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Hooray! Saturday morning and another chance to play with a sketch at UDI. I really enjoyed this one; even though I'm in a hurry (baseball season starts today for my guys), I was able to put together a card that I even like enough to repeat! And here it is...

I started by running the front of my card through my BigShot on a large dotted texture plate. (Texturz #1 plates, exclusive to SU! - lucky us!) This side of the plate has large dots that are kinda spread out. The old olive paper was run through on the opposite side of the plate with smaller, more closely set, dots. The large flowers are die cut using the Flower Daisies #2. I decided to keep the colors simple and just punched out the center circles for the flowers with more old olive. (3/4" and 1/2" circles). And of course a little bling on a Saturday morning is just fine - clear rhinestone brads for the centers :)

I could have stopped there, but decided to break up the white a little and add a sentiment. Our word window punch created a nice label for our phrase from the Sock Monkey set. A little bit of black and white gingham ribbon draws your eye over to it. And that's it - fini!

I hope you enjoy my take on our sketch challenge. I love this one Alicia - thanks for another great round! And thanks to all of you for stopping by!

Hope 02/27/09

For my ladies at Hope Lutheran, here's the card we will be working on tomorrow. It uses a layout found here.

The paper is, unfortunately, not from Stampin' Up! But it is very pretty and I had a bunch of it, so we're going to use it :)

The partial circles in the background were cut using my coluzzle, then trimmed down to fit. (As were the matting pieces behind it.) The bird was stamped and then punched out with a 3/4" circle, backed by a 1" circle in night of navy. The bird and the phrase are from retired sets. (I figured if we were using non-su! papers, we could use retired stamps, too. *sigh* not setting a good example... but it's all about the layout!)

The bird can use some coloring in, and perhaps we'll add some color around the phrase, too. But for those of you who do not visit scs on a regular basis - perhaps this unfinished card/layout will inspire you to create a card or two of your own!

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Thanks to Carol M!

She tagged me... the bum! So now I have to list 10 things about myself and then I'm supposed to tag 7 more people. Kinda feels like a chain letter... and I pretty much hate those. So, here's what I'm going to do. I'll list my 10, but I won't tag anyone else. To see other people respond to this and keep the pain going, visit Carol's site. lol

So here goes:

1. I love peanut m&m's. Not the dark chocolate ones, the regular ones.
2. My favorite Disney character is Goofy. I often feel like the female, real-life version.
3. I am trying to give up caffeine. If I get grouchy here soon, you'll know why.
4. I love to read and will completely lose track of time if I have a good book in my hands. Thank the Good Lord for meals that are quick to prepare but taste like they took a while. It often lets me pretend like I didn't spend most of the day with my nose in a book. lol
5. My nose goes crooked when I smile.
6. I still feel like a dork, just like I did as a teenager. But I'm getting more comfortable with it!
7. I don't like setting goals. The inner me rebels and then I don't want to do anything.
8. I scrub the house, paint the walls and rearrange furniture when I pms. Makes up for all the days when I have to force myself to do the bare minimum. (But, hey, I do it.)
9. I don't like to watch American Idol. When the people stink, even on purpose, it makes me feel sick!! for them.
10. I love my kids more than anything in the world. Don't tell them, they might use it on me one day. *grin*

And that's it. Man, that was painful.

Video Share

Check out this how-to video on how to make a great little treat holder! Love it!

I love my mug!

Ok, so maybe this isn't exactly what I am teaching my boys - but it still makes me laugh!

I'm off today to go spend time with 2 of my aunts who are in town for the week. One of them is crafty, so I'm hoping we'll get to sit down and play with paper today; but if not, I'll at least get to sit down and enjoy a cup of coffee.... in my mean mug!

Have a great day!

Circle, circle, dot dot dot....

I hope this is better than a cootie shot! :)
I'm in a little bit of a hurry today - off to baseball practice... but I wanted to share a card with you real quick! Here are the details...

The finished size of the card is 3x6 and is made of rose red card stock. The large circle is old olive and the smaller circles are rose red (like the card base). I used stazon black to stamp the image from "sassy stems" and colored it in with my markers (old olive, pretty in pink and rose red). Some black & white gingham run through black eyelets and a few sticky jewels finish off the card and add a little "somethin'" to the card.

Another quick card that I hope my recipient will enjoy - and I hope you like it, too! Thanks for stopping by!

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Happy Saturday, folks! Time to play around with Alicia's sketch challenge at UDI.



When I saw the sketch, I immediately thought of the phrases in this set "Flight of the Butterfly". I'm into quotes and phrases anyway, but this one about change was already on my mind. My friend Barb has recently changed jobs and it's been a very tough week for her. Getting her husband and her kids used to the schedule (along with all the extra hours) has been really, ahem... fun.... take a deep breath girl! So a flow of positive thoughts is needed. Like the phrase of the card reminds us, change can bring beauty - it's GOOD! So, thinking happy thoughts, I sat down to play.

A real red card base is topped with some dotted paper from our hostess pack. Night of Navy for the layer under the phrase and butterfly (paper pierced along the edges for some visual interest). The real red flower was stamped onto whisper white and then cut out with a coluzzle. The small butterfly was stamped with night of navy and punched out with a 1" punch, then layered over a 1 1/4" real red circle. Because the phrase was already raised over the base of the card with dimensionals, I stacked two of our stampin' dimensionals to lift the butterfly just a notch higher. Here's what it looks like from underneath.

As you see, I couldn't resist using ribbon this go around; so I ran a small piece through a flower slide (from our silver hodgepodge kit) and added it to the other end of the phrase near the center of the flower.
And there we are - voila! I hope that you (and Barb, of course!) enjoy the card. Now... to figure out what to write inside.... that is always the hard part for me!

Thanks for stopping by!

My boyz :)

Here are my guys :)

They are off school today (Monday) so we are off to have lunch with dad and then home to play before reality sets back in tomorrow. Maybe I'll get some stampin' done and have something crafty to share with you tomorrow. But in the meantime, I thought I'd share this photo for my family who sometimes stop by the blog to see what we're up to. *wave hello*

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Enjoying them again

One of the main items in a new Stampin' Up! demo's starter kit is our Stampin' Pastels. When I first received my kit, I used to love to use my chalks to color in images, add some color around them and do what is called the "poppin' pastels" technique. In case you have forgotten (or perhaps didn't know), this is where you stamp your image with VersaMark, then you apply the Pastels to the image with the little daubers they come with.

Well, on Friday morning we played around with the chalkboard technique which is a variation on this technique. My mom and I were playing around with it some more and she wanted to work with this Morning Glory image on white and compare the two. I had forgotten how pretty this could be; and we haven't even done anything with it yet. We didn't do anything to the background, didn't mat it on anything yet, nothing... nada.

I think sometimes we forget about the stuff we already have or the techniques and products that brought us so much joy at the beginning. I absolutely love the new stamps, the new ways to use things; but for today, I encourage you to pull out some of those other things you may not have used in a while. Rediscover them, give them some purpose, let them lift your heart again.

Making Square envelopes

I attempted to make a pdf file of this tutorial, but my mac is rebelling. Let's see if blogger is loving me today. :)

Pictures help me a lot when I'm trying to do something for the first time, so I sat down today and put together a step-by-step tutorial of how to make square envelopes. They really are quite simple once you know how; and they are a great way to use up leftover or cheap dsp (scrapbooking) paper. Any lightweight paper works very well. (But I would avoid dark or heavily patterned paper- I'm sure that will make it difficult for the post office to deliver your card.) Ok, so here we go:


Step 1: Cut a square of paper to 1 1/2 times the size of your square card. My card is 5"x5", so my paper is cut to 7.5" x 7.5".










Step 2: Turn your paper to a diamond position. (See how the corners are pointing up, down, left and right.) I want my envelope to be white on the outside so I have that portion face-up right now. Place your card in the center of the diamond.








Step 3: Fold in each corner of the envelope. Press with your fingers, but then remove the card and press the folds well with your bone folder.



It'll look like this when you're done.







Now you could just fold it up at this point and be done with it, but we're going to add one more step to help the corners look better.





Step 4: Where your score lines meet, use a small square punch to remove a small portion of paper. (A tiny triangle is all that's necessary.) This will help remove a little bit of the bulk of the fold and give you a cleaner edge.





Make sure you cut your notches on all 4 sides.







Step 5: Fold up and adhere 3 of the sides. Your envelope is ready to use. (This one is red on the inside, but wouldn't a patterned paper look great?)

However, as a Diva... I'll add that if your envelope is white on the outside like mine, stamp it!. As Max says, "No Naked Envelopes!"

Enjoy and let me know if this works for you!

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Good Morning, all! Today is Saturday (Valentines Day for all you love birds out there) and it's time to see what Alicia at UDI has chosen as our layout challenge. This one was fairly simple, not a whole lotta layers or extra embellishments on this one. Leaves more room to play with stamps!

For this one I chose the bold color Pixie Pink for the background of the card, bashful blue for the center portion and basic black for the matting. I love how the black makes the other colors pop! The main image (from Crazy for Cupcakes) was stamped in versamark then I added black embossing powder and heat set it. I decided to simply use my markers to color in the image - pixie pink for the candle, bashful blue for the paper wrapper and barely banana for the yummy frosting. When I was done I felt like it needed a little sparkle, so the candle's flame, the sprinkles and the edges of the frosting are slightly enhanced with stickles. (I didn't get it as neat as I wanted so I'm not going to bore you with a close-up shot! lol) The four corners of the card contain a little rhinestone singles (dot) found at Michaels. (You would be able to see the two on the bottom corners when the card is laying flat.)

I hope you enjoy my take on the card but be sure to stop by the UDI link above and check out what our other Diva Sketch ladies have done with it. And, by all means, play along! Share with us by linking to this post, the one at UDI, or include the DIVASC17 as your keyword in your splitcoast gallery. Have a great weekend!

What's on the chalkboard?

A flower! :)

This is one of those techniques that I saw posted on splitcoaststampers ages ago... I printed out the tutorial and put it in my "need to try" file. And there it sat.... and sat....

Until my stamping friends MaryLou and Kitty asked me about it last week. I'm so thankful because it (the technique) probably would have continued to sit for a while more! lol

So I tried it out yesterday while creating our card for our weekly class and I love it. It's similar to the stampin' pastels where you stamp with VersaMark and then apply chalk over the image; however, I had always done that particular technique on light colored paper. For this (chalkboard) technique, the idea is to use black or another dark colored card stock. And WOW doesn't it make the color just POP? If you haven't tried this out (maybe it's in your "to-try" file, too!) I certainly recommend it. What a fun, fast way to make a central image for your card. When you are done stamping and chalking, simply remove the extra chalk from around the image with a swiffer cloth or a paper cloth. So you know: I used a paper towel and will try the swiffer-type one next - I'm hoping it will remove a little more of the extra chalk. However, so that it remains how it would be on a real-life chalkboard, the image is meant to have a little aura around it. (It just occurred to me that my kids wouldn't know what I'm talking about.... they have white boards at school! Sheesh - I just aged!)

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by!

Valentines Pillow Box

Good morning,

This project is one shared at our recent regional convention in Orlando. It was a quick project to put together because it makes use of two great tools, the big shot and a paper punch! The pillow box was cut out with the Big Shot die; the trio of hearts is the "punch". A small piece of a thin transparency sheet or cellophane keeps the treats inside the box. And the heart attached on the left is from our Love You Much stamp set - that particular stamp lines up perfectly with the punch so you don't even have to cut any thing out! Add some red hots and a little ribbon, and voila! Your candy treat is ready to rhumba :) Enjoy!

Look familiar?

This was the scene yesterday at my house! We had a great class where we made some fabulous valentines boxes based on a tutorial by Becky Roberts. Inside of the box are note cards, a clear box holding Hershey's Hugs & Kisses (pictured here to the right) and York Peppermint Patties that we covered with scalloped circles. And, for your information, a folded pair of boxers fit well in the center section of the box - so this is a great box for all your Valentine's needs :)

I took a few pictures of the other ladies boxes. Please excuse the mess on the tables - we were very busy! lol Thanks Jessica, Jennifer, Doria (my mom!) and Debby for letting me share the pictures of your creations.

Here are a couple of the box bases and tops - they were still working on the interior and goodies that would later fill the box. (Jenn's on the left, my mom's on the right)

Here's Jessica's box in the works, and the finished goodies on the inside. The "flowers" you see on the right are the decorated/covered peppermint patties. I love this box and the colors she used - someone will be very lucky to receive it!

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Good Morning folks! It's Saturday, so that means it's time to see what Alicia has cooked up for us with a layout challenge. This week, I paired it with the challenge of making a card suitable for an adult male. My grandmother's friend is celebrating a birthday soon and I wanted to make a card for him - I believe this one will work.

The card base is Always Artichoke and I topped it with a piece of Naturals Vanilla. The 1" squares are cut from Close to Cocoa and Chocolate Chip. The main image (from "Baroque Motifs") was stamped with Versamark, covered with clear e.p. and then heat set. I then used a Stampin' Sponge to add some Creamy Caramel and Close to Cocoa and make it pop. The center of the image has the small flower from "Bella's Bloom" encased in a Build-a-Brad.

And that's it. Yet another card without a bit of ribbon or rhinestones. I'm shocked. lol But I hope you enjoy this card and are encouraged to take your own shot at the layout. If you do, don't forget to link it here, at UDI or use the DIVASC16 tag in your splitcoast gallery. Have a great weekend!

Fabulous Ladies!

Like these ladies? These bookmarks are for the women of a bible study group I attend on Thursdays. We are studying the book of Esther and part of that entails discussing the various reasons it's tough to be a lady. I'd bet we each have our own idea of how "lady" is defined, too. As Beth Moore says, it doesn't have anything to do with owning a big pair of earrings or whether or not your favorite pair of shoes happen to be sneakers. (Thank goodness on the last one... I definitely qualify!)

So I wanted to make everyone a bookmark to help keep track of where we are in our notebooks and I instantly thought of this very girlie stamp set from C.C. Designs called "Glam Girls". I did girlie them up with bling and flowers, but who's to say that they aren't wearing sneakers under their boot-leg pants? lol! I used the Gamsol technique for coloring their outfits with some stickles accents. I also used our marvy silver/gold paint pen to add a mirrored shine to their sunglasses. The flowers and flat backed rhinestones are from the stash of stuff I have.... sorry I don't remember where I purchased them. Here's a closeup of one lovely lady...

Stylin' - isn't she?

Thanks for stopping by...

Still, no stampin' - yikes.

Today's card is a variation on the one shared yesterday. It is also made using a few different Big Shot items. Our Basic Black card base is first layered with a piece of basic gray cardstock that was run through the shot on a texture plate. The two (only orange) large scallops are one die while the two apricot appeal scalloped circles are from a second scallop circle die. I took a few minutes to punch tiny holes into each scallop with a 1/16" handheld punch - just to dress it up a bit. The spiky flowers are also cut from only orange cardstock and are from our new Flower Daisies die. I topped it off with an orange button and a little bit of silver cording. Even though it didn't involve any stamping (gasp!); I kinda like this card. Even better... my son Alan thought it was great and gave me the thumbs up. :) Thanks for stopping by.

Friday class creation

Hello and welcome to a new month! Today's card is the sample card from my church class last Friday. We didn't do any stamping (amazing, huh?) Instead we used texture plates and dies and our BigShot machine. The silver brads and cording dress it up a little. Another great option would be a large rhinestone brad in the center (instead of the button); but you've seen so many of those from me that I thought I'd give you a break ;)

Thanks for stopping by - check back tomorrow for another card made with these same supplies plus our two scalloped circle dies.