Owl Birthday Card

Good morning, bloggers! I have a quick birthday card to share with you all. My friend, Jackie's, birthday is today, but we had a big celebration for her this past Saturday. Here's the card I made for her:

Supplies: Chocolate Chip & Whisper White cardstock; Top Note die; Owl Together Now stamp set; Chocolate Chip stampin' pad; Watercolor Wonder Crayons; Blender pens; Brads; Button; Ribbon by American Crafts

That's all I have for today! See you next time :)

Quick little card

Greeting, bloggers! Today I have a quick card that truly comes together fast. You all know I love birds, and there seems to be an abundance of avian stamps out there. This cute little owl is from a fairly new set by Kelly Panacci of Sandylion called Twit Twoo. The little pillow heart stickers above the owl's head are from K&Company, and I found them at Wal*Mart for only $1.50! I saw them at an on-line story yesterday for $3.50. Ouch!

It's a new day, and I need to get crafty so I have something to show you all tomorrow! Have a terrific day :)

A little road trip + a little box

I hope you all enjoyed the nice long weekend! I know we did. We took a mini road trip and reveled in the awesome weather we're having right now. While on my way to fill up my tank, something interesting happened (at least it was interesting to me):

Yup! She turned 66,666 miles just as I was pulling up to the gas station, hence the fact I was able to snap a good picture safely :) I can't believe my car is over six years old and has been up and down the west coast, yet it only has this few miles on it. I {heart} my car!

We saw some beautiful scenery on our drive. Here are a few pictures I took on our little adventure. (If you can name that mountain, I'd be IMPRESSED!)

Onto some crafting fun! I attended a demo meeting last night, and we made this adorable box. Believe me when I say this was really simple to put together.

To make it really easy, I made this template. All you need to do is shoot me an e-mail, and I can send it to you in printable format otherwise you can simply read the dimensions from the picture below. The dashed lines are where you need to score your paper.


Supplies: Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, & Kiwi Kiss; Petal Pizzazz & Love you Much stamp sets; Kiwi Kiss & Pink Pirouette stampin' pads; Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' glitter; Stampin' Dimensionals; Scallop Circle punch

Don't forget that the NEW 2009 Winter/Spring Stampin' Up Catalog is now out and available to purchase from. WOO-HOO!

If you don't have the catalog in your hands right now, but want to see it anyway, click HERE and download the entire book straight to your computer! If you know what you want and are ready to order, click HERE.

Just as a reminder, the current promotion going on right now is the Love You Much Bundle. Get ready for Valentine's Day with this spectacular set! Included at 20% off the regular price until January 31st is the NEW Love You Much stamp set, the NEW Heart to Heart punch, and the NEW Candy Lane Designer Paper Series. Click HERE to check it out!

Have a terrific day!

A few of my favorite things

I apologize for my lack of blog posts this week. Not only have I been super busy, but I haven't had much drive to create anything lately. In lieu of craft projects, I'm giving you a list of some of my favorite things. It's a random list, but a fun one.

I L-O-V-E the new Zooborns blog. Check it out daily for your dose of cuteness.

Need a calendar for a project? Check out PocketMod to see how to make a planner out of one piece of paper!

Learning how to play the guitar (like me)? This YouTube video tutorial is very helpful!

Want to drool over some awesome scrap rooms? Then HERE and HERE are where you need to go.

Speaking of organization, try to CONTAIN yourself when visiting this website.

Make sure to visit my very favorite crafting blog. So much inspiration, especially this week!

Love beads? Love critters? Then you'll love this site. I know I do!

Have you met the world's tallest dog? Meet Gibson.

Be BLOWN AWAY by this amazing sculptor. Seriously. Check her out HERE.

Need entertainment news? Look no further than my good friend's website! (Oh, and the necklace she's wearing is an original by yours truly.)

Don't forget to get your free annual credit report! It's always important to make sure everything is in order.

Need to shrink a picture for an avatar? It's easy-peasy with this site.

Click to Give! Visit the site and click to give to hunger, breast cancer, child health, literacy, the rainforest, and animal rescue.

In the mood to make art? Need supplies? Dick Blick and Cheap Joe's are the way to go!

I told you that was going to be a random list! I'm going out of town this weekend, but perhaps I can find time to create when I get home on Sunday. I know I'm going to a friend's house to scrap on Monday, so I should have something to show from that on Tuesday. Have a great holiday weekend, and be safe out there!

Guess what I have in my hot little hands?

If you guessed the NEW 2009 STAMPIN' UP CATALOG, then you're right! It came in the mail yesterday morning, and I was so excited to look through it and make my wish list. This idea book is FULL of great new products, and much to my delight, they've added a whole slew of bird and nature stamps. Let's take a peek!

The new Retro Fresh Collection:

Some new birdie stamps:

A new doggie set (I like it, but where's the great dane, people?):

More birds and cute trees!

NEW rub-ons! Check out the cute owls:

They put the decor elements in the big catty. Yay!

NEW Chipboard Owls and other birds. I definitely need this!

They also have a whole section for Sizzix dies and NEW texture plates! Yipee!

If you want a new catalog, you can order one through me for only $9.95 (plus tax and shipping and handling) OR you can order a minimum of $35 from me and get the catalog for FREE! You can contact me via e-mail or shop on-line 24/7 HERE. Once you place your order, I will send out the catty to you. The new catalog will be available to the public on January 19th, so if you want anything out of the old catalog, just let me know!

Here are the current promotions going on right now at Stampin' Up. Make sure to take advantage of these deals before they're gone!

Inventory Blow Out - January 5-18 - Get retired, retiring, and current products up to 50 percent off regular price! Click HERE to view the flyer.

Retired Stamps - Dozens of stamp sets from the Fall-Winter 2008 Idea Book & Catalog are retiring. Now's the last chance to get them. These sets are only available through January 18th. Click HERE to view the flyer.

Love you much Bundle - Get ready for Valentine's Day with this spectacular set! Included at 20% off the regular price until January 31st is the NEW Love You Much stamp set, the NEW Heart to Heart punch, and the NEW Candy Lane Designer Paper Series. Click HERE to check it out!

20% off items in the Catalog Sampler! Now through January 18th, spend $20 in merchandise and receive 20% off any item in the Catalog Sampler. Click HERE to view the Sampler.

Let's get excited about Stampin' Up together!!

My very first video tutorial!

Happy Monday, everyone! Was this past weekend as hectic for you as it was for me? I love being busy, though, especially when the reason I'm busy is because I'm crafting!

Friday evening I attended my upline's monthly card club. We made a scrapbook, a scrap page, and a very lovely card.

On Saturday, I attended a One Year Anniversary crop for the All Moments Remembered Message Board. I taught a class and even made a short video! The class was all about how to achieve this look:

For this technique, you'll need the following supplies:

Versamark Stamp Pad
Stamp of your choice
Glossy White Paper
Tea light or other candle
Tweezers
Kleenex

And here's the video! Now mind you, this is the very first video I've ever done. I used my digital camera's video feature, so it's not the best quality, but the point is for you to see what I'm doing. I'm also talking throughout the video, so you'll want to turn those speakers on!



I've also written out the directions. One small, but very important step that I forgot to mention in the video is that YOU MUST LET YOUR IMAGE DRY COMPLETELY before you stick it in the flame. The rest of the process is easy!

1. Stamp your image with Versamark ink onto the glossy side of your glossy white paper and let it air dry COMPLETELY (it takes about 15 mintues or so).
2. Using your tweezers, hold your stamped image face down directly into the orange/yellow part of the flame of your candle. Move the image around to keep it from catching fire (hint: I let the paper burn a bit on the edges to get a weathered look).
3. Keep the image in the flame until it is completely black and covered in "soot."
4. Remove the paper from the flame and use a Kleenex to gently wipe off the excess soot using circular motions. The soot will wipe clean from the paper and outline the image.

Here's the image I ended up with at the end of my video:

And this is the project I did with that image:

Thanks for stopping by today! I'll see you all tomorrow :)

One Little Word

The start of a new year usually means the beginning of resolutions - resolutions that are usually forgotten by March. That's why I don't normally do resolutions. This year, however, I'm going to take the plunge and set a goal for myself; one that is attainable and can be practiced in all aspects of my life. In looking back over my last posts, it's become aparent that stream-lining my life is important to me. Making things more accessible and weeding out clutter is key. That's why I, just like many others, have choosen a word to represent the direction I want to take this year. This concept is certainly not a new one. Ali Edwards has been doing this for quite a number of years. You can read about her 2009 word HERE as well as read others' words HERE. The word I have choosen for myself this year is:

SIMPLICITY

I want to get back to basics. I want to focus on the essentials of life, and by choosing this word, I hope to constantly be reminded of the simple things in life when the situation warrants it.

In keeping with my new word, here's a simple project I completed last night. I bought these sparkly Thank You cards at Target for 27 cents. Not bad for a pack of ten, right? I wanted to personalize them a bit, so I stamped out a little holiday Hero Arts owl, cut him out, and mounted him on the front.

Now that was simple enough!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I'm going to a card club tonight, so I'll have some projects to share with you next week.

Let's get organized!

If you've been following my blog for a while, then you know that I love everything about organization. From organzing my stamps to color-coding my wardrobe (makes it easier to find that pink shirt), I try to find easy solutions to make my life run smoother. Up until a few weeks ago, I had most everything under control, except for one small little thing...my ribbon. It was all over the place! I had spools here and spools there. I just threw them in a couple of drawers and called it good. Only thing was, that method of out-of-sight-out-of-mind didn't quite work for me since I am always reaching for my ribbon. I finally decided on an organizational method that would work for me - clothes pins. This method is a popular one among scrappers and card makers. I got the clothes pins at The Dollar Tree and I spent three days wrapping ribbon. Even Travis helped me for a few hours! We ended up using 310 wooden clothes pins! I *might* have a lot of ribbon :) Here's the end result:

I divided my ribbon by color, and I have them in baskets for the time being. I really want to get some clear jars for them, but I haven't found the right ones. Not even The Container Store had what I was looking for. At least they're all organized and easily accessible. I should have taken a before picture...yikes!

As for my fibers, I'm going to leave them on the packaging that they came with. They're already so nice and neat. Why mess that up?

Besides organizing my ribbon, I set out to conquer a few stray stamp sets I had laying around. My dear friend, Leea, sent me some 12x12 Inque Boutique Stamp Keepers. These clam-shell holders rock! I already have a number of them in the 8.5x11 size, but when Leea offered to send these to me, I took her up on it. I knew they'd be perfect for storing my season stamps. I spent one evening (about 3 hours) putting my clear stamps inside the IB Keepers, and then I ordered a 12x12 D-ring binder from Two Peas in a Bucket. It was only $16 and qualified for free shipping! I couldn't pass that up. I have yet to decorate the outside, but here's what it looks like:

The binder came with ten 12x12 page protectors, perfect for sliding in my stamp index sheets.

Here's the IB Keeper with my stamps inside. I use both sides of the keeper and put a 12x12 piece of cardstock in the middle so that the stamps do not stick to each other. This way, I optimize space.

Since we're on a roll, how about a quick peek at my craft room? Travis installed these shelves for me a few months ago. They hold everything from my SU stamps to my inks to my stamping accessories.

To the left of the shelving unit, I hung up three 12x12 frames so that I could display some of my layouts. Below them is a wire that holds my cards.

On the other wall, I have yet another wire that holds my current cards. Right below that, I hung up the present that my wonderful friend, Q, made for me when she came out to visit. Awesome, don't you think?

I have two doors that open up into this space, so I used one door to hang up a shoe rack that holds my punches, and the other door houses my inspiration board. I put all my new stuff up here.

Lastly, here's the space where I work. I do everything here from scrap to card making to jewelry making. The green baskets hold all of my most frequently used items. My pink and brown AMM Tote has all of my tools. It sits on a lazy Susan so that I can spin it around and easily get what I need. I have four inspiration boards that I picked up on clearance at JoAnns a few years ago. Together, they cost me less than $5! Of course, I have my 12x12 paper storage next to the table, but believe it or not, that's not even half of my collection! Okay, so I have a ribbon AND paper problem.

There you have it! I hope you enjoyed my organizational tips and the tour of my happy room. Have a great day, and I'll see you all soon :)

Here I am!

I know - I disappeared for a few days, but now I'm back. I am in dire need of a few minutes to myself to create! I did spend last Friday afternoon at my friend's house doing a little bit of card making. I was in a hurry to get to her house, so I just threw a few stamps and ink pads in my cart, and off I went! Here's what I made while I was at her house. I must say, it was nice to only have a limited number of supplies on hand. It made the process a whole lot easier!

And here's a simple bookmark:

Now, all the stamps I used are from Hero Arts. The last two projects use products from the brand new 2009 Hero Arts catalog! I {heart} Hero Arts. Seriously.

I thought I'd share these pictures from nearly a month ago. My mom and I were making Christmas cards, and we turned the house upside down! I like to be as neat as possible when I'm creating, but that doesn't always happen. See what I mean?

Even the bedroom was a mess. Poor Attila - sacked out admist the choas of Sizzix dies.

I still have to share my organizational project with all of you! I'll try to snap some pictures tomorrow. Oh, and guess where I went today? Costco :) Guess what I got? I picked up a new batch of digi prints, all 293 of them! Then I went and got some toilet paper and kleenex. Now that's a party, eh?

Okay, off I go to take a hot shower and then perhaps I'll scrap a bit. After all, I do have a few pictures to work with now :)

Time spent with friends...

...is time well spent. I LOVE you guys!! Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone, and I'll be back on Monday with some cute Valentine Day cards :)