Got Me a New Hat!

Happy Monday - Happy Spring Break - and Happy MDS Monday card sketch day!  Well, Beth does have a card sketch for us - but I decided to try turning it into a scrap page.  

The other thing that Beth would like us to try this time is recolouring an embellishment.  I took one of the little diamond cork pieces from Sale-a-bration and recoloured them, and reproduced them.

I've never turned a card sketch into a scrap page before, I've never done that before, but I think it worked out not too badly.   It was a bit tricky picking photos that fit properly into the little flags…good thing I take scads of photos!  Never would have done that in the old days of film!

Hope you try out the challenge - check out the challenge blog for some AWESOME inspiration!  And be sure to link your creation back to the blog so we can all take a peak!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have  great day!

Joan

Antics with Auntie

Good Monday Morning - Heidi is getting us to layer trim on her fabulous sketch this week at MDS Monday.

I went with some circle embellishments that I linked together and then layered underneath a border strip from the Big Top Birthday Kit.  I also created a frame with one of the trim pieces that I recoloured to add a bit more red to the page. Fun, fun, fun.

Hope you drop by the challenge blog to see what the rest of the design team has come up with.  There is always inspiration to be found.  We also LOVE looking at what you have created, so be sure to link your project back to the blog.

Here is Heidi's sketch - have fun!

Supplies for this page…..

Embellishments

    _Designer Kits/Big Top Birthday - embellishments/Big Top Birthday - border 11 (re-colored) Color = CHERRY COBBLER 165,30,44

    _Designer Kits/Big Top Birthday - embellishments/Big Top Birthday - circle 6

    _Designer Kits/Big Top Birthday - embellishments/Big Top Birthday - circle 7

    _Designer Kits/Big Top Birthday - embellishments/Big Top Birthday - circle 8

    _Designer Kits/Big Top Birthday - embellishments/Big Top Birthday - circle 9

    _Designer Kits/Big Top Birthday - embellishments/Big Top Birthday - circle 6

    _Designer Kits/Big Top Birthday - embellishments/Big Top Birthday - border 15

    _Designer Kits/Big Top Birthday - embellishments/Big Top Birthday - clown label

Here, Kitty, Kitty, Kitty

It is apparently true that I don't read instructions properly….all the time.  When I was working on the sketch for this weeks' MDS Monday challenge, I had initially used it as a scrapbook sketch in my attempt to get more of Elliot's 2013 book finished.  When I went to post it on the challenge blog I realized that I was suppose to change the colour of the DSP - well I tried, but I didn't like how it looked on this spread - so I kept these pages as they were and created the card I posted Monday.

But I had to share these - I'm pleased with how the cat turned out - not exactly like Button, but pretty close.  She doesn't run away from him as much any more - in fact she'll put herself into his hand to be pet.

Here is the page for the adjoining page to tell the whole story.

Fun with Filmstrips

We're having fun with filmstrips this week over at MDS Monday.  Tami is right in with the trend right now of using filmstrips or polaroid images.  The filmstrips work perfectly if you have a series of photos from one event……as I usually do when I'm taking pictures of Elliot while he's playing.

I pulled out his dad's hot wheels a couple weeks ago and he had a blast.  I have other pictures to share once the pages are done.

Be sure to pop by the challenge blog because there's a wonderful array of interpretations of the sketch today….here it is.

Hope you Monday is off to a fabulous start - thanks for visiting.

Joan

Supplies for this page...

Background

     Color = BASIC GRAY 118,122,121

Embellishments

    _Designer Kits/Candid Frames - embellishments/Candid Frames - film frame

    Hodgepodge Hardware/Clip Assortment - library clip

Stamps

    Epic Overlays/Epic Overlays - ink splatter 1, Color = 0,0,0

    Epic Overlays/Epic Overlays - ink splatter 1, Color = 0,0,0

    Splatters/Ink Splatters/Ink Splatter 1, Color = 0,0,0

    Epic Overlays/Epic Overlays - epic, Color = 0,0,0

    Epic Overlays/Epic Overlays -  - letters for the title

    _Designer Kits/On the Go/On the Go - tractor

    _Designer Kits/On the Go/On the Go - dump truck

    _Designer Kits/On the Go/On the Go - car

    _Designer Kits/On the Go/On the Go - tractor

    _Designer Kits/On the Go/On the Go - car

    _Designer Kits/On the Go/On the Go - dump truck

    Epic Overlays/Epic Overlays - ink splatter 1, Color = 0,0,0     

Opacity Adjustments

Hey there Monday - it's a card sketch today at MDS Monday and I'm presenting the sketch and a challenge.  Along with the sketch let's work with the opacity feature.  It can be used on any part of the sketch that works best for your creation.  You can create your own "washi tape" strips and "vellum" by changing the opacity of your element. 

I changed the opacity on my background matt - so the pink blends into the purple background.  Doing that also made the stamped images pop .

 We'd love to see what you come up with this week.

Here's the sketch.

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope your week is off to a good start.

Joan

Changing the Guard

Good (freezing) Monday Morning - Today at MDS Monday Cindy has us joining in on her passion for maps and her country.  While she, and her fellow Americans are using the Niffy Fifty download, we Canadians have the Providence of Provinces Kit download to create pages commemorating trips around our country.  You can check the kit out HERE.

I am so behind on my book making, that I'm glad I was able to create another page for our summer stay in Ottawa this past year.  Greg was very excited about going to Rideau Hall - and I enjoyed it too.

Here's the awesome sketch - hope you have fun with it!

Stay warm - and thanks for visiting.

Joan

Lined Up Thanks

Sorry I've been missing in action this past week.  I finished the teachers convention and then proceeded to get sick - my bodies way of telling me to slow down a bit.

It's a card sketch day today at MDS Monday and Tara is also asking us to get our ducks in a line by using the "Space Evenly" option in the align feature.  Stampin'Up! has a great tutorial video to help you with this process.

I love the space evenly feature because you don't have to strain your eyes to get things perfectly lined up on your project.  I've used  it for the little flags on my cards and for one set of brads - which I then copied and pasted to the second space on the page.

Here is the sketch…..hope you have fun with it and post your creation back to the MDS Monday blog. We'd love to see what elements you've got lined up!

Thanks for stopping by for a bit.

Joan

Go…Go…Go...

Hi everyone - Beth has a cute sketch for us today, at MDS Monday where we're suppose to use our "scraps"….which is one nice thing about MDS - we don't end up with any - so it's fun to remember that they do exist in our crafting lives!

I love watching Elliot grow into play at our house; and these "On the Go"  "scraps" worked well with the photos.

I've "stitched" the scraps together, and cropped two of the embellishments to be able to arrange them the way I wanted on the page.

Here is the sketch…

I hope you play along with us this week.  Be sure to link your creations back to the MDS Monday Blog. We love seeing what you do with our sketches.

Thanks for visiting - have a great day.

Joan

Musical Sketch

It's a card sketch day at MDS Monday and as an extra challenge, Heidi is asking us to add music to our card.  You can incorporate musical notes, lyrics, musical instruments, even birds.

Here are a few downloads in My Digital Studio that can help you with this part of the challenge...

• Natural Composition stamp brush set
• Modern Medley stamp brush set
• Newsprint designer series paper
• Music Notes stamp brush set

And here is the sketch…..

I hope you join us andd share your creation with us on the MDS Monday blog so we can visit your blog to take a peak at your project.

Have fun - have a marvellous Monday!

Thanks for visiting,

Joan

Catching up...

Welcome to another MDS Monday - Holly has a great sketch for us today and wants us to use stitching  on our page.

One of the things I love about MDS is that you can flip images -it's nice to be able to make the little animals from the Storytime kit face the direction I  want/need them to. I've attached my photos and the two top strips of paper with stitching, and I've "stitched" the button on also. by making a piece of Baker's Twine the length between the button holes.  I actually discovered something I never used before - because the piece needed to stitch the button was so small, it was hard to grab and place it properly.  I increased the "canvas zoom" and was able to manipulate things better.  Not something new, but I'd never used it before.  

Here is the sketch for you.  I hope you try it out and then link your creation to the challenge blog so we can take a peek!

Enjoy your Monday - Thanks for dropping by.

Joan

Watercolour Butterfly

Welcome to MDS Monday, where today we are working with Tami's sketch and playing with your choice of MDS Watercolour options.

This card certainly evolved over time.  I began trying to create a flower with a collection of watercolour brush strokes overlapping in a circle.  It worked out okay, but I wasn't that thrilled with it in the end.  I then decided to stay more true to Tami's sketch and laid down the large watercolour wash from "Beautiful Today".  I walked away from it for a while, came back to the computer and by accident discovered what a coloured wash looked like on a coloured background.  I think you'd be hard pressed to get this effect in real life.

I decided that a white Swallowtail would be the best addition.

Accidents can be a good thing - and easy to deal with on MDS because there is no wasted paper.

So, here is Tami's sketch and I hope you give one of the watercolour options a try.  Be sure you link your creation back to the MDS Monday blog so we can take a peak.

Have fun, and thanks for dropping by.

Joan

Reeling in Balloons

Welcome to MDS Monday - this round I'm the host with a scrapbook layout. To be honest, I went to the photo layout portion of the resource palette on MDS for some inspiration.  I don't use that area enough - and it can be a big help.  I've elongated the photo boxes to fill more space. I initially thought I would group the photo boxes  and drop on photo into them - but I ended up catching Elliot reeling in a balloon someone gave him while he was in the trampoline at his birthday party.  They worked perfectly in the slender photo boxes!

 The little stars at the bottom of my sketch can be anything you desire.  I decided to use balloons - to fit the theme of the page.  To create the "shadow" on the balloons, I created a curved line with the Freeform tool, got it the size I wanted, thickened the line size, changed it to white and finally change the opaqueness.

Here is the sketch - have fun with it - and you've gotta check out what the rest of the MDS Monday Design Team has done with their sketches…. AWESOME!

Thanks for visiting - 

Joan

Follow Your Bliss Thanks

Woo Hoo - it's the first MDS Monday of the Year - and it's a sketch challenge from Cindy.  She likes simple cards with lots of white space, and I've done my best to stay true to that.

I love the "Follow Your Bliss" paper - it's so funky and the chevron stamps come with the set too. 

For the "Thanks", I copied  the image in place, sent it behind, coloured it black and moved it off centre a bit. It gives a different sort of look than the drop shadow….which I've also included.

I love that Cindy chose hexagons to work with - they're so much fun to put together in scattered arrangements.

Here is her sketch…..have fun with it and be sure to link your project back to the MDS Monday blog so we can see your creation.

It's back to school today - it will be nice to be doing things other than Christmas prep….of course I'm leaving Wednesday for Houston to attend Leadership - but it will be good to see my classes for a bit!

Hope your day is going well - thanks for stopping by.

Joan

Fun, Fun, Fun

Welcome to a new scrapbook sketch at MDS Monday created by Tara.  I appreciated this clean and simple sketch and used it to coordinate with another spread done about Elliot's evening with paint.  I'll put the two of them side by side.  I'm desperately trying to get Elliot's 2013 book done in better time than I did his 2012 book!

I changed Tara's large photo box to a circle so that it would coordinate with the twin page from a couple weeks ago….

I may change a few things between the two pages when I'm getting down to publishing (border thicknesses for instance!)  But they work well side by side.

Here is the sketch.  Have fun with it - the rest of the Design Team did too!

Be sure to let us see what you create by linking it to MDS Monday.

Thanks for visiting!

Joan

You Make Me Happy...

The first Monday of Christmas vacation - and an MDS Monday card challenge - WooHoo!!!  Today, along with the sketch, Beth would like us to use tape on our creations.  I love love love wash tape - both digital and real.  I love how whatever is behind it peaks through.

I decided to "make my own" washi tape for this card by using photo boxes filled with DSP so that I could tear the ends of the "tape".  I then changed the opacity until what was underneath the tape showed through.  Easy Peasy.

Here is the sketch for this challenge - 

check out what there rest of the Design Team has come up with - there's some fabulous creations - as usual.  Also, make sure you link your creation to the MDS Monday challenge blog so we can have a look at your creation.

Thanks for stopping by - Hope your Monday is off to a great start.

Joan

Where there's a Will.....

Welcome to MDS Monday and Heidi's sketch.  She's given us a chance to use a number of photos on the page - which is great because I often keep snapping pictures when Elliot is up to something.

During the summer he was chasing after a ball on the deck and for some reason decided to work his way through the table ..... I doubt he'll do that next summer.  To help with the sequencing of the photos I added the little burlap banner with a punched number on it....matching the colour with the deck paint.....and "stapled" it to each photo.

I hope you pick up the challenge to use a group of your photos on this great sketch.  Be sure to link your creation back to the MDS Monday blog so we can enjoy it.

Here's the sketch.

This is concert week for me - set up and dress rehearsals.  I don't know how much crafting I'll get done this week - but I'll probably try - just as a way of relaxing.

Hope you have a great day, thanks for stopping by.

Joan

Very Very Late.....

I am so very very late with this - almost an entire week.  I'm a terrible MDS Hostess this week!  I had everything ready for the MDS Monday challenge - I just neglected to post it to my own blog.  So - here we are working with flourishes these two weeks.....We have so many wonderful ones on MDS - take your pick and add some flourish to your creation this week.

Be sure to link back to the MDS Monday blog so we can take a peak!

Here's the sketch...

Thanks for dropping by,

Joan

Playing with Paint

Tami has a great sketch for us today at MDS Monday - lots of fun layers to play with.  

I had decided to let Elliot delve into my paint last weekend - and had fun watching him work with my sponges and brush.  He did very well only a couple drips on the floor - but I did put him in the bathtub to clean him up before his parents picked him up.  I had to giggle when he started painting his belly.

The only pain-stakingly tedious part of this layout was the paint palette - I added an extra splash of paint - but I also included a white "edited" circle punch and a bunch of tiny little circle punches, all filled with white, to create the "background" of the palette.  Otherwise you would be able to see through to the layers below.  It's one of those items that I'll save to use another time!

Here is Tami's sketch - I hope you have fun with it and link your creation to the MDS Monday blog.

Have an awesome week - thanks for visiting.

Joan

Old School Christmas

We have a card sketch from Holly today at MDS Monday.  I love diagonal strips on cards, but rarely do them - they are easy peasy on MDS!

I've done back in time with one of my favorite Christmas paper series!  I've come to realize that I don't have a lot of MDS Christmas paper - not quite sure why.  But this was a favourite, so now I'm happy that it will never run out!  

I chose to keep Santa completely neutral - I do like this old fashion image.  He reminds me of the Santa from my childhood books.

You don't have to use the sketch for a Christmas card - as you can see from some of the Design Team members - be sure to check out the MDS Monday blog to see what everyone has come up with.  And remember to link your creation to the blog so we can see what you've come up with!

Have fun creating!   Thanks for stopping by!

Joan

Bon Voyage

Good Monday everyone - Heidi has given us an awesome sketch at MDS Monday - and since Heidi likes the polaroid look, she has included it in the sketch.  A bonus part of the challenge is to create a hybrid project with the sketch - adding something, popping something up after having the card printed.

I haven't added anything on the my card above, but when I print them off I can add real brads or pop up the greeting.   I hope you try the sketch out - once you've finished be sure to post your project at MDS Monday so we can see it.

I won't be having very many posts this week - as I'm on a brief vacation in New York.  I'll share more stuff once I get home.

Thanks for stopping by =

Joan