Monogram Card

"You've Been Framed!" - that's the theme at Cricut Cardz challenge this week. I used an accent frame (and letter S) cut from the "Storybook" cartridge to make this monogram card:

I love the pink, black, and grey color scheme :) The pink layer was embossed with the "Victorian" cuttlebug folder - my favorite!

Stop by Cricut Cardz and see what the rest of the design team created and enter your own take on the "You've Been Framed!" challenge.

Have a great day! :)

think.. PINK!

October is Breast Cancer Awareness and the challenge at Cricut Cardz this week is "think pink"!

I used the current sketch at Card Patterns.

I made this inspirational card using the "Storybook" cartridge.

I kept it simple with a few layers and liquid pearls... easy to mail to a friend who needs encouragement.

I hope you stop by Cricut Cardz to see what the rest of the design team created and link up your own "think pink" cards!

{{siblings}}

TGIF!! I was soo excited to spend one of my first days "off" scrappin'! Summer school ended yesterday and it was like a weight lifted. I couldn't wait to get back to scrappin' our Colorado trip. 

I had a special picture of my husband with this 3 wonderful sisters and was happy to find the latest sketch at The Scrappiest was perfect for it.

I bought lots of new goodies for this trip.. many new camping/nature collections, travel lines.. but I wanted something a little different. I went to my stash and found a piece of patterned paper I've probably "saved" for 5+ years. 

It's from My Mind's Eye's "Wild Asparagus" line, called "you are my sunshine".  It's a heavyweight paper and almost feels like a canvas texture. And it was perfect for this photo and the background mat for the sketch.

(click to view larger!)

I just {love} how it turned out! I had some trouble finding what would "go" with this one piece of paper, but I went through more of my stash and loved mixing and matching different companies and lines.

The beautiful olive "bean blossom" is from Jillibean Soup. I added a brad (with the prongs removed) from Basic Grey to the center of the button to tie my colors together. I framed my 5x7 photo (which is handstitched!) with a Storybook cut.

The sprig on the right is chipboard from Maya Road, that I inked in dark brown (as I did most of the layers). The other pieces are cut from the Storybook cricut cartridge.

I didn't want to overwhelm the layers with more patterns, but the cardstock seemed too plain. So I ran the kraft layer through  my Cuttlebug "leafy branch" folder and inked it in brown. The subtle embossing was just what it needed. More brads from Basic Grey :) I love those colors!

I brought in the same elements to the top right corner, cutting my title/shadow at one inch from the Storybook cartridge. I also used my Martha Stewart "Cherish" punch around the page set on the entire layout.

Whew! Should I tell you this layout took all day? LOL! But I'm so pleased how it turned out. :)

In addition to The Scrappiest, I'm also linking my page to Craft Junkie Too's linky party and ScrapFit's flower challenge.

Thanks for stopping by today! Have a wonderful weekend :) 

It's Christmas in July!

I know, I know, we're in the middle of 90 degree temperatures and we're fa-la-la-la ing at The Paper Variety this week!! But, we have an amazing sponsor prize and a special TWIST in this week's challenge... you can't help but get in the holiday spirit.

That's right!! Our Christmas "gift" to you -- unlimited entries this week ONLY!! :)

So go ahead and get a head start on those holiday cards, catch up on your Christmas photos from years past, and/or create a holiday themed gift to give (you know before the hustle and bustle of December takes over). Upload them all!

We have a new sponsor this week! Check out what Scraptastic Club is offering to our winner:

I created a layout featuring my husband and I all dressed up for his company's black tie Christmas party.  I used the left side of this week's Sketchy Thursday sketch:

I love these photos and was excited to scrapbook them for this week's TPV challenge.

(click to view larger)

I used one of my favorite holiday collections, Basic Grey "Jovial".  I inked all my layers, including my photos in black ink. I used 2 different sized scallop border punches/scissors for the edging.

I used the "the most wonderful time of the year" along the bottom and birdie from the chipboard embellishments. My title shape is from the Storybook cartridge.

There ya have it!  Stop by The Paper Variety to see what the rest of our {{new}} Team A design team created and enter your holiday projects all week!

It's beginning to look a lot like...

... Christmas!! That's my title inspired by holiday song challenges at Scrappin-n-Chattin, Crafting with Cristina, and Frosted Designs. And let me tell you, if you love Christmas you NEED Echo Park's Everybody Loves Christmas!!

I used this Let's Scrap sketch for my double page layout.

One of the things that I love about this collection are the adorable stickers and tiny type alphas! They make bringing a layout together so easy. I embellished my tree with gems (and you'll see a sticker and another gem as the "topper"). I matted it on black and popped it up too. Since, after all these are tree decorating pics ;)

The sketch featured 9 squares bridging the 2 pages together. As hard as it was, I cut into several of my 12x12 sheets for the grid look (don't worry I'll end up replacing them! lol), outlined them in black pen and popped up a few ornaments for added interest.

I cut my title with my Storybook cricut cartridge and also outlined them in black pen.

Here are my finished pages! 

(click to view larger)

Merry Christmas! :)

Blessings!

It's so great to be back to crafting :) There is a new challenge up at Cricut Cardz! Use the colors blue, brown, orange and white to create a Thanksgiving card.

I decided to go different and create a long and skinny card. I cut orange cardstock 9" x 7.5" and scored/folded at 3 3/4". It fits perfectly in a business envelope! I used some scraps from my patterned paper drawer that fit the color challenge perfectly.

I cut the word "blessings" from my Storybook cartridge using my fit to length feature. I typed in the letters, hit "fit to length" and set my size to 8 1/2" (since the card length was 9"). Clicking the "ok" button before "cut" will let you know how tall the letters will be so there are no surprises! LOL! Been there, done that, ruined the paper ;) These letters ended up being 1 3/4" tall - perfect.

I completed the rest of my sentiment by stamping mini alphas :) Can't wait to see the Thanksgiving cards you create with these colors. Click over to Cricut Cardz to enter!

Thanks for stopping by today! Would love if you checked out my latest San Francisco layout. So much to be thankful for :)

The Paper Variety's 8th Challenge!

The new challenge is up at The Paper Variety!! :)

Our sponsor this week is Tessa's wonderful etsy shop, Precocious Paper !!

I used one of Tessa's flowers on my project this week, too! I created this altered canvas for my best friend's bridal shower next month. I used Bo Bunny's Mamarazzi collection and my Storybook cricut cartridge. Her wedding colors are black and blue so I think it will be perfect :)

I hope you play along! Check out the rest of the design team inspiration and link up your wedding projects here. Have a great day!!