Card Kits

I have been quiet over the weekend, because we went out of town. My DH had a gig in Minnesota on Friday night and another gig in Okoboji on Saturday night. We decided to make it into a little vacation, so the boys and I went with him.

I made a great purchase on our last CTMH monthly club order. I purchased two My Original Card Kits. The first one is a birthday card kit and the second one keeps me going on my Christmas cards for the year. I put these kits together on the drive up to Minnesota. The trip didn't seem four hours to me, because I was busy creating. All I needed was a flat surface, my glue gun, scissors and pop dots. The only item I forgot was my static pillow I use for embossing. I rub this on the back of the My Stickease images when I want to add pop dots. I had to improvise, so I put them on my jean shorts to remove the adhesive. Then I started putting them on the cloth seats and door. Whatever works!

Now, I have some cute birthday cards and I didn't feel like I was just sitting in the car wasting time. I always try to create when we we take a long drive. These kits contain twelves cards and envelopes. When I was done, I had three each of the four designs. YAY! Of course, at home it wouldn't take three hours to put them together.

This kit is called "I's Your Day" (item # x8622, $12.95).

This kit is called Merry & Bright (item # x8620, $12.95)

I just checked the challenge this week for Christmas Stampin' All Year Long and we get to make whatever type of Christmas card we want. SWEET! I got this week's challenge done. Maria's card has an elf on it. You would think I planned that. Of course, her card is gorgeous! Check it out!

Here are my boys tubing for the first time evah!

(from left to right...Tate, Tanner and cousin, Jackson)

Talk about a nervous mom! I was so nervous that if Tanner fell off he would swallow a ton of lake water and not realize we are coming back to get him. They both did wonderful and loved it! I kept gripping my DH's arm while they were being pulled behind the boat. Of course, I thought they were going fast. When we stopped the boat, which seemed forever too me, I asked Tanner if he was done and he smiled and said, "No, Mom". Well, I told him I was done for him and we pulled him into the boat. He thinks he is one of the BIG boys. Whew! I will be more relaxed the next time...I think! LOL!

If you haven't taken time to vote on the two polls. Check out the top of the sidebar. I am glad I am not alone on the 500+ stamp sets. Thanks, Stampers!

Happy Stamping!

Sketch Challenge sk052309

I am host this week at Paper Craft Planet for the sketch challenge.  I was inspired by the Good Times My Stickease pack and paper from CTMH.  

When you upload your card at Paper Craft, don't forget to tag your photo sk052309, so I can find it and put it in the gallery.

Here is my card for this sketch.

Have fun and Happy Stamping!

Simple Birthday

Just a quick post to show you a couple more of the quick birthday cards I put together from the Good Times Level 2 paper pack and My Stickease.

Still busy with PTA duties.  Only three days of school left...YAY!  I am so ready for summer break and spending all day with my boys.  

I have some of my CTMH stamp sets for sale.  They have been used, but are in good condition.  If you want a list, please send me an email at stampfest@cox.net.

Happy Stamping!

Staying Young

Here is another quick card I put together with the Good Times level 2 pack and My Stickease.  I am not one to lie about my age, but I do believe in living honestly and I hear eating slowly is a great idea.  I don't seem to do that...LOL!

I believe to the way I try to stay young is to be happy and enjoy every day.  I love the quote by Abraham Lincoln, "Everyone is as happy as they make their minds up to be."  That is one I have taped below our family calendar and read often, especially to our boys.

BTW, I just turned "42" and I love every age I am.  They just seem to keep getting better.

Only eight days left of school this year....YAY!  I can't wait to get back to my desk and create. 

Happy Stamping!

Enjoy the Journey

First, I want to show you the roses I got on Mother's Day.  I bought the biggest one after mass on Sunday to donate to a great organization and I got the red one from a mexican restaurant in town, La Mesa.  When we got our bill, they gave me a rose for mom's day.  That was an unexpected surprise.

My DH took our boys to the store Sunday morning to shop for mom.  They got to pick out what they wanted to get me.  Tate picked a pack of red licorice and Tanner picked a case of Diet Pepsi.  My boys know me well!  My two favorite things, especially when I am scrapping!  I am putting money I got from my birthday and mom's day towards a new lens for my camera.  I need to order it soon, so I can play with it.

On Saturday, I sat down with my Good Times Level 2 paper pack and My Stickease and made a few cards.  I don't have time to create this week due to PTA commitments, so I will be showing you the cards I made simpler, easier and faster.  That is CTMH's moto!  

My DH asks me for birthday cards for his employees and I know they will make their way to the trash, so I wanted to make some simple ones.  I used a photo corner punch for the chocolate corners.

Have a great day!

Make a Wish

Tanner is going to a birthday party on Saturday. so I needed to make a card for his friend, AJ.  I didn't want to spend a lot of time on it, because I know it will make its way to the trash.  A five year old doesn't care about the cards.  However, his mom knows I make cards, so I wanted it to be nice.  I made this card in 15 minutes.  Yes, I think that is a record for me.

I used Good Times Level 2 paper pack and Good Times My Stickease from CTMH.  When you need to make layouts or cards in a hurry this is the way to go.  I forgot how much I love this paper pack and color combo.  You will be seeing more birthday cards with this paper pack and My Stickease in May.  I need to replenish my birthday card supply.  The only accessories I used were a buttercup bigger brad and sassy strands.  I popped up the sentiment and the tag and I was done.  Viola!

Happy Stamping!

SK122008

Sorry I have been MIA lately.  I had to work all three days of the Holiday Gift Shop at Tate's school.  The shop was a big success!  The teachers loved it and the kids had a blast shopping for their loved ones.  It was so fun to watch them carefully choose items they knew their family would like.  My favorite part was giving some kids, who couldn't affored it the chance to shop with money donated.  That is the true meaning of Christmas!

Jen is our hostess today, Saturday, with the sketch challenge at Paper Craft Planet.  Just upload your card for this challenge and tag it with SK122008, so she can add it to the album.

Here is my card for this week challenge.  Since I haven't had time to stamp, I decided to use CTMH's My Stickease for a quick card.  I made a 5 x 7 card this time.

I wish you could see the elf better.  I added prisma glitter to his outfit and it looks so sparkly.  The snowflake sparkles too, because I used glitter cardstock.  

Materials I used: All materials are CTMH unless noted. 

Paper - Deck the Halls pattern paper (retired)

Accessories - Hollydays Level 2, My Stickease, prisma glitter, white daisy grosgrain ribbon, white daisy brads, pop dots (SU), snowflake punch (SU), cranberry waxy flax, glitter cardstock mat stack (DCWV)

Happy Stamping!

Going Vertical

This is the layout I did for Tate's album, which is the same design as I made for Tanner's "Pump It Up" layout. I cannot believe how high Tate swings. It makes me queezy watching him. Click on the layouts to see him flying high and having fun. I really like the chipboard arrow and flourish that seems to fit the theme of this layout.




Happy Stamping!

Pump it UP

As I wrote in my earlier post....I am on a scrapbooking kick right now. I was looking through my new Creating Keepsakes magazine (July 2008) and found a layout on page 36 that went perfectly with the pictures I just took of my boys swinging in the backyard.

Tanner (3 years old) finally learned how to "pump" on his own, so I don't have to push him on his swing anymore. YAY! ....and Tate swings so high he is vertical. I scrapped Tanner's layout last night and loved how it turned out. It was a simple layout without a lot of embellishments. I am into simple scrapbooking lately, so this layout was perfect. I think it showcases all the pictures perfectly. You can click to enlarge the layouts in order to see them better.

I used chipboard letters and arrows from the CTMH collection. In addition, I used My Stickease letters for the first part of the title. The paper is from School Zone and the My Stickease is from Hollydays. I couldn't believe these matched so well.
I have card class tonight, so I might not have time to create anything new. I am working on Tate's layout now. It will be the same format, but just a little different.

Happy Stamping!

My Stickease Galore

I needed some thank you cards and decided to make cards with just a paper pack and my stickease. No stamping! Wow! No stamping! These My Stickease "stickers" from CTMH are awesome. They are thicker than a normal sticker, so they look good by themselves. Here is the same card design with three different My Stickease combinations. I used Simple Pleasures paper pack and the matching Simple Pleasures My Stickease. If you don't have any of these wonderful embellishments that match your paper, you should get some soon!

The other accents I used are: edge anchors, designer ribbons rounds and cuttlebug (script).





Happy Stamping!

Technique Tuesday - Window Charms

This is not a stamping technique, but I hope you like it.






I forgot to mention in my video that I thought it would be a cute idea to make letter blocks for a baby card or even for a kindergarten graduation card like this!

I will not be blogging for a few days. I am going to take my normal stamping time and finish working on our taxes. I keep putting it off and I need to get it done, so I am not letting myself play until I finish my work. Hope to blog again soon!

Happy Stamping!

NO STAMPING

This layout was completed entirely without any stamping. Oh My! I actually did it! I can't believe I finished a layout with no stamps. I am so happy to know it can be done. Or at least I can do it with the help of my new little friend....My Stickease!

Here is the layout we made with the Free Spirit pack that is supposed to be for boys. YEAH! Finally, more boy "stuff". I can never find enough paper and embellishments for my boy scrapbooking stash.

We played with the creative clips that were new to the CTMH collection this year. I hadn't used them yet and was happy to see you don't have to do a lot to dress them up, if you don't want to. We used the My Stickease on the tops of both clips and slip them under the picture mat. Can you believe it? I didn't add anything to this page, once I got home.


I can't say that about the second page; however, all I added were the arrows and the "Look Out!" that are both from the level 2 My Stickease pack. I have to get more My Stickease.


Oh, you will have to wait until next week for the rest. I didn't realize Friday was here already!

Have a great weekend and take time to stamp!

Holly Days

First, thank you for all of your nice comments and hoping I feel better soon! I do feel better already and your thoughts and comments have helped. It is nice to know I have so many nice people in my life.

I finished another layout I created at my sister's in August. I just took the time to print pictures and add a few embellishments. This is another layout from Cherish. Now that I have the new Imagine book, I need to create more layouts. I still have ones waiting for photos.


I used Holly Days paper packet and My Stickease from CTMH. In addition, I used the new the new designer ribbon collection from CTMH. You can't see it from the small photo. The blue ribbon that runs across each page reads, "Counting Our Blessings". It is so true when it comes to our boys. We are so blessed! They sure make like interesting!

I pulled out my liquid glass and silver stickles to dress up the My Stickease embellishments. Both of these products give embellishments just the right amount of bling.

I am so excited about Saturday, because I am meeting my sister and mom in Des Moines. We are attending a small scrapbooking fair. It isn't a huge event, but I am ready to browse and make some create-n-takes. We are going to hit the scrapbook stores in Des Moines too. It is always fun to hang out with my mom and sister and shopping for scrapbooking supplies is the icing on the cake.

I am ready for Technique Tuesday already and I hope you like what I have created.

Have a great weekend!

ADORABLE

I finished another layout that I created in August by finally printing pictures. This layout is from the Cherish idea book from CTMH. I haven't played with the new Imagine idea book yet. This is the first layout I have completed with all black and white photos. It is hard for not to print color photos, but the pictures I chose had too many contrasting colors to the soft pastels.

Here is Tanner with his Great Grandma Medsker and his admiring big brother. This little boy has been kissed so much by his big brother that he should be chapped. LOL! See picture lower right corner.


Here is Tanner with his Grandpa Burmeister, big brother and mom. The colors in this two page layout are: heavenly blue, sunkiss yellow, white daisy, sweet leaf and blush.

Thanks for stopping by!

Technique Tuesday - Cracked Glass

I don't have a 6 x 6 layout for this technique. It is the first time I tried this one. Here are the directions:

Cracked Glass

1. Stamp your image on desired size of cardstock.
   
2. Apply Versamark over the entire piece of cardstock.
3. Cover cardstock with clear embossing powder.
4. Heat the embossing powder until melted.
   
5. Repeat steps 2, 3 and 4 ... five to seven times (On mine, I repeated six times.).
6. You will have a thick coat of melted embossed powder over entire image.
7. Bend cardstock carefully until layers crack. Bend different parts of your cardstock until you like the look of it.
8. Optional - If you would like the cracks to show more, sponge with dark colored ink over the entire image. The ink will seep into the cracks. Wipe with paper towel to pick up any excess ink.

Here are a couple of enlarged images I used for the cracked glass technique. I had this image sitting on my scrap desk and is was not stamped on cardstock. I think this technique would work better with cardstock, because it is thicker.


I did not sponge dark colored ink over my image. Next time, I will try this.

I used Alfresco stamp set, Simple Pleasures paper pack and Simple Pleasures My Stickease. I finished the card off with cocoa ribbon, pewter photo hanger and pewter brad. All of these products are from CTMH.

Now, it is your turn!

BOYS RULE

I had fun creating this page and searching for pictures to add to the layout. I wanted to get action shots of my boys, especially Tate since it goes in his scrapbook. This first page has him playing with a car track with his idol, Jacob. Jacob is my sister's 16 year old son. At the time the picture was taken Jacob was 14 and Tate was four. Jacob can't live a minute without my boys hanging on him and saying his name. He is a wonderful big cousin to look up to. He plays so nicely with my boys and they love him!

Tate is jumping on a trampoline with another cousin, Ben. He is my oldest brother's son. Tate and Ben are six months apart in age, so they love playing with each other.

I used Lazy Days of Summer paper pack and My Stickease on this two-page layout. I wanted to accent the layout with red to give it a little *POW*. I like how it turned out.

Tate is acting like Spiderman jumping off a chair in the family room wearing his Spiderman boxers. On the top little picture, Tate is relaxing in the baby pool we used to have with Tanner. You can see the layout better when you click on the images.

I used Rustic Alphabet for the title. I think that one is my favorite "E" sized alphabet that CTMH carries. In the little jar I used the stamp set BUGS to stamp the little lighting bugs and colored them in with markers. For the tabs, I used my tab punch I bought at Hobby Lobby.

I forgot to give you Jeanne's blog site Creative Bliss, when I wrote about her making my blog banner. She is so awesome! Check out her site! I have tagged her before, but you still need to visit to see what she has been up to lately. Jeanne is getting into digital scrapbooking and is very good at it.

Friday morning I am off to meet my sister for lunch (Happy Joe's) and scrapbook shopping in Des Moines, Iowa! Happy Joe's is a pizza and ice cream parlor that makes the best taco pizza. Well, I think so, because I grew up eating this wonderful pizza pie. After shopping, we are going to a weekend crop. Yippee! How can it get any better than that?

Have a great weekend!