MIA

Yes I have been away for a long time, but I've not been idle in the very least. Something has been keeping me very busy. Something cute, cuddly and on occasion rather demanding. I hope to get back into the crafting swing of things, but right now this is my latest...um...ongoing project...





Until next time...

New Toy! Whee!

Squeal like a girl! I love stitching on cards, but admittedly if you have to do a lot of it hand stitching can be a bit time consuming. Also, since my legs (and Hubby's legs too!) are a bit on the short side there is always someone who needs a pair of pants hemmed. I sold off all but one of my Cricut Cartridges. I used the funds to purchase Sure Cuts A Lot (SCAL) (something else I had been debating on for a long time) and this gem. I must admit it's a hefty little guy. I think I shall name it, but I don't know what. It's sturdy but light. I can pick it up one handed. Honestly I think my Cuttlebug might be heavier. I hemmed a pair of my materinity jeans and it worked fine other than going over the "knots". I had to take it slow but it worked. I have to admit I am pretty proud of myself for doing a Euro Hem and having it look right. I can't take all of the credit. I found great instructions here.

So far I am really liking the SCAL as well. I use mostly basic shapes and fonts so I'm just going to pick up a font CD along my travels. And as far as shapes go there are plenty of talented artists out there with just about any shape you could ever want.

I used both of my new toys to create this set of cards for OWH. It's also my first OWH Stars and Stamps Challenge entry. The Thinking of Ewe stamp is a digi stamp from Cuddly Buddly.


CS: The Paper Studio, Making Memories, Georgia Pacific; PP: Making Memories; Misc: Crayola Colored Pencils, Coluzzle Circle Cutting System, SCAL, Sakura Gelly Roll White Gel Pen, Ribbon, Coats & Clark Thread, ATG, Baby Oil, Corner Chomper

Until next time...

Missing My Kids Challenge - DONE!

Phew! What a busy couple of weeks! I finished the last batch of cards for the Missing My Kids Challenge at OWH and the box of 102 cards is waiting to be picked up. Silly me. I picked up the wrong Priority Mail boxes. I got the Flat Rate Boxes instead of just regular Priority Mail boxes so this go around it cost me $10 to ship instead of about $7. I also need to invest in a scale. I have a small one, but for larger packages like this a scale would be nice. I wonder if my bathroom scale would work?



So here is the last batch of cards...

I've had this little Basic Grey robot stamp set for a while and wasn't quite sure how to use him. I got my inspiration from CPS. It is Sketch #149. I have to admit that I CASE'd one of the poster's cards from that site. I hope they don't mind. It was a great sketch!


Stamps: Basic Grey, Inkadinkado; Patterned Paper: Colorbok; CS: Hobby Lobby; Ink: Ranger Archival Ink, Colorbox Queues; Le Plume Blender Pen; Die Cutting: Cricut Storybook Cartridge; Embossing: Cuttlebug Diamond Plate Embossing Folder; Misc: Ribbon, Google Eyes, Gel Pens, Dimensional Adhesive, ATG 714, Tombo Mono Multi Glue

This sketch should look familiar to you if you have started following OWH's new Stars and Stamps blogger circle. It is their first sketch. I repurchased this Very Punny stamp set from SU after I sold a bunch of my sets about a year back. (You know things are tough when you start selling off your stamp sets!) Anyway, I just love this little cow. And who can resist coloring in a bunch of udders?



Stamps: Stampin' Up, Inkadinkado; Patterned Paper: DCWV Blossoms & Butterflies Stack; CS: Hobby Lobby; Ink: Colorbox Queues, Colorbox Chalk Ink in Chestnut Roan; Le Plume Blender Pen; Punch: EK Success, Martha Stewart; Misc: Sakura Gelly Roll White Gel Pen, Dimensional Adhesive, ATG 714, Tombo Mono Multi Glue

I picked up these stamps a while back too. I guess it's obvious I buy cute stamps and figure out what to do with them later. I haven't used much ribbon lately so with this last batch of cards I got out the old ribbon box. I also don't do many if any cards that open lengthwise (what's that called anyway?) so that was a challenge for me as well.


Stamps: Imaginisce, Martha Stewart; Patterned Paper: Making Memories; CS: Hobby Lobby; Ink: Ranger Archival Ink, Colorbox Queues, Colorbox Chalk Ink in Chestnut Roan; Le Plume Blender Pen; Punch: We Are Memory Keepers Corner Chomper; Fiskars Threading Water; Misc: Coluzzle Circle Cutting Template, Ribbon, Dimensional Adhesive, ATG 714, Tombo Mono Multi Glue

Just to round out the last batch of cards and in keeping with the craft theme I went back to an old sketch that Kristina Werner did during her April 2009 A Year in Cards class at Two Peas. It is a great way to use up those little scraps of patterned paper that you don't really want to throw away, but you don't quite know how to use.


Stamps: Inkadinkado; Patterned Paper: DCWV Blossoms & Butterflies Stack; CS: Hobby Lobby; Ink: Colorbox Chalk Ink in Chestnut Roan; Punch: EK Success, We Are Memory Keepers Corner Chomper; Misc: Dimensional Adhesive, ATG 714, Twine, Buttons

Now here is my Shamwow moment. I finally caved and got this gem at AC Moore. Armed with a 60% off coupon from Michael's I got to the counter, presented my purchase and coupon and the lady tells me, "Oh you can't use that coupon, it's already on sale for $12.49." Squeal like a girl! Needless to say I heart my We Are Memory Keepers Corner Chomper. I've been chomping away like crazy. My favorite thing about this tool is that you don't have to worry about punching through a bunch of layers. You know how you are about finished with a project and you decide at the last minute you want to round the corner? Not a problem. Because of the design of the tool there is no guard in the way. You just line up and chomp! I also like that there are two sizes to choose from. One side is a 1/4" corner and the other side is a 1/2" corner. I'm going to venture to say that besides my Scotch ATG 714 this might be my next best purchase.

Busy Busy!

Here is another update on my Missing My Kids Challenge project.



I had to get out my Hero Arts Heart Winged Butterfly stamp. It had been awhile since I used it. I used the watercolor effect with some Distress Ink. I think they turned out pretty. I got the bling from the Michael's $1 bin.



I've been playing around with my Cricut again since it has been awhile. I wanted to make a card with a school bus on it and came up with this. The bus is from the Doodlecharms cartridge. I used Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel on black cardstock to black out the windows, tires and bumper. I don't know about everywhere else, but here it gets so hot in the summer that the windows on the buses are pretty dark. Otherwise the kids would get baked!





I have had so much fun with these Imaginisce stamps. The Penguin Dude was a lot easier than Penguin Chic. If I am going to use her much more I am going to invest in a pair of decorative scissors for her grass skirt. I did go a bit Cuttlebug crazy on these, but overall I really like the way they turned out! Isn't Penguin Dude just precious! I added a dab of Glossy Accents to his eyes, nose and Popscicle. The palm tree is from the Doodlecharms cartridge. The sentiment is from the All Occasion Messages set by Hero Arts. My sister got this set for me for Christmas I have already used it several times!

I think maybe two more batches of cards will fill my box for this challenge. The deadline is January 31 so I have to get these out by the end of the week. After that it's on to Easter cards. Can you believe that it's almost time for Easter cards?

Until next time...

Happy Friday!

I have had a very busy week. I had finished the required amount of cards for the Missing My Kids Challenge at OWH and in the process of packing up the cards discovered that they wouldn't fit in the envelope. So I got out my flat rate boxes and well...now there's room for tons more cards! So I've been adding to the batch. I picked up the Recollections Monsters stamp set from Michael's and I am absolutely in love with it! It was so fun to use! I regret not buying it sooner! Plus any chance to use googly eyes, right?



I also had a few Imaginisce Polar Bears leftover from our Christmas cards so I decided to put them to use on a few cards as well. I used my Scraparatus to punch the holes in the scalloped circle. It was a very noisy batch of cards, but it worked out much better than punching them with a regular hole punch.



I picked up these Studio G stamps from Michael's way back when and I have just now had a chance to use them. Well, at least this little guy.



I went a little crazy with the Stampin' Up Ticket Corner punch on this one, but overall I like how it turned out. Gotta love the Hero Arts Lily Pad stamp set. It's hard to tell but I used a little dab of Glossy Accents on the froggie's eyes.



So now I'm working on another batch of cards since my box is still not as packed full as I would like. I will update when I get those done!

I Won! I Won!

I just checked the OWH Homefront Blog and discovered that I was 1 of 20 other winners for the December Challenge. Schweet! I didn't do it expecting to win anything. I can't wait to see what I get.

Three other challenges have been posted. I've been trying to get my creative juices flowing and this is just the inspiration I need. Of the 3 challenges I am choosing the Missing My Kids challenge. I have so many cute kiddie stamps that I want to use. They will be perfect for this challenge. The deadline is January 31 so I need to get going on that.

Oh. I just realized that I haven't changed the badges on my blog from Cards for Heroes to Operation Write Home. I gotta do that today.

Happy New Year!

Oh dear. It has been a long time since I've updated my blog, so I will try to make this a quick one.

First an update on me. Kevin and I are expecting a baby girl! She is due May 10! I am 22 weeks along. It's hard to believe I am a little over half way through this pregnancy. She's been kicking and punching like crazy too! We are all very excited. It's been a long time since we've had a baby in the house.



Here is what I have recently worked on. These are the Christmas cards I sent out this year. There were a few color variations (trying to use up paper stacks), but they were all pretty much in the same color family. Even Kevin helped with the cards this year. His job was to color in the scarves. I think he did a fantastic job!


Stamps: Imaginisce (bear); The Paper Studio (snowflakes) Patterned Paper: DCWV Winter Stack CS: Hobby Lobby Ink: Ranger Archival Ink; Ranger Embossing Ink; Bic Mark Its Punch: Fiskars; EK Success

For Operation Write Home (OWH) I put together 24 Valentine's Day cards. My sister got me the Whoo Loves You and All Occasion Messages stamp set from Hero Arts. The Whoo Loves You stamp set was the perfect stamp set for my Valentine's Day cards. I shipped the cards on Monday and the shipper got them the next day. Granted my new shipper is in Charlotte, but that is still pretty darn quick mail delivery.

I'm not sure if I'm going to do St. Patty's Day cards or not. The deadline is February 12. I think I might just start working on Easter, Missing You and Mother's Day cards so that I have a little bit more time to come up with a design.


Stamps: Hero Arts
Patterned Paper: DCWV Blossoms & Butterflies
CS: Hobby Lobby
Ink: Colorbox
Punch: Fiskars; EK Success

Until next time...