XO Friends & Letters

Lots to share today! It's our last XO Love challenge at Caardvarks today. Create a Friendship card and link it back to 'Varks for a chance to win a stamp set from Queen Kat Designs and a Caard prize pack. I had a great time making the card above. Who knew that papers from the dollar store could make a card look so good? I also love the two types of fibers, especially the can-can fringe. Thanks to my buddy Carolyn for those! Details for the card can be found here.

I made this layout based on a PageMaps sketch by Becky Fleck. Ian was the lucky recipient of lots of Valentines, mostly from family members and some sistas at SBO, at his school party last week. This sketch is for the February contest at Basically Scrapbooking. Details for this layout are here.

Be Mine

Caardvarks is hosting a whole month of XO Love XO challenges sponsored by Queen Kat Designs. Our first challenge is to create a Valentine! We will be posting new challenges every Friday during the month of February, so check back often. I made this card for my DT work at Basically Scrapbooking using the new Basic Grey Two Scoops line. A full supply list is available here. I also made it in response to a little throwdown from my good buddy, Carolyn, who is celebrating her birthday today.

Happy birthday, C!

Howdy

Well, howdy partner. I made this layout for Basically Scrapbooking and had such a good time playing with grungeboard. Just a few posts ago I confessed my obsession with the new material, and I think it's only getting worse. You can view my tutorial for making this layout here.

I am also happy to say that I finally got my Tim Holtz crackle paint to actually crackle. The first few times I used it were frustrating, but for this application it made the perfect crackled finish for my grungeboard hinges. Now I might actually buy more than the one color I already own. Grungeboard is coming to the Basically Scrapbooking online store (AU) soon, so get your preorder in now.

Hay!

This is the layout I finished last night for SBO's November Week #1 challenge. I love how it turned out!

And here's the full image of the card I made for Basically Scrapbooking. The front of the card features a circle window cut-out with a wire star suspended in the opening. I have a few more of the wire stars and can't wait to find new ways to showcase them.

A Peek

I got my latest DT kit from Basically Scrapbooking, and it included some interesting materials for me to use when making Christmas cards. I can't share the projects until the next newsletter release, but here's a sneaky peek of one card I really enjoyed making.

Tonight I worked on this week's challenge at SBO to include pop dots, deco edge scissors and felt on a layout. Ironically that isn't a challenge for me! I have been using those items quite a bit lately. It was fun to pull this layout together. I'll post it in the morning when I can get enough light to photograph it. See ya then!

It's Clear to Me!

This week I had the chance to start a new forum at Basically Scrapbooking about the latest scrapbooking trends in America. My friends in Australia often have to wait several months to receive the newest products from American scrapbook companies, so our hope is to provide them with plenty of eye candy until their goodies arrive. Our first topic was the trend in clear supplies such as transparencies, acrylic albums and ghost shapes. I made the mini album above using clear badge holders from the office supply section of Walmart and doublesided Daisy Bucket Designs papers.

This card was made for a friend at church who lost her father. It also features the same Daisy Bucket Designs papers and an office supply transparency. I have some other clear projects that I have made for 2Jills that I'll be sharing soon.

Tigers and Awnings

Well, this post is bound to be interesting with a title like that! Tonight we took our first steps into the scouting world. Ian joined Cub Scouts and became a member of Pack 130's Tiger Den here in Fishers, Indiana. This is my first scouting experience, too, so we are going to learn together. Luckily Scott did some scouting as a child and is going to be a big help...when he remembers anything from his childhood, that is.

On another note, this layout features some amazing portraits taken by our dear friend Tammy Mullis. I made this project for DT work with BasicallyScrapbooking.com in Australia. A teaching friend of mine from Pennsylvania once said about Ian: "Honey, that child does not have eyelashes. He has awnings." Tammy is an expert about posing Ian to highlight exactly that feature, and I am more than happy to scrap the results.