Golden Moments

Operation Write Home Blog Hop

Memorial Day in the states marks the unofficial start of summer and Operation Write Home is celebrating with a card blog hop. You can read more about this wonderful organization on their website, but basically they are a group that is dedicated to providing handmade cards for soldiers serving overseas to send back home to loved ones.

I am participating in this event as part of the Therm O Web group post, so be sure to click on the link to check out other cards from the design team. Also, there are a few ways to win some free adhesive (and who couldn't use that?!). Leave a comment on the Therm O Web blog telling them you are visiting from my blog, and you will be entered in that giveaway. Then stop by the Therm O Web Facebook page, like them, and you will be entered in another giveaway.

If you need to stock up on adhesives, you can also shop directly from their site and use the Buy More, Get More promo code of "TROOPS" to get up to $20 off an order. The new Glitter Sprays and iCraft Dots and iCraft Tape are now available too!

This blog hop is based on sketches (click here to download a pdf of all 100 card sketches) and the TOW team is using Sketch #30 for our inspiration.

I loved the saying on this stamp from Papertrey Ink and used it as inspiration for my card design.

I used my Sticky Tape Runner to adhere the ends of the rick-rack to the back of the stamped blue cardstock. I also used lots of 3D Foam Squares... either one or two layers depending on the need.

To get the shimmer on the clouds and letters, I used a Gelly Roll Stardust Clear pen from Sakura. Love the subtle sparkle this adds. I just drew squiggly lines over the cloud...

but when you angle the card, all you see is the shimmer...

I also used the pen directly over my Copics - it's a great way to get shimmer in a variety of colors.

Here is the finished card -

Thanks so much for stopping by... hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Graduation Day

Sorry I've been MIA, but these last few weeks have been a non-stop whirlwind of activities surrounding the end of the school year and my oldest son's graduation, which is tomorrow. Seems like only yesterday he was graduating from preschool...

We could not be any prouder of James... he has brought us so much joy and we are excited to see what his future brings. He's worked so hard during these last four years of high school (much harder than I ever did, even in college), that I feel like there were weeks when we barely saw him... I'm really looking forward to the summer and spending some quality time together as a family. I still haven't quite come to terms with the idea of him moving out in September... but at least he won't be too far away. 

Thanks for being such a great kid sweetie.. couldn't love you more!

Hope to get back to more regularly scheduled paper crafting soon (including a big backlog of graduation themed projects I need to get going on!)... thanks so much for sticking with me.

Happy May!

May is shaping up to be another super busy month - full of graduation activities, Confirmations, First Communions, concerts, benefit dinners... the list goes on and on... with not nearly as much time as I'd like to work in my garden, on my photography, and paper craft... why are there only 24 hours in the day?

Today I have two projects I created for Karen Foster Design using their newly released Mother's Day Collection. 

First up - a card using the new Cameos paper.

and a layout with a photo of my college roommate and her adorable baby girl.

I wanted to try out my new Martha Stewart Scoring Board... made the paper pleating go really quickly.

both the metal flower and gemstone are brads.

That's all I have for now... need to work on a bunch of graduation cards and hope to post those soon. Thanks for sticking with me! Hope your month is off to a wonderful start.

 

Mother's Day Gift Set

Happy Monday! Wanted to pop in to share a project I created for the most recent Crafts 'n things Newsletter. You can subscribe here for FREE and you will find the complete supply list and instructions for this project in Issue 45: April 19, 2012.

Here are some additional photos of the planter and card set.

This project is pretty easy on the budget too... I picked up the white planter from IKEA for $2.99... but let's just keep that between us, okay?  :)

 

Busy with life...

Wanted to post something... I know it's been too long, but life has been super busy - especially for my oldest son who is graduating from high school in a few weeks. We are so proud of him and excited to see what the future brings!

I've also been busy finishing up my assignments from Karen Russell's Photographer's Workshop, which has included a week with Erin Cobb learning her Clean Color process. I am so happy that I was finally able to take Karen's class - well worth it if any of you are thinking about it!

Here is a photo I took of my son and his girlfriend before his senior prom Friday night and was edited using Erin's process. I have about 100 more photos to edit and at the rate I'm going he'll be done with college by the time I'm finished... but here is my favorite one of the two of them.

Hoping to carve out time for paper crafting soon!

 

June 2012 Crafts 'n things

Do you enjoy gardening? I love spring and the sense of starting fresh in my garden that comes with the season. I love looking through seed catalogs and deciding which new varieties I want to try... I love the optimism that returns in spite of whatever setbacks we had in the garden last year (maybe this year there will be no unwelcome pests or diseases and I will stay on top of the weeding!)

If you are a fan of gardening, then you'll love the June 2012 issue of Crafts 'n things. It's full of garden themed projects and inspiration.

Here is a peek at a card I did for this issue.

With all the things I still need to do to prepare for the upcoming holiday weekend, I'm afraid I won't make it back here until next week. 

Best Easter Wishes and/or Happy Passover!

Baker's Twine Easter Card

With Easter just around the corner, I thought I'd share a card that features baker's twine Easter eggs. I used my Silhouette to cut the basket and an oval die cut for the eggs.

Then I used my SuperStik glue stick to apply adhesive to the front of the eggs and a few pieces of SuperTape around the edges on the back of the eggs and started wrapping and swirling the twine. Instead of wrapping one long piece, I found it easier to cut lots of pieces that were slightly wider than the egg and place them individually. Once you get going, it comes together quickly.

Thanks for stopping by today!

 

May 2012 CardMaker

Good Monday Morning! I love Mondays and the whole idea of starting out fresh with a brand new list of to-dos... I know, kind of geeky... I was also the kind of kid that loved doing homework.☺ This is shaping up to be a pretty interesting week with sports practices kicking into high gear for my kids, a couple of evenings out for my husband and I, the remainder of college decisions being released, my last week of photography class (with 3 homework assignments to finish!), and I'm hosting an impromptu surprise baby shower on Friday. Been a few years since I've been to a baby shower... if you have any ideas for decorations, food, or activities please send them my way.

Love when the latest issue of a magazine arrives and was happy to see CardMaker magazine being delivered on Saturday -

Isn't that a great card on the cover? Gotta love Tim Holtz!

Here is a card I created for this issue-

I was experimenting with techniques and came up with this "aged resist" process... reminded me of vintage wallpaper and thought it would be perfect on a card for a grandmother. 

The supply list and detailed instructions are available in the May 2012 issue.

Hope you get lots of things checked off from your to-do list today!

Happy 102nd Birthday Alma!

Just got back from a birthday bash for my dear friend Alma... what an amazing life she has led! Such an inspiration and I'm so glad to have her as a friend.

Have a great weekend!

Shimmery Thank You Card

Happy Spring (or is that summer?!)... with temps expected to be in the upper 80's today in Boston, it's hard to tell what season it is! 

I'm blogging today over at the Therm O Web blog and sharing a shimmery thank you card with a DIY ribbon rose.

Thanks for stopping by!