Happy Leap Day!

Isn't it nice to have once extra day every four years? It's like a little hiccup in our calendar. I just wish we could tack on a few extra hours on to one day of the year, too.

Last night I continued with my jewelry-making and ended up creating a three-stranded bracelet and several pairs of earrings.

Here are a couple of views of the bracelet. I guess I was feeling the St. Patrick Day love with all the green tones in this one.

I always find earrings very fun to make since they're so quick and versatile. One of the things I love to do is combine gemstones and crystals as well as do free-form wire-work.

As you can see, I was still feeling the Swarovski crystal love with the little droplets. After a whole evening of making jewelry, I was beat! My neck was killing me despite using my best ergonomic techniques, which, by the way, everyone should implement when they are crafting!!

Thanks for stopping by today, and have a great weekend, everyone!

Lost and Found

As you can see from my lack of blogging these past few days, I lost my mojo. Yup, it just went into hiding, and I couldn't find it despite looking everywhere for the little bugger. I did everything I could to help it resurface. I re-organized my stamps. I went scrapbook shopping. I starred at my supplies, and yet my mojo remained hidden...until today! You won't believe where I found it. My mojo was hiding in my beads! As soon as I picked up my new Swarovski crystals and held them against the afternoon sun, my mojo popped right out, and here's what I created.

It's a lariat made with a delicate silver chain, amethyst seed beads, and several different colored Swarovski bicone beads. I took two different pictures so that you could see how it lays around the neck as well as up-close views of the colors and the detail. The drop pendant is made from a heart charm and three different sizes and colors of crystals (4mm, 6mm, and 8mm).

I think I will continue with my jewelry-making tonight. I don't want to lose my mojo again!!

I'm feeling the Easter mojo!

Here's another Easter card I made during my scrap crop last Friday. The supplies are the same as the last card. Enjoy!

My first Easter card of the season

Hi, everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend. I had tons of fun running around on Friday going to different places and being creative. Yesterday, I spent most of the morning doing some early Spring cleaning. It was one of those crazy gorgeous days where the sun was shinning so brightly that I could see areas that needed cleaning that I couldn't see before in the gloom! I am very happy to report my house couldn't be any cleaner at the moment :)

At my Friday night crop, I made a few Easter cards. Easter is my favorite holiday of the year. I love the meaning behind the holiday, and it doesn't hurt that I was born on Easter morning either ;)

For this card, I used some brand-spanking new Imaginisce Easter paper that I scored at my local scrap store the other day. The ribbon is from the "Downtown Red" American Crafts set. The stamp is by Penny Black, and the sentiment is a $1 Mike's stamp. The pop up flower is a Brenda Walton sticker, and the cardstock base is DCWV. Oh, and I used my corner rounder to do the scalloped edge. I have to say that doing a scalloped edge manually is a bit of a pain, so I decided to order the new Fiskars scalloped border punch from one of my favorite on-line store, All Moments Remembered. Click here to be taken directly to the new Fiskars punch!

I'll be back with more Easter cards tomorrow! Have a scrappy day!

A wall of cards

Happy Friday, everyone! Today I'd like to share with you all the beautiful Valentine's Day cards I received this month. They are all so lovely and special to me that I decided to hang them in my entry just like I did with my Christmas cards. Thank you so much to everyone who sent me a card. I cheerish all of them!

Today will be crazy-busy for me, but it's the good kind of busy - lunch with friends, a little shopping, and then off to a jewlery party and then a scrapbooking crop! I better have something to show you all by this weekend!

A card for Lois

My blog buddy, Linda, informed me of a lovely random act of kindness that one lady is doing for her friend who has cancer. Please read all about it here. Can you imagine all the joy you can bring just by making one card and sending it out? I know ALL of you who come to my blog are amazingly talented and kind women. Please share your craft with Lois and help put a much needed smile on her face!

I want to thank all of you for the well-wishes! My back is feeling so much BETTER today. In fact, I'm quite sure I'm 100% better. Darn that whole getting old thing!!

Have a great Thursday, everyone!

No card today - I have an oweee!!

Hi, everyone! I know I said I would put up a card today, but you won't believe what happened to me. Apparently, I slept very, very wrong last night and somehow I have hurt my back very badly. It took me over a half an hour to get out of bed this morning because I was in a lot of pain. I took some medicine to try and relieve the pain, but all it did was knock me out - ALL DAY LONG! I didn't get up until almost six this evening. At least I'm able to type out a quick note to all my faithful blog readers (you guys rock, by the way!!). I'm also able to lift my water with my left hand without whincing. Always a good sign. I think I'll be feeling much better tomorrow.

So hang on for me! I hope to create something fun soon. I have some new papers that I'm dying to use. For now, here's a random picture for you. Have a good one!

"Do you think these undies make my butt look big??"

My mini adventure & I've been tagged!

Hello everyone! I hope you all enjoyed a relaxing three day weekend. I'm bummed that my honey has to go back to work tomorrow, but he gets to come home for lunch, so it's not that bad!

We've been enjoying some beautiful weather here the last couple of days. We took advantage of the sun on Sunday to go to the Marine Science Center in Poulsbo. It's still under construction, but we had a great time anyway. We caught up on our intertidal sea creatures as well our movie watching. They had some great mini videos about the Pacific Northwest.

Check out this big fella. He's in the new octopus tank. The lady who was on duty cracked me up when she told me that they were waiting for the octopus to arrive. When I asked where from (thinking they were shipping him/her from another facility), she matter-of-factly said, "The Sound." I looked at her blankly and asked, "You mean, the Puget Sound?" She said, "Yes! We still have to catch the little bugger, but it has to be the right season." Who knew there was a "season" to catch octopus?!

They also had this very large whale exhibit hanging above our heads. Apparently, this poor whale, which they named "Slick," washed up dead in Liberty Bay on private property. Instead of throwing him back into the sea, volunteers moved the large mammal to the science center where they stripped him and prepped his bones for exhibit. Now that's what I call recycling!

The view from outside the center was just beautiful! We really were enjoying some lovely weather.

After a fun visit at the science center, we headed over to a fun little Mexican restaurant. We had such a great time! We had the bar all to ourselves, and we sat by the windows where we could enjoy a view of the bay. Bottoms up, baby!

We had such a great day! As you can imagine, I didn't get anything scrappy done this weekend. However, I did visit my local scrap store and grabbed a few pieces of Easter paper that are just way too cute. I can totally see the card possibilities with this new line! Check back soon for some new cards :)

Okay, onto the tagging game. I've been tagged by my blog buddy, Chris. The objective here is to tell you 7 random things about myself. Now, seeing as how I've been tagged a few times prior, I think you all know more than 7 things about me! Let's see if I can come up with 7 more...

1. I wear a Marine jacket liner called a "woobie" ALL THE TIME when I'm at home. Even if it's 90F outside, I still wear it. It's called a "woobie" because it "would be" cold if you didn't have one! Travis gave it to me early in our relationship, and I've had it ever since.
2. I {heart} Dreyer's chocolate ice cream. I buy it all the time during the summer months.
3. I bought a custom-made futon for my Great Dane, Sedona. She sleeps on a 54" square of foam and cotton comfort. She's spoiled rotten.
4. When my critters pass on, I have them individually creamated and then I put their ashes in teddy bears. It's a wonderful way to remember them.
5. I have about 500 lbs. of paper. Yes, you read correctly. 500 lbs.
6. My guilty pleasure is watching Project Runway. Anyone else with me??
7. I love the smell of sea water, but hate the smell of rain. Go figure.

Thinking of You

It's Friday everyone. Yipee! I want to thank you all for the well-wishes for my hubby because they seemed to work! He's feeling so much better. I think it must have been one of those 24-hour bugs. He's still really fatigued, but it's been a long work week for him.

Today's card is for a friend of mine who is recovering from surgery. I know she won't be able to peek at it because she's not allowed on the computer just yet.

The stamps on this card are from the $1 Studio G clear stamp collection, and the paper and tag are from Basic Grey's "Perhaps" line. I used my corner rounder to make the scalloped border on the pink paper. I'm getting pretty good using that thing to make scalloped edges. It takes a little practice, but it's well worth learning how to do it.

I hope you all have a terrific weekend! I'll be back on Monday with (hopefully) a wedding LO and some more cards. Until then, happy scrapping!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I can't believe it's already Valentine's Day. It's amazing how quickly time flies by now a days.

Here's a card I made the other night using my Rubber Soul stamps and some paper I had laying around from a long time ago.

What I love about Valentine's Day stamps is that most of them can be used year round, so I look forward to using this set again sometime in the near future.

Do you have plans for this day of love with your significant other? We're holding off our plans until the weekend. My poor hubby is not feeling well, so hopefully he will be better by Saturday so we can go out and have some fun. Perhaps the weather will cooperate as well. He wants to take me to the Marine Science Center and then to the stamp store and lunch. Now that's what I'm talking about!

Have a great day everyone!! Don't forget to hug the ones you love :)

Just a little note

I made this card the other night while I was in the midst of being a card-making fool! The owl is one of my new favorite stamps by Inkadinkado that I picked up last week at the stamp store. The little sentiment at the bottom is a $1 wood-mounted Studio G stamp from Michael's, and the paper is from the Basic Grey "Perhaps" line. I love the way it came out. It's now on it's way to one of my favorite blog buddies, but I won't tell you whooooo (Ha!).

Have a great Wednesday everyone!

Valentine Cards are in the mail!

Okay, so I realize some of them may be a little late, but it's the thought that counts, right? I spent approximately 8 hours on these cards including signing, stuffing, and addressing the envelopes. I'm pretty proud of myself for actually sitting down and cranking them out. As much as I love making cards, I don't think I'll be making this many cards for a really long time.

Here's an upclose view of one the pink versions of the card. I really like how they came out for being so simple in design.

I also managed to make three more cards of different designs last night, too! I was a card-making machine, and my scrap area has the battle scars to prove it. I ended up cleaning my entire space last night (or rather really early this morning) before going to bed because I wanted a nice clean area to wake up to.

We have a little sunshine right now, but it's still darn cold outside. I think I'll go bundle up and sit on the porch and soak up some rays. I'm far too white.

Have a great Tuesday!!

Some {hearts} just get lucky

Have you ever heard that song by Carrie Underwood, "Some hearts," off her first album? Well, it had been swirling around in my head all night long yesterday. I decided to make it the title of my next wedding layout. I have been trying to do a wedding LO a week with the help of my "wedding album encouragement buddy" or WAEB (can't go around not having a snazzy acronym, right?). Each week, we make a LO and share it with each other. It encourages us to complete our wedding albums in a timely manner since both of us have waited years to scrap the most important event in our lives. Without further ado, here's my WAEB #1.

For this LO, I used the February montly kit from All Moments Remembered. She has some wonderful items in this kit and add on, but it's no longer available since it sold out sight-unseen days before it hit the store! I can't wait until the March kit comes out. If it's as good as this one, I'm in again!

I hope everyone is having a terrific Monday!

Tutorial - making a card holder

In this tutorial, I will show you how to make an A2-sized card-holder from two pieces of 8.5x11 cardstock. This holder should house at least ten cards (five on each side). Let's get started!

You will need:

• Two pieces of 8.5x11 coordinating cardstock. One sheet should be double-sided for ease. In this example, I am using all Heidi Grace materials (except for the stamps)
• Bone folder
• Ruler
• BG Precision mat - not necessary, but highly recommended in order to measure and score easily
• Adhesive of your choice (I used my ATG)
• 20" of ribbon
• Stamps and Prismacolor pencils (or any type of embellishments you would like to use)

STEP ONE: Holding your double-sided cardstock horizontally, score at 5" and 6."

STEP TWO: Turn the cardstock vertically and score at 2" and 2.5."

STEP THREE: Cut out the small rectangle between all the scores.

STEP FOUR: Using your second piece of coordinating cardstock, cut two pieces of paper to 10.5" x 2."

STEP FIVE: Score both pieces of paper at 5" and 5.5."

STEP SIX: Decorate the outside of the holder and the strips as desired. For this project, I have decided to do some stamping.

STEP SEVEN: Attach the scored 10.5" x 2" strips to the inside and outside of the holder. By doing this, you will make the holder more rigid and seal in the cards to keep them in place. Let's see if this makes sense in pictures.

STEP EIGHT: Put a card in each pocket so you know where to punch the holes for the ribbon.

STEP NINE: Punch the holes and thread the ribbon through.

STEP TEN: Put your cards inside the holder behind the ribbon.

STEP ELEVEN: Close up the holder and tie it off, and viola! You're done.

Have a great weekend, everyone!!

Oops! Did I skip a day?

I think I accidently skipped blogging yesterday! Sorry, everyone. To make up for crime against blogging, I will be posting a tutorial tomorrow on how to make a greeting card holder. It will be super fun, promise!

For now, check out this card I made for my uncle for Valentine's Day. I used my square punch to punch out a window at the top of the card. I then put a fun 3-D flower sticker in the middle. The little bee is a stamp I got at JoAnns. I colored him, and then cut him out and topped him off with some Stickle love around the heart. The sentiment is another $1 wood-mounted stamp from Michael's, and the notecard itself is by Memory Box.

I'll see you all tomorrow! Have a fun Friday :)

A wild adventure at the stamp store!

Last night I had to take Travis to the airport, and I didn't mind too much because I had alterior motives (*insert devilish laugh here*). I had just enough time to make it to one of the coolest stamp stores I've ever been to called Impress. You might remember that I first visited this store with my scrapping and blogging friend, Noel. You can read about our adventure here. Since I'm not familiar with the area, I kind of got lost...just a little. It totally shaved a half hour off my browsing time! I finally made it there at 7:30 and they closed at 8:00, so I had to do some quick shopping. As I was looking around, I found this little gem tucked way behind some wood-mounted stamps. Now you must know, I have been searching high and low for an Easter/Spring set that would be acceptable for making cards. I am so glad I found these! They're made by a company called Penny Black. I had never heard of her before, but check out her website. She has some seriously cool items!


I *might* have picked up a few more things, but you'll just have to wait and see how I use them all!

Here's a fun little card that I made over the weekend. I used the new Rubber Soul Valentine's Day set for the image and sentiment. The paper is by DCWV Nana's Nursery, Baby Girl, and the flowers are Primas. The pink notecard is by Memory Box (can you tell I really like this company??). It's a nice simple card, just the way I like it!


Have a great Wednesday, everyone!

PS - I will have you know that I published this post at 12:15 am on WEDNESDAY. I don't know why blogger is being dumb and saying that I posted it on Tuesday. Whatever!!

Don't go, Daddy!

Thanks for all your lovely comments on my card yesterday. I love reading what you all think about my work! Elizabeth asked me what colors I used on my hippos. I used three Prismacolor pencils - pink, purple, and silver. I just blended them all together until I got the shading I wanted.

Last night, Travis was getting ready for his business trip. He took a break from packing and came back only to find our little Isabella on his suitcase! She looked so distraught like she was telling him, "Don't go, Daddy!" She's really a mama's girl, but her and Travis are napping buddies.


As promised, I have yet another Valentine's Day card for all of you. I used a set of stamps that was given to me by my good scrapping buddy, Christy (thanks, girlie!). The set is by Inkadinkado (don't you just love saying that company's name??!!). I used my Prismacolor pencils once again to color and blend. The patterned paper is by Sassafrass Lass, and the stamp at the bottom is yet another $1 wood-mounted Studio G stamp. If you haven't taken a peek at the $1 stamp bin at your local Michael's, I suggest that you do so soon. These stamps are so cute, and you can't go wrong for a buck!

Oh, and one last thing. I've been tagged by quite a few people, and I'm finally getting around to playing along. Here we go!

Here are the rules:

1. You have to post the rules before you give your answers.

2. You must list one fact about yourself beginning with each letter of your middle name. (If you don't have a middle name, use your maiden name).

3. After you are tagged, you need to update your blog with your middle name and your answers.

4. At the end of your blog post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged and that they need to read your blog for details).

My middle name is ANN.

Avid scrapper, stamper, and animal lover

Not one to give up easily

Never met a scrapper I didn't like

Have a great Tuesday, everyone!!