quickie cards how to…

hi all!

sorry for the lack of attention to my blog but i have been really busy lately!  drake left today to go visit a friend in S. carolina again – he is looking to move down there.  this is my first thanksgiving AND his birthday that i won’t have him with me so kinda weird…feelin’ a little bummed….seems they’ll NEVER grow up and get outta your hair and then all of a sudden they do!

and did you know the DEQ can somehow check your emissions while you drive down the highway and then send you a notice you failed????  i mean how do they even know which car it is ya know?  so getting Trev’s car re-tested has been one huge comedy of errors….

first i have a few things to cover:

Studio G challenge – tomorrow is your last day to enter!  the theme is leaves and you can post your link here.

NEW RELEASE – Pezadoodle will have a new release of a few wonderful Christmas stamps that I am very excited about as they are a family effort – designed by my mom and my brother!  BE SURE to come check it out MONDAY!!!

Northern VA crafters – my buddy Suzanne is having a crafters open house on Dec 5th – we really hope to see all of our friends and maybe even make some new ones so do drop by if you can.  details can be found on her blog!

and now, i HAVE been doing a bit of playing here n there and have a fun little experiment i did for ya today:

so raise your hand if you have a total weakness for those stacks/huge pads of paper at Michaels and joanns *hand waving wildly in the air*  well i was blog hopping and came across an idea and it was one of those lightbulb moments.  AH HA that’s what those pages are for!!!  what pages??

THIS page!  now maybe i am the last one to *get it* but i always looked at these types of pages and thought what the heck?  then i saw that blog post (can’t remember where or who now but PLEASE chime in if you know who it was).  So i figured i would try it out AND post here just in case i am NOT the last one to get this!

this is so easy i couldn’ t believe i never thought of it!  so pic 1 – cut all the various pieces apart.  pic 2 – gather some matching cardstock and scraps of cardstock.  pic 3 – gather a few matching stickles.  pic 4 – highlight and accent the various pieces with stickles or spray with shimmer mists (i sprayed some of mine with perfect pearls mist – adds shimmer but doesn’t change the color).

Now do a little match up – i had way more borders than main pieces so these are just the ones i have made so far using these main image pieces.  Now just take your cardstock and set to work!  here are the ones i came up with:

This one also covers a couple challenges:

Aly’s Sunday Sketch - This is a wonderful 10 year old stamper who recently started posting sketch challenges & adorable samples to go with them.  I was honored to customize a little banner and some blinkies for her.  i hope y’all can stop by and join in on her fun sketches!

Paperplay (last week’s) - 2 patterned papers, 1 ribbon, 3 buttons – ok so this one is maybe a stretch BUT challenges are jumping off points right?  the border is two papers, the tag has a ribbon on it, and instead of buttons i used skittles – ornament skittles – but i used three on top and then three again on the bottom.

This one incorporates 2 challenges:

Splitcoast Sketch Challenge AND Splitcoast Color Challenge – Always artichoke, real red, choc chip & neutrals

and the last one

so there is my little collection of quickie cards for ya today!  did anyone find it useful or new to them???  i hope so!

Paper: Peppermint Forest; SU scraps; PTI scraps

Ink: Brilliance Pearlescent Ivy

Stamps: Studio G

The Rest: Stickles, Perfect Pearls, Mister, Skittles, Primas, Ribbon scraps, wax thread, Pezabling, MS and Fiskars Border punches.

i’m in LOVE…with micro beads!

hi everyone!

i am a bit sluggish this morning as i went and hung out at my SU! demo’s for open stamp night last night – had WAY to much fun and stayed out way too late!!!  but oh how i love those get togethers!

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ATTENTION ALL NORTHERN VA CRAFTERS (and surrounding areas of west VA maryland, etc.

before i get to my project for today i wanted to be sure and let y’all know about my buddy Suzanne’s holiday open house.  here is what she says in her own words:

Holiday Crafter’s Open House on Saturday, December 5th from noon til’ 5 pm (come for an hour or three, but drop by if you can.) I will have my 10 (yes 10 this year) Xmas trees up, house decorated, mulled cider brewing & lots of sweets to eat along with lots of fun chatting & meeting other crafters from this area!  I will be having a Mitten/Hat Giving Tree, so if you’d like to bring a hat and/or mittens for a child under age 12 that would be fab! I will be donating all of them to the local Shelter for Domestic Violence Sufferer’s Children!  Just email me (sjdean@smartneighborhood.net) if you’d like to come so I can send ya directions & have a head count! (I live in Leesburg, VA right off of Rte. 7 in the Lansdowne on the Potomac neighborhood) Make it a trip for ya too–the Leesburg Outlets are 5 mins away, Dulles Towne Center Mall 10 mins away, Tyson’s Corner Mall 25 mins away!! (and a big Joann’s & Michaels too)

i plan to be there hanging out and helping suzanne all afternoon and really hope to see some of the rest of you – we have not had a get together for our area in awhile!

so today’s projects are quickies but really cute i think!  TEALIGHTS!

The red one was actually Pezzy’s idea.  i had coated the insides of several baby food jars with different colors of alcohol inks and she was down in my studio.  she spotted them and couldn’t resist of course and picked out the red as her favorite.  when i asked her what we should make it into she said a candy cane and i thought PERFECT!  so i pulled out some mini micro beads and my trusty scor tape and got to work.  i added stripes of beads and opal liquid pearls, put a red ribbon around the top and TA-DA – a candy cane tea light!  Pezzy loves it

which brings me to me new love – MICRO BEADS!  yea i know, i am a little late to the party but hey it’s new to ME and i wanna put those suckers on EVERYTHING!  now here is the original idea i had for them:

i got this idea from a post on spiltcoast for those fancy glass black creations everyone has been doing. 

SO who has been with me since the very beginning raise your hand!  do you recognize these??  remember the days when EVERY set of studio Gs came with way too many blocks?  remember when i use to make things with them?  well i had not done that in awhile but it occurred to me that they would be perfect christmas tealight holders!

so i dug some blocks out of the LOADS i still have laying around.

these pics show the front both lit and not lit.  i stamped four blocks with blue staz on ink.  i painted the front image with creative inspirations paints.  next i  covered all four blocks with pieces of red liner sticky sheets of adhesive.  it is like one large piece of scor tape that i cut to the sizes i needed.  i put it over the stamped images and then just poured on the micro mini beads.  it gives them a great diffused sort of look and hides the tealight a bit.

 

Here is view of one of the other sides. 

i used a bit of E6000 glue to glue them together – works great on these blocks!  they are actually quite secure.

so what do y’all think??  anyone else still have extra blocks laying around???  goodness knows i do!  what else can i make with them?  i wonder of hubby can drill a hole in them………

STAY TUNED!!!

Stamps: Hampton Arts

Ink: Staz on – Ultramarine

The Rest: Studio G Acrylic Blocks; Creative Inspirations Shimmering paints; Mini Micro Beads; red liner Sticky adhesive sheets; E6000 glue

i have news :)

Want this badge?“

my very good friend Susana owns a webstore called Susana’s Custom Art & Cards (SCACD).  we have always worked closely with each other and often negotiate so we do not have too much overlap in product offerings.  well recently she asked me to join in as a member of her design team!  so now i am *official*!!  SCACD offers a WIDE array of stamping goodies, fun embellishments and EXCLUSIVE stamp lines from the ever popular Victoria Case and Elisabeth Bell!  some SERIOUSLY cute stamps which will be making appearances on my blog here and there in the weeks to come.  she also carries stamps by herself, anki (a DT member), Karen Lockhart and a wide array of fairies from I Brake For Stamps and Fairie Song Art Stamps just to name a few.  so head on over there and browse around, get to know her store and rest assured that her customer service is TOP RATE which i really respect!  she is also just the very sweetest person and i am grateful to have her as a friend! 

Susana and her team (headed by my good buddy Suzanne Dean) have a store blog you can check out here with LOTS of wonderful eye candy from her store by all of the DTs.  there is a weekly feature called Try It Out Tuesday (TIOT) where Suzanne issues everyone a challenge.  Well i couldn’t wait to jump right in!  our challenge was to use blues and ONE neutral or metallic – SWEEEET!  i love blue, especially this time of year!

i chose to work with one of my favorite Fairie Song Art fairies – *Would You Be My Friend* using blues and gold:

for some reason i just LOVE her solemn little face!  i used my friend Jen’s SFYTT sketch.  my two background panels are done with alcohol inks.  the top panel is ranger glossy paper and the bottom is metal duct tape.  both are embossed with cuttlebug folders.  the top piece also has some gold ink dragged over the embossing to highlight the snowflakes a bit but it would not stick to the metal tape below.  the snowflake embellie is done with the joys of the season cartridge and my cricut.  i added some Polar White Flower Soft above her head instead of leaving it as flowers which adds to the snow-look of the card.  i finished her off with a couple blue sparkling Pezabling.

i stamped my fairie with memento ink and colored her with copics.  Her wing are colored with just a bit of copics to add some shadows and then painted with my friend Molly’s incredible Creative Inspirations paints, also available from SCACD.  her dress is done the same way.  on her dress i shadowed a bit with blues and then painted on a CI color called Blue Ice – pure shimmer until the light hits it and then it has a beautiful blue sheen to it – very neat effect!  her eyes are a bright sparkling blue thanks to a Spica glitter pen.

IF YOU ARE NEW TO COPICS OR WANT TO START USING THEM BUT DON’T KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN susana has a PERFECT program for you.  SJD copic bundles are put together by Suzanne and they are small bundles of 3-4 markers that work perfectly together for blending along with detailed tutorials to achieve stunning colored images.  i wish that type of thing had been available back when i started collecting ages ago – would have saved me some money and frustration!

thanks so much for taking time out of your day to pay me a visit!  i appreciate you all so much!  tomorrow i will have something really fun to show you – i have a new favorite thing!

mmmmmmm…..COFFEE – gift set for ya

happy monday y’all – i know oxymoron right!  we had GORGEOUS weather here yesterday and spent a good bit of the day with all of us – yep boys too tho against their will – outside working in the backyard.  hubby built me this AWESOME potting shed exactly as i wanted – i pretty much gave him a pic from a magazine and a few drawings and he BUILT IT – he rocks i tell ya.  anyway he recently finished up the inside – shelving in the storage room and a waist height counter in the front room and so i got all of my potting stuff organized in there and cleared out the porch-like area under the deck.  boy did it need it!  everything got pile up under there when pezzy was born and it has pretty much just stayed that way.  while i was cleaning up kevin and trevor built a wood barrier thingy around an area that i have been dumping dirt as i build flower beds around the yard.  so now i have a VERY nice raised planter bed!  while we did this drake entertained pezzy and got her to help with some smaller jobs like cleaning off toys and picking up trash on the yard and such.  then he and kevin finished the railing around her play set.  needless to say it was nice to be out on a nice day in november – don’t get many of those.  i needed the sunshine after all our yucky weather last week!

there is still one more week left in our current Studio G challenge – LEAVES.  get all the info and enter your card HERE

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ATTENTION ALL NORTHERN VA CRAFTERS (and surrounding areas of west VA maryland, etc.

before i get to my project for today i wanted to be sure and let y’all know about my buddy Suzanne’s holiday open house.  here is what she says in her own words:

Holiday Crafter’s Open House on Saturday, December 5th from noon til’ 5 pm (come for an hour or three, but drop by if you can.) I will have my 10 (yes 10 this year) Xmas trees up, house decorated, mulled cider brewing & lots of sweets to eat along with lots of fun chatting & meeting other crafters from this area!  I will be having a Mitten/Hat Giving Tree, so if you’d like to bring a hat and/or mittens for a child under age 12 that would be fab! I will be donating all of them to the local Shelter for Domestic Violence Sufferer’s Children!  Just email me (sjdean@smartneighborhood.net) if you’d like to come so I can send ya directions & have a head count! (I live in Leesburg, VA right off of Rte. 7 in the Lansdowne on the Potomac neighborhood) Make it a trip for ya too–the Leesburg Outlets are 5 mins away, Dulles Towne Center Mall 10 mins away, Tyson’s Corner Mall 25 mins away!! (and a big Joann’s & Michaels too)

i plan to be there hanging out and helping suzanne all afternoon and really hope to see some of the rest of you – we have not had a get together for our area in awhile!

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i also just found out yesterday that I GET TO GO TO CHA AGAIN THIS YEAR!!!!!!!!!  (thanks to DH – so three cheers to him!!!)  i will be flying out with suzanne and rooming with her agai which i am SO LOOKING FORWARD TOO as we had a blast last year!!  sadly the third member of the three muskateers (catherine AKA silly skittles) will not be coming which breaks my heart…

we are also planning a dinner over on the cricut board on saturday night at bubba gump’s – if you are going to be at CHA too i would love to hear from you!!!!  i must say it was one of the most awesome experiences last year!  of course i will have the play by play right here for ya!!!

and now ready for a project?!?!?

today i have a gift set full of coffee goodness! 

i am not sure yet who i will be giving this to but i think it would make a great office type gift too if you have a big coffee drinker in your office.  i know i would have LOVED this back when i was pluggin’ away in cubeville!

there are several components to this set.  i made the tags using my Justrite Stampers (i did not see the new square ones, i did not see the new square ones…i did not see the new square ones…). 

the larger to/from tag is from the Just A Little Caffeine Borders & Centers set and the smaller three tags are fromMerry Little Christmas Borders & Centers.  then i just cut several layers from cardstock and patterned paper with my nesties as well as a scallop circle to mat the stamped images on.  each layer is outlined with distress stickles and then popped up with foam tape so the tags have lots of dimension! 

on the back of the small tags i have the name of the coffee mix and instructions to just add water.  the mixes i use come from an ncredible set of books i have called Gifts in a Jar - there are a bunch of different categories and i have made many and they are delicious!  eventually i hope to own them all!

Throw in a few chocolate covered spoons – nothing is easier than these!

Next up is the napkin – really really easy:

i simply stamped randomly using versacraft inks – afterwards i ironed the napkin – sets the ink AND gets the wrinkles out *wink* – for a smaller image/project i usually just heat it a bit with my heat gun to set it.

finally a coaster for your mug:

again a really easy thing to make.  this time i stamped using staz on and a tumbled tile from Lowes.

Throw it all into a basket – great little find at Michaels – 50% off!  the only way to buy baskets IMHO!

of course i had to try one of the extra spoons:

channelin’ my inner Bakerella with that pic – HEE HEEE!!!

i’ve got a special announcement tomorrow so be sure to stop in for a visit and THANKS for visiting today!!!!

Stamps: Justrite – A little caffeine & Merry little christmas; MFT – Hot Stuff

Ink: memento – Black, rich cocoa, Versacraft – Red Brick, Chocolate; Staz on – Black Cherry, Timber Brown; Copics

Paper: SU Kraft, Vanilla, Red; Basic Grey

The Rest: Distress Stickles - Antique Linen, Fired Brick, Bronze; eyelets; ribbon; foam tape, Nestibilities

more ornaments – quickies!!

reeeeDONCulus….

i just caught the new Snuggie commercial…..i thought those things couldn’t get any more riduculous….apparently i was wrong……..Y’ALL!!!   …IT’S A BACKWARDS ROBE!!!!!   …..not rocket surgery here…..  i have been threatening everyone in my house with a snuggie and that hands free toothpaste dispenser as christmas gifts for months…….hee heeeee!!  just a quick post for ya today:

last year after christmas i got 2 boxes of the clear hollow ornaments at M’s.  my first few ideas did not work but then one night it came to me.  remember Roni’s idea for the baby food jar jack o lantern with alcohol inks i showed you????

a snowman!!!  i just dripped some pearl mixative and blending solution into the ball, rolled it around until the inside was coated, dripped out the extra and then painted on a face with stickles.  seriously doesn’t get easier than that!

so then i had another idea simialr to something i saw in Currents recently:

kev and the boys don’t like it but it makes me giggle!  this one has red pepper alcohol ink coating the inside.

next i tried a couple things different – i used cranberry AND pearl mixative to coat the inside of this one.  it is less transparent and has a bit of shimmer to it.  then i simply added a few silver rubons and some self adhesive silver studs.

so there ya have it - SO quick and easy!!

i got alot done today thanks to hubby doing baby duty but i can’t show some of it because my step mom reads my blog hee heeee!

ahhhhhh the touch n brush hands free toothpaste dispenser commercial now.  cracks me up….has ANYBODY ever had that much trouble with toothpaste past the age of like 3?????

i hope you are all having a great weekend so far!  yard clean up for us tomorrow – oh can’t wait…….:P

hugs

Clear Ornaments, Alchol inks/mixatives – red pepper, cranberry, pearl; Stickles – orange, black; liquid pearls - gold; ribbon, SU rub ons – silver, self adhesive silver half beads.