Watermark voila!

Guess what I made today? Nope not the kid, but the watermark. Well kind of a watermark. Close enough for me. I was playing around in powerpoint and voila!




By the way this is Morgan after her first popsicle. She was mad because it was all gone. Doesn't she look a little ticked?

Holy Crap! I got tagged!!!

I don't believe it. I actually got tagged. I have to list 7 things about me and tag 7 other bloggers (yeah right). I don't know 7 bloggers that haven't been tagged yet. Shannon tagged me. She and I are members of a super secret stamping society (actually it is a Yahoo group). At any rate...here goes.

1. My favorite color is blue. I love it so much that years ago when M&Ms were picking their new color I voted for blue several times and even got a tattoo of a blue M&M guy. Oh, I love M&Ms too.
2. I have 3 loverly children. The youngest of which (7 months) is watching Wheel of Fortune as we speak. It is her favorite show.
3. I have been doing 3 jobs at work, and unfortunately only getting paid for one, for the last month or more. I anticipate things to slow down after this month when I will be back to doing only one job. I won't know what to do with myself. Maybe I can actually stamp...
4. I have a husband of 6 years who is working all the time trying to make money and not doing the best job of it.
5. I am an only child. But I did have a pretend twin sister when I was little. Her name was Glorien.
6. I am allergic to cats.
7. I LOVE Chocolate. Especially Cadbury or Dove or Symphony.

Now for the bloggers I am tagging: Crystal, Christy, Gamblemom, TheCrookedStamper, Cori, StampinLibraryGirl, and BunkerThoughts. Wow I found some neat blogs doing this!

WOW!

I can't believe almost a month has passed! Life has been super crazy hectic. Hopefully things will calm down a little soon and I will find some time to take pics and post the few things I have been working on.

My 30th birthday is on Sunday. I'm an April Fools baby. I got myself a personalized license plate. I've always wanted one and here in MI they are redoing the standard plates so I would've had to get a new one anyway. So I spent the extra $30 and got one that will let everyone know the blue Malibu is mine! Heee Heee! I can't wait for it to arrive!!!! Corey is going to kill me.

I am truly amazed...

at what a wonderful bunch of people stampers really are. Today when I got home from work I found a little package in my mailbox from Canada. For the life of me I couldn't figure out what it was. I haven't made any trades lately...what could it be? Well, it was a beautiful thank you card and some chocolates from Allison that was a runner up in a blog candy drawing I did awhile back. Unfortunately, the caramel kisses did not survive the trip from Canada but the others and the card were in wonderful condition. Thanks so much Allison. Your gift truly touched me.


Now I always get cards from my pal Crystal. She sends them for practically no reason at all and then there is me who can't remember the last time she sent out a card other than swaps. I missed Crystal's birthday and my upline Tracy's birthday. I am terrible! This is what I love to do for Pete's sake. Why can't I seem to stay on top of this? I am making an 8th of March resolution to stop signing up for swaps and start making and sending cards for the things that truly matter. I am so sorry Crystal, and Tracy, and Grandpa Bandy, etc...


The other thing that amazes me is how much talent is out there and how everyone supports each other. I haven't been able to keep up on all the blogs I used to visit when I was on maternity leave. Tonight I took some time to go through all the blogs in my favorites (and believe me this took some time because there are quite a few). In the last two months one gal is launching a digital scrapping site, another has a card in a box business going, others design banners and watermarks for fellow bloggers. I learned a lot about CASEing and copyrights and creative rights from Julie HRR. I never thought twice about taking a card I liked and modifying it a little and using it for a stamp camp project before. Now I will. I learned a lot about myself by reading JoanB's posts on Stamper's Neurosis. I now don't feel like I need to try and keep up with Jones' of the stamping world. I am now going to take a closer look at what I am doing and my reasons for doing it.

Long Time No Post

Life has been super busy lately and something had to give.

This is a card I did for a workshop a couple of weeks ago. It uses the Because of You stamp set by SU!, vintage violet and always artichoke paper. The main image is stamped in black StazOn on watercolor paper. I added some stitched violet ribbon.


Well, I hope to be able to get back to blogging more soon. I finally put in my notice at work. I'm going to stay long enough to finish the projects I am working on. So it will be a couple of months before I am off, but it feels good to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Updated List of Retired Stuff For Sale

Deleted - All Gone

Busy, Busy, Busy

Sorry I have had a lot going on the last few days! The stamping get together I went to this weekend in Okemos, MI was great. I have a workshop on Friday night I have nothing ready for.

Cindy - you commented on my last post asking if the SS kits were still available. Yes they are. I don't know how to contact you. Email me if you are still interested in them stampsnmore@hotmail.com

I'll have to check in later and share some cards.

I'll pay the shipping 2/7 & 2/8 on my retired stuff

DELETED - ALL GONE

I need more light

I'm noticing I need to take my pics in better light. They seem kind of dark.

At any rate, here are a couple more of my DKOS #10 swaps. Here are the "rules" we had to follow for this one:

Looks Like Spring 2 - Kraft base, with Buckaroo blue, Cranberry Crisp and vanilla layers. Accent with brads or hardware, and twine or hemp.










And this one:
Designer Paper/Punch - Use any SU colored card base, add at least one of the current designer papers and use 2 different punches on your card. At least one embellishment.

Retired SU! stuff for sale

I really don't want to sell most of this stuff, but I need some cash fast so here it goes! All are good condidtion with minimal staining unless otherwise noted. I can email you a picture upon request. Once I sell the amount I need I will probably pull what is left so if you see something you want - act fast!

Payments accepted through paypal ONLY. If you don't have an account I can still send you an invoice through paypal. Everything will ship USPS Priority with Delivery Confirmation. Please add $4.55 to the price for your total. If it ends up costing more because of weight I will pay the difference. If you want multiple items I will ship in the flat rate $8.10 box with confirmation so add $8.60 to your total.

*Little Letters Unmounted & Little Numbers Mounted - $40.00
*Crazy Alphabet Mounted & Crazy Numbers Unmounted - $40.00
*Tall Tales Alphabet Mounted &Tall Tales Number Mounted - $75.00
*Pure & Simple Alphabet Upper AND Lower Mounted, but unused - $50.00
*Island Blossoms Mounted & Island Wheel - $35.00
*Going Buggy Unmounted & Tropical Turf Wheel - $25.00
*Fun in the Sun Unmounted - $30.00
*Houndstooth Background Mounted - $15.00 GONE
*Geometric Background Mounted - $15.00
*Linograph Background Mounted - $15.00
*Ornament Elements Mounted - $18.00
*Bloomin' Wonderful Mounted - $20.00
*It's a Party Mounted - $18.00
*Daisy Mounted (missing the stamp with half circle with dots inside of it, there is a dragonfly in its place) - $10.00
*Smile Mounted - $8.00
*Send a Celebration Unmounted - $8.00
*Alphabet Soup Unmounted - $8.00
*He's Too Cool Unopened 12x12 SS Kit - $13.00
*Time For Fun Unopened 12x12 SS Kit - $15.00
*Travel Time Unopened 12x12 SS Kit - $15.00

Different Kind Of Swap

The next few cards I will share are from a swap I participate in on SCS. It's called Different Kind of Swap (DKOS) because we all start out with the same items and then add our own creativity from there. It is really interesting to see all the different ideas that come back starting from the same ingredients.

For this 1st one we had to use Chocolate Chip for the card base, Certainly Celery, Pixie Pink and Whisper White.







We had to use at least three stamps from the Polka Dots & Paisley set, add an embellishment and use the crimper.

For this one the card base is any neutral of your choice. Layers of soft subtles and rich regals card stock. Use wheels only, standard or jumbo, and words are permitted. Embellish away.

LMAO about Glitter Herpes!

Oh my goodness! There was a thread on SCS today about glitter herpes. Glitter is the herpes of craft supplies or something. It is so true. I don't use it often because it gets everywhere. Yes, it's pretty, but I don't want it on me and everything else. I don't want to spread it to everyone I send a card to. I tried Heat N Stick with it and it helps, but I still get a little coming off. Or if you mix it with clear embossing powder or use the Iridescent Ice or Hologram Highlights it just doesn't have quite the same effect. So I was laughing so hard and wanted to share some of the funny stories from that thread here.

A woman had a gyno appointment and wanted to "freshen up" before the
appointment so she grabbed a washcloth off the sink, did a quick pass and headed
off to her doc's office. The doc proceeded to do the exam and said "Boy, someone
has taken some extra special care of things". The woman wondered what he meant
but didn't think about it again until later that night when her daughter asked
her what happened to the washcloth full of glitter that had been on the bathroom
sink!!

Can you imagine?!?! That doctor must've thought she was a nut.

A couple of So Very's

Here are a couple of So Very cards. These were also made for that exchange I was in. I think these are the last of those cards that I will share. Then I shall move on to something else.













I really enjoy browsing other people's blogs. I am amazed at the wonderful ideas people have out there. And then of course I come across other things I need to buy! I won't be able to buy anything in a little while unless I can find a way to make my creativity work for me. I pretty much told my boss I didn't think I could continue to work. It's just not making sense financially. My hubby and I are going to sit down this weekend and weigh my options. One thing I fear of staying home and relying on him for all the cash is that I won't be able to buy stuff I want any more! I need to come up with a way to make some spending money...

Wow! I can't believe it has been a week

Sorry I've been slacking on my blog. Busy, busy with swaps. I got the one big one done. Now I have another to finish. I need to take pics of the cards I just did. I am pretty happy with most of them. Here is another card I did earlier this month for an exchange. It was inspired by the Loves Me papers in the winter mini. I think this was the first time I used this set. It is Loving Hearts. I acquired it through a trade awhile ago.

My Twisted Cards for Round 4

Maneater - This one was for the "Love Bites" catagory. The tag is the chorus from the Hall & Oates song. "Oh-oh here she comes, watch out boy she'll chew you up. Oh-oh here she comes, she's a maneater."












You Stink - I love this one. I was trying to use Circus Train to have like a man circus and I just couldn't come up with anything funny to say to go with it. So I looked at the steam and thought stench. I almost paired it up with Bubble Queen and with the girl from It's a Cheer Thing, but this one was cuter.

Can I go home now?

Today is one of those I so don't want to work days. I've been contributing to the deliquency of my team on top of it. I passed on the chick maker from my last post and then the M&M site has a design your own M&M dude too so I passed that on as well. Here is my M&M...

It is really cold today so I put the boots and hat on her. I should've given her the cup of hot cocoa, but went with the ice cream instead!

Here is another card I made for the exchange I was in. Faux shaving cream technique. I think I needed to smudge a little more cause if you look you can see I used the "so very" stamp for the swirl part. Oops!

My first "crack"...

At the cracked glass technique. It was kind of fun. I have to make more cracked glass cards for a swap I am in that is due at the end of this month.

Speaking of that swap...Why do I always do this to myself? I think I have 40 cards to make of 9 different designs all due by the end of the month. And of course I haven't started on them yet. And I have another swap due at the beginning of the month. And I need to make swap cards and come up with a shoebox swap for the Feb 9th and 10th Michigan SCS get together in Okemos. There is jsut not enough time in the day! I sign up for swaps so I am forced to use my stamps. But I get a little carried away some times.

Check this out. This is my alter ego Glorien. Isn't she cool? I made her at http://www.blessthischick.com/btcmachine/index.php You can make your own chick and then they email her to you so you can use it in emails, etc.

Here's a cute card

If I do say so myself. I made this for an exchange I was in. This is the first time I used my Wild About You set. I used the slit punch to make the scalloped edges (Thanks for the tip Crystal).

For the Blog Candy winners - I haven't made it to the PO yet. Hopefully Tuesday or Wednesday. I still need Allison's address.

Drumroll Please....

My daughter picked numbers so you can thank or blame her, whichever the case.

The grand prize of 2 stacking circle punches goes to comment #4

Anonymous said...
hi Lorien.. I really have to open an account so I canstop
being anonymous! :}Glad you got your supplies today for your workshop! That was
fast!I love teh pics here on your sight. Ihaev 2 techniques I think I haev
finally mastered... The cracked ice usignthe UTEE (makes me think BLAdder
infection ugh!) and the SOOT! tech. I love using candle fire to burn the glossy
cardstock ;] you get a different image or background every time. Colorignon it
first before you soot it awesome as well.It's always a WOW! like the cracked
glass and anyone can do it if I can...So glad you survived your first week back
at work. I knew you coudl doit! Happy stamping Hugs KimkSUDF
6:30 PM

The runner up prizes go to comments # 2, #11 & #12 which are:

Allison said...
Hmmm...I am not really good at my techniques just yet. I was going to try ghosting this weekend after I saw a nice Lovely as a Tree example. I like crayon resist and gamsol/prismacolor pencils as well. As you can see, being a relative newbie, I am figuring out the basics before I go to some of the other great things I have seen on SCS (I don't even own a stylus or a heat gun yet...shh!). Thanks for the contest...

3:55 PM

marcie said...
My favorite technique (today) is coloring with the watercolor crayons. Still need lots of practice, but I do enjoy it. Thanks for the opportunity to win!

3:02 AM

Crystal said...
Are you suprised to hear how much I love faux stitching? WITH THE HOLES PUNCHED CHEATER! HA! Punch holes with hole piercer from tool kit and connect the dots with the white gel pen! SO cute! Now my dear friend Lorien does it a cute way too, she just makes the lines with the pen and skips the holes, she thinks it is too time consuming, but her stuff is great even without holes! :)

9:14 AM

I know how to find KimK's address and I have Crystal's so I just need Allison's and Marcie's. You can send them to me at stampsnmore@hotmail.com

Congrats to the winners and thanks to everyone for sharing!

Blog Candy Winners will be Announced Tomorrow (1/17)

Sorry for the delay! I've got the crud and need to go to bed, but I wanted to let you know I haven't forgotten. I'll post the winners tomorrow.

Blog Candy!!!

I also promised I would do a blog candy drawing this weekend. Let's see.... Leave a comment regarding your favorite stamping techniques or tips and you will be placed in the drawing for these stacking circle punches. One is a 2 1/8 inch and the other is 1 11/16 inch.

Depending on the number of comments I will also draw for some other prizes....Micheal's $1 bin Valentine stamps. I bought A LOT of them so tell your friends...the more comments, the more prizes will be given out!

ETA: I forgot to give a deadline...Let's say Monday evening 6:00 PM EST.

Name Frames

As promised here is my post on name frames. I bought these frames at the dollar store. They had a couple different sizes. Some of them had scratches so I just took some sandpaper to them to give them that distressed look.

The frames are pretty easy to do. For mine I tend to pick two background colors and an accent color.

The Littleton frame uses Mellow Moss, Night of Navy and More Mustard. I think that is the retired Crazy alphabet and Crosshatch is used in the backround on the moss. There is some Mustard and some black gingham ribbon and black brads.

The Madison frame uses Elegant Eggplant, Regal Rose and Certainly Celery. The letters are Headline Alphabet and the background stamps are Linen and Print Pattern. I used some celery, apricot, rose, white, and eggplant ribbon and some silver eyelets.
The Carter frame has Always Artichoke, Not Quite Navy and More Mustard. The letters are from Headline alphabet and the background is Crosshatch. I added a funky paperclip with mustard, french blue and taupe ribbon and some silver diamond shaped brads.

Thanks a lot Amy R!

Just wanted to put a quick post on here to say thanks to Amy R for her enabling post on her blog yesterday. She gave a shout out to a really cute online stamp store. http://www.stampingbella.com/index.php So I went and checked them out and of course I had to buy some! Ordered last night and got the shipping notice this afternoon. I can't wait to get my bellas. These will be my first unmounted stamps so I ordered an acrylic block and the static stuff. We'll see....

Altered Lunch Box Or Rectangle Tin

Here are a couple of pictures of an altered tin I made awhile ago. I used the Sentimental Journey designer series papers from Stampin' Up! of course! My upline and I did some tin stamp camps a few months ago and they were a big hit. We're actually going to do repeats of this camp next month cause some of the gals that didn't come heard about it and requested we do it again.



The colors I used were Chocolate Chip, So Saffron, and Buckaroo Blue. And the letters were from the Big Deal alphabet.





I'm working on a post for this weekend that will feature name frames and there will be a BLOG CANDY CONTEST so make sure you check back in this weekend.

I love my new camera!!!

I took it out the box earlier this week and took a couple of shots, but not until just now have I really gotten to use it. Now I haven't done anything fancy. I just took some pictures and popped the SD memory card into the pocket card reader I bought, put the card reader in my computer and Voila! You can also hook your camera up to the computer to downlaod the photos, but it takes a little longer and I haven't put the disc in my computer yet to install the software that came with my camera. From what I have read in the reviews the photo editing software that comes with it is pretty nifty, but I didn't feel like messing with that just yet. So it is a Canon PowerShot A540. I think I have mentioned that before. I purchased the camera, a 512 MB SD card (cause the one that comes with the camera is pretty small), a battery charger and extra rechargable batteries, and the pocket card reader at www.zipzoomfly.com. I paid about the same for all of it that I would've paid for just the camera at Best Buy or one of those places. I was extremely happy with www.zipzoomfly.com. They shipped very quick and everything was what I ordered. I read about some people having issues with them because you can pay them with your paypal account and if the address you enter at checkout does not EXACTLY match the one in your paypal account the may not ship until they can confirm it is really you. Now I think that is great that they go through the trouble to do that. I was missing the period after RD and it mentioned that my address wasn't matching so after I completed the transaction I went into the zipzoomfly site and made my address match the paypal one exactly and I had no delay in shipping.

Ok so here are couple of pictures I took with my new camera....

Now you are probably saying "Lorien, your pictures don't look any better than anyone else's" ...but you have to remember I am coming from a 1 megapixel camera. I took these in really low light so I was even more pleased how well they turned out. And click on them. They will get big and you can see every little detail clearly. ooooh, aaaaaah!

So this was an altered altoid tin and a little mini card and envelope that fits inside. I had bought a bunch of altoid tins at www.specialtybottle.com and we used some of them at a stamp camp where we made magnets with the glass marbles and then we decorated the tins and the magnets went inside...They make a cute little gift, but I don't have any pictures of those right now. I was trying to come up with other things to do with those altoid tins and this was one of them. I decoupaged the Spring Showers paper to the top of the tin and I also used it to make the mini envelope. The stamp set I used is Looks Like Spring. I also used the Spring Bouquet Punch to punch out the little flower in the middle of the big one (it is under a clear button). Colors used were Bashful Blue, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White.

I survived!

I made it through the 1st week back to work. I'm exhausted!!! I haven't had time to do much. But I've got some stamping I need to get done this weekend. Now that I have my camera I can take some pictures of the name frames and tins I had done before.

Last night Maddie and I went out to dinner and shopping, just the two of us. It was nice. I think she had a great time and felt like a real big girl.

If I don't have something to show you later today, I will tomorrow

Happy New Year!!!

I haven't stamped again since the other night. This is a card I made for a swap awhile ago. Similar color combo to the fish card in the last post. This one uses Pumpkin Pie instead of Only Orange. I used DTP on the Old Olive, Rough Texture Jumbo Wheel on the Bashful Blue and Flannel Plaid on the Pumpkin Pie. The Just Because is from the Fancy Flexible Phrases set in the Winter mini and the tags were made with the small and regular tag punches. Finished off with the light blue gingham ribbon. All the materials on this card are from Stampin' Up! www.stampinup.com


I'm home all alone right now. Well, just me and Bailey. She is such a good doggie! She is sitting on my lap now. Morgan and Carter are at Grandma Linda's and Madison is at Grandma Gen's. This was Morgan's first sleepover. I wonder how she did...I'm going to go rescue my mom as soon as I get the laundry put away. I had a crappy new year's eve. Corey and I went out to dinner and then I got mad at him and went to bed at 10:00. I should've kept the kids home last night. I probably would've had a better time with them!!! Hopefully this will be a good year, a happy year.

My new camera will be here tomorrow. I checked the tracking info and it is sitting somewhere in Flint.

Tomorrow I go back to work. I'm really having mixed feelings about it. I don't want to get up at 5:00 and run around like a nut trying to get the kids out the door and then drive an hour, or more, to get to work and then the 1st few days I will be trying to catch up on all the emails I missed - if I have a working computer. I think I got a new laptop while I was out and they are supposed to have it all configured for me when I come in tomorrow. We'll see.

New Cards!

I finally got to play with some of my stamps last night. I've had these cards in my head for awhile - just haven't had the opportunity to make them happen.

This card uses SU Kraft, Cameo Coral, Chocolate Chip, Garden Green and Confetti White card stock. The Ostrich is a Creative Mode stamp I purchased from www.stampingfreak.com. The rest of the stamps used on this card were also purchased there. He is stamped with Timber Brown StazOn and colored in with my SU Watercolor Wonder Crayons and an Aquapainter. I then stamped the SonLight Impressions Chicken Wire Backgrounder with my Encore Silver ink pad over top of the ostrich. I used my CM cutting system for the ovals. The sentiments are by Gina K. Designs and are stamped in SU Basic Brown. I also used the Basic Brown for the DTP technique along the edges of this card. The ribbon is American Crafts ribbon that I got from my pal Sherri.

This card uses SU Bashful Blue, Only Orange, Old Olive and Shimmery White card stock. The fish and sea grass are Creative Mode stamps. The "Eat my bubbles" is a Gina K. Designs stamp. Those stamps were all purchased from www.stampingfreak.com. The circles are from SU's simple shapes. The fish and sea grass are stamped with Black StazOn ink and colored with SU Watercolor Wonder Crayons and an Aquapainter. I used my CM cutting system for the circles. I placed a window sheet in front of the fish to make it look like you were looking into a fish bowl, but it doesn't show up here. The circles are stamped with SU's Bashful Blue and the sentiment with
Basic Black.

I did it!

I just bought a new digital camera. I can't wait for it to get here!!! I went with the Canon PowerShot A540. I looked into upgrading to the S2 IS, but couldn't justify paying that much more for the optical zoom I don't know that I really need. I wanted a Canon and read a lot of good things about this one so hopefully it will be wonderful!

Only a few more days until I go back to work. Part of me is glad to get back out in the adult world and another part of me is going to miss being at home with the kids... We'll have to see how it goes. I really am only working for the health insurance. We are going to keep really close track of all the expenses and I may end up having to leave my job.

Well, here is another card for you to look at. I did something similar for a swap recently, but I wanted to play with stitching the hemp along the top to look like a notebook of sorts. I wasn't totally happy with it so my swap card used two eyelets in the middle of the top and had the black hemp going through them and tied in a knot, if I remember correctly. I think I also added a sentiment in the lower right corner. I thought the colors gave it a retro look. They are Cool Caribbean, Going Gray, Basic Black and Confetti White. That is Big Pieces and Little Pieces for the stamp sets you see here.

I kept telling you...

And here it finally is....


This is one of the purse calendars I did as gifts this year. No stamping on this. I utilized the Island Blossoms simply scrappin' kits that were hostess items in the last catalog. That is a matching pen next to it. This is going out in the mail to the blog candy winner, Debi along with a champagne bottle "celebrate!" stamp from Michael's.

So weird thing about the webcam....it seems to take better pictures in low light. I tried to take some pics today with it of some 3-D items I had made awhile ago and they would not turn out. I'll try agian tonight when it is dark. I was thinking I may be able to get by without a new digital camera, but probably not.

New webcam

My dad got us a webcam so we could "see" each other more often. I was playing with it and took this picture of myself. Flattering, isn't it?

Movin' right along...

Foot loose and fancy free...Isn't that from the Muppet Movie or something? The Frap packs were easier to decorate than I thought. Believe me, they are aren't fancy. I wrapped some patterned paper from Joann's around the carrier and printed 'labels' on card stock with the flavors of the candles and did some DTP on those and slapped them on. I figured it has taken me two weeks to make the candles - that is good enough! I have to take pics with my 35mm and scan the pics after they get developed. And I don't think Santa is bringing me my digital camera...I'm kind of pissed at Santa right now but that is another story.
I got 3 out of the 4 frames stained last night. Much easier to stain wood than it is to do the primer and then paint it. I tried that with the 4th and then tried to go back and that one is pretty crappy looking right now so I am going to have to fix that. Right now I am making a pie and brownies while I wait for Corey to come home so I can go back down in the basement. Did the grocery shopping this morning. That was fun - NOT!

I need to give you something to look at!

I haven't made anything (except those purse calendars I forgot to scan in) for a couple of weeks so I'm trying to find something on my hard drive I haven't shown you yet! Because I am sure that there are thousands of people who check my blog daily to see what I have been up to (he he!). I must be getting delusional. Let's see....
This was a card I did for a swap awhile ago. I really liked it, but I don't think I got any comments when I posted it in my SCS gallery. I think it is buckaroo blue. I stamped the On the Spot background in white craft ink and after it dried I rubbed the buckaroo blue ink pad all over to give it more of a distressed look. The Thanks So Much is from Riveting... Ya know it is really hard to line up those colors in that set. We used it at stamp camp recently. The ladies thought I was nuts when I told them they had to line up the yellow in the outer ring on the card we were doing. It took a few tries and then most of them got a decent image. Good thing I had a big enough paper to give them a few tries! The colors on this card in the circle are stamped off first so that you could still see the words and flower.


I don't feel like getting dressed today. I just put on another pot of coffee. I can't believe it is almost Christmas! I still need to stain/paint picture frames, make purse calendars, finish up my Grandma's card tin, make those round tin purses for my two cousins, I have one more batch of candles to make, then I need to decorate the Frap packs and the bottles, I was going to make ornament sets and I ordered punches to fit better, but they haven't arrived yet and I don't know when they are coming because the FedEx tracking info went to my work email which I can't get into anymore. My password finally expired after being off for three months and it won't let me change it from home. I need to go grocery shopping for the Christmas Eve dinner and wrap all the kid's presents still! I think that is it!!!

Yesterday I made cinnamon candles. The whole house smelled like BIG RED chewing gum. I thought I was going to puke! Today will be pumpkin spice as soon as I get around to running the bottles through the dishwasher. I'm going to make beef stew in the crock pot today. I should probably go get started in the kitchen.

I upgraded

I moved to the new version of Blogger and all was fine. Then I changed my template and lost the customization I had done. I had added it all in the html part of the template and today I found a much easier way to do it. Not sure if it was available all along or is part of the new blogger! But I've pretty much got my stuff back now...

Blog Candy Winner!!

Thanks for all the great recipes. I think I am going to use most of them. Well, I had my daughter pull the name and she picked Debi Calandrelle. Please send me an email with your address and I will work on getting your prize out. stampsnmore@hotmail.com Congrats!

The prize that I won on another blog arrived today. The photo tile coasters are wonderful! It is so cool to see them in person. I'm going to have to try and make some myself.

Also my new toy arrived today. I got my Cuttlebug! I'll be spending a lot of time in my basement the next few days so hopefully I can get a little time to try it out.

Yesterday I got my free stamp set from Stampin' Up!'s Shelli Gardner. It is really cute. I'll also try to play with it a little in the next few days.

Well I need to get back to my candle making so see ya later!

Blog Candy!!!

I finished my Christmas shopping yesterday and then it hit me that our Christmas Eve dinner is only a week away and I don't have the menu planned or half of my gifts made! We are having a Honeybaked Ham and Corey requested new potatoes, but I don't know what else to make. He doesn't want the greenbean casserole...This is where you come in. Post a comment to this thread with a link to a good recipe, or the recipe itself and you will be entered in a drawing for some goodies. I'm thinking one of my 2007-2008 purse calendars with matching pen and maybe some stamps from Michael's $1 bin. I need a salad, some veggies and a dessert. I think we're having 11-12 adults and a few kids. Contest ends Wednesday, December 20th at 3:00PM EST.

There has been a lot going on...

the last few days. I forgot to scan in the purse calendars before I gave them away so I will have to do that when I make the rest of them for the aunts.

My order came from www.stampingfreak.com the other day. I didn't allow myself to open the box until I got the house vacuumed and the dishes in the dishwasher and the laundry done. They are really cool and of course I haven't gotten to use them yet. Maybe tomorrow!!!! I got an additional gift of ultrasmooth white envelopes. So cool! You can never have too many of those.

I haven't gotten a chance to try my UHU glue yet. Maybe tomorrow!

I have been seeing these fabulous cards with the embossed backgrounds. So I found out they were the Cuttlebug embossing folders and I bought myself a Cuttlebug and some embossing folders for Christmas. I didn't have a Joann's or Michael's coupon, but I heard about a website that had a pretty good deal so I got it from them. www.busybeescrapbooking.com Check them out!

Today I went back to one of the blogs I browse and found out I won a drawing for a set of photo tile coasters! They are pretty cool. I can't wait to get them. Here is the blog...
http://scrap-snap-n-blog.com/wordpress/. Check out the entry on 11/28 for the instructions for the photo tile coasters. I'm going to do a drawing soon too. So keep a look out. I just have to figure out what it will be!

Tonight I get to do the Christmas shopping for the kids! Finally!!! The to-do list is starting to get shorter and some of the stress is fading. My mom is taking the older two over night. I told her she didn't need to take Morgan since she is only 2.5 months and can't tell her brother and sister what they are getting! I think Corey and I get to go out to dinner. How exciting! I wonder where we will go.

One last thing. Our new furry family member is doing great. We named her Bailey. She is doing awesome with the crate training. Only one accident in the crate in the two weeks or so we have had her. And that was the 1st night. She still doesn't get that she isn't supposed to go potty in the house, but that will take some time.

Super Simple Christmas Card

I had scanned in this card and trimmed the black around it off and it just looked like 3 dots so I rescanned it and left the black on so you could see that it is a card! I joined the JulieHRR super simple card movement and made this my Christmas card.
There are a few details that make it more than three dots on white, but of course they are hard to see here.
First of all I used the SU shimmery white card stock just to make it a little more sturdy and give it some class.
Next, the middle snowflake (all three from the Snow Flurries set in the Holiday Mini) is heat embossed with clear over the Encore Silver ink.
Then, all three snowflakes are dry embossed. You can kind of see it on the cranberry one here. This is the first time I have really dry embossed on one of my cards. Can you believe it? I've had all the stuff for years and never used it. I've tried dry embossing before, just never did it on my cards. Tip - rubbing some wax paper on your card tock before dry embossing really does make a BIG difference. I was amazed at how much easier it was and you don't have to rub the wax paper hard.
The inside is stamped with Happy Holiday's from the Warmest Regards hostess set. I love that set. The font is great.
I tried to add some organdy ribbon along the side and it just didn't look right so I took it off.
I made 25 of these in a couple of hours. Then I got to work on a few other things. I'll try to scan one of the purse calendars in later today.
This card was inspired by many on SCS who were part of this year's simple Christmas card movement.

UHU and Starbucks

Today my samples of UHU arrived. They sent a glue stick and the Twist & Glue. I'll have to try them out maybe tomorrow and report back.

I also made my first candles. That is what I'm doing with the Starbucks altered frap packs. It was pretty easy, but I have to top them off some more. I keep getting holes in the middle. I found you need a little more than 2lbs of wax for all 4 jars. Strike that - You are probably better off with 2lbs of wax for three of the bottles. The wax came in a 2lb package and by the time you top off the bottles a couple of times you are safer just doing three rather than trying to get all four out of it. The first set I did was hazelnut coffee scented and the next will be french vanilla. I also have a pumpkin spice, cinnamon, and sugar cookie. Yum, yum! Once I get the packs decorated I'll get some pictures.

Phooey!!!

Is that how you spell it? I really was going to order from www.stampingfreak.com today. I couldn't order before today and today is still cutting it close, but I went there and when I put in the coupon code it told me it was expired. I'm so bummed! Maybe it is a sign, a sign that I'm not supposed to order these non-SU stamps, or a sign that I shouldn't spend the money. The site says they've extended the "coupon until December 8th". So I guess that means it isn't any good today. It should've said through the 7th if they wanted to make it more understandable. The blog I found the coupon code on says "through the 8th" so I guess I'm not the only one who thought it would work today. I sent them a message. Maybe they will extend it through today...

I just got an email response back that says they are fixing it! Woo-Who!!! I get to buy stamps at 20% off after all!!!!

UHU Glue

So I browse many blogs and I have noticed a lot of gals getting free samples of UHU Glue just for having a blog and writing about their experiences with the glue on their blogs. So I contacted them and my samples are on the way. If you are a crafter and have a blog of your own, you should give it a try. Here is a link to the UHU glue project blog . Just scroll down on the right you should see where it says Projects and "Review UHU on Your Blog". All the details are there. Once mine arrives I will give it a try and let you all know how it works!

I'm torn

I think I am about to make my first major non-SU stamp purchase. I keep going back and forth about it... Just over 4 years ago when I was introduced to Stampin' Up! I had 1 stamp. It was a guinnea pig that I bought in high school. Ever since then the only stamps I bought were SU! I just recently bought some of the $1 stamps at Michaels. I haven't used them yet, but they were cute and cheap so I thought I would give them a try.
A couple of months ago my mom was going to be opening a store. She was going to make gift baskets and stuff and wanted to sell my cards there. Well, if you are familiar with the SU angel policy you know it is ok to make cards with SU images and sell them at craft fairs and such if you use one of the appropriate stamps on the back, but it is not ok to sell them in a permanent retail location (this includes websites, incase you were wondering). So I started checking out some other stamp companies to purchase stamps that I could make cards with to sell in my mom's store.
Fast forward to now... A couple of the gals blogs that I browse (Pink Lemonade, Prairie Paper & Ink, Stampin' Mama) are on the Senior Design Team for GinaK Designs and here is the new site where these stamps and others are sold http://www.stampingfreak.com/. So I checked them out and they have some really cool stuff and I checked on their angel policy and it is safe to sell in a store, just can't be mechanically reproduced...and I find out this weekend that my mom isn't going to open her store (long story). So they have a coupon that is good until Friday and they have free shipping on orders over $100 and I just read on Amy's blog that they are giving free gifts on all orders between now and the 8th. So do I still buy the stamps if I'm not going to be selling cards in my mom's store, or no?

Many Merry Ornaments

I made 18 of these ornaments the other night and it wasn't too hard. It was harder trying to get a decent picture of it. I took my crappy digital camera (and I mean 1 megapixel crappy)outside in the cold to try and get a picture because it seems to get better pics outside, but not today. It would focus on anything but the ornament. I tried to get some pics inside and that didn't work so I ended up scanning it and here it is. Santa, if you are reading this I want a Canon PowerShot A540 for Christmas!

So this is the huge tin (75mm) from Creative Xpress and it fits the large poinsettia from the SU designer series paper that was just in the Holiday Mini perfectly. I was able to use my CM cutting system to cut a perfect sized circle for this tin and that is why I was able to get so many done. I made some glitter glue with crystal effects and dazzling diamonds and painted it on the inside of the lid. Finished it off with the Thyme stitched grosgrain. I tried to make some more ornaments of the other sizes, but wasn't able to find an easy match for the inside circle so I will have to work on those another time.

Is there anybody out there?

I always wonder if Crystal and I are the only ones that come to my blog so I added a counter and I registered with the stamping top 50... I'm already in the top 145 or something. Probably because I keep coming here to see if the number is moving! ha ha!!!

Pictures

Last night we went for pictures. That was not fun. Morgan hated it and Carter kept sticking out his tongue. Here are a couple of the shots...

New addition!!!

Another you say? Well, this is one of the furry nature. She doesn't have a name yet. We go pick her up on Saturday. I can't wait!!!!

You think I am crazy, right? We already have dogs. Here is how I am justifying this one.... Ever since I had kids I became an obsessive compulsive freak about dog hair and other stuff on my floors. This one is a minature schnauzer and they don't shed.

Corey has a couple of hunting dogs that I keep telling him he needs to get rid of because he never has time to spend with them. And we have our Lab Sable that we have had since we first started dating. She will be with us forever, but she lives in the outdoor heated condo because of all her shedding. Plus, she isn't exactly thrilled about the kids. She tolerates them when they are outside playing with her, but I can tell she would much rather they leave her alone. I don't think she would ever hurt them, but she is a big dog too so I don't want to take any chances either. Accidents happen. I've been wanting a family dog for a long time. My Grandma had a schnauzer when I was growing up and she was my best buddy. She would go with me every where. I miss Sarina. So I am finally going to get my house dog!

Here is a picture from the breeder. Isn't she sassy?!

Finally!

I finally got to play a little with my stamps and such. I need to do a lot more to get ready for Christmas, but here is what I did for a tin exchange.















I made a covered notebook and matching pen and some simple cards and envelopes to go inside. It was fun and pretty quick too!

How bad is this?

The SU! demo site is down for a couple hours today for maintenance and I can't stop checking to see if it is back up so I can order some stuff!!! I just ran out of the vintage violet stitched ribbon, not because I used it, but because I gave it all away. So now I need to order more. Do I really need to order more, if I haven't used it and it is about to retire? We know it won't be around because it is one of the InColors that is only available through June 2007 and it isn't in the next mini catalog, but I feel like I should order it. And I need to order cranberry because I actually used that one, and I may as well order the thyme too so I have it. Crazy, isn't it?

It gets worse...I was on splitcoast trying to decide what I am going to make for Christmas gifts this year and someone points me to these Altered Starbucks Frappuccino packs, ya know the 4 pack of the bottles of cold Starbucks? Well, people are taking them and decorating the bottles and holder and putting other stuff in them. Now I want to make coffee scented candles in the bottles and of course I need to order Like it a Latte so I can decorate the packaging with it. And while I am at it...what are these pocket notes? Maybe I should check them out. So I look in the gallery and see all the cute stuff people have made with those and now I need them and a couple more stamp sets. It just goes on and on.

What a beautiful day!!!

The weather was absolutely georgeous today. Sunny and mid 60's. I took the kids to the nature center for a "hike". I say "hike" because what we did was nothing like a real hike -- the kind I took with my dad and husband (before he was my husband) a few years ago in Colorado. Through this canyon to get to some secluded river so they could fly fish. I thought I was going to die! Today's "hike" was nothing like that, but it was pretty adventerous with a stroller. I had a few people ask me how I made it with a stroller. There were some muddy spots and a suspension bridge that was a little hairy, but we survived. Morgan pretty much slept through all the bumps too. It was good to get out of the house and a break from the running and screaming and fighting that goes on everyday here.

I'm a Collector

I'm one of those people that when they decide they need something they need the whole darn set. Our stamp sets for example...I had to have Little Layers, Little Layers Plus, and Little Layers II and I think I only used the pacifier and the graduation hat and maybe the fish. But because they all coordinated I had to have them. I used to collect CM albums. Never put anything in them, just had to have them. I bought a bunch of the hostess ones off of ebay. This summer when money was tight I ended up selling them all probably for 1/2 of what I paid for them. I never used them, but I had to have them. For awhile I was obsessed with the BST board on SCS. It just felt good when I was able to trade a stamp set I wasn't using for one on my wishlist. I finally realized I wasn't using the ones I got much more and I was spending too much in postage for all this mailing stuff around. Well, it is happening again. Right now I am obsessed with getting The keychains that were sold at convention. They are so cute. Well I think I have one, but now that isn't enough. I want one of each and an extra one for my friend Crystal!

Here they are. Aren't they so cute? These aren't mine. I found the pics on SCS.

Stamp Camp Cards

Better late than never... Here are a couple of the cards we are doing at the current stamp camp. We did 2 sessions of this camp already and the 3rd session isn't until December. My upline and I had a hard time getting our schedules to synch!


This card is my favorite. It is a big buckle card and uses the faux shaving cream technique for the flower.


















The inside of this one says "Will you pick up my mail while I am gone?" I wanted to do something funny and I hadn't used this set since I bought it so figured I better put it to use. We did some watercoloring with the watercolor wonder crayons and aquapainters on this and they loved them! I love them too! They are so much fun.










That is all I have to share right now. I haven't had too much time to be creative lately. Hopefully soon!

Winter Mini Pre-order

Today us demos could start ordering stuff from the winter mini. My order is in already! I got Big Pieces, Fancy Flexible Phrases and the Small Tag Punch. Of course I got some other stuff too from the big catty. I can't put in an order unless it qualifies for hostess benefits. That's not a real rule, just mine! I needed some stuff for our next stamp camp, a gift for our group's Christmas exchange and a few things I have been wanting for awhile. Next week sometime it will be here!
I'm cleaning the house now, can't you tell? I'm waiting for the floor to dry. I need to feed the kids and if I have time later I will post some cards I made. I haven't posted any good stamping stuff for awhile.