August & September Workshop Projects

Hello again. Meant to post this last night but didn't get around to it. I did get a new card made last night, but it's one I can't share till it is received. So for now, I'm going to share the projects that my club members made this past Sunday, and the other half of the group made back in August.



We made this Scallop Cupcake card. I kind of followed the layout of a card from the new catalog. I wanted to show how to use punched circles to create a scalloped border along a curve or circle. I also showed how to cut a slit in the middle of the card front to tie the ribbon through. Stamps used were from the Big Bold Birthday set. Colors are Riding Hood Red, So Saffron, Baja Breeze, Tangerine Tango (cupcake frosting), Chocolate Chip (cupcake base and greeting).
This was a fun card to make.


And then we made this "Box in a Bag" There are samples of this all over Splitcoast, but I found my directions here by Stampin' With Di. You basically make a small, square box bottome and then tape the paper of the bag around the box base, and then tape a scalloped border (which is now so very easy with the new SU Scallop Edge punch) around the bottom. You are supposed to use the Round Tab punch to make the tabs to tie the bag together, but since I don't have that punch, I substituded a scallop circle punch-out folded in half. Typically these are made using the double-sided designer paper, but I can't use that for my groups because of the large quantity needed, so I improvised and we made out own designer paper using whisper white card stock and a stampin' wheel. The wheel we used was Forever Flowers, and the "wreath" stamp is from the Together Forever set, and the initial is from the Lovely Letters set.



And our third project was this card, using the "ghosting technique". I CASED this entire layout from a sample in the Stampin' Success magazine that I receive as a Stampin' Up Demonstrator. I loved everything about it and new I had to do it. The ghosting technique is where you brayer ink on vellum cardstock, then use a clean, dry stamp and stamp on th wet ink which will take ink OFF the vellum, leaving a sort of "negative" image. I thought it almost looked like a pressed leaf used with ink, like we did as kids in school. I had just received this stamp set, Wonderful You, and the matching jumbo wheel, so it worked out perfect. All of my club members seemed to really love it, and I made several of these cards as thank you cards for my personal use. I think its one of my favorite cards I've ever made.

I used Bashful Blue for the card base, Chocolate Chip and Old Olive cardstock and ink, and cardstock vellum, as well as whisper white to adhere the three pieces to so there would be white behind the inked vellum, made the color pop much nicer than against the blue. That also allowed me to pop it up on dimensionals. The ribbon is the Chocolate Chip taffeta.

If by chance you are reading my blog and are not one of my customers, and have any questions about any of the creations I share, please feel free to contact me and I'll answer your question as best I can. I know I don't always explain things as well as I should or could.


Thanks again for visiting, and hope you have a blessed and safe week!

Birthday Cards

My family had a couple of birthdays this past week. And they were both men. Masculine cards are not my strong point. But I recently purchased a new Stampin' Up set called Nature Silhouettes and got to use it for the very first time to make my husband this birthday card. I was pretty happy with how it turned out and he loved it (and had to show it off to everyone), so that made me really happy.

I got the inspiration from a post on the Splitcoast website. Here is the card that inspired me - by member cmc2stamp. I didn't use quite the same color blues and didn't get my background as dark, and my moon was smaller but what a great idea to do with this set. I also used the new Curvy Label punch and one of the stamps that come inthe bundle with the punch. I am disappointed that there isn't another size of this punch to allow for layering, but I compromised by punching out two additional black labels and layering them behind the stamped label to give a layered look.
Then I used one of the oval label holders from the Stylized Silver Hodgepodge Hardware set. The background I used - Weathered - is unfortunately retired. I also used the Photo Corners punch and in each one I used a star brad, also from the Stylized Silver Hodgepodge Hardware set. The cardstock is an old In-Color - Buckaroo Blue. There are so many blue shades in the In-Colors but I do love this one, and I thought I had ordered an extra package of it before it retired, but I could only find a few sheets of it, so I guess I won't be using it much more!
Oh, and I used glossy white card stock, embossed the tree and grass stamp with black, also embossed the wolf, then cut him out and popped him up on dimensionals. The photo corners are also popped up with foam tape.

And there is the card I made for my stepson Ben, who turned 18 on Sunday. I struggle with knowing how to make cards for men, but teenagers are even harder.
There's an old SU set called Pocket Fun, which I've never owned, but my awesome sister (and fellow stamping addict) Kathy had let me stamp a bunch of pockets from her set onto some demin patterned paper - a LONG time ago, and I pulled that out to make this card.
I used the new Riding Hood Red card stock, and used the Linen background stamp (which I'm also very sad to say is now retired). I also used the Photo Corners punch once again, but this time added some star eyelets. Wow, has it been a long time since I've used eyelets, but it was fun to get them out again. I used a Sale-A-Bration stamp set (I think it's called Lots of Notes, but not totally sure on the name - sorry) for the greeting and used markers to ink it up in different colors.
If you look close you might notice that it's only a one dollar bill in the pocket, that is because I had to send this card in the mail and didn't want to send cash, so I wrote a check and then wrapped a dollar around it so it would like a pocket full of cash. I used foam tape around the edges of the pocket to make an actual pocket out of it, and silver brads in the corners to mimic rivets on jeans. That's it!
And the best part - I actually got both cards to the birthday boys on time. Made my husband's the night before so I could give it to him before he went to work on his birthday, and my stepson's I actually got to him two days early. That's unheard of for me, I'm always late. Like with my stepdaugther Heather and her husband Brandon's wedding anniversary, which is tomorrow, and I *thought* was Saturday (ughh 40 is hitting me hard I tell ya!) and still haven't gotten a card made to mail. I'm so bad, but she understands, since her dad is the same way, well no he's actually worse, in regard to procrastination. But I will make a *fabulous* card for them and get it in the mail, it will just be a few days late. Sigh.

Ok, now I'll leave you with a picture of my husband, Joe, and I before I took him out for dinner on his birthday, which was this past Friday. We actually got a bit dressed up and that doesn't happen very often so I had to document the occassion. Besides, I will, someday, get back to scrapbooking. I will. Someday.

I have so many things to post, I had a great workshop for one of my hostess groups yesterday so I can post about those projects, and a few to catch up from my non-blogging time, but I can barely sneak time to get the current stuff posted. So much going on right now, and this is the busiest time of year for me at work. I've been working late and trying to get in early this week. I should be in bed by now, I'll be dragging in the morning, but this always takes longer to do than I expect. Hope you all enjoy it, I was feeling like I was doing this for nothing, but then I got so many comments from my club members yesterday (Hi gals!), saying how glad they were that I was blogging again, so that made me feel like I should continue. Even if they are the only ones that look, at least I know someone is.
Ok, that's it for now - take care everyone!

New Stampin' Stuff!

Hi everyone! Hope your week is going well. Mine has been busy. I did get my SU order yesterday. I took some pictures of all my wonderful new "stuff"! I love to just look at it all! I did get a card made, but I spent way too much time just sitting at everything and trying to decide which stamps to use first, and trying to make myself actually use some of the new embellishments. I don't really consider myself to have a hoarding problem, but I'm just afraid that if I use things up I will have a better use for them later on and be disappointed that I don't have anymore. C'mon, I know I'm not the only one that faces this problem! ;-)

Anyway, here are my new stamps, punches, ribbon, and embellishments.

And here are my new Designer Series double sided papers. I limited myself to two sets for now, because I don't use them up before they "retire", and because I was hoping to get more holiday papers from the Holiday Mini Catalog. I love this paper, but again, I'm afraid to use it for fear I may want/need it more later on.

I really love the Green Tea paper (the blues/greens one), but I realize now that it coordinates with a couple stamp sets which I don't have. I know it can be used with others, but you all know how I am about "matching".

I also love the Curvy Label punch. But it's very very small. A lot smaller than I thought it would be from how it looked in the catalog. I also wish they would have two sizes of it for layering. I feel the same way about the scallop circle and scallop square punches. I didn't get the scallop square yet, but am now wishing I'd have gotten that one first and waited on the curvy label punch. Oh well. Hopefully I'll prove myself wrong and find lots of uses for it.

I really love the Button Bouquet buttons and the Filligree and Flower Designer Brads. Ohhh, and the Flower Fusion felt flowers, which now are also available in Chocolate Chip (yum), Pink Pirouette, and Baja Breeze. Gorgeous!

So anyway, this is the card I ended up making. Hardly any stamping. The only stamp I used is from the hostess set I earned, Best Yet, which has great greetings and sentiments. I just loved the colors in that patterned paper from the Green Tea series and wanted to use the felt flowers, and the Old Olive ones from the first Flower Fusion set matched perfectly. I really wanted to use Baja Breeze ribbon, but for some reason I didn't order any in that color. So I used Celery grosgrain. I also used a Flower Designer Brad and a Kiwi Kiss button from the Button Bouquet.

Not a bad card, I just really am itching to get back down and use some of my new stamp sets, but unfortunately that didn't happen tonight. I've been working all evening on balancing my checkbook, paying bills, working on my budget, and working on some SU "business" duties. Such fun! ;-) And now it's getting time to call it a night. Arghhh, I really wish there were more hours in the day!!

Well, thanks for stopping by and please take time to say Hi and let me know you were here. Hopefully I'll have something more exciting to show tomorrow. Have a great day!

A Productive (and fun) Weekend

Hello! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend. Mine was relaxing, busy, fun, and very productive! My only complaint is that it flew by way too fast and now tomorrow is the start of another work week. And it's going to be a busy and stressful one I have a feeling. But I have a few hours left of the weekend so I'm pushing thoughts of the upcoming week away for now.



I have lots to share! So go grab a snack, put up your feet and get comfy!

I stamped for a while on Friday night. I got some more overdue thank you cards made, I had done five earlier in the week but then thought of three more I needed to get sent out. I can't share that card design with you quite yet though as it's also a project for my upcoming workshop and I know some of my club members read this so I don't want to give anything away!



But I also finally "prettied-up" some fliers I had printed out months (possibly years) ago. I've been wanting to put some up around town and try to get some new customers. I think part of me is almost afraid of getting too much on my plate and overwhelming myself, but I would really love to do workshops for some fresh new customers. (Not that I don't still love my loyal, dedicated club members - Hi Girls!)


So this is what I did. I just tried to make them colorful and eye-catching. If any of you are local and have suggestions of places I could put one of these up, please let me know.

Saturday morning I tried getting down to my stamp room all morning, but one thing after another came up. I finally did get down there in the early afternoon though and made a couple cards. I made a birthday card for my stepson, but am waiting for one finishing touch on that so didn't take a picture of it yet. Then I made a wedding card for my brother to take to a wedding he had to go to. It looks like it took a long time, but it went very quickly. I CASED it from the new catalog. I had been wanting to make one like it since I first looked at the book, and a wedding was the perfect occasion.

Looking at it now, I wish I had used Pretty in Pink for the card base instead of the Almost Amethyst (which I know looks like Bashful Blue in the picture). The flowers were stamped in Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink and Almost Amethyst, with tiny self adhesive pearls in the centers and attached with dimensionals. The swirl was done in Certainly Celery. I pierced two rows of holes at the top of the card base. The ribbon was a tiny scrap which was all I had left of the Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon (which I'm so sad is no longer available). I really love this card and want to make more, in different color combinations.



After dinner I snuck in a couple hours more in my stamp room and made another thank you card for a lady at my church who blessed me with some clothes which will come in very handy. I wanted to let her know how much I appreciated it.


This card gave me a bit of trouble. I had fun watercoloring the images, but then just didn't know what colors to use with it and how to embellish it. I like the holes punched in the scalloped edge but they sure aren't very straight or consistent! I used a stamp from a retired hostess set (which I just received with my last big order before the new catalog period started) called A Little Bit of Happiness. Colors used are Really Rust, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, and More Mustard.















And, since I was on such a roll, I made another card that I had been meaning to make for several weeks for another lady from church who is going through chemotherapy treatments and having a lot of rough days. I wanted to send her a little card to let her know we are praying for her and hopefully brighten her day a bit. I thought the Everyday Blessings stamp set from Papertrey, Ink would be perfect.

I used Certainly Celery and Chocolate Chip, more of the self-adhesive pearls, and some white-dotted chocolate satin ribbon from American Crafts. On the inside I stamped another sentiment from the PTI set that says "Someone remembers, someone cares, your name is whispered in someone's prayers."


I didn't stamp at all on Sunday. We took a ride up to Marquette for the day. We did a little shopping (I "splurged" on a new pair of shoes (even though I badly needed some new "winter" shoes) and a new purse), and a few other things, but nothing too out-of-control. We also went out to dinner with my neice Tara and her boyfriend Colby and got to see thier new apartment. That was nice, and way overdue, since I hadn't seen them since my wedding in March of 2007! And we only live an hour apart. Isn't that sad? Life just gets so crazy busy.



After we left the restaurant (We ate at a newer restaurant in downtown Marquette, at least it was new to me, called Aubree's...the pizza and breadsticks were very yummy and it looks like their sandwiches and salads were very good also. I definitely recommend it.), I thought Joe wanted to head home, but he decided to take a drive through Presque Isle Park first and then the sunset was so beautiful we had to get out and walk around on the rocks, as we do almost every time we are there, but I was sorry we hadn't told Tara & Colby that we were going there so they could come with us, because I had specifically taken my camera with me to get some pics of them and of Tara and I and I totally forgot about it until we got to the park. Darn it! We did get some nice pictures of us, well I got some nice ones of Joe, he got some horrible ones of me (it's the subject -not his photography skills), and a very nice lady took a good picture of the two of us. I'll share the one of the both of us and one of the gorgeous sunset, but none of me, they are too awful!














It was a very nice day, spent with my husband, and with the chance to relax, shop, visit with family and see beautiful scenery. Such a blessing.

We didn't have any plans for today so we slept in this morning and took it easy. I really wanted to do some more stamping, but it was so nice outside that I didn't feel like being in the basement. So I collected a bunch of stuff and worked on a big project out on our deck. It figures that as soon as I got set up out there, the breeze picked up, so it was bit tricky keeping everything weighted down and chasing after things that flew away, but it was nice to be outside. I spent all afternoon working on these:
















Our church is going to have a booth at a craft show in November and I'm going to make things to donate to be sold - we are trying to raise money for our basement renovation project. I want to do some Christmas items, and am having a little bit of trouble getting myself to think about that yet, with the weather as nice as it's been.



But yesterday in Marquette, I picked up these cute little notebooks at Big Lots. They were 10 for $2.00. They have plastic covers (front & back) and were in fun, bright colors. So I decorated them up with my most-used items of late - my Big and Little Flowers stamp sets and my Scallop Circle Punch. They were fun to do, I just wish I had started off making my own background paper with the little stamps because the ones I used patterned paper on, I had a very hard time getting colors and embellishments to match. And I'm very particular about things matching, as many of you know!


I thought these would be cute for little girls or teens and would make great, inexpensive stocking stuffers or gifts to give classmates. What do you think? Here is a close up picture of a few of my favorites.











I'd welcome any suggestions for things to make cheaply and quickly that you think might sell well at a craft show. I have some ideas, but what I struggle with is knowing how many of each item to make - I want to have lots of something if it is popular, but don't want to be left with a lot of things that won't sell well.



So yeah, I stamped A LOT this weekend, and it felt great! Now tomorrow night I will hopefully receive my order of new fun goodies from Stampin' Up! and that should keep me motivated to keep stamping. Plus I have a workshop coming up on Sunday to prepare for. So stay tuned!


I did think about saving some of these pictures for posts later in the week, but then I remembered I'd be getting my new "stuff" and would be making fun new things to share. So you got it all at once, hope I didn't bore you too much! Thanks for stopping by.


Happy Labor Day!

P.S. I really apologize for how this post looks. I have been trying for over an hour to get the alignment to look better, I don't understand how this thing works. When I go to edit, it looks like the spacing is right, but then when I publish it there are spaces where there shouldn't be and no spaces where there should be. It's driving me crazy, but I don't know how to fix it. So this is as good as it's going to get, at least for tonight! Sorry!