Blog Problems

There was a problem with my blog today. Apparently the "Site Meter" had something to do with it. I thought I had broken the blog!!! I had even pondered the notion of not having a blog anymore because starting all over isn't an option for me. But upon actually reading blogger issue problems and finding some helpful comments left by some REALLY intelligent bloggers I was to remove my "Site Meter" and it should take care of it. SO I removed it and my blog is up and running just fine!! Plus there was another issue. Some blogs had been marked as Spam by Blogger and they were working to fix it. I thought maybe that was why my blog wasn't working. But for me it was the meter. It's now gone and all is well.

Thanks for your patience,
Wanda

Another Card From the Wednesday Sketch Challenge

I was glad I was able to find some time to try another card from this weeks Sketch Challenge at SplitCoastStampers. I just wasn't happy with the first one. It was the background around the snow angel that I didn't like. Mostly because it was the same color as the stars and I didn't think they stood out enough.

SO this card contains NO stars to bug me!!! LOL I ran across some fun background paper. It looked like an old catalog page or old newspaper page. It sure didn't take much for this card. You could do 12 cards with a piece of 12" x 12" decorative paper. Good information to know if you're planning on making a bunch of cards.

I sponged the edges to give it an even more aged look. I had put it all together and realized the main card part, the vanilla was just too bright so I took off the layers and sponged the vanilla to "age" it a bit. It seemed to work. It all blended well and I now have a fun masculine birthday card.

For the words I used a stamp from the new Stampin' Up! set "Heard from the Heart." And the car is from the retired set "Classic Pickups." I REALLY like that set.

Isn't it cool that all the new rubber stamps will be die cut so you no longer have to cut them out? Don't give up those rubber stamp scissors though. Some things don't come die cut. Like the custom rubber stamps and the sets made before the die cut change. You will still need to cut those out!! SO hang on to those scissors for a bit longer!!!

This item was made entirely of Stampin' Up! products. To view more items made entirely of Stampin' Up! products click here.

Thank you SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

Technique Page Bleaching

I know this is an old technique but to have a book of techniques it needs to be made to be included in it!!

You want a darker colored card stock to do this technique. Fold your paper towels to fit in the glass dish. Set the paper towels in the glass dish and carefully pour the bleach on it to soak them. You do not want them to be too dry but you don't want them to be sopping either. You will be using the paper towels as your "ink" pad. Put your stamp on the paper towel "pad" as you would an ink pad. Stamp the image on your dark colored card stock. As the bleach dries the image will show up in a different color. You may want to do this in a well ventilated area due to the smell of the bleach.

It's a pretty simple technique and you can have a lot of fun with it. It's very interesting to see what colors the bleach brings out in different colors of card stock. You may want to click on the photo to see the bleaching closer. It didn't photograph well.

I have trouble working with bleach because I have a cat that LOVES it for some odd reason. We think she may have been a bleach blond in another life!!! LOL I have Holly Tex brand carpet in my workroom and there is a list of steps of cleaners that you use to get up spots and the last item on the list is bleach water (half and half). This carpet was designed to accept the bleach mixture without ruining the carpet. Well, there had been a couple of times I had to use it and that cat would rub on the carpet with her face. I have to put a laundry basket on the area and put something on top of it so she doesn't get into that area. I just don't know what is up with that cat. And if I get it on my hands, even after washing them she still smells it. And then she's constantly rubbing her face in my hands. Silly, silly cat!!! Today I was able to do this technique without her being near me. Lucky me!!!

You can use this technique to create some fun backgrounds!!

This item was made entirely of Stampin' Up! products. To view more items made entirely of Stampin' Up! products click here.

To see the other Technique Pages, click here. You can also watch them on the slide show on the right sidebar, just scroll down a bit. But if you want to see them faster just click on the link above to take you to all of them!

Thank you SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

Wednesday Sketch Challenge at SplitCoastStampers

It seems that each week the Sketch Challenges (SC) at SplitCoastStampers are more fun than the last week. Though I am not all that fond of the card I did I submitted it anyway in hopes that I would find some time to make another one.

I don't care for the background in the apricot color. I should have done it in a soft blue. I did get to play with my airbrush. I don't get to use it very often and when I do I really do enjoy it.

I used it on the coat, hat and background. The rest was done using markers and a blender pen.

I had run across some decorative paper I had bought last year and never used it. Imagine that!!! LOL And no, I didn't run across it cleaning! I wish! I was looking for something I had misplaced, if you can believe that!!! LOL When I saw the sketch challenge I thought of that paper. I was a bit reluctant to do a snowman in the summer but as cold as my workroom is I could only think of winter!!! My workroom gets unbelievable cold. But I'd rather have it that way than hot. I HATE the heat.

Anyway, I also was able to play with one of the new word sets that will be in the new catalog. It's called "Heard from the Heart." I thought it was a sweet set and I LOVE the looks of the larger words. And I thought it was versatile too. I can take a marker and use only the large words if I want or just ink up the whole thing and use it all.

The snow angel stamp is by Inky Antics. They have some really sweet snowmen. And you know me and snowmen!!!

If I find time to do another sketch I will post it here when I finish it. Hopefully it will be one I will like better than this one!

If you have time I highly recommend you stop by SplitCoastStampers and try the Sketch Challenge. They are a lot of fun and what is REALLY fun is to see all the different takes on that sketch. On the Sketch Challenge page is a link to the gallery submissions which contain only the ones from this sketch. You get to see how creative people are with the same layout!!! It's very impressive!

Thank you SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

Cute Purse Casing!

I was over at Sara's blog, "Sara's Creative Adventures" and I saw this adorable purse card she made for a 30/30 Challenge. The challenge was to not buy any new stamping stuff for 30 days (I'd die!!! LOL) and to make something each day for 30 days. Now that is something I could do and not die!!! LOL

My card is a case of Sara's and hers was a case from someone else. You can visit her blog for more information on this card and on the 30/30 challenge. I didn't participate in it because I knew I couldn't do the not buying anything new for 30 days.

I just thought this card was SO cute. It's done with punches!! Well, except for the squares behind the purses. The instructions called for the Stampin' Up! square punches but they were too small for the label punch that made the purse so I just cut them on the paper cutter. The black squares measured 1-5/8" x 1-5/8" and the colored squares measure 1-7/8" x 1-7/8" each. I REALLY should read Sara's instructions better and I wouldn't have had to cut the CS, except for the outside layer. But for those of you who don't have the square punches you know that you can use the paper cutter instead!

This was a VERY fun card to make and it really didn't take much time at all. There was just a little bit of stamping. I used the Stampin' Up! "Boho Backgrounds" set on the purse part. The colors I used were Barely Banana, Almost Amethyst, Pretty in Pink and Bashful Blue. I used the same colors of ink on each of the purses. I didn't have any decorative paper to match each purse so I just used stamped card stock and it turned out just fine.

I am going to send this to a friend of mine later in the week. She LOVED Red Lobster and last week I received a gift card in the mail for $10 off a $20 order there if you use your Discover card. I received it because Discover sent out brand new cards with new charge account numbers on it. I know it's for safety reasons but I HATE it because now I have to contact those places that we have bills paid directly to our charge card. It's such an inconvenience. They do this to us now and then and I think it's because of the time $600 was sent to Nigeria via Western Union in Missouri of all places. I was contacted by Discover to see if I had made that transaction. Nigeria??? I don't know anyone in Nigeria and personally I'd actually have to go online to even find a Western Union store/shop/bank whatever they are in my area. SO they took care of it and cancelled our charge cards and issued us new ones. And then began the process of finding those places that take their payment out monthly on our charge card and letting them know the new information. Such a pain.

Anyway back to the card. I think my friend will like it! What's not to like about it??? It's such a fun card!! I won't tell her how easy it was to make though!! LOL

Thanks Sara for posting this so I would be tempted to case it!!! You do great work and your blog is a LOT of fun!!!

Thank you all SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

I Received an Award!!!

I received an award from Sandie at Bear Patch Crafts. Sandie has some REALLY cute crafty things on her blog. For those of you looking for 3-D items to make for gifts you should be able to find something on her blog.





I thank you for the award Sandie but I'm sorry to say I am unable to play at this time.

Unbelievable!!!

I can not even begin to tell you all that went wrong while making this card!!!

Imagine if you will a white card, just a half a sheet of card stock folded in half. And at the bottom right corner was the flower pictured on this card. It was in the apricot oval. Just sitting there in the lower right corner. Nothing more on the card. I just wanted to make a very simple "thank you" card. On the inside I was going to use the little "thanks" from the Stampin' Up! set "Everyday Flexible Phrases." That was all I wanted. Something just simple and the "thanks" on the inside would say it all. But it turned out SO ugly I couldn't even take a picture of it. SO I cut the flower off the corner and layered it with the decorative papers and card stock.

Then I made a larger layer that went the long way on the card. It was about 3/4" from the top and bottom. I set the flower layer on top and it looked awful. SO long and out of place. So I cut it down. Well, in doing that the proportion wasn't right for the flower layer. I ended up cutting another layer the same size as the flower one and going that route. Oh but I forgot to tell you. Before I had the long layers on and the flower just sitting there on top I had stamped "thanks" on white and punched it out. Then I punched out a larger circle using the decorative paper. And I layered those on top of a piece of Regal Rose I had used the scallop punch on. UGH!!! And then I had the audacity to try to get the scalloped layer to work with these two layers you see on the card. Another BIG UGH!!! LOL

I decided to tie on some ribbon and add the words directly onto the decorative paper and I was much happier with how this turned out. The behind the scenes stuff gets to be pretty intense sometimes and in the photo it looks like it was just simple and sweet!!!! Pictures can be deceiving!!! LOL

This item was made entirely of Stampin' Up! products. To view more items made entirely of Stampin' Up! products click here.

Thank you SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

Taking Advantage!

Isn't it fun when you can take something so plain and dress it up to be so cute you don't want to use it?? LOL

This is the time of the year when you can find some REALLY great bargains on school supplies!!! And I mean REALLY great deals. These little composition notebooks are always so expensive but at this time of the year you can get them for a song and a dance. Well, not really. I got kicked out of Wal-mart for the "song and dance" thing and I'm not allowed back!!! And if you heard me sing or saw me dance you'd understand!!! LOL

I have to tell you a little story about what happened to me on Mother's Day this year. We were at Perkins for dinner and "Blueberry Hill" was playing on their sound system. I started singing along and DH asks me "who sings that song?" I told him, "Fats Domino." And he says to me, "Let's keep it that way!" LOL There's a music critic in every family, isn't there? LOL

Ok, back to this fun composition book. I thought it would be fun to dress them up a bit. It's nice to have them decorated a bit so they would never get mixed up with someone elses. This would be a great project for the kids to do on their notebooks. It personalizes them plus gives them some fun things to do with their notebooks. I was going to add some buttons or buckles and ribbons to this but realized I was going to be putting mine in my purse and those fun embellishments wouldn't stay on there for long. And they'd probably get caught on something else in my purse. Certainly not money!!! Never any of that in there anymore!!! LOL

To cover these notebooks you just put your card stock over the notebook and take a pencil and make light marks where you need to do your cutting. It's very rare to find the font and back of the notebook to be equal because of the way the spine piece is put on. So you will need to cut the front and back out separately. And again for the spine piece you'll just lay a piece of card stock over the black, add a little more and mark where the folds go. I used the bone folder to make a nice sharp fold. And do the same for the back part of the spine.

Decorate your notebooks as you like. Keep in mind where these are going to used before you load them up with embellishments!!! It's probably best to keep them simple.

I used the "notes" stamp I had from Vista Print. You can order your own custom stamp from them or Stampin' Up! and have your notebooks say what you want. I'm wondering if I had one made by Stampin' Up! then it would never retire now would it????? Hmmmm, there's a thought I'm going to have to pursue!!!!! Then I can use it on any notebooks I make and it would still be all Stampin' Up! products!!! Ok, guess what I'm ordering??? LOL

Ok, now when you pick up those notebooks for the kiddies help them decorate them up for school!! Or dress them up yourself and suprise them on the first day of school!

Click here to view my other notebooks for more ideas!

Thank you SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

Leave it to Leah!!!

Leah is a very good friend and a FABULOUS and very CREATIVE stamper!!! She is extremely talented, especially with those Peppermint Patties!!!! It's amazing what she can come up with!

Leah made these wonderful cards that I just had to share with you. I am just lovin' the sports one!!! Not that the baby one isn't great too but I'm SO impressed with the sports one because I rarely do any sports cards. I was drawn to the brightness of the card too. Isn't it just wonderful? She used a decorative shank button on the bow. It was just SO perfect for that card too!! Probably why she used it, huh?? It was SO nice of her to share her cards with me and to allow me to share them with you.

I have never thought of using those buttons on cards before. Thank you Leah for the new ideas and for inspiring me. Next time I'm out shopping I'm going to be looking at those decorative buttons a little differently. They're not just for clothes anymore!!!

Leah also used those buttons in her scrapbooking. She said she removes the shank on the back so they lay a little fatter on the pages. Another GREAT idea!!! I told you she was "CREATIVE" now didn't I???

Here is another great idea that Leah had earlier this year. These graduation candies are SO cute. And they were a BIG hit at the party too!

Oh and if Leah's hubby is reading this, Leah REALLY wants a "Sizzix Big Kick" for Christmas!!!

Thanks SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

Fossil Stone Technique Page

Here's a REALLY cool technique. I just love the effect of this one. And the colors you can mix together make it even more fun.

Rub one of the colors on the inside of the front of the plastic folder. Repeat with the second color on the inside of the back of the plastic folder.

Put the plastic folder together and rub so that the two inks mix and bubbles form. You may want to have a piece of paper over the plastic so you don’t get ink all over your hands. You want the ink to be all over the entire plastic pieces.

Put two pieces of Glossy White Card Stock together, glossy side out. Insert in the plastic folder and then rub so the ink transfers to the card stock.

You can use it as your background and you can stamp directly on top of it too. SO much you can do with this background. And it's perfect for a masculine card!!!

This one is going in my technique book and I have one ready to go with the other pages that I will be giving away as Blog Candy when my blog reaches 500,000 hits. That should be within 30 days. And with that in mind I'd better get cracking on making some more pages. A month will fly by fast. Plus a page a week won't add up to much so I need to do two or three and that should make a very nice resource book for someone!!! The book pages will go to a lucky winner in a random drawing. When I put out the word on the Blog Candy you will just post a comment there and the names from that post will be drawn. Plus I will be adding some more names too. You may have an extra chance to win. I will pick a day from now until the post of the Blog Candy, a day that has the most comments. I will take those names and add them to the drawing. SO if you left a comment on a day that has the most comments your name will be in the drawing twice!!! SO much fun!!

This item was made entirely of Stampin' Up! products. To view more items made entirely of Stampin' Up! products click here.

To see the other Technique Pages, click here. You can also watch them on the slide show on the right sidebar. But if you want to see them faster just click on the link above to take you to all of them!

Thanks SO much for stopping by,

Wanda

So, I'm At The Dollar Spot In JoAnns...... Weekend Project

Need I say any more????? LOL I wish I could just walk right past that area but no, I just have to "look to see if there is anything new." Well of course there is, there's always something new there. Today it was strawberry stuff. The paper note cube is what caught my eye. And the Stampin' Up! "Tart & Tangy" set came to mind. And I knew I had some decorative papers left too. SO I got them out and my Crop-A-Dile and started to play.

Now this project didn't take long at all. I counted 30 sheet of the strawberry paper and removed them all at once so they would still be stuck together. Then I cut a piece of white cardboard that was in the package of decorative paper. I made it the exact size of the note paper. Then I cut a piece of the red decorative paper the exact same size too. I took a piece of white card stock and used the corner rounder and made my scallop. Now for those of you who pre-ordered the new scallop edge punch this will go much faster for you. I'm waiting to order mine, just didn't have the funds!

I taped the scalloped piece in place with a little bit of tape. I didn't put the tape where I was going to be punching. I didn't want my punch to get all sticky in the holes. It's REALLY hard to clean out. Using alcohol soaked q-tips wasn't on my list of things to do tonight!!! I marked where I wanted the holes to go and punched them with the Crop-A-Dile. Then I took some red grossgrain ribbon and fed it through the holes and tied the bow.

I took the strawberry from the "Tart & Tangy" set and used the Real Red marker on the strawberry and Garden Green on the top of the strawberry. I huffed on it and stamped the image on a piece of white card stock. Then I punched it out with the 1-1/4" punch. I punched out a red circle using the 1-3/8" punch and I used the scallop punch on the Garden Green card stock. I taped them all together and taped it on the cover. Just too quick and very simple. If you want a thicker pad just add more paper but you'll have to punch it separately, the Crop-A-Dile can only punch so many sheets at a time!

These would be a fun Make N' Take, Hostess Gift, Customer Appreciation Gift, Stamp Camp item or even for a Craft Fair.

This item was made entirely of Stampin' Up! products. To view more items made entirely of Stampin' Up! products click here

Thank you SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

Wednesday Sketch Challenge at SplitCoastStampers

This week's Sketch Challenge at SplitCoastStampers was very fun. They all have been fun. I don't think I've done one I don't like yet!!! I have missed a few of them here and there, not because I didn't like them but because I didn't have time to play that day.

I used the Stampin' Up! set "True Friend," "Boho Backgrounds" and "Fun & Fast Notes" to make this card.

For the flower part of this card I stamped the whole thing in Soft Sky ink. I then took a blender pen and wiped off the color on the leaves and stem. I picked up the Blue Bayou in pad and used one corner of it and went around the edges of the flower. Much like you would do with the "Rock 'n Roll" technique. Then I took the Old Olie marker and colored in the leaves and stems. I highlighted them a little using the Always Artichoke marker. I huffed on it to get the steam from my breath on the rubber to moisten the ink up and stamped it on a piece of white card stock. I sponged the edges in Blue Bayou. I layerd it on a piece of black card stock and added the brad.

For the #2 part of the card I used a piece of Soft Sky card stock and stamped the flowers from the "Boho Backgrounds" set on it using Soft Sky ink. I sponged the edges in Soft Sky ink and layered it on a piece of black card stock.

The #1 part of the card was done using a piece of white card stock and stamping the flowers from the "Boho Backgrounds" set on it using Soft Sky ink. I sponged the edges in Soft Sky ink and layered it on a piece of black card stock.

I felt the upper right needed just a little something so I took the birthday stamp from the "Fun & Fast Notes" set and used a marker and colored over the words "Happy Birthday." Then I punched it out with the small oval punch and sponged the edges with Blue Bayou. I punched the larger oval out using Blue Bayou card stock. I took a black marker and went around the edges of the large oval with it. I added it in the upper left corner.

For the #3 piece I took the Blue Bayou ribbon and added a piece of black card stock behind it and pated it in place over the Soft Sky piece.

I added some Dimensionals on the flower piece before I set it in place. This was such a fun card to do and I am sure going to miss the Blue Bayou and the Soft Sky colors!!!

This item was made entirely of Stampin' Up! products. To view more items made entirely of Stampin' Up! products click here

Thank you SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

Shameless Casing!!!

Isn't this card just fabulous??? I LOVE it. This was made from the Stampin' Up! "Polka Dots & Petals" set. This set is retiring as is the colors of card stock that was used to make the card. Soft Sky and Blue Bayou. Such fabulous colors together too. But the new colors coming out all compliment each other too. SO it's just a matter of giving up one color for an even better color. I've liked all the colors from the "in colors" since Stampin' Up! started doing them and each set has been better than the last.

The original card was taken from the SplitCoastStampers gallery of Jenn4. I think it was the colors and layout of the images that caught my eye. The wording on hers reads "I just heard." I didn't need that sentiment on my card so I changed it to a birthday greeting. I'm always in need of birthday cards. I just need to remember to mail them out!!!

This was a very fun and simple card to make too!! SO I made four of them!!! There a very quick card to make too!!

Head on over to SplitCoastStampers and find something to case (Copy and Study Everything)! Just be sure to give credit to the one you copied it from! It's important!

This item was made entirely of Stampin' Up! products. To view more items made entirely of Stampin' Up! products click here.

Thanks SO much for stopping by,
Wanda

Technique Page Crayon Resist

Here is another page for the technique book. Some lucky winner will be the recipient of these pages for their own book/collection. When my blog gets to 500,000 hits I will post the blog candy along with some fun game to play to enter in for a chance to win the pages!

Today's page is an oldie but goody, the Crayon Resist technique.

Stamp your image on glossy card stock using Basic Black or Staz-on ink. Take a white crayon and color in the areas that you want to remain white. Sponge or brayer over the image with Classic Ink. You can use multiple colors of ink. Try not to touch the crayon areas, the ink will bead up on it. Lay a paper towel over the top of it and blot up the ink.

This item was made entirely of Stampin' Up! products. To view more items made entirely of Stampin' Up! products click here.

To see the other Technique Pages, click here. You can also watch them on the slide show on the right sidebar. But if you want to see them faster just click on the link above to take you to all of them!

Thanks SO much for stopping by,
Wanda