Making Time to Create

Meet Sheldon

2010-06-04T17:49:00.006-05:00

About 3 weeks ago, E-bug came home from the park behind our house and told me that there was a lady there looking for a home for a kitten. Normally the knee-jerk mom reaction is NO! But since we lost our Shadow last summer and our Muncie girl in January (at age 18!) I had told the kids that we would be on the lookout for a new kitten. Here was our chance.
So I went to check it out and instantly fell in love. The lady who had found him had been looking for a home for him for 2 weeks. We took him home about 10 minutes later.

When he met polka dot he was scared for all of about 10 minutes. Now Poor Pokey is like a tolerant Mama to him. He runs and leaps onto her back and bites her head and just happily torments her. She hisses to tell him when she's had enough, but he doesn't get the message.

I love his little Kitler mustache! and his grey eyes. And his soft as a bunny fur. When I'm down, he curls up and snuggles with me. In the morning he plays wild kingdom all over the bed. I really needed some kitten therapy in my life right now.

Mattman is a HUGE Big Bang Theory Fan and loves Sheldon on the show. He decared that when we got a kitten he would be named Sheldon. So our baby was pre-named. Mattman was at a boy scout function all day and didn't see him right away. The look on his face when he got home and saw our surprise was priceless. The first thing he said was "His name is SHELDON!" I said yep, we've been calling him that for hours now. He's certainly a happy distraction.

Kitchen update: Not much has happened. I sorta froze up trying to decide about the floor dilemma. Finally I just filled the cracks in with putty and decided not to think about it. The countertops should be installed any day now. I'm getting anxious to have my kitchen back, but am very proud of how well I'm doing cooking without one.

Kitchen Remodel - Day 3 CABINETS!

2010-05-05T17:35:00.004-05:00

Woo hoo. Cabinet day!
During the day, the installers told me about a few snags that had me freaked out, but I'm getting excited now that I'm starting to visualize things.

Sorry it's so dark - notice the horrible priming job I did on the soffits. Installer guy says "looks like you dry brushed it" No. I just suck. He says it'll definitely need a second coat. Ah well. Live and learn - and then use a real brush and not the foam kind.

I was surprised that I get a great big drawer now where the old bar sink used to be. Unexpected bonus. And the cabinet on the left has a faux middle piece so it opens up really BIG in case I need to store something HUGE in there.

Notice the cabinet in the corner: there's a drawer and doors on the outside. No more big scary dark unusable corner anymore. I can store things like a crock pot or seasonal dishes there :)
But notice the flaw in this kitchen layout? It's not easy to tell just from looking, but trust me, when you have the dishwasher door open to unload it, you can't reach the upper cabinets unless you are Elastogirl. So you have to unload the dishes onto the counter first, then close the dishwasher, then put it in the upper cabinet. But... working dishwasher? yay!

Squee! Look at my corner cabinets. Lazy Susan babee!

Problem 1 - the fridge. Sigh. I thought all was well with it despite it being white (not silver/black like all the new stuff) and having yellowing dirty handles. But when they moved it, it leaked. He says the freezer coil is freezing up and then when it thaws out it leaks into the drip pan that then overflows :(. So I'll have to save for that.

Problem 2 - The whole house is sagging in the back. We've known this for years, and someone decided not to put in piers. The soffit thingy over the fridge is seriously not anywhere near being level. He's gonna do what he can with trim and caulk and we'll just hope noone notices since it's over the fridge.

Problem 3 - The floor. Big sigh. I stuck with this kitchen layout so that I could stick with the floor as is. But the new cabinets are a wee bit narrower and longer, so part of it sits on concrete and the other part sits on the floor. He said there's no way they can cut the floor away and that if/when I get new flooring that they can cut it then right up next to the cabinet or try to pull it out and shim under the cabinet. NOT ideal, but I don't know what else to do.
Regret #1: not ripping out the floor before starting this.
Regret #2 (maybe): sticking with the same kitchen layout (the peninsula bottleneck)

Installer guy did his best (bless him!) to push the boards together, glue them and hold them with tape till the cabinets can keep them mashed together. He thinks we can fill the gaps with brown caulk and I can get another 10 years out of this floor. That is good news. But it means my dream of having the same flooring running throughout the kitchen, breakfast room, den, front room is probably not gonna happen.

He says he'll put my knobs on tomorrow. Oh shoot. One more thing I haven't even considered. I know they are thinking "what is UP with this woman who hasn't made any girly decorator decisions at ALL". Opinions needed about knobs: I'm thinking black squished up C shape for the drawers. What about the doors though: Same as the drawers or use knobs?
Off to scour the internet for inspiration photos.

Kitchen Remodel - Day 2

2010-05-04T17:24:00.004-05:00

Today the electrician, plumber and sheetrock guys came to prepare things for the cabinets to go in. The hole in the ceiling is happily gone.

See that little extension in the soffit. Yeah. Since the new cabinets stick out a bit farther than the old ones did (so that there's room for the new corner lazy susan cabinet - squeee!!!) they had to extend the soffit right there.
Filling in the holes and building that stupid little extension = about $1000 (ok. probably not quite that much, but it was a LOT). yeah. That right there would make a certain someone throw up. I guess he should have begun this project about 8 years ago then.
Anyway...
Nice Sheetrock dude told me that there's no way that wallpaper is ever coming down without a buttload of effort. No thanks. He suggested that I rip off any loose bits and paint some oil based Kilz primer over the top. Oil based paints sorta scare me as I don't know if/where we have any thinner to get it off the brush/roller. So I went and bought a 3" wide 89cent foam brush and I'll use that. I'm just winging things now and hoping for the best.

I was truly so danged preoccupied with my own life drama and just getting the basics of this project going (cabinets, counters, appliances) that I really haven't even begun to think about anything decoratey. I still have NO clue what I'll do for the backsplash and I looked at the light over the sink today and thought "huh, I wonder if I should have bought a new one." Oh well. I'm just flying by the seat of my pants.

And those of you who know me well, know how VERY VERY VERY out of character this is for me. Heck. I don't even know what my appliances look like or any of the features. I didn't even read a single review. Shocking I know. It's like I'm living in someone else's life these days. But it'll be someone with a NEW KITCHEN. Woot.

Now... to figure out how to paint, mop (ok part of me is still the same, the nasty floor is seriously grossing me out), get Emma back and forth to dance, and paint tonight. Oh yeah, and we need to eat something too. Guess I won't be cooking ;).

Kitchen Remodel - Day 1 (even more)

2010-05-03T19:54:00.006-05:00

The sky is falling

What used to be here:

is now here:

Ew. ew. ew. So glad I JUST mopped. sigh.
And I'm sort creeped out about the fact that any possible critter in the attic now has free access to the house.

Kitchen Remodel - Day 1 (more)

2010-05-03T17:28:00.008-05:00

Day 1 work is complete. The kitchen is gutted. Here's what it looked like at 8am. Notice that I have a few of the not so broken doors off to save them. I saw on a thrifty decorating blog once how they made a headboard thingy out of cabinet doors that had been painted and attached together. Not sure if I'll do that or not, but I'd hate to want those doors in a few weeks and not have them.

Here's how it looks now:
Farewell soffits and upper cabinets over the bar and peninsula.

Uh oh. I had really really hoped we that I wouldn't have to replace the kitchen floor anytime soon. It's the formica brand laminate floor. When the dishwasher broke (2 YEARS AGO) it leaked water under the floor and warped the boards :(. I was really hoping that when the cabinets were out that I could just pound them back together and it would be ok. I don't think that's gonna work. Now what to do? ARGH. Cause I really can't afford to replace all the floors yet and the carpet throughout the house needs replacing badly too. When the time came, I was gonna redo the flooring in the whole house to be cohesive.

I'm sorta needing a pep talk right about now too. Originally (before my life turned upside down) we had planned to get rid of the peninsula and the bar area & wall. We planned to extend the cabinets all down this wall to the corner, with a window seat. Then the opened up area where the wet bar used to be would allow more room for a farmhouse table.
But... I stuck with the original floorplan with the hopes of saving money on the flooring (and construction costs with tearing out the wall). I know it's probably the right thing to do given my situation right now, but dangit, I'm sorta wishing I had eliminated the peninsula and done cabinets down the wall instead. That peninsula always causes a bottleneck.
C'mon people, tell me it'll be an ok choice (i.e. lie).

Polka Dot checks out the gaps. (The floor is shiny cause it's wet. I couldn't stand how filthy it was and had to clean a little)

Oh and here's a shot of my countertop sample. On the left is the Sahara Blue that I drooled over and the right is the Kona Beige that they cut me a great deal on.

New Kitchen - Day 1

2010-05-03T08:14:00.009-05:00

Well really this should be day 47 or so. After all the divorce drama and the postponement of the whole shebang, it is FINALLY on track. I've worked and worked and worked moving boxes and fabric and books and furniture and dishes and and and..... I feel like I've moved. The kitchen is completely empty and ready to be ripped out.

I just got the call that Jose is on his way.

Deconstruction commences shortly. What I won't miss:
- the single crappy burner on the stove that still works (sorta)
- the orangy disgustocabinets that have gaps and cracks and creepy open spaces in the back that just let the bugs waltz right on in (ew ew ew)
- the oven cabinet that is pulling away from the wall
- the non-functioning hand me down dishwasher
- the cheapo sink (temporary you understand until we start construction and get a new fancy one - it's been in here for 2 years now)
- the non functioning wet sink
- the ancient laminate countertops
- the useless cabinets under the sink and in the corners
- the oven that burns everything on the bottom
- the built in microwave that's been broken for 10 years now.

Oh how long I've waited for this day! Go Jose!

The disgusting broken-down BEFORE:

Practicing what I preach

2009-11-01T16:36:00.003-06:00

I've been a bit distracted lately and haven't made much time to be creative. But I'm realizing that I NEED to be creating. It is who I am. It makes me happy.

So, yesterday I tackled cleaning the "scary quilt room" for a while and unearthed some of those Aunt Martha plain tea towels. Since I was in the mood to do something stitchy, I had to figure out what I was going to stitch on them. Those old-timey iron on transfer patterns just don't thrill me much. They are either too realistic or too cutesy. So I went googling for some images. I saw this on online at Sublime Stitches in a space themed set. I used it as a go-by and drew it myself on a piece of paper. I have no idea how big their original is, but I did mine pretty big. Then I used all six strands of embroidery floss to stitch it (I use a stem stitch). It's pretty bold and bright but I LOVE it. I think I'll give it to my SIL Karen who is a real rocket scientist for Christmas. I originally was going to color it in with crayons and do the stitching in black, but I went this route instead. Maybe I'll do the crayon thing for the next one. I started it yesterday afternoon and finished it this morning - just a few stitches here and there. FUN! and FAST! I love instant gratification. And that creative itch has both been scratched and triggered me to go create some more.

I have a stamp workshop on Tuesday so I'll probably do some papercrafting tonight.
Ooooh and I'm playing with my Big Shot and the leaf die and felt in fall colors. Stay tuned for exciting developments there....
Laura
(p.s. - notice the cool new banner at the top? I made it with My Digital Studio. Digital Papercrafting (and scrapbooking) program. I'm having soooo much fun with it. Ask me if you want a demo!)

Daytime Classes

2009-09-11T09:55:00.002-05:00

Hello friends - I've scheduled some daytime classes for the next few months. Sadly with Girl Scout events and football season and all my kids after school/evening activities, almost all my night and evenings are full for a while. I hope to have some evening/weekend classes in a month or so. Stay tuned here for more details.

All you daytime folks, come join me on the 1st or 3rd Thursdays of the month from 10am-noon(ish). We'll make 3-4 cards and/or projects. I'm not sure yet what we'll be making - it'll be a surprise, but I promise it'll be cute stuff and seasonal.
Until November, these classes will be totally FREE. After that time, I'll require a small purchase of Stampin' Up! product to attend.

In addition to taking home 3-4 great projects, you'll also get an instruction card if we do any special techniques or patterns. You can collect these as a great stamping resource. You'll have fun and get to enjoy some creative time with grown ups :).

Please RSVP (inklaura@sbcglobal.net) to reserve your spot as my space is limited and I need to make sure I've got enough supplies for everyone.
WHEN: 9/17, 10/1, 10/15 10am-noon.
Come to one or come to all. Hope to see you.

Repurposed Candle Tin

2009-09-11T09:40:00.003-05:00

I am a sucker for tins: any kind, any size, any shape. I just can't seem to throw one away. So when the candle inside this one had burned away, I washed it out and decided to decorate it.
It was a little sticky on the very bottom inside, so I just covered that with a circle of cardstock.

I cut the circle for the lid and inside with the SU Circle Scissors Plus. It's big but very easy to use and you can cut or draw any circle from 1-6" in whatever increment you need.

Other supplies used: Circle Circus Stamp set, 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" circle punches, scallop circle punch, Night of Navy Grosgrain ribbon, Button, mini glue dots, sticky strip adhesive, Crushed Curry ink and Designer Series Paper (DSP).

This is where I hide my super secret stash of Hershey's nuggets for those chocolate emergencies :). Shhhhh.

Quilted DSP Card

2009-09-02T18:46:00.005-05:00

As you may know, I am a quilter. Or at least I used to be before my life got so crazy. Right now the only thing I'm using my fancy schmancy sewing machine. for is sewing merit badges on a sash and flags for the band. I'm determined to get back to quilting soon though. In the meantime, I thought I'd quilt up some cards - the easy way.

I got the following card as a swap at convention in August (convention was FABULOUS by the way, as usual.) It was made by a demonstrator named June Dunn from KY. Thanks June. We had to look really close and touch and feel the card to see if she really sewed all those little Xs. She didn't but it sure looks like it. She used the fine tip of the marker and just freehanded them. They really look sewn. And the really cool thing is that she used one of our new in-colors (Rich Razzleberry). In the past we didn't have markers for our trendy in colors but this year we do. WOOT!

I played around with the idea and came up with my own quilted card. My daytime stamp club made it a few weeks ago. I used the Cottage Wall DSP (designer series paper). I used the new in-color polka dotted ribbon as an accent, but turned it so the back side is showing so it would be solid instead. The greeting is from Thoughts and Prayers set - punched with the large oval and popped up with dimensionals.
Card dimensions: DSP squares 1 1/4" x 1 1/4", inner layer 4"x5 1/4", card 4 1/4"x5 1/2".

This is a fun way to use up all those little squares of DSP you have left over but can't bear to throw away.

Falling Leaves

2009-07-09T14:46:00.002-05:00

Now I know these are NOT my colors, but I'm sort of a traditionalist. I have a hard time making leaves pink or blue or whatever. (And at the same time, those of you who know me know that I don't make flowers GREEN OR BROWN either).

Anyway... I needed a new set for fall and this one fit the bill. It's called Falling leaves. It has 5 assorted leaves, 3 thanksgivingy sayings, and one cute little medallion thing with an acorn and happy thanksgiving surrounding it. I haven't used that one yet, but will soon. The set is $21.95 (p 27 of the new catalog).

Card 1 uses Garden Green (my favorite green), More Mustard and Close to Cocoa. It's hard to see in this picture, but I've used the new texture Jumbo wheel on the Mustard. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this new wheel. The circles are popped up with a dimensional. I like this card despite the fall colors - it's clean and simple. Just my style.

The second card uses Old Olive (NOT my favorite color) with Creamy Caramel and Cocoa. I used the texture wheel on the Caramel and the Vanilla CS in this one. I just ordered the 5/8" brads. I really love them. How awesome would they be in the middle of a flower image? Not the brown brads of course. Except for maybe sunflowers. Otherwise, no brown in the flowers.

The New catalog has arrived!

2009-07-08T10:40:00.007-05:00

Well, I'm back from my Colorado trip just in time to play with my new Stampin' Up! goodies. I'm trying to schedule my New Catalog Kick-off party, so stay tuned for that (possibly the weekend of the 17th/18th). If you can't wait till then to see your new catalog, you can view it online here: http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/inklaura and click the SHOP NOW button.

One of my favorite new sets from the new catalog is the big Medallion (think background stamp sized). It's so beautiful. The first sample is one I adapted from a card by Jackie Bolhuis. I used one of the NEW In-Colors, Rich Razzleberry. It's such a deep and delicious. I'll try to feature a card in a new in-color in each post (and I hope to post more often). This card also uses a new greeting set, Teeny Tiny Wishes and a new punch!

The next 2 cards are my own creations. I stamped the gorgeous medallion in versamark ink on Whisper White CS. Then I dug out my old friends - my stampin' pastels. I haven't used them in ages. Using a cotton swab (the cheapo ones seem to work better than real Q-tips), I added color to the versamark ink. This technique is called Poppin Pastels.

In the first one I used: Eggplant and Apricot. In the second one (my favorite one!) I used: Taken with teal, turquoise, grey, and a bit of green galore. So simple and FUN to do.

Simple Lawnmower card

2009-06-05T13:11:00.006-05:00

Here's a simple masculine card - you take a normal card front and fold the edge back to the center to make an interesting card. Remember to only use adhesive on half of the lawnmower image or you'll glue your card closed.
Colors: Bashful Blue & Pacific Point
Set: And Many Mower (great for Father's day or masculine birthdays)

Occasions Mini is now out

2009-04-08T21:12:00.004-05:00

Now that April is here, the Occasions mini-catalog items are finally available. You can see it on my official SU website. I've been dying to show everyone the new little matchboxes. I love them! It is one of the big dies for the Big Shot die cutting machine. It cuts out the box, the lid, and some cool little tags all in one pass. All you have to do is fold it up and decorate it. What could be easier?

Here are two that I've made so far. The top one is uses some items from the Sell-A-Bration sale. You can get 4 nuggets into these boxes (it's tight, but they fit).

This one uses Close to Cocoa cardstock that was stamped with the Sanded bacground stamp. The Regal Rose fancy shape is one of the tags from the matchbox die. I think it really dresses it up. The mini-catalog also features some great sets that are made to coordinate with this die. They are on my wish list for sure.

For the next few days, I'll be stamping some little photo album covers to give as thank you gifts for some Girl Scout volunteers. I'm using the retired Girl Power set and some Girl Scout papers I've had stashed away for a rainy day. I'll try to upload a picture soon.

Easter Cuteness

2009-04-07T12:33:00.003-05:00

Are these not the cutest things ever? I can't take credit for the idea as I copied it from a stamper on splitcoaststampers. It was so fun and easy to make.
I used a piece of cardstock - 1 1/2" x 5". Score it at 2" and 3". Then decorate as desired. For this bunny I used the 2 sizes of oval punches for his ears and the 3/4" circle punch for the feet (punch and cut in half). For the nose, I used the 3/4" punch on the edge of a scrap of Pretty in Pink Cardstock. The pink behind the nose was made with a sponge dauber. The eyes, smile, and toes were just drawn on with a chocolate chip marker. The whiskers are skinny strips of cardstock attached with a few glue dots. Since I'm a GS leader, I've always got random crafty supplies lying around and the little white pompom was a fun touch to make his backside as adorable as the frontside.

The hershey nugget fits inside nicely (stick it down with a bit of double stick tape or a glue dot).
Don't have all these punches? Give me a call. Or just improvise. Use your imagination and see what else you can come up with.

Ready for more cuteness? Look at these! They are a wee bit addictive. Can't you just see these as table favors for a kid's animal birthday party. At least the parents could appreciate them before the kids dig into the chocolatey goodness. The kids might even have to fight with mom for it. My favorites are the racoon (I used the crimper on him) and the siamese cat.

A Little Blue Breezy Birdie

2009-03-24T16:36:00.002-06:00

This is one of the cards I demo'd at my mom's workhsop on Sunday. It's fairly simple but the colors are quite peaceful.
Stamp Set: A Little Birdie told me (very versatile set)
CS: Basic Gray, Baja Breeze, whisper white, Baja Breeze prints DSP
ink: Baja Breeze, Basic Gray
scallop edge punch, basic gray taffetta ribbon, blender pen, sponge dauber.
The image was colored with ink from the stamp pad and a blender pen. I punched a post it note with the small oval punch and used that to make the 'stencil' for the shadow under the bird.
The bird image is popped up with dimensionals.

I'll post more Little Birdie samples in the next few days.

Triangle Boxes

2009-03-23T15:08:00.004-06:00

Now that I've demo'd these at my March workshops I will post them here. (Didn't want to ruin the surprise). I love these boxes because they are SO simple.

Directions: Cut your cardstock or DSP (Designer Series Paper) to 4 1/4" x 8 1/2".

Score along the center line at 4 1/4".

Make a small mark on the short ends at 2 1/8"

Score from that mark to the center fold line (as shown).

Fold box into finished shape - open up one side at a time and punch a 1/8" hole through both layers (to thread ribbon through).

Add ribbon and accent to front - no glue needed! How fabulous is that!

Look at the little medallions I used on the saffron and Bashful blue boxes. Don't you love them? I'm sort of addicted to making them and have been using them on everything lately. It's so much fun combining punches in different variations and figuring new ways to use them. And the Polka Dot punches Sell-A-Bration set has 4 images that are all perfectly sized to use with the SU punches. Gotta love that.

Wouldn't these boxes be perfect filled with jellybeans? or hershey kisses? or Cadbury chocolate eggs? mmmm.

Sell-A-Bration

2009-03-16T21:55:00.007-06:00

Now that Spring Break is here, I've had some time to get some stamping done. It feels good to be creative. I hope to share some Sell-A-Bration samples with you. As you probably already know, in February and March, for each $50 you spend on Stampin' Up! merchandise, you get to select a free item from a special mini-catalog. This year the SAB items included some really cute sets and some great paper and even ribbon!

And as you also know. I LOVE my Big Shot die cutting machine.

Here's a pillow box made with the SAB designer series paper selection and my new favorite set.

Like many of the cards I stamp these days, this one was copied from a source on the internet (sadly I have forgotten where) and modified a bit.

You can't see it very well in my horrible photo, but the saffron piece is dry embossed with small dots using our new Texturz plates. I LOVE them.

Isn't this paper fabulous? So soft and springy. I am having such a great time punching out and layering all the shapes in this set.

More samples to come soon.

S'more Samples

2009-02-06T15:43:00.004-06:00

Here's a little sample I made up to show off one of my favorite catalog sets: Under the Stars. Also known as "the camping set" :).

As most of you know, I am an active Girl Scout Volunteer - on the troop, service unit, and council level and S'mores and Girl Scouting go hand-in-hand.

How cute is this little treat wrapper? Hungry for S'mores?

It uses the small size cello bags.
I didn't really use a pattern. I took a scrap of Close to Cocoa cardstock and folded it into thirds. Then cut down a small way and angled it. Criss crossed it over the cello bag and glued it down.

I've been requested to also show a valentine one and hopefully I'll whip something together soon.

Who doesn't love chocolate?

2009-01-24T13:21:00.013-06:00

Hello friends - I've been out of the blogging groove. I got busy and it was one of the things that had to go for a little while, but I'm back.

At a workshop last night (thanks Nancy!) I demonstrated how to make these adorable little boxes that hold squares of Ghirardelli chocolate. They are easy to make once you know the measurements. I lifted the idea off of a talented stamper on splitcoaststampers. I'm not sure who had the idea originally, but it's a great one. I modified it somewhat so that both sides of the box were even.

The picture shows one that hasn't been assembled yet. The red stuff is sticky strip - it's a double sided tape like adhesive. It's my favorite adhesive to use when you need a STRONG hold for boxes or ribbons and such.

After you cut and score the cardstock, you trim away the outside corner pieces to form the box shape (with a flap). I used a circle punch crescent on the inside portion - so you can see the chocolate and have an easier time grabbing it to get it out.

The flap on the front doesn't want to lie down flat so I used a belly band to keep it closed. It's a good way to add a decorative accent to the box. The recipient just slides it down and off to be able to open the flap.

The images in the above photo come from the set Say it with Scallops. This set is special because it's the annual Ronald McDonald House set. $2 from the purchase of each set goes to support the RMD house charity. There are 4 images in the set that all coordinate with our scallop square punch - too cute.

Here are more little chocolate boxes:

And here's one that I modified to hold 3 pieces of chocolate. I thought these would make a fun treat for Emma's teachers, and they deserve more than one piece of chocolate for sure!

Directions:

1 PIECE BOX -- cut cardstock 4 1/4" x 7 1/2"

score the short side at 3/8" and 3/4" from both edges

score the long side at 2 1/4" and 2 5/8" from both edges

See the square in the center - mark a dot at each one of it's 4 corners.

Now cut away the 4 corner sections up to the dot - you should be left with a + shape.

The two sides fold in and attach to the front of the box.

If you want to punch a crescent shape - do it before assembling the box.

3 PIECE BOX - cut cardstock 5 1/2" x 9 1/2"

score the short side at 3/8" and 3/4" from both edges --- UPDATE:

CORRECTION SCORE SHORT SIDE AT 3/8" AND 1 3/8" (not 3/4")

score the long side at 2 1/2" and 3 1/2" from both edges.

Assemble as described above.

Scallop envelope box #1

2008-09-24T19:44:00.004-05:00

As I'm sure I've already mentioned, I LOVE my Big Shot Die Cut machine!

Using this clever tutorial I found on THIS blog, I used the scalloped envelope die to make the sides of this box lid.

Her tutorial tells you to use four pieces that were a bit smaller: 2.5" x 3.5" and it was stil enough to cover the scallopy flap portion. I didn't want to waste one tiny bit of that yummy Baja breeze cardstock.

I even used my new circle brads. I LOVE them and I'm really really fighting the urge to just hoard them and gaze lovingly at them.

I also used that lovely new Riding Hood Red tafetta ribbon. I am hooked on that too!

Another box coming tomorrow.

Big Shot Basket

2008-09-22T18:48:00.007-05:00

I think I'm probably the very last blogger around to finally post one of these baskets on her blog. But I just got my latest order with the basket die in it. I LOVE it.

When you assemble the basket as most folks are doing (with the little tabs facing UP and the bottom flush with the bottom of the basket on the inside), your basket tends to be a little flat instead of round. But I have used those 2 little curved strip accents along the top of the basket, and they really help to round it out. The trick is to place them so that the ends start at the center of the handle hole and around to the other handle hole. You have to do it AFTER the basket is assembled.

Also, I have used 2 of the tag shapes on my basket. One was on the original piece of Ski Slope DSP and another from a scrap piece of Baja Breeze cardstock.

I like the look of a decorated tag, but also want to be able to write the to & from info on the tag. The solution is a double tag (it's kind of hard to see in the picture). It also adds an extra little hint of color peeking out.

This baskets & blooms die is awesome. It has the 2 basket pieces, a tag, the basket bottom (which doubles as a really cool square edge scallop motif), 3 flowers, and the curved strips.

I am loving the new SkiSlope DSP from the next Holiday mini (begins Oct 1st). I'm kind of stuck on those colors (Riding Hood Red & Baja Breeze) right now so you'll see more of them in the next few projects that I post. Perhaps it is because these are the colors in the new felt flurries snowflake shapes too - teaser......

The Aftermath - we are just fine.

2008-09-15T11:18:00.007-05:00

We made it through the storm. The kids slept most of the night in the bathroom while the winds howled outside. We didn't get an extreme amount of rain or water which was good. We ended up losing power around 2am and it stayed off till Sunday afternoon. We are one of the lucky lucky few who now have power. Just a few streets over it's still off and much of the city has no water pressure either.

We were able to attend Mass on Sunday - it was really really HOT and steamy but very serene and special getting to gather together despite the storm and rain and damage to worship.

Saturday night I used my stampin' supplies to make some lovely fans to use to help cool off. We even made one for our priest decorated with our church logo. He loved it and used it during the mass to help stay cool. Our new church building that is still under construction made it through ok too.

The house fared fine (although I wouldn't have cried big tears if the kitchen had been crushed. It is way WAY past time for us to begin that remodelling job). There were lots of big limbs down and one smaller tree uprooted itself and gradually leaned over onto the house (no house damage thankfully). We were very lucky. Many houses in the area have big trees through their homes and cars and things.

This picture looks a lot better than it was. Most of the big limbs fell into the backyard and onto the neighbor's driveways.

It'll be a long few weeks getting the neighborhood and city back to normal but we will eventually. School is out until Thursday - which pleases the kids.

My parents, grandmother and cousins are here since they have no power/phone/water. It's a little crazy & chaotic, but ok.

Ike update

2008-09-12T20:06:00.003-05:00

We are still waiting...
The sunset was amazing tonight. The top layer of clouds was very still with lovely turquoise blue peeking through. Lots of pink tones. The lower layer of clouds (there were 2 very distinct layers) was moving rapidly past. It was lovely.

The wind gusts (according to the tv) in my area are now about 35mph. It has cooled off a lot and was quite pleasant outside and sort of surreal. We visited with the neighbors for a little while.

It's hard to believe that this one is actually going to hit. We've had so many near misses in the last few years.

I don't know if I'll be able to update this from my phone, but I might be able to post a comment when things are over.

Preparing for Ike

2008-09-12T14:32:00.002-05:00

It looks like Ike is coming at us - no near misses this time.
Scott's and Matthew are boarding up the windows in the most danger. The sky is beginning to become filled with dark clouds and it's getting breezy.
It's kind of an eerie calm - no birds about and no cars on the roads.

We are as prepared as we can be. Got our indoor windowless room stocked with supplies and our precious photos. The kids are planning a sleepover in the hallway and are mixed between being scared and excited.

Emma and I are sad thinking about our Girl Scout Camp Casa Mare in Seabrook (right on Galveston Bay) that will be under a lot of water very soon.

We are also prepared to have no power for a while. We are a scouting family so we have plenty of camping supplies to get us through. Our meals may not be very balanced for a while, but we won't starve.

Despite the threat of the weather, it will be nice to spend time together as a family with no work and school demands and chaos. We have lots of great games to play to pass the long night ahead.

Our preparations and our Faith will get us through.

I love my new baggies

2008-09-05T16:12:00.002-05:00

I ordered some Girl Scout 12x12 cardstock about a year ago and it came in a ziploc type baggie. It was great being able to keep it neat and tidy and separate from all my other decorative papers. Since then, I've been on the hunt for some baggies to put the rest of my Designer Series Papers in. The only place I found them was online, but I just couldn't justify paying so much for shipping and handling for baggies of all things.

Today I stopped at the box store hoping they might have bags and they did! I got a whole bunch (50!) for only $8. SCORE.

I've begun putting my DSP into my new bags and I LOVE how they lay flat and I can keep all the different packages separate but it's easy to grab some out.

Reorganizing is almost as much fun as stamping.

Blueberrylicious

2008-09-03T22:19:00.005-05:00

I was going to wait to post this to spread things out a bit. But I can't resist.

I blatantly stole this card design from my friend Katherine Pritchard's blog. Katherine used the Hawaii Papaya DSP instead of Maine Blueberry. This same set of patterns comes in 2 other color groupings as well: Washington Apple & Georgia Peach.

I've already purchased Washington Apple and I may have to try this card out in those colors as well just for fun.

The second project uses the new Big Shot Scallop Envelope EXCLUSIVE Stampin' Up! die. The flowers are from the exclusive Birds & Blooms Sizzlits Dies. I love love love this mini envelope. The card size for it is 2" x 3" - just perfect for cards to enclose with gifts.

The colors used were: Taken with Teal, Olive (blech), Mellow Moss and Bashful Blue.

The cards are really MUCH more vibrant than these pictures show. I LOVE these projects! Hope you do to.

I Stamped Something!

2008-09-03T17:31:00.006-05:00

Shock! Amazement! Fun!

I actually made time to stamp something. It's been killing me to be so busy lately that I haven't had time to play with all my new goodies more.

I made (ok, I heated up) some soup the other day and couldn't bear to toss out the can. I washed it up and wrapped some Riding Hood Red cardstock around it. I added a strip of Bella Rose DSP and some strips of Kiwi Kiss that I punched with my scallop edge punch (SO EASY). I was able to maneuver my cropodile over the edge of the can and punch a hole to tie the ribbon through. Don't you love that new Riding Hood Red tafetta ribbon!

The stamped tag uses the new Say it with Scallops set. It's the Ronald McDonald set for this year and $2 from the sale of each set goes to the Ronald McDonald houses. A lovely set and a lovely charity.

In keeping with the Bella Rose theme, I'll also share a project I just LOVE. You know how you stamp stuff and sometimes you like it ok, sometimes it's pretty good, and sometimes you just sit back and say "WOW! I LOVE that" Well... "WOW! I love this!"

The flower is from the Sending Happy Thoughts Simply Sent Kit (one of my favorite 'sets' and it will be on sale in early October - stay tuned).

Inside is the best part. I cut a 2"x 3" piece of all of our 48 colors (+ the 6 fabulous new in-colors). You can take them out and mix and match them and choose colors for your projects that look great together.

I made these for my lovely "Daytimers" club. They've been with me for a long long time and I so appreciate their loyalty and friendship. I prepped the "guts" and they made them at our club meeting.

Oooh and guess what? If you put a corner of your cardstock through the center of your 1" circle punch, it rounds the corners to fit the altoids tin perfectly. Cool huh? I love it when things work out nicely like that.

Teenager time

2008-08-19T08:51:00.003-05:00

How can my baby boy already be a teenager? It seems like he was crawling just yesterday. Time has gone so fast.

Friday he turned 13 and he was thrilled that the new Star Wars movie opened on his birthday. He invited his cousins and a few friends and we al went off to see the movie. We all loved it (except for Daddy who slept through it, and Emma who never likes any movie).

Matthew had his heart set on a Star Wars cake of some sort. I used a clone trooper mask as my guide and came up with this one. It was a real challenge since he wanted a chocolate cake. Have you ever carved a chocolate cake into a custom shape then tried to ice it? Chocolate Crumb City.

So it's not quite Ace-of-Cakes quality, but it thrilled my Matthew so all is good. (Plus it tasted yummy too - homemade buttercream icing is one of my favorite things.)

One of his gifts was a new phone and we went yesterday and signed our new contract and got a new set of phones (Emma got one too). The kids are beside themselves with excitement. They are texting like crazy already. But my new phone is the best one - VX6900 (HTC Touch). It's got it all: Windows mobile, touch screen, full internet access... most excellent.

In stamping news, I GOT MY ORDER!

I only barely had time to unpack it yesterday, but I'm anxious to play with it all today and will have some samples to share soon. I do know that just from playing with some scratch paper, that I'm going to LOVE LOVE LOVE the Big Shot die cutter. I definitely need to start saving my pennies for more dies.

The new catalog is here!

2008-08-12T15:10:00.003-05:00

The new catalog has been released and it is wonderful. I entered my order yesterday and I'm anxiously awaiting all my new goodies to arrive - especially all that new patterned paper and the BIG SHOT die cutting machine.

Other big news from Stampin' Up:

Sale on selected brand NEW sets!
Limited time special edition $99 starter kit with 3 options.
Online ordering (via my website) coming this fall.

Check out more info about all of this on my official Stampin' Up! website at www.stampinup.net/inkaura

Dying to see the new catalog - you can view it online! Cool huh?

My lovely daytime ladies came today (bearing cookies & flowers as a lovely birthday surprise!). One of the cards we made used the new set Inspired by Nature that I brought home from convention.

The card base is Mellow Moss and we stamped the leaves with Always Artichoke. The giant flower stamp was colored using markers - Mustard, Rust, Chocolate, & Artichoke.
(NO Olive - haha).

Whirlwind of Activity

2008-08-04T16:00:00.003-05:00

It's a whirlwind here in more ways than one. I'm unpacking from convention and making wish lists and hunkering down for the tropical storm.

My favorite things about convention 08:

Time spent with my good friends.

Free stamps!

Winning a doorprize (woo hoo)

The new partnership with Sizzix - exclusive SU! Big Shot die cut machine and dies.

Online ordering coming soon through my demonstrator website (http://www.inklaura.stampinup.net/)

The Sock Monkey set (and the accessories to go with him).

New punches: 1 3/4" circle and a square scallop punch, and a scallop edge punch!

The new camping set: Bears, bedrolls, skeeters, and s'mores.

So many beautiful new Designer Series Papers.

The prints packs (single color double-sided DSP) are back with new patterns.

All the new sets are die-cut!

More Decor Elements (vinyl images for walls and more) to be unveiled soon

(click to see the brochure) in brand new exclusive designs.

We will have a new Spanish Catalog.

Back from Convention and Back in the groove.

2008-08-04T09:20:00.005-05:00

Hi everyone! After some encouragement from my demonstrator friends and some motivation from convention, I'm back in the blogging & stamping groove.

Convention was an AMAZING fun time. I SO treasure the time spent with my demonstrator friends! We are not all from the same downline and have met over the years at Stampin' Up! events and just bonded. We share stamping projects, ideas, and laughs (lots and lots of laughs). Here we are on Saturday headed to Make & Takes.

I'm so excited to get busy stamping with my new sets (I brought home FIVE- three from Stampin' Up! when I picked up my new convention bag and catalog, one from a door prize (woohoo!), and one (the new Ronald McDonald House set) that UPS donated for every single demonstator there (Go Brown!))

The orthodontist awaits, so more later....

All About ME Book

2007-06-22T08:44:00.000-05:00

This little project was born when I started making an all about me book using one of our 5x7 Chipboard Journals - I'll post it one of these days to show y'all.
I showed it to some of my customers and they liked it but I got the feeling that they would never make one for themself. Then my Aunt passed away in April and I was helping her 5 kids plan the funeral. They were struggling to write a few paragraphs about her life and who she really was. Then they started remembering things like "she really loved Watermelon" and "she always crunched her ice even though it drove us crazy" and I was amazed at all the things that one kid remembered but the other kids didn't even know (such as her favorite song, etc...). It just struck me as sad that so much of the essence of who she was is lost now except for a few random memories here and there. I so wish that she had made a small album about herself for others to hold on to and cherish. She was creative, but she really wasn't the type to scrapbook photos and such.

So, I thought about it a while and tried to come up with a solution for those people who might not want to embark on a huge scrapbooking project (or sink lots of funds into something they may not be gung ho about). I know it's not terribly original and that every scrapbook magazine out there shows some sort of ring album or "all about me" album. But my stampin' ladies don't get those and so this was new to them. I really emphasized making this FUN, easy, and low stress. Make it personal and as easy as possible so that you don't give up on it. I told them to include very few photos (if any) since that is the point where most non-srappers freak out and give up.

So here is the one my Daytime class made. I was trying to use up my many many chipboard flowers (I ordered the make & take kit and never used it) before they possibly retired (which they didn't -yay).

The cover is made from tagboard (I used a piece that came with a packet of designer paper - just the right weight. But you could use anything a bit thicker than normal cardstock (even cereal box tagboard would work)).
Tagboard pieces were 4"x4". Then I covered the outside of each tagboard square with a 5"x5" piece of the new Designer Prints papers (I LOOOOVE these monochromatic stripes and dots!).

We trimmed the corners off and folded the 1/2 excess over to the back. If you trim the corners at a true 45 degree angle you 'should' get a perfect miter on the back.
Cover the insides of the tagboard that is still showing with a square of coordinating C/S (3 3/4" x 3 3/4". Add your paper to joural on - Whisper white squares of 3 5/8" x 3 5/8" (you can get 6 per page). Punch your holes and add your ring and ribbon.
We applied Regal Rose craft ink to the chipboard flower and added some coordinating punched circles. The flower is attached to the cover with mini-glue dots (love em).

Here are some of my sample pages on the inside. I used the watercolor crayons on a bunch of the pages and stamps on others. Have I mentioned how much FUN this project is to do. I had a blast making these pages. Do it for yourself or do it for your family. None of us is here forever. Leave a little of yourself behind.
From looking various places, I've come up with a document to start you thinking about what to journal and include in your book. Email me if you want me to send it to you.

Margaritas and Hot Dogs

2007-06-19T21:43:00.000-05:00

So, I didn't get the chance to photograph my cute little project yet. In the meantime, here are a few cards I made for June birthdays.

For my dear friend and upline Katie's birthday, I wanted to make a fun card but wasn't inspired by any of my non-retiring sets. Luckily my desk was a mess and there was some vellum lying about. I must have had margaritas on the brain, because this was the result. The salt on the rim was glitter. Colors were Only Orange & Gable Green.

The grill card was for my brother in law's birthday. I still love this set for all things manly. One can never have too many burger and hot dog stamps.

Sorry they are so fuzzy - I'll have to work on my camera skills.

New Stamps!

2007-06-18T09:25:00.000-05:00

Woot. As a demonstrator I can pre-order a limited selection of the new catalog goodies. Mr. Brown brought my box the other day and I finally had a chance to play. I only have 2 of the new in-colors (yet), but love them.

I chose the Year After Year set because it seems so versatile. This card is made with 2 of the new colors Groovy Guava and Wild Wasabi. Don't they look great together? Wasabi coordinates well with Garden Green too. I used the Linen background stamp on the Guava card (Guava ink) for a textured effect. The flowers were colored with the ink from the stamp pad lid and my handy dandy blender pen. I used a dab of Really Rust marker in the center of the flowers.

This one uses Rose Red and Regal Rose. I stamped the heart with Basic Black and then used a sponge dauber inked with the Rose Red to burnish the color into the heart. Burnishing is just rubbing fairly hard in a circular motion. Other sets used were Itty Bitty Backgrounds (a gotta have set) and words from the new greeting set, Holidays & Wishes. Other greetings in that set include: Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, from the heart, and sweet little one.

I can't wait to stamp more with this set, but sadly my stamp desk is piled with "stuff". We just had the carpets cleaned this weekend and today must be spent putting the "stuff" back. I have my sweet ladies over tomorrow. We are making a really cute little project I will share after they make it. It's a little all-about-me scrapbook with a chipboard flower that I'm very excited about.

Inspired at last

2007-04-22T18:27:00.000-05:00

After a long dry spell, I'm beginning to get my stampin' fire back. I just love the new Big Blooms set from the SU Spring mini (see it HERE - available till the end of June. What's that? Why yes, I am a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. hee hee). Anyway, I'm loving those big honkin flowers. So many fun things to do with them. Here are some of the things I did today.

The striped flower was made by applying a marker directly to the rubber, 'huffing' and stamping. The center is a circle of C/S popped up with a dimensional. The colors I used were Ruby Red, Pumpkin Pie, and Cameo Coral.

The layouts were mine, but I got the striped flower idea from this great blog tutorial. Thanks Alli for the inspiration!

Look Katie this one is orange! Well, Pumpkin Pie actually. I really like doing monochromatic cards. I'm also trying to use more white card bases with added scrap accents and stamping for color. I really love how this one turned out. The coolest thing is that the petals are punched out! I stamped the big flower on the white square, cut out the middle, and then slid the slit punch in from the middle to punch the petals.
I can't take credit for the punch idea - I got that from a card on SCS by corysnana1.

I decided the big gaping hole in the middle needed something, so I used the big circle from Simply Circles - stamped on white and cut out. I stamped the little circle over the previous stamping for a little extra color. The ribbon is tied through some 1/8" holes and the whole center is popped up. The Linen stamp is used on the background.

Since I'm on a roll - I'll share some more. Using the same pattern from my stamp class last week, I made another one of these card tote purses. I made all 4 cards, the purse tote, and the spiral notebook cover from a single sheet of 8.5" x 11" White C/S decorated with Mixed Bouquet (one sheet wonder). I used Ballet Blue (my favorite), Real Red, Marigold Morning, and Glorious Green. To soften the background I wheeled across with the jumbo Rough Texture inked in Marigold. It's a "thank you for volunteering" gift for my daughter's Catechism teacher.

I did this a few months back. After looking at my chipboard ATC album (from Stampin' Up! of course) just sitting there so sad and um, chipboardy, I finally decided to decorate it.
Of course it had to be blue cause I just love blue and I added some yellows so it would look good displayed in my blue & yellow stamp room. I love the name frame idea and thought I'd incorporate that here. I'll have to upload my son's name frame and my "idea board" later for y'all to see. I like how it turned out, but next time I'd use the matte mod-podge instead of the glossy. Now I just have to fill it up with really cool ATCs showing lots of different techniques and specialty products. I thought it would be nice to have ATCs to show customers the difference between canvas & linen, or dry and wet embossing, or vellum and cardstock vellum, etc... All in once place and easy to find (I can never seem to locate cards when I need them).

Oooooh. And BIG NEWS on the scrapbooking front. I have completed an album. YES! That doesn't happen very often since most of mine are works in progress (school and dance) and as soon as I get caught up (haha) more pictures come rolling in. I finished MattMan's cub scout album! Woo hoo. Aaannnd, I organized all his Boy Scout photos that we have so far into a plain photo album so I can keep the campout locations and dates all straight. I added little journalling squares between the "events" and will keep adding details so that when I get time and motivation I can sit down and speed-scrap it :).

Oh oh oh. I also re-did my On-board 5x7ish Art Journal. I had covered the front of it using paper I didn't really love then the mod-podge made the ink run a little and the whole thing just didn't thrill me. So I ripped it off (gasp!). It left the chipboard kinda rough and ugly so I removed the covers and used some designer paper to cover it again (around the edges this time). DH says it looks like it was done by a professional. I told him I AM a professional :).

I used my handy dandy spiral punch to punch the holes (after making a complicated little fold on the edge to allow for the thickness of the chipboard) but it came out great. I'll show it off when I get inspired to actually decorate the front of that lovely paper with something. It is going to be a journally book all about ME! so I wanted to really love it.

In other not so fun news, MattMan was sick all weekend (please don't be strep, please don't be strep) and my aunt passed away yesterday after struggling with congestive heart issues for a long while. So it was good for me to hole up in my stamp room and actually get my mind off things.

Canvas vs. Linen

2007-04-18T10:13:00.000-05:00

Someone asked me yesterday what the difference was between the SU Canvas and Linen background stamps. She wanted to know which one was better, did she need them both, and which one did I use the most? I told her though similar, they give much different effects. I tend to use the canvas more often but that may be because I've had it longer and haven't had much time to play with the linen yet. The canvas can be either funky or rustic depending on the color and how it is applied (fully inked or light and spotty). The linen background really softens an image and looks best with watercolored solid images I think.

Anyway - it got me playing with them both. I want to make ATCs (artist trading cards - 2 1/2" x 3 1/2") showing both of them. I got the linen one done but was distracted by my funky and fun new Big Blooms set from the spring mini. So that's what I did with the canvas. The canvas ATC will have to come later.

Getting in the Groove

2007-04-12T07:29:00.000-05:00

Lately I've been in a rut creatively and haven't done much unless it is a) for somebody else and/or b) has a deadline attached. So, I think I need to MAKE more time to do something fun. My goal is to work on something totally fun and just for me for a minimum of 10 minutes a day - at the end of the week that's over an hour's worth of progress which is better than none. And hopefully it will get me motivated again and back 'in the groove'.

To get things going, here are a few of the projects I've been doing in the last few days, weeks, months...

I found this cool book at a cute little quilt shop in Louisville Colorado when I was up there visiting my brother's family for Thanksgiving. It's made from a placemat folded in half (cool huh?). So so fast and that's what I need right now in a project. Instant gratification is good when time is limited. Now I just need to make a non-valentine one. I did get one finished for a secret pal gift at M's Jr High, but that photo is on another camera so it'll have to wait.

The book is called Simple and Sensational Purses from Placemats by Ricki Bremer (www.tallmouse.com)

I was in charge of Leader Appreciation gifts for my Girl Scout service unit this year. I had to come up with something inexpensive and not too complicated. I saw some bottlecap pins and thought that would be perfect. I ordered the uncrimped bottlecaps from www.edps.com for next to nothing and smashed away. I am still amazed that the edges turn under like they do to make that cool little frame thing. I learned my lesson using the "cheap" 3D crystal laquer though. When it dried, there were bubbles all over Juliette Low. Next time I'll pay the few extra dollars for Stampin' Up!'s crystal effects. It really is better. I used a magnet on the back instead of a pin. Everyone seemed to like them, or at least they were very good at being nice :).

I have a great group of ladies that come to stamp once a month - I call them my "Daytimers". I try to come up with some clever projects for them to try. This is the cute little card tote that folks have been making over at SCS. I think the original pattern came from March 06 issue of PaperCrafts magazine. We are going to make a full sheet of the Roses in Winter stamped images then cut it up to acccent the tote and cards. We will end up using 1 sheet Whisper White, 2 sheets Mellow Moss, and 1 sheet Regal Rose with a few scraps of ribbon and white CS for accents. I will definitely have to make more of these. Wouldn't they be cute teacher gifts filled with more cards and tags for them to use?

So I'm jumping in

2007-04-11T16:21:00.000-05:00

Yeah, I need to start something new like I need a hole in the head. But I thought this would be fun and give me a place to show off my creativity. It will have a lot of stampin' stuff, maybe some quilting stuff, a few scout projects, and perhaps a few other miscellaneous things I dabble with. My plan is to keep it fast, keep it simple and not go overboard with the tech-stuff. (Me? go overboard? only aways). I sometimes wish I had fewer interests and could really focus on one of them and actually get great at it or even (gasp!) make a profit doing it. But, the fact is that I keep finding fun things to do and jump right in heedless of the fact that I already don't have time to do the stuff I'm doing now. Ah well, it's better than being bored.