2 Sketches 4 You

I made this birthday card for my little cousin using Laura's Sketch 7 from 2 Sketches 4 You. He likes Webkinz and I got him the Caramel Lion for his birthday so for his card I decided to trace the online picture and color it in with my pencil pastels. A few years ago I bought them thinking I would sketch but recently I have found they mostly make excellent scrapbooking tools esp for coloring in stamps. I'm happy how it turned out, masculine/boy cards can be so hard, but the simple patterns and bright colors work I think. I've been trying to fit in a bit of scrapping because I know I'll be back in classes soon but I'm just not very inspired. Hopefully I will finsih the LO I'm working on for the Scrappy Jo's Weekly Sketch 3. Of course by now they are already on Sketch 4 so I better get going.

CPS #78

I haven't been doing a lot of scrapping because I've been spending time with the family since I'll be going back to school soon. I did find time to make this simple card based on the CPS sketch this week. I've been trying to use my Basic Grey rub-ons because it seems like they aren't working as well after having them for several months.

Stamp Something Summer Challenge

Two weekends ago my sister had a graduation party and we had lots of fun playing badminton and playing on the trampoline. Here's the layout that resulted from that awesome summer day. I thought the challenge at Stamp Something for a summer project would be perfect and I used Studio G snails and an Autumn Leaves journaling block. The more I use the stamps the more I want more stamps. I also used the Adorn It stickers I received from participating in their Teen Talent Search awhile back. I love the T-shirt they sent as well. Tomorrow I will be posting a quick tip over at the Scrappy Jo's forum so go check it out for some advice and also they are having a 50 cent sale so you might find some deals as well.

Scrappy Jo Review

Here's my review that was recently posted at the Scrappy Jo Blog.

Sassafrass Lass Oliver and Friends Stamp Set Review

What is it?

This is a seven piece stamp set from Sassafrass Lass that coordinates with the Owl Pal collection. But these stamps that range in size with a total 4x4 area, go great with plenty of papers and themes.

What projects can I use them for?

The stamps are the perfect size for cards and will look great with all the new trendy nature inspired products. Below is a card I made using three of the collections stamps. First I stamped the images and then highlighted them with pastel pencils.

Also branching outside of the nature theme they make cute accents on simple cards like this Valentine card.

The set also works well with other companies stamps so they’ll blend right into your collection. On the journaling tag below I used Autumn Leaves bracket journaling stamp (which can also be found in the Scrappy Jo store) and Technique Tuesday swirls. So have fun mixing these cute fellows with your collection.

But the stamps are not so small that they can’t be used on layouts as well. Owls have long been symbols of wisdom so I used them on the graduation layout below. This time in a more masculine way.

So are there any drawbacks?

The only drawback I have found with these stamps is that they discolor immediately. Each time you use a new color the stamps become that color in my experience. This doesn’t affect the performance of the stamps though. A word of caution: make sure the stamp is nice and juicy for best color coverage. I used Cat’s Eye Chalk Inks to create solid and more faded images depending on the look I was going for.

Anything else I need to know?

If you love these little guys there is a sister set, Olivia and Pals, also available in the Scrappy Jo’s store. So choose your favorite or pick up both and get stamping with these cute stamps! If you plan to pick up these sets and maybe even some ink to go with them remember you can use the code JMREF and receive 15% off your first order of $10 or more.

Stamp Something and CPS

Here's a birthday card I made combining the sketch from CPS and the color challenge from Stamp Something. I didn't finish in time for the challenge at Stamp Something but the color combo perfectly fit the new BG Euphoria line which I recently acquired so I had to use it. The card didn't turn out quite how I wanted but it was fun and I love adding pastel color to stamped images. It makes me want to get more stamps but I'm resolved to do more scrapping before I get too many more supplies. I like how the past couple of CPS sketches have been very open. I'm thinking I will have to make another project tomorrow so I can leave this week on a satisfying scrapping note.

Noel Mignon Challenge

Becky Fleck created an exclusive sketch for Noel Mignon's Challenge Blog. I loved the sketch and its been awhile since I've participated in one of Noel's challenges. So here is the result. These are so pictures from Universal's City Walk which is an outdoor mall that you have to walk through to get to the parks. We didn't love having to walk through it everyday since it just added to the time it took to get to the parks but it did have some interesting shops and photo opportunities. I used some older paper which always feels good but I also got to use my brand new embossing powder I won from Scrappy Jo's. The past few days I've been watching the Summer Olympics. I've yet to miss one of Phelps historic gold medals and they've all been exciting. The sheer joy on his team's face as they won the gold medal in the relay is what the Olympics is all about.

Weekly Sketch for Scrappy Jo's

Scrappy Jo's has a brand new sketch and it's a simple one with many pictures. On Sunday the pictures from my recent trip to Florida arrived and I'm excited to start scrapping them. This LO using the sketch is about the Tiger exhibit at Busch Gardens. We spent over an hour watching the tigers as they played and lazed in the sun. We also caught feeding time which was very exciting. The PP is Basic Grey Mellow and Scarlet's Letter and I used a combo of Colorbok and Deja Views chipboard. Also the stickers from Reminisce make journaling very easy. The photo has the colors a little off but I love how it looks in RL.

A Prize from Scrappy Jos

Last month I participated in Scrappy Jo's July Celebration which was lots of fun. They had great sketches and will have even more this month so go check the blog out. The adorable stamp and embossing powder you see is what I won for participating in one of the weekly scavenger hunts. I was happy to find these goodies in the mail esp since I just recently got an embossing gun. If you want to win some goodies then go to the forums to participate August Challenge.

A Bit of Beading

I've been very busy the past few days helping my grams prepare for a party. The house got an intense cleaning. I also was working on a review for Scrappy Jo's which I hope to share with you all later this week. While working on that review I created the little journaling block you see. I was trying to show the versatility of a stamp set and I was inspired by Scrap Your Crap to add some beads to the mix for detail.

CPS #76

I haven't done the last few CPS sketches mostly because I've been away but I really liked the openness of CPS #76. I was really wanting to use the paper piecing featured in the August/September issue of Scrapbooks Etc. So I combined the two in my latest card. The pieces were so tiny I almost didn't finish it but it turned out so cute I'm happy I did. In other news I saw the Dark Knight this weekend and felt like it lived up to the hype. So if you're a fan of Batman or liked the first one go check it out.

Laura's Sketch 5

Here's a card made using Laura's newest sketch from 2 Sketches 4 You. I used some old Basic Grey rub-ons and the heart is embossed Colorbok chipboard. Head on over to the site and complete your version of the sketch for a chance to win a prize from Sakura of America.

Weekly Sketch #5

This week was the last week of Scrappy Jo's July Celebration and so of course I got to work on the Week #5 sketch. It might be too late to enter your sketch for points but of course you can still show us what you've created at the forum. I made a real simple LO using a few left over pictures from a mini album about last year's vacation to Lake George.