With Sympathy

     Sadly, a co-worker of mine just lost her mom after several months of watching her struggle from a debilitating stroke. It is always a shock when the day comes.
     I wanted to make her something extra special since we are in the floral industry and she loves gardens and nature. I am loving all the new layer elements you can do with your Gypsy, so I just pulled it out and voila! I am so proud of myself that I welded this just the way it came out. (the best part is it didn't take me long at all, I guess 'cuz I didn't over analyze it, I just did it, lol!)
     The tree is from Tinkerbell (who knew!), the aperture and frame are from George and the card base is from Plantin Schoolbook. I find I use the PS cart quite a bit for a card base, particularly this one because I like the stitched effect. The stamp is from M's and the circle stamped edge is a Cuttlebug die. The butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch that I layered. There are several areas with rhinestones on the butterflies that are on the ribbon. Oh and the card is inked with Tim Holtz Antique Linen. Inside there is a rub on sentiment "With Sympathy". I received some sympathy rub ons in the mystery box I ordered from My Sentiments Exactly back in March and it came in handy on this card. Pat is not what you call a glitzy girl and likes things understated so I'm sure she will love this card.

Color Throwdown # 96

     I just love these challenges! The colors for this challenge were so saffron (a peachy color) cool carribean (blue) and Pumpkin pie ( a rusty orange). I used a creamy card stock for the base and blue card stock for layering. The blue parts were cut with spellbinders nestabilities and then embossed with cuttlebug embossing folder in swiss dots and textile.
      The background paper is My Mind's Eye Home Glitter Book. It's funny but I find I use K&Company papers a lot but I must have really liked this paper pad by My Minds' Eye because when I was redoing my craft room I found 2 packs of this paper! Guess I better start using it, lol.
     The stamp is #99520 by Inkadinkado. I really love the sentiments in this set. I used Zing metallic copper to emboss the stamp so I would have the right colors for the challenge plus I thought it went nicely with all the other embossing. The image was then colored in with gel pens.
     The rest was finished with Tim Holtz distress inks, some orange brads and ribbon from  American crafts Elements, Uptown Orange. I love how these colors fit the sentiment. Hope you find some inspiration!

Happy Birthday Guys!

     Diane over at Capadia Designs issued a challenge to use just scraps that you have hanging around. Since I have been making mini books I guess you would say I have a few scraps, lol.
     So I just had time to make 2 tonight but rest assured I have layouts for at least 4 more. Maybe I should use some on more challenges.
     Oh and just a little off topic, I have a hard time coming up with "save as" titles when I resize the pics.
These 2 are listed as "screw scrap cards", thought I might remember this title if I go looking for them again, lol.

     Like I said earlier, it is hard to come up with something for the guys but lately I've been on a roll so I'll go with it!

Geared Up !

I really love making these mini books. This one is a male themed book and is all ready for pictures. The 5x7 album is chipboard base covered with patterned cardstock. I used an eyelet and leather roping for the closure. The gear is from Tim Holtz and just loops into the closure.

     The first page has been inked with Tim Holtz distress ink Vintage Photo.I decided rather than just adding mats I would make a photo frame. This is from Provocrafts Fabulous Finds cartridge. Although the mat is adhered to the album but the "frame" is not so a photo can easily be slipped inside. It fits a 4x6 picture. The brads are from K&Company (of course, lol) and most of the papers are from The Guy Stack of DCWV.
   The pages below have a pocket that the card stock mat slides into. It's perfect for adding a picture on one side and perhaps some journaling on the back.
   The "Remember" sign is chipboard and I could picture some cute picture of father and son, husband and wife or best friends.I love this paper because it has a nice sheen to it and almost looks like leather. It really is very rich looking in person.

     I thought a travel page was a nice addition to this book.
     The compass was cut from My World from Provocraft out of a shiny cardstock and also out of
black card stock in blackout creative feature.
     The next 2 pages are unique themselves.  The top page has a pocket with journaling card which is removable and large enough to add another photo on the back. The lower page has another photo frame finished with more "screw" brads.

     Here you have more gears this time as a border. I thought it would make a great page for Dad fixing something. We all know how handy these guys are at "tinkering"!
     There are several more pages, but you get the general idea. Be sure to leave some feedback under comments "cuz " I'd love to hear what you think!
     These will be for sale in my Etsy store coming real soon, lol.

Male card for JUGS Challenge

    
     Seems like I am brushing up on my "male" cards. These are usually challenging by themselves but thanks to the JustUsGirls challenge this week, it was surprisingly easy. I just started with some beige color cardstock and some scraps of gray tone cardstock and striped paper. I cut the font from Mini Monograms using only letters then the dotted circle and both the shadow and blackout features. The stitching is a rub on  and the beautiful ship is from K&Company. The edges were inked with Colorbox while the sentiment was a stamp from Hampton Art and colored in with ciao copics. I love this ribbon which was from Michaels'. Next up I am posting several new books I created. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.