Season of Sweets Halloween Treats

Ack!  Happy Tuesday!  ... yes, I realize this is a day late.  My bad.  I had every intention of posting yesterday ... the next thing I knew it was 10:00 pm and it was bed time.  So here it is, a day late ... I hope it was worth the wait *lol*

By now you know how I struggle to keep projects fast and simple ... but I think you'd agree that I"m getting better!  Yesterday was another success for me!  I received my club order, sorted and bagged it ... but didn't have a little "treat" to go with it.  Hmmmm ... quick and easy ... I needed to make 12 of them and didn't have much time.  I looked around my craft room ... I needed a "box" or bag to hold a treat .... AHA!  I spotted my Season of Sweets Designer Kit on the floor.
This kit (page 15 of the mini) was designed for wrapping and giving cookies ... but I can't bake a decent cookie to save my life and certainly wouldn't consider giving them to people I like!  So why did I buy the kit in the first place?  Convention.  Convention got me.  During one of the demonstrations we were shown projects using the kit other than for warpping cookies.  I liked the idea and bought the kit.  I DID bake some cookies (for my Appreciation Night back in August) and I DID wrap one in the wrapper as it was intented ... but apparently I neglected to take a picture of it!  Oh well .. it wasn't that exciting anyway *lol*  Here is a project idea that I copied from my friend Joan Jefferey (check our her works at www.j-jcreations.blogspot.com).  I simply put some card stock inside the sleeve and attached a picture to it.  Wa-low!  An instant picture frame - it can be mailed flat and then the flap of the envelope acts as a stand and the picture can be displayed on the mantle!  These little envelopes can also be added to a card and the picture can pull out ... or you could insert a gift card ... the options are endless!

 

 

SO!  Back to my "I need a treat fast" story.  I saw the envelopes in the kit and knowing that I would very likely find the still-unused kit sitting there next January decided I could use them for my current project!  Here is what I came up with:

Ta-Da!  Aren't they cute??  Within half an hour I 12 of these made and ready to pop in the bags!  I used a 1 1/4" strip of the new Howlstooth & Scaringbone DSP (page 24 of the mini).  I cut a piece of 33 1/4" x 3 1/4" black base and 3"x3" piece of Very Vanilla.  I stamped the "Frightening Feline" (page 26 of the mini) in Versamark and the sprinkled a little black embossing powder in the right hand corner ... tapped off the excess ... then a little Tangerine Tango a little further up the right hand corner ... tapped off the excess ... a little more black higher up ... tapped off and then more Tangering and tapped it off.  I then heated it with the new Heat Tool (love the new heat tool ... it has two setting - one to dry ink and one to melt embossing powder!).  I used the sentiment from Wicked Cool (page 28 of the main catty) in Tangerine - punched it out with the large oval punch and layered it with a second large oval punched out of black.  I inserted a package of gummies and I was done!  I love it!  Quick, cute and easy ... and I managed to use all the envelopes in mu Designer Kit.  Now ... I just need to use all the die cuts from the kit and I can justify that I bought it *lol*.  My challenge to you is to get down to that craft room, dig out something you bought but haven't even opened yet and USE it!

That's it for today - not sure what we're up to ... I DO have to make my deliveries so maybe a trip to Papa's house is in order.  Whatever you get up to, have a stampy day!


Tam

 

Christmas Blessings and Watercolor Winter

Happy Wednesday!

What's happenin' today?  Well, around here it's starting to look a lot like Christmas!  I'm busy setting up my stations for tomorrow's Christmas Stamp-A-Stack and maybe, just MAYBE we're going to set up the Christmas Tree!  *lol*  That's one of the things I had planned to do this summer but it hasn't happened yet - I figure "what better time" than for my Christmas Card party??  Taking a look, however, I don't think there will be room in the basement for it :(  We'll see ... if not this week then hopefully next.  The kids would LOVE to put it up in the middle of summer!!

So ... as I procrastinate on everything else I thought I'd post my last to cards for you :)  First up is a variation on this one:

While I absolutely LOVE this card I needed to change it up for my Stamps-a-Stack because my next (and FAVORITE) card uses the same image.  So I tweaked it a little and came up with this one:

 Can you see it?  You have look a bit harder to see the irridescent ice image in the left corner.  It is the image from Christmas Blessings.  I added some Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding and the sentiments from More Merry Messages (popped up on dimensionals) and a rhinestone to top it off.  Hmm - looks a lot better in person than it does here - stupid camera!

Well ... onwards and upwards ... now for my new favorite!!!  Check this baby out!

AHHHHHHHHHHHH - LOOOOOOOOOOOVE it!!!!!!!!!!!!  SO clean, simple and elegant!!!  I LOVE the black and white!!  I LOVE the splash of glitter (from the dazzling details glue), I LOVE the image (from Watercolor Winter stamped in black Staz-on), I LOVE the font of the sentiment (from More Merry Messages) and I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, LOOOOOOOOOOVE the embossed squiggle in the middle!!!!  I made that using the Adorning Accents Folder ($10.95 - page 188 of the IBC).  Yep, my new favorite!!!!

OK - gotta fly - the girls are having a knock-em-down-drag-em-out fight about something - should go see if there is any blood ...

Have a stampy day!!!


Tam

Snowflake Soiree

Well Happy Tuesday!

Another beautiful day ahead in Edmonton.  The girls and I will be heading to the outdoor swimming pool ... right after I take my first call from my Business Developement Advisor, Ashley.  I'm SOOOOO excited!!  I was accepted into the Stampin' Up! Business Development Program which I just KNOW is going to blast my business into outserspace and help me focus on what I need to focus on to help me earn that incentive trip this year.  I SO want to take my husband on the Western Caribbean Cruise for his 50th birthday - Ashley is going to help me do that!!!

I have a few more things to do before she calls so I better get on with it!

First up I have a few pictures of my Northern Flurry embossing folder that I cut in order to get the snowflakes "just so" on my Easy Events For the Birds card posted yesterday.  Here is the card again ...

Here is what I did to my folder ...

And ...

You can see I was fairly fearless *lol*.  I left the large snowflake attached at the crease so I can still use it in its original form if I choose to ... but to be honest I don't think I've ever used it that way!  ... maybe on one card a few years ago ... but I'm quite sure I'll use it a lot this way!  Don't be afraid to cut these up!  They only cost $9.95 ... you can buy more that you DON'T cut!

OK.  Now onto another one of my Christmas cards ... I played and played and played with the Snowflake Soiree set trying to get a quick card that still provided a "wow" factor.  Again, I kept thinking of the two Marys (Mary Fish and Mary Brown) who are masters at "keeping it simple".  I eventually got the effect I was looking for:

Oooooo - sparkly!  Again, in my repeating theme this year I stuck pretty close to just plain white on white layers - it really does give an elegant effect!  I used a lyaer of Espresso cs and stamped the images in Espresso.  The sentiment is from More Merry Messages (page 15 of the IBC) but this sentiments is VERY similar in size and font to that in the Greetings of the Season in the holiday mini.  Either works great!  I added a stip of the new Champagne Glimmer Paper (page 18 of the mini) and punched out a little scallop circle from that strip (which is hidden so you don't see the whole ... saves card stock that way ... sneeky, yes?) using the scallop from the Itty Bitty Shapes Punch Pack ($22.95 - page 183 of the IBC).  I love it!

That's all for now ... Koda needs his walk.  I still have 2 more cards to show off so pop back again tomorrow :) 

Have a stampy day!

Tam

Stamping Marathon!

Happy Monday!!

Where did the weekend go??  That one just FLEW by.  I expect the next 2 weeks will fly by with the pending start of the new school year.  I seem to be back to "normal" again and not quite ready for September to hit.  I mentioned last week I was "done" with the 24/7 of the lack of routine and children constantly under foot but apparently I just needed some serious crafting time to get back on track.  I certainly got THAT this weekend!  I was a crafting fool all day yesterday!  I fell asleep watching the kids' bedtime show with them around 10:00 pm ... I woke up at 2:00 am and that was it for sleep for me!  I layed in bed until 3:30 am designing Christmas cards in my head (as you did when it's 30 degrees in the middle of August!) so I figured I may as well get up and make it happen ... after all I DO have stampers coming over Thursday night for my Christmas Stamp-a-Stack and only had 3 of 5 cards designed!  I stamped until 6:30 am.  It was GREAT!  SO peaceful ... and I didn't feel like I had abandoned the family or that I was being anti-social.  I came up with two cards that I love.  The only problem was those two cards replaced two of the cards I had already designed so I was no further ahead *lol*.  The kids entertained themselves on the waterslide all day so I kept popping down to make more cards.  I ended up makeing 8 in total.  Two are going to hit the recycle bin but the other 6 are keepers and I love them!!!  Yes, that means I have a new favorite *lol* ... what else is new, eh?

So first up I think we'll hit the rejects, just for fun.  I had good intentions with this first one.  I wanted a black theme with a pop of Cherry Cobbler for effect.  Didn't work out the way I wanted it to:

I used the Watercolor Winter set and Greetings of the Season - black Staz-On and Cherry Cobbler and a few rhinestones.  Nope.  Didn't do it for me.  Onward:

This one uses the Evergreen set.  This was a set I thought was a "must have" but I'm having a tough time finding a way to use it that I like.  Nope - scrap pile.

The next two that I came up with I love, but not for a Stamp-a-Stack.  This first one was a little too fiddly if you are trying to crack off a bunch in a hurry:

I was going for a clean, crisp look similar to a card by Mary Fish.  I think I achieved that but again, tood fiddly for a SAS.  I used Snowflake Soiree, Midnight Muse and Bashful blue.  The snowflakes have been layered with punched out pieces from the Mixed Medly hostess set from the new mini catty (back page).  I used my new 1 1/4" scallop punch for the blue scallop on the big snowflake and then my 1/2" circle punch.  The small snowflakes have my 3/4" circle punch.  I added some rhinestones for some glitz.  I love it, but it will have to be for one of my classes instead.  So .... my search for more SAS cards continued.  The next one took me far too long to master:

Love it!  ... and I would have used it for my SAS but then I realized I only had 3 sheets of Crumb Cake cs!!!  HOW does that happen??  I think I have swacks of everything and then next thing I know I'm down to scraps!  Sigh. It was a good card, too!  I stamped the image from Bells & Boughs and the sentiment from Delightful Dozen in Versamark and embossed it with Winter White powder.  I ran the base through my Tulip Frame folder and layered it with Vanilla and Espresso CS.  Added some pearls and Wa-low!  Alas - it wasn't to be.  Note to self - double order more Crumb Cake CS!!
The next one I made had me giddy :)  I looked to Mary Brown (aka Stamper Camper) for inspiration in her clean and simple layouts.  She often just has a simple image stamped in the right hand corner and uses a white-on-white layer.  That's what I started with and this is what the result was:

HAAAAAA!  LOVE it!  I stamped the little bird from Easy Events For The Birds (another one I HAD TO HAVE but hadn't gotten around to using yet! in black Staz-On.  I colored him with Gumball Green, Daffodil Delight and Real Red markers and then, after staring at it for about 20 minutes decided it needed just a "little something" in the left hand area.  The embossed snowflakes from the Northern Flurry was just the ticket.  Problem was, I only wanted these 3 snowflakes, not the really large one that sits right next to them.  Hmmmmm - what to do about that ... then it hit me.  CUT THE EMBOSSING FOLDER!!  Yep, apparently I"m kinda crazy at 4:30 in the morning!  I grabbed my Craft and Rubber scissors and cut that bad-boy up so I just had the 3 snowflakes exposed.  THEN it occurred to me it would look awesome if I did the same 3 snowflakes on the base.  That was problematic in that in order to get the orientation of the snowflakes just right the base had to be angled a bit and that angling made the folder too wide to fit through the Big Shot.  No problemo!   Craft and Rubber scissors to the rescue again!  I performed more surgery on my folder and slick as ice it worked!  (I'll have to try to remember to post a picture of my newly altered embossing folder *lol*).  I put a very narrow mat of Real Red behind the main layer and just like that (an hour later!) I had a card I loved :)

Right - I was going to post more but I think I'll make you wait.  My back isn't happy from all the sitting yesterday, the dog wants walking and I have the caffeine shakes.  But make sure you come back soon because you still haven't seen my favorite!!  In the meantime - have a stampy day!


Tam

Merry Mini Christmas

Happy Thursday!!!

What a BEEEEEEautiful day!  I spent a few hours at the park with the girls - they worked on a Nature Scavenger Hunt we made up while I wrote my 24 Thank You notes for all the fabulous friends and family who donated money to send Casey home.

I'm now counting down the seconds until bedtime ... a little underslept today after staying up too late last night (Mom and I went to see Jersey Boys - FANTASTIC show!!!) but thought I'd post my latest favorite card :)))

Ready?  (I'm not use to such a short intro ... I feel I should ramble on for at least another 2 paragraphs *lol*).  Nah ... here it is:

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this card!!!  It's just so darned cute!!!  I have a layer of white on a white base (you can kind of see it if you look hard enough).  I stamped the greeting from Greetings of the Season in Early Espresso.  Then I used the Merry Mini Punch Pack punches to punch the tree (Gumball Green) the star (Daffodil Delight) and the ornament (Cherry Cobbler).  I wrapped some Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine around the first layer and Wa-low!  For a little extra glitz you could certainly add a little rhinestone to the top of the tree.  I tried it but preferred the clean look without it (plus I knew if I started with blinging up the tree I would want to do the same to the star and ornament and then I'd be knee deep in a complicated card so I stopped!)

Wanna see my other favorite?  Well, OK, since you normally have to wade through looooooooooooong posts to get to a picture.  This my other newest favorite:

I love this card too!  It's funny .... this card started OUT to be virtually identical to my Scentsational Gingerbread card ... you can see the layout is the same.  As I played around it came out completely different ... but I love it just as much!  Again, I used a lyer of white on a white base (seems to be my new favorite thanks to Mary Brown aka Stamper Camper ... I love her clean, easy style and I guess I'm trying to be like her :)  I used Cherry Cobbler CS and ink for the Noel (Greetings of the Season).  The ornaments are punched out with the Merry Mini Punch again and attached with glue dots.  The image in the top left hand corner is from Watercolor Winter.  I stamped it in Versamark and embossed it with Irridescent Ice ... I think I've only used that stuff once in 7 years ... THAT'S gunna change!  LOVE it!  Along the bottom of the card I used the Delicte Designs folder for some added texture.  And that was it!  Easy Peasy!

So there you have it - a whole swack of quick and easy cards over the last week.  Wonder what I'm gunna pull out of my hat next?  We have a beautiful weekend ahead - that either means I won't be getting any crafting done ... or I'll be hiding in the basement to beat the heat and get a LOT of crafting done.  Pop back soon to see which it turns out to be!  In the meantime - have a stampy night!

Tam

Scentsational Cocoa

Happy Monday? 

Hmmm.  Where DID the day go??  It's 7:24 pm and I have accomplished square root today!  I got as far as taking the cleaning products out of the closet around 12:00 pm .... that's where it ended and I haven't managed to finish one thing since then!  Don't get me wrong ... I love my children dearly and I've had a lovely summer so far and made some great memories with the girls but I'm pretty much done ... with summer ... and children ... September can come now ... 6 weeks of 24/7 children is my limit.  I'm good.  I'll gladly swap making lunches and signing forms for a little peace and quite at the moment.  Well .... I'm sure that will all change come Sept 4th but for today ... I'm done!  SO!  I've kicked the children outside to burn off some energy by being chased down the street by a swarm of mosquitoes and I'm letting them back in until I've done this post and sent out my Craft Night e-mail!

There.  *insert exhale here*.  I feel better now.  Thanks for listening.

Now for my *happy time* .... stamping :))))

I have a few new favorite cards ... this week *lol*  I have been on a roll of quick, clean and simple cards lately - they make me so happy!  Here is the first one ... I will be using this for a few of my friends with winter birthdays ...

LOVE IT!!!!!!  I'm also loving the Scentsational Season set ... which is the one with these cute little mugs of cocoa!  I earned this set (and the corresponding framelits ... and the scented embossing powder ... and the cotton ribbon) back in being at my current level of Counselor (there are SO many perks to being a SU Demonstrator!!)  I tell ya - the more I use this set the more I love it!  I used Gumball Green and Chocolate Chip cs and ink.  A little trick I learned at convention .... I stamped the mug in the gumball green and then wiped the green off where the cocoa is and colored it with my chocolate chip marker ... here's the trick ... I would normally just have used my finger or a baby wipe to remove the green from the cocoa area - at Convention I learned to use my BLENDER PEN to remove the ink.  Genious!  It's clean and easy ... and gets into the small space easier than with your finger!  Ya learn something new every day!  OK.  So.  Back to the "recipe".  You can faintly see the embossed snowflake pattern behind the mugs that are from the Delicate Designs folders (page 188 of the catty - $10.95 for 2 folders!).  At least I think they are snowflakes - they could be flowers ... but to me they looked like snowflakes :)  I used the mug framelit to cut out the mugs and popped them up on dimensionals.  I did the same with the steam.  The sentiment is from Delightful Dozen.  I just LOVE when I find a sentiment that PERFECTLY matches the card - this couldn't be a better match!  *insert giddy giggling here*.  Love it :)))

Well - the kids are still outside ... so should we do a few more projects?  I got a swack of 'em :)))  OK ... let's do some Halloween!

Here is a GREAT little box I learned how to make at Convention.  Check it out:

Can you figure out how I made it??  It's actually made using the PETITE PURSE DIE!!!!  Yep!  True story!  You make the purse as usual but seal the "flap" of the purse.  You then turn it over and cut it down the middle to open it up.  I then added some Houndstooth DSP, some treats and one of the tags from the Ghoulish Googlies Designer Kit (glued to a popsicle stick).  I'll make another one and take some pictures to better explain it ... you can also come over on Friday, Aug 24th for my Craft Night and I'll show you how in person!

Here are some more treats I made using the Ghoulish Googlies stamp set and tags ...

Mini M&M's in the 1" x 8" cello bags

Bits & Bites in the new Gusseted bags with the new Striped Satin Ribbon:

The Glassine bags that come in the kit (hint:  the bags look GREAT when you run them through and embossing folder too!):

Little treats made using the Fancy Favor Bigz Die ...

As I mentioned, I'm holding a Craft Night Friday, Aug 24th at 6:30 (or whenever you can make it!).  Get in touch if you want to come and get a jump on making your Halloween treats!

OK - the kids are back - gotta fly.  Have a stampy night!


Tam

Core'dinations Card Stock

Happy Saturday!!  Anything fun planned for today?  I think we are heading to the Bon Accord Fair today.  Bon Accord is a small town about half an hour down the hiway - they have a lovely little fair every year.  Last year my dad and I had a booth each - me for my papercrafting and dad for his carvings and walking sticks.  While I had a GREAT time I opted out this year so I could take the girls and enjoy the fair!  Last year Craig brought them but it was late in the day and very hot.  I promised I would take them this year so they could take part in the games and enjoy it when it wasn't too hot.  That's the plan, anyway.  Considering Craig and Alicia are still sleeping I don't think we'll make the parade that starts in 45 minutes *lol*.

So!  A new card to share today.  I LOVE this card!  I literally put this one together in about 6 minutes - it just made itself!  I was cracking off projects last Thursday for my Appreciation Night / Open House and needed projects showing off the new products in the Holiday Mini.  I needed a card using the new Core-dinations card stock (page 6 of the mini).  Now this card stock was one of the items I didn't originally buy.  What they heck did I need card stock for?  From what I could tell it was just thicker than our usual card stock.  And a new sander ... why?  I have sanding blocks ... and what;s with the Dust Buddy?  Didn't need it - didn't buy it.  ..... then I went to convention.  I wasn't home 2 hours before I placed an order for all 3 items ... and the new heat tool ... and the tags ... and about $100 worth of other stuff ... sigh ... the addiction continues *lol*  ANYWAY!  HAD to have this card stock - it ROCKS!  Check out this card:

Just LOOK at that wood grain piece!  Isn't it fabulous?!  This card stock is like magic - it is quite thick and the top layer of color is darker than the inside layer of color.  When you tear it ... or sand it ... the second layer of color is exposed.  I love using the wood grain embossing folder on it because it give a great, deep impression on the very thick paper.  You lightly sand it with the new sander (which is "real" sandpaper unlike our current sanding blocks) and you just can't help but touch it!  Of course you then use the tacky Dust Buddy to pick up all the sanded shavings from your work ares.  Yes .. you DO need this card stock, sander and dust buddy.  They are GREAT products!!

Once I had the wood grain piece I of course needed some sort of woodsy image.  I grabbed my brand new "Gently Falling" set (I had been eyeing this bad boy for about a year but wasn't sure how much I'd use it ... I picked it for free with some of the free sets I got for achieving over $20,000 in sales last year)  Now I KNOW I'll use this set a lot thanks to the new card stock!!  I stamped the leaf in So Saffron and then outlined it with Cajun Craze.  The sentiment is from Made for You (seriously, why haven't you bought that little set yet??) in Old Olive - matted it with CC card stock and finished it off with Old Olive Scallop Dots Ribbon.  Wa-low!  a 6 minute, clean and simple card.  Love it!

Next up is a winter birthday card ... check back soon for that one (and I'm happy to say the next 3 cards I made are quick, clean and SIMPLE!!  I'm on a roll, Baby!!)

What ever you get up to today ... have a stampy day!

Tam

Ribbon of Hope - Take 2!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!  Woo Hoo!  My computer is up and running again (thanks to my wonderful, amazing, talented husband!!!!!)  It never ceases to amaze me at just how darned dependant we are on computers!  But no time to babble on today .... I have 256 e-mails to read go through ... and about a dozen stamping-related e-mails to send out so here goes!

These are the pictures I tried (in vain) to post a few days ago.  Here is the beautiful little Isabelle:

Isn't that just the sweetest picture EVER??!!  Please send your prayers and wishes for this little angel and a succesful, speedy recovery!!

Here is the first "Thank You" Ribbon of Hope card I designed ...

I made it using the ever-popular and reserected stamping technique "Triple Time Stamping".  This was a popular technique years ago but has recently been brought back by a fabulous card Dawn Olchefske created (check out her blog www.dostamping.tyepad.com for a full tutorial).  As I mentioned last post, I made the card in pink, not thinking about it.  Of course pink is the ribbon color for breast cancer.  For leukemia the color is orange so I had to change the card.  I like tis technique but to be honest I've seen so many cards made with it this week I thought I'd come up with something more original.  Onward! 

My second attempt:

Emmmm - it's ok.  I'm not really sure what I don't like about it ... I think the process just took too long on this one - I didn't love it so decided to move on again.  Oh ... I used the new Blooming With Kindness stamp set.  I inked the image in Daffodil delight and then took my Tangerine Tango markers and tapped it in various spots on the stamp.  The sentiment was stamped in Pumpkin Pie (I used Tangerine Marker but when it mixes with the yellow it comes out very close to Pumpkin Pie ... if I would have used Pumpkin marker the orange would have been lighter on the flower ... I didn't want that so went with the Tangerine).  I used the Scalloped Ribbon Border punch to make the border and the ... GASP!  the EYELET BORDER PUNCH RETIRED??!!  who knew?!  ... well, I probably new ... but I don't mark my retired punches AS retired punches ... guess I should start doing that!!  Anyway .... didn't love the card so tried again.  Third time was the charm.  I really like my final version:

It clean, simple and to-the-point.  I used Chocolate Chip and Tangerine Tango cs and ink.  The DSP is from the Summer Smooches DSP.  I used the Designer Frame Folder to get the oval frame (LOVE those little folders!) and the (retired) RIbbon of Hope stamped in the middle.  A brad is in the middle of it.  The sentiments is from the (new) Sweet Essentials set (page 140 of the catty - yes, it IS an essential!)

SO there you have it ... finally!  My Thank You cards to all who donated money to my friend Casey.  I have them made and addressed ... now I just need to write inside them and drop them in the mail box!

Check back again soon ... I have FOUR FABULOUS cards to show off - I LOVE them ... but have to pace myself ... now that I have my computer back I realize that my back hasn't hurt in a week ... the same amount of time I have NOT been sitting in my computer chair!

Well ... until next time ... have a stampy weekend!!

Tam

Sigh

Ok ... I give up!!!  I'm at least 3 hours into trying to get these pictures to post.  No-can-do.

Check back in a few days ... Maybe my main computer will be working by then!

Ribbon of Hope

Happy Sunday!  What a beautiful day!!  Not too much to report today ... I've been relaxing pretty hard since Friday night.  Speaking of Friday ... What a great night it was!!  It was fun to show off all my new stamping toys and visit with my customer, downline and friends.  I even met some new ladies ... customers of my downline.  We made a card, ate some food, drank some wine ... It was a really nice night - thank you to everyone who came!  I will be posting pictures of my show-and-tell projects in the coming days ... But I can't promise a time line ... On Friday morning my main computer died and won't be resusitated for a few weeks.  Looks like we fried the mother-board! This is my first attempt to blog from my iPad ... Wish me luck!
So!  I have THREE cards to show you tonight.  As always, there is a story to go before the pictures (tell the truth ... You would be disappointed if there weren't!)
About 5 weeks ago I found out that my friend Casey's little 2 1/2 yer old granddaughter, Isabelle, had just been diagnosed with leukemia.  Can you imagine?  How absolutely devastating!  What made it even more sad was that Casey was on the west side of the country while her loved ones were on the east.   Of course Casey desperately wanted to go "home" but quite simply, Casey couldn't afford to go home.  Can you IMAGINE???  What horrible heartache Casey must have been going through ... She desperately wanted ... And NEEDED to go home to help her daughter and hug her little granddaughter.  The only thing stopping her was the all mighty dollar.  A mutual friend, Wanda, and I found that completely unacceptable and decided we needed to do something to help.  Facebook to the rescue!  Wanda, Casey, Tamye, Dorothy and I all helped out by posting a request for donations on FB.  To make a long story a little bit shorter (you should have seen the length of my original post!!)
we raised airfare and almost $1,000 to send Casey home.  She spent 3 weeks with her beautiful family and posted pictures and updates for us all to see.  Casey is now home.  Isabelle has had her ups and downs but is definitely holding her own.  She has started her new rounds of chemo and is doing
well.  Just look at this beautiful little angel:

Doesn't she just make your heart smile?

So!  That's my story for the projects today.  Naturally I needed to make Thank You cards for all the amazing people who donated money.  Some know Casey but many don't ... The donated anywhere from $10 to $250 ... Simply because we asked them to.  How amazing is that?


Here was my first attempt at a card:

Of course right after I made it I realized I made it I pink ... That would be great if this were for a breast cancer fundraiser!  The ribbon color for leukemia is orange.  While I like the technique on this card I wasn't thrilled with it so ... On to attempt number 2:


Again ... Ok but wasn't quite what I was looking for.  Third time is the charm ...
VZ
I'll give details on these cards in another post ... The kids are waiting for me to watch a movie so I have to run.  Once they are in bed I will be making 25 of these cards to send as a very heartfelt thank you to all the amazing friends who helped send Casey home.


Until next time ...have a stampy night!

Grrrrrr ....

Bare with me.  I have a post drafted but my main computer crashed on Friday and I can't find a way to upload pictures taken on my iPad!  These are the things that drive me crazy!!  Stay tuned ... I'm working on it!

Scentsational Gingerbread Man

Happy Wednsday!

It's allllllll coming together ... slowly but surely ... Friday night WILL have some fabulous projects to see, touch and make (not to mention 7 bottles of wine to drink!!)  I only managed to get down to the craft room at 7:00 pm!  I spent all day doing paperwork, cleaning, taking the dog to the groomers, baking cookies, making dinner, photocopying, shopping for supplies and laundry.  It's all good, though as I'm chipping away at what I want to show off.  First, a little comic relief ...

Remember back in April when I took Koda to the groomers?  This is what he looked like when he came home:

Well this time I took him in because he had lots of matts ... that and he was carrying around a 30 pound fur coat - I thought he was going to keal over during our morning walks from heat exhaustion!  So off he went.  This is what he looks like now ...

HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!  Wait ... it gets better ...

Look at his tail!  OMG - The poor beast.  He has been pouting ever since he got home.  I don't suppose it helps that I laugh every time I see him!  Hee hee ... I can't decide whether his tail looks more like a duster or a toilet brush!

OK - let's move on (but feel free to continue chuckling :)  )  Once I got him home I baked up a double batch of sugar cookies for my fabulous ladies who are coming over Friday.  They are a brand new cookie recipe ... made it myself ... by accident.  Let's refer back to yesterday's post, shall we?  Are we all in agreement that I have attention challenges?  SQUIRREL!  Right.  Then you may be able to appreaciate that I got mildly distracted whilst adding my dry ingredients to my bowls of dough.  I STARTED using the ingredients for the sugar cookies ... but I got distracted and my eyes ended up following a portion of the recipe ABOVE the one I was supposed to be using ... and I added ingredients from the Shortbread recipe.  Naturally I had decided (for about the 3rd time in my life) to make a double batch (cookies aren't my forte!)  I realized the error of my ways as I ahd already rolled out the first batch.  Oh well!  What'cha gunna do?  Wasn't gunna throw 'em out ... so I baked 'em!  They taste more like Shortbread than Sugar cookies ... but that's ok, right?  The kids didn't complain ... and I doubt my Ladies will either.  Check ;em out!

HA!  Love them!  I made them using the Stampin' Up Cookie Press thingy.  The "stamps" were new at Momento Mall during Convention.  I'm sure they will be available to other demonstrators as a supply item at some point in the near future.   I let the girls stamp them ... VERY unlike me because of my "control freak" issues ... perhaps I'm lightening up just a little *lol*

OK - are you ready for a FABULOUS project???  Are ya??  Are ya??  I love this card so much it makes me squirm (is that how you spell squirm ... looks weird ... but then again how often does one write the word squirm to know if it looks right or not ... hmm ... note to self to ask Dad how to spell squirm ....... SQUIRREL!)

K.  Here goes:

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!  Are you squirming??  Did you see what I did??  I made a CLEAN AND SIMPLE CARD!!!!!  All by myself!!!  OK - it took me over an hour to CREATE said clean and simple card but it was a long process!  You should have seen how it started!  It was green ... and red ... and had candy canes on it ... an hour later this is what happened *lol*  See?  It's hard being me.  I am the proverbial onion (all Shrek fans will get that one! .... and how is it that I know how to spell proverbial but not squirm ... these are the questions that plaque me ...)

Focus.  So.  Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake and Soft Suede CS.  Crumb Cake and Soft Suede ink.  Gingerbread stamped, then punched out with the FABULOUS Holiday Collection Framelits.  I then pressed it into my Versamark pad (since SU had the nerve to retire the Versamarker??!!!) and dipped it in the Vanilla Scented embosing powder.  Yes, I KNOW it would have been better with the new Sugar & Spice scented powder from the mini but that is one of about 10 items I kinda missed ordering.  Yes, I hang my head in shame.  Well vanilla is still nice!  The "Noel" is from the Greetings of the Season set (p. 8 of the new holiday catty) and the ribbon ... ooooooh the ribbon .... page 20 of the holiday catty - the new 7/8" cotton ribbon ... it's so pliable (sure, I can spell pliable!) AND you can stamp on it!!!  Shut up!  ... it's all just too much .... focus ...
Finally I ran the Crumb Cake layer through the stripes embossing folder and Wa-low!  an awesome card!!!  Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen!  We have our Make and Take project for Friday night!!  (insert applause here).

That's it!  That's my contribution to the blogging world for another day.  Hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed typing it!  Until next time ... have a stampy night!


Tam