making the grade

Good Saturday morning everyone! I hope you all have fun and exciting plans for today or at least that you get to stamp a little!

I have had three graduation cards to make this year. Two for college graduations and one for high school. Two girls, one boy. So, here is the first of my girl, college graduation cards. This cute little worm is from the Cornish Heritage Farms set called Making the Grade. Most of the cards that I've seen on blogs with this set are with the owl from one of CHF's other sets but alas I don't have the other set so I had to figure out how to make this one work on its own. The sentiment are also from CHF and is called Script Essential Expressions. If you are in the market for a great sentiment set....you should be looking at what CHF has. These are very versatile, high quality and at a great price! Thankfully I had a Mojo Monday sketch to work with. Some fun DCWV paper and I was all set! This card is for the youth director at my church. She is graduating with a masters in Theology (I think it is theology and not an MDiv).

Well, I'm off to work on my recipe swap. Have a super fantastic day and I'll see ya all tomorrow! Oh, and please check below for the winner of the Glory from Lorie. Charmaine has until noon tomorrow to contact me!

and the winner is...

Now that my boys are up and picked a number I can say that Charmaine is the winner! Congrats Charmaine! I tried to click on your name to get to your blog but, unfortunately, it doesn't take me anywhere. You have until Sunday at noon to send me an e-mail or leave a comment on this post with your e-mail address. Thanks everyone for all of your kind words! I hope you will all try the one sheet pocket book! Make sure you scroll down to see today's post!

Charmaine said...

What a great prize and filled with Bellas. I don't have any yet so it would be a great way to try them out. Thanks for the chance to win!

Charmaine

May 29, 2008 7:11:00 AM PDT

mini photo album

I know I told you guys some time ago that I had made a mini photo album for my brother for his birthday but I haven't shown it to you yet so...here you go! The tutorial is on SCS HERE and as usual is easy to follow and produces terrific results.

I do not recall exactly what the name of the argyle paper is but I think it was from American Crafts or something like that. The green is the opposite side of the pattern and the blue is Night Quite Navy. The "f" on the front is from one of SU!'s chipboard packs and the little letters are rub-ons from a SU! package too. The pages inside are made with coasters and then covered with paper.

I really had a hard time with the cover of this album simply because I wanted it simple for a guy but to still look nice. I haven't actually sent a gift to my brother for his birthday in years so I really hope he likes it!

Update on the image swap. You can click HERE if you'd like to see who has sent their images and who has not. Of the last four that I am waiting for three of them have been sent. If the last person doesn't get theirs in then I will stamp some images to share with you all. Would that be okay? While I know that we have some people that are a little late getting their images here I do want you to know I will not let this drag on forever and they will be sent out next week. I believe everyone deserves grace and mercy as we all know how life goes sometimes. I'd also like to know what kind of swap you'd like to do next. I know my friend Courtney has the 6x6 recipe swap covered (sign ups are HERE for July's swap!) so I don't need to do that. Shall we do images again, cards with a specific company, cards with NVR, 6x6 scrapbook pages for pictures?...what do you all think?

Oh, yeah...you guys want to know who won the Glory from Lorie, huh? Well...I can't tell you right now because my boys aren't up to pick a number yet! I'll be back in about 20 minutes to announce the winner! Mwah!

sweet n sassy sack purse

Don't forget to get signed up to win my Glory from Lorie HERE.

I joined Sweet N Sassy's Yahoo Group not to long ago and got in on a challenge that they have going on right now. If you win you get one of their stamp sets...not sure which one but I can't really say that I care that much...it is a free set from SNSS!

Anyway, here is the sack purse that I made. I used the SNSS set Bee Happy. The paper is from SU! Cutie Pie designer series paper (again...can you tell I like how happy it is?). You can see by the picture on the left that the bag is made with a white lunch sack and the sack is 5"X5". The finished bag is 5 1/2" X 5 1/2". The handle is made with PTI's Lemon Tart Twill ribbon.

Oh, and I keep forgetting to tell you guys about Eclipse Tape. You can find it HERE. This is the best "tape" for making masks for stamping over, under, or around (not really...teehee!) other images. It is more of a light weight paper with a not extremely sticky backing on it but it is perfect for masking! If you do a lot of masking or would like to you have to try some of this.

I'm not entirely sure what I'll use this for but I do think it will be a great bag to give a little gift in. Put a little shredded paper inside, attach a to/from tag (with a bee or two on it) and I'm all set to go.

Alright my lovely readers. I guess that is all I have for you today. Please know that I appreciate you all so much! You support, kind words, e-mails, and RAK's just really make me feel special!

Have a great Thursday everyone!

one sheet pocket book

One of the good things about having a Monday off is that it makes the week go by very quickly! I can't believe it is Wednesday! Is your week going well? I sure hope so!

Today, I'm going to show you the One Sheet Pocket Book that I made. I got a very easy to follow tutorial from HERE. Susanna does a weekly Best of the Blogosphere (that someday I'd love to be featured on) and this tutorial was one of them a couple of weeks ago. The tutorial shows you how to make a One Sheet Pocket Book with a Bind It All binding but if you look at Vicki's blog you'll see an alternate way of binding it which is also super cute!

You can see that I used a sheet of paper from SU's Cutie Pie designer series paper pack. Then on the front I used a sentiment and bouquet from MFT's called Bundles of Bouquets. I just thought the sentiment was perfect for the paper that is filled with flowers! Now, on the inside I have put some Bella images. Some are Bella's some are from the other lines that Em carries. In the back two pockets are some embellishments. What a cute and fun way to give someone some images, huh? Yeah...I think so too sooooo remember when I was talking about doing some Glory from Lorie? Well...this is it! Leave a comment, with a way to get a hold of you, on this post and on Friday morning when I type up my morning post I'll have one of my kiddos choose a number to be the winner. Sound good? Now, it won't earn you any extra entries or anything but go ahead and tell your friends about this Glory from Lorie, post it on your blog. The more the merrier! I do have to tell you that I made this little cutie just for the purpose of giving it away so you know that lots of love and prayers was put into it just for the winner!

I forgot to tell you guys that it looks really good for Kyler and the Christian School. We had our interview which was like getting together with old friends as we knew both the board member and the parent association member that was there to interview us. The board member told us it shouldn't be a problem so...Kyler is going to the Christian school in the fall. YAY!! Todd suggested that we have a couple of get togethers with the kids from the class (even though Kyler knows most of them they have all changed in the last 2 years). So, that means more fun with making invites with a theme and such. We will wait until it is warmer so we can BBQ hot dogs and get out the water slide. FUN!!!

Alright you guys. That is it for today. I hope you LOVE the Glory from Lorie and sign up to win it! Have a wonderful Wednesday!

what to show you?

I have had so much fun stamping recently that I don't know which thing to show you. Hmmm....
Okay, here it is. This is a card that I made just last night with my newly won Verve Visual stamp set called Petals and Stems. Isn't it just lovely? I know, I know...that is thinking a lot of myself but I truly love this card. I followed Julee's Mojo Monday sketch for the layout (it was perfect for this card) and Susanna Boyd's tutorial for the 3-D butterfly. I think the colors and everything just go so well together and make it a very happy card. You can see all the details of colors and such HERE. I will be sending this card to someone whom I am long overdue on getting a thank you card out too. I hope she forgives me for taking so long!

I also wanted to show you a little picture of the 3-D butterfly. I did clean it up a little by trimming the wings to match and sponging a little more color on them but you get the idea.

It should be a good next couple of weeks for me and crafting as I have a couple of friends that I need to create some birthday presents for and a special friend to make a gift or two for.

I have a question for you. I'm planning on making a set of name blocks for a friend. But I'm afraid to start because I'm afraid that I'll totally screw it up and I only have one or two extra blocks. How do you pull the trigger to get over being afraid and just start making them? I would really like your feedback so please leave me a little note, k?

Okay, Image Swap participants...I'm sure I'll see lots of envelopes in the mail today...right? LOL! Really, hopefully the rest of the images will come today or tomorrow as I will be mailing them back to everyone on Friday.

Have a terrific Tuesday everyone!

Memorial Day

Scroll down for todays creative post.

the other two

Here are the other two very cute cards from the Kid's Card Swap. These are made by Meredith Socha. I love the back of her card as it has her "stamped by" stamp and then a "for more information" stamp with her e-mail and blog on it. Pretty neato idea. HERE is a link to her blog. I really like what I see so go check it out!

Today we go for an interview to see if we, as a family, will be accepted into the Christian School here in town. Kyler went to school there from K-2 then we pulled him out. We believe that it would be best for him to go back so... since it has been two years that we've been out we have to go through the interview process again. First though, we'll go to the cemetery for their Memorial Day services.

My dad called last night to let me know that my great-uncle Ed has died. It was actually quite the shock. I only know my great-uncle a little but what I remember about him was that he was much fun. My mom just adored him. Please pray for his family.

I hope that you all have a super fantastic day. Take time to think about the freedoms that you have because of the loss of a brave soldier.

first 3 kiddo swap cards

As promised...here are the first three cards I received in the Kid's Card Swap. This swap is probably one of the best I've been in on SCS. The swaps I host here on my blog are always very good but sometimes the quality on SCS is not what is desired...so...here you go! Enjoy them!

The first Passion Pink card is by Sara Phillips. HERE is her gallery on SCS. I have Karen Foster mini stamps that I could use to personalize the little pink strip. So cute this is!

The next card is made with Cowboy Kid. There is no name on the back of the card so I can't tell you who made it but I can tell you that it is a great card! Love the crinkled paper and Close to Cocoa to "age" the paper. And the hemp...adorable!

And finally look at that super cute pig! I'm not sure if you can see it or not but the pig is completely covered in glitter and the pig on the inside is on a scalloped circle. What a fun card! Oh, and no signature on this one either.

I wish people would sign the back of their cards so that I could give proper credit. That doesn't take away how cute they are though!

I had a great time stamping yesterday and got two really fun projects done. One is a sack purse and one is a mini photo book that was the tutorial on SCS this week. I'll link you to it HERE. What have you been doing creatively? I'd love to see if you want to link me to it.

That is it for today! I hope you all have a super relaxing Sunday and I'll see you tomorrow! Don't forget that tomorrow is Memorial Day. Please attend ceremonies at your local cemetery if you can.

it's all about sarah today

Happy Saturday Morning! What are you guys all going to do today? Me? As little as possible! Nah...I hope to get some great stamping time in today! So...do you remember THIS card? Well, it was for a kid's birthday swap that I signed up for on SCS. When Sarah mentioned it I couldn't say no...could I? Anyway, I received my cards back from the swap yesterday and I must say that I love them all!

First, is the contact card that she made for me. When I asked for these cards to be made I asked that they represent who that person is. Sarah made her card with a hen because that is who she is...mama hen to her two beautiful boys and her husband. See the super cute little mice under the hen? Awww...so cute! Sarah is a very sweet woman whom I hope to meet someday in...wait for it...yep...that is right...Green Bay Wisconsin! You all know how much I love my Packers and she gets to live in the land of green and gold....lucky, lucky girl she is! I try to get back to Wisconsin every other year SO it is a good possibility that we may get to meet at some point...fun!

The other card she sent was made with a cute stamp from My Big Idea's and is called Max. It happens to be the stamp I sent Sarah for her birthday. With two very cute little guys at home I thought she might be able to put it to use and she did. I love the way she used the Traffic Jams Cuttlebug folder and cut them out. And the blues...perfect for my house and hers since we both have all boys that we live with. The sentiment is from that cute set I used the other day called Smarty Pants.

So...tomorrow I'll show you three of the cards from the swap and on Monday the last two.

Be on the lookout for some blog candy coming up soon. I have visited several blogs that are giving away blog candy but you have to do something to earn a chance to get it. I just feel like it would be fun for you guys to just try and win something...no strings attached. Anyway, that is coming soon!

***EDITED to add...I've updated the received images on THIS post***

hometown pride

I'm not sure if you know or not but Todd and I really like Thomas Kinkade's paintings. Todd loves the lighthouses and my favorites are Forest Chapel and Sunrise. We even invested in a Gallery Proof, with Mr. Kinkade's signature on the back, of Victorian Light. HERE is what it looks like. Anyway, all that to tell you that when Cornish Heritage Farms said they were coming out with Thomas Kinkade stamps I was thrilled! They are individual little pieces of art. While they are a bit difficult to color with all the detail I still love them anyway. I just recently purchased the newest stamp called Hometown Pride. I decided to try a sepia look with it the first time prior to coloring it as I had seen seen in a couple of the sneak peeks. All of it is brown except for the red stripes in the flag. I just thought that was stunning. I used Palette Burnt Umber for my brown ink and then my red COPIC on the flag and that was it. I have found that if you ink up the stamp then lay your card stock on it and roll it with a roller it inks better for me. I used CHF's new Clear Cards thick transparency crafting sheets for the base. The image is on one side and the red layer is on the other. Make sense? That way no one sees the adhesive I used. Oh, yeah..the thick transparency sheets are not very forgiving with taking off the card stock and placing it again so you have to be really ready to put that card stock down! I wasn't sure if adding embellishments would make this card look any better or not and honestly I didn't know what I would use if I added any so I've left it like this. If you have any ideas though let me know. I'll not be changing this specific card but for future purposes I would like to know what you think. So, this will be off to my brother for his birthday next week. I sure hope he likes it!

Just a reminder that the due date for the image swap is rapidly approaching and, in fact, are due on Tuesday. If you don't have them in the mail you should do it today or tomorrow for sure. HERE is a link to that thread. If you need my address just e-mail me and please don't forget to include an envelope so that I can return your swaps to you. If you aren't going to be able to get your images out just let me know.

It is a cloudy, rainy day here...blah! But, it goes well with my plan to do a movie marathon with the kids. We have several "series" of movies like Star Wars, The Love Bug, Back to the Future and I thought it would be fun to take a day and watch one of those series. We'll see what they think! It is now 8 a.m. and I need to get to my exercising soon so I'm signing off for today. Have a super Friday and I'll "see" you tomorrow!

good ones

I am not sure what has happened the last couple of days but I have not been able to make anything that I consider out of this world for the last couple of days. Here is a card that I made yesterday that is plain and simple. Still worthy of throwing in the mail (actually I considered giving it to Todd but it is to feminine). The yellow and light teal card stock is Prism card stock and the rest is from some designer paper scraps I had left laying around. The ribbon is PTI's Lemon Tart twill. The sentiment is from the SU! set Smarty Pants. So, yeah...hope my creativity comes back soon 'cuz I need to get some stuff done!

I think I'll switch gears for a little while today though and make some snickerdoodle cookies. I found a really great looking recipe HERE that I'm going to try. Just have to get some cream of tartar (kinda expensive stuff). Have you checked out Donna's baking blog? It is called Spatulas, Corkscrews & Suitcases. If you love to bake you definitely have to check it out! And, she has a cookbook giveaway going on now! Speaking of yummy food. Mish Mash put her recipe for Tropical Blondies on her blog today. If you'd like to see that recipe just click HERE.

Well, I hope you all have a super fantastic Thursday. My kiddos have a FOUR day weekend this weekend so today is our last day of school for this week...yay!

recipe

Remember THIS card? Well, I made it for a friend's birthday that is next week. For sometime I've been wanting to do the idea that you see to the side. I used a CHF set and a PTI set plus a Karen Foster set to stamp the top part. And, yes, I know it isn't straight...more my writing than anything else. Anyway, I have put this on the inside, top of the card so that I can write my own, personal message on the bottom. The scallops on the sides are just 3/4" circles punched out and then placed on the card. Over all I think it is a super cute idea and that my friend will love it!

A pretty lame post today but I just didn't have time to sit down and stamp yesterday.

I hope you have a wonderful Wednesday and I'll see ya tomorrow!

owl's so cute!

In my Sweet N Sassy package that I got the other day I received two of their images. One was this super cute owl. I'm am going to own this owl soon as it is the set in the June Sweet N Sassy My Three Little DReaMs kit! I bought this owl paper in anticipation of that set...silly aren't I? Anyway, when I received the image I knew I had to make a card with it so I sat down to do so and this is what I came up with. It is a pretty busy card but I really like it! The layout is the sketch for you to try from Jen's blog. The birthday sentiment is from the Birthday Basics through PTI.

Don't forget Courtney's Blog candy. And another Image Swap reminder. Check HERE to see if I've received your images.

Have a super Tuesday everyone!

yummy!

I got a super cute set from Cornish Heritage Farms called Baked with love the other day and when I saw it I knew I had to combine it with this cute baking paper I had. I stamped only twice on this entire card but I still think it is adorable! The layout is from Mish Mash's blog. Michelle has taken to sharing her personal layouts with her blog readers and I have loved every single one of them! It is difficult to see but there is a white layer under the chocolate chip layer.

The other picture is of how I store my COPIC markers on my desk. I have read in several different places that, unlike SU! markers, you can store your COPIC vertically and it wont hurt them so I was off to find something neato to store them in. This is a tin from the Dollar Spot at Target that I used some of the SAB rub on to spiffy up a little. I love that I can see the colors well and that they are somewhat organized. This tin takes up so much less room on my desk than the plastic holders that they came in. Kinda neato, huh?

If you are in my image swap you may want to think about getting those images out to me this week as they are due on the 27th. I don't want to have to hold this up to please complete this commitment. Any questions? Take a look HERE!!!

And finally today...run do not walk to Courtney's blog. She is having a weeks worth of blog candy in order to celebrate her blogaversary.

Have a super great Monday!!!

what not to do

I just thought I'd show you today what not to do. I fussed and fussed with this card the other day and had a terrible time making it into something that I loved. I changed the backgrounds, thought about different colors but nothing really made this into something I liked. Oh, well...lesson learned.

The wine tasting was fun last night. We went and had dinner at our favorite restaurant first then went and tasted a ton of different wines and some yummy appetizer/desserts. I must say that it seems to be that most people like red wines. Me? Not so much. But, I did taste a lovely blend from Benson Vineyards called Sangiovese. At $24.50 a bottle though it is a little more than I would usually spend. Cave B Winery is another that is consistently good and had a wonderful Riesling. Cave B isn't to far from where we live and we really hope to make it out to SageCliffe for dinner and maybe an overnight one night. Anyway, I'd say those are my two favorite wineries this year.

I hope you have a fantastic Saturday and gets lots accomplished!

bee's knees

I actually made two cards yesterday but I love how cute and simple this one is so I had to show you guys! This is a set from Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps called Bee Happy. The first thing that drew me to this set was the sentiment on this card. I just love the innocence in that sentiment. The flower is cute and there are a couple of different bees and sentiments for thank yous, thinking of you, and such. A pretty versatile set! Anyway, The paper is all from PaperTrey Ink. Oh, and the ribbon too. I'm not sure if I used Adirondack or Palette ink but either way...you get the idea! There is glitter on the bee and the center of the flower. I wanted to use beads in the center of the flower but couldn't find them...darn it! Oh, and the layout is from a card that Charmaine made yesterday. I did do one thing to this card after I took the picture and that is that I rounded the two bottom corners with my corner rounded...so imagine it that way!

So...do you remember my wine journal? Tonight is the night I get to use it! The wine tasting is from 5 - 8 but we don't stay the whole time 'cuz we have to go get dinner you know! Todd asked if it could be a little dress up thing for us so I think I'm going to wear my Mother's Day outfit (minus the flowers) but we'll see.

Today is supposed to be a scorcher...95 degrees! Tomorrow...92 degrees! Yikes! I think the water slide might need to come out tomorrow!

I hope you have a super Friday! Would you all go out and do something nice for someone else today?

my contact card

Remember when I showed you THIS? Well, I got the idea of asking for contact cards from my friend Anne. I was pretty open about how my contact card was to be made and I gave everyone about 6 weeks to get them done (did you get your done?) but Anne was a bit more specific. And, her contact card is much smaller...it is ATC size. Yikes! I'm not very good at ATC size stuff but I really wanted to participate so I said yes. I've had to put this to the side for about a month (or was it procrastinate for a month?) but I pulled it out on Monday and gave myself a deadline of having it done and in the mail by Monday the 19th. Here it is...ready to go...probably tomorrow! Yay!

There was a line in Anne's instructions that says "this card is all about you for me." I thought okay, she needs to know all about me so the "I Am" side was born. I used PaperTrey Ink's designer paper and card stock along with the Boxes, Bags, and Tags set that has the little flowers in it. I printed the "I Am" on my computer. Some PTI Sweet Blush Twill ribbon completes that side.

On what I am calling the back side is my personal information. I again used PTI card stock and a little trim stamp from the Faux Ribbon set to complete the information area. Looking at it I just realized I should have done this side a little different but there is no going back now! Overall...I love this card. The colors, the "I Am" section and the simplicity is really all me. Now, finally, I can start making other cards without feeling this project calling me!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thursday and I'll see you again soon!