Blog Candy Update

Thank you for commenting for a chance to win blog candy! I have updated that post to include a picture of what you can win! Check out my "Time for Blog Candy!" post and leave me a comment there, telling me what you like about summer, and you could be the winner! I've also noticed that I've well-surpassed the 1000 hits mark! Thanks so much for visiting and commenting!

Stationery Stamp Camp

These are some projects for a class I'm offering on August 8 called "Stationery Stamp Camp". Guests will be making an altered clip board, an acrylic post-its holder, a notebook, a paper clip bookmark and a designer pen. The projects shown here are not exactly the way they will look at the stamp camp - I just used the supplies I had on hand to make these! I will be ordering in some more for the camp. Guests can choose between the Baroque look or Floral (using the Flowers for You paper).

I have to mention that the design of my acrylic post-its holder is inspired (okay, copied!) by hockeygirl's card, found here. (Her blog is A Stamper's Getaway, and it's fantastic!) The design was made using the Pick a Petal set with Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi, Basic Black and Barely Banana inks, Basic Black, Barely Banana and Whisper White cs, and black grosgrain ribbon. The pen matches the holder. I stamped the petal in Pomegranate and Black on white cs, then rolled it up and put it in the pen. (It's an RSVP pen.)

For the notebook and the clipboard, I used the Brocade Background designer paper with the Baroque Motifs set. The notebook uses River Rock, Chocolate Chip and Old Olive ink and cs, along with Chocolate grosgrain ribbon. The clipboard uses Close to Cocoa and Real Red craft ink and twill tape. I was going to put a buckle on the twill tape from the Hodgepodge Hardware, but then I thought it would be difficult to write on a clipboard with a buckle on it! The red ink smudged a bit when I put the Mod Podge on it (I didn't let the ink dry long enough!), but I think it gives it a worn look!

The paper clip bookmark is made with On Board Accents chipboard that is covered with Petals & Paisleys designer paper. I put a little pink button from the Soft Subtles collection on it with a glue dot.

And if you would like all the supplies and instructions provided for you, just sign up for the class if you're in my area!

Here are some photos of the individual projects:

Stampin' on Stuff!

These are some projects I made as prototypes for a class I'll be doing on August 21 called "Stampin' On Stuff!". People attending the class will get to make an altered photo frame, an altered paint can, two altered candles and four tile coasters.

It was a lot of fun making these! I got to use acrylic paint for the first time (on the photo frame)!

For the frame, I used the Polka Dots & Paisley set, along with some chipboard pieces dyed with Lovely Lilac craft ink. The tutorial is found here.

The paint can is decorated with Petals designer paper and turquoise grosgrain ribbon. Click here for the tutorial.

For the candle, I used Baroque Motifs with Always Artichoke and Bravo Burgundy ink. Click here for a candle tutorial.

The tiles are stamped in Black Staz-On ink using the Garden Silhouettes and Holidays and Wishes stamp sets. There is a tutorial about tiles here.

Of course, if you're in my area and you don't have all the supplies or you don't want to look through all the tutorials, just sign up for the class, and I'll provide everything you need!

Here are some photos of the individual pieces:

Time For Blog Candy!

I just noticed that I'm getting close to 1000 hits on my blog! I'm very excited, since I didn't know if anyone would even bother to look at my blog, and now so many of you have been checking it out! Thank you so much for taking the time to look and to leave comments. I appreciate the encouragement.

So to celebrate, I will be giving away some blog candy! I've been trying to figure out what would be a good thing to give for this, and I'm stumped! I don't have a lot of unopened supplies, so I can't really give that right now. I think it will probably be some hand-made cards (maybe a pouch of cards using some of SU!'s new designer paper). Anyway, if you'd like to win some free stuff, leave a comment for me and tell me what your favourite thing about summer is. I'll do a random draw next Wednesday for the prize, so make sure you post a comment by then.

Edited to add photos and the following:

I've decided what the blog candy is! I've made this pouch of cards using the Brocade Background paper and the Baroque Motifs set. The pouch is made using a 6 x 6 scrapbook page protector with the ring holes cut off. Then I added an insert and dry embossed on the flap. There are six cards with decorated envelopes in the pouch. I hope you like it!

Remember you have until Wednesday night to add a comment telling me what you like about summer for a chance to win. I'll randomly select a person on Thursday morning and post the winner that day. Good luck!

I've Been Tagged!

I'm so excited! I've been tagged for the first time! Lori at Stamp Scents tagged me - check out her blog; it's really good!

So here's what I have to do:
1. I have to post seven random things about myself.
2. Tag seven other bloggers.
3. Post the tagging rules.
4. Leave the tagged bloggers a comment so they know they've been tagged.

Okay, what would people be interested in knowing about me? This is really hard!

1. I have been married for ten years to a guy I met in high school, but didn't date until way later.
2. I have owned the same cat for 14 years. She just won't die! (not that I want her to - she's just really old and still kicking, even though my boys try to "play" with her - poor cat!)
3. I have always wanted a tattoo, but I can't tolerate pain, so I'm too scared to get one. I thought it would be cool to have a small one on my shoulder blade or on my ankle. Oh well.
   
4. I've never been drunk, never smoked, never tried drugs.
   
5. I planted my first garden this year with peas, carrots, lettuce and cucumbers. Everything is growing well except the cucumbers!
   
6. I had to repeat kindergarten. (I was too shy so they thought I needed better social skills before starting grade one!)
   
7. I was the valedictorian for my high school graduating class (despite having failed kindergarten!).
   

It's really difficult finding seven other bloggers to tag! I'm pretty new to blogging, so I don't know a lot of other bloggers. I'm going to do some surfing and find some gems that may not be very well-known.

Okay, I've been surfing around and there are so many people who have already been tagged - I want to find some people who haven't been tagged in awhile. I'll keep trying!

Here they are:

1. Stacy's Stamping Blog
2. Joy in a Jar
3. Pretty Paper and Ink
4. Ink, Stamp & Scrap...
5. Stampadoodledoo
6. The Card Cafe
7. Just an Inkling
   

Alright, I'm done! Check out these blogs - there are some great cards on them!

Baroque Eggplant

I made this card a few weeks ago using Splitcoast Stampers card sketch #128. It is such a great sketch! I've made a few cards using it. For the background, I used the Almost Amethyst designer paper, cut it into a 5 1/4 x 4 inch rectangle, then cut that into 4 triangles. I used one side of the paper for the top and bottom triangles, and the opposite side for the right and left triangles. The card base is Elegant Eggplant. I love this colour! I don't use it nearly enough, and the Amethyst goes really nicely with it! For the stamped part of the card, I used Whisper White and stamped the flourish from Baroque Motifs in Mellow Moss ink. Then I stamped the small flower and the sentiment in Elegant Eggplant. This was matted on Elegant Eggplant as well. Quick and simple! (I really hope I haven't copied anyone with this card. I think it's original, but I looked at so many samples using this sketch that I may have inadvertently CASEd someone. If this is your design, I do apologize, and please let me know so I can give you credit!)

I like the colours on this card so much, I decided to make a bunch of birthday cards using the design. I didn't have enough of the Amethyst designer paper, so I used Amethyst cs as the base of the card and stamped it with Fine Lace in the same colour ink. Then I stamped the main image the same way and added "Birthday Wishes" from Sincere Salutations to finish it off.

Beate's Sketch Challenge #9

Beate's challenge this week was to create a joy fold card. (Click here for her tutorial.) I wanted to use my Soft Sky designer paper. Usually when I use designer paper, I use cardstock that matches the colours in the paper. And normally when I use this particular paper, I make a card that is Soft Sky and White. I decided to challenge myself and use some complementary colours instead. I chose Regal Rose and Certainly Celery. The card base is Regal Rose. I edged the designer paper with Rose ink to help it blend, but I think I went a little overboard. I'm not entirely happy with the way it looks. I think I'll try to blend it some more.

Anyway, I used my Simply Said stamp set for most of this card. The white cs is stamped with flowers from that set with Soft Sky ink. The heart is stamped in Regal Rose. The main Regal Rose flower is from the Pick a Petal set. For the flower stem, I traced a circle template from my cutter with a Stampin' Write marker (the fine tip). Then I added a little bow to the stem out of Rose grosgrain ribbon. I adhered it on with a mini glue dot. I layered this piece onto Certainly Celery cs.

I made the circle tab that holds the card closed by stamping the pointy flower from Simply Said in Soft Sky and cutting it out. Then I punched flowers from the Soft Sky designer paper with the Spring Bouquet punch. I punched a circle out of Whisper White cs with the 1 3/8" punch, layered the flowers onto the circle and used a silver brad to hold them all together. Then I edged the white circle with Regal Rose ink. I adhered that to the card with Stampin' Dimensionals.

On the inside left side of the card, I used my Scatter Sunshine jumbo Stampin' Around wheel with Pretty in Pink ink (I would have used Regal Rose, but I don't have a cartridge in that colour!). On the inside of the Celery piece, I did two-step stampin' with the pointy flower from Simply Said in Wild Wasabi ink. I stamped the saying in the same colour.

This card was a lot of fun to make! I know I'll be making more joy fold cards!

Sketch This Cards Contest

Yay! I was finally able to get some stamping done last night (in my newly clean work station!).

I find that the best way for me to be inspired to make new cards is to try sketch challenges that people offer on their blogs. Here is a challenge from Sketch This Cards. It's a great site with lots of sketch challenges for people. Here's the link to this week's challenge.

I started off with the colour scheme. I saw a card on Splitcoast Stampers with Purely Pomegranate, Wild Wasabi and So Saffron, and I liked the way they looked together, so I went with that. I got a piece of designer paper from the Palette of Prints and used it as a main layer on a Basic Black card base. Then I added the Pomegranate and Wasabi layers. To finish off, I used black grosgrain ribbon and punched flowers with the Spring Bouquet punch. The middle flower is Wasabi and the other two flowers are on So Saffron stamped with the polka dot petal from Pick a Petal in Pomegranate ink (I wanted to tie in the polka dots on the designer paper). It needed more, so I stamped the greeting from Much Appreciated in Basic Black, then added the little flowers from Simply Said on the coloured layers.

What a Mess!

Praise the Lord! My husband arrived home last night! And the sweet man that he is, he let me sleep in this morning. What a great husband!

So this afternoon, I was able to get downstairs to my craft area so I could do some stamping. Imagine my concern when I saw what my craft area looked like! I guess I was in denial! I've been stamping here and there when I get a chance, and I hadn't realized what a mess my craft room was!

So this afternoon, instead of stamping, I spent a few hours cleaning and organizing everything. It's just as well - I needed to figure out what I have that's been retired so I can sell it at my New Catalogue Open House on Tuesday, and I found lots of stuff that I had forgotten I even had! (That's probably a sign that I've got way too much stuff!) So now I'm all organized and ready to stamp. My husband even went out and bought me a new lamp for my craft table. (Did I mention he's amazing?) My craft area is in the basement, so there's not a lot of good light down there. He bought me some natural light bulbs for it, so it's much easier to see with.

I never did get around to stamping because by the time I was finished cleaning, my kids were up from their naps and ready to play! I hated coming up from the basement (besides being my craft area, it's nice and cool down there - it's 33 degrees Celsius here today, and stifling hot outside!). Anyway, here's the finished product. I can actually use the table! (Do you like my new lamp? LOL) Hopefully I'll get down there tonight and make some cards!

Nothing's New!

I just thought I'd better check in since I haven't blogged in a couple of days. My husband went out of town Friday after work, and he won't be back until Wednesday. He is a teacher, and is now on summer vacation, but he is working in the mountains for a few days as a mountain guide. When we were in university (back in the day), this was his summer job! He takes tour groups rock climbing, caving, hiking, etc. in the beautiful Rocky Mountains outside of Jasper. His former boss needed some extra help, so he agreed to go out there. I must admit, I am a little jealous! But he loves it so much, so I'm happy for him.

I am exhausted, though, taking care of my two boys by myself. God bless all you single moms out there! I just pray He will give you strength and energy! I haven't had any time for stamping or anything else! I've been running around with a one- and a three-year old. Isn't it funny how they decide to test all the rules when Daddy is out of town (or is that just my kids!)? My three-year-old was up until 11:30 last night (he went to bed at 8:00). He decided it would be fun to run out of his room, turn lights on and off and slam the doors so that his brother woke up crying (several times!). When he finally started settling down, the Canada Day fireworks down the street got him all excited (he could hear all the explosions!). So after he was finally settled, it took me awhile to relax enough so I could sleep too!

Today was better at least. We had a long talk about obeying Mommy and he got treats when he listened (some would call that bribery, I call it necessary measures!). Oh well. My husband will be home in a few days; then they can wrestle and play. I'm always amazed how much boys like to wrestle and rough-house with each other!

In the meantime, here's one of my first attempts at an altered notebook (this one's from several months ago!). I thought I'd better post something! I love this Measure of a Life hostess set (which is now retired). I will miss it. Altered notebooks are really easy. I cut the designer paper to fit the notebook, then sprayed the back of the paper and the notebook with spray adhesive. After it set (about an hour), I put the paper on, then added ribbon and stamped accents.

Forgive my complaining! I just needed to vent! I'm okay now. Hopefully I'll have some time to stamp in the next few days... if not, I'll be back after Wednesday!

Happy stamping!