Sunday, January 31, 2010

a treat bag

Here's the make-'n-take from CAM, where I stopped en-route to a few errands yesterday. I'm thinking it'll make a cute treat bag for some valentine candy, which I just happened to pick up during my travels.

It was easy peasy - we just used a border, circle, and heart punch, 3x4" resealable bag, and coordinating double-sided DP - this particular DP was striped on one side and dotted on the reverse. And the most important part? It's purple - my fav color! Cute, eh?! I'm not sure whether it'll be for me or my boys, tho' - time'll tell!

no deets today - all materials supplied by store ... I have to insert the candy still!

Friday, January 29, 2010

sigh ... PC's sick


Hi folkes! I'm reverting back to scanning in pics at work while my PC's on the fritz - but I DID borrow my son's laptop to play w his more recent version of Photoshop software before uploading.

Karen will have no doubt which card was my fav from Wednesday's valentine card class! This sweetie grabbed my attention when I spotted folkes making cards when my scrappin' buddies and I were at our most recent make-'n-take there. ... so much so that we all signed up for the next class!

Enjoy your day - it's a frigid one here, with wind chill temps in the low single digits below zero Fahrenheit. We're having marinated salmon for supper and planning on tossing a log on the fire tonight. If you've not tried the Morey's wild alaskan salmon (I get ours from Sam's Club), check it out! YUM!

no deets today - all supplies were provided at the class. I DID, however, order the background stamp, so I'll edit to add that soon.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

think "you make me loco"

That's what I immediately thought of when I saw today's card - a manly Valentine's Day card! This is one of the cards from today's make -'n- take at Karen's Creative Stamping. I met up with a few friends for crafts and lunch today. No deets today - except the stamp is one of Karen's own.

My kids and I used to take in Crossroads Village every summer when they were little. The village is a collection of 35 historic homes, barns, shops, and trades buildings moved from around Genesee County to the west side of Mott Lake. They'd make me give them rides on the Venetian swings by the amusement park portion of the village. The village also has a restored carousel and ferris wheel, and for an additional price, there's the 40-minute ride on the steam locomotive or 45-minute ride on a replica paddlewheel riverboat. Well, this stamp made me think of the village, so when I get around to scrapbooking trips there, it'll come in handy!

Friday, January 22, 2010

a color challenge

Embellish Magazine's stripes color challenge was the motivation for this Valentine's Day card. I got to ink up a new Inkadinkado stamp set - with Versamark for the background above the hearts (kinda forming stripes on their own ... get it?!), and Soft Suede for the sentment below the hearts. The challenge was to use kraft, brown, and purple, and to use stripes. The kind folkes at Embellish Mag even provided an inexpensive striped DP available to all by way of a quick PDF download. Thanx, folkes!

edited to add: hey! I just realized this card's colors are REAL close to the shell I was wearing in my blog photo opp!

stamps: Inkadinkado's Chelsea Sentiments, SU's Holiday & Wishes; paper: SU's Chocolate Chip, Kraft, Razzleberry, and Whisper White card stocks, Embellish Stripes by A New Design /Ashley Cannon Newell; ink: SU's soft suede; tools: Marvy Uchida's jumbo and super punches, Fiskar's threading water border punch

blog candy alert

Enabler Alert: ABC Toys and Crafts is offering 3 different lucky winners each a different MS Punch Around the Page set for blog candy - check it out!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

tonight's the night

so, what will YOU be doing at 10 p.m. tonight?!

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

All You Need Is Love

Ah, the Beatles ... I LOVED that song, and found this sentiment in the dollar bin, along with some cute heart stamps, this past weekend. The small hearts in this card are stamped with one of my new heart stamps, but punched out using the smaller, jumbo heart punch and popped up using dimensionals. Don't you just love BasicGrey DPs?

A short post today ... as my youngest is looking over my shoulder, and he apparently wants the PC. We've been having Internet access issues, and apparently he can't connect using his laptop right now ... sigh ...

stamps: Mike's Craft Smart dollar stamps; paper: BasicGrey's Indian Summer DP, Melon Mambo and Chocolate Chip card stock; ink: Versamark, Melon Mambo marker (can you tell that the word "love" is darker than the rest of the sentiment?); tools: Fiskar's threading water border punch, Marvy Uchida's jumbo heart and super heart punches

the container store find

Papercrafts Connection is looking for storage solution tips - here's one of mine. A couple stamping buddies of mine were in Chicago recently and Kimmi went to The Container Store where she happened upon these little gems. They're item# 10044744, called Long Handy Boxes, measure 12" x 4" x 3-3/4" h, and are perfect to hold the small dollar size acrylic stamp sets I've picked up in my travels. And one of the best things about these? The closure mechanism? The carry handle? Or that they're only $3.99 ea? I used to pay twice that for Cropper Hopper containers, but they've long since discontinued 'em (I guess I must've been the only one purchasing them?).

I'd previously posted how I store ribbon - here - but my plan is to eventually install some plastic gutter across the wall above a desk in my bedroom where I'm slowly pulling together a stamping area.

Have you additional storage tips? Share with me ... and head to Papercrafts Connection by Thursday midnight MST! You could win a copy of Stamp It! Cards

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

recent finds

I've loved these snowflake punches since I first spotted 'em ... dunno why, as I'm not especially fond of winter, LOL! Don't get me wrong - I DO love the change of seasons; I just think winter lasts way too long in comparison to the other seasons. I've always liked picture series, stamp sets, needlework designs, etc where one item repeats for each season. That's one thing that I noticed about my DH back in our dating days; he had framed seasonal pics he'd taken of a barn that was near his place. But, I digress ...

I stopped by Mike's this past weekend armed with an array of coupons, and strolled by the punches section, as I normally do, but THIS weekend, lo' and behold, my punches were in stock! YAY! AND on sale, so I used my coupons on other supplies! The top rectangle and snowflakes were popped up using dimensionals.

whoo hoo! I uploaded this card to SCS 7/2010 and it was selected as a CAS favorite of the week and overall favorite! thanx, all!

A gal working the register at Mike's told me they no longer honor multiple coupons of the same discount. It USED to be that you couldn't use multiples of the same coupon. It'll only make me shop, put stuff in trunk, repeat as often as coupons allow, but she honored the coupons for me this time as I apparently looked surprised to hear of the new policy. If you wish they'd return to their prior policy, write, call, or e-mail corporate!

stamps: Hero Arts' Winter's Butterfly (inside sentiment - a snowflake is winter's butterfly), clear & simple's Holly Jolly; paper: SU's Real Red, Whisper White card stocks; ink: Ranger's Black Soot distress ink; tools: MS' Alpine Snowflake, Arctic Snowflake.

Monday, January 18, 2010

U@50

The following YouTube video was created for and placed second in the AARP U@50 video contest, based on the Argentinian political advertisement, The Truth, by RECREAR. Makes me want to go search for the first place video!


Sunday, January 17, 2010

this one's for Kate

My Boss' daughter called me mid-week to ask if I could bring in a baby card by next Tuesday. Yep, I can do better than that - I can bring it in on Monday! Her Mom and I have become quite the "tag team" in that I make the baby cards and she makes these SWEET baby bonnets out of pretty cloth napkins. There's a poem we got from another co-worker that we use for the card's inside sentiment. If you're so inclined, you can check it out among my other "onesie" card posts. The panel and onesie are both popped up using dimensionals.

stamps: SU's Full of Life; paper: K&Company's Pink Gingham Flat DP, unknown Prism and SU's Whisper White card stocks; ink: Tri-C watercolor markers; accessories: Imaginisce's dark pink blossom brads, unknown grosgrain ribbons

Saturday, January 16, 2010

winter wishes

Hi folkes! I'm cooling it this weekend and mainly resting at home, drinking plenty of liquids, taking extra vitamin C and an antihistamine. I've been feeling pretty wimpy lately ... a wicked cold dropped by to visit our household and since late last Saturday both my eldest son and I have been hit by it. He stayed home from school Monday, but I've been going to work regularly (my job doesn't require much day-to-day interaction with others, I'm realizing ...). I'd been taking an antihistamine Tues/Wed, then decided I was better, and whoa ... Thursday was SO not better, so I'm back on drugs. Drugs are your friend, Sue! Anywho ...

... today I DID venture out to stop by CAM, where I made the make -'n- take card offering at left and spent all but .32 of a gift card from my buddy Pat (show -'n- tell on Monday, girlfriend!), then picked up some refill tape at Hobby Lobby and a few dollar stamps at Mike's (thanx to my friendly neighborhood enabler, Jan S) before heading back home. But, more on that tomorrow!

FYI, this card front's cut about an inch thinner than the back. The card's back inside portion has the strip of DP, and the strip of navy matted on white which tucks into a slit-punch on the card front to keep the card closed. Know what I mean, jellybean?

stamps: Clear and Simple Stamps' Holly Jolly, Hero Arts' Winter's Butterfly (inside sentiment; small aside giggle - the label on this stamp set reads "CLEARDESIGN: WINTER'S BUTT" - they ran out of room, but it caused me to double-take); rest of materials supplied by store

Friday, January 15, 2010

another stamp camp fav

Here's another fav from last night's stamp camp w Angie which uses a couple of my wish list stamp sets from the 2009-2010 idea book and the current occasions mini catty. Sigh ... sweet, eh?!

minimal deets as all SU supplies were provided in class - stamps: All Holidays, I {Heart} Hearts; paper: Basic Gray, Real Red, So Saffron card stocks?; inks: Basic Gray, Real Red, So Saffron?; accessories: striped grosgrain ribbon; tools: scallop trim corner and small heart punches, Big Shot with a Cuttlebug embossing folder I'm unfamiliar with and forgot to note

Thursday, January 14, 2010

a chalky silhouette

One show-'n-tell before I hit the hay tonight 'cuz I've been harassed that I'd not been posting lately! This was both mine and Pat's fav from this month's stamp camp w Angie. I mentioned that it'd been ages since I'd played with my chalks when I spotted this sweetie. I've not purchased a SU set but own some I picked up while at a Mega Meet that are barely used. My card's a bit more blurred than Angie's sample - methinks I'm just a tad to heavy-handed - but I still like the effect!

minimal deets tonight as all SU supplies were provided in class ... stamps: Inspired by Nature; paper: Naturals White card stock?; ink: Basic Black, Versamark; medium: Stampin' Pastels; accessories: Black gingham ribbon; tools: Curly Label punch

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

sending valentine wishes

Another Valentine's Day card, this one's based on the Papertake Weekly Challenge #31 sketch challenge. I made the paper flower last week to use as a prop, based on this August stamp camp fav but with a few additional layers of tissue. The label's a new dollar stamp I picked up this past weekend while Kimmi and I made a field trip to the Dollar and Two dollar store in Clio MI. If you're in the Flint area, there's another branch located on Miller Rd in the strip with the Pizza Hut near I-75.

stamps: Inkadinkado's Maison Frames (dollar stamp set), Lizzie Anne's So Much Love; paper: SU's Real Red and Whisper White card stock; ink: Ranger's Black Soot distress ink, Colorbox Lipstick Red; accessories: unknown mirror-finish bling; tools: Cuttlebug with Hearts embossing folder

Saturday, January 9, 2010

whoo loves you?

My eldest brother's always had a thing for owls and in his late teens had a owl stone statue that he'd painted the eyes in day-glo colors. I think it's currently perched on a landing leading up to the 2nd floor of my folkes' house. Anyway, owls always make me think of him, so I made his Valentine's Day card today using one and utilizing the latest CPS148 sketch challenge. It's a 2-color card and both the smaller layers are matted and popped up using dimensionals. The ribbon was a close match but from a ribbon share of a couple years back. I'm a hoarder so have plenty remaining, LOL!

stamps: Hero Arts' Whoo Loves You, SU's Holiday & Wishes (inside Happy Valentine's Day sentiment); paper: SU's Soft Suede and Whisper White card stocks; ink: SU's Soft Suede; tools: Cuttlebug w Hearts embossing folder

thoughts of you ...

Hey, maybe I've got hold of something here?! I made a wintry card today at a make- 'n -take and it's turned into a beautiful sunny day! This is one of two cards made today at one of my two LSSs, Karen's Creative Stamping, where I've been joining a couple friends every other week (on the other weeks, I generally try heading to a make-'n-take at the other LSS, Capture-a-Memory ... aren't I lucky?!) for eats and treats! We used the marlbe-y looking light blue/grey card stock for the card base, then matted the cute snowmen DP on black card stock. Easy peasy!

no deets today ... except that the stamps are some of Karen's offerings. Her DH makes store and custom stamps on-site. Today we could use any of the following on our cards: "Thoughts of you ...", "... Warm my heart" (which is what I used on my inside sentiment), or "... Make me smile"

Friday, January 8, 2010

for the brewmeister

My DH is our household brewmeister and I'd picked up this stamp set used especially for the coffee mug stamp ... tho' I like all of 'em in the set. I love black, white, and red together. So, here's another Valentine's Day card - a CAS design with not many layers so it'd mail easily too.

stamps: SU's Font of You; paper: Paper Reflections' black, SU's Real Red, Whisper White card stocks; ink: Ranger black soot distress ink; tools: Fiskar's threading water border punch

Thursday, January 7, 2010

an Avatar date night

My DH and I saw Avatar in IMAX 3D Wednesday and I'm giving it a 5/5 stars. My guy's a sci-fi fan and I thought he'd appreciate how well they're doing 3D movies lately by checking this one out on an IMAX screen. We're lucky in that there's an IMAX theater within a few miles of our house, and I took a few hours off so we'd have no problems getting to the 5 p.m. show early. I honestly thought we'd have the place almost to ourselves but it was almost a sell-out. I knew it'd been selling out in the weekends but hey, aren't all these folkes supposed to be at work?! My DH's previous experience with 3D had been back in their hokey days when the effects consisted of folkes screening a rope thrown that they'd 3D "throw" out into the audience, things like that ... well, the olden days are way gone. I've been to a few 3D flicks with my son recently but shown on regular screens and had shared that are special effects are subtle but made amazingly well nowadays. Well, I wholeheartedly recommend this one!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Sunday, January 3, 2010

FYI - used stamps 4 sale

Just a quick "heads up" to let you know that Vicki Garret of Summerthyme Studio has LOTS of used stamp sets for sale - head on over and check 'em out!

lovin' the sneak peeks

It's high time for another occasions mini - I'm always geeked to see the sneak peeks and I've started my wish list:

p11 - scallop trim - border/corner punches
p14 - I {Heart} Heart
p15 - I {Love} Love
p19 - Well Scripted
p26 - Vintage Vogue
p35 - Little Angel
p43 - Like-O-Meter

How 'bout you? Click on the catty pic to download the latest 44-page catty!

Saturday, January 2, 2010

so this is love

My first valentine of the year, this one's based on the first Paper Craft Planet sketch challenge of the year, sk010210, posted this morning. It uses some new DP and stamps I recently purchased so is for the ssnotime120 challenge too! We got together with local extended family at my sister's house this afternoon to celebrate my Mom's b'day with presents, followed by cake and ice cream - a yummy concoction and new recipe my sis' recently acquired - before she had to get ready for work. Since returning home, I've been cooling it and inking up some stamps I'd not used yet while watching t.v. These are a couple I got last spring at the Great Lakes Mega Meet in Novi MI.

Unlike me, my chocolate's been around even longer. My buddy Pat and I attended a stamping get-together last January where we were to stamp for the troops at a LSS; I'd planned to kit up some treat bags but when we got there we learned the plan was for us to stamp some quick post cards ... so we had some chocolate for snacks while we worked and I repackaged the remainder to take home. It's been by my PC ever since and every now and then I grab a handful. So, pardon me while I eat the rest of my prop chocolate ...

stamps: BasicGrey heart mini stamp, Heidi Swapp love, Lizzie Anne's So Much Love (inside sentiment); paper: BasicGrey's sugared DP, Bazzill's unknown pink card stock, SU's Whisper White card stock; ink: Ranger Black Soot distress ink, Tri-C watercolor markers; tools: Marvy mega heart punch, dimensionals

lacey's got blog candy

Just a quick "heads up" to let you know that Lacey of Hand Stamped by Lacey blog fame has candy - and if I don't win, wouldn't it be nice if one of my readers did?! So run, don't walk, to visit by January 4th to enter to win!

Friday, January 1, 2010

happy new year's!


I placed a couple early calls to family last night, as I could just tell that by midnight I'd be snoozing - and I was! Nope, no card this morning - and it's JUST barely morning - just a quick check in to wish you a happy new year, all!