Make-It-Monday #96

I decided I would join this week's Make It Monday challenge at Papertrey Ink.  I've been making Christmas cards non-stop for 2 weeks straight, so I've developed a copious amount of scraps that are perfect for this challenge: patchwork die cuts.  It also helps that I'm really into die-cutting lately, so I couldn't let this week go by without joining the fun.

For this card, I used Papertrey Ink's Tag Sale #6 to work on my die cuts; the sentiment comes from the Peaceful Pinecones stamp set, and I also used the Background Basics Tin Types for a little texture behind the tag.  For the embellishments, I *think* the wooden snowflakes are by Studio Calico and the button is from Basic Grey.  The red lacey thing you see behind the tag is actually a snowflake (called Snowflake 2) by Cheery Lynn Designs.  Patterned papers are from Authentique (Festive collection) - another great company making great products...you guys rock. :D

I always love seeing what Papertrey Ink comes up with every Monday.  Most weeks are pretty hectic for me, especially with the holidays coming up at supersonic speed, and I have to stay away (I hate to ask this, but isn't it still November?  No?).  However, when I can make time to play a little, I always feel so inspired (which will typically lead to 3 or 4 more card creations - yeaaah!).  Hopefully I'll be able to play next week - looking forward to it!!

Drowning In Paper

I've finally admitted to myself that I have too much paper - patterned, cardstock, and everything else in between.  I know I'm not alone in this, as I often hear other crafters lamenting about the cute new papers that are currently on the market, and however shall I be able to buy just one, or even two?  This is why I've been trying very hard to stay steer clear of any craft stores: because I will typically have no willpower when it comes to paper.

When I started stamping and card-making, it was like I was giving myself a more legitimate reason to buy paper.  In the past, and way before I began papercrafting, I was always buying washi just for the patterns.  I occasionally did some origami, but since I was living in Guam and the Japanese market was pretty much a monopoly, washi was all over the place and I would buy it just to have it.  I remember a lot of gift-wrapping, and even journaling, which was always fun.  I still have a crate-full of that paper from long ago, and it has held up quite well.  I've been giving some of the bulk washi to my kids for origami, but I think for the most part they'd rather draw dragons, monsters, and army men freeing the people from said dragons and monsters on regular construction paper, heh.

Nowadays I've replaced the washi craziness with another craziness: heavyweight patterned paper.  Thankfully I have a long list of people who will be receiving hand made cards and gift tags this year, and I've been slowly using up my Christmas paper.  Here is a card I made this morning from the last bits of Echo Park paper that has been sitting around:

Of course my more current cards are totally riddled with Papertrey Ink products, because apparently I'm a fanatic, heh.  I used the Snowflake Medley dies, the peppermint stir sticks from the Candy Cane Christmas stamp set (my current favorite), and the sentiment from the Happiest of Holidays set (the tag is from Pink Paislee).  For these last sets of cards, I was trying to start with a smaller canvas just to see if I would approach it with more ease, and I think it was a bit easier than starting with the typical A2 size.  I think making smaller cards is my current "thing," so we'll see where that leads me.  The huge 12x12 layouts won't be my thing for a long while, and in the meantime smaller is less intimidating. :)

Hope you like the card...enjoy!

"Time" for some CASology challenge!

I have about an hour to enter my card in the challenge over at CASology's website - and I chose a pretty appropriate stamp set: Tim Holtz's Elements of Time to go with their trigger word this week: time. :D

I don't think I ever used this stamp set before, and I remember buying it a year ago, maybe even two, when a stamp show came to town over a weekend in September.  I still love Tim Holtz, but channeling his style comes rarely, even though his products have attracted me the most over the years.  These online challenges really get my mind working, so not only do they help me use the stash I already have, but also give me an opportunity to learn new techniques and new ways to look at things in general.

I wish I would have taken the deadline more seriously (speaking of time, as a matter of fact) for this challenge since I practically started and finished this card within 20 minutes ago, but I've been wanting to do more embossing as of late, so I incorporated that element into this as well:

I don't think it's my greatest work, but I do like the monochromatic effect going on...plus, the little metal embellishment complements my Rusty Hinge ink (which I love but never really get to use on other projects).  I'll be sending this to my brother up in New Jersey, whom I have to remind that we can't be letting too much time go by before another family reunion! :)

Hope you like the card...enjoy!

WHOA, it's already the end of November?!

I cannot believe the last time I posted was before Halloween!  Where on earth has the time gone?  And to boot, I even made a few Thanksgiving cards and never had a chance to post and share anything!  I think that's the story of my life these days: wake up, blink, and it's already time for bed again!

Anyway, I've been following the Make-it-Monday challenges over at Papertrey Ink, and I decided I had some time to work on this week's challenge: splitting/trimming die cuts.  This is totally up my alley since I'm always trying to stretch my dies' capabilities.  Since my Christmas card-making is in full swing (yes, I'm a slacker and STILL making Christmas cards, gasp!), I thought I'd try to make a card that could fit the challenge.  I came up with this:

The dies I used, .....well, it looks like they are all Papertrey's, heh.  I guess I'm a fan, who knew??  I sliced the damask snowflake in half and placed the 2 pieces behind the label (from the Pretty Peonies set) to give it an extended look.  And because the original holly die cut was not going to place nicely next to "Holidays," I snipped one of the leaves and placed it over the two original pieces, giving it a more clustered look.

Thanks for stopping by.  Hope you like the card...enjoy!

(Other items used: 'happy' die and stamp from the Pretty Peonies set, Snowflake Medley stamp set, 'Holidays' from the Think Big Favorites #20 set, Mistletoe & Holly stamp and die set; patterned paper is Powder Mountain Flakes from Bo Bunny's Powder Mountain paper collection)

So Busy!

I have been running around all day today.  I cannot believe it is only Tuesday and already I am so bogged down with things that aren't even happening until Friday!  I can't even really say I'm looking forward to the weekend because my son's team made it to the playoffs, so it's technically still football season in our house...and with that comes hours and hours of practice, as well as the game itself on Saturdays (which is pretty far away this Saturday - lovely.  Not!).  Plus, my oldest has soccer, soccer, and more soccer until mid-November, so there's still a whole lot of running around to be had before we go to bed tomorrow night!  

In any case, I had a little bit of time to try out some new products late last night (well not too late... ::cough2AMcough::) and wanted to join this week's challenge over at CAS-ual Fridays: create a card with an element hanging off the card.  I thought this was such a fun idea to try, and I had a great element for this:

These gorgeous fall leaves are from My Favorite Things (Die-namics); there are 3 dies in this set and I really like the detail of all 3 leaves - so pretty.  Patterned papers are from (what a shocker!) Authentique's Thankful collection; I used Vintage Photo Distress Ink for all my edges, sentiment is from Northwoods, doily die is from Papertrey Ink's Doily Details collection, and the button is from BoBunny.  I gave the leaves some texture using Papertrey Ink's Tin Types Background Basics stamp, as well as 'Magical Background' by Hero Arts.  The card base is Papertrey Ink's vintage cream...another great paper to work with!

I plan to make a few of these cards to give to my sisters-in-law, since they are the ones we visit over Thanksgiving break.  I might embellish a little more for them, but I wanted to keep it simple for this challenge.  Thanks for stopping by!

Hope you like the card...enjoy!

CASology Week #15

I was going to post this days ago, but oops - I guess that little thing called 'life' sort of got in the way!  But no worries, for I still have just shy of an hour to join the challenge at CASology...and since I uploaded my card pictures days ago, this should take me just a few minutes to post and share with everyone.

Week #15's trigger is "night," and since I've been making Halloween cards for friends and family, as well as goodie bags for my boys' classrooms, I thought I might join the challenge with this card:

For this card, I used an Impression Obsession die that I was trying so hard not to buy because it was way too seasonal...but I couldn't pass up the cat with the wiggly tail and the laughing jack-o-lantern.  The moon and star is a separate mini stamp set from Lawn Fawn ( called 'Hoppy Halloween,' which I really should make a card with because the bunny with the fangs is pretty hilarious), patterned paper from Authentique's Enchanted collection, Bazzill Basics cardstock, Memory Box's Gothic Halloween sentiment stamp, and inks from Color Box and Sakura.

Overall, this was a really fun challenge.  My boys made the comment that they thought the moon should have been yellow; I told them they were more than welcome to make their own card with a yellow moon on it. ;P

Hope you like the card...enjoy! 

Make-It Monday #87 @ Papertrey Ink

This week's challenge involves using alphabet dies as a stamping tool.  I have to say this was a pretty brilliant idea, and since I'm such a huge die collector, it's so nice to think I have other ways to use my dies and stretch their purpose.  Very fun technique, and here is what I came up with!

I had a great time working on this card.  For the base, I used Papertrey Ink's Vintage Cream cardstock.  I didn't have any alpha dies from Papertrey Ink, so I used the one I had from Memory Box.  I'll be honest and say I never cut anything but paper with my Cuttlebug, so it was nice to experiment with other materials (I've already tried thin wood, tin, and chipboard - fun!).  I thought the stamping would turn out blotchy, but it came out rather decent.  

Hope you like the card...enjoy!

(Snowflakes from Snowflake Medley; Crackled stamp for the Edgers #4 border piece; Vintage Cream, Lemon Tart and Simply Chartreuse Inks; Patterned papers from Authentique's Peaceful collection; Little Yellow Bicycle gems; Rustic White and Rustic Cream cardstock for the die cuts)

CAS anyone?

I hope I'm not breaking any internet-challenge-code-of-conduct rules if I try to post this card on two different challenges!

I discovered the CASology blog just a few days ago after reading through some of the posts over at Papertrey Ink, and thought one of my MIM cards could easily apply to this week's CASology challenge: leaves!

This is the card:

Who doesn't think about leaves these days?  Ours are rapidly falling from our trees, and of course we also get our neighbors' fallen leaves because they live on a higher hill than us, heh.  It's a good laugh, especially since Tony is usually the one raking outside. ;P

I've already listed my supplies for this card in my previous post, so check it out!  I love this woodgrain impression plate from Papertrey Ink.  It is very life-like, not cartoonish at all, and gives such a rich texture to otherwise plain cardstock.  Sometimes plain cardstock is all you need as a background, so the impression plate gave it just enough of a 'kick' to make it more interesting (with little work involved).

Hope you like the card....enjoy!

Make It Monday #86 @ Papertrey Ink...revisited!

I must love this week's challenge because here I am again with another card!  I'm really liking this idea of embellishing the inside of the card...I'm sure we've all thought at some point or another that dressing up the inside of the card is something that requires little brainstorming, unlike the front of the card.  And even so, we will tend to ignore that slight interest in stamping the inside of the card......but once you get the hang of it, then suddenly all those little images that you'd otherwise not pay any mind suddenly spring to life!

For this card, I used Bazzill cardstock for the card itself and the layering brown panel.  I passed my brown panel through my Cuttlebug using Papertrey Ink's woodgrain impression plate...what a great effect it made on the paper!  I am slowly embracing dead, or open, space in a card.  Sometimes less is truly more!  

(Products used: Fruit Fusion: Apple mini stamp set; Strawberry Patch stamp set, and its additional sentiments set; the little apple stamped inside the card is from the Teach and Inspire stamp set; inks are all by Colorbox; light green "THANK" alphas are from My Mind's Eye; the "u" comes from Basic Grey's chipboard series from the Clippings collection)

Hope you like the card...enjoy!

Make-It-Monday #86 @ Papertrey Ink!!

I missed Papertrey Ink's Make-It Monday that featured the glitter tab last week....so cute!!  But where does the week go?  By the time I was ready to sit down and create my version of the challenge, it was already Monday night (as in 14 hours past the cut-off time, heh)!  Oh well, thank goodness a challenge can be had every week!  So, moving forward to this week's challenge!

Here is my take on it:

  
For my card, I used some rustic white paper for my sentiment, and the sentiment comes from the Mistletoe & Holly stamp set.  I also stamped the holly and berries from the same set to create my background.  The dotted side "bursts" come from the Hello Sunshine set and the flower is from Petaloo (misted with 'Lobster' Glimmer Mist).  

The sentiment stamped inside comes from the Happiest of Holidays stamp set, and the top and bottom flourish comes from the Gratitude Journal stamp set.  Overall, I think the card is okay.  I might try this same sketch in different colors perhaps.  I'm not sure if I completely love this card...I think it might be the flower being too red, or possibly too big....one thing is for sure: someone will be receiving this for Christmas this year, and I hope they like it! ;D 

I don't usually stamp the inside of my card, so this challenge was a great way to think about prettying up other parts of the card, in addition to the front.  And of course, this is just another nice way to really utilize those stamp sets with little images that might not get used as often as they should.....

I'm already looking forward to next week's challenge.....keeping my fingers crossed to find some time to do them all!

Hope you like the card...enjoy!

Christmas Time!

Oh, boy - it's that time of year!  But I suppose I should say it's *been* that time of year - Christmas Cardmaking Time!  I know a few girlfriends who are already done making their cards....as in, all 100+ of them.  Honestly, I'm surprised.  I've been known to take over an hour just trying to decide on what papers to make one card with, how is it that these chicks are already done with more than one?  

But enough about my crazy girlfriends, who are crazy and have less time than me to make cards because they have jobs outside the home and one even has 2 more kids than I do!  And their cards are gorgeous, to boot.....

So, let's see.  I've been working on a few cards for a future class at my local craft store.  Here is what I came up with:

For these two cards, I decided I would use the new Antique Labels One from Spellbinders.  The papers I used came from 2 collections: Echo Park (This & That Christmas) and Simple Stories (Handmade Holiday/Harvest Lane).  The stamps I used are from Sweet n Sassy (Season of Love) and JustRite (Christmas Antique Labels).  I also used a twig/leaf die from Memory Box.  I've decided it's a pseudo-holly branch only because I wanted something with some length, and my holly-looking die looks better as a poinsettia, which is precisely what it is: a poinsettia die!  In fact...

as you can see, I used a few poinsettia leaves to make that holly branch for these two cards.  I'm really liking the Christmas line from Simple Stories: very homey, with lots of browns and deep reds - my faves!  But I have to say, Echo Park was genius for adding stars to their Christmas line this year.  I finally took out my Sizzix stars die and put it to use!  

Hope you like the cards...enjoy!

('Merry & Bright' stamp from Impression Obsession; Canadian Kaleidoscope doily from Cheery Lynn Designs)

Make-It-Monday Challenge #83

I decided I would join in this week's Make-It-Monday Challenge at Papertrey Ink: inspiration from the card aisle!  I went to my local Michaels and found this card as my inspirational piece:

I came up with this:

For this project, I used flowers and leaves from my Rosie Posie stamp set; the sentiment comes from the Sunflower Bouquet set and the label I stamped the sentiment on is a new Darcie's die set (I'm not sure of its formal name, though, but it came in a set of four dies). The patterned paper I used is from the Simple Stories 'Harvest Lane' collection, and the inks I used are varieties from Tsukineko/Colorbox.

I had a fun time with this project.  Even though the Rosie Posie set has been out for a while, I have not had it for long.  I love the big and bold solid flowers.  It makes me think of confidence and fullness...and don't you just love those lush leaves?  At first I was hesitant about getting the matching dies, simply because I thought cutting out the images (which is something I often do when I'm making cards) would be an easy task.  Nowadays, I always try to get the matching dies for whatever stamp set I have my eyes on.  It makes the cutting process a non-issue!  

Thanks for stopping by - hope you like the card!  Enjoy!

Semi Non-Crafting Thought of the Week

I cannot believe the amount of time I wasted on Pintrest this afternoon.  In all fairness, I created an account just this morning, so for the first time ever, I sat down with my favorite cup of joe and began my journey of creating 'boards.'  Of course the first two had everything to do with food and handmade cards!  Actually, that would be a disaster: eating food (runny, oily food with an extra helping of sause) while making cards.  Hahaha, the thought is alarming!  But anyway, Pintrest is so cool!  My sister-in-law, if I'm not mistaken, planned much of her wedding around ideas she picked up on Pintrest (and her wedding was a stunner...let's just say, that will forever be a hard one to top!).  I figured Pintrest would be a good way to get my creative juices flowing, especially when I have so much beautiful paper sprawled all over my work desk and no place to call "home."  I already started a board I'm calling "Color," which is often a challenge for me - just when I think two particular colors will be spectacular together, I begin to cut and paste, and it turns into a dud.  I'm thinking Pintrest will be chock full of little 'creative highs,' where one look at a picture will really get my creativity going.....fingers crossed!

Hello, Autumn!

I think Autumn cards are the easiest for me to visualize and create.  I tend to go for earthy colors, so when I see patterned papers that have greens, browns, and burnt oranges swirled together, I already have several layouts planned for my mini albums, as well as a multitude of cards to welcome Fall and to celebrate Thanksgiving.  I can spend days just staring into pinks and blues, and not be able to go forward.  With fall colors, I can pump out several creations that I think look pretty nice.

Here is a card I was able to do in about 15 minutes, just this morning (the apples were previously cut, though).  It was well received at my local crafting store, so I will be making this card for their Demo Day next month.  It should be fun!

For my "crate," I cut strips from MME's Howdy Doody paper and overlapped them a bit to look like pieces of wood. The thinner strips of kraft with brad connectors remind me of those metal bands you sometimes see around barrels to keep them from falling apart.  I then cut out some apples from BoBunny's Apple Cider collection (the paper is called Apple Cider Orchard).  Those huge apples were just begging to be cut out and pieced onto a card!  Does anyone else find image-cutting therapeutic?  I have already cut out all the apples from 2 papers, heh.  Granted, I will typically do this late at night, when I can enjoy some quiet time after the boys have gone to bed.  Since I always feel I can never just sit and watch a television show, cutting out images from patterned papers is a great activity to go in tandem with that.  This year, my mailing list will be getting all kinds of apple-filled cards, for sure!!

Hope you like the card...enjoy!

(Additional items used: Harvest Lane and Harvest Blessings papers from Simple Stories; Just Rite's Christmas Antique Labels One stamps with coordinating dies from Spellbinders; sentiment from Northwoods Stamps)

Subscribed!

I recently subscribed to Papertrey Ink's newsletter and found out this past Monday that they were doing a Make-It-Monday (MIM) challenge.  I knew about MIM videos I've seen posted on youtube in the past, but I wasn't aware they ever had challenges tied to them.  Well, in short, I decided to participate in this week's challenge.  It involves creating your own garland, and this particular challenge interested me a lot because I'm always trying to stretch my basic dies/stamps, using them in various ways to make them more versatile with each new project.  Some stamps/dies work better than others in the versatility department, but it's always fun to take on that little journey to see how many looks you can achieve from one such tool.  

For this challenge, and since Fall is close at hand, I thought I'd use BoBunny's 'Apple Cider' paper collection.  Fall happens to be my favorite time of the year, mainly because of the  changing of colors throughout the countryside, but also because of that crispy cool weather that makes my cup of coffee taste all the better!

I used my little Tag-Its #7 stamp set, along with some images from the Postmarks set and the postage stamp die, to create my garland.  For the garland itself, I simply made a little hole in the middle of the postage stamp and passed some hemp cord through it.  I didn't make any alterations to the stacked Primas, but I did spray some Glimmer Mist on the two tiny paper flowers to the right (a packet of 20 for 25 cents...thank you, Clearance Section @ Michaels!!).  I plan to hand-deliver this card to my mother-in-law, who lives in central PA where all the beautiful colors of Fall are!

I hope you like the card...enjoy!

Non-Crafting Thought of the Week

Today was the first day of school for my boys.  What excitement!  Naturally it all started off with me waking up an hour late, heh - they weren't late getting to school, though...thank goodness!!  Despite their pseudo-whining about summer ending, the boys are thrilled to be reunited with their friends and to finally have a structured day filled with all kinds of new knowledge for their brains to soak right up!  I will say, however, that it's starting to get a little weird because my youngest is now in pre-school, and I now officially have all my mornings to myself, by myself.  I think the last time my schedule was this consistent and predictable was 9 years ago, before my oldest was born.  It's the typical question that then follows: where did all this time go?  But more importantly: what do I do with all this free time now?  Aside from the fact that I could easily eat up the hours tending to dust bunnies under the furniture that have gone unnoticed for, well, "some time," I'm  thinking I have to reacquaint myself with my gym membership.  In fact, when was the last time I even went?  It had to be before school ended in June, so I guess it's been since June?  Wow.  I did hit the track a few times over the summer with my husband and the boys, but once a week is hardly anything worth mentioning.  Thank goodness I'm even saying anything about the gym - in fact, I'm eager to start up again tomorrow.  Looking forward to my date with the elliptical. :P  

Avocado Arts

I tried a clear stamp set I recently snagged at my local craft store.  I'm pretty sure Avocado Arts never made a "mini" stamp set before, so when I saw the smallness and cuteness of the packaging, I ran with it, heh.  This set is called "You Mean So Much" and it has 5 images, which includes two sentiments: "Thank You" and "You Mean So Much To Me."  The remaining 3 images are what I think look like 'ecclectic' florals, and they're great!  After looking through my scrap pile, I came up with this:

Not obeying the urge to paper-piece the flower was the real challenge for me.  I will typically paper-piece 95% of my card projects because I always think my cards look a little 'flat.'  And ironically, I've always labeled myself a stamper, but as of late, I hardly stamp any of my cards, save for the occasional sentiment.  With this card, I think I went back to my stamping roots and quite like what came to life - it was very refreshing to just take a small piece of cream cardstock and stamp away the blankness, without worrying about the hassles of cut-n-pasting!  The big flower is a nice size for such a small stamp set, and I love how I have the option to paper-piece and build up the flower for a future project.  Hope you like it...enjoy!

Demo Day Card

Here is the card I made for this month's Demo Day at Photoscraps in Eldersburg, MD.  I'm definitely not a pink-y type girl, but Authentique's "Lively" paper collection is absolutely to die for.  You'd be reaching for pink, too - trust me!  Aside from the pinks, the collection also has some green tones, as well as brown and orange - it's just begging to be transformed into a fun and happy greeting card.

For this project, I used my trusty kraft paper for the base, Tim Holtz's Distressed Tattered Rose and Peeled Paint ink pads, Memento's Love Letter ink pad (for the card's  sentiment...and what a red, folks!), the "Lively" paper collection, Tattered Angels glimmer mist in Lobster (for the Prima flowers), coral buttons from Joann's, and various dies from Sizzix and MFT Die-namics.  Hope you like it.......enjoy!

Non-Crafting Thought of the Week

This is my first year doing football.  Well, I should correct that statement: *I* am not technically on the field trying to tackle anyone....my middle boy, Kyle, has taken some interest in the sport, so we signed him up this year.  We've already gone through the mini camps, and are just finishing up with the 4-days-a-week practices.  I have to say, I'm surprised I actually like being out there watching the kids play; Kyle really enjoys it.  Do I get tense when the kids get knocked around and fall flat on the ground?  Absolutely!  Especially when it involves my child!  But now that I'm up close and personal with the football gear, I have to admit that it definitely cushions them up pretty nicely.  Here's to a great football season, come rain or shine......Go, Wildcats!!  

Gimme Some Papertrey!!!

Okay, I admit: I'm getting very acquainted with the 'purchase' button over at papertreyink.com.  Personally, I think their designers are brilliant, innovative and very generous when it comes to sharing their talents.  I like browsing through the design team's blogs and various pictures of their creations: page after page filled with little gems!  I've gotten so much inspiration from them over the years, but my very first purchase happened just late last year.  And it's true: while their stamps are simply gorgeous (high quality photopolymer AND made in the good ol' US of A!), I have to say their cardstock is truly unmatched.  I've been looking for a great cream-colored cardstock for a long time now, and at first I was hesitant to purchase this kind of stuff online (crafting paper? going through the mail?  Um, no.).  I suppose I'm that type of customer who needs to physically see and touch the merchandise before making that purchase.  In any case, I decided I'd give Papertrey Ink's paper a try, and I'm SO glad I did.  I was impressed with how they packaged the paper: safely tucked inside a cocoon of cardboard.  Nice!  I went with their rustic cream paper, and not only did the color far exceed my expectations, it is a true heavy base-weight (I'm assuming) 110-pound paper.  Lovely to work with, and it feels so luxurious!  The next color I'm gunning for is their vintage cream.  It's hard to get a clear idea of how this cream will look like based on an internet photo, but hey: it's Papertrey, and I'd be willing to bet it's just perfect.

Looking better, for sure!

It looks like I managed to make my blog page look a mite better than when I started.  I'll save the worries of creating a header for another day.....

In the meantime, yesterday I got my hands on some new paper collections from Authentique.  Anyone else in love with Authentique?  Honestly, I don't believe it's difficult to fall in love with this company.  Just the feel of the paper alone is enough to hypnotize you!  I came home with their new 'Enchanted' line, just in time for some spooky Halloween cards.  I also grabbed a few papers from their 'Curiosity' collection, which has a school theme going on.  I felt it had a more masculine feel to it, with all the blue tones, and since I only have sons, that paper was just calling my name!  With school starting in just a few short weeks, I plan to make some 'hello' cards for my boys to give to their teachers on their first day of school.  Back in grade school, many MANY moons ago, I used to write intro letters to my teachers, and they loved it!  With all the computer writing and e-mails we do all day long, I think these teachers will enjoy receiving a simple hand-written card from their students.  And look at that, the card will be homemade, too!

My Page Looks Blah.

I am in the process of trying to figure out how to embellish my rather boring page.  I keep visiting these other pages and they are gorgeous, with blinkies and swirls and fancy backgrounds.  I'm no expert when it comes to computer things, but how hard can it be?  I found a site called shabbyblogs.com and they had all kinds of backgrounds and headers that were all gratis.  I'm pretty sure I cut and pasted the code properly, but my page is still a sea of blankness.  I'll have to do more research and ease my way out of the boringness.  In the meantime, I have a card class and a card "Demo Day" that I'm preparing for this month for my local craft store which has kept me busy.  If anyone is in the Eldersburg, MD area, come check it out!  Their addy is on their site, at photoscrapsblog.blogspot.com.  If you scroll down a bit, you will see a picture of my cards; for this set, I used Authentique's 'Lively' paper collection.  What a great collection!  I love the pinks and vivid greens matched up with the earthiness of brown - and let's not forget the sumptuous feel of the paper itself.  Pure luxury!

First Post!

First post ever!  

Well, since the rest of the world has been jumping on the blogging bandwagon, I thought I, too, should jump in and share a little of myself to the world.  To be completely honest, I have never done anything like this in my life.  Surely I do e-banking and make blazing fast purchases online (Amazon, anyone?), but I think it's time to test the blogging waters and see whether I sink or swim.


Like many, many others who have been here before me, I've been thinking about blogging for those same reasons: I have a little something to say, and I'd like to share it.  Much of my inspiration to doing this stems from papercrafting.  I've always loved working with paper, especially washi paper for origami, however my imagination has been soaring to new and unexpected heights since I've been exploring the phenomena of homemade cards, rubber stamping, ink pads, scrapbooking layouts, crop parties, ATCs and mixed media used on paper.  Who knew such a world existed?  I thought I was being such a big-wig buying a pretty card from Papyrus.  Psh!  Not that I'd ever snob Papyrus, but nowadays I definitely know my family and friends appreciate my handmade cards more than anything, even though my work is not immune to the varied flaws that may come with papercrafting (ink smudges and uneven cuts, just to name a few).  Since I started this hobby three years ago, I've been able to find my style and really hone in on the techniques that I think make the paper come alive and give it character.  I hope that with this new blog page, I can become even more inspired to create and share my ideas with the web community.


I thought it would be funny to name my page "Created Inside the Box."  The Box I'm referring to is my craft room because, quite literally, it is a tiny box, heh.  I'm not whining, though; before my Box came into the picture, I didn't even have a small end-table to call my own. All my crafting supplies were haphazardly stowed away in various boxes and plastic baggies sprinkled throughout the house, which hardly made my husband wonder why he would leave the dining table with an ink stain on his elbow or a strip of paper attached to his shorts (gotta love Score-tape and its super strength!).  Maybe he felt sorry for me, or perhaps it was my constant nagging?, but he eventually closed off an end portion of the sub-basement, put some flooring down, slapped on some paint and it is now my tiny little craft room - The Box - where I go for some peace, a little bit of Pandora, and definitely lots of creativity!  Once I rid my table of the 'debris,' I will post some pictures.


Thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting!