MIA

Missing in Action....I guess that is what you can say I have been, at least from the blogging and even crafting world! October was just one of those months and I think I am still trying to get things in order from it. It was filled with a HUGE trip for my husband and I, sickness (the kids and me...all right before our trip mind you), more sickness (my daughter after we got home, thank goodness), editing and printing all of those fantastic photos from our trip (over 300), and all of the Halloween activities! Whew! Needless to say, my crafting time and mojo pretty much disappeared and am I just starting to get the itch back. It is kind of being forced back as I have a need for about 5 - 6 cards right now for stuff this week!!

My husband and I went on a Mediterranean Cruise in celebration of our 10 year wedding anniversary, but ended up falling on our 11 year anniversary. Last year our daughter was too small to leave, so the trip had to wait till this year. It was a fantastic trip! Started in Istanbul, Turkey and hit Ephesus (near Izmir, Turkey), some Greek islands (Santorini was our favorite), Alexandria, Egypt (we were there overnight so we were able to hit Cairo and see the pyramids), some more Greek islands, and finally ending in Athens. The places were saw were simply amazing and it was hard to wrap your mind around how old the stuff was...I mean the Pyramids are over 4000 years old....crazy! The kids got lots of Oma/Opa and Grandma/Grandpa time while we were gone, so they had lots of fun too! But man getting ready for that trip, and coming home from that trip was rough. I had a near heart attack when we thought one of our flights was cancelled and I was trying to figure out if some pressure I had in my ear was going to go away in time. And then adjusting back to the correct time (7 hours difference) took a good 4 days...I mean I was literally passing out right after putting the kids to bed! Anyway, getting back into the groove and all of the impending birthdays and Holidays are giving my mojo a jumpstart...although the bags and bags of leaves I raked today are making my body want to go to sleep again. So hopefully I will have more to share this month than last.

This card is one that I did for a Stamp Camp I held which unfortunately never got more than 2 people. I meant to post it in time for Halloween, but obviously that didn't happen! It is using the Bouncing Brayer technique...fun technique and I really love it with the moon! The tree was embossed over top of the brayered moonlit sky. Then a torn strip of Basic Black and a white grosgrain ribbon dyed with Barely Banana ink was add to the bottom. Nothing too complicated but I liked its simplicity. Plus I may just use it for a non Halloween card...this doesn't scream Halloween does it??

Well that is all for me...hoping to try some stamping tonight...we will see. Thanks for checking out my kind of engineering!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Branch Out (Stampin' Up!); Paper - Elegant Eggplant, Barely Banana, Basic Black, Whisper White; Ink - Barely Banana, Not Quite Navy, Elegant Eggplant, Versamark; Accessories - Black embossing powder, White 1/4" Grograin Ribbon, Brayer, Sponge, Post-it Notes, 1" Circle Punch, dimensionals, heat gun

Simple Father's Day

My local customers have already seen this as I have a class for it on Friday night! But I thought I would share here as well. It is a simple photo holder that I altered and a matching card. I simply took a photo holder from JoAnns (2 for $5 bins), popped off the embellishments they had glued on, sanded it down, and adhered some DSP to the sides. This is using the To the Nines DSP from Stampin' Up!. Then I used some chipboard and corduroy button (why have I lived so long without these...they are awesome!) to decorate one side of it. Pretty simple, but I think with a pic of the kids, will make a nice decoration on his desk at work (or at home!).

For the matching card, I just took strips of the same DSP, the punched out chipboard star, and a corduroy brad to get a complete card. Like I said, very simple, but it works!

Sorry not much else to say today...feeling kind of yucky...not a cold, just my body adjusting to post-breastfeeding life (yup, my baby girl is officially weaned!)...way too much information! Sorry about that!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Everyday Flexible Phrases; Paper - To the Nines DSP, Sahara Sand, Chocolate Chip; Ink - Always Artichoke, Chocolate Chip; Accessories - On Board Essentials Chipboard, Chocolate Chip Corduroy Buttons and Brads, Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon

Upcoming Class and Awards

So did everyone have a wonderful Valentine's Day? Mine was perfect! My husband is the best! He and my kids put on a "show" for me...they even created a little program. How cute is that? In our house, it is not uncommon to have "performances" by my son...he loves to do balancing tricks or have some figurines do gymnastics for us. But having it all arranged was too cute for words. The performance included "Interpretive Dance of the Heart by Elijah", "My Juggly Valentine by Kevin" (my husband can juggle...one of his "tricks"), "A Love Song by Elijah" (ended up being Christmas songs for some reason!), and "Extreme Cuteness by Adilane" (oh and was she ever cute!). Anyway, I loved it!

I don't have much to show you today. I thought I would post a bit about an upcoming class I have for anyone in the Detroit area that would like to attend. I am having a Stamp-A-Stack on March 7 at my home. You will make 25 cards (5 each of 5 designs) for $30 (which includes lunch, small gift from me, a chance for a door prize, and of course all of the supplies). The picture here shows the 5 designs of cards. So if anyone per chance is interested out there, please email me!

The other thing I thought I would mention is that I have been awarded a couple of blog awards by some amazing bloggers! I really suck at posting these types of things, but I now have two to post, so I figure I best. The first one I got awhile back from Heather of Enchanted Stamping. It is the One Lovely Blog Award. Thank you Heather for thinking of me...you are so sweet!

The rules are:

1. Link to the person who gave you the award

2. Nominate 10 more persons

3. Link the nominees and let them know about this award

4. Post the award on my blog
So here are my nominees. I don't have 10 people, but these are some of the people that I appreciate:

1) Jacki (The Card Castle) - I have recently found Jacki via Facebook. She has a wonderful blog and is always injecting the Lord into all she does and types! It is so very uplifting!

2) Cheryl (Engineered Expressions) - a fellow former engineer that does some amazing scrapbooking!

3) Alicia (Happy Stampin') - giving some more love to another fellow crafty engineer.

4) Nicole (Anderson Arts) - I have gotten to know her a little bit on Facebook (well at least I see her updates...is that more like stalking?) and she is the sweetest! She currently is on a mission to give something away on her blog every Wednesday...sometimes it is her beautiful handmade jewelry!

The other award I got from my Blog Candy for a Cause II winner, Deborah (Beadn and Stampn). Thank you Deborah for thinking of me for this award! You are the sweetest!

This "award is given to a blog that invests and believes in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind of bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated.” The rule of the award is to now pass it on to another 8 people who demonstrate this spirit.

Wow! Not sure I am really worthy of this award, but I thank Deborah for thinking I am! I do like the sharing and meeting people aspects of this whole blogging thing...really the reason I started it in the first place. But I will admit that I LOVE to get comments on my cards and scrapbook pages...is that self-aggrandizement? Anyway, these are the people that I would nominate for this award...most coming from my Blog Candy for a Cause II because I just couldn't believe how generous they were in helping me and supporting that whole endeavor:

1) Carolyn (My blog by Cammie)

2) Jane (Jane's Addiction)

3) Joanne (Stamped by Hand)

4) Debbie (Dolce Deb Designs)

5) Katie (Paper Makeup)

6) Monique (Heavenly Creations by Monique)

7) Anita (Cards and Coffee)

8) Alexandra (California Stampin')

9) Mikki (MikInks)

That is all for me for now! Need to work on picking out a paint color for our bathroom...it is almost done!!!!

Bad Blogger - Trying to Get Back

Yes I am still alive...in case you were wondering! I have just been a very bad blogger! Personal events, holidays, and stamp classes took over my life...and then on top of it, I lost some motivation in there too! Anyway, I think I am back now and will hopefully have some interesting things to share.

So the last time I posted was back in September! Let's see what has happened since then...1) My daughter has decided breast is best and has completely refused the bottle...tried to get her to change her mind (and believe me I am persistent when I want something) and she won, 2) Halloween was a blast...my mouse (Eli) and my ladybug (Adi) went trick-or-treating with friends this year (we were there too, don't worry), 3) Almost had a neck surgery...doesn't that sound like fun?!, 4) found out I have carpal tunnel...where this came from I don't know, but treating this has helped me avoid the neck surgery in point 3, 5) held a Stamp-A-Stack at my Mom's house in Grand Ledge...which brings us to this post! So now that we are all caught up, let's get to the topic at hand.

The Stamp-A-Stack went great...I had a lot of newbies which is always a little scary for Stamp-A-Stacks because they are doing so much. But everyone completed all 25 cards and had a great time. These cards were kept simple, so they could complete them all (5 of each design), but I thought they turned out nice. So check out the individual shots below. I will be back with some other stuff I have done while away and something I am holding a class for soon!

My Stamp Nite Out

Well I have been without cable and internet for awhile now. We had some bad thunderstorms come through last Sunday night and we have been without cable since…not that I am complaining since a lot of our neighbors have been without power that whole time as well! Still adjusting to our new family dynamics and figuring out what works for us…but overall, everything is going well and Eli is doing a great job at being a Big Brother. Granted thanks to family, I have really yet been with both kids for very long on my own. I am very grateful for all of their support and help…makes figuring out the breastfeeding rhythm for Adilane and I a little easier when I don’t have to worry about what Elijah is doing. But I think I am ready to start doing things on my own and getting into our own routine...although I will probably regret saying that! :)

Since Adilane came 3 weeks early, I had to cancel a Stamp Nite Out that I had planned for May, but I was able to reschedule it for a week ago. It went great and I think all of the ladies had fun. I figured I would show off the projects that I had them do.

I wanted to showcase the Flower Fusion flowers, so I copied and altered an idea I saw on Stampin' Gal Val's blog for a card that really shows them off. It utilizes very little stamping, which obviously draws attention to the flowers. Not knowing which color flowers they would choose to use, I kept the base of the card black and white so that the color was coming from the flowers. Add a little faux stitching and some ribbon and I think we have a beautiful card!

The Engineering Details
Stamps - Paint Prints (retired); Paper - Basic Black, Whisper White; Ink - Old Olive, Rose Red marker; Accessories - Flower Fusion Flowers, Old Olive 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon, Mat Pack, Paper Piercer, Black Brad, Slot Punch, Corner Rounder Punch, Dimensionals, Sponge





I loved this Onesie card idea when I saw it on Lauren Meader’s blog while back (wow is that girl amazing!) and I knew that I wanted to share it with my customers. It is a very easy card to make (assuming you have the two punches you need), but it is so adorable! I made it yellow so that it would not be sex specific. I utilized some shimmery white cardstock for around the neckline, leg openings, and sleeves and then added 3 silver brads at the base to act like the snaps at the bottom of a onesie.

The Engineering Details
Stamps - Wild About You, Everyday Flexible Phrases; Paper - Barely Banana, Shimmery White; Ink - Craft White, So Saffron; Accessories - White embossing powder, 1-3/8" Circle Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, Silver Brads, Cutter with scoring blade, scissors, ruler, pencil, heat gun


Alright, so have I told you how much I love Lauren Meader’s ideas (seriously, you need to check out her blog)…well I took another idea from her for Father’s Day…which by the way, totally snuck up on me somehow! Anyway, I loved the little toolbox she made so I took her instructions and made a card to match. I loved the woodgrain look that I got just by dragging Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, and Creamy Caramel across some Kraft cardstock. If there is any interest out there, I could put together a tutorial on how to do this…I didn’t create the idea myself, but I have no idea where I saw it at. Then I added some awesome measuring tape ribbon from Michael’s and the perfect “Man” set was created. Who would of thunk that the set A Beautiful Thing could be used for a guy card?!


















The Engineering Details
Stamps - A Beautiful Thing, All Year Cheer II (retired); Paper - Ballet Blue, Kraft, Basic Black, Very Vanilla; Ink - Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Creamy Caramel, Ballet Blue, Basic Black; Accessories - Tag Corner Punch, Ticket Corner Punch, Pewter Brads, Measuring Tape Ribbon (Michael's), Scissors, Wood Pencil, Glue Dots, Dimensionals, Cutter with Scoring Blade

So Kind

This is a detailed peek at one of the Stamp-A-Stack cards: Thank You card. I love the versatility of the Priceless stamp set, with all of its individual images (heart, flower, butterfly, etc). Plus the swirls are so fun! I used Beate Johns’ Weekend Sketch Challenge #32 for the layout of the card…love her sketch challenges! I swapped sides though from her sketch once I stamped my swirl and butterflies and realized that there was an empty space on the left side instead of the right. I think it still counts in following the sketch!

I probably could have added a lot more bling, pizzazz, etc. to this card, but I was trying to keep it a little simpler since it was for a Stamp-A-Stack. Although, I am guessing this is the one that gets complained about due to the cutting out of the butterflies…there is always one card every year that gets some grumbling because of the time consuming aspect of it…I just tell them to suck it up for the beauty of the card! Hehe! The swirl and butterflies were stamped in Sahara Sand and then the butterflies were stamped in the three colors and the wings were cut out and popped up. I really like how that part turned out. Then to keep it simple, I just stamped the little flower in the background and added the “So Kind” greeting. Hopefully it won’t be too bad. I have a hard time judging how long a card will take to make because I am designing it at the same time as making it, so it naturally takes longer!

The Engineering Details

Stamps – Priceless; Ink – Sahara Sand, Not Quite Navy, Elegant Eggplant, Pink Passion; Cardstock – Sahara Sand, Elegant Eggplant, Not Quite Navy, Pink Passion, Whisper White; Accessories – Dimensionals; Supplies – scissors

Stamp-Attack

This is more for my customers out there than the general blogging community, but my Stamp-A-Stack (aka Stamp-Attack) is now scheduled for Saturday, February 16, 10 am – 2 pm. To give me time to prepare and for SU! to send me my supplies, I need to get all RSVP’s by Saturday, February 2. The picture shows all of the cards you will be making (5 of each design for a total of 25 cards!) and they include feminine bday, masculine bday, kid bday, thank you, and anniversary. The cost of the class is $30 and includes all supplies, lunch, a gift from me and an entry for a door prize. So contact me or look for the Evite invitation (if you are one of my current customers) to sign-up! Hope that you can make it!!

Photo Explosion Box

Back in December, I held a Photo Explosion Box class at my house. These boxes are so cute and I love how many pictures you can fill them with. I tried to keep the colors sort of Christmasy, but not Christmasy at the same time...does that make sense? Basically they were made for Christmas presents, but I wanted them to be out all year long. This was a perfect gift to give to my Mom and Mom-in-Law as they go away for the winter and miss seeing my son during that time. I think they cried a little when they got them.



The box consists of the box base, box lid, and the insert so you can add pictures. This box will hold up to 12 pictures...but I only placed 8 in there. I got the quote out of a book of quotes that I got from Jo-Anns a long time ago...just retyped it and formatted it to fit in the area I wanted it. I really love the Black & White photos. It just seems to make them more striking! And I got the Doodle This stamp set mainly to make the pop-up flower on the top of the box...love it!







Anyway, if any of you want the instructions that I wrote out for my attendees, let me know and I can email it to you. Of course, this is not my design...got the idea and basic instructions from SCS.

Edited to Add: I am happy to fulfill the requests to send my instructions that I had at my class to anyone that wants them, but please make sure that I can either get your email from your blog or that you leave me an email! I have gotten a quite a few comments asking me to send them the instructions and I have no way of contacting them. I never get to see nor have access to the "email" that you enter when leaving a comment...you have to actually add it in the comment area. Or just send me an email directly...my email is listed on the left sidebar below the "About Me" section. Thanks!!

The Engineering Details

Stamps - Doodle This; Inks - Always Artichoke, Perfect Plum, Baroque Burgundy; Cardstock - Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, Perfect Plum, Baroque Burgundy, Vellum paper; Accessories - Burgundy 5/8" Grosgrain ribbon, White 1/4" grosgrain ribbon (dyed Perfect Plum), Ice Circle Rhinestone Brad, eyelets, White Gel pen; Supplies - Dimensionals, Sticky Strip, scissors, cutter with scoring blade, bone folder,

A Christmas Planner

I wanted to show off the gifts that I gave my Stamp Camp attendees. I was pretty proud of them, even though they took a bit longer than I expected!

I wish I could take credit for these great planners, but alas I CASEd the idea from a variety of sources. Deb from Blue Moon Stamping made a planner (I think one of the first ones) for a more general purpose, while Jan from Stamp, Paper, Scissors and Shannon from Stamp Till You Cramp made Holiday ones. I picked up stuff from all and created my version. The titles I used are Cards, Receipts, Gifts, and Misc.

Basically take a plain white folder and open it up. Fold the left and ride sides into the center and crease tightly. Reverse the middle fold and you have yourself a little book with pockets.

I only have so much patterned paper, so I used the retired snowflake from Little Layers II to decorate 4 different colors of cardstock along with one of the backgrounds from Itty Bitty Backgrounds. These were then accented with gold brads. Nothing fancy, but I like how it turned out....this is probably where having patterned paper would make things faster! Oh well!

I grabbed a cool font from Simply the Best Fonts website (free!) and made a couple of lists and a little calendar to include in my Christmas Planner. I create mine in Excel to make sure it was formatted the way I wanted it, but the same could be made in Word or something.

Want to know how to get one of these for yourself?? Stay tuned in the next few days! I am going to be announcing a special blog candy that will hopefully uplift some special people during a hard time.

The Engineering Details: Stamps - Little Layers II, Itty Bitty Backgrounds, Quirky Alphabet Lower; Cardstock - Elegant Eggplant, Night of Navy, Certainly Celery, Brocade Blue, Whisper White; Ink - Elegant Eggplant, Night of Navy, Certainly Celery, Brocade Blue, Whisper White Craft; Accessories - Gold Eyelets, Light Blue Wide Organdy Ribbon (Joann's), Sparkly White ribbon (no idea where it is from); Supplies - White folder, envelope, Crop-A-Dile

Stamp Camp Fun & Food Recipes

Well, first I should apologize for being so absent from the blogging world. I really have been stamping...tried submitting stuff to a magazine (no results, probably have to get used to that one), getting ready for my Stamp Camp, and making the gifts for my stamp camp attendees. I plan to show you the gifts I made for the girls that came over, but I haven't had a chance to take any pictures yet. Plus I am working on figuring out a blog candy thing (by the way, I haven't forgotten about my promised blog candy that I have for one lucky customer of mine...that will be out this week, I promise!) and one of those gifts might be one of the things as part of the candy. So please stay tuned this week for my upcoming blog candy announcement and how to participate!!!

Anyway, along with the fabulous projects (shown below) that the girls did at my Stamp Camp on Saturday, they seem to think that I made some fabulous food as well! I think just about everyone asked for the recipes...so instead of trying to write it out 6 times, I told them that I would post them here. I have a picture of the Caramel Apple Salad, but it doesn't look very appetizing....but believe me it is!!! My husband and I can't get enough of this stuff! The Broccoli Ham Ring is a nice lunch meal for guests...it looks like it took a lot of time, but it is oh so easy. So enjoy!

Caramel Apple Salad

Ingredients: 4-6 Snickers Candy Bars (frozen), 2-6 Granny Smith apples, chopped, 1 (8 oz) container of Cool Whip, 1 (3.5 oz) package of dry instant vanilla pudding

1) Smash frozen candy bars in wrappers with a hammer

2) Mix all ingredients together.

Serves 6 - 8 people

Note: For those at the stamp camp, I used 6 candy bars and 6 apples

Broccoli Ham Ring

Ingredients: 2 tubes (8 oz) refrigerated crescent roll dough, 1-1/2 cups (6 oz) shredded swiss cheese, 1/4 lb fully cooked diced ham (about 1/2 cup), 2-1/4 cups chopped fresh broccoli, 2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard, 1 tsp lemon juice

1) Unroll crescent roll dough and place triangles on a 12" pizza pan (or pizza stone like I use), forming a ring with the pointed ends facing the outer edge of the pan and wider ends overlapping.
2) Lightly press wide ends together.
3) Combine the remaining ingredients; spoon over wide ends of rolls.

4) Fold points over filling and tuck under wide ends (filling will be visible)
5) Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.

Serves 6-8

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And here are the up-close pictures of the Stamp Camp projects...got any questions, just leave me a comment and I will let you know! I am missing pictures of the nugget box, so I will have to add that pic later.

Celebrate Suspension Card

Dotted Autumn Faux Linen Card

Scratch n' Sniff Halloween Card (smells like cinnamon)

5-Point Folded Star Ornament

Chipboard Ornament

Stamp Camp - September '07

Well I am a couple of days later than I planned on getting this picture out to you! Oh well, I was overcome by actually getting things done this weekend. It was the first weekend in a very long time that my husband and I were both at home. So with babysitters already scheduled, my Mom and Dad, we got an evening out....yeah!

Anyway on to the topic at hand. Here are the hopefully considered fabulous stamp camp projects for my Stamp Camp on Saturday, September 29 (10 am - 2 pm). So for anyone in the Southeastern Michigan area, drop me a line to sign up! There are 3 cards: Scratch n' Sniff, Faux Linen, and Suspension Card and 3 other projects: folded star ornament, chipboard snowflake ornament, and a nugget gift box. Once I hold the stamp camp, I will post pictures of each of the projects individually for those unable to make it. Hopefully I got a pretty good variety for ya' all to make (and I didn't make anything too time consuming...sometimes I don't realize how time consuming a project can be as I am in the design process!). Cost, as usual, will be $15 which includes all supplies, lunch, door prize, and a small gift from me! Hope to fill my house with many stampers!

A Photo Book Fit for a Dad

Why is it that stamping something for men is so difficult! I struggled with this one for a long time. I had a few customers that requested that I put together a photo book for a Father's Day Gift. Obviously I am not very timely about showing it, but I just got started with this blogging thing just recently. Anyway, I had many iterations of this photo book and I am pretty happy with the end result. I had a stamp camp in June for people to make this book.

The first two photos are the front and back of the book. The front is stamped and embellished and I inked up my son's hand to get a hand print on the back. He walked around with a brown palm for a bit, but he was fine! The Joy on the front was embossed. We actually did it the cheap way (without a craft pad). Since I don't have a lot of Craft pads, we just inked the stamp with Versamark first and then ink it with the color of ink desired. Stamp the image and emboss like normal. Makes it easy to get nice colors for the embossing without owning all of the craft pads.

I had originally started the front without the Brocade Blue cardstock on the front, but found once it was added, that it finally felt complete.

The pictures below show the inside of the photo book. It is an accordion fold book that is great because my husband can stand it up open on his desk at work. Who wouldn't want to have that cute little boy staring back at you all day?!

Since I did this book for a stamp camp, I have directions typed up, but I am not sure how to post documents yet....so just email me if you want the directions. Unfortunately, it does not include pictures, but it is a step-by-step type of directions.