Procrastinating...

Since, so far, my HCCC card is a total fail I'm posting this card to tide y'all over until I create something that I'm not totally embarrassed to share :) The kids had all their paints out the other week and I had so much fun making this card that I quickly joined them at the craft table. I made a couple cards but I left them all without a sentiment so I could add an appropriate when I needed a quick card. I needed a fun, little pick-me-up card for a friend and I knew this rainbow bright card would be perfect with this sentiment from Inkadinkado. I tried adding some more elaborate embellishments but, in the end, went with this simple black and white baker's twine bow. I also smudged the sentiment when I stamped it (I did the same thing on the last card? Weird?) but fixed it this time by going over it with a black felt-tip pen. It's a little wonky but I think it worked out okay. Anyways, I won't give up on February's challenge card so stay tuned for that soon!! Thanks for stopping by and indulging my procrastination :)

Sweet, simple Love

Another wedding card - Yay!! I learned my lesson and kept things sweet and simple this time. Knowing the bride prefers things modern and funky over floofy and flowery made it a lot easier for me. I was tempted to add some more layers or twine and buttons but, in the end, decided to leave well enough alone. I ended up distressing the edges of the main panel to add a little somethin' and I was really happy with how it added a little extra without going over the top. And it's hard to see in the picture but I did stamp a sketched heart pattern on the kraft base with versamark shimmer ink which looked totally awesome in real life :) I've got a whole whack of birthdays coming up and I'm looking forward to making a bunch of cards for some awesome people! Now if my house would just start cleaning itself...

Paper, Ink and heart punch: SU!
Patterned Paper: Basic Grey
Stamp: Unity (sentiment) sketched hearts (Verve)
Distress tool and ink: Tim Holtz
Other: Versamark Shimmer watermark ink

Little Sister's Birthday

My sister-in-law turned 20 yesterday. When I started dating Pete, she was only 8.  C-R-A-Z-Y!!!
Anyways, I saw this card and knew right away that it would be perfect for my SIL. Unfortunately, I waited until the last minute to make it (story of my life?) and knew I wouldn't have time to stamp the background and so I used the yellow doily patterned paper (Basic Gray) instead. Once it all came together, I wasn't lovin' it so much. I think what I really liked about the original card was the pop from the modern geometric design. Or maybe it's the cool pinks on the mustard-y yellow? I don't know. I'm definitely going to try this one again with the hexagonal background and some different colours. I'll keep ya posted :)

A little Somethin' Somethin'

I needed a quick card for a bridal shower. It needed to be good because the recipient is a fellow cardy but, as per usual, I left things till the last minute and so was making this the morning of the shower. I had pinned this card and was going to try and replicate it but I didn't have any frames. I know I could've cut one out myself but I literally had 10 minutes to finish things up. So when I found the little somethin' somethin' stamp in my stash ( I think it's an old hostess set from SU!) I knew I had to use it and I went from there. Some stamped hearts (SSS Music 2 My Ears) and punched hearts (SU! patterned paper and punch) on a simple kraft base. I adhered the tag with some foam dots and tied on a teeny bit of floss and - DONE!! Even though it's different than what I had started out to make, I'm thankful for the inspiration that gave me a starting point to work with. And now I've got another great layout for the next time I need a card in less than 10 minutes because, let's be honest people, don't we all work better under a little bit of pressure? ;)
Happy stamping!

Home Ec Class

 A couple weeks ago I did a short Bible study on being an encourager along with a cardmaking class for our homeschool group's 'Home Ec' class. I had eight girls, aged 10-14, over along with some of their moms and big sisters. I did my best to channel my 'inner Margaret' (best demo ever!!!) as I showed the girls some cardmaking basics and, boy oh boy, did we have fun! Such a creative group of girls - I really loved watching them take the skills/ideas I showed them and then seeing them put their own spin on things. Since I knew some of the girls would be new to stamping and didn't want them to feel like they needed to own a huge arsenal of supplies to create cards, I created 2 projects using simple craft/recycled supplies.

The first card used small circles cut or punched from paper scraps and a simple sentiment. I encouraged the girls to use things like old magazines, kleenex boxes or pretty packaging instead of buying patterned paper. For my example card, I used scraps I had from My Minds Eye Dilly Dally collection. I love being able to use the smallest of scraps to make a great card like this!

For the second card I used my kids' poster paint and dipped the eraser from a plain old pencil into the paints to make the coloured dots. So fun!! Can you imagine all the awesome colour combos and designs you could do with this? The sentiment panel was a happy accident - I had originally stamped the sentiment directly on the card base...but smudged it. So in order to cover it up, I  re-stamped and embossed it on the turquoise cardstock and then taped it on with some washi tape that was sitting out on my desk. Love it!! Some of the girls even stamped the sentiment using paint, which looked a-ma-zing!
 Anyways, it was super fun doing this class with the girls - and the cleaning, organizing and prep I had to do totally got me back into stamping mode!! Double bonus :) Anyways, I'm hoping I won't lose my momentum and will keep making time to create cards and encourage others. A simple card is such an easy way to let someone know you are thinking of them, praying for them or grateful for something they've done. I think cardmaking is such a great hobby because as we enjoy creating cards we can also bless others as we give them away. So simple and yet so cool. I'm working on a set of cards to give to some older widows in our church whom I know have a hard time with these long, dark, winter days. A little bit of sunshine in an envelope :) Maybe you know someone that could use a little pick-me-up? Send them a card! Happy stamping!
"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." 1 Thess.5:11

Sparkly snowflakes

 December didn't include very much card-making for me this year. In fact, I only managed to squeak out a measly two cards - one for a wedding and one Christmas card. That's right folks, I only made ONE Christmas card this year. Somehow we all still managed to survive. And, I'm thinking, that things can really only go up from here, right? Anyways, both cards were snowflake-themed and used some new stamps in my stash, so that was pretty fun. The first card, for the wedding, turned out okay. I used their wedding colours, blue, white and silver, but I think I may have gone a bit overboard...

 

...it just seemed a little 'busy' to me. I used snowflakes from Bo Bunny's Powder Mountain set

and embossed the largest one in silver.  The sentiment is from an old Unity kit of the month and 

worked out pretty swell because, unbeknownst to me, the bride really likes U2 :)

 I dry embossed the navy background panel with snowflakes and rubbed white ink over it, which really made the snowflakes pop, but I think it kinda overdid things. If I made this card again, I would definitely leave the embossed navy paper alone.

Onto my most favorite card...maybe ever!? This was the sole Christmas card that was made this year and, boy, did I love it! :) I'm definitely tucking this design away for future inspiration. The hexagons and sentiment are from Simon Says Stamp's Holiday Apothecary Labels, a super cute set that is not only good for Christmas but all kinds of sweet wintery cards. I was drawn to the set because of its' versatility...and the cute matching dies that go with it! I have to say, these are my first SSS stamps and I LOVE THEM! They pick up ink really well, stamp a beautiful image and have the feeling of my favorite red rubber stamps - but are CLEAR! Definitely excited to add some more SSS stamps to my arsenal in the future :) I added a touch of glitter to the snowflakes that gave the card just that little extra something and finished it with some hot pink baker's twine. Super fun card to make!

I cleaned up my stamping desk earlier this month, which has definitely inspired me to get more creative and inky again. So, hopefully, I'll be back soon with some more cards to share. Thanks for stopping by! xo

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!!
;)

The Long & Short of it

I'm joining the crew over at CAS-ual Fridays
again this week. They have been hosting the best
and most unique challenges. This month's challenge,
The Long & Short of it
was to create a tall, skinny card (or a short, fat
card depending how you go about it!). I can honestly
say that I've never even thought to create a card
with these dimensions...not sure what that says about
my creative genius (or obvious lack thereof!) Ha!
Anyways, enough chit chat. Here's what I came up with:

Crazy, eh? Who would've thunk?
I'm super happy about the way it turned out.
I think the tallness of the card just stretches
the happy factor to epic proportions :)

Here's a little close-up of the flower:

I knew I wanted something a little extra-
special because of all the white space (well,
green space, if you're going to be technical)
of the card and I think the embroidered
flower adds just the perfect amount of snazzy.

I'm loving these challenges and seeing what all
the girls come up with. Lots of crazy inspiration!
Thanks for stopping by :)

The Nitty-Gritty Details:
Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Melon Mambo, Whisper White (SU!)
Ink: Kiwi Kiss, Rich Razzleberry (SU!)
Stamps: flower (Material Girl - CC & Unity), sentiment (Unity - April KOM),
lazy daisy stitch stamp (Messy stitches - Autumn Leaves)
Other: white embossing powder, embroidery floss, sewing machine

Christmas in July?

This month's HCCC was a doozy! I was totally stumped on this
challengebecause it was so out-of-the-box. I mean, really,
a colour combination of orange, yellow and green for a
Christmas card? I sat down a couple times pulling cardstock
and looking at stamp sets hoping something would come
to me, but each time I was completely stumped.
That is until I made this card.
As I typed the words "I have a feeling more of these
patchwork-y cards will be in my future...
so much fun mixing patterns and colours!" I finally had
my 'Aha!' moment and here's what I created:

I pulled some patterned papers - a Cosmo Cricket Holly Jolly,
Basic Grey Nook and Pantry and Basic Grey Sugar Rush
(I thought the flowers looked kind of poinsettia-ish)
- and just followed the same layout as the previous
card I had made. And, while I'm happy with how it ended up...

...I'm pretty sure these won't be our Christmas cards this year :)

So good to be pushed out of my comfort zone though.
Thanks for getting us to think out-of-the-box, Marnie, and
creating what may have been the most challenging challenge yet!

I'm going to have to think up something epic for August...

A Wedding Card

I'd recently seen a challenge about creating a card that coordinates the the theme colours of a wedding. So when we received an invite for a wedding this past weekend, I thought it would be fun to make their card with their wedding colours. The only problem was their colours were black and yellow. How does one create an elegant wedding card using black and bright yellow? Without the card looking like a bumblebee? I was quite stumped, until I saw this card.
I figured if I could find some cute patterned paper, I could put together a little patchwork that would be fun, but still classy enough for the wedding. Next problem was, I only had one sheet of patterned paper that was yellow, none that were black...and that's when the inspiration hit me and all of a sudden I knew this was gonna be a great card. Using some background stamps I created my own patterned paper and came up with this lovely:

A little close-up of the flower:

I'm SO happy with how it turned out! Bright and fun, like the bride
and groom, but not too cutesy that it's not appropriate for a wedding.

I have a feeling more of these patchwork-y cards will be in my future...
so much fun mixing patterns and colours!

Thanks for visiting :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Wishing You (Verve), Musical notes (Unity), Text (Hero Arts)
Paper: Doily Print (Basic Grey), Basic Black, Whisper White, Daffodil Delight (SU!)
Ink: Basic Black, Daffodil Delight (SU!), Old Paper Distress Ink (Ranger)
Other: Clear embossing powder (HA), flower die (SU!), twine (PTI), button (BG)

A Perfect Challenge!

I came across a new challenge blog this week and it was the

perfect inspiration I needed for a special card.

Our friend lives in a city apartment with his Airedale Terrier
and made the difficult decision to give him a new home
where he can run and play outside all day. I can't imagine
how hard that choice was...and how lonely his apartment
will be without his best furry friend. We're all going to miss
him so much! I wanted to send him a card to let him know
we're thinking of him during this tough time and that we
will always cherish the special visits we shared with him.
So, without further amounts of sob story, here's the card:

This week's challenge was 'Krafts-men':
a clean and simple card for a guy, using kraft cardstock.
I started with a kraft base which I embossed with
a Tim Holtz impression plate. I rubbed distress ink
all over the impression plate before I ran it through
my Cuttlebug and it gave it a great weathered look.
Another layer of kraft with a torn piece of Riding
Hood Red cardstock to border it and then wrapped
it in twine and frayed the edges. I finished the panel
with four brushed copper eyelets.

To finish it, I stamped a retired SU! sentiment on Very Vanilla
cardstock with Riding Hood Red ink and heat embossed it
with clear embossing powder. I love the way it makes the
words really stand out. Lastly, I heavily distressed all the
edges and adhered it with some pop-dots.

I'm so happy with the way it turned out! I wasn't sure
what kind of card to create for the situation, but hopefully
this will send a special warm-fuzzy to our friend...
in a very manly way, of course!

Thanks, CAS-ual Fridays for the inspiration!

For the boys

Between Grandpa and Dad's birthdays and Father's
Day, I had a whole bunch of man cards to make.
I wasn't feeling particularly inspired at the time
so I used layouts from some other manly "man
cards" to get my mojo flowing.

The first card was for Grandpa's birthday. I used
the gift bag on page 62 of the May/June PaperCrafts
to start me off and this is what I camp up with:
I used some old SU! papers from my stash
and a sentiment from Verve. My trusty
Spellbinders dies for the label shape and this
card came together licky-tee-split!
Love it!! And I think this is such a versatile
sketch to work with. I can totally see making
this in fun, bright colours for a child's birthday.

Next up were some Father's Day cards and
Dad's birthday card. Both of these cards were
inspired by ones in the SU! Summer Mini
catalogue, just switched up the stamps and
papers and a few little details.

I especially love how this card turned out!!

It was fun tying in lots of details and textures without
getting overly frilly or bling-y.

After making these cards, I feel a lot more excited about
creating cards for guys. I was glad for the inspiration
I could use to, not only make the whole process a lot
quicker, but to learn some great techniques for 'dressing
up' cards for the men in my life :)
And a special thanks to this gal for lending me SU!'s
Countryside stamp set. I would've never got this set on
my own, but I've used it SO much in the past few weeks,
I just might have to add it to my "Buy Immediately" list :)
It's a crazy versatile set and I'm finding I'm using it for
everything. Thanks, Marn!

June's HCCC

Just a quick post to share this month's challenge

card. It turned out a lot different than I had envisioned
in my head...but I think that's okay
because I really like it!

My 'borrowed' item was the plastic from this tomato
container. I used it to cut out some butterflies with my
Cuttlebug - I love how they turned out and will
definitely be doing this again. I saw a package of
die cut 'ghost shapes' (clear plastic hearts) at the
scrapbook store for $5.99. My tomatoes cost
$2.99, with the added bonus of getting tomatoes :)
Making your own embellishments is a huge
money saver! Plus, reusing the container is
environmentally friendly and feels like I'm
giving myself a good, Dutch, pat on my back. Ha!

Originally, I thought I would use the layout
from the inspiration card. I really liked it
and it was so different from what I normally
do...but it just couldn't get it, so instead
I used the colours from the card: Baha Blue,
Kiwi Kiss, Rose Red, Pink Pirouette and used a
layout from a card I saw online a long time ago.
I copied the sketch, but forget where it's from.
I can't take credit for it, and my apologies to the
original creator!

I used Versamark to stamp the polkadot background (Unity)
and Basic Grey patterned papers for the little butterflies.
The sentiment (Inkadinkado) was heat embossed in white.

Overall, a sweet, happy little card...
that puts a smile on my face!
:)

Loving these Hazzard County Card challenges!
Can't wait to see what you've got in store for
us in July, Marnie!

The Biggest Form of Flattery?

It was our uncle's birthday and I was in a total crunch for
a quick card that would suit him. Thankfully, my friend
came to the rescue and let me borrow the perfect stamp
set...and the perfect card to create with it :)
Using this amazing card for my 'inspiration'
...okay, okay, I totally copied it! Just changed up the
cardstock and patterned paper with what I had on
hand ...
I think I put this together in like 10 minutes:

An absolutely perfect card for our uncle who is
restoring a '78 Chevy.
Happy Birthday, Uncle Garry!!

And thanks, Marnie, for coming to the rescue again! :)

May's HCCC...kind of

Well, this month's HCCC was a great one...unfortunately,
I didn't get my butt in gear soon enough to fully complete it.
This card was supposed to be a Mother's Day card but, alas, it
was not given to anyone on Mother's Day :( It will, however, be
going to my aunt, who is a sister to my mother, so maybe I
can get half points for that? LOL!

Introducing May's Hazzard County Challenge Card:

Our inspiration picture was a beautiful bunch
of gladiolus' and, thanks to my fellow Duke Diva,
while I didn't have a stamp of one of these beautiful
flowers, I did have a picture which I printed onto 3
different colours of patterned paper and pieced for
the final image.

I used some dimensionals to give a bit of depth
to the flower and I love how it turned out.
The layout was taken from this card and while
I really wanted to add a little bit of ribbon and some
sparkle, my aunt is not into that frilly, frou-frouey
kind of stuff, so I left if kind of plain. Even though
I would have loved to 'bling it up a notch' (ha!) I
do think those beautiful glads create quite a
statement on their own.

I've used my computer for card-making before and,
while I prefer good old-fashioned ink, rubber and paper,
I can see how if you don't have a specific image or
sentiment it can be a quick (and inexpensive!) way to
expand your supply stash. So thanks again for this great
challenge, Marnie. I love how they always push me outside
of the box. Stay tuned to find out what we have in store for June!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Rose Red, Crumb Cake, Whisper White (SU!)

PP: Basic Grey - Lemonade
Flower Image: found online
Stamps: Old Letter Writing (HA), Thankful Hearts (Verve)
Ink: Rose Red (SU!), Old Paper (Tim Holtz Distress), Versamark
Other: clear embossing powder (HA)