Lined Alphabet Dies and Video

Happy Saturday!

MAN am I beat!  I've had a great, albeit EXHAUSTING few days!

I don't normally have my monthly Technique Class one night and then my Team Meetings the next morning.  I did that once and it darn near killed me!  What happens is I have my class Friday night, people leave around 9:30 pm and then I have to clean up the three card stations from the night and set up the projects for the 9:30 AM meeting on Saturday morning.  I'm usually up until 12:00 -1:00 am getting it all set up.  I did it once and vowed I would never do it again.  Ya. Never say never.  Due to a scheduling conflict this month I HAD to have my class and meeting back to back.  I'm thrilled to say I pretty much nailed BOTH sessions in that I was prepped on THURSDAY NIGHT for BOTH events!  Moreover, I even had to redecorate the basement to make room for 13 of my crafty team members, taking apart our couch and stashing the good stools in the storage room (with great difficulty, I might add!).  I was actually done setting up for the Saturday session around 10:30 last night ... but then I figured I was on such a roll I should design and complete 10 complex cards.  Sigh.  I AM my own worst enemy sometimes!  Whilst I wasn't feeling exhausted last NIGHT, I am now sitting on the couch, at 6:23 pm Saturday evening counting down the minutes until it is socially acceptable to go to bed.  Actually, no, wait ... that's a lie.  Who am I kidding??  I'm an adult.  I can go to bed at 6:32 pm if I want to ... I'm not going to bed simply because I know either my back or my bladder will rebel against me at some point between 6:23 PM and 6:23 am ... and when one of them wakes me from my glorious slumber I will be well and truly screwed for sleep for the rest of the night.

So here I am ... blogging ... watching the clock tick on ....

Right!  Enough oversharing about my bladder and clock watching!  *lol* . Let's take a look at the project that got me INTO this exhausted mess, shall we?

Yay! Dont'cha love it??  The colours just make me HAPPY!

Blueberry Bushel, Granny Apple Green Lemon Lime Twist and Daffodil Delight.  So fresh and pretty!

Now ... I have spent WELL over an hour trying to upload a "live" Facebook Video to Youtube so I could then share it here, all professional-like.  Ya.  Without inserting some very colourful words, let's just say I have stepped away from that challenge and given up on the dream.

Do you WANT to see my live video showing you how to make this beauty?  Well I didn't record the whole making of the card but I DID video the making of the "YAY" portion, which is really what you want to see!  SO!  To see it you need to click here.  That will take you to my "closed" facebook group "Tamara's Paper Trail VIPs".  If you don't get access to the video just request to join the group and I will add you.  That's the best I can do, given my limited brain power and tolerance for Facebook programming mental gymnastics!

Trust me - you want to see this video.  I thought it would be nice to record one "live" using those really expensive Lined Alphabet dies and stamp set.  Are they REALLY as easy to use as Stampin' Up! leads us to believe?  Is it possible to use them successfully on the first try or is there a 19-time trial and error requirement before a stamper can use it with confidence?  Check out the video and find out!

** After I made the video I continued to crack off piecesto make a total of 10 "yay" cards.  I got the knack quite quickly.  What worked for me was to cut ALL the coloured pieces at 3" x 3" and then, after I taped them all together (using Fast Fuse) I trimmed them so the final square is/was 3" x3".  It worked really well.

To finish the card off, once I had the "yay" made, I ran a piece of 5" x 3 3/4" piece of Whisper White through the Swirls & Curls embossing folder (make sure you spray it with a mist of water before doing so to avoid the paper cracking!) .

I cut a piece of Mini Ruffled Lemon Lime Twist ribbon 16" long and looped it behind the "yay" piece.  To do THAT I ran some Fast Fuse along the back of the "yay".  I then folded the ribbon at 5.5" and at 11" across the sticky piece.  I then used two pieces of Tear and Tape to secure the ribbon in place.  I used dimensionals to pop the "yay" up for added interest.

The sentiment is from "Amazing Congratulations", stamped in Blueberry Bushel on a 1/2" piece of whisper White.  I just used scrap pieces and free hand snipped the angled edges.  The sentiment is popped up on dimensionals.

I added three silver stars from a pack of metallic enamel shapes I found that had fallen behind my ribbon holder.  I have no idea when these things were on offer but they are now retired *lol* . Who knows how long they were back there!

The final touch was the envelope (and inside).  I used one of the four images in the Birthday Background stamp set.  This is a quiet little set that I'm pretty sure has flown under the radar of most of us ... but it's a must have, in my opinion, for cute little details like this. 

So there you have it.  My exhausted ramblings on a Saturday evening.  I'm now 13 minutes closer to my bed *lol*.

Whatever you got up to today, I hope you had a stampy time.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!


Tam