Crafting/Non Crafting Ramblings

Today I rode up to Phoenix with a couple lady friends to a 'Craft Show'. I was expecting more paper crafting...but it turned out to be 99.99% quilting. I do not quilt...not because I'm not impressed by it...but because I'm too chicken to load thread into my machine and try sewing a straight line! LOL. I bought a machine several years ago with the intention of sewing preemie shirts to donate to the NICU. Well, it never happened. I really need to take a class or something...although I'm sure another hobby is really the LAST thing I need (time and money wise). I was quite sticken by the similarities between a quilt and a scrapbook page (or card). It's all about matting and dimension and colors. We use paper...they use fabric.

There were two booths there that had paper crafting supplies. I did find a new changito stamp to bring home with me. He's so very cute! I'll try and make a card to share tomorrow. I also picked up a brass stencil and some white embossing paste at the other booth. I'm always impressed with what people do with the stencils...but I don't know where to start. This looks easy enough that I can do it(the paste).

On a non-crafting note, my Mom passed away 11 years ago today. I still miss her as much today as I did 11 years ago. Sometimes I swear I miss her more. I was only 27 when she passed away and was just becoming a true adult. We never really got a chance to reach that "adult" stage of parenting where the parents are friends as well. My oldest son was only six months old when she died and she had been sick - so she wasn't able to be with me at his birth or help me with him when he came home. I just feel like so much was stolen from me. I woke up crying this morning - so it was good I was out and busy all day.

Ok, enough ramblings. Tomorrow I'll play and come back with more artwork to share!

Jane

Paper Bag Album...Valentine's Style

I thought I'd share something a bit different today. This is my first paper bag album I made. I made it for my husband a few years back. And since that time of year is approaching...I thought I'd share it here to inspire you.

As with any of my "theme" albums I stuck to a color scheme (red/brown) and style throughout the album. I "distressed" everything by sponging on brown ink (or dragging directly on the ink pad). I stuck with gold embellishments (gold embossing, gold eyelets, gold mini brads). I used hearts throughout as well - in particular I used a heart template and sponged INSIDE the heart with red on the pages and on one of the covers. I also used the same "layout" to each page...a list of things I loved about him as well as a quote about love...all using the same font. Those little consistencies are what (to me) tie an album together.

I had never made a paper bag album before so I "winged" it. I'm not sure this is how it's supposed to be put together...but it's how I made mine (the quick and easy way!). The album is composed of 4 paper bags with the bottoms cut off. For the binding I wrapped some cardstock around the cut off ends and then stapled through the whole thing.

So...let's see the album! I only showed a couple of the pull out pages...I figured you could use your imagination (and dh and I could use the privacy! LOL). If you'd like to see any of the pictures larger...just click on the picture to enlarge.

Outside front cover:



First pull out from inside front cover:



Second "outside" page:



Second "inside" page:



Third "outside" page:



Fourth "outside" page:



All stamps are Close To My Heart. Hope you enjoyed a scrapbook instead of a card for a change!

Jane

Simply Classic Card

I saw this card layout on the Clean and Simple blog and decided to try my hand at it.

The flowers are prima flowers that I got long ago from a secret sister. I'm really NOT a flower person on cards...so a little goes a long way for me...this jar will probably last me the rest of my life! LOL. I do like the way this turned out though.



Can you see that I dry embossed on the card? It's kind of hard to see on the white. But I did a single line above the three squares and a double line below the three squares. The greeting is from Close to My Heart. Here's the inside (the rest of the greeting):



Did you read about the 93 year old man who froze to death? He was behind on his electric bill so apparently they installed some device that limits his usage and if he reaches the limit it turns off and it has to be "rebooted" in order to give any more power. This man was a WWII vet (like my father) who fought for our country. It makes me sick. Yes, there are resources out there that I'm sure COULD have helped...but would a 90+ year old man know about those resources and would he physically be able to go out and get them? The neighbor said there was money paperclipped to the bills on the table. He was going to pay. He wasn't trying NOT to. I don't know all the details...just what I've read in the news. But if it's like the news states...then I think that electric company is guilty of killing him.

On that dreary note, I need to get ready for work.

Jane

Things I've Done

I'll have more artwork to share tomorrow after I take some new pictures. In the meantime, I saw this and thought it was fun!

The << ones are ones, I've done.

<<1. Started your own blog
<<2. Slept under the stars
<<3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
<<6. Given more than you can afford to charity
<<7. Been to Disneyland/world Also Disneyland Paris!
<<8. Climbed a mountain
<<9. Held a praying mantis
<<10. Sang a solo (didn’t sing…but played flute solos)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
<<14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
<<16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
<<21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
<<23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
<<24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
<<27. Run a Marathon (well, a ½ marathon…and mostly walked it)
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
<<29. Seen a total eclipse
<<30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
<<35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied?
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
<<41. Sung karaoke.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
<<46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
<<52. Kissed in the rain
<<53. Played in the mud
<<54. Gone to a drive-in theater
<<55. Been in a movie (not exactly a movie...Primetime TV show)
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
<<57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
<<61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
<<63. Gotten flowers for no reason
<<64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
<<67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
<<69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
<<75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
<<77. Broken a bone.
<<78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
<<84. Had your picture in the newspaper
<<85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
<<88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
<<93. Lost a loved one
<<94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
<<97. Been involved in a law suit
<<98. Owned a cell phone
<<99. Been stung by a bee

Boxed Set of Notecards

I am really excited about today's project. I created this last weekend. I was blog surfing and found this adorable box over on Mel's blog. She has a step by step tutorial so if you like what you see here...go over and visit her. She has a ton to tutorials to share.



Once I made the box, I made four cards to go IN the box. I used THIS SKETCH from Clean and Simple Stamping.



The last step was to make four envelopes for the cards. Mel has an envelope template on her blog but after I assembled it...it wouldn't work with my cards because my cards were too thick. So I ended up having to figure that out from scratch. Believe it or not...THOSE were the most challenging! I ended up cutting a piece of regular cardboard to the size of the card and using that and wrapping paper around it. Figured that'd be thick enough to allow the card to slip in and I was right. But I threw away a lot of paper before I got it right! Here's the whole set:



And lastly...here is how it all fit inside the box:



Isn't that cool? I will definately be doing this one again...although I think I might try to find some envelopes to buy or an actual template to use in the future. But I love the idea!

Jane

Shout Out to SheetLoad

Have you heard about SheetLoads yet? If not, go check them out HERE is their main blog and HERE is a posting to the January sketch I'm using below. The idea is that once a month they give you a downloadable .pdf that has a sketch and measurements to make a group of cards...so you can easily mass produce cards. I cheated and only made two cards this month (instead of using the whole shebang) but I think they turned out cute. Since they look just the same...I'll just share ONE of them here. LOL.



For this I used my new Stampendous Changito stamp that my secret sister sent. The greeting is from Hero Arts (only used part of the saying).

Hope you like it! I have more cards/projects to share...just need to get on here more often and post. Seems like I'm always oversleeping these days. Guess exhaustion will do that to a person. I need to learn to PUT DOWN MY BOOK at night and go to sleep...but it's so hard to do! I can't blame anyone but myself.

Jane

What's Moo?

Still playing with my new set from Clear Dollar stamps. Also playing with the new nestabilities. Can you see the embossing on the round circle?



I'm not generally a flower person on my cards...but this card needed a pop of girly color/style. I like how it turned out!

Speaking of cows...I'm down another 2 pounds this week on my weight loss. Why is it so easy to gain and so hard to lose? I've been really good on what I'm eating and I've only lost 8.5 for the first three weeks (and in the beginning is when you lose the fastest...it's only going to slow down from here!)

Jane

Failure Card

I am absolutely LOVING this stamp! I found it at a used bookstore. It's more like an "office" stamp than a regular rubber stamp (has the wood handle that sticks out vertically that you hold onto and stamp) but I love the saying. It fits my sense of humor perfectly. The box says it's made by Loncraine Broxton and the website it lists is www.thelagoongroup.com. I don't know exactly what the company is...or what else they make. I'm just happy they made this stamp!



I used a pretty basic layout but added some detail work (embossed the top cardstock, pierced the small blue strip of paper, rounded all the corners and did multiple layers on the saying, added a couple of strips and brads to draw some attention to the bottom of the card).

What do you think? How many people can YOU think of to give this card to? (Whether seriously or jokingly! LOL.)

Jane

I promise...this is the last piggy card for awhile! :-) I was going to promise it was the last barnyard card for awhile...but that's not true...I made a cow card over the weekend so there is still more barnyard yet to come. All stamps are from Clear Dollar Stamps.



I'm not overly thrilled with the card...but it works ok. Sometimes the inspiration is in the "on" position and sometimes "not so much". :-)

I did buy a new stamp this weekend. It was meant more as an "office" stamp. But I have been having SO much fun with it this weekend. I'll be sharing more as the week goes on.

Hope you have a wonderful Tuesday (feels weird not to be Monday!)

Jane

Chocoholic?

I've been playing with my new sets from Clear Dollar Stamps. If you know me at all...you know me and chocolate are the best of friends (or is it the best of enemies! LOL.) So, when I saw the new release Chocoholic set I had to get it.

This is the first card I made with the set. I'm not entirely thrilled with it...but I like it ok. I just couldn't come up with a layout that I liked.



Jane

New Arrivals!

In the last couple days I received two packages...my nestabilities and my new Clear Dollar Stamp sets! I played a little bit but will play more this weekend. So I promise I will have more to share soon.

It is Friday (official weigh in day for our online group) and I'm down another 1.5 pounds. Am always HOPING for more...but I'm happy with the 1.5 pounds. As long as it keeps moving DOWNward and not UPward...I'm happy! LOL.

Jane

Paper pieced piggy

My sister in law saw the piggy card I posted a few days ago and told me that my niece was majorly into piggies. So...I had to make a card just for her. A pink girly card. So this is what I came up with.



I stamped the pig image on pink decorative paper and again on brown paper. I cut out the brown spots and added them to the pink stamped pig. Then I cut out the pink pig and I sent him through the cuttlebug using the 'swiss dot' embossing folder. I also used my nestabilities to cut and emboss the rectangles on this card. I'm really happy with how it came out.

So...what do you think? Maybe a little overboard for a little girl of my nieces age (preschool age)? I seem to find it impossible to do a simple card!

Jane

I saw one of my fellow SBS4 sisters using this sketch and decided I wanted to give it a try. I love how my card came out. I love this cow image. It's by Lisa Rassmusen.



The red is embossed with a "heart" embossing plate.

I think everything else is self explanatory.

What have YOU created lately? I have to admit...I only made ONE card this weekend so it's going to be slim pickens for posting to my blog this week. My sister in law posted a comment a few days ago about the piggy card I made and she told me my niece is TOTALLY into pigs. So that's what I made this weekend...a girly piggy card to mail to my niece.

Jane

I'm a bad, bad girl...

I have a savings account where I divert $25 to each payday. It is kind of my "mad money" account. I don't keep track of it really. If we are getting close to running out of money in our checking account then I'll use it for gas or lunches. But I use it pretty sparingly. So I was surprised when I checked the balance and found I had $170 in in! Usually it runs less than $50 in that account. Guess I've been using it even more sparingly than usual! LOL. So...I splurged!

I got a few new sets of nestabilities and a tan embossing mat so I can emboss with them in my cuttlebug machine. Most of you are probably familiar with nestabilities. But if you aren't they are thin metal dies in graduating sizes and shapes. For the basic shapes (circle, oval, square, rectangle) they also have matching graduated sizes of scalloped dies to match. You can either cut OR dry emboss with them. They are made for the Spellbinder Wizard machine...but you can use them in just about any die cutting machine. I own a few of the nesties...but have never got the mat I needed to emboss with them. And due to the cost I'd only bought the scalloped version (figured I cut out the basic shapes with either my paper cutter or my coluzzle). But really, the thing that makes these SO cool IS the embossing and the idea of embossing the solid circle (for example) and then having a scallop circle to mat it to. So I bought the coordinating "solid" sets to go with the scallop sets I already had and I bought the embossing mat. They have shipped and I'm waiting for my new toys to arrive! HERE is a card made by one of my SBS4 sisters (Sparkle) that uses the nestabilities and you can see the embossing and the scallops.

I also got two of the new release stamp sets from Clear Dollar Stamps. I fell in LOVE with the Farm Critters set. And while I was there I got the Chocoholic set as well. The Farm Critters set had a coordinating "sayings" set and a rolling "wheel" but I decided I could make do without those.

So...now I'm done buying for awhile. At least till tax return time. The main thing I want now is to add to my Copic marker collection. I've been thinking of maybe using that as an incentive for my weight loss. Maybe one new marker for every 5 pound loss? But I'd only do the actual buy maybe every six months or so. The cheaper places you have to place a sizable order in order to get free shipping AND a good price on the markers.

I'm off to make lunch and then to create a few cards to share for the week.

Jane

Another sketch challenge

I belong to (yet another) group called AZStampers. Mostly we chat online but also have met in person at some of the stamp conventions. One of the things we do is card exchanges. This card is for a swap called the Above/Below Swap. And it's just what it sounds like...you send a card to the person above you and below you on the swap list. I can deal with sending out two cards! Each time there is a "theme" for the swap (this time it was Birthday or Thank You). And this time they complicated it further by adding additional requirements.

The card was supposed to follow a particular sketch. It was also supposed to include:
A Sentiment
A Technique
An Embellishment(s)
Matting
Punches (or decorative scissors)

I wasn't sure I liked the sketch...but I ended up loving the card I came up with. I think it meets all the requirements too! For the "technique" I used "dry embossing" on the foil strip (but I cheated and used an embossing plate in the cuttlebug). The penguin image is from Memory Box (I love their penguins!) And the sentiment is from a new Hero Arts set I bought that has only greetings in it.



If you've never noticed, I have a "thing" for words. I love to read books and write things (stories, poetry, letters, pretty muchly anything!) So it's no surprise that that often comes across in my cards as well. I love unique greetings and it's one of those things I can never have "too much" of. Luckily, when all else fails...I can also generate greetings on the computer.

Hope you enjoy the card!

Jane

Snort

Apparently I was in a barnyard kind of mood over this past weekend!




Isn't this card adorable? The hardest part was getting the three circles cut evenly in the brown mat. (I think next time I'll take the easy way out and punch the pigs out and layer then on top of the mat instead.) The second hardest part was cutting the little tiny pig noses out and popping them up with the dimensional adhesive. Can you see the nose?

I did my one week weigh in today. I'm down 5 pounds. I was hoping for more since it's the first week and will only slow down from here (and I was really REALLY good this week) but I'll take it. It's still a bag of potatoes I'm not constantly carrying around. They say you really only need to lose about 10 pounds to start seeing the health benefits from it...so I'm halfway there.

Gotta run. Have a great day!

Jane

Case-A-Sister-Challenge

Good morning every one! As many of you know, I belong to a group of stampers called the Sisterhood of Blogging Stampers 4 (or SBS4 for short). I haven't met any of these ladies in person - but we are committed to visiting each others' blogs and encouraging each other along the stamping way. One of the things we do...is challenges. This month we have a challenge going on called the "Case a sister challenge". We are supposed to visit the other SBS4 blogs and choose a card that one of them made within the last month and we are supposed to copy it in a way that is recognizable. It doesn't have to be exactly the same but it does need to be similar enough. We don't say WHO we are casing...but instead the other sisters make guesses and there are prizes involved.

Anyways, that's the story behind this card. If you'd like to "play" along and make a guess of your own...the SBS4 sisters' blogs are all listed to the right of my blog. You can go check them out and guess who I am CASEing.



Have a great day everyone!

Jane

A Minimalist Masculine Card

This card goes back to the basics. It was a challenge to see if I could make a card I really liked without a large amount of supplies.

Here is what I started with as my supplies to use:



Basically this included the following:
1) Cardstock (brown, dark green, light green, and colonial white)
2) Adhesives (regular and pop dots for dimension)
3) Ink (black and watermark)
4) Piercer (could also use a needle or a pushpin if you don't have one)
5) Mini brads
6) Hemp

To start I used the watermark ink and random stamped on the dark green piece of cardstock. Watermark ink gives you a "tone on tone" look when stamping on uncoated cardstocks. You can also use it for wet embossing. If you don't know how to random stamp there is a good tutorial HERE. Watermark ink does stay wet for a bit so I set that aside to dry.

I stamped the saying in black and matted it to the brown cardstock. Then added pop dot adhesive to the back and set aside. Next I tore the light green strip and adhered it to the left side of the dark green cardstock. Next I cut a strip of brown and added it to the light green torn strip. Now to "fancy" it up a bit I added the piercing. Since I was truly trying to go back to the basics...I used a pushpin and a ruler (helps keep your line of holes straight and equidistant). I placed an old mouse pad under it to poke into. Here's a picture of that:



Next I finished by adhering the matted saying piece. Adding three brads to the bottom right corner. And tieing a piece of hemp around the card.



I'm really happy with the way the card turned out and if someone was to buy the supplies to make the card...they could probably buy everything for a reasonable amount. Any more my cards have so many steps and so many supplies than any set card could potentially cost big bucks to recreate. Not this one...

So...what else have I been up to? I made a few more cards this weekend. So more artwork to share this week.

I also have started a dreaded diet. I turn 39 next month. By my 40th birthday I'd like to be more comfortable in my own skin. I joined a group of other stampers who are trying to lose weight. We support each other and reward each other for every 10 pounds lost with a little stamping goody. So I'm sure you'll be hearing about that venture here on my blog every so often.

Other than that, same stuff...different day.

Jane

Masculine Card

Ok...had to follow up the VERY feminine card posted below with a very masculine card! This was a sketch challenge on SplitcoastStampers. Overall, I am very pleased with how it turned out.





Both stamps are from my grab bag from The Hampton Company. I don't often carry my cards "inside" but on this one I did. I wanted the greeting to go with the image on the front but there was no room. Thus...it HAD to go inside! LOL.

Today I challenged myself to go back to the basics. That was a challenge for me! No embossing, no patterned paper, used only black ink and watermark ink, used a pin and a ruler to do my piercing (instead of my piercer and mat), and the only embellishments were a piece of hemp (from a roll from the $1 store) and 3 brads. But I am REALLY happy with how it came out. Matter of fact, I may just make up a set of these since I need to do a Christmas gift for a friend still. In the meantime...sometime in the next couple days I'll be posting the supplies I used, some tutorials of sort, and the finished card so that a beginning stamper can make the same card themselves. So keep your eye out for that.

Also, of note, today is a new release from Clear Dollar Stamps. I do admit there are a few coordinating sets I really want to purchase. (Even though I need MORE stamps like a hole in the head!). Check out THIS set called Farm Critters. I LOVE the piggy. There is a coordinating "saying" set that you can see HERE. And lastly, they have a wheel you can see HERE that also coordinates. Dang it...I wish companies would quit making cute stuff!

Hope everyone has had a great start to the New Year and that 2009 is better than 2008!

Jane