Inky Doodles

Winter Warmth

2012-01-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

The Stampavie DT is showing sneak peeks of new images being released at CHA at the end of the month. I have never been to CHA but it is fun to think that small pieces of me are on display with the samples I prepared.

It is hard to pick a favorite collection but I know Sarah Kay ranks at the top of many people's list. The first sample I made was using this new image called "Winter Warmth".

The patterned paper reminded me a bit of a calico fabric pattern which seemed to fit this image. I paper pieced the hat using both sides of the paper and adhered it to the image with dimensionals. Coloring was done with Copics and pencils. She is so adorable and I love the colors palette of brown and light aqua. My LSS had these wooden cut outs and I adhered one of the leaf designs just as I found it, in its natural state. Stampavie will releasing more sentiment sets at CHA and the "believe" is from the set called "Dream".

This is day 3 of sneaks and for the next several weeks the Stampavie Blog will be full of all the newest images.

Ohhhh how I love this time of year with so many new goodies to get excited over!

Thanks for visiting.

Know a Sports Fan???

2012-01-11T07:00:00.000-05:00

Better yet, know a sports fan who rants and raves at bad calls or poor play? If so, I have a fun gag type gift you can make for them. I saw this cute idea before Christmas and made a couple as gifts. The idea is that the sponge "brick" can be thrown out of anger/frustration without doing much harm but perhaps provide a bit of satisfaction. I was a bit short on time so I did not stamp on the label as I had originally intended but I still thought the idea was worth sharing.

I purchased 2 large, brick sized, sponges at Home Depot. They were originally bright orange so I mixed some brown and red acrylic paint into a container with water and soaked the sponges to "dye" them. Next I squeezed out the paint colored water and allowed the sponges to dry. Once they were mostly dry, a day later, I put them into the dryer to completely dry and harden. The tossing in the dryer also rounded the edges a bit. I made a wrap out of black card stock and printed up labels on the computer.

When I gave them as gifts I packed them up as a "game time survival kit" with some game time snacks...nuts, chips, beef jerky, and more. With the Super Bowl around the corner, perhaps you know of a fan who might appreciate such a gift!

Another thing that is around the corner is CHA! Beginning on Monday, the DT for Stampavie will be sharing new samples of upcoming stamps that are being released at CHA. Be sure to check out the Stampavie Blog everyday starting on Monday. I haven't seen what the girls have whipped up so I too will be checking in every day. I can't wait!

Birthday Wishes

2012-01-04T07:00:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year! How are you? I hope you find your year off to a good start. I am still a bit in awe that we are already in 2012. Where does time go? "Optimist" is not exactly synonymous with Tracy Harp but I do hope and pray that 2012 is brighter than 2011! I prefer even numbers so we there is one thing the new year has going for it, lol.

I have not posted since before Christmas but it does not mean I haven't been a busy stamper. I have been madly working on some Stampavie projects for CHA at the end of the month.

Now that the holiday projects are behind me, it was time to get started on some cards for my stash basket. I started with a birthday card I need for next week. I used a cute cupcake design by Tina Wenke.

The fun, cheery papers are from October Afternoon's Sidewalks paper pack. I am really enjoying combining my Copic markers with Prismacolor pencils lately. The key is to do all marker coloring first and then add accents and shading with the pencils. If you go over the pencil with the markers, you will clog your marker tips with the waxy pencil. I added black glaze pen to the eyes and the ladybugs back. The sentiment is from an old SU set. That is it, except for a bit of stitching. It was a game to see if I could make it around the whole card before the bobbin ran out of thread. I made it just barely, lol.

That is all for now. Thanks for stopping by!

Mistletoe Mice

2011-12-20T07:00:00.000-05:00

Just a quick post today to share a Stampavie project with you. I used a couple of items from Tina Wenke's line, the "Mice Under the Mistletoe" image and the "Joy to the World" sentiment set.

I was really drawn the the traditional colors in a paper pack by Authentique called Wonder. All coloring done with Copic markers.(E42, E43, E44, E81, YG91, YG93, YG95, G94, G99, R20, R29, R37, R39, R59, YR30) I used a black glaze pen for accents on the buttons and eyes and small red rhinestones on the berries of the mistletoe. Peeking out from behind the image is a row of trees done with a EK Success border punch.

Not sure I will have time to post again before the holidays so I will wish you a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year now!!

I appreciate that you took the time to stop by.

Santa Favor Box

2011-12-19T06:48:00.000-05:00

Good morning friends!! I hope your holiday preparations are going well. I spent my evening last night wrapping all our gifts and on Saturday I managed to get a good load of baking done. Best of all, I have totally managed to avoid the shopping malls this month!

I have a fun little stocking stuffer kind of project to share today. I saw a variation at a craft show last month and after some measuring and tweaking, this is the result...a Santa Nugget Box

I have done popcorn sleeves in the past in a similar look. This time I used a Spellbinders die and some gold card stock for the belt buckle, otherwise the strip of white is simply hand torn. Here is a look at the inside...

It fits 6 Hershey Nugget chocolates. I wrapped them in 2 different patterns from October Afternoon and added foam letters to spell out HO, HO, HO. The foam letters would not be practical if you were making a bunch of these but you could stamp letters onto card stock circles instead. Or leave it plain.

That is it for me, I am off to work. Have a great day, thanks for stopping by,

Frosted Frosty Pin

2011-12-06T06:30:00.000-05:00

This time of year there are lots of arts and crafts shows to browse. I recently attended a great show and found lots of great items to inspire me. There was jewelry made of sea glass, wine accessories made of cork, wonderfully knit items and so much more. The talents of some folks just amazes me! And inspires me!

I have a box full of glass slides and copper foil that I have used to create pins with over the years. I was inspired to drag out that box and create something new. This time I used a Stampavie image called "Snowy Cuddles" by Penny Johnson.

The top piece of glass is a frosted piece measuring 2" square, made by Inkssentials (a Ranger product). The image was embossed onto the frosted side using clear embossing powder. This technique originated with Ellen Hutson many moons ago. The frosted glass adds a very fun dimension to the finished piece. Of course, you can always use clear glass as well.

The image was stamped and colored with Copics before sandwiching it between the 2 pieces of glass. I added a piece of pattern paper to the back to hide the bleeding markers. The pin back was glued on with SU's Crystal Effects.

They also make nice magnets!

Now that it is all done and assembled I wish I had given them rosey cheeks! Oh well, guess I will have to make another ;).

White Elephant

2011-12-05T06:31:00.000-05:00

Today we are having a gift exchange at work. The kind where you bring something wrapped, you draw numbers and when it is your turn you choose a gift or perhaps steal one from someone else. Our spend limit is $10.00. If I wanted to make sure my gift was a hot ticket I would wrap up a bottle of wine or $10.00 in lottery tickets. Instead I made some items to go along with some fancy hand soaps and lotions.

You know you are a crafter when.... your gift begins with the wrapping, lol! I loved this idea from Tosha. Being fresh out of kraft bags, I used a white one I had. It was too WHITE to leave be, so I covered the front with some fabulous new October Afternoon papers. I apologize for the sorry photos! The top of the lid has the same paper that I used on the tag. I stitched. I added punched borders. I added sparkle. I spent way too much time on the wrapping. But it was fun.

The gingerbread man is a Sizzix die. I adhered the paper to a medium weight coaster before cutting it out. I "sugared" the whole tag with some glass glitter.

I included a matching magnetic list pad and a set of Hershey nuggets wrapped in a tin.

Making little gifts is so much fun!! Hopefully they will also be enjoyed by whoever gets them!

Christmas Card Sample

2011-11-29T16:45:00.000-05:00

'Tis the season for shopping, cards, baking and more. Not so sure the cards will be part of my preparations this year. There are just not enough hours in the day. But here is another one of the cards we did at the Stamp a Stack a few weeks ago. At least I can say I helped make some cards, lol.

The stamp set is SU's "Come to Bethlehem", inked in Soft Suede and stamped onto vanilla card stock. The sentiment is stamped in Cherry Cobbler and the star has a little clear rhinestone in the center. The Cherry Cobbler layer was embossed with a folder from Sizzix, it has a frame of poinsettias and vines. We added some dots of gold leaf pen to the centers of the flowers. The stamped panel is up on dimensionals but otherwise no bulky embellishments to put the postage over a normal stamp.

I tried to post this before work this morning, trying to cram more things in than time will allow and ended up spilling my drink all over the keyboard. Sheesh!!! Luckily the keyboard seemed to dry out while I was at work. Deep breath, lol.

Crafty Hair Accessories

2011-11-21T06:42:00.003-05:00

We have 2 sons and I love them dearly. My husband, the gem that he is, has taught them to ooh and ahh over my creations and to even seem to appear interested. But they are teenage boys after all. My crafting does little for them and there is little I can make for them personally. Now my baking talents are a whole other ball of ribbon, lol.

I do however have 2 young nieces and for Christmas this year I am having a ball putting together little bags of do-dads for them. I do a LOT of couponing so have scored free lip glosses, eye shadows, nail polish, hair brushes, etc. I made some cute hair accessories for each of them using some of the items in my craft room.

One of the girls loves pink and the other purple. The pink flowers are from Stampin' Up and the purple ones are from Prima. I simply glued them onto some hair pins I picked up from Hobby Lobby. The tags were simply stamped in coordinating colors onto shipping tags.

So simple but fun! I hope they like them.

Thanks for visiting!

40...Something

2011-11-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

In my office we hold a monthly food day to celebrate those with a birthday that month. One of our staff is turning 40 so as a little gag, we brought little bags of 40 "something". We had bags of 40 almonds, 40 pieces of yarn, 40 leaves and various other items. It wasn't intended to be anything fancy or costly, just imaginative.

This staffer happens to be on Weight Watchers and she has given me charge over her bag of dark chocolate Dove candy. I dole out 1 piece a day. Yep, call me the Dove Nazi, lol. The best part is I can help myself when ever I want. For a biggie birthday like 40 it seemed only appropriate to gift her 40 Dove chocolates!

They didn't fit nicely in a Ziploc so I packed them in a medium sized kraft lunch sack. The crafter in me couldn't leave it at that. I gussied up a clothes pin and added a tag. I took the negative created by the flower die and used it as a stencil on the tag. The sentiment was a no brainer, lol.

Easy Peasy lemon squeezie!

Curiously, she has not brought back the bag to be rationed ;) I guess I'll let it go this time.

Stable Box

2011-11-17T06:41:00.002-05:00

I can't believe that Thanksgiving is now just a week away. That means Christmas is around the corner. Each year it seems to fly at me at a faster rate! Much of my shopping has been done and this year I am also going to try to do the wrapping a bit ahead. I am usually the one wrapping, decorating, baking and cleaning all in one last mad dash the day before.

Here is a small bag I made that will nicely hold a gift card and some small candies.

The image is called "Away in the Manger", from Stampavie's Tina Wenke collection. I colored it mostly with Letraset Promarkers. The acetate "bag" is half of a A2 card size box with wide ribbon attached for handles. I thought I had some kraft colored filling (note to self: buy Christmas wrapping supplies!). Next best thing...the scrap pile! I cut and crimped several slivers of so saffron card stock. At first I thought it looked like straw which matched the scene in the stamp. Now I think it looks like crinkle cut french fries, lol! I must be hungry.

Simple & fun!

Snow Much Fun

2011-11-16T07:00:00.000-05:00

Last week I held a Christmas card stamp a stack with friends. Finding time to create has been difficult at best, so prepping for a class was a challenge. But I miss that time of teaching and hanging out with friends so much that I made it a priority.

Here is one of the cards we made using SU's new set called "Snow Much Fun". I {{heart}} the snowmen in this set!

I don't usually plan images that require coloring for a class like this but snowmen are on the minimal side. They even used my Copics {{gasp}}! We used the new color Pool Party...my favorite of the new colors. The top of the panel was embossed leaving the bottom blank so we could stamp the cute little birdie on the snowball. We made 4 each of 3 designs, embellishments were kept to a minimum. I didn't even use ribbon this time, that was probably a first. I like the design like it is, it won't require any additional postage. But it would also be simple enough to add some ribbon or do-dads if the design is too plain for your liking.

I will be back tomorrow with a Stampavie project, hope to see you then.

Soaking Up the Joy

2011-11-02T06:57:00.000-04:00

I am wife to a pastor. How that came to be is a story for another day but let me just say that it was about the last thing I thought I would ever be. God has a sense of humor, for sure. When Greg and I married he was working in a large chain grocery store and going to school but pastor never entered the conversation.

Like most things in life, being a pastor's wife has its good days and bad days. Then there are awesome days. Like when you get to witness a life changed...transformed. This past Sunday a lady in our church shared a bit of her story, how God has brought healing, restoration and hope to her life. It is not my story to tell here, but I will say that she was so brave to stand up in front of a church full of people and share very painful things. To know that we collectively, as a church family, have had a small part in her story (the good parts) is very cool! We shared in her joy and walked away blessed by her sharing.

I immediately thought about sending her a card of encouragement and a very specific image came to mind. Mo Manning's "Soaking Up the Joy" image by Stampavie.

She exudes joy and peace. It's a new day so let's soak up every drop.

To have hope when hope was lost is powerful. Makes you want to turn you face towards to sun once again.

I used papers from Jillibean, sentiment from Rosie's Roadshow, Copics, doily die, scallop circle die, flower dies and faceted embellies.

See ya next time!!

Boo!

2011-10-31T06:56:00.003-04:00

Happy Halloween!

Just dropping in with a little gift bag I made.

This one is easy peasy! Start with a piece of 8 1/2 x 11. Score the long sides 2" from each side, then score the shorter side at 4 1/2 and 6 1/2. Cut in to create the flaps for the box and adhere. Add a handle of your choosing and done! My handle is attached with brads so the handle moves out of the way to access the goods!

The image is called "Batty" from Stampavie's Penny Johnson line. He was colored with Copics. I cut the flags for the banner by hand and added foam letters, assembled it with brads and a bit of orange twine. The top spider web border was punched and added after the box was assembled.

Have a great day, I hope you get nothing but treats!

Pumpkin Pie

2011-10-25T07:00:00.000-04:00

Hello! Fall is a time when my kitchen gets a bit busier. I welcome the heat from the oven and long for creamy casseroles, pies and other goodies. As I type this, there is a double batch of brownies in the oven. Oh my!!

The other day it was pumpkin pie. Now personally, I am not a huge fan of pumpkin pie but Greg and the boys are. It isn't always about me after all. (the brownies in the oven are TOTALLY about me and my PMS, lol) It is a recipe I have used for years and figured it was one for the recipe binder I am continually working on.

Here is a pic. No comments on my not-so-pretty crust okay?! It may not be pretty but it tastes wonderful! Taste always trumps and this crust is flaky and pretty fool proof. It rolls out beautifully. You can see this post for the crust recipe.

Ready for my couldn't-be-simpler recipe card??? Seriously, I feel like I cheated.

I used My Mind's Eye Mischievous paper pack. Even the pumpkins are cut from one of the papers in the 6x6 pack. I did stamp the 44 in the top left corner. I didn't even bother with stitching...it was all about getting it done before the timer for the brownies beeped. A girl has her priorities!! Especially when it is PMS time.

Here is a PDF file with the recipe if you want to down load it. It will print 4 to a page.

Pumpkin Pie

Have a great day!!

Share the Warmth

2011-10-18T06:31:00.001-04:00

Happy Tuesday! I enjoyed making the coffee cup gift card holders so much a couple of weeks ago that I made another! This time I used designer paper on the front along with an image by Stampavie.

Totally festive right?? The paper is from a line called Simple Stories, I loved the warm feel of the colors and the pattern was sized right for the cup. There is a corrugated (crimped) cozy around the cup but the rather large image mostly covers it up. The Penny Johnson image is called "All Warm Inside". The sentiment is also from Stampavie, it is in the "Holiday Wishes" set.

Here is a picture of the insert holding a Dunkin' Donuts card.

The cup will fit inside an A2 envelope. I will say that several people I have shown this to have not been able to figure out how to "work" the card, lol. Maybe the back needs a big note to "pull here". You could place the fold at the top with a fixed lid so it opens like a top fold card. That would probably be easier for some folks to figure out but I don't think it would be as fun. But it would be a shame for someone to not realize there was a gift card inside. Can you imagine??? The thought of it makes the frugal person in me shudder!!

Have a great day.

Sunshine Botanicals

2011-10-17T06:39:00.000-04:00

Fall has hit Upstate NY! The leaves are turning and the weather is cool. Add rainy this week too. It was cool and damp enough that we had to break down and turn on the heat, I was really hoping to hold off until November. We have been very busy around here with oldest son's football games, repainting our sitting/computer room, refinancing our mortgage, and various other things. It feels good to knock some more things off the to-do list.

There was also a bit of time to create. For today's card I paired the SU set called Field Flowers with MME's Lost & Found Sunshine papers. I love the rich mustard yellows for fall.

I couldn't decide on which papers exactly, so I used 2. Black is always a nice anchor for these deep yellows. The image was inked in always artichoke, so saffron, more mustard with a touch of early espresso. The larger flower also has dots of black glaze pen added to the center. I added a touch of Copic maker to the leaves to fill them in a bit. There are 3 faceted accents in a lovely aqua, I can't remember the vendor at the moment but the facets on them make them so fun! There is a faint hint of aqua dots in the paper behind the bird to compliment the accents. Just a touch of cool tones to an otherwise warm palette.

I'll be back soon with a Stampavie project.

Thanks for visiting!

2012 Calendars

2011-10-04T21:15:00.003-04:00

For the last few years I have created files for mini calendars and offered them for sale. I have had a few emails asking about 2012 calendars and am happy to share them with you! I modified the font a bit but the size of the calendars remains the same.

Cost is $3.50

-If you would like to purchase the files, please send PayPal funds to gregntracy94(at)yahoo.com (replace (at) with @ )

-I will send you 5 PDF files, 1 file with the calendar cover, 3 files with 4 months on a page and 1 file with cutting instructions.

-I print mine onto Stampin' Up White or Vanilla (the thinner paper fits well into the cases)

-I use mini CD cases from this place. Since shipping can be high, I recommend you buy enough to last awhile or share with a friend. You might also search ebay for smaller quantities.

-don't limit yourself to the CD cases, you can make calendars on coasters too. or bind them along the top.

The mini CD calendars make nice gifts and stocking stuffers.

If you need some inspiration, then check out this link to samples I have posted in previous years.

I do not have internet access during the day so I will send out files each night when I get home from work.

Rockin' Christmas

2011-10-03T06:30:00.000-04:00

I hope you had a wonderful weekend. Mine did not turn out as expected. On Friday I took the day off because we were supposed to sign mortgage refinance papers. At the last minute we found out the papers were not ready so I decided to spend the day running errands and having lunch with my husband. On my way to meet him, I was rear ended causing me to be the cream in a car sandwich. Totally messed up my day, not to mention my car. Fortunately, my car is drive-able, minus a rear bumper. The car that hit me looked totaled--cracked windshield, deployed airbags, crumpled up engine--had to be towed away. After initially being really mad, I realized that God's hand of protection was on me. If you had seen the other guy you too would marvel at the little damage my little Vibe (not to mention me) sustained. My back is quite sore but I was able to enjoy the rest of the rainy weekend.

My creative time was spent making a tag using a Stampavie image called, Rocking Horse, part of the Tina Wenke line.

The shape of the tag is 2 layers of a Sizzix die set. The bottom layer is embossed and the second layer is a piece of designer paper from Authentique. Everything got the Photo Distress ink once over. I have been trying out some Promarkers from Letraset. They are alcohol based makers but their tips vary from the Copics. The firmer nibs on the Promarkers do take some getting used to. After the image was colored, I added some Prismacolor pencil details for age and depth. I sewed on a strip of heathered red felt. The shape looked like a bell to me so I added the knocker on the bottom.

That is it for me. I appreciate you stopping by.

Anniversary Wishes

2011-09-28T06:44:00.000-04:00

My brother and SIL celebrated 10 years of marriage last week. Although I did not get the card done and in the mail on time, it did go out. Take your wins where you can!! This milestone deserved to be recognized!

I followed Jen's SFYTT for September.

I used 3 different images from the July Kit of the Month from Unity. The sentiment was perfect for this card. The floral stamp was inked and stamped repeatedly in green and blue, it needed to be subtle enough to not detract from the words. The date was stamped with Karen Foster snap stamps which are no longer available. They really do come in handy! That pearl embellishment has been floating around my desk for a very long time. Long... as in maybe a year or more. It was yet another one of those things I saw at the stamp store that I thought was cool, had to have it and then had no clue how to incorporate it into a design. It needed to be cut down to fit so now I have even more pieces to scratch my head how to use, lol. I do like that they don't make the card too lumpy for mailing though.

The paper is from October Afternoon. Yep, still one of my favorite paper companies ever!

You still have time to play along with the sketch.

Thanks for stopping by!

Winter Birds

2011-09-26T06:30:00.000-04:00

Well, thanks to some friends coming over to stamp, the pit I call my stamp studio is now clean. No, I didn't make my friends help clean up, I was so embarrassed that I cleaned it before they came over. I invite people over for dinner sometimes just to give me the added kick in the rear I need to tidy things up. Tell me I am not the only one who does that?!

The weekend was also very productive. I got some Stampavie Projects done, baked a peaches and cream pie, made a second (double) batch of spaghetti sauce with meatballs and cooked up a pot roast for the family. The best part was hubby doing clean up after I used just about every dish, pot and appliance in the kitchen. Love that guy!!

I even snuck in creative time. Here is a sample I posted to the Stampavie blog today. The image is called Winter Birds from the Tina Wenke collection.

Kraft serves as the base for this card, anchoring a darker/richer color scheme. The image pretty much takes up the whole card, just a bit of room for some crinkled ribbon. After I colored the image with Copics, I added fine glitter to all the areas of snow.

I have a busy week ahead of me but hope to be back again soon with another project.

Have a great day!

All Prettied Up

2011-09-21T06:30:00.001-04:00

Hello! Have you adjusted to your fall routine yet? We are working on it at our house. Eldest son's last minute decision to play JV football is throwing us for a loop but as with most things, we just roll with it. The sleep in until the very last minute and then rush like a mad man so they don't miss the bus and have to pay the Dad taxi $5 for a ride to school routine is what makes me crazy.

I wanted a little something for the boss lady who is celebrating a birthday. I finally tackled my pig sty of a stamp room last night and had just a wee bit of time to put a gift together.

Remember this card from last month?

Well, I recently purchased these fun, vintage style bottles of lotion and hand soap by JR Watkins. Smelly lotions are a nice gift right? These particular ones are lemon scented.... so wonderful! They just needed a little dressing up to make a match to the card.

The covers will easily slide off so the products can be used. Easy Peasy.

Gotta run!

Thanks for visiting!

Too Old?

2011-09-14T06:48:00.002-04:00

Never!!

The Mummu images by Mo Manning are wonderful. This one is called Mummu's Bike (Stampavie). There is such character and depth in these images. She must be European because I can remember scenes like this from when I lived in Germany as a child. Not sure I have ever seen such a scene here in the states. It brings back memories of my Oma with her knee highs down at her ankles, lol! Oh, and her bunions...HUGE! The memories...

The papers I used are from a company called Simple Stories. They are a newer company and many of their items are geared towards scrapping. These papers came from a 6x6 pad. The front of my card was cut 2" shorter than the back, the oval image is adhered so that the right side hangs over. The floral paper is actually on the inside of the card. Mummu is colored with Copics.

That's it for me today. Thanks for visiting.

Beyond Hope!

2011-09-12T06:55:00.003-04:00

I was going to post pictures of my stamp room but it is so bad that I decided it would be too embarrassing. There is no room along 10' of counter to stamp, the floor is piled high, even my stool is piled with stuff. Sad state of affairs and it gives me ZERO desire to be there. What is a girl to do?? One option is to bomb the place, then there would be a good reason for it to look the way it does, lol. It must be cleaned and purged so I hope either the stamp fairies come soon or I get a jolt of energy/desire to tackle it myself. Yesterday I quickly stamped a bunch of images, grabbed my Copics and ran!

This fella was a good warm up image, not really requiring much coloring. He is from the new SU set, Snow Much Fun. I {{heart}} snowmen!

The doily is a die cut, it reminded me of snowflakes. There is glitter on the image even though it doesn't really show in the pic. The Pool Party card stock was embossed with snowflakes from a Sizzix folder. This tent card has a 4 1/4" base and the total height of the card is 5 1/2". I thought it might work for an upcoming stamp a stack. It still needs a sentiment to be complete.

That is it for today. Thanks for visiting!

More Milk Carton Creations

2011-09-08T07:00:00.000-04:00

Over the summer I had some friends over to stamp and we made some gift boxes using SU's milk carton die. I already loved the various things this die could do, like the cute little bird houses I am sure you have seen. Using 2 die cuts to make these treat boxes just makes it so much more versatile. You may have seen this post of mine from July where I made a bee hive.

Here is the box we made using some old SU designer paper and some die cut flowers using a die from PTI.

Here is a taller version which requires that you create an outer layer to go around the assembled cartons. I will be honest, I had a really hard time getting a good fit and the perfectionist in me about lost her mind, lol! The above method of covering it with thinner weight pattern paper was much easier.

When we were assembling the tops, one of us (who will remain nameless) folded the score lines in the opposite way as everyone else. It was one of those happy kind of mistakes because it created a star box top instead. It was really cool! No ribbon required. We didn't get a picture of it and I have not had time to make another one myself. Just wanted you to know you can create 2 different looks from the same box just by folding the top differently.

If I were mass producing these on ANY scale, I would go with version #1. If you want to pull out a few hairs, preferably the gray ones, then try #2. Maybe you will discover it isn't that bad and I am just a moron. Completely possible ;)

Recipe Time

2011-09-06T06:46:00.000-04:00

I hope you enjoyed a relatively labor free Labor Day! We attempted to go camping and cut our trip short due to weather. I really enjoyed a quiet day at home, just puttering about. My kitchen cupboards got reorganized and cleaned out. I got some bargain/coupon shopping done. I made yummy potato pancakes for dinner. Mmmmm, good! I am working on a recipe card for the pancakes so look for that down the road.

A couple of weeks ago I made a recipe card that never got uploaded. This one is for Pantry Pasta. The name came from the fact that most of the ingredients are regular pantry/freezer items in our house. It is one of those flexible recipes, those seem to be preferred in our house lately.

The chicken is so cute isn't he?? I picked him up at Buffalo Stamps and Stuff, I think he is from Great Impressions. I knew right away that he would be just the right size for a recipe card. He is colored with Copics and then I added black glaze pen over the petals of the flower.

Here is the PDF file in case you would like it, it will print 4 recipes to a page.

Pantry Pasta PDF file

True Friend

2011-08-31T07:21:00.001-04:00

I used to think of myself as a multi-tasker, able to juggle lots of things at once. If you are a mom, then you do this regularly--like cook a meal, open mail, help your child with homework and unload the dishwasher pretty much simultaneously. I do those kinds of things, no sweat. But I find juggling other things more challenging lately. Like working and stamping. Actually, working and anything. For the last 8 months I have been concentrating a lot of my time on couponing and stockpiling food/personal care items when a sale is good. I am not one of those "extreme" people but I have built up a nice stash of free body wash, tooth paste, deodorants, cheap cereal, peanut butter and such. It is crazy the things you can get for free. Well, for tax here in NY cause they want their pound of flesh. But it has taken up my mental and physical time. We have a goal of paying off all our debts, cars, ect and besides being very fun, all this time is yielding lots of savings. It just doesn't leave much time for other things. To everything there is a season. That is really why I am not posting here as much as I used to. Although I like to think of myself as superwoman, I clearly am not, lol! I am not giving up on the stamping though, don't worry.

I have a Stampavie image to show you today. I posted this on the company blog last week. The image is called "Storybook Friends" by Tina Wenke. These little girls are adorable, no?

The coloring is a combination of Copics and pencils. The paper is Bo Bunny. The sentiment was stamped and punched out with a circle punch, I folded over the top edge and attached it with a mini library clip. It is not permanently adhered so if I change my mind later, off it comes! Flexibility is a good thing!

Well, I have to leave for work. If anyone has a spare winning lottery ticket lying around, you can send it to me and I will quit my job and stamp more!!

August SFYTT

2011-08-30T07:00:00.001-04:00

Whew, August is almost a memory! I figured I had better get on Jen's monthly sketch if I was going to get it done. My oldest son is in need of a birthday card for a young lady so I combined the two. Here is a look at the sketch of August.

I recently ordered the SU set "Raining Flowers", I am such a sucker for flower stamps!! And it is another 2-step set. Noticing a theme around here lately?? I only used a single image this time, part of the versatility of these kinds of stamps.

The floral paper is from Authentique, I love the teal, pink, green and pale orange. Mmmmm! There are so many color combos waiting to be created with just this one pattern. Originally, the strip behind the image was another pattern from the paper pack but I wasn't lovin' the look so I went with an embossed piece with leaves instead. The sentiment is also SU but I can't remember the name of it now, maybe it came from a recent mini catalog? The cream ric rac adds a feminine touch, it's just stapled in place with Tim Holtz's mini stamper (love that thing!!). I added 3 small pearls to the upper right corner cause it seemed a bit empty.

You have until tomorrow night to play along with this fun sketch!

Finally!

2011-08-24T06:42:00.003-04:00

Our oldest son returns home today!! Greg is leaving shortly for the 5 hour trip to PA to pick him up from his 3 week conservation trip. We did get a call from him last night but only long enough to let us know they were okay after yesterday's earthquake. Work is going to be painful today while I wait to get word.

Here is another card I made using SU's new hostess set Simply Soft. Two step stamping used to be my favorite. Before I knew how to color, it was the one technique that I thought made me look like an artist, lol. I still love to 2-step!

I had a piece of paper with all my ingredients list on it but it has gotten lost in a sea of papers on my desk! I do remember adding Copic marker accents though, couldn't leave well enough alone. I love the paper, I picked up on my list trip to the LSS but I can't remember the company now.

My mind is a bit preoccupied at the moment. I wonder if he will have changed or grown in 3 weeks. One thing I do know for sure...all his clothes will need to be burned cause they are gonna REEK!!!! Three weeks+hard work+no laundry=Peeee-UUUUUU!

See you again soon!

Rock-a-Bye Baby

2011-08-22T06:57:00.002-04:00

Hello! I hope you had a nice weekend! Other than going to a baby shower and church I was pretty much a slug this weekend. It felt good to do nothing.

I needed a card to go with my shower gift, so here is a baby card I made.

The color scheme matched the gift bag I had. The stamps are from Stampin' Up. The waves were cut with a circle punch and I sponged on some "white caps" on the top of the outer layer.

Well, my slug-fest has come to an end. I have to be getting ready for work!

Have a lovely day, thanks for stopping!

The Good, The Bad, & A Tutorial Revisited

2011-08-19T07:00:00.001-04:00

Were you a fan of CHF?? Are you still mourning the retirement of some of their images?? I still have people offer to buy some of my backgrounders and sets. Well, then you may be glad to hear that Stamper's Ink has purchased the CHF line. They have not rolled out all the deets yet, but you can poke around their site to read a bit about them and their plans. I am glad to know these fabulous images are being given new life! That is the good news.

The bad news is that they have taken down the old site, gallery and even the blog. Maybe they will bring some of it back. I am really bummed about all the great tutorials that were available, the blog and website were a great resource!

Yesterday I got an email from Heidi looking for one of the tutorials I posted on the CHF blog. Well, I had the photos but none of the text. What was I thinking???! Here is a recap of my:

Jam Box

You will need a few supplies...

12x12 card stock for box

5 1/8" square piece of card stock for lid

1x12 strip of card stock for the handle

scoring tool

sticky tape

brads

Score the 12x12 card stock at 4 1/2" and 7 1/2" in each direction.

Cut along lines on opposite sides, up to first score line, as shown in photo below

Cut away 2 1/2" of the outer corners as shown below, leaving 2" sides. Trim corners so they don't bind when assembling the box.

Add sticky strip to the sides as shown and assemble the box

Score the 5 1/8" piece for the lid at 1" on all sides

Cut tabs like shown below, add adhesive and assemble lid.

Cover the panels of the box with patterned paper.

The handle is a strip of 1"x12" long, attached to the box with brads.

Here is another box I made, it is simply covered with some designer paper and accented with ribbon and a tag.

I also posted these, used to package ornaments rather than jam. Really, the boxes can work for many different things. You could even use a die cut to create a window in the front of the box but I would only do that if the contents aren't super heavy or it might compromise the strength of the box.

Here is a modified version I posted back in June. The box is made from a 9" square piece, scored at 3" and 6" in both directions.

Oh the days when I had time to tinker! I haven't even canned a single jar of anything this year. Revisiting this post has inspired me though. There is still time for salsa and peaches!

Enjoy!!

Nothin' Fancy

2011-08-17T16:11:00.000-04:00

Stopping in with a super simple card today. It was a warm up card the other day, to help me get the mojo flowing again.

It uses a Sizzix embossing folder I picked up at my LSS. It is the kind of folder that works well all on its own. I sponged a bit of white ink onto the raised portions to highlight and soften. I added a simple sentiment and a few layers just because.

Nothin' fancy.

Make a Wish

2011-08-15T07:05:00.000-04:00

Both of my boys are away at the moment, leaving the house very quiet. You know what that means right? The house doesn't get as messy, I don't have to fight anyone over the remote, there is guilt free time to stamp and it also means I miss them!! Our oldest has now been gone for 10 days, the half way point of his conservation crew adventure. There has been no contact, which we expected but I secretly hoped we would hear something. So we just pray.

I did spend most Sunday trying to create some projects. I kept getting side tracked by the disaster that was all around. I seriously need some elves to come tidy up the place! I persevered though and here is one of the cards that managed to get finished.

The flower is part of an SU hostess set called Simply Soft, it is filled with lovely images. Although the set is a 2 step set, I only stamped the outline for this card and colored it in with Copics. I pulled the sentiment from the Flourishes set called Kids at Play. The soft blue paper is from Graphic 45's line called Baby 2 Bride. The doily is a die cut, don't you love how detailed it is? The die is from a company called Cheery Lynn Designs and this particular doily design is called French Pastry, I picked it up at my LSS.

It is back to work for me. I am closing in on my 1 year anniversary. Where did that time go???

Thanks for stopping!

Christmas Stocking

2011-08-09T07:05:00.000-04:00

I am back! Today was my day to post on the Stampavie blog so I might was well share it here too in case some of you don't follow over there. (I have to plug the Stampavie blog for a second though, the DT has posted some incredible projects lately!!)

Stampavie released a stack of new images for the holidays and I chose a cute one by Tina Wenke for this card. It is called Rabbit with Christmas Stocking and the sentiment is also from a new Tina set, called Peace on Earth.

I tried my hand at using Promarkers on this image. They are alcohol based markers similar in concept to Copics but their tips are much different. It took me a bit to get the hang of using them but it was fun to experiment. I got some new die goodies at my LSS, the arch die is from Sizzix and the fence is from....???, I can't remember. I'll have to get back to you on that, but it was a new company to me.

My mother's visit is winding down, she will fly home on Thursday. We are trying to enjoy the couple of days we have left. Tonight she is cooking up potato pancakes with home made applesauce. Mmmmm, I can't wait!!

Wanna a Cuppa???

2011-08-08T07:00:00.000-04:00

A couple of friends came over for a bit of stamping on Friday night. I had an order of new SU items waiting to be used and this fun coffee cup idea from Lorri.

Totally adorable right?? We used SU's new pool party card stock as our base, such a yummy color. The tag/label is from the new hostess set called Tagtastic and the flowers on the cup were done with the smaller flower image in the Vintage Vogue set. We used the extra large oval and decorative label punches and the ever-so-handy crimper tool.

Even cuter is the fact that the lid of the card pulls out of the top of the card to reveal a "coffee" insert that can be used for a short note or as the base for a gift card for your favorite local coffee shop. When finished it still fits an A2 envie for mailing.

Is your head spinning with ideas for decorating these fun cup cards?? What a great presentation for a teacher gift, Christmas time, a sledding party invitation.

Thanks for stopping! See you again soon. Maybe even tomorrow?!

Over in a Flash

2011-08-03T07:00:00.000-04:00

Howdy! Our vacation has now come and gone. We had a fabulous week but it went by way too fast. I thought I would share a couple shots of our time.

We hiked 2 1/2 miles of trails at Robert Tremen State Park outside of Ithaca, NY. Stunning waterfalls and foliage. It was quite the hot day but we survived thanks to lots of shade.

At the end Greg and the boys jumped into a swimming area where the water was a cool 68 degrees. To say it was refreshing would be putting it lightly!

We went to Harris Hill in Elmira, NY so Greg and the boys could go on a glider ride. They loved it! My mom and I kept our feet firmly planted on the ground.

This is Greg with his 20 year old pilot! Greg stressed a bit at first with the idea of someone so young at the wheel but Corey has been the US junior national champ twice. It all went off flawlessly.

Here are the three of them post flights, beaming!!

We also enjoyed lots of time on Cayuga Lake. After 5-6 years of trying, our oldest (15) finally got up on skiis. I was about to think I might never see the day but he gets A+++ for perseverance.

I am working through loads and loads of laundry and packing our oldest up for his 3 week trip on a conservation crew in PA. Once I get settled I will be back with some projects!

Oh Baby!!

2011-07-28T07:00:00.000-04:00

From weddings to babies this week.

Sometimes cards come together easily, sometimes not. Sometimes I love the end result, sometimes not so much. I started this card with Jen's SFYTT in mind but just couldn't make it work. In the end though, I {{heart}} this card!

The paper all comes from a pack of Fancy Pants Designs called "Baby Mine". It is full of sweet patterns, some obviously baby, some not. I covered some Maya Road Laundry Day chipboard pieces with papers from the same pack. The cloud piece was a bit of an experiment. I die cut a piece of cream paper with a Spellbinders die and then used a set of cloud dies from All That Scraps to emboss the clouds into the paper. I used light blue Copic marker to color the sky around the outlines of the clouds. I dug deep into the stash to find the button brads, somehow they just scream baby. The sentiment is from SU.

Love it?? I do. The colors, the chipboard pieces, the clouds....ahhhh, sweet and pleasing.

I hope the new momma will like it too.

Time to get back to relaxing!

Love Birds

2011-07-25T07:00:00.000-04:00

It's Monday again but this time I don't have to go to work! I plan to be floating on a lake and chilling from all this extreme heat we are having.

On Saturday we are going to a family wedding. We will have drag ourselves out of the lake, dry off and put on the dreaded dress clothes, lol. But it will be so good to be with family for a bit.

Here is the card I made for the bride and groom.

It all started with a Hero Arts background stamp that I picked up at the stamp store's garage sale a few weeks back. I think it is called Delicate Branches and it has tiny birds in the design. I embossed the image with white EP onto some cool carribean card stock. The sentiment came from the SU set Together Forever which appears to be retired. The punched birds have little pearl eyes.

Simple but gets the point across. It's a good thing.

Thanks for visiting!

The Bee's Knees

2011-07-21T06:30:00.001-04:00

Don't fall off your chair, but YES, this is the third post from me this week!

There are birthdays, weddings and baby's all around so I kicked my card making into high gear. I can't very well show up to all these events with store bought cards now can I? Now my smarty pants son would tell me that I "can" but "choose" not to. Semantics!!

I used the I Love Honey image by Penny Johnson to make this card and gift set for my friend Lynn's birthday last week.

I was totally inspired by the milk carton die creations seen here and here. That SU milk carton die makes such great projects, I loved that there was an idea out there I had yet to see or try. Now I will say that the brown "sleeve" around the outside was a bit putzy to get right, I think I re-did the score lines 3 times before I had a snug enough fit for my liking. When I first saw the samples, I made one that I covered with DP but in my mind I saw a bee hive. The honeycomb stamp is a Scrapblock from CHF but inked up bubble wrap can also make a good alternative. The chocolate panel on the card is embossed with a Cuttlebug bee folder. I altered the tag on the honey pot so I could add in my own sentiment. To omit the words on the original image, I just colored the outline of the tag with a black marker, stamped it onto a piece of scrap paper and cut it out. It is attached with dimensionals for lift.

The box held a handful of dark chocolate Dove candy. I suppose some Bit 'O Honey candy would have carried the theme through even better. Maybe next time!

Tonight my mother arrives from Germany for a visit. Hubby and the boys will be driving to Toronto to pick her up. I will be at a training for work all day ;(. Then we will get packed up for a week at the lake. I do have some creations left to show you, so stay tuned.

Thanks for buzzing by!

July SFYTT

2011-07-20T07:00:00.000-04:00

The month is quickly slipping away from me so I wanted to be sure to get my card done for Jen's July SFYTT. Here is the sketch...

It took me a bit to get something I liked. I wanted to make a baby card but the elements didn't pull together with the sketch. I still made a baby card so I will share that another time.

On my last visit to my LSS, I picked up some paper from a new line called Authentique. They had 6x6 paper packs which were filled with smooth paper designs. Very nice, but the 12x12 caught my eye because of the texture. Reminded me of Crate Paper.

I paired it with Verve's Kind Words stamp set. I just love the size and fonts on the sentiment! I used SU's retired coral cameo and certainly celery on the flowers.

The strip of gray under the ribbon was also embossed with a leaf pattern embossing folder.

There is still time to play along with Jen's sketch, it goes until the end of the month.

Thanks for stopping by!

Rock Star

2011-07-18T06:48:00.002-04:00

Happy Monday!! One more week before our family vacation! The stress is mounting at work as I try to get through all my piles before Friday. I really don't want to leave stuff for my co-workers. Come on Friday!!

How is your summer so far? I can not believe how fast it is going by. Son #2 returned from church camp safely. We seem to be playing a game called "Where in the world are my children?". This is the only week from now until the end of August that both boys will be home. I knew this would happen as they got older but it is still a bit hard to swallow. My babies are growing up.

Let's move on to a more cheery subject shall we? Like stamping and a stair step card.

If you are on the Stampavie Newsletter list then this may look familiar. The Newsletter just came out yesterday and it is chock full of wonderful samples from the DT. Even stamping on a cake!

I used a Gillian Roberts image called "I'm a Rock Star", pairing it with some Memory Box papers. I kept it pretty clean, only adding a bit of twine and a wooden button.

I am off to tackle those piles on my desk.

Have a splendid day and thanks so much for visiting!

Ahoy!

2011-07-11T07:05:00.002-04:00

Well, Monday's seem to be my day to post. I had a very productive weekend, just not in my stamp studio. Hubby and the boys returned from Scout camp on Saturday afternoon. The mood was right for some house cleaning so from 6am-2pm I puttered, cleaned and weeded out. Everything from floors to windows got done, I tell you the house was sparkling. For all of 30 minutes!! At 2:30 the campers came in with all their dirty, smelly gear and made themselves at home once again. Oh well. It was good to have them back again.

Our youngest was home not even a full 24 hours before we repacked his gear and sent him off to church camp for a week. As tired as he was, he was also very excited to go spend the week with old friends from Rochester. Someone in our church sponsored his trip this year so we definitely needed a card to send as a thanks. I used the opportunity to use a new Nellie Snellen stamp I got from the stamp store recently.

I used some older SU items, Ahoy, Matey and the matching jumbo wheel to accent the pirate image from Nellie. The chocolate chip layer was embossed with a weathered stripe folder from Cuttlebug, the name escapes me but it is an older one. I rubbed some CC ink over it to further accent the embossing. Dark brown is so hard to capture on the camera though. His cap got a little lift from dimensionals.

Cute fella isn't he?? Those Nellie Snellen images are very cute and fun to color.

That is all for me today. I am off to work. Arghhhh!!

Happy 4th!

2011-07-04T07:00:00.001-04:00

Oh Happy Day! I am giddy to have a 3 day weekend! I wish I could say that I have a picnic and fireworks in my plans for celebrating the 4th of July, but I do not. Hubby and both boys left yesterday for a week at Massawepie Boy Scout Camp in the Adirondack Mountains. That leaves me home with the dog and somehow she doesn't seem like the best picnic and firework partner.

But no complaints here. I have a day off. I can do whatever my heart desires. I might celebrate my freedom by lounging on the sofa with some bon-bons and a chick flick. I will definitely be enjoying freedom from chores for the day! Oh the possibilities!

In honor of the holiday, I put a patriotic spin on a Tina Wenke image by Stampavie.

She looks like she is marching along in a parade with her little pal Hedgie.

The papers are from the 5 & Dime line by October Afternoon. I added the "celebrate" banner to some punched out stars. I figure the celebrate sentiment covers a multitude of occasions.

Well, I am off to enjoy the day.

Blessings on yours!

Going Botanical

2011-06-27T07:07:00.002-04:00

Howdy Hey!! Now that the boys are off of school my mornings are a bit less hectic. If I could just get the dog to stop whining at 6am all would be right!

Still not a lot of stamping going on around these parts. There was some purging however. Buffalo Stamps and Stuff (the best stamp store on the planet!!) has a garage sale every year for customers to sell off what they no longer want or need. I spent a good portion of my Saturday going through my stuff and managed to pull together a fair amount. Not that you could tell by looking around the room, oy!!! I was there bright and early Sunday morning to set it all up and bumped into several friends and some stampers from Spring Fest (Hi Maria!!). I managed to only buy a few things at the sale and when I returned later in the afternoon, more than half of what I brought was sold.

As usual, Sharon had the store stocked with lots of new stuff. I will wait until I get the funds from the sale to do any serious shopping, but I did pick up a couple pieces of floral paper that I used to make this card...

I just love the blues, browns and oranges. The stamp is from PTI's Botanical Silhouettes, most graciously given to me by my friend Lisa Kind. (Hey Lisa, I heard I missed you at the sale yesterday, bummer!!) I finally got to ink it up, can't wait to experiment some more.

Gotta go, work is calling. sniff, sniff.

Homemade Gifts

2011-06-16T07:00:00.001-04:00

Nobody likes a Wendy Whiner so I have tried to keep my grumbling to a minimum here. The busyness of life and work has really been taking its toll on me. My creative time has become very limited and when I try, the ideas and creativity seem to flow so slowly that crafting has become painful and anything but enjoyable. I have even entertained the idea of quitting altogether but I know I would miss it.

Last night I worked on a project for the Stampavie blog and I had a thoroughly enjoyable time!! Nothing super novel or exciting, in fact I used a box/basket idea I have done before. But I took my time and just puttered away until I was pleased with the end result.

The image is called "Adele Enjoys Fresh Apples" from the Sarah Kay collection. The recently purchased package of Spellbinder Apple dies happened to be nearby so I incorporated the medium size into the design. Yep! That is more of my sloppy stitching, lol. I'm gonna make it my signature look ;)

I did this tutorial on the CHF blog awhile back. The above box is just a modified version with an open top. Instead of a 12" piece, I used a 9" square piece, scored at 3" and 6" in both directions, cut on the score lines on opposing sides and assemble. The handle is just a strip of cardstock attached with brads.

Here is a close up of Adele...

I originally made the box to fit a canning jar and this one has a jar of my jam inside. The box/basket is good for so many goodies so don't just think canning jars.

It felt so good to enjoy my creative time rather than walking away frustrated! There is hope.

You Rock!

2011-06-13T06:38:00.003-04:00

If any of you readers are single parents I have so much admiration for you! These two week trips that Greg takes for school are a challenge for me. Running the boys to and fro, working and generally just trying to stay afloat is exhausting. To add to it all is our 10 month old black lab who is becoming more DISobedient with each passing day. Greg is clearly the alpha in our house and in his absence she is doing her best to take his place. Grrrr!!

I am working on some assignments, things I can't share yet. This was one of my rejects, it wasn't quite what I had in mind.

I had tried a number of ideas that were so much better in theory. I am sure none of you have ever experienced that. Anyway, the image is from the Gillian Roberts collection at Stampavie called I'm a Rock Star. He is colored with Copics, his jeans have a bit of clear blender pen over the coloring to make them look faded. I put a thin layer of Glossy Accents over the body of the guitar so it would be shiny. That bit I liked. Now that HUGE sentiment, not so much. I like the words, it is the size that is too much. They can't all be winners.

Counting down til Friday night when my better half returns home. I think I can, I think I can, lol.

Antique Wheels

2011-06-06T06:31:00.000-04:00

Hello friends! I hope you had a good weekend. We once again had quite a bit of rain to contend with.

It is a new month which means Jen has a new sketch. Check out all the deets for this sketch here.

This card is my take on the sketch...

I started with some new October Afternoon 5 & Dime papers and lots of sponging with Vintage Photo Distress ink. The bike image and sentiment are from a Hero Arts clear set called Joy Ride. I used Spellbinder circle and scallop circle dies and some very poorly done stitching, lol. Sewing in a circle is just not my thing!! Tucked behind the image is a piece of red cardstock embossed with a CB die that has gears all over it, sorry, but I do not know the name of that one. The red and black paper I used is filled with numbers and ticket images so for the strip along the bottom I used the Tim Holtz Sizzix ticket die and simply stamped the sentiment in the center ticket.

You have all month to play along with the sketch challenge.

Here is a snippet of my life these days...in numbers:

364...the number of google reader posts I am behind on reading

7...school days left for my boys

15...the age my oldest son will be on Wednesday

687... miles my husband is from us for the next two weeks

600+...dogs I helped check through a rabies clinic on Saturday

4...my vacation days for 2011, new jobs are tough!

21...the number of vacation days I need to keep sane

countless...weeds in the garden begging to be pulled out

1...HUGE and Loud toad/frog outside my bedroom window keeping me awake at night

and

1....BIG thank you for visiting my blog!!
Have a great day!

Raise Me Up

2011-06-01T06:30:00.001-04:00

Popping in with a card. I know...shocking!! We attempted to camp this weekend but the rain, cold and mud sent us home a day earlier than planned. It took all day Monday to dry out and wash all our muddy clothes. It was a bummer really. To end the weekend on a high note, we took the boys to see the latest Pirates movie. Everyone liked it although I will say the mermaids were a bit freaky.

Following the class I took with Jennifer McGuire a couple of weeks ago, I took some time to really browse the stamp store. I used to go on a regular basis but now that I work full time I just can't make it there as often. On that trip I scooped up the MFT kite die and some MME paper pads. Oh, and this really cute sentiment stamp by Stampabilities. I finally put them all together into this card.

I thought the sentiment would go well not only with the kite but the hot air balloon images I have from PTI. The clouds use a CC Designs die from All That Scraps. I added some staples to 3 sides with the Tim Holtz mini stapler as well as a bit of stitching around the main panel. The layers are all on a base of kraft so it could be masculine if need be.

I give the kite die 2 thumbs up!! Very fun.

Thanks for stopping by,

Cracked Postage

2011-05-24T06:52:00.000-04:00

Today I have a sample to share using a new line of vintage stamps from Stampavie. This line of 10 images is very different from what you may have come to expect from them. It's good to shake things up now and again!

After pulling out some papers I liked, I colored the image with Copics and pencils and then distressed the edges with a bit of Vintage Photo ink. Then I used the cracked glass technique on the inset part of the image. In the original image the bottom left corner has a button but I topped it with a little brass colored flower trinket and a yellow brad. I stamped the image a second time and adhered the inside floral portion back into place.

It had been awhile since I created some cracked glass, I forgot how fun it was to bend and crack the embossed panel! When you adhere a piece of cracked glass be sure to use a good coverage of strong adhesive because they tend to want to curl up.

Were you a winner from the blog hop this weekend?? Be sure to check out Daisy's post here to see if your name was chosen.

See ya!

The E-Team & Stampavie Blog Hop

2011-05-20T07:00:00.002-04:00

Welcome! The E-Team has invited the Stampavie DT members to join in on their hop as they focus on Stampavie images and coloring. This is going to be one colorful event!! Make sure you read all the way through, there are prizes and discounts you don't want to miss!!

Here is a list of all of today's players...

Stampavie DT Members

Tracy Harp (that's me ;))

E-Team Members

5 winners will be picked randomly between both the E-Team's & Stampavie DT's blogs. Winners will receive a Stampavie stamp plus some other eP goodies.

Readers can leave comments Friday(May 20) - Sunday(May 22nd). Winners will be posted on the eP blog on Monday, May 23rd.

Stampavie stamps that eP carries will be 10% off during the hop. Pre-orders for the newest releases will also be available and marked at 10% off.

Stampavie images are MADE for coloring!! It is hard for me to pick a favorite but I do love, love, love this Mo Manning image called Birthday Fairy Lee. Her chubby cheeks melt my heart. She looks good in just about any color, but I feel compelled to make her as girly as possible and I don't know a girl who doesn't like pink!

I used Tim Holtz's Baroque Sizzix die to create a shaped card as my base. It is embossed with the Sizzix "Flowers" folder. All coloring was done with Copic markers this time. Her wings are coated in Waterfall Stickles and the stars have clear Stickles.

Here is a close up of my image.

I hope you will check out the others blogs on the hop. Be sure to leave some love along the way, you could find yourself a winner!!

You've Got Mail

2011-05-19T07:00:00.000-04:00

Today's share is another card I made for the latest Stampavie Newsletter. I used the Mailing Letters image by Tina Wenke.

Isn't she sweet with her little birdie helper? I tried to carry the postal theme with the stamped paper by Prima and using postage edge scissors around the main image.

Keeping it short this morning, gotta get ready for work. I hope you will stop by tomorrow when the Stampavie team gets to join the eTeam for a blog hop!!

More Class Samples

2011-05-18T06:27:00.001-04:00

I am starting to think I missed God's call to build an ark! It just keeps raining and raining and then raining some more.

In Saturday's Jennifer McGuire class we made a total of 10 cards, all very different. I thought I would share just a few more samples of what we did.

I think Jennifer loves blue because most of our cards had some shade of blue somewhere. Can't say I disagree, isn't this light teal color fabulous? The card front was done by inking an embossing with Hero Arts Soft Pool Shadow ink before running the paper through. (actually, one of Jennifer's helpers did that step ahead of time) I have done that technique before but not with this crisp of a result. I am inspired to try again.

This shimmering card used a new product from Faber Castel called Gelatos. I am still undecided about them to be honest. But I love the backgrounder used, it is from Hero Arts and yes, I came home with my own ;)

We all got inky with Distress Stains for this card. The cool part is that everyone's looked just a bit different.

Besides being the day before the weekend, I have a great reason to look forward to Friday. The e-team from Eclectic Paperie is having a blog hop featuring Stampavie images. Not only that, The Stampavie team was invited to play along. I am so excited!! I hope you will plan to join us!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Not Old...Just Vintage

2011-05-17T06:28:00.000-04:00

After taking the Jennifer McGuire class on Saturday, we took some time to shop at Buffalo Stamps. Sharon had freshly unpacked some new MFT goodies and I quickly snatched up the Just My Type stamp and die set. Aren't you just loving all these dies to match stamps these days?! I {heart} them muchly! This particular set has this wonderfully sized old typewriter and a bunch of fun sentiments.

No coloring to do either. But I did a bunch of distressing with Vintage Photo Distress ink. The paper I used is from a new 6x6 pack of kraft designs by Memory Box called Valise. I think this may be the first time I have seen them come out with kraft designs and they are lovely. The finished card is 5 1/4" square.

The sentiment makes me giggle and some day I will probably have just the right person to give it to.

Later,

Mr. Fix-It

2011-05-16T06:30:00.000-04:00

Are you signed up for the Stampavie Newsletter? Stuart and Heidi put it out every 2 months and it has the latest information and samples from the DT.

I created two samples for the May edition that went out last week. I used the Laurence Collection image called Mr. Fix-It for this card.

He is perfect for Father's Day or for the handy man in your life. Embellishments are always tough on guy cards. I used some adhesive cork from QuicKutz, a gear embossing folder and some ribbon with measure markings. Distressing usually works on guy cards too.

This card became a birthday card for the stamp store owners husband. He often helps around the store and does a lot of handy man things. Sharon surprised him with a cake at the end of the morning Jennifer McGuire class on Saturday. This card seemed appropriate.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hero Arts+Jennifer McGuire=FUN!!

2011-05-15T15:40:00.004-04:00

My favorite LSS, Buffalo Stamps and Stuff, brought in Jennifer McGuire this weekend to teach some classes. Greg and the boys were on a scout camp out (in the rain, blech!!) so I signed up for the morning class called "Creatively Simple". It was a very fun time with my friends, Lynn and Beth, and Jennifer was a great teacher. The 3+ hour class flew by as we got inky doing a variety of techniques and using all kinds of products. Here we are after the class with Jennifer...

Here are a couple of my favorites from the class.

We used glossy cardstock and did a bit of ghosting for this one. I love the blue and green color combo.

Speaking of awesome colors, I loved this kraft project.

After class we enjoyed a great lunch together and did a wee bit of shopping. Greg returned early from the camp out so he could be at church. Afterwards just the two of us went to dinner and rented a movie. A perfectly delightful way to spend yet another rainy Saturday!

I am glad to report you will see a bit more of me this week! Hope you will stop by again.

Swap Sample

2011-05-11T21:20:00.000-04:00

Warmer temps and sunshine have finally come to Upstate NY and it is lovely! The top to the Vibe is open every chance I get, the hostas are coming up in the garden and the we finally shut the heat off. I was beginning to wonder if the day would come.

My hostess duties kept me pretty busy during Spring Fest but I did get a chance to make a couple of shoe box samples. This card was designed by Sheryl C who is a consultant for Amuse.

It was my first opportunity to use Amuse's hybrid ink pads. Oooohhhh, I like them muchly! Of course Sheryl did choose a great combo of colors for this card too but I found the coverage awesome. It is the kind of ink that will work really well with clear stamps. The kraft base was also embossed with a texture plate and there are tiny pearls on some of the flowers.

I see an Amuse order in my future!

Thanks for stopping.

May Sketch

2011-05-10T06:54:00.001-04:00

Last month I almost didn't make it for Jen's SFYTT. This month, I am getting it done early to avoid the last minute stress. Here is the sketch for May and a link to all the details.

And here is my card...

It ended up being a Mother's Day card for my wonderful MIL. The Stamping Bella image worked well for the die cut I wanted to use although it probably took up more space than the sketch dictated. Thank goodness for creative license, lol. Her dress is paper pieced with MME papers. The flower accent is from the Paper Trey die Beautiful Blooms II die set.

April was such a crazy month that very little stamping happened. Sketches are a great way to get back into the swing of things because one big element of the design is done for you. There is plenty of month left for you to play along too.

A Good Book

2011-05-09T07:02:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday! Did you have a nice Mother's Day? This weekend was a double celebration in our house, on Saturday hubby and I celebrated our 17 year anniversary and then on Sunday, Mother's Day. We also squeezed in son #2's hockey game, church, school work and a bit of stamping. Whew!

Today is my day to post on the Stampavie blog and in light of all the studying going on in our house these days, I chose this Tina Wenke image.

I paired it with some fun Pink Paislee paper and the MFT paper edge die. Once Hedgie was all colored up I added drops of Glossy Accents to his glasses. Isn't he so adorable??

I personally can't remember the last book I read all the way through. I have a stack of books I have started and then left them to gather dust. Good intentions. I figure the season for reading will come again down the road when I am not so busy with other things. I am open to some recommendations for a good read though.

Thanks for stopping by!

3-D Time

2011-05-04T06:53:00.004-04:00

At Spring Fest we had a variety of swaps available and each participant had to be in at least one swap. One of my favorite swaps to do and see is the 3-D swap. Here are some of the projects that people made...

There are always great ideas.

Those green baskets were adorable!

My friend Lynn covered card boxes, each one was a bit different.

These little goodies were made by Cheryl Rowley, love her!!

Each group had 8 participants to keep the projects manageable. Diane Zechman made the garden sticks in the background (so clever!), Lisa Kind made the jam boxes on the right using a My Time Made easy template (pushing my need for a Cricut!) and Michele Ghent did the covered notepads with magnetic closures to boot!

Very fun projects! Lots to drool over.

Recipe Cards

2011-05-02T07:00:00.000-04:00

One of the swap groups for Spring Fest was a 6x6 recipe card. This group tied with the No Vendor Restrictions card front for the most participants-38! Sadly, I was not able to participate in any of the swaps so I can't even tell you who the creators of these lovelies are. But here is a small taste of what was swapped...

Two of the cards featured chickens, I thought they were adorable and had to share.

The wooden holders that the cards are held up by are the ones made by my FIL. He made a few extras and they worked great to display these larger projects.

I am getting my butt kicked by a cold or strep throat, may need to go to the doctor to get it under control. In the mean time, I hope you enjoy some of the projects the Spring Fest stampers worked so hard to create.

If all this fun sounds like something you want to join, check out the Get It Together forum on SCS to see if one is being planned in your area. If there isn't, maybe you can start one.

Another One for the Books

2011-05-01T11:55:00.000-04:00

Four years ago Holly McMillan and I tossed around the idea of getting a few local stampers together for a shoebox swap. We were hoping for a turn out of 15 and got 50! Yesterday was our 4th annual Spring Fest in the Buffalo area and we had a glorious day with 85 stampers from 3 states and Canada. By now many of the faces are old friends but we also enjoyed meeting several new people this year. Here is a shot of our group hard at work creating their projects.

I put my older son in charge of taking photos and I probably should have given a bit more oversight. When I downloaded the umpteen photos this morning, most of them were blurry and unusable. Sigh.

Once again we had a phenomenal prize table with items that were both purchased with registration fees and donated by several awesome companies. Everyone went home with a prize. That is always a fun part of the day. Giving things away is cool!!

An event of this size is never a one person affair. I have lots of friends and family that go above and beyond. I {heart} these people, they are so giving of their time and talents. The event was held at my friend Beth's church. She also made these incredible favors for everyone.

Owls were the theme and Beth cased the idea for the owls from here. We filled the insides with tootsie rolls for a mid swap sugar refueling. We wanted them to perch so we stood them up on a spool she wrapped with samples of twine. Awesome! My father-in-law made wooden card stands for all our guests.

I will save some pics of projects another day. For now, I am getting out the bon-bons, putting up my feet and finding a good movie to watch.

Squeaking In

2011-04-29T14:27:00.002-04:00

Whew, the month is almost over and I really didn't want to miss Jen's April SFYTT. So, here I am at almost the 11th hour with my card for the sketch challenge.

Here is the sketch laid out for April. You can find all the deets here.

Since Unity is sponsoring the challenge this month, I went with some Unity stamps on this one.

IRL the yellow on the stamp matches better. The paper is MME, forget exactly which pack. I used a Flourishes sentiment and a couple smaller SU stamps to round it out.

We are in final preparations for Spring Fest 4 tomorrow. All of our planning will hopefully result in a super fun day for the 85 stampers coming from far and wide. I hope to have some photos to share once it is all done.

Have a super weekend!

Stalling

2011-04-27T06:16:00.003-04:00

We interrupt this blog to inform you that the author has fallen into the abyss.

Well, maybe not the abyss, just crazy busy work and family. Oh, yeah, and preparing for Spring Fest 4 this coming Saturday where 85 stampers are expecting a fantastic event.

In case you didn't catch my last Limelight Designer Post for Flourishes, here is a sneak of what you will find.

I will be back! Some time.

Sunday Sneak

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

This has been one long and crazy week! Not much stamping happened...again. Here is a link to my Limelight post over on the Flourishes blog. Here is a teaser for what you will find...

Have a great Sunday!!

Teenager

2011-04-14T06:30:00.002-04:00

My baby is a teenager today!! I can hardly believe it. I'm trying hard not to think about, as if by not acknowledging it, it won't be true.

But it is true, so today we celebrate. He gets his favorite foods, this morning it is corned beef hash (or as he used to say when he was little, 'corn geef cash"), eggs and toast. Then for dinner, probably every teenagers favorite food--pizza. His cake of choice--cookies and cream. Oh yeah, and root beer soda.

Here is the card I made. It is a Mo Manning image available at Stampavie.

His favorite color is orange. No frills. No fuss. This image really looked like him until he decided to cut his hair short 3 days ago.

Gotta go cry in my cereal ('cause momma don't eat hash!) now. Have a good day!

Raised Up Sneak Peek

2011-04-10T08:02:00.002-04:00

Happy Sunday! I am sorry that things have gotten a bit dusty around the blog this week. I am not sure it will improve this week unfortunately. Lots of good,bad and otherwise going on around our house and my work. One of the good things this week is that youngest son is turning 13. Hopefully I will have a card to show ;).

But there is something of mine posted on the Flourishes blog today. I made a gift set for my second Limelight Designer post, you can see it here. This is a peak at what you will find...

I wish you a fabulous day!

Thanks for visiting.

Under My Umbrella

2011-04-05T06:30:00.001-04:00

Rain, rain go away, go to Texas where they need it! We are once again putting on our rain jackets and waders. Well, I hope this red and yellow gift bag will bring some cheer.

The image I used is called "Under My Umbrella", part of the Gillian Roberts collection at Stampavie. Hers must be a sun umbrella though, 'cause it doesn't appear to be raining on her parade.

I had colored this image and tried for what seemed like forever to make it work on a card. It was like pulling teeth I tell ya! Ever have those days in your crafting?? Pushing a rock uphill. It wasn't the image, it was the elements I was trying to put together. I set it aside and started to rummage around drawers for who knows what. I came across some leftover class projects, including a white lunch sack cut down for a bag project. Now the pieces just seemed to fall into place and the whole experience was so much more enjoyable. The card stock pieces are 5" square with the bag sandwiched in between. The handles are 11" by 1", fastened with brads and a bit of tape. I embossed the front panel with a dotted Cuttlebug folder.

That is it for me. Today is day one of 3 days of training at work. The county is finally trying to go computerized. No more DOS. Can you imagine the fun I am going to have????

Happy Thoughts

2011-04-04T06:45:00.000-04:00

Last month I bought this cheery paper at my LSS. I knew I wanted to use it on some kind of project where the paper could be one of the focal points. Once I got it home, I was totally uninspired to use it. Then today my son discovered a ladybug while at church. A sign of spring? Probably not since it was a dead one, lol. Anyway, I pulled out a 1/2 composition book and used the paper to create a little journal.

The image is by Stamping Bella. I colored her with Copics and used a black glaze pen on all the dots. The sentiment is by Amuse. When the composition books are on sale around back to school time, I have a stack cut in half at the office supply store. They make fun projects and nice gift. The back cover has the same paper covering it and the insides are covered with old olive card stock for a finished look.

I'd keep it for myself except that I am a lousy journaler. It would end up like all my other attempts, the first few pages would be written on followed by a whole bunch of blanks! So, I will set it aside and gift it when the opportunity arises.

Thanks for visiting!

Tickled Pink

2011-04-02T11:51:00.002-04:00

Taking a quick break from housecleaning (blech) to share a bit of exciting news. I was asked to be the Limelight Designer for the month of April over at Flourishes. Read more here. Tomorrow will be my first post on their blog and I had a blast making my project! I hope you will check it out!

Okay, break over, time to go change the sheets!

Design Team Call

2011-03-30T07:03:00.000-04:00

Stampavie is looking for 4 new Design Team members!! This is a great team to be part of so I encourage you to throw your hat in the ring! Read here for full details.

Shabby Blooms

2011-03-29T06:30:00.001-04:00

Today was my day to post on the Shady Tree Studios blog. I really am yearning for spring, to see the signs from the garden that life is renewing. And that winter is well behind us for this year. Soon.

With a stack of new paper pads on my desk, I am inspired by color and patterns. These pinks, browns and aquas call to me but to be honest, I am not the best at using them. But I forged ahead and created this card...

All the pattern papers are from a pack of Prima, totally luscious colors! The flower is stamped onto a lightly printed text pattern. Since I knew it would not hold up well to watercoloring, I used light colored Copic markers with a light hand to achieve a similar look.

There are two ladies from church taking about 20 teen girls to the Revolve Tour conference in Hartford, Ct. Brave ladies! This card is going to one of them with a note to let them know I am praying for their time away.

Thanks for stopping!

Button Bag

2011-03-28T06:30:00.001-04:00

I am a new woman!! I wasn't sure that stomach bug would ever leave me, but it is a new day! I had to leave work early on Friday but by mid Saturday all was back on track. Yesterday was Hubby's birthday so we were busy celebrating, but I did squeak in a bit of stamping over the weekend.

The challenges at Sassy Cheryl's were so much fun, I downloaded another image and played along with some more challenges. This card is for the Color Me #16 and #55, Use something new challenges.

Kinda wacky, I know. Lots of colors and patterns going on here. I was feeling so good after the icky sickies left that I went a little crazy! My new items were the MFT die for the rolled flower and the Social Club paper pad from Cosmo Cricket. Oh, and I finally bought new thread for my sewing machine. I was missing stitching. The image is one of 2 that Cheryl posted for the color me challenge, I like the whimsy of the buttons. I popped up a few of the buttons and the heart on the bag.

Thanks for stopping by! Blessings on your day.

Vintage Awash

2011-03-25T06:45:00.000-04:00

Still feeling blah. Oh my stars, I don't think I have ever had such a bad stomach bug before. I am so glad to see Friday get here.

I have one more card to share from last weekend. I combined the CHF text background stamp with SU's Awash with Flowers set. Cherry Cobbler is hands down my favorite new SU color, the red is just the right shade. The leaves were done in old olive.

The text was inked in kraft ink, the tone is light enough to work for a subtle backdrop. The sentiment is stamped onto the Modern Label punch which I cut in half. After it was done and I was looking at the photo, the label looked like it could double as a pot/vase so maybe next time I will have the flower coming out of it.

I wish you a wonderful weekend!

Birthday Boy

2011-03-24T06:38:00.000-04:00

Thanks to a stomach bug my FIL passed on to me, I have been one hurtin' unit these last couple of days. The blast of winter we got today is salt in the wound!

I'll stop whining long enough to share a card with you. I used one of the new Penny Johnson images by Stampavie on this birthday card...

Penny illustrates such cute images. I am biased with 2 sons of my own, but I have a soft spot in my heart for little boys. They have such a way of getting into mischief. Even at 12 and 14!

That is it for me, thanks for visiting!

Hello Baby

2011-03-22T07:23:00.001-04:00

Today is my turn to post on the Shady Tree blog. I am continuing to find creative ways to use the Backyard Springtime set. I thought the duck would make a nice baby card.

Works, right?! And with minimal coloring. And it used up scraps from a paper stack I've had for a loooong time. And it would be easily reproducible for a baby shower thank you idea.

and...that is all I have to say, lol.

Battling a bit of a stomach thing so I am off to bed and pre-posting this for the morning!

Sweet Nellie

2011-03-21T06:24:00.000-04:00

On Saturday I had the chance to meet up with my friends Cheryl Rowley and Lisa Kind at our favorite stamp store, Buffalo Stamps and Stuff. Two hours went by in a blink of an eye! The store was stocked with great new finds from Winter CHA. You can be sure the three of us did lots of oohing, aahing and enabling, lol. I came home with a stack of new paper pads, some MFT dies and this cute little image by Nellie Snellen.

I did a quick search on-line and didn't really find one place where you might find these. It is a UK company but I did see some listings if you are not local enough to visit BSS. This gal is too cute for words! I love her dress and hat boxes. The paper I used is from one of the MME packs I bought at the store, sorry I don't remember exactly which one.

I was fairly productive yesterday so you will see more from me this week.

Blessings,

Shady Shades

2011-03-18T06:58:00.003-04:00

TGIF!!

This will be a short post, I have 2 meeting first thing this morning. One of the stamp sets (Floral Occasions) that Nancy released from Shady Tree Studios on Friday is filled with florals. You may recognize some of them as they were previously available through CHF. Her florals were some of my favorites when I was on that DT. They're still fav's. Here is a card I made using the Iris in the set.

I used Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol this time, mounting it to a neutral backdrop of paper that I think is MME.

While I was in the mode, I took out the tulip image from CHF, this one is not in the set but many of you might already have this stamp.

This time I used SU inks to watercolor. I love Melon Mambo but when watercolored it looks a little fluorescent. Definitely a contrast to the first, more vintage sample.

That is it for me today. Thanks for stopping!

Late to the Party

2011-03-15T06:46:00.000-04:00

Late seems to be my middle name lately. My dad used to say "A day late and a dollar short". Yep, fits me to a T! Oh, how I wish it didn't.

I missed a birthday at work and since I have taken on the task of cards, I couldn't let it slide. So, here is my belated card...

I thought this birthday turtle from Bugaboo Stamps was rather appropriate. They post a new freebie digi image on their site every Friday and I got this many moons ago when it was a freebie. Now it is available for sale. I think he is so adorable. As an aside, there are a few sites that offer freebies to try, it is a great way to venture into digi images if you have never done so before. Nothing beats a stamp in your hands but digi images have come so far and the price point is reasonable. I also like that I can size them to my liking, something you can't do with a stamp. The sentiment was computer generated, something I wrote to fit the occasion.

I think I need to work on a stash of cards for my desk so these late episodes can be minimized. I just may be beyond all hope though, lol.

See you soon!

Retirement Wishes

2011-03-14T06:33:00.000-04:00

I had several cards to make this weekend for co-workers. One was a retirement card for someone who has worked for the county for 41 years! I have barely been alive that long, lol. I think she had earned her pension a couple times over by now.

Like I mentioned yesterday, finding images to work for this card was a bit of a challenge but I am pleased with how it came together.

The car is from PTI and I used the matching die to cut it out. My co-worker has a red card so I made the car on the card to match. The lights and windshield are covered in Glossy Accents. The lady and the luggage are part of the Honeymoon image by Bugaboo stamps. As you can see, I cut out the fella. The fact that she is waving worked perfectly for the sentiment that I had decided to use, which I generated on the computer.

I think she will get a kick out of it.

My Inky Son

2011-03-13T11:44:00.009-04:00

My oldest son has a very cool hobby...wood turning. Three years ago my in-laws took him to a wood turners convention and he won a mini Jet lathe. He mostly turns pens, sometimes other small items. He was 12 when he started and now at 15 creates some beautiful pieces. Here is a photo of J when he first won his lathe in 2008.

Last fall he purchased a used 4-wheeler from his uncle, partly with a loan from yours truly. J has a monthly loan payment and when he fails to pay, repo-mom comes a-calling. Since his allowance does not fully cover his payment he has to find other means of earning money. In our house we call this "man training", developing a sense of responsibility and character!

J has turned some pens to sell and I offered to help him by posting them on the blog.

Gorgeous, right? Here are the details if you are interested in purchasing of J's wood turned pens...

Edited to add...all pens have been spoken for. My son is beaming with pride and will probably turn some more to offer in the future. Thanks!

A) executive style pen with gold trim, turned from maple burl wood-$22.00

B) silver finish slim line pen, J was unsure of wood type, may be kingwood -$17.00

C) Gold finish slim line pen turned from cocobolo wood, very interesting tropical wood with 2 toned variations-$17.00

Shipping is $3, US only for now

Contact me if interested, I can send info for paying with Paypal.

Blessings,

3-fer

2011-03-12T22:57:00.003-05:00

Someone at work is retiring and I volunteered to make the card. Do you know how many retirement images are out there?? Not enough! I spent quite a bit of time hunting on-line for digi images to work with and eventually pieced some things together. I will post the finished card in a day or two.

In all that searching I discovered a couple new-to-me companies. I love those happy discoveries! One of those companies is Sassy Cheryl, what a fun shop to browse! I purchased a digi image and created a 3-fer challenge card.

First, it uses the March SFYTT sketch by Jen.

And then I combined 2 challenges from Sassy Cheryl's blog, the Color Me #14 and Challenge #54, Pink & White. Here is the final card...

I needed to make my card 5 1/4" square to accommodate the larger image I printed. All coloring done with Copics. I used bits of dark brown crocheted ribbon on the middle strip and added a die cut flower. The sentiment is from Verve.

I had a spurt of creating energy and I hardly wanted to stop but with daylight savings tonight it has gotten to be way past my bedtime. Good new though cause now I have blog fodder for a few days!

Have a great Sunday and thanks for visiting!

Hippity Hop

2011-03-11T06:37:00.001-05:00

Today is release day over at Shady Tree Studios!

I have another sample using the Backyard Springtime set. Are you seeing how versatile this set is yet?

The fence is one image in the set and the bunny is another. You can easily repeat the fence to make it longer. I paired my images with some Cosmo Cricket paper from last year. The carrots on the DP are meant for this little bunny.

I used the same 2 images to create the scene on this basket.

The fence is extended here by stamping it 2x's. I changed the color of the bunny to grey and used some liquid applique on his tail. I got a bit carried away with the heating so he has an extra fluffy, coiffed tail, lol. The eggs are part of a Sizzix die I have, I cut them from white cardstock and colored them with Copics.

I hope you enjoyed the sneak peeks!

Thanks for visiting.

Floral Postage

2011-03-10T06:50:00.000-05:00

Welcome to day 2 of Shady Tree sneak peeks. Nancy's flowers have long been favorites and this new image in the Backyard Springtime set now joins the list.

This card sort of evolved and in the end I was just smitten. It started with the paper, I loved the vintage feel and colors it had. Then I stamped and colored the image with Copics. The centers of the flowers have black glaze pen dots added which adds a nice touch, hard to see in a photo though. After it was cut out I looked for how to place a sentiment and not much was tickling my fancy. I started to sponge the edges with Antique Linen Distress Ink and that bottom right corner looked bare. The idea came to me to add numbers for postage, the size was perfect. I unearthed my postage edge scissors (do you even remember those??) and bingo! A little crinkle ribbon and some leaf stick pins and it was done. It reminds me of my great grandma, I can even smell her rose powder, lol.

Thanks for stopping by, see you tomorrow! Friday, yeah! Payday, double yeah!!

STS Sneak Peek

2011-03-09T06:42:00.000-05:00

Man o' man! I am so far behind in my life at the moment I could almost cry! But there is no time for tears when there are new stamps in the house. On Friday, Shady Tree Studios is releasing 3 new stamp sets, all perfect for spring. I am having a lot of fun with the new set called Backyard Springtime. Here is one of the images from the set...

Aren't the little duckies so cute?! Nothing cheers quite like a sunny yellow. The paper is from an older Cosmo Cricket pad, I love all the clovers! The birdcage die is from Tim Holtz. I went with a dark grey rather than a brown or black this time. I often forget how much I like pairing grey with things. The sentiment comes in the set as well but this image goes way beyond just Easter.

Shady Tree also has a guest designer and she is no stranger to me. Kristine Reynolds and I were CHF DT members together and it is wonderful to have her join us for this release. I hope you will check out what the other girls have cooked up.

Thanks for stopping by! I will be back tomorrow with another STS sample.

Just a Note

2011-03-04T07:06:00.001-05:00

Happy Friday!! Wahoo!! This has been one loooooong week. Today hubby is having his final kidney stone "procedure". He will have to put under one more time to have the stent removed. I can only imagine how much he will be leaping for joy that this 7-8 week ordeal is coming to an end. We are all looking forward to things returning to normal around here again. Well, as normal as our house could be ;)

I haven't had a ton of time to create this week but I carved out an hour last night while everyone was out. I pulled out a set from My Cute Stamps.

The card is just under 4 1/4" square so it will fit into an A2 envie. I used a Spellbinder die for the card base. I goofed and used the 1/2" corner punch rather than the 1/4" but it wasn't worth wasting paper over. The top and bottom of the bird cage were stamped a second time, cut out and adhered with dimensionals.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Coke Bottle Glasses

2011-03-01T06:30:00.000-05:00

I didn't mean to give this cute fella thick lenses but that is what he got when the Glossy Accents got a little unruly. They do make me giggle though.

Meet Oxford, one of the latest Mo Manning images released by Stampavie.

Adorable right? He is paired with some Cosmo Cricket Boyfriend DP, the sentiment is from SU. I think I need a different sentiment, I couldn't find anything I liked so I fell back to the safe BD wishes. It will be easily changed when and if I find the "right" stamp. Oxford was colored with Copics followed by a bit of Prismacolor pencils.

Oxford looks an awful lot like a friend of our youngest. Not sure he is studious though, lol. But the hair is most definitely right on.

Menu Monday: Crockpot Ravioli

2011-02-28T06:46:00.001-05:00

Welcome to another week!

This week Tops (our local grocery store) is having a big frozen food sale. I came home with a small pile of bags of cheese ravioli. That means ravioli is on the menu for this week. I do not have a lot of success making pasta in the crockpot, except for this recipe. It is simple and all it needs is a salad and some fresh bread.

Click on the recipe to get a larger view. The tomato image is from a CHF set by Shady Tree Studios. It is colored with Prismacolor pencils and gamsol. In person the reds match a bit better.

Speaking of Shady Tree, keep a watch for some new releases from Nancy coming soon!

Have a great day!

Longing for Spring

2011-02-24T06:30:00.000-05:00

It is against the law (not really, but almost) to wish away winter or any evidence of winter in our house. As soon as I mention it, Greg will go on his oft repeated monologue of how he moved me to paradise (Ft Lauderdale) and I complained about the heat so now I have to suck it up. I get no sympathy from hubby or the boys, instead they pray for snowstorms and for old man winter to do "his thing". Well, on MY blog I can complain all I want. I will keep it to a minimum so I don't tire all of you nice readers, lol.

So, today I have a touch of spring for you, even if this kind has nothing to do with what is going on outside my house.

This image is one of the latest Sarah Kay's released by Stampavie. I ripped a page from an old dictionary. Even though I bought the book for the purpose of using it in my crafting it still felt wrong to damage a book! Now that the first rip is done, the rest will be easier, right?

The boys are having friends from out of town for a couple of days. The "man cave" is next to my studio so it will probably be taken over by teens. If I know what is good for me, I will stay clear.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cherry-O

2011-02-23T06:27:00.001-05:00

It was time to pull out some oldies but goodies. I went straight for some older Unity kits. Maybe it is my longing for sun and warmth, maybe it is the sweet taste of cherries, maybe I was just in the mood for red. Regardless of what "it" was, this is the result...

I paired the image with some older Cosmo Cricket paper, I {heart} the red/aqua color combo. the cherries are cut out, adhered with dimensionals and covered with Glossy Accents. There are stitched lines in the cherries which I tried to mimic with some stitching on the cherry paper.

That's all she wrote folks. And it's all I wrote for today, lol.

Thanks for stopping by!

Let's Disco

2011-02-21T08:15:00.002-05:00

It is a snowy, windy day in our neck of the woods this Monday. The snow is especially painful after having 2 days in the 50's at the end of last week. A nice reminder that spring is eventually coming.

Hubby had his second surgery on his kidney stone on Thursday. Once again we kept the nurses late but they were able to laser the stone into smaller, passable bits. They did have to put in a second stent, prolonging the pain/discomfort for another week but the end is in sight.

Stampavie's line of stamps from Sarah Kay have been a fan favorite for awhile. Well, in this last release some of the SK's went retro. Totally different. Totally fun! The 70's are still pretty vivid in my mind. Here is my ode to olive green and shimmering disco...

You will have to let your imagination work a bit to catch all the shimmer. The paper itself has shimmer dots on it and I used a glitter pen all along the edge of her pants. Ahhh, 70's polyester! I remember some of my shirts that were made of that poly sheen material. What I remember most is the static, lol!

NEWS item: if you live within a reasonable drive of Buffalo, NY, then I invite you to join us on April 30th for our 4th annual Spring Fest event. Read all about it here.

Later,

Chomping at the Bit...

2011-02-16T06:50:00.001-05:00

to send some birthday wishes. I was in need of another birthday card, this time for a co-worker.

I tried to incorporate her favorite color, orange, into the mix. The image is by Whipper Snapper, the sentiment from CHF. I am still lovin' these October Afternoon papers from last summer.

Right now I could totally go for a chocolate cupcake. Work has been crazy and the week is only 2 days old. Sheesh! Maybe I will go bake up some cookies to take care of that craving.

See ya!

Fairy Lee

2011-02-15T06:36:00.002-05:00

Last week my friend Diane celebrated a birthday so I made this cute card to send her.

I just {{heart}} this image by Mo Manning, another new release from Stampavie. She is called Birthday Fairy Lee. Oh my, she is FUN to color! Her chubbiness just makes me giggle. I made her wings and the stars on the cake sparkly using a glitter pen. The paper is by Echo Park.

I am a bit short on time this morning so I am keepin' it short.

Blessings on your day and thanks for stopping by!

S.S. Baby Boy

2011-02-14T06:17:00.001-05:00

Happy Monday and Happy Valentine's Day! The deep freeze has warmed just a tad and we are now basking is 30 degrees! Compared to the single digit temps of last week it does almost feel warm. ALMOST.

I had a chance to play along with Jen's February sketch challenge. Here is the link to the deets, the sketch is good for the whole month.

I needed a baby card for a co-worker. She is having a boy and isn't into many of the traditional boy themes. Since we live near Lake Ontario I thought a nautical theme might be different and appropriate.

What do you think? I turned the circle element of the sketch into a life ring using 2 Spellbinder circle dies. I wrapped some white twine around it in 4 places. The papers are all from a pad of October Afternoon paper. The stamp is from a set from Impression Obsession. NO clue if they even carry it anymore, I have had it for quite some time now. Image was colored with Copic markers. I tried desperately to make some hardware fit someplace and just couldn't do it. Sigh...I can be so embellishment challenged!

I made the card 5 1/4" square to leave lots of room on the inside for folks to write their well wishes. I hope she likes it!

I messed around with my blog last night. It is such a challenge to my brain, lol. It isn't 100% to my liking but enough that I can live with it.

Thanks for stopping by! I didn't have time for a Menu Monday recipe, maybe next week.

Flower Girl

2011-02-10T06:28:00.000-05:00

Want another Stampavie sample? I have another card using a Gillian Roberts sample, this one is called "Flower Girl".

My card is 6x6 in size, so you can see that the stamps are a nice size, great for coloring. The fun paper is My Mind's Eye.

Thanks to those of you who left comments on my son's project yesterday! You are so sweet and you made his day.

Recycle Crafting

2011-02-09T06:57:00.000-05:00

....with my youngest. During the week it is very hard for me to make it to my craft room. My boys need help with homework, rides to places, and other various things that crop up. My youngest often gets bored and looks on-line for projects to make. Cardboard, scissors and duct tape are his favorite tools! Last night he recruited me to help him make a folder from cereal boxes. He wanted me to show you the finished project.

Here is the inside of the folder.

He found the instructions on the Honey Comb box, here's the link in case you are interested . A crafty mom with red-liner tape and hobby blades comes in handy. I love that he finds creative things to do with his time rather than getting sucked into the TV all the time. He has also made some very cool baseball hats from paper and duct tape.

So, no cards to show you today but there was crafting going on in the studio!

Thanks for stopping by.

Dude

2011-02-08T06:45:00.002-05:00

Happy Tuesday!

I have another Stampavie sample to show you today. It is a Mo Manning image called "Simon". I knew he would be a hit with my youngest.

I went for a bit of a grunge look. The image was water colored with Distress and SU inks, the paper is by Prima. When I showed the card to hubby he commented how the design on the blue paper looked like a skate company logo. Yeah.... I meant to do that ;).

Teen boy images/cards can be tough. Stampavie released 2 Mo images that are perfect for the teens in your life.

Gotta get ready for work. Have a great day!

Menu Monday: Creamy Italian Chicken

2011-02-07T06:00:00.000-05:00

So, did your team win last night???

Our house had divided loyalties so someone was bound to be excited and someone else crushed. Our youngest has been a Steelers fan for years now and hubby has been a Packer Backer for...well, a looooong time.

Me...I just love the food ;). I made sure we had appetizers galore, all those things you don't normally prepare unless there is an event. Followed by a few Tums, lol.

Today on the menu is Creamy Italian Chicken. It is a crockpot meal that we repeat on a regular basis in our house. Crockpot recipes can be such time savers. We enjoyed this on Friday but I failed to get a photo.

I used the retired SU set, Best of Cluck. For the title font, I changed it up a bit, using Honey Script. I was getting a bit weary of the other one.

I have the PDF version if you care to download it for yourself...and a few friends since it prints 4 to a page.

Creamy Italian Chicken PDF

Love Ewe

2011-02-06T16:14:00.005-05:00

I am trying to make up for missed time in my studio this weekend. The mojo is flowing a bit slowly but with each card it gets a bit better.

I took an opportunity to play along with a newer challenge. Linda over at Catered Crop is hosting a "Follow the Recipe" challenge and it has nothing to do with the kind of cooking you do in the kitchen! Today's project is for FTR5. You can check out all the details on Linda's blog here.

When I saw the inspiration piece I was reminded that I have the same stamp by Unity Stamp Co and it had yet to see any love. It is not required to use the stamp, I just chose to.

My recipe elements are:

--sheep image

--scalloped rectangle

--I used pinks

--Copics and black ink

--tag with sentiment

--pattern paper with a repeating pattern

--hearts

I couldn't get a photo of it, but the pink sheep also has glitter pen traced all over the swirls.

Full card elements list: SU Sahara Sand c/s, Neenah cream c/s, My Mind's Eye PP, Unity Co image, Memento black ink, Copic markers, folk heart punch, black glaze pen, Spellbinder rectangle/scalloped rectangle and tag dies, brad, stitching, corner rounder, dimensionals, Sakura glitter pen

Tomorrow I have a real recipe lined up, hope to see you then!

PTI Favorites

2011-02-05T08:43:00.003-05:00

I am so happy that today is Saturday! Because inquiring minds want to know, lol, the dog is no longer having plumbing issues, oldest son is starting to feel a bit better and husband is well....surviving. He is in quite a bit of discomfort from the stent and procedure. Not entirely unexpected I guess. He's walking like a 90 year old man. Kinda funny, but not to him, sheesh!

Paper Trey is doing a year in review and they are inviting customers to share their favorites from the past year too. I browsed through my PTI creations from the last year and had a tie for my favorite! This one I just post a couple of weeks ago.

I liked it when I made it but it has grown on me even more since then.

My second favorite uses one of PTI's templates. I don't think it was a new product in 2010 but I used for the first time in July to make a gift for a new family in town.

No stamping, just the template, lots of dies and embossing folders. I loved that project!!

Today is dedicated to getting things done around the house and hopefully no one will notice when I sneak away to my stamp room :)

FUN Day!

2011-02-04T06:40:00.002-05:00

We didn't get home from the hospital last night until 9. They were unable to get kidney stone so now Greg has a stent for a couple weeks until they can try again. Going to the bathroom is a challenge.

Dog had diarrhea all day.

Son #1 up at midnight puking.

NO time for cards or blogging ;(

Today is another day!