Stormy Saturday Project

It's been a stormy Saturday in the midwest so, after running my errands, I settled in for some baking, crafting, and reading today.  The made-from-scratch-ooey-gooey brownies have been most excellent with my coffee while I spent some time in my craft room this afternoon.  I'm starting to feel a little sleepy, though, with one cat asleep on my craft table, one asleep in the window sill, and the dog asleep at my feet!
Here's the result of my crafting efforts today.  I'm starting to get hooked on making these bookmarks.  I LOVE them, but I have yet to make one for myself.  I'll get right on that...  Anyway, this one was made from the Razzleberry Designer Series Paper from Stampin' Up! and coordinating colors.  I used the "Vintage Vogue" and "Elements of Style" stamp sets.  I think they coordinate well together.  The great thing about these bookmarks is that they're enclosed in a plastic sleeve, so they should last for YEARS.  Only the last photo shows the bookmark in the sleeve.  I was afraid there would be a glare if I took the photos in the sleeve, so took the first three before finishing it.

This image shows the entire bookmark before I finished it by putting it in the sleeve and securing it with a jumbo eyelet and ribbon.

I took this picture to show the detail in the hummingbird and flower.  I added a half pearl to the center of the flower and the hummingbird was added using Stampin' Dimensionals.  The branches were punched with the new bird and branch punch in Kiwi Kiss cardstock.  By the way.... Kiwi Kiss is coming back as a permanent color in the next Stampin' Up! catalog.  Can I get a WOO-HOO??? :)

Some days, I have a REAL problem with the format of blogger and today seems to be one of those days.  Sorry for the inconsistency in the layout of my paragraphs and photos.  I guess we'll just have to deal with it.  I took this next photo to show the detail of the embossing at the bottom of the bookmark.  I used a Cuttlebug Border Embossing Folder in my Sizzix Big Shot to achieve this look.  That Big Shot will do ANYTHING, I tell ya!!

And here's the finished product.  Actually, the glare from the plastic sleeve isn't TOO terribly bad.  The sleeve also makes this look like a professionally made project once it's complete.  I see many more of these in my crafting future... just have to come up with some more design ideas!  These would be great gifts for kids, too, so I'll have to come up with some designs that would be appealing to them, as well.

Toodles,

Craft Spasms

I've been having some SEVERE muscle spasms in my lower back.  It started last Saturday (not THIS last Saturday, but the one before) and didn't get REALLY bad until this last Friday evening.  I went to the doctor today.  He adjusted my back and prescribed some steroids to help reduce inflammation and some heavy-duty pain killers.  There's something about pain killers that makes me wanna get all crafty up in here, so that's what I did when I got off work today.  Before I get to all this craftiness, though, I have a picture I want to share.  When I go to my craft room, all three boys go with me (the dog, Ernie, and the cats, Smith & Wesson).  Ernie always takes a nap while the cats bird-watch from the window.  This one will probably wind up in a scrapbook and will be titled "Brothers"...

I just LOVE those boys!!

Well, this card is going to look familiar because it's nearly identical to one I made over the weekend.  I changed the sentiment, though, because I needed a card to go with a gift that I've made for a friend.  Besides stamping, I also enjoy sewing and crocheting.  Most of my crochet is thread crochet and I mostly make doilies.  I won't go into details about this card and bookmark since the information for products used is in a previous post.  I thought the bookmark turned out BEE-YOU-TEE-FUL and I made two matching doilies to send, as well.  I hope she likes everything!!

The doc said I probably wouldn't get much relief from these muscle spasms until about Thursday, so I'm not looking forward to the next couple of days very much.  I'm hoping and praying for some relief before then and am doing everything I can to make it happen.  Until then, maybe these pain killers will help me create some more "neato-mosquito" stuff!!

Toodles,

Lovin' The New Bird Punch!!

I have fallen in love with the new Extra Large Two-Step Bird Punch from Stampin' Up!  It makes elegant cards come together in a flash and the new style of punches are SO much easier to store and to find when they're stored.  The inspiration for this card came from the most current issue of Card Maker magazine.  I started with a card base of Soft Suede.  I used one of the Cuttlebug border embossing folders to emboss the scallops along the bottom edge.  The next thing I did was layer some of the Raspberry Tart DSP on Rose Red, Whisper White, and Bashful Blue Cardstock.  The sentiment was stamped in Soft Sueded classic ink and comes from the "Messages For Mom" stamp set.   Before punching the bird from Bashful Blue CS, I stamped one of the images from the "Vintage Vogue" stamp set in Bashful Blue classic ink.  I punched the bird and the wing (I didn't LITERALLY punch the bird) and then inked the edges of the wing to give it a little more definition. I used my Basic Black marker to give the bird an eye.  The branches were punched, using the same punch,  from Old Olive CS.  The flower image was stamped in Rose Red classic ink on Whisper White CS, from the "Vintage Vogue" stamp set and then cut out by hand.  A white half pearl from the "Pretties Kit" was added to the center of the flower.  The bird's wing and the flower were added to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals to give the card some depth.  I thought it turned out VERY elegant!

Toodles,
Jen