Itichin' for Stitchin'

If you are following my sketch challenges, you've already seen this one from last Friday, but I was pretty impressed with myself for getting it done. YAY me!

I've had computer issues since the end of May 2007...SOMEONE put scrap paper in my CD drive and I hadn't taken the time to make an appointment and have a Mac Genius evaluate the situation. Well now it's come back to bite me. Somesort of system glitch is causing a problem with some of my applications. I need to upgrade my system software (or just reinstall), and in the meantime, I cannot use Photoshop, Illustrator, or any Microsoft applications.


With this issue came another, my inability to create sketches! Oh NO!!!! Well, I couldn't let that stop me, and since I had a pretty simple idea in my head, I decided to try MS Word as a sub. I use it at work for letters, and my desk isn't so demanding that I couldn't spend a few minutes a day tweaking my creation until Fridays post! So there it is above.

Over the weekend my WONDERFUL husband Gabe managed to get the paper out, and my CD drive is operational again. *YIPPEE* Can you believe there were FIVE small pieces of card stock in there!? I don't think I have to worry about a repeat incident. When I first discovered the paper in there, the girls were pretty bummed because we were on a road trip and they couldn't watch DVD's .

Here is a page I did Sunday using the sketch. The "innocent" child you see there is VERY LIKELY the cause of all my laptop grief! Can't sell her in a garage sale, heck look at that smile, how could I? She sure makes me appreciate her sisters a bit more, and I guess payback is hell...right Dad? LOL!!!

The page itself came together really fast. I just drew a heart on the backside of this patterned paper I had and trimmed it out. After taping it down, I ran it through my sewing machine. I adore using machine stitching on my layouts, if you haven't tried it you should. There are LOTS of ways to play with stitches and faux stitches are ALMOST as fun!

Basically Blue

I don't normally do photoless layouts, but I did this one for my friend Darcy and wanted her to use it as she wishes. I gave them to her at her bachelorette party last Friday night, so they are no longer "top secret."
Also, since she is one of my cyber sisters, I figured it would be appropriate to share them with you here! Hi Darcy, hope you are having a FABULOUS time on your honeymoon!!!

I used one of my sketches (see below) as the initial inspiration, but I decided to change it up a little. The truth is, after I created that section on the bottom left, I didn't have the heart to cover it up! What? you say, that's not patterned paper? No it is not, I stamped that part using my own crazy version of emboss resist. I guess we could call it "Silly Sally's Sloppy Emboss Resist!"

I used VersaMark clear pigment ink and stamped an image from Brocade Basics. Then, taking my sweet time about it, I sprinkled clear embossing powder over the image. I was NOT careful to cover the stamped images completely before I heated it with my heat tool. Then I brayered over the top with Classic ink and the brayer picked up and ghosted some areas that weren't fully embossed. I was really pleased with the distressed/aged look I achieved, and will certainly be experimenting with this again!

The right side of my layout has some freestyle paper piercing. I lightly drew a swirling design with a pencil and "traced" back over it with the piercing tool before erasing any residual pencil marks, and went back over it with my white get pen. I love the texture this creates! No page would be complete without some smudges of craft ink, so of course I did that too!

I really like the effects of blocks on a page. Blocks of color, blocked photos, blocked papers with photos overlapping...
I'm hoping to get some more mileage out of this sketch. I would also LOVE to see what you can do with it!

Use it or LOSE it!

I scrapped last night, I scrapped last night!!! My first pages of the new year, and I used my sketches from Friday's challenge. It's a miracle! ;)


I thought I was going to do the reverse masking technique to create the circles, but I decided to dig into my stash of patterned paper and use something I had. It's all about satisfying my 2008 scrapping goal, and I really need to use the old before I can buy NEW!

The pictures I used are from my daughters 10th birthday. It was her actual birthday, not a party, but I feel strongly about singing "Happy Birthday" and celebrating on the DAY even if your party can't be on the day. I intended for it to be a little hokey. We used baby shower napkins and the cupcakes included a fabulous "must have" fashion accessory...My Little Pony rings! hee hee
Here are my pages:

For the second page I decided to hide some pictures in a "waterfall" style, and I rotated the sketch to make it work with my landscape photos. I used my round tab punch to create hinges for attaching the matted photos with. A super easy way to get extra photos on your page...and I hid my journaling too! It's not that I really dislike my handwriting, but the page seems less "messy" to me.

For a complete recipe of the papers and products I used, visit my gallery!

Whew...Christmas IS Over!

I am sad/glad the holidays are over. I no longer have house guests. There is no pressure to keep the house super clean, or cook a big feast. It is actually a BIG relief!

I guess it's time to pack away my paper ornaments and Christmas layouts...
My craft table is surprisingly clean at the moment. I guess that's what happens when you don't USE it for a while. *yikes*

I had a pretty uneventful New Years Eve. I actually spent the evening painting a shared bedroom for my two youngest daughters. We are in the midst of a MAJOR overhaul, and I have girly stuff deposited in every spare corner of the house at the moment! Yet ANOTHER reason to be thankful the holidays are over! ;)

While we're on the subject of the new year, I meant to share a picture of one of these 2008-2009 planners. I altered the covers and I made several with different stamp sets, but basically the same colors. Unfortunately the photo doesn't really do it justice, but if you click on it you can see a closer view. This was done with the technique I shared over a month ago, Emerging Color, or Joseph's Coat Inside Out (as Jan Tink calls it). I am pretty pleased with the results, this is one I kept for myself - isn't it gorgeous!?

GOALS
I decided to set a scrapping goal for the year, and owe the idea to Lela on SCS. Several of us have set goals for ourselves, and the catch is, we can't spend money on new stuff unless we meet the goal! I plan to do 100 pages this year, so I set a goal of 8 pages this month which will allow me to spend $24 on new goodies....whoops, I haven't scrapped a thing yet, and I spent a $1 in the Target spot the other day. Ain't these cute!? They are self adhesive chipboard pieces. My 6 year-old is DYING for me to use them, because she knows she gets the leftovers. She is such a scrapper in the making!!!


EXCITEMENT BUILDS!!!!

The NEW Stampin' Up! catalog is HERE!!!!!
I'll be giving them away FREE to anyone who:

• joins my mailing list
• places an order
• signs up for my monthly club
• hosts a PARTY!

Contact me to get your copy while supplies last! In the meantime, enjoy the online version!