Crafting My World

My Name is Nancy, but you can call me Slacker!

2011-10-15T18:49:00.000-07:00

LOL! Kidding, I think the only thing I have been slacking on is blogging (I haven't even been blurfing!), and making time to stamp.
Since I've last blogged, I've had food poisoning, baked dozens upon dozens of cupcakes (nothing to do with the aforementioned food poisoning), camped, trail rode, swam, ran (these last two make up for all the baking I did), spent fun time with my family, hosted a bunch of PTA activities, and participated in (and finished!) my first aquathon. Whew! I think finishing the aquathon was probably my favorite. I've never been a runner, in fact, probably not coincidentally, I started running about the same time I stopped posting. I love how it feels to be able to run for some distance and not be completely wiped for the next 24hrs. It's kept me healthier than I remember -those colds, etc. that the kids bring home don't seem as frequent. Anyways...
So, I promise to be back sooner with some holiday card samples from my stamp-a-stacks. Until then, I still have a bunch of stamp sets still to clear out. There are holiday ones too, so if you'd like a deal of a set for your holiday projects, check the list below. Send me an email or a comment if you are interested, and keep in mind, I cannot ship outside of the US. Thanks for looking!
Also, here is a link to pictures of most of the set, and some of the sets shown are already gone.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/68579137@N04/sets/72157627755153381/

Pad,Reinker, &Marker $4
Almost Amethyst
Barely Banana
Cameo Coral
Close to Cocoa
Orchid Opulence
Taken With Teal
Yoyo Yellow

Pad & Reinker or Marker $3
Apricot Appeal (R)
Basic Brown (R)
Really Rust (M)

Craft Pad & Reinker $4
Ruby Red

Wheels Jumbo-$4, Standard-$3
Leaf Prints
Lots of Hearts Jumbo
Petals Jumbo
See You Around Jumbo
Snowflake
Watercolor Joy
Watercolor Vine Jumbo

Embossing Powders
Cobalt Tapestry (dark blue w/gold flecks) hardly used -PSE $2
Copper 3/4 full -$2
Iridescent Sparkle 2/3 full-Hero Arts $1
Red Tinsel hardly used -PSE $2

Stamps
Afterthoughts (clear) 10
All Holidays 20
Alphabits 5
Alphadots 14
Always 15
Best Wishes and More 12
Big Blossom (Bkgrd) 8
Big Deal Alpha 20
Birthday Bakery (clear) 10
Birthday Bliss 9
Boho Backgrounds NUM 8
Bon Voyage 13
Bugs and Kisses 15
By Definition (Bkgd) 8
Celebrate Everything NUM 10
Country Morning 6
Define Your Life 35
Doodle This 15
Eastern Blooms 12
Eat Cake 13
Fine Frames 5
Forest Friends 9
Four Square 6
Fresh Cuts 8
Friends 24/7 15
Fun & Fast Notes 20
Fun Filled 6
Good Egg,A 15
Halloween Frights 6
Happiest of Holidays 6
Happy Everything 8
Happy Harmony 6
Hello Again 5
Holiday Collection 8
Hope Happens 12
It's Your Birthday 15
Itty Bitty Backgrounds 4
Lexicon of Love 5
Little Birthday Cheer, A 5
Made From Scratch 5
Mini Messages 5
Monogram (Lg Bkgrd size): S, &, F, L
Nature's Wonders 6
Noteworthy 6
Of the Earth 8
On Gossamer Wings 15
Paint Prints 5
Polka Dots & Paisley 7
Polka Dot Punches 7
Punch Bunch (clear) 10
Rough Type Alpha (Clear) 15
Say it With Scallops 6
Schoolbook Serif Alpha 25
Short Order Numbers NUM 12
Slice of Life, A (clear) NUM 10
Stipple Stencils 4
Sweet of You 8
Things I Love 9
True Friend 10
Wanted 10
Warm Words 10
Watercolor Fun 8 (missing 2 greeting stamps)
Word by Word (Bkgd) 8

Happy Stamping!!

Nancy

Not a card

2011-04-28T22:18:00.000-07:00

So this tri-challenge "card" ended up not being a card at all. It started out as a card, and then I just wasn't feeling it, so I cut off the back, trimmed down the sides, and made myself a bookmark.
I used Waltzing Mouse's Sketch Challenge:

This week's Color Throwdown:

And, this weeks challenge at Pals Paper Arts: Buttons with a CAS layout (clean and simple):

Here is my bookmark take on all three:

I used: Waltzing Mouse set Roses in Bloom (thanks mom!); Chocolate Chip & Very Vanilla c/s; Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango, Pear Pizzazz, and Daffodil Delight inks; Sizzix Big Shot embossing folder -Vintage Wallpaper; Celery Satin Ribbon, buttons (Pear Pizzazz & Pumpkin Pie), Daffodil Delight brad, blender pens.
Here are a couple of closer pics of the florals:

Enjoy, and don't forget to check out my birthday post for some treats!

Happy 2nd birthday!

2011-04-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

Today my blog turns 2! I can hardly believe it -time just flies, whether you are having fun or not! :)
I'd like to know how you celebrate birthdays. Whether it's your own, family, friends, your blog's, leave me a comment sharing a birthday tradition, or leave a link to a birthday card you've designed no later than April 30th.
What is a birthday without treats of some sort?
How about candy?
After the 30th, comments will be entered into a random drawing for some of my favorite card-making supplies...stamps and ribbon!! WooHoo!
How about cake?
Well, I'm not going to bake you a cake, but in preparation for hubby's upcoming birthday, just wanted to share what kind of cake he'll be having: Vanilla cupcakes with lemon curd filling and lemon buttercream icing. Yum! Since we love him so much and he wanted an actual cake, not just teeny versions of one, we'll also be baking a chocolate cake, with a frosting that is still to be determined...What is your favorite chocolate cake frosting counterpart?
How about a card (of course!)?

How cute is this little package gift card holder card?? I got the idea from a friend at a shoebox swap during the holidays, and she got it here at Stamp & Scrap with Frenchy. It's such a great idea, I had to adapt it for birthdays!

Now, don't forget to leave a comment!
Happy Crafting friends!

A little something for a veteran

2011-04-21T20:54:00.000-07:00

So this week, over at Color Throwdown, they're mixing things up a bit. They give you 2 colors, and you choose the third -how fun is that?!?

When I picture Navy and White together, the lines are so clean and sharp, kind of like Navy Whites.
Ask me to pick a color to go with...it's got to be red *POW* I can picture my Grandma in a Navy and White print dress wearing red pumps. Love it!
Now, I just got a new SU! Embossing folder for my Big Shot, and it's not quite available for another week and a half, but I couldn't wait to try it after getting it last night. I knew I wanted to make those poppies, Poppy Parade to put as my 3rd throwdown color.
However, getting those poppies just as I envisioned them was not working after several different techniques, I went for one last attempt. I colored directly onto the embossing folder (gasp), then embossed the paper. It didn't come out with the beautiful watercolored look I imagined, but I do like how it turned out (see the close-up photo). It's kind of got a stippled or sponged effect.
Now, the red poppies reminded me of the ones they sell on Memorial Day, which got me to thinking this would make a beautiful card to thank that special veteran in your life.

I used: Service & Sacrifice set; Night of Navy, Poppy Parade, Whisper White c/s; Night of Navy, Poppy Parade, Pear Pizzazz inks; Sizzix Big Shot Flower Garden Embossing Folder; Poppy Parade poly-twill ribbon.

A little Mojo and some "Embellish"ments

2011-04-21T15:19:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon!
It's been sunny here, not warm, but sunny, so it's been hard to focus inside, when I just want to be out weeding, and tidying up the yard.

I did want to get at least one more challenge card in, so I took advantage of the great sketch at Mojo Monday and a beautiful crochet trim/color challenge over at Embellish Magazine's blog.

I couldn't resist these beautiful spring colors that reminded me a lot of what is right outside of my door. Can you relate?

For the card, I couldn't help but use another of those punched paper flowers that I'm getting pretty hooked on making. On the Mustard layer, I cut down the petal line and tweaked the petals a little to give them kind of a pinwheel effect.
Here are my supplies: Because I Care set; Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise, More Mustard, Whisper White c/s; Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise, More Mustard inks; XL Scallop Circle, 1" & 3/4" circle, Tiny Tag, Scallop Edge, and Itty Bitty Shapes punches; Crochet trim -Victoria, paper piercing tool, Basic jewels -pearl.

Enjoy!!

Flower fun

2011-04-18T19:28:00.000-07:00

Well, sorry, it's been a couple weeks, let's just chalk it up to Spring Break and the fun that goes along with it! :)
So, to make up, I combined 3 challenges in 1 card! This is new to me, I've done two before, but I'm going for three this week. :)
Pals Paper Arts: Flower inspiration pic

Color Throwdown Color Challenge:

Btw: as a little sidenote, I was really happy to be mentioned as a challenge pick at the color throwdown here. It was a really great way to kick off our quick Spring Break trip!

Last: Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenge:

So, here it is:

I used: Waltzing Mouse Earth Angel set, Pear Pizzaz c/s & DSP, Whisper White c/s, Daffodil Delight and Tempting Turquoise DSP; Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise, and Pear Pizzaz inks; Sizzix Big Shot die -Island Floral; 3/4" circle and 5-Petal flower punch; clear rhinestone brads (lg).

**Check back later this week**

My 2nd blogoversary is coming up and I'd like to celebrate!!

Stamps 4 Sale! Updated

2011-04-04T13:06:00.000-07:00

I'm selling a ton of stamps, paper, and other supplies 95% of which are retired Stampin' Up! and the rest are random supplies I've accumulated and no longer use. The stamps are approx 50% off or more! Serious deals to be had! Prices do not include shipping, but I will ship within the U.S. Don't forget USPS has the great flat rate boxes and envelopes -I can get alot into those boxes!
As a US demonstrator, I cannot ship across country borders -please don't ask me to. :)

I am not including photos, but if you'd like to see an image of the set, Splitcoast Stampers has most of them alphabetically by set name here (just scroll to the bottom).
Without further ado, here is the list:

RETIRED SETS:

A Little Love 8 (16.95)
Alphabits 6 (15.95)
Alphadots 13 (26.95)
Best Wishes and More 14 (26.95)
Big Blossom 8 (16.95)
Big Deal Alpha 20 (40.95)
Boho Backgrounds 9 (17.95)
Bon Voyage 12 (24.95)
By Definition (background) 8 (16.95)
By Land 12 (23.95)
Celebrate Everything 10 (17.95)
Christmas Punch 12 (hostess L2)
Doodle This 17 (31.95)
Eat Cake 13 (25.95)
Fine Frames 7 (14.95)
Four Square 7 (14.95)
Fun Filled 8 (16.95)
Halloween Frights 8 (15.95)
Happiest of Holidays 7 (14.95)
Happy Everything 9 (17.95)
Happy Harmony (07SAB) 8 (16.95)
Holiday Basics 9 (17.95)
Holiday Collection 10 (part of Country Living holiday set)
It’s Your Birthday 15 (30.95)
Itty Bitty Backgrounds 5 (11.95)
Lexicon of Love 6 (16.95)
Little Birthday Cheer,A 7 (13.95)
Made from Scratch 5 (hostess L1)
Mini Messages 8 (16.95)
Monograms F,L,S,and & 10 (16.95)
Nature’s Wonders 8 (?)
Noteworthy (06SAB) 8 (16.95)
Of the Earth 8 (hostess L1)
On Gossamer Wings 14 (28.95)
Out of the Box 8 (hostess L1)
Paint Prints 8 (16.95)
Patterned Pines 8 (Holiday Hostess 09)
Polka Dots and Paisley 9 (18.95)
Polka Dot Punches 8 (SAB09)
Say it With Scallops 9 (17.95)
Short Order Numbers NUM 14 (25.95)
Stippled Stencils 5 (11.95)
Sweet of You 10 (19.95)
True Friend 11 (22.95)
Wanted 12 (22.95)
Warm Words 10 (20.95)
Watercolor Fun (missing greeting stamps) 12
Whimsical Words (Wood or Clear) 8 (16.95)
Word by Word background 8 (16.95)

Accessories:
Simply Scrappin’ NIP 10 (hostess L1)): Island Blossoms (2)

C/S:
Bordering Blue NIP 5.50
Apricot Appeal NIP 5.50
Blush Blossom (22sheets) 5

Wheels:
Leaf Prints 3
Party Fun 3
Snowflake 3
Watercolor Joy 3
Lots of Hearts –Jumbo 4
Petals –Jumbo 4
See You Around –Jumbo 4
Watercolor Vine –Jumbo 4

Inks:
Almost Amethyst (Pad, Marker, Refill) 6
Apricot Appeal (P,R) 5
Barely Banana (P,M,R) 6
Basic Brown (P,R) 5
Cameo Coral (P,M,R) 6
Close to Cocoa (P,M,R) 6
Orchid Opulence (P,M,R) 6
Really Rust (P,M) 5
Ruby Red CRAFT (P,R) 6
Taken With Teal (P,M,R)6
Yoyo Yellow (P,M,R) 6

Markers 2.00
Bordering Blue
Going Gray
Pale Plum

Refills 2.00
Creamy Caramel
Going Gray

Embossing Powders (all ¾+ full) 2.00
Classy Copper -SU!
Cobalt Tapestry (blue/gold) -PSX
Detail Gold -PSX
Red Emboss. Tinsel -PSX
Sparkle -Hero Arts

Ribbons:
Chocolate Chip 15/16” Satin NIP 5
Double stitched felt (from Alpine Originals) NIP 5
So Saffron 5/8” Grosgrain NIP 5
Moss ¼” Taffeta 3yds/$1
Purely Pomegranate 15/16” Satin 3yd/$1
Rose Red ¼” grosgrain 5yd/$1
Burgundy “ “ “
*Beads –Rich Regals NIP 3
*Color Coach (w/recently retired colors) 5
*Eyelet Setting kit 3
*Wire: SU! Red or Green $1

Catalogs: (free, I just ask for postage costs)
2005-06 IB&C to most recently retired
mini-catalogs from 2004-SAB 2011

Cupcakes: Take 2

2011-04-03T19:17:00.000-07:00

Wait, where is Take 1 you might ask. Too bad, it's already been eaten! They were Chocolate Salted Caramel cupcakes, but I would call them more Mocha cupcakes with Salted Caramel frosting. They were yummy and are now gone.
I've been having this cupcake "thing" lately, I think it started at our school's auction fundraiser. Our table won a bunch of cupcakes from Cupcake Royale. I had the Lemon Drop (YUM!) and then split a Chocolate Salted Caramel one with frosting that was just amazing!! They've been on the brain since then.
So, today in an effort to test-drive a recipe for a friend's birthday treat, I made Carrot Ginger Cupcakes with an Orange Ginger icing both recipes from MarthaStewart.com.

I'm not sure how this is different from a muffin other than the frosting on top. I'd be happier calling it a muffin and eating it without the frosting. If you know the difference between a cupcake and a muffin, other than frosted vs. unfrosted, please leave a comment and enlighten me. Also, please know that I belong to the camp that believes that Costco muffins are cupcakes without frosting.
Now, don't get me wrong...the cake is yummy, but not quite what I'd consider a cupcake in texture. The frosting was really flavorful and yummy, but not super fluffy considering the amount of dairy in it, and a little too cream-cheesy for my liking, but great combo of flavors. The ginger and orange together...mmmmmm.
This would be really good over your favorite gingerbread recipe!
If I were to try this again, I'd halve the cream cheese, up the butter and conf. sugar, and use milk or cream to smooth as needed. Also, thinking this might make a good loaf recipe...
I'm on a roll, but I'm not going to be so ambitious as trying a different one each week, but 2 a month is pretty doable!
I definitely will be attempting a Chocolate-Bacon-Maple Buttercream concoction I tried from Whole Foods about a month ago...stay tuned!

Feelin' Blue

2011-03-31T17:12:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm not, but this card sure is blue! I am a little bummed because I couldn't get a great picture of it. I'm going to try a few more...
Anyway, I used a great simple sketch from Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge,

and the challenge from Pals Paper Arts (punches).
This is what I came up with:

I used: Roses In Bloom (WaltzingMouse) and Because I Care sets; Very Vanilla & Not Quite Navy c/s; Springtime Vintage DSP; Baja Breeze & NQN inks; XL Scallop, Lg Scallop, 1 3/4", 1 1/4", 1" circles punches, Scallop trim border punch, and small oval & scallop oval punches; Marina Mist 1/8" taffeta ribbon, Button Latte -white flower button, Rhinestone brads -circle ice, Basic jewels -rhinestones, stampin' dimensionals, Big Shot square lattice embossing folder.

Enjoy!

Double dose of challenges

2011-03-30T15:52:00.000-07:00

Hello!

Today I found myself scrambling to put together a couple of challenges, to keep myself on track of weekly (at least) blogging.
I jumped on the color challenge at Color Throwdown, and the "Simon Says..." challenge at PaperCraft Star.

And here are the challenges:

At Papercraft Star: Challenge 39 - Simon Says Create A Card

Create a Card Using the Following Recipe:
Base 5 x 7
Mat: 3 x 4.5
Add Rhinestones
Add Flourish
Add Whatever Else You Desire

And here is the card:

Honestly, when I saw the color challenge, and I saw the Simon Says recipe, this just popped in my head. Rarely, does that happen and it translates to paper just how I envision it. YAY! It also is very reminiscent of the title on the Color Throwdown blog, so maybe I subconsiously CASEd the title. :)
I used:
Baroque Motifs set; Black StazOn ink; Basic Black, Very Vanilla, Poppy Parade, & Daffodil Delight c/s; Poppy Parade poly-twill ribbon, Beautiful Wings embosslit; Flourish Texturz plate; Jewels Basic -rhinestone; mini-glue dots.
Enjoy!

Sunny days...

2011-03-24T13:54:00.000-07:00

...sweepin' the clouds away! It's been a Sesame Street kind of week, you know friendly neighbors, sunshine, the occasional grouch. :)
Spent some time outside with the kiddos in the yard -had some fun, did some work.
Here is an example of fun my son and I had:

I was pretty pleased with my no-previous-practice Cookie Monster, but my son added the verbage and the giant chocolate chip cookie to make it even better! We had some other characters hanging out in the driveway too, but C.M was my favorite.

Now, for a couple of challenges:

A little Color Throwdown, and mix in some Mojo Monday

And you get:

Believe it or not, the green in this card is Old Olive...it looks way brighter, thanks to the fabulous sunshine we've got this morning. I loved the color combo in this weeks color throwdown, and the sketch was simple enough to my liking, but with enough elements to challenge me.
I used: Upsy Daisy set; Old Olive, Marina Mist, Naturals Ivory, Soft Suede c/s; Pumpkin Pie Patterns DSP (Brights pad); Old Olive & Versamark inks; 1 3/4" & 1 3/8" circle punches; Watercolor Crayons (Old Olive, Marina Mist, Pumpkin Pie, & a little Daffodil Delight); Big Shot Vintage Wallpaper Embossing Folder; Big Designer Buttons (Springtime Vintage -Olive); 1/8" taffeta ribbon -Marina Mist.

Enjoy!

Sweet Sunday 109

2011-03-22T13:23:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon,
Hope you are enjoying your first few days of Spring!
Our weather here has been relatively nice, but we have yet to get a good warm day. I can wait...there will be plenty of them ahead! :)

Here is my take on this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch:

I used: Crumb Cake & Blushing Bride DSP; Petal Patch DSP (I dug this up from my "archives") & InColor Patterns DSP in Blushing Bride; Crumb Cake & Whisper White ink; Friends 24-7 set & coordinating wheel -Friendly Words; Pretties Kit (Lg flower), White Satin ribbon, Big Designer Buttons (Springtime Vintage).

Enjoy!

A little rainbow for Spring

2011-03-20T16:22:00.000-07:00

Here's one more that fits both the Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenge and the Moxie Fab Trigger Tuesday

I wanted to something bright and cheery to kick off the beginning of Spring...it's finally here!!

I used: WaltzingMouse Irish Blessings set; Crumb Cake and Whisper White c/s, Bold Brights Patterns DSP; Early Espresso ink & Stampin Markers (Old Olive, Pacific Point, Tangerine Tango, Melon Mambo, Daffodil Delight); 1 1/4" square punch, Ice Cream Shoppe buttons, mini glue dots.

Enjoy, and Happy Spring!!

New Challenges

2011-03-20T11:34:00.000-07:00

Well, new challenges to me anyway...
This weekend I checked out the Waltzing Mouse Sketch Challenge :

and Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger

So, my mom is a huge Waltzing Mouse fan, and I can see why. What great images and greetings they have!!
Unfortunately, I do not own any. I know the challenge rules say you can use other company products, but I felt guilty anyways, and called my mom. Lucky me, she had the new western style set (Back in the Saddle)that would go perfectly with what I had in mind for combining these challenges. As for the Tuesday Trigger challenge, when I saw those button card napkin ring holders, it reminded me of my grandma and her button collection. I knew I wanted to use my Bingo card stamp, with an assortment of SU! buttons as game markers as an homage to those vintage button cards.
Here's my fun little thank you card:

*Remember, all supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted*

I used: Waltzing Mouse sets Bitty Banners & Back in the Saddle; SU! Bingo card set; Riding Hood Red, Whisper White, and Crumb Cake c/s; Chocolate Chip, Crumb Cake, and Black StazOn ink, Red Gingham vellum from SU!/Country Living Summer Cookout Kit; Buttons -Bold Bright asst, Red Corderoy, and Button Latte; Linen thread, Stampin' Dimensionals, and Decorative Label punch.

A little more peekin'...

2011-03-14T18:46:00.000-07:00

...and a little more card makin'. I found a couple challenges I could work nicely together; The first was a great color challenge over at Color Throwdown,

and the other a fabulous, simple sketch at Mojo Monday.

So again, I wanted to play some more with my Paisley Petals DSP. Although the yellowish color in it is River Rock, I used my blender pen and Daffodil ink in the River Rock parts to brighten them up and make them more Daffodil. I think it worked well enough!

I used: Daffodil Delight, Crumb Cake, Baja Breeze, and Whisper White c/s; Paisley Petals DSP; Baja Breeze & Whisper White ink; Upsy Daisy set; 2-3/8" Scallop Circle & 1-3/4" Circle punches; Big Shot Embossing Folder -Square Lattice, Daffodil brads, Daffodil taffeta ribbon.

Enjoy!

A little sneak peek...SSSC108

2011-03-14T15:47:00.000-07:00

I am on a roll! I've been looking for some fun, inspiring challenges to get my papercrafting juices flowing, and checked out Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge.
She always has neat sketches and fabulous samples.
So here goes my take on this weeks challenge:

So, I was so excited to do this sketch and use my brand new SU! products from April's upcoming customer promotion -new DSP and stamps from the upcoming 2011-2012 Idea Book & Catalog.
However, I felt too lazy today to get out my circle cutter and try to keep the baby away from it, so I thought I'd go "little" and use my 2.5" circle punch on a 3" card. I'm really happy with how it turned out (with the exception of the crease down the center from the baby (she's really a toddler) grabbing ahold of the project, claiming: "Mine!".
Here's a close-up of the little embellie:

I used: Not Quite Navy, Whisper White c/s; *new* Paisley Petals DSP; Not Quite Navy ink; *new* Four Frames set; 2.5" & 3/4" circle punches; White Satin ribbon, Baja Breeze glass glitter, clear rhinestone brad, tombo multi-glue, stampin' dimensionals, button latte flower white (I think these are still available on the Clearance Rack).
Enjoy!

Embellish Color Challenge

2011-03-13T14:13:00.000-07:00

So, it's been a typical March/November kind of day here, so yucky and rainy. I like to think that I have a really good tolerance for wet Northwest weather bred into me, but today just made me want to sing, "Rain, rain, go away..."
Anyhow, I've been missing my favorite challenge, Cinema Saturday, so I thought today would be a good day to venture out and find something new to me.
I found a couple, but I really liked the color/theme challenge at Embellish.

My colors weren't spot on, but I went with the closest SU! colors I had: River Rock, Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry, and Regal Rose. I also liked the music theme to this -I've got some fab Newsprint DSP that has a sheet music design I've been wanting to use.
Here it is:

Here's what I used: River Rock, Soft Suede, Rich Razzleberry, Regal Rose, & Very Vanilla c/s; Soft Suede ink; Clearly for You set; Newsprint DSP; Smooch Spritz in Gold Glow & Log Cabin; Shimmer Paint in Champagne Mist; 2.5" & 1-3/8" Circle, 2-3/8" & reg. Scallop Circle punches; Crochet trim-Victoria; Sticky Strip; Stardust gel pen.
All the colored punched pieces were wet and rumpled, then dried with a heat tool, and though it's hard to see, Shimmer paint was applied to all edges.
I did "zazz" the card up a bit with pearls and more shimmer, but the first version translated to computer much better. :)
Enjoy!

Something old, something new...

2011-03-12T13:36:00.000-08:00

So, I'd like to challenge myself to get back into gear, and start blogging weekly.
I feel bad not having blogged for over 3 months -can you feel the guilt emanating from my 3 posts in the last 24 hours?? LOL!

I held a stamp-a-stack at the beginning of the year, and this was one of the cards we made:

It uses the Poppin' Pastels technique which I hadn't used in years. But I was inspired by my updated pastel kit, and this beautiful new SU! set "Nature Walk". I love it!! This wasn't my original sample, but I like this version with a more realistic robin color (the cages were Chocolate Chip and the robin was Garden Green in the original).
I used: Natural Ivory, Early Espresso c/s; Early Espresso & Versamark inks; Pastels (More Mustard, Garden Green, Early Espresso, Cajun Craze); Gold brad, Celery satin ribbon, sponge daubers, bone folder (for distressing edges).
Enjoy, and remember, for those who've had a tough Winter, Spring will be here soon!

Getting in touch with my fabric side

2011-03-11T23:49:00.000-08:00

So, as of late I have been working much more with fabrics than with paper...not that I didn't want to, but that is just how it's been.
Well, my stamp club met last week, and I had just finished with the auction quilt, and simply had fabric and quilting on the brain -was having some trouble coming up with something for my club (48 hrs prior). Why not combine the two? Why not indeed!
Here's what we did:
First, a little something with fabric. Gathered a strip of fabric around for a ruffled flower, and to make the ruffled strip, just loosened up a thread down the center and gently worked it. Watch out though, the threads snap pretty easily! Then used a pretty antiqued brad for the center.

Second, used small squares of DSP and a 9-patch template to make a pretty paper "quilt" square. Made freehand "stitches" with coordinating markers.

Last, and definitely my favorite is this faux quilted card based on the tutorial here by Diana Gibbs.
I had done this technique before, but without the embossing, which totally makes a difference.
Love it!

So, if I can get back in the near future, I will add the "ingredients" for these projects.
In the meantime,
Enjoy!

Christmas is coming...

2011-03-11T23:28:00.000-08:00

12/20/2010
Thought I would take a break from cookie baking, etc. to post what will likely be my last blog of the year.
I just wanted to share a few things I've been working on, but as I mentioned before, I can't post many so I won't spoil any Christmas surprises.

(fade to new year)

Happy New Year everyone!!

I started getting this post ready some months back and got swallowed up by the holidays and the busy-ness of whatever rolled my way.

I've missed you!

Here are a couple of bags I made as Christmas gifts:

Gifts I made also included button bracelets, ornaments, tons of cookies and goodies, snuggies for the kids, and one for my brother-in-law that included a matching one for his rifle. That was a hoot to make and give.

Hubby was busy too and made some beautiful wooden puzzles.

The new year has just flown by so far, I once again volunteered to lead a class auction art project (same teacher, different child this time). Again, I opted to do a quilt. This time, instead of having the kids draw on it, they got to design their own squares, which my helpers and I translated to fabric. It turned out amazing!! Here's a sneak peek:

I'm so excited to attend the auction and see how it does -every dollar counts for the schools in this economy!!

If you missed it the first time, here's a link to the first class quilt I did.

Christmas Countdown

2010-12-07T11:44:00.000-08:00

We decided to try out the new Christmas Countdown calendar from Stampin' Up!
It took my daughter and I less than an hour to assemble it (including extra bling like glitter & tinsel).
My husband really liked how the mini-catalog one was displayed in the window, but alas, our window wasn't deep enough to accomodate the calendar and the blinds.
It went on an adjacent wall along with some vinyl wall decor made by yours truly with the Big Shot and Snowflakes #2 die.

Enjoy!

Oh Chocolate...

2010-12-03T12:59:00.000-08:00

I have to share this blog I recently discovered, as I googled "Frango history": http://www.gotchocolate.com/
I am sooooo loving this blog as I consider myself a chocolate lover/chocoholic. This gal's got me beat though -she's got a way with the chocolate & words that makes me laugh, want to bake, and eat a ton of chocolate 24/7. Okay, well, maybe I do all that anyways.
She has a giveaway going on right now -check it out, and maybe you'll win some free chocolate (magic words!).

Now if you're here for the crafting, and now you want the chocolate, check back at one of my older posts that has the best of both.

Enjoy!

A few more card ideas!

2010-12-03T12:45:00.000-08:00

Here are the last of my holiday cards I designed for my Holiday Stamp-A-Stacks this year.
I'm looking forward to sending my share of these out in the next week or so!

*It's a little hard to see, but Dasher has a little pearl on his nose.

*I wish I'd done this card with my September batch! It's so simple, elegant, and is my favorite of the year. I would have made dozens of them. Again, a little hard to see but there is a pearl in the center of the medallion and a couple little ones by the greeting.

Enjoy!!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2010-11-27T20:05:00.000-08:00

My oh my! What a Thanksgiving week we have had. The week started off with snow -the kids only had one day of school, the rest were cancelled for snow. This is quite unusual in the Seattle-area especially this early!
It was fun to have everyone home though, take the kids to the sledding hill, and have homemade hot chocolate (like mom & grandma made) laden with mini-marshmallows.

Roads cleared up enough to do last minute shopping at the grocery store (along with the rest of the neighborhood!), and make it to my sister's for a blessed holiday meal.

Yesterday, my daughter and I, along with some fellow Girl Scout troop friends, participated in the Macy's Holiday Parade. I had such a good time -totally able to "anonymously" ham it up! Cannot wait to do it again!

Today we did some shopping, and managed to avoid the crazy crowds of yesterday. We were also able to do all of our holiday decorating, with the exception of our tree which we won't put up for another couple weeks. I am soooo excited -love coming into the decorated house!

Oh Mr. Darcy...

2010-11-17T20:47:00.000-08:00

Cinema Saturday is celebrating their 100th challenge! That's right, the oh-so creative Brooke & Sankari have given us 100 cinema-tastic challenges of creativity -come celebrate here.
They let their fans vote on the movie for the 100th challenge, and the vote brought them full circle: from the 1st challenge to the 100th challenge, Pride and Predjudice was the flick of the week:

I chose to re-watch the 2005 film version (you can check out the movie details here).
I knew I needed to use lace, and I watched the film looking for a perfect quote to use, however, it was Jane's ball gowns that caught my eye. They were just beautiful with the flowy folds, just a hint of color, and not flashy -just sweet. These were my inspirations for my card.

I used Blushing Bride (so Jane-appropriate), for my underlying color/card-base, a little gathered lace -slightly frayed on the edges to show the well-loved, comfortable quality of the Bennet family, and a little heart tag -a token of affection if you will. :) I also stamped a floral pattern in the background, and used folded tissue paper to get the effect of Jane's dress, shown above.

More Holiday Card ideas

2010-11-04T16:41:00.000-07:00

Here is another round of cards from my last holiday Stamp-A-Stack. These too will be available in kits if you are interested.

I'm off to work on other holiday projects (not cards). I may or may not post pics of these before the holidays, but don't want to ruin any surprises.... :)

Beautiful Fall and a little paper art too!

2010-11-04T10:50:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile since I've last posted -sorry! October just kind of flew by, and here it is November already!
I feel a little spoiled right now -normally here in the Pacific Northwest, November means cold, wet, and gray. Today is the 3rd day of beautiful clear blue skies, gorgeous glowing trees, and warm (!) sunshine -it hit 74 here yesterday!! I wish I could pay this beautiful weather forward somehow -close as I can do is a pic and a card:

I'm posting this card for this week's Pals Paper Arts Challenge #67:

It was hard to resist this color challenge, as these are the colors of a NW fall, bright red, sunny yellow, and raincloud gray. These past few days are the exception, but what a great combo!

I used: The challenge colors plus Very Vanilla, Newsprint DSP, Large Scallop, Scallop Circle, and 1" circle punch, 5/8" jumbo brad (vanilla), regular brad (basic gray), Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, and Tiny Tags set & coordinating punch.
Enjoy and have a wonderful fall day!

Oh Captain, my Captain!

2010-10-09T07:30:00.000-07:00

I just want to give a big THANK YOU!! to my girls Brooke Stockman and Sankari Wegman over at Cinema Saturday. They have been kind enough to honor me again at their blog and have me as a guest designer for this week's film:

I admit, it has been awhile since I have seen this movie, but the feelings it leaves are still with me.
What a touching and captivating movie, that shows what a difference a teacher can make. This film portrays Robin Williams, as Professor John Keating, a teacher at a private boys school, who gives his poetry class students the inspiration to go against the flow, to be themselves, to "sieze the day". It makes me think of all of the wonderful teachers I've ever had, especially my American Literature teacher in high school, who really took the effort to make sure his students could think outside of the box and encouraged them to stand up for their ideas. I wanted to create a card for someone who inspires, like Professor Keating did for his students, and I wanted to use the color red for the red school sweaters the boys wore in the film (and another excuse to use Cherry Cobbler!).

'Tis the Season!

2010-10-04T11:24:00.000-07:00

Okay...the holidays are upon us. Every year they seem to arrive quicker than the last. The kids and I put up our Halloween decor today (we never put it up before Oct. 1st), the jack-o-lanterns, mummys, and bats will come down Nov 1st, but harvest stuff stays up until after Thanksgiving, and then Christmas goes up. However, this is not the case with cards!
I've already got one Holiday Stamp-a-Stack under my belt, I've been randomly been making Halloween cards, and need to start prepping for the next Holiday card class (October 16th for anyone close by that wants to come!).
Just thought I'd share a few ideas in the spirit of the season:

This uses Basic Black (cs & ink), Soft Suede (cs), Teeny Tiny Wishes set, Spider Web Embossing Folder, Decorative Label & Large Oval punches, Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint, and Linen Thread.

Dasher, Teeny Tiny Wishes and Snow Swirled sets; Old Olive ink; Shimmer White & Poppy Parade c/s, Poppy Parade DSP, Old Olive brads, Modern Label & Word Window punches

Sincere Salutations set, Northern Flurry Embossing Folder, Baja Breeze (ink & c/s) and Confetti White c/s, Wide Oval punch, Jewels -Basic Rhinestones.

Bells & Boughs set; Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla, & Cherry Cobbler c/s and inks, Deck the Halls DSP, 2.5" Circle punch, Silver Tinsel, Glass Glitter -Silver

If you are interested in any of these card designs, I offer pre-cut card kits for your convenience!

Have a great day, and happy stamping!

Happy World Card Making Day!

2010-10-03T15:43:00.000-07:00

Belated, I know, but I hope you had a good weekend of cardmaking for friends and/or family.
I've been feeling crummy with a yucky cold the last few days, but was still able to attend my 2nd upline's annual Fall Fun Event, which happened to land on WCMD this year. My wonderful mother spent time with the kiddos so I could go and see the special guest, Sara Douglass. For those of you not in the SU! "know" Sara Douglass, is SU! founder Shelli Gardner's daughter. Our table was lucky enough to have Sara join us and chat at lunch -she is super nice, gave some fun demos, and a straight-talkin' Q&A time. It was a fun way to spend the day!
So, the always creative girls over at Cinema Saturday came up with a wonderful challenge for this week:

How fun!! You've gotta love the choose-your-own-movie option! So, I picked one of my all-time favorites:
Love Actually. You can check out the details on this film here. There is just so much inspiration to be found in this film (Hint, hint -I could do more cards on this!). I loved the puppy love/first crush love of Freddy Highmore's character, the love-at-first sight of Hugh Grant's character, and the enduring love involving Keira Knightly's character. I loved each story line and the different kind of love reflected in them. I don't want to tell too much if you haven't seen it, so if you haven't, please do -it's wonderful!
So for my card, I went with the overall theme of different kinds of love are all around us at any given time. I also wanted to incorporate the overall look of the movie poster/DVD case. It's kind of a Valentine's Day type card, but I'll balance it out with a posting of Halloween and Christmas cards later. :)
Enjoy!

Mojo Monday 157

2010-09-23T12:21:00.000-07:00

Happy Fall to you all!
It certainly looks like fall in the PNW -gray and very, very wet! :)

Well, saw some great sketch challenges this week, one of which is Mojo Monday's.
I'll try and get another posted before the week is done, but no promises -it's a crazy week!

Here is their sketch:

And here is my interpretation:

Everything is current, with exception of the fabulous and long retired "Dashing" DSP. The colors are Old Olive, Real Red, and Confetti White with Bold Bright Buttons and Silver elastic cord.

Have a great afternoon!

Iron Mom!

2010-09-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

Do you ever feel like you should have a super-hero title? I think many moms feel this at least once in their life, if not once a week (day??). And, boy, maybe we should...sometimes I think that I'm more like "The Greatest American Hero", not quite the perfect super-hero, but has a good heart, more "behind-the-scenes", and not always very graceful! :)
Today, I'm feeling more like Iron Man: flying from place to place, getting the job done completely and efficiently...hmmm...that sounds suspiciously like Pepper Potts too!
Thanks to Brooke and Sankari at Cinema Saturday for this Superhero inspiration with their feature this week:

I was so excited to have an action flick -LOVE THEM!! Especially Iron Man -it's one of my favorites!
My sweet boy was excited too -he wants to be an inventor like Tony Stark someday, and is always using his ginormous imaginations to come up with some kind of machine, building, etc.
Knowing that I've got a crazy week ahead (pull out super-mom cape), I did not want to miss this week, and got right on it.
There were so many things I could have pulled from this film, but I settled on just a couple: The classic Iron Man colors -Cherry Cobbler and More Mustard, who knew! I also added some silver/pewter to pay homage to Tony's original Iron Man "outfit". The other I used was his heart, both his human and his machine hearts. Tony's character grew up so much -he went from playboy philanthropist, to country hero with a pretty good set of priorities.When I found out the challenge, I immediately remembered this stamp I had (I use it pretty regularly): "It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are", I feel like this is both representative of the Tony Stark character, and the actor who portrays him: Robert Downey Jr, who has had some very public rough times in life, and somehow always finds the courage to pick himself up and be better than he was.
Here is my card:

And...here is my little guy's card. He was inspired by the music in the movie (he wrote out the lyrics we sing along to one of the tunes, and colored a music note), and of course the imagination of Tony Stark to create the Iron man suit (drawn flying through the blue sky).

Thanks for stopping by!

Spooky trees

2010-09-05T12:07:00.000-07:00

Can you feel it?

Fall is in the air: Halloween decor is appearing everywhere, and the leaves are starting to turn!

The Cinema Sisters are feeling it over at Cinema Saturday with this film:

Ah, the fabulous team of Tim Burton and Johnny Depp; So many films together in recent years, that after watching Beetlejuice the other day, I felt something was missing. Then I realized with a laugh, there was no Johnny Depp.

So, for this challenge, along with inspiration from the film, we are to use a Halloween (aka "spooky") tree.

I totally forgot I had a wheel full of Halloween trees, but I unearthed it, as it is perfect for this challenge, and I also used some color inspiration from the film. Tim Burton films always strike me as "dark", some more than others (including Sleepy Hollow), but he has such great use of color. In Sleepy Hollow, as well as a few other of Burton's films, I love the splashes of warm colors he uses, red especially stands out, so I wanted to use the "dark" tree images, with a warm colored background. This is how I image Sleepy Hollow would look as the sun comes up on an autumn morning:

I used the emboss resist and polished stone techniques on this card. Supplies used: Spooky Skyline Jumbo wheel (ret.), Tiny Tags set; Cherry Cobbler, Basic Black and Glossy White c/s; Versamark, Rich Razzleberry, Pumpkin Pie, and Copper inks;

Enjoy!

Sankari's Birthday Blog Party!

2010-09-03T13:55:00.000-07:00

Today celebrates the birthday of Sunny Sankari of Cinema Saturday & more. Her dear friend and Cinema Sister, Brooke is hosting a birthday card blog party in Sankari's honor.

What a fun way to celebrate such a creative and inspirational person!
Your projects and positive attitude are always amazing!
Here's to a fabulous birthday Sankari -may you get the royal treatment that you deserve!!

Join me in wishing Sankari a Happy Birthday over at her blog and/or at Cinema Saturday!
Happy Sunny Day!

It's a hard knock life...

2010-09-02T16:00:00.000-07:00

...NOT!! This week over at Cinema Saturday they are featuring the popular musical:

This really wasn't a movie I liked until recently. It always made me feel sad, although, I should have felt happy that I wasn't one of Miss. Hannigan's orphans! I guess I just felt bad for the girls, and sad that Annie couldn't find her parents. My daughter recently viewed this with a friend at a sleepover, and loved it! So, I watched with her and her brother, and we've had the songs stuck in our head since. Of course, my kids sympathize with the girls doing their chores (boy, they do not like to do housework!), and especially love the number, "It's a Hard Knock Life". So my project is an update to our old chore chart, in honor of my poor children and their "hard-knock life" (not!).
Enjoy!!

This is "flippin' sweet"!

2010-08-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

The Cinema Saturday ladies strike again! This time with the very quoteable:

I almost turned this movie off 10 minutes into it -I just couldn't quite figure out what to make of it, the idiosyncrasies of Napoleon and his family had me all out of whack! Anyway, I just went with it, and found it to be a hysterical, quirky, and sweet film. I quote it often and recommend it to all (LUCKY!).

My card has a few inspirations: the color of the school lockers -one of my all time favorite SU! color combos of Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, and Bashful Blue (the colors look different on the movie poster). The inside inspiration came from my favorite character, Pedro Sanchez -I love his supportive family, his laid back nature, and of course, you have to love a guy who will "build a cake" to win a girl over.

I really wanted to incorporate a quote, or two, or three, but it was so hard to narrow it down, there are so many, so I opted not to this time.

I used Versamark, black brads, some leftover Hodgepodge Hardware inked with Silver ink and sealed with clear embossing powder, then a spritz of Log Cabin Smooch Spritz to give the lockers that slightly "decroded" look.

Now...Go do whatever you wanna do -GOSH!!

Stylin'

2010-08-08T10:33:00.000-07:00

I got a lovely surprise in my inbox last night from my Cinema Saturday friend Ira -she sent me the Stylish Blogger Award! Thank you so much Ira -such a nice surprise! Please go see her very stylish blog here.

You need to share 5 'stylish' things about yourself, so after much thought as I am usually covered in some kind of stickiness from one or more of my adorable children (not so stylish), this is what I've come up with:

- my style philosphy says that you can be stylish and practical at the same time (machine washability, hair styles that hide a bit of banana or cereal where the baby has grabbed my hair as we run out the door, cute low heel shoes, etc.)

- my house, my car, and my eyes match (and no, the car isn't red! LOL).

- I LOVE a pedicure or a massage when it can be worked in.

- my shower gel, lotion, and candle are scent matched right now -thanks Sharlene!

- I'm hopelessly hooked on Vera Bradley bags, other cute handcrafted bags, and stylish, yet rugged nylon bags that can be found at REI. Note: these bags do all match my outerwear. :)

And now I get to pass on this FAB award! The envelope please...The Stylish Blogger award goes to:

Sharlene who has all-around style, and some to spare!
Marci who has a style philosopy kind of like my own and fabulous cake-style -Yum!
Jackie/Grammie/Mom without whom I would have no style.
Carol who has a paper-crafting style that doesn't cease to amaze.
Katie B a stamping friend whose stylish blog I've just found.

Thanks for your style ladies -copy this award to your blog and pass it on!

Saturday, Cinema Saturday

2010-07-24T08:30:00.000-07:00

This week over at Cinema Saturday, the lovely cinema sisters are hosting 007 himself with this:

I have been a James Bond film fan for quite sometime, I think it helps having a Sean Connery fan for a mom, and a dad who loves action flicks. The one thing that has changed over the years is my favorite Bond; It started out as Roger Moore (must have been an 80's thing), then I recognized that Connery was the best Bond, but Pierce Brosnan does a pretty good job too. Frankly, when I first saw Casino Royale, I wasn't completely sold on Daniel Craig, I put him somewhere between Timothy Dalton and Roger Moore (not a great ranking). However, after watching it again for this challenge, I got it, and Daniel Craig has boosted to tie the top spot with Sean Connery.

Casino Royale like most other 007 films is a well-rounded film filled with action, romance, comedy, suspense, and drama -it's got it all! You get a good guy, the boss, the evil bad guy, the potentially double-crossing sidekick, the potentially double-crossing girl, beautiful clothes, beautiful settings, fast cars...really everything you could want.
For this challenge, I drew my inspiration from the main character himself: Bond, James Bond. The color of his clothes (black & white -tuxes, shirts, jackets), his car (silver), and his eyes (oh so blue!). I also tried to capture the essence of 007 opening film credits with the silhouette and lots of circles. I used brads for hardware, and printed off a birthday greeting appropriate for the theme.

Now go pop some corn, and sit back with Casino Royale or your favorite James Bond flick.

Enjoy!

Ring around the rosies...

2010-07-22T09:03:00.000-07:00

...Pocket full of posies!

Okay, so they aren't posies, but rather amazingly fun and easy to make "butterfly-punch pansies".

We made these at my Stamp Club last night, and we had a good time watching all the colors diffuse.

Here are a couple of blogs where I got the directions/videos and some more beautiful samples:

http://dostamping.typepad.com/dostamping_with_dawn/2010/04/video-butterfly-pansies-punch-art.html

http://valitasfreshfolds.blogspot.com/2010/04/butterfly-punch-pansies-video.html

All you need are some reinkers, aquapainter, shimmer white paper, butterfly punch, and brads to hold them together. So what are you waiting for? Go make a garden for yourself!

Happy Stamping!

Bread and Jam for Nancy

2010-07-13T15:59:00.000-07:00

I love the story "Bread and Jam for Frances" by Lillian and Russell Hoban. I love the images of that little badger girl eating her slice of white bread with a spread of purpley-pinkish-red homemade jam. I actually found a stamp some years ago (over 10 dare I say), with my favorite image.
I made my first batch of homemade jam this year today, and there is just something about homemade jam that brings out the nostalgia in me. To me berry jams just capture the pure essence of summer. You can taste the sun and the soil that nourished the berries, you can taste a warm afternoon, you can even catch a mild summer breeze. It always amazes me when I bite into a pb&j topped with homemade berry jam -the sunny places it takes me.

I love jam!!!

Christmas in July & Stamps that make you cry!

2010-07-11T23:23:00.000-07:00

A little Christmas is exactly what I needed after the sudden arrival of Summer (going from one of the coolest summers on local record 64 degrees on Monday to 95 on Thursday).
When I found out what Brooke and Sankari at Cinema Saturday had in store for us this week:

I knew exactly what set I wanted to use: Home for Christmas by SU!

The first time I saw this set in the 2008 Holiday mini, it made me cry.

Mind you, not all stamps make me cry, but hubby had just deployed, and the images and verse touched my heart immediately, and I had to have it if only to send him a Christmas card.

I ALWAYS love an opportunity to use this set!

So, moving on from my sentimentality...

This is a sweet and fun film about 2 gals played by Kate Winslet and Cameron Diaz who are having man trouble and just need to get away at Christmastime. They end up "meeting" online and decide to swap houses for a bit to take a break/holiday. The story continues with the women adjusting to the life of the other, and let's just say, some more man "trouble". :) I thought the verse I used was perfect for the film, as the gals found their hearts at home, just not necessarily their original home.

Please feel free to leave a comment, and let me know if a stamp has ever made you cry.

Enjoy!

Just Bend it!!!

2010-07-08T13:19:00.000-07:00

Wow! Has it been a month already?? Time is just flying by.
So, this week, the lovely Brooke and Sankari over at Cinema Saturday are hosting a challenge to make a card that is anything but an A4 (standard 4.25x5.5"), and is inspired by the fun and fabulous film:

If you haven't seen this, I soooooo recommend it. Written and directed by Gurinder Chadha (who also wrote and directed one of my all time Top 10 movies: Bride and Predjudice), this movie shows Jess, a good girl from a traditional Sikh family in the London area, stretching her family's bounds by playing on a women's soccer team and dreaming of going to "uni" (university) and playing professionally in the U.S. Instead of looking for a husband & learning to cook a proper feast, Jess is out learning to bend it like Beckham (aka Becks, Mr Posh Spice, David Beckham). Along with a great story, there is a great cast: Parminder Nagra (of ER fame), Keira Knightly, and Jonathan Rhys Meyers. You can read more about the film here.

My card was inspired by the journey Jess takes along with her friends and family as she realizes her dreams and breaks from what is expected of her. Also, I noticed in many scenes there were airliners flying overhead, and in an homage to Jess' father, a commercial airline pilot, who recognized and supported his daughter's dreams, I used an airplane image.

The card is 3x6" and uses new colors: Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, and Marina Mist.

Enjoy!!

Muchness anyone?

2010-06-10T16:38:00.000-07:00

Okay, I was excited and a bit nervous when the gals at Cinema Saturday put this up for the challenge this week. Excited, because I've been wanting to see this movie despite mixed reviews. Nervous because I hadn't seen it, and "out of the box" is kind of challenging for me. Turns out, the movie is just amazing.

I LOVED IT!!!

For the costumes, art direction, etc. which were fantastic and sooooo Tim Burton (with much more color than he normally does), I thought the story may lack. What I found was that there was just so much heart, character building, and so much connection I felt to so many of the characters. I wanted to just hug the Mad Hatter who is just full of "muchness", and made me want to always keep my "muchness" on display. :)

I love the part where the Mad Hatter just goes listing all different hat types. I wanted to make a ton of tiny different paper hats for my project, but time ran out -I needed to go be muchier instead. However, I did get one hat done satisfactorily, a fez, which reminds me of another Hatter part where he is talking to Alice, and just randomly interjects "Fez" into a sentence. It made me laugh!

So, here is the baby's funky little monkey wearing a Fez that I made with the Sizzix Bigz XL die "Baskets & Blooms" -I just trimmed around and cut the handles off, then stamped a brocade-y pattern, sponged a little gold, and braided and knotted some gold cord.

Enjoy!

Bueller, Bueller....Bueller? updated 06/04

2010-06-03T17:18:00.000-07:00

Oh Yeah....What a great, fun, classic 80's film! One of my faves!

I used an oft repeated Ferris quote: Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop once in awhile you could miss it"

I thought this suited watching kids grow up, and I love the "shower scene"; Ferris has crazy soapy hair -something I always loved to do & my kids do too, and he's singing -it's just fun! I also love the parade scene, and the scene where Jeannie is at the police station (with Charlie Sheen), so many great parts!!

I like to think we all have a little Ferris Bueller in us that wants to have fun and a day off.

I used: Tempting Turquoise & Whisper White c/s, Pink Flamingo DSP, Button Bouquet, Button Latte, Vanilla Smooch Spritz (tried to mimic soap suds), Scallop Circle, 1" Circle, and 5-petal Flower punches, MDS for photo layout and text.

Enjoy!

I'm back with a challenge card!

2010-05-19T22:18:00.000-07:00

Ugh! It has been awhile...

Well, I am back with a card for Cinema Saturday.

This week, the lovely Cinema Sisters are showcasing the popular sequel to the uber-popular "Twilight":

I actually haven't seen this movie yet, but I did read the book. I've been a little skeptical about seeing this after seeing "Twilight" -as usual the book was sooooo much better than the film. I've heard better things about the sequel though, so I'll have to catch it on Netflix soonish.

I really enjoyed this book, it may be my fave out of the series. I chose the theme of the friendship that developed between Bella and Jacob for my card. To know you have a friend who is there for you unconditionally when you need them most, and the ability to be a friend like that as well.

The color scheme of my card is based on the Olympic Peninsula coast -the frothy green of crashing waves, the gray/silver clouds as the rain is coming in, and the blue of a summer sky at (what else?) twilight.

Blogaversary!!!

2010-04-22T19:13:00.001-07:00

Happy Blogaversary to me! Today marks the 1st anniversary of this blog. I can hardly believe it!
Unfortunately, I've been completely swamped the past week, catching up after a week (+) of the household being sick. I totally want to celebrate this anniversary properly, so come back and visit soon, so we can get the party going!!
Have a great weekend!
~Nancy

Up, up and away!

2010-04-10T12:40:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting for this movie to show up at Cinema Saturday! It is such a wonderful film, so well-deserving of it's recent Academy Award. This movie will make you laugh, cry, and think. At the end of it you will just want to hug everyone near you (especially your dog!). If you have not yet seen this film, you simply MUST! I was inspired mostly by the main characters Carl, Russell, and Dug, and their new and developing relationships. I found the sentiment in my Full of Life set (how appropriate), and thought it represented Carl's new relationships perfectly. I also incorporated the sky, the house, and of course a dog -all fixtures in the film -as well as the required balloons, which I colored with marker directly on the paper to give a feeling of transparency, then with a Versamarker, clear embossed them. I did make this into a baby card, because I don't have a "Carl" in my life to give such a specific card to. :)

Then, because this is such a family favorite, my kids totally jumped on board, and wanted to play too.

They love the film!

This first one is my daughter's card. It was very important to her to have the main characters as well as the biggest cluster of balloons she could manage. Btw, she stamped and colored these, then cut and glued them all individually -much more patience than I!! She also hand drew a porch that was cut and glued on, so the characters would have somewhere to stand up in the sky.

Here is my son's card. He likes things to be relatively "true to life", but with some silly twist. Here his silly twist is "Dug" on top of the balloons. He's also got someone looking out of one of the windows.

I am so glad they played with me, we had fun!!

Bonjour and bon appetit!

2010-04-01T15:44:00.000-07:00

What a feast of a film! I had been wanting to see this for a while, and finally got to watch it on Netflix instant play this afternoon. Thanks to Brooke and Sankari at Cinema Saturday for this yummy challenge, and thanks to the ladies over at Pals Paper Arts for this great Spring color challenge I used as well. The colors worked really well with the film, all the shades of green and yellow (mmmm....butter!).

For this card (above) I wanted to use my Mix & Mingle set (retired) as it hadn't seen any ink (gasp!), and it met the Cinema Saturday cooking theme requirement really well. I loved the retro feel of it and incorporated some textures that reminded me of vintage kitchen tiles. I just can't say enough about how much I enjoyed this movie -It spoke to me on many levels; Julie and her unfinished projects, needing a deadline to get anything done (this is so me!). The husbands -so wonderful in their own ways. I loved the line: "You are the butter to my bread..." So I tried to incorporate some "butter yellow", and of course the toaster. The greeting I used is a reference to the support the women had in their lives, and how getting to know Julia was just what Julie needed to get a jumpstart.

All I know now is I'm going to have to wear pearls in the kitchen, make some Beouf Bourguignon, have a glass of wine, and make some more cards with this set!

Here is one more I made with kind of a retro feel to it...It's an ode to my fabulous mixer!

Enjoy and have a fabulous week!

xoxo

Map to my heart

2010-03-18T18:19:00.000-07:00

Oooh! I may have missed the deadline on this week's Cinema Saturday. Ah well, sometimes this is the way it goes.

This is a wonderful film -a beautiful tearjerker about the relationships between mother and child. It also required the use of some map. I am very sad to say we said goodbye to my Grandma today, however you will see a bit of her (and my Grandpa) in my project today. They always had beautiful National Geographic maps displayed in their guest room, and my sister and I would spend time looking at them again and again. I ended up with a few of these maps over the years, and photocopied a section of one to use on this scrapbook page for my son's album of our visit to Chicago.

Sorry, the photo quality isn't the best, I was in a bit of a rush to get this done.

I'll add the "recipe" later!

Top Ten List (#1?)

2010-03-05T14:10:00.000-08:00

So, you may have noticed, the challenges I participate in most frequently involve movies -I love movies and don't get to go to the theater very often, hence my longtime Netflix membership. I also love lists (Dave's Top Ten anyone?) I thought I would post my Top Ten favorite movies of all time. These may not be award winning (although many are), but these are films I can watch over and over and over. And, as my parents may tell you, I can pretty readily quote from them too. I tried to post a mix of genres, etc. but it's hard. There are many runners up, and because of that this list may evolve.

Love Actually
Bride and Predjudice
Chocolat
Billy Elliot
As Good as it Gets
Eurotrip
Star Wars
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Ironman
Up

Please leave a comment -let me know what your faves are!
TGIF!

He does whatever a spider can

2010-03-03T17:19:00.000-08:00

Look out! Here comes the Cinema Saturday Challenge for the week:

I was so excited to see an action movie for this week's film!! Don't get me wrong, I LOVE comedies, romances, dramas, and various combos of them, but I do really enjoy a good action film! This week's requirements were to take inspiration from the film, of course, and use acetate. I went with the theme of dark vs. light, good vs. evil, double life, etc. and showed this with the black and white spiders and webs and black and white background paper. I also wanted to exhibit Peter Parker's attempt to find balance or a middle point in the "gray area" of his double life. To show this I wove shades of gray into a background, as a spider must weave, with some "light" peeking through, and put a splash of red for some "spidey" color through the middle, where it looks like those creepy little spiders are crawling toward.

I used: Basic Black, Whisper White, Basic Gray, and Going Gray c/s, Window sheets, Chills & Thrills Rub-ons, mini glue dots, 5/8" Real Red satin ribbon.

This will probably be saved for a Halloween card...:)
Have a great week!

What-ever!

2010-02-14T11:10:00.000-08:00

Have you ever had one of those days where you just want to blow it off and say "Whatever!" ??
Well, Cinema Saturday has given me perfect opportunity to make a card for "one of those days"
This weeks film is:

So, although plaid isn't one of my favorite patterns, and I had to dig through my papers to find one (just not enough time this week to make one!). I knew just what I wanted to feature from the movie and how I wanted to lay it out. Again, I took inspiration from a quote, albeit a very short one; I crack up everytime the snooty character Amber holds up her thumbs and index fingers to make a "W" (see pic below) and says oh-so-haughtily, "Whatever!" My SIL and I enjoy using this whenever needed (or not!).

I used a lot of blue (it's calming), a splash of bright pink (it's sassy), some plaid (it's Cher), some glitter (hello, Beverly Hills!), white organdy ribbon (it's sweet), and a little askewedness ("whatever!"). All things reflected in the fabulous comedy by Amy Heckerling we call "Clueless".

Enjoy, and don't forget, if things aren't going your way: Whatever, just look on the bright side, and if you don't see the bright side, find it!

XOXOXOXO

Happy Valentine's Day friends!

~Nancy

I {heart} Seattle

2010-02-09T14:07:00.000-08:00

WE LOVE SEATTLE!

This week over at Cinema Saturday they are "showing" a great film:

I am so excited for this week's challenge, and can't believe it took me this long to get my project done and posted! There is a lot that inspires me in this movie: the fun and charming soundtrack, the oh-so-romantic story, my favorite quote/scene:

Doctor Marcia Fieldstone: Tell me what was so special about your wife?

Sam Baldwin: Well, how long is your program? Well, it was a million tiny little things that, when you added them all up, they meant we were supposed to be together... and I knew it. I knew it the very first time I touched her. It was like coming home... only to no home I'd ever known... I was just taking her hand to help her out of a car and I knew. It was like... magic.

And of course, the native Seattlite in me loves to see "my" city in the film. So, I combined the scenes I love with the quote referring to the idea of love being home and vice/versa, which is exactly how I feel about my hubby and kids.

The pictures in this page were actually taken at the same beach where Sam & Jonah boat over to in the movie -it's out on Alki Point, but we lovingly refer to it as "Sea Glass Beach", as we always seem to find sea glass on our visits out there. It's a favorite place for us to visit together, whether rain or shine.

I used: Pacific Point, Real Red, and Whisper White c/s; Real Red Craft ink, Chipboard, MDS

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day!!

xoxoxo

Make it Count

2010-01-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

I am so honored to be guest designing again over at Cinema Saturday -Thank you Brooke and Sankari!!
This week's movie is Titanic with a challenge requirement of blue and silver (yay!).

I love this movie, talk about inspiration! The costumes, the sets, the music -all beautiful and amazing, not to mention the strength, the triumphs & the tragedies of the characters. So many scenes in this movie captivate me. I have been mildly obsessed with the Titanic story since I was about 10 or so, I've seen the exhibit several times in different cities, but it wasn't this that caught me for this challenge. It was a lengthy quote by Jack's character, while he was having dinner with the first class passengers when asked about his "third class lifestyle":
Jack: Well, yes, ma'am, I do... I mean, I got everything I need right here with me. I got air in my lungs, a few blank sheets of paper. I mean, I love waking up in the morning not knowing what's gonna happen or, who I'm gonna meet, where I'm gonna wind up. Just the other night I was sleeping under a bridge and now here I am on the grandest ship in the world having champagne with you fine people. I figure life's a gift and I don't intend on wasting it. You don't know what hand you're gonna get dealt next. You learn to take life as it comes at you... to make each day count.
The last few lines just really clicked with me -grabbed ahold of my heart and made me run for the tissue. :)
So I wanted to make a project (not a card!) that would remind me to make each day count.
I initially had planned on putting in a picture from our family vacation on an Alaskan Cruise, but then I decided I would rather show a picture that demonstrated the "making it count".
This is a pic of DH and kids on our last day together before his deployment. It was a great day, and we made the most of our last hour together.

I altered a small clipboard that a photo could be placed in (and changed).
Here's what I used: Baroque Motifs & I {heart} Hearts set; Maine Blueberry DSP (ret.), Not Quite Navy, White Vellum, and Whisper White cardstocks; Versamark ink; Silver foil tape (OTC), Silver Detail EP, Clear EP, White Organza ribbon, glue dots; 1/2" circle, 1 3/8" circle, and Scallop circle punches.
It's now hung up where we can see and remember to make each day count. :)

If you haven't (*gasp*) seen Titanic, go grab a box of tissues, a comfy blanket, and make it count!

Yawn & Stretch

2010-01-22T07:30:00.000-08:00

Good morning,
I thought today, I would blog just to blog...no cards or other projects to share today. Just hanging out, taking a breather from a busier than anticipated, and slightly sleep-deprived week. Hubby is off today, perhaps we will take the baby down to the chocolate shop for a drink (they've got great coffee, tea, etc.), or maybe I'll take a nap (not likely). DD is in her first year of Girl Scouts, and we have been having fun with cookie sales. She has been achieving the goals she has set for herself, and we've been having "geeky" fun figuring out the most popular cookie flavors by tallying and making graphs (I'm pretty sure I said "geeky" -we like math). Baby is busy cutting teeth, scootching across the floor, and finding her loud voice. DS is crazy Lego building constantly -he'd go 24/7 if we let him. DH has a great project started out in his "man cave" can't say anything here as it's a gift, and well, spoiling surprises just isn't cool, but I suspect his weekend will consist of quality time out there makin' noise and sawdust. :) I am attempting to re-organize my crafting/stamping stuff, cleaning shelves parting with supplies I haven't used lately, etc. Once I'm finished, I'll post a list so any of you out there looking for retired SU! supplies can take a peek.
Well, it's time to get the kids off to school, and I've been up for 5 hours, so I think I'll let Daddy walk them to school, and I may go catch a few winks before the baby gets up.
Have a great day, and I'll be back soon!

Who ya callin' "DumDum"?

2010-01-19T15:32:00.000-08:00

Oh, well, if it's gum-gum that you want, then this is the challenge for you!
Over at Cinema Saturday here is the super fun challenge this week:

This is a really fun movie, that we enjoy watching with our kids. It was really hard to choose where I wanted to get my inspiration from this. I knew I wanted to do something fun, and we go around making "dum-dum/gum-gum" references often, so I thought I'd start there. I really wanted to find a good clip-art Easter Island Head to work with, but couldn't find exactly what I wanted, so I ended up creating my own. After much frustration and many "dum-dum" comments, this is what I came up with:

A miniature Easter Island Head with a mini-bubble gum bubble.

Here's a peek inside:

mmmm...gum-gum!

Here is what I used: Best Wishes and More set; Basic Black & Going Gray c/s; Basic Gray, Craft Regal Rose, & Craft White ink; Keytag (ret.), corner rounder, and 1 3/4" Circle punches, Sponge, 5/8" neutral brads; Clear EP; Stampin' Dimensionals

PPA #25

2010-01-16T13:11:00.000-08:00

Here is a "new-to-me" challenge at Pals Paper Arts . I've been wanting to participate in one of their challenges for awhile, but am now just getting around to it. This week had a photo inspiration -one word: YUM!

Here is the card -I'm definitely in Valentine's mode....

I used: Baroque Motifs set; White craft, Chocolate Chip, and Real Red inks; Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, and White Vellum cardstocks; White EP, Pretties flowers, 5/16" neutral brads, White taffeta ribbon (dyed with the red ink), Pop-up glue dots, crimper, Sizzix Texturz plate SU! Backgrounds #1.

Happy Stamping!

"...Trudging, you know, trudging?"

2010-01-14T16:01:00.000-08:00

I have been such a trudger this week, feel like I've been moving in slow motion. I think the 3 round trips a day to school, and the cold drizzle (turning to dumping downpours) probably haven't helped.
Fortunately, this week's Cinema Saturday pick addresses trudging with much humor:

This is such a fun movie starring the late and much missed Heath Ledger. I was able to pull off a couple projects for this one -I had soooo much inspiration it was a challenge to pare it down. I love the quippy quotes, the rockin' soundtrack, the fabulous actors, and the story of a young man who was able to "change his stars" to live the life he and his father had always dreamed of for him.

This first project is a goofy one, and will be gifted to my dear sister-in-law who loves Heath, A Knight's Tale, and all that is quirky. I made it with my favorite scene as inspiration -At the beginning of the film with our hero's first appearance at a tournament, we see a medieval style arena/stadium, with Queen playing: "We Will Rock You". The crowd is 'stomp-stomp-clap'ing, The Wave is going around, there are face-painters in the crowd, girls are dancing. It always makes me want to head for a game, any game -Love it!! The soundtrack rocks, as does this paperweight project:

I love the quote on this...It reminded me of the "good guys" each time they pulled off a tournament.

I used a thicker printed tissue paper over a rock, then a white stamped piece of tissue paper over it. The color didn't show through as much as I would have liked, but you get the idea. :)

Supplies: Full of Life, Wanted, & Under the Stars sets; Gold, Copper & Basic Brown ink, Modge Podge (matte), Copper c/s, Gold detail EP, small star punch.

A Knight's Tale part 2

2010-01-14T16:00:00.000-08:00

So, I wanted to do one more "pretty" project for this film using my favorite quote from the film. I immediately thought of my hubby who goes by so many names: His family and pre-college friends call him by his middle name, his college and military friends, myself, and anyone he knows through me call him by his shortened first name, then of course there is "Daddy", "Honey", Sgt (in various forms through the years), etc. I thought this was so appropriate, especially with Valentine's Day approaching. He actually chose the colors for this card, as I was kind of on the fence. It turned out great I think:

Supplies: Under the Stars and Tiny Tags sets; Soft Suede, Taken with Teal, Naturals Ivory c/s; Gold ink, Gold detail EP; Gold brads; Large Star, 1" Circle, and Scallop Trim Border punches.

Happy New Year!!

2010-01-06T21:54:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and that your new year is off to a fabulous start!
We stayed close to home, as we usually do, and spent much time crafting, cooking, and just being together. Perfect!
I really did want to blog through the season...at least once anyhow, but it didn't happen. Maybe next time! LOL!
Well, I'm starting the new year off with something new and challenging for me: 2 challenges in 1card! Okay, okay, I know for some of you this is not a big deal, but it's a stretch for me, and I look forward to stretching my creativity even further this year.
So, without further ado, here is my card (a 5x7 nonetheless), for Mojo Monday #120 and Cinema Saturday #60
I am a huge fan of Cinema Saturday, and after a holiday break the cinema girls are back -WooHoo!
With this great flick:

This is a beautifully set film, simply gorgeous, and the story is a good one too. Like many others, I had this read to me in 3rd or 4th grade, and still has me sometimes looking into the back of an old cupboard to see if there is something beyond. The requirement this time was to use iridescent sparkle, not such a challenge for me, but I had been wanting to try a technique for "Faux Frosting" from Marlize Morris, a fellow SU! demo, which uses Dazzling Diamonds glitter. My favorite scene is when Lucy comes through the wardrobe for the first time; The look of wonderment on her face, framed by the beautifully frosted branches. It reminds me of my kids, each time it snows (we don't get much of it). I tried the technique to try to capture the look of those snowy branches. The quote on the card: "The greatest gift is a portion of thyself" -Ralph Waldo Emerson, made me think of the sacrifices made by many characters in the film, among other things.

Last, but not least, I used the amazing layout from Teresa Kline at Mojo Monday:

Here is my card:

With the door open:

A closer look "through the cupboard":

I used: Autumn Days and Of the Earth sets; Always Artichoke, Soft Suede, Shimmer White, and Chocolate Chip c/s; Versamark; Always Artichoke and Chocolate Chip markers, Tombo multi glue, Gold detail and White EP, Heat tool, gold brads, Lg Neutral Brads, Sizzix Scallop Circle die, Sizzix Texturz SU! Backgrounds 1, Circle Scissors, Scallop Edge & 1/8" handheld punches, Soft Suede 5/8" polka dot grosgrain ribbon.

ENJOY!

Ahh...to see the sights

2009-11-16T12:08:00.000-08:00

Who wouldn't enjoy seeing the sights of Rome with Gregory Peck??? This is such a fun, sweet, and beautifully set film. Did you know this was the first American film set entirely in Italy? It was also Audrey Hepburn's first major role, which earned her an Academy Award -you go girl!!

Audrey Hepburn is one of my favorite actresses -she just does everything with the perfect combo of beauty, grace, and spunk. This travel wallet is for you!

A close up of the outside -I used Champagne Mist shimmer paint on the world, along the long torn edge, and in spots on the Sentimental Journey DSP (I found a brand new pack of this in my special secret stash along with a new Tickets & Tokens Simply Scrappin kit that I used as well -WooHoo!)

The inside has a passport pocket and a pouch for boarding passes and other important tickets.

Here is a close up of the passport pocket and the pretty flower touched up with shimmer paint and a half pear from SU! Pretties kit.

Happy Travelling!

CSCC #57 -My Big Fat Greek Wedding

2009-11-10T17:04:00.000-08:00

What a fun, laugh-out-loud, romantic comedy! I haven't seen it in awhile, but I still remember laughing every time Toula's father would give a Windex fact or remedy -too much!!
This is also a wonderful story about bringing two very different families together by the love of Toula & Ian.
I wanted to do my card in shades of blue ala Greek Flag, but I also wanted to do something to represent the "Windex factor", so I used a window sheet to make a floating or acetate card. This is a technique that I've been wanting to try, and felt this was a good opportunity.

From an angle:

The inside:

I used: Taken With Teal, Baja Breeze, and Shimmer White cardstock; Window Sheet, Mini-glue dots, Wide Oval, Scallop Oval, and 1/16" handheld circle punches; Rub-ons "Love & Happiness" (SAB 08).

Here is a good tutorial for the acetate card at Splitcoast Stampers

Thanks for stopping by!!

Mojo Trio

2009-11-07T15:54:00.000-08:00

So, I decided to take another challenge "baby step" and try another challenge. So I chose the very popular Mojo Monday sketch challenge. This is my first Mojo Monday challenge:

The layout is pretty clean and simple -very much to my taste. Here is the card I am submitting for this challenge:

I used: Under the Stars, Starring You, and Celebrate Everything sets; Dusty Durango, Confetti White, Going Gray, Whisper White, and More Mustard cardstocks; More Mustard, Basic Gray, Close to Cocoa, and Chocolate Chip inks; Paper Snips, Large and Small Star, and 1" circle Punches, Vintage Brads, Autumn Meadows DSP, and google eyes.

And, because I got on such a roll, I made a couple more with the same template:

One for Veteran's Day (for my hubby)

And one to get a glitter fix:

I don't know if you can see all the sparkle on this or not, but it's got iridescent ice on the light pink, glittered brads, "fairy dust" on the stamped image, and glittered stars. It was much fun to make and glitter has covered a majority of my outfit, the kitchen, and continues to journey around the house.

**I'll post ingredients on the last 2 cards later...I want to get this posted and have to get dinner going.**

Have a wonderful Saturday!!

Just Bend & Snap!

2009-10-31T07:45:00.000-07:00

Happy Saturday!! This week's movie is Legally Blonde!
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! this film -such an enjoyable flick and the sequel is just as fabulous.

This week we are to use an encouraging sentiment to pay homage to Elle Woods rise through law school when all the odds (and people) were stacked against her, as well as take inspiration from the film itself.

I was inspired by so much! Of course, the card HAD to be pink, and Reese Witherspoon/Elle Woods just *sparkles* in this film, so I felt this project called for lots of glitter and stars as well to capture the character. Elle Woods is such an inspiration: she's fun, determined, considerate, and full of courage. I chose the quote: "It takes courage to grow up to be who you really are" as my encouraging sentiment, because Elle really did grow in this film and it took a lot of guts for her to stick with it. Now, I couldn't leave out one of my favorite parts of the film (I know there are others with me on this...): The "Bend and Snap" scene in the beauty salon. This just makes me laugh out loud every time. So, I made a little "bend and snap" background technique, using rubber bands and craft white ink. Check out my blog for more details! My family got quite a kick out of me bending and snapping my card -LOL!

Here is the inside:

There is a great tutorial for this spiral pop-up at Splitcoast Stampers

Here is a close up of the *sparkle*

Sorry the colors aren't that great on the last pics...lighting wasn't working for me.

I used: Melon Mambo classic ink, Whisper White craft ink, Melon Mambo, Whisper White, and Pink Pirouette c/s, Starring You set, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Tombo Multi glue, sticky strip, Large and Small Star & 1 3/4" Circle punches, paper snips, medium sized rubber band.

To "Bend & Snap" your background:

Hold rubber band between your middle and pointer finger.

Ink the lower end of the rubber band in craft ink (I recommend using a narrow dowel or end of a pencil -otherwise it gets super messy).

Then, pull that end up (past the other end of the rubber band) and "snap" it onto the cardstock.

Now you have done the "Bend & Snap" stamping style!

Check out this and other great projects inspired by this film at Cinema Saturday

Enjoy and have a Happy Halloween!!

Trick or Treat!!

2009-10-26T15:36:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween-ish!
So, some fun & exciting news...if you check out the left side of my blog, you will see that I am now the proud displayer of Cinema Saturday's Audrey award -Thanks ladies!! I won for my Elizabeth -The Golden Age crown card.
As part of this honor, I will be guest designing on Cinema Saturday this coming Saturday for the next film reveal. I am soooo excited!! I can't tell you the movie, but you will HAVE to come guess at the sneak peeks on Friday, then check out the big reveal on Saturday, and I highly encourage you to play along -it's a lot of fun.

So, I made a little "treat" for this week's film (which/witch? I haven't seen yet, but plan on doing so soon):

This was a card I had designed for the Stamping Cruise, and I added a little frayed ribbon to it.

I used: Halloween Frights set, Frightful Fence Jumbo wheel, Treat cups, Pumpkin Pie & Basic Black c/s and inks, More Mustard ink, Lovely Lilac & Kraft c/s, Old Olive 1/4" grosgrain ribbon.

Yum, Yum, Yum!!

2009-10-20T16:37:00.000-07:00

Okay, have I ever mentioned how much I love chocolate? For those of you who have known me awhile, that's kind of a "DUH!". Seriously, I can consume a ton of chocolate...I dread the day the doctor tells me I am allergic and should no longer eat it. I'd find a loophole though...gotta have my chocolate. I'm not a coffee girl, I don't smoke, but must have chocolate (I'm having some now in fact, and had some earlier too!).

Our neighborhood has been blessed with a FABULOUS chocolate shop, that also serves coffee/tea, and yummy pastries. I went this morning with some girlfriends and the baby while the bigger kids were in school. This is how bad I've got it: I had a yummy apple turnover, but they were out of my favorite chocolate: Australian Salt Caramels. They were actually making them as we were visiting, but wouldn't be done for another half-hour. So, I went and picked my son up from his half-day class, came straight back and bought some fresh-made salt caramels. Oh heavenly!! I've had salt caramels before, but nothing like how Sweet Decadence makes them -YUM!!! If you are local and haven't tried these before, I totally recommend you pop in. The gals are wonderful and happy to guide your taste-buds.

I felt the need to make them a card today, but forgot to take a pic of it before it was delivered on the 2nd trip of the day, so I made another very similar to the first:

I hope you can see the chunky clear glitter that I used as my sea salt on the "salt caramels". It looks super-cute in person, if I do say so myself! :)

I used:

Things I Love set, Chocolate Chip, Dusty Durango ink & markers, Dusty Durango polka-dot ribbon, Chocolate Chip and Confetti White cardstock, Tombo Multi glue, Chunky Clear glitter.

Have a sweet day!!

Shore do love you!!

2009-10-18T18:03:00.000-07:00

This week's Cinema Saturday film is Finding Nemo and it's a color challenge! I've been wanting to do a color challenge, but I never seem to get around to doing any other challenges yet, except the Cinema Saturdays, so I'm super excited!

This film has a special place in my heart -it was the first film we ever took our oldest to see. She was almost 2 and I was pregnant with our second, so you can imagine the tears during the film -lol! Me during the first 5-10 minutes and her with the sharks. We watched this again yesterday all 3 kids, my mom and myself. My now 8 year old daughter still curls up on my lap and hides her face when Bruce shows up (personally, I love Bruce!). The "party balloons" still make my son jump, and the baby loves all the color. My most favorite line in the entire movie, and it always brings a bit of tear, and tugs at my heart strings is when Dory says to Marlin, before he leaves: "...I look at you and I'm home". For me, this is my husband. I hope everyone has someone they could say this line to... So, I made a card for him. However, it is more cutesy than sappy. As a family, we also just love the "hey, hey" crabs. They just crack us up, so I had to incorporate them into the card somehow. This is what I came up with:

I used: Crab & Co. set (retired), Pacific Point (retired), Bermuda Bay, Dusty Durango, & Whisper White cardstocks and inks. Blender pens, Stampin' Dimensionals, Tombo Multi glue, 5mm google eyes, Dusty Durango Marker, Spritzing tool.

Look for some more fun here later this week, and I promise, once I get them photographed, I'll post the cruise projects we did a couple weeks back.

Hope you had a great weekend!

~Nancy

CSCC #53 -Elizabeth the Golden Age

2009-10-15T16:05:00.000-07:00

Oh the Tudors...so much drama! We get a little more info into the life of Elizabeth I in this 2nd film, but both are movies are well-done and quite compelling.

First off, Cate Blanchett is an amazing actress, but WOW! I think the costuming in this film maybe outshines everything else!! So amazing...I just love the beautiful dresses she wears...especially the blue ones. The color in her blue dresses has just a hint of gray, giving me the feeling of cool steel -representing her demeanor and strength. It's so interesting watching this movie -the portrayal of Elizabeth shows so many sides to her character: Strength, vulnerability, a coolness, yet there is warmth and love. She is shown as quite a diplomat, and so very loyal to her country.

If you haven't seen either film I HIGHLY recommend them both!!
For this week's challenge we needed to add a crown. Soooooo, I didn't have any crown stamps or stickers, so I used a clip art crown and printed it on vellum. Then embossed it while the ink was still wet with detail embossing powder -turned out pretty well. Unfortunately, I couldn't scan the card well (too much dimension) and I wasn't super-thrilled with the lighting on the pics. Oh well, if I can get a better one taken, I will post it later. Also, I used a verse from one of my favorite sets (a retired one!) It's Your Birthday. It says: "Someone like you should be celebrated every day". I thought this would be good for many different occasions for someone pretty incredible (like Queen Elizabeth).

I used: Night of Navy, Bordering Blue, and Whisper White vellum cardstocks. Versamark and Night of Navy inks. It's Your Birthday (retired) and Friends 24-7 sets. Glue dots, 1/16" hand-held punch, Pretties kit (small white half pearls and med. size clear rhinestone taken out of brad setting), and Gold Detail Embossing powder.

Stamping Cruise 2009

2009-10-09T09:38:00.000-07:00

Ahoy! Land Ho...the Stamping cruise has sailed and made it's last docking in Seattle on a beautiful fall day.
This is also where we started our journey!
The next stop was in beautiful Victoria, B.C. where friends shopped, sipped tea, and enjoyed the beautiful inner harbour on a sunny day

Then onto Nanaimo, B.C. aka: "The Sunporch of Canada" and/or "The Bathtub Capital of the World".
What a beautiful city! The weather was amazing and it was so fun to see lots of families and folks walking their dogs out and about. My sister-in-law and I had a nice time wandering around and doing some shopping for our families.

Isn't it gorgeous??? It was a great trip with amazing weather, good food, great conversations, and of course tons of stamping projects and fun times!!

This is post 1 of at least 2 for this year's cruise...the next one, I'll feature many of the projects we did.

Thanks to all of those who joined us and HUMONGOUS THANKS to my amazing demonstrators who helped with so much and designed many projects -you are wonderful!!!

Looking forward to sailing with you all again soon!

Cinema Saturday #52 -Happy Anniversary!!

2009-10-07T17:07:00.000-07:00

This week's (and the 1st anniversary) challenge is Mrs.Doubtfire. I haven't seen this movie in quite awhile, but I do adore it! Robin Williams is great -I've been a fan for quite sometime (can anyone say "Nanoo Nanoo"?).

I have to admit I have been swamped the past couple weeks and haven't been able to participate in any challenges. This past weekend I went on a cruise up to Vancouver Island for the annual stamping cruise that I organize with my cousin Heidi, and the help of my upline and downline members. We had a FABULOUS time, but I'll post on that later.

Anyways, I am using a project I designed for the cruise for my challenge this week -in the spirit of saving time and energy -something I'm sure Mrs. Doubtfire would approve of. I was inspired by a project a fellow demo had done for a swap, she got the tutorial here: http://inkingaddict.blogspot.com/2008/07/envelope-scrapbook-tutorial.html

I shrunk it down about half-sized and made some other minor modifications to use the stamp set and DSP we used on the cruise.

I used: Charming stamp set, Cottage Wall DSP, Rich Razzleberry: ink, cardstock and polka dot grosgrain ribbon. Whisper White and Old Olive cardstock, Round Tab, Scallop Edge, Scallop Circle, 1 3/8" circle, and 1 1/4" circle Punches, Stampin' Dimensionals, Sticky Strip, Anywhere Glue Stick, Small business size envelopes (self-adhesive)

I plan on giving one of these to each of my grandmothers with pictures of each of the kids pictures in the inserts, and an "about me" on the reverse side of the photo.

Have a great day!

Happy 50th Cinema Saturday!!

2009-09-20T21:22:00.000-07:00

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenges are celebrating their 50th Challenge! Congrats to Brooke and Sankari the dedicated gals who host this fabulous blog and always give me something super fun to look forward to each Friday (the sneak peek) and Saturday (of course the big reveal).
Do me a favor and check out their blog and the beautiful creations posted there...I guaranteed you will find a movie on the sidebar that you love -check out the past projects there too!
Here's where to find them: http://cinemasaturdaycreativechallenge.blogspot.com/
Thanks again ladies, and here's to another 50+, I look forward to hanging out with you all!

And I am so excited, my mom won the "School of Rock" challenge, so she is a guest designer this week at Cinema Saturday. You can see more about her at: http://grammieloves.blogspot.com/

And on to this weeks 50th anniversary challenge:

I sooooo enjoy this movie...pretty sure I saw it at least twice in the theaters when it came out, and still have it on "tape". Probably about time to invest in the DVD...

This is a great story about love, self-confidence, dreams, change, and so much more. This week's challenge was to take inspiration from the film and use paper piecing.

There are so many parts I just loved from the film it was hard to choose one...I love her fancy outfits, I love the sassy quotes, Edward's/Richard Gere's dry humor...oh I could go on!

Like many others, I LOVE the brown polka-dot dress she wore at the races, and I love the part where she finally gets to shop after being snubbed by some snooty saleslady. So this is what I took inspiration in. It's the whole, "Don't judge a book by it's cover" moral...

I love it when she's piled on with her shopping bags and hat boxes, with the gorgeous hat and dress/suit outfit, and gets to confront the snooty salesladies (who work on commission!): "...big mistake, big, huge! I have to go shopping now..."

So here is my fun Pretty Woman "shopping day" card:

I used: Melon Mambo and Whisper White c/s, Pink Flamingo DSP, Things I Love set, Melon Mambo, Real Red, Regal Rose, and Basic Black ink, clear rhinestone brad, 1/4" Pretty in Pink grosgrain ribbon, Round Tab punch, Sizzix Scallop Circle die, 1" circle punch.

I pieced the shopping bags, and made the dress out of 1/2 of the scallop circle die-cut, and half of a tab punch with a notch (for the collar area) with the 1" punch.

Have a wonderful week, and may you feel pretty too!!

Cinema Saturday #49 Part 2

2009-09-15T17:43:00.000-07:00

Okay, I couldn't resist, I really wanted to do a card for this one...and kind of a lovey one at that.
I just love all the greens, and the scrolls (esp on the DSP) seem very elvish to me.
If I were to pick one color to represent the LOTR-Two Towers, it would be green -the forests, the lush fields.
Here you go:

I used:

Full of Life and Baroque Motifs sets

Gold Detail embossing powder

Versamark

Gold Brads

Le Jardin DSP (retired)

Always Artichoke, River Rock (retired), and White Vellum cardstocks

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #49

2009-09-15T13:49:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone!

This week's movie challenge is Lord of the Rings -The Two Towers. I LOVE this trilogy...all three films are just so beautiful and amazing; the settings, costumes, the relationships. I think the Two Towers is my favorite of the trilogy -there is so much to it. It was a bit of a challenge to find just one or two inspirations from it. I knew I wanted to used some darker and more subtle colors; grays, greens, and/or blues, but what to focus on? The loyalty? The sacrifices? The love? The courage? The pursuits of freedom? How about all of them?!?

My husband, who, I think, enjoys these challenges as much as I do, asks me on Saturday after the movie is revealed, "So...what are you gonna do for this one?",

my response (as usual), "I'm not sure, I've got some ideas though."

He brilliantly says and points, "Well, what about that?"

I look, he is pointing to a picture taken of us in May 2001, we are standing at the base of the Statue of Liberty. Two towers are in the background behind us, the Twin Towers. We both agreed on the appropriateness of using this photo, especially since the sneak peeks for this movie came on September 11th.

So, I found a few other photos from that day:

The picture of us and the Twin Towers that symbolize to me our love, and the towers remind me of sacrifice and loyalty many have given our country.

A photo of the Statue of Liberty an obvious symbol for the many pursuits of freedom

Lastly, one of the entrance to Ellis Island, a place where many courageous people left behind everything to come to America in search of freedom and choice.
I could really go on and on, but if you've seen the film, you know what I mean (I hope!).
So here is my project, enjoy!

Supplies that I used: Baroque Motifs and Circle Circus sets. Silver & clear embossing powder with Versamark and the Versamarker. LeJardin and Maine Blueberry DSP (both retired). Techniques: Heat embossed swirlys in silver, clear embossed the quotes on vellum (ink was still wet from the printer), used Versamarker to clear emboss the birds on the DSP, and used a faux metal technique for the embellishments (this is one of my favorites!).

Here is a better view of some of the embellishments and quotes, etc.

Have a great afternoon and Happy Stamping!

For Those About to Rock...We Stamp for you!

2009-09-09T15:00:00.000-07:00

Oooh that was a bad modified quote...Sorry AC/DC! I suppose some who are about to rock would rather be saluted... :)
This weeks Cinema Saturday Challenge (#48 for those keeping track):

This is a cute film, probably not in my list of top faves, but enjoyable nonetheless, with a rockin' soundtrack.

The requirement this week was to use cork. Other than random wine corks, I don't have any cork on hand, and spent time debating on how to do the challenge without purchasing any. Well, needless to say, Mom and I went to a craft store today, and she bought some -Hah! I didn't buy any, but I did swap her a piece of cork for some cute K&company adhesive chipboard pieces that I purchased while we were there -they were so cute I absolutely couldn't resist.

I used:

Melon Mambo cardstock

" " polka dot ribbon

Basic Black cardstock

SNAIL

Sticky Strip (lots)

Pink Flamingo DSP

Small Star punch

1/2" circle punch

Sizzix Billboard Alphabet die

K&Company Adhesive Chipboard "Rock Star"

So, the first picture is more for "true to life" color, etc. However, I couldn't scan the project with the thumbtacks in, so had to take some pics. The color isn't as good, but you get the idea. Not sure who will get this cute gift...but it would look cute in a locker!!

A Quick Gift Bag

2009-09-07T18:35:00.000-07:00

This is a cute and quick little gift bag I did at my last open house. Only the greeting is stamped and the rest of the project utilizes the Big Shot. The background is a quarter sheet (8.5x11) run through the Big Shot with a Texturz plate. The bear and the clothes are part of the the new line Stampin' Up! is carrying in collaboration with Build-A-Bear workshop. Soooo cute! The clothes and background strip are the new DSP "Autumn Meadows" in the Holiday mini-catty. I looooove this paper, it is just gorgeous! The bag is very simply a white lunch bag...very appropriate for back to school time, don't ya think? Hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend!

"Life is like a box of chocolates..."

2009-09-03T17:20:00.000-07:00

This week's Cinema Saturday Challenge is the wonderful story of Forrest Gump. As in every challenge, we were to draw inspiration from the film (story, quotes, characters, costumes, etc.), and as an additional requirement, we were to use the color brown. This one was a challenge for me -not the brown part, I love to use brown, but to pick an element from the film that inspired me. This movie has a lot to choose from.

I ended up going with a military theme -inspired by Forrest's Army service and my husband. I selected this for several reasons: Because I love to hear my husband's laugh...not a chuckle (although, I enjoy that too), but his laugh. And boy, does he laugh at the scenes with the drill sargeant! He has been in the Army for over 20 years now, and I've started an album to commemorate the units he's been in and his achievements. I wanted to add a few pages to it, so together we selected the photos shown, along with the quote from Drill Sargeant: "You're in the Army now!" Also, I knew after he guessed the movie from the Sneek Peeks from a snippet of Forrest's uniform patch -"Oh, that's Forrest Gump, he was in the 9th Infantry", that I should go with an Army theme. I also found out that DH had served in the 9th Infantry as well... Hooah!

Here are my pages, have a great rest of the week!

Oooh! Almost forgot to list my supplies -here you go:
Godspeed Stamp set
Encore Silver ink
Always Artichoke ink & c/s
Chocolate Chip and Naturals Ivory c/s
Creative Imaginations stickers "Army Equipment"
Rusty Pickle paper "WWII Jeeps & Tanks"
Chipboard "Lots of Letters"

Imagination Central

2009-09-02T14:39:00.000-07:00

Today my kids planted a garden. To be more specific, they built an outdoor world for their toy friends. Last week, while perusing the garden center at one of my favorite places, McLendon Hardware, my lightbulb went off. My husband had just finished building a series of planters along the edge of our patio and I was trying to find plants to fill them. Then I saw several adorable "mini" plants, and thought that would be really cool to make an outside world for little dolls and action figures to play...sure beats getting buried in the sandbox! :) Anyways, the kids loved the idea, and put it into action today. I've been listening to the sounds of Polly Pocket socializing with Lego Rock Monsters and Storm Troopers. So much fun!

We look forward to watching the "garden" develop into a Jungle or Forest, and seeing the changes through the seasons.

Yay Day!

2009-09-01T19:59:00.000-07:00

Wow! It's been a busy week so far, and it's only Tuesday.
First of all I want to congratulate my "1000" winner: Marci (of the cute cakes&cukes blog) is the winner of my blog candy and will receive a set of hand-stamped greeting cards to pass out as she pleases. Thanks for visiting (and commenting!) Marci! I'll get those to you soon!

School started yesterday, I forgot how busy it can be during the first week of school; I've already baked twice for separate events, filled out a dozen forms for the kids, and I start my library volunteering tomorrow. I cannot wait to get back in the library -like my daughter, it is my favorite place in the school. :) I am so happy I get to do library duty for both kids this year, now that my "baby boy" is in Kindergarten.

Here is a cute pic of the kiddos on the way to school yesterday.

On the "stamping" front...I am sooooo excited!! I got to preorder my demo copy of My Digital Studio. I cannot wait to load it up and start playing -I've got so many projects in my head, it may explode. Hahahahah!! Kidding! Anyways, you will probably hear me when it arrives...the shout for joy!

Well, Happy September...I'll be sharing again soon.

~Nancy

If you stamp it...they will come...

2009-08-23T15:18:00.000-07:00

Can you guess what this week's Cinema Saturday Challenge is?
You got it:

I just love this movie -it's been awhile since I've seen it, but ooh, it's a favorite! We're thinking we need to get it on DVD. Anyways, my card this week includes the challenge requirement of red stitching, but is more of a holiday card. I added the word "cherish" to the card, which is appropriate to the film which incorporates the things cherished by each of the main characters; baseball, family, following dreams, catching lost dreams, and more. I used a "quilting" technique I've seen a few time and have been dying to try, so here is my first crack at it -I may attempt another to add to the challenge and do some actual hand stitching, rather than the faux stitching you see on this sample:

I used the Dashing DSP from a couple holidays ago -I found my secret stash and couldn't put it back without using it! I just LOVE this paper! I also used the Warm Words set (still current) along with Real Red & Old Olive cs and ink.
For those interested, I will be demoing this quilting technique in my next series of Technique club meetings.
Contact me if you are interested in signing up!
Happy crafting!

1000 !!!!!

2009-08-22T17:43:00.000-07:00

Holy Smokes, Batman -we hit 1,000 today!!
If you commented (or do comment today), you will go into my drawing for some "blog candy".
Thanks for visiting my blog I do appreciate it and your comments!!
Have a great afternoon!

A quick card

2009-08-22T11:35:00.000-07:00

I was getting some pictures together to send my grandma today, and wanted to make a quick card with the "Thoughts of Father" set (now retired). I had bought it awhile back to make cards for my dad, grandma, and uncle, with the Model A stamp. Needless to say, hadn't gotten around to using it (gasp!). So I pulled it out today, paired it with some new Stampin' Up! InColors, a blender pen, and a greeting (that I ended up masking). Here's what I got:

I used (c/s & ink): Soft Suede, Dusty Durango, Bermuda Bay, Old Olive.
Super simple and pretty, and could easily be stepped-up with embellishments.

Stamping and Cruising the Northwest

2009-08-21T08:44:00.000-07:00

Hello Sailors and Landlubbers alike!

I am getting so excited for the annual Stamping and Cruising the Northwest cruise coming up here pretty quick!! I've been working on projects, organizing demonstrations, and more.

While I can't show you this year's projects yet, you can see a sampling of last year's projects in one of my older posts: http://craftingmyworld.blogspot.com/2009/04/lets-see-some-pictures.html

For those of you unfamiliar with this: This year is the second year I've helped coordinate a stamping cruise for friends, family, customers, and anyone else who wants to join. Heidi at R&D Cruises and Tours coordinates the cabin booking and works with the cruise line. Check out her website at: http://www.rdcruises.com/ Then I get the fun part of organizing the stamping classes and projects! :)

Like last year, we will be aboard the Celebrity Mercury on October 2-5th, and will have a weekend filled with stamping, the beautiful scenery of the Northwest (Nanaimo, Victoria, Seattle), and the pampering of Celebrity's friendly staff.

Above: Me (center), enjoying a meal with my mom and sister; Nanaimo, B.C; Left: Flags flying in Port of Victoria, B.C; Right: Me and the kids with our favorite, Activities Director Alejandro.

October 2008

I am looking forward to spending a weekend creating with our "alumni" and "rookies" alike in a place perfect for inspiration and creativity!

Wow! Almost 1000!

2009-08-21T08:21:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my blog has had almost 1,000 hits so far! Thanks so much to all of you for visiting -it's fun to share and I love hearing your comments.
As a thank you, I'd like to send out a little goodie pack (notecards, accessories, etc.), I guess this is called "blog candy", to someone who sends me a comment on my 1,000th hit day.
I will be watching, and at the end of the day, I'll do a random drawing, and once the winner is selected and I have your contact info, I'll get your blog candy to you.

WooHoo!
Thanks for making this a fun creative outlet for me to share!!
Happy Friday,
Nancy

Exciting things here and there!!

2009-08-17T17:42:00.000-07:00

Ahoy visitors!!

Did I mention how excited I was for Convention?? Ha Ha, I know I did, because I really was! I had a good time, and came home exhausted, but full of ideas. Many of you have already asked how the baby did on our trip, and she was great. I was such a proud Mama to see my baby up on the Convention big screen each day before our general session started (I've put a brag picture below).

I really appreciate all the support I received from my stamping "family" (downlines, sidelines, uplines) while I was there -You all rock!! I also want to send out a huge public thanks to my mom who came and helped out a ton as well. We love you all!!

The picture above is our "3-Generation" picture, and the one to the left is a picture from my 5 year walk. Woo Hoo! Big fun!!

The end of Convention is always bittersweet -hate for the fun to end, but so tired, you just want to sleep in your own bed.

But now, I get to channel my energy and motivation into another awesome, fun-filled event: Stamping and Cruising the Northwest. I am so excited to prepare again for this now, annual event! Looking forward to sailing the seas with stamping friends old and new, eat some great food, and see some beautiful sights...More on this to come in future posts!! Can't wait!

Happy Stamping!

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #45 -Sixteen Candles

2009-08-16T15:09:00.000-07:00

"What's Happenin' Hot Stuff?" I love this line and I love this movie -it's got so many great parts to it I couldn't even begin to tell you which one is my most favorite. I think this was actually the first PG rated movie I ever saw...

So, Sixteen Candles is this week's CSCC, as a tribute to it's great writer/director, the late John Hughes, who also put out many more of my favorite 80's films.

The requirement this week was to make a birthday card, with an additional challenge to use "retro 80's" colors/design.

So, while I would really want to use pink for a 16 Candles birthday card, I did a bit more of an 80's shout-out to the bright colors. I used several colors (2+ more than I would normally use) in nice bright colors, but them into a rainbow of sorts and used some direct to paper technique on the stamped part to pay homage to that popular Paint Splatter and geometric shapes that defined much of the 80's. I also added a little "surprise" inside.

This card actually reminds me of Rainbow Brite, my Mork from Ork suspenders, my favorite Vuarnet t-shirt, and Lisa Frank school supplies (rainbows, stars, unicorns, and teddy bears -oh my!). I hope it takes you back and makes you feel young again too!!

Supplies I used:

Basic Black, Tempting Turquoise, Real Red, YoYo Yellow, Pixie Pink, and Gable Green c/s
Basic Black ink

Four Square stamp set

Star Punch (large and small)

Bold Brights brads

Pink Flamingo DSP

Pop-Up Cake Die

Sticky Strip

Stampin' Dimensionals

Enjoy, and like, go like, stamp something that is like, totally awesome, 'kay?

Convention Here We Come!!

2009-08-04T13:15:00.000-07:00

I am on my way to the biggest event in the Stampin' Up! year -aside from the release of the new catalog...Convention 2009!!

Woo-Hoo!

Can you feel my excitement?? New products, new techniques, new ideas, free stamps and samples galore!! Woo-Hoo

I am also excited as this will also be a multi-generational family trip to Convention. I'll be traveling with my Mom (also a demo, who should get a blog herself to show off her pretty cards), and my new baby girl! It will make it all that more wonderful!

Anyways, to share some of it with you here are the cards I have designed toswap for even more ideas.

FYI, the Robot card isn't pictured larger for any other reason than that's how it got scanned.

I was surprised how quick the ideas came and got put together -that's the beauty of pretty new sets I suppose!

So, here are the supplies -all can be found in the new idea book:

Card #1: Thank You Kindly & Circle Circus sets, Rich Razzleberry, Mellow Moss (ink and c/s), Elegant Eggplant (ink), Whisper White (c/s), Scallop Circle & Modern Label punch, Cosmo fine glitter celery

Card #2: Medallion Background and Hope Happens sets, Dusty Durango, Naturals Ivory cs, Chocolate Chip Craft ink, Earth Elements watercolor crayons, Pretties kit (half pearl)

Card #3: Lots of Bots set, Rich Razzleberry, Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Basic Gray, inks and c/s. Modern Label punch, Blender pens.

Cinema Saturday Challenge #43 -Pirates of the Caribbean

2009-08-03T20:01:00.000-07:00

Yo Ho me hearties!! I have been super busy getting ready for Convention, but I've been working hard (fast!), so that I could do this challenge.

So many options for this one! I had to re-watch the movie for the dozenth time :) to find the perfect quote, and I knew it when I heard it. The requirement for this challenge, was to use beads, and take inspiration from the film, Curse of the Black Pearl, to be more specific.

I used the new Medallion Background stamp with gold ink in the background, then embossed it with gold embossing powder and attached some beads (not SU!). The medallion reminds me of the cursed coins in the film, and once beaded it resembles a compass rose to me as well. I also used Chocolate Chip, Bermuda Bay, Dusty Durango, and White Vellum cardstocks. Versamark ink was used in the embossing and on the Bermuda Bay c/s, and Tombo glue on the beads.
The second picture is just a close up of the embossed medallion and the quote.
We had a fabulous time on this trip, and I'm so glad to at least have one page finally scrapped for it!!

A Cut Above

2009-07-29T06:25:00.000-07:00

So, I've been wanting to donate my hair for a long time, unfortunately my hair doesn't grow particularly fast, and I lose patience.

Well, as many of you know, your hair grows a bit thicker and faster while you are pregnant, so I took the opportunity to try to get my hair long enough while I was pregnant. I found out at our Relay for Life from a volunteer who was cutting hair for Locks of Love, that while my hair was not long enough for them (10"), it was long enough (8") for Pantene's hair donation program, Beautiful Lengths. So, last week, Erin and I went down and got our hairs cut. I'm so excited to finally be able to donate mine, and we are both thrilled with our "sassy" new do's. Here are the before and after pics:

So, Erin didn't want to show off her new hair for the world, so you are stuck with just a picture of me. Yay short hair!

What Happened to Summer?

2009-07-29T06:07:00.000-07:00

As many of you Northwesterners know mid to late July usually indicates the arrival of summer with some 80+ degree temps after a drizzly June. Well, it looks like we're having a "real" summer, a scorcher if you will, and it makes me want spring back! Give me a holler if you too, would like some rain and cooler (by at least 10 degree) temps! Maybe we can start a little petition to the guy upstairs... :)
All that aside, my corn and tomatoes to seem to be enjoying the extra heat and sun, as long as they get a drink daily. I'm not used to having to water the garden so much and I dread seeing the water bill.
Could we just get back in the 80's? Here's a little cool down tip (from a Discovery Channel junkie), when you are feeling the heat, turn on "Deadliest Catch" -that nasty, frigid Bering Sea weather helps bring it down a degree or two.
Well, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I cannot wait to get to SLC next week for their summer weather! Who knew the lower 90's could be cool -maybe because it's a "dry heat"? It also helps when everything has A/C as well.
Of course, we all know the big highlight in SLC next week is the big Stampin' Up! Convention for demonstrators. I cannot wait to learn some new things, get some new goodies, and get a ton of new ideas! I'll share when I get back -I've made most of my swaps, and I'll post those after I return. My daughter is hoping I'll get over to East High where they filmed all the High School Musical movies to take some pictures, and I will definitely try.
Well, I hope to post one more blog before I head out of town...I did a really fun donation I want to share.
Have a great day, and stay cool!!

Cinema Saturday Challenge #40 -National Treasure

2009-07-16T18:59:00.000-07:00

Hello!! What a fun challenge this was -the requirement was to do a project to reflect a treasure. I chose to do a scrapbook page of one of my most valuable treasures -my kids! I also added in other little treasured tidbits: Buttons -my grandma is a collector of these, antique ones, and I've gleaned some history, info, and a small collection of my own. I also used Washington Apple DSP -I adore the paper, don't necessarily consider it a treasure, but I do treasure my home state -I'm a very proud native Washingtonian, and the yummy apples (Red Delicious and Honeycrisps) that are produced here -an added bonus to helping us buy locally.
Here is the page with my precious treasures:

I used:

Chocolate Chip & Natural Vanilla c/s

Washington Apple DSP

Designer Buttons: Latte & Button Bouquet

Scallop Edge & Scallop Square punches

Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon

Linen thread

Enjoy your treasures!!

Have a great weekend, Nancy

Cinema Saturday Challenge #39 -To Kill a Mockingbird

2009-07-09T15:41:00.000-07:00

Yay! I'm so excited to do my first challenge since the arrival of Baby #3! This is one of my favorite books and movies -One of the few cases where the movie is just about as good as the book. So, I really wanted to participate in this one. It was very challenging to choose one inspiration from the film...I even thought about doing a Halloween card to recognize the character "Boo Radley", played by one of my favorite actors, Robert Duvall (don't worry, Gregory Peck is high on that list too!). Anyways, I went with an easy one and used a bird like in the title -pretty sure it's not a mockingbird, but pretty nonetheless. Also, the requirement for this project was to use black and white somewhere. So, without further ado, here is what I came up with:
I was so excited to use one of the new InColors from Stampin' Up! on this card -it's the new Soft Suede. I think it looks great with the black and white to give the card a vintage feel -like "To Kill a Mockingbird"
I also wanted some texture, so I did some torn edges and I also distressed the black cardstock and peeled the sheet apart, so it looks and feels like suede. I also sponged some Suede ink onto the vellum.

Here are the supplies:
Friends 24-7 set
Basic Black, Soft Suede, and White vellum cardstocks
StazOn Jet Black & Soft Suede ink pad and refill
Pretties (colored with Soft Suede ink)
Black Brads
Stampin' Sponge

Well, Mommy-time is up...have a great afternoon, and don't forget to check out all the fun new stuff in the new SU! Idea Book & Catalog...can't wait to play some more with it!!

Happy Stamping,
Nancy

Oooh a Challenge....

2009-07-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Hope you all had a fabulous 4th of July.

Well, I just did some baby shower invites last week for a friend, and with the arrival of our third baby, I thought I'd like to see what you all could/would come up with for a baby announcement or baby shower invite. Please post a link to your gallery or blog in the comments of this post...We would all love to see what you creative folk can do!

Here is my invite, well, rather a sample without the "You're invited" greeting stamped at the bottom. I used:

Tea Party DSP

Pink Pirouette C/S (retired)

Beautiful Butterflies Bigz Die w/Big Shot

5/8" So Saffron Grosgrain ribbon (SAB 09)

*Check out my website...I'm hosting a couple of specials available only through me, that include 10% off of Baby themed sets from Stampin' Up!*

Have a great afternoon!

What Time is it?

2009-06-29T19:04:00.000-07:00

My daughter's favorite answer to this is: "Summer time! It's our vay-cay-tion!" as a tribute to High School Musical 2. We love to play this after school lets out, which it finally did last Thursday -woohoo!
I now find myself asking this several times a day, simply because, I have no clue.
Baby #3 made her debut almost 2 weeks ago (a few weeks early) -and I am starting to remember how this whole lack of sleep thing works. :)
Hopefully, as we all get a little more adjusted I'll be blogging a bit more regularly, and getting back to more challenges. I've missed doing them the past few weeks -especially when Cinema Saturday did High School Musical (1-3). I will do one for myself along with my daughter just for the whole fun of it anyways when time allows.
Hope you are all enjoying Summer!!
Be back soon!
Nancy

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #35 -Some Like it Hot

2009-06-06T17:10:00.001-07:00

Well, it's true...Some like it hot, but boy am I glad it's cooled down around here. I'm getting a little tired of the swollen feet and ankles! :) I do really enjoy this movie though...I think this was the movie that encouraged me to try more black and white classics. It is just hysterical -I just love both Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in this. The requirements for the project this week was to use lace and/or ruffles. Here is what I came up with:

I went with a little take on the "goodie in a garter" that seemed to keep popping up in the movie -be it a flask or something else, and incorporated a modified quote from Josephine/Tony Curtis in regards to Sugar's/Marilyn Monroe story about always getting the fuzzy end of the lollipop.

I gathered 2 kinds/sizes of ribbons with needle and thread, and made some "paper lace" using c/s and punches.

Here is the supply list:

Basic Gray, Basic Black, Whisper White, Riding Hood Red cardstocks, SU! Passing Notes font, White Wide organza ribbon (SU! retired), Riding Hood Red Taffeta ribbon, punches: Scallop Circle, Scallop Edge, 1.25" circle, 1/8" & 1/16" hand-held, Pop-up glue dots, and lots of Sticky Strip.

Come play -it's fun and rather addicting!

Have a great weekend!

Cinema Saturday Challenge #34 -Ocean's Eleven

2009-05-31T22:11:00.000-07:00

So, this week's challenge was to do a card based on the movie "Ocean's Eleven" (the new version) with the requirement of using brads (as in Brad Pitt) and something about the movie as inspiration. I love this trilogy...and will probably go watch after I post. So, as you can see, yes, I used brads, but since I'm more of a Matt Damon girl, I also used my Glass Cutting "Matt" to do the porthole circles, and my "Matt" kit with my paper piercing tools to do the little details. So, there you have my Brads and Matts. :) I also used alot of circles to emphasize the "O" in Ocean, and I liked the verse -it reminded me of the quirky but top notch Ocean's Eleven crew who are good at what they do. The title was kind of my inspiration -my mom had mentioned when she saw the original she thought it would be a movie having to do with the ocean, and thought it strange that there was no water in the movie let alone an ocean. Then the characters were introduced, and it made more sense. This one's for you mom!!

Here are the other supplies I used:
Define Your Life & Just Beachy sets, Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, Basic Gray, Whisper White & Tangerine Tango c/s, window sheet (hard to see in the pic but used over the stamped fish piece like the porthole glass), Wide Oval punch, SU! Texturz plates, vintage brads, and White Craft & Pacific Point inks.
Enjoy, I had fun with this!

Cinema Saturday Challenge #32 -Twilight

2009-05-27T20:52:00.000-07:00

Woo-Hoo -I just finished my first challenge! So, my mom introduced me to this blog -she knew it was right up my alley. It involves a weekly project challenge with a movie theme -nice! The theme for this one was the movie (based on the book), "Twilight". I really enjoyed the book (and the entire series for that matter), and had recently seen the movie. This challenge asked participants to use the colors red and black, and use some sparkle. I did 2 things on this card I don't do often: Glitter (nothing against it...I love the look, just not the mess), and I cut. How's that for challenging myself? Hahaha!

Here is what I used: Fifth Avenue Florals set, Chunky Glitter (black and red), Tombo multi liquid glue, Basic Black & Riding Hood Red ink, Basic Black and Shimmer White cardstocks.

I have to admit, when I read the book during the meadow scene, the first thing I thought of when the sun hit Edward's skin was Shimmer White cardstock...Confessions of a paper lover! :)

Well, enjoy! I plan on participating in more challenges and even hosting my own soon, so keep checking back. Please go check out the great blog for Cinema Saturday: http://cinemasaturdaycreativechallenge.blogspot.com/

Oh Baby...

2009-05-15T11:16:00.000-07:00

I just finished my baby announcements...trying to get things done in a timely manner, and it keeps me out of trouble (while seated!) during this "modifed bedrest" stuff. :)
I kept them simple (kind of my thing), and used the Petal Party Simply Scrappin' Kit -Love the bright summery colors! Once baby is here, we'll print up an insert for the card with a picture and stats, etc.

I was able to get 3+ dozen (4x6") cards out of one kit -I did add some extra So Saffron and Pixie Pink 12x12 from my stash because I didn't want to use the Old Olive that came with the kit. I still have a bunch of the adhesive die-cuts leftover, and 4 full sheets of DSP! Next I'll be working on coordinating thank you cards with the "leftovers" and 8.5x11" cardstock in the same colors: Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, and Pixie Pink.

I just love this kit -it's just perfect for girls of all ages! Maybe I'll use the 2nd pack I got for my oldest's birthday invites when the time comes 'round.

Happy Stamping!

Nancy

It's a beaver..it's an otter...No! it's a rodent of unusual size!

2009-05-08T07:55:00.000-07:00

So, I was scanning the MSN homepage this morning, as I usually do for any interesting headlines and I came across this one: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/odd_wal_mart_nutria
It immediately caught my attention, and reminded me a of good and unique experience we had over Spring Break visiting my Aunt Sara and family. We had dropped my cousin off at an appointment, and my aunt, mom, myself and the kids headed over to a nearby pond/park. There was a wonderful variety of ducks (geese too), and these very peculiar creatures (see right). My initial thought, because of the large orange front teeth, was "ooh an oregon beaver!". Then we saw the tail...okay...maybe it's an otter or muskrat. We decided the creature it reminded us of the "Rodents of Unusual Size" from the movie Princess Bride -which ironically enough, has been playing frequently on Bravo. That scene has always creeped me out with those RUS, but now it makes me giggle. Anyways, Uncle Larry informed us later that they are actually called nutria. So, when I got home I checked them out on Wikipedia.com, pretty interesting. If you are interested in learning more about them, here is the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coypu

TGIF!
Nancy

When it Rains, it Pours OR How I Blog

2009-05-05T11:56:00.000-07:00

So, I have this feeling, like the weather outside the past couple days, when I get in the mood to blog, I will, otherwise...there probably won't be much. We'll see -it's still pretty new to me!

Anyways, just wanted to share the notecards I made today for my daughter's teacher -hopefully, this blog hasn't been mentioned to her yet, and the surprise won't be ruined.

On Thursday, for Teacher Appreciation Week, the kids are supposed to bring in flowers from home and a homemade card. I'll have my daughter make a personalized card for her teacher, but I thought it would be nice to throw in a set of hand-stamped notecards as well for her future use. So here they are:

I used (all from Stampin' Up): Really Rust, Natural Ivory, and Chocolate Chip cardstocks.

Chocolate Chip ink, Outlaw DSP (retired), Large and Small Star punches, Vintage brads, Paper piercing tool and mat. The card is laid on a piece of coordinating DSP for a nice picture background and isn't part of the card.

A Quilt for a Cause

2009-05-05T08:41:00.000-07:00

So, a few months back (late November maybe?) I was asked to be my daughter's class auction project parent. Of course, I said Yes, but then I had to figure out what this class of 5-7yr olds would be up for. I thumbed through albums of projects past and saw all kinds of neat things, but it was the quilt idea that got me. I do enjoy quilting, but it is definitely one of those things I don't take much time to do...except stocking up on beautiful fabrics of course! I've got a few completed quilts (and a few more in progress) under my belt, and am surrounded by talented sewers/quilters in my family for support, so I sketched out a design/plan, and set to work. I cut out 6.5" squares of muslin and had the kids draw an assortment of sea creatures on them with fabric markers -the auction theme was "Under the Sea". The kids did great! As you can see they had freedom to create an individual environment for their creature...I didn't want them to have to work from a template, kids need to use their imaginations and creativity and it totally worked on this, every block has a story. :) Once those were done, I assembled the quilt with help from my friend KC, who also helped me find the fabulous background fabric (I just love this!). Then (this was the new and exciting part for me), I learned to use a long-arm quilting machine, and freehanded the quilting. It was awesome!! Thanks Liz!

Here is a close-up of my daughter's square. Her creature was a dolphin (the school mascot). I thought she did an amazing job, and look forward to seeing her illustrations progress in the future. The girl is an artist and crafter for sure, and has just about finished her first quilt!

So, when all was said and done, I did my very best to win the quilt back at the auction, none of us wanted to see it leave the house. However, I did not, but three wonderful things happened: the quilt went to a great home, raised a nice sum of money for the school, and made me realize how much I really enjoy quilting -a true treasure! I'm now working on a quilt for my son...Train themed. He's super excited and so am I. I'll attach pics of that as it progresses...

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Iron Mom!

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Stylin'

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PPA #25

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A Knight's Tale part 2

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Ahh...to see the sights

CSCC #57 -My Big Fat Greek Wedding

Mojo Trio

Just Bend & Snap!

Trick or Treat!!

Yum, Yum, Yum!!

Shore do love you!!

CSCC #53 -Elizabeth the Golden Age

Stamping Cruise 2009

Cinema Saturday #52 -Happy Anniversary!!

Happy 50th Cinema Saturday!!

Cinema Saturday #49 Part 2

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge #49

For Those About to Rock...We Stamp for you!

A Quick Gift Bag

"Life is like a box of chocolates..."

Imagination Central

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If you stamp it...they will come...

Stamps 4 Sale! Updated

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Yawn & Stretch