  There is an area right outside our hotel called Falls Park on the Reedy River that is just gorgeous!  It is an oasis within the city with waterfalls, benches, places for children to play and splash in the water as well as art studios, a few restaurants, statues and the Reedy River running through.

Miss U

We had a great visit with Ashley last week but it went way too fast!   Here is the card I snuck (is that a word???) in her bag yesterday before we took her to the airport.




I used the Label Thinlits for almost everything on the card - to cut the card itself and the white label, arrow and heart also come in the thinlit packet. 

Took this one day on the boat - not so great picture of me (too many chins!!)

I took this picture Saturday night while we were watching tv (well, some of us were watching!)  Ashley watched through closed eyelids!

Bowz

Shelli Gardner, the owner of Stampin' Up had an accident this week. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.  Here is what her daughter wrote on her blog:

Hi, everyone, this is Sara, taking liberty with my mom's blog.

I just wanted you to know that yesterday my mom was involved in a riding accident in southern Utah; the horse she was riding stumbled. She was taken to the Kanab hospital where X-rays were taken, and she was diagnosed with a fractured wrist, pelvis, and collarbone. She flew by plane to Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City, where she will likely be for a few days.

Obviously, she is in a great deal of pain but wants you all to know she is fine and is grateful it wasn't worse. Thank you for your concern, well wishes, and prayers! I suspect she'll blog herself as soon a she feels up to it. . . .

 Ashley is leaving later today.  This week has just flown by!  I sure will miss her.  Saturday was a low key day.  We played with MDS working on designing our tee shirts for one of the theme nights on our cruise.  Later in the day, we went to the movies and saw The Millers.  It was really funny.  Ashley and I made Hatch Pepper Quesadillas for dinner - yum!  Sonny and I are heading to Greenville, SC after dropping Ashley off at the airport.  Some good friends of ours from Dallas are flying to Atlanta Sunday to see a sick friend.  They are going to drive up to Greenville, SC and we are going to meet them for a visit for a couple of days.

I've just ordered the Bowz Die from the Holiday Mini catalog.  It arrived on Thursday and I've been so busy I haven't been able to share my bows with you.  Maybe next week!!  I made a cute gift this weekend for one of my granddaughter's birthday and topped it with one of the bows.  It was so easy!!  Instead, I'm sharing a couple of bow ideas from convention.