Another Crabby Birthday

images (c) Stampin' Up!, 1990-2007

I actually had a birthday to make this for, so despite the fact that I've featured this stamp set several times now, I deided to share another one I came up with here... this one is for my nephew.

Set: Crab & Company

Colors: Blue Bayou, Soft Sky, River Rock, (Purely pomegranite Groovy Guava ink only)

Other: Swirl emb folder (Cuttlebug), blender pen

Happy Monday!

Gettin' back slowly

Hi again - it's been a busy summer, hasn't it? Time flew by and I haven't had any stamping time in a while. SO, today since I have two birthdays to cover in the next day or two, it was as good a time as any to get back into the swing of things.

I found out two things - #1, I'm still not in full swing yet, and #2, I'm a little RUSTY! So, bear with me as things get back to how they were.

My daughter started school this week, so that will allow me to get back into stamping a bit, I believe. We'll see!

Here's one card I came up with today:

images (c) Stampin' Up!, 1990-2007

Stamp Sets: Artfully Asian, It's Your Birthday
Colors: Chocolate Chip, Purely Pomegranite, confetti cream
Other: flower punch trio, rhinestone brad (fire collection)

I hope you like it....I'll post the other one tomorrow!

Stinkin Cute really Stinks!

Okay, so it's not "STINKY" as in bad, but "SMELLY" as in fruity goodness!! Yep, I tried that smell-it technique after promising myself for the last 4 years I would... and how fun it was!

Here's the resulting card - and though the negative image is a bit sloppy, I am chalking it up to using Kool-Aid powder which gets everywhere and telling everyone that if the skunk can't stink, it's gotta be a little messy! lol


images (c) Stampin' Up!, 1990-2007

Set: Stinkin' Cute
Colors: Purely Pomegranite, Blue Bayou, Soft Sky
Other: heat&Stick powder, real Red craft pad, Fruit Punch flavored Kool Aid, red staple, dimensionals, glue dots

I hope you like it, and I'm sorry I was gone for so long, but I'm back now!! Woo hoo!

SO SORRY ladies!!

Hi everyone - I promise I'm not dead - I have had an extremely busy week or so, and haven't had time to stamp or even get on the computer! That is SUPER rare for me, so don't worry, it won't be a habit. However, I am not going to be online for another several days... it's nothing serious, just planning a few days off that will keep me away from the pc, and I promised my family my time, so I gotta keep my word.

As for all of you, I would love to know how you all are, so if you want to post a comment letting me know you're still visiting despite my absence, or offering suggestions on something I can do for my come-back project, or tell me about what's crazy in your life, I'll feel a whole lot better - plus I'll have something to come home to!

Have a great week, I'll catch you either this weekend or next week for sure!

Until then - CIAO!

Fun Farm Tiles

Yep, I have always loved this set, and though it's retired, this is a project always worth making cuz the set is still cute!

I made mine using the same method I always use - stamp images in StazOn ink, color in with Stampin' Pastels (chalks), rub in with finger (I still plan on trying blender pens someday), then spraying ever-so-lightly with acrylic sealer. Four felt self-adhesive dots on each corner and the coaster is ready to go!

I have a TON of stuff to do today, so if I can squeak in some stamping, it will be a miracle, but we'll see....

later gaters~

I knew it....

I took the test, and they told me:

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern. A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock. A unique soul like you needs a city that offers everything. No wonder you and London will get along so well.

What City Do You Belong In?

Squash Book

images (c) Stampin' Up!, 1990-2007

Okay, so here's the deal - this is the squash book that I was having so much trouble with, but I think I'm okay with how it looks now..... I played around with glue and stuff but the result is a completed book that isn't falling apart - how's that for progress? lol

Thanks to the lovely flash on my camera, you can see how metallic the flower on the front looks - it's embossed with gold on a chipboard flower from SU!, and it's got one of our rhinestone circle brads in the middle. How fun is that?! The paper is one of our older styles, but it is such a classy one that I had to use it. The burgundy grosgrain is mixed together with a golden fiber I purchased a long time ago, but it really pulled the look together for this project. I hope you like it.

Here's how the inside looks when it's opened up (you can click it for a larger view):

Let me tell ya, I had a great time putting all these pieces together. I felt like I was 4 years old putting a puzzle together. It took some planning to get all the pieces and colors coordinated in a way that was interesting without being too visually confusing. I hope I succeeded, because believe it or not, it could have gotten ugly in there. What do you think?

Sets: Artfully Asian (and some jumbo wheel whose name escapes me right now)

Colors: Bravo Burgundy, So Saffron, Always Artichoke, Confetti White

Other: Blossoms & Basics On Board Accents, Fire rhinestone circle brad, burgundy ribbon, dimensionals, glue dots, Modge Podge, UHU Creativ, Mono adhesive... the list goes on, read myh previous post! LOL

TUTORIAL for construction of one of these babies can be found on SCS here

Until later, gaters~

Where have I been?! lol

Yep, I'm still here... it's been a busy and crazy week, but I'm finally able to post a few things today... I tried out this squash book thing (not exactly like the card I posted earlier, but this is bigger and bolder), and let me tell you what an adventure this turned out to be!

Well, first, it's taken me over 2 weeks to get my hands on these freakin' coasters I needed for this thing. Yep, that's right - two weeks, three visits to Chili's (oh, the torture - lol), two visits to party stores and craft stores, and finally I had them in my hot little hands (thanks Chili's in LITH, IL)! Oh, and if that were the only trouble I had, I'd be A-okay. It was getting this thing put together that challenged me even further!

So I'm using the Modge Podge to put paper to coaster. No prob, right? Well, friends, I discovered about 10 minutes later that the Modge Podge decided to play games with one coaster and proceeded to LIFT the "Chili's" logo off the base of the coaster, and my paper with it! AHH!! So, I tried another later of MP underneath the logo layer - NOPE. I tried glue dots - NOPE. I tried heated ultra-thick embossing powder - NOPE. I tried glue after glue and guess what - nothing was working. THEN, I remembered something!! I had recently written to Maria to get a sample of an adhesive like Mono, but they were out. Instead I received this:

Yep, UHU Creativ. It's a new-ish glue that I promised to review on my blog after receiving a sample. Well, up until now I have had it sitting around and have not had time to try it out. Well, even though this stuff is for ribbon and fabric, the way this soft-fiber cardboard and paper was working out, I thought anything was worth trying.

WELL, it WORKED!!!!!! OHMIGOSH, this stuff completely saved the day! It comes out of the tube quickly (a bit thicker than Elmer's but not as thick as Modge Podge), so you have to be careful, but man oh man, what a life saver!!!!! It didn't take all day to dry, either, which was a great thing for a project like this. I'm serious, I will definitely be keeping this stuff around on my creative table for projects like this and maybe skip the Modge Podge altogether next time. I also am looking forward to trying it out on gluing ribbon and other hard-to-glue soft items soon, because if it saved my project this time, I can only imagine what I'm in store for next time!!

Thanks to Maria soooo very much for sending this sample to me. I am sorry that it took so long to try it, but I'm so glad I did!!!!

The project is coming in my next post. Keep your eyes open!

From the Heart by Kaye

images (c) Stampin' Up!, 1990-2008

Okay, so I run this online group and I hosted a swap with my color challenge - Bashful Blue, Certainly Celery, Always Artichoke, and Sahara Sand. My card was my little Rhino card that I posted on my blog several days ago. Well, my friend Kaye sent in this card, and I just love it so much I had to show it to all of you, because good artwork should never go unseen!

Didn't she do such an awesome job? And the little blue flowers in the corners are heat embossed with Bashful Blue craft ink and clear embossing powder. What a neat touch. And with all that paper piercing, I just went crazy in love!

SO, now that I've shared, take a moment and visit her blog. She's still working on it, but her work is great, so check it out!

Thanks Kaye for a great card - what a great contribution to the swap! Woo hoo!