Techniques Class cards

Here are the other two cards we made at my techniques class last Thursday night. I showed you the chalkboard technique in the previous post, so here are the others:

Faux Silk:

Stamps: En Francais, Bloomin’ Beautiful
Ink: Always Artichoke, Black StazOn
Paper: Always Artichoke, Whisper White, Night of Navy
Accessories: Brocade Blue and Bordering Blue Stampin’ Write Markers, 5/8 inch Brocade Blue grosgrain ribbon, glue stick, tissue paper

Faux Silk is super easy to do and looks like it takes longer than it does. Give it a try!

Scratch & Sniff:

This card was cased from a card made by one of my sidelines, Sandy Janowiec.

Stamps: Tart & Tangy
Ink: Pumpkin Pie Craft
Paper: Bashful Blue, Summer Picnic DSP, Whisper White
Accessories: Clear embossing powder, Orange Kool-Aid, heat gun

I am in love with this technique. It is is so simple, but works so well! I used orange Kool-Aid and it smells so good! I am a child of the 70’s and 80’s, so Scratch & Sniff stickers were huge. I had the big three ring binder filled with all of my stickers. They would get scratched so often, they’d start turning white I guess this is a way to relive that part of my childhood without having to hunt down those stickers.

First Cricut project

I haven’t had a chance to do much playing with the Cricut and there is quite a learning curve. I just wanted to share this door sign I made for my son’s room. He is completely obsessed with school buses, so I thought he would like one for his room. It didn’t turn out too bad considering the fact that I had no idea what I was doing. I have some vinyl now, so my plan is to make some of those adorable wall decorations with it (a la Uppercase Living, etc.). I used the Locker Talk cartridge to make this little project. Now I just have to break in the other 16 cartridges I’ve already accumulated I have seen so many incredible things done with this machine and I can’t wait to produce something a little more challenging than this. Like I said, it was my very first attempt to make something with my new toy.

I also have a card to share. Actually, I have lots of cards to share but I’m trying to spread them out. I have heard from many of you that you wish I would post more often. I am really going to give it a try by sitting down once/week and writing 3 or 4 posts. Then I’ll schedule them to post every few days. I thought things would slow down once my grad class was finished (got an A, btw), but it hasn’t. Now Justin has t-ball 2 nights a week, swimming 1 night a week, and Bart has his kettlebell class on Friday nights.

Here’s one of the cards we made during my techniques class last week. We used the chalkboard technique and it turned out really well! To do the chalkboard technique, we stamped on dark card stock (I used Chocolate Chip) with White Craft Ink. Then we went over the ink with chalk using a dauber. You need to tap more than rub. The craft ink doesn’t come off, either. I used really soft, muted colors for this card but plan to try it with the brighter colors next time. I bet it’s going to look great!

Stamps: Live Your Dream
Ink: White Craft, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Afternoon Tea DSP, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Soft Sky
Accessories: Mat pack and paper piercer, Scallop Punch, 1 3/8 Circle Punch, 5/8 inch Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon

More cards!

Here are a few more cards from my Birthday Stamp-A-Stack! I struggle with finding suitable card designs for men, so I included a design that was masculine by nature:

Stamps: Lovely As A Tree, Weathered BG, It’s Your Birthday
Ink: Really Rust, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Kraft
Accessories: Sponge Daubers, Misc. brads, Ticket Corner Punch

I used the sponge daubers to pick up a little of the Really Rust and Chocolate Chip ink and very lightly tapped it all over the tree branches. I think it turned out great!

Here is a cute kid birthday card. Cased from a card by kandicejo on SCS. You can see her card here.

Stamps: Wild About You, Sanded, Phrases For A Friend
Ink: Wild Wasabi, Brilliant Blue, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black
Paper: Wild Wasabi, Basic Black, Whisper White
Accessories: Spiral Punch

I am all about making clean and simple designs. I see *gorgeous* cards that are incredibly intricate on SCS all the time. I appreciate how beautiful they are. I just know that I don’t have the time or the patience to sit down and make a card like that on a regular basis. Plus, I just got a Cricut Expression and as soon as this semester is over, I’m actually going to take it out of the box. That’s right…. I’ve had a new toy in my possession for two weeks and it is STILL in the box! I have big plans for that baby, though. I’m going to be going to my local Lowe’s store and buying some of that repositionable vinyl cling that is all the rage on the Cricut message board. I’m going to make all kinds of cool things!!!!

If you have a Cricut or an Expression and you have a favorite tip, trick, or piece of advice, I’d love to hear it! I plan to share lots of cool projects as soon as I get the hang of that baby. Soon…….

Cards and pigtails…. and a missing tooth!

I apologize for being MIA. My baby turned 2 last week and school has started to become more demanding. I have several cards to share, plus pics of my darling Maddie in her first ever pigtails. I can’t believe she is 2 already. Where does the time go?!?!?! And to make me feel even MORE sad about my babies growing up, Justin lost his first tooth last night!!!

First, the cute kid pics:

Ok, on to cards:

Here is a card I made for a bridal shower I attended last weekend. The two backgrounds together are awesome and I know I saw someone pair them up on SCS, but I cannot remember who did it. If you haven’t tried them together, you should!!!

Stamps: Floral BG, Polka Dot BG, All Holidays
Ink: Groovy Guava, Chocolate Chip
Paper: Groovy Guava, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Accessories: Large & Small Oval Punches, Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon

Here is a card we made at my last Stamp-A-Stack. I used the Slit Punch to make the scallops along the edge of the card stock. Brilliant (and NOT my idea)! I cased this card from caspen1973 on CSC. You can see that card here.

Stamps: Enjoy Every Moment
Ink: Old Olive, Groovy Guava, So Saffron
Paper: Old Olive, Groovy Guava, So Saffron, Whisper White
Accessories: Old Olive 5/8 inch Grosgrain Ribbon, Slit Punch

One more! This is one I made for my husband, using the Cheers To You stamp set available in the UK SU! catalog. I had a very nice demo friend in the UK send me this set in a trade. It rocks! And no, you don’t need to adjust your eyes. The sentiment really *is* crooked. I had this whole stinkin’ card made and was so happy with it, but then decided to add “Happy Birthday” at the last minute. Of course, I screwed it up and didn’t have time to fix it. So please, do not make an appt. with your eye doctor!

Stamps: Cheers To You (only available in the UK)
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Staz-On Timber Brown
Paper: DP from At Home Simply Scrappin’ Kit, Brocade Blue, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White
Accessories: Round Tab Punch, Stickles (for the head on the beer)

I solemnly vow not to stay away for weeks again. I have been a bad, bad blogger, but I do have more cards to post!!!

I’ve been tagged!

I’ve been tagged by Tonya and by Amanda. Here are the rules:

The rules of the game:

Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog, we all want to know them.
Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Here are my 7 random facts:

1. I have a semi-phobia of balloons popping.
2. I have never had a broken bone.
3. My mom and I had the same first, middle, and last name until I got married.
4. I know a lot about sports (baseball, football, and hockey).
5. I am seriously addicted to Diet Coke.
6. I can’t stand my house being dirty or cluttered (I have 2 small children and a big, furry dog…. see the problem?)
7. When my husband is out of town (and that’s not often), I let our dog sleep on his side of the bed!

Here are the 7 people I am tagging:

Shannon
Shelly
Becky
Tracy
Jenn D
Renee
Melissa

That’s it! I am working on some things right now and have a couple of cards ready to post. Be back soon…..

Crew Kids Boy & Crew Kids Girl

I cannot tell you how much I {heart} the Simply Scrappin’ Kits from Stampin’ Up! Yes, I am a demonstrator for SU!, so that does make me a bit biased. But these kits are wonderful for getting pages done quickly, easily, and fashionably too! I am not a fan of stickers. But the card stock stickers that come in the kits are not your typical stickers. If you don’t scrapbook, don’t write these off just yet. I have seen fabulous cards made from these kits. I have the Rose Cottage SSK that I plan to use for making cards. If you haven’t tried these out yet, you must!!! Everything you see on these pages came out of the kit, with the exception of some of the photo corners that I punched with the Photo Corners Punch!

These are the pages I designed for my Simply Scrappin’ Kit class. I had so much fun doing them!!!

I’ll be back with a couple of cards tomorrow!!

A few cards and a NEW winner!!!!

I never heard back from the winner of my blog candy, so I used the random number generator to get a new name. The NEW winner is……

MelissaS!!!!

I hope Melissa emails me within the next few days so I can send this *awesome* package of goodies out to her!!! If not, I guess I’ll keep drawing until someone responds

Here are a few cards I did for a private Stamp-A-Stack:

Stamps: A Good Egg, Canvas BG
Ink: Almost Amethyst, Barely Banana, Only Orange
Paper: Almost Amethyst, Certainly Celery Prints DSP, Whisper White
Accessories: Marvy punches, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Word Window Punch, White Signo Gel Pen

And one more….

Stamps: Eat Cake, Circle of Friendship
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Purely Pomegranate, Close to Cocoa
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Purely Pomegranate, Whisper White, Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Ticket Corner Punch, Soft Subtles Brads (Pretty in Pink), Mat Pack, Paper Piercer, White Signo Gel Pen, Circle Punches, Scallop Punch

I’ll have more things to post on Wednesday, including a few scrapbook pages!! Woo Hoo!!!

And the winner is………

I am so sorry I didn’t post this earlier! I was working on some swap cards and totally forgot! Ooops! In any case, the winner is……

winthrop84

If you could please email me with your name and address, I will pack up your goodies and mail them off to you.

Thank you, all of you, for your birthday well wishes. I had a nice birthday and Valentine’s Day!

They say it’s My Birthday (BLOG CANDY)!!!

It’s Valentine’s Day and yes, that’s right….. it’s my birthday!!! I’m not going to say how old I’m turning, either. I’d rather let you go on thinking I’m 25. To celebrate, I’m giving you a gift. Well, at least a chance to win this lovely prize package. This is what you’ll get:

* A new package of all 5 colors of Fine Cosmo Stampin’ Glitter
* A new roll of Stamin’ Up! Basic Gray Taffeta Ribbon
* A new package of Berry Bliss Designer Series Paper
* A new package of Silver Stampin’ Emboss embossing powder
* A new package of Plain Janes flower shaped chipboard
* A new package of Plain Janes photo corner shaped chipboard
* A hinged lid tin from specialtybottle.com
* 25 plain chipboard coasters

I will post a picture of this fabulous bounty tomorrow! What do you have to do win all of this? You need to leave a comment on THIS post. That’s it! I will use the random number generator to select a winner on Tuesday, February 19th at 9:00 p.m. CST. Make sure you check back to see if you’re a winner!!!

Simply Scrappin’ Photo Cube

I *love* this project for 2 reasons:

1. It features my adorable family. 2. It was SO easy!

Justin and I usually bake chocolate chip cookies for my husband for Valentine’s Day. Since my husband has been working out 3 or 4 days a week at the gym, I decided not to sabotage that and made him a gift for his desk at work instead. I used a Making Memories Photo Cube (around $3 at JoAnn or Michael’s) and the Stampin’ Up! Home Again Simply Scrappin’ Kit. These kits are amazing! Everything coordinates perfectly and there’s so much to work with. I made this cube and have enough left over to make cards, scrapbook pages, or more cubes! If you haven’t tried using one of these kits, I highly recommend you give them a shot.