Arrrr Matey!

Heather is to blame for the reason I purchase SU's Ahoy Matey Stamp set, as well as the matching wheel. When I was browsing her blog a few weeks ago I came across this exact card and just loved it! I thought it was the perfect Birthday card for a little boy so, because I have no self contral whatsoever, I bought the set and cased the card Heather had created, right down to the same colour of paper. I thought the combination of colours was perfect, and why mess with perfection? I gave away the first one today to B's little guy for his First Birthday party today.

Recipe: All images copyright Stampin' Up!. Stamps: Ahoy Matey! + coordinating wheel. Paper: More Mustard, Not Quite Navy, Ruby Red. Ink: Going Grey, More Mustard, Not Quite Navy, Ruby Red, Creamy Caramel. Other: Wonder Crayons, Aqua Pen, White Gel Pen, Making Memories Brads, Tab Punch (I cheated and traced it from the catalog!), Ticket Punch, Birthday Cuttlebug Embosing folder.

After I made this one though, I thought, mmm this would make a great shaker card as well...So I used all the same materials, but instead I added acetate, a frame (I have coasters on their way for future shaker cards), some sand and some coloured beads for "jewels" and made this version;

I think it turned out ok, but I think it needs some 'tweaking'.

Impromtu Crafty Night.

I was out way tooo late last night! Ms. M had an impromtu crafty night where we all actually worked on cards. I know shocking, normally we go to these crafty nights and just chit chat, but last night we actually did crafting!

I saw the Spinner card on B's blog (she used the cute little owl from Let's Celebrate!) and I decided to do one using the butterfly from my Garden Whimsey set. It's actually a super easy card to make once you do the first one (thanks for the help B!) and I think for my first attempt it turned out really well.

Recipe: All images copyright Stampin' Up!. Stamps: Garden Whimsy, Birthday Whimsy. Paper: Very Vanilla, Groovy Guava, DaisyD Designs. Ink: Groovy Gauva. Other: Dimensionals, 2 pennies, word window punch.

Isn't he Cute?

Heather sent me a newsletter, that I received today, and inside it was this card as well as some eyelets and of course info some SU news. I was so excited to get the card (the first homemade card I've received!) that it was not until later I remembered there was actually a letter in the envelope as well! I know it was not planned but I love the colours on this card, I really like Tempting Turquoise and the F&F notes set is so cute!

The felt flower is also pretty neat (I've not bought any yet) and it's neat to see one of the build-a-brads up close. I had some on my last order but have not received them yet. I thought they would be a great way to co-ordinate paper and brads. Plus, I get to see her colouring technique up close. Yes I'm clearly a geek, but I've been so interested/obsorbed with colour techniques lately that it's nice to see someone else's in person who I think does an awesome job!

Thanks Heather!

I'm also stupidly excited that on Saturday some friends and I are getting together to make cards. We have a monthly 'crafty' night but never make cards, it usually entails gossiping (not that there is anything wrong with that!) and is fun, but I'm excited that this one is specifically for card making. M is hosting, and she owns just about every tool/ink imaginable through SU, so not only do I get a night out away from the kiddo and husband, I get to play with someone elses stuff that I do not own yet.

Tool Free H! Challenge

I picked up my order today from M and was able to finish my card for the challenge. I really had fun doing this card. Garden Whimsy is definitely my favourite set out of the Spring/Summer '08 Catalog.

Recipe: All images copyright Stampin' Up!. Stamps: Garden Whimsey, Short & Sweet. Paper: Very Vanilla, Old Olive, BB Red. Ink: Purely Pomergranate, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie. Other: Dimensionals

Storage Storage Storage.

I'm always looking for storage ideas, whether it's for my growing collection of stamps, my new found love for ink pads or my punches - I'm always looking. Right now I have a nice big room to craft in and can spread out as much as I like, but once we have a 2nd child, I will need to re-locate to the basement to a much much smaller space. So with this in mind, I've been looking for storage ideas that go vertical instead of horizontal. I'll have to give up my huge workspace for a much smaller work table and I'm probably going to have to use less storage drawers as there is just not the space for them.

Today when I was reading my Stamp'n up Monthly Magazine they highlighted someone who has the same problem I will eventually have, a very small space. The idea they had for their punches I thought was pretty neat. It was vertical and even though it took up some wall space, their punches were easily accessible and they also attached baskets for ink refill bottles, ribbons as well as their hodgepodge and build a brad kits.

The best part? Their solution was super cheap! Each of these Bygel bars cost a meer 2.99 each at IKEA. The Bygel Wire Basket is only $4.99. I think it's a neat idea. I'm not sure it will work in my space, but I've stashed the idea away and perhaps with some adjusting, I could use 1 bar instead of two (will I really ever have that many punches? hah!) and over that bar have a shelf for my cricut cartridges? I'm also still toying with the idea of the wood that has the holes in it to hang stuff (the name of it eludes me at the moment).

(no scanner so it's a picture of a picture)

In the meantime for my inks, I followed Stacey King's tutorial for making this ink pad holder. My wonderful husband helped me measure/cut/assemble it tonight after our daughter was in bed. I have to say I've went back and forth for a while now on the SU Ink Caddy but because my workspace is such a hot commodity to me (Cricut, Cuttlebug, printer, trimmer already have a home on my table) I really did not want to lose more of my precious work area. This seemed like a good solution for the time being, and also rather inexpensive. The foam core board only costs $8(ish) at Staples, so for a short term solution it works well. I just need more ink pads to fill it up! I don't think this will be a problem. hehe


My next project when I find the time will be to make an idea board. I wanted to do what I think is "technically" called a European Msg Board? My mom made one a while ago and said it was super easy. She just bought a pc of canvas, added stuffing, wrapped fabric around it, added buttons and ribbon. The only issue with this idea, although I can chose my own fabric is that I'd like part of my idea board to be magnetic. Perhaps if I keep looking something will pop out at me and I'll have that Eureka moment. :0)

Garden Whimsey Fun.

This set is one of my first stamp purchases from SU and I have to say it's definitely one of my favourite sets, I love the butterfly and the ladybug, even the sluggish snail is really cute! When the H! Tool free challenge was announced, it was really a no brainer which stamp set I was going to use.

However, in the process of trying to come up with a card for it, I did what I called my two 'warm-up' cards. It seems whenever I do a card, it's one I've "cased" from SCS. Not just the layout or the stamp set, but the entire card - colours, inks, ribbon etc. So for this challenge I wanted to try and come up with a card on my own. To do that, it took me casing 2 other cards I'd seen (but I used different paper and stamped words) to have that "Hey what if I did this!". It's almost done, I'm just waiting for a few of my supplies to arrive in the order I placed with M.

The first card I did is the ladybug. The only thing it's missing (IMO) is some ribbon under the block - Best friends listen to what you don't say but I did not have any that really matched so I just did it as is. I saw the idea for this on SCS and I pretty much cased the entire card except I used the sayings in my set and they used the ones from "Define your Moment" or something like that.

All images copyright Stampin' Up!. Stamps: Garden Whimsey. Paper: Very Vanilla, Cameo Coral, More Mustard, Ruby Red. Ink: Cameo Coral, More Mustard, Ruby Red. Other: Zots, Adhesive Rhinestones.

I also got the idea from SCS, although I did change it up a bit by using a different stamp on the white background and adding ribbon. I'm not sure who or when I'll use these cards but it was fun to take a break for an hour or so in my craft room and make them. :0)

Hopefully my order with M will be here this week and I can finish the other card I did for the challenge. I just need my "Short and Sweet" stamp set and then it's done!

All images copyright Stampin' Up!. Stamps: Garden Whimsey. Paper: Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Ruby Red. Ink: Ruby Red, Old Olive. Other: SEI Green Ribbon, snail adhesive.

I'm also working on another card for B's little guy, his birthday card, which I am almost done, but again I need an item I ordered so I have to wait on that first before I can finish it. I'm also trying to decide whether or not to go with my original plan or turn it into a shaker card. I think it would make a really cute shaker card, but then it would lose some of the other cute embellishments that I had originally planned. I'll post it after Sunday. :0)

Easter Treat

Today we went to an Easter party that a good friend of ours hosted. As a special thank you from us for putting it all together, last night I made up this cute Easter Treat Holder. I do not own any Easter Stamps, so, instead I used rub ons. I think it turned out rather cute!



Opened to reveal the "treat";



I found the template for the card on one of the blogs I visit. I thought I had bookmarked it so that I could share it. I printed it out, but the url links are not on the pages. It was a great tutorial too for explaining the size and where to score for the fold lines. If I find it, I'll add it to this post.

ETA: Yay! I found the tutorial, I was out to lunch it was actually a Tutorial on SCS. Here it is - Peek-a-boo Treat Holder.

Unfortunately, I left it on the side table by the door, so I'll have to give it to her later this week when I see her.

I also did a card, very pastel-y so I'm not so sure how much I like it, but it's definitely Easter colours! I used Imaginese Paper and as you can see, I still do not have Circle Punches (I need to remedy that!), so I traced them out and they are not quite 'circular' perfect.



Paper: Brazill Basics - Sundance, Light Pink, Pale Blue, White (I never remember BB's paper names), Imaginese. Other: zots, Imaginese Rub ons - Love Notes (I think that was the name of it?), SU Scallop Punch.

Happy New Baby

Friends of ours were due to have their Baby on March 17th, but when she was in for a check up at around 36w the babe was breech and after having an u/s done last week, babe was still breech so they were scheduled for a c/s this Friday at 9am. I guess the baby decided not to wait, bc our friend's water broke yesterday morning! They had a little girl, Miriya - 8lbs 4oz. I really like the name. O says the name is from a character in the Robotech series. Totally her Husband's picking I'd say.

Happy New Baby
Originally uploaded by carleycat11

So, now that I know the gender I sat down last night and did up this card. The cute hippo is from Pun Fun, the same set as the Ewe. I really like this set.

For the hippo, instead of using my ink + blender pen I used my watercolour pencil instead. I tried with ink/blender pen but it just did not come out right. I find that is really good for small areas, but a bigger area it's really hard to colour w/o leaving lines and other dark areas. I did use it a small bit around the hippo's head to make the highlight.

I think after M's brief tutorial the other night I'm going to invest in the SU crayons. They just seemed so easy and fast to colour an image.

All images copyright Stampin' Up!. Stamps: Pun Fun, For A Friend, Little Flowers. Paper: Brazill Basics - Sundance, Light Pink, Dark Pink, White (I never remember BB's paper names). Ink: Yoyo Yellow, Pixie Pink, Going Gray. Other: American Crafts Elements - Mustard mini circles, blender pen, zots, grey watercolour pencil.

Ewe so Pink!

Ewe so Pink!
Originally uploaded by carleycat11

Anyone getting tired of seeing this layout/colour design? I told you I had a lot of pink card stock hanging around. The only difference with this card is that I did not add flowers. I did 4 of this stamp and then 4 of the bird. I plan to give them as a thank you to a friend. I'd like to say you have seen the last of this colour combination, but, I have one last set of 5 birthday cards I'm finishing up, then I think I'll definitely be avoiding pink for a while!



All images copyright Stampin' Up!. Stamps: Pun Fun. Paper: Brazill Basics - Dark Pink, light Pink, Brown, SU Very Vanilla. Ink: Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink. Other: American Crafts Elements Ribbon - Brown, Making Memories Brads - Pewter mini circles, blender pens, dimensionals.

Cyndi's Scrappy Sketch #7

First Birthday
Originally uploaded by carleycat11

Every Friday Cyndi puts a sketch on her blog. Since I had re-arranged these photos about a million times, I decided to use her sketch and see if it would work out better then the numerous layouts I had tried.

I have to say that the page(s) are not my 'usual' style, but the more I look at it, the more I start to like it.

The big highlight of the page of course is the beautiful (and very Yummy!) cake by S. She did a great job and everyone loved it. I think it made a great first birthday cake for N.

I need to take one last look through my photo folders of N's first year, but I think this just might be the last page. I decided a long time ago to do her books from Birthday to Birthday instead of Jan-Feb. The only pro pictures I'm missing are the One year shots, but there are really not a lot of them that I liked, so I might just not do them.

Paper: Brazill Basics - Dark Pink, light Pink, Yellow, Bright Blue, Light blue, Heidi Grace - It's my Party. Ink: Turquoise. Other: Memories Brads - Pewter mini circles. Circut Cartridges: George and Basic Shapes (stars, flowers), Alphalicous (It's a Party)

Thanks..

I recently acquired the cute stamp set - Fun & Fast Notes

thank you
Originally uploaded by carleycat11

I love this set! I think it's perfect for quick 'notes' to friends for birthdays, thank you, Christmas, you name it this set has a stamp for it.

Looking through my paper I noticed I had an abundance of pink paper (imagine that ) so even though I would have liked to do this little bird with nice bright shades of blue, I chose pink and brown. It also goes well with the other stamp I plan to use for the centre image. I did 10 cards and did 5 of this cute little bird and plan to do 5 with the Lamb from Pun Fun. I ordered this set and it's been sent to me, but I've not received it yet. I'm hoping to get it today.

For the colouring I used my blender pen again and ink pads. This time, instead of of colouring directly on the image, I used my scrap paper more, by first drawing on it until I had gotten the right amount of ink on my pen then coloured it. I went with the less is more approach this time. For the areas I wanted highlighted/a bit darker I went over again. I actually wish I had the SU markers to do this with, since with the blender pen, it can start to 'fuzz' the paper if you go over one spot too much.

IMG_5096
Originally uploaded by carleycat11

I would have liked to do some stamping on the light pink paper, but I do not own any background stamps (I like the Sand Paper one) or other ones I thought looked 'right'. Of course last night as I lay tossing and turning in bed, I thought "hey I could have used my cuttlebug and embossed it using Spots on Dots or Divine Swirls.

All images copyright Stampin' Up!. Stamps: Fun & Fast Notes. Paper: Brazill Basics - Dark Pink, light Pink, Brown, SU Very Vanilla. Ink: Chocolate Chip, Tempting Turquoise, Pretty in Pink, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive. Other: American Crafts Elements Ribbon - Brown, Making Memories Brads - Pewter mini circles, Prima Flowers, blender pens

A little squeeze goes a long way.

Last night after Tash went to bed I worked on another All in the Family name plate for a friend. (She's super private so I smudged/blurred her name.) I now have about 6 SU ink pads and some Blender Pens so I decided to try the 'squeeze' method instead of using my water colour pencils.

Tools:

-SU Ink pads (althought you could probably use any ink pads)
- SU blender pen
- I found you can also use the spots if you have those, just dab them onto the inside of one of your cartridges.

The first thing I learned is that you do not have to squeeze hard or long to get ink on the inside of the cartridge. Also, the old adage, a little goes a long way is definitely true, it does not take a lot of ink to colour the image, at least not for these ones. So play around a bit first, moving the ink around and testing it's intensity on a piece of scrap paper first before colouring your stamped image. It's also a really good idea that you use scrap paper to get the right shade you desire or to get rid of some of the excess on your pen.

I found when I coloured her dress in Purely Pomegranate that it was too dark and I should have first dabbed it a bit on scrap paper first. It's a bit darker in some areas and lighter in others and I'm not really liking the effect.

----

I have been working on other things besides paper crafts, one being a Cotton -Ease Cardigan for Natasha. It's 3 different colours and the entire sweater is just Knit and Purl, so I think it should turn out ok, as long as I finish it while it will still fit her.

Thank you card

A friend of mine has been very generous in giving us several product samples to try out and I thought what better way to thank her then to make her a card? So I spent some time over in the SCS's gallery (I'll honestly admit right now that I do not have a creative bone in my body and all my cards and 99% of my scrapbook pages are ones I've copied from various sources like page maps, becky higgin's sketches or the scrapbook gallery) in the Garden Whimsy Stamp area looking for a nice card to make and send her.

My first problem is I do not have a very big supply of SU paper as of yet, so a lot of the ideas I loved, I did not have the paper or ribbon to match, so I did a little improvising.

Thank you card
Originally uploaded by carleycat11

I finally settled on a card that is very similar to this one, but not quite the same. I really love this set! The cute little ladybug, snail and the butterfly are all super cute and I have so many ideas stored up for them! (read: saw so many cute ideas!) The only stamp in this set I probably won't use much is the Tulip, I'm not a big fan of tulips. I did see that some just use the stem and use other flower stamps from other sets for it, which I would never have thought of. (see I lack in creativity and thinking some days :p)

The other thing I learned from this project was I have no 'generic' sayings (thank you, happy birthday, etc). I wanted to stamp 'thank-you' on the front instead of the saying that's on there, but did not have one. I took a look at the SU catalogue and I think I'm going to add Short & Sweet Sayings to my wish list.

I'm going to sit down after supper tonight (N will be waking up from her nap soon!) and do her up a family face plate as well. You can see the very bottom of mine blurred in the background of this photo, I ended up taking the candy cane-ish ribbon off and just putting a basic solid red. It looks much better!

Recipe:

Stamps: SU Garden Whimsy
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Old Olive, Purely Pomergrant
Paper: Brazill basics Red, pink, SU Old Olive, Very Vanilla
Ribbon: Making Memories - Elements - Pink
Punches: I had no circle punches to speak of, and Michael's did not have any 1 1/2" and 1 3/8" so I improvised. Remembering that M said the stamp images in the catalogue are the same size as the actual stamp, I cut those two out and traced them on my paper. Another item I need to add to an order.
Card size: 4" x 5.5" (I'm going to start adding this as I see cards and always wonder what size that is)