Freshly Made Sketches

I found a new-to-me Sketch Challenge blog this week called Freshly Made Sketches and they are celebrating their 400th sketch with a challenge and prizes. Love their sponsors for this sketch and love that they've been around so long! Frankly, I do better with a sketch than on my own, so I know I'll be following them for ideas. 

Here's the 400th sketch if you want to join in this weekend, they have the rules and their definition clean vs. clean and simple, so you know exactly what you're doing.

I turned the sketch upside down and added my sentiment and gold sticker strip to the top of the brick embossed panel. These Harry Potter stickers are from Paperhouse Productions and are so stinkin' cute. I couldn't decide which ones to use, but finally decided on the Big Four :) I did sneak Luna Lovegood on the back of the card where I signed it and, although you can't see it well, I used my Diamond Stickles near the wands because glitter definitely indicates magic.

The sentiments are from Scrapbook.com and are part of a sassy set with lots of phrases. This is the first time I've used it and it was perfect for this card for my 25-year-old daughter. Hard to believe I have a kid that old, when I'm just in my 30s...well, okay, I'm 51 but I think I'm still 30-something! Here's my grown-up daughter now and as a two-year-old birthday girl.

Happy Friday!

Chark

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Harry Potter Wedding Card

My 23-year-old daughter has some friends who are getting married and she gave me a list of things they like—books, Harry Potter, nerdy stuff. So I dug into my stash and found some Harry Potter papers from awhile ago and there were some chipboard stickers. She told me what Houses they are in (it's something all the HP fans know, apparently) and I put them on a card, with a gold shimmer paper embossed with this great 3-D embossing folder from We R Memory Keepers.

Here's what I started with.

And after a lot of thought and fooling around, I ended up with this.

  

I put the gold and black panel on a woodgrain paper and added foam hearts in black and gold and then flags of all 4 of the house colors. The daughter was happy with it. 

I also made this card below so she could have a choice...she took back it with her to give a co-worker having a baby. So I guess they passed muster :)

The background is Distress Oxides and water. I ran a page of it through the printer and found a free digi of Hogwarts. I added text and book paper and mounted it all on a piece of aqua cardstock. It's a 5x7 card so I could get all these papers on here. Of course, I added Diamond Stickles for the stars.

If you're a Harry Potter fan, you can go here to Scrapbook.com for some similar products. 

Happy Wednesday!

Chark

Post Vacation Laziness

For the first time in a few years, my kids (a senior in high school and a new elementary teacher) had the same Spring Break...so we packed up the car and road tripped to Florida from Ohio and spent some of it at Universal Studios. Both kids are Harry Potter fans and the last time we were there was when my daughter graduated high school 6 years ago...and in those 6 years, they have added a ton of HP stuff, including a Gringott's ride and a dragon outside that shoots fire periodically...it's pretty warm, even down there on the ground! You can visit Diagon Alley in the new section and wander down Knockturn Alley or visit the Weasley's shop.

Here's a pic from the line inside the new-to-me Gringott's ride.

They used to have just one HP area in the Islands of Adventure, along with a Hogwarts Express engine for pictures that didn't move. Now, there's a train that moves from park to park (you need a park to park pass for the same day to ride it) and my big kids were thrilled with the experience. It just adds a little touch of authenticity to the world they've recreated. 

What I love about the new HP area is that it's not marked clearly, you have to really look for it just like in Muggle London...there are tons of shops and a great London facade...it's just well done. The more HP the better!

We did other stuff too, of course, including hanging out in the Mardi Gras area, which for some reason, extends the Mardi Gras season until the week after Easter. Here's a pic of me and the kids with gigantic float heads. There were food stalls along there, but no beignets for us, as we apparently never were there at the right time.

And 2/4 of us rode the Spiderman ride and deemed it awesome.

There were two log rides that 3/4 of us rode...one of us, okay, me...knew it would be a wet afternoon and chose not to get completely soaked. But they had fun even if it took forever to "mostly" dry.

I highly recommend Universal if you like Marvel, Jurassic Park, Harry Potter or Dr. Seuss...or just theme parks in general. They have a few roller coasters, lots of 3-D and 4-D rides (including the King Kong Skull Island ride that I did ride and got a tiny 4-D splash here and there, Shrek, Minions and Simpsons) and great shops and areas for younger kids too. 

We never made it to the Volcano Bay waterpark, but it never really got hot enough anyway. Luckily, the weather was gorgeous and sunny and breezy and it cooled off in the mornings and evenings really quickly--which is why we chose Spring Break over Summer Break to visit Florida. 

It was fab and a wonderful way to spend time together as a family! I'll be back with more craft stuff on Wednesday.

Happy Monday!
Chark