Cased Ornament Card

I so shamelessly CASEd this card from Hero Arts site.  It is one of Jennifer McGuire's.  I changed the papers and colors a little but it is pretty close.  The die cut shape is from a Cricut cartridge.  I wanted a frame but the next size up was too large so I manually cut a frame from blue cardstock.

I'm batch processing 10 of these for my holiday stash while watching TV.  I feel so productive!  Thanks for visiting!

Ingredients:  Stamps:  Magic of Christmas (Hero Arts)
DSP:  Peppermint Collection from Crate Paper; Material Girl from Cosmo Cricket
Cardstock:  Real Red
Markers by Stampin' Up!

Die Cuts Card

Artfuldelight has been celebrating an anniversary and running a great blog hop.  Be sure to check it out.  There are still just a couple of days left to enter a project for a great prize.  The grand prize is a 6 month subscription to their monthly kits!  What a wonderful chance to try for.

Since the prize was kits, I decided to use a kit for my card.  The challenge was to fill in three items from her 'tic tac toe' board of options on day 2 of the blog hop - see the details here  Artfuldelight blog hop.  I did a card, used a border punch and used a button. The other items are all from a Crate Paper kit.  I always have a hard time figuring out how to use the die cuts that come with some of the paper packs.  It is particularly challenging for me on cards since you only get one of each thing and I almost always make multiples of a card.  Anyway I fit in three of the die cuts here, stamping the square with my sentiment.

I did this as a 9"x4" card so it fits into a letter size envelope which is a nice change of pace.

Hope you are having a great week!  Thanks for visiting!

A kiss of nature

There are traditions and then there are traditions!   One of ours is to share at least one kiss on our walks. We were just posing for the perfect picture when it turned into of those kisses.  My husband immediately said, "I bet this is going in the scrapbook."  Of course!

It took me forever to do this page.  Partially I was just very busy last week and and also those little hearts turned out to be very time consuming.  I lost track of the number of papers I actually used but you can get some idea from this sampler which is my tip for the day.

When you want to mix a lot of papers together, punch a small image from the papers to see what matches and what stands out as a misfit.  I think there were only two (a light one and the stripe) from this selection I dropped.  I was surprised to see so many work out.  This technique expanded my design and also saved time as I was cutting most of the larger hearts on the Cricut.  (I only have a very small and a very large heart punch.)

After cutting, I inked the edges and then sewed the little X's on them with embroidery thread which is where most of the time went.

After it was all done, I realized I'd gotten the photos in the wrong order!  oh well...

How I did the tree (if you have a Cricut and SCAL):

• In Powerpoint, I found a clipart image of a tree.  There were some other elements in the image.
• I ungrouped the image - you have to do Ungroup twice to get an image into enough pieces.
• Then I deleted everything but the tree.
• Next I took the image to Photoshop Elements and removed the white background.
• Saved as a JPG.
• In SCAL, I did a Trace Image and imported the JPG.

Anyway, it was a fun layout to do.  Thanks for visiting today!  And have you kissed our special someone today?





Ingredients:  Way too many pattern papers to name! The background is Little Yellow Bicycle and the solid rust is Basic Grey Marrakesh.  Some die cuts from Making Memories J'Adore collection.

Eschew the Chew

Hi! I'm on my soap box again today.  I promise to be brief and not do this often.

Today, ABC premieres The Chew in place of All My Children.  If you aren't interested in this show, I hope you will join me in being sure your television is off during this time slot (for me that is 1:00 pm Eastern).  The only daytime we watch is General Hospital anyway, but I especially want ABC to know that I have no interest in this new show.

Why?  Sometime before the 2012 fall season begins, ABC Daytime will decide whether to keep the new show The Chew and another show coming out called The Revolution (weight loss) or to keep General Hospital.  They have three hours of programming and will only have 2 hours of time available.  Katie Couric is already taking one of the current hours.  Obviously, I want them to keep General Hospital.

The Chew is supposed to be a food based talk show.  From the previews, it looks like the content is part recycled from things anyone who cooks already knows to completely inapplicable advise.  For example, Daphne Oz (the doctor's daughter) suggests getting fish tacos from your neighborhood Korean BBQ truck. As I told my husband, the day a Korean BBQ truck rolls through our neighborhood is the day I'll watch the forced smiles of the hosts of The Chew.

If you do watch The Chew and don't care for it, please send ABC an e-mail telling them so.  All of us long time daytime drama fans thank you!

Thanks for listening!

Tomorrow I'll be back with a scrapbook page and a tip!

Quilt Festival

Yesterday, my thoughtful husband suggested an outing to a local quilt festival.  The Wilkes County (North Carolina) Quilter's Guild featured these among the many beautiful quilts on display.  This 

one was my favorite.

This bed size quilt uses Kaffe Fassett fabrics.

I loved how the quilters worked the printed designs of their fabrics into their blocks and shapes:

There were so many talented quilters sharing their work!  I'm glad we got to see them.

Thanks for visiting today!

Cupcakes

Ah, the sweet things in life!  Personally, I'm a regular cake kind of person - I like a larger serving :-) Cupcakes are cute though particularly for cards.

Busy week around here this week.  Hope you have a 'sweet' day.  Thanks for visiting today!

Ingredients:  Cupcakes stamps by Hampton Arts
Cardstock:  Pretty in Pink, Creamy Caramel, orchid Opulence by SU!

TIPsy Tuesday - Covering a Notebook

It is time again for another notebook.  I've filled up my last one with lists and scribbles.  So here is my latest cover.  The video is about doing the base cover.  You can apply this to virtually any spiral bound notebook without having to have a special punch or binding too.  You just need a regular hole punch, a good liquid glue and a good tape adhesive.  I'm using Creative Memories tape adhesive and Mono Tombow glue.

Watch at  YouTube




The rest of the cover can be any pretties you like. I do try to keep mine flat so I'll be able to write in the notebook without any lumps in the way.  I wish I could doll it up with buttons and other embellishments but this is more functional.

Thanks for watching!

Ingredients:  DSP:  Farmhouse Collection from Crate Paper
Stamps:  God's Beauty, Define Your Life and Sanded by Stampin' Up!; Stella Rose by My Mind's Eye (doilies)
Sticker:  October Afternoon
Twine:  Lime Twist by MME; lace by Making Memories

Coloring in front of the TV

Here I am again using the Loads of Love stamp.  I do love this little truck.  Lately, I've been looking for things I can color when watching the news in the evening.  The world must be a boring place if the lead story is a debate between Dr. Oz and another reporter about apple juice - seriously, the lead story one day this week!  Anyway with mesmerizing content like that having a little something to do while watching helps.

I'm going to have to look for more stamps that I can color.  I tried the digi route however when I print them, the ink smears when coloring.  I don't plan to invest in Copics so I'm using my Stampin' Up! markers.  Anyone know of paper you can print digital images on and then color with water based markers?

I did get this wonderful set used on the top card second hand and I love it for Thanksgiving or other fall cards.

Speaking of television, the fall TV season starts this week and I'm pleased as the days are getting shorter and the nights a bit boring.  I usually watch only one show a night or maybe two half hour comedies but they do break up the evening.  Here are the returning shows I'm looking forward to:


Sunday - The Good Wife which is no doubt the best drama on television.  I hope it does great in the new time slot.  There is a catch up episode on-line though it doesn't cover nearly all that happened and doesn't really talk much about the one character that everyone does talk about - Kalinda.  All the characters are interesting and have tons of depth to keep this one going a long time.

Desperate Housewives are doing their final season and I'll probably catch it via the Internet on Tuesdays when there is nothing on in Primetime yet again.

Monday - Mike and Molly.  I was very surprised to like this show. It is more about their relationship than their weight though of course that does spark lots of jokes.  It is the supporting cast that often makes or breaks a sitcom and this is no exception.  The sister is hilarious!

Tuesday - as I said, nothing here except perhaps the new show Unforgettable but it doesn't come on until 10.

Wednesday - Modern Family!  What else?  TV's best sitcom.  My favorite of all time is Frasier and this one just might top it.

Thursday - Big Bang Theory - my husband's favorite sitcom.  I thought the addition of the girlfriends was a mistake but I was so wrong.  Bernadette, Amy and Pria added much needed friction and material to keep the character's growing.

Friday - dead as usual.  We typically watch PBS.

Saturday - ditto.

What are your TV picks for this fall?

Thanks for visiting!

Ingredients:  Stamps:  All Stampin' Up!  Loads of Love, Thankful Thoughts, All Holidays for greeting
Cardstock:  Crumb Cake and Daffodil Delight 
DSP:  Everyday Flair 6x6 Paper Pad by My Mind's Eye