Izbzee

and the Heat is on...

with temps in the 100's for 30+ days now it's hard not to hunker down and just stay put!  That being said, there's been a few days of crafting here and there and some worked nestled in-between, though the crafting has really been on my mind as things launched with cards, gems and journals shipping around the country!

  I've got a stack of cards I still haven't taken photos of -- but here are just a few:
made with a five petal punch and the branch punch from the two step bird punch from SU.  I doodled the lines and the sentiment is an SU stamp as well.  Inks and papers are SU. 

 

classic and simple, this is just a little bit of faux stitching with a gel pen, sentiment stamp is from Gina K designs and ink, punches and papers are from SU.  The flower design is something I found on the internet a while back and is really simple and fun with layered punched pieces - a little bit of water and some scrunching. 

 

paper, inks and stamps are all SU on this card.  Fibers are from EK Success.  Embossing plate was also an SU plate, I rarely use, but decided to pull it out and give it some play time.  I haven't use River Rock in a long time, but I had a stash of it so it's getting some use this week. 

 

Collage and embossing and lots of inking for this card using a Kaiser Kraft stamp set.  the sentiment was SU and the tag was a sizzlet die.  Fibers were American Craft and SU.  Embossing powder from Ranger.  I love the resist inking techniques and all the fun you can have with it.  Rather than start with a stark white background, I started with River Rock and just added additional colors and blended.  Rust, pumpkin pie and dusty durango over the River rock base.

 

 

all stamps on this card are from Gina K designs.  Papers and twill tape from SU.  Ink and paper SU.  Staples, office supply

 

 

 

3-D is invading the house again!  SVGCuts is coming up with some great files as always!  While this is my first attempt -- and not perfect, I will be doing more!  I love it!  There are definitely more in my future of this!  Maybe a whole village!  I started out with all white stock for the main house - only the shingles are colored.  Gotta love what you can do with ink, stamps embossing folders, score board, embossing powder and a little glue and patience. 

On a side note: 

   During the month of July, we also got to meet our future daughter in law.  She's so cute and a delight.  We got to spend most of the day together before they had to head back south.  Mike also got to come for a visit as well.  Rather nice to have a family gather for a day.  Haven't had one of those for a long time.  Allie, Chris, and Ryan were also there as was Alicia.  Lisa's dad, Clint and her sister Kim were also along for the day.  It was an enjoyable Sunday afternoon.  We wish we could have spent a much longer time together.... but we are looking foward to future family times.

 

TJ also graduated from BYU-ID last weekend and Ted was able to attend that ceremony along with Tom and his wife and Ted's folks as well as Hailee's family.  Ted stayed over and participated in the blessing of Timothy Lee.  What a wonderful weekend it was for our family.  Next up, is the wedding of Mike and Lisa! Kelty turns 4 this next week too! WOW!  Hard to believe that little sweetie is growing up so fast.  Hoping we'll get pictures this week. 

Hope your month has been a fabulous one -- and August is grand too! 

 

 

 

 

 

spring is here

and so is allergy season to the umpteenth degree!  We've had lots of high winds which have made the season nearly unbearable at times -- ugh!  But that means I get to spend more times indoors and guess what???  That means more crafting time too!  YIPEE! 

Now, where have I been you say -- yep, I've been absent for a while -- took a bit of a road trip with my good friend D the end of March and if you happened to be a Facebook friend, you followed our journey online there.  ;D  Her car is wired for all sorts of fun and the air card when it chose to work was lots of fun too!  LOL  It would "roam" in certain areas and quit in others - and her iphone worked in most places too except on the way home which was really wierd - but we think that may have been because of the wildfires that were burning and the other storms that were building just to the east of us as we were heading west. 

We found the neatest scrapbook store and made a "haul" times 2!  Precious Scraps in Dover TN  What fun!  We're already making a list for the next trip in absentia -- oh yea, we have plans!  They have lots of great stuff that we haven't been able to find here in the metro -- even in our "big" stores.  If you're ever in Dover, tell Barbara hi from us.  We enjoyed our two visits and will be back!

Ok, that being said, here's a few pics to bring you current:
These are the goodies we brought back for the gals in our card group.  You know we couldn't NOT bring them all back something!  Each packet included a personalized stamped note, a monogram stamp, a cool couple of labels from the new dies and embossing folders we purchased.  We also inked things up a tad too on our last night in KY.  Sure was fun to make up the packets for them. 

  These little carrot pouches are made with a heart shape die -- we originally started out using a nestie, but found that to be too slow when the orders started coming in, so I created a cut file and now, it's pretty slick to cut a whole sheet of hearts at once, run the hearts through the embossing plate, fold and glue.  We do still hand-cut the leaves and punch the two little "flowers" at the base of the leaves using an SU punch.  I used a Sizzlet die for the tag and GinaK stamp for the sentiment.  Some Jillybean Soup bakers twine to thread it together.  We'll fill with a sweet.  I think I saw these over at Valita's Fresh Folds -- she has some pretty cool ideas every week and has a great blog to watch.

 

These are another quick and easy fillable treat pack.  The pattern is from SVGCuts.com And can be found in the SpringBirdHouse kit pack.  I love it!  This is the small milk carton and I just resized it to fit on a 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of cardstock.  We used an SU stamp set and white gel pen for a little extra punch.  Then I used a computer generated sentiment for this particular order, and a SU punch.  I inked the edges and stamped a small image on the front and used some cotton crochet cotton to attach the tag. 

 

These bunnies are making appearances all over the net -- they're so much fun.  I don't remember where I saw them first, but they sure are lots of fun to make.  I used a die cut pattern from PennyDuncancreations.blogspot.com for the label.  Then everything is punched using SU circle or oval punches.  Inking the edges on everything adds that extra touch and if you want to go the extra mile, add a bit of faux stitching or if you have the top-note die from SU!  Use that in place of the nesting die from Penny Duncan.  White gel pen and a little ribbon finish it off -- and don't forget the cupcake either.  Chocolate all the way!

 

Ok, that's enough -- I've got peeps ready to mail and a table full of bunnies anxious to get in their boxes too.  Best get to it.  D will be here in just a bit and we'll be punching the morning.  She's got a few to get done and then we're making cupcake boxes and starting on our next big project... just wait!  What fun!!!! 

 

 

 

one goal not finished for the year...

but not totally forgotten, that's for sure!  I really have Leo and Mary at SVGCuts to thank for spurring me on - the freebie they offered was quite helpful in helping me get started again.  And it was perfect for the fun photos we took last week while the boys were here.

While I still need to add some quick notes to this page,  I have some ideas to make a companion page with some of the additional pages we took during the weekend as well as adding a lengthier journaling piece on the second page. 

I inked all the edges of the cut and added some Stickles for a little bling.  With all the rounded edges on the cut, the corners on the photos really looked too sharp, so I rounded and inked those too in the same dark green ink.  It adds just enough contrast that I didn't mount the photos and in the right light, it looks like they might be mounted.  The bottom picture is mounted on pop-up dots.  You can click on the picture for a larger version. 

Papers and ink are from SU.  The background paper is a 12x12 texture paper from SU that I cut down.  I don't do 12 x12 books. 

Now, back to the 2nd page and onward.  Have plans to keep moving foward tonight.  Lots and lots of pictures to scrap!  Not just the ones on the computer, but boxes and boxes to get through!  Wonder if tonight is a good night to think about doing an all-nighter..............................

forever

 this thought is from Soulseeds and was posted just a little bit ago:  Gratitude is like a flashlight. When you shine light in the dark, you see something that was already there to begin with. Gratitude beams light on blessings that are already yours. Give thanks for blessings now lighting your way and give thanks for the ability to put yourself in the path of light’s guiding beams. 

Today is one of those days that I'm having some reflective moments - It's not because I've been looking at some old photos or thinking about family members  who live beyond arm's reach - it's just one of those them days!  : D

A while back I saw a card and I can't remember where or whose sketch it was, but I liked it, so I thought I'd give it a try

and this is what I came up with -  so I stamped up a bunch of hearts from Punch Potpourri in Going Grey (SU!) and added a little color using some watercolor pencils and inked the edges with Vintage Violet (retired).  I used a Sizzix texture plate for one of the backgrounds, but really didn't get enough detail from it,  added a scalloped and inked border piece and two heart punches from itty bitty bits stamped with Vintage Violet (retired).  I used a sentiment from PTI.

 

The second card has a background from SU and is also embossed using a cuttlebug folder for more textures.  I used the scallop border punch on both sides of the pink and inked the edges.  Added a little crystal effects, but got a little carried away and if you look too closely, will notice the "blob!"  Oh well, it was fun and I have enough hearts stamped and colored for a stack of a dozen more.  Hoping to make them up over the weekend in a bunch of colors.  The card base for both is off white linen. 

 

Hope your day is guided by light and gratitude.  Thanks for stopping by and enjoy a fabulous NEW YEAR!  See you in 2011!

cuttin' up

the desk is a mess today!  There are pieces of paper everywhere - stamps, ink and ribbon too.  Seems I just couldn't get a thought where it needed to go for the longest time and so a bunch of ideas came and went, clipped, snipped and trashed too. 

Finally, pulled up a couple of svg files and decided to use them since I knew they would pull together quickly.  LOL

The first pic is a "freebie" file from SVGCuts.com - they offer some great ones every week.  OH, and tomorrow, they've got a live show at 8pm CT, I think.  Check their link on their Facebook page.  Cool stuff for a couple of hours and they're giving away a Cricut bundle --

  I decided it needed a little extra texture and I still may add some "bling."  Tomorrow will tell!  Paper, Ink, SU.  DP - Unknown.  Embossing folders, PC. 

 

 

 

 

This cut file is from the Scrapping Table - one of the elements in the themed sets.  I added an embossed square with an inked edge for a little more dimension. 

 

 

Not so sure about the colors here - but they are growing on me.  The Joyful Seasons Letterpress plate is kind of fun to play with.  I used a craft spot pad to ink it up this go round.  I think next time around, I'll try the markers.  I have some ideas for using the stockings for some other cards "post" Christmas.  I think adding a shim might give it just a little crisper image and a little more depth without going through the cardstock.  Hoping to order a couple more of the plates before the end of the month as a Christmas gift for me.  :D 

That's about it for the day -- not much else since I've been fighting the mighty migraine now for 3 days in a row and it's making another comeback this evening.  Guess I haven't gotten enough rest this afternoon to keep it at bay. 

On a high note - found all my vintage needlework books yesterday!  WAHOO!  A little too late to start on some things for this Christmas, but at least they aren't lost forever and I'll have them for next year and can get a head start on a few things early for next year.... at least I can think in those terms.  LOL 

Looking forward to seeing a couple of the kids next week for a pre-Christmas visit.  Should be lots of fun.  And will also get to see our granddaughter, Adi!  So looking forward to seeing everyone! 

a little more punch art

been playing a bit -- we have another activity coming up in RS and we're going to be talking about family traditions and creating traditions -- and we're going to be creating a new tradtion of our own this year, building a gingerbread house with the sisters of the ward.  I thought it would be fun to make an invitation too since we don't have a lot of time to advertise this particular activity and stake conference is next weekend and sort of breaks up the flow of our connection with the sisters and we'll only have one more week to connect before our meeting.... so I remember seeing something in one of my old magazines and thought I might be able to adapt it and here's what I did:

I used the SU large 5 petal flower punch for the body of the gingerbread man, the 1 inch circle punch for the head and the hat ( cut in half, and added a couple of strips for effect and inked the edges) created my own "vest" pattern and inked the edges). 

   They were fun to make - all 50!

 

 

 

 

 These are the finished invites.  The gumdrops are a cut file I created and so much easier to manage using the cricut when you have 150 to make!  LOL  I used some glitter glue for a little bling which you can see a little better if you click on the image for a larger view.

 The twill tape is dyed and hand "stamped" with construction zone for more fun.  I used a Tim Holtz embossing folder for the brick look and just inked the CS.  While it was a bit of work with all the inking, it was lots of fun and worth the effort. 

the Special Delivery stamp on the front of the invite is a PaperTreyInk stamp, BTW. 

Now, back to inking.  Got a few more to finish up!  Have a great day!  Oh, if you'd like to see the original idea for the gingerpeople, check out the archives at  http://jackietopa.typepad.com/   

Fall is upon us...

and the weather is lovely -- except for the pollen counts!    ACHOO!

It's still a bit early for the leaves to be changing here  but there's been plenty of Fall decking the craft tables this week.

with a little help from my friend, Thelma, there's 5o of these punched, stamped and inked pumpkins just about ready to put on the front of the baskets. 

The pumpkins are made with 3 wide oval punches, inked with pumpkin pie and the very vintage wheel (SU) the leaves were made on the cricut using a cut from  TheScrappingTable.com (Harvest Home Collection) and inked with Mellow Moss (retired SU)

These are baskets in their unfolded stages -- also inked with the very vintage wheel with pumpkin pie and creamy caramel.

The pattern for this basket was on Becky's website InkingIdaho.blogspot.com

 

Here's one of the finished ones.  I used brads to hold the handle on.

 

 

 

There's more crafting and creating going on - Christmas goodies in the making!  However, I best not let some of those slip or some Christmas surprises might be spoiled!  We wouldn't want that. 

We have had a busy couple of weeks and it doesn't look like the rest of the month is going to let up at all.  I think there's something on the calendar for nearly every day over the next 2 weeks and on into the month of November.  Happy October!

World Card Making Day...

we had a quiet crafting room today - but it was a busy room even if it was just the two of us. 

thought I might try to get a head start on some holiday cards and test a sample or two.  This is the first one.  Really a simple card.  Using a SU! Stamp from the Holiday Best set, I used Versamark ink before stamping with Red Riding Hood and then embossing with Clear embossing powder and the heat gun.  The top of the white panel is dry embossed with a texture panel and then with 3 score lines.  The bottom corners are rounded with the corner rounder and I used the crop-o-dile to punch a couple of holes to thread some matching ribbon through before adhering the white panel to the red background cardstock. 

close up of the embossed stamped image and scored area.  

This witch's hat from My Scrap Chick's Halloween Treat Box set is getting a little more use.  I thought it would look cute on this sort of CASE of Maren Benedict's card featured in Paper Craft's September/October 2010 magazine.  The papers are a mixture of scraps from all sources.  I used an embossing folder from PC and some Encore silver ink from SU! Add a little Crystal Effects to the buckle and star.  The stamp is also from SU!'s  Teeny Tiny Wishes set.  Inks: Pink Passion and Melon Mambo inks

This is another easy and quick card from the same issue of Paper Crafts.  Some quick scoring and a border embossing folder make for a quick completion.  Add a little white ink or paint on the edges and a few jewels and it's nearly done.  I opted for a quick stamp from the $ bin at Mike's instead of stickers.  Paper from GreenGrocer and Jewels from stash.

This card is another design from MyScrapChick.com - and one of the Friday Freebies. I decided to do the card base in a white linen texture and cut the rest of the pieces in other fall colors.  I inked the edges in Soft Suede, leaving a few rough edges on the larger rectangle for a distressed look.   

We finished crafting a bit early - I was able to listen to the second session of conference and after Ted left for the Priesthood session, I listened to the first session again. Even better the second time around!  Can't wait for tomorrow's session and I do hope that tomorrow during Music and the Spoken Word, the cameras pan by Stan and we'll see more than his chin!  LOL 

October already?

September zipped right by!  I think I missed part of it sitting in an airport too!  Not that I got stuck anywhere really -- just that it throws things out of balance for me anymore. And once that time thing is out of balance - well.............

If  you've been to the Facebook page, you've already seen all the pics we've posted from the kids' wedding.  It sure was nice and we enjoyed the day and time with the family.  The weather was gorgeous and my brother, Pete was gracious in lending us his yard and home for the festivities. 

Here are a few pics,

oh what a joy it was to see our granddaughter as a flower girl WALKING down the white carpet.  Last year after her surgery, (see early April of 2009) I'm not sure where we thought she might be at this point in time -- though we were pretty hopeful.  She is spunky and sure keeps up with her brother!  She talks up a stream and although she was a little off kilter at times, she was a delight to watch and had a ball tossing those flower petals. 

All the groomsmen!  Aren't they handsome?  They boogied all the way up to the front to be with Tom and had such a good time doing it.  They were all smiles and I don't think a single mom was worried at all about any of their little ones acting out at all during the short ceremony.  Now, of course, I could be wrong -- I wasn't looking, I was all eyes on the bride and groom!  

They both made it through the ceremony with a minimum of tears - and without the VB.  Tom was a nervous wreck. Their exit music was "Another One Bites the Dust!"  Laughter rippled through the audience as people recognized the music and spread the title to those who didn't know.... 

Feel free to check out my facebook page - the album is public

One of the things we did do while in Utah was gather some of the family history books, pictures, and slides my mom has had in storage.  Little did we realize what we were gathering at the time we opened the storage unit!  We took 3 boxes back to our hotel room.  Nearly 200 lbs of family history to ship home.  Today I finished scanning the trays of slides and got the photos stored onto an external hard drive.  They're ready for editing, adding identifiers and burning to DVDs.  There are several old books of remembrance that need to be gone through and see if I can scan the pages that contain the stories and documents.  Those can also be stored on the DVDs as well. There is lots of great history!

Let's see, the wedding was on Friday - on Saturday, we went to brunch with cousins, Stan and Carol, and Jay and his family. Carol brought me some treasures that had belonged to my grandfather.  It was so neat to see pictures of him while he had been in Australia in the early 1900's.   We also got to attend a live broadcast Sunday morning, of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir while we were in Utah.  Of course, it was all the more special because my cousin, Stan is singing in the choir. Then we spent most of the rest of the day on Temple Square and at the conference center.  It was a fun day.  Then we went back up north and spent the evening with the family. 

We sort of vegged on Monday after shipping all the stuff home via UPS - then we packed and got ready for our early morning flight out of Salt Lake to head for home.  It's been pretty busy since we got back here!  I guess in a way that's good...

Now, it's time to take a few deep breaths and get down to some crafting!  There's a "new" group of Oklahoma stampers over on StampTV and it's been kind of fun to join in - they've let me join in their monthly swap and so this month, I sent out my first swap - and it's on it's way a box full of goodies and I hope Deb likes them.  My box arrived yesterday - filled to the brim with all sorts of yummies!  I still haven't pulled out all the goodies in one of the packets -- I figure that tomorrow while I'm making some cards, I'll just have to find a way to use some of them!  LOL 

Here's pic of what the box held:

a huge assortment of stickers, ribbon, paper, notecards, a notebook, two of the cutest cards with matching envelopes, diecuts,  a couple of project recipes, a stamp set! (click on the pic for a larger image)

Tomorrow is World CardMaking Day!  I'm so ready!  How about you?  I've spent part of this evening making a couple a card kit for tomorrow.  Hopefully, we'll get pictures tomorrow and can share them!  Have a great weekend! 

And yes, conference both sessions will be playing!  :D  Feel free to join us!

more papercrafting fun...

it took a little while to get things flowing yesterday, but once things got started, well, the fingers got a little inky to say the least.

 Like I said, it took a little while -- to get things going -- I used an acrylic block directly to a rainbow ink pad and inked it up. Applied it to the white cardstock.  Then inked up the monogram stamp with versamark and heat embossed it with black powder to make it pop against the background.  I matted it on some sage cardstock and added a label for a little more texture and definition.

To the striped paper (source unknown) I added a sheet of striped paper (old hotel pad) I punched an edge (SU punch) inked and stamped (SU), scrunched and inked a little more.  This is a belated birthday card -- I know I'm going to need a few more of these in my stash the way I've been "falling behind" recently! 

click on the pic for a closer look at the details 

There's been a package of post it's sitting here on the table for a month or so (thank you, Dayna) just waiting to be "covered."  So, I've been playing with a couple of ideas and here's one of them.  This one is a Matchbook and they are really pretty simple.  The instructions are in the resource section at SplitCoastStampers 

CS, half pearl, brad, adhesive and punches are SU! Patterned paper unknown source. Stickers, Doodlebug

Another version of the post it note holder.  This one has a spot for a pen holder.  The instructions for this can be found at http://dawnsstampingthoughts.typepad.com in her archives. 

Punches, ink and bird stamp, SU.  Flourish, Autumn Leaves. 

Another version of the same holder.  I used an embossing folder on the front of this holder for a little more texture  

I'd love to share more -- but I need to run!  There's some dishes that need some attention in the kitchen and no one else in the house is going to do them - since it's my turn!  Have an awesome week!  And don't forget to  nurture your heart and those in your circle of influence this week as well.