Catching Up

I just returned home from work, and I plan to get busy catching up on blogs. Gosh, I can't wait to see what everyone is doing!!

I also want to let you know that you may not see me for about a week after this. I am working every day except Monday all next week. I say this joyfully! I love my job, and I am teaching 4 classes next week - love that, too! Go to Archiver's online to see what they are - Very Valentine, Recipes for Gift Giving, and Shabby Chic. I made the Shabby Chic cards today at work for examples - how much fun is that?!

Did you look at the moon yet tonight? Oh, it's just beautiful! It is said to be called the Wolf Moon as it's the biggest and brightest moon of the year. You know, God's beauty and the way He has so awesomely given us things as simple as the moon never cease to amaze me. When I have pictures of it, I'll share them with you.

Jerry is ice fishing this weekend, so it's peculiar at home. I have the furry kids with me, but I've never been home alone like this. Shane has always been here when Jerry was gone. Last night I got home from work near midnite, and the last time I looked at the clock was 3:22 am. Needless to say, I'm one tired chickie tonight! I think after blog reading, I will fall asleep easily!!

Have a great first week of February!!

Dream

This is my second creation for the day, so be sure to scroll down to see some other fun things!

This is fun product that I used to create this card! Nothing on this card is stamped with ink. Instead I used Ranger Paint Dabbers in Lettuce, Shell Pink, and Hazelnut. Paint dabbers are so much fun and end up looking so vintage!! When you use them, you do just that - dab them on your stamp. For this card, I used Fancy Pants "In My Words" stamp set. The images on this 12x12 sheet of stamps are just lovely. Other items used are Hero Arts gemstones, Cotton Candy Stickles, Hero Arts flowers and Pearl Glimmer Mist.

Let me know if you try the paint dabbers. I'd love to see your ideas!

You're an Amazing Friend

I went into work yesterday to find that we have some new product in our store. Yippee!! You already know what that means for me! I grabbed this paper from the new Making Memories collection - Flutter. I really don't need these yummy papers for scrapbooking, so I grabbed the 8x8 pack for card and gift making.

I used four different papers from the packet to make this card. The leaf vines are actually form one of the sheets, and I did some fussy cutting to pop them up on the card. The flowers, pearls, and stamp are from Hero Arts.

I'm going to catch up on blogs this weekend. Jerry is going ice fishing with my brother-in-law and my nephews, so I'll have some time on my hands. It started out at -10 degrees this morning (and that doesn't even include the windchill!), so I do hope it warms up a bit for them. The ice shack is always warm, so even if it doesn't, I know they will have a great time. I work tonight and the rest of the weekend. Can't wait to see if there is new product again - the joys of working in a scrapbooking store!!

Sharing More Valentine's Day Cards

I was busy making Valentine's Day cards yesterday. I originally wasn't going to share them, but I thought there might be an idea or two in them that you might like. First I want ot tell you that I only used in scraps in my cards. I love that about cards. They are a real paper saver, and you can do a lot with a little! As you look through the cards, you will see an "items used list" under each one, and if you'd like to see them a little larger, just click on the picture.

Items used: (All CTMH) Baby Pink Textured CS, Chocolate CS, Colonial White CS, Topstitch Level 2, Promotion stamp set (no longer available), Blush & Chocolate Ink, Bitty Sparkles

Items Used: CTMH Colonial White & Hollyhock CS, Bo Bunny Persuasion papers, CTMH Treasures stamp set, Hero Arts phrase stamp set, Ranger Worn Lipstick ink, CTMH Ribbon, Hero Arts pearl

Items Used (All CTMH unless noted): Baby Pink Textured CS, Chocolate CS, Topstitch papers & Stickease, Priceless Love stamp set, Hero Arts sparkles

Items used: TPC Studio paper, CTMH White Daisy CS, Slice Design Cards (Just Chillin' & Holiday Words and Expressions), Hero Arts gems, CTMH Swirl Clip

Items Used: SU Real Red CS, CTMH Colonial White CS, Cuttlebug Birds & Swirls folder, CTMH Soulmate stamps set, stash ribbon, CTMH Desert Sand & Cranberry Ink

Items Used: CTMH Colonial White CS, Bo Bunny Persuasion papers, Prima flowers, Bo Bunny Ribbon, CTMH Sweet Leaf Buttons and Ribbon Slide, assorted gems

Items Used: CTMH Colonial White CS, CTMH Baby Pink Textured CS, Topstitch paper, Basic Grey Marrakech paper, CTMH Treasures stamp set, CTMH Card Commentary stamp set, CTMH sparkles

Loads of Pink

Now that we're nearing the end of January, I have decided to start doing my Valentine's. I don't very often use pink, so it's been fun to work on them with this color!

For this card, I used some DCWV sugar-coated paper. I fell in love with it when I saw the coffee cups - LOL! I painted the chipboard flower with Ranger Worn Lipstick paint. Then I did one layer of embossing with UTEE to give it a good shine. The large pink flower, cardstock, buttons, waxy flax, and brads are CTMH. Now I'm off to make more!!

Mississippi River

I thought I'd better show you something I've done so you know I've been creating! These pictures are from the late summer of 2008. Jerry and I took his mom on a boat ride down the Mississippi River. Oh, it was such a grand evening - and perfect weather! Jerry likes to fish in his boat, and I will fish with him occassionally, but I trolling along a lake or river. I always say I'd like to move someplace warmer, but the truth is that I'd miss the 10,000 + lakes here in Minnesota.

Items used: CTMH Sweet Home, Slice cards - Just Chillin' and Travel USA

Have You Been Sneaking Peeks?

For a couple of days I have been watching different company blogs. WOW! There are some new and amazing products coming up! I was just over at Making Memories, and I am thrilled with the new Slice Design Cards they are coming out with! In case you didn't know, I LOVE my Slice. I think it's own of the best inventions ever, and I use it every time I scrap. First of all, they have a new Hands-Free Slice Kit. No matter holding the Slice in place. There are a host of fun design cards, but I am already in want of Paws & Claws, Bon Appetit, and Family Words and Expressions. Can't wait!!

One of my other "can't waits" (is that a word? If not, I made it one!) is all the new product at Bo Bunny. I love the coordination of their papers and all the matching embellsihments they add to the mix. Check out their blog, and see if you don't agree with me. You'll want the Jazmyne paper for you Easter projects. All those shades of purples and floral! Be sure to look at Mama-Razzi. Woo - what a great line for us picture takers! There are four more new lines, too, and what I really liked this time around is that added so many clear stamps to their papers. Perfect and affordable!

Ok. Can you tell by now that new products are truly my favorite thing in the world? I just could never be a digital scrapper because you just can't touch, feel, and see the richness of the colors.

The other person doign some great things is Tim Holtz. Wait until you see his new stamps in the Stampers Anonymous line! Look at the new machine he introduced with Sizzix that cuts and embosses. You will be astonished!

All rightie, I could go on and on, but I'll quit here. ;) Tell me what you've been finding and are looking forward to. For now, I am going ot continue watching the Vikings. Tied up right now at 14-14, and it's just about half-time. I'd love to see them have a go at Peyton Manning and the Colts at the Super Bowl!

Do Something Creative Everyday

I have been very busy the last week or two. It has been a couple of days since I've been in my craft room, and I've really missed it. You know we paper crafters need those regular doses of "paper therapy" to keep us sane!!

We are having a scrapbook and stamp donation drive for charity at work, so I spent time going through my things and saying goodbye to many items I just don't need to hang on to. The donations from our store are going to a shelter for domestically abused women, and I can't think of a better place. When I was in my early 20's, I was married for 3 years to a man that physically, emotionally, and verbally abused me. I am so grateful that God never took His hands from me, helped me free myself of that situation, and then later saw fit to give me Jerry and Shane. I know firsthand that working with paper, scissors, stamps, and colors brings healing within us. I firmly believe that even if we think we can't create, that voice inside of us will not be still until we do. Every woman is an artist!

After I was done, I sat down to create this card front to hang on my bulletin board. No matter how busy it gets, I want to remember to create every day. I picked up this Crystal Kluge stamp at the Paper Source, and all the other supplies are from CTMH.

I hope you all are having a great weekend. I teach a big class Valentine's Day class tomorrow at work - 17 people! Afterwards, it's football time here in Minnesota. Be sure to be cheering on Brett Favre and the Vikings!!

Girlfriends

I've shown you this precious picture before, but I have finally put it to a layout. My furry kids - Chanel #5 (Shane named her that!) and Miss Sassy were sunning themselves this afternoon. It was quite extraordinary the way they were sitting. I just had to hurry and snap before they moved!

For this layout I used TPC Studio Girlfriends paper. The flowers along the middle were cut with a Slice card - Think Pink. Other embellishments used are Heid Grace clear stickers, Bazzill flowers, Petaloo flowers, and Thickers.

Create Beauty Everywhere

Isn't this little boy just adorable? Don't you just want to pick him and give him a great big hug? This is my all-grown up Shane when he was just 5 years old. One of our favorite places to visit was Como Park Zoo and Conservatory. Shane especially loved the spring gardens, and that's what we were looking at in these pictures.

Now I know all too many moms that will not scrapbook their sons in "girl" colors. That has never been a problem for me. There are so many colors and patterns out there. I just can't see limiting all of Shane's pages to "boy" colors. For this layout, I used the Melody Ross Homespun Chic line. There a touch of sewing on this layout as well.

I have been scrapping a lot the past few days, but I only share a small portion. Usually all of my layouts go right in a book and at that point, I have surrendered them. Do you know what I mean? Scrapbooks are not just for us. They are for our future generations, and when I create pages, I am thinking of Shane and all the lovely children that I am believing will follow him. Scrapbooking is truly in the soul, I think. Yes, some of our pages are artwork from deep within us - paper crafting at it's best. But more to the point, it's what we record in pictures and in journaling that is important. Because then we've taken what's in our soul and made it our legacy. I'll take that over money anyday.

Thoughts and Prayers

It's a beautiful, sunny, warm day here in Minnesota. It has been a pleasure to watch some of the snow melt from my craft room window. Winter, I suppose, is far from over, but the sunshine gives a much needed boost of Vitamin D!!

I've been playing with some different techniques today. I've been using some Ranger Crackle Paint on a project, but that will take a few days to show you. You must have patience with crackle paint or it just won't do it's thing!!

What I can show you is the thinking of you card/get well card that I made. Really very simple yet very pretty. There are two stages of glimmer mist on the card - yellow daisy and then old olive with a glimmer screen. The sentiment is from SU Thoughts and Prayers set. If you are having trouble seeing the glimmer, click the picture to make it larger. I was lucky to have some sun for taking this picture!

I choose.

This is a very quick post this morning as I am headed off to work this morning. I am teaching a Glimmer Mist class at Archiver's this weekend, and I am just loving it!!

I created this layout for my personal scrapbook using the Felicity papers and stamp from CTMH. My intention was to have the lettering very subtle on the side, so I used desert sand cs to relay my message. I put some glossy accents over the words to give them just a little pop. I cut my letters and swirls from my Slice card, Think Pink.

I just never get tired of remembering that I was the blessed one to be able to choose Jerry. What a wonderful husband!

Lots of Wonderful

I absolutely love this sketch by Inspirational Card Sketches. When I saw the Raspberry Suite color challenge, I just knew I had to pull out some Bo Bunny Flutter Butter paper. It suits the challenges just perfectly. The stamp is Hero Arts and the ribbon and embellishments are all Close To My Heart.

Yippee! It's Time for American Idol Again!

One of our favorite nights of television. We have so much fun during the auditions watching everyone trying to make it to Hollywood. Now last year when I heard Adam Lambert's audition, I knew he was going to the final night. So my fellow Idol fans out there, do you think this year can top last year? All we can do is wait and see!! Have fun while you're watching - we will be!!

Three in One

There were quite a few challenges that I really loved this week! Be sure to scroll down to the previous two posts for some other techniques and ideas. I put three cards in one on this post, and this will end my crafting day. When it's cold out, I can't think of anything better to do!!

The first card is a bit of an Asian theme using my CTMH Aspiration stamp set. Basic white is the theme at Cuttlebug Challenges this week, so I only used a bit of desert sand to compliment the white. I love the Cuttlebug dots folder. Perfect to add the little bit of extra to a card!
I took some liberties in the next card for Cards. My scallops are from a Bo Bunny diecut from the Gypsy line to coordinate with the paper from the same line. I maintained the simplicity of the card by adding very few elements. The stamp is Rubber Stampede, and the beautiful natural flower is Prima.

The next paper I used is from Melody Ross' new line, Homespun Chic. I actually cut around the sugared flowers to add them to the card. That cute tag is also from Homespun Chic. (And isn't that true? If you could only see my craft room!) Stamp and ribbon are from CTMH. LOVE this card and will surely be passing it on to one of my creative friends!! This fit into the Embellish Magazine challenge.

Now, unfortunately, I have to think about domestic responsibilites. I am so very fortunate that I have so much time to play. What a blessing!!! Tomorrow I've got some layouts to tackle, so I'll share some of that work with you then. Have a great Monday evening!

Picture Perfect

And that's exactly how I see Shane's face - picture perfect. I like sending Shane cards every once in awhile, so this will be one that gets mailed to him.

I used a couple of different CTMH stamp sets on this card. I created the background with the Felicity stamp using grey wool, twilight, and heavenly blue. The slide picture frame, sentiments, and corners are from the Picture perfect stamp set. Makes for a nice masculine card! Take a peek at the Inspirational Card Sketch below that helped me make this card!

You're a Star

This challenge over The Play Date Cafe was really a fun one for me! I kept wanting to pull out a blue or a red to go along with this. And I could have added a bit here or there, but I was having more fun trying to come up with the basics - gold, silver, black, and white.

I used CTMH colors - desert sand, grey flannel, black, and white daisy. I embossed the edges and stars (CTMH Shining Star set) with gold, silver, and black. You'll always see a little bit of shine in embossing because I use Versamark Dazzle and I have a bit of glitter in my embossing powder.

Bo Bunny Sketch

I hope you all are staying warm. It has been so cold here. When we went out yesterday morning, it was 14 degrees below zero, and it never got above zero. There is a promised warm up, but after so many days of cold, it's hard to believe!

I found this fun sketch from Bo Bunny. I RARELY scrap without having clean, straight lines, so this was a good challenge for me!
I took a picture of the blue spruce in our backyard on Christmas morning. It was just so beautiful!! That picture was the jumping point for my layout. I used Bo Bunny Snowy Serenade paper. Oh my goodness - this is such beautiful paper! I find myself pulling it out over and over again. The transparency sheets are from Creative Imaginations and the black flower is from Bazzill. I used prisma glitter on "winter" to give it some pop and to compliment the sugar coated paper.

I took a close-up of this element. This large snowflake is a die-cut form the Snowy Serenade 12x12 sticker sheet. I used an EK Success powder tool to deactivate the stickness so that I was assured it would remain popped up. Of course I added glitter!!

Stay warm! I've got a bit of new paper to work with, so this may not be the last post you see today!

Penny's Challenge

My second post for today, so be sure to scroll down to see another fun technique!

Over at Penny's, she has challenged us to use chalks. I pull out my chalks for several things, but my very favorite way to use them is "chalk popping." It is really very simple to do! Just stamp your images in versamark and color over them with chalk. The chalk pulls out the image. Onthis particular card, I stamped just a few things at a time so that I could mix in all the colors. So much fun - try it!!

Painting with Embossing Powder

I have been working with a new technique that I learned about yesterday. This is a technique from Stampendous. Click here to view the You Tube video. I have used versamark to emboss an entire sheet, but I didn't know a couple of things that the video teaches. Tell me what you think after you watch it! I came up with a couple of examples that I really enjoyed making!!

In the first card, I've used 3 embossing powders, Chocolate Zing, CTMH Vineyard Berry, and Vanilla Zing.The video will show you how to stamp over your "painting," but for this card I really like the CTMH rub-ons.

I went for a whole different color scheme in the next card, using CTMH embossing powders Heavenly Blue, Baby Pink, and Buttercup. This seemed to me like a very soft winter card, so again I used CTMH rub-ons. I hope that you can see the snowflakes and corner flourish. (Remember you can click on any image to view it larger!) I finished off the card with some pink velvet ribbon and a clear slide. To me, it was perfect!

I LOVE investigating new techniques and ideas! It makes paper crafting new and fresh every day. I have the next 6 days off from work, and there are a lot of new papers and ideas I am looking forward to sharing with you!

Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger

The Tuesday Trigger at Moxie Fab is this gorgeous Pottery Barn plate. The idea gave me the opportunity to work with clean lines. Even though you may not see this from me all the time, that truly is my very favorite way to create. In my example, I've used very simple images. All materials used are CTMH except for the sentiment. That lovely thought is from a TPC Studio set.

OCC - Clean & Simple Challenge

I was making cards today for Operation Write Home. Can you believe that I finished 47 cards for mailing tomorrow? I made 12 of the St. Patrick's Day cards, and they will fit perfectly into the clean & simple challenge for Our Creative Corner. So few supplies for this one - yet so cute! I love the holographic shamrock and shimmery paper. I used my Slice to cut "lucky."

I also made 35 Valetine's Day cards to send. Except for the pink ribbon and pink pearls all supplies are CTMH. I embossed the hearts with baby pink powder on petal paper.

My house is suffering so tomorrow I won't be in my craft room. Can you hear me frowning? I am so lucky not to have to clean very often, but it's time. Sassy and Chanel are already suffering from cabin fever, so if it's warm enough, I've got to get them outside for a length of time. Hope you all have a great Tuesday!!

Faith

I have been reading a new book by Joel Osteen, "It's Your Time." I love watching Joel from Lakewood Church. Such inspiration and faith-enthusiasm come from the words God gives us through him! His writings from the very first chapter, "you're closer than you think," having been sticking with me not only as I continue to read, but throughout my days. Are you in need of something? Are you trying to get through a particular situation in your life? Try thanking God for the promised delivered...you are closer than you think...

I found this new and lovely Melody Ross paper, and I created what I thought would be the perfect companion page for a journaling page in my memory book. The butterflies are cut from the paper, and I've covered CTMH dimensional elements with another sheet of Melody Ross paper. The ribbon is fro the Paper Source, and the flowers are Bazzill and Prima.

Around the House - Wrapping Paper

I hope you all are having a good weekend! Today the high is supposed to be 0 degrees here in our neck of the woods. The windchill is going to be 10 to 20 degrees BELOW zero. BRRRRR!!!! I have to work this afternoon, but Jerry is heading out to ice fish. What a crazy man I married!!

On to my project. Everything But the Kitchen Sink wanted us to use wrapping paper this week in our artwork. I used this lovely handmade paper from Nepal that I purchased at the Paper Source. We have a store in Uptown Minneapolis that I frequent, but you can also purchase from them online.

Anyway, I covered an empty Starbuck's mocha powder tin. SO easy!! Very little embellishment - ribbons from the Paper Source, and a MM charm. I intend to leave it "bare" like this until I use it as a gift. I won't want to put much on it, though, as the paper must be the highlight. Maybe just a tag with the intention or the recipient's name. And I think I'll take it into a store to find a matching Prima flower.

You just never know what you might come up with with all those empty canisters around your house!