Creative Sanity

PPA108-CAS-Elements of Style-Soften the Edges

2011-08-25T20:16:00.001-04:00

Today's card is a result of using up some of the left over product sitting on my desk - if y'all saw my desk you would shake your head - I am one of those messy workers and always running so I never seem to clean up before the NEED to craft hits again. During the early part of this week I made a minialbum/card for DH for our 25th wedding anniversary. It was in blue and brown - hence today's colors.

I also did something else that makes me happy - I went to my little box of stuff I've stamped but rejected for other projects and found this tree from SU! Thoughts and Prayers. Added an owl from the retired forest friends. The card looked tooo plain so I took the little tree from forest friends and w/ versamark made my own patterned paper ....again! A bit of HL ribbon and retired SU! brads and I'm done.

c/s - SU! chocolate chip, one of SU! retired blues - not sure which one.

Patterned paper - scraps from the SU! MDS journaling I did for the card - its script in brown but I think my color ink was low so it doesn't match any specific SU! color

I haven't ever made a square card - but this was the size of c/s left over and I just scored down the middle and it was a square......

This morning I found the PPA108-CAS-Elements of Style-Soften the Edges challenge and it motivated me for todays card. Check 'em out - its a fun place.
I didn't realize till after that the colors were blue and brown as well.
thanks for stopping by! Andrea

PDCC 95 and CFC 16

2011-08-22T19:46:00.015-04:00

Playing along with challenges is fun!! I'm playing with two new (to me) challenges. The Play Date Cafe and CAS-ual Fridays

I haven't figured out how to make the picture link back to their website so here is the link
http://theplaydatecafe.blogspot.com/2011/08/play-date-cafe-challenge-pdcc95.html

http://cas-ualfridays.blogspot.com/2011/08/cfc16.html

Take 5 on this post LOL - I so need blogger for dummies (If it exists if not someone needs to write it LOL)

I wanted to make a thank you gift for a sweet woman - Florence who kindly brought and delivered a yummy gourmet dessert from red adzuki beans this weekend.

I let the above challenges guide my design decisions

Color for Play Date Cafe.

Mine are SU! colors Not Quite Navy, Wild Wasabi, and Regal Rose

Embossing for CAS-ual Fridays

I used the SU! embossing folder dots and versamark and clear embossing powder. Embossing is my favorite technique so I had to play along!

Here is a post it note holder. I haven't made one of these in AGES. I had the blue focal point in a box of do-dads that never made it to other projects - I tried but I can't find the stamp set to see what the name is - I may have borrowed it or used it at a stamp party at one time.

I made a coordinating mini legal pad. The butterflies are my fav part of it. I attached an extra piece of chipboard (i.e. cereal box) under the mini legal pad to give it extra stability.

Here is the thank you card - yet another center step card :).....They just make such a pretty presentation!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Andrea

More of the Thank You Card Gift Set

2011-08-21T17:54:00.006-04:00

Todays post includes more of the note cards I made as a Thank You gift for a family that hosted my DD for a few days. I was really hesitant to sent them - I know this family appreciates hand made items but I don't know - I wasn't sure if it was too forward to send my cards...my insecurity showing I suppose.

I decided to make all the cards in SU! Bashful Blue, Always Artichocke and Crumb Cake. Mainly cuz I had lots of those colors LOL.

I also wanted all the cards to have a common item of crochet ribbon trim that I got from Hobby Lobby.
(which I sadly used up and they changed the pattern when I went back)
The stamps were an assortment from my stash.

This first picture is the box I made for the cards. The denim layer is more of the leg from a pair of cutoff blue jeans. The iris is an old single stamp I had in my stash and I had to carefully stamp it so it was a grouping.

More blue jeans - this is actually the other 1/2 of the denim top note from the card the other day. I water colored the bird which is from the now (sadly) retired SU! Friends 24-7. Good thing I'm NOT a demo cuz this is my favorite ever stamp set and I will use it for ever and ever!

I was hesitant about this one because I wasn't sure they would need a Birthday Card but I really liked the card and included it. The bird is from SU! Nature Walk.

Some more of the Iris stamp (my fav flower). I sent a few more cards but can't find the pix for them. Ok I've rambled enough - if you've stuck around this long -----THANKS for visiting.

Hope to be back tomorrow with a few challenges - If I FINISH them LOL
Andrea

Paper Players Challenge #59 - a pink notepad

2011-08-16T10:20:00.002-04:00

Today I'm back with another challenge - this one in shades of pink.

I had an appointment to take my Dad for a check up - it had the potential to be not so good - BTW it turned out great. So I knew I wanted to take some notes and my mood wasn't the best - nothing cheers me or settles my nerves like stamping. Paper crafting in general but stamping in particular.

So about a half hour before I had to leave, I grabbed some SU! pink goodness. Note: SU! c/s is a must for this project cuz it's so thick it is sturdy. I took out my favorite versamark, clear embossing powdeer and Vintage Vogue.

I didn't follow a pattern - although I'm sure there are some on the web. I just cut my 8.5 x.11 cardstock to alittle over 8 inches (thats how long the notepad is). I placed the notepad on the cardstock and lightly marked where the score lines should be. As I didn't have alot of time - I kept the decorations CAS.

Sometimes I'm such a computer dummy its ridiculous :) I can't believe how easy it was to put the above Challenge pix on the blog - in the past challenges I've only put a link cuz I thought I didn't know how ----all I had to do was copy and paste ---man

Thanks for visiting!!

Andrea

PPA 106 and Alacardmonkey 69 Challenges

2011-08-14T20:09:00.002-04:00

So far my goal of working on challenges has indeed brought me into my crafting space more!! Life is getting a bit hectic lately and the name of my blog is so true - crafting keeps me sane! Its like a big hug -a trip to the beach - an escape from the world for a bit isn't it?

I decided to use up some of my stash on this card - actually if you look at the second picture you'll see the notecard box I made (from a tutorial on Splitcoaststampers). I decided to slowly make cards to fill up this box and leave it looking pretty on my desk till I need the cards.

This is a gatefold card.

It's for the challenge of Pals Paper Arts Dress for Sucess - 1 punch, 1 designer paper and 1 sentiment

http://www.palspaperarts.com/2011/08/ppa106-dress-for-success.html

It doesn't show up on this picture (I took it at night in the rain - not smart I know :) )but the baja breeze cardstock layer is stamped in versamark with the floral image from Vintage Vogue

This card also meets the requirements of A La Card Monkey for a thinking of you card.

http://alacardmonkey.blogspot.com/

I just found this website - looks like a fun place and I'll definately be back!!

Do you like the big pearl on my card?? My favorite sandals broke and it had these pearls on the straps - so I cut them off and have them on my table to add to projects.

This is the barebones of the box. I put a ribbon with sparkly things hanging down but haven't figured out how I want to embellish it yet.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Andrea

Thank you in Pink and Grey

2011-08-11T17:26:00.000-04:00

I had the "guts" of this card sitting on my desk for ever!!! I wanted to play with the colors Pink Pirhouette and Grey from SU! for a while but after I cut the cardstock, rouned the corners and tied the bow -- my mojo or inspiration or whatever you call it - vanished. Boom GONE. So this card to be sat on my desk for a couple of months. Unti today. I needed a thank you card for a sweet lady and decided to give this a go.

It isn't very original in that during SU! Sale-a-bration the Bliss set was often shown with accent pearls - but you know what - it still looks soft and pretty - just what I was going for.

Stampin up Nature Walk

2011-08-07T20:02:00.000-04:00

I have had a difficult time with using this set - Nature Walk by SU!. I don't find it easy to do the collage look that is so popular now -

Here is my attempt - and I actually like it LOL.

I second generation stamped the floral and bird cage images on the ivory cardstock. For the focal point I water colored the floral and butterfly image.

I really love the bit of crochet trim (Hobby Lobby) - too bad I only have about 4 inches left and they didn't have any when I was there yesterday (they had a different pattern and we'll see if it looks good another day)

Thanks for stopping by - leave me a comment so I know you've been by and I'll stop and see you too!

Andrea

Happy 84th DAD - Our creative Corner Challenge

2011-08-05T22:35:00.001-04:00

I'm trying to stick to my motivational plan of doing some challenges. Today I decided to do the one at Our Creative Corner

http://ourcreativecorner6.blogspot.com/2011/07/red-and-aqua-color-challenge_30.html

The challenge was to use turqoise and red.

My Dad's 84th Birthday is tomorrow so I thought I'd give it a try.

Well let me tell you -" the challenge" (read that hard part) wasn't the colors - it is HARD to make a masculine card!!!

Here is the envelope I made out of very old old old SU! dsp from years and years ago - so long ago that it isn't double sided!

I promise to make some other type of card - soon LOL but I thought my DAD would enjoy this fun fold.

Here is the side view - love these cards.

I have lots of pieces I made that didn't make it to this card so sometime soon I'll show you a card with the leftovers!

Thanks for stopping by. Andrea

Happy Birthday SHARON

2011-08-02T20:25:00.000-04:00

Do you ever feel like a "bad" friend - or at least not a good one? I was talking to my dear friend (and SU! demo) Sharon and in the midst of talking she mentioned today was her BDAY ----what kinda friend am I that after all these years its not on my calendar???

So after we got off the phone I went to my stash of old old old SU! stuff and made the above card -Sharon loves bright colors so I think this green galore (which is retired) and tempting turqouise (which is still current) and old SU! PP fits the bill.

I love this style of card - not sure the name but its super easy. Below is another example I made. If you look at the last photo you can see the dimension and fun fold of the card - only bad thing - it doesn't fit into an A2 envelope..

Thanks for stopping by!!

Andrea

A CAS Thank YOU

2011-07-30T20:26:00.000-04:00

This is another card from the gift set I made. Its actually the first CAS card I've made that I liked. It actually motivated me to try some more CAS cards. I posted another one yesterday.

I decided to make the whole gift set from SU! colors Always Artichoke, Bashful Blue and Crumb Cake. I got those colors from the color coach. I found them hard to work with - the blue seemed too bright but I enjoyed the challenge of making it work.

I decided that all the cards in this gift set would have a bit of the lace ribbon.

This card is always artichoke (so not obvious in the picture huh?). I used 1/2 of a crumb cake top note embossed with the SU! dots folder. I had purchased these retired vanilla hodgepodge hardware from a SU! demo at SB expo.

Thanks for stopping by!!! Andrea

Sometimes it just works out nicely

2011-07-28T19:52:00.000-04:00

I made a set of notecards for my DD to give to a family that was hosting her a few days. This is one of them - over the next few days I'll try and show some more.

I just really love this one. I've seen lots of clean and simple designs (CAS) over the last few months and never really liked any of my attempts - does this count as CAS?

I used SU! cardstock Crumb Cake that I run through their lattice embossing folder. My daughter cut a pair of jeans into shorts and I used one of the legs for the SU! top note die - I love the look IRL -The bird is from Nature Walk (also SU!). The ribbon is crochet trim from Hobby Lobby. If you click on the photo and look at the buttons one is ancient from Making Memories, one is a green brad and one is a discontinued SU! corduroy button.

Hope you like this card - thanks for stopping by- till next time!

Andrea

Mini Album

2011-07-24T20:24:00.000-04:00

A Blue and River Rock Mini Album

I think my favorite paper crafting item to make is a mini album. So this weekend I looked at the challenges on line and found one for the colors River Rock, Bashful Blue and White - I decided to make a mini album to keep on hand for gift giving. I frequently find I need a gift for a friend and end up rushing to make something the day before - now I'll have one waiting.

Sadly - the challenge ended at 3 today - and I didn't realize it was that early - I was done but didn't sit down to post till 5 so - no entry - but hey it did what its supposed to - go me putting paper together!!

Here is the cover. Hard to see in a photo but the butterflies are popped up with pop dots and have lots of dimension and pearl centers.

Those little blue half circles are actually pull tabs to pull out a page from the pocket. I forgot to snap a pix.

This butterfly was water colored and is so vibrant IRL... I really gotta figure out some software.

I think this close up is my favorite part of the album - The is from the SU! set Nature Walk and the little birdie is from Four Frames

Hmm - I like this one too - the flowers are from Vintage Vogue and are curled up a bit and a little 3D IRL.

Last page -

I wouldn't have put these colors together if I hadn't been working on a challenge - but I like them.

Thanks for stopping by... till next time

Andrea

Happy Colors

2011-07-24T18:26:00.002-04:00

I decided to try some of the challenges that are on the web - hoping that will inspire me to create outside my comfort zone.

Today I did a challenge with Create With Connie and Mary. They are SU! only and the colors were Regal Rose, Marina Mist and Sahara Sand.

I love - adore actually Marina Mist so I decided to give this a try.

Sorry for the photo quality - my computer died last month and with it the software I used for editing - I need to investigate and get new software - thinking of splurging for PhotoShop

I've been seeing lots of pinwheels lately and had to give it a try - This is using the Subtles designer paper (its easy to do - just cut a 3 inch square and cut from the corners to close to the center. Put a glue dot in the center and fold everyother corner - put a button or brad in the middle.)

Its difficult to see in this photo but the stem of dsp is actually on a sahara sand stem punched with the scallop trim border punch.

supplies: Regal Rose, Marina Mist and Sahara Sand Cardstock, doily, Lattice embossing folder, scallop trim border punch, button, linen thread, subtles dsp, Bring on the Cake stamp set.

Thanks for stopping by - I hope to be more consistent in my crafting - so I hope to see you again soon

Andrea

I really like Kraft Cards! oh and the butterflies too!!

2011-05-16T14:28:00.000-04:00

I made this one for my friend Sharon - its an all SU! card. I used not quite navy and kraft cardstock. The butterfly is with the SU! butterfly sizzix die. The circle was embossed with their lattice die. The sentiment is from Friends 24-7 and the branch is from a sympathy set that I'm too lazy to go get the name of but if anyone wants to know - I'll add it later.

Here is another all SU! card. The flourish is from the set Friends 24-7 that was used above. This butterfly is from the Nature Walk set. I colored it with the watercolor technique from not quite navy, daffodil delight and old olive ink. The ink is Old Olive - the ribbon is retired and the lace is from my stash.

I hope to be posting more often.

Two posts in one week!!! A card

2011-03-08T21:44:00.001-05:00

A dear friend of mine needed a card for a friend's daughter's Bat Mitzvah. It was alot of fun to make! I used up some of my stash which makes me doubly happy!!

Putting down the flourish of pearls was a bit difficult to put down - it kept getting twisted and going in the wrong place.

The Jewish Star is an old SU! set that has long since retired. I put some shimmer paint from SU! on top and it looks really shiny in person.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Andrea

Miss me? Here is a card - finally

2011-02-28T20:24:00.001-05:00

Here is a card I made my dear friend (and SU! demo) Sharon.

Here is the inside of the card - I love making the inside as pretty as the outside

I really need to investigate how to make better pictures of my cards! Using my OTT lite surrounded by cardstock doesn't work LOL

All supplies SU! unless other wise noted - c/s pink pirouette and chocolate chip, chocolate chip classic ink and craft ink with clear embossing powder; friends 24-7 stamp set; new decorative label punch (my fav!!!); lattice embossing folder, SU! flower punch whose name I forget and the punch stamp set that coordinates whose name I also forget - but can look up and add later if y'all want/need.

I've noticed alot of doilies used lately so I found one in my kitchen and used a sponge and some chocolte chip ink to make it less stark agains the brown c/s.

I hope to post more often in the near future - I even have some fun sharing ideas if anyone is there LOL

L'Shana Tova

2010-09-09T14:57:00.001-04:00

I finally got around to making a banner for the New Year. I had great aspirations of decorating each panel with flowers or other "prettiness" but time got away from me. Still its nice - and I used a bunch of my stash!! Maybe 15 or so sheets of 12 x 12 paper that I had been "saving" for good - bet you have some of that too!!

The paper is from Scrap In A Snap - a now defunct company for whom I was a consultant. Everything was cut with my new Expression - I used Basic George for the triangles and the letters.

My sister should get her gift tomorrow so over the w/e I'll post the pix.

L'Shana Tova to those that celebrate and thanks to all for stopping by!

A fast card!

2010-09-07T16:47:00.001-04:00

Here is a fast and easy card I sent to my DD this weekend. The flower stamp is one from Gina K designs. I was smart when I first got the set and stamped quite a few with memento black ink and colored them with copics in several color schemes. They've sat on my desk for months and every once and a while I decide to use one in a card. I just ran some purple c/s through the Big Shot with the SU! dots embossing folder - I had a certainly celery butterfly cut from the SU! butterfly die in my stash so I also ran it through the dots embossing folder - put a little pearl "ribbon" from Hobby Lobby on for the body -attached with a glue dot - and had a super fast card - took me like 5 mins - but thats only cuz the "ingredients" were mostly done. Oh yeah - I also used the SU!hole punching template thingie (whose proper name escapes me right now LOL) to make the little triangle design in the corners...you know - for a nonSU! demo - I sure to have ALOT and use ALOT of their supplies LOL

. I am hoping to create a little "stash" of ingredients for future fast cards.

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday Sis!

2010-09-04T16:19:00.001-04:00

Two days in a row - can you believe it?? Although the pictures don't look like it- these are actually the same color IRL. One of these days I really gotta find a better way to take pictures of projects.

I made my sister a gift for her bday - but I think she stops by here - so you're gonna have to wait till she sees it but I'm gonna "risk" the card!

Supplies - Basic Grey patterend paper, Fiskars border punch, circle punch Ek Sucess, glitter, scor-tape, SU! always artichoke cardstock, SU! stamps vintage labels and whimsical words (both retired Sale a bration stamps) and lace ribbon from Hobby Lobby.

Thanks for stopping by! Andrea

A card!! Yeah!!

2010-09-03T19:35:00.000-04:00

I finally got to play with paper!!!

I made a quick card for my DD who is spending her sophmore high school semester in a semester school in the North Carolina mountains.

Its an amazing program and opportunity for her - but needless to say I miss her - so y'all may be seeing lots and lots of cards. So far I've sent her several from my stash.

Today's card uses some retired SU! patterned paper,SU! retired barely banana grosgrain ribbon, SU! tempting turqouise cardstock. As well as punches (y'all know I love punches) I used the SU! tab punch and the two step bird punch. The I love you stamp is an oldy clear stamp from ages ago and I have no clue who made it. Oh yeah - the border is a fiskars (?) border punch - I'll have to check on that

Here is a close up on the "trio". I've noticed that many of the cards I seem to admire are grouping details together so I thought I'd give it a try.

Thanks for stopping by!

Mini Album Tutorial - Books I've Read so I won't buy duplicates anymore!

2010-07-31T16:27:00.000-04:00

Oh how I've missed crafting! Like lots of folks - summer is a busy time here - and quite frankly - I just haven't had the mojo - till today!!

I've missed scrapbooking - I have a problem - I have two teen girls (well one will be twenty next month) who refuse - flat out refuse - to let me take their picture - kinda makes it difficult to scrapbook, no? Yuppers I have tons and tons of old photos I could do - but that would take organizing them - I'll leave that for another time.

But I do love my mini albums - my theme albums. I do think this is my favorite type of album - partly cuz its one story from beginning to end. I love to come up with different type of mini albums.

Unlike my friend, Sharon, I hardly ever like my first effort at a new technique or type of project. I learn as I go - she likes to carefully think and plan each move she makes - hence, her first efforts are great and mine are learning tools.

So why am I boring you with this? I had an idea for a mini album and wanted to "test it" I decided to make a little booklet of books I've read so far. I don't like to read the back of the book as I feel it gives away too much of the story - and since I read so much - sometimes (often) I forget if I've read a book and then buy it twice - course most of my books come from our neighborhood used bookstore so its not as huge a mistake but still it wastes money!!

Here is the booklet I made - I didn't make the cover too "pretty" with embellishments cuz I figured they'd get ruined in my purse.

Inside Flap - I love this book stamp from my stash - I watercolored it in with SU! Tempting Turquoise.

I used the Bind It all to bind the book and index cards for the pages - I figured I better have lines to write on! Neat I'm not LOL

Here is where I had my "new" idea. I use cereal boxes for cardboard all the time. I have tried lots of glues and like Zip Dry the best. You need to sand the cereal box first. It adheres well but what I don't like is the sides of the book - you can see the cardboard between the pieces of cardstock - I just don't like it.. So I figures since I'm making a mini album why not "wrap" the cover. Here - I'll show you what I mean.

Clean Edges!!

Sample Page

Now that I know I like how this comes out - I plan on making pages from cardstock and making a mini scrapbook album. Look at what I want to use for the cover

Whew!! I got long winded today!! Sorry about that! Thanks for stopping by! Andrea

Stash Busters!! 4 Quick and Easy Cards

2010-06-28T14:08:00.001-04:00

Ok so I have lots of "goals" this summer - some crafty and some not - One of my major Crafty goals is to use up some of my stash. If you've seen my SB room online or in person - you can tell I have lots and lots of paper - lots of it is from the early days and I don't love it anymore - so guess -what I'm gonna find a way to use it or give it to someone else (like a school).

Idea 1)
Personally - I think since I just got the Cricut Expression (YEAH) I'll use it - either for projects or practice cuts - I don't know about y'all - but when I cut something with my Cricut I often have to so a second cut cuz the size is wrong -

Idea 2) Envelopes for the cards I make and am encouraging myself to SEND vs Store and thus increase the STASH

So my youngest is at camp for 3 weeks and I try and mail a card to her almost everyday. Thats a good way to bust my STASH!!!

Here are 4 quick cards I made with the DCWV Green 4 x 6 mat stack, SU! kraft and SU! sahara sand cardstock.

This last one I was in the ozone I guess when I cut the base cardstock cuz it was 6 x 4.25 (instead of 5.5 x 4.25) and it won't fit in a normal A2 envelop so I made an envelop with my Expression and the Wild Card cartridge. I am putting the paper inside out so the printed side is on the inside and it will look like a liner and the outside will be white and easy for the post office to read.

Thansk for stopping by! I'm sure I'll have lots more cards over the next few weeks -

Andrea

PS note to self - another big crafty goal is to make a SB page!!

Another Crochet Purse

2010-06-20T20:23:00.001-04:00

I love it!! This is my latest crochet purse and I gotta say - my favorite by far! I don't know if y'all are like me - but most of the time I don't really "love" what I make - I tend to see what I could a /should a done differently that would make it better. But this one - I love. I used it tonight for the first time and it works great - right size - light - pretty -

I seem to not be able to follow patterns. well - I mean I know how and all but somehow when I get involved in a pattern my brain just veers off and starts down its own path and before I know it - I'm way off what the designer intended. Which is fine - once you are somewhat familiar with the craft and know what you're doing. Not so fine when you're first starting out with a craft which explains why I didn't like some of my earlier purses.

So after making several earlier purses - I had an idea in my head that turned into this one - I didn't use a pattern - and unfortunately I didn't write down how I did this one because I think I'd like to make another one with different colors. But maybe I can figure out how to get "close".

I did have a pattern that I mostly followed for the rose flower. Its from Fashion Flowers to Crochet by Darla Sims published by American School of Needlework. Isn't it cute?

Thanks for stopping by! Till next time - Andrea

Turtle Father's Day Card

2010-06-19T22:52:00.001-04:00

I had so much fun making him....Isn't he cute?

So I got to use my new toys!!! The other day I purchased Make The Cut software for my Cricut. I was playing around and found a coloring book of a turtle and altered it a bit and it was so easy to cut it out! Originally I was intimidated by the thought of the product - but let me tell ya - its soooo super easy!

So then my dear friend ,and enabler :) Eleanor, (I am sooo glad she did ) sent me a link to a great price on a Cricut Expression and I caved and bought it. It arrived Friday - oh my! What an awesome machine - lots of great features vs the baby bug I had. So I had fun with Wild Card making some envelopes and cards (I'll show you another time) . I can see myself really utilizing the machine now!

The Father's Day phrase and the grass was cut with the Wild Card Cartridge...ribbon and cardstock and green fiber and circle punch are from my massive stash. Card dimensions are 3.5 x 6 and yup - it fits in a standard card envelope.

I hope y'all have a happy Father's Day. Thanks for stopping by!

Andrea

Quick post - little blog candy EDITED TO ADD GONE TO NATCHA

2010-06-15T09:22:00.001-04:00

Helloo!!! Quick post today - does anyone like the Ranger Distress Stickles? If so I have 3 bottles to send your way - or the first person to contact me anyway LOL.

I love stickles! Mainly cuz I love sparkle and glitter perhaps. But I don't feel the love for distress stickles. I tried 'em - so yeah one of the bottles is slightly used. I don't like 'em. The glitter doesn't get the same coverage as their regular stickles - which is a "duh-" moment for me cuz its DISTRESSED!

Back later this week (hopefully)
Thanks for stopping by
Andrea

Second Card post today!!

2010-06-13T20:45:00.001-04:00

So here I don't post for weeks and then do it twice in one day - I promised a friend that I'd post this card and I'm afraid the week will get away from me and I won't get a chance...course I bet there is a way to prepare posts ahead but I haven't figured out more than the basics here...

Here is a card for Sharon, my SU! rep and dear dear friend. I used my fav set - Friends 24-7.

The inside of the card. I masked the flower stamp so stamp it twice. The flowers are watercolored using the top of the ink pads.

I used the back of the ribbon on the front of the card to hold the check I needed to send her for my last order.

supplies: C/S chocolate chip and pink pirohuette paper. Ink is rose red, certainly celery, chocolate chip (my all time favorite ink color)

Oh and the flower - is crocheted by ME!! I love combining my two favorite hobbies!~!

Thanks for stopping by

Andrea

Father's Day Cards

2010-06-13T18:15:00.001-04:00

So for once I made some cards "ahead" LOL - ususally the day I need a card (despite the massive stash of homemade cards I have) I'm usually scrambling to make a card.

Here are 2 of the 3 Father's Day Cards I'll need.

Here's Hubby's Card

My Father In Law's Card

supplies: I used the new Argyle stamp set from Paper Trey Ink for the front and the inside of the cards. Oh Boy!! Do I love this set - its so easy to line up and use to make your own patterned paper!! PTI does an amazing job of making border stamps.

Don't ask me who makes it - but the Happy Father's Day stamp is from my stash from ages ago.

The little birdie on DH's card is the Stampin Up bird punch - gotta say that is one of my all time fav!! punches!!

Cardstock is SU! soon to be retired Barely Banana and Sage Shadow and the ink is SU!s Chocolate Chip - probably my all time fav ink color (and cardstock)

I liked the argyle set so much that I made a money holder card for my nephews birthday from the supplies sitting on my desk. The birthday packages are a SU! sale-a-bration set and the ink is the soon to be retired Sage Shadow.

Thanks for stopping by!! Andrea

NY City and SU! My digital Studio

2010-06-08T23:02:00.002-04:00

Well it seems like I took another hiatus from posting and this time from crafting. I haven't really had the time to make much of anything worth sharing lately. We did take an awesome trip to New York City with the family. Believe it or not - my camera broke so I only have a few pictures that my DD took. Here we are outside of Wicked.

I just bought SU!s My Digital Studio and tried my hand at my first digital page. I know that the program can do lots more than I attempted. I plan to mostly use the digital program for hybrid projects. I still really love the feel of paper and there is something soothing to me to a paper project.But this was fun to play with and pull together while watching TV tonight with the girls. Any one watch Chuck? They've got me hooked and we're catching up on the past seasons.

Thanks for stopping by! I'm hoping to get some paper time later this week - or maybe go to a yarn store to figure out how to attractively attach the handles to a crochet purse I've made (that is so far my fav all time purse I've made - or anything I've crochet) but more about that later - when its done

Andrea

My Blog has an Identity Crisis!!!

2010-05-12T10:02:00.002-04:00

I love to look at other creative blogs and most of them have one main type of craft as the focal point. Not here - I'm all over the place! You never know - are you gonna get a card, a crochet project or a scrapbook project? Oh and lets not forget one of my newer passions - gift packaging and candy goodness!!

Well today we have some cards and a pretty box to present them. My dear friend, Audrey, needed some thank you notes. So I used a template for a card box from Lauren Meader's MyTime Made Easy - and the title is sooo true - super easy to put together!

The carstock is all SU! - the green is their retiring Mellow Moss :( This has been one of my go to colors since I got into paper crafting. The pink is Regal Rose. I used a spellbinders tag, some ivory ribbon, a Just rite horizontal stamp for the name and the SU! embossing folder for the dots.

You can't see it in the picture but there is a pink divider in the box so the envelopes have their own "place" as do the cards. Wanna see some of the cards?

I love the SU! set Friends 24-7 and seem to use the brocade flourishy image all the time - here it is clear embossed. Here is the inside of the card

Here are a few more I made for her. Not sure why I end up "reinventing' each card and can't make a few that are similar - but it was fun!!

Thanks for looking - who knows what I'll post next LOL - I'm making my DD some bday gifts for her 15TH so after I give them to her (Sunday)I may post them

Mom Mini Album for Sounds Easy Voice Recorder

2010-05-01T10:03:00.001-04:00

Here is the Mom album I made for the Sounds Easy Voice Recorder booth at CKC Manchester. See my post below - or the link in the left hand column if you want to see the picture tutorial.

I used the basic "tube album" directions with a few tweaks along the way that I will describe in this post.

Here is the cover. I used patterned paper from Prima - Iron Orchid designs - the Steel Toe Maray Jane collection. The pretty flower on the cover is also from Prima. The green lace was included in the paper kit as well. I stamped the title and used my Nestabilities to cut the label. I made the flower leaves by using a paper punch and embossing "veins" with an embossing tool and sponging the edges with SU! Regal Rose ink.

Here is where this album differs a bit from the basic tutorial. I decided to make a "flap" over the open edges. Judy was going to use this album to hold some memorbelia and I wanted to make it was super secure.

You can see in the picture below that I attached a piece of coordinating cardstock into the opening of the back cover. (TIP: I made the flap big enough so that it would wrap all the way to the front of the album when it was bigger than now - you know - when you've added tags and pictures the album gets a bit fatter). I used velcro dots to keep the album closed.

This is the inside of the front cover and the first page. I decided to cover the opening/pocket of the front cover. Simple to do - I took a 3 x 6 piece of paper and scored it at 1.5. I attached it to both sides.

You will notice on both pages of this layout there is a small flower in the lower right hand corner.This will hold the number that will correspond with the audio journaling made with the Sounds Easy Voice Recorder. All you have to do is make sure the correct sound memory card is in the recorder (that also plays back the sounds) and press the corresponding number. So for example if Judy used the number 1 for the page - you would press 1 on the recorder and it would play the journaling sounds that would correspond to that picture/page.

You can also see on the left hand page my new passion of combining my two favorite crafts in one - scrapbooking/paper crafting and crochet!!

In this 2 page spread I also deviated from the standard album by making an extra pocket on the left hand page. It was really easy to make buy just cutting a piece of coordinating paper to the size you want, punching out a 1/2 circle and adhering on only 3 sides to enable the tag to pull in and out.

Here is another "extra" tag made but in a vertical position. I really like making some tags where the pretty ribbon sticks out the top of the album and adds some color and dimension when the album is closed.

Messy desk and all here is another layout in the album.

One last look at a layout in the album. I tried my hand at crocheting embellishments in this book. You can see the circle motif in the right corner with some cute pearl bling.

Here is how I stored/displayed it in this album. I used some 1 1/2 inch wide lace and score tape to make a pocket for the memory card. See how small they are? They are about the size of a camera memory card - very easy to store in the album without bulk.

Thanks for stopping by! Please let me know what you think or if you have any questions about how to make these albums!!

Andrea

Mini Album Tutorial for Sounds Easy

2010-04-28T13:15:00.011-04:00

Mini Album Tutorial
By Andrea Merlin for Sounds Easy

Here is a quick and easy mini album that can easily be made with our stash supplies. To me the best part of this album is the audio journaling created with the Sounds Easy Voice Recorder.

Depending on the paper and supplies you use - you can get a totally different feel to your album.

Here is how to make the album:

Supplies:

-12 x 12 cardstock or heavy patterned paper (I like double sided) – quantity varies depending on size of album

-coordinating cardstock and/or patterned paper

- Ribbon

-Binding: binder rings, brads, ribbon or Bind It All Coil

-Circle punch
- Adhesive - I prefer scor-tape
-bone folder (optional)

Directions:

1. Take a sheet of 12 x 12 cardstock/patterned paper. Have the side you want to “show” facing up.

2. Put adhesive along the entire bottom edge – I run a strip of ¼ scor-tape along the edge.

3. Carefully fold the paper so that the wrong side of the opposite edge gets adhered and you end up with a “tube” of cardstock with the correct paper showing.

4. Flatten and score your edges well – I like to use a bone folder.

5. You will now have approximately 5 ¾ inch by 12 inch piece. Fold and score in half lengthwise at 6 inches so you have a 5 ¾ x 6 inch piece with 2 pages and 2 pockets.

6. Create as many of these as you want pages in your album.

7. For interior pages (not the cover) I often use a circle punch to make a half circle along the open edge. This allows for easier pulling in and out of the tag. But this is optional.

8. I like to bind the book at this time. I’ve found that if I wait and bind it when I’m done I sometimes end up binding the tag inserts so they won’t come out!

Stack your pages together

You may have to trim a few of the inner edges.

Once you decided how you’re going to bind the album – just punch the holes (with a hole punch, crop-a-dile or binding system) and use the ribbon, brads, rings or coils to bind.

9. Cover treatment – I don’t like my covers to have a pocket (not sure why). Take a 6 x 3 inch piece of coordinating cardstock/patterned paper. Score at 1.5 inches and adhere to cover the opening in the “tube”. Trim as needed.

This isn't the easiest picture to see what I mean - but look at the left hand page and see the pink strip? Thats the 3 inch piece scored at 1.5 inches. I wish I had taken a better picture for y'all but I've already mailed the album to Judy at Sounds Easy for the CKC Manchester show.

Also in the Mom album pictures above - I decided to make a flap that goes from the pocket on the back cover all the way over the book and closes onto the front cover with Velcro

Super easy to do - Just take a piece of coordinating cardstock as wide as you think your album will be thick - adhere it well to the inside of the back cover pocket and fold it over to the front and press the Velcro in place.

10. Tags – make as many tags as you have open pockets. Depending on how you adhered your base page together – your pocket size may vary in size a bit. I usually cut my cardstock/patterned paper to 5 ¾ x at 6 inches and trim till it fits right. I put ribbon on the ends of most of my tags to look pretty as they stick out of the album.

11. Have fun decorating the pages and tags!

12. If you're making this for use with the Sounds Easy Voice Recorder you need to put an envelop to hold the memory card. I usually put mine on the back cover. Also, on each page with a sound you will put the number that corresponds with the sound for that page.

The Sounds Easy Recorder comes with an acrylic envelop but sometimes I like to make mine out of paper or in this case - ribbon. You can put a ribbon inside the slot of the card for easy access.

Some ideas for mini albums:

School Days or Teacher Gift• Graduation • Favorite Things • Brag Book • Heritage • Vacation •Birthday • Holiday

Thanks for visiting!! Please drop me a note if you have any questions!!

Andrea

OOOOPs I've been MIA!! More candy goodness and a sneak peek

2010-04-26T11:06:00.004-04:00

Wow - has it really been a month since I've been here ---YIKES! Sorry gang! I've been very crafty and busy but didn't get any of it here :(

I did get back into my first love - scrapbooking - but alas - I made mini albums for others and gave them away - one was to a friend of my DDs that took her to Charleston SC for spring break - and typical me - I made the album the day they left and didn't get a chance to take any pictures. I used a retired SU! kit. I love using coordinating products for mini albums - makes them go super fast.

Here is a sneak peek of 2 that I made as demos for the Sounds Easy Voice Recorder that will be at CKC Manchester this week.

Later this week I"m going to post a tutorial on how to make them - The Sounds Easy folks will be giving out a tutorial handout at CKC Manchester as well.

What else have I been doing? Well I finished the candy boxes for my friends daughers Bat Mitzvah - all 120 of 'em.
I used SU! certainly celery, apricot appeal and rose red cardstock. The photograper took a few shots and once Audrey gets the pictures back - I'll put a better picture here. I used a 4 x5 rectangle, embossed with the SU! dots embossing folder, scored with the scor-pal, taped with scor-tape and a bit of glue dots, filled with candy (fortunately we were able to get the easter candy wrapped in pretty colors on sale) and tied the bows - easy peasys.

Thanks for stopping by!!

Andrea

Passover Crafty

2010-03-28T21:15:00.001-04:00

Another Craft It Wednesday inspired post!!As I figured - belonging to Craft It Wednesday has motivated me to share and/or create.

So tomorrow is the first Sedar of Passover and we will be hosting at our house this year. I decided I wanted to make some Passover specific flower holders for centerpieces. During a Sedar there is ALOT of stuff that has to go on the table so I wanted a centerpiece with a small footprint and was low enough that people could see over.

I love african violets and this was a great excuse to get some new ones!!. I took some matza and broke it and hot glued it together to make a planter...let me tell you a couple of things - it is really difficult to break matza into approximately the same size rectangles - and it makes a HUGE mess!! LOL - crumbs all over the place. Unfortunately - I couldn't find our hot glue gun so I used one of those low heat hot glue guns --- yuck - I don't like them! They asre better for kids to use but the glue hardens so fast its really difficult to get the matza on their fast enough!

I decided to make the second planter from some scrapbook supplies. I really like the bright cheery flowers in this paper. I took some twill and made it Passover Twill. I used brown stayz on ink and the Judaic stamp set from PaperTrey Ink. - I didn't get a picture of all of it - but I really like how it came out!!

So tomorrow - before I cook - I really would like to make another planter - if I do I'll try and post a picture. My goal is to use another piece of the twill I stamped at the same time -some scrapbook paper and maybe to "hot" glue a piece or two of matzo to it.

For those of you who celebrate it - Happy Passover.

Thanks for stopping by! Andrea

Crochet Platypus

2010-03-15T13:40:00.005-04:00

Two posts in one day!! HOLD your seats!!

Isn't he CUTE???

I made him for my DD's friends BDay gift - for some reason - they love the platypus.

I googled and found directions by beavisfreak at craftster.org.

I'm gonna have to make some more of these crochet animals - they are TOO cute - actually - I just started a bird

thanks for looking. Andrea

Growing my Color Scheme Comfort zone.

2010-03-15T12:53:00.008-04:00

Growing my Color Scheme comfort zone has long been a goal of mine. So what better way than to play along with a challenge? I'm also using this for the weekly Craft it Wed. Challenge. A 2:1!

This is the second time I've played along with Stacey's Curtain Call Color Challenge - I love her choices. You can visit her blog at http://www.stampinwithstacey.blogspot.com/

Aren't these colors great? I needed to make a sympathy card and decided to use Thinking of You vs the more traditional with sympathy verse.

I wasn't sure if this challenge is supposed to be SU! only so I made 2 cards.

This first card is all SU!. I used the flower vine from Vintage Vogue with versamark on Barely Banana to make my own subtle patterned paper. I put that on an almost artichoke card. The butterfly is a SU! bigz die cut with certainly celery. I cut 2 and pop dotted the second one for some depth. Again I used versamark to and the vine stamp. The swirly trail of the butterfly is the large (and small) swirl from Priceless (Yes Sharon - if you're here - I DID use that set). The inside of the card is layered with Barely Banana so I can write my letter.

This second card uses the same c/s colors. The stamp is Gina K Designs Spring Floral. I colored it with copics. This is my first Gina K set - and I really like how crisp it stamps. I'm soooo new to copics and don't have a lot of colors. But this was fun to experiment with. I colored the flower with a yellow and pink that I tried to layer so it made an almost orange color - cuz I don't have orange LOL.

I also tried a new to me but ancient technique or piercing the corner and the border strip for some more dimension.

I love these colors - I think I'm going to use a small rolodex holder that I have, the SU! rolodex die and one of my punches (not sure which yet) to make a rolodex file of color combos I like... if and when I start it - I'll post pix.

Thanks for looking!!

Andrea

So a Mini Album" to be" became a Birthday Card for a Friend

2010-03-11T21:36:00.015-05:00

So it all started with some empty boxes of cereal. My Dad brings me his and I save ours. I was looking at them the other day - thinking how much I really missed making scrapbook pages or mini albums. If you've noticed I'm into cards (fast and easy) or crocheting lately.

So I took a bunch of the cereal boxes and the SU! scalloped Sizzix die. And made a bunch of mini pages - a bunch of stuff later from my massive stash - and I had a mini album - well sort a - I decided to make it into a Birthday Card for my friend Lori.

Course - those of you that know me IRL know that I often decide close to a "deadline" to make something - so in typical fashion I decided to make a coordinating box a half hour before I left the house - its "pretty" but a smidge too small LOL

Although the box has some "issues" since its the first I made of this type - I really really really like the way it looks - I love the thick ribbon (which when I first got it I felt was too thick to work with) and the clear sticker is great on the cover. I will be doing this again.

Da Cover

The first two pages - with my personal note in the pocket on the right page.

I like to hide "goodies" in the pockets - like this butterfly.

Isn't that little bird in the cage cute? Its from one of the SU! Saleabration sets - I forget the name and will check and hopefully add it later.

I had fun finding all my "friends" quotes etc in my stash.

Another - pocket - so I "hid" another saying

Ever have a "page" that comes out in a way that you just LOVE - and know you have to repeat again SOON? Well this is the one from this project. The bird is from the new SU! bird punch. Its hard to see but the navy background is dry embossed with a cuttlebug folder. The text is a stamp I've had forever that says Love Live Laugh..and ya gotta love the pearl "bling"!

The ending... I had fun heat embossing with the SU! Vintage Vogue set and some random stash friends stuff.

Have y'all heard of the Sounds Easy Voice Recorder? It allows you to make 30 separate 30 second voice recordings. Wouldn't this have been a perfect album - IF I'd thought about it in time - I could have asked a few of her friends to record a message for her and the recorder that also plays back the sounds would have made a great gift for her. Here is the link to their home page.

http://www.sounds-easy.com/

If you've been here for a while my 7/31/09 post Sounds of Summer shown here

www.mycreativesanity.blogspot.com/2009_07_01_archive.html

uses this product and I love it!!

Ok - I've sure turned this into a LONG LONG post - sorry but I was "excited" to share.

Hope ya'll enjoyed it - thanks for stopping by!

Birthday Card for a Challenge

2010-02-26T09:01:00.004-05:00

So I decided to try some card making challenges. I've never really done them before but thought it would be a good way to step out of my comfort zone and try some new things.

Here is the challenge I tried. Its from www.stampinwithstacey.blogspot.com

What fun colors! I haven't used Kraft much at all so I was excited to try a new color combo. I wouldn't have put these together on my own and I love 'em and will use 'em again!

Jeeze - whats with the blurry photos??? I used the new SU! embossing dots folder and LOVE it!! The packages/gifts are from a saleabration set and are paper pieced. I ended up having to put the flower on the top note because the happy birthday sentiment left a little mark from the edge of the rubba - I ended up liking this little flower so much in real life that I put some on the inside of the card.

I always try and decorate the inside of my cards - not sure that the flowers fit the birthday theme but I loved them...so there they are! They are part of my USE IT UP personal challengs - I used a punch I've had for ages and little green brads that I've had for ages and never end up using ..turns out they almost perfectly match the old olive!

Thanks for stopping by -- hey I've been on a posting roll this week! Andrea

Is it an Afghan or a blanket? It grew!

2010-02-24T09:05:00.010-05:00

My entry for this weeks Craft It Wednsday is a crochet "masterpiece" .

The title sure is appropriate! This started off as an afghan for my DD. I had just finished making a couple of afghans last year that all used one stitch throughout the entire afghan - different stitches for the different afghans but 1 for each individual one. When I started this one I wanted variety - I was kind a bored with using one for an entire project.

So I took a crochet afghan sampler book and made strips of different stitches.

I made a total of 7 stripes. Here are a few of the different stitches I used. It was fun to mix it up!

LESSON learned: I wasn't an experienced crocheter to realize that using different stitches used different amounts of yarn - so I would need way more yarn than in my prior 2 afghans. RESULT - I ran out of the varigated blue yarn before I was done....and of course - I had started the project last year and couldn't find any more this year!!

SOOO I bought some purple yarn that coordinated and made 2 purple stripes. Here is one of 'em.

I then used the purple yarn to make a border around each stripe and single crochet stitched the borders together...actually there is another LESSON here - I didn't measure all the stripes to be exactly the same - sooo RESULT/FIX - I had to add some purple "patches" to some of the blue stripes. Definately makes it look homemade :(

but hey - its still if I may say so myself gorgeous - its huge tho! I had to make some purple stripes to tie it all in together and it sure made it large - which is great for my DD cuz she loves to snuggle under blankets! Thanks for looking

Embossing fiend - First of my USE IT UP challenge

2010-02-23T19:21:00.016-05:00

I finally sat down and made some cards today. My Dad needed a sympathy card and I offered to make him one.

I'm giving myself a challenge - anyone wanna join me? USE up WHAT YOU HAVE!!! Its stuff I obviously liked enough to buy - stop hoarding - use it - enjoy it - make some space for when you find new stuff you gotta have.

Lately I've really been enjoying heat embossing and decideed to start with that today. It can add such a nice touch to a card. Here is an example of the same stamp and clear embossing powder done on 3 different colors of cardstock. I'm thinking I may make a few of these up ahead for those times when I need a fast card - I'll be partly started.

I used the damask stamp from SU! Friends 24-7. If usage is any indicator this is my favorite stamp - it sure is my "go to" stamp! I used versamark ink and clear embossing powder.

This is on the retired SU! "in color" Soft Sky paper

This is on the retired SU! "in color" River Rock

Sorry this card is so blurry - I'm too lazy to go down and retake it LOL but you can see its on SU! night of navy cardstock.

You know what is so funny - I really am OPPOSED to the idea of the SU! In Colors - I despise the idea of "in colors" - the idea of retiring papers/colors - what if you fall in love with the color (Like I did with Pink Piroquette) and then you can't get it ANY MORE!!!!!! - so I refused - for the most part - to get the in colors - except for these 3 - soft sky, river rock and pink piroquette.

So in the spirit of USE IT UP - I used 2 of the retired incolors - but I couldn't , just couldn't touch the pink piroquette yet LOL
Here is a card using the river rock damask background - I also used some river rock patterned designer paper, brown satin ribbon, the new SU! bird punch, SU! tope note die and a nesties tag die. The sentiment is from the SU! Friends 24-7 set stamped with chocolate brown SU! craft ink and clear embossed.

LESSON LEARNED: when you practice on your scratch paper to see how the craft ink will look - move the scratch paper before you accidentally get it on the top note part of your card and you have to make sure to cover it when you put on the tag and ribbon

Finally - here is the sympathy card I made for my Dad. I really like this one!

(Disregard the date - somehow my camera reset itself )

jeez I sure talked alot today!!

Thanks for stopping by! Andrea

Whatcha Making?

2010-02-17T08:46:00.006-05:00

Whatcha making is a good question for this project. It started out as a scarf - not one of those warm winter ones but a delicate one to wear with a solid (boring) shirt to jazz it up.

Those of you that know me IRL know I infrequentely (well - never) follow a pattern when making a project unless I absolutely HAVE to - somehow I just take off and make what comes out -

well in this case I started to make a stripe of pretty shell stitches and decided it was too wide for a pretty delicate scarf. Fine width for a warm winter scarf - but problem - it was in thin bamboo yarn and therefore not gonna be warm...so whats a gal to do? I made another stripe and decided to join them together for a purse... .

I played around with some stitches to make an edging that was lace like and used super large snaps (like the size of a quarter) to hold the purse closed.

Recently I reconnected with a dear friend (hi Jo if you're here) and told her I wanted to make a 3D wall art of various flowers - crochet, paper, felt etc. So I was playing with crochet roses....they ended up on the purse.

This started out as a project that I didn't like too much - I didn't like the scarf - so I re-invented it - I didn't like the two stripes together as a purse - so I added to it - it ended up as a project that I love! I used it yesterday as my purse and really enjoyed it .

Thanks for looking!

P.S. I promise - I will get back to paper soon - maybe even - dare I say it - scrapbooking?

Valentines Day Goodness

2010-02-09T19:32:00.009-05:00

I'm back playing with another Craft It Wednesday!

Today I want to show you some of the Valentine's Candy Gifts I've been making.

First - I repurposed some packaging and turned this container -

Into THIS!!

I used a bunch of left over paper scraps from the MyTimeMade EAsy Butterfly pattern that used their (then) new digital paper. I filled it with Peanut M & M's to give DH for Valentines. The tags are cut with my sizzix Big Shot and an old old die - the brad is a clearance velvet brad from Hobby Lobby and the Love You stamp is an ancient SU! stamp.

Lesson learned/tip - I put all the scraps and "rejected" papers and embellies into a box/bin when I'm done with a project - especially if I think I'll make another project soon that will use the same color/theme. When I get around to cleaning up my space I often put those bins into zip lock bags - I find that way I can just grab and craft w/o having to refind all the goodies.

Here are some drawers I made from the red/black/white/valentine "bin" supplies. The drawer pulls are made from jumbo eyelets and black satin ribbon and little XOXO red ribbon scraps.

Many of y'all know my Dad comes for dinner every week - usually on Tuesdays. I decided last minute to give him some Valentines Goodness - I don't think he even realizes the holiday now that Mom isn't here - He loves pistachio nuts and I picked him up a bag and made a gift bag. I don't know about y'all but masculine projects are a challenge -

I used my scor-pal and scored the c/s every 1/2 inch on both the horizontal and vertical axis (don't I sound so smart LOL) - it actually made it easy to customize the size of the bag since it was scored so much! I cut 2 sheets of c/s about 10 x9. I cut the top border with the new SU! heart border punch and folded it over ata an inch (this picture stinks so you can't really see the details). I just scor-pal taped the 2 sides together and folded the bottom up (that was a bit of a struggle LOL). The handle is just attached w/ heart brads.

I had fun with the tag - I took scraps and made a couple of different sized tags with Happy V' Day (from the dollar bin at M's) and I love you bunches (an oldie SU! stamp) and a heart punch. I decided I wanted it to "swing" so I threaded ribbon through the holes and then put them on circular paper clips and then had all the clips on a clip that was put on the bag ----hard to capture in a picture but CUTE and I will definately do this again!

I was messing around with boxes cuz I'm gonna make a bunch for a friends DD's Bat Mitzvah so I made another candy gift for Dad. This is just 5 x 5 black c/s that I embossed with the houndstooth cuttlebug folder. Score all sides at 1 inch - snip the corners, scor-pal tape up the sides and you have a box top/bottom. Make two and the box is done...e.a. s. y p.e.a.s.y

Wow - I sure did go on and on --- thanks for stopping by and till next time - which better be some V'Day gifts for the dorm - cuz I haven't made those yet!! YIKES - candy bought - check ---ideas on what to make---nope not yet!

To Copic or Not

2010-02-07T16:06:00.010-05:00

So To Copic or Not is the Question - right?

I've resisted the Copic wave for a LONG time - basically due to the cost of each marker - and if we must be honest - I didn't think I had the talent to make them work

Well - to be perfectly frank with y'all - I've always been a SU! kind of gal - I started stamping with SU! (didn't most of us?) and it usually works out that my demos are my good friends (shout out to the former demo and great friend Jo and the current demo and great friend Sharon). I love their coordinating colors and quality of c/s.

So a while ago I had heard that BIC markers were good so on sale a while ago I bought BIC markers

Yesterday I went to the Heirloom Stamp show and picked up some Copic markers - as well as a few on sale over the last few weeks at Hobby Lobby

so today I did a little comparison to see whats up with each type of marker. Let me just say - I have a new respect for those on blog land that can upload pictures that look good and have titles embedded in them - I am soooo NOT techocrafty!! LOL

Maybe another day I'll take better pictures to illustrate my point but here goes.

the image on the far left is SU! - sorry to say I don't like the markers for coloring at all. They are great for coloring directly onto the stamp (rubber or clear) but not so much for coloring...see the streaks and some of those lines were my attempt at shading - not nice at all. If you leave them w/o any shading you still see the streaks. My markers are a few years old and I didn't like the feel to the tips - to mushy.

the middle pix is the Bic Markers. There were some positives to the bics. - They went on smoothly. Easy to stay in the lines. There wasn't any streaking when I colored in a larger spot. But there isn't really any way to blend the shading so it doesn't look like an obvious line.

the far right is the copic markers.
I hate to say it - cuz I resisted for so long - but they are the best way to color. Especially for someone like me who isn't an artist - the color goes on smoothly. Its easy to layer colors. Easy to shade and blend with the lighter color. If you go out of the lines a LITTLe the colorless blender can push most of the color back into the right spot. (ps the title should say copic but when I tried to fix it in paint it wouldn't let me and this was like the 4th attempt and I gave up rather than create a whole new image tee hee)

So the next challenge for me is to be content with the colors I have and not covet lots and lots more shades of copics LOL

Just an aside - coloring with pencils and OMS/gamsol or blender pens is nice too -- but I have a limited selection of pencils and for some reason - for right now at least - I'm prefering the copics.

Thanks for listening if you make it this far - I have a card to post with copics later but its cloudy and grey here and the quality of the photo is even worse than my usual ones....

Note Paper

2010-01-27T17:08:00.009-05:00

Note Paper Holder

The other night I had a bunch of scrap paper sitting on my desk and decided to "play".

I had seen a pattern online for a note pad holder - and I can't for the life of me find either the link or the paper but as soon as I do I'll update this with the wonderfully creative person's website.

I fiddled and folded white cardstock till I liked the result - before I glued it I stamped with SU! Pretty in Pink and the Simple Delights stamp set (is that retired?). I used SU! Pretty in Pink classic ink and scrap hot pink c/s. The ribbon is grosgrain from Hobby Lobby - I'm lovin the thicker ribbon! The text paper you see is scraps from My Time Made Easy Digital text paper. The Friends quote is from SU! Friends 24-7 (another one of my all time FAV stamp sets).

so I've gotten some feedback that y'all like when I post lessons learned in making my project - so here goes

Problem #1: again I should have made my c/s double sided. When I had completed the project it looked pretty on the outside with the pink flourish thingies - but the inside was BORING white

Solution: I took scraps of the text paper from my butterfly project below and used it to line the top part of the inside of the notepad holder. I had another part BORING so I used scraps of the black and white polka dot paper scraps (more MTME digital)

Here are the actual notes. I took some unlined 3 x 5 note cards, stamped them with the floursh thingie. One of my dear friends has been so sick lately and I made these while on the phone with her. I brought the set to her as a quick get well present.

Problem #2 - I don't do a great job of cutting mulitple sheets of paper EXACTLY the same size

Solution #2 - I took my cutter and put painters tape on the spot for the exact length and lined up each piece of paper with the tape - works like a charm

Long term Solution - I ordered the Tonic Guittine cutter from Overstock.com. I have since received the cutter and I LOVE IT!!!! I"ve got a big project coming up and its going to make cutting the paper sooooo easy....Finally - straight lines every time!!

Thanks for stopping by! I appreciate y'all - and just as I hoped - posting here and participating in Craft It Wednesday is encouraging me to be more creative and have more fun!!

Andrea

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge #53

2010-01-24T19:17:00.006-05:00

I decided to play along with a sketch challenge over at The Sunday Sketch Challenge at http://www.kgiron.blogspot.com/

I'm pretty new to using sketches - some folks say it makes them go faster when they make a card or scrapbook page but for me - it seems I get stuck trying to figure out how to follow the sketch and it takes longer for me than inventing what I'm gonna do on my own....so I thought maybe if I practice more with sketches it may help me go faster and make more cards in less time....so here goes.

This year I have a personal challenge to try and use up my stash and/or scraps as much as possible. On my workspace I had a bunch of pieces leftover from the MyTimeMadeEasy Butterfly Template. I love the Pretty Printables and Color Me Pretty digital papers from MyTimeMade Easy - I'm now sold on digital paper!! The heart patterned paper, the gingham and the text are all from MTME.

I also used the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder, Black satin ribbon, SU! curly label punch, an old old SU! valentine stamp set and 2 shades of pink cardstock. Oh and a heart brad from Michaels.

While I was at it - I made these two cards as well.

Thanks for stopping by! Till next time - Andrea

My Time Made Easy Butterfly Candy - My first digital/hybrid project

2010-01-18T17:09:00.009-05:00

My first time participating in this FUN FUN challenge! But not my last!! What a great website

Isn't the new Craft It Wednesday Banner cute?

Today I made some more college candy goodness!! I decided to try Lauren Meaders wonderful My Time Made Easy templates and I also used some of her digital paper - a first for me!!

Here is a butterfly "box" full of York Peppermint Patties for my DD Julia and her roomie!! The template couldn't be easier to use!!! I printed some of Lauren's digital black and white paper onto cheap white cardstock from WalMart - I've never used digital paper before. I'm not sure the cost of ink makes digital paper "cost effecient" but it sure was easy!!

So basically you print the paper (or use patterned you have) put it back into the printer, print the template, cut and glue - easy peasy.

Lessons learned:

1. - for the actual "box " part - I should have made the paper double sided by running it through my printer again on the opposite side - once the box was glued onto the butterfly I didn't like seeing the white inside - so I cut another box and stuck it inside the glued on "box" so the pretty text paper was on both sides.

2. The whole pkg of York Patties was too heavy and the bottom of the wings were not able to support the weight -so I took the whole box apart carefully - traced the butterfly wings onto black thick c/s (I didn't know how to print it so it would show up on the black) and glued the black new wings to the already decorated red wings - the double thickness of the wings worked super!!

Here is the side view - bad pix again :(

I took some of the coordinating butterfly digital paper of Lauren's and using my Cricut and Basic George covered a box of sour gummies to go along. I cut out a couple of the butterflies and used popdots for a little pizzaz. See the bit of red - its my first attempt at using Copic markers - I think I'm gonna try and take a class with them next month.

Best lesson learned - digital/hybrid projects can be FUN!!

Anyone know if the cricut software SCAL that lets you automatically cut Lauren's templates will mess up my new Gypsy? If not - I may just have to get it - cutting out 4 butterflies for this project was ok - but sometimes I want to make a bunch of the same project and hand cutting could get "old"

Thanks for stopping by - hey can you believe 3 posts this week? LOL Andrea

College Sweets

2010-01-17T20:21:00.007-05:00

Some of you know that our eldest DD went to College this year. An earlier post shows you the Halloween backpacks that I made for her friends. Well I made her some candygoodness for her to take to her friends during finals/holiday season. Since I haven't been crafty lately - I thought I'd share them now.

Here is the grouping.

These aren't the best pictures but here are a close up of the Chanukah and Christmas ones (I don't have a lot of choices for Christmas stamps)

And here is the inside.

I'm hoping to make some more candygoodness for the dorm this week..but we'll see.

Thanks for stopping by.

Pocket Money card

2010-01-15T09:57:00.003-05:00

Sometimes it all just comes together quickly - and other times you gotta struggle to find what has to be done to finish a project - don't ya think?

Well this little card just worked out perfect and in record time. I was on the phone with my dear friend Sharon, and SU! rep - and needed to mail her a replacement check (why you say? Well because on 1/12 I mailed her a check for an order and dated it 2009 ---ooops)

I used SU! friends 24-7, pink c/s (the soft pink one I forget which) and some scraps of SU! designer paper.

I measured the length of the check and cut my c/s to be a bit bigger (in future I would make the c/s about 3/4 inch larger than the check so the pocket would work better - I couldn't tape down the sides) .

To make the pocket - I just used my scor-tape to attach the brown patterned paper to the bottom, attached some pink c/s trimmed with a heart border punch and added a thin strip of stamped coordinating c/s to cover the seam.

Easy Peasy!! And I made it real fast while on the phone laughing about my silly date!

I love this one - maybe its the soft pink with the brown - maybe its the bird and the flourish thingie --- whats it called...damask I think?

Thank goodness for craft it wed or I might never get to post -!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Andrea

Charity (Tzedakah) Box

2010-01-05T08:56:00.006-05:00

Here is one of the items I made for Holly for our Chanukah swap. First, let me apologize for the bad bad bad photos!! I think this project is so much prettier IRL (in real life). I should have taken these in daylight.

supplies used:

Paper: My Minds Eye- Organic Glitter Papers

Font - I found an old Hebrew letter stencil a friend mailed me ages and ages ago from IsraelJewish star- a sizzix die cut

label - spellbinders die

beaded ribbon from Hobby Lobbyvarious lace ribbons also from Hobby Lobby (love their BOGO ribbon sales)

papermache box - JoAnn Fabrics/ETC

This box for charity (Tzedakah) was fun to make.

Being a perfectionist - the first one I made had an off center slot for money - so I kept it for myself and made a new one for Holly ---- I should have taken pix of mine to show - oh well - maybe later - if I stop to do it now - I'll never get back to finishing the post LOL

Its been a long while since I've gotten a chance to participate - I'm excited to play along with Craft It Wednesday again!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Gift Packaging - My new "Passion"

2010-01-02T10:11:00.008-05:00

Hello!! Has anyone been home in blog land??? Lets just say the electronic gremlins had a blast at our house in December - both my computer and my youngest DD computers were in the shop - thankfully both under warrranty -so we shared a super slow XP version of windows and with schoolwork taking priority - the ol bloggerooo fell by the wayside...and to top it off ..both my little point and shoot cameras died (well one had help from me when I broke the battery putting it back in...don't ask LOL)

I had great plans for the 8 days of Chanukah - which has long since past - I was in a Chanukah swap at scrapbook.com and made lots of Goodies for Holly - which I can show you over the next few days now that my computer is functioning and Holly has opened her packages

So for today - I'm going to show you my newest Passion - using my papercrafting products and skills to make gift packaging!!

It all started with this one....

I made a minialbum that was too fat
(what a surprise - I over embellished) so I made a box to keep it in. I'll show the album another day.

Then one night while watching TV with the girls I started to crochet a box(see post below) and decided to make one with a handle - this bag holds another gift for Holly - A Tzedakah (charity) box - that I'll show you later

For the box on the right - I took a popcorn box and opened it up - traced it on purple cardstock - stamped the paper - made the box and decorated. The little one in the front I just scored and folded till it was the right size. Inside is a fabric covered dreidle and some fabric covered buttons. I forgot to take a picture :( but I used some Judaic fabric from JoAnn Crafts and the dritz button making kit. I free hand cut a dreidle, put on some batting and covered with fabric. The back was yucky so I cut another dreidle from cardstock and glued it to cover up the back.

During this process - I found a new favorite supply ----RIBBON -

Ever get tired of the cost of gift bags in the stores? Well here are a couple that I made with cardstock, stamps and embellies from my stash.

I got a Gypsy for my Cricut for Chanukah and am hoping to use it to make some more gift presentations.

Happy New Year to y'all!! I hope to be more consistent in blogging

Crochet Box

2009-11-21T10:51:00.004-05:00

Most of my crafting has been papercrafting lately. But I have recently started to crochet again. I'm in a Chanukah swap over at Scrapbook.com and having a blast with it! We are to make 8 items for our buddy - so what does this have to do with crochet? Well I decided I was going to present my gifts to Holly (my buddy) in non traditional ways - no store bought wrapping paper
That wasn't a swap requirement but I thought it would be fun! So I made this little crochet "box". It turns out I'm not going to be using it for Hollly as its not a size that I'll need. Isn't it cute? It was really easy to make. I just crocheted 5 squares of about the same size - actually they are rectangles. Slip stitch the 4 sides to the bottom to make like a "t" and then stitch the sides together. I may make a lettersize one to leave on the desk in our kitchen for the incoming mail I haven't dealt with yet.

Don't forget to stop by Craft It Wednesday! Participating in that blog has really helped me with consistancy and the stuff there is so fun to see!

Finally a LO!

2009-11-11T16:52:00.008-05:00

I'm finally ready to post another LO - I've been doing an amazing amount of paper crafting lately but it seems like I haven't made any SB pages in forever. This picture is really lousy but I'm off to drive carpool in a bit and I wanted to post. Those of you who know me IRL know I'm a messy creative worker and the proof of a messy desk is in this picture - that I failed to cover up with the pink c/s LOL

I got some of this paper at HSN a year or so ago - I think its by 3 Birds? Made the LO really fast an easy - and I love it - I love houndstooth and shimmer - so win win! I made an embellishment from a butterfly in the SU! set Natures Beauty using my new "must have" versamark and embossing powder - black this time. The printed type paper is MM and the c/s is Pink Piroquette by SU! (I miss this color!)

Somewhere sometime I collected a package of transparency sayings and this one just "spoke to me"

Do Not Dwell in the past
do not dream of the future
Concentrate Your Mind
on the present moment - Buddah

Till next time! Thanks for visiting!!

Bella Blu Cards

2009-11-10T20:50:00.005-05:00

I'm loving SU!s Bella Blu patterned paper. I've had so much fun making cards with it....Here are a few.

I think this may be one of my favorite cards! But lately I keep saying that! This card was so much fun - I just kept playing.

I took some lace and sponged it with SU! almost navy classic ink - I used scor-tape to attach it to a piece of almost navy c/s that I trimmed with my new border punch (too lazy to go downstairs and get the name, upper crest maybe?) And then I added some pearl "ribbon" also from Hobby Lobby to cover up the adhesive line. You can't see in the photo but the lace and c/s has a bit of glimmer to it cuz I sprayed it with Frost Glimmer mist. The almost navy c/s mat on the card front is also glimmered. The stamp set is SU! Friends 24-7 which has become one of my most frequently used sets

Here is a close up of the lace border.

Lately - I've been trying to make stuff with the "leftovers" when I work on a project. I end up having so many coordinating stuff laying around why not? Here is one I did with the leftovers from the one above.

I used sahara sand cardstock that I had embossed with a cuttlebug folder. You can't really see in the photo the ivory layer in the border is satin ribbon - I've become a ribbon fanatic!! I decided to try another paper rose (made from apples LOL) and used some Recollections/Michaels bling for the center.

Here is a close up of the rose. I think I like the one on the birthday card better.

Thats all for today!! Thanks for stopping by! Till next time!

Happy Birthday with a Rose

2009-10-30T22:05:00.006-04:00

Do you ever make a project that has an aspect that you just love?

I've wanted to make nice 3D paper flower embellishements for a long time. As a kid I used to make beaded flowers - I guess I've always liked to craft flowers.

I like Prima's but they can get pricey and I end up not having the color I want for whatever I'm working on. So today I made this rose. Its my dear friend Eleanor's birthday this week and here is the card I made her. I'm not seeing her till tomorrow but I assume its "safe" to show here now.

Here's a close up of the Rose - isn't it awesome ?- I know I'm so humble LOL. Wanna know how I made it?

I took a bunch of apple shaped punchies. I put them on a mouse pad and smooshed around with a big embossing tool (I used the Chatterbox Empressor from ages ago) till each apple was kinda cupped - I cut off the stems. Then I made a small circle and put glue dots on it and then I staggered the apples around the circle and kept adding new layers . The center is an inverted apple held on by more glue dots. I kept messing with the "petals" till I liked the shape.

Up to now - these were all white - then I had fun with my glimmer mist - I just kept spraying a bunch of different colors. After it dried - I took some chalk on a pom pom and added a bit of color to the spots that were still white.

The leaves were punched and I used tweezers to run them through the left over glimmer mist on my nonstick mat. Attached with...glue dots of course LOL

Inside is a treat! I think I'm gonna have to jazz up the inside before I see her tomorrow ! Hope you liked this - thanks for stopping by! Till next time!

Halloween Goodness

2009-10-20T19:23:00.007-04:00

I made some cute paper backpacks for my DD to give to her friends for Halloween. I've seen these made on a couple of blogs but here is where I saw them first and is a great webstite for directions and inspiration in general!. http://inkingidaho.blogspot.com/2008/09/start-with-piece-of-cardstock-measuring.html. DD is 19 and typically has no desire/patience for Mom's paper projects - but this one sparked her interest when she saw one I'd made and I'm making 12 for her to give to her college friends...

P.S. If any of you blog readers can help this computer illiterate person - what do I need to do to get the link to inkingidaho to post as a link vs the url?

Ok back to the project - Here are a few of the backpacks made - aren't they cute?

Here is the back with the cute ribbon "backpack" handles!

I've never made stuff in bulk before and decided to make an assembly line - this is the only photo that came out clearly but I think you can see the process.

I used velco dots to close the flap and plan on putting mini candy bars inside the big pocket.

Hope you enjoyed these! Thanks for looking - and if you don't mind - drop a quick comment so I know if anyone's been here LOL cuz I don't know how else to know LOL!!

This has been a difficult post to make - lots of picture loading issues - but I'm so glad it worked - off to watch NCIS with my youngest - our fav show!!!

Andrea

Use it or lose it!!

2009-10-02T22:41:00.007-04:00

Ok I've been a bad blogger!! A month since my last project posting...you know you've been away too long when you have trouble remembering your password. Well - here's to hoping I'm back sooner next time - I'll try!

Why this title? My Mom (may she rest in peace) used to say I deserved to use my "good" stuff for me - she also used to talk about "Use it or Lose" specifically in reference to aging and using one's brain to stay sharp. Sunday would have been her 80th birthday so she's been on my mind extra lately - but hey - you guys aren't here for this!! Except to say - my new approach is gonna be use that nice stuff for me - use it NOW!! Don't save it all for "best" - I'm refering to lots in my life but for the purposes of this blog - for my crafting stuff. I recently moved to a larger space and have my own SB room - and thus have access to stuff I've stashed for years - and guess what - lots of it isn't any good - a couple of ink pads had disintegrated - some rub-ons didn't work too well (but that could have been the brand) and the paper - well lets just say - I'm pickyer now LOL.

So here is (finally) a card I made for Halloween. I am sending it to my sister - but I think I'm safe to post it cuz I don't think she visits here (oops if I'm wrong).

Its a trifold Gate card that I saw at SCS and had to try.

Here is the card closed.

I used Martha Steward stamps I got on clearance at Michael's last year with versamark and SU! black embossing powder. From my stash - ribbon and rubons and the pumkins eyes are triangular bling!

When you open up the card it has several different panels to decorate. I'm going to sign my name and write a note to my sister on some orange cardstock and attach it to the open dotted patterned paper - also from my stash.

This one isn't the best photo but I wanted to show y'all the neat way the card opens.

Thanks for visiting (and letting me ramble LOL). Till next time. Andrea

My Favorite Card

2009-09-05T08:50:00.007-04:00

To date this is my Favorite Card. I sent it to my dear friend and SU! demo who moved away - HI Sharon if you finally made it here!

I used the SU! set friends 24-7, bashful blue and chocolate chip cardstock, ink and ribbon. The top note die, a cuttlebug embossing folder and SU! clear embossing powder.

I embossed with clear embossing powder the brocades from the set to make my own patterned paper. I cut a top note from cardstock and then ran it through a cuttlebug embossing folder. I stamped the bird image twice in chocolate chip ink on scrap white c/s. I colored w/ SU! markers. The secondof the birds I cut out and adhered with popdots. I put glitter on his belly and layered the thinner brown ribbon ontop of the 1 inch thick blue ribbon. After attaching the ribbon I matted my glittered birdie and adhered to my top note. I then stamped brocades on the envelop flap - I love decorated envies! and the Friends sentiment on the lower left.

My new thing now is pretty insides . I needed to mail Sharon a check for my order so I folded the check in half and used the ribbon border like a pocket. The right side is pretty obvious - bashful blue c/s and a quick sentiment stamp.

Sorry if my descriptions are rambling and perhaps boring to some of y'all. I like when I go to blogs and the folks tell me what they used and/or how so I can take a little bit away for me to try. Do you guys like that or not?

Thats all for today! Thanks for stopping by.

Sponged Card

2009-09-01T18:20:00.004-04:00

I decided to try something different today and tried to make a brayered card. Well that so did NOT work. I couldn't get rid of the lines the brayer left. If any of you guys have any brayer tips - HELP!! I suppose in the next few days I'll be stalking YouTube for tips.

So I tried the next best thing. I used SU! sponges and sponged white cardstock with all SU! colors - yoyo yellow, only orange, real red, close to cocoa, and chocolate chip. The trees and birds are from Definately Decorative Pines - a retired SU! set and I inked it with sage green and then took all the different green markers and thumped and generally just dabbed ontop of the inked stamp to give shading of the trees. The ground is a beach/sand stamp from my stash. I used the nesties to cut my label and the sentiment is from SU! Simple Delights.

I like how this looks IRL. Next I want to try a beachy type scene. I'm gonna have to think about the shades of blue to use...ok thats all for now - dinner calls!! Thanks for stopping by!!

P.S. So ok - I really need to find a better way to take photos cuz this looks so much prettier and richer in real life...I'll add it to the list of what I wanna learn - but I may retake this tomorrow when the sun is out - I bet that will help

DVD Project

2009-08-30T16:50:00.011-04:00

DVD Holder

This is about my journey to create a DVD holder for my DD to take movies to college. She has a huge movie collection and the DVD cases took up too much space. She asked me to make something right before moving day. Now I've never created from "scratch" any kind of box or bag etc. I've done lots by following tutorials. Here is the first creation I made - simple and not too decorated as time was short and DD has simple and clean taste.

I of course used my Bind It All to hold it all together. This has to be one of the best tools I've ever purchased. As you cann see here on my blog - I sure do use it alot!

I started off with the paper cd holders. They were not big enough to hold a DVD and be bound with the BIA so I folded the little flap back and decided my holder would have to make sure to have a closed side so nothing fell out.

I used SU! real red and black cardstock. The patterned paper is from my stash (yeah!! I used some!!)

Looks great right?? Well there was a problem. I told you this was my first "design" of anything like this and I forgot to account for the extra space the DVDs would take in the envelops so the project looked nice in the photo above here while empty but it was so big when full that not only did it not close but the BIA rings weren't big enough to hold it. BIA has come out with a bigger coil but I don't have any nor do I have access to a LSS any more :{ and Hobby Lobby doesn't carry the big coils yet.

So time to be CREATIVE!

Here you can kind of see what I'm talking about - see how "fat it is"? Well I split it in two and decided to use 1 coil in the center to hold two mini holders on each side.

I then used the same cover I had already made for the holder before I realized how much room the DVDs take. I made another one just like it and attached it to the other side. I used velcro to hold the flaps closed.

The finished product! I took a piece of SU! chipboard to make a base so the DVDs wouldn't flopa round. SU! chipboard is nice and thick. I painted it black with some Plaid paint from M's and dried it with my heat gun. Then attached the holder with Scor-tape to the bottom.

I decorated with the SU! top note die (another tool I absolutely love), the SU! curly label punch and a Dream stamp from my stash.

Hope you enjoyed this long winded post!! Thanks for stopping by.
Off to link to Craft It Wednesday http://craftitwednesday.blogspot.com/2009/08/week-6.html

Graduation Mini Album

2009-08-19T17:43:00.008-04:00

Wow - I didn't mean to be away from here for so long. Life got in the way and I didn't create anything to share. I hope to be more consistent after next week. This weekend my eldest DD goes to college.

Just a quick update on the Sounds of Summer Album I posted earlier - I was one of the winners of the Bind It All Challenge - how fun is that!!! I won a Display It All to display my album! I can't wait to get my new sb room set up so I can put it on a shelf.

On to todays post. I made this mini graduation for a friend whose son is going off to college - Hi Judy if you're here!

Here is the front cover. Again I used my Bind It All to make the coils and hold it together.

the paper is various school papers I've collected and I don't really know the manufacturers.

I love to make these 6 x 6 albums. I call them "tube" albums cuz I fold a piece of 12 x 12 paper into a tube and crease with the overlap in the center. You end up with an opening on each end. For the covers, I close the opening but as you'll see below, I often make a pocket out of them.

I learned how to make these albums several years ago at Scrap-a-faire an online class by SB Etc. Unfortunately I didn't record the name of the teacher. If any of you know, drop me a line and I'll give her credit. I've searched and can't find it.

I made a 2 page layout for each year of high school. Each LO has its own pullout tag inside one of the pockets to record additional photos or memories.

also, I included a few nonspecific layouts.

This is my first album for a boy so I tried to keep it pretty clean and simple.

Thats all for today and probably the week. Happy Crafting y'all.

I'm off to link this to the craft it Wednesday blog. It was a great idea for me to join that blog because weeks like this one - it forced me to take a second and post.

http://craftitwednesday.blogspot.com/

Cards

2009-08-05T18:25:00.007-04:00

I started this blog for a couple of reasons -some of which are to be more consistently creative and to broaden my crafting horizons. I thought it would help me to try some challenges. So today's post is my version of a sketch from My Time to Create from Lauren Meader at her blog http://laurenm.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/ but I don't know how to post the example here. Sorry!!
I used SU! bashful blue cardstock, SU! Friends 24-7 , scraps from a K and Co pad, SU! bashful blue ribbon and my stash of navy ribbon, a random Dream stamp I had but don't know who made, versamark, SU! clear embossing powder, SU! punches - oval, curvey label

Here is a second version of the same card

On this one I put a strip of the patterned paper on top of the bashful blue ribbon and I used the designer label SU! punch as well.

Now my next challenge to myself is to actually MAIL some of the cards that I make!! Do you guys collect cards or send them?

Thanks for stopping by!

Andrea

Sounds of Summer Bind It ALL Album

2009-07-31T17:29:00.029-04:00

I just uploaded an album that combines several of my scrapbooking favorites - the Bind It All and the Sounds Easy Voice Recorder.

Lately I seem to be mostly making mini albums - and there is no better way (IMHO) than with the BIA. I decided to participate in my first ever challenge on the BIA blog - a mini album on Summer.

So - I documented some of our favorite Sounds of Summer by recording the pictures AND the sounds with the Sounds Easy Voice Recorder. (See my first post for details on how easy the system works).

Here is the cover. I painted one of the BIA 5 x 7 chipboard covers with lime green and throughout the album used Die Cuts with a View Extreme Paper stack for patterned paper. The solid cardstock is Stampin Up! The sun is a scalloped SU! punch covered with flower soft (great stuff) with google eyes and a rhinestone smile. I'll probably add stickles to the title letters tomorrow. I like my BLING what can I say!

I wanted to use lots of different sizes and shapes in the album. The numbers on the bottom right of the page correspond to the sound captured on the Sounds Easy disk. The disk is stored in a pocket on the last page that you'll see later if you stick around that long.

Here are the first 2 pages of the album.

On page 1. is a picture of my DD (when she was much younger) swimming in the pool. The sound corresponding is a Rascal Flatts song Summer Nights.

2. The neighborhood dogs having a "play date" while taking a walk. The sound recorded is them barking and playing.

3. These are some beautiful flowers I passed one day in the beginning of summer. I haven't picked which country song I'm going to record here yet. My DDs are helping me pick.

4. I had a great time with the Green Stack by DVWV on this page. I'm not sure how well the details show up here - but there is a tiny bird in the tree that I cut out of their paper and covered with stickles and crystal effects. The tree trunk is felt. The sound here is the birds that are singing and chirping in our yard.

For brevity I didn't post pages 5 and 6. They are of my container vegetable garden and the ferris wheel at a carnival.

7. One of my favorite places to be -the beach! I really like all the senses at the beach - the hot sun (well for a while anyway LOL), the feel of the sand on my toes while I'm sitting in a chair reading a book, the sounds of the waves crashing on the beach and the endless horizon over the ocean. I tried to capture the visual. The sound recorded is the waves crashing. For the other senses - we'll just have to use our imagination!

8. Sleepovers -what summer is complete with out a bunch of sleepovers!! I didn't post the LO due to the already long length of the post and I don't really like how that page came out LOL

9. 4th of July

Fireworks have become a tradition for us. My DH really enjoys his fireworks and so do we! This year we stopped at Phantom fireworks and got a wonderful selection for 7/4/09 We also set off fireworks at New Years. The sound will be of the fireworks themselves. We actually didn't make a recording of the sounds at 4th of July (cuz I wasn't thinking of it) so we are going to have to set some more off one night to capture the sound - which is just one more chance to have some fun .

10. What summer is complete without a trip to the ice cream place? Brewster gives dogs free ice cream so the layout is of our Max eating a cup of ice cream. I haven't figured out a sound for that one yet - ideas?

11. A road trip our eldest and I took to NC and Tennessee on the way (in a long about we're on vacation so we don't want to go the direct/fastest route possible way) to pick up our youngest from camp. The song is one we listened to a lot by Kelly Pickler

12. Bike rides. My husband and daughters have really enjoyed riding bikes during the summer evenings. Again, I will record a country song for the sounds - I'm just waiting for them to pick one and will update when they do

13. In June my Dad and Iwent to New York city with the girls. We had a fabulous time! Frequently Dad would sing NY NY and we'd all laugh because no one knew the next line of the song (till we used the Itouch and looked it up). So of course the sound on this page is ....Dad singing New York New York!

And finally - the back cover. I used a BIA acrylic 5 x7 tabed page
for the cover. Page 13 is on the flip side. I used double
sided paper on the road trip page that gave the blue
background and found the flower paper in my stash. I punched a hole in the acrylic with my Crop-a-dile so the ribbon could thread through to the other side. My DD has been cleaning out her room and I took a
denim skirt from the go-to-charity pile (I know I'm sorry
- some poor kid is without a skirt because I just thought
this pocket was too cute to resist)... If you open the pocket - you'll find the disk for the Sounds Easy with all the fun sounds of our summer.

If you've hung till the end - THANK YOU for stopping by!

Sorry for all the extra spacing - I'm having a learning curve here -the spacing doesn't show up as I type only when published. I'll fix it when I figure out how LOL

Stop by the Bind It all Blog http://binditall.blogspot.com/ to see more great albums!

Andrea

Enjoy the Journey

2009-07-30T21:38:00.003-04:00

The title of this blog is so true! Crafting and using my creativity keeps me grounded and sane. There is something about it that is soothing and relaxing. I decided to make myself a personal scrapbook - just for me - of things that I find meaningful at the time. No set theme -no set subject or pictures - just create a page that needs to be created.

This is one of the newest ones for this album. I went through my scraps and picked out some of my favorite papers and ribbons. I had a lot of fun with the weaving. I know there is an easier way - for example - tape all the vertical lines to the table and weave in and out the horizontal - but I didn't do it that way which made it more challenging LOL!

I had a lot of fun glimmer misting the flowers - the large one is Bazzil and the small blue one is Prima and the black glittery one is Making Memories. Glimmer Mist is my new FAV sb item!!

I also really like the the Anna Griffin lace corner don't you?

I signed up to participate in the Craft It Wednesday blog. I know this is a day late but I'm going to link you guys to there since I just found out about it today!

http://craftitwednesday.blogspot.com/

Thanks for vising!

Till next time....

Thats it for now!

I've taken the plunge!!!! Sounds Easy Page

2009-07-27T16:00:00.001-04:00

I've been thinking and talking to friends about creating a blog - and HERE IT IS!! Why should I create a blog was a question I pondered for a long long time.

Answer: I've really enjoyed looking at blogs on the web for inspiration and pleasure. So I wanted to "give back" and join the fun.

Why not do it? Well - cuz in no particular order - In no way does my stuff compare to the blogs that inspire me. And because I craft in spurts and I might have long times without anything to add. And because I don't think anyone will visit.

Why do it? Well here is my answer to the above - Don't compare yourself. Because that only makes you lose. Enjoy the process and have fun - even if its a party of 1 (me)

So here we GO...............My first Creative Sanity sharing.

I was fortunate to create some samples for an amazing new company - Sounds Easy Voice Recorder - to take to winter CHA. I love this product. It allows you to record 30 separate audio - yes thats right AUDIO - recordings that are 30 seconds long. This has forever changed my scrapbooking. Not only can I document the visual (photo) memories I can now document the audio memories. The recorder uses interchangable memory devices. The chip (much like you have in a digital camera) is stored in a tiny envelope in your album. When you look through the album, you put the chip into the Sounds Easy Recorder (it records and plays back) and play the sound corresponding to your page. Easy and AWESOME!

Once this computer illiterate new blogger (AKA me) figures out how to post a picture I'm going to show you a layout I made for Sounds Easy of my DDs Bat Mitzvah (she will kill me for having her picture here so if you know her don't tell LOL).

She and I wove her Tallis (prayer shawl) and I made a color copy of it to use as my background paper. I recorded her chanting the Torah from the DVD taken during the event. The number 29 in the lower right hand corner is the corresponding number for the Sounds Easy.

If you've made it this far - or been here at all LOL - thanks!!

Andrea