Open House

Well we are in the new house and it is awesome! I was excited to unpack my stamping supplies last night and I hope that today I can get back making some projects. I have some great ideas using some of the new stuff in the 2010/2011 catalogue and I'm going to show them off at my open house.

August 22, 2010
7-9 pm
Free and Fun
I will have snacks and beverages, make and takes and DOOR PRIZES!

RSVP at debdunham@ymail.com for address and directions

Packed UP!

I will be taking a crafting break for a few weeks as my family and I pack up and get ready to move into our new house. I hope to be settled and unpack my supplies in a few weeks - maybe some cards and crafts inspired by our new house and some decor elements to show you.

We're back

We had such a great trip to visit my family back in Alberta. Before we left I wanted to make a little something for our sweet dog sitter Claire who would be staying at our house and looking after our 9 year old dog. Claire is constantly taking notes about dogs she looks after and I thought I cute notebook would make a nice gift. She likes an Asian influence so I thought the Sweet Pea DSP in Taken with Teal would be nice for her. Since I snapped this photo in the middle of packing, I did't show that I also covered the inside covers with the same paper as the bands on the front. At the last minute I also decided to add a knot of So Saffron ribbon on the top ring, also didn't make it into the photo (I had to prioritize the packing of all our stuff into one suitcase over pictures for the blog - yes that's right, 10 days worth of stuff for a 3 year old, a 1.5 year old and myself into one suitecase - luckily my son would happily wear the same dirty clothes, or nothing but a diaper for 10 days, my daughter on the otherhand, wanted to pack every princess dress she owns).

Easy Gift

Next week I am headed to visit my sister for 10 days - Yippeeeee! Since I will be invading her home with 2 little ones (or 2 little hurricanes) I thought I'd whip up these cute little note cards for her. They seriously took only 15 minutes to make 8 of them. If my sister is checking this out, it's the thought not the time right!? Again I am using some old retired DSP in addition to Tempting Turquoise and Pixie Pink card stock and since I don't have a set of alphabet stamps, I printed the "a" onto card stock from My Digital Studio using the school house stamp set.
Back in a couple of weeks!

Teen Boy Birthday - Yikes!

So if making a masculine card is tough, how about a card for a teen boy? That is what I was faced with knowing that my nephew has a birthday coming up. Thankfully, my nephew has always expressed an appreciation of my handmade cards. He is now taller than me, speaks in a deeper voice, has girls calling (oh my) and the puppy dog cards I sent in years past no longer seemed appropriate. Extreme snowboarding was just calling and I thought that the old (retired so long ago that I can even remember the name of it) DSP looked like a snowboarding jacket and allowed the stamp to be the highlight of the card.

Tinker Bell

Before going to bed on Tuesday night I decided that I was going to play along with the Stampin' Royality Blog Challenge - my first time ever doing a challenge like this. So I woke up Wednesday morning, opened up the blog....and it was a color challenge.....and I only had one of the colors in my stash of stampin' stuff. What to do? Hmmmm My Digital Studio has all the colors, has a great selection of papers, I'll make a card using that.....hey why not make it even more of a challenge and make a scrapbook page (I'm really not known to scrapbook, ever). I have to say I was quite happy with the result. My little "Tinker Bell" was watching over my shoulder as I created the page. She of course had some comments and ideas of her own (I want some red flowers Mommy, with stems), but they didn't fit into the SR challenge so sorry my little helper, I had to delete them after you went to bed.

Stamp a Stack Birthday

I just held my first Card Class last night - a Birthday Blowout Stamp a Stack. We made 4 cards and the girls took home a kit to make an additional card, yep 5 cards. The girls are all quite new to stamping and Stampin' UP! so I'm trying to introduce them to a new technique each class I hold. This class, we focused on using the Stampin' Write Markers.
Here is a peek and the super cute cards we made. A single layer birthday card for a kid. I have to admit that it was hard to come up with something that wasn't specifically for a little boy or a little girl. I think this Owl Card hit the mark, and being a single layer card, didn't require a whole lot time to create. Tools: Owl Together Now stamp set, chocolate chip classic stamp pad, naturals white card stock, gable green, chocolate chip, real red and apricot appeal stampin' write markers, 3/4" polka-dot grosgrain ribbon, blending chalk.

Next up a gender neutral card with some stamps from the Summer Mini Catalogue. I soooo love this itty bitty bits stamp set and the hundreds of ways to use them! Tools: Chocolate Chip classic stamp pad, very vanilla card stock, itty bitty bits and teeny tiny wishes stamp sets, ruby red, taken with teal and apricot appeal stampin' write markers, mat pack and paper piercer, tempting turquoise ribbon, itty bitty bits punch set.

I love this girlie girl birthday card, all the things I love...hmmm, I might just keep this one for myself! Tools: very vanilla card stock, rose red textured card stock, sweet pea DSP, chocolate chip, ruby red and pink pirouette ink.

The super simple take home kit, and super bad photo - I hate that the crystal effects on the button looks like a big booger! Trust me, in person it looks awesome! Tools: party hearty stamp set, little pieces (retired) stamp set, old olive, bashful blue and apricot appeal card stock, old olive, apricot appeal stampin' write markers, versamark, scallop circle punch, crystal effects.

And, last but not least, a card for a man. I can find making a masculine card difficult (could be my love of all things pink and girlie) but it's also all too easy to over embellish a card, and I think that when it comes to a man's card especially, less is more, and throwing in some elements that looks like men's suiting (the DSP), and roughing it up a bit with some tearing doesn't hurt either. Tools: party hearty stamp set, soft suede DSP, kraft and naturals white card stock, chocolate chip, real red, taken with teal stampin'write markers, silver brads