Memorial Day Weekend

Well all, as usual, my everyday life has taken over my time. I got back from Tennessee, and head right for a wonderful retreat. Now I've been back to "real" life since last Tuesday, and the chaos has jumped into full swing!

Yesterday we planted some fruit and veggie plants to grow in pots on our patio. We'll see how they do and if it was worth the work and expense to grow our own :)

I'm working on the MAY Challenge for my eBay scrapbook group SMIC. Out theme this month is "Memories" or "in Memory of"... I need to get my items made and listed so that they end by 5/31. Does anyone have a suggestion for a theme for our June challenge?

I apologize that I haven't put pictures in the last two posts. I'll work on that for the next one!

Decisions, Decisions...

Well, my evening was certainly eventful. I'm preparing to leave town to Tennessee, and I needed to get my cards completed for a card swap that will happen while I'm gone. The theme was Masculine for this month. I struggled with what stamps, papers, colors...alright, I struggled with the whole thing :)

I ended up using the Lovely As a Tree Stamp set from Stampin Up, and I chose the oak tree. I chose the color Night of Navy for the base, Mellow Moss, Brocade Blue, and Whisper White for the card stock layers and two pattern papers by Chatterbox. Below are the instructions for the card.

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  Cut the Night of Navy card stock to 3.5 x 8.5 and score at 4.25 (this is the base for the card).


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  Stamp the image onto a 2.5 x 2.5 piece of Whisper White card stock and tear the top of the paper all the way across


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  Layer with a piece of Mellow Moss car stock cut to 2.75 x 2.75


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  Layer with a piece of Brocade Blue card stock cut to 3 x 3


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  Fasten Snap or brad in the left top corner of the layered image


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  Adhere layers of pattern paper overlapping to leave a .25 border around the edge of the front of the card.


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  Adhere stamped layers with pop dots to the right side of the card front


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  Cut and adhere a 3.25 x 4 piece of Whisper White card stock for the inside of the card

I didn't get a picture of the finished card, and I apologize. If someone follows the directions, please send me a picture of your finished card.

I know, not an elaborate card, but it was 9:30 pm when I started them and I have a ton of things to finish up before we leave. I'll make it up to the ladies next month! That's all I've got for you today. My next post will most likely be once we return from Tennessee. Thanks for stopping by!

Warmer Weather and Sunny Days

Well the weather is certainly warming up nicely in Minnesota. Spring is my favorite time of year (for every reason except allergies! ). I love to see the new growth, budding trees, greass turning green, flowers starting to grow, the birds singing and building their nests. It's all a beautiful reminder of the gifts we receive daily.

I've been playing in my room the last few weeks, but I've been really focused on cards and stamping. I only have one scrapbook related item to share with you, and that is a page border. I still love cardstock bears, so of course they made an appearance! Take a peek and let me know your thoughts!

This can be a border set for one page or a double page layout. The title is "Bathing Beauty" Aren't they cute??? I used my Cricut to cut the tub, bubbles, and the ducky. I embellished each with chalk and the bubbles with glitter. I have to also admit that I'm completely addicted to the border punches out there right now. I have a variety of them made by different companies, and I love them all! I love the finishing look it gives the items. Below are close ups of my little bears.

CARDS

I use Stampin Up cardstock in all my cardmaking because it is such a sturdy product and all their papers, ribbons, embellishments, etc. coordinate so nicely together. I use mostly Stampin Up stamp sets as well. I also LOVE Penny Black's hedgehog or Hedgie, as he's lovingly referred to, sets. I just recently added 4 of her sets to my stamp collection. They are nice as they store easily since they are clear acrylic. I still love my Stampin Up ones, but they take much more space to store...Maybe I just need a bigger room. Somehow I don't think suggesting that our master bedroom be converted into my craft room will go over very well with hubby. That was all in jest. I feel incredibly blessed to have the crafting space and supplies that I do. I think I've mentioned to you all before, the reason I sell items on eBay is to feed the habit! Anyway, below are some of the cards I made last week. I tried some new things. 1.) color combinations like pink and orange 2.) decorating the insides of the cards for a more finished product and 3.) square shaped instead of all 4 1/4 x 5 1/2"

Take a peek below and let me know your thoughts.

Well, that's some of the cards for now. The Father's Day card was inspired by a scrapping friend who lost her father right before Easter. My thoughts and prayers are with her and her family. Her tragic loss reminded me of my dear father who has been gone for so long now. I was 14 when he passed away, and that was 20 years ago this coming October, but the poem on the inside of this card reminds me of my dad. It reads, "A father is neither an anchor to hold us back, nor a sail to take us there, but a guiding light whose love shows us the way." I love you dad!

Well, I'll be back later.

March is Here!

It's so hard to believe that it's already March. The weather here in Da Nort (the North for those of you that don't speak Minnesotan) is finally starting to feel like Spring. With Spring comes Easter. We're less than a month away from celebrating Easter already. Below are some of my Easter creations. Let me know what you think.

February Already

Where is the time going? It's already February. Here are some of my latest pieces. I've really been on a card kick lately. I love the look of distressing, inking, tearing the paper, chalking etc. I like the rustic look of it, especially for the masculine cards.

Love Beyond Measure page borders

Love You Paper Bag Album


Floral card

Thinking of You card

Masculine Happy Birthday Card

Another Masculine Happy Birthday Card

Baby Girl Onesie Card

Baby Boy Onesie Card

Baby Boy Card

Baby Girl Card

Girl Birthday Card

Boy Birthday Card

To Someone Special Card

Days Gone By Paper Bag Album

Valentine's Day Piecings, Layouts and Albums

Well, I have to admit that I'm not a big celebrator of Valentine's day, and I was trying to figure out why. Then it dawned on me that I should be. It is usually the one day a year that we tell everyone how much we love them. Here are some of my latest love filled, love themed items. We don't' have to have everything in reds, pinks, and fru fru--now don't take that wrong, I love fru fru too, but not all the time, and I'm not a red and pink person for more than a few times. Here are a few different takes on "love" themed items. How do you say "I love you"?

Love you to the Moon

Slider box to fill with candy

6x6 paper bag album

Wild Thing I Love You page starter set.

Love Bug page borders

My point is that your options for showing someone that you love them in your crafting are unlimited. Let your imagination run wild! Drop me a line and let me know how you're showing your love in your paper crafting for Valentine's day or just because. HAPPY SCRAPPING!

Refelction Image Stamping Technique

Hello everyone. Here are a few recent cards I made using this technique. The first one I made with wet craft ink stamped onto a glossy cardstock and transferred the image that way. The second one I used a new technique which was really slick! Here are the cards, and look below for the instructions. HAPPY STAMPING!

Ok. Now you try it! I'd love for you to send me some of your creations with this technique. Send me a pic and I'll post it for others to view.

Supplies:

• Desired Stamp
• Piece of Cardstock large enough to accommodate 2 images of selected stamp
• Ink pad
• Ziploc baggie (large enough to accommodate 1 image of selected stamp)
  

Instructions:

1. Stamp image onto upper section of cardstock (ensure that you are leaving enough room to stamp the image a second time)
2. Stamp the same image onto the Ziploc bag (I usually make sure the bag is closed so it’s a little sturdier—the freezer bags work really well).
3. Make sure you hold the bag securely so that it doesn’t slip as you stamp—you may consider taping it to your work surface with masking tape.
4. Turn the bag upside down to line the image you just stamped onto the baggie underneath your cardstock image
5. Press the image onto your cardstock being careful not to slide the bag over the paper.
6. Remove bag and viola, reflection image!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone!

I hope that you had safe and wonderful holidays. The ladies in my eBay scrapbook group SMIC started the year off with a Valentine theme layout challenge. I tried to make something different, and the photo below is the final product.

Did you make any New Years Resolutions? I did. Here they are for everyone to see.

1. Lose weight
2. Scrap more and try new techniques and styles than I usually do (I know I can't be the only person that tends to use the same layout all the time!)
3. Organize my scrapbook room so I actually use all the stuff I already have.

To go along with resolution number 3 here are some pictures of my scrapbook/craft room. We'll see where the new year takes me!

Do you have any suggestions for me for organizing my craft room? I welcome any comments!

Talk to you later!

Are You Ready?

I don't know about all of you, but I can't believe Christmas is in 3 days! I am no where near ready! I don't even have a tree up yet! We've been getting a ton of snow here in Minnesota, so it has already begun to look a lot like Christmas, but something is keeping me from being in the mood. Perhaps it is the economy. When I think of how many people are out of work and won't have much to celebrate it makes me sad.

Please don't get me wrong, I know that Christmas isn't about gifts, but for people with children that can't afford to get things for their children, it is sad. Unfortunately, I am not in the position to donate as we have in years past.

Things have been very slow for sales, and I haven't been creating things for the past few weeks. I have some time off from my full time job over the next few weeks, and I hope to get lots of scrapping and paper creating done.

Here are a few of my latest albums.