Monday, September 29, 2008

Sorry--No Posts Yet :(

I'm so sorry I haven't posted anything this past weekend. And I'm not sure if I'll be able to during the week either. We were busy this weekend going to the dentist, out to eat, shopping for pants (since it will turn cold this week), had football game, and went to an Oktoberfest party. Then after the party my husband and I packed up all of my china and stemware because I sold my dining room set. We bought that beautiful furniture 11 years ago because I wanted it more than anything, and we spent a pretty penny for it too I might add. And then what happened...we used it maybe 5 times in those 11 years. What a waste! So, being the responsible adult that I'm trying to be I decided that it would be a better use of space if I would sell it and turn that into my craft room and turn what was my craft room into a play room for the kids. They really need a place other than their rooms to relax and spend time together--plus, it gets them out of our bedroom since that seems to be where they congregate to watch TV and drag in their toys. And another benefit is that we will be using the money from the furniture to buy new carpet for the house. So it's really a win win for everyone. Therefore, Sunday after church and after they came to take the furniture I spent the rest of the day moving all of my craft stuff downstairs and all of the kid's stuff into their new room. I feel like I went up and down the stairs about 50 times! So that didn't leave any time to play. Hopefully I can do something this week. I hope you all have a good week! Mary

Monday, September 22, 2008

Monthly Stamp Club Project #1


If you are a member of my monthly stamp club look away! Don't peek! I'm warning you! Ok, if you want to spoil it, go ahead. :) I just started a monthly stamp club. The guests who came to my party Saturday were automatically included in this club. Once a month for the next 6 months they will receive the supplies to make a project...free! This is the first project and it will be sent out in October. I just love how it turned out. I hope they like it too. :)

Supplies:
CS- SU
DP- SU
Image- MFT: Totally Witchin'
Ribbon- Offray
Brads- Making Memories

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Party Projects



Hello everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your weekend. I had a lot of fun today. I had some friends over for a SU party. We made 4 projects, ate some yummy snacks, and just enjoyed some "girl time". Here are 2 of the projects we made. The first one is a Thanksgiving card with the cutest scarecrow I've ever seen. The second one is a Christmas gift tag. Don't you just love this new ribbon from SU?!

Project #1 Supplies:
CS- SU: Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie
DP- SU: Autumn Vine
Images and Sentiment- SU: Happy Blessings
SU markers
Scallop Border punch- SU
Scallop Square punch- SU
Ribbon- Offray

Project #2 Supplies:
CS- SU: Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Sahara Sand
Images- SU: Winter Post
Ink- SU: Sahara Sand, Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip, Cranberry Crisp, Bordering Blue
Large Oval punch- SU
Jumbo Eyelet- SU
Ribbon- SU

Monday, September 15, 2008

An Invitation


I know this card is pretty simple in it's design and layout but I needed to make several of them, so when mass producing... simple is best. I am having a Stampin'Up party at my house this Saturday and this is an invite I made for a few of my neighbors. I get nervous when inviting people to a party because #1: I'm not a salesperson. I hate to be pushy and I don't want people to think that I am. #2: I'm afraid of rejection. I know it's not a personal thing when someone says they can't come, but I can't help feeling a little bad. I would have made the worst boy. Having to ask a girl out on a date must be terrifying! I would have ended up alone for sure. :) I just have to keep focused on the aspect that I just want to share what I like to do in hopes that they might like it too. Wish me luck!

Supplies:
CS- SU: Bashful Blue
DP- SU: Summer Picnic
Stampendous: Tiny Alphabet
Ribbon- SU
Smaller circle punch- SU
Larger circle and scallop circle- Nestie dies

What a Difference a Small Detail Can Make


I was looking at the card from my last post and I felt that it needed something. I liked the colors and the layout, and I wanted to keep it simple. Then paper piercing came to mind. I know it's a small thing but I really think it gives the card that something extra. I chose to show it to you again so as to remind you that it is in the small details where something good becomes something special. Mary

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Pocket Silhouettes


This is the first card I've made with my new Pocket Silhouettes stamp set from SU. It is now being offered at 20% off along with some other great stamp sets. Not only do these sets look great and are on sale, but they are also die cut. So there's no cutting! Just pop them out and adhere them to the wooden block. Love it! All of SU's new stamp sets will be made this way. Great idea!

Supplies:
CS- Archiver's
Image- SU: Pocket Silhouettes
Ink- SU: Chocolate Chip
Slot punch- SU
Ribbon- Michael's
Baubles- Stamping Bella

Halloween Gift Bag


This gift bag is just like one that I made not too long ago except this one uses Halloween DP. It uses a design by Cambria Turnbow from Stamp a Little Love Baby! Very simple and easy design but gives a great look. If you go to her site and look under the Designer Bags post you'll find the directions. Give it a try!

Supplies:
DP- SU
Image- unknown (got out of a dollar bin somewhere)
Black fun flock
Jumbo eyelet- SU
Ribbon- Wal Mart
Scallop edge punch- SU
Circle and scallop circle- Nestabilities dies

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Bewitched


Sorry it's been so long since my last post. As I've said a million times already this school year, I've been so busy. It sounds like a lame excuse but it's true. Also, my husband's grandmother died a few days ago and we've been dealing with that. My husband is 40 years old and this is the first grandparent of his to die. It's actually the first close relative from his entire family to pass away. It's hard for me to believe because I haven't had a grandparent alive since I was a teenager. He is doing alright with it now but I worry about him at the actual funeral. GG (as we all called her) was kind of the hub of the entire family. She was the reason we all got together for family gatherings and such. She was so special to everyone in his family. Very sad, but she had been very ill lately and was ready to go. So it's really a blessing.

On to the card. So how many of you remember the show Bewitched? I was very young when it was on but I do remember it. That's what I think of when I see this image from MFT. With this card I got to use my new scallop punch from SU. You have to get this punch! It makes it so easy to get your scallops punched evenly. I also used a clip from SU's new clip assortment. They are so cute and just the right size.

Supplies:
CS- SU: Basic Black, Old Olive
DP- SU
Image and Sentiment- MFT: Totally Witchin'
Copic markers
Scallop punch- SU
Metal clip- SU
Ribbon- Offray

Sunday, September 7, 2008

Halloween Goody Box


This is the first box that I've made from scratch, meaning I didn't have any measurements to go by. I kind of guessed at how big I wanted it. And after making a few mistakes this is what I came up with. Over the last few months, making several of these kinds of boxes, I've noticed that they are all constructed basically the same, they just have different lengths or widths that will make them different sizes. Pretty easy really. This is actually one of the projects I'm going to have my guests do at my party next week. The only change will be the image. I'm waiting for the Halloween stamp set I ordered from the new SU Holiday Mini Catalog.

Supplies:
CS- SU: Only Orange, Always Artichoke, Pale Plum, Basic Black
Image- SU: Just Flying By
SU Markers
Paper Crimper
Clip- SU

Basic Black and White


Hey! I hope you're all enjoying your weekend! Yesterday was a long but fun day for me. I attended my friend's baby shower which was very nice. She loved the scrapbook by the way. She seemed very touched and that made the long hours of making it all worth while. Then I hurried to my co-worker's daughter's wedding. This was a very long but beautiful ceremony and the bride was gorgeous. Then on to the reception where I was introduced to Scottish line dancing. After watching a special dance involving the bride & groom and some of their family members anyone who wanted came out onto the dance floor to try it out. Very fun! I had a great time and more importantly the bride & groom seemed very happy.
This was a quick and simple card that I made for them. Simple, yet elegant is all that needs to be said.

Supplies:
CS- SU: Basic Black, Whisper White
Image- maker unknown
Ticket corner punch- SU
Ribbon- Offray

Thursday, September 4, 2008

More Pictures of the Scrapbook







The Much Anticipated Scrapbook!!!







To many of you this scrapbook may not seem like a big deal to you. But to me it represents 2 solid days of work and exhaustive creative energy. You see, I don't scrapbook much at all. I love them, don't get me wrong. It's just that it takes me so long to do one page that I need a nap when I'm done. With cards you have a much smaller area to work with, you don't really need much and it can look great (as in my previous duckie card), and you can always just copy what someone else has done but to someone who doesn't know any better it looks original. Snip, snap and you're done! So you can see why I love this little scrapbook and almost don't want to give it up. Also, I actually made the pages and bound this one myself using my Bind-it-all. So it really is my "from scratch" creation. I can't really tell you exactly every company that made every little piece and embellishment in it, but almost everything was purchased at Archiver's.

I hope my friend likes it. I will be nice for her because all she has to do is crop the photos, put them on the pages, and write a little note and she's done. I can't wait to see her open it! :)

Baby Duckies


Hi all! Hope you're doing well. Things here are busy but good. I have a few fun things planned for the weekend. A friend from work is having a baby shower on Saturday. She is the one who has been trying to have a baby for about 2 years and finally, through several rounds of fertility, is pregnant and is due in about 6 weeks. She will be a great mom and I'm so happy for her. This is the card I made for her. Simple but cute. Tomorrow I will finally post the scrapbook I made for her several weeks ago. Make sure you take a look...it's really cute!!! :)

Supplies: CS- SU: Bashful Blue, Barely Banana
Image- SU: By Ones & By Twos
SU markers
White Galaxy marker
Ribbon- Offray
Scallop edge punch- SU
Ovals and scallop oval- Nestabilities dies

Monday, September 1, 2008

Pizza Box Instructions

I have already had a couple of people ask me for the instructions for the mini pizza box that I posted earlier today. I followed Jen Del Muro's instructions on the Cat's Pajamas Website: www.thecatspajamasrs.com. When you get there click on the project of the month link. When you get to the bottom of that page click on August's project of the month link. Let me know if you have any trouble. Good luck!

Mini Pizza Box



Isn't this just the cutest? If only I had the Bon Appetite set from SU, it would be perfect for this. This idea came from Jen Del Muro at The Cat's Pajamas. The only thing that would have made it easier for me would be if I had the scalloped square Nestabilities dies. Instead I had to use scallop scissors and try to line up the sides of the square evenly. Other than that it was easy and fun. You could put little note cards inside like I did or fill it with candy.

Supplies:
CS- SU: Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink
DP- Colorbok: Pizazz
Hole punch
Scallop scissors
Circle punches- SU
Scallop circle punch- SU
Brads- Memory Makers
Ribbon- Offray
Image- SU
Ink- SU: Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink

Happy 50th Anniversary!




Hello everyone. I hope you've all been doing fine. Well, my parents made it! They celebrated their 50th Wedding Anniversary on Saturday! We had a nice dinner and then went back to their house to watch a video of old pictures of them set to music. It was fun to see them feed each other cake! Congratulations Mom and Dad! I love you!