Meg's Place is Moving!

It's official, I've finally made a random blog decision! (Took me a few weeks, committment is hard!) Meg's Place is moving from blogger over to wordpress. The new address is:

megbecka.wordpress.com

Hope to see you over there!

Happy Birthday

To me! This year I decided to make myself a birthday card! I used Taylor’s Sketch #71 and there was no doubt I’d be incorporating a cupcake. A big, happy almost birthday to Taylor too, her's is Friday. A great month to be born! Though perhaps I'm biased.

Taylor's Sketch


Happy Birthday, Meg!

{Supplies: SU! Crazy for Cupcakes, DCVW patterned paper, CB swiss dots and happy birthday folders, Offray and Joann ribbon, Stickles – yellow and waterfall}

I even wrote myself a little note and set it out for me to find this morning. A lovely “surprise!”

Fun with White Balance

Lisa Spangler is starting a contest of her own! This time around she has combined card making with photography – playing with White Balance.


My camera is a basic point-and-shoot model with no bells nor whistles. I don’t have a custom white balance, but I do have a few pre-set options. I took a picture with all 6 of my options and did not touch them in Photoshop (well except to add my watermark). Here are my examples:

Auto, Daylight, and Cloudy all looked basically the same so for the sake of space I’ll only make you look at one.

Daylight:

Flash:

Fluorescent:

Incandescent (yikes!):


And now my personal favorite! I took the Auto WB picture and fixed it up in Photoshop.

Tah Dah!

{Supplies: HA Clear Design Cupcakes, Bazzill Dotted Swiss cardstock, JoAnn and Offray ribbon, Pebbles Inc. Candy Dots, Yellow Stickles}

I think I’m finally at a place where I’m mostly happy with my photographic system (that was nice and non-committal, eh? I like to keep learning!). As you can probably guess from this post I rely more on Photoshop than on my little camera…

Smooches

Mawidge is what brought us togevah seven years ago when my brother tied the knot with the best sissy-in-law a girl could ask for! I always struggle with anniversary cards and this one proved to be no different. I even went to the store and purchased a Hallmark as a back up in case I totally failed.

Working with the Mojo Monday sketch and some fun loving monkeys I came up with the below card. Shockingly I had zero appropriate sentiments. Not even a “happy together” or “two of a kind.” I wasn’t feeling ambitious enough to spell them out with my one tiny letters set, so I went with the classic “XOXO” instead.

Mojo Sketch:

XOXO

{Supplies: Autumn Leaves Mindy’s Zoo, HA Number Zero, HA Letter L, HA Sunny Lower Case letters, Bazzill Dotted Swiss cardstock, DCWV patterned paper and cardstock, Martha Stewart winding leaves ribbon}

Ultimate Card Showdown!

The ladies over at 2 Sketches 4 You are celebrating their one year anniversary with the 1st Annual 2 Sketches 4 You Ultimate Card Showdown! I made this card to join in on the fun. It's going to be Dad's father's day card. (Confidential to Dad: If you're reading this, don't spoil the surprise, look away now!)

The sketch:

















I Heart Dad
Supplies:
HA Curly Alpha
HA solid heart
DCWV papers and cardstock
Bazzil dotted swiss cardstock
Martha Stewart winding leaves ribbon
Favorite Findings buttons

Mid Week Post

I'm not lion!
Supplies:
Hero Arts Lion
Stampendous Bee Day (party hat)
Sandylion birthday
DCWV papers
Lasting Impressions Lemon Tart paper
Stickles - diamond

Color Madness

I must admit that I originally wasn't going to try Dawn's most recent color challenge. Only three colors, but they were so hard! One pink and two greens? I didn't think I had paper that would work. It wasn't until I was playing with some inks that I saw I could probably throw something together.

Dawn's Colors:

Thank You

Supplies:
Basic Gray all natural clear stamps
All Night Media wood grain stamp
Making Memories ribbon
K & Co. gems

Shiny, New Organization!

I was getting pretty frustrated with workspace, my actual work area was less than 12" x 12" and shrinking daily. Once again I was running out of space in my little corner. Enter Lysa with some helpful IKEA ideas! Hooray IKEA! And hooray for more space, I can't believe how much room I have now! I've spent more time sitting here staring at how pretty it is than actually working on anything!

I didn't think to take a before shot until it was too late. The previous pictures I have here are even astonishingly out of date, was that really 6 months ago? Man, I accumulate a lot of crepe in a short amount of time. Though you get the gist with the wall, nothing on it previously but a calendar and some misc pictures n' things.

Now for the big debut! Just one picture but you can click on it to enlarge for detail:














It's so shiny and new! Distracting in its beauty! (Just like me!)

Fun Fact: I have approximately one million brown buttons but exactly 5 yellow ones.

Happiness is...

Shiny, new organization! Though no pictures yet... sorry, still cleaning! But happiness is also another card. Slowly working back into a craft routine. Since Taylor lengthened the time you have to enter her Cupcake Challenges I've managed to miss them all! The standard "I have plenty of time" and then suddenly the deadline is gone. So this weekend I made sure to get to it!

Taylor's Sketch:













Happiness is... (Inside: Being with you!)
Supplies:
Penny Black Basket of Chicks
Prima screen print stamp
SU! Warm Words (I masked the "is" from "Cherish" so the fonts would match)
HA green note card
The Paper Studio yellow paper
J.Crew catalog
J.Crew buttons (spares - I did not disassemble any shirts)
JoAnn Craft Essentials ribbon
Stickles - crystal and yellow

Greenery

Oopsies, missed a weekend back there... Actually I wasn't sure I'd have anything to post this weekend either. I've been having a bit of craft block which has led to some very sad craft rage. But! Tonight, thanks to some shiny, new organization in my corner, I had a victory! A card for this week's Hero Arts challenge! The theme: going green.

Birthday, Recycled Style
Supplies:
HA Clear Design Birthday Messages
Prima screen print stamp
J.Crew catalog - "striped" paper is a stack of cardigans
DCWV paper from The Green Stack
Trimmings from a photo that had excess grass on the edges
Cardboard that was in my 2009 calendar (yes it's May and I still had it lying around...)
Hemp string






I'll take a picture of my shiny, new organization once I have it more complete. Thinking that should be tomorrow.

Mid Week Post

A few weeks back I applied to the 2 Sketches 4 You summer design team. I wasn't selected but you can see the wonderful work of the ladies who were selected over at the 2S4Y site, here. I like the challenge level of their sketches, I definitely plan to participate in more!

These are the application sketches:


































And these are the cards I made:
Supplies:
All Night Media wood grain
Inkadinkado Doodle Flowers
Bazzil Dotted Swiss cardstock
SU! Friendship Blooms
Prima Flowers
Pearl stickers
K & Co. gems









Supplies:
Hero Arts playful animals
Stampendous Bee Day (party hats)
Sandylion birthday
DCWV papers
Lasting Impressions Lemon Tart paper
Stickles - diamond










Even though I wanted to hoard it, I loved the "Let's Party" card too much to not share it, I gave it to sissy-in-law for her birthday at the beginning of the month. I also made a similar card for my boss's birthday, stay tuned for that one next mid-week.

Mid Week Post

A little woodland creature for this week's middle.

Lil Fox
Supplies:
Imaginisce Foxy
All Night Media woodgrain stamp
DCWV papers
Ranger Glossy Accents (on eyes)
Prima flowers
pearl stickers
Offray ribbon
hemp string

Loving Love

I didn't get up to too much crafting this weekend, but I did pull this card together for Dawn's Raspberry Suite Color Challenge! I've been wanting to play with my wood grain stamp using colors other than brown. I'll be playing with more of that for sure! More color with my mesh stamp too, most def.

This week's colors:











Loving Love.
Supplies:
Crafts Etc. cardstock
All Night Media wood grain stamp
SU! Short & Sweet
Offray ribbon
Candy dots - Raspberry

Lovely

I didn't think I was going to have time to make something for this week's Color Inspiration over at Kristina's. Gladly, I was able to whip this card up and still catch the last bits of daylight to get a picture! I'm also giving this one to mom for Mother's Day.

This week's colors:










Love You
Supplies:
Crafts Etc. brown cardstock
DCWV "mustard" cardstock and patterned paper
Basic Gray all natural stamps
SU! Short & Sweet
Candy Dots - Sun Yellow
Nestabilites label one

Mid Week Post

Welcome to the middle of the week! This week we have greetings from a little bird.

Hello
Supplies:
HA Ink N' Stamp Birds and Branches
HA Ink N' Stamp Lily Pad (sentiment) DCWV papers JoAnn's sew essential buttons Embroidery floss
DCWV papers
EK Success dotted scallop border punch

Free Hugs!

For a limited time only you too can have a free hug! Well, maybe not, I'm not really a big hugger unless you're family. Though if you asked really nicely I might make an exception. But I made this card as a "sorry about your recent lay-off." I wasn't 100% certain what would be appropriate in the situation but knew I wanted to let my pal know I was thinking of her. I also knew that a fluffy kitten offering hugs could never be inappropriate!

It has been a few weeks since I first Mojo'd so I decided to use their most recent sketch.

The sketch:

















Free Hugs
Supplies:
Lasting Impressions Lemon Tart paper
DCWV patterned papers
Stampendous Fluffle Hugs
HA Clear Design small variety alpha
Prima screen print stamp
Offray ribbon
Candy Dots raspberry
Prima flowers
pearl stickers

Flowery

First and foremost a giant Happy Birthday to my favorite sissy-in-law! Wahoo!

Secondmost, on to the post! This week is flower week at the Hero Arts blog. April showers (which we didn't have here) bring May flowers and all that! I don't have too many HA flower stamps. Well, I do have the tub of fanciful flowers so I should amend that to: I don't have too many that aren't tiny. Or borders come to think of it. Anyway here come the pictures.

This may or may not be given to mom for mother's day (look away now, mom, if you want to be surprised!). I may also take the elements I like and adjust the colors and other parts I'm unsure of for a new card. The colors also happen to be those of a local sports team, which wasn't intentional (meaning mom isn't an avid Suns fan) and may or may not be a deal breaker. I'm picky!

Mom
Supplies:
HA solid abstract heart
HA curly alphabet
HA floral borders
Offray ribbon
Prima flowers
Joann brads
Diamond Stickles
HA flower gems








Another card, this time using the tub o' flowers. I wish there were tulips in this set.

You're Special
Supplies:
HA fanciful flowers
HA Ink n' Stamp birds and branches (sentiment & butterflies)
Making Memories ribbon
Diamond Stickles (on all of the daisies)
Ranger Glossy Accents (on all butterfly spots)

A Mid Week Post

I have a few cards sitting around that were made just for fun that I have yet to share. Since the majority of my posts occur around the weekends I though it would be fun to have some mid week posts with these cards.

Wonderful Cupcakes
Supplies:
SU! Crazy for Cupcakes
SU! Warm Words
DCWV papers
Favorite Findings buttons
Ranger Glossy Accents (on cherries)











Some hand stitching along the right... used a Cutter Bee bug to make the holes then hand stitched with regular white thread. Took forever! Not sure I'll be rushing back to that technique right away.

Best Wishes for 50 More

Kristina Werner is celebrating her 50th Color Inspiration Challenge this week! What fun! I only wish I knew about them back in the beginning. This will be my 6th color challenge, not quite 50 but still quite fun.

Kristina's Colors













Best Wishes
Supplies:
Prima screen pattern stamp
SU! Short & Sweet
Penny Black Love in Bloom
DCWV papers
Prima flowers
Pearl stickers
Favorite Findings buttons
red ribbon - source unknown
Nestabilities Label One







In keeping with this week's stricter rules of color conformity, there used to be barely visible tiny bits of green in the patterned paper - I colored them brown!

Sweet Cuppin' Cakes

I decided to get back to cupcakes for this week's TECC. The result has me thinking of cutesy bakeries and wishing for a cupcake. Mmm cupcakes.

Taylor's Sketch

















You're Sweet
Supplies:
SU! Crazy for Cupcakes
Studio G from series 27
DCWV Papers
Stickles - Yellow and Cotton Candy

So Distressing!

In a good way! This week's Hero Arts challenge is all about distressing techniques. My previous forays into the world of distress have been pretty limited. I do have one Distress Ink (tea dye) which I like quite a bit, but I wanted to try something different this week. Pink!

This also fits in with the current Caardvarks challenge - trees. A new (to me at least!) contest - how exciting!

Hello Tree
Supplies:
HA Sparkle Clear Hello Tree
Prima screen pattern stamp
DCWV papers
Lah Di Dah Courtyard mini ribbon
Prima Flowers
Pearl stickers
Making Memories tiny alpha stickers
Nestabilities Label One








A quick photography note: Someone in the HA Flickr Group recently posted a link to the Strobist blog on DIY light tents (post here). I already have a light tent but haven't been thrilled with my lighting. I LOVED the poster board backround idea and wanted to try it. After my trusty sissy-in-law tested it out to great results (see them here) I made a quick run up to Walgreens for some of my own! LOVING the results!

Frog Prince

I took a bit of a break from crafting this week. I did make one card for the Hero Arts weekly challenge (focus on messages) but I don't like it so I'm not going to post it here. I just made this little card for Taylor's challenge. The message was done with HA stamps so I probably will enter this one into the HA challenge as well.

Taylor's Sketch:













Frog Prince
Supplies:
Imaginisce Snag'em Stamps Frog
HA small variety alpha
Prima screen pattern stamp
Bazzil Dotted Swiss cardstock
DCWV patterned paper
La di dah courtyard felted shapes
Yellow stickles (on crown)
Prima flower
Pearl sticker
hemp string
Favorite findings buttons

Mojo-in'

A new contest for me! The Mojo Monday blog has some great sketch challenges. I decided to play around with the one this week.

The Sketch:

















I actually planned the colors around the fabric covered brad. Came out light and springy!

Supplies:
Inkadinkado Doodle Flowers
SU! Crazy for Cupcakes (sentiment - rearranged to fit)
Versamark Dazzle - Frost
DCWV papers
Bazzil Dotted Swiss cardstock
Offray ribbon
Unknown flowers
K & Co. Classic K Margo Fabric stitched brad
Favorite Findings buttons
Stickles - Cotton Candy







Hard to see in the photo but I stamped little flowers on the sentiment square using the frost Versamark Dazzle.

DayGlo Inspiration

I looooove Kristina's colors this week!










I had the perfect image already stamped and colored! Although my card came out looking a bit 80s. Hm. Hadn't planned that. I am uncertain how it makes me feel.

Supplies:
Magenta hummingbird stamp
Stampin' Up! Crazy for Cupcakes (sentiment)
DCWV papers
Bazzil Dotted Swiss cardstock
La Di Dah Courtyard Felted shapes
Favorite Findings buttons
Ranger Glossy Accents (on the flower)
K & Co. gem

























I think it's missing a side pony tail and a snap bracelet.

Happy Easter

I decided to use this week's TECC for my second and final Easter card. The first happened to also be a TECC. Interesting, eh!

Taylor's Sketch:

















Celebrate!
Supplies
DCWV papers
Bazzil Dotted Swiss cardstock
Stampendous Chickie Hop
La Di Dah Courtyard felted shapes
Favorite Findings buttons
Offray ribbon



























"I know you can't control yourself any longer. Feel the rhythm of the music getting stronger. Don't you fight it till you tried it - do the conga beat!"