Winter has come!

I have realized that when the Advent calendars start I am officially WAY behind on my holiday cards. :) So I propose that the rest of the world pause for a day or two so I can catch up, send them out and be the envy of all my friends. Asking too much you say? Why, what can you mean? *wink*

I was going to make all one card, and I have some parts of the one design started (the snowmen from the Holiday Lineup set), but now I realise I really need more Bashful Blue paper than I actually have, so waiting for an order will put me that much more behind. So I need to get thinking. I could get a light blue paper from Michaels or Joann's and just learn my lesson for next year...although maybe I should actually organize my card list first so I know exactly how many I need to get together...I love days when I feel like I am just chasing my tail! LOL

Today I am working, and tonight we have the first sold out night for the Holiday Nights in Greenfield Village program. I love this program, especially when the snow is falling and the visitors are in really holiday cheer. I know I am going to freeze for a while outside, but it;s such a great program it is worth it. Hopefully the snow will let up a bit though and the wind will die because it is whipping around quite a bit today. Fingers crossed!

I have a couple new cards to post, but our internet was being persnickety on Thursday and the kids are catching colds, so my computer time has been somewhat limited. :) Mom duty calls! I saw a sneak peek of a few of the new stamp sets in the Spring SU catalogue...very cute! What will I do without the current In Colors though??? Must stockpile...

Ok, I'm off. Hope all in well in the various necks of the woods from any peekers to this page.

Thanksgiving Turkeys!

Happy belated Thanksgiving!

So I survived my first Thanksgiving dinner (well, that I cooked anyway). And most importantly, there were no calls that someone had gotten food poisoning from my food, so I call it a success! We had 12 for dinner (9 adults, 3 kids) and the company couldn't have been better. After getting stuffed we spent the evening lounging and played the new digital Trivial Pursuit.

One of the extra touches that I put on the table were these little turkey placecards. I saw a great video demonstration posted by dawn5377 on YouTube and just had to try it out. I made little placecards and stamped the person's name on it, and tucked the turkey on top. I kept a few of them and they will be great accents for a Thanksgiving scrapbook page, once the pictures get downloaded. I hope you enjoy them! :)

Christmas cards

I have been playing with Mom's "Holiday Lineup" set from Stampin' Up...and LOVE IT! :) (I wonder if she'll notice if I keep the set??? Just kidding!) There are three images to the set and here are examples using two of them. The third is a line of reindeer with Rudolph in the middle, which I haven't finished yet.

The snowman card is still a little plain I think, but I love the glitter on the image. I stamped it in black and colored the clothes in Bashful Blue, added a touch of Pumpkin Pie for their noses, put glue on the snowman bodies and dusted it with Dazzling Diamonds glitter. I stamped the sentiment in Bashful Blue, punched it with the Large Tag Punch, and added a small silver brad from Making Memories.

I have a small gift project in mind with this stamp as well, but we will see how that goes. Time is of course the main issue... :)

On the second card, I used a Riding Hood Red base and added a piece of patterned paper from DCWV's Holiday Stack. The elves were colored with Blush Blossom, Garden Green and Real Red markers. I added a touch of Blush Blosson pastels to their cheeks for that "fresh from the snow" flush. I still may add some green glitter to their collars, but I don't have a fine glitter in the shade of green I need (Ooohh...trip to the craft store is in order I guess!). I used the Scallop punch in Garden Green and layered the sentiment from the "Best Yet" set on top, after sponging the edge in Riding Hood Red ink.

I have a new order from SU coming on Tuesday and I can't wait. I ordered some supplies to make a really cute turkey using the punches and some Designer Paper for Thanksgiving. I am planning to make one for each place setting at the table. Once I have one finished I will post it here. There is an example of the turkey on YouTube by Dawn5377...definetly check it out!

Ho ho ho card

This is the third card I made on Friday while the kids were playing with Playdoh. :)

I used Riding Hood Red for the base, added a layer of patterned paper from DCWV's Christmas Stack (Thanks Jenny for finding this stack on huge clearance after last Christmas!), and added a piece of Whisper White on top. Where is the white you ask? I used this card as a chance to try out my brayer. I stamped "Ho Ho Ho" with Versamark and embossed with clear embossing powder. I then brayered over the words with green ink (and I'm sorry, the color has just gone out of my head...!!! It's from last season's In Colors...darnit! Maybe I will remember as I keep typing.) When I wiped over the words, the white popped. After I went through all of this, I realized I could have used green cardstock and embossed in white just as easily, but it was a chance to learn how the brayer worked. I have seen some gorgeous backgrounds using brayers that I would love to try down the road.

I still can't remember the color of the green ink, but I will add it once I finally remember.

UPDATE 11/23/08: I finally remember! It was Wild Wasabi. Man, that was driving me crazy!

Sweetest Day Ever card

I made this card on Tuesday (Election Day), while we were watching the voting results come in. I needed a break for a while so I went in my room and just started playing.

Happy Birthday to You card

All supplies Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted. 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches
Stamps: Crazy For Cupcakes
Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Pink Pirouette, Whisper White
Accessories: Basic Black stamp pad, Baja Breeze stamp pad, Pink Pirouette stamp pad, Dimensionals, ribbon (Joanne's), Tombow glue, Ticket corner punch, AquaPainter, Beads (Joanne's)

Eastern Blooms Card

I enjoyed making this card, although it would have gone a little more quickly if I had a punch that fit the flowers. :) We'll call it therapy for a stressful day. :) Eventually I will add a sentiment but at the moment I don't have one settled on. All supplies Stampin Up.
Stamps: Eastern Blooms
Cardstock: Kraft, Perfect Plum, Whisper White
Inks: Certainly Celery, Perfect Plum, Pale Plum
Ribbon, Certainly Celery grosgrain

So Glad Were Friends

Christmas card options

Unforgettable Friend card

Who wouldn't love this little elephant? All supplies Stampin Up.

Stamp set:

Cardstock: Kraft, Rose Red, Whisper White

Accessories: Basic Black ink, Stampin Write markers, blender pen, Dazzling Diamonds glitter

Just For You card

Sock Monkey is back! I made this card in preparation of a Stampin Up workshop and thought it was pretty cute. :) I hope you enjoy it! Size: 5.5 x 4.25. All items Stampin Up.

Stamps: Sock Monkey

Card stock: Riding Hood Red, Baja Breeze, Whisper White

Accessories: Basic Black ink, Stampin Pastels, Blender Pens, Dimensionals, Rose Red Fine Cosmo glitter, Heat & Stick powder.

Owl Card

Ok, here we go! This card is SO CUTE! It is standard size (5.5x4.25). I wanted to try masking, so I cut a circle with my Coluzzle, and put it over my owl image once I stamped and embossed it. Then I applied pink ink over the cardstock and mask. Once I removed the mask it popped the owl image beautifully. Then I just inked the edge of the image with brown ink, tied a ribbon and voila! (All items are Stampin' Up unless otherwise noted.)
Stamps: Birds (Inkadinkado), Occasions Collection (Stampin' Up!)
Cardstock: Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette
Inks: Chocolate Chip, Pink Pirouette
Accessories: Dark brown satin ribbon (Michaels), Coluzzle, Clear Embossing Powder, Word Window Punch

Long weekend

This is my weekend to work, and since we have the Halloween program happening in Greenfield Village, it has meant double shifts. So after a 14 hour day yesterday I didn't accomplish my goal of taking pictures of the two cards I made on Friday. Ah well, it is what it is. Tonight or tomorrow. I made a super cute Owl card that I can't wait to post.

Just a couple of things of note though...I have become totally addicted to Etsy.com and if you haven't checked it out, you need to! I forsee me buying lots of Christmas presents from these amazingly talented artists this year! I treated myself to a necklace and a hair clip and I can't wait to get them. I would like to open my own shop, and have created a shop profile when I am ready to take the plunge! Since I have no ability to focus on just one thing, I want to give myself the option to have a variety of items. Cards of course, though I need to keep researching pricing, shipping, style, etc.

I also started trying my hand at making hair bows. Little clippy bows, similar to the style I boughtat Target, but with much cuter ribbon! I am realizing that my biggest challenge was finding good hair clips. I need to go to Sally's Beauty and see if they have a better selection. Tonight I may try to attach the bows to clips, but again, I have another double to work so going to bed might be a better idea than trying to operate a hot glue gun without burning myself. :)

Hi card

This card is really simple - no glitter, no layers, no extras. It has a very clean look - enjoy!

Finished size: 4 1/4 x 5 1/2

Materials used: Autumn stamps (Inkadinkado), Chelsea letter stamps (Inkadinkadoo), Marigold Morning cardstock (Stampin' Up!), Lipstick Ink (Colorbox Chalk)

Happy Bluebird card

I love this color combo; it's so soft. I wanted to see how the bird would look if it were glittered because of the detail flourishes on the body. It didn't come out at clearly defined as I wanted so I went back in with Tombo glue and filled in the swirls with more glitter to make a solid image. I think next time I would just stamp the bird and use the Versa Mark to fill in the swirls before I added the glitter.
I didn't have Cocoa ribbon (next SU order I think) and I didn't like how dark the Chocolate Chip ribbon was. Then I remembered seeing a YouTube vidoe on dyeing your own ribbon. I used the Cocoa stamp pad and ran a piece of white ribbon across it to dye the ribbon, andit worked great! Of course I now have stained fingers, but it's a small price to pay for a pretty card!
All supplies Stampin' Up, unless noted.
Finished size: 4 x 4 1/4 inches
Stamp set: Always
Paper: Baja Breeze, Close to Cocoa, Whisper White
Ink: Close to Cocoa, VersaMark
Accessories: Window Word punch, Cosmo glitter, Heat & Stick Powder, white satin ribbon (Joann's), Stampin' dimensionals

Glittery Christmas card

Again, I stayed up way too late playing with my stamps, which wouldn't be so bad if I didn't have to work the next morning! I wish I had Christmas music playing in the background while I was making this one...and is it possible for me to make a holiday card without glitter? I really don't think so. LOL
I LOVE this stamp set and have used it for a lot of different technique experiments. Look for it to appear frequently down the road!
(All supplies Stampin' Up!)
Finished size: 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches.
Stamp Set: Snow Swirled
Cardstock: Riding Hood Red, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla
Ink: Always Artichoke, VersaMark, Whisper White craft ink
Accessories: Dazzling Diampnds glitter, Chocolate Chip ribbon, Heat & Stick Powder, glue pen, Stampin Dimensionals

Still working, just not taking pictures

I've been working on a couple of projects, though not as many as I would like. :) One is a birthday card for my best friend, and so I can't post that picture until she gets it. I can't ruin the surprise after all! There are a few other cards too, I just have to get off my bumpkiss and take the pictures. I know, such a problem. lol

The other project was a Post-It Note holder, which is at my desk at work. I haven't taken a picture of it yet, but I'll try taking a picture with my cell phone and see if I can post it here.

I'm working on placing a SU order which I will hopefully place tomorrow (pay day!). Hurray, new toys to play with! Glassy Glaze enamel powder for one...I want to try out the Cracked Glass technique - it would look great on a winter-themed card. I'm also going to try some 3-d projects (boxes, candle stamping, photo frames, etc.) to get ready for some holiday demos. If anyone in the Wayne & surrounding areas is interested in hosting an event, I have some great ideas up my sleeve that your friends would love!

And I even changed the layout of my blog...I wanted some more color, and add a few things. One of these days I'll learn how to change the banner and other things to really make it look cute, but this works for now. :) I even figured out how to add the link to the SU catalogue. Technical genius I tell you.

Trio of Blossoms card

I was playing with my new cache of Stampin Up supplies and this was what I came up with. It measures 6 x 3 inches. I couldn't decide on a sentiment so I didn't put one...it could easily be a "Happy Birthday", "get Well Soon", or anything cheery!

Supplies used: Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss, Whisper White cardstock. Always stamp set. Kiwi Kiss and VersaMark stamp pads. Heat & Stick Powder and Cosmo Fine Glitter. Stampin Dimensionals and Scallop Edge Punch.

Just Because I Care card

In honor of the upcoming elections, I made this card. It measures 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches. All products are Stampin Up!.

Stamps: Stars Jumbo wheel & Best Yet Hostess set

Cardstock: Brilliant Blue, Real Red, Whisper White

Real Red & Brilliant Blue markers

VersaMark pad & White embossing powder

Riding Hood Red ribbon

Paper Swatches

Ok, last post of the morning...Here is the other thing that I have been working on. I found this idea on another Stampin' Up demonstators site and thought it was great! I used the scallop circle punch to punch out a sample of every color cardstock, wrote the name of the color as well as the color family it belongs to and then used my Crop-a-dile to punch a hole in them. I then used a leftover ball-chain to connect them (thank you Mom for saving odd things like old keychains!). I now have a great, portable swatch book that I can use to decide on color combinations for a project, without having to take out full sheets of paper every time.

Note: I have seen that other people have used the Color Labels in the Catalogue for the names, rather than writing them out by hand. Definitely an option.

Some other things

I've been trying to organize my craft space and thought I would show you what I have done.

It's a small table, but trust me, I can cover it with lots of junk without much effort! :) I put a 3-drawer caddy on the table which holds some of the most used supplies (dry adhesives, glitter/embossing powders & ribbon. On top of that is a small container which is like a "crash kit" - I keep all of the "must haves" in there (black stamp pad, VersaMark pad, ruler, pencil, black fine tip pen, SNAIL adhesive runner, etc). It also keeps these things out of sight from the kids so they down't get into anything they shouldn't while allowing me to keep them accessible. I also keep my Stampin Up markers and paper cutter on the table (thought his will often be put higher since my son loves to cut paper with it, and he will cut any paper he can get hold of - including projects!) My Stampin Up idea book & catalogue is also on the table so I can get ideas and work on the ever-growing Wish List!

Other things still need organizing, like the scrapbooking paper on the right corner (mostly 12x12). There are also some pictures in the pile that I am trying to scrap, but I am having a bit of a scrapbooking block right now. I also have a small stack of stamps that were used in recent projects and just need to go into the cabinet with the others.

As you can see, I have one other accessory that is regularly on my table - one or both cats! Jewel (pictured here) is much more demanding of my attention when she jumps up...she sprawls all over the table and covers whatever I am working on, sometimes knocking items off that get in the way of the full cat stretch. Sigh. :)

Busy, Busy

I haven't posted in a while now, but I've actually been keeping busy. Even with work, kids, hubby and all of the other things that happen in a given day I have had a chance to make few cards. All of them measure 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inches. Ribbons are from Joanne's, all other supplies are Stampin up!.

Stamp sets used: A Little Birdie Told Me, Heartfelt Thanks, Always

You're Lovely card

Here's the latest...It's a 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 square using the Baroque Motifs and Amazing to Zany sets from Stampin' Up!. I kept it simple with Basic Black and Whisper White cardstock as well as white embossing powder. Dazzling Diamonds glitter would also look great on this card but I left it off because I wanted to try a more graphic look. Enjoy!

Happy Day card

Happy card for a happy day! :) This card measures 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 and uses the Doodle This set and Occasions hostess set. I used the Versamark pad with the swirly stamp for the background, but after I layered the flower and embossed the words in white, I felt it needed more contrast. So I went back over the swirls with a correction pen. My white pen wasn't working, so this was the solution at hand. I added the yellow to highlight the flower, though in the picture it looks a bit like an actual highlighter! Sorry for the lighting problem!

Materials used: Tangerine Tango, Pacific Point, Whisper White cardstock

Versamark pad, Only Orange marker, Yoyo Yellow marker, correction pen and white embossing powder.

Mixed Media Monday Challenge - Fashion

For this challenge, I made a "thrinchie" (3x3 inches), which was the theme for the previous challenge. The background paper uses some paper from a pattern ( I think it's from a nightgown pattern my mother made for me as a child) that I stamped and added this serene lady that I found at a local antique shop. It's a little hard to see, but at the bottom I've embossed "Hemmed with patience". The "hemmed" part got a little lost on the paper unfortunately. I hope you like it! :)

Happy Birthday card

I really like how bright this Bashful Blue paper is. It makes the other colors pop! The torn edge is textured using a really handy tool - my fingernail! :)

The card measures 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 and uses the Occasions Collection hostess set from Stampin' Up!.

Other materials: Bashful Blue, Riding Hood Red, & Whisper White cardstock; Bashful Blue & Real Red markers, Snail adhesive, Stamp-a-ma-jig.

Touch of Nature card

Here is the newest little card. It measures 4x4 and uses the Touch of Nature stamp set from Stampin Up!. Enjoy!

Color scheme: Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Whisper White

Other materials: Stampin' Write Markers, white embossing powder, ribbon

Cherish Card

This card was made using the Baroque Motifs set from Stampin Up!.

Other supplies: Pink Pirouette cardstock, Versa Mark, Purely Pomegranate Classic stamp pad, Heat & Stick Powder, glitter, Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon.

The card measures 3 1/2 X 3 1/2 inches.

You Make Me Smile

I'm on a roll! Here is the latest card, made with the "Window Dressing" hostess set from Stampin Up!. The card measures 4 1/4 X 5 1/2

Paper used: Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Whisper White.

Additional materials: Twill Tape, button, Stampin' Pastels, dimensionals.

Spinner Cards

My new card is a spinner card! I've added a video clip so you can also see how it moves. My children are fascinated by the moving parts. I have made two versions, one blue and one lavender. Both cards measure 3 X 6 inches.

Stamp sets used: Big Birthday Candle, Baroque Motifs, Hip Horray, Time Well Spent (All from Stampin Up!)

Make a Wish card

There are a few birthdays coming up this month, so I started with this card for my brother-in-law. I used the new Sock Monkey set from StampinUp! which I absolutely love. So cute! This little monkey will definetly make an appearance in cards and scrapbook pages down the road.

The card measures 4 1/4 x 5 1/2. Enjoy! :)

Created by Hand Tuesday - Pastel colors

This week's challenge was to use pastel colors. I've created an ATC using stamps (from Stampin' Up!) and watercolors. Enjoy!

Think Monday Think ATC- Colors!

This week's challenge was to use bright colors for an ATC. I decided to try something new and make an ATC out of fabric. I had a lot of fun cutting felt and denim and ribbon and sewing it all together (though as you can see my sewing abilities aren't the best! *wink*). I hope you like it too!

4x4 Friday - Vintage Brides

When I read about this challenge, I knew exactly which image I wanted to use. This is the formal wedding portrait of my maternal grandparents. I always thought my Omi looks so beautiful as a young bride and my Opi was such a strapping, proud young man. I hope you enjoy what I created!

Gothic Arches Challenge - Asian

My first Gothic arch! Very fun challenge!

Mixed Media Challenge - Bright Colors

I worked on these tonight...unfortunately I was out of town for the past week and had no contact with any art supplies (sniff, sniff). Ah well, it was a fun night and I walk away tired and covered in bright colors of paint! :)

ATC Challenge - Fashion

This week's challenge at the Think Monday Think ATC site was "Fashion". I wasn't able to work on anything until today, but once I sat down with a fresh copy of Vogue, I couldn't wait to get started! I kept things pretty simple, letting the pictre and just a few words tell the story. They are a little snarky, I must admit. :)

I had a great time with this!

Enjoy the little things

Whether it be kids, art, ice cream or light breezes...enjoy the little things.