Sketch Challenges and a News Update

Good morning everyone!  I've got a couple more sketches done for the Practicing Creativity Challenges that end today.  And I've got some news since so much has been happening in my life these last couple of months.

Anyhow let's start with the first card.  For this sketch there was no doubt that I was going to use the PCD Look Up Set!  It's my all time favourite set and pair it with the clouds "You're Dandy" and you have one fun card.  My favourite parts of this card are button basket and the sentiment panel made up of Cosmo Cricket ledger paper, PTI ric rac and PCD banner stamp.  The sentiment was made from the Fanciful Swirls font from Hero Arts.

Now for my second fun card but this time for boys, I used up some of my Cogsmo (Cosmo Cricket) pattern paper and some hand stitching to bring a little something original to the card.  Things were simplified by using the border paper for the horizontal lines and a tag for that focus panel. I used three different types of stitches and different fonts for the printing.  Happy Birthday sentiment is from the PCD set "You're Dandy" and the Friend sentiment was made using the fanciful swirl font from Hero Arts.

Now for my news!  I've managed to find a job willing to give me the hours that will work nicely for my family at least during the school year.  So I'll be going back to work for 30 hours a week starting next week as well as a bookkeeping side job on the weekend.  I will be very busy for the next little while and in September we move into our new house so I will also be preparing for that.  We haven't sold this house yet but it will happen and in the meantime we don't have the money worries now that I'll be back at work. I don't know how much time I'm going to have to do what I love but I hope you will all keep in touch by email if you haven't seen much of me.  I still want to try and get at least one post done per week but at this point in time I have no idea how I'll adjust to the new routine.  One foot in front of the other.

My daughter broke my heart the other night while I was tucking her into bed.  She's very upset that I'll be going back to work.  I tried to explain that with the extra money we may be able to get to Disneyland sooner.  She's been asking to go for the last 6 months since 2 of her friends have already been.  And her response "Mommy I love you more than Disneyland and I want you to stay home."  What could I really say?  It brought a tear to my eye that's for sure.  It just goes to show that our kids would rather have our time and attention than anything material.

Practicing Creativity with Iris Folding

I finally found some time last night to play around with those sketch challenges Courtney has going on her blog.  There are four sketches and up for grabs is a $50 gift certificate for Practicing Creativity Designs (PCD).  Wouldn't that be handy?  I'd be able to add the last three stamp releases to my collection....and buy some May Arts ribbon as well.

Anyhow with this box sketch I was inspired to give Iris folding a try.  It's not very hard once you figure out a couple of tricks like the fact that you might need wider strips to start the pattern (at least if it's a larger pattern).  Also if it's thicker pattern paper you're using then you can't do as many layers as you might want to.  I'm proud of this card not only because I tried something different but because I managed to incorporate three different papers from three different manufacturers and I think it turned out wonderfully.

I have no idea why I came up with something for Saint Patrick's day but I came across my PTI Luck of the Irish set which I hadn't used yet and I was feeling pretty LUCKY.  Of course because this was a PCD challenge I had to incorporate one of Courtney's sets.  I used the For the Love of Dots to frame my art work.  There's always room for a little PCD =)

Elements

Paper: Very Vanilla, River Rock, Early Bird dp (Cosmo), Nook & Pantry dp (BG), Kaisercraft dp

Ink:  Always Artichoke

Accessories: cutting blade, iris folding pattern, foam tape, 1 1/4" circle punch

Stamps: Luck of the Irish (PTI), For the Love of Dots (PCD)