Cardabilities Sketch 16 + Nikki Sivils = Giggles

Greetings and Happy Tuesday to You!

I'm so excited for this Cardabilities Sketch 16 reveal, I can't even begin to tell you!  I had an absolutely fabulous fun time creating this card and it's one of my favorite cards to date.  I hope you enjoy it too.

About a month ago I was the very honored and lucky blog winner of some beautiful new paper lines and goodies from Nikki Sivils!  To say that she were generous is a big understatement!!!  When I saw this pretty sketch, I just knew I had to play with her new 'Tree Love' line!

Ok, so obviously I felt like having some fun with the sketch right?  I just giggle every time I look at this card!  Seriously, that is what I love about the fun sketches we get to work with at Cardabilities, they are so inspiring!  So are the fun new papers that Nikki has! 

I used my I-Rock tool and metal studs in various colors (by Imaginisce) on the tree leaves.  I used my Martha Stewart leaf border punch to create bite marks on my tree and make it go "timberrrrrrrrrrrr" so it would fit on my card.  I cut out my little buddy and put some cinnamon stickles on his tail.  The two hearts are stitched down for some fun. 

That's all for me today, but thanks so much for stopping on over and be sure to post your creation if you are inspired by the sketch over at Cardabilities!  We'd love to stop by and give you some blog love too!

Thank you so much for stopping on over to spend a minute with me here today!  Have a super scrappity day!!!

Bo Bunny Card Sketch Tuesday!

Greetings and Happy Wednesday to you!

Have you popped on over to the Bo Bunny blog lately?  Yesterday our very own Karan Gerber who is the creative genius behind Cardabilties and Sketchabilities was invited to create an awesome card sketch for them!

I thought this sketch was super fabulous and of course, I had to play along with some of my all time favorite Bo Bunny papers and embellies, Snowy Serenade!

Ingredients:
- Bo Bunny Snowy Serenade papers, sticker, brad, buttons and bling
- EK Success torn paper border punch
- Gemstone lavendar cardstock
- Spellbinder's large scalloped circles and small snowflake
- Zva Creative bling
- Base cardstock, fibers and thread from my stash
- Ranger, Diamond Stickles and Weathered Wood Distress Ink

Thank you so much for stopping on over, have a super scrappity day!!!

Dude! via Bella Blvd.

Happy Monday to you! 

I'm so excited to share with you today the following sketch challenge for Bella Blvd.  Check out the other creations over on the Bella blog!!!

This was the awesome sketch that we were given:

Here are a few detail shots:

I glimmer misted the beige Cosmic Energy pattern and then fringe cut it to simulate grass. There's also some Glossy Accents on to of the "dude!" sticker, crackle accents and rock candy Stickles on the circle strip of paper. For two of the stars I used my Epiphany buttons. 

This was such a fun sketch to work and these papers from Bella were just perfect for my photo's don't you think?  Thanks so much for stopping on over! 

Have a Super Scrappity Day!!!

p.s.  Sorry this is a little delayed, we are on vacation and the wireless access is a little hit and miss.  : )

Guest Designer Announcement!

Greetings!  I am so excited to write this post!

This month I played along with the sketch contest over at Back Porch Memories.  I just found out that my entry won the Guest Design spot for December!  I'm so flattered and excited!

For this project, I used 'Life Is Good' by Echo Park.  The sketch is an exclusive to BPM created by Becky Fleck (see below).

Here are some details, I used my Epiphany flower button tool on here, Maya Road heart pins, some crinkle ribbon, Tim Holtz rilmstrip ribbon, Martha Stewart butterfly punches, etc.  I took the sticker trim and cut it apart to creat the ric-rak feel trim on here.  

A side note on the photo's, there was an entire series of these pics that I snapped and they were just too funny! This is my cousin's daughter and she is just a riot.  Thank you to Kris for giving me permission to scrap these!

Here's the funky sketch that my layout is based on!

I'm so honored and excited to have been selected as the Guest Designer for December at Back Porch Memories!  I can't wait to see what Paula is putting together for December!  Stop on over and check it out!

Have a super scrappity day!!!

Cardabilities Sketch #15 Reveal!

Happy Monday to you!  It's Monday the 15th andddd it's our Sketch 15 reveal too.

It seems ironic that I would use the "Mitten Weather" line by Cosmo Cricket for this reveal of Cardablities! We just had about 8 inches of snow over the weekend here in Minnesota.  Talk about getting you in the spirit of Christmas, that will do it for sure! 

Here is the fun sketch that Karan Gerber drew up for us:

Here is my take on the sketch:

I know, I know, I didn't use flowers!  I adore all things angelic so I just had to use this sweet angel on this card!  I pop dotted her so that she is truly floating.  I also mixed up some vintage lace (80's, does that count?!!) under the chipboard and some kaisercraft gems. 

Ingredients:
- Pattern Paper, Chipboard border, snowflakes, angel and button, 'Mittens Weather', Cosmo Cricket (yum!)
- Sentiment, Pebbles rub-on
- Gems, Kaisercraft
- Spellbinders Labels Thirteen
- Distress Ink in Milled Lavender, Old Paper
- Bazzill cardstock
- Ribbon, Lace and Thread from stash

Well, that's it for me today.  Thanks so much for stopping on over!  Don't forget to share your gorgeous creations with us over at Cardabilities!  We love seeing what you do with the sketches and we want to leave you some blog love too!

Have a super scrappity day!!!

~Rhonda

Designer's Challenge ~ Bella Style!

Happy Friday to you!  

Another exciting weekend is upon us, I can't wait!  We have family coming to visit from Des Moines and are so excited to see them!  What do you have going on?

Today, I want to share with you my project that Bella Blvd revealed yesterday on their blog.  This was such an awesome Designer's Challenge.  Our assignment:  Create a 12x12 layout using black and white photos.

I had so much fun working with the Socialite line, the elegant feel of these papers were the perfect compliment to this fun picture!   It took on a whole new feel when I printed it off in black and white!

I was so completely fortunate to be able to go to CHA in Chicago this summer.  These are the wonderful ladies that I met and spent time with.  It was such a whirlwind and a complete blast.  I mean every word when I say that they are four fabulous friends, it was like we had known each other forever!  It is the exact feeling of timeless friendship that I think this picture conveys in black and white.  

I cut out the flourishes and decided to use them as my journaling spots.  I decided to use my Prima birdcage bling and my Stampin Up! bird punch to add just a little extra touch. The bird started out as yellow and white pattern paper, but I misted it.  The black glitter gems are by Pebbles and the beautiful black trim was a gift from Liz, thank you!!!.  

What a great challenge and prompt Bella, thank you!

Thanks for stopping by and have a super scrappity day! 

pssst...  make sure you stop by Bella Blvd tomorrow for another post from me!!!

My Bella Blvd. Artista Introduction!

Happy Thursday to you! 

I'm so excited about designing for Bella Blvd. as one of their newest Artista's! 

They introduced the November featured Artista's yesterday on their blog, Trust me, I'm among some amazing talent!!!  Click here to see. 

I thought I would give a little context to my debut Bella project here.  Since the initial post was about introducing ourselves, I thought this would be fun. 

Growing up, I had the pleasure of living in a beautiful rural area in the southwest corner of this beautiful state of Minnesota. When I went home to visit the last time, it dawned on me that I didn't have any photos to remind me of my memories growing up of some of my cherished places. I took a few fun pictures on a very hot day in July and knew that I had to scrap them. These "One Fall Day" papers from Bella were just the perfect fit for them!

I used my Cricut and my Serenade cartridge to cut the branch and leaves for this project and cut out extra clouds and used foam dots to give dimension. I mixed the Bella sticker font with some K&Co. woodgrain alphas for contrast. To convey the feeling of peace and serenity in this place, I used part of a tree and tried to use the branches to imitate a peace sign under the letter "o" in home.  Did it work?

Some people might look at these photos and see nothing but brown water and green trees and wonder why someone would bother to capture this. To me, it means everything. I spent hours and hours on this bridge looking at the river and just enjoying the breeze and watching the birds. In the winter my brothers and I ice skated on here and took some wicked sledding experiences that frankly, should not have happened, but oh the memories!

The journaling reads: Home. My very favorite thinking spot. Tears, joys, hopes and dreams, all pondered right here. The rush of these waters, the sound of the wind in the trees and the birds flying free. There is no place like home.

Thanks for spending a moment with me!  I hope I have inspired you to capture a memory that you've not yet done or thought about. 

Have yourself a super scrappity day!

Sometimes... Bigger really IS Better!

Hi there and happy Wednesday to you from Rhonda!

I'm so excited today, I get to share with you the biggest most exciting thing to hit my scrappy room ever... are you ready?

It's the Simply Renee Clip-It-Up Floor Model!

When this beautiful piece of organizational wonderment arrived in my home, I have to honestly tell you I did a total happy dance!  That night I put it together and it was so easy and I found myself looking at this in about 35 minutes.  This product has completely altered my workspace and made my creative time so much more efficient. You know what they say though, a picture is worth a thousand words... so here we go!

I'll give you a little Floor Model tour-o-rama, *grin*. 

(Be sure to read all the way to the bottom to find out how you can win one!!!)

First of all, here is my scrappy corner of heaven. I create at this desk, and am right handed, so it just worked perfectly to place this on the right side of my desk. You will see that there are four tiers on my floor model. I added an additional one so I could maximize the space that I have. The cool thing about the Floor Model is that just like the other models, you can turn the tiers. Things that I need are really easy to look for and find.

For the first tier of my floor model, I decided to tackle my alpha's collection and my bling collection. My alpha's used to be in plastic shoe boxes and some of them were in kits, still in their respective bags. Still others were in my little rolling cart. I now have them all in one place and that is so much nicer! I can now also see how many duplicates that I have or if I am lacking in a color.

I did the same process for my bling and arranged by height. I had my bling stored in a few different areas of my workspace as well and it was frustrating when I needed to find something that I knew I had! This actually inspired part of my project that I'm going to share with you after the tour.

For the second tier, you will find my Spellbinders and some collections of MME rub-ons, die cuts and some binding materials. I have my die cut station just to the right of my floor model, so I hung up all of my Spellbinder's so they are all within easy reach and visibility. I can't tell you how much I love this!!!

For the third tier, you will find my favorite papers, my design team papers and other special projects. I also really fell in love with my Clip It Up Zip Bags! I have both the small and the large and for some collections, it is so nice to place your matching embellies in the bag and hang with the papers. I don't have to wonder where those coordinating items are, they are handy and I can quickly look to see what I need. If you haven't tried those with your Clip-It-Up, I highly recommend getting a few. You'll love them!

Now it's bonus time, my fourth tier that I added to my Floor Model! I decided that I was going to use this tier for keeping my fabric projects. Recently my 3 year old little guy has become thoroughly enamored with Toy Story 3. I found some theme fabric and plan to make him a quilt with it. He is going to be so excited to get a Buzz and Woody blanket!

Well, I hope you're still with me, thank you for taking my "Floor Model" tour today! Remember when I said that my organization of my bling prompted a project? It truly did! I forgot that I had this really pretty sepia toned bling and when I found this photo, I knew that they belonged together! I had also picked up this artists tray by 7 Gypsies and was having a hard time deciding what to do with it. I finally just sat down with some super yummy Graphic 45 and 7 Gypsies papers and of course, the ever fabulous Ranger embellishments by Tim Holtz. This is what I came up with:

I cut apart the bling and placed some on the tray and the other pieces flow into the compartments. It's kind of hard to see in the photos but I have used foam dots for dimension in several of the compartments. These trays and shadowboxes are all the rage right now and so much fun!

Thank you for spending a few moments here today. Make sure and tell Santa if you need a Floor Model at your home!!!  pssst...   Don't forget to comment over on the Simply Renee Blog for your chance to WIN a Floor Model!!!

Have yourself a super scrappity day!!!

It's Time for some Lost and Found!

I have shared with you before my absolute love of finding "the deal", right?!  This post is about one of my totally fabulous "finds" at my local Tuesday Morning store.  I found this awesome scrapbooking clock set for under 8 dollars!  It included a clock and two frames just ready to alter (and a bunch of chipboard and papers, but I will donate those to a friend of mine.) 

This was created for a challenge.  Want to see what I did with the clock, that challenge and some My Mind's Eye papers with my Cricut Expression and the Storybook and Doodlecharms cartridges?

My scrappy studio is now armed and dangerous with this sweet little time machine!  I have to admit, I must have perused a hundred different ideas for this clock.  I really had no vision, it just evolved.  By the way, the second hand sweep in its original state is a super bright RED metal.  I altered it with some copper alcohol ink, then coated it with Weathered Wood crackle paint and it kind of morphed into the mix. 

Ingredients: 
- Papers and buttons are My Mind's Eye
- Imaginisce I-Rock gems for the hour markers 
- Alpha's are Memory Keepers
- Pearls on the lacy heart are Kaisercraft
- Stick pins by Maya Road
- Zva black flourish and pearls in the corner
- Cricut Expression, Storybook and Doodlecharms Cartridges

So I hope that I inspire you to break into those papers... you know the ones.  The ones you love and can't bring yourself to cut into.  Or...  how about that "special" altered project that you need to do.  Maybe it's an advent calendar or a clock or just a frame.  Go for it!!!  I'd love to see what you do!

Thanks for popping over and spending a moment with me!  Have yourself a super scrappity day!!!