Spellbinders Nestabilities Up For Grabs!

Wow, didn't realize it's been awhile since I've done anything with my blog.  Guess I need to get on that.  But in the meantime, it's a good thing I'm blogging.  Why you ask?  Because I have a Spellbinders set up for grabs!

My dear hubby bought me some Spellbinders for Christmas.  When he opened the package that arrived, he noticed there were 2 of the same die sets.  He didn't want to mess with returning it until after Christmas.

Now there is a problem.  And here is where it gets a little complicated.  The actual die set is Labels 18.  But the package says Labels 9.  My husband can't return it because the invoice says Labels 18 (there is no record of Labels 9 being shipped to us).  Luckily, the set is what I wanted (the 18) but it took a little researching on Spellbinders page to realize this.

So, hopefully you were able to follow that & understand it.  But the only real thing that matters is, you get a chance to win this Labels 18 set.  All you need to do is leave a comment with your email address.  Please make sure to spell out your email or leave spaces (ex: janedoe at yahoo dot com OR janedoe @ yahoo . com).  I will leave it open until midnight (EST) Monday, December 31st.  I will randomly pick a winner on Tuesday & will contact the winner.  Good luck!!

Elegant Cards

I went through a very dry spell of making cards.  Nothing inspired me.  I didn't have the desire to make cards.  With the support of the wonderful ladies on Facebook, I just stepped back and let time go by.  And with my son tracked out of school for 3 1/2 weeks during that time, it was even harder to think of making cards.

Then the end of September came.  Which is my parent's anniversary.  I had to make them a card.  My mom loves my cards and is very appreciative of them.  So I looked through some inspiration cards and sketches and came up one that I knew they would love.

When I posted it on Facebook to share, everyone loved it.  I even got some suggestions that I could mass produce these.  I figured it would be perfect since I had recently bought a pack of wonderful design paper from Michaels. 

So I didn't mass produce the cards.  But I did make ten.  Four of them I used the sentiment "Missing You" and six using the sentiment "Thinking of You."  I really could mass produce these if I wanted.  They are super easy to make.  And great with pattern paper.  Maybe another time.  :o)

Christmas In August

I hate to admit it but Christmas is coming, whether I want it to or not.   I had a friend announce the other day that she bought her first Christmas gift.  It's a good thing she's not close by or I would have to smack her!  The deadline for Christmas cards is coming even faster.  So I might as well embrace it, instead of fighting it.

I saw a card online using the thread technique to make a Christmas tree.  And since I just got a goodie bag from Sarah of different color baker's twine for me to try out, I had to give it a whirl.  It's a very easy card to make.  The only issue I had was how much twine I needed without wasting.  Took a couple of tries, but I got it.

Pattern Paper ~ Oriental Trading Christmas Paper Pad

Star ~ Sizzix die

Baker's Twine ~ The Twinery (Pea Pod)

Midweek Throwdown - Any Hero Cards

When this challenge came up on OWH's blog, I thought no problem.  Easy, peasy to make patriotic cards.  WRONG!  I was on the verge of burning my creations.  Not just throwing them in the trash but actually burning them. 

I used my border punch to get the scalloped edge.  The blue paper with white stars came from a 6x6 pad I just purchased today (don't remember name of it). 

After about 5 attempts, I finally came up with this card.  I'm having major OCD & notice my strips aren't straight.  Oh well! 

I Think I'm In Love

I think I'm in love......with a sketch.  Going through the latest additions to the OWH sketches, I came across #123 and thought I'd give it a try.  Now I think it's my 'go to' sketch.

I thought I would try to make some masculine cards while using this sketch.  The first one was using some green.

Pattern Paper: Recollections Aqua Damask

Sentiment: Paper Smooches 'Chit Chat'

Embellishment: Liquid Pearls

This next one is my favorite.  I really like the browns together.  The green thank you card is very simple.  But I really like how 'polished' this one looks with the black layers.  I love it so much, I made 12 of them!

Pattern Papers: Recollections Fashionably Chic Paper Pack

Sentiment: Stampin Up

Thinking Winter

My son started an amazing adventure today......his 1st day of kindergarten.  He is attending a year round school.  With him being at school all day means Mommy has time to play!  I have a box just about ready to ship.  But couldn't close it up yet.  I was in desperate need of crafting time.

My son excited about his 1st day

With it being in the 90's today & humidity making it feel worse, I needed a cool down.  Even if it is with a card.  The image & background of the image came from The Paper Shelter - Warm In The Winter.  The snowflake brads are from a stash I've had for years.  And the snowflake ribbon I got last year.  I took the image of the girl & popped it on the background part. 

Post Vacation Cards

My son & I spent 2 weeks in Colorado visiting my parents.  It was a wonderful time.  My parents fell in even more love with their grandson.  My parents live in a small community in the middle of nowhere.  So to do or see anything, it's a bit of a drive.  When went to Glenwood Springs, Rifle Falls, Grand Junction (my aunt & her husband live there, so we went many times), Fruita.  One trip to Grand Junction, per my request, was to go to Hobby Lobby.  I have shopped Hobby Lobby online before but have never been in their store.  OMG......I'm in love!!  Maybe it's a good thing there isn't a store close by.  Or I would be broke.

The downside to my 2 week vacation is I didn't have any of my card making supplies.  I was doing fine until the last few days, then I was itching to make something. 

Getting home was quite the adventure.  We were stuck in Houston, TX for about 7 hours due to bad weather.  Both my son & I were about to pull out hair or strangle one another.  But somehow we survived.  And we made it home at 1:30am.  So I have spent a few days recovering from the trip (time change, altitude change & sitting in an airport for hours).  But now that I'm not as jet lagged......to the craft room I went. 

This thank you card is my take on one I saw that is being done for a card making class.  There is 3 different pieces of paper that I put together, added the ribbon & sentiment.  Very simple and I was able to make 12 of these.

This next card I made using OWH Sketch #126 and an image from Doodle Pantry.  I just turned it on it's side to make my card.  Who doesn't love the D.P. ants.  Especially on these hot days of summer.....makes me want to join them in playing with the hose.  :o)

Clear Stamp Storage

I have drawers of unorganized clear stamps.  I have pondered & pondered on how to store them.  I know many people like putting them in CD cases.  But I don't have to room to store a lot of CD cases.  So I searched around the net for ideas and found one that will work, the binder.

Say goodbye to drawers of stamp sheets that takes me awhile to rummage through and forget half of what I have.

Hello new set up.....

So I start with a sheet of white cardstock.  Then I stamp the images on the cardstock.

After the sheet is filled up, then I line up the stamps on the transparency sheet to  match what is on the cardstock.

Put the transparency film on top of the cardstock (so now you can really see the image)
and slide them into a page protector. 
 

Then I plan on putting the page protectors into a binder and categorize them by theme.  If I have the info on the stamps (company name and/or stamp set name) then I write it on the cardstock.  So then I will only have 1 or 2 binders that don't take up a lot of space.  And I will be able to find my stamps.

ODBD Challenge

My husband has been away on a business trip to England.  So I have been playing the role of Mommy & Daddy to our son.  I don't know how military spouses handle it!  I go crazy with my husband gone for a week.  I couldn't imagine what it would be like if he was gone for months.  I have complete admiration to the family waiting at home for their hero to return!

Last night, my son was tucked in bed, I had caught up on "my" shows & I actually had some energy.  So I decided to make some cards.  I CASE'd the card from one in my inspiration folder.  I was going to make it a thank you card.  But I couldn't resist this sentiment since I was using paper with stars. 

Play Time

The first card is done with a digi from The Paper Shelter called "Spring Break."  This is a digi I purchased a long time ago but haven't done anything with it.  It reminds me of my younger days when I always had my nose in book. 

The second card uses a digi from the talented Elizabeth Dulemba.  I colored it with colored pencils.  My precious son watched me coloring them and said "Wow Mommy, you are good.  You are staying in the lines."  Thanks sweetie!  :o)  I used OWH Sketch # 118.

Sorry the picture didn't turn out as well.

 This bear is just too precious.  I colored the floatie with turquoise & green.  As I was looking through my pattern paper, I came across this one.  Matches perfectly!

Clouds

I am finally back in the swing of things regarding making cards for OWH.  Amazing what 3 weeks of not making any can do to someone!  :o)

I went shopping on Doodle Pantry's page for colored digis.  Oh boy did I rack up a nice little bill.  But since I had all these new digis, I needed to play.  I found "Toy Truck Ants" that I thought was adorable.  And since my son is a huge fan of dump trucks, had to get it.  So I put one card together & posted it on FB.  I mentioned that it needed something and got several replies.

(Before)

A couple suggestions were to make clouds on the blue paper.  A tutorial had just been done on the Stars & Stamps page.  So I went over, read the instructions & tried it myself.  And I tried......and I tried......and I tried.  I had tried it with a scalloped circle.  Then I tried it with a free hand template.  I looked at the clock.  DANG!  I had been working on it for over an hour.  My wrist was hurting.  My eyes were tired.  And I was about to throw everything in the trash.  I was using a dauber and I just started goofing around with doing it free hand (no template).  I daubed dark white here......light white there.  And before I knew it......I had clouds!!  Maybe could use more practice.  But I don't care right now.  I'm just happy that I have clouds!

(After)

Show Some OWH Love!

I posted a picture of a decal I designed for my car on FB.  Needless to say, I had a large amount of people wanting one.  I checked with Sandy and she said that I shouldn't order & sell the decals.  But what I hadn't mentioned is that I actually bought 5 decals.

I have 4 decals up for grabs.  So now is your chance to win one and show your OWH love.  All you need to do is comment on this post.  Please leave me your name & email address.  Make sure to spell out your email (janedoe at mycomputer dot com).  I will randomly pick 4 winners and contact you by email.  All comments must be in by Monday April 30 10:00pm EST.  Good luck!

**UPDATE**  Thanks to everyone that left a comment!  Congrats to Sherry, Renata, Jan and Raeanna for winning a decal!  Emails have been sent to the winners.

1st Card In Awhile

My son's preschool was doing a fundraiser that involved some scrapbooking.  I made the mistake of saying I scrapbook and that I could help out.  Needless to say, I found myself doing it all (the teachers got the hand prints & parents brought pictures.  But I put them together).  It took me a good two weeks to put all of them together & then into frames.

The heart between the hand prints was made by one of the grandmother's.  It's a tatted heart.  Each one took 3-4 hours to make.  The quote reads "You may hold my hand for a while but you hold my heart forever. ~ Unknown"  Then to complete the frame, a picture of the child(ren) were included.  Yes, the picture is blurred for protection of the children in it.

Finally, after an almost 3 week hiatus, I made my 1st card.  Granted, it wasn't for OWH.  But it was a card none the less.  My son graduates from preschool this Thursday.  After graduation, the preschool closes for good.  Finances have been an issue for awhile.  The parents rallied together and saved it from being closed in February.  We wanted our kids to finish out the year & the ones that were suppose to graduate, got to graduate.  But we couldn't help it enough to go to the end of May as originally scheduled.  Nor could we save it for the future.  I wanted to make a thank you card for my son's teacher (also the owner of the school).  But with the school closing, I definitely wanted to do something for her.  So with the card, we are giving her a pen that my husband turned. 

Dad Card

It feels like a month since I have made cards.  It really hasn't been that long....but it feels like it.  A lot has been going on the last couple of weeks.  I had been sick and got better.  Then my son got sick and shared it with me.  As it turns out, I never really got over what I had.  I ended up with a horrible sinus infection.  Thanks to some meds, I am all better.  In the meantime, we have been trying to plan a family reunion to CO this summer with my brother & family (they live in Australia).  It was going to be his family, my parents, my aunt and her hubby, my hubby, son & self and possibly my other 2 brothers.  Just when things looked like they were going to fall into place, we got a set back.  We got word regarding my son's school choice (he will be starting Kindergarten).  He has been chosen for a year round school.....starting early July.  That has just messed up our trip.  Now onto plan B, go to CO earlier, without my husband (due to his work schedule), so my son & I can spend time with my parents.  In the midst of that, my son's preschool (that the parents have been working so hard to save) has decided that they cannot make it to the end of May.  They will close at the end of April, luckily they will still have a graduation.

I never made any Mother's Day cards.  Pretty much anytime a "holiday" comes up, I can't seem to get it together in time, other than Christmas.  So I decided, I am going to make some Dad cards.  The image is a cute clip art I came across.  The paper is from DCWV paper pack that I found on clearance for $5 at Joann.  I used OWH's sketch #113.

                                                                   

Thinking Of You

I had a few personal cards to make.  One was for a cousin of mine that has been in and out of the hospital.  I thought a nice 'thinking of you' card would cheer her up.

The butterfly I stamped with Versamark and then heat embossed with white embossing powder.  Then I took purple ink and sponged on the butterfly.  I added a little yellow ink.  With a paper towel, I wiped off the excess.  This is another resist technique that I learned.

Butterfly Stamp - Inkadinkado Garden Delight set

Butterfly Paper - Bo Bunny

Inks - Brilliance Pearlescent Purple / Distress Ink Wild Honey

Thinking Of You Stamp - Stampin' Up

The second card I made for my hubby's uncle who's mother passed away.  I don't have any sympathy stamps and didn't feel like making something on the computer.  So I figured a thinking of you would be appropriate.  The first time I made this card, I made the front part first but didn't adhere it to the base.  I wanted to write the card (to avoid mistakes) and then adhere it to the front.  Once the card was written and signed by all of us, I glued it down.  Opened the card and OH NO!  The writing was now on the left side (the back of the front) and upside down.  No way to fix it.....so I just made another one.

Flower Stamp - Inkadinkado Garden Delight set

Wax Paper Resist

I love seeing some of the cards that are made for OWH that were 'created.'  I have been watching oodles and oodles of YouTube videos to learn some new techniques.  One technique I have been really interested in is Resist.  I found one where they used wax paper.  I thought, that is cool & I have plenty of wax paper.

Supplies Needed:
Paper (I used regular cardstock but I have seen it on glossy paper)
Wax Paper
Iron (make sure there is no water in it)
Ink(s)
Paper Towel

First, take the wax paper and wad it up into a tight ball.  Open it up but try not to completely open/flatten it.  Place the wax paper on the cardstock and then use some scrap paper to lay on top of that.  Make sure your surface is protected.  Then, with the iron set on high, iron the paper.  Make sure to get the corners really well.  Now take your ink(s) and have some fun.  I used 3 Distress Inks (Broken China, Peeled Paint and Wild Honey).  Sponge on the ink however you want.  When you get the look you want, take a paper towel and wipe off the excess.  You have just created your own background paper!

Here is my wax resist background paper.  I used the Peeled Paint as the main color.  Then added some Broken China & Wild Honey.

You can see the design from the crumpled wax paper.

ODBD & Sandy Challenge

ODBD will sponsor 2 boxes to be shipped to our heros if we get enough cards with their challenge.  This month the challenge is Tic-Tac-Toe.  I chose to go diagonal from top left corner to the bottom right corner.  * Sorry, can't get a copy of the board *  The options I chose are brads, ribbon and layers.

Then Sandy made a challenge (that I kind of got myself into) to see if a card can be made with the ODBD challenge using OWH's sketch for this week. 

So here is my card for both challenges  But there is one teeny, tiny problem.......I only have bright colored brads.  So I had to use eyelets......*crossing fingers* hope that works!  I have layers with the sentiment & the base is a layer.  The black & white strips is ribbon.  Then the eyelets in the corners. 

Bloomin' Flowers

What a week.....and it's only Wednesday.  I got both my cats to the vet for dentals, conference with my son's teacher, dropped off toys for a yard sale, my brother having radiation, and then my husband needing minor outpatient surgery.  He had a gland that got infected, which caused an abscess.  I have been so tired, frustrated, overwhelmed and just plain irritated.  Last week I was getting over a cold.....so this week, I am in desperate need of crafting therapy.  I just wasn't sure how I was going to fit it into my schedule.  Somehow, I managed to make some cards.

I used this week's OWH Sketch # 110

 Digital Image by Shabby Princess - Spring Breeze

Floral Paper by Paper Pizazz - Pink "Handmade" Flowers 

Ribbon & Solid Color Paper from my stash.

Digital Image by Shabby Princess - Spring Breeze

Floral Paper by Paper Pizazz - Purple "Handmade" Flowers

Ribbon & Solid Color Paper from my stash

Digital Image by Shabby Princess - Spring Breeze

Pattern Paper by American Girl Crafts

Solid Yellow Paper from my stash

The Big 5

Saturday we celebrated my son's 5th birthday.  Before David came into our lives, I use to hear people say to enjoy every moment because children grow so fast.  I couldn't understand what they meant.  Now, being a parent, I know exactly what people meant.  It only seems like yesterday that we got that wonderful phone call that a baby boy was waiting for us.  Where has the 5 years gone?  Other than his 1st birthday, I haven't had a problem.....until this year.  I've been getting a little emotional.  He will be graduating preschool soon and then off to kindergarten.  He really is growing up too fast.

David only asked for 2 things for his birthday (other than toys).  He wanted another fireman/fire truck theme & he wanted to celebrate with his cousins.  So my mother-in-law was nice enough to let us invade her house.  All of my husband's family live about an hour and a half from us (in a small country area).  It turned out to be a really nice day.  All of his cousins were there to enjoy cake & ice cream.  I didn't make his cake this year (but I did make cupcakes for his school on Friday).  After cake & ice cream, they all played in the other room while the adults were chatting away in the family room.

It was pretty funny.....with each gift he opened, the more disappointed he got.  I told everyone that he did not need anymore toys.  So they all got him clothes.  He kept waiting to open something that would have toys.  But we told him not to worry, there might be something at home that he would like.

By the time we were ready to hit the road, David was so tired.  Getting up early, filling up on sugar, playing really hard, he was worn out.  He actually slept in the car (I don't remember the last time he has done that).  Once home, he opened some more gifts & got some toys!

Another VCMP Card

Got one more card done for the virtual card making party!

Challenge #6 - Sand and Sea (use blue and tans)

Flower paper is from my stash (I got many, many moons ago) & sentiment is from OWH/Hero Arts stamp set.  It's hard to tell in the picture, but the dark layer behind the sentiment is navy blue (it looks black in the picture).  I had planned on using some blue ribbon but then realized, I don't have yummy blue ribbon.  Not happy with the twine on there......but it will do, for now.

Update: Feb. 13, 2012
I know it's too late to link up for the challenge......but I wasn't happy with the outcome of the card.  The whole reason I wanted to make this card was because of some paper ribbon I found.  But when I put the 1st card together, I couldn't find it.  Well I found it & made a new one.  Much better!  The adhesive paper ribbon is by K&Company.

Virtual Card Making Party

Didn't get them all done.....but here is what I managed to get around to this morning.

Challenge #1 - Hot Tropics 
Requirement for this card was to use hot pink, green and yellow.

 Unfortunately, my camera didn't pick up the hot pink......but I promise, it's there.  The flowers and liquid pearls are hot pink.

 Challenge #4 - Beachy Thinking of You
I was so excited about this one!  I figured 'how hard is it to do something beachy?'  I put the card together and then realized, oops, it's suppose to be a Thinking of You.  Maybe it will still work.  I used OWH sketch #27.  

Challenge #8 - Jungle Animals
I had planned on making a card using some monkey paper I just bought.  But while I was going through my paper stash, I found some cute giraffe paper.  So I decided to do something different.  The sketch I used was from another site.  But I didn't record what site.