My friend Melanie is moving into a new home, so I wanted to send a little something to let her know I was thinking of her. We don't see each other as often as we would like, but I don't think that's hurt our friendship. We think a lot alike, and have a lot in common. I wish we lived closer but try to make the most of the times we do get together.

This tulip ladybug card is for her. I love the tulip patterned paper from the Perfect Day paper pack, and experimented a bit with folds on this card (hard to tell in the picture). I love love LOVE the ladybug stamp from A Little Buzz. Add some buttons and brads, and a little marker action, and here we go. Simple and classy.

For this card, I combined inspirations from 3 different challenges:
Heart2Heart: colour challenge Tulip, Black and Buttercup (plus a little Colonial White)
Spoonful of Sugar: Best Wishes card
Hidden Treasures: Ribbon (I love ribbon, so will hopefully have time to do another card or two for this challenge!)
The blogs for these challenges are all in the right sidebar here on my blog.

Please leave a comment -- I'd love to know what you think.

This card is for Sam and Charlie's Daycare teachers. They do so much for my boys, the least I can do is say thanks at the end of a great year.

I used Mojo Monday's 144 sketch, turned 90 degrees counterclockwise.  And the paper is CTMH's Twitterpated -- which I didn't think I liked much at first, but it's really grown on me.  Add in the adorable hedgehog (from the July SOTM and coloured with my Copics), some SU ribbon, some marker dots and a prima flower (which really finishes the card, in my opinion) and it's good to go.  Oops! Can't forget the Liquid Glass on the butterfly!  I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

                                  Here it is:

I had trouble uploading the photo but still wanted to share this Father's Day card for last week's Sweet Spot sketch. I'm really happy with it. Might add some sparkles to the star though.

Happy Saturday.

Thanks MM for another great sketch! I used it to make a baseball-themed Father's Day card. Check it out. Inside, it says "You're an All Star Dad".

I've really enjoyed making cards lately, being creative and getting inspired by the many awesome card challenge blogs I follow. But once the card is done, it just goes into a pile or a drawer. UNTIL NOW! I've tacked up a long piece of ribbon and got some cute rubber clothes pins from the dollar store, so I can display the cards I make. And I face it every time I work at my craft desk, so all I have to do is look up and see the great work I've done. It's a small thing, but an important one. At least for me. Here's what it looks like (pls don't mind my messy closet!):

I have wanted to join a Cupcake Inspiration challenge for some time, but always seem to run OUT of time before I can get it done. So this week, it's the first challenge I did. It used some of my favourite colours: Citrus Leaf and Breeze, and I played with circles to try and capture the "swirls" of the icing. Add in some doodling and faux stitching and I've ended up with a sweet card for my niece's 2nd birthday. Love you Ryley-Pie! The card: Close up of the center, including large "2", circle swirls and hand-drawn stitching: Thanks for letting me play!

Thanks to the Sweet Stop once again for a great sketch. Here's a Father's Day card I made using some older CTMH papers, and one of my all-time fave stamps: Lazy Days. I also got to add my new SU corduroy button -- love 'em! I didn't have time to really embellish and overfuss, and I think that's a good thing. Sometimes less is more. The card: A close up of the frog (and you can see my "signature" doodling -- dots and dashes):

When you write, you want to capture everything that’s going on and take your reader right into the story or the memory. One of the best ways to do that is to use your senses. Don’t tell just what you see, but share what you smell, what you hear, what you taste, what you can touch. Use this technique as your journaling, either in sentence form or as a list, or just as a tool to organize your thoughts and think about your photos in a different way. Here's my son Sam with his Millenium Falcon birthday cake I made him (and his Auntie Wren): And here's how I can use my senses to start my journaling: AS A LIST SIGHT: The awe and excitement on Sam's face SMELL: The fiery smell of the candles burning SOUND: The laughter and the Happy Birthday song TOUCH: DON'T TOUCH until it's time to cut! TASTE: Sweet tastes for my sweet boy AS A STORY Here it comes, Sam, your birthday cake. SEE how excited you were -- what a look on your face. I knew you'd like it. SMELL the fiery flame of the candles, you're 9 years old today. Your laughter SOUNDS so happy as we SING the birthday song. WAIT! Don't TOUCH that icing just yet -- it's almost time to cut your piece. Mmmm. Your favourite icing and super-moist cake TASTES so good. Happy Birthday Sam! Now it's your turn! Take a photo you haven't scrapped yet and a piece of paper. Write down the five senses: Sight, Sound, Smell, Taste and Touch. Then write down something about your photo that goes with each sense. Don't take too much time -- 5 minutes should do it. Just go with your instinct. And don't worry if you can't get all five senses (some can be tricky, depending on the photo) but do as much as you can. Happy Writing!

Here's my card using the Sweet Spot Sketch. I rotated it counterclockwise 90 degrees. What inspired me most was the little tab at the side -- don't know why but it was a fun element. Paper and Markers: CTMH Breeze, Kiwi, Bamboo, Cocoa, Bubblegum, Spring Iris, Dutch Blue and White Daisy Ink: Momento Tuxedo Black Stamp: CTMH Flower Pot Ribbon and Sparkles: CTMH Pewter Accents: Sorry but don't know. Found them in my "stash" in a jar. This will make a great card for my friend Joy when I go see her in July.

Many people find journaling in their scrapbooks a challenge. Often, it's the last thing you do, and sometimes, it doesn't even get done. In these Writer's Corner entries, I will share some tips and inspiration to help make journaling your memories easier ... and fun! And I'll finish off with a challenge for you to try. What is a journal? It's a written record of your experiences, observations and emotions. It's that simple. It can be short or long. It can be written in first person (me), second person (you) or third person (they). It can be words, phrases, sentences or paragraphs. It can be hand-written or typed out. Stamped or diecut. It can be visible to all or hidden just for special view. Remember, there is no right or wrong way to journal. But for many of us, it's an important reason why we scrapbook at all -- to share the memories. So have fun with it. And don't think of it as "leaving a legacy". Just think of it as a one-to-one conversation with your loved ones. Write from your heart. THE 5 Ws When we were kids, we were taught to use the 5 Ws: Who, What, When, Where, Why. So why not use them in your scrapbooks? Use it to plan out what you want to say about a photo or a layout ... or use it as journaling itself! EXAMPLE: Sparklers WHO: Sam (8) and Charlie (4) WHAT: Playing with sparklers WHERE: Aunt Renee's cottage in Bala, down on the docks WHEN: August Long Weekend, 2009 WHY: Celebrating summer, family, and cottage fun! (Plus, Mommy was having fun experimenting with the camera settings, thanks to help from Uncle Tim!) See? Journaling can be simple and easy, and still show your personality. CHALLENGE: Take a photo or group of photos you are about to scrapbook. Before doing the layout, write down the 5 W's that apply to these pics. You never know -- you might have your journaling done before you know it!

I was inspired by the colours in this week's Colour Create #45 Challenge - Green and Aqua. And as I was playing around with the Mojo Monday #141 circle sketch, something kinda magical happened. I wouldn't say this is the best card I ever made, but it was really fun to play with ... and play UP ... some of the whimsical elements that go with the crescent moon. Thanks to both of the challenges for inspiring me. Time permitting, I will likely come back and do a separate card for each of these challenges, so stay tuned. CS is CTMH Citrus Leaf, Breeze, Watermelon, Black and White Daisy. Clear embellishment: Heidi Swap Exclamations Large Sparkle and Pearls: from the dollar store Small Sparkles and black brad: CTMH Flower: Prima