Birthday Journal

Happy Tuesday!

I'm SLOWLY getting back into the swing of things on the crafting front.  Nothing like time pressure to kick me into gear!

I cracked off this little journal (that a 9 year old and her friends will be making this weekend at her birthday party) in about an hour.  So cute!

I used the 5 3/4" x 8 1/4" inch journals (that are retiring), the red glitter paper (love it!), the Big Shot with the Alphabet letters, Beatiful Wings and Beautiful Butterflies dies, 5/8" Oraganza ribbon and of course lots of Rhinestones.  We will also be making a beaded pen and 2 cards to round off the party.  Hope she likes it :)

I also cased this card from Becky Roberts (http://inkingidaho.blogspot.com/) - I think we'll make this card at my Technique Class on Friday:

The layout is the same as Becky's but I used the new "Just Add Cake" Designer Series Paper that will be available to purchase July 1st.  I also used Poppy Parade, Marina Mist, Early Espresso and So Saffron card stock.  Punches:  1 1/4" square punch, 1 3/4" square punch, Blossom Bouquet Triple Layer Punch and more Rhinestones (how did we crafts without these before now??!!)  The sentiment is from Word Play - another must-have stamp set.

That's it for now - back to the craft room to work on my photo cubes and mini scrap album for Father's Day.  Perfect weather for crafting today!

Tune in again for my next batch of projects :)

Tam

Stay Tuned ...

Yes ... I am around ... I DID leave the country but I'm back and have a list of projects to complete before Thursday so check back soon ... I should have the projects posted by the end of the weekend ...

Thanks for checking in.  I'll leave you with two pictures from Disneyland - Mom,  the Girls and I had a magical time :)

Have a good night!

Tam

A "Sweet" Pencil

Now how flippin' cute is this???!!!!  I can't take credit for the idea.  I saw it on our Stampin' Up! web site with a similar project made by Niki Toll.  I just HAD to run out and buy all the supplies to make them .. ok - that was a few weeks ago ... but I DID finally get around to making it!

The PLAN was to make 35 of them.  I like to make treats for ALL the school staff every now and then.  This seemed to be the perfect gift.  I went to the dollar store, bought 35 packs of Mentos and 2 bags of jumbo Hershey's Kisses.  I wrapped the Mentos in a piece of Blushing Bride card stock (I never dreamed I would use this color as much as I do.  I actually dislike the color imensely but it has come in REALLY handy for bizarre projects like this ... it's the perfect color for the eraser!)  I glued a Kiss to the end (using the Tombow and some patience) then I ran a piece of More Mustard through my crimper and glued it in place.  The little silver band is a twist tie that came in my Pretzel Bags ... the perfect touch.  Now as cute as this little gift is I'm QUITE certain that life is WAY TOO SHORT to making 35 of them!!!!  Not hard ... just time consuming, fiddly and a little goopy if you don't get the glue just right.  So .. I now have 34 rolls of Mentos that will likely end up on my hips rather than in the class staff room .... I feel 35 Butterfly Post-It-Note Holders coming on ... back to the dollar store!

Have a fun day :)


Tam

Post It Note Thank You

Happy Wednesday :)

Had another full day of running around and I'm only just getting to my post now (9:36 pm!)  "One of those days" .. you know the kind ... when you only do the breakfast dishes at 4:50 pm!!  I have another full one tomorrow but it has more "fun" things on the list ... like shopping for some light weight pants for my holiday - now THAT'S my kind of errand :)

As promised, here is the "Thank You" treat my club members will find in with their orders tomorrow.  I cased the idea from fellow Demonstrator Linda Gutierrez in Cypress, California (http://www.stampingyearround.typepad.com/).  I love this quick and easy little thank you.  I made  few extras for hostess gifts.

The cover is made from 8 1/2" x 4" Old Olive card stock, scored at 4 + 1 tick and 4 1/2" - 1 tick (technical, huh?).  I punched the handle with the word window punch and tied it with the retired Rich Razzleberry polka dot ribbon (I decided to stop hoarding the stuff and start using it!!)  I have a whisper white layer of 3 3/4" and then a piece from the retired Cottage Garden DSP.  The large butterfly uses the same DSP and the small butterfly is plain Rich Razzleberry c.s.  I added 2 large pearls on the body.  Post-It notes are attached with snail and the "Thank You" is from the Engraved Greetings stamp set.  Love it!

Have a fun night :)

Tamara

Quick and Easy!

Happy Tuesday Everyone!

Phew - busy day around here!  Craig was off for 6 days and as usual I do NOTHING when he is around (can't have him seeing the secret workings of a SAHM!)  Lots of errands and tidying up to do.  Alas - a Gal has to take time to craft, doesn't she?  I made a few projects last week - today is the day to post them.  But first ... here is what Craig got up to yesterday on a rainy long weekend ...

WHAT IS IT I hear you cry.  No - it isn't a match stick next to a mangled paintbrush.  It's his Play-Doh rendition of our back yard.  The yellow "matchstick" is our super slider - the red is our shed - the black is our garden - the orange our deck.  Yes, he got into the play-doh with the girls and it seems he had a little fun :)  To each his own!  My idea of fun is making cards.  Here is a VERY quick and easy one I made for a party I did on Friday:

I used Old Olive, Whisper White and Chocolate card stock and chocolate chip ink.  I obviously used the Extreme Guitar stamp and the swirls are from the Trendy Trees set (clever, huh?).  The sentiment is from Curly Cute.

Oh - have to go pick up Rebecca.  Come back tomorrow for a Quick and Easy Post It Note Thank You packet.

Have a fun day (dig out that Play-Doh!)

Tam

Father's Day Approaches!

Yep - there is always a card-making-occasion around the corner.  The next one for us is Father's Day.  In an attempt to avoid housework (and a successful attempt it was!) I went down to play with my Best Dad Ever stamp set.  I liked the first one but of course after staring at it for 10 minutes needed to change it around a bit.  I prefer the second one - it's "cleaner" (not to mention quicker ... and it will be a better card for an upcoming party with a number of young teens in attendance!)  Which do you prefer?

For this one I used Very Vanilla for the base and Soft Suede, Cherry Cobbler and Baja Breeze for the layers, accents and ink.  Hmmm ...

Same colors except the base is Whisper White.  I'm thinkin' I have to add that 3rd brad for balance.  See?  It's hard being me :)  What do you think?  2 brads or 3?

Have a fun day :)

Tam

Sunny Fun

Happy Sunday :)

As much as I would love to be outside today, thanks to the wind, I'm just as happy to have an excuse to be INside and crafting.  I'm working on finishing off about 20 partially completed cards for my "stash" and a few other little projects.  I had my technique class Friday - as always it was a lot of fun and I enjoyed just kicking back for a few hours and crafting with friends.  I normally have 3 card projects for the class but I thought they were so quick and easy that we might have time for a fourth.  In 20 minutes I came up with this cute little card ... we didn't end up making it as the 3 cards DID take the whole class but I think we'll make this one next month:

(Once again my blurry photos tell me I need to work on my photography skills ... but you get the idea!)
I used Tempting Turquoise and Tangerine Tango CS, the Suuny Fun stamp set, the Modern Label Punch (I layers the Tangerine piece by using the Movers & Shapers Punch Windows Die).  The circle punches used were the 1 1/4" and 1 3/8".  I colored using the markers - Turquoise, Daffodil, Real Red (LOVE the little "rocket" popsicle - still one of my favorite popsicles to eat!), Regal Rose, Crumb Cake (for the popsicle sticks) and Celery.  Of course had to use some Dazzling Diamonds and rhinestones for some shine :)  The sentiments and circles are popped up with dimensionals.  Oh - and I stamped the images with the Staz-On black and had to use my Stamp-a-ma-jig to get them straight and centered.  It looks like a quick card but is actually fairly time consuming.  Not one to be used for a workshop or Stamp-a-stack!

I have to share my latest pics of my girls (and me).  We got to Sears twice a year - around the time of each girl's birthday.  I just got these back last week and absolutely love them.  In the past the whole process has been quite painful - trying to get all three of us looking decent ... and smiling ... twice a year I would ask myself "WHY do I put myself through this twice a year?"  This time it was a lot of fun and I think the pictures prove it.  All the smiles are natural and we really had a good time with it.  As soon as the picture frames go on sale at Michael's I'm off to buy a swack of them!

Have a fun day :)

Fun Flowers

Happy Wednesday!!!

MAN - what is it I DO all day???  I seem to be running from pillar to post every day but I'm not sure I actually get anything accomplished!!  (And I STILL haven't made that Birthday card for Rebecca yet!!)  ... then again, I HAVE spent the last 5 days working the bugs out of a holiday (shout out to Dorothy ... THANK YOU for all your help!!)  Yes, between Air Miles, Dorothy and my profits from my stamping business me, my girls and my mom are heading to the big "D.L" for mom's birthday (have to type in code on the off chance the girls figure out how to access my blog!!).  We leave in just over 3 weeks.  Yay!!!!  I love DL - it truly IS the happiest place on earth!!!  It's going to be SOOOOO much fun!!!!!!!!!  But I digress ... (as usual!).  Here is a fun card I put together for my party last weeked (yes, has taken me 6 days to post it!)

I used the Fun Flower die (from the last mini but is still available to purchase) and Bog Shot along with Pear Pizzaz, Daffodil Delight CS and the Sunny Garden DSP.  I used Pear Pizzazz seam binding and the sentiment is from the mini - Happy Greetings.

Gotta fly - off to gymnastics.  Thanks for peaking in - post again soon.

Have a fun day :)


Tam

Alright Already!!

Sheesh!  There's certainly nothing wrong with Rebecca's memory!  Today she pointed out AGAIN that I "make all these cards for everyone else but you STILL haven't made me my birthday card!"  ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!  I actually designed the card but of course when I DESIGN cards I only use a 1/4 sheet of CS - I can't exactly give her half a card, now can I?  I just need to get my butt downstairs and tape it to a sheet of paper ... maybe after I post this - heck its over a week late already, another 15 minutes won't hurt, right?  :)Here's what I came up with - quick and easy:

Cute, yes?  I may change the sentiment to a Happy Birthday ... after all, she IS only 8 - Happiness Always seems a little "old" for her birthday.
I used the new Flower Fest stamp set from the summer mini and mounted it on Old Olive CS - the inks are Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango and Melon Mambo - the sentiments is also from the mini - Happy Greetings.  The blue flower is just stamped on the paper - the roses (?) were punched out with the 1" punch (and then trimmed a little) and popped up with dimensionals.  Wa-low!

Of course it all came together so fast ... maybe it needs something?  Yes, glitter would look nice but I decided to color the flowers instead.  Hmmmm .... I feel a technique class coming on .... my "gals" have been asking for a watercoloring class but I haven't done one yet - maybe a "sort-of-water-coloring-class" using the aqua painter?  I grabbed my aqua painter and simply squiggled it over the flowers and the color bled enough to give it some subtle shading.  I like it!

I like that the wetting of the paper made the flowers curl a little - extra dimension :)  It took 5 seconds to do but gives quite a different look.  I think I prefer the "naked" version better .. I'm going to add a blue glitter brad to the centre of the blue flower for Rebecca's card.  I'm sure she'll love it.

That's it for today ... I still have to design one more card for a hostess party on Saturday so pop back again soon to see what I come up with.

Have a fun day :)

Tam

Lovin' the Punches!

Oooo - have you seen the great new punches in the Summer Mini?  The new Triple Layer Punches are on page 6 and they are a MUST have!!!  I went down for an hour today and threw this together.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Blossom Bouquet punch - it's totally addictive!!!  Once again I was drawn towards the Wild Wasabi, Poppy Parade and Daffodil Delight color combination - it's just so cheery and springy :)

Pretty straight forward - I used the Triple Blossom Bouquet punch in PP and DD c.s., punched the edge with the Eyelet Border punch and embossed the Curly Cute sentiment with the new Wild Wasabi embossing powder (LOVE IT!).  I then popped up the centres of the circles punched out with the 1/2" circle punch.  I piece of Wild Wasabi cs is along the bottom.  Wa-low!  Happy Spring :)

Tam