WOTT, WOYWW and an achey breaky celebration

What's on Tap Tuesday (WOTT) and What's on Your Workspace Weds (WOYWW) merge this week into one post since it's already late on Tuesday here. (Check out Julia's blog with the link above if you like checking out other crafters' desks.)

The celebration part has to do with the fact that, although I procrastinated on getting my Sketchbook Project  2012 done, it has been completed, postmarked at the last possible moment and is on its way to its future home in Brooklyn, NY. The center of my desk shows a number of mini book pages (24 to be exact). I use magazine pictures and stamps to create little scenes for the book. I don't sketch. Luckily, that's not required. Unlike last year, I won't be doing daily posts of the pages in the book (because I didn't have time to photograph them all) but I will let you know when the digitized version is online and offer you the link so you can see if for yourself, if you'd like.

The achey breaky part comes from having fallen twice in two days, bruising the same knee and the same finger each time! These were tennis related but I'm suspecting that my shoes have worn down. It probably didn't help that my sketchbook-making-mania lasted until 2am. Nothing like strenuous activity on 4-1/2 hrs of sleep. Lol. Ah, but my sketchbook is done and mailed. That is sweet. *smile*

Thanks for coming by. If you're wondering about the card on the right side of my desk. I made it awhile back and it's out because it needs to get mailed tomorrow.

What's up on your desk, pray tell?

A teenager, a baby and a valentine....

Wow, that sounds dire, doesn't it? Yikes, I didn't mean it to! Lol. They're just the themes of the three cards I recently made.

Ds #2 had a Sweet 16 party to go to and I had to dash out a quick card. I tweaked the tutorial in my sidebar and came up with a quicker version by simply using a pretty background paper as the card base instead of as the matting. Used the party girl from My Favorite Things' Cheers stamp set and their doily die along with Paper Smooches Alphadot set for my custom sentiment.

We have a bris to go to tomorrow (it's always short notice because the ceremony is 8 days after the baby is born...), so I whipped up another tri-shutter card. This time I followed the regular directions because I wanted a sturdier card base and a little more pizzazz. I like how the patterned paper looks chopped up like that. The baby image is from a retired Stampin Up set called Very Punny. I masked off the sentiment on the stamp and made my own with Lawn Fawn's Sophie's Sentiments. Don't you just love that Fleur de Lis Rectangle die? It's one of Spellbinders' Nestabilities.

Lastly, I'm still cranking out valentine cards for this drive and I came up with this one when I got the February Paper Smooches sets in the mail the other day. (I signed up for their year long membership: 3 new sets each month.) The image I used was meant more for an Spring theme but a silly Valentine sentiment just popped into my warped mind so I had to go with it! Lol.

Crafty tip #63 (or so): Scrap paper can work well as a mat, so sometimes save your good paper! This was the mat for the gingham paper on the front of my card.

Thanks for dropping by.... Now to get psyched to do an entire sketchbook project in 3 days.... wish me luck. *smile*

What's On Your Workspace Weds. and more Valentines...

Hello-o-o-o,

Time to show what's on the desk this winter Wednesday. Well, my deadline to get these Valentines in for the card drive (see more info HERE) is the end of the month, so I'm chugging along. I got very ambitious this weekend when I stamped a number of Paper Smooches (PS) cuties with the intention of making a card featuring each. While hubby watched his football games, I sat beside him coloring away with my Copics. Then, on Monday, I built a nice fire and sat and cut them all out. A fire compliments a foggy, rainy winter day, don't you think?

So that's why you see piles of cut up colored animals on my desk and last week's pile of Valentine appropriate papers.

I've told myself that if I'm going to make a card for each, they're going to have to start being clean and simple. Of course, I came to that conclusion after I made last week's hamster card and this next dragon card. Not the easiest, but they are sweet. This dragon started out as a dinosaur from PS's Party Posse set. I made him some wings and the fire that he's breathing (intending no harm). I used circles for the boulders. "Warm and fuzzy" and "wishes" come in the same set, but I needed "Valentine" so I stamped it with PS's Alphadots. It is so cool that you can create any word you want with their cute font this way. Those butterflies were needed for balance so I took them from a Unity KOTM called Picture Perfect.

Now starts the clean and simple. I've been hoarding this cute canvas ribbon with the print already on it for some time. I thought it went well with a bear offering a hug. *smile* He's from PS's Chubby Chum Pals and the paper is 7 Gypsies.

This silly duck is from the same set as the bear. I embossed the heart he's leaning on, gave him a little heart to hold and stamped the saying with Alphadots again. I couldn't resist this silly sentiment.

Well, I've got a few more animals to work with. But that's for another day.....
Thanks for visiting! If you'd like to see more workspaces, grab yourself a beverage and check out Julia's blog!
*smile*

I know it's early for Valentine cards, but...

I'm trying to get a few done for a card drive. It makes me happy to know a hospitalized child will get this card and maybe smile. The cards have to be postmarked by January 31st, so if you'd like to contribute one or two or more, HERE is the blog sponsor.

The 7 Gypsies dictionary paper was a narrow leftover piece in my stash, so I went with it. Not sure I'm okay with the unadorned white sides but I'll sleep on it. I do love that hamster stamp from Paper Smooches Party Posse set, though. And how about that adorable font from their Sentiment Sampler? I was inspired to use the negative heart space when I was trawling through the Splitcoast Stampers website.

Earlier today, I viewed a really fascinating You Tube video of a lecture given by a theoretical physicist named Lawrence Krauss. (I think my recent interest in the Big Bang Theory sitcom reruns made me listen a little closer. Okay, so I imagined Sheldon was giving the talk. Lol.) The idea that the universe is expanding and that we are made up of stardust really boggled my mind. It made me realize that while we may be specks of dust in the scheme of things, it's all the more reason to enjoy ourselves while we're here. For me, it's making cards.

Enjoy your day. *smile*

What's On Your Workspace Wednesday and Inspired by....

Hey! How do ya like my new look? I'm very excited about it because she looks EXACTLY like me (ummm, maybe 20 years ago, but she is cute...) I have to give a shout out to Veronica at VK Designs for her terrific work!

Anyway, it's Wednesday so that means time for WOYWW again. The desk: On the left, you'll see lots of Valentine papers, etc. That's because through Paper Craft Connections, I found out about a Valentine card drive for hospitalized children. It runs just until the end of this month, so there's still time to participate if you'd like. You can find the sponsoring blog HERE.

In the center of the desk are some EK Success punches that I pulled out to act on a sudden inspiration. You see, I like to visit A Blog Called Wanda. She comes up with the cutest cards and this time I felt the need for instant gratification after seeing a recent one she made with a PTI stamp and die set. Not having that set, I came up with my own version.

First, I punched hearts close to the edge of some vintage dictionary patterned paper. Then, punched a 7/8" square over the hearts. Punched another square from red cardstock to show through the negative space. Then, created the red roofs with a 3/4" square punch. To make the roof triangle, I just looked through the back of the square punch and lined up the red paper edge to diagonally punch only a triangle. Those little hearts will appear on the card at the end, you'll see...

I found some striped paper leftover from a few posts ago still on the desk (big surprise) and thought it would pass for a grassy lawn. I love serendipity like this. Then, needing another focal point, I stamped a Stampin Up frame from Four Frames, placed a Unity sentiment inside, then punched it out with the coordinating frame punch. (The reason you see so many frames is that before I pulled out the Stamp-a-ma-jig, I couldn't get the words straight. Lol.)

Finally, a little maraschino baker's twine from The Twinery, and a few little hearts to compliment the sentiment and I have my inspired version of the card.

This card is heading to a older nephew so I left it bling-less. Thanks for stopping by. Consider this blog post my way of sending hearts to you!

Oh, and if you'd like to see a myriad of other workspaces from around the world, head over to Ms. Julia's blog, Stamping-Ground.... *smile*

Seventeen

Ds#2 (my baby) is turning 17 in a couple of days. *sniff* Has that got me teary-eyed or the fact that it is concurrent with him driving off to school on his own if the driving test goes according to plan? (Yikes.) I'm going to miss those long car rides to and from school. We had some good talks and laughs. I guess I can always look forward to the nasty winter mornings when I've explained that I will accompany him to school until he's more experienced. Yes, there's always that.

I went back to my favorite tri-shutter card technique for his birthday card. A car had to be featured. And I wanted to rub in the fact that he's getting up there in age, so I used the "old man" comment. And to emphasize that he should enjoy this new journey toward adulthood, I used a nice vintage world map from Tim Holtz' Idea-ology stack and his Journey stamps. (The upside down (lol) banner and "happy birthday" are by Lawn Fawn.)

Hug your babies, ladies and gents, cuz they grow up way too fast.

Thanks for dropping by.....

*smile*

WOYWW and New Digs

It's WOYWW (What's on Your Workspace Weds) time again and when I look at the state of this desk, I ask myself:

Should I put away the supplies that I used for the last card (left)?
Should I start on the Sketchbook Project that is due at the end of the month (near left)?
Should I get going on ds' Tim Holtz-inspired birthday card (center)?
Should I work on sis' birthday card?
The last one won out because I couldn't wait to get into my new stash of Paper Smooches (PS) goodies. (I've come to love these stamps so much, I signed up for the monthly sets... *smile*)

Backstory on the card.... Unlike my ds' card, which will have his age displayed in front, my sis' card doesn't require that anymore. In fact, unless it's a major milestone, who wants their age on the front of the card? But, she did just move into a house, so I thought it would be fun to wish her well on the first birthday that she is celebrating in the new place. Hence the sentiment.

I can hardly contain myself about the furniture stamp set. It's called Vogue Abode and it's 60's funkadelic. I feel like I'm playing with a virtual doll house. Think of the possibilities! (I made pleats on the lampshade with a little bar stamp in the set.)

The "happy birthday" and the little hamster cutie are from Party Posse. (I put a little rose in his hands.... eek!) The other individual letters came from Alphadot set. So easy to create your own sentiment in PS' classic font with this alpha set. (I even used a chain graphic from this set to make the pull chain on the lamp.) Three sets that worked great together!

Thanks for visiting. I hope you're having a good day and that maybe this little scene gave you a smile. (Especially my crooked little framed painting on the wall. Lol.)

Check back soon because my next post will be ds' birthday card (since his day falls on Sunday.)

Oh, and for more inspiration, hop over to Julia's WOYWW blog. People from all over the world post their crafty workspaces there.

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)
@scrapcollectr on Twitter

What's On Tap Tuesday and 10 Things

Today is the 10th. So what's on tap is my "10 Things on the Tenth" for Shimelle's blog. Check out her blog hop. (I'm number 24...)

I'm going to recount my favorite 10 cards of the first half of 2011. It was tough choice. (We usually publish on our blogs, cards that we like, don't we?) Without further adieu, here they are.

1. Love Potion used a technique that rounds out the card. All those delicious stamps are from Unity.

2. I made More Than Chocolate for my sister. I love the frilly-ness of it. Stamps from My Favorite Things.

3. Welcome Home was made for a niece that moved from one NYC apt to another. I actually individually cut those tiny boxes that are going in and out of the station wagon! And the buildings were made with a Unity background stamp.

4. Happy Retirement uses Stampin Up forest cuties and I had to make a play on words with the deer. *smile*

5. Sweet 16 is glittery pretty with that wonderful My Favorite Things image and that DCWV designer paper.

6. I used Lawn Fawn stamps to create the scene on this tri-shutter card. Cute anniversary card, huh?

7. I had a period where all I wanted to do was make tri-shutter cards. (I even have a tutorial for them on my sidebar.) This one uses Unity stamps, some adorably tiny buttons as accents and wonderful Stampin Up designer paper.

8. Picture Perfect was another Lawn Fawn adventure. That center scene required a lot of masking but the result was worth it. Love the twine banner...

9. Because You're Special squeezes my heart. The Pure Innocence cutie from My Favorite Things is just so sweet and I love how the papers worked out here with the Unity sentiment.

10. Start With Whee was so fun to make. The children come from a set by Stampin Up called Recess. I couldn't help but pop up the little girl so that it actually looks like she's flying off the slide.

Thanks for dropping in. Hope you enjoyed the tour. Have a happy 10th! What's on tap on your table today?

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr) 

Lawn Fawn CHA Winter challenge

Hello! Just a quick post to show the card that I submitted to Lawn Fawn's CHA Winter Challenge. I used Critters in the Forest and Critters in the Burbs along with Bannerific and Sophie's Sentiments to create this scene. The animals wanted to hold the banner high in honor of Foxy's birthday. Don't you just love her little bling birthday crown? *smile* We weren't allowed to use patterned paper (which is a stretch for me), so I made the little hill behind the animals with Copics and the flower and grass stamps from the Burbs set. This is all being done in the 11th hour, of course. The cards that will make it into their catalog and be displayed at CHA will be announced on the Lawn Fawn site tomorrow.

Have a great night, all!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)
@scrapcollectr on Twitter

When Worlds Collide

Hello and Happy New Year!

I'm back from vacation and ready to give you another What's on Tap Tuesday. The title of this post comes from the fact that two separate inspirations collided to help me envision today's card.

First, I was blog-hopping and came across a lovely blog called BonnellStamping that featured a super monogram card idea. I swoon over text papers, so I instantly loved the idea that she admittedly CASEd, but then, it is sure to be CASEd again. I just liked the idea of a large central panel with an offset image at the bottom.

Second, I got the latest newsletter from Lawnscaping, a Lawn Fawn inspired site, that was offering free digi stamps in celebration of their first year of blogging. The artist of the stamps is Melania Deasy, whose blog evidences her amazing talent. Take note that I said "free." Visit Lawnscaping HERE and get these digi stamps for yourself. They're adorable.

My desk shows the papers I considered for my card background. As you can see from my last post, I like to find interesting background papers to use for simple cards. The paper I chose comes from Stampin Up's Big Top series, which an SU demo can track down for you or, if you're in the U.S. and don't have a demo, HERE is my friend's link to the paper. That maraschino bakers twine I used on the card comes from The Twinery.

Since I'll submit this to Lawnscaping birthday challenge, I used the Happy Birthday sentiment from a Lawn Fawn mini set called Year One. I call this card "Blobby Birthday" because I'm not sure how else to refer to my little green friend. Lol.

Thanks for dropping by and I hope you have a wonderful start to your new year!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)
@scrapcollectr on Twitter