Hero Arts - Thanks for All You Do Card

Very simple card to share with you today.
I love the bright colors on the kraft cardstock for this lively card.
Flowers are stamped with StazOn ink and then colored with a water brush and dye ink pads for a watercolor look.
I also used a White Signo Gel Pen to add a little pop.
For that main flower, I stamped with StazOn on to white watercolor paper and then colored similarly.
I made sure to make those shades darker so that it stood out more.
Stamped greeting on kraft and matted on black.

Hope you like it.

And now back to my testing of the Silhouette machine for Craft Critique.
My review of the Teresa Collins Stampmaker is now up though and you won't want to miss my cool photo stamps.
Like the one I used to make this neat card for my nephew's graduation.

Have a nice weekend!

Lawn Fawn - Say Cheese! Mini Album Class

Trying to get back into the swing of things over here on my poor little blog.
It's so neglected with all my time spent on Craft Critique.
I'm a writing and editing crazy person over there.
Did you see all those articles last week on Crafty Businesses?
I'm also getting back into the craft game in another way, teaching.
It's always been one of the things I love most about crafting is meeting other crafters and sharing.
So, I'm back!

I've made some cards and I'm all set up to teach a mini album class, June 11th at Stampology Chicago.
The class uses the new Lawn Fawn Stamps, Say Cheese! and Say Cheese, Too!
If you are in the Chicagoland area and want something fun to do on a Saturday and make a little keepsake for all your fun photos, join me for this stamp class.

And if that wasn't enough to feast you little eyeballs on, here's a bunch of cards also made with the Lawn Fawn stamps.

Enjoy your Thursday and do something creative!

Proof: I Still Craft

You would think that with all this time at home I would craft all the time.
I mean I have an entire room of crap.
But it's funny how when you have time to do it is sometimes when you are the least inspired to do it.
Kinda like when you are at the mall with no money, you find all kinds of things you want to buy.
When you actually have money and need to find that dress for your cousins wedding, you're not able or willing to find a thing.

Since I get emails from people asking me if I am teaching anywhere or advice on their current project, I finally got my butt into the local stamp store to see if they had any use for a pro-paper matcher.
So, I designed these cards and a few more for their classes and store samples.
I remember crafting being so simple but this was a chore when I started.
I was so outta the swing of things.
It was like I forgot how to ink a stamp.
But I think they came out great and Stampology and their customers seem to like them, so it all worked out.
I used new Hero Arts Stamps for all of these samples.
All the patterned paper is by Hot Off The Press, it's the Vintage Roses Collection.

I love this one, that flower is stamped on felt with white StazOn ink.

These were created with the Scor-buddy as well for those embossed backgrounds, love that.

This is probably my favorite of the whole batch.
I used the clear packaging that the stamps come in to make a window that was stamped in white StazOn.
I also made that little paper flower.

And these sunset backgrounds were great for the silhouette stamps.
This one was done with the Copic Airbrush system.

And this one was done with just dye inks and sponges.
The image was first stamped in Versamark and embossed with clear powder for the resist technique.

Well, at least I can say I made something in 2011.
I also have plans to attend this crop in March for MS, Crop For A Cause.
If you would like to sit at my table and do more talking than crafting let me know, the more the merrier.
It's a great cause with great prizes and I would love to fill a whole table.

GreetingsFarm Card and CHA Preparations

These are busy times in the world of craft.
Twice a year the Craft and Hobby Association hold a Trade Show featuring everything crafty.
It's kinda like a mecca of craft.
This big event is super busy for me and all the great folks over at Craft Critique.
We go on the hunt for great products for a week straight and report back all the details.
It's a rough job that I certainly don't mind doing.

After the Trade Show will be the Craft Super Show which is open to the public.  YAY!
There you can take a workshop, do make and takes or just get shopping.
If you are in the Chicagoland area and love crafty deals, I would highly recommend it.
The Craft Super Show runs from Friday, July 30th thru Saturday, July 31st.

The best part about CHA is that I will get to see all my crafty friends from far and wide.
And I will get to meet people that I only know online.

I quickly created this cute little card with a Greeting Farm stamp that Jessica gave me at CHA Winter, 6 months ago.

I used all October Afternoon patterned paper and that cute little girl is colored with Copic Markers.

The flower is from Sassafras.

I am sure I will have tons to share after next week.

To stay up to date on everything happening at CHA this week, stay tuned to Craft Critique.

You can also follow me on Twitter or my updates will also be on Facebook.

Off to the big show...

I want to Thank You!

If there is one big thing I learned in 2009, it's who my friends are.
And how thankful I am to have them in my life.
I have friends I know online that I have never actually met and known for years that are some of my very best friends.
(try explaining that to people!)
I have friends I have known for years and have stuck by me through thick and thin.
I have friends I hadn't seen in decade and when we reconnected, it was like a moment hadn't past.

It's those friends that really deserve a card like this.
Although I would have to make about 20 more to cover the great friends who have been emailing their kind words the past couple weeks.

Stamped on Kraft cardstock and colored with Copic Markers, I love the results.
When you color on Kraft, the color will appear darker until it dries.

I colored my Glass Gem Stones with the Copic Markers to match.

I haven't embossed in a LONG time.
My embossing needs a little work.
You may be seeing a lot of embossing in the next couple weeks.

And one of my very bestest friends, Elizabeth, sent me this cool card...

Tiny cross stitch, isn't it cute?!!

She sells these in her Etsy Shoppe.
All different tiny stitches.
It totally made my day yesterday.

Off to start more cards for those cool people I call friend.

My card details:  Stamps:  Hero Arts CL304, Cardstock:  Bazzill, Gem Stones:  Hero Arts, PP: Basic Grey, Colored with Copic Markers, Ink and Powder:  Stampin Up

Happy Day!

What a great day!
Christmas is over...Yahoo!
Nothing major on the To Do List, except grocery shopping.
Slept in til 10a.
And Purple Rain is on the DVR.
All is right in the world.

I made these cute little cards just for this kind of occassion.
When you just wanna tell someone, you rock.
They're in My Etsy Shoppe.
Made with the cutest My Little Shoebox papers.


I made these little cuties at home in all my spare time these days.
They are totally like the ones I made back at the store, in September.
See, they were posted here....




And if someone was blind or unable to play those games in the Highlight magazines as a child they may think they were the same cards.
But look!
They're not.
Different tickets, different dollies, even a different green for the grass!
Go ahead take a closer look and play, "One of those things are not like the other."

Here's the original...


Here's my new version, made at home...


See!
Different.
Anyone can see these are not the same card.
Because I don't have my original, unfortunately, I left it as well as hundreds of others behind.

Can everyone else see that these are not the same card?
Even though I designed both, I thought it was pretty obvious but maybe it's just me.

If anyone wants to make their own card exactly like this one, feel free!
The paper is sold at All that Scraps and Scrap Boutique and I am sure plenty of other places, search for My Little Shoebox, Little Ladies Collection.

And the cards, my cards that I made at my own house on my own time, are for sale here!
I hope that clears up anyone's confusion.
Thanks and have a great day!

Card details: PP is My Little Shoebox, Tickets are Creative Imaginations/Creative Cafe, Cardstock is Bazzill.

Only 10 days til Christmas?

Really?
Well, I guess I should think about buying a present, huh?
We haven't even begun.
Yep, we are major procrastinators.
And we're having Christmas dinner here, at our house.
At least I know what we're having, kinda.
And if the kid continues to change his Christmas list daily, he'll be getting cash.
It went from an Xbox to clothes to computer stuff to his latest request...a bar of gold.
Yep, it's what every teen wants for the holiday season...GOLD!
Apparently he saw something on the news about the value of gold.
Or maybe all those, "Send us your gold!" commercial have gone to his head.
Whatever the case, he better make a final decision.
It takes Best Buy elves a couple days to make an Xbox360.

On the home front, I am still playing house.
And besides the lack of a second income, I'm enjoying it immensely.
The kid tells me almost every day, "I am so happy you're here mom."
That makes me feel good.
It could just be all the baked goods I've been making lately, but it still puts a smile on my face.
And the man isn't complaining all that much either, which is good for my guilt.
He's been working extra jobs out in the freezing cold and tells me almost every day, "don't worry."
I'm a lucky girl.

And last week was pretty much a waste because when the man came back from New Mexico, he brought with him some nasty germs and succeeded in giving me a doozie of a cold.
Wiped me out for days.
Lucky though, it moved in very quick, was total misery for like 3 solid days and then gone.
I could have sent myself this card...



Hope everyone is remembering to wash those hands and staying healthy!
Have an awesome Tuesday.

Card details: Stamps by Cornish Heritage Farms, Colored with Copic Markers, Patterned Paper by October Afternoon, Stamped with Memento Ink, Cardstock by Bazzill. Card available for sale HERE.

Happy Friday

Well, the kid was off school today so we enjoyed sleeping in, followed by a big bowl of warm Cream of Wheat.
Yum.
Almost as good as when my mom would make it on cold morning for us but I think she used a lot more butter.

We have spent the day in our jammies, total bliss.
We watched some Survivor since the kid had a homework assignment that required it.
Can you believe that??
What if we were one of those families that didn't watch TV?
Then what?
How would he ever understand Lord of The Flies without Survivor?
Man, times have changed.

I am still keeping busy making stuff for my Etsy Shoppe and just for fun.
I even made a December 2009 mini album to document this holiday season.
The December Daily project is just too much pressure, but I thought this was a happy compromise.
When I get a few pages done, I'll post it.

Here's a sweet little card made with an image I got from my stamping group over a year ago!

Isn't it a cute stamp?

I may head over to the One of a Kind Show tomorrow, downtown while the kid is at the Nerd Academy.
Lord knows I don't have any money to spend but I love seeing what everyone else is making these days.
Have a great weekend.

And btw... I am not the only one who is a major blog slacker, I got half way thru my bloglines to find many, many bloggers with their last posts being in April or earlier! I am still catching up, so I will "see" many of you soon!

(Card Details: Stamps from Stampin' Up!, Colored with Copic Markers, Spica Glitter Pen, Ribbon from Creative Cafe, Patterned Paper from Cosmo Cricket and A muse, Stamped with Memento Ink on Neenah Cardstock)

Pick your Jaws off the Floor...

Yes, it's a post.
Yes, it's been a LONG time.
I know, I know, I know....
Apologies, now let's move past all that.

There's a lot going on in my world, most of which is still whirling and buzzing.
I don't even want to talk about anything just yet since the whirling and buzzing is still so new and fresh but it is giving me some free time that I haven't had in a LONG time.
And so I am playing full time mom to the kid.
And woman to the man, clean house and hot meals every day.
And catching up with my friends who were placed on the back burner.
And that all feels good, real good.

And I am making lots of stuff too, just for fun.
I have almost completely found the love of it all again and it makes me happy.

The kid is real good, he won his school's Science Fair and is now on to Regionals in January.
And for the most part, other than the nagging and help with the poster, he did it all on his own.

His project was on Using Bacteria to Speed Up Decomposition and for the most part, I understand it all but the crazy math equations had to be explained a few times.
He's still in the Nerd Academy on Saturdays, so we have a 6 day school week with all the homework that is involved with that and we are still getting straight A's but it has not been easy this year.
And we are still in the whole hellish High School Search, you would not believe the paperwork!
Entrance exams start in January and anxiety is really starting to set in, poor thing.

I am up and running in my Etsy Shoppe too.
Mama's gotta make money somehow, right?!
This little cutie is in the shoppe...


I have lots of projects to post, I swear I could use an assistant to just photograph and post these things.
And I have stamps to sell as well that will go up in the shoppe too.

I look forward to getting a look at everyone's blogs and catching up on what's been going on, I am sooooo outta the loop.
Off to catch up on my blog reader...


(Card Details: Stamps by My Favorite Things, Colored with Copic Markers, PP by A muse Art Stamps, Stamped with Memento Ink, Punches by Marvy)

My Busy Life

(that title's an understatement!)

I don't think that title is larger enough or bold printed enough for the magnitude of my busy life.
I miss blogging.
I miss being bored at work.
I miss having extra time, just a few extra minutes to breathe.
I miss my friends and family.

But life is good.
Real good.
We are all moved in and settled (for the most part) into our new house.
There is always something to do or fix, but compared to a year ago and living in a tiny 2 bedroom apartment....we are in heaven.
Our family has been a major help to, installing water heaters, painting rooms, advising, and helping in about every way you can ever imagine, thank god.
Here we are the weekend we finally moved in back in late May...
(the kid IS a lot taller but he's standing on a higher step too, he's not THAT big...yet)

And the store, everyone is always asking, "How's the store doing?", well it's fine.
Could be better, could be a lot worse.
I've met so many crafty people at the store and am so lucky that part of my job is to hang out and talk crafts.
That's probably the best part about the store, the people.
I am even more busy this year than last, you would think that I would have learned to do things a little more effectively or been more organized but sadly I am a person who creates work for herself.
Like I tell my friends, I am the person standing in a large hole and instead of climbing out, I'm digging myself deeper.
We celebrated our first year anniversary and we have learned a lot in the first year, so hopefully we will have an even better second year.
And we've learned some lessons, the hard way but will just grow stronger because of it.

And since I have so much spare time.
And I'm already so deep in that hole.
I dug even deeper....much, much deeper.
And adopted this little bugger from PAWS.
Meet Nasdaq. (this picture is the best representative of the massive size paws this little guy has and just how big he will grow to be)

He's my new baby.
Everyone is always commenting about how I ONLY have ONE kid.
Well, I actually have three now.
And they are all adorable.
And two out of the three don't talk back.
Our old dog Neo is still getting used to having the little troublemaker in the house.
But he has a #1 fan who is always giving him undying attention, so that has to makes him slightly happy.

And he is an amazingly good puppy.
We've had him 3 whole weeks and I really think we are about 90% housebroken and he already knows sit really well.
He eats EVERYTHING, especially sticks, but luckily if you just tell him to drop it, even from a distance, he does.
And he is kinda lazy for a puppy so we are lucky he isn't a hyper little fella.
Oh yeah, since I know you are all wondering since you saw the size of those giganto paws...He's 13 weeks old today.
Like I said...He will be HUGE, bigger than our Rott when full grown.

Oh and the kid, well, he's still a teenager.
And he has lots of teenage angst from being misunderstood, naturally.
But luckily the nerd academy is finished for the summer and he's been off a few weeks now and the happiness that comes from a lack of homework has definitely made him nicer to his parents. (and vice versa)
He starts 8th grade in a couple weeks and I can't believe we aren't in kindergarten anymore, time flies.
And he's learning very quickly about girls.
And his mother is not happy about it at all.
Or handling it well.
I find it hard to accept that my baby isn't a baby any more.
Which is exactly why we now have a giant puppy so that I have someone at home to baby that doesn't tell me how uncool I am all the time.

And I still make crap.
Tons and tons of crap to be exact.
I am teaching about 20 classes a month at the store, so I'm still crafty if not craftier than I was.
Here's a little proof...










If you want to see more of my creations and need a little inspiration, check out the CraftFancy Gallery, I make most of that stuff as well.
Or on our CraftFancy Blog.
I also just started unpacking all my crap from when I moved it all into storage back when we moved into the tiny apartment and man, do I have too much stuff!
I am working on organizing and arranging, but expect pictures soon as well as a big giveaway and little garage sale.
I couldn't possible use all this stuff in my lifetime.

And I am teaching a couple online courses as well.
(there she goes again diggin' that hole deeper and deeper...see what I mean??!)
When I get more details and set dates, I will link it all up on this blog.
Since I will be blogging more, it's on my lengthy To Do List toward the top, right below Sleep, Feed Family and Breathe.

That's about it for now.
Back to work, lots and lots of work.
And then off for the week to get ready for our Housewarming Party on Saturday.
Talk about stress.
Hope everyone is well, I need to catch up with my bloglines reader that has over 5000+ unread entries.
Yikes!
Chime in and tell me what's new, save me from my blog list, please!!