NSD After Party with Scrap-Mart.com and Want2Scrap

This past Saturday was National Scrapbook Day. I managed to crank out 2 cards based on one I had pinned on Pinterest. I had seen this card and knew right away that it would be a great use of my scraps, 6x6 paper pads and my growing collection of Washi tape! ;)



For both cards I used my A2 Matting Basics B set and my Circle Nestabilities to cut the mat and the holes. For the card on the left, I covered the die cut circles with washi tape then trimmed them and adhered them back in place. For the card on the right, I used a 6x6 My Minds Eye paper pad, a deal I had scooped up from ScrapAce. The sentiment, from the JustRite Stampers Just Because mini set, was stamped then cut out with the JustRite retired die set then matted using a piece from the JustRite Stampers Vintage Label & Banner Dies set. Both cards were sprinkled with a little Want2Scrap bling to finish them off.

Now that the NSD festivities have slowed down a bit, Scrap-Mart and Want2Scrap are hosting an NSD Giveaway and YOU could win a prize package valued at OVER $125 with products from Want2Scrap, Lifestyle Crafts, Kaiser Kraft and more! All you have to do is 1) Like Scrap-Mart on Facebook, 2)  Like Want2Scrap on Facebook and 3) Share the Facebook post about the giveaway on with your friends.  The contest is open through Friday, May 10th and the winner will be announced on the Scrap-Mart Facebook page on Monday, May 13th.

Keep on creating...

Hello friends! Once again my blog has taken a back seat to life. It happens. For those of you who may not know, I lost my dear sweet Momma in late March. The last month has been difficult for me, however, I know she is in a better place and is no longer suffering. As much as I miss her I would never wish her back to the condition she was in. She is at peace and has joined her Heavenly Father along with many, many family members who have gone before her.

 Over the course of the last few months I have been trying to further build my jewelry business. In addition to my Etsy shop, I have also created a Facebook Page. I am still traveling so I do as much as I can with it. So far, I have been very blessed with some great repeat customers and my Etsy shop is reaching new customers all over the country.

 Today my friend Teresa Frankenstein featured some of my pieces on her blog, Scrappin Frankenstein. What an honor! Thanks Teresa.

Well, I feel like I'm rambling so I will close for today. Hope you all have a Happy Thursday!

Take me out to the ballgame...

Baseball season is finally upon us. I am not a big sports fan but I do love baseball! Oh, and I really like to watch hockey too. ;) Our oldest son, Brian, had played ball since he was 4 but wasn't able to play anymore when we moved to Prue 3 years ago. There was no school team and we are more than 20 miles from town so with work and life we couldn't commute back and forth for practices and such for private league play. Thankfully, this year, the school got a new teacher who was willing to coach baseball so we're back in business. Now I need some flair to wear to the games. :) I decided to make myself a bracelet. Here's a peek...

 

I really like how it turned out and can't wait to wear it! I am in the process of making myself a matching necklace. I decided Shelby needed some flair too so I whipped up a cute Baseball Sis necklace for her...

 

We both also got blinged out tee shirts from my friend, Amanda. Shelby's says "There's no place like home" and mine has lots of flourishes and says "Baseball Mom." And, lucky me, I already got a few orders for some necklaces and of course, I added them all to my Etsy shop.

Missing You

Some of you probably know this but I have been caring for my mom since late last year. She is 72 and has a number of health issues. Last week she decided that maybe she should seek out a nursing home that could help to care for her. While I think she made this decision to lighten the burden on us, she does appear to be happy and thankfully the facility we chose is close to us so we can see her often.

 Mom asked me to "pick up" a dozen or so missing you cards that she can send to her friends back in Mississippi and family back home in Texas. Of course, I wasn't going to let my mom send store bought cards so I asked her if I could make them...reminding her it might take me all week to get a 12 cards done. LOL! She was more than willing to wait and I was able to get started yesterday.
Here's the first one I made...

 

This card was relatively easy to create and after the coloring was completed it came together quickly. I started by stamping the flower image from the Heartfelt Creations Daffy Daffodil Precut stamp set and coloring it with my Copics (Y00, Y02, Y04, Y08, Y13, Y18, Y19, YG63, YG67, 0). After I finished coloring I trimmed my white cardstock down to just under 4.25 x 5.5 (sorry, I didn't measure exactly!) then trimmed the bottom edge using the new Spellbinders A2 Curved Borders One dies in my Grand Calibur. After tying off the ribbon under the image I stamped the sentiment from the Heartfelt Creations Classic Message Precut stamp set and added a few Want2Scrap Black 72 Count Pearls. I attached the card front to a black A2 card base and that was that. See, told ya it was easy. :)

One down, eleven to go!  Ha!  Hope you're in a mood to see some more cards.  

Let it Snow...

No, not really. I am about ready for Spring. How 'bout you? Thought so. However, I DO LOVE the Norland collection from FarmHouse Paper Company and even though I'm dreaming of 60 degree weather and flip flops I couldn't help but play with my wintry goodies.

Two years ago when I worked the Indy show I met to amazing sisters, Kay and Joyce. Now whenever I travel to Indy (Kay's home) or Atlanta (Joyce's home) I get to stay with them instead of in a hotel. This year, Kay and some of her friends were getting together to play and crop on Friday so I worked super duper fast and finished with set up before noon. After meeting for lunch we headed to Archiver's to crop. Kay had shared this link to a blog that had a wonderful little vellum tag with stitching and thought it would be fun for us to make some. She had bought a new mini-machine but due to technical difficulties we didn't get to sew our tags. Soooo, today I pulled mine out and finished it up.

I used paper from my 6x6 Norland paper pad from FarmHouse Paper Company and cut it into a little banner shape.  Next I topped it with a chipboard element then cut the vellum tag using the Tag & Tie die from Tim Holtz.  I used some temporary adhesive to keep the element in place then sandwiched it in the vellum and sewed a small zig zag stitch all the way around.  Now, I have tried like a billion times to sew on paper and never had any luck with it.  However, after getting the tensions and all straightened out on my machine, I think I have it down now.  ;)  So, after stitching the tag, I added the little chipboard mittens with some twine connecting them then sprinkled some Want2Scrap 72 Count White Pearls on top of the snowflakes and in some random spots on top of the vellum  I added some white seam binding then tied it off with some twine and finished it off with some mini jingle bells.  Here's a closer view of the details...

I am sure you will be seeing LOTS of stitched projects from me for quite a while. 

Ombre Heart

Ombre is all the rage these days. Everywhere you look you see it; in hairstyles, in fashion, even in home decor. I was pretty short on time this year and wanted to make a quick Valentine's Day card for hubby and I had an idea for an ombre heart. I remembered that you could color on ultra fine glitter with Copics so I set to work. Here's what I came up with...



I started out by adhering a small block of double sided adhesive to a piece of white cardstock. I used these sticky tape sheets but you could also use the new Double Sided adhesive sheets by Elizabeth Craft Designs. Next, I die cut my heart using my Spellbinders Classic Heart Nestabilities then removed the film over the adhesive and covered it with ultra fine clear glitter. After I covered the entire heart, I used my finger to lightly burnish the glitter into the adhesive. After that, all I had left to do was color my heart. Since it was a Valentine's Day card I wanted to use reds so I chose R20, R22, R24 and R29. I used R20 and R27 to blend and help soften the lines where the colors come together. Once it was colored I used more sticky tape to adhere the heart to the front of my card. I used a stamp from an old Unity Store Kit of the Month to stamp the word "love" in the lower right hand corner.

 Here's a closer view of the ombre coloring...

 

I just LOVE the way this card turned out. CAS in it's truest form. And the best part, it only took about 15 minutes! Can't beat that...and this would be a super simple card to make in multiples. Happy Valentine's Day my friends.
 

Make a Wish

Hello friends! Have you seen the new Sew Easy Circles tool by We R Memory Keepers?? It is super cool! I am a gadget girl. I collect and collect and rarely use. Soooo, as you can imagine, I have a nice little stash of Sew Easy and Sew Stamper tools. So I decided to give the Sew Easy Circles a try and see if I liked it. Guess what? I do!! Here's a fun little birthday tag I created using it...

For my tag base, I used my new Spellbinders Just Swingin' die template set and used only the outer die to cut and emboss my tag from American Crafts white cardstock. Next, I chose to try the Zig Zag Stitch Piercer and I put it in the Sew Easy Circles tool. I staggered my zig zag circles by making one in the upper left hand corner and one in the lower right hand corner. Next, I pulled out my stash of October Afternoon Cakewalk goodies and set to work. I inked all edges with both Stampin' Up! Pretty in Pink and Chocolate Chip inks. And to top it off, I added some seam binding I had colored with my Strawberry Shortcake Chalkboard Glimmer Mist.

I really like how it turned out and am anxious to try the Sew Easy Circles on a layout!!