Surprise!

Not having been blogging for very long, I was surprised when I saw this blogger award posted to my site.  What fun! Thank you http://turtlecreations-papercrafts.blogspot.com/ for selecting my blog! I checked out Cindy's blog and you should too! Lots of fun stuff to see....

This is what I am now supposed to do:

1.  Thank the person who gave this award to me and link it back to their blog (see above link)

2.  Share 8 things about yourself.

3.  Pass this award to 8 others individuals that I have recently discovered.

4.  Leave a comment so they can pass along the recognition.

8 things about myself:

1. I love the internet and have found friends from as far back as grade school on facebook.

2.  I am a Krazy Coupon Shopper!

3.  I love the Sacramento Kings Basketball team!

4.  I sold Stampin'Up! previously for 10 years before taking time off from a regular job and stamping to raise my kids.

5.  I started a once a month craft club so I could spend time with my girlfriends and make some crafty stuff. We try out all kinds of things not just stamping.

6. My family and I have a small piece of property that we are trying to make into a mini ranch with cattle, horses, chickens, 3 dogs, 2 cats, and a rabbit. E-I-E-I-O! City folks trying to become country folks.
 
7. I love to garden and cook and try all kinds of new plants and herbs every year. This year I hope to plant a large herb garden.

8.  I think stamping is more fun now than it was 10 years ago with all that is available to us over the internet, it has made my hobby such a new adventure. 

It has been fun finding people who like the same things and some who design a bit different on these blogs. So much fun is out there to be had!

These are the ones I have chosen to extend this award to....


http://scrappincatscreativeendeavors.blogspot.com/ My friend Cathy has some great stuff on her blog.



http://inkingidaho.blogspot.com/ Becky is amazing!

http://www.mychicnscratch.com/ Angie is inspiring!

http://whatareyouinking.blogspot.com/ Clever name for a blog and fun ideas.

http://teadrinkingstamper.blogspot.com/ Just started following from Stampin' Connection and love it...

http://by-jen.blogspot.com/ My friend Jen is very artistic and has such a flair for art and blogging ...

http://craftystorage.blogspot.com/ A great place for storage ideas...

http://createmepink.blogspot.com/ Just found this one and I am hooked!

Enjoy your Stylish Blog Award and have fun blogging!

SASSY Meeting Card Exchange

Just a quick note to share my card exchange with you for this month. This group is following the theme found in the Stampin'Up!Stampin' Success Magazine for the contests for demonstrators. The theme was Mother's Day or Father's Day. Since Mother's Day is pretty easy to create a card for, I decided to make a Father's Day card. I can't get enough of the Botanical Gazette Papers from the Occasions Mini Catalog so I used it.....again.

 

I saw this type of stand used on Becky Robert's blog so I tried to use mine. I have to apologize, mine is not near as cute as her displays. I am working on lighting and arrangement and one of these days I will get it down. There is so much to learn once you start blogging. Thanks for stopping by today!

Botanical Gazette DSP

At our last up-line meeting, I instructed the ladies on making the "Love Shack" house of cards (see earlier post). I had already made several of them with the Valentines theme and I wanted to try something different. The Botanical Gazette (121783) papers from the Occasions Mini are so beautiful and I wanted to make something with them, so I thought a birdhouse was perfect for these papers. This is what I came up with...

 

My original cards for the Love Shack were all different and I decided to make it easier with this batch. I made 8 cards, but 2 each of 4 designs. This cut the time in half for creating the cards. I chose to make these Thank You's, but they could be any type of card.....and don't they look kind of masculine? I love it! 

 

These papers are gorgeous! If you like nature, you will love this set along with the matching stamp set Nature Walk (121925). I used Certainly Celery for this one because I thought it would go well with the darker Old Olive used on the papers. 

 

Sahara Sand and Baja Breeze papers were used for these two along with a Marina Mist accent. A touch of pearls on the side of the messages. This was the first set of 4 cards. 

This is the style for the second batch of cards. Simple, quick, and easy. My kind of card!

I love the butterflies on this paper! There is a butterfly in the stamp set that matches the one on the paper.  After I made this one, I thought I could have used it to create a background on the Certainly Celery Paper. I'll have to try this next!

 

The Baja Breeze and Celery papers go well together, don't you think so? These papers are so pretty that I had a difficult time using them instead of hoarding them....hee, hee, hee......

 

My husband and I keep bees so this one is a fun card. I am going to have to play with this paper and maybe make some labels for our honey jars. Wouldn't that be cute!?

I haven't quite finished the Shack, but this is what I am starting with. The paper is perfect for this project, I am just not sure if it's finished. It needs some texture or something. I attended a fantastic class yesterday in Berkeley with Donna Downey and learned some awesome techniques so I may use one of them and add a little something. I will have to tell you about Donna's class in my next post! It was a class on making an Inspiration Journal. WOW! Wait till you see the pics. 

Don't forget about the Sale-a-Bration going on until the end of March. With every $50 purchase (before tax&ship) you can pick a FREE stamp set from the Sale-A-Bration catalog! Woo! Hoo! Who doesn't like free stuff? I know I do! Check out the catalogs and links on my blog for more details. 

As always, thanks for stopping by today.  Hope you saw something you liked. Feel free to post a comment, I'd love to hear from you!

Smiles, 

Christina

C.A.S.E.ing projects

For those of you who do not know about C.A.S.E.ing, it stands for Copy And Share Everything. So many times I hear people say, "I am not craft," or "I can't do that." What I like to truthfully tell them is that I copy a lot of things. Once you copy a card, you can then change the paper or the stamp and make it your own. Besides, they say that copying is a form of flattery. So, not only does it help you to create, but you make someone else feel good doing it! :o)
My friend Flossie and I decided to get together while our kids were in class and stamp some cards. She found these ideas on the internet and forwarded them to me so we could gather the supplies to make them the next day.
We pretty much copied them straight from the videos. We even shared the ideas with a couple of other people at the cafe where we met. It was lots of fun. It's so gratifying when you can create a card or two, especially when you can do it with friends. Here are the two types of cards we worked on....

This pinwheel card was fun to make. It's kind of like quilting....only easier. I used the Glitter paper from the Occasions Mini as well as the Sending Love DSP found on SU's Clearance Rack! This would have made a good Valentine as well.
Flossie found the tutorial here on Dawn's site. http://dawnsstampingthoughts.typepad.com/dawns_stampin_studio/2011/01/pinwheel-video-.html Dawn is a fellow Stampin'Up! Demonstrator and a wonderful one at that as you will see on her blog. Check it out and see her other projects.

This is another card using the same papers and Pretty in Pink Cardstock.

I used the Ice Cream Parlour DSP papers found in the Sale-a-bration catalog for this one along with the Pretty in Pink Cardstock.

I had some old scrapbook paper I used for this one. I was trying to change it up so it didn't look so Valentine like. I was trying to go more Spring like.
The next project was with a set I just love from the Occasions Mini. Create a Cupcake stamp set and Build a Cupcake Punch. This one came from Dawn's blog as well. It can be found here....http://www.dawnsstampingthoughts.net/2011/01/january-2011-thank-you-notes-video-.html

These are just so cute! They are tiny little notes. They could be Thank you's or tags to go with a small gift. I am anxious to make more of these and play around a bit with this set. The cupcake set is in the Occasions Mini and is only available till April for those of you who may be interested in purchasing this fun set and punch. Thanks for the inspirations Dawn! And thanks to Flossie for finding her site and finding time to play!
Leave me a comment if you like these or send me a pic if you've created something with one of these sets or techniques. I'd love to share it with others as well.  Thanks for stopping by today!

Sweet Treats...

I realized today that it was only 2 days till Valentine's Day and I hadn't even made my own Valentine's for my family! Isn't that crazy? I make all these cards and stuff and yet I didn't make any for my husband or kids. Upon that realization I sat down to put a few goodies together. I started with a couple of PEEPS treats I picked up for the girls.

I used some Cherry Cobbler Cardstock to wrap around the boxes. Then I used the Filled with Love stamp set and made some simple embellishments. I punched a heart from the Glitter Paper found in the new Occasions Mini and added it to the LOVE with a popdot. The large oval, scalloped oval, and the decorative label punches were layered and the messages stamped on the large oval and the outsides were sponged with Cherry Cobbler Ink. I used a black ribbon to make the project pop! The girls are going to love these! 

Once these were made I had to concentrate on a couple of cards. This is what I came up with....

My friend Brandy lent me the Letterpress plates to play with this weekend. I love them! These are inked with Craft Ink and run through the Big Shot. I used Cherry Cobbler Paper and Black Craft Ink. It impresses the image into the paper and the ink colors the impressions. Wow! Don't ya love it?

I was surfing on the Stampin'Up! website for demonstrators and found this idea. The demonstrator used the letterpress plates with VersaMark Ink and embossed with letterpress plates. Then I used the Irridecent Ice Embossing Powder over the impressions. It shows up clear and sparkly! The picture doesn't quite show how lovely this really is. Once again, I used the Filled with Love stamp set, the Glitter Paper, and the punches for the embellishments. I added the white organza ribbon and bow and viola! Isn't it cute! Sparkly and cute. 

I think my girls are going to like these cards as well. 

                                          

After making the valentines for my girls I went on to play with more stamps and stuff. This little box is from the Matchbox die for the Big Shot. I used Pretty in Pink Cardstock and stamped it in Early Espresso Ink with the Eat Chocolate set. The Sweet Valentine comes from the Something to Celebrate hostess set from the Occasions Mini. This is a perfect size to fill with a couple of Hershey's Nuggets. Yum!

 

Here's another cutie! I used the Fancy Favor die for the Big Shot. I used the Northern Trim Letterpress plate and Whisper White Craft Ink to emboss the top of the bag. I stamped using the Filled with Love set and embellished using the white organza ribbon and the the mini clip on top. There's a pearl in the center of the O in LOVE and a butterfly on the bottom of the E. Another fun way to package up some chocolate or a small gift. 

 Well, all good things must come to an end they say....my day of crafting had to end as well. However, only after making a couple other fun things. Using the Pillow Box Die and the Milk Carton Die, I made these two boxes for Valentine goodies. The pillow box was also run through the Big Shot using the letterpress plate with the Black Ink so it is embossed. The milk carton was wrapped with Love Patterns DSP and white organza ribbon and embellished with a clip holding a checklist from the Eat Chocolate set.

What a fun day of creating. I hope I get another one soon! I will be planning for my upcoming Card Clubs and workshops next. Stay tuned for more fun ideas. 

Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day to you all! May your day be filled with Lots of Love.

Sale-a-Bration Fun!

On Sunday, my friend Brandy hosted the first of my Sale-a-Bration workshops. We had this one a a Godfather's Pizza Parlour because Brandy had 13 people show up! WOW! We were able to meet in the back room and had several tables to display our current samples and projects. Brandy designed this awesome Never Ending Card:

Wow! eh? A really cool card.

She also put together this one.
It's a sweet and simple valentine. She is very talented, wouldn't you agree?

We had lots of fun presenting these cards and telling everyone about the fabulous freebies you can earn during Sale-a-Bration.
As a special Thank You I made this for Brandy:

 

It's a clear mount case (#119105) from our SU Catalog and it's decorated and filled with cards I made using the Nature Walk (#121925) set from the Occasions Mini. I saw this at my demonstrator meeting last Friday. I think they were passed around at Leadership and Suzie showed us several of them and I just had to make one. I love this set!

You can also put a mini legal pad in the right side of one and decorate the top part of it. Include a pocket on the left side for stamps. I used an R.S.V.P. pen and slipped a piece of the stamped paper in to match the set.

So, who knows the 10 rules of chocolate?

 

 

When I was surfing the net the other day, I came across the 10 rules of Chocolate. This was a fantastic idea!
And who doesn't like chocolate? I knew Brandy did, so I made one just for her. Everyone laughed as I read the rules. You can find the rules here:
http://www.guy-sports.com/humor/valentine/valentine_chocolates.htm     Yum....who wants chocolate???

Have a great day!

Crazy Ladies Craft Night

We met again last night for our Crazy Ladies Craft Night. A few of the crazy ladies couldn't make it and we were down to three of us. Paula had seen this really cute idea on this blog http://www.u-createcrafts.com/2010/02/creative-guest-tator-tots-and-jello.html. We thought it was perfect for this month's craft since Valentine's Day is just around the corner. Here's how ours came out:

This one was Jolynn's. She was so proud of the fact that it is so cute and she made it herself! That's what crafting is all about. Isn't it adorable? I love the colors too.

My daughter Nicole wanted to make one and since our group was a bit small she was able to join in. She loves horses and used some horse scrapbooking papers to make hers. She is going to hang it in her room with the rest of her horse related stuff. It was so easy and my 11 year old did a great job didn't she?

This one is mine. I tried to keep it simple but got a bit carried away with my cupcake liners in the center. I am happy with it. I think I will hang it on my china cabinet. It will match the colors of my kitchen nicely.

Now this is Paula and Tawny's. Tawny was able to make the first one this weekend when she and her mom made one for a sample. She did a fantastic job! And Paula did a great job too. See how different they are just between the few of us? None of them look the same. I love it! Thanks crazy ladies for another fun evening! For the rest of you, start a once a month craft club of your own. Get a few friends together on the same day each month and find ideas online or in magazines of things you'd like to make....and make them.

In the words of my friend Cathy at http://scrappincatscreativeendeavors.blogspot.com/

Find inspiration everywhere! Go... Create something fun and fabulous. Enjoy!