A layout and a Card

This is the card that I made for the AMR challenge. The challenge was to make a card that was mostly green. I used a pattern from a Stampin' Up video I saw on YouTube. It thought it was neat how the card was a Z-fold. However, when I made it I didn't like it so much. Perhaps with different paper or a different style but this card is just okay in my book. I ended up having to glue the short foldover on the front of the card down. I am not sure that the card was supposed to be glued on the top but it just wouldn't stay shut. Maybe it was the thickness of the paper. I am rambling. I used crystal stickles on the chick and around the border.

The layout is from 2005. It is of my son and youngest daughter. It was bathtime. Well, I guess you can surmise that from the pictures of the layouts. It is a two-page spread and I used skittles to resemble bubble water spray. How did I do?

Lookie what I found...

I had some help finding it from a friend on AMR, but you need to check out this RAK that this lady is giving away. One word, Nestabilities!!!! Yippee. I sure hope I win because I have been coveting these for a while now.

So go check it out. Here is the link! Creating from the Heart

A "No Adhesive" Card

If you are not familiar, All Moments Remembered has challenges every day. I tried a few weeks ago to keep up with them but just can't do that. So I pick and choose what I want to challenge myself with. They are great challenges and this one was no different. This card challenge was to make a card with no adhesive. Nope, nada, nothing. So here is my card.

I sewed for the first time ever paper to paper. And I also sewed the ribbon on. Everything else was done with brads. It was a lot of fun AND most of all challenged me to do something that I wouldn't probably have ever done, and I liked it. I sewed. I have liked the looks of stitching or sewing on layouts and cards before but have never done it myself. This challenge stretched me to do just that. And I am glad for it.

Head on over there and check out the challenges in the scrapbooking section.

Lookie what my friends sent me! And other Random Thoughts.

I got these for Valentine's Day. I love them.

This one is from my friend Gay. She and I scrap together once a month and hang out together on the AMR message board.

This one is from my great Scrap Pal Cheeky! She lives way up north and is enjoying much snow while we are just wishing for it. She is so cute and I just love her card.

And now for some random thoughts:

I have been thinking a lot about those cute little crocheted flowers. I really would love to try them in a varigated thread. I am going to stop by the store tomorrow and check out their threads. I can't stand it. I think they may become addicting.

I posted a few cards for Cliff's Card Challenge (ha ha CCC) over on AMR MB. He is great and a scrapper too. He joins us for the crops over there and comes up with some fun layouts and some fun cards. He is so cute. His wife Melonscraps is an avid scrapper too. I guess in their family "if you can't beat em join em" fits. They are wonderful and I highly suggest you head over to Melonscraps blog. She has some great stuff over there. Okay, I am rambling. So I made two cards for the challenge. Here they are:

I started on my daughter's sweater and have chosen to do the child's size 6-8. She is petite and I think if the arms are too short I can lengthen them with no problem. I will measure her several times throughout the knitting process. Again like the last one, the back and front go so fast and then the sleeves just drag along. I am about a fifth of the way up the back already. She chose a bright blue and a coral color for her accent stripe. I think it will be cute and if she doesn't like it in the end I will give it to the other daughter and she will love it. I am not worried. Someone will wear this sweater.

Finished the Sweater

FINALLY!! It only took me almost 6 weeks to complete. That is way too slow for me. By the time I finish the next one it will be too warm to wear. I finished my son's sweater, and now I have the two girls to do.

I used Vanna's Choice yarn (2- 7oz skeins of Olive and 1/2 - 3.5oz skein of espresso). I used the Bernat pattern here "Berella 4-sweaters for the family". I didn't use a third color as I just wanted one small stripe on the collar and on the cuffs. This was an easy pattern to knit. The front and back was quick and the pattern was very easy to read. The only slow part were the sleeves which took longer because I had to count.

The sweater is a bit big. They have a child's size and then an adult size. My son needed the 10-12 size for kids but they had child's 6-8 and then adult small. So I opted for the adult small and he will grow into it.

Last year I knitted him a sweater using the Lion Brand Homespun yarn. A bulky yarn and the sweater knitted up quickly, however when it was washed the first time the yarn got matted up and looked horrible. I am hoping that this yarn will faire better in the wash. Thanks for reading and happy crafting.

Here is another flower

This flower pattern that I blogged about yesterday has been bothering me a bit. As I was working the other flowers yesterday I felt that the center was too big and that the flowers were still a bit large for scrapbooking. So today I worked up a few more. I used crochet thread this time, like the stuff you use to make doilies and a #6 hook (1.80mm). I chose off white in color because that was all I had available to play with right then.

I made these:

Now I know that they are a bit different from the original Lionbrand.com pattern. I made the center of the flower smaller making a chain of 5 instead of 8. I also only did 5 petals instead of 6. These measure 1 1/2 inches in diameter and are a good size for scrapbooking.

They sort of look like little pansies to me and I am anxious to try them in another color. But to do that I need to convince my husband to let me spend some money and I don't think he will go for it right now. I may need to wait a week or so. Laugh.

Trying new things.

I saw this:

on the Lionbrand.com website today and thought it looked really cute and would be fun to put on a scrapbook page. So when I got home from work I tried it.

I tried it two different ways. The first one with Vanna's Yarn a bulky #5 weight and I used an H hook. It ended up being 5 inches in diameter.

That was way too big. I knew when I started it that it would be too big but wanted to go through the motions of the pattern before trying on a smaller yarn. So then the second was using DMC thread (6 ply). I used a B hook and this pattern took most of a whole skein of thread. It ended up being 2 1/2 inches in diameter. A much more manageable size.