Christmas 2009 is coming fast!!

HA HA HA...It sounds so far away right now doesn't it! I know that in January 2008 it was months away, teehehe. THEN..there is was!! Just kind of snuck up on me Just... Like... That! And....I was not ready for it.  I had 6 cards designed with all the paper cut out, sitting in 6 manila envelopes ready to be put together.  Sounds like it should have been no problem.

Than IT happened....Yup!!! The ice storm of the century, LOL, not one had been like it in all of 2000!!! TEEHEHE...We have lived in this house for 18 years...WOW...18 years!!! I just surprised myself, hahaha....and only once did we loose power for more than a couple of hours.  We were out of the house for 5 days, about a decade ago.  December 2008 we were out of the house for 7 days...and just about everyone else I knew was out too.  Were do you go with 3 dogs, especially when practically half the state was in the same situation. 

The Lord was good and kept my daughter and SIL in the light.  Neighborhoods around them were in the dark, but it seemed to have missed them.  PHEW...we did not have to live in the jeep for a week with the 3 dogs.  Her land lord was so very kind to let us stay there, even though he has a strict NO PETS rule! I mean strict...not even a Guinea pig or bird.  A gold fish is OK, but that is it. 

Aaaaaanyway...I was only able to get so much done in preparation for Christmas that week.  Which happened to be the 2nd week of December! When the holidays had past, I still had 3 of my manila envelopes full of cut card stock ready to be made. 

This year I WILL be prepared! For the Christmas card challenge group I joined, I chose to do at least 5 cards a month (Paul has a biiiiiig family!) This month I pulled out one of these envelopes and made 8.  The recipe can be found in the card gallery and as always, you can click on the picture for a better view of the details and bling.

I love this image.  Whenever I see a cardinal in my yard I feel like the Lord is blessing me.  Though there are plenty here in NH, my yard does not seem to be a favorite hang out for them.  We do have a family of them that comes in the warmer weather. The babies are sooooo bright and pretty.  Watching the "parents" train them is so much fun.  But the peeks at them are few.

January is over, and we are one month closer to Christmas already.  SEE....went by fast didn't it! For the month of February, I am going to challenge myself to make one scrap book layout a week. When I first started doing scrap books, I went right to the biggie...12 x 12". When I do something I tend to go all out! {{{sigh}}} when will I learn, teehehe

I have to admit that I have a hard time doing them. Sometimes a 2 page 12 x 12" layout seems over whelming. Sometimes there still isn't enough room for all the embellishments I want to add. Moderation is the key in everything! At 45 you would think I would have that down by now.  NOPE!!! Not me, LOL.

I would love you to join me in this months challenge>>>to make one scrap book layout a week<<< Any size!

I am so glad you stop by and visit me here...but I am getting lonely doing all the talking, LOL.  I love the comments that are left. I love them so much, I WANT more, LOL!!!! So leave me comments, lets get to know each other :o)

Hmmm....one blog I visit has a question of the day.  I love visiting that blog and leaving my answer as well as reading all the other ones.  Hmmmm....I don't want to COPY the idea...well, actually I would love to...but it seems so..you know...unoriginal, LOL.  I'll be putting my thinking cap on and seeing what I can come up with that is ORIGINAL. If you have any ideas, leave it in a comment, teeheheh

See you on Monday :o) Till then...HUGS, Sandy O

Envelope of Love and some EXCITING news

I promised yesterday that I was going to envelope you with love today! Well, I go!!!:

Since I challenged myself to only make one layer or two layer (2nd layer being designer series paper) this is the first 2 layer card I have made.  Isn't it cute.  I used my french script background stamp for the writing on the love note.  I made sure to add a little tie on the flap to show that if you close it, which you can't since it is taped down, you would wrap the loop around the rhinestone brad to hold it shut.

This card is not an A2 size.  I had a scrap piece of paper that I used which makes this a 6 x 4". I actually like this size.  It will not fit in an A2 envelope though. 

 

Here is my second one which is an A2 card at 5 1/2 x 4 1/4". Everything fit slightly different on this one. I have to say, I prefer the look of the first one.

I do LOVE this Big Shot Scallop Envelope Die, which is a Stampin' Up exclusive die. This die is rule based, which means it can cut up to 5 sheets of paper at a time, as well as over 50 other materials!The actual envelope is just to small to fit a gift card in, but it is so versatile when it comes to card making and scrap booking. I have even seen some people make boxes/baskets out of 4 of these.  How cute for Easter!

As always, you can find the recipe in the card gallery :o)

Well....I woke up from a sound sleep last night with a pulled ligament going down my left thigh. I have no idea what I was dreaming about or how I might of moved to do such a thing. It seems to have taken away all my LOL's and Teehehehe's.  Great for those who find them irritating...seems Paul, Peter and Patrick would rather just read and forget the emotion involved. Such a GUY THING!!!

Well....my pulled ligament is not the EXCITING news....hay...wait....there are some birds singing right outside my window.  Ahhhhhhhhh....One of the most pleasant sounds I ever heard. Especially with soooooo much snow on the ground. Just need to hear some bees buzzing now!!!

The EXCITING news.  Did you see the new link in my right side bar??? I am now a member of a design team.  My first ever.  This is a brand new company with the cutest stamps! Just click on the link to see them.  They have so many more in the works. Also....there are some in a very different style by another artist in the works too! How exciting is that!!!

Nancy and her son Brian are just starting out and I know they will be a hit.  Brian had done all the art work so far and boy is he talented.  He has even made a rattle snake cute!!! If your Irish or Scottish, you have to take a peek at the Bag Piper! With the variety of images they already have, you will find it difficult to choose some out! Shipping is VERY reasonable too!

I can hardly wait to get my stamps in so I can play and share with you!

Well....I am off to hobble about the house.  I can still stamp, YEAYYYYYYY! but I can't turn in the chair unless I want to wince in pain. That can make even paper crafting no fun. I know because I already stamped this morning, FUN, fun...I will share these tomorrow :o)

See You Then :o)

HUGS, Sandy O

Baby Photos and a Challenge

Well, our grandson arrived yesterday morning at 9:43 AM.  He is rather large at 9 lbs 10 oz and 21 3/4" long. It looks like all his newborn cloths will be quite neglected. Not only that, but we will have to exchange all the newborn diapers to the next size up, LOL. He is one big guy.  My poor daughter delivered him naturally and in less than 4 hours was taking photos with the family. She is a trooper, LOL.

Being her first child and our first grandchild, walking into her room and seeing her in bed holding a baby seemed so unreal. I never expected THAT to be the life changing moment! I thought it would be the first time I saw Camden or held him.  But nope....it was the first glance of my daughter with her new born baby in arms.

The room suddenly filled with people and quite startled the poor little guy. It went from a nice quiet Camden and Mom moment to....lets see...Meme (me), Papa (my DH), Uncle Peter (my son), Lauren (Peters' girlfriend), Maimer (the Dad's mother), Peppier (the dad's father), Great-Maimer and then the proud dad behind us all. Were the 7 of us noisy...you bet...and Camden was not happy. One flash went off from a camera and he was even less thrilled. I can't say I blamed him for that, I don't like camera flashes either, LOL

Either he got used to the noise or we quieted down, not sure which. Everyone was taking photos and in the small room that was not easy. I decided to make my photo shoot today, since I hate competition, LOL.....No, Just Kidding...the others work during the week and I do not, so I knew I would have today to take all the photos I wanted.

Here are a couple of photos Lauren got on her camera:

Here is the very happy and proud Uncle Peter on

the left. On the right is a very thrilled and ready to spoil Lauren. It was hard to get a good photo of Camden since he was so bundled up. I think you can get a nice peek at his cute little face here. Since he is only 4 hours old, I am surprised he didn't mind going around the room to each of the 9 of us and then around again a couple of times. He only whined a couple of times, being content to sleep away the disruption.

The only thing missing was the presence of his Uncle Patrick (my youngest), who is currently in Iraq. The blessing is he will be home Jan. 18th...so we will have lots to celebrate...Patrick's 2 week R&R, Camden Riley Pinet and our belated Christmas.

I don't want to leave out the totally in AWE dad. I am certain it all seems like a walking dream at this point.

Can you see how big that baby is. It is not like holding a newborn at all. What a sturdy guy he is. Only time will tell how much he is going to tower over us all, LOL

Now onto the challenge. I found the most wonderful digital images I have ever seen the other day. They are from Fred She Said.  These stamps are right up my alley. I have been watching for some like these since I started stamping. Then the other day, with a simple click on a link, there they were.

Here is my first project using these magnificent digis:

I made a spritz with the Stampin' up shimmer paint and rubbing alcohol and used it to spray the copies of the medallions after I cut them out.

While the paper was still a bit wet, I quickly molded the petals to create more of a dimension.

I adhered some seed beads in the center and attached the layers with dimensionals.

For the frame, I had a frame from the dollar store that had a photo of a flower with a sentiment and a blueish flowered mat. After taking it apart, I coated the  mat with some white dauber paint. After letting that dry I gave it a coat of the SU shimmer paint.

While that was drying, I made the corner swirls out of navy blue shimmer paper from Papertrey and the big shot home accents die. Since the die made a long swirl and I wanted a photo corner swirl, I twisted the "arm" parts of the swirl and voila... a photo corner appeared. I attached these using Aleen's tacky glue and a small paint brush. It is to bad that they look black in the photo, since the dark blue really seems to accent the other blues very well.

What a pretty and shimmery little home accent this turned out to be. I used this as my second entry in the Crafty Creations Challenge "Anything Goes".

Well...I am so glad you stopped by today. I have another really fun project to share tomorrow so I hope you are able to stop by. Till then...excited hugs from this new Meme...Sandy O

  

Bees= Sign of Life

I love the new Stampin' up set "Just Buzzin' By".  Those bees are just to cute.  I also love the idea of celebrating the BEE! I know that they scare a lot of people and some for a very good reason.  One can not argue that being stung by a bee really, REALLY HURTS! And to be allergic to something that could sting you unaware is a truly frightening thing.

I have found, though, that bees are very private creatures.  They won't bother you if you don't invade their personal space.  Not much different from some people I have encountered, LOL. The hard part for us is that they are very small and we could accidentally impose on them totally unaware.

The past couple of years the news of these small buzzers has gotten a lot of people very concerned.  They have been dying for no apparent reason by the hundreds. Whole nests even. Now that is scary! Without bees there is very little pollination going on.  Without pollination there is no food! And human beings love their food! Where there is no food, there is no life. 

With that in mind, as spring peeps out of the ground, bees become abundant, thankfully.  To me that is a sure sign of life!

As the snow fell, about a foot that is, I decided it was a good day to bring out this set and honor the creature that helps give life....not to mention the YUMMY honey!! Mmmmmmm....mmmmmmm. I love honey! What nice little guys to share their hard earned sweet sticky stuff.

Now how cute are these! The honey pot is over flowing with honey as they invite you to run your finger around the rim and have a taste.

Just look at the little guy jumping up and down. Teehehehe, I spent a good 30 minutes googling how to show the "jumping up and down" of a cartoon.  I have seen it a gazzilion times, but just could not remember the doodle lines that represented it.  Every site I found showed how to draw a cartoon ready to jump. Well....my guy is already excited!!! So I hope that he looks like he is jumping up and down.  It does look like he is hoping on the lid to protect his booty...BUT....

When you open the card you find he is excited that you visited his home.  Hahahaha, I think he is sooooo cute.  This card is the first one I have made using the outlining and shadowing/grounding.  I would love to know what you think.  Being my first, I am unsure of how it came out.  The grounding looks muddy to me :o( but that may be just because I made it.  When I see other cards, I really like the look, and it seems simple enough.  Not really sure why I find it so difficult. I am amazed at the difference the outlining makes!!! I did the jumping bee first and he looked so much better than the other 2 after that.  When I finished one card, it looked so much better than the 2nd card which had not been outlined yet.

I do make at least 2 of every card I make.  That way I can keep one in a binder and the other I can give to someone. The idea is that eventually I will be able to CASE my own work, LOL. I keep each card with the recipe on a separate piece of paper.  It makes it so much easier to share with others on line also.  If you have not started keeping your recipes, I highly recommend it. It really is a helpful tool.

You can click on each picture to see the details better. You can also find the recipe in the card album. I used crystal effects on the dripping honey and dazzling diamonds on the wings so they look like they are sparkling in the spring sun.

So....this card is the result of day 4 of my personal challenge to make only one layer cards (for one week, that is, LOL).  I am really liking it and starting to come up with some ideas on my own, Yeahhh!!!

Tomorrow I will envelope you with love, LOL, with a really cute card for Valentines Day or any day actually :o) Till then,

Hugs, Sandy O

Quick post and another challenge

This will be a quick post today. My daughter is in labor with her first child and our first grandchild (8cm as of 2 hours ago). Yes...I am so excited I want to tell the whole world, LOL. Thank you for being here for me to share my excitement!!! 

One Stop Craft Challenge has a current challenge to "recycle". In other words, use something that thas already been used.  

Crafty Creations also has a current challenge "anything goes" How fun is that!

Here is what I did:

I took some corrugated shipping material that I had saved along with a 2009 wildlife calendar and a piece of cardboard from a paper pack.

I cut the frame out of 1 piece of the corrugated board . On the cardboard I measures the opening of the corrugated board and made it 1 1/2" larger.

I scored it and cut it diagonally in each corner so that it would wrap around the inside part of the frame.

 
Here you can see better the score marks and the diagonal cuts. The score lines for this board happen to be 1/8" apart.

I chose to used some of Stampin' Up's wood sheets to help the faux wood look, distressing them further with some Tim Holtz distress ink.

After choosing a photo and cutting it to size, I used Aleen's Tacky Glue to adhere all the parts together.

I wanted to make it look older, so I added photo corners. I then took some brads, removed the legs, distressed them and adhered them with glue dots. Here is the finished framed photo.

Looking at the photo now, if you decided to make one of these, I would suggest to ink distress the card board also.  It will help the inside (where the score folds) look like it is part of the outside wood. I still have much to learn, LOL

In this close up you can see better the photo corner as well as the distressed brads.

Thank you again for stopping by today to share my excitement and project.

I would love to hear what you think. If you have made a similar project, please leave me a link, I would absolutely love to see it.

Till tomorrow, hugs, Sandy O

Understanding Spotlights

Spot lighting is one of the very first techniques I had heard of as a beginner stamper. I had written directions right in front of me and 5 other demos at the table doing the same thing.  You would think that it was a no fail situation, right!?? Well.....I did fail...I did it totally wrong. I am really not sure what I was thinking, LOL....but apparently I was not in the right mind.

The spot light technique is perfect for a one layer card. Simply use a background stamp, spot light a section of it, add some ribbon and voila! Actually, it can be any type of stamp, but I thought I would go with something easy.

I actually did it correctly this time. The one thing I did do wrong was grab the wrong green for the leaves.  I went to grab the correct color, a darker green, but apparently the blue green was right next to it.  {{{sigh}}}

I could have re-done it.  It's not like it is a large area.  It does not look as bad in real life, though, so I figured I would just leave it. LOL. Isn't that just the way (I am rolling my eyes here, teehehe)!!! The camera really picks up every little detail.

This is one of the 2 background stamps I have that has not retired yet.  The other being Calendar, and that just would not work for this.

Hmmmm. Actually it could if I spot light a specific date, Aha!!! I think I just may try that!

The ribbon was dyed by pressing it lightly onto the Sage Shadow ink pad.

The recipe is in the card album.

{{{Siiiiiiiigh}}} <<long sigh.....it is snowing here in NH agian.  A bit of freezing rain seems to be in the mix right now.  The sun....well, I am just guessing right now that it is out there somewhere...will be setting very shortly so I am not sure what will happen then. 

One thing for sure, the Chihuahua's and the Dachshund certainly have no intention of going outside any time soon.  Funny that the Dachshund is so much bigger than the Chihuahua's, but his legs are soooooo much shorter, LOL.  One inch of snow and his belly gets wet, hahahaha. It is actually the funniest thing to watch him playing in the snow.  Being a long haired Doxie, he relishes the cooler weather.

Wait until you see what I ahve made for the next few days.  So fun :o)

Until tomorrow, Hugs, Sandy O

Keeping Track Of Challenges

Now that the Christmas rush is done and we can take a breather, how was yours? I hope it was a blessed time for you and your family!!! We had the most wonderful Christmas visiting relatives. My daughter who was 5 days late for the birth of her first child (and our first grand baby) stayed overdue. This was very much not to her liking, LOL. As of today she is one week late :o( SIGH...no rushing the Lords appointed time! 

How many of you take advantage of the many challenges offered on blogs, forums, stamp stores, etc. on line? I have lately. I find that they are a good starting point to spark creativity. Sometimes I like to design my own project, other times I can used a challenge as a starting point.

Finding the Daily Dare sure was a blessing. Now I have a few that I participate in, and have been having so much fun!

Today I would like to share 2 challenges from the same site, The Sweet Shop Blog which is part of the Sweet 'n Sassy stamp company. They carry the most wonderful unmounted and digital Christian stamps, including verses, as well as some acrylic blocks.

The first challenge was due on Dec. 26th, but was extended a week. Phew..with Christmas just before, I was late. I am guessing I was not the only one, LOL.

This challenge was called "sketch with a spin". We are to make a card with a pocket. I am not sure if my project can be called a card, but I am hoping so {{{wink}}}

Since I have been doing several challenges I needed a way to keep track of them. What site, the challenge and the date due. This project fit the bill perfectly!

I used the template from Lauren Meader called "recipe wrap" which is sold by Papertrey Ink. I decorated the front following the challenge sketch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It has 6 pockets in which I added the Papertrey Ink Recipe cards. They were slightly to wide, therefore I had to cut 1/4" off. I also decided to tie the bows on the left instead of on the right. I decided that this was easier than having to tie the bow each time I used the folder. Doing so required me to come up with a different way to hold the folder closed. I decided to use one of the Stampin' Up mini library clips. They are sooooooo adorable, LOL

The second challenge was to make a card following a sketch that is VERY similar to the one for the above project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This stamp is from Cornish Heritage farms. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. If you click on either photo, you will see that the bees are smiling and carrying buckets to collect the pollen, tee he he. Sooo cute. I added alot of shimmer with my glitter gel pen to match the wonderful glimmer of the Paper Temptress  iridescent and white gold paper. I also went over the smiles with a glitter pen which caused them to appear quite large, LOL. They are VERY happy!

Thank you for stopping by. I am excited to share my "recycle" project with you tomorrow, so please stop by :o) Till then, hugs, Sandy O

All In The Family

This set from Stampin' Up looked like so much fun to play with, I just had to get it right away! When it arrived, I looked at all the small blocks and rubber images to cut and put it aside.  I was sure it would not look so intimidating later, LOL.

Today, while browsing some of my favorite blogs I found a fun post using this very set.  Sarah Coyle made the cutest dry erase memo board utilizing this set.  Check out her blog INK (redible) Happenings and see it, it is so cute!  HI SARAH!!! Teehehehe

Months have now gone by and my poor little people still had not been put together. So using Sarah's dry erase board as inspiration, I pulled it out and decided to give this family life.  To my amazement, it was quite easy to cut and mount.  The images use mostly straight lines, which are much easier to cut than odd shaped images. It took me no time at all to mount the whole set.  Even better for YOU....Stampin' Up now carried it die cut.  Talk about easy stamp mounting!

HA, HA, Ha....isn't this card cute.  It is my second day of one layer cards and I am just loving it. 

If you don't like coloring, this set is for you.  These images are made for "kindergarten" coloring, tehehehehe....Justt look at Paul's arms, they look like they are coming out of his waist, HA HA. Peter is hitting Patrick on the head, such a big brother thing to do. I am fixing Alicia's pony tail and Paul has his hand well.....trying to get the rabbit ears behind my head before the picture snaps! But his arms are to low to reach, hahahahaha

Aaaaaaa....such memories, LOL!!!

I did not have a sentiment that said "From our Family to Yours" so I used the sentiment from the retired Hostess set Best Yet.  You could use any sentiment you would like. I really liked the fact that I could cross out the "me" and put the "us" for this card.  It really made it look like something a child would do.  Even better, you can use your own writing and not feel intimidated that you writing is not as neat as a rubber stamped sentiment.

And the sun, teehehehe...when I was little, I put this sun on everything I colored! Hahahaha, talk about bringing back memories. 

So there is (from left to right) Paul, Me (with the glasses, LOL) Alicia, Peter, Patrick, Buddy (brownish red doxie), Jazer (white with gray spots and one black eye female chi) and Jeremiah or Jerry for short (black with white stripe between eyes and on his chest and 2 white and 2 black paws, male chi)

Hahahaha...I think they are so cute.  Jerry thinks he is the top dog,so when there was not enough room to put all 3 in the line......putting him on top seemed the natural place to put him, LOL. I just had so much fun with this card. Can you tell??? I am certainly going to use this set much more often.

I do highly suggest using a Stamp-a-ma-jig with this set.  You can find one by clicking on the catalog button to the right and go to page 189. This is one tool you will not regret purchasing!!! If you look at the recipes for my cards, you will see I almost always use my Stamp-a-ma-jig. It is especially important with this set, since eye balling it can cause someones head to float into the sky, LOL.

I did not give my family a ground to stand on, so they are kind of floating into the sky anyway, tehehehehe...My reason is because when I was little, it never even occurred to me that everything had to have a shadow or ground or something to anchor it!

Well....I am off to make some more of these one layer cards.  I am just loving them.  You can find the recipe for this card, as always, in the card gallery.

Till, tomorrow...HUGS! Sandy O

One Layer Joy

I have to admit, I DID NOT feel like stamping today.  Did you ever have a day where you were simply exhausted for no reason what so ever. {{{SIGH}}} I was so tired when my Doxie started winning to go out this morning...and it was 10:00!!!

Being Monday this is not a good thing.  Monday is my time to clean the house from the hectic weekend. The plan is to have the house in tip top shape by dinner on Monday, so that the rest of the week I just have to keep it up.  IT HAS NEVER HAPPENED that way, but it is always the plan, LOL, one must have a plan, right. Now, I am already up way late and am exhausted.

So I brew coffee and fill a large soup mug with this magical wake up liquid and settle in to check my email, SU updates, gossip on the forums, my favorite blogs....you know....the normal morning cup of coffee reading!

With my eyes rolling into the back of my head...as if there was something to see back there, SHEESH! I just was not waking up.  By noon, I had finished the huge mug of coffee and was ready to settle down for the night {{{yaaaaawwwwwnnnnn}}}

NOOOOOOOOOO...EYES....Stop looking a the back of my head and focus on what is out there!!! As much as my brain yelled at them, they just would not listen.  Sooo...me, Jazer, Jerry and Buddy (my three warm and snuggly pups) settled on the couch for a quick power nap.  When they finally settled down and finished fighting about who could lay as close to my head as possible, I was down for the count. 

I thought I heard one of my kids come in and use the computer, but that was it. Until Jazer had to go out at 3:30!! I wanted to tell her to hold it, but she usually does not listen when I do.  She is the one that is like a little kid and waits until the las minute because she HATES the outdoors, especially in the winter.  I did find that Patrick had indeed stopped by to use the computer, good to know it was not a thief that made off with it!!! Though the pups are great watch dogs that bark at every little noise out and in side...Napping is not to be interrupted for anything but potty breaks.

Well...no house work will get done today...so off to the stamp room I dragged myself....what a shame I had slept through my cleaning time and only had time to stamp, Bwaaahhhahaaaaha!

As you know, I challenged myself to making only one or two layer cards for the rest of this month (with the exception of my Christmas Card group, LOL) AND WOW!!!These cards were so much fun to make!!! I got 2 of these done in no time.  I really think it took longer to decide witch stamps to use than to actually do the stamping.  My desk stayed clean.  My floor was not slippery from glitter. My dogs look like my dogs, not like sparkling chihuahua tree ornaments, teehehehe. And the Dachshund did not have time to seek out something around the house to destroy, LOL, much to his dismay.

This is the first of 2 that I made today.  It utilizes 2 of my favorite things, the color blue and the Dream du Jour stamp set.

The recipe can be found in the card gallery, but it is so simple, I will add it here also.

Stamps:Dream du Jour, Heard from the Heart

Ink:  Bording Blue, Night of Navy

Paper: Whisper White

Accessories: Stipple Brush, 1 3/8" Square Punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Technique: Reverse Masking

 

This second card is much like the first, with the exception of the stamp set and ink color.

Stamps: Echoes of Kindness, Heard From the Heart

Ink: Regal Rose

Paper: Whisper White

Accessories: Stipple Brush, 1 3/8" Square Punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig

Technique: Reverse Masking

How fun are these!!! Now I need to think of another design {{{sigh}}} for tomorrows cards.  The fantastic thing is that when the month is finished, I will have 6 different designs to work with.

I am no longer afraid of the words, "Do you have a card for....." Teehehehehe

Next time I will hear those words, I will be able to put on my "Super Stamper" costume and save the day with a lovely one layer card.

Hugs, Sandy O

Favorites

I must admit that I struggle with keeping accessories to a minimum on cards, scrapbook pages and altered media. I love to accessorize and bling anything. My all time favorite accessory, though, is lace.  I find it difficult to find, so I look for it everywhere I go.  Lots of ribbons to choose from, but not lace! When I do have lace, I plan out my cards specifically for using it.

A few months ago, I attended an Egg Art convention. Of course, there were lots of vendors ready to sell you egg accessories and bling, LOL.  Being a paper crafter, I did not see how to use them on eggs. I did, however, readily see how to apply them to MY crafts. 

Looking and looking at all the new to me items, I quickly spied rolls of LACE!! Not only that, but the rolls were in a clearance section of this particular table...YES!!! I scooped those up really quickly. I promised myself I would look at every thing before deciding to buy anything. No impulse shopping on this trip. RIGHT! LOL. These were impulse all right, but one I do not regret.

After making the Thanksgiving card in yesterdays post, I went right back to making Christmas cards. I have only 15 more to make...YEAH!!!

Also, I had just traded for the Stampin' Up Tree Trimmings set. I have to admit that it was not a set I would have chosen out of the catalog. It really is not my style. I have, however, seen many cards made with the set that I absolutely loved.

Deciding to utilize this set and my treasured lace on my next 5 Christmas cards was easy.  Here is the card I came up with:

I also used my favorite paper of all, white diamonds from Paper Temptress. Bling is really not needed with this paper, as it is the bling itself. Just beautiful! I am not sure how well you can see the shimmer in the picture, so you may want to shoot over to Paper Temptress and see. You can even order up to 5 free samples! Patricia is fabulous to deal with.

Here is a close up of my pretty lace and the embossed ornaments from the Tree Trimmings set:

As always, you can click on any picture to see it in full size. Isn't that ribbon pretty. Sadly, I only have a little left. I am pretty sure I saw some at Joann's last time I was there. It probably will be more money, but since I used the white so much it will be worth it. I still have my whole spool of vanilla, LOL. So my next Christmas card will be designed around that, LOL

Is there an accessory that you love to use. Maybe even design cards around like I did here? Leave a comment and let me know. I would LOVE to hear of the different items that are much loved.

Till next time, hugs

Male 16th Birthday

YIKES!!! I wanted to make a birthday card for Paul's nephew who was turning 16! Well.....what kind of card do you make for a 16 year old??? 

I finally decided to just go with a masculine card and not think about his age.  Since his family spends 3 weeks each summer at the beach, I went with 2 of SU's retired sets, Schooner and Set Sail.

 

I had no idea how to make a sailors knot! I mean, really...how often does you average person tie them?? Well....that is assuming I am an average person, {{{wink}}}Teehehe

Thank goodness for Google.  I have no idea what I would do with out it! My Gosh, I even have it in my tool bar so it is always right there when I need it...which is an average of 3-4 times per computer time.

Through the magic of Google, I quickly found a video tutorial for them. How how great is that.  The one thing it did not show me was which side of the knot should show on the front of a card! Such DILEMMAS!!! And I thought card making would be easy, LOL

  Here is a little peak at the inside of the card. 

You can find the recipe in the photo album.

OK...OK....OK....for those who read yesterdays post, you know I challenged myself to only making one layer cards the rest of this month! {{{SIGH}}} I really tried...REALLY...I just could not do it.  I honestly would not have used dimensionals if it weren't for the cord used for the knot...honest! No bling though! That's a start, right???

I did join a group that is committed to making a certain amount of Christmas cards each month.  I am going to make the cards that I planned to make this past Christmas, but had run out of time.  All the card stock is cut out and they are ready for some ink and rubber.  Soooo....except for these, which I am planning on doing tomorrow....all next week my goal is to show you simple "flat" and pretty cards.

Till Monday...HUGS, Sandy O

My "Ugly" Card

If you read my post from yesterday, you will understand the title to this post, LOL.  I mean....really....is it possible for a home made card to be "ugly"????

Well, my son, Patrick, is not partial to flowers, I guess.  It must be a guy thing!

So, as promised, I am sharing my "ugly" card today.

My DH, Paul, had a distant relative pass away not to long ago.  Not having a sympathy card on hand, I had to quickly put one together.  Here is what I came up with:

 
Personally, I love layers and bling, but just did not have time for them here. 

I have to also admit that I thought the coloring looked a bit flat, so I pulled out my spring green pearl-ex and gold perfect pearls to add just a little shimmer to the flower.

As always, you can click on the image to get a better look at how this added just the right amount of  bling for such a card.

I am not really sure what color this type of flower is in real life, or even what kind of flower it is! {{{blushing}}} Usually I would look it up on good old Google, but again, no time. I figured yellow was a subtle color.

I like to do a little something on the inside also, so I simply stamped the image with the sentiment inside.  Though it is not really a "water mark" the color is still light enough to write over.

Sympathy cards are the hardest ones to make. And even harder when you have less than an hour before needing to leave the house. Sooooooo....after Paul left, I quickly made 2 more of these to have on hand. 

I was fairly happy with this card, considering there is none of my favorite things...layers, bling, ribbon....you get it, I know I am not the only paper crafter who thinks...accessorize, LOL Some of us....my hand is raised hight here, teehehehehe, have a hard time not over doing the accessories. 

Good thing I only do that to paper crafts, can you picture a person walking around over accessorized in the fashion department, Hahahaha...I am picturing an older lady with the big, I mean REALLY big earrings made out of flat backed pearls and gemstones taken from the rhinestone brads and the round clear beads hanging off them. An over sized hat with a big bulky satin ribbon bow having been heat embossed with swirls and the rim surrounded with multi layered flowers from the pretties kit, not forgetting to decorate her bow with a round pearl laden hat pin. The bright satin paisley scarf  heat embossed to match the hat, and colored in with liquid glue and dazzling diamond glitter. Over the top make-up with 3 tiny gem just off the side of each eye.  Her shirt made with flowered fabric splashed with the new fleuretts flowers and baby bows spaced perfectly between the print and closed with designer buttons. Her vertically striped skirt with button holes going all the way down the front closed with the new designer hardware. A belt made from the satin ribbon, matching the hat and scarf, with a hodgepodge hardware holder and jumbo brads attached by using the crop-a-dial for the hardware to latch onto. Shoes that shine brightly in the sun from iridescent ice embossing, big multi layer bow tied on top with swirls to match her hat, scarf and belt, with rhinestones all around the bottom.  The pin on her dress over sized, of course, made out of chipboard covered with chunky glitter and a felt fusion flower in the center held on by a jumbo brad and attached to her dress with a 1/2" library clip.  HA HA HA haaaaaha, sure would be a conversation opener for her Stampin' Up business, Teheehehehehe

Do you have a card that you liked but your loved one did not, and actually told you so!?! I surly hope I am not the only one, LOL

The recipe for the card is in the card album, the link to it being in the right side bar.

Thanks for stopping by :o)

Till tomorrow, hugs, Sandy O

Thank You cards with SU SINGLE STAMPS

Stampin' Up now has a selection of SINGLE stamps. I am both surprised and thrilled about these stamps.  You can see them all tucked away snuggly in the very back of the catalog, on page 208. Basically, you open the back cover and there they are on the left page. How easy to find!!!!!

My favorite is the Elegant Thank You. This just happens to be the one demos were allowed to pre-order, and it is still my favorite! I really do like many of them, but the Thank You is so pretty.

I also found that 7 of the punches can be used to "cut" it out: Scallop Square, Scallop Circle, 1 3/4" Circle, Wide Oval, Tag, 1 3/8" square and Curly Label!  It also fits in the Designer Label Hodgepodge Hardware. This is one versatile stamp.

Here is a card I made to send out to thank folks for their wonderful Christmas gifts. Now I just have to mail them, LOL

 

I love this designer paper Ski Slope, but it was only available in the holiday mini catalog.  {{{Sniff, sniff}}} It need not go to waste though.  Doesn't it look so pretty with the scallop punch! Perhaps they will carry it again in the Fall/Winter 2009 catalog!

I love the look of the scallop circle under it. Popped up with dimensionals really makes it stand out.

The white layer is adhered directly to the blue layer, while the blue layer is adhered to the card base with dimensionals.

You can find the recipes for both of these cards in the photo album. Just click on the link in the right side bar to access it.

The designer paper on this pink card is from the Bella Rose designer paper! Soooooo glad this did not retire.  It is sooooo pretty and I find it one of the easiest papers to use.

As you can see, I also utilized the Faux Eyelet technique.  You can see the post with the tutorial for them HERE.

Can you tell I LOVE my dimensionals, Teehehehehe!!! My son asked me the other day if I made cards without all the dimension.  I was speechless! WITHOUT DIMENSION!!!! Quickly....grab the soap....this kid is in serious need of some mouth washing!!!! LOL.

NO, really, it was a good question and one I could not answer.  So..... to my collection of cards I went.  Wouldn't you know it...only one card was lacking the use of demensionals....ONE!!! YIKES!!! and he said that he thought it was an ugly card. Hmmmph! I will share this flat ugly card with you tomorrow.

Actually, Patrick is not a kid, he is 21 years old and one of my best critics.  He has a great eye and is not afraid to point out where I could have made it better or where I did a great job.  I actually have learned a lot from him.  I did learn somthing not pertaining to cards, too, that even though he has worked at a nursery for 3 or 4 summers now, he is not a fan of flowers (the ugly card has a flower, LOL)

Even though he did not like the one "flat" card I made, he did suggest that he felt simpler cards would sell better, if that is what I decide to do.  I have to admit, simple or one layer cards are a big challenge for me.  So for the rest of the month that is my goal, make simple one or two layer cards!

Till tomorrow....Hugs, Sandy O

Busy as a bee

Stampin' Up has come up with a truly cute spring set, Just Buzzin' By", page 57. Just click on the catalog to the right and flip right to the page to see the whole set......Isn't it just the cutest!!!  Who can resist the spring feeling these cute little bees represent?

When I saw them the first thing that came to mind was how bees seem to move and hover endlessly. To represent this, I made a spinner/slider card.

Just look at how cute and busy these guys are! They are so happy to be in such a lovely field of flowers.

Here you can see the bee on top of the hive twirling in gleeful anticipation of what the spring will bring.

The bee flying by the hive brought a fun note to his friends, since he is just to busy to stop and chat, HA, hahaha...

How fun this card is for anyone from the age of 4 to 104! The smaller pieces that create the twirling and sliding bees make this card unsuitable for those younger.

Of course, a card is not complete without the inside decorated to match the outside:

 

So cute! Dancing in the field, hoping on flowers and still buzzing by with a wave, these bees are having a blast!!! Spring is here!!! Well....for these little guys anyway. Here in New England it looks like spring is just a dream we had one time, LOL.

All the bees here in NH are tucked safe in their nests, waiting for that first sign of spring. If only we could sleep the cold days way, LOL.....

Actually, I would truly miss stamping, making cards, scrap booking and my family.  WAIT....I have that backwards...I would truly miss my family, then stamping, card making, scrap booking, Teehehehehe

The recipe for this card is in the Card Album.

Have a nice warm and fun day, Hugs, Sandy O

Gift Bundle

Today I have a short post, but not a small project to share. I made this bundle for this weeks Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge.
You can read all about the challenge here, which is based on the bible verses Matthew 6:19-20 "Do not store up for yourself treasures on earth..."
The challenge is to use up some of the crafting items we have been hoarding...which is usually accessories...bling.
For me, the first thing I thought of was the beautiful hand made chinese paper, matching swede paper and German made gold paper butterflies I purchased a LONG time ago. I would often think of using them...but...once I did, that was it...it would be gone. I would no longer have those sheets of paper since they are very difficult, if at all able to be replaced.
So I pulled out my treasured paper and butterflies, gold ribbon I have been saving for when just the right project came, my charm I bought at an egg craft conventions, a wonderfully thick jewelry box that I have had for so long I don't know where I got it, LOL, and my misc. other supplies.
Here are some individual pictures for you. Just click on the photo to see the detail.

Since the egg fits inside the box, I cut the remaining swede paper to cushion the bottom. Yes...it hurt, LOL

This is a 2 1/2 x 3" note card. Inside I stamped "for you" leaving lots of room for a personal note.

This is a real chicken egg shell wrapped in the same paper as the box and card. After adhering the paper, I coated it with 3 layers of mod podge. I then applied one final coat and rolled it in transparent ultra fine glitter. I purchaed this glitter from Scor-Pal when they very first opened. She no longer sells it, so I have very rarely used it.

The box seems as though it was made for the egg to fit!

Over the next few posts I will be sharing some of the projects I have completed for Christmas. Many have already been wrapped, so I think it is safe to post them.
Thank you for stopping by :o) hugs, Sandy O

Nesting

Have another quick card for you. I can hardly wait until I can share all the projects I have been working on for Christmas. Maybe I will sneak a couple in, tee he he, I am not good at waiting.

Anyway...I love this new set from Stampin' Up called Nature's Nest. I decided to make a card using the nest, to cute. A nice reminder that spring will be here again!

The feather and and nest are from the set, while the sentiment is from a retired set called Country Charm.

As always, you can click on the picture to get a closer look at the details. The nest is a nicely detailed image that makes it so easy to color...YEAH!

Have a fantastic day!!! Hugs

 

Quick Fix and a Quick card

Did you ever make a card that just did not look right to you? Perhaps you adhered part a bit crooked or realized that an accessory really did look better the other way. That would have been OK, but the adhesive you used suddenly decided to dry like cement and there is not way of fixing it this time. Uggg...and it was one of the best cards you had ever made!?!

Well, yesterday I posted a card just like that. I was unhappy with the coloring of just one small part. That area really ruined the entire card for me. It bothered me all afternoon. I could not erase it, nor could I remove the image without destroying the under layer. {{{sniff}}} and I simply did not want to redo the entire card...call me lazy, LOL

I finally decided to try a quick fix before I set my laziness aside and remade the entire card. What did I do? Well, I thought perhaps I could cut the ball off of one of the "not so great" stamped images I tossed and apply it on top of the "bad" one. Worth a try, right?

No more than 5 minutes later I my elaborate plan was complete. Not to bad I thought. Actually looks pretty good. I could barely notice it and I knew it was there. The final test would be showing my wonderfully honest {{{mean look from me here}}} husband.

When he came home from work I showed him the card. He said it was really cute...better than the "OH Yeah" I sometimes get! When he went to hand it back to me, I asked "do you see anything odd about the image?" Boy, did he scrutinize the thing. I think the little girl started to get uncomfortable, LOL. He handed it back and said, "no, I don't see anything odd at all". That was until I showed him and actually had him run a finger over the edge of the ball. Now I got the "OH Yeah!", LOL

So....the quick fix had passed, YEAH!!! Now to photograph it, edit it...sigh...all the boring stuff that goes with posting your creation somewhere. Here is the "fixed" card.

So what do you think? I think the soft colors look so much better. If you did not see the before card, just scroll down to yesterdays post. Here are a couple of close ups for you:

   

Now, you can click on any of the photos, as you can in all my posts and see it in its original size.

I am shamefully admitting that I posted the original for a challenge {blush}. I am also going to post this one as a redo, LOL.  I hope that is allowed!!! Otherwise I will feel really weird, tee he he he and will most likely blush {{{eyes rolling here}}}.

Since that did not take to long and I already had dinner made (isn't that nice :o) almost as nice as my DH saying "don't cook tonight, I will take you out!" {{{Big huge ROTF LOL goes here}}}.

What would I ever do with all the spare time I had? Well, play some more, TEE HE HE HE! So I made a couple of simple cards. Here is the first one, the second one I will save for tomorrows post.

I decided to try the Dew Drops that I bought a looooong time ago and never used. I did not realize that they came in different sizes in the same container. This worked out great over the lace I used. LOVE LACE!!! LOL. Talk about super quick. I am finding that quick can be just as fun as "not quick" cards. And....I can make more of them which gives me a feeling of "WOW, I did good today" LOL

I tend to go with the "not so quick" cards. Which ones do you seem to do most often?

Thanks for stopping by...hugs