The Crafty Frugalista

A teenager, a baby and a valentine....

2012-01-28T21:12:00.001-05:00

Wow, that sounds dire, doesn't it? Yikes, I didn't mean it to! Lol. They're just the themes of the three cards I recently made.

Ds #2 had a Sweet 16 party to go to and I had to dash out a quick card. I tweaked the tutorial in my sidebar and came up with a quicker version by simply using a pretty background paper as the card base instead of as the matting. Used the party girl from My Favorite Things' Cheers stamp set and their doily die along with Paper Smooches Alphadot set for my custom sentiment.

We have a bris to go to tomorrow (it's always short notice because the ceremony is 8 days after the baby is born...), so I whipped up another tri-shutter card. This time I followed the regular directions because I wanted a sturdier card base and a little more pizzazz. I like how the patterned paper looks chopped up like that. The baby image is from a retired Stampin Up set called Very Punny. I masked off the sentiment on the stamp and made my own with Lawn Fawn's Sophie's Sentiments. Don't you just love that Fleur de Lis Rectangle die? It's one of Spellbinders' Nestabilities.

Lastly, I'm still cranking out valentine cards for this drive and I came up with this one when I got the February Paper Smooches sets in the mail the other day. (I signed up for their year long membership: 3 new sets each month.) The image I used was meant more for an Spring theme but a silly Valentine sentiment just popped into my warped mind so I had to go with it! Lol.

Crafty tip #63 (or so): Scrap paper can work well as a mat, so sometimes save your good paper! This was the mat for the gingham paper on the front of my card.

Thanks for dropping by.... Now to get psyched to do an entire sketchbook project in 3 days.... wish me luck. *smile*

What's On Your Workspace Weds. and more Valentines...

2012-01-24T00:07:00.002-05:00

Hello-o-o-o,

Time to show what's on the desk this winter Wednesday. Well, my deadline to get these Valentines in for the card drive (see more info HERE) is the end of the month, so I'm chugging along. I got very ambitious this weekend when I stamped a number of Paper Smooches (PS) cuties with the intention of making a card featuring each. While hubby watched his football games, I sat beside him coloring away with my Copics. Then, on Monday, I built a nice fire and sat and cut them all out. A fire compliments a foggy, rainy winter day, don't you think?

So that's why you see piles of cut up colored animals on my desk and last week's pile of Valentine appropriate papers.

I've told myself that if I'm going to make a card for each, they're going to have to start being clean and simple. Of course, I came to that conclusion after I made last week's hamster card and this next dragon card. Not the easiest, but they are sweet. This dragon started out as a dinosaur from PS's Party Posse set. I made him some wings and the fire that he's breathing (intending no harm). I used circles for the boulders. "Warm and fuzzy" and "wishes" come in the same set, but I needed "Valentine" so I stamped it with PS's Alphadots. It is so cool that you can create any word you want with their cute font this way. Those butterflies were needed for balance so I took them from a Unity KOTM called Picture Perfect.

Now starts the clean and simple. I've been hoarding this cute canvas ribbon with the print already on it for some time. I thought it went well with a bear offering a hug. *smile* He's from PS's Chubby Chum Pals and the paper is 7 Gypsies.

This silly duck is from the same set as the bear. I embossed the heart he's leaning on, gave him a little heart to hold and stamped the saying with Alphadots again. I couldn't resist this silly sentiment.

Well, I've got a few more animals to work with. But that's for another day.....
Thanks for visiting! If you'd like to see more workspaces, grab yourself a beverage and check out Julia's blog!
*smile*

I know it's early for Valentine cards, but...

2012-01-20T00:35:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to get a few done for a card drive. It makes me happy to know a hospitalized child will get this card and maybe smile. The cards have to be postmarked by January 31st, so if you'd like to contribute one or two or more, HERE is the blog sponsor.

The 7 Gypsies dictionary paper was a narrow leftover piece in my stash, so I went with it. Not sure I'm okay with the unadorned white sides but I'll sleep on it. I do love that hamster stamp from Paper Smooches Party Posse set, though. And how about that adorable font from their Sentiment Sampler? I was inspired to use the negative heart space when I was trawling through the Splitcoast Stampers website.

Earlier today, I viewed a really fascinating You Tube video of a lecture given by a theoretical physicist named Lawrence Krauss. (I think my recent interest in the Big Bang Theory sitcom reruns made me listen a little closer. Okay, so I imagined Sheldon was giving the talk. Lol.) The idea that the universe is expanding and that we are made up of stardust really boggled my mind. It made me realize that while we may be specks of dust in the scheme of things, it's all the more reason to enjoy ourselves while we're here. For me, it's making cards.

Enjoy your day. *smile*

What's On Your Workspace Wednesday and Inspired by....

2012-01-18T12:24:00.000-05:00

Hey! How do ya like my new look? I'm very excited about it because she looks EXACTLY like me (ummm, maybe 20 years ago, but she is cute...) I have to give a shout out to Veronica at VK Designs for her terrific work!

Anyway, it's Wednesday so that means time for WOYWW again. The desk: On the left, you'll see lots of Valentine papers, etc. That's because through Paper Craft Connections, I found out about a Valentine card drive for hospitalized children. It runs just until the end of this month, so there's still time to participate if you'd like. You can find the sponsoring blog HERE.

In the center of the desk are some EK Success punches that I pulled out to act on a sudden inspiration. You see, I like to visit A Blog Called Wanda. She comes up with the cutest cards and this time I felt the need for instant gratification after seeing a recent one she made with a PTI stamp and die set. Not having that set, I came up with my own version.

First, I punched hearts close to the edge of some vintage dictionary patterned paper. Then, punched a 7/8" square over the hearts. Punched another square from red cardstock to show through the negative space. Then, created the red roofs with a 3/4" square punch. To make the roof triangle, I just looked through the back of the square punch and lined up the red paper edge to diagonally punch only a triangle. Those little hearts will appear on the card at the end, you'll see...

I found some striped paper leftover from a few posts ago still on the desk (big surprise) and thought it would pass for a grassy lawn. I love serendipity like this. Then, needing another focal point, I stamped a Stampin Up frame from Four Frames, placed a Unity sentiment inside, then punched it out with the coordinating frame punch. (The reason you see so many frames is that before I pulled out the Stamp-a-ma-jig, I couldn't get the words straight. Lol.)

Finally, a little maraschino baker's twine from The Twinery, and a few little hearts to compliment the sentiment and I have my inspired version of the card.

This card is heading to a older nephew so I left it bling-less. Thanks for stopping by. Consider this blog post my way of sending hearts to you!

Oh, and if you'd like to see a myriad of other workspaces from around the world, head over to Ms. Julia's blog, Stamping-Ground.... *smile*

Seventeen

2012-01-13T21:53:00.001-05:00

Ds#2 (my baby) is turning 17 in a couple of days. *sniff* Has that got me teary-eyed or the fact that it is concurrent with him driving off to school on his own if the driving test goes according to plan? (Yikes.) I'm going to miss those long car rides to and from school. We had some good talks and laughs. I guess I can always look forward to the nasty winter mornings when I've explained that I will accompany him to school until he's more experienced. Yes, there's always that.

I went back to my favorite tri-shutter card technique for his birthday card. A car had to be featured. And I wanted to rub in the fact that he's getting up there in age, so I used the "old man" comment. And to emphasize that he should enjoy this new journey toward adulthood, I used a nice vintage world map from Tim Holtz' Idea-ology stack and his Journey stamps. (The upside down (lol) banner and "happy birthday" are by Lawn Fawn.)

Hug your babies, ladies and gents, cuz they grow up way too fast.

Thanks for dropping by.....

*smile*

WOYWW and New Digs

2012-01-11T14:38:00.001-05:00

It's WOYWW (What's on Your Workspace Weds) time again and when I look at the state of this desk, I ask myself:

Should I put away the supplies that I used for the last card (left)?
Should I start on the Sketchbook Project that is due at the end of the month (near left)?
Should I get going on ds' Tim Holtz-inspired birthday card (center)?
Should I work on sis' birthday card?
The last one won out because I couldn't wait to get into my new stash of Paper Smooches (PS) goodies. (I've come to love these stamps so much, I signed up for the monthly sets... *smile*)

Backstory on the card.... Unlike my ds' card, which will have his age displayed in front, my sis' card doesn't require that anymore. In fact, unless it's a major milestone, who wants their age on the front of the card? But, she did just move into a house, so I thought it would be fun to wish her well on the first birthday that she is celebrating in the new place. Hence the sentiment.

I can hardly contain myself about the furniture stamp set. It's called Vogue Abode and it's 60's funkadelic. I feel like I'm playing with a virtual doll house. Think of the possibilities! (I made pleats on the lampshade with a little bar stamp in the set.)

The "happy birthday" and the little hamster cutie are from Party Posse. (I put a little rose in his hands.... eek!) The other individual letters came from Alphadot set. So easy to create your own sentiment in PS' classic font with this alpha set. (I even used a chain graphic from this set to make the pull chain on the lamp.) Three sets that worked great together!

Thanks for visiting. I hope you're having a good day and that maybe this little scene gave you a smile. (Especially my crooked little framed painting on the wall. Lol.)

Check back soon because my next post will be ds' birthday card (since his day falls on Sunday.)

Oh, and for more inspiration, hop over to Julia's WOYWW blog. People from all over the world post their crafty workspaces there.

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)
@scrapcollectr on Twitter

What's On Tap Tuesday and 10 Things

2012-01-10T01:45:00.001-05:00

Today is the 10th. So what's on tap is my "10 Things on the Tenth" for Shimelle's blog. Check out her blog hop. (I'm number 24...)

I'm going to recount my favorite 10 cards of the first half of 2011. It was tough choice. (We usually publish on our blogs, cards that we like, don't we?) Without further adieu, here they are.

1. Love Potion used a technique that rounds out the card. All those delicious stamps are from Unity.

2. I made More Than Chocolate for my sister. I love the frilly-ness of it. Stamps from My Favorite Things.

3. Welcome Home was made for a niece that moved from one NYC apt to another. I actually individually cut those tiny boxes that are going in and out of the station wagon! And the buildings were made with a Unity background stamp.

4. Happy Retirement uses Stampin Up forest cuties and I had to make a play on words with the deer. *smile*

5. Sweet 16 is glittery pretty with that wonderful My Favorite Things image and that DCWV designer paper.

6. I used Lawn Fawn stamps to create the scene on this tri-shutter card. Cute anniversary card, huh?

7. I had a period where all I wanted to do was make tri-shutter cards. (I even have a tutorial for them on my sidebar.) This one uses Unity stamps, some adorably tiny buttons as accents and wonderful Stampin Up designer paper.

8. Picture Perfect was another Lawn Fawn adventure. That center scene required a lot of masking but the result was worth it. Love the twine banner...

9. Because You're Special squeezes my heart. The Pure Innocence cutie from My Favorite Things is just so sweet and I love how the papers worked out here with the Unity sentiment.

10. Start With Whee was so fun to make. The children come from a set by Stampin Up called Recess. I couldn't help but pop up the little girl so that it actually looks like she's flying off the slide.

Thanks for dropping in. Hope you enjoyed the tour. Have a happy 10th! What's on tap on your table today?

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Lawn Fawn CHA Winter challenge

2012-01-05T21:26:00.000-05:00

Hello! Just a quick post to show the card that I submitted to Lawn Fawn's CHA Winter Challenge. I used Critters in the Forest and Critters in the Burbs along with Bannerific and Sophie's Sentiments to create this scene. The animals wanted to hold the banner high in honor of Foxy's birthday. Don't you just love her little bling birthday crown? *smile* We weren't allowed to use patterned paper (which is a stretch for me), so I made the little hill behind the animals with Copics and the flower and grass stamps from the Burbs set. This is all being done in the 11th hour, of course. The cards that will make it into their catalog and be displayed at CHA will be announced on the Lawn Fawn site tomorrow.

Have a great night, all!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)
@scrapcollectr on Twitter

When Worlds Collide

2012-01-02T22:34:00.003-05:00

Hello and Happy New Year!

I'm back from vacation and ready to give you another What's on Tap Tuesday. The title of this post comes from the fact that two separate inspirations collided to help me envision today's card.

First, I was blog-hopping and came across a lovely blog called BonnellStamping that featured a super monogram card idea. I swoon over text papers, so I instantly loved the idea that she admittedly CASEd, but then, it is sure to be CASEd again. I just liked the idea of a large central panel with an offset image at the bottom.

Second, I got the latest newsletter from Lawnscaping, a Lawn Fawn inspired site, that was offering free digi stamps in celebration of their first year of blogging. The artist of the stamps is Melania Deasy, whose blog evidences her amazing talent. Take note that I said "free." Visit Lawnscaping HERE and get these digi stamps for yourself. They're adorable.

My desk shows the papers I considered for my card background. As you can see from my last post, I like to find interesting background papers to use for simple cards. The paper I chose comes from Stampin Up's Big Top series, which an SU demo can track down for you or, if you're in the U.S. and don't have a demo, HERE is my friend's link to the paper. That maraschino bakers twine I used on the card comes from The Twinery.

Since I'll submit this to Lawnscaping birthday challenge, I used the Happy Birthday sentiment from a Lawn Fawn mini set called Year One. I call this card "Blobby Birthday" because I'm not sure how else to refer to my little green friend. Lol.

Thanks for dropping by and I hope you have a wonderful start to your new year!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)
@scrapcollectr on Twitter

A 15 minute card

2011-12-29T17:18:00.000-05:00

I'm back.

I dispensed with bringing my good camera on vacation because I figured I'd use the camera on my phone. I find that I'm pickier about photographing my cards than I thought. Not sure I like the quality of the photos I took of a card that I whipped up today but I'll deal with it.

In a quick trip through Michaels yesterday, I picked up a new Love Letters DP stack by Recollections and a cute 3 bird cling stamp set by Inkadinkado. (My dh realizes that I don't cook on vacation so he's turning a blind eye to the fact that I've converted half of our kitchen into a studio. Lol.) The sentiments I used on the card are from Print Works (outside) and Stampendous (inside).

I've said this many times. I like taking really pretty collage paper and letting it do most of the work on my cards. This one just needed matting, a fussy cut bird and the sentiment stamped directly on the background paper.

I continued with the same paper inside the card and a birthday stamp. My sister-in-law's birthday is coming up on the Jan 3rd so I'm ready to fill it out and mail it. All in about 15 minutes.

Thanks for dropping by. I hope you're anticipating a fun, crafty New Year.

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Greetings from vacation....

2011-12-29T09:53:00.002-05:00

On hiatus in sunny Florida but still keeping in touch with my favorite blogs (and if ds will let me use his computer, I may just be able to post a card made here if I can overcome the obstacles of a photo taken with a phone! Stay tuned!)

Let me at least enable you about your chance to win a prize this week. Over at the Paper Smooches blog (www.papersmooches.blogspot.com) there's a blog hop going on featuring sneaks of three soon-to-be-released sets. If you scan my blog, you'll see that I love their stamps (most recent card using PS stamps can be found on my Dec 14th blogpost.)

They are offering lots of chances to win the set. Just head over there and read how.

If you use the Paper Smooches gadget on my sidebar, just click on "Blog" to get over there.

Now to try and get my card-making mojo started....

Have a great day!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Checkin' in...

2011-12-26T08:34:00.003-05:00

Hello,
I haven't mastered the photos-from-a-phone-to-the-iPad skill yet so I just thought I'd check in sans photo today. It's time for you to shake your heads and click your tongues at my admission that I'm still addressing holiday cards (while on vacation, to boot!) I just do these madcap things to entertain you, truth be told... Lol. It wouldn't be so bad if I did what I usually do and that is gear my card greeting to a Happy New Year, but no, these cards refer to the pre-new year holiday season... Sigh. They're pretty and colorful and handmade so I figure they will still be enjoyed.

Since I have no new project to show you, I thought I'd introduce you to one of my favorite sites. Lynn is the queen of shabby chic. She decorates beautifully and always has gorgeous simple cards and projects to enlighten you with. Her Dec 21st blog post gives you a link to a paper bowl that looks so easy to make, I may just try it and see if it'll hold lightweight crafty stuff. Lol. Her blog is located at www.millers-ink.net. (my iPad refuses to link today so please cut and paste...*smile*)

I wish you a happy and healthy new year!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Nothing like a new project before the other is finished...

2011-12-22T19:03:00.001-05:00

I totally forgot that ds#2 would need a card for a Sweet Sixteen party tonight. I went into overdrive. Of course, the day was supposed to be spent putting the finishing touches on my very late holiday cards but that's Murphy's Law for you.

I used My Favorite Things latest sketch challenge (MFTWSC51) and some MFT stamps that I always go to for Sweet 16 cards. Cheers for the party girl and Time to Celebrate for the sentiment. I think I colored her dress with 3 different Copics before coming to the conclusion that I wouldn't be matching her dress to the pink cardstock anytime soon. I just squint when I look at it and accept it as it is. Lol. The gorgeous papers are from a K&Co pad called Lotus by Amy Butler. I used a couple of MFT dies: an open scallop border and that cool label.

So, did you ever wonder what a card with 12 layers looks like? Hee hee. I kinda went wild with the matting only because without it, the papers kinda blended into each other. Considering the layers, it isn't that heavy. The bow and pearls would be responsible for the extra postage, I imagine. Good thing ds is hand delivering it!

I hope Murphy's Law isn't catching up with you, too. Enjoy your holidays.

Back to work. *smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

WOTT is WOYWW and it's Hanukkah!

2011-12-20T22:20:00.001-05:00

What's on Tap Tuesday (WOTT) is What's on Your Workspace Weds (WOYWW) as well.

As usual, a quick thought turned into a card. The first night of Hanukkah caught me unawares. The bad angel almost convinced me to let it go. The kids are teens, do they really care anymore? Our celebrating was always geared to their adolescent joys... little presents every day, chocolate gelt (money)....

But the good angel whispered in my ear, "They still like lighting candles and eating corned beef and latkes.... " So I picked up fresh warm corned beef and pastrami from our favorite deli and bought the ingredients for potato latkes (pancakes) and just before I started on the cooking, the good angel added, "you know, you could take a chance that they still like your annual scavenger hunt for gifts."

So I left the kitchen, gathered up some hoarded Hanukkah supplies and literally made two quick cards to tuck a little cash in. Then I left clues in five different places and after dinner, they rolled their eyes but smiled and indulged me in running around the house following the clues. We're talking about 6 foot tall teenagers. That did the parents' hearts good.

So tonight's makeshift workspace is on top of the last post's card pieces (still being worked on). The chocolate Riesen you see on the table were attached to the card envelopes with big fat glue dots.

Card #1and #2 (I told you they were quick ones....)

Once they were made, stuffed with cash and hidden for the scavenger hunt, it was time to make the latkes. Cooking tip: skip the frustration of grating potatoes (and knuckles) and pick up a nice bag of frozen hash browns for starters. I added 6 eggs, 6 tablespoons of flour, salt and pepper and mixed together.

I like to drain them after cooking so I lined a cookie sheet with these adorable paper towels. So apropos, no?

I dropped large spoonfuls of the mix into hot olive oil. Wonderful crunchy yumminess to eat with sour cream and applesauce... comin' up!

First night is one starter candle in the middle and one candle below. We add one more every night for 7 more nights.

Hope you liked the tour and I wish you a merry season of joy ahead whether it's Hanukkah or Christmas. Enjoy!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

A Conversation and the card that resulted....

2011-12-18T18:11:00.001-05:00

Bad Angel: Well, it looks like it's too late to send cards to even the inner circle... let's just watch a movie....

Good Angel: It's not too late. Remember that we have that cool DCWV Four Seasons Stack that has a few glittery holiday papers? Cut those up into 4"x6" panels, add a quick stamped image and sentiment and we can have a few done in no time.

Bad Angel: I don't know....

Good Angel: C'mon... we should at least send to the people who've sent cards to us so far... and then there's the aunts that say how much getting our annual card means to them....

Bad Angel: But I don't know if I'll be happy with a simple card...

Good Angel: You'll get over it....

~~~~

So the paper stack was found. A retired Lizzy Anne stamp set was unearthed because that bird and sentiment were so fitting for the paper. And that silly Santa hat from Paper Smooches Chubby Chum Pals was hauled out yet again because, astoundingly, it seems to magically fit on the head of any image I have.

I stamped the bird, colored his belly with Copics, fussy cut him, stamped the hat, colored it and popped them both up with foam dots. Stamped sentiment directly on the background paper.

Whew, success! Now to make a set of these and come up with an equally quick set with the other holiday sheet from this stack.

I'm hoping to have something new to show on the desk for What's on Tap Tuesday. Drop by if you've got a minute.

Enjoy your pre-holiday time....

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

WOYWW #132 and a Merry Moose

2011-12-14T00:17:00.000-05:00

Something sci-fi is going on with time these days.... Wednesdays are coming much too fast. I'm convinced we are in some sort of time warp... Well, I guess I better get this post done because by my calculations, it'll be Wednesday again by the time I'm finished....

On tap this week is a desk still in holiday mode. Splitcoast Stampers had a Virtual Stamp Night (VSN) this past weekend so, if you only visit weekly, scroll down to see the challenges that I was able to complete. Today marked the last one for me. The challenge was to make a project with six layers. Amazingly, my card doesn't even feel that bulky. Good news for mailing it. I've got really cranky postal workers to deal with. They seem to find reasons to triple my charges when my envelope has bumps in it.

I'm currently in love with my Chubby Chum Pals stamp set by Paper Smooches. I've said this before: good quality clear stamps are a dream to work with. The game "Duck, duck, goose" came to mind today and I thought I'd combine that idea with the cute sentiment in the set. I even used patterned paper with mistletoe on it but because it's dark, it's hard to see. Oh, and I had to pull out the Lawn Fawn set Harold's ABCs to spell out duck and moose. The rhinestones added a little extra texture and fun.

So, the VSN was fun but now I've got to buckle down and turn some tags that didn't sell at my friend's craft fair into cards for the immediate family. Because, you know.... next Wednesday will be here in a couple of days! Come back to see the result.... Check out Julia's WOYWW blog for more work spaces today!

Thanks for visiting... *smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Non-traditional holiday card

2011-12-11T19:59:00.000-05:00

That's what the Splitcoast challenge DEC11VSNI called for. Actually, the challenge was to make a warm weather Christmas card since some of the U.S. doesn't get the cold winter weather much less a traditional white Christmas. So I pulled out the only cactus stamp I have (a retired Stampin Up one) and decided to decorate it with a garland of holiday lights. (The sentiment comes from a little stamp cube by Stamp Studio.) It was supposed to be made within 45 minutes. If I don't count hunting down the stamp, I think I kept within the time frame. In the last couple of days I've been using this Label 18 Nestie from Spellbinder and I love it. It makes for a cool frame. My source for Nesties is Cut@Home. If you sign up for their newsletter, you receive a 40% coupon once a month. Not bad, huh?

I wish I could say that I got to more challenges but I didn't. Maybe tomorrow. The deadline for submitting is 10pm EST tomorrow night, so you have time to play, too. Check out the Master List of challenges HERE. If nothing else, there's a lot of inspiration to be found there.

Thanks for dropping by. I'm just about ready to make a cup of tea and sit down to enjoy another episode of Once Upon a Time. The actors in the show take turns tweeting live during the telecast so that makes it even more interesting. Tonight, Jennifer Morrison, who plays Emma, will be tweeting. My reminder alarm is going off, so gotta go!

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Virtual Stamp Night over at Splitcoast Stampers!

2011-12-10T19:22:00.002-05:00

It started yesterday and continues on through the night tonight. Check this LINK if you'd like to see the challenges. There will be prizes and it's so much fun to play along. Plus, although the idea is that you try to keep your creation time to 45 minutes per challenge, you have until Monday 10pm EST to link in any creations....

I hosted the challenge called DEC11VSNK. It's asking you to create a telescoping card. Here's the LINK to my challenge. Once there, I even give you a link to Beate's telescoping tutorial so if you don't know how to make this kind of card, here's your chance. And here's the card I created as a sample. This cute snowman starts out folded up on the easel card...

...then a pull of his hat and there he is in all his snowy glory. The sentiment stamps and that little cutie patootie snowman came from Unity's November '10 Kit of the Month (Picture Perfect) and December '10 KOTM (Just Be You).

I've also had a chance to play along with a couple of the other challenges so far.

Here's DEC11VSNA which asked us to portray a warm and fuzzy theme. Lydia (over at Understandblue) is the hostess of the challenge and she actually created (and sells) the cat stamp that I used so it's a little joke for her that I used her kitty on the card. *smile*

Then I got to make a card for DEC11VSNB which asked us to use a snowflake somewhere. I've got them on the patterned paper and in my little Paper Smooches bear's word bubble. The bear comes from PS's Chubby Chums Pals set (love it) and the word bubble is from a stamp and die set called Say What? by My Favorite Things. That luscious Maraschino bakers twine is from The Twinery.

Tomorrow I hope to play along with a few more challenges, so check back then to see if I have more to show you and consider joining in!

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

WOYWW#131, WOTT#34 and Lawnscaping Challenge: tags!

2011-12-07T13:03:00.000-05:00

What's on my Wednesday Workspace (WOYWW)? The same that was on tap Tuesday (WOTT). I pulled the desk out again and have been working on more tags. How timely! I'm making tags and Lawnscaping's latest challenge is tags or treat bags.

So the desk is covered with lots of green scraps that will work well for stamping different patterns of trees. When you're mass producing (in my case, just 12 because that's how many I get from one sheet of 12x12 background paper), a lot of ink would be used to color in all the trees so... patterned paper it is. I used three Lawn Fawn stamp sets on this tag. (Each name is linked to where you'll find it on LF's site.) For the tree and jolly hedgehog, Critters in the Forest. For the "To/From," the Just My Type Too set. And for the "Be Merry," I used individual letters in Harold's ABCs. The paper is from DCWV's Christmas Stack and the luscious Maraschino twine is from The Twinery. Also, I can't seem to stop using those cute little pom poms (see previous post.) Check out Julia's WOYWW post to see other people's work desks.

Check out the challenge HERE. You can join in even if you don't have Lawn Fawn stamps. The challenge winner gets a gift certificate from Simon Says Stamp!

One more thing: I'm going to be one of the hostesses over at Splitcoast Stampers this weekend for their Virtual Stamp Night. It starts Friday night and there will be hourly challenges with prizes. I'll be on at 6pm EST with a challenge of my own. Check it out. Could be fun..... *smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

John Travolta and Another Holiday Tag

2011-12-04T20:10:00.000-05:00

How are they related? Well, John Travolta was in a small movie called "Blowout." It was a thriller in which he plays a photographer trying to catch a serial killer. Stay with me. He befriends a young woman in the process and it's something she says that is linked to this card. She asks him how he likes her makeup job one day and he claims that she doesn't seem to have makeup on, to which she replies, "It took me 2 hours to get this natural look." I've realized from experience that my Clean and Simple (CAS) projects sometimes take 2 hours to get that look. Lol. I have a higher regard for the CAS projects I see because it still takes work to get there.

This tag uses the adorable Paper Smooches stamp set called Chubby Chum Pals. I'm beginning to love clear stamps because it's so easy to add to an image when you can see through the stamp. Like adding the hat to this cute moose. The set comes with that sentiment and more but I used a Cavallini To/From stamp. The paper is from DCWV's Christmas Stack and the twine from The Twinery.

Have a great week ahead. What's on Tap Tuesday is just around the corner. What's on your desk these days?

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Friends with Flair and a Winter Tag

2011-12-02T08:43:00.000-05:00

I came up with this idea for "To/From" tags. I can get 12 tags from one 12x12 patterned sheet and some cardstock. That cute snowman paper is from Jillibean and the tree? From Unity's Vintage Banners. Banners are great for making trees!

The foam star is double sided so it sticks to the tag and can be embellished as you wish. I used Stampin Up's glass glitter. Easy peasy.

Thanks for dropping in! Enjoy the blog hop... Prizes await a lucky commenter over there!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

WOYWW#130, WOTT #33 and a little winter card

2011-11-29T06:13:00.001-05:00

What's on Your Workspace Wednesday? (see link to Julia's site below...) This was my What's on Tap Tuesday, as well....

I'm still in exile. Crafting on the kitchen table. The room I moved all my stuff out of looks so nice and clean, I'm having trouble bringing out the folding table again. Hee hee. But don't worry, it will come out soon...

For now, I'm in craft fair mode again. My friend has another craft fair coming up and I thought I'd supply her with some winter holiday items. She said that tags for gifts sell nicely so I'm going to think up some of those soon. I realized that I still have lots of plastic paint cans that would be cute holders of tags so that gives me incentive to make a bunch.

What's on tap today though is a card that I made for the holidays a few years ago (with some since retired Stampin Up sets) and I kept all the extras bits and pieces so I think I can get a set of these made for her. Because I was mass producing them back then I kept it pretty simple. I'm so tempted to jazz them up a little but I'll resist.

I hope you're having a grand ol' time crafting your winter projects! Visit Julia's WOYWW site HERE and/or join in below....

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Happy Thanksgiving and a Paper Smooches link

2011-11-25T00:09:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone,

If you celebrate, I hope you paced yourself and didn't overeat on this day of thanks. I did not and I did. Being with family is worth it though.

I wish I'd found time to put a card together but I was responsible for this entire table of Martha Stewart recipes with the exception of my mil's apple pudding and her sweet potato casserole.

I love taking a picture of my plate. It's so colorful, even though it is my demise for the rest of the evening....

Also, just wanted to prove that I love birds so much, I invited them to my table.... Lol

While the gang was watching football, I was able to do a little internet surfing and found out that Paper Smooches is doing their November DT blog hop today and is open to comments until Friday night. There are lots of ways to add comments for the chance at prizes, so check them out. My last post used a Paper Smooches stamp and I think they're adorable all around.

Hopefully, this weekend will bring a little crafting time.

I hope for you too! Have a great weekend...

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge card, WOTT#32 and WOYWW#129

2011-11-23T00:52:00.002-05:00

Well, mission accomplished... sort of. I got all the stuff out of the hallway (see post below). Organized about 75% of it and even converted a closet into a haven for all my stamps (using an IKEA shelf system that's been sitting in pieces since moving it out of my toddler's room in 1993....yeah, do the math on his approximate age now.) The 25% that isn't organized is in another closet I've claimed because it used to hold toys. The problem is that all the stuff I needed for this very simple card was in that 25% mish mosh. A good incentive to get back to organizing it before making the next card. So, I yanked out a few tools and worked on the kitchen table to get in one last crafty moment before the Thanksgiving cooking begins. Here's What's on Tap this Tuesday (WOTT).

When I saw the latest Paper Smooches Sparks challenge,

it inspired me to use my one and only PS stamp set. I love this little worm from Birthday Buddies. I wanted him peeking out from under the flowers to speak his sentiment. I also love this My Favorite Things stamp and die set called Say What? It has several word bubble stamps and coordinating dies and a number of sayings, to boot. The gorgeous paper comes from a K&Co series called Lotus by Amy Butler.

Funny that a card that looks so simple required a lot of tools. Still it did come together relatively quickly.

Hope you're on the verge of a lovely holiday. Ours will be a small gathering but I look forward to having our prodigal college student son at the table. A small blessing that means a lot.

Link in your What's on Tap Tuesday, if you please. And now that it's Weds, check out http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com for a world wide What's on Your Workspace blog hop that I participate in. Worm out.

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Another Thanksgiving card and other things

2011-11-20T08:49:00.001-05:00

I made one more version of the Thanksgiving card I showed you a few days ago. This one I mailed off to my folks. The sentiment is from a Unity Store kit called The Right Words. From now through Weds, Unity is running a pre-Black Friday sale: 45% off all stamps and $2.95 shipping.

They really are the right words for this holiday. We usually have visitors for Thanksgiving but this year its just my immediate family and my in-laws. My mother-in-law makes the best apple pudding casserole and sweet potato casserole and, at 87 years old, I'm lucky that she still whips them up for us! Still, I wish my mom was by my side in the kitchen on Thanksgiving morning because I turn into a little girl and have her prepare my turkey for me and she makes her killer mashed potatoes. Lol. Its just a kind of Hannah and Her Sisters experience that I love. (Have you seen that movie? It has a great scene where there's all kinds of family camaraderie in the kitchen on Thanksgiving.) I'm working on her for next year. She and my dad just have to come! *smile*

Yesterday, a friend and I went to see Breaking Dawn, Part I. We went to one of those dine-in theaters and I should have been more surprised that we scored reserved tickets so easily because we were placed in the second row! We spent the whole movie leaning as far back in our chairs as we could to look up a screen that felt inches away... Lol. Still being that close to Edward's face wasn't all bad. *smile* I found a set of these dessert plates back during the Eclipse marketing campaign. I think I'll put a trimmed-down version of this one in a Smash book with my movie ticket, to document this Twilight era we are going through. I have 4 of Jacob and 3 more of Edward if anyone wants one.... (Seriously, I'm not using them and I don't need 7 more plates...)

Lastly, since he didn't sweep me off to Rio (see my post on Thursday), I guess I'll just turn back into Cinderella and get to pre-Thanksgiving-matters-at-hand. Like taking all this stuff that came out of my satellite studio and putting it all back where it belongs. I'll look on the bright side, it'll be a little like shopping my stash... *smile*

I hope to be back with more posts before Thanksgiving but if I'm not, or you're not, have a wonderful Thanksgiving (if you celebrate) and have some pie for me...

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Shake, shake, shake for Friends with Flair

2011-11-18T05:16:00.000-05:00

Wasn't Friday just yesterday? Wow. Sometimes I feel like I'm in a time warp.... But since the calendar says Friday, it's time for another contribution to Unity's Friends with Flair blog hop.

I bought this Itty Bitty stamp set called What's Shakin'? a while ago and its been sitting waiting for inspiration. That came when I saw this sheet of patterned paper in, yes, the Domestic Goddess paper pack from Stampin' Up. I love that this particular sheet has two patterns on it so I didn't need to do any layering. It needed a little something extra though so I punched two holes in the card and added the Mandarin baker's twine and those cute nail head thing-ies in the corners.

That's it for me. Enjoy the blog hop... who knows, you could win a random prize just for commenting along the way!

Hope you're in for a little shakin' this weekend...

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Breaking Dawn fun

2011-11-17T14:18:00.002-05:00

I'm a big fan of Broadway, so I l-o-v-e Sirius/XM Broadway. I listen to it while driving ds to and from school (Christine Pedi in the a.m. and Seth Rudetsky in the p.m. -- I enjoy their back stories about Broadway shows.) So one morning, I hear Hugh Jackman singing "I Go to Rio" from The Boy from Oz, Peter Allen's life story. My warped mind immediately made the association to the last Twilight book, Breaking Dawn, because Bella and Edward go to Rio for their honeymoon. I knew I had to make a card.

I picked up this stamp set in Barnes & Noble back when Twilight first came out -- notice Jacob's long hair. (Don't know if you can still find it, but the website of the company that made it is listed as www.necaonline.com)

I decided to print an image of Rio and put a little scene together.

I found the cottage from Stampin' Up's retired Woodland Cottage set and a Unity sentiment fit nicely with the two lovers. (Especially since a cottage is featured in the book as well.) I kept it black and white except for the addition of a little blood red matting. (Cherry Cobbler to be exact...)

So that's my homage to Breaking Dawn. (I think I'll submit it to Somewhat Simple's link party today. See icon in left sidebar, too.)

Thanks for dropping by. If you're one of the lucky people that is going to the midnight premiere tonight, don't tell me how Part One ends! I hope to see it sometime this weekend.

See you tomorrow for Unity's Friends with Flair blog hop...

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

What's on Your Workspace Weds and Thanksgiving cards

2011-11-16T10:00:00.000-05:00

I guess Wednesday has now snuck up on us, huh? (Is snuck a word?) For WOYWW (run by Ms. Julia), I've got two hot messes to show you today. First, the kitchen table where until lunch I was frantically adding finishing touches to some hoarded cards that were going to my friend who is going to sell them for me at a craft event. It was fun just adding stuff to cards rather than work on them from scratch, for a change.

Second is the regular desk-away-from-desk (you know this isn't really my alotted craft area, right? I just kinda snuck in little by little and now I have squatter's rights... an argument that won't fly if I'm ever confronted, I'm afraid...) This desk has the start of a Thanksgiving card for aforementioned friend. She wanted a few considering the season. I used Lesley Langdon's card on the cover of that Take Ten magazine as a jumping off point. That DCWV Fall Mat Stack actually has squatter's rights in my stash because I've had it a very long time. Funny how it remains perfect one season a year. A couple of different papers, some Mandarin baker's twine, some bling, a Stampin' Up punch, and an Ippity sentiment (from a set called Sing a New Song) equals a quick and easy card.

You know that my handle is "Scrapcollectr" most everywhere, right? Well, that's because I have a hard time throwing the scraps out. In fact, I was about to throw out the trimmings leftover when my cards were made when I looked at that cute text paper in the trash and it just looked like an unborn card. So I fished it and another strip out, slapped it over another sheet, twined it, blinged it and here's the result.

Do you see what I'm up against? Lol.

Thanks for dropping in. If you feel inclined to share your work desk here, link in, by all means. Mr. Linky is back. He couldn't stay away. If you'd like share at Julia's blog, click HERE, too.

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Ippity Monday and another version

2011-11-14T10:25:00.001-05:00

I've gushed before that I love, love, love Stampin' Up's Domestic Goddess designer paper. (If you have to have it and don't have your very own SU demonstrator, my friend Brenda has it in her online store HERE.) I paired it with the Ippity set Loads of Love on Friday for Unity's Friends with Flair (see post below.)

As you can see above, I saw another perfect background for it on another sheet from the set (yes, that clothesline is patterned paper!) I just have to come up a with story that makes this scene plausible. Let's see, her washer in a detached shed so she's just come back from putting in another rinse cycle (hence the Downy) and she's taken down the towels that are dry and she's decided it's such a beautiful day, she's going to iron outside... with a very long extension cord. How's that? Lol.

This card is just another case of crafty frugal. Or you can call it just plain lazy, but I like to make the patterned paper work for me. The scene only needed the cute, colored, fussy cut, popped up image, a sentiment stamped directly on the paper and a little magic glitter. Oh, and I used a scalloped strip of the gingham paper to give the image a table to rest on. Can't have it floating in mid-air... lol.

I'm linking this up to Ippity's Monday blog hop. They even have a "Cool" challenge going on that I'm thinking about entering with another idea. Find an Ippity Chick on their website and start joining in on the fun!

Gotta go put in a load of laundry. Have a great Monday!

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Friends with Flair and Housework Made Cute

2011-11-11T18:19:00.000-05:00

Friday again.... here's a late entry to the Unity blog hop (visit and leave comments and you just might win big!)

I just love this Domestic Goddess paper by Stampin' Up. I paired it up with a recent Ippity stamp set called Loads of Love. A set that is so adorable you can almost smell the Downy. *smile*

Michaels had a Spellbinder discount the other day so I scooped up this Lacey Oval set. Aren't the open areas a nice touch to a normal scallop edge? The frilly ribbons are from an old EK Success Adornaments set.

Hope you are having a nice end to your week. I'm looking forward to back-to-back lacrosse tournaments this weekend and maybe a little crafty time making cards that a friend is going to sell for me at a craft fair next week. Nice friend, huh? *smile* If I come up with a card that hasn't been posted before, I'll upload it.

Til then.... Heartfelt thanks to all the veterans today and Happy 11-11-11. (Make a wish at 11:11pm!)

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Ten Things on the Tenth - My Take

2011-11-10T10:40:00.001-05:00

I stumbled across two interesting blogs recently. Both are great to read on a daily basis, but what captured my attention was an event one does every 10th of the month and a linky party one does every Thursday. The first is "10 Things on the Tenth" and the second is a fun way to get "somewhat simple" inspiration across all crafts. I'm posting my 10 things to share with both blogs.

I decided to review my homemade cards in 2010 and come up with my 10 favorites. It was hard but I settled on the ones that made me smile or laugh out loud (... yeah, I crack myself up sometimes.... ) So here they are, my ten favorites...

1. A card using lots of patterned paper, a few Unity stamps and a hand drawn hose....

2. A card I made for a Lawn Fawn call for their 2011 CHA catalog.... didn't make it in, but I loved it....

3. One of my first Little Owl cards. Stamps are from Unity. I slit the trees so that the owls could hide behind them...

4. Here's Little Owl again, promoting funky-ness... I finally found a use for that 7 Gypsies metal bar... and used Unity and Ippity stamps.

5. Another Little Owl, this time trick-or-treating. It was fun making his candy bag. For the sheer love of free candy, he plopped a pumpkin on his head by way of a costume...

6. Ahhh, Maddie the cat. A stamp sprung from the mind of UnderstandBlue.... Maddie's look inspired this card of mischief gone wrong....

7. When I saw these sock stamps by Unity, I envisioned the clothesline and don't get me started about those bluebirds... an Ippity stamp that I use ALL the time....

8. On to the Unity-retired girl stamps of Suzi Blu.... this lovely was an experiment with a 3"x6" card size, paper scraps and my trusty Copic markers... love it...

9. A card inspired by this Suzi Blu princess stamp, Unity sentiment and the lovely "Once Upon a Time" paper stack by DCWV...

10. This Suzi Blu cutie was made for a Stampington call for a project that used tape in an unusual way, so I twisted it, made it a hula hoop and they published it. *smile*

That's it. Although I hope to contribute to next month's 10 Things post, I think I'll give my 2011 cards equal time in January because there are at least 10 that I'd love to share with you. Until then, feel free to peruse my recent blog posts. Most every post has a new card to share.

Thanks for dropping in! If you'd like to see other 10 Things entries, HERE is the secret passageway to Shimelle's blog. And Stephanie's Somewhat Simple blog of inspiration is HERE.

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

What's on Your Workspace Wednesday #127...

2011-11-09T10:54:00.000-05:00

I call this Welcome to My Mess Wednesday... Lol.

I was able to make 14 cards for the Hope You Can Cling To challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers and before they sat too long, I boxed them and mailed them out yesterday. My desk is evidence of the tornado of activity up to this point. I even picked up the latest issue of Take Ten thinking that I could bang out a few more with the easy design ideas in this book but I just plumb ran out of time. Looks like time for a cleanup before I attempt something new. The little manila envelope under the vintage closures on the bottom left is my blank sketchbook for the next Sketchbook Tour by Art House. The Stampin Up wooden stamp set that's out on the right was used for the butterfly card I made and displayed on my last post. I love how different that little butterfly is.

Since I like to show you a card to offset the madness of the desk photo, below you'll find one of the cards I submitted to Paper Crafts World Card Making Day contest. It wasn't chosen, so I can finally unveil it here. I'm just venturing into the world of Paper Smooches clear stamps and this little gopher/ground hog is one of the cuties in the Birthday Buddies set. (I posted a similar card with another cutie from this set HERE.) I'm beginning to really like good quality clear stamps because they are so easy to place where you want them. Just a little more info about the card: the little guy was popped up with a foam dot and placed inside a hole that I punched in the card so that he really does look like he's coming out of the ground. I also used a My Favorite Things Sheltering Tree die and Tim Holtz' Idea-o-logy paper. See how the paper says "Amusement" on it. Just a little stealth humor.

The inside came out so cute with Mr. Gopher popping in sideways to say hi. *smile*

Anyway, thanks for dropping by. If you have a desk to share just let me know in the comment field and I'll come look. I'll dispense with Mr. Linky from now on.

Have a great day and if you'd like to link in to Ms. Julia's worldly What's on Your Workspace Weds. Here's the portal...

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

A race against time....

2011-11-06T00:15:00.000-04:00

More Hope You Can Cling To cards.... I wish I'd started earlier because these challenges are really inspiring me and I wish it was possible to complete them all. I'll try to get a few more done tomorrow. For now, here are three more.

HYCCT1115 - P-I-N-K elements
Use things that start with P, I, N & K
I used Paper piecing, Inked edges (on the label), Natural cardstock & Kites
I saw this technique of creating your own lined frame with a marker and love how it turned out. The stamp set is Unity's A Little Playtime. Fun set.

HYCCT1120 - A Pink Drink
The paper is from K&Co. The drink is from Deadbeat Designs. I used a pink marker topped with stickles to create my pink margarita. The sentiment is from Inkadinkado. A good match, don't you think? Wide ribbon from Stampin Up and pale ribbon from EK Success' Adornaments.

HYCCT1113 - Use a butterfly
Paper is Brenda Walton for K&Co. Butterfly from Thanks for Caring by Stampin Up. Ribbon and hardware is SU also. Sentiment from Wordsworth. Flower from The Girls Paperie. Bling by Recollections.

Thanks for stopping by.... Like I said, there may be more tomorrow....

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Better Get Better - a Hope card

2011-11-05T11:39:00.000-04:00

I've got one more day to make these Hope You Can Cling To cards and I'm enjoying the process. If you haven't been involved and would like to bookmark these 31 fun challenges for those moments in the future when you need a little inspiration, check out this LINK.

This card is for challenge HYCCT1129 - Words of Encouragement. I just think this image by River City Rubber Works works perfectly with this retired Quick Thinking sentiment by Stampin' Up and their adorable DP called Domestic Goddess, don't you? (If you don't have an SU demonstrator of your very own, you can find the paper HERE on my friend Brenda's site.) The domestic goddess pictured in the card looks like she could use a little help. Lol.

If all goes according to plan, I'll have a few more cards to post tomorrow and then I do have something in mind for Monday, so be sure to drop by!

Have a great Saturday.

Here's hoping you have help with the housework.

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

FWF and a Happy Retirement card

2011-11-04T05:55:00.001-04:00

Friday, friday. Time for Friends with Flair fun. If you're looking for inspiration, you can find the blog hop HERE (check it throughout the day because new links are constantly being added).

A colleague of dh's is retiring and moving to California to be closer to his kids so I put together a little easel card for him with Unity's A Little Destination stamp set. I was able to use the plane's banner to customize it with his name, and the signs had room for me to customize also. I jazzed up the labels on the suitcase, too. I wanted more than just a blue sky for the plane to be flying through so I used postcard paper that I had laying around and more of that DCWV green bling paper from the Songbird stack.

The fun continues inside the card. DH's office took up a collection and wanted to include a gift certificate to Golfsmith so I alluded to the colleague's retirement plans by adding the cute vintage golf clubs and made the journaling square a pocket that can hold the gift card as well as provide a ledge for the easel card to stand with. I'm hoping it will be a fond remembrance of the friends he's leaving behind.

Thanks for dropping by... always good to have you....

I'm germinating more ideas for cards, including one which will use a recent Ippity purchase, so check back.....

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

I couldn't stay away....

2011-11-03T11:33:00.000-04:00

I thought I was done with the Hope You Can Cling To cards, but I wasn't. As long as I can eek a little time out before the upload deadline, I may keep trying to crank them out. It's for a great cause after all.

The challenge I went for is one that asks for girlie embellishing (HYCCT1111). I started with My Favorite Things (MFT) weekly sketch and their adorable Because You're Special stamp set, tossed in some fun girlie paper from The Girls Paperie and a little green bling paper from the Songbird stack by DCWV. Added a scalloped oval nestie from Spellbinders and topped it off with a very girlie velvet-tulle-buttoned flower also from The Girls Paperie. Mission accomplished, I think.

Tomorrow is Unity's Friends with Flair and I already have the card ready, so y'all come back, now. Ya hear?

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

WOYWW#126 and a Hope Card

2011-11-02T00:11:00.000-04:00

**** Photo of satellite desk can be seen on previous post****

This may be my last Hope You Can Cling To challenge card (although I do have until Nov 7th to upload any others.) I decided that I just had to make one for Lydia's last challenge (HYCCT1131) which entailed doing something you don't normally do. I don't normally use a corner rounder so I braved it here. Lol. The sketch is from a cool site that you must check out called Card Positioning Systems. They post weekly sketches and you can link up your card for a chance at a prize. I just love sketches. Half the work is done when I've got a sketch.

The cute girl and her cat are from the mind of Suzi Blu. She created this stamp for a drive to raise money for a pet cause and I was lucky enough to snap it up from Lydia's blog while it was still available. The sentiment is from a special stamp and die set by My Favorite Things. Using cool paper speeds my work up, too. The glittery leaves paper is from a much used favorite DCWV stack called Songbird.

Thanks for dropping by on What's on Your Workspace Wednesday. If you'd like to see what's going on on desks around the globe, link in to Julia's blog for a fun weekly hop.

Grateful for you, friends....

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

What's on Tap Tuesday #29

2011-11-01T00:23:00.000-04:00

I thought that this would be what my desk would look like for at least another few days based on the estimates of our esteemed power company. (See storm story below.) But around the time that I took this photo, I got the word from a neighbor that our power was back on. Yay! Except, that we missed Halloween. (Luckily, I don't have kids young enough to be bothered by that so I'm the only one who's sorry I didn't get to see this year's parade of costumes at my door.)

I figured this is still a more interesting desk that my ice-covered train wreck of a desk this week. (Don't tell the librarian that I was eating a Nestle's crunch at my carrel, okay? And no, you do not see Twitter up on my screen. I swear, I was working hard! Lol.) I worked on yesterday's card at this carrel, then did all the uploading etc. here too. What I'm showing below though is the first prototype of the card. I made it a day earlier when I had the wrong paper with me as I played nomad from the cold of our house. I think I like this version, too. What do you think?

If you are so inclined, link in your desk below so we can all give a good look.

Ahhhh... a warm home again....

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Still churning Hope challenges...

2011-10-31T18:17:00.000-04:00

Let it be known that a lack of power in my domicile did not keep me from working on these challenges... Lol. If you heard of the sudden winter storm that wreaked havoc on the northeastern United States, yep, we got it here. I really enjoyed watching the blustery blizzard-y weather from my warm home on Saturday. Unfortunately, we woke up cold on Sunday morning due to a power outage that resulted from trees that weren't ready for the weight of snow so they took power lines down with them when they snapped.... everywhere. I told my son it looked like some giant had a temper tantrum and wielded his mace up and down every block of our town. We are in Day 2 of no power and we didn't think fast enough, so we didn't get a hotel room in any nearby hotel. So we sleep under a number of extra comforters and look forward to our hot morning showers thanks to a water heater that runs on gas... hallelujah.

We need Superman (or at least Superboy) to come rescue us. This card is for the challenge to make a masculine card with a little pink in it (HYCCT1103).... my pink is peeking through the center of Saturn... and my little Superboy's bald head. Since I used a My Favorite Things stamp (Super Boy) and weekly sketch (MFTWSC43), I think I'll submit it over there, too.

Thanks for dropping by. I will continue to report from my local library if the power outage continues. In fact, I may have to use a photo of my library carrel for What's on Tap Tuesday tomorrow if things don't change. Life can be quite the adventure!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Here she is.... rounding the corner.....

2011-10-29T17:24:00.000-04:00

I have about an hour to get this card posted to the Card Positioning Systems blog (CPS). I found out through my friend, Lydia, about this great sketch challenge, but it ends today. Yikes! I combined it with another Hope You Can Cling To challenge to send a word of encouragement (HYYCT1126). Since the CPS's challenge is sponsored by My Favorite Things, I brought out one of their sweet little boy images with just the right encouraging sentiment. The stamp is called Tree Swing. The adorable paper that was so perfect for this scene all came from DCWV's Songbird stack. That rope also beckoned for some of The Twinery's Cappuccino bakers twine so I glued it down and just cut out another arm to cover it where it passes over his hand. I like the 3D effect that gave.

Thanks for dropping by. I will be sure to check in on the CPS blog from now on because I loved this sketch and I suspect there's more where that came from.

Now, I can just stare out at the blanket of snow this Nor'easter has dumped on my little corner of NJ.... and then maybe I'll make another card....

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

FWF and a Hope You Can Cling To sketch challenge

2011-10-28T00:05:00.002-04:00

Friday again! Unity's Friends with Flair blog hop is off and running. Check on it throughout the day because new blogs are constantly being added.

I'm still cranking out the Splitcoast Stampers Hope You Can Cling To cards. For a list of challenges, check HERE. This time, it's challenge #5 (HYCCT1105) and it's a sketch by none other than Unity's very own Jimmi Mayo. Jimmi, I hope you don't mind I took a little creative license with the sketch (I sort of buried the larger circle). It's just that I envisioned a sun when I saw the sketch.

I can't get enough of these little Ippity birds from Quotes a la Happy. And I always make them blue. Lol. The sentiment comes from a set called Sending My Love. The paper is from the Four Seasons stack by DCWV, the Cappuccino twine is from The Twinery and though the MFT cloud dies I used are retired, these new flat bottom cloud dies are a cool replacement. (The fence came from Michaels hobby aisle.)

I'm kinda liking ticking off the challenges from my list. I hope to get to a few more before the end of the month, so keep checkin'....

Have a wonderful Friday and be sure to check out the other blogs today. And if you've got Unity stamps, consider joining the hop. A random blogger and a random commenter are chosen to receive prizes. Good luck!

Oh, and if you're hankering for more blog hopping, Paper Smooches is having one until midnight tonight and it's so easy to win prizes. Check it out HERE and here's recent card I made with one of their stamps.

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Green, yellow and brown for Hope You Can Cling To

2011-10-27T17:27:00.000-04:00

That's the latest challenge I'm undertaking today. HYCCT1107, to be exact. You can find all the challenges at this Splitcoast Stampers LINK.

For some reason, that color scheme brought fishing to mind. Maybe because I have this My Favorite Things (MFT) stamp set that hasn't seen ink yet. I wish they'd included "Dropping you a line" as one of the sentiments with the set but they didn't so I borrowed it from an A Muse stamp I had on hand. The sketch came from MFT's latest sketch challenge. My paper hoarding was justified today when I used scraps for her green blouse, camouflage pants and the glittery fish she caught. Copics did the rest. (I wish you could see that the image background isn't white but a whisper of blue...)

The other patterned papers came from the Songbird stack by DCWV and I finally got to use a button from my Vintage Findings set by Making Memories. A little stamped edge scissors and some nail heads and done.

I've been hobbling around a little more lately. Tomorrow, I'll probably be back behind the wheel to take ds to school (and allow him to sleep an hour later) but that may be the extent of it. Gotta let those little ligaments heal.

Hope you're having a nice day. We've got rain, but I love rain... so no complaints here.

I'm going to try to get another card done that can also be part of Unity's Friends with Flair blog hop tomorrow, so check back.

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

WOYWW#125... Lollipops, unicorns and rainbows...

2011-10-26T10:30:00.000-04:00

In my pain-induced stupor yesterday, I forgot to post the photo of my desk, so it will be appropriately posted today: What's on Your Workspace Wednesday, hosted HERE by the lovely Julia. Take a snoop around later, lots of fun workspaces zooming around in cyberspace.

As far as the saga that began yesterday, when I regaled the story of my bum ankle as well as presented the card that emerged like Venus from the mess of a desk above, here's what I'm dealing with now.

I found out that there is no break or fracture. Just nasty torn ligaments causing all that pain. But I have to say that the minute the doctor put this on me, I felt 100% better. He spared me the air boot which is such a lovely accessory to any wardrobe. This is just an air sleeve that keeps the ankle rigid. I have to wear it 24/7 for a few weeks. Anything that provides a good night's sleep is fine with me. So, all's well that ends well. He also thought that it's best not to drive for the rest of the week, which means that ds has to get up 45 minutes earlier to get a ride to school with dh and poor me gets to sleep later. So sad. I'm also forced to lie down with my foot iced and propped above my heart so that the swelling will go down. Now that seems like the perfect position for catching up on the DVR tapings, doesn't it? Okay, okay, it sounds enviable but let me remind you the pain isn't completely gone so it's not all lollipops, unicorns and rainbows.

On that note, thanks for dropping by, have a wonderful day and watch your step!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

WOTT and a pretty card that will always be associated with....

2011-10-25T09:23:00.000-04:00

... my physical condition at the time.... Let me explain.

I've become obsessed with tennis. I stopped playing a few years ago and I was just getting back to it and just loving it. Then, yesterday, someone hit a ball hard straight at me so I must have instinctively moved backward to protect myself but I stumbled and fell. I knew right away something was wrong with my right ankle but stood up and seemed to shake it off okay. Not okay. A couple of hours later, it was hard to walk on. I iced it all afternoon. I figured I'd just be limping til it got better so I went about making a card for the Hope You Can Cling To challenge #10 (pink and ribbon and friendship). By the time I was finished with the card, I realized that I couldn't put any weight on the right foot. I photographed the card and then hobbled upstairs to bed. Needless to say, it was an excruciating night. Not any better this morning, but we artists are creative so I tried hopping on one foot to get around (that's hard) and then realized that if I could get to the end of the hall, I could retrieve my rolling desk chair and at least use it like a wheel chair upstairs. So, my friends, I crawled down the hall (nothing wrong with my knees.) Finally getting to the desk chair was like getting to an oasis in the middle of a desert. Ahhh. I was now able to upload my photo and do this blog post as I wait for dh to make the appropriate doctor's appointment. I realize now how much we take for granted when all our limbs are working. I'm used to dashing around, so this is an eye-opener.

But I'm happy to be able to post my card. It uses The Girls Paperie kit that's been featured on some of my recent cards, My Favorite Things (MFT) stamps and MFT's latest sketch, with a little adjustment in the sentiment location. I wasn't sure if the SCS challenge called for pink and a ribbon or a pink ribbon, so I added one to this girl's dress.

Too bad this pretty card will always remind me of a bum ankle.

Wish me luck later. I'm really hoping its only a torn ligament or something. Hopefully not a break. Dh said to expect crutches. I may just have to send for my mom. *grin*

If you'd like to cheer up homebound-me, link into this week's What's on Tap Tuesday (WOTT) below.

Count your blessings! I'll be doing that from now on....

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Can I assume the worm is male?

2011-10-22T00:12:00.000-04:00

My stamp inventory is male-challenged. As you can see from previous posts, I like to make girly cards with little girl and lovely lady images... or birds. (I think this stems from living in a house full of males.)

So when it comes to the necessary male card, I have to tone down the frills and bling and use an appropriately masculine image. So, I ask you, can I assume this Paper Smooches worm is male? I think so. I wanted him set against a patterned paper so delicious that it would do a lot of the work for me. This paper from DCWV's Songbird stack is embossed and glittered but still gives me the outdoor look I wanted for this birthday dude. I stamped the greeting directly on the paper and, get this, I used a Stampin' Up oval punch to make a small hole for him to be popping out of. (I used a foam dot to pop him up a little, too.)

During a cleanup of the ol' studio yesterday, I happened on a bag of pom poms. What a happy accident because it was just the pop needed for his hat.

Thanks for dropping in. Now, back to making more Hope You Can Cling To cards. Click on the icon in the sidebar if you like to take a gander at the October daily challenges. Tons of prizes in store and for a wonderful cause, too. *smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

FWF and a Hope You Can Cling To card

2011-10-21T00:48:00.000-04:00

Whoa, I have been absent from Friends with Flair, haven't I? Well, I'm back to visit today. I figured that if I was going to make a card for a Hope You Can Cling To challenge over at Splitcoast, I might as well get my Unity out and share it with you today.

I decided to go for the challenge calling for something to be hanging or dangling after I colored this image and felt that her neck looked too plain. A couple slits, a heart charm and some EK Success Adornaments fiber and, voila, she has a choker to dress up her outfit (and my card). The scalloped paper in the background is another block from a Girls Paperie 12x12 sheet that I cut up in my previous post.

The sweet girl is a retired Suzi Blu stamp called Love of My Life. (You may have this in your stash.) I felt like a little girl coloring in her coloring book with this image. So fun and relaxing to color. I broke out quite a few Copics for this exercise.

Thanks for dropping in. Enabler alert: If you check out the Unity site, you'll find a new stamp line called Brandy and Emma that features an adorable toddler and her dog and they may just be too cute to resist!

For now, I'm sure there are loads of cute cards to view in this week's blog hop, so enjoy!

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

WOYWW#124... and a Hope You Can Cling To challenge

2011-10-18T00:17:00.002-04:00

It's Wednesday again and you know what that means. Yep, What's on Your Workspace Wednesday (WOYWW), hosted by the lovely Julia-across-the-pond. Get a peek at workspaces around the globe by visiting her HERE. (My link insertion from What's on Tap Tuesday is still open below if you'd like to add a link here, too. *smile*)

On my desk this week is a hot mess of The Girls Paperie (GP) products. I got them as a kit from either Crafty Steals or Scrapbook Steals. Both sites are worth checking out because they have great daily deals. The box of GP goodies has been open behind my desk waiting for the right time to organize it (yeah, right) and every time I pass the box I spy a cute pink paper with a scalloped border of text. Knowing that it most likely won't become a scrapbook page since I'm the only girl in this house, I decided to chop it up into 4" x 5-1/4" blocks and use it for a whole mess of cards.

I used the first block on the card below. It's for another Hope You Can Cling To challenge (HYCCT1102 - which inspired me to use lingerie on a card). I've had this Stampin Up stamp set (Laundry Notes) for a while, so it's probably retired, but I love the slip and the little sentiment along the side that says "Slipping You a Note." First, I stamped the slip directly on the block paper. Then, paper pieced it on a floral GP paper and set it on top of the first image. I added a GP die cut heart that I embellished with lacy ribbon and a clear Making Memories Vintage Finding button (that's been sitting on my desk for weeks.) Finally, I added to the sentiment with some GP word stickers.

That's it. Hope you're having fun with your own hot messes! Thanks for dropping in.....

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Another Hope You Can Cling To card...

2011-10-13T17:14:00.001-04:00

Hello friends... This card has been sitting in the back of my head and, like a good teenager, she just refused to wait any longer. I imagined making her for the Hope You Can Cling To challenge to use pink bling (HYCCT1101B). I knew I'd want her earphones (and iPod) to be pink and sparkly. If you'd like to see the list of SCS challenges that are added to daily, click HERE. There is quite a booty of prizes to be awarded at the end of the month, if that's any enticement.

I used a My Favorite Things Sketch #41 and a stamp set called Tweeny Teen Rock and DCWV's Rock Star line of papers and adhesive ribbon. The pink bling is actually Class a' Peels from Stampendous.

Thanks for dropping in....

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

WOYWW#123, WOTT#26 and ... I'm Back....

2011-10-12T00:11:00.000-04:00

Hi! I've just been on a little holiday hiatus... and now I'm hoping to jump back into crafting....

Yesterday was What's on Tap Tuesday and today is What's on Your Workspace Wednesday. (The difference? I run WOTT and Ms. Julia in the UK runs WOYWW, a worldwide version that's fun to check out. If you'd like, you can link in here and/or there. Here's what's going on on my desk this week....

I have to laugh when I review my photo and notice that the little perpetual block calendar is usually behind the times. I guess I haven't changed it since Oct 5th. Lol.

What's out on the desk is the new Stampin' Up designer paper series called Domestic Goddess (a phrase Roseanne Barr used once and I took a liking to... *grin*) I had to use it with this My Favorite Things (MFT) stamp set called What's Cooking? because they really complement each other. This week's MFT sketch really helped me put this card together quickly. I just love sketches.... sigh...

Anyway, you'll also see my little twine and ribbon case. Not large enough to hold all my ribbons but these are favorites. I found those Making Memories buttons at a local discount store and as much as I love them, they didn't make the cut for the card because I dug up a charm that looked like measuring spoons to me (they're probably lollipops or somethin') so they took the place of a button. The sketch had a circle on it, but I decided to use an MFT flower die meant for rolling a 3D flower. I left it flat but inked all the edges. I like the interest it adds. When it came to the sentiment, I wanted to make it as small as I could so that the patterned paper could shine and I wound up using these very inexpensive decorative scissors by Fiskars. They made it so easy to trim a nice stamp edge design close to the words.

This card is going out to my s-i-l for her upcoming birthday. I forgot to take a picture of the inside of my card but I'll tell you that I used the back of my patterned paper because it was a soft yellow pattern that would be good for writing on and I was thrilled to find it happened to have a pretty red flower in one corner. Effortless embellishment, love that.

Here's the finished card.

Thanks for dropping by. I'll try not to be a stranger from now on!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Hope You Can Cling To Challenge starts now

2011-10-03T10:22:00.001-04:00

Hello all! October is Breast Cancer Awareness month and the folks over at Splitcoast Stampers (SCS) run a month long event called Hope You Can Cling To. Its goal is to create cards for breast cancer patients at MD Anderson in Houston, TX. SCS will post a new card challenge daily and you link in your cards in their forums as you make them. (I should say that although there will be one new challenge per day, the first day started with 3 challenges... just so we can rev our engines!) At the end of the month there will be prizes for each challenge, but the real prize comes in knowing that you've brightened someone's day. For more info, check this LINK and consider playing along with us.

One of the first challenges was to create a card with a pink critter (animal, fish, insect, etc.) on it. I'm surprising one of the SCS administrators, Lydia of Understand Blue, by using a stamp that she created in the image of one of her kitties, Maddy. Maddy has been colored pink and set against some Pink Paislee patterned paper that was left over when I created the card showing on my previous blog post. The adorable birdies and banner are from Lawn Fawn's Bannerific set and I hand stamped the sentiment with their Harold's ABCs set, too. The gold letters are from a clock-making set I found at Michaels. I just love how they shine.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope to have lots of cards to post this month as I play along with these challenges so do drop in again. Also, tomorrow is my weekly What's on Tap Tuesday where I share my mess of a desk and encourage you to share yours! *smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

World Card Making Day... never too late!

2011-10-01T23:33:00.000-04:00

As World Card Making Day is coming to a close, I feel a little like the inevitable marathoner that finally crosses the finish line long after everyone else has. Lol. But I persevered and finished a card for my in-laws 67th anniversary coming up. (I added their anniversary number candles to the cake image.) It may be late for WCMD, but it's still about a week before I have to mail it so I'm pleased with that.

I used My Favorite Things stamp sets (What's Cooking, Time to Celebrate and Who's That Birthday Girl) and luscious Pink Paislee papers (Soiree and Daily Junque). I recently received a card that had a cool flap and it inspired me to recreate one of my own. This is an easel card with a front panel that flaps open. I just realized that I focused so much on the patterned papers that I didn't even use ribbon or glitter or bling. The inside of the flap highlights a section of paper that had a great cake and a party collage. I love making my paper work for me.

If you'd like to check out how others celebrated WCMD, check out this LINK.

Thanks for dropping by!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)
@scrapcollectr on Twitter

WOYWW and WOTT#25 and cards galore

2011-09-28T18:54:00.000-04:00

Hi and welcome to another round of What's on Your Workspace Weds.(WOYWW) and of What's on Tap Tuesday, where we share what's on our desks this week. My desk still has the remnants of the card I last blogged about. The High Holidays are upon us so I've got to get a few of those out soon. Meanwhile, in my dining room, the table is strewn with most of the cards I've done at my friend Brenda's Stampin' Up get togethers. When I cleaned up the closet of my work room, I found them scattered around so I'm going through them to decide which would be good to donate and which to keep. I have to decide tonight because I'm hosting a pre-holiday dinner tomorrow and I want to set the table tonight. Good thing I have a deadline or else they may have lounged here a little longer!

If you'd like to visit creative spaces around the world-wide, be sure to visit Ms. Julia's blog at www.stamping-ground.blogspot.com

If you'd like to share your space, link in below. Always fun to see another's state of order or chaos. *smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

FWF and Sweet New Year card

2011-09-23T17:38:00.001-04:00

Hello, friends. It's time for Unity's Friends with Flair Blog Hop and you might say it's a bit of a stretch that I call this a Unity card because amid all the embellishments and patterned paper there is just one tiny Unity stamp.... but this stamp is a big favorite of mine.... I use it over and over, so I'm counting it as being enough of an addition. Lol.

The Jewish New Year is about to begin again and, in the past, I would make tons of cards and send them out. This year, I'm doing a little experiment. I've decided to send to the people that send us cards first. The easel card above takes some doing (I wish you could see the heart charm that is dangling off the ticket on a jump ring) and I'm going to see where each patterned paper panel takes me, design-wise, so the cards that do go out this year will be extra special. I hope I get caught having to make a bunch of them. That would be a wonderful surprise.

Anyway, you may have guessed by now that I used the adorable little birdie from the Ippity set, "Quotes a la Happy." Just love that set. This LINK will get you to the Ippity blog where you can use the locator button to find an Ippity chick for a look-see at their cute sets.

Thanks for dropping by. I'm going to try and work on the quality of my photography. I think I just have to break down and get a light box. Lol.

Have a great weekend!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

WOYWW#120, WOTT#24 - cards, cards and more cards

2011-09-21T00:25:00.000-04:00

Welcome once again to What's on Your Workspace Wednesday hosted by Ms. Julia. Same desk as yesterday's What's on Tap Tuesday where the desk is usually in creative chaos and the calendar blocks aren't always up to date. Lol.

I had to take a break from catching up on my 30 Days Lists in order to get a few cards done. The two that you see on the desk already made are fresh from a Stampin' Up get-together last Friday at my friend Brenda's. I had left them without sentiments so that I could customize them later.

And sure enough, I needed to send a sympathy card today, so that pink card was perfectly appropriate.

Then an uncle is having a birthday next Monday (same day as mine.... sly, aren't I?) and the fall card has a masculine feel to it so I'm going to simply add a cute Lawn Fawn squirrel and a birthday sentiment.

The patterned papers are out on the desk because I also have to make a card for my mom's best friend who is turning 80 on Saturday. By using a current My Favorite Things sketch, I'm able to enter it in their Weds. challenge. I used two MFT stamps sets on the completed easel card card: Time to Celebrate and Who's That Birthday Girl? I love the latter so much because it has number candle stamps that allow me to customize my birthday cards to no end!

In the past, when I've wanted to anchor a sentiment to a bow, I've had a hard time getting my flimsy linen thread to feed through a bow knot. I decided to try using a crochet hook to grab it and pull it through and, voila, it worked. No more cursing at unraveling thread!

One last note. Last week, there were a few comments of concern about what seemed to be a dangerous open can of teal paint on my wobbly, overflowing desk. I've added a photo of that can from a different angle so that you can see it wasn't teal paint at all. Just a teal covered lid to a clear storage can. Besides, have you ever seen me use paint on a project? I'm way too impatient to use something that needs a lot of drying time. Lol.

Thanks for visiting. Back to illustrating lists.... (Come back periodically. I'll eventually have one for every day in September and if they're deemed interesting enough, I'll post them here.)

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Days 10 & 11 in 30 Days of Posts

2011-09-19T00:14:00.000-04:00

Love, love, love the Emmys! But as a result, I only got 2 pages done. I thought that by sitting in front of the TV while I crafted, I'd get more done but there's just too much you miss when you look down. It was a great debut by Jane Lynch as host.

So Day 10's theme was "At This Moment" and Day 11's was "Favorite Things About This Time of Year." This list making has been a fun exercise because now I don't have to feel guilty about all the stickers I've accumulated over the years! Lol. Hope you enjoy these and maybe even become inspired to make your own lists.

Tomorrow is What's On Tap Tuesday where I ask you to share your work desk, whether it's sparkling clean like Lynn's or chaotic like mine. Either way, consider sharing. *smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)
@scrapcollectr on Twitter

Day 9 in 30 Days of Lists....

2011-09-17T23:11:00.000-04:00

The extent of the "list" work in front of me is lengthening but I'm not going to let that bother me. These are too much fun to put together. Day 9's list is simply entitled "Weekend Plans" and last weekend was when I was due to document it so, luckily I had saved some memorabilia.

Sorry that I didn't have something fun to contribute to the Unity Friends with Flair but we made an impromptu journey into NYC on Thursday night to celebrate my mother-in-law's 87th birthday. An occasion worthy of the car, train and subway requirements both ways. Tiring, but the newly discovered Beacon restaurant made it really enjoyable. And our Spanish exchange student, Fran, got to experience all those modes of travel into the city. Sadly, he headed back home today. It was a really nice experience having him visit.

Have a nice weekend. I have to make a birthday card to mail on Monday so I should be sharing that soon!

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)
@scrapcollectr on Twitter

Day 8 in the 30 Days of Lists

2011-09-15T06:04:00.000-04:00

Today I accompanied our Spanish exchange student and his group on a field trip to the Grounds for Sculptures in Hamilton, NJ and then went on to moderate their tour of Princeton's campus. (You can take a wonderful virtual tour of Princeton using this LINK. Don't miss all the great trivia at the bottom of each page.) I got treated to a nice lunch with them in town.... I work cheap. Lol. So, this will be short and sweet because I'm a wee bit tired from my 14,000+ steps today (I use a pedometer daily because I'm trying for the recommended 10,000 steps a day toward good health.) I can't wait to go back to see more of the 270+ sculptures and have lunch in their lovely restaurant..... and Princeton.... well, it's my alma mater and I just love any visit I make there. Enough said.

Here is Day 8. I've got major catching up to do. But I'm happy with how the pages are turning out. There's one explanation needed for this page. When I say that "Toasters like Tina's" remind me of my youth, I'm referring to a story I tell my ds that cracks him up to no end. You see, I had a simple childhood. In the summer, I'd head over to my friend's house to play. I remember how immaculate her mother kept the house and the kitchen in particular. When we wanted to have a snack, we'd go into that sparkling kitchen and make toast in her shiny toaster. My family didn't have a toaster so it was a novelty to me. We'd just sit and watch it toast and pop. The sudden pop always made us giggle. The thought of that warm toasted bread with butter still gives me the warm fuzzies. I can't tell you how excited I was when, one day, my mom came home with our very own toaster. It was even more impressive because it had 4 slots! I thought we'd won the lottery... Lol.

So, check it out. The things that remind me of my youth. So fun.

Have a great Thursday. Hopefully, I'll have a Friends with Flair card to post tomorrow. *smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)
@scrapcollectr on Twitter

WOYWW#119, WOTTT#23 and Fair Barbie found

2011-09-13T00:05:00.001-04:00

Welcome, welcome. Wednesday means sharing the madness that goes on on some people's desks. Mine, for instance. I wish it could be tidy like that of other friends, but that's not how I'm wired. Lol.

Last week, I told you that I found a Barbie shoe, so I didn't have to search long for the owner. I had a feeling of where she was vacationing.

Funny thing is .... when I found her she was shoe-less! So now there's another shoe missing. (Shhh! I just paused to listen to a squirrel scurrying through my walls. Dh is responsible for getting the man that's supposed to close the holes in the dormers where this little stinker is entering, but I just may have to take matters in my own hands. I get no rent from the squirrel, after all.)

Anyway, back to Barbie. I'm using her image in the Day 8 list that I'm working on. (In previous posts, I've shared some of the lists I've illustrated for a 30 Days of Lists class I'm in.) In fact, most of the detritus centered on my desk are objects that I'm inspired to use on the two page spread. If you don't see the finished page down below, I'll add it later today but for now this post will contribute to What's on Your Workspace Wednesday hosted by the lovely Julia.

Have a great day and if you're so inclined, link in a blog post about where your creative ~~madness~~ genius takes place. *smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

30 Days of Lists - Days 4 through 7

2011-09-12T10:23:00.000-04:00

I'm going back on my word, aren't I? I said I wasn't going to share them all but I can't help it. I want to share. I didn't realize that.

Day 4:

Day5:

Day 6:

Day 7:

I now have 5 days of lists before I catch up. Let's see if I can close the distance sooner than in the past. Tomorrow is What's on Tap Tuesday. I hope to have something more than a photo of my messy desk to share. You'll just have to come back and find out, won't you? Oh, and since I'm giving you fair notice, why not make your blog post tomorrow about your creative space? There are a few of us that like to link in and go around and visit.

Til then, have a great Monday!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Remembering...

2011-09-11T22:26:00.000-04:00

September 11, 2001. It was a breathtakingly beautiful blue sky day. I'm not one to usually take notice but, after dropping my kids off at their elementary school, there was just something about that clear morning that made me stop and take a deep breath of that fresh air. I was a little excited about my day. I had some plans that I was looking forward to so I stopped in at home to gather my things... and then my mom called.

I wasn't a morning TV watcher so she told me in a shaky voice to turn on the TV. I did and she and I experienced the news together. I called my husband. He hadn't heard. His office turned on their TVs. At home, I remember watching the live feed and seeing a sudden explosion in the second tower. The newcasters scrambled to understand it, then they realized that just before, a fleeting shadow behind the building was a second plane. Suddenly, all hopes that the first plane was an explainable freak accident were dashed. I'm sure I was still frozen in place when the towers fell. Horror replaced horror. Suddenly, I thought that I should go for my children. But as I stood in front of the office staff at the school, I had a change of heart. Although other parents were coming in and taking their children out, I realized that it might be better to let them have a normal day before addressing this catastrophe with them. The school was not going to make any announcements. They felt that was every parent's decision on how to go about it. I picked them up at the end of the day and then tried to explain the unexplainable. My 6-year-old, luckily, didn't grasp it enough to be scared. My 10-year-old wanted to sleep closer to us that night. He asked me if the fires in NYC could reach us in western NJ. The next day, we found out that four families in our town lost someone that day. So many towns in NJ suffered losses because we're a commuter state. So much heartache.

Now, it's been 10 years. I'm hoping to visit the new memorial soon. It's seems to have been constructed to be a very soothing, spiritual place. I'd like to say a little prayer for peace. I made the card below awhile back but it's so timely now. If everyone in the world could plant a seed of peace, imagine what would grow.

Tomorrow, I'll share a few more pages from my 30 Days of Lists.

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Friends with Flair and Birthday Mail

2011-09-09T06:09:00.000-04:00

Hello... It's that time again and I'm glad because preparing for Unity's weekly blog hop makes me focus on getting necessary cards done. My m-i-l's birthday is in a week and now I'm set. I used a K&Co paper pad called "Wild Raspberry" that I found on sale for $5.99 at a local dollar-plus store. I love how the paper is already glittered. With all the lovely busy-ness on the background paper, I was able to keep the images simple. The bird is from Melody Ross' Love Life kit and the mailbox, letter and sentiment are from Sending My Love . I made a small slit in the mail box to slip the special delivery letter in. (Just a reminder that I have a tutorial link for this type of card on my sidebar :-)

Have fun blog hopping!

I'm going to go shake my rain stick in the hopes that poor beleaguered Texas will finally get some rain to put out its numerous fires. NJ has had a week of rain. Wish I could send it down....

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Another daily list and a birthday card

2011-09-08T00:03:00.000-04:00

Hello.... I'm moving at a turtle's pace with this project, but I am moving.... Lol. It's Day 7 right now in my 30 Days of Lists and I've just completed my Day 3 illustration. I'm going to look for a way to rein myself in a little from now on.... wish me luck. I love that this Smashbook has enough pages that I can do a two page spread for each day. When you want to add pix, you need the extra room.

Then I used the latest My Favorite Things sketch to create an easel birthday card for my brother-in-law. Since I wanted it to be entered in their weekly challenge I had to go with an image that normally I might not have for a male card but, if I'm the woman carrying the cake, it's alright, isn't it? *smile* Plus, I love this set (which is called "Who's That Birthday Girl" because it comes with individual number candle stamps... so easy to customize with.) I just got my box from Pink Paislee's warehouse sale and in it was that cute little metal heart badge that you see on my card. (The adorable paper is from Stampin' Up's latest set called Big Top.)

And, oh yes, I need to announce the random winner from all the lovely fall comments in the Labor Day Blog Hop. Drum roll? ........................ The winner is Donna Phelan! Donna, please send me your snail mail address via email (which can be found in my profile) and I'll get some surprise goodies out to you! Congrats!

Tomorrow is the Unity Friends with Flair blog hop so c'mon back for that. *smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

WOYWW#118 and WOTT#22

2011-09-06T12:30:00.004-04:00

Time for another What's on Your Workspace Wednesday. Oh dear. I went to a PTA meeting yesterday (the first day of school) and I think I signed myself up as a volunteer on about 20 clipboards. I will try not to let the blog suffer... *smile*

In the few hours I have left before heading back for today's pickup, I suddenly have lists in my head of things I'd like to do. One is to catch up on my 30 Days of Lists project. Although I won't be posting every day on this subject, I have given a peek at my Day 1 and Day 2 results in previous posts, if you're interested. On my desk today, I've got some photos and my wedding album because I'm going to be working on "People I Love" list.

The remnants of yesterday's card are also still out and about and front and center is a My Favorite Things sketch that I was hoping to use soon. (They've got new releases tonight at 10pm, by the way!)

Dearest to my heart though is a white Barbie shoe that is sitting on top of some black cardstock on the right side. I found it recently and it reminded me that when the boys were little I bought myself a Malibu Barbie with the reasoning that the little dolphin that came with it would interest them. I have to hunt her down because she must be distressed about her missing shoe.

The added photo today is of the coffee table to the side of my desk that is equally chaotic. I'm so pleased with the revolving pen holder because I found it at a Five Below store for $2. I like having my Copics easier to reach than before.

Gotta get some work done before the clipboard people start calling, so if you'd like to link in your desk for others to see, please do so below and have a great Tuesday!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Fall Fun Blog Hop!

2011-09-05T09:26:00.002-04:00

Hello and welcome to the Fall Fun Blog Hop! A group of online buddies decided the holiday weekend in the US would be a GREAT time to get inky together, and so we've put together a fall themed blog hop to inspire you as the autumn approaches. As you meet our stampy bloggers today, you may discover that some have goodies for you, so be sure and visit everyone on the list. We have hoppers from all over the globe today, and they are amazing artists.

Thanks for visiting us - grab yourself a nice fall beverage and enjoy!

Here is the full list of our blog hoppers today:

   Lydia Fiedler
   Libby Hickson
   Kim Williams
   Michelle Single
Lee Murphy
   Sara Henton
   Yapha Mason
   Lisa Adametz
   Jimmi Mayo
   Jeanne Streiff
   Bev Gerard
   Shannon
   Dana Keith
   Joan Ervin
   Maren Benedict
   Teresa Kline
   Hannah Clark
   Dina Kowal
   Wanda Cullen
   Korin Sutherland
   Taylor Usry
   Monika Davis
   Harriet Skelly
   Kim Schofield
   Cathy McCauley
Mary Marsh
   Julia Aston
   Bridget Finlay
   Alison Habetler
   Leslie Hanna
   Sue Farrant
   Michelle Hanway
   Misti Oblander
   Judy Rozema
   Jenna Barber
   Tammy Hershberger
   Eva Dobilas
   Kerri Michaud
   Cheryl Navarrete
   Neva McMullen
   Marianne
   Samantha
     and me, You are Here!

For my part, I created a fun little folding card using a video tutorial I stumbled on by Kristina Werner . Lots of measuring and matting but with the Stampin Up set called Recess and Lawn Fawn's Harolds ABCs alphas, it was all worth it. Used a Stampin Up Ribbon Originals for my belly band. Hope you like it! (If you'd like to be in a drawing for a little surprise blog candy, just leave me a comment about what the best part of fall is for you and I'll choose a random comment next Thursday... *smile*)

The full effect:

Your next stop on the hop is Lydia at Understandblue, our illustrious hostess with the most-est!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

@scrapcollectr on Twitter

30 Days of Lists - Day 2

2011-09-04T12:54:00.003-04:00

Sorry, I couldn't resist. I had to post this because I put a lot of work into it... lol. They're waiting for me in the car so it's gotta be quick. Hope you like it. Have a nice Sunday!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)
@scrapcollectr on Twitter

Friends with Flair and Day 1 of 30 Days of Lists

2011-09-02T18:54:00.002-04:00

Hello! As mentioned yesterday, I've joined a group that's doing 30 Days of Lists this month and I showed the Smashbook cover I decorated yesterday. (The link to the group is there if you want to join in.) Today, in honor of Unity's Friday Friends with Flair blog hop, I used Unity images to decorate my first list: Goals for September.

Stamps used:
Banner: Good Times Vintage Banner
List: Love in Return (Ippity)
Dress: May '11 KOTM (Think Happy Thoughts)
Bird: Quotes a la Happy (Ippity)
Books: Books a Flutter (Ippity)
Cow: Simply Home (Ippity)
Other accessories: Thickers alphas (Am Crafts), Pink Sorbet bakers twine (The Twinery), scissors charm and seed beads, Tim Holtz paper clip hanger

You can find the banner stamps HERE and the May Kit HERE. The Ippity website will help you locate a sales rep near you.

Thanks for coming by. Oh, and I forgot to add to my monthly goals that I want to try to blog more, so don't be a stranger! *smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)
@scrapcollectr on Twitter (where I try to offer up interesting links as well)

30 Dayz of Lists

2011-09-01T14:23:00.000-04:00

Hello friends! I'm really excited because I'm taking on a project that I'm determined to see through to the end. It's called 30 Days of Lists and it starts today. I'm a day behind because I'm starting by decorating the cover of the Smashbook I'm using. (I used Pink Paislee - Daily Junque wooden letters and die cut, Creating Keepsakes chipboard letters, K&Co patterned paper and Studio 18 rhinestones. Oooh. I love it.)

Tomorrow, I hope to post Day 1 as a Unity Friends with Flair project so that it can be part of the Friday blog hop. I won't be posting about it daily though because that wouldn't be fair to the coordinators of the event. It costs $6 to join in for the month and it isn't too late to do so. Just check out this site for more info: www.30DaysofLists.com .

Thanks for coming by. I hope you decide to join in on this fun!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

WOYYWW #116, WOTT #21 and a design team goodbye

2011-08-30T00:11:00.001-04:00

Time for What's on Your Workspace Wednesday, hosted by the lovely Ms. Julia. (Check out desks from around the world HERE.) Here's my desk as it sat on What's on Tap Tuesday.... lonely..... wishing I'd finish the bills already..... It still has evidence of the last card I made on Saturday. I'm hoping to clean it up so that I can put some mini album pages together. I joined a free Big Picture Scrapbooking Class that ran for 12 days and was on vacation for most of it so I'd like to get to it. I was thinking that it would be fun to take a kit and just try to use only what's in it to make the pages. I'll let you know how that goes.

For now, I can show you a card I made in honor of my design team position at Chicas Getting Crafty coming to an end. I made so many great projects as a result that I'm super thankful to Laura for the opportunity she gave me. This LINK will take you over to her website where she featured this card yesterday. (Stamps from Stamping Bella, K&Co. paper and that cute word bubble from My Favorite Things.)

Hope you'll link in your workspace today. I love gettin' a peek at your creative area!

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

I couldn't resist...

2011-08-27T15:22:00.000-04:00

I initially punched out this circle to use on my previous card but the definition didn't seem right for a birthday card. So I put it aside. Today, I decided to make a silly card with it and one of my favorite cat stamps. I call him Sparky (I know, I gave him a pink bow.... but hey, he has no problem with it... he's confident in his masculinity.) He hails from Unity's Hugs and Kitties set (if you go to their home page, you'll see a coupon for 40% off this weekend!) The green background paper is from the Playtime Stack by DCWV. Cappuccino baker's twine from The Twinery.

The fleur de lis charm (which looked like a dagger to me) came from a Making Memories Vintage Findings set that I was able to score for $1.49 from a local dollar store (sweet!) And the alphas are Lawn Fawn's Harold's ABC set. I love how easy it is to line up clear stamps....

Give me one good reason why you have to have this card and I will include you in a drawing for it later in the week. *smile*

Still waiting for Hurricane Irene. We're starting to get rain, but the real fun will start in the middle of the night. Of course.

Have a nice Saturday if you can and stay safe, Northeastern friends...

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

A Sweet Wish

2011-08-26T02:03:00.000-04:00

What do you get when you combine a sketch challenge and an impending birthday? The answer is: this card. For Unity's Friends with Flair blog hop this week, I decided to use the August Kit of the Month Sketch Challenge HERE to make an early easel birthday card for my brother-in-law. I chose the June '11 KOTM (all smiles) because of the cute cupcake image and sentiment. But I struggled to keep it masculine, foregoing a pink candle for a white one (it's a real one!) and rather than frilly ribbon, I used rough twine. Don't you just love the papers? The definition comes from Tim Holtz' Idea-ology Paper Stash pad and the plaid is from The Lodge Stack by DCWV.

Take a tour through the blog hop HERE and shop for Unity goodies HERE.

On a serious note, to everyone in the path of Hurricane Irene, stay safe! I'm hoping that where we are won't be heavily affected but I bought power outage provisions just in case. Send good karma to the east coast, please. *smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)
@scrapcollectr on Twitter

Peace and Quiet

2011-08-25T00:17:00.000-04:00

I've been wanting to make a card for my niece's birthday using this stamp set, but, like the procrastinator that I am, I kept putting it off. Little did I know that My Favorite Things would come out with a sketch that would inspire me just when it finally needs to get it in the mail. Serendipity. I chose the birthday sentiment from this stamp set. All the other details of the card can be found in my SCS gallery HERE.

The reason that I wanted to use this set is that my niece has two very young children and I know that they keep her hopping so I thought it would be cute to add a note wishing her a little "peace and quiet" on her birthday. I hope her husband complies!

Thanks for dropping by. I hope to have a Unity Friends with Flair installment tomorrow.

Have a great Thursday!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

What's On Your Workspace Wednesday, once again....

2011-08-23T00:02:00.003-04:00

Hi! Here's my contribution to Ms. Julia's WOYWW #116 and my 20th installment of WOTT (What's on Tap Tuesday). Sneaky ol' Wednesday has crept up again (not that my calendar knows) and my desk has, among other things, a pile of Smashbook paraphernalia that came straight from my carry-on luggage. Took it on vacation with me and was able to work on a couple of travel pages but mostly it has all the restaurant cards and various stubs accumulated last week. Pages to be, as it were.

I needed to make a belated birthday card so I used some new Stampin' Up products on my desk that came my way before I left. Namely, a new Designer Series paper pack called Big Top, a new stamp set called Four Frames and a new frame punch to match. I modified the concertina card that I linked you to last Tuesday by using an entire 12x12 sheet reduced to 9" tall and divided into 3 - 4 " sections. I cut a little piece off the first section so that the pretty reverse side of the paper could show through and popped up the elephant and lion head for a little dimension. The birthday greeting came from a recent SU playground stamp set called Recess.

Wanna link what's on your desk this week? (You can do it in two places, here and Julia's blog, if you like.) Do you have some newbie stuff on your desk? Use it to create something spur of the moment and join us!

I think I'll go add some glitter to those stars....

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

The Dollar Dance

2011-08-20T01:03:00.000-04:00

Thanks for coming by for a peek on a Saturday! My post today is a DT assignment for Chicas Gettin' Crafty. We were each given a different aspect of a wedding to make a scrapbook layout about. Mine was to focus on the dance and we celebrated an usual tradition at my wedding (over 30 years ago.... yikes) that made for a fun layout. It was a Dollar Dance. It's a Mexican tradition that for one dollar any wedding guest can take a quick spin on the dance floor with the bride. I explain more about the obstacles I faced that made this layout more fun than I had planned, so head over to the Chica blog (see link above) for the scoop.

Now I hope you can get back to your Saturday fun.

Enjoy!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Friends with Flair on location

2011-08-19T01:20:00.000-04:00

Welcome to another FWF blog hop with Unity Stamps.

Before heading to visit home, I scrambled to get an album finished for my brother in honor of his 50th birthday. The bulk of it was page after page of tribute letters but it also had a little filler of photos of him and our family. The following is an example of that. You can tell I was in a hurry because it is a very simple page but it made me happy and the album as a whole made him happy, so that's what counts, right? I used sentiments from the Nov 2010 KOTM (Picture Perfect) and the May 2011 KOTM (think Happy thoughts).

You can find the blog hop HERE and a wide array of wonderful new stamps at Unity's website HERE.

Have a great weekend! I hope it's full of family fun....

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Desk on Location and a new folded card

2011-08-16T10:21:00.000-04:00

My What's on Tap Tuesday has a twist this week: it's on location.

During my visits to my parents over the past few years, I've amassed a tiny stash of scrapping products under a guest room bed for the times when we're just hanging out and I feel the need to satisfy my creative urges. Yesterday, I pulled out the three small bins and decided to make a simple card that I saw demonstrated on the Kaisercraft blog yesterday. Here's the LINK but the measurements are in centimeters. So to convert to inches, I used a 9" x 9" square as my base. Once folded, it fits in a legal-sized envelope. Just like the demo, I chose a sturdy double-sided card stock with a pretty collage print. The sentiment was already on the paper so all I had to do was stamp a cute little bird, color him and pop him up on the card, then add the trimmed kite from the piece of card stock I removed. This is called a concertina fold and I love the ease of it. It has to be the simplest folded card I've ever made. I hope it inspires you to make one, too.

Link in below if you'd like to share your desk top with us.
*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

An award, thanks!

2011-08-11T00:18:00.000-04:00

Recently, I received a surprise comment from Dotty, whose lovely blog is Dotty A Cards & Things (check it out). She told me that she had an award for me on her blog (thanks, Dotty!) and this is what I found when I visited:

There are a few rules with receiving this award and here they are:

Link back to the person giving it to you
Share it with 7 recently discovered blogs
Tell 7 random things about yourself.

Here are 7 blog sites to visit:
Understand Blue (love her projects and reflections on everyday life)
Millers Ink (gorgeous cards and a studio I envy!)
Robinsons Nest (love her cards and she's an Ippity Chick)
Stamping Mathilda (love her style)
Creatief Blog Van de Week (use Google translate because her projects are super!)
Papir Diva (lovely layouts and photos)
Campfire Chic Blog (just joined her 30 Days of Lists event)

And the 7 random things about myself..... will lets see......

My moniker is Scrapcollectr because, sometimes, paper scraps are just too pretty to throw away.
I collect journals and sketchbooks which is good because now I can consider them "Smashbook" inventory.
I just started playing tennis again and I've become a fanatic. Now I understand my dh's love of golf.
I'm originally from Texas but my East Coast-raised dh turned me on to country music.
I love Scrabble but I had to wean myself off of the online version... too addicting.
I recently discovered Twitter and I'm not sure how I have 47 followers already.
I believe that dancing + singing + crafting = happiness and should be done everyday.

If you won this award from me, please copy and paste and share the love! If not, just enjoy the links above and thanks for visiting... *smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

WOYWW#114, WOTT#18 and an easy ABC book

2011-08-10T00:23:00.000-04:00

Hi friends! It's time for What's on Your Workspace Wednesday and What's on Tap Tuesday, where I share the chaos that is my desk at the moment.

Around the periphery of the desk is the detritus that will eventually make another page in my mock Smashbook. I have little photos, restaurant flyers, a Playbill for the show we saw on Sat, et al. But in the center of the desk are the makings of a little ABC book I made for a friend's toddler. I found these K&Co playing cards on sale at Michaels and I soon came to realize why they were on sale. A couple of letters were misprinted, but I found a way to fix that. I punched holes through the cards, typed the ABC words on sticker paper then cut them and applied them to each alpha card. I had to customize the front and back covers with a little DCWV Grade School paper and Making Memories alpha rub-ons. Then thread all the cards through two rings and added a little monkey ribbon so that the little one could carry his book around with him more easily.

Thanks for peeking. I hope you'll share what's on tap by you today. If you are so inclined, link in below.

I wish you an A to Z great day!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Happiness can come in the mail...

2011-08-06T14:37:00.000-04:00

I'm telling you, check out Craftysteals.com because they've got daily specials and this was one of them only a couple of days ago! (And, guess what, they still have the green book available...)

I'm in the middle of spending a beautiful Saturday trying to backup my hard drive, so that I can update my operating system, so that I can install a new scanner that I need for scanning old pictures that relatives want returned, that will go in a birthday album, that I have to have finished by Thursday. Whew. So when this package arrived, although I didn't break it out yet, I did take 5 minutes to throw some items onto another mock Smash page (the background is a page in a 2004 art journal calendar from Stampington & Co. and I just let the sketch of the girl drive the page.) And I was happier for a few minutes.

Back to my technology headache. Hope you're having a better Saturday!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

FWF and a Smash page, of sorts

2011-08-05T06:05:00.002-04:00

Time for another Friends with Flair blog hop over at Unity. Okay, I've jumped on the Smashbook band wagon. But while I wait to get my very first one, I thought I'd get in the mood now. I've done this before. Take an empty journal, fill it with found inspiration. But this Smash idea is fun for documenting real life, too. So I found an old spiral bound weekly calendar on my shelf and went to town on one page with recent memorabilia of favorite things. The quote comes from the Unity/Melody Ross kit called All Worth It and that favorite kitty (Sparky) comes from Hugs and Kitties. That credit card sized photo comes out of a Fujifilm Instax Mini 7s camera. Lots of fun!

There are lots of new stamps to browse over at Unity, so have a gander using this LINK.

I wish you a SMASHing Friday! (For another look at a layout with an Instax Mini print and a chance to win a Smashbook, check out this post by PapirDiva.)

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

An orange accordion card and WOYWW

2011-08-03T13:42:00.000-04:00

***My WOYWW desks are in the post below ***

Over at Chicas Getting Crafty (formerly Peachy Kats) we're celebrating National Orange Month. My contribution is this little accordion book that I made with one sheet of cardstock and 2 sheets of patterned paper. Step-by-step instructions can be found HERE. But I just want to show you how I placed a favorite kid's joke inside the pages.

So there it is. Not only are the directions over at the Chicas blog, but leave a comment here and there and get a chance at winning this little beauty....

Have a great day!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

WOYWW#113, WOTT#17- Two desks and one adorable bird

2011-08-02T08:24:00.002-04:00

What's on Your Workspace Wednesday and What's on Tap Tuesday again...... Desk #1 is actually my kitchen table. You know how sometimes you have a project that just needs more space to come together? I had to spread out my brother's album project. As soon as I organized it and put each note in plastic dividers in a ring binder, it was removed. DH doesn't understand the need for 2 work areas. Lol.

Desk#2:

Sometimes, a card can evolve like this:

I caught up on my favorite blogger's latest post HERE.

She linked her inspiration to HERE.

That blogger linked her inspiration to HERE.

So, I took a long glittery scrap of paper from the DCWV Playtime stack and folded it in half, drew a bird on white paper, colored it with COPICs (but I will try the watercolor method soon), cut it out, popped it up (created its own shadow), punched Martha Stewart butterflies from a scrap then added word stickies from a Pink Paislee pad that came from an unbelievably generous kit offered by ScrapbookSteals. Sign up for their newsletter because they offer daily sales.

Hope you "love life" this Tuesday and Wednesday....

Link in below if you'd like to share your work desk today.....

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Friends with Flair and a Button Card

2011-07-28T23:06:00.000-04:00

Welcome to another Unity FWF blog hop!

I was strolling through a dollar store yesterday and found packs of Making Memories Vintage Findings and couldn't resist. The buttons were perfect for the card I wanted to make this week. You see, I've noticed that projects with button cards are getting popular. Of course, vintage button cards aren't always easy to find so people are making do and creating their own as a way of sharing buttons with crafty friends. I thought that this image from the June '11 KOTM (all smiles) had a perfect area to sew on three buttons. If it were going to a crafty friend, she could just snip off the buttons and use them on her own project.... a kind of "upcycle" effect.

Other Supplies: Paper (Springtime Vintage DP and Cherry Cobbler c/s - Stampin Up), Large Label die & Doily die (My Favorite Things), lace trim (Wyla)

I hope you're inspired to make your own button card to share. Be sure and link in to see the other FWF participants over at the Unity blog and then browse around their retail site because we're post-CHA and that means lots of new stamps!

Have a great weekend,
Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

WOYWW, WOTT, a beloved dog and an announcement

2011-07-27T00:05:00.000-04:00

Welcome to What's on Your Workspace Wednesday #112 and What's on Tap Tuesday #16! Yes, my brother's album is still hanging over my head, but, hey, artists are allowed to muse. This is actually the first page I've put together. I'm hoping it will be the start of creative roll because once I get started, I get into it.

So, this page is about my brother's wish for a dog coming true. He was a gorgeous blue-eyed terrier with black, white and gray coloring so he was named Pinto (like the horses). I mentioned before that I bought the DCWV stack called Playtime just because of this sheet of patterned paper that went so well with the photo. I used an embossed frame that came in a pack by K&Co. and American Crafts chipboard letter stickers (both of which you can see on my desk). A Dymo label maker added the rest of the title. Once everything was glued down, I realized that, at first glance, there was no room for journaling and I had used strips of foam tape under all four sides of my framed photo, so I couldn't tuck a journaling card behind the photo either. The layout also looked a little plain so I decided to journal directly on the tree and when I had even more to say, I continued to the bottom of the page. I like the look of the words on the page. Now I feel it is complete and I'm happy with it. Good dog.

(A quick note: the random winner of my mini album on Friday is....... Sharon G! Congrats, Sharon. Check my profile for my email address and drop me the info I need to Pony Express the album to you.... *smile*)

I hope you, dear reader, will be tempted to link in below and show us what's on tap in your neck of the woods. Also, if you're hungering for more, check out Lynn's blog (below) for another installment of her fabulous workspace and then head to Julia's WOYWW post where you can link in with the workspace's of people all over the world.
*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

FWF Summer Book

2011-07-22T08:51:00.001-04:00

Hi again! Here we are with the weekly Unity Friends with Flair blog hop. You'll find the other participants HERE. Also, don't forget to visit the Unity website because there are lots of new post-CHA (Craft & Hobby Assn. show) goodies for sale now.

For FWF this week, I was inspired by a Die Cuts With a View (DCWV) stack that I recently picked up called "Playtime". Aren't patterned papers getting just so cute these days? The papers are so glittery and whimsical... I thought I'd make a summer mini album by cutting up a few sheets and adding little Unity images and sentiments. (A My Favorite Things cloud die came in real handy, too.) I positioned all the additions in such a way that cropped photos can be added to each page without a problem. (I even cut around that adorable flamingo so that the photo can tuck in behind him.) Lazy me, I just attached the pages to each other with one staple from Tim Holtz' Tiny Attacher. After you browse the pictures below, check out how you can get a chance to win this album! *smile*

Cover:

Pages 1 & 2:

Pages 3&4:

Closeup of 3&4:

Pages 5&6:

Closeup of p. 5:

Pages 7&8:

I had lots of ideas for more pages but ran out of time... but see how you can take patterned papers and cheat a little? Let their art shine and just embellish! *smile*

Now, here are all the sets I used (with links) in this album.
Ippity's Books a Flutter
Ippity's Quotes a la Happy
Love Life by Melody Ross
All You Need... Aug 2010 KOTM
Just Be You - Dec 2010 KOTM
Small Things - April 2011 KOTM
All Smiles - June 2011 KOTM

Have a wonderful weekend. If you're looking for a smile today, check out this LINK to a blog called Dear Photograph. It is so cool!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr and Scrapcollectr57)

WOYWW#111, WOTT#15 and a Bingo Card

2011-07-19T00:57:00.017-04:00

So, how was your week? It's Weds. again. Kinda sneaks up on us, huh? Time for another What's on Your Workspace Weds. hosted by Julia. A side trip to her site will give you the chance to see work desks from around the UK and other parts of the world, too. (If you missed it, this desk above was also What's on Tap Tuesday for those of us on this side of the pond.)

This week, I'm determined to get going on my bro's 50th birthday album. Just a clean and simple one. I sent out letters with blank stationery sheets to friends and family asking them to expound on one word that comes to mind when they think of my brother. I'm using a Creative Memories 8-1/2" x 11" album and will give each person their own page. I'll use colorful patterned papers and put their thoughts next to a photo. The paper stack you see on the left side of my desk is called Playtime by DCWV and I'm using it because it had the adorable sheet you see on my desk of the park and a dog. This page will hold an old picture of my brother and the dog he begged for.

On the top right of my desk is a Bingo stamp by Unity and notice the small bingo token on top of it? When I saw these tokens by Tim Holtz in Michaels, I decided to make the following birthday bingo card for a cousin using a token with his age on it.

Finally, on the far right side of the desk, on top of the discarded patterned paper pile, but under my glasses and the Fiskars blade refills, are flattened cereal boxes. That leads us to Crafty tip #61: Before you throw out or recycle your cardboard cereal boxes, upcycle them by cutting them into usable squares for book projects. I used some 4"x4" squares recently for my dh's Father's Day accordion card.

Thanks for dropping in! I'd love for you to link in What's on Tap in your craft space today.... *smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Ippity, ATU35 and a winner!

2011-07-18T13:22:00.000-04:00

I'm going to keep you in suspense until the end of this post (but I can't control your scrolling down! *smile*)

I brought out my Ippity stamps to join in their Linky party today. After you leave here, check out their site HERE for more Ippity inspiration. I figured that I'd go ahead and use ribbon, too, so that I could enter it into the week-long All Things Unity challenge #35, which you will find HERE. Just so much fun going on today.

I used three Ippity sets on my little birdy card: birds (Quotes a la Happy), flowers (how YOU doin') and sentiment (Party Hat Wishes). I stamped the smallest flower of the set 10 times, colored and fussy cut them before I glued them to a sheet of patterned paper with all those pretty stems. Stamped and colored my absolute favorite birds and fussy cut them, too. Die cut the sentiment with my favorite Spellbinders Nestabilities Label #10 (which you can find HERE and if you join this site, you get a 40% off coupon monthly by email.)

I wanted unique party hats so I snipped them free hand out of text paper but I'm most thrilled with finding the word "happy" by accident. I just love serendipity.

Added the ribbon, ribbon slide, sparkly pom-poms and crystals to finish it off.

Hope you like it!

Now for the winner.... Random.org chose JEN, hooray! Jen, send me an email (you can find it in my profile) with your snail mail addy and the Mix and Match book from Friday is yours, or should I say, your daughter's? *smile*

Tomorrow is What's on Tap Tuesday. If you feel so inclined, come back to see what's going on on my desk and link in yours. So much fun to share.... Til then!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Crafty Saturday

2011-07-16T15:28:00.001-04:00

I came across a blog recently called Side Oats and Scribbles and I noticed that one of her sidebar challenges is to make a card and send it off to someone. Her recent challenge is over but since it was #3, I'm going to be watching for #4. It's nice to have a push in the right direction sometimes.

For that reason, I constructed a simpler version of my tri-shutter card (see sidebar tutorial) for a friend going through a hard time. Actually, the idea for it came together when I heard about a new stamp set called Little Labels by Tim Holtz and Stampers Anonymous. (I got it from Simon Says Stamp who snagged a few recently pre-CHA.) I imagined pairing the "pixie dust" label and one of Tim's corked vials filled with glitter and making it part of the sentiment. The adorable pixies are from a set by Stamping Bella, the gorgeous paper is from a botanical line by Brenda Walton for K&Co. and that tiny word sticker is from The Girls Paperie.

Another fun fact about this card: the sentiment on the second panel is from a Unity set by Melody Ross called She Did It Anyway. I wanted to continue the sentiment on the third panel with my own words, so I searched through my font library and found a font called Modern No. 20 that matched the stamp's font. I typed and printed my words at 24pt. I think it's a pretty good match.

Crafty tip #60: Save your broken costume jewelry to use on a craft project. One of my little Gap bracelets broke so I used the little beads for the inside of my big flower. Love how that looks....

Remember, if you know a youngster that would enjoy the little interactive book that I posted yesterday, just leave a comment telling me who it's for and I'll enter you into the random drawing for it on Monday.

Thanks for dropping by. May the pixies sprinkle a little dust on your day....

*smile*

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr and @scrapcollectr)

Friends with Flair and a Peachy project

2011-07-15T00:07:00.000-04:00

Hello and TGIF everyone!

Friday means Unity's weekly Friends with Flair blog hop. I love to see what everyone is up to. My contribution is a double whammy. I created this little project for a DT assignment over at Let's Get Peachy. July is Anti-Boredom Month so I thought a little interactive book for a youngster would be a fun diversion this summer. I've outlined the steps I took to create this fun book over at LGP so stop in there if this is something you'd like to try. The pages inside are decorated with various animals and the mixing and matching comes from being able to flip portions of each page to come up with a silly saying. I intentionally left the top quarter blank because I thought it would be fun for the child to add a friend or family member's name for more silliness.

My children are too old for this kind of fun so I'll be choosing a random commenter to win this book. If you're interested, please let me know in the comment who you'd like to give this to. I'll post a winner on my blog on Monday morning.

So, to show you one of the pages inside.... I used my favorite Unity owl from the Aug. '10 KOTM (all you need...) to grace the page.

On other pages, I used Sparky the kitty from Hugs and Kitties and the rooster, fish and cow from Ippity's Farm Fresh, Fishy Philosophy and Simply Home sets, respectively. (Go to the Ippity blog and use their locator to find an Ippity Chick, if you'd like one of these sets.)

Don't forget to check out all the fun stamps at Unity's main site and the blog hop at the Unity blog. You're sure to walk away inspired!
*smile*
Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

WOYWW#110 and WOTT #14

2011-07-12T00:19:00.002-04:00

Hello! Here's What's on My Workspace Wednesday (which was also What's on Tap Tuesday) this week. The chaos left over after I finished a submission for a magazine (plus layers of supplies from previous cards) and a paper stack that I'm considering using for my brother's 50th birthday album.

Some Nestabilities dies have been roosting on the desk awhile and I've avoided putting them away because I'm not happy with the system I use for storing them. It's not conducive to using them. I'd heard somewhere that storing them on magnet sheets is better. (One woman even put magnet sheets on a file cabinet door and sees them there whenever she opens the door. That would be great but I couldn't shoehorn a filing cabinet in here unfortunately.)

So I dug up some Xyron magnet rolls that I got for a steal when a teaching supply store was going out of business and made 8-1/2"x11" sheets to keep in a 3-ring binder. I stuck my Nestabilities on the sheets by shape and used dividers to sort them. Now, I have them more readily accessible.

Of course, this project was supposed to be way down on the the to-do list because I really should be working on my brother's album, but at least its done now.

I hope you'll link in below to show us what's going on in your craft space. Also, use the WOYWW link in the first sentence to see what's going on in workspaces around the globe (courtesy of the lovely Ms. Julia in the U.K.) Have a great week!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Friends with Flair... Unity style

2011-07-08T02:16:00.000-04:00

Hi friends and welcome to another Unity FWF Friday!

I wanted to use the "Ulysses" idea from last Friday in a graduation card this week. But instead of having his head peek through, this time I constructed a flapped card that allows me to tuck bills behind a scene that features copies of Ulysses face. I have to tell you that my son's little inexpensive copier made color copies of these bills so authentic looking I can just imagine how counterfeiters do it! Thank goodness our government magically sticks a watermark image within the bill...

The banner on the front of my card came from the May '10 KOTM (a little Happy). I stamped it twice directly on my panel then used my Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher between all the pennants for a little interest. I added paper pieced pennants and rub-on letters to spell out my greeting. (Can I tell you that I did this twice? The first time I spelled out Happy Birthday then realized it was supposed to be a graduation card, silly me! So my pennants have extra dimension because I had to add another layer to make it the right saying! Lol.) Lastly, one of the adorable birds from the Ippity set Quotes a la Happy decided to fly into my scene.

On the inside, I used Suzi Blu's Queen of Glitter image for the bodies of the three Ulysses. I like that the hands are up and waving and her blouse makes a good man's shirt. I cut the faces out of the bills that I had copied, adhered them and topped each with the party hat from Hugs and Kitties. By using foam spacers, I made the pocket for the bills hiding place. The empty panel above it is for a handwritten note.

Thanks for dropping by! Be sure and check out the other participants these week on the Unity blog HERE.

Have a great weekend,

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr, aka Scrapcollectr57 on Splitcoast)

WOYWW #109, WOTT #13 and a Peachy Layout

2011-07-05T00:24:00.006-04:00

What's on Your Workspace Wedsnesday and What's on Tap Tuesday here. This is what I saw when I dared to enter my scrap area this holiday weekend. It was the chaos left behind when I finished the card I last posted on Thursday. Let's see, there's the red, white and blue twine that I considered for my card but rejected. Great for the postal theme but colors didn't jibe. (They're good here though because I'm writing this on July 4th.) There are several Unity Kits of the Month. I think I used three different ones on my card. The cube calendar still says June 28th. Lots of adhesive and diamond shaped pop dots (they create a nice trellis as I use them, don't they?) Oh, and under my glasses are the journal cards that will go in a Project Life album. Click HERE to know more about Project Life. I decided that this being the halfway mark of the year, I'd just jump in here and start taking daily photos and journaling about them. Better late than never, right?

Well, all this is being cleaned off today because I have to make a card for a grad party that we're going to on Saturday and, more important, my brother (you know the one who's 50th birthday is TODAY) is supposed to be getting an album from me. I'm still waiting for some responses from family to include in the album (including my own mom!) I sent off letters with blank stationery asking family and friends to write about one word that they feel describes my brother. I will definitely show you the album when it's done. (Expect clean and simple.)

What I can show you today is a layout I did about the photo shoot with my eldest when he was turning one (19 years ago). More details can be found on the Let's Get Peachy blog HERE. This layout was part of a recipe challenge currently going on at the site. You choose 4 or more items to include on your layout, then submit it by linking in on the LGP sidebar for a chance at a prize!

I hope you had a fun weekend. I don't expect that you had a lot of time to be working on any projects but if you'd like to share the madness currently on your desk, I'd love to see it! Link up below.

Question of the day: What's your favorite hobby besides crafting? I'm trying to get back into reading. Currently enjoying the second book of The Hunger Games trilogy. How about you?

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)

Friends with Flair....shhh.... a little early....

2011-06-30T21:51:00.001-04:00

I'm determined not to miss posting on Unity's Friends with Flair Friday so here I am, early this time.

After decades of racking our gift-giving brains, my family seems to have come to the conclusion that gift cards and cash are the most fun. I try to design my cards around that thought sometimes. So in honor of my middle brother's 50th, a Ulysses S. Grant bill is tucked into his card in a fun way. Here's how.

I started by stamping my Unity wood slide postcard stamp on a parchment looking paper from DCWV's Once Upon a Time Stack. I then embellished it with two stamps from the June '11 KOTM (All Smiles): the cancelled stamp and the "sending wishes" block.

The fun part came from cutting out the inside of the cancelled stamp. By using foam tape only around three of the back edges of my postcard, I could insert a precisely folded bill back there so that Ulysses' face peeks out of the hole and he appears to be the stamp. The dilemma was what would happen once my bro removed the bill? I didn't want an empty space to show so I positioned more of my K&Co patterned paper underneath so that another postal stamp image would appear once Ulysses was gone, like so:

In keeping with the postal theme, I used a little twine on the lower panel of my easel card so it looks like a package. Adding the bevy of small butterflies from the Nov '10 KOTM (Picture Perfect) and the larger butterfly from the March '11 KOTM (Just You) gave a little more interest to the scene and, what do you know, now the card qualifies for the All Things Unity Challenge #34... *smile*

This weekend, I wish you packages tied up with string and a fun-filled holiday!

Cindy (aka Scrapcollectr)