Doing Wheel-ies!

On Saturday Stampers Alley had their annual Used Stamp Sale.  This year they did it a little differently.  It was set up like a garage sale with us setting up our tables in the parking lot instead of Stampers Alley having to sell our stamps for us and taking a percentage.  Marianne and I shared a booth and spread our stamps and craft things out on 3 tables and set up shop.  We did pretty good.  I made a little over $200 and got rid of a lot of my retired stamp sets so I was quite happy!  And most importantly, I didn't spend all my profits.  I only bought a couple of things ... maybe spending about $10.  I still have a box of stamps left and I will be offering them to my Stamp Club gals in a few weeks.  Our only complaint was the weather!  We almost froze to death!!  It is May but you would think it is March.  The temps have been in the 50s during the day.  It's more like Seattle weather - although my friends there tell me it is in the 80s!  I keep hearing folks say that they are tired of this cold rainy weather we are having.  Well, I am as well but it came to me that I am using little to no heat and no air conditioning right now and haven't for weeks, so our energy bill should be a lot less this month.  That's a good thing.   Marianne and I were both bundled up and to make matters worse, it started sprinkling  Marianne called Greg and he came to our rescue and brought us a canopy so our things wouldn't get too wet. And the icing on the cake - at the end of the sale, we gave what we didn't want to take back with us to one of the gals there who is going to send it all to the Sandy Hook community.

A lot of people have trouble when It comes to using a wheel on a card.  I don't use them very often (mainly, because I forget about them! ) but they are great for backgrounds on your cards.  Here are a few hints when using a wheel:

■stand up as you get straighter lines and more even pressure that way

■start rolling the wheel while off the card stock to prevent lines showing

■start at the corner of the page closest to you and roll away from yourself

■if you do not have an ink cartridge in the wheel handle, when rolling it on the ink pad do not roll it back and forth, roll it in the same direction ~6 times to ensure it is entirely inked

■always test the wheel on scrap paper first to ensure that your design/words are oriented the right way

■If the roller wheel does have a sentiment on it, line up the seam of the roller just off the page to ensure that you get the sentiment over the page in its entirety and not half a word that doesn’t make sense

■store the ink cartridges in zip lock bags to help keep them moist

■practice on scrap paper a lot!

Here is a bookmark that I made using the Very Vintage Wheel:

I wheeled it using Versamark Ink and embossed it with white embossing powder.  Easy to do.

Baby Tee

I made a baby card this week for a friend who became a grandmother again. I always forget to use my wheels.   I keep them in a fabric shoe holder that is hanging on the back of my door which is a great organizing tool for them.  I love the Baby Tees wheel and used it to make two cards.  The first card I made I wheeled the tees onto white card stock and used my Copics to color the little tees.  Then I mounted them onto some bright yellow (non SU) paper I found and then onto the plaid card (non SU).  Aren't they bright and cheery?

Well, when I finished that card, I decided to unmount my wheel.  I took it off the wheel and mounted it onto some clear-mount cling foam.  That way I can use the stamp as a traditional stamp.  I haven't gone so far as to cut the tees apart but that would be an idea also.

But here is the cute baby card I made after un-mounting the stamp!  Love it!

I stamped the tees onto DSP, colored them with markers and cut each one out individually.  They are glued down onto the white paper with the SU Glue Stick (my fav!).  In order to get them (semi-) straight onto the white paper, I used my handy SU Grid Paper.  No need to eyeball it! Remember that you have a handy ruler at the base of your Stampin’ Up! grid paper and gridlines on either side to help get things perfectly aligned.  (NOTE:  Grid paper is on the retired list - it is just being refigured but will be $1 more so you might want to get it now and save.)

I then stamped the "baby" sentiment from One In A Million using my Stamp-a-ma-jig to line it up.  I found some little metal  coat hanger brads in my stash so I put one on each of the baby tees.

 My next step was to make an envelope to put the card into since I made an extra long card.  My card measures about 9" x 7 1/2".   Rather than stick this beautiful card in a plain, legal envelope, I decided to make a coordinated, stylish envelope for its delivery.  A little more costly at the post office, but it's ok once in while.

Here are the directions for my envelope:

• I cut a piece of Bashful Blue Designer Series Paper Stack paper to 9-1/4″x11-3/4″. I chose this DSP with the floral design as the exterior of the envelope.
• I placed the paper on the Simply Scored Scoring Tool with the shortest end of the paper lined up against the top ruler. 
• With the markers at 2-3/8″ and 6-1/2″, I scored the horizontal lines of the envelope. 
• I then turned the paper on its side and scored it 1-1/2″ and 11″. 
• I trimmed the corners off the scored piece of paper, careful to snip on the inside of the score line so that everything would fold over cleanly. 
• With the 3/16″ Corner punch, I rounded all the corners.
• I folded the envelope, using my bone folder to make sure that the envelope completely closes:
  I added adhesive to the shorter side panel and then glued down the longer side.
• And then added adhesive to the bottom panel (the shortest of the remaining panels) and glued it down

Marianne and I are going to an event this weekend in Spartanburg.  It is a Crop and Paper Festival put on by Scrabook Creations in Spartanburg.  It is a weekend of cropping and creating.  Last summer when we went to CKC in Charlotte, Ashley won the grand prize which was free admission to the cropping festival.  She could not come up to go to the event so they let her transfer the ticket to me.

This is how it is advertised:   Full Crop Weekend Registration fee is $135. Includes three days of Crop Time. Upon arrival, croppers will receive a Goody Bag full of scrapbooking and paper crafting items as well a s a Crop T-shirt! All croppers will also receive six two-page layouts with instructions available during the Crop. Seating is limited to 200 croppers!

I don't know about you, but I'm not paying that kind of money just to crop!  I can do that quite comfortably in my own home.  But Marianne and I decided to make a weekend of it and see what it is all about.  Since Marianne did not buy a ticket, she will not be able to go in the crop room with me so I will just be getting my goodie bag and we will do our own thing.   We are real interested to see what it is all about.  There are other classes on Friday and Saturday (extra $$ of course) but we only signed up for a Make and Take event Friday night.  (Friday Night Make-N-Take Event fee is $30. Included is an evening of creative fun. Join the group on Friday night as everyone participates in a great Make-N-Take event. Customers will rotate from table to table in a specific manner every 15 minutes. At each table you will complete a different project. By the end of the night, you will have completed eight projects. Midway, there will be a 15 minute break to indulge in the delicious Dessert Bar.)

Important Alert!

IMPORTANT DATE ALERT

I do not want you to miss out, so make sure you will

Be HERE on Wed. April 24

to view the 2013 Retiring Stamp and Accessory list

from

Stampin' Up!

Accessories are "first come first served" and many of the retiring colors have already sold out.

Better yet... IF there is an accessory in the Stampin' Up! catalog that you know you will not be able to live without, ORDER NOW and don't take a chance that it will be sold out if you see it on the Retiring List on Wednesday.


I got some good news this week!  THIS card I made using MDS won the color challenge on Late Night Stampers this week! 

I made several cards this weekend but forgot to take pictures of them!!  I was so focused on getting them addressed and in the mail.  I hate it when I do that.  And they were those cards you hate to make - sympathy and get well.  So yesterday when I made this card, I made sure I took a picture to share with you.

This card is so much prettier in real life.  I used a few "in-coming" colors that were In Colors at one time - Pear Pizazz and Blush Blossom.  I used the Vintage Wheel for the background.  I forget to use my wheels and they add such a nice touch.  The Blush Blossom scalloped circle was made using Nestabilities.  For the doilies, I cut my doily down the center so I could pleat them.  I punched a 1 3/4" circle of Glimmer paper and backed it with a circle of SU's Multipurpose Adhesive.  That made attaching the pleated doily much easier.  I punched the butterfly with SU's butterfly punch (oops - just noticed a little piece is missing on the bottom - guess I'll be punching another butterfly!)

Supplies:

Card Stock:  Blush Blossom, Pear Pizazz, In Color Patterned Stack DSP, Silver Glimmer Paper

Ink:  Pear Pizazz

Accessories:  Butterfly Punch,  Sequins, Doilies, Polytwill Old Olive Ribbon (retired), Very Vintage Wheel

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to Me, Happy Birthday to me .....

This was taken last week during a Raft Up with friends on the Lake.

I don't think I shared this birthday card I made for a friend.  The funny thing is I made the card and was going to drop it by her house since she lives in my neighborhood.  But then I couldn't find it.  I looked everywhere for it.  I was pretty sure it was in my car some place because I remembered taking it to the car when I went to play cards one day.  But do you think I could find it?  Well, I thought, maybe I took it by her house and just forgot!  Anyway about a week or so later, I found it .... in the car under my seat!  She ended up getting the card about a month late!  Hey - better late than never, you know!

 I used Summer Starfruit with the Sahara Sand card.  The stamp set is "From My Heart" stamped and die cut with the labels framelit.  The background piece is a wheel called Etruscan Elegance Wheel.  I haven't bought or used a wheel in so long but I really like this one.  Now I just need to remember to use it more often!  Watch out Stamp Club - may be using it this month!  I also used the Color Spritzer tool (pg 119) to put drops of ink on the die cut image.  I sponged the die cut piece with Summer Starfruit and stamped the "enjoyed" separately and popped it up.

Here is a close up of the image and the flower.  The little flower was made using a Cuttlebug die that Marianne gave me for Christmas last year.  Makes a cute little flower. 

I hope you took advantage of the items SU put in their Clearance Bin this weekend.  I ordered a few things but a lot of stuff went fast!  I was having a problem with a few of the digital items that weren't showing up in my order with the right price.  By the time, I called SU and got an answer, several of the items I had in my order had already sold out  - like the magnet sheets and all the envelopes.  I was bummed but I still got some good deals - red grosgrain ribbon, Vanilla Velvet ribbon, heart punch, card stock and some digital items for pretty cheap.  I love those kind of deals.

I had a pretty quiet weekend.  I spent a lot of time finalizing my Christmas cards for the Christmas Stamp A Stack I am having in November.  I will be posting details about it if you live in the area and would like to come. 

January Stamp Club Cards

Yes ....I'm still here!  I have been on the go all week and have just not had the time or energy to post anything.  I had a mammogram on Tuesday morning.  Then rushed to my FINAL Board meeting and luncheon with Newcomers.  (I sent out my final newsletter Tuesday night!!)   Yesterday I played mahjong and from there went to have my hair cut.  I was in bad need of a haircut.  Now that I am wearing my hair shorter, I have to get it cut a little more often or it really looks shaggy!  In between all that running around, when I was at home, I was getting prepared for Stamp Club.  The plan was to do the coaster calendars but four of the gals didn't want to do them so I had to come up with a couple of cards for them to make.  I ended up with 4 making the calendars and 4 doing cards with two "newbie" gals.  So, I was going back and forth between the two tables trying to keep everyone on track.  When everyone left, I collapsed in my easy chair for about 3 hours!!!  I think everyone had a good time though and enjoyed the projects they were working on.  

This Valentine is made with the stamp set, Filled With Love (found on the last page of the Holiday Mini).  The DSP is from the Bundle Special.  I used the Heart Border Punch on the edges of all three pieces of DSP.  My base card is white.  The little flower in the middle of the "O" is punched out with the 3/4" circle punch and has a red brad through the center. 

This card was a little bit different for me.  I don't usually use these colors together but I like the way it turned out.  I wheeled the Sahara Sand strip in Soft Suede with Very Vintage large wheel.   (I colored in a couple of the flowers on the wheel but decided I didn't like it and tried to cover most of them up!)   I layered the strip onto Very Vanilla that I used the Scallop Border Punch.  The base card is Not Quite Navy.  I tied a Poppy Parade ribbon around the strip and adhered it to the card.  The flower is from Vintage Vogue and stamped in Poppy.  I used a tiny button in the center of the flower with SU linen thread through the holes.  The leaves are from the Little Leaves Die and cut from Soft Suede and Sahara Sand (that is sponged lightly with Soft Suede).  I stamped the sentiment onto vanilla and punched it out with the Word Window punch; then I layered it with Not Quite Navy punched with the Modern Label Punch.

Great News and a few cards too!

Imagine my surprise today when I was checking my e-mail and had an e-mail from my daughter in Iraq!!!  She is doing good - tired and ready to rest - but she arrived at Camp Buehring in Kuwait around 6 a.m. this morning.  Her major complaint is the heat.  The showers are basically in a trailer with 8 stalls which by the time they were in there at 10:00 was  a sauna and miserably hot.  She said it  made the outside air temp (which must have been in the 100s by then) feel cool when they walked outside!  Then a few hours later, I received a phone call from Ashley!  Wow!  I didn't think I'd hear from her for a couple of weeks - not the very day she arrived.   Sonny was not home at the time so she tried to call him on his cell phone.  I think she taught him a lesson though.  He didn't recognize the number on his phone so didn't answer!  

OK - now a few cards.  My Texas friend, Margaret, was here a few hours today.  She & Graham are babysitting their grandson in Charlotte.  When they took him to school, they came out to visit.  Gra went skeet shooting with Sonny and Margaret & I visited and made a few cards.  She worked on the cards from club last month and I made a couple of Christmas cards.

Here are the cards my club will be making on Thursday:

This cutie is the new Owl Punch and the Greenhouse Gala DSP.  I used the little pearls for his eyes.

This is a simple card using Funky Forest wheel and the luscious Pear In Color!  I wheeled the trees in green and used my brown marker to make the tree trunks.

This is the Halloween card they will make using Wicked Cool stamp set.  The card is Rich Razzleberry with Old Olive spider web made with the embossing folder from the Summer Mini.  I rubbed a little Glimmer Mist over the web.  The pumpkin is also a die cut.