2S4Y and summer fun

We are having a fantastic summer around here. Life is good and we spend our days at the beach. These are days my son will remember as an adult, thinking that the summers were always sunny back then…

This morning before the kids woke up I made a birthday card for a friend using the lovely sketch of the week over at 2Sketches4You, Laura’s sketch #29

I think it is really hard taking decent photos when the main color is white (or black). Any tips on how to either take the photo or to fix it with the help of Photoshop (elements) are gratefully accepted.

I got this really neat effect when adding Glossy Accent on three of the hearts – they changed color some. And I like it! I also had some crackle accent on the red stripe and the small hearts. And stickles. My friend is a diamond, and diamond needs to sparkle! If you click the images you'll see a bigger picture.

This is how our day yesterday looked like. Awesome. Today, we’ll try a sand beach to get some change.

Hope your day will be as lovely as ours! Bye!!!

WHY?

Is the question I ask myself every time a Swap deadline is coming up. WHY did I enter this one??? Once the panic scrapping is done and the stuff is mailed out (in time - but just barely) I know the answer and instead I ask myself WHY??? Why do I wait until the last freakin minute????? Next time, I promise myself, next time I'll do it right away. Yeah right! Today I'm in the panic mode. Need to get 8 ATC mailed out tomorrow. 6 down, 2 to go. Why the panic one might ask. There is a whole day to go. Well, not quite, I'm visiting my parents. 4,5 hours away from my scraproom.

We have had a wonderful weekend so far. I've helped my mum out with some paper crafting related projects. With her limited vision she needs help with the precision part. So we're in kind of a joint venture. We've made recipies (for a swap - yeah, she is as into it as I am... lol), a birthday card and a canvas. Pretty productive!

The canvas is a case/lift of one of my old layouts. She's decided everything, layout, pics, papers, embellies... and I've done most of it.

To be a one hour project done by two women with strong will, it's ok. LOL! Last time I was here, I did a graduation card which I haven't blogged just yet. Only to share something that is actually my doing all together.

Besides scrapbooking we've been enjoying beautiful Swedish summer. EARLY (and I mean EARLY) yesterday morning, me, my dad and dear son went down to the sea to fish. Well, we didn't get much, but the morning at the harbour was out of this world. Fantastic!!! I miss living here. Soooo much!

Wish you all a wonderful Sunday!!!

The Character Cafe’s Feature Friday

Last week’s Blog Hop was so much fun! Thank you all for doing the hop, leaving such nice comments on the images and a huge CONGRATS to the winners!!! 

Today we’re introducing The Character Cafe’s Feature Friday. Every Friday the Design Team will feature work using the adorable images from The Character Cafe. This week I’ve had the pleasure of playing with Fairy Belle. She is a darling and all the details makes her a pure joy to color.

I’ve used a combination of Copics and Pro Markers coloring her, and have made highlights with my white Signo pen. The papers are Making Memories and the journaling spot is an old Prima I had in my stash. I found it when trying to get organized. I never got organized, but I love the finds I did!!! Hehe…

I put some Glossy Accent on the eyes to make them more lively, and a girl needs some stickles! Right?!

Next week, on Wednesday 1 July, The Character Cafe Blog will be launching the Work it Wednesday Challenge. One of the Design Team members will bring you a featured technique/theme and a challenge with a prize. I hope you will play along!

Also, be sure to go check out what the rest of the  team has done this week!!!

Billie

Shelley

Elaine

Mary

Heather

Colleen

Sara

Stephanie

Happy Weekend!

A quick post…

…before heading to work.  It’s a beautiful morning, and it will for sure get REALLY hot today. I’m so happy about my new mobile internet connection – I’ll take my laptop out and work in the shades of the trees this afternoon. The thought of that will take me through the more boring administrative work I have to do first.

I wanted to share a layout I did a while ago. It’s dear son on the day he quit school for summer holidays. It’s  new Kaiser Kraft papers with amazing colors. I also added a frame cut out from the Fancy Pants Kraft Kutz line. I really like how that turned out.

I was on another macro garden visitor hunt yesterday. I came to two conclusions. I’m such a lousy photographer and I NEED to plant more flowers to attract nice visitors. I’m so freakin bored with ants, snails and flies. But of all the 70’ish photos I took, I thought this one turned out kind of nice. That ant has a nice shine on his behind… hehe…

Mission completed.

Tomorrow The Character Cafe Design Team is launching the weekly Feature Friday. We are all thrilled and I hope you will pop in to see what we’ve been working on this week.

Vintage card and Macro mysteries

The CC over at Svensk Scrapbooking continues and I have finished a card following a beautiful sketch by Jozie. Tried to get a vintage style on it - I think it fits the Sarah Kay stamp. Love my Sarah Kay stamp, it's so much fun to color with all the little details. For this one I've used my distress ink.

Today I found the Macro function of my camera... heheee, I'm so NOT a photographer. But I've started to follow a weekly photo challenge over at the A Page in Time Forum, and I will learn a lot! Like today! :) Well, the challenge was to go Macro and take a photo of a garden visitor. The greatest challenge was to find a garden visitor. I've been hunting anything but the flies, snails and ants that frequent my garden en masse. I didn't do very well. This is what I ended up with. A freakin' shell of a snail...

I did have a wasp in my lense for like two seconds but when I finally had aimed, there were only the flowers left. But oh, what lovely flowers!!!

I think I'll have another go tomorrow. Can't settle with a shell, now can I???

Sunday morning...

...and I've had a couple of hours all by myself before the rest of the house woke up. Love these mornings! A nice strong, hot cappuccino and some scrapbooking. Life doesn't get much better than that!

If you are looking for The Character Cafe Blog Hop scroll down to the next post or follow THIS link to get to the Blog Hop start over at the Cafe blog. The hop will continue until Tuseday.

The Swedish forum Svensk Scrapbooking has cyber crop this week, loads of nice sketches to get inspiration from. This is my first entry:

I have this troubles with getting decent photos of my son. He either runs away and hide or sticks his toung out (I have quite a collection of his toung by now - I will get my revenge when he gets older. Mohaahaa haaaa). This midsummer I got frustrated and told him that he was now enjoying his last icecream this summer if he did not cooperate with me... Well, he stod still, no toung in sight. But... Gee, why does not a decent threat work????

Wish you a lovely Sunday!

The Character Cafe Blog Hop

Hi and Welcome to The Character Café Blog Hop to celebrate the release of a new set of digi stamps and the launch of a brand new Design Team. A design team I'm so happy to be a part of! The Blog Hop starts at the Character Cafe's Design Team page, and there you will find more information and the full Blog Hop list.

Along the road on this Blog Hop you'll meet the rest of the FAB team and their take on the NEW stamps. You will ALSO find a freebie, AND, if you do the full Blog Hop and collect the code, the chance to win a prize AND a 50% discount on a purchase from the Character Café Web Shop. Be sure to leave a comment to be entitled to the prize and discount! The prize will be drawn on Tuseday 23:d, and the discount will be good through Tuseday too.

More info will follow in this post, but I'm in love with SYD THE GOLFER which is the image I've been asked to debute for this hop, and I want to share the projects I've done with him.

Isn't he CUTE!!! I decided to keep the card simple to let Syd get all the attention. I've colored him with a combination of Copic Markers and Distress Ink, and I cut the image out with the help of my beloved crafts knife and put him on 3D adhersive to get some 3D effect.

I think it got a great feel of an open golf car, and the shadows gives depth. I like how it turned out.

I have quite a few friends addicted to golf. Before I got hooked with this paper crafting hobby, I had serious troubles understanding their obsession. That is no more... Hehee....

I do like to play golf sometimes myself. I do not however do it on a regular basis, and I don't have many friends intrested in it. But once in a while (like every other year...), I do meet up with an old friend from University and I thought I'd send her a request for a golf date later this summer.

I hope I get a positive answer!

My code is 4 and is the first number of the 8 character code. To get the second part you need to go visit BILLIE!

Have fun hopping!!!

June Use Your Scraps

This month, my A Page In Time Newsletter assignment was to work with the scraps from one of the three paper lines included. I loved the Early Bird papers from Cosmo Cricket so freakin' much that i saved up even the tiniest little pieces of it when working with my monthly designs and it served to be a good decision since I now could use it to make a card set with a box and 6 4x4 cards.

I also did a layout which I really, really like! You can find the layout and the cards in my Newsletter post HERE.

And tonight (LATE night here in Sweden), at EST 9PM we'll start the first official BLOG HOP for The Character Cafe, be sure to check in, there will be free digi stamp, prizes and discounts along the way!

And, finally (phew long post!), I've done a card using this week's sketch from 2Sketches4You. Tried a new technique (for me that is!) with glimmer mist. I've had it on my desk for a couple of months, but haven't really known what to do with it. But finally I simply drenched the paintabel with it and when dried it has this awesome shimmer all over it. LOVE how it came out.

Thanks for now, I'll be back tonight! (thank God for scheduled postings...)

Beach -07

Sommaren 07 är för mig i huvudsak förknippad med regn, rusk och tält. Ingen bra kombination. Jag var sur. På många sätt och vis. Få bilder togs och ännu färre bilder från den semestern är scrappade (undantaget en regnruskig midsommarlayout som står att hitta HÄR för den som vill se mitt midsommarelände. Fast den var himla kul att göra!!!).

Men vid vår västkustsemester lättade molnen plötsligt under en kort men ack så fantastisk dag som vi spenderade vid stranden. Och när jag fick underbara sommarpapper från MME i mit A Page In Time kit för juni, så var det dags att plocka fram semesterbilderna!
Jag hittade bloggen Veckans skiss i samma veva och använde en av deras skisser - och jisses vad mycket fina skisser som finns där! :) Mycket skisser blir det...:)

Och nu har vi fått en ny utbildnings- och forskningsminister. Tjoho. Statsvetare är rätt trevliga varelser (lever ju ihop med en) och han uttryckte sig bokstavligen som att "värna ett klassiskt bildningsideal" i sin intervjuv. Betyder det att vi historiker kan få andas en stund?????? Intressant ska det bli!

Ha en trevlig onsdag!

Juni månadskit...

...från Annas Scrapbooking innehåller Basic Greypapper och det gör mig lycklig. Av de sista resterna av Lime Rickeypappren gjorde jag en enkel layout.

Bilderna är från fredagens skolavslutning. Riktigt regnigt och ruskigt var det. OCH sommarglädje, sång, gråt av rörda mammor (läs mig...), sommarspringiga ben och jädrans massa paraplyer. Jag tog drygt 80 kort, men få blev något att ha... Behöver nog gå fotokurs, och lära mig hantera paraplyer.

Trevlig söndag på er!

Sista studentkortet...

...på ett tag i alla fall. Åtminstone på 10 månader. Visst ser hon ut som en typisk rörmokare, mammas Marit!?

This is the LAST graduation card I will be doing this year. Phew. Last minute too. This is for Marit. She sure looks like an ordinary plummer, right! I've used Kazan's sketch #28 over at 2Sketches4You.

Och bästa nyheten - ämnet revolterar, ämnet har fått nog. Resan ut till den gudsförgätna ön ställdes i går kväll in efter flera sena avhopp... Åhhhh, vad ledsen jag är....

Studentkort igen

Det är mycket student nu... En vecka till sen kan vi alla säga ÄNTLIGEN! Hoppas att vädret blir bättre och att alla planerade sommarbufféer ute i det gröna kan avnjutas som tänkt. Själv missar jag det mesta i avslutningsväg, inklusive sonens, grannens och vännernas skolavslutning/student, eftersom en kär kollega bokat in ämneskonferensen ute på en avlägsen ö full av ormar och fästingar just i slutet av nästa vecka. Starkt jobbat PG. *sagt med kärlek trots allt*

Dagen har ägnats åt att städa, rösta, laga mat, diska, gnälla på vädret och att det är så ända in i norden tråkigt med hushållsarbete och under en stulen halvtimme att göra ett snabbt studentkort.

Jag har också ägnat mig åt att inte rensa ogräs. Men visst kan väl ogräs också vara fint. Ibland. Väl?
I morgon väntar dryga 500 sidor tentor att rätta. Det är ju så himla kul så då kommer mitt gnällhumör säkert att gå över. Tjohoo!!!

Swedish Swap

Vi har en liten men naggande god grupp damer som swappar recept regelbundet och tjatar däremellan. Eftersom vi håller till på amerikanska scrapbook.com kallar vi oss Swedish Swap TNG (gamla Star Trek takter sitter i... *ler*). För att spica upp (anglocismerna HAGLAR här hehe) tillvaron hade vi en liten kortutmaning där en skiss och sömnad stod på programmet. Vinnaren ska få en liten men naggande god RAK av värdinnan. Det vill säga mig. Sonen gick in för lottdragandet med stort engagemang.

GRATTIS LISA!!!

Det kommer ett paket på posten inom en nära framtid.

Morgonen har tillbringats med fina Lime Rickey papper från månadens kit från Annas Scrapbooking. Sonen ska på födelsedagskalas senare idag, och det fick bli ett orange och blått paket och kort. Mer bilder på kortet finns i Annas blogg HÄR.

Trevlig lördagskväll på er!

Ultimate Card Showdown

This month will be a special one. 2Sketches4You blog is celebrating its first anniversary with an amazing challenge/competition which will run through out June. The 1st Annual 2 Sketches 4 You Ultimate Card Showdown. This is my take on Laura's sketch #27.

Thanks for stopping by!