Sunday, March 6, 2016

CYCI #110 Hip Hop Hooray!

As usual, I had a lot of  fun with this week's sketch challenge from CanYouCaseIt

www.canyoucaseit.com

As I was deciding on what to make, I stared at the sketch and saw my options; at first I wanted to create some kind of outer space scene, with the main shape of the sketch being represented by a flying comet or something like that.  But alas, I couldn't find any spacey type stamps.  So I though about making the sketch into a badge or award, but at the same time I also had a vision of the sketch turning into a necklace with a pendant, hip-hop style. That ultimately became the inspiration for my card:



Add in some masking, sponging, and fussy cutting and voila!

Now it's YOUR turn to see what you see and get inspired by the CYCI sketch.  While you're there, get inspired by the other designers and the great designs that they came up with this week, too!  Hope you play along, and see ya around!!

Sunday, February 28, 2016

CYCI #109 - hi

Hi there!

Betcha didn't think I'd be back, did you?  To tell you the truth, I wasn't sure myself.

Turns out that I took a long and unexpected sabbatical from stampin' as we went through some major changes in life.  Nothing bad, just pretty extreme.  Don't worry, everything is great; the gist of it is that we sold our house and relocated to the Sacramento area. I'm sure that I'll tell you more about it in the weeks to come, but currently I'm short on time, so onto the project!!

Big thanks to CanYouCaseIt.com for getting me of my lazy butt to start creating again.  Here's the challenge for the week:

www.canyoucaseit.com

And here's my card:


I wanted to go with something simple, and liked the play on words...(get it, hi...like a kite...hi....high...yep, I went there...."hi as a kite"...get it?  Lol).  So I made the kite with a toothpick and some yellow tissue paper and the clouds in the background were sponged through a hand cut freehand stencil that I made. The sentiment is from Stampin' Up and embossed with White EP.

Hope you enjoy, and thanks for stopping by.  Sorry for the long bout of silence, but hopefully I'll be back regularly from here on out.  I really appreciate your support and I really did miss all y'all.  It's good to be back!!!

:-)



Sunday, August 30, 2015

CYCI #84 - Bro Sketch

 
Back Again!  This time, I'm bringing you another great sketch from CanYouCaseIt.com.  This week, we have a special announcement over on the CYCI site...We have expanded the Design Team and added a few more awesomely talented ladies!  Hope you swing by and welcome them!
 
www.canyoucaseit.com
 
And here's my take:
 
 
I had a lot of with this (like usual).  The bulk of the black cardstock that I used actually came from the Color Me Irresistible Specialty Designer Series Paper.  I started the card with the small rectangle, and I wanted a grungy look, so I roughed up the edges.  Then I started wrinkling it, then I got carried away and just started beating it up.  As a result, I discovered that unlike the standard colored cardstock, this one is white in the middle!  This was a cool revelation because; 1. It shows some added texture and color with the scrapes, tears, and wrinkles, and 2. I also used a piece for the Card front and achieved a consistent look just by roughing the edges.  I finished off the card by masking and embossing part of the "Brother" sentiment from Guy Greetings.  Even though this was a relatively quick and simple card, the end look is really graphic and dynamic.  Definitely one of my faves!
 
Well now I hope that you head on over to CanYouCaseIt.com to see what the revamped Design team has created for your viewing pleasure.  Don't forget to create your own original creation and share it with us this week!  I always enjoy seeing what you come  up with. 
 
That's all for now!  Hope you have a great week and we'll chat again soon!
 

Sunday, August 23, 2015

CYCI # 83 School's Back!!

I'm back this week with another great challenge from CanYouCaseIt.com!  
 
www.canyoucaseit.com


If you're up on my blog, you'll know that we had a very traumatic event this year...the first year of kindergarten :-(

Well, as of this writing, we are past our first week and things are actually going well.  Fun times are being had, no tears are being shed, and the earth keeps turning.  C'est la vie.

For this back to school project, I decided to simply create a card.  Once again, I have ventured outside of the proverbial box, this time by actually just revisiting the roots of card-making.  As you may know from my previous projects, my style is anything but simple.  My "Box" is "Outside the Box" if you will.  I enjoy overcomplicating things, looking for ways to be "different," and just creating the unexpected.  Well this week I unexpectedly (at least for myself) created a card with no gimmicks, just basic elements of design, embellishments, and layout.  And I ended up still having a lot of fun doing it!  Go figure... turns out I don't have to struggle so much to have fun, LOL!  See what you think:

 
Before you ask, the sentiment is from an exclusive Paper Pumpkin set that is only available to SU Demonstrators... if you want to know more about it, just ask me!  
 
Now it's your turn to visit CanYouCaseIt.com to get inspired to create your own Back To School project!  I look forward to seeing your creations, and I hope you all have a lovely week!  See you next time :-) 
 

Sunday, August 16, 2015

CYCI #82 Sketchy Farmer Owl

Hi again!  It's Sunday, and that means it's time for another CanYouCaseIt.com challenge!  This week, we have a good old-fashioned Sketch!  Check it out...

www.canyoucaseit.com
 
I have discovered that I really like sketch challenges.  Usually I take A LOT of creative liberties with the sketch templates, but this time I actually stayed petty true (as long as the shapes are open to interpretation, Lol!):
 
 
See!?  I even used a winged creature where the butterfly was!  Isn't that accurate?  Just trade the rectangular sentiment with an acorn, and BAM! there you have it.  I mean, who DIDN'T see a farmer owl with a straw hat holding an acorn balloon when they looked at this sketch?  Anyone?  Didn't think so....
 
I don't have time now, but let me know if you're interested in a tutorial or video on how I made the overalls.  It was super simple, just 3 punches and a framelit.
 
Now head on over to CanYouCaseIt to check out the other Farmer Owl Sketch cards that the design team made.  Since they're all super talented, I bet that you'll see quite a variety of interpretation!  Hope you play along :-)  See y'all next week!
 
 

Thursday, August 13, 2015

OSAT Hop - Back to School Already??!?!? Yikes!

 
 Hi everybody!  It's the second Thursday of the month, and that means it's time for a Blog Hop!!  Every month I get together with some of my most talented Facebook friends (Shout out to One Stamp at a Time...OSAT in the house!!!) and we interlace our blogs with projects made using a common theme. Welcome to those of your who found me via the uber-talented Justin Krieger.  This month, being that it is August and the summer is winding to an end...it's time to "celebrate" Back To School.  Notice that "celebrate" was in "quotes." This year, around the Weber house, Back To School is tough.  This year, our Baby starts Kindergarten. :-(

I used the First Day of School as the inspiration for my project and decided to make something for my daughter to have with her as she heads out into the real world.  Here's what I came up with:


 
 
What we have here is a mini backpack (complete with straps) made from one of my favorite tools of all time: The Gift Bag Punch Board from Stampin' Up!  It's extremely simple and versatile once you get the hang of it.  For this project, the top "flap" opens up and inside I have stashed a little note card and some emergency chocolate kisses.  Not sure who will need them more...her or me....
 
Well, I have to get going to get ready for the Big Day.  But luckily for you, there is a ton of inspiration just waiting to be had in this hop!  I am privileged to be able to pass thee hop off to my buddy Holly Stene!  Can't wait to see the cute stuff she's made for us :-)  Just click the "Next" button below to be transported to her world.  Thanks for stopping by, and wish me luck!

http://hollyshobbs.blogspot.com/2015/08/osat-blog-hop-back-to-school.html


Here's a map of the hop in case you get lost or are the adventurous type: 


You may have come from ----> Justin Krieger
Now you are here -----> James Weber 
By clicking on the button above, you will go here -----> Holly Stene 
Then after that, you can expect....
Diane Squires    

Sunday, August 9, 2015

CYCI #81, Watered Down Grapes

It's been another long week, so I was very grateful to have a chance to sit down and play with this week's CanYouCaseIt.com Color Challenge!

www.canyoucaseit.com
 
Remember, don't let the colors on the graphic above sway your creativity...the challenge is open to ANY green, ANY blue, and ANY purple!
 
To be honest, I started out a little stumped.  It seemed like a difficult color combo, but then I got a few different inspirations.  If you're planning on playing along and don't want to hear my alternative takes on the color combo, just skip to the picture of my actual card.  ***SPOILER ALERT*** At first I was going to use the colors to make a landscape...Blue sky with White clouds, Greenery in the background, Purple flowers.  Then I thought about an underwater scene; using the octopus from Sea Street in a bright Purple over a light Blue background of water with Green seaweed floating around... I had a few others but finally decided to go with:
 
 
...Some trusty watercolored grapes!  This is an image from Stampin' Up's Market Fresh stamp set (Link to view below).  I embossed it with white embossing powder and then water colored the different aspects of the image.  The colors that I used were Blackberry Bliss (Purple), Old Olive (Green), Pool Party (Blue), and crushed Curry (Yellow).  Ended up fussy cutting the image out to elevate it and give it dimension.  Used some burlap strings to swirl around, then mounted it on layers of Whisper White and Kraft cardstock. Turned out to be a beautiful but simple card, perfect for a Thank You note to my Mom!
 
Thanks for stopping by!  I've been working on a few new things, so poke around the blog a little bit and let me know how you like it.  Check back later this week; I hope to post a little more about what I've been up to.  In the meantime, be sure to share your colorful creations over at canyoucaseit.com and I hope you have a great week!  If you are interested in getting any of the products that I used to make this card, you can see a list of all of the items that I used down below.  And don't forget to check out my new Shopping page!  Until we meet again...