Father's Day

Be prepared! Father's Day is coming up and I finally got to sit down and put together some cards. Now, while my father and my father-in-law do not fully understand my cult...hobby, I meant hobby, they do enjoy the results. Both my father and father-in-law love getting homemade cards. In fact, at the ripe old age of 30 something, I have managed to make it to the refrigerator again! High praise! Hopefully they will enjoy these as well.

The paper is scrap left over from Adorn It Family Heritage. I threw in some old silk flowers, buttons and a hand cut heart. (Can you believe that despite my love of punches, I do not own a heart punch?!!) This card is scraplifted from a Papercraft magazine from 2008. It is one of my favorites and had several variations of this card.

Hope that you enjoy!

All owls all the time

As part of a thank you card project for the troops, I created six cards. I played around with some of my favorite paper. This is another round of paper I was hoarding. Adorn it paper from the Fern Collection has owls and stripes. It is so much fun! I love this paper, I have been holding it for all my "male" cards. So, after playing with my "owls all around paper", buttons, prima flowers and my thank you stamp I have some fun, funky cards.

Nothing like owls to remind you that crafting is such a hoot!

Pinching pennies the paper way

I am one of the cheapest people I know. My husband likes to call it frugal, but either way, I like to save and use up all that I can. Which means when I cut a gigantic circle out of a 12x12 sheet of paper I want to still find a way to use those little corner sections. Solution: enter in the punches. My favorite thing to do is punch out flowers, butterflies and circles from this paper, trying to use up every bit. If you have punches, I suggest this method, you can use these as accents for the rest of your layouts if you want them to coordinate with the rest of the papers you are using. You can also use them for cards.

Another great suggestion someone once gave me... after the layout comes the card. Use the rest of the scraps from your layout for a few cards. The paper, the cardstock and all the other bits are there, why not use it while you got it!

Happy crafting and frugal living!

Catching up

Back with more Apron Strings fun! This is Birthday Challenge #4. It was a blast. First, you choose elements of a cake you want to bake. Then you are given the scrapbook equivalent of the cake ingredients. For example, I chose a vanilla cake, with strawberry filling, buttercream frosting and fresh fruit on top. Sounds good right? In Apron Strings terms that translates to white or kraft cardstock, with patterned paper that has dots or circles, some buttons and finally paint! Good times were had!

I decided to do a simple layout of my husband at the zoo. He is my favorite person and the zoo is quite possibly his favorite place. We walk through the gate and the man turns into an 8 year old kid who cannot get enough of animal planet. It is one of the many things I love about him.

Thus, the layout has him happy and painted up. Once again, I turned to Mind's Eye Alphabet soup and ranger paints. Paint makes it feel like a real project... must be all the mess!

Gearing up for Valentine's Day

Most people know that I am a part of an organization called Soldiers' Angels. This organization works to get volunteers to send letters, packages and baked goods to our troops stationed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Because it takes a while for mail to get to them, we have to send out items early. So, I am working on my valentines. Thanks to a few blogs out there that provide instructions for candy bar wrappers, I am set. I created about 12 valentine candy holders filled with Hershey bars. I used Pinecone Press Papers, their Red Hots sheet and some pink and cream card stock. The stamp set is one I have had for a few years now, and I am not sure who makes it. I got it on sale a few years ago at Archivers in Louisville. I love the little girl and boy! They are so cute and make me feel like coloring.

Now, I just have to get them in the mail!