Michigan album title page

I had saved the title page of my album of our Michigan vacation for last, since I knew I would want to use leftover pictures on it in some way.  There were LOTS of leftover pictures!  My husband gets a little camera-happy and I need to get better at narrowing them down before I print them.  I could probably make a whole other album with the leftovers!

I even used pictures to cut out the title using the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge.

This page will be entered in the following challenges:
Pamela's World of Scrap--I used sketch #180 from the sketchbook.
Paper Playtime--#12 Anything Goes
Simon Says Stamp Challenge--Transport  (This album is of a trip during which we took boats, a car, and our bikes.)
CAS-ual Fridays--Travel

Sunset layout

Last summer my husband and I vacationed in Michigan.  On our last night there, we took a rowboat out on the small lake at our campground.  We took along a bottle of wine we bought locally and the fudge we had purchased on Mackinac Island a few days earlier.  We got some beautiful sunset pictures.  I was taking forever choosing a layout (I've found I always like layouts better when I find them online rather than when I slap the pictures down myself.)  Today, I happened to find a layout via Pinterest that had the same number of photos I was working with, and in the same direction.  That had to be the layout for me!  And, even better, the layout was part of a current challenge!

Here is what I came up with:

As I was taping down the last items on the second page, I realized that I had focused a little too much on each individual page and not the 2-page spread.  The line of black stars across the middle doesn't line up at all.  Oh, well.  I'm not going to tear it apart now.  At least the pages coordinate.

The black circles were cut with a punch and embossed using the Tiny Stars folder by The Paper Studio.  Here is a close-up of the embossing on the black circles:

The sentiment on the left hand page ("Recipe for an Enchanted Evening") came from a tourist booklet I picked up in Michigan.  The black stars are from Doodlecharms.  The "Under the Stars" sign on the right hand page is from Campin' Critters.

This layout will be entered in the following challenges:

Pamela's World of Scrap--layout #237b (I flipped the left and right pages.)

Desert Island Craft Challenge--#56 diecut/punch, dry embossing, sentiment

Paper Playtime--#12 Everything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Challenge--Transport

CAS-ual Fridays--CFC105 Mapquest/Travel theme

Congratulations Grad!

I was invited to a graduation party for a friend who used to work as a paraprofessional at my school and has now completed his teaching certificate.  I used Everyday Paper Dolls for the graduation hat and one of the mini folders from the Cuttlebug Congrats 4-piece set.

This card will be entered in the following challenges:
Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog--Congratulations Graduate
Friday Sketch Challenge--sketch 43 (I rotated it in order to make the embossing folder work.)
Little Claire's--#33 Open

Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day is tomorrow, so I finally got around to working on her card.  I decided to make an identical one for my sister.  This is her first Mother's Day and my mom and I secretly "helped" her babies make her a gift.  My dad took pictures of the process, and I'm going to include those in the card.

Anyway, here is my card:

The rose and the oval came from Quarter Note.  The oval was run through my Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder.  The ribbon is recycled from a shopping bag handle.  I added some i-rock gems on the corners.  The stamp on the front is from the "Spring in Bloom" set from Sweet Cheeks Stamps.

This card will be entered in the following challenges:

Die Cuttin' Divas challenge #114--sketch

Scrappy Moms--Mother's Day

Desert Island Crafts Challenge--I chose a rose, emboss it, and recycle it from their itinerary.

Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog--#159 Mother's Day

Cardztv--There's no other like my mother

Paper Playtime--embossing

Peachy Keen Stamps Challenge--Mother's Day card

Totally Papercrafts--#166 CAS

Celebrate the Occasion--#111 Mother's Day

My Craft Spot #96 Mom

Tuesday Throwdown--#146 My Mother, My Friend

Cash gift: Don't "blow it" all in one place!

When I gave my son's friend his last gift and he said "Aw, no bills?" I knew what I would be getting him for his birthday!  I came across this idea on Pinterest and thought that would be a fun way to give him the cash.  I taped together the bills, rolled them up and placed them in an empty tissue box.  They seemed to need something to keep the first bill from falling back down into the box though.  So, I created a top out of cardstock and taped the first bill to that.

The recipient likes alligators and crocodiles so much, he chose green as the first color for the bands on

 his braces!  This alligator is from Create a Critter.  I ran the brown background through my Happy Birthday Cuttlebug folder.  The sentiment was printed on my computer.

This card will be entered in the following challenges:

Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog#157--3D project

Simon Says--Anything goes

Celebrate the Occasion # 109--Clean and Simple

Through the Craft Room Door--Anything Goes

CAS-ual Fridays--Clean and Simple Birthday

Tuesday Throwdown--Make your own background.  I took inspiration from some of their DT members and used my Cuttlebug for this.

Desert Island Crafts--The items I chose from their itinerary are:

• No flowers
• No markers
• Use a birthday sentiment (the embossing has a Happy Birthday sentiment)
• Make is square not rectangle

Have a TEArrific birthday!

I used the card feature on A Child's Year to make this card for my mom.  The card feature always seems like a good idea, but then I'm never happy with the results.  I think it is the lack of layering.  I ran the background through the D'Vine Swirls Cuttlebug folder to add a little something to it.  I was in a bit of a hurry, so I wrote the sentiment by hand this time.

This card will be entered in the following challenges:

More than Favors--birthday theme

Celebrate the Occasion--Tea for two

Totally Papercrafts--monochromatic

Have a "scent"sational birthday!

My niece's birthday is coming up and she gets to take a friend up to her family's cabin to celebrate.  So, I decided to make her a card with a woodland critter on it!

The skunk is from Create a Critter.  The scalloped circles and flowers are from Gypsy Wanderings.  I ran the light purple circle behind the skunk through the Tiny Bubbles Cuttlebug folder and put an i-rock gem in the center of each flower.

This card will be entered in the following challenges:

Little Claire's--sketch challenge & spring theme

More than Favors #83 Birthday

My Craft Spot #95 Anything Goes

Scrappy Moms--include a flower