Christmas Craft

I didn't get much time to do all I wanted for Christmas, BUT...I got to have my dear friend Katie come over to make these with me for our dinner tables. She brought some DELISH cookies and treats for all of us. She sure spoils us:) These lil' baskets are made with a template die from PaperTrey (of course), paper from Close to My Heart and PaperTrey, and stamps from Verve Stamps.

Heartfelt

Another company that I learned about at convention was Heartfelt Creations. They have really changed in the last year. Their artwork this year was BREATHTAKING!!! We just stared and stared, trying to memorize the pages to recreate with our own pictures. This year they came out with stamps that fit with dies from Spellbinders. They aren't clear stamps, but they do cling to the clear blocks. They aren't too hard to line up. BUT, I love that I can not only cut , but emboss these stamped images, too.

New stamp Company

So, I stumbled on a new stamp company at the Bellevue Convention. "Stamps of Life" owner was very nice and did a great job explaining her company and philos. Key to getting clear stamps that ink well is that they are made in the US. I went home and took a look at the companies' stamps that I like best, Papertrey, Close to my Heart, Verve...they are all made in the US. The others that disappointed me because the ink just beads up on them (ink botique, my Minds Eye, etc) were all made in China. So, now I know. Anyway, here stamps are made in the US and they are really cute. She has a fresh, non-distressed, style. I love distressing once in a while, but only when it's on my terms. I don't like EVERYTHING distressed ALL the time. So, I was hooked. I signed up to receive a set each month...(oh, and they're cheap...$10 for ea set) This kite set was SUPER FUN!!! I love how each piece fit so nicely:) CUTE CUTE CUTE. Go check them out.

More copics

I am LOVIN' the copic world. I still need practice, but I am learning along the way. At the scrap convention this year, I had a goal to buy "color-in-able" stamps. I found a few that I could use more than once and have really had fun coloring. The boys wanted to try, too:) I have discovered that I prefer to color the dark shading first and then pull the lighter colors away from it. I know most people do it the other way, but this seems to blend easier for me.

Banners EVERYWHERE

I had so much fun on Saturday putzin' around the CK Scrapbooking Convention in Bellevue. It was great to see all my scrappin' buddies, too:) I love just looking at all the new ideas and trends. There were banners everywhere this year. Pretty fun. I invested in a few stamp sets to help me with this trend. I plan on using my Cricut, too. There are a few cartridges that have banner pieces. Here's my first piece that I made with my spoils.

I'm off to use my new kite set now:)

Woah, that's pink!

So, maybe I am just used to making boy cakes....blue blue green blue blue. However, this pink was just too much for me to handle. I went into panic mode for a few minutes. Then, I decided to add a calmer color...pale yellow. Aaaah, much better. I love making these gum paste flowers. The gum paste is kind of a pain to make, but it is so worth it:) I made extras to have in stock. It is really nice to have granite countertops to work the gum paste on, too. Whew. I have to say, the filling is a new fav spin on my old fav. I added marionberry to my white choc, cream cheese, mousse. YUMMYOYUMMY.

Let's Hear it for the BOYS

Although, I would love to be making some cherry pages or girly froofy pages...I am stuck with all boy pictures. Funny thing is that I am finding myself pairing blue and orange together A LOT. It just works. My brother, Tom, gave me the idea that orange is okay. :) This is what I was playing with today.

jiggly jiggly

Scott's little 7-year-old buddy found out that he had a brain tumor last week. They were able to successfully remove it, but he's home for a while to recover. We get to take them dessert today. I have been dying to get baking in my new kitchen. It was the perfect excuse to use my new tip...

I have always stayed away from cupcakes because they have no filling. This lil doodad lets me sneak in some lemon filling, mousse, custard, anything!!! Nummy-ola!

The jello jigglers were a last minute idea:) It has been FOREVER since I made them. I used my mini cookie cutters from Pampered Chef. Fun fun. Tom and his logger buddy were my taste testers. We passed:)

Michael's card...and COPICS

So, I have begun my journey into the Copic world. I was not gunna do it! I was NOT even going to venture into that place, but...my CTMH marker had a crack and dried out. PLUS, when I color with reg markers, I can always see the brush strokes. SO, I stayed away from any stamp that had to be colored in. NOPE. Not gunna do it. THEN, Miss Katie Lou let me peek into Copic land. Ummmm...they're really nice...really really nice. They are alcohol ink and blend PERFECTLY. Oooh, and you can refill them and replace the lil' nibs without buying new markers...and you can even AIRBRUSH with them. Okay, so...here I am now. Budgeting to buy 6 a month.:) What's next? (By the way, I don't want an answer to that question! My craft room is gettin' kinda full)

Sharon's Celebration

My sweet mother-in-law turned 70 last month!! What a blessing she is in my life! She has a lil' weakness for chocolate, so I made this card set with a lil' to keep her stock up:) I loved this template. It is, of course, a Papertrey inc template. The stamps and paper are also Papertrey.

I'm back at it!

One of my first projects was to get my scrap room functional. It still isn't finished, but tables are up and all my "supplies" are out:) Yeah!! I am so happy. It is nice to get back to making pages for our books and cards for fam.\friends.



This was a fun card...one of the first ones in the new room. Oh, it was nice to have all my tools at my finger tips.






Oh, it is so fun to have ribbon and accents and stamps and...aaahh. What therapy!

Tape and glitter technique

I have been wanting to play with this technique for a while (since seeing it on Teresa Black's blog) I did two pages with this technique. I have decided, though, that it would look better on a smaller basis. When I cut out the big butterfly or the moon, the tape behind was all warped. If I had done smaller cut-outs, then it probably would have looked better. This first page was done with one of my favorite sets from CTMH. It was called Lazy Days of Summer. I love the cool greens and blues for my boys. I felt bad putting Dallin and glitter on the same page, but it goes in my book, not his...that's okay, right?? I needed a girl in this life, dadgumit! Anywho, the next page was inspired by a Technique Tuesdays catalog that I picked up at the scrap convention last fall. I cut the scrolly thingys out with my cricut cartridge Storybook. I like how the lil stars turned out. I just embossed them with clear embossing powder and then daubed ink over them with a sponge. Pretty fun. Now I have to go make my exchanges...with my updated info on the technique.