Officially "On Crack"

For this second sketch of week 11 in Cathy Zielske's Design Your Life class, we focus on type. She discusses her attempts to match alpha stickers with her journaling font as closely as she can. She also uses size as emphasis more than differing fonts.

I started this layout with an idea. The idea was the pain I am feeling in my legs right now as a result of starting a new workout program. So, this page is an ode to my husband and I thinking we are still in our 20s. I chose the letter stickers first, and tried to revolve most of my judgments around them. The word "crack" is from a sheet by Polar Bear Press called "Rustic Retreat" cardstock stickers. I got them on sale somewhere... woo hoo! I loved the colors... there is also a red that goes with the cream and gray.

The font that I chose to go with this is Berlin Sans. I think they match up pretty well. I chose some old metallic sticko alphas (from back in the day when I believed I might do the shabby chic thing) for my year (at the top) and the words "officially on." These show up much better in person, or if you click on this image.

I was so proud that I had used almost all of a 12 x 12 piece of Tinkering Ink patterned cardstock (Seasonal Stripes - Black from the Yuletide collection). Got this on sale, too. The stripes are on the flipside of the deep green solid. I love how the colors blend with each other.

Notice how in my journaling, I keep saying, "we like it." Totally, subconsciously trying to convince myself that, if I like it, my body won't hurt that badly. Yes, "on crack."

Every Day You...

It only took me about 10 hours to get this done today. It had nothing to do with the sketch and everything to do with 50,000,000 other things popping up.

This is the first sketch for Cathy's week focusing on type. I love type, probably because I love scripting. I think the digital age has opened so many great opportunities for the Everyday Jo to use type. So much less is needed to be done by hand... I'm getting a little lazy!

Cathy's design was an easy one to follow, as usual. I am grateful for that! We were to make a strip of four photos that gave a window into someone in our lives and what he did "every day." It's funny when you have kids on the autism spectrum. They have things they do every day because... that's their gig. Routine is king.

I started with Max, as he stuck out the most this week especially. That child would be at the park now, in pouring rain, if we left him to his own devices. He is my outdoorsman.

Cathy created the Every Day You type, and asked us to use Helvetica or Arial. Her stress was that variations in the size of the same type were sufficient. Titles do not always have to have different styles from the journaling. Emphasis can be achieved through simply making words larger or smaller.

Since I couldn't find the right color for my journal panel, I chose to sample some of the blue in Max's shirt in the picture on the far right as a background color. I adore the ribbon that I used, which I believe was just something I picked up am Michaels. The flipside has a lighter shade of blue stitched with the darker blue on the edge. The brown mulberry paper is from Michaels, and it's one of my all-time favorites. It gives fantastic texture. If Scott had his way, we would have covered the basement walls in it (if only it came in larger than 12 x 12 sheets!). The corduroy buttons are from Bazzill. I popped the journaling up with dimensionals. The layout is 8.5 x 11 inches. I had to take a photo of this one because, the more 3D my layout, the worse of an image I get with my scanner. Probably some setting I am missing.

SC221 - Praying for You

Today's Sketch Challenge (shown) for SCS at first made me scratch my head a bit. I needed to make a card for a seven-year-old boy for whom we have been praying as he prepares for his First Holy Communion. I had to keep it boylike, yet reverent. So I went with silvers, grays, and white. I must say, I really like how it turned out.

I stayed true to the sketch except I moved the sentiment panel Since I flipped the sketch, it would not have made sense to the side of the main image. I also learned a valuable lesson about applying adhesive to the back of a panel embossed with CB Swiss Dots. Kind of flattens them out.

Size: 5.5 x 4 inches

Paper: white cardstock; silver metallic paper

Ink: Encore silver; SU! Going Gray

Embossing: Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder

Stamps: SU! Thoughts and Prayers (sentiment) and Refuge and Strength (cross)

Color Challenged

OK, what is it about me that refuses to place pink and green together? I try and I try.

So, anyway, here is my submission for CC221. I tried. :) Dimensionals seem to add some depth. I also really like the sentiment stamp, which reads, "you make the world special just by being in it." Something to remember day to day.

Size: 3.25 x 4.25 in.

Paper: white cardstock; SU! Kiwi Kiss

Ink: SU! Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Pretty in Pink; Color Box Chalk Ink (green)

Stamps: SU! Spring Garden and You Make Me Happy

Gratitude Journal

For Design Your Life, Week 10, Sketch 3, Cathy offers us a template for a gratitude journal. Since this week is about color, we were also asked to do some coordinating there based on the colors in the photos we have chosen.

Well, I chose a bit of a difficult picture, color-wise, but I think it turned out OK. It was the gratitude part that was important to me. We were to choose a photo that represented something for which we were grateful. My choice was Earth's moments that remind us how infinitesimally small we are in the grand scheme of things. These are the moments that humble... put us in our place. God knows we need them. I can't believe it took until I was almost 36 before I experienced this one.

As far as colors are concerned, I went with Earthy. Isn't the paisley awesome? I just got it from SU!... To the Nines is its name. It's actually the weight of cardstock and it is double-sided. I cut it to 8.5 x 11 in. The little polka dotted scallop that you see at the bottom was the flipside of the paisley. I finished it off with some SU! Chocolate Chip twill ribbon and SU! Hodgepodge Hardware.

So simple, yet how cool?

A Big Deal Indeed

Finally, I am back to my Cathy Z. sketches! I ended in week 10 (way back in what-- January?). For this second sketch of week 10, we were to use a favorite triadic color scheme. I chose a blue (SU! Not Quite Navy), an orange (from American Crafts Remarks Runway Letter Stickers) and a green (from same stickers). I also threw in another shade of blue to match the chalk Max was using in the photos. Triadic schemes make a, well, triad. Think of making the points for a triangle on the color wheel. That's what a triad looks like on the wheel.

Now, I will say Cathy's sketch was a springboard. I did a variation on the theme. Her sketch had a large panel underneath the focus picture on the left. I just could not find a panel that did not diminish the photos. Also, Cathy alternated colors of strips, and only put strips above the photos. I tried, but my OCD stepped in. I used one type of pattern and placed the adhesive strips (SU! Tailor-Made Simply Scrappin' set) above and below the two largest photos. I think that gives the layout a unity that I might not have had otherwise. I did jump the gutter with my title. I love the simplicity of this layout. I almost grabbed some other embellishments, but I stopped myself.

Clean and Simple Squared

Here's a post with not one, but TWO, clean and simple cards. I know! I am also excited. Hee hee.

Card for CAS03: For this Clean and Simple challenge, we were asked to use this sketch. I was thinking how spring-like the weather was today, and how, soon, we would spot some growth. So, that's how I decided to handle this sketch. This card is for my friend Marilyn. She battles brain cancer, and is a living, breathing testament to this verse. It's also one of my all-time favorite verses. The context from the Bible is when the angel Garbiel visited Mary to announce that she would be the mother of Jesus. He explains to Mary that her cousin, Elizabeth, is pregnant with John the Baptist. Elizabeth was thought to be sterile. In so many ways, on so many levels, this verse has rung true. It is a verse of hope for me, even in the midst of despair.

Size: 4.25 x 5.5 inches

Cardstock: SU! Kraft, white

Ink: SU! Chocolate Chip and Almost Amethyst

Stamps: Stampabilities Luke 1:37 and SU! Season of Friendship

Other: Dimensionals; Scor-Pal

Card for CAS04: OK, now this one cracks me up. It's so much fun to make yourself laugh. Well, for me it is. :) This challenge asked us to use dots. As with all Clean and Simple challenges, we were also asked to keep the design and layers minimal. I decided to use scraps that I had lying around for this one, so I am not 100% sure of the specs for the papers I used. Isn't the sentiment hysterical? Again, as long as I am amused, I guess all is well.

It looks like I cut the patterned paper, when in truth, I used the scrap from today's previous card as a frame for the patterned paper.

Size: 4.25 x 5.5 inches
Cardstock: SU! Basic Gray, Bashful Blue (textured)
Ink: SU! Basic Gray

Stamps: SU! Smarty Pants

Brads: Basic Grey glazed

Die: Sizzix Top Notch

Butterfly Dress

The dress to the left was my inspiration for my card for today's challenge. It is from the Spunky Sprout site, and its colors caught my eye. I tried to use butterflies, but it just wouldn't work. This was a sympathy card, and the butterflies I was using seemed a bit too perky.

So, instead, I used the Top Nitch Sizzix die from SU! I have to ask... what is up with the perforated frame for this die? There must be something I am missing. When used alone, it looks like a piece is missing from the cutout. When you try to cut around it, it is a difficult task. Perhaps there's something REALLY easy that I am missing with this. Otherwise, it seems to defeat the purpose of die cutting if my lame freehand cutting has to match up with it. So, I cut and I sanded the yellow layer onto the gray. It doesn't look too bad, but the perfectionist in my gets a bit uncomfortable when I look close. :)

I have to say that the Hope for Comfort SU! set has gotten a lot of use from me. Alas, that means I have made a lot of cards for grieving friends and family. However, I like how smoothly it stamps and the phrases are just right.

Card size: 4.25 x 5.5 inches

Cardstock: white, black, SU! Yo-Yo Yellow and Basic Gray

Stamp: SU! Hope for Comfort

Ribbon: Oriental Trading velvet yellow and SU! Basic Gray taffeta

Die: Sizzix Top Notch die for SU!

Ink: SU! Basic Gray

Official Day

I am officially crafting today. I could be getting my tax stuff together. I could be grading. I could be sleeping. I could be straightening my house. Screw it. I am going to craft. So there.

The Scap Review Launch Day 7

I have been so wrapped up with work this week that I have missed most of The Scrap Review's launch. Today, Day 7, is the biggest giveaway yet, so DO stroll over and make a comment.