YEA FOR ME

I am super excited to announce that I have won my very first challenge with About a Boy. Entering challenges has been getting addictive and now with a win under my belt I think my addiction is just going to worsen.

Also as an early Mother's Day gift I have signed up as a Close to My Heart representative. I can't wait for my kit to arrive and learn tips from my new team mates.

About a Girl Mini Challenge

I'm so excited that It's About a Girl challenge blog is up and running. While they are getting everything in order they have a mini sketch challenge going on. I normally am a clean and simple layout maker, but I wanted to try to have a little fun with this. I'm glad that part of the challenge was to challenge. I haven't done this before, but have always wanted to. It is definitely something I will start incorporating into my scrapping.

The sketch was created by About a Girl. I used paper from Hobby Lobby and inks and embellishments from CTMH. 

**I design for Black Tie Fridays

Exciting News

I am so excited that my layout entry for About a Boy chevron challenge was picked as one of their weekly featured artist. I received my first blinkie and I am proudly posting and boasting :)

Black Tie Fridays Graduation Challenge

Good morning all,
It's Matthew's birthday party today and it's cold and rainy...so much for having the kids play outside. Oh well, it's going to be a great day no matter what!!
It's also the day that Black Tie Fridays posts their new challenge. Challenge 27 is a graduation theme. I hope you check it out and enjoy our challenge. Here is the card I created.

I created the cap free hand and distressed the paper with black ink.

Runway Inspired Challenge 34

I just love the inspiration that the ladies at Runway Inspired Challenge give each week. The woman in the photo is just beautiful and the dress is very elegant. My take on the challenge is what she may wear after the runway. Wearing elegant dresses is great, but sometimes you want a bit of an edge.

The base of the card is white like her dress. After looking closely at the photo you see the model is wearing red lipstick which is where the red card stock and flower come in. I created the flower using a red zipper (this was my first time and felt it turned out pretty well if I do say so myself). I used a textured paper that was inspired by the embroidered flowers on the dress. 

**I design for Black Tie Fridays

Dynamic Duos Basic Black and Basic Gray Challenge

I was very excited by the Dynamic Duos challenge of basic black and basic gray this week. The first thing that popped into my head was the series 50 Shades of Gray. The thought of a brick pattern popped into my head and while I was at the store I found this fondant texture template that leaves a brick  impression. It was fate. I knew I wanted to have a more masculine feel and I love the use of zippers so tah dah, here is my finished card.

I used CTMH white, black and gray paper. To create the the brick, I used a Duff brand fondant texture template that I found at Wal Mart. I sanded the paper to bring to make it stand out. I sewed a zipper on to the paper and added the eyelets to hold the zipper open. I used CTMH stamps and ink to create the sentiment. 

***I design for Black Tie Fridays

About a Boy - April 15th Challenge Layout 2

About a Boy has their April 15th challenge out and it's titled The Artist. I created one layout and have submitted it, but when creating layouts I always like to create in pairs. The layout I used is layout #31 by Brenshevia from the Sketch-n-Scrap blog.

I wanted to tie my two layouts together so I used the same yellow base paper. I took the colorful paper from the first layout and used it as a border around the photos for this layout. I carried over the brown card stock and used the same distressing technique. I used orange tape from a roll purchased at Target and CTMH sticker that says "100% Pure Potential). I then had Matthew stamp his hand onto the card stock to match his fingerprints on the first page. I love little hands and am glad this challenge gave me a reason to document them. 

***I design for Black Tie Fridays

About a Boy April 15th Challenge and 2 Broke Girls Layout Challenge

Wow, I feel like I've been living in my craft room this week. It's such a guilty pleasure. The current challenge over at About a Boy is The Artist. It was a lot of fun to look through Matthew's art work and now share it with others. My layout was created by the 2 Broke Girls sketch #3 challenge.

All the paper used was from Jo Ann's except for the brown card stock. I used the Cuttle Bug to emboss the green paper with dots. The orange strip is from a tape set purchased in the Crayola isle at Target. I used CTMH chocolate ink to distress the paper and I stamped Matthew's finger prints. 

Black Tie Fridays Challenge 26 Under the Sea

Hello fellow scrappers,

It's time for another challenge over at Black Tie Fridays. Come challenge yourself to go under the sea.

When I thought of under the sea I was stumped. I do not have any stamps, cartridges or embossing folders to tie into this theme. It seems like once I stop trying to to think about it ideas will come to me. I thought of the book Rainbow Fish that I have checked out a few times at the library for my son. The pictures of the fish are vibrant and foiled.

I used a metallic paper pack from Jo Ann's and a Fiskars textured template to create "scales". I used a sheet from the Poteeka Souffle pack from Jo Ann's to mimic "seaweed" and then added black ribbon to the bottom.

About A Boy Chevrons Layout 2

It's another rainy day here in Missouri and what better way to spend it than in the craft room. I finished the accompaniment layout to my first submission for the About a Boy Chevron challenge. Now to work on their April 15th challenge. 

I used a baby blue paper from Jo Ann's buy by the sheet section. The green patterned paper is from a boy themed paper pack. The chocolate and cream colored paper is a Close to My Heart product. The first layout says "There's this boy" and he has definitely stolen my heart. 

***I design for Black Tie Fridays

Dynamic Duos #48

I'm excited about the Dynamic Duos challenge this week. The colors they have chosen are Bashful Blue and Pumpkin Pie. What a great combination!

For the base of the card I used a neutral brown Close to My Heart. Using Fiskars texture templates and the Cuttle Bug I was able to create a waffle pattern. I created the pin wheel using an expression on my Cricut and stamped my sentiment with Close to My Heart stamps and ink. The brads were originally white, but I inked them with Close to My Heart Autumn Harvest.


***I design for Black Tie Fridays

About a Boy Chevron Challenge

It's been awhile since I actually created a page rather than a card. I must say I really miss looking at photos and creating layouts that capture the moment. Thanks to About a Boy I was able to find a challenge that gives me reason to get those photos out and go down memory lane. 

There current challenge for April 1st is chevron. I struggled with this a bit. I couldn't find any paper at the stores I liked and creating my own just didn't cut it. Once I stopped trying to work harder it fell into place. 

The green patterned paper I used was from a baby themed paper pack from Jo Ann's. The chevron button in the middle of the photo is also from Jo Ann's. All other product used was from Close to My Heart.

I hope you like it as much as I do and if you'd like to see more of my work or those of my team, come visit us on our blog Black Tie Fridays.

Black Tie Fridays Challenge #25

Good morning,

It's that time again for a new challenge over at Black Tie Fridays . The theme is April Showers bring May flowers. Come on over and check out what the other members of Black Tie Fridays created. In the meantime, here is the card I was  inspired to make.

I finally purchased a Cuttle Bug and used it to emboss my background paper. I then used my Cricut to cut out the doily and flower. I used shear ribbon on the side and will work my way around to adding a bow. I feel it still needs a little something.

I used Close to My Heart paper for this card, but the ribbon I purchased years ago at Jo Ann's.

Runway Inspired Challenge #33

This card was created for the Runway Inspired challenge #33

I really like the model's top and the detail that it has. The paper used for this challenge is Close to My Heart. Using my Cuttle Bug, I embossed the yellow paper and then sprayed it with shimmer mist to tie back to the little pears of white on the models top.

Drawing inspiration from the background, I used a Close to My Heart stamp set for the border and the sentiment. I colored in the flowers using pencil and then blended with a water pen.

**I design for Black Tie Fridays

Yellow and Black Challenge

I created this card for Black Tie Fridays Yellow and Black challenge this week

Past Black Tie Fridays Challenges

Here are photos of some of my cards from past Black Tie Friday challenges. I have grown so much since starting with Black Tie Fridays. I am working on getting the right lighting and taking better pictures of my finished product and I am working perfecting my work so that it has a professional look.

 This card is a spinner card. I absolutely love it. I made this for our Brads/Ribbons/Black challenge

 This card was our quilling challenge, it was my first attempt at this technique. I would like to work with it more. After seeing other works this technique can be so beautiful.

 I had created this one to enter into the Runway Inspired challenge, but I wasn't ready at that time to start entering challenges.

 This is the Paint/Black challenge for Black Tie Fridays. I used black acrylic paint and then added a shimmer paint over it to give it the silver effect. I painted the burners and brads.

This is the inside of the card. I tried flocking for the first time, but the flocking didn't want to stick, another technique I need to practice.

Coming Soon

A big shout out to my team member Tiffany McKee for helping me get my blog in order. There is still a bit of tweaking to do, but I am finally ready to start working on some challenges.
The three that I am starting with are About a Boy, Runway Inspired and Dynamic Duos. I've got my eye out for a couple more, so if you know of any I'd love to hear about them.
Keep an eye on the blog to see what we have in the works for Black Tie Fridays and the work I'll be submitting to the other challengers blogs.

Pearls and Lace for http://blacktiefriday.blogspot.com/