A Steph-Made Life

tardy for the party

2012-02-23T19:49:00.002-06:00

I made a card this past weekend for the CAS-ual Friday challenge, but then I was out of town and lost track of my days and forgot to post it! Oh well, I'll show you the card anyways!

This week's challenge was to use ribbon, so here is what I came up with:

I've had this idea sketched out for a while, so I finally decided to make it once I saw this challenge. I used my Silhouette to cut out the "happy". The font I used is called ChunkFive.

My ribbon collection is not very big, so it was easy to pick out my color scheme. I just used the only colors I had that were the same kind and size.

And yes, I was crazy enough to keep track of the tiny little middle pieces of the A and Ps, and added them with tiny slivers of dimensional adhesives. ...Not something I care to do again.

Supplies used:

QuicKutz embossing folder (Rings), Ribbon, Buttons

InLinkz.com

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a good one!

Simon Says... Tag it!

2012-02-21T11:48:00.000-06:00

Well hello there! This is my first time playing along with the Simon Says Stamp Challenge. This week's challenge is to make a tag. I'm not a big tag maker, but I had just recently picked up a pack of tags at Hobby Lobby (for a sweet $.99!) and I have been meaning to make some gift tags. I never have a tag when I need one, so I whipped up some birthday tags that I can keep on hand.

Nothing too fancy, just some masking, embossing, and distressing. I was able to make these pretty quickly so I can easily have a good sized stash on hand for whenever I need them. I'll probably use baker's twine to tie them onto gifts, once the time comes.

I'm curious, do you add tags to all your gifts?

Supplies used:

InLinkz.com

Edited to add: My pal Jen informed me that this week's Scrappy Moms Terrific Tuesday Challenge is a tag challenge, so I'm linking up there too! Thanks Jen!

Thanks for stopping by. Have a fantastic day!

get well soon

2012-02-17T16:59:00.001-06:00

Happy Friday!

Here is a card I made for my mom because she had knee surgery last week.

I used the Flower Dot Background stamp from Hero Arts/Basic Grey. This has become one of my favorite stamps lately. I've been using it a ton lately! I heat embossed the background, colored with distress inks, and then sprayed some water + perfect pearls over the whole thing. Added a sentiment and done! I kept it pretty simple so the background image could be showcased.

In the close up you can see the shimmer from the perfect pearls (and also the faux stitching that I fudged at the end -- touched it while it was still wet.)

Supplies used:

InLinkz.com

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend!!

CAS-ual Friday Challenge #39: Love Ya to Pieces

2012-02-15T12:14:00.000-06:00

Hi there! This week I'm playing along with the CAS-ual Friday challenge.

I recently purchased Lawn Fawn's "Just my Type" stamp set. It's not a new set, but it's new to me, so I was dying to play with it. I also used the new "On the Bright Side" paper pad from My Mind's Eye... I love these papers so much!!

This week's challenge is to create a clean and simple card using paper piecing, so here is what I came up with:

I made a smaller card -- 3.5"x5". That way it will fit in (what I call) a "thank you card envelope". I have a lot of store bought thank you cards that I probably won't use, so I like making smaller cards so I can at least use the envelopes.

Supplies Used:

InLinkz.com

Have a wonderful day!!

Valentine's Day Decor

2012-02-14T01:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Valentine's Day! I just wanted to pop in and share my tiny bit of Valentine's Day decor with you.

I still haven't gotten around to posting the chevron canvas that I made for my mantel (a.k.a. shelf above the fireplace). Well... you get to see it now!

I can't help but laugh a little at how very minimal my "decorations" are. We don't have kids and we don't have too many guests, so these are really just for my own enjoyment. :-)

This cute printable is from Pretty Darn Cute Design.

(Please just ignore all the messy painted edges on the chevron stripes... it looks just fine if you stand back a couple feet. ;-))

And I made this heart garland with felt. It was a really quick and easy project. And to show you just how easy it was, I took a few pictures along the way so I could give you a quick little tutorial!

First, I drew a heart on regular paper and cut it out. I traced a bunch of hearts on to some red felt and cut them all out.

Then I sewed them all together by just feeding them through the sewing machine, just barely overlapping each of them.

...until I had a nice long string of hearts

And then I just draped them over the canvas. I used a glue dot on each end heart to stick them to the canvas. Super simple, right?

I plan to make something similar to this for every holiday (well... most holidays). I'm thinking about some felt Easter eggs next!

Valentine's Day Card #4

2012-02-13T06:00:00.000-06:00

Hello!

Here is the last of this year's Valentine's Day cards:

I made this one for my husband. He is always poking fun at me because my vision is not so good, so I thought it'd be fun to use Lawn Fawn's 'Clear to See' stamp set for him.

I made this for Valentine's Day, but technically it doesn't say "Valentine" on it, so it could be used anytime!

The heart is felt... I just drew it freehand and cut it out, and then stitched along the edges.

It's hard to see in the photo what I did to the glasses in the bottom left corner. I wanted to use Glossy Accents for the lenses, but I didn't like the way it looked when applied straight onto the kraft cardstock, so I stamped the glasses onto vellum and embossed with black embossing powder, and then filled in the lenses with Glossy Accents, and then cut the glasses out and added them to the card.

I hope you've enjoyed the cards and I hope you have a lovely Valentine's Day tomorrow!

Supplies used:

InLinkz.com
Other supplies: Vellum, Martha Stewart black embossing powder

Valentine's Day Card #3

2012-02-12T06:00:00.000-06:00

Hi there! I hope you're having a great weekend. Mine has been pretty uneventful, but that's okay with me. :-)

Today I have a quick and easy Valentine's Day card to share.

I made the background with Lawn Fawn's 'Teeny Tiny Backdrops', and the glittery hearts are stickers that my sister gave me last Christmas in a box full of scrapbooking goodies. I popped up the smaller heart for some dimension, and I inked all of the white edges with Rose Bud Memento Ink (same as the background).

And here is a close up so you can see just how super glittery those hearts are:

That's it for today. Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies used:

InLinkz.com

Valentine's Day Card #2

2012-02-11T06:00:00.000-06:00

Hi friends! Ready for another Valentine's Day card?

Here is today's card:

I used Lawn Fawn's Critters in the 'Burbs. I just love the cute and playful images in this set. I also used the little heart from the Bake me a Cake set.

I mirror stamped the pups so they'd face each other (sort of).

...and I added some glossy accents to the heart next to the sentiment.

I have to say this is one of my favorite cards that I've made lately. It just makes me smile. :-)

Supplies Used:

InLinkz.com

Have you made your valentines yet??

Valentine's Day Card #1

2012-02-10T06:00:00.000-06:00

Hello and happy Friday! Valentine's Day is just a few short days away and I have a few cards I'd like to share with you, so I'll be posting one card a day up until Valentine's Day.

Here is card #1:

I used Lawn Fawn's Bannerific & Smitty's ABCs. I really need to use both of these sets more. They are so versatile! I think sometimes I get hung up on using only the sentiments I have in a set, and I forget that I have some wonderful ABC sets that I can make my own sentiment!

And here is a close up of the banner sentiment:

(wow, that twine looks really fuzzy!)

I added little pearls in between the banner pieces. I colored the pearls with a copic marker (E53 - Raw Silk) so they wouldn't be so bright white.

Supplies Used:

InLinkz.com

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to come back throughout the weekend to see more Valentine's Day cards! I have a super cute card for tomorrow!

What to do with all those Christmas cards??

2012-02-09T06:00:00.000-06:00

Some people (like my husband) might just say to throw them away, but I say no no no! I like to keep almost every card I receive -- birthday cards, Christmas cards, Valentine's Day cards, etc. Christmas cards can be extra special because many include photos and updates from friends and family. Normally these cards will end up in a stack in the Christmas box, or in a desk drawer, or in a completely random place where they shouldn't be. This year I decided to do something to keep these cards together and organized so I can look back and enjoy them down the road.

I found THIS free printable book cover from eighteen25. When I first saw the idea, I actually had plans to make my own cover and decorate it, but time went by and I just wanted to get it done, so I used the printable and made it a quick project.

And conveniently, I found a pile that had 2010 Christmas cards in it, so I whipped up a 2010 book as well.

I didn't use the metal rings on the second book because 1.) I was too lazy to go back to the store and get more and 2.) I don't remember exactly how much they were, but I remember they were kinda pricey and I figured some baker's twine would do the job just as well.

I used stickers I had on hand to label the years. I believe one set is Basic Grey and the other is October Afternoon.

And for just a tiny bit of pizzazz, I added some Stickels.

So, do you keep your cards or do you toss them?

I know Valentine's Day is very soon, and I do have some Valentine's cards to share with you. I just wanted to post this project first so I could finally put Christmas behind me and start celebrating the next holiday! Starting tomorrow, I will share one Valentine's Day card every day until Valentine's Day. Hopefully I can inspire some last minute card makers like myself!

Thinking of You

2012-02-04T08:01:00.000-06:00

Hello! Here is a card I made using a sketch from the Clean and Simple Card Making class I took last month. It was such a great class. I'm pretty sure you can still register and get all of the videos, sketches, etc., so I still highly recommend it!!

Okay, so here is my very simple card:

Supplies Used:

InLinkz.com
Other supplies: Teresa Collins Carolina Breeze 6x6 paper pad, Amy Butler button

Have an awesome weekend!!

Wednesday Pinsday: New Products

2012-02-01T08:50:00.000-06:00

Happy Wednesday! In light of CHA going on the past few days and all kinds of wonderful new products coming out, I thought I would focus this week's Wednesday Pinsday on my favorite new product reveals. I've been pinning these in my 'Products I Love' board.

Click on the photo to see where originally I found the product reveal.

Tim Holtz Distress Markers. If you use Distress Inks or Distress Stains, I'm sure you're excited for these markers! I cannot wait to try these!

Lawn Fawn paper. As you know, I LOVE Lawn Fawn stamps. I'm so excited for their new line of paper, stickers, and twine to come out!

Amy Tangerine Sketchbook Collection. I know I've already mentioned the new Amy Tangerine collection. I love everything in her first collection, and from what I can see of her new collection, I'm going to love it too!

Dear Lizzy Neapolitan Collection. I love the new pretties in the new Dear Lizzy collection. It's so girly and cute!

"On the Bright Side" paper pad from My Mind's Eye. I'm loving the new paper pads from My Mind's Eye (By the way, they're already for sale at Simon Says Stamp).

I'm seeing a pattern here -- I love everything bright, colorful, and springy! Creating Spring and Summer projects is definitely my favorite!

What new products do you have your eye on?

make your own chevron

2012-01-31T08:20:00.000-06:00

Hi friends!

Here is a card I made for my mother-in-law (her birthday is today!) that was inspired by Jennifer McGuire's video HERE. The video shows how to create your own chevron. You know I love chevron, so I just had to try it!

I stuck with just 2 colors, and I used 1/2" strips. You can cut your strips wider or smaller, depending on how big you want your chevron to turn out.

I picked these two blue colors because they coordinated nicely with the gift I made for her -- a zig zag crochet scarf.

Oh yeah, did I tell you I learned to crochet a couple months ago?? More about that later...

Fun technique, right? Go watch Jennifer's video and give it a try!!

Supplies used:

InLinkz.com

Other supplies: Bazzill cardstock

Linked up at:

Zig Zag card set

2012-01-28T09:38:00.000-06:00

Hello! Happy Saturday! Is anyone else bummed out wishing they could be at CHA this weekend?? I have always wanted to go, and I admit I'm feeling just a teeny bit jealous hearing about everyone packing up and heading there this weekend. Oh well, I'm excited for all the new products that will be released, and I hope everyone going has an amazing time!

One of my very favorite items right now is the Hero Arts Zig Zag background stamp. I recently purchased it from Simon Says Stamp. I love it so much -- I haven't wanted to put it down since I got it! I made this fun set of cards using the zig zags:

I started out by making one card with my favorite ink color, soft pool.

I colored the flower with copics and added a gem to the center. The sentiment strip is popped up with dimensional adhesive, and the flower is popped again from that.

And then I decided to make more cards in other colors. Here are the other four:

(Apparently I wasn't paying attention and put the orange flower and sentiment down too low. oh well...)

The sentiments are from the Hero Arts "All Occasion Messages" set. I picked out all of the sentiments that used the same font so they would all match.

These were so simple to make, but I think they're so fun. I can see myself making a lot more card sets with the zig zag stamp in the near future.

Supplies used:

InLinkz.com

Other supplies - 1.5" circle punch, Colorbox Chalk Ink - Lilac, gems

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a great weekend!

Wednesday Pinsday: Sew

2012-01-25T06:00:00.000-06:00

Oh my, is it Wednesday again already? I've been bad about posting this week. I've been too busy organizing and playing with my craft supplies, but not actually finishing anything! Okay, maybe I've finished a card or two, but I've been lazy about taking pictures, editing, and posting.

This week I've got sewing on the brain. I haven't gotten my sewing machine out since we moved, but it shall come out soon, because I'm planning on sewing something for my mother-in-law's upcoming birthday. I already had an idea of what I was going to make, so I perused Pinterest to find tutorials and color inspiration. Thanks to Pinterest, I now have even more ideas, so I have to decide what I'm actually going to make!

Here are some fun ideas that I pinned on my "Sew" board this week:

Source

Cell phone (or camera) case made from a necktie. I love projects that allow you to use items you might already have around the house. And if you made your own, it doesn't seem like there would be a lot of difficult cutting involved -- I love that!

Source

This one technically did not go on my "sew" board, but because I was looking for cell phone/camera/kindle cases, I found this and thought it was super cute. Maybe I could crochet something like this, or you could use an old sweater. The sleeve of a sweater might be just the right width for a Kindle!

Source

LOVE this infinity scarf. It's made from a t-shirt dyed with Rit dye... brilliant! I love that you could make it any color you want, but I absolutely love the color shown.

Source

I've been looking for ideas for pillows to make for my bed. This one with the ties is so cute, but simple. Just my style. I plan to use a combination gray and teal, with just a splash of yellow for my pillows/bedding.

What have you been pinning this week?

follow your dreams

2012-01-21T06:00:00.000-06:00

Hi there!

Today I have an old card that I just haven't shared on my blog yet. I made this for my sister a few months ago when she got a new job. Just a very simple use of some fun stamps and patterned papers.

And here is the inside of the card:

Supplies used:

InLinkz.com

Have a wonderful weekend!!

Wednesday Pindsay: Paper Love

2012-01-18T15:39:00.000-06:00

Hello!

For Wednesday Pinsday this week, I decided to stick with a theme/board. Here are some fun things I pinned under my "paper love" board.

DIY Valentine's Day decorations by julie ann art.

I love this idea, and the colors are great. I've always like projects using paint swatches, but I think I'd be uncomfortable just going to the store and taking a bunch at once. ...Is that what you do? I know they're free, but I still feel weird about it.

Source

I just LOVE these ribbons that are part of the new Amy Tangerine 'Sketchbook' collection. You can see all of the sneaks throughout the blog hop HERE. So fun!

Love this cute card made by Jennifer McGuire. But then again, I pretty much love everything she creates!

That's it for today. You can follow my pins here! I'm starting to notice that for the amount of time I spend on Pinterest, I really don't pin that many things. I don't really like to post something unless I'm 100% sure I like it/love it. Quality over quantity, right? Haha, I know, I'm so weird! Also, sometimes I find things I love on the internet, and I just completely forget to pin them. I'm going to try harder at pinning more things I love!

Amy Tangerine cards

2012-01-17T09:40:00.000-06:00

I love, love, LOVE the Amy Tangerine line! I love the style, the colors, just everything about it!

Here are a couple super quick and easy cards that I made using some Amy Tangerine goodies.

I love the mixtape - it's probably my favorite part of the collection. It can add so much to a project and it's so easy!

Supplies used:

InLinkz.com

For this card, I used the "hello" stickers from the Good Times sticker book, and popped them up on some dimensional adhesive.

I kinda regret rounding both top corners, but oh well - once you chomp that corner, there's no going back!

Supplies used:

InLinkz.com

See? So fun, right?

While I was typing this post, I learned that Amy has another new collection that is going to be released soon! No surprise, it looks awesome! Check out the blog hop HERE.

Have a great day!!

love card

2012-01-14T06:00:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone! This is a card I made for my husband back in October for our 2 year anniversary. I suppose it's about time I share it with you!

Here's a little tip that I use a lot with my backgrounds: instead of directly applying ink to the background stamp, I use an ink blending tool to ink up the stamp. This allows for the background to look more subtle.

Supplies used:

InLinkz.com

This weekend I'm planning on making some cards inspired by the amazing Clean & Simple Card Making class! I am loving this class!! There are so many good ideas and awesome techniques. You should really take this class if you aren't already!

What are your plans for this weekend??

Lawnscaping Challenge #25 - Happy Birthday

2012-01-11T19:58:00.001-06:00

Nothing like waiting until the last minute! I've been wanting to make a birthday card for this week's Lawnscaping Challenge, and I successfully procrastinated until the very last couple hours.

Here is the birthday card I came up with:

I really wanted to use the cute banners from the free digital stamps that were made in honor of Lawnscaping's birthday. I tried, but the ink from my printer kept smearing every time I tried to color them with distress inks, making them look icky, so I actually just turned them over and inked up the back sides.

Supplies Used:

InLinkz.com

Have a great night, I'm off to go check out the birthday projects that everyone else made!!

Wednesday Pinsday

2012-01-11T06:00:00.000-06:00

Hi there! I wanted to pick a day that I share some of my recent Pinterest pins, and all I kept thinking was "Wednesday Pinsday!" So I suppose Wednesday is the perfect day for pins!

To read:

Mockingjay - This is the 3rd book in the Hunger Games trilogy. I have been hooked on these books since around Christmas, and I just finished Mockingjay last night. Excellent books, highly recommended. I have to admit, I enjoyed the first two books slightly more than the third, but I still think they are all worth reading.

To print:

Monthly calendar pages from The Twinery blog. I printed these up the other day in attempt to get myself organized and remember all of the bills I have to pay. (sigh) They are really cute, but simple, and they have holidays already noted. Very handy.

To eat:

Mountain Dew cupcakes - In case you didn't already know, I am a Mountain Dew lover, and I think these would be AMAZING. These are definitely on my "to bake" list.

Chili's Salsa recipe - My husband and I love Chili's, so I was excited to find a copycat recipe for their salsa. I actually don't like salsa, but I made it yesterday and my hubby said it was really good and tasted very much like Chili's!

Click HERE if you want to follow me on Pinterest.

Have a great day!

dream BIG!

2012-01-10T10:31:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was the first day of the Clean & Simple Card Making class. Just as I suspected, it has been nothing short of amazing so far! Yesterday there were some simple sketches and beautiful examples for tons of inspiration! I immediately started planning a card using one of the sketches provided, and here is what I came up with!

I really should have used my stamp-a-ma-jig to line up my chevron stripes, but I guess I was feeling a little lazy and just eyeballed it.

I plan on sending this card to one of my friends, although I don't want to say anything more because I would ruin the surprise! I keep laughing at my "dream BIG" sentiment because I keep thinking of the movie "Juno" when she says that to her step-mom. I believe it goes a little something like this:

Bren: When you move out, I'm getting two Weimaraners!

Juno: WHOA, DREAM BIG!

Hahaha. But, I suppose if you've never seen "Juno" you're probably not laughing... and you probably think I'm weird. Oh well, go rent it!

Supplies Used:

InLinkz.com

Other supplies - Amy Butler buttons

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you'll come back tomorrow... I'm going to share some recent inspiring Pinterest pins!

hexagons birthday card

2012-01-09T05:00:00.000-06:00

Hi there - Happy Monday! Did you have a good weekend? My schedule has been so wacky lately, I hardly even realized it was a weekend! I still tried to treat it like a normal weekend by spending some time in my craft space. Here is one of the cards I made:

I made this card with a couple of challenges in mind.

This week's CAS-ual Friday challenge is to make a clean and simple card using chipboard, hence the chipboard tiles.

Since I was making the card clean and simple, I also had the Young Crafters Unite challenge in mind. This month's challenge just so happens to be... clean and simple!

At first I was a little stumped trying to come up with something with chipboard, so I finally busted out these hexagon beauties. I bought these a while back, but I've been saving them for the right time (a.k.a. hoarding them).

To make my sentiment, I stamped "happy" with Lawn Fawn's Quinn's ABCs using VersaMark and Zing white embossing powder. I heat embossed that, and then I used my VersaMark pen to fill in the letters, and heat embossed again. This turned out a little messy, but I actually kinda like it. I usually tend to be a bit of a perfectionist with that kind of stuff, but I will embrace the pretty mess!

The "birthday" is from Sophie's Sentiments and is also heat embossed.

Supplies Used:

InLinkz.com

Other Supplies: pearl stickers

I'm so excited because today is the start of the Clean & Simple card making class. I'm sure it's going to be amazing! Have you checked it out yet?? You should join me in the class -- registration is still open!

That's all for today. Thanks for stopping by, and have a great day!!

Lucky friend card

2012-01-06T19:36:00.000-06:00

Hi friends!

I'm just popping in to share with you a card that I made a little while back.

The idea for the sentiment came from THIS adorable card. There's not a whole lot going on on this card, but I think it's so fun when I get to use so many different colors.

Supplies used:

PTI Plum Pudding	Neenah Solar White cardstock	PTI Chevron Stripes	Hello Friend	Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels One	Memento London Fog
Jenni Bowlin Stick Candy	SU Daffodil Delight	Memento Rose Bud	SU Concord Crush	Jenni Bowlin Spice Tin

InLinkz.com

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm back!

2012-01-04T13:17:00.000-06:00

Hi everyone! First of all I want to say thank you to anyone who has waited patiently and is still here reading, even though I've been MIA for nearly 2 months. What have I been up to, you might ask? Well, in the past 2 months, I made the 800 mile journey with all of our belongings to our new home. It was quite an adventure, let me tell you... but not right now. It's a story that deserves it's own post.... and that's if I ever feel like talking about it again! Anyways, I made it just in time for Thanksgiving, which I was thankful to be able to spend with my in-laws, who we now live closer to + my mom, who traveled down to help me with the move. I spent a few weeks unpacking, organizing, and trying to figure out where all of our stuff was going to fit. And then came Christmas, which was pretty uneventful. And then my mom came back to visit for a few days. I was finally unpacked and ready to start some decorating, so she helped me pick out new bedding, curtains, and other decor type stuff. I plan to share a little bit of that with you -- including my new budget-friendly mantle decorations. I've also been on the hunt for a job lately, which has also kept me very busy. And here we are now, a new year with fresh start. I am so ready to get back to crafting and blogging. I even have a few projects from October and November that I haven't shared yet, so I will be sharing those soon!

I will also be back soon to share some of my new goals for 2012. I'm not quite done with my list yet, but who says you have to have all of your New Years resolutions decided on the 1st day of the year?? The holidays are usually so hectic that it's very easy for the New Year to sneak up on you, so I'm going to give myself a few extra days to think about my goals and come up with a good list.

In the meantime, did you know that A Steph-Made Life is on Twitter?? Yep, I finally gave in! For your convenience, I've added links to my Twitter and Facebook pages across the top of my blog, as well as on the right hand side. I'd love for you to go over there and said hello!!

See you soon!

Cleaning house: Paper trimmer for sale

2011-11-15T23:23:00.001-06:00

Hello there! I'm selling my Making Memories 12"x12" paper trimmer. It's like new -- only been used a few times. It really is a great trimmer, I'm just doing some major downsizing while packing up for the move.

$20 - includes shipping (US only)

I will take PayPal.

Some thank you cards

2011-11-06T19:49:00.000-06:00

Hi there! I hope you had a wonderful weekend. I've been absent from blogging for about a month because I've been busy cleaning, packing, etc, but that doesn't mean I haven't squeezed in a little bit of card making time. My birthday was a couple weeks ago, so I needed some thank you cards.

I just got some Mister Huey's mists, so I wanted to give them a try on my thank you cards. I kept them really simple:

And, because it was one of my September goals, I made multiples!

Supplies used:

InLinkz.com

...and pearls colored with copic markers.

Thanks so much for sticking with me during this hectic time. Have a great day!!

November Goals

2011-11-01T23:30:00.001-05:00

Well hello there. Remember me??? It's been pretty hectic around here, but I wanted to make sure that I don't slack on posting my goals!

First let's see how I did with last month's goals:

October Goals:
-Make time for some card making
-Keep the house clean
-Sell the house!!!
~~-Do NOT buy any new Christmas stamps, embellishments, etc. (I have plenty left over from last year and I do not need any more!)~~

Not too shabby. Unfortunately, the one thing I want the most (to sell my house) hasn't happened yet. *Sigh* I'll just have to be patient.

Here are my November goals:

My big move is happening in 2 1/2 weeks! I kept this month's list fairly simple because I have no idea how this month is going to turn out. We shall see!

I do have a few fun new projects that I was able to complete over the past few weeks, so I'll be back soon to share!

October Goals

2011-10-04T23:09:00.000-05:00

Ummm, I might be a couple days late posting my goals. Between packing, getting the house ready to go on the market, and catching a miserable little cold, I fell a bit behind.

Honestly, I considered not even doing goals this month. We found out we were moving in early September, so my priorities changed quite a bit, and I hardly completed any of my September goals. BUT one of my goals for the year is to create and post goals every month, so I'm going to stick to it!

Let's get on with it. Here is how I did in September:

You can see how bad I was -- the list didn't get pinned up on my usual spot on my desk... it didn't even leave the notebook. Shame shame....

I hope I can still complete those goals in the future, but for now, I'm moving forward and I just have a few simple (but big) goals for October. I didn't get a chance to write them out this time, but here they are:

October Goals:
-Make time for some card making
-Keep the house clean
-Sell the house!!!
-Do NOT buy any new Christmas stamps, embellishments, etc. (I have plenty left over from last year and I do not need any more!)

What are your goals this month?

the excuse for my absence

2011-10-01T10:03:00.002-05:00

Perhaps you've been wondering why I've disappeared from blogland lately? Well, my big news is... we're moving! But not just moving into a new house, not just moving across town. We are moving big time. To a new town, a new state, even a new time zone (eek!)! Needless to say, this is going to be a huge process and a huge change for us. In the past few weeks, we have been busy busy busy cleaning, organizing, packing, and trying to get our house on the market. I've quickly learned that it takes a TON of work to move across the country!

Unfortunately, I've already had to pack up almost all of my craft supplies. My sewing machine and supplies are already all packed, and my craft room is starting to look like this:

I've insisted that I keep my craft desk set up with a few essential items out in case I have time for some papercrafting. I'm sure you've all been asked that hypothetical question before like "if you were stuck on an island, what 3 craft essentials would you need to have with you?" Well, I had to seriously ask myself that. I plan on sharing that decision making process with you soon. I'd really like to try to keep blogging throughout my moving process, but it will be spotty. I love blogging, I love reading blogs, and I love my bloggy friends, so it will drive me crazy if I don't make some time for it! I really hope you stick with me through this, and I promise to be back in full force ASAP!

Have a great weekend!

PS - My monthly goals will be up tomorrow!

enabling alert!

2011-09-21T22:45:00.001-05:00

Hello! I just wanted to let you know about the awesome fall clearance sale going on over at Two Peas in a Bucket. They have over 6,000 items on sale... including Lawn Fawn stamps!! I couldn't resist ordering a few sets that have been on my wishlist for a while.

Here are the items I ordered. You can click on any of the links if you want to order something for yourself. ;-)

Jenni Bowlin Chewing Gum	Amy Tangerine Love Struck	Nantucket Chipboard Tiles
Schoolhouse Backdrops	Critters in the Burbs	Clear To See

InLinkz.com

So, are you still here with me, or did you get super excited and go over to 2Peas already? If you haven't already, you can click HERE to get over to the sale!

Happy Shopping!

a little dab'll do ya

2011-09-16T20:50:00.000-05:00

Hi there, friends! I'm just stopping in real quick to share a card that I made a couple weeks ago. I had purchased a few new Distress Ink colors, so I was trying them out with a sponge dauber on scrap paper. As I was playing, the idea came over me that maybe it would be cute if I repeated a bunch of dabs of the ink. So I picked a few colors and gave it a whirl.

I'm happy with the way it turned out. The colors are fun, and it's an easy, simple card. I added a strip of white cardstock that I covered with Distress Stain, a label, and some pearls colored with a copic marker. I am addicted to coloring my pearls and gems with copic markers. It's such a great way to make your embellishments match perfectly with the rest of your card, and you save money because you don't have to buy so many embellishments in every different color.

I think I will be trying some more cards using this technique with more of my Distress Ink colors!

Supplies:

Neenah Solar White cardstock	Dusty Concord Distress Ink	Shabby Shutters Distress Ink	Tumbled Glass Distress Ink	Sponge Daubers
Broken China Distress Stain	EK Success Journal Plate & Bracket Punch	Sophie's Sentiments

InLinkz.com

Wishing you all a great weekend!

Home, Home on the Range...

2011-09-13T12:53:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone! I am back from vacation and I have a lot of catching up to do.

I hope you all hopped along in the Lawnscaping blog hop this past weekend. I was a hop participant, and I am just blown away with all of the super nice comments everyone has left me-- thank you so much! Because I've been away, I haven't had much chance to read or respond to most of your comments, but I promise, I will try my best to do that right away!

I was also blown away with all of the amazing projects on the hop! Even though the deadline to win the prizes has passed, I still recommend going through the hop if you haven't already. There is some amazing talent out there! Speaking of prizes... the winners were just announced over at the Lawnscaping blog. You better go check to see if you won one of those awesome prizes!

I also have a ton of blog reading to catch up with. Would you believe I have over 300 unread items in my Google Reader??? Yikes! I still plan on reading them all, so I apologize in advance if my reading/commenting is behind for a couple ~~days~~ weeks.

So this week I will be playing catch-up, plus I have a ton of other things to do, so it might get a little quiet over her in my little corner of blogland. But I'm going to work really hard and try to get in my craft room as soon as possible.

I'll try to be back soon with something fun to share!

Okay, I can't leave without sharing one more random note... I can't wait to try this new Ben & Jerry's flavor! Not only is it hilarious (if you're an SNL fan), but it also looks delicious!!

Have an awesome day!

Lawnscaping Blog Hop: Celebrate the Holidays

2011-09-08T23:01:00.000-05:00

Hi there and welcome to the first ever Lawnscaping Blog Hop!!! If you just came from the lovely Miss Heather's blog, you're in the right place! If you'd like to start from the beginning, just head on over to the Lawnscaping blog. You can also find all the blog hop details (including prize information!!) over there.

I am so excited to be part of the hop today. The hop will run from Friday, September 9th to Sunday, September 11th, and the theme of the hop is "celebrate the holidays". I wanted to play with my new (to me) "Harvest Season" stamp set from Lawn Fawn, so I made a Thanksgiving card!

To color the leaves, I stamped a bunch of leaves on a piece of white cardstock, then colored them with various Distress Inks using sponge daubers. And then I cut them all out and stuffed them into the negative die cut space.

The pumpkin is colored with Distress Inks as well, and is covered in Glossy Accents.

Side note: I'm really wishing I had this wood grain embossing plate from Papertrey Ink. I can just picture how perfect it would look if the cream cardstock was embossed with it. Don't you think?

But alas, I must save money and I can't go buying everything I want. *sigh*

Supplies Used:

PTI Dark Chocolate cardstock	PTI Rustic Cream cardstock	Neenah Solar White cardstock	Harvest Season	Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip Ink	Onyx Black VersaFine
Antique Linen Distress Ink	Tea Dye Distress Ink	Fired Brick Distress Ink	Wild Honey Distress Ink	Mustard Seed Distress Ink	Peeled Paint Distress Ink
Forest Moss Distress Ink	Glossy Accents	PTI Rustic Jute Button Twine	Sponge Daubers

InLinkz.com

Other Supplies:
Patterned paper from DCWV Amber Autumn Stack
Pearls colored with a copic marker
PTI Mat Stack 4

Now hop on to the next stop -- the very talented Danielle! Again, if you get lost anywhere along the hop, just head back to the Lawnscaping blog to start from the beginning. You don't want to miss any stops along the way! Also, make sure to leave some comment love as you hop along. There will be a special prize for three randomly selected commenters! You have until Sunday, September 11th at 11:59pm (EST) to be eligible to win! Happy hopping!!

Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a great weekend!

1st birthday card

2011-09-05T04:00:00.000-05:00

Hi there, Happy Labor Day! (do people really say "happy labor day"?)

Today I wanted to share the card I made for my niece's 1st birthday.

I used pink, black and white to match the color scheme of the quilt I made for her.

For the inside of the card, I stitched on some of the fabric that I had used for the quilt, and later added a handwritten message.

Supplies Used:

PTI True Black Cardstock	PTI Stamper's Select White	PTI Raspberry Fizz Cardstock	Onyx Black VersaFine	Fresh Snow ink
Sophie's Sentiments	Quinn's ABCs	Studio Calico Natalee Alphabet	Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels One	Large Scalloped Border Die
PTI Buttons

InLinkz.com

Other supplies:
Bazzill "Thunder" cardstock
Ribbon
Bling, colored with a copic marker
Fabric

I hope you all have a safe and happy holiday!

September Goals

2011-09-01T13:07:00.001-05:00

Holy Cow, it's September already!?!? Where did August go? Like every other month, it seems like it just flew right on by.

By the way, Blogger users - have you seen the new interface? Whoa. That'll take some getting used to!

Okay, back to the real purpose of this post. Let's see how I did on my August goals...

Not as good as I had hoped, especially because the main focus was to purge and I didn't get too much of that done. However, I did get a lot of sewing done in August... finished a quilt, made 3 purses, a dog bed, a shirt, and 6 pillows!

Also, I sold my Gypsy. So now I no longer own a Cricut or a Gypsy. At first, I was hesitant to get rid of them, but honestly, I don't feel sad about it at all. I love my Silhouette and I'm very happy with my decision to switch.

Some of you have asked me what I do with the goals that I did not complete. Well, here is my current process. I write out my goals, and I post them up here at my craft desk:

Yep, right up there next to my very sophisticated copic marker storage.

As each month passes, I add the new goal list, and keep the previous months' goals pinned up behind the current list. Occasionally, I will take the lists down and go through them to see which goals I've since met (and cross them off), and which goals I still haven't met. I try my best to get them all done... even if it's a few months late!

Moving on to September... here are my new goals. This month's list is fairly short. I've been very busy lately, and plan on being very busy throughout September (mostly personal stuff), so I want to keep it light so I don't stress myself out.

I'm still aiming to purge, purge, purge. I also want to make sure I enjoy myself just a little bit this month so I'm hoping to sew at least one fun thing. And even though I'm moaning and groaning about being so busy this month, I am taking a vacation, so you don't have to feel too sorry for me. :-)

I didn't write it on my list this month, but I still really trying to kick my Mountain Dew habit. I am so toally addicted to that stuff. It is my drug. I can't imagine how real drug addicts must feel.

Did you notice the new badge on the right side of my blog? I will be participating in the Lawnscaping blog hop on September 9th! I am SO excited for it. Make sure you check it out... I heard there will be prizes!!

Have a magnificent day!!!

Linked up at:

pink and black strip quilt

2011-08-31T07:24:00.000-05:00

Okay friends, the wait is finally over. It's finally time to share the quilt I made for my niece's first birthday! I hope nobody lost any sleep waiting to see it. :-)

I made a strip quilt with a combination of pink, black, and white fabrics. I can't tell you what each fabric is, but the solids are Kona -- jet black and pomegranate pink. I was able to use a few fabrics that I already had on hand, either left over from another project, or ones that I had on hand and hadn't made anything with them yet. The rest I just picked out from my local fabric store.

If you're thinking about trying a strip quilt, I'd recommend checking out this tutorial from Film in the Fridge. Very helpful!

For the back, I used the solid black Kona, and added a strip that I put together using fabrics from the front. I used the pomegranate pink Kona solid for the binding.

I haven't come up with a real "signature" for my quilts yet, so for now I just embroidered my initials and the year onto some black fabric and stitched it on the bottom right corner.

Also in the above photo, you can see that I quilted (somewhat) straight horizontal lines, 1/2" apart. It was a lot of lines to quilt, but I think it added much needed texture, and a nice "crinkly" look.

I am really happy with the way this quilt turned out. I can't wait to start making another one!

And here is proof that my niece liked the quilt too...

(yes, that is her foot up by her head. geesh, babies are so flexible!)

She enjoyed laying her face on the quilt and saying "awwww" with a smile. It was seriously the most adorable thing ever!

So that's it... what do you think??

Linked up at:

from the bottom of my heart

2011-08-25T06:00:00.001-05:00

Hello! It seems like I have been making a lot of thank you cards lately. I have needed the ones I've recently made, but really, thank you cards are great to make any time to add to your stash. You'll need it sooner or later!

This one was made using Lawn Fawn's brand new "Many Thanks" set, as well as "Blissful Botanicals".

Supplies:
Paper - Kraft (PTI), Neenah Solar White
Stamps - "Many Thanks" and "Blissful Botanicals" (Lawn Fawn)
Ink - black Memento
Other - VersaMark, white embossing powder (Martha Stewart), Copic Markers, Embroidery floss

When I was putting it all together and gluing the flowers down, I felt like there was something missing... maybe a flower was missing? But I couldn't think of which one could be missing, so I just continued on and finished the card.

A couple hours later, I found this little guy on the floor.

Aww dang! I guess I'll just have to make another card. :-)

Do you keep a stash of cards on hand, or do you just make/buy one when you need one?

Have a great day!

CAS-ual Friday Challenge #16 - Embossing

2011-08-22T21:05:00.000-05:00

Hi there! I'm here to share a card I made for the CAS-ual Friday Challenge. I accidentally let a couple weeks slip by without participating in the challenges, but I'm happy to be back at it!

This week's challenge is to create a CAS card using embossing. It can be any kind of embossing, so I used heat embossing to create this card:

I'm not going to lie..... I love the way this card turned out. The colors make me smile. :) But I don't think the photo does it justice. The colors seem much more vibrant in person.

To make the card, I used the Mehndi Medallion stamp from PTI, heat embossed the images with white embossing powder, and then covered the page with Broken China Distress Stain. (I love that stuff!)

And while I was on an embossing kick, I went ahead and embossed the sentiment too!

Supplies:
Paper - White, Raspberry Fizz, Simply Chartreuse (PTI), Thunder (Bazzill)
Stamps - Mehndi Medallion (PTI), Yummy Treats (Hero Arts)
Ink - VersaMark, Broken China Distress Stain
Other - white embossing powder (Martha Stewart), pearls

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have an awesome day!

Lawnscaping Challenge #16 - One Layer Magic

2011-08-21T11:58:00.001-05:00

Hi friends! I hope you're having a nice weekend!

This week's Lawnscaping Challenge is to create a card on only one layer of paper, which is not always so easy to do!

I've been trying to get the hang of copic markers lately. This week, I took a copic class at my local scrapbook store. It was helpful to learn a few tips and get some advice on which colors to buy. So now I've been practicing a lot! Here is my one layer card:

This card is 4"x8" and really simple. Basically just white cardstock, memento ink, and copics. I drew the border around the card using a ruler and a black Zig Millennium Pen.

I added a little bit of bling in the centers of the flowers. Each gem is colored with copic markers to match the flowers.

Because the copic markers will show through on to the inside of the card, I plan to add either a light colored piece of patterned paper or a gift card holder on the inside... depends what I use the card for.

Supplies:
Paper - Neenah Solar White

Stamps - Lawn Fawn's Blissful Botanicals & Sophie's Sentiments

Ink - Memento Black
Other - Copic markers, bling, Zig Millennium pen

That's all for today. Have a great Sunday!!

chevron stripes birthday card

2011-08-18T07:00:00.005-05:00

Hey there! How is your week going?
Today is my BFF, Hillary's birthday. Not that long ago, I was envious of Hillary because her birthday is two months before mine, and the earliest of all our friends. So I was jealous that she got her driver's license first, turned 21 first, etc. Nowadays, the tables have turned and I laugh at her because she is older! Isn't it funny how you grow up wishing to be older, and then it seems like all of the sudden, you wish you were younger? Sure, I'm only 25, but I secretly wish I could go back to 23 and stay there.

Anyways, here is the birthday card I made for my "late twenties" friend (haha!):

I used the Background Basics: Chevron Stripes stamp set from Papertrey Ink, which I just recently purchased. I. love. it. I have many plans to use this stamp set over and over again. For this card, I used a combination of inks from Stampin' Up and Jenni Bowlin. The "happy birthday" is from "Essential Messages" by Hero Arts.

And here was my first attempt at the same card, using a thicker chevron stripe, and slightly different colors.

I wasn't overly happy with this one because the stripes were slightly crooked, and the spacing was a little off.

Here's a tip for using the Chevron Stripe stamp. First, use a stamp-a-ma-jig. Then, I wanted my stripes to be 1/2 inch apart, so I stamped the stripe on the stamp-a-ma-jig sheet, and then used a ruler to draw 1/2" lines going up from the points, like this:

This made it much easier to line up my next row to stamp, and helped the rows come out (mostly) straight.

For Hillary's birthday gift, I made her a reversible sling bag!

Very similar to the first one I made. Same Amy Butler fabrics, just different color polka dots.

And here is her gift all packaged up.

I'll show you how I made the personalized bag later this week.

Happy Birthday, Hillary!!!

Linked up at:

Random tidbits

2011-08-17T12:30:00.000-05:00

Hi there! Since I've been really busy lately visiting family, working on some sewing projects, and doing a teeny bit of cleaning, I've not had much time to blog. So today I just wanted to stop in and share some random thoughts I've had running through my head lately.

Is anyone going to ScrapFest? How about The Creative Connection?? I really want to go to both of these, and how amazing is it that they happen to be in the same city (well, pretty much) on the same weekend!?! It would be so perfect. I really wish I had the money and someone to go with... ....I suppose I'll just keep dreaming!

Challenges will be starting soon at the Young Crafters Unite blog! They've got an awesome design team set up, and I'm excited to play along! The first challenge is on August 23rd.

I'm almost done with a quilt! It's so exciting to see it all come together and it's so rewarding to see it finished! I'll be sharing pictures after it's done and gifted... probably by the end of the month.

My BFF's birthday is tomorrow. Come back tomorrow to see the card and gift I made for her!

Okay, that's all I've got for now. :-) Have a great day!!!

little notes of thanks

2011-08-12T06:00:00.004-05:00

It's Friday, Friday, gotta get down on Friday... Haha, sorry, but every Friday lately I get that song stuck in my head!! And if you don't know what song I'm talking about, you're lucky. ...trust me.

You should know by now how much I love Archiver's and Lawn Fawn. This week I was overjoyed to find Lawn Fawn at Archiver's!!! I picked up one the brand new sets, "Many Thanks", and here is a little card set that I made! (P.S.- this stamp set is SO adorable!)

The cards are 3" x 4". I used the same papers, same die cut label, and same stamp for every card, but I changed up the ink color and backgrounds on each of them. Here is a better view of each card:

I wrapped them up in bakers twine, and I plan to add them to a gift for a friend.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you have a great weekend! I am so looking forward to the weekend!

Supplies:
Paper - Kraft (PTI), Solar White (Neenah), BoBunny "Ad Lib" 6x6 paper pad
Stamps - "Many Thanks" (Lawn Fawn)
Ink - Chocolate Chip, Taken with Teal, Daffodil Delight (Stampin' Up), London Fog (Memento)
Other - Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 1, EK Success border punch, circle punches, bakers twine (The Twinery)

P.S.- Allison at little lovelies is having card month, and she's hosting a link party! You should go check it out and link up!

simple thank yous

2011-08-10T21:50:00.000-05:00

Last week, my hubby asked me to make some thank you cards for him to send. I wanted to make them super simple and somewhat masculine since they will be from a guy, to a guy. Here is what I came up with:

Well... turns out they're not very "manly", but I still think they're kinda cute and they were easy to make in multiples.

At the time, I didn't have a big scalloped edge die, so punched 1.5" circles and glued them down, overlapping them slightly, then laid the patterned paper over the top of them.

Supplies:

Paper - Kraft, Simply Chartreuse (PTI), Social Club (Cosmo Cricket)

Stamps - Smitty's ABCs (Lawn Fawn)

Ink - Spice Tin (Jenni Bowlin)

Other - Bakers twine (the Twinery)

Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday Happies

2011-08-07T17:33:00.000-05:00

I know, I said I had to focus on cleaning this weekend. And I really am, I swear! I'm just popping in really quick to tell you about today's exciting discoveries. On my way to pick up some cleaning supplies, I stopped by my favorite place (Archiver's), and I learned some news that made me giddy.

Do you have an Archiver's near you??? Well if you do, you best get yourself there tomorrow (Monday, 8/8) because they are having a BIG sale.... 40% off all stamps!!! How awesome is that???

AND

Archiver's now has Lawn Fawn stamps!!! I am over the moon!

Okay, that is all. Back to work!

Sending you lots of hugs

2011-08-06T10:29:00.000-05:00

Happy Saturday, friends! I'm just popping in real quick to share a card. I've got a ton of work to do on the house this weekend, so I'm forcing myself to get off the computer. I've also got a lot of sewing & paper projects I'd love to do, but I must stay focused!!

Anyways, here is my card:

I got the idea for this card here (isn't her card beautiful?). I stamped Hero Arts' "Classic Fabric Design" background stamp on white paper, heat embossed it, cut it into three sections, then inked each section with Distress inks.

Supplies:

Paper - White, Kraft (PTI)

Stamps - Classic Fabric Design, Truly Appreciated (Hero Arts)

Ink - Black VersaFine, VersaMark, Martha Stewart embossing powder, Tumbled Glass, Mustard Seed, Wild Honey and Pumice Stone Distress Inks
Other - Silhouette (label)

Have a great weekend!

find joy everyday

2011-08-03T06:00:00.001-05:00

Good morning! Keeping it short and sweet today.

Here is a simple, but fun card I made using stamps from Unity's "Could I Be Any Cuter?" set and colored pencils.

And a very similar square version.

Supplies:
Paper - PTI Kraft
Stamps - Unity Stamp Co. "Could I Be Any Cuter?"
Ink - VersaFine
Prismacolor colored pencils, Black gel pen

Have a fantastic day!

August Goals

2011-08-01T06:00:00.001-05:00

Hello and Happy Monday! It's that time again... time to see how I did on my July goals list!

While I didn't complete everything, I still got quite a bit done. One thing I really wanted to do in July was to try something new. Technically, I did try a few new things... I made my first bag/purse - my reversible sling bag, and I participated in my first blog hop. While I had slightly more ambitious ideas in mind (like learn to embroider, make a dress, etc.), I still did some new things, and I had a blast!

Now here are my goals for this month:

This month, the main focus is purge and clean. There are some other things I hope to get done, but I'm making "PURGE" my #1 priority. Unfortunately, this may mean more time working on the house and less time crafting. I certainly don't intend to let that happen, so I will try my best to manage my time well so I can get work done, but also have a little fun. :-)

Did you set any goals this month?

CAS-ual Friday Challenge #13

2011-07-31T00:01:00.003-05:00

Earlier this week, I made plans to make a long skinny card because I was feeling like I need to break out of my A2 sized shell. So I sketched out my idea and left it on my desk for a few days. Then I woke up Friday to find out that the CAS-ual Friday challenge is to make a 4 x 9 CAS card. Weird! Oh yeah, and I had also planned to use the cute little plane from Lawn Fawn's Bon Voyage set, and this week, the challenge sponsor happens to be Lawn Fawn! Yeah, totally weird! Even though it's a little creepy when things like that happen, I used this as inspiration to finally make the card I had planned.

I tore off little pieces of a cotton ball and glued them behind the clouds for a little fluff.

And I drew a little heart with initials in it on the plane, so it could be for an engagement, wedding, etc. You can also see that I'm not very good at drawing hearts, but I thought it would be cute anyways.

Supplies:
Paper - Raspberry Fizz (PTI), Neenah Solar White, blue "Sparkle" (Bazzill), Vellum

Stamps - Bon Voyage, Bannerific, Sophie's Sentiments

Ink - Tuxedo Black Memento, Fresh Snow (PTI)

Other - Copic markers, twine, white Uni-ball Signo pen, pink Memento marker

Why don't you go check out the challenge blog and play along??

I hope you're having a nice weekend!

Reversible Sling Bag

2011-07-28T06:00:00.025-05:00

Hi friends! Today I'm sharing a sewing project! I made a reversible sling bag using a tutorial from Crap I've Made.

I haven't decided which way I like it best yet. I've pretty much been reversing it every day.

Side note: I've been having a hard time getting good photos lately. Even though my awesome friend Jamie did a great job taking these pics for me, I think I need a better camera. Will everyone please help me out and tell my hubby that I really need a new camera?

Char's tutorial was so great and easy to follow. I just added a few extra touches -- some stitching along the edges (is that considered top stitching?) and pockets. Gotta have a pocket for my phone! I had planned to add a decorative button on each pocket, but I haven't been able to find just the right button yet.

I am so thrilled that it turned out well. I plan to make more in all different colors!

By the way, those beautiful fabrics are from Amy Butler's Soul Blossoms collection.

What do you think?

Linking up at:

How to Make a Paper Pinwheel

2011-07-26T08:09:00.005-05:00

Hi there! Wow, I just realized that today is my 100th post!! And boy do I have a treat for you today.... a tutorial!

Earlier this month, for the Young Crafters Unite blog hop, I posted a card made with paper pinwheels. I think pinwheels are so fun and whimsical. Plus, they are so in right now. I had a few requests to show how I made the pinwheels. Well.... ask and you shall receive! Here is a tutorial on how to make your own paper pinwheels.

For this tutorial, I used a piece of paper from this Stella and Rose 6x6 paper pad:

1. I started with a 2.5" x 2.5" square (but you can make these any size you want). 2. With a ruler, draw a diagonal line across the square. 3. Draw another diagonal line to create an "X". 4. Cut along the lines, but leave the center in tact. I drew a red line to show you about how far I cut. 5. Cut along all 4 lines, so you have 4 sections. 6. Decide which side of the paper you want to fold over. For this example, I flipped my paper over. Then, I like to curl the ends up with my finger or with the side of a pencil. This will help to prevent your paper from creasing when you fold it over. Only curl one side of each section.

7. Stick a small glue dot on the tips that you have curled up. I also like to put a larger glue dot at the inside center base, just to make sure it will be secure. 8. Bring one of your curled tips to the center, secure it down with the glue dot. 9. Do the same on the other three tips. 10. Add a cute embellishment to the center of your pinwheel. 11. Ta-da!

That was easy, right? For some reason, I always thought pinwheels would be so hard to make, but once I figured it out, piece of cake!

I used my pinwheel to make a cute little mini card:

Paper - Papertrey Ink (Kraft & Dark Chocolate)

Stamps - Lawn Fawn's 'Sophie's Sentiments'

Ink - Stampin' Up Chocolate Chip

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you enjoyed the tutorial!

Linked up at:

Lawnscaping Challenge #14: Stamp a Scene

2011-07-24T21:36:00.000-05:00

You probably already know this about me, but I am a lover of Lawn Fawn stamps. I've been watching the Lawnscaping Challenge Blog for some time now. This week I finally decided to participate!

Challenge #14 is to create a scene out of stamps.

I tried to mimic a real polaroid texture here... I used Market Street's Bit of Burlap background stamp and clear embossing powder. It gave it a little bit of that plastic look that the white part of polaroids have. Not sure if you can really see it in the photos though.

And here's a close up of the whole polaroid portion:

I've been trying to learn how to color with copics lately. I still need a lot of practice, so please bear with me!

Supplies used:
Paper - Kraft (PTI), White (Neenah), Pink (Bazzill), Happily Lost collection (Lily Bee)
Stamps - Lawn Fawn - Say Cheese & Critters in the Forest, Market Street Stamps - Bit of Burlap
Ink - Memento Tuxedo Black, Broken China Distress Ink, Brown Colorbox chalk ink
Copics, Twine (the Twinery), Buttons (PTI), Ribbon, Stickles

The whole time I was making this card, I was thinking of this:

And I will leave you with that. :-) Have a great night!!

Stamp-a-faire Challenge #3 & #4

2011-07-23T19:52:00.000-05:00

Hello again!

I've made a couple of cards today to play along with the Stamp-a-faire Challenges posted every hour on Nichole Heady's blog. Scroll down to see my card for Challenge #2.

Challenge #3 is to punch a window from your card cover and tie ribbon or twine from the window to the side of the card. Challenge #4 is to use the colors Ripe Avocado, Simply Chartreuse, Hawaiian Shores, and Enchanted Evening. I made a card that included both of these challenges. (I hope that's not against the rules.....?)

I didn't have two of the PTI colors, so I used a dark green Bazzill paper that I had on hand, and for the dark blue, I used Jenni Bowlin Spice Tin ink. I used a strip of white paper and covered it with the ink.

I really enjoyed these two challenges because 1. I just purchased a set of Spellbinders Nestabilites dies, so I got to play with them right away! 2. This is a color combination I would never think to use, so I'm glad I tried it!

Papertrey Ink supplies:
Paper - White, Kraft, Hawaiian Shores, Simply Chartreuse
Stamps - Love Birds
Twine

Other supplies:
Paper - Bazzill (dark green)
Ink - Black VersaFine, Jenni Bowlin Spice Tin
Die - Spellbinders Nestabilites Label One

Stamp-a-faire Challenge #2

2011-07-23T19:28:00.000-05:00

Hello friends!

Today is the Papertrey Ink Stamp-a-faire event in Cincinnati. For those of us that cannot be there, there are 10 challenges to participate in, posted every hour on Nichole Heady's blog.

Challenge #2 is to create a project using hot pink (Raspberry Fizz) and charcoal grey (Smokey Shadow). Here is what I came up with.

PTI supplies:

Paper - White, Raspberry Fizz, Smokey Shadow

Stamps - Fillable Frames #8

Ink - Fresh Snow

Button

Other supplies:
Stamp - Hero Arts Flower Swirl Vine
Vellum, Embroidery floss

Friday sweets

2011-07-22T19:10:00.000-05:00

Hello and Happy Friday! I'm in the middle of a few projects, and I've got some photos of projects that need some editing before I post them, so I thought today I would share a few things that I am loving right now. While there are many things I am loving right now (especially with all the peeks of new products from CHA), there is one thing I can't get out of my head today. I am in love.

This is self serve frozen yogurt, a.k.a. the greatest idea ever. You fill your cup with whatever flavor(s) you want and top it with whatever topping(s) you want, and they charge by weight. Today, a friend and I went here for lunch. I chose brownie batter & wedding cake flavored frozen yogurt, and topped it with strawberries, chocolate syrup, m&ms, and a cherry on top. Magnificent!

It was especially nice to have a cool treat on such a hot day. It's been nearly 100 degrees for multiple days in a row. We actually attempted to fry an egg on the parking lot at work today.

... it didn't work. But trust me, it is really, really hot outside. I will be staying inside as much as possible this weekend!

What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Blissful Botanicals mini cards

2011-07-19T13:13:00.001-05:00

Hello! Well, I had good intentions of making a pinwheel tutorial for you, but I did too much sewing and not enough paper crafting over the weekend. Then I waited until the last minute and didn't have good lighting for photos, so I'll try to get that done in the next few days. I'm toying with the idea of starting some kind of routine or series, like "Tutorial Tuesdays", or maybe "Steph-Made Saturdays"... I'm not sure...
Question of the day: What would you like to see more of from me? Tutorials? Themes? Product Spotlights? Anything? Please give me your feedback!

While I'm figuring that out, I'll share some simple little mini cards that I made with some of my new Lawn Fawn goodies. I recently purchased a few new sets and I could hardly wait to ink those babies up! I whipped up these quick 3x3 cards with Kraft cardstock, Lawn Fawns's Blissful Botanicals, and Prismacolor colored pencils.

Enjoy!

A basket full of wishes

2011-07-15T07:00:00.016-05:00

Can I get a T.G.I.F.!?

Today I'm sharing a simple little birthday card I made for my mom. Her birthday is tomorrow. (Mom, if you see this before you get the card in the mail, just act surprised, k?)

This card has two things that always make me smile: pennants and bicycles. Ah, the simple pleasures in life.
I found the pennant banner stamp for $1 at Michael's. Quite a steal for something that I will use many times. I used a variety of Memento markers and copic markers to color in the pennants and the flowers, and I added little rhinestones to the wheels to jazz it up a bit.

Supplies:

Paper - White & Soft Stone (Papertrey Ink)

Stamps - Bicycle stamp (Hero Arts), "Basket full of wishes" (Unity Stamp Co.), Pennant banner stamp from Michael's

Ink - Onyx Black VersaFine, Pumice Stone Distress Ink

Memento markers, copic markers, bling

I am really looking forward to the weekend. I'm planning on doing some cleaning, organizing, yard work, and hopefully some scrapbooking. Not exactly wild and exciting, but I love a good productive weekend.
What are your weekend plans?
Whatever they are, I hope you have fun!

The long lost card

2011-07-13T07:00:00.004-05:00

Did you notice a new link at the top of my page? Yep, A Steph-Made Life is now on Facebook! I don't know how to get one of those cute little buttons to link to my Facebook page, so for now, a simple link will have to do. HERE is the link. I'd love it if you would join me over there!

I was transferring photos from one computer to another this past weekend, and I came across this card. I made it back in January, but I must have forgotten to share it. Better late than never.

You can kind of see here that I added cute little mini telephones on the inside corners of the card.

I really enjoy this stamp set from Hero Arts. I'm not sure why I haven't used it more than this one time. I better get on that.

Have an excellent day!!

Supplies:
Paper - Kraft & White (Papertrey Ink), “Circa 1934” Mini Deck by Cosmo Cricket
Stamps - “Just Saying Hi” by Hero Arts”, “Friend Definition” by Hero Arts
Ink - Onyx Black VersaFine, Antique Linen Distress Ink, VersaMark & black embossing powder (Martha Stewart, Colorbox Cat's Eye black chalk ink
Tools - Mat Stack 4 die (Papertrey Ink), Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher, sewing machine

Trust me, you need this tool.

2011-07-11T07:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Monday, folks!

Today I want to talk about the stamp-a-ma-jig. It's a stamp positioner that helps you know exactly where your stamp is going to land. For a long time, I tried to believe that I didn't need a stamp-a-ma-jig. Occasionally, I try to save money and refrain from buying things I don't need. I don't use a lot of wood block stamps, and I just hadn't found the need for it yet.

Until recently, when I spotted this stamp at Michael's for $1.

I pictured this image repeated to make a cute background pattern. I knew I probably couldn't line it up on my own and make it look good, so I decided to give in and buy the stamp-a-ma-jig. Holy cow, what have I done all this time without this tool!? Since I bought this tool, I've used it on almost everything I've stamped. I can hear the voice in my head saying "I told you so."

Anyways, here is my card using my $1 stamp.

Now I firmly believe that everybody needs a tool like this!

Supplies:

Paper - White, Smokey Shadow (Papertrey Ink), Watermelon Sensation (Bazzill)

Stamps - All Occasions Messages (Hero Arts), Studio G

Ink - London Fog (Memento), VersaMark and white embossing powder (Martha Stewart)

Colored pencils, gems

Random note: Whenever I use that Hero Arts sentiment stamp, the "H" always makes me think of Highlights magazine.

Did you ever read Highlights as a kid? I always loved the page where you find the hidden objects within the picture.

On another note: I am looking to purchase a new printer for photos. Yesterday, I spent multiple hours selecting, editing and uploading photos to be printed at a store, then spent even more time re-uploading the photos, going back and forth to the store (because of their errors), then waited another hour in the store to finally get my prints. I was so frustrated! Do you have any recommendations for a good photo printer? I'm open to suggestions for compact 'photo only' printers and full sized printers.

Have a good Monday!

CAS-ual Friday Challenge #10

2011-07-09T18:14:00.001-05:00

Hi there and Happy Saturday!! Today I am enjoying a lazy day of laying around, watching movies, and of course, making cards!

Here is the card I made for this week's CAS-ual Friday Challenge:

This week's challenge is to make a shaped card. I decided to make my card a cloud shape, so I whipped out my Silhouette and picked out a cloud image that I already own.

I opened the image in the Silhouette Studio software, ungrouped the images and got rid of the sun and raindrops. I duplicated the cloud, then flipped one of them vertically. I overlapped the shapes just a bit and clicked "weld". Easy peasy! After I cut out the card, I decided to use the sun image too, so I just opened it back up and cut it at about 1.75" x 1.75".

Here is a close up of the sentiment:

Supplies:

Paper - Neenah Solar White, various patterned papers

Stamps - “Rain or Shine” by Unity Stamp Company, banner stamp from Michaels' $1 bin

Ink - Onyx Black VersaFine, Broken China Distress Ink

Embroidery floss, Glossy Accents, Silhouette

Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful weekend!

My favorite things giveaway WINNER!

2011-07-06T13:39:00.000-05:00

Are you just dying to find out the winner of two of my favorite products, VersaFine ink and a 6x6 paper pad????

I used random.org to pick a winner, and the lucky winner is.....

Georgiana!

Congratulations, Georgiana! (Check your email!) I hope you love these products as much as I do!

More winners from the Young Crafters Unite blog hop are posted today. Check them out HERE.

Have a super day!

CAS-ual Friday Challenge #9

2011-07-05T12:00:00.004-05:00

This week's CAS-ual Friday Challenge is to create a masculine project using kraft. This challenge came at a perfect time because I need to make a masculine birthday card for my brother-in-law this month anyways.

Here is what I came up with:

And here is a close up:

To create this effect on the sentiment, I stamped the "everything" onto patterned paper with VersaMark ink (I used my VersaMark pen so I could exclude the "happy" and "to you"), then heat embossed with clear embossing powder. Then I inked over the whole thing with Walnut Stain distress ink, but the embossed sentiment will resist the ink. Then I wiped off any excess ink, and trimmed it down. You can see there are a few smudges that got embossed, but I kinda like how it makes it look a little messy and distressed.

I will have you know that it ~~bugged me~~ is still bugging me to only round one corner. I chose to do it like this, and I like it, but it still bugs me a little. I tend to like things to be uniform and symmetrical. I better get this in the mail right away before I clip that other corner!

Supplies:
Paper - Kraft (Papertrey Ink), "Confetti Cake" and "Candy Bag" from Basic Grey's Life of the Party collection
Stamps - Hero Arts Birthday cling stamp
Ink - Dark Chocolate (Papertrey Ink), Walnut Stain Distress Ink, VersaMark
Clear embossing powder (Martha Stewart)

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!

July Goals

2011-07-04T17:52:00.002-05:00

Hi there, Happy 4th of July!! If you are a new follower, welcome!

Did you get a chance to check out the Young Crafters Unite blog hop? (You can find my post HERE.) I finally made it through the whole hop. It's long, but it was worth it! There were so many amazing projects from "young" crafters! There are also some pretty sweet prizes for readers, but the deadline is tonight at 11:59 pm, so hurry up and get hopping!

For those of you who are new to my blog, I like to set monthly goals and post them on the first of the month, along with the results from the last month's goals. This has been working really well for me for the last few months. I write out a list and keep it on my craft desk, so I'm constantly reminded, and I post the goals on my blog so I'm held accountable and more likely to achieve them!

I'm a little late posting my goals this month because I was busy with the blog hop, the holiday weekend, etc. Yeah yeah, excuses excuses! Let's see how I did on last month's goals:

~~Complete & install new blog design~~ - done, thanks to Life Made Lovely Designs

~~Soak up the Florida sun~~ - We spent the first week in June in Florida, and this time I wore sunscreen, unlike in April when I got the most terrible sunburn I've ever had.

~~Work on quilt~~ - The front and back pieces are done!

~~Sew 1 new thing~~ - I made a pair of sleep shorts out of my One-Yard Wonders book... I didn't share that project because they ended up a little snug in the rear, so I tried to fix them, and in turn made them worse. I also made a shirt for myself, but that still needs some altering before I share it.

Complete at least 1 scrapbook page - Fail. Am I ever going to get around to scrapbooking? Ugh.

~~Try 1 new recipe~~ - I made salted caramel brownie bites like these ones. Yummmm!

~~See lots of family~~ - Saw family in Florida, attended a family reunion, and my sister came to visit for a day!

~~Re-organize craft area~~ - Done, but this is really an ongoing project.

~~Do not get hooked on any new TV shows~~ - I was really good about TV this month. No new shows, but the new season of True Blood just started.... SO excited!!

Wowzas! Did I really complete all but one!?!? June was a really good, productive month for me. It feels amazing to get this much done!

Now, on to my July goals:

I sure hope this month is as productive as last month!

Don't forget, you can still enter to win two of my favorite things until 11:59pm CST tonight! I'll be posting the winner on Wednesday.

Have a good one!

Patriotic Oreo Truffles

2011-07-02T06:00:00.011-05:00

Hello! If you are here for the Young Crafters Unite blog hop, scroll down or click HERE to get to my previous post.

Have you ever had an Oreo truffle? If you haven't, I feel bad for you, because you are really missing out. They are one of the most delicious sweet treats... ever. I recently made these festive treats for our annual 4th of July picnic at work.

They are pretty easy to make. Here's what you need:

1 pkg Oreos

1 pkg cream cheese

Almond bark (chocolate or vanilla)

Sprinkles (optional)

About an hour of your time

Warning: If you are a neat freak, you should not attempt to make these. I think it is literally impossible to make these without making a mess.

First, you'll need to crush up the Oreos. Of course you could put them in a bag and beat them with a rolling pin, hammer, etc., but your life will be a whole lot easier if you have one of these babies:

A food processor.

If you use a food processor, it will probably take less than one minute crush up the whole package of Oreos. Just send them through the top feeder thing (or however your food processor works).

And voila, you have beautifully crushed Oreos!

Transfer your crumbs to a large bowl, add your cream cheese (make sure it's at room temperature so it's soft), and mix.

You may want to use a spatula at first, but once the cream cheese is spread around a bit, it will mix a lot easier and faster if you use your hands. (Do I have to remind you to wash your hands first?) Mix until you can't see any of the cream cheese and you are able to roll the mixture into balls. It will feel a bit greasy because of the creme filling.

(Sorry, this one's a little hard to see.)

Next, melt your almond bark according to the instructions on the package.

Roll Oreo mixture in balls. Mine are probably around 1", but you can make them as big or small as you'd like.

See how greasy my hands are already?

Dunk them in the almond bark so they are well covered,

then fetch them out and place them on wax paper.

I added my sprinkles immediately so they would set in as the bark hardened.

Keep rolling up those little balls until you start to believe that you might never get your hands clean again.

Let them sit until they are firm enough and come off the wax paper easily. This normally doesn't take very long, but it's very humid right now in my neck of the woods, so it took a while this time. As soon as they are firm enough to move, refrigerate for at least an hour. (You could place them on a cookie sheet after you dip them, and put that straight into the refrigerator. But if you're like me, you don't have room for that in your fridge!)

Make sure you transfer them into a covered container if you're not going to eat them right away. ...but I'll bet you can't wait to eat them. :)

If you're still with me after that long post, thanks so much for visiting!

I wish you all a safe and happy holiday weekend!!!

P.S.- Since this weekend is so busy, I will be posting my July goals after the weekend. (If anybody cares.)

Linking up at:
Serenity Now
Tatertots & Jello
Somewhat Simple
Sassy Sites
Feature Yourself Friday

Young and Crafty
Be Different Act Normal
Itsy Bitsy Paper
Sew Chatty

Young Crafters Unite Blog Hop

2011-07-01T00:01:00.005-05:00

Hello and welcome to the Young Crafters Unite blog hop! If you got here from Jennifer's blog, you are on the right track. If at any time you get lost or you want to see the full lineup, just head back to the main blog hop page. You'll want to be sure you don't miss any stops along the hop!

This blog hop is a brilliant idea from Britta and Marie. This is such a good opportunity to meet other young crafters! Thanks so much girls for putting this on!

I consider myself a "young crafter" because, well, I am young. Even though I feel like I'm getting old, I'm only 25. I'm also pretty new to the crafting world. I've been scrapbooking since high school, but I only started making cards in early 2010. I am constantly learning new things about paper crafting, and it is so much fun! I'm also still pretty new to the blogging world - my blog is still less than a year old!

The theme for today's blog hop is our favorite things. I made a card using many of my favorite crafting staples-- kraft card stock, patterned papers from a 6x6 pad, twine, Distress Ink, ATG adhesive, and corner chompers. You can see many of my favorite "can't live without" items over on the right side of my blog under "Products I love". Another staple of mine is VersaFine ink. I actually didn't use it for today's project, but I normally use it for just about every project I create.

Here is my card:

Supplies:

Paper - Kraft, White (Papertrey Ink), "Hattie" Stella & Rose collection pad (My Mind's Eye)

Stamps - Papertrey Ink "Signatures Series: Flower", Remember Stamps from Stella & Rose collection (My Mind's Eye)

Ink - Daffodil Delight (Stampin' Up), Onyx (but looks gray)(Autumn Leaves Stampology), Pumice Stone & Antique Linen (Distress Inks)

Rustic Jute Button Twine (Papertrey Ink), Pearl gems

Now let's talk about prizes! Randomly selected commenters throughout the blog hop will have the opportunity to win one of these fabulous prizes:
-$20 at Simon Says Stamp
-Stamp set of your choice from Paper Smooches
-Stamp set of your choice from Lawn Fawn

So make sure you hit all the stops on the hop and leave some comment love for all of the bloggers! There is some amazing talent out there... let them know how much you love their fabulous work!

I also have a giveaway for you today! I am personally giving away two of my favorite things. One lucky commenter will win one VersaFine ink pad in onyx black and the "Hattie" 6x6 patterned paper pad from the Stella & Rose collection from My Mind's Eye.

(This is the same pad I used on my card above.)

There are two ways you could win these items:
1. Leave a comment on this post. (super easy!)
2. Become a follower of my blog, then leave me a comment letting me know that you are a follower. (If you are already a follower, just leave me a comment and let me know.)

The deadline for all giveaways is Monday, July 4th at 11:59pm CST.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog! Now keep on hopping... your next stop is Jamie Leija!