A Permanent Remembrance

Gee wiz... it seems lately the only posts I make here are for my Stuck On U Sketches challenge weeks.  Things should soon start slowing down for me here in the weeks ahead, so hopefully I will then have some time freed up to get more crafty and bloggy, lol!  At least that's what I'm a hopin' for!

So yes, it is SOUS sketch reveal Friday here and that makes me sooo happy!  Also kinda makes me sad though too, because it's my last sketch as a SOUS designer.  I hate to give up my spot on the team, but I know there are so many other talented ladies waiting for their chance to shine their creative lights there too!  So with that, I do hope you like my interpretation of Leah Shaeffer's sketch this week...

I really love the split imagery design of this sketch and it was easy for me to roll with it!  I had the perfect photo to scrap about and I knew I wanted to use the cool tattoo heart imagery to compliment the photo, using the Indie Art Cricut cartridge. 

"A Permanent Remembrance", is about my brother's tattoo that he's gotten in memory of his son (my nephew), Isaac.  Later after we had lost our Ava and Amelia, my brother went and had hearts added to his tattoo for both of them with their initials as well.  Probably one of the most touching gestures of love that a brother can do... I still am beyond touched and I think it looks just lovely! 

All the papers and stickers here are from the most recent "Carefree" collection by Authentique!  I thought the collection was perfect for adding just the right amount of masculinity to this page, especially with that muted gray woodgrain pattern!  I also used some Core'dinations Core Essentials cardstock.  The wing diecut is also cut from the Indie Art cartridge.  I tied on the sticker tag embellies with some Papertrey Ink natural twine.

Hope you've enjoyed this sketch and my page.  Please don't forget to go to the SOUS blog and see what all the other ladies have created this week as well.  Before I go I'd like to express to the girls how much I've enjoyed sharing my work over on the blog and how fun it's been getting to know each and everyone them.  They are a special group of ladies and I've been totally inspired by them all!  Thanks for having welcomed me there at Stuck On U Sketches! 

Happy Friday!

Ohh, am I ever glad it's Friday!  Another work week scratched off the calendar, also means it's PAY-DAY and SOUS sketch reveal day at the Stuck On You Sketches challenge blog!  Ohhh HAPPY Day indeed! 

Today's sketch was created by our own SOUS designer and co-creator, Leah Shaeffer.

I adore her sketches and this one was definitely fun to create from...

And, here's what I did using some lovely Fall pix from 2010...

Please click on photo to view the details better!  These pretty petals in a pumpkin were delivered to me from my hubby for our 10th Anniversary... he knows how much I love Fall, so he couldn't have put had a more perfect arrangement sent!  I used Glitz Designs paper, accents and woodgrain tiny alphas here.  The Pretty Petals title piece was cut using the Cricut Country Life cartridge and the decorative flower and leaf accents were all cut using Picturesque.  The frame surrounding the title was cut with Elegant Edges.  Other paper flowers here are from Petaloo and I added orange rhinestone centers from doodlebug design.  All cardstock is Core'dinations.

So there ya have it!  Please don't forget to come visit us over at SOUS and try out the sketch yourself!  We'd love to see what you do!  Hope everyone has a beautiful and enjoyable weekend!

Quiet Moments

Hmm, quiet moments are something of a rarity around here lately, but that's what my page today is all about!  I thought that it would be the perfect title for my layout that I created for the Stuck On U Sketches challenge blog today.  Sometimes the quiet moments are all you need!  Isn't that the truth?  Anyway, this page features one of my favorite photos that I took last summer of the hubster and our doggie niece, Jenna who we were doggie-sittin' for one weekend. But if you procede further on and take a look at my page, you will notice that I have titled my "QUIET" Moments page "QUITE" Moments instead!  Lol... major spelling error!  I will be fixing that, however I guess that's what I get for staying up late to scrap!  I seriously can't believe that I didn't even notice that while I was cutting out the letters and placing them... silly me! 
First of all, here is the cool sketch we got to play with this week...

And this is my page...

Remember, you can click on the picture to view my page is closer detail!  And again, so sorry for my spelling error! 

I love the blues and greens that I used here to reflect upon the serenity of the picture.  All of these papers are from the Pink Paislee Nantucket collection, and the embossed Core'dinations cardstock is all from the matching Pink Paislee Core Impressions line of Modern Prints, which happens to be some of my all time favorite Core cardstock!  For my page I also used the Cricut Picturesque cartridge to cut the dragonfly embellishment.  The "quite" in my title was the Paper Lace 2 font as well.  Other product here includes some baby blue chevron ribbon by May Arts, some green tinsil fiber from Darice, some decorative brads from Basic Grey, green paper flowers from Petaloo, pink alpha stickers from Pink Paislee and mini alphas from Glitz! 

So sorry to be so short today, but I've got a busy Friday ahead and must be running!  Like I said, where are my quite moments, lol!  I hope you all have a great weekend and be sure to stop by the SOUS challenge blog and have a look around to be inspired!  ;) Take care, friends!

Playing Catch-Up!

Wow... so sorry for my lack of blogging these days!  I have not made a post in over 2 weeks and I haven't really been reading or commenting on others blogs either these days, which makes for a pretty sad Andrea!  I just don't know how the time has been getting away from me.  Granted I have been working 40 hour weeks for the first time in nearly 5 years, so this in itself maybe reason enough!  I dearly miss my extra leisure time for crafting that's for sure! 

But anyway... I've also let my little giveaway from the SOUS blog hop get away from me.  I'm really sorry that I haven't posted a winner on here before now, but I won't make any excuses.  Shame on me! 

Okay, without any further wait... the winner is...

Please email me your addy at amuoct21 at aol dot com, Mickey's Craft World, and I would love to send you a package which will include this...

As for other stuff, today I had the pleasure of having a project featured on the Crafts Unleashed blog for Consumer Crafts.  Ya'll remember that Mother's Day is coming up shortly next month?  Well, I created an easy but elegant card for mom that is short on time and supplies.  I used my Cricut Sophisticated cart, some scraps of Core Essentials and DCWV Linen Collection patterned paper, the Martha Stewart Garden Gate edge punch and a Fleur De Lis emboss folder from Darice!

You can check out the blog post on Crafts Unleashed for more step-out shots and instructions of how I created the card!

Now, how would you like to win $700.00 worth of wonderful Core'dinations Cardstock and other fabulous scrappy stuff?  I mean who wouldn't want that kind of prize, right? 

You can enter to win right HERE!!  Good luck!  :)

Stuck On U Sketch's Blog Hop... Get to Know Me!

Yes, today is the perfect time to be stopping by the SOUS blog for inspiration, because it's not just the normal Friday reveal of a sketch, but today is full of extra fun because we are hopping too to share some pages "all about" the designers and some fun facts as well along each stop.  In addition, there may also be some special blog candy  here and there along the way so you'll want to visit each member!

Sooo, about the hop...

Hello and thanks for visiting Stuck on U Sketches today! We are happy to have you to join us for our "Get to Know Me" Blog Hop! Our design team has been working hard to create layouts about themselves to share with you & we hope you enjoy them! They will also be answering 10 fun questions about themselves. We are including this bonus sketch today, so we hope that you will get an opportunity to use it this week.

The Blog Hop begins here at SOUS, so just follow along the blog path. We are linking to one of the SOUS designers and that designer is linking to the next and so on. In case there is a glitch along the way, here is a complete list of all the participating blogs:

                                                            Agnieszka Bellaidea

Andrea Amu

Annette Gearside

Beatriz Guzman

Charlotte Brochu

Elizabeth Currie-Matsko

Faith-Abigail

Fern Riley

Leah Schaeffer

Lisa Norris

Nanné Harry

Sandi Clarkson

Sandi Smith

Shona Keehn

Stine Ursin

Theresa Kelly
Tracey Kelly

Stuck On U Sketches

Of course we are offering some yummy blog candy! And here it is:

A winner will be randomly chosen after the hop is over. it is important to leave a comment on each blog. Many of them are also offering a small blog candy of their own.

The Blog Hop starts today, 7:00 AM EDT USA March 30th and runs through 11:59pm USA EDT on Sunday April 1st .

The SOUS winner will be announced on Monday April 2nd. You must leave a comment on each of the designers blogs as well as become a follower to be eligible to win the SOUS blog candy.

Thanks again for joining us! Have a great time!

So let's begin... 

First off, here are the "get to know me" questions followed with my own answers...

1.  If I was a crayon, what color would I be?  Okay, I'm not sick or feeling green in the tummy, but I would be green... my favorite color!

2.  What would people be surprised to learn about me?  Ohh gosh, I have been trying so hard to come up with a creative answer for this but I feel as though I would be pondering on this forever.  I'm not good at talking about myself sooo, would you be surprised if I were to say I don't know how to answer questions about myself, lol?

3.  What 5 things are always on my crafting table?  Now that's an easier question!  1. Core'dinations cardstock  2. Pounce Wheel tool  3. Paper trimmer  4. Cricut Expression  5. Zig Glue Pen

4.  What is my go-to embellishment?  Currently I would say ribbon or twine. 

5.  What is my ALL-TIME favorite crafting tool?  Can you guess?  Come on!!  Oh yea... definitely my Cricut!

6.  Tell about my family... first in one word.  Then in a sentence or two. 

My family... HEAVENLY! 

My family IS heavenly, for it is through my family and because of my family where I find strength!  I have always wanted to be a mom and I have 3 little angels in heaven.  They are 3 of my proudest accomplishments and I can't wait to one day be reunited with them forever! 

7.  What is my dream vacation?  A never ending vacation, lol!  Perfect, right?

8.  Who is my favorite crafty company?  I would say Core'dinations!  Can't go without cardstock, and Core is thee best! ;)

9.  Tell a little about my crafty style!  I love, love, love layers!!  Layering is my thing!

10.  Where do I live?  I live in a home that I'm so very blessed to have and share with the love of my life! 

Okay... that wasn't too hard.  Now we can get onto something more interesting... this week's sketch... It's a cute one...

I really enjoyed this, and I really was excited to finally scrap this photo of myself from last Fall...

(Please click on photos to view them larger.)

I also used one of my favorite Fancy Pants collections here, Summer's End!  Here are two more close-up detail shots...

I also used some of the fun Hambly Studios washi tapes here... such a fun product to layer with.  All the embossed cardstock is from Core'dinations.  The floral printed blue cardstock mat is a piece from the Fancy Pants Core Impressions line and I used and inked over the reverse side with a brown inkpad.  Lovin' the look!  I do hope you've enjoyed my portion of the hop.  Please let a comment here on my blog to let me know what you've enjoyed here and I'd love to put your name in for the chance to win a litttle package of goodies from me in return!  Please include an email in your comment so I can get back to you if you are chosen! 

Your next stop along the way is... Annette Gearside!

Enjoy... and again, thanks for hopping by!

A card for My Mind's Eye Blog Challenge #33!

Hello there!  I know this is kind of last minute posting this card tonight, even though I actually finished this one up at our girl's scrappy weekend last week!  I meant to get it posted earlier but THIS weekend was kind of a blur... why does it always seem like that? Really!  Anyway since the deadline for this MME blog card challenge is 12 midnight, I think I'm still pretty safe with about an hour to go!  So first, here's the card sketch...

and here is my card creation...

I used a mix of papers and a diecut from the Lime Twist and Lost and Found Two collections along with some Core'dinations Vintage cardstock, and Cricut cutting! 

The sweet heart chains and butterflies were all cut with the Teresa Collins Sophisticated cartridge... totally one of my all time faves! I really do love the soft Shabby Chic inspired designs of these MME papers!  Okay, that's all I really have to show for tonight's post but I will have some more cards and a layout to share that I also made at last weekend's scrappy get-together later in the week!  See ya then!

SOUS Sketch Reveal for March 16th!

Today is Friday, Yay! So excited because the long-awaited scrappy weekend with my friends has finally arrived! I've taken off work for the day, and I couldn't be any happier that I can get away for a few days with the girls! Now let's just see how much craftiness I can actually get accomplished! ;)

Also for today there's a SOUS sketch reveal up, with yet another sweet sketch to create with!  For my page today I broke out some older My Mind's Eye from their Meadow Lark collection to create this layout about my niece.  Such a terrific black and white line! 

Here's the sketch by SOUS's own Sandi Clarkson...

and this is what I did with it...

I also used the Cricut Elegant Edges cartridge for my cuts here and the flowers are Petaloo paper flowers in Marine Blue, designed to specifically match up to Core'dinations cardstock colors!  Fun!  I love the look of the Marine blue paired with the black and white combo!

Okay... sorry to be short and sweet this morning, but I really do have a bit more packing to get back to.  Everytime I tell myself not to pack eveything I own... afterall, I'm not taking a U-Haul of my scraproom!  Always so hard to narrow down though.  Enjoy the weekend you all, and please don't forget to join in on our sketch challenge at Stuck On U Sketches!  Bye!

Home Is Where The Heart Is!

I love home!  And I LOVE MY home... as I was cleaning house some this past weekend, I couldn't help but to think how very lucky I am to have such a beautiful place to call my home each and every day.  I am truly thankful, proud and blessed to be "planted" here with my husband... home is where the heart is!  And with that notion in mind, today I am happy and excited to be sharing something wayy cute and "home-crafted" from one of my super creative online scrappy friends, Shanna Vineyard! 

Shanna has combined her love of hand-drawing and painting, mixed with her fondness of bright, happy colors to bring us all a kit that is different than anything you’ve ever seen! In celebration of her relocating back home to Arizona next week, she was inspired to create this kit, “Home Is Where the Heart Is” that includes over 50 different hand-drawn and painted images. The imagery can be used in your digital projects or can be easily resized and printed to cut out and use with your traditional scrapbooking and card making creations. The possibilities are endless and you will have them to use over and over again as much as you like for as many projects as you wish! So FUN!!!

I can't stress enough how cute this digital kit is!  I don't venture too far into the digi world myself, but I do on occasion dable with creating some Hybrid projects.  I must admit, I was quite flattered that Shanna would ask me to experiment with her new kit, and I really had a blast with it too!

Here is a little project that I put together with some of Shanna's darling pieces... a door hanger, fitting for Spring...

(Please click on photo to view details larger).

The Kraft house hanger is a piece that I found awhile ago at Michael's in the clearance section. I knew I could come up with something cute to do with it one day, and well, that day is NOW, lol! The circular "Home Sweet Home" phrase, the bird, the heart, the fence and the sun are all from Shanna's kit content. I printed out all my pieces onto Core'dinations Core Essentials and Whitewash cardstock and I also did some Cuttlebug embossing on the phrase (Meadow Lark folder) and fence (Distressed Stripes folder). Inking the embossed areas with some Tim Holtz Distress inks also really give the images a different look, as does printing the imagery on colored cardstock too!

I added some extra glitz to the sun by painting on some Smooch ink and spritz with a bit of glitter dust too. I then printed out, "The Amu's EST. 2000" and added the strips to the hanger with a bit of burlap beneath the bird and then finished it all up by tying some yummy chevron May Arts ribbons onto the wire. Cute, ehh? I really like my first Spring creation of the season... so THANK YOU, Shanna, for creating your fabulous kit! Now I just need some scrappy time to make some fun cards with the ton of other images I've already printed out! ;)

Visit Shanna’s blog to purchase this kit and see LOTS of other awesome samples that were created specifically to share with you today! In celebration of this fun, new release she is also doing a huge giveaway valued at over $275.00 with lots of fabulous new scrappy goodies and several ways you can win! So head on over and check it out! You don't want to miss out!

Thanks so much for stopping by, and enjoy your day! :)

Is It Spring Yet?

Well, I know it's not Spring yet, but I think I am wanting it to get here more and more every day!  Arghh, I just need some nice beautiful weather to get me out of my gloomy lil' slump I've been in.  I'm really wanting to be not so cold... and I really want to see some gorgeous green grass with pretty pops of flowers scattered here and there! Yes, hurry up and get here Spring!

I know I took one look at this week's new SOUS sketch and I was immediately thinking Spring too! 

Sandi's sketch depicts florals, a butterfly and even the word Spring, so how could I resist wanting to create something with the long-awaited seasonal theme myself?! So for today I threw together a happy I {heart}You card! 

I used the basic elements of the sketch but I decided to use a clustering of three Studio Calico chipboard clouds at the bottom of my card in place of Sandi's trio of oval shapes, and instead of using a photo or rectangular element on the large floral accent, I opted to use a chipboard butterfly over my floral doily accent.  The floral doily shape by the way, I cut out using the exclusive Cricut Expression 2 Cricut Alphabet cartridge.  That cart has so many great doily shapes included on there, and I'm sure I'll be playing around with those images quite alot! The chipboard butterflies I colorized with some Smooch Spritz sprays and then I also embellished them and the doily accent with some Glam Rocks using the Imaginisce I-Rock tool.  Fun stuff!  Ohh, and do you love that teal chevron ribbon?? I sure do... it's from the fabulous May Arts company!

And of course I can't forget, Core'dinations!  I gotta have my Core cardstock... the Jillian Spotted Core really puts me in a Spring mood.  I just love it... esp. in that aqua shade! 

Okay... that's all I've got for this post, but I do hope you will go check out the rest of the designers creations on the SOUS blog.  Those girls can all seriously rock a sketch!  Have a wonderful Friday you all!  ;) 

Sous Sketch for February 17th!

Hey there!  Yes, it is time for another SOUS sketch reveal, and I myself am a day late getting mine posted here, but all excuses aside, the 16th was my Birthday and I guess I was in party mode, lol!  Sorry to be tardy!  Anywho, we had a cool sketch to play around with this week, designed by our very own, Leah Schaeffer!

 

So, here is what I came up with...

I wish I could've captured a better photo of this page, because it certainly does no justice for the richness and texture of these gorgeous papers from Teresa Collin's, Christmas Home collection!  And I just loved these photos of my husband stringing the lights on our Christmas tree this past holiday.  The  TC line was perfect for creating this page with them! The background base for this page is a sheet of the black Tim Holtz Kraft cardstock from Core'dinations... a definite favorite in my cardstock stash.  If you haven't gotten yourself some Kraft Core yet, you really need to.  I'm tellin' ya, it's the best!  Here I debossed a Cuttlebug border along the bottom edge and sanded over it all to reveal the Kraft core.  I also scored along the other three edges and sanded them as well.

 (Ohh, and a side note, I believe this is the first project in a long time that I have NOT used my Cricut cutting on it in some way, shape or form! Are you all gasping, lol?? I really just may go cut some bits and pieces to add to this down the road. I do believe I need some Cricut flair on this somewhere!)

That's all I have to share for now, but I do hope you'll join us over at Stuck On U Sketches and show us how you can work the sketch too!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!