Mission Inkpossible

Altered Composition Books - The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

2012-02-08T06:00:00.000-07:00

These composition books were some of the first I created when getting ready for the holiday craft shows. I hadn't been spending much time at all, if any in my craft room and I felt a little rusty.

The Good:
I love the vintage feel of this one. It's simple, but overall, I like how it turned out.

The Bad:
Okay, well maybe not too bad. It was a case of me using the paper to it's full advantage. It turned out decent but I felt it was lacking in any real depth.

The Ugly:
I love the paper I started out with on this one, the vintage looking blue. There really is a mustardy looking yellow color in the paper as well. It just didn't show up well in the pic. All I can say about this one is that I had good intentions but they went very very wrong.

Tags, tags, and more tags...

2012-02-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

Yep, you guessed it. I made LOTS of tags for the holiday craft shows. I went nuts making tags. I thought for sure they'd be a popular item. Alas, I thought wrong. Not popular at all. Did I mention I made lots of tags? About 100 of them to be precise. On the bright side, All of the Christmas gifts we wrapped this year ended up with lovely handmade tags on them. :) These were also a great scrap busting project since they used up lots of little bits and pieces of paper scraps.

Bookmarks

2012-02-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

I decided to make some bookmarks for the craft shows. Who knew I'd have so much fun with them. I blame it all on the new penguin stamp set I bought. ;) The hedgehogs didn't turn out anything like I wanted them to, but that didn't keep them from selling. By the time I finished both craft shows I only had one snowman bookmark left. Oh, BTW, each and every one of these was made from scraps. They made for a most excellent scrap busting project.

Birthday Gift - Altered Composition Book

2012-02-05T08:00:00.000-07:00

I made this altered composition book for my daughter's best friend. I had a lot of fun with it even though it is simple. I've found that when I feel a bit stuck for inspiration that I should look to the paper I'm using. This paper didn't really need much added to it. It's beautiful all by itself. So I stamped her name on it and then accentuated the patterns in the paper with Stickles & Glossy Accents. Quick & easy, but very rewarding.

Owls!!!

2012-02-04T08:00:00.000-07:00

I bought just a few sheets of some owl paper quite a while ago, maybe two years ago when owls really started to become popular. Only one of the papers I bought had owls on it and all the others were coordinating prints. I can't remember who makes it. Then I found an owl stamp set at JoAnn's that I just had to have and it was downhill from there. I think I had 4 sheets of paper to start with and not a one of them was whole. So really I had scraps (albeit large ones) from 4 sheets of paper, a new stamp set, some plain notebooks, and some embellishments, and I turned it all into these cute owl projects.

By the time I was done my scraps were reduced to nothing larger than an inch. I had a blast challenging myself to use up everything that I could. I was actually kind of sad when the tags sold and then couldn't bring myself to sell the altered composition book. For some probably irrational reason I couldn't bring myself to give it up. So it sits on a shelf in my craft room unused, yet it makes me happy every time I look at it. :)

Journals

2012-02-03T16:26:00.000-07:00

I created several small, hardbound journals for the holiday craft shows I participated in. I used to be able to find the journals in the dollar spot at Michael's and would cover up the monogram or whatever was on the front of the notebook by altering it. I used up the last of my notebook stash and am sad that I don't have any more. They are so fun to work with since they usually come in such bright colors. Here are ~~a few~~ seven that I did.

The robots were a lot of fun to do. I had scraps of patterned robot paper leftover from a notebook I did a couple of years ago. I decided to use up those scraps and see what I could make with them. I cut the robots from the patterned paper and used foam squares to add some dimension. Then I decorated with Stickles & Glossy Accents. Very easy but so fun.

My Craft Room

2012-01-31T16:23:00.000-07:00

I've been taking pictures of my yarn stash so that I could participate in the "flash your stash" thread on Ravelry. I figured while I was at it, I'd take pictures of my craft room since I finally moved out of the basement and into our son's old bedroom this past summer. I was tired of not having any natural light coming in & decided to take his old room over because even a north facing window is better than none. :)

The entrance to the room is in the southwest corner of the room just to the left of this pic of the west wall. The shelving unit was in place when it was DS's room and I left it there because it makes handy storage for family history books, scrapbooks, yarn, and other assorted stuff. Kinda cluttered, but overall it works.

I just bought an over the door hook organizer today to store my project bags. I often joke that I'm a bag lady because I love bags and always have a few around for toting stuff in. :)

At the far end of the west wall in the northwest corner, is my knitting corner. I store a few papercraft related items on it, but it's mostly yarn stuff.

In the northeast corner is my desk. The one and only window in the room is between my knitting corner and my desk.

My spare craft/storage table is perpendicular to my desk and helps me have a place to store papers and such.

I have some storage drawers in the corner between the desk & table. They're accessible from the back side.

I still had space along the east wall for the dresser I refinished. I am thinking about replacing it with a bigger one that I have in the garage that is waiting to be refinished.

Composition Books

2012-01-28T12:14:00.001-07:00

As usual when I geared up for the craft shows I had in November & December I made up a slew of altered composition books. Here are a couple that I did. More to follow soon. :)

I had a lot of fun with this one. I used the floral pattern of the paper to decorate with Stickles to jazz it up a bit. I stamped & embossed the letters and used a circle punch to cut them out and also for the matte behind them.

This pic shows the glitter a little better. :)

On this one I used a border punch on both edges of the cardstock for the center panel. I then filled in the circles with Glossy Accents. It's hard to tell, but I also used Glossy Accents on the dots of the paper as well. I painted a bit of glitter on the paper flower at the bottom to make it sparkle a bit.

Decorated Gadget Boxes

2012-01-25T16:05:00.004-07:00

First off, let me just say that I can't believe I haven't posted anything since October! Life just seems to have gotten away from me. I've been busy, but I've also taken the time to create. I even took pictures of my creations. I think I just got overwhelmed. I'd take a pic and think "oh I'll post later, I just don't have time to upload and edit the photos right now". Before I knew it, I had nearly 200 photos to upload, edit, and do a blog post about. Never mind all the pics I took that weren't craft related. Sigh. So anyways, I'm back and determined to get in a few posts a week till I get them all posted. Now on to some cute stuff! :)

If y'all are anything like me, you always have use of a cute box. They're great for organizing things. I bought a couple of these little 4"x6" Iris photo storage boxes to use in my knitting bag to hold gadgets, small double pointed needles, row counters, measuring tapes, and other knitting and crocheting paraphernalia. They are actually the perfect length to hold crochet hooks. But I digress. My daughter was home on leave in late October/ early November and wanted to take some crocheting stuff back to her ship with her. I went and bought her one of these little boxes and then had the brilliant idea to decorate with some paper she had admired from another project. That stroke of genius then led to me making a half dozen more of them for the two craft shows I did in November & December. Unfortunately I must not have been selling to people who saw the potential in them. I still have 4 of them left. Sigh.

Last but not least, my favorite one. :)

Get Well Card

2011-10-06T13:44:00.001-06:00

Okay, so I really have made at least one card in the past few weeks. I made this for a friend after she had surgery. I thought this House Mouse image was totally appropriate. Someone sent this image to me in a House Mouse image swap. I think I need to get some more of these cute little stamps. :)Papers: Stamping Up DSP, CTMH Pacifica CardstockStamps: House MouseMisc: Ribbon. Colored using watercolor pencils & a waterbrush

Snow!!!!

2011-10-06T13:31:00.002-06:00

For crying out loud it's only October 6th. I am so not ready for SNOW. Augghhhh! Yep, big ole' fat flakes of white stuff falling from the sky. It seems wrong on so many levels that it looks like a winter wonderland outside yet the leaves are still on the trees & are green. After nearly 7 years of living in Idaho you'd think I'd be used to this, but nope, I'm not. This pic really doesn't even do the snow justice. Even more has accumulated since I took this picture a little over an hour ago. I can't even see grass in my front yard. Yep, completely covered. Sigh.

Izzy

2011-09-16T08:00:00.000-06:00

I can't resist sharing some pics we took of Izzy recently. We have started letting her go outside during the day. She doesn't wander any further than the back yard but seems to have her own little adventures every day. Yesterday I caught her laying in the grass staring up at the tree as if dinner were simply going to drop from it. Here's a pic of her climbing said tree.

She's insanely jealous of anything that prevents you from petting her. Here she is attempting to circumvent hubby working on a blanket.

She also is a chair thief extraordinaire.
All it takes is for me to get up for a mere 30 seconds. By the time I get back she is sound asleep in my chair.

And last but not least, no day would be complete without one of Izzy's "I'm gonna shred you in your sleep" looks.

Knit Baby Blanket - Otherwise Known as My Eternity Blanket

2011-09-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

I finally finished (last month) the baby blanket for charity that I started on at the beginning of summer (mid-May). I'm not sure what possessed me to think that it would be quick to knit a baby blanket. I crochet much faster than I knit, and I think I was getting tired of crocheting them. While I do both, knitting is my preferred method. :) Now to be fair, I did set this blanket down for 6-8 weeks while we prepared for, went on vacation, and attempted to recuperate from said vacation. Still, I felt like it took forever and I dubbed it my eternity blanket because it felt like it was taking an eternity to knit! I love the colors and how they pooled and striped even within the same skein of yarn. I am very grateful that the only scraps I have from this blanket is a little walnut sized ball because as much as I love the colors I'm sick of seeing the yarn! LOL

Back to School Composition Books #3

2011-09-14T08:00:00.000-06:00

Here's the final back to school composition book and the only one not to have a school theme to it. I confess that when I was done with this one I wanted to keep it for myself! Needless to say I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. I just love the stamp set I used (Woof Woof from Recollections). The papers are CTMH from a special they did a while back. Dang if I can remember the name of them. I swear my memory is not just going but gone! I used Glossy Accents on the paw prints, the dog bone and the dog's nose. Isn't that just the cutest poochie?

Back to School Composition Books #2

2011-09-13T08:00:00.002-06:00

Here's the 2nd back to school notebook I made. As soon as my friend asked me to make these notebooks I knew I wanted to use the Greeting Card Kids stamp set from SU. They are perfect for vintage themed projects. The papers are from a Tim Holtz paper pad. The lace ribbon is from SU.

Back to School Composition Books #1

2011-09-12T11:49:00.002-06:00

I recently received an order for three composition books for back to school teacher gifts. My friend said she wanted two with a school theme and the 3rd one she wanted with a dog theme. Other than that I was free to be as creative as I wanted to be. So I started searching through my stash and just knew that I needed to use the Cosmo Cricket paper that I'd been holding on to forever. I love it when the papers speak to me! The stamp set is one I bought at JoAnn's. I wish I could remember the brand and name...sorry...it's one of the rubber stamp sets that go on clear blocks.

After coloring the pencil in, I used foam dots to give it some dimension and then used Glossy Accents to give it some shine. I love how the flower with the apple turned out. Also used Glossy Accents there too. The flower was in my stash. I bought them a while back on clearance at Michael's and this one was perfect for this project.

So glad to be back!!!

2011-08-30T13:56:00.002-06:00

It has been a crazy busy but wonderful summer! We've been home from our road trip since early July, but then had the craziness of getting our daughter ready for boot camp and throwing a going away party for her and then spending a week in Utah when she left. I miss her terribly, and felt like I was finally starting to get on an even keel only for our other two girls to start back to school this week and my thyroid medications to be messed with. So I'm back, but not sure if I'm any better! LOL

Our daughter needed thank you cards for the graduation and going away gifts that she received. I only had a couple of hours to design something and get it made. I also had an address book that was really plain that I bought with all of it's pages intact at a thrift store for a $1. I decided that it needed decorated so that she'd have her own address book since she's going off on her own. Even though the cards are super simple, after not papercrafting for a while, it felt so good to have inky fingers!

The paper is from Stamping Up (Blueberry Crisp). Cardstock is Pacifica from CTMH. The stamp used on the card is from CTMH (Thank You), and the stamp on the address book is from a $1 bin at JoAnn's. The grey satin ribbon is from DollarTree. Also used glossy accents which obviously hadn't dried yet but had to take the pic anyways because of a time crunch!

Sorry I don't have anything to share!

2011-05-31T23:13:00.002-06:00

It's been a crazy month full of end of school year activities and a flurry of graduation and summer vacation plans. So far this month we have celebrated the birthdays of three of our children and the high school graduation of our oldest daughter. It has been a joyous month. In a few short days my girls and I will be heading out for a 5 week road trip full of visits to family, friends, and multiple national parks before our daughter (who just graduated) leaves for the Navy. So I won't have anything to share with you for a while. I am hoping that those of you who are followers to my blog will stick around but at the moment family is more important than my blog. I am hoping to be back to sharing artwork by the middle of July. I hope everyone has a safe, fun, and blessed summer.

Jenn

Pink Camo Baby Blanket

2011-05-02T08:00:00.000-06:00

I am still plugging away making the sideways shells baby blankets for humanitarian aid. This is the latest one I have finished. It seems like it took me forever. I may have to look for a new simple pattern to repeat until I get bored with it. LOL I am finding that I am loving making the hats and socks than I am the blankets. I guess it's the nearly instant gratification of a project finished quickly. ;)

I just love the way the pink camo (yes that's the actual color name) pooled. The pooling doesn't look so obvious in real life....I think the camera captures it a bit differently.

Summer Flies Shawl

2011-05-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

I created this shawl for my swap partner Linda for the Trash to Treasures Crayon Swap. Linda loves pink and requested watermelon pink for her color. I kept searching for just the right shade of pink and finally settled for a medium pink that is almost a coral color. Yet it seemed like the right color when I saw it. I laughed when I saw the label and the color is "strawberry".

Anyway, this was my first real lace project and my first shawl. I have a love affair with shawls and have bookmarked many patterns but this is the first one I've ever made. Linda ended up absolutely loving her shawl (for which I am very grateful!). My 14 year old daughter also really really liked it and has asked me to make one for her. :)

The pattern can be found here on Ravelry. I think you have to be a member to access it though.

Silly Cat!!!

2011-04-30T08:00:00.000-06:00

I just wanted to share a quick picture of my very silly kitty, Izzy. She is forever checking any boxes, bags, or containers that are left around, just to see if she will fit in them. A couple of weeks ago I made chili in the crockpot. The insert & lid were in the dishwasher and the base was just waiting for to be reunited with them. Later that evening I walked into the kitchen and found this!

Yep, she fits!!! LOL

Crayon Swap Goodies

2011-04-29T08:00:00.001-06:00

I recently participated in another swap with the Trash to Treasures group on Ravelry. It was called a Crayon Swap and we had to choose our favorite color. Everything our swap partner sent us was to be based on that color as well as a few other guidelines as to what went in the box. Here are the wonderful items that Helen sent me.

I couldn't get the color to come out quite right on this purse she made me. It really is a bright and lovely shade of purple even if it does look blue in this picture. She made this bag out of a jacket that she had that didn't fit her. The strap is made from a faja (handwoven belt worn by the women there in Guatemala as part of their traditional Mayan clothing). It was a leftover piece from making a strap for her binoculars. I think it adds a wonderful and colorful touch to the bag. She even made a little pocket just the right size for my cell phone on the inside of the bag.

I absolutely adore the crocheted flower and butterfly button closure!

She made this little drawstring bag to hold earrings or other small items. Every part of it has been recycled from something else....even the gold cording and the beads. The outer part is from the sleeve of a blouse. I thought it was very creative! It'll be perfect for putting jewelry in when I travel.

I was really excited when I saw this in my package! It's a zippered pouch made from a candy bag/wrapper. Another member of our group posted a tutorial on how to make this recently and I was in awe. I would love to make one, but hate to sew and NEVER EVER EVER do anything that requires a zipper. LOL So I was extra excited to have one of these made for me! She also included a full package of these chocolate covered raisins as well as a couple of chocolate bars. Muy delicioso!

The inside is lined with the same fabric as the purse/bag she made me.

She searched my favorite items that I had marked pattern wise on Rav and chose the pattern for this scarf to make for me. I love the vibrant color of it and the feel too. It is made with mercerized cotton. I think she did a wonderful job on it and love that she took the time to make it for me.

She also made these cards for me using pictures she took of flowers growing in pots on her patio.

Auction Notebooks Part 2

2011-04-28T08:00:00.000-06:00

While the previous two auction notebooks were made out of composition books, these were made with two different styles of notebooks from the dollar spot at Michael's. I wasn't completely sure about being able to alter the first notebook because of the closure, but with careful measuring and my 1/2" circle punch I was able to make it work. :)

Spring????

2011-04-27T08:00:00.000-06:00

I finally have proof that Spring might actually get here sometime reasonably soon!

We planted Tiger Lily bulbs last Fall that my brother-in-law gave us after dividing his bulbs. They are finally starting to poke through. I love planting bulbs and then seeing them start to push through the ground every Spring. It just seems like magic to me. The green part of my Bearded Irises are also coming up and just the tiniest tendrils of my Asiatic Lilies are starting to make appearances also. I can't wait for everything to be in full bloom!

Bunny Tin

2011-04-26T08:00:00.000-06:00

This was also made for the auction. I almost didn't want to part with is when it was done. I just love how it turned out! I bought the tin from the thrift store. It originally held Maya Road chipboard. I used scraps to decorate it...not even sure what brand the papers are. The stamp is Bunny Love from CTMH. I think it's perhaps my favorite Easter stamp set. Once I was done decorating the tin, I filled it with a bit of Easter grass and a bag of Hershey's chocolate bunnies. :)

Auction Notebooks Part 1

2011-04-25T12:24:00.003-06:00

Our ward (church) does a chili cookoff and auction each Spring to raise money for the young men and young women to help defray some of the costs for girl's camp and also for scouting. I usually donate a little something for the silent auction. This year is was 5 altered notebooks.

I used the same paper pack for each of these composition books (K & Company). It's a little hard to tell in the pictures, but I embellished with dew drops and stickles (rather heavily on the first one). The stamp set used on the second one is a Recollections set from Michael's that I found on clearance. I love the quote..."Life is full of beautiful moments, make them all count". I used some glossy accents on the face of the clock and stickles on the swirls around the clock.

Please pardon the slightly blurry pics...I'm still getting used to the new point & shoot camera I bought. I think I've been spoiled by borrowing DH's Canon Rebel, but I wanted a small compact camera of my own. :)

My First Pair of Handknit Socks

2011-04-14T08:00:00.001-06:00

WooHoo! I did it! I actually learned how to knit socks. Even though I've finished them, I'm still in awe that I learned how to make them. They are a little tricky, but not nearly as hard as I thought they'd be.

I used yarn that my mother-in-law bought for me when they were in Belgium over the holidays. After washing, they are super duper soft. I didn't think wool could be that deliciously soft.

The only downside is that these turned out a bit too big. Not saggy baggy big, but big enough that I'm considering frogging them and starting over. I'm a little bummed by that but not too badly because it just means I get more practice with socks and I get to knit with yummy yarn. So it's all good. :)

Birthday Surprises

2011-04-13T16:00:00.002-06:00

I recently celebrated my birthday...no, I won't tell you which one. :) It was however a good one! It was a fabulous day filled with lots of well wishes from friends and family. DH grilled steak, shrimp, and salmon for my birthday dinner. It was delicious! My good friend Karen took me out to lunch at 5 Guys Burgers & Fries. She also bought me two skeins of some really pretty purple yarn that I had actually been eyeing for quite some time. I wonder how she knew??? DH bought me Tangled on Blu-Ray, a new blue tooth headset for my cell phone, and two sets of size 4 knitting needles I wanted (1 Addi Turbo & 1 Addi Lace). So not only did I have a fabulous day, I felt spoiled rotten!

I work on humanitarian aid items every Wednesday at our LDS Stake Center. On the week of my birthday, my friend Ellen who works with me there presented me with this wonderful gluten free cake.

It's about 3 inches in diameter and even opens up to hold a trinket or two. Isn't it just wonderful? Needless to say I absolutely love it. I'm beginning to think that Ellen can crochet ANYTHING. I never ceased to be amazed by her talent.

She also made this card for me and then had everyone sign it.

And for the last birthday surprise, another card. Nope, not one that I received....it's one I made for a fellow CTMH consultant who also just happens to share the same birthday as me. Isn't that so cool? Once we realized we have the same b-day, we have been exchanging cards every year since.

The glitter on the heart didn't turn out quite as well as I wanted but all in all I'm pleased with how it turned out. The inside says "hope you have a rockin' good birthday".

Trash to Treasure Prize Goodies

2011-04-07T08:00:00.000-06:00

Can you believe I nearly forgot to share this??? I had uploaded the photos to photbucket, edited & watermarked them, and then that bout of laziness I mentioned last week must have hit because I completely forgot to post them! LOL

The Trash to Treasure group I'm in on Ravelry is celebrating having 1,000 members. I volunteered (along with a lot of other group members) to provide a prize for the 1,000 member celebration prize drawing. Many fabulous prizes were donated and I confess I have wished that I would win more than just a few of them because they are so awesome. The whole point of this group is to recycle and repurpose things and to put less in the landfills. Here is my offering of 3 cards made completely from scraps, and a cotton washcloth made out of a sweater that I bought at the thrift store and then unraveled for the yarn. :)

Notebook Project Part 3

2011-04-06T08:00:00.000-06:00

The final two notebooks from our play date. :)

I didn't use any stamps on this one. I positioned the paper to get the large flower as centered as possible and then used buttons, sparkles, and stickles to decorate.

While there isn't any purple in the paper we used on this one, I thought the purple went really well with the pink & blue of the paper. The stamp is from CTMH (You've Got Flair). The cardstock & ink are CTMH's Gypsy.

Notebook Project Part 2

2011-04-05T08:00:00.002-06:00

I used CTMH's A Tweet stamp set on this one. I just love that little bird. :) The cardstock is SU's Tempting Turquoise. Ink colors are SU's Tempting Turquoise, and CTMH's Pear and Sunset.

This one uses CTMH's Cottage Floral stamp set and the sentiment is CTMH's Follow Your Dreams (retired). I really love the blue & orange combo in this one. The blue is SU's Tempting Turquoise and the orange is CTMH's Sunset. They look so good together!

Notebook Project Part 1

2011-04-04T08:00:00.001-06:00

A friend recently asked me if I would help her decorate some notebooks for baby shower prizes. Since I love making notebooks I just couldn't say no. She brought the papers and I supplied the rest. In exchange she's going to line some felted knit totebags that are on my to-do list to get made. I'm thinking I got the better end of the bargain but she's quite pleased with how the notebooks turned out. It was also so much fun to have her over and papercraft together.

I had to chuckle when she showed me the papers because she wanted to use up papers that she just didn't care for but they came in the paper pad she had bought. Yep, you guessed it, the papers she didn't care for, I thought were awesome. LOL I think out of all six notebooks we made, the composition book is my favorite. I love how the paper looks like multiple papers/layers, but it's really just all one sheet of paper.

Vintage Inspired Notebook

2011-04-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

I've been on a bit of a notebook roll here lately. But of course I am sure you already noticed that! :) This one was also created for a swap that I'm in. I can't really say more than that about it since I do want it to be a surprise when she gets it and I don't know if she looks at my blog. I guess I should also specify that I am in more than one swap at the moment. LOL

The paper is from a Tim Holtz paper pad. The butterfly is embossed with white embossing powder and then I sponged ink over the white cardstock it was embossed on. I made the flower using an old book (look in my blog archives for the tutorial). The pearls are from the dollar spot at JoAnn's.

Banana Berry Fingerless Mittens

2011-03-31T08:00:00.000-06:00

Sounds almost good enough to eat, huh? Banana Berry is actually the color name of the yarn that I used for these mitts. It's made by Red Heart (super saver). My swap partner likes bright colors so I thought this yarn was perfect. I had a lot of fun making these. They are my first pair of fingerless mittens that include a separate thumb/finger area. I didn't get the thumb gusset just right but I thought I did pretty good for my first time with this pattern. I really hope she likes them. :)

No Stamps Required Altered Notebooks

2011-03-30T08:00:00.000-06:00

Ok, well I did use one stamp but only because I wanted to put a quote on the notebook. I wanted to make a notebook for my swap partner in a swap I'm in on Ravelry. I found the perfect paper but couldn't decide which half of the paper to use. So I used both halves. :) All of the patterns were already on the paper and I just cut the paper to maximize the decor for the notebook and of course added the quote.

I then decorated the design elements of the paper heavily with self adhesive pearls, colored sparkles, glossy accents and stickles. Super duper easy. It took longer for the notebooks to dry than it did to make them! Oh, and I sent the one with the bird on it to my swap partner.

The paper I used is from a K & Company paper pad. The quote is from SU's God's Beauty set. The butterfly on the first notebook is from a jar of them I got at Michael's, in the same area as the paper flowers.

Sophia Notebook

2011-03-29T08:00:00.000-06:00

My daughter was invited to a birthday party this last week and of course waited till the last minute to tell me. LOL I put this together using a notebook I had on hand from the Michael's dollar spot, a stamped image from my stash, the new Sophia paper pack from CTMH, and some prima flowers. I love the pink & green color combo. DD says that her friend liked it, so I guess it was another successful quickie project. :)

Knit Themed Notebook & Cards

2011-03-28T14:34:00.003-06:00

Remember the new stamp set I posted recently? Well I made the time to play with it and these are the results.....

The cards are 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" and are made predominantly from scraps I had on hand. They are being given away in a couple of knit/crochet related swaps I am in. The notebook is one that I received in a swap recently. The cover looks like cabled knitting. I decided to jazz it up a bit by adding some stamped images. The ball of yarn is covered with glossy accents and the needles are covered with silver stickles. I'm not altogether happy with how the "knit happens" part turned out but it's glued down too well to change it. LOL I plan on using this to keep track of measurements and other notes for knitting projects.

Confessions of a Lazy Blogger

2011-03-28T14:02:00.002-06:00

I have been feeling like such a slacker and so lazy. I haven't posted in over a week, yet I've had pics on my camera. I was just too lazy to dump them to my computer and then spend the time editing, watermarking, and then turning them into blog posts. I am however starting to do more papercrafting. I got so burnt out there for a while that I just didn't want to pick up and do anything with my paper, stamps, and ink. Now that I'm getting back to it, I find my creativity being sparked and actually looking forward to spending time at my scrap desk. :) I am reveling in making something because I want to and not because I have to. There's just something about a deadline or doing projects for hire that just take all the fun out of it.

I've been working on trying to lead a more well rounded life. I tend to get sucked into something and that is all I do for a while. Then I am on to the next thing that catches my fancy. Kind of like how I did pretty much nothing but knit or crochet while avoiding my paper crafting. Over the past week I've been enjoying reading books, knitting, crocheting, and paper crafting. Just like with food, I really think moderation in all things is wonderful advice. Now I just have to practice it!

So meanwhile, I'll be sharing several projects over the next week or two that I've completed recently. I also couldn't resist showing this picture of my kitty, Izzy. Not only is she a chair thief extraordinaire, but apparently my Ott light is perfect for "sunbathing" kitties. LOL

Really Fun Background

2011-03-18T08:00:00.000-06:00

I learned the Ink, Spray, Smash Background Technique at the SU Hostess Club I attended this past week. I think Meranda called it something along the lines of drop, spray, splat background.....but this is all I could find on SCS for tutorials. It's pretty much the same thing. I just like the way the word splat sounds. LOL When we did it at hostess club, we stamped our image on two separate pieces of glossy cardstock and then embossed with black embossing powder. I loved that we not only ended up with two images to use, but also how the embossing really showed up against the background. It's a bit of a messy technique but well worth the mess in my humble opinion. I highly recommend giving it a try. :-D

New Toys

2011-03-16T08:00:00.000-06:00

Okay, well new stamps anyways. :-D Not sure if I've ever complained about it on here before or not, but the craft store choices in Idaho Falls are limited to say the least. Previously, the JoAnn's store we had was old, small, outdated, and it seemed like they never updated their scrapbooking or yarn stuffs. Well they finally did something about it. They shut down the old store and opened up a new super store. Can we say LOVE? It opened on Friday, and yes, I am smitten. Although I confess I was rather perturbed that they do not carry Nestabilities like the Utah super stores. Ugh! Anyway, they do have a wonderful selection of scrapbooking stuff and yarn stuff. Way better than what the other couple of stores have to offer. They even have 3/4 of one side of an aisle dedicated to nothing but buttons. I nearly swooned when I saw that! Okay, enough of my rambling. Here's the new stamp set that I am just itching to ink up.....

It's called Yarn Crafts by TPC Studio. I'm thinking it will make some lovely altered notebooks and cards. I'm crossing my fingers and really really really hoping for time to play with it within the next few days. :)

Faux Tile Card

2011-03-14T21:02:00.002-06:00

Well just when I thought my week couldn't get any worse, it did. So sorry for the delay in posting this. We did this card for my card club this past week. The tutorial on SCS is well done as usual. It was a little daunting to cut my nicely colored image into pieces when I was done coloring it but all turned out well. :) The image is from House Mouse. I absolutely love love love their stamps. They are so cute! I'm not sure what brand the cardstock is. The DSP is from SU. The ribbon is one of my latest bargains from DollarTree.

This is the original example I created for the class. I decided that I didn't like the punch I used and switched punches. I also went with a brighter color for the flowers in the 2nd and 3rd cards.

The glossy accents wasn't quite dry when I took this pic but I figured it was close enough. I changed the color of the flowerpot on this one to a more subtle color. Not sure if I like it or not, but I do love the bright yellow flowers. :)

Here's a close up of the image.

Can I have a "do-over" pretty please?

2011-03-09T20:18:00.003-07:00

Do you ever have one of those weeks where you wish you could just do it all over and it turn out better with the do over? Well that has been the past week for me. I have been insanely busy. I feel like I have just been chasing my tail and getting absolutely nothing done. Then to add insult to injury, I accidentally ate gluten last week and that made for a horrendous few days. I believe I've mentioned before that I do some humanitarian aid volunteer work each week. A couple of weeks ago I picked up a free pattern at the craft store for the adorable newborn hats below.

I love it when I find a pattern that is not only free, but works. There's nothing worse than finding a pattern you love and then having it be full of errors. Of course even one error is enough to make you want to pull your hair out. ;) These little hats will be put in a newborn kit with booties, onesies, receiving blanket, and a quilt. The knit hat (bottom pic) is a little on the small side so I am remaking it with larger needles and it is coming along nicely. I plan on making matching booties and a tiny blanket to put with the too small knit hat for one of the bereavement kits that get put together for those that have lost their baby (usually premature).

The bright side to this week is the package I got in the mail today from greatlakesgoddess on Ravelry. I was out running some errands and my daughter sends me a text that says "you got a package and it smells really good". My first thought was "why is she sniffing my mail?". LOL Once I opened said package, there was all sort of good smelling stuff in it and my daughter clarified that the package drop box smelled like the contents of the package. I can't wait to use the bath fizzies and handmade soap!

The Scentsy Travel Tin (Cranberry Mango) will make my van smell fabulous & the sachet will do wonders for the linen closet. :)

I'm thinking I will make a wrap or shawl out of the gray yarn. It's super soft & I'm always cold.

I love love love the quotes on these tags. I am going to come up with a creative way to display them in my craft room. The cardinal tag will get put with the Christmas decorations and go on our tree.

It's hard to tell in the pic, but the spiral notebook & pencils have knit designs on them. I think I'll use this notebook to keep track of my knitting projects. :)

Last but definitely not least are the fingerless mitts she made for me. I love the vibrant color - as evidenced that they are a near perfect match to the shirt that I am wearing. I also have a sweater in this color. Can't tell it's a favorite, huh? LOL I have been freakishly cold all day long. Wearing these for only a few minutes made me all warm and toasty. They are a welcome addition to my arsenal of winter gear.

Sorry for the super long post. I do have a paper project to share either tomorrow or Friday. It's the faux tile card that I'm doing with my card club ladies this month. I hope everyone is staying warm and having a great week.

Trash to Treasure Swap (Part 3)

2011-02-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

Out of all the different projects that I have posted from this swap, I think this altered composition book is my absolute favorite.

The papers are from Graphic 45 ( the vintage writing & floral diamond) and Tim Holtz (the red used as a matte). The stamp is from the TAC set Flower Collage Trio. I colored the flower with prismacolor and copic markers. I used a small bit of crackle accents on the little medallion at the bottom of the stamped image. I spelled her name out in chipboard letters that I painted with Making Memories paint.

Tunisian Crochet Washcloths

2011-02-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things to knit or crochet when I have the time is washcloths for my kitchen. I adore them. They scrub dishes clean like nothing else but also feel good in your hands. This is the first time I have used Tunisian Crochet to make them. It's kind of like a combination of knitting and crocheting and makes a really fabulous, thick material when you're done.

I only recently taught myself a couple of Tunisian Crochet stitches. You Tube has some excellent videos on it. The video below is probably one of my favorites because she goes slowly and you can clearly see what she is doing. :)

Trash to Treasure Swap (Part 2)

2011-02-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here's part two of some of the goodies I put in Claudia's swap package.

I used the last of my stash of coveted Ipod boxes to decorate this one for her. I went away from the Valentine's theme on this one and simply chose bright colors since she has said she loves bright colors. I also used all scraps for this project. :)

I filled the box with all sorts of stamped images for her to make cards or tags out of. I also included a package of acrylic gems (dew drops) in assorted colors and a package of sassy strands that I had hanging around.

Q & A Time

2011-02-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

I figured I should take a minute to answer a couple of questions that have been posed recently.

Gale, in answer to your question on the baby wipe background card, yes it is the one where you add the reinker to the baby wipe and then swipe it across glossy cardstock. :)

I've had multiple people ask me if I am selling the cabled neckwarmers and ribbed headbands I've been making. I typically do not sell the knit/crocheted items that I make. I've made a couple of exceptions when I had the time but in all reality I'm a somewhat slow knitter in my opinion and I just can't sell them at a high enough price to make up for the time spent on them.

For any of you who just might happen to live in the Idaho Falls area (such as Nancy), I would be more than happy anytime to teach you how to knit or crochet. :)

Trash to Treasure Swap (Part 1)

2011-02-21T09:48:00.002-07:00

This week I am going to be sharing the goodies that I made for my swap partner (Claudia), in the Trash to Treasure Valentine's Swap on Ravelry. I was really nervous about what to make for her. I consider her to be a super talented woman....she knits, crochets, sews, makes cards and is just an all around creative woman. She said in her swap questionnaire that what she wanted most was whatever her swap partner was really good at making. Well that was settled then...what did I do? I went to my scrappin' space and got busy!

She mentioned in her swap questionnaire that for thematic elements she likes shoes, cupcakes, and flowers. One of the first things I found was this adorable bag to package all the swap items in.

The next thing I did was to make her a nugget box.

Then I made her a candy tube.

And decorated this adorable little bucket I found at the thrift store for 50 cents. It's filled with Werther's Original Candies, as is the candy tube above.

In keeping with the trash to treasure theme of recycling, reusing, repurposing, etc, I did my best to use as little new supplies as possible on these projects. I started with a new sheet of paper for the top of the nugget box and the candy tube, but had very little usable scraps by the time I was done. :) The bottom of the nugget box, and the hearts on the bucket were done out of scraps. The satin ribbon on the nugget box was saved from a bag of gluten free licorice my hubby gave me at Christmas. I thought it was too pretty to throw out and definitely long enough to use on something. :) I was actually kind of bummed when he bought some more gf licorice for Valentine's Day that the candy store didn't tie the bag with more pretty ribbon! LOL I used scraps when making the topper on the candy tube. The candy tube itself is a CTMH ribbon rounds container that I saved.

I'll be posting more swap pics this week. So please stay tuned.

Baby Blanket

2011-02-14T08:00:00.000-07:00

I completed this blanket for LDS Humanitarian Aid. I was really worried when I started out because the yarn felt scratchier than normal. After a soak in warm water with vinegar and then putting through the washer and dryer with a load of towels, the finished blanket is softer than I ever thought it could be!

I didn't have a pattern for it, but instead modeled it after the twin & full size blankets that my grandma has made for me and each of our kids. She does the blankets in strips, edges each strip, then crochets them together in a zig-zag chain stitch kind of thing. Really the work she has done is quite amazing. Mine is not an exact replica since I'm not so good at reverse engineering knit/crocheted projects. I did however use the ones she made for inspiration. I love how it turned out and I love knowing that it will keep a baby nice and warm.

Headband & Neckwarmer Sets

2011-02-12T08:00:00.001-07:00

I have now made quite a few of these sets since taking the classes on them in October and November at The Yarn Connection. The weight of the yarn does indeed do matter. The sets I made for my girls are made of a thicker yarn and while the girls love them, I think they are a little big. Of course it doesn't help that they like to wear the headbands forward more like a hat. LOL I do however absolutely LOVE the way the thicker yarn makes the cables really stand out on the neckwarmer. I used Lion Brand Hometown USA yarn for these.

I made this set for Siobhan otherwise known as The Mama Monkey. These are so quick & easy to make. I used Loops & Threads Charisma yarn for this set. The buttons are handcrafted by a local artisan and look so gorgeous on against the cream color of the neckwarmer.

This one was made for the wife of my one my hubby's coworkers. She wanted just the neckwarmer. I have also made a headband for my mom recently but forgot to take a pic of it before mailing it off. LOL I also used Loops & Threads Charisma for this one. The buttons are from Michael's. It's hard to tell in the pic, but they go perfectly with the color of yarn. The buttons are a lighter shade of purple with with lavender/pink flowers. The pic really doesn't do them justice.

February Card Club Cards

2011-02-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

This month for card club I showed my ladies how to use the same piece of paper to make different cards. I chose one piece of CTMH Background & Texture (B&T) paper and based all three cards on that one paper.

The piece of Olive cardstock behind the main image has been scored every 1/8" and then ink rubbed over the raised score lines. It adds a nice texture to it and is so easy and quick to do.

I used a border punch to edge the piece of the card base itself. The Smoothie cardstock piece that shows underneath has also been punched and then adhered to the bottom of the inside of the card base.

The flower was stamped on the Colonial White cardstock and then stamped again on a piece of scrap cardstock, cut out, and pop dotted over the flat stamped image. It adds a nice depth.

And here's the shocker. Yes, that is the same piece of B&T as the other two cards. One of the things that CTMH does is that their paper is double sided. The back of the paper is a monochromatic color of the same print as the front. So for this particular piece of B&T the front used the colors Smoothie & Olive and the backside was a monochromatic version in Olive. Isn't it interesting to see how the cards look so different?

Supplies Used:
Papers: CTMH Mayberry Level 2 Paper Pack, Colonial White, Olive, Cocoa, and Smoothie Cardstocks
Inks: CTMH Cocoa, Olive, and Smoothie
Stamps: CTMH Say It In Style, A Wonderful Friend, Piece Of Cake, Happy Birthday, One Of A Kind, and Thank You
Misc: scoring tool & stylus, flower gem, foam squares, Fiskars border punch

Baby Wipe Background Card

2011-02-10T08:00:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned before, I am part of a Stampin' Up hostess club. I can't take credit for the cute design of this card but I did get to make it at our last hostess club meeting in January. One of the things I love about being part of the SU hostess club is that I'm not the one teaching. I get to go, play, and enjoy myself without having to worry about a thing. And, more often than not, Meranda seems to share techniques that I know about but have yet to get around to actually doing. So it also gets me doing something new. :)

Striped Wipe Tutorial

Valentine Nugget Boxes

2011-02-08T16:13:00.002-07:00

Wow, three posts in one day!!! Don't you feel lucky? Well like I said previously I'm playing catch-up and I've been meaning to post this since before I went out of town. I've been back for a week now, so it's about dang time I got it posted. Besides, with the previous two posts, one wasn't paper related and the other didn't involve a whole lot of creativity. ;)

We made these nugget boxes for card club last month. My ladies really enjoyed making them. One of the things I really enjoy about making these is that you can make do with scraps more often than not. They really are a great scrap stash buster. I'll be giving the 3 that I made to my girls for Valentine's Day. :)

You can find the templates for this nugget box and many other sizes as well on SCS in this discussion thread.

Trash to Treasure Gift Box

2011-02-08T15:57:00.002-07:00

Do you ever find yourself saving things because "well, they might be useful at some point"? Or how about going to the thrift store and finding little boxes, tins, etc and thinking that they could easily be repurposed into something else? Yep, that's me. I do that more often than not. LOL

My grandma likes to write letters. She has friends she keeps in touch with as well as her kids & grandkids of course. :) Needless to say she goes through a LOT of notecards. Each year for Christmas for the past couple of years I have been going through my stash of cards that I have made over the previous year and putting together a bundle of them for her (complete with envelopes). And of course, me being me, I want them to look pretty.

A while back I found a very sturdy box for 50 cents at the thrift store. It had obviously held a kid's stationary or coloring set. It had Cruella DeVille from 101 Dalmations on it. That didn't bother me too much because I figure if it's sturdy enough, it will hold up to paper, paint, and whatever else I throw at it. LOL

I forgot to get a before pic, but you can see a little of the original plum color print on the bottom lip of the box if you look closely. I tried to choose a paper pack that would coordinate with that so I wouldn't have to paint the box since I was in time crunch mode. Sorry the pics aren't better. The colors look way better in real life and the glitter in the middle of the flower stands out better too.

Crocheted Shawls

2011-02-08T15:43:00.002-07:00

I made these shawls before Christmas. The blue & brown one was a gift for my mother-in-law. They went to France & Belgium over the Christmas holiday and knowing that she gets cold easily I thought a shawl would be the perfect gift to help her stay warm on the long flight. I made it using Loops & Threads Charisma yarn in the Lakeside colorway.

The cream & burgundy shawl was made for the wife of the couple that my in-laws went to France to visit. I used the same pattern as the other but used Lion Brand Chenille yarn. You can find the pattern here.

My lovely daughters were kind enough to model for me. :)

Playing Catch-up

2011-01-31T11:23:00.002-07:00

Sorry I haven't posted in so long. I was going to post a little over a week ago and then ended up going out of town at the last minute for my grandma's funeral. I was gone for a week and am hoping to get my head screwed on straight and get caught up on some things. When I came home last night I had a package waiting for me from a Valentine's Swap that I'm in on Ravelry. Claudia (a.k.a. delights on Rav) did a great job of putting it all together and the things she made for me are just wonderful. It all put a much needed smile on my face.

The potholders match my kitchen perfectly. Also what you can't see in the pic are the beautiful cards she made for me. One of the heart pouches has cards in it and then there is the one that can be seen....it's a pouch with a see through window and holds a package of pea seeds and has a tag that says "peas be mine". So clever! The top of the cupcake opens up is a great place to hold little trinkets. I'll share pics hopefully next week of what I am sending her for the swap (after she receives it of course). Meanwhile, stay tuned and I'm sure I'll get caught up on posts eventually.

Carl's Scarf

2011-01-11T14:19:00.002-07:00

Yep, another Christmas project that I completed. I meant to post this ages ago (like when I finished it), and was too busy knitting away and doing other holiday things and never posted it. I suppose better late than never although I seem to be saying that WAY too much here lately! It took me about a month to complete this working on it a bit here and a bit there and working on some other projects in between. I really love how the yarn striped itself. It turned out super soft and warm. I used Loops & Threads (Michael's brand) Charisma yarn in Deep Forest. It was made using a simple basketweave pattern. You can find the pattern here.

My Aunt Josie said that she is totally in love with the color and that Carl (her fiancee) not only loves the color but also how warm & soft it is. She said he started wearing it right away & loves it. I love it when a handknit gift turns out the way I hoped it would - well loved and worn by the recipient. :)

Knitting Notebook

2011-01-10T11:47:00.002-07:00

I really like it when I can combine two of my loves. In this instance, I was able to make an altered notebook with a knitting theme. I made this notebook for a sweet woman in Switzerland who recently sent me some yarn. I tucked it into the package of yarn I sent to her as a little something extra, because hey we all love surprises. :)

I used the same paper pack as on my Aunt's gift set. I found myself wondering if anyone was really paying attention to the supplies I listed. I was looking back through the current SU catalog after I posted that project and realized the paper is called "blueberry crisp" not "blueberry buckle" as I listed. That is what sleep deprivation will do to you!

Supplies Used:
Paper: SU Blueberry Crisp DSP, CTMH Pacifica & White Daisy Cardstock
Stamps" SU Hand Knit
Inks: CTMH Pacifica, Memento Tuxedo Black
Misc: Ribbon, Making Memories Pin, Ribbon, Stickles, Notebook from $1 spot at Michael's

Now all SU needs to do is to come up with a companion stamp set to this that is crochet themed!

Connor's Hat

2011-01-04T13:54:00.002-07:00

I found this most wonderfully scrumptious yarn at Michael's in November when they were having a huge yarn sale. Even better was they had put out a 20% off your entire purchase (including sale items) coupon. Anyway, the yarn is made by Loops & Threads (Michael's brand) and is called Charisma. It is a chunky acrylic yarn and super soft and warm. It's the kind of yarn that makes you want to snuggle up with it before you've even knit anything with it. I fell in love with the color and decided that Connor (nephew) really needed a new hat. :) I measured his head while we were visiting over Thanksgiving and started on it. I didn't really have a pattern and was just winging it and was really worried that it wouldn't fit. So then I borrowed my neighbor's 4 year old to try it on him. It fit perfectly. Whew!

My daughter's teddy bear was the only available model at picture time. He looks rather good in this hat I think. :) DH talked to his brother on Christmas Day and found out that Connor loves the hat and that Connor's mommy and daddy love it even more because it stays on him! Apparently it's a bit snug (it's a beanie style hat....just doesn't look like it on the bear), but snug is good. He has a storebought hat that is forever sliding off so they are quite pleased that this fits snug and stays put.

I'm such a bad blogger...

2011-01-03T11:26:00.002-07:00

I haven't updated in forever....somehow real life just gets in the way dang it. I've only completed 3 paper crafting projects in the past month, but I've completed 12 knitted/crocheted projects. I'm going to jump back into blogging with one of the three paper projects. :) It's actually a complete gift set that I made for my Aunt Josie for Christmas. She is so fun to make things for because she not only always LOVES what I make her, but she APPRECIATES it too. I had originally intended to make a lace scarf for her but I had trouble with the pattern and just couldn't get it done before her package had to be mailed. So she got her birthday present for Christmas and will get her Christmas lace scarf in February for her birthday. LOL

The tin was one that came with cookies or treats of some kind in it last Christmas and yup, I saved it thinking that surely it would come in handy for something. LOL I'm a little bummed that I dinged the edge of it as you can see in the pic...but otherwise I'm happy with how it turned out. The projects below are what's IN the tin. :)

Supplies Used:
Papers: SU Blueberry Buckle DSP, CTMH Pacifica, Outdoor Denim, and White Daisy Cardstock
Inks: CTMH Pacifica & Outdoor Denim
Stamps: Cannot for the life of me remember the name of it. I think it's an Inkadinkadoo set.
Misc: Post-it note pad, inkpen, magnet, tin, ribbon, self adhesive gems, flowers, and SU border punch.

Please Stay Tuned....

2010-12-12T22:58:00.002-07:00

I really am still alive & kicking. I promise. I've just been so stinkin' busy getting ready for Christmas. While 99% of the shopping is done, I am knitting & crocheting like a crazy woman. I started a couple of little decorated notebooks a little over a week ago and have yet to have time to get beyond choosing papers and getting them cut. Sigh. I do have some more yarn projects to share and am hoping to get those notebooks finished sooner rather than later. So please stay tuned. :)

Cabled Neckwarmer

2010-12-01T08:00:00.000-07:00

This project is the end result of a class I took recently at The Yarn Connection. I took it mainly because I wanted to learn how to do cables. I discovered that they are much easier than they look! I was very pleasantly surprised to say the least. :-D I also learned how to do a seed stitch. I had heard the term many times but didn't really know what it was. This is a Christmas present for a much loved family member so I won't say who just in case she is reading my blog. The yarn is Baby Alpaca Grande and is so warm, soft, and smooshy. It's the kind of yarn that you just want to smoosh between your fingers and to pet. I managed to get Em to model for me. She has kind of a goofy smirk on her face because what you can't see is her sister is behind me taunting her and daring her not to smile. LOL I plan on making a few more of these for Christmas gifts. They go perfectly with the ribbed headband I posted a while back.

November Technique/Card Club Cards

2010-11-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

Snowmen seemed an appropriate theme for November's cards being that we received several inches of snow the day before card club this month. LOL

I taught the ladies how to do a shaving cream background for this card. Very messy but oh so much fun! There is a tutorial on SCS and can be found here. As you can see on the tutorial, you can use multiple colors of re-inker. We only used one color for our card.

Supplies Used:
Paper: CTMH White Daisy & Outdoor Denim Cardstock
Stamps: CTMH Snow Friends
Inks: CTMH Outdoor Denim & Crystal Blue, Memento Tuxedo Black
Misc: Ribbon & Stickles

For this card we used a bleaching technique. Super stinky but way cool! I can't claim to have had the original idea....I got the idea this past summer from Tresa Black's blog Fabulously Artsy. It was one of those ideas that I just simply let go to the back of my mind and it has been surfacing on and off since then. This is what I ended up doing with it. It's hard to tell in the pic, but his hat and scarf are popped up with dimensional squares.

Supplies Used:
Papers: CTMH White Daisy & Twilight
Stamps: CTMH All Decked Out
Inks: CTMH Crystal Blue & Twilight, Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark
Misc: Stickles, sequin snowflakes, brads, clear embossing powder

Mistletoe Christmas Cards

2010-11-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

Once I finished using up all of the Evensong scraps I was able to break into my brand new package of Mistletoe Creative Basics paper. I just love it! These are the last of the consignment cards that I made.

I just love the Peanuts card. I received the stamp for my birthday back in April and finally was able to ink it up. I chose to only color part of the image in. I think it'll be a fun image to play around with different coloring techniques.

Vintage Kids Christmas Cards

2010-11-27T08:00:00.000-07:00

These cards used up the last of the Evensong Creative Basics scraps that I had. The stamp I used is from Stampin' Up. It's called Greeting Card Kids. You can see a pic of it here. I fell in love with it the instant I saw it. It has so many possibilities for Christmas, Valentine's, Halloween, and of course Back To School cards.

I can't believe I got the lace crooked on this one. Ugh!

Miscellaneous Christmas Cards

2010-11-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

More cards made from scraps. :)

Merry Pursuits Christmas Cards 2

2010-11-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

A few more Merry Pursuit cards. :)

Ornament Christmas Cards

2010-11-23T16:35:00.003-07:00

Sorry for the lag in posting. Just when I think I've got a handle on things, it gets all crazy busy again!. I'm going to schedule posts for the next week so that there won't be another lag. I hope everyone has a very happy Thanksgiving & that those who are traveling will stay safe! We're hoping for good roads for traveling tomorrow. We are currently under a blizzard warning, but the snow has stopped and the sky is clearing and it appears that the arctic air that was to follow the blizzard is working it's way to us.

Anyway, here are a few more of the Christmas cards I made out of scraps for that consignment order. Enjoy!

Merry Pursuits Christmas Cards

2010-11-15T08:00:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of the cards I made for the consignment order I mentioned in yesterday's post. I don't think I will ever get tired of using this adorable little stamp set. It just has so many possibilities. The majority of the cards I made consisted of mostly scraps that I was sick of using and ready to get rid of from last year's Evensong Creative Basics Collection. I am proud to say that all of said scraps are gone and I can guiltlessly go on to using this year's Mistletoe Creative Basics Collection. Now if I could just use up all of my even older Christmas papers. LOL

My Poor Blog...

2010-11-14T13:39:00.003-07:00

I've been so neglectful. This has been due to about 3/5 being uber busy and about 2/5 laziness. I've had pics on my camera all week long now and just haven't had the desire to download and update. I've also been breathing a sigh of relief after completing 2 1/2 dozen Christmas cards last week that were requested for consignment. Then of course there's this knitting/crocheting addiction that I have. As if a paper crafting addiction wasn't enough. Sheesh there just aren't enough hours in the day.

On Monday evening I went to the 2nd part of the cabled neckwarmer knitting class. Finished said neckwarmer on Tuesday. I still however need to sew the buttons on so I can take a pic of it and hopefully not take another week before I post it! It also snowed ALL day long on Monday. So our Fall decorations on the front porch look just a wee bit incongruous with all of the snow...especially since our neighbors put up their Christmas decorations before the weather turned nasty. LOL

Here's a pic I took on Tuesday morning of our side yard. It was a nice wet snow so it stuck to the branches rather quite nicely and I just love the way it looks.

Now for something a little crafty. As I've mentioned before I am in a SU hostess club. These are the cards that we made for October.

The top note die, snowflake, and the window punch were all punched/cut out of an empty (washed & dried) aluminum soda can. I just love how they turned out. The top note die was also run through the Big Shot with an embossing folder. I honestly never would've thought to do that...not only to make my own metal embellishments, but to also emboss them. I foresee more metal embellishments in my card making future. Of course my Pepsi addiction will help with that. :)

Meanwhile I'm going to work on getting caught up on posting again. After all, I have 2 1/2 dozen Christmas cards to post as well as a couple of cards from the technique club that I teach. That should keep me in card posts for a couple of weeks. Until next time, happy scrapping!

Are you tired of baby blankets yet?

2010-10-23T08:00:00.000-06:00

I completed another baby blanket for humanitarian aid this week. This time I did a baby boy afghan. It was fun to work on but I confess I'm glad that I'm done with it. This is the third Sideways Shell blanket I've made in the past two months. I've started another blanket using a free pattern called First Love from Red Heart. It's essentially a continuous granny square type pattern. Although the pattern calls for a specific type of Red Heart yarn, I am just using regular worsted weight acrylic yarn in white and a jewel tone multi. I think it will turn out fabulous. I guess we'll see in a couple more weeks. :)

I've also started a couple more headbands (that I posted previously), and I will be taking another class from The Yarn Connection in November. I'll be doing a cabled neckwarmer class. The neckwarmer is pretty cool, but I confess I'm more interested in learning the cable stitch than anything. I also stopped in there yesterday (big mistake) and picked up a lovely pattern for a lace knit scarf and a couple of balls of Cascade 220 wool to make said scarf. Now to get busy before I start collecting patterns and yarn the way I already collect paper & ink. LOL

St. Nick "Magic" Cards

2010-10-21T20:12:00.002-06:00

For card club this month we made "Magic" cards. I learned this technique last month at hostess club thanks to Meranda (my SU demo). Yeah, I know, it's kinda funny/weird that I am a consultant for CTMH, yet I have an SU demo. Go ahead and laugh...get it out of your system...after all, my friends do. :) Like I've always said, I'm an equal opportunity shopper. LOL

Okay, back to the topic at hand. You can find the directions for the "magic" card here on SCS. I hope you have as much fun making them as I did. I used the Mistletoe Creative Basics paper pack and the St. Nick stamp set along with Olive & Cranberry Cardstock (all from CTMH). The ribbon I used for the pull tab didn't show up too well in the pictures...imagine that...the sun going right through the sheer ribbon...anyways, it's a cream color. Also hard to see in the pics is that on St. Nick's hat I used Prismaglitter on the band and ball to add a little sparkle. Enjoy!

Knitted Wristlets Pattern

2010-10-13T17:59:00.002-06:00

I had a request for the pattern for these and figured I'd just post it here just in case anyone else wants it too. :)

The basic pattern can be found here. The "lace" edge and flower were not part of the pattern. I just felt I needed to add a little bling to them. After all, you know how I am about the bling. ;)

For the lace edge:

Complete pattern according to directions. Using a crochet hook that is suitable for the weight of the yarn you are using, you are going to single crochet, chain two, double crochet, double crochet into every 3rd stitch on the arm end of the wristlet.

For the flower:

Round 1: Chain 5, join into a ring with a slip stitch in first stitch of chain.

Round 2: Chain 3 (counts as first DC), work 9 double crochet in ring, join to top of chain w/slip stitch -- 10 double crochet total

Round 3: **Chain 2, work 3 double crochet in next stitch, chain 2, slip stitch in next stitch** Repeat 5 times (for 5 petals). Fasten off.

I added a button to the center of my flower before stitching it to my wristlets. The flower pattern is also the same one I use when making flowers out of the really thin cotton yarn for my cards and scrapbook pages.

Enjoy!!!

Knitted Wristlets

2010-10-13T08:00:00.000-06:00

I made these wristlets or fingerless gloves if you will, so that I could have warm hands AND papercraft this winter. My scraproom is in the basement and even with a space heater keeping my tootsies nice and cozy, my hands often get quite cold. It's thrilling to have completed a project that I get to keep that is just for me. WooHoo!!! I always end up giving away my finished projects. :)

Knitted Headband

2010-10-12T08:00:00.000-06:00

Here are the pics of the headband I made in the knitting class that I mentioned previously. I was excited to learn about how to make knitted flowers, but wasn't happy with how it turned out. I'll either try again another time or I will simply stick with crocheted flowers which take a matter of minutes compared to these! Nothing like trying to keep your count when you are casting on 101 stitches. LOL

The headband itself is made using Lion Brand Homespun. The flower is made out of wool. I found the oversized button at Wal-Mart. It was the perfect color of blue to match the blue in the multi-color wool. :)

Christmas Notebooks 2

2010-10-11T20:59:00.002-06:00

Here are the final 2 Christmas notebooks. After I prep for tomorrow night's card class I'll move onto making cards that a friend has asked me to make for her booth in an upcoming craft show. I apologize for the bad photo of the ornament one and that the Stickles is still wet....I figured if I didn't get a pic taken and posted, it might not happen for several more days with how busy my week is going to get. Enjoy!

More Baby Blankets

2010-10-05T08:00:00.000-06:00

I've really been enjoying playing with my yarn stash and creating baby blankets for our church's humanitarian efforts. It's really been relaxing and fun. I also took part one of a knitting class last week and take part two tomorrow. The class is for making knitted headbands with flowers - you know, the kind that keep your ears warm in the winter. I'll post a pic when I am done with it. :) Anyways, Here are 2 blankets that I have finished and a 3rd that is in progress still.

I created this one for humanitarian and fell in love with the pattern. The pattern is a Project Linus pattern and works up really quick & easy.

I like how well the pattern worked up for the humanitarian blanket that I used the same pattern to make a blanket for my cousin's soon to arrive baby girl. She specifically asked me to use colors that would go in the nursery (red, pink, & brown, with a ladybug theme). I'm not thrilled with the color pooling this yarn did, but it does look rather cool. The picture just doesn't quite do it justice.

This is my blanket that is in progress. It will be another one to be donated. I'm using the same pattern again, but striping the yarn. I find it interesting that even though I am using another multicolor yarn, that I did not get the pooling like I did with the previous blanket. Hmmm. Very interesting.

I also have a pair of wristlets cast on my knitting needles at the moment so that my hands and wrists can stay warm while paper crafting in my basement this winter. Meanwhile, I am having to force myself to stay away from the yarn and play with paper in order to get ready for the craft show next month. *sigh* So many projects and oh so little time!

Christmas Notebooks

2010-10-04T14:18:00.002-06:00

I am gearing up for a craft show that is the weekend before Thanksgiving, therefore I have already began to dive into Christmas papers & stamps. I admit it's kinda fun to do Christmas stuff, very festive to say the least. As usual I have altered notebooks purchased in the dollar spot at Michael's. I used CTMH's Mistletoe & Evensong Creative Basics kits for these, along with St. Nick & All The Best Stamp Sets. I really had fun glittering St. Nick! ;)

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, the St. Nick notebook is my favorite. Not sure if I'll be able to sell it or not. I love how it turned out. :)

Altered Composition Book

2010-09-28T08:00:00.000-06:00

My middle daughter, Kirstyn is a freshman this year and loving every minute of it. In her English class they have a composition book that they do assignments in. Every so often they have to bring it home for a parent review after having a peer review at school. I loved reading her work and getting to know her a little better. Anyways, her book was plain and as a surprise for her I took a few minutes and decorated it for her after I was done with the review. :) She loves bright colors and for those that know her, that is also her personality...sunny and bright. She was so excited when she saw it and absolutely loved it! I love it when I can do something totally right as a mother. LOL

Supplies Used:
Papers: My Mind's Eye, SU Tempting Turquoise, SU Melon Mambo.
Inks: SU Tempting Turquoise, SU Melon Mambo.
Misc: EK Success circles border punch, Prima flowers, Making Memories brad, Computer fonts. Liquid Glass.

Altered Spiral Notebooks - Part 3

2010-09-27T08:00:00.000-06:00

Well here's the last and final spiral notebook...the sixth one is the first one that I posted back on the 17th.

Once again I used CTMH Cocoa Cafe (retired) papers. "Journal" is computer generated. As you can probably tell by now, I just love doing those folded paper flowers. :)

Altered Spiral Notebooks - Part 2

2010-09-25T08:00:00.000-06:00

I used CTMH Caboodle Papers on this one along with the Flower Pot stamp set. The flowers didn't turn out as bright as I would've liked them too. Otherwise I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

I used CTMH Veranda Papers on this one along with lots of sparkles. The "smile" sentiment is a CTMH My Stickease sticker as are the "buttons" at the bottom right. I covered those in liquid glass to make them pop a little. Although it's really simple, I think this one is my favorite. Probably because of all the bling. LOL

Altered Spiral Notebooks

2010-09-24T14:13:00.002-06:00

These are a couple of the notebooks leftover from the class two weeks ago. I had six notebooks leftover and will show them a couple at a time over the next few posts. I already had paper on the inside and outside covers. I used the same basic design for all of them since they were for a class. Now that they're all decorated, I'll set them aside and sell them in an upcoming craft show in November. Nothing like getting a little head start. :)

I used CTMH Cocoa Cafe (retired) papers on this one. The sentiment is from Unity. I embossed it in gold. Flowers are from Bazzil and Prima. The brads are CTMH Bigger Brads that have been dipped in liquid glass, glitter, and then liquid glass again.

I used CTMH Notebook Papers on this one, as well as Cocktail Alpha & Authentic stamp sets.

September's Card/Technique Club

2010-09-17T08:00:00.000-06:00

In honor of back to school, rather than making cards this month we made an altered spiral notebook. This month I taught about making embellishments and altering those you have to fit a project. The main embellishment that I taught how to make was a folded flower. I think it's called an Iris Fold Flower but don't quote me on that. I can't even remember where I learned how to do it so I can't even provide you with a website to go to. So if anyone knows where there's a link, please share and I'll edit my post to add it. :)

Trying to use up some of my stash, I actually cut different papers for each notebook and let everyone choose what they wanted color wise. It was a big hit. I just wish I'd thought to take pics of everyone's notebooks since they are all different than mine that I did up as an example.

The flower is made by punching out 8 circles from double sided paper. I used a 1 1/4" punch. Then you fold the circle in thirds so that your folded piece resembles a piece of pie. Then I use a slightly larger circle punch and punch out one circle from cardstock. I run it through my 1.5" Xyron to cover it completely with adhesive. Then I place my "pie" pieces on the adhesive covered circle with the sides touching and points meeting in the middle. You may have to refold a couple of pieces to get them to fit properly. Well I did anyways! Top with a brad or button to finish the look. I used a faux button....details below. Clear as mud?

Okay, for the faux button (this works great if you're out of a particular color of button)....using a small circle punch (I think I used a 1/2" or 3/8" punch), punch one circle out of cardstock in whatever color you want. I daubed the circle with ink purposely giving it a bit of a mottled look. Then I pierced two holes in the center and threaded scrapper's floss through it. I secured the floss with a glue dot and then glued it to the center of my flower. I then covered the "button" with glossy accents to give it shine and dimension. And there you have it...a button in any color you want!

All supplies are CTMH. Veranda Level 2 paper pack and Follow Your Heart stamp set.

Altered Spiral Notebook

2010-09-16T14:46:00.002-06:00

With back to school sales having finished recently I was able to stock up on composition books and even a few spiral notebooks for altering. My daughter was invited to a birthday party, so I immediately set to work on a notebook. :)

Supplies Used:
Stamps: CTMH Cocktail Alpha, Imaginisce bird
Papers: Imaginisce, Bazzil
Inks: CTMH Bubblegum, Memento Tuxedo Black
Misc: Martha Stewart Glitter, Glossy Accents, ribbon, Prima Flowers, misc brads.

For those of you who have never altered a spiral notebook, it's not as hard as it looks. I consider it a bit tedious, but definitely not hard.

Step 1: Make sure the paper is all lined up and secure it with binder clips.

Step 2: Using pliers, unhook the wire at each end and then simply roll it to uncoil it from the notebook. Set aside the bound paper and the spiral.

Step 3: Decorate the front and back covers as you would like them.

Step 4: Turn the covers over and using either a crop-a-dile or eyelet setting hole punch, repunch the holes in the cover.

Step 5: Cover the inside of the front and back covers with cardstock or papers of your choice.

Step 6: Repunch holes in the covers.

Step 7: Line covers up with the bound paper and secure inside the binder clips.

Step 8: Roll wire coil back onto the notebook and using the pliers bend the ends of the wire closed again.

See, a bit tedious but really quite simple! :)

Scrap Buddies

2010-09-04T08:00:00.000-06:00

So as most of you know, I have two dogs (Oscar & Rosie) and a cat (Izzy) who keep me company while in my scrap space. Izzy's favorite past time, besides attacking the dogs, is to try and take over Oscar's bed. How she got into the position she's in, I have no idea. It also doesn't look very comfy either. LOL She was however sound asleep and opened her eyes as I took the pics.

Baby Blanket

2010-09-03T08:00:00.001-06:00

I know, it's not paper related, but one of my other passions besides ink & paper is crocheting. I also knit, but I crochet much more quickly than I knit. I suppose I just need more practice. :) Anyway, I started this blanket back in May for our newest niece who was born at the end of May. The weather turned rather cool a few days ago (averaging about 45 degrees in the morning when I get up) and so it's been perfect weather to pop in an audio book and crochet the day away. I had forgotten how relaxing it can be to do that. I've also finished a hat (that I forgot to take a picture of before donating it to the humanitarian efforts of our church), and I've started two more baby blankets (one to donate and one for my cousin's baby girl who is due in a couple of months). I'll post pics of the other blankets when I eventually get them finished.

I did granny squares in a multi-color yarn and green then stitched them together. I then used the white & pink colors from the multi-color yarn to go around the edges to add to the size. I finished it off with a simple scalloped border in green.

Recycled Ribbon Tube

2010-09-02T14:21:00.002-06:00

I have several of these empty CTMH Ribbon Round tubes laying around just waiting to be useful. I've seen quite a few cute things done with them in the past. A few weeks ago I was in need of a quick thank you gift for the parts manager at the dealership where I have my van serviced. He went out of his way to do a kindness for me which I greatly appreciated. :)

I wanted to decorate it and fill it with candy but wasn't sure what kind of candy. Then I discovered that the Pearson's mint patties that can be bought in bulk at Sam's Club were the perfect diameter to slide into the tube in a neat stack.

I'm really not sure what paper I used. It was a scrap leftover from a previous project. All in all I think it turned out pretty cute considering I was in a rush and put it together in about ten minutes! LOL

I am such a bad blogger!

2010-08-24T12:10:00.002-06:00

Life has just been crazy the past few weeks. Just when I think I'll have a few minutes to catch up on my blogs, I blink and a couple of weeks have gone by! Due to being busy with vacations, getting kids ready for back to school and well just life in general I haven't done as much creating as I would like to here lately. I have a couple of pics on the camera and will share them shortly. So please be patient and I'm sure once the kids are back in school next week I'll be able to get back into some semblance of a schedule. I hope everyone is enjoying the last bit of summer.

Full Front Tri-Shutter Card

2010-08-13T08:00:00.000-06:00

Also a July card club workshop card. I just love the CTMH Notebook Paper Pack. It is retiring, but fortunately I have a good supply of it hoarded. ;)

Supplies Used:
Paper: CTMH Colonial White & Cocoa CS, Notebook Paper Pack
Inks: CTMH Cocoa
Stamps: CTMH Legendary Moments, Paw Print, TAC Flower Collage Trio
Misc: Prismacolor Markers, Bazzill Flowers, CTMH Bamboo Bigger Brads

Card Club - Easel Card

2010-08-11T08:00:00.001-06:00

I created this card for my card club members for our July workshop. I just love how it turned out. It just makes me happy when I look at it. It must be that adorable smiley face. :)

Supplies Used:
Paper: SU Kraft CS, CTMH Black, Sunny Yellow, and White Daisy CS
Stamps: Can't remember the name....bought it at Archiver's, it is an unmounted stamp.
Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, CTMH Sunny Yellow
Misc: SU border punch, brads, ribbon, Prismacolor Markers, Liquid Glass

Robot Journal

2010-08-10T08:00:00.000-06:00

I created this journal for a very special little boy in my life. He recently turned 8...so I guess not so little....and I created this journal for him to write down his memories from his recent baptism. I was worried that maybe a journal wouldn't be well received by a boy as much as it would be by a girl, but no worries...he loved it. :) I had a lot of fun making it. I found the robot paper at my LSS and just fell in love with it. It's just so fun. I don't remember the brand though. The journal is of course one from the dollar spot at Michael's.

Supplies Used:
Papers: Stampin' Up CS (for the life of me can't remember the color....it was an in color in the last catalog), Robot paper from my LSS
Stamps: Recollections Robots
Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, CTMH Sorbet
Misc: Ribbon, antique brass hardware, Liquid Glass, Buttons, Scrapper's Floss, Prismacolor Markers

Beary Best Thank You Card

2010-08-08T08:00:00.000-06:00

I created this card for the girls at girl's camp to write thank you notes for all of those who volunteered to help out and helped them to have a great week at camp. My daughter and a couple of the other girls colored the image in on each card...I of course made these at the last minute and didn't have time to color them in. :) I am pleased with how they turned out though. I just love this Beary Best stamp set. Oh, and because I was super short on time, I used premade (monogrammed) cards from the dollar spot at Michael's. Nice textured cream color card base and they came with envelopes. The paper covered up the monogram. For a buck, you just can't get much better than that! :-D

Supplies Used:
Papers: CTMH Veranda
Inks: CTMH Juniper, Memento Tuxedo Black
Stamps: CTMH Beary Best, Thank You (on inside)
Misc: Bazzill Flowers, CTMH Bigger Brads

Color Challenge Card.....Finally

2010-08-07T22:34:00.002-06:00

Yeah, I know, it's about time. Life has just been crazy. Anyways, here is the card I created for the color challenge that I presented a couple of weeks ago. I made this card for our friends to say thank you for hosting our family for the weekend recently. Okay, well nearly a month ago now. I'm telling you, time just goes by way too quickly!!! :-D

I created the background by stamping the "stitching" on glossy cardstock with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. Then using post it notes to mask off each area, I sponged the ink on until I got the intensity of color I wanted. I really like how it turned out. :)

Supplies Used:
Papers: CTMH Key To My Heart paper pack, Spring Iris CS, Buttercup CS.
Inks: CTMH Spring Iris, Buttercup, Sweet Leaf, Sorbet, Memento Tuxedo Black.
Stamps: CTMH Togetherness, Delight In Everything, Thank You
Misc: Liquid Glass, Tim Holtz Acrylic Tag, Ribbon, CTMH Brads.

I'm Back!!!

2010-07-28T12:41:00.002-06:00

Thanks everyone for your well wishes. While I am still fighting fatigue from the cold I had, I am feeling soooooo much better. I am also happy to report that we got our camera back last weekend. I am finally ready to start sharing projects. I made this journal for one of my daughter's friends for her birthday recently. It's a simple monogrammed hard cover journal from the dollar spot at Michael's. I love these little books so much....because they are a solid color and the monogram is only in the middle, it's way easy to alter them! That's probably why I haven't bought a bind-it-all.....it's so easy for me to find little notebooks and journals to decorate.

Supplies Used:
Paper: SU (can't remember which paper pack), SU Melon Mambo CS
Stamps: SU Sweet Scoops
Inks: SU Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise, CTMH Goldrush & Chocolate
Misc: Ribbon from The Ribbon Retreat, self adhesive sparkles, white embossing powder

Color Challenge

2010-07-22T12:30:00.002-06:00

So in addition to not having my camera with me, I have been sick, sick, sick. I think this is the worst cold I've EVER had. On day six I finally dragged my sorry carcass to the doctor's office only to be told it's viral and let's see what we can do to control the symptoms. Ugh! When I told a friend that I hadn't done any paper crafting, her comment was "wow, you must've been really sick!". LOL Anyways, I am feeling much better and am ready to get back to my paper crafting.

Enough of my whining.....before I got sick I was playing around with the new color combo site (link is in my sidebar to the left). I'm not always so good with color combos, but as I was playing around I created the following combo: Sorbet, Buttercup, Lilac Mist, and Sweet Leaf. Now that I'm feeling better, I plan on playing with these colors today. I'd love to see what you can come up with. I'll post pics of my creation after I get my camera back this weekend. Happy Scrappin!!!

Please Stay Tuned...

2010-07-13T21:40:00.002-06:00

until I can get my camera back. Ack! We were in Utah this past weekend visiting with family and due to a little miscommunication, neither DH nor I picked up the camera bag as we were leaving. Don't you just love when stuff like that happens? So meanwhile, I am without a camera to take pictures of my projects. I'm hoping to get it back in two weeks when family comes up to visit and will begin updating again then. Until then, happy scrapping y'all!

Scrap My Scraps Challenge - Round 3

2010-07-05T08:00:00.002-06:00

Erin over at Inky Smiles hosted a Scrap My Scraps challenge recently. Rather than mailing everyone out an envelope of scraps for this round, everyone received stamped images & sentiments, along with the following rules:

1.) Use at least two of the images (must use larger image included).
2.) Use at least one sentiment.
3.) Incorporate stitching of some sort.
4.) Incorporate additional decorative fibers (non-paper).
5.) Use 1-2 pieces of metal.
6.) Make it pop. Use some dimensional adhesives (pop dots, tabs, foam tape, etc).
7.) Have FUUUUN!!!!!

Sounds pretty easy, huh? Have I mentioned that I am seriously challenged in the masculine cards category? Yep, the images & quotes were fishing related. Although I grew up around my dad and uncles fishing quite often and I love to eat fish....that's where my love of fishing ends. LOL Anyways, I do love a good challenge and put my thinking hat on. This is what I came up with.....

My card is based on a Papertake Weekly Sketch Challenge. Sometimes I am quite picky about sketch challenges, but this one for some reason just spoke to me. I think I may actually make a few more cards with this sketch and perhaps a couple of notebooks too. :)

I colored the image in with Prismacolor Pencils using the Gamsol Technique. I put a bit of liquid glass on his sunglasses and the bobber. I tried using white glitter on his teeth to give him some pearly whites but alas it just looks like he has braces on. ROFL I used the SU Ticket Corner punch and added brads in the corners. The card size is 6x6. I used CTMH Dutch Blue textured cardstock for the base. I love that one side of the cs is a lighter color than the other. So the interior of the card isn't so dark that I can't write on the inside of it. I added my second image and sentiment to the inside. I also used a touch of liquid glass on the eyes of the fish. The background cardstock has been sanded down to distress it. The stitching was done by hand using DMC Floss.

Inside of Card...

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Unknown
Papers: CTMH Dutch Blue Textured CS, CTMH Cocoa CS, CTMH Rustic Trail LVL 2 Paper Pack
Inks: CTMH Cocoa, Olive
Misc: CTMH Brads, Hemp, Liquid Glass, Martha Stewart White Glitter, Prismacolor Pencils, DMC Floss, SU Punch

Wonderful Friend Notebook

2010-07-02T08:00:00.000-06:00

I used the Wonderful Friend stamp set from CTMH to create this notebook for my father-in-law for his birthday recently. Little by little I am becoming more comfortable making masculine items. I guess I just need to have more of a selection of masculine stamps and papers. Oooh, I just gave myself permission to shop for new goodies. LOL Anyway, overall I am quite happy with how it turned out and my fil loved it. He said he was afraid to actually write it in because it looks so nice. :) My only regret is that I need to get it through my thick head that liquid glass and crackle accents cause ink to run. Ugh!

The tag with the "B" on it (his name is Bruce) is a CTMH Colonial White Mini-Medley Accent. I held it with tweezers, heated with my heat gun and then dipped it in gold embossing powder. I did this to each side, careful not to get it in the middle. I just repeated as often as needed till I got the look I wanted. I had stamped the "B" in Ocean ink, edged the cs with Desert Sand Ink and then adhered it to the middle of the tag. I then covered it with Crackle Accents. As it dried, the ink bled and feathered. I then tried going over the top of the crackle accents when it was dry with a gold paint pen trying to get it to look more crisp. I think I'll just go with a neutral staz-on ink next time I try something like this. I put a little hemp through the tag. The tag and the sentiment are pop dotted for added dimension.

The pocket watch stamp is embossed in gold embossing powder and liquid glass was put over the "face" of it.

Oh, the papers used are Sarsparilla from CTMH along with CTMH's Colonial White, Ocean, and Desert Sand Cardstock.

Covered Jr. Legal Pads w/Matching Cards 3

2010-07-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

Here's the 3rd and final installment of the girly notebooks I made. Just as with the others, the papers are from the LSS. I paired the papers with CTMH's Blush CS and SU's Crushed Curry CS. I used the following stamp sets...CTMH's One Of A Kind, SU's Vintage Vogue, Furnished With Love, and Vintage Labels.

Covered Jr. Legal Pads w/Matching Cards 2

2010-06-30T08:00:00.000-06:00

Covered Jr. Legal Pad w/Matching Cards

2010-06-29T08:00:00.000-06:00

Here are the aforementioned notepads and matching cards that I included in the care package for the female soldiers. My mil was quite adamant that they needed something feminine with being around men all the time. :) I like her thinking....and had a blast making these. Of course if it has to do with bright colors, flowers, glitter, or bling of any kind, then I'm all over it. ROFL

The paper came like it is...with the stripes and flowers. It worked out quite perfect if I do say so myself. I don't remember the brand. It's from my LSS. I paired with with Tempting Turquoise CS from SU and Tulip CS from CTMH. The "Thank You" sentiment is from the SU set "With All My Heart". The card uses "Flower Pot" from CTMH. The first card is simply a piece of scrap paper. It doesn't show up well in the pic, but I did use some liquid glass on the flowers to add some more dimension.