Lordy!

Where have I been? It's April for Pete's sake!

Aside from the grind of work, I'll tell you where I've been... making music. Yes folks, I'm sure you'll all be really excited to hear (or not) that I've picked up my violin again after a multi-year hiatus. I've also started plucking away at DBF's oh, um, excuse me DEAR FIANCE'S... guitar.

Yes, with the new year came a new status. I'm now a fiancee. (does that have 2 e's for the girl?). Well, whatever, you get the idea. No immediate wedding plans as we have some other priorites (like housing and replacing a soon to be worn out car). But when the craft bug strikes for things wedding related, all of you will be in the know.

Lastly, I've been spending some time teaching myself the One-Stroke technique for painting flowers. Yes, painting flowers. Just call me a Jacqueline-of-all-trades-master-of-some. I'll post some pics of the flowers when I get a chance.

Later!

More Christmas cards

Some images Copyright SU! 2008

This first CARDINAL CARD I copied from Lisa Trombitas. You can view her card here on her blog.

http://www.stampwithlisat.com/

I tired to get directly to her card, but my computer is being obnoxious [I still have dial up] and I was not able to get there. You'll have to scroll down her pages to late October or early November to find her Cardinal card. The benefit of all that scrolling is that you'll see all the other awesome stuff she has on there, too.

I loved the card so much, I had to make it and send myself. The coloring of the Cardinal's eye is not terrific and definately something I would improve when using this image again. It should be left more white, whereas I used a hint of bashful blue mottled with the yellow and red. Not a great option. The DP is from the SKI SLOPE series from the SU! Holiday Mini.

This Second card, the one with the door, is a direct copy from SU! Holiday Mini catty. It uses the Home for Christmas stamp set. Main colors are Always Artichoke, Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Creamy Caramel, Old Olive and Basic Grey. The DP is from the SKI SLOPE paper pack, also available from SU!. I loved the card so again, I had to re-create it. I stamped the image on VV cardstock and colored it in using the ink from the inkpads and water.

The third and last card deviates from the other two in a new, more modern direction. I don't even really know if I like this card, but hey, it's what I made and here it is. The ornaments were stamped in Real Red and Garden Green craft ink and detail clear powder embossed. They were cut out and mounted using pop dots onto the white panel that was swirl stamped with Baja Breeze. The card stock is Real Red with a panel again from the SKI SLOPE DP series paper from the SU! Holiday Mini. Stamp images are from Creative Imaginations Merry and Bright #21749 series of clear stamps. I had run out of time and creativity... but this stamp set has a lot more possiblilities in it than what is shown here in this card.

The scallop detail was made using Chocolate Chip cardstock and the corner rounder and has "Tis the Season" stamped on it in brown. This is hard to see in the photograph, but it is not as hard to see in person.

Best wishes to all of you for a happy holiday and prosperous new year!

It's Christmas Time!

THE HOUSE MOUSE CARD

So, here is the first of what I hope to be a series of really cute Christmas cards. This one was made using:

Stamps: Impression Obsession MC155 "From Our Home"

SU!: Lovely as a Tree

Technique: Aquapainter and ink, Emboss resist [for background]

Colors: Choc Chip, Creamy Caramel, Cameo Coral, Real Red, Old Olive, Hunter Green [for coloring]. Trees done in Night of Navy. Bordering Blue for shadowing.

I copied Michelle Zindorf

... to make the thank you cards for my dad's 65th party.

You can see Michelle's complete tutorial: http://zindorf.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/2008/07/03/chickadee-in-the-woods-tutorial/

Michelle is such an inspiration. It was so nice to try her design with such good results. The only thing I changed is instead of using Prismacolor markers [which I do not have] I instead used Prismacolor pencils and gamsol. I was wondering if it would work and as you can see, it did. So if you wanted to try and was wondering the same thing [pencils versus markers] know that it will work. I love this card and thank you, Michelle, for the beautiful design.

Invitations

Some images copyright Stampin Up! 2000 - 2009

Hey there! My dad is turning 65 this year and I am making invitations for his party. I was so excited to use my tart and tangy set from Stampin up and the coordinating paper. The card is a simple fold card with insert. I made three different variations on the color scheme. Obviously, the insert doesn't have that black blob on it- I just did that for information protection before loading onto the web.

Colors used:

Really Red

Pumpkin Pie

Ballet Blue

Green Galore

Always Artichoke

Bashful Blue

Stamp Set:

Tart and Tangy

DP: Tart and Tangy

Asian Inspiration

Some Images Copyright SU! 2000 - 2008

So, as promised, two of the three Asian inspired cards I made. I used one already to send a note to a friend.

Materials:
Artfully Asian [su!]
Friendship Flowers [inside sentiment] [su!]
Black Cardstock [su!]
Very Vanilla [su!]
Watercolor paper
Far East Paper [die cuts with a view]

Ink: [su!]
really rust
old olive
more mustard
summer sun
cameo coral
so saffron
always apricot
pixie pink
passion pink
perfect plum

technique: watercoloring

OK, so the materials section is a jumble, but you probably can figure out what colors were used based on the background paper [the more pink one use the pinkier cooler colors, the more rust one, well, the warmer rustier colors]. I just used watercoloring technique and the ticket corner punch. On the inside I cut a sentiment square in very vanilla and used the sayings in the Friendship Flowers set.

Ink Pad Storage

So with the economy and gas prices the way they are, I was in the market for some more affordable ink pad storage. Don't get me wrong, I like the storage carousel that SU! has to offer, but didn't want to plunk down $60 that very well could go to new rubber, ink refills or paper. So, I was browsing Splitcoast Stampers and came across this thread that had instructions for making your own ink pad storage with just two pieces of foam board and a hot glue gun. Luckily, I had two pieces of foam board on hand [doesn't everyone?] lol... and I started this at 9 pm on a Sunday night. Digging out my hot glue gun from my crafting days at Trenton State for Delta Zeta totally brought back some great memories of making posters and fabric photo albums. Ahhh, yes, the pink and the green... I love my Dee Zee days!

Anyway, back to the ink pad storage box. Ok, so with some foam board, hot glue and directions, by 11 pm I made what you see pictured above. I rushed, the edges are jagged because my knife blade is a little dull, but all in all, I totally love it! And I made it MYSELF!

For those that would like to do the same, here is a link to the directions. http://rebelinker.blogspot.com/2007/10/inkpad-holder-for-6.html

Thanks and credit to Stacey King for her design and for sharing!

Costa Rica

Back in January, Jeff and I took a much needed break and warmed up in Costa Rica. It was warm and beautiful, dry, not humid. It was the dry season so the greenery was not as lush as just the month prior to our arrival. I'm currently working on my scrapbook for the trip and I will post layouts at a later date. In the meantime, please enjoy these pictures.

Turtles! I love turtles...

More turtles. Aren't they cute?

Jeff and I decided to go on an Adventure tour. It was sparse on the 'tour' but heavy on the Adventure. And although I grew up on a farm, I was scared poopless throughout the zip lining, free falling, Tarzan swinging, rock climbing adventure. It was ridiculous. And it was all my idea, so I have no one to blame but myself. I thought I would expand my horizons. Yeah. Nuff expansion for me just with the gear... should'a stopped then.

Here I am harnessing in for the free fall part. If I can figure out how, I will post the video clip of me screaming my head off moments later as the guides gently lower me into the canyon. Yes, I said gently. The guides were all very nice, despite my hysteria. Our tour consisted of Jeff and I and a conglomerate of Canadians who obviously were more adventerous than myself. They were pros. They all truly embraced the experience [so did Jeff]. Me, I just wanted to run. The Canadians were all so nice that when I made it thru the free fall, they applauded. What characters!! They, and Jeff, were all my biggest cheerleaders throughout it all.

"S" Monogram cards

So since Monogram cards and scallops are so hot right now, I decided to try myself. I made these for a friend of mine.

I used Martha Stewart Crafts Monogram letters.

The scallops were made with Marvys Giga and Mega punches.

The color scheme is Chocolate Chip, River Rock, Creamy Caramel, and Very Vanilla (copyright SU!.

The swirls were made with Autumn Leaves flourishes v.2 by Rhonna Farrer.

Ribbon from Michaels. Enjoy!

Dahlia Fold Thank you card

I found a tutorial on paperfolding so I tried it. Here are the results. I'm not crazy about the proportion of the card. However, I do like the color scheme. The recipient liked it, that's all that really matters. I can 'fix' proportion at a later date.

Cute Cats

We have cute cats. Let me share with you.

This is Bear impersonating Cassonova:

And this is Bear last spring on our deck, in our flowers. He LUVS flowers:

Now, this is Pi Pi, our beautiful Persian/Himilayan mix:

Don't let her fool you, she gets to go outside on the deck, too.

May already...

I've been Artfully Asian inspired this past weekend. Pics to follow shortly.

A few new things coming your way....

Notecards and a Dahila fold card to be posted soon.

Meanwhile, sharing one of my favorite blogs/tutorials:
http://zindorf.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/

Christmas Thank You and Red Dress Card

See the left side for my x-mas thank you and cards I made for my sisters for Heart Disease Awarness month.

Red Dress inside: full length of dress from Haute Couture SU hostess set- bit cut off in photo, sorry. Blogging skills are just so-so! :)

Ornaments posted

... The ones I made for Christmas are posted on the left of this message. It's about the only thing I did for x-mas craft-wise.

New kitty pictures of Pi and Bear, too.

Enjoy!
LG

New stuff coming soon!

I'm so psyched! I did a series of ornaments using DCWV luxury stack, Tres Chic from SU! and an explosion card. Stay tuned for pics.

I am in the midst of gearing up for Christmas cards and other decorative items. Stay tuned for those, as well!

Altered Purse and Birthday card...

that I made for my 8-year old neice's birthday this past July.

see, I do actually DO things once and a while. LOL!

Enjoy

Check this out!

Billy Mayer- glass artisan- Awesome stuff!

http://www.bowersockgallery.com/bowersockgallery_billy_mayer.htm

Where have I been????

Well, I've been busy working at my new job! I love it but I'm busy-zee! No time for crafting, but I have been decorating my cube with some cool cat pictures and things I've made. I will be updating the old blog soon. Stay tuned!

My Latest Creation....

Is this altered office box for my desk at my NEW JOB!!!