Thursday, January 31, 2008

Quick Card and a Sale

Just a quick post today. I didn't have much time to play so I just grabbed what was on my desk---Sorry for the red!!!

This is a card I created for the challenge on Splitcoaststampers today. The challenge was to use staples on a card. I had time to do a quick card and so I chose this image and sentiment from Stampendous (which are available at Stamper's Dream)--cause you don't have to do much with them to make them "cute."


Materials used: Stamps by Stampendous (Stamper's Dream store); cardstock-vanilla, red, SU designer paper; ink-black, red; Copics; Prismacolor pencils; Red stickles; stapler; dimensionals (SU!); cuttlebug and Nestability dies.

SALE: Stamper's Dream is having a big sale right now through February 15th. 25% off more than 80 items, including all Marvy Clever Lever Heart punches. Check it out...they carry stickles, pearl sticker embellishments, My Favorite Things stamps, Stampendous, Hero Arts, Gina K Designs (including the Dr. Feelgood set!) and so much more.

Don't forget to add a comment to the post below for your chance to win Dr. Feelgood!

Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

DH's Underwear and Blog Candy

Oppsie! Seeing red again! I actually created this over the weekend...I promise to have some non-red cards coming soon.

Ultra busy around here...I just found out that Gina K Designs will be having some new releases this month and My Favorite Things is having their release party next Wednesday. So, I am busy making samples for those..more details coming....

ChaChaChaChanges..... I am working on a few other things--- First, the look of this blog is going to change---coming soon--a new blog banner and a bit more color! Secondly, I usually take at least one day off from blogging each week and that might become two. I have decided that one day a week I am going to not stamp OR blog OR upload anything. I am taking that time to go and check out other blogs and galleries and comment on the fabulous cards/projects that all of you make. It is so much fun to encourage others and I want to be able to do that a bit more.

Ok..Here is a look at my husband's Valentine present. Every year, I usually get his some type of boxer shorts (they are usually funny or have the logo of his favorite team, etc) but this year I found these heart boxers at Old Navy and could not resist....they match the Dr. Feelgood set from Gina K Designs perfectly. (heehee) So I just created a belly band with the hearts from the set and then created the little card. Very simple! The heart on the stethoscope is a rain dot heart also from Gina's store. Cute-ugh?

Here is a view of the inside of the card!!!

Materials used: Stamps-Dr. Feelgood (Gina K Designs); ink-red, brilliance black; cardstock-red, white, rain dot hearts (Gina K Designs store); Copic markers; dimensionals (SU!).
Blog Candy: Post a comment on this entry and you will be entered to win your very own Dr. Feelgood set:


Random.Cara will pick a winner on Saturday morning! Please number your entries. Subscribers--feel free to post twice.

Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, January 29, 2008

NO RED Today!!!!

I HAD to post another color on here besides RED! I have gone a bit crazy with that color lately...sorry!

I love this first card purely because I do NOT do large flowers well and I actually LIKE this card. All stamps on this card are from Stamper's Dream. This was so easy to make....I colored the main image with prismacolor pencils. I added some Sakura stardust to the sentiment and the flower and finished the flower with some stickles (from Stamper's Dream) when the card was completely assembled (or else you will smudge the stickles).

I used my Basic Grey Lily Kate designer paper. I bought this paper a long time ago and had forgotten about it until my friend Michelle used it on one of her cards....so I dusted it off and used it for this. The tag is a die cut that comes with the paper....fun and easy!

Materials used: Flower (Hero Arts), sentiment (Penny Black) (from Stamper's Dream); cardstock-olive, white, Basic grey Lily Kate paper; ink-brilliance black, olive (SU!); shimmer ribbon (May Arts); cuttlebug and crosshatch die; prismacolor pencils; gamsol; stickles (frosted lace); Sakura stardust pen; paper piercing tool; white signo gel pen (SU!).

The next card is a baby announcement. It was designed so that the image overlaps the pocket....and the insert pulls out. Details about the baby can be printed on the insert.

Stamps are from Gina K Designs "How Sweet it is" set. I LOVE this set, not only because $7.00 of every stamp set will be divided equally between the American Diabetes Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, but also because all the images in it are Too Sweet!!

I love this little stork image. I colored the stork with Copic markers....took about 3 seconds because the stork is mostly white! Gotta love that.

REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION

Here is a view of the insert when it is out of the pocket. I added a little ribbon for the pull and a button accent.


Materials used: How Sweet It Is (Gina K Designs); cardstock-white, American Crafts designer paper; ink-black; Copics; Cuttlebug and Nestabilities; button (SU!); mini pop dots (SU!); ribbon (SU!).
Thanks for stopping by!

Check back tomorrow for some blog candy!

Monday, January 28, 2008

Wall Art and a Sketch Card

My friend apologized when she handed out these crafts at her daughter's birthday party. She SAID that there was NO WAY the kids would be able to do this by themselves.....

Well, my son proved her wrong. While I was mopping the floor, Ben tore open the package and went to work (assembling this cactus cowboy I guess just by looking at the picture on the insert)....and when he was finished.....he ran to the other room and said, "Mom, mom, mom, mom, mom, mo000000m......come see my project."

I dropped my mop, took a deep breath (cause ya never know what is waiting at the other end of that statement!) and went to look at the area of the wall he was pointing at...

"Wow...Great job, Ben. But how did you get him to stick on the wall?" I asked. (Please tell me you grew another two feet and got the tape from the cabinet....)

"Oh I just glued him," Ben proudly said. (duh, mom!)

Well, I thought he did a fantastic job on the project so I left it on the wall until my husband got home and could see it. After a good laugh, I went to pull it down and .....ugh....stuck solid. Those little craft glue sticks really work. After pulling pretty hard, I manged to take it off (along with a hunk of the paint, which is actually much nicer in real life)!




Gotta love kids!


Onto the card---I created this for the My Favorite Things weekly sketch challenge posted in the MFT forum on Splitcoaststampers. I used the set "Say Charge" and paper pieced the outfits and bags to match the designer paper I was using.

To paper piece an image, simply stamp the image one time on the background cardstock and then stamp it on the decorative paper (or stamp a few times on different decorative paper if you want to use different patterns). Cut out the pieces you wish to put on top of the bottom image and adhere. Very easy!

Tip: if you want to color any parts of the image, make sure you add the color to it before you add the top layers. For example, I colored the skin tones and the middle black dress, three bags and the shoes with markers and THEN I added the pieces from the designer paper that I wanted to use. This way you avoid having any gaps in the color.

Tip: to cut out very detailed images, use manacuring scissors. These little scissors make cutting out even the most detailed images a cinch. They are pretty cheap too. So next time you are at CVS, pick up a pair for your Craft bin!


The sketch was a tricky one and I had to keep looking at the original to make sure I was doing it correctly. I am sure I am a bit off (but that is just typical for me!)

The neat aspect of this sketch was that it specified that there had to be three flowers on the bottom left corner. After paper piecing the image, I really wanted some vibrant red flowers but did not have any red primas that would fit that spot. So, I used my red Copic marker and colored some ivory primas for this card. (You CAN'T even tell they were colored with a marker--gotta love those things!)



Materials used: Say Charge (My Favorite Things); cardstock-red, white, designer paper by Dutch Girl (Cosmo Cricket); ink-brillance black, red; Copics; black brads (spare parts); sheer black ribbon; primas; dimensionals (SU!).

Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday, January 27, 2008

A Yucky and a Yummy!

Now you can see why I NEVER worry when my husband leaves the house....


Snort! This is what he wears to go on his two hour bike rides. (Check out the tiny rear view mirror attached to the helmet!) BTW--my husband KNEW I was posting this and gave me his blessing. It was my revenge for the sign he bought me last week. Sadly, my husband does not see what is so funny about this picture....

I received another "You Make My Day" Award on Friday. This time it was from my friend Melanie Muenchinger, another illustrator for Gina K Designs. Thanks Melanie--you rock and I am in awe of your talent. Thanks for making my day!



Ok...onto a project. I have a group of friends on Splitcoaststampers that I do challenges with every Monday. This week was a supply challenge. My friend Tosh sent us all this little acrylic heart embellishment (you can see it in the center of the jar!) and we had to make something with it. Since the directions for the challenge were not with my embellishment (or anyone else's!) I am assuming we just had to use it!


So I did. I had wanted to make a treat jar using a frappachino jar for awhile.


I found out a great trick for removing the label sticky residue and the sell by date stamp. Just rub Mr. Clean Magic eraser over the jar and the stickiness comes right off.....as does any other markings on the bottle!


Another tip: After you clean out the jar, use your heat tool to get the inside nice and dry, otherwise the m&ms will get all smeary and yucky. (Don't ask me how I know that!)

I used leftover paper I had from another project and my slit punch to create the piece that wraps around the jar. The love sentiment is from Gina K Designs "Rectangle Greetings." I added the pink brad in the center of the love...for cuteness!
Here is a few of the top of the jar. For the top, I used Gina K Designs "Punchy Words" set. I love this greeting and I love how nicely it fits on top of this jar.



Here is a close up view of the lid:


Materials used: stamps-Punchy Words, Rectangle Greetings (Gina K Designs); ink-red, pretty in pink; cardstock-red, designer paper from American Crafts, white; circle punch (SU!); scalloped circle punch (SU!); slit punch (SU!); heart punch (Martha Stewart); pink brads (SU!); ribbon (SU!); dimensionals (SU!); clear acryllic heart embellishment (unknown).


Update: ALL stamps from my stamp sale are in the mail! Thanks!

Thanks for stopping by!

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Ten Minute Cards

Since the weekends are always busy around here....I thought I would feature some cards that can be created in ten minutes or less!

Yesterday's challenge on Splitcoaststampers was to use scraps to make a card. Because it is a limited supplies challenge, the idea is to always keep the design simple.

I took this opportunity to show a few "quick" but cute designs...great when you are pinched for time!

The first card uses the Happy Occasions set from My Favorite Things. This set is awesome for creating simple cards for every occasion. The heart is popped up on a dimensional.

Materials used: Stamps - Happy Occasions by My Favorite Things; cardstock-red, vanilla, designer paper (SU!); ink-black, red; corner rounder punch (Creative Memories); scalloped square punches (Marvy Uchida); dimensionals (SU!).

The next card uses a stamp from Hero Arts that can be found at Stamper's Dream. This set is great because it has beautiful greetings and frames...another great set for simple but beautiful cards. I used a chipboard piece from Stampin' Up! and adhered designer paper to it. I used the oval punch from Stampin' Up! to punch out the center of the star (before adhering it to the chipboard). The sentiment was stamped on vanilla to match the background. I used a silver stardust pen to go over the sentiment to make it shine. Finally I pierced along the bottom and one corner. Simple!



Materials used: sentiment (Hero Arts); chipboard (SU!); cardstock-vanilla, olive, designer paper (SU!); ink-olive; Sakura silver stardust pen; sanding block; brads (SU!); paper piercing tool and mat pack (SU!); oval punch (SU!).
Thanks so much for stopping by. Tomorrow I will have something YUMMY to show you!

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Yummy Flower Garden

I plumb forgot....Gina K is giving away a set of 36 Copic Markers as blog candy. Add a comment on her blog here: http://blog.ginakdesigns.com/ for your chance to win!


....I am trying to finish up all of my stamp mailings but tonight I had some time to play with an idea that has been in my head...

I used a tiny unfinished pot to create a lollipop holder. I love the way this turned out and there wasn't even any stamping on it (gasp!) The pot was painted with red acrylic paint. I created the toppers for the lollipops using various punches....including my new favorite--this fun heart punch from Martha Stewart. I love the pierced detail around the edges but I will warn you...you need to push HARD for this one. (I think it is worth it, though!)

The adorable rain hearts are from Gina K Designs store. I have been waiting to use them on a fun project and those hearts were just asking for them!



Materials used: flower pot; acrylic paint and paint brush; various ribbons; cuttlebug and flower die; heart punch (Martha Stewart); heart rain dots (available from Gina K Designs); circle punch (Stampin' Up!); crinkle shred; scalloped circle punch (Stampin' Up!); pop dots (Stampin' Up!); dimensionals (Stampin' Up!); flower Styrofoam; dum dums.


Here is a view of the back of the project. The toppers were attached to the wrappers of the dum dums using pop dots from Stampin' Up! Very simple!

Different ribbons were tied around the lollipop sticks for...well, just because I wanted to!

This was a fun project. Hope you like it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Wanted.....

...about 72 MORE HOURS in a day!

Whew! I had NO IDEA that posting my used stamps would cause such a mass overflow of emails. I THINK I am caught up now. If I have not responded to your email, please resend it, as I respond to every one.

My house looked like a shipping warehouse last night and I got more than a few dirty looks at the post office today (giggle!). Tons of the stamps went in the mail today and more will go out tomorrow. Thank You!

One update before I show you my card for today. Remember how I posted last week that I didn't get picked up for the Papercrafts call? Well, in the midst of all the emails I received yesterday was an acceptance for one of my cards. Yipeeeeee! I was so excited (and surprised because the original deadline was Friday)---but it is ALLLLLL good! Thanks for all your sweet comments.

Ok....here is a card I did for a sketch challenge on Splitcoaststampers today. I tried not to look at the challenge but I peeked and was hooked. What a cool sketch and it was fun to play with my Wanted set from Stampin' Up!, which has been totally neglected.

The cool thing about this card is the vellum overlay. The horse is stamped in caramel and edged in cocoa and then applied to the vellum. The vellum is over the vanilla cardstock which has "WANTED" stamped on it. Very easy to do, very cool effect.

I stamped the panels in the background in caramel ink with the medallion stamp that comes in that set. I loved this sketch!


Materials used: Stamps-Wanted (Stampin' Up!); ink-caramel, cocoa, choc chip; cardstock-designer paper-SU, vanilla, choc chip; vellum; star punch (Stampin Up!); brads (We R Memory Keepers); hemp (Hobby Lobby); dimensionals (SU!).


Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

STAMPS For SALE

FINALLY!!!!! The time has come----I HAVE to clean out my stamps and get rid of a lot. Most of these stamps I still adore but have no time to give them any love. I would love for someone to USE them so I am offering them to you.

Below you will find a list of stamp sets I have for sale. I tried to accurately describe if there is are any stamps missing or stained so that you would know; however, if you are looking for brand new stamps...this is not your sale. All stamps are used (actually a lot have never been used) but I am selling them as "used" so that no one thinks that these are brand new stamps.

Please email me (cammie22@hotmail.com) if you would like to purchase a set and we can make arrangements. I accept Paypal and personal check. In the United States, shipping will be $2.50 for the first two sets, and .50 for each additional set. I know that in most cases shipping will be more and that is fine, but if there is any discrepancy over $1, you will be refunded the difference. (Insurance is additional, please let me know if you would like to add this as I am not responsible for the stamps after they leave my hands.)

This list will remain active for about a week, after that, all remaining stamps will be boxed up and sold to the highest bidder. I need to get rid of them! Thanks!

Stamp Sets for Sale


Fontastic (background stamp) $8


I will update this list as often as possible.

Have a great day!

Monday, January 21, 2008

A Winner, A Gift and a Funny Card

Random.Cara slept in today-and by then we were off and running. She selected number 141 as the Blog Candy winner......Congratulations to Stampscout who said "Cammie, that cupcake stamp is adorable! Love what you do on your blog--especially the cards and the family stories!" Yeah Sharon! Please email me your address so I can send those goodies to you!

Speaking of family stories, I wanted to share with you a special gift my husband gave me today.....

While I had our littlest at the eye doctor, he took the older two out.
Lauren and I returned home first and so I started reheating one of those rotisserie chickens that you can buy at the grocery store. In walks the other three and my husband comes right over to me and says,

"Honey, I was going to wait to give this to you for your birthday (April) but I figured you deserved it now."

Ohhh..I love random gifts.....I ripped that bag open and found this....


Sad but true. (Geeze, I am just hoping that this isn't gonna count for my birthday too!)

Here is a card I made today with the newest Tickle Your Funnybone set from Gina K Designs. It is called "You Know You are Old When..."


When you open the card it says:


"You know you are old when,
getting lucky means you found your car in the parking lot."


The image is colored with prismacolor pencils. I clear embossed the windshield of the car so it has a nice shiny look in real life. And, yes, that is STITCHING you see around the edges. My mother in law was here this morning and fixed my machine. As it turns out the machine wasn't broken after all...I WAS!


Materials used: Stamps: You Know You are Old When..(Gina K Designs); cardstock-white, yellow, red; ink-black; prismacolor pencils; odorless mineral spirits; blender stumps; cropadile; ribbon (SU!); cuttlebug and flower embossing folder; dimensional stickers (SU!); clear embossing powder; versamark pen; heat tool; sewing machine.


Have a wonderful night. I am listing all of my stamps for sale tomorrow! They are gonna be cheap--be sure to check back!

Sunday, January 20, 2008

My Favorite Things Day

The 20th of the month is My Favorite Things Day....so in honor of this---I have a cute little card to share!

REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION

Materials used: Stamps-Dinomite (My Favorite Things); cardstock-olive, orange, white, banana, designer paper (SU!); Ink-black-olive; Cuttlebug and embossing folder; Crimper; clear button (SU!); word window punch (SU!); dimensionals (SU!).

Thanks for stopping by---Blog Candy winner will be picked tomorrow morning!

M & M Treat Tutorial

I received many emails after posting this project from people who wanted to see a tutorial on how to create this m&m treat card:


So here it is!

What you will need:
Solid piece of cardstock (4.25 inches by 10.25 inches)
Patterned piece of cardstock (4 by 4.25 inches)
Another coordinating piece of cardstock (for scalloped top and scalloped circle piece)
Stapler
sentiment stamp
cropadile or small hole punch
Circle cutting system or Nestabilities and Cuttlebug
Slit punch or scalloped scissors
ribbon
cord (to tie sentiment to ribbon)

First, cut cardstock for base to 4.5 by 10.25 inches. Score piece at 4.25, 5 and 9 6/16 inches. (These can be modified and still work fine!)


Cut piece of patterned paper to 4 by 4.25 inches and adhere to card front.


I used my Nestabilities circle die to cut a circle right in the center of the front panels as shown. (If you don't have these dies, you can also use a coluzzle or the creative memories system or even trace a circle with a can and free hand cut it.)


This is what it looks like after you cut the circle:


Next, I took my coordinating color cardstock and cut the SAME size circle from it:


Using the larger Nestability scallop shape, I lined up my die centering it over the cut circle. (If you do not have the dies, you can use scalloped scissors to create the scalloped design.)

Then, adhere scalloped circle over the card front opening.


Next, cut a peice of the same cardstock and use a slit punch to create a scalloped border. (You can also use scalloped scissors for this step or just cut a plain rectangle piece to layer over top tab.)


If you cut this piece larger than the width of the cardfront, you can decide where you would like the scallops to end (so they are even on both sides.)
Do not adhere at this point.



Fill up a small clear bag with treats. (I used a clear card envelope.) For this one, I used valentine colored m&ms because I used all the other ones. (Fine, I ate them!)

Position candy bag inside pocket and staple the top flap. (Be sure to turn the stapler around so that the flat part of the staple is in the back--since the front flap will be covered anyway.)

Add ribbon tie and sentiment and you are finished!

For this sample, I used a sentiment from Hero Arts that I got from Stamper's Dream stamps. This is for a teacher at my littlest daughter's "school." Her last day is this week so I wanted to do something to go with a gift card to thank her for all she has done.
Thanks for stopping by! Also, it is the last day to post for blog candy below!!!

Simple Saturday

My weekend time is usually spend doing family things and time is very limited for stamping. Today, I have two very quick cards to show you (both take about 10 minutes to create!)

The first card was created for the inspiration challenge on Splitcoaststampers. Although it is difficult to see in the picture, there is an embossed edge on the vanilla piece. I just love the simplicity of this. The main image is from SU Garden Silhouettes. The sentiment is from Hero Arts and is available at Stamper's Dream.

Materials used: Stamps-Garden Silhouettes (SU!), sentiment - Hero Arts; cardstock-kraft, vanilla, black; ink-black; markers-orange, mustard, choc chip (SU!); cuttlebug and Nestabilities; black brads; ribbon (SU!); hemp (SU!).

The next card is a quick little card that I made using scraps on my table. It measures 4.25 by 4.25 and will be a cute card when I need one in a pinch! All stamps are by Hambo Stamps. The sentiment cracks me up!



Materials used: Stamps-Hambo; cardstock-black, white, decorative paper by American Crafts; ribbon; markers (SU!); brilliance black ink.

I will be back tomorrow with a short tutorial on the m&m card I posted a few days back. A few have asked for directions and I figured I would post them on here.

I almost have my list done of stamps for sale (What a chore!)

Don't forget to add a comment for blog candy below!

Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, January 18, 2008

Diva Again!

Today, my friend Becky gave me another "You Make My Day Award," she came over to my blog to tell me and found the other one. Thanks Becky--you sure made MY day!



And today I was a DIVA again. This week I was asked to participate in the Diva Scrapbook Challenges on Splitcoaststampers with the Gina K Design team.
My challenge is to create a layout that uses an image stamp as an embellishment. Simple enough. Check out all the challenges the other Gina K gals created here. Come play along. Gina is going to randomly select two participants on Monday morning to receive a free stamp set (check out the thread for details!) How cool is that!? Play along--you have a great chance of winning!!!

Here is my layout---it is another page for the book I am creating of my family Christmas card photos. I matched it to the colors of the other page I did a few posts back because they will be side by side in the book.



Materials used: Stamps-Got Snow?, Punchy Words (Gina K Designs); cardstock-soft sky, white, red; ink-red, black; Copic markers; liquid applique; heat tool; Cuttlebug, snowflake embossing folder and Nestabilities; snowflake punch (Martha Stewart); creative candy (a muse); circle punch (SU!); photo corner punch (SU!); ribbon (SU!).

As promised, I told you that I would not only share my good news with you, but also my bad news. I submitted three projects to the PaperCrafts Magazine call and none of them were picked up. Boohoo! Tomorrow is another day.

Thanks for stopping by! Don't forget to add a comment to the blog candy post below---you have until Monday morning.

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Don't Underestimate YOUR Power...

You never know when taking the time to leave a comment or respond to a question will make the day of someone else....



Erin Bailey sent me this today---essentially for just leaving a comment on her blog.




Thanks, Erin, for making MY day! I am supposed to nominate two others to receive this award--and I would love to give it all of YOU! Thanks, friends, for all of your sweet comments below. I am so glad you like what I am doing and I will try to continue to bring you neat designs while keeping it fun!


Months ago, when no one knew my name (now I know at least five people do!), I often would leave a comment for someone and ask a question and would NEVER hear back from them. Although it is impossible to individually respond to every email or comment, I want you to know that I do read and appreciate every one and if you ask me a question, I will be sure to get back to you as soon as I can (if you leave a way to respond!)


It only takes a few minutes to be a light in someone's day. There are enough people trying to bring others down but it is much more fun to lift others up. Sometimes I think this business is way too cut throat but I really believe that there is plenty of room in the stamping world for EVERYONE!

I didn't have much stamping time today but I did manage to make a card because the idea for this has been in my head for awhile. All stamps are from My Favorite Things. I stamped the large blooms from "Build a Bouquet" on vanilla cardstock. Then, I took a pencil and drew a rectangle shape around (making sure some of the blooms would be outside of the edge.) After masking the flowers I stamped the leaves and stems. (Tip: I like to use a piece of loose leaf for masking because it is so thin and allows the ink to go right up to the image being masked.)


Then, I cut out the rectangle shape and wherever the image overlapped, I just cut around the image. Then I stamped the pink flowers on vanilla cardstock and cut them out and attached them with dimensional stickers. Rhinestones complete the flower.


The sentiment is created by die cutting the ribbon slider out of a transparency sheet. I stamped the sentiment with StazOn ink and then ran the taffeta ribbon through.


Hope you like it!





Materials used: Stamps--Build a Bouquet, Boho Blossoms-sentiment (all from My Favorite Things); ink-bashful blue, old olive, pretty in pink, StazOn; cardstock- olive, vanilla, close to cocoa; transparency (Office Max); ribbon-pink taffeta (SU!); Adhesive rhinestones (K & Co.); dimensionals (SU!); Cuttlebug, slider die and Nestability die.



Thanks for stopping by--Don't forget to add a comment to the post below to win blog candy!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Hips, Love and BLOG CANDY

Random.Cara selected number 141 as the Blog Candy winner......Congratulations to Stampscout who said "Cammie, that cupcake stamp is adorable! Love what you do on your blog--especially the cards and the family stories!"

Today I got the chance to play with this ADORABLE set called "Just So Hippy" from Gina K Designs, which was illustrated by my friend Melanie Muenchinger. (Check out her blog--what an amazingly talented lady.)
This giraffe pulled at my heart strings the first time I saw him---I LOVE him!



Materials used: Stamps--Just so Hippy (Gina K. Designs, by Melanie Muenchinger); cardstock-pink, red, white; brilliance black ink; white embossing powder; versamark; heat tool; prismacolor pencils; Cuttlebug and heart embossing folder; pink brads; slit punch (SU!); scalloped circle punch (SU!); ribbon slider punch (SU!); circle punches (SU!); heart punch (Creative Memories); corner punch (SU!).

The next card is one I did for today's sketch challenge on SplitcoastStampers. I love the layout. The stamp is from Wordsworth and you can find it (and tons of other awesome stamps) at Stamper's Dream.

I stamped the sentiment on a transparency and then framed it with the cardstock. The designer paper is from Cosmo Cricket.


Materials used: Love (Wordsworth by Rubber Soul); cardstock-vanilla, burgandy, designer paper by Cosmo Cricket; brads (Paper Studio); transparency (Office Max); Staz On ink; burgandy classic stamp pad (SU!); photo corner punch (SU!); ribbon (Offray).


And now....to celebrate TWO MONTHS of blogging---just leave me a comment on THIS post and tell me the one thing you like best about this blog (or something you would like to see go). I am getting ready to revamp and reorganize a bit and I would love to hear what you want to see!

As always, if you subscribe, feel free to post TWICE. (yep, go ahead---two chances to win) Also, PLEASE NUMBER RESPONSES!

Random.Cara will pick the lucky winner on Monday and that person will receive the stamp set pictured below, "Icing on the Cake," by My Favorite Things AND some 8 in. x 8 in. designer paper by Foof-a-La.



Good luck and thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Redemption....

What? Did you really think I would leave that last card up as my last post today??? What if something happened to me when I was asleep....that would be the card that everyone would forever associate with me....NOPE....not gonna let that happen...

But first--I want to say CONGRATULATIONS to two of my stamping buddies--Tosha Leyendekker and Sherrie Siemans who were just added to the dirty dozen at SplitcoastStampers. Yeah!!!! You both are so incredibly talented!!! Congrats!

I am working on a special project now. I cannot post about it until later but I thought I would show you this quick card I made tonight!

REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION
Materials used: Stamp by Studio G; ink-brilliance black; Copics; cardstock-white, celery (SU!), patterned paper (American Crafts); ribbon (Stampin' Up); dimensionals (SU!); slit punch (SU!); brads (SU!); cuttlebug and slider die.

Tomorrow is my blogaversary---TWO MONTHS of blogging---and I am celebrating with blog candy! Stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping by!

Monday, January 14, 2008

Short and SWEET

Short and sweet post tonight! Lucky you!

Here are two projects I completed today. The first one includes a sentiment from Gina K. Designs Stamps for a Cause set "How Sweet It Is." This set is a versatile stamp set that benefits The American Diabetes Association and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. $7.00 of every set sold is divided evenly between these two organizations.

This is for a sweet friend who is crazy about m&m's and her birthday is coming up so I just wanted to create a fun way to present her favorite treat.


Next is a card that is a bit different from my normal style. It features a new release from Gina K Designs that was drawn by her teenage daughter, Alicia. It is called "anna-mae's valentine." Isn't it so sweet? I am so proud of Alicia and what she has accomplished at such a young age.


I stamped the main image right on this decorative paper that Gina sells at her store. I colored the image with prismacolor pencils and I added some of these fun rain dot hearts that Gina also carries at her store. What fun they are! The wings are embossed in the glitter embossing powder my friend brought over to me the other day. Thanks, Deb!


Thanks for stopping by!

Tagged!

I was tagged again.

My good friend Tosh tagged me last week but it was a tag I had already received so I didn’t do it (so I wouldn't bore you to tears).

Today, I was tagged by my buddy Alli Miles. She is such an inspiration to me and I LOVE reading her blog everyday.

1. Name your two favorite scrapbook topics?
I guess I would have to say layout and creative picture placement. I get tired of doing the same old layouts and love to hear about innovative ways to show off those pictures.

2. What are the two best places you've been to? I went to Hawaii with my husband (we ran the Honolulu Marathon and got engaged on that trip!) and we recently visited Colorado (just stunning views and I was just in awe of the beauty of this state.)

3. Name two things you do every day? Tell my family I love them and pray.

4. Tell us two things that everyone pretty much knows about you? I have some crazy kids (!) and I love to create things.

5. Two places you wish to visit? Germany and Australia.

6. Two things you may not know about me are: I am obsessive about finger nails. I keep my kids nails cut and clean at all times—it is a big thing for me! (Have no idea why!?) Also, I love to run. It clear my mind and also helps because I love to eat!

7. Two nicknames you've had at some time in your life: Cam (Cammie); Camster; BamBam

8. Name two of your favorite drinks? Diet A&W, Mike’s Hard Lemonade (can I say that?)

9. What are two interesting (in a good or bad way) jobs you've had in your life? I was the public relations director for the private high school I attended. I waited tables for MANY years at an Iranian restaurant.

10. What are two things you would like to learn? I would love to learn more about geography. I am trying to learn along with my 11 year old because, unfortunately, I never learned it well enough. Also, I love gardening. I would love to learn more about this.

11. What two things would make your scrapping/stamping work space work even better for you? a tidy space that is organized and purging supplies (ditto!)

12. What are two of your best organizational tips for stampers that do not have a lot of space? Try to clean as you go so you never feel overwhelmed by the mess you have! (Do as I say NOT as I do!) Also, definitely purge anything you have not used in the past year.

13. What are your two favorite stamping toys? Right now, I love my Nestabilities and my Copics. These tools have helped me so much in my cardmaking.

14. If you could have TWO super-powers, what would they be? Definitely the power of healing and it would also be cool to have x-ray vision!15. Name two words that describe your stamping/scrapbooking style?Clean and detailed.

16. Name two of your favorite colors to design with? Red and olive.

I'm supposed to tag two people to answer the above questions and then to also add a question of their own. The only requirement is that the question must be in twos. I am going to tag my good friends Tosha Leyendekker and Rae Barthel. In addition to being so sweet, these ladies are so amazing and so fantastically talented. I am honored to call them my friends. Check out their blogs for some awesome inspiration!

Sunday, January 13, 2008

I should have known...and cards!

I should have known...

It all started about a year and a half ago when my husband took my son camping and told him that "All men just go behind a tree when they really need to."

Well, my son took this very literally. Over the past year and a half, Ben has urinated on one of my neighbor's front lawn, urinated in my sister's backyard playhouse (during my nephew's high school graduation party) and even pulled down his pants to go number 2 in our playhouse during a play date.

Needless to say, after these acts, I had to explain to him that really the only place for that is in the potty (unless you are camping!)

So, when Ben (now 5) came up to me today and said, "Is this a potty?" (holding the tiny toilet from my daughter's Fisher Price dollhouse)---I should have known.

But, it didn't click....at first.

After I responded "Of course," It took a few seconds for the question to sink in.....and Ben was gone.

And then it hit me---I ran into my bathroom and there he was, pants down, trying to figure out how to aim at that tiny target.

I shouted "Stop!" and luckily caught him by surprise......urine on the wall....but playhouse potty---unscathed.

Whew!

I should have known.

I did accomplish some card fun stuff today!

Yesterday, I received my package from Michelle from Stamper's Dream. It included all the stamps used to make this card: the hedgehog stamp called "lazy days" by Penny Black and the sentiment from Hero Arts. The sentiment is a clear stamp--part of a cool set of sentiments and frames. I just love it.

I stamped the main image in brilliance ink and colored it with primacolor pencils. I stamped the sentiment on a piece of transparency then used my Cuttlebug machine and ribbon slider die to punch the sentiment out. This way I could attach it with ribbons on top of the image. LOVE that!


REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION

Isn't he cute!?

Materials used: Stamps-Penny Black and Hero Arts (available at Stamper's Dream); brilliance black ink; stazon black ink; Prisma color pencils; cardstock-red, white; paper peircing tool; cuttlebug and flower embossing folder and ribbon slider diecut; eyelet (Stampin' Up!); Cropadile; Ribbon (Offray); transparency sheet (Office Max); Dimensional stickers (Stampin' Up!).


This next card features another stamp from Michelle's store Stamper's Dream--the flower from Paper Inspirations. I LOVE this flower--what a gorgeous stamp. The sentiment is from Kim Hughes (Silhouette Blooms I from Cornish Heritage Farms).

This card was created for a challenge a few friends and I do each week. This week's challenge was the interesting name challenge. Once a month, we pick someone on Splitcoast Stampers who has an neat sign on name and this week it is Shelly (Papermoon). Our challenge was to only use shades of grey (and white) and there had to be a moon shape on it. Clearly, there are lots of full moon shapes in the center of those flowers (I am sooo gonna be in trouble for this!!!)

I like the way this turned out with the background embossed strips, cut at different thickness. Although it doesn't show up in the picture, there is Sakura gelly roll glitter on the flowers and all of the raised embossed sections of the background! Very cool in real life!


Materials used: Stamps: Flower (Paper Inspirations from Stamper's Dream store); Sentiment-Silhouette Blooms I (Kim Hughes); Going Gray classic stamp pad (Stampin’ Up!); Confetti card stock (Stampin’ Up!); Going Gray card stock (Stampin’ Up!); Confetti card stock (Stampin’ Up!); Basic Gray card stock(Stampin’ Up!); Cuttlebug and textile folder; Photo corner punch (Stampin’ Up!); Hardware (We R Memory Keepers); Silver cording (Stampin’ Up!) Ribbon (Michael’s); Sakura stardust gelly roll pen; Cropadile; Dimensional stickers (Stampin’ Up!)

Coming soon....stamp sale and blog candy!

Thanks for stopping by!

Friday, January 11, 2008

Diva and a Dream

Hi Everyone! Hope you had a fantastic Friday..or FUN Friday as we call it around here.


YIPEEEE!!!! I am soo excited to announce that I am going to be designing for A Stamper's Dream. Michelle announced the awesome team on her blog last night so I figured I could add it here! Her store is filled with my favorite stamp companies including: My Favorite Things, Gina K Designs, Inkadinkadoo, Northwoods, Wordsworth, Penny Black, Stampendous, Hero Arts, A muse (clear stamps)....to name just a few! In addition, she carries a million colors of stickles and lots of other fun stuff! Check out her store. I cannot wait to get started. The team also includes these super talented designers: Tosha Leyendekker, Laurie Schmidlin, Kurtis Amundson and of course, Michelle Rodgers. Check out their blogs on the right!


I was recently asked to be a DIVA (heeeheee!) and post a Scrapbook Challenge with some of the other members of the My Favorite Things DT on Splitcoaststampers. You can check out all of the challenges here:http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=314377


I created this page for the challenge! I have been trying to think of a nice way to keep all of our past Christmas photo cards that would be a nice reminder of the only time my kids ALL looked decent in one photo.







I have a Stampin' Up! linen album that I thought would be perfect. So I got to work---taking my family Christmas card and using it for a 6" by 6" page.
My challenge is to create a hidden text box. I love creating different ways to conceal notes or journaling so I thought this would be a fun challenge.


The background is created with My Favorite Things stamp sets: Behind the Scenes (all the stripes) and Winter Blast (I just love those snowflakes!) (http://www.mftstamps.com/)
I cut out the picture from the card and framed it with a Nestability scalloped die. I also salvaged the date from the original card for the center of the circle snowflake.



I created the slide out by applying dimensional stickers to the outer edges of the back of this piece. I lined the foam pieces across the top, down the left side and along the bottom. I did not put any on the right side or the middle--and this allows the pull out to sit comfortably inside until someone wants to read it! (Oopsie---I haven't done the journaling part yet! lol!) I added another snowflake to the journaling block.



All the snowflakes have a muse creativity twinkle stickers in the centers. I just LOVE those and buy them in bulk!






Hope you like it...It was a lot of fun to create and now I am looking for all of the past holiday cards we have so I can make the other pages and keep this book as a short recap of the year.



I will share more as I complete the other pages! I also plan to do something fun with the cover of the album.



Thanks for stopping by!