Mad About You

Today was the 42nd anniversary of the day I met my hubby. I just had to make a card for him with a stamp from my newest set of stamps from Prickly Pear purchased during Scramp Camp in Fairfield. The set includes four freaky cats and I see many cards in the future for my DSD. This one represents the Cheshire Cat with the sentiment Mad About You. Isn't he cute? Paper scraps were still on my table from a layout I had just finished. So I was pleased as punch that I was using the stuff around me rather than digging for hours for that "perfect" piece of paper. I was also pleased to use my newest Spellbinder Nestie die set which had just arrived the day before. Papers are from the DCWV Mod-Retro stack. Hubby was very touched by the card. Thanks for looking.

Happy Anniversary to Mark and Nancy

Today is the wedding anniversary for our good friends and fellow Squirrel Nancy and Mark. I wanted to make them a HAPPY card, bright and colorful. The August kit from Stephanie Barnard at The Stamps of Life filled the bill. Also used one of her Flip-it dies which I am certainly hooked on. Simply made but brings a smile to my face. It's a happy card. Thanks for taking a look.

80

Dear Hubby needed a clean and simple birthday card for his bestie, Ed who turns 80 next week. I found a clever card via Pinterest (I believe) and here's the link to her site. A Little Space of My Own

I pretty much CASE'd everything about Mandy's card other than the color way, trying to make it a bit more masculine. Hubby specifically nixed the polka dots. Men are so funny, eh? Used my new sequin die from My Favorite Things, Thickers for the numbers, and, of course, a much ignored embossing folder. We're changing that, though, aren't we??? Thanks for taking a look at this CAS card.

Benicia Road Trip

Working on Week Ten of Hello Story. This week we were challenged to use the 5 W's as our story structure. Back to the basics in journalism. My layout is another direct copy of Ali's sample. Stamps are from Club Scrap's Road Trip (gifted by Squirrel Nancy). Paper is from DCWV Seaworthy stack. The shapes provided by Ali in this wonderful class were cut on my Silhouette. The photos were taken in Benicia earlier this year on a little day trip with hubby. I've lived here 39 years and had never visited one of the early capitals of California.  I'm cheating a bit but the journal notes are on the opposite side which will be a pocket page. Thanks for looking.

Happy Anniversary

I wanted to make a little card to send to Mallory and Jeff for the anniversary of their first date. The new kit from The Stamps of Life seemed like the perfect choice. I used my owl punch from Stampin' Up along with the sweet papers in the Have Fun kit to put this card together. I just love those owls. Happy anniversary, young ones, and may you celebrate many, many more.

California Here I Come

On to Week Eight of Hello Story. The lesson this week centered around using Maps as our story structure. I have been wanting to make a layout like this for a long time. A long time. Photos are from 1975. The cross-country trip I took from Kentucky to make California my new home. A long time ago. The photos are slide scans and aren't the world's greatest quality so I applied a "Seventies" filter to them in Photoshop and that seemed to save them. Seems appropriate. I cut the state shapes in my Silhouette and then colored them with Gelatos. I sprinkled several colors of sprays onto the layout (courtesy of Squirrel Farley who kindly donated her stash to me). A few sequins from Club Scrap stash and some hand dates and locations and the job was done. Oh, I did die cut some geo tags from my Technique Tuesday dies. Gold Thickers title. I am so happy I finally put this layout together to start the albums documenting my life in California. 

Dark Gulch

Another layout from Week Eleven of Hello Story at Big Picture Classes. The story structure for this week was Opposites. The sample layout from instructor Ali Edwards featured black cardstock with her handwriting in a white gel pen creating an overall design. I don't feel comfortable with my own handwriting nor any darn white pens in my stash. So I stamped two stamps from Unity's Going Places SMAK repeatedly to create the pattern in Hero Arts Unicorn ink (and I'm still wondering if it's made from REAL unicorns).  I shamelessly copied Ali in most other ways. Lucky to find those camera paperclips in my stash. Believe they were a gift from a Squirrel. Really happy with this one. As much as I avoid single page layouts. The opposite side will probably be a pocket page. More photos from our recent getaway in Mendocino County. Thanks for stopping in.

So Totally Different...

Yes, I know. It's embarrassing to still be working on this class. But that's how I roll. This layout is from Week Eleven of Ali Edwards' Hello Story class at BPC. I love this layout and the Silhouette cut, supplied by Ali. I asked Mallory to provide the journaling for this one, the differences between her and fiance Jeff. I blurred the text since it's not really my story to tell. This couple are engaged and will be married in March. This will be interesting for her to look back on in ten years. The photo was taken at Seaside Beach in Mendocino County and edited in Lightroom. I used my new Seaworthy stack from DCWV and stamps from Unity KOTM Spirit of Summertime. Thanks for looking.

Going Places

Still working on using my 6x6 pads. How did I collect so many in so little time??? Same Open Road set from Crate Paper. And as usual, thinking way outside the box with a layout about being on the open road in South Dakota. It was my silly little goal to take in as many states as possible on that road trip. Once we arrived in Sioux Falls, we quickly took in Minnesota and Iowa in a loop trip. The following day, we dipped down into Nebraska. Three more states off my bucket list. Yay!!! Stamps are from a Unity SMAK set called Going Places. The precious little dies are from Technique Tuesday. Thanks for joining me on the road.

Wall Drug

Still on the road in South Dakota. This time we are travelling across I 90 on our return to Rapid City. You just know I had to stop at Wall Drug to try the homemade donuts and 5 cent coffee for Mom. She says it was worth 5 cents but the donuts and free ice water were da bomb. On the road, I enjoyed my drive-by shooting of the millions of billboards advertising Wall Drug. This is just a small sampling. Yes, I was driving. Oh, well, we survived. I don't know if they have the strict rules in SD that we have in California concerning handheld phones. Actually, now that I think back on it, they weren't taken with my phone so I guess I wasn't breaking any law in any state. I do ramble on. 

I built this layout based upon a sketch I found on Creative Genealogy which I thought would work nicely into my plan to decimate my stash of 6x6 pads. These lovely papers are from a pad called The Open Road from Crate Paper. Always thinking out of the box, I am. The base paper is American Crafts from my stash. Stamps and dies used are Going Places from Memory Keepers Studio. Thanks for driving by.

Boondocks

Back to scrapping the 2013 trip to South Dakota. Mom and I stumbled onto this Roadside America find quite by accident on our way to Deadwood. The smell of grease permeated the air inside the diner so we chose not to eat there but we did enjoy looking at all the artifacts. I used Cruisin', the old diner standby from Club Scrap. Always thinking outside the box. Snort!!! The stamps and dies are from the Going Places set from Technique Tuesday's Memory Keepers Studio.

Snapshot - Unity Friends with Flair

Friday brings us to Friends with Flair over at Unity Stamp Company. Another fun layout using the stash. The paper is from a 6x6 BoBunny pad called Mama-razzi. The stickers framing the photos are from an ancient set of 7 Gypsies Photographie stickers. Using the stash. YAY!

In addition to the old stuff, I used stamps from Unity's SMAK kits Going Places and Camera Ready. Love those sets!!! Thanks for stopping by.