Anything but Cards

I really struggle with coming up with ideas for the quarter auction. This time around I had some help from my friend, Ruth, and other ideas from the other auction ladies. Only time will tell what the appeal of these items are. Let me know what you think. I'm posting photos of the item and a second photo of how I will present it.

Recipe holder includes pot holder & towels. Add some of your favorite recipes for a wedding shower gift.

Coupon folder gift set includes a calculator, pen & scissors.

Snack jars filled with yummy treats.

Getting the Most from your Stamp Pad

I taught a class designed to show my students just how versatile our old friend "stamp pad" can be. These are some of the cards they made.

It's so much fun to stretch my creative muscles looking for (or recalling) the very many ways we can add color and depth to our cards with nothing more than the stamp pads we use.

And what I love most about teaching was seeing the reactions and delighted expressions of my students as they discovered these "new" ideas for themselves. It really is the reward at the end of the rainbow.

This first card was done by cutting a reverse stencil of the flower stamp on scrap paper. We tossed out the flower and used the hole, placing it over the stamped flower. Then we sponged color from our stamp pad onto the flower. The layers and subtlety of shading are one of the great benefits of this technique.

Did I say we tossed out the flowers we cut out? Oops! I did encourage my students to use them inside their cards to continue the theme. So pretty!

This card was probably the class favorite. There was a lot to putting it all together, but we learned so much on this card! Too much detail to relate here, but I hope we all learned about thinking outside the box.

I designed this card after I had the parts. My friend, Mary Jane, let me borrow her Cuttlebug and I whipped out the textured pieces to take home and play with. The results were so quick and easy and I think the look is fabulous! Some students were dismayed that the pad left color in areas other than the embossed lines. But then they looked back at my sample and saw that it looked burnished with color- very cool.

Something I don't have a sample of to show you is using the same technique on the back of the embossed piece. Try it sometime.

We did one more card using the water brush with our stamp pads. It's like having a perfectly matching marker. Perhaps I'll post that one tomorrow. Stay tuned!

Happiness is a Beautiful Card

This is one of my favorite cards. I love the tri-fold pattern which makes the card even more beautiful when it is opened, as well as these beautiful Close to my Heart papers, Creative Basics, Veranda Collection.


Most of the CTMH paper packets include several sheets and colors of solid card stock as well as 6 different designs of patterned paper - 2 of each double sided design. It's a wonderful value.



But... the Creative Basics collection introduced with each catalog? Only 2 double sided designs, six sheets of each, and 4 yards of coordinating ribbon. Perfect for card makers like me, it means more sheets of the designs I love!!



Here is the opened card. Isn't it gorgeous? I find these colors and patterns so beautiful, I don't think I could go wrong with them.

I first saw the pattern for this tri-fold shutter card when a friend posted a photo of her card using this pattern. I played around with some paper until I figured out the cuts and folds and used it for my Christmas Card (2009). Recently I had the opportunity to share the pattern with a stamp club I am a member of. It was so fun to see what everyone did with the same basic start. I'll be teaching this exact card this week in my Yoga Class. I am so excited!


This final view is the flower detail. I sponged the white paper flowers in the same colors of the papers (Juniper & Garden Green). I was a little stuck on what to do for the center of the flower because I was not at home - away from collections of stampin' & scrappin' do-dads. So I took a thin strip of solid Juniper card stock and wound it around a embossing stylus to make a tight swirl. I attached it to the center of the flower with Liquid Glass. I love how necessity stimulates creativeness!

Flutter by, Butterfly!

It's been a while since I've posted any of my work - didja miss me?

I guess I have to admit to being lazy. Why? Because I have been crafting, but not posting. Shameful!! Because I have issues with blogspot & photos I am not going to try to post everything at once. But do come back often because I have "stuff" to share!!

Tonight I'm sharing a card I put together for a class. I knew I wanted to use this explosion technique and that became my starting point. The rest of it stressed me. My final card was not the first attempt. I started with computer paper and thought I had it all worked out. Surprise... even then I had to rip it apart and rearrange. Hope you like the final results!

This is with the explosion open. Inside is a dandelion "puff" and the words "Make a Wish." It's all mounted on a regular size card base. Although it would be just fine post-card style, the card gives the sender plenty of room to write a note.

NKY WINS 25 Cent Aution at Legends

The auction is coming up again and I thought I'd share a little of what I've been working on. This is a gift jar inspired by a link a friend sent me. I plan on doing some more filled with journaling prompts, which is what the link showed. But for auction, the crowd seems a little less crafty so I'll fill this one with candy and promote it as a Mothers' Day gift.

Here you can see some of the lid detail. I distressed most all the paper. For the lid, I used the reverse side of the paper, clear embossed a butterfly on it and swiped some dreamcoat paint lightly over it to make it pop.

The lid itself is sponged with brown stazon and has a couple more paint swipes along the edges.

This is a write on, wipe off memo board made simply with a 12x12 layout frame. The glass simply wipes clean just like a white board.
All paper, ink, stamps & embellishment products used in these two projects are Close to My Heart. The frame & jar came from Hobby Lobby.
Thanks for stopping by!

A Bit of Show & Tell

This is a flip flop card I did showing the different stages of flipping and flopping. All the products (except the beads on the pull) are retired CTMH. I really miss some of our old papers!! The final photo in the series is a close up of the pull with the beads on the ribbons. I love this pattern & it's so easy to make!
This is a tag pop-up card first shown closed and then open (free standing!). Again I focused on using some of my retired CTMH products. This is another very easy card design with awesome results. Both cards fit easily into a standard invitation size envelope and can be mailed with no problems.

Blackmail is Such a Nasty Thing!

Today my friend emailed me photos she took of my craft room on Monday and gave me 48 hours to post them or she would do it herself. Gah!! The room is finished, at least on the surface, but there was still too much clutter! You know those last little bits of things that just can't seem to belong in any particular place? So tonight I either designated homes for the clutter or move it out long enough to get some photos. So, here it is at last! My craft room from the shaky start to finish, in photos!

Here are the 'before' photos. I really don't have anything to say about them, other than it was actually worse before we put the cupboards in - if you can believe that...
Kind of like a bad episode of "Hoarders" right?
This next set of photos are the 'during' photos.


The first thing we did was remove all the boxes and furniture from the room. Amazing how much bigger it began to look!
You may not have noticed in the before photos that there were several tables in the room. They came out, too. Everything was removed except the cabinets that were permanently installed by my husband in his efforts to help me get organized.
Then we started bringing it all back in. We set up tables in the center of the room and every box was unloaded and sorted and put away in it's very own place. What a concept!
The final set of photos are the 'after' pics. This is my oasis!

The door into my craft room, aka "Girl Oasis" is a double door. This view is from outside the Oasis with both doors open looking in.
Entering the Oasis on the left are my cupboards. At the end of the cupboards is my paper storage. Cards are displayed over head. In the foreground are three tables set up for classes.
This is the view of the wall opposite the door. I love the big storage unit which is also my media unit but I think it's not really the best use of the space. I'll be pondering its future for a while. Some of my first DOTS & CTMH catalogs are in frames on top and will eventually hang from the wall like they should.

This is the wall opposite the big white cupboards. The drawers clear to the left are for all my ongoing projects. The additional paper storage is all retired CTMH background/texture papers with just a few sheets of "non" mixed in. Below the table are drawers of beads and beading tools. The table is my Cricut station and also home to all my inks.
The wall the door is on has the table that is home to my "office." My business tools, computer, printer, pens, stapler, etc.
Looking back to the door you'll see my 4 month calendar, my bookcase full of inspirational books & magazines and my many many totes. Hooks are going up soon for my totes. They will be hidden behind the doors when they are open.

Bailey follows me where ever I am in the house and is my constant companion in the Oasis.

Zori also loves to visit, but is a little shy when others are here.

Thanks for stopping by and taking the tour!