Handcrafted By Dawn Evans

1 Year and 13 Days Later.......

2012-02-10T10:30:00.000-05:00

Wow, do I have a lot of catching up to do!!! It has been a very long while since I have posted and truthfully, it's been a long while since I even wanted to post. Last year was not a good year and hope to not have to repeat a similar one any time soon. Next Friday, February 17 will mark one year since I lost my dad....I never imagined how hard it was to lose a parent. I have lost other folks in my life (I am far from being a spring chicken), but to lose a parent was incredibly hard for me....my dad...my hero. I never told him that, but I hope he knew I would walk through fire for him. This is my favorite picture of us ever......

Dad had been ill for a while with COPD, he was sick a lot longer than he ever admitted, but he was a stoic man. It was honor to have helped care for him during his last few days at my parents home. My brother, husband and I were there 24/7 and I would not have had it any other way. I did not have the desire to do much over this last year other than the things that had to be taken care of, family, our business, helping Mom take care of all the "stuff". As much as I knew I needed to be there, I stayed away from my church and church family, but they supported me through cards and phone calls, I didn't craft, I didn't read, but I tell you what I sure could cry you a river when those darn COPD medication commercials came on the TV! Yes, even now I have to laugh at goofy things like that to keep the tears at bay. I was so lost for so many months and then my Pastor asked if she could come visit me at my home. She had been so kind to offer her services over the previous months...my husband would come home from service and let me know who was asking after me and what did I need or want, but I just shrugged it off because I could do it on my own....yeah, right. Little did she know the tidal wave of emotions that she was about to be hit with, thank you and bless you Kim! Since that visit I have slowly been getting myself involved in the things I once enjoyed....I started my crafting journey back by crocheting baby caps for the local hospitals, I returned to Church and my family there received me with open and loving arms, and I finally started paper crafting again....hooray!!! So this brings me to where I am today, bending your ear with a wish to do what I enjoy and share my creations and yes, Dad would want me to be happy.

Well, now that sure was a not quite so happy way to start back with my blogging journey! But on to happier moments with an end of the year (that would be last school year... 2010-11) thank you card and gift made for my son's teacher.

I really enjoyed using the new embossing powders on this Flower Fest card. Just do me a favor and ignore that little dark spot on the "thanks" sentiment. I was a very bad girl and did not get my digital camera sensors cleaned like I should have and this was the price I paid.

I am not sure why this next picture came out so dark, I used the same light box, camera, etc....the end result is not so good. I gave the teacher some monogram cards as well as all occasion cards.

Monogram Note Cards

Because I Care Thank You card

Just Believe

More Because I Care (yes, I really liked this stamp set)

Just Believe (again...I really like this one too)

And another Because I Care.

Well, I should wrap up this first post for 2012 and get to my list of must-do's for the day. I will do my best to post on a more regular basis ....I do have a few pictures stashed away of the cards made over the last few months.

Thanks for stopping by and reading my ramblings. I look forward to many more posts!!!

Charming Inspiration

2011-01-28T16:39:00.002-05:00

I was inspired to create this card for my youngest son's preschool teacher for her birthday. Her favorite colors are green and blue green. I received a card similar to this from a recent swap (posting of swap cards coming soon), but changed a little here and a little there. Seems I just cannot get enough of this Victoria Crocheted Trim, I love it! The stamp set is Charming and the sentiment is from the Occasions Mini set Create A Cupcake. I have also developed a very strong liking for the Naturals cardstock and used the Naturals White with Garden Green, Not Quite Navy, and Peach Parfait card stock and inks.

Our class sent both the teachers out to lunch together-something they rarely get a chance to do so I creatively folded their lunch money into hearts. These were $10 bills and I love how the image came out after all the folding. Believe me, if I had tried to make it happen it would not, so this was just a stroke of luck and the the design of the money. I made a "pocket" with punched hearts to hold the money hearts and adhered with Stampin' Dimensionals.

And here we are! Money hearts tucked neatly into a color coordinated heart pocket. I really had fun creating this card and I thank Melissa Bunn for sharing her talents to inspire me to create Mrs. B's birthday card!

Break Time with Bold Blossom and Punch Bunch

2011-01-28T11:41:00.001-05:00

Well, thought I would take a break and post a couple of card samples. I have been scrubbing the cabinets under the sink from overflow where we had a massively stubborn clogged that we worked on for about 4 days!!! Finally we had success with the help of an old friend of my husband's who just happens to be a plumber, thank you Thann. Needless to say I would muuuuch rather be crafting than scrubbing, ha! ha!

This past Saturday I met with a great group of ladies to talk a little Stampin' Up! business and swap some cards. I am posting my two swap cards today and will add pictures of the other swaps I received. There were some very talented ladies and their cards are too beautiful not to share. Keep checking back for those posts.

This is the Bold Blossom stamp set from the Occasions Mini. I CASEd this from....oh shucks, she didn't watermark her photo and I course I forgot to write it down! I did make a few changes by stamping the flowers directly and not cutting them out. I also used pearls in the center rather than brads, white satin ribbon rather than Daffodil Delight ribbon and stamped the sentiment from the Sale A Bration set So Happy For You then punched with the Modern Label Punch, while the original had the birthday greeting (Sincere Salutations) stamped directly onto the green. I believe I found the original on Stampin' Connection and it is so cute. Thanks to the original stamper for the inspiration!

I used inspiration from Julie Davison for this card. Using the Sale A Bration stamp set Punch Bunch, Rich Razzleberry cardstock and ink, Springtime Vintage DSP from the Occasions Mini, and the Square Lattice Embossing Folder I added more layers than Julie's original which you can see here:

http://juliedavison.com/ProjectKits/1012_MonogramNotecardKit/index.html. Since I am still relatively new to this whole blogging thing I hope it is okay to link back to Julie's original creation, if not please kindly and gently let me know.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek at my latest work. I will get busy on showing those other swap samples in the next few days. Have a great weekend!

Lovely As A Tree

2010-10-17T00:10:00.001-04:00

I really must pull this Lovely As A Tree seet out more, it makes wonderful cards! This is another CASEd card that has been tweaked to make it my own. The layout is the same but the original has 2 brads on the layer with the stamped tree and used the chocolated chip gingham ribbon (retired), and a circle punched sentiment (retired). I chose to us the EnFrancais background stamp with So Saffron Ink to add some interest to the first layer. I also wanted to add more texture so I used the Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder the the all narrow strip and mounted that on a Chocolate Chip layer.
The tree image was stamped in Chocolate Chip ink on Very Vanilla cardstock and the edges were hit with a little Crumb Cake for that aded feel. I think this would be a good manly card, but would probably use the Square Lattice Embossing Folder in place of the Vintage Wallpaper in that particular case. All in all, this is a simple and easy card to do, simple and elegant, one of my fovorite things. Thanks for stopping by for a look.

Ahhhhh...Baja Breeze

2010-10-16T00:05:00.001-04:00

I do so like this color. This is another CASEd card that was tweaked a bit here and there. I decided to Scallop Punch both edges of my paper strip layers, used White Taffeta Ribbon rather than the Early Espresso 1/8" Taffeta, and stamp my image in that soothing Baja Breeze. The original was stamped in Early Espresso with the flower image was stamped in Pear Pizzaz , trimmed close and matted on another piece of EE CS.Looks like it the flower image and the rectangle image were adhered using dimensionals as it seems to have a lot of depth in the picture. I really liked the original, but wanted to change a few thing to make it mine. Well, they do say that imitation is a form of flattery, right?

Seems that I have about 8 ladies signed up for my class Tuesday night. I have already started to cut paper and organize the card packets. We'll be doing 3 cards and one 6x6 scrapbook page that I will show how to make it a progressive page. I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed for a successful evening.

Thanks for popping in to see my latest endeavors.

Here Birdie, Birdie, Birdie

2010-10-15T00:15:00.001-04:00

I better be careful and not read my title out loud or our Border Collie Daisy will think it's time to go out and chase the birds in the backyard. She is such a silly girl and loves to chase birds and squirrels. All my husband has to do is say "Daisy, where are those birds?" and she justs starts "talking" with the funniest barks. I have to tell you a little abut my Daisy girl as she was pretty much a rescue. A guy I used to work with had purchased her for his little boy, but upon a vet visit it was determined she was deaf. The training of a deaf dog was a little more involved that what he wanted for his son so Daisy was returned to her breeder. A couple of days or so later my friend told me that the breeders were going to put her down if they could not find someone to take her. Needless to say I was horrified and was not going to let that happen! Well, we ended up getting a FREE Border Collie puppy, hurray! When we took Daisy for her first vet visit it was determined again that she was deaf. One day my hubby and I were in the back of the house and Daisy was in the front, but we just started calling her name and clapping and what do you know...here comes a clumsy, cute as a button puppy trotting through the house ready to play!!! I don't know if she had some "developmental delays" regarding her hearing, but I will tell you one thing, our sweet Daisy Mae can hear a pin drop now!

Okay, back to paper crafting; sorry for the side trip. I used More Mustard Ink on the Sanded Background stamp on MM CS. Other papers used were Cajun Craze, Not Quite Navy, and Very Vanilla. The images were stamped off in Cajun Craze, More Mustard, and Chocolate Chip--this is terrible, I think it was CC, I can't remember, but I do know that I stamped off on scrap to give it a lighter image. I really like my pheasant, I wanted a colorful bird! I used my Stampin' Write Markers in Not Quite Navy, Cajun Craze, and More Mustard. Where the MM and NQN blended on the tail feathers there is a hint of green in a couple of places. I finally pulled out the Hemp Twine for a touch of texture.

I thought this would make a nice manly card for birthday or get well or just to say hi. I intentionally have been leaving most of the sentiments off the cards so people can see the verstility in each one. Have a great day and thanks for popping in!

I Love Green

2010-10-14T00:15:00.001-04:00

I love so many shades of green and not sure if I have ever met a shade I didn't like. My mom is a green person too except when it comes to her birthstone. She was born in August so her stone is a Peridot. She thinks it just to pale. I, on the other hand love it! Glad that I do too since my youngest was born in August, in fact he was born on my mom's birthday. We actually planned it that way since we were having a C-section and her birthday fell right in the time frame that the doctor wanted to deliver. How convenient and cool is that?!

Okay, back to cardmaking....When I first saw this Studio Sletches stamp set I thought watercolor and then I stumbled across a design like the one above. Of course I forgot to jot down the name of the original artist so if it's you please give a shout out for the credit. I did make a few changes. Rather than using DSP (because I thought I didn't have the same pattern as the original, but it ended up that I really did have some) I once again made my own using elements from the Charming and Itty Bitty Bits stamp sets stamped on Old Olive CS with OO Ink. I also used another piece of lace while the original used Grosgrain Ribbon. The background is En Francais stamped in Crumb Cake while the main image was colored with the Stampin' Write Markers in Old Olive and Cajun Craze. As you can tell I got in a paper tearing mood, but I think it lends a rustic air to the overall feeling of the card. Of course all those torn edges got hit with some Crumb Cake ink for a touch of distressing.

Thanks for stopping in for a look!

The Creativity Continues

2010-10-13T00:15:00.001-04:00

The Bella Toile Stamp is so elegant and versatile and I hope it stays around for a very long time. This card was stamped in Elegant Eggplant Ink on Whisper White CS. I really liked the way the Best Wishes stamp from the Oval All set compliment the simple elegance of this card. The sentiment was punched with the Large Oval Punch and then mounted on a piece of EE CS punched with the Extra Large Scallop Oval punch. Add a strip of cardstock edged with the Scallop Trim Border Punch, White Taffeta Ribbon, mount this all on a 4.25"x5.5" piece of Elegant Eggplant and call it a day.

As always, thanks for stopping by to visit!

More Vintage

2010-10-12T00:15:00.001-04:00

There is nothing like a little distressing with ink and paper tearing topped off with a little lace and antique brads...ahhhh....

I am probably one of the worst consumers of DSP or any patterned paper...I hate to see it go so I tend to hoard it. I wonder if this qualifies as an obsession? Oh well, I have only purchased Greenhouse Gala and Newsprint DSP so I made an attempt to make my own patterned paper. I used elements from the Artistic Etchings set for the background and back to Puns FromThe Past for the main image. The base paper is Soft Suede stamped in Soft Suede Ink. The image is stamped in Early Espresso Ink on Very Vanilla CS matted on Early Espresso and matted again on Crumb Cake. All edges were distressed with scissors and Crumb Cake Ink for a subtle aging effect. This time I used the Chantilly Lace with one of the Antique Brads. I ran a piece of Linen Thread from the sewing machine needle to the Tiny Tag Punch sentiments and used Stampin' Dimensionals to adhere the tags.

Thanks for stopping by for Day 2 fo my creative blitz!

So Nice To Play Again

2010-10-11T21:21:00.001-04:00

It was so nice to just sit back and be creative for a while. I am scheduled to do a papercrafting class at my mother-in-law's home next Wednesday and as I have been extremely slack in participating in any swaps my selection of samples are poor to say the least. I have spent the last couple of evenings creating some cards for my MIL to choose from and the rest will go into my samples stash. I am going to add a card a day until I get through my little creative blast here and hope that Blogspot doesn't blow up....it may not recognize my site with regular posting, ha! ha!.

This is one of the cards my "mom" chose for her class. She and I both love the vintage look as well as a black and white or black and cream color scheme. I have had the Puns From The Past set forever, but this is the first time it has seen any ink. The base is Very Vanilla cardstock edged with Crumb Cake ink layered with a Finial Press embossed basic Black. I really love the the Newsprint DSP, but did not want to completely cover the beautiful embossing so I just cut a small piece, distressed the edges with Crumb Cake ink to resemble aged newspaper. The Basic Gray layer was distressed with a pair of scissors as I do not yet have the new Distressing Kit followed by more Basic Black and then the stamped Grateful For You image on more distressed with CC ink on Very Vanilla CS. I have been wanting to use the new lace trims on everything so it is a good thing I left the Basic Gray layer longer to acommodate the Victoria Lace trim and hung a small tag using the Tag Punch and Linen Thread for the greeting.

It was really fun putting this card together and I hope you enjoy viewing today's creation and stop back for the next several days for new posts. Thanks for looking!!

Late Night Stampers

2010-09-02T16:58:00.009-04:00

FREE Greenhouse Gala Tote!!

2010-08-30T22:00:00.004-04:00

Become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator from September 1-October 18 (or until supplies last) and receive this Greenhouse Gala tote for free (a $39.95 value) with the purchase of your starter kit. These totes were a Memento Mall item at Convention this year...I really need to order one before they all get gone!

Easel Card-Post It Note Holder

2010-08-24T12:18:00.004-04:00

It has been a while since my last post...there has not been much creating over the summer. While checking my Yahoo groups I came across a couple of posts by Robbie Rubala and CherylAnn Robinson. I thought it was a really cute idea for an easel card.

My oldest started 2nd grade this year and his teacher is a sweetheart and a crafter ♥! Today is our first PEP conference so I thought I would take her a little project

This was also a great way to use some of my ginormous stash of retired paper. Ms. Shepard love hot pink, green, and purple so I grabbed some Pink Passion and Certainly Celery. This is the first time I have used my Friends Never Fade stamp set and the Square Lattice Embossing Folder and I love both of them! I am scheduled to do a class in October and I think I will do this as my 3D project, simple, cute, and useful. Wish I had been able to find some of the mini pens I have seen on other projects...it really would have completed the deal. Anyone know where to get the mini pens?

I had this cute little poem tucked away and thought it suited the start of a new school year. Sure hope Ms. Shepard likes her little gift!

Thanks for stopping by to look and feel free to leave a comment.

New Color Combo Machine...My Create Ink Color Lab

2010-06-19T21:05:00.002-04:00

Whoo Hoo!!!! Thank you Julie Edmonds for getting a brand new Stampin' Up! color combo machine up and running. I know there will be a lot of SU! demos jumping up and down tonight doing the happy dance. Go check out: www.mycreateink.com. Thanks again Julie!!!!!

I'm Late....

2010-06-18T23:17:00.003-04:00

I am late in posting these cards! In fact, I forgot I had done them....where does my mind go? I put these together in May for a wonderful lady named Vicki who was my 4 year old's preschool teacher assistant. The Crushed Curry/Bermuda Bay card is a direct CASE (sorry, can't remember from who...it's the mind thing again) with the Awash With Flowers stamp set. For the Elements of Style card, I believe I pulled ideas from several different samples to come up with this result. I will miss these shades of purple with the new Color Renovation, but from what I understand the Concord Grape is a to die for shade. Can't wait to get my order! Thanks for stopping by and here's wishing a Happy Father's Day to all the dads and granddads out there!!

NEW HOBBY...Uh-oh!

2010-06-03T17:45:00.005-04:00

Ever since I can remember I have wanted to try to make a quilt. Over the last five years I have had the privilege to be friends with a wonderful lady who happens to be a fabulous quilter so I have gleaned a few lessons here and there. This is one of 20 quilts that were made for our preschool teachers for Teacher Appreciation week. I took my baby steps helping my friend Cindy make these quilts by tracing hands, cutting hands,cutting squares, ironing the Wonder Under hands to other blocks, sewing strips together, and helping with the binding. At this point I was more than willing to let Cindy do the zig-zag stitching around the appliqued hands as it scared me to pieces to try. Needless to say, the quilts were a tremendous hit with the teachers and many tears of joy and amazement were shared. All this just fed my desire to make a quilt all on my own.

I have gotten my photos out of order as this is my third quilt ever and only the second to be done from start to finish by me...not to mention the largest quilt project completed by my two little hands. This quilt represents the hands of our church's youth group and Sunday School children. Our pastor and his family will be moving on to another church and we thought this was a great way for them to take a little piece of St. James UMC with them.It's hard to see in this picture, but on the border my friend Cindy quilted the prayer that Pastor Hunter ended each meeting with the youth: "May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine upon you, and be gracious unto you. May the Lord lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace. Amen". Other than Cindy quilting the prayer on the border, this is 100% handcrafted by Dawn.

My second ever quilt project but first done completely by me. I made two identical quilts for my 4 year old's preschool teachers Mrs. Keely and Mrs. Vicki. These are the hands of the Dinofours class hence the dinosaur fabric! This was a very straight forward project and I am so proud to say it was done ALL by me...whoo hoo! I tried something a little different by making the binding out of all the fabrics used in the body of the quilt rather than the solid black on the preschool staff or Pastor's quilts. I have always been my own worst critic and rarely like 100% of anything I make, however this is an exception. I LOVE what I did for Keely, Vicki and the Preston family and hope to make many quilts in the future. My dear friend Cindy, you may have created a quilting monster and for that I thank you!! I thank you all for stopping by for a look and please leave a comment if you are inclined.

End of First Grade Teacher Gift

2010-05-28T15:22:00.002-04:00

Well, my 7 year old is now officially on his way to 2nd grade. I am such a procrastinator...or maybe I just always fill my schedule up with too many things, either way I sat down last night to make some cards for Jack's teacher. It felt really good to play with paper again! Lately I have been really involved in making some quilts and my paper projects just pushed aside. Later I'll post pictures of the quilts.

I don't know why, but the black seems washed out in these pictures, but not so IRL.

Layers on all of these cards were minimal if I used any at all. Of course, once I had put them all together I wish I had at least used some embossing folders or plates on the background.

So glad I got the Favorite Thoughts stamp set and I am really trying to do better about mixing stamps designs from different set.

Sad to say, this is the first time I have ever used Circle Circus, but it won't be the last. What a cool way to make your own background paper.

Yes, I meant to make it crooked...ha! ha!

Cannot wait to play with this set more!

The versatile Pocket Silhouettes.

CASED this really cute scratch paper holder from Karen Egeland, thanks so much for sharing! Of course I had to add a matching pen.

I was so happy to see this stamp set in the mini catty. I will certainly get good use from this First Day set! I did tell Ms. Karam if she decided to switch grades we'd have to adjust the number I popped up, but she just laughed and said she was staying with first grade. Thanks for stopping by. Everyone please have a safe and fun Memorial Day weekend and let us not forget the reason that we celebrate it in the first place. Thanks to all the men and women who have served, are serving and will serve to protect the freedoms we are so blessed to have!

NSR...Not Stamping Related...

2010-04-23T14:17:00.002-04:00

I just had to add these closeup pictures of the beautiful quilts we made for our preschool teachers. This one happens to be for my son's teacher and his class is the Dinofours. There were a total of 20 crazy quilts made and then 3 panel quilts featuring the Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. As I have said before, my hat is off to my quilting queen friend Cindy. She did such fabulous work and very quickly I might add. I helped where I could, ironing on the Wonder Under, tracing hands, cutting out of hands, ironing of hands onto squares & binding, trimming, however the only sewing I did was limited to sewing the squares into to strips.

Each quilt was quilted with a pattern that was somehow related to each class. As in this picture, the Dinofour class quilts were done in a dinosaur pattern. I think Cindy did a fantastic job matching patterns to classes. Other examples were the Cat in the Hat for the Dr. Seuss class (3 year olds), fish for the Fishy Fours class, ladybugs for the Ladybug class (2 year olds)...well, you get the idea.

Just another example of my friend's amazing talent! Well, I have actually taken the plunge and have started working on a quilt similar to these, but I can't say too much in case the recipients happen to be blog readers :-) I just hope I paid good attention to everything Cindy did. I am quite anxious to finish as these will be my first ever quilts all on my own. Wish me luck and thanks for looking!

Teacher Appreciation Luncheon

2010-04-10T17:50:00.003-04:00

Friday, April 9th was our annual Teacher Appreciation Luncheon for our preschool teachers. As mentioned in my previous post, the theme was an Afternoon High Tea. Our fellowship hall is quite large so we made the setting a bit more intimate by setting up near our wall of doors and windows and using portable room dividers to "wall" in the opposite side. The teachers entered through the trellis to choose their seats.

The table settings were casually elegant. Two tables had matching tea cups & saucers while the other two had mixed settings...some borrowed, some thrift store finds.

We sat our party favor boxes on this table which was covered by a beautiful springtime quilt made by the mother of my parent co-coordinator, Cindy. It was such a cute set up. The ladies dined on cucumber sandwiches, smoked salmon on pumpernickel, chicken salad croissants, apricot scones, cream cheese scones, cheese straws and lots of fresh fruit. Believe me no one left hungry. For dessert, one of our room moms and party organizers made English Trifle and some really wonderful Lemon Tea Cookies....yummy!

After lunch we presented the teachers with their appreciation gifts. My school parent co-coordinator Cindy offered to make quilts for 20, yes I said TWENTY, teachers and staff members. I helped where I could, you know like the easy sewing and cutting parts :-) I cannot praise Cindy enough for the time, dedication, and love she put into this project. We started working on these quilts back in September and if memory serves me correctly Cindy completed the last binding the early or middle of March. Well, you could have heard a pin drop on the carpeted floor when the ladies opened their gifts...they had to wait to open them all at the same time.

Here they are!!! I have had the pleasure of knowing most of these ladies for the last five years when my oldest started at this preschool when he was 3. I have always made it a point to let my children's teachers know how much I appreciate all they do, as I am sure a lot of parents do, but the looks on their faces as they gazed at these beautiful pieces of art really made them realize that we truly mean those words of appreciation. This was a work of love for some fabulous ladies that lovingly teach our children.

Love Our Teachers

2010-04-03T11:25:00.004-04:00

It's that time of year... to let our preschool teachers and staff know how much they are truly appreciated. Every year we do a luncheon for our teachers and staff and this year's theme is an Afternoon High Tea and their gifts are fabulous, but I can't say or show what it is just in case any of them happen to read my blog. The luncheon is next Friday the 9th and then I will let the cat out of the bag. I try to do a handmade Save The Date card each year, usually stamped, but this time I had to depend on line art clip art for my focal image. I laser printed on watercolor paper and what a PAIN!!!!! Due to the texture of the paper the toner does not adhere properly (guess how I found that little tidbit out??) so I had to spray with a workable fixative so I could watercolor my images. Live and learn so the saying goes.

I used my Stampin' Up! Color Coach and Watercolor Crayons to fill in with the Dynamic Duos combinations. I think the only Duo I did not use was the Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa.

I printed the Save the Date phrase onto Confetti paper and still had to spray with fixative...hope the heat setting device on my printer is not going up. The phrased were popped up on Dimensionsals and then I punched some Dynamic Duo photo corners to fill in all that white space.

I mailed out 23 of these cards on Thursday...I know, can we say procrastination? Hope the teachers and staff enjoy receiving these as much as I enjoyed putting them together. I am really looking forward to spoiling them at the end of the week!

Happy Easter and thanks for stopping by!

By the way, sorry for the horrible lighting. I was in such a hurry to get these in the mail that I did not have time to pull out my mini photo studio and take better shots. That will teach me for not getting on the ball earlier.

My First Workshop

2010-03-31T16:02:00.004-04:00

I finally took the plunge to try to move from hobby demo to business demo. Here are some samples I worked up for my very first workshop ever!

A 6x6 scrapbook page. Love those tulips made with the wing from the 2 Step Bird Punch!

I really wanted to try the flower vase thing I have seen so many demos doing lately. Such a nice use of the Ornament Punch, what a lot of folks would consider a one season punch.

This is a case and I apologize I can not remember from who, sorry. I added the butterfly...love those Embosslits....and added Hello Baby from the Teeny Tiny Wished stamp set punched with the Word Window and (eeks forgot the name) punch. Such a versatile card by changing the greeting.

Thank you Dawn Griffith for showing this card! She is oen fabulous demo. The ladies at my workshop LOVED this card and were totally amazed how quick and easy it was. Once again, elegant and versatile. I did use the Embosslits butterflies and I believe Dawn Griffith used the Butterfly Punch. This was my demo card at the workshop.

This was the sample that I took to the workshop and wowed myself with how quick and easy it was to put together!

My first workshop was small with just the hostess and one guest, but my goodness did we have a good time! Nothing goes better than stamping with good friends...thank you Heather and Caron!

Thanks for stopping by!!

And the winner is....

2010-03-28T15:54:00.005-04:00

Last month I was desperately seeking some decision making help. I sent out a plea to my many Yahoo stamping groups for advice and I am just now posting the winner. PRIMA FLOWERS!!

I was commissioned to make some party favors for a father/daughter dance at a local church. When I first started working on these Pillow Box party favors I had originally used an all lavender flower with my Stampin' Up! punches, then I remembered that I had some Prima flowers amongst my embarrassingly large inventory of crafting goodies. I showed my ladies that organized the dance and to my chagrin they let me make the decision as to the Primas or keep it monochromatic.....if they only new how hard it was (and still is) to make such decisions! I put out a plea with my fellow crafters/stampers and it was a fairly close race, but the Primas won out. When I originally posted my samples, the Prima flowers were much brighter, enough so, that is what was making my decision so difficult. After a tad more rummaging I found some subtle pastel Primas and they hit the spot as they perfectly matched the silk flower centerpieces on the tables. I attached a bookmark stamped with the Very Vintage wheel and placed it behind the Pillow Box with a belly band holding it together. I always like to make a little keepsake that the girls can have to remember their special night with their fathers.

If any of my Yahoo group friends visit this blog posting, thank you so much for your input, you are so appreciated!

Thanks for stopping by to have a look and feel free to leave a comment.

Seems I Am On A Roll....

2010-01-18T22:13:00.002-05:00

Three days in a row of posting, sure hope the computer doesn't blow up. These are a couple of cards I made in December. This one is actually a birthday invitation for a winter themed birthday party. I'm not too sure how it shows up, but the card base was misted with the SU! Shimmer Paint mixed with alcohol to make my own "shimmer mist" So glad SU! carried these paints in the Holiday Mini and hopefully they will continue to do so. I'm sure others have tried, but I have not yet seen any posts about it, I wonder if it would work to add a drop of reinker to change the color...just think of the possibilities!
The card base was also embossed with a snowflake embossing plate that I had in my stash of craft supplies. Again, I am not sure if the photo really picks up on this. I do know one thing...I really need to order the SU! Snowflake punch because the Sizzix Sizzlets Snowflake dies are a real pain to pop out of the card stock. I think I will try shim or 2 the next time to see if it will help.

This is the thank you card I made to coordinate with the invitation. I must say I really like this and wished I had used the faux window technique to make the invitation as well. The striped awning flips up and the card panel with the faux window folds down to reveal the Simple Birthday Thanks stamped image. This was so much fun to make!

Don't Pass Out!

2010-01-17T19:33:00.003-05:00

Whoo hoo! Posting 2 days in a row...hope no one fell off their chairs by the shock! Last night I got a wild hair and decided I wanted to make a portfolio to hold the set of variety cards I made for my friend. I tend to do a lot of CASEing, but this one is all mine. The only problem I have with not casing is that it takes me F-O-R-E-V-E-R to come up with a design and then bring it to life. I delivered the completed portfolio with cards to my friend this morning at church and she really liked them, hurrah! I also received an order for another set from a dear lady that saw what I gave Betty and decided she had to have some too, yippee! Now if I could only keep the orders coming perhaps I can make that move from hobby demo to business demo like I have wanted to do for a while.

The base of the portfolio is Whisper White matted with a texture plate embossed piece of Soft Suede. The Kraft card stock layer is stamped with Always Artichoke and the retired Cranberry Crisp. The next layer is more Cranberry Crisp punched with the new Scallop Border punch. The top layer is Confetti White with Vintage Vogue vine image stamped off in Always Artichoke and finished with the greeting in Cranberry Crisp ink. I have said it before and I'll say it again.... I LOVE this Vintage Vogue stamp set!

A Little Variety

2010-01-16T14:56:00.006-05:00

Well, I have been absent for a while...again! I did not make a New Year's resolution to be a better blogger, since I never keep my resolutions anyway, but let's hope for more consistency in 2010.

A friend from church asked if I could put together a simple variety of cards for her to give to a special friend. These are definitely simple and some simply elegant. I hope she likes what I have created.

This card was done with the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder with the petals slightly tinted with the Crushed Curry. I felt the polka dots on the Crushed Curry ribbon would have been too whimsical for the elegance of the embossing so I just flipped it over and I do like that the few dots on the knot show .

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Ah, Rich Razzleberry, how I love this color! This was sort of CASEd from a card I saw on SCS. The ribbon and pearls came into play when I needed to cover an ink smudge...or two :-) I am also really loving the Vintage Vogue set!

I wanted to use the Very Vintage wheel between my embossed lines, but I did not leave enough room to accommodate the width of the wheel. Not wanted to waste a piece of card stock I decided to use my very lonely Baroque Border wheel with some Mellow Moss ink, a touch of MM ribbon and a Vintage Label and voila, a card was born!

Another partial CASE from SCS with that gorgeous Vintage Vogue stamp set. I used Dusty Durango and Blush Blossom papers and inks along with the Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder. The new punches, Scallop Trim Corner and Border are so pretty, but do take a bit of getting used to. I think they add an elegant touch to any card.

Okay, this card truly is mine unless I saw it somewhere and have subliminally created it without realizing it. I really, really like the embossing folders and am so glad SU! has started to carry them. I was using some from that "other" manufacturer...if you know what I mean, ha! ha! Here goes that Very Vintage wheel again in Brocade Blue. I never thought I would really use or like, that much, the butterfly thing that seems to be the craze now, but I do so like how they look here.

Last, but not least, an old stand by. I have been doing this one for about a year and I know it is a case, but not sure from where. So if this is your original creation, I thank you. Nothing says elegant like simple black and white.

I have a few more creations that I have done, but have been too lazy to upload. If I can get my self in gear, hopefully I will post again...soon :-) I have enjoyed sharing these with you and hope you have enjoyed looking. Take care my friends until next time!

Build A Bear

2009-11-14T20:57:00.003-05:00

A friend called the other day and wanted to know if I could work up a design for her daughter's birthday invitations. The party theme was candy and I thought what could I do? Luckily she was having a party at a place called The Lollipop Shop (completely new to me!) and at their parties you can choose a stuffed toy/animal, actually unstudied, and then stuff it with candy! Can you say sugar buzz for a lifetime...unless they are the size of a Beanie Baby :-) Well when I heard stuffed animal I immediately thought of the SU! Build A Bear dies and stamp set then became quite disappointed as I have not yet ordered any BAB items. Got on the phone to my friend and rescuer Rita. She saved the day by letting me borrow her dies and her brand new unused stamp set. I felt rather guilty by breaking in her new stamp set first. As it turned out, I only used the dies and get to return her stamp set new as the day she received it. I made the lollipop from WW card stock and the shaving cream technique aiming for the swirly effect of those gigantic lollipops kids are always attracted to and then added a touch of Stickles for some sparkle. Yes, I know the greeting is not SU!, but it was all I had. My friend picked up the invites today and seemed pleased with the result. Now to work up a design for her other daughter's birthday in December...party theme=winter so I'm thinking snow flakes or maybe the snowmen from the More The Merrier set. The most awesome thing about this invite is that the birthday girl has chosen NOT to ask for presents, but ask her guests to bring items for Project Night Night. This organization puts together small totes with a blanket, book, and stuffed toy for children at homeless shelters. This young lady truly has a heart of gold. If you get a chance go check out the website www.projectnightnight.org. Once again, thanks for taking the time to share my blog.

Holiday Gift Market

2009-11-13T23:14:00.002-05:00

Every November our church holds a gift market for missions. The past 2 years all of the items were fair trade products ranging from food, jewelry, and home decor from places like Vietnam, India, and other countries. This year, "crafty" church members were encouraged to donate some their art works so I pulled out my stamps to do my part.

Even though there are only 7 tags showing here, I made 8 different gift tags packaged in cute 2-4-6-8 boxes, that I neglected to take a photo of :-(
I made my own shimmer mist using SU!'s shimmer paint and rubbing alcohol in a mini mister and it added just a hint of sparkle to my tags and boxes. I also used some of the SU! silver elastic cording on each tag.

I just love this Snow Swirled set, it is so elegant! I have also found a new love....Spellbinders Nestabilities. I decided I really wanted to design this card with ovals and have not purchased the oval Bigz die yet so off I went with a coupon to one of those big box store and got my first Nestie. Sorry this picture and the next are a bit on the dark side.

I have loved this Cardinal since I purchased him last year and finally got around to using him. This frame was actually the remaining piece after cutting out the oval for the above card. I just had to use it for something so I ran it through my Big Shot using the Petals A Plenty Embossing folder and then layering over WW cardstock. Then using my Stamp-a-ma-jig and Staz On stamped Mr. Birdie and watercolored with reinkers and a blender pen.

My third card was the Holy Family stamp set on the shimmer cardstock using Night of Navy. I embossed the star and Baby Jesus' halo in gold and layered the trimmed Top Note on a gold Top Note.

I ended up with 6 boxes of cards, packaged 6 to a box, 2 of each design, in a clear acetate gift box (yes, I made those too) and was very happy to find out that all six sold!! I really liked the gift box that I stumbled upon and it held 6 cards and envelopes perfectly. Check out Tracy Schultz's blog at www.whoistracy.com

Well, thanks for looking and hopefully I will be back in the next day or so to post pictures of a birthday inivitation I made with the Build A Bear die cuts.

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-30T11:45:00.004-04:00

Hope everyone is getting ready for a spooktacular halloween! I am still waiting for my 7 year old to decide on a costume, can we say wait til the last minute? My 4 year old dressed as a "struschion worker" (yes, that is construction worker for you & me) for the preschool party yesterday; don't you just love the way the little ones pronounce words?! I usually try to give something other than candy at school so I altered the size of Angie Kennedy Juda's (http://www.mychicnscratch.com/) Halloween treat holder to fit a mini bag of pretzels.

I also changed up the scallop edge a bit by cutting out tiny little triangle pieces from the scallops to make some a little more boyish and used the Eyelet Border punch for the girls. My other change was to use a 5 1/2" x 1/4" piece of cardstock for the handle rather than ribbon. I figured that was a good economic move as we all know the kids care about what is inside and not the packaging.

Thanks for looking and Happy Haunting on Saturday night!

For My Wonderful Mom-in-law....A Brag Book

2009-10-20T20:57:00.005-04:00

My mother-in-law's birthday was a couple of weeks ago and my husband and I struggled for ideas for a gift. We finally decided a copy of all the preschool/school pictures we have would be perfect. I put together this little brag book showing our 2 boys chronologically since my oldest started preschool.

This is the first picture of the boys while both were attending the same preschool. My oldest was 4 and my youngest 13 months. When my husband looked at this picture the other day he said "hey, look at chubby". Just makes you want to go pinch a fat little baby roll!

This was last Spring's photo op. Oh, how grown my boys look!! Jack was in kindergarten and this was shortly before his 7th birthday. Ethan, in his very cool pose...and how they got him to do that I would like to know, was 3.

My little man's first grade picture with a spot holding for Ethan's fall photo. They were taken last week and I just got my information to go in and look at the proofs online today. The book is made from my enormous stash of chipboard coasters (I think I have a lifetime supply) and the retired SU! Primary Colors scrapbook kit. I removed the rhinestones from the brad base to add a little pop to the cover. I had so much fun creating this and it went really fast, but I almost feel that it is under embellished...but a 4x4 coaster does not leave a lot of room for additions :-( Now we can't wait to get together to give Mom her gift! Thanks for looking!!

Had to Post the Real Thing

2009-08-04T14:26:00.003-04:00

Okay, my OCD kicked in. I had to post the "real" thing rather than just my sample piece. See what I mean when I say that I embellish and change as I create? Please tell me there are others out there that do the same thing!

Close up of the bubbles. I used Waterfall Stickles and after it dried I top coated with Crystal Effects. I used a variety of DSP patterned papers and I tried to upload the picture to show you, but every time I try to upload the picture it mysteriously turns from a horizontal shot to a
vertical view. Needless to say it is beyond me at the moment. When I figure it out I will add it to the post...hopefully :-) Thanks for looking, again.

Finally Posting!

2009-08-01T09:16:00.004-04:00

I have finally gotten around to posting again...wow, that was a long break! I got a call on Wednesday for some last minute party favors for this Saturday and this is what I came up with. My customer had seen some other candy bar wrappers I had done and wanted to know if I could adapt to the occasion. This is just your standard Hershey bar wrapped in retired Pink Pirouette DSP and embellished with PP ribbon. The stamp set is the retired Bubble Queen (thank you Cheri for letting me borrow it and Rita for bringing it to me!). This was my sample and as always I find some other way to embellish as I progress. On the final design I used Waterfall Stickles on the bubbles and after it dried I topped it off with Crystal Effects and I love how it turned out...sparkly (is that a word?) and shiny. I changed the tag a little by using the SU! Tag Corner punch rather than the Ticket Punch shown here. When I emailed this sample to my customer she told me I must have read her mind because it was exactly what she had in mind. Don't ya love it when a plan comes together?! Needless to say I am a bit tired today as I stayed up to about 3:30 am getting these done; my 3 y/o has a birthday party to attend at 10:30 this morning and then I am to work with my husband's company this afternoon so we can get a job completed and ready to invoice (and it is a labor intensive job). Perhaps I shall sleep well tonight. Thanks for looking and hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Rubber hugs to all!!

Another School Year Has Ended

2009-05-29T23:02:00.003-04:00

I cannot believe I am now the parent of a First Grader...where has this year gone? This past Wednesday was the last day of kindergarten for my 6 y/o and we wanted to give each teacher on his team a small parting gift. When I made these flower pot cards I used the Sizzix Embosslits and the soon to be retired In Colors. The edges of the the flowers and leaves are inked to add some dimension. On the back of the pull out card we attached a Starbuck's gift card; very appropriate as there is a Starbuck's within very close walking distance of the school. In side we put travel size bottles of lotion and body spray in a very relaxing and peaceful scent. As much as I was unhappy with the gift bag in my previous post I soooooo love these gift bags and almost didn't want to let them go :-) As always, thanks for looking and have a great weekend!

Better Late Than Never

2009-05-29T22:17:00.003-04:00

Unfortunately punctuality has never been my strong point but my motto is better late than never! At the school my 6 year old attends each grade level is taught by a team of teachers. If you have been reading my blog you will have noticed 2 previous posts for birthday gifts for his kindergarten teachers, therefore 3 separate posts, one for each teacher. My hubby gave me a chuckle when I told him I was working on another teacher b-day gift. I think his words were like "How many birthdays do they have?" I think he focused more on Jack's homeroom teacher and not realizing there were 2 more teachers making Team Saturn...good thing there are moms to keep these things straight, huh? This was a very quickly thrown together gift bag...can't say I am completely happy with it, but at least it's better than the plain white bag it started out as.

I haven't made a 2-4-6-8 bag in a while and found it to be the perfect little holder for a little birthday chocolate.

Another chipboard coaster Post-It Note Holder and matching pen. This one is covered in Certainly Celery DSP and I FINALLY got around to using my Sticky Letters and Green Micro Beads from the Duo pack. Even though each teacher pretty much got the same items I tried to make each one a little bit different.

I will definitely be making more of these little boxes! It's one of Lauren Meader's templates called the Desk Top Organizer. I have seen this hold pieces of notepaper (as pictured), A2 cards/envies, candy, and even a baby-shirt; talk about versatility. You can find Lauren's templates at: http://www.papertreyink.com/timeless_templates.html
I used an Avery template for a 4.25x5.5 postcard and printed the Note From XXXXX on my laser printer. I used the Teacher's Pet stamp set and ABC Images stamp set on the lower right hand corner. Hopefully the next time I make these the procrastination bug will have departed my life and I will color in the images for a little extra pop. The monogram was made with the JustRite stamper and borders and layered on a 2" scallop punch. Thanks for looking!

Got the Flower Pot Bug

2009-05-14T23:49:00.004-04:00

Well, it seems I have caught the bug too! Seems everyone is making this adorable flower pot cards. I was really surprised how easy they were to make.

The card on the left is made with Pink Pirouette and will go to my 3 y/o's lead preschool teacher while the Pacific Point goes to his assistant teacher.

On the back of the insert I have attached a little envelope to hold a cash gift. The children will present the cards tomorrow at their end of the year class party. There are a ton of tutorials and examples on line for these cards so try your hand at making some...I think they can become addictive! Thanks for looking

Back At Last!

2009-05-03T23:05:00.008-04:00

It has been quite a while since my last post. I've been busy working on a scrapbook elements swap and coming up with an idea for 120 invitations! This needed to be a Hollywood themed invitation for another teacher appreciation luncheon. Hopefully the above photo will fit the bill...filmstrip and stars. Thanks to my ridiculously large Sizzix die collection I was able to make quick time cutting the filmstrip (not really as it probably took an hour PLUS to cut 120 of them)and of course the stars were punched with the SU! punches. I did adhere the stars with dimensionals for a little pop. My next project is to to come up with a party favor to coordinate with the invitation. I was thinking along the lines of the new SU! Matchbox Die filled with nuggets, but I think that will be too time consuming and costly for their budget. Then I had an "aha!" moment just a little bit ago. Now I am leaning towards making Hershey bar wrappers with the Walk of Fame motif. Once I figure it out I will do another post. Until then...happy crafting!!

Part 3, The End, I Promise!

2009-04-17T23:26:00.004-04:00

This is the coordinating gift bag to hold all of the goodies. This image was also stamped on watercolor paper, but this time I used the Watercolor Wonder Crayons.

I made an A2 card box to hold the six cards and envelopes and made the top from acetate to give a little glimpse of the goodies in side. The bottom is made out of Elegant Eggplant with a band of Whisper White stamped in EE using the Watercolor Vine Jumbo Wheel. I am sure you have noticed that I did not put any sentiments on the cards. No, I didn't forget, I just wanted Jenny to be able to use them for any occasion she chooses.

Well of course you have to have coordinating envelopes. I don't usually do this, but always admire it when I see it on other posts. Even though all the cards vary in shades of purple all the envelopes are the same. It was probably close to 3 am when I was wrapping up and at that point this was good enough!

It's a Peek-A-Boo box......

Peek-A-Boo it's chocolate....you can't have a birthday without chocolate, can you? I hope you have enjoyed this little trip through Teacher's Birthday Land :-)

Teacher Gift, Part 2

2009-04-17T22:50:00.004-04:00

Here's the second installment of the teacher's birthday gift. Looks like I will have to make it a triple play to get the last of the pictures in. The post-it-note holder is made from chipboard coasters covered with DSP and bound together with the Bind-It -All and of course there is a matching pen. I had to use the 1" O-wire as I was out of the 3/4" which would have been much better and the only local store that carries it was out as well. I have been hoarding my Hodgepodge Hardware so I decided to step up the cover with Jenny's monogram and the HH.

This card was actually posted earlier, but as I have a habit of doing, I embellished a little more after the initial picture was taken. The center of the Filagree Flower Designer brad uses a Circle Ice Rhinestone Brad.

Jenny's favorite color is purple so I am sure you have noticed the "theme" going on here. I tried something a little different by stamping in Craft white and then mixing together SU! White EP, Iridescent Ice EP and Dazzling Diamonds Glitter then heat embossing. The glitter efffect does not quite come through in the picture.

Nothing fancy here except a rather blurry picture, sorry. This is a second stamping after coloring with markers and misting then stamping on watercolor paper. Around the edge is faux stitching and then double matted on circles using the wonderful Circle Scissor Plus. Another piece of HH was used but I mixed together some Crystal Effects with a little reinker to color the inside of the ribbon slide. The background is the En Francais stamp. I also removed the Circle Ice Rhinestones from the brad part and adhered with glue dots. I will get the last installment out in a little bit and then we'll put this project to bed! Thanks for looking.

Kindergarten Teacher Birthday Package Part 1

2009-04-17T15:48:00.005-04:00

Ahhhhh, the sweet smell of success! I am finally finished with birthday present for my 6 y/o's kindergarten teacher. I really had a good time making this birthday package. For some reason, I had this overwhelming desire to use the Upsy Daisy set and along with the teacher's favorite color of purple the theme was set. The complete set consisted of a matching spiral bound notepad and pen, a chipboard coaster spiral bound post-it-note holder with matching pen, set of 6 gift boxed Upsy Daisy cards, and of course chocolate in a peek-a-boo box. I will post the second half of the gift set in my next post...hopefully a little later today. Oh, I almost forgot. I also altered the gift bag to coordinate with all the other goodies and included some stickers made for grading papers. The card designs were parital CASEs from Splitcoast with a "Dawn tweak" here and there. I sure do appreciate all the talent that Splitcoast showcases.

Thankful Thoughts

2009-04-16T22:08:00.002-04:00

Okay, I am either late for last year or early for this year...you can decide. I am still uploading past projects as I have still not finished my current birthday package for my 6 y/o's teacher. Usually I get my second and third winds after everyone goes to bed, but here lately I have turned into an absolute couch potato and every other kind of lazy vegetable come 9 o'clock! I really must do better. Back to the project at hand...I made these little treat bags for my 3 y/o's Sharing Feast at Preschool this past November. This is a school wide feast where all the classes meet in the Fellowship Hall and celebrate before Thanksgiving break. Of course you will recognize the Top Note die used for the bag topper and it was actually stamped with the small background stamp in the Thoroughly Thankful set. The turkey is made from various colors of cardstock using the Scallop Punch. I included the recipe on the back of the snack bag with the meaning of each ingredient to remind us of our beginnings and our many blessings. Thanks for looking!

CASEing Again

2009-04-13T22:53:00.002-04:00

Just sitting here finishing my Monday night routine with CSI: Miami and thought I would upload some pictures of this year's Sale-A-Bration cards. These were pretty much a direct case with a minor tweak here and there. I did these cards for a shoebox swap in January. Well, I really need to go make a birthday gift for my 6 y/o son's teacher...nothing like waiting til the last minute, huh? Hope everyone had a thoroughly enjoyable Easter weekend!

Altered Journals

2009-04-10T22:45:00.004-04:00

I made these altered mini journals last year for the preschool teachers of my then 2 y/o. My oldest son did not have Ms. Robin and Ms. Tammy since he didn't start until he was 3, but these two ladies were such awesome teachers and I am so grateful my little Ethan was able to spend a year with them! I am now getting ready to alter some mini spiral bound notepads. There is a really good tutorial for these by Angie Kennedy Juda at http://chicnscratch.typepad.com/stampinacademy/2008/03/notepad-tutoria.html

Once I get the new ones made I will post some pictures. I hope everyone has a wonderful Easter weekend!

Chipboard Coaster Photo Book

2009-04-09T21:55:00.005-04:00

When my hubby got elected to the board of directors of the IWCA he started to do a lot more traveling so I wanted him to have a little piece of family and home to take with him on each trip. I made this little book out of heavy weight chipboard coasters from the American Coaster Company. The DSP is now retired and the name completely escapes me, but I believe it was one of the western themed papers. I hinged the coasters with pieces of chocolate chip grosgrain and then covered with the DSP. Inside I placed some matted family photos we had taken at our last church directory photo shoot and embellished with some rub-ons and a personal note. The book folds in a zig-zag manner and closes with a grosgrain ribbon tied in a bow.

In February my DH was in Atlanta for the annual IWCA convention, March 19-April 1 he worked in Asheville, NC, this evening he left for Winston-Salem, NC and will return on Saturday evening, April 30-May 2 he'll be off to Houston, TX....and this is just for the beginning of 2009. Considering I made this book 2 years ago you can imagine how many travels it has been through!

Retired But Still So Cute

2009-04-09T21:32:00.003-04:00

When my oldest son was turning 5 (2007) he decided to have a pirate themed birthday

which thrilled me so I could use my Ahoy Matey stamp set. I was so sad to see it retire last

go round :-(

I had the best time making these and received so many compliments from the parents of the invited children. It was the first time of having a birthday party at our home and even though it was a pretty involved deal with it being a pool, bouncy house, water slide, hotdog/hamburger cookout party it was so worth it. Jack and his friends had such a great time! Last year we did a rock climbing party at an indoor climbing gym and it was really nice to leave all the setup and clean up to someone else. Okay, I was bummed that I could not find any stamp sets to make the invites and had to resort to using the gym's clip art invitations.

We have another b-day coming up in June and have yet to decide what a soon to be 7 year old may want to do this year. Maybe I can pull out my stamp sets and he can pick a theme from one of them...yeah, right!

Something for Mom

2009-04-08T21:33:00.003-04:00

Yes, I am a SU! addict, however I can be inticed by other stamping companies...guess that means I am an equal opportunity stamper! I fell in love with the Williamsburg, VA area as a child and for a couple of years after college I lived and worked there as well. I found these stamps by Impression Obsession and made these cards for my mom quite some time ago. They are very detailed stamps perfect for watercoloring. I was asked by Mitra Friant, the owner of IO, if she could post these on her website as examples. Needless to say I was overwhelmed though quite pleased. I also have several lighthouse/seashore stamps from IO and as the colonial stamps remind me of my days in VA the coastal stamps remind me of the years I lived on the Outer Banks of NC. For anyone interested you can find Impression Obsession at

http://www.impression-obsession.com/

This day has been a special day for me. My hubby, 3 y/o son, and I were treated to lunch out by my in-laws for my birthday. I am so lucky to have such wonderful in-laws and it can never hurt when your M-I-L likes to stamp and craft too. Then the afternoon was spent chatting, playing with Ethan, relaxing, getting a SU! order, attending a positive end of quarter parent/teacher conference for my 6 y/o son, and then dinner out. I received several email birthday wishes from stamping friends I have never personally met. This day has reaffirmed all the blessings of friends, family, and the small things in life I am so fortunate to have and I am very grateful to be so blessed.

BIRTHDAY AND GIFT CARDS

2009-04-07T09:15:00.003-04:00

I made these birthday cards and gift card holders back in February for my son's preschool teacher assistant and the support staff personel adopted by our class. The birthday cards were CASEd from Splitcoast and the gift card holder was CASEd from a shoebox swap I did in January

It's A Bun In The Oven!

2009-04-05T21:12:00.004-04:00

No, not what you think! It's an adorable way to present a cupcake or muffin, or even a pair of socks that look like a cupcake! I found this fantastic little project through Lauren Meader's blog
http://laurenm.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/ . She designs some wonderful templates that can be found at: http://www.papertreyink.com/timeless_templates.html. I am not affliated in any way other than being a satisfied customer. I made these goodies for my 6 year old son's teachers and some staff members for Staff (Teacher) Appreciation Week. During the week of March 23-27 we celebrated Teacher Appreciation at my 3 y/o's preschool. We decided to do it then as to avoid all the chaos of having it in May when the national celebration takes place and all the other schools would be celebrating. We just knew we would have ours done, recuperate in April and do it all over again in May at the elementary school. Well, that was not to be the case! Half way through our week at the preschool we get an email and letter sent home stating the elementary school would be celebrating the week of March 30-April 3! Oh well, at least now we are done for the year.

Flash Back To March

2009-04-04T18:52:00.002-04:00

Well, I thought I would step away from all the "girlie" posts and show my Top Note Leprechauns. I saw these little guys on at least two (possibly three) different blogs and pulled from here and there to come with with these. They are actually full cards so a message could go inside. Thanks to the ladies with the original designs at www.stamptillucramp.blogspot.com and www.technostamper.com and Beth Redding for the Top Note full card idea.

Ladies Tea

2009-04-03T13:44:00.011-04:00

These are the favors I made for the Ladies Tea that took place the same weekend as the Mother-Daughter Tea. Their theme was "Drinking From My Saucer". I had never read that poem before, but as I was trying to come up with design ideas for the table tent cards I read it and knew that it had to be an integral part of the tent card. The friend that I made them for told me the ladies so enjoyed the favors and that she was so surprised at what I had done for the tent cards and that it was such a nice touch. I have this horrible problem of always bumping up my original project ideas and I am sure it probably hurts my bottom line financially, but I am one of those design by the seat of your pants people when it comes to original designs. I really must work on this. In this particular case the good will it extended more than made up of the extra effort. And not too mention my name did get passed on to a lady at another church that is in the planning stages for her tea party!

I Forgot the Thank You Card

2009-04-02T22:52:00.002-04:00

I forgot to add the thank you card I made for my friend's tea party on the last post. I think it is very simple, but elegant. I used SU! Bella Toile background stamp, the new Texturz plates, square and round scallop punches and the Elegant Thank You stamp.

Mother-Daughter Tea Party

2009-04-02T21:52:00.009-04:00

These are the party favors I made for a friend whose church was holding a mother-daughter tea party. The moms received this cute little keyring post-it-note and the daughters received the Top Note purse. Isn't amazing all the things you can make with this die? Inside this little purse is a cello bag of pastel M&M's. The purse idea I got from my upline and the keyring note was from one of the many blogs I visit. I will admit it now and very honestly. I do not consider myself very imaginative and creative, but I sure can CASE! If I ever do post an original I will certainly give it a shout out, but for the most part my projects are CASEd and I very much appreciate and admire those with that innate creativity and willingness to share! And on that note, thank you to Joyce Persenaire for finding the blog where the umbrella card was CASEd. For those wanting instructions look at Sarah Brevard's blog: http://craftaholicsanonymous.blogspot.com/

As if anyone could not tell, I am very new at this blog thing and do not know all the ins, outs, and blog etiquette....so I hope it is okay to show another person's blog address. I am also in awe of all those blogs I see that show their SU! websites, online ordering, video demos, etc...It took me way too long to verify my site for Webmaster Tools so if anyone is inclined to share their knowledge of how-to's I would be eternally grateful. As always, thanks for stopping by and I will try to add more photos in the next few days.

A Baby Sprinkle

2009-03-31T23:09:00.000-04:00

A Baby Sprinkle....

I made this card for my friend Heather. She was given a baby "sprinkle" rather than a shower since she is having another little boy! I can't remember where I stumbled across the tutorial for this project, but I thought it was so cute. I changed it up a little by adhere the umbrella to a Cuttlebug Swiss Dots card base and held it shut by running the ribbon over the handle.

My Very First Post

2009-03-31T22:40:00.000-04:00

Well, I never thought I would see this day! I thoroughly enjoy looking at other people's craft blogs, but never in a million years would I have thought I would do it. What a totally new environment for me.... I will try to post a few picture of things I have been working on for a baby shower, church events, teacher appreciation

and then get around to some past projects. Thanks for stopping by!

This card was made for my three year old's wonderful preschool teachers and support staff. These ladies are fabulous and we have been so blessed to have spent the last four years (my 6 year old has attended as well) with them.