~By Shasta~

"Twilight" inspired altered cigar box

2011-12-04T13:57:00.001-08:00

My first post in soooooooo long! I have been out of the crafty groove for a while, and am happy to get back in the saddle again :)

I went to Joann's the other day and bought the Immortal Love DCWV stacks, and decided to do something with them and these cigar boxes I had lying around...

The first thing I did was paint the box black with acrylic craft paint, then Mod Podged the papers onto all sides, using the matte finish and a sponge brush. I didn't take pics of these steps, sorry.. The next thing I did was applied some Martha Stewart Fine Crackle Medium to the top of the box over the Mod Podge, and rubbed a bit of Barn Door Distress Ink and pearl glaze in the cracks and wiped it off. Then I attached some PTI black twill ribbon to the outside of the spine for stability with Glossy Accents.

I purchased a few flowers for this project, but they weren't fitting the idea I had in my head, so I decided to create my own! I used individual flowers in white and red from the Michael's Recollections brand. Here is the first flower, plain white.

Then I inked it up with Tim Holtz Black Soot Distress Ink, using the inking tool and a blending sponge.

The next step was to use a hot glue gun and folded the first flower in half, and then in half again, to make the samllest center 'bud'. Once it was folded, I rolled the base between my fingers while it was still a little warm to mold it.

Then I used the glue gun and added the next layer, also rolling the base to mold it to the smaller center.

Then I added the third flowwer, and repeated the same steps.

One it was all glued together, I fluffed and shaped it to how I wanted, and snipped the pointy base off of the bottom so it would be able to sit a bit more flat. I also inked it a bit more, so none of the white was showing where the flower had been folded over and the back of the petals showed.

Next I sprayed the whole thing with a mixture of Perfect Pearls powder and water.

Once it was dry, I adhered a American Crafts pearl brad to the center. I snipped the prongs off of the back side and used hot glue.

I repeated the same steps for a red flower. Here they are, pre-inked.

I used the same ink, the Black Soot...

Folded and rolled the center...

The second layer...

And the completed flower. This one had a few more layers since I used the sheer flowers too, but was made the same way.

I also sprayed it with the pearlized water, and adhered a half pearl for the center.

Here is everything attached to the box! I used my two assembled flowers, some black sheer ribbon tyed into a bow, and a heart stick pin from the sewing department of Joann's. I used a jump ring to hold a heart charm by Tim Holtz on the pin, and some tiny roses (sprayed with the pearlized water) and a rhinestone flourish, both from the Recollections brand as well. I attached it all with hot glue. The feet of the box are by Tim Holtz too and I used Glossy Accents to attach these.

I used Mod Podge and the same papers for the inside of the box as well.

This turned out so wonderfully, and one of my closest friends is purchasing it for her 14 year old daughter for Christmas! She is a Twilight fanatic, and is going to be so excited :) I have a few more of these in the works, and hopefully will list them in my Etsy Shop soon! It's empty right now since I haven't been crafting in a while, but hope to change that real quick.

Thanks for stopping by, and happy crafting!!

School swap stuff...

2010-10-02T10:52:00.000-07:00

Two swaps in a row? It has been ages since I did a swap, and forgot how fun they are ;) This one was a school theme, and we could make anything. A tag, a journal block, an embellishment, whatever. I dug deep for this one! I decided to make a journaling card, and a library tag seemed like the perfect fit.

I used these two $1 stamp sets, I believe they both came from Michael's awhile back. I used the stars in yellow, the A+ in the scallop circle in red, and the 'good work' inside the circles in black.

And these inks..

I cut the pockets and tags using the Coluzzle system. It came with the template to cut both pocket and tag, as well as the cling stamp for the tag. I bought it years ago, probably 8 or 9, and it was still in the package! Of course I HAD to have it back then ;) It's nice when you can go shopping in your stash!

The pocket is plain black carstock, and I cut pieces to line it from the DCWV Grade School stack. The tags are plain white cardstock, and so is the decorative strip on the front. I used an EK Success punch for the edge, Binding Edge.

I am really pleased with how these came out! I usually have a tough time coming up with an idea, but these came together fairly quicly. Love it when that happens ;)

PTI Inspired...

2010-09-22T22:22:00.000-07:00

I love, Love, LOVE Papertrey Ink stuff :) Love their products, love their designers, love it all! I was browsing the site last month and came across this set of cards that I had to try making. And as much as I would have loved to order the stamp set, I had enough leaf stamps in my stash to make my own version! I used a bunch of misc. stamps; Hero Arts, $1 stamps from Joann's, and the one on the far right is also from Joann's, but don't remember the name.

These are the ink colors I used...

First, I inked up the stamps directly from the pads, spritzed them with water, and then stamped randomly all over the paper. I wanted it a bit more watercolor-like, so I did the second round a bit different.

I applied the ink to my craft sheet and then spritzed the craft sheet with water. Then, using the sheet as my 'ink pad,' I inked up the stamps that way. I got a bit more variation in the colors, and more control over the water.

I wasn't planning on doing two pages, but I had enough ink left on my craft sheet to do another one :)

This set of stamps is a Martha Stewart set, with each flower having an outline and a solid image that match. I stamped the solid shape first, with a spritz of water on the stamp, then the outline in the same color without water. Not sure how I like it, but it may look better when cut up on the card :)

Each piece of 8 1/2" x 11" paper was cut into 8 pieces, 2 3/4" x 4 1/4".

I mounted the cut squares onto cardstock, and sewed around the edges with my sewing machine. I also inked up the edges with some Tim Holtz Tea Dye ink with the blending tool, added the ribbon, and then it was all ready for a card base!

I haven't added any sentiments yet, still working on that part! But I am leaving tomorrow afternoon for the Seattle 3day Breast Cancer Walk, so that will have to wait ;)

More bookmarks, can you guess the theme...?

2010-09-12T11:00:00.000-07:00

I decided to make some more bookmarks, and these came together pretty easily once I decided on the embellishment!

I knew I wanted to put an apple on them, but couldn't decide if I wanted a charm, and brad, or something else. First I tried stamping a bunch of apples and colored them in with inks, then covered them with Crystal Lacquer for shine. But when they dried (and I waited overnight!), they were a bit lumpy and the red just wasn't the right color. Then I decided to see if I could find the EK Success apple punch after seeing it used on some cards, but after THREE trips to three different stores I still couldn't find it. I was wandering around Michael's trying to find something else that would work, but I didn't want to spend too much since I needed 24 of them.

I came across this pack of 24 brads (perfect!), but half of them were green. But they were 40% off so I bought them anyways, thinking I could come up with something to do with them! I started by painting them all red, even the red ones, so they would all match. I just used some plain acrylic craft paint. Then when that was dry, I used a bit if some Making Memories clear glitter glaze over the top. I still needed them to be shiny, but was too impatient to wait for more Crystal Lacquer to dry... So I decided to use some good old UTEE, Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel!

The apples needed 4 coats of UTEE, and after doing 4 or 5 apples, my fingers were getting a bit tired of holding them with tweezers, so hubs came to the rescue with a pair of vice-grips, and after that it was a piece of cake! They clamped on the brad prongs with no tension, much easier ;) It was a bit time consuming to do 24 of these puppies, but they turned out so pretty!

Then I just cut off the prongs, and adhered them to the bookmarks with a foam dimensional, easy peasy :)

Now let me tell you a bit about the bookmarks themselves. I love this technique, is is such a dramatic effect for so little work! I started with printed paper, approximately 2" x 5", and matted it with black cardstock. I went around the edges with my sewing machine, and then matted them again on red cardstock. I did this so the stitching wouldn't show on the back ;) I punched holes, and then added eyelets. Once they were all assembled, I stamped various background stamps on them with Versamark Watermark Ink. I used a few different flourishes, and a music score background.

After that, I heat embossed them with clear embossing powder, then went over that with some Tim Holtz Distress inks in Antique Linen and Tea Dye. LOVE the inking tools and foam applicators, I use them so much!

The final step was to add some more sparkle ;) I sprayed the whole thing with a mixture of Perfect Pearls powder and water, and dried it with the heat tool. The ribbon went on last, and all done!

Guessed the theme yet??

Did you know...??

2010-09-05T11:57:00.000-07:00

...That the Seattle 3day Breast Cancer Walk is only 19 days away??

Did you know that there are TONS of things that the friends and family members of a 3day Walker can do during the event?? If you live in the Seattle area, there's lots to do and I would LOVE to see your smiling face! :)

Did you know that you can write letters to 3day Walkers and we can pick them up at our very own 3day Post Office?? My first year doing the 3day in 2008, one of my team members, Dyona, wrote us all letters and it was so special to go pick up such happy mail :)

Dyona and I, 2008

Did you know that all 3 days you can join other supporters and cheer on a Walker at one of the designated cheering stations?? These stations are literally lined with hundreds of smiling faces, and it is an awesome site to see. It is such a boost and helps to re-energize our tired muscles to keep walking!

Cheering station, 2009

Did you know that you can come support Walkers at the Closing Ceremonies?? Memorial Stadium is easy to find, and plus being able to see pics taken by friends and family from their perspective is pretty cool :)

This was our team in 2008, "Saving Jenny's Jugs" :)

Kim, Calie, Me, Dyona and Matty

Did you know that there are hundreds of handmade signs and pictures posted along the route for us to see?? Some are drawings by children in crayon, some are fancy with glitter, but they all are works of art :) It is so special to see a sign with your name on it with some encouraging words! My friend Angie made a sign for me and another Walker, Lori. It was a great surprise after seeing all these other signs, and then to see one that had OUR names on it!

2008

All this info and more can be found in the Spectator Info. The info here is for Seattle, but the info for all the other 3day cities can be found there as well. Here is the direct link, or read on below...

Before the Event

Getting ready for the Susan G. Komen 3-Day for the Cure™ is a big job. Here are some ways to support your participant before the big day arrives.

Write a letter expressing your love and support to your walker, which we’ll deliver to him/her on the event. Send letters to:

3-Day for the Cure
ATTN: INSERT NAME OF PARTICIPANT
P.O. Box 31609
Seattle, WA 98103

Envelopes only, please. No boxes or large packages. Mail must be postmarked no later than September 14 in order to ensure delivery at the Komen 3-Day for the Cure Camp Post Office. Please note: This address is not the actual location of camp, but a PO Box for mail delivery only. Any mail that is not received by the 3-Day for the Cure by the date above or retrieved by the participant by October 10 will be destroyed.

Organize a group to host your very own private cheering station. (Contact smooney@event360.com for more information.)

Organize a group of Camp Angels to assist participants with setting up and striking tents and unloading gear. (Contact dnelson@event360.com for more information.)

Help raise money. Ask your participant how you can get involved in her/his fundraising plan.

Join your participant on a training walk.

Opening Ceremony

The Komen 3-Day for the Cure begins early Friday morning with the Opening Ceremony. When you arrive, take a moment to write the names of the people in your life who have lost their lives to breast cancer on the white ribbons we will provide. Those ribbons will be used to create a special memorial flag that will be raised during the ceremony.

This celebration is not just for participants. Friends and family are highly encouraged to attend, though please note that seating will not be available, so if you are unable to stand for 30-60 minutes, you may want to bring a folding chair. Please allow extra travel time due to expected traffic congestion at the site.

After the Opening Ceremony is over, participants will begin walking the 60-mile route and start a journey of a lifetime. It will be even more special if you are there to help send them off with smiles and encouragement. We'll also have the Shop3Day.com™ store on site if you'd like to purchase a souvenir for yourself or your participant.

Friday, September 24

60 Acres Park
15200 NE 116th
Redmond, WA 98052

Schedule for the Day:4:00 a.m. - Crew members should arrive.5:30 a.m. - 6:00 a.m. - Walkers should arrive.6:30 a.m. - Opening Ceremony begins with community stretching.

Directions:Please enter Sixty Acres Park off of NE 116th St. from Willows Road.

Cheering Stations

Public cheering stations are a great way to show your support along the route to encourage walkers and let them know that you are with them every step of the way. Seeing familiar faces cheering them on can provide that extra burst of energy that gets them to take that next step or go the next mile. Create banners, hold up signs, bring some music and make some noise - anything to make them smile, get energized and keep walking.

Friday, September 24

8:45 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.Red Robin    21215 Bothell-Everett Highway, Bothell, WA 98201
12:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.Silver Lake Shopping Center    112th St. SE and 19th Ave. SE, Everett, WA 98208

Saturday, September 25

8:30 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.Jackson Elementary   3700 Federal Ave., Everett, WA 98201
11:45 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.Fluke Corporation 9028 Evergreen Way, Everett, WA 98204

Sunday, September 26

10:45 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.Cal Anderson Park    1635 11th Ave., Seattle, WA 98122

On some portions of the route you may find some areas that are deemed “quiet zones” which will be indicated by signage on the route. Please assist us in respecting our neighborhoods and communities during this time.

Camp

Our campsite is meant to be a special place for your participants to relax, reflect and bond with the 3-Day for the Cure community. To help us maintain a safe, secure and organized campsite for your loved ones, we ask that you respect our “no visitors” policy. Also, if you wish to call your walker or crew member on their cell phone, please do not call after 9:00 p.m. “lights out,” when camp is a quiet zone.

While at Home

Capture the 3-Day for the Cure in the news: While walkers are taking steps to end breast cancer, save any media coverage of the 3-Day for the Cure. Aside from being a nice addition to your participant's 3-Day for the Cure memorabilia, it will show his/her impact on the community.

Engage the kids in the cause: Since holding down the fort may include taking care of the kids, you can make this time meaningful by connecting them with the breast cancer cause.
Have them create signs or decorations if they are able to go to a cheering station.

Have them create a welcome home banner.

Give them journals so they can write or draw what they’ve been doing for three days.

Have them plan a welcome home meal or put together a care package with goodies, movies, comfy slippers, etc.

Use this as an opportunity to talk to your kids about community, helping others and making a difference in the world.

Closing Ceremony

After three days and 60 miles, participants will take a final and incredibly emotional victory walk into the Closing Ceremony. Friends, family and supporters should arrive at the Closing Ceremony site at least one hour early to get the best view of the program. We encourage you to carpool or take public transportation. Not only is it better for the planet, but it will help lessen traffic congestion for everyone.

All walkers and crew members should remain in the Participant Holding Area where they will receive a victory shirt, cheer on fellow walkers and crew members and celebrate one last time together before their dramatic victory walk. The Participant Holding Area is CLOSED to spectators. If you wish to meet with a participant before the Ceremony begins, please have them meet you at the Closing Ceremony site. All participants must return to the Holding Area no later than 4:00 p.m. in order to join the victory walk.

Don't forget to continue the spirit of kindness we'll be building on the 3-Day for the Cure throughout and beyond the Closing Ceremony!

Sunday, September 26

4:30 p.m.

Memorial Stadium at the Seattle Center
501 5th Ave N
Seattle, WA 98103

Directions:
From I-5, take the Mercer Street/Seattle Center exit (exit 167). At the first traffic light, turn right onto Fairview. At the next light, turn left onto Broad Street. Turn right onto 5th Avenue. The main entrance to the stadium is located on 5th Avenue North. Visit http://www.seattlecenter.com/transportation/directions.asp for a list of alternate directions.

The Seattle Center offers thousands of parking spaces within a short distance of Memorial Stadium. Please visit this link for a list of parking locations in the area: http://www.seattlecenter.com/transportation/parking.asp. You can also find information about bus and monorail options there.

After the Event

Your participant has participated in two emotional celebrations, a challenging 60-mile journey and a life-changing experience in just three days. Now, it’s time to go back home. Here are some tips on how to help your walker make a smooth transition back to their daily routine.

Have a welcome home meal prepared and make it an evening of rest and relaxation.

Encourage your participant to share the 3-Day for the Cure experience.

If you can’t attend the Closing Ceremony, be sure to ask how much money was raised!

Unpack, clean and put away gear.

Share the newspaper articles or news footage that you’ve collected over the weekend.

The following day, give your participant a massage or schedule a day of pampering at a spa.

In the days to come, help your participant write thank you notes.

Print pictures and assemble a scrapbook.

Help your participant plan a reunion party to keep in touch with other walkers.

Get ready to do it all over again! Maybe you’ll be joining the 3-Day for the Cure in 2011!

Boxed card set

2010-09-04T10:39:00.000-07:00

I found another cute tutorial the last few days! Crafts by Beth had a boxed set that I used for inspiration, and the box tut can be found HERE.

I added the clear cover by scoring and folding a piece of transparency to fit, slightly larger than the dimensions of the box. It fits like a lid, just covering the top and sides.

I have no idea what brand of paper this is, I just had it in a box with a bunch of other miscellaneous papers. I used a Close to my Heart set of stamps for the white flower and stem on the front, which were heat embossed as well.
I left these cards blank of sentiments, so they can be used for anything.

Supplies used:

paper, cardstock, embossing powder: misc
stamps: CTMH Treasures
ink: Papertrey Ink Fresh Snow
die: Papertrey Ink butterfly
other: flower centers for antennae and rhinestones from Michaels

More coffee cozies

2010-09-03T08:46:00.000-07:00

I just love this fabric! I got it in a pack of fat quarters at Joann's a long time ago, and the colors are just so cheery :) The tut can be found HERE

Recycled fruit snack box

2010-09-01T12:51:00.000-07:00

I saw this cool video project yesterday and had to make one! It's from StampTV and is a decorated box made from Kleenex boxes, cereal boxes, etc,. I decided to make mine a 2 compartment box, which I made from a large fruit snack box that was cut in half. I modified the dimensions to fit my box, and instead of putting individual panels of the patterned paper on each side, I wrapped strips of it around the box instead..

Here is the video, which is in three parts, 1, 2, and 3.

...And here it is filled with some miscellaneous stuff I had sitting on my desk!

Post-It Notes

2010-08-24T11:33:00.000-07:00

These little cuies are fun to make, and take no time at all ;)

This Post-It Note tutorial can be found here, and the pens are from Staples.

For these next ones, I used Neenah cardsock in Solar White, and stamped them with Memento inks. Most of the stamps are PTI, Through the Trees, Up, Up and Away, Turning a New Leaf, All about You, Vintage Labels, Borders & Corners - Circles. I randomly stamped the images all over the paper to make the pattern, then cut up the paper.

This tutorial can be found here.

These ones were done the same way, using the Believe stamp set from Verve and this stamp set from Stampendous.

File folder 'wraps'

2010-08-23T10:44:00.000-07:00

I have started on a few Christmas projects! I was inspired to make these from a tutorial I found on http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/, here. I bought the file folders already decorated from Staples, and am going to add a few other embellishments later. They fit a junior legal pad (they are 5" x 8") perfectly, which I also got from Staples. The folders come in a 12 pack with 3 different styles. They are patterned on the outside with a coordinating solid inside. I got a black/white set and an orange/red set. You can see what other patterns they have here. I used Scor-Tape and Velcro dots to complete the project, I love Scor-Tape ;)

I got these 2 other packages of different patterns to work on later.

Some crafty tutorials that may come in handy...

2010-08-21T18:04:00.000-07:00

I came across these today and thought I would put them out there in blogland to share ;)

I found the first one on http://www.acherryontop.com/ and it shows how to use Martha Stewart border punches in a few nifty ways! Check it out here

The next one is one my hubs found and shared with me from http://www.thegaragegazette.com/. It is a useful little bit on how to make your own shelves for pegboard, which is pretty clever! It is here.

I don't have any stuff of my own to share today, but lots of stuff in the works. I just haven't taken the pics yet! It shouldn't be more than a few days though :)

Holiday projects and a couple of cards...

2010-08-09T21:13:00.000-07:00

Yep, I said holidays ;) It's about time to start getting ready already!

I get the Weekly Inkling Newsletter from Splitcoaststampers.com and this project came from there. It is a corner bookmark, and the tutorial can be found here. There are tons of great projects in this newsletter, it's a good one!

The stamps are from Gina K, and are from the Lovely Labels set. They fit perfectly with the Nestabilities dies I used to cut these out with, Labels 9. The sentiments are from the Many Wishes set. I used PTI cardstock for the bases to make them sturdy and scraps for the rest.

Since the first set is so clean and crisp, I decided to go with a more vintage, distressed feel for these ones. It uses one of my favorite stamp sets, Through the Trees. I started by putting a few colors of Tim Holtz Distress Inks on my craft sheet and then misted them with water, and then inked up the samps. I used 2 different shades of brown for the trunk and a yellow and 2 greens for the leaves. Since the stamps are two seperate images, its not difficult. Then I inked the edges with a blue and a brown ink to soften up the white paper. The sentiment is also in this same set.

These next cards are ones I made awhile back, but never got around to posting. This sunflower stamp was my first time using copics, so it was quite a learning experience! Not to mention a serious pain to cut out, but oh well ;) The round doily shape is from Martha Stewart, and the stamps (the round border and sentiment) are from PTI.

I am not big into flower stamps, but I had to to have this daffodil set when it came out! This is pretty PTI heavy, the stamps, the dies (except the ovals, those are Nesties). I just love their stuff so much, but my wallet? Not really, lol.

I am not sure if I have I posted this one before or not. The background is embossed and inked with Distress Inks, and the flower is colored with copics and cut out. The sentiment is from Hero Ars, but I can't remember where the flower is from.

Ready for Christmas??

2010-07-25T11:03:00.000-07:00

I decided to start my Christmas crafts a bit earlier than I did last year. I started in August and was in such a rush, and since it was my first season doing Craft Fairs, I made a bit of everything. This year I am going to focus on a few less items, so here's my first ones.

I posted some wrinkle ribbon I made the other day and here is the first project I used it on. I got this stamp set at Joann's recently and wanted to make some treat tags for those homemade goodies people love to give! I went with a more distressed, vintage feel since the ribbon is kind of like that. I grouped a few of the stamps on the block together and stamped all the tags at once to make a random background. The back of the tag has the "to:" and "from:" stamped as well. These are just plain manila shipping tags from the office supply store, and are about 3 or 4 inches long. I rubbed some Brushed Corduroy Distress Ink on the tags and the sentiments in the circles, which are also stamped with that Fiskars set. Then I popped them up with foam dots and tied the ribbon and some twine on the tag, and all done ;)

These tags are die cut and stamped using the PTI Friendship Jar stamps, and I love these. I inked them up with some Antique Linen Distress Ink and colored them with Copics. An eyelet and some twine finish them of nicely ;)

Next up are some money/check holders, and giftcard holders. I saw this one here and decided to make a few like it. I winged it on the dimensions, and just got out a dollar bill and made it to fit. I think it is 9 1/2" by 3", and folded into thirds, and then scored at 3" and 6". The front flap I cut about a 1/4" off and then used the edge punch. The inside of the front flap has a piece of white cardstock matted on a piece of green cardstock. The green piece is big enough that the bottom edge just peeks out from underneath when the card is closed. I adhered the ribbon first on the inside, and then put the matted pieces on top.

The sentiment on the front is cut with a Nestie (Labels 1) and the border is stamped with a PTI set called Vintage Labels that fits perfectly. The papers are from an Imaginisce pad, and the Sweet Stack by DCWV.

These ones I did a bit different. I wanted to embellish them with the same papers that they were made out of, and I had pile of scraps left to use up.

This first one, I punched a strip of the same paper to make the card with an edger punch, and made a flower out of it! The rest I used whatever embellies I had close at hand to dress them up a bit. Some were made with paper some with other flowers I had already assembled. The tags are stamped with the same Fiskars set as the treat tags above.

These are smaller holders for a standard plastic gift card. Again, I just winged it and measured a giftcard I had to make them. I believe they are 4 1/2" wide by 3" tall.

This pic shows the inside, which is the same as the insides of the larger money/check holders. I used a large oval punch to cut a portion of the lower flap out and make it easier to see the card, and also get your fingers in there to get it out.

Wrinkle, or Crinkle, Ribbon

2010-07-23T13:33:00.000-07:00

Have you seen it? It is popping up on a lot of blogs and message boards I read lately, and I decided to try making it myself. One of my favorite bloggers uses it all the time, and there are tons of sellers on Etsy that make it, but that's no fun!

I found a tutorial here, and bought of the rayon seam binding here, and got started!

This particular tutorial uses Glimmer Mists, and since I don't have any yet, I used my good ol' standby instead: Tim Holtz Distress Inks and water. First I sprayed the ribbon (I did these in 4 yard increments) with water in a bowl and mixed it around until it was wet but not saturated.

Then I spread some of the ink on my craft sheet and sprayed with water.

Then I added the seam binding! I had a plastic glove on so I wouldn't make too big of a mess ;) Surprisingly after coloring almost 100 yards of this stuff in about an hour, I was still pretty clean!

Then just toss it around a bit!

When it is colored to your satisfaction, mound it up into a small pile and swipe it around to pick up the last of the ink on the mat, and then set it aside to dry. I would put it on something non-porous, because anything porous or paper will absorb the water and ink from the ribbon.

Here's my nice little collection, growing steadily ;)

Here is the rest of what I made, and the colors I used. The roll of seam binding that I bought was 100 yards, and each color I made was 4 yards. I made 23 colors, so that was 92 yards, give or take, not bad for an hour's work, huh?

I let it dry overnight, and in the morning it was just about dry. I fluffed each pile a bit and let it dry for a few more hours, and then it was good to go. I will post pics soon of a project I made last night using the red pile, stay tuned! ;)

More flowers

2010-07-21T19:37:00.000-07:00

I posted my pink flowers the other day, and here are my Boy and Neutral flowers for the swap I am hosting.

For the Neutral ones, I found some random text and put it in a pretty font in Works, and printed it on plain copy paper. I adjusted the margins a bit so it would print as close to the edges as I could make it, and then justified the edes to make them even on the right and left sides. I used a 2" scallop punch and needed 5 layers per flower. After all the punching was done, I crumpled them all up with my hands and then stacked the scallops in groups of 5. I wanted them to have leaves too, so I made them out of felt. I just hand-cut some leaf shapes with a slightly long end. I cut a bunch of rectangles, about 1" by 3", and cut the leaf shape on one end. The other end was just left square, since it would be under the flower and out of sight. I stacked the scallops on top of the leaves, and stapled them together, easy peasy :) The final step was to ink them up a bit with some Tim Holtz Antique Linen Distress Ink.

Then just add buttons and twine! I had to make about 10 of these for this swap, but I had some extras. These ones are for me, so I made them pink :)

The neutral ones I made with brown buttons.

For my Boy group I decided to make crocheted flowers. I tried out a bunch of different patterns before I found the on I liked best.

These two were pretty, but a bit large for what I needed, so in a drawer they will go for a future project!
Here is the pattern for the flower on the left, and the patter for the one on the right.

This one I can't remember where the patten came from, but it was huge and took awhile. The other 3 were too tiny, and so they didn't quite make the cut either.

I found these and they were super quick to make and easy. The pattern is here. Somehow I made one with 6 petals, not sure how that happened ;)

I decided that they needed a bit sprucing up, even if they are in the 'boy' group. So again I decided to use twine, but I paired it with rhinestones instead of buttons. I got a bag of these at Michael's, I think they are 10mm in size.

I added a dab of hot glue and then the twine, then the rhinestone. I did this all on a Ranger Craft Sheet, since they are heat resistant and non-stick...

But also because after the flowers cool and I removed then from the mat, the glue would be nice and flat on the back.

Pretty Pink Flowers

2010-07-20T14:53:00.000-07:00

I started a swap on a scrappy board for the first time in ages! I am so into flowers that it just sounded like a good idea to have that be the theme. I signed up for 3 groups, Boy, Girl and Neautral. These are the ones I made for the girl group.

I made these out of a pink t-shirt material, so they are super soft cotton. I cut them using Papertrey Ink's scallop border dies. I ran all three sizes through my Cuttlebug at once, so they have varying sizes of scallops on the edges.

Some of them didn't cut very cleanly, but I think that just adds a little fun to them ;) After that, I gave them a little stretch, so they curled up a bit.

Then I got some matching thread and gathered the straight edge like this...

Once all the fabric is gathered, then I pulled the thread through, but not too tightly, and secured the end with a knot.

The reason you don't want to pull it too tight is because the next step is to bring the edges together to form the flower. Secure the edges that meet with another knot.

Then I took the raw edges and stitched them together once or twice. This way they won't come apart and the flower will not separate.

For the centers I chose to use white buttons and some twine (more on the twine at the end!). I tied the twine in a bow on the back of each button after threading it through the front.

Hot glue has long been a staple in my crafting, but I haven't used it in a while! Just a little dab in the middle for the buttons...

And all done ;)

I made 12 of these babies in a bout an hour, not too shabby!

Now abou that fiber...

I found this seller on Etsy, Wind Rose Fiber Studio, and got a fabby deal on this twine, which is a favorite of mine. Can't you tell? :) And since I got such a great deal, I don't have to worry about being stingy with it! I got this huge ball of twine, all 225 YARDS of it, for $1.20 plus a few dollars for shipping. See that spool on the left? That was for the 20 yards of twine I ordered from Papertrey Ink for $5 plus shipping. Now, I love me some PTI, but I just go through this twine so fast! I thought 20 yards would last forever, and it just didn't. If I had to snip off a 1/2" and toss it in the trash, it made me sad, so no more worries about running out for a while ;)

Friendship Jar stamps by Papertrey Ink

2010-07-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

I loved these stamps the minute I saw them, an just had to order them! They are just so cute, and very versatile. I saw a card using this similar layout, and it was the first one I wanted to make with this set.

Cutting out the individual flowers was a bit tedious, but I only had to do it for four cards, so not too bad ;) I also always keep my Stampin Up! dimensionals handy, and don't toss the sheets when all the dots are gone! They come in handy for cards like this, when you need itty bitty pieces.

I colored the stems in with Copic markers, YG93, YG95, and YG97. The yellow centers were with Y02, Y04 and Y06. I went along the outside of the the yellow and the lines down the petals with C1. Then I stamped the 'water' in the jars with Versamark watermark ink.

I learned this trick, but I think it was Karissa, a fellow cardmaker and retreat-er, thanks Karissa! It works nicely for wrapping ribbon around cards. I used to use a small (1" I think) circle punch until I finally broke down and ordered this slot punch. When the card is folded in half, slide the punch onto the folded edge and punch. Only punch a sliver of the edge, not a big piece. This way, the hole is hardly noticeable.

This stamp set comes with a bunch of sentiments, and coordinating dies, which I LOVE! I really dislike having to hand-cut things, and this makes it so much easier. It fits perfectly, and the edges are nice and smooth.

Recipe:

stamps: Papertrey Ink, Friendship Jar
ink: Memento in Tuxedo Black, Versamark Watermark Ink

cardstock: Neenah Solar White

misc: kraft cardstock, ribbon

For that hot cup of coffee...

2010-07-15T22:14:00.000-07:00

I found this easy tutorial here, and decided to make a few. Super fast, and super cute, especially in this Heidi Grace fabric. Love her designs, adorable.
I used wool felt in my Cuttlebug, with my Stampin Up! butterfly die, and then hand stitched the butterflies to the coffee cozy. Then I hot glued rhinestones on, and all done. My great Aunt Julie loves hers ;)

Sneaky little crafter...

2010-07-15T21:50:00.000-07:00

My 5 year old daughter loves to craft with me, and one of the things she likes to do best is punch paper. It keeps her busy for the longest time, and I can spend some quiet, crafty time with her ;) Specifically, she loves my Marth Stewart butterfly punch, and I have given her an all-access pass to my scrap drawer. She can punch her little heart out on anything in that drawer, and that drawer only.

I was in the living room folding laundry, and she asked if she could go punch, so I said sure, go ahead. After a few minutes of quiet, I peeked around the corner to see what she was up to, and this is what I saw...
Is this not the guiltiest look, or what??

That is because she had decided to get into my drawer that holds all my 8 1/2 x 11" paper and punch with it instead. So as soon as she saw me come around the corner, she dove behind the drawers to hide, lol! See the black drawers that look like a 2 drawer filing cabinet? The bottom drawer is what she was getting into, the stinker!

I asked her what she was doing, and she came back out and showed me her pile of butterflies. She had got out about a dozen pieces of paper, all different colors, and punched them all... Just once. Once in the corner with that itty, bitty, butterfly punch!

"See, Mommy, aren't they pretty?"

And here she is putting all those papers into the scrap drawer for next time. The drawer she was supposed to be playing with in the first place ;)

Cards and a box...

2010-06-25T19:14:00.000-07:00

I have been reading this blog called "Wizard's Hangout" for a while, and was inspired by all the boxes she makes! I winged it on the dimensions, so no measurements for you, sorry. I used an 8 1/2" by 11" sheet of white cardstock for the base and part of another for the lid. I basically figured my envies were going to be the standard 5 1/2" by 4 1/4" and I wanted it to be 1" deep, so made the template to fit. The lid was made with the same measurements, only adding an 1/8" to make it slip over the top of the base.

I also am just so in love with this stamp set from PTI, "Turning a New Leaf" and keep wanting to use it over and over again.

Also these little flowers are so cute and easy to make, and I made a bunch. I found a free printable poem online, and changed the font to something swirly, called Vivaldi. I put it in Works, and kept copy and pasting until it filled the page, and also changed the margins so it printed as close to the edges as I could make it. The last thing was to justify the edges so it was even all the way down both the right and left margins. I was able to cut 15 scallops on each piece of paper using a 2" scallop punch, and each flower used 4 layers. The felt is just free-hand cut into leaf shapes. Then I stapled the flower layers and leaves together with Tim Holtz's Tiny Attacher, love that thing!

I used a new (to me anyways!) Martha Stewart border punch, and a sentiment set from Hero Arts for the greetings.

Recipe:

twine: Papertrey Ink
stamps: Papertrey Ink, Turning a New Leaf
ink: ColorBox Chalk ink in French Blue, Memento in Tuxedo Black
cardstock: Neenah Solar White,
punch: Martha Stewart, Double Loops
misc: felt, black cardstock, buttons, black ribbon

Teacher's Gift

2010-06-16T11:09:00.000-07:00

I made this little 'purse' for my daughter's Kindergarten teacher. I almost kept it, it turned out so nice! I have been admiring THESE cards by Jennifer McGuire forever, and I ordered the stamp set for it just to make them. I found the purse here, but modified it to fit my cards, which are 5x7.

I made the box out of a 12x12 piece of cream cardstock, and then stamped the leaves all over it. I used the same pattern as the link above, just changed the measurements to fit my cards. The score lines are at 2" and 10" on one side, and at 5" and 7" on the other side. The 3 green pieces (two end flaps and enclosure flap) are all 8" x 2", and the 2 ribbon pieces are approximately 14" long. I used a 2 inch circle punch and a slightly larger scallop punch for the medallion, and another PTI set for the loopy border.

Now on to the cards! Some of the handmade flowers I already had, some I made on Monday afternoon. I had fun hunting for just the right crocheted flower tutorials, and ended up finding a few that I liked.

These pink felt flowers are from a PTI die set, Beautiful Blooms #2, and then I sewed the pearl beads on. The purple crocheted one is from here. I loved this video tutorial because it went step by step, and I was able to pause it and do a few stitches, and then watch some more. Very good tutorials, and she has LOTS of them. If you are familiar with crocheting and know what the stitches are, then you can follow along very easily. If not, then she has lots of videos showing stitches too! The fabric flower is cut with the same PTI die set (3 layers of the largest flower) from some fabric scraps I got at Joann's ages ago.

This crocheted flower is from here, the 4th pic down (Coreopsis Flower), and the felt pink one is another PTI die, Beautiful Blooms #3. The orange one is the first one of these I made with some scraps, and glued some pearls into the center.

These two crocheted flowers were from the same tutorial as above, but I added a 6th petal to the white/pink one. The other one is also one I had leftover from another project.

This orange one is from this tutorial, and the pink one was from the one above. The felt one is another PTI die, Beautiful Blooms #1.

The leaves were all stamped with Memento Ink, Bamboo Leaves. The sentiments were from 3 different sets, these, these, and these.

Yummy breakfast 'muffins'

2010-06-13T22:38:00.000-07:00

I have been trying to introduce my husband to this thing called nutrition, and it is a slow, slow process. He loves all things bad for you, like chips, top ramen, snack stuff. He will willingly eat good stuff if I cook it and put it in front of him without much complaint, but when he is left to make the choices himself? Well let's just say he reverts to his old habits!

He works very early and gets up around 3:45 AM to be at work by 5 AM, so he is long gone by the time I wake up in the morning. I can't tell you how many times I have walked into the kitchen to find a plate in the sink with the remnants of a corn dog and tater tots, or fish sticks, or macaroni salad, or something else bizarre to eat at 4 AM! He would rather cook this in the microwave than make a bowl of cereal, or toast, and egg or two, or oatmeal, which is what I typically have.

I had a chat with him this morning over breakfast, which was yummy breakfast burritos, love them! I told him I have been noticing his breakfast dishes in the sink. ...And with neither of us getting any younger, maybe he should make better breakfast choices? Oh, and by the way Honey, I love you ;) I got nothing other than what I expected, however. A slight narrowing of the eyes looking at me from over the rim of his raised coffee cup, which was stopped half way towards his mouth, lol.

But, after 17 years together, we are pretty much past the "I can't say what I really mean because it makes us uncomfortable" types of conversations, and are more into the "this may sting a bit, but I say this out of love" types instead. After all we're both grown-ups, right...? I know he wasn't exactly thrilled with this topic, but he is smart enough to realize that #1, it's the truth, #2, it's a good idea, and lastly #3, I am right ;)
Sadly, knowing all this he was not happy with the options I provided him! So after having a lazy Sunday and going through the fridge this evening pulling out the leftovers for dinner, I had an idea. We had some leftover ground spicy breakfast sausage from this mornings burritos, a few slices of bacon from yesterdays BLT's, and we just bought a bunch of eggs today. The perfect fixings for a yummy breakfast! Plus, my friend Tammy and her teenage daughter had been making a breakfast casserole on the weekends to eat all week long, when they are in a hurry and running out the door in the mornings. Have you ever seen these on Rachael Ray's TV show? I loved the idea, and have wanted to try them, but just never got around to it, so that was my inspiration. Simple, portion-controlled, and yummy, perfect!

I tossed a couple chopped potatoes in the micro, and started sauteing an onion on the stove. When the potatoes were mostly cooked, I added them to the pan to brown them a bit, and added some salt, pepper and garlic. I layered the potato and onion mixture first, added some thawed and drained chopped spinach, then the leftover sausage and chopped bacon.

I topped it off with a bit of shredded cheddar cheese, and then poured on the eggs. I mixed up 18 eggs and had enough stuff to fill my muffin tin twice!

They baked for 30 minutes at 375 degrees, and were done perfectly. Aren't they pretty??

Now my wonderful husband has 24 of these babies to keep him from going hungry at 4 AM. Should last him for a few days ;)

Blog candy!

2010-06-10T09:14:00.000-07:00

On Kathy's blog HERE!

Cute little craft!

2010-06-05T21:06:00.000-07:00

These first pics aren't so hot, because they are from my phone, but Adrian is such a cutie pie even in bad pics ;)

She asked me today why she didn't have any headbands, so I whipped one up. I had a few fat quarters of fabric that all matched, so I used three pieces. One for the flower, for the leaves, and for the band. I don't have any specific measurements, because I just free-handed it all ;) I will try to describe it as best I can!

This one is better, I took it on my regular camera.

Flower:

I cut a strip about 4 x 11, and folded it in half so I ended up with a long strip (roughly 2 x 11, wrong sides out). I sewed along one short end, down a long end, and then down the last short end, and folded it right side out, and top-stitched over the same 3 sides again. Then I used a needle and thread and put a wide gathering stitch in the raw edge, and pulled it tight and added a few stitches to secure it. I hot glued the button on top, and all done!
Leaves:
I cut 3 leaf shapes out of 2 pieces of fabric placed back to back wrong side out, and sewed along the sides leaving the bottom edge open. Then turn them right side out and top-stitched the same sides, and then gathered and secured the raw edge, just like the flower.

Headband:
This one was a little tricky! I cut 2 strips of fabric off the end of the fat quarter about 2 inches wide. They ended being roughly 2 x 11, and I sewed them together to make one long strip. This was approx 2 x 22, and then folded it in half (wrong side out) to make a 1 x 22 inch strip, and sewed along the raw edges to make a tube. I had a little trouble turning it inside out, but my hubs saved the day! He went out to his garage and finding me a piece of wire about as thick as a coat hanger and made the end hooked for me. It worked great! I fed the wire through the tube, then hooked the fabric on the end hook, and slowly pulled it right side out.
Assembly:
So all the parts were done, and the elastic was the only thing I really measured, and I just wrapped it around Adrian's head and cut. No idea how long it was! I put a safety pin on the end of the elastic and fed it through the tube, and then sewed then ends together by hand. Once they were sewn, I let the tube kind of adjust itself around the elastic, and then just hid the to raw ends of the tube right under the flower that I sewed on last, easy peasy!

My latest flower creations!

2010-06-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

How do you turn plain white cardstock into gorgeous flowers? Let me show ya! I found these VIDEOS the other day, and I used the technique in the second one, since I don't have any Glimmer Mist. I cut a bunch of flowers using my Cricut and the George cartridge (the flower on the bottom row almost to the end, with the shift button and the shadow blackout button pushed), enough to make 12 flowers. So 24 large, 24 medium, and 12 small shapes.

I colored them using Tim Holtz distress inks, 2-3 colors of ink per flower. After spreading the ink directly on a craft sheet and spraying water mixed with Perfect Pearls powder, I just swiped the flowers around in the mix. This is what they looked like after I crumpled them up and let them dry.

I assembled them and put either pearl beads or rinestones in the middle, and here they are. Aren't they pretty? I think so too, but they needed one more step...

I painted some Glossy Accents on the tips of each petal and then shook on some Diamond Dust. They now have a 'sugared' look, so very cool!

These are so fun to make, and I will be doing more! This set is in my Etsy Shop and the sale will be going to my 3day walk fundraiser ;)

Inspired by Hero Arts

2010-05-12T14:30:00.000-07:00

So I found this card yesterday while browsing the Hero Arts website, and just loved it. I also just bought two new Hero Arts stamps (here and here) and was itching to use them! This fabulous card used them both, so it was perfect for me to lift ;)

First I got out all the heart stamps I could find, other background stamps, Tim Holtz Distress Inks and tools, and white embossing powder. I stamped various images with Versamark ink and heat embossed with the white powder on a few sheets of white cardstock. Then I took my ink blending tool and shaded them in with the inks I chose.

These are the colors of inks I used

Blending tools and foam, LOVE these babies!

Most of the heart shapes I cut out by hand. Then I punched some of the background images with 2 small heart punches. I used my Cricut to cut the rest. I loaded the paper on the mat, and used Doodlecharms, George, and Doodletype to cut out a bunch of different sized hearts.

For these, I used the Centerpoint feature. I centered the blade over the sentiment and then cut out the heart, so the word would be in the middle.

Here are all my hearts after I cut them with my Cricut, punched some more and hand-cut even more!

I used my Nestabilities Labels 1 dies to cut these out. I used the largest size, so it would almost cover the front of a 4 1/4" square card. I cheated and just cut a little off of a 4 1/4" by 5 1/2" card. I stamped the ledger background and then used the ink blending tools again to soften the edges.

Here is what they look like when I started putting them together!

The original card had rhinestones, but I don't have a lot of small ones so I used some dew drops instead, and adhered them with a drop of Glossy Accents. BTW, I found a tutorial on making your own here, may have to try that!

I made 8 total, a few blue, a few orange and a few pink.

These were fun, and came together fairly quickly after I had all the hearts ready to go. One nice thing is that I didn't use them all, so now I have a baggie of extras to add to other projects later!

If you haven't played with Distress Inks and the blending tool yet, you are missing out!!

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T09:45:00.000-07:00

Every day should be Mother's Day! I have to brag a bit, because I was contemplating this very thing earlier today...

I got up bright and early this morning, at 5:30AM, and was enjoying the quiet before the kids woke up and went for a 3.5 mile walk. It was so pretty, and I had laced up a new pair of shoes. Love Asics, they are the best! But I digress...

I decided to go without my iPod this morning and just enjoy the peace and quiet of a nice sunny morning, no traffic, no noises, just peaceful. I let my mind wander to what the rest of the day was going to bring. I baked a dessert last night to take to my dad's house for dinner with the family, I was going to come home to a nice breakfast my dear hubs cooked for me, and hopefully the kiddos would behave themselves some what today!

Even though it is hard, I try not to have high expectations for holidays or other special occasions. Not only is it unrealistic, but then it can lead to days like this and then I am doubly, even triply, disappointed. You think, gee, it's Mother's Day, the kids are going to be good today, right?? Or, it's Christmas, they'll be good for sure, because it's a holiday!

I have learned the hard way that sometimes it doesn't matter what day it is, and that they will be absolute stinkers on holidays, or perfect angels on a random Wednesday or Saturday. But even if they don't behave, I will still have a good day. I will still be thankful that I am a Mom. And I will be extra thankful for the other parent in my house, which is the whole reason for this rambling post.

I am lucky enough to have the best husband in the world, and even though it is Mother's Day, I am going to praise him because he helps me be a better Mom. As I am sitting here typing this sipping my coffee, he is in the kitchen doing the dishes. He does them every day. He takes out the trash and cleans the bath tub. He cooks dinner and he tells me I am beautiful. And he does it every day, not just on Mother's Day.

Best of all he knows how to read me like a book, and this is what helps me the most. When I am tired and getting cranky, he will usher the kids into the other room and give me some quiet. If I am stressed and going to blow, he says "It's time to go outside to play!" and off they go so I can have a few moments of peace. When I need a break and want to go on a retreat for four days twice a year, he doesn't complain. He just kisses me when I get back and asks if I had a good time, and helps me carry in all my stuff. And then cooks me dinner ;)

He does all this for the kids too. He takes them to the school activities I miss while I am working evenings and nights. He gives them baths and brushes their teeth, and they are all ready for bed when I get home. He takes them to the park every single day. He finds them books, toys, and all kinds of fun stuff at garage sales and of all places, the RE Store. He reads them stories when he would rather be reading a book. He even walks our dog at least 3 times a day, and he doesn't even like Jackson that much. One of those times is before he goes to work, at 4:30 AM every weekday. He is just that kind of guy. He does all of these things without hardly complaining at all.

Now that is not to say he is perfect by any means, because none of us are. He is just perfect for me. And I certainly hope that he can say the same for me.

So to me, every day is Mother's Day ;)

Easter cards and 3rd graders...

2010-05-06T12:42:00.000-07:00

My son's teacher asked me if I would be interested in doing a crafty project with the kids one day, and I of course said yes! It was the week before Easter, so I decided to make some Easter themed cards. I brought supplies for a generic card with flowers instead for anyone that didn't want to make one for Easter, but had no takers. They all wanted chocolate bunnies!

Speaking of bunnies, I had no cart with the right shape, so made one. Super simple in Design Studio!

They didn't need any feet since they were going to be tucked into a basket, so easy-peasy!

I used the Doodlecharms cart and cut out the baskets, and then snipped some Easter grass into smaller pieces.

I glued the grass to the back of the basket and then a scrap piece of paper to sandwich it all together.

Here's all my pieces. Baskets, bunnies, stems and flowers, and some stamped eggs.

These pics are from my camera so not super quality, but you get the idea: ) They were so into it, it was fun!

This little one was so excited to be making stuff, and she ended up making a few since I had extra. She was so proud when she showed me each one!

Aaron even enjoyed himslef, though he usually makes himself scarce when I ask him to make stuff at home!

This was awhile ago, so I am a bit behind in my pics! I was in the classroom again yesterday, but this time we made Mother's Day cards, and I will be posting them soon ;)

April 2010 Retreat LO's!

2010-04-26T22:46:00.000-07:00

Here's the LO's, as promised!

This one is my second favorite of the weekend, just because this pic of my daughter is the BEST! She was so proud of herself, and it shows ;) You can just see the "See what I made, Mommy, see, see??"

Adrian has been obsessed with ladybugs forever, and still is. She LOVES them, and names each and everyone she sees "Flower". I made these flowers with wide sheer ribbon, and gathered it with a needle and thread.

This one is my FAV of the weekend! The papers, the colors, the pic, love it all. I used my friend Jennifer's iPhone to look up a good quote for a title that was just right, no internet at Fort Flagler! The butterflies were part of a bunch that I made up awhile ago, and it was so nice to have them on hand. I used them a lot! Also, I borrowed Kim's Home Dec cart for the flourish, I used it several times, love that too.

This one was my last of the weekend, so it still needs to be embellished and isn't finished yet.

This was an early Sunday morning walk near my house. It was kind of cool to stand in the middle of the road downtown to take a pic, and be pretty much the only one around.

Ahh, this one brings back memories! My husband and I met when I was 16, working at this very same fast food restaurant in 1991 ;) He is very fond of making silly pet names for everyone and everything, and the one for Jack in the Box is "Jack in the Crack", or "The Crack" for short. As in, "Do you want to go The Crack later?"

I don't know why, but I really don't like scrapping Christmas. Maybe it is because it is always pics of the same people at the same places? Despite that, I love these papers, so they made it fun. I used some from Making Memories, and then added some Vintage Photo Distress Ink, so cute.

My son is not the Dad's helper type, so whenever he is doing something "manly" (tools, cars, etc.) with my husband, I try to make sure and catch them in the act! He was replacing a few fence posts in our yard, and got Aaeon to help him cut the posts.

A day trip to Larabee State Park for a few hours, and now it is in danger of closing down. I remember going there as a kid a lot, and we should go more before it does, it is only a half hour or so away.

Adrian was kept busy for hours last summer watering the flowers! I used my Stampin Up! butterfly die for the first time, and I bought a package of flower center 'stamens' from Michael's to use for the antennae.

I am seriously running low on Heidi Grace papers, I love her stuff!

This paper is from an old Close to my Heart set, and love them! These are pics from a local kangaroo farm about an hour from here.

We went to Woodland Park Zoo last spring break and the kids had such a good time, and the weather was awesome. They were so worn out when we left to go home!

I love these green foil Thickers! My friend Mallorie got them for me a while ago, and I remember thinking, "Will I ever really use these??" I use them a lot, and I love them!

More of those fun butterflies, I have a feeling I may need to make more!

More pics from the kangaroo farm a few pages back. The kids love to go there! They have lemurs, peacocks, donkeys, llamas, all kinds of stuff. Plus you take a walking tour through all the pens and can pet them all and feed them too. And this is more of that old CTMH paper that I love, and now it is almost gone...

Fort Flagler Retreat, Aril 8-11, 2010

2010-04-26T17:18:00.000-07:00

I had been a whole year since our last retreat at Fort Flagler, and I was looking forward to this one so much! This place is old and funky, but I love it ;)

I love walking in the door on Thursday afternoon knowing I have until Sunday to play with paper, scissors and glue! I love seeing the stainless steel kitchen, and the giant fridge that bangs on the stove when you open the last door too far.   That means that Lori and her mom, Gayle, are going to be cooking for us, and I love that too. I love the faded linoleum floor and the mismatched tables. I even love the old cafeteria-style melmac dishes, they remind me of dishes from when I was kid. The squeaky beds don't even bother me too much, because I hardly sleep at all while I am there, and the views are to die for. I even have a favorite bathroom, the one on the left, don't ask me why. I only use the other one if the one on the left is full. Yep, I know it's weird, but that's me. Just ask the ladies I travel to this place with what I was like when I thought we were going to be in a different building than usual! Thank goodness we were in the regular one, but I was worried for a while :)

My friend Kim and I have worked out our favorite spot in the cropping room, and we try to always sit there if it isn't taken when we arrive. Here she is all set up with our other friend, Stacey (right), already working away.

My other friend Jen, parked on the other side of me for the duration. I don't get to see her much, and we have been friends since high school so it is fun to hang out and have girl time while we work.

Here is Dyona (left) and her friend Rachel. Dyona is also another friend from high school and a massage therapist. She usually brigs her massage chair and pampers us for the weekend, however she was injured this time and so got to sit and crop with us for awhile.

Our FAB hostess, Lori! Lori Rocks ;)

She has put on 10 retreats that I have been lucky enough to go to the last few years, and does an amazing job. This one was a 50's theme, and one is already panned for October with a "Survivor: Jamaica" theme, in honor of our friend Kim!

Kim and her husband Mark are going to Jamaica this summer for an entire year. They are going to be running an orphanage while they are there, and so she will not be joining us in October. Please read about their mission trip, HERE! She is well loved by us all, and the amazingly generous ladies at this crop donated $500 to her cause by buying raffle tickets for some goodies.

I have to tell you a little more about our friend Kim... She is such a great woman, friend, and mom. She is most definitely a giver, of all things. She is so generous with her time, herself, and her heart. She is also one of the funniest ladies I know. She has a laugh that just gets us all rolling, and I swear has the best timing for jokes. She is always about 10 seconds behind the rest of us, and it has made for some hilarious moments, ones that make my sides hurt and make me smile just by thinking about them!

One of them was at a retreat a few times ago, maybe early 2008. Did I mention that I hardly sleep while we're here? Well, nobody really does, and Miss Kim talks in her sleep when she is overly-tired. A lot. Not just mumbling something you can't understand, I am talking a full-on conversation, and if you didn't see her eyes closed you would think she was awake.

Have you ever heard the brown chicken, brown cow joke? Well Kim never had, and her reaction was the funniest thing to see. That part is even funnier than the jokes! Somehow that became our unofficial 'theme' for that retreat, we said it constantly, and we died laughing each and every time!

We all sleep dorm style, with 2-4 people in small rooms, some with bunk beds, so you can hear pretty much everything that goes on around you. Early one of those mornings, like around 6 or 7 AM, I heard Kim talking to me, so I sat up. She was laughing in her sleep and kept saying "brown chicken, brown cow" in a sing-song voice! Dyona also heard her and woke up, and we started giggling and couldn't stop, and pretty soon the whole hallway was laughing. She heard us laughing and woke up, and couldn't believe us when we told her what she had been saying... Until I played back the recording I had made ;) Ha!

Anyways, we still have fun with that joke, and Lori came to this retreat prepared! Every night of the retreat, we play bingo for some amazing prizes. She pulled me aside a while before we played, and showed me a shirt she had had made for Kim. Pink, with a brown chicken and a brown cow. She was going to give it to her, and said wouldn't it be cool if she won bingo?? That could be her prize!

Well wouldn't you know it, she won, of course. Lori handed her the shirt, which was all rolled up with a ribbon, and we all sat back and waited...   Now there were about 30 ladies in the cropping room, all watching and waiting to see her reaction. We waited about 10 seconds or so, and she is looking at the shirt, and flipped it around to look at the front.. And we waited... Finally someone sang the "brown chicken, brown cow" words, and then she was off! Love her ;)

BINGO!

Friday morning I woke up early enough to catch the sun coming up over the water. I laced up and took a nice walk around the open grounds surrounding us.

These are old barracks, and ours is the last building closest to the water, named Camp Richmond.

Some ladies ordered some shirts or hoodies before we got to the retreat from Cafe Press to commemorate our stay.

These ladies love to support great causes. I already mentioned that they raised $500 for Kim to go to Jamaica, right? Well they raised money for me as well! I am walking for the 3rd time in the Seattle Breast Cancer 3 Day Walk, in September, 2010. I will spend 3 days walking 60 miles, and need to raise $2300 dollars to support breast cancer research.

I brought my espresso machine from home, and Lori generously bought all the supplies to make coffees for the ladies all weekend. I made 54 lattes that weekend and raised $250!

Lori had mentioned that she brought everything but straws, so the cold cups with lids were kind of useless. Dyona and a few other ladies went to the store to get a few things that day, and while they were out they picked some up. We were cracking up because they found straws that were about 2 feet long! Lori spent a little while cutting them up to regular size, and when she was done she had this little pile of leftover straw pieces that were about 3 inches long. Hmmm, what to do with them..?

I made a round of iced lattes, and Lori came over and whispered in my ear that we should put a short straw in Kim's latte. Hehe ;) So I made it, and then had to sneak over past Kim to get my camera, and then sneak back with out her noticing.

She looked up and saw me with my camera, and gave me a cheesy smile, and then went back to sipping her coffee...

It took a few seconds but she finally noticed that there was something wrong with her straw! We love to pick on her, and she takes it so gracefully, such a good sport!

She brought us some wine to have while we were scrapping too.

Kerry and Zandra, two of our BSF friends!

Lori getting ready for taco night!

More of the cropping room...

Lori's mom, Gayle, and her daughters-in-law, Shelia and Jenny. What a great family they have ;)

More ladies cropping away!

Now this was just the sweetest treat one night, literally!

Kim worked on graduation announcements for her youngest daughter, I think she cranked out almost 50 of these!

Lori and Jenny ;)

We found out that Park Rangers carry guns, and handcuffs...   She was arrested for having too much fun, ha! ;)

More of the lovely view. We were fortunate that the mountain was out, usually Mt. Rainier is covered in clouds and you can't see the top.

French dips for lunch, deliciousness!!

Saturday was Rachel's birthday, and she didn't know that we all knew! Lori and her mom surprised her with a cake, sash and a crown, and we all sang Happy Birthday ;)

This retreat was 50's themed, and on Saturday night we had a dress-up contest.  These 2 pink ladies, Shellie and Karissa, had a fabulous pink 'car'!

Dyona had a cute costume too!

Sherrie was the winner, with her jukebox and costume!

Can you believe that this was stuff just for the two of us?!?

One more view of the ocean before we headed home...

More of the Cascade Mountains before we got on the ferry.

Ferry ride!

Thanks for looking if you made it all the way to the end! I will be posting the pages and cards I made while we were there in a bit...

Easter Card

2010-03-24T14:32:00.000-07:00

I stepped 'out of my box' and made a square card, gasp!

I found a 10 pack of 5x5 cards and envies at Joann's a while back, and I just picked up Basic Grey's Kioshi 6x6 pad. Then I saw this card and was totally inspired ;)

I used my Cricut and the Stretch Your Imagination cartridge to cut the tree, which I then embossed in my Cuttlebug machine. Also, a various bunch of circle punches for the 'leaves', and then the bunny is heat embossed (another one of my $1 clear stamp sets!) with white powder and a KaiserCraft pink pearl eye.. I used my Tim Holtz inks on the edges with the foam aplicators: Stormy Sky on the blue background, Bundled Sage on the circles, Peeled Paint on the 'grass' and Vintage Photo on the tree. I used his edge distresser on all the edges too, love that tool. Something about Basic Grey papers just call out for edge distressing to me! And last but not least, I used my Martha Stewart Loopy border punch for the grass.

More crafty stuff

2010-03-21T13:56:00.000-07:00

Wow, 3 posts in one day, I am on a roll ;)

I made some more felt flowers!

I started out by cutting some circles out of felt.

Then cutting each circle into a spiral shape.

I took a few of the flower centers and folded them in half.

Then I added a drop of hot glue and started rolling them up loosely.

Once they were all rolled up, I secured the end with another bit of glue. I also turned the flower over and gave the bottom edges a light coat of hot glue.

This one I did a little differently. I cut a strip of felt, and used a long running stitch and pulled it tight to gather it. Then I glued the center in, and all finished!

Simple pin cushions

2010-03-21T13:04:00.000-07:00

I found a website the other day called DIY Dish. They had just posted their first video, and it had a super cute pin cushion tutorial, and it looked like fun, so away I went!

I even had all the supplies to make this, so even better, no shopping to do ;) Here's the body of the cushion, made out of rolled felt strips.

I had this cute stack of fat quarters laying around, and hadn't done anything with it yet.

I decided to change it slightly from the video. I wanted the bottom to finished, so I cut some cereal boxes with my Nestabilites circle dies for the bottom.

To make it a little sturdier, I glues 3 of them together. One a side note... My husband had comandeered my glue gun and it was somehwere in his gagrage. I looked for it for about 10 minutes, and then gave up and went to Hardware Sales. I was able to find a mini glue gun and 2 packages of glue sticks for less than $10!

I covered the circles with a square of fabric. Only one side of this was going to show, so it didn't matter what the back looked like.

Then I covered the top with another square of fabric, only glueing the edges. This had to be tight, snd the glue dries fast, so I had to work in stages pretty quickly!

This is the part that wraps around the outside. I embroidered this cute design, ans then top-stitched 3 of the edges (two long sides and one short side).

I started with the raw short side, and started wrapping. The hot glue dires fast, so again I had to do small sections at a time.

I got a little overzealous with the hot glue! This one you can see it sticking up from the edges, so this one will be mine to keep ;)

It is a perfectly functional pin cushion now, but I wanted to fancy it up a bit. I sewwd a 2 inch strip of fabric along the raw edges, and pulled the bottom thread to make it into a ruffle. It took some fussing to get the ruffle to be about the same length as the circumfrence of the circle, but it wasn't too hard.

Then I glued the ruffle to the back of the circle. This will be the bottom of my cushion, so it is all neat and finished.

This is the other side, the side that faces up and will be glued to the bottom of the cushion itself.

Here it is put together. I put a whole bunch of Tacky Glue in the middle to hold the felt, and then went around the edges carefully with the hot glue. I tried to keep the nozzle under the finished edge so the glue wouldn't ooze out and show.

I also wanted to make some felt flowers to add, and here's how. I just rough-cut some flet and used a long running stitch to gather up the 'petals'.

I did the same thing for the leaves. They were triangles cut out of the green felt, and then used the same stitch on the short side to gather. The one on the left, I used hot glue farther down the inside when I was wrapping the cushion. Then I went back and stitched the edge closed all the way around the top, which I like better.

I found some flower centers to use as 'stamens' and added them to the buttons.

These were super fun to make and I have already purchased a few more fat quarters!

Boulevard Park

2010-03-21T12:28:00.000-07:00

I went for a walk this morning bright and early! I have to get some more miles under my belt, only 6 months to go until the 3day! I left my house at about 6:20 and walked with a co-worker for about 6 miles. We met right around the corner from my house and headed out to the bay.

On our way downtown, and it was pretty quiet.

Once we got to the park, we walked right by the water. It was a little windy, but not too cold.

We stopped by the Woods Coffee location in the park. I absolutely LOVE their new sugar-free Brown Sugar Cinnamon flavor, it's delicious!

Isn't this a pretty picture??

Cool bench next to the trail...

My walking buddy was a little camera shy! She said I was the only one who got to see her that early in the morning ;)

Only a couple of weeks to go!

2010-03-13T10:51:00.000-08:00

...Until retreat time!!! It has been so long, over a year, and I can't waaaaaaaait ;) I have already started prepping so I can get LOTS done between all the great food and fun times with the ladies!

Here's what I do, and it works pretty well for me...

I start by sorting my photos. I group them by the layout they will be going on.

Then I go through my sketch file on the computer. I have them sorted into folders by how many pics are on the LO, 1 pic, 2 pics, etc. Ok, this next part makes perfect sense to me, so hopefully I can explain it! I go through my photos and pick the first group. If it has 4 photos, I go to my '4 photos' file and pick a sketch I like. I 'copy' the sketch file and 'paste' it into a new folder on my computer, this one I called "April 2010 Retreat".  I rename the sketch to '#1', and then repeat until I am done with my pics. I have 54 sketches and 54 groups of pics, and that is my goal for the retreat.

Once I have all the sketches picked out and in the new folder, I print them out. What works best for me is to print them four on a page, going down one side. Then I have room for the next step, which is to write down what is in the pics and how many papers I need. I write down how many patterened papers (pp) and how much cardstock (cs) I need for each LO.

Then the fun begins! I set up right next to my papers with the supplies I need. I have my clipboard with the printed sketches and all my notes, a pen and a pad of Post-It notes, paperclips, and a box to put my completed 'page kits' in.

Starting with my first group of photos, I check my clipboard and see what sketch goes with them. My notes next to the sketch say how many papers I need, so I look at my photos and decide what color/theme the papers are going to be. For this one, I needed two sheets of cs, and one pp.

Same for this one.

Once I pick out my papers, I label them with a Post-It and the coresponding sketch number. I make sure the sticky part of the note is along the side, so when I fold it over it grips the front and back of the group of papers. If I have a certain tag or other embellie to use with the papers, I include it, and put a paperclip over the sticky note. If it is just the papers, I don't put a paperclip.

Then into the box it goes. This box is totally random, but about 3 years ago I started using it becase it was the only thing I had the right size. All the 12x12 containers I had were either too small or too big, so I still just use this box. It sits right next to me on the floor at the retreat, and I just reach down and grab the next set of papers when I finish a LO.

Phew, ok! So as I am typing this out and going through my step-by-step process, it has occured to me that it sounds a mite anal! Oh well ;) It works for me, and I am able to get a lot done.

Like I said, the process of getting started is the hard part for me. This way I just grab and go, and I hit the ground running. Once I have a clear jumping-off point (the sketches), I can start creating. Also, I don't have to decide what papers to pack and then consequently waste time deciding which ones to use. That part of the equation is already completed and I can focus on the fun part, creating something meaningful and pretty ;) Almost everytime I go to one of these retreats, I have a few of these LO kits that don't quite 'work' for me when I am there, but that's ok. It is maybe only 3 or 4, so overall it is a pretty efficient way to get organized. For me is anyway ;)

This sounds like a lot of work, and it is, but it is easily broken down into bite-sized pieces. I don't do it all at once! Sorting the pics is pretty quick and doesn't take a lot of time. I typically do this in the evenings after the kids go to bed, and my hubs and I are watching a program or two. I think it only took one night to sort them. Then probably 4-5 nights of picking sketches to go with the pics. I have my laptop in the livingroom so I can do a bit of mulit-tasking ;) Once that is done, printing them out takes only a few minutes and another night or 2 of writing notes along side of them. The part that takes the longest is sitting down and pulling the papers together. That is why I start now! I have a little less than 4 weeks until the retreat, so I want to make sure I have enough time to finish the pre-planning part and then start packing.

Once I get all that done, packing the rest is a cinch. I bring my tools, a stack of extra cardstock for matting and cutting titles, and whatever embellies I need.

For tools, this includes my Cricut and cartridges, other cutting tools like a craft knife, circle cutter, etc., Cuttlebug and dies/folders/plates, stamps, blocks and ink pads, cutting and craft mat, adhesive and refills, and all that stuff. For extra cardstock, I bring an assortment of 12x12 sheets in black, white, and a bunch of different colors, plus a ton of the mat stacks from DCWV. I love the ones that are 4.5 x 6.5, because they are perfect for punching, die cutting and cutting titles on Cricut, and I can pack a lot of different colors in a smaller space.

As for embellies... Well this is where I get a little carried away! Just ask anyone who has been to a retreat with me ;) But I can, because I was so efficient in packing my paper, so now I have LOTS of extra room for the fun stuff! I bring pretty much anything I think I will use. Letter stickers, Thickers, ribbon, bling, felt, brads, you name it. This is where my creative process comes in. I took all the spontaneous elements out of the equation by pre-planning my paper choices, so now I need room to groove with my embellie choices. This is where I take my time to decide what to use, so I bring it all. I bring all my ribbon, all my brads and eyelets, all my flowers. ...And I have a lot of flowers, don't I ladies??

Yep, all of it. I can't help myself, and I know that if I didn't do it this way, I would be wishing I would have brought that one thing I need to finish my page.   I even bring a small shelving unit to put behind me so I can easily access my supplies and have everything in reach. I use one of the wire cube shelf sets I got at Target for like $15. The unassembled sets are pretty cheap! I can put it together in about 10 minutes, so it is super portable and convenient to use. A few of the regular ladies I retreat with have taken to doing the same thing ;) Space is pretty limited so I make the most of it, and there is nothing worse than having to dig through a bunch of stuff to find that one thing you need!

So there is a peek into my process, hope it helps someone ;)

Pretties!

2010-03-04T12:43:00.000-08:00

I found this video yesterday, and wanted to give it a try! Her stuff is so beautiful, and very out-of-the-box for me, so I thought it would be fun to make something new.

I started with plain white cardstock for the backgrounds, the leaves and the flowers. I didn't take pics of the flowers until I was finished, but I made them the same way as the leaves. For a tutorial on how to make and shape the flowers, go here ;) There are also TONS of videos on youtube on how to make these.

For the leaves, I used my Cricut and cut them using the Stretch Your Imagination cartridge. I inked them with various combinations of Shabby Shutters, Pine Needles and Peeled Paint distress inks by Tim Holtz. Then I swiped a bit of Brushed Corduroy on them too, to make them a bit more vintage-looking.

Then I sprayed them with a water mister. In the mister there is water with a few scoops of Perfect Pearls powder. I have one each for the pearl, bronze, copper and gold colors of powder.

This is what they look like after I dried them with my heat tool.

Here's everything all put together!

12 Hour crop for Jamaica!

2010-03-01T11:55:00.000-08:00

My friend Kim and her husband Mark had a fundraiser this weekend, and it was so much fun! They are preparing for a year long mission trip to an orphanage in Jamaica, and you can learn more about it on their blog, HERE ;)

Kim's daughter Matty

...And her other daughter Calie and a little friend :)

Kim's husband Mark, slaving away making us some yummy food!

I ordered this magazine the other day, and the card on the front page was so cute, I decided to lift it. I had all the supplies, so away I went!

I have been on the search for the perfect background script stamp, and haven't been able to find it yet. I got the idea from Dawn McVey to use an old book, fab idea! So I picked this up at the Goodwill store just for this purpose ;) I chose this one because I liked the font, and I was pretty sure there would be no objectionable words on the page, just in case!

I made these flowers from an idea here...

Here's the cards I made using those flowers, and with the scraps left over. I used my Storybook cartridge to make the leaves, plus some PTI stamps ;)

Tammy and Jen scrapping away!

One of our many trips out that day ;) We went to Cruisin Coffee a few times, Pita Pit for lunch, and of course Joann's!

We ran into Dyona at Joann's, GOTCHA!

White Chocolate Mochas, mmm...

So here I used that book paper and heat embossed clear powder on top. Then I inked over it with Tim Holtz Old Paper distress ink.

On this one I inked over it with Peeled Paint distress ink, my favorite TH color!

Remember this post a while back? I finally used the butterflies on a few cards. I inked up the bottom of the card front with Old Paper on the first card, Tattered Rose on the second, and Peeled Paint on the third. Then I stamped over it with the same color and the polka dot background stamp.

This card was the last one I made, and one of my friends pointed out that it opens on the left... Oops!

The ladies having dinner. It was homemade lasagna, delicious!

Old friends, love these ladies ;) I won't say how old, because I am not ready to say that out loud to anyone just yet, but since about 11th and 12th grade or so!

More flowers, these were so fun to make! I cut out a large circle, about 5 inches across, and then crumpled it up. After that I cut a spiral about an inch wide all the way to the middle, and then pleated it into a flower shape. I secured them with glue dots, love those things. I found these things I used in the centers in the wedding aisle at Michael's.

I was on a roll and made a bunch more!

I had such a fabulous time with the ladies!

I finally used my new PTI stamps!

2010-02-23T11:38:00.000-08:00

And I love them, so pretty! I ordered 2 sets, and I used the Through the Trees for these two cards. They are almost identical, but I used 2 slightly different techniques.

For this first one, I stamped the tree trunk in Rich Cocoa ink by Memento, and then I stamped the leaves with Tim Holtz Peeled Paint and Mustard Seed. I put the yellow ink on first and then dabbed the green on top, and then stamped. Then I heat embossed with clear powder. I couldn't find the right shade of yellow paper to stamp my sentiment on, so I stamped on white paper and then colored with the Mustard Seed ink. Perfect ;) This background paper is old stuff by Colorbok, I believe.

For this one, I stamped the leaves in the yellow, and then stamped them again in the gree, but slightly off the yellow ones underneath. Then I also heat embossed with clear powder. The background is a Hero Arts woodgrain stamp with another Tim Holtz ink, Weathered Wood.

The rest of the supplies:
Nestabilities, Labels 1
Fiskars burder punch, Apron Lace
PTI twine
misc buttons
Memento Tuxedo Black ink

Oh, and the flowers were some I made from scraps, with the help from this video ;)

How do you prepare for the 3day? I'll tell you ;)

2010-02-16T22:42:00.000-08:00

I have been asked a few times about the Breast Cancer 3day walk, and my experiences with it. After typing out several emails that contained similar information, I decided to compile them and post it here on my blog to share with the rest of the world ;) I hope it helps someone!

First and foremost, my first suggestion would be to commit wholeheartedly to this cause. It has changed my life, and I have enjoyed it so much! Fundraising and walking all those training miles is hard work, and takes a lot of time.  I talk about it constantly and it suprises me how many people have never heard of this event.  Also, during the peak of my training leading up the event, I walk about 20+ hours a week, so make sure you plan for the time.

Attend one of the clinics or Get Started Meetings that are listed on the 3day site, and get to training as soon as possible. A good pair of shoes is a must, as are the right socks. I have worn cotton socks my entire life, and thought socks are socks, right? Wrong! They made all the difference for me. In the 700+ miles I have walked I have never had one single blister. I went to a store here locally called Fairhaven Runners and Walkers and they are amazing. I had never given much thought to shoes before other than making sure they fit in the 5 minutes or less I tried them on. Well, these people made sure they fit my feet and my arch and how I walk, etc... I spent probably an hour and a half in there. They had me take off my shoes and socks and walk on the floor barefoot to see how my foot touched the ground. I must have tried on at least a dozen pairs, which they expertly laced up for me and then had me walk around the block. Yes, around the block! In EACH pair. When I had it narrowed down to 2 pairs, I put one on each foot and walked around the block again. That's how I found the best pair of shoes in the world. No, scratch that, in the universe! I got a pair of Asics, and have almost worn through my 2nd pair. I will be buying my 3rd pair very soon ;) The secret I think, is that these have plenty of wiggle room for my toes, and are a 1/2 size bigger than I normally wear, which suprised me.

Try to vary your walking as much as possible. The route is a combination of sidewalks, paved roads, and trails, so make sure that is what you train on. Switch it up and don't walk the same places all the time. Also, I would have a goal of training miles to get in before the event. My first walk, I did 300 miles, and I was shooting for 500 this last time, but got to about 450. I am shooting for 500 again this year!

If you have never done a 3day before, plan on going to the Expo.  It is a 10 mile walk in the same city as the main event, but not the same route. There is a check-in and a few cheering sections, and a pit stop too. The date isn't up on the website yet, but it is usually 2-3 months prior to the event in our city. They are a lot of fun, and there are some more clinics afterwards, and of course lots of places to shop for pink gear, check out the tents, find out what to pack, etc.

It is amazing how different walking 6, 7, or even 8 miles is compared to 10! Around 10-12 miles is when you start to feel the spots where your shoes or clothes rub, your muscles get tired and you get a few aches. The first time I walked 10 miles I thought I was going to die, and it was a real eye-opener for me. And I had been training already for 4 months!   The one big mistake we made was walking at the Expo and then going to a restaurant and having lunch with my team... Where we sat for over an hour and then could barely stand up when it was time to leave, lol. Yikes.

What did I learn from that? One word, STRETCH. If you think you are stretching enough, you're probaby not. The 3day website recommends 5 minutes per walking hour of stretching. If it takes you 10-12 hours each day over the course of the 3day event to walk, that means 2 1/2 to 3 hours of just stretching!

Also, plan for the weather. I have been fortunate enough to have had the most amazing weather for my first two 3day walks, but I am sure that won't always be the case. Wherever you live, train in all kinds of weather. Train when it's hot, when it's cold, and when it's raining. There is no better teacher for what you might need to bring along than experience ;)

Ok, enough about training for now, how about what to wear? There is a reason manufacturers make excercise clothes, so try out a few. Remember what I said about cotton socks? Well, it applies to clothes also. The reason to not wear cotton is because it absorbs moisture and then holds it against your skin. This causes friction, which in turn causes blisters. This isn't just a problem for your feet! If you are wearing cotton, after 10-12+ hours of walking in these clothes, you will most likely sweat a bit, and this can make your clothes rub. It can rub along your neck, under your arms, your legs, and that's not fun. Buy multiples of the clothes/shoes you plan on wearing, and train in them. Wearing something for a few hours here and there is so much different than walking for 12+ hours three days in a row! This includes shirts, pants, sports bras, socks, and whatever you plan on carrying. I made the mistake of wearing a new sports bra for the first time, my first walk, ouch!

I found that I love the pants by the  C9 Champion brand at Target. It is a cotton/synthetic blend, moisture-wicking fabric that keeps your skin dry and is oh so comfortable! Plus it is easy to find, and affordable ;) They also make bras, tops and socks.

I LOVE this Enell sports bra! It is spendy, but so worth it, and I am still using the one I bought last year. However, if you can buy it locally I would. The fit is very pecise and the sizing on the website was not the size I needed when I went to the store. This is the one I didn't wear until the first day of my 2008 3day and it was NOT pretty. This bra is made for high-impact and is very sturdy, so your girls won't be going anywhere! But because of that, it is very tight fitting and needs to be broken in and worn in small increments at first.

And socks... So important! I found that the pair I got with my first pair of shoes at Fairhaven Runner are my favorite. They are made by Wigwam, and they were $10 a pair. I only bought one pair, because I just simply couldn't justify buying 6 pairs of them. But they pretty great socks!

This is the kind I got.. I haven't shown pics of anything else, but I felt this deserved a little more in depth description, and why I think they are amazing.

See the part on top, that kind of looks like mesh? This part of the sock grips your foot around the middle, but leaves your toes looser. Remember the wiggle room I metioned in my shoes? The same applies to the socks ;) I have always stayed away from quarter and crew socks because they had a tendency to slip down inside my shoes and that drove me crazy. These don't do that because of that part that grips in the middle, love it.

Well, since I only have one pair of these, I tried out a bunch of other pairs. Some were too thick or thin, or too loose or too low, or some would wear out very quickly. I finally found that my favorite are the No Nonsense brand, and at Walmart they are about $6 for 3 pairs. They look very similar to the ones above, except they say "No Nonsense" in gold lettering on the bottom. I like them so much that I even bought the black ones to wear at work!

Ok, moving on... How are you going to carry your gear??

Figure out early what type of backpack/waist pack, etc., you are going to use, and wear it for all of your walking, FULLY LOADED. Water and all the other goodies you carry aren't heavy, but they make a difference if you're not used to the extra weight. I used a cheap WalMart waist pack the first two walks, and they were ok. I splurged this last year half way through on the end of day 2, because my WM one broke. I had to call a friend to pick me up from camp to take me shopping! I got a nice one from REI and LOVE it, though it was $80 instead of $10 ;) It was so much more functional and comfy and will last me forever.

What to pack?? You are only allowed 35 lbs, and in one bag. That includes shoes (yep, two pairs), clothes, toiletries, pillow, sleeping bags, everything.  35 pounds sounds like a lot, but you have a lot of stuff to pack, so make it count!

After reading these articles,

http://support3daywalk.com/2009/08/26/packing-for-the-3-day-walk/

http://walking.about.com/library/walk/blavonpacking.htm

http://www.sheknows.com/articles/810810

I came up with a combination of what to pack from all of them that worked for me.

This is what I packed in my waist pack and carried with me everywhere:

water bottles
I.D., cash, debit/credit card, insurance info
ibuprofen
rain poncho
hat or visor
sunglasses
hand sanitizer and lotion
band aids
cell phone (has to be off and can only be used at pit stops, lunch, or camp.)
tums
gum
nail file
sun block (I brought two kinds, one in a tube and one in a spray)
foot powder
tissues
chapstick
hair ties
light jacket
spare socks (in small zip lock bags so when I change them I have a place to put the dirty ones in!)
tiny flashlight (to find the port-a-potties in the middle of the night!)
camera and spare batteries
small package of baby wipes

As for the rest of my gear, here is what I packed and how...

In large zippered bags labeled "Day 1", "Day 2" and "Day 3", this way I can just grab the bag and out of my suitcase and go, no need to dig around!

one each:
socks
pants
shirt
undies

shower bag:
lotion
shampoo and conditioner
razor
toothbrush and toothpaste
comb/brush
hair ties
plastic bags for worn clothes
deodorant
flip-flops for the showers

the rest:
shoes
some type of air matress and pump if you need one
pillow
sleeping bag
flashlight or head lamp (silly I know, but have you ever tried to go to the bathroom in a port-a-potty and hold a flashlight at the same time??)
plastic shower curtain (to put inside your tent under your belongings to stay dry!)
earplugs
sleepwear
lounge clothes for camp, after walking but before bedtime.

I was able to rent both a sleeping bag and mat at REI that pack down very small and were pretty comfortable. I would never have been able to squeeze a standard sleeping bag into my bag along with everything else.

Phew... I didn't mean to write so much, but I just kept thinking of more and more things! All of these little things add up, and can really make or break your 3day experience. The walking is so much easier if you are prepared and have what you need to finish the job ;)

Happy trails and only 221 days to go!

~Shasta

New DCWV stacks...

2010-02-15T19:04:00.000-08:00

Just what I need, more paper ;)

Madly in Love

Mango Frost

Guy

Linen Closet

Natural

Cafe Mediteranean

Mi Casa

Safari Kids

Eco

Cleaning out my stash!

2010-02-14T16:10:00.000-08:00

If you see something you want, let me know and make me an offer! :)

All captions that look like ~~this~~ are gone, thanks!

~~The rub-ons n the back are NIP, the ones in front are 90% compete~~

~~Monograms are NIP, the rest are 90% complete~~

~~Kreate-a-lope, complete with instructions~~

~~Letter stickers, most are 100%, a few are 90% complete~~

~~Ink pads~~

~~Fiskars rubber brayer backgrounds - snowflakes, dots and mesh~~

~~misc rub-ons, the runner is NIP~~

~~These are 80%-to 90% complete, some NIP~~

~~Grungeboard, 80% complete~~

~~EK punches~~

Rain cover for a Crop in Style NaNavigator tote

~~chipboard letters, some NIP, the rest are 80% complete~~

~~chipboard, 95% complete~~

~~Journaling tags and stickers - tag book is complete, tablet on the left rear is 75% complete, and the one on the right rear is complete. Remarks stickers are 75% complete~~

~~Journaling books in the rear are 85% complete, rub-ons are NIP~~

Dog themed stuff, most NIP

Kitty stuff, NIP

stamps, NIP

~~8x8 pet albums, blank~~

~~One that has about 8 pages completed~~

~~blank 6x6 album~~

Phew, I am still taking pics.... More to come!

ETA more pics!

~~Coluzzle template, labels, with a coordinating stamp~~

~~another Coluzzle template, labels~~

~~set of Coluzzle templates, these are about the size of a deck of cards. 25 piece set, includes flowers, Christmas, leaves, hearts, stars, clouds, and frames~~.

~~red SEI 6x6 album, spiral bound 6x8 album~~

~~This one is kind of cool, a circle album inside a tin~~

~~several idea books and magazines~~

~~2 chipboard albums and papers~~

~~2 6x6 albums~~

~~leftover bits and pieces from a 6x6 Pooh album I made~~

Pooh papers

Pooh die cuts and stickers

~~Pooh rub-ons, epoxy stickers and clips~~

~~Pooh stickers~~

~~Disney cardstock stickers~~

~~Basic Grey stickers and embellies, plus some I Kandee~~

***ETA more on 2/15!**

~~3 Birds box with TONS of chipboard~~

~~the inside, 75% complete~~

~~There are 4 of these 3 Birds flip books, this one is complete~~

~~complete~~

~~complete~~

~~95% complete~~

~~2 Fiskars trimmers, the grey one is for 85x11 paper~~

~~Maya Road chipboard~~

~~Fiskars finger craft knife, felt, Tim Holtz embellies, and Heidi Grace blue pins~~

Valentine treats

2010-02-10T14:21:00.000-08:00

I spent a while making Valentine treats for my kids to take to school. I found the idea HERE and made these a few years ago too. They are super simple to make. In this tutorial, the paper is cut at 4 1/4 by 5 1/2, to get 4 out of a standard 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper. I changed it to 4 x 6 to get more out of a 12 x 12 sheet, and they worked out just fine.

This is what I filled them with... A mix of cinnamon hearts, pink, white and red M&M's and conversation hearts.

Plus some more chocolate of course!

I used the K&Co stack I bought a week or two ago for the containers.

After I was finished assembling and filling them, I punched out the labels for the kids to write on. I punched a 2" scallop circle in red and pink cardstock, and then a 1 3/4" circle in white. I stamped a "To" and "From" and then they got to write the rest and attach them to the boxes.

A new mini...

2010-02-04T14:11:00.000-08:00

This was so fun! This is for a friend of mine, who is also on Facebook so that's why the name is blurred out, it's a suprise! I got a plain chipboard heart album from Michael's and went to town ;) There is so much stuff on it, I love it!

I used Basic Grey's Pheobe collection for the papers.

"Bah-jee" part 2...

2010-02-02T09:40:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I wrote about my son's blanket here. I have been putting this off, but could not wait any longer! More and more pieces of Aaron's blanket were shedding around the house, and both he and my husband were asking when I was going to fix it...

So I did, and we survivied ;)

Here are the pics of the fabric we chose. I found the Diego fleece at my local Joann's and I was shopping with my friend Tammy at the Joann's by her house and found the Wubzy fabric. Aaron loved them, so away we went!

This 'remodel' is much simpler than the last, so it didn't take very long. I just made a sandwhich with the blanket in the middle. Though just like the last time, I left the edges open so the old parts could peek through a bit.

Phew, I was really dreading this! But Aaron waited (not so) patiently for me to finish sewing. He kept telling me how hard it was to wait until I was done. But when I gave Bah-jee back to him, he took it and all was right with the world ;)

More Valentine's and some goodies...

2010-01-27T15:10:00.000-08:00

So I was visiting my friend Tammy in Everett this last weekend, and she happens to live by a Joanns. Like right by it... So I had to check it out ;) And wouldn't you know they had some stuff that my local store didn't, score!

I swear I am addicted to these $1 clear stamp sets. I mean really, who can say no to a dollar??

Then I found some more $1 goodies with these wood mounted stamps. Also all the paper crafts were 40% off this week, so great deal on the punches too!

I have wanted to make some square cards, but I didn't want to spend $$$ on the envelopes since they are an odd shape. But lookie what I found, and for 40% off to boot! Plus, the easter cards were only $1, and the Spellbinders template, yeppers, 40% off baby!

Moving right on to the Valentine's cards... I love this paper stack by K&Co, it is called Ka-Zoo Valentine, super cute! I got it at Michael's with my 40% off coupon ;) The sentiment stamp is another $1 set of course!

Have you heard of a "One Sheet Wonder"? I had a while ago, but never tried it out. Basically, you have a template to cut one sheet of 12x12 paper a certain way to make a variety of cards. So I decided to give this one a try, and it was fun! AND it made 16 cards! I have had this single sheet of SEI patterned paper for a few years, and decided to use it for this project. The basic guideline is pretty easy to follow, and then once I had them all assembled I embellished each one with flowers, bling, etc.

More boxes...

2010-01-22T23:12:00.000-08:00

I am just loving the new Mariposa stack, the papers are so pretty :) I have to say though, 'sentiment-free' cards are really hard for me!! The tut for this box is here...

This flower stamp is a $1 one from M's and the leaves are from an Autumn Leaves set called Build a Flower.

I used my Nesties for these!

This butterfly is a Stampin Up! stamp, thanks Renee!

This paper is from American Carfts, and I am SERIOUSLY addicted to this tiny little twine from May Arts!

Notecards and Valentines...

2010-01-22T22:59:00.000-08:00

I made these blanks a while back, in October I think. I was inspired by this card, and wanted to give it a try. I finally mounted them on the cards and added the sentiments this last week. Some sentiments are PTI, $1 ones from M's or others from my stash.

I found a good tutorial for these here and here

This more matte finish one is done on regular white cardstock

And the shiny ones are done on regular old photo paper. I haven't tried it on the clay coated paper yet, but I want to get some and see how it works.

These Valentine cards were made with bits and pieces of the new Making Memories Love Notes stuff, so cute! The stamps are a couple $1 wood mounted ones from M's. And my new fun emebellishment?? Those little ruffly flowers, LOVE them! Found them HERE, lover her stuff too!

The 'sweetie' stamp is a clear $1 set from M's, just used a few times around the curve. I also grunged these up a bit with Tim Holtz Antique Linen distress ink.

Ouch...

2010-01-21T09:47:00.000-08:00

...My fingers already hurt from all the cutting, but it will be worth it!! I finally found this stamp set at my LSS yesterday and couldn't wait to make some of these!! I {heart} Jennifer McGuire :)

So I stamped out a ton with Staz-On black ink, and colored them all in with Tim Holtz distress inks, a paintbrush, and water. I want some Copics soooo bad, but have not yet been able to splurge on them. I was able to get a similar effect with the inks, so it's all good! I put some ink on my craft sheet and spritzed with water, and painted all the butterflies. Then I gave them all another spritz with Perfect Pearls and water for some shimmer ;)

Now back to more cutting...!

....update...

I am finished, yay!

Here's the aftermath of destruction lol

And the pretty part! Look at all those beauties!

Lynden Skateway!

2010-01-19T09:46:00.000-08:00

We went to the Lynden Skateway yesterday, it was lots of fun! I was talking to my husband and I think the last time we went there was right around the time we started dating, in 1992 or 1993!

We took one of Aaron's friends with us too!

It was actually Aaron's idea to go skating. He originally wanted to go ice skating, but Kasoma quickly shot that idea down! The last time we went ice skating, he hurt his wrist when he fell and he was willing to chance that again, lol. So he suggested roller skating instead, and that made everybody happy ;)

Adrian was excited to go but had never been on wheels before, so she didn't want to take a single step without a death grip on my hand.

The boys skated for awhile but then got side-tracked for a little while by the video games and air hockey!

My friend Dyona also met us there and her daughter Senna too!

Aaron and his friend playing air hockey...

The only time Adrian let go of me was when she was 'skating' on the carpet. She got the hang of it a bit better and after that she didn't want me to help her!

"I can do it myself Mom!"

We were there for about 2 1/2 hours, and the kids were pooped!

Funny faces!

I took this video of Adrian, but forgot my camera was sideways, oops!

I am avoiding this...

2010-01-17T13:10:00.000-08:00

...My MESSY space, and I am posting a pic in hopes that it will get me motivated to clean! I am the type of crafter that gets into a project up to my eyeballs, and then all of a sudden I take a look around and how did this mess appear??? Yikes! Happens to me every time ;) Off to tidy up and will let you know how much progress I make...

Got my goodie box yesterday!

2010-01-17T10:24:00.000-08:00

I won a monthly kit (from January) HERE by leaving a comment on Lisa's blog HERE, very cool stuff! It came in the mail yesterday and hopefully I will have some time to play with it soon!

Notecard box..

2010-01-14T20:07:00.000-08:00

I made another one, this one is so pretty, but no sentiments so it can be used for anything. I used the new DCWV Mariposa papers, gorgeous!

These were made with my Nesties, label #1, love 'em!

These were Nesties too, the rectangles.

One thing...

2010-01-13T08:56:00.000-08:00

So I went to Joann's yesterday with my handy-dandy 40% off coupon, and what should I find??? ALL papercrafting supplies are 40% off.... I knew I was in big trouble!! I went in for one specific thing. I wanted to get a Stampamajig, and I was so excited by what else I found that I paid for my other goodies and got out to the car and realized I had forgotten it!

What other goodies, might you ask?? Well, my local Joann's now has NESTABILITES, and they were 40% off, AND they had the new Mariposa stack from DCWV, it is so pretty!!

Joann's coupon, good unitl 1-30-10!

2010-01-12T13:34:00.001-08:00

For 40% off, get it HERE :)

Valentine's box and some new goodies!

2010-01-12T10:15:00.000-08:00

I had to get some new V-day goodies, so I went to PaperZone yesterday! I wanted to work on some cards but realized I had NO pink or red ink pads?? How that happened I have no idea...

I probably should have broken this into a few smaller posts, but I didn't, so FYI this is going to be long one!

I found some ink pads... I realized when I was shopping that I have lots of bold, rich colors, but not a lot of softer ones. And I am sucker for anything GREEN, which I never seem to have just the right shade of, so picked up some of those too ;) These were really priced well too, only $4.99 each!

And some other stuff...

LOVE this new stamp!! I used it a bunch last night.

I found this box from HERE ages ago, and decided to make a Valentine's themed one. Here is the box all closed up. I am going to add a ribbon and some kind of goodie to the front, but haven't decided what yet.   The lighting wasn't the best today so the colors look funny, and my camera battery was dying, ugh...

When you lift off the lid, the front comes down and reveals what's inside ;) I changed it slightly, to a stack of sticky notes instead of an address book. The loop in the front is for a pen, and the pocket on the left is for stamps.

Here are the 3x3 notecards. I used M's $1 clear stamps for the sentiments and buttons from M's also. I realized I had no heart punches (GASP!!), so more on that in a sec!

These 3x3 note cards were inspired from HERE

these cards inspired from HERE, love her stuff..

This smoochie stamp was from M's $1 wood mounted section, cute!

Flowers from HERE also... They were fun and super easy! I have yet to find some vintage book print, so I found a copy of the poem "How do I love thee" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.  I printed it out in a classic font, then punched it out.

And lastly, the tags. I cut these on my Cricut using the George cart. I used the tag shape cut at 3 3/4" and 3 1/4" for the smaller ones. The shadow layer, then the regular layer in white. The heart stamp is another wood mounted $1 from M's, and the SWAK one is a clear $1 one, love them ;)

Phew, ok... Now for some other misc stuff!   Remember how I said I had no heart punches? Well I have these.... And I recall you can punch them out and cut them apart, blah, blah, blah. Well, I did something slightly different and got some hearts!

I used my scraps from the box like this..

To get these little guys!

AND THEN, in the middle of all this creating, I had another idea that couldn't wait, lol! Actually, I have been wanting to do this for ages and just couldn't put it off... Especially since I had just bought MORE ink pads.

I have all my ink pads organized by brand.. All my Tim Holtz in one drawer, Staz-On in another, etc... So if I am looking for the perfect shade of green, I have a few drawers to dig through. PLUS, I am impatient and hate to stamp on a scrap to see if I have the right color.   ...And I can't tell you how many times that has come back to haunt me!

Which brings to me to the project I did last night while watching CSI Miami with the hubs. I cut out a ton of tags, also from the George cart. I picked a fairly small stamp that had a mostly solid image to I could see the color well. I stamped each color, and then wrote what brand and the name of the color on each one. Once I had all the supplies in front of me, it didn't take all that long.

Then I put them on a loose-leaf ring, and voila!   Now I can easily go through this and then know which color and in which drawer, phew!   On a side note, I think I am developing an ink obsession! When I had these all stacked up, I realized how many ink pads I have accumulated ;)

On another side note.... When I was putting these ink pads away I noticed a feature that I really like! They are labeled on the side also, and this is how I store them and this makes searching them super handy. I have used my label maker to mark my other ink pads just this way. And I REALLY like this brand (which I have never used before yesterday), and think I may have to get more..! ;)

Blog candy!

2010-01-11T08:58:00.000-08:00

...And it's some great stuff too!

On Kathy's blog HERE check it out!

Here is List of Blog Candy:

Cupcake CG157
Engraved Flower CG141
Flourish background CG119
Cherries CG117
Hero Hues Card in Grass (green)
Matching Envelopes
Hero Hues New Chalk Ink in Grass
Hero Hues Art Flowers in Green
Allison Wang What’s up stamps
DCWV Safari chipboard Letters
Crystal Stickers in Glitter Dome small and large
Butterfly Card

ATG Buy-In, any takers??

2010-01-08T21:01:00.000-08:00

From HERE, 1/4" would be approximately $1.28/roll (including tax, minimum of 144 rolls) and 1/2" would be approximately $2.31/roll (including tax, minimum of 72 rolls). For you ladies I am seeing in April at Ft. Flagler, I could bring it to you and save on shipping! Let me know if you're interested!

Yesterday's projects...

2010-01-05T13:23:00.000-08:00

I had some free time yesterday and after wasting about 3 hours on shopping and Facebook, I worked on these when I got home ;)
I have always thought these little cupcake toppers were so cute, and thought I would give them a try. All of the images are from the clear Studio G stamps that you can find at Michael's and Joann's for $1. I used a 2" scallop punch, and two circle punches, 1 1/4" and 1 1/2".

Then I decided to color the images. I used Tim Holtz Distress Inks, water and Perfect Pearls powder. I keep a bottle of water mixed with some of the Perfect Pearls just for projects like this (Thanks to Jennifer McGuire)! First I rubbed the ink pad on my craft sheet and then sprayed a couple shots from the bottle to mix in. Then I used a paint brush to pain in the images. It is hard to see in the pics how shimmery it is.

My test sheet of paper to see if I liked the colors...

And these last ones I didn't do any coloring to, and I LOVE this stamp set ;)

BTW, all of these can be found in my ETSY store!

Went shopping today...

2010-01-03T16:56:00.000-08:00

My hubs took the kids to his grandma's house today and I had 6 whole hours to myself... That's practicaly all day! So what did I do? I went shopping at Michael's and Joann's of course ;) I strolled up and down every aisle about 3 times and was in no hurry, it was great. I found a few things I wanted, but one thing I didn't buy and now I am kicking myself...

THIS Martha Stewart Valentine punch set, and there was only one left. I will have to wait until Tuesday to go back to Michael's, and if it is still there, then it was meant to be mine ;) I did pick up some other goodies, and found THIS Cosmo Cricket pad for $9.99!

I got a bunch of Core'dinations cardstock from Joann's, 110 sheets to be exact! They were having an open stock paper sale, and it was 4/$1 so I just couldn't help myself. The poor cashier, it took her forever because they have to ring up each piece individually, yikes.

So here's my haul, now I just have to go use it!

A few favorite things from 2009...

2010-01-01T20:31:00.000-08:00

I have seen a few posts like this today, and thought I would do one too ;)

Fun cards

2009-12-30T13:49:00.000-08:00

I was inspired awhile back by THIS card by Jennifer McGuire, and wanted to make something similar. I created the words with my Cricut and using the Design Studio software. I can't remember what cartridges I used other than Base Camp and Plantin Schoolbook. It was awhile ago I cut these, maybe 3-4 months ago and just now made something with them because I couldn't remember where I stashed them!

So each one of the words was cut on white cardstock, and then heat embossed with white powder. I used two Hero Arts background stamps, Dots and Flowers and the Woodgrain one. All the papers are scraps from KI Memories, October Afternoon, Making Memories and who knows what else. I used a few EK Success punches, and a bunch of misc stamps.

I inked over this one with the Tim Holtz inking tool and foam applicators with Frayed Burlap Distress ink.

This one uses Peeled Paint ink...

Spiced Marmalade..

Broken China..

and Dusty Concord..

Oh out of the mouths of babes...

2009-12-30T09:35:00.000-08:00

My 8 year old son wants bananas EVERY morning for breakfast, and we were out. It was about ten minutes after 8 AM, and we were all still in our jammies. I thought it would be fun to walk the whole block and a half to Trader Joe's and get some for him... In our pj's! So we did ;)

On the way there he asked me if his daddy and I really had two jobs. I said nope, we only have one job. I work at the salon and daddy works at the university. Then he tells me, "No Mom, you have a 'work' job and then you have the 'bossing around' job!"

Nice, Kid.

New Hero Arts Catalog...

2009-12-21T22:03:00.000-08:00

And what a catalog it is! So many goodies I want, sigh....

Here it is, prepare yourself!

A new TOY!

2009-12-17T13:56:00.000-08:00

I have wanted a KitchenAid stand mixer for ages, and now I have one, woohooo!!

My hubsband found an ad in the Seattle PI newspaper last year around this time for the professional KitchenAid for $99. They are normally $399-$599 so I said "Go get one right now, I didn't even care what color!!" But when he got to Macy's they said it was a misprint, sorry ;( They wouldn't even budge, I was so sad!

So fast forward to this last summer, he found one at a garage sale for a whopping $3. Just the stand, no accessories or attachments, or even the bowl. We cleaned it up, and tested it out and it worked just fine, so an awesome deal ;) Well I promptly forgot about it, though he kept a look-out for accessories, which are not cheap by the way!

I had forgotten about completely until yesterday, and I wanted to use it. So I ran to the Kitchen Collection store in the mall and bought a bowl, paddle with a built in scraper, and whisk attachments. So all in all my mixer coast us $3 plus $80 in accessories, not too shabby!

Here she is, and now I have to think of a name ;)

Mixing away!!

All broken in and messy ;) Learned the hard way to add the flour slowly, lol! This is sugar cookie dough for THIS recipe.

Some misc holiday pics...

2009-12-15T12:42:00.000-08:00

We decorated a Gingerbread House the other night,. Aaron helped for a bit, but wasn't into it like Adrian was.

One of my favorite holiday treats to make is Christmas Crack, so-called because it is soooo good you get addicted ;)

2 sticks of butter
3/4 cup sugar.
2 sleeves saltine crackers
1 bag chocolate chips
nuts optional

Line a cookie sheet (with sides) with foil, and arrange crackers tightly. Melt together butter and sugar in a saucepan, and bring to a boil for THREE minutes. Pour over crackers and spread evenly. Bake for FIVE MINUTES at 425 degrees. Remove pan from the oven and immediately pour entire bag of chips onto the crackers. Let stand for 5 minutes and spread chips with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle chopped nuts on top if desired. Let cool completely and break apart to serve.

Here's some I made, right after I sprinkled the chips on and they wre starting to melt.

And after I sprinkled the nuts on....

And ready to eat!

And after I let Adrian lick the spatula ;)

Here we are on the way to our first turkey dinner on Thanksgiving, to my husband's grandmother's house in Ferndale. Then we went to another at my dad's house in the evening! It seems like I can never get a picture of the four of us together on the actual holidays, and this is the second year in a row our Thanksgiving picture has been in the car, lol!

Remember the Turkey Lentil Chili I made the other day? This is the bird my husband cooked, and I used the leftovers in that recipe. A 20 pounder!!

Today's yummy soup, Thanks Gayle!

2009-12-15T12:24:00.000-08:00

So I changed it up a tiny bit to fit what I had in my pantry, but not much. SO YUMMY!

Italian Sausage Soup

Brown 1 package of sausage in a soup pot (I didn't have spicy sausage, so used plain smoked sausage)

Add 2 cans beef broth (None in my pantry, so I used 6 cups water and beef bullion to taste)

1 quart stewed tomatoes ( I used 2 cans, one with green chiles, one without, plus the juice)

Veggies - onions, carrots, and celery, chopped and sauteed first, plus chopped garlic

Add 2 cans red wine (I am not a huge fan, so used only one can, but was pleasantly suprised!)

Let simmer . 10 minutes before serving - add your favorite kind of noodles (I used macaroni)

Since I didn't have spicy sausage, I added some chipotle flavored Tobasco sauce, plus a few sprigs of fresh Thyme and Rosemary.

This was soooo good!

Oh Christmas Tree!

2009-12-11T21:17:00.000-08:00

So funny story... The Christmas before last I decided to buy an artificial tree right after the holidays, when I could find a really good deal. I found one at Joann's and grabbed the box and went home. As soon as I got there, I asked my husband to put it in the attic and never thought about it again until last Christmas.

I was getting ready to go to work about a year ago, and asked him to get the tree out of the attic so we could decorate it when I got home. Well, when I got home, I found this tree waiting for me... And I thought it was hideous, LOL! Unbeknownst to me, I had selected a silver tree, not a green one. But since it had been hanging out in my attic for a year, there was not much I could do about it. And I have to say, once we decorated it, it wasn't so bad. I actually kind of like it now ;)

Plus, this tacky tree goes with our tacky ornaments! The hubs and I have been together long enough that this will be our 17th Christmas together, and the first few were pretty bare. We were both working full-time at crappy jobs and going to school full-time, and making ends meet was a little more difficult.

Our first Christmas we didn't really do much, and by the time our second one came around in 1994 we wanted to decorate a bit more... And I have always been crafty ;) So I busted out the scissors, glitter, felt, googley eyes and glue, and we made a bunch of totally cheesy ornaments, and they are still my favorite ones to put on our tree!

This gingerbread guy is missing an arm now, so we have to be gentle!

My hubs is a VW guy ;)

Aaron wasn't interested in helping us decorate, so Adrian and I did it together.

I love those beautiful trees where everything matches and has pretty ribbons. They are so nice to look at, but so not my style. Our tree is not one of those fancy ones. The ornaments don't match, or even go together, but I like it ;) All of our ornaments have been handmade, or given to us by family that had too many. I think soon we're going to have to invest in a new tree because we weren't able to fit them all on it this year! This little silver tree is only about 4 feet tall, so it's not very big.

This particular ornaments is a polar bear that is fishing. The bear has a hook and there is a fish dangling on the line that hangs through a hole in the 'ice' on the bottom, and Adrian was fascinated with it!

Thanks for looking at our lovely tree ;)

A story about a blanket named "Bah-jee"

2009-12-10T10:37:00.000-08:00

My son has this blanket, or should I say the blanket. I got it before he was born as a set for his crib, and he adopted it as his special blanket. He took it everywhere, and he even named it. He wanted to take it to school on the first day of Kindergarten. When he started talking, he called it his "Bah-jee." We have no idea why, or where the name came from, or what it means, it just is. He is 8 1/2 now, it is still his favorite and he still calls it that! Adrian calls it that, we all call it that ;)

Now this blanket is almost 9 years old, and has been dragged everywhere and washed a bazillion times. Think of your favorite shirt, or an outfit, whatever. After 8 years, it gets a little tattered and holey. Bah-jee has gone through a few renovations, and it is about time for another one. The first one was just a few patches here and there, and mending a few holes. The second one was a major overhaul. I dreaded it because I thought for sure Aaron would freak out, and once we did it there would be no going back!

Here is a photo (of a photo, before I had digital!) of Aaron's room before he arrived in 2001. The blanket with the red border and polka-dots around the edges, that's Bah-jee when he was new.

When Aaron was around 1 year old and Bah-jee was starting to get a little dingy, we looked around for another blanket like it so we could have a spare. Ha. This is the blanket we found, similar, but not the same. And he knew, he knew it wasn't the same! I actually just took this pic a few minutes ago, so this blanket is practically pristine compared to the real Bah-jee, lol.

I remember when Aaron was about 1 1/2, he stayed the night at my dad's house for the first time by himself. The house I grew up in is in Maple Falls, about a 40 minute drive from here, and when my dad brought Aaron home the next day... He had forgotten Bah-jee. He said "I'll be right back" and got in the car. He drove all the way back home, picked up Bah-jee and drove back to our house. And then drove home again. He knew the wrath of a particular 1 1/2 year old if we tried to tell him there was no Bah-jee, and none of us were ready for that!

This is Aaron with his Bah-jee when he was about 3 years old (2004), right before Adrian was born, and my friend's daughter Josette. You can see the patches on Bah-jee that I had sewn on to try and salvage the corners that were starting to go. I even ordered this Sesame Street fabric off of Ebay!

Here's Kasoma with Aaron and Bah-jee after Adrian joined our family, in 2005.

Here's another from 2005, and Bah-jee is definitely getting dingy and grey.

We had been preparing Aaron for awhile, letting him know that we had to fix his Bah-jee by getting Bah-jee some "new clothes." In theory, Aaron was ok with this, but putting it in practice was an entirely different matter...

So we went to the fabric store, and I let him pick out a few different things, and I made a front and back cover for Bah-jee. He picked out some Dora fabric, Blues Clues, Sesame Street and Spongebob stuff too. We washed them, and he played with them for probably a month before I did the actual sewing onto Bah-jee. I was terrified!

Then the day came and we couldn't wait any longer, and Aaron was actually asking me when we were going to put new clothes onto Bah-jee. So here I layed it all out on the floor and started pinning the layers together.

And started sewing...

The plan was to sew a front and back onto Bah-jee and make a sandwhich. Then the yellow Spongebob fabric was going to be the binding around the edges. I decided at the last minute to not completely sew the binding closed so Aaron would still be able to see bits of Bah-jee around the sides, and that is how he stayed.

And amazingly, Aaron was ok with the new Bah-jee. Completely ok, and I was so relieved! He still took him everywhere and the world still revolved around the sun, and it was OK!

I didn't get to take pics right after I was done, but here are a few from a little later. We drove to Federal Way to visit some friends and the kids were in the back. Aaron has Bah-jee on his lap in the first pic.

And here's a few from June 2005 of Aaron taking a nap with Bah-jee. I used to find him like this all the time, and when I would lift the banket off of his sweaty head he would pull it right back over again.

There is even a piece of it hanging off the edge, where the old blanket is peaking through.

Ok, so here is what Bah-jee looks like today in all his glory... This first pic was about a month ago or so. Bah-jee is that lump of decaying fabric under their heads, lol!

And this one is from today, and I just took him out of the dryer and he is still warm!

Yep, that's a big giant hole that you can see the carpet through!

Yikes. And Bah-jee is shedding. We find pieces of him everywhere, and for while Aaron wouldn't let me throw the pieces away. So now it is time for yet another overhaul. We bought some Diego fabric a few months ago and it has been washed and mixed in with the other blankets for a while, so hopefully this remodel will go as smoothly as the other one!

I will post more pics in a few days when I am finished and let ya know how it goes ;) Wish me luck!

I am making chili...

2009-12-08T12:02:00.000-08:00

And my house smells amazing right now! We still had a bunch of turkey to used up and I wanted to make a pot of something hot in this cold COLD weather. I started browsing my favorite recipe site, allrecipes.com and found this one for Turkey Lentil Chili, which sounds so yummy. After reading the reviews and a few other recipes, I made a few changes...

Ingredients

2 cups dry lentils (I used a whole bag, not sure if it was more than two cups)

2 quarts vegetable broth (I used 3 quarts of homemade turkey stock)

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (I substituted bacon drippings)

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 large onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped ( used what I had in the fridge, about 6 stalks)

1 pound turkey sausage (substituted a LOT of chopped turkey, white and dark meat)

2 tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped (used one can of diced tomatoes and the juice)

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground cumin (I used 2 tsp)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves

1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes

sea salt to taste

1 (8 ounce) container plain lowfat yogurt

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley for garnish

**Here's what I added that wasn't in the recipe**

1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained

1 1/2 tsp chipotle Tobasco sauce

1 1/2 tsp Worchesterchire sauce

1 tsp finely chopped jalepenos

1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp poultry seasoning

Directions

1.Bring lentils and vegetable broth to a boil in a large pot over high heat. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer for 10 minutes.

2.Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the garlic, onion, celery, and sausage; cook and stir until the sausage is crumbly and no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, turmeric, cumin, thyme, and red pepper flakes; cook 5 minutes more.

3.Stir the sausage mixture into the simmering lentils. Continue simmering until the lentils are tender, 20 to 30 minutes. Season to taste with salt. Garnish each serving with a dollop of yogurt and a sprinkle of chopped parsley to serve.

And here it is simmering on my stovetop, mmmmmmmmmmmm....

Cards...

2009-12-02T22:33:00.000-08:00

I have been so busy and not posting much! I made these a few days ago, and I LOVE this stamp set. It is called "On My Couch" and "On My Couch Additions" and is made by PaperTrey Ink, love it!

These are using my new Stampin' Up! Delightful Decorations punch, and the stamps are some $1 ones from Michael's and Joann's.

I will be doing my last holiday bazaar this Friday and Saturday, at the Living Water Fellowship at 4767 Guide Meridian, hope to see you there!

I am in a cardmaking mood...

2009-11-15T17:51:00.000-08:00

I have been so busy making stuff for the holiday bazaars going on right now, I can't even see straight! But it's fun :) I made my first Breast Cancer Awareness card the other day, with this fab stamp set from Verve Stamps, love it! Plus HALF the cost of the set goes to Susan G. Komen for the Cure! I am going to make a few more of these tonight :)

Here are some pics of our bazaar table last weekend...

Here's my friend Nora's side of the table

Hopefully I will have some more stuff to share soon!

Lots to share today!

2009-10-21T13:39:00.000-07:00

I have been busy! Thankfully my husband has really supported me (and my paper habit!) and kept our house running while I have been working on all this stuff ;)
I found this tutorial for an animal crackers-style box, and it was super simple to make. I actually made this set second, with just a heavy weight cardstock and no other layers. I used the new Peppermint Forest stack that I got at Joanns, lots of fun glitter! I also used the Christmas Noel Solutions cartridge to cut out the snowflake on the front of the box, thanks Kim for letting me borrow it!

Here's the first batch I made, also using a new stack, one of the Holiday Collections, and the coordinating cardstock stack.

On all these, I saved the cut-out from the front and used it as a tag on the ribbon.

These next tags were inspired by this blog, they were so cute! I just love this stamp set from Stampin' Up!

Next are some gift card holders, like these, super cute and easy!

And some more gift card holders like these, and I made these all from scraps.

And last but not least, the cards. I made a few different sets of 12 each. This first one is also using the Christmas Noel cartridge, love it!

This one is more of that Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses 6x6 pad, it's gone a long ways! Plus that cute ornament stamp and punch set too, lots of fun ways to use it :)

Now this, I love this. This beautiful card, I wish I could say it was my idea, but I lifted it from here. I used slightly different products for the backgorund paper, but it looks very similar. I inked up a plain white piece of cardstock with Tim Holtz Broken China, Dusty Concord and Weathered Wood Distress inks, and then misted it lightly with a mix of Perfect Pearls and water. Then I heat embossed the snowflake stamps with sparkly powder, very cool. The black sillhouette is from that same Christmas Noel cartridge, but Holy Moly! This cut is at 2" and it's so very tiny, and a serious pain in my a** to cut, but it was worth it!

Phew, that's it for now ;) If you want to get your hands on any of these, I will be selling them at a few craft fairs around here really soon! I will be at United Church by the firehall in Ferndale on November 7th, Hope In Christ Church in Bellingham on November 6th and 7th, and the Deming Log Show grounds on November 14th.

Cards I have made lately...

2009-10-16T09:15:00.000-07:00

I have been working like mad on Christmas cards, but made a few others too. These were made from a Making Memories pad of papers that I embossed with my Cuttlebug and then inked up a bit, AND used some Perfect Pearls on as well.

I have decided to take the plunge into a couple of craft fairs this year, and here are two sets I made for that. The one with the 'tree' is from that Basic Grey 6x6 pad I love so much, Eskimo Kisses, and the circles are a 3/4" punch. Each one of those buggers is on a foam dot, and I mentioned I made 12 right?? The card on the right is made with a Stampin' Up! ornament stamp and matching punch, which I just ordered from my friend Nora, and LOVE. I really like SU products but am just not patient enoug to fussy cut out all those pieces, so was THRILLED when I found this combo in their Holiday Mini Catalog :)

More Christmas cards...

2009-10-09T11:47:00.000-07:00

These were all made with the Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses 6x6 paper pad, I love this one! I also used a 1" circle punch, Martha Stewart Loopy punch and the stamps are Hero Arts.

These stamps are $1 ones from Michael's and I punched the ornaments out with a 3/4" circle punch. The sentiments are the same Hero Arts set and the papers are the same also.

I added some Stickles but they are still wet in this pic.

Chicken Pot Pie...

2009-10-07T11:14:00.000-07:00

Ever since we have had kids, I work part-time in the afternoons and evenings, and we work it out so they don't have to go to daycare. One of us is always home with them, which is nice, plus it helps the pocketbook also! That means between his schedule and mine, I head out the door about 20 minutes after he gets home, and I usually don't get home until around 7PM or so. For the last oh, EIGHT years, he has been the primary cook around here for dinner.

So my hubs asked me what I wanted to eat the other night, and I told him I was in the mood for homemade chicken pot pie... He hesitated for a second, and then said ok, he would make one. I asked him if he wanted something else instead, and he replied, no, that was fine, but he didn't think he had enough time to make the crust plus a few other errands he had planned. Yep, my hubs likes to bake, gotta love that! So I said no worries, throw some Bisquick on top and call it good and headed out the door to work.

I got home and what did I find? A delicious dinner with a homemade crust :) He even commented that is was so pretty that maybe I should "take a picture of it and post it on that blog-thingy" of mine, LOL!

So here it is folks! It IS pretty darn nice looking isn't it? He even put his initial "K" as the steam holes in the top, that made me literally LOL!

He even made the sauce from scratch, and it was thick enough that the inside didn't slide out all over the pie plate, it was so good :) Thanks Hubs!

My pages and pics from our Red Eye Retreat!

2009-10-07T09:18:00.000-07:00

We had such a good time, though I didn't get very many LO's done, but had a blast!

I ordered this set ornament punch/stamp set from Nora, my Stampin' Up friend, and she brought it to me at the retreat, so of course I had to use it!

Here was my set-up for the weekend

Dyona, my co-host and our massage person!

Kim, our other co-host!

Kim's two daughters, Matty and Calie also joined us

Our dining area for the weekend, they had good food!

Jael, Caitlin and Jen

Caitlin wearing the crown. Whenever anyone finished a project this weekend, they got to wear this crown. They had to find who was wearing it and go take it from them, and then when timer went off, you got a prize if you were wearing it. It also had to be decorated by each person :)

Nora getting ready for our PJ party!

My friend Jen

Tammie and Brindean

Jo wearing the crown

Jen and I

We all went to PaperZone in Bellingham in our PJ's. They stayed open an hour late just for us and gave everyone 20% off their entire purchase.

Gayle, the manager of the store got in on the fun too :)

Rachel and Jessica

Zandra and Kerry

Dyona

Gayle put out truffles and cider for us

Kim, gotta love her :)

Dyona waiting in line to pay :)

I brought my espresso machine and made 74, YES SEVENT-FOUR, latte's this weekend!

More cards I have been working on...

2009-09-25T11:59:00.000-07:00

And there are a bunch!

These ones are made with Basic Grey's Eskimo Kisses 6x6 paper pad, Hero Arts Christmas and M's Christmas sentiment stamps. The ornaments are $1 stamps from M's, and so is the stocking one.

These, I forgot to take pics before I bagged them, so sorry for the glare! This is Cosmo Cricket's Jolly by Golly 6x6 paper pad. The stamp set is by Inkadinkado that I found at PaperZone.

I can't get enough of the Martha Stewart spider web border punch, love it!

I used the DCWV La Creme 4x6 paper pad for these, which just scream 'wedding' to me!

These backgrounds are done with this Hero Arts stamp, love it and use it all the time! I used a Fiskars and a Martha Stewart border punches, the sentiments are $1 M's stamps, and the rest is scraps.

These backgrounds are done with Tim Holtz stamps, love them! I borrowed these and want them! Thanks Mal and Renee ;)

And the mess I left behind after all this paper madness....

Pictures from the Seattle 2009 3 Day Breast Cancer Walk

2009-09-16T10:52:00.000-07:00

I made it 52 out of 60 miles!!

Aaron's first day of 3rd Grade!

2009-09-09T08:53:00.000-07:00

We went otside to wait for the bus at about 8:10. The bus comes right to our house, and they said 8:12...

Every year we have taken a picture by the mailbox on the first and last day of school.

I thought this picture with his shadow was pretty cool :)

Getting goofy and bored because the bus was late...

Isn't he so handsome??

"Is the bus here yet, Mom??"

More handsomeness..

It finally got there at 8:43!

My Christmas cards this year!

2009-09-07T20:44:00.000-07:00

I made a batch of 5 of the same kind, from this VIDEO on the Christmas with the Cricut blog!

I used Heidi Grace papers and cut the card base slightly smaller, 4 x 11, instead of 4 1/4 x 11, so I could get 3 on a 12x12 sheet. I used the Christmas Cheer cart and cut the snowflake at 3 1/2 inches. The sentiment stamps are Hero Arts, and the snowflake stamps are Inkadinkado.

This one I made from scraps from the other cards, and it is just lying on the background snowflake paper. This tree is also cut from the Christmas Cheer cart, at 6 inches.

Family haircut day...

2009-09-06T17:16:00.000-07:00

My guys were super shaggy today so I had to cut some hair in the kitchen, which I only do if I HAVE to! I was in the middle of cutting Kasoma's hair, Adrian asked me if she could have one too.

She just turned 5 about 2 weeks ago and I have never snipped a single hair on her head! After I was done with Kasoma, I cut Aaron's hair too since school starts the day after tomorrow. She asked again if she could have a haircut. Well, not really, she said "I'm getting a haircut too!!" I didn't really plan on it, but I gave her a little-bitty trim :) I didn't want to cut her baby curls off quite yet!

So here she is before...

Snip, snip!

More Halloween cards

2009-09-06T14:09:00.000-07:00

These were fun!! I got some new goodies from Michael's yesterday, and shut myself away for a few hours this morning, ahhhh....

So all these papers except for the black cardstock were from a 4x6 stack from Michael's, called Recollections, sorry I can't find a pic of it anywhere. It says 'distributed by Michael's' on the back, which I have seen on a few other things I have bought recently. I also got the Martha Stewart spider web border and corner punches, though I tried mightily to resist!! All the scallop ovals and rectangles are cut using my Nestabilities and my Cuttlebug, except for one which I used a punch set from Marvy. The bling is misc from the Target $1 spot. Oh, and I also went a little crazy with Stickles :) All the stamping was done with Jet Black Staz-On ink.

This stamp set is by Autumn Leaves and I have had it for several years.

I showed such restraint at my LSS and ony bought FOUR pieces of paper, can you believe it?? I got this spider one, another Halloween one and two Christmas ones which I will share later... Thhis also has a bat border punch I got on clearance at M's!

This mummy is a M's wooden $1 stamp and the sentiment is from here...

Another $1 wooden stamp

That Autumn Leaves set again...

More $1 wooden stamps...

Autumn Leaves again..

The spider is from that Inkadinkado set..

The sentiment is another $1 wooden stamp...

Thanks for looking!

A Christmas page...

2009-09-05T07:04:00.002-07:00

The journaling is hidden on the tag at the bottom.

"We all dream of the 'right' photo for the holidays, of course, don't we? I know I do! Well, this years pic was not what I imagined. It was getting late in the year and we still had no photo. Kasoma hadn't had a haircut in ages and the kids didn't have their new holiday outfits yet either. On this night, the kids had just taken a bath and put on their jammies. We were almost ready for bed time... Hmmmm.... their faces were clean, hair and teeth brushed.. I had worked that day so my hair was fixed too... So at the last minute I grabbed a sheet and hung it up in the kitchen and used the self-timer on my camera. No, I wouldn't have chosen that t-shirt for my husband, but we are all smiling and our eyes are open, so mission accomplished!"

2009-09-05T07:04:00.001-07:00

I made it!!

2009-09-04T13:25:00.000-07:00

And just in the nick of time too :) I finally reached my fundraising goal of $2300 for this year's 3day in Seattle! It is a week from today and I am so excited! I was so nervous last year, since I didnt know what to expect, but not this time.

Thanks to a generous local walker who decided to crew instead, thanks Rebecca!! There is still time to donate, and this is just the minimum I needed to raise to walk, so don't let that stop ya!

CLICK HERE TO DONATE!

What have you SU Ladies decided to do???

2009-09-03T14:09:00.001-07:00

I saw this today, and it is just ridiculous!! I got this from Happy Happy Joy Joy at Obsessed with Scrapbooking...

"Stampin Up! unveiled a new demonstrator agreement form yesterday that has some severe restrictions on the online marketing practices of their demonstrators. For starters, the agreement states:

9. Restrictions on Representation of Competing Companies or Products: I understand that as an independent contractor, I am free to conduct such business in such manner as I deem appropriate. I also understand that the value of my demonstratorship and the demonstratorships of others, as well as the Products, is in large part dependent upon my obligation to refrain from promoting or selling the products of other companies, or engaging in recruitment that competes with the Products that I have a right to sell through my demonstratorship. In this regard, I understand that although restrictions may apply to promoting, marketing, or selling products of other companies, such restrictions shall not extend to the casual or incidental reference or display of such products as long as the reference or display is not reasonably made to drive people to the source or seller of those products, such as providing purchasing information, referrals to catalogs or publications, or links to blogs, web sites, or the like that promote, market, or sell products of other companies. Accordingly, I agree to the following:

(d) Electronic Communications: I understand that the content of my electronic communications such as e-mail, personal blog, web site, Twitter, Facebook, other social media and the like can have a considerable influence on how I am perceived as a Demonstrator for © 2009 STAMPIN’ UP! and also reflect significantly on the Company. Accordingly, I will refrain from using such electronic communications to promote, market, or sell the products of other companies (direct or retail sellers) who offer similar products, which includes: decorative stamps (in any form), stamp art accessories, scrapbooking products, digital art solutions, and vinyl wall art.What are the implications of that new policy? How does it impact a demonstrator's personal blog, separate from the SU! business? Does that mean demonstrators can no longer link to friends' blogs who may sell a competing brand (CTMH, Creative Memories, etc.)? What are the implications for SU! reps who are on multiple design teams? What about online forum advertising/posting? Gallery and contest submissions? The implications in this policy are huge!Here are some FAQs that SU! has provided:Re-signing the IDA

Q: How do I sign the new Independent Demonstrator Agreement (IDA)?
A: Log in to the Demonstrator Web Site and either print a copy of the agreement from the Printing Place, or go to My Business>My Profile. There is a link on the right side of the My Profile page for the new (2009) Independent Demonstrator Agreement. From that link you can read the new IDA and electronically agree to the new terms. Demonstrators who do not have Internet access can contact Demonstrator Support to make alternate arrangements.

Q: What's the deadline for signing the IDA?A: You have until midnight on September 30, 2009, to sign and submit the new IDA.Q: What happens if I don't sign the new IDA by the deadline?
A: If you haven't signed the new IDA by October 1, 2009, you will be unable to place any orders through OEX until you do so. If you try to place an order, you will be prompted to go through the quick, easy process of signing the new IDA.In addition, if you haven't signed the new IDA by October 1, your customers will not be able to place any orders through your Demonstrator Business Web Site (DBWS) and you will not be included in the Demonstrator Locator or Demonstrator Finder tools on the Stampin' Up! Web Site. Make sure you sign the new IDA before October 1 so you don't lose any potential sales.

Q: How does this impact new recruits? If I or a member of my downline just joined in August, do we still need to sign a new IDA?
A: Yes. The new IDA is available online now, so any new recruits who sign up now will need to sign the new IDA. However, those who signed up before September 1 also need to sign the new IDA, and may do so electronically at any time before October 1. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause but hope you understand how important it is that every demonstrator is aware of these changes.

Q: Why do I need to re-sign the IDA?
A: While we can make minor changes to policy and the IDA without requiring demonstrators to sign the agreement again, we felt that the changes on this revision were significant enough that we would give all demonstrators the opportunity to read and accept the new terms. TopPersonal/Business Impact

Q: If I have a Stampin' Up! blog where I promote my Stampin' Up! business and a personal blog that I keep separate from my Stampin' Up! business, do the same guidelines apply to both blogs?
A: Yes. As a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, any presence you have in the electronic communications world (blog, web site, Facebook, Twitter, etc.) must meet the guidelines outlined in the new IDA. When you sign the new IDA, you agree to refrain from using any electronic communications to promote, market, or sell the products of any other companies (direct selling or retail) that offer similar products, including decorative stamps in any form, stamp art accessories, scrapbooking products, digital art solutions, and vinyl wall art.Keep in mind, again, that the restriction does not completely prohibit you from using competitive products and posting images on your personal web site. You could, for example, post a project you made for your child's birthday party using non-Stampin' Up! accessories, but you would need to refrain from providing specific sales information (price, retailer, etc.) that would be considered marketing of those products.When you post projects, whether they are on your Stampin' Up! blog or a personal blog, you are representing Stampin' Up! and your postings impact your business and Stampin' Up! as a whole.

Q: Once I sign the new IDA, what am I allowed to have on my blog?
A: The changes restrict you from providing purchasing information, referrals to catalogs or publications, links to blogs or other web sites, or other similar material meant to promote, market, or sell competitive products.For instance, if you created a project that used a wooden block, you could show the project on your blog and mention that you used a wooden block. You could even mention that you purchased the wooden block at a craft store or big box retail store, but you should refrain from giving the name and location of the store, or any other purchasing information.We do not want to list everything you can and cannot do in electronic media-partly because the list would be incredibly long, partly because it would need to be updated every time technology changed (and that would be almost daily!), and partly because we want you to understand and respect the intent behind these changes and use your own judgment in making these decisions. As you consider your activity in electronic media, ask yourself if what you are doing undermines your business, the businesses of other demonstrators, or the company as a whole. If the answer is yes, please refrain from doing it.

Q: On my personal blog, I have links to my friends' personal blogs and web sites. Some of them sell competing product. Do I need to remove these links?
A: Yes. In evaluating the links on your web site, you will need to remove any links to blogs, web sites, or the like that promote, market, or sell competitive products.

Q: I regularly participate in online forums relating to the craft industry, and maintain a gallery of my artwork on one of these forums. With the new IDA, is this activity still allowed?
A: Yes. Participating in forums and posting your projects for your fellow crafters can be an important method of inspiration and recognition. It's important to note that the new IDA does not prohibit this kind of activity.However, there are some guidelines now associated with activity using any electronic media. Consider the web site or online community you choose to participate in. Does it actively promote or market other craft companies? Does it provide information on products or catalogs for other stamping, scrapbooking, or home decorating products or companies? If you directed your customers to the web site, would they have the opportunity to learn about and purchase similar products from other companies, and not from you? If the answer is yes, then under the new IDA guidelines, you should refrain from linking to the site in your other personal electronic communications, regardless of your personal activity on that forum or web site. We understand that this may be difficult for some, but hope you understand the impact on your customers when you direct them to a location where their attention is diverted from you and the products you have to offer. We are currently exploring ways to provide more of an open community and sharing environment to our demonstrators, and will keep you updated on any new developments.

Q: I create electronic banners, backgrounds, and other projects for my web site using digital artwork from other companies. Can I still do this?
A: Absolutely. Again, using or displaying products that compete with Stampin' Up! products is not restricted. However, promoting that artwork, such as providing links to product web sites or giving specific purchasing or download information, would be against the new IDA.

Q: I design projects for another company, web site, or publication using non-Stampin' Up! products. With the new guidelines, can I still do this?
A: That depends on what the company, web site, or publication has asked you to do. If you simply design projects that are then displayed on the web or in a publication somewhere, but you personally do not need to promote it on your blog or web site, then yes, you may still do this. Once you are required to personally promote competitive products in any manner, you will be in violation of your Stampin' Up! agreement.

Q: If I am under contract to promote other company's products on my blog, or to design for another company and promote it on my blog or other social media, how do I handle the new guidelines?
A: If you are under contract to promote competing products through your web site, blog, or other electronic media, please contact Demonstrator Support, who will refer you to the Compliance department. We understand that you need to honor commitments you've made under contract; therefore we will work with demonstrators (on a case-by-case basis) who are in this situation. This does mean that there may be some demonstrators who appear out of compliance with the new guidelines for a short time, as they work through the terms of any contracts they may have.We will work with demonstrators on these exceptions within reason. If a demonstrator is under a contract, for example, that has no end date, that demonstrator would need to work with Compliance and determine how best to terminate the contract.

Q: I get a lot of traffic on my web site, and I receive requests to advertise other craft products. Are you saying I can't have any advertisements like this on my web site, even if I have the opportunity to gain some income from them?
A: Yes. Although you may gain potential income from providing links and/or purchasing information about certain products, at the same time you are losing potential income by driving customers to competing companies. Although it's difficult to measure in hard numbers, we believe that by keeping your visitors interested and informed about Stampin' Up! products, they are more likely to purchase those products-from you!Keep in mind that these restrictions only apply to competing non-Stampin' Up! products. We are not restricting advertising for noncompetitive products.

Q: I use my Facebook page or Twitter account to highlight products I like from any company, not just Stampin' Up! Is this now prohibited?
A: Yes. Again, we believe that these changes may increase your sales and will protect your demonstratorship and Stampin' Up! as a whole. As we've indicated, this doesn't prohibit incidental references or visuals of products offered by other companies, and it doesn't apply to noncompetitive products.

Q: Now that Stampin' Up! has announced its Simply Adorned line of jewelry, is jewelry considered a competitive product?
A: No. Our line of jewelry is so limited that we do not consider jewelry a competitive product at this time.

Q: If a customer leaves a comment on my blog that promotes a competing product, am I now obligated to delete that comment?
A: No. However, given the intent of this policy, you may choose to do so, as any information regarding competitive products or retailers is harmful to your business.

Q: Do I have to go through my archive information on any electronic communication and delete any references that don't comply with these new guidelines?
A: No. The policy changes will be effective going forward, and it is not our intent that you would need to go through and "clean out" any information you have posted in the past. If you use or actively refer to an old post or article, however, you will want to make sure that article is compliant as it would constitute current use.

Q: At an event, can I market or promote a product or service that is directly related to my Stampin' Up! business?
A: No. As the new IDA notes, whether the event is organized by Stampin' Up! or a demonstrator, an exclusive selling environment is an important part of the process. When you sign the new IDA, you agree to refrain from promoting, marketing, or selling any product or service that is not directly offered by Stampin' Up! at any Stampin' Up! event, even if that product or service is directly related to your or other demonstrators' Stampin' Up! business.TopPhilosophy

Q: What prompted Stampin' Up! to make these changes?
A: Before the wide-spread use of the Internet as a marketing, selling, and communications tool, guidelines concerning competitive products were fairly straightforward. Our main means of sharing Stampin' Up! was in workshops or similar face-to-face events. In a workshop or other event, it doesn't make sense to promote products available from local retailers or even direct-sellers, as it would negatively impact the workshop total, the hostess benefits, your commission, etc.As time has gone on, and more demonstrators are using the convenience of online tools to market and promote their businesses, it has become necessary to bring our policies regarding the online promotion of competitive products in harmony with our face-to-face events policies.In addition, as we developed My Digital Studio, the need for more defined guidelines became even more evident as we realized the many ways this new product could be used to build your business.These are a few of the things that led us to examine the Independent Demonstrator Agreement and the restrictions we provide on representation of competing companies and marketing, promoting, and selling competing products.

Q: How do these changes benefit me or protect my business?
A: When you sign up to become a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, regardless of your purpose in doing so, you sign up to begin your own business. Stampin' Up!'s goal is to provide you with tools, services, and products to help you be successful at whatever level of business you choose to engage in. But whether you consider your business a hobby or a full-time occupation, the same basic business principles apply.Imagine for a moment that you own a fast-food restaurant that specializes in a specific kind of burger. You plaster your walls with photos of happy customers and provide specials on your food to encourage more customers to come by. You wouldn't suddenly put an ad for McDonald's on your wall, right? Nor would you freely tell your customers that they could get a cheaper burger just down the road.Promoting products that compete with Stampin' Up!'s products is not only fundamentally a bad business practice, it also costs you sales, commissions, or other opportunities. Whether in person or in your electronic media resources, the concept is the same. It is in your best interest, as well as the company's, to not allow competitive businesses to utilize the drawing power of Stampin' Up! to build revenue or find customers. We put our resources into promoting the business for you, and we're sure you'll agree that it doesn't make sense for Stampin' Up! to allow other companies to benefit from our efforts.That said, we don't want you to stop creating. We need you! We need you to keep creating, coming up with new ideas and suggestions, and sharing your enthusiasm. We need to work together to protect what Stampin' Up! stands for and what we offer.

Q: These new policies seem harsh; why would Stampin' Up! make changes of this kind?
A: We have invested substantial resources-financial, creative, personnel, etc.-in providing products, services, and tools to help you build your demonstratorship. While these changes may seem restrictive, we feel strongly that they will protect our investments and your business over the long term.However, please note that the guidelines are designed to restrict marketing, promoting, and selling of competitive products only. The incidental mention of non-Stampin' Up! products is allowed.

I heard about this story over on the Craft Critique site and for more information and to see more details on this hot topic, head over to their site by clicking HERE! Also, keep an eye out for Nancy Nally's article over on Scrapbook Update by clicking HERE!"

Want to win a handmade bag??

2009-09-03T13:39:00.001-07:00

I know I do! LOVE Kelci's creations here, check it out!!

I had a good month!

2009-09-02T14:39:00.000-07:00

I dropped off a bunch of cards and a few other things I made to the Glass Slipper in Ferndale today. I have only been selling my projects there for about 2 and a half months, and this last month I did really well, yay! I got to pick up a check for $60, woohoo! Good thing I like to make this stuff :)

Blog candy!

2009-09-01T12:11:00.000-07:00

There is a fabulous prize over HERE!

Halloween cards

2009-08-24T18:55:00.000-07:00

These were fun! I used a lot of Tim Holtz Distress Ink, in Concord Grape and Spiced Marmalade, love them!

These turned out better than I thought, and I wish I could say that it was my idea, lol! I saw a similar technique on www.splitcoaststampers.com and loved it. I started with a white piece of cardstock, and added ink. First I printed the trees on the paper and cut it to size. Then I punched out a small circle from scrap paper and stuck it down with removeable adhesive, and inked over it with orange first and then the purple. The last was the witch stamp :)

The spiderweb was cut using my Cricut and the Paper Dolls cart. Love that cart! I printed the background on white cardstock and inked over it with the orange color. I stamped the sentiment and inked it a little bit too.

The script background is the same as the card above, and the scroll was cut with the Storybook cart.

Cute fall stuff!

2009-08-23T19:01:00.001-07:00

Went to M's today and found some Halloween goods! I got a roll of Martha Stewart spider lace clearanced priced for $3, a Martha bat border punch marked down to $7, and a few CUTE $1 wooden stamps.

Summer camp at Ray of Hope...

2009-08-20T21:29:00.000-07:00

is over, the last day is tomorrow! Aaron has loved going all summer, and we hope to have both kids in the program next year. It runs M-F, 9 am to 2:30 and is 7 weeks long. He loves it so much and it keeps him on a daily routine like school, it's wonderful! It is run by Rebound of Whatcom County here in town. Tonight was their talent show, and I took a short video of the segment Aaron was in :)

My 'Baby' is 5!!!!!!!!!

2009-08-20T21:23:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was my daughter Adrian's birthday, time flies!! She wanted a strawberry cake with sprinkles. She has been a finicky eater the last few days so I had to entice her with cake to get her to finish her dinner.

The inside was a plain white cake since we didn't have a strawberry one, but my husband went a little overboard with the red food coloring!

2009-08-20T21:23:00.000-07:00

The NW Washington Fair 2009

2009-08-20T21:01:00.000-07:00

Aaron and Adrian going on their first ride...

Adrian was beyond excited until it moved... Then she talked non-stop for the rest of the day telling us not to take her on that ride again!

She wouldn't even go on the ferris wheel after that....

So Tammy and I went in one car and Aaron went with Josette and Rachel in another.

Tammy is not a fan of fair rides!

We finally got to the carousel horses and she wanted to go them.... Until it moved that is, so we got off before it hardly started...

After some stamping of feet and screaming, we had some ice cream and that made everything better!

Round ne of rides was over, so we made the rounds through the animals.

And here's Ben, a 13 year old steer that weighs a little over 3200 pounds! He has been at the fair for many years now.

Adrian's favorite animals...

The Rides: Part II

We made it back to the carousel horses, but not the actual horses. Had to ease her into it by going on the bench first :)

After brother went with us, she wanted to ride the horses over and over! I think we did it four more times :)
Jalopy Junction!

All done.

Corn dogs? Check.
Funnel cake? Check.
Got dizzy? Check.
Spent a fortune and walked the soles off of our shoes? Check, and check!

This is about the only pic I got of Josette and her friend Rachel. They're 12 and were off on their own and looking at boys, waaaay too busy for us uncool old folks ;)

Fun way to be green!

2009-08-13T17:29:00.000-07:00

So, I am sure you all have seen THESE cups that Starbucks makes, right?? I got a Grande size for my birthday and love it so much that I bought the Venti size when it came out!

Well, a local place, The Woods Coffee has released their own version. You can check them out on their Facebook page, or at http://www.thewoodscoffee.com/