Grace

Was too tired to paper scrap tonight, so I went digital.  This is my DD at a Jazz concert we went to in near Richmond last weekend.  I watched her walk up the hill and was amazed and proud of how graceful she looked. 

I used Jodi Lee's Vintage paper collection, on sale today only at Jessica Sprague.com  I played around with the drop shadow brush in Adobe Elements and really liked the overall results.  I have been playing with the shadow buttons in Effects, but this adds a whole new dimension.

Cutting Cafe Project: Keep Calm and Party On

Hi all!

Regina has another current and trendy file available that we made for this week's inspiration. You can find this Keep Calm And set at the Cutting Café.  It was hard to choose which sentiment to use for they all are wonderful.  I opted for the obvious...Keep Calm and Party On.  This is my attempt at a masculine look and feel for I really need a better inventory of cards for men.  I can be such a pinkaholic.



I used patterns that are available in the Silhouette store again. I am really drawn to those Glitz Designs. I am really please with how quick and easy these files go together.  If you haven't tried them you really should give them a shot. You will be hooked like I am.

I Love The Cutting Cafe Card Toppers!

If you are looking for something quick and easy to pull together then the Every Day Shaped Window  Card Tops Regina had introduced at The Cutting Café a few weeks ago is the perfect solution.  There is so much you can do with these gems.  I really like the concept of using negative space in my designs. I have another example of this concept in my March Post where I used speech bubbles.

I decided to try the Circle Topper.  Without having a specific event to create a card, I opted for a Just Because theme and thought the circles could be used for many things in design.  I decided to back the holes with washi tape and put the Animal and Bugs Stamp set, also found at The Cutting Café,  using the Bee design.  I liked the contrast of the pastels with black so the topper was cut using black card stock.  I placed the topper on a plain white A2 card for the files come in that size.  I imported the stamp set into my Silhouette and placed cut circles around each one. Now I have an inventory of sentiments and colored stamps ready to go for those quickie card needs.  I took the bee and popped it up on a pop dot.  I wrapped the ribbon around the card prior to gluing it on the blank card.  Now I have something cute to mail my daughter that she can put on her refrigerator.  I love how she does that with my cards. 

Hugs to all...and have a great week!

Hubbies Birthday Card

I made my husband's birthday card this year using the Cutting Cafe's Husband Birthday file.

To cut the circular sentiment, I did the following:
I  opened the PDF file in Photoshop Elements
Then I selected and copied just the circular message.
I then created a new file being sure not to change the size settings.
I then pasted the content on the new photoshop file I created.
I saved it as a PNG file.
and imported the file into the Silhouette Design Studio Software
Then created the cut file using that tool.

The cow was cut using a Silhouette file they came out with around Valentine's Day.  My husband raises cattle, so I thought it was cute.  I used pop dots to lift the sentiment off of the card.  I glued a circle using Lucky Charm paper in the middle and popped up the cow with dots too.  Lifting the ring, gave me space to tie the ribbon.

Finished Weekend Journal

This is the finished journal that I had posted earlier.   I wanted to show how blah went to cool just by gluing in the photos, and adding the journaling.   Given the digital prints and album cut file I bought, the few embellies I added, some chipboard from empty paper pads and 12 sheets of 8.5 x 11 cardstock, this whole book probably cost me only $8.00.   I will treasure this piece always for it not only has the pictures but everything I did and loved about the trip. Not bad for a treasured album ...eh?  Thank you Regina at the Cutting Café!!!!

 

 

 





 

SOU Die Cut Challenge Reveal: Flower

We have another exciting die cut challenge for you at  Stuck on You Sketches and, it is an easy one.  The theme is flower.  With all of the cuts out there in shabby, 3d, playful, vintage...etc., this challenge is great for anyone.  My niece came to visit me from Ohio for a few days.  I haven't had much of a chance to get to know her over the years since she has always lived there.  I was amazed at how much she is like me at her age.  I am not sure she was aware that I knew what she was thinking before she even thought it.  She is a charming girl.  She will be moving here as she got the job she came to interview.  I am SO excited.  She graduates this year with her Masters in Speech Therapy.  She is to work with small children who were born deaf.

The die cuts were made using my silhouette including the butterflies, cloud, label and flowers.   I opted for a black and white photo to allow the colors of the embellishments to create the horizontal line across the page and corner adorners.  I pulled out my stamp set from the My Minds Eye. The Sweetest Thing to make the circles above the picture and in the bottom left corner.  I only inked the edges to create a circle above the photo. The full circle would have been overbearing on the photo.  The background in the upper left and bottom right corners is nothing but Washi Tape,  from the same My Minds Eye collection.  I wanted to space out the die cuts this time. I have been clustering for a while now which is a great design concept but I felt my layouts were starting to look alike.  I opted to spread them out but to lay them in a pattern to still highlight the photo. Placing the title over the picture helped.  I created a mask with my silhouette, but drawing a rectangle and placing random sized circles and ovals in it. I then used Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Worn Lipstick to create the dotted back drop for the tile and photo area to ground them better.

 

Once put together I felt the page still needed something other than die cuts to tie all of that free space together. I opted to use sewing. I created a zig zag frame around the edges and made a swirly path for the butterfly at the top.  I also sewed inside the picture to make an inner frame on the photo to give it more emphasis.  I have always used patterned papers for my layouts, but am finding plain white paper to be a great backdrop to highlight colors and photos.  It is more of a challenge, for you are definitely starting with a blank slate, but with all of the techniques out there I always like the results when I use that clean backdrop.

 

So get your punches, scissors or machines and make some flowers to create your own flower creation.  We would love to see you post it on our blog so you can share your ideas with us.  Everyone is always looking for new ideas.



Gift and Coffee Cup Card Set

I made this as a hostess gift box and card for this weekend's visit to Richmond. ( I even made the gift inside.)  I always like to make a little something for my daughter and my friend who live there for allowing me to stay with them during my visit.  Since we all LOVE coffee, I used the new Coffee Cup Card design from The Cutting Café for this project.  The box was made using the Book Box Set.   I just love Regina's designs, for they come complete with everything you need to make something darling.

I used the American Crafts Lucky paper line that I bought and printed from JessicaSprague.com.  I just love the blue, pink and red together.  I made the medallion on the box using Tim Holtz Mini Medallion die cut, a Prima flower and, some bling I had laying around. 

These cards come together really quickly.  If you have a friend who likes coffee or have a Starbucks gift card to present this file will probably interest you. It has cuts where you can add the gift card inside the card.