It's been a beary wonderful weekend!

You know how it goes. You get a new stamp or several new stamp sets, and you can't wait to dive into creating something wonderful with them. Those stamps may arrive during the week, as they did in my case. And, your mind starts to form ideas on the projects you want to create. I couldn't wait until this weekend to come. I'm obssesswd with teddy bears, latey. Can you tell? I recently purchased Stampin Up's Beary Best, Bear Necessities, Favorite Teddy Bear and Button Bear from two sources (eBay and Splitcoaststampers.) Let me tell you....You have to be QUICK! These sets are rare to come by, so you have to really look and be ready to make an offer. I told my husband on Friday that I needed to carve out some time to simply create, this weekend. I haven't been able to stamp (like really stamp) in such a long time. Usually, I stamp on the fly..... in between long hours at work, household chorse, fixing meals, doing laundry, etc. etc. Same story for you? Well, here's what I came up with over the weekend.....and the weekend isn't over yet (this is the best part!)

This first card uses a cute little bear stamp from Beary Best. I punched him out with a circle punch, and then layered him over a scalloped circle (Stampin Up). The background was created using a stamp from the SU Boho Background set; and a couple of stripe stamps from PaperTrey Ink's faux ribbon set. The sentiment is also from the faux ribbon set. Add the prima flowers (of which I have hundreds of, and really have to be creative in using them without looking like I'm trying to use them up).

This next card uses stamp from Stampin Up's Favorite Teddy Bear set. I colored this cutie with prismacolor pencils. The bear looks like a 'he' bear on the stamp. I wanted a 'she' bear, so I added a little bow on her head. Again, trying to use up my stash of papers and primas. The centers of the primas are bead spacers, not brads. I added pop dots beneath her to give her dimension. You can't really see it in the photograph, but I also added glitter to the flowers.

A new lss opened in town this week (hip, hip hooray!) and I found this fun and funky floral paper, there. The striped paper on the bottom half is by Anna Griffin, and I've had it for so long, I really needed to use it up. The cute bear is from the Beary Best set. The sentiment is by Catslife Press. Added some brads to give it some 'pop.' She was colored with COPIC markers.

And finally, I made another card (see the next post, below) using this cute Button Bear image; but felt this time, he needed to hold a flower, instead. I used pop dots beneath the sunflower to give it dimension. He is colored with COPIC makers, also. Sentiment stamp is by The Angel Company. A little stitching around the image...and voila! He's done!

Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you're having a relaxing and wonderful Memorial Day weekend, also!

Honeeeeeey!

It's a long weekend, and you know what that means? More time to create!!! Yippeee! Today, I decided to break open a stamp set I bought through eBay. I first laid eyes on Stampin Up's Button Bear set nine years ago, but I never bought it. I wasn't interested in stamping back then. The set belonged to my friend, Tami. Fast forward to today. I was perusing through the gallery on Splitcoaststampers and voila! I fell in love with Button Bear. I also fell lin love with Bow Bear, Bear Necessities, Teddy Time, Teddy and Friends.....well..... you get the picture. I'm in love with vintage teddy bear images! I don't own all of these sets, mind you. But, when I decided I had to have Button Bear....off to eBay I went! I did look for it on Splitcoaststampers, but didn't find it at a price that worked for me. So, here is my first card with this classic set. I added Diamond Glaze to the honey and added pop-dots beneath some of the images. He's colored with Copic Markers.

Oh, for the love of chocolate!

I'm in a chocolate-theme swap on the Stamp Shack, and this is my ATC! All stamps are by Stampin Up (Oh So Sweet! set). I've had this set, but hadn't inked it up since I bought it from someone on Splitcoaststampers a few months ago. I'm glad to have the chance to use it, now. Today, we are going to take our son to Paradise Bakery at the Village Pointe Shopping Center in Omaha, NE. My husband and I stopped there for breakfast last weekend, and we had a Nutella and banana french toast. Talk about sugar shock! Literally! It had so much sugar, I got a headache and then fell asleep. My son will probably be pinging off the walls. I'm going to make sure the kid drinks a lot of water to dilute that sugar and get it out of system, quickly. Thanks for stopping by!

Thinking Green year-'round. Week One: Glass jars and bottles

Each week, I'd like to post about an item that could be kept out of the landfills; or an issue that could be resolved with a more environmentally-friendly approach. I want your opinion on this because Earth Day shouldn't happen just once a year. BTW..... sorry about the blurry image.

This week, let's talk about glass jars and bottles. My city doesn't recycle these. I don't know why. I buy Classico-brand spaghetti sauce for our dinners. We love the Sweet Tomato and Basil flavor. Granted, I could buy canned spaghetti sauce and allow the city to recycle the can. However, we DO love this particular flavor.

So, if you are on the same boat as I am, and would prefer to keep this glass jar out of the landfill, what would you do with it to reuse it? I already have one idea in mind, but I'm curious to see what your suggestions would be. Would you use it for something practical? Something decorative? What about glass bottles? I have been re-using the Starbucks Frapuccino bottles for gifts, but what about other glass bottles? Should I just completely avoid buying glass "anything" since I can't recycle them?

I'd prefer to re-use, if possible, but I'd love to see what your suggestions would be.

WOW! Arte y Pico award and a Nestabilities Tutorial for ya!

Wow! Michelle Wedemeyer from Michelle's Rubber Room has nominated my blog for the arte y pico award. This award is given to bloggers who share their art and creativity making their contribution to the blogging world. Never in a million years did I ever expect to be honored with this, especially, in recent months. My full-time job requires quite a bit of traveling and covering several facitilies for the company I work for; so by the time I get home, I am too pooped to create. But, when I do have some spare time, I do try to get into my studio and start stamping, cutting and scoring to my heart's delight. There are some rules attached to receiving the Arte y Pico. They are:

1) Each award winner has to show the award that she has been given and provide a link to the Arte de Pico blog so that everyone will know the origin of this award. (Click on link above.)

2) You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and contributions to the blogging community.

3) Each of the nominations you make has to have the name of the author and a link to her or his blog so that everyone can visit them.

4) And finally, leave a comment on each of the blogs you nominate, so that the authors can pass this honor along.

Now, as you can see on the side-bar, I am a HUGE fan of a billion-and-one bloggers out there. I'm randomly choosing five blogs which I've enjoyed visiting in recent months, and nominating them for this award. They are:

Pam of Stamping with Serendipity.
Stacy of Stacy's Memory Triggers.
Tami of Dapple Designs.
Deborah of Cards and Things.
Jovi of Inky Impressions.

Woohoo! Now, go forth and check out these blogs!!!!

Onto today's tutorial, we are going to learn how to make this gatefold card using the largest die from the Spellbinder's Nestabilities Large Classic Scallop Circle Set.

Here's a list of supplies you'll need (aside from a die-cutting machine and the Nestabliities die I had mentioned above).
1) Strong paper adhesive
2) Scoring Tool
3) Scissors
3) Paper Trimmer
4) 2 coordinating scrapbook or rubber-stamped papers: one paper cut using your Nestabilities circle die; and one strip, one-inch wide and at least 10" long.
5) 1 sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" cardstock: one piece cut 4" x 7"; die-cut one circle using your Nestabilities circle die
6) Coordinating colored cardstock cut 3 7/8" x 8 1/4" wide. With my card, I used a red piece of cardstock for this.

1) Score your 4" x 7" white cardstock, 1 1/2" from the short ends. Score your 3 7/8" x 8 1/4" colored colored cardstock in half, from the short side (so now, you'll have two sections that are 3 7/8" x 4 1/4" each).

2) Take your white cardstock and cut off the corners. Come up slightly on the scoring, before you cut the corners off at an angle. This will help you TREMENDOUSLY when you go to fold in your side-flaps (trust me).


3) Cut your scalloped cirlces in half.

4) Take the white scalloped circles and trim very slightly (1/16th inch) on the flat side. Again, this will help you when you fold in your flaps. If you placed the flat edge along or on top of the scoring, it will add unwanted bulk to your card, making it awkward to fold your flaps in.

5) Add adhesive to the inside of the flaps.

6) Adhere your white scalloped half-circles. **It is very important that you do not adhere your edge on top of the fold. Try to place it just to the OUTSIDE of each fold. If you do this, you should have no problems folding in your flaps and not adding unnecessary bulk to your card. This is what it will look like.

7) Add adhesive to the outer flap and all over the white half-circles. Adhere your patterned paper to the flaps on the other side. This is what it should now look like.

8) Take your colored cardstock and position the 3 7/8" x 4" section on the back of the card. Adhere it to the back so that the fold falls forward and over the front of the card. This is what it will look like from the back of the card.

9) This is what it will look like from the front.

10) Fold the colored flap down, the side flaps over, and this is what your card will look like.

11) Time to add the 'belt.' Wrap your one-inch wide strip of paper around the card. Adhere the ends after you've got the strip nice and snug around the card. Create a stamped image or embellishments for the 'buckle' or the center of the strip.

Now, it's your turn! Have fun! It's fast and easy, and I hope you enjoy making your version of this simple tutorial!

It took me two days to make this card

It took me two days to make this card because my sewing machine broke. My faithful sewing machine which helped to make five large quilts, four sets of curtains, a handful of summer dresses, and countless cards. It was my first sewing machine that my dear husband gave to me for my birthday, eleven years ago. So, I replaced it with a Brother computerized machine. I was tempted to spend big bucks on a Bernina or some sort of fancy schmancy machine, but I don't have to the money to do that, right now. The new machine is pretty neat, but it takes some getting used to. This card uses stamps by Magnolia (Tilda and wooden fence) and High Hopes (flower border). The polka dot paper is by Bo Bunny Press. Thanks for stopping by!

Various backgrounds for ATC's

I'll be teaching another class in May on how to create interesting backgrounds for ATC's (and also, for cards). I'm going to teach the shaving cream background, alcohol inks, direct-to-paper, bubble background, webbing spray, and I'm going to demo the new Ranger Dauber Acrylic paint (in copper.) Thanks for stopping by!

Cards for class

I'll be teaching a beginner's stamping class in May. I wanted to teach folks how to heat-emboss, stamp an image, color an image, use pop-dots, and how to add embellishments like eyelets and brads to their cards. I'll be teaching this class at the David M. Mangelsen's Craft Store in Omaha. So, if you live in my area, and would like to learn basic stamping and coloring, you should come to my class!!

The first card is a wedding card. I cannot, for the life of me, remember who makes the bird stamp. I've lost the paper that was inside the packaging for this stamp set. The flourish stamp is by Inkadinkado

For this second card, I added pop-dots beneath Tilda (Magnolia stamp). The ribbon stamp is by Hero Arts.

The third card I made uses a combination of rubber stamp (Marilyn stamp by Stampinback) and acrylic stamp (Make a Wish by Heidi Grace) I want to show folks how easy it is to place an acrylic image on the card front because you can see-through the stamp. This is a little trickier with a rubber stamp, if your eye is not trained to align the stamp with the edges of your cardfront.

The last project I made is a stamped candle. This always gets 'oohhhs' and 'aaahhhs' at beginner's classes. I don't have a photograph to show you (sorry). But, I will be teaching this as an 'altered art' project for our newbies.

A little coloring today

I thought I'd use some of my new rubber stamps and color a little. This first card is made with a stamp by Stamp Oasis. Unfortunately, you can't see the Ice Stickles that I added to her dress and to the red "suns" in the background. It much more vibrant IRL. I didn't really want to use embellishments on these cards. I wanted the images to stand alone. I colored this image with COPIC sketch markers.

I am really bad at watercoloring. But, you can't get better at something without practice. So, I pulled out my Stampin Up markers and water-brush and tried my hand at it, again. I find that if I lay my color on a non-pourous surface (my acrylic block), I am able to pick up the color well and then place it on my stamped image.

This last card is simple paper-piecing. The image is by Rubbernecker stamps. I fell in love with her as soon as I saw her. The background is embossed using the Swiss Dots embossing folder by Cuttlebug.

I was a Guest Designer on Alphastamps and I didn't know it!

Back in February, I was asked by Alphastamps to create four projects for them using a "school theme." They sent me collage sheets, acrylic and rubber stamps. I came up with a desk calendar, library tote, water bottle tag, and an altered paint can filled with goodies for a teacher. You can see additional views of the projects by visiting the Alphastamps blog. I thought Alphastamps was going to wait until August to show my projects, so I was surprised when I discovered that they already had them up on their blog. A nice surprise, nevertheless.

Think Spring!

This is my entry for this week's theme on "Think Monday - Think ATC. Tag stamp is by Invoke Arts, fern stamp and sentiment are by Hero Arts.

Moo Cards: Just a small spurt of creativity

Moo cards are quick and easy to make. I had a few minutes on Saturday night, after running around, crazy, all day. I had a little bit of time this evening to work on them, also. I am sending them to someone who had asked for them. I created the teal blue background using a Distress Ink (Faded Jeans) mix (ink and water). I used Hero Arts flourish stamps, and edged each card with Stampin Up Bayou Blue ink. The vintage images are a mix, from a CD I own and my personal collection. The words came from a Coldwater Creek magazine. For the orange and green moo cards, I brayered Stampin Up dye inks on glossy cardstock. Then, I just stamped and sponged ink through a stencil I had. I don't know how often I'll be creating in the months ahead, but I hope it'll be at least once a week. Life just gets in the way sometimes.

Please visit a new blog that I have just started

First, I am not abandoning this blog. This is my creative blog, and I plan to keep it. I'll soon get back to creating. I just needed a little break.

But, I did start a new blog. It's called Baskets for the Cure. It's to benefit the Susan G. Komen Foundation. Please visit my blog; and if you can, please help my by adding a link of my new blog to yours. I would appreciate your support.

Thank you very much, and thank you for stopping by!

I am overwhelmed

My friends, I am overwhelmed to the point where the thought of creating is making my blood pressure rise. Can you believe this? Therefore, I have decided to take a break. My family is scheduled to move in a year, and I'm feeling restless. The clock has started ticking, and I must, must, must declutter and downsize. I have a lot items to go through, throw out, donate or sell. I have a lot of Longaberger baskets and rubber stamps which I want to put up for sale. I'm not even worried about whether I'll get a ton of money from those. I just want to get rid of them. (If I put them up on eBay, my seller name is ethel769).

Here's the deal for Stamp Shack members. I put something on the message boards about what I plan to do with my Longaberger items, should they NOT sell on eBay. So, you may want to bookmark my blog for future reference. Each week, starting April 4th, I will start listing the items that DID NOT sell on eBay. You'll know what to do. Just tell me which ones you have your eye on, and give me way to get in contact with you (not through the Stamp Shack, but privately).

So, for now, I bid you adieu. I don't know how long I will need. I just know that *now* is the time to focus on cleaning and decluttering the house. I may be back in a month. It might be sooner. Thank you for being faithful readers of my blog. I don't know if you have me on your Google reader list. But, if I start posting again, I hope you'll stop on by and check up on me. Hugs to you all!

ISMAKI Challenge #11

Here is my interpretation for this week's ISMAKI Challenge #11. It was designed by Manue. The focal stamp is by Innovative Stamp Creations and the sentiment stamp is from Buzz N Bloom (an Australian stamp company.) I turned the sketch the other way, and created a frame using stamps by Heidi Grace. The paperclip is the final touch and I thought it complimented the flourish stamps nicely. Thanks for stopping by!

Pop-up card. Hello Spring!

My crocuses are peaking out from under some ground cover. The weather isn't warm enough to be outside for too long, otherwise, I would be out there, today, cleaning up some of the dead foliage that's covering some of my flower beds. But, when the crocus start to bloom, it won't be too long before we will begin to see the dwarf irises, tulips, daffodils, and periwinkle making their appearance.

Today, I made a pop-up card. It's been a long time since I'd made one of these. More than anything, I must've used eight different paper punches to make this card. Everything from various sizes of circle punches to my Stampin Up scalloped punch and slit punch. Happy Spring to you!