Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

To give myself some family time, Saturdays I will begin sharing a recipe. Today's recipe is based on my response in that name game for my favorite cookie. It is one that I make. Here is the recipe, and I'm a picky eater so I PROMISE that if I post the recipe on here, it's pretty much guaranteed that you'll like it :)

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookies

1 Devil's Food cake mix
1/4 c light-brown sugar
1/3 c oil OR 1 stick butter (I usually use the butter)
2 eggs
1/3 c mini chocolate chips
1/2 c (don't be stingy) peanut butter chips

Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix together cake mix, brown sugar, oil/butter, and eggs. Stir in chocolate and peanut butter chips. Drop dough balls onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 10 - 12 minutes (or to desired "chewiness"). Allow them to cool slightly so that you can remove them from the pan and allow them to finish cooling on a baker's rack. I enjoy eating them while they're still warm and the chips are still melted :) Enjoy!!!

ETA: I meant to save this post so all I had to do was publish in the morning. I did post it Friday night, but changed the date in the post options, so no, you're not crazy if you thought you saw this yesterday. ;)

Bright Birthday Card and a NEW STAMPING TRICK!!

I made this card for a certain someone who's birthday is next Sunday and really likes Orange. Well, I couldn't come up with a layout where there was A LOT of orange, so I went with this one. I hope she likes it! I made up a neat trick, too, that I've not seen anyone else ever mention, so I thought I would tell you what I did.


See how the orange vase has blue on it? Well, it's not as vibrant as I would have hoped, but it's blue enough. We don't have Craft ink markers, which would allow us to put colors on top of other colors and have them remain true. If I had used my SU! markers, I would have gotten a kind of brown by coloring with Ballet Blue on top of the Only Orange CS. SO...what did I do, you ask? I first colored where I would put the blue with my white Signo gel pen. Then, I allowed that to dry and colored over it with my SU! Ballet Blue marker. Make sense? Anyone need to actually see a mini tutorial? If you do, let me know. If not, just take a peek at it with my close-up shot. You'll see that I wasn't so great at staying in the lines, but from a normal distance I don't think it's that noticeable. :)


I also tried to turn my yellow grosgrain into Summer Sun grosgrain by pressing it in my Summer Sun ink pad. It's the loop of ribbon on top of the blue ribbon. It's pretty close - close enough for me at least. I like doing these little loops of ribbon as a quick way to add some balance to a page without going over-board. Also, it's a fun way to tie colors in together in a layout.


Here's a close-up of my paper piercing. Nothing special here, but I thought it was cool to see how the holes go through the layers of CS and you can see it when you're this zoomed in on them.





Anyway, I hope you enjoy this new trick with the Signo gel pen and the card!!! Also, this card was inspired by the one on page 150 of the SU! Fall-Winter Collection 2007 Idea Book and Catalog.

Stamps: Vases in Vogue, Hugs & Wishes, Sanded BG, Canvas BG, Three For You Punch Box stamp
Ink: Black StazOn, Ballet Blue classic ink, Ruby Red and Ballet Blue markers
Paper: Ballet Blue, Only Orange, Summer Sun and Real Red CS
Accessories: Three For You Punch Box punch, Fire circle rhinestone brads (yellow on the orange flower and orange on the red flowers), paper piercing tool and guide, sponge, blue, orange and yellow grosgrain (dyed Summer Sun with classic ink pad), corner rounder punch, White Signo gel pen

Cards for our Airmen, CC133 and UHU product rating

First, here are the details for those of you in the Del Rio area that would like to attend my Cards for our Airmen event. This time around we're sending Halloween care packages with treats and Halloween cards, PLUS a bundle of assorted blank cards for the Airmen to send back to loved ones and the care packages are going to deployed members of OUR base - thus they're Airmen since we're in the Air Force and we're calling it "Cards for our Airmen". I kind of got a tiny chewing out (more made fun of) for calling it "Cards for Troops" as I always have (I've been doing these for 3 years now), since Troops are technically Army military members. As for the specifics, here they are:

Where: "Su Casa" on Laughlin Air Force Base (call me to be sponsored on if you don't have a military I.D. or if you just need directions to "Su Casa")
When: October 4th from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

A lunch will be provided as will all of the supplies to make the cards.

*****If you would like to donate cards to this event, we will take any Thinking of You, Holiday, Thank You, Missing You, Birthday cards, etc. but they would need to arrive in my hands by Tuesday the 9th of October. If you ARE planning on sending me some, e-mail me so that I can give you my address and so that I'll know to expect them if you already have my address.*****

Following are two cards that I made for the Color Challenge on SCS - CC133. The colors were More Mustard, Old Olive and Bashful Blue. The first card was one very similar to the last "Sweet Pea" card I did - I even used the Shimmery White CS again. The second was made from a piece of scrap CS I had leftover and so it's an odd size, and I again made a Christmas card from non-traditional colors (like I did with last week's color challenge - you can the card here). I know that freaked out a few of you ;)

This card was fairly quick to make and I don't have much to say about it :) I am really loving the wide grosgrain ribbon that SU! has now. Some of you were in my last ribbon share and got it and I hope you're loving it too! The card itself was simple to make, without any frills or complicated techniques. I simply colored in the sweet pea with my blender pen and my classic ink pads. What WAS special about this card was that I used my free UHU glue stick that I received in the mail a week or so ago. In order to get it free, I was asked to provide feedback via my blog and link you to the blog where I found out about the free UHU samples. Here is the blog, and next are my comments on the product.

Here is a close-up of the image stamped and colored in on SU!'s Shimmery White card stock. I'm loving this stuff, especially for holiday cards like you'll notice below. It really is pretty when you catch it at the right angle and in the right light. I wish it always looked this shimmery!!!



Stamps: Event Full, Word on Word
Ink: Black StazOn, Old Olive and Bashful Blue classic ink
Paper: Old Olive textured CS, Shimmery White, Bashful Blue and More Mustard CS
Accessories: SU! 5/8" Olive Grosgrain

I got the sample in the mail and must admit that I wasn't super excited because I don't use glue sticks. I don't like them, I prefer glue and am always found with the Scotch 3M brand of Quick-Dry Tacky Adhesive (now found at my local Wal-Mart - the only store in town - yippee!!!). I like the control of glue dispensed from a fine-tip applicator and the fact that it holds REALLY well. So, I tried this UHU glue stick on three different paper-to-paper combinations. I used it on the card above, as I mentioned. I glued the More Mustard card stock to the Old Olive textured card stock and found that it did not work very well in adhering the smoother Mustard CS to the textured Olive. I think the texture is what made this occur - with texture comes less surface area for contact, and it seemed like this glue stick needed a lot of surface area covered with it and in contact with the surface you were adhering it to. The Shimmery White card stock was glued to the More Mustard layer and I found that as long as I got the glue everywhere, especially along corners and edges, it adhered these two layers very well. I didn't like how if you were trying to go along edges it would sometimes actually get on the outside edge of the paper if you weren't super careful, and then you risked smudging it onto the top of you layer, or in this case, on top of my Shimmery layer with my image on it. There's definitely not as much precision possible with a glue stick as with a glue coming out of an applicator. As I said though, it did adhere these two layers just fine. The More Mustard layer I also used the UHU stic on to adhere it to the Bashful Blue layer and I observed the same thing, that it worked fine on this smooth card stock as long as you adequately covered the card stock with it. I did not use it on the Blue Bashful layer, that one is mounted onto the textured card stock with dimensionals. Overall, for the price (under a dollar!) these little sticks would be a good investment for mass producing items (like for swaps) as long as you aren't using any textured papers. I will continue to use mine in such instances. Where I'm really worried about quality (edges not getting glued down) I won't use it, but that's just my personal preference and the things I observed when using the product. Check it out for yourself at Maria's blog listed above!!!

This next little card is the one I mentioned that I made out of a scrap piece of Old Olive textured card stock. I used one of the stamps in the Winter Mini Catalog called Season of Joy. I did not, however, use the images that are ON the stamp with the word "JOY". I used my handy-dandy Stamp-a-Ma-Jig to take one of the flower images on that same stamp and place it in the "o" and I also took the little flower with a circle around it and colored it with my marker and placed it in the spot where a star was over the "j" to "dot" it. I'd love to hear what you think.

Here is a close-up of the pretty shimmery paper and the pretty "Fire" rhinestone brad that I added to the flower in the "o". I'm really having fun with these brads, but the "hoarder" in me doesn't want to actually USE them on any of my cards or projects!!! I tend to do that with embellishments... :P LOL






Stamps: Season of Joy
Ink: Black StazOn, Bashful Blue and More Mustard markers
Paper: Old Olive textured CS, Shimmery White, Bashful Blue and More Mustard CS
Accessories: SU! Bashful Blue Taffeta ribbon, SU! Fire rhinestone brad, Stamp-a-Ma-Jig


I've got to run, I'm supposed to be somewhere by 5:00, so I'll post the recipes to these two cards later. Take care!!!

I've Been Tagged!

So there I was (how military stories from war usually start)....checking my list of blogs I love to read and the very first one with a new post was Andrea's and I am reading her funny answers to that name game that's going around and I see that I have been tagged by her! Thanks Andrea, and make sure you go check out her blog, you will love it if you don't already! It's Andrea's Stamping Blog. Anyway, for the game:

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet, current car) Lily Sienna (too bad I don't have my Mustang anymore!)
2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (favorite ice cream, favorite cookie) Peanut Butter n' Chocolate Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip (Okay, that's retarded - maybe I should just steal Andrea's and say something simple like Oreo Oreo, but my answer's the truth for me, I LOVE peanut butter and chocolate together! The ice cream is at Baskin Robbins and the cookies are ones that I make)
3. YOUR FLY “GUY/GIRL” NAME: (first initial first name, first 3 letters last name) amcc (could prounounce it a-mac I guess)
4. YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal) Blue Penguin
5. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, city where you were born) Marie Lexington
6. YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (first 3 letters last name, first 2 letters first name) mccann
7. SUPERHERO NAME: (2nd favorite color, favorite drink and add” the”) The Green Cherry Coke (another dumb one!)
8. NASCAR NAME: (first names of your grandfathers) Hector Reza
9. STRIPPER NAME: (favorite perfume, favorite candy) Delight Starburst
10. WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s and father’s middle names) Jo (my Dad doesn't have one, Jo is my Mom's - LOL)


Now to tag some other people who have great blogs:

Jennifer at Stampin' Crazy
Tina at Wooded Views
Laura the Stampin' Soldier
Renée at Nee's Kreative Korner
Lori at Inking Aloud

Tomorrow I'll post my first card for CC133 on SCS. Unfortunately my opportunities to stamp slowed on Saturday and haven't gotten any better. I had these grand ideas of stamping lots every day and doing at least 7 of the 8 SCS challenges...oh well. Also, I'll give out details of the "Cards for our Airmen" event I'm organizing here on the base for World Card Making Day.

Kathryn's Box

Here's the other 2-5-7-10 box I made for my other friend. How cool is it to have a good friend share a birthday?!?! Mari-Ann and Kathryn are not only really good friends of mine, but they are super close with each other and they have the same birthday! They're a year apart in sharing it and Kathryn won't let Mari-Ann forget it! :) Anyway, this was her box and below is the recipe. Have a great day!

Stamps: Doodle This, See You Around jumbo wheel
Ink: Black StazOn, Taken with Teal, YoYo Yellow, Green Galore
Paper: Green Galore, Taken with Teal, Whisper White
Accessories: Corner Rounder punch, Crop-A-Dile, Black Grosgrain Ribbon, Liquid Glue, Dazzling Diamonds, Dimensionals, Blender Pen

Mari-Ann's 2-5-7-10 box

I wanted to give my very good friend, Mari-Ann, just a little something for her birthday. We don't get each other big gifts or anything (there are enough birthday parties for kids and baby showers around here to last a lifetime as far as gift-giving!!), but we do give each other little treats on our birthdays. She gave me some yummy cookies before I went to my sister's wedding in August for mine to eat in the car, along with a card.

Anyway, I made this little box for her from THIS tutorial on SCS, and filled it with the little goodies you see to the side of the box. She's one of my friends that really appreciates my stamped gifts so I always enjoy giving her random cards, or things like this. Did I mention that she lives right across the street from me? What a blessing to have such a good friend so close! Anyway, happy birthday to you, Mari-Ann! Our friend Kathryn also has a birthday today, but I haven't made it over to her house to give her her little treat, so I won't post it until tomorrow. Until then....

Stamps: Doodle This, See You Around jumbo wheel
Ink: Black StazOn, Soft Sky, Green Galore, Barely Banana, Elegant Eggplant
Paper: Elegant Eggplant, Soft Sky, Whisper White
Accessories: Corner Rounder punch, Crop-A-Dile, Soft Sky Double-Stitched Ribbon, Liquid Glue, Dazzling Diamonds, Dimensionals, Blender Pen

Carved & Candlelit

Whenever I hold off of purchasing a stamp set for a significant amount of time (a year, for instance) then it retires. I have been wanting this stamp set since at least last year before Halloween, but didn't get it, I got Booglie Eyes instead last year. Well, I finally got it, so I fully expect it to be leaving the SU! inventory at the next retirement!! :P

I started making this card for LSC142, but decided to go another route with it after putting on that first layer of patterned paper. I thought that the layer of patterned paper with circles would work awesome as a band if I could get a strip to exactly cover one or two rows of the circles - and I did. I also wanted to punch out one of the pumpkins in Carved & Candlelit and mount "him" with a black scalloped circle punch-out. I thought it looked cute, but then decided to pierce the scallops and outline them with my white Signo gel pen. After that, I felt like it was a tad too small on top of my band, so I added 2 layers to it, coordinating them with the colors on the patterned paper with the circles. Of course, I had to do something to one of those two layers, so I drew in some faux stitching with my white Signo gel pen. As I sat and looked at Mr. Pumpkin, I felt like he needed some sparkle, so out came my Stickles again!!

Here is a close-up of all of these little details. I just love how Mr. Pumpkin looks with glitter on him - almost like he really does have a candle in there! I'm just loving my Stickles lately!!! The whole entire pumpkin "layers" are mounted on some dimensionals, but are glued directly to each other in each of the four layers. I sure hope you like it!!!




Stamps: Carved & Candlelit, Happy Everything, Flexible Phrases Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Black StazOn Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, Creepy Crawly DS paper Accessories: 1 3/8" Circle punch, Scallop Circle punch, CM circle cutting system, White Signo gel pen, Stickles, Black brads, piercing tool

Halloween Meets SC142

So I thought I'd try another card with the SC142 layout. I wanted it to be a longer card though, so I went with a 3x6 format so that it was elongated like I wanted but still would fit in envelopes that I have. I guess I could have done letter-size too, but I've never done one of those and didn't really want to yet. Anyway, this card is rather simple, I hope you like it but I'm not too sure if I do. I think it's because I didn't get to use a single image on the right, I didn't have anything that fit - even Booglie Eyes guys were too wide - so I went with what I had, oh well.

This close-up (Make sure you click on the picture - talk about CLOSE UP!!! look at the texture on that card stock (not SU!'s "ultra-smooth Whisper White, this is again Papertrey's White CS) is of the little pumpkin from the Bitty Boos Too set (part of the Fall Frenzy special you can check out as a link in my sidebar on the right) shows how I actually rock-n-rolled the little guy ( stamped him off first, then rolled him in the same ink). Like I mentioned, I needed a smaller image than I had originally planned on using. I wanted to use the Carved and Candlelit tall, skinny pumpkin while I had this card in my head and in its beginning stages, but once I stamped that giant "happy" sentiment too much of my card was taken up :) So, I stamped two of the little pumpkins, adhered them to some Basic Black, and popped that up on some dimensionals on my card. I would love to hear what you think (as usual!!)!!

Stamps: Bitty Boos Too, Happy Everything, Flexible Phrases
Ink: Pumpkin Pie, Black StazOn
Paper: White CS (from Papertrey), Basic Black CS, Pumpkin Pie CS, Creepy Crawly DS Paper
Accessories: Piercing tool and guide, Black brads, Black grosgrain, stapler

LSC134

I decided to use the Limited Supply Challenge (see today's earlier post for the link - I've got to make this as quick as possible!) to inspire the development of this card for a friend's baby shower tomorrow. I got some really cool "detail" shots of different parts of the card too, so you'll get to see those below. First, however, I wanted to let you know that yes, my DH (Peter) is out of town, and yes (as Juanita mentioned) I'm getting to do lots of stamping lately. That's because without Peter here, I don't have much to do after the girls go to bed. Sweet little Daniel gets to play in his bouncer right next to me while I stamp away - or sleep if he feels like it - and it's fun for both of us!!! I don't know how long I'll be able to keep up stamping this much, but hopefully it won't come to an end!

This first detail shot is of the frayed ribbon. If you'll look closely at the shadow next to the Old Olive textured card stock, you'll realize that it's presence means that the Old Olive and everything on top of it is mounted on dimensionals. That shadow wouldn't be as pronounced if the layer was glued directly to the Regal Rose card stock base layer. Know what I mean? :) To get your ribbon to fray, you simply cut off the very edge of both sides of the ribbon (the part that's not "ribbed" - it should be pretty obvious when you look closely at a piece of ribbon what I mean) and then pull it apart. It's fun and creates a neat texture for your projects.

This next shot displays the shadow I added around the edges of my stamped images (you'll definitely want to click on this one to enlarge it). I got a gray marker from my friend Anne who is a demo for TAC, and I don't still have my catalog (loaned it out and never got it back) so I don't know what the marker is called in the book, but on it it says "TOMBO ABT N95" and I "bolded" the "AB" on purpose. Anyway, I LOVE this marker because it's just dark enough to not totally ruin your image by adding it, but gives it some depth/dimension in a matter of seconds. It has two ends, a brush tip and a more fine tip (not quite as fine as SU! markers though).

This last detail shot proves that this really is Shimmery White card stock, and that was really the point of it. I think the image looks really cool when you can see all of the shimmer through it. You may want to click on it to enlarge it and see the pretty shimmer better. I really like this shot!!! :)





Cards are so much neater now that I am looking at different elements on them more closely! The perfectionist in me has a little bit of a hard time seeing the tiny flaws that it brings to light, but that's what the "big picture" at the top is about - not seeing those tiny flaws. These detail shots allow me/us to see some different aspects of the card in angles and a closeness that isn't possible when you shoot the whole card at once. I hope you're enjoying these close-ups!!

Stamps: Event Full Ink: Black StazOn, Old Olive and Regal Rose classic ink Paper: Shimmery White and Regal Rose CS, Petals & Paisleys DS paper
Accessories: Regal Rose 5/8" grosgrain, gray Tombo marker, Olive (not SU!) and Rose SU! 1/4" grosgrain ribbon, blender pen


Take care!

Vera CASE in Wild Wasabi, Barely Banana and Soft Sky

For those of you that frequent SCS, you probably know Vera. She has some fabulous creations, and she's always leaving such nice comments for everyone. Well, I saw this little note card she did for a challenge a while back, and LOVED it! It stayed in my head for a while and then when I came up with this color combo, I thought I'd give it a try. I offer this color combo as a challenge to you. If you do take a few minutes to create something with it, PLEASE leave a comment with a link to your work so that I can take a look. I really like these colors and want to find a good balance for them on a card and would love to see what you come up with!!! HERE is the link to Vera's card on SCS, check it out and let her know how cute it is!

The dimensions of this card are 4" x 4". Here is the detailed shot of this card. I decided that the Banana ink didn't stand out a whole lot on its own, so I put some Stickles on top of it to give it a little bling. I changed her card up in these ways: colors, sentiment at the bottom is a shape rather than words, different stamp set, no textured paper (unfortunately), smaller ribbon (wish I had some larger ribbon that coordinated) and I added an extra layer to the "band" in the middle. I'd love to hear what you think!!

Stamps: In the Spotlight
Ink: Barely Banana, Wild Wasabi
Paper: Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky and Barely Banana card stock
Accessories: Crop-A- Dile, Soft Sky Double-Stitched ribbon, Scallop Circle punch, Stickles

Limited Supplies Challenge

This challenge on SCS is one that I've always been a little reluctant to try. I figured it would be too hard to have to use only certain items, etc. Well, I did it, and this week's challenge (LSC134) isn't too hard, either!! It makes us limit our layers to 3-4. You're also supposed to limit embellishments, so hopefully my four brads aren't overboard! ;) This card also falls under the WT132 challenge again, using Basic Gray.

I decided to do some paper piercing to make the lines of the layers pop. I hope that it worked. Here's my up-close and personal shot of my paper piercing. Don't you just love that textured paper!?!?! It's funny all of the little things you notice in a picture that's this close. I noticed that the White paper has a little bit of frayed edges, and I was using my Tabletop Trimmer, so I'm not sure why. It's NOT SU! paper though, this is Papertrey's White paper that's a little heavier weight. I used it for the table-topper's at my sister's wedding. Anyway, I hope you like it and I'd love to hear what you think!!

Stamps: Close as a Memory
Ink: Basic Gray classic ink
Paper: Basic Gray textured card stock, White (Papertrey) card stock, Basic Black card stock
Accessories: Black brads, paper piercing tool and guide, sponge

Another Try at WT132

So, I changed the layout of my previous card a little. I turned this one into a square card, added a punched square, and pushed them together. I also decided to try and simplify the stamping by stamping on all four colors at once with VersaMark. If I hadn't been worried about embossing powder sticking in the tiny crevices between the squares, I would have embossed the image in clear detail embossing powder because it would have made it pop more and also it would have been darker. As it is, it's hard to see the image on the Barely Banana square, but bear with me. It's much easier to see in real life - hard to photograph it well. So, I hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think!

Stamps: True Friend, Hugs & Wishes
Ink: VersaMark, Basic Gray
Paper: Basic Gray textured card stock, River Rock, Groovy Guava, Soft Sky and Barely Banana card stock
Accessories: 1 3/8" square punch, silver brad, Basic Gray Taffeta ribbon

Ways to Use it Challenge

So, I'm four for four now!!! I've done every challenge at SCS this week. This challenge is WT132 and it's to use the new Basic Gray color that SU! has.

I had an idea in my head of what I wanted to do, and this card is pretty much it. I wish I had some wider ribbon to tie at the top, but I wanted it to be Basic Gray colored and the only ribbon I have in that color is the Taffeta.

I hope you like it - it was MUCH harder to do than I thought. I wanted the image stamped in Basic Gray on the Basic Gray textured CS to line up EXACTLY with the image stamped on the assorted punched squares and it was a little difficult to do that. Oh well, hopefully no one looks THAT close. Speaking of which, this card doesn't really have any interesting dimension to photograph up close, so I won't do a detail shot for this one.

I do wish that this flower image extend a little more to the right and left so that it would have stamped more of the image on the River Rock and Mellow Moss squares. Because I had to use my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to get everything as closely on top of the Basic Gray stamped image as possible, I didn't want to stamp multiple images to make the branches cover more. It would have made it very difficult to get it even this close to the image that's underneath the squares and thus lined up with the Basic Grey parts of the branches that stick out from under them. Make sense?

Thanks for looking, and let me know what you think!

Stamps: Artfully Asian
Ink: Basic Gray, Ruby Red, River Rock, Mellow Moss
Paper: Basic Gray textured card stock, Ruby Red, River Rock and Mellow Moss card stock
Accessories: 1 1/4" square punch, Basic Gray taffeta ribbon, Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

Criss-Cross Card

I first learned of criss-cross cards at a TAC workshop hosted by Keri Sereika for our friend Anne who is a TAC demo. Anne mentioned that she found the idea on SCS, so after I went home that evening, I found the cards that are on SCS by Michelle Wooderson. The card that we made at the workshop and the ones that I made were much more simple than the ones Michelle had posted, and because I didn't have any great ideas floating around in my head for more cards, I haven't made any criss-cross cards in over a year, until now! After seeing Beate's wonderful tutorial on SCS and her beautiful card, I was inspired to try again and this card was my first attempt.

I made this card for a friend who's having a birthday soon, and she really liked Cool Caribbean last year, so I thought Soft Sky made a nice replacement. I also wanted to flip the card and do a vertical one rather than a horizontal one. I love these cards, except for the fact that usually you have to "scrunch" your note inside due to the amount of card that shows in the front (if you want the card to still present well). Maybe I'll just write "Happy Birthday!" in there and put my actual message on the back...what do you think? Here's the recipe and also my "close up" of the band. I used Stickles, and in the close-up you can tell that they don't distribute as evenly as if I had used Dazzling Diamonds glitter. I think Stickles are cleaner to deal with though, so I've been using them lately (and forgetting that they take a while to dry - so smearing them too!!! :P) over the glitter. I hope you like it!

Stamps: True Friend (2007 Holiday Mini Catalog), Party Punch (hostess level I set)
Ink: Black StazOn, Basic Black marker, Soft Sky Classic ink
Paper: Soft Sky Prints DS paper, Whisper White, Basic Black and Soft Sky card stock
Accessories: Label punch, Scallop Circle punch, 1 3/8" and 1 1/4" Circle punches, crimper, Black grosgrain and Soft Sky Double-Stitched ribbon, Black brad, Stickles, blender pen (to color flower in center with Soft Sky ink before putting Stickles on it), stapler

Sketch Challenge 142

I set a record of sorts (for myself at least!). I did THREE of the challenges on SCS in one week!!! that's 3 of 3 so far, and if I can bring myself to do more I might even go 7 of 7. I would never do the Scrapbook Challenge that's on Saturday, so I couldn't be 8/8 so we'll just pretend there's only one for each day instead of 2 on Saturdays ;) Anyway, I really like this card sketch, and you can see it here on SCS. Here is my card:



Here's the recipe for this card:

Stamps: True Friend
Ink: Always Artichoke Classic ink, So Saffron, More Mustard, Certainly Celery and Always Artichoke markers
Paper: Whisper White, So Saffron and More Mustard CS, Certainly Celery and So Saffron Prints DS paper
Accessories: Crop-A-Dile, Jumbo Eyelets in Antique Brass, 3/16" corner rounder punch, Mustard grosgrain, Fire circle rhinestone brad

I've really enjoyed the blogs out there that have been showing little detailed shots of sections of their cards like Erika Martin does. I LOVE her blog and you should check it out!!!! Because I think it's so neat, I decided to do some of that when I can (I have the time, I remember, I have something interesting enough on the card, etc. LOL). So this picture to the left is my detail shot of this card. I was hoping to better show how I colored the flower, and how the layers are mounted on dimensionals (see that tiny bit of shadow under the More Mustard layer - he he he). We'll see if I can get some better shots in the future. Let me know what you think, I'd love to see your comments!!!

CC132 Meets Merry & Bright

Can you tell I'm lovin' this new little stamp set?!?! Does the layout look familiar too?? Yes, it was inspired AGAIN by the card in the Holiday Mini Catalog using this same stamp set. The color challenge over at Splitcoast was to use Really Rust, Chocolate Chip and River Rock and it was termed as a "fall" color challenge. Well, I had out my Merry & Bright when I saw the challenge yesterday, so I decided to make it a Christmas card anyway! Here's the link to SCS CC132 and here's the recipe:

Stamps: Merry & Bright Ink: Brown StazOn, Chocolate Chip, Really Rust Paper: Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Really Rust and River Rock CS Accessories: Large Oval Punch, Antique Brass Hardware, Vanilla grosgrain

Merry & Bright Goes TLC134

The TLC134 challenge for this week can be seen here on SCS. It was to make a 2-5-7-10 box (named for where your make your scores on the card stock to create the box). I am still loving the little card in the Holiday Mini Catalog that features the Merry & Bright stamp set, so I used that inspiration for this box. I hope you can see the Stickles I used (didn't want to get all glittery with glue and Dazzling Diamonds!) on the Wild Wasabi parts of the snowman's hat and as snow under the snowman. I hope you like it!

Stamps: Merry & Bright Card Stock: Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky, Basic Black, Whisper White Ink: Black StazOn, Wild Wasabi, Soft Sky Accessories: Black Brad, Soft Sky Double-Stitched Ribbon, Stickles, Blender Pen, 1/8" hand-held punch

Mini Catalog Inspiration

This little card was made after I saw the one using Merry & Bright in the Holiday Mini Catalog. I really liked the layout and even though I'm pretty sure it's a 4 x 4 card (maybe not, but I think so), I made mine a 3 x 3. It was super quick to make and I think I'll do this at an upcoming workshop (with the Merry & Bright stamp set) so that I can feature punches, ribbon, die-cut stamps (the Merry & Bright stamp set is die-cut), brads, and maybe I'll even throw in some textured CS for one of the layers. It's a card with some bang for it's buck as far as demonstrating lots of neat SU! products. Anyway, here is the recipe:

Stamps: Booglie Eyes, Halloween Backgrounds Ink: Black StazOn, Elegant Eggplant, Pumpkin Pie Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Summer Sun, Elegant Eggplant, Whisper White Accessories: Fire Rhinestone Brad, Black Grosgrain, 1 3/8" Square Punch, Blender Pen, small "googlie" eyes

Quick Birthday Card

This was a quick little birthday card I made the other day for a friend who is about a month younger than me. It was easy to make and very quick. I hope she liked it.

Just to let you know, my in-laws will be arriving tomorrow so that they can attend Daniel's baby blessing at Church on Sunday, so I will not be posting again until Monday. I hope that you all have a great weekend!!!!






Stamps: Eat Cake
Paper: Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, Apricot Appeal and Whisper White CS
Ink: Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink and Apricot Appeal
Accessories: Regal Rose and YoYo Yellow markers, Rose, Pink and Apricot grosgrain ribbon, Liquid Glue, Dazzling Diamonds glitter

Fun Little Test

I saw this test on one of the blogs I subscribe to. It's Kristine's "Ink Something!" You should check out her blog. I'm glad I did okay - I was a Biology major after all! :)

Free Online Dating

Name Frames

I had to make 3 more name frames for the wife of one of the squadron commanders here on the base. As usual, since their squadron is the "Tigers" she requested that I have the little tiger on there. That almost always presents a challenge for me, whether in making it fit with the color scheme, or being able to balance it on the picture. That's probably the hardest thing - getting it to look right with the name and birth info.

Anyway, the first (the one shown here) was actually for a friend (but from her squadron to her) so I made it match their baby's room. I am NOT a bold brights person, so it was a challenge and I sure hope it didn't end up too busy. His bed has polka dots on the sheets and stripes on the bumper, so this ended up matching perfectly - the colors are almost exact. I hope she liked it.

I'm going to try and go back through past comments and answer questions you ask in them within the text of the post you had the question about. I will put "ETA....." at the bottom of the post. I already did that to the one with my square card for a question from Lisa. I hope this helps answer your questions better.

If you would like info/the recipe for this frame let me know. I have got to run.Thanks!

Never Forget

Do you remember the flags that were everywhere after the terrible events that occurred on September 11, 2001? Do you still display your flag in support of this great country, or do you only put it out on special occasions and holidays? I ask you to consider always displaying the flag and to never forget what it stands for. The blood shed to ensure that we have the right to fly it, or not, and the many lives, freedoms, and the history that it represents.

Reuters: The 'Tribute in Lights' shines over the site of the former World Trade Center in New York September 10, 2007. The city commemorates the sixth anniversary of the 9/11 World Trade Center attack that killed 2,750 people.

NEVER FORGET!!!!

My Very First Tutorial - Altered Notebooks

Something special I try to do for friends as they PCS (leave) our base is to make them an address book for us to put our info in so that they can be sure to keep in touch. If you check out my link to 3-D Projects on the right in the sidebar you should be able to see some of them.

Well, after I had already started step one of the project, I thought, "I should do a tutorial on this!" I've been wanting to try my hand at one, so bear with me as I learn to be better descriptive and take better pictures in the process. The picture that should have been first would have been a picture of the address book I was altering, but as I said I had already started the first step so I'll show you the inside and back of the book so you can get an idea of what I look for. Here goes:

To do this project I look for a journal/address book that has square holes for the binding, and has a paper cover that I can sort of easily remove. I have made them before without removing the paper layer on the cover but I think that they're sturdier if I take off the decorative paper on the chipboard cover of the book. So, here is a picture of the book that I started with - the inside and back (since I'd already removed and started working on the cover):















Step 1: Remove the cover by bending and opening the coils and flipping the cover to the back of the book and pulling it out of the coils. Remove the paper layer that covers the chipboard that makes your cover. You want to get as much of the cover off as possible so that it is as smooth of a surface as possible. See picture:

Step 2: If desired, cover the edges of the chipboard with Craft Ink or Classic Ink with a direct-to-pad method. If using Craft Ink you will need to allow a significant amount of time for the ink to dry so that you don't accidentally get smudges on your project. **You could also use acrylic paint to cover the edges (use a paint brush to apply) and would have to again allow time for it to dry. See picture:

Step 3: This is kind of a combining of what could be 2 steps. Cut your inside sheet of patterned paper and cover piece of card stock/patterned paper to the correct size of your chipboard cover - I usually trace the cover onto the backs of my paper to ensure they're as close as possible, or I wait to trim until later in the case of the inside piece (see step 7). Using the SU! spiral punch, punch holes along the edge where they will be needed. The spiral punch has aligned PERFECTLY for me every time so far, as long as I've chosen a journal/address book with square holes in its binding. Make sure to remember which side will be the bound side (I've messed a couple up before by putting the holes in what would have been the wrong side of the book! LOL). See picture:

Steps 4, 5, 6: Using Mod Podge (the finish doesn't matter since it won't show - here I used Matte) you will now cover the inside of your cover and place your piece of card stock or patterned paper on top of the Mod Podge, lining up the holes for your coil binding. You have to be careful not to apply too much because it will cause bubbling, and too little will dry before you can apply the paper. It's a little bit tricky, but easily figured out. I always start with the inside because it doesn't matter if it gets squashed when I'm pressing the cover flat. Sometimes your cover will have dimension to it that would get ruined by pressing the inside flat if you did it in the reverse order. I run a bone folder over the paper after I have placed it, and then flip it over and press it down to ensure that the edges are good and "stuck." Follow this with placing your completed cover on with Mod Podge. It needs to be completed so that eyelets and wrapped ribbon, etc. are hidden between the layers. The pictures I took show adhering the inside but would be the same for adhering the cover except for flipping it over and pressing it. Here you have to be more gentle and use your finger and bone folder to ensure that it is good and flat. See pictures:



Step 7: (Optional) Sometimes I like to cut my patterned paper that I use on the INSIDE after I Mod Podge (turning that into a verb! LOL) it down. I do this to ensure it fits exactly. So in this step you will see that I trim it after the Mod Podge has dried. Note that you can't do this with your cover since it will have elements that perhaps wrap around or are 3-D and don't fit well into a trimmer. Your base layer of your cover has to be cut prior to Mod Podging it down. Hopefully that makes sense! Here is how I trim my paper with my hobby blade and cutting mat. See picture:

Step 8: After putting the cover back on, tie ribbon along the coils if desired to add some more glam to your project. See picture:

Now
you are finished. I always like to make a pen to go with the book. I will either put a piece of rolled up patterned paper inside of a RSVP ball-point pen, or cover the same pen with patterned paper and roll it in some micro beads. I like to also tie some ribbon that matches on the pen's top. In the case of this book, I didn't have any patterned paper that I thought coordinated with my book so I put some red micro beads INSIDE of the pen (being careful not to get them in the ink tube) and I think it turned out neat. I only use patterned paper to cover my pens, or to roll for inside the pen, because it's thinner and works more nicely than card stock does. Here is a close-up of the beads in the pen and the finished project:


I would love to know what you think of my tutorial and where I can perhaps improve. I didn't want to have an overwhelming amount of photos so I sort of combined what perhaps could have been separate steps, but hopefully it still illustrates my process well. As for the book, I had originally envisioned it having the embossed flowers colored in with my red marker, but I decided to leave it more simple in presentation. This book was made for a friend to give to a mutual friend of ours who is leaving. I hope she likes it!

Here's the recipe for the cover I created:
Stamps: Dots and Daisies BG, Chinese "friend" stamp from Pier1 Imports, Label stamp from the Designer Label punch box
Ink: Black StazOn, VersaMark
Paper: Certainly Celery, Basic Black and Whisper White CS, Red patterned paper from My Mind's Eye
Accessories: Gold brads, Gold cord, Gold detail embossing powder, crimper, assorted ribbon, Label punch and Spiral punch

Keepsake Tin for my Parents....

Here's Saturday's post a few hours early. I have TONS to do tomorrow so I wanted to make sure to get a post in. This tin I made for my parents to put pics of Daniel in. I like it and it was pretty easy to make. I thought that the colors were "boyish" enough but really I think they could go either way - kind of like green and yellow :) I wrote his name and birth date on the bottom right corner (if you can see it) and I REALLY didn't like it after I did it, but oh well. I felt like trying to cover it up would ruin it even more. Anyway, enjoy and I would love to hear what you think!


Stamps: Everyday Flexible Phrases
Paper: Fall Flowers DS paper
Ink: Really Rust
Accessories: Really Rust Stampin' Write marker, On Board Simon Lower chipboard, white, olive and cocoa grosgrain ribbon, Really Rust eyelet, Soft Sky Double-Stitched ribbon, linen thread, word window punch, sanding block, Accents and Elements tin