Triple Whammy: Christmas, NBUS, and Card Sketch Challenges

I love participating in challenges - they get my thinking outside of the box and actually using my stash!  I used this card to participate in three challenges over at Club Scrap - Mary's Christmas challenge, Pam's NBUS (Never Before Used Stuff) Challenge, and Anne Marie and my card sketch challenge.  It was fun trying to think of a way to incorporate all three into one card!  This is the second card I made with September's sketch - check out the first one here.

And since tomorrow is the first day of October, there will be a more challenges to look forward to!

Supplies // Paper: Club Scrap Lodge, WOW Holiday 2012, Take Wing (Red) / Stamps: Club Scrap WOW Holiday 2012, Welcome Get Comfy (Club Stamp) / Embellishments: Waxed linen thread, Martha Stewart Baker's Twine / Inks: Club Scrap Onyx, Spruce, White Pigment

Club Scrap Blog Hop - Take Wing

Hello, and welcome to the September edition of the Club Scrap blog hop! This month we're playing with Club Scrap's Take Wing collection. I'm going to show you how to make handmade embellishments for your pages and cards with the stamps and stencil in this month's kit.

If you found your way here from Lisa's blog then you're making your way around the hop! If you're lost or just want to see all of the links in one place, then check out the Club Scrap Creates blog for all your inspiration needs.

I chose to add on the Club Scrap kit to my Lite kit this month because I loved the paper, the stencil, and the stamps so much.  I knew I could get a lot of different uses out of the feather stencil and stamp, so I decided to make my own embellishments to use on my layouts and cards.

I'm sure there are more combinations you could get out of the stencil and the stamp, but I used the stencil and:

• Traced the feather shape onto the Lime plain paper, cut out, adhered microbeads using Glossy Accents
• Traced the feather shape onto the Blue Patterned paper and cut out
• Used ink applicators and the Club Scrap Hybrid inks on the White plain paper and cut out
• Adhered the washi tape from the Lite kit to the White plain paper and cut out

The feather stamp from the Take Wing Collection Unmounted Rubber is equally as versatile - I used this to:

• Stamp on vellum using the Club Scrap Ruby ink and cut out
• Stamp on acetate (I used cheap overhead projector sheets) with StazOn ink in Cotton White
• Stamp on the Red Translucent paper with VersaMark and heat emboss with silver embossing powder
• Stamp on the White plain paper with the Club Scrap Peridot, Lagoon, and Sapphire inks to create an ombre effect

I combined these different types of feathers into embellishment clusters and used these on my layout:

and my card:

With both the layout and the card, I combined different pre-made feathers into clusters.  In my layout, I tried to make a visual triangle around the photos and journaling with my feather clusters.  I also made a little tab for my date to live using my Envelope Punch Board - check out my post here on how to make this.

For my card, I let that feather embellished with the microbeads be front and center.  I loved the colors in the patterned paper, but didn't want it to compete too much with the feather embellishments, so I toned it down a bit by layering vellum over it - you can still see the great paper, but it's just a bit more subdued.  I used embossing powder for the main sentiment just to give it a little more impact.  I also let the feathers hang outside the "canvas" of the card because I really liked how that looked - this will probably be a hand delivered card, instead of one I send in the mail.

Try your hand at making your own embellishments with this awesome kit!  I would love to see what you come up with.

Thanks for stopping by!  Up next is Annette Dragon and her Digital Musings.  Go, say hi, and make sure you stopped at all the blogs along the way!  Don't forget to stop by next month to check out Club Scrap's Lock & Key collection.

Supplies // Paper: Club Scrap: Take Wing Kit (Blue plain, White plain, Green plain, Lime plain, Blue patterned, Red transparent, White patterned), From stash: vellum, acetate / Stamps: Club Scrap: Collection UMs,  Peacock Greetings, American Crafts: Studio Calico roller date stamp / Inks: Club Scrap Ruby, Leaf, Sapphire, Peridot, Lagoon, Tsukineko StazOn Cotton White, VersaMark, From stash: silver embossing powder / Tools: Cluc Scrap ink applicators, Advantus Tiny Attacher, Club Scrap Take Wing stencil, Ranger Glossy Accents / Embellishments: Club Scrap Take Wing washi, American Crafts Thickers - Scene, Martha Stewart red baker's twine, Martha Stewart Metallic microbeads - White Gold

Make Your Own Tabs - and a Sneak Peek!

Sneak peek time!  Stop back tomorrow to see what I have up my sleeve with Club Scrap's Take Wing collection.  I created a cute little tab for my project using the Envelope Punch Board.  It's really quick and simple if you have this tool!  Check out these videos if you want to see what else this can do.

I first took a scrap piece of paper that I wanted to use to match my project and lined the left edge in the center of the punch.  I punched that out to get the first curved edge.

I then stamped my date on the scrap and cut it down to size.  (This was actually my second attempt - the first one came out a bit wonky.  Good thing paper has two sides!)  I again lined the left side up in the middle of the punch and punched away.

I edged the tab with ink to give it some dimension - easy peasy!  I'll definitely be using this when I need to make a tab in a hurry.

Don't forget to see the completed project tomorrow, right here!

Week in the Life: Weekend Words and Photos

Weekends are good. Girls' weekends are better. Girls' weekends spent scrapbooking are the best.

Friday started out rainy, which was fine with me - I was going to be stuck inside at work all day, then taking off for Wolcott right after work.  I drove down the back country roads with my car full of scrapbooking goodies and the radio blasting and ended up at my friend Marie's father's cottage on Port Bay.  Our other friends Judy, Anne Marie, and Anne Marie's daughter Catie also joined, and you know when these ladies get together, hilarity ensues.  I packed pretty light for a scrapbooking weekend, mostly because I ran out of time to pack and organize my photos.  I made it my goal to get caught up on my ALSBs and cut out and mount my mountain of stamps.  While scrapping, we kept a good mix of television on, a little Julia Roberts movies here, a little Food Network there.

Sunday was more of the same:  eating, scrapbooking leisurely and laughing a lot.  Jason works on Sundays so I picked up some food at Wegmans on the way home and sat down with my book, my dinner, and my wine.  When Jason got home, we sat down to our usual Sunday night schedule - Breaking Bad and The Newsroom.  (Both.  So.  Good.)

And that was my week.  Compared to last year, I took way less photos, but I'm much more excited about printing and putting together my album this weekend.  Last year's album is still being sorely neglected.  Maybe in 2014 I'll find the perfect balance of taking enough pictures and having enough energy to put them in an album.

Week in the Life: Wednesday and Thursday's Words and Photos

Wednesday, September 11th

Oh yeah, that's crumpets and ham salad in my shopping basket.  Don't you wish I bought food for you?

The week was moving both slowly and quickly at the same time - too much to do at work and not enough time to do it.  Things like deciding whether to renew my gym membership (I didn't), getting calls about my car getting recalled (old car, don't have it anymore), and trying to plan a joint 30th birthday party (still in the works) were also on my mind, making me feel a little stressed out.  Plus, it was hot again.  (Feels like 99?  No thank you.)   So I did what I do best and hung out with friends.

Sal and I went over to our friends Scott and Laurie's house and made dinner there.  I used my favorite black bean enchilada recipe - so yummy, and it makes one batch for freezing.  We got to hang out, eat, drink, and play with this cutie, Lizzie.

Because neither of us had food at our houses, Sal and I ran to Wegmans to grab stuff for lunch.  I got some lunch meat, and then Sal said - "Ew, look - ham salad."  I was like, "YES!  I love ham salad!", which prompted Sal to say, "That was not the reaction I was expecting."  I love ham salad.  Not sure why.   But I threw it in my basket with my crumpets and roast beef.  I ended up trying to keep cool in bed by reading a bit before finally falling asleep

Thursday, September 12th

By this time in the week, my picture-taking had dwindled dramatically.  I tried to keep up on my documenting of the week, but really, this was such a busy work week that I didn't do much than go home, eat, and go to bed.  On Thursday, I finished packing for the scrapbooking retreat I was going on the next day for the whole weekend.  I created my very organized list (kits, art mediums, stamps, tools I needed to bring), watched some Glitter Girl videos to get mentally prepared for scrapbooking, and tried to organize my scrap room.  Jason helped a lot by making dinner - his specialty, breakfast.  It was yum yum yummy.

Week in the Life: Tuesday's Words and Photos

So if you don't know much about Upstate/Western New York weather, it's unpredictable.  I always have a sneaking suspicion the skies are going to open up and snow is going to fall.  But we got lucky last week for two days.  Monday felt like autumn - 50 degrees, blue skies.  Tuesday and Wednesday, we were right back into summer - 90 degrees, humid, sunny.  So I definitely had to take advantage of that.

The day started out a little rainy, but ended up beautiful.  I left the house for work and it was not a disaster for once - points for me!  We have these weird little cherry things from a tree in front of our house and they've been falling like leaves recently.  Work was uneventful and I had texted my friend Sal about going out to enjoy the weather after work, so I couldn't wait to leave and get the last bit of summer for the year.

Jason, Sal and I ended up at Marge's Lakeside Inn - the dive-iest of dive bars, but awesome on a warm day.  The backyard of this place backs up to Lake Ontario and you drag your chairs up to the water and dig your feet into the sand.  All while holding on to a cold beer.  Pure happiness.  We all ended up at Quaker Steak for all you can eat wings at the end of the night (so healthy, and so good). It was like a final hurrah for summer.  Bring on the sweaters, boots, and pumpkin beer now.

Week in the Life: Monday's Words and Photos

I decided to participate in Ali Edwards' Week in the Life again this year.  I really enjoyed taking photos last year and, more than a year later, loved looking back on these photos.  (You can see these photos my scrolling down not so far, because my blogging has been less than prolific since last April...)

I took a much more relaxed stance this year and didn't hit the amount of photos as I did last time, and I'm OK with that.  Considering I haven't completed the album I had planned last time, I figure a low volume of pictures this time around will be easier to handle.

I'll be sharing my album this year - I'm using a Simple Stories Snap album and divided page protectors with the hope that this will make it easier to actually get it done.  We'll see...

So on to Monday's (the 9th) pictures:

I've decided that I'm horrible at waking up.  Yeah, 7 am isn't all that early, but it feels early on a Monday.  I typically leave Jason in this position, where he steals all of the blankets and pillows as soon as I leave the bed.  I had tried to do laundry the night before and I had to dig through my clean laundry to find something to wear (hey, at least it was folded).  I had some leftover breakfast sausage from the weekend so I made Jason and myself breakfast sandwiches.

When I got to work I found a present on my desk - it was something I had ordered from a friend of a friend, so it was really a present from me, to me, but that still counts as a present.  Good thing I had that present to make my day start out nicely, because Excel decided it hated me.  Womp womp.  It was a typical Monday - I caught up on emails from the weekend and filled my desk with too many papers.

I got to unwrap and ogle my new bags from Lucends - I picked out the fabrics I wanted and she handmade these!  Super awesome.  I made and ate dinner while catching up on the Internet and emails as Jason was working late.  When he came home we watched Clear History (hilarious!  Love me some Larry David) and then I went to bed.  I'm reading The Man from Beijing (pretty good so far!) and I'm trying to read something every night before bed.  And yes, that grayish rag there is my blankie.  Still got it.

September Card Sketch

My good friend Anne Marie and I are hosting the monthly card sketch challenge over at Club Scrap.  Here's my card for this month - I'm really happy about using up some of my scraps and some stamps I haven't had the chance to use yet.

Go check out the sketch here and try your own hand at it!  We're already working on next month's sketch - can't wait to share!

Supplies // Paper: Club Scrap Papillon, Common Threads, All That Jazz / Stamps: Club Scrap: Comfort Zone, Autumn Garden, Brewed Awakenings / Stencil: Club Scrap: Autumn Garden / Inks: Club Scrap Orchid, Leaf