CAS(E) this Sketch challenge

It has been so long I'm not even sure I can remember how to do a blogspot post :)
I received the BEST early birthday present...the new CTMH cricut cartridge!  Which was enough to send me down to the craft room to see if I remember how to make cards lol.  I started out with a quick and simple valentine card for the HH, using the new Later Sk8r paper. I LOVE THIS PAPER PACK!!!  I also used the Whoooo's Your Valentine stamp set.

I am linking this up with the CAS(E) This Sketch!

Thanks for stopping by,
Marie with a :) 

No Lion: You're the Best! / Amazing Friend

I'll spare you my ramblings and just say I had a little creative time while getting beat at Scrabble by the HH. Here's a card created for a challenge I just discovered - The Friday Mashup!

 Oh how I love butterflies :)  And oh how I love the amazing friends God has gifted me with!
(Not sure what happened to the color on these next two photos...the last photo shows the "real" colors)

Thanks soooo much for stopping by!
Marie with a :)

So Lucky / Enjoy Life

I am so enamored with the new Lucky papers and the Enjoy Life stamp set set.  I needed some masculine-ish cards so it was lucky for me, I had the paper and stamps :)  (corny, I know...)

I purposely left some of these without a sentiment so I would have masculine cards on hand for Get Well or Thank You cards. 

I like to add some texture without too much bulk.  Paper folding like on this card is one way to accomplish that.

another way to add texture is simple score lines like in the (awful) photo above :)

I have two male friends (husbands of two of my best friends) who have birthdays on March 23.  I love using my Moments in Time, with its mini calendars (D1339 - available only until sold out - which may already have occured) to personalize cards.

These last two cards actually use the Wings Creative Paper rather than the Lucky.  

Thanks for stopping by!

Marie with a :)

Another Planner Page...finally

Last night, I finally created another page for my planner...puts me at a total of 11 pages + cover...only 41 more to go!  I've also been challenging myself to create more masculine cards.

 My big gripe against masculine cards is no opportunity for BLING...unless you sneak in one like this gold photo hanger from CTMH. I was pretty happy when I saw in the new Idea Book that CTMH has brought back the Miracle Paper...which was a limited edition kit last year.

Thanks for stopping by!
Marie with a :)

CPS 200

It's been a long time since I have done a CPS sketch challenge, but I needed some motivation for a masculine Get well.  CPS 200 worked :)  I also used flipped the sketch to create a card on "perspective."

One of my favorite paper lines from CTMH continues to be Veranda and I paired it with the new SOTM, Find Your Style. The sentiment is from Verve. 

 Isn't the butterfly from Find Your Style gorgeous?

 Here's another take on the sketch, using Free Spirit papers and the Legendary Moments stamp set. I also used the For Every Ocassion SS - I cut the "wishes" off Best Wishes and added it to the Get Well stamp.

I also used the Free Spirit paper pack to create a birthday card for my (fourth born) son who turns 17 this month.  When March rolls around, I will have four teenagers again because my youngest will turn 13! (my two oldest are in their twenties)

And guess what?  Even after creating these three cards, my craft room is still neat and organized :)

Card Pattern masculine valentine-ish cards :-)

I have six kids...three of them are boys.  So between three sons and a husband, I need lots of masculine cards...but find them a challenge, since I'm a flowery- scroll - sparkle kind of girl :-) I used the Card Patterns sketch to create a card for both my husband and one of my sons.

Thanks for taking a peek,
Marie with a :-)

OCC and ABC

At about 9 PM tonight,in typical Marie fashion, I decided to make my husband's birthday card...his 50th birthday is tomorrow! I used the ABC: H is for hidden challenge and the OCC challenge for the birthday card. You really should check out the creations on both of these sites - they are incredible!

The pirate card is a masculine birthday card to add to my stash.  Masculine cards are so challenging for me!

I made the pattern for this baby card while visiting my sister this summer but just now added the finishing touches to it!

One of my friends asked me yesterday if I was still keeping my craft room organized...she knows me too well!  I am pleased to say, despite making 20 cards this weekend, it is STILL ORGANIZED!  This friend also gave me a great tip - she has a "to be put away" bin where she puts all of the stuff she's using into and then when she's done she can just take the bin and put everything away. I so love that idea - ususally I have everything scattered all over the place.

Well, my pictures loaded in a very strange way tonight so I hope this posts okay.
Thanks for stopping by!
Marie with a :-)

Mojo 91, masculine cards

Okay, it's late and past my bedtime...my dad and stepmom arrive tomorrow and I have a house to clean, groceries to get, errands to run PLUS I promised to take the kids to the pool...so why am I creating a mojo card??? "Hi, my name is Marie and I'm a sketchaholic?" LOL . This is probably my wonderful hubby's Father's Day card. The second card is a masculine birthday card. Thanks for stopping by!

Marie with a :-)

Father's Day card

I'm still having trouble working on Father's Day cards...hopefully something will click by the end of the day and I will have lots to post! In the meantime, thanks for stopping by~
Marie with a :-)

The Laugh's On Me...

I have thought it pretty funny the many comments I have received about making a cards quickly...but last night the laugh was on me! Despite two hours in the craft room, the muse still hadn't shown up and I couldn't for the life of me come up with a Father's Day card. This first card is my pitiful attempt. The others are some graduation cards...a couple of them came from my stash that I was able to convert to grad cards...I think it's always a good idea to have some versatile cards on hand. I love the bunnies jumping on the bed stamp and think it has lots of potential...birthday, graduation, or as my girls suggested...a sleepover invitation :-). I have 13 more cards to make in the next two days so I will be busy...but I still hope to have time to peruse the blogs of my "buddies" and see what others have been up to. Thanks for stopping by :-)
Marie with a :-)

PS I am now up to almost 300 cards sold :-)

Sneaky Mom; Masculine Birthday Card

It was a little bit sneaky, but I didn't have much choice. I purposefully scheduled a family photo session for this Sunday. It was sneaky because I knew that my older two boys would be coming over to celebrate my birthday- and I knew they wouldn't refuse me on my birthday. It can be pretty tricky trying to get all eight of us together for a family picture and even tougher is getting it done without hearing any complaining. So sneaky, yes, but a mother's got to do what a mother's got to do...
My oldest son turns 22 tomorrow and I made this card for him. As I've said before, I find masculine cards a bit difficult - my guys don't like anything that would be considered "foo-foo."
Hopefully this one is simple enough!





Wishing you a beautiful day,
Marie with a :-)

Gate card (masculine BD), layout

Last night I spent a little bit of time playing with some "gate cards" so I was somewhat prepared when Alyssa told me I had about 45 minutes to make a card for Jay's 18th birthday. (I did know it was his birthday today but procastination reigns when you are a FBTSOYP [fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants] kind of person. Jay's card only took about 20 minutes to make; I used the new stardust paper pack from CTMH which I absolutely love, and various stamps. I also used my cricut for the stars.

I have included part of a scrapbook layout, using some of the newest CTMH colors: sorbet and juniper. The other part isn't quite finished because it's titled "She's Growing Up" and I'm having a tough time sorting through the emotions of having our oldest daughter grow up, so the journaling isn't finished. 

Rejoicing in my Redeemer,

Marie with a :-)