Arctic Stamp Queen

Taking a Class...and some news.

noreply@blogger.com (Who is that?) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 03:29:00 +0000

One of the blogs that I like to follow is Cathy Zielske. She used to work for Simple Scrapbooks and I just love her writing style. Thats why I was thrilled when she announced on her blog several weeks ago that she would be teaching an online scrapbooking class through Big Picture Scrapbooking called Me: The Abridged Version (Me:TAV).

I am fascinated by the concept of telling my story. She based this class on a book called: Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, Mark is in town picking up my copy as I write. Writing is something that I really enjoyed in high school. I've lost touch with that and have recently had a desire to have more meaningful journaling in my scrapbooking. I'm guilty of enjoying the moments with my family, so though I call myself a scrapbooker, I don't have a lot of pictures. I decided that I need to use my words to tell the stories that I want to share and this class would help me rediscover those words.

Our first assignment was to make a tag book or use her prepared template. I opted for her template and then altered it to suit my style.

Ta-Da!!! Me likey very muchly thank you. I used a combination of Kraft and Pink Cardstock. I further embellished it with lace and velvet ribbon, a crocheted flower with button center, some bling, pearls and grungy ink on the edges...Shabby Chic BABY!

There is a seperate tag for each letter of the alphabet. Our assignment was to carry this with us and as we go throughout out day jot down one word nouns on the appropriate letter of things that are important to us and will help us tell our story. For example: I wrote down Garage and Grown Up Job under G. Stamps and Scrapbooking under S. I got a little delayed on this with my new Grown Up Job, but I am steadily filling up my letters.

I am really the most excited to be taking a class for me. Just because I want to. Just because I can. Just because I don't HAVE to. Thats really different for me. I'm normally the one offering the classes. I must confess, I am really liking being on the other side of it.

Which leads to my announcement: I have been contemplating this for a VERY long time and have finally decided to share. I was recently re-hired by my School District and am thrilled with what they will have me doing.

I am the new Special Education, Speech Aide. But we are doing something that is cutting edge. We are experiencing a shortfall of Speech Language Pathologists (SLPs) in our state. Because these services are federally mandated, our district is trying a new soloution. They have contracted with an SLP firm in Portland, OR to provide SLP services to a few of their schools. How are they going to do this? So glad you asked. Are you ready for this: my SLP is going to attend our daily speech sessions with video conferencing through Skype. Isn't technology an amazing thing? I will be her assistant and will work under her direction with our students. Tuesday is my first day in session with students. How cool is that??? Because my SLP is out of state, this job has quite a few responsbilities for me.

Because of this, I have decided to discontinue being a Stampin' UP! Independent Demonstrator as of 9/31/2009. I don't think this is a huge surprise to my customers, I haven't done much for the past year. But, I have decided to walk away from it. I am a little bit sad, SU! was a huge part of my life for 7 years. I have been blessed with an amazing group of women, whom I shall call friends for life. Thanks to all of you for your love, laughter, concern and support. You truly are amazing!!!

May your stamps be plentiful and your pads be inky!
Arctic Stamp Queen

Keepin' Warm

noreply@blogger.com (Who is that?) — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 02:40:00 +0000

Hello Strangers...I seem to keep apologizing for my lapses in blogging. So...I've decided to stop.

Apologizing that is. Life is life, things happen. I'm a busy happily married single mom. Dad works nights, sleeps days, so I wear a lot of hats at my house. When I can carve out some time, I do. I have been busy putting all of my digital scrapbooking elements into a database with ACDSee Photo Organizer. It has taken many hours, but it has made digi scrappin' so much easier. Well worth the time. I {heart} that I can find what I need fast.

I finally broke down and got PSE 7. There is a learning curve, but thanks to The DigitalScrapbookTeacher, I am figuring it out. This is my first layout in PSE7. I used freebie template #69 by The Paper Iris. Here's her sample:

See how different mine looks, just because I chose different colors. That still amazes me.

I have been thinking lately about my purpose in scrapbooking. I have to tell a secret...I call myself a scrapbooker, but I don't have a whole lot of pictures. I realized that a lot of times I am so caught up in the moment that I forget to grab my camera. So, I am resolving to do better. For now, I will use the pictures I have and use my words to tell the story. I've always loved writing. THIS feels good and right to me.

I've also been looking back at the paper pages I have created and realized that I like my words and pictures to be the focal point. I'm not into fancy shmancy...I found that my pages were consistently uncluttered, with a couple of pictures, my words...and it needs to be a double page spread. I tried a couple of single pages and it was very distracting to me visually. So, now I know my style...what's yours?

Supplies: Paper Iris Freebie Template #69, Papers by Flergs Studio, Staples by Studio Girl Maya: Staple Stash.

Dad

noreply@blogger.com (Who is that?) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 07:30:00 +0000

Not the most flattering picture of me...but I am striving to include myself more, so here it is. I just downloaded some great digital scrappin papers and photo masks from Cafe J through After 5 Designs. Her photo masks are amazing and they make scrappin a snap, pick a paper, a photo mask and a picture. Pictured here: The Art Gallery Collection.

Since returning to work full time in December, I have not had a lot of time to stamp. I am hoping to focus on that more with the summer vacation. For now though, I will post the periodic scrapbook page. Enjoy!

ak dustins

noreply@blogger.com (Who is that?) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 09:00:00 +0000

Since my sister has moved out of state, we decided we would create a family blog to keep in touch...I have been working on my header and came up with this. I really like playing with the digital elements to create.

Digi: My Alaskan Men

noreply@blogger.com (Who is that?) — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 06:00:00 +0000

Supplies Used: Tortuga Template #17 from {we are} storytellers. Background Paper from Shabby Princess. ACDSee Photo Manager and ACDSee Photo Editor.

Another one I got done on Superbowl Sunday. My dilema now is, do I scrap double page spreads (dps) or individual pages. I say this because even though I call my self an avid scrapbooker, I realize that while I had my personal issues this year, I didn't take hardly any pictures, sniff, sniff. Most events I only have 2 or 3 pictures off...gasp! Christmas I took none, whatever was I thinking.

I really like the continuity of DPS's, the colors all go and it is not visually distracting for me. However, it is a pain to do when digitally scrapping, because you are creating two seperate pages, you are unable to lay them side by side to compare that everything lines up. It can be done, but there are a lot of steps to it and then you have to seperate them for printing anyway...If any one has info on doing this using ACDsee Photo Editor, I would appreciate it.

My son was excited, this was his first bird.

Enjoy!
Arctic Stamp Queen

Digi: Princess Leah

noreply@blogger.com (Who is that?) — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 02:04:00 +0000

All supplies were downloaded for free from 2Peas as part of their Pink October Freebie.

Supply List: Paper is by Rhonna Farrer, Flowers & Frame by S. Freeman, Frame Overlay by Cherie Mask. Font is CK Ali's Handwritting from Creating Keepsakes (free download). Sketch by Becky Higgins (Creating Keepsakes: Feb. 2009 pg. 42).

I was thrilled when Stampin' UP! announced that they would be launching a digital scrapbooking program in 2009 (date to be determined). I have been playing with this format a bit and it is working for me right now. I don't expect to be a full on digital scrapbooker, I will be what is called a hybrid scrapbooker (I think) using a mixture of digitial and traditional scrapbooking methods. I can't WAIT to see what Stampin' UP! has to offer!!!

I have been sorely out of touch with my blogging friends and I do apologize. I took a full time job at my childrens school as a K/1 Teachers Aide in November. While it is a very worthwhile job and I love it, it has been a HUGE adjustment for me after being home for the last 9 years (yes I have been blessed). I still have not figured out how to get everything done on a daily basis and my creative outlet has suffered...I am just pooped. My area is BEYOND a mess since I haven't been out there staking my claim, the flat surface monster has returned with a vengance. It is on my list of things to do so that I can carve out my me time again, but until then, I have begun dabbling in Digital Scrapbooking.

My husband NEVER knows what to get me for my Birthday. Well, this year, he wanted a gun for his...so I negotiated a laptop for me. LOVE IT!!! Now, I can spend time with the family while they watch T.V. and I digitally scrapbook.

The layout above is one I created today while the superbowl was on (in between commercials, my favorite part of the event). For the time being, I have given up on Photoshop. I am just so frustrated with learning curve. I had invested in ACDSee Photomanager a while ago as a way of tagging my digital elements and photographs. So I decided to try their Photo Editor program figuring they would work well together and do they ever. I am very pleased. It has several tutorials geared toward digital scrapbooking and creating. I used them as a free trial and was so pleased I purchased them both.

I got an external hard drive for Christmas so I can use it between my laptop and my desktop. I take my computer to work with me and on my 1/2 hour lunch I am getting my digital elements and photos tagged.

Enjoy, you can click on the picture to see a larger image.

Arctic Stamp Queen

Pop Top Jeans

noreply@blogger.com (Who is that?) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 18:55:00 +0000

Geesh, these pictures are wonky and I can't get them fixed. I created this pop top jean can to be a wrap for my nephews Birthday gift. I took a pop top can of pineapple and instead of using the pop top to open the can, I used a special can opener that cuts it from the side (I got mine at Wal-Mart, Pampered Chef has one too) so that it would leave the pop top in place for my nephew to open his gift. I used the contents for a dump salad, yummy!!! I peeled off the label and ran the can and lid through the dishwasher. I covered the can using a piece of denim patterned paper. I cut a piece of brown cardstock for my belt and set some eyelets for the belt holes. I used a think piece of metal and cut it into a square, I punched the center out with another square and adhered it. I cut stips of the denim paper and adhered them to make belt loops. I cut out two pockets and outlined them with white gel pen. I stamped one of the words from SU!'s Flexible Phrases on red using versamark and then embossed it with White Detail EP. I cut it out into a rectangle shape and left a long tab to adhere to my pocket (Levi style).

Next comes the magic: I put his gift into the can, ran a thin bead of superglue around the edge of the lid and quickly placed it on the can. Looking at it, you couldn't even tell it had been opened. I decorated the pop ring with some ribbon and sent it on its way. My nephew thought I was magic when he opened his present...I'm thinking I may do some of these again this holiday season to keep prying fingers away and it's a great way to hide a gift card, the recipient will have NO clue what it is.

Thanks for looking and have a stamp happy day...I have missed ya!!!

Arctic Stamp Queen

Don't give up...please

noreply@blogger.com (Who is that?) — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:57:00 +0000

Hello my stampin' friends...I am sorry that I have been such a bad blogger. I truly am. I haven't stamped in a couple of months, some days I miss it and others not so much. I'm trying to take control of my life again and trying to figure out what normal is for me, I haven't felt normal in SOOO long, I have no idea what that is. Lately, I just haven't been up to to putting on the "show". I have so little energy that what I do have needs to be reserved for my children for now, they have been deprived of a healthy momma for a long time.

The only creative thing that I have done is to dabble a little in digital scrapbooking. I made two pages and had them printed at Costco since they had decent prices. I am waiting for my mom to bring them to me when she visits this month so that I can see if I want to go that route for my scrapbooking. I really like how they look on my computer, but am concerned that they will look off when they are printed. She says they look great, so I am hopeful. Here's one:

and the other, I call this one Valdez Bums:

My family got me a laptop for my Birthday and I have been learning Photoshop (great tutorials on About.com) and downloading digi freebies. I feel like I could keep up on my scrapbooking more if I were to go this route. Again, I am unsure of how it will look when printed. I am imagining that it will kind of be like the holiday photos you can have done at the photo places, but a lot of those look kind of cheesy to me. Thats why I am only doing a little until I can see the printed picture. So here you go...what do you think? I'd love comments and thoughts on scrapbooking, both traditional as well as digital. If I like the printouts then I will plunge full on into this, even thinking about asking for a Wacom tablet (bamboo pad) for Christmas. Thoughts? anyone???

Orphans who need a new home:

noreply@blogger.com (Who is that?) — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 21:21:00 +0000

I have been working on purging unused items from my stamp room…still have some to go, but here are my retired Stampin’ UP! sets that need a new home, so I can buy some new rubbah to play with.

U.S. Shipping and handling will be $5.50 for the first set and $3.00 for the second set. If you buy more than 2 sets, it will go into a flat rate box for $10.00. Payment will be through PayPal, I will send you an invoice. Stamps will not be shipped until I receive cleared payment. I will ship to Canada, but will have to get a quote from the p.o. to do that for our Candian friends.

If you are interested, please send me an email: arcticstampqueen@gmail.com with the name of the sets you want in the subject line. Thanks for helping me find new homes for these beloved sets.

Unmounted:

Friendship Blooms (2008 SAB set): $7.50
Birthday Whimsy: $7.50
For a Friend (Winter Hostess set): $7.50
Best Friends Alphabet Lower Case: $18.00
Amazing to Zany: $20.00

Mounted, Some Staining:

On the Spot BG: $6.00
Taggers Dozen: $7.50
Simple Sayings: $7.50
Alphabits: $7.50
Never Ending Joy: $10.00
Wonderful Words: $7.50
Blossoms Abound: $12.00
Headline Alphabet: $25.00
Frosty (heavily stained): $10.00
Bud Basics: $10.00
Be Happy: $12.00
Polka Dots & Paisley: $10.00
Greetings Galore: $12.00
All in a Row (missing the argyle/stitched stamp): $6.00
Trimtastic: $10.00

Misc. Items:

SU! Write Me a Memory Font CD’s (both) $5.00
SU! Retired Plaidmaker $5.00
SU! Snowman Punch $5.00
Misc. Alphabet plastic lettering templates 5 lettering styles $7.50
Grab Bag $7.50: Includes all kinds of miscellaneous items, lots of them from the $1.00 bin at Michaels. Valued at $25.00.
Making Memories Alphabet Punches $7.50
Making Memories Grommet Setter $10.00

Whew…that’s it for this round.

Thanks for looking and have a stamp happy day!!!

Happy 20 year Anniversary

noreply@blogger.com (Who is that?) — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 03:55:00 +0000

Happy 20 Year Anniversary Stampin' UP! I made these tasty little treats for my Stampin' UP! open house. The cupcake picks were made using a new embossing die/folder from SU! that goes in the new Sizzix Big Shot that we are now selling. I also used the circle punch and the scalloped circle punch. This die/embossing folder is fabulous and I hope to see more of them. They are a dream to work with and the embossing is so deep and crisp...love it!!! I have some more projects done, I just need to take pictures. Sorry for my lack of posts, my company (8 people) all left on Sunday and I work full time through next Wednesday. Then I go to my part-time hours and will have more time to dedicate to you. Enjoy this smackerel of goodness and know that I ate a cupcake for each and everyone of you!!!

Decor Elements

noreply@blogger.com (Who is that?) — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 02:08:00 +0000

Didja hear the news? The news that SU! is selling vinyl wall decor. Those of you who have been to my house know that I have used vinyl wall decor in my decorating for a couple of years. So I was excited that SU! would be offering images that we have all grown to love in our stamp sets. I finally figured out how I wanted to use my Decor Elements. I keep trying to talk my husband into selling our house so I knew I wanted it to be something I could take with me. My solution was to find a couple of frames at JoAnns. I removed the mat and just used the glass and a frame. Hint...I have a tutorial I have been working on for this, just needs a few more touches.

Sorry too that I haven't gotten the Crop-a-dile tutorial ready yet. My daughter has been working and my husband sleeps days so I haven't figured out how to hold the camera and the tool and keep it all in focus. My husband just found me a tripod so I will be working on it soon. Bear with me, I'm gonna have an extra 10 people here next week (getting ready for that this week) and then schools starts.

This is in my living room, I didnt' realize the sun was casting such a reflection, but you get the idea. This is my I Love My Family wall.

This next one is my favorite and hangs on the wall in my stamp room:

This frames is approximately 24x34 or 36 (can't remember and I just did a dump run). I adhred the decor vinyl to the front of the glass. I covered the back of the frame with a piece of dust paper (you buy it on the roll in the framing department) and adhered it with my ATG gun. The glass was glued into the frame with Super Glue. So....what do you think? Me likey very much, I just love the visual reminder to be creative.

Thanks for looking and have a stamp happy day!!!

Cupcake-a-Bella

noreply@blogger.com (Who is that?) — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 16:00:00 +0000

I adore Bellas and I LOVE cupcakes...so you know I had to get this image: Cupcake-a-Bella. Isn't she just adorable (pardon the lighting). I created the scored background with my Scor-Pal using Debbie Olson's technique. I colored her using my Copic markers. The frosting was colored with Copics and then colored over the top with a Versamarker. I sprinkled Heat & Stick Powder on that...heated it slightly with heat gun and then poured Doodlebug Glitter on. The cherry is a pink gem. I also dusted off my sewing machine and learned how to thread the bobbin, so I sewed on my patterned paper. A few pearls from my pretties kit and it's ready to go.

Supplies: Pink Pirouette & Whisper White CS (SU!), Patterned Paper (Rhona Ferrar), Cupcake-a-Bella (Stamping Bella), Copic Markers, Heat-n-Stick Powder (SU!) Doodlebug Glitter, Jewel (Kaiser), Pearls (SU! Pretties Kit), Scorepal, Sewing Machine.

Thanks for looking and have a stamp happy day!!!

Let It Snow...sigh

noreply@blogger.com (Who is that?) — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 16:00:00 +0000

No...I'm not crazy. Just trying to be prepared so that I'm not stressing out at the holidays. I made a goal to finish my Christmas Cards by October this year. That should be achievable. This is my first set. We will be making this at my Christmas Card stamp-a-stack and will be one of the cards featured in the Stampin' Kits I have for sale on the kit page. I don't know yet if this stamp set will be in the upcoming catalog. It was in the Holiday Mini Catalog last year. I love how whimsical the sets are. It's gonna be a keeper for me no matter what. I stamped the image in Black Stazon on Shimmer Cardstock and heat set it. I colored in the image using my Watercolor Crayons, light on top, dark on the bottom and blended it together. I topped off each letter with white Liquid Applique, sprinkled some glitter on that and hit it with the heat gun. Nice fluffy, sparkly snow. I colored the snowman in with Stampn' Write Markers. I stamped the Polka Dot Background stamp in Brocade Blue.

Do ya see the scallops? I made that scalloped edge with the NEW SU! Scallop Punch. Ingrid??? Are ya there? Did you read this? You will be SO happy!!!

Now, I will be just over the moon if SU! comes out with polka dotted organdy ribbon. Pretty puh-leaze...

All supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted: Shimmer White and Brocade Blue CS, Black Stazon Pad, Brocade Blue Classic Pad, Watercolor Crayons, H20 Brush, Various Stampin' Write Markers, Scalloped Punch, Season of Joy and Polka Dot BG stamps, Polka Dot Organdy Ribbon (May Arts).

Thanks for looking and have a stamp happy day!!!

Ladybug Love

noreply@blogger.com (Who is that?) — Sun, 27 Jul 2008 16:00:00 +0000

This is one of the first Papertrey sets I ever bought. I love this little ladybug, isn't she cute? I started in one direction with this card but ended up in a totally different direction and it was a fun journey! I paired Little Lady with Polka Dot Basics to create this fun card. I have been acquiring acrylic stamps for a little over a year now with a huge emphasis on Papertrey sets. I tried Acrylics about 5 years ago and I disliked them immensly. They have changed a lot since then and I think Papertreys are the highest quality out there. They are nice and thick and stamp as good as rubber for me. I am hoping that SU! will go with an unmounted option at some point and I would LOVE to see acrylics because they are so easy to stamp with since you can see exactly where you are stamping. I very much doubt they will ever go this direction, but a girl can hope can't she...until then my Stamp-a-Ma-Jig is my best friend. Thanks for looking and have a stamp happy day!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Who is that?) — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 16:00:00 +0000

For those of you SU! groupies out there...I still primarily use SU! stamps, I just didn't buy very many new sets this year and a pile of my others retired so I only have about 30 sets right now. Can't wait for the new catalog to come out so I can get some new Rubbah!!! For now I have been playing with some of my other sets...Like this one! I love how well thought out Papertreys stamps are. Nicole is amazing, the Martha Steward of papercrafting. This is a set that was released last month, it is called Boards & Beams. Isn't it lovely? I was able to do some fun detail coloring with my Copics. See how it looks the siding is darker close to the eves, I was able to create a shadow effect. Love it, it adds to the realism of the card. I used SU! Crystal Effects on the windows to give them a realistic gloss that you can't see in this picture. This would be great to give to a new neighbor or to congratulate a friend on a new house. I also think it would be neat for Realtors to give to their clients at closing. Thanks for looking and have a stamp happy day!!!

Bubble Bella

noreply@blogger.com (Who is that?) — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 16:00:00 +0000

I've had this idea floating around in my head for a while and I was so thrilled that it looked the same, if not better on the paper than it did in my head...woo hoo for me!!! This is one of my Bellas. I just love the whimsical yet trendy images. I colored her with Copics and even colored the pearls to match. I love the dimension it adds to the card and I love the sheen of the Stickles on the water, I carried the theme over into the background paper using the Polka Dot Basics set...this card makes me want to crawl into the tub!

Supplies: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White and Cool Carribean Cardstock. Bubblebathabella (Stamping Bella), Polka Dot Basics (Papertrey), Copic Markers, Ranger Stickles, Pretties Pearls (SU!), Tiny Pearls (Kaiser Craft), Polka Dot Organdy (May Arts).

KWerner Color Inspiration Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Who is that?) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 19:55:00 +0000

Kristina Werner is an amazing designer. You can check out her blog here. One of my goals that I have set for myself is to start completing some challenges. It's a good way to work on your creativity because often it will use colors or products that you don't normally use. That was the case for me in this color inspiration challenge:

I never use Sage Shadow...just not a color that I reach for. I still had a hard time incorporating very much of it into my project...but there is some there! Are you ready? Here's my project:

I was pleased with how this card came out. I started with a Whisper White CS base and embossed the center of the card using one my Rectangle Nestabilities using Nicoles Trick. Doesn't that look elegant? I used a Papertrey Set: Piece of Cake. Again, Nicoles designs are so well thought out. She created the "Cake" and "eat" words as separate stamps so you can use 2 colors. I love how that highlights the important words. I used pearls on the center of the larger flowers and completed it with Stampin' UP!'s Wide Grosgrain Ribbon, 'cuz you all know how much I adore Ribbon...I can't leave my card naked now can I? Super simple card, but it looks so elegant.

Supplies: Whisper White Cardstock. Regal Rose, Rose Red and Sage Shadow Classic Ink. Piece of Cake (Papertrey), Pearls (Kaiser Company). Nestability Rectangle Die, Embossing Pad.

Studio Decor II

noreply@blogger.com (Who is that?) — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:00:00 +0000

This is another creation for my stamp studio. It reminds me that in the scheme of things, life is just a bunch of little things. I have decided to collect the letter B. I found this at Michaels for $1.00. I covered it using Papertreys Everyday Blessings Patterned Paper using Modge Podge. I used another set of flowers from my SU! Pretties Kit tinting them using my Aqua Mist pad. I found the stamp in the dollar bin at Michaels.

Thanks for looking and have a stamp happy day!!!

Studio Decor I

noreply@blogger.com (Who is that?) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:58:00 +0000

In my ongoing quest to organize my studio, I have decided to surround myself more with all things paper. This is one of my projects I have created to sit on the Making Memories wall unit.

For this project I altered a $1.00 frame that I found at Michaels. I covered it using the yummy Everyday Blessings Patterned Paper from Papertrey. I love the colors and the patterns in it.

I adhered the paper to my frame using Modge Podge. After much trial and error, I have found what works best for me is to adhere the paper with a generous layer of Modge Podge and rub it on really well with my fingers removing any that has spooged out with a papertowel. I let this dry for a couple of hours (at least) before I put my topcoat on. I found that if the Modge Podge wasn't dry underneath then it bubbled the paper when I applied the topcoat.

I covered the inside of the frame with Papertreys YUMMY Aqua Mist Grosgrain Ribbon using Sticky Strip.

I stamped Soft Sky cardstock (retiring In-Color...sniff...sniff) using Chocolate Chip and Soft Sky Classic Ink using the lovely Define Your Life Alphabet and Define Your Life. I {heart} these 2 stamp sets. To finish it, I tied a piece of SU! Chocolate Chip Grosgrain Ribbon and stuck a Stickpin in that I made using the SU! pretties kit...I can hear the gasps now...Yep, it's made to be used, so I used it.

Supplies: (All suplies are SU! unless otherwise noted) Frame & Modge Podge (Michaels), Patterned Paper and Aqua Ribbon (Papertrey), Soft Sky Cardstock, Soft Sky & Chocolate Chip Classic Pads, Define Your Life and Define Your Life Alphabet, Chocolate Chip Ribbon, Pretties Kit.

Thanks for looking and have a stamp happy day!

Christmas Card Stamp-a-Stack

noreply@blogger.com (Who is that?) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 02:13:00 +0000

Christmas In July Stamp-a-Stack

I don't know about you but I have good intentions of making my Christmas cards early EVERY year so that I am not stressed out when all the holiday hustle and bustle arrives. Well this year I have decided to get them done early so that I can relax and enjoy the holidays. I figured if I was going to do that, then I should extend the offer to my stampin' gals too...Don' worry, I will still have my annual Santa's Workshop in October. SAS options and payment can be found below.

I will be offering a Christmas in July Stamp-a-Stack on Saturday July 26th from 10a.m.-12 p.m. with an additional offering on Thursday July 31st from 7-9 p.m. We will make 5 each of 4 styles for a total of 20 cards. Come join us as we prepare for a stress free holiday. Price for the class will be $25.00 for customers. $20.00 for Stamp Club members and downline members. Receive a free pack of 20 envelopes if you RSVP and pay the class fee by July 24th.

If you are unable to attend or are a long distance stamper, I have option's for you as well.

Local Stamp-a-Stack Kit: Cost will be $30.00 for local pickup and will include everything you need to make 20 cards, including the stamped images and envelopes Kits will be available for pickup starting August 8th.

Long Distance Stamp-a-Stack Kit: Cost will be $35.00 shipped and will include everything you need to make 20 cards, including the stamped images and envelopes shipped right to your door. Kits will be shipped by August 12th.

To register and pay your class fee please go to my Kits, Shares & Items for Sale and following the directions there.

Thanks for looking and have a stamp happy day!!!

Loads of Love

noreply@blogger.com (Who is that?) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:15:00 +0000

I was finally able to dust off this set and put it to the use it was intended for...coloring. I was pleased with this little beauty when I got done coloring it. The truck is bright red because my husbands truck is bright red! Makes sense right?

My kids decided the truck needed to have dogs in the back of it, even though our dogs have NEVER ridden in the back of the truck.

All supplies used are Stampin' UP! unless otherwise credited:

Stamps: Loads of Love & Accessories

CS: Sahara Sand, Real Red and Whisper White

Ink: Tsukineko Black Brilliance Pad

Ribbon: Wide Grosgrain Real Red

Off to work on my area some more...thanks for looking and have a stamp happy day!!!

Theres an end in sight!!!

noreply@blogger.com (Who is that?) — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:02:00 +0000

I am just giddy with excitement. I tell ya, it's taken me a bit longer to dig out from under the piles than I thought it would...I am happy to say that I only have to do my cutting bench and it is done. Woo Hoo!!! Does this look any better?

I {heart} my area when it looks like this

I love to go out and look at it in all of it's orderly perfection. Sigh...following are some more photos showing you what has worked for me in my ongoing quest for organization.

Ink Corner

This is my ink corner. I got the ink storage from Storage Unit Inks when they had them on sale. I love this because it stores my ink, marker and reinker all together. I want to get another one for my craft pads, I will just stack it on top of my current one. For now they are in my SU! Carousel.

Here it is up close!

Punch Storage

Here is how I store my punches. This is the same rail system I got at Ikea that I store my Copics in. I love this, because now that I can see my punches, I use them a lot more.

My Clip It Up

This is my clip it up, a revolving organizer. I got this for Christmas from Bonnie's Best Art Supplies. I love, Love, LOVE it! As I was organizing it, I pulled out stuff that I forgot I even had because it was put away. I cannot rave enough about this product. It does take up a LOT of room, I store mine on my file cabinet. And lookie below to see how I organize my chipbaord alphabets:

Each letter has it's own baggie, so it is easy to look at my chipboard fonts and decide which one I want to use for my project.

Decorative Storage

This hangs above my ink rack. What I wanted to show you is how I store my Glaze, Souffle & Sharpies. Do those containers look familiar to you? Do you drink Crystal Light? I covered some Crystal Light containers with patterend paper, adhered clear contact paper over the top of that for protection and added a cute label.

Last but not least:

I {heart} ribbon

I think we can all agree that ribbon storage is the bane of most crafters existence. I finally found a system that I think works for me. All of my SU! ribbon is stored in this cool Memory Makers wall unit. My only complaint has been that it is a pain to cut large quantities of ribbon for my classes. My friend Colleen came up with the idea of drilling new holes for the dowel to go in that are lower so I can slip the ribbon behind the dowel and remove the spool for cutting. I LOVE this idea and plan to do that soon, it involves finding the drill and the drill bits.

Now look below that...do you see those glass jars lined up on my counter. They remind me of the candy jars on the old Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Mmm, can you say yummy? I got this idea from Nicole Heady. She is the Martha Steward of stamping. I took doll pins from Joanns and wrapped my ribbon around them. I used a glass head pin to keep the end in place and threw them into a jar so I can see all their yummy goodness. Now I can look through the glass or dump them out to find the perfect piece for my project.

Thanks for looking and have a stamp happy day!!!

Copic Storage

noreply@blogger.com (Who is that?) — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 09:52:00 +0000

Several of you mentioned in your comments for the blog candy that you would like organizational idea...hee hee hee, did you even look at the picture? Actually I like to be organized but it is hard for me to achieve, being that my space is in the garage. My family lives by the flat surface theory...I am sure that you have heard of it. If I clean up an area and have uncluttered flat surfaces then someone in my family has to put something on it so that it's not so...flat.

Pair this with my husband and I's frugalness. We don't heat our garage above 55 year round, so when it is 40 below outside, I have to either stamp with a portable heater blowing on my hands so they will function or I take it inside to stamp. This winter I went with the take it inside theory and boy did I have a mess on my hands.

Sidenote: We live in a rural area that does not have Natural Gas as on option for heating our homes. We have heating oil trucked in every 3 weeks. In the wintertime, when it is cold, we go through 5-6 gallons a day. Not so bad when heating oil was $2.00 or so a gallon. Well, we are now up to $5.00 a gallon and it's SUMMER!!! So, after much careful thought and consideration we are forking out an insane amount for a Greenwood Stove to heat our house and garage (hubby even told me we can now get a hottub which the Greenwood will also heat). In a couple of years it will have paid for itself and we will be able to afford that hot tub.

All of this to say that I will now have a WARM area to stamp in year round. I am just giddy with excitement. And though I warmed the garage up to 65 for classes, my ladies who wore slippers and sweaters will be even more excited.

So, as I get my stamp room organized I will share pictures of what works for me.

When I went to convention last year I stopped in Salt Lake to spend time with a friend and we went to the new Ikea store. I sure do love that place, I could seriously live there. In the kitchen section I saw some cool vertical storage ideas. Including this little beauty that came home in my carry on:

I didn't know what I was going to do with it, but that didn't bother me, it had so many possibilities and was dirt cheap that I could buy it now and figure it out later. When I started getting my Copics and my Prismacolor pencils I decided to display them where they would be easier to use. I sorted them out using the color categories that Copic uses. This set hangs on my wall to the right of my workbench by all of my inkpads. I have a another set that hangs to the left of my workbench that holds my tools and items that I reach for all the time. The hang rails were $1.99 each and the cups were $.99 each. Not a bad little deal for me.

Coloring with my kids

noreply@blogger.com (Who is that?) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 09:21:00 +0000

I am slowly making progress on my stamp area. I got a spot cleared off so I can stamp and I had forgotten how happy that makes me. I did some design work today for a class I will be teaching at my LSS the end of the month. I hope to have my space finished up this weekend so I can get the crop-a-dile tutorial done.

I got my new order of Copics in from Carpe Diem. Their prices are GREAT but their customer service is a nightmare, I ordered the markers May 21st and they finally arrived on July 1st after multiple emails and phone calls.

I have been coloring at night with my kids and it has been so relaxing for me. I used to love to color but I disliked the lines that you got with traditional waterbased markers. Honestly, it never occurred to me to search for something else, I just didn't color. Then Ellen Hutson introduced the stamping world to Copic Markers and a whole new world was opened up to me.

There is definately a learning curve to these, don't expect to order them and be able to blend, shade and highlight right off the bat, it takes some practice. What has been especially helpful to me is Marianne's blog: I Like Markers. I read it diligently and practice her techniques. I'm starting to get a feel for it and am really pleased with the results. I am still struggling with highlights and leaving white space when I color for a natural highlight.

I am sad though that there aren't more colorable stamp images in SU!'s catalog. I am really hoping to see some new ones in new catalog when it comes out next month. I was lamenting to my husband about my lack of colorable stamps and hinting that I was going to need to pick some up since I had these faboo markers to color them with. Well bless his heart, he found me a couple of neat long retired Stampin' UP! sets that I can color to my hearts content. I have no idea what this set is called, but I just love this little girl with her umbrella. Isn't she cute?

I mentioned that I have been coloring with my kids. Here is my process: I stamp images with Brilliance Ink onto an 8-1/2 x 11 sheet of cardstock in relatively straight lines across the page with plenty of room between the images. I color them in while watching a movie with my kids and then I take my nestabilities and cut them. I store these and then when I want to make a card that has a colored image, I can just whip one out.

This is a pretty self explanatory card, very simple and I know one girl in particular who will be thrilled when she receives this.

All supplies are Stampin' UP! unless otherwise credited:

Stamps: ???Anyone know???

Ink: Tsukineko Graphite Black Brilliance Pad

Cardstock: Baroque Burgandy, Whisper White, Old Olive

Patterned Paper: Wild Asparagus

Ribbon: SU! Wide Grossgrain-Chocolate

Accessories: SU! Slit punch, Nestabilities Square Dies (Plain and Scalloped)

Thanks for looking and have a stamp happy day!!!

We have a winner

noreply@blogger.com (Who is that?) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 18:39:00 +0000

We have a winner!!! I was really surprised that several people requested a tutorial on using the crop-a-dile (one of my all-time favorite tools). I can do that. I choose the first person who requested that so:

Joan B said...

I would love a tutorial on using the crop a dile the right way!!! Your messiness looks just about right to me, BTW!!

Joan B, contact me with your address and I'll get your candy in the mail.

The tutorial will be posted sometime this week. Thanks so much for all the entries, I have lots of ideas now for future tutorials. Have a stamp happy day!