Friday, August 31, 2012

SMASH featured on K&Co blog!

Some of my SMASH pages are featured on today's SMASHblog posting!  What fun.  Hope over and take a look at some of the great pages others have made.  Some of the stamps used feature TGF and Pixie Dust Studio and are some of my favorite designs.  Hurray!  I will be submitting more soon.  Thanks for looking!  April
P.S.  Looks like the SMASHblog not longer exists.  Oh well.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Hooo loves you? SMASH

Here is a SMASH of my three kids.  As soon as I saw Rebecca's owls, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them!  I printed them in two different sizes and mounted them on a branch I found on the Cricut Pagoda cartridge, cutting with Early Espresso and Pumpkin Pie.  I altered it a bit by cutting one of the branches a bit and off-setting the leaves for interest.  I can't swear where I printed the tickets from but I think they are also Rebecca's.  I will probably go back and do some doodling later on.  Each child's name, birthdate, and vitals are handwritten then punched with the decorative label punch from SU and mounted under their photos.  The journalling is written on a piece from the Family SMASH pad.  The titling is stamped with Timber Staz-On using CTMH's giggle lower case and Inkadinkado's lower case.  The heart is Real Red punched with SU's retired full heart.  Thanks for looking!  April

Made for each other

This is for Pixie Dust Studio's food and Mojo Monday #256 challenges.

The base is kraft with layers of cocoa and baking print from Paper Studio.  The flags are cut from scraps of bubblegum pink, robin egg blue, and cracked green.  The pink is embossed with the Cuttlebug jumbo embossing folder polka dots.  The image is PDS Sweet Love, colored in copics with touches of Saukura Stardust gel pen, and mounted on the open book nestabilities on dimensionals.  I added a little punched heart and the printed sentiment.  Thanks for looking!  April

I won the PDS foodie challenge!

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Right Now

This is for TGF's Farm Fresh Friday Paper Piecing and Anyone for Anya's Time challenges. 
The base is kraft with layers of cocoa, Very Vanilla, and Bo Bunny's Timepiece papers.  The kraft base is inked with Tim Holtz Vintage Photo distress ink and the Vanilla layer is distressed with the Tonic paper distresser.  I used the Tim Holtz weathered clock die in kraft, then lightly inked the edges, as well as the red designer paper and the tag.  The tag is from 7 Gypsies and the stub has been perferated and removed before being attached to the card with a Tim Holtz memo pin.  The image is TGF's Oliver & Amelia Journey, stamped on kraft with Versamark and heat embossed with metallic gold, then colored with copic markers.  I used a piece of extra Bo Bunny Timepiece paper to paper piece his hat, then mounted Oliver on dimensionals.  The ribbon is Early Espresso from SU.  Once everything was in place, I spritzed the whole thing with Gold Glow smooch before mounting it on the kraft base.  Thanks for looking!  April
angled for detail
close-up of image

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Birthday Blessings

This is for TGF's Farm Fresh Fridays Birthday and Mojo Monday #255 challenges. 
The base is a white 5x6.5" premade notecard with layers of kraft and SU's retired Pawsitively Prints papers.  The image is TGF's Anya Celebrates colored in copic and paper piecing, then mounted on dimensionals.  The paper backing Anya is from a Build-A-Bear Workshop gift with purchase mini notecard set.  The sentiment is stamped on kraft in Jet Black Staz-On, punched with the SU decorative label punch, then mounted with dimensionals.  The orange polka dot grosgrain is from Michaels and the knot is placed with glue dots. 
Inside is the coordinating sentiment and the Happy Birthday is an acrylic from JoAnn Fabrics.  Thanks for looking!  April
inside sentiment



Update:  I won the Anya Spies for 8/26/12 on Splitcoast!  Be sure to watch for a project with my newest image coming soon!

Pretty in Pink challenge

closed card
This is for Pixie Dust Studios Pixie Flix "Pretty in Pink" challenge.  Who doesn't love a John Hughs movie?  While "Pretty in Pink" is not my favorite (Sixteen Candles!), it still a good movie.  Any seriously, who doesn't love Ducky? 
The base is winter white from DCWV with layers of Recollections Bubblegum Pink and heat embossed with a lips stamp I found in the dollar bin at Michaels.  The cut outs on the card are from nestabilities.  The heart border is from Martha Stewart.  The image is PDS Brittney Loves and is colored with copic markers.  I picked her because she is quirky like Ducky and wouldn't she make a cute Duckette?  I had to pay homage to Molly Ringwald, so her hair is red.  The letters are done in pink glitter.  She is cut with nestabilities deckled rectangle and mounted on dimensionals over a doily and lacy scalloped circle.  I also stamped and embossed a couple of lips on scrap white paper for the inside and outside.  I used a felt heart from Jenni Bowlin Studio and the punched heart from SU.  I did a cute little writing like you would find carved in a tree for their names, but inside I added "Say YES to Ducky!"  I added a little bling to the lips on the cover of the card and a pair of lips on the blank inside.  Thanks for looking!  April
first inside panel
view of all three panels open

Friday, August 17, 2012

Don't be angry...

Here is the other angry birds card I made for one of my bff's sweet boys.  The directions and inspiration for this came from Niki and you can find it here.  I didn't have all the punches, so I used my Cricut's George and Basic Shapes and some other punches to complete the cards. 
The card base is Whisper White with layers of Recollections blue argyle and Scrap Around the Blocks sea shells.  The sentiment is from SU's retired Grunge Rock.  Be sure to visit Niki's blog for the directions and list of supplies. 
Inside reads "Don't be angry, it's your birthday!"  I put the yellow one inside near the sentiment but cropped it to give you a close up.  Thanks for looking!  April

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Smarticle Particles

This is for TGF's Farm Fresh Friday Back to School challenge.  I decided to make a note holder to use as a teacher gift.  The dimensions are 4x6.5". 
I used a base of Very Vanilla with layers of Bo Bunny Shabby Princess Pep Rally papers and Recollections midnight blue.  The border punch is from EK Success.  The chalk board is made from the Tim Holtz movers and shapers die in kraft and basic black.  I used a craft knife to make scores and swirls in the kraft paper, then inked to give it a slight wood grain texture, inking the edges in Tim Holtz Tea Dye and Vintage Photo distress inks.  The writing on the "chalkboard" is a white chalk ink pen.  The gem apple is from Swarovski self adhesive crystals images I found on clearance at Michaels.  The image is TGF's Cheeky Geeky, colored in copic and paper pieced with coordinating Bo Bunny.  I used Clear Stardust gel pen on her glasses, then used liquid glass on the lenses.  The last touch is pearl earrings before mounting her with dimensionals. 
Inside, is coordinating Bo Bunny paper and a sticker from Bo Bunny's Back to School cardstock sticker set and a 3x3 pad of post-it notes.  Thanks for looking!  April
closed for giving

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Vintage mouse

Well, I got involved with working on my card and (of course) I missed my deadline.  This was for Pixie Dust Studio Attic Challenge
The base is kraft with layers of 7 Gypsies 6x6 vintage stack and Basic Black.  I used nestabilities to make the interior frames, after stitching around the edges of the layers.  The top layer is mounted with dimensionals to give it a shadowbox effect.  The image is PDS Harvest Mouse, colored with copic, then masked and trimmed with Tim Holtz distress ink in burlap and vintage photo.  Each corner has a mini silver brad.  The sentiment is from 7 Gypsies, stamped in Versamark on a scrap of coordinating paper and embossed with metallic silver powder.  I trimmed the sentiment and mounted it on Basic Black decorative label punch and pearls. 
Thanks for looking!  April
angled close-up to show dimension

Cullens SMASH

I started to make this for a digi challenge at TGF, but failed to get it done...obviously my idea was too big of a scope for the time I had.  I barely had them colored and cut before the deadline, let alone finished!  LOL  Oh, well, such is life.
So, all the characters are from The Greeting Farm's Wild Sprouts and are colored in copic.  The paper is from a 6x6 stack I got at Hobby Lobby but I can't swear on who it's from.  I distressed the edges then cut it on the diagonal.  The rampant lions and Cullen crest are from a sticker set I got from Toys R Us and made by NECA.  I found this iPod icon to use as the apple...my daughter cracked up and asked why I would use it, but really, why not?  The "Cullens" is made using Cricut's Nursery Rhymes font and a rub-on I got a Michaels.  I put it on a piece of Very Vanilla distressed with Tim Hotz distress inks and a sponge dauber.  Once it was done, I cut a 3.75" square of black and used the Martha Stewart punch around the page on it.  The rub-on was a bit sticky, so I decided to distress it and cover it a bit with Gold Glow smooch.  I also did the rest of the letters before mounting them.  The "Forever & Always" is from Creative Imaginations Mariah Johnson collection.  I was originally going to use a different quote, but it cluttered up the page too much.  It was supposed to say "Cullen: family is thicker than blood"  Oh well, the "forever & always" works just as well.  Thanks for looking!  April

Rainbow SMASH

We have had a trying couple of years and have been working to settle into our new life in Ohio.  My older two kids were off with the grandparents and we were stuck inside with a rainy day.  My youngest was looking out our storm door and started shouting about the colored sky and....there right outside our door was a gorgeous rainbow.  Maybe the storm has finally passed and good things are coming our way!
I just love some of the sayings in the SMASH books, but always struggle to find the right page to do with it.  Gosh knows, I don't want to cover the page over when it is such a great saying.  I think it fits just right with the rainbow concept.  I printed the pic of the rainbow, then used Cricut's Everyday Paper Dolls to make the clouds.  I cut them in two sizes and used the natural details of the curve in the cloud to nestle the picture.  I used scraps of ribbon to make with several different patterns to add more texture without a lot of dimension.  The little squares of printed sentiments, little camera, and journal tag are from U printables.  I finished the page with a quote about rainbows and a swirly paper clip.  Thanks for looking!  April

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Color SMASH

I guess it is obvious what my favorite color is...BLUE!  I snatched some paint samples from the paint section at Walmart.  I used one of them to cut the letters from Cricut's Old West font, backed in black cardstock.  I journalled directly on the color swatches.  I stamped "true" in Azure Staz-On using the CTMH giggle lower case acrylic stamps.  The dots at the end are flower bling, colored with copic markers.  The butterfly is from Heidi Swapp felt cut outs.  Last is a couple pieces of ribbon at the end of one of the swatches, attached with Tim Holtz tiny attachers.  Thanks for looking!  April