Cards for Kids

Hello and welcome to the Lawn Fawn Hearts Cards for Kids Blog Hop! We have all come together today to make cards for a wonderful cause, Cards for kids : http://jennifermcguireink.typepad.com/my_weblog/we-are-collecting-cards-for-ten-children-and-their-families--kate--sami----a-few-things-to-know--this-card-drive-will-be-on.html! We hope to encourage you to also make cards for this great cause and have fun along the way, too! So please hop along with us, and make sure to leave comments as there will be prizes for commenters and participants! So let's get going! Also, if you are lost in the hop, you can always start at the beginning at the Lawn Fawn blog :http://lawnfawn.blogspot.com. Thank you so much for hopping along with us today!

Hopefully, you  have arrived from Clare's blog: http://bearydocardsinc.blogspot.com/
just in time to visit with me for awhile before hopping on over to :
Grace's blog: http://gracehester.typepad.com/
Remember if you get lost in the hop, head back to lawnfawn where it all started.

                                    Big THANKS and HUGS to Kelly for organizing the hop!

This drive is quite near and dear to my heart. I love it! I love creating cards in the hope that they will bring a smile to some kids faces. I love that I can send a tiny piece of love all wrapped up in an envelope for a few pennies. So, that said, if 1 card is good, 4 are even better. Here are a few I am sending along on this round.

Supplies: White card stock, Hero Arts Friend definition stamp inked with fired brick Distress ink by Ranger, Girl, frog and fly stamps: Basic Grey colored with Prismacolor pencils, patterned paper MME Home collection, sentiment Hero Arts

Supplies:Bear die cut from Create a Critter cartridge from Provo Craft, Blue card stock DCWV Citrus collection embossed with tiny mosaic folder by Cuttlebug, patterned paper Prima Marketing Rock Out Bro collection, Prima flower with custom brad made with the i- top, sentiment on brad by Hero Arts, friends forever stamp by Technique Tuesday .

  
Admittedly, this card looks like it is having a bad hair day..... I should have taken a bit more care in primping but I still like it's wild and crazy way!
Supplies: Bazzil card stock, stamp: Me & My Big Ideas, copic markers, background stamp Technique Tuesday, sentiment Hero Arts, eyelets, ribbon: Offray

I  think this one is my favorite. It is a variation of a card I did at Valley Forge with Technique Tuesday.

Supplies: Bazzill card stock, patterned strips white card stock inked with Ranger Distress Inks in wild honey, dried marigold and crushed olive, what's hiding under the bed and monster stamps by Recollections, hounds tooth stamp by Technique Tuesday stamped with rich cocoa ink by Memento, copic markers.

Projects from Creating Keepsakes Convention, Valley Forge

After a super packed, hectic two days in Valley Forge at the CK Convention, my computer was out of commission with a virus. It is back up, albeit slow, but it is working ...so before it is time for next year's convention, I wanted to post a few photos.
I took a lot of really good classes, but because the time is condensed, only finished a portion of the projects . The upside to that is you come home with goody bags of lovely things to finish. So finish I did, then they were such happy projects, they wanted to be photographed and shared.

Picture 1: I think my favorite project class was the Technique Tuesday Top Tips for Tantalizing Cards....oh my, these cards were truly wonderful, and I will definitely be making them again.
Picture 2: The Magic Moments class had all the pretty colors, with those really beautiful flowers with the gigantic brads for centers.
Picture3: Six FAB layouts were completed in the Latest and Greatest with Basic Grey.
Picture 4: All the loot. Mostly Basic Grey Paper Packs, Technique Tuesday grab bags and tiles ( both discounted at the crop), Tattered Angels mat, screens and Glimmer Mist in Pomegranate ( LOVE), a couple Cricut cartridges , and of course distress inks because, really now, what is the point of shopping if there isn't some Tim Holtz involved somewhere?

I also took a class on Digital Photography with Candice Stringham, one of my favorite photographers who used to write all the photography articles for Creating Keepsakes but now works with Jessica Sprague, Digital Goddess over at :http://www.jessicasprague.com/ Wow, did I learn a lot in that one hour. Her class was the one in which I gained the most knowledge.

Even though the conventions are wild and crazy, and you never feel like there is enough time for everything,I highly recommend going if you get the chance.

A bit of organization

Here is a little peek at what I have been working on for awhile. It was not a small project, but it felt satisfying to finish. For months ( dare I even say years ) my scrapbook pages have sat on a shelf in varying states of completion.Some were tucked safely inside page protectors, others remained naked subject to catching and krinkling as I put other pages on top. I sat indecisive about how I wanted to group my pages, so blank scrapbooks remained empty just waiting to be filled and looked at.
This was my stack of pages:

I spent quite a few hours sorting and putting page protectors on the pages that I had worked so long on, trying to put the pages in an order that made some sort of sense. In the end, I tried to go mostly chronologically, except for Christmas, which has its own scrapbook. The best part of the whole experience was the fact that I was re inspired by my own pages. I had done some scrapping that I was really proud of, designs I really liked and that made me want to scrap more ... and I have...yay....will try to post some of those soon.

 

The kids started going throught them as soon as they hit the upstairs bookcase. My oldest asked if she could be the first to look at them. That makes me feel good. They all enjoy the memories evoked from scrapbooks and ask questions about things they have absolutley no recollection of. History preserved and passed down. Yay me!

For now, I am excited to be leaving day after tomorrow for the Creating Keepsakes Convention in Valley Forge, Pa. Heading up with some scrapping friends for 2 days of classes and shopping.Can't wait....of course, we didn't really factor in time for sleeping or eating....but we will do the important things...you know... scrap...learn...laugh...shop...and come home broke and exhausted.

Bad blogger post

I can't seem to get the blogging mojo back... it is summertime....I have more time to actually post yet....I don't really feel it. I have been scrapbooking and cardmaking and organizing, but... I haven't felt like posting about it....

So in an attempt to break the cycle, here is a sympathy card I made for Grace's (see previous post) parents. I can't send a card for a child and not send one for the parents!

:

Stamped image by Hero Arts using white embossing powder. Distress inks by Ranger: tumbled glass ( oh my, is this a fabulous color) , broken china, peeled paint, crushed olive ( another new color I LOVE ). Sentiment by Hero Arts .

I like how the card came out. Fairly simple, no ribbon or embellishments, flowers and love....

Cards for Grace

Another card drive for Grace who lost her twin sister , Ellie, to cancer recently. My favorite gal, Jennifer McGuire is sending cards her way. Cards need to be sent by the end of July. This is a great service project for those bored kids on summer vacation, as well as moms who need a few minutes away from those bored kids. Please go here for more info about sending cards for Grace:http://jennifermcguireink.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/06/need-your-help-cards-for-grace.html

Here are a couple of the cards I am sending her way. I am so in love with the Create a Critter cartridge from Provo Craft.

The koala card is inked with spun sugar distress ink and Hero Arts stamp, cling dots in victorian velvet distress ink. Sentiments for both cards from Hero Arts, Everday Sayings, Bazzill cardstock. The panda bear is embossed with Cuttlebug folder :bamboo and inked with peeled paint and crushed olive distress ink.

I spent most of one day and part of the next making tons of critters all sized at 3 inches for more cards. Some will be used for more cards for kids and then I think I will stock pile a few to have on hand. What kid wouldn't want a cute critter on their card? Heck, I want a cute critter on a card for ME ! LOL !

Please take a few minutes out of your day to brighten someone else's !

Thank you, Jennifer McGuire

I know....I know.... I have said it before, but, I LOVE Jennifer McGuire http://jennifermcguireink.typepad.com/ . I follow her blog daily ( but I am not obsessed or anything ... not even remotely like a....stalker....( insert nervous laughter here) ) and recently, just for leaving a little ole comment, she sent me one of Tim Holtz's new Sizzix dies. OMG ! Now these are my two favorite people in the scrapbook industry and I resent your thinking that I am a Tim Holtz stalker...( insert really nervous laughter here...and ...here...just for good measure ). I sent her my address and the beautiful crest showed up in my mailbox. It is regal and fabulous, so I set about making a few thank you tags. All Tim Holtz http://www.timholtz.com distress inks and stamps. The Sizzix dies even cut material that is not paper, so I cut up the plastic packaging that the die came in and sent it through the machine- it cut it like a knife through warm butter.... those plastic cuts I inked with Tim's alcohol inks and a little glitz was added with the Stardust jelly roll pen.

Thank you, Jennifer McGuire and thanks to Tim Holtz for your continous inspiration and fabulous products!

M.I.A

It has been awhile since I have had a moment or the inclination to post. Life has kept me busy. My oldest child is now a high school graduate and the last few weeks have been a blur of activity. School just finished today for the other 3, so hopefully this means a slower paced life for at least a couple of weeks.

I have had quite a few cards and projects done over the last three weeks, and I will be posting those soon but first I have to share the project my youngest and I finished for her 2nd grade teacher. It is a book of critters from the Create a Critter cartridge for the Cricut. This is my newest and most favorite cartridge. The critters are so cute, and as you can see, they layer nicely . My daughter is pretty savvy with my Cricut Expression and can load and unload and cut the different feature keys. She choose the colors for the paper and glued the die cuts together. I covered the $1.oo chipboard album with her choice of patterned paper and then she glued the critters on top. I think it is SOOOOOO cute! Her teacher loves our creative projects!