Teacher Appreciaton Gifts

These turned out SO stinkin' cute!!! I decided, some time ago, that I was going to make teacher appreciation gifts for the kids to give to their teachers at the end of the shool year. I got the template for the post it note holder from Dawn Griffith and I ADORE these things!!! They were super easy to make. I found the mini gel pens at Staples yesterday, which is also where I bought the jumbo paperclips to make the bookmark from. I used the 'Tart & Tangy' stamp set and colored directly on the stamp using my SU! markers before stamping the image on Whisper White cardstock. I stamped directly over that image using Versamark and then added Iridescent Ice embossing powder before heat setting. I punched the image out using the 1 1/4" circle punch and matted it on a piece of Wild Wasabi cardstock punched with the 1 3/8" circle punch. Those two pieces were adhered to Real Red cardstock, which was punched using the scalloped circle punch. I added the white dots to the scallops with my Signo Gel Pen. I added a piece of 'East Coast Prep' designer series paper to my post-it holder and then added the scalloped image using Stampin' Dimensionals. I punched two holes at the top and ran a piece of Wild Wasabi double-stitched ribbon through and tied it in a knot in the front. (Click on photos to view larger images)

The bookmark was made by using a piece identical to the one on the front of the post-it note holder. I made two of them and adhered them to each side of the paperclip using Stampin' Dimensionals. The last step was tying a piece of Wild Wasabi double-stitched ribbon around the clip. Too cute!!!

My flowers are in full bloom. The tulips and jonquils, and azaleas have come and gone, but the roses, wild strawberries, and mock orange are here. I planted two climbing rose bushes next to our patio last year. They did well last year, but didn't have nearly as many buds as they do this year. Between the two bushes, there are over 35 buds on them right now. Here are a couple of the ones that have already bloomed.

I wasn't sure how wild strawberries would taste, but they looked just yummy, so I tried one. They are much more pretty than tasty!! They weren't bad... just didn't have any flavor. I'll just have to enjoy their beauty while they're here!

This is the mock orange, as is the next close-up photo. The flowers are absolutely gorgeous and smell wonderful!

Thanks for visiting today!! I'm going to go work on my Father's day cards for the upcoming class on Thursday night. Enjoy your holiday weekend!! Toodles!

A Quick Card

I made this card really quickly, after work today. It was done quickly because I didn't get home until 6 pm and American Idol will be coming on at 7 pm. I started out using the color challenge from SCS this week (Soft Sky, Blue Bayou, & Certainly Celery). I also wanted to use today's sketch challenge, but this stamp set just doesn't require much "dressing up" in my opinion. "Elegant simplicity" comes to mind when I think of this set, which is actually called "Essence of Love". I started out with a card base of Blue Bayou and then added a layer of Certainly Celery. My image was stamped on Whisper White using Soft Sky classic ink. I stamped the image again, just offset from the first one, in Blue Bayou. It gives the image the appearance of a shadow (and you just thought my photo was blurry!). I stamped the sentiment from the same set in Blue Bayou and matted that piece on a piece of Soft Sky cardstock and then a piece of Blue Bayou cardstock. I added a piece of Certainly Celery grosgrain ribbon and WAH-LAH... we have a beautifully, simply, elegant card. I wasn't sure how I'd like this color combo, but I like it A LOT with this set.

Ok... gotta run... American Idol will be on in five minutes and I've got to get some popcorn made!! Toodles!

Father's Day Card Frenzy

Since the next PMS (Paper-crafters Monthly Support group) get-together is only one week before Father's Day and involves making a recipe tin, I thought I'd do something else so we could get our Father's Day cards done. I will be set up so you can stop by and make any or all of three different card designs between 6 pm and 8 pm on Thursday, May 29th. If you want to make two of each card, you're more than welcome to do that, as well. The cost will be $1 per card, so you can make as few or as many as you'd like. You don't have to be there AT 6 pm... just come when you can between 6 pm and 8 pm. It will be very informal and will be lots of fun. We'll be using chipboard on at least two of the designs so you can see a couple of different ways to use it. Chipboard is 25% off during the month of May with a $35 order, so time is running out. I'd love to see you if you have time to stop by!!

Please call or e-mail if you need directions to my house.

I'm Connected!!!

I can see some of you right now... you have one eyebrow raised, saying "That girl has NEVER been connected - at least not connected RIGHT"! My internet access has been restored and I'm no longer isolated from the real world!! Ok, ok... I had internet access from 8 am to 5 pm every day at work and then brought my laptop home so I could do some surfing on my own time. I guess I wasn't totally isolated, but it wasn't my world as I'm used to it! My good friend, Tom, gets all the credit for getting me back to blogland. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, Tom... from the bottom of my big toe!!


Before I get to any projects, I wanted to share this picture of one of my babies. Wesson (of Smith & Wesson) looks like he had a wreck with our front door. NOT SO! He, actually, fell asleep like this. I had the front door open yesterday afternoon and he decided to nap in the sunshine. The white thingy is the door, if you hadn't figured that out yet. His right paw was under the door and his nose was literally against the door. Almost looks like he fell asleep mid-play! Silly rascal!






On to my most recent creations...

This card was made using last week's SCS sketch challenge. This is "traitor" (anything "traitor" is anything that didn't come from Stampin' Up!) cardstock. I have a big pile of it that I need to get rid of. I don't know why I thought making one card would make a dent in the pile. I still have a stack of the "traitor" stuff that's 8 inches deep, and that's only the 8 1/2" X 11" stack. My stack of "traitor" patterned paper is bigger than that! Anyhooty, I stamped some "traitor" red with Real Read classic ink using the "In The Stars" stamp set. That's "traitor" ribbon, too. The rocket, from "Pun Fun" was stamped in Jet Black StazOn and then colored with my Sakura Stardust pens. I punched the stars using the two star punches from SU! and adhered them with Stampin' Dimensionals.

You can see the dimension in this pic. The sentiment is also from "Pun Fun" and was punched using the SU! oval punches.







There's a sad story that goes with this card. Our neighbors, across the street, lost their dog on Saturday evening. They were enjoying the evening in their front yard, around 9:30 pm, where their kids and the dog were playing. Curtis and the kids were in our living room watching a movie and I was in my craft room making cards. I remember hearing Curtis say "someone's been hit" and I ran for the front door. The kids across the street play in the street VERY frequently. The teenagers skateboard out there, but I'd never known them to do it after dark. I've NEVER seen the smaller children in the street. Their Boxer was always on the front porch or not very far from it, so it never crossed my mind that she was the one who had been hit. Thank goodness, it wasn't one of the kids, but I know much a dog can be part of the family, too. I couldn't sleep that night and found myself staring out our front window at 2:30 am on Sunday praying for their family. They all saw it happen and I know how devastated I was, so I can't begin to imagine their pain. Anyway, this card was for them. I wanted to do something for them, so badly, but there's really nothing we CAN do, except to let them know that we care and are thinking about them and praying for them. This card was CASE'd from a past issue of Cards Magazine (I think... It might have been PaperCrafts, now that I think about it.)

This card, also uses the SCS sketch challenge from last week. There is NOTHING "traitor" on this card! The card base is Chocolate Chip and the DSP is "Outlaw", which retired last year. The images were stamped on Very Vanilla cardstock with Chocolate Chip craft ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. I used the ticket corner punch on the Sage Shadow matte and added a Really Rust matte under that. I punched the sentiment out using the Designer Label punch and then cut the "humps" off with my paper snips. I used the 1 1/4" circle punch to cut a Sage Shadow piece and the 1 3/8" circle punch to cut a piece of Really Rust. The sentiment was adhered to the top of those two circles. The ribbon is the Chocolate Chip poly-twill from the Occasions Mini Catalog. That reminds me... if you want to order anything from the Occasions Mini, you only have until June 30th. There's nothing I DON'T like from the Occasions Mini, but that ribbon is SPECTACULAR!! You can feel the quality and it lays just perfectly.

That's all I have for now. I've got to go get busy on something else! Toodles!!

Top 10 Reasons To Buy Rubber Stamps

1. It helps keep the economy going. It is our patriotic duty to support rubber farmers, lumber mills, rubber stamp shops and catalog order dealers.
2. It is less expensive and more fun that psychiatric care.
3. I'm participating in a contest- The one who dies with the most rubber stamps wins.
4. They keep without refrigeration, you don't have to cook them to enjoy them, you never have to feed them, change them, wipe their noses or walk them.
5. Because I'm worth it.
6. When the Big Earthquake comes, all the rubber stamp shops might be swallowed into the ground and never be seen again.
7. Stress from dealing with the Rubber Stamp Control Officer (DH) made me do it.
8. It's not immoral, illegal, or fattening and it calms the nerves, gratifies the soul, and makes me feel good.
9. Buy rubber stamps now, before your husband retires and goes with you on all your shopping expeditions.
10. A stamp a day is all the rubber stamp shops of America ask.

I was wrong!

I'll be the first to admit that I was wrong. The internet problem IS NOT my AT&T DSL connection... it's MY PC!!! I know this because I brought my laptop home from work tonight and have been using the same DSL connection on it that I normally use on my PC. It works fine on the laptop. I've run all types of anti-virus and anti-spyware against it and everything comes back clean. I've reset my internet explorer settings to the defaults thinking that MAYBE something was changed there. It's just the weirdest thing... I reboot my PC and I have internet explorer for about 5 minutes. Then, all of a sudden, I get a "page cannot be displayed" error and it's finished. I'm frazzled trying to figure out what the problem might be. That just tops off my sinus infection. Besides having those things to deal with, I have to do an on-site internet banking upgrade for work this week, so I'll be out of town on Thursday and Friday. I still have to get my house cleaned before I leave for work on Friday because I'm having a Pampered Chef party Friday evening. I HAVE to be back here no later than 6 pm! It's wearing me out just thinking about it.

Sorry I don't have any new projects to post. I do have a few to share, but this computer glitch has really put a kink in my tail!! :) I don't think I'll be able to focus on anything else until it's resolved. AARRRGGGHHHHH!!! If you know of any techie braniacs, send 'em my way... I need Internet Explorer help!!! Toodles!

Darned Computers!!

I would love to post some pictures of projects I've been working on, but I'm having a problem with my internet connectivity. We had storms last night and ever since then, I can only keep my internet connection for about five minutes after rebooting. Tests run on my modem and connection come back smelling like a rose and after three calls to AT&T my problem is still not resolved. They say they'll have to charge me because the problem MUST be on my end. I'm having trouble with that one since this is the same problem I was having this morning when they had a recording stating that service was interrupted in the Springfield, MO area and would be restored by 12:45 PM CST today. So far, my connectivity hasn't changed since that recording was made. I've decided that I'm just going to unplug the entire PC and have one of my techie friends at work look at it this week. I could, quite possibly, go crazy without internet connectivity. I have several projects to share but, unfortunately, I won't be posting any until I can get my stinkin' computer fixed. If you've recently sent an e-mail to me and I haven't responded, I apologize. I can't keep a connection long enough to do that, either. Hopefully, I'll get it straightened out in the next several days. Until then, please bear with me!!

A Challenging Card

I didn't have much time tonight for being creative because tonight was the first night of my self-defense classes. THAT, I must say, was AWESOME! I'm ready to kick some butt! :)

I did manage to find time between work and my class to make this card. This is a combination of this week's color and sketch challenges on SCS. My card base is a piece of Soft Sky cut to 8" X 9 1/4". I scored it at 4" so my card size is 9 1/4" X 4". I stamped the front of the card with the swirly stamp from 'Baroque Motifs' in Soft Sky. I then scored the front of the card, along the long edge, at 3/4" and folded that back. I used sticky strip to make sure it stayed put. I used some scrap pieces of Purely Pomegranate and Basic Black to make scalloped strips, using my corner rounder punch without the guide. I stamped the bird from the 'Always' stamp set in Purely Pomegranate on Whisper White cardstock and then masked it to stamp the branches from the same set in Soft Sky. I cut that piece out using my Spellbinders Nestabilities. I also used the Nesties to cut a Purely Pomegranate Oval and a Basic Black scalloped oval for matting. If you think you'd like to have the Nesties and don't want to pay full price for them, check out this site. They'll send a coupon code to you once a month for 40% off the price of one item and you can use it on the Nesties. You'll have to register with them, but that part is absolutely free. Their customer service has been excellent and I haven't had any problems with the product. That's how I've built my collection... one set a month.


Here are some close-ups since the pics don't do the card justice. Hopefully, you can see a little more detail here. I've made a couple more cards this week and hope to have them posted by the end of the weekend. Check back with me later!

Toodles!!

Which One?

I'm absolutely exhausted tonight, but it was one of those nights when the stamps were calling my name as I was thinking of going to bed. I can't say "no" to the stamps, so a new card was born! The first card is my submission for Beate's weekend sketch challenge. I also used the colors from this week's SCS color challenge. As I was putting the card together, though, I wondered how different it would look if I left off the Pretty In Pink panel.
This second image is the same card minus that panel. Which one do you like best?


The card base is 5" X 5" in Chocolate Chip. I stamped a piece of Certainly in Celery with the Boho Backgrounds stamp set in Chocolate Chip. I sponged the edges with Chocolate Chip classic ink before adding it to my card base. The flower from the 'One Of A Kind' stamp set was stamped in Chocolate Chip on Very Vanilla cardstock. I sponged the edges of that piece with Pretty In Pink classic ink. I also stamped the flower on Pretty In Pink and Certainly Celery. I cut both of those pieces out using my paper snips (that qualifies for the "Ways To Use It 163" challenge on SCS). The Pretty In Pink piece was layered over the image on the Very Vanilla and Dazzling Diamonds glitter was added to the edges. I stamped the small flower from the 'One Of A Kind' stamp set on Pretty In Pink cardstock using Chocolate Chip classic ink and punched it out using the 1/2" circle punch. That piece was used for a Build-A-Brad and added to my Certainly Celery flower. Those two pieces were added to the Pretty In Pink flower with Stampin' Dimensionals. The "You are one of a kind" image was stamped in Chocolate Chip ink and then I added a Chocolate Chip taffeta ribbon. The entire piece was matted on a piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock and then added to my card front.


Here is a close-up of the flower so you can see the dimension. This turned out to be a very elegant looking card. Let me know which one you like best! Toodles!

Long time, no post...

I've been slackin' on my bloggin', but that's because I've been organizin'. I have a "stamp closet" in my stamp room and I think the contents had been spontaneously multiplying when the door was closed. It was to the point that I couldn't find what I was looking for, although I had a general idea of where everything was. My stamp sets had no room in the closet and had migrated to a bookshelf in my stamp room. I would have taken "before" pictures, but the chaos actually looked organized. Everything was stored in neatly labeled boxes, but there was just TONS of STUFF... stuff I'll never use and hadn't thought about using in a year or more. I have downsized considerably and will be having a sale on Saturday, May 3rd. I've already notified all my fellow stamp addicts, and I can envision this turning into a stamp party quick, fast, and in a hurry. I am TOTALLY not against a stamp party, so come on over!!

Our little canine visitor has moved on. I absolutely didn't want to take him to a shelter, but we wound up taking him to a local no-kill shelter and making a donation to help with micro-chipping and neutering. He was just the sweetest little guy, but he was a nervous pee-er and you never knew which direction it was going to go. We have fairly new carpet and furniture so we tried putting him in the kitchen with a baby gate. The little guy was quite a jumper, though, and could bound over the baby gate in one leap. We put him outside, but he just cried to come in and tried to dig out under the fence. We never got any calls from anyone trying to claim him and couldn't seem to find anyone who wanted a loving, nervous, peeing, leaping, digging Dachshund. Ernie had had enough by the time the little guy left, too. He had a great time playing for the first 24-48 hours and then the "new" wore off. Ernie realized someone else was begging for my attention and he just wasn't going to have it. We're confident that he'll find a new home soon, if he hasn't already. The shelter was sure he'd be adopted quickly based on his size and age and the fact that he was so stinkin' cute.

I have some more big news... MY SEWING MACHINE IS HERE!!!! I had ordered the Singer Futura CE-250 sewing and embroidery machine through JoAnn's (it was out of stock when I went to buy it) and it arrived today! Curtis just doesn't understand my excitement, so if any of you would care to jump up and down while screaming and embarrass yourself with me, I would really appreciate it! I really, really want to take it out of the box and play, but I have to finish some other projects that I had already started. Like reorganizing my stamp closet and getting everything ready to sell. Hopefully, I'll find some time this weekend to get it set up and play around a little.

This card is a result of cleaning out the stamp closet. I had stacked all my patterned paper up next to a stack of "traitor" (that's non-Stampin' Up!) card stock and the floral piece happened to be lying on top of a piece of brown. I kept looking at that paper and saying to myself, "Self... that floral paper looks splendiferous on that brown cardstock and it kind of reminds me of the Doodle stamp sets". I used the "traitor" patterned paper with Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, and Blush Blossom card stock. The Blush Blossom was supposed to be cut 1/4" larger than the Certainly Celery piece all the way around, but I was on the phone with my sister-in-law and cut it the wrong size. It still worked and looks quite nice, if you ask me. I stamped the corner swirl stamp from "Doodle This" on the Certainly Celerly panel in Certainly Celery classic ink. The flower was made by stamping Ruby Red card stock with Whisper White craft ink and heat embossing it with detail white embossing powder. I stamped the flower again on Blush Blossom cardstock using Ruby Red classic ink. I used my glue pen to add Dazzling Diamonds to that piece, which you can't see very well in the photo. I stamped the flower again on Certainly Celery card stock and just cut three petals out to use as leaves. The stamped image is on the back side, so I just stamped it to have the shape to cut around. The center of the flower is a "Build A Brad". I used the 1/2" circle punch on Certainly Celery cardstock and then added dots with my Signo white gel pen. Once that dried, I added the acrylic topper on the brad. The flower was added to the front of the card using Stampin' Dimensionals.

Well, I guess that's about all I have to say right now. Hope you're having a fabulous week! Toodles!

Just Another Card

I started this card last night to challenge myself in a couple of ways. First was the color challenge this week on SCS. The challenge was to use Basic Gray, Cameo Coral, and Blush Blossom. Mission accomplished. The next challenge was to learn a new technique - watercoloring using Stampin' Up! Stampin' Write Markers. I did stray from the color challenge by watercoloring the leaves with Certainly Celery and Old Olive. I also embossed the Cameo Coral and Blush Blossom layers with the Swiss Dots A2 embossing folder. Each piece is embossed 1 1/4" from the top and from the bottom. That left a strip across the center of the card 1 1/4" wide that isn't embossed. It's hard to see that part in this photo. I tried to take it from different angles, but still couldn't get the embossing to show up very well. You may be able to see it a little better by clicking on the photo to enlarge it. The ribbon is Basic Gray Taffeta from Stampin' Up! Toodles!

Our Dog Has A New Home!

We put posters up today in our neighborhood, hoping someone would call about the dog I found yesterday. We haven't heard the ring of one phone yet, so we've decided that we're going to give it to Curt's sister and her family! Congratulations on the new addition to your family, Nicole!!

JUST KIDDING!! She'd KILL us if we gave her a dog! We'd be banned from ever visiting again! Actually, it would probably be worse than that!

We Have a Visitor

My parents would be the first to tell you that I have a soft spot for any critter that looks the least bit homeless. It started when I was VERY young and I've NEVER grown out of it... not even slightly. Tonight, on my way home, I saw this little guy standing right by the side of the street. He was dining, but it was far from fine dining if you know what I mean. He was scrawny (you can see his ribs) and was shivering and had no collar. I whipped my vehicle into the nearest place I could pull over and called to him. He came to me, although a little reluctantly. I brought him home where I introduced him to the back yard with a bowl of fresh water and some food. He ate a couple of bites and headed straight for the back door. It wasn't too long until those brown, pleading eyes had convinced me that he really needed to be inside. SSSSSOOOOOO... we brought him in and introduced him to Ernie, our Lhasa Apso, and Smith & Wesson, our two cats. He and Ernie have had the grandest time playing and are already quite comfortable with one another. Curtis is out in the garage now, cleaning our extra crate, so our little visitor will have a place to sleep tonight... in our bedroom... right next to Ernie's crate. I think all the commotion has given Curt a headache, but he sure is a trooper! When we got married, he didn't like the idea of indoor pets AT ALL. I wasn't going to part with Smith & Wesson, though, so he caved. That was in February 2004. In September 2005, he bought Ernie for my birthday. Tonight he really didn't have a choice since I just showed up at home with doggie in tow. I'll be calling the radio station tomorrow morning so that, HOPEFULLY, we can find his home. IF it happens that we don't find his home, he WILL be learning some manners. He seems to be very comfortable indoors, but lacks some much needed manners that Ernie learned in obedience training. He appears to be a Dauchsund mix, but we're not sure. With all the exitement tonight, I didn't get much else done, so I'll try to post some new projects in the next couple of days.

"B" Is For Bling

Well, isn't this just the cutest little card? Amy has me hooked on making all those little dots. It's time consuming but, boy, does it add some "WOW" to a card?! Actually, I should have made two of these... one with the dots and one without... just so you could see the difference.

This, my friends, is FREE rubbah! Well, maybe not completely free. It was a gift from Stampin' Up! to those demonstrators who attended Regionals this year. I just got it in the mail today. I inked my stamp up using Stampin' Write Markers in Taken With Teal and Pumpkin Pie and then stamped it on Whisper White CS. I used my glue pen and (yes... you guessed it) added some Dazzling Diamonds to the "b". I layered that on Taken With Teal and Basic Black CS before adding my dots with my handy-dandy Signo White Gel Pen. I cut two small strips from Bali Breeze DSP and matted those on Taken With Teal CS. Those pieces were added to my card base, which was Pumpkin Pie, Taken With Teal, and Basic Black CS (with dots).


My next card uses the "Time For You" stamp set and the "Afternoon Tea" Designer Series Paper from the Ocassions Mini Catalog. My card base is Chocolate Chip with a layer of Groovy Guava. I cut three strips of the "Afternoon Tea" paper and matted those on Chocolate Chip CS. The image was stamped on Very Vanilla with Jet Black StazOn ink. It was then watercolored using Groovy Guava, Wild Wasabi, Chocolate Chip, and Basic Black classic ink pads and an AquaPainter. I punched the corners using the Ticket Corner Punch and then matted it on Groovy Guava and Chocolate Chip. "Vintage" brads were added to the corners. My ribbon is from Hobby Lobby.

I also managed to get all my quilt blocks and backing cut for a baby quilt. Hopefully, I can get that finished by the end of the week. Toodles!

Handbag Question Answered

Beth asked if I sell my handbags. Yes! Please e-mail me (jen_barrett@sbcglobal.net) for complete details on the bag you're interested in. I'm working on getting a website up and running, but it's not quite complete yet. Once it's finished, I'll provide a link to it from this page! Thanks for all your great comments and encouragement!!

It's In The Bag!

I was hoping to get more done today, but it wasn't meant to be. I made three more handbags, all three identical to this one. Black and white patterns seem to really be "in", so I thought I'd give it a stab. I hope to get some cards completed tomorrow... we'll see!

A Little Behind...

I'm not saying I have one by any means, but I AM a little behind in posting projects to my blog.



This first card is one that was sent to me by my dear friend, Amy, earlier in the week. I had a slight medical scare late last week and Amy sent this as a "thinking of you" card. I LOVE it and now I think I'm going to have to purchase that stamp set. The skunk image is from the "Pun Fun" stamp set and reads "I stink you're sweet!". Thank you, Amy!!! I love you!








The next little project was my mom's idea. We were wandering around Michael's earlier this week when she walked up to me with these cute wooden letters in her hand. She wanted to make something with Emily's (my niece) name on it. A friend of mom's, who is a school teacher, said that Emily would learn to spell her name earlier if she could see it spelled out all the time. We found a piece of birch wood that worked great for the background and then found a piece of scalloped birch trim. Acrylic paints were on sale, so we picked up a couple of bottles that I thought would match the patterned paper from the Simply Scrappin' "Special Delivery Girl" kit. We covered the birch panel with the patterned paper, adhering it with Mod-Podge. The letters and the trim were painted with the acrylic paints. I HAD to add some glitter, so I used a can of spray glitter and added a coat to all of the letters. The trim and the letters were adhered using the new Tombow Mono Multi Liquid Glue from Stampin' Up! I added a bow to the top corner of the 'E' using a mini glue dot. A flower from the "Special Delivery Girl" Simply Scrappin' kit was added to the lower right-hand corner using Stampin' Dimensionals.



This card was made using the "Time Well Spent" stamp set. Each image, except the word "friend", was stamped with Jet Black StazOn and then colored with markers. I colored the "friend" stamp using a Basic Black Stampin' Write marker and then stamped the image. The entire image reads "Time spent with friends is time well spent", but I only wanted the word "friend". That image was also colored with the markers. Each image was punched out using the 1 3/8" square punch and adhered to a piece of Certainly Celery CS. That piece was layered on a piece of Tempting Turquoise CS that had been scalloped with a corner rounder punch. I used the 1/4" circle punch on it after making the scallops.
You'll never guess what I did next. I ADDED GLITTER!! That's right... I used my glue pen and applied Dazzling Diamonds. I thought you'd never guess! :)


This card was made using the "Tart & Tangy" stamp set. Each stamp was colored with Stampin' Write markers and then stamped on Whisper White CS. I covered each image in Versamark ink and added Iridescent Ice embossing powder before heat setting. The images were layered on Old Olive and then Real Red CS. This layer was added to a Pumpkin Pie card base and "Celebrate Good Times" was stamped in Old Olive from the "Celebrate Everything" stamp set.


















This card is the product of last weeks color challenge on Splitcoast Stampers, which was Real Red, Night of Navy, and Glorious Green. I'm not sure I like the bow, but I had an empty space there that needed to be filled. The toolbox image is from the "For Father" set in the Occasions Mini Catalog. It was colored using Stampin' Up! watercolor crayons and an AquaPainter. I added some brads to make it more manly and refrained from using glitter. Once I find a way to make glitter look manly, though, watch out... it'll be on EVERYTHING! The Real Red layers were embossed using one of my new Cuttlebug folders.












...And last, but not least... a card I made when I got home from work today. This card was made in response to Beate's weekend sketch challenge. I used the "Afternoon Tea" Designer Series Paper and some lace that I found at Wal-Mart. It was 6 yards for 99 cents. Yep... that's 18 whoppin' feet for 99 cents. I just can't pass up a deal like that! The card base is Groovy Guava and the image, which is from the "All Holidays" stamp set, was stamped in Chocolate Chip classic ink on Whisper White CS. I cut the stamped image out using my Spellbinders Nestabilities and then cut a slightly larger oval in Groovy Guava. My friend, Amy, inspired me to add the dots around that layer and I LOVE it!! They were added using the Signo White Gel Pen from Stampin' Up! I then cut a scalloped oval from Soft Sky CS, again using the Spellbinders Nestabilities, and layered my image and Groovy Guava ovals on that piece. Those three layers were added to my card using Stampin' Dimensionals. I really like the way this one turned out, even though there's not a speck of glitter on it. It's very simply elegant and SOMETIMES (I said sometimes) less is more!

Enough writing... I have to go make something! Toodles!

Sew Fun!

I had started this quilt within the last couple of weeks and just finished it up yesterday morning. All of the rag quilts I've made have been pastels, so the bright colors were a nice change. All fabric was purchased at JoAnn's.











My next little project, which actually went very quickly, was this handbag. I had purchased part of the fabric (the starburst pattern and the brown that was used for lining) knowing that I wanted to make a purse. The next week when the JoAnn ad came out, it showed this handbag using the same colors I had already purchased along with three other prints. Luckily, I hadn't started making my purse yet. They referenced the book that was used for this particular bag (Bag Boutique: Making Fabulous Purses and Totes by Amy Barickman) in the ad, so I jumped on Amazon and ordered it. While I was waiting for my book to arrive, I went back to JoAnn's to get the rest of the fabric prints I needed to complete the bag. I started it yesterday afternoon around 3:30 pm and was finished shortly after 7 pm. It turned out SUPER-DUPER cute. It measures 7 inches tall, 11 inches wide, and 3 inches deep - the perfect size for all the stuff I tote around on a daily basis. I LOVED making it, so there may be many more to come! Toodles!

Out of Control!!

Well, the layers on this card got way out of control quick, fast, and in a hurry. I sat down with the intention of completing a card using two challenges from Splitcoast Stampers. The first was the sketch challenge from last week and the second was the color challenge from this week. The colors were Creamy Caramel, Mellow Moss, Apricot Appeal, and Cameo Coral. My card base is Cameo Coral matted on Mellow Moss with the top left-hand corner being pierced. The flowers, from the "Bloomin' Beautiful" stamp set, were stamped in Jet Black StazOn ink and then watercolored using all of the above mentioned colors in classic ink. I used the Aquapainter for my watercoloring. I trimmed my stamped image so that the main part of it was 1 1/2 inches wide, but I trimmed around the flowers so they'd hang over the edges. This piece was matted on Apricot Appeal and Mellow Moss. The next layer has the blossom definition stamp from "Bloomin' Beautiful" stamped in Mellow Moss on Apricot Appeal cardstock. This image was matted on Cameo Coral and Mellow Moss. The next layer is a piece of Creamy Caramel matted on Apricot Appeal and Mellow Moss. The bee was stamped from the same set in Jet Black StazOn. I watercolored him with Apricot Appeal and then used my Basic Black Stampin' Write marker to give him his stripes. I cut the bee out with my handy-dandy Spellbinders dies (If you don't own any of these yet, all I can say is WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?? They're the bomb!) The bee image is matted on Apricot Appeal and Cameo Coral, both of which were cut using the Spellbinders Nestabilities. You should know me well enough by now to know that I added Dazzling Diamonds glitter... it's on both flowers and the bee. The second photo was taken at an angle so you could really see the bling. Well, this one has the record for having the most layers of any card I've made. It's absolutely smashing (way better in real life than it is in these photos), but not one I'd duplicate for swaps or just for the heck of it! TTFN!

Look, Ma... No Bling!!

I've made two cards in a row that have absolutely no glitter or embossing powder. This could, quite possibly, be a record for me. The first card is in response to Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge #41. I also used this week's color challenge on SCS, which was Basic Gray, Soft Sky, and Whisper White. The base of my card is Basic Gray, a layer of Soft Sky, and a layer of Whisper White. I pierced the upper and lower right-hand corners of the Whisper White layer. The next layer is a piece of Soft Sky that I embossed using one of the new Cuttlebug folders. I really wish they'd print the names on the folders so I could find them when I need them. Anyway, it's the one with diamond shapes scattered across it. I used a Classic Basic Gray ink pad to ink up the negative side of the folder. I put my Soft Sky cardstock inside the folder and embossed it. When I took the Soft Sky piece out - WAH-LAH! - it was Basic Gray with Soft Sky diamonds. Great... now I have that stupid song stuck in my head... "Lucy in the sky with diamonds". I stamped "Grad" in Basic Gray on Whisper White cardstock and layered it over Soft Sky and Basic Gray cardstock. I used the Ticket Corner punch on the corners and then added four vintage brads.

This card was designed for a friend who asked if I would make a gift set of ten birth announcements. I used paper from the Simply Scrappin' Special Delivery Girl kit along with Groovy Guava, Sahara Sand, Apricot Appeal, and Whisper White cardstock. Scalloped edges are accented with the uni-ball Signo Gel Pen. Images are from the By Ones & By Twos stamp set and the onesie was paper-pieced. A piece of Whisper White taffeta ribbon adds the finishing touch.

I still can't get over the fact that I haven't touched any glitter in days. I'm going to have to go use it for SOMETHING!!