Valentine's Day and a Mystery

I know, I know.  You're up to your elbows in turkey and cranberry sauce and have Christmas projects galore.  Me too!!  But since my guest spot at Sketches in Thyme is in January, I have to think beyond Gobble, Gobble, and Ho-Ho-Ho. 

I was going through my card samples and found these two that are favorites of mine.  The "Kiss Me" card is cut from Sweethearts.  I cut the frog 3 times so I could pop him up.  I used my red 3-D glaze pen on the heart that dots the i and my black 3-D glaze pen on his toes (are they called toes on a frog - hmmmm?).  I added jewels for the eyes and to accent the crown.  A little doodling here and there and he's waiting for a kiss! 

Now, this card is a mystery.  I can't remember which cartridge I cut the bird from - yikes!  My brother-in-law sent me some supplements that are supposed to help with memory (darn aging brain anyway), but I don't think I've taken them long enough.  Do you think it's because I forget to take them?  I've gone through every cartridge preview page and also did the search on both the Gypsy and DS.  Still can't find it.  It must be one of those hidden treasures found on the icon feature of some cartridge.  I won't give up.  I'm going through all my booklets this evening - who knows what wonderful things I'll uncover.  Hopefully one of them will be this darn bird.  I really love how the bird just pops against the two patterned papers.  It's such a simple card, but I love it - he-he!

Well, I'm off to continue the search.  If you recognize the bird, please leave a comment and tell me where I can find it.  I will be ever so grateful. 

Mystery solved - it's from Joys of the Season.  It's the partridge (in a pear tree) and I cut off the branch.  Phew, only had to go through 28 booklets to find it (could have been all 80!).

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

A Wedding Card and Some Exciting News

First, I have exciting news to share.  I have been asked to be a Guest Designer at Sketches in Thyme!  Woohoo!  This is my first guest designer spot and I am excited, honored, and a little nervous.  Beginning November 23, Kim, at Sketches in Thyme, is adding card designs to her challenges.  How fun will that be?  Her Design Mavens do wonderful work on their page layouts.  Drop over and take a peak.  I'll be designing for the January 4 and February 15 card challenges.

Now for today's card. My daughter's former roommate is getting married after Thanksgiving and my daughter asked me to create a simple wedding card.  This design is lifted from SusieB on the Cricut mb.  She is the master of simple elegance.  I used my MS Scoreboard and Punch Around the Page, the Victoria and Swiss Dots embossing folders, and Nestabilities.  The sentiments are computer generated.  A few pearls, a little ink, some organdy ribbon and the card is done.  I hope she likes it.

Oooooohhh, I've been trying to take pictures indoors, but obviously they are a little dark.  Guess I need to improve on my picture taking skills - lol.  Well, I'll head back outdoors next time.

Hope your week is off to a great start.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Peace

I'm enjoying the Christmas cartridge that was a free Gypsy download.  This week's Santa's Slackers challenge was simply to make a card with a tree.  I wanted a more realistic scene for my card so I used this cut found on row 5 of the Christmas cartridge.  I cut the shadow, 2 images (so I could use two different papers), and the layer of snow (shift key).  The star is found with the tree in row 3 (shift key).  I used the hide contour feature on the Gypsy so that only the star cut. Again, I cut two so that I could use two different papers. 

To complete the card, I embossed the larger tree with the Victorian embossing folder, the small tree with Tiny Mosaic, the snow with Swiss Dots, and the background with Snowflake.  My Cuttlebug got a workout on this one!  I applied Stickles to add a little starlight to the scene.  "Peace" seemed the most appropriate sentiment.

I hope you enjoyed your Veteran's holiday.  Now the sprint towards Christmas begins!!

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

A Holiday Tag

Yikes!  My scraproom is a giant mess. I've been selecting papers for a number of projects so the room is overrun with piles and piles of papers, stamps, and embellishments.  I usually keep it neat (I'm a square-pile kinda gal), but it really got away from me this time.

Anyway, since nothing is complete, only designed on the Gypsy, I thought I'd share a holiday tag I made for a challenge several weeks ago.  The tag measures 2.75" x 4.5".  The ornament is cut from Celebrate with Flourish at 3" including the shadow and the layer.  I used Stickles to accent the cutouts on the ornament and the ribbon, and to doodle around the scalloped oval.  I also inked both ovals with Star Lite Silver Brilliance ink.  Finally, I popped the ornament to give the tag a little more dimension. 

I received a beautiful thank you card in the mail yesterday from Glenda Boyd.  I love getting cards from fellow cardmakers.  It's such a special treat and I treasure each one.  If you get a chance, pop over to Glenda's blog.  Her cards are amazing!  Thanks again, Glenda.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

A Quick, Easy Gift

I got this idea from a "make-and-take" at my local scrapbook store Holiday Open House.  They sell the clear vinyl holders in 3-packs for $1.99.  The background paper is cut at 2.5" x 7".  Think of all the different themes you could choose for your bookmarks!  I'm also going to add the recipient's name on the back.  I've decided these will make quick and easy holiday gifts; alone, with a book, or even a gift certificate.  As my pile of projects grows, I'm definitely looking for quick and simple.

And now my exciting news:  my Get Well Soon card (see Monday, November 1 post) was a winner in the Fantabulous Cricut Challenge Blog "Bird Bonanza" challenge.  Woohoo - this is the first time I've won a challenge and I'm just so honored.

Finally, to the Veterans and current members of the Armed Forces , THANK YOU!    Words cannot express my gratitude for the sacrifices you make to ensure that we live in freedom.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Anniversary Wishes

In our family we celebrate several anniversaries on the same dates.  My sister-in-law and her husband share their anniversary with their oldest son.  My husband and I share ours with their youngest son!!!  I guess the "boys" thought we had selected great dates to get married :)  One set of anniversaries is this weekend.  I made these cards for my sister-in-law/brother-in-law and my nephew and his wife.

The papers for both cards are from DCWV Linen Closet stacks - so yummy!  The ovals are from George. The inside reads "to wish you Happy Anniversary"

I made this card a little less formal by distressing and inking the base for the hearts and adding a second bow made of hemp.  The hearts are cut from Gypsy Wanderings - they're actually the insides of the heart image.

The layouts for both cards are sketches for Raq's card challenge.

I think it's wonderful when couples share their lives for so many years.  My in-laws are celebrating 45 years of marriage and we'll be looking forward to 42 in June.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

A Soldier's Thank You

I am so pleased when I have the chance to send a card to one of our troops.  It is such a wonderful opportunity to say Thank You for the personal sacrifice our armed forces make so that my family can live in freedom.  This card was created for the MySheriCrafts challenge, but will be mailed, along with personal Christmas cards, to our troops through the Cards for Soldiers forum.

I love this printed paper!  It has both pale golds and muted silvers so I was able to accent with both.  I used a Tonic punch on the gold paper and silver star brads to embellish.

I just sent 50 cards for our troops to select and send back home to their loved ones.  Now our group is making Christmas cards with personal messages to be given TO our troops.  It's such a nice way to get into the holiday spirit.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Pedestal Card

The Santa's Slackers challenge is to create a pedestal card.  These cards are fun and easy.  I chose a tree design because that is the new theme at Jitterbuggin'.  It took a lot longer to finish this card than it should have LOL.  I designed it on the Gypsy since the tree is cut from the Christmas cartridge which I got on the Gypsy download (6 cartridges to download - how great is that?).  I originally tried some fancy corners cut  from Straight From the Nest, but they just wouldn't cut right, even when I tried different papers.  The ones I chose were just too fine so I went with the scalloped corner shadow instead.  I also fiddled around with the sentiment and then wound up using a Sixxix die in my Cuttlebug.  Well, after all my redo's, here is the final product.

It's difficult to tell (it was cloudy outside) but the paper that appears gray is actually silver glitter paper.  The white background is embossed using the Cuttlebug Snowflake folder and the pedestal background is embossed using the Swiss Dots folder.  I used Star Dust Stickles on the tree.

I had a great day at the Scrapbook Expo.  I didn't overdo on any one thing, but I did come home with quite a bit of Bling!  How could I pass up all those $1 bargains? 

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Shabby Chic

This isn't usually my style, but I had a Card Fairy request for a woman who loves girly/vintage.  I thought I'd give it a whirl. The background papers are DCWV Linen closet.  The floral is from my scrap drawer.  I picked up the pin and lace at a scrapbook store "garage" sale (4 pins for 25 cents!).  I just added some ribbon, flowers, and a few pearls.  I guess to make it vintage, I should have inked and distressed the papers, but I do think it's pretty girly - what do you think? 

Scrapbook Expo is in Sacramento Friday and Saturday.  I can't wait go!

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

A Change of Pace - A Get Well Soon Card

I decided it would be fun to move away from Halloween, Fall, and Christmas - at least for one card :).  I designed this card on my Gypsy using only the Cindy Lou cartridge.  The challenges were to 1) create a card with a circle, a square, and an owl, and 2) create a Get Well card.  After I was satisfied with the layout, I went through my papers (which could very possibly take all day!) and found this pink, green, white, and black floral print.  I think it was bundled in a $2 buys-it-all pack that I bought at my LSS sidewalk sale.  I found a few other prints that I thought would compliment the print and this is the result.

To get the scalloped square, I had to use Real Dial size and set my height and width at 5.25.  In order for the dotted paper to align with the scalloped square on each side, I laid a wider piece of the dotted paper right over the floral paper on the cutting mat so that they were cut together.  The owl has 4 different layers.  I added pink VersaMagic chalk ink to the white accents and green Versa Magic to the shadow layer as well as the white scalloped circle.  I drew in the eyes, then added a few lashes and some doodling and popped the owl onto the branch.  A little bling, a touch of ribbon, and little more doodling here and there and that's it.

Hope you enjoyed Halloween.  We don't get too many kiddos trick or treating, but I was very generous to the ones that came so we wouldn't have any candy left over.  It's just too tempting and the holidays are upon us - lots of yummy food to be had over the next two months!

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn