Scrappy Nites

With Sympathy

Written on Monday, April 30th, 2012 @ 2:21 am PST

Sorry for the long absence, I’ve been working through some things and have been very busy. We had the ball in Vegas on the 5th of April and I swear my muse stayed to party in Vegas. The ball was a typical military ball. B-O-R-I-N-G. You get all dressed up to go sit and listen to someone talk, eat gourmet food (meaning hardly anything on the plate), have your photo taken, and then that’s it. Sure, if you drink, there’s cocktail hour and the grog bowl. We don’t. Our fun was the next day. We took the kiddos to the Fun Dungeon at the Excalibur. Then, we went over to M&M World (4 stories of M&M fun). I’ll post some pics when I can.

This is my first sympathy card I’ve ever made. I can honestly say that I don’t like making them. Of course, I doubt there is anyone who does. Recently, my Aunt Faye’s mother died. I wanted to keep the card simple and thoughtful. For this, I a stamp from the Sketches Stampin’ Up set. I love the water color look of these. I decided to give it a more muted look by stamping it on PTI’s craft cardstock with Memento’s Rich Brown stamp pad. Then I colored it up.

I am a HUGE fan of Amy’s over at A Thousand Sheets of Paper. She also posts on the Color Me Copic blog. Well, every month, she does a start to finish video where you can watch her create the card from start to finish. This is coloring, paper choices, EVERYTHING! I LOVE to hear someone else’s thought process. I noticed that she does the sizing of the different papers on her cards a bit differently than I do. I normally would say my card is 6×6, so that means if I want a 1/8″ border around my next layer, I need to cut it 5 3/4″x5 3/4″. Sometimes this would work and sometimes not. I noticed on hers, she takes the next layer and lays it upside down over the bottom and then marks where she wants it to go. I figured I’d try this to see how it works. OMGoodness! So much easier for some of the layers than I was making it! I’m definitely going to start doing some of my layers like this. The other ones, I’ll still be using my Perfect Layers Rulers.

I’m loving these new Lifestyle Crafts dies. I really like that there are a few that aren’t perfectly nested and it gives it more of an artsy look.

As usual, I decorated the inside, but because it’s so personal, I chose not to present it here.

Challenges I’m entering

None at this time.

Copics Used

I’m sorry. I didn’t write them down this time.

Non-linkable Items

Stampin’ Up Sketches Stamp Set
White silk ribbon from stash
Sharon Ann “Blue Garden” Papers
Cardstock from stash
Pressed Flower sticker is from Paper Petals

Supplies Used

No love yet, will you leave some?

HUGS!

BEE-YOU-tiful Inside & Out!

Written on Saturday, March 31st, 2012 @ 10:02 pm PST

Tossed in Jennifer Nilsson, life in general

Hello, hello, hello! I’m JUST making it in before the end of March. I’ve had all of this card done except the inside for a week, but I’ve been editing photos. Last Saturday, a friend of mine brought over her 10 month old daughter to be photographed for Easter. Then, on Monday, another friend of mine asked me if I could take business head shots for her husband since he’s getting out of the military and entering the civilian world. Scary! So, needless to say, I’ve been editing photos all week. Most of it has just been wheedling down the massive amounts I took into a more manageable amount. I’ve also been re-thinking starting my photography business. I watched a coloring video that the artist mentioned that as an inexperienced artist, we shouldn’t compare our coloring to other artists, especially those who have been coloring for years. I thought about it in the sense of photography and remembered that EVERY time I go to start my business, I look at other, more experienced, photographer’s website and end up talking myself out of it. Just something to think about…

I recently found an amazing artist that I LOVE! It’s Jennifer Nilsson, who owns Whimsy Stamps on Etsy.

Her artwork is SO adorable! Plus, she puts out new stamps every Tuesday! WOOHOO! Weekly Cuteness! Go check her stuff out!

She also has another Etsy store that is strictly for her art prints. These are FABULOUS & I totally NEED some for my walls.

You can find those at the link below.

Okay, now that I’ve bragged enough about the artist, onto the card!

I chose the stamp called “Little Beebee”. Isn’t she A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E?!?! I chose to use some papers from a pack I’ve been saving for a while now.

I decided to make her little bee costume furry (not bad for my first try).

I created the sentiment on the computer. I asked Adrian what sort of “punny” statement I should make with it and he said “You’re beautiful”, so I went with it. I originally had some of Jennifer’s bees resized on it, but it just didn’t look right. Then, I decided to draw my own bees. I drew them using a Micron Black 005 pen, then I colored them in with Y15.

The glitter is actually from a little Crayola glitter pen. I love the chunkiness of the glitter.

I decided to add the “inside and out” to the inside of the card to complete the greeting on front.

I know SO MANY people who truly fit this description of being beautiful inside and out.