Can I Make it to Nap Time????

Yes, it is!!! That is my entire stock of embossing powders, glitter, Fun Flock, and mirco bead on my table ala Rachel!!!! Already informed DH that most MUST be replaced immediately and a childproof method of storage developed. Trying hard for "laugh instead of cry" routine but the tears are real close to coming!!!!!

Merry, Merry Penguins

Took a quick moment to post yet another Christmas card. I'm not particularly in the Christmas mood (don't want to rush glorious Autumn along) but I am playing to see what design I would like to use for mass production for my Christmas card list- you can't start too soon! I made this card the other day but forgot about it with all the chaos of last week and this past weekend. Anyway, these little penguins are called Penguin Games and they are from the Penguin Pals line by Stampendous. I colored the image with Copic Sketch markers then added Fun Flock, pompoms and Dazzling Diamonds to the image. My PP are Paper Salon that I won at the auction held by The Rubber Stamp Lady (lss) a few weeks ago. The bottom light blue paper is the reverse side of the plaid run through my Cuttlebug in the snowflake embossing folder then I added some Dazzling Diamond to some of the snowflakes with a Sakura Quickie Glue pen. The trim is by MM and the little gem brad is SU Ice brads. A pretty quick and straight forward card! A Stampin' Good Time to All!

Merry Merry Penguin Games card recipe:

Stamps: Merry, Merry, Stampendous- Penguin Games
Paper: Barely Banana, Shimmer White, PP- Paper Salon
Ink: Night of Navy, Adirondack- Pitch Black
Accessories: Copic markers, Cuttlebug, ribbon-MM, Ice round brads, Circle punches, Dazzling Diamonds, Sakura Quickie glue pen, Fun Flock, white pompoms from HL, red line sticky tape

O Christmas Tree

Yahoo! Yesterday was a happy mail day. I received my O Christmas Tree set from Flourishes. If you recall, I went on and on about how much fun I had "playing" with their set Cake Decorating 101. Well, they did it again with this Christmas tree set! The versatility of both of these sets, allows for all kinds of creative inspiration! This needs to be a quick post, so I will just hit some of the highlights of this card. First, the sparkling garland is stamped with Cranberry Crisp ink then filled in with the same ink using a blender pen. To make it shine, I placed a drop of Diamond Stickles to each little bead. The star on top was stamped first in Gold Encore then colored in with a gold Copic Spica pen (love these pens.) I then masked it so that it "rests" on the peak of the tree. The tree skirt was stamped with Bravo Burgundy on Chatterbox paper then cut out and adhered to the bottom of the tree. For ornaments, I stamped the image, colored it in using Stampin' Write markers and the Copic Spica, cut it out then covered it with Crystal Effects. Finally, the sentiment ornament was made by first stamping on to Shimmer White them punching with the 1 1/4 circle punch. Then I punched out the 1/4" circle from a piece of gold CS then punched that out of the sheet with at 1/2 circle punch to make a "doughnut." The gold "doughnut" was then attached between the sentiment and an Old Olive 1 3/8" circle punch. Last, using the slot punch and the same gold GS, the base of the "handle" was punched and adhered to the sentiment circle. DH is working late so I have to get DDs ready for bed. Thanks for stopping by... Take care!

O Christmas Tree card recipe

Stamps- O Christmas Tree- Flourishes

Paper- Old Olive, Shimmer White, PP- Chatterbox

Ink- Old Olive, Cranberry Crisp, Bravo Burgundy, Stampin' Write Markers in Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Gold Encore

Supplies- Gold Copic Spica, Diamond Stickles, Blender Pen, Circle Punches, Slot punch, Crystal Effects, Zig Painty (gold end- around the edges of the Shimmer White CS), ribbon

Long Time No Post

I'm back! It has been so... long since my last post (almost a week)! I can't remember when I have gone this long between sharing a card with y'all! Between my DSIL's visit (wonderful), regular chores which had been neglected far too long and homeschooling I have had no time for myself! I noticed that many bloggers posted that they were having a difficult time posting regularly in the summer with the kids home and would be back on schedule was school started back. My life is about the opposite. During the summer I could stay up late and work on projects. Now I have to be fresh in the morning. Homeshooling is a wonderful journey but you can't let the kids get the upper hand by being tired- lol! Anyway, I made this card today as a favor to my dear friend Dianne. Her SIL retired today and she needed it for her gift and was unable to make it herself (Dianne is remodeling her craft space, also, so I know what it is like not being able to get your hands on the supplies you need.) Since I was on a bit of a time crunch, I fell back on a tried and true layout. The color inspiration for this card is from Memory Box PP- Homespun (Bashful Blue, Ruby Red, So Saffron, and Certainly Celery.) I selected PTI's Greenthumb for my focal image and Faux ribbon for the sentiment. Both the sentiment and flower pot are stamped in Palette Burnt Umber. I used the masking technique for the flower stems. My Cuttlebug was used with both my Nestabilities to cut out the main image and the Ruby Red scalloped rectangle that mats it and the ribbon slide for the sentiment. The ribbon is Bashful Blue taffeta by SU. I can't wait to hear from Dianne in the morning to see if SIL liked it. Please everyone pray for my patience and sanity tomorrow. DH's car is in the shop and I will be home with the kids with no transportation. I could drop him off at work and keep the van but picking him up after work would be difficult because I do not have an I.D. to get on the Arsenal where Marshall Space Flight Center is located. On a more positive note, maybe I'll get to stamp tomorrow! Until then, Take care!

Flower pot card recipe
Stamps: PTI's Greenthumb and Faux Ribbon
Inks: Bashful Blue, So Saffron, Ruby Red, Certainly Celery, Palette's Burnt Umber
Paper: Certainly Celery, Ruby Red, PTI white CS, PP- Memory Box- Homespun
Supplies: Nestabilities, Cuttlebug, Ticket Corner Punch, Copic Spica pen-clear, paper piercer, Bashful Blue taffeta ribbon, Heidi Swapp brown brads, Stampin' Dimensionals

Where Does the Time Go?

Hello, All! Yes, I'm still here but time to myself has been, well let's say, extremely limited! Girl Scouts, Technique Club, taking DD to Birmingham (over 2 hours away) and back, working at the hospital and a 2 day PALS certification (Pediatric Advanced Life Support) not to mention keeping up with homeschool lessons and Rachel has left me zero time to create anything. I'm probably real close to a "meltdown" but my DSIL is coming for a visit and the house (which has been neglected during this time) must be cleaned! So instead of a card, I thought I'd show you a few more of my organizational ideas in my new space. This little bookcase was made by my DFIL for my hubby many years ago and it has certainly stood the test of time! On this shelves I keep my albums, idea books, ribbon and embellishment containers, die cut machines and dies, sewing machine and Xyron and unmounted stamps.

My unmounted stamps (either clear polymer stamps or unmounted rubber stamps are kept in standard (not slim) CD jewel cases and then are labeled with my label maker. The holder is 2 Case Logic (I believe) CD holders that I pay under 8.00 each for at Staples. Above the shelves DH helped me to mount peg board. The particular peg board that I chose is Bulldog brand that can be purchased at Wal-mart. You can get 4 panels of the plastic peg board (the amount show here) and many accessories for 25.00 plus you can add on panels and purchase extra accessories. We took in to consideration that I would probably want to add more panels when we decided on where to put this on the wall- heeheehee, DH knows me only too well!

I have not purchased any extra accessories other than the long ribbon holder in the upper right hand corner and the 2 wire baskets hanging from it so I really think the starter kit is a pretty good value. My dear friend Belinda has used the classic sheet of pegboard like you purchase at home improvement centers, as well as this, and she states that this is MUCH easier to hang. I have found it is a great way to keep supplies and embellishments where I can see them and therefore, and much more apt to remember to use them. Well, I really hope to stamp tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for me-lol! Take care!

Technique Club Project

Our monthly Technique Club met this evening with the topic "Tools Don't Count." This is a joke between our group meaning the tools we purchase are non-consumables and we can use them again and again and therefore, should not be subtracted from the stamping budget (similar concept men use when purchasing a new tool to finish a project that they are doing.) I have a friend whose husband won't start a project unless it justifies the purchase of a new tool- lol! Anyway, this is the project that I demo'd. I hadn't actually lost my mojo when I tried to make this card but I'll tell you it was mighty tired and weary!!!! So I relied on the talented Beate Johns to inspire my SU creativity. You can find her card here that gave my mojo the will to stamp on... Anyway, this card measures 5 1/2 x 5 1/2 but the folded card actually only measures 5 1/2 x 3". We used the perforated cutter from the Cutter Kit so the last 2 1/2" can be removed and used as a bookmark. Not a new idea, but new to everyone in the Technique Club which was neat. The other tool that this card features is the Color Spritzer Tool to add the Chocolate Chip speckles on the Sahara Sand panels. This tool went over very well, too. The card is pretty straight forward and that was good since tonight's club met on a "School Night." Heading for Birmingham tomorrow so may not have time to post. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and remember to Take Care!

Bookmark card recipe
Stamps: Garden Silhouette, Heartfelt Thanks
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Blue Bayou, Sahara Sand
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Blue Bayou, Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write marker
Accessories: 2-Way Glue Pen, Dazzling Diamonds, 5/8 Chocolate Chip ribbon, Kraft taffeta ribbon, Mat Pack, paper piercer, Color Spritzer Tool, Cutter Kit, Circle punches, slot punch

Storage for SU Tools

It's been a few days since I shared an organizational idea that I am using in my newly transformed space (which I am loving, by the way)! Picture this: 3-year-old DD off taking her nap, 10-year-old DD working on schoolwork with Mom right by her side to answer questions BUT still able to create her paper crafts- ya can't beat it! That is exactly how our afternoon went today. Now, mind you, that is not always the case but it certainly makes you appreciate the harmonious moments so much more! Anyway, back to organization. This 3 tiered rack is made by Plaid (I think originally for bottles of their paint) and can be found out Hobby Lobby* for 29.99. Of course, I waited until a 40% coupon week and paid around 18.00 for mine. I am able to fit ALL but my largest SU brand tools in this caddy! Granted I do not have all of the large punches (though I'm working on it) and will possibly consider getting another one as my SU punch collection grows. But for now, this works perfect for me. The clear removal trays are so roomy that I can fit 2 Stampin' Scrubs, 2 Stampin' Mists, and a Stampin' Mist refill in 1 tray. I decided to feature this organizational find because my friend Chris just didn't believe me about the Stampin' Scrub fitting (lol- Chris- I love ya)! I have an extremely busy day tomorrow with Girl Scout meeting and Technique Club workshop afterwards but I'll have a new project to share tomorrow evening. 'Til then Take care!

*Funny 3-year-old DD story: Rachel was watching Nick Jr. the other day and the Holly Hobby movie was on. For those of you who remember Holly Hobby from your childhood, she is no longer the long dress, sunbonnet wearing girl of our day. She is much more modern wearing jeans and cute tops and long wavy hair has replaced the braids. Anyway, I tell Rachel that it is time for her nap and she replies to me "Not yet Mommy, I'm watching the Hobby Lobby movie." Where does this child spend a lot of time?!?

Have a Cool Yule!

How cute and funky is this! When I received the Polar Holiday set that I won from Toni Armstrong's blog Moved to the Mountains, I knew that the Mod "Winter Garden" by Autumn Leaves would be a perfect PP for the images. This polar bear ice "fishing" for a gift is so cute! For this card, I stamped the image on Shimmer White CS then ran it through my new Nestabilities embossing die. Those dies are everything that they say they are and I cannot wait to get more! What little bit of coloring was done quickly with Copic markers, then I "grounded" the little guy by making snow drifts with a black fine tipped pen. It is difficult to see on the pic, but I added some white Fun Flock to give some dimension to the snow drifts. The PP is a combination of a funky snow flake design and a stripe that I mounted on Whisper White CS and ran through my Cuttlebug with the snowflake folder. The big red snowflake is chipboard (not sure who it is by) covered with a red & white floral from the same line. I used my Basic Grey Precision file set to give the edges a "finished" look then I painted it with Crystal Effects and Dazzling Diamonds. Sentiment is stamped in black on Shimmer White then matted on Soft Sky cut with scalloped punch. Thanks so much for this fun stamp set, Toni! You rock! Take care!

Cool Yule card recipe:

Stamps: Polar Holiday by The Cat's Pajamas

Ink: Pitch Black (Adirondack), Brocade Blue

Paper: Shimmer White, Really Red, Soft Sky, PP- Autumn Leave's Mod Winter Garden, PTI white card

Supplies: Nestabilities die, Copics, Black pen by Zig, Fun Flock, chipboard snowflake, BG Precision Files, Dazzling Diamonds, Crystal Effects, scalloped punch, square punch, Cuttlebug, Stampin' Dimensionals

Using Rubber Checks

No, I've not surpassed the limits of our bank account to pay for my hobby (passion/addiction.) This is referring to a program that a lss, The Rubber Stamp Lady, has been offering this summer leading up to their 10 year Anniversary Celebration. This entire past week they've been showing so much appreciation to their customers with special make & takes, prizes, discounts, contests and MORE. For the past few months for each pre-taxed dollar you spent, you were given a "rubber check" dollar. On Saturday, we all gathered for an auction where the currency was, you guessed it, our earned "rubber" money. What a fun time we had!! Peggy and the rest of the rubber stamp ladies gave us all the makings of a real auction-a live auctioneer (that kept us all entertained), wonderful refreshments, a real live "Vanna White" to display the goodies and #'d paddles to identify bidders. And the goodies were TDF- Quickutz alphabets, a Revolution, Technique Tuesday collections, a pail of Stampendous products, complete kits from Art Impressions- a total of 51 "prizes" valued at 2200.00. That's awesome for a privately owned store! Now my collection of "rubber" checks was small potatoes compared to some of the ladies there (I had around 250.00) so my expectations of what I'd take home were not huge but I did have my eye on about 4 items. And low and behold, I came home with 2 out of the 4 items. Below is a picture of my "loot"- 2 paper and embellishment packs from Paper Salon! The one with the pink bow (all of the prizes were wrapped beautifully- you know
how we paper crafters LOVE a beautiful package) is the Snowday collection. It included one piece of each PP from the collection in 12 x 12, some beautiful winter motif chipboard with frames, coordinating CS stickers and alphabet CS stickers and a set of the new Paper Salon acrylic stamps "Make it Yours." The package with the green bow had all of the same except it is from the Ornamental Holiday collection and the included a chipboard alphabet with frames. How wonderful is that! DH asked so... how much did you spend on it- well, just 185.00- teeheehee- all in RUBBER checks. Of course, then he wanted to know how I came to own the Rubber checks and I had to 'fess up BUT I would have purchased those products anyway and this was such a nice way to be thanked for my patronage at the store. Sunday they had the actually Birthday party at the store with tons of prizes, contests, and games. DD and I spent a wonderful afternoon together and although, I didn't win any prizes I still got to take home some treats at 10% savings. I love "saving" money- lol. Hopefully, I'll have time to post again later with a card. 'Til then- Take care!

Oh, yeah- At a later post, I'll tell you about the wonderful fund raiser for charity from the Rubber Stamp lady!!

A Day to Myself....

A wonderful blissful day full of scraping and stamping....

I'm so not kidding! Once Upon a Scrapbook, my lss had their all day crop Saturday and I was able to go! Not only do Delores and Karen have a super store chocked full of goodies but they are super sweet and feed us so.... very well! Both ladies are super cooks and have totally spoiled us! Ordinarily, I would have taken this opportunity to work on scrapbook pages but Friday was such a hectic day that I didn't have time to get my photos together. In all honesty, I had quite a list of cards I needed to make so I used the opportunity to work on those. This is the Halloween card that I made to send to several friends and family members. I made 6 of these so it took up a great deal of my time. The main image and sentiment are both A Muse. I colored the little trick or treaters with my new Copics but they are so tiny it is hard to see any shading or detail although I did attempt to add some. The PP is K & Co. and that includes all the candy treats. I cut a whole bunch of those from a piece of 12 x 12 paper (the time consuming part of this card but the finished affect was worth it to me.) I matted the main image with a piece of black Sugar Coated paper by Doodlebug- totally fun stuff! Then I finished it off with some SU ribbon. I felt that the corner lacked a little something but didn't want to add anymore embellishments so I gave the corner some character with my corner rounder- a little trick that I've been using a bit these days. The crop was from 9 am - 9pm but I left a little bit after 5. What!!! your saying, why in the world would she leave this blissful situation early. Well, you'll have to catch me on the next post to find out the fun reason why. Until then, Take care!

Happy Haunting card recipe:

Stamps: A Muse

Paper: Pumpkin Pie, purple cs-unk.source, Doodlebug Sugar Coated, PP- K & Co.

Ink: Pitch Black (Ranger's Adirondack)

Supplies: Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black and Black Gingham SU ribbon, oval punch, scallop oval punch, Word Window punch, corner rounder, Copic markers, Stampin' Dimensionals, Cuttlebug

Sneakin' in Some Stampin' Time

I actually was able to sneak in a quick Autumn thank-you card in between chasing after Rachel and helping Mary Elizabeth with her studies. Just have time for a short rundown on a few of the deets. The main image is the new Pumpkins in Wheelbarrow stamp from Lockhart Stamps. It is colored with both Copic Sketch markers and Copic Spica markers to some sparkle (IRL the sparkle looks much better and more clean.) I am still getting used to my Copics and wish I had more time to practice. The faux stitching is from CTMH Simple Stitches and the sentiment is Inkadinkadoo. I, finally, got a chance to use my Mellow 6 x 6 PP from BG. I love that line! I have an order of the 12 x 12 collection that I will be getting in my hot little hands on Saturday (all day crop at lss) so I can't wait!!!

Now, on a quick look at my organizational and storage feature. Today, I'd like to show you how I store ribbon that I purchase by the yard. Each ribbon is wrapped around a 1 3/4 x 3 Cropper Hopper ribbon card, then stored by color in a divided plastic container that I purchase from Lowe's for around 3.50. I've been using this particular method for quite a while and it works very well for me. I have just added more containers as my ribbon collection grows. Right now I'm up to 4 very full containers. Anyway, I can see the colors very easily and it is a relatively cheap storage method. Gotta run to the mall. Oldest DD is a Junior Bridesmaid in a wedding this fall and she and I are going shopping with her Grandmother for a dress with"the only specifics for the dress are that it is mostly solid (without a print) and that it is in the brown family of colors (chocolate is perfect) " so wish us luck! Take care!

My New Space

Hello! Hope everyone had a fun and safe Labor Day weekend. Mine was spent working in our local ER and by the time I would get home in the early morning hours, I was just too pooped to post (much less be creative.) Like I mentioned in my last post, the craft supplies are pretty much settled into the new room. We are still working on the homeschool supplies but that should be finished sometime this week. Since I don't have a card to share I thought I'd share some photos of the new room. I've implemented some new organizational ideas and well as stayed when some tried and true things that I have found really work for me so if y'all will bear with me, I will be sharing some of those specific things over the next few posts. Hopefully, these will give those reading some new ideas to help organize their space! This first picture is one of an antique pie safe that I have had since I was a teenager. Okay, guess I'll show my age, but being a teenager in the early '80's I wore lots of sweaters (does wool and crewneck ring a bell with anyone.) I loved this pie safe because it was a great place to store and display my folded sweaters (I loved the colors and textures together even back then.) I have the actual punched tin doors that go with the pie safe but they are in need of some repair and I felt it safer to put them in storage as opposed to keeping them functioning. This is where I primarily keep all of my rubber stamps. My current SU stamps are on the first 2 shelves and the few retired "must keeps," as well as, all other mounted rubber stamps stored in SU boxes are on the bottom.

This is a set of shelves that my father-in-law made for my husband many years ago. It is a perfect height to fit under the Bulldog brand pegboard that I got at Wal-mart for my embellishments. I keep unmounted and polymer stamps here, my sewing machine, albums, books and die cut machines among other things on these shelves.

This view shows what my hubby considers the sore spot of the room- my table. Now I know it's not very attractive but my dear friends Belinda and Chris gave this to me and it totally rocks! It is a perfect height for me and it is as solid as a rock! Perfect to getting a good impression from your stamps!

I will go into greater specific detail regarding organization like I said in future posts. Some fun news, I won a Clearly Swanky Stamps set by The Cat's Pajama's from Toni! Thanks so much, Toni! I got my set Polar Holiday today and can't wait to ink it up! Speaking of TCP- have you seen their new website? It is completely awesome and definitely worth the "click" to check it out. Of course, while your there I'm sure you won't be tempted by the new holiday stamps... Take care!