KWernerDesignBlog: Cards

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).

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)...

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. :)

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.

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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TEN RANDOMLY SELECTED

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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TEN RANDOMLY SELECTED

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 button, ribbon: Stampin' Up!; patterned paper: Scenic Route; stamping ink: StazOn; sewing machine and thread.

Good morning!

This week's card features a little bit of blender penning (is that a word?). A few people asked about blender pens, and really, this is all I use them for... to color in outlined images. How do you use blender pens? We all want to know.

In other news, I'm going to the One Republic concert! I won the tickets off the radio and I'm super excited! I have go and pick them up today.

How did I win? The DJ played a mash-up and had people call in and tell them who the artists were. Well, there I was, driving to my card club, at a stoplight. Ehhh, why not. Got out my iPhone, googled the song name and presto! Billy Idol and Justine Timberlake.

Then I was the tenth caller! Yeah! I {heart} my iPhone. :)

Thanks... I Needed That - All supplies from Stampin' Up! Kraft, Basic Gray, and Whisper White card stock; Fun & Fast Notes stamp set; StazOn ink; Regal Rose, Wild Wasabi, So Saffron, and Pumpkin Pie inks; Regal Rose wide grosgrain; Crew Kids Girl Simply Scrappin'.

Tonight was my first card club outside of being a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. Even though I resigned as a demonstrator, my club girls wanted to continue. So, we did. :)

This month was all about American Crafts Thickers. Each person took home her own pack at the end of the night. Anyway, these are the projects we made. Supplies are listed at the bottom.

i {heart} u - Kraft card stock, Pretty in Pink grosgrain: Stampin' Up!; Thickers, patterned paper: American Crafts.

Thanks - Basic Black card stock: Stampin' Up!; patterned paper, Thickers, ribbon, felt flower, brad: American Crafts.

Flower - Bazzill Bling card stock: Bazzill; felt flowers: Stampin' Up!; brad: American Crafts.

I like this card because it's not really just masculine or just feminine. I dig that. :)

Also, who knew that Stampin' Up!'s ABC Lower Alphabet set would go so well with the retired Straight Up Alphabet & Numbers? It's awesome, that's what I say.

Although, I wish alphabet stamps were easier, ya know? Not so unpredictable. Granted, all stamps are somewhat unpredictable, but alphas are especially unpredictable. I mean, they're so little! And it's just hard to judge where it's going. Plus, sometimes a girl is too lazy to dig out her Stamp-a-ma-jig from underneath the PILES of ~~crap~~ stuff on her craft desk. Oh, well!

But HOLY CRAP, Batman! Don't you love the colors in Jersey Shore papers? I {heart} these papers a bit too much. :)

Who else loves orange? Roll call!

Count on You - All supplies from Stampin' Up! ABC Alphabet, Straight Up Alphabet & Numbers, and Take a Number wheel; Take Note rubons; Jersey Shore Designer Series Paper; Wild Wasabi, Pumpkin Pie, and Bashful Blue card stock; Wild Wasabi double stitched grosgrain; metal edged tag; Brilliant Blue, Pumpkin Pie, and VersaMark inks.

This was a special request from someone over at YouTube. She wanted easy Valentine's Day cards she could make for her daughter to give to the other children in her school class. This is what I came up with. :)

This card would be super easy to duplicate and make a ton of. Just work it like an assembly line... do one step at a time and then assemble. It can be done so much faster that way.

So, here's the video. BTW, I came to a decision on the voiceover thing. I'll do voiceovers if I need to explain something extensive, but if it's super easy (like today's card), I'll use captions. :)

Thanks for letting me know what you all think. I truly appreciate it.

Oh, and I forgot to note in the video that the heart stamp is from the older Stampin' Up! set Simply Said. Enjoy!

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

Answering some questions left at You Tube and here at my blog.

Links mentioned in video:
Jessie & Pasha
Jamie & Hok

NOTE: When I talk about Stampin' Up!, I am not officially representing the company. I'm just telling you what I think and from my perspective. Thanks!

Hi everyone! This week's Make a Card Monday uses the same Imaginisce patterned paper I used in my last video. I just couldn't put it down! I love it!

Anyhow, I'm sitting here in the dark because all the lightbulbs in my craft room went out last night! Ahh! I'm waiting until it's a bit lighter in the day so I can climb up on a ladder to change the lightbulbs. (Vaulted ceilings can be VERY inconvenient, you know). Good thing I don't have to look at the keyboard while I'm typing! lol

So, I'll just keep rambling on while I wait for the video to upload to YouTube...

I tried something new with this video. One of my subscribers over at YouTube (thanks ninajeanette2!) suggested I still have audio commentary. So in this video, I tried voiceovers. I felt like I was doing commentary on a DVD! :) Hopefully it makes it a bit easier to watch. Leave a comment, please, and tell me if you like it better than the text commentary.

Thanks! And on to the video...

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

Hi all!

Hope your Christmas was wonderful! It was a low-key holiday here. I made cinnamon rolls Christmas morning and they turned out okay, but I wished it would have been better. Does anyone out there have a wonderful cinnamon roll recipe they'd like to share? Email me or leave a comment. I'd love to try it out!

Speaking of things I did on Christmas day, we went to see National Treasure: Book of Secrets. I really enjoyed it. Even though it was pretty predictable, it was still an entertaining escape.

I also did a little bit of shopping, including a visit to my local MAC counter (no, not the "mother ship" aka the Apple Store). I bought some gorgeous eye shadows and fluidline eyeliner. What is it about new makeup that's just so fun?! Has anyone out there tried e.l.f. makeup (as in Eyes Lips Face)? Everything they sell is $1. It's supposed to be at Target stores, but I haven't seen it at my local Target. Can anyone vouch for the quality?

Back to why you're here...

My craft table has been a bit lonely the last couple of days. I haven't made anything really until this morning. Just taking a break, ya know? Anyway, here's what I made this morning. Hope you like it!

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

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope your holiday is shaping up to be the best ever!

Some of you noticed because I Twittered about, but I bought myself an early Christmas gift! I have been accumulating Target gift cards for a while and I put them all together for a trip to Target on Saturday. I bought a Dyson DC17 Absolute Animal vacuum! It's the best ever! Since it was a larger purchase (nearly half was paid for by gift cards!), of course I named her. Jerrica. Anyone else watch Jem when they were younger? Jerrica was Jem's real life persona.

Yes, I'm a dorky child of the 80s.

Anyway, it's wonderful! It's made for homes with pets and lots of pet hair, and I don't have a pet now, but when I move out I want to get a cat. I was thinking ahead and bought the animal one because of that. It also has a HEPA filter in it so it's great for people with allergies.

Seriously, I'd just vacuumed with my Mom's vacuum right before I went to Target to get Jerrica. When I vacuumed again after bringing her home, I was totally amazed and grossed out by how much dirt and dust the Dyson picked up! I had to empty it after only vacuuming one room! And that was AFTER I'd vacuumed it before!

We had our family (just the siblings and my mom) Christmas dinner last night. I made Kathy's breadsticks and they turned out great! Definitely not as wonderful as when Kathy makes them, but for a first attempt they turned out pretty well. I think I had too much flour and kneaded it too long... oops! But they were all gobbled up so I must have done something right. :)

I opened a gift from my mom last night and loved it right away. It was a pair of slippers. They are so comfy and the first thing I thought of was that I could wear them while making cards! I'm a truly sick crafter if that's the first thing I think of. ;)

You'll see in the video that I had some trouble with a square punch. Well, I figure it out! I was trying to punch off the edge of the card stock. For some reason, the punch needs the resistance from both sides. I tried to punch a square out of the center of a piece of card stock after I turned the camera off, and it worked just fine. :)

Also, this week's MACM was completed in 19 minutes. Once again, Merry Christmas!

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

Happy 25 Days - Kraft and Chocolate Chip card stock, 1-1/4" square punch, Chocolate Chip ink, Simple Serif Mini Alphabet, embossing powder: Stampin' Up!; chipboard: Scenic Route; patterned paper: S.E.I.; pen: American Crafts; VersaMark ink.

Let's just say we're lucky I finished making this card.

Have you ever had a day when things just never seem to go right? That was my day when I made this video. :)

Anyway, in this video I show you how to emboss on a brad. It's actually very straight forward, but in case you were wondering... Just "smoosh" the top of the brad all over a VersaMark pad, sprinkle embossing powder over top, heat, and then sprinkle more embossing powder and heat again. It doesn't cool off very fast so the second coat of powder should stick to the first without any problem.

There's also a tip in the video on removing rubons that refuse to work.

Anyway, hope everyone's day is better than mine. Seriously, that won't be hard. Oh, and how's your Christmas shopping coming?

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

Merry and Bright - Patterned paper, felt flower, brad, Thickers, and rubons: American Crafts; kraft card stock and embossing powder: Stampin' Up!; Versamark ink.

Wow! SEI has some really cute holiday stuff! I received some in my replacement goodie box from Cards Magazine (the first box was stolen off my porch!). Anyway, I absolutely love the earthy colors they chose for the Holly Lane line. Just love it!

This was a super simple card. Quick and easy! And with the proper supplies, you could easily replicate this card over and over to send in the mail (It's just shy of a regular business-size envelope). All the supplies are from SEI except for the stamp, embossing powder, and the white card stock peeking out from the folded corner. All those item are from Stampin' Up!

Hey, while I've got your attention, what are some awesome holiday gifts for under $10? I know there are a lot of people out there who would like to know--me included! So, tell us what you have planned this year, please.

It occurred to me tonight that I've made a lot of cards for people I know and love, but I've never made a card for Annie! Tragedy! Annie's one of my New York buddies, so she definitely deserves a card. Watch out, Amber, you're next!

Anyway, this card is all about the embossing and x-acto knife. I used an older Fontwerks stamp set for the letters (stamped them in VersaMark) and embossed using Stampin' Up! detail embossing powder. Then I cut them out one by one. It was a bit time intensive, but worth it!

I added the three circle punches and the stamped hearts at the last moment and now I'm wondering if I should have left it alone. It makes me feel all weird like I'm looking at Mickey Mouse ears. Ick.

I always try to go by my gut and when it says, "Should I add something else?" I'll add one little thing and then tear my hands away from the project. Generally, if I have that feeling once, it will continue. I'll indulge it once but after that I ignore it.

Maybe I should have ignored the first one this time. ;) Don't worry Annie, I still love you... just not your Mickey Mouse ears.

Annie - Patterned paper (Scenic Route); George Outline Alphabet stamp set (Fontwerks); Big Bold Birthday stamp set, Basic Gray and Purely Pomegranate card stock, Basic Gray ink, 3/4" circle punch, So Saffron brad, Purely Pomegranate double stitched ribbon, Winter White detail embossing powder, paper piercer and mat (Stampin' Up!); VersaMark ink.

This week's Make a Card Monday is brought to you by Heat & Stick powder and a whole lot of glitter! As you can see in the video, I had NO idea what I was doing! I started out thinking the card base was going to be white and then later changed my mind. Oh, well!

Anyhow, I hope you all enjoy it! Actual time to create the card: 23 minutes.

NOTE: The song used in the video is "Nattöppet" by Detektivbyrån. Get a free MP3 download of the song at www.detektivbyran.net. I absolutely loved this song in the Sprint commercials, so I had to track down the song and artist. :)

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

Even though I love bright bold colors for Christmas and holiday cards, sometimes I really love the magical look of soft colors. Especially with glitter. Tonight's cards are exactly that--soft and sparkly. :)

Some things to note: The ribbon used is in fact Sage Shadow wide grosgrain. It's found in Sherbet Ribbon Originals. :) I love Sage Shadow so I can't believe I I hadn't used this ribbon until now. You might recall me trying to use it in my last video, but it didn't match well enough.

I created the embossed outline on the Blush Blossom card by cutting a piece of card stock that was slightly larger than the Very Vanilla piece, temporarily adhered it to the front of the card, turned it over, and then embossed using a light table. :)

Anyhow, enjoy!

Sparkle Ornaments - All supplies from Stampin' Up! Hung Up on the Holidays stamp set; Sage Shadow, Soft Sky, and Very Vanilla card stock; Soft Sky, Close to Cocoa, and Sage Shadow ink; VersaMark; Heat & Stick powder; Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Sherbet Ribbon Originals.

Sparkle Trees - All supplies from Stampin' Up! Merry & Birght stamp set; Blush Blossom and Very Vanilla card stock; Close to Cocoa and Sage Shadow ink; Close to Cocoa Stampin' Write Marer; blender pen; VersaMarker; Heat & Stick powder; Dazzling Diamonds glitter, Sherbet Ribbon Originals; embossing stylus.

Hi all!

So I'm going to try something new: Make a Card Monday! Feel free to join me, or you can just tune in here to see what I'm doing. :)

After I completed this card, it occurred to me that the sentiment might not be complete! "Have a fun & merry..." what? Where's the rest of it? I totally didn't finish the card! I suppose I'll have to put "holiday!" on the inside of the card to complete it. Hee hee... I'm a dork. Forgive me. :)

You'll also notice in the video that I had no idea what I wanted the card to say! This truly is how I work. I just jump in feet first and try to figure it out as I go. My process is very organic like that. Not much planning outside of picking colors, and even then sometimes I don't know (like when I chose the ribbon in the video).

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy Make a Card Monday! Actual time making the card: 17 minutes.

OH! And before you all start asking, the music is by Diana Krall. :)

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

Merry - Patterned paper: Basic Grey; alpha stickers: American Crafts; Basic Black, Always Artichoke, and Natural White card stock, Whisper White taffeta ribbon, Simple Serif Mini Alphabet, and Cranberry Crisp ink: Stampin' Up!

Hi all! Here's just a catch up for all the cards I had in the October issue of Cards Magazine. Enjoy! :)

Thank You - Card stock: Bazzill and Stampin' Up!; rubons: American Crafts; pen: American Crafts; chipboard: Scenic Route; glitter: Stampin' Up!; stamping ink: craft ink by Stampin' Up! (used to "paint" chipboard).

Fun Halloween - Card stock: Stampin' Up!; stamps: Stampin' Up!; stamping Ink: Stampin' Up!; piercing template: Stampin' Up!; pen: Uni-ball Signo Gel Pen; flower: Bazzill; brad: American Crafts; rubons: American Crafts.

Happy Birthday - Card stock: Stampin' Up!; patterned paper: American Crafts; rubons: American Crafts; felt flower: American Crafts; brad: American Crafts; ribbon: Autumn Leaves.

Thanks a Bunch - Card stock: Stampin' Up!; rubons: American Crafts; chipboard: Fancy Pants Designs; glitter: Stampin' Up!; stamping ink: Craft ink by Stampin' Up! (used to "paint" chipboard); ribbon: SEI.

Thinking of You - Card stock: Stampin' Up!; patterned paper: SEI; rubons: American Crafts; ribbon: Stampin' Up!

Hi, Friend - Card stock, patterned paper: American Crafts; ribbon: American Crafts; stickers: American Crafts; chipboard: Stampin' Up! and Technique Tuesday; glitter: Stampin' Up!; stamping ink: Craft ink by Stampin' Up! (used to "paint" chipboard).

Don't you love the holidays?! I've been listening to Christmas music all day! Love it!

This morning's card and tutorial was a request from a few weeks back. How do you use the Color Spritzer? Well, here's a quick how to on just that!

I mostly use the spritzer to just get a soft texture to the card stock. I generally do not use the spritzer as a means to create a focal point on a card. The tool has been around for a quite a while, so if it's over-used it can easy make your card look dated. By careful with it--less is more!

I've also wondered if you could use the Color Spritzer with a Versamarker. Does anyone know? It would be awesome to use it to add little speckles of glitter! If you know if this works (or doesn't work), leave a comment and let the rest of us know. :)

Thanks all! And have a wonderful day!

Holiday Card - Block Party stamp set, kraft card stock, Whisper White taffeta ribbon, and glitter (Stampin' Up!); patterned paper (Basic Grey); glue pen (Martha Stewart Crafts); ink (ColorBox).

Okay, when you're driving and the car behind you follows extremely close, do you want to just slow down to a crawl until they change lanes? Maybe it's just me. ;)

This card came about because I was wondering what glitter would look like on acetate (transparency sheets). Hmm, I thought, will a heat tool melt the plastic? My preferred method of using glue is with Heat & Stick powder (Stampin' Up!), so a heat tool would have to be used. Especially since I wanted to stamp the image that would be glittered.

Well, it works! The acetate does not melt as long as you don't heat it too long.

For those who don't know how Heat & Stick powder works, you stamp your image in either craft ink or VersaMark, then sprinkle on the Heat & Stick powder, shake off excess powder, and then heat it with a heat tool until the powder melts (but not any longer than that!). Make sure you don't heat it too long, or it will lose it's tackiness that you'll need for the glitter. Then you'll sprinkle your glitter on, shake off the excess, and heat set it one more time. Voila! Glitter!

The other thing I did on this card, was I pulled out the white stitched in the Purely Pomegranate double stitched ribbon. It left behind a faint pierced pattern which I think is so cool!

Hi kids!

Today's card is all about the punched flowers from the Three For You Punch Box (Stampin' Up!). Don't you just love those little flowers?! They're adorable, I tell you, adorable!

I haven't broken out this punch in a while, so I thought it needed a little attention. Does anyone else out there feel bad when something hasn't been used in a while? I feel like my neglected supplies are just crying out to create something!

Anyway, this card is for my wonderful boss Paula. She really is just the best and I want her to know that. :)

The pierced lines were first penciled in, pierced with the paper piercer and mat, and then the pencil lines were erased. I love these free lines. :)

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Okay, now for some girlie stuff. ;)

Some you were asking about my hair in the Handmade Card - Start to Finish and Thickers & Rubons videos. I totally just curled my hair with a curling iron! I used the technique in the video below. I even found a curling iron from Amazon.com like the one in the video. I bought a smaller one (click here!) than the one they use because my hair is shorter and I wanted to see how it would turn out.

My SU! upline, Erica, bought the same size they used in the video. She curled her hair last week and it was so SO cute! All of you ladies out there with longer hair, you have to try this out!

Anyhow, enjoy! Oh, and if the sound is a bit out of sync, it was like that for me too.

Paula - Three For You punch box; Certainly Celery, Kraft, Tempting Turquoise, and Chocolate Chip card stock; Certainly Celery, Tempting Turquoise, and Chocolate Chip ink; silver brads; paper piercer and mat (Stampin' Up!); alpha stickers (Thickers from American Crafts).

I'm still totally obsessed with American Crafts fleece. It's the softest, cutest stuff you've ever seen. Seriously.

I went to dinner this week with some friends from high school, including my childhood best friend. Anyhow, I'm at the age now when all my married friends are having babies and the other two girls at dinner were both pregnant! Can't you believe that? :)

Anyway, Elizabeth (childhood best friend) is pregnant with her second baby and I just heard at the dinner. So fun! So this card is going in the mail for her. :)

So a tip about using the fleece. Adhere it with a dry adhesive. Otherwise, it shows through. I used Tombow Mono Adhesive on this card (and the card in my last entry). I also drew the legs on the birds. :)

The cleaning of the craft room is still in full swing. I decided to spring clean (though it's far from spring here in Utah) my bedroom, so I'm slowly making my way into the craft room. Hopefully I can wrap that up soon.

Anyhow, I hope ya'll are having a wonderful weekend. I don't know about you, but I'm on my way to take a nap. What's a nice relaxing weekend without a nap?

Congrats! - Three for You (Punch Box) and Absolutely Fabulous stamp sets, Blue Bayou and Very Vanilla card stock, River Rock double stitched grosgrain, Vanilla embossing powder: Stampin' Up!; VersaMark ink; Jet Black Stazon ink; fleece birds: American Crafts.

Hi all!

Do you ever just feel overwhelmed and don't know where to start when it comes to creating something? Well, I'm feeling it right now. I think it's because my craft room is just overflowing with new and exciting product that I can't wait to use. But none of it's put away!

Ahhh!!! I'm going to go crazy if I don't clean my craft room soon! That is the project for tomorrow morning. But in the meantime, here's a little something I whipped up last night when I was attempting to put away some of the new American Crafts goodies but got distracted. ;)

When I saw these little fleece hearts, I had to stop and make something with it! The fleece is just so soft and pliable. I just love it!

i {heart} u - Textured card stock: Bazzill; fleece heart and felt letters: American Crafts; patterned paper: Amy Butler for K&Company; Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon: Stampin' Up!; thread: craft supply.

By special request, today's post focuses on Heidi Swapp masks.

I'd never used one of these masks until ScrapFest last month when I took a Heidi Swapp techniques class. These masks are actually pretty cool. And for those of us who love paint and ink, it's awesome!

So far, I haven't been able to get a clean and crisp edge to the images, but I'm not sure that's the intent. Also, if you use an acrylic ink and make sure the edges are really stuck down, I bet you could get a nice edge.

Anyway, here's the tutorial. I really like how the card turned out. I think it might be one of my recent favorites. :)

BTW, thanks to everyone who has purchased my calendar design. I really think you'll like it.

Thanks - Kraft card stock and Chocolate Chip wide grosgrain ribbon: Stampin' Up!; mask and chipboard letters: Heidi Swapp; brads: American Crafts; ink: ColorBox.

Hi all! Tomorrow night is my monthly stamp club. The hostess this month (Hi Kelli!) requested the candy bar sliders that we made at a stamp camp last spring. My stamp club girls weren't able to come to the camp, so these sliders are new to them. Also, I don't own any specific Halloween sets, so Holiday Blitz once again saved me. I've used this set more than any other set I own! :)

(You can find instructions for the candy bar sliders here).

We're also making a small 3x3 card. Kelli requested a card that she can attach to wedding gifts, but I made the card a bit more generic so that it can be used on many different things, including wedding gifts.

Here's a tip for workshop projects for all you demonstrators: I originally designed this card to have the heart/circle stamped directly on the white band of card stock. However, it was difiicult to get the stamp perfectly centered, and I knew it would be a struggle and irritation for all my club girls to do the same. So, I decided to pop the image off the band by stamping it separately, punching it out, and then adhering it with a Stampin' Dimensional. All in all, I think I like it a bit better that way anyway. :)

Anyway, I'm off to bed. I'm still catching up on sleep after the trip. 'Night all!

Happy Halloween - All supplies from Stampin' Up! All Holidays and Holiday Blitz stamp sets; Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, and vellum card stock; Creepy Crawly Designer Series Paper; Pumpkin Pie and Old Olive markers; Jet Black StazOn ink; Basic Black grosgrain; 1-3/8" and 1-1/4" circle punches; crimper.

Heart 3x3 - All supplies from Stampin' Up! Holiday Blitz stamp set; Purely Pomegranate, So Saffron, and Whisper White card stock; Old Olive Prints Designer Series Paper; Scallop Circle, 1-1/4" Circle, and Corner Rounder punches.

Hi all! I'm finally back in town. Back to the regular schedule. :)

I had tons of fun in New York City! It was awesome! Anway, I thought I'd use some pictures from the trip for inspiration for card for the next fews days. This first card was inspired by a peeling sign I saw in Chinatown. An awesome new friend at Basic Grey (hey Jen!) sent me some paper to try out and when I saw it I knew it was perfect for this card!

The paper I used is from their Periphery Collection, and it's awesome! I've always loved Basic Grey stuff because it's so grungy and eclectic. The graphic designer in me just loves all the layering they include in their artwork. I tend to go more graphic and clean, but sometimes a girl's gotta break out of her usual routine, ya know? :)

So this is a bit of a messier card for me. Definitely a challenge and departure from what I usually do. Hmmm... Do you like it?

I'll also leave you with a couple videos. The first is self-explanatory, and the second... well, I used a song in it, so I couldn't put it on Revver. Hopefully the YouTube video works. :) Enjoy! BTW, here's a shout out to the lovely Annie who is in the videos. Hey Annie!

Hey U - Defining Alphabet stamp set, Basic Gray ink, and 1/8" hole punch: Stampin' Up!; date stamp: 7Gypsies; textured card stock: Bazzill; patterned paper: Basic Grey; ribbon: Fancy Pants; buttons and thread: unknown.

Hi all! Another Christmas card tonight. I made this last night, but saved it to share today. And thanks for letting me know what you consider essential for your papercrafting. By far, the most common answers were: paper trimmer and scissors (paper snips or ribbon scissors, specifically). Thanks for the input! I love to hear how ya'll papercraft, too. :)

Anyway, I bought some more metal edged tags a while back and really wanted to use one with a felt Thicker (American Crafts), so this is what I came up with. The large circle was cut out of the patterned paper using the Coluzzle. The striped pattern paper is adhered to the card using Stampin' Dimensionals.

Doesn't that ribbon tying make you think of a present! Speaking of presents, I'll have to do a bit of holiday shopping on my trip.

While I'm on my trip, I'll also keep my eyes peeled for some cool papercrafting ideas, too. Kind of along the lines of, "How and where can I find inspiration?" A bit of "homework" for me. I'll take lots of pictures to show ya'll. :)

While I'm gone, I'll try to update a bit, but I can't guarantee anything. I return to Utah on Monday, so I'll see you guys for sure Tuesday morning!

Merry Christmas 2 U - Typeset Numbers set, Real Red card stock, Garden Green ink, Certainly Celery wide grosgrain ribbon, paper piercing template, and metal edged tag: Stampin' Up!; patterned paper and felt Thicker letter: American Crafts.

If any of you have been following what I've been listening to over the past few days, you know I've been breaking out the Christmas music a bit early. Well, a bit early for anyone else besides me. ;)

I've always loved Christmas! I love everything about that time of year, so without fail, I usually start my Christmasing a bit earlier than most. This spills over into my card making as well.

This card came as such a suprise to me! Sometimes when you're creating, things just pull together. Call it fate, call it inspiration--it rocks! I was on a roll after I made this little card, I had to make another (watch for it tomorrow). You can also click on the card to see it larger. :)

Using a stamp-a-ma-jig is essential when stamping those thin-lined letters. And I also used it to place the ampersand (in Sahara Sand so that it fades a bit into the background). So break out those stamp-a-ma-jigs! If you don't have one, or rarely use the one you have, you need to go grab it (or buy it) now! My stamp-a-ma-jig is a permanent fixture on my crafting desk.

What supplies never leave your craft area? I want to know. What is essential for you?

Peace & Joy - ABC Alphabet, Letterpress Numbers, and Sparkling Holiday sets, Real Red and Whisper White card stock, and Real Red and Sahara Sand ink: Stampin' Up!; patterned paper and ribbon: American Crafts.

First off, I have to thank you all for your sweet comments about my last video! :) I'm glad you liked it. Also, there have been many questions left in the comments over the last few days. I'll try to get to them. In fact, I'll just include answers in tomorrow's entry.

Speaking of tomorrow's entry, it will be the seventh and last giveaway. But before we get there, let's congratulate Jen who commented last night at 9:30. She's the fifth giveaway winner! Jen, I'll email you shortly so you can reply with your mailing address.

Tonight's giveaway is another 2-pack of Thickers. The winner will receive a pack of felt Thickers and a pack of foam Thickers. Leave a comment and good luck!

Forever Friend - Card stock: Bazzill; forever stamp: Heidi Swapp; patterned paper, Wonderful Favorites stamp set, and Wild Wasabi double sitched grosgrain: Stampin' Up!; yellow scallop tape: Doodlebug.

The winner for Giveaway #4 is Gina Wrona, who commented at 1:25 this afternoon. Congrats Gina! I'll email you so you can respond back with your mailing address.

Only two more giveaways left! Tonight's giveaway is a a selection of American Crafts patterned paper. You'll receive some brand new patterns, as well as some of my favorites. :)

Leave a comment and your name could be drawn! :)

P.S. The music used in the video is "Come to Me" by Koop. I found it on the Grey's Anatmony Soundtrack, Vol. 3.

COMMENTS CLOSED! I'll be posting soon with the winner. :)

Hang in There - All supplies from Stampin' Up! Event Full stamp set; Polka Dot background stamp; Certainly Celery, Whisper White, and Wild Wasabi card stock; Regal Rose Classic Ink; Jet Black StazOn; blender pen; Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon.

Hi all! Tonight's creation was partly inspired by a question I saw recently. Unfortunately I don't recall who asked, but the person wondered what an origami box would look like made out of vellum.

Well, this is what it looks like. Unfortunately vellum card stock is very brittle and hard to work with (as can be seen in the torn edge). I'm sure regular vellum would be easier. Anyway, it's pretty cool to work with.

This box and the cards inside could be a gift that a baby shower host gives to the new mom. Just some simple cards she can use to thank those who help out around the baby's birth. :)

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Giveaway #3's winner is Pat S. who commented at 3:52 this afternoon. Pat, I'll email you shortly.

The prize for the fourth giveaway is chipboard shapes (see the exact ones here). These shapes are awesome! We used some at ScrapFest last month and they make the cutest cards!

Good luck! Leave a comment and your number might be picked! :)

Baby Boy Thanks Cards - Soft Sky and Vellum card stock, Chocolate Chip ink, Little Pieces and Absolutely Fabulous stamp sets: Stampin' Up!; ribbon: American Crafts.

Hi all! Tonight's winner for Giveaway #2 is Adelina, who commented at 9:12 last night. In a happy coincidence, she's never used rubons before! They are going to a perfect home. :) Adelina, I'm going to email you in a moment--just respond back with your mailing address.

Giveaway #3 consists of one box of American Crafts ribbon. This ribbon is so yummy! The one up for grabs is Kris Kringle holiday ribbon (see it here).

Leave a comment and your number might be drawn! Good luck!

Sorry - Kraft card stock, paper piercing template, and white gel pen: Stampin' Up!; patterned paper: Scenic Route; scalloped edge: Doodlebug.

Sorry - Kraft card stock, paper piercing template, and white gel pen: Stampin' Up!; patterned paper: Scenic Route; scalloped edge: Doodlebug.

As requested, here's a quick tip on setting eyelet evenly in a row! By the way, I mention that the Crop-A-Dile setting for a 3/16" eyelet is B-2, but I was wrong. It's actually A-1. Sorry!

And today's card:

Giveaway #1 - Winner is Melanie (Batgirl), who commented at 11:44 this morning! Congrats! Melanie, I'll email you shortly so you can reply back with your mailing address.

Giveaway #2 - Two packs of American Crafts MiniMark Rubons! See which ones here (in Color 2) and here (in Black).

Keep those comments coming! As I did tonight, I'll close comments at 7:00 p.m. tomorrow night. Good luck!

COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED! I'll draw a name right now! I have a new entry all written, I'm just waiting to draw a name.

Sweet Pea - textured card stock (Bazzill); Certianly Celery and Whisper White card stock, Event Full stamp set, blender pen, and Wild Wasabi ink (Stampin' Up!); ribbon (American Crafts); Jet Black StazOn ink.

Hi all! I'm going to share some of the American Crafts love I received last week with some giveaways!

I'm planning to upload one creation each day this week and at the end of the entries I'll tell you what the giveaway is. Leave a comment and I'll randomly pick a number. If the number of your comment is picked, you win the giveaway!

Tonight's giveaway consists of two Thickers packets--one chipboard and one foam stickers. Leave a comment and good luck!

Edited to add: I'll be picking numbers at 7:00 pm the following day on each of these giveaways.

COMMENTS CLOSED! I'm picking a number right now!

Hello - Card stock: Chocolate Chip and Kraft (Stampin' Up!); patterned paper, stickers, and eyelets (American Crafts); ribbon (Fancy Pants).

Many of you have probably noticed that there's a big trend right now in scrapbooking and papercrafting of using transparencies or acetate on projects. It's actually been around quite a while, and I have to agree with the people who love using transparency sheets--they are so fun!

For some reason, I had the idea of using a stamp from Stampin' Up!'s So Many Sayings set. I saw the stamp and I just knew I have to use it on a transparency! I stamped the words using White StazOn and then I was in business.

BTW, the card is held together with two staples at the fold.

So Many Love Sayings - Card stock: Chocolate Chip (SU!) and white textured (Bazzill); stamps: Little Pieces and So Many Sayings (SU!); inks: Pretty in Pink, Certainly Celery, and Pale Plum (SU!); Whisper White taffeta ribbon (SU!); transparency sheet.

You're eyes are not deceiving you--Kwernerdesign Blog has gone Pink! Pink for October, that is. :) As it says at the Pink For October website, "Web sites will Go Pink during the month of October to bring attention to Breast Cancer Awareness Month, get people talking about breast cancer, and raise money for research."

I encourage all of you with blogs to go pink, too!

Just a quick note about the card below... The scallop circle comes from Stampin' Up!'s Borders and Blossoms Accents and Elements. For those unfamiliar with Accent and Elements, they are collections of die-cut adhesives in a small tin. Anyway, the Borders and Blossoms Accents and Elements has neutral adhesive pieces, so I just sponge daubered on some Pretty in Pink Craft ink. Then I put it on the card with some Stampin' Dimensionals.

Enjoy!

A Friend Is Forever - Friendship Messages stamp set (Hero Arts); Certainly Celery, Naturals White, Old Olive, and Pretty in Pink card stock (Stampin' Up!); Pretty in Pink and Regal Rose ink (Stampin' Up!); Borders and Blossoms Accents & Elemtns (Stampin' Up!); patterned paper (Sassafras Lass); Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon (Stampin' Up!)

Happy Birthday 2 U - Card stock and tag (Scenic Route); rubon and flower (American Crafts); brad (SEI); Defining Alphabet set, Chocolate Chip ink, On Board Lots of Letters, and ribbon (Stampin' Up!).

Have ya'll heard of lifecasting? It's the most bizarre, and yet intriguing, thing. I was curious about it and came across two really awesome blogging additions that I've set up here.

Heads up all you Google Reader peeps (I'm one of ya, let me tell you!)... You'll need to make a little visit over the the main page to see these additions:

Twitter: It's like mini-blogging. Pretty neat. Of course I want to update ya'll with all the meaningless things I do everyday. You can even update from your mobile phone! :) Check out my twitter feed here.

Last.fm: AWESOME! Just run this little app in the background while you're listening to music, and it will update your Last.fm profile with what you're listening to. So great! See what I've been listening to here. You can check out what I listen to while I'm designing and creating.

If any of you already use these sites, let me know! I want to add you as a friend. :)

P.S. So the first night of the Fall TV shows started last night. LOVED Journeyman... It's like Quantum Leap, but better. Heroes was wonderful as usual, How I Met Your Mother (go visit SlapCountdown.com), and Chuck was entertaining. But TV for Wednesday? Be sure to check out Bionic Woman. I caught a preview (from Amazon.com and TiVo) and it's awesome!

Too many good shows... DANGIT! How will I ever narrow it down? Maybe I'll have to TiVo everything and save some for the summer months. :)

So I've been remiss in updating you all with cards that were in publications... Get ready for a quite a few. :)

The first two were on the cover of Cards Magazine, July 2007. For some reason, they showed the second card on it's side. I guess it works either way, though.

Hi all! Just a quick card this morning. :)

P.S. I used the Martha Stewart Ball-point tip glue pen. It's actually not that bad, even if it doesn't go on in even lines. Oh, well! After all, it's glue!

You Make My Heart Happy - Friendship Messages stamp set (Hero Arts); Kraft, Old Olive, and Purely Pomegranate card stock (SU!); Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon (SU!); Dazzling Diamonds glitter (SU!).

Forever Absolutely Fabulous - Kraft and Basic Black card stock, Basic Black marker, Little Pieces and Absolutely Fabulous stamp sets (Stampin' Up!); Forever stamp (Heidi Swapp); ColorBox inks.

Hi all!

Sometimes we forget how simple card making and stamping can be, right? Sometimes it's just about the paper, ink, and stamps. :)

I haven't gone back to basics in a really long time--probably not since my beginning days of stamping aka "pre-dimensionals." Once I knew about Stampin' Dimensionals, I was a gonner for the muti-layered card. :)

Merry - Kraft card stock, Big Pieces, Sparkling Sayings and Hung Up on the Holidays stamp sets (Stampin' Up!); VersaMark; ColorBox inks.

So this morning's visit to the land of card stock and ink was super fun! I broke out one of the stamps I received at ScrapFest in the Heidi Swapp techniques class, and mostly stuck with chalk inks. Man, I love chalk ink! It's awesome! I don't have very many colors, though. I have an old ColorBox petal thingy (used to be in the SU! catalog, but it's since retired), and a charcoal cat-eye pad that I also received at ScrapFest, but other than that, my colors are very limited.

Anyone else like working with limited supplies? I LOVE it! It makes me think a little harder and it's a challenge!

Anyhow, how are you going "Back to Basics"? Take the challenge, create something with just the basics, and leave a link here so we can all see what you've been up to.

:)

So I returned from St. George late Saturday night. It was a whirlwind trip, but so very worth it! I rode down with my upline, her upline, and a couple side-lines (yes, Melanie, I'm sure we're SU! related somehow, right?). Anyway, it was a fun trip! Plus, we got to watch episodes of The Office and You've Got Mail on the way down! Of course, it was on my little iPod screen so the screen was pretty small, but still... give me some John Krasinski (my television boyfriend--see a great photo of him in this entry) or some Tom Hanks and I'm a happy girl. :)

Here are some pictures from the event of Saturday. This is an annual event organized by Jill Olsen, who is so nice and personable! She designed most of the projects we made, too! I don't have pictures of the projects yet because I was too busy making them, but below are some card swaps and other displays that were there. Just some of my favorites. Forgive me if your card is here--I didn't catch any names! I didn't make any swaps, so I just took pictures. If your card is here, please leave a comment tell us which one is yours!

Also, big shout outs to the readers I met (I think there were six of you)! I kept running into Robyn everywhere! And I believe you can see her and Sasha in one of the photos! Hi girls!

BTW, the first photo is of me and my upline, Erica. Our "slumber party" at the hotel ended with me braiding her hair, so I had to take a picture of how it turned out! Hi Erica!

If you're anything like me you mostly put small 3x3 cards on wedding gifts. A little notecard seems like just the right size to write "Congratulations!" and then sign my name. :)

I made these little cards this weekend while I was in Minnesota. I found the patterned card stock (gorgeous iridescent card stock from Reminisce) and the Creative Imaginations flowers at the Archiver's at the Mall of America. As for the green card stock, it's from Bazzill.

Hi all! It's been a whirlwind few days here in Minnesota! We spent two days at ScrapFest and let me tell you--I'm exhausted!

This is how ScrapFest works:

There are about 35 different vendors who have make and take booths set up in the corridors of the Mall of America. Literally in the middle of the hallways! So you can imagine how crowded it can get on a Friday and Saturday afternoon with a bunch of crazy scrappin' ladies, each with a large tote wheeling behind them. Not to mention the regular shoppers! ;)

I had a chance to stop by the Stampendous booth and meet Taylor very briefly. I'm pretty sure she thought I was crazy. I was all, "Hi, Taylor! Heather invited me to dinner with you guys tonight!" The look on her face was something to the affect of, "Umm... Do I know you?" Seriously, though, she was really nice, and the project they had planned for us at the booth was super cute!

Unfortunately I didn't make it to dinner that night with the SCS ladies. My sister and I got held up at the mall a bit later than we anticipated and by the time we got to Southdale Mall (where we were supposed to meet them), it was pretty late. I figured they'd be gone by then so we went to dinner elsewhere, but I just got an email from Heather and apparently they were at the restaurant until 10:00! Oh, well--I'll have to meet them some other time I guess. :)

As for the classes at ScrapFest, the "classrooms" are set up in larger areas of the mall (i.e. the open areas outside department stores), and also a couple classrooms on the top floor of the mall where they have meeting rooms

Various scrapbook manufacturers provide course material and instructors for each class.

We went to an awesome class sponsored by Hero Arts and taught by Jennifer McGuire (watch for some cards inspired by the class--I can't wait to get home and make some).

We also went to a class sponsored by Heidi Swapp that was all about different techniques. I got to try using a mask with Acrylic Paint--so cool! I will have to try it at home when I have lots of time to let the paint dry. Let just say I was glad the Archiver's people had baby wipes on hand. :)

Each class cost about $20, and not only do you get all the materials for the items you makes in class, but you get to take home lots of extra product, too! American Crafts was the most generous of the all the classes we took.

While I was at the AC class, Kelly Purkey ran over to my table and said hello. Hi Kelly!

Anyway, I had a lot of fun at ScrapFest (except for all the waiting in lines to make the make and takes). The lines were excessively long today, but weren't as bad yesterday. We won't be there tomorrow (I fly back to Salt Lake tomorrow), but I bet they'll be equally as busy.

So, tomorrow I'll update ya'll with some of the photos I took while I was in Minnesota. I have quite a few of my nieces and nephews that are just too cute not to share. :)

Some of you might remember the file folder book Taylor made a while back (see it here). I loved it so much I tried to make one of my own... except I adapted it to be smaller and use less patterned paper. Easier and quicker to make. :)

I'm planning for my stamp club girls to make this file folder tag book this month, and then possibly recycling it for a class in October. One of my hostesses requested a class, so she'll be hosting and doing all the inviting, including showing photos of the tag book around to generate some interest. Hopefully this is along the lines of what she was thinking of for the class. Her only requirement was that it cost less than $5 to make.

I'll post scoring and cutting instructions tomorrow. :)

BTW, I'm off to Minnesota tomorrow to visit my sister and go to ScrapFest! Super excited! I'll be posting updates while I'm there, though.

I joined a card swap group for SU! demonstrators and I'm a total slacker. I put off making all the cards until the very last minute. But I finished! I mailed them off this afternoon.

Here are the three swaps I did. The first two were using only Stampin' Up! products, and the third was a little bit of some fun things I recently acquired that were just screaming SCREAMING to be used. Isn't that Scenic Route paper delicious! (Thanks, Colleen)

Merry Christmas - All supplies from Stampin' Up! All Holidays, Merry & Bright, and Three For You sets; Certainly Celery, So Saffron, and Wild Wasabi card stock; watercolor paper; Wild Wasabi Classic pad; Jet Black StazOn; Watercolor Wonder Crayons; AquaPainter; Real Red Wide Grosgrain; 1-3/8", 1-1/4". and 3/16" Corner Rounder punches.

Merry Christmas - All supplies from Stampin' Up! Season of Joy and Background Basics sets; Basic Gray, Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, and Whisper White card stock; Apple Cider DSP; Regal Rose Classic Stampin' Pad; VersaMark pad; 1-3/8" Circle and Scallop Circle punches; Buttons Fresh Favorites I ; Crafter's Tool Kit (needle); thread.

Thanks For Making Me Smile - Small Sayings set, Close to Cocoa Classic pad, and Taupe grosgrain (Stampin' Up!); patterned paper (Scenic Route); felt flower and brad (American Crafts).

This month's stamp club projects are getting designed very late! Stamp club is on Wednesday night and I just got around to creating them tonight!

A big thanks goes out to Kelly Lunceford (atomicbutterfly) for the cute gift card and holder she sent in the mail! I picked up some things for her at Convention, and this is her thank you. Now I get to thank her for her thank you! :) I used her card as inspiration for the gift card holders we're making at club this month. :)

Here's Kelly's:

And here's mine (including a view of the inside):

Make a Wish Gift Card Holder - All supplies from Stampin' Up! Big Bold Birthday, Three for You sets; Certainly Celery, Whisper White, and Wild Wasabi card stock; Certainly Celery, Pretty in Pink, and Wild Wasabi Classic Stampin' Pads; So Saffron Stampin' Write Marker; Regal Rose wide grosgrain.

The second card we'll be making at club this month was inspired by one of the make-and-takes at Convention a month ago. I modified the colors and the stamp sets, but it's basically the same layout. :)

Friend Card - All supplies from Stampin' Up! Background Sampler, Fundamental Phrases, Polka Dots and Petals, and Three For You sets; Certainly Celery, Kraft, So Saffron, Soft Sky, and Whisper White card stock; Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip, and So Saffron Classic Stampin' Pads; Chocolate Chip Craft Stampin' Pad; VersaMark; On Board Chipboard; button; staples.

I came home tonight after having my hair colored (every 10 weeks--such is being a girl) and found a lovely package on my doorstep.

"Hmm... weird. I haven't ordered anything recently." I looked at it closer. The box was wrapped in paper and had little KitchenAid mixers stamped all over it in "Roxy" Red! "What...?" I was definitely intrigued now. I opened it up and...

There was a ton of awesome KitchenAid stuff inside! I found a card inside as well from Martha, an awesome demonstrator I met through SCS and from an email she sent last May after my Mom gave me a KitchenAid hand mixer for my birthday that she read about here at my blog. She's such a sweetie! She's also a KitchenAid Product Specialist--what an awesome job that would be!

Not only were there little recipe booklets, red measuring spoons, cute red ribbon with "Kiss the Cook" on it, and some magnets for my fridge that have the KitchenAid customer service phone number on it, but there was also an awesome mixer spatula that has a curve that matches the curve of Roxy's bowl! SAH-WEET! Plus, there was a really nice gift bag which features a HUGE photo of a red mixer... it just has to be Roxy. I can't tell if it's her for sure, but I'd like to think it is. She's so beautiful I don't see why KitchenAid wouldn't use her as a model. ;)

Ahh... I have the best blog readers! :)

Here's a card I made for lovely Martha. Hey, Martha! Watch your mailbox--this puppy's headin' your way!

Martha - All supplies from Stampin' Up! Absolutely Fabulous, In the Spotlight, and Jumbo Outline Alphabet sets; Basic Gray, Ruby Red, River Rock, and Very Vanilla card stock; River Rock and Ruby Red classic ink; VersaMarker; Sherbet Ribbon Originals.

So a few of you (read: a lot) have noticed that a few of my cards are in the September issue of Stampin' Success (the magazine for Demonstrators). :) I was one of the lucky ones to "test drive" the new Demonstrator Business Web Site. Let me tell you, it's awesome! Ya'll are going to love it!

Yesterday, I got my goodie box from Northridge Media (I have things in both Cards Magazine and Scrapbook Trends). Lots of fun things to create with, including some AWESOME paper from Creative Imaginations. Check it: cherries, skulls and cross bones, edgy stickers. So cool! I'm pretty sure all of it was made with a teenager in mind, but I love it anyway!

Here's a card I made with the cherry patterned paper.

You Rock - Patterned paper: Creative Imaginations; stamps (Well-Worn Alphabet, Rough Edges Alphabet, Straight Up Alphabet and Numbers, Three For You), ink, embossing powder, eyelets, ribbon, and card stock: Stampin' Up!.

I also had a workshop this afternoon. The hostess is an avid photographer and requested card with photos. I wasn't sure what to do because I haven't put pictures on cards before, so I asked around and someone suggested I try photos on this card. Renae, you're a genius!

Here's how the photo card turned out. I used photos from a shoot I did for my good friend Melissa (see some shots here). This is her little guy who is so HUGE now compared to when these photos were taken.

Baby Card - All supplies from Stampin' Up! Polka Dots and Petals stamp set; Pumpkin Pie and Soft Sky card stock; VersaMark ink; Old Olive Prints Designer Series Paper; 1-1/4" square punch; Certainly Celery wide grosgrain.

Ornaments - All supplies from Stampin' Up! Hung Up on the Holidays set; Soft Sky, Whisper White, and Wild Wasabi card stock; Blue Bayou, Ruby Red, and Wild Wasabi Classic pads; Soft Sky double stitched grosgrain.

Thank You Teacher - All supplies from Stampin' Up! Define Your Life and Simple Serif sets; Polka Dot background; Kraft, More Mustard, Real Red, and Wild Wasabi card stock; More Mustard, Sahara Sand, and Wild Wasabi Classic Stampin’ Pads; Chocolate Chip wide grosgrain; silver eyelets, Crop-A-Dile

This was one of my make and takes at a workshop this afternoon. I based this off a card found on page 150 in the Fall-Winter Collection. I just loved the color combination (as seen in my last post), and absolutely love those little flowers, too.

This would be a great card to show off the punch box--especially with the great promotion on the punch box right now. :)

Thinking of You - All supplies from Stampin' Up! Three for You set; Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, and So Saffron card stock, Certainly Celery, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, and So Saffron ink; Three for You punch; brads; Bashful Blue gingham ribon.

You're Absolutely Fabulous - All supplies from Stampin' Up! Absolutely Fabulous, Three for You and Wanted sets; Polka Dot background; Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olve, Real Red, and Whisper White card stock; Bashful Blue, Old Olive, and Pumpkin Pie ink; 1-3/8" Circle, 1-1/4" Circle, Scallop Circle, and Star punches; Certainly Celery wide grosgrain.

Supplies needed:
Star stamp that fits star punch (Wanted stamp set) Star punch
1-1/4" circle punch
1-3/8" circle punch
Scallop circle punch
Card stock:
- Pumpkin Pie: 2-1/2" x 4-1/4"
- Whisper White: 2-1/4" x 2-1/4"
- Real Red: 2-1/2" x 3"
- Bashful Blue: 2-1/4" x 2-1/4"
- Standard size card base in Old Olive
Dimensionals
Mini Glue Dots

STEP 1: Punch 1-3/8" circle in Pumpkin Pie card stock.

STEP 2: Punch star in Whisper White card stock. Apply adhesive around edges of square.

STEP 3: Adhere Whisper White star square to Pumpkin Pie card stock, centering star in circle.

STEP 4: Punch 1-1/4" circle in Real Red card stock.

STEP 5: Center Scallop circle punch over circle you just punched. Punch.

You should now have a scallop circle frame.

STEP 6: Cut some Stampin' Dimensionals into smaller pieces and apply to scallop circle frame.

STEP 7: Carefully center the frame over the whisper white circle and adhere.

STEP 8: Tie ribbon around Pumpkin Pie card stock.

STEP 9: Position your 1-3/8" circle punch as shown above. Push in the card stock as far as it will go and punch.

STEP 10: Apply Stampin' Dimensionals to back of Pumpkin Pie card stock.

STEP 11: Carefully position Pumpkin Pie card stock over card base--WATCH THE HOLE IN THE CARD. Make sure the punched star has no Old Olive card stock peeking through.

STEP 12: Stamp star on Bashful Blue card stock. Apply Mini Glue Dots in all four corner on front.

STEP 13: With card front face up, carefully adhere Bashful Blue star sqaure to inside of card.

Little Tree - Merry & Bright set, Purely Pomegranate and River Rock card stock, Certainly Celery narrow grosgrain, rhinestone brad, Old Olive Prints Designer Series Paper (Stampin' Up!); punch (Marvy Uchida).

Pink Christmas - All supplies from Stampin' Up! Season of Joy set; Pretty in Pink, Wild Wasabi, and Whisper White card stock; Pretty in Pink and Regal Rose classic ink; Regal Rose wide grosgain.

Many of you know that SU! demonstrators are given the opportunity to buy merchandise from mini catalogs a bit earlier than customers, right? Well, today my Holiday Mini Collection pre-order came! Lots of fun little goodies to tease you all with over the next three weeks until you can order (September 1).

Anyway, this little card took me a long time! Longer than any card has in a while. :) Mostly because I didn't know what I wanted to do at first. I knew I wanted to watercolor the snowmen. It's not too noticeable in the photo, but they are watercolored a slight blue color to show their dimension.

The three windows were punched out by first punching three squares, arranging them on the blue card stock, lightly penciling around them, and using the pencil marks as a guide.

Okay, and who loves the new Prints Designer Series Paper? And in Old Olive? Be still my heart! I can't believe I didn't order this paper a month ago with my initial new catalog order! It's luscious!

And on to the card!

Snowmen Card - All supplies from Stampin' Up! Merry and Bright set; Soft Sky and Purely Pomegranate card stock; Old Olive Prints Designer Series Paper; watercolor paper; Purely Pomegranate, Old Olive, and Jet Black StazOn inks; Certainly Celery wide grosgrain; AquaPainter.

So I was talking with some paper crafting friends yesterday and we have some general tips to share with you:

- When you have scraps of card stock large enough to create a card out of, fold it in half and set it aside (she used a drawer) so you'll always have folded cards on hand. Smart!

- Create your own imaging sheets for the Stamp-a-ma-jig by cutting down some vellum card stock. Then you can keep those sheets inside your stamp set boxes and always have them ready. Great for sentiment sets and alphabets.

- Some of you have asked about how I tie ribbon into knots. I tried to use my old digital camera that has movie capabilities to capture some knot tying, but alas, I don't have enough hands! Plus the lighting was really bad. Anyway, here's the tip I learned a while ago: Left over right, pull tight, right over left, and then pull tight but more with the left side (this turns the knot under so you get a good looking knot). It's hard to explain without visuals, but if any of you understood that, let me know! :)

Anyway, here's a card for your Saturday afternoon.

U R Absolutely Fablous - Absolutely Fabulous and Define Your Life Alphabet sets, Whisper White textured and Chocolate Chip card stock, Chocolate Chip and VersaMark ink, Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon, white detail embossing powder (Stampin' Up!); glittery alpha sticker (Martha Stewart Crafts); large button (Bazzill Basics).

I made this card last night. Hmm... that Soft Sky stamping on Soft Sky card stock doesn't really show up in a picture, does it? Oh, well! Believe me, it's there! :)

Kind of a strange color combination for me, but I think it's okay. Not great, but okay. I think the brightness of the Taken with Teal washes out the Soft Sky. What do you think?

Wonderful Friend Card - All supplies from Stampin' Up! Wonderful Favorites set; Happiness background; Lavender Lace, Soft Sky, and Whisper White card stock; Lavender Lace, Taken with Teal, and Soft Sky classic pads; Old Olive wide grosgrain.

Thanks Card - All supplies from Stampin' Up! Jumbo Outline Alphabet set; Polka Dot background; Blue Bayou and Wild Wasabi textured card stock; So Saffron card stock; watercolor paper; Blue Bayou and Wild Wasabi classic pad; Real Red craft pad; Jet Black StazOn; On Board Blossoms and Basics; Fresh Favorites Buttons; Aqua Painter; thread.

Hi all! Only two days until I leave for Convention! I fly out to Denver on Tuesday morning--I can't wait!

In other news, I've been nominated as a "Rockin' Girl Blogger" by Tisha, Kathy, and Elizabeth (edited to add Tobi as well). Thanks girls! I'm totally honored! From what I gather, it's now my turn to nominate 5 more "Rockin' Girl Bloggers." I've chosen five girls who I totally love! I love each of their blogs because I know them in real life and love to hear what they're up to.

BTW, forgive me, I've recreated the Rockin' Girl Blogger graphic... had to give it some flare, ya know?

My Nominees:
1. Sarah - ROCK ON! Sarah has the most entertaining blog ever! I love to visit her site every few days to see what's happening.

2. Erica - Not only is she my SU! upline, she's an awesome friend who is absolutely hilarious! Plus, she has really cute cats. (Makes me want a pet cat of my own!)

3. Jen - My lovely SU! SLC Regional friend! Jen and I were orphans together at the regional training last April. Luckily she sat down next to me and we've been friends ever since.

4. Aimee - I LOVE AIMEE! Can I yell this any louder? I've known Aimee since 7th grade, can you believe that? We were Abby and Martha Brewster in our ninth grade production of Arsenic and Old Lace. Aimee did wonderfully, but I forgot nearly all my lines--don't ask. ;)

5. Kara - Hey, girl! (Kara, I say this in my best Jeni P. voice). Kara and worked on our college newspaper together. Her and her husband have the cutest little girl ever (well, after my nieces of course ;). Recently we reconnected on Facebook and I've loved reading her blog ever since. :)

And just 'cause I've been stamping like mad so that I'm ready for Convention... Here's a card I made while taking a break from the swaps:

Thank You - All supplies from Stampin' Up! All Holidays and Oh, So Lovely sets; Pale Plum, Purely Pomegranate, and Very Vanilla card stock; Bravo Burgandy, Old Olive, and Purely Pomegrante stamp pads; wide Old Olive grosgrain; blender pen.

Hi all! It's been a few days since I last checked in, but I've been super busy! Between getting ready for Convention and trying to wrap up some projects at work before I leave town for a week (plus I saw HP5 again last night), I've hardly had any time to sit down and create anything.

I should be creating quite a bit this weekend though... I have to finish 3 scrapbook layouts for my American Crafts design team position! I would usually have until the end of the month, but I'll be at Convention, so I'm trying to finish them up before I leave.

Anyway, tonight is my monthly card club. Didn't I just do my June club? Yeah, this month's club is moved up because (once again) I'll be at Convention.

(small interruption... I'm sure all this prepping for Convention and cramming everything I need to do in before I go will be worth it. Right? Tell me again why I'm going to Convention? Okay, minor pity party over... I really am seriously excited about Convention. No regrets. I KNOW it will be awesome!)

At club tonight we'll be making one of the cards I design for a Convention swap. The other card is below:

My Dear, Kind, Wonderful Friend - All supplies from Stampin' Up! All Holidays set; Chocolate Chip, Kraft, and Whisper White card stock; Old Olive and Really Rust Stampin' Write Markers; Fall Flowers Designer Series Paper; Old Olive wide grosgrain; mat pack; paper piercer.

First of all, thanks for all the comments about the new design! You're all too cute!

As of the time I am writing this, there have been 29 responses (discounting my one comment--I can't exactly win, right?). So, using random.org, I have selected a winner for my little giveaway. Number 7, SueB! Susie, send me an email at kristina at kwernerdesign.com (sorry about the weird email address--just take out the 'at' and put in a real @ symbol... it cuts down on spam mail).

Also, today I completed 3 full sets of swaps for Convention! Whoa, I'm tired. ;) As before, if you are going to Convention, please DO NOT use these designs for your own swaps. I know most of you wouldn't even think to do that, but I have to cover all my bases, right?

I've also been tagged to tell ya'll seven things about myself:

1. Music currently listening to: Grey's Anatomy Soundtrack, Volume II
2. Latest book checked out from the library: Sew What! Skirts
3. I almost was an English major in college (after yesterday's misspellings and unclear writing, let's just be glad I decided to go into art instead. ;)
4. Favorite snack: Pepperidge Farm Goldfish
5. I was super blond as a child... then suddenly I was brunette.
6. Sometimes I sit on a fit ball (exercise ball, body ball, whatever you want to call it) when I'm sitting at my computer. At home. They've banned them in my office at work. ;)
7. I've owned a digital camera since April 2000. Currently, I have over 27 GB of photos on my external hard drive.

And on to the cards...

Happy Birthday - All supplies from Stampin' Up! Background Basics, Big Bold Birthday and Eat Cake sets; Dotted background stamp; Apricot Appeal, Naturals White, and Wild Wasabi card stock; Apricot Appeal, Cameo Coral, Chocolate Chip, and Wild Wasabi Classic Stampin’ Pads; Apricot Appeal Stampin’ Write Marker; Chocolate Chip wide grosgrain; sewing machine.

Merry Christmas - All supplies from Stampin' Up! All Holidays and Sparkling Holiday sets; All about Christmas jumbo wheel; Basic Gray, Ruby Red, Soft Sky, and Whisper White card stock; Ruby Red and Soft Sky Classic Stampin’ Pads; Wild Wasabi double stitched grosgrain.

Hi all! I got to stamp a bit tonight. :)

My showing of Harry Potter doesn't start until 9:30, and we have reserved seating, so I had the chance to stamp a couple cards. I just cannot get enough of the new Holiday Blitz stamp set! Just love it! It's so versatile and the little itty bitty images are so cute. I'm sure you'll see a lot of cards with these images for a while.

On the first card, I used the Crop-A-Dile to "emboss" the row of circles. Basically you just set the Crop-A-Dile as if you were setting 3/16" eyelets, and then press the paper between the two metal pieces. I love this technique and first saw it from Erin Lincoln at the Creating Keepsakes website. I looked for the video to share the link with ya'll, but I couldn't find it... they've changed their video area. If any of you can find it, please leave me a comment with a link and I'll pass it on to everyone. :)

The second card uses the new Jumbo Outline Alphabet. I loved this stamp set when I first saw it, but after I'd mounted it, I had no idea what to do with it! This was my solution. I would have liked to color in the centers checkerboard fashion with a Soft Sky marker, but since those don't exist (are you listening SU! I WANT IN COLOR MARKERS!) I used a VersaMarker which worked out really well. :)

Thank You Apples Card - All supplies from Stampin' Up! All in a Row, Holiday Blitz and Polka Dot stamp sets; Basic Gray, Certainly Celery, Real Red, and Soft Sky card stock; Basic Gray and Wild Wasabi classic ink; Pretty in Pink taffeta ribbon; Crop-A-Dile.

Thank You Outlined Card - All supplies from Stampin' Up! Dotted and Jumbo Outline Alphabet stamp sets; Purely Pomegranate and Soft Sky card stock; Blue Bayou and Purely Piomegranate classic ink, VersaMarker; Ribbon Originals.

YEAH! My boxes of new stuff came today! I ordered WAY too much... let me tell ya!

Anyway, the first thing I did was break out the things for my Convention swaps. I planned out all my swaps, down to the last detail. You should have seen me trying to estimate how much ribbon I would need! Anyway, here's my first swap for Convention.

NOTE: I don't think I really need to say this, but...

If you are going to Convention, please DO NOT case this card to use as your own, even if you note that I was the original designer. I'd really like to keep this swap to just me. Thanks!

On the other hand, if you're not going to Convention, or if you are and want to use this as inspiration for a workshop or something, feel free!

I'm off to mount some more stamps...

Happy Birthday Card - All supplies from Stampin' Up! All Holidays, Polka Dot, and Holiday Blitz sets; Pumpkin Pie, Purely Pomegrante, Soft Sky, and Whisper White card stock; Pumpkin Pie, Purely Pomegranate, Soft Sky, and Wild Wasabi classic ink; Wild Wasabi double stitched grosgrain.

Happy Birthday Card - All supplies from Stampin' Up! - Eat Cake and All Occasions stamp sets; All About Birthdays jumbo wheel; Pumpkin Pie, Purely Pomegranate, Soft Sky, and Wild Wasabi card stock; Pumpkin Pie, Purely Pomegranate, Soft Soft, White StazOn inks; clear buttons; white grosgrain; linen thread.

Celebrate Card - Card stock: Pumpkin Pie, Whisper White, Wild Wasabi (Stampin' Up!), patterned paper (KI Memories); stamps All About Birthdays wheel (Stampin' Up!); ribbon (American Crafts); sewing machine and thread..

I've started my Convention swaps! I'll get back to the sewing machine tidbit of information, but first for those that don't know, the Stampin' Up! Convention for demonstrators starts in three weeks! AHH!! It's a tradition at these events that a lot of card swapping takes place.

GET YOUR SWAP ON!

When I went to the Salt Lake Regional Training, I didn't prepare any swaps and I was totally left out. This time I am most certainly going prepared. I have 100 swaps planned--25 each of 4 designs. Well, I'm still waiting on my new catalog sets to arrive, so I can't do everything yet, but I've starting cutting the card stock I have and stamping what I can.

So the sewing machine... You have to know this right up front: I haven't even touched a sewing machine since 7th grade home economics class. I made a really bad looking hot pad. Anyway, I really wanted to try sewing on of my sets of swaps for Convention.

Sewing has always been my mom and older sister's thing.. Well, watch out ladies! Here I come!

My mom's too sweet too me... She dug out her sewing machine (she quilts by hand so the sewing machine hasn't seen the light of day for who knows how long), and re-taught everything to me. I was really dreading it, but it wasn't too bad. I actually sewed around 28 card pieces (3-1/4 x 4-1/2) in about 50 minutes. Not too bad for a beginner, eh?

Sorry, no pictures of the swap progress yet. But I'll be sure to share the finished products with you here. In the meantime, here's a card I made during my family reunion this weekend. Imagine me and my two cousins and my cousin's boyfriend sitting around a table in a cabin, surrounded by the plethora of supplies I brought with me (one must never leave the house without at least a little bit of scrapping supplies--come on now!), and each of us creating some cards. Totally lots of fun. :)

Anyway, here's one of the cards I made:

Love Card - Card stock: Stampin' Up!; patterned paper: SEI and Sassafras Lass; rubons: American Crafts; ribbon: Scenic Route; pen: Uniball Signo white gel pen.

As Sarah would say, I've been a "very bad blogger" lately. Sorry to stop for a while... seems weird to have been away for so long. Really it wasn't that long, but it felt like a long time.

Anyway, lets jump right in and see my latest card. Just a little birthday card. Tried to make it a bit generic so that it could be given to a boy or a girl. What do you think?

Enjoy Your Day Card - Card stock: Bazzill; patterned paper and ribbon: American Crafts; stamps and punches: Stampin' Up!.

Star Card - Three for You set and See You Around Jumbo Wheel (Stampin' Up!); Purely Pomegranate and Soft Sky classic inks (Stampin' Up!); Purely Pomegranate, Soft Sky, and Wild Wasabi card stock (Stampin' Up!); yellow scallop strip (Doodlebug Designs); chipboard (Stampin' Up!); black gingham ribbon (Stampin' Up!).

Flower Card - See You Around Jumbo Wheel (Stampin' Up!); Purely Pomegranate classic ink (Stampin' Up!); patterned paper (Sassafras Lass); Purely Pomegranate card stock (Stampin' Up!); yellow scallop strip (Doodlebug Designs); chipboard (Stampin' Up!); silver brad (American Crafts).

Bird Friend Card - Everyday Flexible Phrases and Zoofari stamp sets (Stampin' Up!); Groovy Guava, Purely Pomegrante, and Soft Sky inks (Stampin' Up!); Naturals White card stock (Stampin' Up!); Jet Black StazOn; AquaPainter (Stampin' Up!); rose grosgrain ribbon (Stampin' Up!).

So, Kelly just sent me the cutest email saying that she has a copy of the July issue of Cards... So, I know it's out now. Guess who's cards are on the cover?

July 2007 cover

;)

Interestingly, they showed the card on the left on it's side. Hmm... maybe I should have sent a photo with the actual card when I mailed it to them. It does work horizontally, though.

(BTW, congrats Kelly on your cover of Scrapbook Trends!)

I guess I really love the "congratulations" stamp. ;)

I ordered some card stock from SU! yesterday and it arrived this afternoon (one of the perks of living so close to the corporate office). Anyway, I ordered the colors used on this card. I didn't mean for it to be a color combination--I just needed those colors. But when I opened the box I was all, "Hm... those are nice."

I also used a boatload of stuff from the Preview Brochure, including two new stamp sets (Baroque Motifs and Hug & Wishes), three new In Colors (Blue Bayou, Soft Sky and Groovy Guava), the stamp set and punch from the new punch box, and one of the new rhinestone brads. Lots of fun!

Congratulations - All supplies from Stampin' Up!: Baroque Motifs, Just For You and Hugs & Wishes stamp sets; Groovy Guava, Sahara Sand, and Soft Sky classic ink; VersaMark ink; Blue Bayou, Blush Blossom, Groovy Guava, Soft Sky, and Very Vanilla card stock; pastels; Three For You and 1/2" circle punches; cream grosgrain; Fire circle rhinestone brads.

I have a few "homework" assignment over the next few weeks. I have two workshops before the end of June, plus my regular card club. So I'm attempting new techniques, or techniques I don't often go to when I'm making a card.

My Stampin' Pastels have never been used! Can you believe that? I got them in my starter kit when I signed up as a demonstrator, but have never used them. This afternoon, I broke off the shrink wrap and tried a few things, one of which worked out.

The card below uses Groovy Guava card stock and ink--a new Stampin' Up! In Color for 2007. Currently, it's only available to customers. Look for it in the July catalog if you want to buy it. It's such a luscious color... yum! Guava is right!

Congratulations - All supplies from Stampin' Up!: Touch of Nature and Hugs & Wishes stamp sets; Blush Blossom, Bravo Burgundy, Groovy Guava, and Very Vanilla card stock; Groovy Guava classic ink; Blush Blossom and Bravo Burgundy Stampin' Write Markers; VersaMark; color spritzer; Stampin' Pastels (Bravo Burgundy, Certainly Celery, So Saffron); gel pen, apricot grosgrain.

Hi all! I've had a couple of really good mail days! I received my Stampin' Up! demonstrator order on Wednesday (I ordered some things from the July 2007 catalog that are available to demonstrators now). And yesterday I received my order from amillionlittlethings.com, including my new KI Memories 4x4 felt album. I just love it. A Million Little Things has only a few of the albums left (click here).

Anyway, here's the album and then the page. I also made a small 3x3 card using some of the same products and the new Stampin' Up! punch box (the three little flowers).

At the Zoo, 1987 - Card stock: Bazzill and NEW! Stampin' Up! Purely Pomegranate card stock; patterned paper: 7Gypsies; ribbon: SEI; strip of yellow scallops: Doodlebug; stamps, stamping ink, flower punch, and rhinestone brad: Stampin' Up!

Hi Friend - Typeset Alphabet Lower, Background Basics, and Three For You stamp sets (Stampin' Up!); Purely Pomegranate and Pumpkin Pie cards stock (SU!); patterned paper (7Gypsies); yellow strip of scallops (Doodlebug); circle punches (SU!), light pink grosgrain (SU!).

Thank You Card - All supplies from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted. Rose Red, Almost Amethyst, Buckaroo Blue, and Going Gray card stock; Rose Red and So Saffron ink; Dazzling Diamonds glitter; button; black gingham ribbon; Martha Stewart Crafts double-sided letter adhesives.

My colors: Rose Red, Almost Amethyst, So Saffron, Going Gray, and Buckaroo Blue
Stamps (I only used two): Dotted Background, flower from Office Accoutrement
Product: sponge with ink

So Erica (my SU! upline) and I are going to give each other weekly challenges and ya'll are welcome to join us! Each Wednesday either she or I will post a stamping or scrapbooking challenge. Because let's face it, after tonight, we won't have anything to watch. Idol and Lost end tonight. We need something to keep us busy, right? ;)

We're planning to both complete the challenge tonight, but you'll have until Friday! So, post a link here when you're done and we'll come check out what you did. :)

Lost Idol Challenge #1
You will have 30 minutes to complete this challenge from start to finish. You can think about what you'll do beforehand, but once you touch card stock or paper, the clock is ticking. Here are the rules:

1. Use 5 (yes, that's five) colors.
2. Use 3 stamps only (each letter in an alphabet set counts as 1 stamp, also a background stamp is 1 stamp). You can repeat a stamped image more than once. But only 3 total stamps are used.
3. Use a product you have not used for at least 2 months. Dig out that Coluzzle, pearl ex powder, or Perfect Layers. It must be a product that had not seen the light of day for at least 2 months.

Game on!

Hostess Coaching is what SU! encourages all demonstrators to do. Basically, hostess coaching is helping your workshop hostess have the best workshop possible, and also making them feel special and to thank them for helping your business thrive.

I've never been big on hostess coaching, but I'm trying to do better. I have a workshop this afternoon and I've been really trying to help her out as much as possible. I've been in contact with her over the phone as well as going to her home once to talk over the types of projects she wants to do. I really hope this helps her get better sales and in turn helps me out.

In the past, I would give my hostesses all the cards I demonstrate and then a few other small goodies. This time, I decided to make her something special as well. This is a box I folded, decorated, and filled with small cards. I hope she likes it. I've seen instructions for this box in numerous places in the internet. I'll find some directions and post them here.

And this is one of the cards we'll be making as a group:

Mon Amie Card - All supplies from Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted: Carte Postale stamp set and French Flair background; Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip, and Old Olive card stock; Certainly Celery classic ink; Versamark; Winter White detail embossing powder; Sterling Silver embossing powder; American Craft's ribbon .

First off, before I get to the card, here are the interview questions from Sarah with my answers following each one:

1. If you were to create a new Ben & Jerry's flavor, what would it be?
I would love a flavor that taste like Samoas Girl Scout cookies. Yum. (NOTE: I was just told that they actually do make this flavor! I must go to the store and get some immediately!)

2. What is one of your guilty pleasure songs?
Definitely "White Christmas." Sung by just about anyone. I could listen to that song all year round! Yum.

3. If you were a paparazzi photographer, who would you stalk?
John Krasinski from the The Office (also known as my television boyfriend. Have ya'll seen *the* trailer?). Yum.

4. What is your favorite thing to do on a day off work?
First I sleep in. Then I read a good book. Then I maybe stamp or scrap a bit. Then I must go out to dinner. Yum.

5. Everyone is a snob of something--what are you a snob of?
I'm a seafood snob. As in I only eat the good seafood. Get rid of the calamari, but bring on the shrimp. Yum.

You Rock, Miss You - Card stock: Bazzill; patterned paper, chipboard: Scenic Route; ribbons, rubons, pen: American Crafts.

This month our club hostess is one of my co-workers, Lauren. She absolutely LOVES small cards and requested them for our projects in May. So I sat down yesterday and made a few 3x3 cards. These are just a few of the ones I came up with to choose from later:

Thanks 3x3 - All supplies from Stampin' Up: You Make Me Happy and Everyday Flexible Phrases sets; Regal Rose, Chocolate Chip, and So Saffron classic ink; Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, and So Saffron card stock; Au Chocolat Designer Series Paper; grosgrain ribbon; glitter.

Udderly Exhausted 3x3 - All supplies from Stampin' Up: Farm Fever set and Dotted background; Real Red, Black Black, and Regal Rose classic ink; Jet Black StazOn; Real Red and Basic Black card stock; water color paper; gingham ribbon.

Genuine Thanks 3x3 - All supplies from Stampin' Up: Genuine Articles and Background Sampler sets; Sage Shadow classic ink; Rose Red, Sage Shadow, and Chocolate Chip Stampin' Write Markers; Chocolate Chip, Rose Red, Sage Shadow, and Whisper White card stock; Palette O' Prints Designer Series Paper (Rose Red); grosgrain ribbon.

Happy 3x3 - All supplies from Stampin' Up: Polka Dots & Petals and Polka dots & Paisleys sets; Chocolate Chip and Sage Shadow classic ink; Chocolate Chip, Sage Shadow, and Very Vanilla card stock; grosgrain ribbon; window sheets.

Hi all! Here are the two cards that appeared in the March issue of Cards Magazine. Now that it's been two months, I can now share them here. :)

Bridal Shower Invitation - Mellow Moss and Whisper White card stock: Stampin' Up!; patterned card stock: Wild Asparagus; stamp: Paper Salon; Mellow Moss classic stamping ink: Stampin' Up!; satin ribbon: Oblations Paper & Press in Portland, OR.

Bridal Shower Invitation - All supplies from American Crafts, except for Whisper White card stock from Stampin' Up!

5x5 Notebook - Chipboard album, Au Chocolat Designer Series Paper, Old Olive and Cool Caribbean card stock: Stampin' Up!; felt flowers and brads (American Crafts); red adhesive twill tape (Karen Foster Designs).

Just a quick update before I head off to work. This is a notebook that I bought a while ago and just now got around to decorating. :)

BTW, I mailed out all the Cards Idea Books yesterday. All you lucky gals should get them soon.

You Make the World Special Card - All supplies from Stampin' Up!: You Make My Happy stamp set; Old Olive and Whisper White card stock; Palette O'Prints Designer Series Paper (Rose Red and So Saffron); Rose Red and Old Olive Classic ink; Flirty Ribbon Originals; silver brad.

You Make Me Happy Card - You Make Me Happy and Dotted stamp sets; Rose Red, Old Olive, and Whisper White card stock; Rose Red, Old Olive, and So Saffron Classic ink; Light Pink grosgrain; button.

Some more Palette O'Prints for ya'll. I just love these papers and I absolutely love the You Make Me Happy stamp set in the Spring Mini Catalog as well.

In none paper crafting related news, I've recently discovered pandora.com. Such an awesome site! You just enter in a song you like and then it finds similar songs and plays it for you like a custom radio station. As each song plays, you can give it a thumbs up or down, and it "learns" more and more what you like. Totally awesome! I've discovered some new artists that I really enjoy. I totally recommend it and listened all day at work today. :)

Also, it's been a crazy few days at work. Between birthdays and retirement parties (someone else's, not mine...hee hee!) I haven't had a chance to mail out the Cards Idea Books I gave away last week. So sorry, girls! It's on my to do list tomorrow, I swear!

Has anyone seen the new Martha Stewart crafts line in Michael's stores? How does it look? I'm so curious! I haven't had a chance to drive to Michaels since they put in all the product. From what I hear, it all looks great. And I hear that there are designer cupcake paper liners! I'm all over that! (Sarah, have you seen them? I know you're on top of everything cupcake).

Speaking of cupcakes, I made Orange Pound Cake Cupcakes this weekend. Um, not that great. When you see a cupcake, it should taste like a cupcake, ya know? And you bite into this, look down at it and you're all, "What...is... this? This is not a cupcake. Who's been messin' with the cupcake?" That would be me. Gross. Won't be makin' those again.

And to think I totally smoked my mom's handmixer over these pieces of cupcake trash? However, my birthday's coming up... Hmmm, Kitchaid mixer? Pretty please. ;)

Happy Birthday Card - Euphoria Alphabet and Number stamp set, VeraMark ink, Palette O'Prints Designer Series Paper (Rose Red and So Saffron), Notations Designer Series Paper, Winter White Detail Embossing powder, Flirty Ribbon Originals: Stampin' Up!; brads: American Crafts.

I'm so excited for the new papers SU! has planned for the upcoming catalog. And I'm even more excited that we get a "sneak peek." During the month of May, SU! is selling 6x6 pads of some of the new papers. Watch the main Stampin' Up! website for more info starting in May.

As a demonstrator, I get to try out the new paper a bit earlier than customers can buy it. And let me tell you, it's fantastic! I had so much fun playing with it last night.

HB Card - Palette O'Prints Designer Series Paper (Rose Red and So Saffron), Notations Designer Series Paper; chipboard letters: Scenic Route; ribbon and eyelets: American Crafts; Uni-ball Signo white gel pen

Happy Birthday Card - Palette O'Prints Designer Series Paper (Rose Red and So Saffron), Notations Designer Series Paper: Stampin' Up!; flower: Bazzill; brad: American Crafts.

U Rock Card - Card stock: Bazzill; chipboard letter: Scenic Route; stamps: Fontwerks; stamping ink, markers, ribbon, paper piercing template, and glitter: Stampin' Up!; brads and rubon: American Crafts.

So I'm still in my "glitter phase." Not that I use it all the time--I just want to use it all the time. It's a fine line between too much and just enough, right? ;)

I wanted to make some Scenic Route chipboard letters into glittery pieces of yumminess, so I sanded off the color on them already, painted over it with SU! craft ink, applied Heat & Stick Powder, heated it up, and then a glitter chipboard letter was born! So much fun!

BTW, I used the tip I got a while back and put my glitter in a little plastic Glad container. Much less messy! I keep it in there always. I also keep a plastic spoon in the box to scoop the glitter onto whatever project I'm working on. Then I shake it over the box and the unused glitter is saved for another time. :)

Thank U - Card stock: Bazzill; chipboard letter: Scenic Route; stamps: Fontwerks; stamping ink, markers, and glitter: Stampin' Up!; ribbon and brads: American Crafts.

Another great discovery... Bazzill Bling card stock. I got some from Cards magazine in a goodie box they sent me last February and finally had a chance to break it out. This stuff is awesome! It's great for markers and coloring in outlined images (as I did on both of these cards). The shimmery coating on the paper allows the ink from the markers (SU! Stampin' Write markers) to settle evenly on the surface of the card stock. No streaks!

I'm loving that look. It almost looks printed, ya know? You can't see it in the pictures, but the Bling card stock is seriously cool. Me likey.

I've also been tagged by a few different people recently. Unfortunately, the tagging will stop here, but I will leave the 7 random facts about me that it requires. :)

1. It took me 5 years to get my Bachelor of Fine Art in Graphic Design. Mostly because I spent the first two years not knowing what I wanted to do.

2. I am the youngest child of 4 and the middle of 9. Figure that one out. ;)

3. I love to send gifts to my friends and family out of state. Looking for a gift? Try:

Harry and David
Cheryl & Co. (best sugar cookies ever!)
Red Envelope
iTunes Gift Cards
1-800-Flowers.

4. I have an Amazon.com Prime membership and use it all the time. Free 2-day shipping? Hello? Gotta have that. I've bought everything from books to banana chips from Amazon.

5. I've had an obsession with cupcakes ever since I bought a Cupcake Courier.

6. I have a huge box of book-fold 12.5 x 12.5 x .5-1" boxes in my craft room. I got them to ship scrapbook pages and cards to magazines and bought them from centralpack.com. I never got a confirmation email from them, but the order did go through. I suggest before ordering, sign up for an account so you can track your order.

7. Favorite beverage? Figi Water. Yes, there is a difference. Figi water is so clear and yummy, I could drink it all day!

So, they haven't updated all the images at their site, but look what I found: click here!

Those are my cards on the cover! I was so excited to receive an email from Alisha back in January asking if I would make a coordinating card for the cover to go with the one Mother's Day card I already submitted. For the cover?! OF COURSE! Need she even ask!

So neat to see how they photographed them. And I can't wait to see the actual cover. I'm sure it will be even better in person. :)

Seeing the cover makes me so grateful for all the supportive people that steer me in the right direction.

Thanks, ya'll. :)

I attended the Stampin' Up! Regional Training in Salt Lake yesterday. So much fun! I met some great people, inluding some SCS people (allenjeni and atomicbutterfly). Don't worry, girls, I won't post your pictures here! :)

It was so great to meet them and put faces with names!

We learned some awesome techniques and I just couldn't wait to try them out. This is my first card using some of them. It features heat embossing on buttons, fraying grosgrain ribbon, and using small circles to create a scalloped edge. LOVE it!

Happy Birthday Card Supplies - Card stock (Chocolate Chip, Cool Carrbbean, Old Olive), stamps, stamping ink (Whisper White, Old Olive and Cool Carribean), eyelets, ribbon, embossing powder: Stampin' Up!; buttons: American Crafts.

birthday cards. Here's another. This one was for a co-worker's birthday:

So, I'm still sick. All groggy from Aleve Cold & Sinus (bless them!). But I also hate just laying in bed all day. I finally got out of bed and tried doing some things today. Not a whole lot since I can hardly breathe, but still something. :)

Here's one of the cards I made this afternoon. Pretty simple and no specific sentiment, but these are the cards I need most often. Just blank ones I can fit to any occasion.

Supplies - Card stock, stamps, stamping ink, glitter: Stampin' Up!; buttons: American Crafts.

(First off, please excuse the blurry photo below... I didn't realize it was blurry until I went to upload it. And frankly, today I'm being a bit lazy. My cold is back with a vengeance and my head feels about 5-feet wide).

For the first time ever, all 12 members of my stamp club will be at our meeting tonight! :) In fact, three of them are bringing friends so it will really be a party!

This month's card club projects feature the 5-in-1 Card Cover Template. Each person will make a large envelope and card, and a mini envelope and card. Hopefully, everyone won't have to wait too long for the supplies because I gave them a choice as to what patterned paper from the Spring Mini Catalog to use.

The breakdown is like this: 6 for Au Chocolate, 6 for Notations, and 3 for Petals & Paisleys. Each card uses different supplies so there won't be any crossover. I purposely planned it that way because the hostess is setting up 3 different tables--one for each patterned paper. I hope it goes smoothly.

(BTW, in the first picture, I didn't include the Au Chocolate envelope because I'll be demonstrating how to use the template using that paper).

(Photo of card removed for publication)

Today I challenged myself to use only four diferrent sheets of card stock and no patterned paper. Here are the cards I came up with. Enjoy! :)

Supplies - Textured card stock: Bazzill; Ruby Red card stock, stamps, stamping ink, white grosgrain, metal edged vellum tag: Stampin' Up!; Chipboard flowers: Fancy Pants Designs; Rubons, brads: American Crafts; brown grosgran: Wild Asparagus; large eyelets: We R Memory Keepers.

I'm still in American Crafts heaven! My brother installed some shelves above my drawing table that I adore. I've lined up all my American Crafts ribbons and flowers and other goodies so I can see them. It really helps me to see everything out in the open.

Here are few photos of my scrap area (forgive me, it's a bit cluttered--I work best that way. Just ask the people I work with).

The photo of the filing cart shows how I have my SU! card stock. I have all 48 colors on top and the neutrals and In Colors for this year down below in a little file box that I slide out when I need them. I really like this little cart. I found it at Costco. The file folders are from M.O. and I blogged about them before (see the entry here).

And some cards! These are made mostly with all AC product, but I did use SU! card stock, punches, and ribbon in some places.

(Photo removed for publication)

One of the best parts of being on the American Crafts Design Team is the goodie boxes that come after tradeshows (CHA, Memory Trends, etc). It's like Christmas!

Just like the time when I received my last box, after I opened the one I received today and promptly gasped, I was overcome with the need to organize my scrap area to accommodate all the new things. But before I could start tearing apart the room to put it back together, I decided to make some cards for my co-workers.

I changed positions at the company I work for about a month ago and the three gals I work with are so great! Don't get me wrong, I loved all the people I worked with before, but the four of us have hit it off really well. The other day I stopped designing for a moment and looked up from my computer.

"I get paid to do this?" I said out loud.

Tonight, I feel very content and grateful for the place I am right now. Granted, I still hope to buy my own home soon, and I still have so many things I'd like to do, but all in all I am overwhelmed with appreciation for where my decisions have brought me. It's so wonderful to love getting up in the morning and going to work, and then loving every minute of being there.

Believe me, I love designing and creating, but being surrounded by such wonderful people is rare and I am eternally grateful.

On to the cards!

Hi everyone! Just a heads up, I have two cards in Cards Magazine this month. They are on pages 19 and 41. Both are cards that have not been seen on the internet at all. Sometimes I submit cards that I've shared here or on TwoPeas or SCS, but these were created especially for the calls.

For those of you with the magazine already, the bridal shower invitation on page 41 has a slightly humorous story behind it. I created it to be completely fake. All the information on it is made-up. Well, the people at Cards didn't know that, so they called me and asked! "Um, is the address on the invitation real? We don't want to publish a real address." Nope! Absolutely not. Made me chuckle. :)

Can I tell you how much I love this publication? Such beautiful cards in it this month! And the cover is truly breathtaking. The theme for March is Babies so the cover cards are in pastel hues. They're just yummy! Jill Godon created them and I just can't stop looking at them. It's just so soft.

Enough with my early morning chatter. I should be getting ready for work.

P.S. I'm really worried that putting TypeKey authetication on the comments will discourage all of you from commenting. Please, PLEASE prove me wrong. Just register this once, leave a comment on this entry and then you're set for life! After that, your comment won't be monitored and it will show up in the comments immediately.

Tomorrow is the birthday of a gal in my church, so I'll be going to visit her tomorrow evening. Of course, I have numerous pre-made birthday cards, but I felt like making one tonight. And I only gave myself 20 minutes to do it. :)

Today's useless observation: I think I work better under time constraints. ;)

Supplies - Cardstock, patterned paper, stamps, stamping ink, embossing powder, envelope template, and ribbon: Stampin' Up!; large flower: Bazzill; small flowers and brads: American Crafts.

I had such a great workshop month in February that I'm kind of sad that I don't have any workshops planned outside of my monthly club for March. So, I've decided to have a Stamp-a-Stack! For those that don't know what that is, it's a workshop except the guests that come make numerous cards instead of just one or a couple. They pay a small fee and get to just come and make multiple cards of the same designs. In this case, they'll be making 10 cards.

I had a few people ask about me having one so I thought it was about time I tried it. :)

These are a couple of the cards I have planned for the Stamp-a-Stack. I included pictures of these two and a third on the invitations I'll be mailing out today.

This month's card club projects. I based the first one off the card I made last week at the crop. I just adapted the supplies used to supplies that are avaiable for purchase right now (previous card used supplies from the the Spring Mini Catalog which is available March 1). :)

I went to my very first crop last night. It was at an Archiver's near my sister's home. We got there a bit after 5:00 and stayed the entire time until 11:00. It was a very quick six hours! It hardly seemed that long--maybe only 3 hours tops. But we really were there that long. :)

It was an amazingly productive evening for me. Four pages and three cards. Enjoy!

When I first became a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I wanted to make thank you cards to include with every order. That is, until I realized that most orders are shipped to the hostess' home and then she delivers them to her guests. I would never be able to slip the thank you notes into the customers' bags. I was sort of sad about that.

I suppose I could give the hostesses cards to include when they separate the orders into the bags, but most of time I don't see the hostess again, I just follow-up with a phone call.

Anyway, I was so excited to be the hostess for the stamp camps orders from about a week ago. I got to make cards to include with the orders! I was the hostess, so I got to assemble the bags!

This is the card I included with all their orders. I wrote a short note inside and mentioned that the card was made with NEW product from the SU! Spring Mini Catalog. I left my contact information inside as well. :)

Hi all! Just a couple card this afternoon. I might submit one of them to a magazine, so if it's mysteriously gone one of these days... you've been warned. :)

Supplies - Stamp, stamping ink, cardstock, patterned paper, and ribbon (Stampin' Up!); rubons and brads (American Crafts).

Supplies - Stamps, stamping ink, cardstock, patterned paper (Stampin' Up!); foam stickers and ribbon (American Crafts).

Today's workshop is a card-focused workshop. In fact, my sister is the host and only one of her friends is coming. That means this will be a very informal workshop where everyone will make all three cards. I like workshops like this because it's almost like we're all just getting together to make some cards.

A lot less pressure. :)

I'm also focusing on chipboard and the many things you can do with it. First up is a card using chipboard that's "painted" with craft ink. Simply just rub the craft ink over the chipboard and let dry. This card in particular was offered in a kit to demonstrators last summer and I'm just now getting around to using it.

Next, is a card using chipboard as a template. In the On Board Accents chipboard, there is a square piece of chipboard with four circles cut out. I used it as a template to make a four-circle window card. [See this tutorial on how to make a one-circle window card without chipboard].

The last card we'll make uses the circles that were removed from the square chipboard template used in the Best Fishes card. This time, we'll cover the circle chipboard with patterned paper and sand the edges a bit. To adhere the paper to the chipboard, we'll be using a regular glue stick. As long as you let it dry completely, it works just fine. :)

Anyhow, I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! I might check in tomorrow with a new card or two (let's hope, right?!). :)

I had my second Sell-A-Bration workshop last night (if you don't count my regular card club meeting). Four people showed up and I didn't get any sales. Oh, well. I made cute stuff. :)

Here's the card everyone made as the Make & Take. I also demonstrated a couple scrapbook pages that I've done in the past but this group hadn't seen.

Supplies - All supplies are from Stampin' Up!; Carte Postale set; Pale Plum and Very Vanilla cardstock; Chocolate Chip Classic ink; Enchanté Designer Series Paper; chocolate grosgrain, dimensionals.

Hey all! This is a friendly reminder to pick up the February issue of Cards Magazine, and the February/March issue of Paper Trends.

In Cards, I'm on pages 91 and 121! And I haven't received my copy of Paper Trends yet, but there should be a card in there as well. :)

Here's to first times being published!

Hi all! It's been a few days since I checked in but only because I've been super busy!

Anyway, here's the latest creation. It's a small gift for my manager at work. I recently changed departments and have already moved cubicles, but I had yet to make her a small gift. Tomorrow is my sort of "goodbye" lunch, so I thought I better get it in gear and make something!

Supplies - All supplies are from American Crafts, except for the lined paper (Heidi Swapp journaling spot), the textured card stock (Bazzill), and the wood clip (Peg photo clip from Nexxt--I bought a set of two at Archivers).

I also made a scrapbook page using most of the same supplies. :)

Supplies - Card stock, paper piercer: Stampin' Up!; gel pen: uni-ball Signo Gel Pen; ribbon, rub-ons and Thickers: American Crafts.

A birthday card for a coworker. :)

The image above is the card my stamp club members will be making this Thursday at our meeting. I based this card off scrapperaddict's card (found here). I had to modify it so that it would be easier to make. And so here's a quick tutorial...

Circle Window with Frame

1. Gather your supplies:

pencil
1-1/4" Circle Punch
1-3/8" Circle Punch
Stampin' Dimensionals (or foam tape)
Card stock cut in the following sizes:

3-1/2" x 4-5/8" (Cocoa color)
3" x 4-1/8" (Celery color)
2-7/8" x 4" (Patterned tan color)
2-1/2"x 2-1/2" (white square with stamped image)

2. Take the 1-1/4" Circle Punch (the smaller one) and position it on the celery card stock. Punch. If you're using a SU! punch, the card stock is size perfectly to be flush against the inside of the punch and you'll get a precisely centered circle.

3. Place a small amount of adhesive (just for placement during the next step) on the celery card stock, and gently press the patterned tan card stock on top. Carefully turn over and trace the punched circle.

4. Separate the tan and celery pieces. Center the 1-3/8" Circle Punch (the larger one) over the traced circle on the tan card stock. Punch.

5. Adhere the tan patterned piece over the celery.

6. Prepare your white square card stock by placing foam mounts on each corner.

7. With the image still facing up, take the punched card stock pieces and carefully place over stamped image, centering it in the window.

8. Turn over and place two foam mounts on bottom corners. Also apply adhsive on the white card stock.

9. Turn over and position over cocoa card stock. Press down to adhere.

Hi everyone! I'm so excited to invite any and all of you to a Stampin' Up! Stamp Camp that I'm helping to prepare! It will be happening on Saturday, February 3 in Sandy, Utah.

Cost: $25 ($10 will go toward an order that day)
You will make 5 different projects. All supplies are provided and are pre-designed, pre-cut, and pre-scored.

If anyone is interested in attending, please email me and I will send you more information. :)

The five projects we will be doing (I only designed the first one--the other four are from other demonstrators in my group):

You will make just one of these:

NOTE:Instruction for the candy bar slider can be found here. :)

As promised, here are the projects I made last night at my workshop...

that I've removed a couple more things because of magazine requests! Wahoo! The Card Fest really worked!

I encourage all of you who are not regular submitters to magazines to just make a ton of cards (on topic--check The Pub Calls Blog and individual magazine sites) and submit them all at once. You increase your odds with each one! :)

And if you end up doing this and it works, let me know! I want to hear about your successes. :)

Hi everyone! This week has been so busy! I've had no time to sit down and do anything crafty. But in honor of the new digs (thanks Yahoo! Hosting!), here's a card I made this last weekend but haven't sent yet. It's for Sarah, my AC buddy. I'm sure in real life she looks much better than this... This was my first attempt at cutting out itty bitty pieces of paper... uh, yeah. Hard.

Sarah

So my email is working again! Hallelujah! It wasn't working for, what, 6 days! SIX DAYS! I can't believe the webhosting company. Totally unacceptable. I've already set things in motion to switch to a different company (who supports Moveable Type pre-installed so I can make my blog all pretty-like). Take that!

Okay, so the Card Fest was phenomenally successful! I just got requests for seven cards! Wahoo! I had to take the photos of a couple down, but they'll be back after the magazine's out. :)

Let me tell ya, having to write instructions for seven cards takes a long time. I don't know how all the writers at Stampin' Up! do it! Day in and day out, writing all those instructions for publications. Wow. Stamp this. Stamp that. Fold this. Tie that. Crazy!

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I have my first Sell-A-Bration workshop next week. One of my friends from work Lisa is hosting it so it should be so much fun. However, I have yet to plan the projects! Ah! Good thing I don't have huge plans this weekend--otherwise, I'd be hurtin'.

I just have to remember to plan ahead for Lisa's workshop and my step-sister's (the next week) at the same time. Save some work. Cut things for both at the same time.

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So, who loves Simon and Garfunkel? I recently "rediscovered" them over the holidays. I just love them! The last time I'd really listened to them was clear back in ninth grade. My history teacher would play their music in the background while we worked. She absolutely loved Simon and Garfunkel.

Ironically, her name was Mrs. Robinson. ;)

Well, I think I had a pretty good turnout considering it was over the holidays! :) Here are the entries in no particular order:

Sharon (notimetostamp)
Angela (Inky Button)
Stephanie (SmilynStef)
Natasha
Tracy
Kristina P.
Monika (Buzsy)

Great job, girls! We have some super creative people and the cards you came up are fantastic!

Now for the winners (randomly picked by my mother... "Hey, Mom! Pick a number between 1 and 7!").

The winners are: Stephanie and Kristina P.! Please email me with your mailing addresses so I can get these fabulous goodies out to you!

This was inspired by the Limited Supply Challenge over at splitcoaststampers. I didn't include any stamping, but I still wanted to do the challenge.

:)

PHOTO REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION

Okay, so who loves their Crop-A-Dile?! I got one for Christmas from my Dad and step-mom and I'm absolutely loving it! I used to massacre eyelets, but now it's just a simple little squeeze and the eyelet is set! I love it!

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

I got sidetracked from the "Christmas Break Card Fest" by a trip to visit my step-family. It was my step-brother's birthday yesterday so we went bowling (my score was a hefty 89!--watch out!) and had dinner (enchiladas YUM!).

I also received my Crumpler camera bag today (6 Million Dollar Home). It was a Christmas gift from my mom, but it arrived after Christmas. It's such a great bag. I already know I'm going to love it!

:)

Kim asked:

"I see circle cards in magazines, and am just never sure how they do it--leave a bit to fold it on and cover up with ribbon, punch holes and tie together with the ribbon? How did you make it?"

That's just about how I did it. The above photos of the card might clear things up, but more specifically... I fold the card stock and then cut the circle out leaving a bit of the fold. Then to cover the fold, I tied a bit of ribbon around it.

Thanks for the question, Kim!

PHOTO REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! As per tradition, I spend Christmas Eve at my grandparent's and then Christmas day at home and all the siblings (except for my sister and her family who live in Minnesota) came over.

Lots of good food, except I think my stomach is having issues with dairy products right now. Every time I drink milk or eat cheese or anything like that, I just feel awful! I'll be stepping back from the milk for a while I think.

This happened once before a few years ago. I was mostly okay, but couldn't eat ice cream! Can you believe that?! And I love ice cream! It would have it's own square in the food pyramid if I had my way. :)

Anyhow, the above card is another of my “Christmas Break Card Fest” cards. I now have 7 cards done. My goal is to complete 15 publication-worthy cards by New Year's Eve. I'm pretty sure I'll reach that. I will need to take a break to do some scrapping, however. That, and I have a few design team assignments that I'm working on.

:)

So I'm off work until after New Year's! Get the party started! I have a stack of new patterned paper that I have definite plans for. This week will be about creating tons of stuff and submitting like crazy to publications. :)

Anyhow, here's the first card to kick things off...

PHOTO REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION

Just a simple card I made for my dad and step-mom. We're getting together at their home tomorrow for our family Christmas. We get together a bit early each year so that everyone can be there. :)

Introducing the first LESS LOVED STAMP SET Challenge!

The object of this challenge is to dust off those sets that are rarely used. These are the sets that you bought, used once, and then thought, “What was I thinking?!”

Break them out and create something beautiful with them. Think of them in a different light. How can a seemingly out of style stamp set be re-energized and look contemporary and modern? What colors and techniques will make this set really shine? What will make the “not so cute” set look even better?

Maybe it's a matter of style. You're just not into the cutesy bears anymore. Work around it! Make that bear so darn cute and cuddley, I want to find the real 3D version of it to give to my niece for Christmas. It's all about presentation—that's what makes something look even better—so dress up that stamp set with fun accessories! Make it so beautiful that I want to buy it.

And then post a comment here and tell me where it's at (splitcoaststampers, twopeas, etc.)! Don't forget to tell me where to find your blog as well (if you have one). I want to see all of your creations!

Stamps by any and all companies are welcome.

AND there are prizes! Two people who take on the challenge will randomly be picked to receive a small little care package from me.

Each “Card Perfect” prize package will include:
• Small metal embellishments (brads, spirals, etc.)
• Strano Designs ribbon
• Pre-cut, pre-scored card bases created with:
Chatterbox double-sided card stock
Basic Grey card stock
Bazzill Basics textured card stock (some of my most favorite colors)
Wild Asparagus double-sided card stock
•A special little gift from me (and I'm not telling what it is—it wouldn't be a surprise if I did).

DUE DATE: December 29
(Yeah, I know it's over Christmas, but I know that some of you are taking time off work and might find yourself sitting in front of some paper and ink. Wink wink.)

PHOTO REMOVED FOR PUBLICATION

Another card using the new Polka Dots and Paisley stamp set. Enjoy!

This card has double meaning! I am "one happy girl" because the stamp set used to make this card was absolutely FREE! Stamp Up! sent this set to all demonstrators as a thank you and gift of appreciation.

Well, gosh darn it, I feel appreciated. :)

Also, my step-sister came home from serving an LDS mission in Wisconsin for just yesterday! I haven't seen her yet, but we're getting together for a family dinner tomorrow afternoon. So I just had to make her a card!

BTW, I got this color combination from my co-worker's shirt! She was sitting across from me in a meeting and suddenly I was all, "Hmm... Sage, ruby, caramel, black and ivory..." My day planner has the colors written in the margin of my meeting notes!

Okay, so sometimes I watch HSN. And they finally got to me last weekend. I bought the Wolfgang Puck rice cooker. Let me tell you, it's FABULOUS! I love it! I spent all weekend cooking rice and mac and cheese.

Yes, I said mac and cheese! You can cook other things besides rice in it! Perfect for those lazy days in the summer when I don't want to fire up the stove top or oven. In fact, the recipes included in the instruction manual are delish! :)

The mac and cheese was pretty good. The noodles weren't quite done, so the next time I make it, I'll cook the pasta just a bit before I add all the ingredients to the rice cooker.

I also made some rice pudding and just plain rice to keep in the fridge for quick after work meals. One recipe that I found last Friday that I really like is from the Cooking Light web site...

Chile-Cheese Rice Burritos

I saved some of it for lunch today at work and it went really well. I just packed the filling in a container, the lettuce in a little baggy, and the salsa in a little miniature Glad plastic container, and put all of it in my handy-dandy pink lunch bag (which I bought from Amazon.com). A quick heat up of the filling and a tortilla and I was in business.

Yum!

And some more yummy... This is one of the cards I have planned for my January stamp club meetings. Yes, that's meetings, as in plural! My first club has gone so well that when a few more ladies from work wanted to join but there wasn't room, I decided to start another!

Anyway, here's the card. I want to feature the color spritzer and show that it can be used in a sophisticated, subtle way. I used it here tone on tone to add depth to the chocolate chip card stock.

Even though it's December, it's time to start thinking about Mother's Day. At least in "magazine land" it is. Some paper crafting magazines have calls out for Mother's Day cards and gifts. I thought I'd start on one.

Well, I'm back from Virginia! It was a great trip and one that I'll remember for a long time. It was awesome to hang out with my aunt and uncle. They live in Arizona, so I've never been able to just be around them for an extended period of time.

This week was a whirlwind of catching up at work (not entirely caught up, actually), and trying to find time to sit down and do some paper crafting. I put through my demonstrator pre-order of the new SU! product coming out in December and received in Monday night and didn't have a change to even touch it until Friday. Isn't that awful?! The paper and stamps were just sitting on my drawing table, screaming at me, "COME PLAY WITH US!!!" and I couldn't until four days later.

Anyhow, once I broke them out, I went on a bit of a frenzy and made lots of things. Here we go... (see next post for the starbook).

Supplies: All from Stampin' Up! (except for the white dots in the first one--those are from Fontwerks ;)

Broke out the embossing powders and heat gun this weekend. I've never really done embossing before and I really liked it. No other way can you really get the white to on a black background.

BTW, this card reminds me of Tiffany & Co. It makes me want to go out and buy jewelry. Ahh... jewelry. I wish I wore it more often because I really do love to look at it. It's so pretty.

I should work on that. Wear more jewelry. Such a goal requires one to buy more jewelry, right? ;)

Above card: All supplies from Stampin' Up!

Do ya'll realize what today is? Well, it's the day that two wonderful things are happening:

1 - It's The Office premiere day! Jim + Pam = HAPPINESS! I'm totally hoping that all works out between them and we have a long year of JAM goodness. Sigh. I love them.

2 - The first meeting of my stamp club! A big group from the art department at work decided to form a Stampin' Up! club and needed a demonstrator to head it all up, so they adopted me! Granted, I'm not a very experienced demonstrator, but I *am* an experienced stamper. So hopefully my enthusiasm will outweigh my fumbles tonight.

Thank heavens for Tivo. Both of these things are happening at the same time tonight.

Here's a preview of what we're making at club tonight (lots and lots of cranberry stitched grosgrain!):

(This last one is lifted from a card I saw at Splitcoaststampers, by SkyesMom. See her original here).

I received an email from Paper Trends yesterday. They want one of my cards! Wahoo! My first publish! YES!

When I made a goal to get into a magazine by the end of the year, I was truly worried that I wouldn't be able to do it, but now I have!

I mailed off the card to them yesterday and I feel rather proud of myself. :)

Okay, how many posts can I blog today?
Here's what the aftermath looks like on my drawing table (Christmas gift from years ago that finally has a home in my scrap room):

And did I say how much I love this stamp set:

Perennial Favorites rocks! I could use that little leaf everywhere!

Final counts for this weekend (unless I do one more layout (which I'm sorely tempted to do): 5 scrapbook pages, 9 cards.

in the scrap room. :)

I've been scrap happy today. I haven't done anything besides scrapbooking and stamping all day (except for watching Failure to Launch and eating Café Rio with Mom--thanks, Mom!).

So, here are my latest creations (minus the ones I'm keeping under wraps in hopes that they'll be picked up by a magazine--my goal of being published within the year is still going strong... nothing yet, but I hope).

All supplies are from Stampin' Up!