Finally a LO!

I'm finally ready to post another LO - I've been doing an amazing amount of paper crafting lately but it seems like I haven't made any SB pages in forever. This picture is really lousy but I'm off to drive carpool in a bit and I wanted to post. Those of you who know me IRL know I'm a messy creative worker and the proof of a messy desk is in this picture - that I failed to cover up with the pink c/s LOL

I got some of this paper at HSN a year or so ago - I think its by 3 Birds? Made the LO really fast an easy - and I love it - I love houndstooth and shimmer - so win win! I made an embellishment from a butterfly in the SU! set Natures Beauty using my new "must have" versamark and embossing powder - black this time. The printed type paper is MM and the c/s is Pink Piroquette by SU! (I miss this color!)

Somewhere sometime I collected a package of transparency sayings and this one just "spoke to me"

Do Not Dwell in the past
do not dream of the future
Concentrate Your Mind
on the present moment - Buddah





Till next time! Thanks for visiting!!

Bella Blu Cards

I'm loving SU!s Bella Blu patterned paper. I've had so much fun making cards with it....Here are a few.

I think this may be one of my favorite cards! But lately I keep saying that! This card was so much fun - I just kept playing.

I took some lace and sponged it with SU! almost navy classic ink - I used scor-tape to attach it to a piece of almost navy c/s that I trimmed with my new border punch (too lazy to go downstairs and get the name, upper crest maybe?) And then I added some pearl "ribbon" also from Hobby Lobby to cover up the adhesive line. You can't see in the photo but the lace and c/s has a bit of glimmer to it cuz I sprayed it with Frost Glimmer mist. The almost navy c/s mat on the card front is also glimmered. The stamp set is SU! Friends 24-7 which has become one of my most frequently used sets

Here is a close up of the lace border.

Lately - I've been trying to make stuff with the "leftovers" when I work on a project. I end up having so many coordinating stuff laying around why not? Here is one I did with the leftovers from the one above.

I used sahara sand cardstock that I had embossed with a cuttlebug folder. You can't really see in the photo the ivory layer in the border is satin ribbon - I've become a ribbon fanatic!! I decided to try another paper rose (made from apples LOL) and used some Recollections/Michaels bling for the center.

Here is a close up of the rose. I think I like the one on the birthday card better.

Thats all for today!! Thanks for stopping by! Till next time!

Happy Birthday with a Rose

Do you ever make a project that has an aspect that you just love?

I've wanted to make nice 3D paper flower embellishements for a long time. As a kid I used to make beaded flowers - I guess I've always liked to craft flowers.

I like Prima's but they can get pricey and I end up not having the color I want for whatever I'm working on. So today I made this rose. Its my dear friend Eleanor's birthday this week and here is the card I made her. I'm not seeing her till tomorrow but I assume its "safe" to show here now.




















Here's a close up of the Rose - isn't it awesome ?- I know I'm so humble LOL. Wanna know how I made it?

I took a bunch of apple shaped punchies. I put them on a mouse pad and smooshed around with a big embossing tool (I used the Chatterbox Empressor from ages ago) till each apple was kinda cupped - I cut off the stems. Then I made a small circle and put glue dots on it and then I staggered the apples around the circle and kept adding new layers . The center is an inverted apple held on by more glue dots. I kept messing with the "petals" till I liked the shape.

Up to now - these were all white - then I had fun with my glimmer mist - I just kept spraying a bunch of different colors. After it dried - I took some chalk on a pom pom and added a bit of color to the spots that were still white.

The leaves were punched and I used tweezers to run them through the left over glimmer mist on my nonstick mat. Attached with...glue dots of course LOL

Inside is a treat! I think I'm gonna have to jazz up the inside before I see her tomorrow ! Hope you liked this - thanks for stopping by! Till next time!

Halloween Goodness

I made some cute paper backpacks for my DD to give to her friends for Halloween. I've seen these made on a couple of blogs but here is where I saw them first and is a great webstite for directions and inspiration in general!. http://inkingidaho.blogspot.com/2008/09/start-with-piece-of-cardstock-measuring.html. DD is 19 and typically has no desire/patience for Mom's paper projects - but this one sparked her interest when she saw one I'd made and I'm making 12 for her to give to her college friends...

P.S. If any of you blog readers can help this computer illiterate person - what do I need to do to get the link to inkingidaho to post as a link vs the url?

Ok back to the project - Here are a few of the backpacks made - aren't they cute?



Here is the back with the cute ribbon "backpack" handles!


I've never made stuff in bulk before and decided to make an assembly line - this is the only photo that came out clearly but I think you can see the process.


I used velco dots to close the flap and plan on putting mini candy bars inside the big pocket.

Hope you enjoyed these! Thanks for looking - and if you don't mind - drop a quick comment so I know if anyone's been here LOL cuz I don't know how else to know LOL!!

This has been a difficult post to make - lots of picture loading issues - but I'm so glad it worked - off to watch NCIS with my youngest - our fav show!!!

Andrea

Use it or lose it!!

Ok I've been a bad blogger!! A month since my last project posting...you know you've been away too long when you have trouble remembering your password. Well - here's to hoping I'm back sooner next time - I'll try!

Why this title? My Mom (may she rest in peace) used to say I deserved to use my "good" stuff for me - she also used to talk about "Use it or Lose" specifically in reference to aging and using one's brain to stay sharp. Sunday would have been her 80th birthday so she's been on my mind extra lately - but hey - you guys aren't here for this!! Except to say - my new approach is gonna be use that nice stuff for me - use it NOW!! Don't save it all for "best" - I'm refering to lots in my life but for the purposes of this blog - for my crafting stuff. I recently moved to a larger space and have my own SB room - and thus have access to stuff I've stashed for years - and guess what - lots of it isn't any good - a couple of ink pads had disintegrated - some rub-ons didn't work too well (but that could have been the brand) and the paper - well lets just say - I'm pickyer now LOL.

So here is (finally) a card I made for Halloween. I am sending it to my sister - but I think I'm safe to post it cuz I don't think she visits here (oops if I'm wrong).

Its a trifold Gate card that I saw at SCS and had to try.

Here is the card closed.

I used Martha Steward stamps I got on clearance at Michael's last year with versamark and SU! black embossing powder. From my stash - ribbon and rubons and the pumkins eyes are triangular bling!


When you open up the card it has several different panels to decorate. I'm going to sign my name and write a note to my sister on some orange cardstock and attach it to the open dotted patterned paper - also from my stash.

This one isn't the best photo but I wanted to show y'all the neat way the card opens.

Thanks for visiting (and letting me ramble LOL). Till next time. Andrea

My Favorite Card

To date this is my Favorite Card. I sent it to my dear friend and SU! demo who moved away - HI Sharon if you finally made it here!

I used the SU! set friends 24-7, bashful blue and chocolate chip cardstock, ink and ribbon. The top note die, a cuttlebug embossing folder and SU! clear embossing powder.

I embossed with clear embossing powder the brocades from the set to make my own patterned paper. I cut a top note from cardstock and then ran it through a cuttlebug embossing folder. I stamped the bird image twice in chocolate chip ink on scrap white c/s. I colored w/ SU! markers. The secondof the birds I cut out and adhered with popdots. I put glitter on his belly and layered the thinner brown ribbon ontop of the 1 inch thick blue ribbon. After attaching the ribbon I matted my glittered birdie and adhered to my top note. I then stamped brocades on the envelop flap - I love decorated envies! and the Friends sentiment on the lower left.

My new thing now is pretty insides . I needed to mail Sharon a check for my order so I folded the check in half and used the ribbon border like a pocket. The right side is pretty obvious - bashful blue c/s and a quick sentiment stamp.

Sorry if my descriptions are rambling and perhaps boring to some of y'all. I like when I go to blogs and the folks tell me what they used and/or how so I can take a little bit away for me to try. Do you guys like that or not?

Thats all for today! Thanks for stopping by.

Sponged Card

I decided to try something different today and tried to make a brayered card. Well that so did NOT work. I couldn't get rid of the lines the brayer left. If any of you guys have any brayer tips - HELP!! I suppose in the next few days I'll be stalking YouTube for tips.

So I tried the next best thing. I used SU! sponges and sponged white cardstock with all SU! colors - yoyo yellow, only orange, real red, close to cocoa, and chocolate chip. The trees and birds are from Definately Decorative Pines - a retired SU! set and I inked it with sage green and then took all the different green markers and thumped and generally just dabbed ontop of the inked stamp to give shading of the trees. The ground is a beach/sand stamp from my stash. I used the nesties to cut my label and the sentiment is from SU! Simple Delights.

I like how this looks IRL. Next I want to try a beachy type scene. I'm gonna have to think about the shades of blue to use...ok thats all for now - dinner calls!! Thanks for stopping by!!

P.S. So ok - I really need to find a better way to take photos cuz this looks so much prettier and richer in real life...I'll add it to the list of what I wanna learn - but I may retake this tomorrow when the sun is out - I bet that will help