It's Sketch Frenzy Friday Already! & BFF BD

Hello to all my blogging friends. I hope this post finds you all well and happy!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY BFF Carey Love you my friend!

Like I said "It's Sketch Frenzy Friday Already" Wow! With Birthdays, Parties, Holidays my whole week is all turned around! Plus my Honey is leaving for a Convention to NC. Yikes time flew!

This weeks sketch is so cool! I couldn't wait to get started on it. Sharon Wheet is the creator of this sketch. I like all the curves and edges this sketch has to it. A sketch like this gives you so many options to go with.

I turned the sketch a bit and added a different center shape, but all in all it is close to the original shape. This is what I came up with.

Two Edgelits cuts and two Adorning Accents Embossing Folder Impressions start the card off. Then I used two  pieces from the Framelits Labels Collection. I felt the rounded corners on the right edge would soften those edges up a bit. What do you think?I can not wait for my new Birthday goodies to get here in the next few weeks. I have so many things on my wish list several New sentiment stamp sets as well as lots of new goodies from the catalog. Thank goodness for birthdays so I can go shopping. I had to fix this card the So Saffron sentiment image drove me crazy NO POP I think the Marina Mist is a much better choice.

Here is a look at the inside too.

OK have a great week everyone, that's all there is from me today. I have to get Jeff's things ready to go.
Here is a photo of my Honey from this weekends party. I just love this guy he has such a great smile and sparkling blue eyes. Can you tell I'm going to miss him!

Ok, and a photo of us chatting

Your next stop on the Hop is to visit Robbie Rubula's blog at http://inkedx2.blogspot.com/
You should see what she has created this week. It is really beautiful. If you would like to create a card from this sketch please share it with us and download it to our site here http://sketchfrenzyfriday.blogspot.com/
We would love to see it.
Have a great week and thanks for stopping by My Little Patch of Dirt!
Patrice

Operation Write Home Memorial Day Blog Hop

Hello to all my blogging friends, I hope this post finds you well and happy!

This weekend is a very special one for sure as you can see from the Eagle Button found below. Operation Write Home (OWH) is hosting a HUGE Blog Hop Starting Saturday Morning May 26th thru May 27th. There are well over 100 individual blogs featuring lots of eye candy as well as several Corporate Partners (notated by an astrick (*) on the line up) offering yummy Blog Candy.Keep an eye out for them as you won't want to miss out on that. You will be able to hop through the Blog Hop by clicking on the Eagle button provided below. If that doesn't work use this link http://wp.me/p2kUr6-1mH

My Honey works at the VA Hospital in Loma Linda CA. He is always amazed at the stories he hears from our veterans. Where they have been, if they saw combat and what their jobs were while while they were serving our country. He even had a chat with a Medal of Honer winner this year, he said "that was the highlight of his week". He remembered the poise that this gentleman had while telling him of his time spent  in active duty. I have the utmost respect for the families of and for those soldiers who serve and protect our great country. Before we start with  my cards  We want to say with great Respect and Admiration-
Thank You  for protecting and serving our country.
 Jeff and Patrice.

I created two cards for this hop. I sure hope you enjoy them as much as I did in making them. PS I used Sketch #4 by Kathy R

My first card is a very feminine card. It could be used to give to someones Sweet Heart, Mom or Sister. I used mostly SU products in creating these two.With the exception of the little flowers on this card. They are from a misc. vendor.
Now, for a look at the inside. I try to gussy up the insides of the cards that I send. I think the receiver gets a little extra surprise a second time. I really try to carry the card front theme on to the inside as well.

Here is a photo of the second card. It is along the same lines as the first card with regard to elements the embossed background  and the Bird on a cage, but it is a bit more on the masculine side. I used Sketch #114 (I think) on this card

Here is the photo of the inside

 I hope you like my cards and will come back to My Little Patch of Dirt again real soon. I usually post a couple  times a week so if you want notification of when I post please sign up to follow this blog. I would love to share paper crafting ideas and techniques with you.
Enjoy this amazing Blog Hop and have a safe and fun Memorial Day Weekend. Thanks for leaving a little love in the comment section too. It makes posting all the more fun.
Chat soon, Patrice

Sketch Frenzy Friday 05-25-12

Hello to all my blogging friends. I hope this post finds you all well and happy!

This has been one heck of a busy week! Where did the time fly? I am still working on the garden and it is coming along beautifully. My Iris's are all gone now and the Lillie's (Day and Nile) are starting to bloom. I have a beautiful Jasmine just outside my studio window and the fragrance is just intoxicating. It has never bloomed this much before. I'll share some of the photos of My Little Patch of Dirt with you after the Blog Hop .
First things first right. Oh almost ... the Operation Write Home Blog Hop is this weekend I'll tell you more about that later too. Now on with the Hop.

This week's sketch was designed by Robbie Rubula and as usual it is a good one! Here it is. I have never seen a sketch like this one before. It took me a minute to work it out. Let me know what you think.

This is the card I came up with.

I used Cherry Cobbler CS and Attic Boutique DSP. The CC card stock scrap  I used was from a faux suede  technique. The CS looks in person very soft and well suedeish (smile). I Die cut the focal element out with two of the smallest Framelits  from the Labels Collection. I really didn't like the bright white look of the DSP so I lightly ran a Chocolate Chip ink pad across the  front a few times it helped distress it and tone it down a bit. Then I hand cut and formed the banner and stamped "So Grateful"  to go across the front using  the Apothecary Art stamp set. I used a little extra scrap of the Cherry Cobbler faux suede  in the top right corner and wrapped Early Espresso Baker's Twine four times around the corner.

Here is a look at the inside.

 I tore the edges of the negative image of the Label and stamped directly on the card stock the "Just for you" sentiment. It looks like it is one whole piece. "Thanks" was stamped from the Afterthoughts Hostess set. All images and products used in making this card are SU. I hope you like it an get inspired to try new technique. I also hope that you find some time create something fun this weekend.
Your next stop on our Blog Hop is this weeks creator of our super fun sketch Robbie Rubula, you have to see what she did with her sketch,http://inkedx2.blogspot.com/
If you would like to make a card from this sketch and down load it to our blog we would love to see what you come up with. http://sketchfrenzyfriday.blogspot.com/
Have a fun and safe Holiday weekend.

Now a little more information about Operation Write Home's Memorial Day Weekend Blog Hop. Operation Write Home sends hand crafted cards to our Soldiers who serve in the States and Abroad, so they can have access to greeting cards to send to their friends and families. The Hop is this Saturday and Sunday. I believe there are well over 100 blogs in the lineup. There are several Corporate Sponsors who just might be giving away some Blog Candy too (Ooooh Aahhh) I have created 2 cards for the Hop. Please come back this weekend and join us.

Here are a few recent photos of My Little Patch of Dirt for ya Tomatoes and Carrots

That amazing Jasmine vine.

Look at these grapes they are just going wild and there are so many little grape bunches all over the place. The grape  vines are just now starting to mature they are three years old . Last year I only got three little bunches. There are well over a dozen on just this one plant. Yippee.

There are plenty more photos but this post is just way tooooo long as it is lolol.
 Please come back tomorrow!

VC Rocks Blog Hop Have A Heart

Hello Rockers and all my blogging friends, I hope this post finds you all well and happy!

I love summertime because it means VC_ Rocks has begun. We have so much fun all summer long and Blog Hops are just one small part of all the wonderful activities that VC_Rocks has to offer. There is still time to join this free group of very talented ladies. If you would like more information about VC_Rocks please stop by our website  http://vcrocks.blogspot.com/ or you can sign up by entering your info in the subscription (Join Us) button at the top right hand corner of my blog. As a side note the above VC_Rocks  link will also start you off on this months blog hop if you get lost along the way.

Another wonderful aspect of VC_Rocks is that every year we choose a charity that we as a group donate funds to. This years Blog Hop theme was inspired by our charity The American Heart Association. I think it is so cool that a different charity is selected every year and that we do our part to support these worthwhile causes.

OK Now on to the fun stuff and let's get on with the Blog Hop.      
You must have come to my blog from Barb Furlongs http://www.theloveofstamping.com/  blog. Barb is so very talented and is always very active in our group. Thanks for beings such a dedicated participant in our group Barb.

I made 3 Heart Felt cards for our first hop, I hope you enjoy them! Here we go with photos of the front of the cards and then the inside.
The first one is a Birthday Card.

They are all bright and cheery. For each card I used a combination of the following elements. Sizzlits Large Paper Doily, Heart and Scallop Adorning Accents Impression Folders. Large and Small Heart Punches, Attic Boutique DSP, Bakers Twine and some pretty Rhinestones.  Apothecary Art ,Sprinkled Expressions (SAB) Just Believe stamp sets. Poppy Parade, Pool Party and Daffodil Delight card stock.
The second is a Congratulations Card.

Finally, the third is a Thank You Card.

I hope you enjoy our First Blog Hop of the summer. I would love to know what you think about these cards. If you would like to follow my blog to see what I am up to the rest of the month please fell free to subscribe I would love to chat with you more often.

Your next stop on our Blog Hop will be Robin Messenheimers very amazing blog http://www.robinscraftroom.com/. She comes to us all the way from Hawaii (Aloha Robin).

Don't forget to find some time to create something fun for yourself this weekend.
Chat soon,
Patrice

Sketch Frenzy Friday

Hello to all my blogging friends, I hope this post finds you well and happy!

Ya it's Sketch Frenzy Friday time again and this week I am the sketch designer. Here is the sketch I created.

I took a lot of creative licence on my sketch. I used a little old and a little new on this card. I love Season of friendship and will miss this set. For the sort so new I used Nature Walk I am really glad it is staying around at least for this year. I found a nest in my front yard last  week and that's what gave me the idea for my card. Here it is.

I kind of like how it turned out. I think adding the VersaMark tree image really added depth to this card.
Here is a look at the inside.

and here is a look at my piece of inspiration.

I think it is a Hummingbirds nest. As the little guy was pretty frantic zipping here and there. I saw some cracked eggs around it. I think maybe a cat got it? I put the pen along side it to give you a size idea.
Oh my goodness I totally missed the most important part the link to Robbie Rubulas blog she always does something fun with our sketches. http://inkedx2.blogspot.com/
Now if you would like to try your hand at our sketch and make a cred or other project please upload your project to out blog http://sketchfrenzyfriday.blogspot.com/

OK that's it for me today.I hope you have a great weekend.

Find sometime to create something fun.
Chat soon, Patrice

Some more Doodle Art

Hello to all my blogging friends I hope this post finds you all well and happy!

I had a few minutes today to make another Doodle Art card out of an extra piece I designed the other day.
I saw a sketch over at Try Stamping on Tuesdays but did not submit it. I just ran out of hours in my day to do so.
Here's my card  let me know what you think!

I think all the doodles worked well with the little strip of Blk. & Wht. Polka Dots. I love Black, White and Red combined with a splash of Yellow and sometimes even Turquoise Blue works well with that color combo. This card was screaming "Put Some Yellow" on the card! So that is where the scallop yellow strip came in.
Here is a look at the inside too.

I just carried the color theme all the way through! You know I always hate throwing away the reverse portion on the scallop so I used it here. These colors are so bright and cheery. I hope you got inspired and like my 2nd Doodle Art Card.
Well, that's all from me today. I hope you too find a few minutes to sit quiet and create something fun.
Chat soon,
 Patrice

Bird House Card

Hello to all my blogging friends, I hope this post finds you all well and happy!

I was visiting Robbie Rubula's blog http://inkedx2.blogspot.com/ the other day (Saturday May 5th 2012 post) and found she had made this great Bird House card, only she used Butterflies on her card instead of the bird. Her card came out really cute too! She got the idea for the Bird House from Jackie Topias blog.

Here is what I came up with;

It looks really cute in person lot's of texture and fun hidden inside the card.

Since I do not have a template or the exact measurements I made my own version as usual.
I cut a 8 1/2 x 11 piece of card stock lengthwise  4 1/4 x 11 folded it in half at 5 1/2  then found the center of 5 1/2 which is 2 3/4  then I folded over one of the top corners over to the center and did the same to the other side. The Bold Folder helped make the lines crisper. If you happen to have the new Diagonal Scoring Tool from SU it would have been much easier and cleaner. That is what I had to do without that tool. Push in the scored sections to make the roof of the birdhouse like you see in the second photo. I use my 1 3/8 punch to make the hole in the front of the card. I slid the punch up as high as it would go from the bottom of the CS at the center and made the punch. Then I ran the bottom section of the front piece of the card (That section which is left after the roof is folded in ) through the Big Shot using the Stripes Embossing folder. I cut a piece of Early Espresso CS into a triangle to match the top of the house for the roof and ran the triangle through the Big Shot using the Square Lattice Embossing Folder. I tried three different embossing folders but I liked the Square Lattice the best. Then I made the bird with the Bird Builder Punch with some retired DSP. Punched out some flowers and leaves and there you have it. Give it a try it wasn't that hard to do just labor intensive because of all the little parts and pieces. Shhhhhh I made 10 of these for a swap (Not VC).

I hope you find some time to create. Have a great Wednesday.
Chat soon,
Patrice

VC Rocks Weekly Challenge #2

Hello to all my blogging friends, I hope this post finds you all well and happy!

First off Happy Mothers Day everyone. I'm spending it in my studio with my honey. The window's are open, I can see my beautiful garden and there is a light breeze. We are listing to music and I am playing. I got a hold of the new SU Catty last night and boy are you all going to be so happy! Lots of stamp sets from the Mini's are returning in the new Catty and some of the older stamp sets have even been added as clear mount options. What you say that's right! Jeff my honey is BBQing and all is well. I couldn't be happier. I hope you too are having a wonderful Mothers Day.

This week over at VC Rocks Ellen Kemper gave us a really fun challenge. The challenge is to put Doodle marks on your card, 3D or scrapbook page. You can put a lot or a little, just doodle!

I really do not use this technique enough because I really like to doodle. You should see my Legal Pad lololol it is full of doodle marks. I do my best doodling when I am on the phone (Smile).

I used the Fifth Avenue Floral stamp set, a black Stampin' Write Journaler, Tempting Turquoise CS and 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon.

Here is a close up. The Masking technique really came in handy for making the bouquet.

I found making this card was actually very therapeutic. You simply put pen to paper and doodle. There are no mistakes using this technique, because if you do happen to make a mistake you just go with it and doodle over the mistake. No one will ever notice that's the fun of it. It is mistake Proof.

Here is a close up of the inside.

Have a great Mothers Day and I hope you find some time to do what you want to do.
Chat Soon , Patrice

Something for Mothers Day

Hello to all my blogging friends, I hope this post finds you all well and happy!

We are going to my Niece's school play tomorrow "Beauty and the Beast".The whole family will be there that will be totally amazing. My Sister said it was really good so I can't wait. This year my Niece has a pretty good part too.  She is in 5th grade and a month ago she told me "she loves to dress up be on stage" can we say Drama Queen lolol. "Break a Leg" Mariah. I love my little up and coming super star.
After the play we are taking my Mom out to a late lunch for Mothers Day and then make a bee line to Jeff's Moms for a late dinner, it should be a very full day.
Sunday I'm going to play in My Little Patch of Dirt. I am almost finished cleaning and weeding and splitting plants and re potting others. We made several Grow Boxes last weekend (self watering self sustaining) with lots of tomatoes, misc. veggies and salad stuff. May be I'll get him to BBQ again hummmm?

Here is a card I made for both of our Mothers.
I always wanted to try this tech (I have no idea what it is called). Maybe someone will give me the name of it????. Hint, Hint, Hint lololo.
Simply rub ink on a dry embossing folder and depending on what side you want inked run it through your Big Shot.
I used Rich Razzelberry Ink,CS 1 1/4 Stripped Ribbon and Natural White CS. Just Believe Stamp Set .

Here is a look at the inside.

Ok, that is it for today. If you are a Mother, have a Mother or know a Mother I wish you all a very special Mothers Day and I hope you find some time to create something fun.
Chat soon,
Patrice

Sketch Frenzy Friday 05/11/12

Hello to all my blogging friends, I hope this post finds you well and happy!

 Today's Mini Blog Hop features Maria Vanderforms wonderful sketch. This is one fun sketch that is for sure. Maria is so very talented I am a big admirer of her work. I know she gave us this sketch to spark our imagination. So let's see what I can do with it?

OK this is what I came up with. I sure hope you like it!

I really hated to punch holes in this DSP to get the flowers but that is the first thing that popped into my head when I saw this sketch. I think it took me all of about 15 minutes to make the entire card. I love when that happens. Sometimes it can take over an hour just to create one card so this one was a pleasure. Great sketch Maria!.
Now for a look at the inside.

I did not add a sentiment to the inside just yet as I am finding I like to grab a card and customize it when I need it. Besides inky fingers rock lololol!
Your next stop on our Mini Blog Hop is to visit Robbie Rubula over at http://inkedx2.blogspot.com/
Robbie always  does such a great job with our sketches. If you would like to add a card you created from this sketch please upload it here http://sketchfrenzyfriday.blogspot.com/

That's it for today I sure hope you find sometime to create something fun today. Have a great weekend

VC Rocks Weekly Challenge #1

Hello to all my blogging friends, I hope this post finds you all well and happy!

There is still time to join our group (VC Rocks) for the summer. There is no charge to join. We celebrate all things SU the New Catalog and Convention activities. We have loads of fun, it is a high volume e-mail group because we laugh and giggle and chat a lot. I have met some really amazing ladies on this group over the last 4 years. We have New SU Demos, Veteran Demos even Customers join us and our downline too. We have a ton of very well known talented and creative stampers in this group. You will learn interesting, new techniques and tons of other fun things too. We have Weekly Challenges like the one below, Make-N-Takes, A Classroom, Chat rooms, a virtual Pool with your own Pool Boy, Swaps (I am hosting the Very Feminine Swap this year). We have a yearly Charity that you can donate $5.00 toward if you like. This year it is the American Heart Association (Thanks BFF).We also have monthly Blog Hops our first one is coming up May 19th and 20th. The highlight of the summer is the Virtual Hotel where you are assigned a roomie and you send each other via snail mail a "Goodie Box" filled with created projects, cards, candy -yum and fun stuff. If you are interested in joining this group of super fun ladies check out the subscribe link at the top right hand corner of my blog we would love to have you join us for the summer.


This week over at VC Rocks we were given our first weeks challenge

Show off those SU blooms by creating a project (3D, Card or Scrapbook Page) featuring any SU blossom. ADD Pink somewhere on your project. For the overachievers among us you must use a Paper Tole Technique, (basically stamp 2,3,4 of the same image, cutting  them closely to the edge and stacking them on top of each other to create a 3D effect). Paper Tole is a BEAUTIFUL tech for flowers.

This is the card I am going to submit.

I used 4 layers only by chance, as I found another flower I had previously stamped. and I cut out the center stamen piece. Here is a close up of the flower (as best I could lolol) Can you see the layers.

I sure hope SU comes up with another beautiful floral DSP. I really did like that  paper.
Here is a look at the inside.

Can you see the little piece of Doily left over from the front piece. I think it added a very special look to the card. I gently added liquid glue to the back side with a tooth pick to adhear it to the card.

All right that is all there is to it for today. Please come back tomorrow to see what the Sketch Frenzy Friday Design Team comes up with for this weeks challenge. Our very own Maria Vanderform created the sketch (Hi Maria).

I hope you find some time to create something fun today.
Chat soon, Patrice

Sketch Frenzy Friday 5/4/12

Hello to all my blogging friends, I hope this post finds you all well and happy!

Welcome to our SFF Mini Blog Hop. Today we have a really cool sketch by Kim Innis. As you can see it is a fun layout! The 3 banners made me feel very cheery! I had a ball making my card, but first here is Kim's sketch.

I pretty much followed this sketch with the only exception I added a bow with Lucky Lemonade Bakers Twine instead of ribbon.
Here is my card. I cut around a SU Large Paper Doily just enough to show the center flower of the Die to sort of act as a background to my focal image flower. I really like personalizing the Doily Die Cuts. There are so many possibilities with them. The embossed images gave this card great texture.

Now a look at the inside. 

I left it blank because I wanted this particular card to be used as a note card.
I hate to see this DSP go but as they say "Out with the old in with the new". Right!
I finally replaced my Ott Light Bulb and boy what a difference this light makes on a photo.

Your next stop on our little blog hop is to visit Robbie Rubula. I can not wait to see what she comes up with for this weeks sketch http://inkedx2.blogspot.com/.
We would love to see what you come up with Kim's sketch, so please upload it to our blog here;
http://sketchfrenzyfriday.blogspot.com/

I hope you find some time to create something fun too. Have a wonderful weekend I hope to chat more again real soon.
Patrice

Preview Challenges VC Rocks

Hello to all my blogging friends, I hope this post finds you all well and happy!

VC Rocks is in full swing and I am finally finishing all of the 12 challenges we were given.

My studio is super clean, dusted, sorted  and vacuumed. My stamp pads are cleaned and re-inked and sorted. My card stock is sorted and the scraps have a home too. The DSP is sorted by, SU and Non Su. All adhesives are stocked and ready to go. My Stamp are sorted :Current and Retired and cleaned and moisturized too.. Everything has a place and is at hand. I love these challenges as at least once a year my studio is spotless. (thank goodness it is only Once A Year)!

Here is a picture of a challenges to use scraps of CS and misc embellishments I believe it was to be for a Birthday!

The next card was an example of what the first type of card and techniques I was taught to do . What made me want to become a paper crafter. My BFF CAREY!

Do any of you remember these techniques... Pearl Ex , and the paper edge with the fiber?

The final card was to use Bling and make a card to welcome newbies or for your BFF. Well this card is for my BFF  Thanks for being such a great teacher and friend. I love you BFF. This card's for you!

I hope you get inspired to clean up your crafting areas and get your stamping supplies in order.
Maybe you would like to join us for the summer over at VC Rocks!
We are accepting new comer applications until May 31st.
We are a virtual convention celebrating all things Stampin' Up. http://vcrocks.blogspot.com/
Check us out!
We are a High Volume E-Mail group of Crazy Fun and very talented ladies who stamp and play all summer long!
Come Join Us won't you!
Patrice