Perpetual Playtime

Well, I am finally going to post some pictures of my Craft Room. Mostly so my little sister can see the minor changes made since her visit here a few weeks back. It's not the "magazine" craft room I have seen others post, but it is mine and it makes me happy and that's what really counts.  My husband & I built the room twenty-something years ago in our basement. Twenty-something years ago when I liked to sew and make clothes. When we bought our house the entire basement was unfinished. Before long we started sectioning it off and building spaces. One end is now his den. Originally the opposite end was walled off and he had his workshop in there. But as time went on he outgrew the space and we had a detached shop built out back. Once that was complete we walled off half of what was his shop and turned that half into my sewing room. The other half remained a small garage area, and by small I do mean small. The only car that will fit is a very compact compact. When ...

SRM Stickers is also sponsoring a challenge featuring Operation Write Home (OWH). This is my entry in the SRM Stickers Challenge. The cardstock is AC Textured White and the printed paper is from the Pink Paislee Bayberry Cottage 6X6 mini stack. I added some of that generic grosgrain ribbon that I got on eBay (no name brand to share on that), and the small red square is part of some generic cardstock I bought from Michaels Craft Store years ago.The Hello stamp, gee I don't really know for sure. A very simple card. And easy to put together, the hardest part was probably the bow, but even that was easy enough - I used the "Fork Bow" method. I found this on several blogs and forums, but I originally found it on Diana Gibbs blog, Stampin with Di & everyday this 'n that .  And, Here is the sketch provided for this challenge: I rather enjoy doing challenges that also offer me the opportunity to add to my OWH collection.

Here is my entry for the OWH (Operation Write Home) Stars & Stamps Sketch Challenge #36. This card is made on an ecru cardstock. I'm sure to many it would seem this card would have been better with white cardstock & white for the circle & sentiment, but this is what happens when I start out with different paper in the beginning & the card slowly migrates to something different. It is what it is - lol. Both designs of the printed paper are from the Bayberry Cottage 6X6 paper stack by Pink Paislee. The right side is a smaller image of the Picket Fence print and the left side is a smaller version of the Gazebo print. The grosgrain ribbon is some generic ribbon I got off eBay.  The flower stamped image is from Hero Art and I believe the sentiment is from an Inkadinkado set, but I can't say absolutely. I have to confess I was not very cognizant of the need to note who a specific stamp set was by when I first started collecting my stamps. Here is the sketch prov...

Dutch Dare is featuring Operation Write home in honor of OWH's first birthday! In featuring OWH, Dutch Dare put out a challenge that simply required the card meet OWH criteria and have a Birthday theme. Well, they said any theme would be accepted, but since it is a Birthday Party they were hoping for a Birthday card. So I made a Birthday card. It's a very simple card, but I was kinda pushed for time since I was not able to get any card making done over the weekend most of my Monday was taken up with things that needed to be done. Not the least of which was to get a very large box out of the middle of my scrap room floor. The card base cardstock is generic cardstock I bought from Michaels years ago. The Pretty blue flowery inset is from a Nana's Nursery Baby Boy mini stack by DCWV that my little sister brought me a few weeks ago on her way back home from a trip. It has shiny little blue flowers, to add a little glitz. And the sweet little kitty is from my Cricut Create-a...

Today I have two cards I made for challenge entries. Operation Write Home Midweek Throwdown Challenge - Wednesday, September 22, 2010 The challenge for this week is a technique challenge. We had to make an easel card. Now, I had made an easel card once before, but I didn't have the size constraints of making it fit the A2 size. This time I needed to make it fit the A2 size (the recommended, but not mandatory OWH size). And, as always happens I could not find the tut I used the first time, which to me was easier to follow than the one OWH linked us to. Since I was negligent in saving the first tut, I did save this one, and if I ever find that first one again, you can be sure I will save it!  (edit to add - Julie posted a link to an easel card tut that is on the OWH site and to me it made better sense in regard to the direction of the folds. For anyone interested, I have saved both tuts on my "Saved Tuts" page.) Okay, so, for this card I decided to try my Tim Holtz ...

H ere is another card I made for the OWH (Operation Write Home) Stars & Stamps Sketch Challenge . The solid cardstock is some generic paper that I got from Michaels several years ago and the print paper with the bats I recently purchased from Oriental Trading. I believe the cute little trick-or-treaters and the small bat at the top (on the purple stripe) are Inkadinkado sta mps. The small "boo!" is from a Lawn fawn stamp set. And I added some black three  dimensional dots using Pearl paint from Viva.  And here is the sketch provided for this weeks challenge: I will send this card to the OWH project, but since the majority of Halloween themed cards have already been processed I will hold this one and work on adding to the Halloween theme for next year. I could have, and maybe should have made a more generic "Thinking of You" or "Miss You", but I had Halloween papers out for another cards and was on a roll.

I found a new forum this week and this card is for their Weekly Sketch Challenge 9/15-9/2 . I think I like sketch challenges. I'm not sure what the limitations are for modifying a sketch, but so far I have tried to stay as close to possible with the two I have made. So, here is my entry for the CardSwap Weekly Sketch Chhallenge. I made Halloween Card with some cute bats and a spider from my Fawn Lawn stamps and I cut the tree from my Cricut Happy Hauntings cart. The cardstock is all generic that I bought many years ago. And here is the sketch: Eeeek! Happy Hauntings!

I made this card for the OWH (Operation Write Home) Stars & Stamps Sketch Challenge . It was quick and easy. They provided the sketch, the color scheme and the theme. I used a variety of paper - the solid pink, solid green and large polka dot paper are from DCWV stacks. The tiny polka dot ribbon is from Creative Memories and the cake is from the Cricut Stretch Your Imagination cart. I am also making a bunch of rather generic cards for the OWH project , but I don't have enough of those to take a group shot, and since I plan to make several dozen I'm not sure I want to post all of them one by one. But I will post something about them when I get far enough along with that project. 09/21/10 - adding the image of the sketch:

I bought a pre-assembled card kit from my local favorite scrapbook store, Scrapbook Mania , and used this as a mini card challenge for my granddaughter and I. The kit contains the materials to make two identical cards as well as the instructions and an image of the card the creator, Christine Ousley , made. When I saw the kit I thought it would be a lot of fun to see if my granddaughter wanted to do a mini challenge, and she did (YAY!). I thought it would be interesting to see how far apart we were in style and character. Of course I also wanted the Sarah Kay stamp to add to my collection. First we had to decide on three elements from the kit that were required components and the rest were optional. No other rules. In this kit we decided the three required elements would be the Sarah Kay stamp, the pre-stamped tag that reads "Friends Forever" and the small length of bakers twine.   We divided our materials up and since she was anxious to get working on hers I gave her a man...

My 15 y.o granddaughter was here this weekend and she has has so much fun playing in my scrap room. I'm so glad she is enjoying herself making things. Here are some of the items she made this weekend. First is a card she made. I'm not sure what her motivation is for any of it, but I guess she was just in the mood to color an image so she made this card. Not bad for her second card. She was also intrigued by a card on my bulletin board that I had made for a challenge where I had colored white flowers with Copic markers, so she wanted to try her hand at that also. She used a Sarah Kay image from Stampavie. And then she discovered the Create a Critter Cricut cart and had some fun with that! Here is an owl and a small card she made. She has attached a strip of magnet to the back of the owl so she can hang him in her locker at school. I'm not sure what she will use the little note card for. But I am glad she enjoyed herself. Okay, that's all for this post because I now...

My little sister sent me this award for my blog and I am so happy to add it to my blog and share it with others. Thank you Lisa ( CricketCrazyLisa ) Okay, so to use and to share this award, here are the rules: Thank the Award giver  [check] copy award to your blog  [check] list three things you love about yourself  [check] I am a strong lady and I know this because of all the things I have been through and managed to stay true to myself throughout. I have tried hard to be kind, friendly and helpful to others. And yes, even my enemies although as much as I have tried, sometimes the best I can manage is to be cordial. Before I retired I gave more than 100% effort to be successful in my job. Of course the true motive behind that was to better my position within the corporation, but none-the-less, I gave more than 100% while watching others who gave less than 50%. So I am proud of myself for maintaining my goal in spite of the frustration that came with wat...

New card, new card! Can you tell I'm happy when I have a new card to post? This card is for my Step-grandson who got married recently. And, it is one of the few that I have done without any coloring. I do enjoy the coloring, but I had these bride & groom couples made of felt (can't recall who they are by) and I figured I would use one of them. The ribbon is generic from Michaels - from way back. The card itself was cut from a sheet of Marah Johnson from Creative Imaginations. The pink card-stock I edged with a Martha Stewart punch is also a generic card-stock from Michaels - from way back. And I can't really say where I got the small metal hearts I attached to the ribbon, the paper roses and the pearl embellishments that I cut from a sheet of swirls and positioned together to make the pearl heart. These are a more recent purchase, but the record of that was lost in my recent PC crash. I really like this cards. I like the soft colors - my colors - pinks and purples an...