Cutie Pie Folio

I've shown you these Note Card Folios before, and Liz won one as blog candy. This time its with one of my faves - Cutie Pie!



The directions for the folio itself are easy peasy! Holding your paper vertically, score at 2". Then holding your paper horizontally, score at 5 1/2.



Fold on all score lines with a bone folder. Decorate the cover however you wish, and using a hole punch, place a hole in each pocket side to thread ribbon through to hold the folio shut. Edited to add: To answer a reader question....I don't secure the inside at all, its only held closed by the ribbon ties on the side.

You all know that I just love my "Think Happy Thoughts" set. Its totally affordable and I use it all the time. Looks just sweet with the scalloped circle punch! This was a great excuse to pull it out again!

Notecard mat is made with cardstock measuring 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 and the actual note made of neutral cardstock 1/4 inch smaller all around.

I like to decorate them either with a simple stamp, or a strip of designer paper with a matching accent.

In this case, I thought the Three For You punch makes a sweet little adornment (and um, was super quick!) I also added a vintage brad to the center of each flower.

The folio will hold four cards on one side, and four envies on the other.

Voila! You're done! Have a great day everyone!]

Edited to add: I wanted to respond to Laura's question. Believe it or not, despite all the things I've made with it. I'm still on my FIRST set of Cutie Pie paper!!

Okay, I'll play

I had forgotten that I'd been tagged by Liz and Julie a while back, and then while reading Nancy Riley's blog, she tagged me too. So here goes...

I deleted a few questions because some of them are too much personal information to be out there on the web! ;-)

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet, current car) Jennifer Pacifica

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (favorite ice cream, favorite cookie) Peppermint Stick Oreo

3. YOUR FLY “GUY/GIRL” NAME: (first initial first name, first 3 letters last name) JBas

4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Pink Dog

6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (first 3 letters last name, first 2 letters first name) BasJo

7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink and add” the”) The Green Chardonnay

8. NASCAR NAME: (first names of your grandfathers) Warren Paul

I'm tagging my friends Meri and Kristyn

Love the Triple Clip!

A friend of mine had really wanted to attend my clipboard project class but due to some health complications she really can't complete the project on her own.

So I had her select the paper she liked the best and I agreed to make one up for her.


I'm so glad she picked Le Jardin paper from Stampin Up. I'm just tickled pink with how this came out and it was so fun to do. After a few days of being sick and lazy on the couch, it felt great to get back to work!

To begin, I held the clips open with twist ties from bread bags so that I could ink around them. Then used stampin sponges and q-tips to get in all the crevices and in between the clips.

Using a Stampin Up Bashful Blue craft pad, I smooshed and twisted the pad all across the top half of the frame. Yes just, smoosh and twist, smoosh and twist. I then went over any light spots with a stampin sponge. I love how these ink up, it has a really soft, sueded texture.

I applied the designer paper to the bottom half of the board using Stampin Up greeting glue. I also used Greeting Glue to adhere the designer paper to the chipboard accents. Threaded the buttons with hemp twine and attached them to the chipboard with glue dots.

When you adhere the chipboard elements, just be sure to anchor them on the bottom half of the element leaving room for the photos to be tucked inside. I used pop up glue dots on the bottom half of the flower, and moved my photo corner to the very edge of the mat so that it wouldn't interfere with photo placement.

I added the title "Happiness" on a chipboard slider from the OnBoard Accents that I had lying on my desk covered it with bashful blue craft and then once it was dry I stamped the sentiment in Chocolate Chip ink. I added the wide grosgrain ribbon through the slider and then added a jumbo eyelet on each side, threaded the ribbon through and secured it on the other side with a pop up glue dot. I tucked a glue dot underneath the slider as well to give it a little dimension and so that it won't interfere with the photo placement.

I hope she likes it, this one was really hard to give up. To quote Phoebe from Friends "I have a secret.... I want to keep it."

Altered Candy

After posting the pity party email below I looked at the clicker and realized how quickly 30K is approaching.

Thanks to all of you who come to see my creations and listen to my bellyaching (pardon the pun, I couldn't help myself...)


The winner will receive the following:

This completed altered frame as well as a blank altered frame for you to create one on your own!

One plain nugget tin (the kind that I had shown last week for Christmas) for you to decorate.

Lastly, one blank tea tin for you to alter at home. (I'll take a picture tonight of the blank tins and update this post...)

I will collect comments on this post until the clicker reaches 30K and then I will have Random.org select a number. To enter, just leave a comment on this post!

Wonderful Friends

Oh blah! I'm now on my second full day of the stomach bug. What happened to the 24 hour bug??? I didn't get that one I guess.

My friends in town all know that my husband has been travelling since last Sunday and won't be home till tomorrow afternoon. Being home alone for a whole week is terrible! I can't believe my mother did this for years and years when my dad's job took him on the road all the time.

And, its rotten being sick no doubt, but its even more rotten when you know hubby won't be home at the end of the day to give you at least a little respite.

My very dear friends have all been calling me to see if I need anything, have offered to take my children to birthday parties for me, to the library anything... but I'm afraid to hand off the kids for fear that I'll pass my germs along to their families as well.

So in quarantine we all sit. We've all watched WAY too much TV the last two days, but I hope tomorrow will be a better day. I wish this yucky bug on no one. My consolation? I'm convinced after being sick for this long that I must have lost a pound or two?

Another day, another no stamping completed, no laundry done, clutter all over the house. I MUST feel better in the morning so that I can have the house presentable upon the return of my dearest!!

Note Box (My First Tutorial!)

As promised, I wanted to show you a few of the items I had in my open house the other night. My guests really seemed to enjoy them. I used the Au Chocolat version as a gift to one of my hostesses.

I just love making these little note boxes, they seem to look great no matter what paper I choose! I can't take credit for the idea, my friend Erica taught me how to make them at a project class at her home before I signed on as a demo. They hold four notecards and four envelopes and come together so quickly.

Note Box:

To make the box itself you'll need one piece of 8 1/2 x 11 paper. For this version, I used designer paper, but you could also use neutral and wheel or stamp a background. You'll also need a piece of designer paper measuring 4 x 6 1/2.

You will score the sheet of paper at 1" from the long edges. Then holding the paper sideways, score at 3 1/2, 4 1/2, 9 and 10 inches. Then fold on all scored lines using a bone folder.

You'll snip the edges between the 3 1/2 and 4 1/2 marks to create flaps for the side to make the box, and trim off the 1" marks from the 9" inch line to create the front flap. This is a photo of what your paper will look like once scored, snippped and cut! (I used just plain very vanilla paper here so you can see what it should look like....)

Fold up the bottom and overlap the sides - the front side will be shorter. Then using a punch, create a hole for a brad on each side to hold the box shut. I like to fold the top of the side panel down towards the inside and secure it with a glue dot.

Take a 4 x 6 1/2 piece of designer paper and fold it in half the long way. You will add this to the front flap to extend it to close the box.

Create a closure by stamping an image on a 1/14 circle, mat it on a coordinating 1 3/8 circle and attach using dimensionals on only the bottom half of the circle so that you can tuck the top flap inside.

Notecards:

Four neutral pieces of cardstock 4 x 5 1/4 (I chose Very Vanilla and I used my ticket corner on each corner)

Solid Cardstock for notecard mat 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 (I chose Real Red)

Four strips of designer paper 1/2" x 4" (I used Cerise Designer Paper)

1 1/4 punched circles with coordinated stamp (I chose the flower from Priceless and added a vintage brad through the flower center)

1 3/8 punched circles with coordinating matting (again..I used Real Red)
Assemble notecards using Snail for the neutral to the matting, for the designer paper to the neutral card, and then I popped the circular image up on a dimensional.

Again, I can't take credit for the box idea, I'm not sure where Erica learned how to make it. But I'm sure glad she taught me, and I hope you like it too! If you decide to make one, please

send me a link to your SCS gallery or you blog, I'd love to see what you come up with!

Happy Stamping!

How Lucky can one girl get?

Monday was just a rough day for me. I won't bore you with the details, but lets just say I was heavy hearted and grouchy. Then I stopped by the mailbox, and found this little beauty waiting for me. How happy was I? A Beate Johns original, for me!

I swear, Beate must have a million brads on her table! If you read her blog, and I'm sure you all do, then you know what I mean.

This uses some of my very favorite paper - Cutie Pie and one of her Weekend Sketch layouts, one that I've been using very frequently lately. The stamp set "Think Happy Thoughts" has become one of my go to sets now that "Riveting" has been retired.

Thanks for the card Beate! I love it. Its sitting in my kitchen and continues to make me smile every time I catch sight of it!

By the way, be sure to stop by Beate's blog for her Weekend Sketch Challenge. Its one of my very favorites. I'm certain I'll play along!

Little Friends

My oldest headed out to a double birthday party for his new little friends the other day. The boys got transformers, a transformers coloring book and a new set of colored pencils.

I made these cute little tags/bookmarks to put on the bags for them, along with my "Spacey Birthday" cards I've had ready in my birthday card stash!

These little tags have been handy and quick for me lately. I also used them as a little welcome gift to two of my new clients along with washable crayons and a package of paper.

Sick Day

Thanks to everyone that has posted or emailed me about my open house last night. It was fantastic! My mother has a wonderful group of friends, who are so generous, and so wonderfully enthusiastic. I took so many orders for custom work last night, and I have a few women interested in joining the Fall Flowers class. It was a great night!

Today, I'm home sick. Feeling yucky. I tried to convince my five year old that he should be taking care of me today since I feel lousy...we'll see how that works out.

I'll be back later today with pictures of my setup last night, and a list of what some of the best sellers were.

Joy of Fruitcake!

Oh my goodness, do I simply LOVE this paper - Fruitcake from Basic Grey. And, here's the JOY stamp from Stampendous that I mentioned the other day. Both the paper and the stamp were purchased from Eclectic Paperie.

The card base is Ruby Red from SU and I stamped Joy on Very Vanilla from SU as well. The images were then colored in with my watercolor crayons.

It looked really nice like that, but last night, I decided I wasn't quite done yet. That ornament just needed a little love. Hit it with my glue pen and loads of dazzling diamonds and now its all sparkly like a real ornament.

Okay, its going to be NINETY FIVE degrees here in the Northeast. Not exactly the weather we're accustomed to for the last week of September. So bizarre. And here I am, making Christmas cards. HA!

Which version do you like better? Check out the coloring on the ornament... green or red?

A Nancy Riley Tin!

I've been admiring the gorgeous tins that Nancy Riley makes on her wonderful blog iSTAMP and I wanted to make one for tonight's Open House. Of course, I'm using the beautiful Fall Flowers paper that I've been working with so much. I just LOVE this color scheme!

For attendees for my upcoming class, we won't be making this in class, but you'll have enough paper leftover at the end of class to make one of these yourself if you'd like.

The tin is a Maya Road tin from Eclectic Paperie. Like Nancy, I've printed the labels for the dividers on the computer, as well as the word "Cards" on the front. The divider tabs were made with the Round Tab punch from SU and each divider had its corners rounded, and then a few stamps of the swirl from Priceless. Double Stitched ribbon is an accent between the two paper patterns.

Let me say, I was so nervous to cover the top. Was afraid I'd botch the whole job... but Nancy convinced me I could do it. And I'm so glad I did. Thanks Nancy!

If you haven't been over to her blog yet, please go check it out (there is a link above, and I added her to my "Blog Stalking" list on the bottom right of my page....) she has some wonderful work! And I'm so glad to have "met"her this week, she's SO nice and has left me so many super sweet comments the last few days!

Stamping Fun!

I'm getting ready for an Open House on Wednesday night and I have a long list of "to do's" to get ready. But, In the midst of mass production of cards, I decided that it was time to take a break, and work on Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #20. She's got me hooked on square cards, and for this layout, I thought I really needed the extra room. The base is a Ruby Red 5 1/4 square card.

I bought this delicious Fruitcake paper by Basic Grey from Eclectic Paperie. I couldn't HELP myself after I saw Taylor make some really stunning cards with it. (of course I had to help myself to those JOY and PEACE stamps too! More with the Joy stamp later this week.)

Beate's Weekend Sketch challenge has made it onto my weekly "must do" list. It continues to help me stretch my boundaries and try new things.

The stamp used here is from Season of Joy stamped in Always Artichoke on Very Vanilla paper. Then I went over all the empty spaces with my sakura stardust pen. The little sentiment is from a retired set from last year's Holiday Mini. I believe it is called "Perfect Ending" punched out with the Word Window punch, I colored in the ornament with my Yo Yo yellow marker and then covered it with Sakura Stardust as well.

Finished off with the delicious Very Vanilla wide grosgrain ribbon from Stampin Up! Be sure to check out the Splitcoast Gallery with the keyword WSC20 to see what the other players have created.

Fall Flowers - Final Project

I've finally finished the last sample for my upcoming Fall Flowers Class. When I saw Julie make this cute notebook with Pick a Petal, I just knew I wanted to make one too. And I had a stash of Jr Notebooks in my storage bin. So I headed off to Staples and had them chop them in half for me.

Then I borrowed (aka CASED) a layout from Beate I wasn't sure about this image from In the Spotlight till I saw her start using her scalloped circle and a big old eyelet in the center, then of course, I was sold.

This little wish list is a great size for slipping in your purse, or for tracking your upcoming SU purchases! ...wink... the little tag on the side is made with a word window punch and just the "wish" portion of the sentiment from my new favorite set "Big Bold Birthday" and has a little bradded flower from the 3 for you punch.
Here's a quick picture of the inside.....

And lastly, a group shot of all the projects in the Fall Flowers card class. If you're coming already, I can't wait to see you!

If you live in MA and would like to attend, please email me at stampedbyhand@comcast.net or if you're interested in a kit to make the projects at home please email me as well!

Edited to add: Liz, Elizabeth, Karen B, and Annie are confirmed to recieve class kits. (Thank you!!) I will be accepting additional class kit requests through Wednesday Sept 26th at noon and then the class kit option will be closed. Class kits are available for $30 and payable via Paypal.

Thanks!

I've got a new favorite

I've been playing with my Big Bold Birthday all weekend. And having so much fun. Man, am I a dork or what?

Then, I was showing my husband last night and he said "Wow, too bad you can't make them scratch and sniff!" and I exclaimed (actually pretty loudly)"ACTUALLY YOU CAN!" At this point, he thinks I'm totally nuts.

I'll gather up the supplies for a scratch and sniff version, and will show you how they come out....

In the meantime, you can see these cute, but not smelly versions!

Details:

Saffron Cupcake details: Big Bold Birthday, So Saffron cardstock and designer series prints paper, whisper white, close to cocoa, sakura stardust pen, May Arts ribbon from Starlit Studio, slot punch

Pretty in Pink Cupcake details: Big Bold Birthday, Polka Dot Background, All Holidays (thanks Janine!!), Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery and Whisper White cardstock, celery wide width grosgrain ribbon, slot punch, sakura stardust pen, mat pak, paper piercer, cert celery marker

Don't Open it?

The little label on top of this treat box says "Do Not Open Until Christmas" but recipients will be able to see that there are Hershey Nuggets inside! My guess is that they won't be able to help themselves to an early treat!

A similar version to a treat box I showed last week. I have one more to make pending my SU order early next week!

I've been on a crazy cardmaking streak to get ready for an open house I'm attending on Wednesday night. I'll have photos for you later today or tomorrow.

Edited to add: Tins are from Specialty Bottle and I'm using the 8 oz size here.

Spotted Birthday!

Wednesday's challenge is a Sketch Challenge and is one of my favorites. Its so easy to get a card done when the layout is already decided for you!

I added Big Bold Birthday to my most recent order and knew I wanted to use it for this week's challenge to stock up on birthday cards, and the green and blue funky polka dot paper from the Cutie Pie collection has been patiently waiting its turn to come out and play!

The only thing that slowed me down was that I needed to trim up the stamps first!

The card base is Old Olive stamped with the polka dot pattern from then a layer of Bashful Blue. This funky dotted paper is from Cutie Pie (one of my favorites!) and then the cupcake pieces were stamped, trimmed out and popped up on dimensionals. I added dazzling diamonds with my glue pen to create sparkly little sprinkles on the cupcake and to dazzle up the flame on the candle.

That white panel was just too plain for me, so I faux stitched it up with my mat pak, piercer and Old Olive marker.

I just love how this came out, so fun. I'll be making a LOT more of these today during naptime.

Double Pocket Fun!

Beate made a tutorial on her blog about how to make these super cute Double Pocket Cards. They're great if you're giving a gift card along with a note. I also think they'd be SUPER cute as a Christmas card.

I was supposed to be making a baby girl card for my new cousin today, but pink wasn't calling my name. This Cowboy paper from Crate Paper that I got at Eclectic Paperie was calling my name. I couldn't help myself. So, I made a card that I don't technically need today, but it was fun. And, I'm sure soon enough I'll actually need to send it out. Handy to have those things on hand!

I have another one of these in the works... might finish it tonight or add it to my to do pile, and another one kicking around in my head. You'll be seeing this style card again. I really loved making it.

Treats Anyone?

I went and ordered some clear glass bottles online for an upcoming project class. But, silly me, I didn't measure it out. When the box came last night they are teensy tiny little things.

I did however order some cute little tin boxes that I had fun altering. They're quick and easy if you have to make a lot of little hostess gifts, or teacher presents.

The only thing that took any length of time was waiting for the craft ink to dry. For my class I'm going to add more snowflakes to the band, and also we'll be coating each flake with Irridescent Ice embossing powder (which UPS will be delivering to me early next week!) The heat gun will dry that ink up in a snap, and it will be way cuter all sparkled up. The snowflake on top was stamped on shimmery white paper - love that stuff!

I'm off to Walmart tonight to pick up some Avery labels and some Hershey's nuggets to fill this little baby up! I thought Candy Corn would be cute for the Halloween ones I'm making tonight.

I'm still going to play around to see what I can do with these teeny tiny containers. I'm sure I'll come up with something. I can't possibly be bothered with returning them.

I can't believe I've never made one of these before. I've done loads of my little shadowbox monogram ones, but never a full name frame. Been fiddling with it for days, but not sure how much more I can add to it.

Hard to see here, but the top half is stamped with the background from bundle of joy and then I filled in the stars with my so saffron crayon. I **might** go back and add some sakura stardust on the trails between the stars, or the stars themselves....

If you have any other ideas for me, I'd love to hear them!

Combined Challenge

My friend Kathy and I have set a goal of completing at least one Splitcoast Challenge per week. She beat me to it this week, but here's mine.

I combined both the Try Something New challenge of making a 2, 5, 7, 10 box as well as the Color Challenge - to use River Rock, Really Rust and Chocolate Chip for today's post.

I've been wanting to make a little box like this for a while, but had a lot of other things on my plate. When it came around for the challenge this week, I just knew I'd have to play.

I switched mine up just a little bit. I know that lots of people have a hard time tying the bows just right and get frustrated. So, I simplified the closure by just making the top tuck in under the scalloped circle. If you make one, just make sure to put your adhesive only on the bottom half of the circle and it will tuck right in there.

These are SO fun, and SO easy. You've got to give it a try. I'm going to email my attendees for my upcoming fall flowers class and see if we can switch the notebook we were going to make for this box because I think they'll enjoy it! Be sure to check out the Splitcoast Gallery on this one because many players have changed their little folded flap into an open topped box with a handle. Cuteness!

Shower Beauties

One of the projects that has kept me pretty busy the last few weeks was stamping fifty of these little beauties for my sister's bridal shower yesterday. Edited to add: I made them with the Bitty Boxes from Stampin Up. They come six to a pack and are a precut box that you stamp and then assemble. Available either both kraft or white and come with a TON of little tags you can embellish with.

They were so fun to make for her, and I hope everyone enjoyed them yesterday. The little boxes are stamped with the swirls from Baroque Motifs in river rock, then stamped with the teeny flower in ruby red and chocolate chip finished off with the medium sized blossom from Baroque Motifs put up on a pop dot with an antique brad in the center.

They were filled with custom M&M's imprinted with their names, and with their wedding date! I can't believe how soon it will be here! How exciting!

I made her a criss cross card for the bridesmaids gift yesterday. I'm down to my last few scraps of this Loves Me paper, but I thought it was just perfect for a criss cross, and if anyone gets my favorite papers... its my little sister!!

The inside card uses a retired stamp which I really I love titled "Love Matters." I think it is so whimsical and fun to color in. Then I used plenty of faux stitching with my paper piercer, mat pack and my close to cocoa marker. The round tab punch fit a coordinating colored prima just perfectly for a simple little touch to pull the inside card out.

Preggie Cards Continue

I mentioned the last time I did a baby card, that I had ONE more in the series. I just gave it a little rest in between posts.

This card uses a fun little trick I learned on Jenn Balcer's blog, and she learned it from Valerie Stangle. Its a fun ltitle way to attach your sentiment on a punched circle so that it hangs off your ribbon like a charm. Jenn uses the charm to go back and add a sentiment to a card that she intentionally left generic. Which, is a fabulous idea by the way. I knew i wanted to use the "You Grow Girl" but thought this was a fun way to attach it.

I won't duplicate efforts by reposting her technique, but you can find it here.

I used - shocker - the Designer Prints paper, this time in So Saffron, but I also used my polka dot background stamp with certainly celery ink. Thought I could cut down on my ridiculous use of Designer Paper by buying this stamp and making my own background instead. We'll see how that goes. I just can't HELP myself with that gorgeous paper.

Coaster Continued

Thanks to everyone that had so many fantastic comments on my coasters the other day. I've received a lot of emails and PM's from Splitcoast with questions so I thought I'd write a more detailed post.

Before I go any further, I want to thank my friend, and fellow demo Kathy who answered all these questions for ME when I did this project. All I know on this subject, I owe to Kathy! Also, if any of you readers have advice to add, please let me know and I'll add it to this post!

Secondly, be sure to check out the tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers by Gina K. I LOVE her butterfly version with Stazon inks.

Here's how I did mine....

I purchased my tiles at Lowes, they are a tumbled marble tile. I liked the aged finish, you just want to inspect the box to make sure that they don't have any major cracks or missing corners. Before we stamped them, I dusted them off with a cloth, because they are really dusty!

For the "Baroque Motifs" set, we stamped the large swirl background in stazon leaving one corner empty to add a sentiment. Then we stamped the smallest flower in the set in Rose Red craft ink from Stampin Up. Added a sentiment (I used the Warm Words set, or the "Cherish" or "kind" from Baroque motifs) Some participants used the craft ink for this, some used the Timber Brown Stazon.

For the"Wild Rose"tiles we used Rose Red and Old Olive craft inks from StampinUp. This set has a solid image and a coordinating outline image for all the pieces. We inked the solid flower with rose red craft, then stamped off once on scratch paper to soften the color. Then stamped it onto the tile. Then, we inked up the outline image in Rose Red, lined it up right over the solid flower and stamped the tile. For the flowers, we stamped the solid background directly, we didn't bother with the outline step, but you could if you wanted to. The sentiments (same as for the Baroque version) were stamped in Timber Brown Stazon ink.

I had the participants leave the tiles with me overnight. The next day, I set my oven to 250 degrees and got cookin! I baked the tiles for 10 minutes (to heat set the Craft Ink)and then brought them outside and placed them on an old ratty sheet.

I used Patricia Nimocks Plaid Clear Acrylic Sealer that I bought at my local craft store. I applied two coats sprayed (according to the directions) 15minutes apart. This stuff is nasty strong. Please be sure to use it outside, or in an extremely well ventilated area. I was woozy during the process and I was OUTSIDE! Also,be sure to spray from a distance of at least 6 inches from the tile. On two tiles, I was too close, and the ink got all smeary... I have no idea why, but now I have to remake a few tiles, so I want to save you the trouble.

Once everything was coated and sealed and cooled I applied little felt feet (also purchased from Lowes) and they were ready to go. We made little 3x3 gift cards to go with them as I know many of my attendees will be using these for Christmas gifts.

I wish I still had the Wild Rose stamps and I'd show you photos of the step by step, but I gave them back to my friend Betsy who so kindly loaned them to me.

If there is anything else I've left unanswered please leave a comment here and I'll update the post to include more details. And, if you have any advice on this project to share, please do the same!

Thanks again for all the wonderful feedback.

Mellow Wishes

I received "Oh, So Lovely" as a hostess set after a recent order, and hadn't yet put it to use. So, the other night, I set out with a mission to use it.

As I rifled through my paper file, I realized that I'm using the same colors over and over (and over again) and I had several files that were nearly untouched. I grabbed a few pieces of mellow moss and went from there.

Knowing that I wanted to use the poppies with Groovy Guava and Really Rust watercolors, I pulled Always Artichoke and then Close to Cocoa as well.

Armed with an armload of supplies a-la that maniac Rachel Ray, I headed upstairs to work while my husband watched TV.

Its such a mellow card, very subdued. But, I felt it was a nice fall feeling card.

As it turned out, the next day I got a pop in visit from my mom, who was in need of a get well soon card for a friend. This fit the bill perfectly.

I've got to get better about keeping a stash of ready mades around for just these types of occasions. Yet another goal to set for myself.

Details: Accessories used include the ticket corner punch, the new taffeta ribbon in mellow moss, antique brads, and I used the background from priceless for those swirls, and the mellow moss layer is also stamped with linen. Sentiment is from "Birthday Hugs and Wishes" and was stamped in Always Artichoke ink. The main image was stamped in stazon, then aquapainted with with groovy guava and really rust ink.

I'm Wicked Excited

I've been dying to say that. Its such a new england thing, or is it only a Massachusetts thing? I can clearly remember getting so laughed at in College the first time I said that.

In any case, my mother, sister, cousin and I are going to see Wicked tonight in town. I'm beyond excited. I read the book way back in the day, shortly after graduating college and have heard rave reviews about the show. Mostly though, I'm excited about a night out with the ladies. We're meeting for dinner first at PF Changs (yum!)

Coaster Coincidence.

My girls came over last week for project class and we all made coasters. Lots, and lots of coasters. The whole next day I was busy baking them to heat seal them, applying a seal coat (stinky!!) and adding little felt feet.

I have to say, they all did such a great job, and the coasters look so pretty! The coasters are speedy to complete, because you only have one layer, nothing to pop up on a dimensional, no ribbon to add, nothing to be trimmed out... but it sure does make it tricky to design one. I think the flower one is my favorite, but there were a few options to choose from......

I've been meaning to share the photos here, but time just kept getting away from me. Then, today, coasters were profiled on Splitcoast Stampers in the weekly newsletter! So funny.

I did post them to my SCS Gallery earlier today, and thanks so much to everyone that commented - totally made my day!! I actually have two PM's to reply to for more information. Sorta crazy around here tonight, but I promise I'll write back tomorrow.

Sketching Along

Okay, I'm right down to the wire on Beate's Weekend Sketch challenge. Yes, it is Tuesday night... not really the weekend anymore. But, I finally had time to play.

I love that this sketch is so quick to reproduce. I have a lot of cards to make tonight, and I'm off to reproduce a LOT of these little babies right now.

Be sure to check out Beate's Weekend Sketch challenge again this week. I love playing along. I added in a little photo corner detail on the bottom left hand corner, it was feeling too naked for me. And considering the source of the challenge, I had to do it "Beate Style" with the triple brad corner.

The color combo here is Mellow Moss, Close to Cocoa and So Saffron. Trying to move away from my generous use of Pink, So Saffron and Certainly Celery, it IS nearly fall after all!!

Are you ready for some football?

I was asked by a client to make a thank you for a local football executive. This guy is a real big wig. While totally honored to make the card, I thought, duh, I have NOTHING appropriate.



What a perfect excuse to hop on over to my local scrapbooking store! I figured they'd have some sort of sporty paper I could use. No dice. Sold out. Then this fun ribbon caught my eye and I LOVED it. Just the touch I needed. Football paper so wasn't my style anyways.




So, I hope you like it. This was fun to do, I hope both my client, and the football exec who its for like it! Oh, and you too. Wink!

A Real Maniac

Life in public with a toddler. Yikes. My older son was always so well behaved, that I really just didn't understand when kids would pitch a total fit in the store. But, now. I've learned my lesson. Or should I say, I've been taught that lesson by my younger son.

My older son had a gym class, so I packed an assortment of toys, and thought we'd play and read quietly while his brother took class. The other women who had their boys in class had reading with them (I have to admit being so envious of some quiet time to read a magazine, write a note or simply vege out...) I broke out Thomas the Train and a little snack. That lasted precisely two minutes.

Then, for absolutely no reason at all, my little guy decided to run back and forth through the lobby screaming "KANG-A-ROOOOOOO KANG-A-ROOOOOOOO" as loud as you could possibly imagine. I pulled him aside and said "If you can't play quietly with me, we're going to have to leave the gym." You can only imagine how that went over.

So, officially, I'm "that woman" who has totally no control over her child. I'm quite possibly never leaving the house again.

I'm SO tightly wound right now, I can't wait for it to be 6:45 so I can start bedtime and get closer to stamptime. I need a little stampin' right now.

Pink Spots... Pink Dots....

Okay, are you sick of baby cards from me yet? Can you tell I know a lot of people with babies on the way right now?

I just cut into my last page of this charming pink polka dotted paper from the Loves Me designer series paper from Stampin Up. Its now retired, and I'm sad I didn't get more. I'll have to cherish the last few scraps I have.

But, I think this card is so sweet I didn't mind giving up my last piece. While giraffes don't really have pink spots, its cute this way, and for a baby card, that's what counts!

One more baby card coming for you tomorrow. Hope you're not tired of seeing them. They're so fun to make.

details:

Loves Me Designer Paper, Regal Rose, Whisper White cardstock

Bundle of Joy and Birthday Hugs and Wishes Stamp Sets, SU Watercolor Crayons, Blender Pen, Marvy Uchida Punches, Wide Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampamajig

Just For Fun

Once the boys were in bed tonight, I quickly took care of my "to do" list and then pulled out a set strictly to PLAY! I love that.

I used the CPS sketch from last week, which was sponsored by My Favorite Things. Armed with the sketch, and the Baby First set I pulled out my Soft Sky Designer Series paper.

When working with MFT stamps, I like to just position them on the card front and move them all around to see where they fit best. That's one of my favorite things I love about working with clear sets. I don't cut the cardstock all up till I've noodled around with my design just by placing the stamps!

I realized, that the little onesie image would fit perfectly on my slider die for my Cuttlebug. Since I'm only dreaming about a Janome Sew Mini and not buying one just yet (my birthday really is only right around the corner...) I pulled out the mat pack, and my piercer and went to town.

If this were a little girl onesie, it would be given a good dose of dazzling diamonds...

Now off to clean up the mess I made!

Have you seen?

I have a card client who is in search of some pretty specific images for some cards I'm working on for her. And so far, I haven't been able to find anything to suit the bill. The first image I'm looking for is a feather. The second image I'm looking for is a house.

I have Stampin Up's "Right At Home" set which has a house of course, but I'm using that for another card I'm making for this client, so I'd prefer not not use the same one on both cards in her order. (And, I know SU has a wheel that's a house too...)

Since I know so many of you read a zillion blogs, and are familiar with different stamp companies, I thought I'd throw it out there.

Thanks everyone! You're the best!

Not the night I'd planned.....

I had planned my own personal "Stamp-aPalooza" for Saturday night because my husband and son were going on an overnight campout.

Then, I discovered that apparently, I was going on the campout and he was staying home with the Little Man. Whoops. So much for my night of work, girly movies and an icy class of chardonnay.

I had grand visions of completing challenges, and getting a LOT of client work. However, instead we went on a night hike with the group, roasted marshmallows by the fire and had some tasty smores. Then I read by flashlight and went to bed early... and camped out with my favorite ever little camper.

When I tell you, literally, it hasn't rained in WEEKS, but this morning at four am, the skies opened, it poured and there was thunder and lightning. A pro would have roughed it out, me? I'm a big ninny. A big fat chicken. I packed up all our clothes, put on my sneakers and woke up the little guy. We threw our chairs in the tent, zipped it up and RAN through the meadow to the car. I told the campout leader that we'd be back in the morning for the tent. (Luckily we were about 7 minutes frm home....) By the time we got to the car, we were soaked, and I mean totally and completely soaked to the bone. This morning, at seven, in totally dry clothes, we went back and joined the group for a morning hike and breakfast. Then packed up our soaking tent and went home. I'm EXHAUSTED!

Anyone that knows me personally is probably HOWLING at the idea of me sleeping out overnight - I'm definatley the girl that likes pampering, but for the Big Boy, I'd do just about anything. And, being the lone girl in this family, I guess I'd better get used to it....

So, here's some photos of some magnetic post it note holders that I put together, last weekend, for an upcoming open house.

The layout is totally cased from a project that my wonderful friend Erica did at my home before I signed on as a demo.

As you can see, I loved the idea, and totally lifted it to make more! The river rock and soft sky one looks so blah blah blah here, its so hard to get an accurate picture of river rock, it really is one of the prettiest colors in real life.

Tonight, my stampfest will resume and I hope to have some new things to post. I need something girly and cute after sleeping in a field full of geese droppings! BLAH!

Try, Try Again

I showed you my groovy doodles card the other day, and the more I looked at it, the more I knew I just wasn't done with it. So, the next day, I added some layers, and covered over that super dark panel of artichoke.

And, thanks to Beate's awesome suggestion, I added a circle rhinestone brad. I was thinking mega eyelet, but the blingy brad was perfect!

Then, I had to clarify exactly who it was that is so wonderful, and that is my Mom. I added back in some of that artichoke by using a faux stitch of the blanket variety. (See Emily G's tutorials section for all sorts of fun faux stitching patterns.)

Now, I'm happy to say that I LOVE this card. So much so that in fact, I had to upload the super up close picture of the flowers, with the brad, and that fun faux stitching!

Details: With the exception of the Marvy Giga and Mega circle punches, all supplies Stampin Up. Groovy Guava ink and paper, Always Artichoke ink and paper, Very Vanilla paper. Stamp sets incude Doodle This, Canvas and Wonderful Favorites. Mat pack, paper piercer, always artichoke marker. Stazon black ink, aquapainter, ice rhinestone brad, corner ticket punch.

My Favorite Things and Paper Pretties for a Cause

While "blogsurfing" today to see what everyone was up to, I learned that Paper Pretties and My Favorite Things are teaming up with a new release to help raise money for Breast Cancer.

You may remember that this spring I helped a friend of mine raise money for her Avon Breast Cancer walk in memory of her mother.

A new mini set will be released from My Favorite Things as part of Kim's new "Minis on a Mission" initiative on October 1st. This set is titled "Think Pink" and I will most certainly be adding this to my collection.

You can read more here about the new set, as well as a giveaway from Paper Pretties and My Favorite Things.

Should I Sew It?

With the zillions of blogs I've seen with people using actual stitching on their cards, I'm pondering the idea. I saw that I missed out on an amazing sale for the Janome Sew Mini in early August. RATS!

Wondering if any of you bought it, and are you actually using it? How is it to work with? I just LOVE Cambria's work with that thing, it was (and ahem, I mean continues to be!!) stunning!!! Then I saw that Jodi got one too...AND MADE SKIRTS FOR HER DAUGHTERS!!! So stinkin cute!!

So readers, any adivce for this novice? Any hints on where to get the best price? Any rumors on upcoming sales on it. Seems to me whenver I buy something, it goes on sale the next day!

Crop-O-Dile It!

My six month club met last night - it was already the sixth meeting! I can't believe it. We've had so much fun together and I really enjoy our time together.

Last night, we had a mini shower for one of my friends who is pregnant with her first child. I pulled together a card for her for all of us to sign. While cleaning my stamp table to make the card, EEKS I found a stamp set I had borrowed from my friend Laura (loyal blog reader and sometime prankster!!!) so embarrassed!

Since we don't know if Baby F is a girl or a boy yet, I went with Certainly Celery and So Saffron for the card. In fact, I already had one of these cute pregger girls dressed in a So Saffron Petal Prints dress so it really speeded production of the card!

Using Beate's sketch challenge from last week, and my certainly celery designer prints paper I quickly laid out the card, and punched a scalloped oval with my marvy uchida punch. Wasn't loving the ribbon on this one for whatever reason... but then I had it. A scalloped border with eyelets. And, how speedy was I able to make it with my handy-dandy CROP-O-DILE. The depth gauge made perfectly precisely lined up holes, and then the eyelet setter popped those little yellow beauties right in there fast, but most importantly, silently since my little ones were sound asleep!

Thanks to my wonderful "fabulous four" and to all the guests that have joined us to fill empty seats during this first session. I'm already looking forward to next month's meeting!