Friday, December 7, 2007

Gift for a friend

Sorry I haven't been blogging much lately. I haven't really had much time to make anything. Last night I decided to make some thank you cards for a friend who is about to celebrate her twins first birthday. The theme is pea pod and her colors are green and yellow. Luckily, my friend Kim had loaned me her pea pod stamp from one of the hostess sets to use. I sat down and played around with the layout until I found something I was happy with. I used the certainly celery and I can't remember the yellow cardstock color. I used the cuttlebug to emboss. It took me four hours to make 10 cards. I really got tired of coloring the pea pods after a while but the end result was really cute. I gave them to her this morning. She really liked them. Next I am on to Christmas cards. And I am still going to make the advent calendar with the silver circle tins. I don't care if there is only 19 days left. I guess I will have to eat the first 10 days of chocolate to get caught up. I guess technically I could leave the candy out of those tins but where is the fun in that? Hope you like the card and I will be blogging again soon!

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Getting in the spirit....Fa La La La La.......La La La La

Today at work I had lunch with a friend and she said that she wished she had time to enjoy the season. It got me to thinking...even though we only have three or so weeks left till the time is here (for some next week) why can't we enjoy the beauty of this time. It is just too depressing to think about spending this month worrying about everything that has to get done and leaving little time to enjoy it. So tonight I decided to sit down and play around with my winter/Christmas stamps. I must say, I have made quite a mess (I will clean that up later). Of the mess came two cards that I think are cute but could probably use another layer or embellishment. I didn't scraplift anything but the cards are a little plain. They still make me smile though!





The first card I made using the holiday paper slab from Michaels and a card pattern a friend gave me. I used my gel pen to add some stitching and my Elzybells penguin. I added some winter snowflake brads and a little saying I got from a muse "happy winter".





The second card I used my 6X6 Figgy Pudding paper. I thought it was time to break into the pack I have been staring at the paper for weeks. I used another Elzybells stamp I got and my square scallop punches. The ribbon was a donation from a friend (thanks!). I used the deck the halls from the Season of Joy block stamp (I colored it in with my real red marker to get it off the block). I backed the circle with the mini scallop punch from Martha Stewart.





If you have any suggestions to add a little something to the card please share them with me by adding a comment. I could always use a new idea.





Well I hope you all take a little time this week to do something that reminds you why you love this time of year. Another thing I like to do is read a Christmas story. I have a few books of holiday stories I have collected over the years so I will probably break one of those out this weekend.

Monday, November 26, 2007

Cute card for the holidays

Tonight I went to Stamp Camp. I couldn't stay for long so I only opted to make one of the cards. Both cards were nice but I really liked this card. Leave it to my demonstrator to sell me on a stamp set I hadn't noticed before. The card is absolutely stunning. We used a sponging technique on the background with the mostly moss and then the absolute artichoke and chocolate chip to stamp the big tree. I got to use the new ribbon scissors! THEY ROCK! Such a smooth cut. Then we used the thinner satin ribbon from the catalog. The card stock is a pearly shimmer and is beautiful. This almost makes me want to make this for my Christmas card! Hope everyone is doing well. I will have to fill you in on my trip and the scrapbook store tour I did in Florida. Maybe tomorrow night. I am sleepy today!


Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Ribbons and Bows and Clipboards what fun!



Today I got to hang out with my friend Kim. We had talked about making a "countdown to christmas" clipboard we saw by a very talented splitcoaster... We put these clipboards together and had a lot of fun doing them! I have to say, she was quite the trooper she inked and placed and stamped every countdown day. Thanks Kim! I cut the squares to assist. At the end the clipboard turned out fantastic and it is so fun. One thing I learned today is that you have to use a sander to smooth the edges of the papers you adhere to give the clipboard a cleaner look. I would have never though of that. We also used the spica glitter pens to color in the words. Most of the supplies are stampin up! I also got the chance to try the bow tutorial while I was at her house. So easy and so fun! She had already made a few on her own. I don't know if I will ever buy a store bought bow again! You really should try them. Anyway, next time we are going to tackle the advent calendar with the small round tins that was on todays tutorial on splitcoast. Does anyone know where to find those tins cheap?




Today will be my last day of stamping for a week or so. I am headed off to the Caribbean with my husband and some friends. We will be celebrating Thanksgiving on the open waters. Hope you all have a great TURKEY DAY and that you get to spend time with your loved ones!




Come back and visit. I plan to be very busy creating in December....

Sunday, November 11, 2007

$1 Bins---Gotta Love em


Today I went to Target to see what they had in the dollar bins and was quite dissapointed. The bins are full with stuff for the holidays but no scrapbooking stuff other than some cards with a frame you can insert a picture into. So I had to get my fix somewhere else. I went to Joann's but they didn't have anything either. I made my final stop at Michaels and found some christmas dollar stamps. I attached a picture so you can see but they have lots of other ones. These are just the ones I liked! The other ones are a snowflake background stamp, a Star of David Stamp, a skinny christmas tree, and a snowman. Better get out soon.


By the way...check out Kitchen Sink Stamps for their alphabet set. I played with it last night and I love it. I went out and bought a block to put the stamps on now I just need to get the stamps! http://www.kitchensinkstamps.com/ It is called playful alphabet. You can check out the smile card that Paula Bloom made with it. So simple and so cute! http://prbloom.typepad.com/my_weblog/


Have a great evening!

Saturday, November 10, 2007

Card Sketch Challenge

Thought today I would put a card sketch challenge from Splitcoast on my website. Every week my Sister and I pick a card sketch and then complete a card and then e-mail it to each other. So even though we can't make cards together we get to share our hobby through e-mail. If you have time join in the challenge and make a card and then e-mail it to me at stampinup4fun@gmail.com. I look forward to seeing what you can do with this sketch...

Tonight my husband and I are going to dinner with my friend Paula. I can't wait to see her new creations. Hopefully our husbands will hang out and watch sports while we play!

Hope your day is filled with Creativity and fun!


Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Shopping Break!

So I haven't made any cards in the last week or so but that doesn't stop me from being able to shop. I was just blog surfing today and came across the Elzybells web page (see my favorite places to shop for the link). In a matter of minutes I had purchased three of the cutest stamps ever. I read that they ship quick but is getting them by the time I get home out of the question? I promise to load some cards up in the next few days. I have a lot of time this weekend to sit down and play. I can't wait!!! Hope everyone is having a great day!


Here are the stamps I ordered...


Thursday, October 25, 2007

Batty meets Baroque---What a cool combination!



It has been a hectic couple of days. Last night I spent three hours and stayed up till midnight to complete my halloween cards for mailing. I was a little nervous that it would cost additional money to mail...but it didn't. Woo Hoo! I got 15 out in th mail today and have some more to do tonight. These cards are so cute. I wrote "Hope you have a spooktacular Halloween" inside. I saw that saying somewhere and really liked it. The card is cased from a very talented person on splitcoast. Her gallery name is cCherriINKPAD. You should check out her work. The card uses the halloween paper pack from the 2007 catalog and pumpkin pie on the background. I also used the Martha Stewart bat punch to frame the circle and my white gel pen to add the dots. The one thing that really drew me to this card was the fact that she thought of adding the baroque motif stamp as a background. It really gives it that extra something. Thanks cherri for the beautiful card layout. I know the recipients will love it. A few nights ago I took a mini book class at recollections. The mini book is about two pages away from being done so I will post it in a couple of days. I have a few cool things to share about some creative scrapbooking tricks I learned when I made this book. Tonight I ran around like crazy handing out the flyers for my Stampin up open house. I am really looking forward to it. I will blog again soon! Take care and Smile!

Monday, October 22, 2007

Celebrate Each Day

Well....it has been a couple days since I updated the blog. I had a very busy weekend. I did get a chance to do a little creating though. Tonight I went to stamp club. We made two beautiful cards. The first was made using the Autumn Fest set on page 108 of the catalog. You wouldn't even notice this stamp set until you start making cards with them. They are gorgeous. Tonight we used a new stamping technique (well new for me) it was called "rock and roll". You put your stamp in the color that you want your leaf to be and then you rock around the edges in a darker color to give it a two color effect. We used pumpkin pie for one of the leaves and then chocolate chip for the edges. It really does look like leaves changing colors. Which reminds me...I am going home to Virginia and am going to get to see the beautiful colors of fall in the Shenandoah mountains. I can't wait!






Okay, back to the cards we made. The second was a christmas card. We used the Snow Burst set. It is a cute set of snowflakes that are so cute when you stamp them. We used embossing and some of the 5/8 inch grograin ribbon. I have to get some of this ribbon it is absolutely gorgeous.







Tonight was also the night before my friend Paula's birthday. We celebrated at stamp club. I got her a cake and we all sang to her. I made her a card. It wasn't as great as her card are but I know better than to try and compete. I just wanted to make her feel as special as she makes those feel around her! I made her a little present. It was a gift card holder. I wrote special instructions for her birthday. You will see below. I also got her the cutest pumpkin coffee mug I have seen. I thought it was great and I know she will use it.













You can't read it here but the instructions read:





1. Wake Up


2. Get coffee (first gift card is for Starbucks)


3. Go straight to Hobby Lobby (second gift card is for Hobby Lobby)


4. Go to lunch (third gift card is for Chick Fil-a)


5. Go home and stamp your heart out




She brought me a cute bookmark made using the new figgy pudding paper. You have to get it as soon as it hits your store. It is gorgeous! I know I keep talking about it but I love it. I can't even cut into mine b/c I only have one 6x6 sheet of each. I will cut into it when I have a back up pad laying around.






Oh and one more thing...I made this Halloween tree this weekend. I am really proud of it. I bought this plain tree with branches that are spray painted black with glitter. I found some ornaments for 50% off and they are so cute. They are painted glass and are of little goblins and ghosts and spiders and pumpkins. I bought a black and white polka dot ribbon and tied it around the base. One added touch is that the ornaments are strung on black and white stripe pieces of ribbon which just adds a little something extra. It makes me smile every time I walk by it.



Well I have to head off to bed... Talk to you soon!

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Born to Stamp Forced to Work

Well it's 11pm and I just couldn't go to sleep without updating the blog. I had a really great today even though I had two doctors appointments and a full day of work. After work today, I went over to my friends Paula's house. I couldn't get there fast enough. She had sent me an e-mail to let me know that she bought me a 6x6 pad of the new figgy pudding from Basic Grey. If you haven't seen their holiday paper collection you will want to check out their website immediately. www.basicgrey.com. The paper is absolutely gorgeous. We might be one of the few people in the area that have this paper in their possession. It is highly sought after but nobody has it. I have probably looked at it 15 times in the last three hours. I can't wait to play with it. It is going to make some really beautiful cards.

Paula and I had a blast tonight. I stamped a few of her cute snowman stamps and tried out her copic markers for coloring. The colors are so rich. After that, we opened the card making pack she bought using the figgy pudding line. The cards are all pre-cut all you have to do is assemble. Well that is what we thought. I think we incorrectly put together three cards even after reading the instructions. We decided to go our own direction on a few cards and then we skipped one card all together. It was just too complicated and we were getting tired. I will upload a picture of a few of the cards tomorrow. I think if you are =want to make some quick pretty cards, you should get this card set.

Oh yeah I almost forgot. I used chipboard for the first time tonight on a card. I have tons of it but have never used it. I also used rub on words for the cards. Another supply I have in my stash that hasn't been opened. Hope my husband doesn't read this or my days of being a collector of card making/scrapbooking supplies are over.

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

My thumbs are numb today....

I went over to my friend Kim's house and attempted to complete the 48 Halloween treat boxes. Those things are a lot more work than I anticipated. Kim got all of hers done this evening. I spent half the night cutting the template. I had the paper folder over four times and was trying to cut through all four layers with the scissors. That is why my thumbs are numb. It is just another scrapbooking injury to add to the list. Anyway, I feel somewhat accomplished we are a little over two weeks out from Halloween and I may finish my Halloween projects this weekend. While we worked tonight Kim's daughter Hannah made her own version of candy boxes. She waited patiently till her mom filled all the treat boxes to see if there was any candy left for hers. Between eating candy and creating, we had a great time.

I have some bad news...I heard that Recollections is closing all of its locations at the end of the year. Where will I go to buy paper? I don't necessarily like to buy everything online and there are limited individually owned scrapbook stores remaining. The recollections website said the following on


http://www.marketwire.com/mw/release.do?id=781641

the Company announced plans to align its resources around its core retail chains, Michaels and Aaron Brothers. As a result, it will be discontinuing its concept businesses, Recollections and Star Decorators' Wholesale. The Company anticipates closing 11 Recollections and three of its four Star locations by the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2008 (One Star location will continue operations under the Moskatel's banner). In connection with this decision, the Company expects to incur approximately $11 million to $14 million in incremental charges as a result of lease obligations, inventory liquidation, asset-related write-downs and severance benefits, with a majority of the charges being incurred in the third quarter of fiscal 2007.

Well....that is very bad news. I am still in a little bit of shock. I am heading off to bed. I hope to finish up my Halloween stuff this weekend and start making some Christmas cards and Thanksgiving recipe holders. I also have to make my flyer for my open house.

Good night!

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Creating candy bar holders...Now where' the chocolate?

I am blogging again. I rushed home today to retrieve my stampin up order. I got the party punch hostess set that you use to stamp on the tab punch. I can't wait to use it. I also got the "season of joy" holiday set. I will be using that a lot this weekend. There are so many things I want to make with it. Lastly, I got the "block party" set. This set is so great because it has a birthday set and a holiday set. I have seen some really great cards with it.

Tonight, I had to dig through some old samples from last year to find a candy wrapper I made for Halloween last year. A friend at work wants to make it for her kids class and wanted to see what they look like. Once I found it, I decided to create another one using the "Batty for you" set and the Halloween paper pack from the fall catalog. The candy holder turned out cute. The only thing missing was a candy bar for me to snack on while I was making it. I also got a chance to break the package open on my cropadile. That tool is so useful. For this project I only used the hole puncher. I highly recommend purchasing this. It sets eyelets and hole punches two types of holes as well as embosses small holes. Not to mention it is PINK.

I think that having a blog is going to keep me creating more often. I will feel obligated to update the blog which means I will need to create new things to post. (We will have to see how long that theory works). Tomorrow night I am going to my friend Kim's house to work on making the Halloween candy favors. I still have a ton to make!!! Have a great week!









Monday, October 15, 2007

My first blog post

Well, I finally decided to start my own blog! I have been reading them for quite some time and am fascinated by how fun they are to look at. I love learning about other people that share my same hobbies. I get inspired by reading their blogs and seeing their art work. I hope that I can inspire some creativity in others as well. It is my favorite time of year. I love the feeling of fall. I love the smell of cinnamon, pumpkin, gingerbread and vanilla which are reminiscent of this time of year for me. I can't wait to bake some pumpkin pie and carve pumpkins for Halloween. For my first blog I am going to post some cards I made on Sunday. I am preparing to have an open house for stampin up the first week of November to showcase some of the beautiful stamps for fall and the Christmas holidays. Right now I am working on making Halloween cards and am making some Halloween candy holders that came from a template in paper crafts mag (I made one at the hostess club I went to last month). I am going to make one for everyone at work. Very ambitious...I have to make 48. I am also making about 25 cards for Halloween for my friends and family. I have a feeling I am going to be very busy for the next few weeks.






These cards were made using the Haunting Halloween stamp set from stampin up and the Halloween paper from the fall catalog. I love the way these turned out. Unfortunately, I had to color the cat brown b/c I don't have the gray marker from stampin up. Guess I have to put in another order. That will be my second order in one week.




Here are the treat boxes I am making! They are a lot more work then they look like in the picture but oh so worth it! This uses the pumpkin pie paper and the Halloween paper set from the fall catalog in stampin up. I used the Batty for You stamp set and the flower punch from stampin up along with the roller that crimps your paper. I can't wait to fill them with candy and give them to my friends. I just love making things for people when they aren't expecting it. The smile on their face is all the thanks I need.





I included this picture of my little cherished teddy. I love getting him out of the box to decorate for Halloween. I think he is so cute in his little pumpkin suit.