Paper Transformer

For Sale Pages

2013-01-19T04:21:00.000-08:00

This post will remain on top for quite a while. To see current post, please scroll down :o)

Hi Everyone, I have 2 for sale pages. now.

PURGING & ORGANIZING SALE: MANY ITEMS MOVED TO FREE SECTIONS, SOME PRICES LOWERED ON 1/27--REALLY NEED TO GET RID OF :O)

I'M OVERSTOCKED SALE: got great prices on new items that I want to share >>> I will be adding items here periodically, so check often :o)

Please take a look!

Hugs, Sandy O

How To Loose Your Mojo In 4 Hours Or Less

2012-01-26T10:32:00.000-08:00

WARNING: Picture heavy.

I am sure there are many recipes for this, but I came up with one all my own :o)

1. Pick your paper, a brand new die, basic embellishments and perfect image the day before. Make sure the die fits the size card. Spritz the flat non-shimmer paper with the Angel glitter spray so it shines like the other paper and let it dry over night.

2. Cute die shape. Making sure it comes out just about perfect the first time. (make sure to notice all the holes that DON"T need to be nudged out, this is important for the finale step) Realize that you cut it in the wrong color.

3. Cut the die with the correct paper. Work on this for 20 or so minutes because this time it will not cut well for some reason. Finally try a metal shim to help it along. This WILL work.

4. In the process of accomplishing step 3, you MUST warp both the metal shim and brand new die.

5. Attempt to attach die cut and realize that although it fits the bottom layer, it definitely will not fit on top of the other layers.

6. Find another new die and image that fits inside and with the paper.

7. Stamp image a MINIMUM of 3 times all of which are not correct. This step works perfectly when the first time the complete image does not stamp, the second image gets a black mark and the third time is to close to the edge of the paper to fit inside the die.

8. Decide that it is better to cut the die first and then add the image, cut the die, making sure it cuts perfectly in one try. Remove die and find out that ink got on the die when placing it on top of one of the previous images.

9. Cut out 2 more times after cleaning the die. Look at it on the pattern paper and decide to use an oval underneath to see the design better. You will NOT find an oval die that fits, so you must settle for the best you can find.

10. Start making the front of the card to encourage yourself. But do remember not to attach the image before coloring.

11. FINAL STEP: Decide it is best to clear off desk and put some items away before trying to color image. NOW is when you see why the die would not cut correctly the second time. All the tiny "holes" that popped out easily on the wrong color paper got stuck in the tiny holes of the die and you did not remove them before trying to cut again. Spend at least 30 minutes poking them out, which is very difficult because the paper is really stuck in the holes from forcing the 2nd cut to work.

***NOTE: It is very important to use a fine sewing needle for the last step so that you can make sure to poke your fingers several times as you try to force the paper out of the die.

Now if you followed these directions properly, your head is now spinning and your back is sore from bending over your die cutting machine to long. Soooo...you decide to do something that is absolutely fool proof and you have never messed up before: take a nap.

Today, the mailman is in the neighborhood much later than usual and all 3 of your dogs bark the whole time until the sound his jeep fades away (this will take exactly 22 minutes). At this point you finally doze off and the phone rings. It is your husband who called to say he is coming home early, which happens as often as Easter falls on a Monday. NOW, at this point, you have failed at your fool proof napping!

NEXT DAY (the good one): Slept well...get up at 4:30 with hubbie...daughter calls to say the grandson is sick, can you babysit for 11 hours today...tell her of course you can...grumble words you can't type into you blog on the way to the shower...have extra time so take photos of yesterday's accomplishments since it will be the only thing that can possibly be posted on your blog for the next couple of days...Now it's late...rush out the door...start to silently daydream about a 2 year old who is not sick to his stomach and naps all day...see flashing blue lights in your rear view mirror...speeding...licence and registration please...finally dig out registration and hand over your "I have to keep this photo hidden" licence...wait...he starts back to the car as you prepare your self for the dreaded word "ticket"...suddenly the words "just a warning hits your ears...YEAH!!! Thank you, thank you!!! IT IS GOING TO BE A GOOD DAY!

I hope you have a great day too!!!
HUGS, Sandy O

Unique Use For Stickpins

2012-01-22T07:52:00.000-08:00

WOW! I don't think I will ever sell off my stuff again, unless it is during a yard sale. Doing so has totally monopolized my free time :o( all week. I think I might have made a whopping $1-2 per hour, lol I am not complaining, really, I am trilled to have sold the items and gotten them out of the house.

I finally got a chance to try out my idea for using stick pins. Of course, in my mind it looked a bit better, but all in all, not to bad for using stick pins.

It's not really an original idea since I got the idea from making the snowflake the in my previous post.

What do you think? No flower I have ever seen is surrounded by leaves like this, lol. The leaves were originally white which I colored with Copics.

I was thrilled when the shimmer of the white leaf showed through the coloring, it made them look so pretty. I just NEEDED to add the tiny little butterflies, lol, What would spring be like with out them!

I tried a few beads and butterflies in different colors. Then I tried to color the flower to match. Well, the green looked best, so I used my Staz-cleaner to clean the Copic from the flower. It actually worked great, just missed one little spot that I noticed when taking the photos. I wonder if I will ever make something without a tiny mistake, lol

I left the back without a flower, unlike the snowflake. Instead of using paper, I used some chipboard circles I have had forever, coloring them green too. The pins and beads were quite heavy so to glue them on I used 2 part 5 minute epoxy. It worked great, but, I'll tell you, the 5 minute wait was grueling! I used the same thing to add the flower. I would be completely surprised if this fell apart. The epoxy is totally impossible to budge once it is dry.

Here it is hanging on my "totally needs cleaning in the spring" craft room window. It is hard to tell with all the snow behind it, but I think you can see how pretty the flower is with the light coming through it. I am thinking in the spring and summer it will cast a rainbow when the sun shines through it.

Funny, on Facebbook, someone had a picture of snow in their yard, just about as deep as this. She said they were snowed in. bwaaa ha ha. Not sure where she lives, but here in NH we call this a dusting!

I hope you all have a super duper Sunday!

HUGS, Sandy O

Problems With Blogger Comments

2012-01-20T06:53:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone, I was trying to leave comments on some blogs today and Blogger just would not let me. I tried several blogs and found the fix in a pst on the last blog.

I guess Blogger made some changes, one would think they would have let us know and how to change our setting so we could get comments.

This will only work on YOUR blog, it will not help you to leave comments on other blogs until they change their settings.

I changed my settings, and left myself a comment, LOL...It was a really nice one too ;o) JK, it really said "testing new comment settings"

Here is the link to the fix it if your setting is not already set like this.

http://craftsfriendsangels.blogspot.com/2012/01/blogger-issues.html

Thank you so much, Theresa!

HUGS, Sandy O

Finally Finished...Well Almost

2012-01-18T05:10:00.000-08:00

I have a couple of small things left to do, but I am basically finished. I can not believe how LONG it took. My gosh, I would have never guessed when I started. A week and a half! And that is just one room. My mother is trying to organize 2 rooms and a cellar full of items she has accumulated over 15+ years. I only had stuff from about 7-8 years. It is going to take her forever!

I am sooooooo excited to have time to visit blogs again. I missed it so much. I love seeing and learning from them all. And leaving comments too, I enjoy leaving them as much as I enjoy recieving them :o)

Here are the results of my craft room :o)

That is my doxie wondering if he can get away with attacking the recycle bin, lol. He thinks I am to busy to notice right now, lol

No more baskets and clutter under the tables :o) One of the things I have left to do is the basket on the far right. It is full of scrap papers and tutorials and such that need to be filed. I hope I can be disciplined enough to get it done soon, not leave it waiting another year or so, lol

Here is the over flowing cabinet that is no longer over flowing. Forgot to get a photo of the inside, but as you can see, the doors are completely closed now, lol. I pulled all of the excess "stuff" off the front. Pulling the tape and Velcro off left spots on the outside where the brown stuff (I have no idea what that is called, lol) got pulled off too. That's OK, I certainly can live with that.

The closet no longer has doors on it. It is deep enough that I can stand in front of the book case to get what I need. The top shelves on the right still look a bit cluttered to me, but I can get things out without it all falling on top of me, tee he he.

What's to say, lol, no really pretty, but it serves it's purpose. The little yellow tin is full of stamps waiting to be cleaned...one of the small things I still need to do. The top shelf is full of cards I made that I kept. I actually threw loads of them away from when I first started crafting. Two of the boxes are full of envelopes, one clear ones, the other has white envies to go with the cards.

Finally have a place to put the Cricut I bought months ago and had no place to put it so I could actually use it, lol.

Thank you for sharing my "organizing" journey with me!

HUGS...Sandy O

Snowflake Tag/Ornament

2012-01-17T10:12:00.000-08:00

Yeay...I finally got something done in my newly organized craft room, lol.

Such a pretty snowflake ornament. It was really quite easy too...well, to put together. The blue gems were a bit difficult to cut until I figured out the easy way. Both sides are exactly the same. The little burrs on the edges of the legs can't really be seen in real life. Funny how when I get the new camera to do what I want, it picks up details that the eye really does not see.

Hmmmm...I just noticed that the cord to hang it fell off! Yikes! LOL

This is what I cut them from. Isn't it so pretty. I bought it from Cynthialoowho (I am figuring her real name is Cynthia) at her Etsy store HERE. It is a 1 yard by 4 3/4 inch roll for only...ready! A wopping $6.99! She has lots of colors too. I can see using it for card borders and on eggs, so bought 4 colors.

Isn't the center flower stunning! She also sells these at her store HERE. She has these in a few different colors, too.

I wanted to get a photo showing the clear crystal in the center of the flower. You can kind of see it here. You can see it a lot better if you click on it to get a look at a larger photo.

I did not come up with this idea on my own. I saw a link on a blog to a tutorial on YouTube for it. I can't for the life of me find it now. I wrote her to get the link, but never heard back. So if you would you would like to know, just shoot me an email.

Hugs to you all...
Sandy O

Final Update

2012-01-16T09:57:00.000-08:00

I will finally have something to post tomorrow, YEAH!!! Until then, I updated the purging list and added some photos.
Thank you all for baring with me!

HUGS, Sandy O

Update

2012-01-12T05:42:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone, I just updated the purging page :o)

My craft room is taking forever, but I think I will actually be finished today! YEAH, back to crafting! I have an idea of how to use the hat pins and am dying to try it out, lol

HUGS, Sandy O

Craft Room Day 2 Continued

2012-01-07T09:58:00.000-08:00

I forgot to add this to the wonderful (rolling eyes) day of organizing post. My daughter and grandson, who just turned 2 last week, stopped by to visit. The high light of my "why did I get up this morning" day. While I was showing my daughter all I did not get accomplished, my grandson drew me a wonderful picture with a pen. On what??? My computer screen, of course. Anyone know how to clean THAT?

Hugs, Sandy O

Craft Room Day 2

2012-01-07T09:23:00.000-08:00

Do you want to see how far I have gotten so far? Well, I did get something done...

I got these Copic desk cubes which arrived last week. Ohhh...I really like them now that I have them on my desk! Each tower is 3 sections, stacking on one another, of course. I spent a lot of time going through my markers by color and # (at my kitchen island) and got them in. Then...dropped the towers 2 times while trying to move them. Sheesh :o( I finally decided to pull out my scor-tape and attach each section with it. Worked great...after about 2 1/2 hours of work, here they are! If you decided to get these, they are quite expensive, but worth it I think, make sure to use your scor-tape BEFORE adding your markers!!!

It is hard to see, but I finally went through my laundry basket under here and replaced it with this wide draw rolling thing. Sadly all it holds is my ribbon in the bottom 2 drawers and "some" of my jewels/pearls/pin items in the other. That's OK, at least they are where I can get to them :o)

Some good things I found in the basket were:
-my sewing machine directions
-loads of tutorials, 4 of which I want to read/make before tossing them
-packages of items that I traded (on an SU forum) for items I don't use for items they don't use
-my envelope maker, you know, the purple ones
-LOTS of really good paper, my much loved shimmer kind, that I was to lazy to put away at one point
-many other items I had looked for, could not find and was afraid I threw away
AND MOST IMPORTANT--some photos of my Step Dad who pasted away 2 1/2 years ago. Now, how THEY got in there I have no idea!

Here is the "in the process of organizing" mess. So far I have filled the recycle bin, have another bag full of recyclable paper and 2 full garbage bags full of, well, garbage, lol. See 2 of those rolling things that you fill to take to someone else's house/store full of your stuff to craft with them (I don't remember what they are called) they are the black things in the middle of the picture. One was FULL of files from when I sold SU 3 or 4 years ago! I think that is what the recycle bin is full of.

The second one is full of those clear paint cans that were so popular a couple of years ago. I know I will most likely never use them, but just can't force myself to throw them away. :o( What a dilemma!!

On day 0, I bought this shelving unit to put in one half of the closet. Get free shipping from Amazon because we are prime members, but, I decided to splurge and pay the extra 3.99 to get it the next day, which would be day 1. After all, the UPS guy always comes between 9-10 in the morning, I was soooo excited!

Well, don't you know, he must have reversed his route that very day!!! I am making that clicking of the tongue sound but have no idea how to write that, lol. It did not show up until 4!

On day 2, I excitedly put it together and went to put it in my now empty closet. Well, it did not fit. Who would have thought you had to measure the space before buying it, NOT ME! Soooo, as you can see, it is replacing the shelves with the doors. Doesn't really fit here either and is pretty ugly, but I can live with that.

I had no place to put the items that are in the unit with the doors, so decided to push HARD to get it in the closet. After all, I did not want to wait until Paul came home that night to help! I got it mostly in, then it got stuck, of course. I can't even budge it now. AFTER this, 3 thoughts occurred to me
-the closet doors needed to be removed to get it in there
-the doors of the cabinet need to be removed because I will not be able to open them once it is in
-the plastic things that hold the closet rod in have to be removed or the inside will be 2" to small
Now, I have to wait until Paul can help this afternoon. Sheesh, I should have just waited for him to help when he got home from work, it would have been faster.

While I am accomplishing absolutely nothing, my doxie got into the recycles. Here is just part of it. He even chewed the wooden closet rod while I wasn't looking and now it won't be able to be used any more. You can see one of my chihuahua's checking out the doxies booty.
What did I do after all this...I took a nap! I figured I better quit while I was NOT ahead.

Have you made it this far into this boring post? If so, here is some good news. I went through my SU stamp book to see what sets I will no longer use. There are 67 sets as well as some wheels (do people still used these?) I also found a few more items that I will not use either, some even brand new! When I bought them I was "certain" that I needed them, lol

I will be making a page of them as well as other items in case someone else will use them!

THANK YOU for letting me share this with you. Phew...I feel so much better now!!!

Have a super weekend...HUGS...Sandy O

Oh WOW!

2012-01-03T08:11:00.000-08:00

I had the last 2 weeks off of babysitting and decided to "CLEAN" my house. I had not done so since my illness 14 months ago. Though my husband tried to keep it clean (dishes and laundry basically) it was a total disaster, to say the lease. I am 1/2 finished with the last room and hoping to finish it today.

What will I do then? Well...here are a few pictures to show you, lol

This wall is not so bad. The problem I have with it is that I have more stamps and such to put here and there is no more room.

OK, this needs no explanation, tee he he. I don't even have the shade on the light, lol. That laundry basket has been waiting for me to go through it for at least 2 years now. It is full of tools, tutorials and stuff. Where oh where am I going to put them? Or, if they have been there so long, do I really need them? I am sure I do, bwaa ha ha

Sniff...look at that floor, if you can see it! The rolling bins in the middle of my craft room are supposed to be under the desk on the left. I have just been walking around them.

The outside of my cabinets. What a clutter I have made on top of them.

The inside :o( the top right cubbie is the only place I have for my egg art items. My mother has 2 rooms and a cellar full, ha ha ha

Half of my closet. What a mess! The shelves on top are so full I dread looking for something on them since loads of stuff comes tumbling down.

The other half of my closet. YIKES! More stuff on the floor looking for a home.

Did you notice all the ripped paper and bubble wrap on the floor. That was my doxie when he got into my garbage barrel. And the doggie beds...3 of them. The doggies just HAVE to be in there when it am. Boy, they seem to take up so much room even thought they are small since the doggies are chihuahua's and a doxie.

What I really need is a Scrap box desk, The biggest one! But, since that is a pie in sky dream, I guess I will have to work with what I have.

How long do you think it will take me? I am hoping it will only be 3 days. I would rather just craft, but as you can see, it really is not an option right now. WISH ME LUCK!

HUGS, Sandy O

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2011-12-22T04:40:00.000-08:00

I saw this at Nicecrane Designs Calling Cards and thought it was perfect to:

WISH YOU ALL THE HAPPIEST OF CHRISTMAS'S

AND

BLESSED NEW YEAR!!!

Hugs always

Sandy O

Stitched Snowflake Card

2011-12-21T07:01:00.000-08:00

I have missed hand stitching on cards. It is so relaxing (when I don't make any mistakes, lol) When I saw this new stitching design Ignacio created for his Nicecrane Designs store, well....I just had to make it.

I used my very favorite Christmas color combo, blue and silver. At first I thought a nice Thomas Kinkade image would look nice in the center. But...when I went through my 15 or so TK stamps, I realized that I only have summer and fall images. The new owners of Cornish Heritage Farms did post that they will, in the future, be selling the TK again, YEAH!!! Here's hoping there will be some winter ones to add to my collection.

I decided a nice snowflake would look really pretty instead. I have not used this SU set in a very long time and I still think this snowflake image is soooo pretty. I used some silver micro fine glitter on it. The layer around the snowflake is actually a very shimmery silver paper, though it shows up white in the photo.

Here is a close up of the pretty stitching pattern. It really is easy to do and is perfect for beginners. Ignacio made the directions so easy to follow. After printing out the patten to 51/2 x 5 1/2" I pierced the blue card stock making very small holes since they are close together. Then I stitched using a #10 needle. I chose to use some silver thread. Since the holes are a bit on the small side, I separated the 3 strands that the strand off the spool is made out of. If you use regular embossing floss, you would want to separate the strands also. Then only used 1 of the separated strands to sew with.

All in all, it only took me about 4 hours to pierce and stitch the complete design. That includes letting my 3 pups in and out, one at a time of course. They never seem to have to go out all at the same time, sheesh.

The inside was a bit hard to photograph because of the light reflecting off the pretty shimmery silver card stock. The snowflake and sentiment are stamped with a dark blue ink which matches the blue card stock. It does show up well in real life. The sentiment says, "May the blessing of the season shine upon you" and is from SU also.

The card looked a bit naked without any embellishment, so I added some outline sticker corners. Cards just NEED to have some embellishments, lol

I, again, thank you so much for stopping by and spending some time with me!

HUGS, Sandy O

Ice Fairy Gifts

2011-12-20T08:21:00.000-08:00

I finally finished some of the gifts for my husbands family. They are for the nieces and nephews that have no kids. The ones that do have little ones, we just buy for them. What a huge family he has. Thank God I have a very small family or we would not be able to eat for a month, lol

They are made from real medium size goose eggs and are called Ice Fairy. I made 4 in blue, 1 in purple and 1 in yellow/gold.

I was only able to get the purple photographed and one picture of the yellow/gold before my camera battery died. I do not have time to wait for it to charge to make this post, so perhaps I will posts the blue later (which happens to be my favorite)

Why? Well, I have the next 2 weeks off of babysitting my grandson so am planning to go through my house top to bottom. It has not been done since my illness last year! Yikes, I think it will be quite the chore, but a wonderful way to start the new year. I know my husband will be thrilled, lol.

In this photo you can see the icy snow around the opening pretty well. You will not believe what is used for snow on eggs. It is bath & tub silicone! I would never have thought for a second that this could be used on egg art! It works so well and dries completely in 3 hours if the correct one is purchased. Of course, a ton of white glitter is added to the outside and inside of the snow.

This is the very first egg I cut the opening out myself. Such a simple opening, I thought it would be so easy. But it is much harder than I ever thought it would be. The shell is thin then thick which makes the dremel tool kind of bounce around. So glad that the edges are covered, lol
This is a fairly good picture of the inside details. Isn't the fairy so cute. She is made out of porcelain and hand made and painted. A dear friend sent these to me for her cost which was $10.00! And then she added all the do dads needed to complete the egg. My mother has quite a supply of the eggs, so the final cost for this was the fairy, a tube of silicone and some glitter.

The back trees are in three layers, one layer in front of the other, getting smaller at the layers get closer to the front. It is hard to see but it adds a really nice dimension to the scene.

This kind of shows the pretty chain bottom decoration as well as the Swarvoski crystal beads for the top hanger. The ribbon is not part of the egg, I just used it to hang it on the stand.

Oooooo...Look at that glitter. I used micro fine glitter from the Art Institute Glitter called Lavender. What is so good about the micro fine glitter is that it covers completely with one coat. One 1/4 oz container completely covered 4 of these eggs. Just imagine how long a 1/4 oz would last using it for paper crafting.

Here is the one picture of the yellow/gold egg. You can see how they are the same but different. It is hard to see the glitter that covers the egg in this photo, but am pretty sure you can see it better if you click on it to see it a bit enlarged.

Thank you so much for stopping by!!! HUGS, Sandy O

Cards and Gifts

2011-12-15T10:11:00.000-08:00

I have been so busy the past couple of days trying to finish my Christmas cards. Boy am I glad I decided to make them all the same this year. I really should follow others example of starting to make them in January.

I only made 34 of these, you can see the details here. I did make a couple of individual special cards, but that is it, you can see them here, here and here. I hope this is enough, lol. I guess I should have counted how many I needed before I made them. Certainly hoping my guess is right, lol. All I have to do now is sign them, address them and hopefully get them in the mail BEFORE Christmas!

I also made some bookmarks for my sister-in-laws. My husband has 7 older sisters, the poor guy, lol. They like to read, so I thought these would be nice to give. They are made with real quail eggs, so all are different sizes and shapes.

Here is one of them which I think you can see a bit better than the pic with all of them laying down.

The eggs are covered with 5 minute epoxy which has pearl-ex mixed in. I must say that it is really hard to get the epoxy to coat the egg evenly before the epoxy starts to dry, lol. Here you can see the glitter like sparkle the pearl-ex added.

The rim is a Swarvoski chain wrapped around the top thingy (for lack of being able to remember the name of them right now) that the jump rings are put on to make the egg hang.

These balls (can't think of the name of these right now either, lol) are also Swarvoski crystals. They are so pretty as they shine in different colors depending on how the light hits them.

I really hope they like these. I am not sure how to wrap them yet. I am hoping to have time to get to the craft store to see if they have some long skinny gift boxes.

Thank you for spending some time with me today...HUGS...Sandy O

3D Display Globe Card

2011-12-12T08:19:00.000-08:00

Ohhhhh...I am so excited to show you this card today. It is the first oval aperture card I made from Flower Soft. I used the 3D kit called Christmas Snow Globes. This kit is not die cut so you have to cut the layers by hand. I did not find it hard to do or time consuming at all.

After adhering all the layers with dimensionals, I added lots of the Ultra Fine White to make the snow on the church, trees and ground. I just had to snaz up the star so I added some of the Flower Soft Diamond Range Silver. I am not sure if it looked better without the silver, since the silver is not ultra fine. I do wish it came in ultra fine. Actually, it would be nice if more of the colors came this way as well as the original Flower Soft.

Here you can see the layers. As I added the snow, I did not completely cover the trees, roof, hill, which is on the right side and the snow in front of the church. You really can't see the snow mounds in front of the church well in the photo, it looks like the loose glitter I added to the globe is covering it. But in real life you can see it pretty well. I chose to just add the Flower Soft where I thought the snow would pile up. Kind of like how it would pile on roof shingles and mound on the hill and along the walkway in front of the church. I think that is kind of hard to see too, unless you click on it to see it a bit enlarged.

Oh My Gosh, isn't this paper just the prettiest! I found it at a scrapbook store and just had to have a few sheets. Kind of which I bought more, lol. The corners gave me such fits, grrr. It was so hard to get the sizzlet (I think that is what they are called) to cut through the silver card stock. I tried so many times, I used up just about a full sheet just to make 4 corners.

I am going to have to try gluing the bottom of the pearls again, I think. This is where the ends connected and the ends just would not stay around the oval. I could of held it in place for a half hour or so, but...sheesh...who wants to do that!

I made the inside using the same gorgeous paper as the front. It embosses so well. The sentiment came out perfect even with such a small font. The paper also takes ink well, so there was no problem using it for the layer where a personal not would be added.

I am a bit disappointed that the loose Flower Soft clings to the globe a bit. I guess I expected the globes to be static free or something. It is not to bad, certainly could be much worse.

This card absolutely will not go through the mail without lots of extra postage, so I think I will give it to someone I would hand it to in person. Maybe my Pastor. I have a few more I can make, since the card kit comes with enough to make 5 cards. The 3D sheets also come in 4 scenes, so hopefully I can make the 3 others. Then think of 3 people I will be handing the card to in person. LOL. Hmmm...I will have to check to make sure I have enough of that pretty paper.

Well, off to make my mailable Christmas cards, which you can see here. I thought I made a simple design, but when making 20 or so, is does not seem so simple, lol Oh well...maybe I will figure out an even simpler one for next year.

Thanks for spending some time with me today! HUGS...Sandy O

My First 3 Stick Pins

2011-12-09T05:29:00.000-08:00

I entered a stick pin swap over at Crafters Digital Art Center. We are to make 3 different pins for the other people on our swap list, which is 5 other people. There were 2 categories to choose from, Love or Spring. I chose Spring. Pizzazz Aplenty is sponsoring the challenge. There is still plenty of time to join if you would like.

The first 2 are butterflies. Everything used on them are from Pizzazz Aplenty with the exception of the tear drop ones on the yellow pin. Those are from Stampin' Up, which I purchased eons ago. They come clear, so I used my copics to color them to match.

The 3 beaded pin also came in white, so again I used my copics on them. Using my metallic gel pens, I went around the top pearls, the pink silver, the yellow gold.

I love this tiny butterfly. I am so glad it matched the rest of the pin.

For the 3rd one, I wanted to use flowers. Everything here is again from Pizzazz Aplenty with the exception of the large Prima flower, the charm and jump rings. I seem to grab these where ever there is a good price for ones that I like, so I have no idea where I got them.

To get the flowers on the pin, I simple wrapped the stem around the pin 3 or 4 times. I cut off the remainder of the stem and added glue to the back of the flower and kind of squished it against the stem to keep it from sliding down. I thought it would look cute to have the flowers smaller as they went down the pin.

I love these tiny rose buds. I only have them in white and red, so, of course, I colored it with a copic.

Lastly, I wracked my brain about what to do with that hole at the top of the pin. These have always made me think I did not want to make stick pins because I had no idea what to do with it. How in the world would I cover it. I could just leave it, but it looks unfinished to me when it is. I decided to add a charm to the pin. I have none of those chains others seem to have (not really sure where to get them) so I used some jump rings. After going through my gazillion charms, I found these leaves.

I really hope the others in my group really like these. I know that styles/colors of paper and embellishments change all the time, but I doubt that butterflies and flowers will ever end up on the old style list.

I thought that all three pins could be packaged together in one box per person, but after rereading the "rules" I think they need to be wrapped individually. Grrrrrr, I purchased some really pretty gift boxes that are the perfect size to hold all 3 from, yes, Pizzazz Aplenty, so I hope my first thought was right. I just posted the question on the forum...wish me luck on that, lol

I hope you all have a super duper weekend...Hugs...Sandy O

3 Cards, 1 Image

2011-12-08T05:31:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! Today I want to show you the adorable Dolly Dingle 3D Image < (link directly to Dolly Dingle) from Nicecrane Designs. Such cutie pie image using the Campbell Soup type girl images.(remember them?) I love Ignacios' images and paper as well as making 3D images, as you all know. Well, I just could not wait to use this wonderfully adorable Dolly Dingle.

I had so much fun with her, I ended up making 3 different cards. I am only going to show you the outside of the cards since I did not take the time yet to do the inside. I was enjoying her just to much!

On this card I think I may have added to many pearls (is that possible, lol) Believe it or not, I find putting on pearls and jewels quite relaxing now that I discovered the bottle and tip that makes tiny dots of glue. You can see what bottle I am talking about in my post HERE. The top layer just under the embellies is a patterned paper with some very pale pink swirls. I just could not get it to show up well, so the layer looks white.

For my first card, I used the image as the directions indicate. Isn't she just so cute.

This is the first time I have made the green twirls to use with the flowers. Ever since the first time I saw someone use them, I have been wanting to use them too. I had no idea how to make them or where to buy them though. I asked one blogger but she never got back to me. Finally, I found a blog where she told how to make them. I wish I could remember whose blog it was, but I don't and did not book mark it for some reason.

TIP: It is so simple, I felt silly for not thinking of it. You simply twist the stem of the flower on a small round tool, such as an embossing tool (which is what I used) I am not sure if others leave the stem on the flowers or not, but I cut mine off and then twisted them. This gives the ability to put them where ever you want.

Here you can see the layers on the image. They are big enough to make cutting them out easy. I used quite a thick card stock to print it out on, which left the edges showing white. I simply used my Copic C3 marker around all the edges before adhering them.

For this card, I printed the image out 2 times. Both of them fit on one sheet when I cropped off the directions. I made it as the directions indicated, then took it one step further. Using the second set of the image pieces, I cut them down even more. An example would be just the rim and flowers on the hat and just the toe part of the shoes. This made the image have 5 layers.

Once I was finished with this card, I still had one of the bottoms of the image left. I decided to use it for a "flat" card. Again, the paper is not showing the colors correctly. The plain paper is actually Old Olive from SU. I have no idea why it looks kind of grey. Hmmm...This new camera just may be to full of bells and whistles for me. I did finally figure out the "white" setting, but I guess getting the correct colors to show is another setting...sigh.

All 3 cards are so similar, making them was quite easy since the designing part was done with the first one. AND....WOW...MIRACLE OF MIRACLES...I found the perfect paper for all three in the first paper pack I picked up!!!

The dragonflies are from Penny Duncan who has a store on Etsy. She sells the finished dragonflies as well as some butterflies. She also has directions on how to make them if you prefer to do so. I prefer to purchase the finished ones, lol. The tutorial included free cut files so you don't even have to cut them out by hand. How great is that! What a sweet person she is. You can find the tutorial HERE. OK, not only that!!! She has loads of free cutting files for you to down load and enjoy. Check out her blog HERE.

Phew...This post is a bit longer than my usual posts, so if you stuck with me...THANK YOU :o) I hope you like the 3 ways to use this image.

Have a super duper week...HUGS...Sandy O

Beautiful Swan

2011-12-06T06:41:00.000-08:00

I have, for quite some time, really wanted to get this die cut from Cheery Lynn, but it was so expensive. I just did not want to use up that much of my craft money just on one thing. I finally bit the bullet, though. It came in last week and I got right to using it (unlike a lot of other items I buy, lol)

As you all must know by now, I have a really hard time using black. For this card I just could not think of a better color to use.

I used some of my much horded Washi paper for this card. I decided that the die cut was deserving enough to pull it out and finally use it. You can see it much better 2 photos down.

This black ribbon is so pretty with it's ruffles, but looked a bit plain by itself. I added this cord with gold intertwined through out it. The black makes the gold show up really nicely.

On the inside frame and parts of the swan on the outside, I used a gold gel pen to add a bit of shine to match the shiny gold in the paper. For a gel pen it is much shinier than I ever expected. I think it is even prettier than my beloved Kryon gold leaf marker.

Now, this inside frame is part of the swan die cut. It surrounds the swan. No matter what I did, the frame would cut completely off. I am not sure if this is supposed to happen. Instead of trying to adhere it around the outside image, I decided it would be really nice on the inside.

This die was much harder to do than I expected after watching the videos on the Cheery Lynn site. Not so bad that I would never use their dies again, though. Some of those tiny triangles had to be poked out, actually about 1/3rd of them did. If you have the patience (and the money, lol), I would say to not shy away from these dies.

Thank you for stopping by. To those I follow and those who follow me and leave comments, I am excited to stop by your blogs to see your latest projects. As of right now, my computer is being REALLY slow. Grrrr...So it might take me a bit of time to visit.

Hugs, Sandy O

Flower Soft Die Cuts

2011-12-02T08:24:00.000-08:00

WOW, Have I been busy. I did not realize just how busy until I saw the date of my last post. I had some really minor surgery yesterday and because of the endocarditis last year I had to see several Dr.'s before getting the OK to have it. Sheesh.

I had to purchase a new camera, which I love. It has so many bells and whistles. The manual is 250 pages long though, so I am still learning to use it and will be for quite a while I am sure, lol. I use the macro setting most of the time so read that section twice. I am still having a hard time getting it to focus on that setting though. Then, even without the flash, the pictures come out a bit bright. I tried changing the "white" setting, but I have not read that part of the manual. Anyway, all that just to say I am sorry the photos are not the greatest. Hopefully I will get used to it soon.

I have worked on this card on the couple of the days I did have to play. I had been wanting to try the Flower Soft Die Cuts for a while and finally bit the bullet and bought some.

They are so easy since everything is die cut. All you have to do is take your embossing tool and rub the back side of the cut leaves and flower petals. The center oval had a peach colored rim around it, but it did not match the paper I chose. I simply cut it off and went over the edge of it with one of my SU ink pads. I also do not have the right color Flower Soft for the center of the flowers, so I just colored some white pearls with my Copics and glued them on.

In this photo you can see the color of the flowers much better You also can see the layer using some pretty home made paper I bought years ago and never found a project to use it for. The lace was hard to see alone, so I added some ribbon under it, now the details on the lace show quite well. It looked a bit naked, so I added some flat backed pearls on top.

The sentiment I chose is from Stampin' Up. It fit the oval perfectly. I don't own many sentiments. I used to think that I could just type one up and print it, lol. What was I thinking! Imagine trying to get a sentiment printed in the center of a die cut oval! I will be watching for more rubber sentiment stamps, that is for sure.

Agggg...look at how bright that is :o( I even edited it! Well, even though the colors are not showing up well, I am sure you get the idea of how the inside looks. I really like the home made paper here. The texture it adds is wonderful and the dried flowers and stems in it show up more.

I was going to stamp a Thank You inside but decided that if I did I would want to use it for something else. Then not be able to because of it, lol

Thank you all for sticking with me through this busy time. I plan on doing a few projects today. Because of the "minor" surgery yesterday my husband told me to take it easy today...OH, how I love that man!!! Tee he he

Have a super weekend everyone,
{{{HUGS}}} Sandy O

I Don't Know If I Like This

2011-11-23T05:56:00.000-08:00

Hmmmm...To like or not like, that is the first question of the day. This card certainly did not turn out like my minds eye pictured it, but that is not unusual. This time though I almost did not post it. Since it is the only thing I have been able to make in the past few days, I figured I would just swallow and post, lol

I showed it to my son to see what he thought (he has a really good eye for this kind of thing) and he was not sure of the color combos. Hmmmm....I think I like the contrast though, which is the only part I do like, SIGH. What do you think?

What she is skating on is supposed to be ice. I added crystal effects to some vellum and when it was dry covered it with some of the new SU mica flakes. These are a bit to large for me, but they really are pretty. They kind of covered a lot of the shine of the crystal effects.

Here you can see some of the details I added. The sentiment is embossed in silver and says "Be Merry". The paper tole image is from Sliekje Digi Stamps. This is not a digi stamp though. It is a 3D cut out sheet I was able to purchase from betsylurvink. At the time that I purchased it, there were only about 4 different sheets, but there are a lot more now. You can see them all here.

These sheets are not die cut, so need to be cut by hand. They are so cute though, I did not mind the cutting at all. The image is 4 layers and all the parts are large enough to make popping up with dimensionals really easy.

Being a bit bummed out about how it came out, I ended up leaving the inside plain. I think I may go back and add a sentiment and maybe some of the die cut snow flakes.

These are the first pictures I took with my new camera. I love it. It has a 250 page manual! On CD too, the stinkers. I had to print it out or I never will figure out all the dodads it has. I think it will still take me a few months to make all the fun things that cost extra worth the money, but...how fun it will be to actually understand and use all the modes, video recordings and stuff!

I ended up getting the day off babysitting today. My son-in-law's classes were cancelled due to the weather. Now I have a decision to make. Do I clean up my craft room or....just craft around the mess, lol

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving...{{{HUGS}}} Sandy O

2011 Christmas Card #2

2011-11-18T06:48:00.000-08:00

I finally got my camera to take a few pictures this morning. They are not the best as I could not get the editing software to remove some of the brightness. But this is the card I wanted to share yesterday and am glad I got some pictures that you can hopefully see well.

This wreath is from a Dufex 3D sheet. The sheets are die cut so they are very simple to make. All the Dufex sheets are so pretty and shimmery. They are a bit on the expensive side compared to others, but well worth the extra money. This wreath has 4 layers which were very easy to pop up with some SU dimensionals (1/8 of an inch high I believe). I added some yellow pearls to the center of the flowers and some tiny cranberry pearls to the red centers and berries.

I found this paper at a local craft shop, but it was flat with not shimmer. I decided to try spraying it with some Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist and it worked very well. HINT: one thing I learned is that you should cut the paper to the desired size before spritzing. The paper does curl just a bit and I had the hardest time getting a straight cut.

I did not have ribbon wide enough to go under this pretty lace ribbon. What I ended up doing was adhering 2 pieces of ribbon, one on each side, so that the gold peaked out from under the lacy ribbon. It still looked a bit naked, so I added a few pearls.

Popping everything up on with dimensionals gave a really nice dimension to the whole card. For the bottom layer I had to use dimensional dots which are 1/4 inch high due to the thickness of the ribbon. Because of the thickness of the wreath though, the added height of this layer ended up being just right.

I wish I had more of these Dufex sheets. I only had one that my mother bought for me a year ago to make for last Christmas. Since I was to ill last year to make cards, I was excited to pull it out for this year. The sheet only had 2 wreaths, this one and one with white flowers and some borders. I don't like the borders so will only get 2 cards out of the sheet.

This one came out so pretty. The pictures really don't do it justice. The shimmer of the whole card is perfect, just really hard to photograph.

Well, I try not to make my "talking" to long since I know that I have a hard time reading the whole post on some of the blogs that I visit. But I like to read the whole post before leaving a comment. If my posts are to long, I would love for you to let me know :o)

I found out last weekend that my grammar is really poor, lol. I don't use my comma's properly as well as my prepositions and things like that. My son and husband seem to know all the "rules". And my spelling, well, all I can say is I am sooo thankful for spell check! I am thrilled you all bare with me, lol. as I doubt I will ever learn them. <<<SIGH>>>

Have super weekend everyone...HUGS, Sandy O

Just For Fun

2011-11-17T09:13:00.000-08:00

Aggg...As I said the other day, my camera is giving me fits. On a good note, my husband said I can go and buy another one. So that is one of the things I am going to do on Saturday.

I did make another Christams card I so wanted to share with you,....but...until then, I have bookmarked these 3 videos that I thought I would share with you. You are sure to get more than a chuckle out of these!

This one you may have seen before but if you are like me, you won't be able to get enough of it.

This next one made me laugh when the culprit was found.
Since this one is not on You tube, there was not link to imbed it into the blog. Here is the link though.

LINK

Last but not least, here is another one that is not on You Tube. So here is another link.

LINK

I hope these brought a smile to your face today.

HUGS, Sandy O

Ornament #2

2011-11-15T02:13:00.000-08:00

I know I really need to get back to actually "transforming" paper! I miss doing teabag folding, iris folding, altered media (like my butterfly house here), coloring, etc. Maybe making some home made paper from my scraps, which I have wanted to do for a long time. That would be the ultimate transformation of paper, lol

Until then...I have made another ornament. This is the second of the Nicecrane Designs ornaments. The ornaments are so unique, I just love them. I am not sure why I can't find this one on the site :o( but there are 3 others there. One of the three I made you can see here.

This is the top of the ornament. As you can see, I used beads and cord to decorate this one.

I also used this very unique glitter called Elements. I know it has been around for a while, but I wanted to see it in real life before purchasing it. Not only is it really nice and a bit chunky, but it smells so yummy. This one smells like an herb I just can't place right now. My husband thought it smelled like chicken soups, lol. I really think it is just an herb that would go into it. The store had others that I smelled. They all smell soooo yummy or pretty.

Here are some views of the 4 sides of the ornament:

I did not add any embellishments to the pictures. I just couldn't think of any that would dress them up without distracting from the nice vintage look .

I hope your not sick of seeing the Nicecrane Designs, lol, I like them so much I have not strayed from them...I am planning on doing so on my next project though. Sooooo...if you are a bit bored, just hold on, lol

Thank you so much for stopping by...{{{HUGS}}} Sandy O

My 1st 2011 Chrstmas Card

2011-11-14T01:43:00.000-08:00

WOW, I am becoming such a lazy paper crafter! I miss having time to color (it has been so long that I am kind of intimidated by it now, YIKES) Usually I make my Christmas cards a bit more complicated (for lack of a better word) that this one. Then I make about 5 different ones.

I don't really have photos of the ones that I sent on this blog, they are on my old blog, just some I made for challenges or something are here. You can see one here that I did send out where I was brand new to coloring. I only had Pro-markers, no Copics and blending was something I never even heard about, lol. You can't see the inside either, but....you can see I spent lots of time coloring quite a few of them.

Ohhhhh...to have such time now!

Again, I used a Nicecrane Designs picture, as I have been doing quite a bit lately. I wanted a nice nativity scene that I did not need to color...of course. When I received an email of this new set, I was so happy that the perfect nativity scene was included with it.

I found this wonderful gold paper at Jo Ann's about an hour from my house. I only got one to make sure it matched well and it matched perfectly. Next time I go to my mothers (which happens to be tomorrow, yeah!) I need to stop there on the way and hope they have more.

I distressed the edges of the picture with some Viva Decor Inka-gold. I saw it at a not so local craft store and thought it looked interesting. Since it was a trial size, I figured I would give it a try. It is like a paste and I used my fingers to apply it. It is a bit different from the Krylon gold leaf marker I usualy use.

The sentiment is from the new SU set called The Sounding Joy. I just love the script and flourished of it. To get the ribbon to lay flat I just ran my ATG over the whole things. That worked really well at keeping it from popping up in the center. Gosh, look at the gold paper, lol, I just love it.

Can you see the "Joy" on the bottom of the front here? This is from the same SU set. I really like the gold on gold and it does show up a bit better in real life.
Boy, am I so glad for the spell check that Blogger has. I just can't spell even some of the simpler words! Can you believe I misspelled "finger"!!! bwaaa ha ha ha

Have a wonderful day and thank you so much for stopping by
{{{HUGS}}} Sandy O

Gift Box Worth Keeping

2011-11-11T09:46:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking about what I am going to give for Christmas gifts this year. I most likely will give items I have made or will make out of real eggs, such as ornaments. One thing I like when I receive gifts for Christmas is when the item comes with a box to keep it in. Especially breakable items. When I saw the Christmas Birds pictures from Nicecrane Designs, I though they could be used for an adorable gift box to put gifts in for storage.

I ordered some of the gift boxes from SU and they are really small! Now that I have 2 packages of them, I have no idea what to use them for, lol. I am willing to bet that you have items you bought that are not what you expected too! Have you ever found something to use them for? I would love to hear about them!

I found some good sized gift boxes and though they are not exactly white (there are just too many different whites out there...soooooo confusing when ordering on line!) they are the perfect size for what I needed, which is 4x4. I only wish I could remember where I ordered them from...grrrr

I really wanted to use this vellum paper with the sparkly dots and "x's" but could not see the sparkly design when placed on the gift box. I decided to put some colored cardstock behind it, that matched the pictures.

To add some dimension to the pictures, I added some of the SU glitter glue (just like stickles but dries much faster). I only placed it on the snow that is at the forefront of the picture so that the back snow really looks like it is further back (did that make sense ? LOL)

Here are photos of the other 3 sides:

I kept the top really simple. I had this poinsettia from last years supplies. It was way easier then trying to make a nice big bow, tee he he Sadly I only have 1 white and loads of red. I did not like the red with this, the white really looks so much better. I guess I will just HAVE to go shopping...darn...

The center was gold, but I did not like that either. I really wanted it silver. What I did was cover all the gold with Aleene's glue and dipped them in the beautiful SU silver glass.

Here you can see not only how pretty it looks, but that I missed one! I had no idea until I took the photo. When I went back to fix it and take another photo, I just could not find it! WOW...I know it is there somewhere, because it is quite obvious in this photo.

I guess you can see that I am not the perfect crafter, lol. I like when I find a blog that it's items are not exactly perfect. Makes me feel like I am in good company, ha ha ha When items are so perfect, well, I feel like my items are just not up to snuff...know what I mean.

I am sorry if the photos are not very clear. My camera is giving my such fits! It is shutting off on it's own while I am trying to take photos. Then when I down load them, some come up blank :o( It is about 10 years old, but I really liked it...LIKED being the main word right now. I guess it is time for a new camera too, but that does not fit into my crafting budget. I am hoping that it will last until Christmas (I am dropping hints now, tee he he)

Have a super duper weekend everyone...

{{{HUGS}}} Sandy O

Ladybug House

2011-11-04T13:13:00.000-07:00

I have not gotten into my craftroom yet. The electricity is out and there is absolutely not enough natural light to craft with. Choosing colors would just be a nightmare. Sooo...I decided that I would show you my favorite project I made at the egg art show a couple of weeks ago.

This will give you an idea of how small it is. Isn't that just so cute? The egg is a real quail egg that I am sure mom quail gave up willingly so it could be craft with, lol The outer shell has only a couple of coats of mod podge on it so that the natural coloring of the egg shows.

Here you can see the mom talking to the baby. The flowers are made with what eggers call scibbles, but it looks and feels just like flower soft to me. I have no idea where the teacher got so many tiny flat stones for the walkway as there had to be 50 eggers in this class and she also sells kits on her website. And, wow, the doors were pre-cut in the eggs for us...she is one patient person!

I thought that the material to make the shrubs was really neat. Those pinecones are simply adorable. We painted them green and plopped them on with Aleene's tacky glue. I would love to know where she gets these itty bitty pinecones too!

From the top you can see almost the whole yard. I am not sure what the orange stuff used for trees is called, but I think it added some really nice color contrast to it. You can also see the lines and dots on the ladybugs. They were made with a sharpy marker. The mom was not to bad, but the baby, wow, I still don't know how I did it, lol

If you know anyone looking for a house, as you can see, this one is for sale, lol. What a fantastic touch it was to add that.

I hope you like it. Hopefully we will have our electricity soon (we are almost finished with day 6! YIKES)

{{{HUGS}}} Sandy O

Butterfly Wedding

2011-11-03T07:02:00.000-07:00

Phew...finally got my computer back. We have been without power for 5 days now. A co-worker of Paul's got his back and offered to let us use his generator! WOW...now we have hot water, a running refrigerator, one lamp, TV, a coffee maker (the top priority, lol) and computer. I am hoping that the one lamp will light my craft room enough to play today. I am really sick of reading by flashlight!

I do have a wedding card I made while I was on break.

As you know, I LOVE shimmer paper. I also can't get enough of this nestie die. Butterflies seem so perfect as a couple begins their new life together. I added lots of pearls to kind of make up for the lack of pattern paper and they just look so pretty. Of course, as always, I purchased these from Pizzazz Aplenty.

I have to say, I really like how everything blended together. The small amount of pattern paper I do have here is a digital paper I got from Bearly Mine Designs. The light embossing of the 3rd layer is from the SU Texturz Plates. Doesn't it add such a pretty and soft look.

Here you can get a better look at the pattern paper. I am so at awe as to how well digital paper prints out. I find a lot of them print out as an 8x8 pattern, which seems to waste a lot of paper. The patterns are so pretty, though, so I use them anyway, lol

I so wanted to use the smaller version of the die, so decided to add it to the back of the front (back of the front, lol, sound so funny!) It was a good way to get some ribbon on there too :o)
Have super wonderful day!!! {{{HUGS}}} Sandy O

Tips and Tools

2011-10-28T06:49:00.000-07:00

Oppps, lol, I meant to publish this tomorrow! I guess you get 2 long posts today {blush}

***Yesterday I mentioned that I tried the SU equivalent of the Stickles. As you can see below, the SU is pretty much the same color as the Star Dust Stickles.

I was a bit disappointed when the SU one arrived since I already have 4 bottles of the Stickles! Why??? I am not really sure since one bottle lasts a really long time, lol

To my suprise though, the SU one dries much faster!!! I added quite a bit of this glitter glue and it dried completely in less than an hour, WOW! This was WONDERFUL since I am a very impatient person and tend to smear the Stickles due to my refusal to wait long enough.

***Talking about glue, do you add a blob of glue to a paper and use a toothpick to adhere small items like pearls and gems? Well, here is the perfect solution.

I LOVE these small glue bottles. They come in 3 different sizes with the metal tips having slightly larger hole in each size. You can fill with your favorite glue and finally enjoy adding those small pretty embellies to your project. These tips really make a tiny glue dot, perfect for non-adhesive pearls and gems. This is what I used for my ornament yesterday as well as adhering the thin cord.

You can find these from The Golden Egg Of Idaho (they will only charge actual shipping and are super fast) or the Eggery Place. You can find some less expensive, but I would not recommend purchasing the tips seperate from the bottles or kits offered elswhere. These ones come with a pin that fits inside each metal tip. This is important because, not only do they fit perfectly...but, also are stainless steal. Stainless steal will not rust as the nickle plated pins do. I had the darndest time finding stainless steal pins and none that were small enough for these tips. Before adding the metal tip on the ones from The Golden Egg, make sure to cut the plastic tip down to the ring, leaving the ring in tact. The Eggery Place bottles should be cut much less. the tips click on the plastic bottles diffently.

***These are my all time favorite tweezers. I love the pointy tips each have. The smaller ones are just fabulous for thing like turning pearls and gems when they flip over. Being smaller, there is more control when using them. These can also be purchase from the Eggery Place.

***I have tried so many of those sticky type tools made specifically for picking up pearls. gems and beads. I did not like any of them. None seemed to work well for me, not even the wet spagetti trick. Then I found these at Pizzaz Aplenty.

They are called Gel Pickers and they are perfect. They are only .30 each! You can also purchase a package of the embellie gellie to make your own. I like buying the individual ones when I place an order since they last quite a while before dust gets on it causing the gel to not stick.

***Lastly, I have a couple of trick that I have learned and want to share with you.

To prevent cord from fraying you can give it a light coat of mod podge. Simply add a little to 2 of your finger tips and run the cord between them. Let it dry for a few minutes and you will not be able to tell. Any shine/glimmer from the cord will show through perfectly.

For my ornament yesterday, I only had white inridecent cord. I really wanted to use this kind for the egg, so I decided to try and color it with my copics (even after adding the mod podge) I ended up with colors that matched perfectly with the pearls and gems.

***Another thing I use mod podge for is to coat the paper around small holes. For the ornament yesterday, I gave 2 thin coats to the top and the cord is not going to rip the paper without a really hard pull.

WOW, what a long post, lol. I hope you were able to learn something new.

{{{HUGS}}} Sandy O

Winter Birds Ornament

2011-10-28T05:46:00.000-07:00

I made this adorable Christmas ornament from Nicecrane Designs yesterday. If you have not visited or purchased from here before, check it out, really. Ignacio is such a wonderful artist and person to deal with.

I love the shape of this ornament. while taping it together I learned that the ATG is definitely not the way to go, lol. Finally I thought of my scor tape and, WOW, how much easier that was. The best part of the scor tape, compared to the red line tape, is that it is ripable (no scissors needed) and the liner does not cling to everything.

There are different pictures on each side of the ornament

The cord, pearls and gemstones are all from Pizzazz Aplenty. Another wonderful site for embellishments. Judy is such a sweetheart and a pleasure to deal with.

If you click on one of the photos, you can see that I added some glitter glue to the snow. This time I tried the SU equivalent of Stickles.

Here is a photo of the ornament from the top. I just love the effect that the pearls and rhinestones add. I would have used all pearls or all rhinestones...but...I did not have the color or size I needed in both. Looks like I need to place an order, lol...Judy, here I come!

See the two edges that are a bit bent? Those are 2 I tried using my ATG for. As you can see, with the scor tape I was able to keep the edges straight.

Since I printed the ornament out on white paper, the edges were white. I fixed this with one of my Copic markers. It worked wonderfully.

Have you made any Christmas ornaments yet? I REALLY would love to see them and maybe glean some ideas ;o) Leave me a link if you would like to share and I will leave you some love!!!

{{{HUGS}}} Sandy O

Rosebuds

2011-10-27T06:59:00.000-07:00

Finally, my first card since July! I really felt so lost when I sat down to make something in my craft room after all this time. Then I thought...why not start with some of my favorite embellishments.

Although I have not been able to do any paper crafts, I spent loads of $ on stocking up and new to me embellishments. One of my favorite newbies are the cute little rose buds I found at Pizzazz Aplenty, along with the paper (except the green paper used on top), jewels, pearls and ribbon.

Aren't they just so cute. The green paper under the ribbon is the ruche paper from Paper Temptress. It adds a wonderful texture without having to emboss :o)

I added quite a few of the buds between the roses, too, as well as some of the white things, lol (I have absolutly no idea what to call them!). I have seen lots of crafters adding cute things popping out of the flowers and thought it would be difficult, but to my pleasant surprise it was not.

The lacey background paper I saw at a local scrapbook store and just had to get. I was not sure if I could cut the 12 x 12 sheets for cards. It seems to have worked out well, though 2 sides are die cut and 2 sides are straight. Next time I think I will cut the 2 die cut sides straight, I just did not think of it this time.

The layer and base are pretty shimmer paper and looks really pretty in the light. I love using this type of paper. It just seems to add that "extra something" as opposed to regular flat paper. To bad the colors are limited but one can make do.

Aren't these butterflies adorable. Penny Duncan makes them in a few colors as well as some dragonflies. The die cut circle is made form on of the Marianne Design Creatable Dies.

I hope you like this one. I will be able to spend my day in the craft room today, yeahhhhhhh!!! Wish me luck, lol!!!

{{{HUGS}}} Sandy O

What Has Kept Me Busy

2011-10-25T07:01:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone. WOW, it has been to long. I have finally finished the first item that has kept me busy the past couple of months. The first thing is the tiny paper flowers my mother and I made to sell at an egg art show. I have posted some of them before and you can see them by clicking flowers in the left column.

I have to say up front that I did not make the egg. The flowers inside, which are called punch flowers are what I made.

If you look closely, you can see the white trillium's scattered between all the roses. These are extremely time consuming, but are so very pretty. I am not sure if they could be used for cards, since they are so very small.

There was also an egg using the morning glories we made, but sadly I did not think to take a photo of it.

What else has kept me busy? Well this cutie has

This is my grandson. This photo was taken when he was 19 months old. He is now 22 months and his cubby cheeks have really slimmed down, but I just love this picture.

I babysit him for 11 hours on Mondays and Wednesdays. PHEW!!! It is so much fun to watch him as he makes me laugh so much (even when I shouldn't laugh at his antics) For sure, 11 hours does seem to really drag after the first 5 hours though...thank God for naps, lol

Now that the babysitting schedule is set and the flowers are finished, I can finally get back to my beloved card making, yeahhhhhh!

Thank you all for sticking with me through this time!!!!

{{{HUGS}}} Sandy O (grrrrrr...still have not figured out why me siggie is not working)

Beautiful Garden

2011-07-18T09:40:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about how to use a specific image for a few days and finally came up with something. It really is not to different from the last card I posted. I guess it is probably because the image came from the same set from Nicecrane Designs.

To make it a bit different I decided to frame the image by distressing the bottom layers. I also have been wanting to use one of the cameos that I purchased a while ago and thought this would be a good time to use one. I am not sure if it really looks right, but I put it on anyway, tee he he.

I added some machine stitching to the front, something I have not done in a while. I own one of the Janome Mini machines and it has not light at all so I need to put a lot of lights on around it. This really doesn't help much since me being there casts a shadow, but it makes me feel like it helps.

Here you can see the pearl swirl I used and the pretty cameo I wanted to use. I added the blue flowers to help the cameo match. The dress is kind of blue as well as the butterfly having blue gems on it, so I think it kind of matches.

This is one of the butterflies I have purchased from Penny Duncan at her Etsy store which can be found here. Not only does she sell these, she has wonderful tutorials on her blog to show you how to make the butterflies and dragonflies she makes. You can find here blog here. I much prefer to purchase them since I am not sure about cutting the clear paper she uses. You may want to check it out and give a try though.

Here is the card front. See what I mean about the cameo. It is a pretty one, but I am not exactly sure if it really looks right. What do you think?

The inside is basically the same but simpler. I still stiched the edges, though. I thought about not stitching it and felt like I was just being lazy, lol

I hope you all have a wonderful week!
Hugs,

Garden Delight

2011-07-14T03:52:00.000-07:00

I know I have not been posting everyday as I have been. Things have gotten so busy. I am now babysitting my grandson again, though only 2 days a week. I go to my mothers on Fridays to work on those itty bitty flowers to sell at the Egg Show in October. Finally, Sundays are busy with church activities. I need to revamp my schedule so I can get in my craft room more between all this.

Anyway...I do have a card for you today. Can you believe it took me 3 days to make this! WOW...it is hard to get my brain into crafting between busy days :o(

I really like this Nestie set. I have been having trouble getting it to cut properly and have had to cut some of the triangles with my craft knife. Finally it dawned on me to try new Big Shot plates (I try to make them last a long time, lol) and they came out perfect! So if you are having the same problem as I have had, you may want to try new plates.

This beautiful picture is from Nicecrane Designs and comes in a set of 8 called Women's Paintings Vol II . They are so pretty I could hardly wait to use one.

I was able to use one of my homemade butterflies using the Colorful Butterflies Collection, also from Nicecrane Designs. I have a tutorial on how to make them HERE. I really would love to have you try them out. They are really easy and I would love to see yours.

It seems that no matter what I did, the picture of the inside kept coming out crooked. Sorry about that.

Thank you for stopping by today and spending some of you time with me :o) <<<wish I knew how to add real smileys, lol

Hugs,

Water Baby

2011-07-11T06:13:00.000-07:00

I am so excited I just have to share. Not only have I been able to walk without pain the past 2 weeks, but yesterday I was able to take large (actually normal) steps again. YEAH! Considering I was very close to loosing function of my body from the waist down and the Dr said their may be permanent damage to the spinal cord I could not be more happy. Maybe I will be able to bring the dogs for short walks now :o) Anyway...thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

I also wanted to say thank you to everyone who comments on my creations. I am trying to catch up on leaving comments on yours as well as the other ones that I follow. If I have not gotten to yours yet, rest assured that I am still reading them and will be leaving comments soon :o)

There are 2 blogs I can't seem to access, so if Jaspere and Best Web Hosting are reading this, I am so sorry I have not been able to leave you comments.

OK...on to my card, lol I use one of the the new images from the Water Baby set at Nicecrane Designs. Ignacio is always working on new images so it is well worth bookmarking his store and checking back often.

I decided to layer the baby and paper tole the body for a more dimensional look. It is kind of hard to see here, but the paper toling gives it a nice raised look and feel.

Isn't this seaweed great. It is actually used for designing eggs, but I thought it was so perfect for this image. The tiny shells are actually shells that I collected back in high school. My boyfriend (husband now) and I went to the beach for the day and I collected tons of these because they were cute, lol, and to remember out day together. They are the perfect size for this card. The tiny sand dollars I did get from the local craft store. They are real and so cute too.

I colored the image with my copics and found that I lost my beloved C1 marker! How could I have done that, they never leave my desk. I looked everywhere and am so sad as it is my most used marker. I hate to pay shipping for just one marker too! Wish we had a store locally that sold them.

The inside of the card matches the front. I am not sure who I am going to give this to (if I give it away {wink})

Thank you for stopping by today. My long haired doxie is going to the groomer to get shaved. Not naked, lol, but he will look like a short haired doxie. Much more comfortable for him the in summer. Other than that (well...and the dishes) I am planning to spend the rest of the day in my craft room (and hope my lost marker will suddenly appear, lol)

Hugs,

Trilliums and Morning Glories

2011-07-09T06:20:00.000-07:00

My mother and I finally finished some of the itty bitty flowers we have been working on...phew...they are a bit of a challenge to work on since they are so very small. I have to wear magnifying glasses, lol. They are technically made to decorate eggs, but are the perfect size for inchies too.

Here are our first 2 Morning Glories. As you can see from the dime, they really are very tiny. We actually made 5 vines, but I took pictures of the first 2. The one on the left still has some glue to dry, but when it is dry, you can not see it.

These are the Trillium's we made. A dear friend that we met at the egg shows asked us to make them for her. We never heard of them before so had to look them up on Google Images. There are a few varieties, so we ended up making 3 different sizes. It took us quite a while to figure out how to make them, which sizes, which punches to use and which paper worked best. She wanted white ones, so that is what we made for her.

Smallest size.

Medium size.

Largest size is on the left.

Funny that my mother likes the smallest ones, while I like the biggest. We ended up making 110 of them.

You can see more of my itty bitty flowers by clicking the flower link in the left column. I made Lilly of the Valley and Dogwoods. The are smaller than these, lol, but I loved making them. They are my very favorite flowers after all ;o)

This is quite a different paper craft, I hope you like them.

Hugs,

Finally Got To The Craft Room

2011-07-07T10:03:00.000-07:00

Phew...I was finally able to make a card this morning. It is actually the first card in a while that came out exactly the way I pictured it.

I don't know where the paper came from...sooooo nice to have paper match up so quickly. The main layer is actually an image from Nicecrane Designs called Distressed Spring. I stamped the sentiment from one of my Stampin' Up sets. The butterfly and dragonfly I got from Penny's Etsy store where she sells handmade butterflies, dragonflies and flowers. I think they are so pretty and quite a bit different from the ones I made. They went so perfectly here.

See those wonderful tulips. They are from Pizzazz Aplenty. She has some really small ones too, which I am excited to use on some of my eggs. I also used her cord to tie you tulips and chocolate pearls.

Here is the whole card front. This was such a quick card to made since there was not coloring to do. I have some more of her images that I will be working on later today.

This is the first time I used this nestie label. I have had it for a while, but just never seemed to have a card to use them on. The Stampin' Up sentiment fit perfect.

What a wonderful morning in the craft room :o) I really needed a project to just fall together to encourage my mojo. Don't you just love when that happens :o) !!!

HUGS,

Blog Award

2011-07-07T05:04:00.000-07:00

I was blessed to recieve this blog award from the following blogers. Thank You! so very much ladies.
Kelli
Elizabeth
Cathie
Susan

Thank you so much ladies :o) >>> big hugs

7 things about myself
1. I am getting into, not only egg art, but making itty bitty paper flowers (about the size of 1/5th a dime) will post some soon

2. I have 3 pup, 2 chihuahua's and a doxie (who is vcery active and keeps me busy)

3. I married my high school sweetie and we have been married for 26 wonderful years

4. ummm...I am currently trying to think of 3 other things to share

5. I love flowers but and terrible at growing them. Finally decided on a Day Lily garden since they need very little attention but bloom beautifully

6. I am recovering from a 2 month hospital stay and, as of last week, can walk normal and walk up and down stairs without pain meds >>> Yeah!

7. I am blessed to be able to babysit my 19 month old grandson 2 days a week (Tues and Wed) and have not been able to craft like I want to. I have to rest on Thursdays, he is soooooo active, lol

I am passing this award to the following blogs:

Lisa
Ellie
Amy
Lorraine
Laurie & Kel
Tracey
Ettan (fantasic designer, he offer most for free, and a wonderful person)
Theresa

Please check out all the wonderful blogs :o)

Will be back later with a card I was able to finally make, lol

Hugs,

Birds and Butterflies

2011-07-02T07:19:00.000-07:00

(WARNING: lots of pictures for you to see what I am talking about >>>big smile, and lots of links for you to check out!)

I know I don't usually post on Saturday, but I just HAD to share with you a new blog and store I found. You are going to LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it. The blog is Nicecrane Designs. WOW, what stunning creations she has, what talent. She also has a store Nicecrane Designs you will not be disappointed when you check it out.
The designs are like no other I have seen and her prices are so fantastic. I could not decide what to buy, since everything is so lovely.

Here I am sharing some of her pre-colored images, but...she has the most beautiful digi stamps I have ever seen and I have seen a lot! After looking at her blog and store, I found my mojo, YEAH. I did not color any of the digis I bought yet because my mother had emergency surgery on her appendix last week. So...I made some simple projects to share with you.

First, I just had to make the pretty butterflies that I shared a tutorial for you >>> HERE. In the tutorial the butterflies are about 1/2". These I made a bit larger, between 1- 1 1/2". So much easier and perfect for adding to paper crafts.

I hope you can see the dimension of the paper tole used for the wings.
These butterflies have such beautiful detail. You can purchase the set of them HERE and make your own. They really are simple and if you have any questions about them you can always email me.

The wonderful thing about these butterflies is the detail they have. Much better than any clip art you would find. Here are some close ups for you to see what I mean.

Next I made some super duper fast bookmarks using the stunning Audubon Bookmarks. All you need to do is print out the bookmarks, cut (of course, lol) adhere to paper and add ribbon. She adds tastles to hers and they are fantastic you can see one HERE. I do not have tastles, so I used silk ribbon. To make sure the ribbon did not rip the holes, I added some of the Aleene's quick dry tacky glue around them.

Aren't they stunning. I simple love the sentiments on each of them. Here are some close ups for you to see the details.

For the base, I used the fantastic Ruche paper from Paper Temptress to add some texture and interest to the back.

I hope you like these and check out her blog and store, but...make sure you have some time, there is so much to see and you won't want to miss any of it.

Enjoy your holiday weekend.

HUGS,

Humming And Eating Away

2011-06-28T02:16:00.000-07:00

Hello :o) I am so glad you stopped by today. Why??? Because it is the first day of this weeks Digital Tuesday Challenge. The challenge this week is Flower Power. What fun, who does not like to use flowers on their cards, scrap book pages and altered media.

Our sponsor this week is the totally awesome Karens Doodles. The winner of this weeks challenge will win 3 digital stamps of their choice!

I simply could not seem to color this week. After taking a couple of weeks off coloring, it just seems to have gotten sloppy :o( I am so sad because I love her images and own quite a few of them. Please stop by the challenge blog and see some of the images that the DT used. They are so totally beautiful.

Since I just could not get coloring to look right, I used a pre-colored image I had in my digital stamps file.

Why siggie is here I have no idea! Blogger did not have the code for it in the HTML draft, so I could not remove it. Grrrrrr...You can just scroll down a bit to see my card.

I used a simple paper tole technique for this cutie. I think that the flower being paper toled makes it look like the humming bird beak is really inside the flower.

I am not sure if you can tell, but I also paper toled the birds body, head and some of the further away flower petals. It gave them a wonderful embossed look being raised from the paper. I did winkle the bird a bit, so really want to practice the the technique. It is so fun, I am sure I will be doing it a lot in the future.

I am really liking this new to me embossing folder from Stampin' Up. It has been in the catalog for the past year and was not sure I liked it. I saw some cards made with it and decided I just had to have it, lol. I used it for the base layer and like how it embossed the back of the card front, too, adding interest to the inside of the card.

Something great happened when I was making this card. While I was waiting for the glue to dry, I sat out on my back porch. I have a few hanging baskets there and a humming bird came along and started feeding not a foot from me. I have never seen one close up before, they are so pretty and gentle. After feeding on about 10 flowers he/she stopped, just fluttering there. After about 10 seconds, it noticed me and flew to the next basket and ate away. How awsome and so ironic that I was working on a humming bird card! Maybe I should make more of them so I can see him/her again, lol

I hope you join us this week for the Digital Tuesday Challenge. I love to look at the entries and the winner will be so thrilled with this prize!

Hugs,

Something Different: More Egg Art

2011-06-27T05:48:00.000-07:00

I have been dabbling in some more egg art the past few weeks. Here is the one I made using a real goose egg.

The picture is a silk print. I got the tear drop pearls, cord and flowers from Pizzazz Aplently. The flowers really should be a bit smaller, but since I don't understand the mm sizing it is a trial and error thing when ordering them. I am loving this store. She has so many items for paper crafts that can also be used with the egg art.

I added some pearl swirls to the side for an added touch. These I bought from and egg catalog. I know that they can be bought from paper craft sites, but they were less money buying from the egg art place. It is funny that items that can be used for paper crafts also are less at the egg art stores. While the items that can be used for egg art also, are less at the paper craft stores. So weird!

If you look closely, you will see that the shell is not exactly smooth. This is how you can tell a real egg has been used. The shine is from the pearlescent paint used to add the shine as well as to give the egg some extra hardness making it easier to work on with out breaking it.

The back only has a simple butterfly. It seems to add the perfect extra touch to eggs when adding something small to the back.

I hope you like the different type of craft. I know for this egg there is no paper involved, but they are so much fun to make. It is like embellishing a card without have to match paper and image, {{{wink}}}. After all, embellishing is the best part of paper crafting, lol

I do have more egg art under the egg category. Some are chicken eggs covered with Washi paper and glitter. Very pretty.

Hugs,

Flower Girl

2011-06-24T06:25:00.000-07:00

Hello and thank you for stopping by my blog. Today I have a card that I made as a DT member for the Digital Tuesday Challenge a couple of week ago. Due to computer problems I was not able to upload it.

As always, I have a hard time matching the colors fo paper. I read about matching patterns which is quite easy, but the colors seem to baffle me. Anyone else have the same problem? Did you finally find and easy way to match it all up? I would love to hear your tips and tricks.

I adore the paper from Bearly Mine. I have so many that I sometime have a hard time choosing which ones to used. I did find some fun matching papers for this card.

Aren't the tulips cute. I really like the soft colors and ease of matching the other paper. I am not sure what this style is called but it looks like color splashes to me, lol

For the flowers I thought some flower soft would be fun. I finally bought an itty bitty paint brush, which makes all the difference when adding the glue to small areas. As I said before, I do not use the glue that comes with the flower soft. It is just to hard for me to squeeze out of the bottle. I use the Aleene's tacky glue instead and it works just as well in my opinion.

The image is from Spesch Designer Stamps. She is so adorable, I just had to choose her when the DT had the opportunity to choose an image to use. She is called Forest Elf and can be found here. I felt so badly getting a free image to use and then not being able to upload it for the weekly challenge. I am so glad that the computer is finally up and running so that I can share it with you.

Hugs,

No Stamping Card

2011-06-23T07:42:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe how long it has been since I have posted! First the computer gave us fits, which lasted about 2 weeks. Then I was out of state for a few days. One would think that I would have had plenty of time to work in my craft room and I did. I lost my mojo, though, and could not think of a design or even match paper! Yikes, I felt like such a new crafter.

I finally decided to make a card without using stamps. That seemed so much easier to match up the paper rather than try to match the colored image to some designer paper. Here is what I came up with.

Isn't it just full of demension!

I purchased these butterflies from Penny who has an Etsy store HERE. Aren't the beautiful! They are about the same price as Prima, but are so worth it. She makes them and will take orders if you would like them in different colors. I also purchased some dragonflys that I have not used yet.

All I have are the silver colored crystal swirls, but I did not like how they matched the color scheme of the card. So I tried something new (or new to me anyway, lol) I colored them with my copics! I have done this with pearls before, but never thought of doing it with gems. I was able to get a perfect match to one of the butterflys.

As I said, I am having a brain block about designs, so the basic design of the card is very simple.

Of course, as most of my cards do, the inside is a match to the outside design.

Thank you for stopping by today and I hope you like this card :o)

Hugs,

Quick and Simple Notecards

2011-06-04T10:28:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, my Pastors wife asked me to make some note cards for a missionary wife that was going to visit the church. She showed me some home made cards that she recieved once when visiting a church. She loved the idea of home made note cards to send out. She only had one left though, so I decided to make her some.

First I made the folder using Paper Temptress White Gold card stock. You can see the beautiful shimmer of this paper in the photos of the note cards since it is used on every card. I used a template called All Boxed Up which was designed by Laruen Meader and is available at Papertrey Ink.

I have used this template several times with not trouble at all, but for some reason it printed all weird this time. The pockets were way to big and the folder is super tall. After altering the pockets and folder for everything to fit together, I embosses each pocket and the outside of the folder in silver.

I did adhere the pockets backward on purpose. I like the way it looks this way better, especially since I can stamp a nice image onto them this way.

I made 2 of each of these note cards for the folder.

This butterfly stamp is from Kitchen Sink and I love it. I cut it out and adhered it with dimensionals.

I made the whole set in no time yesterday afternoon, including working to fix the folder template. They go so fast expecially since there is no decorating of the insides.

I hope you all have a super weekend!
Hugs,

Dressing Up The Refrigerator

2011-06-03T08:30:00.000-07:00

Not that I don't have enough magnets on my refrigerator, lol. My husband likes to collect magnets from everywhere we visit. I just don't think they are very pretty, nor are they strong enough to hold more than one paper, if that. So...I decided to make some that are prettier and much stronger.

I used the retired Stampin' Up set called Stipple Flowers which is a set of 8. Using Staz On ink made them really easy to color without smudging. To color I used my much neglected Prisma pencils and gamasol to blend just a bit. The gamasol did not blend the shadowing on the flowers and leaves well. It did however blend the background colors to make them much smoother. After coloring, I coated the front and sides with 2 layers of Mod Podge glossy.

The tiles are about 2 x 2" and were bought as a 1 sq foot tile. They are so easy to remove from the tile backing so that there are plenty of this size to work with. The tiles are about 3/8" thick. They are nice and heavy, but using strong magnets, will not fall off whatever you put them on, even when holding up paper.

The magnets I used are super duper strong. This one magnet will hold up to 5 sheets of paper or 3 sheets of thick paper, such at tickets to plays (which is what I am using one for right now).

The kids (well, all in their 20's) bought my husband 2 tickets to see Fiddler On The Roof for his birthday. Funny, he is not artistic at all. Can't clap to music or even get the simplest of poems. yet, he loves musicals, especially this one. One of these magnets hold so well, there is no chance of misplacing the tickets or that they will fall off and blow under the refrigerator, lol

Anyway....I adhered them with a small dot of E6000 which is the duck tape of glues, lol. It adheres anything to anything, but is really to thick for using on paper. I love this stuff. It is definitely a must have for every craft room :o)

I buy these MagCraft magnets from Amazon here. Like I said, they are super strong and are relatively inexpensive compared to any other magnets I have seen. This particular size came in a package of 24 for $10.39, that is only .44 each!!! I think the price has actually gone up since I bought these. They are 1/2 x 1/16 ", the perfect size for this size mini tile.

If you haven't tried stamping and coloring on tumble tiles yet, go ahead and give it a try. It is SUPER EASY! You can by 4 x 4" tiles at Home Depot or Lowes. I made my daugher coasters for her first apartment with these, which you can see here, on my old blog. I also made some using napkins instead of stamping here, again on my old blog.

Have a great day! Hugs,

2 Cute

2011-06-01T04:54:00.000-07:00

I am sorry I am late for the Digital Tuesday Challenge this week. I have had such computer problems again. This time the external drive crashed. That is where we backed up all the documents when the desktop had to be wiped clean 2 weeks ago. Of course, we had not backed up the back up file back onto the desk top yet, so my digital stamp file was next to impossible to access.

Thankful for the Geek Squad we were able to save my digi files, but lost all our pictures :o( They may be able to back but it will cost a minimum of $250.00 just for them to see if they can. Then an additional $500.00 for each tier of files they can recover for us! We just don't have that kind of money! That will teach us to wait and only have a backup on 1 hard drive.

Anyway...onto this week's Digital Tuesday Challenge. It was Anneke's turn to choose a theme, and she chose

Animal friends.

Simply create a card or other paper crafting project with the theme in mind, and don't forget to include something digital in your design.

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Our fabulous sponsor this week is

2 cute Rubber Stamps

giving away either 2 rubber stamps or 3 digistamps to one lucky randomly chosen winner. The Design Team also had the chance to choose from a few cuties. I chose to use Butterfly Bear.

Since I have had such problems, I made a quick card for you today.

After coloring him, I added shimmer with my Sakura Glitter Pens. The paper was already embossed and glittered! Love when the paper is like that, lol

A few more embellishments and the card was finished. I adore those heart pearls. I won them with some blog candy, the very first time I ever won. It was so much fun to open the package!

Thank you for stopping by today. I am hoping to get into the craft room today. I have been having such a problem with my mojo. I can hardly think of designs to make. I did start a project that I think I will finish today and share tomorrow :o)

Have a great day, Hugs,

Remembering

2011-05-30T05:31:00.000-07:00

Today I share this video that I saw on the Archiving Angel blog. I post this in memory of those who served in the past and those fall in the past. To my sons Peter (USMC) and Patrick (US Army) who both served in Iraq and to their friends who fell during their tour. Remember!

Have a wonderful Memorial Day. Hugs,

Finished Window Card

2011-05-27T05:53:00.000-07:00

Earlier in the week I posted a Flower Soft window card topper card that I had no ideas as to how to finish it off and asked you all what you would do. I received a reply from Kelli at favor8favors that I thought would work wonderfully on this card. Vicki from stamped smiles also commented with a great idea that I am going to try on my next FS window card.

Thank you Kelli and Vicki for the ideas. AND thank you everyone who left sweet comments for me :o) your comments always make me smile :o)

Here is what I did with Kellis' ideas.

I added stickles around the curtains, pearls on curtains and window, a butterfly and stickles on the flowers to look like there is morning dew on them. I am not sure how well you can see the stickles on the flowers, but you can click on any of the photos to get a better look :o)

The layers are the same. The butterfly is hand made. I made a tutorial on how to make these here. They are much easier than they look.

For the inside I decided to use the other card topper sheet but only the first layer. I did add the stickles around the curtains and on the flowers on the inside too. I think if you click on the photo you might be able to see it.

The sentiment is from my stand by SU set called Elegant Cheer. I just love this sentiment. I am not sure if it is retired, but I did not see it in the current catalog. Although the set comes with 6, I always use this one. The "Just a Note" makes the card usable for just about any occasion. This left plenty of room for a personal note.

I hope you like the finished card. I think Kellis' ideas were perfect for this one. I did think of adding pearls to the corners on the card, but decided not to. I am not sure why, I am still thinking it may have looked nice that way. I might go back and try it anyway.

Have a super wonderful holiday weekend everyone!!!

Hugs,

Flower Soft: What I Have Learned So Far

2011-05-26T01:47:00.000-07:00

Well, I spent yesterday playing with my new flower soft. I just received my flower pot kit and decided to "practice". I learned a few things I want to share with you in case you are wondering whether to purchase some or not.

When fluffing, do it very gently. If you press to hard, it will not fluff and will ball up.
The kits come with a white sponge to hold the wire flowers while they dry. It really doesn't work well. Green floral foam works much better.
Their glue gave me hand cramps trying to squeeze out. I switched to Clear Gel Tacky Glue by Aleene's and it worked fine. It did take longer to dry, but my hand was happy.
To add glue to card toppers, use a VERY small paint brush with a pointed tip. The smallest one I had was still a bit to big and it is really small!
Squeeze glue directly to wire when making flowers. I wish the wire came in green instead of white.
The FINE flower soft is perfect for the card toppers. The REGULAR is perfect for making flowers on the flower soft wire.
REALLY let it dry well, lol
You can burnish the flower soft on the cardtoppers gently, but not on the flowers made on wire
To make a bouquet, make the flower wrap first. Then measure the wire a bit longer than the wrap before making the flowers. It is easier to fit them in that way.
For card toppers, it is better to put the greenery on first, then the flowers. It is much messier and less pretty the other way around.
Don't rub the glue on with the brush, dab, even for the greenery. It gives a more realistic look.
White does not work well as a flower color for a card topper. I am not sure why their toppers have daisys on them but the white seems to get lost with the white paper. Even with the greenery. Maybe if there is some "fine" white it would work better but the regular white does not.
You don't have to use the same color flower soft as the flowers on the printed topper. The flower soft covers the print anyway.
It requires more practice than I thought. It is not as easy as the directions make it sound, lol. The flowers on the wire are easy to make though.
It gets everywhere! Kind of like glitter. At least it did for me.
I would never make my own with the styrofoam balls like some people do. To messy and would take up to much room to store. I also think it would be to chunky if I made it.

First toppers I made with white flowers. Here I made flowers first and then added greenery.

White flowers don't show up well.

Here is the one I added greenery first, then different colored flowers.

The next time I will make bigger spaces to make the flowers, I think the bigger flowers look prettier.

Flower bouquets. The one on the left is the first one I made. I had the darndest time making the paper tube thing. Certainly need more practice. I really think green wire would look much better. I did not make paper leaves yet which may cover up the wire, hopefully. They add some really thin ribbon in the kit which will be perfect for making a bow to add. I am not sure how I am going to use these since they are really small. Maybe make a tag with them and then add the tag to a card.
I hope this helps someone who may have the same questions I had about flower soft. It is definately addictive and I will definately be practicing using it.

Hugs,

Stitched Butterfly With Roses

2011-05-25T04:23:00.000-07:00

Well, today (which is Tuesday as I write this) here in NH is another rainy day. After last week being rainy everyday :o( I think the gardens are well watered and I am also, lol. Monday, the day I made this card, was another rainy day. I did not feel like doing anything, even play in my craft room.

But I forced myself, tee he he and this is the card I came up with.

I am not sure what I was thinking since I was just not in the mood at all, but I chose to do not only stitching, but coloring too.

I used DMC floss for the butterfly and DMC metallic floss for the antenna and flown path then added some Stampin' Up rhinestones. I chalked the background and adhered both layers with dimensionals.

This rose image is one of my all time favorites from Stampin' Up, which is long retired (So thankful for Ebay). It is called Stipple Rose. The stipple line has a few flowers including orchid, gardenia, hydrangea and a set of 8 smaller flowers. I own these 5 and am not sure if there are more, but if there are, I hope I find them some day. They are so easy to color. Especially on this Paper Temptress shimmer paper. The copic ink does not dry very fast giving you plenty of time for blending.

I finally found this Tonic Studios butterfly punch which I bought from Amazon. I have been seeing this butterfly everywhere and wanted it so badly. Since I just got it in, I simply had to use it, lol

On the inside I paper pierced the butterfly. It looks so pretty stitched or just paper pierced. I bought this pattern from Crafts U Print. They have just about everything one could want for paper crafts including digi stamps, iris folding patterns, teabag folding, paper piercing, printable 3D images, card fronts, templates and more! WOW, I love that site.

Well, I have a full day of freedom to play in my craft room and, being rainy again today I don't really feel like playing. I can't even think of what to do! Wonder what I will come up with. I think I may make some CAS cards today. They go so fast and it feels like I accomplished so much, lol

I am going to enter this card into the following challenges:
Daring Cardmakers: Song: Chasing Cars-Snow Patrol The lyrics can be found here
Terrifically Thrilling Thursday: Show us what you got: anything goes
Crafty Catz: Anything goes
Inspire Me Friday: Anything goes
Sweet Stampin': In the garden &/or sketch (must use stamp)
Dream Valley: Something old with something new
I Did It Creations: anything goes
Stamp & Fun =Creativity: Flower power
Woodware USA: Anything goes

Have a super day yourself :o)

Hugs,

Fluttering Fairies

2011-05-24T04:11:00.000-07:00

It's time for a new Digital Tuesday Challenge. This weeks challenge is chosen by Amy. She would like us to add dimension to our project. Any kind of Texture: embossing folders, embossing powders, glitter, you name it...as long as it adds texture to your project.

Our wonderful sponsor this week it The Stamping Boutique. They are offering 5 digital stamps to the lucky winner. I was lucky enough to play with one of their fun images this week. I chose the stamp called Fairy and Butterfly.

I don't usually use silhouette images, but this one just grabbed me. Another thing I did that I don't usually do, is make a black and white card.

Isn't this so pretty. For the white paper I used my old stand by, white diamond from Paper Temptress. I printed the image on text weight and I just love how the shimmer shows through the ink.

Isn't this fairy cute, she looks like she is coming in for a landing, lol. Can you see all that shimmer!

WOW, it seems I am short on words today, lol. So unlike me! I hope you can join us this week. I really love to look at all the wonderful creations.

I am going to enter this into the following challenges:
Scrapbook Sisters: black & white
Crafts 4 Eternity Recipe: flowers, ribbon, bling
Word Play Weekend: wings
Paper Play: sparkle galore
Rainbow Lady's: lots of flourishes
Sparkles Forum: something metal
Paper Playtime: use charm
Stamps R Us: something digital

Hugs,

What To Do...Any Suggestions?

2011-05-23T07:44:00.000-07:00

Grrr. I couldn't seem to get a straight photo of this card. Sorry for that. I bought this flower soft scene last week and just love it. The flower soft can be so addictive, lol. I love the scene, but could not come up with how to embellish the rest of the card. In my house, there really is nothing around my windows, so did not have real life for ideas. I have seen people add flowers around thier curtains, but with the flower soft, it just seemed wierd. Any ideas on what to would do?

The scene has 4 layers that you cut out and adhere with demensionals. It really is easy to cut out since most of the lines are straight. I only added the FS to flowers where the window that is open. I did think to add a butterfly but all mine are to big to match the scene. I am at a total loss.

I did use the totally stunning shimmer paper from Paper Temptress. The best part of the paper is that it is so pretty it seems to embellish itself.

I did not decorate the inside due to my lack of ideas. I would love to know what you would do to dress up this card and decorate the inside!

Hugs,

Paper Tole (3D) Sarah Kay

2011-05-21T07:58:00.000-07:00

I love the Sarah Kay 3D images. They are quite simple, for the most part, since they are die cut. That means no scissors required. Maybe just some sand paper to remove the burrs from the edges, that is it. I have loads of them in little snack zip lock baggies waiting to be adhered together.

Can you see the glitter that comes already adhered to the image. If not, you can click on the photo to get a better look. It really makes the image so much prettier.

When I pulled this particular one out my first thought was "What am I THINKING!" There were so many tiny parts that I was not sure I could cut a dimensional that small. Just look at this tiny piece for the bottom of the flower pot!

Yikes! It took me 2 tries to get that on right, lol. After the first try I was wondering if I should just leave it off. It really is cute being there, though, so I am glad I gave it a second try. The shovel in her hand was another one that was really hard since it is long and narrow also. But...dimensionals CAN be cut that small, lol.

I used my flower soft again for this. I thought it would make a wonderful grounding for the image. I finally received my order and there is some of the fine flower soft with it. I am excited to try that. Maybe next week, I don't want to bore you with all flower soft cards, lol

The inside is really simple. I used a Fiskar border punch I purchased eons ago. I just really could not think of anything else to do with the inside. Kind of got a brain cramp thinking about it, tee he he. certainly don't need one of those, so I kept it simple.

I am entering this into the following challenges:
Crafty Emma: Embellish it
ECP: Pastel colors

HUGS,

Daydreaming

2011-05-20T05:27:00.000-07:00

Here is another image from Inky Impressions. I love the images that are sitting, but am not fond of the Magnolia stamps. I am so glad that others are starting to make images sitting. This one is called Angelica's Daydream.

I pictured her daydreaming about butterflies in a nice quiet garden. I think this butterfly kind of gets lost in the flowers a little bit, but I just had to add it because it is so pretty and I wanted 3 of them on the front. You know, the uneven numbers rule, lol

I am not sure if you can tell, but I adhered the circle layers and image with dimensionals. I did not want the image to get lost among the dimension of the flowers. So glad I colored her a bit brighter to help out with this.

The paper and flowers are from Prima. I am not sure where I purchased these butterflies. I wish I could remember because I am almost out of them and they are so very pretty.

I used the Inky Impressions Challenge sketch for this card. As you know, I don't usually do sketches. I think this is the first time. I always thought I should since it would be easier than designing a card myself. BUT....I found this quite hard to do. After it was finished I was glad I tried it.

I am going to enter this into the following challenges:
Inky Impressions: Sketch
CCEE: Flowers
Craft Us Crazy: Something new and favorite embellie ( I just got this image in the mail within the past 2 weeks and flowers are my favorite embellie as well as butterflies)
Landscaping Challenge: Polka dots (no more than 3 other challenges)
Have a super weekend everyone!
Hugs,

Spring! With Shy Little Nickie

2011-05-19T08:32:00.000-07:00

Yeah for spring! Although it has been rainy here all week, I am excited to see what the gardens, trees and hanging plants are going to look like once the sun comes out Saturday.

I decided that it would be fun to make a sunny spring like card as I wait. I used the super fun and adorable cling cushion stamp from Inky Impressions called Shy Little Nickie. This is one of the few site (well, actually, the only one) that I have been purchasing rubber stamps from lately. I just love their images. This is actually the first chance I have had to use one and it was so much fun to color.

I also finally purchased some flower soft. I found that they have instant downloads for backgrounds to use with it. The frame I used here is one of them. Isn't this just the perfect image to stamp in it!

This was my last sheet of the turquoise shimmer paper. What a great color, which, ended up matching everything else so well. After I made the card and went to put my stamp on the back, I realized that there was a butterfly stamped on the bottom of the sheet. Oh My Gosh!!! What was I thinking when I did that!!! To rectify this, I made a strip with a border punch to cover it up.

I am loving this new to me frame from Spellbinders. I do wish, though, that it came with a few more sizes. Then next size down is really to small for most images to be put inside. The butterflies were punched with a Martha Stewart punch. I find her border punches do not punch card stock and was pleasantly surprised that this punch worked well. The paper I used was a scrap that I happened to emboss with the wrong embossing powder at one point. It was still kind of pretty, so I kept it in case I could ever use it. So glad I did.

We finally worked out the computer problem, but sadly had to wipe the hard drive first and bring it back to factory condition. We needed to reistall all the software and are still working on getting everything back to where it was before the problem. Though we backed up everything onto 2 external hard drives, it seems that all my favorites from when we bought this computer are the only ones that we can find :o) They have changed so much. Half of the book marked sites are either gone or I no longer visit. New ones are not there. So I don't have all the saved blogs I visit most often. Funny how much I relied on the book marks. Now I don't know most of them, since I would just hit the book mark and did not remember most of the blog names.

Soooo...If I do not visit your blog as I usually did, please leave me a comment so I can book mark you again :o)

I am entering this card into the following challenges:
Anything Goes Challenge: Bingo...I went diagnonal to use punches/die cuts, flowers and lace/ribbon
A Spoonful Of Sugar: Anything goes
Clear It Out: Use not used in a long time coloring medium (I used some copic colors I don't usually use, Like for the pot, I hope that counts)
Paper Take Weekly: Something floral
Cupcake Crafts: In the garden
Make It Monday: Anything goes
Stamp Fairy: Use 3 embellishments (ribbon, pearls, flower soft)
Creative Belli: Anything that starts with an "S" (I hope the stamp name counts! and swirl ribbon)
Creative Card Crew: Cute and girly
Diva's By Design: For the girls
Flutterby Wednesday: Open...optional sketch, must have either a butterfly, fairy or angel
Penny's Paper Crafty: Anything goes
Truly Scrumptious: Anything goes

Hugs,

Super Reader

2011-05-17T04:47:00.000-07:00

Welcome to this weeks Digital Tuesday Challenge. This weeks challenge is STARS. Our sponsor this week is the totally fabulous Doodle Pantry. Digital Pantry carries the mose adorable images and sets (some black & white, some both black & white and colored and colored images only), paper and some SVG files for instant download. They are offering a $10.00 GC to the winner to use in their store!!! Whooo Hooo!

The design team was honored with being able to use the adorable set Super Birdie which is so cute and perfect for this weeks challenge.

I have to say that we have had some horrible computer problems. Our hard drive had to be restored to what software came on the computer from the factory. Sadly, not all of the software was replaced. For some reason the editing software we got from the factory is not there, though we backed up the computer on 2 external hard drives before restoring, we just can not find it. My Photo Shop Elements 8 needs to be reinstalled as well as loads of other software we added.

At first we thought we lost all my files, documents (including my gazillion digital stamps), photos (from as far back as 2004), etc. Finally we discovered that somehow they all jumped from my external hard drive to the familiy external hard drive. Phew....I was so paniced.

Since we were fighting with the computer, which took loads of time, I kept this weeks project quite simple. I made a bookmark. I appolagize ahead of time for the quality of the photos. All we have currently is the Paint software, which I know nothing about :o(

Isn't he soooooo cute. I printed 3 of him facing left. Then yesterday, before we wiped the hard drive, I copied 3 more images and rotated them facing right. Cut out all the images to adhere with dimensionls to make it 3D on both sides.

The paper comes with the set also. There are 3 designs, but I only used 2 of them for this project. I hand wrote Super Reader on both sides.

The design team made some fantastic cards using this image. So be sure to stop by the Digital Tuesday Challenge blog and check them out.

Hugs,

Note Card Set

2011-05-13T11:33:00.000-07:00

I was asked to make a note card set for the pastors wife that will be speaking at my church's mother daughter banquet at the end of the month. We are giving her a nice thank you basket filled with lots of goodies.

I decided to use a note card folder I purchased quite a while ago from Papertrey Ink and designed my Lauren Meader . It is a great folder which I have used a few times already.

For the butterflies on the folder I used a new to me set from Kitchen Sink Stamps. The paper is the beautiful white diamond from Paper Temptress that I use quite often. I did not take a photo of the shimmer since there are quite a few photos already for this post, lol

I adhered the inside pockets backward on purpose since the folds to make it look like an envelope were not even for some reason. I think it was my printer having a hard time with the card stock. I punched the half circles to help remove the cards and envelopes easily. I actually like the pockets better this way. I did notice while editing the photos that I should have stamped the butterflies the other way, lol.

I made 2 of each card to include in the set. In this group picture you can see the pretty shimmer of the white diamond used for the folder, which I also used on the 2nd from the right card. All of the cards were made with colored shimmer card stock and the paper truly makes the folder and set look stunning.

Since these are note cards, I left then inside blank for lots of writing room. The paper really makes it look pretty anyway, lol Here are some photos of the individual cards.

I had a hard time making these so that they will not cost extra postage. Embellishing without pearls, rhinestones, flowers, bows, and all that fun stuff is not easy, lol I hope she likes them.

I am entering this into the following challenges:
Daring Cardmakers: the darling "bugs" of May (desinger paper does not count), I chose butterflies
Creative Cowgirls: anything goes
Scrappy Frogs: anything goes
Crazy Challenge: anything goes
Make It Monday: anything goes

Hugs,

Lily Of The Valley Quick Card

2011-05-13T10:52:00.000-07:00

Phew...Blogger is finally back up! WOW, it is funny how it can be missed!

Kitchen sink Stamps has this special edition Lily of the Valley stamp set that I have been wanting for a long time. Lily of the Valley happens to be my very favorite flower. I finally got a chance to order it and play. I was surprised to find that it is a 5 step stamp! I guess I should have read the description better, lol, but I was so excited to get it. I don't have 5 greens that would match for this image, so I used 4 and stamped off one of the steps.

I stamped on the Paper Temptress white diamond paper which allows the shimmer of the paper to show through the ink. I still need to practice getting the layers just right, but all in all, it still looks like a Lily of the Valley.

I was in a rush to get this card finished for a challenge that I wanted to enter and could not find paper to match, sniff. I purchased a pad of card maker paper from K & Co. that comes die cut and ready to fold. I really thought the swirls and pattern were pretty with the flowers.

To embellish it a bit and feel like I actually made the card, lol, I added pearls and ribbon. The flowers are adhered with dimensionals, which gives it a nice look, though it is hard to tell in the photos.

I kept the inside very simple with just another of the images and a sentiment stamp. It is a day late to post this due to Blogger being down (I was fortunate enough to get the link from my Splitcoast gallery in somehow, yeah) The challenge I am entering it into is:

Daring Cardmakers: Lily of the Valley

Hugs,

Sewn Flowers

2011-05-10T04:50:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is time again for a Digital Tuesday Challenge. This week, we are looking for a project that everyone should always have their stash. Thinking of you is a card or project that can be used for just about any occasion. Perfect for those times when you need a card, but have run out of time to make one.

Our sponsor this week is the wonderful My Grafico. The DT was lucky enough to be able to use the really cute flower set called Sew Long Flowers. As I was going through the digital images to find the page for this set, I was again blown away by their adorable and artsy sets. Such a variety, which I am sure everyone will find something to their liking.

When I first saw this set, I, of course, thought of using real stitching where the faux stitching was using DCM floss. To color the flowers I used some shimmery chalks with those tiny little cotton balls. I tried to get a photo of the shimmer, but for some reason my camera did not pick it up. So unusual. The camera usually picks up everything, including things I did not even notice before the photo (like if I go out of the lines while coloring, lol)

I decided to keep the card fairly simple so that the image would be the focus. Other DT members who used the image designed some really nice cards using this set. Be sure to pop by their blogs to see them.

I am so glad I actually had a stamp with the "Thinking of you" sentiment. Of course, you can use other sentiments, such as "In my thoughts", "Praying for you", "Thinking of you" or any other sentiment that conveys that you are "THINKING OF" the recipient.

Have fun with this challenge. This is the perfect time to stock up on those any ocassion type cards.

Hugs,

Mother's Day Butterfly Card

2011-05-09T06:56:00.000-07:00

WOW, do I put things off until the last minute! I finally finished my mother's card yesterday morning, lol. She loves brown, gold, ivory (off white) and butterflies. I searched my stash and was quite surprised when I had hardly any brown! I was able to use the lovely butterfly paper from DCWV called Mariposa. I was also lucky enough to find a package of plain glitter paper that matches this butterfly paper perfectly the other day. It is also called Mariposa.

The butterflies are from Kitchen Stink Stamps. This set is 3 step. I just love their stamps! I stamped the last layer in versa mark and embossed with gold. Made 2 for each layer, adhering the top layer with dimensional. then added some Swavoski gems.

I do wish the gems were a gold tint instead of silver, but wanted to use the best I had for my mother :o) She did love it, which is nice :o)

I am going to enter this into the following challenges:

Mother's Day Challenges:

Aud Sentiment Challenge

Creative Card Crew: OR flowers

Other Challenges:

Cute Card Thursday: Chocolate (color, theme or embellies)

Paper Crafting Journey: Bling

Card Makin' Mama's: For a loved one

Creative Inspirations: Glitzy and bling

Let's Ink It Up: Embellish it (no digis allowed)

Stamping Sisters In Christ: All things beautiful

Claudia and Co: Butterflies

Try It On Tuesday: something at least 6 months old AND something at less than 6 months old

(my ribbon is over a year old and the stamps were just purchased 2 weeks ago)

Amber's Crafts and Stuff: Special lady

I hope you all have a superb day! hugs,

Yummy Candy from Cebelica "My Little World"

2011-05-06T08:50:00.000-07:00

I don't enter blog candy draws to often. I have only won once and hate to get my hopes up, lol. BUT...this candy is to yummy to ignore. Cebelica from "My Little World" is giving this delicous candy away.

Good Luck everyone! Hugs,

Peter's Smile

2011-05-06T08:06:00.000-07:00

I babysat my grandson yesterday so was unable to get into the craft room. Sadly, I do not have a stocked up supply of cards to rely on when this happens. I do, however, have about 10 scrapbook pages I made quite a while ago that I can share with you. Of course, since I have only made about 10, this is one of the first ones I made, like the one I showed you the other day.

This layout is of my son Peter. I am proud of all my kids :o) But Peter did not smile a lot. He is such a serious guy, even back then. His smile always warmed my heart so I made a layout of his smile.

Here is the first page of the layout. Starting when Peter was a baby and as he grew a bit older. What a fun way to greet us in the moring!

Back then, I had very few paper crafting items, which were pretty much from Stampin' UP. I had to handwrite the notes and the title, but have read that this makes scrapbook pages special to the kids when they look back at the memories. I know it would make things special to me if I were to look a pages my grandparents made before they passed away. So, I used my not so great writing.

Here is the 2nd page. He has grown to be a wondeful and couragious man.

All in all, I don't think I would change a thing on this layout. To me, the pictures and memories make it wonderful.

Thank you for stopping by and allowing me to share Peter's smile with you :o)

Hugs,

More Quick Cards

2011-05-05T04:08:00.000-07:00

Here are the other 3 simple cards I made the other day. This first one I used the polished stone technique, with Time Holtz distress ink and applicator. I wonder why I don't do this technique more often since it is so easy and comes out pretty. You can find a tutorial here. The butterfly is from Kitchen Sink Stamps.

This next card is just a print I have in my digital files. I really like the colors. I added some shimmer on the flower centers with my Sakura glitter pen. It looks pretty with the shimmer, adding just that needed touch. I didn't add a photo of it so that the post would not be to long, lol.

For this final card I just let the paper do the work. It has so much embossing and glitter already on it. I would not want to cover this paper anyway so it was good to use it for this type of card.

Have a great day!!!!

Hugs,

Quick Post...Quick Cards

2011-05-04T07:44:00.000-07:00

My Sister-in-law gave one of my cards to a friend a few weeks back. The woman really liked it and wanted some to sell at work. I sent some in and they all sold. They had no prices not them, just what they wanted to give. Not the best way to break even, but at least they are not all sitting in a box under my desk.

I was asked if I could make some simpler cards. After thinking and checking others out, I made 6 cards in 2 hours the other day! I have to admit that simple cards are almost as hard as masculine cards for me. Here are 3 of them.

This is the very first one I made...I really don't like it. I used shimmer paper hoping it would pretty it up. The inside is plain with just a vanilla layer for writing on.

Here is the second card I made. Again I did not like it, so added some gem stones to snazzy it up. The inside of this card just has a vanilla layer to write on, also.

Here is the 3rd card. I liked this card. The paper is pretty and already has some gold on it. For the inside I stamped the flourishes with versa mark and embossed in gold. This card is less simple than the other two. I think that is why I like it more.

What do you think? Do you think they will like them? I need to make a bit more before sending them over but I am hoping they get better as I do more. I'll show you the others later, don't want to make this post to long, lol.

Hugs,

Origami Princess

2011-05-03T04:52:00.000-07:00

This week it is my turn to choose a challenge for the Digital Tuesday Challenge. I thought it would be fun to see what we could do with RIBBON & LACE.

Our super sponsor this is week is Digital Delights. They picked the perfect name for their store because the stamps really are delightful! The winner will get 3 digital images of thier choice. Whooo hooo! I am jealous already, lol

For this weeks challenge, I decided to use Princess Shona because I just love the way she sits so daintily.

Since I needed something for her to sit on, what a perfect time to make one of the origami frames that are so fun to make. First I stamped the shimmer paper with one of my Stampin' Up background stamps called Floral with Versa Mark. I then embossed it with silver pearl powder to give it a nice feminine look. It did make it a bit tough to fold the paper, but I think the results are worth it.

The front of the card had loads of demenions with the ribbon & lace, frame and flowers.

I hope you join us this week!!! I really would love to see what you do with ribbon & lace.

I am entering this card into the following challenges:
Daring Card Makers: royal or patriotic
By The Cute & Girly: anything goes
Easy Craft Projects: Influenced by the royal wedding

Hugs,

One Of My First Scrapbook Pages

2011-05-02T03:46:00.000-07:00

I just realized the other day that I have absolutely none of my scrapbook pages on my blog. There really are not that many of them right now, but I thought I would start posting some.

This is one of my first scrapbook pages. It is of my daughter and her boyfriend at the time (they are now married with 1 little one). When my son first came home from Iraq, the USMC banquet was not to far off. Because the unit had just returned, the Marines invited their whole families. These are some photos we took just before we all left.

I am not sure where the border stamp came from. It was one of my first stamp purchases which I bought at the local big box craft store. When I saw the date, I realized that I have been stamping for 5 years, not 3 or 4 like I thought, lol. Time sure does go by when you are having fun {wink}

I added glitter to the letters on top and hand wrote the names. Those keys are so cute, I wonder what I did with the rest of the package, lol

There really were not a lot of different photos to choose from. So for the center, I just used one that was closer up than the other. As you can see, James is not thrilled about having his photo taken, we barely got a tiny smile out of him. He has gotten much better and shows his handsome smile all the time now. Soon I will make a page of their wedding and you will surely see it then!

I can hardly believe the few embellishments I had. When I started, I had one drawer in my dinning room, ha ha ha Now I have a whole room that is getting smaller with every purchase!

Hugs,

Winners Of The Blog Candy

2011-05-01T07:59:00.000-07:00

First I want to thank all my followers. I am truely thrilled that you all think that my blog is worthy of following :o) I really wish I could send everyone something. What I did was to count using the icons under followers, since it seems to me that they go in order of following. I hope you all think that was a fair way of doing it.

I am sorry that I just can't figure out how to copy that little box for posting in this blog post. But I added the part I could.

The winner of the large box is #91 Elizabeth Visions of Paper
True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 91 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Since I did reach 200, I am adding 2 other small boxes

The winner of the Meduim box is #64 Frmanwife Sherri-ladybugscrapperfriend

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 64 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

The winner of the smaller box is #71 Heather Heather's This And That

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 71 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Please email me your address so I can get the boxes out. ( paulssandy@papertransformer.com ) I will let you know when they are shipped. I will say that the last time I did blog candy, I ended up in the hospital for 7 weeks then rehab for a while. So the winner waited quite a while. I DO NOT anticipate that happening this time, lol I will get these out by the end of the week :o)

{{{HUGS}}} to you all,

My Ooops! card

2011-04-30T08:16:00.000-07:00

Well, I don't usually post on the weekends since they tend to be busy with Paul home. I thought I would make a short post with my Digital Tuesday Challenge Oooops! card, which you can read about here.

The image is from Spesch Designer Stamps and I absolutely love it. You can find it here and check out all the other wonderful stamps they have in the store too.

It really is a simple card, though I don't think it would be called CAS since it have some layers popped up with dimensionals. I made it simple so as not to distract from the image.

As you can see here, I added some glitter on the crowns, the layer edge and some sparkly spots around the princess. The paper came with the sparkly glitter already on it...love that kind of paper :o)

Of course, I have to show this to cute for words prince again!

I hope you all have a super weekend. I will be drawing the number for the blog candy tonight and post tomorrow. I did hit 200 so will be drawing 2 numbers, the second for a smaller surprise box. I so wish I could make some for everyone!!! Good luck to all my wonderful followers. I will post the winners tomorrow.
Hugs,

Vintage Fairy

2011-04-29T07:38:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I wanted to make a card, but just did not feel like coloring. Has that ever happened to you? Looking through my gazillion digital images, I found this one from Far Far Hill. You can find loads of wonderful vintage images and beautiful paper for free on the website. This one is from a set called Flower Fairy Cards.

Isn't she pretty. I used my Sakura glitter pen to bling up the image, otherwise it is kept as is.

I have been watching the prices of the pretty pearl and gem flourishes I see everywhere. They are just to expensive for my budget. I did find a great sale a couple of weeks ago and got a set of 4 pearl swirls and 4 gem swirls at a super price. I added one set to my basket, then tried updating it to 2, but there was not enough in stock! So I guess I got the last set...yeah for me, lol

After finally getting the lovely flourish, I ended up cutting it up into parts anyway. Partly because the full flourish would not fit on this card (and I just HAD to use them right away!) and partly because I do not seem to be able to leaves things just as they are. All of the swirls and pearls on this card came from one flourish, nice.

For some reason the swirls look like they are a pale purple, but they are acutally a soft pink color. Not sure why the camera picked up the wrong color.

I used a Fiskar border punch that I keep forgetting I have. Strange, since it is such a pretty punch. I went over the embossed part with a colored glitter gel pen and added a single tiny pearl in the center of the the swirls.
I am going to enter this into the following challenges:
A Gem Of A Challenge: pearls and swirls
Wee Memories: anything girly (they have a maximum of only combining their challenge with 3 others)

Hugs,

My Profession

2011-04-28T15:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I basically was a stay at home mom while my kids were growing up. I did, now and then, work part time for a few months. Working always seemed to get in the way of my true heart, my kids. So I guess you can say I was a professional mom, lol

When I saw the Daring Cardmakers challenge, "Speaking Professionally", that is what came to my mind right way. There is a story behind the image I chose to use.

These are my 3 lovely kids (now ages 26, 25 and 24) who decided one early morning to get up and eat all of the cookies in the cookie jar. So....I figured if they wanted cookies I would give them cookies...for lunch...for supper. Here is a picture of supper, lol. My daughter is not to happy right now. The boys...well...they are boys and were quite content until, just after this picture was taken, my daughter started to cry. Of course, if older sister was crying, there had to be something wrong. So down went the cookies and they all started crying for a real supper! Needless to say, they never ate all the cookies out of the cookie jar again.

When I saw this image, I just had to use it. Ahhhhhh....such memories!!! I will have to show this one to the kids and see if it sparks their memories too!

This is a 3D precious Moments image with 4 layers. If there were 2 boys and 1 girl instead of 2 girls and 1 boy, this would have been perfect! Bwaaaa ha ha ha.

I decided to use the wonderful shimmer card stock and paper pierce around the image. You can see in the above photo just how shimmery the card stock is.

I used 2 different corners to make the kind of corner I actually wanted. The top one is popped up with dimensionals to give more of a 3D look like the image.

I added lots of pearls and a strand of pearls is added to the bow.

The pearls are smaller on the inside to make sure the card would close and to not bother the person who would be writing the sentiment.

With my husband on vacation this week, I have not had a chance to check out all the challenges. I am entering it into the following:
Card Makin' Mamas: spring colors
Totally Gorjuss: bling it on
Daring Cardmakers: speaking professionally
Little Miss Muffet: Die Cuts or Punches (I used both for this card)
Do You Stack Up: make it pop

Hugs,

Totally Ruffled

2011-04-27T08:12:00.000-07:00

I made this card last February and finally decided to be brave enough to share it ;o)

I have seen so many cards with such pretty "crooked" ruffles, I just had to give it a try. Bwaaa ha ha ha...See how "crooked" mine is! You should see me trying to make a flower bouquet, all the flowers are in color and height order, not so pretty! But...very orderly. I really need to work on being "messier", it is such a pretty look (especially with flowers {wink})

The ribbon is really pretty, but this card would never fit into an envelope. I am going to look up how to make those box envelopes and give a go at it.

Not this week, though. Paul is on vacation this week. I suppose that is why my mojo took a hike. I just can't seem to do anything in my craft room (not even clean it up, ha ha ha) So hard to work around the clutter. Maybe if I organize it into neat piles by color and size, tee he he

I love this gold paper with the "waves" in it. I got it from Paper Temptress (who else!) and this was my last sheet. Paul said I used up my "tax return" budget already! Now, how could THAT be??? So an order will have to wait. One of the best things about it is that the reverse side is white, so it can be used as a card base. That is what I did here.

The pleated ribbon took forever for me to do, but it really would be a fast and simple card for those who are ribbon literate. The top layer is adhered with dimensionals, which completes the look I think.

Well, I am finished with my second very large cup of coffee and NEED to get moving! Have a super day everyone.

Hugs,

Digital Tuesday and an OOOOPS!

2011-04-26T05:24:00.000-07:00

This week it's Natascha's turn to challenge you, and she designed a gorgeous sketch.

Our Sponsor this week is Spesch Designer Stamps.

The very lucky winner will be able to choose any 3 digital images from the store! They offered the DT an image to use this week. I had such a hard time deciding, I ended up purchasing some, lol.

I was so excited to use the image and had such fun making the card I envisioned for it in my head. Of course, it did not come out exactly like my vision, but there is not way to ruin a card with these images. They are just that perfect.

As I cleaned off my desk...guess what I found??? This weeks sketch...OOOPS!!! Did my card match the sketch? NO! YIKES, and it was already late last night. To late to make another card for today, sniff :o(

I do want to show you the adorable image though. It is called Princess and the Frog.

And just look at the so adorable there is no word for it prince.

I am sorry I dropped the ball on this one and don't have a card to inspire you for this challenge. The rest of the Digital Tuesday Design Team does. They have worked hard and remembered to use the sketch, lol. So please stop by the Digital Tuesday Challenge blog and them all out! You also can go to each blog by clicking on the DT names in my right side bar :o)
HUGS,

Some Iris Folding

2011-04-23T09:55:00.000-07:00

I made this card a few weeks ago and haven't had time to post it yet. I made the iris fold using shimmer paper from Paper Temptress. What I like about her paper is that you can get it in text and card stock weight. Here I used the text weight for the iris fold and the card stock weight for the base.

I was trying to make it look like a stained glass window. When I cut the corners, though, they did not come out uniform. I need to practice getting my slanted cuts more even, lol. The 'window" is adhered using dimentionals.

The ribbon on the edges is also from Paper Temptress. She was clearing out her ribbon from an older ribbon supplier which was giving her some trouble. I stocked up quite a bit on it and am happy I did since it is all gone. She does have new ribbon though, from a different supplier.

The flowers are from the wedding section of my local big box craft store. To dress it up a bit all I used were some of the gold outline stickers.

Have a wonderful and blessed Easter!

Hugs,

Back When

2011-04-21T03:03:00.000-07:00

There is a fun challenge this week at Flashback Friday. We are to enter our very first paper stitching that we posted. I made this card back in February 2010. It is the very first hand stitching I did and I was not happy with how it came out. The stitching was pretty good for my first time. but I was not happy after I cut out the butterfly. It doesn't look so bad now, lol. I have since learned how to add the image without having to cut it out, lol.

I am not sure what happened to this card, lol. I am pretty sure I did not decorate the inside! If you would like to see some I made later one you can click on either "sewing on paper" or "paper stitching" from the categories in the sidebar.
Since this is an older card I am only entering it into the Flashback Friday Challenge.

Hugs,

Sparkling Egg

2011-04-20T06:51:00.000-07:00

WOW, Loved everyone of the comments on my Poor Man's Nestie Storage. Thank you for sharing how you store yours. Some really great ideas. If you are looking for ideas to store your nesties, check out the comment under the post!!!

I made this card using the digital image Ornate Egg from Stitchy Bear. I am not sure if you can see from this picture, but I used my Sakura Glitter Pens to color it. It really shimmers nicely in real life. It is the first time I thought to color with them. I have always just used them to embellish an already colored image. I am happy with how it came out, so hope to use them this way again.

I used all shimmer paper from Paper Temptress for this card, so the paper would match the shimmer of the egg. I really need to place another order with her. I tend use this pretty paper the most and run out so fast. I usually put it off because I don't know what colors I will use next, lol. Then I just want them all!

For the corners I used the same nestie corner die, then cut them apart to fit where I wanted to place them. I hope it does not look like to much. I think I could have made this card smaller, but am so used to the 5 1/2 square cards that any smaller is not fun to embellish, lol. After all, embellishing is the funnest part :o) I added lots of Stampin' Up gems to this one. On the inside too.

Though it is not my norm, I stamped the inside with a "Happy Easter" sentiment so it would match some of the challenges going on right now. I don't usually win, but they are fun to enter anyway.

I am going to enter this card in the following challenges:
Little Miss Muffet: glitter & shine
Do You Stack Up: scallops (the corners have scallops on them)
Stamping For The Weekend: Easter
Card Makin' Mama's: embellish it
Floweret: Easter
Totally Gorjuss: no pattern paper
Sweet Stampin': diamonds are a girls best friend---bling
Easy Craft Project: Easter
Craft Your Day Away: Easter
Dream Valley: Easter
Scrappy Frogs: Easter
I Did It Creations: Easter
Sentimental Sunday: Easter with a sentiment
Kaboodle Doodle: Easter/spring
Woodware USA: die cuts/punches
My Time To Craft: Easter
Creative Belli: eggs/bunnies
For Fun Challenges: Easter
ABC: "S" is for sparkle

Hugs,

Flower Girl

2011-04-19T06:40:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone. Today we have a new challenge for you at Digital Tuesday Challenge. Our sponsor this week is the wonderful Digital Delights.

The winner will be able to choose 3 digital images. I have browsed their site several times and the last time I saw the cutest images of children sitting. You know, like the Magnoilias do. I love them and wish I could win this challenge, lol. I will certainly be purchasing every one of these images as they are so cute.

The challenge this week is to use your punches.

For this weeks challenge I decided to use Birley. Isn't she adorable.

I used some of the glitter paper I just got in and have her standing in a flower field.

This is a Thank You card. I punched out the sentiment using my Stampin' Up oval punches. I have to admit that I have quite a few punches that are getting dusty since I purchased my Nesties. It was nice to pull them out and use them again.

I hope you can participate this week. What a fun and easy challenge. I look forward to seeing all the wonderful creations every week and this week is no exception :o)

Hugs,

Poor Mans' Nestie Storage

2011-04-18T06:16:00.000-07:00

I have quite a few Nestabilies, though I tend to use the same ones over and over, that I needed an inexpenive way to store them. AND..., of course, did not want to spend my precious craft money to store items, lol.

I have not seen this else where, so I thought I would share it with you. I took these photos after I made my second one with all the new Nesties that I got recently. YEAAAY for tax and bonus time (big smile here)

What I did was purchase a zipper binder on sale at staples and some magnetic strip tape from Amazon. I find that the magnetic tape at the scrap store does not hold much of anything well. Amazon has much better tape at an inexpensive price. The one I purchased you can find HERE.

For each page, I taped together 2 sheets of Walmart card stock to make the pages sturdy enough to hold the weight. All I had to do was add 2 strips of tape per side. Each side hold 2 sets, that is 4 sets per page.

To prevent the pages from sticking together, I used some of the USPS flat rate envelopes I had hanging around. These are free at your local post office :o) Each envelope makes two pages.

There is even room for the Spellbinder embossing sheets, one of which I think I ruined putting it through my Big Shot wrong, but kept anyway just in case it will work "good enough" next time, lol.

This binder is already holding 14 sets of Nesties. As you can see, there is still loads of room for more! The first is home to 26 sets, but for this one I used corrugated packaging sheets (I think that is what they would be called) which are much thicker than the USPS envelopes. Next time I go to the post office, I just may pick up more and change them.

Each binder only cost between $20-$25 depending on what each zipper binder cost me. That is so much less than the magnetic folders that they sell just for the nesties. They take up very little room too.

Well, I hope that gives someone an idea of how to store these. If you have a unique way of storing yours, I would love to hear it :o)

Have a super day, Hugs,

Blog Award

2011-04-18T05:17:00.000-07:00

Today I am sharing a blog award I recieved. These are so wonderful and I am thrilled that other bloggers have thought of me.

This was awarded to me by Susan aka Cricut and Grasshopper. She has fabulous cards and layouts that she makes using here cricut. I am just learning how to use mine and have gleened some wonderful ideas from her. Her blog is well worth the time to check out.

I was also awarded this by Elizabeth at Visions Of Paper. Don't you just love that name! I guess I am far from the only one who has a love affair with paper, lol...like we all don't, tee he he. She does such wonderful work! Another blog worth the time to check out.

Rules for this award.
1. Post about award on your blog with a link back to the sender
2. Pass onto those who visit your blog and leave comments regularly.

I am passing this along to:
Lisa   Crafting With Princess Lisa
Pops   Poppet's Place
Vicky   Stamped Smiles
Ellie   Live Laugh Stamp

If you have not seen their blogs, hop on over and check them out. I am humbled that they take the time to visit and comment on my blog.

Hugs,

Rain Drops On The Roses

2011-04-17T08:58:00.000-07:00

I know today is Sunday, but this is actually my Monday post. I wanted to enter this card in a couple of challenges that end today, so...

This is another fantastic image from Peggy Loves Vintage. These are so great for when you don't have a lot of time, don't feel like coloring or even feel you have dropped your mojo for the day. OR...Just because they are so pretty, lol

I used some crystal effects to create raindrops on the flower petals. I toyed with the idea of adding some to the leaves, since in real life they would have some too. My final thought was that it would be to much. What do you think? Would it be better to add the drops to the leaves also next time?

I decided to add one of my hand made butterflies on here. The color of the ones I have already made matched the card perfectly. You can see a tutorial for how to make these pretty but very simple butterflies in my post HERE. I think it added just the right amount of dimension to the card front.

For the inside I did not use any embellishments other than the ribbon. For the corners, I just cut one flower off the ribbon for each corner and adhered with glue dots. Again, I did not add a sentiment since I don't really know what this card will be used for.

I am going to enter this card in the following challenges:
Paper Playtime: weather
Stamping Scrapping Central: rain/weather
Papertake Weekly: dimension somewhere on card
Fab'n Funky: spotty & dotty (I hope the dotted raindrops count)
Flutterby Wednesday: soft pastels...MUST use either a butterfly, fairy or angel
Cute Card Thursday: weather inspired
Frosted Designs: handmade embellishments
Crafty Calendar: April showers bring forth May flowers
Catered Crops: use 3 ingredients from recipe: I chose 1) Pattern paper...mini print 2) Colors...pastels 3) Theme...spring
Creative Cowgirls: spring and rainy days
Card Cupids: pastels

Have a great spring Sunday :o)

Hugs,

Playing With The Butterflies

2011-04-16T07:11:00.000-07:00

The image is from Digi Doodles and I thought it was just to sweet not to purchase. I colored it a while ago then realized that I had no paper to match. I guess purple is not a color I purchase to often. I am not sure why since I do like the color. So I ordered some paper off the web, where I do most of my shopping, lol

I used my sakura glitter gel pen to add a bit of shimmer to the butterflies and flowers. I do have some copic glitter pen, but find they do not add shimmer near as well. If you are wondering which ones to purchase, I would go with sakura since they work so much better.

Here is the finished card. I used the charms for lack of ideas to embellish that area. Do any of you feel that you need to fill in every open area? I sure do. I have to remind myself that the paper is patterned and I do want it to show, lol.

Again I used my favorite blade from the Purple Cow cutter. This time I used it on all of the edges, including the bottom card layer.

I am going to enter this card in the following challenges:
My Partner In Craftin Crime: layer it up
My time To craft: spots
Rainbow Ladies: spring
Crafty Catz: furry friends
Digis With An Attitude: spring has sprung
Stamping Vacation: anything associated with a cocoon
The Outlawz Copic Challenge: must use promarkers/copic---ground your image
Totally Paper Crafts: springtime
Little Claire's Designs: animals
Hugs,

Easter Bunny

2011-04-15T09:28:00.000-07:00

WOW...check out this little baby bunny. I got him from Peggy Loves Vintage . I had such a hard time deciding which ones to get, they are all so wonderful. They come in 6 packs, so you get lots for your buck :o) Something I am sure we all like.

Since there are so many Easter challenges right now, I decided on an Easter package. What she does is scans her collection of vintage cards. Isn't that great. Brings back memories, lol

I am not sure if you can see the edges of the cut out. I know I can, but I know what is there, lol. I used my new Purple Cow cutter which came with 11 blades. I don't know what this one is called, but it is my favorite for layering. You can click on the photo to get a better look if you would like.

Here is the card I made for this cute little critter. I did not have to color him. All you have to do is cut and use directly on your project and embellish. Isn't embellishing fun? It is my favorite part of card making. Designing, not so much. I really should start using templates.

Of course I had to add some stamping, so I used the happy Easter stamp from the SU set Well Scripted. For ink I used the brilliance pearlescent sky blue. What a nice little shimmer this ink has.

Ha ha ha, I think those little flower buds look kind of like balloons here, don't you?

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
Totally Gorgeous: anything fluffy
Aly's: bunnies
Creative Inspirations: Easter
Sparkles Forum: Easter
Ohh-la-la: Easter
Die Cut Dreams: Easter
Pink Elephant: Easter
Stamps R us: Easter
Flourishes: Flowers, flowers everywhere
Little Red Wagon: Easter
Penny's Paper Crafty: Easter
Sisterhood of Crafters: Easter
The Paper Variety: flowers
Truely Scrumptious: vintage
CRAFT: Easter
Delightful Challenges: Easter
Pals Paper Arts: flowers
Daring Cardmakers:Easter/spring
Stamping For The Weekend: Easter

Phew...now to go and actually enter it, lol.

Hugs,