What have I been doing?

It appears as though I haven't been doing anything crafty for awhile, but in reality I have been taking 3 online classes through Jessica Sprague trying to learn how to use my new birthday present to myself, a Silhouette Cameo.  I have a Cameo at work where we teach kids how to make vinyl stickers...but until I got my own, I never realized how much that machine can do!  It is true, "You don't know, what you don't know!"

The three classes I have been taking are here.

I took Getting to Know You, Oh, the places you will go and I am in the middle of Designer Studio Edition.  That is the one I have been the most excited to try since it apparently teaches you how to use digital cuts files, although I haven't gotten that far yet.  There is a bit of homework involved...and if you are like me and haven't taken a class in many, many years...it took a bit of time to figure it all out.  Here is the final project I made for the second class.

 It doesn't look like much, and it is something I could have made myself provided I had all the dies and stamps, but I made it all on the Cameo.  You even lay the whole thing out on your computer screen so you can see just where everything is going to go, what color it will be, etc.  My favorite part is the circle background.  It started off with just a single circle.  Then you add another circle, then a star, weld it together, replicate it a bunch of times, squeeze it all together and finally cut it down to the right size.  Whew.  It took a while.  The layout is one that came with the class and I got Warren to come in and take a picture of me (notice...no makeup-less face is showing!)

 The chevron stripes are print and cut files...you just print them with registration marks on your paper and then the machine automatically knows where to cut it.  Very neat!  The little banner was one of the tasks in the lesson and the think.think.think. tag was made with a rounded rectangle and I added the type and color...printed it and again, the machine cut it off.

I also made a tag on the machine..it looked just like this one, only with no score marks, so I ended up using a PTI tag I liked better.  Honestly, the only independent thought I added to the project was the Lil Inker mini bow, just because I think it is cute.  I plan to frame this and keep it up on the wall in my craft room as a reminder of the many hours I spent trying to learn how to use my machine!

Serendipity Stamps Challenge Blog #6- Anything Goes!

Today I have a card for Serendipity Stamps Challenge Blog #6...Anything Goes.  The Serendipity Design team has been challenged to make a project that is unexpected...or not as it seems.  What does that mean?  It could mean a Christmas card from a Summer image or an image colored in a different color scheme than it usually is known for.  Here is a perfect example that blew me away when I first saw it posted on her blog:

Marybeth Lopez of the Serendipity Stamps Design Team made a card using Quilted Pumpkin.  I had only thought of this stamp for a Fall colored card.  Marybeth stepped it up and made her card pink...a beautiful pink pumpkin.  I think you get the idea now... so here is what I made:

I used a baby stamp to make an Over-the-Hill birthday card.  I have always loved this cute cow image from Serendipity Stamps and have always thought of it as a cow jumping over the moon as in the old nursery rhyme.  I decided to make my cow to be jumping over the hill as she turns 50 years old!  I used some patterned paper for my hills and the balloons and balloon string die cuts are from Lil Inker .  I know when I turned 50, there definitely were some dark clouds around me, so of course I had to add a few clouds to my card.  

Ready to play along with our challenge?  Would you like to win a great prize of $20 off your next Serendipity Stamp order?  This week is super simple and Anything Goes...all you have to do is make a card with one Serendipity Stamp or die on it and link it on the Serendipity Stamps Challenge Blog site.   Anything you want.  How easy is that?  You have two weeks to make your card...I can't wait to see what you all come up with!

This weeks sale is 40% off the highest price item in your cart and runs until 2/27/13.  Just use code "40fromhigh213" to receive your discount.

Check out what the rest of the Serendipity Design Team have made for you today:

Jeanne

Marybeth

Anya

Miriam

Pauline

Jenny

Cow

Real quick...before I mess it up!

I finally have my craftroom as set up as it is going to get and it is clean enough for me to take a few pictures.  I have moved this room three times and have finally ended up in the original room I started in.

This is a small room off our laundry room, with a bathroom right next to it so I can wash my stamps without taking them all over the house.

Right as you come in, I have my new ribbon rack, my son Andy made me for my birthday.  I thought I had a ton of ribbon, but to fill up some of the shelves I used small hinged jars and put my wrinkled ribbon in each one.  I guess this is a good excuse to buy some more ribbon...right?  I took a tip from my good friend Jeanne Jachna of A Kept Life and got a large calendar to help me keep track of project due dates and is especially helpful to keep track of all the birthdays I like to make cards for.

 I just have several portable tables wrapped around the room in a U-shape where I have my computer, printer, cutter, scorpal and cuttlebug.  I normally keep that side of the table pretty clean.

 This table, however is a different story.  Always messy, always cluttered, always full of stamps, ink, twine and lots and lots of cardstock scraps.

Since this room doesn't have a closet, my husband put together a really large cabinet and bolted it to the wall to make it nice and secure.

 It is pretty full with all of the containers of just about everything we crafters love to hoard.

This is the rolling cart where I keep my cardstock and miscellaneous PTI patterned papers.  On the bottom shelf are my button jars organized by color.

That didn't take long to take a tour around my 12 x 12 room, did it?  Give me about 10 minutes and it won't look anything like this anymore...I am about to start some crafting!

Waltzingmouse Blog Party- February (Doilies)

I have been looking forward to this month's blog party...the theme fits perfectly with a scrapbook page I have made for my soon to be daughter-in-law Ashley.  This month's theme is doilies.  What better way to use doilies than on a wedding dress scrapbook page?  I can't think of anything better.  Here's my page:

I took these pictures a year ago right after Andy and Ashley got engaged.  Their wedding was then 16 months away and now that it is only 2 months away, I have started my year long project of making Ashley a wedding scrapbook.  Her wedding colors are lavender, cream, black and kraft, so expect to see lots and lots of things in those colors coming from me in the coming months.  Scrapbooking a wedding book for my first daughter-in-law Katie was what got me interested in crafting and it took me one full year to finish Katie's book, presented to Matt and Katie on their first anniversary.  I plan to do the same thing for Andy and Ashley.  Here are a few detail pictures of the page:

I found this tutorial on how to make an adorable dress from a doily.  I modified mine a bit, but it is very close to the tutorial.

This is a picture of Ashley and her mom admiring one of the dresses she tried on.  I thought Waltzingmouse You're Lovely was the perfect stamp set to use for this page.  My Beautiful Girl is exactly what I imagine her mother was thinking on this special day.  The background is stamped with WM Vintage Christmas Background for a very subtle texture.  I distressed all of the background patterned papers, Ashley loves a vintage look and I think she will like all of the rough edges. I also printed out some of the pictures in color, some in sepia and some in black and white...Ashley will love this detail.  She loves black and white photos.

This was Ashley's favorite photo...and this is THE dress she chose.  It was one of the first she tried on and we all could tell it was THE one.  I used some digital patterned papers that I bought called Lavender Shabby Chic.  I plan to use combinations of these papers throughout the book as I can print whatever color I need with no worry that I haven't bought enough!

I used WM Vintage Labels #18 for the journaling frame and the lines are from WM Candy Jar Christmas.  I want Ashley to write her memories of that day in the hopes that their future children can read about what she was thinking as she tried on her wedding dress for the first time.

One last little stamped detail is also from WM, the cute little Vintage Style sentiment from You're Lovely.  I added lots of little roses and some heirloom border trim.

That's it for me today...you still have time to make something for the Waltzingmouse Blog Party...here's a link with all the details!

Happy Anniversary #33!

Last weekend my husband and I celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary.  Knowing that he likes simple cards...not too much mushy stuff, I made a CAS card for him.

I used Waltzingmouse stamps Woodgrain in Navy stamped on Blueberry Sky cardstock and Big Birthday Wishes for the "years ago" sentiment.  The inside is a mixture of stamps from PTI Love and Marriage.  I told him I had a card for him, but still needed to write on the inside of it.  He said, "Shy, I know who it's from".  Told you we were not the mushy type!

Ribbon Reel #46 and Mojo Monday #279

Ribbon Reel #46

It seems like everyone has the flu these days...thank goodness it has already run it's course at our house, but I do want to send a few Get Well cards to some family members who are just now feeling poorly.  My absolute favorite stamp set for a Get Well card is PTI's On My Couch.  I love the typewriter font on the sentiments and the adorable couch and love seat look so cute when they are paper pieced.  Today's card design is based on Mojo Monday Challenge #279 and the colors for the Ribbon Reel Challenge #46 Spring Roses.  Together I was able to create a pretty card with a cute design and very pretty colors.

Mojo Monday #279

I love how pretty that rose cake looks, and what a coincidence that I just bought the exact same cake plate to use at my daughter-in-law's bridal shower this coming Saturday.

Here's my card:

Ribbon Reel Challenge #46 is to use pink and yellow and to use either roses, twine or ribbon on the card.  I used some rose floral paper (Crate Paper, Little Bo Peep Collection) and also made a throw pillow using twine as well as wrapped some additional twine around the focal point.  That cute little cat die is from Impression Obsession and is called Sitting Cat.  Who doesn't love sitting on a comfy couch with your sweet cat there to make you feel all better?  I am hoping everyone is healthy and well at your house, and if not, "hoping you're fully Re-covered soon!"

SSBC#5 - Scorpal Challenge with an Easter Theme

Serendipity Sale of the week:  Free Shipping on any US order of $10 or more and runs Feb. 6th through the 13th.

Welcome to the Serendipity Stamps Blog Challenge #5...Use your Scorpal to create a project from the scorpal website.  Who doesn't use their scorpal every single day...I know I do.  Did you know that Scorpal has a blog with tons and tons of projects just waiting for you try?  Here's a link to the blog and be prepared...there are so many of them you will definitely need a cup of coffee and some time to check them all out.  The Design Team was challenged to make our projects themed for Easter and for my project, I decided to make an Explosion Box.  Never heard of one?  Here are the instructions I used straight from the Scorpal website.  It was actually very easy to make, the instructions are simple and with all the great stamps and dies from Serendipity, I had no problem coming up with lots and lots of ideas.  Here is my version of an Easter Explosion Box:

This is an interactive project.   Once you lift the lid of your box...

The inside reveals either photos, or in my project a cute little miniature Easter scene complete with fluttering butterflies.  So, how did I make my version of an Explosion box?

The instructions on the scorpal site are very simple, and you can make your box bigger or smaller just by altering the sizes a bit.  My base paper was 10" x 10".  After you cut and scor it according to the directions, you can decorate the outside however you want.  I added patterned paper (PTI Egg Hunt) and stamped it with Serendipity Stamps Easter Fun Background with some pom pom trim for embellishment.

The lid measures 6 1/4" x 6 1/4".  I did my stamping before I scored and glued it.

I stamped Serendipity Basket Border and embossed it with white embossing power.  You then score, fold and glue the lid.  I added a flower and one of Serendipity's beautiful dies, Floral Butterfly Die layered over their Butterfly Outline Die.  Isn't that a delicate looking butterfly resting on the flower?

After you have the outside of your box finished, you can decorate the inside.

 I used an old ribbon spool covered with patterned paper and added a die cut picket fence.  I colored the cute Serendipity Chick w/Egg image, and added some diamond glaze to the large egg.  I added some flower soft to the ground of the image and added a few sparkly eggs in front of it.  There are a couple of punched butterflies resting on the eggs too.

You can decorate the inside panels of your box too, just be careful to keep testing it to make sure it will all close up nicely and isn't too thick for your lid.  I added some strips of acetate with a few butterflies which pop up when you open the box.

It was very fun trying to think up all the different little elements that went with my Easter scene, and I wasn't kidding when I said Serendipity has tons of Easter stamps to choose from.  Ready to put your scorpal into action?  Why not create a scorpal project...any one you want and include one Serendipity stamp or die and enter it in the Serendipity Stamp Challenge Blog #5.  This week's grand prize is a brand new scorpal donated by the Scorpal company.

I hope you have enjoyed my Easter project...make sure to check out all the other scorpal projects and leave your comment to win the free scorpal!

Jeanne

Marybeth

Anya

Pauline

Helen

Miriam

Jenny

Chick w/Egg

Basket Border

Butterfly Outline

Floral Butterfly Die

Easter Fun Background