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Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Wrapping it All Up!

Have you ever used Wrapping Paper on your card? I know, why would you with all that stash - but honestly - it can be done!! On Day 122 that was the challenge - to use wrapping paper. Well, my first thoughts were of some kind of stripe or printed images scattered all over the paper - but since I didn't want to venture down to the garage (it is a mess right now) and look through the bin that has the wrapping paper in it - I knew I had a roll in my room that hasn't been put away yet - I just didn't remember it being Teddy Bears! Now, don't get me wrong, I love teddy bears - they are so cute, and I actually have a small collection of Boyd's Bears figurines - I just wasn't expecting to find the paper with BEARS!! But, I thought, this has to work. So I quickly attached it and added a few embellishments - I am not quite sure I like it - oh, the bear - he is CUTE and that sad face says - 'I Miss You' (BIG time!) - I guess it is jut not quite my style.
This 'wraps' it up for June on the 365 card blog - tomorrow a new month starts and a new challenge - but I have accomplished my goal of doing ALL the challenges for June. Perhaps I will even go back and finish some of the past ones that I didn't do in March, April and May - but until then,
Thanks for visiting the Spa today - I know I have had a lot to share lately with my cards - but I now must turn my endeavors to scrapping again - so watch for some digital stuff coming up soon.
*~*Paula*~*

All Through the Year!

I hear that there are places in our vast country where there really ARE four seasons - I lived in Washington State for a number of years and they sort of have four seasons (and not all of them rainy!!) - they just aren't all three months in duration! I love the changing seasons - I think I probably like Fall the best as the leaves begin to turn and the trees are beautiful in all their colorful glory. The air begins to get crisper and the days a little shorter. For Day 121 we were to create a card displaying the four seasons. This took a bit of thought and planning and I finally came up with my card using a variety of stamped images. Since most of my cards are sent out to the troops through Cards For Heroes, I had to think what sentiment (if any) I would use on a card of this sort, and then I came up with this sentiment, which I printed off my computer. I think it turned out quite cute and colorful.
I hope you like it too. Thanks for taking a look.
*~*Paula*~*

Color Me Rainbow!

I love rainbows - I really do, but on Day 105 the challenge to make a card using the song 'Rainbow Connections' became more of a challenge than I anticipated. I have this one rainbow stamp and I am not all that fond of it, but it was all I had. I attempted to make a card using this image several times yesterday and finally gave up and started all over again this morning. I nearly decided not to use it at all since the sentiment had the word 'rainbow' in it, and I thought that would work for the challenge, but I gave it one more try and combined all the colors of the rainbow in the matting and ribbon. Since I was getting a bit frustrated with this challenge, I decided to use another sketch challenge to help me out. I am pleased with the final work, but wow - was this ever a challenge for me - I think the hardest one this month!
Thanks for looking.
*~*Paula*~*

Another Card Recipe!

I love card recipes - they are usually very simple to do - and they tell you exactly what you will need - I like that, as I think of myself as an organized person, and that makes my life simple. For Day 103 our recipe was: 4.25x5.5 card, solid bg, 2 patterened papers, stamped sentiment and 3 jewels. The other thing that makes the card recipes even easier is having a sketch already drawn up! I used sketch challenge 211 from the Splitcoast stampers site. I used the pink pirouette and chocolate chip cs from SU along with the Bella Rose designer Paper. It was a fun, and quick card to put together.
Thanks for taking a look.
*~*Paula*~*

Challenging Challenge!

The 365 Card Blog posted it's first challenge back in March. On Day 102 we were given a challenge to combine THREE challenges one from March, one from April and one from May on our card. Since there are still a few of those very first challenges that I have not completed, I decided to go back and look at those and combine some of those on my card. For March, I chose the challenge from Day 17 where we were to use three buttons and three bows on our card. Then for April I chose to use the challenge on Day 42 which was to create our own pattern on cardstock (instead of using patterned paper) and for May I chose to use the challenge from Day 84 which was a recipe: 3x3 card, 1 flower, 1 brad, 1 piece for ribbon and 1 sentiment - NO patterned paper. I mounted my 3x3 card onto the chocolate chip card, so on my card I have double the writing room! :) The inside of the 3x3 card is patterned - but it doesn't show on the outside!
Thanks for taking a peek at my latest creation.
*~*Paula*~*

Monday, June 29, 2009

Paper Piecing

The last card that I got a chance to make this morning was this one for Day 115. We were to make a card by paper pieceing. Well, awhile back I got this really cool paper that had the directions for how to layer the images. The images were already created and perforated, I just had to take the pains to layer them - and it was a bit of a pain as the foam pop-ups had to be cut down if they were to wide, etc. I think it is a cool technique and fit perfectly for this challenge. It is so three dimensional. I also had a bit of a retired color from SU (marvelous magenta) and even have the stamp pad for that one - so was able to layer the cardstock and then stamp the image in coordinating colors. I also used another sketch from Splitcoast - SC213.
That's it from this morning's card making blitz. I am ALMOST done with the cards for June - I just have four more to do, plus the one for tomorrow - so I am thinking that when I get back from work tonight, I should be able to get those done. Yeah, I wasn't supposed to work today, but my boss called and asked if I could come in - so I have to go in for a couple of hours.
Thanks for taking a look at my creations over the last couple of days. I hope you are enjoying your visit to the spa. Come back again soon.
*~*Paula*~*

Imagine this - Grass!!

This was a fun card to make. On Day 104 our challenge was to create a card using grass. I have lots of little stamps with grass. I had even thought about doing a Stampscape scene - which has lots of grass - however, when I was looking for stamps for another card, I came across this set and thought - hmm, there is grass on this one at the base of the flowers - that will work. This is a border stamp from SU and you add the flower images one at a time, so I got out my kaleidacolor 'berry blaze' stamp pad and stamped the little flowers, adding a bit of diamond stickles to the center of each flower. I added the butterflies, though I am not real crazy about the orange-ish color - and then I added my own 'flight path' which I think just gave it a finishing touch along with the sentiment. This is a FUN card for a child and not a lot of bling on it either.
Thanks for taking a peek.
*~*Paula*~*

Stamping with Food! Veggies That is!

Actually, I didn't stamp with food - although I know you can do this - I just think there is a better use for food than stamping with it! However, the challenge for Day 101 was to have fun using food as part of the card. I thought about the stamps in my stash and knew that this was probably the only set (Farm Fresh from SU) that had a vegetable on it. I used a little more of the new Crushed Curry from SU for the color in the bg of my image and then for the tag. I colored the 'white' buttons with my alcohol inks. A simple card - made even easier with the stamp set and the sketch challenges from Splitcoast. This one is SC223
Thanks for taking a look.
*~*Paula*~*

Fabric!!

On Day 96 the challenge was to use fabric on our card. Well, since I also sew, I have TONS of fabric (which is crying out to me to pay attention to it and MAKE something)!! I went through my BIG stash of quilting fabric - and found this cute snow-lady. I LOVE snowpeople (my sweet husband and I have a 'thing' for snowpeople) I also LOVE 'taking tea' - and have many images of teacups and sentiments that speak of tea - so when I saw this fabric, I just knew what I was going to do with it. I attached the snowlady to red cardstock and then looked through my stash for other papers that would fit in with a Christmas-y theme. Since the fabric I cut this from had snow dots all over, the cream colored dotted paper was perfect and then I stamped a snowflake background on the rest of my background. This one I may have to keep around for awhile.
Thanks for taking a peek.
*~*Paula*~*

Some Days are Diamonds

This song from John Denver has been playing in my head since yesterday when I created the Day 97 card challenge. The challenge was to use the shape of a diamond on your card. Well, during a recent trip to my LSS, I saw this very cute clear stamp set of diamond shaped images and just HAD to get it. There are many diamond shapes in this set, but I chose to use this one and stamped it three times on a piece of scrap cardstock that I had inked up with my jade brilliance pad. I pulled out a piece of the Basic Grey Marrakech paper that I had in my stash for the background and found this sheer two-toned ribbon also fit in nicely. It is a very simple card, but I think it has a bit of elegance to it. I hope you think so too.
Thanks for visiting the spa this morning - please come back later for a peek at what I can do with fabric, food, recipes and the seasons!! Wink Wink!!
*~*Paula*~*

Pink, Blue and ORANGE???

Yeah, those challenge girls over at 365 card blog really give you a run for your creative juices. Day 95 was Wacky Wednesday and believe me, these colors are wacky!! I chose a sketch from Splitcoast Stampers SC234, but added the sentiment, so it is a modified sketch! I decided to just ad texture to my wacky colors however I did have fun stamping the image and then mounting it on the cardstock. The blue behind the sentiment is purposely not completely framing the sentiment - it just ads a bit more wacky to the whole card!
Thanks for looking at my wacky card - I am sure one of our heroes (CFH) will be able to find a use for this - it 'yells' KID to me!!
*~*Paula*~*

And now for a little Inspiration!!

When I first saw the ad inspiration for Day 94 I knew that I would use one of my CB folders, but that was about it. The colors are just NOT me - so, after procrastinating all month - I decided to give it a go and came up with this card. I DID use my 'Textile' CB folder and ran some black core'dinations paper with a green backing through and then sanded it. Trying to keep with the color green in the ad, I chose the green galore ink from SU for my flowers. After I had the card together with the flowers and ribbon, I felt it needed just a little sentiment - so I added the oval scallop. I like the way it turned out - I hope you do too.
Thanks for taking a peek.
*~*Paula*~*

Let's Start June all over!!

Well, not REALLY start June over - however, I AM catching up on the 365 card blog and FINALLY finished the FIRST challenge for June - Day 93. The challenge was to make a card with either the words 'call me' or a telephone image - both of which I DO NOT have in my stash of stamps. SO, I went into my Publisher program hoping to find an image of a phone - you know, the old fashioned kind - either the wall kind or the dial kind - remember those? Or even a cord board image - I worked on one of those way back when, and I am not really THAT old!! But, alas, the only images were of CELL phones!! WOW - the world has changed right under my nose!! Anyway, I didn't like any of the images, so I decided to use the words and created a word art.I actually like all the pinks on this card. I used a sketch from Splitcoast Stampers - Sketch number 233 - must go upload to that gallery too!! It is a busy card - but I think I like all the busy on this one.
Thanks for taking a peek.
*~*Paula*~*

Sunday, June 28, 2009

Going back a week!

Last Sunday the sketch challenge for Day 113 on the 365 card blog was an interesting one. Since I was on a roll this morning making cards, I got out the sketch and decided to give it a go. I had my cricut out already for some other cards I was working on, so I cut the arrows out on that and then cut the nesties scallop circles - using the new technique I learned this past week. There seemed to be a theme in my card making this mornin - I really MUST be missing my sweet husband. The light cardstock and the ribbon are part of the new In Colors from SU - the color is called Crushed Curry. I am not quite sure I am as thrilled with the new In Colors, but will get them as I love color and the more the better. The dotted ribbon is AWESOME though - and I want all of that. I like it much better than the striped ribbon they have had in the past. I thank my demo for sending me a sample package of the new cardstock and ribbon along with the new catalog.
Thanks for visiting the spa today - as you can see I have been busy. I will be working on more of the challenges from the 365 card blog for the month of June until they are all complete.

*~*Paula*~*

Do you Love Lavender?

Lavender - mmmm, the scent of lavender is wonderful and the color is beautiful too. I think I have ONE sheet of lavender cardstock from SU and I am hoarding it until I get more! But I was able to find some other lavender items to make this simple card. This card was for Day 114 which was to make a card with lavender as the dominant color. I have had this Orchid stamp from SU for a long time and seldom ever use it. When I think of orchids, I think purple - I know they come in other colors too, but I think of this color. Maybe it reminds me of my first corsage I got for a dance in High school - it was an orchid and was beautiful. I thought the sentiment fit perfectly with the elegance of this flower, but it still needed just a bit of embellishment, so I added the sheer dotted ribbon and the scalloped border.

Thanks for taking a look and I hope to see you again soon at the Spa.
*~*Paula*~*

Framed!

Day 118 on the 365 card blog was to create a card using a frame. WELL, I have many of these WONDERFUL frame stamps from Sweet Impressions, so when I saw this challenge I knew to look through those stamps and find one that I wanted to use. Since many of these stamps are up high on my shelves, I looked in the few trays that I had down low, and this one was in the tray - Yeah!! I stamped the center part of the frame first (this is all one stamp)and colored in with SU colors using the ink pads that I have. I then stamped the image again onto the bordering blue (SU) cardstock and pop mounted the bird over the oval frame on the background. I decided it needed just a bit more bling, so I added the prima that I colored with the same color of the flowers in the stamped image. I added a bit of stickles to finish it off. It still seems plain to me!!
Thanks for looking.
*~*Paula*~*

Silhouette

I am catching up on the weeks challenges over on the 365 card blog. Day 119 (yesterday) we were to create a card using a silhouette. Well, I looked quickly through my stamp stash and didn't come up with anything - then I thought of my cricut and knew there HAD to be something there I could use. When I saw this cute little mail box, I thought that would perfectly if I cut it from black. I had the sentiment printed out from a couple weeks ago when I was creating some word art. I thought the card was fitting since my sweet hubby is out of town this week (left just yesterday morning) and I miss him already! My girls liked the card and said it was quite simple - which it is, but sometimes it is nice to do simple cards. It is hard to see, but I mounted the elements on white cardstock and round the corners as well.
Thanks for taking a peek.
*~*Paula*~*

It's a Quiet Sunday

Sunday's are always Sketch Challenges over at the 365 Card blog - and today - Day 120 is a wonderful sketch with shapes of all sorts.
I recently bought a cool diamond shaped clear stamp set and found it was perfect for using on this sketch. The bg paper is from SU from one of their designer paper packages. I used a new technique I learned this past week on the scallop edge of my nestibilities. I had the sheer ribbon in my stash and then cut out the oval sentiment and stamped with SU's Old Olive I am trying to use colors that I don't often use, but it seems that today I am on a 'blue' kick, using blues of varying shades on the cards I have created this morning.

Thanks for taking a peek. I will be uploading more cards from this morning's stamping session after work possibly - as I may get more time tonight to stamp. Still working on my June goal of completing all the challenges - if I count the ones for tomorrow and Tuesday, I have 13 to go - so a little less than half to finish - I CAN do this!!

Enjoy your afternoon and thanks for visiting the Spa today!!

*~*Paula*~*

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Keep it SIMPLE

Today is Day 117 on the 365 card blog and the challenge was to make a simple card. One Image, One sentiment stamped. You can color the image, but that is it - no bling, no bows, no extra images - just simple! So, I looked through my stamps - with the intent of creating today as I 'had' no clients, and wouldn't you know - as soon as you decide that you are going to muster up the creative juices - work calls!! Oh well, it is work that keeps me creating with all the new toys and such! So, I really don't mind. It will be a different kind of day anyway as I will have one client later on this evening, but will work at the desk for the first couple of hours that I am at work - so that should be interesting too.
Anyway, back to my creation - I am not real thrilled with it - I am sure if I had Copics (and knew how to use them) I would have been much happier. I decided to use watercolor pencils. I could have used my radiant pearls, but didn't want to get them out - and my desk is not real clean right now - lot's of stuff all over it. (Creativity in the making!!)
I will be catching up on all the challenges on the 365 card blog over the next few days as my goal is to complete ALL the challenges for the month and I am a few behind at the moment.
I have also been working on the 92 Days of Summer challenge - but that is for another post!!

Thanks for visiting and have a wonderful day in the spa.
*~*Paula*~*

Keep it to yourself!

Keep it to yourself- I am sure you have heard those words before - perhaps many times in your life. So, what is my point? Well, that was the challenge yesterday - Day 116 on the 365 card blog. The challenge was to make a wedding card without using any sentiment - but the message should come through with the images. As always, my creativity is complicated by too many choices, or not enough!! In this case, I didn't have alot of choices for images, but I decided to pair the bells and the heart together and then stamp it simply. I mounted the bells with popups and then added the simple bow to the top - created with netting, and a couple different ribbons.

Thanks for visiting the spa today.

*~*Paula*~*

Sunday, June 21, 2009

Blog Award

About a week ago, the FabricButterfly gave me this blog award.


I have been so busy that I have not had a chance until this morning to take a peek at the award and am now passing this on to SEVEN wonderful bloggers.
Lori aka the frugal scrapper
Gloria
Con
Peter
Karolyn
Amy
Fi

Enjoy my friends -

*~*Paula*~*

Saturday, June 20, 2009

YMBD Scraplift Saturday

Earlier this morning I got a chance to play with some digital layouts. I created a layout of my best friends granddaughter and my oldest daughter that were taken a week or so ago. I used the layout from the YMBD Scraplift Saturday for my digital page. I also used the newest page kit from Joanne Bain Designs , This digital kit is called Pastel Princess and works wonderfully for pages about little girls. If you have not checked out Joanne Bain Designs and you like doing digital, then you really need to hop on over there and see her beautiful creations.

As always, I enjoy your visits to the spa.
*~*Paula*~*

Final card of the week

Today was a busy day - away from my crafting area, but I did manage to complete the Day 112 challenge which was 'Everlasting Love'. Make a wedding card and use the word 'Love' on the card. I pulled out my Cool Caribbean Cardstock from SU's In Color line a couple seasons ago and paired it with white, for a nice soft card. Before the day got busy, I went through my sentiment stamps and found this one from Sweet Impressions that worked for the challenge. I used the script CB folder for a nice texture in the background and then used the scroll stamp from the 'To have and to Hold' stamp set from SU. I decided on the white prima flowers, but 'painted' them with the cool caribbean ink for a soft coordinating effect. I then added the jewel in the center and diamond stickles on the leaf for an elegant look.
Looking forward to the challenges in the coming week, but for now - thanks for visiting the spa on this late Saturday evening.
*~*Paula*~*

Swarovski Crystals is partnering with CFH for the next couple weeks to get 30,000 cards signed! They're gorgeous cards with a little crystal bling added to them . . . and about 150 cards are at each of their store locations til July 4th to be signed by customers. (Some of the stores have a sweet deal offering a free tshirt with purchase, check and see if yours does!) The signing is free—so please take your friends and family with you. Email them about it too! Click on the image above or ---> here <---to search for a store location near you!

Friday, June 19, 2009

Lacking some Mojo

Have you ever had a burst of creative mojo - only to have it practically die on you? Well, that is what happened today. Yesterday I had this big burst of creativity hit me in the morning - and then I had to go to work. Today, I had to do some stuff this morning and was on the schedule to work this afternoon - however, I didn't have any clients today, so I didn't have to go into work, so after looking for songs to upload onto my 'new' ipod, I decided to at least attempt to make some cards from the 365 card challenge. The challenge for today, Day 111 was to use stripes on our card. I have had this really pretty Christmas striped paper that I have wanted to use for something - and this seemed the perfect opportunity to use it. Since Cards for Heroes will be asking for Christmas cards soon, I decided that this would be a good time to begin making some cards for that to send their way.
The other card that I made today was from Day 100 in which we were to use BOLD colors - Red, Green, Yellow, Blue and Orange - NO pastels! So, I pulled the colors and looked for a card layout that would work - and an image or sentiment - and came up with this card. When I use these colors I think of children, but I don't have too many images of children that I could use. Perhaps the soldier that receives this card will also think of his/her child and send it to them as a bright spot in their day.
Thanks for stopping by - and I hope you visit the spa again soon.


*~*Paula*~*

5th Anniversary

Yesterday was our anniversary. Five years that Larry and I have been together. As in all marriages, we have had our ups and downs - but mostly Ups!! He loves me dearly and we are so happy to have found each other at a time when we both needed to love and be loved. As a cardmaker, I don't usually buy cards - however, he does and when I got home from work, he presented me with a bouquet of 12 red roses, and a store bought card with a gift card for Itunes!! Last week, he won an auction on Ebay for a Zune (something he has wanted for awhile) and an Ipod for me - when I told him that I wanted an Ipod - since all the kids (except Ben) have Ipods. So, he found out that our wins will be delivered today sometime - so decided that I needed more than TWO songs to listen to on my new Ipod!! What a guy!!
Earlier in the day, I had made a card to give to him for our anniversary. It was a simple card, and very quick to make as I followed the Day 98 challenge on the 365 card blog, which was to make an anniversary card with mostly white space. I had made a similar card a few months ago - but this time I decided to use blue, rather than red. I also decided it needed a little more embellishing, so when ribbon just didn't look right - I decided to add rhinestones in the middle of each of the hearts - and then realized there were FIVE hearts - so FIVE rhinestones - what a GREAT way to remember our FIVE years together.
Thanks for coming 'in' today and relaxing with me at the Paper Spa
*~*Paula*~*

Thursday, June 18, 2009

One Final Card before heading to work.

As you can see, I have been quite busy this morning creating cards and such. Today, Day 110 was my last one for the day as I need to get ready for work. We were to create a 'My Guy' card and had to use ARGYLE somewhere on the card. Well, I chose to use my argyle CB folder and made it my background. This card is VERY simple, and actually quite boring to me. I took white buttons and colored them with my alcohol ink and then layered the papers. I decided to make it a Father's Day card as I will include it with my husbands Father's Day gift on Sunday. I don't usually make Father's Day cards because my father has been gone for 9 years now.
Well, I am off to get ready for work - IF I have time, I might just have to make ONE MORE card - it is my ANNIVERSARY today - we are celebrating 5 years together - though we are not planning on doing anything special today - but a card would be a nice gesture!! I know just what I am going to do too - will share later!!

Have a great afternoon - thanks for stopping by the spa to relax a bit.

*~*~Paula*~*~

Oh Boy was THIS a challenge!!

Tuesday was Day 108 and on that day we were to create a birthday card for a young boy. Well, the challenge for me was KNOWING I didn't have any young boy stamps. So, I went in search of SOMETHING that might be close. I looked at this retired SU CHRISTMAS set and figured that the bear on the rocking horse COULD be just a little boy tooting his horn - nothing about the image indicated Christmas to me, so I decided to use it. I wanted it to be a 'fun' card, so I added the checkered bg - from SU Bella Rose Designer collection. I found the happy birthday sentiment and decided to stamp it continuously and then placed it on the bg paper - which I believe is also part of the bella rose collection. I like the way it turned out and will be a nice card to send off to the troops so one of them can send it to their little boy that will be celebrating a birthday.

Thanks for looking and come back soon.

*~*Paula*~*

So Girly Blue

Who says everything about girls has to be pink and lavender and all things pastel? Okay, well we can keep the pastel part!! On Day 107 we were to make a card that had the word 'girl' on it and it was to be girly!! Not wanting to pull down trays of stamps to look for a stamp that 'might' say 'girl' (I am sure I DON'T have one) I decided to play with the word art in the publisher program on my computer. Since I had created the card - 'lifting' a sketch from the splitcoast site (can't remember where now), I knew I wanted the words to curve. It took me a few minutes to find that part of the program, but when I did - it was simple to do. I added the rhinestones with perfect paper adhesive - that stuff (I have had it for YEARS) is coming in quite handy lately!! The flowers are silk that I took off the stems that I bought at Michael's - my paper primas just weren't the right color and these matched better. (In case you haven't figured it out yet, I like things to coordinate). The inside of the card is another word art sentiment that says: 'let's do lunch!!'

One of my special friends will be treated to this card one of these days!! :) Until then, thanks for visiting -

*~*Paula*~*

Another Sketchy Challenge!!

On Sunday's there is always a sketch challenge over on the 365 card blog and this past Sunday was Day 106. It was a pretty simple sketch so the hard part was deciding what sentiment, what colors, etc. to use. I pulled out my big notebook of color challenges from the Splitcoast Stampers site and looked through there - but then decided to pull out my new pad of designer paper I got recently from SU. I LOVE the apricot appeal (though I STILL do not have the stamp pad!!) Anyway, I pulled all these wonderful elements together to create my card. I have had this little tin of flowers that are already decorated with sparklies, so I just added a clear-ish button from my marrakech button collection. I added the bit of stickles to the scallops and added the sentiment.

Thanks for visiting - there is still more to come!!

*~*Paula*~*

The Mojo is GOOD!!

Let's go back to Day 99 of the 365 card challenges. I am trying to catch up for the month - having done only ONE this month - until this morning when the mojo starting running!! That day was a sketch challenge - so I created this: card. I had played with some word art on my computer earlier in the morning. You are not seeing double, it is the word art I chose - which can play tricks with your eyes for sure!! I was just using up scraps of stuff I had been playing with all morning - from the scallop edge to the nestibilities cuts. I used some new droplets that I had bought recently - those were fun!!

Thanks for taking a peek - I will have more to show, so stick around!!

*~*Paula*~*

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Back to the Challenges!!

It was 20 minutes to 1:00 and I decided that I wanted to get back to the 365 card challenges. Now, why would the time be so significant? Well, I am supposed to be at work by 2:00 today since I do have a couple clients - and I should be getting ready - but the creative mojo hit me and I just HAD to crank out a card before I left. The challenge for Day 109 was to use these five colors: green, yellow, orange, brown and aqua. Well, those colors are in the Marrakech line from Basic Grey - which I just HAPPEN to have some of. So, I grabbed the paper, and then a sheet of Summer Sun (from SU) and a few white prima flowers and threw them altogether. I did touch up the edges of the white flowers to give just a tad bit of color and then added buttons - again from the marrakech line to the center of the flowers. The sentiment is from Sweet Impressions (sweetstamps).

Thanks for stopping by today and have a wonderful evening. Check back in the next few days for more of my card making adventures.

*~*Paula*~*

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

8th grade Promotion

Tonight is 8th grade promotion for my youngest son. Last night was the 8th grade dance and tomorrow those who are eligible will be going to Disneyland - he is one of the 'lucky' ones that will be going.
I have completed my layout for week 2 of the 92 days of summer and this week, the layout will be mostly about Benjamin - since he is promoting. Week two started out being all about my middle daughter Sarah - so the layout on the left is of her. Then on the 6th day she was babysitting all day and I didn't get any pictures of her, but I had my best friend come for a visit along with her daughters and granddaughter, so I got pictures of Marisa with my oldest daughter. Then on Sunday, Larry and I went to the Oceanside pier and when we got out to the end of the pier - we discovered this fish in the water and got this great shot of the lifeguard trying to 'save' the life of the fish. It was a black sea bass, which is a protected fish in California. He basically touched the fish and it flipped over and swam away - VERY cool.
Today I sent off 125 cards for Cards For Heroes - I still have more to get ready, and plan to make a bunch more when Larry and Benjamin go on their trip to Indiana at the end of next week. I do hope to find some time to work on a few of the challenges from the 365 card blog before the end of the week, but we will see how the week goes.
I hope you have enjoyed your visit in the spa today and hope to see you back again soon.

*~*Paula*~*

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Busy, Busy

So busy creating with my digital stuff that I haven't had much time to post and make cards. I do have a box of cards nearly ready to send off to Cards for Heroes. Once those cards are gone, I will be out of cards and will HAVE to make more. I am determined to catch up and do ALL the card challenges from the 365 card challenge blog for June - I just have to start!!
In the meantime, I have had a terrific time creating some digital LO's for the 92 days of summer challenge. My first LO I did of my oldest daughter. I used a Quick page from the Scrappers Guide Premier Members kit by Veronica Spriggs. The quick page was created by jwhite, all I did was add the pictures. I had fun taking these pictures and the kids have been wonderful in allowing me to indulge myself with this awesome project. I have already created the pages that I will use for the second weeks' pictures - again using the June kit from Scrappers guide. That kit is SO versatile and can be used for all kinds of photos.

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Contests and Pictures and . . .

. . . what about cards? Yeah - well - if you know me - I tend to run in tangents. Off on this one for awhile until I get bored, then off in another direction - it makes life QUITE interesting around here!!
This week I started the 92 days of summer challenge on the YMBD site. I joined this site back in December, but haven't visited alot - but a few weeks ago, I got an email regarding this contest and I thought it would be fun to try - it would at least inspire me to take pictures of events and daily life throughout the summer and not leave the pictures to go brittle sitting in a box for years on end!! :) And so, I have begun - I took several pictures yesterday - including some 'texture' photos for creating some digital scrapbook paper.
I have tried working on changing the look of my blog - and just can't 'wrap my brain' around the code - but with a little help from my friends, I should be able to conquer it.
So, what have I been doing you ask? Well, besides taking pictures - I have been immersed in creating digital papers - playing with the colors in the color picker that comes in the default setting with photoshop, I chose this aqua color and then played a bit with brushes - creating a variation of a star brush. That was fun - but then I discovered how to take my own photographs and by layering them, turning them, flipping them, adding texture - etc, I could come up with some cool backgrounds. Even using the colors of candy kisses from Christmas time, I learned I could create my OWN color swatch and use those colors as my background - adding in my own pictures for texture and effect - really making it my own one of a kind backgrounds for digital. Of course, as if that wasn't enough I also learned that over-exposed pictures - especially of the beach can really make cool effects as BG paper when overlayed on hand-chosen colors.
And so, I have had fun learning how the digital scrapping works. I have quite a number of kits that I have bought or downloaded for free - but now I am venturing into a whole new world where I am learning to create my OWN elements for MY digital scrapping. One of my next projects will be to create some digital stuf for CAP(Civil Air Patrol) since the whole family is involved and there is nothing out there for CAP - an auxiliary of the US Air Force. So, all the emblems we put on our uniforms - and even the material used I can take pictures of and then use it for digital - what fun!!
So, go create - and then come back and tell me what you are doing - thanks for visiting the spa today -
*~*Paula*~*