Polka-dots and Posies

I love nap time!

2008-05-30T16:01:00.000-07:00

So while my littlest has been sleeping I've been busy playing with my new stuff! I have been so excited to get this delivery~ I haven't gotten anything new in a long time! I got a couple of new sets~ and Pun Fun is one of them. I just think this little rocket is really cute. Matched with the Jersey shore DSP on this tin... I just really like it. I am sure I could've done a lot more with this but I just wanted to play while the baby was sleeping. (Side note regarding the picture: When I was looking at the photo once it uploaded, I saw all of the dust on my table and actually blew on the picture thinking (or not thinking) it would blow away... such a habit!)

I cut a 3 1/2" circle out of Jersey Shore DSP and attached it to the top of the tin. I then punched a small star (star punch) out of Only Orange cardstock and another out of Brilliant Blue. I lined up the Large star punch over the small star hole and punched for the hollow blue star. I used black staz-on to stamp the rocket from Pun Fun and colored it in with pure color pencils. I cut it out, popped in a green eyelet and used pop up dots to lift it. I glued a few orange glass beads for the flames. I inked up the quote with a brilliant blue marker and stamped it on whisper white cardstock and punched it out with the word window punch. I popped it up, too. The arrow is from the My Way punch. I wrapped the perimeter of the lid with red sticky tape and used 1/4" tangerine ribbon over it.

Hope you enjoyed it! Evan is still asleep so I am going back to play!

Trader Joe's Tins

2008-05-30T14:20:00.001-07:00

For those that wanted to know what the Trader Joe's Peppermint tins looked like:

Only $.99! It's a 5.3 oz. container full of really yummy peppermints! It looks smaller in the picture but the diameter is 3.75" and the height is about 1.75". Hope that helps.
I will attempt to make it look cute if the babe goes down for a good nap...

Gift box/purse

2008-05-27T09:25:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I made a box purse for my niece's 13th birthday. It turned out super cute and really easy. I filled it with makeup and girly things to help her be even more "fabulous"!

It is super simple and fun to make. I started out with a clear stationary box from Papertrey and made a template out of Chatterbox double sided paper. I wrapped the paper around the box and only needed to use adhesive on the finish/end side and the top and bottom.

I then wrapped the box with a smaller piece of the other side of the DSP and Pretty in Pink cardstock and decorated it like a card. I used the Fabulous Flowers set from Stampin Up!. The flower is stamped on shimmery white cardstock in Regal Rose and Pretty in Pink inks (I used the markers and then misted the stamp). "Dare to be Fabulous" is stamped with Close to Cocoa classic ink. I glued rhinestones in the center of the flower and on the bottom right.

I used Crop-a-dile to punch holes on the top sides for brads to

attach the ribbon handle:

I used a wide grosgrain ribbon and made a decorative cut on the bottom to give the ends a finished look.

I hope you all have a chance to make one of these gift box/purses. I thought of several things to fill it with:

cards (obviously)
makeup (like I did for this one)
gift cards
candy
embellishments (brads, eyelets, 1/4 sheets of cardstock, ribbon, etc...)

I am thinking of making these for my son's teachers' end of year gifts and filling them with thank you notes...

Old friends baby card

2008-05-20T15:43:00.000-07:00

A good friend, from my childhood, and I have rekindled our friendship since I moved back to Northern California. I just went to her baby shower on Sunday. I had gotten her a jumbo box of diapers and a Target gift card~ the super cute one with an alligator on the front. I have been wanting to make a double pocket card and I wanted a super cute way of presenting her gift card~ so I followed the super easy directions from Barb Millikan's blog (she's amazing!). I got so many complements on this card! Everyone wanted to know how to make it and how I learned... I was even asked if I was a professional! Imagine that! But since I am merely a hobby demo I didn't offer a class or anything to teach them how! But you should really try this out- What a fun way to present a gift card!

Here is the inside: And the tag for the message:

The stamp sets are SU!'s Wild About You, Bursting with joy and fancy flexible phrases, the paper isn't from SU! and the ink colors are: cool caribbean (retired), wild wasabi, basic black and so saffron. I used the Antique Brass Hodgepodge Hardware and some retired ribbon on the tag and some other brand ribbon on the front. Enjoy and try making one yourself- it's super easy and soooo cute!

I haven't posted in awhile~ I don't know how long I will do this blogging thing for. I haven't yet figured out why I even started blogging in the first place.

2008-04-25T10:32:00.000-07:00

The other night, I had a dream. I am not sure what my dream was about, but it had this color combo in it... go figure! :

Not Quite Navy

Old Olive

Soft Sky

Sahara Sand (as neutral)

Close to Cocoa

In my dream, the OO and SS looked amazing used together... Anyway, I needed to make a card for my nephew's birthday and those seemed to be pretty good colors for a boy card ( I have such a hard time with those). I used the Bronc Buster SU! set, the cardstock mentioned above, NQN and CC inks, distressing tool, Natural Hemp Twine, Martha Stewart brown twill tape and a little pebble.

I just got my Scor-pal and wanted to make a tri-fold card or "gate card".

I can't wait to try more projects with this little gadget.

I borrowed my mom's camera, again (super nice camera), since my camera is old and doesn't seem to capture the clarity and color hers does. I had fun snapping a bunch of pictures of the kids so I could finally fill my picture frames I got for Christmas in '05. I just can't decide if I want to do B/W or color... they are a dark walnut stain... 2 frames. I think I will hang one vertically and one horizontally. I am trying to attach some of the pics for your opinion but for some reason it's not working... will try again soon.

Inspiration

2008-04-22T23:19:00.000-07:00

It's funny the things that bring creativity to our brains... what sparks our imagination. This past weekend I had a chance to browse the Pottery Barn Teen catalog- there are quite a few "inspiration" pieces in there. So I dog-eared a few pages in hopes that I would have an opportunity to translate what I saw in this publication into a greeting card. The first card I made was inspired by this fabric on this "Lounge 'n Chair" .

It was also a great opportunity to finally ink up my new SU! Enjoy the Moment stamp set. I have to say I was a bit surprised at how nicely and perfectly the word inked up. The ink just covered it so nicely! I was also able to use my Die-Cut Blooms. The base of the card is Old Olive cardstock. I layered a piece of textured purely pomegranate and Cuttlebugged chocolate chip cardstock. The flower layers are Flower Fusion and die-cut blooms with a pink rhinestone brad in the middle. The 2 ribbons are striped grosgrain (pumpkin pie) and the old 3/8" tangerine grosgrain. "Enjoy" was stamped in chocolate chip classic ink and the center was stamped with Pumpkin pie and Purely pomegranate on Whisper white cs backed with the DSP Summer Picnic available in the current Occasions mini. I used a small brown brad in the corner.

Besides having a great time making cards, I had the opportunity to spend a little time in my garden. I feel like I was given a gift from God. I have been cutting roses and giving them away to special people as little gifts but have not cut any for myself~ until today. Aren't they amazingly beautiful!?! Every rose is a different kind, color and fragrance! I took a few photos of my roses and actually found the most interesting insect on one of the roses... Check this out:

Isn't he cool? (click on the picture to see it up close)

Each rose plant is different~ I have 47 rose bushes. Some have the most fragrant petals, some are huge! and some are so delicate. Everyday is a surprise as to what will have bloomed. Several bushes are full of flowers and some haven't even bloomed yet but have dozens of buds just waiting to take center stage.

Check out the color and size of this flower! That is my hand next to it! It totally looks like I did some fancy photoshopping on it- I don't even have a program like that! It's amazing. I love it~ had no idea how much I would cherish my garden when we bought this place.

Anyways, have a wonderful day and don't forget to stop and smell the roses!

2008-04-22T11:13:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally cleaned my house! I don't know why it has been so hard for me to get my "rear in gear"! I guess 3 little kids making a mess of what I just cleaned could be part of it... Fortunately, I have a great hubby who can look past the mess and unorganization of the house. He once told me that he could care less about what the house looked like if he new the kids and I had a great day and a good time making the mess! Isn't that sweet! And it's like my s-i-l once told me... "the house will always be a mess but the kids will only be little once!" But sometimes it just gets out of control and it has to be done!

I did get the card for my great uncle made- it couldn't have turned out better! I have pictures on the camera but my hubby has the camera on his trip right now... so I will post pics of it when he gets back. In the mean time, I will share some more scrapbook pages that I did awhile ago. I am definitely going to make at least one card today- I got my SU order and my "Hey There, Cupcake" from Stampendous. Can't wait to play!

I have got to get things done!

2008-04-08T13:46:00.000-07:00

Ok, I had taken such a long break from crafting (over a year) that now that I am back into it I want to do nothing else but craft. Well, my house is a disaster! I have got to do something about it. So I am only allowing myself one project for the rest of the week: a vintage style Hawaiian birthday card for my great uncle who is turning like 88 or something. I have this old little picture of him in his Army uniform with 2 Hawaiian models. Very cool picture! I love pictures from the 40's! So I made a digital copy and am planning on making some sort of collage style card with it and some postcards I picked up in Hawaii of vintage Hawaii posters. Since that is my only project I thought I would share with you some of my scrapbook pages that I made a little while ago (my last project before the big move).

I hired a photographer (in '96) to take some pictures of my kids down at the beach (when we lived in Huntington Beach) for Christmas for my husband and family. The pictures were stunning! These are the pages I made with those pics. Enjoy!

Ziploc Purse Tutorial

2008-04-07T16:51:00.000-07:00

During this past weekends VSN (virtual stamping night) at Splitcoast, I made the purse seen in my earlier post. In the comments section some very nice lady asked if there would be a tutorial on my blog. I hadn't thought to do that but will give it a shot. So... Ladies, here we go~ my very first tutorial!

For this project you will need the following items:

1 Quart size Ziploc bag

2 sheets double sided paper (DSP)

12" ribbon

2 brads

Mono-multi adhesive

sticky strip

1/16" hole punch

oval cutter (I used the Creative Memories cutting system)

Scoring tool

embellishments

Step 1

Cut the front piece of DSP to 7 1/4" x 9"

Cut the back piece of DSP to 7 1/4" x 12"

Step 2

Score the back piece @ 9"

Step 3

Using an oval cutting system, cut half of an oval~ lining it up with the score line (do not cut past the score line)

You may need to snip the edges:

Step 4

Line the ziploc's edges with the sticky tape, front and back. On the top of the bag, put down the sticky tape just above the ziploc closure.

Step 5

Remove the bottom strip lining on the back of the bag and adhere to the back piece of cardstock.

Remove the side pieces and then the top

Repeat for the top, making sure the top lines up just slightly underneath the score line.

Step 6

Fold flap over, making sure it folds nicely

Step 7

Punch holes for the ribbon in the upper corners of the top flap

Attach the ribbon handle (see finished product picture so see how it looks attached)

Step 8

Make a decorative closure

Attach half of it permanently onto the flap

Spread around some mono adhesive to the unattached half and let completely dry (making it tacky for closing)

Step 9

Decorate and embelish

Fill and give to someone special!

Ziploc purse

2008-04-06T09:42:00.000-07:00

One of the VSN Challenges was to make a purse using a paper lunch bag. Since I don't have any of those I decided to use a quart size ziploc bag instead. When I completed my "purse", I realized the possibilities this little bag held. What a perfect Hostess gift (for you SU! demos) ~ you could fill it with precut cardstock, ribbon, little accessories, etc... It could even be filled with ready-to-make cards leftover from previous camps. You could even put some small yummy things inside~ obviously you couldn't stuff it too full since the paper doesn't have any "give".

I will take pictures of each easy step while making another so I can do a tutorial to show you how simple and fun it is to make. As for the tutorial for something super cute that I mentioned in my previous post, I am researching a little more trying to make sure that I am not claiming somebody else's idea as my own. So far I haven't seen anything like it.

We are trying to redo our garden and still getting our veggie garden ready for planting so I haven't had a ton of time to craft... I will get these done for you soon! Have a good rest of your weekend!

2008-04-05T00:49:00.000-07:00

I did get to play more! VSN is a lot of fun! I just wish I had a computer down my craft area so I could participate more in the dialog and see more of what everyone else was doing. I guess I can do that later. Between getting dinner made and cleaned up and everybody ready for bed I was able to do 2 more challenges.

The first one (second challenge today) was to have stitching on it and since I was not going to drag out my sewing machine and set it up I did the faux stitching technique (paper piercing and connecting the dots with pen). The colors used were Basic Gray, Soft Sky and Wild Wasabi. The stamp sets used were Live your Dreams (available in the current Occasions Mini Catalog) and En Francais. I used some older DSP (my goal is to start using all of this paper that I have and not buy any new paper~ unless I have to have it!) The accessories used were the photo corner punch, paper piercing mat pack, basic gray taffeta ribbon, 1 3/8" circle punch, a marvy scallop punch and some fun little pebbles that I got the other day.

Anyways, I will share with you the other VSN project I made tomorrow (or later today I guess since it is 1 am... I am a bonehead!)

Plus, I created a fun new thing (I think it's new- I haven't seen it before) that I would love to show to you and perhaps do my first ever tutorial! Check back.

2008-04-04T16:21:00.000-07:00

So I am hopefully going to attempt a few of the VSN challenges over at Splitcoast today/tomorrow. Hopefully the family cooperates (questionable). Plus, it's been beautiful outside- I don't want to spend all my time down in the cold dark basement... just part of it. I had a few minutes so I tried the first challenge which was to make a card inspired by this dress:

Wow! It's a bright one. Can't say I would ever wear it- but I can be inspired by it. I don't have a spectrum pad and I wasn't "feeling" the black & brights combo. So this is what I came up with:

So, I am sure you can really see all the simillarities (I never can remember how to spell that...). Ya! Just in case you can't (insert sarcasm):

The bold colors- mine are just a little muted in comparison.
The top flower's petals reminded me of the dress's wings (don't think I have any dresses with wings... will have to get me one of them!)
The line art on the print of the dress and my background paper.
The orange strip is kinda like the neck of the dress.

So, clear as mud? Hopefully I will get more done... by the way, my house is still a mess!

Good to be back... again.

2008-04-01T15:49:00.000-07:00

We had a great week with our friends! It was so good to be together and see the kids rekindle their friendships.

So since I was having such a wonderful time with good friends I didn't have time to make anything. While doing other things I did come up with some ideas that will be fun to put on paper.

This is one of them:

I finally rec'd my CB folder "swiss dots" and have just about "dotted" every piece of paper around! I LOVE it! The card base is Chocolate Chip cardstock folded so it opens upwards. The green paper is adhesive backed textured paper my mom gave me(it's from Quickcutz)- I embossed it with the dots and then sanded the top to show the white core. I love this color- it's not quite an olive color (when side by side with SU!'s olive) but has more of a kiwi color added into it. I finally put together my Doodle This set that I have had forever! I stamped the swirly in Old Olive Classic ink on a whisper white piece of cardstock and backed it with chocolate chip. I put together the flowers from the Flower Fusion felt flowers and used brown brads to adhere them together. The Purely Pomegranate cardstock is also "dotted" and then wrapped with the double stitched ribbon. The bottom has a little brown pebble just give some more dimension. The inside is lined with Purely Pomegranate and Whisper White cardstock to write on. The inside sentiment I used is from Time Well Spent ("time spent with friends is time well spent"). I am sending this to my friend that was just up for a visit. I miss her already!

I hope to be back tomorrow! I have missed some great SCS challenges that I would love to catch up on. But I have a ton of cleaning to do now- so we'll see where my priorities are tomorrow!

I will be back soon!

2008-03-20T12:53:00.001-07:00

I haven't been around the blogging world for a week +. I have been sick and now I am trying to get the house ready for company and for the Easter brunch we are having at our house this Sunday. I have a high maintenance yard- lots of garden space with lotsa weeds! Not so fun to hide Easter Eggs in weeds... I hope to have a chance to play when my best friend is in town- we may be talking so much that there isn't time... but I will be back soon.

Cast all of your cares on to the cross...

2008-03-11T15:02:00.000-07:00

"Cast all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you." I Peter 5:7

I do love that verse... it evokes such peace in my heart. This new set from Papertrey ink, Everyday Blessings is such a beautiful set. It has many uplifting verses and sayings and a couple of elegant crosses and flourishes. With the crosses it is perfect for Easter but is great when you want to send a religious or inspirational/encouraging card to someone special.

The card base is PTI's new Spring Moss with their new Everyday Blessings Background Paper matted in white cardstock. The top paper is also from their background paper collection. The beautiful Satin Ribbon is in the Spring Moss ribbon collection. The bold background part of the cross is stamped in Spring Moss Palette ink and the decorative part and the verse is stamped in Burnt Umber Palette ink. There is also a small rhinestone in the center of the cross.

All supplies (except for the rhinestone) are products from Papertrey Ink.

I will post some work soon!

2008-03-11T11:52:00.000-07:00

I have been so busy the last week with trying to work in my garden before it gets any more out of control! I have so many things blooming right now- especially WEEDS! I am learning as I go so it is taking me awhile. Plus, I am ripping out all of the sickly plants and healthy weeds out of a section in order to turn it into a veggie garden- I am so excited for home grown 'matoes, lettuce, basil, cucumbers, zuc's and more! Any of you have some veggies or fruit that have grown well for you? Please let me know- I have a ton of space and really want to utilize the space and save money on groceries this summer...

I will post some pictures of what is blooming now in awhile.

2008-03-04T14:17:00.000-08:00

Today on Beate's Blog she had her Tuesday inspiration challenge. It was a Vera Bradley purse that was chocolate brown with bright colored flowers- very fun. I didn't have much time (Evan no longer thinks he needs long naps) so I wasn't going to be able to color much or cut out much. So I decided to use (not hoard- big step for me) my Felt Flowers from SU!'s Flower Fusion. I really like the texture and dimension those little flowers give to a project. With all of the different sizes, shapes and colors I was able to make them all look different. My Purely Pomegranate card base is cut to fit the Small Open-End Envelopes which made it 6 1/2" x 3 1/4". I then cut and distressed (using the cutter kit) a piece of Old Olive Cardstock to 6" x 2 3/4". On top of that is piece of Chocolate Chip Cardstock cut slightly smaller than the olive paper. The card base and the chocolate chip cardstock have the swirl from Baroque Motifs stamped in VersaMark on them. The verse is Numbers 6:24-25 from the Everyday Blessings set from Papertrey Ink stamped in black. The ribbon is from the Sherbert Ribbon Originals and the brads and ribbon slide are from the Aged Copper Hodgepodge Hardware.

I also used a felt flower and a PTI sentiment stamp on the envelope.

Have a great day today- hopefully your weather today is as beautiful
as ours.

Cowboy Birthday

2008-02-27T12:17:00.000-08:00

Today is my dear sweet husband's birthday. I would have loved to do something big for him but I think I will wait for his 40th birthday. So instead, I am having my parents over for some requested bbq'd tri-tip and I am making a mudpie for his cake- yum!

I had a lot of fun making his birthday card- I have been wanting to use this cowboy but never knew what to do with him... so with yesterday's color challenge on SCS I had the perfect stage for this cowboy. I was able to use a lot of items that I haven't used in a long time! My card base is a 5 1/4 square piece of River Rock cardstock with the fold at the top. The cowboy is stamped in Staz-on Jet Black and the Genuine is stamped in River Rock classic ink on whisper white cardstock. They are both from Stampin Up!'s Bronc Buster set. I used the word window punch to punch out "the one and only" and put on with thick mounting tape. I used the star from Urban West rub-ons and a pewter build-a-brad for the star. There seemed to be too much blank space so I used my color spritzer tool and black stampin write marker to fill in the emptiness. I also used the paper piercing template to pierce the bottom right side. The white paper in the back is stamped with the canvas background stamp in river rock and the weathered background in black staz-on. The edges are all distressed with black ink. I tied natural hemp twine around the back piece 3 times and tied in a knot. The inside of the card says "Wanted: Happy Birthday" from Wanted and It's your birthday sets.

It's usually difficult for me to come up with a masculine card but I felt like I succeeded with this one! Have a great day!

A chance to play!

2008-02-25T10:56:00.000-08:00

So I finally had a chance to play with my new Always set from Stampin UP! I only used the bird- which I really adore. It has such a simple elegance. Unfortunately the reason for the card is due to the death of a friend's mother-in-law. A very sad time for the family.

This is a simple layout for an easy and fast card. I eyeballed my measurements since I wanted the bird centered on the Very Vanilla cardstock. I used the black staz-on since my black classic pad made the bird look purple- not the look I was going for! The staz-on gives such a nice, clean and dark image. I used basic gray cardstock behind the bird image and then basic black for the paper behind that. I used my scalloped blade on my cutter for the decorative edges. The background paper is Charbon DSP (retired) and the "So Sorry" is from Fancy Flexible Phrases (also retired). Unfortunately, the rhinestones on the bird are not picking up in the photo- they add a lot to the look. I also used the basic gray taffeta ribbon which softened the black that was used on this card. I can't wait to do more with this set! The SCS gallery has hundreds of beautiful samples for Always.

What have been your favorite new sets to use? Do you have a "go to" set when you need a quick card and don't have a lot of time to plan a layout? I am just trying to use my sets so I am always reaching for a different one.

On a more personal note... When I lived in SoCal I had a 400 sq.ft. basement room that was for all of my crafts and storage- I had a great space. It was layed out well and I knew where everything was. But when we moved here to northern CA I lost my space. So I moved into the mini basement and we just yesterday finally finished cleaning it up. I had a little space to work but not a friendly environment (it's open to underneath the house- which means spiders!) So a little later I will post some before and afters and a picture of what I had in SoCal.

My birthday cake!

2008-02-21T17:26:00.001-08:00

Look what my kids made me today for my birthday:

I am back but not able to play yet.

2008-02-21T16:58:00.000-08:00

I had a great trip to Maui- we got back 2 days ago. Evan was a perfect little travler- not a tear the whole trip- serioulsy. The weather was beautiful, the resort was beautiful, the beach was beautiful... life was good. I felt sane for the first time in 6 months. Everything was so peaceful and relaxing. I was ready to see the kids again but not ready to leave paradise. I came home to a very sick little girl- she's been running a fever now for 4 days. A temperature of 102-103.5- my poor girl. With that she has this hacking cough that she almost hyperventilates from. So needless to say that I have not had any opportunity to be crafty.

Teacher's Valentines

2008-02-13T16:19:00.000-08:00

I finally got these finished today. I've been wanting to make something like this since seeing similar projects over at Splitcoast. They can be so versatile- as fancy or as simple as you want to make it.

I used the Starbucks Frapp bottles- I enjoyed the coffee, peeled the labels, use "goo-gone" to get the sticky goo off and then put them in the dishwasher. The next thing I did was paint the sticks green (I used shish-ka-bob sticks) with green acrylic and let them dry. I then used the SAB Rub-ons Love & Happiness on the bottle. ( I used the brown on one and the olive on the other.) I punched out the scalloped circles from Berry Bliss and a retired DSP (cannot remember the name of it- it matched the Polka dots and paisleys set) and from Close to Cocoa and Old Olive cardstocks (I used those for the back of the flower). I used the 1/2" circle punch for the center of the flower. I used liquid mono-adhesive to attach the flowers to the peppermint patties. One flower has a center stamped from Riveting (an old hostess set from SU!). I stamped it then colored the inside heart with the pretty in pink stampin write marker. I stamped it twice then punched out the heart and adhered it onto a pewter build-a-brad. The "stems" have ribbon tied for a petal effect. Then I used chocolate satin, pink taffeta, rose grosgrain and mellow moss grosgrain ribbons to tie around the neck of the bottles. Then, I filled the bottles with m&m's and placed the flowers in. I had to trim the sticks to get them different levels.

Hopefully this was explained clear enough- I have so much on my mind- trying to get ready for my trip. I have got to go pack and prepare! Talk to you when I get back!

New Changes!

2008-02-12T14:57:00.001-08:00

So while I am supposed to be getting things ready for my trip I got sidetracked... happens easily. What do you think of the changes I made to my blog? If you saw it before, which do you like better? Is there something that needs to be changed? Is it easy to read or is it hard on the eyes? Please post a comment letting me know your thoughts. Thanks for your time... now off to get ready (at least until I get sidetracked again).

Hawaii, here I come!

2008-02-12T14:11:00.000-08:00

So I am leaving for Maui, just a short trip, Thursday morning so I will be absent for a little bit! If I am able to get everything done that I need to I will post a picture of the Valentine's we are making for Ryan's teachers. So I had better get off the 'puter and get to work... laundry, clean house, pack, clean out the fridge, hmmm... I have more to do than I have time!

I just had to say real quick that my daffodils are beginning to bloom! We just bought this house this past summer and the previous owner had been a nurseryman. We have over 70 roses, about 30 winter blooming Camellias (AMAZING!), fruit trees, etc. Well now I have the winter/spring surprise where I am seeing all of the bulbs that he planted! I have tulips, daffodils and a couple others that haven't bloomed yet so I can't wait to see what they are! When I get back I will post some pics of what is blooming- but for now I will show you some pics I took of my roses in October:

Talk to you soon! I am off to do the hula!

All that glitters...

2008-02-11T15:29:00.000-08:00

I am really liking this new Chunky Glitter from SU! It's really sparkly and girly! This little Valentine card is on a Very Vanilla Scallop Note with a 4" x 2 3/4" piece of pretty in pink cardstock glued to the inside of the card (the right side). The Close to Cocoa cardstock on the front is pierced using the paper piercing template in the Mat Pack as a guide. I used marvy scallop punches on Berry Bliss DSP for the layers and put a Chunky Glitter sticky heart from Sticky Cuts Letters on top. The ribbon is Pretty in Pink Taffeta and has a Pewter Build-a-brad anchoring it down. I used the 1/2" circle punch to punch out the pink center and put on a SAB Love and Happiness rub-on in the center. The 2 small brads are from the Pewter Hodgepodge Hardware.

The "happy day" and flower in the inside are also from the Love & Happiness rub-ons that are available in the Sale-a-brations catalog. It's a very sweet little card and I hope my best friend enjoys it.

My first lightbulb idea!

2008-02-08T13:30:00.001-08:00

I was so excited last night- I had my first real lightbulb moment in crafting. (I haven't seen this idea anywhere else and I did a search to make sure I hadn't pulled this idea from my long term memory...) I have been wanting to make a nugget tin for so long but haven't been able to get the nugget tins- sold out, more money than I wanted to spend, etc... Also, I was thinking if a nugget tin was given to a non-crafter, what would they do with it after the chocolate was all gone? Would they toss it? If so, that's expensive trash. So I wanted to come up with an inexpensive and quick idea... and I also wanted a nice way of decorating this packaging... hmmm... RUB-ONS! I could have decorated this further but I was so excited and it was close to midnight and I wanted some sleep... So what do you think?

I used the plastic card boxes that I had gotten from Papertreyink. Ten boxes for only $6! And if you use the boxes for cards, you can use rub-ons, also. I made this card for my husband for Valentine's Day. I had painted a heart from SU!'s On Board Accents and then used the new SAB Run-ons. I used my new photo corner punch on Berry Bliss DSP and some pink taffeta ribbon with a flower slide from Hodgepodge Hardware- silver. It looks like I used rub-ons on the bottom right but that is on the plastic box the card is in.

The lighting is a little bit better in this picture of it (left). My camera battery is low so it isn't taking very good pictures.

I will show you my small Valentine card for my best friend tomorrow. It's on Splitcoast
right now if you want a sneak peek.

Have a good weekend!

Grandmother's 90th Birthday

2008-02-07T13:39:00.000-08:00

Andy's Grandmother is turning 90 this month! Wow- she has seen a lot of change in her lifetime. Do you ever wonder what the changes will be in our lifetime? Are we going to have flying cars? Are we going to take vacations on the moon? Imagine what the changes will be for our grandchildren! I wonder if when our grandparents were yound they had any idea of where the world would be when they were 90? Hmmm... I think that may be as deep as I can go today- the cold is still slowing down my brain synapses.

Anyway, I needed a card to send up to Canada for her birthday party... My mom had just lent me her Pretties kit to try out since she hadn't used it in 4 months. I really like the embellishments inside- I just am not sure what to do with the flowers. I tried my watercolor crayons on them and wasn't impressed with my ability to make them look nice. I will have to try dying them or using my pens. I think chalking them would look the same as the watercolor crayons. The card dimesions are once again 4" x 81/2". I used the hatpin and beads from the Pretties kit, the retired DSP Enchanted (I think), brown satin ribbon and a large flower from Prima. The "Birthday Wishes" is from SU! Since Salutations.

Hope you all have a great day! I am off to go play outside- I finally heard the birds chirping this morning for the first time in a while- so I knew it was going to be a beautiful day!

"Emergency" Thank you

2008-02-06T11:59:00.000-08:00

My 5 year old's school had a minor- but could have been huge- emergency on Monday forcing them to go into "shelter mode". Everyone had to get indoors and seal shut all doors and windows and nobody was allowed on or off campus. After about 30 minutes they had police and fire escorts off campus. It was scary but they did such a great job. They had "practiced" their drills in the past but this was their first evacuation. The school is on the main thoroughfare through our city so it caused major congestion when it was closed down for approx. 12 hours. It took me 1 1/2 hours to get to their evacuation site when it is less than 2 miles from my house... but when I got there the kids were all singing songs and having a great "field trip". I had asked my son when we were in the car if he was a little bit scared and he looked at me like I was a nut and asked me "Why would I be scared?" That made me feel so good since I was really nervous.

Anyway, I thought I would make the staff a card of appreciation for taking such great care of our children... I know they were just doing their jobs but they did it with a lot of love.

The card is my new favorite size- 4x8 1/2. I apologize, I didn't measure the layers- just eyeballed the size I wanted. But the base is soft sky textured 12 x 12 cardstock, then purely pomegranite cs, then blue bayou dsp, then p.p. again, an adhesive backed non su paper than very vanilla cardstock. The stamp set used is True Friend by Stampin UP! I stamped the stem and petals in Wild Wasabi and the flower in blue bayou and purely pomegranite classic inks. I used my Round tab punch and blue bayou dsp for the tab. The "thank you" is from Fancy Flexible Phrases and is embossed with white embossing powder. The center of the flower and the tab have the rhinestone brads from the Pretties kit and the bottom right corner has just a silver brad. Purely Pomegranite satin ribbon is tied around the center. It turned out pretty.

The kiddos returned to school the next day for an uneventful day- thank goodness! But unfortunately the "events" happened at home instead. My husband stayed home sick from work- thankfully! My 5 year old was trying to get something up high in his closet when he fell and smacked his forehead on a shelf splitting his little head open. I was nursing the baby at the time, my daughter was freaking out at all the blood, hubby was in bed... he probably should have gotten a couple of stitches but he was so terrified of getting shots that we decided to call our nurse friend and she came over and cleaned it good and butterflied it shut... it was along the hair line so it won't be totally noticeable and plus, "chicks dig scars!" That's what I tell him. So while we are tending to my son, my 3 year old daughter decides to help us out by bringing my 3 month old to us... we are hearing this horrible squeaking cry to find my daughter carrying him with her arms around his neck!! He's fine but was not happy and my daughter is crying hysterically because of our reaction to seeing her carrying him that way... she was just trying to be helpful... oh, I cannot imagine if my husband had not been home!

Hope today is better! The funny thing is my hubby is trying to convince me we should have a 4th child. After days like these I just laugh at the thought!

I am ready for summer...

2008-02-01T23:58:00.001-08:00

I love the rain but I am ready for the sunshine! We have had such a wet and cold winter (for this part of CA) which has made it possible to really enjoy the snow and the mountains. But this is coming from a girl who just moved here from Huntington Beach- Surf City USA. Where there is 7 miles straight of big beautiful beaches, where I was used to wearing shorts in January, where I rarely had to turn on my heater... I want summer. Ok, I will take spring first. So when I saw Beate's weekend sketch I new what stamp set I wanted to use. It's the set called Green Thumb by Papertrey.

I have never made a card with these dimensions before- I really enjoyed it! It is 8 1/2" x 4"- it fits into a business size envelope. Anyway, I was really happy with how this card turned out- it makes me want to go on a picnic. I have 3 packs of the Cerise DSP that I have been wanting to use- I just love the polka dots on the DSP with the polka dots on the strawberries. The sketch called for 3 squares but I thought my strawberries needed to be round and scalloped- don't you agree? I used my white gel pen to add the dots at each scallop. The small flowers on the left are green and red mini Primas held together with a silver brad.

I will most definately be making more cards this size and with this layout- thanks Beate.

I am enjoying trying all of these new things! Next I want to try a new technique- like broken glass or masking... now to find the time and a few extra hands.

Goodnight!

My Little Ballerina!

2008-02-01T14:31:00.000-08:00

My three year old just had her first dance (ballet/tap) class today. I couldn't take pictures in her class but had to show how stinkin' cute she looked! She loved her class and her teacher. She just jumped right in and gave it her all- it had to be the cutest thing ever!

Anyway, typing one handed while holding my littlest... I had to share.

2008-01-31T20:31:00.000-08:00

This may be a quicky... I have a miserable cold that is progressing down into my throat. And my husband just left for a 5 day business trip to boot! I may be off to bed if the kiddos stay down. But while I sit here sipping my "little girl" tea (something my mom used to make us when we were not feeling well, cramps, etc... it's decaf tea- the plain kind- with a little sugar and evaporated milk- it's so yummy and comforting) I will try to say something interesting...hmmm...uummm...ok that didn't work.

I did make a card today, though. It started out one way then I totally messed it up and I ended up with a completely different card than intended... and you all know exactly what I am talking about!

So this little gem was for today's "way to use it" challenge at splitcoast. It was all about staples and since I have that jumbo stapleornator thing-a-ma-bobby (can't remember what it's called- something terminator'ish) that has been sitting on my shelf for a very long time without any use... I figured it was a good challenge for me! So the card is missing something up top but I have no clue what would look good up there with out taking away from the flower- which, by the way, I love the way it turned out! I think it looks better IRL.

Since I currently have fog in my brain, I scored my card 1 1/2" too short... so it became a hinged sort of card which totally screwed up the proportions of everything... oh, well I decided to roll with it anyway. So my flower... I stamped the stemmed flower from True Friend in Old Olive Classic ink and then used my 5-petal punch to punch out flowers from the old Apple Cider DSP. I used a dimensional in between the two punched flowers and then put felt flowers together with a yellow rhinestone brad. I put them all together over the stamped flower and voila! It adds a lot of dimension to the card- which I am big on! I pierced holes into the perimeter of the Very Vanilla cardstock and mounted it onto a piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock. In the upper left and lower right corners I put little striped triangles to give a tad bit more umph. The ribbon is wrapped around the staples that I ended up using to "bind" my card together. Not quite what I had intended to do but it's what happened... "True Friend" is stamped on the binding. I used my Old Olive and Really Rust Stampin' Write markers to color in the portion of the sentinment ("A true friend is you friend") I wanted to use.

I added a piece of Really Rust cardstock into the inside of the card to make it easier to read when writing. The little olive felt flower and brad is just a sweet little surprise when opening the card.

It feels good to be creating a little something each day. I may not get to do much but 'anything is something'!

On a more personal note... I am a little bit nosey when the UPS guy delivers a large envelope here addressed to my husband. We're not refinancing or doing any "business" that I know of... so I look to see who it is from. Despair, inc. Huh? Now let me remind you that he just left for a convention for 5 days ... and now I am thinking I have a depressed and down it the dumps husband! And his convention is in Vegas and now he is going to gamble what is left of our money... he is in some sort of trouble... all hell is about to let loose!!!! All the while he is trying to get some desperately needed help from Despair inc. but it came too late!!! So I open the envelope and about pee'd my pants laughing! Despair, inc. You have to check them out!

They say:
For over two decades, the multi-billion dollar motivation industry has unleashed untold suffering upon the workplaces, schools and civil institutions of the world- in the insidious form of the motivational poster. By the millions they have been sold and displayed- these dark instruments of corporate propaganda. While promising to stimulate "Hope", "Success" and "Teamwork", instead these tools of coercion and intimidation have inspired only grief, anger and nausea.
In 1998, one company dared to fight back, as Despair, Inc. introduced Demotivators®, satirical products reverse-engineered from the most powerful motivational posters ever inflicted upon mankind. And now, with the Parody Motivator Generator, we place those very same tools in YOUR less-capable hands.

My brother-in-law had ordered Andy one of their calendars as a birthday gift... I just found the whole thing so 'pickin funny! If you can, order a catalog and read it- you will bust a gut! It reminds me a lot of SNL's Deep Thoughts by Jack Handy. Hopefully somebody knows what I am talking about! One of the Un-motivation posters says "Consistency: It's only a virtue if you're not a screwup." Another is a beautiful picture of a shooting star and it says: "Wishes: When you wish upon a star, your dreams can come true. Unless it's really a meteorite hurtling to the earth which will destroy all life. Then you're pretty much hosed no matter what you wish for. Unless it's death my meteor." Oh, I love sarcasm!

And just so you all know my husband isn't depressed and wouldn't gamble away all of our money- just a clarification!

Chipboard! I did it!

2008-01-30T14:26:00.001-08:00

This week has been a crazy one! My big sister and her husband are in Mexico on vacation (lucky dogs) so my mom and I have been taking care of their 3 kids. So in some part of my day, I have up to 6 kids (ages 3 months to 12 years) in my care. They are great kids- but I am thinking I am done with having babies. Three is enough!

So I finally used chipboard for the very first time! I like how it adds dimension to the card without making it bulky. I made this card for todays sketch challenge at Splitcoast. It was a nice and easy challenge- I was able to start it and complete it before the baby woke from his nap.

I started out by painting the edges of the flower and center circle chipboard with red paint. I then traced the shapes onto Ginger Blossoms DSP. I used spray on adhesive to make sure I got a good solid adhesion. I sanded the edges with the sanding blocks just to add some texture. The Ruby Red cardstock is cut to fit a standard A2 envelope. The polka dot DSP is 3 3/4"x5" and the red striped DSP strip is 1 1/2"x 5 1/2". The greeting is Sincere Salutations stamped with Ruby Red Classic Ink. The ribbon is the Groovy Guava Double Stitched Ribbon. It's a very simple card but I am satisfied with the results.

How do you use chipboard? I would love to learn some more ways of using this stuff. Please post your ideas and I will give them a try and post the results! If I get several ideas I will compile a list and share it with you.

Well, off to Karate and volleyball carpool! Bye for now!

Fun weekend in the snow!

2008-01-28T10:47:00.000-08:00

Friday afternoon we all loaded up the car and went to the mountains for a fun-filled weekend in the snow. The kids were in heaven! They would spend every second outside building snowmen and tubing if they were able.

Today, I thought I would share with you the announcement I made for Evan's birth. They were a lot of fun to make and a lot of work. But they were easy enough that I would definately use the layout again for a card for an extra special person. I got my "inspiration" from this card at SCS.

The patterned paper and ribbon are from Tres Jolie and My minds eye and the solid paper is Bazzil that I bought at my local scrapbooking store. The stamp sets used are Stamp of Authenticity and Office Accoutrement from Stampin UP! and the "e" is cut from my Cricut. The card's size (not including the tab) is 6"x4". I made the tab using SU!'s Round tab punch and used an aqua'ish brad to attach it to the back side of the card. The front strip (diagonal patterned paper) is 6"x1 1/2". I distressed all of the edges and stamped everything using brown chalk ink. The little tag I tied to the knot using twine was punched from a generic tag punch I borrowed from my mom. The "boy" is stamped from SU!'s Everyday Flexible Phrases .

The inside sheets are 5 7/8"x 3 7/8". The side is punched with the Spiral punch. The Very Vanilla cardstock was printed on my computer with brown ink and stamped in brown and olive chalk inks. I also used these as thank you notes for some people- I wrote the message to the left of the photo.

I was really happy how these turned out! Like I said they were a lot of work but definately worth the time.

Amazingly enough, I got these out in the mail not even a month after he was born!!

Thanks for looking, have a great day and bye for now!

In a rut already!

2008-01-24T10:52:00.000-08:00

So I finally am stamping again yet I feel like I am in a rut already! I feel like my cards are all the same. What I need to do is start doing the challenges over at SCS. Todays is using paint... hmmm. I have some chipboard that I have not ever used- maybe I will try painting that. If any of you have any advice for how to get out of ruts please let me know!

This was a layout I cased from the cover of last months SU magazine. It's a good basic and easy layout. You can use any or no BG stamp and any paper and any embellishment you want! It literally took about 8 minutes to make! I used SU's Polka dot BG and It's

your birthday stamp set. The card is 4 1/4 square in

Soft Sky cardstock. Purely Pomegranate double stitch ribbon and ink is used. The flower I got years ago at Walmart. I am a hoarder- so I was happy to finally use the flower.

Some glitter would be nice somewhere on this paper (I can't remember where it's from- also had for quite awhile).

I tried to challenge myself with a different color scheme, so I went on to this color combo site and got an idea. I used Purely Pomegranate, last years in color Cool Caribbean and Basic Gray. The stamp set used are Baroque Motifs, En Francais and Fancy Flexible Phrases. I put a blue rhinestone in the center of the flower (which is popped out) and 3 clear rhinestones on the Basic Gray Taffeta ribbon. The Tombow adhesive stuck to my tweezers which made the center rhinestone stick to the tweezers. That made it spread a bit. The smudge isn't as noticeable IRL as in the picture.

Anyway, if I get a chance to use paint on a card I will upload the photo.

I hope you all have a wonderful and happy day!

God bless you and bye for now!

I am going to finally try this...

2008-01-23T12:30:00.000-08:00

So I have been enjoying reading blogs from fellow SCS'ers and thought I would give it a shot, too. I will start by introducing myself. Hi, I am Sandy. I am a stay at home mom to 2 little knights (5 and 3 months) and one little princess (3). I have a fabulous husband who works very hard to support his family and my crafting addictions. Oops!, I mean hobbies. I am currently a Stampin Up! demonstrator- my mom and I are my only customers so I only do it for the discount. I love making cards and scrapbooking my family's lives. Since having my 3rd child I haven't really had much time to do either so I have made sort of a challenge to myself to get back to it- making time for it. I am a better wife and mom when I have had an opportunity to do something little for myself. I am sure you can relate.

I will post a few of the cards I have made over the last couple of weeks... if you enjoy them, please let me know. Or if you are reading this post a message so I know someone is reading this...

I made this card after challenging myself to use a wheel and my wheel guide... I really liked how simple this card was to make. We all need a basic card that we can make in a pinch- this will be mine.

I wanted use my small open-end envelope so my card is 6 1/2" x 3 1/4". I inked up my So Swirly jumbo roller with Purely Pomegranate classic ink and rolled across the bottom using the wheel guide to make sure it was straight. I then used the same color to stamp the large flower from Office Accoutrement and then cut it out. The small flower is from the same set (also cut out) using Wild Wasabi ink. I had a nail head brad that I used to attach the two together. The Happy Birthday is stamped using Happy Everything. I used my stamp-a-ma-jig to make "birthday" straight. I can't stamp without that thing!

I cased this layout from a lovely card on SCS but when I went back to find it to give the original artist credit, I couldn't find it. Sorry! I used the new One of a Kind set and the new Berry Bliss designer series paper. I love the Double- Stitched Ribbon in Purely Pomegranate. I also used Whisper White and Close to Cocoa paper, Purely Pomegranate and Close to Cocoa classic ink and Aged Copper Hodgepodge Hardware. There is a small rhinestone in the center of the flower. You can't tell by the picture but the top P.P. flower is popped up. The base card I used Pretty in Pink cardstock.

All images are Stampin UP!

I will post more cards later- I've got some kidlets to take care of! Bye for now.