Can't Help Falling in Love

As a federal employee on furlough, I am finding myself with A LOT of extra time.  I wandered onto the Silhouette blog and today stumbled onto their weekly challenge.  I made this card a couple of days ago, and it fits perfectly with their theme for fall seasonal projects.  I love the color combinations AND the polka dot raised paper I used for the leaves.  It may just be my new obsession!

Natotela

A friend of mine just graduated from nursing school.  Born and raised in Zambia, she became a U.S. citizen this last December.  At her graduation party, I knew there would be others from Zambia presenting her with gifts.  I wanted to give her something special to honor her accomplishment and heritage.

A set of "thank you" cards seemed natural enough.  But, why not incorporate the language of her home, too?  Natotela is Zambian for "thank you". 

You may also recognize another theme to this set...  Pink!  Her favorite colors are pink and red.  So, I picked out some of the best paper and color combinations and paired the pinks and reds with brown and light olive green. 

I picked out different fonts for the lettering of "natotela" and "thank you".  I used the Silhouette to merge the letters and created the offset shadows.  When it seemed appropriate, I used the same paper for the letters on different cards where the base and top sheet were also different. 

The top piece is chosen to coordinate with the base, then torn at an angle and the exposed edge inked in matching ink.

I will be using this design again.  Would be great to include other languages, too. 

Natotela sa na.  Thank you so much for looking at my site!

On the move

In August, we moved from Boston to the D.C. area. I made a set of these cards using a variety of paper for the base including the polka dot paper seen here. The truck image was drawn by my husband using the Draw feature in MS Word. The wardrobe and lamp are clip art images. I was able to print them out then cut them out using a Silhouette.

The road isn't just regular black paper. It's textured, sparkly paper that almost mimics the sparkly flecks of mica you see reflecting light when you drive down the road.

The truck is popped up slightly to better define the dimension of the card.

The most amazing thing was placing the cards in the mailbox at the post office on Saturday at 3:45 p.m. and people calling me on Monday (two days later) to say they had received the card! Wow! Such the deal for 44 cents!

Back home and listing again!

Even though I have found myself on the road a lot this summer, I have managed to be creative on occassion. Today I list on etsy two of my summertime creations.

First, I begin with one of six cards I made on the road while staying in New Rochelle, NY, stopping over between Poughkeepsie, NY, and Hartford, CT.

While shopping in scrap stores, it's not like I seek out Heidi Grace, but I just seem drawn to her. But after all these months of accumulating her product, this is the first time I've used her rub on designs on a card. For shame for shame, especially since I think they go great with this Chatterbox paper. The white pieces, I believe, are textured Bazzil. The ribbon I felt fortunate to have packed enough of for my trip as I think it perfectly finished the card.



After making this next card on my most recent work visit to Poughkeepsie, I've decided to pull out my QK Silhouette and play with some designs before attempting another similar design. Cutting the petals one by one with the QK squeeze - my die cut tool of choice for the road - was devastating to my hand! But isn't it precious anyway?

Looking at my previous blog entry where I discuss more about how I made this card, I notice I forgot to mention the QK font. It's Maggie.

Still more cards to come, so check back soon. I'm also excited to sneak in a few scrap pages. Until then, go to my sister's blog and etsy site to see what she's rolling out for the fall.

My first... and second convention

I really do love scrapbooking. But, for Bill and me, it's more than scrapbooking. It's about preserving - or even recreating - memories. One year ago, my mom and I planned to go to the CKC in Nashville, TN, just south of where she lives. Even though I made this page for myself, I thought of my mom when I picked the paper. She loves polka dots.


After having gone to the convention with Mom in Nashville, I just had to go to the convention north of Boston in Manchester, NH. When I was in TN, I bought a "scraplete" shirt for Bill as a souvenir. He wore it when he went with me to Manchester. Never has a fully clothed man ever gotten so many looks, I think, as Bill that day.

Anyhow, I didn't have room for the booklets from both conventions, so I cut out the Manchester label from that booklet and pasted it onto the Nashville booklet. Cool, huh?

This large sticker had been sitting in my stash for months. Had to go on the page. I also used the same scissor and ribbon motif on a card (posted on Etsy - wink wink) you can see on an earlier post.

The narrative I created in a text box in Word and printed it on sticker paper. (Notice my correction? I've lived in Boston 5 years now after a lifetime in Florida. Still figuring out where all the states are.) Used a brad to attach the wrist bands on the page. Used the same kind of brad to hold together the tickets then tied the same ribbon (above) through the brad.

Here you can see the photo corner holding the booklet. And, the envelope holding the tickets had the list of classes we took. Cut out that section, distressed it, framed it with a color-coordinating card stock, and pasted here.

Happy scrapping 'til next time.