ivarai's scrappy blog card challenge 9-13

today's card was made for ivarai's card challenge. when i start a sketch challenge the first thing i do is draw the sketch in my sketchbook, that way i have it sitting in front of my at my desk. it also helps get the sketch in my head and helps me start formulating ideas. 

the next thing i did was decide my theme, i decided on a baby card, and picked my fiskars sweet pea baby stamp set. i decided i wanted my sentiment to be sweet pea, and immediately thought of cosmo cricket's garden variety papers-a perfect match! for my cardbase i used kraft cardstock cut to a standard sized card 5 1/4 x 4 1/4.

i cut my papers out to create the three square panels for the base part of the sketch then started adding my layers. i used my fiskars scalloped sentiment punch to make a scallop from black cardstock. (it's so funny as i'm writing this i'm realizing just how much fiskars product i used on this card) then used my fiskars paper trimmer to cut the cardstock so that i had a really thin scallop edge. 

next i began distressing my designer paper. i used rangers distress ink in peeled paint, and also went around the edges lightly using vintage photo just to give it definition. 

then i began working on the sentiment. i cut a 3 inch cylinder shape using my cricut and the george and basic shapes cartridge. then i stamped my sentiment on the cylinder shape using peeled paint distress ink, stamped it on white paper to cut out the body of the little pea-baby, then i stamped his little face on kraft cardstock to give him a skin tone face, and then i stamped the little baby hat on the cosmo cricket paper and cut it out. 

because i was doing a baby card, buttons felt like the perfect embellishment. the three green buttons i purchased at wal-mart. i used white ribbon, tied it in a bow, and used a mini glue dot to attach it to the button. then adhered all three buttons using craft glue dots. 

because i'd distressed all of the papers and used such dark colors on a baby card i decided to do some faux stitching with my white gel pen to brighten the card up. 

as a final touch i added recollections black pearls. 

i love this sketch, i'm definitely going to use it again, and i had a great time playing along with this challenge. if you want to play along all the info can be found HERE!

thanks for looking!

blog ya later

boo treat bag

halloween can be such a fun holiday for kids. nothing better than trick or treating-getting dress up and of course getting free candy! 

and so for my first assignment as a glue dots dottie (a halloween theme project) i decided to make a monster themed treat bag. which would be perfect as a halloween party favor or for kids to take to school and pass out to their classmates. 

i started with a small treat sak, i purchased it from target for $1. the treat sak is 6 1/2 in tall x 3 in wide. i used my t-square ruler and bone folder to score the top of the bag at 1 1/4 inch. i purchased the monster stickers at michael's arts and crafts stores. but if you're looking for similar monsters you can purchase them HERE

then i got started on the decorative part of the bag. i cut black cardstock to 5 x 3 inches, and cut purple cardstock 4 3/4 x 2 3/4 inches. 

i cut a strip of designer paper 1 1/4 x 3 inches, and matted on black cardstock 1 1/2 x 3 inches. for the sentiment i used maya road chipboard letters. looking for similar chipboard letters, you can purchase them HERE

i used colorbox chalk ink in lime green to color the raw chipboard letters. i inked the letters on top of rangers kraft mat, which it perfect to ink on, because it wipes clean so easily. 

next, i cut a 2 1/2 inch circle on my cricut, using the george and basic shapes cartridge, with black cardstock. i adhered it to the purple cardstock, with about a quarter of the circle hanging off, and trimmed that part off with tim holtz tonix scissors. 

then i began adhering my layers together. i used glue dots memory book dot n go adhesive. to attach the chipboard letters i used mini glue dots. 

then i added the little monster sticker to the simi circle, and used a white gel pen to add faux stitching detail. 

next i wanted to add star shaped brads as embellishments. i cut off the prongs on the back of the brads, and used glue dots to adhere them. then i adhered all the layered pieces to the treat bag. 

at this point i added the candy, because i was getting ready to close the bag.

i folded the top of the bag over, and marked with a pencil where i wanted the ribbon to go through, and used my we r memory keepers crop-a-dile to punch two holes, and string the ribbon through, and tied it in a bow. 

as a finishing touch i added rangers purple stickles to give the stars a purple glittery shine. 

I wrote this blog post while participating on the Glue Dots design team

thanks so much for looking

blog ya later!

i'm a dottie!!! whoo hooo!!!

on april 9th- just my second post on this blog- i posted about the dt call for glue dots. short, and to the point it simply said. . .

exciting news! glue dots is having a design team call. dare i apply? i think i will. if you're interested here's all the information you need to apply HERE.
wish me luck! :)

and then three days ago, i got the announcement i'd been waiting to see since april. I was surprised, i was thrilled. i was . . . a little unsure if it was me. see the list said shawnte park, missing the "s" at the end of my last name. and i had the scary thought that maybe that wasn't me. but then i thought, it can't be possible that someone else could have a name that close to mine. (but i emailed glue dots to double check before i let myself get too excited about it).
once i got email confirmation i shouted my joy from the mountain top- more commonly known as twitter. :) LOL!

i'm looking forward to getting to know all the wonderful ladies on both the dottess and dottie teams.

if you're on twitter let me know so i can follow you. you can find me on twitter at @mylo143, also please leave a link to your blog in the comments. i'd love to check it out.

 so that's my exciting news.
blog ya later!

woof!

if you've been reading by blog for a while you know that i started as a scrapbooker and evolved into a cardmaker. as a scrapbooker i considered myself a scrapper, but cardmakers call themselves stampers. and this is the first card i've made that made me truly feel like a stamper. i didn't use any patterned paper on this card it was all about the stamping, which before felt foreign and weird, but this card felt completely natural. now that i've made this wonderful leap in the craft world i think i'll call myself a scramper, LOL! maybe not :) anyway, enough of my random humor, on to the card. 

banner cards are huge right now. they're EVERYWHERE. and they're adorable. and i purchased this new stamp set and my first thought was hmmm. . . .how cute would it be to make a doggie banner with bones instead of flags strung between the fire hydrants. so that's where the idea for this card came from.

the other thing that different for me with this card. it's a square card! 4 1/4 x 4 1/4. this is a really fun size to play with, you have an even smaller space, so if having too much space is a little intimidating for you, i highly recommend this size, it's like a mini card, very non-intimidating.the inks are rangers distress inks in shabby shutters, spiced marmalade, and broken china. 

that white cardstock is cut to 4 x 4, and i used the doggie paw print and stamped my background. making a diagonal line with each ink color. until i had the background covered. 

then i cut a strip of cardstock that was 2 x 4 (which i later cut down to 1 3/4 x 4 because i mounted it on black cardstock). i stamped the fire hydrants on each end. then stamped them again on another piece of cardstock and cut them out. i used tombo mono removable tape runner to adhere the hydrants to the cardstock to create a mask. 

i used inkessentials blending tool, and rangers shabby shutters, and broken china distress ink to create grass, and the sky behind the hydrants, then removed the masks. 

i stamped the hydrants again, and colored them with regular markers. (i can't wait till i get copic markers. they're so amazing and they blend beautifully and make your projects look so cool. but i don't have any yet, so i used regular bic markers that i got on sale at staples :)

then i stamped and colored the doggie. i was going to use the poodle at first, but she felt a little fancy, and i wanted this card to be more playful. i colored him with a brown bic marker, just adding some brown spots, and i made his collar orange and red (to match the hydrants.) and gave him a pink nose. 

then came the part that i made much more complicated than it needed to be. ok, a normal banner card just has the string running behind the pennants.clean. simple. easy. i don't know what i was thinking, i decided to wrap the string around the bones. which was so hard to do. 

problem: the string kept slipping and moving, and i couldn't get the spacing right, and i couldn't lay it out and see exactly how i wanted it before i had it adhered down, it was cardmaking chaos. solution: glue dots!

i attached each bone to the string using mini glue dots, had to figure out how far apart i wanted them placed, and secure them to the card with dimensional adhesive.

it's really sad, but i felt so acomplished after i finished that doggie banner. LOL!

so i had all the parts and i layed it out on the black card base, and realized it needed a little something more. 

i used the speech bubble from a hero arts christmas stamp set. i believe it's jolly christmas. stamped with walnut stain distress ink. then stamped the word woof in spiced marmalade distress ink. and cut it out. glued it all together, and i was done. 

thanks so much for looking, if you have any questions leave them in the comments.

blog ya later!