Mini Scrapbook from a Checkbook holder!

The other day on VC-Rocks my friend Robbie taught a class on how to make this darling brag book.  I thought it was so cute so I thought I would make one for my niece-in-law (I know I just made that term up).  She is due very soon with their first child and I thought it would be fun for her to carry around in her purse.
It is kind of an accordion fold album with pages on both sides.  I used lots of retired stamps and papers.  I sure hope she likes it.

 

It is such a beautiful day here today! Can't wait to get outside and enjoy it!  Have a fabulous weekend!

Thanks for taking the time to visit me today!

Mary Jo

I finally remembered!

I swear I am losing my mind lately--I can not remember what I am doing half way through doing it, lol! It is actually getting a bit scary.  None the less, I have been wanting to play along with my friends Connie and Mary and their challenge for like forever!  But I keep forgetting.  I actually remembered last night so I better get it posted NOW before I forget again!  The challenge can be found at Create with Connie and Mary   This week is a super fun sketch... And they are looking for new Guest DT members too if you are interested!  They have some awesome stuff on their blog and lots of fun stuff you can join too! Check them out.

Here is my card for the sketch...

Isn't this a fun color combo?  Poppy Parade, Baha Breeze and Early Espresso.   Such a fun layout too!

Stamps:  Bring on the Cake
Paper: Poppy Parade, Baha Breeze, Early Espresso, Whisper White, dp
Ink: Poppy Parade, Early Espresso
Other: ribbon, markers, embossing folder

TGIF!
Mary Jo

Hope everything is "All White" with you!

Here is one more card for this week's challenge on Latenightstampers!  Our challenge this week is to make cards that are all white with only the sentiment in color.   There have been some fabulous samples. 

I love how the different embossing folders give all white cards such a fabulous texture.  I have three different folders on this one.  It is a horrible photo, sorry, the sentiment is actually stamped in Wisteria Wonder--looks pretty dark on this picture.  Happy today!
Mary Jo

More Christmas in July

For this card I used  those new colors again. Love these colors for Christmas cards--I always love non-traditional colored Christmas cards. What about you?? Are you traditional or non-traditional?

Stamps Snow Much Fun
Paper: Pool Party, Wisteria Wonder, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black
Other: markers, embossing folder, ribbon

I love this card.  So simple yet so cute.  Hope you are having a great week!

Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge 184! (TSSC184)

Well, another weekend gone.  I am sorry to see this one go--it was a good one.  It has been so hectic around here with deaths, sicknesses, camping etc...... It was awesome to have a weekend with nothing that really HAD to be done.  Friday was my hubby's birthday so my so we went to dinner and the casino with my mom.  Then Saturday another dinner and a movie with my son.  And Sunday just stayed home (yep, I skipped church) and spent time together!  Perfect weekend and so needed!  I even had time today to make 5 cards!  Got to love that!

Welcome to week number 184 of my weekly sketch challenges.  I hope you will have time to play along.  I actually made two cards as samples for you.  I combined them with the new Latenightstamper's challenge for the week, as usual.  This week we are making cards that are ALL white except for the sentiment!  Here is the sketch.....

I am sorry for the poor quality of my photos.  I tried a new way of taking pictures but I don't like it--especially with all white cards.  I am too darn lazy to take new pictures though--sorry about that too, lol!

The first sample is a Christmas card.  I stamped the sentiment in Pool Party

The next one is using a bunch of embossing folders and the butterfly embosslit. Not sure why I waited so long to get this, I love it. 

 

Don't forget that you can add the link to your blogs if you chose and then people can view the new samples and hop right along from blog to blog.  You must be in the edit HTML mode when adding the code.  Hope you have a wonderful week!

Mary Jo

Top three for sketch 183!

What a fun week of samples.  I loved them all--thanks so much to those of you who played along.  I had a real hard time this week picking three.  But here they are......Be sure to click on each preview picture to be taken to the creator's blog and original post to see the full card and all the details. And of course to leave a comment telling them how great their cards are!

Weren't those awesome!?.  Super Summery too!  Got to love it.  I so love the Summertime and all that comes with it.  Especially having my son home from school!  So much fun.

Winners, feel free to add my badge to your blogs!

Here is the HTML code.

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI3N078M5G9-huSpLKlt3kaZVaDOt23WakDimAMmNxTZfDwbBYrppjjcAjsgjaUrfpZps0Y89XaqfHUUtSw_XVASL9GnC6K-H75oW7vXgOMwquB3HaHRJD50N0XGc061MmeDkIVgZX04dy/s1600/blog+button-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" linkindex="15" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI3N078M5G9-huSpLKlt3kaZVaDOt23WakDimAMmNxTZfDwbBYrppjjcAjsgjaUrfpZps0Y89XaqfHUUtSw_XVASL9GnC6K-H75oW7vXgOMwquB3HaHRJD50N0XGc061MmeDkIVgZX04dy/s200/blog+button-001.jpg" width="175" /></a></div>

I hope you will find time to play along with the new sketch that will be posted right after this.
Be right back with the new sketch!
Mary Jo

Christmas in July!

My first Christmas card for the year.  It is actually a hybrid card--part My Digital Studio and part regular stamping.  The main image is done on the My Digital Studio program--so easy to do the mirror technique using this program.  The rest of the card, including the coloring of the image, is done the traditional way.  It also fits this week's Latenightstamper's challenge to use new products.  I used the new in colors again.

Stamps:  MDS and small snowflake from older retired SU set?
Paper: Wisteria Wonder, Pool Party and Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black
Other: markers, snowflake embossing folder

Hope you are enjoying your weekend.
Mary Jo

Showcasing the new set of in colors.

Isn't this just the cutest card to showcase the new in colors?  I love it. So simple too.  I used the new stamp set My Friend and the Bring on the Cake, the new sentiment set for Birthdays.  Super easy and so cute.

This was created for the Latenightstamper's challenge for this week--show off your new STUFF!  Hope you have a great night. 

Mary Jo

A super quick post..

I am posting this super simple and fast card for both my sketch challenge seen in the post before this one and the Latenightstamper's challenge for the week to use those new products. I used the new in color Wisteria. And a new stamp set--Faith in Nature. Hard to get back into the swing of things here. I don't even feel like stamping--imagine that! Hope this don't last too long, lol! Too nice outside and I am just too far behind on EVERYTHING! Anyway, here is the card....

You can view the sketch challenge and play along 

by clicking HERE. 

Stamps: Faith in Nature
Paper: Wisteria Wonder,  Concord Crush
Ink: Basic Black
Other: Scallop Trim border punch, sewing machine, markers, white gel pen, pearl

Happy Monday!
Mary Jo

Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge 183! (TSSC183)

As I mentioned in the last post--I stayed a bit longer than I expected at camp and I am way behind on everything--hence--I have not sample for today's sketch.  I am hoping to have time to stamp tomorrow night???  Lot of other things to catch up on too.  Anyway, I figure that is no reason you can't see the sketch right!  So here is it.  I sure hope you have time to play along.  I so love seeing all the wonderful samples.  I will add mine to the blog hop when I get it done.  Don't forget to add yours!  Here is the sketch.....

This should be a fun one!  Can't wait to see what you come up with.....

Mary Jo

Top three for sketch 181 and 182

Wow what a fun week I had camping with my son. So nice to just hang with him and not worry about anything else. No phone, no internet, no video games, no TV--just us and a lot of fun exploring and learning. Sorry I have not done a think in a week on here (not really but it seems like I should say that, lol!) I am not even going to try to catch up with any of my on line stuff. Just starting from today. So here are my top three picks from the last two sketches. Thanks so much to those of you who played along. All of the cards were fabulous. So impressive!

Sketch 182 Top Three...Be sure to click on each preview picture to be taken to the creator's blog and original post to see the full card and all the details. And of course to leave a comment telling them how great their cards are!

Here are the top three picks for sketch 181...Again be sure to click on each preview picture to be taken to the creator's blog and original post to see the full card and all the details. And of course to leave a comment telling them how great their cards are!

Weren't those fabulous?! 

Winners, feel free to add my badge to your blogs!



Here is the HTML code.

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI3N078M5G9-huSpLKlt3kaZVaDOt23WakDimAMmNxTZfDwbBYrppjjcAjsgjaUrfpZps0Y89XaqfHUUtSw_XVASL9GnC6K-H75oW7vXgOMwquB3HaHRJD50N0XGc061MmeDkIVgZX04dy/s1600/blog+button-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" linkindex="15" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI3N078M5G9-huSpLKlt3kaZVaDOt23WakDimAMmNxTZfDwbBYrppjjcAjsgjaUrfpZps0Y89XaqfHUUtSw_XVASL9GnC6K-H75oW7vXgOMwquB3HaHRJD50N0XGc061MmeDkIVgZX04dy/s200/blog+button-001.jpg" width="175" /></a></div>

I hope you will find time to play along with the new sketch that will be posted right after this.
Be right back with the new sketch!
Mary Jo

Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge 182! (TSSC182)

I hope you all had a chance to check out the bog hop from VC_rocks.  If not it is the post before this one.  The theme was ABC--Anything but a card and there were some awesome ideas.  I am out of town and will not be able to do the Top Three post for the week--until maybe Thursday.  But I wanted to schedule the new sketch challenge for those who may already have samples ready or those who come looking.  I did have a few minutes to get a card sample done with the sketch.  Hope you are having a fabulous week!  See ya when I get back.

Here is this week's sketch....

And here is my sample....

Stamps: My Friend
Paper: Lucky Limeade,  Island Indigo, Pool Party, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black, Lucky Limeade, Pool Party, Island Indigo
Other: ribbon, nestabilities, ribbon. white gel pen, sponges

Don't forget to add your link below--if you add the code to your blog while in the edit HTML mode you will have all the samples on your blog too!  Then people can hop along and see them all.  Thanks for stopping by today.
Mary Jo

VC_Rocks Blog Hop

This month's blog hop is anything but a card.  Should be a super fun one to check out.  I am sure you will be amazed at the great projects our talented stampers are going to share with you.  Enjoy the tour!  If you get lost along the way you can view the entire list of participants on the VC_Rocks blog by clicking the logo below.

The official start time for the hop is 

10am Eastern Standard Time.

My post was all fun and games.  Don't you just love that!  I truly do love to craft, pretty much any type of craft--the one craft that I want to do but really can not is sewing so I decided to give it a try with the fabric I purchased from the Holiday Mini.  It has been just sitting here calling my name.  I was able to get three projects for one piece--then I spent a little time making a game for my son and I to play at restaurants and such.  That is at the end of the post.  I hope you enjoy my projects today. Let's get started.

First up is a checkbook cover with a matching note pad for my purse.  Be kind on me--I know my stitching is not the straightest--it took me forever to just get the machine threaded, lol! And I was making up the patterns as I went along.  I am actually pretty happy with the results.

Here is the checkbook cover open...

And the note pad open...

Then I had a small strip left so I made myself a necklace!!!

Isn't that fun!  I sewed a strip of material then added small light wooden balls (would have used Styrofoam but only had these).  I added the balls one at a time and tied a knot next to each one.  It was not long enough to reach the back so I had to add some wire wrappings and some chain to the back.  Pretty neat looking in real life.  It don't really match the shirt I have on in the picture but you get the idea--don't you??

All three of the projects were made from one piece of our material.  I also used my flower folds die, a button, ribbon, wooden beads.

Next is a super fun game for my son and I to do when we are bored at restaurants.  It is just like Tic Tac Toe but it is called Cats and Dogs--friends fur ever!

 Here is the tin open...

And  a close up of the game pieces.  I used bottle caps with magnets on them.  We have been having fun with it already!

Well that is all from me today!  I hope you enjoyed my Anything but a card projects.  Click on the images below to be taking to the next blog or you can even go back to the previous one if you need to.  See you soon and enjoy the hop!
Mary Jo

My Friend!

Here is a quick card for both the 411 sketch challenge and the Latenightstamper's weekly challenge--new beginnings, new job, new baby, new home, new spouse etc....

I thought this was a pretty fun sketch.  I not only used the brand new set My Friend but I also used brand new in-colors for this year.  Pool Party and Island Indigo.  Here is the sketch...you can click on the sketch to see what others made with it.

And here is my card...

Stamps: My Friend,
Paper: Island Indigo, Pool Party, Whisper White
Ink: Island Indigo, Pool Party
Other: white gel pen, pearls, Tasteful Trim die, butterfly embosslet

Hope you are having a great week. 
Mary Jo

A swap card.

I don't participate in many swap since I really dislike making more than one of any card.  But I did do one a while ago on the VC-Rocks group and thought I would share it now.  Had to wait to everyone got it and then forgot to post.

It was a pretty simple card, but I loved how it turned out.  I embossed the bottom part of the card and scored a line above the embossing.  Stamped the image three times using the masking technique.  Colored them in and added a rhinestone on the center of each.  The kraft piece is attached to a piece of Early Espresso.

Just a quick post for today--lots of catching up to do.  And I have my whole kitchen torn apart since I was painting my cupboards?@  I always start projects like this in the middle of other chaos???  No clue what possesses me!
Happy Today!
Mary Jo

Monday Lunchtime Sketch Challenge 181! (TSSC181)

Happy Fourth of July to those of you in the states.  I hope you are enjoying your long weekend!  I know I  sure needed it.  Been a really long week.

Thanks for stopping by today--it is Monday so that means a new sketch challenge.  I hope you will find time to play along.  Here is the sketch...

I am loving this simple sketch.  Been a long time since I used torn paper.  I kept my sample pretty simple and combined it with this week's challenge on Latenightstampers.  This week we are focusing on New Beginnings.  That could be a new baby, new job, new house, new spouse--you get the idea.  Here is my sample--It was my first time using Lucky Limeade and Pool Party-two brand new in-colors for this years catalog.  Love them.

Stamps: Every Moment
Paper: Pool Party, Lucky Limeade, Daffodil Delight, Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black
Other: markers, ribbon, embossing folder, nestabilities dies

Can't wait to see your creation using this sketch. Be sure to link up below.  You can add the code to your post to be part of the blog hop!


Mary Jo

Top Three For Sketch 180!

Well, we are done with all the funeral stuff for my sister in law.  Feeling a bit empty after it all.  Still don't seem real.  Thanks so much to everyone who sent cards and prayers.  They are so appreciated. 

 Here are my top three picks. Be sure to click on each preview picture to be taken to the creator's blog and original post to see the full card and all the details. And of course to leave a comment telling them how great their cards are!

 

Winners, feel free to add my badge to your blogs!



Here is the HTML code.

<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI3N078M5G9-huSpLKlt3kaZVaDOt23WakDimAMmNxTZfDwbBYrppjjcAjsgjaUrfpZps0Y89XaqfHUUtSw_XVASL9GnC6K-H75oW7vXgOMwquB3HaHRJD50N0XGc061MmeDkIVgZX04dy/s1600/blog+button-001.jpg" imageanchor="1" linkindex="15" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI3N078M5G9-huSpLKlt3kaZVaDOt23WakDimAMmNxTZfDwbBYrppjjcAjsgjaUrfpZps0Y89XaqfHUUtSw_XVASL9GnC6K-H75oW7vXgOMwquB3HaHRJD50N0XGc061MmeDkIVgZX04dy/s200/blog+button-001.jpg" width="175" /></a></div>

I hope you will find time to play along with the new sketch that will be posted right after this.
Be right back with the new sketch!
Mary Jo