Just..one...card!

I was getting ready to turn off my computer for the night (it is again, as usual, way past my bedtime and I am exhausted), but then I thought, I'd take the time to post.



As my posts always seem to start... it's been quite a busy week, or actually in this case multiple weeks. Work has been superbusy and taking up lots of my time, with my family and sleep taking up the rest. It is great to have so much to do, lots of business to be done- it makes the workday fly (almost too fast, really!), but my career is very encompassing from a time perspective between the commute the actual time I am there. Some of it has spilled over to the weekend, which is why I have not been able to really papercraft even on the weekends for the last couple of weeks. I worked at home both days this weekend to make sure that something was done for Monday morning.

This week should be a little more more manageable, and I plan on going over to my my oldest kiddo's school to read his birthday book one afternoon as well. In his class this year, his teacher decided that instead of celebrating with cupcakes or the usual class snack fare, one of the student's parents would be invited in to read a book to the class. I like the idea of coming in to read. I like any chance to get into school and see what he is up to. :)





So while I still have my project from last week sitting on my craft table waiting for me to finish, I did get a chance to make 1 card. I actually made 2 of these for my 2 older guys who both had birthday parties this afternoon. I finally got my new IA stamps. More absolutely adorable boy stamps! And these really are great. There is a whole monster line. I got them all. They just came out in the spring supplement. The karate monster is what caught my attention first, b/c I am always on the look out for fun taekwondo stamps for the kiddos' books. The 2 older boys are very much into tkd, so you can imagine how many testings I still have to scrap.



So even with all the craziness, here is 1 quick easy-peasy card, but I thought it was cute and perfect for the parties the boys had going on today. I had less than 10 minutes to make both of them. But then again, there was no way that I'd be able to go 2 weeks without get some ink on my fingers! ;)

Stamps Used: Inky Antics

Paper/CS used: Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, the Chatterbox paper that I am still LOVING!

Ink: Just Basic Black

Accessories: just my prisma pencils and gamsol (told you it was quick and very easy!).

It is very early in the morning (or I guess late at night depending on how you want to look at it), but I just wanted to check in and keep up my "exercise" -LOL. It has been another long work week (and it is not even over yet ;) ) and I can't wait for the weekend. Work has been exciting and challenging, which also translates to later hours than probably most people would prefer a few times a week. But that's ok, because I enjoy what I do, and I know that late nights are not an everyday occurence.

I have a little project that I started last Sunday, and I plan on finishing it this weekend, so hopefully I will have it ready to share before the weekend is over. I can't to get back to it! :)

Happy Friday! :)

My first frame!

So I was able to make a couple things yesterday afternoon while the baby was napping (it is rare for me to stamp/papercraft when the sun is out! LOL). And I only used one sheet of 12x12 patterned paper and even had enough scraps left over that I am sure that I could probably get another card out of it. The sheet is from Chatterbox and it is called Summer Dots (I usually never remember to check out the name of the design, but actually remembered to this time!) I love polka dots and it was just too summery to resist.

I had been wanting to alter a picture frame for a pic of my kids to bring into work. Is that horrible that I haven't had a pic of my kids on my desk at work for the first few weeks? I just haven't been able to find a frame or a pic of all 3 of them to bring in. That was why I impulsively picked up this frame out of the scrapping section of Target, when I was there last weekend. It is a Prima frame (as in the flowers - they have a specially branded Target line now of lots of stuff) and it was only $3.99. How could I pass that up? :) I figured that even if I did screw it up, no biggie.




It wasn't too hard of a project, I have to say. I covered the frame with the Chatterbox paper (it was double-sided, so I knew that both side would match each other). I sanded the corners, added ribbon with glue dots and stamped the words "wonderful, " "adorable," and "cherish" (all from the SU set, Warm Words) all around the bottom part of the frame to add that little bit to it. I wanted to make a fun frame, but not too over the top with lots of ribbon and such since it will be at work and will hold a pic of 3 boys!

The only thing that I had a hard time with was with sticking the PP paper to the frame... I used ModPodge b/c that is what I read you should used - but it came out for bubbly. It dried pretty well, but it is not perfect. I'm thinking that I might have to post a question regarding ModPodge tips or other adhesive alternatives on SCS and see if I can get some input.

Stamps Used: SU - Doodle This, Little Hellos (sentiment)
CS used: Pumpkin Pie, Certainly Celery, Chatterbox - Summer Dots
Inks Used - Basic Black, Bravo Burgundy (craft)
Accessories Used: Navy grosgrain, CB - Happy Birthday folder


I also whipped up a quick card for my cousin, whose birthday is on Earth Day. I thought that I would use the same paper, since I already had it out and it is so bright and sunny. I used my CB again for the Happy Birthday folder. I really like the way the embossed pp looks - really makes the card, I think. And since the pp was so colorful already, I went with an image on colored cs and didn't color it in. I thought that it made it actually stand out more by not coloring it in (at least I thought so!!) I am so used to stamping my main image on whisper white - but I really like how this turned out. Clean and simple...

Doodling Thank yous

Happy Friday! :) I love that another weekend is here, but I am so not lovin' the weather forecast for the weekend... chance of SNOW on Sunday? What is up with the weather? I wish spring would finally just get here and more importantly stay here already!


So... I have been working on thank you cards for all of my wonderful birthday gifts from a couple of weeks ago. I was actually able to get a few cards out of my stash - a few month ago, I would never have been able to talk about my stash of card, because I didn't have one. I never stamped more than what I needed. So that is the other wonderful thing about stamping on a regular basis just for me - less scrambling and rushing around for a card when I need it! :) But this is one that I made just for a thank you card - vs. for a SCS or IA challenge or because someone just inspired me with a card she created. So here is my card for today:


Stamps Used: SU Doodle This and Wonderful Words
CS Used: Shimmery White
Inks Used: Really Rust, Ruby Red, More Mustard and Brocade Blue and some Twinkling H2Os (I haven't been able to resist using them on a card lately!)
Accessories: Black and White Gingham and Mustard ribbon, dimensionals

I used Shimmery White CS for the first time. It was another purchase in what has become my "I can't believe that I never got this before" order! LOL I really love the subtle shimmer to the card and the simplicity of the layout. Just one layer - I popped the flower up on dimensionals, and then finished the card with some black and white gingham. I again used my aquapainter again to color the image (lovin' this look!).

Almost Ready...

for Easter! :) I am just putting the finishing touches for our Easter morning. I got to a later start than I had originally planned, because my littlest guy didn't seem to want to go to sleep! The two older ones ran right up to bed to make sure that the Easter Bunny had more than enough time to visit :), but M had his own ideas. It was basically because he napped a bit later than usual today, I guess that he was just a little off overall. Oh well.

Since the house was nice and quiet, I was able to finish the cards that I had started on Monday! Yay me! I love the quietness of my house at night - it really is "my time." It is when I get the most done from a creative standpoint (which is largely how I came up with my screen and blog name - that and because The Sound of Music is my all-time favorite movie... yes, I know it is a pretty obscure throwback to the movie, but you would know it if you were a die-hard fan who knew all of the words to all of the songs! ;) ) And it helps that I am a nightowl by nature. Although I am trying to curtail that a bit since I started working out of the house again... if I stayed up as late as I used to sometimes do, then there would be hardly any time until the alarm went off!


Back to the cards... have I already said how much I am lovin' my new aqua painters?? This time I used mostly re-inkers AND watercolor paper. My last SU order seems to be filled with lots of things that I always knew I should have in my creative arsenal, but just never seem to have gotten around to buying until now. My other new "oldie" purchase was Shimmery White CS. Another thing that I can't believe that I never used until now!! I know, I know - I am waaay behind the crafting times, but better late than never, right? I had gone so long without buying anything during my stamping drought, but I am sure making up for it now! :O LOL

In both of the cards, I used my new Stampendous stamps and Chatterbox paper that I bought from, where else? - eclecticpaperie.com. Gotta love this store!

So here is the first one:

I had to get this stamp as soon as I saw it. I don't have too many food/dessert type stamps, so I was excited to get this one. I love the artistic style of this image. And it looks great even with the most beginner of watercoloring skills. It was pretty easy to put together once I finished watercoloring. After I matted the main image on black CS, I layered it on this amazing new Chatterbox paper that I got. This is the first time I have ever bought Chatterbox paper that was CS thickness - so very cool, I must say. I had only gotten the textured paper-weight before. I love this PP - I am soooo into paisley now, it seems. I find myself so drawn to it - I feel like I must have bought at least one (and in some cases 2) sheet of most every paisley PP at eP :) ! You'll see the reverse side on the next card. I used a tag from the CB Tiny Tags die (I feel like I have been using these tags on most of my cards lately!) and attached it with copper cord. And that's it!

Stamps Used: Stampendous - Tiers of Treats, SU-Birthday Best
CS Used: Mellow Moss, Watercolor Paper, Chatterbox and Basic Black
Inks Used: Basic Black, Lots of reinkers - Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, Ruby Red, Really Rust, Brocade Blue, Twinkling H2os
Accessories: Aqua Painter, Ribbon, CB die - Tiny Tags, Mellow Moss eyelet, CAD, Copper Cord, dimensionals


And here is the 2nd card...

I have to say that I never really thought that I was a flowery person - I am kinda a tomboy by nature, and having 3 boys, I never really thought that I would need many floral stamps... just enough to make girls birthday cards for nieces and the birthday parties that the boys got invited to from time to time. But the more I see different floral sets and stamps and the samples that so many talented people make, the more I find myself being drawn to them!! This was another set that was just screaming my name when I saw it on eP. Again I used my aqua painter to color it in. I really like how this one turned out too. I use the Tsukineko Brilliance Dew Drops for the background. Can I just say how much I love this color! And it even has such a cool name - Red Rocket Gold! :) How fun is that? It has such a pretty shimmery and bold color - it looks red at some angles and then gold at others (duh, right?!). Anyway, I really like it!

Stamps Used: Stampendous - Poppy Stems, SU-Little Hellos
CS Used: Mellow Moss, Watercolor Paper, Chatterbox (the other side of the sheet I used in the card above) and Basic Black
Inks Used: Basic Black, Reinkers - Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, Summer Sun, Appricot Appeal, Twinkling H2os
Accessories: Aqua Painter, Black Gingham Ribbon

So that's it for tonight and probably until later this week. Happy Easter! :)

I'm still here!

So I know that it has been few days since I last stamped and even a little longer since I got a chance to blog about it. For me, blogging is kinda like exercise... I don't want to miss even a day in the routine that I have laid out for myself (or in my case, the 2x a week), because 1 day missed turns in a month missed before you know it. For me personally, once I miss a day, it gets that much harder to get back into and stick to the weekly routine. Does that make sense?

But I have to say, keeping this blog has so far really kept my papercrafting hobby from drifting too far in the back of my mind since I have been back to work and now have less free time. I find myself thinking about my little blog often as well as when and what I am going to write about when I am commuting back and forth on the train - which is partially why I started the blog... so at least I am accomplishing some of my goals! :) Wow, I can't imagine the pressure that some of the more well-read bloggers probably feel in keeping up their daily blogs with daily card postings too! yikes.

Anyway, this week has just flown on by (I find myself repeating that statement often!) I had given myself a goal to stamp at least 1x, although preferably 2x during the week after work and then at least 1x over the weekend. But there was a great reason that I don't have any cards or scrapbook pages made- the kids were off from school this week... Spring Break, and we let them stay up a bit later each night. Bedtime for the kids is between 8 and 8:15 on the school nights. So it was wonderful to get that extra time with them each evening when I got home. We had dinner together every night and just all played together as well. My boys are too cute - they would "hide" on me in all different places around the house when they heard the garage door opening and jump out to surprise me when I walked in. It was too funny when my littlest guy, who is only 20 months, would start laughing and talking, and often times just come running out of the hiding spot once he saw me - he obviously doesn't get the hiding and being quiet part just yet! :) Then the other two would come running out right after him.

So we only were in the basement for a very short time 1 day this week (its been a cold week - what is up with my "spring weather??"), which is where I stamp, so I started a couple of cards by watercoloring. I am loving those aquapainters by the way - and this time I am trying it with my re-inkers! I hope to finish them up today and get them posted. Which reminds me, just for fun, I took pictures of my stamping space. I will have to remember to blog about that in the future... I'll have to do it on a day when I haven't had any cards to post in a few days! LOL!

Just like the stamping famous...

Have you ever gone and done something like the stars? Like, going and having a meal at a famous restuarant like Nobu or getting a pair of very trendy shoes (manolos or jimmy choos, anyone?) ?

Well, I did just that in a stamping kind of way and went to Beth of Freckled Fun Designs to get myself my very own custom blog banner and watermark. She has done banners for the all the famous folks ala SCS... Joy, Valerie, Iris, JulieHRR and the list goes on and on!! So did I need one... or should I have even gotten one since my readership is practically nil? Nah - probably not, but that's ok - LOL. I got one because the custom banners she makes look sooo awesome and if nothing else, my blog looks soooo purty! :) I consider it to be a treat to myself... it'll likely be the ONLY time you will ever see my name on the same list with the SCS famous. ROFLMAO!

But seriously, Beth was ab-so-loootely and positively AWESOME to work with. She is sooo creative and came up with something amazing to begin with and then on top of that was so patient with the random color changes that I made. I can't believe that she is self-taught in all of this stuff. There is no way that I would ever figure out all of this. I really love the final product. I'm sure though, that she was probably ready to kill me with all of the questions that I had - good thing that she couldn't reach and throttle me over cyber space - LOL. If you ever get a chance to check this out, Beth - thank you so much for making my blog look so very cool.

Doodle This...

Another weekend has come and is almost gone. It's Sunday early evening, and before I get dinner started, I figured that I would post what I had been up to stamping-wise this weekend. It was another busy weekend (is there such a thing as a quiet weekend?), but not as much as last weekend. We celebrated my birthday on Saturday night (a few days late) by going out to dinner, since I don't get home early enough to make it worthwhile to go out. I don't want to make it too hard for the boys to get up the next morning! So we went to our favorite Japanese restaurant for dinner. Yummy - sushi! :) LOVE sushi - especially tuna and salmon. The restaurant NEVER lets me down and last night was not exception.

I had a ton of fun making this card. I made it for the Featured Stamper challenge on SCS. Emily was the featured stamper this week. She really is such a talented stamper and I loved looking through her gallery to find the card that I wanted to CASE. I really wanted to use my new Doodle This set (thanks to Denise for the inspiration from her blog this week!) and Emily had a perfect card to case in her gallery. So here's to killing a few birds with the proverbial stone (not that I would ever want hit any birds! LOL)

Stamps Used: Doodle This, All Year Cheer I

CS Used: So Saffron, Always Artichoke, Basic Grey - Stella Ruby, Whisper White

Accessories: Aqua Painter, Twinkling H2Os, Paper Piercer, Button, Twine

So I finally got a chance to use an aqua painter for the first time. Yes, I know I am behind the times... oh well. And the other funny thing is that I have had a bunch of Twinkling H2Os in my drawer for literally a couple of years that I never used, because I never had or remembered to get a brush or the aqua painters until now. I had bought them when I first started stamping and was in Riverside, CA for a business trip. There was this great stamping store right near my hotel and I just picked them up impulsively because I had read about them when they first because all the rage on SCS. So I used the both the H2Os and the aqua painter and was so happy with the results. The Twinkling H2Os are these little jars watercolors that are shimmery when you paint them on. So subtle but so very pretty.

And did you see my amazing watermark courtesy of Freckled Fun Designs. See my next post all about that!!