We're in San Antonio and "His" Name!!!!

Well, we made it here safe and sound yesterday afternoon. It's going to be interesting. I have a 1 bedroom "hotel" room on the base (us military-types call them lodging rooms instead of hotel rooms). It does have a small kitchen (no dishwasher, but it does have a stove and full-sized fridge) and a bar area with chairs to eat at. Each night I have to use a pull-out sofa for the girls and since they're in the bed together it will be interesting to see if they ever just go to sleep or if they'll be stinkers trying to play each night. This base is HUGE. We're at Lackland Air Force Base where Wilford Hall Medical Center is, and to give you an idea, it have FIVE pools on the base alone!!!! Our base (Laughlin) has one, and some bases don't have any. I can look out of my lodging room and see Wilford Hall so that's a huge comfort. We're still not sure where the girls will go when I go into labor since we don't really know anyone here, but we'll figure that out. I will not be able to post any pictures while here because the computer I have access to is not allowed to have anything up/down loaded to it. I do plan on making some cards though, and doing a little sewing of some baby items I want to make for our baby.

Oh, and for those of you that have been waiting, we're pretty sure that we're going to name the baby Daniel Peter McClellan(middle name is his father's first name). It fits in with our other "traditional" names that we gave the girls. He can be Danny when he's little - not sure if I'll call him that or not - and Dan if he wants when he's older. I like it, but there's just something about picking a boy's name. It's not the same feeling as choosing a little girl's name. Anyone else feel that way? :) Well, I've almost hit my 20-minute time limit on the computer so I've got to run, but take care and make sure you subscribe!!!! That way you won't be checking back each day when there's nothing new.

Last Card....

For a little while at least. I've got a TON to do to get ready to leave my house, with my two kids, and leave my husband and 2 dogs behind until our baby decides to join our little family. I leave on Monday for San Antonio and I just have to tell you that I've packed nothing, and have a very short list made of "things to do" so I'm feeling a little behind. I won't have time before I leave to do any posting. For my own sanity, I'm going to try to take some stamping stuff with me for in our hotel room - I could potentially be there for FIVE WEEKS!!!! If I get stuff made there, I will see what I can come up with as far as uploading it. I'm not too sure how that will work since I will probably be using library computers and I doubt they want me to plug my camera in and upload pictures. So - it may be a while before you hear from me. On that note, I don't want everyone to forget about me. I've LOVED hearing from each of you when you comment on my posts and it makes me a little happier each day to see how many of you care. So - SUBSCRIBE to my blog so that you don't waste time checking to see if there's anything new. I have a subscribe bar through Feedblitz on the right, and Google Reader works really well too.

Here comes some ranting....I am putting in a negative plug for Stamping Top 50. Forever I've had their little icon over there and have enjoyed watching my number drop. Most recently I was at 123. That amazes me because I'm obviously no Beate or other such stamper/blogger, but at least there are people out there that like to check in on me. Anyway, one day the little counter just stopped counting, so I contacted them, and they never replied back. This is the 2nd time I've had an issue. The first time I figured it out with the help of some of you, but even then I asked the site for help and they never got back. I think they only want to have their site advertised by us and don't take the time to actually answer back, even though they say they usually take no more than 48 hours or so to do so. Well, it's been days since I asked, with no response. So, lesson here, if you think you want their little counter, have at it. When it stops working though, don't expect any help from the people you're advertising for!!!

Here's my card. Two things to say about it since you might not see the details: I stamped the background of the Soft Sky card with Soft Sky on my Canvas BG stamp, stamped off once for a lighter effect. I also distressed the edges of my Whisper White CS with my finger nail. This was a quick card I had to make 3 of to give as thanks to individuals/stores that donated products/items for the 72-hour kits I mentioned in today's earlier post. Enjoy!!


Stamp Sets: Natural Beauty (retiring), Holidays & Wishes (Fall - Winter 2007 Preview set), Canvas BG
Card Stock: Soft Sky (Fall - Winter 2007 Preview CS), Whisper White, My Mind's Eye "Magnolia" paper from Costco paper pack
Ink: Soft Sky, Brown StazOn
Accessories: Blender Pen, Paper Piercing Tool, Paper Piercing Guide, Chocolate grosgrain, Dimensionals

For Now....

I do have a card to show you later, but for now I thought I would refer you to Sarah Moore's blog post on using chipboard. She has some ADORABLE cards that she made using chipboard in ways you might never think to use it to create cute little animals. They are so fun!! Click here to see her post.

I've been going nuts since last night, so I'm a little unorganized at the moment and that's why I won't have my usual early morning post. While I was at a function at church learning how to have 72-hour kits for each member of my family in case of emergency (they contain food, a change of clothes, water, flashlights, etc.) my husband was busy being told by our 2 year-old that there was a bug in the bathroom. He thought it was an ant or something, but Sarah took him in there and showed him a SCORPION hiding under her potty seat on the floor (you know, the kind you put on the potty for potty-training). AHHHHH!!!!!! Last year Emma was stung by one in the bath tub - long story and HORRIBLE experience - while it was SUBMERGED in the water (that little nasty thing lived for over 45 minutes submerged before we finally dumped it on the asphalt at the hospital parking lot and stepped on it). Thank goodness, as much as the stings can hurt, there's an imaginary line somewhere between here and Arizona and the poisonous scorpions aren't here. I can't believe they can say that as a blanket statement, but supposedly none here are poisonous. You CAN have an allergic reaction to them though, and thank goodness Emma didn't last year. So...my hubby caught it and flushed it and then when I got home he told me about it and all I could think/dream about last night was scorpions crawling all over my house. I didn't get much sleep. Today I'm going to get out some heavy-duty insecticide that I have and call the company and find out how much to use per gallon of water to treat my house (both for the local mammoth roaches and other bugs, and scorpions) because we got this stuff after the scorpion last year and I haven't used it much since. I'm also super paranoid about insecticides around my kids and dogs. We'll see what info I can get from the company.

SO - I will post a card later, and will try to figure something out so that I can sleep...can't you just see a scorpion falling in the crib with my little baby when I bring him home in July?!!?!?! That's what I'm thinking about right now! :(

Off to San Antonio

We have to leave in about an hour for San Antonio for my last OB appointment at Wilford Hall before I MOVE to San Antonio for the remainder of the pregnancy to be seen by my doctor there. So....no post for today. Sorry!!! Spend some extra time surfing some new blogs or something, and make sure to leave posts!! People really do get warm fuzzies knowing that others enjoy what they take time to post. Have a great day!!!

"Prototype" for Baby Announcement

I'm sure none of our family or friends care nearly as much as I do about what my baby announcements look like, but here is the first idea I came up with. It is a card that was inspired by the fact that I didn't want people to be able to throw away the card (insert evil grin) to keep the picture, unless they cut it up. Also, it uses elements from two cards that I really liked on SCS. The first is one by Stampinholic. I really like the colors that were used, and the use of the Dotted BG stamp. I thought the little tag was great and I liked having the ribbon tied right through the middle. The 2nd card from which I drew inspiration was one by lleonard, and I liked how she stamped the Canvas BG at the top of her pull-out card inside the pocket card. Each of these ladies actually CASE'd someone else in making their cards, so I thank those individuals too!

The outside of the card:


The entire inside view of the card:


The top half of the inside of the card:


The bottom half (this is where the picture will go, GLUED in except maybe for my parent's copy) so that hopefully more people will actually keep the cards I worked so hard on. I'm thinking that they can just "display" them on their fridges open so that the info and the picture show.


The things I'm going to work on are getting that Canvas BG to stamp more to the bottom of it's half of the card. I want to make sure the words "sweet" and "baby" are more centered on the tab and I will stamp the Curvy Verses sentiment on the outside a little lower on the rest of them. Other than those changes, I think it will pretty much stay this way. I wanted Chocolate Chip CS on there somewhere, but didn't want to make the card too "dark" so I didn't end up using it. I still kind of want to though.... :) It's nothing too too complicated, but it will take quite a while to make them all. Let me know what you think!

Stamp Sets: Bundle of Joy (Spring Mini catalog), Curvy Verses, Everyday Flexible Phrases, Canvas BG, Dotted BG, Word on Word (2007-2008 Hostess Level II set - preview)
Card Stock: So Saffron, Ballet Blue, Whisper White
Ink: Brown StazOn, Ballet Blue, Chocolate Chip and So Saffron classic inks
Accessories: Blender Pens, Vintage brads, Round Tab punch, Chocolate double-stitched grosgrain from Michaels

I finally used Pick a Petal!

I needed to make some thank you cards for a friend's baby shower (as usual, part of the gift I give them) and since I was going to have a friend over stamping with me at the same time, I didn't want them to be too complicated and I don't know how everyone else feels about them, but I LOVE single-layer cards. So, I decided to keep it simple in color and design, and used Pick a Petal to make a huge flower on the card, and then to off-set the large size of the flower, I used the Thank You sentiment from the upcoming Level II hostess set, Vases in Vogue. I made her 12 cards, three of each color. I used Purely Pomegranate, Soft Sky and Groovy Guava. I thought Soft Sky would be my favorite new In Color, but it's not. It has a little more of a gray tint to it than I like for it to be my favorite. I find myself REALLY liking Purely Pomegranate, and that's not a typical color for me. I usually go for cool colors, greens and blues, but I love the Pomegranate!!!!! Anyway, here are my simple cards, followed by a couple more pictures that I'll explain. Have a great weekend - I hope to get to stamp today, we'll see!!!!

This next picture is of the card that Emma made for her friend Skyler. She did it all by herself as you can see by the little Taken with Teal fingerprints on the card :) She LOVES to stamp - I'm creating a little mini Stamp-a-holic!!!!!

Lastly, THIS is what Tracy won from my last blog candy contest. Sorry it took me so long to post a picture. Unfortunately, I found that the price of shipping appears to have increased from the last time I shipped Blog Candy to Canada, and in the future I will no longer ship blog candy there. Here's why: I like to have substantial blog candy, almost always including a stamp set, so it's not very light-weight. The shipping this time for this blog candy was almost $18 so when you add up that plus how much the actual blog candy cost me, it gets pretty pricey. I know that that will make my Canadian friends sad, but I don't want to just give away paper and ribbons, you know? I'm sorry, but hopefully everyone will understand. Thanks!!!

She got 32 sheets of 6 x 6 patterned paper (by wild asparagus), a little mini scrapbook to cover and fill, LOTS of copper brads, TWO stamp sets (Very Punny and Warmest Regards), some flower die cuts, and some pretty ribbon. Have fun with it Tracy!!!!

Last Two!

Here are the last two cards in the set of 10 Thank You cards that I made. I really like Natural Beauty and I'm sad that I bought it within a month of the retiring list coming out only to find that it's retiring. Along with Petal Prints and Roses in Winter, it's one retiring set that I'm going to keep because I like it far too much to part with it! Anyway, here are the last two cards:

This first card is a hinge-fold card I guess. I'm sure it was influenced by ones that I've seen, but I kind of put the length of the 2 front flaps how I wanted them and actually don't even remember what their dimensions were. I know that it did end up being a standard A2-sized card though. When it's flat the words on the side are not covered by the mounted image, there is about a 1/4" or less in between them and it, but that's how I wanted it to look. I should have taken a pic of that view before giving them away!!! Anyway, I created my little Thanks tag by only putting ink on the "Thanks" part of the Thanksgiving stamp in the Holidays & Wishes stamp set. The corners were punched in a modified way with the Ticket Corner punch - I didn't push the paper all the way in, that was too far for the look I wanted. The thread running through it is white sewing thread that also runs through the button.

Stamp Sets: Natural Beauty, Holidays & Wishes (Fall-Winter 2007 Preview set)
Card Stock: Ballet Blue, Cool Caribbean, Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink: Black StazOn
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Baby Oil, Blending Stumps, CB Divine Swirl embossing folder, Black Brads by SU!, Ticket Corner punch, black button by SU!

This 2nd card is pretty simple but I really liked the colors together - even more so in real life:

Stamp Sets: Natural Beauty, Holidays & Wishes (Fall-Winter 2007 Preview set)
Card Stock: Cameo Coral, Certainly Celery, Cranberry Crisp, Watercolor Paper
Ink: Black StazOn
Accessories: Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Aqua Painer, CB Tiny Bubbles A2 embossing folder, Cranberry stitched grosgrain

Seven and Eight

Here are cards seven and eight of my 10-card set. I got a little stamping done yesterday even though my hubby is on an overnight trip. I made some one-layer cards for a friend's baby shower for her to use as Thank You notes. They feature one of the stamp sets that will be in the new catalog in July along with three of the new In Colors for the next catalog too. I'll show them to you on Saturday since tomorrow I will finish out with cards 9 and 10 from my 10-card set.

This first card features the Palette O' Prints paper and some fun ribbon, but again, it's relatively simple.

Stamp Sets: Natural Beauty, Holidays & Wishes (Fall-Winter 2007 Preview set)
Card Stock: Sage Shadow, Palette O' Prints, Whisper White
Ink: Black StazOn
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Baby Oil (for blending instead of Gamsol), Blending Stumps, Sweet Shop ribbon by SU!

This second card took a while simply because I cut out the stamped image and boy are those flowers tedious work to cut out!!!

Stamp Sets: Natural Beauty, Holidays & Wishes (Fall-Winter 2007 Preview set)
Card Stock: Pretty in Pink, Palette O' Prints, Whisper White
Ink: Black StazOn
Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Baby Oil (for blending instead of Gamsol), Blending Stumps, black brads by SU!

Father's Day Cards

Here are the cards that I made for my dad, my husband, and my father-in-law for father's day. No peeking Dad!!!! I was totally inspired by and very much so CASED Cambria's card that she made and I followed her outstanding instructions on how to make the shirt. It was super fun to make the shirts and I liked that there wasn't a ton of stamping - it seemed more "masculine". Enjoy, and check out the links to her site!!!


Stamp Sets: Circle of Friendship, All-Year Cheer III
Card Stock: Apricot Appeal, Certainly Celery, Kraft, Chocolate Chip, Palette O' Prints
Ink: Brown StazOn
Accessories: Vintage Brads, CM circle cutting system, 1 1/4" circle punch by SU!, CB Divine Swirl A2 embossing folder

Card # 6 and Why I Use Baby Oil on my Cards....

First - to answer why I have Baby Oil in my list of Accessories, it's because (as Brandie mentioned) I'm pregnant and Gamsol isn't the best of blending mediums to use when you're pregnant. Some will say that Gamsol produces the best results, but I have seen no problems with my Baby Oil and I have no worries about having Baby Oil around me while I'm pregnant. Perhaps if I were a "professional" stamper, I would be more concerned with the quality of the image that Baby Oil produces, or perhaps it really isn't different enough that even a "professional" would care. I love to blend the my penciled in images to get more realistic shading with the Prismacolor pencils and to alleviate any pencil lines left from coloring. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's a GREAT tutorial from Inky Antics on how to blend with Gamsol. I feel that the tutorial works with any medium like baby oil or lamp oil (make sure it's clear in color!!!) and it's very good at showing you step-by-step what to do to make your colored image look more finished. I actually prefer not to use Gamsol even when I'm NOT pregnant. Just because you can't smell something that's hazardous doesn't mean it's fine to breathe, and that's how Gamsol seems to be marketed, is that it's "odorless" unlike other artist-grade mineral spirits. That's JUST MY OPINION though! I did order my blending stumps from Inky Antics, so check out their site here.

Here's the 6th card in the set. I didn't go overboard with embellishments on any of the cards, but hopefully they're still considered pretty for their simplicity. This was one of the more "simple" ones. Thanks for looking!

Stamp Sets: Natural Beauty, Holidays & Wishes (Fall-Winter 2007 Preview set)
Card Stock: Pretty in Pink, Whisper White, Palette O' Prints
Ink: Black StazOn
Accessories: Prismacolor pencils, blending stumps, baby oil, Sweet Shop SU! ribbon, CM oval cutting system, corner rounder punch, dimensionals

More of the 10 cards....

As for yesterday's post with the onesies, not many of you guessed, actually only one of you, but she got it exactly right!!! Juanita thought that the two I made were the butterfly with the path and the flower that looked rock n' rolled. I couldn't rock n' roll it because it was a stencil, but after I had painted the flower originally just that darker red color I thought it looked too flat, so I went back in and added some lighter highlights and a line of glitter along each petal. I also put glitter on my butterfly and on the words on the butterfly onesie but it's not dry in the the picture. Thanks for guessing Juanita!!!

Do you remember how I had some posts showing you a set of 10 cards I made for a friend that "bought" them at a service auction at my Church? I had been using Natural Beauty (retiring) for them all? Well, here are a couple more. The only thing she asked for was Thank You cards.

This plum one was my least favorite of them all, but it's okay:

Stamp Sets: Natural Beauty, Holidays & Wishes (Fall - Winter 2007 Preview set) Card Stock: Watercolor Paper, Perfect Plum, Pale Plum Ink: Black StazOn Accessories: Watercolor Wonder Crayons, Aqua Painter, Plum buttons by SU!, CB Bloom Dots A2 embossing folder, Dimensionals, ticket corner punch

I really like this apricot one for its simplicity:

Stamp Sets: Natural Beauty, Holidays & Wishes (Fall - Winter 2007 Preview set) Card Stock: Apricot Appeal, Whisper White, Basic Black, Gypsy paper (Basic Grey) Ink: Black StazOn Accessories: Prismacolor Pencils, Baby Oil, Blending Stump, Black brads by SU!, corner rounder punch


I hope you like them, have a great day!!

Stuff From my Friend's Farewell

The first picture you see is the address book and pen that I made her. I found these square address books at Wal-Mart and liked the inside of them and back cover enough to only have to cover the front of the cover. Usually I cover both inside and out, but this one coordinated so well I didn't need to. Do you recognize the layout of the book? I didn't want to post this before the farewell, but I used Beate's sketch found here.

Stamp Sets: Noteworthy (with "s" added)
Card Stock: Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, Naturals Ivory, Basic Grey Stella Ruby papers
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Brown Polka-dot organdy, Chocolate grosgrain, Artichoke grosgrain, Cranberry Stitched grosgrain, Prima flowers, Vintage brads, CB Textile embossing folder

These next pictures are of the onesies that were made for Jessie's baby girl. The first is of all of them, and then the next two are of the left and right side of the table they were laid on so that you can see them a little closer. If you click on the pictures it should zoom in on them. In a detailed view, on some of the onesies you will see "white" paint. That is glitter paint that dries clear and just leaves glitter behind. They were still wet. Just as some added info, Jessie and her family are moving to Vegas (where her baby will be born).

Anyone care to guess which two are mine? :) We had 2 extras left over after everyone had made one, so I got Jessie to make one (she didn't want to - some people are so funny about trying to be creative) and then I made a 2nd. They are super fun and I highly recommend it as a baby shower activity. Just don't be a dork like me and forget to take a picture of each lady holding hers, or have them sign them somewhere. We didn't and now it's kind of hard to remember who made what!

Anyway, all you need to do this is fabric paint, paint brushes, and some stencils (those big foam stamps meant for decorating t-shirts work well too). I know everyone usually likes to get to make these, even if they need a little coaxing. Maybe you'll like this idea for a mother-to-be. Take care and happy Monday!!!

Blog Candy Winner!!!

So I used the random.org number generating program and got number 43. So, number 43 - give me your address by e-mailing me at mcclellans@stx.rr.com and your stuff will be on its way next week!! Ha ha, almost tricked ya, right? Did you think I was going to make everyone count? Well, I wasn't. #43 is Tracy and here's her comment:

Tracy said...

This is probably a funny thing to look forward to but my baby is 7 weeks old now and I have received so many REALLY cute summer outfits...so the thing that I am most looking forward to is dressing him in them and going for walks!

AN UPDATE!!! If you read my post below, you'll remember my ordering fiasco with Plaid. Well, as some of you suggested, the day after I placed the order, I called them. The representative said there was NOTHING that they could do. So, I figured, I'll make something positive out of this and give them some very kind, constructive criticism. I basically said that they should put the true number of shipping days an item would take next to the shipping options so that when you select 2nd day air, you know it's really 4 days, and that next day air is really 3 days, and so on. Well, I got an e-mail back and here's what it said:

6/5/2007

Thank you for taking the time to send us your comments regarding our shipping policies. We have reviewed and forwarded them to the appropriate department for consideration in our development process. We are very sorry for your unpleasant experience and will use the information you have provided to improve our products and services. We hope that you will give us another opportunity in the future to win you back as a customer.

Thank you for contacting Plaid, DRI

You will NEVER guess what happened 2 hours later!!!! I got an e-mail saying that my order from Plaid had SHIPPED!!!! So, even though the message they sent me said nothing about helping me out, they did, or "someone" did. I will say that my prayers were definitely answered. The package with the paints and templates that I couldn't buy (even paint was sold out at Wal-Mart!!!!) here in Del Rio because we don't have the stores that sell that kind of thing got here the day of the farewell where we made the onesies. I will post a picture tomorrow. My in-laws are here and I need to go spend time with them instead of at the computer. I can't wait to show you how cute they turned out, and maybe we'll play a guessing game to see if you can spot which ones I did. I made two because there was a left-over onesie and we didn't want to give her a plain one.

Anyway, congrats Tracy, e-mail me your address, and until Monday everyone - have a great weekend!!!

Blog Candy Time!!!!!!!!

My husband is in Mexico City until Friday night for his father's retirement from the Air Force. Hi dad is retiring as a Colonel with a little over 28 years in the service. Congratulations to him and I thank him what he's done for our country in that time. So that means that I have very limited time at the computer. I did notice that my hits went over 25,000!!!!!!!! Yippee!!! That means blog candy for you! I will definitely be giving away a stamp set and I'm thinking of giving the winner their choice of one of these two recent Sell-A-Bration sets. I have So Very and Very Punny. So, a stamp set is one of the items. I will include some die cuts from my Cuttlebug Dies, some 6 x 6 patterned paper, some ribbon and one other stamp set, Warmest Regards (a current level one hostess set) as the rest of the goodies. I will try to get a picture sometime over the next few days and will add it to this post. Because my hubby is gone I won't post until he gets back, which means on Saturday. So, you have from now until Saturday at 11:00 a.m. central time to enter into this contest. Just leave a comment on something fun you're planning to do this summer - i.e. a vacation, re-visiting a hobby, relaxing, etc. I'd love to hear what you will all be up to. For me, something fun we'll be doing is adding a new little one to our family and adjusting to that ;) Take care, and I can't wait to hear what you have to tell me about your upcoming summer plans!!! MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE YOUR NAME WITH YOUR COMMENT - if it's anonymous it will be hard to find you. I'll be using the random.org number generator to pick the winner. One comment each, please :)

P.S. - Some venting here. I am SO ANGRY!!!!! I have a friend who's moving and we wanted to combine her going away party with a little baby-shower-like activity because she's having a baby. She didn't want a shower because it's her 3rd girl (also her 3rd child). We were waiting until last Thursday to plan this event because that's when she found out if it was a girl or a boy. I figured that was plenty of time, too, to get what I needed in town. Well, we were going to use some stencils and fabric paint on some white onesies and have each guest make her one to kind of sneak a baby gift from each of us in there. Of course I have stamps, but we want it to be user friendly and with stamps those individuals who haven't stamped before have a high likelihood of messing up their onesie since they can't see the rubber through the wood, and they might over "ink" the stamp with paint, etc. Stencils are much easier. So, I got to our local Wal-Mart where they supposedly have them, and they have NOTHING! Their fabric paint section (normally has hundreds of bottles) is down to TWO bottles and both are ugly colors. So, do I drive 3 hours to San Antonio to get stuff? No, not with me and the girls and no husband to help make the drive easier and safe (plus almost any expedited shipping rate would be cheaper than round-trip gas costs). So I decide to get on the internet and pay extra for some 2nd day air shipping. I find a company called PLAID that makes lots of stencils and has paint and everything at really decent prices. I look at their shipping options in the drop-down menu and they have regular mail, 2nd day air, and next day air. I figure, "it's Monday, I don't need the stuff until Thursday, and that's 3 days away not counting today, so 2nd day air should be fine," and click that, and then the next step is to finalize the order. I do, it doesn't ask me anything or tell me anything before clicking submit. After I hit submit, this page comes up with my order and all kinds of shipping info and lo and behold, it says 2nd day air actually takes FOUR FREAKING DAYS!!!!! So, I call the company and they're already shut because they are on Eastern time and aren't open very late. I call this morning and she says there's nothing she can do. She can't cancel the order, or change it in any way. All I wanted to do was pay the extra shipping to get my "next day air" THREE days later. Isn't this so stupid!?!?! I think it's very misleading that they would call something 2nd day or next day, and not have that "fine print" that it takes them TWO DAYS to process an order right next to it so that you can plan/pay/select your shipping accordingly. Anyway, no husband here to vent tow about it, so you all will have to bear with me :) Now I have to send the stuff back since it will arrive after the party and I don't need it for anything else, and suck up the $20 or so I paid in shipping for 2nd day- four days later - airmail. Learn from this - I sure did!!!!

Andrea's 3 x 3 Card Box

A while back, Andrea Walford (Andrea's Stamping Blog in my blogroll) shared a wonderful tutorial she created with us on how to make a totally adorable 3 x 3 box to hold a set of 3 x 3 cards. Her blog is AMAZING! It is definitely one of my favorites and I really enjoy her clean and crisp style. Click on her blog in my blogroll or take a look at her 3 x 3 card box tutorial here.

I loved the layout of her box so I pretty much copied it. I changed the colors up a little and used some different stamps, but isn't it adorable??? I really liked her use of Old Olive for the actual box, so I picked some other colors that I thought went well with it. I will say it's a little hard (at least it was for me) to get a good fold of the outer papers/card stock that wrap around the box. Mine aren't as flush on the corners with the box as I would like. It was totally fun though, and worth learning how to make. What a cute gift set it will make once I can sit down and make some accompanying cards. If you like this box, don't only tell me, go to her blog and check hers out and thank her for sharing her template with all of us!!! Take care!!

Stamp Sets: Big Blooms, Amazing to Zany
Card Stock: Whisper White, Elegant Eggplant, Old Olive, Petals & Paisleys
Ink: White craft ink, Elegant Eggplant, Tempting Turquoise (stamped off)
Accessories: Round Tab punch, Dimensionals

It's Party Time!

I have a meeting for Church this morning - nothing like some good training to make sure that I'm fulfilling my calling in the Relief Society Presidency correctly!! :) After I get home we get to go to Jennifer's kids birthday party. I have had a little shaker card around for ages just waiting for me to give to a little girl to "play" with, so I didn't have to make Molly's card. It's in my little slide show to the right, it's the Eat Cake card that's in Cool Caribbean, Basic Black and Whisper White. The shaker portion of the card was made with my Giga Scalloped circle punch and my Colluzzle.

The card I made for Jennifer's son, Caleb, I FINALLY finished last night, and I really like it. I think it's good for a boy. That's something I need practice with for our baby since I'm only used to little girls! :) His card uses a fold that several ladies over at SCS have made wonderful cards with. If you want to know more about how to make the card (and I don't have to re-invent the wheel), here is the link to the info on SCS. I've been meaning to use this card layout FOREVER and finally did it here. The Apricot piece with the frog on it swings up and allows the bottom panel with the lime paper on it to fall down and the area you write on inside the card is the other half of the Apricot paper. Let me know what you think!!

Stamp Sets: Unfrogettable
Card Stock: Whisper White, Apricot Appeal, Magnolia 12 x 12 papers
Ink: Black StazOn
Accessories: Sweet Shop SU! ribbon, googlie-eyes, Prismacolor Pencils, Baby Oil, blending stump

Elijah's Name Frame

This is the frame I made today for the lady who gives them as a gift from her squadron. She is the squadron Commander's wife. She gives them to all of the new babies that are born to the Instructor Pilots and other permanent party members of her squadron. What a gift!!! Anyway, it's cute, but it's not what I had envisioned. The little tiger cub is an image that she requests be on all of the frames I make for her since her squadron is the Tigers - obvious, huh? :) He is washed out in this picture. I colored him with my Prismacolor Pencils and blended with a blending stump and baby oil. He was stamped in the Brown StazOn ink. The rest is pretty self-explanatory. I feel like the balance is off a little for some reason, but since it's a boy's frame I tried not to over-embellish it. I tend to do that. I had this picture in my head of how those strips of Cranberry and Mustard paper would look, and this isn't it :) Thanks for looking!!!



Stamp Sets: Headline Alphabet, Tiger (unknown manufacturer), word stamps by TAC
Card Stock: Treehouse DS Paper, Bordering Blue, Cranberry Crisp, More Mustard, Whisper White
Ink: Brown StazOn, Bordering Blue, Cranberry Crisp
Accessories: Assorted SU! colored brads, Round Tab punch, Mustard SU! button, paper trimmer to create Cranberry "thread", SU! Write Me a Memory Vol II Journaling Fonts CD

Picture a little later today....

Today I made a name frame someone requested to purchase, so I'll share it with you, but we're off to a fun little dinner outing. I'll post it later tonight. Take care!