Marbled in Green

Today’s card is being featured on Stylin’ Stampin’ Inkspiration. The challenge was to create an anything goes card. I decided to feature February's stamp club technique: shaving cream marbling.

To make marbled cardstock, spray foaming shaving cream onto a flat surface (I used aluminum foil). Level out using a scraper, spatula, or another similarly shaped object. Add drops of ink using reinkers. For this card, I dropped three different colors. Take a toothpick or chopstick and swirl the ink around to create the marble pattern. Press your cardstock into the shaving cream making sure to hit all areas. Remove from shaving cream, but don't wipe off the excess shaving cream just yet. You want the ink to start to dry before wiping off excess. Otherwise, you will smear the ink instead of getting a nice marbled effect. Once it is drier, wipe off the excess shaving cream with a paper towel. Let dry even more before attaching to card.

Stamps: Another Thank You
Inks: Garden Green; Pistachio Pudding reinker (retired); Pear Pizzaz reinker; Gumball Green reinker (retired)
Cardstock: Garden Green; Pear Pizzaz; Whisper White
Accessories: Botanical Gardens Washi Tape
Tools: Washi Label Punch

30 Days of Lists Notebooks

The mom's retreat is coming up in just a few weeks. I always make a few little surprise gifts for the ladies. I originally made these little notebooks to be gifts, but then decided to make them a part of my favorite things gift. I love participating in 30 Days of Lists and thought it would be a cute idea to do a pre-made notebook for the event.

I started with a variety of papers and paper stacks. I cut 40 pieces down to 4x6 and started glueing them together into a book. From there, I hole punched and added book rings.Now on to the really fun part... I pulled Project Life cards from a variety of kits. These cards at the base for the lists they are going to make. I made sure each card was designed with enough space to write the list title and the list contents. I only needed 30 of the journaling cards. I was left with about 8 blank pages. I went through my PL card stash and pulled some sentiment cards.

I am including a piece of paper with some past 30 Days of Lists topics. That way, the ladies can use those or take the class. But at least they have a starting point. As a finishing touch, I added a few pieces of coordinating washi tape and label on the front. Such a cute little homemade gift and I only bought the book rings. Everything else came directly from my stash.

SSINKIC30: Wintery Window

Today’s card is being featured on Stylin’ Stampin’ Inkspiration. The challenge was to create a card using the picture below as inspiration.

I decided to play off the window image and the color palette and create a masculine card. I picked a few pattern papers from the Going Places Stack as my visual base. I then made a window to create the image. Finally I added a sentiment and my favorite part: Wink of Stella "snowflakes."

Stamps: Happy Happenings
Inks: Basic Black
Cardstock: Going Places DSP; Very Vanilla; Basic Black
Accessories:
Tools: Ovals Framelits; Clear Wink of Stella

Project Life January 2016

A very light month for pictures. All of us were so sick that I completely forgot about taking pictures most days. And who wants pics of kleenex and soup anyway? For my 2016 month cards, I decided to use my beautiful September Skies core kit. I'm feeling much girlier than usual. Each month's title card has the same stamped date, but has a differently themed card. I tried to get away from the crazy themed cards from last year. I went a bit mix and match this time.

For January, I kept last year's blue and gray color scheme, but didn't make it too much about cold and snow. Even while we were in Indiana it didn't snow.

Page 1 and 2 have pics from our last days in Indiana visiting family. I added some snowflakes and silver embellishments. Those silver borders are from Heidi Swapp. Love them!

Page 3 holds random pics from home. Thankfully I had enough vertical photos to fill a Design L page protector without having to sacrifice any or fill with strange inserts. Page 4 includes the few activity photos we had for the month. Arthur and I managed to get the zoo, Mel's Play Place, the park, and a giant sandbox. Unfortunately the last two activities were cut short by crankiness. I didn't realize he was coming down with a cold.

Here's hoping we stay healthy through February and get some good pictures!

Just for You Bundle

Today’s card is being featured on Stylin’ Stampin’ Inkspiration. The challenge was to create a card with a $50 bundle and Sale-a-Bration item. I just love the Botanicals for You stamp set. The big bold greeting is perfect to accessorize. For this card, I stamped the "Just for You" sentiment in Lost Lagoon. I then made a mask by ripping some paper. From there, I stamped over the mask using the various pieces from the Botanical Gardens stamp set. Easy peasy! For a finishing touch, I glued on a Botanical Gardens Jewel.

Do you want to recreate this card? Buy the $50 bundle below and get the Botanicals For You Stamp Set (141234 Wood; 141237 Clear) for free!

$50 Bundle:

Botanical Blooms (140757 $17)
Botanical Gardens Jewels (140585 $7)
Mint Macaron Ink (138326 $6.50)
Blushing Bride Ink (131172 $6.50)
Wild Wasabi Ink (126959 $6.50)
Lost Lagoon Ink (133644 $6.50)

Items Used:

Stamps: Botanicals for You; Botanical Blooms
Inks: Blushing Bride; Calypso Coral; Wild Wasabi; Mossy Meadow; Mint Macaron; Lost Lagoon
Cardstock: Calypso Coral; Blushing Bride; Whisper White
Accessories: Botanical Gardens Jewels
Tools:

SSINKCS30: Watermelon Butterfly

Today’s card is being featured on Stylin’ Stampin’ Inkspiration. The challenge was to create a card using the sketch below.

Funny thing is that I don't have the Hearts Framelits. And I don't really have any desire to buy them. I'm just not hugely into hearts, but I do love butterflies. So I decided to make a card using the sketch but substituting the butterfly for the heart pictured. Overall, I kept my card very monochromatic. I love playing with the watercolor wings stamp set to create different color combos. This card features the combination of Blushing Bride, Calypso Coral, and Watermelon Wonder. Once I layered on the main pieces, I decided the card needed to be finished with some bling. I added a Botanical Garden Jewel and a bit of clear Wink of Stella. Just my kind of card.

I used this card for our February stamp club but gave my participants the choice of four of the 2015-2017 In Colors. Below are the butterflies I made as examples.

Stamps: Watercolor Wings; Happy Happenings
Inks: Blushing Bride; Calypso Coral; Watermelon Wonder; Early Espresso
Cardstock: 2015-2017 In Color DSP; Watermelon Wonder; Whisper White
Accessories: Botanical Gardens Jewel; Doilies
Tools: Bold Butterfly Framelits; Clear Wink of Stella

Sunday Haul #5

Small haul this week. I picked up some snail and spray adhesive for current projects. While at Michael's I couldn't resist these adorable letters (40% off!). I found initials for all three boys. Now to put them in their rooms somewhere...

February 2016 Crafting Goals

January PL pages -- The usual...
Finish Retreat Crafts -- I have two different crafty items to finish before the retreat on March 10th. Hoping to finish by the end of this month.
Destash/declutter before possible move -- We might be moving back to the peninsula this spring (woohoo!), but I really need to destash and declutter my craft area before that happens. Hoping to spend some time in February.
Take supply inventory -- Goes along with previous goal.
Send February cards out -- Instead of forgetting birthdays here and there or until last minute, I'm trying to send out cards towards the beginning of the month in a batch. Or at least preparing them in a batch. Have a few for February I want to get out. Plus, a few thank you cards for various people.
Reevaluate my PL plan-- More of a thought process than hands-on process. But thinking a lot about what i want to include in my PL spreads.

A recap of last month's goals:

Finish December Daily pages — Success! Not super complicated but I got it finished.
Restart stamp club — Success! Relaunch stamp club. I only have three confirmed ladies with a possibly fourth, but we'll make it work. The three new ladies who attended (one confirmed, one just a guest, one maybe joining) were awesome fun to craft with. Can't wait until February club!
Plan out rest of February/March classes — Success! I scheduled a few different class and crop nights before I go back to Indiana for spring break. Now if people would RSVP...

Hostess Sets, Circles, and Flowers

Today’s card is being featured on Stylin’ Stampin’ Inkspiration. The challenge was to create a card featuring a hostess set. A Whole Lot of Lovely is my favorite hostess set. I'm not usually drawn to the super feminine sets, but this one is lovely! I decided to use a very limited color combo and play with my markers. The end result is a nice and clean design that features some fun elements.

Stamps: A Whole Lot of Lovely
Inks: Hello Honey; Cucumber Crush; Island Indigo
Cardstock: Cucumber Crush; Hello Honey; Whisper White
Accessories: Cherry on Top Washi Tape
Tools: Circles Framelits

Dots and Washi Tape

Today’s card is being featured on Stylin’ Stampin’ Inkspiration. The challenge was to create a card featuring washi tape. Hands down, washi tape is my favorite embellishment! I might even have a bit of a washi tape addiction. For this card, I featured a few color from the 2014-2016 In Color collection. The washi tape was applied and then the entire piece of cardstock was embossed. The effect in person is amazing!

Stamps: Another Thank You
Inks: Blackberry Bliss
Cardstock: Mossy Meadow; Blackberry Bliss; Hello Honey; Whisper White
Accessories: 2014-2016 In Color Washi Tape
Tools: Decorative Dots Embossing Folder