Well, it's been a few minutes....

Wow, it's been a few YEARS!!!  Life has a way of getting away from you when you are busy living it.  Lots of things have changed in my life.  Primarily, I've gotten back to my roots of scrapbooking instead of card making.  I have so many events and pictures that I need to capture while my kids are still young.

But to get started, this is a light-hearted layout.  I grew up in an area with LOTS of snow.  And snow days were a much anticipated part of the school year.  Where I am now, we get snow, but not in the same quantities as back "home."  So when we *do* get a big snowfall, it immediately takes me back to my childhood.

Bo Bunny Avalanche collection.  

Hopefully this is the start of a new era on my blog.  But we shall see......

Summer is FINALLY here!

Well, it's been a while.  Life has a tendency to get away from me.  My three youngest just finished up school yesterday and the schedule of end of school activities is out of control.  I've done band concerts, yearbooks, cafeteria duty, Greek festivals, end of the year parties, field days, and graduations.  Add to that ballet recitals, soccer games, hockey practice, figure skating, Girl Scouts, pool parties, play dates, and you have quite the busy life. 

I finally sat down to stamp this week (TWICE!!!) to make graduation cards and Father's Day cards.  After I was done, I wasn't quite ready to leave my studio, so I decided to play.  I got the new Tim Holtz Summer Distress Inks this week.  Wow, such pretty colors and definitely summery.  I decided to pair them with PTI's Flippin' Out stamps.  You can't get much more summer than flip flops at the beach. 

The sand is real sand mixed in glue from a product called MuddPuddles.  I thought it added just the right touch. 

This card is going to my Dad when he takes each of my kids for a week in July.  God bless him!  And I think he'll really need it. 

Off to play whilie the mojo is in the mood.  CIAO!~

PTI Blog Hop

Two posts in two days after not posting for 10 months.  I think my blog may self destruct, LOL~ 

Anyway, today is the PTI blog hop.  Our theme was aqua and yellow.  I love this color combination.  And my first thought was tea party.  I pulled out the stamps and ink and went to town.  And went nowhere fast.  So then I just pulled out random dies and made some cuts.  And somehow butterflies was the theme today, just like yesterday.  Must be a sign of spring. 

Anyway, nothing special, just a bit of inking on the nestie, Distress Markers on the butterfly stamps, a Memory Box die cut on the border, and some fussy cutting.  Not my normal style at all, but I think I like it. 

PTI cardstock, stamps and ink.  Tim Holtz Distress Markers, Nesties and Memory Box Butterfly border. 

Hope your spring is as wonderful as mine has been. 

For Janelle

Well, I am officially the worst blogger ever.  I have not updated in about 10 months.  So you know it must be big for me to take the time to do so. 

And there is nothing bigger than supporting a friend.  Particularly a friend who is a bit down on their luck.  Janelle is one of the sweetest ladies I've ever "met" online.  Her attitude and faith are amazing to me.  I know I couldn't be like her.  I would have buckled and questioned my faith long before now if I were in her shoes.  But she never does.  She's truly an inspiration to me and I'm sure many others. 

So this is for you Janelle.  I've been following your blog for months now and butterflies just seemed to say "Janelle" to me.  I'm not sure why, but I associate them with you.  And the sunny side of life is where you seem to always be. 

I feel honored that you share your journey with me.  May God bless you and keep you.  And may all your days be sunny. 

Amuse inks, cardstock and stamps.  PTI Wrought Iron stamps.  Momento black  ink.  Clear embossing powder. I totally stole the concept for this from Betsy Veldman.  I'm fairly certain she got my share of "creativity" too as I have almost none and she has an amazing abundance.  LOL~

Cracked Glass Technique or How to Use Your Freezer for Stamping Projects

This is my first attempt at trying the cracked glass technique.  You stamp an image, stamp over the entire panel with VersaMark ink, and then heat emboss with clear embossing powder or Ultra Think Embossing Enamel.  Then while it's still hot, you add a few more layers of UTEE.  After it cools, you should be able to "crack" the UTEE and make it look like cracked glass. 

Except that it's about 95% humidity today.  So my embossed panel was kind of limp and bent instead of cracking.  So like any good woman, I took matters into my own hands and stuck it in the freezer to make it harder.  LOL~  Strange as it sounds, it worked.  Except that I was a bit overly zealous with my cracking and it looked more like shattered glass.  But this project is nothing if not extremely forgiving.  I just reheated the UTEE and it all melted right back together.  Back into the freezer and a slight more controlled cracking and I could live with the results. 

You can see the cracks a little better in this picture.  I swiped some orange ink over the cracks and rubbed it in to highlight them a bit.  And that's all there was to it.  Easy peasy, really. 

PTI Wildflower Garden stamps, Mint Motif background stamps on the cracked panel.  SU Daffodil Delight cardstock.  Memento inks. 

Look at that!  It's not even last minute this time.  Okay, off to water my flowers; it was almost 100 degrees here today.

Nothing like the last minute....

So every Monday there is a new Make it Monday.  Of course, I seldom get around to actually MAKING anything and when I do it's always last minute.  Like today.  It's Sunday.  I have less than 12 hours to actually "make it" for this contest.  LOL~

I knew that I had to use a reinker in a different way.  And the lovely Jenn showed us how to use Perfect Pearls and a reinker in a miny mister to make our own glimmer sprays.  Score!  I have all of those things already.  LOVE when I find a new way to use things I already have.  It's so much easier on the wallet.  Thanks for that Jenn!!

I pull out an old miny mister that already has the white Perfect Pearl in it with water.  So I add some reinker and spray away.  I thought I was a smart cookie because I actually remembered to put my non-stick thingie down before spraying.  Yeah.  Still made an enormous mess and accidently "misted" pieces of another project.  Well, okay then.  Every Copic colored flower needs a green shimmery background, right?  ;-)  After a few swipes with a Mr Clean Magic Eraser (truly magic!), I'm back in business. 

I decide to cut a frame from my glimmered cardstock with a new set of Nestabilities.  It takes two passes to cut (turned 90 degrees on the second pass) and one to emboss since it's so detailed.  Still have no idea what to do with it.  Now I pull out the stamp sets that I assembled yesterday.  One of them is the new PTI anniversary set.  It didn't really "grab" me when it was debuted.  Bummer since I got five of them, LOL~  But it's growning on me.  I decide to use it on this challenge.  I stamped the stems in Memento Cottage Ivy.  I add some flowers in Pearlescent Coral and Hibiscus Burst. 

Now for the crowning touch.....I added three resin flowers that I made using molds from Etsy, Ice Resin (thank you Betsy Veldman for the suggestion) and PTI reinker.  I think I threw some Stampin Up Dazzling Diamonds glitter into this batch too. 

Well, there you have it.  A last minute, seat-of-my-pants creation.  It's really hard to see the shimmer in the background as my lights at night stink and I was too lazy to drag out the 5D Mark II to take awesome pics.  Sorry!

Happy stamping and I hope to be back soon with some Waltzing Mouse creations!!! 

Tea and Crumpets

I think I should have been born British.  I *love* tea, tea pots, tea kettles, tea cups, and even the thought of sitting down to a meal call "tea."  So when I saw this adorable little baggie to hold some of my favorite beverage I had to make one.  The fact that it's in honor of the 2 year success of one of my favorite stamp designers is just like icing on the tea cake. 

I started with a Stampin Up! patterned paper appropriately enough called Tea and Crumpets.  I have no idea what a crumpet is, but it sounds cool.  I used the WM tea pot stamp and embossed it with copper powder which I think looks like a copper kettle.  I used my Copic airbrush to color a white PTI doily cut out to match.  A few more stamps from the same WM tea set, SU trim, and a SU antique brass brad finish off my creation.  Isn't it cute?  The ever talented Claire designed the template and generously GAVE it away for free. 

Happy Anniversay WM and congrats to Claire on her continued success!!!

ETA  OMGoodness!!!  Thanks so much for all your lovely comments and thanks to Claire for such a great prize.  She is such a sweet and wonderful person.  Here's to many more years of business success for her and Waltzing Mouse Stamps. 

She lives!!!

Hi everyone!  Yes, I'm back to update my SORELY neglected blog.  I've finally taken a break from scrapbooking to make some cards.  I bought the $5 grab bag from the Stampin Up! clearance rack (I think they are still available) and it came with lots of bits and pieces of carstock (pre-cut), cards and envelopes, ribbons, buttons, and designer patterned paper.  So I put on my creative hat and decided to see what I could come up with, trying to maximize the number of cards I produced. 

This first set was fun.  My son is 8 and has been invited to MANY, many birthday parties this year.  So I decided to make up some cards that are good for young boys.  Some of the Crumb Cake cards came with the grab bag and I just cut and scored some additional paper from my stash to make up the extra.  The More Mustard, Real Red, Old Olive, and Confetti cardstock pieces came as is in the grab bag.  I used a chevron stamp from Waltzing Mouse on the Old Olive paper, an Impression Obsession Cover a Card background stamp on the Real Red, and another grid background stamp from Waltzing Mouse Stamps on the More Mustard.  The guitar and video game stamps are from Papertrey Ink and are only $5 sets.  Love them!  With matching SU inks, I think they are adorable!  BTW, I stamped in Versamark first and had no trouble with SU ink on clear stamps.  ;)  I got 4 of the guitar cards and 3 of each of the video game cards.  10 cards and counting. 

This may have been my most frugal use of patterned paper, EVER!  The Stampin Up grab bag came with ONE 8.5x11 sheet of this paper with the stars, polka dots and blue grid.  I wish I had taken a picture before I cut it up, but alas, hindsight is 20/20 and I didn't.  I cut some matching cardstock in Old Olive, More Mustard and Bashful Blue to make the card bases.  Then I added the patterned paper with the dotted circles from my stash.  I pulled out the coordinating stamp set that I got free during Saleabration last year and some Old Olive ribbon from the SU clearance rack.  I used SU stars and circle punches for all but the largest star.  That is a Sizzix die that I used in my SU Big Shot.  I totally CASE'd these designs from the SU catalog.  LOL~  I got 4 of EACH of these cards so now I'm at 22 cards. 

These were interesting.  The Rose Red card bases, the Certainly Celery and  Very Vanilla pieces, and the Tempting Turquoise ribbon came with the grab bag.  This is not a color combination that I would normally pick, but I decided to step out of my box and try it.  I added the pink trim from this year's Saleabration Ice Cream Parlor kit and the SU sentiment stamps.  The background on the sentiment panel is from a Hero Arts background stamp.  The die cut flower is a Marth Stewart punch and the rhinestone is from SU colored with Copic markers.  I got 5 of each of these.  So 27 cards now. 



Again, the card bases, cardstock pieces and ribbon came with the grab bag.  The polka dot trim is from the same SAB Ice Cream Parlor kit as the last card.  Again, I used a SU set with matching SU inks (Certainly Celery and Tempting Turquoise).  The Pink Pirouette butterfly is a Martha Stewart punch, but would look just as nice with a butterfly from the SU butterfly Sizzlet.  I was just too lazy to get it out and use it that day.  I also made 5 of these cards.  32 cards now. 

The grab bag came with a sheet of cardstock stickers that I used on these cards and the next two as well.  When I ran out of those, I pulled out the coordinating stamp set (To You and Yours) and stamped some images on cardstock and punched them out with my 1.75" circle punch.  I added the strips of patterned paper from my stash.  The Crumb Cake cardbases came with the grab bag.  I think I cut the Mellow Moss ones from the cardstock that was in the grab bag.  Simple, but perfect for mass mailing cards like Christmas cards.  I got three of each, so I'm at 38 thus far. 

More of the same.  I got 3 of each of these cards as well.  So that brings my total to 44 cards from a $5 grab bag.  Not bad, if I do say so myself.  All the cardstock, ribbon and patterned paper that I used from didn't add more than $2 to the cost of my cards.  So for about $7 in Stampin Up product, I got 44 beautiful cards.  I've already used on of the star b-day cards (my son had a party about 30 minutes after I finished them, LOL) and one of the guitar cards for a guy at work.

Well, I hope this marathon post makes up just a bit for my long dry spell.  With spring here, I think I'll be creating more and hopefully posting more too.  If you want try your hand at a grab bag creation, contact your local Stampin UP demo for information on how to get a grab bag.  If you don't have a demo, there is a demo locator on stampinup.com  Have a great day!!!

Muse, where are you???

My muse, my inspiration has been in hibernation this winter.  It's been gray and overcast and downright yucky here this year.  I don't function well without plenty of sunshine, so my creativity has been about nil lately. 

But sometimes things work in very odd ways.  This is what was sitting on my scraproom counter today. 

I've been scrapping my caribbean cruise pictures, so I have tons of blue/aqua embellishments laying around.  And my 11 yo is a Junior Scout.  I have 47 boxes of cookies in my pantry, LOL. 

So I decided to take this color palate and run with it. 






And this is what happened. 

I was playing around with different sandwiches in my Big Shot using Embossing Plates and these were the results.  Not bad, I think.  Misting the cardstock with alcohol seems to really give a much better result and deeper impression. 

Anyway, I hope this spring like color palate means the rebirth of my muse.  I need to make about a jillion masculine birthday cards for my office, so I really need to get a move on. 

Everything PTI, except the scalloped apron punch which is Fiskars.  I can't find my PTI scallops dies!!!  Now I'm on a hunt.....

Later gators!

Top 10 of 2010

Wow, this year has gone by fast.  Lots of life changes and lots of things have stayed the same.  I'm going to try and list my 10 favorite cards I've made this year, but to be honest, I'm not sure I've made all that many more than 10.  <blush>  Life has been very busy for me. 

#10

I love fall and the pop of blue made me so proud.  I reached outside my comfort zone to do that.  Please excuse the bad picture but this card was too cute for me to not make my top 10. 

#9

I mass produced these for my DH to give to his staff this year.  Simple, but elegant (I thought) and non-denominational for an office setting. 

#8

Have you ever seen skates so tiny???  Both of my girls started ice skating lessons this year and that was the inspiration for this card.  My Canadian step-father will be in heaven to get it.  :-)

#7

Totally outside my comfort zone again, but I'm trying to expand my horizons.  This was part of my 14 days of Valentine's cards for hubby this year.  I think I'll do it again next year; he really enjoyed them and still has them all in his card to pull out and look at again and again. 

#6a

Who doesn't love spring?  Particularly after the winter we had last year.  Snow measured in feet rather than inches is rare for around here.  The colors just make me happy. 

#6b

I love purple and so does my mom.  I'm trying to accept that I'm a rather simple stamper and I think this is one of my better examples of how simple is enough. 

#5

This was for a card swap.  I hardly ever use light pink, so it was a challenge and I think I did okay, if I do say so myself.  I have such fun with Copics.  I almost feel talented when I use them. 

#4

My 4 yo picked this one out to send to my niece who was having a tough go of it.  Lost her job when she was 5 months pregnant and her DH is a full-time student.  She called and said that it made her cry happy tears.  She delivered a healthy, beautiful 8 pound 8.5 oz baby girl on Dec 27!

#3

 














Again for hubby's Valentine's Day month.  This was the first of the series and a bit girlie, but he loved it anyway.  LOL~

#2

A lot of firsts for me in this card.  My first square card, my first time stamping on ribbon and the first time that I've seen a piece of patterned paper and known exactly what I was going to do with it.  I usually buy pretty paper and there it sits.  This got used right away!

#1

I saw this stamp in a catalog and knew I had to have it.  Holly is one of my favorite holiday symbols and I knew it would be just perfect for my cards this year.  I don't think I did it justice with my coloring skills, but hey, I tried!  I also mixed THREE patterned papers which is a rare day for me.  I usually can't get even one to work out in a way I like. 

Thanks for taking a stroll down memory lane with me.  I'm going to try to keep my blog updated more regularly, but life does have a way of getting away from me. 

Happy New Year everyone!
PS  Evidently I cannot count today, so I have a Top 11 with 6a and 6b.  LOLOL~

Waltzing my way towards Christmas

I cannot believe how fast October went this year.  Poof! and it was gone.  Now it's the race towards Christmas and all the associated madness.  But I took a few hours to myself to attend a crop last night.  I couldn't wait to bust out these adorable poinsettia stamps from Waltzing Mouse.  They are so beautiful and detailed that they can stand alone and don't need much embellishing.  I just stamped them in VersaMark on cream cardstock and embossed in gold.  A few snips with the scissors and they were ready to mount on this tag.  I don't have time to hand make all my tags so this one is for my most special sweetie, my patient, supportive, loving husband.  He's all my Christmas wishes and more come true. 

Gina K ivory cardstock, DSP from DCWV Christmas stack, red ribbon from the Offray Ribbon Outlet, button and twine from PTI, poinsettia stamp from Waltzing Mouse Stamps, sentiment stamp from Inkadinkado, Garden Green cardstock, white craft ink, and circle punch from Stampin UP!, Stampendous gold detailed embossing powder, and red glitter glue from Viva Decor. 

Thanks for looking and let the mad shopping dash begin!  (I ordered my first two Christmas gifts on Thursday!!!)

People that have touched my life

This blog hop is all about those who have inspired you.  Well, this card is what I call a two-fer.  It's really about two very special people in my life.  First is my friend Ellie.  I've had the honor to get to know Ellie as a friend the past few months.  I can't believe how blessed I've been to have her in my life.  She has shared her faith, her life, and her talent.  The inspiration for this layout came from a sketches website that she shared with me when my mojo was missing.  I've never used a sketch site before because I felt like it was somehow "cheating."  But it's not; it's inspiring.  My mojo is not back yet as this card was 3 days in the making.  But it's peeking out here and there.  Due to Ellie, I'm sure it'll be back in no time.  THANKS HON!!!!

The second person is my husband.  This is obviously an anniversary card.  Tomorrow I celebrate being married to my best friend.  It's also a double anniversary as we got engaged and married on the same date, just in different years.  A two-fer.  ;-) 

My husband is also an inspiration to me.  He has so many good qualities that I try to emulate.  He has made me want to be a better person than I am for both him and for me.  The verse from Corinthians is just perfect for us.  I can't imagine my life without him. 

Well, enough of my sap for today.  Scarlet Jewel, Enchanted Evening, and Vintage Cream cardstocks from PTI.  Orange textured cardstock from Club Scrap.  Wood "paper" from Michaels.  Enchanted Evening, Summer Sunrise, Berry Sorbet, and Orangiere Inks from PTI.  Stamps on front of card from SU, Corinthians verse from Our Daily Bread.  Other inside Sentiment from GinaK.  Twine and button from PTI.  Punch from SU. 

Thanks for looking!

The Password to Larkspur Lane

As a child I DEVOURED the Nancy Drew mystery stories.  She was so glamorous with her pumps (had no idea what those were at the time, but they sure sounded chic) and convertable and handsome Ned.  Her adventures were quite a mental escape for a small-town girl like me.  The Password to Larkspur Lane sounded so pretty.  I didn't know what larkspurs were back then. 

So when PTI released the July flower of the month as larkspurs, I thought "Aha!  I finally know what those flowers look like!"  Yes, I lead a pretty boring life as this was a momentous occasion.  LOL~

I think this still needs something, but since I was not sure what, I just left it.  Sometimes less is more, KWIM?  At least it is in my world.  PTI cardstock, stamps and twill tape.  Gina K light purple and white cardstock.  Oval nesties and Copic markers. 

Until next time......

Generic, ambigious, non-descript

This started out as a sympathy card.  But I always try to make more than one of each design.  So I went with a generic "thinking of you" on this version that could be sympathy, could be encouragement, could be just about anything, LOL~

I'm not very good at using patterned paper but this seemed easy enough.  I used Bazzill peach cardstock, SU River Rock cardstock, random patterned paper and London Fog gray cardstock by Gina K.  The sentiment is a SU punch, the large die cut is one of the Spellbinders Labels. 

It's definitely not my usual "style" but I like it.  Have a super, awesome day!

Back to School

We are going back to school on Sept 7th.  And we've had a rocky start to the year already.  They tried to put my son in a combined first and second grade class with a very inexperienced, subpar teacher.  So I had to push and assert my parental rights to get him put back in the class he was originally assigned to.  His teacher has picked up 4 additional students already, so I think she needs a special thank you on the first day and this is for her. 

Paper bags was a tough challenge for me.  I'm really not even a fan of kraft paper <gasp!>.  I decided to morph my bag into well, a bag, LOL.  But a smaller bag, and one that displays the homemade treats as much as carries them. 

I made tags using the jar set and mounted them on the notebook page.  I embossed the page using the letters background, but you can't see it here.  The jars are full of blueberry and sweet pepper jelly, thus the blue and green.  The "handle" of the sack is just ribbon that I braided in primary school colors.  It's just Offray ribbon from their outlet.  At $1.25 per roll, I could sacrifice as much as I wanted.  The thought of using that much PTI ribbon made me cringe.  :-)

The blueberry jam jar already had a decorative seal and ring, so it didn't need any embellishing.  But the sweet pepper jelly was a bit plain so I added a label to the lid (although after a second look, it appears to be more of an apple than a pepper, LOL Oh well!) and some Havest Gold PTI satin ribbon. 

I hope our teacher likes it and knows how much we appreciate her!  I could never be a teacher.  I don't have nearly enough patience.  ;-)  Happy blog hopping everyone. 

Thinking out of my A2 box

It seems like I always make A2 sized cards.  I think it's because it's simple, doesn't require much thought or waste and I have those size envelopes in spades. 

But I decided to get out of my comfort zone and make a 4.25x4.25 card instead.  I love the Vintage Picnic set and all the different combos of baskets and fillers.  Although I am very lazy and wish there was a die cut for the baskets.  I cut it out and popped it up on dimensisons to give the card some depth.  The white background with the flower filler was cut with Nesties. 

Sometimes it's nice to just drop someone a note to let them know that you are thinking of them.  I think this will work nicely for that. 

PTI cardstock, patterned paper, and stamps.  SU punch.  Nesties Labels 1????  I can never remember all the details, LOL~

Thinking of all my wonderful blog friends....  :-)

Large Families

I have a big family. 7 kids, 5 grandkids, a bazillion aunts, uncles, counsin, nieces, nephew, etc. So LOTS of birthdays. Thus I am always on the look-out for birthday sets. I'm not sure that this set was intended to be a birthday set, but I used it that way. And kind of like how it turned out.

I've been on a Versamark tone-on-tone stamped background kick. I think it adds a nice touch without being overwhelming.

PTI stamps, cardstock and ink. SU Top Note die cut.









Have a good day and thanks for sticking with me through feast and famine here on my blog. :-)

Springtime

Daffodils always remind me of spring.  I have a yard full of them that just seem to shout "Winter is over for another year!!!"  They are just bright and cheerful and I love them. 

This is another of the PTI's Year of the Flower sets.  I made these cards for my family for Easter this year.  SU So Saffron and Green cardstock and punch, random patterned paper, Copic Markers, PTI stamps. 

Simple but it works for me.  Cutting out the daffodils was a royal pain (particularly since I made 6 other these), but I think it makes a nice presentation. 

Thanks for looking!

Dads

I've spent my entire life as Daddy's Girl.  My dad was not always an easy man to live with.  We inherit so much from our parents and he got his dad's temper.  Which he passed on to me.  It seems to be diminishing through the generations and that's a good thing. 

But I digress.  My dad is special to me.  So I want to make his birthday a special occasion.  I really struggle with masculine cards, so I was pretty pleased that this came together so well. 

The PTI On the Road set seems very appropriate for my father.  He loves cars.  Really, really loves them.  Some of my most vivid childhood memories take place at car lots/car dealers.  He's even been known in recent years (now that all of us are grown and gone) to go out to a yard sale (another of his loves) and come home with a Mercedes Benz, LOL~  I can't wait until my daughter is 16 and goes for her annual weeklong summer visit and comes home with a car.  I only wish I was kidding. 

Anyway, the green brown combo appealed to me..  The double yellow stripe on the side is my attempt to make it look like the car is indeed "on the road."  Sometimes I think it looks okay; other times I think it looks like it's just hanging out there in space.  Either way, I hope dad will like it. 

Have a great day!

SU at GASC

A friend and I attended the crop at the GASC in Chantilly.  It was not nearly as crowded as I remember last time.  But the chairs were every bit as uncomfortable as I remembered, LOL~  The good news is that I now have a super, awesome, new stamping buddy.  An honest to goodness, real-life, local stamping afficionado. 

This patterned paper is from Basic Grey.  I really liked the pretty, bright, cheery colors. 

The embossing folder, cardstock, and punches are from SU.  The stamp is from PTI.