Page Master Designs Online

Purging...For SALE!

2012-01-27T13:27:00.003-05:00

Hi all! I spent this month purging lots of my stuff. I need to make room. I had a hard time parting with all of it but I know it will all go to a loving home :) They come from a loving, smoke free, dogs with hair that don't shed, home. There is no light damage to any of the paper either. It was stored in plastic bags, flat in a drawer. :)

I have broken everything down into categories. If you would like to combine orders to save on shipping make sure you let me know in the comments section when you get to Paypal. I will do my best to get everything into the cheapest flat rate box. Shipping is included in the price for U.S Residents only (unless you combine orders). International is an addition $22 for Canada. Anywhere else is an additional $37 for the MEDIUM boxes (Out side of the US...the prices are the Post Offices...not mine). If your order needs a larger box...shipping will be increased. You will be notified of the shipping increase prior to shipping.

KI Memories Lot-- There are 153 Pieces of Patterned paper from many different KI lines. Most of these lines are old, some of the first phenomenal lines they put out. This is the stuff that made us love KI to begin with! Some chipboard has been used. There are some chipboard letters added to this box that didn't make the picture ;)

PRICE: $42
What's in the Box:

KI Memories Lot $42
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Basic Grey Lot- Lots of Basic Grey Papers here including 2 Collection packs (Sugared and Archaic)83 papers in total, all the chipboard you see and the stickers, One sticker set has another sheet with a few stickers missing under it. Papers from various lines (Infuse, Archaic, Sugared Romani, Lily Kate, Recess, Pheobe, Perhaps, Blush, Oh Baby Boy, Oh Baby Girl, Skate Shoppe, Off Beat, Lucky, Fusion)

PRICE: $42
In the box:

Basic Grey Lot $42
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Modge Podge of papers: 200+ sheets of PAPER!!! Many different companies (Studio Calico, Sassafrass, American Crafts, Kaiser, Daisy D, Rusty Pickle, Rhonna Farrer, Foofala, Anna Griffin, MOD, K & Co, SEI, Cosmo Cricket, Collage Press and more)

Price: $48

What's in the box?

and This:

For a close up of these papers you can visit my blog photostream here: There are plenty of close up shots: Page Master Designs Flickr Photostream
Modge Podge of Papers $48
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Miscellaneous Stamps: Many of these have been lightly used, some haven't been used at all. Stampin' UP!, Penny Black, 7 Gypsies and more! EXCELLENT CONDITION

Price: $42
What's in the box?

Miscellaneous Stamps $42
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Hero Arts Stamps: Most have never touched ink...some are lightly used. All in EXCELLENT CONDITION
PRICE: $42
What's in the box:

Hero Arts Stamps $42
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Clear Stamps--Most have never touched ink. Ali Edwards is new never used, the Studio Calico ones have never been used. All in excellent condition...only thing missing is the "Season's Greetings" on the Martha Stewart Christmas Set.

Price:$42
What's in the box:

Clear Stamps $42
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Alphabet Stamp Sets--The sets in the bag are unmounted Wordsworth stamps. I tried to find a picture online but couldn't. There are 3 different kinds in one bag...all one set. There is also a 3rd bag of them included that I hadn't found when I took the picture. They have upper and lower case in each bag, I believe numbers come with all of them. I posted some pictures of how I use them. No need to put foam on all of them. The letter is also written on the back of the stamp for easy searching. ;) The Stampin Up! set contains upper and lower case. On the small sets the middle and the right stamps are Hero Arts stamps.

Price--$42
What's in the box:

Use a piece of Scotch double sided tape and place across acrylic block. You can use double sided foam tape too if you want.
Attach your letters and stamp. Just pull them off when done and pull tape. Works like a charm every single time and you can still see through the block for easy stamping! :)

***Acrylic Blocks not included

Alphabet Stamp Sets w/ unmounted stamps $42
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Shaped Alphabet Stamps: These are like new. I don't believe the large round ones were ever used and the rectangles were only used once or twice. Both are Hero Arts. I think the small round ones are from PSX. These fit in a small flat rate Priority box. If you purchase something else...let me know and I will combine them.

Price: $21
What's in the box:

Shaped Alphabet Stamps $21
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Alphabet Foam Stamps: Many haven't even been used. In EXCELLENT Condition. One from ProvoCraft (brand new--never used) rest are from Making Memories.

Price: $25
What's in the box?

Foam Alphabet Stamps $25
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Foam shape Stamps: Gently used, Lots of shapes have never been used. Missing a couple shapes, the sets on the right are a set, I just put them in different boxes.
Price: $20
What's in the box?

Foam Shapes Stamps $20
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****SOLD****SOLD****SOLD****SOLD****SOLD****SOLD****
~~Embellishments~~ This is the Mother load! There are so many different embellishments. It fills a large Priorty Flat Rate Box to the top. Just about everything has never been used or even opened. The baggies are stuffed with ribbon slides, metal tags, leather flowers, regular flowers, metal embellishments and so much more!

Price: $55 (Shipping on this is $16--sorry it's the P.O) You'll definitely get your money's worth...I promise! :)
What's in the box:

~~Embellishements: $55~~****SOLD****SOLD****SOLD****SOLD****SOLD****SOLD****

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Stickers: Almost all of these are Brand new, never opened. I think only 2 sheets are missing a couple of stickers. Many different topics, boy, girl, travel, beach etc.. Fun, fun, fun!

Price: $32
What's in the box:

Stickers $32
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Alphabet Stickers, Rub-ons, Chipboard--All kinds of alphabets for your spelling pleasure!!! :)
Price: $27
What's in the box:

Click HERE for a closer view
in the baggies:

Alphabet Stickers and Rub ons
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Chipboard and Grunge Board letters: All the letters and all the numbers are there in the GRUNGE BOARD. I never touched one of them. There have to be well over 100 letters. The V has 11 v's alone! The BG alphabet is complete too. I have way too much chipboard! ;) Not to mention that I found a HUGE bag of BG over sized letters that didn't make the picture and a punch of BG hardware and glitter chipboard found their way into that box too after the pictures were taken.:) Medium Flat rate box is filled to the top! :)
Price: $32
What's in the box:

Grunge board and Chipboard $32
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Punches:
Price: $32 ($20 for punches--$12 for shipping)
What's in the box:
Different sized punches and the crimper. The white thing you see with the handle is a punch tool. You put the punch and paper on it like you are going to punch it but instead of using and killing your hand you press on the handle and it does all the work for you. I LOVE that thing but rarely use punches. It great if you have a ton of punches you need to get done.

Punches $32

If you have an issues please let me know asap. I should be around the www all weekend!! :) I have never used Paypal this way before so I am hoping it goes off without a hitch. I will send you an invoice when your order is received!

Thank you! :)

Happy Birthday CAS

2012-01-23T11:17:00.001-05:00

Happy Monday! It's the beginning of the week and the countdown to next weekend starts. I am hoping to have a very productive week so for once I am pumped that it's Monday. I have lots in store for February and I have to get cracking on those projects. I am also selling a TON of my scrapping/stamping supplies. I need to make space. I have so much stuff. I will let you all know where I post it. I'm torn between the FSOT board at 2 peas or Ebay.

Today's card was inspired by a card Jen McGuire did in her Clean & Simple class. I think it was day 7. I loved the colors she used. This card is really simple.

I took the new Tea Flower from Hero Arts and colored it in lightly with my Copics (colors listed below), I ran my cardstock through my Big Shot in the Sizzix folder and then I added some ribbon and a greeting. So easy.

I am drooling over the CHA sneaks. What are your favorites? Mine right now is the Hero Arts/Studio Calico stamps! I can't wait to get them.

Have a phenomenal day!

See you tomorrow! :)
Michelle

InLinkz.com

Color Pop...

2012-01-21T10:15:00.000-05:00

Hey all. I decided to blog today as it is snowing like mad outside. It's cozy and warm and I am going to stamp all day today. This is another card that I made for the Clean & Simple class. I believe the term used for the technique is Color Pop. :) I like it.

Again it's a very CAS card. I used colored pencils on the black cardstock. I love the effect and the tips Jen gave really helped. I did about 5 of these. I think I'm going to make a set of them for my neighbor. I did some on brown too.

I hope you all have a wonderful day! :) If you are where it's snowy stay safe and warm!

HUGS!
Michelle

InLinkz.com

Paying Homage to Clean & Simple

2012-01-20T21:37:00.002-05:00

Hey all. I told ya I have been taking the Clean & Simple class by Jen McGuire, Kristina Werner & Julie Ebersole...this class is UNBELIEVABLY GOOD!!! I so love it. I wish it wouldn't end. I have created more cards in a week than I normally create in a month. I'm loving the Clean & Simple way and they really have shown some great ways to get that WOW effect. I'm very detail oriented so this has been a huge challenge for me...but I made 3 cards in one day!!! It usually takes me 3 days to make 1 card...crazy, I know.

So today I am going to share my CAS cards from Day 7-- this day's lesson was "Plainly White" I am behind on them as I have been making cards for other things and I have a large project going on...I'll catch up one day soon. I won't be posting them in order either. Anyhow, here are the cards:

Now a card with lots of WHITE is not me. All that white freaks me right out! But...I bit the bullet and this is what I came up with:

This first one is pretty self explanatory. It's clean, it's simple. It's my first attempt and it's eh...ok. I do love those new Hero stamps and I feel like I just didn't do the stamp justice. It needs more but I am leaving it. I also used the new Echo Park Yours Truly 6x6 papers on it.

The next one was super hard to me but came to me after Julie's lesson on lot's o' white and I remembered an embellishment they had linked to back on another day and I thought it would be fun to make a card out of an embellishment. The inspiration for the embellishment came from Maile Belles. You can see the inspiration on this wreath card. I loved the little flower made out of a button. The second I saw the button on this card by Maille my card just came to me. It came out exactly like it looked in my head. I had to walk away though because I almost couldn't take all the white. I came back later and realized I really did like it.

That's all for today. I have some really fun, colored cards for Monday! See you then! :)

Have a wonderful weekend!
Michelle

InLinkz.com

Hugs and Kisses...a card by Faith

2012-01-18T10:00:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! Today I am sharing a card that my 10 yr old daughter Faith made. I am so proud of her. She loves to make cards and she gets better every time she makes one. I love this card she made. It's for her penpal. I am sure it will be loved when received.

If you could go to her Flickr page and leave her some love I know she would just LOVE that! Be back tomorrow with some Clean & Simple cards.

InLinkz.com

Manly Thank You

2012-01-17T11:32:00.000-05:00

Happy Tuesday Everyone! Today I have a manly thank you card. I don't know about you but I truly struggle with cards for the Y chromosome. Which is ironic, as I have 3 sons and a husband and make them cards often. Nevertheless, it's so much easier to go girlie than it is to go manly.

This card is for the owner of my children's Martial Arts Studio. He gave my 3 youngest a YEARS FREE membership for Christmas. It definitely had to be manly. I am so grateful to this man and I struggled to make a card for him. In the end I decided to go collage style. I find it's easier for me than CAS and I wanted it to have a WOW effect but I don't think I achieved that either. I spent far too much time on this card. It's and ok card. I don't love it.

To create this card start with a piece of marbled cardstock. Stamp Hero Arts "Just Because" Cling pop frame in Memories Brown, then Stamp diamonds in the middle of the frame. My diamonds are an old set from Fontwerks, I stamped them in Hero's Soft Sand. Use a slight amount of adhesive to temporarily mount the Cling pop frame to the front of the card and then stamp the Timely Bird, remove the artisan frame and stamp watch gears, diamonds and Newpaper print all over the background of the card. I did use some Masking Paper for some of the gears and the timely bird. I love the Inkadinkado Masking paper. Ink edges of the card with Distress Vintage Photo

Stamp Timely Bird on scrap paper, color in with Distress inks & cut out. Stamp sentiment, pop dot bird, add some ribbon and then attach frame. It really took very little time to complete.

I linked all supplies below. Hope you have a Fantabulous Day!

InLinkz.com

Thank You part duex

2012-01-16T13:21:00.000-05:00

Hi I am back today with another thank you card. This one was very simple to create and took me no time at all. I used all scraps for the papers and that goes with my "one little word"...up...I want to use UP all my scraps this year.

I stamped the background flower on white paper, colored in the flowers and then cut them out. You saw the other one on yesterday's post. I used Hero Arts Chalk ink in Latte to stamp the Mocha card. I trimmed 2 scrap pieces of paper (which I think are both My Mind's Eye, layered them, cut a banner bottom and then pop dotted the flower and the sentiment, added some pearls and it was done. I am really loving this Clean & Simple theory. I really need to do this more. It's very fast and I use scraps!! It helps me UP production too! :)

I hope you all had a fabulous day. Be back tomorrow with a manly Thank You card.

InLinkz.com

Lots of THANKS

2012-01-14T23:38:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! I'm back and I'm stamping away again. So happy.

I have so many thank you cards that need to get out in the mail....I had so much to be thankful for this past Christmas. It really was a true blessing. I am in the midst of taking the Clean & Simple Card Making class being taught by Jennifer McGuire, Kristina Werner and Julie Ebersole. {I earned a spot by doing some side work for one of them. ;)}

I don't consider myself a CAS stamper. I struggle with it badly. I LOVE the look of it but really have a hard time. I always feel like I need to add more! I want to learn to be CAS and this class is really helping me with that! If you have not checked out the classes that Jen & Kristina have done, I urge you too. You can take the past classes at a reduced rate and it's self paced! Love that about these classes!

So this week I was determined to get some CAS cards done. I recently earned lots of Hero Arts stamps for doing some side work for them. I was so thrilled when they arrived and I could use this Zig Zag cling stamp! You will see this a LOT...I LOVE this stamp!

I used the Brilliance ink pad Aurora on this. It's a tri colored ink pad with shimmery colors in pink, orange and yellow. I love these ink pads. I love the colors and the shimmer gives it that "ooooh" effect. Love it. I stamped the hearts in them too. Such wonderful hearts in this set!

I'm not crazy about where my titled ended up. I put the hearts on first and then stamped and apparently didn't pay close enough attention but it's done and it's staying! ;)

All products for this card are here:

InLinkz.com

Here is the second card:

I used the lime chalk in to ink up the artisan shape that I cut out of my silhouette. Again, I used Brilliance ink...this time Peacock. It's a tri-color ink too. It's pool, darker blue and a nice green. It has shimmer too! ;)

I cut the flower out of the Large background flower stamp. That stamp is so very versatile. you will see me use it a lot! All supplies for this card are here:

InLinkz.com

I'll be back tomorrow with another card. Until then Happy Stamping! :)

just checking in....

2012-01-07T11:13:00.001-05:00

I am here. I am cleaning and re-organizing my craft space. Can't wait to get inky again. I'm having withdrawals. Be back soon....

One Little Word 2012

2012-01-01T10:47:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year's Eve! We spent ours having a hilarious game of Pictionary with the kids. It was soooo fun! I laughed until I cried many times. It was girls vs boys and I am proud to say that Faith and I beat dh and the boys! She is an awesome Pictionary partner. We will be doing this for Family Game Night often! You don't need to buy the game either. We printed a list from online, used a timer from an old game and set the points. We played to 20. It was neck and neck until the end. My amazing 10 yr old won the game for us by naming "backbone"! I was so impressed! As soon as the game was over we all went up and snuggled in our king sized bed and watched the ball drop from NYC! It was perfect! We tucked the kid in their beds I was sound asleep by 12:15.

Every year I pick a word to try and live by. I got the idea years ago from Ali Edwards. She does "one little word". I love it. I am not a resolution person. It's too much pressure. Picking one word is so much easier. Last year my word was "pace". I did a pretty good job at it until November rolled around and then it went out the window.

This past year the word for this year was pretty much there all along. 2011 was a very bad year to say the least. Our family has struggled with many disappointments. My husband lost his job on January 3rd and still remains unemployed. We have lost so much and fallen so far. My marriage was put to the test and the stress was horrible on both my mental and physical health. I was torn between "up" and "prosper" this year. I started this morning by falling down the stairs. It became quite apparent to me that my "one little word" needed to be 'UP'. So that is what it is. (ironically...it's the same word Ali picked--I don't check her word or anyone else's until I pick mine).

There is so much that needs to go "up" in my life. I am hoping to get my greeting card/invitation business *up* and running full throttle this year. I need to get my health better and I need to get *up* and moving. It's the best thing for my arthritis and I need to get out and walking every day again. I need to figure out how to help my son, who struggles so greatly with school, pull those grades up with the least amount of stress. I need our financial situation to go *up* dramatically. There are so many more reasons...

Do you pick "one little word"? If so, I would love to hear it.

I hope you all have a wonderful, prosperous new year and may all your dreams come true.

Michelle

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-12-23T17:46:00.000-05:00

I have so much to share with all of you after the holiday season about the true spirit of giving. My family and I have been on the receiving end of it this year and I am just blown away by the kindness and love that our community has bestowed upon us.

While I know things are insane and lots of us spend the last few days racing to do last minute details, I would like to ask you to please take time to wish someone a Merry Christmas or Happy Hanukkah...it personalizes it & means so much more to hear those words rather than Happy Holidays. Please let someone out in traffic or open a door and hold it for someone. The slightest small gesture can mean the world to one person and change their entire day!

I have been truly blessed this Christmas season and I hope you all are too.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa!!!!!

All my love,
Michelle

Blessed.....

2011-12-17T22:44:00.000-05:00

I feel truly blessed tonight and humbled beyond words. I have been the recipient of some of the most amazing random acts of kindness & love between yesterday & today. Today proved to my children that just because a big fat man in a red suit doesn't come down our chimney (or in our front door)doesn't mean there really isn't a Santa Claus. Santa Clause in my eyes means "Christmas Magic" I truly believe it's the time of year when miracles happen. When each child came to me at one point or another and asked me if I believed in Santa my answer was just that..."I believe in Christmas Magic, Santa is part of that. You must always believe in Christmas Magic because miracles can and will happen".

Today showed them that by believing in Christmas Magic that wonderful things can and will happen. My motto to them has and always be "if you don't believe...you don't receive". They witnessed that today due to the kindess and caring of total strangers and friends. Today sheer joy, bewilderment and the true sign of belief & relief showed on all their beautiful faces. It made both them and I realize how very lucky we are to have such AMAZING people in our lives.

Today helped reinforce the morals that I try daily to instill in our children... by being a good person, even when the chips are down and you feel so broken, you still must show the world that you are there for the long haul and treat every person the way you want to be treated. I tell them that if you do good then good things will eventually come to you. It's been a hard lesson to prove to them lately. It's been a struggle to get through many days lately. It's been so hard to show them that life is going to get better, that it won't always be this way. That we are in a very rough place right now but we have no where to go but up. I try to make sure they understand that they can't let this rough patch define who they are. That we must be the kind, caring people we have always been. That if we are good...good things WILL come. Many people in my life, some who showed themselves and others that did not, helped me teach my children that invaluable lesson today. It showed us all that there are kind, loving, caring people out there and that we should NEVER take that for granted.

I feel truly blessed today. I had not one ounce of Christmas spirit until yesterday when an amazing act of kindness started a ripple effect in my life that has left me with tears of joy all day. I don't remember the last time I cried so many happy tears.

Blessed. That is what we are.

Thank you to anyone and everyone who had a hand in giving my family hope and a sense of peace this holiday season. I can't ever thank you enough for the joy and peace you have brought to this woman's heart. Bless you.

May all of you have the merriest Christmas this season has to offer!

God Bless!!!

xxxooo

Michelle

Christmas Card Making Party!!!

2011-12-14T23:42:00.000-05:00

Hi all! Today was my daughter's Christmas Card Making Party with her friends. There were 5 ten yr old girls all together and we had great fun. We laughed and joked and they got silly but the best part....we stamped and created until we were exhausted. I had 5 projects planned but we only got to 4 of them. They were really happy with them and that's what matters most. I kitted everything last night and this morning so that it was simple and easy. Most pieces were cut on the Silhouette and only one card needed scissors and I will eliminate that next time as they wanted me to cut everything out. So without further ado, here are the projects that I managed to get pictures of before they all left.

This was the one that required all the cutting. The Sizzix version was sold out when I went to get it last time....you can bet that I will have it next time. This is the card I did all the scissor cutting on. Tree trees and 1 reindeer times 5 girls equals sore hands for me tonight! lol

I had the reindeer and trees stamped on white, they just had to color them in and then place their punched snowflakes on the card, tear some paper for snow and then stamp the reindeer, trees and sentiment. They pop dotted the trees and the colored reindeer. Super easy. Super fun.

I got the idea for this card from Lisa Spangler over on the Hero Arts website. You can see the inspiration card HERE.

Next up is another card that I got from the Hero Arts web site. The inspiration is just flowing over there and there is such a broad range of techniques from super simple to more adventurous. Here is the card the girls did:

I changed it up a bit from the original I prestamped the ornament on watercolor paper and heat embossed it. I then had the girls ink the ornament and spritz them HEAVILY with Perfect Pearls. They all used different colors and all of them came out GORGEOUS. They stamped the background of snowflakes, I had already done the tree bough for them. They attached everything to the card and stamped the sentiment. It was just the right amount of stamping for the 4 girls who had never stamped before.

This next project is a bookmark. I got it from my Silhouette software. It's available in the Silhouette Store. I loved this when I saw it and I knew the girls would love it too.

It was really simple. They just had to glue him together. Again, I cut it all for them and bagged it they just had to pull it out and attach it. Good thing too because I was still cutting out reindeer's and trees through this project! lol

And lastly, you can't have a Christmas party with out a visit from Ole St. Nick can you? No, I didn't think so either. He made his way down the chimney....and then back up! ;)

This wonderful guy is a puppet of sorts. He is on a popsicle stick that pokes through a slit in the bottom of the chimney and you can make him go up and down the chimney. He was the hit of the party!!! I pre-cut everything for this and bagged them for the girls. I also ran all the little pieces through my Xyron X and put the strips in the bag (oh I colored the faced for them too). All they had to do was paper piece him and the chimney. It was super fast and super easy.

While I had 5 projects planned and 3 hours time. We never made the 5th project. I will make it and show you another time. It's really fun and easy too. We ended up having a little over 2 hours by the time they got here, got settled, had their snack etc. It was a 1/2 day here so they all walked home from school with Faith.

I am doing it again on Sunday with my 12 yr. old's friends. I am going to change the projects up a bit though.

I am too tired to link product tonight. They wiped me out.If you have any questions on any of the product just leave a comment and I will be sure to get back to you.

I'm off to bed.......

Nite all!
Michelle

Happy Holidays Rudolf

2011-12-13T01:23:00.000-05:00

Hi all! I'm back today with one of my favorite card sets that I made. I absolutely love non-tradional colors for Christmas. When my children have all moved out I will have a pink, white and pool tree. I might even have more than one! ;)

This card is a really simple card to create. I started by stamping the snowflakes in Versamark and embossing them with the Hero Arts white embossing powder. I then used the Spun Sugar Distress ink to color the background. I didn't even use a foam applicator. I just put the ink pad directly onto the card and smeared it in. I loved the look of it, it's not completely smooth, like a snowstorm and it was so much faster. Especially when doing 10 cards.

I then did the trees. I saw a video on the Hero Arts blog by the ever talented Julie Ebersole. You can see the video here: Hero Arts Video I just had to try it. It was soooo fun. I love the look of them. I covered them in Star Dust Stickles afterwards. It's my favorite. I always have a few bottles on hand I use it so much.

I stamped my reindeer onto paper and colored him I didn't bother cutting out the antlers...too much work. It's so much easier to stamp him on the card and then pop dot the colored one. A little bling for the antlers and one red one for the nose. I tore and layered paper for the snow, added some more stickles, placed the reindeer, stamped the title and it was done. It was super easy. It went really fast for 10 cards too. Just do each step 10 times then move onto the next. It's so much easier than trying to complete a full card and then move on to the next.

Off to sketch 5 cards. I am having a Christmas Card making party for Faith and her friends on Wednesday. I'm surprising each of them with an ornament too. Should be a great time! :)

Cheers!
Michelle

InLinkz.com

Peace on Earth...

2011-12-11T21:49:00.001-05:00

I have many cards to share this week. As I posted earlier I did a Craft Fair this past weekend. I made so much stuff and I want to share it all with you this week. It also really worked out well, timing wise, with the challenge on the Hero Arts Blog. The challenge this month is "Card Sets". I didn't even realize what the challenge was until 2 or 3 days ago. I was psyched. So without further chatter here is the first 2 sets.

They are the same card, just different ribbons and paper strips. I started by coloring in the Winter Scene stamp with markers. They are just regular markers that I bought my son at Michael's. They have amazing colors and they work so well with this technique. After I colored each tree the color I wanted it I colored the deer and the tree and then lightly misted it with Inference Green perfect pearls and stamped it. It comes out AMAZING! It's so easy to do that my daughter and her friend were doing this technique all weekend long while making snowflake Christmas cards. After that I just added the ribbon, punches the paper with my Martha Steward doily punch and added some Hero Arts extra small pearls. I stamped the title with an Ali Edward's stamp by Technique Tuesday and I stamped a saying from the Holiday Sayings stamp set (see below) on the inside of the cards. They were so simple to make. I banged out 20 of them in no time.

A close-up of the inference green on the markers...so pretty in real life!

I stamped the envelopes too. =)

Have you made cards this holiday season? I'd love to see them. Link me up. I have missed so much on the www in my absence. I'll be back tomorrow with another card set. Until then.....

Cheers!
Michelle

busy, busy, busy

2011-12-06T10:48:00.001-05:00

My poor neglected blog. I have been crazy busy. I have a HUGE craft fair coming Friday. I had asked my mother 2.5 months ago to ask her boss for the sheet to sign up. She asked her 2 weeks ago. We got in and I am slammed. I hadn't bothered to make anything figuring it was too late but it's not so I plug on. I will be back with lots of pictures soon. I promise! I hope you are all getting everything done that you need to for the holidays!

happy crafting.
michelle

Short Hiatus

2011-11-12T10:18:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone...if you haven't noticed already I am taking a short hiatus from the blog. I have a huge project that I am working on and it needs all of my attention at the moment. Everything on it has to be perfect. I will be back sometime next week. Until then....Craft on! :)

More Halloween fun....

2011-11-02T10:47:00.000-04:00

I have one last Halloween post for the year. Is everyone recovering from their sugar hangovers? I tried so hard to be good but those snickers just call my name!!! They got very few of them this year so I am safe now! ;)

I had guests come over the holiday. My sweet friend Tricia, her beautiful daughter Chelsea (17) and their adorable friend Ben! It was so good to see them! It's been a couple of years. I met Tricia on 2 peas years ago. We became fast friends and I discovered that they come to Salem every Halloween. We were destined to meet! She now has a permanent parking spot at my house every Halloween!! It was so good to see her and catch up...but it was far too short of a visit! I'm hoping to get to Long Island one of these days and visit them.

Chelsea comes in costume every year. She is very creative and this year was no exception. She made the costume herself! I am so impressed!!! Chelsea has been to Salem for Halloween every year since birth, I believe, except for one! Check out this super cool costume...

Do you know who she is? She is Bellatrix Lestrange! I love it!!! It worked out awesomely with Trevor's costume....

He makes an AWESOME Harry Potter, don't ya think? He got stopped uptown many, many times so people could take a picture with him. I couldn't even get him on the phone because he had to keep putting me on hold so that he could have his picture taken! lol Trevor's friends also went out as character's from Harry Potter and the dad to one of them went as Hagrid! I so wish I could have been uptown to see them. :( (My knee is out. I see the surgeon tomorrow.)

Trevor and Chelsea missed each other during the day but I finally got a picture of them together around 11:00 pm. I love the look Bellatrix is giving Harry!

I thought her red eye enhanced it too so I didn't edit it out.

Here is my gorgeous friend Tricia with Chelsea

And then we have Faith. She was really hamming it up for the pictures! ;)

She is a Cutie Pirate. We had many meltdowns over this costume this year. First she HAD to have it. I caved, bought it and 10 minutes before she was to go trick or treating she was a puddle of tears, it itched, she hated it, she'll wear it next year, yada, yada, yada. We had a massive blow out over it. I finally put my foot down and told her she HAD to wear it or stay home. Last minute alterations...cut off lace at top, put black t-shirt on, take off fishnet leggings (which I HATED anyhow) and put on black tights. She looked better (in my opinion) and she was finally happy. She headed out to Trick or Treat and then came back, changed into warm clothes and went up town with Ray. A good time was had by all. I only had 2 trick or treaters this year. I stamped the entire night in a peaceful house. YAY!

and lastly....

Faith and I finished our little project. These haunted houses came from the Silhouette Store. They don't have them anymore. I checked to get you the specific name of the file but it's gone. Sorry.

This one is Faith's, she wanted to add more to the background but never got a chance.

and here is mine:

I hope you Halloween was WICKED!!!

I am working on some projects that I hope to post soon.

Have a wonderful day and thanks for making it this far...sorry for the looooooong post!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!! Guest Designer Libby Hickson

2011-10-31T09:23:00.000-04:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone!!!! Well we made it. Today it all comes to an end. For me it means in 2 days the traffic will lighten and I won't have to leave my house an hour early to get where I am going! YAY!!! My little goblins are almost ready to go. I have to finish one costume today. They are getting older so one just painted a mask, the other is Harry Potter and my girl is a cutie pirate that I broke down and bought because her bff is one to and they wanted to match again this year. I will take pictures and post them tomorrow.

Today we have our final guest.....Libby Hickson. I was so happy when Libby agreed to make a card for my blog. I love Libby! We met via Twitter and I am so glad we did. She is an AMAZING mom to her 2 little ones Carter (who is a wiz at Words with Friends at the age of 5!!!) and Courtney, she is a phenomenal card maker and I am blessed to call her friend.

Libby has been on the Play Date Cafe Design team, she is the guest design team coordinator for Hambo Stamps and the Web content specialist for Hero Arts. You can find her on her blog Libby's Little Addiction. Please be sure to stop by and give her some love! ;)

I LOVE this card so very, very much!!! I squealed with delight when I opened the -mail. I love how she used the patterned papers, the stamps and then the stitching & ribbon! It has an eerie feel to it too...which I love!

That's all for now. I do have mine and Faith's little project to post later. We finally finished them!!! I hope you and your goblins have a wonderful and safe Halloween. Don't forget to check the candy....we all know that those Recees' really need to be taste tested! :)

Iron on Transfer...Creepy Skull Shirt

2011-10-29T09:00:00.000-04:00

Eek...it's SATURDAY!!! That means Halloween weekend here in Salem, MA is going to kick off. We will be confined to our fair city for the duration. There is no pulling the cars out of the driveway to go anywhere but the grocery store. Mayhem will ensue quickly. There are an expect 250,000 people expected between Friday and Monday. Craziness I know!

Today I am going to share a rather "creepy" shirt I made for the boys this year. I know I said I was going to post mine and Faith's projects today but as life with kids goes...it didn't get finished. I made home made donuts for the kids all day and Faith and my husband spent the day putting together Faith's loft bed that we bought almost a year ago for her but couldn't figure how to get it up the stairs. We had to cut it in half, drill holes, put in metal rods and then plates to hold it together. Crazy, but her room looks awesome now and she has almost the entire floor for play.

Onto today's project. Here's my handsome boy Trevor modeling today's project.....

I loved these skulls that Lori Whitlock has done for a fill pattern in the Silhouette Store. My boys are really into skulls on their shirts. There are so many out there already but I have wanted to play with these ones since I bought them. The idea of these is that you use them as a fill pattern on an image. I just wanted one skull. I created a rectangle shape in my Silhouette Studio, clicked fill pattern and then chose the skull pattern. I enlarged the rectangle to fill an entire 8.5x11 piece of paper and kept going so that the edge of the pattern was way off my rectangle. I think by the time I was done enlarging my shape there were only 2 useable skulls on it. I then printed it on regular paper. I then scanned that image back into my computer and into Photoshop Elements. I used the magnetic lasso tool to cut it out of my "paper" and then made a PNG file with it. I printed it on a Hanes iron on transfer and cut it out by hand.

The diamond shapes came from Lori Whitlock too. I believe it's her 3 circles shape. I loved the abstract diamond (not sure what you call it) I resized them and just kept duplicating them until I had a strip long enough, I then grouped it & duplicated it. The stars and the fleur de lis are Lori's too. I am not sure who the spatter is by. I can tell you though...it was a nightmare to try and get all those holes out of it once I cut it out of the red iron on material. I only did it for the first one the 2nd one I got smart and printed it on Hanes T-shirt maker transfers. I do love the look in person of the Silhouette iron on transfer material but it was just so much work to get all those holes out.

I laid it all out in the Silhouette software first to make sure I liked the design. I had Brycen give me some input and when we had it where we liked it I then began to cut it all out. I laid it out on the t-shirt to make sure I liked the position of everything and then began to iron it all on in separate layers. It took a bit of time but I think it was worth it. The both were really happy with the end result.

Well that's it for today. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

:)
Michelle

Guest Designer...Mary Dawn Quirindongo!!!

2011-10-28T00:01:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone!!! First let me say that I had a blog post that should have gone up on Thursday. I scheduled it to go up and it didn't. I came and hit publish and it never came up...not sure what happened to it but I will post it on Saturday because I am super excited to share today's' guest with you!!!

She is talented and funny and makes cards that make me swoon, her videos are great and she has the best voice!!! I just want to meet her in person and make her talk forever. She has been published numerous time in Paper Crafts Magazine & Cards Magazine. She is also stamping Royalty.. The one, the only....Mary Dawn Quirindongo...other wise known as My Pink Mexico.

Mary Dawn is on the Clearsnap design team and does incredible work. You must check out her blog My Pink Mexico. She also sells for A Muse and you can get to her online store via her blog. Please stop by and leave her some love!

We are so lucky today, Mary Dawn made us not one but TWO fabulous cards. I just love them! This first one is just awesome. It's a discreet Halloween and I love that!

this is what Mary Dawn has to say about her first card: "the first card is made from PTI rustic cream, girl's paperie toil and trouble patterned paper, stampendous jumbo cameo cling set, a retired cc designs set for the sentiment, girl's paperie clear stamp set for the bat and the text underneath and a girl's paperie charm, the die cut label stampin up, the inks are colorbox pigment in espresso and i colored in the flowers and frame with colorbox stephanie barnard die in the orange (tangerine, maybe) and i colored in the frame and did my distressing with colorbox archival dye in putty (coffee house queue at simon says has this color)"

I love the spider charm, the torn paper, the stamped frame on the patterned paper and the bat that is just so discreetly there. I think it's just a fabulous, classy Halloween card! I was so excited when I saw it.

Her second card is magnificent too!

here is what she has to add about this card: "The second card is PTI rustic cream cardstock with patterned papers from the girl's paperie toil and trouble as well as embellishments and stickers from the collection, no stamping, but i did distress with colorbox archival dye in putty. A few of the items in the toil and trouble collection, including the stamp set, are still available at Simon Says Stamp"

I love how she didn't use any stamps. I struggle with that. I always seem to need to stamp. I really have to learn to step away from them sometimes. I love the combination of patterns and who doesn't love those pinwheels? Love this!!

Please stop by Mary Dawn's blog and say hi!!! My Pink Mexico

Thanks so much for coming by. It's gonna get crazy here in Salem very soon. I'll be back through the weekend with the rest of our Haunted Happenings!!! Are you ready for Halloween yet? Have you carved your pumpkins? We are doing ours Saturday Night. I hope you have a fantastic Friday.

Guest Designer Vicky Papaioannou

2011-10-26T09:00:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! Happy Wednesday!!! YES! We are that much closer to Halloween night! I hope you have all found some Halloween Spirit this month on the blog. There have been so many talented guests and today is no exception! Vicky is one talented gal! I met Vicky through her challenge blog Lily Pad Cards and her company InLinkz. You know those little image links I normally leave on my blog to help you find product...yup them. I love her company and her challenge blog, her personal blog Clips and Cuts and her! ;) She is so sweet and very talented. If you have not checked out Lily Pad Cards please do and check out her blog and her videos!!! I love to watch her work. I look forward to my e-mail every Sunday knowing she will have a video in there :)

Vicky made this adorable card to share with us today:

I love this card! It's just a PERFECT Halloween card!!! Faith really liked this one too! Please stop by one of Vicky's blogs and leave her some love! She really does deserve it!!!
Thanks for coming by. I'll be back tomorrow with a cute project Faith and I did :)

Michelle
Supplies:
Happy Haunting by Lawn Fawn, Victorian Homes by Penny Black, distress inks, stickles "crystal"

Halloween Subway Art

2011-10-25T10:56:00.000-04:00

I'm so excited to share today's project with you. I am so happy that I finished it in time. I didn't want to wait until the last day to share it. I had this idea about 2 weeks ago but I didn't have the frame. I posted on Freecycle to see if anyone had one and I ended up with some seriously cool frames all for FREE! I get lots of great stuff from FreeCycle. If you aren't familiar with it, it's a program to help keep stuff out of the landfills. One man's trash is another man's treasure right? Everything on FreeCycle is FREE. You aren't allowed to charge for the items. You can find more about it at Freecycle.org. There is usually one or more in your surrounding towns all over the country. One of my best finds was my children's swing set. It came off of a HUGE swing set/tower. It was close to $7,000 brand new. We took the swing portion only as the thing was monstrous. It has tire swings and rope swings and regular swings. Definitely worth checking out. I get rid of tons of stuff on it too.

Ok, so today's project. I got the frame in great condition. I just added some primer and gloss black spray paint and it was done. (I have another to share for Christmas that's bigger and not subway art.). I made it with my Silhouette. I just cut out the subway art in dk gray, yellow, orange. For the "Halloween" I had cut it out of Orange and black but didn't like it. I traced it onto the glitter purple and hand cut it. I loved it afterwards. I attached the yellow and orange to the gray slightly off centered to look like shadow and then Modge Podged them on front and back so when I place it by my door it withstands the traffic. I used a large sheet of mat board (from AC Moore) and cut it down to size, I then mounted 2 pieces of Bazzill on it and then attached the words. I used a thick piece of chipboard from one of my kids drawing pads and cut that down to size for the backing of the frame. I nailed in a few tiny nails to hold it all into the frame.

For the skull I used one of the pattern images that are now available in the Silhouette Store. This skull is from Lori Whitlock. They look like digital sheets of paper. I created a large square, filled it with the skulls and then enlarged it to make the skulls huge. I think I only had 2 useable ones by the time I was done enlarging it. I then printed it out on plain paper, scanned it back into my computer and imported it in to Photoshop Elements. I used the magnetic lasso tool to cut it out and then printed it on photo paper. I also saved the shape as a PNG because I made my sons a shirt with the same skull (I'll post later this week). I put it on pop dots so that when I change it out for Thanksgiving and Christmas I can just use Undu to get it off without damaging the frame.

That's it. It was so very simple and very fun. I leave you today with a picture of my silly girl playing with the frame before we put it together yesterday! Having so much fun with her. We are Halloween shopping today for decorations and costumes and then coming home to make home made donuts from scratch. Have a wonderful day!!!!

PS: I am sorry I am not linking right now. I'm just trying to spend as much time with Faith as possible this week. If you want to know where anything came from or what it is just leave it in the comments and I will hook you up. Thank you for understanding! :)

Michelle

Guest Designer Latrice Murphy

2011-10-24T09:34:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday everyone!!! I hope your Monday has gotten off to a great start! Faith and I are having a "jammie day" we are crafting and baking all day today! So happy to have my girl home.

Today's guest is Latrice Murphy. I met Latrice on Twitter about a year ago and I am so honored to call her my friend and one of these days I am going to meet up with her in person. She is so super sweet and talented.

Latrice is a mom to 3 beautiful children. They all have the most amazing eyes! ;) Latrice is a designer for May Arts, Lily Pad Cards, Electric Paperie and Our Craft Lounge. You can also find her stunning creations in her Flickr gallery, Split Coast Stampers, 2 Peas in a bucket, Studio Calico Gallery and on her blog Any Occasion. Latrice also has an Etsy store where she has the most gorgeous necklaces check it out HERE. Honestly, I don't know how she does it all!!! I am in awe of her.

Here is the layout she made for us today!

I squealed with delight when I saw this. I love Doodlebug and it was used to perfection in this layout! Not to mention that sweet little boy is beyond adorable!!!! The mix of patterned paper, the overall design and the typed journaling just make this layout a total winner!!! I love it!!!

I hope you will stop by one or more of Latrice's galleries and leave her some love. Also Latrice is hosing an incredible class called Handmade Holidays. You will make 10 fun, crafty projects all for the incredible price of $10. Please check out this post and if you want to register you just need to e-mail her. You won't be disppointed! :) Her e-mail is located on her home page of her blog.

I want to thank Latrice so much for her contribution to our Haunted Happenings and to all of my readers. I am really having fun this month. Off to create some fun Halloween stuff with my girl. See you tomorrow! :)

Guest Designer Anne Gaal

2011-10-21T10:28:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday!!! I don't know about you but I am thrilled it's the weekend. Not only is it the start to the weekend but it's the start of vacation for my youngest. This is the first time that she is on vacation and her brother's aren't. I am so excited to have a whole week alone with her. I have many things I want to do with her and I am hoping that we get to accomplish most of them so that we can share them here on the blog. She loves crafting as much as I do and I found some fun stuff for us to make.

Today's guest is an amazing designer. I don't know Anne well personally but her work is one of my favorites in the Hero Art Flickr Pool and I was so excited when she agreed to come by the blog and share her stunning work. She has so much talent. I get excited every time I find something new in her photostream. Be sure to check it out HERE.

Anne let me go through her photostream and pick my favorites. This first card just takes my breath away. The colors just draw you in, the layers are perfection! I love how you can see just a little bit of the music note stamp on the background and the way she crackled the small butterflies just adds one more incredible layer of dimension. I love this card!

I couldn't stop at one so I picked 2. I love this card. It is simple yet has so much depth to it. I love how she added layers of color to the one flower and then shaded the rest. Just stunning and really makes you think of Harvest I love it!

Here is a little more about Anne:

Short Bio:

Anne Gaal (rhymes with smile) lives near Raleigh, North Carolina, with her husband and their two cats, Melody and Coda. Anne is a paper crafter, stamper, mixed media artist, photographer, and all-around creative person. She loves to create, discover new things along the way, and share what she's learned on her blog, Gaal Creative.

Thanks so much for being my guest today Anne. I hope you all stop by her blog or photostream and leave her some love! :)

Have a great weekend. I'll see you on Monday! :)

Guest Designer Jill Foster

2011-10-20T13:13:00.000-04:00

**edited to add*** I apologize to anyone who came here earlier for Jill's post and didn't find it. I had it set to go automatically but Blogger hates me. I never had a chance to check it until now. My sincerest apologies.

I am sooooo uber excited to announce today's guest...JILL FOSTER! This girl has so much talent. Her blog was a GENIUS idea and she is the sweetest, most talented gal and I feel so honored to have her card on my blog today!!!

I squealed with glee when I saw this card in my inbox. The colors are just heaven. The wood background it just stunning and the way she colored those pumpkins just blew my socks off!!! She is one very talented gal!

Here is some more about Jill:

Jill is a designer for Penny Black, her blog NEVER DISAPPOINTS and you can find it right here: Inspired By Please go leave her lots of love! :)

Here are some more places you can find Jill each week:
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/41719388@N07/
Monday PB&J Video Tutorial on Penny Black Blog: http://pennyblackinc.wordpress.com/
Mementos Tutorial Blog: http://www.ilovemementos.blogspot.com

I hope you have a wonderful day!!! Thanks so much for coming by!

Supplies
Stamps: Penny Black 40-048 Paisley Outline, Penny Black 3708J Pumpkins in Moonlight
Inks: Distress Stains (Forest Moss, Fired Brick, Wild Honey, Vintage Photo), Distress Inks (Brushed Corduroy, Old Paper, Walnut Stain), Colorbox (Chestnut Roan)
Other: Penny Black Mix and Match Cardstock, SRM Sticker (#51012 Fall), Neenah Tiara White Cardstock, Twine, Photo Corner Punch (EK Success)

Guest Designer Tiffany Ervin.....

2011-10-19T10:49:00.000-04:00

Happy hump day! It's Wednesday which means that the start of the weekend is only 2 days away. YAY!!! I am very excited to introduce our next guest designer.... Tiffany Ervin!!! I met Tiff over in the Hero Arts Flickr Group (seeing a pattern here? you really should check it out if you haven't). Her cards caught my eye every time she posted. We got to know each other and I am so glad that we did. She is so encouraging, sweet, always a kind word to say and so very talented...and she LOVES food and tweets about it all the time. :) She is forever making me hungry! ;)

I love this tag by Tiffany, it incorporates both Halloween and Fall. It's just adorable and she has so many yummy layers and details on it. I just love it.

Here is more about Tiffany:

Started out as a Scrap Booker in 2004, right after my son was born, I wanted to capture all of those precious moments of having a young baby and watching him grow up in the early years. Soon after filling up many scrapbook albums, I discovered the world of card making. Not really knowing how to make a card, I would visit different websites and found my inspiration through watching tutorials. I started joining on-line card making groups like Hero Arts and entering card challenges. From there my card making just blossomed. Later on, I joined the Lizzie Anne Design Team for one year. I also was fortunate to have the opportunity of teaching at my LSS - Stamp Fever, in Orange, California. I taught there for 8 months. It was enjoyable meeting new friends and crafting with women who share a common interest.

Places where you may see my work, my website at It's the Stuff I love or my Flickr Gallery HERE

Please go check her out and leave her some love! Everyone loves comments! :)

I hope you all have a wonderful day. We are preparing for intense rain today...which means flooded street and basement. I am not going to link the products today as I have way too much to get ready. Here is the list though. If you have any questions I am sure Tiff or myself could answer them.

Cheers!

Supplies:
Cardstock: Neenah Solar White and Papertrey Ink/Summer Sunrise.
Patterned Paper: My Little Shoebox.
Stamps: S5477 - Tree Trunks.
S5507 - Envelope Pattern.
CL466 - So Thankful (pumpkins, leaves).
Bat chipboard: Cosmo Cricket.
Inks: Tim Holtz, Versafine Onyx Black, and Memento Tuxedo Black.
Markers: Copics.
Round corner punch: EK Success.
Ribbons: Michael's (Purple) and Papertrey Ink (chocolate).
Green Alpha Thickers: American Crafts.

Haunted Wreath & a WINNER

2011-10-18T11:01:00.001-04:00

Hi Everyone! I am so excited to share this project with you today. I found THIS TUTORIAL online almost a year ago & loved it. I was waiting for the perfect paper line to make it and when Apothecary Emporium by Echo Park came out I knew instantly what I wanted to do with it. While at my lss I really loved the Pink Paislee Phantom line and Fancy Pants' Oct 31 line so I bought all 3 in 6x6 pads and used them to make the wreath. I did use mostly Echo Park as they are double sided (THANK YOU Echo Park!). The other 2 lines I had to glue together and then create the cones. It was labor intense but I survived ;) So if you decide to make this remember that it's less work to use double sided paper.

It went together really fast. Only took a day and a half & that was with a house full of kids and an NCIS marathon on (love me some Leroy Jethro Gibbs). The directions are super clear and easy to follow. I hope you do try. Mine is on my front door as I type. My whole porch is Echo Park...remember THIS Halloween Banner from last year? LOVE IT! Echo Park makes me happy!

Speaking of Echo Park. I have a winner to announce from THIS post: BARB!!! YAY! Congrats!!! email me at skrappergirl@msn.com and I will get your 6x6 pad of Apothecary Emporium out to you!

Have a great day!

Supplies used:

InLinkz.com

Guest Joy Taylors visits

2011-10-17T10:58:00.000-04:00

Good Monday morning all!!! Today I am so excited to share my guest designer with you. She's an incredible designer and she is just the sweetest, kindest, most caring, giving person I know. She is always there for a good laugh or a pick-me-up and I am so very blessed to be able to call her my friend.

Joy has been a Hero Hostess over in the Hero Arts Flickr Group, she has done some great videos for the Hero Arts Blog and her own blog, she is on design teams for Jay Gee's Nook, Simon Says Stamp and Purple Onion Design. Please be sure to check out her blog, there is just so much incredibly inspiring stuff over there.

I was thrilled when I saw this card. I can't get over how real that leaf looks. Just amazing!!! The burlap adds just the right amount of texture with the embossed background. Just layers of goodness on this card. Makes me look forward to Autumn.

Here are Joy's instructions:

TAKE KRAFT CARD STOCK, TRIM TO SIZE AND RUN IT THROUGH THE CUTTLEBUG EMBOSSING WITH THE DISTRESSED STRIPES FOLDER, INK AROUND THE EDGES WITH BRUSHED CORDUROY. 

TAKE MORE WHITE CARD STOCK AND ONE OF THE LEAVES FROM THE REAL LEAVES STAMP SET, INK THE STAMP WITH BARN DOO, RUSTY HINGE AND BRUSHED CORDUROY, MIST WITH WATER AND STAMP ONTO THE CARD STOCK, HEAT SET AND APPLY MORE OF THE INK OVER THE TOP USING A FOAM BLENDING TOOL, TO MAKE THE LEAF LOOK MORE REALISTIC. 

TRIM A PIECE OF BURLAP AND ADHERE TO THE CARD STOCK ALONG WITH THE LEAF. 

TRIM A STRIP OF VELLUM AND STAMP A SENTIMENT ONTO THE VELLUM WITH VERSAMARK INK, EMBOSS WITH WHITE EMBOSSING POWDER, ADHERE TO THE CARD STOCK, ADDING GEMS EITHER SIDE OF THE SENTIMENT. 

FINALLY ADHERING THIS TO THE FRONT OF A TRIMMED WHITE CARD.  

Thank you so much for stopping by. Thank you to my sweet friend Joy for joining us today. If you have made anything that was insired by our Haunted Fall Happenings I would LOVE to see it. Link me up!!! :)

I have a fun project to share tomorrow. See you then!

InLinkz.com

Haunted Links on the www

2011-10-14T15:54:00.000-04:00

Hi I am late in getting this out. I have foolishly agreed to do my daughter's school's newsletter for the PTO. Not only did I do it in English but I had to do it in Spanish too and I don't have Publisher on my computer so I had to do it in Word and it was a nightmare and took way longer than expected. I am prepared for next week though and have ordered Publisher.

Today I am going to leave you with some very cool, inspirational links from the WWW. There is just some serious goodness out there to be seen and some of the links below have some cool give-a-ways so check them out!

I have a full week of AMAZING talent coming in next week. I am so excited to share all the goodness they have sent! See you Monday! I will announce the Apothecary Emporium winner next week too! :)

InLinkz.com

Guest Designer..Jennifer Smith-Sloan

2011-10-13T11:12:00.000-04:00

Happy THURSDAY!!! It's almost Friday!!! YAY!!!

Today I have my sweet friend Jennifer here to share a fall layout she created. I met Jen a while back on twitter and I adore her to pieces. Here is what Jen has to say:

Hello, I'm Jennifer Smith-Sloane and I live in the tiny town of Gun Barrel City, Texas where my husband and I just recently bought 10 acres to start building our lives together. Math has always been a passion of mine and because of that, I am currently teaching 8th grade Pre-Algebra as well as GED Math at the Community College which I love! :)

When I am not at work molding minds, I also am a Close To My Heart Independent Consultant. I also am a Twitter-lovin fool! My blog is where I show off new creations as well as CTMH specials. I create regular videos for my YouTube channel where I keep up to date on the latest techniques I work on as well as other things.

Check me out at:
Blog: www.LiveTeachCreate.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/liveteachcreate
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/KreationsbyJenn (Live.Teach.Create with CTMH Fan Page)
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/liveteachcreate

Please leave Jen some love. :) I am off to nurse my very swollen, sore foot. I haven't been stellar about staying off of it.

See you tomorrow! :)

Supplies:

Close to My Heart Dreamin' Paper Pack (papers and cardstock)
CTMH Trinity My Acrylix Alphabet (title and date)
CTMH Cricut Art Philosophy Collection (leaf stamp and cut out on Cricut cartridge)
CTMH Inks: Autumn Terracotta, Honey, Olive, and Chocolate
CTMH Liquid Glass
Bic Mark It Ultra Fine Tuxedo Black
Foam Tap

Welcome Guest Kelly Rasmussen

2011-10-12T11:58:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! Sorry about yesterday...it turned out to be "one of those days" but to make up for it I have an incredible, talented, sweet designer here to visit us today. Kelly Rasmussen! She is a designer for Hero Arts and she is so incredibly talented. I am just in awe of her. Kelly cooked up this sweet treat for us today using lots of Hero Arts goodies. I love how simple this card is but how it makes such a big impact!

The embossed background, the layering of the black and white and a simple line from the top of the card to the spiders gives such and "eerie" Halloween feel. I love it. I also love how she made a square card instead of the standard card. I think it is what pulls it all together.

You can find Kelly on the Hero Arts Blog and on her own person blog krcreations. Make sure you stop by and give her some love. ;)

We love you Kelly!!! Thanks for your Halloween card. It really is such a treat!!!

InLinkz.com

Wicked...Featuring Tiddlyinks

2011-10-10T13:00:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday! I am back today to share a "new to me" digital designer. I am in LOVE with Tiddlyinks! I love digital stamps as much as I love rubber stamps. I love to color and these images are just incredible. Christy Croll is the owner/designer of Tiddlyinks. Here's a small blurb from her website:

Tiddly Inks offers digital stamps and digital papers, created by Christy Croll. Christy is a self-trained illustrator who likes simple, cute and quirky drawings with a sense of humor. She draws what amuses her, which means some days it is quirky and cute and other days it is a bit of a twisted gothic feel.

Christy also designs for Stamping Bella. You can find her designs on their site under Huggabugg or Tiddlyinks. Also if you go to 2 peas there is a challenge going on using Stamping Bella stamps for this month! :) Click HERE for details.

I had had two cards using Tiddlyinks designs today but due to my lack of coordination and a set of stairs I was unable to sit at my desk for as long as I wanted this weekend. My ankle is about 5x it's normal size so I think keeping it up and iced was more of a priority this weekend. BUT...I do have this card to share.....

A close-up of that yummy Perfect Pearl shine.

Betty in all her goddessness!
Her name is Betty Belfry. You will find her under Gothic Characters on the Tiddlyinks site. I used photoshop to place her with the moon. The moon is part of the Vampire Pack Extras. I printed her, colored her, cut her out, added some stickles and then pop-dotted her. I stamped the Hero Arts Fabulous Flourish in Versamark and used Inference green Perfect Pearls on it, set it with water, added some white dots, a rub-on (that I don't remember where I got) that says wicked and then added Betty. It was simple and fun and I can't wait to do the other image I have.

So....go check out Tiddlyinks. She has way more than Gothic. She has some of the cutest images I have ever seen. I'm playing with the Gothics to go with our Haunted Happenings theme but I promise you will see some really cute images from Tiddlyinks on my blog in months to come!

Have a WICKED day! :)

InLinkz.com

Sarah Moerman...Guest designer

2011-10-07T10:37:00.000-04:00

I am so excited to announce today's guest designer...Sarah Moerman. I have admired Sarah's work for many years now. I first met Sarah over at the Hero Arts Flickr pool, where she has served as a Hero Hostess and on the Hero Arts blog where she has won many challenges. Her cards are always fresh, inventive and just downright gorgeous. She has been published many times in Paper Crafts Magazine, make sure you look for her because she has many more coming up in upcoming issues. She has been a Trigger Target winner over on the Moxie Fab World Blog and has been a designer for Jane's Doodles and Lily Pad Cards. On top of all of that she is a mom to 4 beautiful children whom she home schools. I admire Sarah and I am so blessed to be able to call her my friend. Please make sure you check out her Flickr Photostream and her blog. You will find so much inspiration. Make sure to leave her some love! ;)

Sarah did a fall card for us today for all our friends who don't celebrate Halloween. I literally gasped when I opened the e-mail with this card in it. I am such a huge fan of hexagons right now and her color palette just blew me away. This card just screams fall and those colors just make you feel warm and fuzzy all over. The simplicity of this card just rocks. Some My Mind's Eye paper, a Spellbinders Hexagon die and a Hero Arts Real Leaves stamp just meshed together so simply and beautifully. She finished it off with some twine from the Twinery

Ok, that's it until Monday. May you have a blessed weekend. Make sure to come back on Monday. I have a couple of cool cards to share from a new favorite digital designer! ;)

My Little Goblins....

2011-10-06T17:31:00.000-04:00

Today's project has a story that I feel I must share prior to the layout.

Ever since my first Halloween, as a mother, I wanted nothing more than to make costumes for my son, I was very lucky that my first born wanted nothing more than his mother to make his costumes...even now at 24 I still help him conjure up his next costume and I love it. Enter my 3 youngest....all they ever wanted was store bought costumes. I begged them for years to let me make their costumes, I even pulled out the pictures from all the years that I made their big brothers. It didn't matter, they wanted store bought...that is until 2009! Brycen came home from school one day and told me he wanted me to make him a costume, he wanted to be a chicken for Halloween. I was pumped and instantly started thinking of ideas on how to make him the best chicken this city as ever seen. We are from Salem after all.;) Then like a miracle my daughter came to me and asked me to make her a dead bride! I was in heaven! I then begged my youngest son, Trevor, if I could make him a costume. I was gluing feather's on Brycen's chicken costume at the time and he was trying to figure out what he should be...Brycen walked by and said "the egg". Then they had the debate about what came first. Brycen thinks the chicken and Trevor thinks the egg and hence a complete Halloween set was born.

The kids got stopped at just about every house that night because people wanted to take their picture. My 76 yr old neighbor made me promise that I would send the pictures of them into the Salem Gazette. I did and they published them. My children were so excited to be in the paper and I was so proud of the costumes that I made them. Last year when I opened the Gazette to see what the Haunted Happenings schedule was for October I was stunned to see that they had used the picture of the boys again to announce the Happenings for Salem. The boys were doubly thrilled and now it's a tradition for me to make their costumes.

I put a folder on this card (my daughter's photo is mounted on the front of it) to hold the newspaper clippings for them. They stayed on the refrigerator for over a year.

I used this sketch from Scrapbook & Cards Today. I love sketches and try to use them as often as I can. I usually only use them for photo placement and then design around them but I loved this sketch. Loved it!!!! Becky Fleck just has a knack for making these sketches.

I sprained my ankle and tore the ligaments in it yesterday by falling down the stairs and I am bed bound. So there is no creating for me for a few days. I have a wonderful guest coming by tomorrow. She is one of my favorite card makers ever and I know you are going to LOVE her!!!

InLinkz.com

Posting delay.....

2011-10-05T15:12:00.001-04:00

Hi everyone...some gremlin crawled into my house and made me sick. I will be back to posting tomorrow. I have a special guest coming by tomorrow to leave you with some wonderful fall inspiration!!! :) See you then

Spider's Trick or Treat

2011-10-04T13:03:00.000-04:00

HI everyone! I'm back today with a super fast, super simple card. I used a sketch over at Lily Pad Cards to create this card and then dumb me never entered it into the contest :/ But I did get a card out of it so I am happy! :)

Like I said before, it's super simple and pretty self explanatory. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask.

Don't forget to leave a comment on YESTERDAY'S POST for your chance to win a 6x6 Echo Park Paper Pad (Apothecary Emporium).

I thought I would leave you with some fun Halloween links today:

Eighteen25 is my new favorite blog! Go check them out Here

THIS etsy shop, "It's all in the details" is adorable and she has some GREAT Halloween stuff in there right now....so cute!

Happy Life, Crafty Wife has a great blog post on those little boxes by Lori Whitlock that I told you about yesterday...CHECK IT

Halloween Crafts and Recipes--Some vintage stuff. Looks cool

Ok gotta run.....see you tomorrow! :)

InLinkz.com

Trick or Treat Bag

2011-10-03T10:57:00.000-04:00

Happy Monday Everyone!!! Today I have glittery goodness to share. I love these totes. I have made a beach themed one (see here) and I have more planned for the Teacher's gift's this Christmas. If you are interested in buying the pattern for the tote you can find Creations by AR by clicking the little picture of the totes below. While there please be sure to check out her other templates. She has some great stuff at a very reasonable price AND you don't need a digital cutter to make these. These ones are PDF's and I have to say they are so incredibly simple to make. I printed the PDF's and then traced them onto some cheap thin chipboard so that I didn't have to worry about them getting damaged. I love her stuff!

I also used all Echo Park on this particular bag. I am a HUGE Echo Park fan. If you are looking for a fun challenge Lori Whitlock ,an Echo Park Designer, has one on her blog today. She put out 2 free digital downloads to make cute Halloween boxes with. Download them for free and then create one and post it to the link she provided on her blog. Just head over HERE to see the adorable boxes and all the deets. If you post your entry to this challenge come back here and leave me a comment with a link to your creation and I will enter your name into a drawing for a 6x6 Echo Park Apothecary Emporium paper pack. If you don't enter Lori's challenge that's ok too you will be entered here. Just leave a comment and you'll be entered to win the 6x6 Echo Park Apothecary Emporium pad too!!!

You have until Monday, October 10th at 11:59 pm PST to submit your entries/Comments. Good LUCK!

Apothecary Emporium

InLinkz.com

Have fun! I'll see you tomorrow! :)

InLinkz.com

Haunted Happenings!!!

2011-10-02T13:58:00.000-04:00

It's HERE!!! I was kind of delayed in throwing this together but it's here. I have so much fun stuff planned this month with quite a few give-a-ways so be sure to check back daily. I also have some guests coming by to share their creativity with you. They are some of my favorite card makers and I am sure we won't be disappointed.

I live in Salem, MA. Halloween is HUGE here to say the least. We are considered the Halloween Capitol of the world. Thousands (and I mean thousands) come here every October to join in the month long festivities. I get frustrated. The traffic is horrendous, the people can be rude, there is no parking anywhere and forget about Halloween night...we get lots of drunks parked on our street. I usually just try to suck it up. Past years have robbed me of my "spirit". My kids get frustrated with me for my lack of Halloween spirit...BUT...this year is going to be different. I'm going to embrace the holiday, join in the festivities and enjoy every thing my city has to offer on it's month long celebration. Hence Haunted Happenings Month on my blog! :) So put on your best costume, make your scariest face and then sit down and enjoy the eye-candy...there will plenty!!!

Here's a close-up of that embossed envelope pattern. It works so well to give it that extra oomph!

To kick off today I have a very simple card. While it looks complicated, it's not. Here are the directions:

1. Take a 3x3 piece of black cardstock and stamp Hero Arts envelope pattern on it with Versamark and heat emboss.
2. Use Silhouette to cut out haunted house and graveyard (my graveyard is a die cut by a local company)
3. Tear a piece of scrap paper in a wave pattern and then ink the background of the note card with Dusty Concord and Pumice Stone Distress inks.
4. Find an old book and tear some pages out and ink them with Dried Marigold, Mustard Seed and Dusty Concord Distress inks.
5. Cut into scallop shape (I used an old pair of shaped scissors)
6. Die cut clouds, ink with Dusty concord Distress ink
7. Use a 1.5 in punch and punch a circle, ink with Mustard Seed Distress ink
8. Add a yellow piece of scrap paper behind haunted house to give more depth.
9 Attach it all to the card face, put the clouds on pop dots for added dimension
10. Stamp title ( I used a Studio G stamp from 2 years ago)

That's it. I'll be back tomorrow with a really fun, sparkly project! :)

Haunted Happenings....

2011-10-01T22:54:00.001-04:00

There will be a slight delay. Some family stuff came up. Will have to wait until tomorrow to kick off our Haunted Happenings....sorry. If you are here for the WCMD Blog tour...scroll down. This is the 2nd post of the day. See you tomorrow! :)

Happy World Card Making Day

2011-10-01T09:41:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! Welcome. Today is going to a fun day full of inspiration. There are so many amazing cards/blogs out there and if you are following the Paper Crafts World Card Making Day Blog Tour then I am sure you are going to go on inspiration overload!!!

Today's Card went together rather quickly. I used a Tim Holtz embossing folder and put some Hero Arts soft stone on it then ran it through my Big Shot for a Faux letter press look. I love this look. I then took some ribbon and folded each piece by taking an end and glue dotting it in the middle to hold it. I did a few different sizes and then glue dotted them all together. So much easier than trying to do a multi-fold ribbon.

The Cameo came from Silhouette Studio. It's a print & cut. I found this old belt buckle on a pair of jeans my daughter out grew. I cut it off and saved it for a rainy day....I do that a lot. I used Glossy accents to glue the Silhouette in and then I filled it in with the Glossy Accents. I attached that to the silver ribbon. Put a sheer black ribbon across the card, attached the ribbon/cameo, stamped my title and voila! A very quick card!!

I have LOTS planned for this month on my Blog.....I will be doing a HAUNTED HAPPENINGS!!! I live in Salem, MA we are the Halloween Capitol of the world. I hate it most years. The tourists, the traffic, the trash and the rudeness gets to me. While I always make my kids costumes and decorate i do it begrudgingly. This year though I am embracing all the "holiday" has to offer. I have lots of projects planned to be revealed and I have lined up an AMAZING, TALENTED group of women to come by and inspire you with their creations. Never fear my International friends...if you don't celebrate Halloween I have a FALL HARVEST planned for you. So we will all get some inspiration!!!

Ok, enough chatter....go blog hop....but come back later as I will have a 2nd post ready to go to kick off HAUNTED HAPPENINGS MONTH! :)

Stay tuned.....

2011-09-30T09:55:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is World Card Making Day!!! I have put my name on a participants blog list. Will you be doing anything special to celebrate the day? I will be working on special "treats" for all of you for the month of October. I have lots planned and I have some AMAZING guests coming by to visit throughout October so make sure you come back daily to see all the amazing "treats" that will be here. I am so excited for this. It's going to be one AWESOME month!!!

If you would like to add your blog to the bloglist CLICK HERE

Until tomorrow.....

1-4-3

2011-09-27T10:34:00.000-04:00

Today is my 14th Wedding anniversary. I have been blessed to be married to an amazing man for the last 14 years. We just celebrated out 16th year together too. He is sweet and thoughtful, kind, caring, loving, patient, my best friend and the greatest dad to our 5 children. I am so blessed that he loves me in return. He puts up with my moods, my scrapping/stamping addiction (and even encourages it). He cooks and cleans and never complains. He is truly a gem. He's everything I could have asked for in a partner.

We have had a rough year...to say the least. Even when I didn't know if our marriage would survive it one thing always came shining through....our love for each other. I love him and I can't imagine not seeing him, loving him and being with him every day for the rest of my life.

Today's card says it all......

It was created using my Silhouette. I used nothing more than some numbers cut out of Kraft Cardstock, some beads from my daughter's yard sale find, wire and a little bit of Distress ink. I created the abacus frame in the Silhouette, cut it and attached it. Finished off with a Hero Arts stamp.

*note: I don't have a stamp that says "i love you" so I cut apart the bottom left hand stamp on the Hero set to so I could have the sentiment I wanted* Does Hero make a stamp that says "I love you"? I don't think i have ever seen one.

Have a wonderful day!

InLinkz.com

Friends are Treasures......

2011-09-23T11:33:00.000-04:00

Today's card is a "THANK YOU" to all my friends in cyber world and IRL. I don't go much in depth about my personal life but today I am. My husband has been unemployed since January. It's been a struggle, with 5 kids and 2 dogs, to say the least. There have been days where I really thought I, or my marriage, couldn't handle one more ounce of stress. My friends have been my rock...more than my own family has been. I don't know how I would have made it through this past year with out all of you out there in my cyber world. You truly have been a HUGE blessing in my life and I want to say THANK YOU to all of you. I love you all and knowing you are there for me day in and day out gives me the strength to forge on with another day.

To get this look start by cutting a circle out of a scrap piece of paper, I used my Big Shot and a Spellbinders die. I used a piece of paper that was the same width as my card. When you have a hole in the paper place it where I want it and then ink the Hero Arts Poppy stamp with Rusty hinge and stamp in the hole. You can use some removable adhesive to hold the paper with the hole in place if you need too. Next take the circle that had been cut out and place it over the poppies and inkmy Hero Arts Woodgrain stamp with the Hero Arts chalk ink in latte and then stamped. Use your distress ink to ink the edges of the card to get the look you want. I wanted a dark looking wood so I used Vintage Photo and Antique Linen (they are my most used Distress Colors).

Next ink your sentiment in Versamark and stamp below circle, heat emboss with white Hero Arts Embossing Powder. I choose this embossing powder over any other white because it is a true, true white. Not a yellow white. Add some ribbon and a rolled rose and some pearls and it's done. It was a very simple, fast card to make.

Now I am off to relentlessly call my husbands phone! lol He went for an interview for his (our) DREAM JOB the other day. The headhunter called this morning......this is THE CALL we have been waiting for and my husband has chosen today to not answer his cell while he is out and about. I'm dying over here.....I need to know. I have prayed so hard for this job. I am praying still that he got it. The interviews, there were 2, went so well. This would be a life changing job for our family and it's his dream career.

*******UPDATE******* He did not get the job. He had 3 yrs less experience than the other guy so they went with him. I am devastated to say the least. We needed this. It was the first interview in months. No one is hiring. I feel bad for him. It's the first time ever that he has gone for a position and not gotten it.....in his whole life. The company did say that they thought he interviewed well and that in the near future will have some openings in the Boston area and will keep him at the top of the pile. So the search continues.

I've lost my mojo. I'm hoping my she returns and I can create in the near future. I may take a short break....

Have a GREAT day and THANK YOU for your friendship, love and support. It truly means the world to me.

Michelle

InLinkz.com

2011-09-17T22:00:00.000-04:00

First let me apologize for the bad photo. I am having severe camera issues. It's wonky and I can't seem to fix it regardless of my settings.
I did this card TWICE. I wasn't really happy with the first (I slipped on the greeting) so I made another. I did a lot of masking here. I started by stamping the clouds with the Hero Arts Sky's the Limit plaid clouds. Then I drew the lines in for the hills and used some Studio G stamps for the balloon and the house. I colored in the house & balloon and then masked them off with Inkadinkado's masking paper (love this stuff). I also masked the clouds. To use the masking paper you stamp your image on the white side of the paper, trim out the shape and then apply over your stamped image. It's very simple. If you don't have masking paper you can use Post-its or plain paper with a low tack adhesive (any thing that says "repositionable"). I then used Copic Markers and Distress inks to color in the sky and land. I drew in a walkway with a Zic paint pen and then used a Micron pen to draw in the stones. I also drew grass 'weeds' with the Micron pen. A little bit of white pen on the smoke and it's done.

Variations....The card with the PUFFY CLOUDS is a one layer card. I started by masking off the edges with Post-its and then creating it as I described above. The Plaid clouds card was done on a trimmed piece of paper and then adhered to the note card. The puffy clouds started as plaid but I wanted more dimension so I used a VIVA Pearl Pen and let it dry. I really like the effect the pearl pen gives on clouds.

I inked the edges to make it stand out a bit.

That's it. Plans got squashed for today. Five out of 6 of use woke up sick. Hanging at home and watching an NCIS marathon today. Have a great SATURDAY!!!

Just saying HI.....

2011-09-16T21:07:00.000-04:00

Hi!!! I'm back. Sorry for the hiatus. I was making cards for the Paper Crafts call and some scrapbook layouts for some other calls. I'll be popping in and out and on WCMD (World Card Making Day) I will be joining in on a blog hop and I have some fun prizes to give away that day too! So stop by often.

I started by making a 4.25 x 8 card and stamping it with Hero Arts Graph Design Block stamp in Soft Stone Shadow ink. I stamped the Phone, the pencil, the envelope and the paper on Snow White layering paper. I trimmed down the paper and the pencil as they were too big in the original size. I highlighted the paper and the envelope with a really light blue Copic (BG0000). I added pop dots and glossy accents on them to give them just a little more oomph.

For the word "HI" I used some old Heidi Swap masks that I found in a folder tucked away. I used the 6x6 Out of print pad by Basic Grey!! LOVE that line.

It's a pretty simple card. I think I'll ship it off to my uncle. I think it makes a pretty good guy card....and we all know how hard those are to make!

I've got a big weekend planned with the kids...we are all getting sick though...hope it stays away so we can go enjoy this fall weather! Have a great weekend!!

InLinkz.com

Inlinkz tool Manger...a MUST have!!!

2011-09-03T22:18:00.000-04:00

"Have you seen the way I am linking the supplies under each of my projects?

InLinkz.com

Yes! those thumbnails... did you ever wonder how I do it? Well, I had a little secret but it's finally time to spill the beans. Let me introduce you to a new service: Link Manager by Inlinkz! A tool where you can make a pool of all your supplies and then create lists of products just by dragging and dropping. It is such a time saver! Here is a short video by Kristina Werner that will walk you through the tool.

I cannot say enough nice things about this company and their customer service. They are kind, friendly and patient!!! They have made linking product for us crafters and the like so simple. You will NOT regret signing up for this service. I want you to know that I am not being paid to say this. I love this product and get so excited every time I see all that beautiful product under my posts. I love helping enable people to support this wonderful stamping/scrapping/crafting hobby!!!! Inlinkz is a dream come true!!!

Here is a coupon you can use to register : 27840406. This coupon will let you in for free until December! So go ahead, join and play around. I am sure you will love it". Here is the link: INLINKZ
Have a wonderful weekend :)

Feel Better Soon

2011-09-03T00:21:00.000-04:00

Quick post tonight. I am exhausted. I am having a HUGE yard sale tomorrow morning and have to be up at 5:00 a.m and it's already after midnight. I just wanted to share this card real quick. I used the Bicycle stamp (F5293) from Hero Arts, a vintage sign frame from Silhouette (I LOVE these signs) and some Distress ink to create a card for a cyber friend who just had knee surgery. I can totally sympathize as I have just been there myself. I hope she finds herself up and moving soon. HUGS Lisa....if you see this! :)

It's a long weekend here and boy do we need it. School starts for the youngest 2 on Wednesday and we haven't even started school supply shopping yet. YIKES!

Enjoy!!! See you Monday or Tuesday!

I love you more

2011-09-01T11:40:00.000-04:00

Good morning! Today I have a layout to share. I really have found my scrapping mojo again. It was gone for a long time. For a while I really didn't understand my style as a scrapbooker which is why I struggled for so long and moved onto cards.

I spent a long time going over things I marked in a magazine and wrote down the things I liked about each layout. I really have a love for layers and details. It's really helped me out. I also realized I totally struggle with a starting point. I have a love for sketches for this very reason. It gives me a starting point. I started with a Becky Fleck sketch from her Page Maps site. I love these sketches and while my layouts rarely end up like the sketch it gives me a place to start. So I want to give a big thank you to Becky!!!! I love your archives and spend many nights there for inspiration!!!

Today's layout is all about Jillibean Soup. I LOVE these papers. They are so bright and fun and I knew instantly what photos I was going to use with them. I love these pictures of my daughter and my mom. I am a tad envious of the way Faith looks at my mother but I know some day her child will look at me the same way...I know I looked at my Grandmother the same way. She was everything to me. I'm just so happy that I caught that look on film.

Kerri Bradfords kits were a huge starting point for me. They are so fun and so versatile! If you have a Silhouette or any digital cutter Kerri's kits are a MUST!!!

Here's the pages separately:

The two titles are from Kerri's kits, the large heart is from the Silhouette store. I punched the hearts, and the ticket tag I created in the Silhouette Studio.

Allergies are getting the best of me today. I hope you have a phenomenal day!!!

Supplies: (clicking on the image links will take you to where you can purchase them)

DOODLEBUG!!!

2011-08-31T10:05:00.001-04:00

Sorry I have been absent this week. Between Irene, the start of school & my knee that is still not healed , it's been crazy. I have spent every spare minute scrapping and creating away. I applied for a position on the Doodlebug Design Team and have been gluing frantically trying to finish it all.

I have been a huge fan of Doodlebug since they first came out. They are one of the first companies I remember when scrapbooking started making a comeback. I started scrapbooking in the Summer of 1999 and I believe Doodlebug's first release was in 2000. They have stayed true to their colors and their fun quirkiness all these years and I can pull a piece of paper from a line in 2000 and know that it will coordinate with a line that just came out. I love that about them. No other company can claim that. It makes Doodlebug unique. Their style has stayed true too. It's fun, playful & quirky.

For the Design Team submission you were asked to create 3 projects, a layout, 2 cards and a home decor or mini album. Being the over achiever that I am I pushed it to the limit. My "home decor" item turned into a party kit.

I started by cutting the hat out of my Silhouette. I then layered Doodlebug Paper Frills and borders that I punched or cut out of my Silhouette. I glued a May Arts ribbon to the bottom and then I punched two holes on either side with my Cropodile and added two Bubblegum Doodlebug eyelets for the string holes. To top it of I created a pom-pom using Jillibean twine (I don't have any DB twine YET). To create the pom-pom I wrapped two different colors of twine around a piece of cardboard, slid it of tied it in the middle cut the ends and then fluffed and trimmed.

The cupcakes:

These were far too fun!!! I used Hot of the Press' cupcake template. This template is just awesome!!! It makes 2 different cupcakes and can make different toppers. I took it one step further and created a digital cut file out of it so that I can whip up a bunch in no time. It saves my arthritic hands when I am having a bad day too. :)

I cut the Delicious cupcake out of the Bubblegum Petite Prints paper by Doodle bug and the wrapper out of the Bumblebee Petite Prints. The cupcake and the wrapper are separate and the cupcake can come out of the wrapper. I used the Bubblegum glitter to create sparkle on the top. For the white chocolate covered cherry I used red floss and off white floss to make a pompom. I first wrapped the red around a large paperclip and then I wrapped the offwhite over it. I followed the steps above for the big pompom but I trimmed this one closer. I took a piece of wire to create the stem and a leaf left over from my Love Zoo card for the leaf.

The Yummy cupcake was done the same way but I used the Pool Petite Prints and the Limeade Petite print. I covered the cupcake with the Limeade Glitter and then used 2 Doodlebug stickers from the Birthday Boy Icon sticker sheet and mounted them on a toothpick and inserted in the middle. These cupcakes make great party favors for little ones. Fill with M&M's and close. Easy peasy!!! ;)

The Badge:

I used Doodlebug's Petite prints in Cupcake and Tangerine
I used my Tim Holtz Rosette die to create the two badges. To get the smaller one you put your paper on the die, cut it in your Sizzix like normal and then cut some of the width off of it. It makes a smaller die. The smaller you trim it, the smaller the rosette. To prevent tearing on your rosette's use a strip of scotch tape on the back of it. It will never tear. I layered them then cut 2 paper ribbons, added a sentiment from American Crafts, a sticker from the Doodlebug Birthday Girl icon sheet, a limeade Doodlebug rub on, a little glitter on the edges and voila!

The (super) Mini Album:

The mini album is an explosion album. they are fun to make. I have made and sold hundreds. They sell really good at the Craft Fair every year and make for good little keepsakes for any occasion. I used paper from the Doodlebug Birthday Boy line and the Icons.I also used some Sticko stickers. They are $1 a pack at A.C. Moore when they go on sale.

The invitation:

You can't have a party without the invitations! So for one of my 2 cards I created this one to go with the Party Set. (Please excuse my photo. I took this picture at 11:30 p.m and I had bad lighting and even my light box wasn't helping.) Doodlebug has the most amazing cards out now. I really wanted to use one for this but I had just made a large set of cards for my neighbor and used the last of them. Between the hurricane and my knee getting out wasn't an option. So I cut some Bumblebee paper and made my own. I used the word Birthday from the Birthday Girl Icon set for the title. I used some older Doodlebug tag letters. I apologize....I don't remember the official name of them. I LOVE them. I have them in Bubblegum, Lilac and Blue Jean. I use them very sparingly as I don't want to run out. I tend to use a lot of my Doodlebug for my own personal collections, cards & layouts because I have a hard time parting with them! ;)

I also used the Paperfrills in Bubblegum and Limeade stamped with Hero Arts stamps on the bottom.

Peace and Love card:

I changed this one up a bit. I wanted to show that Doodlebug can be very versatile. It can go from cute to elegant. I used the Hero Arts leaf wreath and some Doodlebug Boutique brads on this one. I stamped the background with the Hero Arts Magical Background and used the Hero arts chalk inks...which by the way all match Doodlebug products amazingly!!!! It was a great discovery!

My final project is my layout:

I started with a dark navy sheet of Bazzill (which the scanner and the camera cut off) then put some Daisy Limeade down and created from there. The circle paper is Echo Park. I was almost out of Doodlebug product except for the Petite prints...which I own a ton of. So I wanted to stretch what I had left. I used my Silhouette a lof for this one, the titles are some of Kerri Bradford's kits....which I love, some Hero Arts stamps (stars)and I even created my own Doodlebug paper frill in pool. I didn't have any. So I measured it and recreated it in my Silhouette software. It's that little blue circle strip on the yellow.

The red artisan shape is actually a Doodlebug card. I cut the top off it and used it to layer my title on. I love to re-purpose product!

here are some closer views:

Doodlebug papers cut beautifully in the Silhouette. I love it!!

The little Beetle Black "t" is from an old collection of Doodlebug too! :)

So that's it. Wish me luck!!! I want on this team badly!!! I'll be back to share a really fun layout using all Jillibean Soup tomorrow.

If you are interested in purchasing any older Doodlebug product go HERE!!! It's GoneScrappin. She used to be one of my favorite stores on www. She closed her store a few years back and now only carries Doodlebug products. It's a Doodlebug gold mine! Enjoy!!! :)

Love Zoo

2011-08-26T09:38:00.000-04:00

Hi all! Today I have a fun, playful card that I made for my daughter Faith's bff. She just moved away to South Carolina last week. It was tearful and sad and broke my heart into a million pieces. She is like a daughter to me and I will miss her very much. Seen as this months challenge on the Hero blog is Creatures and Cards for Kids and the technique is to build a scene I decided to incorporate it all PLUS do most of it digital.

I have loved these giraffe's and monkeys since the moment they hit the Silhouette store and the 2 Peas digi store. I originally was going to do them digitally from the 2 Peas digi kit but decided I would rather cut and color them. I cut all the images from the Silhouette store except for the bricks. I used and old, old, old, Hero Arts shadow stamp. I believe they came out in 2000, a year after I started scrapbooking. It's from a set called "Shadow Stamps" (LL628). There are 6 wood block stamps all with shadow blocks on them. This particular stamp (E2056) has four solid blocks on them. I stamped them with the Memories ink for Hero Arts in Soft Stone, which is one of my favorite colors. I then cut each one out, re-inked the edges, placed each one on a pop dot and created the wall.

The critters were cut out of the Snow White layering paper, then colored with my Copics and finished off with Googly eyes. The leaves were cut from the Silhouette and layered in 2 different greens and then stamped with the Hero Arts Envelope Pattern stamp for more dimension. Doodlebug rub-ons were used for the "love zoo"...which Faith and I came up with for a play on words.

Thanks for stopping by. I am in Hurricane prep mode today. We are right in Irene's path. Hoping we don't lose internet but if we do I'll be back as soon as I can. If you are in Irene's path please stay safe!!

HUGS!!!

Supplies Used

Card Ideas--Paper Crafts Publication

2011-08-24T18:26:00.000-04:00

It's here....finally!!! The first magazine that I have been published in. I am so very excited about it!!! I hadn't submitted to anything in a very long time. To have it published in a magazine that I just soak up every time it hits my mailbox made it that much sweeter. If you have not seen this issue yet you MUST run to the nearest book store and grab it or jump online and order it today!!! Not because I am in it...because this issue just blew me away with the talent in it. I am in awe of my fellow card makers and strive to be that good some day.

I posted the original page so that you can see the steps I took to make it and the product.

Have a wonderful day.

Real quick post.....

2011-08-11T19:10:00.000-04:00

I am an EPIC fail today. I can't find my card that I created. I had it put aside to take a picture and it's not where I left it. It's been a chaotic week so I have this card to share very quickly with you today.

It's very simple. I love Daisies, they just make you smile...even the word is a happy sounding word. I wanted the daisy to take front and center on this card.

I just stamped the image many times in lime chalk ink, punched the border out of lime twist, used a scrap piece of brown polka dots from memory box and added a title. Very simple.

I am in the middle of scrapbooking right now. I have many page on my list to get done. I have neglected my scrapbooking badly since I discovered cards but I really want to try to get some done.

I am planning a special week with lots of give-a-ways. I am purging my stuff. I have some fun ideas in the works. Be back soon.......

Products used: