Post holidays

Okay, I really did do lots of holiday crafts and make all our Christmas cards, but I was in such a hurry to get everything done that the one thing I didn't do was take pictures. Agh! Such is life. This is a card I made early in December before life got chaotic. It was a birthday card for a relative. I also made the other card for my college roommate, as an engagement card, she's been engaged for 3 months now. Hey, at least she's not married yet! How does life just always pass me by?

Recycle and reuse

I've discovered that many of my other crafty friends are much like me in saving things because you never know when you might use it which leads to hoarding things. I think my hubby tolerates it because on more than one occassion I've bailed him out last minute on a needed birthday gift for a co-worker. I've had these journals for a year that I knew I wanted to do something with, but I wasn't sure how or what because they had this 3-d chipboard thing on them. Well, I discovered that if I was careful the chipboard design came off completely and evenly not damaging the journal at all. Now of course I couldn't just throw these cute chipboards away, right? So, I made these cards out of them. The tag is a flower with a circle in the center and it says "I love your style" which is from a SU! set now long retired. I think it's a cute care for a girlfriend just to say "I'm thinking of you" or something. What do you think?

Crafty Goodiness

I wanted to post these cute notebooks I made for a craft fair, but never got around to it. I had a few left that I took some pics of to share. I think the honey do's ones are so cute.

Christmas Card

This was another card I made while back. I really like the way it came out. It's a 5 x 5 gatefold card, all are Amuse stamps, the white bow in the middle is holding it tied together.

Thinking of You Card

I made this card for a contest awhile back and since it looks like I didn't win : ( I figured I should post it. Most of my cards have at least one stamped image, so this was slightly different since it has no stamping. Most of the die cuts are Quikutz, except for the flower which is Stampin' Up.

Weekly Challenge 10.31.08

This card is for this week's challenge to make a card using no layers. It was a lot harder than I thought. I used spica pens on the mushrooms to brighten them up and also a white sharpie paint pen to add the dots on the mushrooms to dress it up. I thought there was too much white at the top, but I'm not sure I'm happy with the sentiment and how it came out. This was definitely a challenge and out of my comfort zone.

Family Stationery

A friend of mine asked me to make some stationery for them to use as a family. I love this color combo because it was hip/modern, but not too girly in case her husband wants to use them. I used two circle punches for the top and a monogram stamp for their last name from Papertrey Ink in Chocolate Chip (SU!). I printed their names on the bottom onto my cardstock in a dark brown ink. I then layered the white cardstock onto the turquoise cardstock. The set has matching turquoise envelopes. These were so easy to make that I think I might make several sets for family gifts at Christmas and just vary the colors. Think people would like that as a gift?

Not MIA

It's been awhile since I last posted, but I have been doing crafty things, including several cards. This is a card I made for my husband to give to a co-worker whose grandmother passed away. Sometimes I get so caught up with the ease of using Amuse that I forget to use some of my other stamps. This is a retired set from Stampin' Up that is a sympathy set that I've never used. I bought it mainy for the lily stamp. I used aqua mist cardstock from Papertrey Ink along with patterned paper from their Everyday Blessings set. I think it's just enough for a sympathy card without being too much. What do you think?

Stamp of the Week 9.27.08

One of the stamps of the week on the Amuse Addict site is the birthday celebration set. When I first saw this set I thought "parade", so what better way to celebrate a birthday then with a birthday parade. I'm not crazy about the background paper I used, mainly because I don't think you can see it enough, but I do like the stamped portion of the card. I may have to make this one again with some different background paper. I also had to use a 4 x 6 card so all the stamps would fit on there.

Step It Up #6

The Step It Up Challenge was to make a game or toy using Amuse things (paper, stamps, ribbons, etc.) Great idea! I got these tins from Papertrey Ink because I was sure I "needed" them, but this was the first time I used one. So the outside is pretty simple. Inside I have three different "things to do". The first two are a small notebook I covered in Amuse paper and did a simple stamp on, along with a few crayons. My daughter is into "writing" so this is perfect. The next are some puppet sticks. I stamped the Elzybell Princess stamp and made 5 of these (pink, blue, yellow, purple and dk blue) and used the small craft sticks for them. She can make each a different princess and do pretend play with them. The last is a tic-tac-toe game. I did the block on the computer and stuck it to the bottom of the tin. Then I made 5 "pieces" of each using the Daisy Trio stamp and Cupcake stamp. I used my 1 1/4 circle punch for the pink and blue backgrounds and then stuck some magnets on the back, so they won't get lost and they will stay in place when she plays with them. I love the fact that all of these things fit in the tin and it will be easy just to grab the tin and put in my purse for going out to eat or to church. What do you think?

Stamp of the Week #32

The stamp of the week is love bus or mainly men stamp set. I needed a b-day card for my dad so this was perfect. My dad wore ties to work most of his life and as a kid one of my favorite things was to help pick out the one for the day. He had one that had an "S" all over it and I was sure it was for "Stoeckl" (my maiden name), but it wasn't until later I learned it was for "Safeway" (where he worked). The inside says "Tie one on!" Ha-ha! I stamped the shirts on pattern paper as well and cut the ties out so they are paper pieced onto the shirts.

Weekly Challenge 9.8.08

The weekly challenge this week was to make a card using your favorite team's colors. My new spiral daisy stamp was needing some ink, so I decided this was the stamp. Being a Golden Domer (U. of Notre Dame), there are no better colors than blue and gold and what better card to use than Amuse's Irish Green card (that's really the color). I stamped the flower in night of navy and used gold sparkles for the centers. I'll have to send this to another Alum who will appreciate the choice of colors. : )

Stamp of the Week 9.8.08

One of the stamps of the week is the birthday builder set. Geeta talked me into buying this set after using it in one of her classes. It has been worth the purchase as I've used it many times and used it for my grandma's b-day card (hard to find a card at Hallmark for someone who's 103!) and now used it for a b-day card for my cousin. I stamped the "Birthday" inside and the "18th" is on with pop dots.

Supplies: card and birthday builder stamp set, Amuse; pumpkin pie, night of navy, real red and wasabi green ink, Stampin' Up; pumpkin pie ribbon, Stampin' Up.

Weekly Challenge

I needed several thank you type cards for some people who stepped up to help me with a last minute event I was asked to coordinate. Because I needed several and knew I didn't have a lot of time, I needed simple--think Amuse right? Even though these are for women I like the way these came out. Plus, I just ordered the Rock Star stamp and was dying to ink him up. Since I used the scallop square punches, these are great for Jennie's weekly challenge this week. As a rock star, he needed lots of shine, so he is all spica-ed up, minus shoes and hair.

Senior Patrol Leader

A co-worker's son (Jack) was named Senior Patrol Leader for his boy scout troop earlier this week. Sounds like an occasion for a card, right? However, having only a daughter I tend not to buy very masculine type stamps. I knew Amuse had a hiker and boy scout stamp that would work, so I asked a few friends if they had either. Luckily Kim (http://www.freshaircrafting.blogspot.com/) came to my rescue with hiker guy. I inked him up last night and here's the result. I really like the way it came out. My husband even got involved because being a former Senior Patrol Leader and boy scout I needed help with getting the uniform the right colors, but I think we got pretty close.

The tent is the rectangle Marvy punch, modified and the "Patrol Leader" is cut out and on with dimensionals. Think he'll like it?

Supplies: brown card, Hiker stamp, Amuse; Apricot ribbon and paper, Stampin' Up; Copic Markers; Stampin' Up watercolor crayons in Old Olive.

Step It Up #5

Rhonda posted a Step It Up Challenge to make teacher gifts. My daughter is only in preschool (daycare) and goes year round, but on Monday when most kids start back to school here, she moves out of the Twos room and into Threes. The Terrible Twos were not that bad other than the potty training, which we now have conquered. I thought I'd make her Twos Teachers a little "thank you" gift for all their work and care. This is an empty votive jar with lid that I got at Michael's. I used my Fiskars punches for the band around it, my Marvy punches for the top and we filled it with M&Ms. I think they turned out cute and were so easy. Think her teachers will like them?

Supplies: Cutie Pie Paper and Purely Pomegranate paper, Stampin' Up; Purely Pomegranate ribbon, Stampin' Up; Thank you sentiment stamp, Stampin' Up; Copic Markers; Superwoman stamp, Amuse Stamps; White Sharpie Pen; Circle punch and scallop circle punch, Marvy punches; Border punches, Fiskars.

Weekly Challenge

In browsing the Amuse Addicts website I noticed the Weekly Challenge is now posted and am so glad I can do another challenge this week. My grandfather's birthday is over a week away and I've already made his card--big accomplishment for me! My grandpa worked in construction most of his life and was very good at it. I remember growing up when we saw him coming home my cousin and I would run out to meet him and fight over who got to carry his lunch box and who got to carry his thermos the rest of the way and into the house. I knew I needed to use the thermos stamp for him. I stamped it on the white and then paper pieced it onto the pomegranate paper as well.

Supplies: Clear stamps, Amuse; Purely Pomegranate paper, Stampin' Up; Copic Markers; Clear Spica; Marvy Punches; Argyle paper, Chatterbox; Bashful Blue ribbon and white ribbon, Stampin' Up.

My baby's birthday

My baby girl will turn 3 in one week--where does the time go? I made Disney Princess invitations at her request. I was hoping that we might put off the whole princess theme for another year, but alas, no. I tried to convince her to let me use the Amuse princess stamp, but she adamantly told me that was not Cinderella, Belle, Ariel or Sleeping Beauty. She is way too smart for her own good. So after much searching on the internet I finally found some Disney Princess stamps. There's a lot of coloring detail in one of them and I was just going to stamp it in pink or purple so I didn't have to color it, but my husband pointed out that I wouldn't be happy unless it was all colored in (he knows me too well!). Anyway, here is the outside and inside of the invitation and I'm happy with how they turned out and Annika said they were "beautiful" so that's what counts.

Note: Because I am technilogically inept I don't know how to blur out or black out the details, so I had to resort to good old fashioned post-it note.

Supplies: Regal Rose paper, Stampin' Up; Yellow and blue paper, Michaels; Stamps, All Night Media; Copic Markers.

Weekly Challenge

The weekly challenge on the Amuse Addicts website is to CASE one of the cards from the last VMAA and change it slightly or make the same card. I chose Jen's card from the "One Tree Hill" challenge. I loved her card immediately, but decided to change mine slightly. I used green rick rack for the stems and used a rhinestone brad for the centers for just a little more bling. What do you think?

Birthdays Galore

I made this card for my Uncle who has a birthday next week. I really liked the way it turned out and think the clear sticker adds just enough bling without being too girly. Since I'm caught up on my birthday cards I'm hoping to try some of the Amuse Addicts challenges this week.

Supplies: Amuse clear stamps, clear sticker and notecard; Argyle paper, Chatterbox; Copic markers

Another one...

My friend Rosa Maria's birthday is tomorrow. She is the sweetest, neatest lady you will ever meet. She is also a florist and she makes these beautiful arrangements that make you swear you've died and gone to heaven. She helps her daughters with their business, Mandardin Flower Company (http://www.mandarinflowerco.com/ shameless plug) and their work is gorgeous. Anyway, here is the card I made for her. Its a pop-up card, so I want to show the inside too.

Supplies: Daisy Girl , outside sentiment and Flower Cart stamp, Amuse; Flower bucket and inside sentiment, Stampin' up; Certainly Celery ribbon, Stampin' Up.

Happy Birthday

Today is my friend Kiyomi's birthday, so as part of her gift I made her a set of notecards for her to use. Pretty simple, but I liked the way they turned out and I hope she did too.

Supplies: Pretty in Pink and Purely Pomegranate paper, Stampin' Up; Stripe Paper, Basic Grey; Purely Pomegranate Ink, Stampin' Up; Monogram Stamp, Papertrey Ink.

Busy, busy, busy

It seems as if everyone in my family has a birthday in August. In fact, starting on the 22nd we have a birthday every day for five days. We also have a few earlier in the month and I have several good friends with b-days as well. Before I started making cards Hallmark used to love to see me coming. : ) I made this card for my cousin's son (who is also my godson). It's a pocket card and I'll put a gift card in there because I don't know what's "in" or "cool" for nine year olds.

The aftermath

Last night was the first VMAA I participated in and I have to admit it was fun and pretty inspiring to come up with a card in 30 minutes AND have to think out of the box. It inspired me to not think so "the same" all the time when it comes to the card. The Gerber Daisy stamp from Amuse is one of my favs and I thought about using it last night for Jennie's "One Tree Hill" challenge, but I had made two cards earlier in the week using it so I thought it would be cheating. I posted one of them earlier, but here's another one. The color combo is inspired by some friends who have their own business and these are their colors for their logo. I'm not sure I like the ribbon on it.

Bonus Challenge for VMAA

Julie's TV show pick is "Friends" and the challenge was to make a humorous friends card. So I don't know that mine is humorous, some might think its mean, but its all I could come up with given my stamps. This might mean I need some new stamps...hmmm...

VMAA Challenge #4

Jennie's show was "One Tree Hill" which I am going to confess I am totally addicted to as well. Good choice Jennie!! So we had to pick one stamp and use it as many times as possible, but only use one. I couldn't decide between the Retro Martini or Party Chick, but then my husband brought me up a cold corona and well...the decision was made. Plus, after four fantastic challenges isn't everyone ready for a drink. The ice cubes are glittered with the messy kind of glitter, but it doesn't show up well in the photo.

VMAA Challenge #3

LOST was the theme and challenge was to use your favorite amuse stamp, notecard, ribbon, etc. So I'd be "lost" without these two stamps and this pink notecard. I love this color of pink!

VMAA Challenge #2

The theme was "Grey's Anatomy" and so the challenge was to make a love themed card. Everyone knows how dreamy you get when you're in love--right? It's actually a window card, but you might not be able to tell from the photo. Either I'm a bad photographer or I need to find a better spot to take my pictures.

VMAA Challenge #1

This is my card for the first challenge. When I saw the picture I immediately thought of the flower cart stamp with the awning. You can't tell from the picture, but the polk dot paper is lavender colored and I colored the orange awning and cart with orange spica. The orange is also paper pieced, not colored.

Newbie

This is my first post to my blog, so its a test run for tonight's Amuse Addicts Meeting.

Materials: Die cuts with a view yellow card; Gerber Daisy stamp (Amuse stamps); Stickles Orange peel and red ribbon.