Day 10 - Go Packers!

As I'm typing this, the Packer game is on.  It's not going well, so I'm distracting myself by taking care of some "blog business"!  Day 10 from 365 - A Daily Creative Journal asks me to "Use water as your medium/inspiration today."  The easy way to fulfill this one would be to scrapbook one of my many bodies of water photos, but I chose to go a different route - this is a fancy fold card using Island Indigo cardstock - Island Indigo is a beautiful new In-Color from the SU! Idea Book and Catalog. The card also uses Twitterpated DSP from the Occasions Mini-Catalog, the Everyday Elegance stamp set from the Sale-A-Bration Mini-Catalog, and matching Island Indigo ink.  But my favorite accessory that I used was the new Blossom punch from the Occasions Mini-Catalog - so fun!

You'll notice that the card is finished with a DSP belly band.

Day 9 - Cheating AGAIN!

Obviously the author of my 365 - A Creativity Journal - was not aware of how picky I am about food.  I mean first it was using Fruits and Veggies as inspiration, and now "use your breakfast for something creative before you eat it."  What kind of a challenge is that?

So once again, I'm going off script.  I decided to use a card and envelope set I bought off the SU! Clearance Rack - so unfortunately, this set is no longer available.  I added some Pretty In Pink and Baja Breeze cardstock and ruffled ribbon to create a great set of cards.

Since we're being honest, you'll notice if you're keeping track that I actually skipped Day 8.  It challenged me to alter a book - coincidentally I had found a great tutorial on how to turn an old hard cover book into a Nook/Kindle cover.  So, I got out my awesome SU! fabric and got to work.  Well, the end result was...less than stellar - certainly not "blog worthy".  So I actually did create something on Day 8, I'm just not sharing!  Enjoy the pictures of the cards I made (in less than 10 minutes I might add!)

Day 7 - My Second for Today

Ok, as promised, I was able to accomplish Day 7 - make a stencil and use it in your work.  So, the first thing I did was make a stencil - I used the SU! Paper Doily Large Sizzlits Die to create the stencil.  I used Wisteria Wonder, Black, Pretty in Pink, Lucky Limeade, and Whisper White cardstock, along with the beautiful Blushing Bride ruffled ribbon, and the Framed Tulips embossing folder.  The Sizzlit and the ruffled ribbon are both in the Occasions Mini-Catalog that went live on January 3rd.  At first I didn't like the card, but it's started to grow on me!

Day 6 - Apparently I Take Weekends Off

It wasn't my intent, but that's what happened.  The challenge for Day 6 had something to do with fruits and vegetables - are you kidding me?  So, I did something different - but still creative.  This is the card box we got as a make & take at Convention last summer - they don't give you enough time to finish all of them, so the box came home with me.  It comes with templates to cover the box, so all you have to come up with is how you're going to decorate it.

I used the Everyday Enchantment Designer Series paper from the Sale-A-Bration Mini-Catalog that goes live on January 24th, along with Pool Party cardstock, Calypso Coral cardstock and my favorite Antique brads.  As a reminder, the Everyday Enchantment DSP is available for FREE with a $50 order beginning on January 24th - what a deal! I finished it off by using the Labels Collection Framelits from the 2012 Occasions Mini-Catalog which went live on January 3rd.

This will be a gift to my dear friend Jean - she has been very supportive lately and I want to let her know I appreciate it.  I will be filling it with all occasion cards that we can use at work for various events that need to be celebrated.

My plan is to also take care of Day 7 and get it posted by later today.

Day 5 - My Favorite So Far

Today's creative challenge was "What do you collect?  Work with a collection of objects you have in your home."  I asked my husband what was the first thing that came to his mind...to be honest he said cats, which is weird and not true:)  Then he said purses, well duh!  That was my first thought too.  I LOVE bags, purses, and totes.  Because of that, I recently signed up to sell Thirty-One Gifts - a company that sells very cool personalized bags and totes - it's like a match made in heaven - I love stamping and scrapping...which means I need bags and totes...and Thirty-One sells bags and totes!

To that end, I decided to do a two page layout of my favorite collection.  I used both Wild Wasabi and Tangerine Tango Stampin' Up! cardstock along with Antique brads in the center of the paper flowers.  The paper flowers were made with the Fancy Flower and 5-Petal Flower punches.

Day 4 - 361 to Go!

Ok, that's going to get old in a heart beat!  Today's challenge was to take a 5 minute walk, make something with what you find at your destination, and then leave it for someone.  Well...it's cold out and I hate the cold!  So, I used some leaves I picked up a couple years ago when Ed and I went camping together - I think we were on a walk when I found them:)  The photo doesn't show up too well - it's of two deer caught on Ed's trail cam up in Ashland.

Day 3 - 362 to Go!

I'll say it up front - I kind of cheated with today's challenge - "Make something out of paper, but don't use scissors or glue or draw on it."

I chose to use one of the Stampin' Up! Simply Sent kits - already cut, already pretty!  I just had to put a sticker on it (that's where I kind of cheated, since stickers technically have glue.)  And then I stamped a greeting on each one (another cheat if you think stamping means drawing!)  But I have been meaning to play with my Simply Sent kits and this gave me an excuse.  It took me less than 10 minutes to create the 7 cards shown below - not bad!  And perfect if you're just starting out with card making - easy AND beautiful - it's a win win!

Day 2 - 363 to Go

Just so you know, I'll only do the "days to go" a bit longer - math is hard and I don't want to have to figure out how many days there are left - the first few are going to be easy :)

The project for Day 2 was "What's your favorite animal?  Use it as your inspiration today"  This one was pretty easy for me - our cat "Bob" is, well, maybe not an inspiration, but he sure has "inspired" lots of photo opportunities!  So, I made a Squash Book.  I used Stampin' Up! black and Garden Green cardstock along with some cat themed paper I had.

Happy New Year! 1 Down, 364 to Go!

I'd be remiss if I didn't start this post out with Go Pack!!!  To be honest, I'm apprehensive about today's game against the Detroit Lions since Aaron Rodgers is not playing...

Moving on!  I bought a book at Archivers a few weeks ago call "365 - A Daily Creativity Journal"  It is written by Noah Scalin and it challenges you to do something creative every day.  I waited until January 1st to start this for obvious reasons.  I want to say up front, I'm not committing to do something creative every single day of 2012, but I'm going to do the best I can to create 365. 

The book gives suggestions for each day and Day 1 is "make something that fits in the palm of your hand using only materials in your immediate environment."  Now, I'm a stamper and scrapbooker, so this one was fairly easy and I've had my project planned for days.

Here are pictures of a Stampin' Up! Simply Adorned charm/necklace that I created this morning.  The background was done using the shaving cream technique, then I stamped with the Daring Adventure stamp set and finished it off with butterflies die cut using the Beautiful Wings Embosslits die.

Day 1, mission accomplished!