Stamping, Crafting, Family....

More Chrsitmas Cheer

2008-12-23T07:37:00.002-08:00

These cards were really simple but they look so elegant and rich, because of the dark colors, I think. I used DP from Prima and I *think* Bravo Burgundy from SU to make these two cards. I stamped the largest snowflake from 'The Snowflake Spot' set in Bravo Burgundy ink and then added a touch of stickles to various small dots in the snowflake. I topped it off with this beautiful ribbon that matches so well and has a bit of gold shimmer to it. I like the overall antique appeal of these particular cards.

2008 Chrsitmas cards

2008-12-22T21:48:00.003-08:00

My first group of cards, I did my all time fave technique, Batik! I stamped the snowflakes randomly onto mullberry paper with versamark. I then emboss with clear EP. Next I spray a mist of water over the paper and then using sponges or daubers add various colors of ink all over the damp paper. I then use a warm iron with no steam and a sheet of copy paper over the top and iron off the EP onto the copy paper, then I mount the Batik onto white CS and add to my card or project. I think they look very watercolorish...what do you think? I added ribbon and beads to finish it all off. With all of the snow storms around, I really like these Batik flakes.

Twilight

2008-12-14T08:25:00.003-08:00

Ok...I know you have all heard the reviews, or maybe you have a teen daughter, or a niece or maybe you just love a good love story, something of a new classic, a tragic love that may or may not survive the odds. This is the Twilight Saga. My daughters, 16 and 13 were talking about the books and the movie and how everyone in school was reading or had already read them. What does a mom do? She goes out and buys the first book and reads it........and then..... the Mom becomes hopelessly addicted to the love story of a teen girl and her teen vampire boyfriend. The books are definitely written for teens but I was hooked anyway, there is a great book store on my way home from work that also sells used books, so I was able to satisfy my addiction at close to half price. I devoured all 4 books in 1 week. Then I just had to see the movie, but I waited for both girls to finish the first book before we went to the theater. The movie had some slow and dull moments but many more good moments. I am a hopeless romantic and both the books and the movie fed that part of my persona in a dreamy way. The young actors in the movie are wonderful, and it ends with an obvious lead into a second movie. We also fell for the soundtrack to this movie, made up of mostly new artists with some great modern songs.
So onto my project, with teens in mind and the craze over Edward and Bella, we got the download of the Twilight Soundtrack from Amazon, and I thought what a cool gift for my daughter to give to her pals for Christmas. We made a few CD's and CD case covers following a template available on PapertreyInk by Lauren Meader
We had a lot of fun creating these CD music covers and the Cd's.

Can you feel the Love?

2008-11-07T10:49:00.003-08:00

When I think of Valentine cards or Romantic cards I automatically think Vintage, Old World Romance stuff...you know pearls and lace and flowers. That is what I was trying for with this card featuring the Floral Heart stamp from The Rubber Cafe
I stamped this image with Versafine black Onyx and then used my heat tool to set the ink. I colored in the small hearts and flowers with Copic markers. I thought this image would look nice with some sparkle so i added Stickles to the hearts and flowers. I love the patterned paper from prima Marketing it is sooo romantic and vintage to me anyway ;)
This older ribbon from Stampin' Up! and the stick on Pearl embellishments really tie it all together. Who wouldn't love getting this on Valentines Day or an anniversary?

CS: Blush Blossom from SU!; Chocolate Chip from SU!
DP: from Prima Marketing
Pearls: from Ellen Hutson
Stamp Image from www.therubbercafe.com
Ribbon: SU!

Halloween Project!

2008-10-15T15:42:00.004-07:00

Here is a cute little Halloween Countdown Calendar I have been working on here and there with the help of my 12 yo DD. We finished it today! We meant to complete the last few details last week but it just didn't happen! we started with a small 5x7 (ish) clipboard and painted it black with acrylic paints. I then modpodged SU! designer Halloween paper from 2 (or more) years ago onto the clipboard. I was gifted some stamped images of 'Booglie Eyes' from Amanda over at Inkspirations, thanks Manda!!

I colored the little monsters with Copics and some with Prisma pencils, they are irresistible! my DD, Rebecca used Word to print out the Sentiment and numbers, we used a free font we found online called 'Bleeding Cowboys' and '28 Days Later' and 'Halloween Spider' aren't they cool? We printed the sentiment and numbers on white PTI cs.

I then let my DD take over and design the calendar. I used redliner tape to stick down two round thin washers to the clipboard.

We then pulled a magnet of the fridge, one that is thin with advertisements all over it, and cut it into small rectangles and stuck them on the back of the tags using redliner tape. The tags stick onto the clipboard with ease. We still have to design a pocket for the spare tags to adhere to the back. We tied a multitude of ribbons in the best Halloween colors, to the top of the clipboard.

Another Day , Another SCS Challenge

2008-10-01T15:35:00.003-07:00

Today was sketch challenge day on SCS today was SC196. I used the 'Winter Bird' image from The Rubber Cafe.
Again I used my copic markers to color the image. The white CS is from PTI and the colored CS is from SU! I used patterned paper from DCWV. I added some red organdy Ribbon.
I dampened the edges of the 'Bird' with water and a small paint brush. I then used a ruler and some scissors to distress the edges, and it gave me a deep nice distressing for the 'bird'. I also used a pencil to kind of 'curl' the upper corner.
Can you tell that I am loving these Bird images from The Rubber Cafe?? They are just too sweet and lovable!

SCS color challenge Meets The Rubber Cafe

2008-09-30T19:48:00.003-07:00

CC186 on SCS
I used my New Stamp from The Rubber Cafe`
I colored the bird with Copic Markers and added some sparkle to the flowers with a glitter gel pen. The white CS is from PTI and all of the colored CS are from Stampin' Up! I used the treading water punch from Fiskars on the Sage Shadow cs. The ribbon is from American Crafts. (thank you scs secret friend!)

Song Thrush

2008-09-24T14:06:00.004-07:00

I know this seems more of a Spring Time card but I couldn't help it! I love this little singing bird! The image is from www.therubbercafe.com
I used my WWC's form SU! to watercolor this beautiful singing bird. I used one of my CB embossing folders to texturize the card front. The wide stain ribbon is from one texasjodylynn's wonderful ribbon shares! The narrrow sparkly ribbon is from American Crafts and was a gift from a secret friend on SCS
Thanks for Looking!

Amber Alert!

2008-09-21T14:19:00.001-07:00

Please Read the Following Amber Alert and pass it on

http://www.ncmec.org/missingkids/servlet/AmberExternalFCServlet?act=retAmberCase&amberId=6758

This Chick really Rocks!

2008-09-14T10:28:00.003-07:00

I was fortunate enough to be gifted some stamped images of the new set from MFT, Hey Chica. My good friend Karen, aka: Gamblemom sent me these fantastic stamped images to use. I sat down last night and my 2 daughters and I colored and collaborated on this card...we had so much fun! My girls really like this image!! We colored her with copic markers. Most of mine are the original cpoics and I only have a few. This image would be great with Prisma pencils or even watercoloring....the possibilities ae endless here. We added a thin line of glitter from a glitter gel pen to her eyelids. We used designer Paper from K-ology.

Stamp set: MFT Hey Chica
Paper: cs from Stampin Up! and designer paper from K-ology
Accessories: Copic markers, grosgrain ribbon, Prima fower

Blossoms Abound

2008-09-12T20:33:00.004-07:00

Another simple card tonight. I love doing emboss resist. It has to be one my all time fave techniques. I stamped the blossoms with versamark and embossed with clear EP on glossy white cs. I sponged on some color with daubers. I added some leaves using craft ink. I added some deeper purple color using craft ink over the top of the embossing. i used my heat tool to dry the craft ink which in turn re-melted the clear EP and kind of just melded all of the color together. I went light on accessories because I really like the main image. I did the cracked glass technique over the sentiment.

Stamps: Blossoms Abound by Stampin' Up!
Paper: All cs sed is by Stampin' Up!
Accessories: Ribbon (texasjodylynn), Booster (texasjodylynn) clear EP
Ink: versamark, Stampin' Up! craft inks

Chocolate Sage

2008-09-12T16:10:00.004-07:00

A simple card for today. This was inspired by the blouse I am wearing today. I used a new Artful Inkables set, Pressed Petals. I used some new American Crafts ribbon that I just received from my secret Friend on SCS.

Stamp Set: Pressed petals from Artful Inkables
Paper: Chocolate Chip and Sage Shadow; Whisper White from Stampin' Up!
Ink: Sage Shadow and Mellow Moss
Accessories: chocolate grosgrain ribbon, American Crafts Lt Blue Picot ribbon; Hodge Podge Hardware Ribbon Buckle

Home Decor Gifts

2008-09-06T14:35:00.003-07:00

I am going to my cousins house for a gathering tonight and a celebration for her birthday so I started last night making a little gift to take to her today. This is what I came up with, round coasters adhered to wide twill and chipboard letters that spell 'HOME'
I inked the letters first with Rose Red ink and then went back over them with Chocolate Chip ink.
I covered the coasters with paper made by Prima. I adhered the letters to the coasters and the coasters to the twill using sticky dots from Jody's sticky share...get in on one of these shares you won't regret it! I added some brown and pink ribbons at the top and some raffia to cascade down. There are Prima flowers with swarovski crystals in the middle. Hope she likes it!

What to do when.....

2008-09-05T15:28:00.009-07:00

What to do when every where you look there are tons of new cute Halloween stamps and you can't afford to buy any???
Well you turn to your daughter who is in advanced art at school and say can you please draw me something cute for Halloween??? Then you get online and pull up all kinds of clipart and Halloween images from all over the web, along with stamp catalogs and the like and start looking for inspiration. Then you both sit down with pencil paper and start doodling...this is what we came up with so far. I drew the witch hat while at work the other day, My DD drew the mummy, he is still big even after being reduced. I drew the cauldron while sitting around the house.

I scanned our images into the PC and opened up photoshop elements and re-sized to what I thought would work for cards, then I printed them out using an inkjet printer on white cs. I cut them and colored the images with prisma pencils and/or copic markers.
These drawings were inspired by a multitude of other images not just 1 or 2...they are original and not traced or copied. Thanks for looking!
The sentiments were printed from my PC using fonts I found on the net for free at dafont

Baad Blogger

2008-09-02T21:51:00.003-07:00

If anyone still reads this poor neglected Blog, I will be amazed. I had a busy summer and am back at work finally and still going through some issues in my personal life. I am currently in the midst of a divorce and custody situation and hope to be out of it very soon! Bear with me folks as I edge my way back into stamping and crafting and blogging.

I spent an entire day cleaning and organizing my card-stock and stamp supplies and underneath a stack of.......well a stack of crap, i found a bundle of washcloths that I bought over the summer at WalMart. The washcloths are significant because i bought them for their color combo, they were folded and bundled with a white ribbon, there was a brown one, an orange one, a purple one and a bright pink one...they were gorgoeus together...who woulda thunk it? With my supplies organized and new inspiration found I sat down and stamped.
I colored the flowers with Copic markers and cut them out and used 'boosters' from Jody to pop them up from the card base. I will be playing with these colors some more in the future I really like them a lot. What do you think?

Stamps: Delight in Life by Stampin Up!
Ink: Versafine Black Onyx
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Only Orange, Purple and PTI white
Accessories: black boosters and clear EP

Holy Moly!!

2008-07-19T00:29:00.006-07:00

The only excuse I have is that it is summer vacation time and I have been relaxing and spending a lot of time with family and friends. Many events have happened in the past 2 months or so since I have last blogged.
I have some sad news....the ducklings did not survive. I had a very upset and sad 12 yo DD for a long time.
We now have a new kitten named Bow. Bow is doing her best to help with the grieving process.

I have not stamped or created hardly at all this summer, all of this time off of work and I haven't squeezed in any craft time..or not much anyway. A friend of mine, Karen Van De Walle challenged me to stamp some random images onto white cs and then practice coloring them with my copic markers. I did just that last night while watching a movie. I chose the image that I liked the best and made a card with it. I used my newest stamp set: Poppy Patch from Flourishes.
The butterflies are from Artful INKables. The ribbon is Jodyribbon. I stamped the images in Versafine Onyx Black and then heat set. All coloring was done using copic markers. cut out the butterflies and added a little glitter gel pen to them and adhered them around the image.
I am hoping that this is a jumping off point for me and I will continue to craft and stam and get back on track with doing what I love to do.

New addtition to the family

2008-05-20T19:47:00.006-07:00

We have adopted an orphaned baby duckling. My 12 year old Daughter Rebecca and her beautiful giving heart just could not abandon this homeless babe....LOL
She now gets to share a room with her new found 'baby' and like any newborn this one cries when out down and needs its 'Mommy' all the time...24/7....LOL

Mothers Day

2008-05-09T06:05:00.002-07:00

I made 2 cards for Mothers Day and I only have 1 Mom...so I need to choose which card to give her on Sunday...tough choice! I did the Mulberry Paper Batik technique for the background. I stamped random images with versamark on the mulberry paper and covered with clear EP, emboss then I mist the paper with water and sponge on color with sponges or daubers and ink pads. I then take a warm dry iron and a sheet of copy paper over the top to absorb the embossing and iron it. Then adhere it to a sheet of white card stock and your background is ready to use!
I used chocolate Chip cs for the base of the card and whisper white and added some mats of certainly celery and ballet blue to each respective card. The wide satin ribbon is from Texasjodylynn, and the bling is from Prima, the pins are from Michaels and 1 is made by me. Thanks for looking!

Swap Card

2008-05-08T21:25:00.002-07:00

I had the best plans to have a great Stamping time in Boise Idaho a while back...but you will never guess what happened on my way to Archivers.....My truck broke down and I was stranded with no one available to come and get me! It was awful,,,after letting it sit for a while it finally started...so off to the stampin' event i went but too afraid to shut it off again! LOL!!
I ran inside and dropped off my supplies and swap card for the girls to make and left my doorprize and ran. The truck is fine now...of course! I was so sad that i got to miss out on making new friends and having a great time! Here is the card I did for the swap. I used a new Darling Dragon set from ArtfullInkables.

Bracelets Galore

2008-05-08T14:59:00.005-07:00

Here is a simple bracelet that I made for my Sister-In-Law for her birthday. I used African Opals that have been dyed in bright and vibrant colors. All of my supplies for this bracelet were purchased at Craft Warehouse or I already had a hoard of them stashed away.
I decided I couldn't let her be the only one with a super cute bracelet so i made one for myself also! I used the bigger rosettes on mine as spacers between the Opals. I have one more that I just finished and have not photographed yet..I will be putting it up for sale soon along with a few more like these. Thanks for Looking!

Gifts and ASB design Team Project

2008-05-06T21:55:00.007-07:00

This was my first Project for April over on A Shade of Blue. We used these wonderful exclusive papers designed by the ASB Goddess, Anne, she is a digital mastermind I tell ya! I used papers from the Vintage Blush collection to cover this box. This project began as a gift for a dear friend who experienced a loss of a loved one, I incorporated my ideas into my DT project for the month of April. Here is the box before I altered it:
This is what is inside the box:

My second project for ASB was little pill boxes for your purse. I am a former SU! Demo and have a few of these round containers that eyelets and brads once lived in...I had the idea that they could be made beautiful with beautiful paper and ribbon and used as a pill box for my purse.

I used a small narrow strip to adhere around the container and I also used a scalloped circle punch to to cover the lid, Embellish lid as desired, tie a narrow ribbon around the base and voila` a handy and attractive pill box, re-use and re-purpose.

2008-04-20T14:59:00.002-07:00

My Blog was recently given an award from Artful Inkables It turns out I was given this award for creativity, design, interesting material, and also for contributing to the blogging community, no matter what language. Thanks so much to Artful Inkables and to Maulwürfchen .

Apparently, there are 5 rules attached to this award and they are:
1) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award .
2) Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his or her blog to be visited by everyone.
3)Each award winner has to show the award that she has been given, by the one aforementioned.
4) Award-winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of "Arte y Pico" blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.
5) To show these rules.

Now for 5 more Blogs to pass this award onto:
1. Erin~ ErinK Creations
2.Kimme~Life of a Princess
3.Novell~Mastering the Art of Procurment
4. Karen~Texas Chattin' Bunny Rescuin' Softie Stamper
5.Teresa~Inkfully Yours

Fabulous Batik

2008-04-20T14:50:00.004-07:00

I am such a horrible Blogger! I hardly post and am so sorry for that..life is getting in the way it seems.
I stamped today just for the shear pleasure of doing so. I dusted off one of my favorite sets that i don't use nearly enough! Fabulous Flowers from Stampin' Up!
I used one of my fave techniques to create some background for this card. the 'Mulberry Batik' method was used to create a patterned background for the main image. I stamped with versamark on thin mulberry paper and then embossed with clean embossing powder. I then sprayed the paper with a misting of water and grabbed my ink pads and daubers and sponged on some color. I then take a warm iron, no steam, and a sheet of computer paper over the top and iron until the paper has absorbed all of the embossing from the mulberry paper. I cut it down to size I want to use and mount it on white card stock.
The card base is Soft Sky from SU!, then a layer of Basic Black cs also from SU! I stamped the large flower from the set in versamark and embossed with white EP then cut it out and arranged it on layer on top of the other. I added a shiny bling brad to the center. I stamped the sentiment on Whisper White CS and mounted into an oval bookplate with some small Bling Brads and added a touch of gorgeous 'Jody Ribbon'

New Stamp Company and a Grand Opening!

2008-03-16T15:37:00.002-07:00

I know I have posted about Artful Inkables before..they were previously available at Starvingartistamps...well now Kristin is taking her awesome line of stamps and opening her own web store featuring her awesome designs!
Monday March 17 is the grand opening and she will post some opening specials tomorrow!! She wil also be unveiling 4 brand new sets! There is a great sneak peak on her blog now!
Make sure to go and check out the Grand Opening tomorrow!!

Faux Cloisonne`

2008-03-11T05:53:00.003-07:00

Monday's Technique Lovers Challenge over on SCS was to do the Faux Cloisonne` technique.
In the link to the challenge you will find directions and how to's.
I chose to do 2 cards using this fun and beautiful technique. I chose the sets, Delight in Life and petal prints for my cards. You want to use open line stamps for this tech. I then grabbed my issue of 'Real Simple' magazine and started looking for pages with colors and patterns that i thought would make beautiful flowers. I found a great Coldwater Creek ad that i used for the Delight in Life set and a fabulous ad for flowers in purples that i used for the Petal Prints card.
I tore out the pages that i wanted and proceeded to stamp my images over the areas of color that i wanted using versamark ink. I then sprinkled the stamped images with detail gold ep. Then embossed using my heat tool and then cut out the images around the embossing and finish my projects. Give it a try the results are gorgeous!!

I have won an award!

2008-02-18T09:39:00.004-08:00

I feel so undeserving of this award but I am ever so grateful Melissa!! Melissa over at Melissa's Moments gave me this award..so Thanks Melissa!!

I would like to pass this award on to a few of my favorite bloggers:

Novell

Nicki

Sharon

Amanda

Kristin and her NEW blog and Webstore!

altered altoid Tin

2008-02-18T09:27:00.003-08:00

I used the die cuts from the DT kit sent by K & A Die Cuts for this months ASB design team to make this cute little altered altoid tin purse.
I was inspired by a few on SCS before making this one myself. I would like to give credit to those who inspired me. First off credit to Lov'n Life in Vegas and then to Dyu and to Jwheeler
thanks to these talented ladies for inspiring me to try this.

In the DT sponsor kit were pieces cut to perfectly fit the inside or outside of an altoid tin and I wanted to do something different other than the standard album with the tin. I used them to cover the outside of the front of the tin and the back of the tin as well. I also punched holes all the way thru the tin to attach the ribbon straps with brads. I then added some patterned scrapbook paper to the inside to cover the holes and brads. I added a simple prima the the bottom corner of the front of the purse. This is now ready to hold a gift card or a piece of jewelry or some other small gift item.

K & A Die Cuts

2008-02-18T09:17:00.002-08:00

This month over at A Shade of Blue, our design team sponsor is K & A Die cuts
We had no idea what kind of goodies would be sent to us and our team leader picked a theme for us to work with once we got our hands on all those precious die cuts....ooo the anticipation!
The theme was 'Baby its cold outside!' keeping with winter or 'cool' colors for our theme.
I was pleasantly surprised at the contents of the sponsor package! There were many wonderful things to alter and play with. I have finished 2 projects so far for the DT over at ASB but trust me there will be more projects coming from this wonderful sponsor!!
First I chose the small pyramid treasure box to alter and I kept it a winter themed gift box. I know there is Valentine candy inside it in the photo but this little box is perfect for all kinds of small treasure's....even a small stamp set or some brads, or Prima's the list is endless.
I folded this box carefully leaving 1 flap exposed at a time and running just that exposed flap through my Cuttlebug using the Snowflakes embossing folder, so that each flap is embossed with snowflakes. I then added a touch of diamond stickles here and there for some added sparkle. I also embellished with snowflake die cuts from the cuttlebug and more stickles.
I stamped a sentiment across the lid that says 'Make a Wish' the sentiment is from SU!

February ASB Challenge!!

2008-02-18T09:10:00.003-08:00

The February challenge from the altered Arts team over at ASB is to alter a treat container, something that the original purpose was to hold candy or some other sweet treat. You could completely re-purpose the container or just alter it and keep its original purpose.
I chose to alter a York mints tin. I like the tin because it is the perfect gift size. I chose to use an empty mint tin and re-purpose it. I think this could be used for mints to carry in your purse or as a gift container for small embellishments or even jewelry. I simply punched some scallops with my pinches and added a simple stamped design using the Stampin' Up! set Simply Said.

Charge.....and....CLEAR!! zzaaapppp

2008-02-18T08:59:00.004-08:00

I think I may be able to revive this blog after all.

I have been busy the last couple of months with Holidays, after Holidays, moving, unpacking etc..
I also have been designing and posting my projects over at A Shade of Blue.
For the ASB January Project I altered a clock. I went to Walmart and spent approx $3 on a plain Jane wall clock and then I added some stamped images and a decoupaged Rooster to the face and....here is the final project.
I used new acrylic stamps that I purchased at A Cherry On Top
They are by Daisy Bucket Designs

A Shade of Blue Alterd Angels...

2008-01-02T20:37:00.000-08:00

We 'Altered Angels' over at ASB
have our January Challenge up and running.....don't hesitate jump on over to ASB and check it out!
We have a gallery section full of samples from our NEW and Fabulous 'Altered Angels' design team. Please drop by and check out my contribution to this months Challenge at A Shade of Blue.net

2008 Calendars

2007-12-24T07:20:00.001-08:00

I did this years coaster calendars using my Bind It All! Wow I like this way much better!
The calendars are made using 4x4 coasters, covered in decorative paper. I used my ATG gun for adhesive. The ages are all 4x4 card stock or heavy weight designer paper. I used a corner rounder punch to round the corners on the individual pages. I then added various items as accessories for each month. Some are stamped and cut out, some were stickers, some were die cuts from the cuttle bug. I made a total of 6 this year before Christmas. The '2008' on the front is die cut using the 'Olivia' alpha for the CB.

I'm on a Design Team!

2007-12-04T21:43:00.000-08:00

I submitted some work for a new Altered Arts design team over at A Shade Of Blue

I was thrilled beyond belief to get the message today that I was chosen for their team! I can hardly wait to get started on some projects with this new and dynamic and talented group!! Come on over to A Shade of Blue and see what it is all about!!

Christmas and Barn Stars

2007-11-28T19:56:00.001-08:00

Have you seen the amazing and cool Altered Barn Stars everywhere?? There is an awesome project tutorial by Sande Kreiger on Twopeas
The first one I ever saw was made by Friend Linda, spicygingersnap (she made the star that the lovely texasjodylynn is holding in the picture) on SCS. Then jeanniebabes on SCS made a really wonderful star and so did jwheeler
I found my star at Craftwarehouse in Meridian Idaho. I bought papers from My mind's Eye, Around the Block and 1 other I can not remember..but they are all wonderful and festive! I made this today while recouping from a evil virus that has taken hold of our entire household this week. My poor 10 year old has been so sick the past week. I presented this to my Mom for Chrsitmas today so she can hange it in her home for the Holidays.
I used a plain piece of typing paper to trace the point shape and used it as a template to cut out paper for each point. I painted a thin layer of matte mod podge on the back pf the paper and adhere it to the star. I had some slight gaps so i adhered thin gold and red cord down the centers using UHU glue. Being thin cord it doesn't take away from the beauty of the papers. I painted a top coat of mod podge on to seal and voila1 it is done. Thanks for looking!

Not Dead Yet....

2007-11-24T13:32:00.000-08:00

I am not dead yet just going through a lot of major life transitions right now. I have made a Blog of my kids to share with their friends and family from all over to keep everyone in touch. You can check it out here:
http://3kidzstartover.blogspot.com/

NEW!! Artfull Inkables

2007-10-26T22:31:00.000-07:00

Artfull Inkables available at www.starvingartistamps.com have brand new releases right now!!

Some really fun and elegant new designs, all silhouetted, Milestones 1 and 2
Some GORGEOUS silhouette floral!
The cutest most fun birds and trees I have ever seen! I can not wait til I am able to get my hands on these images!

Hurry Over and check it out now!

Life before Papercrafting

2007-10-16T00:55:00.000-07:00

Before I was so obsessed, umm I mean involved in all things papercraft related, used to tinker with beads. I made earrings, key chains, stemware charms, bracelets, necklaces..everything i could think to make from colorful beads. my designs were one of a kind and I could sit for hours working on them.
This website was brought to my attention recently and it really spoke to me. I hope you will take a look at it and I hope it touches you the way it did me. It is inspiring and beautiful..it gives me hope for the world.
Beads For Life
Women in Uganda rise from poverty to build a better future for themselves and their families. The beads are beautiful and the pictures and stories are even more beautiful. Look over the site and read the stories and then stop by the BFL web store. May you be inspired.

Scarf resource

2007-10-08T15:16:00.000-07:00

I got my scarf from my friend Beth while we were in SLC at a gathering of friends. I brought it home with me. This is where she and many others I have talked to got or get their scarves.
Dharma Trading Co. The one I used in the tutorial is a Habotai 8x54

Batik Sunday

2007-10-07T12:54:00.001-07:00

Batik Scarf Tutorial

In Utah TMDMom had this awesome swap project for us to do..something I always wanted to do. stamp on silk scarves! I however could not make up my mind on what stamps/colors/patterns I want ed to stamp. I asked Beth if it would be ok for me to bring mine home and play with it.
After being here for a few days I knew I wanted to do a batik on the scarf. I did what I do when I make a Batik card.
Step 1: stamp image on scarf with versamark and cover with clear emboss powder. I used the True Friend set and Baroque Motifs.

Step 2: use heat tool to emboss the scarf, be careful to not burn the scarf. Move the heat tool around a lot.
Step 3: Put scarf in a plastic tub or like me in the kitchen sink, mine is stainless steel. Spray scarf with Ranger Adirondack color wash. I used Stream and Wild Plum.
Step 4: Iron between 2 pieces of newsprint (no ink) or like I did, 2 grocery brown paper bags with no ink. This way no printed ink comes off on your scarf. Use the highest heat setting with NO steam. Iron until the embossing comes off onto the brown paper. If the scarf is sticking to the paper reheat with iron.
Step 5: rinse, run under water until water runs clear. Ring out and hang to dry. Wait 72 hours before washing.
and then you are done! I recommend wearing rubber gloves unless you like the look of ink stained fingers and hands.
I referred to this article from HGTV for inspiration and directions for this project.

Halloween is coming!

2007-10-06T22:34:00.000-07:00

What a fun Holiday! Candy, treats and kids in fun costumes. A day when we can all play and dress up and be whatever we want to be...and be rewarded for it with sweets! I love Halloween and Halloween decorations. I set off to make my own this year. The chipboard coaster craze continues to inspire me! I was actually inspired by a project from my friend Cyndi Wheeler.
One of her swap projects that she brought to Utah was so beautiful and inspiring, I completed her project today using chipboard letters, ink and coasters and pretty designer paper! The one Cyndi created says 'home' and is 4 coasters connected by hinges. She did such a lovely job of creating something that anyone would be proud to display in their home. The coasters are covered with DP and then of course trimmed and sanded for flush edges. I added some ink to the edges too. The letters were patterned to begin with, i rubbed them lightly with a file to remove the glossy patterned finish. I then inked them up with a combo of classic Chocolate Chip and craft Bravo Burgundy, I then embossed them with clear ep. The paper pieces were all measured and pre cut by Cyndi. I added the Prima's and tied some ribbon at the top of the twill loop. The backs of the coasters are covered with Kraft cs.

After finishing this one I thought I 'need' a Halloween one too! I didn't have big chipboard letters to spell out 'boo' with a letter to each coaster, so i cut letters from chipboard with my Cuttlebug and the red tag alpha die. I inked the letters with Elegant Eggplant classic ink, clear embossed and then added some black glitter glue. The stamped image was an image RAK from Amanda Sewell from last Halloween. I think these kinds of projects are perfect for the Holiday season. I plan on making many more.

Slumber Party of all Slumber Parties!!

2007-10-05T20:04:00.000-07:00

Also known as what happens in Salt Lake City stays in SLC!!
A group of fabulous Ladies from SCS gathered in Utah for a weekend of laughing, talking, games and of course STAMPING!!
My friend Kristin, wasatch wizard on scs hosted this event! We all brought shoebox swaps and gifts for each other, we had great food and even better company.
I laughed til I hurt and talked til I fell asleep and I cried til my eyes were swelled. I learned many thing in 3 days and most of all I met good friends that are now my BEST friends.
I am still tired and recovering from such a wild and wonderful time. Here a few pictures of some of the fun times and projects we shared.

My shoebox card, using the mullberry paper batik technique

My door prize, a memo board, made from a picture frame, cork and fabric
modpodged over the top

Look who we saw at Hobby Lobby

Private Practice

2007-09-27T20:26:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note before I head off to Salt Lake City.
I watched the season Premier of Private Practice last night, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I think we are looking at a hit show here folks. I especially enjoyed the scene where Addison is dancing in the buff. Did you just love that song? It took me a while to remember what song it was and where I heard it before. For your enjoyment here is a link to 'I don't feel like dancing' by the Scissor Sisters

2007-09-19T21:04:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by Teresa over at Inkfully Yours...

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car) - Newt Taurus

2.YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie) Vanilla Bean Samoa

3. YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name) Dgod

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) - Purple Jack Russell

5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born)- Lynn Caldwell

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first) - God-Do

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink put “The”) The Pink Chai

8. NASCAR NAME: (the first names of your grandfathers)- Jesse Ralph

9. STRIPPER NAME : ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne, favorite candy) Vanilla Musk Reeses Pieces

10.WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names ) Rae Roger

And now to tag 5 other bloggers to play along! How about . . .

GaurinoMom

PiratesandPixies

leslie

Melissa

mmferg

Added Info

2007-09-16T16:35:00.000-07:00

If you are interested in my shirt design there are a few ways of obtaining it.
#1 email me with you interest and I can print the design onto transfer paper and send it with directions to you for $5.00 plus postage per design. If you want the front and back design it can be yours for $7.00

#2 I can email you a file of the design for $2.50 for 1 or $3.50 for a front and back design. Then you can print it out on transfer paper your self.

Some tips:
If you want to print onto a dark fabric get transfer paper that is made for dark fabrics..usually an opaque transfer, also make sure it is compatible with a hand iron.
Follow the directions with your transfer paper exactly.
By some extra parchment paper you may need it.
Here are some options when looking at buying transfer paper.
Neenah Iron man Transfer Paper

I bought some from ebay recently that worked well for me

Wild about Harry?

2007-09-16T14:13:00.000-07:00

I am! I am a die hard Harry Potter fan! I love all the books and the movies....they are fabulous stories. I also loved seeing some great T-shirts on the web with the Marauder's Map slogan on them. They always seemed a bit high priced and sold out fast! I recently acquired Adobe Photoshop Elements 5.0 and so I decided to learn the program and come up with my own design to make my own shirts. I purchased some iron-on transfer paper from ebay, made for dark fabrics. I also followed some tips I read in Simply Scrapbooks Digital Scrapbooking magazine. The August/September issue.
Here is my first design and finished T-Shirt...what do you think? Would you like one? The top photo is the front of the shirt and the bottom photo is the back.

I remember....

2007-09-11T16:10:00.000-07:00

I had got up for work and was surfing the internet at around 6:30 a.m. PST I ran across a story about a jet crashing into a building in NY, at that time it was thought to be some kind of fluke accident. I finished getting ready for work. As I was driving to work, they interrupted the radio programing with the news that terrorists had flown the plane into the Twin Towers and that America was under attack. I was in shock, I was stunned, I cried. I phoned my husband who was home asleep from working night shift. I said you need to wake up and turn on the TV now...they are saying there has been a terrorist attack on the USA. He was in complete disbelief and shock as I was. When I arrived at work, one of my co-workers was just arriving at the same time, we got out of our vehicles and we were both crying and we immediately hugged each other. We were scared, nothing like this had happened on American soil in our lifetimes. This was not something that you ever imagine happening. The big question was happens next? We spent the day working in a public elementary school trying to carry on as usual. I remember the whole day wanting to do nothing but run home and hug my children and my husband. It seemed the world stood still that day. I kept repeating the phrase...'how does this happen here'
I want to take a moment and Thank every one of our Service Men and Women who do their duty for our country everyday. I also would like to thank the families of those who are deployed, everything you do is for all of us here in the USA.
Thanks to all of the Hero's of September 11, 2001.

I dared to get Dirty

2007-09-09T20:42:00.000-07:00

At the end of July Splitcoaststampers.com celebrated the 3rd year anniversary of the Fan Club. The SCS Fan Club is a special gallery for those who contribute to the site by way of enrolling i the Fan Club. The gallery is a special thank you for us fan club members. On the 15th of each month a NEW Dirty Dozen Design Team Gallery is opened to Fan Club members and these projects and cards are exclusive to SCS. It is totally worth joining!

So back to the 3rd anniversary, past and present members of the DD team posted challenges for us, open only to paid members of the SCS fan club. The challenges were very fun and inspirational. I thought they brought out everyones best work. Thanks to JulieHRR for being the Hostess with the Mostest.
Here are a few of the cards that I made for the various challenges. The challenge gallery is open to all for viewing and comments. Thanks for Looking!My gallery at SCS has more details on these cards.

Altered Journal

2007-09-05T21:22:00.002-07:00

About a month ago I altered a journal that I have had in my stash for over a year now. One of those times when you buy or are given things to alter and they pile up for a while...well i finally actually did a project and hope to continue to got through my stash of things.
The journal was the type that you find in the $1 store or at the $1 bin at Michaels or Target. I covered it with DP from Stampin' Up..The Outlaw collection. I used my ATG adhesive gun and some spray adhesive to adhere the paper to the journal. I covered the outside, the inside covers and the binding. I also stamped on the paper with versamark and then rushed over it with Pearl Ex in Russett. I then sprayed it with a clear sealer to seal the Pearl Ex. I used my oval punch from SU! to create the 'hinges' on the binding. The paper is Chocolate Chip cs that had been misted with water and wrinkled and smoothed several times and then pressed as flat as possible and it has the look of leather. I added the antique brads and twill to the binding. The guava colored ribbon is also from Stampin' Up! I used the Baroque Motifs stamp set for the scroll designs and the word 'Cherish' on the cover. I did the cracked glass technique on the 'cherish' oval. I wanted this to appear old and well loved. I am quite proud of this journal, the paper is so smooth with no wrinkles and the look is exactly how I had envisioned it before creating it. Thanks for Looking!

Can you Resist?

2007-08-27T23:42:00.000-07:00

Emboss resist that is....I love this technique it is featured as the technique lovers challenge over at SCS. In the challenge forum under TLC131. The challenge was 2 fold though not only emboss resist but versamark resist as well.
I love to do these so much I couldn't stop at just one card so I did two. The first one is simple and bright very cheerful and fun! I used Watercolor Garden from SU! I used glossy cs and stamped flowers randomly in versamark then emossed with clear ep. I stamped the next floral images in versamark without ep. I then took my handy sponge daubers and began sponging on color, pixie pink and orchid opulence. I added a bit of certainly celery here and there also. I also stamped butterflies in vintage violet, and then I took a napkin and rubbed off the excess ink from the embossed images and the versamark images. Notice how the images stamped in just versamark are more subtle and muted than the embossed images. The ribbon is from Texasjodylynn. I used the round 'cute' sentiment from the so very set and my 1" and 1 1/4" circle punches and some dimensionals over the ribbon.
My next card is done with Petal Prints from SU! I did the same technique with different colors. I used purely pomegranate and regal rose this time around. I also over stamped with staz-on jet black for the outlined flowers. I used more of my jodyribbon and a bit of the new ribbon from A Muse. I did the main flower using my stampin' write markers, and stamped over this with basic black. ( 2 step stampin') I did the corners with the ticket corner punch.

Inspiration

2007-08-25T22:04:00.000-07:00

Over on SCS the Inspiration Challenge, was beautiful today! It is challenge IC90. This is what I came up with after looking at the inspiration piece. This card is a square card 4 3/4 x 4 3/4
I took very vanilla cs and punched 9 squares with my square punch. I stamped random floral and leafy images onto each square. The images are from Artfully Asian and Oh So Lovely from stampin' Up! I took my WWC's and drew or colored right on the images and cs, then I went over them with an aquapainter to blend. I used my sponge daubers to dab ink onto each square, I used several inks including: creamy caramel, really rust, apricot appeal, summer sun, ruby red, soft sky, sage shadow, I sponged the lightest in the middle over the image and then added darker towards the edges, with the darkest on the edge itself. I used creamy Caramel over the top to tone down some of the brighter tones. I then adhered the squares onto a piece of Basic Black cs and the card base is Mellow Moss. The ribbon is from Texasjodylynn and one of her Fantastic ribbon shares!

OOPS!

2007-08-24T00:24:00.000-07:00

I got to go on a whirl wind trip back to Idaho! We had a great time too! we left Portland on Thursday and returned on Monday the 20th.
We had so much fun family visiting time. Grandkids are great, In-Laws are great weather was nice and the food was Fabulous! We ate many meals at the family restaurants. My in-laws manage and own the Sunrise chain of restaurants in the Treasure Valley. Good home cookin' I tell ya!

After returning home and doing mountains of laundry, it was time to dig through the card stash for Thank You cards. Wouldn't you know it I was one card short. That means I needed to stamp.

I was once again taken with the colors in gamblemoms signature on SCS. Here is my first card inspired by her signature colors. I used the new set from Stampin' Up! True Friend. I also love how this set coordinates with the Basic Grey Infuse paper.
My colors are Certainly Celery, Rose Red and basic black. A strip of Basic Grey Infuse and some punched circles. I used markers to color on the stamped images. A little piercing around the stamped flowers and some silver pigment 'thank you' finish it off. This was quick and easy and I like the look. The center of each circle punched stamped design has a lil bling there to add some sparkle.

45 Years

2007-08-12T23:49:00.003-07:00

My parent will be celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary this month.
I was there for a visit in June and took a lot of family photos, well I get to back again next weekend so I decided I wanted to make them something special for their anniversary. I decided to dive into digital scrapbooking. I immediately went to over to twopeasinabucket
headed to the freebie section to see what I could find to inspire me.I chose this kit by Rhonna Farrer
The journaling on the page is song lyrics, by Big & Rich 'Lost in this moment'
I used Photoshop Elements 5.0 to create the digital page. I then resized it to print at 5.75"x5.75". I used very sharp paper snips to cut around the black scallops. I then mounted this onto some Regal Rose card stock. I used a big scalloped square from Sampin' Up's ginormous pieces chipboard set and covered it with some decorative paper from DCWV. First I watercolored all of the little flowers on the paper with Regal Rose classic ink and an aquapainter. I used my UHU twist and glue to adhere the paper to the chipboard...then as an after thought I used Modpodge over the top of the entire frame. I cut a piece of transparency sheet to fit on the inside of the frame where glass would be in a regular frame. I used my ATG adhesive gun for adhering all of the backing and transparency. I added ribbons and a couple of small wood charms from the Dollar Tree as embellishments. For the back of the frame I used 2 pieces of 12x12 cardboard that I trimmed to size and glued together to make them sturdier. All of the layers are permanently attached using the ATG adhesive gun.
My next problem was how is this frame to be displayed? Do i want them to hang it or sit it on a table or dresser or other piece of furniture? I went for sitting it up on a piece of furniture...hmmmmm how do I accomplish that? with 2 chipboard coasters and 2 small hinges and 8 small brads that's how. I kept 1 coaster whole, the other was cut in half diagonally. I attached the piece that was triangular to the back of the frame with the hinges and brads, then I cut a slit in the center of a square coaster and one in the triangular piece, so as to slide them together. It worked!
There was a funky little 'wing' sticking up out of the back and I just trimmed it off with scissors.

Thomas Kinkade and CHF

2007-08-06T20:08:00.000-07:00

Over at Cornish Heritage Farms they a gorgeous selection of new Rubber by none other than the painter of light himself...Thomas Kinkade.
I caved easily and bought one! I got the 'Garden of Prayer'....it is so serene and beautiful...and talk about being intimidated! How does a lowly stamper like me do the stamp justice? Well first of all I looked at the samples the designers over at CHF had up in the gallery...wow!

Then I was reading Asela Hopkins blog, Hop Arts Studio
and she has a wonderful easy to follow tutorial for coloring the TK images with Prisma Pencils. I followed her directions and I think my first attempt is actually pretty good. I love it! I may need to buy more of these gorgeous stamps soon!

Hot Dog!

2007-08-01T20:16:00.000-07:00

I love this little dog stamp! I think he goes great with the tree and tire swing! When I was a little girl growing up on a farm in Idaho, My Uncle Zane would come from California for visits and build me a tire swing in the tree by our house! I love this stamp from A Muse for the memories it brings back to me. The little dog reminds me of my little short dog, Rascal! The background paper is from K & Co. The images were colored with Prisma pencils and Odorless Mineral Spirits and blending stumps. I stamped the images with stazon onto Whisper White cs. I punched them out with one of my Marvy Uchida scalloped circles and layered onto rust cs cut out using the Coluzzle. The sentiment is also from A muse and peeks thru the background that was punch with the word window punch from Stampin' Up!

Ghost Riders in the Sky.....

2007-07-26T23:30:00.000-07:00

So after recently renting the movie 'Ghost Rider' starring Nicholas Cage, i was inspired to create this card, more from the song than the movie really.
I took a piece of glossy cs and sponged bordering blue, night of navy, not quite navy and a little elegant eggplant to create a night sky. I added some lightly sponged craft white in k to create misty clouds. I used a piece of cs with a circle punched out to sponge in a fill moon with so saffron craft ink.
I then inked up the horse image from 'Wanted' with jet black staz on and stamped it off before stamping it several times in the night sky I had created. I then took the swirl image from 'Bronc Buster' and did the same type of stamping off as for the horses. I then was thinking there should be some trees at the bottom of the picture so that it is clear that the 'ghost riders' are in the sky...so inked up the trio of trees from 'lovely as a Tree' and stamped the tops of them at the bottom of the picture. I added the 'Wanted' with punched stars and rhinestone brads to the middle of the image. I think it is a cool effect overall.

WANTED!

2007-07-23T21:19:00.000-07:00

I am so in LOVE with the western sets from Stampin' Up!
I used the new 'In Color', Blue Bayou textured cs for this card and the Outlaw Designer Paper.
I also used Sage Shadow and Creamy Caramel cs. I used the new 'Wanted' stamp set and the swirly's from the Bronc Buster set. The new star punch is a must have too...I see all kinds of possibilities for it!
I am also liking the new rhinestone brads, fire and ice in square and round. I seriously need more play time with the western sets.

Rockin' Girl Bloggers

2007-07-20T00:05:00.000-07:00

I was tagged by Karen AKA: Gamblemom over at Texas Chattin' Bunny Rescuin' Softie Stamper.
I got to wondering where did all of this Rockin' Girl Blogger stuff start at anyway? I searched and I found the origins HERE
So now to think of 5 Rockin' Gals who have not been thought of yet......EEK!
1. Colleen at Distinctive Touches
2. Mad's House!
3. Melissa's Moments
4. Cambria
5. Sharon
Hop on over to these great Rockin' Girl Blogs and check them out today!!

What Dreams May Come...

2007-07-18T07:25:00.000-07:00

This is going to be one of my favorite new sets..I can just feel it.
I had dreamed of making a card with this set in the colors of Taken with Teal and Black. I couldn't recall all of the details of my dream card but I did manage to capture the essence of that dream.
For this card I began with a standard size card in Basic Black cs. Th stamped a 3 1/4 x 4 1/2 rectangle of glossy white cs with small flowers and versamark then clear embossed. I don't have a classic dye pad of taken with teal but I did have a craft spot of that color, so I sponged it all over the glossy embossed piece and rubbed off extra just like typical emboss resist. With using the craft ink the embossed flowers took on much of the color while the background remained just tinted.
I tied black ribbon around this layer and added some white grosgrain that had been 'drug' through the teal craft ink. I then added a pinched scalloped circle to layer on the big flower. The large flower was stamped in craft ink and clear embossed and cut out. I added the pearl embellishment and some dots of sparkle with a stardust gel pen. The sentiment was stamped with black ink on teal cs and outlined with stardust pen.

Frogs and Fish

2007-07-06T14:58:00.000-07:00

I stamped with the new Artful Inkable images today!!
I used Neenah white paper to stamp the images on and color using my Prisma Color Pencils.
I was lucky to find in my Scrapbook Paper stash perfect background papers for the images.
The fishy has new Ice Circle brads from Stampin' Up! and the Rain Dots. the card base is made from Soft Sky one of the NEW 'In Colors from Stampin' Up! I used my scalloped oval punch for the sentiment.

The frog has ribbon from Michael's and from MayArts. The base for the Frog is Certainly Celery. I used the word window punch for the sentiment 'I frog-got'....it actually says ..sorry I frog-got but only I frog got would fit in the punch ....and I like it this way.

If I had a million dollars...

2007-07-05T14:03:00.000-07:00

1 million stamps for $1 each! Check it out!!
LOOK!!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread=YUM!

2007-07-04T21:13:00.001-07:00

I got this fabulous recipe from a great friend on SCS: Jeanniebabes. You have to try it it is amazing!!

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking soda2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
7/8 cup of vegetable oil (3/4 cup plus one half of 1/4 cup)
4 eggs
1 15oz can of Libbys Pumpkin
1 cup (or more) of mini chocolate chips ( I used the whole bag)

Mix first 9 ingredients. Add chocolate chips. Bake in a well greased angel food cake pan or 2 loaf pans...I used a bunt pan. Bake at 350 for 60 minutes. Cool before removing from pan.
Can also be baked as muffins, check with toothpick in center after 20 minutes and add a minute or two as needed.

Boho meets the Old West

2007-07-04T21:03:00.000-07:00

Well my version anyway. I just am not blessed with enough patience to wait for my Stampin Up order to get here so I did the best I could to re-create the Boho Western look featured in the new Fall/Winter Collection from Stampin' Up!
I used Sage Shadow cs, really rust and creamy caramel and very vanilla. I stamped the Baroque Motifs set with tone on tone and Versamark and my Castaway pad. I used some crinkled paper and did a little direct to paper here and there. I smashed the vintage brads with my eyelet hammer, added some twill and a ribbon buckle.

More Baroque Motifs and Birds

2007-07-03T00:10:00.000-07:00

I got these darling little birds at Archivers! They are called Decorative Birds by HeroArts.
I thought they would look very elegant paired with the new Stampin' Up! Baroque Motifs.
The card base is chocolate chip cs, whisper white is layered on top. I stamped my images in chocolate chip, bronze metallic pigment, and jet black stazon.
I stamped the floral accent in Groovy Guava. I watercolored the birds using the new 'In Colors' from SU! The brown polkadotted organdy ribbon is from May Arts.

Baroque Motif's and Accents

2007-07-02T16:28:00.000-07:00

This is my first use of this fabulous new stamp set! I am in LOVE, I want to use this for everything now!! It is just my style....I think the possibilities are endless!
I stamped on whisper White cs with Jet Black Stazon. I added the flowers with Pixie Pink. I stamped the sentiment in Basic Black ink, the sentiment is from My Sentiments Exactly.
In the middle of each small flower is a 'Rain Dot' I found them at Archivers they are from Cloud9 Design. I love them they are self adhesive, clear but colored and they are the coolest thing ever!

I can not wait until I get more new stamps this month! I am lovin' the BoHo Western stuff!

New Rubbah!!

2007-07-02T08:20:00.000-07:00

Oh my where oh where am I going to get enough $$$ to buy all of the great new stamps and products out right now? EEEEKK!! I am suffering from I want it all syndrome!
I just ordered some new unmounted stamps from Starvingartistamps
There are brand new adorable images up from the Artful Inkables line.

Stampin' Up! also released the new Fall and Winter Collection and this catalog is full of amazing and beautiful products!

I have broke my budget already.....so go and look and order and then tell me what you liked or didn't like! What will you buy?

V-A-C-A-TION!! In the summer sun!

2007-06-25T16:55:00.000-07:00

Hello my neglected blog readers. I left last Monday for Idaho, Boise area.
I got back last night (Sunday) I was visiting my parents, my 2 oldest children and my Grandson! We had a very fun and enjoyable time. Idaho was HOT!
I visited an Archivers for the very first time!! I met up with Rachelhope13 from SCS, we visited and shopped!! What a blast! Thanks so much Rachel!Here we are outside the Boise archivers Store...I'm the chunky one
I attended my first tutoring class this morning for the test to become Highly Qualified and meet the NCLB standards. I hope to get rested and back to stamping!! I came home to good mail a order from Stampin' Up! and some new AMuse stamps and a new Papertrey set. Life is good.

mmmmm something cool and Tropical

2007-06-16T19:04:00.001-07:00

School is out for summer!
To celebrate I went out for drinks with the girls from work for Happy Hour at Stanfords.

We all had a fun and relaxing time! We also had some very good food and some very tasty drinks!
I personally recommend the 'Caribbean Martini'
It is made with
Malibu Rum
Midori
Pineapple juice, over ice and with a big sweet juicy pineapple wedge on the rim. The taste will take you away to a Caribbean island, maybe even with a vision of a pirate ship on the high seas.

I'm not dead.......yet wink

2007-06-13T17:02:00.000-07:00

I 'borrowed' the layout and pattern for this Post-It holder from Badsherry on SCS. I used the NEW 'In Color' from Stampin' Up! Purely Pomegranate....it is beautiful! I layered some BasicGrey paper from the Phoebe collection onto some Certainly Celery cs and then added a small stamped panel using Petal prints which is retiring. I colored the stamp with a Rose Red marker and them isted it with water before stamping. The ribbon is from MayArts and Stampin Up!

a 3 x 3 notebook that I re-covered and added ribbon and a pen.

2 jumbo clips that i purchased at Office Max. I used my Cuttlebug and dies to cut flowers from coasters, then covered with patterned paper and sandwiched the clips in between.

I used 7 chipboard 4x4 coasters for this box, I used scrap book paper and modpodge to cover the coasters. Directions on the dividers can be found on SCS.

This is a regular spiral notepad, like from the dollar store, i took apart and re-covered the front and back covers using BasicGrey Phoebe papers and a We Are Memory Keepers chipboard accent on the front cover. I used twill tape adhered with sticky strip. Tying a bunch of pretty grosgrain ribbons on the spirals just makes this even cuter!

The last week of school is sooo crazy and busy. I have a co-worker that was accepted into an internship program and will be a classroom teacher in an ERC class in the fall. I wanted to make some quick but cute gifts for her new office.
There has been so much to do to be ready for the school year to end and to be ready for the summer program to begin in July.
Also my allergies have been horrific! My eyes are so swollen and runny along with a ton of sneezing and sniffling...so not as much time spent crafting and blogging as I would have liked.
I am so looking forward to not getting up at 5:45 a.m......I will be traveling to Idaho to visit my grandson Hayden who is 16 months old. When I return I will finally be taking my test to become Highly Qualified and meet the requirements of 'The No Child Left Behind Act'......(whew)
Here is the coaster box with dividers that I made for our new teacher, along with 2 altered notebooks and a post-it holder and 2 jumbo paper clips.
There really wasn't any stamping involved but altering things to make them prettier is fun no matter how you do it.

New Stamps by a New Designer

2007-05-28T10:37:00.000-07:00

My friend Kristin has been fortunate enough to have her talent recognized and she now has a line of stamps out. Artful Inkables are available for purchase from StarvingArtistamps.
I immediately purchased a few to get me started until her next plate of images comes out.
When you go to the StarvingArtistamps site click on whats new and then there are 3 pages of Kristins image stamps, they are Artful Inakbles.
These are my first 3 cards done with Kristin's new stamps. Hope you enjoy!

Bridal Shower Projects

2007-05-22T22:55:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post before I fall asleep tonight. I am attending a Bridal Shower tomorrow at 3 and needed a quick card and gift...so off to the gallery at Splitcoaststampers.
I found a beautiful card by: stamplaura
I decided I just had to CASE it for the shower, I changed the colors slightly and the sentiment, I used stickles instead of rhinestones, but the design is all stamplaura's thanks for the inspiration!

I then made a book from chipboard coasters....held together with 2 1 inch binder rings just like the calendars I did in December. I also recently made one for a baby shower back in March. I have seen little notebooks made for attendee's to jot down friendly marriage advice to the Happy Couple. I decided that would be a cute and special keepsake gift. I wish I was awake enough to give you more specific details...email me or leave a comment if you have any questions.

Are you ready for a Challenge?update

2007-05-18T16:57:00.000-07:00

I have completed 118 cards today!! These were swap cards, and over 60 of them were just card fronts....they are now all 118 full cards, ready to be delivered to the Troops!

Ok I have a challenge for all stampers out there...are you ready? Are you up for a challenge? Can you do it?

I was watching TV a lot this past week....a of of season finales to see, I saw a commercial for A Million Thanks.
I had a 'light bulb' moment, I had a bunch of old swap cards and card fronts from at least 3 years ago and up to more recently....what was I saving them for? I also had many blank RAK cards that I have relieved over the past few years, so I gathered them, sorted through them and have 2 stacks.
1 stack of full 36 cards ready to go and another stack of 64 card fronts waiting to be made into full cards.
That is 100 cards for A Million Thanks.
Can anyone match or beat this?

Now my challenge for everyone who reads this to see how many cards you can come up with for this cause or any other cause that is currently accepting card donations.
Please comment to this and leave a link to the organization that you are sending your cards to. Please participate, I am so relieved to have found a purpose for all 100 of the beautiful handmade cards in my possession.

Here is a link to thread on SCS about donating cards to charity.

Inspired by Papercrafts Magazine

2007-05-13T16:39:00.000-07:00

I got the new issue of Papercrafts yesterday and they had these gorgeous cards made using die cuts from daisy D's...well not having the a for mentioned die cuts, I improvised. I used the word window punch to punch out some patterned paper I had been hoarding and arranged the cutouts into a flower shape.
I then punched a circle of black cs and embossed the word 'sweet' in silver ep. 'sweet' if from the so very set.
The ticket in the corner is done using the designer label punch and stamp with real red ink on Kraft cs.
The patterned paper in the background on the card base is from Daisy D's and Stella Ruby from BasicGrey. I added the faux stitching because I was just too lazy to drag out the sewing machine and do any real sewing.

Cuttlebug Pailsey!

2007-05-12T17:58:00.000-07:00

I L-O-V-E these new dies for my CB!! I have had them for a while and just have not had time to break open the package and play, so today was the inaugural for the new CB dies.
I love brown and coral together...one of my all time fave color combo's. I used a base card of Chocolate Chip cs, stamped with the little dots from Delight in Life set from Stampin' Up!
I stamped the big flower from the set several times on Whisper White cs and watercolored with Cameo Coral and Rose Red WWC's and an Aquapainter. I trimmed out the flowers and then I added some custom made dazzling diamonds glitter in Rose Red to match on the center of the flowers. The tag is a ribbon slide cut with a die from the CB with a chipboard coaster and sponged with Cameo Coral classic ink. The ribbon is from Michaels craft store. The flowers and tag are adhered using foam dots and squares.
I got the idea and directions for the colored Dazzling Diamonds glitter from the new Stampin' Success magazine for Stampin' Up! Demos.
In an empty stamp container add 1 drop of reinker and a few drops of water, then add in approx 1/2 teaspoon of DD glitter, mix..continue to add glitter until all of the die is absorbed, it have a fuzzy appearance, continue adding glitter to the mix til it begins to sparkle, the died glitter will still appear fuzzy. thanks for looking and Have a Happy Mother's Day tomorrow!

Playing around Sunday

2007-05-06T13:50:00.000-07:00

I grabbed a sheet of glossy cs and some re-inkers and the Ranger blending solution, played and blended a whole sheet of pretty background and then tried to find a way to use it.
I grabbed the Looks Like Spring set from Stampin' Up! and the Butterfly Kisses from Paper Trey Ink...some craft ink and clear embossing powder and let my imagination or lack thereof take over.
The cs is Rose Red, pretty in Pink, Glossy White...The inks are all Stampin' Up! craft spots.
I used the scalloped circle punches to make the decorative birder for the cutout, I made the cutout with a Coluzzle. Lots of stamping with the large daisy and just kept at it until no more color was transferring, I liked the layered effect I got from this.

I was tagged, and then tagged again and again...

2007-05-06T13:49:00.000-07:00

WOW!
I love a good game of Blog tag as much as the next guy but Holy Taggers, I was tagged multiple times!!
Thanks for tagging me girls and I will be back later to respond to all the taggers.

Ok 7 things about me??? Oh my heck, I am such an open book I was sure everyone knew all about me already!
I think Lesa was the first tagger to get me, you may visit her over at paperpossibilities.blogspot.com

1. I love to drink Oregon Chai, hot I prefer Vanilla flavor or original
2. I am originally from Idaho, small town West of Boise, Middleton
3. I have 5 children and 2 step daughters (they are twins)
4. I am also addicted to Diet Pepsi
5. I am near sighted and wear glasses
6. 4 years ago I had a breast reduction surgery (woohoo)
7. I am afraid to let my Husband know how much money I 'really' spend on stamping and papercrafting.

Ok now for 5 Bloggers I enjoy

1. http://snippetsndoodles.blogspot.com/
2. http://mylittlestampinheaven.blogspot.com/
3. http://mojo-creations.blogspot.com/
4. http://mystampingworld.blogspot.com
5. http://stampinwhenican.blogspot.com/

Hello!

2007-05-06T13:43:00.000-07:00

I know it seems like I have been ignoring my blog but really I haven't. I have been studying for an exam to become a 'Highly Qualified' paraprofessional. The 'No Child Left Behind Act' has made it necessary for those of us classified Instructional Assistants in public schools to become 'Highly Qualified. So I have been studying as much as possible, and I have had some stamping breaks but just no time to upload and talk about them...poor me! *wink*
Last week there was an awesome tutorial on SCS for a 'Cup Card'
This is an amazing 3D project that is perfect for summer. I had to try it and am glad that I did!

MIA

2007-04-25T23:22:00.000-07:00

Sorry I haven't had any updates in a while. I did want to share some exciting news with all of you though!
I had the honor and privileged to meet a long time SCS friend in person this week and it has been wonderful!!
I met nettefrawl from SCS this week, she and her husband and young son are visiting from Utah.
On Tuesday I snuck up on her in a craft store...she had no idea I was there, it was worth it too!! The look on her face was priceless!!
Tonight we had a fun get together at my house over pizza!! nettefrawl, Robyn_Kuritz and newtnewt all from SCS!! The kids played in the backyard, we chatted and ate and laughed and hugged!!

Batik Technique

2007-04-15T10:57:00.001-07:00

In the May issue of Stampin' Success from Stampin' Up! They had some beautiful samples in there using the Batik technique. They has slightly different directions than what I learned from Beate on SCS but basically the same.
Stamp your image, preferable a bold image in versa mark ink on Mulberry paper. Emboss with clear EP. Mist paper with water and sponge on or use a dauber and die ink or craft ink over the embossed images. You can also use Watercolor Wonder Crayons or re-inkers and an aqua painter for this.
When you are finished adding the desired colors, then set you iron to warm/medium with no steam, place your project between two sheets of copy paper and iron to remove the embossing powder, it will stick/absorb onto the copy paper. Mount the finished batik image onto white cs and then finish your card. This is easy and fun, explore and experiment with colors, stamped images and I think you will be hooked.

March31....where were you?

2007-04-07T16:15:00.000-07:00

Everett WA swap event
Some of the cards I made
jwheeler, Novell, RT
Rufus
Bluebear aka: Sarah
Doodah
Dorinda and Ellen Hutson
Dorinda and Julie Ebersol
Julie HRR and Linda Carnell at the A Muse table
The Goody Bag that were given to all 40 participants!

I was in Everett WA. I attended the SCS SnoHeaux Shoebox Swap. This Fabulous event was planned and Hosted by 3 Fabulous ladies!!
ReindeerTrout, Novell and jwheeler also known as Dawn, Novell and Joyce.
There were some VERY BIG surprises in store for all the attendees........the owner from A Muse art stamps....Linda Carnell!! and JulieHRR!!!! and wait there were more surprises! The owner of Lockhart Stamps....Karen Lockhart and Ellen Hutson!!! Talk about a mind blowing fantabulous day!! There were approx 40 gals there to stamp swap and share and oooo and ahhhh over everything!! I met the most Fab gals ever!!! We were divided into 4 groups of 10 to stamp swaps and then we also got some Demo's and make and takes from A Muse and from Karen and Ellen!! I want to tell the world if you live in an area where you have the chance to take a coloring class from Karen Lockhart...DO IT!!!! This woman is an amazing talent and can work miracles with Prisma Pencils!! Above are some pictures for your enjoyment!
My 14 year old Daughter traveled with me and helped out at the event. We stayed with a wonderful friend and her wonderful family! Thanks Sarah!!!

Spring Break

2007-03-29T22:59:00.000-07:00

Today was warm and sunny, so on an impulse this afternoon I loaded 3 kids and my JRT into the car and headed west....to the Beach!!
We arrived in Seaside OR about 45-50 minutes from our house. We grabbed a quick lunch and then headed south on 101 to Rockaway Beach. When we arrived at Rockaway we were met with clouds and wind and col ocean air!
We walked and ran the dog along the seashore for about 20-30 minutes and noses running and toes tingling we got back in the car to go a little farther south along the coast.
We arrived in Tillamook OR, and visited the cheese factory there. I recommend this visit if you are ever out that way.
We did the self guided tour, bought some cheese curds and then got in line for ice cream cones!!
The ice cream was fabulous!!
After Ice Cream we headed back up North on 101 and this time we stopped in Manzanita, pulled over right next to the beach and got out to the calmest beach we had seen all day. The beach is situated in a way that blocks a lot of the direct wind from the ocean, so beach combing and dog walking were much more pleasant here.
We arrived back home tired, happy and hungry at about 8:00 p.m. Tomorrow they expect rain, I am glad I followed my impulse today.

Bella's!!

2007-03-21T21:22:00.000-07:00

Do you love Bella's??? I do!! What? you don't know about Bella's? Well have a look at their web site, you will soon be jumping on the Bella bandwagon!

Now there is a Yahoo Group for Bella lovers, to talk share and obsess over Bella's together!
Jump on over and take a look and join up!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bellaholicsanonymous/

Oh the Inspiration!

2007-03-20T17:17:00.000-07:00

I have the 6x6 Basic Grey paper packs of Phoebe and Stella Ruby. I found a sheet in Stella Ruby that totally inspired me to stamp a background for a card today.
I began with Chocolate Chip cs and bleach....didn't quite turn out like I had originally thought...so i turned to stamping over the bleached cs with craft ink..this was working!
I used the Wild Rose DD set from SU! and the Letter Press set from SU!
I used my craft spots in So Saffron, Regal Rose, Rose Red and Bravo Burgundy and Always Artichoke.
I stamped off a few times for some lighter more subtle roses in the background, and stamped over with letter press, then over that with bolder roses...I am very pleased with this card, I love the look of it!! The stitched ribbon is from May Arts, I was finished and as an after thought I added a Faux Prima to the front of the card. My faux prima's are from a silk bunch of flowers that I dismantled and re-assembled with a brad in the middle. I will show you both views of the same card. Please comment on which way you prefer it and tell me what you think of my masterpiece. *wink*

On Sick Duty

2007-03-20T11:41:00.000-07:00

So today I am home playing nurse to my 9 year old son. He has a nasty cold and a wicked cough, but probably could have gone to school today anyway. Somewhere in my mind this morning I pictured the school calling me at work to come and get him because he was coughing too much and should be resting at home. So I caved in called in for a sick day and sub for me and stayed home with him. Now he is bored...go figure!
So what does a mom do all day with a bored 9 year old?
Stamp of course!! Thank goodness for movies and a DVD player. I was able to do yesterdays Technique Challenge, TLC108 and today's Color Challenge, CC 106 from Splitcoaststampers.
I will share my versions of each challenge with you here and you can cruise on over the SCS to check them out and get inspired!!

A work of Heart for my sweet Daughter

2007-03-11T21:38:00.000-07:00

I started this Shadowbox tonight for one of my daughters. This one is for Rebecca. I was inspired by the new Artshow project in the new issue of Stampin' Success©. Stampin' Success is a magazine for Stampin' Up!© Demonstrators.
I sat down with a sheet of Whisper White card stock and a pencil and a fine point black Sharpie.
I free hand drew a lower case 'r' first in pencil then traced over it in sharpie. I then used the set Doodle That by Stampin' Up! to randomly stamp all over the letter, then I cut it out and water colored in the images and background using Watercolor Wonder Crayons by Stampin' Up!
I used my Provocraft Cuttlebug swirls embossing folder to emboss the the card stock the 'r' is mounted on. I used the ticket corner punch on the corners.
The background paper is from a 6x6 paper pack of Basic Grey Phoebe papers. I added some elements from the Simply Said stamp set from Stampin' Up! and Basket Full of Fun Hostess set from SU! The striped ribbon is from AC and the brads, and hardware are all from OTC. Everything is layered and a lot of dimensional's were used to pop them up. I am not sure if I am finishes with this or not. I want to paint the frame white I think, dry brush a little shabby chic type of finish. I plan on making one for my 14 year old daughter too. Now my 9 year old son wants one...I don't do boys quites as easily as girls but I will give it a shot.
I bought these shadow box frames from Dollar Tree about a year or more ago. I grabbed about 3 or 4 of them and knew I would eventually figure out a project for them. They fit a photo sized 5 1/4" x 6".

Spring is on its way, and I am no longer a Bella virgin

2007-03-08T14:15:00.000-08:00

The first sign s of spring in my backyard..Hooray! I am ready for some sunshine and warmer and dryer temperatures! I snapped this picture yesterday and thought I would share it with everyone, maybe brighten someones day.

While being ill I managed to finally use a Bella image, found at www.stampingbella.com
I traded some stamped images of Bella's with Kimberly Tedder over at Mojo's Creations.
Today was my first chance to sit and create something from on e of the traded images. I used my watercolor wonder crayons from Stampin' up! and an aquapainter to color in the Bella. I added a touch of stickles to the bow on the present and the party hat. I used a small strip of patterned paper from DCWV in the background. The striped ribbon is from Doodlebug Designs, the paper flowers are from OTC.

Germs...yuck!

2007-03-08T14:10:00.001-08:00

I have been home from work for the past 3 days, first 2 days with some horrid stomach stuff....terrible cramping and heartburn and just overall tummy distress, that is getting somewhat better and now I am hit like a train with a head cold....sore throat, sneezing sniffling just over all miserable.

Oh Baby!!

2007-02-25T21:53:00.000-08:00

I know so many people expecting baby girls right now! How exciting is that? Very! Spring magazines are full of all kinds of cute baby themes right now too. As I was browsing through my many paper craft/stamping related mags this weekend I found two projects that highly inspired me.
I worked all weekend on 2 projects to get them just the way I wanted them. I was CASEing some beautiful works but I didn't want them to be exactly the same just a jumping off point for me.
My first inspiration came from the new issue of Card Maker Magazine
A project on page 66 of the March 2007 issue by Alice Golden was my inspiration for this baby girl shaker card. Thanks to Alice and Card Maker Magazine.
My next source of inspiration is from an issue of Papercrafts magazine from April/May 2006. There is an advertisement for Sandylion products, on page 80. There is a cute little book similar to the coaster calendars I made in December. I dug out 2 chipboard coasters, and some new paper I got from DCWV, the Once Upon A Time series. The pages in the book are blank to be filled in by the expectant Mother at or after her shower. The tabs on the pages are made from the designer label punch from Stampin' Up! I used my Cuttlebug and the Red Tag Sale alpha dies and the Olivia alpha dies for the cover. The book is held together with 1" loose leaf/binder rings.

More Chocolate and Coral

2007-02-18T18:49:00.000-08:00

I just can't get enough of the Cameo Coral/Brown combo. It doesn't matter to me if I use Chocolate Chip or Close to Cocoa with it...I just love it!
I used the Big Blossom, Sell-A-Bration set from Stampin' Up! along with the Polka Dots and Paisley from the '07 Spring Mini from Stampin' Up!
I used the Big Impressions texture Plates to emboss the backgrounds. The plates are double sided, I used the one that has Paisley on one side and Daisy on the other. I mist my cs with water before running it through my Cuttlebug, this gives it a deeper and clearer impression.
Please do realize that when experimenting with products not specifically made for use in the CB that if done wrong and your Cuttlebug breaks the warranty may not (most likely NOT) cover it.
I make my stack for this by using the A layer from CB and then the texture plate, misted cs, silicone pad and solid black plate from Big Impressions....make sure the ends are even, as the Big Impressions plates are longer than the CB pieces...if they are even when they are put in they run through without a problem.
I used the kissing technique on the Big Blossom also with the Polka Dots and Paisley set.
The round letters that spell L A U G H are from a rubber set from See-D's, i used a small circle punch to punch them out after stamping them.
The 'Let it Be' sentiment is from the $1 RF clear stamps available at Jo~Anns.

Inspired by Friends

2007-02-18T00:49:00.000-08:00

My friend Alli made some really beautiful cards using the Roses In Winter set from Stampin' Up!
She used the 'Rock-n-Roll technique. You can see her gorgeous creations on her blog 'Rubber Rambles'
Then My friend Jen who was also inspired by Alli made some really gorgeous RIW cards, on her blog, Inking Along After seeing such beauty created using my favorite set i decided to dig it out of drawer and see if I could be creative.
I started with Close to Cocoa cs, and Cameo Coral cs. * Just a side note....have you noticed how much of this color combo is 'in' right now? I see it in ads all over the place! I love this combo it will work so many ways and look FAB!*
I tried the 'rock-n-roll' tech with this, I used Apricot Appeal and Cameo Coral, I also give the stamps a little 'twist' or a 'smoosh' when stamping with this set. I like the look it gives the roses.
I also used some new dies for my Cuttlebug, 'Vintage' 2x2. I used the photo corner die for this card. I saved the cut out from the corners and added them to the smaller piece at the top and bottom. I used a Stampin' write marker to ink just 2 words of the sentiment stamp, to have a short and simple sentiment for this card. I also added a light dusting of Dazzling Diamonds glitter to the roses. The base of the card is also stamped with the Linen BG stamp using Close to Cocoa ink. The Cameo Coral layer is also stamped with the Linen BG, using Cameo Coral ink and a little of the Close to Cocoa as well.
I added some DTP to the edges to add to the aged and vintage feel of the card. I almost always use Creamy Caramel for this. All supplies are from Stampin' Up!, except adhesive, I used my ATG gun and the scapbooker pen from UHU.

2007-02-12T21:45:00.000-08:00

I added some bling and embellishments to the 11 coaster boxes...can I just say

Burried under boxes.....

2007-02-12T06:14:00.000-08:00

I decided I didn't get enough stress over the bazillion Calendars I made at Christmas time and offered up some Nugget Boxes and Coaster Boxes for order to my co-workers....figuring with only 4 days to order not many would want them.....ya right!

I managed to make 16 nugget boxes, the ones that hold 3 nuggets each. I also made 11 coaster boxes...8 will be delivered empty and 3 will be filled with candy.
All of the directions and templates for this project came from some wonderful stampers over on SCS
I am nearly finished, other than some final details and embellishments. I even had my girls helping me with things like tying ribbons on boxes...but look what happens when they have had enough.

UHU and Coasters unite to make a box

2007-02-06T20:43:00.000-08:00

This is my first coaster box. Over on SCS the tutorial suggests Mod Podge, I also heard from several friends whose coasters were 'warping' slightly when they used the Mod Podge. It was recommended to me to use my ATG gun for adhering the paper to the coasters.
Then a light bulb went on in my head...aha! I will try the UHU twist and glue. I used the twist & glue to adhere the patterned paper to the chipboard coaster, I applied it in a thin even layer, this is the key with liquid type adhesives. I then smoothed it down onto the coaster, and was very pleased to find, no wrinkles, no bubbles, no warping of any kind. Every edge was adhered firmly.
The original tutorial from SCS is linked in the first sentence of this post.
The paper I used in this project is from Stampin' Up! I used Elegant Eggplant grosgrain ribbon for lacing up the sides of the box. I used the Asterisk die set for my Cuttlebug for the flowers adhered to the front, they were adhered using my Xyron.

Coasters, Pretty Paper and UHU

2007-01-23T19:35:00.000-08:00

I made this coaster frame last night to add to a Birthday Gift for a co-worker. I got a new paper pack from DCWV, Pocket Full of Posies Stack....gorgeous designs all sparkely and fun!!
I used 2 plain chipboard coasters, and 2 mini hinges from Home Depot, 8 brads and some Mod Podge, paper and UHU to create this simple and fun gift!
I would like to thank GMCbunny from SCS for the know how on the coaster frames, she taught us at the October '06 SCS gathering in Oregon. I first covered 1 side of the coasters with a thin even coat of Mod Podge and then adhered patterned paper.
Then, just lay the coasters down and position the hinges between them, use the paper piercing tool from the Crafter's Tool Kit, to poke holes thru coaster where the brads will go. The heads of the brads should show thru the patterned paper on the back side of the frame. On the front side just cover with paper, same as the back...thin even layer of Mod Podge, I added some torn layers of different colors and a piece matching the patterned paper on the back.
I then stamped, water colored 2 images using clear stamps from Rhonna Farrer. I cut them out and used the Twist & Glue from UHU to adhere them to the frame.
I like the twist & Glue for a couple of reasons, one is the ability to adjust the nozzle for the project, this helps control the amount of glue coming out.
I was able to evenly distribute a thin even layer of glue, and then when I went to adhere it to the frame, when I pressed down, no extra globs of glue were squeezed out from under my project. That was impressive. The staying power of the UHU glue has me impressed as well, it was perfect for attaching embellishments to this project.

I have been Tagged

2007-01-22T06:36:00.000-08:00

A - Available or Taken: Taken

B - Best Friend: many

C -Cake or Pie: cake

D - Drink of Choice: Chai, Oregon Chai Vanilla

E - Essential item you use everyday: My PC

F - Favorite Color: Blues, Purples, Pinks

G - Gummy Bears or Worms: bears

H - Hometown: Middleton, ID

I - Indulgence: I have so many for this category. Stamps, SCS, Shoes, Patterned Paper Dark Chocolate

J - January or February: February . . .

K - Kids & Names: Amanda (mom to Hayden), Lloyd (aka: Gator), Maddie, Rebecca, Nash

L - Life is incomplete without?: Movies, BOOKS!!

M - Marriage Date: July 28, 1994

N - Number of Siblings: 1

O - Oranges or Apples: I prefer apples, but only if they are peeled and sliced.

P - Phobias or Fears: small crowded spaces

Q - Fave Quote: "why is the rum gone?"

R - Reason to Smile: I have my family, my health and many many wonderful friends

S - Season: All of them

T - Tag 3 or 4 People: Alli, Amy, Kimberly

U - Unknown fact about me: I am such an open book, I'm not sure if there is something unknown

V - Vegetable you don't like: peas, green beans, brussel sprouts, cabbage, asparagus....

W - Worst Habit: spending too much time online

X-rays: Dental, arm, hand, head, neck, foot/ankle

Y - Your Fave Food: Italian subs from Quizznos, Dark Chocolate, Cheescake

Z - Zodiac Sign: Gemeni

Goodbye ......Tim McGraw

2007-01-20T23:44:00.000-08:00

*as much as I like his music and this video in particular, i didn't like how it slowed down my blog loading so Goodbye Tim.

ok, YES I like Tim McGraw, so to add a little entertainment to my blog, i added a Tim Video at the bottom of my page, scroll down and watch and enjoy. I love this particular song.

UHU

2007-01-16T18:32:00.000-08:00

I used one of the products from UHU today. I used the Scrapbookers Pen. The packaging states that is 'super fast paper glue'....it is! I am happy to say that this is a wonderful product. I especially liked the application nozzle, it allows for an even distribution of adhesive to your project. It does indeed dry super fast and stays put!! I loved the staying power, the only way a project is coming apart is if it is torn apart. I was happy with the fact that it did not saturate the paper and cardstock and make it wrinkle or warp...big plus for a liquid glue product. In this project I made a simple Valentines Day card. I used Basic Black, Real Red and whisper White card stock from Stampin' Up! I used the Polka Dots & Paisley stamp set also from Stampin' Up! I borrowed the word 'together' from the Happy Everything set from Stampin' Up! I used Craft White, Basic Black and Real Red classic Ink. The black and white brads are from Oriental Trading Company's Fun Expressions.

Rascal in snow Jan 2007

2007-01-16T11:52:00.001-08:00


My JRT playing in the snow

What do you do when you do not own alcohol inks?

2007-01-15T10:58:00.000-08:00

OK i have not jumped on the alcohol ink band wagon yet...but I want to. Not being a patient person I attempted to play with my Stampin' Up! classic reinkers and rubbing alcohol. I do not think the results are the same at all, not from what i can tell from pictures of others use of alcohol inks. I wanted to use my experiment on the lid of a lunch tin. I still like the results, it took FOREVER to dry, I thought it would not dry at all for a while there. It did finally dry and I was able to move on to the rest of the tin.
For the sides of the tin I used Mod Podge as an adhesive for decorative paper from The Angel Company. I painted on a light coat of Mod Podge and adhered the paper smoothly and evenly, no bubbles. After the paper was firmly attached top the tin, I painted a light coat of Mod Podge over the top of the paper. I am very happy with the results of this so far. I used some double sided sticky tape to attach grosgrain ribbon to the tin. I also attached a large silk flower with a cute decorative brad in the center with the same sticky tape.
I stamped the top of the lid using Stazon Jet Black and the Flourishes set from TAC. I have a few further embellishments to do for the front of this tin and I will add more ribbon to the handle and post another picture when it is completely finished.

UHU

2007-01-14T14:08:00.000-08:00

I received my UHU glue samples last week and have yet to try them out. I have the UHU twist and glue and the UHU scrapbookers pen. I am very excited to try out the scrapbookers pen. I am hoping to do some projects today and post my thoughts and pictures later.
Please check out the UHU project Blog for some great reviews and fabulous projects.

2 weeks?!? Oh my!

2007-01-14T13:26:00.000-08:00

First let me say that I am sorry for leaving this unattended for 2 weeks. My bad

I have started a new project and I am not quite sure if I like where it is going or not....I am going to set it aside for a while and see if I can come back to it and do something to make it seem workable. Last year at the Target $1 spot I purchased a 2 ring binder, made for holding recipes and I also got as many page inserts as I could get at the time. I have had this sitting in a storage tote for all this time. I decided it was meant for recipes and it should be used for recipes. Here it is before I decided to try and alter it. I really thought I could do better than this bright orange and green stripes...well..I tried anyway. I found this pack of cute scrapbook paper at DollarTree, it was a kitchen themed pack all red and caramel and vanilla colors very old fashioned looking. I chose the sheet of all cherry paper and decided to Mod Podge it on....I chose a multi-colored striped paper for the inside....I wanted to do Mod Podge because I would be using this in the kitchen and it is bound to get messy, I wanted it to be more durable.... I added some stitched ribbon in True Thyme form Stampin' Up! on the edges of the spine. My plan is to type and print all of my hand written recipes and add them to this binder. I want to embellish it more but have not come up with any definite ideas as of yet.