I made card candy! {Tutorial on how to make your own.}

I joined a Card Candy swap on the Stamp Shack. I've never done this before, so I'm venturing into unchartered territory. I thought it through, and this is what I came up with. I heat embossed all of my images. I just think they look much more "professional" and "finished" this way. I used a coin image from Stampin Up, a chrysanthemum and bird image from Curtis Uyeda. On the topper, I used a cherry branch image by Stampendous. The Chinese characters says "candy." I went on Babelfish and looked it up. LOL! Then, I just copied it and handwrote the characters on my topper.
I took the pop-dots of the sheet including the backing beaneath the pop-dot. At this point, you will only peel off one side of the pop-dot and stick that to the back of your "candy." On the other side of the pop-dot (the paper side that you didn't peel off, you'll want to add just a smidgen of dimensional glaze. If you don't have dimensional glaze, some tacky tape will work on the paper. It is very important that you don't stick the tacky side of the pop-dot directly onto the acetate. If you do this, you won't be able to peel off your card candy to use it.

Arrange them on your acetate or transperancy sheet.

This is what it looks like from behind.

Slip it into your clear envelope, and Voila! As you can see, there's some background paper in the envelope. That is a dragon background image by Stamp Out Cute. The recipient can use it as a background for a card or an ATC. I thought it would make a neat background for the candy, and it slips in the envelope right behind the acetate sheet. Add a topper to your bag, and you're all done!

Beautiful day in my garden

It is shaping up to be a GORGEOUS day, today. It is Labor Day weekend, and I'm determined to be as productive, yet as relaxed as possible. What? I'm not making any sense? If you like to craft, like I do, you probably understand that when you sit down and work on your hobby, your brain relaxes, you're in a better mood when you're productive, and you feel an overall sense of accomplishment. So, that is what I plan to do this weekend.
I've been awake since 3 AM. Crazy, isn't it? I usually don't wake up until 4:30 or even 5:00 during the week; but for some odd reason, my mind and body were awake at 3 AM. So, I got up and started crafting. I finished six greeting cards, ten tags, 110 stamped images, and an ATC. These are all for swaps. As I stepped out onto the deck to take pictures of my ATC, my garden in the backyard caught my eye. My clematis, day lillies and a few wildflowers are making their last "show" before Autumn arrives. Here are a few pictures from my garden:


I'm positive, that in one month, all of the leaves on my maple tree will be a bright orange. It is beautiful when it changes color in the Fall. I love my maple tree. It so healthy:

Here is the ATC that I worked on this morning. It is a gift for a friend who has done so much for so many papercrafters. A bunch of us are putting together ATC's to give to her as a gift. The flowers remind me of sunflowers with the "bling" in the center of each flower.


Well, now I'm off to the Post Office. Have a lovely Saturday. I hope to post some creations tomorrow. Of course, it'll depend on whether I have any energy left this afternoon to create. Have a wonderful day!

My Knight in Shining Armor

Do you sometimes find it very challenging to create a card for your husband or boyfriend without attaching anything frilly or feminine? I tend to make cards pleasing to "my eye" and forget (sometimes, not all the time) that I have to take into consideration that the recipient may not like the card I'm giving to them. I mean, when you go to the store to buy a card, don't you try to balance your "taste" with the taste or style of the person you are giving the card to? I think it's the same thing with cardmaking.
My husband was my inspiration for this card. How does one make a card for a man, while keeping with one's personal style, yet being careful not to add ribbon, lace, or flowers? This is what I came up with. It was certainly a challenge, I assure you. Now, my husband has always been my greatest supporter in this hobby of mine; and he is too much of a gentleman to say anything negative or critical of my cards. I think he'll find the kissing children adorable (although, he won't admit it). The colors are certainly masculine; the hearts reflect the playful side of my personality; and the sentiment is oh-so-true.

A nice award to receive from a friend

I received really nice kudos from my Stamp Shack sister Jennifer. She wrote about it in her blog Ink N' Scrap Habits. Here are the award rules:

1. The winner can put the logo on their blog

2. Link the person you received your award from

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs

4. Put links of those blogs on yours.

5. Leave a message on the blogs of the girls or boys you’ve nominated.

And so, now I pass the torch onto these wonderful bogs that I think everyone should visit. They are:

1) Pearl Maple's blog Pearl shares her beautiful photography and "pearls" of wisdom. A very inspirational blog to visit and one of my favorites.

2) Gaal Creative. Anne is one of the most talented and newest artists I've met. She shares her talent for mixed media art and photography on her awesome blog.

3) Wandering Star. Sue McGettigan's blog oozes with warmth, creativity, and inspiration. I always feel "welcomed" when I visit her blog.

4) Andi's Perfect Gravy. How can I describe Andi's blog? Sometimes you just have to read it for yourself. I LOVE her sense of humor and I am in awe at how she keeps things together at home and still manages to whip out some awesome artwork.

5) Amazing Paper Grace. I'm a firm believer that the Cuttlebug, Nestabilities and satin ribbon were created specifically with Becca in mind. Check out her breathtaking creations on her blog, and then be ready to whip out your Cuttlebug, Stamps and Nestabilties.

6) Paper Friendly. I love Nancy Ward's blog because she is just a wealth of information. Looking for a tutorial? Nancy probably has the link for one on her website. It is just an amazing "library" of information for all papercrafting enthusiasts.

And....last, but not least.....

7) The Chatty Stamper. Dawn and I go w-a-a-a-y back. She is one of the most down-to-earth, honest-to-goodness, will-give-you-the-shirt-off-her-back persons you will ever meet in your entire life. I love visiting her blog because there is just pure honesty about it. She shares her journey in crafting with such abandon, and she is so generous at encouraging everyone she meets. I just love her to death.

So, there you go. I hope you have a moment to enjoy the blogs I've mentioned above. Pour yourself a cup of coffee or tea, sit back and be inspired by these wonderful artists.

Hanging onto Summer for as long as I can

I can't believe how quickly this summer has flown by! Can it be that Fall is just a month away? The maple leaves have already begun to turn color. I don't want this summer to end. This may very well be my last "summer" card. Well, we'll see. LOL! I can only make so many Halloween or Fall-theme cards before I get tired of them. I used stamps by Inkadinkado and Stampin Up (Boho Backgrounds) to create this card. Added some bling, and flourish border die-cut (Sizzix). Thanks for stopping by! I hope you're having a wonderful week, so far!

Flowers, Numbers and Family Time

How long do you wait before you scratch the itch to craft? If it wasn't for the fact that I have a job outside of the house, I would be scratching "that itch" on a daily basis. Yesterday, I wanted to craft, but decided to spend some time with the boys. Still, in the back of my mind, I was determined to carve out some time this weekend to make a card or two. I made this square card using scraps. I typically don't stamp a 'focal image' with any color other black or brown. Today, I threw caution to the wind (LOL!) and used pink ink to match the background papers. Add some primas, buttons, twine and a key, and the itch has been scratched!


We're also enjoying a relaxing weekend, at home. With the cost of fuel, we've been looking for ways to entertain ourselves without going too far. We picked up this 1,000 piece puzzle at Hobby Lobby and decided to work on it together. Even our cat, Sable, wanted to join in on the action.

Breathing new life into an old stamp

I bought this stamp, second-hand, from someone who had not used in a very long time. I think I paid only $2.00 for it. I'm at a point in my stamping where I like to color in images. So, this Pansy Patch stamp by Stampendous was right up my alley. When I first started stamping, sometimes the colors the manufacturer uses on the 'index image' would throw me off. But, I had to learn to look past that, and think of the possibilities of the image and rubber (and not be misled by the colors on the index image). I used prismacolor pencils and odorless mineral spirits to color it in. The sentiment is by Stampin Up (Lots of Thoughts). I ran the green background through my Cuttlebug; as well as the pink panel that's behind the pansies. I love pop-dots. I can't live without my pop-dots or mounting foam. I gave the pansies added dimension by placing pop-dots beneath them. Thank you for stopping by, and I wish you a wonderful Sunday!

Surprise treat for my husband

When my husband and I were dating, we would send each other countless (I mean COUNTLESS) letters, cards and photographs. This was during the dinosaur age (before email, cell phone, texting, and IM's). We had to rely on snail mail, AT & T and Sprint to help us stay in touch. He was attending the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs; while I was going to college at San Jose State University, in California. The distance did prove to be difficult, many, many times, but we remained devoted to each other; and we looked forward to receiving mail from each other every week. Last night, before my husband came home from work, I worked as fast as I could to put together this little altered clear pail for him. I tucked a handwritten letter inside the card, just as I used to do when we were dating all those years ago.
I covered the clear pail with scrapbook paper (the Paper Studio, found at Hobby Lobby), and whipped up a really simple card for him. I did add ribbons; and I had to think twice about this one since I didn't want it to look feminine. But, as you can see from the photographs, the ribbons say "I love you" and that pretty much sums it all. The candy inside are Hershey's Hugs and Kisses. I left it on the dining table for him to find. I always leave the house for work before he does, so this will be a nice surprise for him to find this morning. Just a little reminder of how much he means to me.

A spiral card for you

I love blurfing for awesome tutorials. This morning, I came across this beautiful spiral card in Lauren Meader's blog: My Time, My Creations, My Stampendence. Instead of using vellum, I used acetate to hold up the butterflies on my card. The butterflies were created with Papertrey stamps. Then, I cut some silver wire and twirled the ends to create the butterfly antennae. Isn't this fun? I added a panel to the bottom, inside, so you can write the recipient a little note.

Another cheerful birthday surprise

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this stamp set. It's called Jest Between Friends, and it came out in a summer mini catalog (2007, perhaps?) by Stampin Up. Yes, I went wild with the Stickles. Seriously, though, it's not as "grainy" as these photographs will lead you to believe. The glitter is definitely noticeable, but in realy life (IRL), it's a softer, shiny look. Photographs never do Stickles any justice. I'm sending this to a friend for her birthday. I think she'll get a kick out of it. The image was colored with Stampin Up markers. The present is placed on the clown's hand with a pop dot beneath. I am having so much fun creating this week! It's good to get some R & R in the craft room!

Origami Day!

Isn't this the cutest little box? I combined two tutorials for this Strawberry-in-a-box project! The template for the box was created by the owner of the Stamp Shack., Sherry Graves. The template for the strawberry came from Michelle Ueligitone, the artist behind Mushi's Creative Inspirations . It's so awesome because the strawberry fits perfectly inside the box.

Inside the strawberry, I was able to snuggly fit two Hershey's kisses. I stamped the outside of the box with the strawberry stamp from Stampin Up's "Tart and Tangy" set. That was probably the hardest part of this entire project since I had to color the strawberry and leaves repeatedly. It wasn't really "hard." It was just time-consuming. The top of the strawberry was cut from a flower punch. I thought it would be awesome to run the berry through the Cuttlebug, using the Swiss Dots folder. Thanks for stopping by!

How much fun does one person deserve to have?

Seriously? I had a BLAST creating these projects for my friend's birthday, which is this week. (That's OK that I post them here, since she doesn't even know that I have this blog). It's my friend, Deb's, birthday on Friday, so I thought I'd surprise her with a few goodies.
The best part about creating the projects you see here is that I didn't run out and buy anything new. Everything I'd used was something that I already had. I take that back. I bought the cute little pen at WalMart. It cost me 25-cents. But, all of the materials you see here came from things in my stash.

I thoroughly enjoyed creating this little bucket of candy. I had this clear bucket sitting on my shelf for about three years now. I bought it in Kansas City, thinking it was something that I was going to use quickly, but I didn't. It sat on my shelf forever. I was thrilled to have the chance to use it now. I cut out the window using my Nestabilties. Inside, I filled the bucket with Dove candy. I know she doesn't like York Peppermint Patties, and that seems to be candy of choice by folks who like to add a scalloped circle to their candies. I punched out the scallops out of brown paper, added a layer of patterned paper to match the outside; stamped a greeting out of my Stampin Up Riveting set. I added some ric-rac on the outside (to cover a few minor imperfections); tied some ribbon to the handle, and voila!

The lid was created using layers of scalloped circles (Nestabilities) and cut-out circles using my Colluzle. I 'popped' the inner scallops and circles with mounting foam, just to give it a little dimension.

Here's the little card that I made for her. The image is by Stampin Up. You can't really see them, but I added some 'gem stones' on her ears for earrings. I stamped her with dye ink and colored her with Copic markers

I made her this little Post-It note holder. I found the instructions through the Stamp Shack; but it was originally posted on Angie Kennedy Juda's blog Stampin Academy. It uses the Bind-It-All. I found the cute little pen at WalMart (in their back-to-school section). I used an old polymer stamp by Daisy D and a few Hero Arts stamps on this one.

I even made a little pocket on the inside of the book. This way, she can refill the book, rather than just throwing it away.