Being a Responsible Adult

Many years ago, I was going to college and didn't really know what I wanted to study or major in. So I was just taking classes along the way. A few years into this process I got married, and a few years into that I was pregnant with our son. Well, that ended up being my last semester of college. Until last year, when I decided it's about time to finish what I started back in 1995!!! Crazy, huh. So I have finished a few more classes. Last semester I took off for various reasons and this semester I am back to school, again! But today, all I wanted to do was play. Sit at my scrapbook desk, and make cards with my little girl, and play. But I was a responsible student and did ALL of my homework before I started on this sketch. This is for today's sketch challenge at Split Coast Stampers. I am wishing I'd done some different things with the background paper, but I got to play a little, and that's what I needed today!

Sketch Challenge 210

This card is made for today's sketch challenge on Split Coast Stampers. I was peeking quickly at the gallery this morning before starting the dishwasher, and saw such pretty cards with the sketch, that I had to participate. I think it's a really fun sketch. I used my Artfully Asian set, which is one of my favorites and combined that with some of my favorite colors, too.

Mini Pizza Boxes for Christmas Treats

It is finally here: the week of Christmas. After staying up way too late, I think that we are finished with all of the neighbors' and friends' treats, and after a mad dash of cleaning today, I'll be ready to sit down and enjoy Christmas break with my family!!! I made these mini pizza boxes to put caramels and peppermint brownies in for friends and neighbors. These are so easy to make, although when making in "bulk" quantities with a time constraint, it does get kind of tedious. I know there are several tutorials out there, but this is the link to the cute pizza box I saw that actually made me want to try making these (instead of just thinking: those are cool, but I'm not making any). Well, I probably won't be posting anything else for several days. I do have some scrapbook layouts I want to try and get done over the break, but more than anything I'm excited to just relax with my family. So I may post, I may not. I hope that everyone out there has a wonderful Christmas!

Coaster Calendar #2

I have to start by saying that this looks so much better than in the picture. Everything looks crooked in the picture. And I distressed the edges, but that only shows on a few of the sides, and so it kind of looks like I just don't know how to trim my paper properly. Okay, now that I got that out of the way.
This is my second "coaster" calendar. I didn't have any coasters, so I used a 6x6 chipboard page. At first I was really wishing that I had some coasters, but I like that this size is just enough bigger to add something else on the page. So this is what I made for my son's teacher. I love this quote, and love to use it. And I always think it's fun to use for teachers, since they are helping our kids to reach their dreams! For the background I used some rose red designer paper that I absolutely love. I used the Upsy Daisy set, and of course embossed the flowers. The quote is from a Heidi Grace set that I have. We also gave her some peppermint brownies and lotion, wrapped in a little tin. I really hope she enjoys it, because she's a great teacher!

Coaster Calendar

After seeing Laurie's cute coaster calender, I really wanted to make one. I did CD case calendars last year, and had a blast making them for everyone that I did. But I got started a lot earlier last year, and I knew that this year I couldn't do a page for every month. So this is a close substitute. Well, maybe not close, but it's what I came up with. The chipboard I got is actually 6x6 size, so it's bigger than classic coasters, but it was really cheap at the scrapbook store the other day! The outside edges I inked with Rose Red and then mod podged to give it some shine, since I was embossing the flowers. All-in-all, I am pretty happy with how it turned out!

Embossing Resist

I've read about a technique called "embossing resist" and decided to give it a try today. I had been eager to try it, but a key element is versamark, which I didn't have yet. I was going to try this while my mom was here, and then we ran out of time. So basically, the technique is that you use versamark rather than colored ink on a stamp. Top the versamark with clear embossing powder. Emboss as usual, and then sponge ink over the paper. The places where you embossed "resist" the ink. I think it's a neat look. And perfect to try out with my Snowflakes Roller. So I washed out a used frosting container, and measured the paper to fit. Then I did the embossing resist technique, and glued the paper on tight. I added some ribbon at the top. My mom has a really cool ribbon shredder, similar to one pictured here, but I don't have one. I wanted the ribbon smaller, so I tried to do it by hand, and my ribbon looks pretty funny! To finish the project off, I stamped a cute little tag from a set I found at Wal-Mart, and I have a little container to give away once I fill it with holiday candy! If you've never tried this technique and are interested, there is a more thorough tutorial here.

Butterflies and Happiness

I saw this retired hostess set the other day on a blog, and thought that the butterfly image was beautiful! So I made my way over to Ebay, and was lucky enough to find it. So this was my "birthing day" present to myself. I tease my husband that on the kids' birthdays, I always should get presents, too! So I bought this set, and finally got real rose red paper and ink! I have a rose red marker, but I wanted the craft ink pad, and finally decided to get it! Now I'm off to work on Christmas cards with my mom.

Goody Bags

I love the Hero Arts Thanksgiving set I got a while back. It has some pretty leaves, a swirly leaf, a turkey, a pumpkin, and some fun sayings it it. So today I decided to get some goody bags made for Thanksgiving. And what fun would it be to make goody bags if I didn't get to emboss something!?! I like making little candy bags to give to friends and neighbors just to let them know we're thinking about them!

Cuttlebug Challenge #5

The challenge this week at The Cuttlebug Spot is to use your favorite embossing folder for a card. My favorite embossing folder by far is the stylized flowers folder. Back before Mother's Day, I didn't even realize what a cuttlebug was. Then I started seeing cards at Split Coast Stampers with the most beautifully embossed backgrounds. That was my introduction to the cuttlebug. This embossing folder in particular always caught my eye! Thank goodness for a wonderful holiday like Mother's Day and a wonderful husband who bought me my cuttlebug to help me celebrate Mother's Day!

Happy Halloween!

I've decided that I like to emboss stuff. A LOT!!! I wanted to get some goody bags ready for Halloween. I found these two stamps in the 99 cent section at a scrapbook store. Then, I saw the sign saying they were 40% off. So I could not pass these stamps up. I also got a spider on a spider web, that scares me just a little bit, and a cute little haunted house. I think the stamp with the candy is just so cute. And I like that you could definitely use it for occasions other than Halloween. I love Halloween, and preparing for it is almost as fun as the day itself!

Cuttlebug Challenge #4

This is for Challenge #4 at The Cuttlebug Spot. Today's challenge was to use 2 different embossing folders together on the same card. I actually did this last week for a card for my niece. And I loved the way it turned out. Today, I just couldn't get a card to work out the way I wanted. First I had one all complete, and it just didn't look right. I decided to tweak it, and then when I asked my husband his opinion, he didn't think it looked right after I changed it. I don't know what was going on, but nothing was working. Well, I do know what was going on. I'm pre-occupied with my kids' Halloween invitations that were supposed to be done, oh, yesterday, and instead of working on them, I'm working on challenges. So I gave up and got out my favorite little girl to stamp. From Stampin' Up's Summer by the Sea. I always like this stamp, and decided to make something work. So this is the card I came up with. If I can go back to my other card, and fix it to work somehow, I'll post it later.

Let it Snow!!!

Today I had a friend coming over to stamp and scrapbook with me. I was really excited, because it's been a while since I've had a friend over to craft. So I decided to see what the challenge was on Split Coast. But before I went there, I was looking at the Verve Stamps blog and found that their challenge was to use embossing, so I knew that I'd want to use embossing today. And then I headed over to Split Coast and saw that their challenge was to use plaid (or flannel, as I told my friend on the phone...haha!). So I decided to combine the two. I pulled out my Bundle Up set, that I had to have because, well, it is so cute! The Let it Snow stamp is from a cute little Queen and company stamp set I got. And the snowflake is from Hero Arts. So, I had my stamp set picked out that I wanted to use, and then I found this paper that I bought quite some time ago on ebay. I loved all the browns and pinks. So I got busy, and this is what I came up with. I love the way it turned out. And then, even though the card is "Let it Snow," it is such a gorgeous fall day today, that I went out in our yard on the rocks to take pictures. I had a fun day, and it was nice to have some company today!

Turkey Pot Pie

I've been signed up for recipe swaps since July of this year, so for the past few months I've been crafting away. Some of the swaps have finally ended, so I've started getting packages back in the mail. And it has been so fun! I loved making all the recipe cards, and now that I am getting so many back, I know I am really hooked on these swaps. I love seeing what other people create, both for a recipe, and for a card to share that recipe. This card is for the swap I'm in called "Gobble, gobble, left over turkey recipes." I was so excited when I was in Robert's one day, and saw this Thanksgiving set by Hero Arts. I knew that turkey would be perfect! So I snagged it while I could. The paper is from Chatterbox, inc. and is called Sky Rodeo Paisley. I got a new idea for ribbon in a swap I received yesterday, and was really excited to try it. And of course that's the one thing that doesn't show up very well in the picture. After taking about 25 pictures to try to show the ribbon, I decided this one would have to do. Anyway, the lady in the other swap had tied brown ribbon around the recipe card and then tied blue ribbon around the brown. I loved the way it looked, and did that on this card. I love all the inspiration I receive from so many talented crafters! And thank you to my sister-in-law for sharing her yummy recipe with our family.
Well, today is our day for flu shots, so we have to put the stamps and glue away for now, but we'll see how everyone is feeling later today!

Happy Meal!

This is for a recipe swap on Split Coast Stampers. My friend is hostessing, and she wanted people's favorite meal, or the meal that makes them happy! I love chicken enchiladas, and they are one of my favorite dishes. When I was pregnant with our daughter, our oven decided not to work. So for a few months I wasn't able to make my favorite dish. When our daughter was finally born, my family was coming out to celebrate, and my husband bought a little roaster oven that I was finally able to cook chicken enchiladas in. The enchiladas had never tasted so good. When I signed up for this swap, I knew this would be the recipe I would submit. When I found this paper shopping one day, I loved the look of it. I loved the colors and the shimmery sparkle. I used the circle stamps from my Stampin' Up Riveting set, and clear embossed them to give them some sparkle like the paper.

Sketches! {by tamara}

I love technology! I love how many great sites there are available with creative ideas. I found this blog: http://sketchesbytamara.blogspot.com/ yesterday, and was excited to see how many fun sketches she has on her blog. So I followed her sketch idea, and came up with this fun card. I loved this ribbon when I found it at Joann's! I used it on one birthday card, but since then it has been in my ribbon can waiting for another day to see sun! Well, this card called out for the ribbon. One of my favorite stamp sets is Stampin' Up Pick A Petal, and embossing it was even funner! The ink is all from Colorbox: Sunflower, Old Rose, Orange, and Midnight. The sentiment is from Cloud 9 "Memories."

Combining two loves!

Today is my first attempt at combining two loves...scrapbooking and stamping! I am getting together with some other women to do a scrapbook exchange. And I decided it was time to get a scrapbook page done that had some stamping on it. I feel like stamping can be such a fun way to embellish a page, but I still feel a little intimidated by it. I think because if I mess up a card it's just a card, but I don't want to mess up a big 12x12 scrapbook page. But today I went for it! The layout I used is from Page Maps (http://pagemaps.com/). I love to go there for sketches. They have great layout ideas, and I like that they have both 1- and 2-page layouts. I used my Stampin' Up Friendship Blooms set and also the Just Journaling II set. The paper is all from Bazzill, and I used Colorbox Merlot ink and Ranger clear embossing powder. The embossing looks much more vibrant in real life. I took several pictures; some with the flash, some with the flash off, and no matter what I did, the embossing seemed to look the same. I am excited to see in the future how I will be able to incorporate my stamping into my scrapbooking!
(I had to add a new picture. The layouts were looking a little empty, so I got out my cricut and added a title to each page, using my jasmine cartridge.)