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!

 

 

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!

 

CYCI # 83 School's Back!!

I'm back this week with another great challenge from 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 :-) 

 

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...

 

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!

 

 

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!

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....

Ginger Pelfrey 

Elizabeth Jeanne 

Wynne Grob 

Marisa Gunn 

Kim Smith 

Lori Mueller

Megan Thompson 

Tina Riddle

Andrea Pancrazio

Andrea Tracy-Tucker 

Martie Pollard 

Diane Squires    

Maggie Mata

Eva Bussom

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!

 

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...

 

 

 

 

 

Market Fresh Clear-Mount Stamp Set

$17.00

Market Fresh Wood-Mount Stamp Set

$23.00

Aqua Painters

$17.00

Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad

$6.50

Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad

$6.50

Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad

$6.50

Crushed Curry Classic Stampin' Pad

$6.50

White Stampin' Emboss Powder

$5.00

Kraft 12" X 12" Cardstock

$6.00

1-1/4" Burlap Ribbon

$8.00

Versamark Pad

$7.50

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

CYCI #80 Don't Fear the Creeper

Hi again!  It was a blast meeting many of you in Utah at the Stampin' Up! Convention!  If you weren't there or I didn't have a chance to run into you; fret not, our day will come! Someday I will become a world traveler, so be sure to invite me to your hometown and I'll be sure to visit!

This week's card in brought to you by a CanYouCaseIt.com Sketch Challenge!

 

And when I see squares, I see...

 

 

...because once again...

 

 

 

Ok, so I really must run.  I'll be  back to elaborate on my card and fill you in on a few things that I'm working on...hope you check back in a few days! 

 

 

#tgifc13 Convention Edition!

HELLO!!!  I'm writing this from Salt Lake City, Utah and the Stampin' Up Inspire Create Share 2015 Convention!  For those of you whom I have had a chance to meet, thanks for finding me!  It's been a lot of fun to see you all :-)   If you are here and haven't ran into me, please keep looking!

This week I have played along with TGIFChallenges for the first time in a few weeks. 

This week, we have a Clean and Simple challenge, so I figured "Why Not?"  I actually made this card as I was writing the TGIF post in the hotel room with some of the supplies that we had laying around. Lol!  It was actually easier for me to be limited with my materials and the theme of the challenge - usually Clean and Simple is NOT my style...I really like to over complicate things.  Luckily, we got a new Christmas themed stamp set at the convention today, so I was able to misuse/repurpose the stamp set to a non-Christmas card and I ended up a happy camper (FYI, I'm definitely NOT anti-Christmas, as you know I just prefer to craft "outside of the box" and play with the versatility of my supplies).

Disclaimer: Since I made this card tonight in the hotel room, the lighting wasn't the greatest and the picture turned out "meh."  I plan on retaking it once we get home, but we'll see what happens.

This is a note card sized project (3 1/2" x 5"), and the "Arrows" that I used were supposed to be trees from the brand new Your Presents Christmas themed stamp set.  Curious?  Excited?  Here's a sneak peak:

 

And here's a peek at our pop-up craft room:

 

 

Good thing they accidentally gave us a room with 2 beds! Now we have an extra crafting station!  Lol!

 

Ok, that's it for now.  Hope you visit TGIFChallenges.com and play along with the Clean and Simple challenge, or at least stop by and see what the Designers have created.  It's the first week that we have had ALL of our designers join in, so its definitely worth seeing.  For my fellow convention attendees, look forward to meeting you tomorrow! Good night!

CYCI #79 Bunny Dreams

The annual Stampin' Up! convention is this week!  So much to do to get ready.  I hope to see you there!  If you're planning on going, please visit our TGIFChallenges.com  site to get some info on a give-away that we're doing while we're there... Hope you come and find me; I'd love to meet you :-)

In the meantime, and for those of you who sadly cannot make it to Salt Lake City, here is the latest CanYouCaseIt.com challenge!  In honour of the convention, this week is a free-fo-all Designers' Choice!

 

I was playing around with the new products and had a lot of fun with the new Farmer's Market DSP:

 

I know it was a little predictable...I mean who doesn't see veggies falling from the sky and think of a dreaming bunny when they see this paper?  I know I usually try to design "outside the box" but this time I had to just follow my instinct and go with the flow.  I think it turned out super cute; definitely one of my favorite cards so far!

 

Well I still have a lot to do to get ready for our pilgrimage, so I'll be cutting my post short this week.  Hope to meet you soon, or if not I'll be back on the blog in a week or so, most likely with a few stories and goodies to share about the trip. See you then!

#TGIFCTD02 I Was Ready for a Throwdown!!

Hi there!  So I have realized that there are 2 groups of people reading this...there are those of you who know about TGIF Challenges and those of you who don't.  If you are one of the ones that don't, DON'T WORRY!  There's still hope for you!  Just visit TGIFChallenges.com to catch up, then come back and keep on reading to tie it all together.  I'll be waiting....

Ok, now that y'all know about the Challenges, are you excited about the Throwdown?

 

We're super happy about how it's working out.  And this week I actually had a chance to try it out and play along!  I now know that it is right up my alley; I think that having a limited pool to pick from actually stretched my creativity and made it a lot of fun to figure something out.  If you haven't tried it out yet, I sincerely encourage you to just give it a shot!  So now onto my card: 

Just kidding!  First, remember that I had a very limited list of supplies to choose from.  As a reminder, these were my options:

 

And now, onto my card:

 

 

As I am writing this, I realize that I used all of the basket ingredients!!  Yay, Me!!  You can find the Typeset DSP, Delightful Dijon, Pool Party, Balloon Framelits, Black cardstock, and the Bravo stamp set!  Woop Woop!!  Lol :-D

 

On the TGIF Blog I am paired up with the Colourful Shannon Lane, so head on over to check out her project, check out the other entries, check out our first finalist, and check out your own entry after you play along, too!  Just click HERE and a door to a land of wonders will open......

CYCI #78 Ju{Halloween}ly (<---Yep, I did it again)

It's Sunday!  You know what that means... CanYouCaseIt has a new challenge for us!  This week is a unique twist on a color challenge:

 

That's right!  You pick the color, but only ONE!  Oh yeah, make sure it goes good with black and white.  Sounds fun, right?  Well then please be sure to visit CYCI and enter your own creation!  Here's mine....

 

 

So my ONE color was actually the Blackberry Bliss (purple)...the orange tissue doesn't count because it was just part of the stuffing of the bag, ok? And the silver doesn't count as a color because it's silver, right?  Ok good, just so we're clear. 

 

I'm not sure if you caught my last post about Christmas in July (if not, you can catch up HERE), but I actually got my inspiration for this bag from making that card.  As I was looking through the current Christmas sets for a sentiment, I found the Merry Everything set and this Dracula stamp caught my eye.  I was looking for an excuse to use it, and this color challenge was perfect!  I used the Striped Scallop Framelit to create the spider webs and the gift Bag Punchboard to create the bag. 

 

Hope you come and check out canyoucaseit.com to see what the rest of the team made.  They are some truly talented folks!  While you're there, come and play along!  What color will YOU pick? 

OSAT Ju{Christmas}ly: (<---Christmas in July; get it??)

Hello, and welcome to another month of hoppiness with our wonderful group of stampers!  You may have been directed here by the lovely Lori @ StampinDreams.com or another one of our OSAT hoppees, in which case you already know what this is all about and may proceed directly to my Christmas in July card! 

If you are starting the hop here, then welcome!  You are in for a special treat today; you have landed in the middle of a blog hop!  That's right, there are about 20 stampers that have gotten together just to make projects to share with YOU!  Our theme this week is Christmas in July and here is my offering:

 

So I consider myself to be fairly festive, but I was a little confused by the whole Christmas in July Theme.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm definitely no Scrooge McDuck, but I just was unsure if there is a difference between "Christmas in December" and "Christmas in July"...and from what I have gathered there really isn't. Correct me if I'm wrong, but is "Christmas in July" kinda just "Christmas isn't here yet but I want to celebrate anyway?"  I guess I'm still confused... but I must admit that I have become a fan of Christmas in July, whatever the meaning may be!  It was fun to make a Christmas card in the summertime, and it would be even FUNNER to get some presents next (hint, hint), Lol!

True to my style, I needed to over-complicate and use mostly non-Christmas products to make this card.  I grabbed the Build a Birthday set and the Farmer's Market DSP.  I made a strand of Christmas lights with the Build a Birthday candle and hung it on my Farmer's Market fence.  Finished it off with a  sentiment from the Merry Everything stamp set which I coloured with markers to add some festive lighting  to the border.  It ended up being a pretty simple card overall, but it certainly satisfied my vision of how I hoped it would turn out :-)

 

Christmas in July ended up being contagious.  As I was making my card, my protégé ;-) also joined the fun and created a set to share with you!  You'll have to visit {her blog} in a few days to hear more about it:

 

 

 

 

So thanks for joining us!  Up next is the very talented Justin Krieger!  Just click on the button below to visit him, or if you've lost your way through this hop, there is a map below!

 

Here's the itinerary:

 

You may have come from --->Lori

But now you are here ---> James

Next is ----> Justin

And then ----> Maggie
And so on...

Kim

Elizabeth

Tina

Andrea

Andrea

Debra

Wynne

AJ

Megan

Holly

Martie

Ginger

Diane

Marisa
And then do it all over again!

Cheers!!
 

Merry Everything Clear-Mount Stamp Set

$17.00

Farmers Market Designer Series Paper

$11.00

Build A Birthday Photopolymer Stamp Set

$16.00

Lots Of Labels Framelits Dies

$27.00

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

CYCI #77 Sketching Out a Party with a Cherry On Top

Howdy!  Thanks for joining me for another CanYouCaseIt sketch challenge, brought to you by CanYouCaseIt.com:

 

This week's card was a pleasure for me to make...reminded me of some classic Stampin' Stud fun!  See what you think:

 

Ever since I started stampin', one of my favorite things to do was to create "outside of the box" just by trying to alter stamps or papers or even repurpose images or sentiments for something other than their original design.  I think that I succeeded this week with the Simply Sports stamp set.  I saw the sketch and knew that I wanted to use the Cherry On Top paper, and I also knew that I wanted to celebrate the idea of a party.  My first thought was actually to try my hand at a scrapbook page, with two panels leading up to a party and the last panel being a picture of one of my daughters having a blast at a party.   I started looking through a stash of pics and couldn't find any that would work with my vision, so I started looking for stamp sets that showed people "having a good time."  Seriously, just ask my wife and she could tell you that I was driving her crazy that day, saying "do you have any stamps of people having a good time?'  until I saw Simply Sports.  Now, I know that "party" doesn't jump out at you when you first see the stamp set, but that's what I love about it!  If stick figures aren't versatile, then I don't know what is, right?  Oh yeah, just in case you're wondering...  the music notes and piñata were just drawn and cut free hand style. I also drove my wife crazy that day asking for a tiny horse or piñata stamp, Lol!

 

Well I hope that you enjoyed my card as much as I had fun making it!  If I can offer any inspiration from it, hopefully it is just to empower you to not limit your creativity to any comfort zone or preconceived ideas; creativity has no limits or "boxes" and often times it's the "crazy idea" that ends up being the most successful. 

 

Hope you have a chance to try out the sketch challenge this week, and along with that, why not try something "outside of the box?"  Take it as another challenge...be creative, be original, try something new!  Trust me, it's fun!  Visit canyoucaseit.com to share your projects, and best of luck to ya!!

Simply Sports Clear-Mount Stamp Set

$22.00

Cherry On Top Designer Series Paper Stack

$8.00

Stake Your Claim Clear-Mount Stamp Set

$19.00

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

CYCI #76 I Think You're Great, In Colors!

Here comes another short and sweet post...for reals.  This weekend is our 11th wedding anniversary and as I write this we're headed out to celebrate what's sure to be a splendidly romantic getaway!  As you read this, we're already back, and it sure was splendidly romantic!  Thanks for caring :-)

This week canyoucaseit.com brings us a color challenge, using Stampin' Up's new In Colors!  Which are your favorites?  Don't tell me...SHOW US!!

Here are a few of my faves, along with the great I Think You're Great stamp set which I think is great!

 

Ok, so if you're a regular reader I know you'll be shocked at what I'm about to say...

 

That's all, folks!  I'm outta here!