Keeping up with the...Hoogkamps?

 This place has been quiet for far too long! The addition of a sweet little pumpkin to our family seems to have seriously affected my crafting time and put all my creative energies on hold :( Never fear though! At the nagging insistence kind encouragement of my dear friend, I am determined to get back into my stamping groove. I looked back in my folders and since Katie's birth, I made a grand total of 7 cards. That's one card per month - not so good. I hereby declare to at least double that from here on (I know, I'm not overly ambitious but I've learned it's better to keep my expectations low. That way I don't disappoint myself and am constantly exceeding my hopes. Win - win!!). So here's the card I made in June. I think it was a thank you card for someone...but I honestly can't remember. That's what happens to me when I only get 4 hours of interrupted sleep at night - all my cognitive thinking goes seriously downhill. I got the "Rosie Posie" stamp set from PTI in the spring and this was the first time I'd pulled it out. I had my eye on it for the longest time and, let me tell you, it did not disappoint. I can't wait to play with this set some more!! So here's to more card-making, more sleeping (are you reading this Katie? I'll send you the memo.), and more craftiness in The Scrapyard again. Can I get a 'What?!What?!'

Stamps: Rosie Posie, Signature Greetings (PTI), Musical Background (Unity)
Paper and Ink: SU!
Punch: Decorative Label: SU!

A Canvas

The kids were painting spring canvases for a school

project this past week and I couldn't help but join in!
It was so fun :)

I painted the canvas with water colours (obviously, I need
more practise...my technique leaves much to be desired. I'm
not a fan of the places where I over-watered and the red ran
into the turquoise :P) But, as in all crafty endeavors, when you
make a mistake you just gotta go with it. Forces you to be even
more creative! So, in an attempt to distract (cover-up) the mess
I decided to add some things on top of the painting. I cut the
birds out of some sheet music using my Cameo (can we stop and
discuss how much I love that thing?!) and the black swirlies and
text are from some uber-old rub-ons I had in my stash. I
mod-podged everything together and, while it's not perfect,
I'm still pretty happy with it and I love the fun, whimsical
look it adds to our walls. Definitely need to make more time
for creating things like this, just for fun!

Thanks for stopping by! Make some time to get crafty
this week - you'll be glad you did!

Faux watercolour and an Easter bunting

I needed a sympathy card for some friends of ours. These

are always a bit hard to make because I want them to be extra
special and meaningful. I used the set 'Thoughts and Prayers', one
of my favorites for letting people know you care. SU's latest
sale-a-bration catalogue had a beautiful card that I knew would
be perfect for this card's recipient, so I used pretty much the same
layout and colour scheme with a couple little changes. Here's the result:

It's hard to tell in this picture but the kraft panel is embossed
with a basket weave pattern. Lots of small, subtle details
on this card make it special but not too over-the-top.

I think my favorite part of this card, though, is the stamped image.
I first inked the stamp up with Certainly Celery ink, then carefully
wiped off the flowers with a baby wipe. I re-inked them with Almost
Amethyst and then sprayed the whole stamp with water from a
mini-mister. When I stamped it, it really gave the image a soft,
water-coloury look. Love, love, love how this turned out!

We've also been up to lots of crafty goodness as we get ready
to celebrate Easter. Last week I made a little mini-bunting
to hang from our kitchen shelf. I used old book pages for the
individual banners and then various Basic Grey scraps and
stickers, along with lots of punches, to decorate them.

'He is Risen'

I'll be back soon to share some more.
We've been crafty little crafters the past couple weeks.
Makes me very happy :)

It's a boy!!

One of my dearest friends just had her first baby - the

sweetest little guy I've ever seen! Here's the card I made
to celebrate the new addition:

I won a 'To the Moon' collection pack from Fancy Pants
at an auction and all the papers and stickers are from there,
along with some buttons from my stash.

I stamped the Distressed Dots background from Unity in
Versamark to add a little bit of detail to the Kraft. The colours
of the card match Johann's nursery perfectly - maybe they'll
put this card in there to add to the decor? :)

And, because he's seriously the cutest little thing in the world,
here's a picture of my new 'nephew' and his awesome parents:

Isn't he amazing???
Sigh. I love babies :)

I made another card using the same layout and papers
for an energetic six-year old's birthday. With a 'Happy
Birthday' sentiment and an awesome robot diecut along
the middle panel, it turned out super cool. Unfortunately,
I forgot to take a picture, so you'll just have to take my
word for it. Hee! Seriously though, it was super speedy
to make a second card using the same supplies and just
mixing things up a bit. I'll definitely do that again! Just
something to think about...
Happy stamping!

Happy, happy birthday!

My sister-in-law turned 19 this past weekend...whaaaat?!?
When I started dating Pete she was only 8 and we used to
write pen-pal letters to each other and play Barbies.
Now she's in her first year of university, living away from
home and all 'growed-up'. {insert little sob here}
Actually, she couldn't be any more awesome and it's been
such a delight watching her become who she is today.
So, to celebrate this momentous occasion, a lovely card
for an even lovelier sister was in order.

Here's what I came up with:

I ended up making a 6x6 card (something BIG for the

big occasion) but I had a hard time figuring out how
to arrange all the elements on it. I guess I need to
stretch myself out of my 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 comfort zone
a bit more :) I started with the Basic Gray patterned
paper and pulled the colours from it for stamping the
Happy Birthday sentiment. The white space in between
seemed kind of bare, so I used my scoring board to add
some lines. I like the texture and detail they added without
making the front too 'busy', y'know?

Lastly, I made this flower and attached it to the front with
a little bit of twine. I really wanted to attach it with a jumbo
paperclip, so she could take it off and use it as a bookmark
or something, but I didn't have any so I guess I'll just have
to tuck that idea away for later. Other than the wonky
layout, I like how fun and cheery this card is. And sister
loved it, so that's all that really matters ;)

Supplies:
Paper: Whisper White, Crumb Cake (SU!), Green at Heart (BG)
Ink: Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Kiwi Kiss, Melon Mambo, Rich Razzleberry, Tangerine Tango (SU!)
Stamp: Happiest Birthday Wishes (SU!)
Other: Flower layers die (Sizzix), button (BG), twine (SU!), scoring board (Martha Stewart)

Well, hello!!

It's been a little while since I've last posted here...
Lately, a certain fellow stamper has been nagging me
unmercifully, I mean kindly urging me ;) , to get my butt in
gear and share what I've been up to again.
So here's two cards from last week. I used the same papers
and colour scheme for both and, while I'm not sure they're
my style so much, I'm still happy with how they turned out
because I know the people they were made for will enjoy them.

Card #1:

Card #2

Supplies
Paper: Crumb Cake, Almost Amethyst, Very Vanilla, Whisper White, Barely Banana (SU!) and
Sugar Rush dsp (Basic Gray)
Stamps: Wings of Friendship (SU!), Distressed Dots background, Scripture (Unity), Year of
Flowers: Sweetpeas (PTI)
Ink: Crumb Cake, Almost Amethyst, Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink (SU!), Versamark,
Old Paper Distress Ink (Tim Holtz)
Other: clear embossing powder (Ranger), adhesive backed pearls and rhinestones (Kaiser),
Organic Flourishes embossing border (Cuttlebug), button and string from my stash

Hope you're happy, Marn.
I mean,
Thanks for visiting!!
;)