We Wish You a Merry Christmas

I received these 2 handmade cards for Christmas this year. The card on the left is from Jennifer Stahr (http://myscrapmenagerie.com) and the card on the right is from Laura McGinnis- she doesn't have a blog. Jennifer is an online friend from several blog hops I've participated in with her. Laura is a friend who races horses and currently lives in Florida. I put these in my Eco SMASH book. All the Christmas ornament stickers are Sticko Holiday Stickers. The title- We Wish You a Merry Christmas, the journaling block, and the paper I used for the joined ornaments are from American Crafts Pebbles Home for Christmas 12x12 pad that I found at TJ Maxx. The joined ornaments are punched out from an EK SUCCESS border punch. The index tag at the top is K&COMPANY SMASH that I wrote Christmas Cards 2014 on with my SMASH crayon/pen. I adhered both cards and the journaling block with Glue dots. I wrote on the journaling block that the Christmas cards (are) from Jennifer & Laura. I adhered the joined ornaments with my XYRON 1.5 Create a Sticker maker. That's everything! I hope you have a great New Year! TFL!

Happy Birthday!

I just made this card for my stepmom. Her birthday is this coming Wednesday. I used Core'dinations A2 Card base and then added American Crafts Dear Lizzy Neapolitan 6x6 in pad that I found at TJ Maxx this past week. It has a lot of different papers and little journaling squares at the front. I couldn't wait to use it  and can't wait to use the rest on future projects. The sentiment "happy birthday" is from Simple Stories Happy Day 6x6 in pad, the watermelon is Sticko Sweet Treats Dimensional Stickers, the cake sticker is Recollections birthday collection. I also added 2 pieces of green bling before and after the watermelon, but you might not be able to see them. I used Recollections Dimensional Squares to give the sentiment some dimension. I'll write a message inside and include a $25 gift card to Bath & Body Works for her. I'll soon be working on Christmas cards and Christmas tags for a swap. TFL and have a great week!

Catch-up

 I made these 2 layouts about a month ago and am just now getting around to blogging- sorry. I've been busy!! I went to the beach with my sister, Emily, and her new boyfriend, Brian September 5. Both of these papers are from Oriental Trading Beach Collection (I threw out the original packaging, but all the paper is beach related).They're double-sided and the above paper has boats on the back, but I thought this side looked like sand. I made these at my last crop at church and borrowed the border punch at the bottom- it's EK Success. I messed up a few places, but you can't really see them unless you look up close. All the stickers are from Michaels and I believe are all Recollections. I don't have the packages in front of me and have lost some of the original packages. I believe the dimensional stickers on the following layout are also Recollections.

 These are all birthday cards I have made within the last month and have given away.

 The paper on this card is from DCWV All About Boys 8x8 paper pad. The sentiment is a Stampabilities Happy Happy Happy Happy birthday stamp that I stamped on a piece of scrap paper and used my decorative scissors. The stickers are Sticko Swirly Gigs. The card base is Core'dinations A2 White Cards.. I made this one for Robert, he loves comic books and superheroes, so this is the closest I could get. I wanted to make the sentiment look like Superman was saying it!

 The paper on this card is from Simple Stories Happy Day 6x6 Paper Pad as is the sentiment. I used foam tape to give it a little dimension. The twine is from my stash. I believe I used an A2 card base on this as well.

I made this card for my little brother, Tyler. He just turned 7 this past Sunday and I was able to spend some time with him, my sister, dad, stepmom, and Brian. The paper on this card is also from Simple Stories Happy Day 6x6 pad. The sentiment and balloons stickers are Sticko Themed Stickers. Tyler loves Toy Story, so I included a sticker at the top and gave him the rest of the pack. I know they're Disney, but not sure if that's the collection. I didn't write it down. I do remember they're game hologram stickers and that I bought them at Walmart near the cards. The card base is also A2. I used Glue Dots Ultra Thin Adhesives to adhere everything on these layouts and cards except the stickers and the beach border. I used my Xyron 1.5 Create a Sticker maker to adhere the border on the first layout. Sorry I haven't blogged since this past June. I've been volunteering at Tryon Palace and working at TJ Maxx. I have a birthday card to make this weekend for my stepmom and will promise to blog about it after I make it! I have ideas going in my head already! TFL and have a great weekend! :)

Scrap Layouts and a Wedding Card

I made these layouts at my last Crop Night the beginning of June and am just getting around to sharing. It's been a busy month for me with VBS at church and volunteering a lot at Tryon Palace!

I made this layout for a challenge with http://scrapbook.com and the challenge was to consist of 5 things: 1. stripes
2. glittery
3. cursive font
4. word(s) on a picture
5. Something with the letter "b". My stripes are a photo mat and is from Carta Bella Giddy Up! 6x6 Paper Pad. I used Stickles Clear Star for the glittery on the stripes and a few places on the photo mat above on the baseballs. The cursive font is the title- Play Ball and is EK SUCCESS Jolee's Boutique Play Ball Dimensional Stickers as is the baseball and catcher's mitt. The patterned paper itself is Steve's Pages by Sugartree that I bought at Hobby Lobby. I wrote on the main picture with a red Sharpie that they were saying "The pledge of allegiance even though the flag wasn't there!" My something beginning with the letter "b" is ball or baseball. The picture mat under the main picture is from DCWV All About Boys 12x12 stack that I trimmed down to fit under the picture and I made it a little bigger so the baseballs, bats, footballs, basketballs, and stars are visible.

This is a close-up of the picture. Sorry the writing is hard to see, but it is at the top written over the trees and dugout.

This is a close-up of the stripes mat and the picture of the tee for those that didn't want the pitcher to pitch the ball to them and you can see the bats on the ground. I forgot to mention the bats sticker is also apart of the Jolee's Boutique Play Ball Collection. The picture mat under the picture of the balls on the far left is from American Crafts Dots & Stripes 6x6 in Paper Pad that I bought from TJ Maxx. The journaling to the left of the bats/tee picture paper is from Pebbles Lakeside 6x6 in Paper Pad- another TJ Maxx find-- it pays to be a TJ Maxx Associate! :) I wrote on the paper that Special Needs Baseball is for Special Needs children & adults that meets every Saturday in April and May. They don't play to win or keep score- they just play!

This layout is of pictures taken the end of May at the James Farrow Reunion. My mom's side of the family gets together every summer with my stepgrandfather's family- there's so many in both families that we can't get together at Christmas. The patterned paper is from Me & My Big Ideas Sunshine 12x12 Specialty Pad. The green family paper in the middle is from Colorbok Home Collection- "fun & family you home and home is where the heart is" is imprinted on the paper. I used Cricut Jasmine cartridge to make the title on red paper from DCWV Scrapbook Kit in a Stack Love & Wedding 8x8 in pad. I decided not to mat these pictures so that the background paper would show.

I had to hide the journaling under the bottom left picture so I used Authentique Paper Elegant 6x6 paper pad for the mat and wrote on it with a purple ink pen. I attached it with a light green brad from my stash. The journaling tells who is in each picture counterclockwise: Jonathan is wearing Zoe's hat while shooting a baket & John is looking on. Michelle, Matt, and Zoey on swing- Mr. Raffael's daughter, son-in-law, and granddaughter. John, Jonathan, Ben,& John are playing frisbee toss in the other pictures. I have a few more pictures to scrap from this day that I will be sharing soon. 

I made this wedding card thinking I was going to be in a blog hop, but I misunderstood.

I decided to make this card for Lisa and Patrick. They're getting married sometime in the fall. I'm already ahead of the game! She is a friend of mine that comes to the Crop Night at church once a month and we keep in touch on Facebook and on the phone. The card base is part of DCWV Scrapbook Kit in A Stack Love & Wedding that I trimmed down to 4x5 using a Thank You card as my template. The front rose cover paper is also from the same stack. The lace and Congratulations vellum is from my stash as are the purple bling. Now for the inside:

The tag is from K&Company Tag Pad. The white ribbon is actually 3 Girl JAM (http://www.3girljam.com) crinkled antique white ribbon from the Pink and White Bundle. I love 3 Girl JAM!! The sentiment vellum is from the same collection as the Congratulations vellum, but I'm unsure of the name DCWV Colored Vellum Stack maybe. The sentiment states "Wishing you both on this special day- long life. Great Joy. Much Love. Happy Days. Good luck. Sweet times... through all your years." I thought the hydrangea tag would look perfect in this wedding card. Lisa's favorite color is purple, so I had to include the purple bling on the front!  TFL! I'm probably not going to be posting anything this week unless I decide to do my SMASH challenge. My birthday is Friday and I plan to do something fun with Lisa- she's surprising me and I can't wait! My sister and stepbrother's birthdays are next week on the 4th of July and the day before. I'll share their cards before their birthdays! Have a great weekend! :)

Super Dad Blog Hop

Welcome to the Super Dad Blog Hop

We are here to honor and celebrate all our Super Dads this weekend the best way us crafters know how, with a blog hop showcasing some amazing projects. We hope that our projects will show Dads everywhere just how special they are to us all.

Connie Can Crop is the first stop on this Blog Hop.

This is a one day blog hop and we appreciate your leaving a comment for all of these talented friends who are here sharing their ideas and creations. 

We have an awesome sponsor and giveaway for this hop!

Please be sure to visit their Blog
http://cuttinandstampin.blogspot.com/

Shop
http://cuttinandstampin.blogspot.com/p/shop.html

Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/cuttinandstampinscrappysupplies

What do you need to do to win? Easy... become  a follower of each of the fabulous blogs in this hop and leave each of them a comment letting them know what you like best about their projects. Then stop by our sponsor's page and be sure to like her on facebook!! 

You will have until 12:00 am Monday to finish the hop and leave your comments. 

Winner will be announced on Wednesday at Connie Can Crop.

Be sure to follow everyone and leave a comment along the way!

My parents split and remarried so I have a card for my dad and for my stepdad to share today!

I found this sketch on Pinterest that Sketch ~N~ Scrap (http://sketchnscrap.blogspot.com/2014/06/card-sketch-27.html) posted and it turns out this is a card challenge that ends June 30 so I'm entering it in the challenge! They also have a layout sketch challenge that ends June 30 as well, so check it out! Now for my card that I made for my dad: 

 I didn't follow the sketch completely, but it's close enough. The brown paper or card base I got from one of my crop nights from Debbi. The blue paper is from Colorbok Deluxe Texture Cardstock. The red paper is from DCWV Love & Wedding Scrapbook Kit in a Stack 8x8 pad. The striped piece just below the yellow circle is Studio G's version of washi tape. The yellow circle paper is from Martha Stewart Punch Pad and I used an EK Success circle punch of Vicki's. I made this card last Friday night at my crop night. The red checkered pennant and the green pennant to the right of it is Pebbles Lakeside 6x6 pad. The next blue pennant is Recollections Textures & Animal 12x12 pad. The last green pennant is Recollections Bright and Basic 12x12 pad. They all reminded me of masculine colors and different shirt patterns. The Happy Father's Day stamp & star stamp (I stamped the star twice) is Studio G i clear plus gems stamps. I don't wanna use the gems because they're pink. I don't know too many men who like pink! I'll use them somewhere else in my scrapping I'm sure!  I used Versafine Onyx Black Pigment Ink to stamp with. I didn't put anything on the inside of his card since it took so long to make the front! Now for my stepdad's card:

 The card base is a piece of white paper from my stash. I glued the orange on top that is also Recollections Textures and Animal 12x12 pad. I used the Happy Father's Day stamp and Versafine ink again. The flags, stars, and car stickers are Sticko Race Cars stickers since he loves NASCAR. The football I cut off Vicki's Cricut using Boys Will Be Boys cart on the same brown paper that I used for my dad's card. I wanted it to shadow, with the middle not showing, but it didn't work out so I colored over the middle with my Copic Sketch .Too 100 Black and later decided to add Trendy Twine (http://trendytwine.blogspot.com/) Watermelon Sorbet. He loves football and watermelon. Yes, his favorite team is Washington Redskins. I wrote Washington with EK SUCCESS Zig Memory System 0.5mm Ballpoint pen and Redskins with a black ink pen. The athletic sticker is Me & My Big Ideas Soft Spoken Word Embellishments. He used to be very active in softball, but he's getting older and worn out so he's not playing any sports anymore. He still loves to be a spectator and will holler like a ref!

He loves to take his son fishing any chance they can get. This fishing pole/fish is also from Boys Will Be Boys cart and I used a piece of 8.5x11 paper that Vicki brought. I used Elmer's Washable School Disappearing Purple Glue stick on everything. That's all I have to share today. Please come back Sunday as I participate in a Wedding Ideas blog hop!

 Up next is LORI's blog and I'm sure she has an amazing project to share!

Here is our complete line up in case you get lost along the way:

1. Connie - http://conniecancrop.blogspot.com
2. Alicia - http://goldengoddessdesigns.blogspot.com/
 3. Pam - http://lovebugcreations3.blogspot.com/
 4. Melanie - http://afternoonscrapper.blogspot.com/

 5. Sarah - www.sarahbiswabic.blogspot.com
 6. Gina - http://californiascrappin-gcinderella21.blogspot.com/
 7. Angela - http://crazy3monkeys.blogspot.com
 8. Jenny - http://crazyaboutcricut.blogspot.com
9. Madge - www.thescrappinlounge.com
10. Amanda- http://salnclts76.blogspot.com--> YOU ARE HERE!
11. Lori - http://www.scrappinmystressaway.blogspot.com/--> NEXT!
12. Jessica -  http://craftinandstampin.blogspot.com

Thanks so much for joining us! Happy Father's Day to all the Men in our lives!!

My Cricut Craft Room Dads & Grads Blog Hop

Thank you for joining us on My Cricut Craft Room's Father's Day Blog Hop! You should have come from  Erica's Craft Room if you just happened to stop by my blog, please start back at the beginning at Erica's Craft Room. Today I made a card to share with you.

I made this easel card for Brody, a little boy that I teach Sunday School to, that will graduate from kindergarten on Monday. I found a tutorial on Splitcoaststampers ( http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/easelcard/) and love making them. This is the 4th easel card I have made! Anyway, I gave the card to Brody last Sunday and he loved it! The paper is Colorbok Textured 12x12 Scrapbook Pad. The Reach for the stars and the stars stickers are from MAMBI Graduation set. The "Happy Graduation!", "hip hop hooray" and "Way to go!" stickers are all Sticko Graduation stickers. The footprint stickers are Hallmark. The cap and diploma are both digital stamps from the Congrats file from Scrapping With Lisa Designs (http://scrappingwithlisadesigns.com/). I colored the tassel, ribbon, and confetti with red and yellow Sharpies since that is the color of his gown. I wrote 1st grade on the diploma since he was advanced to 1st grade and the year, 2014, underneath with a black ink pen. The Congratulations ribbon is Martha Stewart Crafts. I added the ribbon so the card would stand open like an easel. The kraft paper under the reach for the stars sticker is a piece of American Crafts Dots & Stripes 6x6 paper pad. Now for the inside.

The balloons and confetti are also a part of the Congrats digital stamp set from Scrapping With Lisa Designs. I colored them with different colors of Sharpies. I decided to add some twine from Timeless Twine (http://timelesstwine.blogspot.com/) that I won in a recent Create*Craft*Share YouTube Hop in May with Scrappin' Madge (http://www.thescrappinlounge.com/). I thought the twine would look better than just the black lines already there. The red circular paper is from my stash. I did include a note, but I didn't take a picture. Thanks again for stopping by and please leave me a comment and become a follower if you aren't already. I will be having a blog giveaway when I hit 80 or maybe even 100 whichever comes first! :)

 Next you will go to  Vicki's Blog.  Here's the line-up in case you get lost along the way.
1. Start- http://mycricutcraftroom.blogspot.com
 2. Amanda- http://salnclts76.blogspot.com --> YOU ARE HERE!
3. Vicki - http://vickiscraftroom.blogspot.com --> go here NEXT!
 4. Connie- http://papercraftingfromanotherviewpoint.blogspot.com
 5. Erica- http://EricasProject.blogspot.com
 6. ShanAnn- http://kraftinmama.blogspot.com
7. Trish- http://ifieverdoit.blogspot.com
 8. Eileen- http://www.craftykards.blogspot.com
 9. Crafting Blog Events http://craftingblogevents.blogspot.com

Sending Loving Thoughts Your Way

I made this SMASH entry for the May SMASHaholics Challenge on Facebook. I would share a link, but it's a closed group. The challenge was to include stamps and you can see I used 7 different stamps! Shannon sent me this card for Easter and I forgot to include it with the others. I decided to do a separate entry for it since she made some earrings for me. I will include the picture later on the polka-dotted rectangle paper which is from Martha Stewart Crafts Punch Pad. I don't just use it for punches as you can tell! I attached the card with a brad from my stash, because the card is from Someone Cares and a story is printed on the back. I decided to hide my journaling under the card and you will see it in the next 2 pictures. Now for the stamps- the bottom 2 in the left corner are Bella Creationz (http://www.bellacreationz.com) Oh Snap Clear Photopolymer Stamps that I won from a recent Create*Craft*Share YouTube hop in May with Scrappin' Madge (http://www.thescrappinlounge.com/). The soccer ball and dedication stamps are Skipping Stones Design (no longer in existence) All-Star collection. The leaf /spiral stamp is from Making Memories Flutter Clear Stamps. The Friends are Flowers that Never Fade stamp is HeroArts and I bought it from JoAnn's. The flower stamp is from the collection of scrap goodies from Mrs. Gloria. I'm sure it's Close to My Heart, but I don't have the original packaging. It's from a clear floral stamp collection. I used Versa Fine Onyx Black Pigment Ink on all the stamps. I colored over all the stamps with Sharpies to cover up the ink mess-ups. The paper is kinda glossy so it was hard to stamp on it. Laura made this SMASH book for me with her Cinch so I'm not sure of the paper company name, but it's kinda like Kraft paper. The small circle at the top is Studio Calico Wood Veneer- extra-ordinary- that I bought from TJ Maxx and yes, Shannon is extra-ordinary! :)  I used American Crafts Dots & Stripes 6x6 in paper pad for the arrow stamp from the Bella Creationz set and My Mind's Eye Six by Six Happier Designer Paper Pad for the HeroArts stamp since the stamps weren't sticking to the page like I wanted. The sticker, Best Friends for Life, is from Life's Little Occasions Spotted Canary/K&Company Friendship Sticker Medley that I also bought at JoAnn's. Shannon told me about JoAnn's & I'm glad she did! :)

This is a close-up of the wood veneer.

Here you see the journaling, but I'm sure you can't read it. I used Inspirations 8"x8" Reversible Papers. I've had it for so long that I forgot where I bought it! I wrote that Shannon & I met in a chat community, Net Central, which is no longer in existence, in 1996, online. I was a student at Johnson Bible College and she had just finished college and was getting married. We have kept in touch through Yahoo Messenger, MySpace, Facebook, mail, and now texting. These earrings (to be added later) are the first item she has made for me. We both love scrapbooking & share techniques all the time. She has since divorced and a had a little boy, Devin, who just turned 11. I look forward to meeting her in person one day! She is a soccer coach to Devin's soccer team. I will do an update post when I add the picture of the earrings! Please come back Saturday to participate in the Father's Day/Graduation blog hop that I am going to be a part of. TFL!