Sweet Sunday Sketch #115

Wow! This week flew by - unfortunately I spent the majority of the week doing nothing but laying in bed, feeling like crap. I have been sick all week and am just starting to feel like I'm getting back to normal, which is why the blog has been so quiet. But I have a fun Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge sample to share with you now and will be back in a bit with a Verve Blog Hop, so it will be a busy day around the blog today! Anyway, on to this week's sketch:


I decided to dust off another neglected PTI set for my sample this week:


I used the Everyday Button Bits stamp set (PTI) along with some yummy Thrift Shop (October Afternoon) DP that I've been hoarding. It's hard to tell in the photo, but that Kraft panel is woodgrain textured. It looks really nice in real life!

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

• Dana White
• Karen Motz
• Karen Giron
• Lynn Put
• Sarah-Jane Kale'
• Vicki Burdick

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

Sweet Sunday Sketch #114

Hi there! It's Sunday and the Sweet Sunday Stampers are celebrating a couple of very special birthdays this weekend - our fearless leader Karen, Vicki, and Sarah-Jane all share the same birthday!! Isn't that weird!? So some of us decided it would be appropriate to wish them a Happy Birthday by creating birthday cards for our sample for this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge and we think you all should join us!! Here's a look at this week's sketch if you want to play along:


And here's the birthday card I created using some much-neglected stamps and dies - I flipped the sketch in case you couldn't tell:


That yummy paper is from Crate Paper and I used 2 different PTI stamp sets on this card - Simple Sentiments and Tag-Its #1. I also used several different PTI dies and some felt. I've been cooped up in the house for 2 days with a sick 4-yr-old and am starting to feel a bit under the weather myself so I apologize for not listing everything out for you. If you have any questions about other products used, just leave a comment or e-mail me. For now, I'm headed to bed (it's still Saturday night here and the Easter Bunny / Passover Penguin still have some work to do (I know, I know - but we're a dual holiday family and since we don't really get too deep into the religious part but are FULLY into the presents and candy part - it's only fair to give both holidays their fair time in the spotlight around here. And yes, we totally made up Passover Penguin and we don't worry too much about accurate dates - but trust me. He's a cool dude. ha!).

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

• Dana White
• Karen Motz
• Karen Giron
• Lynn Put
• Sarah-Jane Kale'
• Vicki Burdick

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

WMS Mother's Day Card

I created my first Mother's Day card of the year yesterday. I used last week's Waltzingmouse Stamp's Sketch Challenge #43, but I didn't get it posted before the deadline. Oh well! I'm kind of loving the card - it's not my usual style, but that's what a challenge is for, right?


I used a label stamp from Vintage Labels 18 with the center cut out and the whole thing popped up on dimensionals so it's kind of like a frame. The DP is from Crate Paper - that yellow plaid is the back side of the floral print - and I wanted to use it on the inside of the label "frame". The sentiment is from Spring Baskets. I added some buttons (PTI), some machine stitching and a corrugated butterfly (Jillibean Soup) with the edges glass-glittered as embellishment and called it done!

Also, I've decided to go ahead and open an Etsy Shop and try selling some of my cards and other creations. I've never had much luck selling my stuff, so we'll see. But I do have this card listed HERE if anyone is interested.

That's it from me - I'll be back in about half a day with my Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge card so stay tuned!!

3-D Easter Project

My friend Vicki Burdick is hosting a 3-D Easter Project Challenge over at Our Creative Corner this week and I decided to play along! Of course, I kinda cheated and totally CASE'd her adorable project, which you can see in all it's glory HERE. Mine doesn't look quite as good as hers - I made my little box/basket too narrow for my poor chocolate bunny, so he's pretty squished in there with his nose all smashed up against the handle! But oh well. I don't think Dean will even notice before he yanks the bunny out anyway and throws the box/basket over his shoulder before ripping into that chocolate!!


I used some new and old Verve on this little project along with some printed digi papers from the Spring's a Hoot kit by Meg Mullens (Sweet Shoppe). Hopefully you're not getting tired of this Verve combo, but I can't seem to get enough of the label stamp from Love Notes, the matching Classy Label Die and a flagged sentiment - this one from Egg-stra Special - layered on top. It's just too perfect of a combination and I can't stop using it!! I added one of the eggs, also from Egg-stra Special, tucked underneath that mulberry flower, as well as some leaves die-cut with my brand-new Elegant Leaves Die, tucked underneath the whole yummy label thing. That's it! I added my Lindt chocolate bunny and some shredded paper "grass" and it's ready for the "Easter Bunny" to leave along with a whole bunch of other crap next to Dean's Easter Basket Sunday morning!!! :-)

Make a Page Monday

It's Monday again and that's means it's time for my Make a Page Monday post where I share a handful of layouts with you from the Tribute Album I've been working on about my Dad's Life (he passed away in November from Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease at the age of 59) as well as a layout here and there from Dean's baby / toddler book I'm trying to catch up on. None of these will be in any particular order. And if you're interested in reading the journaling you can probably click on the layout and see it slightly larger. So here goes...(credits below each layout).

From the files of the Awkward Harper Family Photos, circa 1986 (I was 10, my brother Jeremy was 7):
Cindy's Layered Templates - Half Pack #5 (with additional photo added) by Cindy Schneider
Thankful for You by Jen Barrette and Zoe Pearn

From one of my favorite adventures with my Dad, our first white water river rafting trip (I think this was 1994, but it might have been a year or 2 earlier. The photos weren't dated). After this guided trip, my Dad went out and bought a raft and all the equipment needed so we could go river rafting on our own (his theory was after so many trips, the equipment would pay for itself in the money we'd save by not paying the tour guides / rafting companies). He spent SO MUCH TIME researching rivers, water levels, planning trips, etc. We did take a few family rafting trips and he took a few "Guy Trips" with his friends - but I'm pretty sure that raft and equipment did NOT pay for itself in money saved by not paying guides / rafting companies. But I'd say it was still worth it in the memories we made! And I know my Dad had a BLAST on those trips (and planning them - he was a planner!).
Template by Janet Phillips (Sweet Shoppe)
Johnny Appleseed kit by Bella Gypsy Designs (Gotta Pixel)

Christmas, 2004 - our first Family Christmas with all of us on Maui - My Mom (Susan), my Dad (Eddie), me, my Brother (Jeremy). Joel was still back in Oklahoma finishing up his final year of wrestling (and school) at OU:
All Decked Out Template by Connie Prince (Gotta Pixel)
A Lot Like Christmas by Dani Mogstad (Sweet Shoppe)

And finally, a picture of my Dad and Dean playing together in May 2008. This was early in my Dad's illness when he was still sort of himself, but couldn't really be left alone for long periods of time. However, this was before we had started taking him to Adult Day Care (which turned out to be a lifesaver for my Mom). So one day a week during the week (on one of my days off) I would go pick up my Dad and bring him to my house for at least half a day and he'd just hang out. We'd have to make some kind of excuse so he didn't realize we were "babysitting" him - I'd usually just tell him I had some old photos I needed his help sorting and he'd sit for about an hour and look through the same box of old photos week after week, telling the same stories each week. He seemed to enjoy this though and it was an excuse to get him out of my Mom's hair and give her a break while still allowing my Dad some sense of dignity I think. Anyway, these photos are from one of those days:
What's the Rush template by Connie Prince (Gotta Pixel)
Are We There Yet by Bella Gypsy Designs (Gotta Pixel)

That's it! I hope you all have a Happy Monday and a great start to your week!!

Sweet Sunday Sketch #113

Hi there! It's Sunday again and you know what that means...time for another Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge. I had one final Easter Card to make and get in the mail this weekend, so I decided to use the sketch for that. Here's a look at this week's fun sketch:


I used some Verve stamps and old October Afternoon paper on my sample this week:


I'm not really sure the butterfly works, but I don't hate it, so oh well! The DP is all from an older OA paper pad, Ducks in a Row. I used Verve's Love Notes stamp set and coordinating Classy Label Die to make that yummy Kraft label. I added a sentiment from Egg-stra Special along with a little bit of trim as embellishment.

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

• Dana White
  
• Karen Motz
• Karen Giron
  
• Lynn Put
• Sarah-Jane Kale'
  
• Vicki Burdick

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

TESC - From my Heart

I was in need of a special card yesterday. My best friend Sarah and her girlfriend Tiare welcomed a precious 5 lb, 14 oz baby girl, Brooklyn, into the world. I can't begin to tell you how happy I am - that little girl is going to live such a special life and grow up in the most awesome family surrounded by so much love. Not only will she have two beautiful and amazing Mommies and an extended family of Aunts and Uncles, Grandparents, Cousins, (and umm, the best Aunty Jen EVER! LOL), but she's going to have one sweet Grandma Les. I've talked about Sarah and her Mom Les on my blog before, so you all already know I love them, so I'll keep all the blubbering to a minimum. But anyway, I wanted to make a special Congrats Grandma card for Mama Les.

Now, Les' style is super girly and she loves anything shabby chic, so I knew I couldn't go wrong by using the April Key Ingredients from Taylored Expressions on her card. I also used the Taylored Expressions Sketch Challenge #136. Check it out:


I used the From the Heart stamp set and matching From the Heart Frame Die to make the label thing to hold the kettle. The Kettle, from What's Cookin', was stamped (and paper pieced) and then die-cut with the Kitchen Accessories Dies. The sentiment is from the From the Heart Funnies set. All of the cardstock, patterned paper and the pearls are from the April Key Ingredients Kit.

If you're not yet a subscriber to the Key Ingredients, you really should check it out! The rest of the Key Ingredients DT is sharing projects this week on the KI Blog and you can find even more inspiration in the April KI Gallery and by downloading the April project inspiration sheets!

OK, so how about an adorable baby pic?


That's New Mom Tiare with Baby Brooklyn. Sarah ended up needing a c-section and was still in recovery. I can't wait to go back to the hospital today and love on little Brooklyn and hug Sarah's neck! (visiting hours ended before Sarah came out of recovery last night, so I didn't get to see her before I had to leave). If you have a chance, stop by Sarah's Blog and tell her and Tiare Congratulations! (tell her Jen sent you).

Verve meets April SFYTT

See? I told you I have lots of projects to share this week!! Joel was gone last weekend on a 2-day backpacking trip into Haleakala Crater (with my 59-yr-old Mother and some of her friends, LOL!) So Dean and I spent the weekend at home watching movies, eating junk food (Joel wasn't here to cook for us, because ya know, I don't cook!!) and doing some creative stuff - Dean drew lots of Solar System drawings and pictures of distant galaxies, nebulas (nebuli? nebulae? whatever), and stars I've never heard of while I made several cards - including this one for the April Sketch For You to Try.


Isn't that fun? I used the Hibiscus Plain Jane (one of my faves!) from Verve, colored with Copics to match that yummy Fine and Dandy True Blue DP (My Mind's Eye). The sentiment is from the Friendly Phrases stamp set. I added a button with some hemp twine and some machine stitching as embellishment and called it good!

Here's a look at that SFYTT Sketch:


You can play along all month for a chance to win some Unity Stamps - details on Jen's Blog Post.

Make a Page Monday

Hi there! Happy Monday! I'm back with my 2nd installment of Make a Page Monday, where I share a handful of layouts with you from the Tribute Album I've been working on about my Dad's Life (he passed away in November from Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease at the age of 59). I'll probably also throw in a few layouts here and there from Dean's baby / toddler book I'm trying to catch up on. None of these will be in any particular order. So here goes...(credits below each layout).

A heritage layout from my Dad's book with photos of his parents (my grandparents):

Cindy's Layered Templates #37 by Cindy Schneider (Sweet Shoppe)
Sunshine of My Life by Scrapkitchen Designs (Sweet Shoppe)
"family" wordart by Ali Edwards

My parents at my Dad's Senior Prom in 1969:
Cindy's Layered Templates #15 by Cindy Schneider (Sweet Shoppe)
Abide by One Little Bird (OScraps)
Alpha is from He's the Man by Traci Reed and Dani Mogstad (Sweet Shope)
Various flowers and floral stems from a variety of Sweet Shoppe kits)

My Dad and one of his best and oldest friends, Jim Corwin, at a Block Party in 1979:
Orange You Glad template by BellaGyspy Designs
Flying High by Dani Mogstad (Sweet Shoppe)
Alpha is Color Your Own Pencil Lines Alpha by Zoe Pearn (retired - Sweet Shoppe)

And finally, here's Dean and I the day after coming home from the hospital - he's 3 days old (and yes, my boobs are ginormous!! LOL).
Cindy's Layered Templates Set #86 by Cindy Schneider (Sweet Shoppe)
Patchwork Friendship by Melissa Bennett and Meghan Mullens (Sweet Shoppe)
Alpha - Breath of Fresh Air by Scrapkitchen Designs (Sweet Shoppe)
Alpha - Birthday Boy by Zoe Pearn (Sweet Shoppe)

Sweet Sunday Sketch #112

I can't believe it's been almost a week since I blogged! And it's been a busy week around here. I posted a fun Recycled / Upcycled Paper Mache Easter Egg post on the Sweet Shoppe Blog if you're interested. The eggs turned out pretty darn cute if I do say so myself! Check it out. I've also been busy on a few other projects I'll be sharing in the next several days. And I'm SUPER excited to get to hang out with my good virtual friend, Anthonette, who I'm sure you all know. She arrived on Maui yesterday to celebrate her Anniversary!! I can't wait to get together with her and meet her adorable little man Kalino and hubby. We've had a few phone conversations in the past few years and I already feel like I know her so well - I can't believe I finally get to meet her in person!! YAY! So we'll be getting together tomorrow and hopefully a few other times this week as well. I'll be sure to take some pics to share with you guys.

But today I'm really here to take care of my Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge Post. Because you all know Karen - she's such a hard-ass. I better not miss my post or I have to answer to HER. {yikes}. HA! (kidding. Karen knows I love her. And she's really not THAT much of a hard ass! {wink}). But I am still smarting over that tilted panel from a few weeks ago. She's gonna be paying for that for awhile yet. But this week's sketch isn't too bad. Take a look:


I decided to tear into the fabulous April Key Ingredients Kit for my sample card! It's such a pretty and dainty kit this month.


All that girly-ness is a bit of a stretch for me, but it's been really fun playing with this kit and creating outside my comfort zone! All you shabby-chic lovers will go to town with the April KI kit (click the link to see the kit contents). And today starts Key Ingredients Week over on the KI Blog where the KI Design Team will be sharing projects using the kit all week! But anyway, back to my card. Along with the kit, I used the What's Cookin' Stamp Set and coordinating Apron and Pocket Dies. That yummy flower comes with the April KI kit!

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

• Dana White
• Karen Motz
• Karen Giron
• Lynn Put
• Sarah-Jane Kale'
• Vicki Burdick

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

Make a Page Monday

It's been awhile since I shared any digi layouts on the blog. I tackled a HUGE scrapbooking project in December / January with creating a Tribute album about my father's life with the intention of completing it before his Celebration of Life in February. I didn't quite meet that goal of having the entire book done (there are just too many picture to scrap and I didn't have enough time), so I opted not to have a professionally bound hardback book done just yet. Instead I had the 12x12 pages printed from ScrapbookPictures.com (AWESOME quality, btw - very pleased) and just put them into page protectors inside one of the Stampin' Up 12x12 linen ring albums. I can continue to add to this book as I finish up the rest of the pages (I have LOTS of photos from his childhood to sort and scan and still a lot from my own childhood to scrap). Then when I'm completely done with the book I can still have it professionally printed and bound in a keepsake hardback book and I figure I'll just give the linen album to my brother or if he wants a hardback book too I'll keep it to pass on to Dean some day. I don't know. It doesn't really matter. But I've put a lot of work into the book and I was happy to have as much done as I did for his Celebration and everyone seemed to enjoy looking through the book and it was nice to relive some of those memories.

So anyway, my point is that I haven't yet shared any of those pages here and I thought I would do that. I hope you all don't mind. I know that most of you aren't digi srappers, but hopefully you can still find some inspiration from the pages - whether it's motivation to get your own stories told (because you just never know), papercrafting inspiration (because even though these layouts are digi, the basic design elements carry over to paper), or whatever. And who knows - maybe it will spark an interest in digi scrapping in someone new? I'm going to *try* to share a few digi layouts each week on Monday unless I have some DT assignment that needs to get posted. Not all of the layouts will be about my Dad - I've also been working on Dean's albums so I'll share some baby and toddler pages too!! And normally I won't do this much blah blah blah first.

And don't worry, the rest of the week will still be regular normal old papercrafting stuff! :-) But thank you for humoring me!!

So here goes...(credits listed below each layout). Click on a layout to see it larger or to read the journaling.

This first layout is actually the inside cover page of the album.
Credits:
Cindy's Layered Template Set #15 by Cindy Schneider;
Breath of Fresh Air by Scrapkitchen Designs;
12 Months Alphas by Penny Springmann
(All from Sweet Shoppe Designs)

And here's one with a photo of my Mom and Dad from my Dad's Junior Prom in 1968:
Cindy's Layered Templates #13 by Cindy Schneider;
Wonderful Tonight by Julie Billingsley & Jady Day Studios;
Some elements from Time Flies by Dani Mogstad
(all from Sweet Shoppe Designs)

And this is one of my favorite layouts from the entire book as it is just SO my Dad! (read the journaling for the full story).
Chill Out by Dani Mogstad (Sweet Shoppe)
Template from Amaryllis by Sara Gleason

And last, I thought I'd share the inside cover page of Dean's baby book - isn't that an AWESOME Baby's First Year template I used!?
All products available at Sweet Shoppe:
Cindy's Layered Templates - Baby's 1st Year by Cindy Schneider
Alphabet Soup for Boys by Zoe Pearn
Kraft Essentials by Julie Billingsley (retired)
Alpha - Birthday Boy by Zoe Pearn
Alpha - Blink of an Eye by Kristin Cronin-Barrow and Traci Reed
Alpha (12) - In His Footsteps by Traci Reed

OK, that's it! What do you think? Is it OK for me to share these here on Mondays? I hope so! I've never seemed to get much response on the blog to my digi layouts, but I figure I put so much effort into these that I might as well share them! And if people aren't really into it, well - tough crap. You'll just have to deal - it's only 1 day a week. ;-)

Sweet Sunday Sketch #111

Here we are, another Sunday and another Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge! I'm a fan of these square cards and this was a fun one (and thank goodness no tilted panels this week!!)...


We have another little boy's birthday party to go to today (5th birthday to be exact), so I created yet another hybrid little boy birthday card for my sample this week:


All those fun papers and elements are printed digi goodness from the new Who's Your Caddy kit by Libby Pritchett (Sweet Shoppe) - it's technically a golf / putt-putt kit, but everything is generic enough that it's SUPER versatile and I'll definitely be using those papers on lots of projects and a few generic scrappy layouts (since we don't really have any golf photos! ha!). The Happy Birthday sentiment is stamped from my Say it With Style set (PTI). Other than that and the Kraft and Early Espresso cardstock, the rest of the card is printed digi yumminess from Libby's kit!

Be sure to stop by all the Sweet Sunday Stampers' blogs and see what they've done with this week's sketch.

• Dana White
• Karen Motz
• Karen Giron
• Lynn Put
• Sarah-Jane Kale'
• Vicki Burdick

Then play along with us and post your own creation using InLinkz over on today's post on Karen's Blog!

Verve Diva Inspirations April Blog Hop

Hi there and welcome to the April Diva Inspirations Blog Hop! Our Diva Inspirations team is here to start your month off right with a little Verve inspiration! Take a little peek at each of the fabulous blogs below for some Verve-alicious eye candy and you just might win some Vervey goodness of your very own!

1. Julee 5. Jen T. 2. Betty 6. Lynda 3. Dawn 7. Shannan 4. Jen d. 8. Sony

We've hidden a little mystery prize on one of today's hop spots, so be sure to leave a little comment love as you hop around for a chance to win!
Comment Deadline: 11:59pm Mountain, April 5
Prize: $30 gift certificate to Verve

I have to admit that I've been feeling super blah in the creative mojo department lately and having a majorly hard time coming up with original ideas for my projects. When this happens, I rely on the MoJo Restorative Powers of the CASE, which is exactly what I did with my card today. I'm not sure what's been going on with me this month, but I just can't seem to come up with things on my own. So anyway, you'll all just have to continue to deal until I find my missing MoJo!! So here's my card...

Heavily inspired by a {very} similar card posted over a year ago (and that I've had in my "inspiration" folder since then) by Kristina Werner, I created a sorta shabby hybrid Thank You card. Way back when I first saw Kristina's card, I knew I wanted to try a similar design using Verve's Fluttering By set, thinking that butterfly would look perfect repeated, paper pieced and popped up on a vellum circle!! All of the paper (except for the Kraft card base and vellum) is printed digi paper from Free as a Bird by Jenn Barrette (Sweet Shoppe). I added my favorite bit of embellishment, some pom pom trim, and a simple thank you sentiment strip from Verve's Friendly Phrases to complete the card. And that's it from me!

Don't forget since it's a new month, Verve has a new Stamp of the Month to reveal! This month Verve is featuring Kindred Spirits, an elegant set of images and sentiments based around the timeless fleur de lis! Kindred Spirits is 40% off during the month of April!!

And finally, one last little bit...my sweet friend Michelle Woerner is moving on from the Verve Divas and has joined the Spellbinders DT! We are all a little sad to see her go, but super excited for this fabulous opportunity for her. If you have a chance, hop on over to her blog, Stop and Stamp the Roses, and let her know how inspiring her work for Verve has been these past few years! She posted a fabulous little walk down memory lane tribute to Verve this past week and it's filled with eye candy you don't want to miss!!