Shout Out to Sheetload!

One of my Riverview friends shared with me the Sheetload of Cards website many months ago and I finally got around to using some of their sketches a month or so ago. Unfortunately I never posted any of those cards. Well today I had the opportunity to use the sketches from their February Issue and I wanted to give them a shout out and thank them and Unity Stamps for sponsoring such a great issue and for providing this awesome sketch to use!

The concept of their sketches is that they will help you make many cards at once by providing you with all the right measurements and amounts of paper and embellishments you will need. Basically they take all the hard work out of making cards and leave the fun part, the assembling and embellishing to us!

Take a look at this month's February 09 issue and see how easy it would be to create some cards. (If that link takes you to a page showing the Unity Sponsorship, but no link to the issue, then go to their main page and scroll down through old posts until you get to the February 2nd post. From there you can click on the picture of the issue and get the download.)

What I tend to do is use their sketches to find ways to use up scraps that I have on hand from a previous project.

Below are two cards that I created using their February sketch. I varied the measurements slightly to suit my needs, but I stuck really close to the original!

The Fine Print: DP: Scenic Route; Stamps: Unity February SOTM club house image, SU Home Tweet Home, SU Fun and Fast Notes "Congratulations"; Flowers: Prima and ?, Ink: Amuse Black ink and Copic Markers, Brads: MM.

The Fine Print: DP: Scenic Route; Stamps: Stamping Bellas Belinda Bumperboots, SU A Little Birdie Told Me sentiment, Flowers: Prima and ?; Ink: Amuse Black ink and Copic Markers, Rhinestones: Unknown.

Here are the other cards I told you that I had created earlier using other sketches from SheetLoad of Cards. In these I also used up some leftover materials I had lying around. It is nice to make quick cards and have some on hand for those occasions that always seem to come up.

The Fine Print: DP: HOTP and Creative Imaginations; CS: Sam's Club (white) and Gin X (dark purple). Varied ribbons unknown, Embellishments unknown. Opaque white marker, dew drops, brads, Copic Markers and Flowers. Stamps listed below.

The first two cards come from the Sheetload of Cards November 08 issue.

The Fine Print: Stamps: SU; Fun and Fast Notes, and Nest from SU Nellie the Nest Lady

The Fine Print: Stamps: Sarah Beise Cupcake, Sentiment from SU Wishing Well

The Last two come from the Sheetload of Cards January 09 Issue.

The Fine Print: Stamp: SU Merci Butterfly, SU Sentiment from A Little Birdie Told Me.

The Fine Print: Stamps: Inkadinkadoo Party Hat, Sentiment from Verses Rubber Stamps.

It feels great to spend less time creating cards and using up my stash of scraps at the same time! I love Sheetload!!

Have a great night and may your bucket be overflowing with lots of sketches to use!

Survived Camping and Best Fishes Challenge!

Hello everyone! I am so glad to be back from camping this past weekend! It was very cold (for Florida!) and we had a burn ban in effect so it was pretty chilly in the evenings! We did have a space heater, but it wasn't the same as a nice bonfire! It was fun to hang out with our friends and family, but as always, it is a lot of work for Tom and me!

One of the highlights of the weekend was that we got to see two of Tom's grandkids that we haven't seen in years! They were precious, so well-behaved and such a pleasure to spend time with. Below is a pictures of some of the crew... the two cute little ones are our grandkids!

I was so happy to get back home and spend the rest of my Sunday glued to my scraproom! I was going crazy and feeling the need to be creative! I first started by finally putting some ink on one of my new Magnolia stamps. I almost have the card ready and will show you as soon as it is.

Today I began tackling yesterday's SCS Featured Stamper Challenge! This week they featured a very talented card maker named Jami (aka Sgt Stamper on SCS). After perusing her inspirational Gallery, I decided to case this card.

The rules for "casing" according to SCS are to "Change 2 or more things on the card. It could be a color combo, embellishements, backgrounds, or even the main image could be different but similar because you don't own the exact image. List the changes in your description."

Here is the card that I created after seeing hers....

I found the instructions on how to make this stair step fold card also on SCS here. I loved the way that she used the swirly embossing folder to make the water look like waves. I definitely wanted to use that idea in my design too! I also added clear embossing powder and some glitter to my "waves" to make them look wet! I am not sure that you can appreciate that in these pictures though!

My card differs from hers because I used blue instead of pink DP (my paper is from Flair Designs.) I changed my fish images and added some other sealife stamps from the SU set called Fishy Friends. I also changed the sentiment using one that I created with Word and a font called Rx One Zero. My stamped images were colored using Copic markers.

This card will be going to my animal and marine loving son Ricky who turns 15 this Sunday!

Sunflower Color Challenge Card and the last of my Valentine creations!

Sunflowers can be orange can't they?

The Fine Print: DP: Scenic Route and Sassafrass Lass; CS: SU; Ribbon: Unkown, Stamps: Rubber Stampede and MFT Essential Sentiments; Copic Markers, Buttons: SEI; White embroidery Floss; Opaque white Pen: Inkessentials; Nestabilities.

I created this card following the color palette from Kwernerdesign.com Color Inspiration challenge. I have been wanting to play along for a long time now, but it seems either I never I get around to creating a card with the right colors, or if I do, I forget to post it in time on her blog! So here you go... this is my creation using More Mustard, Really Rust, Kiwi Kiss and White.

I love the brightness and the vibrancy of these colors! They are so spring and summer to me! Do you see how I used Markie's Mom's technique of adding the white dots around the mat frames? That is definitely her trademark isn't it?? She colors so beautifully and I always love her creations! She really inspires me a lot!

Finally, I just wanted to post the last of the Valentine Creations I made this year that I didn't get a chance to post yet! I am glad to be moving on to a new theme and color palate! LOL!

This was the complete package that we sent to Shaelynn, our DGD who lives in Ohio! It was complete with her card, the candy box I made filled with goodies, some socks, the bear and lip gloss! She (well her mom,) texted grampa after she got it and thanked us!

This card went to my neice Lindsay! It uses all the same papers and embellies I have previously posted, and the elephant stamp comes from SU!

This is one of the closeups of the origami candy boxes that I made with the help of my daughter Leah! We had such a fun time making them together! The ironic part about this is that after Leah helped me for so long when she came home the weekend before Valentine's, she is yet to receive her goody box all filled up with candy because it was lost in the mail! I am so sorry Leah!!! I love you!!

This is my first Clean and Simple card that I have ever made. It is the Valentine that I gave to Tom this year. I tried to make it very masculine... I think it came out well... he liked it and that is all that matters! :-)
I also covered some chocolate bars to give to various people. Donnie, Leah's BF got this one!

We are preparing to go camping this weekend up in Homossassa with a big group of people! It will be lots of fun, but you won't be seeing me in blogland for a few days! Hope you all have a great weekend and I will catch back up to you next week!

Have a great day and may your bucket overflow with fun things this weekend!!

A Challenging Day trying Challenges!

I was close to stumped today when I started to work on a couple of challenges that I combined into one card. I was first visiting Stamping & Dancing with Riley when I saw that she was having a color challenge. Since I now have all the colors of SU cardstock (except the neutrals) I wanted to try to play along.





I liked the color choices because I figured that I could use them for making a St. Patrick's Day card. I need to get busy with those since that holiday is practically around the corner!





The colors for the Color Dare Challenge were to use Bordering Blue, Gable Green, Sahara Sand and Close to Cocoa. Well to my great surprise and happiness, it turns out that some of the Brownie Girl Scout DP that I purchased from my LSS was the perfect match to those colors!





So the next dilemma was deciding on what card to make. So I checked out SCS and found their sketch challenge for today. This was probably the hardest part for me, because the sketch wasn't something I would typically create. So this is where the challenge part really came into play. After much fiddling around and playing with my layers, I finally liked my end product.





I hope you do too! Thanks so much for looking! Feel free to leave a comment and add a link to something you have recently created! I would love to see what you all are working on too!

The Fine Print: DP: K&CO Brownie Girl Scout collection; CS: SU; Stamps: SU Lucky Me set; Ribbon: Target Dollar Spot; Shamrock Embellies: Joann's; Brads: Bazzill, Copic Markers; Nestabilities, Cuttlebug embossing folders, Circle Punch.

Have a great day and may your bucket overflow with the luck of the Irish! :-)

Collection of County Cards!

Yesterday was such a fun day for me. Despite getting called in to work twice, I still found enough time to really produce some cards. I was busy all weekend reorganizing my space because my stamp collection has grown so much that I need two bookshelves to store them in. It required a bit of shuffling to get everything into their proper places and keep my room looking pretty still.

So, part of my reorganization was to sort through all my scraps of paper and decide on a system of organization. I have decided that I will sort them by color and keep them in an accordian style holder. That way, when I need a scrap I can go to my stash first instead of cutting into a brand new sheet of paper. I have one folder for patterned paper, and one for card stock.

Well anyway, while going through my scraps I found the leftover paper that Tiffani and I had used to make the Recipe Card samples for the Wishblading Well! I hit the jackpot! The paper comes from Crate Paper and the set is called the Cowgirl Collection. It came with many double sided DP and even some punch out embellies and letters to use.

Here is the collection that I created using that stash. Mind you there were quite a few leftovers to choose from so in total, I made 8 cards yesterday (7 different ones).

Here are some close up shots!

This card is based on BSC67 a Bella Sketch Challenge posted on SCS last week!

The Fine Print: DP: Crate Paper Cowgirl Collection; Stamp: SU's Brighter Days, SU Thanks Sentiment; Ink:

SU Close to Cocoa and Copics markers; Flowers: Prima; Dew Drops: Stamping Bellas; Sakura Gelly Roll pen.

The Fine Print: DP: Crate Paper Cowgirl Collection; Stamp: SU's Bee from Friends are like Flowers, and Sentiment SU's Birthday Greetings; Ink: SU Close to Cocoa; Flowers: Prima ?; Brads: Bazzill; Sakura Gelly Roll pen.

This is another card based on BSC67. I actually a Bella stamp for this one! ;-)

The Fine Print: DP: Crate Paper; Stamps: Stamping Bellas Chick, Sentiment from Inky Antics; Flower: ?; Brads: Basic Gray; Sakura Gelly Roll pen.

Four of them I made to coordinate as a set. I have always contemplated selling some handmade card on Etsy.com, but I am not sure that it would really be worth it. I take forever to make my cards, so if I got $3-$4 per card, it really wouldn't compensate me much for my time! Tiffani had the idea that I should give out card gift sets to my family and friends for special occasions and birthdays. I think that is a great idea!

I call this set the Cowgirl Country set!

Here are close up shots of each of the cards from that set!

The Fine Print: Each of these uses the Crate Paper CowGirl Collection, Close to Cocoa SU ink, Flowers by Prima (?), Sakura Gelly Roll pens and various SU stamps for the sentiments and the butterfly from The Flight of the Butterfly set by SU, Red Embroidery floss. Additonal items used are listed below the individual cards.

This card is based on Julie's Bonus Sketch from 2 sketches 4 You posted 2/16/09.

In addition to the materials listed above, this card also uses SEI buttons.

This card sketch also comes from 2 Sketches for You, it is made by Kazan's Sketch 20 for Monday's challenge.

Do any of you ever sell any hand made items on Etsy or Ebay? I would love to hear about your experiences in doing that. So if you have any information to share, please share it in the comments!

Thanks so much for looking! Have a great day...and may your bucket be overflowing with creativity!

A Challenging Week! More Valentine Cards!

Hello Everyone and sorry for the delay in blogging! Sometimes life just gets in the way and there is nothing I can do about it! It has been very busy for me lately at work and on top of that I have been working hard to get my Valentine's done and ready for mailing. Here are some of the cards that I have already finished up! I utilized many of the awesome challenges that are posted throughout the week on lots of the sites and blogs I visit!

No offense to my daughter Tiffany, but this is her card this year! The sketch for this comes from Julee's MojoMonday Sketch challenge #72. If you haven't signed up for her blog yet, she gives out great sketches every Monday! I always forget to go back and sign up for the contests! I hate when I do that!

This is one of my attempts at a masculine card for my son. I used Nichole Heady's connect the dots sketch for this one. Unfortunately I didn't get my photo uploaded on her site fast enough to have a chance at winning all those yummy ribbons she is giving away. Somebody is going to be very lucky!

This was another attempt at masucline! The sketch is from SCS Sketch Challenge 215 I don't know about this card's masculinity though, it does have a bow and even some pink and polka dots! LOL!

This card is going to our grandkids! They are as sweet as cupcakes!! You can click here to see what inspired me to create this card. This was a SCS Inspiration Challenge IC166 from this past Saturday!

This is an Asian themed valentine. I Can't tell you who it is for! This card was created from SCS Challenge TLC205 last week using paper pleating.

Here is the inside of the Asian card!

This one goes to my daughter up in Gainesville! Get it? Go Gators!!! This card is based on the SCS Sketch Challenge SC214

This is to my oldest daughter! I really like how this recessed window turned out. I took the SCS technique challenge TLC206 last week and made this one!

So, that is part of what has been keeping me busy! I am having lots of fun getting these ready, but I am starting to want to change to a new color palate while making cards. The pinks and reds are getting old!! :-)

Have a great day and may your bucket overflow with many Valentine's from your loved ones!!

Kelly :-)

BRRR!! I need to warm up! And Lori's blog challenge!

My coach for the triathlon training group I am in at the Y actually made us get in the pool and swim this morning. It was only one degree away from it being cold enough to keep us out of the pool. So the air temp was in the 50's with a pretty good wind chill, but the pool water was only 79 degrees! My teeth were just a chattering this morning and my feet are still cold!!

My plans for today are to have lunch with two of my good friends from work. Melissa, my fellow tri partner and I are taking Michelle out for her birthday which was last Friday! I am looking forward to some sushi!! That will warm me right up... just have to add enough wasabi!!

I also need to finish some more Valentine's Day cards today! It is getting a little late and I want to make sure I have a little something special for my kids, neices, and my grandkids! (Wow, I still can't believe that I am a grandma now!)

In the meantime I wanted to share with you some recent layouts I have completed. I had the pleasure of spending the whole day yesterday with Tiffani since both of our husbands were out of town. We had a scrapbooking slumber party and got some layouts going. It is so fun to have a best friend that shares in my passions with me! We have such fun together!

First (Legal) Drink

The Fine Print: DP: Sassafrass Lass; CS: Bazzill (Gray), Sam's Club (white); Scalloped Borders: BG; Purple Felt Flowers: Joann's dollar bin; Red Flower: Heidi Swapp; Purple Rhinestones: Target dollar spot; Computer Font: High Tower Text; Stamp: Martini Glass Michael's dollar bin, Circle Punch, Scalloped circle Nestability; Adhesive: Glue Glider; Copic Markers; and Letter Stickers: Fusion BG.

The Climber

The Fine Print: DP: BG; CS: Bazzill, Tree electronic die cutting file: Wishblading Well, Spring Bucket; Silk leaves: unknown, Title font: don't remember; Journaling font: Comic Sans; Chalk: Inkadinkadoo.

Best Friends

The Fine Print: CS: DCWV (white), The Paper Co. (royal blue), Paper Loft (dusty blue); DP: Heidi Grace Designs; Rubons: Maya Road; Paper Flowers: Brides collection from Michael's (dots added to the center with copic marker); Stamps: You Make My Heart Happy: SU Friendship Blooms, Friend Defined: SU Lexicons of Love, Friends: Inkadinkadoo; Chipboard Letters: Lil Davis Designs; Computer Font: Monotype Corsiva; Ink: Amuse Black; Adhesive: Glue Glider, and glue dots.

Hello Daddy?

The Fine Print: DP: BG, CS: Bazzill (orange), Sam's club (white); Border Punch: Fiskars; Computer Font: Wendy Medium; Stamp: Essential Sentiments from My Favorite Things; Flowers: Bazzill; Buttons: ?; Chipboard accents: Fancy Pants; Paint: Heidi Swapp (white); Glitter: Joann's; Spiral Sticker: Sticko; Ink: SU.

Here are some closeup's showing the detail of the chipboard pieces which I painted with white paint and then sprinkled with glitter before it dried. To the button above I added a sticker!

And, one last thing!

My friend Lori (you might remember her from the Wishblading Well's DT) (Edited to add the link to Lori's blog!)had a really cool challenge posted on her blog that was put out by her aunt. The challenge goes like this...

Open My Pictures, go the the sixth folder, then go to the sixth folder in that folder, and keep doing this until you reach an actual photo! And then post the photo on your blog and explain a bit about it!

Well, here was the only photo in the fifth (July) folder (didn't have six) of the sixth folder (2006) in My Pictures! Turns out that this photo was out of place and had to be reorganized. So I am glad that I found the photo through this challenge!! LOL!

This is a picture of two of my kids; Ricky and Tiffany. They are tubing in the lake behind Chad and Tiffani's house in Land O' Lakes, FL This picture was taken in July 2006. That is Tiff's house in the background and I think that is her in blue walking up to the house! :-)

Thanks for the fun challenge Lori!

Have a great day and may your bucket overflow with great ideas for your next scrapbook layout! :-)

Valentine Cards

Hello friends!


I have been having a lot of fun lately making time for more scrapbooking and card making. As you know I am trying to get out birthday cards for all my family and close friends all year long, but I am also trying to send out cute cards to some special people for the holidays.


Since Valentine's Day is quickly approaching, I have been working on those lately.


Here are two that I have completed so far.

The Fine Print: DP: K & Co.; CS: Bazzill; Acetate embellishments: K & Co.; Heart Buttons: Michael's; Scalloped Circles: Nestability; Doily: Royal Lace; Brads: Doodlebug, Felt Heart border: Martha Stewart (Michael's); Rub Ons: Not sure.

The Fine Print: DP: K & Co.; CS: Bazzill; Acetate embellishments: K & Co.; Flowers: Prima and not sure of one with rhinestones; Rhinestones: Joann's; Ribbon: American Crafts ?; Border Punch: Martha Stewart; Stmaps: Hugs and Kisses by Inkadinkadoo, Kisses and Hugs (XO used for background paper) by Printworks; Chalk: Inkadinkadoo; Ink: Versamark.

I will post more as I get them ready!

Have a great day and may your bucket always overflow with love!

Kelly :-)

Our Kitchen Got a Face Lift!! (I wish I could! LOL!)

Hello there!!

For the last couple of days our house has been in shambles! All of our kitchen belongings have been strewn across our formal living room and dining nook while our cabinets have been getting refaced. We got a deal recently from Home Depot that we couldn't pass up that offered delayed interest and no payments for a year! So we decided now was the time to get our kitchen cabinets refaced. We chose a pretty medium toned maple wood laminate that really does look like wood. I have been wanting this done forever, and I am so happy that we now have these new cabinets! It was a pain to have the kitchen torn apart for a few days, but it was worth it!





Here are some of the before pictures of our kitchen...

This first one is the way it looked before we bought it! Can you believe how awful that blue wall coloring was??? What were they thinking? Supposedly the husband was color blind and didn't realize how horrible his color selections were. The house was full of wierd colors. It took us a week of painting before we could even move in!





That is my daugther Michelle sitting on the kitchen counter!

These next pictures show the kitchen cabinets before they were refaced but after we had fixed them and the kitchen walls up when we moved in. Much improvement, but they still needed some help. The paint that I had painted over the light pink oak trim was starting to peel off in high contact areas and the cabinet doors were starting to have trouble closing in certain places.

Now here are the after pictures of the newly refaced cabinets!!!!









Scroll down while the drumrolls.....

So by late in the evening on Saturday we had everything put back away and we are still in shock everytime we enter the kitchen! I am so happy that we did this! It will definitely help the resale value whenever we decide to sell the house!