Collage Curios Birthday

Happy Happy Friday!!

Woo Hoo!  Rollin' on into the weekend!  It's going to be another great one!  A carbon copy of last weekend would suit me just fine! 

Craig is off work today so we are having a "Date Day".  No kids.  No work.  Just fun!  Once the kids are back from school one is going over to her BFF's for her very first sleep over ... and the other one is being shipped off to Grandma's house for a sleepover.  Woo Hoo!! Once they are gone I have my Technique Class - I have some great stampers coming over for a fun night making some great projects.  I can't wait!  Saturday is play dates for the girls ... and crafting for me ... Sunday is wiiiiiiiiide open.  Yep - it's shaping up to be a great weekend :)))

So let's get the day rolling with pictures of another of the cards we'll be making tonight.  I'm not sure if I say this was "cased" or "inspired" by fellow demonstrator Deena Boos.  I think it would classify as a case.  I started off copying it exactly ... but as always I ended up changing and adding a few things.  Either way hers is a great card!  Here is hers:

You can check out Deena's other great projects on her blog: www.myhomegrownart.blogspot.com.  TFS Deena!  Here is my version of her card:

Which version do you prefer?  I prefer the first one .. on the Vanilla base.  Alicia and Craig prefer the second one, on the Raspberry Ripple base.  Whereas Deena used Primrose Petals cs and ink I went with Raspberry Ripple and the images are stamped in Early espresso (on the First Edition DSP).  What I love most about tis card is that there is no wrong way to do it!  You just stamp the images wherever you want!  You don't have to get them straight or centered ... just stamp wherever!!  I used the 1" square punch to punch the DSP ... and the Postage Stamp punch for 2 of the squares (you can't see it but the DSP on those 2 squares are popped up on dimensionals).  All of the images are from the Collage Curios set ... the Happy Birthday Sentiment is from "From My Heart" (page 139 of the catty - $35.95 clear; $48.95 wood) (oh ... and that's the 3rd time THIS WEEK I've used that set!!!)  I used the new tiny butterfly from the mini ... added 2 small pearls for the bodies and a jumbo pearl under the sentiment for some continuity.  I LOVE it!!  I think this may be my swap card for the Calgary Regionals next month!!

That's it for today!  I still have my Valentine Gift Card Holder project to share ... and my Club Girl treats ... hmmm ... was I supposed to post that gift card holder yesterday?  Oh well!  Soon!  I guess you'll just have to come back soon to check it out!  Until then ... have a stampy weekend!!!!

Tam

Chalkboard Valentine

Happy Thursday!

Well!  I HAVE to say that yesterday was one of those "perfectly balanced" days.  It ran like clockwork!  I did a little bit of housecleaning, a little bit of paperwork, a little bit of bill sorting, a little bit of "working" (aka card making!!), a little bit of excercising, a little bit of relaxing, a little bit of baking with the kids and I even made a "proper" dinner.  Ahhhh - felt great!  Especially when the day COULD have gone so wrong!  I woke up quite hormonally emotional.  Ever been there?  I KNOW you have!  You know what I'm talkin' about.  You get up, look in the mirror ... do your daily search of your chin for any stray black hairs growing ... and you find one ... that is about an INCH LONG (HOW does this happen???  Every day I look ... every day I find nuthin ... then one day I find something that looks like it should be growing out of my dad's EAR ... NOT my FACE!!!  AND ANOTHER THING!  WHEN the hell did I get to the age where I started looking for stray black hairs in my face???!!!) ..... but I digress .... yes ... the day didn't start off on the best of notes.  I dropped the girls off at school and as I was pulling away I could feel my eyes starting to well up with tears (been THERE?)  I was all set to get home, have a good cry and spend most of the day having a little pity party with me, myself and I (and the cat and the dog).  But half way home I made a decision.  "They" say that happiness is a choice.  So I mulled it over.  Maybe today I would choose to be miserable.  Then I thought better of it.  Nope - I decided to choose to stay positive ... and that's what I did!  I got home, grabbed my "I Choose Journal" and wrote "Today I Choose to be POSITIVE!".  Ya know what?  It worked!  I turned the day around and had a GREAT day.  I guess "they" are right ... and I'm glad :)))  So!  Now that you know a little more than you wanted to about my morning face-searching ritual how 'bout we get to some projects *lol*?

Here is the project I put together last weekend for the girls' classmates for Valentines Day this year:

Three Pixie Stix fit PERFECTLY into the SU 1" x 8" cello bags.  I used the Heart Framelits to punch out the hearts and THEN stamped the sentiment from Wacky Wishes (hostess set) in either Real Red or Pacific Point ink.  I punched a hole with my "pokey tool" and threaded some Bakers Twine through it.  I then stuck the cello bag sticky strip down, with the Bakers Twine under it so the tag wouldn't slide off.  For about the first dozen or so I tied a nice bow on each one ... then I realized I'd be there until NEXT Valentines Day if I did that for all 63 of them so for the rest I just knotted them.  I somehow don't think the 7 and 9 year old crowd will mind :)

Yesterday my mission was to create a quick "male" Valentine card using the chalkboard technique (for class this Friday).  Mission accomplished!  Approximately 7 minutes later I was done.  This is what I came up with:

It has been "guy approved" by Craig.  Yes, this is his card ... and yes I had to show it to him yesterday just to get the endorsement :)  I wasn't sure I would keep it of the Technique card ... it's quick and simple!  ... but in the end I decided to get over myself and leave it as it was.  Guys don't WANT fancy, frilly or sparkly ... and it's supposed to look like a chalkboard ... so how fancy can you get anyway??!!  It's so easy to get this great look.  I started by very lightly and very gently swirling some white Staz-On onto the black card stock (that's when I thought SU no longer carried theWhite Craft Ink).  Now that I know I'll use the Craft Ink ... it "moves" better.  Another method to get a great look is to simply tap the black cs with your embossing buddy so the white powder "poofs" onto the cs.  It looks great ... but doesn't stay in place so I prefer the craft swirling method :)  I stamped the "Love You" which was one of the single stamps you could purchase up until January 3rd.  Did they carry those over?  I don't think so ... I have to check into that.  It's the perfect sentiment for MY guy ... we're not all mushy gooshy in our cards ... a simply "Love You" is perfect for us (we leave the mushyness for the inside *lol*).  I used the heart image from Hearts a Flutter and the "love" from Pennant Parade.  Those were all stamped in the white craft ink.  A little strip of red and a rhinestone colored red with a Sharpie and you're done!  The quickest card EVER!

I'll leave it there for now ... but pop back tomorrow for an AWESOME card which will be another one we are making in class Friday.  LOVE IT!!!  Until then ....

Have a stampy day (and stay positive!!!)

Tam

Doggie Thank You

Happy Wednesday!

Ahhh ... today is MY kind of day ... I have NOTHING written on the calendar!!!  The plan is to do a little cleaning and a LOT of crafting - PERFECT!!!

Today I want to share the card I will be giving to my friend Tammie as a Thank You for her watching my pup while we were in Hawaii.  I had booked Koda in at the kennels months ago but I just couldn't cope with the thought of leaving him there for 2 weeks.  Luckily Tammie offered to watch him for us!!  We we thrilled ... and SO grateful!  I have a little thank you gift for her and I made a card to go with it.  I can't take credit for it ... it's a case from the fabulous Mary Fish.  Here is her original card:

Isn't it fabulous?  So clean!!  I tried to make a similar card but using punches to make a dog bone.  It sucked.  It hit the garbage pretty quickly and I turned to Mary's card for inspiration.  I 100% cased the paw idea ... the rest a changed slightly.  Here is my version:

I used some retired DSP I had lying around (ONE day I'll actually USE my DSP the same year it is current!).  The paw (which my husband didn't "see" as a paw ... all he saw was an upside down heart *lol*) is made from the large heart punch and the small oval punch from Crumb Cake card stock.  The DSP is layered on some Soft Suede cs.  The sentiment is from Wacky Wishes - one of the hostess sets in the main catalogue, stamped in Soft Suede.  The ribbon is the Soft Suede Taffeta.  I added a jumbo pearl and a few regular ones for accent.  LOVE IT!!!  I can't wait to give it to her :)

That's all for today.  Pop by soon for my tutorial on how to make an adorable Valentine Gift Card Holder ... until then - have a stampy day!!

Tam

"Today I Choose ..." Journal

Alooooooohaaaaaa!

Yes ... I'm back from the beach, re-charged and ready to roll!!  I've been PLANNING to post for a few days now but ... well ... apparently I'm still in relaxation mode and nothing has been happening very quickly around here!  While I guess that's a good thing in THEORY it doesn't really help you when you pop in and see the same post for 2 weeks straight, right?  *lol*

I'll bore you with just a FEW pics and highlights from our trip.  Here are a few pics (well, maybe a more than a FEW ...):

(Yep - somehow our Elf on the Shelf "Trixie" made it to Hawaii too!!  Imagine our surprise when we were going through our pictures and found some of Trixie!!!)

We went to Maui .. and stayed in Honokowai.  Do I even need to say it was fantastic??  Some of the things we did:

• Whale Watching
• Snorkeling to the Crater and Tutrle Town
• Hyatt Luau
• Zip-lining
• Shopping, browsing and more shopping :))
• Beach, pool and more beach :))
• Relaxed
• Bickered and whined (this was more the girls than me *lol* ... there was a LOT of 24/7 family-together-time ... while you would HOPE that would lead to many "Hallmark Moments" in reality it often leads to trouble!!

Overall the happy memories and relaxing times far outweighed the more "challenging" times and I came home VERY relaxed.  Having said THAT, I'm ALWAYS happy to get home and back to my normal routines.

Now!  About stamping!  While I was away I did the usual holiday-type-thinking ... you know ... replecting on your life ... what is good about it .. what needs changing and so on.  I realized (after it took me about 4 days to catch up on some sleep and 7 days to truly unwind!) that I needed to adjust the balance (or lack-there-of) in my life.  I realized that I was spending SO many hours THINKING about stamping and my business that I was missing out on the things I wanted to be able to do by HAVING a home-based business!  I didn't have TIME to volunteer at school ... I was spending too many evenings and weekends WORKING than spending time with my family ... if I DID spend time with them I wasn't truly "present" .. always multitasking and/or my mind thinking about other things.  SO!  As happens everytime I come home from a holiday I vowed to change things.  Oh I know ... changes usually only last about as long as a New Year's resolution but so far ... in the first week ... I have already made 2 or 3 decisions that let me know that I was CHOOSING to do things rather than HAVING to do things.  IT was VERY empowering.  Case in point.  2 days ago I was supposed to go to the Belinda Elsworth seminar here in Edmonton.   Anyone who knows me knows how much I love and respect Belinda.  She has helped my business in SO many ways!  When I got the e-mail about her seminar I signed up right away ... and couldn't wait to see her in action for the second time.  Then Sunday came.  I had a WONDERFULLY relaxing Friday and Saturday, spending time with friends, family and crafting (just for FUN!).  Sunday came and I realized I didn't want to GO to the seminar!  I started getting grumpy because of course PART of me wanted to go ... and I had already paid for it ... blah, blah, blah ... but as I was showering and getting grumpier about it I stopped and realized ... I didn't HAVE to go!!!  Duh!  Hello?  Yes, I'd already paid for it - so what?!  That's a sunk cost!  IT's paid for whether you go or not!  I wanted to stay home, craft with the girls and make Cake Pops.  So I DID!!!  OMG!  It felt SO amazing to make that little decision!!!  I made a few others in the last week that felt equally as good!  I've given myself permission NOT to do everything every other Stampin' Up! Demonstrator is doing .. it's OK not to earn the crusie I really wanted to earn ... I realzed that the return on investment just wasn't worth the cost of my time to the family.  So things have changed.  I am working smarter, not harder now and hope that I can maintain it.  Wanna see what I did to HELP myself maintain it?  I made what I call a "Today I Choose ..." Journal.  It's like the popular Gratitude Journals you hear about all the time (but frankly I could never keep that going ... after about day 16 I think I'd be stretching for decent things to be thankful for !!)  So this is a picture of what I created:

Isn't it pretty?  I just love it!  Originally it started out as a project I wanted to make with Rebecca, my eldest daughter.  I saw the idea on Pinterest ... a lady created a journal whereby her and her daughter wrote letters to each other in the journal and then left it under the others' pillow.  It was their form of communication.  I thought it was a lovely idea ... but then I realized Rebecca and I still talk about EVERYTHING.  I'm sure one day ... when she's in her teens ... she might be embarrassed to talk about certain subjects and at that point I will bring up that idea ... but in the meantime we just created these.  What I plan to do every day is to write a positive thought, affirmation and/or "choice" for the day.  I've only done it for 2 days but so far I found it really starts the day off on a positive note.  My first day was "I CHOOSE to eat healthy today".  Today's was "I CHOOSE to have a healthy work / life balance today".  Other ideas will be "I choose to smile today" ... "I'm beautiful WITHOUT makeup" ... "Today I choose to focus on ME" and so on.  I'm encouraging Rebecca to come up with positive affirmations to help her with her self confidence "I am smart" ... "I am kind" ... "I am silly" ... "I can do anything I put my mind to" and so on.  I decorated a few of the pages inside ... and will do more when I want to stamp "freely":

I think it's such a fun idea!  So ... just some details about the book itself ... I bought a 5 x 8 journal at Home Sense.  It is a hard cover.  I covered it with some retired Attic Boutique paper (SO pretty!) using Modge Podge.  I then just started playing!  I grabbed my Artisan Embellishmant Kit that is in the new mini (page 10 - $11.95) I used a sponge to color the doiley in Baja Breeze Ink.  I grabbed my Pop-Up Posies Designer Kit (also in the mini - page 18 - $15.95 for the embossed tag that I stamped with Soft Suede one of the sentiments from "From My Heart" (page 139 of the main catty - $35.95 clear; $48.95 Wood) - it's perfect!  "The secret to life is enjoying the passing of time".  LOVE IT!  I then used more items from the Artisan Kit to decorate it.  A little Bakers Twine and a Tea Time Trinket (mini - page 3 - $7.95) as well as a little key (I used one I bought in Hawaii).  I added a few pearls here and there and then used my Spritzer Tool to spritz some Soft Suede all over it (you can see it very well in the photo.  That was it - I just "went with the flow" and love how it turned out.  I highly encourage you to make one .. for whatever purpose!  It's just fun to "play" with no particular reason required and no particular deadline to meet.  Just do it for YOU and for FUN!!!

That's it for now.  Pop back again soon to check out the cute little card I made for my friend who watched my pup while we were away.  Until then ... have a stampy night!

Tam

Petite Birthday

Happy Tuesday!

I'm currently on a plane on my way home :(  On the bright side I get to see my cat and dog in a few hours :)

Right - last SAB post ...

This card almost didn't see the light of day.  I personally don't like it.  I ALMOST like it ... but it needs something, at least I think it does.  I put it on my display board simply because I had 1 more space to fill.  Turns out everyone liked it best!  So!  Who am I to deny the masses??  It stays ... and gets posted here :)

OK ... it looks a little squashed ... it really is standard size!

I used Very Vanilla and Not Quite Navy cs and ink. The DSP is from one I haven't pulled out for a while but LOVE ... Summer Smooches! It's fairly self explainatory so I'm not even gunna try to tell you about it.  It's 12:12 am and I'm losing all feeling in my butt ... I'm off to move around now.

I hope enjoyed my SAB projects while I was away.  I'mm be back in my craft room soon (well, after I do a few loads of laundry and snuggle my pets!) and will have new projects to show you.  Thanks for checking in.  Have a stampy day!

Tam

Patterned Occasions Latte Love

Happy Sunday!

I hope yesterday's video posted correctly ... I couldn't seem to get it to play when I typed it ... but hopefully it played when it posted ... I'll check when I'm back from holidays - I really wanted to share it with you!

Right - I've been doing this for 3 hours now and my butt is falling asleep ... so ... next up in my SAB samples:

Any questions?  Oh .. I know .. you are wondering if there is a punch for the little hexagons.  Short answer no.  Run the DSP through the honeycomb folder and then snip them out with your paper snips.  It really is easy and not as fiddly as you would think!  I used the Comfort Cafe DSP and Cajun Craze cs.  The Image is  from Patterned Occasions in Early Espresso.  I like the pearls dotted here and there ... adds a little "somethin'"

Have a stampy day!


Tam

Where do you get YOUR inspiration from?

Happy Saturday!!!

Today I wanted to share with you a fabulous video made by one of my lovely customers, Monica Lipscombe.   Monica shared it with me and kindly gave me permission to share it with you!  Check this out - it's amazing!  Which leads to my question ... Where do you get YOUR inspiration from???

Thank you so much for sharing your talent with us, Monica!!

Have a stampy day!


Tam

Sycamore Street Pretty Petites Case

Happy Friday!

Yep ... the posts are getting shorter as I'm getting more and more tired *lol*

This next SAB card is one I cased from Tricia Raineri - a fellow demonstrator from VIC, Australia! You can check out her work at www.thespeckledsparrow.blogspot.com.  Here's the card:

Love it!  I made this into a 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" card using Tangerine Tango cs and ink.  Obviously I used the new Petite Curly Label punch and used the SAB Sycamore Street DSP for the patterned paper.  The "THank You" is from the Pretty Petites SAB set.  Great card Tricia!  TFS!

Pop back tomorrow for something different ... a YouTube video made by one of my customers!!!

Have a stampy day!


Tam

Feeling Sentimental Case

Happy Wednesday!

Another quick post today (as you will recall ... I'm typing this last week ... before I left for vacation ... it's now 11:25 pm ... I'm yawning like crazy, my eyes are burning and my fingers are starting to cramp up from all the typing *lol* ... but I'm determined to post all 7 projects and pull an all-nighter ... heck, I'm almost there - I have to take a shower in a mere 2 hours!!!)  So, without further adeau (is that how you spell it ... don' t know ... don't care ... *lol*)

I can take no credit whatsoever for this card.  For once I actually cased a card 100% as I saw it.  Didn't change a thing.  It's perfect the way it was when the original designer "NYIngrid 01" from Splitcoast Stampers designed it.  Here is her version ... and mine!

It simply uses the Feeling Sentimental stamp set, in Midnight Muse ink and Card Stock.  The DSP is from the new Parkers Patterns DSP (page 20 of the mini - $13.50)

Clean, simple, quick and lovely.

Have a stampy day!

Tam

Bloomin' Marvelous!

Happy Monday!

One more day to go until the big SAB promotion!!

Here is my next SAB card - made with the Bloomin' Marvelous set:

Fun!  Everything on this one comes from the FREE SAB items!  The Bloomin Marvelous stamp set, the Tangerine Tango ribbon and button and the Vine Street embossing folder.  I used Daffodil Delight for the flower and Gumball Green (stamped off once or twice) for the leaves.  Tangerine Tango is the sentiment.  A fun card made with all free product!!

Have a stampy day!


Tam