Magazine Monday!

First off, I want to apologize for not running the pics last Wednesday. I spent the morning in between storms trying to get the house presentable before my husband got in. When he's gone for three weeks at a time, I always spend the days he's on the road driving to and from Chicago occupying my mind with house work. I totally spaced even turning on the computer. I do have those pictures and weather permitting, they will post on Wed. We've been dealing with lots of storms and lots of rain, having acquired 12 inches of water since Thursday evening. Storms have also meant very little internet time. I'm squeaking this post in between storms.

For my Magazine Monday challenge this week I pulled a copy of Stamp It Cards 2005. However, I did not select a card from one of the projects. Instead, I took my inspiration from a card in a Stampin Up ad. I just liked the card and new it would be perfect. I needed Mother's Day cards for the Little Rock Arkansas Ronald McDonald House.

The card in the ad used an image of a cake and a frame from FRAMES & GREETINGS (Su 2005) I chose to use a variety of stamps Many Thanks, Dear Friend, Days Gone By, Studio G and Hampton Art. I did eight cards in Almost Amethyst and eight in Pretty in Pink for a total of 16 cards. I watercolored the images.

The inspiration card included eyelets on the four corners of the very vanilla mat. The mat was also background stamped with a scroll image and then LOVE from another SU set stamped in black near the top. Sage organza ribbon went across the bottom of the card about 1.5 inches up from the bottom.

I didn't have a ribbon I liked to match either of my CS colors and try to reserve my metal embellishments for cards I know are going to be kept. My take on this card was just to do it simple yet perfect for a child to give to their Mom.

With this week's Magazine Monday I encourage you to donate your creative work to a deserving group. It might be your local hospital, senior center, assisted living or someplace such as Ronald McDonald House or St. Jude Children's Hospital. Let your creativity bring joy to someone you don't know :-)

Creative Blessings!

And the Award Goes To...

Okay.. Awards may seem vain, and maybe they are. But if an award comes with comments that help define WHY the award was given, then it's a big help in determining our strengths and weaknesses. I like to know these things as they help me understand what a magazine editor might also be seeing in my work when I submit.

I received notice from Heather at SplitcoastStampers the bunny card front I'd made for the Easter Ronald McDonald House Swap was chosen as the Overall Nicest Card. Cool, huh? Remember, this is the card I designed during VSN last month with the layout representing the chambers of the heart.

Here’s a replay of the card and what Heather had to say:

Detail wise, the embossing folder background is really nice as it breaks up the pink space … . The images are cute and well proportioned, it has great use of negative space … they are just well laid out and not busy or crammed but at the same time do not look like they're missing anything. It's just a real nice clean look to it. When I look at it I see "elegant" rather than "kid card".

Please take time to check out Heather’s Gallery at Splitcoast. She does lovely work in a variety of mediums.

Creative Blessings

Valentine Additions

Because Creative Dreams is about ALL things I get my fingers into, I was planning to show you a picture of a baby quilt I made last fall. I have another one to make just like it. But for some reason I failed to save a picture to the flash. I can't believe I failed to do that. I THOUGHT I saved a pic of everything. Guess not :-) So here's your tip for the week... make sure you file a picture somewhere. You never know when you might want to share it with someone.

So instead, I'll show pics of the other 2 Valentines I told you about on Monday. I really liked how they turned out and I hope they bring smiles to the children at Ronald McDonald House in Little Rock AR.

This first one is for the BOY category. I used the school boy from Stampin UP that reminds me of the old Dick and Jane primer kids. He is part of a single stamp with a little girl. He is carrying his lunch sack in his right hand and books in his left. The little girl half of the stamp is carrying an apple for the teacher. I used my exacto knife to separate the kids and masked off the books. Then I stamped a heart, heat embossed it with Stamp n Stuff Glitter Red embossing powder and placed it in his left hand.

The NEUTRAL card was made using images from a foam stamp set I got years ago. I stamped the center heart on the balloon on scrap GP white cardstock and colored it with a red LePlume

marker. Then I gave it dimension by placing it on the card with a small pop dot.

Until next time...

Creative Blessings!

Magazine Monday!

This week we're going to visit Crafts n Things Magazine

I'm in a swap at SplitcoastStampers to create Valentines for the children at Ronald McDonald House in Little Rock Arkansas. I have the most adorable stamp set from Stampin Up called Greeting Card Kids. I've combined it with some $1 stamps from Michaels and HEARTS stickers from EK Success . The CASEd pic (removed for copyright purposes) is from February 2008 Crafts n Things Magazine.

In making these cards for kids, I've modified it a bit but the basic sketch is there. I used ValuCardstock in Baby Girl and Seaside collections. The stripe through the center is from ThePaperStudio. I stamped my own DP on the Baby Girl CS using a $1 stamp and SU Regal Rose. Both the little girl and the sentiment are matted on the SeaSide mint green. After coloring with Memory Maker pencils, I added a puffy heart sticker to her hand and smaller ones as an accent.

I made 5 of these for Ronald McDonald House - Little Rock AR. I have 5 I'm doing with the little boy from this same set. I used the school boy but eliminated the bundle of books from the image and placed a heart in that hand. I'm using Blue tones of the CS. I've also created this same layout in Lavender using a bear image. He appears to be drifting through the sky with a bundle of heart shaped balloons. Hopefully 15 children will like what I've created for them and make them smile when there are days they just don't feel like it.

So, What's in your Magazine?

Creative Blessings!