For Cath (sans CHA) with Love Blog Hop

Hi everyone! This is a card I made for Cath Edvalson, the Super Duper Moxie Fab Trends Editor at Paper Crafts Magazine. Poor Cath was unable to go to CHA because she has been in some pain recently due to an injured rotator cuff. This is the first time in 6.5 years that she has had to miss it.

I have yet to go to CHA. I confess, I've been suffering from CHA envy this week. I want to go sooooo badly. I'm still trying to persuade my better half to take me to Chi town for the summer show. We'll see if I get to go. So, I sort of know how Cath must feel, except she is supposed to go for her job and she can't b/c she's in pain.:-(

Which is why some of us Moxie Fabbers decided to give her some cheer with a blog hop. We're making get well cards for her. I created my card with Stampin' Up! It's a Wrap Get Well stamp. I stamped it in multiple colors and then fussy cut them. I arranged them to look like band-aids in a box. Then I created the box with my Martha Stewart Scoring Board, stuck the "band aids" inside and decorated the outside of the band aid box with a red cross. I stuck a little heart embellie on it b/c I wanted Cath to know how much we love her. Mmmmwah! I hope you feel better soon and the docs can get you on the road to recovery!!

My card is only one of many (like 50-ish at last count!) I encourage you to click here to see the other beautiful creations at Virginia Lu's blog.

What? A mask? On Valentine's Day?

Hi everyone! I'm excited to show you my card, but this post is somewhat bittersweet. You see, it's my last card as a member of the Joy's Life design team. I loved being a part of it and I wish the best to all who are applying to be a part of the new team. Joy is so generous with her stamps. I'm going to keep using them for a long time.

Today's challenge is to use buttons. I used stamps from two different sets. First I created a mask. No, not the kind you wear during trick or treat, silly. This is Valentine's Day. We're talking love, hugs, kisses, candy and flowers. Not spooky ghosts and goblins! The kind of mask I'm talking about is a technique in which you cut out an image, place it over a piece of paper, and then stamp around it. When you remove the "mask", the image is revealed!

In this case, I used my Silhouette to cut out a heart. I placed the negative on top of a piece of white cardstock, stamped Love You from Joy's Life All Around Sentiments in a pattern of blue, red and yellow. When I removed the mask, a heart filled with the words "Love you" was revealed. Cool, huh!?! I embellished it with some smaller hearts, sticky gems and of course buttons!!

Then I stamped "Happy Valentine's Day" from Joy's Holiday Occasions set, cut it into a banner, layered it on top of black paper and popped it up.

Thanks for looking and happy crafting!! :-)

Rainbow Puzzle

Hiya everyone!! I decided to play in the Splitcoast Stamper's Inspiration challenge (IC320). I used to play in them a lot. Then I stumbled on some other challenges I wanted to try, which left me with little time for the Inspiration Challenges. I wish I could do all of them, but as a mother of two young, active children with sticky fingers, I have limited time.

Today, I'm doubling up on challenges. In addition to the Splitcoast Stamper's Inspiration Challenge, I'm submitting this card as my second entry for the Runway Inspired Challenge.

The Splitcoast inspiration piece I chose was a geometric puzzle with colors of the rainbow. (See below) The Runway Inspired Challenge inspiration piece is also a colorful dress/purse with all the colors of the rainbow (also pictured below).

I am very happy with the outcome of this. I confess, it was not an easy card to make. I used my Silhouette machine and created seven layered circles - six on the outside and one in the center. Then, using the weld feature, I dived them into separate images and then cut them in various colors. Next I had to create the top layer in white using the negative of the first image. I basically made a copy of the image and used the internal offset feature. Sounds confusing, huh!?! Don't fear, because I like all of you, and because I know this sounds very confusing, I am going to make things a lot easier and give you the Silhouette file for FREE! It will be posted on the Free Silhouette Files page at the top of my blog. Yay!!

Thanks and happy crafting, my friends!

My Card

Grimm's Iris Puzzle

Runway Inspired Challenge

Feeling Blue on the Runway!

Well, that title summarizes the card I made for the brand new Runway Inspired Challenge. The challenge asks cardmakers to find inspiration from the latest fashion trends. This week's fashion photo is a funky little dress from Vogue's 2012 Resort Collection.

My card was inspired by the colors of the rainbow. I also drew inspiration from the triangular handbag. When I first came up with the idea, I was stacking the paint cans beside eachother and on top of eachother. Then I looked at the photo a little closer and the light bulb above my head turned on - stack the paint cans like a pyramid!

I also wanted to play off the "blue" in the sentiment, so I strayed slightly from the ROY G BIV pattern and put the blue on top, tipped it over and made some blue drops of paint spilling out of it and a big blue puddle on the floor. I like the outcome!

Feeling Blue

Recipe:
Cardstock: Stampin' Up!, Recollections; Ink: Memento; Stamp: Inkadinkadoo; Tools: Silhouette SD

Inspiration: Vogue

Also, I wanted to remind everyone that ScrapStreet Magazine has a call for publication. Check out my post below for more information.

Sailing and Driving

  Hi everyone!! I have a couple cards to share, but first, I have a couple announcements!

The first announcement is actually a call for publication. Are you interested in seeing your work in a magazine? Want a badge on your blog letting everyone know you've been published? Well, here's your chance!! Even if you don't need a little ego booster, go ahead and submit anyway. Your creation may just make someone's day or inspire a fellow crafter. I am seeking scrapbookers and cardmakers - including those who design digitally - to submit their creations for the next issue of ScrapStreet Magazine.In particular, I am looking for projects that incorporate humor. Here it is:

Submission Call for the Spring 2012 Issue
of ScrapStreet Magazine

The Funny Side. Believe it or not, humor has been proven to be therapeutic. In fact, a recent study found that humor causes the brain to release endorphins that act as a natural pain killer! I guess laughter really is the best medicine!! Show us how you use humor in your cards or layouts. 

Deadline is midnight February 18th for all calls.

Please send your work to submissions@scrapstreet.com.

Please send a separate email for each submission you would like to be considered for publication. Please keep the image size around 600 x 600 pixels. Thank you!

If humor isn't your cup of tea (but I doubt that's the case) then consider submitting
to one of the other calls listed here.

Speaking of getting published ... I am very excited to announce that one of the cards I submitted to the July/August issue of Paper Crafts Magazine was selected for publication! I am over the moon, especially because there were 1,323 submissions and only 100 were selected. Sixty-five designers were chosen, including 10 newbies! I am one of the newbies! I can't post the card that made it, but I can share with you a couple cards I submitted that didn't make it.

Thanks for looking! 

What's Canoe With You  shaped card

Summer Drive for the sketch challenge

Sketch

Joy's Life Challenge: Get Whale Soon

Hi eveyone! Winter is here which means one thing for our household - coughing, sniffling, sneezing, aching, whining, crying ,,, Yes, friend, the sickies are cycling their way around the Witherspoon household as they do every year since my son started school. Fortunately, everyone is better except one of us. Guess who the sick one is? Yep, it's yours truly.

Fortunately, you can't catch it over the Internet! And fortunately, I don't need to use my voice for this post because it's GONE! However, my sore throat and inability to squeak out any sound hasn't stopped me from making a card for the Joy's Life Design Team challenge to make a project using animals. In fact, it's inspired me!

 I really like the clean and simple style, which uses clean lines and white space. It's all about the design. I didn't spend a lot of time executing this card, but I did think about the design a lot. In fact, I spend more time thinking about the design of a card than I do actually making the card!

For this card I used the Joy's Life You're So Punny set. The paper, ink and heart punch are from Stampin' Up! and the whale is from Pebbles.

Thanks for stopping by! Oh, and speaking of Joy's Life, she is currently having a design team call. Her stamps are of great quality and the fun sentiments really inspire a lot of fun cards. I encourage you to apply! Information is on her blog!

I created this while on the Joy's Life Design Team.

First Trigger Target of 2012:By the Numbers

Hi everyone! I feel like I haven't been posting much lately, but it's not because I haven't been making cards! In fact, I've made several for the Paper Crafts Magazine call for submissions. Unfortunately, I can't share them with you. However, I also squeezed in a card for Moxie Fab World's recent Trigger Target that I am more than eager to share with you.

Cath posted an adorable quilt (pictured below) for the latest target. My card doesn't look exactly like the target, but you can see that I drew a lot of inspiration from it, including:

1. The Numbers
How fun are the numbers all over this quilt?!? I took advantage of this key element and used numbers on my card, too. Since we are in a new year with a new number, I decided to make a New Year's card. Woo Hoo! Happy New Year!!

2. The Texture
The stitching on this quilt gives it a lot of great texture. I mimicked that textured effect by embossing the background with a fun confetti image.


3. The Border
Blue fabric with white and orange dots border this whimsical quilt. I chose patterned paper with similar colors to border the card.


4. The Colors
I love the bright colors in the target. I chose to create a banner using the same bright, happy color palette.

There ya have it, folks. My trigger for the By the Numbers challenge. I'll be posting later this week for the Joy's Life design team challenge and ScrapStreet Magazine.

Recipe:
Paper: Stampin' Up!, My Mind's Eye, Recollections
Ink: Stampin' Up!
Stamp: Joy's Life
Embellishments: Twine
Tools: Cuttlebug, Fiskars embossing plate, Silhouette SD

Trigger Target: By the Numbers

January Issue of Scrapstreet

I hope you all had a safe and happy evening ringing in the New Year. May 2012 be prosperous and full of blessings!! Today not only marks the beginning of a new year, but it's also the release of the  January issue of Scrapstreet Magazine. I thought I'd tempt you with a sneak peek of one of the projects in the issue, which you can find here.

You're the Cream in My Coffee by Michelle McClung

Isn't Michelle's card just the cutest!?! If one of your New Year's resolutions is to get one of your projects published, check out the current calls list and submit your creations for the next issue!