Wednesday, November 26, 2008

It's Your Special Day




Here is the gift card holder/card that I ended up giving to my sister for her birthday. This is the same pattern as the Seriously one below. The finished size is 4.25 square. There is a pattern for this over at: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=400019
Both of the patterned papers are by American Crafts. The blue is Baja Breeze by SU. The sentiment stamps are all part of the Birthday Wishes set by Scrappy Cat. The mini cupcake is from a $ Studio G set at Michael's. I colored it in with Prisma Colored Pencils. The black paper is misc. I Inked the edges with Black Versafine to age it a little.

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Goals for 2009 - Blogwise

I have two goals for the upcoming year to improve my blog. *The first one is to learn more about coloring images so they look more "natural"(or just normal in my case). *The second one is how to properly light my photos simply, at home.

I think I may have found one of my answers! I Googled Copic Markers today to find out where to buy them and add it to my Christmas list. I came across a few that looked good, some were online shops, some were retail stores and then I found it, I LIKE MARKERS. she is the Copic/coloring queen. You should go & check out her blog over at: www.ilikemarkers.blogspot.com. I will add a link to my sidebar too.

If anyone knows about any good lighting sites or tutorials I would appreciate the help.

***************************

Maybe these will be my November/December goals and I will have to come up with new ones for 2009 :] LOL!

Seriously? TLC196











The Monday challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers is Try a New Technique, this week was a Pop-Up Gift Card Holder. I really needed a gift card holder today too! My sister's birthday was Saturday and I was out of town. This year I bought her a gift card and needed something fun to put it in, plus a card. This is a two for one deal really!



I decided to use the stamps that I just won from My Favorite Things(see below). I am really happy with how it turned out, but my sister is in her upper 30's and I thought this one might seem too teen for her :) I am making her a another one that will fit her better. I really love the card and gift holder together! I will post the one for my sister after it's done.

I stamped the image with Black Versafine on Whisper White paper. I paper pieced the flowered part of the shirt and colored the rest with Prisma Colored Pencils. The flower Rhinestones are by Marcella and the rest are misc. Ribbon is from the $ section somewhere. Base card is Kraft and the brown is Chocolate Chip. Thanks For Looking!

Monday, November 24, 2008

I Won Some Blog Candy!


I was following the Blog Hop over at My Favorite Things last Wednesday and left my comment on the last Design Team Member's blog and then found out I won! It was a new stamp set they just released. Here is a link to their site: http://www.mftstamps.com/blog/
It came in the mail today and I am soooo excited because I never win anything! Isn't this set young & fun?
I am working on the challenge over at Splitcoast Stamper's and will post what I come up with.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Scrapbook Retreat!

Hey, I'm heading out to middle of the woods in northern Minnesota to do some scrapbooking with my cousins and my sister-in-law! I will post something new when I get back, maybe even a scrapbook page or two :)

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Sketch Challenge 203
















Here is this weeks Sketch Challenge over at Splitcoast Stampers. Here is my take on it. It was a fun one to try!


I used Chocolate Chip for the base card. The designers papers are from the Ski Slope paper pack by Stampin Up. The blue is Baja Breeze by SU. I inked most of the edges in brown and drew the faux stitched lines with a ruler and a black marker. I punched the snowflakes out of Cottonwood paper and a punch by EK Success. The Rhinestones are misc brands. The Believe stamp is by Stampendous, stamped in Black Versafine. The Dove is part of the "To You & Yours" set by SU. I added Stickles to the tail for some sparkle but it wasn't enough, so I added Diamond Dust Glitter when the Stickles was still wet. Now it sparkles! TFL!

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Samartian's Purse


My daughter & I have volunteered at our church collecting shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child for the past 3 years. Operation Christmas Child is part of Samaritan's Purse, started by Franklin Graham, I believe back the 70's. It is so EASY! And so hard to imagine that children around the world may have never received a gift before, this could be the only gift in they see in their childhood. I have been filling shoe boxes for a long time and thought it would be good to get my daughter involved so she could realize that not all kids get gifts like we do in America.
Here is a link to their website and more info: http://www.samaritanspurse.org/index.php/OCC/

I just love the feeling that you get when you help someone else! It usually does more for you than for the other person :)

This is a photo Sophia manning the table.

Monday, November 17, 2008

Blog Candy

Kristen over at Scrap Creations is giving away some fun Blog Candy!! You can find her here:
http://scrap-creations1.blogspot.com/2008/11/blog-candy-martha-stewart-whipper.html

Merry Christmas Card




I made this card for Beate's Weekend Challenge #66.
This Snow globe stamp is from the $ section at Michael's(along with the Merry Christmas). I stamped it on Whisper White and colored it with Prisma Colored Pencils, then added Stickles to the snow to make it sparkle. I stamped the Kraft card stock with Versamark Ink and then rubbed it with Gold Pearl-Ex. The designer paper is Foxy Flowers by Stemma. Greenish and red are misc. The Brown that was used is Chocolate Chip. The white mini snowflakes are actually nail art I found on clearance somewhere. TFL!

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Christmas Already?

Yep! It is at my house :) I am a Christmas dork. I have been listening to Christmas Music for the past couple months, my daughter & I (and my DH when we couldn't reach something) put up our first tree this weekend. I say "first" because we usually put up two or three of them. I have this cool old silver 50's one that we decorate all funky & fun and we have a traditional one we got from my father-in-law. It seems that every year we decorate the traditional one a little different. Some years we make it red and green, some years we make it bright and funky and some years we put all of the handmade and personalized ornaments on it. This year it looks like a little of everything! My daughter is five now & she kind of took over the decorating. It may not be perfectly balanced out, but it sure was fun to see her get so excited and be so proud of her work!

Do you have any favorite holiday albums that you listen too? One of my favorites has been Mariah Carey's Merry Christmas album from 1994. I don't even know if she has a new one & I don't have any of her other albums, but I really enjoy this one!

I hope you all can find the joy in preparing for the upcoming holidays too.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Find Joy Card


This is a card I put together the other day based on a sketch I saw in The Stampers Sampler Magazine. I used Cottonwood for the base card, Chocolate Chip for the brown accents and misc for the red and blue. I found this stamp at Big Lots for $2 and stamped it two times in Black Versafine ink. I punched out the girls with my CM circle punches and the scalloped circles are punched with my 1.5" scalloped punch by Marvy Uchida. The Find Joy stamp is from a set by Stampin Up set called Polka Dots and Paisley. I used my Threading Waters punch by Fiskars for the "wave" on the left side and lined it up so that you can just see the edge. I drew the dashed line around the outside to look like faux stitching with a thin marker and a ruler. The awesome Pinwheel paper is by Daisyd's. TFL!!

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Second Craft Sale Photos























































Here are some photos from the second craft sale that I was in. My mother joined me this time with her awesome photo cards! Thanks for hangin' with me mom :)


I sold the most Paperclip Bookmarks, M & M jars as Thank Yous, Holiday Gift Tags and Gift Card Holders. I found some tips from Kerry somewhere in her blog over at: http://crafts.peteandkerry.com/labels/Altered%20Stuff.html about things that worked at her craft sales. It definitely helped having things at different heights. We bought this card rack and the verdict is still out about it. LOL! It was supposed to fit my mother's cards and it was the wrong size, but we found out after we paid rush shipping to get it here in time for the sale!


This sale was SO much better than the last one! I'm glad I did one more this year. Let me know if you have any questions and TFL!

Gift Tags






















Here are some gift tags I made for the last craft sale. I sold them 12 for $3. The ones stamped in Green had 3 ea of 4 stamp designs and the ones stamped in red had 4 ea of 3 stamp designs. I tried to make a cute topper for them too!
Sorry, some of these photos are so bad I tried to hurry up and take them before I had to pack for the craft sale and the lighting was terrible!.
The To: & From: stamps are from a clear $ set st Michael's. The other cute stamps are a clear set I got at Joann's by KI Memories, Winter Icons. The Kraft & Cottonwood card stock was punched with my Square scallop Marvy Uchida Punch(The purple one). Most of the card stock I matted with was misc, but the blue is from the Ski Slope pack by Stampin Up new this year. TFL!

Friday, November 7, 2008

Another Craft Sale!

If you're in the Minneapolis metro area, I am in another craft sale with my mother Saturday Novemebr 8th from 9-4. It's at the Maple Grove Community Center here's a link: http://www.ci.maple-grove.mn.us/

Birthday Card for my Grandma


Here is a card I made for my Grandma's birthday. I'm not even sure how old she is(I'm terrible LOL!). I saw this layout on someones blog, but my computer crashed and I can't remember who it was, I'm sorry. I love how simple it is, but it still packs a punch!

The base card is Whisper White, then I used Kraft paper I punched with my Fiskars Threading Waters punch. The green is Kiwi Kiss, the blue is the new SU In-color, brown is Chocolate chip and the red is Misc.
I stamped the dotted circle with a stamp from Think Happy Thoughts and the cupcake is from a $ clear set. I colored it with Prisma Colored pencils. The Birthday Wishes stamp is part of Birthday Wishes set by Scrappy Cat. TFL!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Snowman Soup


Here is my version of Snowman Soup I made for the last craft sale. I am making another batch for this weekend's(Nov. 8th) craft sale too! Here is a link if you live in the Minneapolis area: http://www.ci.maple-grove.mn.us/#
It comes with a pack of Hot Chocolate, a Candy Cane and some Mini Marshmallows. On the back is the cute poem.
I found the free snowman circle template from Nichole Heady over at Papertrey Ink: http://nicholeheady.typepad.com/capture_the_moment/2007/10/1-snowflake-ser.html about half way down is the free download link and you can print your own. Thanks Nichole!

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Clean Towels

Maybe everyone in the world knows this but me. My husband was complaining of our towels being kinda smelly. I'd have to somewhat agree, but I wash them all of the time so I didn't know why. Then I read on my washer lid to use HOT water and the HEAVY cycle! This is probably so obvious, but I like to throw it all in one load, put in warm water, medium cycle and let her rip! I try to get it all done and get on to the next thing as soon as I can and not worry about colors bleeding. So, anyway hot water does the trick! I have been told you should do this with your sheets also to get the dust mites out. Good luck, maybe this will help some other slow to learn laundry person :)

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Another Christmas Card




Here is another set of Christmas Cards I made for my craft sale.
These are made on Kraft card stock. The blue is SU new in-color blue. Ribbon is American Crafts. The tree stamp is by Savvy Stamps. Sentiment stamp is by A Muse. Other paper is misc. I added red Stickles to the tree for some sparkle.