Salt Dough Ornaments

Yup, still haven't finished with Christmas! So my daughter made these salt dough ornaments at the end of LAST year's Christmas, and only got around to painting them in November/December of this year. I gave them a couple coats of Mod Podge, and then we added them to the tree!

I used the recipe here (love this website!)

Bring on the tooth fairy!

I promised my daughter we'd make a pillow to hold her teeth, now that number SIX is about to come out. Have I mentioned she's not yet five?

I "conveniently" forgot to remind her to put the first five teeth under her pillow, given that she gets a lot of treats and presents already, but everyone asks her what the tooth fairy has brought her, so this time she wouldn't be distracted :p

Anyway, she wanted an owl, and this is what we decided on. She picked the colours, I did the work ;)

I used the Pink Cat Studio Cuddles digital image (for paper piecing) that I received when PCS was first trying the electronic/hand-cut files. Do you remember this card and this layout? I didn't have a marker that worked well on the felt (and I wanted to work fast) so I printed out the shapes and quickly cut them out.

Then I spent the time embroidering the entire thing. This is only my second embroidery project - my daughter's stocking was the first!

I made a little pocket (to the right of the owl) to hold the tooth.

I used PTI felt for everything I could, and the cheap felt I had for the rest. Wow, the difference is AMAZING! PTI felt is so thick and sturdy. I wish I had more colours so I could have done the entire thing in their felt!

A couple quick tags

My daughter and I made some Toblerone Shortbread cookies, and I made up these tags quickly to give some cookies as gifts. My daughter added the artwork on the green tag :)

A few cards

I played teacher for some friends and came up with a few cards for everyone to make. These were my samples. Most supplies are PTI and SU. The reindeer card is The Cat's Pajamas.

Holiday Swap!

I participated in a holiday swap over at the PTI forum. The suggested cost was $15, and we gave a list of things we like, things we covet, and things we love. My giver was Ally, and this is what I received in the mail today!

She packaged up Birthday Bash Sentiments, some of the fun leaf ribbon, a sweet jar of buttons, some rustic twine, and a yummy tin of Kisses! And check out her beautiful card - isn't it gorgeous?

Thanks so much Ally, I really love it!

I've already mailed off my gift, and I will post a photo as soon as I know she's opened it.

Crafting with friends...

...is my favourite way to craft! My friend Renée was over with her daughter (Chloe's best friend) and while the little girls were painting, I convinced Renée to make a few cards! Now she doesn't like to admit it, but she's a very crafty girl (ask her to see the Advent calendar she made for her daughter!)

She used mostly PTI products, and this is what she made!

The first card also has stamps from Pink Cat Studio. Don't you LOVE those glittery snow drifts?

I think the first card here could be something sold at Ikea. And the last card is my favourite. I think I'm going to copy it myself!

Of course the girls couldn't stay away from the stamps, so they decorated envelopes:

I had a few pieces left over from another crafty night (photos from that coming soon!) so I made this today:

I just LOVE Background Basics: Christmas! That wee mouse is adorable.

Fun project

I haven't tried this yet, but I'm bookmarking it for future use. Great for a fun birthday party decoration! Modern Colourful Mobiles

(image from Project Wedding)

PTI April Blog Hop

This month's PTI blog hop challenge was to use tissue paper. I decided to use a technique I taught my 4 year-old daughter, which is to just cut the tissue paper into small squares, crumple them up, and adhere them to the paper.I had the picture of a rainbow in my head, so that's what I came up with. I added a strip of cardstock (run through the Xyron to make it sticky) covered it with glitter, and then stamped a sweet sentiment with two colours. I had a brad that matched Hawaiian Shores ink, so I snapped off the prongs and stuck it on with Crystal Effects.

Speaking of my daughter, here's a tissue paper project she started a couple weeks ago. We took a sturdy box (originally had card supplies in it) and covered it in layers of Mod Podge and tissue paper squares. Several layers. We still need to put something on the top, likely "Chloe's Treasure Box", as that's what she's declared it to be.
Stamps: Everyday Button Bits (PTI),
Paper: Whisper White (SU)
Ink: Hawaiian Shores (PTI), Dark Peony (Colorbox)
Accessories: glitter (SU), brad, tissue paper (unknown)

Stuffed stockings

Chloe and I made these stocking "boxes" to hold some chocolates and gift cards for her daycare teachers. We used the Stocking Stuffer Timeless Template from PTI.
In case it isn't obvious, she chose the colours, I cut them out, she decorated them ;)Inside are some envelope gift card holders I made some time ago (last Christmas? the one before?) at a SU workshop. We also made some paper straw by crimping cardstock and slicing it into thin pieces, then crumpling it a bit.

Happy Earth Day!

DT call at Paper Popsicles!

Thinking about applying for a design team? Paper Popsicles is having a DT call!

"We are looking for fun, enthusiastic, and creative paper crafters to join our Design Team. Our design team motivates, inspires, and supports our online community. We are looking for paper crafters of all skill levels, with or without design team experience. Paper Popsicles kits and store products appeal to a wide audience, so we're looking for all type of scrappers... from traditional to chic. We are accepting applicants from the U.S. & Canada. this time."

Read all about it here. The deadline to enter is April 30.

The Craft Critique Carnival has started!

Check out these two posts on Craft Critique to see all the fun Valentine's Day projects:

Post One & Post Two -- see a familiar name on this list? ;)

Monogram Set and more!

This week's Stamp Simply (ssnotime74) is to make monogrammed items. I needed to make some more monogrammed cards for my aunt, so I came up with these:

These are also for Cuttlebug Challenge Be Inspired #18 - shaped cards. And I loved how Dawn embossed kraft cardstock, so I tried that too! Here's a close-up of each card:


It's late, and I need to get up early, so I'll add the recipe for each card tomorrow. I'll also share a quick tutorial on how to make that ribbon flower!

ETA: Here's the recipe!

Stamps: Simply Said (SU), Curlz Monogram set (JustRite)
Paper: Whisper White, Kraft, Blush Blossom, Lovely Lilac (SU)
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Blush Blossom, Tempting Turquoise, Yoyo Yellow, Lovely Lilac (SU), VersaMark (Tsukineko)
Accessories: circle punch, brads (SU), Classic Circles, Labels II, Scalloped Cricles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Swiss Dots, D'Vine Swirls, Birds and Swirls embossing folder, CB (Provocraft), paper piercer (Making Memories), design ruler, Stickles, clear embossing powder (Ranger), dew drops (Robin's Nest), purple ribbon (American Crafts), pearls (Kaiser), yellow ribbon (unknown)

And of course, it's almost Valentine's Day. Chloe and I made cards for her daycare/preschool class and teachers. I helped her with the names on the front:
And she wrote her name on the inside.
Finally, I just had to redo the base of this card (don't laugh Carrie!). I think this looks much better!

Butterfly Award!

The awesome Jill, from inkgenious, gave me a Butterfly Award! It means a lot to me. Jill's was the first craft blog I ever followed, and I think she's super sweet and talented! Thanks Jill :)
I wanted to pass on the love, so here's my nominees:
- Leanne (Crafty Auntie)
- Carrie (Scrapster)
- Chelle (Tales from the Craft Cave)
- Jodi (The Craft Den)
- Carley (Craft Spice)
- Emily Kate (Emily Kate Crafts)
- Lexy (Lexy's Card Blog)

RULES
1) Post the award’s logo on your blog
2) Add the link to the person who nominated you
3) Nominate at least 6 others & post their links.

Cheers to You

First of all, if you haven't already, be sure to comment on -->this post<-- to win some blog candy! There are a couple ways to get extra entries, so be sure to increase your luck!

Now, onto today's card. As I was browsing my usual blogs, I was struck by this card on Dawn McVey's blog. I absolutely LOVE Dawn's work, and knew I wanted to case that card!

On the OCC blog, today's challenge is to use the emboss resist tutorial. So I decided to give that a try.Like the bow? I've seen it popping up here and there, and wanted to give it a try. I attached the ribbon around the card, and then attached the bow separately. I used redline tape to put it together. I wish I had the 5/8" SU ribbon in Tempting Turqouise, but had to make do with the 1/4".

Not much else to explain here. I blew the dust off of my Colorbox Fluid Chalk inks. Aren't the colours gorgeous? The ink is so creamy, it just glides on. I just swiped it right across my embossed flowers, and buffed it off. Easy peasy card. The clear rhinestones sparkle it up!

Stamps: In the Spotlight, Lots of Thoughts (SU)
Paper: Whisper White (SU)
Ink: Blue Lagoon, Dark Peony, Lime Pastel (Colorbox), VersaMark (Tsukineko)
Accessories: 1 1/4" circle punch, ribbon (SU), rhinestones (Kaiser), clear embossing powder (stampcraft)

I'll be back later with another post about my crafts room: spotlight on punch storage!

The Best is Yet to Be & BLOG CANDY ALERT!!!

UPDATE: The blog candy is closed, the winner is Chelle!
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Yup, I've finally got the blog candy put together. You'll find all the details at the end of this post. I can hear you all groaning. Yeesh. Just look at my pretty card, and then you can find out how you can win! ;)

This card is for several challenges:

- The OCC colour challenge (two shades of blue and a neutral)
- Cuttlebug Be Inspired #14 (use your favourite embossing folder)
- Jen @ i{heart}2stamp's blog candy card challenge (make cards for international students at Dallas Baptist University); I plan to send along some other cards that I've had in my stash for a while - might as well put them to good use!

I was also inspired by a couple of my favourite craftsters, Faith (Stampin' With Markie's Mom) who has a style all her own, and Heather (pine is here), who is the Kraft paper queen!

It's hard to see, but I embossed the largest label and the sentiment with the paisley CB embossing folder. I love the idea of the paisley folder, but don't use it enough. I think I'm going to make another card with it, as you just don't see enough of it with this card. Originally I was going to use a larger label, but changed my mind on the design. Hence the reason you can't see to much of it!

To make the ribbon buckle, I used my Crop-a-Dile to punch three holes side-by-side. The Crop-a-Dile is useful for this because it has guides for the hole punches, so you can be sure they're all punched in a line. I just used my small snips to clean up the part that's showing. Here's a close-up (before embossing):
Stamps: Best Yet, Simply Said (SU)
Paper: Whisper White, Blue Bayou, Kraft cardstock, Soft Sky textured cardstock (SU)
Ink: Whisper White, Blue Bayou (SU)
Accessories: Designer Label punch, Soft Sky ribbon (SU), Labels Two and Large Standard Circles Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Perfect Paisley embossing folder, CB (Provocraft), Crop-a-Dile (WeRMemoryKeepers), White Glaze pen (Sakura), brads (unknown)

Okay, here's what you've been waiting for - the blog candy!

I'm celebrating my blogaversary (which was in November - whoops!) and 5000 hits. Well, I was supposed to celebrate 5000 hits, but I'm two months late. And since then, I've jumped to 7409 hits! So yay, let's celebrate my 7409 hits! ;)

There is a chipboard alphabet and coordinating die cut flowers from K&Company, the Snow Fun cut & emboss set from Provocraft, and some dimensionals and sticky stars.
For a single entry, just make a comment on this post. That's it!

For a second entry, post about this giveaway on your blog, and post a another comment here with the link.

But wait, there's more! (said in my best infomercial voice) For two MORE entries, participate in Jen's challenge and post a comment here with a link to your card(s).

I'll give you all a week to play, to give you time to get your card(s) done for Jen's challenge. So make sure you post your comments by January 21, 2008 at 11:59pm PST. Make sure your email is available in your profile, or leave it in your comment.

Good luck!

Calling all Canadian paper craft bloggers!

Get your blog added to Nancy's list of Canadian paper craft bloggers! Check out her blog for more details.

Searching for my mojo

I seem to have lost my mojo. Have you seen it? I sat at my desk tonight, searching for some inspiration. It came in the form of a sweet little card, which I found on Debbie's blog, Thinking Inking. I decided to make a couple Christmas cards, as I'm planning on making a bunch of different ones this year, instead of mass-producing a bunch of the same. Oh, and I'm way behind.

Apparently my Real Red ink pad (which is a Stampin' Spot) decided to turn into a craft pad. Because it would NOT dry. I ruined two stamped images before I realized the issue. Even this image has a little tiny smear, if you look closely. So don't! ;)

Are you surprised I didn't use the Cuttlebug smoosh technique on this card? I was SO tempted, but decided it didn't fit with my clean design.

Oh, FYI, most DSP will show up behind Very Vanilla ribbon. So I added a strip of Very Vanilla paper underneath the ribbon, to hide it.

Stamps: Hung Up on the Holidays, Cute Converse (SU)
Paper: Old Olive, Real Red, Very Vanilla, River Rock cardstock, River Rock textured cardstock, Dashing DSP (SU)
Ink: River Rock, Real Red, Old Olive (SU)
Accessories: Very Vanilla ribbon, Word Window punch (SU), Christmas Ornaments embossing folder, CB (Provocraft), scalloped punch (Marvy)

On this card I inked the image with River Rock, and then used a baby wipe to clean the words and dotted border. I inked those with markers, and then huffed to get the ink moist again. I couldn't decide whether to add to a rhinestone brad to the middle. What do you think?

Stamps: So Many Scallops
Paper: Old Olive, Real Red, Very Vanilla cardstock, River Rock textured cardstock, Dashing DSP (SU)
Ink: River Rock (SU)
Accessories: Old Olive, Real Red markers, River Rock ribbon (SU), scalloped punch (Marvy)

My first attempt at JJSC003

I saw the idea for this card on another blog, but for the life of me, I can't remember which one! If you know, please leave me a comment with the blog!

Anyway, this is my first attempt at JJSC003. This card should be subtitled "Stuff I never use".

Anyhoo, I just smooshed my spectrum pad on the paper, waited for it to dry (it's pigment ink) and then stamped the solid black stamp on top. Oh, you'll notice I haven't used my spectrum pad in a while. The purple and pink colours have dried out :(

But wait, that's not black ink! The stamps is actually a foam stamp, and ink doesn't work that well with foam, so I hauled out my black paint (thanks to Leanne for the suggestion - I don't use my paint very often, which was obvious when I opened the paint...it was all separated and gross...). I used a foam brush to spread the paint on the stamp, and voila!

Once the paint was dry, I covered the presents with Crystal Effects. Three star brads (first time using those, I think) and a quick sentiment from Everyday Flexible Phrases (also not in heavy rotation here in the craft-o-rama room), and it's done!

It didn't quite turn out how I planned, but I like it.

ps. Leanne stayed over last night, and we put the spare table in the crafts room to good use. She brought several suitcases of her stuff, and we stayed up all night drinking beer, eating sour candies, and crafting! I made four cards (all for JJSC003), and convinced Leanne to start her own blog. We sat side-by-side for a couple hours today, each with our laptop, typing away. Yes, she'll be a true computer geek before long. Come to the darkside, we have Stickles and wireless internet!

Stamps: Everyday Flexible Phrases (SU), Birthday (Scrapworks)
Paper: Whisper White (SU)
Ink: Basic Black (SU), Tropical Spectrum (ColorBox)
Accessories: Crystal Effects (SU), brads (Making Memories), black paint (Aleene's)

Follow me - everything is alright

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