A second post, the baby must be sleeping Actrully I made this bitrhday card for the current challenge at caardvarks.blogspot.com and I wanted to post it seperate. For this months challenge Caarvark’s sponsor My Favorite Things is celebrating their birthday. So, you have to make a birthday card. Like always I used all scraps and some of those random embellishments I keep finding.  I really like how this card turned out and hope you like it too. Have a great day!

Well, I am officially half way to my goal with an extra to spare. Though my scrap box isn’t getting any smaller, it is getting harder to find color combinations that work. I have been trying to come up with new ways to alter paper that is not quite what I am looking for.

Also, since I got a new desk and have been reorganizing my room, I have been finding a lot of random left over embellishments. Each time I come across an embellishment that is a left over or is a random piece I have been putting it in its own box. Yes, I said it I have started another box. So, now I have a box of scrap paper and a box of left over embellishments. In this box I have things like brads, scraps of ribbon, tags and flower.

For this batch of cards I have a  thank you cards and then some Father’s Day cards that I made. Since I have gotten my new desk I feel like the creative juice have been flowing. I have been making cards and working on Ari’s baby book. For now I have the pictures of the cards and soon I will put up pictures of my desk. I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Total Card count 51!

Just a quick post to show what I have done this week. Paper crafts is holding their yearly Gallery Idol contest and yes the contest rules are much similar to American Idol. SO right now they are having open auditions, where you can submit as many thank you cards as you like. Then next week they are going to choose a top 20 to continue competing in the contest. I am still working out my scrap box, which has really pushed me to be extra creative for this contest.  If I make to the top 20 I will let you know because I will need al the votes I can get. Lets cross our fingers and I hope the judges like my work.  I also threw in two Mother’s Day cards that I made out of scraps as well. Bringing my total card count to: 48

To see the full image or to make it big just click on it.

Lately life has been very busy with the new addition to our house. Little Ariana is now almost three months old and keeps me on my toes. She does have down time and I try use those moments to clean, cook and if there is enough time work on my scrap box.  Which is still out of control, but is still good for making cards. Even though I have not been able to make that many I have managed to turn a few scraps into some great cards I’m sure anyone would enjoy.

While trying to make these few cards I deiceded that my craft room was just to much of a disaster in itself. How could one truly tap into their most creative thoughts in such a mess? So, I decided that I needed to get a new desk and reorganize my room. So far it coming along nicely, a little slow but we are making progress. I like the idea of having everything out where I can see it, plus I can have my Cricut out and it doesn’t take up the whole desk. When I get things just right I will post pictures. For now here are some picture of the few card I have been able to squeeze in, bringing my total count of cards made out of scraps up to 41. Almost half way there!

Well I am still working on my scrap box and I have managed to get 15 more cards done. All of which I used as thanks you cards.  Hope every one is having a great February! More cards to come soon, I am still working towards my goal of 100 cards.

Total Card Count: 36

Happy New Year and I hope this year is bringing everyone good luck and happiness. It has been a while since my last post but that does not mean I have not been up to my usual shenanigans.  Lately, I have been working on my scrap pile once again. I tackled it last year during a weeklong caardvarks contest; I used only scraps to make all my cards. Well, I have done a lot of layouts and invitations lately and my scrap pile has yet again gotten out of control. One of my goals I have been working on is to become a true master of the scraps and make all my cards from scraps. It has been very hard and trying sometimes, especially if I want a particular color and I know I have a full sheet of it in my drawer. I have not given in to temptation but I have found a few strategies to help the process.

When I sit down to make some cards I will first pull out all the biggest pieces and see if I can make the card base out of them. Once I have a few cards folded, I will then pull out pieces that are about 3×3 or bigger and cut out a hand full of different shapes using my sizzixs or cricut. I found this very help full for example, the other day I cut out a small pile of flowers in whatever scraps I had. Not only can I use them on my cards but I also have them on hand for other projects. I like this idea of just taking scraps and cutting out shapes so much that I started a small box of die cuts. If I am not in the mood to make a card I will go threw my scrap box and cut out die cuts for my box. Once I have a small pile of cards and die cuts I will then collect scraps of what ever else I have in my room such as ribbon and miscellaneous embellishments, like rhinestones that you only have one left of a particular color.  When I have all my scrap, leftovers and random embellishments collected I lay them all out on my table and start arranging elements together that coordinate or match, then from there I start making cards.

I have found this process to very effective and I have come up with some great cards. In a little less than week, I made 21 cards.  When I first made them I left off any sayings so I could then add a stamp or sticker to match the occasion I need a card for. You just don’t want to make a million birthday cards and need a get well card. I am very glad I did this because I have been needing many thank you cards lately with the anticipated arrival of a new baby soon.

Little by little my scrap pile is getting smaller and smaller. My advice would be to save all your scraps that are about 2×2 inches or bigger, start a box and throw in paper, ribbon, borders and that last colored rhinestone that just wont fit on your lay out. Then every once in a while sit down with that box sort it and see how many cards you can get out of it. My goal for my out of control box is 100 cards and I am almost 1/4 of the way there.

Hello all and happy fall! The weather is finally starting to cool down here and the leaves are starting to change color.  So, far this weekend has been great, yesterday I went to the Scrap booking Expo in Sacramento. Wow, I am not really sure how else to describe the event. There was great make and takes, demos and lots a great shopping. By the end of the day my tote was packed full. I can’t wait till next year and if there is ever an expo close to you I highly recommend going, my favorite booth was the $1 embellishment booth.

Also this week I made a card for the new challenge at caardvarks.blogspot.com, for this challenge you had to use ribbon on your project. I have been eyeing this halloween paper at Michael’s and I just had to get it and make a card. The bats on the paper are actually rubbery feeling and I quilled the bat on the button.

On another note, I am fiannly getting my flicker account up a running. Sadly I met my limit for the month already, so I will have to wait till next month to put this card up. If you want to check out other projects I have done check out my gallery at http://www.flickr.com/photos/29915223@N07/

This week was a tough one, the battle between my scrap and I was a fierce one. My scrap continued to be out of control all week, and even tried frustrate me with their size, amount and sometimes lack colors. With the help of my trusty sixxiz machine, we battled through the week together. The out come, 7 wonderful cards and a scrap drawer that now fits back in its proper place.  I think this will be a battle that will continue to rage on,  but I will remain with me as the victor, as I counting to use my scraps to make cards and other small projects. Thanks for joining me this week and thank you for all the love and comments. A big shout out to http://caardvarks.blogspot.com for hosting such a wonderful contest.

Well, today was the last day of the challenge at http://caardvarks.blogspot.com. I was able to do all 7 sketches. Here is my take on the sketch. I will come back tomorrow and post a gallery of all 7 and chat about the battle between my scrap and I.

I can’t believe I am only one day a way from winning this battle of Kap vs scrap. Once again thanks to all my wonderful sizzix die cuts I was able to push through one more battle. For this card ,I wanted  to create something that was simple yet bold.  The sketch has the three items on the left lined up, but I think having the middle slightly off center helps all the elements stand out more.  I hope you are having a happy friday and I will see you tomorrow.