So, my next class at TwoPeas is live! This month's class is on making thank you cards with paper flower embellishments. :)

Head on over to TwoPeas to see the class page (including the downloadable PDF with step-by-step instructions, supplies used, and more detailed photos of the cards). The video from the class is below...

Good morning, everyone!

This week's card is one more push to create a Valentine's Day card... just one more day! Anyhow, in the video I cover how to make the card and also how to create a custom envelope lining out of patterned paper. I hope you enjoy and I'll catch up with you later this holiday weekend!

Be sure to check out the supplies used on the project page in the Designer Garden, and as usual, you can see the video in higher quality over at YouTube by clicking here (just click on "watch in high quality" below the video). :)

Happy Monday, everyone! It's nearly Tuesday, or at least it feels that way... I stayed up way too late last night so I'm paying for it today. :) Just tired, but it's my own dang fault.

Can I just tell you it was so wonderful to just sit at my craft table tonight and just create some cards. I made all four in about 35 minutes. The time just flew right by.

I think a lot of you who commented on my novel-length post from last week hit the nail on the head. We have love-hate relationships with our blogs. Having a blog is a wonderful and creatively fulfilling thing. It allows us to share with others and we get to have some feedback on what we're creating. However, sometimes we bury ourselves too deep in the "I need to update my blog today" mentality.

I know this extremely well because I locked myself into weekly things and soon it became more about just getting things done than enjoying the journey of creating something. I also collected a huge stack of cards that I never sent out. I'd forgotten that part of the process, too. I used to love sending out cards. :)

So what have I done about it? About this loss of creative motivation?

First, I stepped back and decided when I could part with to make myself feel a bit more in control of what and when I created projects. You all read that part last week. Then, I made a list of all the people I wanted to send cards to. I listed out my wonderful, caring family and friends. Everyone I've always meant to send cards to, but never got around to.

And the difference between last week and tonight? About a million times more enjoyable to just sit at my craft table and play with paper. It was a delicious feeling to not have a camcorder dangling above my head. As much as I love creating videos, sometimes I feel like I can't make mistakes and just let the creativity come. I think that's mostly because I'm thinking about how the card is made and how I'll describe it.

Such a joy to sit back and create. No pressure. No demands. Just making some cards for my friends. :)

Question: For those of you who are bloggers, how to do you retain the balance between creating for creative fulfillment and creating for blogging sake? Let's discuss. How do you create balance in your life, papercrafting related or not?

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Butterfly Cards - Pool and Cream notecards & envelopes, Thoughtful Messages stamp set (Hero Arts), Amy Butler Lotus Tea Box Butterflies die-cut paper (K & Company), Charcoal chalk ink (Colorbox); corner rounder punch (Stampin' Up!).

Hello Dear Friend card - Three Birds stamp, A Little Note stamp set, and Cream notecards & envelopes (Hero Arts); blender pen (Dove); corner rounder punch, Tempting Turquoise and Kiwi Kiss inks (Stampin' Up!); Charcoal chalk ink (Colorbox).

Life is Brighter card - Sky's the Limit stamp set and Pool Notecards & Envelopes (Hero Arts); Threading Water edge punch (Fiskars); pale yellow paper from Daydream paper pack (Ki Memories); Basic Gray card stock and paper piercer (Stampin' Up!); Uni-ball white gel pen; Charcoal chalk ink (Colorbox); Coluzzle circle cutter.

Hi all! Just a quick post to update you all with my Finally Friday for this week. :) Be sure to head over to TwoPeas to see the supplies and such. And the YouTube video is here.

Okay.... super quick here. Heading out the door for work...

Here's the MACM video. Enjoy! :)



Supplies - Kraft card stock, Sweet Slumber patterned paper, Heart to Heart punch (Stampin' Up!); Threading Water edge punch (Fiskars).

Good morning, all!

This week's card was inspired by American Crafts Details Embellishments. I love their little accents and I wondered if there was a way to sort of make something similar. So that was the jumping off point. :)

As usual, you can see the video in higher quality over at YouTube.

NOTE: There will not be a Finally Friday next week. I'll be back with a new card and video on February 6. :)

Good morning!

Here's another Make a Card Monday video. This week it's pretty long again, although there's no conversation with Jen in the middle this time. But I do talk a bit about another giveaway, so hopefully it's worth watching all the way through. :)

Anyway, enjoy! The video below is in HD. To watch it in normal quality, click here.

EDITED TO ADD: You can find the stamps I used over at twopeasinabucket.com - Hellobot, and Double Bubble.



Supplies - Hellobot and Double Bubble stamp set (Bam Pop); Big Bold Birthday stamp set (heart), Baja Breeze card stock and ink, Ruby Red and Sahara Sand ink (Stampin' Up!); Treading Waters border punch (Fiskars); white card stock (Papertrey Ink); Jet Black ink (StazOn); Dove Blender Pen.

Happy Friday, all!

This week's card is another Valentine's Day card. I'm trying to get all my Valentines done and ready to send out to friends and family. Are you? :)

Anyhow, check out the main page over at TwoPeas for more details and supplies, and as usual you can see the video over at YouTube as well.

Hi all!

Each month throughout 2009, I'll be hosting a class over at TwoPeas. The theme is "A Year in Cards." The class for each month goes live on the 15th, so that means today is the first class!

The class description is: "A year long class where not only will you create three new seasonal cards each month, but you'll also rejuvenate your basic cardmaking skills, learn new design tips for creating interesting cards, and put away a nice stash of cards to use for every occasion."

Anyway, here's January's class. And also, here's the message board thread where we'll be discussing anything and everything. Oh, and be sure to do your "homework" and upload a card to the TwoPeas gallery. Each time you do, you'll be entered into a prize drawing. More details are on the message board.

Happy crafting!

Image (c) Two Peas in a Bucket

Whoa, Nelly!

You ready for a very different Make a Card Monday? This video is all sorts of weird. I almost didn't upload it the way it is, but Jen thought it was funny. Curse that Jen! :)

I must apologize if you find it boring. Oh, and you might want to have your sound turned up so you can... hear everything. Yeah, hear everything. :)

Thanks for watching! (Normal quality video for slower connections can be found here).



Supplies - Kraft and Baja Breeze card stock, scallop edge punch, Baja Breeze button, paper piercer, and Chocolate Chip marker (Stampin' Up!); Poolside/Greenhouse 6x6 paper pad (Making Memories); Uni-ball Signo gel pen.

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Oh yeah! The giveaways this week are going to start tomorrow. :)

Good morning, all!

This week's card comes from the super cute stamp set Love Grows from Autumn Leaves. Isn't it so cute? Anyhow, the hearts on the tree were the perfect match for the We Are Family Accents from Heidi Grace! I couldn't resist putting them on top. :)

Enjoy the video, and as usual, it's available over at YouTube in normal quality (easier on slower internet connections).

Oh, and just a reminder that the Color Inspiration deadline is tomorrow night. You have a bit more time to create something. :)

Good morning! I hope you all have rested up a bit after Christmas and are ready to head into New Year's. I, for one, could do with a bit more chocolate. ;)

How did I spend my weekend... Well, we had some major snow hit us. I spent most of Friday outside shoveling snow (even while it was still coming down in a blizzard!). I took it pretty easy though, and did it in small increments so I wouldn't hurt my back. So far so good! Back seems to be okay. :)

I didn't feel like going out and driving in all the snow so I gave myself a LOT of time in front of the computer (yes, I'm a nerd) so that I could learn Final Cut Studio 2. I've finally made the leap from iMovie to Final Cut, but there's a HUGE learning curve. Believe me, it's not for pansies. This software can kick some major tail.

Anyway, after exporting and uploading this week's MACM video to YouTube about a million times, I finally got it to work in HD with synced audio. Hallelujah! Let us all rejoice!

I also figured out how to embed HD video here at the blog. What does that mean? That means that all of you with fast internet connections no longer have to click over to YouTube to see high quality and HD versions (at least from now on you won't). For those who prefer the normal quality, I'll give you a link to head on over to YouTube to watch it there.

(If you're wondering how to embed HD video, go here. Just be aware that your video has to be available in HD over at YouTube for this hack to work).

Let's see, what else happened? On a whim, I applied for the YouTube Partner Program again and... I was accepted! Yeah! This is a direct result of my awesome YT subscribers and blog readers who watch my videos every week. You guys are awesome and I'm so thrilled to be given the opportunity to be a YT Partner.

One of the benefits of being a YT Partner is that I don't have a time limit on my videos now (the cut off used to be 10:59). This is particularly great because I've been editing the Questions and Answers videos--all FOUR of them! Holy crap! You guys had a lot of questions. Nearly all four videos are over 10 minutes long... um... I guess I talk too much. :)

So, anyway, here's this week's Make a Card Monday video. Sorry for jabbering on and on this morning... Now we'll get to why you're actually here. :)

The buttons I use in the video can be found here: Making Memories Rouge Paperie Blossom & Button Box. The flower I used on a Finally Friday card a couple weeks ago is from the same Making Memories box, but I don't think I showed the container in the video.

Seriously, there are a TON of buttons and flowers in these little plastic containers. I didn't realize how many there would be and when I ordered them from TwoPeas, I ordered two other colors as well... Uh, yeah. I have buttons and flowers coming out of my ears! There are so many!

So, here's the video. And if you prefer to watch it in normal quality, it's available over at YouTube.

Thanks again, everyone!



Supplies - Rouge Paperie Blossom & Button Box (Making Memories); Real Red marker, Kraft card stock, and corner rounder punch (Stampin' Up!).

Good morning, everyone!

First of all, thank you to everyone who has purchased this month's Virtual Card Club. It's been so fun to see what you've all done with it--even after posting it just over 36 hours ago! If you've created something using the card print-out in this month's VCC, send them along to me. I'd love to see them!

Anyway, this week's Make a Card Monday is all about finishing up those last minute gifts, and this takeout box it perfect for it. I found this pattern over at Kim's website and she was kind enough to allow me to adapt her pattern for my digital cutter, the Quickutz Silhouette.

So, here are the files I mention in the video for you to download:

• Illustrator EPS file (for those cutting to the Silhouette using a Mac and Adobe Illustrator)
• JPG image (for those on PCs who are cutting to the Silhouette or other digital cutters that allow jpeg images. For the instructions for the Silhouette, click here.)
• PDF template (for those who want to just cut the box out. Also, this is the file that shows the scoring lines).

If you have any questions about the box, or from the video, please leave a comment. Thanks, and have a wonderful day!

As usual, an HD version of this video is available over at YouTube. But like last week's Finally Friday video, the audio if out of sync... not sure why. Hmm... must do with how I encode it. I'll try to figure out why and hopefully it will be fixed by next week. :)


Supplies - Oh Joy patterned paper (Cosmo Cricket); Old Olive wide grosgrain ribbon and Kraft card stock (Stampin' Up!); chipboard stickers (Basic Grey).

Happy Friday! It's less than one week until Christmas--can you believe it?!

I thought I'd squeak out one more holiday card before Christmas, and I hope you enjoy it. I'm in love with these flowers from Making Memories, so I just had to get one on this week's card. See the full list of supplies over at the page in the Designer Garden. :)

Anyhow, you can catch the video over at YouTube in HD (click on watch in HD below the video). NOTE: YouTube had some issues encoding the HD version and the audio is out of sync (it sped up the video slightly). But you really can see things more clearly, so it's worth it.

Good morning, all! Was your weekend good? Did you get some holiday shopping done? :)

I broke out the clear tags I've used a few times recently in order to finish out the pack (they come in packs of 5). I decided to create some gift tags for all the Christmas gifts I've been buying and wrapping up with the last three tags in the pack. I also thought I'd film it for this week's Make a Card Monday. They're not really cards, but I suppose they're close enough, right? :)

Anyway, I used a boat load of Papertrey Ink stuff on these tags. So cute! I really do love their stuff. And you know me--even though I work for Stampin' Up, I am an equal opportunity crafter! If it's cute, I'll use it! Who's with me?! :)

Be sure to check out the HD version over at YouTube. It really does make a HUGE difference in the quality of the video.


Supplies - Clear tags (Pageframe Designs); 2008 Holiday Tag Collection stamp set, Holiday Vintage Prints paper, Pure Poppy, Cream, and Ripe Avocado card stock, Ripe Avocado ribbons, Vintage Cream ink (Papertrey Ink); 1-3/4" circle and scallop edge punches (Stampin' Up!); Chesnut chalk ink (Colorbox).

Good morning! This week's card is super quick and easy. There's a bit of paper piecing, but other than that, it can be duplicated very quickly. :)

Anyhow, enjoy! And be sure to check out the full supplies and description. You also can watch the video in HD over at YouTube (just click on "watch in HD" below the video).

(c) Two Peas in a Bucket

Morning, all!

This week's video came about because of this adorable stamp set from My Cute Stamps. Come on now, who doesn't love chocolate?! :)

I have to apologize in advance... This video is loooonnnngggg. I never meant for it to be so long. I just kept going and going and going. I was up late editing, so I think I might have been a bit loopy and didn't realize how much I kept babbling on an on! :)

Speaking of how late I was up last night, while I was exporting the video from iMovie (which took FOREVER since it was HD quality), I watched some TV over at abc.com... Man, I love their HD video player. It looked amazing when I expanded it to full screen. It made my little geeky heart nearly burst. :)

Anyway, I uploaded the video to YouTube this morning, so when this posts, there might not be a high quality version available quite yet. But once there is, you really ought to head over there to watch the video. Seriously. The quality of the video is attrocious below, but when you watch it in high quality, it's a TON bettter.

Enjoy!



Supplies - Sweet Chocolate stamp set (My Cute Stamps); Polka Dot Basics stamp set, Cream, Sweet Blush, and Dark Chocolate card stock, Berry Sorbet ink and ribbon (Papertrey Ink); Kraft card stock, Chocolate Chip marker, and Very Vanilla embossing powder (Stampin' Up!); VersaMark ink.

I'm still on my Christmas card kick! Hopefully by making all these Christmas cards, I can actually send some out this year! :)

In this week's Finally Friday video I wanted to make a card that didn't have any extra layers--just the card base. Man, it's hard to do that sometimes! I had to do this card twice because the first time the ink I used for the background was too dark and you couldn't read the stuff stamped on top of it.

Head on over to TwoPeas to see the supplies used and more info.

Anyway, here ya go and I hope you enjoy the video. This is the first video I've made that's 16:9 (the size of letterbox and HD videos). YouTube just updated their video player last week and now it is HUGE when you watch over at their site. So, be sure to head over there to see it a bit larger and in high quality (click on watch in high quality below the video).


Image above is Copyrighted Two Peas in a Bucket

I've had a few things go up at Two Peas over the last few days, and I just realized I hadn't updated my blog with them, so here they are. I made card for a community challenge (to stamp on patterned paper), and then two digital scrapbook pages from the most recent Designer Garden release... (Click on the images to go to each page at TwoPeas)...




Copyright Two Peas in a Bucket


Copyright Two Peas in a Bucket

So, Two Peas started their 36 Days of Christmas not too long ago. Currently, there are 36 Garden Girls, so we're bringing you holiday projects--one per day!

Today is my day, and I have a ornament, tag, and card for ya. :) To see more pictures and a supply list, head on over to it's individual page at Two Peas. And here's a link for all the days that are out so far. :)

Image copyrighted Two Peas in a Bucket.

Hi all!

I'm planning five giveaways this week, so stay tuned. I'll have details at the end of this entry. :)

This week's Make a Card Monday came about because I wanted to use the Bitsy Flower stamp set from Basic Grey. So cute! I love their Urban Prairie line of papers right now that coordinate with this set, so when I saw the whole stamp set--I couldn't help myself!

The swirls are sort of formal looking, but also very playful. I thought that would be perfect for a Christmas card. I also broke out that Colorbox ink that I used in last week's Finally Friday video--the gold ink. Seriously, people. This ink is awesome. They also have a silver ink! I'll have to work that one into a card sometime soon. :)

Oh, and my tip about the embossing powder in today's video? Here's more details... I have a box of fabric softener dryer sheets that I keep with my craft supplies. If I remember to, I'll always gently wipe across the card stock before I stamp in VersaMark. Then when I apply the embossing powder, it doesn't stick as much to non-stamped areas. Just a tip. :)

And onto the video! As usual, you can view it in higher quality over at YouTube (just click on "watch in high quality" below the video).


Supplies - Old Olive, Real Red, and Very Vanilla card stock, Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon, embossing powder (Stampin' Up!); Christmas Colorbox Queue ink and Merry Christmas stamp (Hero Arts); Bitsy Flower stamp set (Basic Grey).

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Okay! Giveaway details... I'm doing giveaways as a thank you for all your support with the Virtual Card Club. I had a great response and I can't wait to get going on next month's projects. :)

So, each day this week (Monday-Friday), I'll be giving away a few things. Just leave a comment (be sure to leave an email address you can be contacted at--it won't be published here, I just need it to contact you), and you'll be entered in the drawing. Please only one comment per person. :) And yes, international crafters are welcome to enter, too! :)

Today's giveaway is...

A pack of Bazzill Dotted Swiss paper (Plum Pudding Trio) and Sassafrass Lass In a Stitch buttons (Green). I love this stuff! BTW, in the picture below, the dotted paper is enlarged quite a bit. The dots are actually quite small. :)



So, leave a comment before 11:59 pm (Mountain Time) tonight and I'll post the winner's name tomorrow. :) Good luck!

NOTE: Comments are displaying weird in some internet browsers past comment #181... If you're browser is displaying things weird, it's just the browser... I am still receiving comments and can see them. No worries. :) Thanks!

Good morning, all! Hopefully not too many of you are out there today braving the after Thanksgiving sales! I've never gone shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving, but I find that I'm intrigued by it... Such good deals!

I'm much more the type that will stay at home and shop online. :)

Anyhow, I'm super grateful for all of you this Thanksgiving. And I hope you have a wonderful holiday. When I made this card earlier this week to display for today's Finally Friday video, I truly thought of all of you. I am extremely thankful for all of you. I feel like we have a great papercrafting community that is so supportive and helpful. :)

Click here to see more info and the supplies used. :)

So, here's the video! Enjoy, and catch it in higher quality over at YouTube (just click on "watch in high quality" below the video).


Image above is Copyrighted Two Peas in a Bucket

Copyright Two Peas in a Bucket

Hi all! Just wanted to give you a heads up that I have another stamp camp class over at Two Peas. This time it's on the kissing technique. Yes, that's right--kissing! Head over there for a video and a PDF of instructions to download.

Oh, and don't forget to visit the class message board thread to ask questions. I'll be checking in over the course of this week to answer questions and see what everyone's up to.

And there are prizes! Upload a card or other creation using the kissing technique and you could win! Just upload to the Two Peas gallery and select "Classes: Stamp Camp '08 Week 5 - Kissing" under Creating Garden and your posting will be attached to the class page.

Good luck! :)

Morning, all!

Sorry it's been so silent around here recently (except for the Color Inspiration Challenge post). I've been super busy getting ready for last night's card club--which wasn't really a card at all. It was an entire advent calendar. Anyway, I'm just now getting around to, oh, I don't know... sleeping. :)

It's been a busy week.

Anyhow, here's this week's Finally Friday video that I create for Two Peas in a Bucket. Click here to see the supplies and a bit more info. Sorry about the weird sounding narration... The microphone on my new computer is father away when I'm sitting in my usual chair and I wasn't about to stand up close to the mic through the entire thing. But! I've ordered a separate mic that will hopefully sound better. :)

So, enjoy the video! As as usual, you can catch a higher quality version over at YouTube (just click on "watch in higher quality" below the video).


Photo above is copyrighted Two Peas in a Bucket

(Dude, I keep making MACM cards with the same title... Merry Christmas. I should branch out, eh? Maybe throw in a Happy Holidays or somethin'. ;)

This week's card is all about the glitter! And easy glitter since it's already on the stickers. I LOVE these stickers from Making Memories! So cool! (The red ones I used on this card are sold out at TwoPeas right now, so try the white ones... silver! Sweet!)

Anyhow, enjoy the video! And as usual, you can watch it in higher quality over at YouTube (just click on "watch in higher quality" below the video).

Morning, all!

I ordered the Making Memories Slice digital cutter from TwoPeas last week and it arrived a few days ago. I was so excited to break it out and start creating! This is the first thing I made with it. :)

Oh, and before I forget, you can see Jennifer McGuire take it for a spin over here. See supplies and additional info over at TwoPeas and watch it in higher quality here.

Enjoy!

Morning all! Here's a really super quick MACM. :)

Before I head off for the day, I've received many emails from very confused readers about my last post. There are no new videos posted called "Vintage MACM." That's just a graphic--no videos will play if you click on them. I called them vintage because they're the old videos that I replaced. See this post to learn why.

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UPDATE - Just answering a couple questions that were in the comments:

- I recommend using only StazOn ink on acetate. Regular ink (SU!'s craft pad) will wipe right off the slick surface.

- Any heat applied to the acetate will warp it. I tried to speed up the StazOn drying time when I was making this card and I saw the acetate start to buckle. You can tried embossing on it, but in my experience all you'd end up with is a ruined sheet of acetate. :)



Supplies - Acetate card (Hero Arts); Snowfall and Calendar Alphabet & Numbers stamp sets, Old Olive and Whisper White card stock, Old Olive ink, scallop edge punch (Stampin' Up!); White ink (StazOn); patterned paper (Bo Bunny); buttons (Basic Grey).

Morning, all!

This week's MACM doubles as my contribution to CI 28--even though I hardly used any Pumpkin Pie. I did squeeze it in there on the snowman's nose, but it a rather puny use of it don't you think? Forgive me, there just wasn't another place for it! LOL!

Yes, I struggle with the color combos as much as you guys. :)

Anyhow, I did quite a bit of watercoloring for this one. I don't mention it in the video, but I used watercolor paper. For those of you who are struggling with using a blender pen or watercoloring, you should really try it with watercolor paper. Because it can absorb more, it's much more forgiving and you can really build up color.

So, here are my top fifteen for the color challenge, and below that, is the video.

Enjoy!

TOP FIFTEEN

Watch in high quality here (click on "watch in high quality" below the video).
Supplies - Ruby Red and Sage Shadow card stock, Ruby Red, Sage Shadow, and Pumpkin Pie ink (Stampin' Up!); Let it Snow stamp set (Hero Arts); StazOn Jet Black ink; Polka Dot Basics stamp set (Papertrey Ink); watercolor paper.

Copyright Two Peas in a Bucket

Morning, all! Check out the latest Finally Friday video below! And be sure to go grab the template PDF over at Two Peas as well. The supply list is over there, too. :)

Enjoy! (As usual, click here and then on "watch in high quality" if you want the video to be a bit more clear.)

copyright Two Peas in a Bucket

Hi all!

Two Peas is having a virtual stamp camp over the next 6 weeks and you're invited! I provided the first class, so check it out! You can see my projects, a video, plus all the supplies, and an instructional PDF over here.

Be sure to check out the message boards, too, to see discussions throughout the week. :)

If you create a project using faux metal and post it to the TwoPeas galllery (just selected it as a challenge entry), you'll be eligible to win some sweet prizes. I know ya'll can do it! I want to see an awesome turnout from my blog buddies. :)

So, here we are with another Leftovers Challenge! This time Jen's mom joined us. :)

Here how we did it this time. I threw out some scraps and leftover items out onto the table. Then, we took turns picking out items until we each had three things to work with. Still a challenge but not as dangerous as the way Jen and I did it previously... You remember right? Awful color combinations and really just trying to make it as hard as possible for the other person... Mwa ha ha! ;)

So, here is a photo of our supply pile before we started choosing...



And our choices...



And our results...







So fun!

Hi all!

Here's the card I made for the challenge. I really wanted more of that big red flower on the patterned paper to show, but I didn't anticipate it being covered up... oh, well! I love it anyway! :)

Using random.org, comment number 72 was selected. That means Lindsay's card was the winner! Congrats, Lindsay!

Ya know what? I sort of miss going through everyone's entries and selecting my favorites. Katie mentioned Mister Linky, so I think I'll try that next week and see how it goes. That would save me a bit of time since I won't have to scroll through all the entries. Basically, it's a system that allows all of you guys to just enter in the links to your cards and then it generates a list (like this one--look at all the links she has! Wow!). I think that would be awesome!

Hmm... lets do that. Okay, round-up is back, baby! Next week, it's all good. Back to little grids of photos, too. I miss those. :)

Supplies - Kraft card stock, paper piercer and template (Stampin' Up!); satin ribbon, Birthday Basics set, Spring Moss card stock and ink (Papertrey Ink); patterned paper (SEI); dotted paper (Bazzill).

Hi all! Here we go again--it's time for Make a Card Monday! :)

Not a whole lot to talk about this morning. Just that I've been madly replacing all the music in my videos. About half of them have been replaced and are available at Revver.com (click here for my profile). All though I'll still upload my videos YouTube, I'm trying out Revver for the time being.

The main difference between YouTube and Revver is the fact that Revver pays all of it's content providers (video makers) with ad revenue. YouTube on the other hand only pays those who are in their partner program--and it's SUPER hard to get into the program. So basically YouTube sits back and makes money off it's video makers. Just doesn't sit right with me. And since I have monthly costs to maintain kwernerdesign.com, any little bit of money coming in each month is helpful. Ya know what I mean? :)

Anyway, hopefully all the videos will be back by the end of this week.

I'll be back tonight to post the Color Inspiration Challenge selections. I apologize for taking so long posting these each week. It's getting harder and harder to carve out the time.

Anyhow, here's the vid!


Supplies - Bazzill Kraft card stock, Making Memories patterned paper, Stampin' Up! ribbon, Hero Arts Three Trees stamp set, Colorbox Ink, Stampin' Up! Very Vanilla card stock, Papertrey Ink Mixed Messages stamp set

Hi all! Just a quick post this morning to update you all with my latest Finally Friday video. This one uses acetate cards from Hero Arts. These cards are SO fun!

Be sure to check out the page over at Two Peas to see supplies and other information. I have a bit more information posted over there as well.

And as usual, you can view it in high quality by clicking here and then on "watch in high quality" below the video. :)


copyright Two Peas in a Bucket

It's time again for my card club. This month it's almost like a craft club since we're only making one card. :)

Anyway, this month's projects use mostly new products I've picked up over the last month or so since I've been thinking about Halloween. Be sure to check out this stamp set by Pink Paislee and this velvet paper by Doodlebug Designs. So yummy! Love it!

Oh, and by the way, these are my first card/project photos I've taken with Paco... love him. Love him. :)







Bag Supplies - Small Kraft Coffee Window Bag and Birthday Basics stamp set (Papertrey Ink); Trick or Treat stamp set (Pink Paislee); Beetle Black Chenille Spot Flock paper (Doodlebug Designs); ribbon (Strano Designs); black mini eyelets (American Crafts); Lovely Lilac, Pumpkin Pie, and Gable Green card stock, Basic Black ink, corner rounder punch, paper piercer and template (Stampin' Up!).

Spooky Card Supplies - Trick or Treat stamp set (Pink Paislee); Beetle Black Chenille Spot Flock paper (Doodlebug Designs); Journaling Backgrounds stamp set (Art Warehouse); adhesive ribbon (KI Memorie); Lovely Lilac, Pumpkin Pie, Gable Green, and Basic Black card stock, Basic Black ink, Black Chunky glitter, Scallop Edge and corner rounder punches (Stampin' Up!).

Hi all!

On the 1st and 15th of the each month, the Garden over at Two Peas is all new with projects from the Garden Girls. That means, today is my second GG release! :)

Below are my projects that I created for the Garden (click on each photo to go to the TwoPeas page with info and supplies). And let me tell you, that little reindeer card... oh, my word! I love the little glitter-fied nose. LOVE it! Anyway, enjoy! And be sure to check out the other projects over at the Garden.


copyright Two Peas in a Bucket


copyright Two Peas in a Bucket


copyright Two Peas in a Bucket


copyright Two Peas in a Bucket


copyright Two Peas in a Bucket


copyright Two Peas in a Bucket

Hi all!

I really wanted to make a super simple card using minimal supplies for this week's MACM, and I don't think I could get any simpler! :)

Anyway, I fell in love with these flowers when I saw them over at the TwoPeas store. (They're sold out right now, but they have other colors that are available). What I didn't know about them though, was how big they are! They truly are sized for a 12x12 scrapbook page. Fortunately, they can be taken apart and only a few of the circles used, which is what I did for this card.

I plan to use the large petal circle on a 12x12 layout soon. :)

Anyhow, enjoy the video and as usual, you can view it in high quality by clicking here and then on "watch in high quality" below the video over at YouTube. :)



Music in video - "Little Wonders" by Rob Thomas
Supplies - Chocolate Chip card stock (Stampin' Up!); patterned paper (Heidi Grace); flower (Prima); ribbon (Papertrey Ink); button (Fancy Pants).

Hi all! This week's Color Inspiration Challenge sure inspired a lot of great cards! Seriously, I was blown away with all the wonderful cards this week. In fact, I started narrowing it down from 21 different cards that I loved and then I thought, why not?! I'm going to share all 21!

So here are my top 21 picks from this week's entries. Lots of inventive ways to use the colors and so many are kids friendly--which is what I thought of while making this card.

My card uses many of the new stamp ets I've acquired lately. I broke out the Cosmo Cricket stamp set I used a couple weeks ago for this MACM video, the Polka Dots Basic stamps I used for last week's MACM, and then another cute little set from Hero Arts that I've been meaning to use. This little froggie is actually from a Christmas stamp set, but I couldn't resist him. Isn't he SO cute?!

Anyhow, here are the picks:





Supplies - Jack's World stamp set (Cosmo Cricket); Jolly Christmas stamp set (Hero Arts); Polka Dots Basics (Papertrey Ink); Ballet Blue, Certianly Celery, Ruby Red, and Whisper White card stock, Certainly celery and Ruby Red markers, paper piercer and template, Scallop Edge punch (Stampin' Up!); Coluzzle circle cutting system; Uni-ball signo gel pen.

Good morning! It's definitely finally Friday! I've been looking forward to the weekend all week--especially because I have the day off work. I plan to finish straightening up my craft room (hopefully I'll share it with you all soon) and work on some various projects that need working on. Lots to do! :)

Anyhow, here's the latest Finally Friday video that I did for Two Peas. :) This week's card looks pretty simple, but it had a few extra steps in there because of the embossing and glitter. And who doesn't love some glitter when it comes to holiday cards, right? ;)

So, enjoy the video, and of course you can watch it in high quality over at YouTube (click here, and then on "watch in high quality" below the video).


(copyright Two Peas in a Bucket)

Supplies - Big Holiday Words stamp (Hero Arts); Aqua Mist card stock (Papertrey Ink); Versamark ink; Close to Cocoa card stock, clear embossing powder, Heat & Stick powder, glitter, chipboard snowflake, and ribbon (Stampin' Up!).

Good morning, all! I hope your weekend was fabulous! Me, I spend most of it organizing my craft room. Is it just me, or am I ALWAYS organizing my craft room? :)

Anyhow, even though it's only October, it's never too early to start on your holiday cards. So, here's my first official Christmas MACM of the year. However, I won't subject you to holiday music until November. (Although, I've been listening to Christmas music since... oh, July?)

I don't know about you, but I {heart} this stamp by Hero Arts. It's so adorable! I just love those little owls! :)

Oh, and before I forget, I've made my card for the Color Inspiration challenge this week, and I've selected my favorites. I just need to compile them all. I'll post them tomorrow morning.

Anyway, here's today's video. (Watch in high quality here, and then click on the "Watch in High Quality" link below the video. Seriously, it makes a HUGE difference.).



Supplies: Three Owls stamp (Hero Arts); Polka Dot Basics stamp set; Pure Poppy card stock; ribbon (Papertrey Ink); Garden Green, Whisper White, and Old Olive card stock; Chocolate Chip ink; Garden Green, Only Orange, Tempting Turquoise, Chocolate Chip Basic Black, and Real Red markers; corner rounder punch; blender pen (Stampin' Up!).

Good morning, all!

I had so many questions about this card, I just had to make a video on it. :) I also decided to have it do double duty and I use this week's MACM as my Color Inspiration card. Such pretty autumn colors, right? :)

I'll be back tonight to post the selections for this week's round-up. I have an eye appointment this morning so I don't have the time to the post them now. Forgive me!

I also wanted to point you guys over the the Garden Girls blog over at TwoPeas. Today was my day to post a little something, so I have a few more cards over there. They use more of the AC Flair that I used for this month's card club, so now if you buy the flair, you'll have plenty of ideas on how to use them! :)

Have a wonderful day and I'll catch you guys tonight!


Watch in high quality here (click on "watch in high quality" below the video).



Supplies: Say It With Scallops stamp set, Polka Dot background stamp, Chocolate Chip and So Saffron card stock, vellum, Winter White detail embossing powder, Old Olive wide grosgrain ribbon, Bravo Burgundy and Pumpkin Pie markers, and Scallop Sqaure punch (Stampin' Up!); VersaMark ink; Coluzzle.

3x3 cards - Old Olive card stock and 1-3/4" circle punch (Stampin' Up!); Play clear stamp (My Mind's Eye); Flair buttons (American Crafts); ColorBox chalk ink

Friends - Chocolate Chip and Whisper White card stock, Scallop Edge punch, and Old Olive wide grosgrain ribbon (Stampin' Up!); patterned paper, plastic flower, Flair button (American Crafts).

So Thoughtful - Everyday Flexible Phrases stamp set, Close to Cocoa card stock, Chocolate Chip ink, and Chocolate Chip wide grosgrain ribbon (Stampin' Up!); patterned paper (including backside of blue), Flair button (American Crafts).

Good morning, all! It's been a crazy week! (As evidenced by the fact that I haven't updated the blog since Monday night... oops!).

Anyhow, I still have to look through all the Color Inspiration entries. I'll post my selections (and hopefully my card) this weekend. So watch for that.

In the meantime, I wanted to let you all know about Greetings from Two Peas. Some of the Garden Girls have prepared holiday-themed card classes for you all over at twopeasinabucket.com (click here to see the classes). Also, a bunch of us will be doing scheduled chats over at the Education Board today and tomorrow. I'm scheduled to join the chat tomorrow evening (Saturday) at 5:00 MT.

If you want to join the chat, just sign in with your TwoPeas name (or register) and then start posting at the board. Super easy! :)

Time Conversion - If you're in a different time zone, be sure to convert the time by clicking here. Then put in September 20, 2008 and 5:00 pm. Select USA - Utah - Salt Lake City (my timezone) for the first location, put in your location/time zone and hit "Convert Time."

Before I rush off to get ready for work, I wanted to give you a few shots of my projects for Greetings from Two Peas. I made a set of gift card holders, but this time I created a template with a curved edge. You can download the PDF, see all the photos, and read a list of supplies used here.

Good morning, all! It's early and I'm tired. :) But here's the video for this week.

As usual, watch in high quality here.



Supplies: Old Olive card stock, 1-3/4" circle and scallop edge punches, paper piercer, Fine Cosmo glitter, Perfect Plum ink (Stampin' Up!); patterned paper (American Crafts); Friendship Messages stamp set (Hero Arts).

After I was done with my Making Memories projects there was quite a bit of time before our next class. So, I used the leftover supplies and made a card. Funny thing is, the card base is actually the card board backer that was in a pack of stickers! :)

All supplies are from Making Memories. I {heart} this line of papers and embellishments. :)

Hi all! This week's card is actually a gift card holder. Long time readers of my blog might remember that I made a few these about a year ago. Well, I thought it was time to break it out and make another. Once again, this is based on a gift card holder I got from Kelly Lunceford. :)

In video editing news, I also switched to a more robust movie editing software and let me let you... It's SO complicated.

I was using iMovie previously and got Final Cut Studio 2. It's WAY more software then I'll ever need. Now I know how people feel when we jump into using Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, etc.) for the first time--overwhelmed!

I mostly just wanted to making pretty little animated titles. I didn't need all this other stuff! Anyway, I hope you enjoy the little added features. I'm still figuring it out, so it might be a bit less polished this week. I need to figure out how to export the video with the best quality. There are so many settings! AHH!

BTW, the video is MUCH better in high quality (click here and then on high quality beneath the video).


Supplies: Eastern Blooms stamp set, Basic Black and Whisper White card stock, Basic Black ink, Old Olive wide grosgrain ribbon, 1-3/4" circle punch, pastels (Stampin' Up!); patterned fabric paper (KI Memories); brads (American Crafts); VersaMark ink.

Hi all! Just a quick card tonight for the Color Inspiration Challenge. I have to say, this was a hard color combo, wasn't it? I struggled for a bit. It truly was a challenge in every sense of the word. :)

Anyhow, I was SUPER impressed with how many excellent entries there were this week! Usually, I have to narrow it down to ten from about 14 to 16 entries, but this week I had like 25 flagged! I could have had a whole separate runners-up category!

Great job everyone! :)

BTW, for those of you wondering if I've abandoned Stampin' Dimensionals for Scotch foam tape, don't be alarmed! I just ran out and had to use whatever I had on hand. Don't you worry, I ordered 6 more packs of dimensionals. Just using up the foam tape first. :)

And on to this week's selections!

TOP TEN
TEN RANDOMLY SELECTED

Scallop Edge Circle Card - All supplies from Stampin' Up! Kiwi Kiss, Pacific point, Rose Red, Regal Rose, and Whisper White card stock; Three For You stamp set; Rose Red and VersaMark ink; clear button; Filigree Designer Brad; scallop edge punch; Winter White embossing powder; thread; Lots of Letters On Board Chipboard; Fine Cosmo glitter; paper piercer and template.

UPDATE: Sorry about the broken link to the template. It's fixed now. :)

Hi all!

Sorry about the delay in today's video. I had a four-day weekend and truly enjoyed each minute, including pushing off the video until the very last moment! Eek! Anyway, here we are and it's still Monday, so let's make a card. :)

This card really stumped me. I had a small not-very-detailed sketch that I was referring to, but it sort of seemed off to me once I'd finished the card. I think maybe it needed a bit more color. Hmmm.... Oh, well!

However, the one part I absolutely love about this card is the curved edge. After I sketched it out, I knew I would need some sort of template so that I could get the two curves to look right, so I created one. :) You can download it below. It will fit a standard size card (4-1/4" x 5-1/2"), but I'm sure you guys will find a million other uses for it. :)



And on to the video!

Watch in high quality here (click on "watch in high quality" below the video).

Hi all!

I hope you're all having a wonderful weekend. :) Just a quick card for ya tonight that I made with Stampin' Up!'s new Ghostly Greetings paper and a stamp set from Schlosser Designs (I got two different sets at the same time and this is the other one). I love this color combo, too... Real Red, Kiwi Kiss, and Basic Black. It's so... elemental? I can't think of the right word.

BTW, I used an Old Olive marker since there aren't In Color markers.

I've had the same question asked multiple times over the past couple days so I imagine many of you have the same query. Namely, how do I choose the top ten selection for the Color Inspiration Round-up?

I talk about it briefly in this video (just past the middle of the video), and I answered it in the comments of my previous entry, but here you go...

• Yes, I look at every entry. In fact, I'm sort of sad that some of you might think that I don't look at every single one. Of course I do! I want to see what ya'll are up to :)
• There is no formula or criteria for picking the top ten. It's all gut instinct and personal taste. If I like it, I will pick it.
• So, what do I like? I like good craftsmanship (things glued on straight, clean cuts on the edges of card stock, etc), a good photo of the card (if you're struggling with getting a good photo, take your card outside. Natural light is best), cards that show dimension, and basic good design (one focal point, good color combination, nothing too distracting).

There ya go. I hope that answered your questions. :)

Thanks - Borders and Corners stamp set (Schlosser Designs); Kiwi Kiss, Basic Black, and Whisper White card stock, Ghostly Greetings Designer Series Paper, Real Red and Basic Black ink, Old Olive marker (Stampin' Up!); satin ribbon (Kate's Paperie).

Hi all! I hope you're planning a great weekend because I am! It's a four-day weekend for me so I'm going to catch up on a lot of things that got pushed to the side when I was laid up with my back issues. And I'm looking forward to getting things all organized again. :)

Anyway, just a quick little card tonight. This one uses that Boughs stamp set from Schlosser Designs that I used a few weeks ago. I'm finding more and more uses for all the little itty bitty flower pieces in the set. :)

I also love the little piece of scalloped chipboard peeking out at the bottom. It's from Technique Tuesday and I think they call them Technique Tiles. They're awesome! You might remember that I used some star and circle ones of my star book a while back. Love their white chipboard!

Anyhow, enjoy the rest of your Thursday night and I'll be back tomorrow with the Color Inspiration Challenge Round-Up and selections. :)

Floral Thanks - Schlosser Design Boughs stamp set; Technique Tuesday chipboard; Stampin' Up! Small Sayings stamp set, Bravo Burgundy, Groovy Guava, and Whisper White card stock, Whisper White taffeta ribbon, Pretty Kit (flower), Winter White detail embossing powder, Groovy Guava ink; craft supply button.

Let's just say that Jen decided to get me back for the awful items I gave her for our last Sunday Leftovers Challenge. Really, she's ruthless! She was laughing evilly as I was trying to make my card for this week! My word! She definitely made it a challenge this week.

Anyhow, here's what she gave me:



Hello? The red Thickers alpha? What the crap!

The first thing I could think of to do was to try embossing over with white. Um...



No. And you thought card stock warping when you embossed was bad?

How about using it as a stamp? And then cutting it in half to make an 'I'?



Obviously, I had to figure out how to fill in the gaps in the stamping. I tried using a marker to outline the letter, but because I don't have a Wild Wasabi marker (the ink I stamped it so it would match the dotted patterned paper), I used an Old Olive marker as shown in the picture. Gross.

I don't have a photo for it, but the next thing I did was use a blender pen to transfer the Wild Wasabi ink over to the stamped 'U'. Ahh... lovely. :)

Then I stamped a heart on the dotted paper, embossed it, and punched it out. I also knew I had to disguise the atrocious mismatched colors on the "leafy" patterned paper. So, I embossed over it in white. I had no idea what else to do!!

And here's the final card. I'm actually pretty proud of it. :)



What do you think? Be sure to visit Jen's blog to see her card and the items I challenged her with. :)

I {heart} U - Stampin' Up! Jersey Shore patterned paper, Certainly Celery card stock, 3/4" circle punch, Big Bold Birthday stamp set (heart stamp), Wild Wasabi ink, blender pen, and Winter White embossing powder; K & Company patterned paper; American Crafts Thicker alpha; Paper Trey Ink ribbon.

Hi all!

Do you ever sit down to make a card and then... you're just not "feeling it"? Just nothing creative is happening? That describes this week's Make a Card Monday. :)

Oh, well! Sometimes it comes easier than other times, right? In fact, I really wanted to use Rose Red for the Hi stamp, but couldn't find my Rose Red stamp pad. Substituted with Purely Pomegranate and it just never looked quite right. Like I said before, oh, well!

Anyway, hope ya'll had a great weekend. I went to see two movies--one was good and the other was two hours of my life I'll never get back.

On Friday night, I saw Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 which was really good. It was interesting to see how they combined the rest of the books in the series for just one movie. And there were so many great parts. America Ferrera is awesome in this movie. On a side note, I saw this on the drive home. :)

On Saturday--thankfully a matinee because I'd hate to have paid full price--I saw The House Bunny. Oh my word. I heard the same people that were behind Legally Blonde made this movie too, so I had hopes that it wouldn't be as dumb as it looked. I was wrong. It really was that dumb. Seriously, you could skip this movie. Maybe rent it, but even that's a stretch.

Anyhow, on to the card!


Watch in high quality here (click on "watch in high quality" below the video).

I think some of you hit the nail on the head when you mentioned that the real challenge of the latest Color Inspiration Challenge was picking that fourth color! It took me quite a while to decide on which color to choose.

Eventually, I finally picked one of Stampin' Up!'s new In Colors for 2008-2009, Baja Breeze. I love this color so much! It's just such a soothing color. And if you've been paying attention to home décor as of late, I'm sure you've seen it everywhere! It's definitely a color that's a staff favorite at Stampin' Up!'s home office. We love it so much!

From the numerous entries to the challenge this week, it looks like Baja is a color a lot of you love, too! :)

Anyhow, here are the selections for this week. So many cards and SO many different color choices. You all did so well! I wish I could show all of your cards here. :)

TOP TEN
TEN RANDOMLY SELECTED

Can't Thank You Enough - All supplies from Stampin' Up!: Say It With Scallops stamp set; Polka Dot background stamp; Basic Black, Baja Breeze and vellum card stock; VersaMark ink; Winter White Detail Embossing Powder; Scallop Square punch; Baja Breeze Striped grosgrain ribbon.

NOTE: More website errors... GRRR! All the comments you guys left earlier this morning are gone. :(

Let's see... I have lots to cover this morning. :)

1. Thank You
I have to thank all of you for your lovely emails and messages of concern and well-wishing that you've sent over the past week. Ya'll are too cute. It's good to know that I was being thought of. :)

2. Blog Issues/Design
Those of you who are reading this over at my blog will notice a new design. I didn't really want to redesign, but was forced to after I updated my blogging software (Movable Type 4.2). The new version and my old design didn't get along so well and gave me fits.

On top of that, my webserver was giving me (and you!) fits and wouldn't allow any comments through. Hopefully it's working better now, but be forewarned--my webhost is still troubleshooting it and trying to figure out what went wrong. The database has been resetting itself (for lack of a better description) about every 6 hours, so most likely in a few hours from now, you won't be able to comment. If that happens, email me and I'll stick a bandaid on it and we'll limp by for another 6 hours.

It's ridiculous. I know.

On a postive note, though, everything should be functional. Including the "remember me" checkbox when you leave a comment! That in particular always bothered me, but I could never get it to work.

Also, you can now reply to comments by click on "Reply." Go ahead, reply to someone else's comment. It's pretty cool. :)

3. KWernerDesign Forum
The forum died a quick death when the blog did, but I've set it up again. I saved the responses so far and included them in my initial posts. Unfortunately, everyone who registered before will have to register again. Sorry guys!

EDIT: I can't get the forum to work correctly, so it's offline until I do.

4. My Back
I went to the chiropractor twice last week and am finally on the mend. I'm still pretty sore--probably from laying down for nearly a week straight--but at least I'm functional. I'm taking it super slow, especially after working a full day last Wednesday and seeing my progress halt and backtrack... No more! I'm going to watch it very closely.

5. Color Inspiration Round-Up #18
I'm so sorry, kids. I don't think I'm going to get around to making the grid of images for you this time. Please forgive me. I just really want to keep looking forward and starting everything new. But please go back and look at all the entries. I looked at them while I was in bed (with my laptop propped up next to me), and there are so really awesome cards in there. :)

6. This week's MACM
But I did finally get to make my card! I used the same sketch I shared with you last week, and the colors from the last Color Inspiration Challenge. Lots of embossing on this one. Enjoy!

As usual, also available in high quality.

So, not too long ago while we were setting up our craft room/office, roommate Jen and I decided to try a creative challenge we dubbed.... ta da! Sunday Leftovers!

Here's the story. Each week (or whenever we get around to it), we'll each choose three scraps or leftover items from previous crafting sessions that the other person will have to use to create something new. So, we could be scrounging through the trash bin one week or just setting some challenging pieces aside throughout the week--whatever goes!

Anyway, here's the card I came up with. Also, the three things she challenged me with are shown below. Like those? Total piece of cake! Be sure to check out Jen's new blog for what I gave her to deal with. She definitely had more of a challenge than I did... Mwa ha ha! :)

Thank You - Riot of Petals background stamp, Old Olive and Kraft card stock, Old Olive ink, patterned paper (back side used) (Stampin' Up!); specialty paper (craft supply); ribbon (Kate's Paperie).

Hi all! I can't believe it--this week my oldest nephew is turning nine! Crazy! Anyway, for his birthday, I decided to make him a card. :)

I hesitated to put the bow on 'cause it a little girlie, but then I didn't think it'd be too bad. After all, a girl (me) is making the card, right? What do you all think?

Anyhow, enjoy the video. Like it says at the beginning, I was fighting off a headache yesterday. I think I'm just so exhausted from all the fun at Convention! Man, that was a crazy week!

Of course, the video is also available in high quality here.

Hi all! Had some video uploading issues this morning. But hopefully the video will work. I always try to have the "thumbnail" be a picture of the card, but today... Not sure what happened. Oh well!

Anyhow, enjoy the card! Super busy since I'm heading off to help out at the SU! Convention, so this entry's gonna be super short! :)

As usual, also available in high quality.

Hi all! Sorry about this one being so quick... I'm just exhausted and ready to fall asleep! Forgive me!

I think you guys broke a record this week with how many entries there were! My word! You guys really blew me away. I think I might have to tighten the deadlines on these in the future... It's taking me too long to get through all the submissions! :)

Anyhow, for my card this week, I used a stamp set from Schlosser Designs that's really growing on me. There are so many little itty bitty stamps in the set! I'm sure I'll be breaking these out again soon. :) Don't you love the little dots in the center of the flowers. It's builder sets like these that are so fun!

BTW, I got the different shades of Rose Red in the flowers by "stamping off." In other words, I just kept stamping without re-inking the stamp.

So, enjoy all the cards this week. Since I'll be at the SU! Convention this week, there will not be a Color Challenge, but still check in as I'll be posting nightly about my day! :)

Thanks, ya'll and I'll see you early tomorrow morning for the next Make a Card Monday!

TOP TEN
TEN RANDOMLY SELECTED

Flowers - Boughs stamp set (Schlosser Designs); Polka Dot background stamp, Sage Shadow ink, Whisper White, Regal Rose, and Sage Shadow card stock, Rose Red ink, small corner rounder punch (Stampin' Up!); pink satin ribbon (Kate's Paperie).

Hi all!

Thanks for waiting a bit longer than usual for the round-up. Sometimes the time just gets away from me, ya know? Before I knew it, I was editing this week's video and was all, "Oh, crap! I need to post the Color Challenge!"

Believe it or not, I made this card before I started on MACM, but just got wrapped up in video editing before I could post it! So thanks for being patient. Hopefully it's worth it! :)

I came across what many of you mentioned when you submitted your cards. Pumpkin Pie was particularly hard to tone down with this color combination. It's such a strong color that it often overpowers the colors around it.

The way I worked with it was to make the Pumpkin Pie a smaller section of the card, or a part that could be broken apart (to give the illusion of less "weight" to it). Thin letters always do that because it breaks up the big block of color. So I used Pumpkin Pie for the letters. What do you think? Doesn't it balance out the strength of the Pumpkin Pie?

And on to the 20!

TOP TEN
TEN RANDOMLY SELECTED

Love You - Alphabet stamps (Educational Insights); Big Bold Birthday stamp set, Soft Sky, Certainly Celery, and Very Vanilla card stock, Pumpkin Pie ink, crimper, paper piercer and template, District Ribbon Originals (Stampin' Up!).

Hi all!
Just a quick card tonight. :)
Watching Batman Begins in preparation for tomorrow's 12 noon IMAX screening.
Just a refresher course so I remember all the important details.
Haven't seen it since theaters two summers ago.
Man, this movie is intense.
Should be interesting to see the new movie.
Might be a little eerie seeing Mr. Ledger as the Joker.
But I'm still looking forward to it. Heard it's great. :)

So Grateful For You - Amy Butler for K & Company patterned paper (K & Company); Simple Serif Mini Alphabet, Sage Shadow ink, Basic Black marker, Naturals White card stock, Pretties Kit (Stampin' Up!); ribbon (craft supply).

Hi all!

For this week's Make a Card Monday, I wanted to break out some paper I haven't use for a LONG time. The blue patterned paper is actually fabric paper from the KI Memories line Love Elsie. It has an adhesive on the back, but I wanted to pop it up from the card base, so I left the backing paper on.

I also covered a chipboard star with card stock. For more instruction on covering chipboard, please watch this video.

Anyway, I hope you all had a great weekend. I mostly lounged about the house and read. We're reading A Thousand Splendid Suns for our book club at work, and so far I really like it. I'm not too far in yet, but what I've read is really outstanding. I love this writing style. :) Have any of you read it? Without giving anything away, what did you think?

Anyhow, here's the video. :)

Hi all!

Here's my card for the challenge this week. In order to get the punched circles just right, I used the same technique that I used in this video. Super easy and simple. :)

I'll have you all notice the bow, please. I think I finally figured out how tie a good bow! Watch for a video soon. :)

Okay, now HEADS UP! I'd like to give you all some tips on posting your Color Inspiration Challenge submissions. These are tips that will help me and you, so please use them:

1. If you're posting a link to your blog, PLEASE please link to the exact entry that has the card/creation on it. Often, when I go to your main blog page, you've added more entries so I have to scroll down a ways before I see your submission. This is just so I can get through the entries quicker. Often, you can get to the specific entry by clicking on the title of the entry, on "Permalink", or on the time it was posted.

2. It's come to my attention that if you try to include more than 1 link in the comment, it will sometimes flag the comment as spam and not post it. Please include only one link.

3. Please include the ENTIRE link/URL. For example, you need to have http:// in front of your link. This tells my blogging software to make it a link. Just select the entire web address in the address bar of your web browser and copy that into your comment.

4. RELOAD the entry page your commenting on after submitting comment. After you've posted your comment and it says that it's gone through, return to the entry page and hit refresh on your browser. There have been a lot of double posts, and I think it's because some of your browsers aren't recognizing the change in the page. A simple refresh/reload with show your comment. If it's still not there, go ahead and try commenting again.

5. You don't have to have a blog to submit a creation. There are plenty of free image galleries out there. If you want to keep your creation in a craft-friendly place, I suggest signing up with Splitcoaststampers.com. You can upload your images into your own gallery, receive comments from other papercrafters, and also submit a link to your creation to my Color Inspiration Challenges. You can view a tutorial on posting images to Splitcoast in this video.

And that's it! :) Thanks for all your cooperation on this.

On to the top ten submissions and randomly chosen ten!

TOP TEN
TEN RANDOMLY SELECTED

Flower Windows - Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, and Really Rust card stock; Certainly Celery wide grosgrain ribbon; VersaMark ink; Winter White detail embossing powder; Simply Said stamp set (Stampin' Up!).

Card - Patterned paper (Scenic Route); Kraft and Chocolate Chip card stock, 3/4" circle and 1-3/8" sqaure punches, Chocolate chip wide grosgrain, paper piercer and template (Stampin' Up!).

Box - Click here for tutorial. Linen Prients DSP, Chocolate Chip wide grosgrain, ticket corner punch, Close to Cocoa card stock, linen thread (Stampin' Up!); felt flower, brad, and eyelet (American Crafts).

Hi all! Thought I would post a quick card I made last night. Still not quite sure if I like this card.

Craft room is almost cleaned up. One more serious organize, I'll be set.

New Color Inspiration Challenge will post tonight. Watch for it. :)

Not a whole lot to say at the moment... Must go get ready for work.

Anyone watching So You Think You Can Dance?

Or Wipeout?

I {heart} summer tv. ;)

thnx - Basic Black card stock, white embossing powder, Take Note rubons (Stampin' Up!); Aqua Mist card stock (Papertrey Ink); white ribbon (American Crafts); patterned paper (Scenic Route); stamps (Educational Insights).

Good morning, all! (Unless, of course you're in a far away country where it's evening). :)

This week's Make a Card Monday came about because I had two packs of American Crafts rubons that I had rarely used. Both had the same designs but one was in brown and the other in white... Hmm... What to make?

I thought to make a card that uses only those two colors. But I substituted Very Vanilla for the white just so that it would soften the contrast just a bit. Even though the rubons were white, it doesn't really bother me too much.

It looks like a wedding card, huh? That wasn't what I was aiming for, but it certainly looks like one now. No complaints here, though. A card is a card. :)

Anyway, the card came together SUPER quickly! I wouldn't mind making a few more of these. :) Watch in high quality here (click on "watch in high quality" below the video).

Hi all!

Sorry about dropping off the planet for a bit. :) I've been wanting to spruce up the blog here for a while so all my free time went to that. But, I got it where I want it so it should be free sailing for a hopefully a long time. Anyone who has a blog knows exactly what I mean--you're only content with how your blog looks for a short while and then BAM! You've got to change it up a bit.

During the revamp of the blog (which really didn't change all that much), I added a couple new things. First, I think I eliminated a lot of the things that caused the pages to load slowly. I took out a lot of images and used text instead. Did you guys notice a difference in how fast the page loaded?

I also added numbers next to all the comments. That mostly for me. In the past when I drew random comment numbers for give aways, I had to print out all the comments, and then pencil in the numbers. Now, the numbers are already there! :) Plus, if you guys want to reference each other's comments, just mention which number it was.

And, this last thing will take a while to get up and running completely, but I'm adding technique tags to all the entries that have cards or scrapbook pages in them. For instance, on this entry I tagged the term "faux stitching." At the end of this entry, if you click on the faux stitching link, you'll see a list of all the entries that have faux stitching in them. Pretty sweet, eh?

Like I sad, that one will take a while because I have to go through all 418 entries and manual type in all the tags. Just be patient. I'm working from the oldest entries and slowly making my way to current ones.

Anyway, this is the card I made for Color Inspiration Challenge #13. I actually had this all sketched out on Thursday night, made it Friday night, and am now just getting around to posting it. It's been a crazy weekend! :)

So enjoy the card, and be sure to take a look through all picks this week. Every week it's getting harder and harder to narrow the top ten down! You guys are truly amazing. :)

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TEN RANDOMLY SELECTED

Bloom Where You're Planted - All supplies from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted. Cutie Pie Designer Series Paper; River Rock,Wild Wasabi, and Whisper White card stock; Regal Rose, Wild Wasabi, and River Rock ink; corner rounder punches; paper piercing template; white gel pen; River Rock double stitched grosgain ribbon; Garden of Life stamp set (Papertrey Ink); white plastic flower (American Crafts).

Hi all! Thanks for being patient for today's video. :)

For those with high-speed internet, check out the video in higher quality over at YouTube. Just click here and then below the video click on "Watch in high quality."

Anyway, I used some chalk ink on this card. I LOVE chalk inks! They just look... so soft, or something. Just a cool look. I wish I had even more chalk inks to work with.

I also used a Stamp-a-ma-jig like you wouldn't believe! When I started stamping all those dots, I was all, "Hmm... this might take a while," and then I kept going and wanted to kill myself! That's a lot of dots! And just think--what if I'd tried to stamp the ENTIRE front of the card? Crazy! It was almost as bad as working with all those punched circles in my last entry's card. ;)

I also did a bit of individual color on the Happy Birthday stamp. I wasn't sure if the chalk ink would work in this case, but I was happy to note that it did. :)

Before I forget, I created an iTunes iMix for all the songs I've used in videos (including the Holiday ones). If the songs were bought from iTunes or could be found on iTunes, they're on this list. Plus, you can buy all of them at once, or individually. See it here.

Anyhow, on to the video!

Okay, first it must be said that I did not look at anyone's submission for this challenge until after I'd completed my own. That being said, I couldn't help but see how many others received the same inspiration as I did from the MoMA placemats. :)

(Make sure you click on each one of those words--they each go to a different card!)

Seriously, I couldn't help but smile as I saw how similar some of your cards were to mine. We must have a cosmic connection!

Anyhow, here are the ten I selected and the ten that were randomly picked. Such great submissions this week. Every week, you guys really step it up. :)

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Hi all!

Super simple card tonight. :) And a winner for today's Amazon.com gift card!

According to random.org, the winner is Kelly Jo who commented at 4:30 this afternoon. Congrats, Kelly! I'll email your gift certificate right now. :)

Simple Flower Card - Kraft card stock, white taffeta ribbon and rubons: Stmapin' Up!; patterned paper: KI Memories; Aqua Mist card stock and Garden of Life stamp set: Papertrey Ink.

Good morning! It's so early, it's not even bright and sunny here yet. I'm writing this at 12:15 in the morning! :)

Before I head off to bed, here's this week's card. Sort of a different card for me. But the more I look at it, the more I like it.

Often I'm asked if I work from sketches when I make my Make a Card Monday videos. Sometimes I do. However, this card was created by just wingin' it. I had no plan whatsoever. Sometimes that works out for the good and other time it's atrocious. You just never know what you're going to get, ya know?

What about you guys? Do you plan ahead? Play it by ear? Or maybe something in between. If I don't have a sketch, usually I'll at least know a few things that I'd like to use, I put them out on my desk, and then I start creating. But like I mentioned above, this card was just random. Flyin'-by-the-seat-of-my-pants-random. :)

Enjoy!

Hi all!

This is going to be a super quick entry since I'm wrapping this up at nearly midnight. Man, I'm tired!

Tonight we met at my brothers house to celebrate Father's Day, and the inaugural Werner Family Father's Day Tetris Tournament! Complete with brackets and everything. :)

I lost my very first match (up against Ryan) but wasn't eliminated until two rounds later. It ended with a fight to the death (ha!) between my brother Ryan and my sister Anna. Ryan won, though. :)

However--and that's a big HOWEVER--we played a sudden death match between just four players and I WON! WAHOO!

Until next year, right? I'll be practicing!

Anyhow, here are the selections for the latest Color Inspiration Challenge:

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Hello - Riot of Petals background stamp; Old Olive, So Saffron, and Whisper White card stock; Rose Red ink; Three Flower punch; brad; paper piercer and template (Stampin' Up!); gray paper (American Crafts); alphabet stamps (Educational Insights).

Hi all!

This week's card is for one of the many people I know that announced just this week that they're expecting! Seriously, there is something in the water around here... everyone's pregnant! :)

Anyway, I'm still obsessing over these Educational Insights alpha stamps. Just can't get enough of them! We used them at card club on Thursday, and then I had to break them out for Make a Card Monday.

I also am stuck on an embossing kick. Any and all stamping has to include embossing!

I go through these phases every once in a while when nearly everything I create uses the same supplies or techniques. I bet many of you go through these phases too. Either colors, stamps, ribbons, tools.

What phase are you in right now?

Then again, maybe it's just that I use whatever is within reach on my craft desk (aka whatever is hanging out on the top surface of my mess). ;)

Hi all!

Tonight is my monthly card club. (If you have questions on the details of my club, read my answers here). I designed the cards last night and my bag is all packed and ready to go over to Paula's for some card makin' and yummy food right after work.

Anyway, I usually make it a point to ask each month's hostess if she has any requests for the kinds of cards we'll make. Paula specifically asked for small 2x2 cards. Whoa. That's small!

But they're cute, eh? :)

I kept the little guys pretty plain so that they could be used for just about anything. I picture them being used on gifts since I don't have envelopes for them. Have any of you seen envelopes fit 2x2 square cards?

The other card uses some materials that I picked up at Kate's Paperie in New York. That gorgeous blue card stock! Yum! And the green envelope that you can see peeking out from underneath the card--that's from Kate's as well. :)

3 cards - Kraft card stock (Stampin' Up!); ribbon (Kate's Paperie); patterned paper (Sassafrass Lass, KI Memories).

Hi Card - Winter White embossing powder, Soft Sky ink, Naturals White and Basic Black card stock (Stampin Up!); blue card stock and black ribbon (Kate's Paperie); patterned paper (Sassafrass Lass); dot stamp (Art Warehouse); alpha stamps (Educational Insights); VersaMark ink.

The above card is for all you blog buddies! I've been such a slacker and I have left ya'll hangin' for SO long! You guys are too good to me--hangin' in there until I can squeak out some spare time in the middle of the night. :)

Anyhow, here's my real card for the Color Inspiration Challenge. I made the sorry card after I made this one. Seriously, thanks for being so patient. :)

I bought this little lamb-y stamp back in March when I was in New York. I bought it at Kate's Paperie--which, by the way! If you're ever in New York, you must go to Kate's! It's awesome! Anyhow, back on topic...

Can you believe it's taken me this long to get around to using this adorable little lamb? I don't recall who the stamp is by... It was a name I've never heard of. I'll update ya'll with it later. :)

My word, I need to clean out my stash more often! I've been unearthing all this incredible stuff that I forgot about! As soon as the room is all cleaned up, I'm sure I'll have plenty of inspiration. ;) And according to all your comments about my messy craft room, a lot of you have the same issue!

Obviously, I'm still stuck on the circles-turned-into-scallops! I just can't stop using this little detail! I LOVE it! What about you guys? Have you tried it out yet?

Okay, now on to the Color Inspiration Round-up!

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Sorry kids. No MACM this week. Why, you ask? This is why...



Yep. I have a messy craft area. It's actually one of the reasons I haven't been too motivated to create anything recently. BUT! That's about to change!

After procrastinating cleaning out my craft room, it's down to just a few days before I HAVE TO have it all done. New roommate Jen moves in this weekend so I need to have it all in order so that she can move her stuff in, too. We'll be sharing the office, and I was definitely taking up more than half my share. :) So, I moved the stamp set shelves into the closet --the walk-in-closet--and I lined the shelves up side by side so I could see the stamp sets easier). There's still a lot of random junk in the closet, but at least my stamps have a home. :)

I'm slowly going through ALL my stuff and giving a lot of it away. Stuff I'm just not too excited about or that I know I'll never get around to using. I'm taking in a big box of stuff to the office this morning to share with the work buddies. But I'm sure I'll have even more tonight when the cleaning commences once again. Speaking of, leave a comment here and I'll randomly pick a name tonight. That person will receive a little somethin' from my stash of giveaway goodies. :)

Anyhow, not too long ago I created some cards for the scrapsupply.com newsletter (see the May 2008 newsletter). As I was cleaning out my craft room I found this notepad (from M.O.):



Oh yeah! I forgot I sketched out ideas for this card:



In fact, you might recognize one of the sketches from another card. Which was is it, eh? ;) Anyway, have a happy Monday ya'll and I'll catch you tonight when I post my Color Challenge card and the selections for the last challenge.

Hi all! I'm actually prepping this entry on Friday night since I won't be home on Monday to upload a new MACM. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this one.

I wanted to try using the same circle punches technique to create a scallop border on a circle. I've seen these a little bit and wanted to create a card using it.

This card is also my card for last week's Color Inspiration Challenge #9. Some of you mentioned that this was one of the harder challenges and I had to agree.

Such strong colors! And five of them, as well! It was definitely a bit more difficult to work with these colors compared to some of the combinations of the past few weeks. :)

Anyhow, I hope you all enjoy this one! Watch in high quality here (click on "watch in high quality" below the video).

Hi everyone! I hope your weekends were lovely and all you Mother's out there were loved with lots of chocolate and yummy goodies for Mother's Day. :)

This week's Make a Card Monday was prompted by the fact that there are a couple birthday's this week at my office. First, there's Andrea whose birthday is today (Holla!), and then on Thursday... well, just watch the video to find out. ;)

(Note: For all you gift-givers out there (you know who you are--hey, Mom!) I'd like to point you in the direction of my Amazon.com wish list ;) ... Click here)

Anyway, this Happy card can be used for many different occasions and I think that's why I like it. :)

Enjoy! And everyone have a wonderful Monday!

Hi all! I'm a proud owner of a new desk! Lauren and Ben were my lifesavers tonight and helped me haul a bit of furniture from my local Target to my house in their truck. So grateful to them! :)

Anyhow, I put together the desk and the side table (for my printer) in about an hour. I rock! Actually, Target rocks. ;) I'm going to put together the bookcase tomorrow. Thanks you, economic stimulus check!

So, I'm typing this entry while I sit at my new desk... It's so nice! I love it already!

Enough about furniture! You're here for the round-up!

Something to note about the bow on my card... I have no idea how I got it to tie so perfectly. The perfect bow technique still eludes me, so when I get a perfect bow, it's completely random and lucky.

And so here are some of the card submitted this week...

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Hello - Brilliant Blue card stock and Jersey Shore Designer Series Paper: Stampin' Up!; ribbon: Kate's Paperie; felt alpha stickers: American Crafts; journal tag: Heidi Swapp.

Hi all!

For this week's card, I wanted to create an easy Mother's Day card. Can you believe it's nearly Mother's Day? Whoa. This year is just flying by! I swear it was Christmas yesterday!

Anyway, I used many of the same supplies for this card that I used a couple weeks ago. I wanted to show that you can use the same products but get a different look. :)

Okay, so I'm super tired, but I should go get ready for work... I really need to get to bed at a decent time tonight, especially after staying up late last night to watch my TiVo'd episode of Brothers and Sisters. Anyone else watch it? Hello. I love this show. :)

For all you French manicure fans out there, I found the best colors for a natural manicure. I painted my nails a couple days before I filmed this video, so you can see it in this video. I used Essie Marshmallow and Mademoiselle. LOVE this combination. :)

Hi all!

My fingertips and hands hurt and I'm developing bruises on my feet. Why, you ask? Because I put together my bed all by myself tonight. I was growing impatient waiting for my super-busy brother to come help me, so I dug in and did it myself.

Sigh. My legs hurt.

Do any of you know how hard it is to put together a four-poster bed all by yourself? Well, I do. And let me tell ya, it takes 2 hours. Yes, TWO HOURS! But I'll be sleepin' pretty tonight. And if the bed falls apart--forget it! I'm sleeping on the floor.

Long story short, after two trips to Lowes (Worker: "You again? The screws didn't work?" Me: "Nope! I need the longer ones") and crawling around on my bedroom floor while I listen to audio from the ENTIRE Center Stage movie, I didn't have a chance to make a card for the CI Challenge this week.

But that's okay because there are SO many awesome ones this week to pick from, right?! Behold, my top ten picks and the randomly selected:

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Hi all!

Wow, Make a Card Monday nearly wasn't made this week! I had a super busy weekend. Well, except for the three hours I spent watching the BBC's Sense and Sensability. But that doesn't count because it was awesome. It's the version that's showing on Masterpiece Theatre in the US right now as part of the Complete Jane Austen series on PBS. However, I have the DVDs so I'm watching it all at once. :)

For those of you who like the Colin Firth version of Pride and Prejudice, you'll like this version of Sense and Sensability. Totally great. In fact, I bought this box set for my mom for Mother's Day. It has the new BBC version of Persuasion and a new movie called Miss Austen Regrets included as well. You should all go watch it. I'm telling you. Awesome. :)

Anyway, this week's card sort of resembles a book. In fact, I started out covering two squares of chipboard and was planning to make it like this, but then I switched to just card stock.

I'm afraid I don't have any measurements other than it's 3.5" x 3.5". All other measurements after that I just eye-balled. So if you'd like to recreate it, you'll have to do a bit of measuring.

Here are the stamp sets I used, though. I bought these from scrapsupply.com: Autumn Leaves Universal Symbols and Pink Paislee Spring Fling. The paper I used is by Scenic Route.

Happy crafting everyone! Ooo... I just realized that my book club is today and I haven't read the book... oops! DANGIT! I don't want to go without reading the book! Hmm...

On to the video!

Hi all! It's been a whirlwind couple of days around here, to say the least. :)

As I mentioned before, my mom is moving to Arizona so we were packing up the house and getting her all ready to leave. Currently as I type this, the moving caravan should be pulling into my aunt's house in Phoenix where she'll be staying for a bit until she finds a permanent home. It was a sad morning saying our goodbyes before they left to drive to Arizona, but this will be such a good move for her. And I know she'll love living near her two sisters. :)

I've lived with her for nearly a year and a half and she's the best "roommate" I've ever had. Even if I had to put up with needles sticking me in the foot (quilting on the couch in the front room) and threads traveling about the house attached to my pant legs. I'll definitely miss her. In fact, I just might miss those needles and threads. :)

My friend Jen will be my new roommate, though. She's mad talented and also works at Stampin' Up! Talk about a fun time! She's a riot! Party at Jen and Kristina's! You're all invited!

Anyhow, my craft area is still a disaster. But I managed to create this little card using this week's colors. Hopefully ya'll will like it. :)

And here's this week's Round-Up. I had SO many entries this week and they were all excellent. You guys are making it REALLY hard to pick my top ten, let me tell ya! And I wish I had the time to respond to each and every comment/entry.

So, on to the round-up:

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NOTE: The Name Stamp I list below is currently out of stock from scrapsupply.com, but they have more on order. So check back soon!

Hi all!

This week's card is for Annie! She was in the Salt Lake Marathon on Saturday! I'm so proud of her! GO ANNIE!

I really wanted to use some of the new stamps I bought from scrapsupply.com so this is the card I made. I totally fell in love with the Maya Road "Hello My Name is" stamp when I first saw it! I love a similar image that's in Stampin' Up!'s Messenger Accents & Elements, but as a stamp, I can use it over and over!

Not to mention these journaling background stamps (the dots)! HELLO! I love these for backgrounds!

I actually really struggled on which alphabet (stickers or stamps) to use for the "awesome." In fact, at first I was going to use some unmounted rubber stamps that needed to be put on EZMount first. I had video of me mounting the stamps, but then it didn't look quite right for this particular card. I'll save the video of using EZMount for another day. :)

Anyhow, on to the video!

Hi all!

It's back to the usual schedule for Make a Card Monday! :)

This week, I decided to show you all how to create the woven ribbon square that I showed you a few days ago. I'm pretty sure nearly everyone learned simple weaving in elementary school, so this is super easy.

For this card I used Lisa Bearnson's kit for the month of April, and let me tell you--I love this kit! So many awesome pieces in it. I think they're just about sold out, but if there are some still available, you need to order it right now. Right now!

Anyhow, hope you enjoy this week's card!

Oh, and ya'll should head on over to Erica's blog and wish her a happy birthday. Happy Birthday, Erica!

Hi all! I used this week's Color Inspiration Challenge as a jumping off point for the cards for my monthly card club. So, these are the two cards we'll be making tomorrow night.

For the first card, I weaved Chocolate Chip wide grosgrain and wrapped the edges around a 2x2 piece of card stock. I thought it looked so awesome! The idea occurred to me earlier today so I just had to try it. What do you think?

And on to the first 25 cards left in the comments of yesterday's entry...

Hi all! I'm updating from my not-as-warm-as-I-was-hoping cruise ship!

Anyway, here's this week's Make a Card Monday. I've been really wanted to use these Basic Grey die-cuts and I'm just now getting around to using them. Plus! The Love Elsie ribbon was too luscious to pass up!

This card is pretty straight forward and it uses a design that I find myself using quite a bit. It's my no-fail card template. :) If you've been around here at the blog for a while, I'm sure you'll recognize the elements. However, this time I mixed it up by using two ribbons. :)

So from sunny Bermuda, here's another Make a Card Monday!

Okay, stop it. Stop it! There are just too many entries! I thought I was being all sneaky giving ya'll less time, but it didn't work! There are 48 this week! AHH!!

There won't be a CI Challenge next week (since I'll be out of town), but for sure the next week.

This week's CI Challenge comes from Pier1! I love Pier1 but unfortunately don't go there very often, even though there is a store very near my house. Tragic!

Anyhow, I found this photo as their site in the inspiration section and just knew it would make an awesome color challenge for ya'll. TIP: Notice that the dark black color is used minimally. Remember that when you create your card this week. :)



Translated into Stampin' Up! colors:


Orchid Opulence, Rose Red, Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, Whisper White

So, here's my take on the colors this week:



Once again, leave a link to your card in a comment on this entry. All cards left in the comments by 5:00 PM tomorrow will be included in this week's round-up! So get crackin'!

Hi - Patterned paper: Scenic Route; Background Sampler stamp set, Orchid Opulence, Pumpkin Pie, and Whisper White card stock, Orchid Opulence ink, Whisper White taffeta ribbon, Cherished rubons, corner rounder and 1-3/8" square punches: Stampin' Up!; alpha stickers: American Crafts; jewels: Heidi Swapp.

Hi all!

This week's MACM is just a simple card that can be pulled together quickly (just in case you miss someone's birthday). :) And don't you just LOVE the wide green stain ribbon. Totally in love with it. I have a thing for satin ribbons... just so pretty!

You'll notice in the video that I used American Crafts patterned paper. One of the reasons I really like their patterned paper is that the backside is a solid color. So when I need a solid that matches and isn't as heavy as card stock, I can just use the opposite side.

Even though Stampin' Up! offers solid card stock, sometimes I wish for a solid side in Stampin' Up! patterned papers. Sometimes a girl wants the solid color in a lighter weight, ya know? Like when covering a tin box, for example. Have you guy encountered this, too?

So, how do you prefer your patterned paper? Take my informal survey below, and then watch this week's video. :)

WOW! 40 submissions for the Color Inspiration Challenge #2 before the deadline! You guys are amazing!

Once again, I'm linking to your cards. I think I'll have to shorten the deadline time next week--ya'll are too quick! Editing and posting 40 cards was way too much work! :)

Hi everyone! This week's Color Inspiration Challenge comes from HGTV.com! I found a interesting and soothing room at their website and fell in love with the colors! Perfect colors for a baby card, right?



Translated into Stampin' Up! colors, it might look like:


Groovy Guava, Blush Blossom, So Saffron, Wild Wasabi

Unfortunately, this color palette uses two SU! In Colors... sorry all you international folks. Forgive me, please! Do the best you can with colors you have on hand. You might try Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, So Saffron, and Certainly Celery.

Here's my card (4.25" x 4.25"):



Join me in the challenge by making a paper craft creation using these colors as inspiration. Then leave a comment on this entry with a link to your card. You'll have to upload a picture of your card to your blog, splitcoaststampers.com, flickr.com, wherever you'd like. Just copy and paste the web address to your card in your comment.

Links left in comments by 6:00 pm MDT Thursday night will be included in the Color Inspiration #2 Round-up! So get workin'!

welcome, little one - All supplies from Stampin' Up! Rock-A-Bye Baby and Three For You stamp sets; Blush Blossom, Groovy Guava, and So Saffron card stock; Groovy Guava and So Saffron inks; VersaMark; Winter White detail embossing powder; Wild Wasabi stitched grosgrain; large corner rounder punch; clear button; thread.

Hi all!

This weeks MACM sort turned out a bit masculine, eh? You can always use some masculine cards because they're the hardest to make. :) It's inevitable that most of the paper crafting industry would be slightly feminine because 99% of paper crafters are women!

Anyway, this card is just a simple one. Easy and quick to make.

On a completely unrelated note, I just finished painting my fingernails in Essie's Wicked. LOVE this color! Sadly, it's not a very spring-like color, so I'm afraid I'll have to switch it up soon. Maybe Foot Loose?

If ya'll are new to Essie and are wondering where to buy it online, the cheapest I've found it is at Head 2 Toe Beauty.

Oh! And I'm planning for another live chat. This time it will be earlier in the day to accommodate those in Europe. Let's plan on Saturday, March 22, at 12:00 noon MDT (USA - Utah - Salt Lake City). Be sure to convert the time if you're elsewhere in the world.

I hope I can catch even more of you on Saturday! :)

Hi all!

Just thought I'd share one of the cards I made a few weeks ago while I was in Las Vegas. This was a super easy card that I made while we were watching movies and scrapping! (Can't get too complicated when you're distracted by cousins you haven't seen since 1997--really, 1997! Can you believe that!?)

While we were in Vegas, we only had the time to go to one scrap store. They had a pretty great ribbon section and I found this ribbon and bought it in green, brown, and cream... I just love stitched ribbon!

Anyway, so this is what I made when we got back to the hotel. Enjoy! :)

Thanks - Chocolate Chip card stock: Stampin' Up!; patterned paper: American Crafts; ribbon: Bazzill Basics; George Outline stamp set: Fontwerks; Versamarker (can't really see it, but I did color in the letters).

Birthdays are celebrated in various way at my office. One of the things that's practically mandatory is a card for the person having a birthday (sort of a given when you work at a scrapbooking/paper crafting company). Anyhow, we're celebrating Venessa's birthday today!

Patti decorated her cubicle, I made the card, Jen was on gift-patrol, and Lauren not only made the donut cake, but she was the director of Mission Impossible: Venessa's Birthday--complete with a white board covered in X's and O's like a football playbook and dum-dum-da-da-dum-dum musical beats in the background. :) Venessa's the newest addition to our team so we were super secretive to plan her birthday cubicle surprise!



Venessa LOVES bright blues and greens, so this color combination was perfect for her. Granted, it's a more difficult combination, but I think I pulled off this analogous color scheme (colors next to each other on the color wheel) pretty well .


Taken With Teal, Tempting Turquoise, Glorious Green, Green Galore, Yoyo Yellow
NOTE: This isn't a Color Inspiration Challenge. I just thought the colors looked cool. :)

23 - Big Bold Birthday stamp set, Taken With Teal, Tempting Turquoise, Glorious Green, and Whisper White card stock, Winter White embossing powder, paper piercer and template: Stampin' Up!; patterned paper: Imaginisce; chipboard numbers: Scenic Route; yellow scallop edge: Doodlebug Designs; VersaMark ink.

Hi all! I had so many responses to my first color challenge. Here are all of my reader's cards as of when I write this entry. Enjoy!

NOTE: These are not my cards, so I'm pointing you in the direction of each card's creator by linking each image back to the link they provided in their comment.

Hi all! I want to try something new around here. How about some color combinations, eh? I love to see different color combinations and I get a lot of inspiration from photos of interiors. Interior design magazines, blogs, and books are an endless source of interesting color combinations.

Today's color inspiration comes from Marie Clair Maison via Design Sponge. Granted, I can't read a thing on her website (help!), but the photos and interiors on the site are amazing!



This combo is so... so girly! I love it! Anyhow, if you convert the colors in the photo to Stampin' Up! colors (or any other company's card stock colors), you might get:


Chocolate Chip, Purely Pomegranate, Pumpkin Pie, Pretty in Pink

So, I took that color combo and made a card using the same colors. However, I was completely out of Chocolate Chip card stock (Gasp! Tragic!) so I used some of my Bazzill Bling card stock that's been hanging around. :)

EDITED TO ADD: Oh! I forgot! These Color Inspiration posts are going to be challenges for ya'll. Make a card or scrapbook page using the color combo and then leave a link in the comments. I want to see what you make! :)

You Are - Card base card stock: Bazzil Bling from Bazzill; Lots of Letters chipboard, Absolutely Fabulous and Three For You stamp sets, Pumpkin Pie and Purely Pomegranate card stock, Pretty in Pink craft ink, Pumpkin Pie ink, VersaMark ink, heat & stick powder, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, and Winter White detail embossing powder: Stampin' Up!.

Hi all! Here's the other card we're making at card club tonight. I just LOVE these owls! I can't say it enough!

I used the same embossing technique on this card to get the raised edge that I described in this entry. However, at club tonight we won't be using a light table. I think my girls will be able to do it without. And I seriously don't want to lug a light table to Lauren's house tonight. :)

Okay, time for a book recommendation!

My card-twin and BFF Dawn sent me a book a few weeks ago that I finished reading over the weekend. It was a super cute story that I'd recommend, especially for you bloggers out there. :)

It's called The Cubicle Next Door. The story centers around Jackie, who is surprised to learn that her office space is being sub-divided by a new cubicle wall and she'll have to share her space with a new co-worker. Of course the new guy has to be annoying, and yet slightly intriguing. ;) She starts venting about the new guy to her blog buddies at her anonymous online blog. But everything changes when her blog is featured on the primetime news!

Suddenly the guy across the cubicle wall is quoting her blog to her and wondering who the writer is! I won't describe it any more than that other than to say it's a cute book. Plus, it's really clean and you won't feel guilty recommending it to your mom. It won't change your life, but it's a good escapist read. :)

Seriously, how does Dawn know what books I'd like? It's kinda freaky. Especially considering the fact that we've never met!

Owl Card - Olivia & Pals stamp set, patterned paper: Sassafras Lass; Close to Cocoa card stock and ink, 1-1/4" square punch, button: Stampin' Up!; flower and ribbon: American Crafts.

For this month's card club, I wanted to use new product that was released at CHA a few weeks ago. For those who don't know, many companies within the scrapbooking industry release new product at CHA tradeshows in January and July. Anyway, I wanted to use brand-spankin' new product.

When I saw the cute little owl stamp set from Sassafras Lass I knew I had to use it. It was SO stinkin' cute! LOVED it! As I mentioned in this week's MACM entry, I ended buying the new Sassafras Lass stuff from a buyer on ebay.

And so here we are with the first of the two cards we'll be making tomorrow night.

This card uses a similar design to a card I made back in October. I've always loved that layout, so I decided this little owl guy would love it, too! I also used Sassafras Lass' Owl Pals paper.

I'll post the other card we're making in another entry tomorrow night.

I've had a few questions about my card club. No, I am not a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. This is not a Stampin' Up! card club. It's basically just a night once a month that some of my friends and I get together to make cards. We take turns hosting at our homes and the only fee involved is a supply fee. Generally the cost each month per person is around $8. I design the projects and everyone makes them. Hope that clears it up. :)

BTW, the poll for the live chat time is still open (see previous entry). So go vote! Also, I realize that the times given won't work for some of you. I plan to have another chat very soon and hopefully it will be on a Saturday so I can have it in the middle of the day (possibly a better time for those in Europe). Then maybe I can chat with some of you, too! :)

Owl Window Card - Olivia & Pals stamp set, patterned paper: Sassafras Lass; Chocolate Chip card stock and wide grosgrain, Really Rust ink, 1-3/8" circle punch, paper piercer and template: Stampin' Up!; Coluzzle circle cutting system.

Sorry, all! In a hurry this morning! Video should be pretty self explanatory. :)

Hi all! This week's card was actually made last week! Right now, I'm actually in Las Vegas so I had to film the MACM video early. :)

Of all the occasions that need a card, I think birthdays are the most common. I always like to have different types of birthday cards on hand just in case I need them. This card could be for just about anyone, but with the bright colors I might lean more toward giving it to child.

This video also shows how to mount stamps and a few tips on creating "window" cards with multiple punches. I also do a bit of watercolor painting with Stampin' Up!'s Watercolor Wonder Crayons. As I mention in the video, there are many other ways of using the crayons--this is just one way. :)

Anyway, enjoy the video and I'll catch up with you when I get back in town. Thanks, ya'll!

Watch in high quality here (click on "watch in high quality" below the video).

Rock- A-By Baby - Ivory card stock: Scenic Route; Nursery Necessities stamp set, Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, and So Saffron inks; light blue gingham ribbon: Stampin' Up!.

Is is just me, or does the video "flicker" all throughout it? Weird. YouTube's on crack today. Sorry guys. I'll try to upload it again tonight to get it to look better. In the meantime, try not to have any adverse reactions to the flickering.



Watch in high quality here (click on "watch in high quality" below the video).

Baby Girl Card - Ivory card stock and patterned paper: Scenic Route; Nursery Necessities stamp set, Pretty in Pink ink, circle punches, and Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon: Stampin' Up!

Hi all!

For this week's video I wanted to do something SO super easy that anyone could do it. I mean, if you know how to cut paper and sprinkle some glitter, you're all set for this card!

When I saw the Making Memories Ready-to-Glitter stickers, I knew I had to try them out. They're similar to Stampin' Up!'s Sticky Cuts Letters, only smaller which makes them perfect for cards. :)

Anyhow, my only complaint is that it's hard to remove the backing on them. Not NEARLY as hard as using Martha's Double-Sided Alphabet Sticker Roll. Now, that was a disaster. You mean they sell these things? I bought some a while back and practically wanted to throw them across the room. Although, I did do one project with them.

Anyhow, enjoy the card!

Hi all! Just some quick photos of my card club projects for this month.

Super easy cards with a little teeny tiny bag thrown in.

I got the bag idea from Annie, who is an avid Martha Stewart fan and pointed me in the direction of the the template over at marthastewart.com. I adapted the template to be used with patterned paper. Just transfered the measurements and there we go!

Anyhow, enjoy!

Bag - All supplies from Stampin' Up! Cerise Designer Series Paper; Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon. Pattern for bag from marthastewart.com

Thank You - Perfect Timing stamp set, Soft Sky ink, Soft Sky, Old Olive, and So Saffron card stock, Scallop Circle punch: Stampin' Up!; patterned paper: Scenic Route; ribbon: American Crafts.

Friend - Chocolate Chip and Pretty in Pink card stock, Regal Rose wide grosgrain ribbon, Carte Postale and Fundamental Phrases stamp sets, Close to Cocoa and Regal Rose inks, metal edged tag, corner rounder punch: Stampin' Up!; patterned paper: Basic Grey.

Hi all!

I'm still obsessing a little bit over Accents & Elements kits, so the card for this week's video uses another kit. :) These really are awesome kits... But enough of that. I'm sure you're all sick of me going on and on about them.

This week's card took 17 minutes, but only because I couldn't decide what to do! It took a bit longer because I didn't really have a plan before I set out to make the card. Sometimes I'll have a glimpse of an idea, but other times like when I made this video, I have NO idea. Anyway, I'm sure if I cut out all the indecisiveness, it would have taken me about 7 minutes. :)

Something to note about the video: I have a typo in it about half way through when I use the felt flower. The Flower Fusion Accents & Elements kit is actually $14.95 US. Sorry 'bout the confusion. I really should upload a new version of this video, but I didn't want to make ya'll wait until tonight to get the new MACM.

Hi all!

I'm still caught in my Valentines-Guava-Cocoa phase! I used nearly the same supplies for this card that I use for this week's MACM, but I just couldn't resist! I loved it too much!

I've had a lot of questions about Accents & Elements--apparently, many of you aren't familiar with them! :) Just let me tell you that the Accents & Elements kits are awesome and worth the time to look into. If you're familiar at all with Stampin' Up!'s Simply Scrappin' Kits, A&E kits are essentially just the die-cut pre-printed adhesives that come in the scrapbooking kits. They're awesome! A&E kits work great for cards.

I've been eyeing one of the A&E kits and I can't wait to create something with it. I might have to use it for next week's MACM!

Anyhow, I hope everyone has an awesome weekend. I'm planning to do a bit of baking, and then update some of the items in the columns here at my blog. :)

What are you up to this weekend?

Love Love Love - Forever in My Heart stamp set; Dotted wheel; Close to Cocoa, Groovy Guava, and Blush Blossom card stock; Close to Cocoa and Groovy Guava ink; clear button; thread.

So, I think Accents & Elements is one of the more underrated items in the entire Stampin' Up! catalog... I just can't get enough of them! And as a designer, these tins full of various images are super fun to create. I think the girls I work with would agree. :)

Anyway, I broke out one of the new A&E kits and made a card with it. Super fast and super easy. And can I just say that I love LOVE the name tag image!

----------------

I've had a few questions recently about my craft area... Um, it's a mess. I tend to work in chaos. In fact, a lot of the time, I just create with and use whatever is out on my desk. I have a lot of unfinished things, but I also go back and re-use elements that were never adhered to the finished projects. I sort of find it a challenge to use already pre-cut card stock.

"Hmm... What can I do with this long strip of red card stock?"

It's like playing a game, ya know?

We have these Stampin' Days at work that are organized by the HR department and the girls who design projects for different events. Everyone in the entire company gets to make a couple cards and everything is pre-cut and ready to just be put together. It's really fun! I love seeing all the new hires starting out to stamp. So fun!

So the cards are pre-designed, but for the life of me I just can't make the card that's already prepared! I have to shake things up a bit. It's that challenge thing! I'm limited to only the things that were provided, and the tools are limited to usually just scissors and adhesive. Sometimes there's a punch, but not always.

I'm not the only one who makes a different card, too. A lot of the art department will make one of the pre-designed cards, and then one that's their own creation. I LOVE seeing what everyone makes!

How can you do this, too? Some of you out there are Stampin' Up! demonstrators and you've likely more than once come home with pre-cut scraps and leftovers from workshops and stamp camps. Break those pieces out and see what else you can make! It's a challenge, but it's so fun!

So Grateful - All supplies from Stampin' Up! Close to Cocoa card stock; Messenger Accents & Elements; Chocolate Chip wide grosgrain; button.

Hi all!

Thought I might try another Valentine's Day card. Can't have enough of these, right? :) For some reason, I just love Cocoa, Guava, and Blossom together... such pretty colors! I can't get enough of them so I had to use them on this card.

I think I'm in a Cocoa-Guava-Blossom phase. Do you go through color combo phases, too? I remember two summers ago, I was in an Olive-Coral-Apricot phase (inspired by this card), and then last summer it was Pomegranate-Wasabi-Pumpkin-Sky phase (see it here and here).

I've also been known to just stick with the same colors for weeks at a time. ;)

Hi all!

This week's card was inspired by... well, I'll just let you watch the video.

Anyway, just the first part of the card took nearly 15 minutes! Normally I wouldn't spend so much time on just one thing for a card, but it was the first time I'd tried doing anything like that so I didn't know how long it would take. I think if I do it again, I'll probably be a bit faster because I'll already know what to do. At least I hope I would faster.

Ribbon Flower - All supplies from Stampin' Up! Polka Dot background stamp; Sage Shadow, Basic Gray, and Naturals White card stock; Sago Shadow ink; Pretty in Pink and Basic Gray taffeta ribbon; paper piercer and mat pack.

This is a another card from the December issue of Cards Magazine. I'll have a real update later tonight, but for now, here's another card! :)

Noel - Soft Sky and Purely Pomegranate card stock, brads: Stampin' Up!; patterned paper: Scenic Route; ribbon, stickers: American Crafts; sewing machine and thread.

This card was in the December issue of Cards Magazine. Just thought I'd share it here! (I was trying out a white background when I took this picture back in July... Can you believe they work that far in advance? Craziness!)

:)

Birthday Wishes - textured card stock: Bazzill; Old Olive, Soft Sky and Blue Bayou card stock, Circle of Friendship stamp set, chipboard, 1-3/8" and 1/2" circle punches, clear