Stamping Designs by Heather

My Memories Suite Page

2012-01-27T09:21:00.000-05:00

Here's for you Di! I made this page just for you....since you wanted to see an example :-) I made it in 8.5x11 since I know that you prefer to not have the 12x12 size :-) This was not a pre-set page - everything on it was built by moi. I hope you like it!

Tools: My Memories Suite software program

Share the Memories ~ Freebie

2012-01-26T12:00:00.004-05:00

Hello again! It's time for the next My Memories freebie! Check it out...

Please note that all of these are .png files only, not MyMemories Suite Templates. They are usable in any software and are for everyone!! This freebie includes 2 Quick Pages, and all of the papers and elements used in creating them. The elements and QuickPages are.png and the papers are .jpg format. These Quick Pages will not autoinstall into the software itself, but are used by adding to your project as you would a photo, and then layering your photo behind the open box. From there you can add journaling, embellishments and more to truly personalize!!

Have fun with your freebie! If you post about your creation, please leave a link to your post in the comments section so I can check it out. Happy scrapping!

p.s. If you're having fun creating these pages, why not check out the software package that mymemories offers? Use my code for a great discount: STMMMS72517 - you can click the link on my sidebar.

Share the Memories ~ Freebie

2012-01-20T09:12:00.001-05:00

Oops! A day late...but here's this week's freebie:

I'll leave it up for one week, so grab it before next Thursday (or Friday lol).

Have fun with your freebie! If you post about your creation, please leave a link to your post in the comments section so I can check it out. Happy scrapping!

Softpencil Blog Giveaway!

2012-01-18T11:31:00.000-05:00

My friend Elizabeth has a giveaway going on right now on her blog. You can read about it here: Softpencil Giveaway If you enter please let her know that I sent you :-)

Good luck!

p.s. If you're not familiar with Elizabeth's designs, you can click on my Softpencil label and see some cards I made using her images. They were done with digital images but now she's got some of them in stamp form...and stickers too.

Share the Memories ~ 2nd freebie link!

2012-01-12T10:36:00.000-05:00

(If you're just catching up, you can read about my affiliation with MyMemories.com here.)

Below is this week's freebie. I'll leave it up for one week...so grab it while you can! These Quick Pages are deliberately created as "two-page layouts" and I will be offering these regularly. You can use these to start an album for photobooks, printing or online viewing! Why not give it a try? Here's this week's and what you get:

Have fun with your freebie! If you post about your creation, please leave a link to your post in the comments section so I can check it out. Happy scrapping!

Share the Memories ~ 1st freebie link!

2012-01-05T12:44:00.001-05:00

If you saw my post last week you read that I'm now a MyMemories affiliate. Along with my code (STMMMS72517) that will give you $10 off your purchase of the latest and greatest scrapbook software, I now have a link for a FREEBIE! Woo hoo! I'll leave the freebie links up for one week...so grab them while you can! These Quick Pages are deliberately created as "two-page layouts" and I will be offering these regularly. You can use these to start an album for photobooks, printing or online viewing! Why not give it a try? Here's the first one and what you get:

Have fun with your freebie! If you post about your creation, please leave a link to your post in the comments section so I can check it out. Happy scrapping!

My Memories Software coupon code

2011-12-30T11:56:00.000-05:00

Hello! I'm now an affiliate for My Memories! :-) I LOVE their software program - I have version 2 and it's so easy to use! They have since come out with version 3 and I've got a coupon code for you! Use this code (STMMMS72517) to get a $10 discount on the purchase of the MyMemories Suite V3 scrapbook software. The software also comes with a $10 coupon good for downloads at their site as well. There are also a bunch of free downloads too...and on Fridays they give away a freebie from their Facebook page. And, if you want to try before you buy, they offer a free trial as well.

If you know anyone that would be interested, please direct them here to get the code :-)

https://www.mymemories.com/

Heidi again...

2011-10-04T12:25:00.001-04:00

Another Heidi card ;-) For some reason my hubby loves to give these out to his friends for their birthdays...hmmm... LOL This time I went with simple black cardstock. I had some leftover ribbon that I thought went really nicely because of the black edge around it. I immediately thought of using the ribbon as a frame! So that's what I did. There's a close-up picture of the (frame) corner below. The image is from Victoria Case Stamps.

Tools used: Heidi image, SU Sassy Susy for sentiment, Prismacolor colored pencils, leftover ribbon.

1st Communion Cards

2011-09-15T20:38:00.001-04:00

Two of our neighbors' kids made their first communion together. So, I made them matching cards :-)
The background/frame is D'vine Swirls embossing folder - I embossed and then cut the oval out using Lifestyle Crafts nesting ovals and my Cuttlebug (where would I be without it!) The cross stamp I got years ago and don't remember who made it, but it was just a single stamp I bought. I stamped it with SU Creamy Caramel ink and hand-cut it out. To get the 'light' shining behind it, I flipped the cross over to the backside and chalked from the corners out. This way I could cover all the area I needed while lining it up just right, and not having to worry about getting chalk on the front of the cross. Then flip and adhere.

Tools used: Cuttlebug, D'vine Swirls CB embossing folder, SU Creamy Caramel ink, SU Stampin' Pastels, pop-dots.

Heidi Birthday Card

2011-08-03T11:27:00.001-04:00

I literally made this card in 5 mins. My husband had decided last minute, practically before walking out the door, that he needed a birthday card for a friend of his. Luckily I had already colored this image but hadn't made a card with it yet. A little matting, a little embossing, and BOOM, it was done! Thank you Victoria @ Victoria Case Art Designs for the awesome Heidi image! I've had fun coloring her. I will post another card featuring Heidi in the future, so be on the lookout! :-)

Tools used: Cuttlebug w/ d'vine swirls embossing folder, Heidi digi from Victoria Case Art Designs, Prismacolor Pencils, SU Sassy Suzie stamp set for sentiment.

Wanda's Crafts Contest!

2011-07-25T10:56:00.000-04:00

Wanda, at Wanda's Crafts, is having a Blog Button Contest. You can check it out here. Add her button to your blog and sign her guestbook and you'll be entered. Easy peasy!

Wanda's Crafts has freebie svg files - check out her blog or sign up for her newsletter to get more - and also a store where you can purchase even more of Wanda's awesome files! If you have a cutter go check out Wanda's Crafts!

Good luck!

My first blog award!!!

2011-07-01T14:27:00.000-04:00

Woo hoo! I got my very first blog award! I'm so excited - I feel like I've made it in the blogging world now LOL Thank you Elizabeth!!

These are the rules about this award,

1) Send a thank you to the person who nominated you and include their link.
2) To accept this award, answer 7 random facts about yourself.
3) Pass the award on to at least 8 other awesome blog buddies

Hmmm... 7 random facts... let's see

1) I LOVE chocolate...I mean I really love it!
2) I have been married for almost 13 years and I have two kids - no pets.
3) I have been teaching myself how to knit.
4) My latest love is photography - I'm hoping to learn lots more about it soon!
5) I wish I had more time to craft and then blog about it.
6) My family and I love camping!
7) The older I get, the less I like winter...I'm pretty much against it but I can't change it. Oh well! In my perfect world winter would only last from after Thanksgiving until the New Year, just so we have a white Christmas, and after that we'd go right into spring.

Hmmm.. what if I don't have 8 other people to send to? Well, I'll do my best...

1) First and foremost is my bestest blogger friend (outside of blogging as well!) Diane
2) Debbie
3) Kelly
4) Rivka
5) Meg
6) Wanda
7) and if she weren't the one to give it to me, I would have given this to Elizabeth for sure! :-)

Thank You Card

2011-06-15T10:07:00.002-04:00

I wanted to use my border embossing folder so I decided to use it for this card. It's one of the borders in the Pop Culture pack from Cuttlebug. For the background I used Versamark and 'thank you' from the Wonderful Words SU set. The sentiment came from the SU Curvy Verses set. For the piece of paper I used the SU ticket punch corner punch and the ribbon slot punch from Fiskars. I tied the ribbon in both directions to change it up a bit. I also cut the front of the card narrower so that the embossed border could be seen while the card was open or closed.

Tools: CB embossing folder - Pop Culture; Fiskars ribbon slot punch; Versamark ink (background); SU stamp sets: Wonderful Words, and Curvy Verses; SU ticket punch corner punch; ribbon; Cuttlebug machine

Anniversary Card

2011-06-05T09:50:00.004-04:00

Friends of ours got married the same year we did...and they have the same initials as we do! They live across the country from us and we always send them an anniversary card. This is what they got this year:

For this I used the LOVE set from SU and matted the small squares on a piece of red paper that I used the border and corner SU punch for. Don't you just love punching all the way around a piece of paper now?! I cut the gold ribbon to resemble an arrow and for the background I used my Cuttlebug to emboss (using the Textile embossing folder). I used SU Stampin' Pastels to highlight the embossing. I chalked around the edges as well. Inside I used the Full of Life set from SU and the 'happy anniversary' is from Inkadinkado.

Tools: SU sets: LOVE & Full of Life, Cuttlebug, CB Textile embossing folder, SU border and corner punches, corner rounder punch, ribbon, ST Stampin' Pastels, Inkadinkado stamp

Another Wedding Card

2011-05-26T09:06:00.002-04:00

Here's another wedding card I had made. This time I used the same bride and groom stamp, but made a different card altogether. The ribbon holds the front flap closed. Once you untie the ribbon the flap opens and you can open the bride and groom part. Then you get to the inside :-) The bridesmaids wore purple so that's the color I went with. It's the bride's favorite color after all :-)

(Card closed)

(Front flap open)

(Inside)

Tools used: Scallop punch, circle punch, SU stamp set To Have & To Hold, ribbon, hole punch, colored pencils.

Wedding Card

2011-05-03T13:49:00.002-04:00

I made this card for friends of ours that were getting married. I like the classic blacak and white look, but I had to add some color to the flowers :-) I also added glitter to the bride's vail. The background/frame was done with my Cuttlebug machine and the Scrollwork embossing folder. For this card I also stamped on the inside and back of the card. I also used the two hearts on the envelope and wrote their initials in each heart.

Tools used: Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug Scrollwork embossing folder, glitter glue, ribbon, SU stamp sets: To Have & To Hold, Greetings Galore, and In My Thoughts.

Cupcake Honey birthday card

2011-04-12T12:38:00.006-04:00

I needed to make a b-day card for friend of ours - he's not the kind of guy to go for frilly things, so I used this image instead of my typical cutesy digis :-) I hope he appreciated it! LOL In any event, the image is from Sassy Studios and it's called Cupcake Honey. The candle background is an embossing folder from Cuttlebug. The sentiments (inside and out) are from SU Sassy Suzie set. The digi was colored using Prismacolor colored pencils.

Tools used: SU Sassy Suzie, Cuttlebug, Cuttlebug embossing folder, Prismacolor pencils

Book Review ~ His First Kill: A Short Story

2011-04-07T16:52:00.001-04:00

I usually don't read short stories....because...well...I think they are too short! LOL But this one was filled with twists and turns and unexpected things. I loved it! It was a quick read (as I guess is the point of short stories lol) but it was enjoyable all the way through. Thank you John Brinling! It was a fun, unexpected read!

Dragon b-day card

2011-04-05T10:55:00.000-04:00

Here's a birthday card I made for one of my kids' friend's birthday parties. I used Dustin Pike's freebie image and colored with Prismacolor pencils. I double matted him and put some ballon brads along the side.

Tools used: Cuttlebug, Nestabilities squares, balloon brads, Prismacolor colored pencils, Dustin Pike digi

Book Review ~ The Usurper

2011-03-23T08:53:00.000-04:00

Title: The Usurper

Author: Cliff Ball

This is the first Cliff Ball book I've read...and I'd have to say that if he writes another political thriller ... I'm in! "The Usurper" is a fast-paced fictional story that has non-fictional elements in it of events that really happened. Cliff makes you think 'could this really happen?' He makes it all seem possible...which is a scary thought! This book had lots of twists and turns that kept the reader on the edge of her seat throughout the book. I gave this book to my dad to read since he likes the same kind of books that I do. I'm sure he'll have a good review as well. Thank you Cliff for writing this book!

Monkey Book

2011-03-14T10:37:00.000-04:00

Last year my sister-in-law was pregnant with her first baby. The baby's room theme was monkeys so I had made her a wipes box decorated in monkey decor. My brother would update everyone on the pregnancy along the way via facebook. My brother is very witty and has a great sense of humor and every week we would look forward to reading about how the baby was growing or how the pregnancy was going. I really wanted him to have these memories he recorded along the way so I created a mini book filled with all his postings. The postings began with his announcement of his wife's pregnancy and ended with baby Alex's birth information and hospital picture. I know this is a book they will treasure always.

For the album cover I used two coasters (like the ones you get at a bar - the cardboard throwaways) and covered each with paper. For the top cover I used the same monkey as the wipes box and the same punch along the sides. I cut out a bunch of paper and scored it to make enough sheets for the entire book. Then I printed out all the quotes/pictures and glued them in order along the one side and down the other. I tied a piece of twine around it to keep it all together.

Book Review ~ Butterflies In May

2011-02-21T11:37:00.000-05:00

Title: Butterflies In May
Author: Karen Hart

I give this book 5 stars! LOVED it! Even though I knew Ali would become pregnant in this book (afterall, that's what the book is about), I found myself wishing it weren't true. Ali is such a straight-laced A student who's found love and you know that having a baby would change all that, so I was secretly hoping she wouldn't really be pregnant. But alas she was! I found it a remarkable story to follow Ali and her boyfriend Matt as they discover the truth and deal with it. These teens had some very tough decisions to make and the author had written these characters in such a way that you could really feel for them. In fact, this book actually made me cry! First time ever I've cried reading a book! Maybe it's because I'm a mom myself, I don't know, but it was a very touching and thoughtful story of these two teens. I think this is a must read for all teens!

Book Review ~ Thanksgiving at the Inn

2011-01-11T13:08:00.024-05:00

Title: Thanksgiving at the Inn
Author: Tim Whitney

LOVED this book! Such a heartwarming, touching story about family. This story is about Heath and his dad and their travels back to Massachusetts to live at the Inn. The story has some very interesting characters. I loved how well the characters were written - especially Preacher with his accent. Every time I picked up this book I was brought right into the story and could picture myself as a fly on the wall watching everything happen. It was like I was following Heath around learning as he did. The characters make it such a warm story that makes you realize that 'family' can be a variety of things. I could definitely see this story becoming a movie. It was so enjoyable to read and I think it'd be a shame to not have it on film. It's a good story that the whole family can enjoy. A+

Tim Whitney - if this is your debut, I can't wait to see what comes out next! Thank you for the read!

Happy New Year!

2011-01-09T13:01:00.000-05:00

Hello, hello! Welcome to 2011!

I'm hoping to be able to spend some more time on my neglected blog this year and hopefully get back into the swing of things. This year I'll also be posting book reviews of books that I've read on my Nook.

While I haven't been able to do as much crafting during my hiatus as I would have liked, I did manage to create a few cards here and there...and my 6 yr old daughter has too - maybe more than I did! LOL Being the proud mama that I am, I'll be posting her creative works as well.

Hiatus

2010-06-08T14:19:00.001-04:00

Hello All,

Due to some issues going on right now I'm going to be taking a hiatus from posting for a bit. Too much going on now. Hopefully I'll be back soon!

To my new followers - thank you for joining and I promise to have lots of postings when I return. I apologize for the poor timing since you've just signed on to follow me.

Thank you for your understanding!

Happy crafting :-)

Today starts Softpencil's Customer Blog Hop!

2010-05-27T11:55:00.035-04:00

Hello and thank you for stopping by on your blog hop today! It's so fun to create cards using Elizabeth's super adorable images! I hope you will find some inspiration along your hop and have a fun time doing along the way. Enjoy your hop, hop, hopping!!! :-)

If you have arrived here from Softpencil's blog you're on the right track - I'm the first stop! Woot woot!! :-) If you didn't arrive here from Softpencil, please go back and start there.

I'm posting these for the first time, but I do have a couple of other Softpencil designs as well - you can find the older ones by clicking on the Softepencil tag on my sidebar. Thanks for looking!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For this card I used the "Happy Teddy Bear" digi. I colored the digi with Prismacolor pencils. I used Cuttlebug "D'vine Swirls" to emboss the pink background cardstock. I used green cardstock as a mat for the digi, but I also layered a ripped piece on the bottom to give the illusion of grass. (I'm not a fan of how my grass comes out when colored, so I tried this instead - even though I did color the grass in the digi lol) I tried to show it in the second picture, but again, it still didn't come out that well....but I digress... on the bottom of the bear's dress I used some clear/white glitter just to give it a little dimension.

For my next card I used one of Softpencil's many girl stamps - I just love her! Again, with the glitter glue I added some dimension to her bows. I also had fun with my new SU border punch. A ribbon and some stick on bling and I'm good to go! Enjoy!

For my final card I used one of the freebies - a unicorn. Once again (okay, it's a new toy, can you tell?) I used glitter glue on my card. Some gold for the horn, wings and hooves, and some blue for the eye. I also had some sequins I got at a tag sale that I used since they just happened to be gold :-) I put some in the swirls of the embossed background. I made this card for my 6 yr old daughter's friend's b-day coming up. Thanks for looking! :-)

Thank you for visiting my blog! I hope you enjoyed your stay and will come back again soon :-)

Your next stop on the hop is here: Rhonda Miller http://bluepoohbear753.blogspot.com/

Have fun hopping along and don't forget to end up back at Softpencil's blog...and leave some love along the way! :-)

Enjoy your day!

Softpencil Customer Blog Hop

2010-05-24T10:48:00.001-04:00

Hello All!

In celebration of their one year anniversary Softpencil is having a Customer Blog Hop! Starting this Thurs. (5/27) at noon (EST) you can hop along and check out some of the wonderful creations some of their customers have made. My blog will be part of it so I hope you join along! :-) The hop runs until Sunday May 30th 8pm EST so you have until then to finish hoppin'. :-)

Color Challenge update

2010-05-21T14:18:00.001-04:00

I WON, I WON!! I'm super excited! My first card challenge and I won! How cool is that?! Now I can do a little shopping in the Softpencil store - woohoo! Looking forward to getting some new digis to play around with. I'll be sure to post them here when I do!

Happy Friday!

p.s. I'm a new Auntie! Yay!

Color Challenge

2010-05-19T09:27:00.005-04:00

Here's a card I made for a color challenge at Softpencil on Paper Craft Planet. The color challenge (if you can't already guess lol) was to use primary colors red, blue and yellow. I just love these little girl images! Too cute! You can't really see in the picture, but I put glitter on her bows. For the background I used my Cuttlebug to emboss the dots and then I used my new SU corner punch for the corners. The glitter flowers are leftovers from a craft we did for my daughter's 5th b-day last year.

Tools used: Cuttlebug, digi stamps, corner punch, Prismacolor pencils

blog candy

2010-05-08T16:32:00.000-04:00

Hi All!

Looking for some blog candy? Head on over to Raindrop Echo Designs and enter! They are celebrating their first blogoversary. Go show some love! :-)

http://raindropechodesigns.blogspot.com/2010/05/its-my-one-year-blogoversary-candy.html

p.s. She also has a freebie - sentiments! Go check it out! :-)

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-08T13:54:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there! Here's a mother's day card I came up with. Enjoy your day moms!

Kindergarten Project

2010-05-03T11:12:00.001-04:00

For my daughter's kindergarten class we were given a sheet of cardstock and we had to make a scrapbook page to put in a class book. For this page I used Darcy's Kindergarten collection ABC Frame file and her Kindergarten Apple Worm title. I had edited both to make it work for my scrapbook page but that's one of the things I love about her files - so easy to work with! (I don't remember where I got the 'we are family' file, so if it's your's or you know who's it is, please let me know and I will give you credit.)

Tools used: Silhouette

I'm now on Facebook!

2010-04-30T09:01:00.000-04:00

Well...that's not entirely true... I have personally been on FB for awhile, but recently I decided to put together a facebook page for my crafty side - this is still a work in progress but please feel free to 'like me' there (I guess they changed it from becoming a follower to liking the page) - I appreciate all those who wish to follow me! If you are on FB click the link below (or search for Stamping Designs by Heather) and then click the like button if you like what you see. Thank you! Hope to see you on FB!

Stamping Designs by Heather on FB

Dad's b-day card

2010-04-28T09:32:00.002-04:00

Here's the card I made for my dad's birthday. I find it difficult to make masculine cards, but luckily my dad isn't much of a card person anyways, so I could be more simple and he'd be just as happy lol. So, this is what I came up with:

Again, my black cards don't come out that good when photographed (guess I gotta work on that! lol) but the background is embossed with the diamond plate for my Cuttlebug. The stamps are from SU (totally tool) and JRS. I also used the silver sticky paper I have as a mat for the tools.

Tools used: Cuttlebug for embossing, SU Totally Tool stamp set; JustRite Stampers stamps, circle punch

Blog Candy

2010-04-22T21:04:00.002-04:00

Hi All,

Head on over to Tales from Pollycraft for a chance at some blog candy! I wish I could tell you more, but it's a mystery! There are 5 prizes up for grabs, all wortth about 10 bucks, but no one (not even the DT) knows what's inside. Very cool! Can't wait to see what it is! In any event, head on over and leave a comment and get entered :-)

Plus, if that weren't enough, there's also a free digi on the blog for the taking...so what are you waiting for?! :-)

freebie & blog candy

Wipes Box

2010-04-20T10:35:00.000-04:00

My sister-in-law is pregnant and for her baby shower for every box of wipes or diapers you brought in you were entered into a raffle for a drawing of a gift basket. I couldn't just bring in a plain old wipes box! So, I made it pretty :-) .... wait, she's pregnant with a boy...I mean I made it cute! LOL In any event, the baby's room is a soft green color and the items that my brother and sister-in-law chose for it have monkeys on it so that's the theme I went with on my box. I used my Silhouette to cute out words and the template for the box top and sides. Since I had the same wipes box at home from when my kids were little I took the top off, used a black sharpie to outline the top and then I scanned it. From there I was able to import the scanned image into the Silhouette software and create a template for the top. The sides were much easier and I just pretty much measured them and created a template in RoboMaster. I have all the templates saved in case anyone wants to create their own. It's from a Huggies box if you've got the same one. Just let me know!

For the monkeys I used a clipart that I had. I colored it in PSE and copied it so that I could import into Word. From there I made two small monkeys and one larger one. I printed and cut them out. I used some twine for the vines and punched out some leaves using the same paper as the letters/wording. I used tacky tape to adhere all the background pieces and then glued the monkeys and leaves and letters down. I let it all dry for a day and then I covered all the paper with a triple tacky sealant. It goes on really thick but makes a nice seal over everything. My sister-in-law was very happy with it and said it matches the room perfectly. Yay for me! :-) I hope you like it too!

Tools used: Silhouette, leaf punch

Another stencil card

2010-04-02T11:59:00.001-04:00

The picture didn't come out that great, but I still wanted to post this card. I did this card by using stencils on a black piece of cardstock. You'd never get colors like this using ink! lol My good friend Diane gave me her set of chalks since she wasn't using them anymore, so I had to make her a card using the chalks to thank her :-)

For this card I used the flower stencil from Darcy's Designs, SU Stampin' pastels chalk, and PTI's Everday Classics stamp set. In the corners I used an EK Success corner punch. What I did was take the black card stock and I layed it on top of the white cardstock. I lined it up to where I wanted it and softly drew pencil lines in the corners - that way I could line up the corner punch so that I'd get a perfect fit for the cardstock ;-) For the mat behind the seniment I punched out a scallop and then trimmed it to be a mat.

Thank you Diane! Love ya!

Tools used: SU Stampin' Pastel Chalks, flower stencil, Everyday Classics stamp (PTI), corner punch, scallop punch

Paper Roses - today only!

2010-04-02T10:01:00.000-04:00

http://dianasdesignsonline.blogspot.com/2010/03/paper-roses.html

Do you like these roses? I sure do! If you want to know how to make them, the wonderful lady who created these made a tutorial and she's giving it away today only! Check it out and then you can make your own beautiful paper roses! (her tutorial also comes with a free gsd file too!)

p.s. The file that comes with the tutorial makes slightly different roses than the ones shown above, but you can win the whole file set with additional roses included! Check it out here....but you only have thru today to do it! Good luck!

Girl with flowers

2010-03-18T15:54:00.002-04:00

Look out digi world here I come! tee hee :-) My girlfriend Diane got me into coloring...and hopefully I'll be making my colored images into cards really soon! Here's one I did recently. The image is from Softpencil. Go check them out! Very cute stuff!

Tools used: Cuttlebug - die cutting and Nestabilities; Delight in Life stamp set from SU; Prismacolor pencils; flowers & brads

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2010-03-17T08:45:00.000-04:00

In the end, there are only two things to worry about:

either you are well or you are sick.

When you're well, there is nothing to worry about.

But if you're sick, then there are two things to worry about:

either you get well or you will die.

When you get well, there is nothing to worry about.

But when you die, then there are two things to worry about:

either you'll go to heaven or you'll go to hell.

When you go to heaven, there is nothing to worry about.

But when you go to hell, you'll be so damn busy shaking hands with friends,

you won't have time to worry!

Valentine's Bookmarks

2010-03-04T11:49:00.008-05:00

Instead of doing the typical valentines or candy for my daughter's class this year, I used my trusty Silhouette machine to make some valentine bookmarks. My daughter really liked them and they were so easy to do! I cut a sheet out of hearts, and two sheets out of the mats. On top of the mat I put a white bookmark and then I added the heart on top. My daughter signed all of them (she's 5) and wrote out the girls' names, but she wanted me to write the boys' LOL.

p.s. I have the file saved - it's a gsd file - if you're interested email me and I can send it to you.

Tools used: Silhouette

Eye shadow on a card?

2010-03-02T13:22:00.001-05:00

On the suggestion of my friend Darcy, I used some old eye shadow (don't ask my why I still have this stuff when I don't wear it lol) with my block stencils to create this card. Instead of using chalks I used the eye shadow and although you can't see it from the pictures, it's really a nice shimmery color which I think added a nice element to the card. A little ribbon and bling and I was done. Enjoy!

Tools used: Silhouette, ribbon punch

My first sliceform

2010-02-28T15:52:00.005-05:00

I made this card for my mother-in-law's b-day. It was my first attempt at a sliceform. If you just read that and said to yourself, 'what's a sliceform?', you can read all about them below the pictures. I'll paste the explanation from the wonderful lady, Jennie, who created this vase file! Speaking of which, you can find her vase file here. Jennie offers it in a variety of formats - I used the gsd format, naturally LOL.

For this card, I cut everything out on one piece of peach colored paper. The flowers I colored in with Prismacolor pencils. The stems and random pieces of grass I stamped with a green ink spot and then used my blender pen to soften it up a bit, but to allow the lines from the ink spot to show as if it were the veins running through the grass and stems and to give it some faux texture. The tops of the flowers were adhered to the card with pop-dots while the stems were just placed into the vase. I embossed a piece of green cardstock for the background. I hope you like it! I'm looking forward to see what else I can create from Jennie's very cool creations!

Tools used: Silhouette, Cuttlebug, Prismacolor pencils, blender pen, embossing folder

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What is a Sliceform?

A sliceform is an object normally made totally from paper, where all the different parts slot together (normally no glue is ever needed apart from any embellishments) to form a 3D object. These sliceforms fold totally flat with the simple push of a finger, making them perfect for including inside a card which has to be mailed to a friend or loved one,or even inside a pocket on a scrapbook page. Then either by lifting the sliceform, or again pushing it with your fingers, it will pop back into its 3D form.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hubby's b-day card

2010-02-26T15:51:00.001-05:00

I find it challenging to make 'men' cards, but I think this one came out okay. I used the diamond plate embossing folder for the background and some 'screw' brads in the corners. The sentiment is from JustRite Stampers. The silver stuff is like sticky paper that I came across. I cut a strip to use down the center of the card. I also covered a punched circle in it to mat the sentiment. The second picture was taken to show that I used a pop-dot for the circles to give the card a little more dimension.

Tools used: JustRite Stampers, Cuttlebug, Embossing folder

Cooper's 1st b-day card

2010-02-22T13:10:00.000-05:00

This is a card I made for my husband's Godchild who had his first birthday last month. It was the first pop-up card I've made with a file I purchased from the Silhouette online store. The pop-ups are so fun! This train was designed by Rivka (check out her blog here). She's a Silhouette designer and has some fantastic designs! I can't wait to use more! I have purchased some more of her pop-up files and when I create cards with them I'll post here. Until then... you can enjoy this one :-) (The signatures on the card are from my 3 and 5 yr olds.)

Tools used: Silhouette

Block Stencils

2010-02-02T10:18:00.001-05:00

For these cards I took two blocks of the block stencil kit and enlarged them to 2.5x2.5" each. They come either in the sheet, or as individual blocks, so once I enlarged them and centered them on a rectangle (4.25x5.5") I removed the outline of the block so that the stencil part would stay on the paper I was making for my card. This created the centerpiece, if you will, for my cards.

For the hearts card I cut a frame out using my nesties and cuttlebug and put it over the stencil part. I used a scrap piece of red paper to put behind the hearts. Chalked the border of the paper I cut on my Silhouette and then stamped "love" and added some flowers to the end. Voila!

For this card I followed the same kind of thing as above, but instead of the red paper, I used - get this - a part of the blue plastic bag that covers our paper each week. Good way to recycle, right? :-) I was going for more of a stained glass look. I wanted the blue to really show through, but I wanted it on a black card, so I layered the blue plastic and then white paper behind the stencil (blue plastic on black would've been too dark). Then I added bling, a ribbon, a stamped sentiment and then adhered to the black card and I was done! Well, except that it's hard to write on black, so I put a white piece of paper inside to write a note on.

Tools used: Stencils, Silhouette, Cuttlebug, Nestabilities

Flower Stencil sample

2010-01-31T09:02:00.001-05:00

Here's a card I made using Darcy's Floral Stencil Kit. One of the things I love about this kit is that it's so versatile! You can mix and match and make any kind of flower you want. Also included in the file are mats for the flowers too. Very cool!

In this card I used the "ink on the Q-tip technique" in my previous balloon card. This time I didn't use the blender pen because I wanted a softer feel for the flower. I used my Cuttlebug to cut the mat and the slider. The 'thank you' is from Just Rite Stampers.

Tools used: Stencils, Cuttlebug, Just Rite Stampers, Silhouette

Stencils with your Silhouette? Oh yes!

2010-01-29T08:41:00.003-05:00

Did you think about creating stencils on your digital cutter? Well, Darcy of Darcy's Designs did! You can check out her blog here, store here, and digital cutting site here. Yes, she's a busy lady! Below is the first card I made using her Birthday Stencil Kit. I colored the balloons with a Q-tip and ink, and then I used a blender pen to blend them in a little bit more. Tied a bow on it, framed it, and called it a day. :-) Very fun, yet simple to do! I can't wait to try other media on the stencils! And more samples to come this week - keep your eyes open ;-)

Tools used: Silhouette (to cut the stencils); Cuttlebug w/ Nestabilities to cut the frame;

Another Sympathy Card

2010-01-27T16:23:00.001-05:00

I know - seems like I'm posted a lot of sympathy cards but unfortunately we've had a lot of needs for them this past year. Hopefully 2010 will be better and I'll have more happy reasons to create stuff! :-) Hard as it may be, we all need sympathy cards now and again so hopefully I can inspire someone to create their own - I'm sure it will mean a lot to the recipient. :-)

Mom-in-law's b-day card

2010-01-25T16:11:00.001-05:00

I made this card for my mom-in-law's b-day. She loves bright color combinations and these, in fact, match some of the decor in her living room. The 'happy b-day' is embossed with white powder. The background was embossed with my cuttlebug. Gosh, I love that machine! :-)

50th B-day card

2010-01-23T16:04:00.001-05:00

I made this card for a friend of ours who turned 50, but it's hard to believe she's a day over 40! She looks fabulous! For the silver background I embossed aluminum foil through my Cuttlebug. The word 'happy' and the ???? are embossed with silver as well. The '50th' in the middle was done with my Just Rite Stamper. Enjoy!

Last coaster...for now :-)

2010-01-21T11:34:00.000-05:00

Ok, this is my last coaster posting....for now tee hee. This was done by using one of the background stamps from SU that I have. So simple! (It's funny to watch people at craft fairs pick out the ones with the words they like - but they don't realize that they are looking at the same coaster but just from a different viewpoint. Too funny!)

Wine coaster

2010-01-19T11:30:00.000-05:00

For the wine enthusiast in your life....or just because they look nice :-) For this coaster I've colored in parts and I 'chalked' the edge of the coaster with purple Stazon ink.

Snowman coasters

2010-01-18T11:21:00.000-05:00

The pics didn't come out that good for these little fellas - they are much brighter in real life. In any event, these are a popular sell at my craft fairs...but only during the winter months :-) I make these guys in a few different color schemes, but I've only shown two here. What I like about the snowmen is that you can use them all winter long - no matter what holidays you celebrate! And you don't have to put them away when your decorations go back into storage.

Red Heart Coasters

2010-01-17T11:13:00.000-05:00

Two versions of the heart coaster - one plain, one with French script behind it. To do the layered one, I first stamped the heart onto a post-it note, then I cut it out. This was to cover the heart on the coaster to then layer the French script over it.

Garden Whimsy coaster set

2010-01-16T11:11:00.000-05:00

Similar to the Cheers to you set, this one has a different picture on each coaster. The stamp set used was Garden Whimsy by Stampin' Up.

Coffee Ring coaster

2010-01-15T08:56:00.001-05:00

Although my hubby doesn't find the humor in this one, I love it. I found this while looking for drink stamps - it's from Inkadinkado - don't you just love saying that?! LOL In any event... I thought this was a fun stamp to put on a coaster...no matter what you're drinking :-)

Cheers to You coaster set

2010-01-14T08:53:00.001-05:00

Another of my favorite sets! Cheers to You by Stampin' Up. I had fun coloring this one in with Sharpies. What I like about this set (aside from the cute little beverages) is that they are different so you can remember which drink is yours :-)

flowers/dragonfly coaster

2010-01-13T08:51:00.001-05:00

I made this coaster set for a friend who loves dragonflies. It was more difficult than I imagined to find a dragonfly stamp, but alas I found one that worked.

Baroque Motifs coaster 2

2010-01-12T08:44:00.003-05:00

Here are more coasters from the Baroque Motifs set. I've done this in a bunch of colors, but only am showcasing a couple here....you can use your imagination for the other colors tee hee. The second one has French script behind the Baroque Motif center.

Coasters

2010-01-11T08:44:00.001-05:00

This week I'll be posting some of the coasters that I've made. This is one of my favs! I love this stamp set! It's Baroque Motifs by Stampin' Up. I've given lots of my coaster sets away and they are my number one seller at my craft fairs. Enjoy!

2010-01-03T09:42:00.000-05:00

Hello! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year!
Now that the holidays are behind us...and I'm almost done wading through all the stuff the kids got...it's time to get back into crafting! Soon I'll be posting again on a regular basis. I hope everyone had a great holiday season!

posting hiatus...

2009-11-15T14:07:00.002-05:00

Hi All,

Just wanted to make a quick post to say two things: 1) due to sicknesses going around my house, and other things going on, I haven't been posting lately - sorry :( I hadn't had a chance to do much crafting, so therefore there's nothing new to post. 2) Now that sicknesses are going away - yay! - I'm getting back into my crafting... BUT, I'm working on testing some things out so there still won't be too many postings coming up. Sorry 'bout that but this is some exclusive work I'm doing.... but be patient and soon (I hope!) you'll be able to see what I've been testing out.

Happy Crafting!

Boating Card

2009-10-11T18:25:00.003-04:00

A few weekends back we had an unexpected night of babysitting for our kids...so what did we do? Well, my husband called his best friend, who lives about an hour away. Lucky for us, he was in and had no plans, so out we came for a little overnight visit. When we got there we found out that a friend of his offered to take us all on his boat that night...so off we went! We had a blast! I just had to make him a thank you note to show our appreciation, and this is what I came up with.

For the front of the card, I used D'vine Swirl embossing folder for the 'waves'. I cut along the swirls to give the illusion of rolling waves. I stamped 'many thanks' on light yellow paper and punched it out with my 1 3/8" punch. On darker yellow paper I punched a 1 3/4" circle to create the layers of the sun. Inside I used my Silhouette to create the pop-up, the boating/anchor and waves, and the text above. The boating file came from Darcy's Designs. Her boating file comes with the waves (enough for a border on a scrapbook page) and the 'boating'/anchor combo. I created the mat behind the waves and assembled them together before cutting them in half - that way I was able to layer them on top of one another and adhere behind the anchor. You can't really tell in the picture below, but I adhered the anchor with pop dots just to give a little more dimension.

Tools used: Cuttlebug, Silhouette, punches

Gram's card

2009-10-10T10:31:00.001-04:00

My gram turned 86 today! Happy B-day Grams!

For her b-day I made her this card. Her favorite color is red and she's a great indoor gardener, so that was my inspiration for this card. I used a square Nestabilities on my Cuttlebug to cut the square frame out of the front of the card. The flower was cut on my Silhouette and I used Darcy's (Darcy's Designs) freebie flower. The file cuts two swirls, so I used one as is, and the other one I cut. With the cut one I placed part on the outside of the card and the other part on the inside of the card on the top of the flower. I also lined up the leaf on the outside to match the leaf on the inside. A little chalking around the frame, a little bling in the bottom corner, a little stamping sentiment on the inside and I'm done! I hope she likes it! :-)

(Front of card)

(Slightly opened to show how the leaf/stem line up)

(Fully opened)

Tools used: Silhouette; Cuttlebug

My first challenge......Jazzy Die Cuts

2009-10-09T10:15:00.000-04:00

This was my first challenge - but boy was it fun! My 5 yr. old daughter is such a girly girl that I thought this would be a great file and challenge to do something for her. So, I created a doorknob hanger. I used my Silhouette to cut the doorknob hanger as well as the girly girl file from Darcy. Pink and purple, silver and gold, are Kyla's favorite colors, so that was the basis for my project. The jazzying (is that a word?) that I did was this: Over the words 'girly girl' I stamped a background image using Versamark - I love that stuff! Over the flowers in the cut out I stuck on some glittery flowers I had left over from my daughter's Fancy Nancy b-day party. For the center of the flowers, to give more dimension, I took out the centers of some other flowers and stuck those on top. Then I took my silver glittery gel pen and outlined the whole girly girl part. I also used the gel pen to write Kyla's Room at the top (may not be able to see that too well in the pics - silver is hard to photograph!). I also took a green glittery gel pen and drew on the stem and leaves of the flowers to make them stand out a bit more. For the flowers on the bottom I took other pointy flowers and cut them up so that I could make the little sprigs coming out the sides. I don't know if my project will win, but my daughter loves it! She's decided that she's going to keep it on her closet door (which is where the picture was taken) so that it doesn't get caught in the bedroom door and rip. Smart kid! LOL

Snip, snip...

2009-10-08T10:01:00.001-04:00

Back in Dec. '07 my then 3 yr old daughter and I cut our hair for Locks of Love. Nearly two years later, I've finally got the scrapbook pages done! Better late than never, right? In any event... Most of the digital cutter files I used here came from the haircutting collection at Darcy Designs. The 'For Locks of Love" title I created it in Robomaster (the software that comes with the Silhouette, if you're not familiar) using a font I had downloaded and welded the letters together. Then I matted around them. When I was peeling up the 'snip snip' with scissors portion, I realized that the letters for snip, snip were perfect....so I used them on pg. 3 of my scrapbook. I wanted to tie the middle pages together, but without using the same exact image, so I edited it a little :) I also created some extra tendrils to have as embellishments on the pages.

Glad to be a grad...

2009-10-07T09:27:00.004-04:00

My husband's cousin's husband (did you follow that?! LOL) graduated with his doctorate. Although the invitation said no gifts, I still needed to bring something, so I figured something handmade is always a good choice. I got some digital pics of the family and graduation and created a photo collage to celebrate all he's done for his degree. I used the Glad to be a Grad file, but had to finagle it so that I could fit it on the 8.5x11 paper & frame. In the Robomaster program I layered the files together, grouped them, and then resized them. That way all the layers would match up. After resizing, I separated them again so that I could cut out the separate colors/parts. The rest of the page was done digitally - digital pics and background.

(Sorry 'bout the pic - should have taken it without the glass - oops!)

I've got news!

2009-10-06T09:03:00.002-04:00

I've been holding out for awhile now, but the announcement has finally been made so I can post it here. I'm so excited! I've been asked to join the Creative Team over at Darcy's Designs! This is my first CT and I'm super excited about it! If you're not familiar with Darcy's Designs, please check out here blog and store. Darcy is the creator of fabulous digital die cut files and I'm honored that she has chosen me to join her CT! While I'll be posting my creations here, there's also a new blog in town that's all about digital cutting and I'll be posting there as well. The new site is a joint venture of two fantastic designers - Darcy and Tina (Card-I-ology) - and it's called Designing With Die Cuts. Come check it out!

12 FREE cutting files!

2009-10-01T13:44:00.002-04:00

Hey all!

In celebration of VDBC's 1yr anniversary Darcy (of Darcy Designs) is giving away 12 cutting files during the anniversary celebration! If you've got a digital cutter, you have to go check this stuff out! Click here for information on Darcy's giveaway...and then head over to VDBC to see what's going on. There's lots to do!

Good luck!

New blog to check out!

2009-09-23T23:40:00.002-04:00

If you have a die cutter, you've got to check out the new blog in town: Cutting Above Maggie & Michelle have created a new blog dedicated to all things die cutting! How cool is that?! They will have reviews, tutorials, tips & tricks for various die cutters. Go check them out! And while you're there, check out the prizes they have to give away. Add their blinkie to your site and you might win a prize! Have fun and good luck!

Quick & Simple Anniversary card

2009-09-23T13:57:00.003-04:00

My parents' anniversary is this month so I created this card for them. I got the heart shaped part from Mamaw's Legacy found here. I added the Happy Anniversary part to it by welding the letters together and rotating to fit in the area. My parents loved it!

(I don't know if the pictures quite show it, but the front flap of the card forms around the heart edge. I tried to take different pictures to show this.)

I'm back! (I think!)

2009-09-21T14:09:00.002-04:00

Ok, so I wasn't able to fix the problem with my software, but I think I've found something else that will work. Please keep your fingers crossed that I have no more troubles! I'm posting a couple of pics of recent cards just to see how this works. I might be needing some trial and error time to figure out my new program, but hopefully it'll go well sooner than later! LOL I digress... In any event, I made these two cards with some new corner punches I recently got. I think they make really pretty borders, but getting the inside piece to fit to size can be challenging. Guess I'll just have to practice, practice, practice! LOL

Posting Hiatus - hopefully a short one :(

2009-09-15T13:56:00.001-04:00

Hi All,

Unfortunately, something has happened with my photo editing software. It is no longer working. Not sure why, or how to fix it, but I'm kinda stuck until I can get it fixed or get another program. I won't be able to edit pics, etc. until I do. UGH!!!!

My OSW

2009-09-11T12:22:00.003-04:00

While at camp (like I said, it was an extended trip) I also made some OSW cards. (If you don't know what OSW stands for, it's for One Sheet Wonder.) We made OSW cards in a workshop I did a couple of years ago and I really liked the concept, even though the class took a loooong time to complete. It's just hard when you've got a lot of people sharing the same things... a bit of waiting ensues...but I digress... in any event, every once in awhile I like to create my own OSW cards. I did more than what is shown in the group shot, but they were duplicates, so I didn't include them. I am putting together a template, so if you're interested in it just let me know and you can create your own OSW!

Here are the ones I came up with:

Hard to see in this picture (above) but the flowered paper is crimped.

You can't really tell in the above picture, but the flower/scallop is raised with a popdot.

Mike's Card

2009-09-10T12:34:00.000-04:00

My friend Diane recently got me into coloring (she's such an enabler! LOL) and I'm enjoying it, I must say! Here is the first card I made from an image I've colored. It's for my brother-in-law's birthday. Since he likes celestial things, I thought this worked well for him. The image is from Coloring Page Tuesdays.

Sympathy Card

2009-09-09T09:38:00.001-04:00

Just a simple sympathy card from my newer set from SU - "thoughts & prayers". I really like this set - great sentiments and trees.

Tools: JustRite Stampers

Sally's card

2009-09-08T21:33:00.003-04:00

This summer my daughter had a b-day party to go to for her friend. It was a luau-type party, so what better card can you get for a five year old than one that looks like a popsicle?! tee hee And lucky me, Sally's favorite color is red! This was fun yet very easy to do. And my daughter got a kick out of it too! Enjoy!

Tools used: Scallop punch (for teeth marks); JustRite Stampers - horizontal stamper for front sentiment

Thank you!

2009-09-02T21:28:00.001-04:00

I would just like to take a moment to thank all those who've visited my little blog spot in this big crazy world...today marks the day I reached 1000 hits! Yay for little 'ol me! Thanks everyone! Now if I could just get some more followers.... ;-)

Thank you!
~Heather

I won, I won!! :-D THANK YOU JENNIE!!!

2009-09-02T21:18:00.002-04:00

Holy moly! I never expected this! I actually won something! Yay for me! Thank you Jennie (at Jennie Bean Crafts)~I SO appreciate your very generous prize! I can't wait to go shopping!

You can read about it here: JennieBeanCrafts

If you've got a digital cutter, please head on over to Jennie's store and check out her amazing work. She also has a blog here where she sometimes has some freebies...and who doesn't love a good freebie!

Enjoy!

La-La Land Crafts Grand Opening...and BLOG CANDY

2009-08-07T08:10:00.005-04:00

There's a new store getting ready for their grand opening! The date is August 12, the place is Sunnyvale, CA. Don't worry - if you don't live in the great state of CA (I, myself, reside way over here in MA) their online store is opening the same night....at 11pm. If you're interested in joining the grand event, click here for more details.

And of course there's blog candy up for grabs! Irina is giving away 3 stamps from her new store! How cool is that?! Along with the stamps (your choice - you'll have to check out her store when it opens) you'll get all this too:

- Stampin' Up Really Rust cardstock
- Hero Arts Flower Outline background stamp
- Nestabilites Labels Two set
- QuicKutz Plants Embossing Folder (works with Cuttlebug)
- Bazzill Bitty Blossoms

and four stamps from the Lazy Days of Summer Magnolia collection

- Tilda (was only available with the Club purchase)
- Strawberry
- two Beach Flowers

And still....

2009-08-06T14:57:00.002-04:00

... after I had my ink pads, I still went back and did some more rub-on cards. Old habits are hard to break?? I doubt it...but I think I just got motivated to do some more rub-on cards after the first set I did. Thank you Di for feeding my mojo and giving me another set! :-)

Rub-ons are from SU.

And then the ink came to camp...

2009-08-05T14:29:00.003-04:00

So, after telling my hubby what a D.A. I was, he graciously brought back my ink pads when he'd gone home for work during our extended camping trip. I made some cards with a set from Papertrey Ink that my good friend Diane gave me for my birthday. It was, of course, one of the sets I hoped to use during my camping trip...until I realized I forgot my INK! Oops! Anyways... I had made a bunch of these cards with different sentiments in it.

And the D.A. award goes to.....

2009-08-04T11:56:00.002-04:00

ME! That's right, I'm embarrassed to admit. Normally, when we go camping, if we're camping with our friends, I'll bring my stamping stuff to work on while the kids nap. If it's just me and the family I'll leave my stuff home since I'd be spending naptime with my hubby. Since my husband has a (relatively) new job, he doesn't get much vacation time yet, so for one weekend we wanted it to be a long one, so he decided to commute to work from camp. Since I would be at camp with the kids by myself until the weekend, I decided to pack my stamping stuff for my alone time. I figured I would challenge myself by bringing only my clear stamps and my rub-ons. I had decided that it would be a good time to focus on all my latest clear stamp sets, most of which I'd been wanting to play with. I got everything ready...or so I thought. Dummy me realized after I was already at camp, that I forgot .... are you ready? .... INK! How I did this, I don't know, but there you have it - the reason why I get the D.A. award. So, armed with just some rub-ons and two punches, I came up with these cards...well, until my hubby brought me my ink pads ;-) I must say, I do like how they came out...and it was a challenge for sure! Talk about limited supplies! LOL

I don't know why, but no matter what I did, I couldn't get the true color of the cards to come through. It is a light, almost baby blue color (officially, it's called "Robin's Egg" according to the package), and the rub-ons are brown. The rub-ons are from Stampin' Up. The cards were given to me, which was also part of my personal challenge. I've been hanging onto these cards for awhile, not knowing what to do with them, so I brought them to camp. They are Martha Stewart cards and come with the flourishes already cut into them (as well as matching envelopes). They are 5x7, which is a little bigger than I'm used to for making cards...yet another challenge for me. :-)

#1 Dad

2009-08-03T11:35:00.001-04:00

Yes, I know, Father's Day was last month... so I'm a little late....oh well. In any event, I created this card all by my little lonesome. By that I mean that I created the 'DAD' by welding the letters together and cutting them out with my Silhouette. I also created the card part that basically matted around the 'DAD'. This part was tricking to do since I was creating it for the whole card and not just a mat. It took some work, but I finally did get it so that when I folded it along the top everything lined up and the 'DAD' fit in nicely. Once assembled, I embossed the #1 so that it really popped on the blue paper. My hubby liked the card, but I doubt he understands what it took to make it LOL OH well... it'll be my little secret ;-)

Tools used: Silhouette; embossing heat gun

Lent??

2009-08-02T10:56:00.001-04:00

Maybe not....but it would be a funny card for it! LOL Sorry the pictures are a little blurry - don't know why they are either. OH well....you'll get the jist. I also pierced around the center image on the dark brown paper. The inside sentiment is below the card. Enjoy!

Tools used: Paper Piercing

Marty's Bookmark

2009-08-01T10:38:00.001-04:00

While we were camping, I found out that my friend Marty wasn't using a bookmark while reading her book. Instead, she was folding over the corner of the pages! I just HAD to make her a bookmark so she could stop ruining the page corners. The problem was I was at CAMP. And although I love to stamp/craft with my friend Diane when we're camping together, I try to pack light (mostly to not upset the hubby tee hee), so with that being said, I had no ribbons or tassles. What's a girl to do? Get creative, that's what! So, I used fishing line for the tassle. My friend Jay was working on his fishing pole and had taken some line off, so I used it to make a tassle for Marty's bookmark. Now I just have to hope she's still using her bookmark instead of folding corners!

Austyn's 2nd B-day Card

2009-07-31T10:07:00.001-04:00

I made this card for my husband's cousin's 2nd birthday. As you can tell, he's a big Sesame Street fan - Austyn, not Dale! LOL Anyways.... I used my Cuttlebug for most of this. I embossed the background, and then used die cuts for the rest. For the characters I used a circle scallop from Nestabilities. Both sets of eyes were cut using the smallest Nestabilities circle die. The black part of the eye were punched with a regular old (and I mean old!) hole punch. The mouths were made from cutting a punched circle in half. I free-handed Elmo's nose.

Tools used: Cuttlebug embossing folder, die cut, Nestabilities

La~La Land DT Call

2009-07-31T09:51:00.004-04:00

Don't you just love that name? La~La Land Crafts! Very cool! I feel like I'm in la la land all the time! tee hee In any event... they are having a Design Team call. Their store (located in CA) is having a grand opening Aug. 12th. Their online store will open the same day at 11pm (CA time, I presume) You can check out their blog here.

Head on over and check it out...who knows, maybe you'll be the next DT member! Good luck!

Welcome Baby Owen!

2009-07-30T10:10:00.004-04:00

When I went to my friend Katie's baby shower, there were votives on the tables as favors for the guests. Each votive was wrapped in a soft cotton material and tied with a brown ribbon. I saved mine to make a card for the day that baby Owen entered this world. This is what I came up with and my friend Katie recognized right away that the ribbon and material from her shower were used. I thought it was a really nice touch - and she seemed to think so too :-)

Tools used: Cuttlebug - background embossing and to cut the circles out (including the material); JustRite stampers for the small circle

Megan's Card

2009-07-29T09:42:00.001-04:00

Here's a card I made for another one of my daughter's friend's 5th birthday party. Gotta love the school ages! LOL Anyways... you may recognize the ice cream images - they are the same stamp that I used on my 'thanks for your support card'. Here, I just stamped them as usual and cut them out. I left the inside blank so that my daughter could write inside. At 5 she needs lots of space! LOL

I'm Back!

2009-07-28T21:20:00.002-04:00

Well, we had a great time in Cancun, but as they say, all good things must come to an end. Oh well... Cancun will still be there - we'll just have to find the $$ and time to go again! :-) We stayed at the incredible Dreams Resort in Cancun, Mexico. We LOVE it there! So relaxing...and the best mojitos around! That was my drink of choice for the whole time we were there. Yum! If you go, tell them I sent you...and ask Alejandro to make your mojitos 'cause he's the best!

I'll be adding some new posts soon...once I get my act together again! Hope you're enjoying your summer!

Cancun Here We Come!

2009-07-21T11:05:00.002-04:00

3...2...1....it's Cancun time! Yay! My hubby and I got a certificate to come back to Dreams Resorts from our trip last year to celebrate our 10th anniversary. So, tomorrow we fly out to use our certificate for 3 nights/4 days. I'm so excited! I've been dreaming of mojitos for weeks now! LOL Needless-to-say, I won't be posting anything this week.... But I'm sure you all understand! LOL

Have a great week!

~Heather

Jay's Thank You Card

2009-07-19T11:13:00.001-04:00

I made this card for our good friend Jay after our basement was finished. My hubby and Jay worked two days a week on finishing our basement. Without Jay's help it would've never gotten finished. We gave him this card with a small token of our appreciation. Just another reason to use one of my new favorite sets from SU and my new favorite brads! :-) Oh, and the background is actual sandpaper that I found laying around. I'm sure Jay appreciated the token more than the card, but I'm sure his wife Diane appreciated the card ;-)

Baroque Motifs

2009-07-18T10:29:00.001-04:00

I hadn't played with this set (Baroque Motifs - SU) for awhile, so I decided to bring it out to play with again...after all, it is one of my favorite sets. Di - can you play with yours again yet? I promise not to tell! :-)

Pet Sympathy Card

2009-07-17T14:18:00.001-04:00

A friend of mine had lost her cat and so I wanted to make her a sympathy card. Although I have some sympathy sentiments, I don't have any pets, therefore I don't have any pet sympathy stamp sets. However, my good friend Diane has pets and just happened to have the set that I needed! Thank you Di! Here's what I made, and I made a bunch to have on hand...

Thank you for your support! ;-)

2009-07-16T13:59:00.002-04:00

I love this card! So fun to make! I originally did one by stamping the bra, but then I got creative with my Silhouette. I took the stamp (it's the ice cream for an ice cream cone from SU) and scanned it with my scanner. Then I imported it into the Silhouette software, autotraced it, and got the outline of the ice cream. Then I made a whole sheet of the ice cream and cut it out with my Silhouette. Now I can make a whole batch of these cards! The straps are made from the candles in the stamp set. The 'jewels' on the bra are just stickers that I punched from glitter sticker paper.

Tools used: Silhouette

Mom's Kitchen Card

2009-07-15T11:31:00.002-04:00

My parents recently finished redoing their kitchen - and by redoing, I mean REDOING! Complete renovation! It looks incredible! My poor mom is notorious for burning herself on the oven racks, and just before their kitchen was finished I saw oven guards. How cool is that?! They fit on the outer part of the rack so that you won't burn yourself on the hot metal. The company I bought them at apparently doesn't have them any more, but you can get them at Target here. In any event, my mom loved them, and her card too!

Tools used: Mat pack (from SU) to pierce around the 'window'

Construction b-day card

2009-07-14T11:25:00.003-04:00

We had a surprise 50th birthday party to go to for a friend of ours who's a builder and was recently part of an Extreme Home Makeover episode shot in the next state over. The theme was Bob the Builder - and it probably helped that our friend's name really is Bob!

Tools used: Just Rite Stampers - Happy Birthday to you! insert

Calling all Facebook Fans!

2009-06-26T17:19:00.002-04:00

Quickutz wants to be your friend! And in the process you (and I!) can win a 2x2 die....OR even an Epic 6! Wahoooooo!!!! The person who has the most referrals wins an Epic 6. If you have one (or more) referral, you get a 2x2 die! How cool is that? Here's what you do: "you can have one or more of your friends add us to become eligible for this too. Have them place YOUR name (my name is Heather Desmarais-for those of you that don't know) in the "Add a Personal Message" field so that you get the credit. Any individual who has one or more friends add us will receive a free 2x2 die!!" Find out more on Quickutz' blog post.