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