Sunday, February 17, 2013

A Birthday Card for Ailis!

My Ailis-girl was born on Valentine's Day, 8 years ago!  I made her this card (not even that late!) with a brand spankin' new, never used Saturated Canary stamp I bought from Creative Accents
Speaking of Creative Accents, have you seen our February Seriously Creative Challenge?  I'm seriously late this month, but here it is:

I was inspired by the colours here, although my palette turned out a bit different.  Now that I'm looking at the two images, I see that the stripes are similar, too.  Anyway, use this photo to inspire your project, link it up at the Seriously Creative Challenges blog before the end of the month, and you could win a prize!

I used this sketch from Graphicat Sketches, and I think I'm getting my card in at the last minute:

The other challenges I'm entering are:

Basic Grey Challenges- use your favourite thing(s) - I think this stamp is my new fave!
Drunken Stampers - theme - princess!  

Thanks for looking, and I'll be back soon with some more projects, promise!

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Counterfeit Kits?!

So, I don't know exactly what I was thinking, but for February, I made 2 Counterfeit Kits!  Crazy, eh?  Especially considering with the new job and 2 birthdays this month, I probably won't have time to make much with them.  That's okay, I'll probably just continue using them into March.  Here is what the original kit looks like:
I loved the blues and greens, but it's pretty much the same colour scheme as my kit last month, so I drew my inspiration from the hexagons, instead.  This is the more girly kit I put together:
Everything here was brought in to match the piece of Echo Park hexagon paper.  The back row is all Basic Grey paper, and the front is all Echo Park Everyday Eclectic except for the one on the right, which is Stampin' Up.  I cut the word bubbles with my Cameo, and I love how they turned out!  Here's a close up of the inks and embellishments:
Then, here is kit number 2, a more masculine version, you could say:
First, the papers.  Mostly Echo Park Note to Self, and then some older CTMH papers and stickers from a kit I loved, Notebook.  There are also some scraps from MME and a piece of kraft cardstock I had cut into the honeycomb shape you see up front.

Then I just rounded the kit out with some scraps I cut with Spellbinders dies, some ink, brads, washi, twine, burlap, and buttons.

Ooooo-eeeeeee!  I can't wait to play!!!

Things are going well, here.  I think I've got the childcare dilemma worked out, and I'm really enjoying my job.  Life is still chaotic, but I think I'll survive.  Now, are you ready for some super-big news?  I didn't want to say anything too soon and jinx the deal, but it looks like we're buying a house!!!!!  Not only that, but it's pretty much my dream house!!!!!  I can't wait to post pictures, but we won't be in there until the end of April, so you'll just have to hang onto your britches - that's a hint as to what kind of house it is!  

I'll leave you now with this photo I snapped the other morning:

These white-tailed deer are all over the place!  I shot this pic from my deck.  Unfortunately, as soon as I opened the door, they bolted across the lake, so the photo was taken with maximum zoom.  I'll have to be more stealthy next time!

Friday, February 1, 2013

Call Me...Maybe

Hey there, this is a layout I have had sitting on my desk, 90% finished, for quite a while and just finished late last night.  I had two challenges in mind when I started - needless to say I missed the deadline, gaaaah!  I guess work got in the way of my scrapping, haha!

One of the songs to use as a prompt over at Scrap It With A Song last month was that one by Carly Rae Jepson, "Call Me Maybe" (you know, the one that once you hear it, it plays over and over ad nauseum all freaking day!).  I was inspired to dig out this old photo of Ailis from 2007, talking on the phone with my mom in Dawson City.  Wow, wasn't she a doll?  I just love the little pigtails and dimples! 
So, let's see, I used my January Counterfeit Kit to complete this one.  The background paper is Amy Tangerine, and the doilies and some other bits are cut from Echo Park paper.  There's a piece of blue MME in there, and the calendar is from Simple Stories.  I used my Cameo to cut the title piece, phone, and banner, and the hearts are from Pink Paislee, cabochons from CTMH.

Here's a close up of the journaling block:
And another of the title (these pieces were actually plain cardstock that I inked either with Distress Ink or Dylusions spray):

Here's the other challenge I missed, a sketch from Sketches in Thyme:
I flipped it on its side and played around with it a bit.  I really like the abstract grid I ended up with!

So, happy Friday to you!  I finished my first four days of work without mishap (unless you count picking up the kids late and Nolan proclaiming that, "If I don't see a significant increase in the amount of money this family brings in, I'm canceling your job!"  Mind you, this was after a disastrous field trip where he got in a brawl at the pool with another kid and ended up sitting out for most of the swim, AND riding home beside the teacher on the bus.  His mood was very low!)  My mom came up to watch Brenna for Tuesday and Thursday, and that went well until she drove my car off the driveway yesterday.  This driveway is completely jinxed!  Jason and I managed to haul it out with his work truck and a heavy chain, so all is well, but man, I was a bit of a nervous wreck, because it felt all too familiar!  (See this post if you don't know what I'm talking about!)  

I'm pretty tired, though.  I hope I can get used to this.  I don't know how all the moms who work full-time do this!  How did my mom do it?!?!  She did EVERYTHING for us!  And worked shift work, too!  I guess you do what you have to do.  Anyway, I think once I get into a better routine, I'm really going to enjoy this job - the people are all great, from what I can tell!

Just want to say a quick thanks (to anyone still reading!) for all your lovely comments on my last post.  I truly appreciate all of the support!!!  Hugs from Roxy.