Hip to Be Square Valentines

Today in my blog reading I came along this post on Mish Mash. I knew that I'd be doing something with that sketch. I printed it out, you may be seeing me use it again. I made two each of these cards: I'm really happy with them. All the stamps and paper are by Papertrey Ink. The ribbon is from the Wedding section at Target.

Happy New Years!

What to make...

How about orange fur pants? Yeah that will do.

Christmas Tag

I made this tag for my BFF Roniece's Christmas present. (I got her a TON of Papertrey Cardstock.) I love these little kids, they are by The Angel Company. The Greeting is by Odd Bird Planet. Speaking of this tag, how do you feel about image sets that don't have greetings with them? Everything logical about me says, "who cares, I have tons of greetins already". The thing is I really tend to like it if they do have greetings with them. Then the font always goes with them, and it's right there for me to use. They just seem more valuable to me if they have greetings. What about you?

In other news:
I had a cold last week. No big deal. Mostly just stuffy, runny nose. But I still have the head congestion. Nothing major, but enough to be 1. gross and 2. cause a near constant headache. I saw a special on TLC, I think, one time about a guy who was driven insane by sinus congestion and tried to drill into his sinuses. I'm glad I saw how that went (badly) because if I didn't know better I'd be thinking about it right now. (not really) I think Brian is fed up too, he keeps saying, "isn't that TV loud enough" but honestly it's not! I don't feel sick in any way so I figure I don't need medical attention, but sheesh. Pain in my booty. Do you think that nose teakettle thing will help? I have one of those. Nettykettle I think it's called... I would try but I'm afraid to add anything else wet. It might make my head explode! haha.

Oh Christmas ROCKED! I didn't get any craft stuff to report, but I had a blast.

Christmas Quilt

Well first of all, lest you think I'm too serious, I wanted to show you the makeup I wore to Brian's Work's Christmas party. A clown did it for me when Ethan wanted a Tiger Face but was afraid of the clown. So I made a quilt this past month for my Step-Father Jack. He's really into rock music and has a cool music room/study that is all black. So I made him this quilt:

The guitar and circle design is from a pattern by Banafana. I changed it some to make the overal design simpler.

I wish you could really see the quilting. I did a meander quilting but with some spirals in it too. The spirals are new to me so that was fun.

He really liked it so that is great. :)

Admit it.. it was YOU!

So I have been reading this funny blog Not Always Right. It is about funny things customers say. Well mostly stupid things they say but stupid is the new funny. Anyhow it's bringing me no end of joy.

Until I get to this post:
Craft Store Post

You guys... I think I've done that! Thank heavens I can attest it's not me, I do NOT buy candles. (I detest the things)

Tell me I'm not the only one! Or if you haven't DONE it you've considered it right?

At least I can say I knew ahead of time I'd need to do it and sent my 3 year old to the register with a bottle of glitter, a five spot and a coupon, but still.

A few more

Here are a few more of the Christmas cards I made this year.

This first one I made TONS of. You can see why it's so easy. I stamped the sentiment and snowflakes in a single color then added matching glitter. Easy Goes to Peasy. But I think they came out really nice. The trick to these is to use really nice white cardstock. I use either Papertrey or Gina K. The Gina K is thicker. Sometimes you want it thicker, sometimes you don't. They both stamp up lovely and feel lux in your hand.

This little girl is from The Angel Company. I absolutely love this set. I mostly bought it so I could paper piece her dress, although on this one I colored it with copics. There were 4 different little girls, each holding something else. The greeting is by Cornish Heritage Farms.

These use a background set by Papertrey teamed up with greetings by Cornish Heritage Farms. I love them for the simplicity. I love the red and white only. :)

Basic Christmas

Here are all the cards I've made with the Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses line. Deer stamp is by Cornish Heritage Farms.

Some inside punch detail:

Christmas greeting by Cornish Heritage Farms.

These were easy peasy to make. I pulled some cardstocks that I felt went, left out the papers and just kept making cards.

Best Wishes

I wanted to make a really bold card with these flowers just stamped in black on white. I have had this precut card by Bazzil for probably two years. You know, waiting for just the right project. I stamped on the inside too, then used a black pen to fill in the tin dots in the stamp. Fun stuff.

the black ribbon is from Target's wedding section (for black themed weddings I rekon) the pink ink is Rasberry by Vivid! and the black ink is versafine. White paper and all stamps by Papertrey.

in other news:

Ohmyheck I ordered tons from Papertrey lately. I'm a little in shock but excited.

Better

Thanks for all your support everyone.

I'm feeling much better now. It's been hard, emotionally and health wise. But I think I'm good now.

I have been making projects and stuff but most were for Christmas so I can't show you. poo on that.

Maybe tomorrow I'll get some photos done. I'm finally pretty much done with my Christmas projects and I think I can do some stuff that is just for fun.

Oh in good news I have NINE cards published in the Just Cards! Volume 16 magazine. How fun is that? :)

Blighted Ovum

Well bad news everyone.

Turns out my pregnancy is not well. I have what is called a blighted ovum. Basicly an egg gets fertalized, implants, and grows a sac. Then nothing. I mean the sac is growing and I will grow a placenta, but no baby in there. When the placenta tries to attach to the baby and finds there is not one I will have a miscarriage. In about two weeks.

It pretty much sucks. I don't know what else to say about that. I'm kinda pissed that I have HORRIBLE morning sickness (all day) and that won't be ending right away. It doesn't seem fair to be this sick and not have a baby. Of course what is fair about miscarriage?

Ok, thanks for listening.

Update on the Gift Bow

The gift bow I posted yesterday that I didn't know where I got the idea is from THIS tutorial on How About Orange. It's really easy but does take a bit of time. Perfect for a special gift, probably too much for all your gifts.

Finally getting some stuff done.

Over the past week or so I've gotten a few things done.
Today I made 10 of this baby card. It will be "thank you" cards for a friend who recently had a baby shower. She loves cream/orange/brown as a color combo. I LOVE babies to wear anything other than pink and blue, so I was on board. This is a really simple Christmas card. I actually made it from scraps from another Christmas card I made. (Which Roniece is borrowing to make a similar card off of so I'll show you later)

I especially like the glitter negative image snowflake.

This one uses a varitety of stamps and sets. Several from Cornish Heritage Farms' Scene It line, and one tree set from Flourishes. I did it all on shimmery paper. I think it's festive.

And finally I don't know who to credit this with, but I found a tutorial online somewhere on how to do this bow. If you know let me know. I love it.

In Other News:

I've had some scare with this pregnancy. It's been ups and downs. I'm still not SURE that everything is ok. It looks ok, but I won't know for sure until Monday. So if you are the praying type send one up for me. In related news I've had the WORST week of morning sickness ever. I am INSANE with the sickness.

Tired lately

I've just not been crafting like I'd like to latey. I have a perfectly clean craft room, all the supplies for a fun quilt waiting to be made, and endless card challange/blog inspirations. And yet I just want to stare into space. I'm not even reading blogs like I used to. And my DVR is getting all backed up because even watching TV seems like a lot to ask. What on earth could it be?

Oh, this:Well that pretty much explains everything. :)

A few random things

First these are mock-ups for some thank you cards Roniece and I had to make. (Fifty of them, with limited time and a demanding, non-paying client LOL.) We ended up doing pretty much these, but in white. The white looks much better. (So there you have it Heather Nichols, not EVERYTHING looks best on Kraft. Kidding! I love Heather Nichols) And here is a quickie I made with my new Flourishes set. You know, the one with the koi.

I also got the Flourishes tree set. I have this thing with tree sets. It's rather obscene. I've purchased probably 10 tree sets, trying to get the look and versatility of Stampin' Up!'s Lovely as a Tree. I refuse to pay the price of Lovely as a Tree. Course I've spent probably $100 NOT buying it ya know? So here's to hoping that the Flourishes one is a good substitute. I think Roniece wanted to B Slap me when I bought ANOTHER tree set. Faith assures me that the Flourishes one will bring me great joy. So we can blame her if not. *wink*

Some Splitcoast Challanges

I'm trying to be more active on the Splitcoast Challanges.

Here is my card for this week's Clean and Simple Challange (perhaps my favorite challange). It was a sketch; And here is my card for today's color challange. It was to use all neutrals, but then with a pop of color.

Faith's Retreat

This past weekend I went with my friend Roniece to Faith's retreat. It really was a ton of fun! We all made cards until we were catatonic. Piles and piles of projects. I definately recomend the retreat. Actually there is one in March that I'm thinking of signing up for.

Here are some of the projects we did:

These next are from the shoebox swaps! See what talented girls I was with.

More shoebox swaps. I didn't get a chance to make them all either. It was the last thing we did and I was zombee tired so I had to leave some undone.

Canton Village Quilt Works goes to Market

So each year there is a Quilt Market. It's in Houston. I try not to think about it too much because I never get to go. (Papercrafter friends, it's like CHA for quilters only bigger.)

But Jackie of Canton Village Quilt Works went this year. And not only did she take photos, she brought back goodies!

Goodies that she is giving away on her blog!

Check it out HERE.

I'm letting you know so if you love yummy fabrics you can check it out.

xxoo

Paul and Vanessa

This is a story to warm your heard.

My friend Roniece is the sweetest. HER friend, who we will call S recently had a baby. The baby, unfortunately, is special needs. It was a huge shock to S and the family. It has been hard and very sad. S was telling Roniece who each time she goes to the Dr they tell her yet another thing that is wrong, or that the baby won't ever do. She said it's dragging her down so much. Of course it is. Roniece felt the Spirit suggest this idea; Get a journal, write all the stuff the Dr's say the baby won't be able to do, write about it when the baby DOES accomplish those things. Give the journal to the baby when he is an adult and has overcome these challanges. Well S loved the idea, it made her feel hopeful and loved.

So today after going to Roniece's birthday dinner I draged her into Barnes and Noble. Mostly because my kids were not with us and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to go in a bookstore without my kids. I had an idea of buying some gift cards while I was in there too. Roniece told me the story I just told you. We decided to look at journals. We hemed and hawed over them. There was a budget issue, the ones we loved most were too costly. Did we want to get a journal that "would do" or keep looking, or bite the bullet and get an expensive one? We got discouraged and decided to look at funny calendars instead. At the end of calendars was a second selection of "budget journals" They were actually lovely, but then we wondered if they were too girly.

Roniece feels randomly inspried to ask the advice of this man who is looking at books around the corner. He says, that they are girly and he would not use them. I ask if he would cherish it from his mom though, if it was what she recorded his early life in. He said maybe. Then he got a thoughtful look and said, "You know, let me show you the journal I really like and use myself, I think it would be perfect." So he takes us to the moleskein journals. I know these journals, they are fantastic. But they were out of our price range. We look at them, commenting on their perfectness. I point out to Roniece that they would hold up well in the purse for Dr visits. The guy asks about that. We tell him about S and her baby and why we think she needs a journal. The guy says, "You know what, you pick any of these you like and I will buy it for your friend." We are shocked of course, but he says we must choose one. We pick up the smallest one of course. Meanwhile his wife who is adorable and pregnant comes up. She doesn't say, "What are you doing talking about buying a journal for random girls you just met" She says, "Oh hello" totally friendly. So we say that we think the small one will work. The wife says, "Oh no, it's hard to write in the small, you need this one" and picks up a larger one that is much more expensive. Then the husband says, "well if it's for the purse, I think the hardcover is best" And voila he picks us out an expensive journal and buys it.

While he's paying we chat up the wife, including me saying, "What's it like to go around with him all the time" referencing the generosity and general awesomeness of her husband. And she say, "It's pretty much awesome" and I squealed. I mean that's right up there with "that's a little hunk of gold I'm holding right there" (America's Next Top Model reference).

Turns out they are Paul and Vanessa, the baby is due in Feburary. They don't know the gender and are not finding until they have the baby. They win my award for most adorable couple today.

Roniece wins my award for listening to the promptings of the Spirit for starting this whole ball rolling. I rekon I can have an award for dragging my friend on HER birthday dinner into a store I want to go into? Nah.. no award for me.

Anyhow that's all I have today but I had to share that story with anyone who would listen. It's my current favorite RAK.

Goodbye summer

As you may know I live in Florida. Just barely, I mean it's North Florida, which is like a different state. But it is hot here. Or it was. Two weeks ago it was pool weather. But those days are over. It is now delightfully cool here. Windows Open weather. (You may have noticed I divide weather into what it does for me, "Pool Weather" "Windows Open Weather" "Don't need to run the sprinkler weather" "Sweater Weather" and so on)

So goodbye summer. Goodbye snowcone machine, goodbye icecream cones dripping down my arm as I try to eat you before you melt. See you next year!

Four Square

You know that schoolyard game "Four Square"? I've never played that! I didn't even know it existed until one day at a church activity my husband, bishop and two other adults were playing it! I was all, "What is the mystery game?" and they were all, "Were you born yesterday, this is Four Square you ninny!" Anyhow I still don't really understand the rules, but something about four kids, and a ball making a fun game that they would remember fondly into adulthood makes me happy. This card makes me happy too. I rarely work with pattern paper. Surely not often more than one at a time. I never know quite what to do with it. But this time I love what I did. And I believe I've mentioned the deepness of my feelings for this PaperWorks Co. octopus? I've actually been thinking he might make a great tattoo. haha.

Little girl

I love the new little girl set I have from The Angel Company. It has these girls holding different cute things. I HAD to get it because 1. the girls are too cute and looked fun to color and 2. I felt that the dresses needed to be paper pieced. On this first one I actually used fabric to make her dress. I backed a scrap of fabric with full sheet adhesive (I get mine in the Miracle Tape line at Viva Las Vegastamps) then stamped the girl on it, cut out the dress and stuck it onto the girl I had stamped on paper. I did NOT color the girl and heart first. That would have been a better idea, as I got a bit of marker on the fabric. Live and learn. I drew in a sidewalk using a turotial I found on Amy R's blog. It is a fun tutorial and expect to see a lot of sidewalks in my future.

Here is the same girl again. This time I did her dress in pattern paper. I used the A Muse oval to make a little place for her to stand.

Simple cards, inspired by Simplicity

One of my favorite blogs in my Reader is Simplicity by Lateblossom. When I saw THIS POST it was a get up and make a card moment. (A "get up and make a card moment" is when you see something so dang awesome you get right up and make a card that moment inspired by it)

Hers are notecards, and I did make some of those. I made them mostly in sympathy, but I gave them to my mom already. I also made some actual folded cards and have them for you here: This is for a boy I know who recently had his baptism. This set is by Papertrey. So the trick on the Simplicity blog is basicly in making the black line frame. Making it well, and time after time. You really need to go read her blog for the details. It's simple but brilliant.

Then I decided to try it with not drawing the frame, but embossing it with my Score-Pal. This worked well too and I think is a nice look. I'm absolutely in love with this flower set by Papertrey. The greeting is from Friend Centers set by Cornish Heritage Farms.

In other news:

Sorry I've been a bad blogger. My entire family got horribly sick. We should probably have gone to the Dr, I think we may have even had that horrible N1H1. It was the most sick I had been in years. So that was all last week, and the week before we traveled. (Because when I'm about to come down with deathflu I like to travel so I can infect as many people as possible, :( ) Anyhow all that is my excuse for stinking at posting lately. If you are still with me thanks! I have a sketch sitting here that I MUST make a card for today so expect to see me again later.

Makeup is crafty right?

So about once a week I get this wild idea to do really dramatic makeup. If you are so inclined you can click the photo to see them larger. If you watch ANTM the first five are me trying to smile with my eyes.

Step by Step one layer that looks like more

Ok for the Thank You card I made yesterday I took photos as I went.

First I used regular paper to make masks for the areas I did not want to stamp with the background stamp. These papers are taped to the grid sheet and to each other but the card can be slid in or out. Which means that if I wanted to make a bunch of these I could leave the masks taped down and just slide cards in and out to do a stack. Then I stamped the background stamp over the whole thing.

When I pulled the card out it looked like this, just a bit of the background stamp on either end.

My next step was to use a ruler to mark off the "pieces" of the card. I used black marker to do that, then used a gray marker to add shadow.

Then stamp the main image, color it and add a greeting.

The thing with this card is it's pretty cute, looks like it has dimension and it almost free to make. I did use super high quality Gina K cardstock. I feel like if you are doing a one layer card you must use the best cardstock you can. :)

Five CAS sketch cards

Today was a sketch challange on splitcoast stampers Clean and Simple challange.

It was a GREAT sketch for me, very similar to the one I use all the time.

There was also a cool challange where you made buttons out of five layers of cardstock and one layer of pattern paper. You glue the layers together then put crystal laquer on top, it's pretty fun.

So here is my collection of cards. Images by Cornish Heritage Farms (above)

Images by Eat Cake Graphics (this one also has one of the paper buttons)

Phrase stamp by Papertrey Ink (this also has a paper button)

Images by Cornish Heritage Farms

Images by Odd Bird Planet

The one that is a single layer with the trees? I took step by step photos on how to do that and will post those as a little mini-tutorial tomorrow.

I'm really happy with all today's cards.

In other news:

My resolutions are going well.