Look Ma, no stamping...

Well, to be fair, if I had a stamp with this quote on it, I would have used it, but I don't, so I made my own. Sort of. I really just printed it out on Papertrey White. Also, I just realized that I did use a stamp. So yeah, nevermind all that "Look Ma" nonsense.

(card details: All cardstock, designer paper, ink and circle stamp by PaperTrey Ink, flower punch by E.K. Success, bling by Swarovski, Cuttlebug "Swiss Dots" embossing folder, circle & scalloped circle by Nestabilities... geez, for such a simple card, there sure is a lot of blah, blah, blah to write).














I could fit 12 on a page, so I made 12 cards, exactly alike. Mostly. Except, of course, I ran out of the right color bling about halfway through, and wound up coloring my second-string bling with my prismacolor markers. (sorry, I have to pause here because "second-string bling" is making me giggle). Let me tell you... I've been hoarding those rhinestones for at least a year, and I swear I heard them cheer when I tore open the package!

My husband never gives me a hard time about the money I spend (although he really should) or the craft crap I accumulate, but he did say to me once, "If you don't use what you buy, you're wasting money AND space." He's RIGHT! So, I'm using more (and buying more) and feeling better about it!

So, does your significant other come up with random statements that help validate your crafting purchases? Or do you find yourself doing the Michael's bag shuffle? I find that if I can assimilate my craft purchases right away, he never notices that there's something new... the benefit of having entirely too much stuff... it's confusing to the eye, which works to my benefit. I'd continue, but I know he reads this, and I can't go giving away all my secrets, now can I?

More exciting news...

Well, it's all over the interwebs now... the new reporter list is up at Craft Critique, and I'm on it! YAY! I'm really excited to be a part of this awesome group. I know I'm going to learn a lot, and hopefully their (our?!) readers will learn a little bit from all my mistakes. I just visited all of the other new reporter's blogs, and wow. WOW! I think I need to kick it up a notch, just to keep up!

I'm looking forward to my assignments; I'll probably cross-post them here, in case you don't read Craft Critique, but really, who doesn't read Craft Critique?! SQUEE! I'm trying to stay cool here, but I'm just thrilled!

PaperTrey - Honorable Mention!

Thanks Nichole!

PaperTrey!

Hi girls,
These are this month's entries to PaperTrey's Guest Star stamper contest. I try to enter every month... we'll see how these go over:


These little charms are made from shrink plastic. I stamped them with Pearl-Ex ink in copper, punched them out with the yellow circle scalloped punch, flipped them over and used five different colors of VersaMagic chalk ink on the back. Then I stuck them in the oven for a while. Usually I'll give shrunk plastic a smack with an acrylic block when they're just out of the oven to flatten them out, but there were too many of these to get to while they were still hot, so I reheated them with Old Milwaukee, and then gave each one a smack. Then I coated the fronts with Ranger Glossy Accents and went to take a nap with Jenny. The end.




This is the same piece as a necklace. In real life, these charms look like beach glass, and I'm really happy with how they turned out.











This is a pendant made from translucent polymer clay (I use Sculpey III). I was struck by inspiration in the baking aisle at Michael's... the form for this pendant was a silicone muffin tray! It made the perfect size to use with the round stamps in the "Shapes By Design" set by Alli Miles. Anyway, after I baked the clay blank, I colored it with prismacolor markers. The alcohol inks react with each other to leave a really cool mottled pattern that looks like polished stone (kinda like azurite, to be exact... I'm a geologist after all...). Then I stamped it with Brilliance Cosmic Copper and let it dry over night.



And a card! I'm irked because I took 763 photos of this card, and the charms that are so cool in real life don't show up as anything special in the picture. Oh well... my mother-in-law will love it, and that's where it's headed!

Where did February go?

I don't know how people manage to get their blogs updated daily... I'm so far behind just reading blogs that I'll never get caught up!

Anyway... I've been meaning to get this post together for a while. These are puzzles that I altered for my son's 5th birthday party in his preschool classroom. I'm definitely pleased with the way they came out, and Max was THRILLED!

These were pretty simple to do; inks direct to paper for background, clear stamps all the way for ease in positioning. I LOVE Technique Tuesday and Sassafras Lass alphabets because they are closely trimmed enough to be able to line up a whole word at a time (provided you have enough of the letters you need!). They would have been even easier if I hadn't waited until the night before... by the time I got to poor Joseph B., my mojo was LONG gone! Oh well... they're five, and generally easy to please! Luckily, there are only 14 of them!

If you click on the photos, you can get a closer look.


Abby
Stamps: PaperTrey Ink Beautiful Blooms, Technique Tuesday Wayfarer (large)
Inks: VersaMagic Thatched Straw, Pink Petunia, Purple Hyacinth, Mango Madness, Malted Mauve




La'Mara
Stamps: PaperTrey Ink Butterfly Kisses, Technique Tuesday Catalina (large)
Inks: Versamagic Sea Breeze, Purple Hydrangea, Aquatic Splash, Brilliance Pearlescent Lavender




Lyla
Stamps: PaperTrey Ink Little Lady, Technique Tuesday Catalina (large)
Inks: Versamagic Aquatic Splash, Turquoise, Purple Hydrangea, Night Sky, Spring Pansy




Savannah
Stamps: PaperTrey Ink Little Lady, Technique Tuesday Catalina (large)
Inks: Versamagic Pink Petunia, Malted Mauve,
Brilliance Pearlescent Poppy




Madison
Stamps: PaperTrey Ink Beautiful Blooms, Technique Tuesday Wayfarer (large)
Inks: Versamagic Purple Hydrangea, Tea Leaves, Brilliance Pearlescent Orchid, Pearlecent Purple




Janice
Stamps: PaperTrey Ink Beautiful Blooms, Technique Tuesday Wayfarer (large)
Inks: Versamagic Pink Grapefruit, Brilliance Rocket Red Gold, Pearlescent Poppy




Max (the birthday boy himself!)
Stamps: Sassafras Lass Gas Hogs, Mama Mocking Bird
Ink: Versamagic Mango Madness, Midnight Black,
Brilliance Rocket Red





Hayden
Stamps: Skipping Stones Explorer, Sassafras Lass Mama Mocking Bird
Inks: Versamagic Aegean Blue, Night Sky, Midnight Black





Nicholas
Stamps: PaperTrey Ink Beautiful Blooms, Rubber Soul A Day At The Zoo, Technique Tuesday Wayfarer (large)
Inks: Versamagic Key Lime, Aloe Vera, Tea Leaves





Richard
Stamps: Rubber Soul-A Day at the Zoo, Technique Tuesday- Dog & Pony Show, Wayfarer (large)
Inks: Versamagic Tea Leaves, Spanish Olive, Midnight Black





Cameren
Stamps: PaperTrey Ink Butterfly Kisses
Inks: Versamagic Midnight Black, Brilliance Starlight Silver, Starlight Black





Joseph C.
Stamps: Fontwerks Seeing Stars (yes, that is the correct spelling)
Inks: Versamagic Midnight Black, Brilliance Rocket Red Gold, Pearlescent Poppy





Ethan
Stamps: PaperTrey Ink Beautiful Blooms, Sassafras Lass Mama Mocking Bird
Inks: Colorbox Eggplant, Red, Maroon





Joseph B.
Stamps: Sassafras Lass Oliver & Friends, PaperTrey Ink Beautiful Blooms, Technique Tuesday Wayfarer (large)
Inks: Versamagic Mediterranean Blue, Ocean Depth, Java Brilliance Pearlescent Sky Blue, Coffee Bean

Headline: The Stamping Scientist Involved in Industrial Accident...

Eh, it sounds worse than it is... I managed to burn the begeezus out of my finger while using my hot knife (guess I won't be reviewing THAT product any time soon, lol!)



Anyway, here's a product review that I had 'in the can' as they say...



Product Review: Cutterbee Curvy Cutter (Circle) by E.K. Success


I have a drawer full of circle cutters. I’ve tried them all, and I always wind up moving to a new one because they’re either too hard to use, too hard to read, or just plain don’t cut well. Until I bought the Cutterbee Curvy Cutter, by E.K. Success. This cutter is a snap to use, glides along its track easily, and cuts a perfect circle (nearly) every time.



This cutter consists of two different size guides with three tracks each. The cutter handle itself contains a beefy-looking blade (extras store right on-board), and a set of ball-bearing rollers which fit into each of the tracks on the guides. The ball-bearings are key, because they make cutting smooth sailing, not like the push, grab and slip you may have encountered with other cutters (raises hand).

Another feature of the cutter handle is the part you hold onto actually rotates as you’re cutting – no more bent up wrists and carpal tunnel flare-ups! I could push this thing along with one finger if I wanted to.


There are two circle templates that allow you to line up where you want your circle to be cut, and tell you which track and which blade setting to use. They’re marked in ¼” increments from 2 ¼” up through 7”. I have found, though, if you need a bigger circle than that, you can put the cutter handle onto the tracks facing outward, and you can cut circles from 12 ½” to 15” (again in ¼” increments), which would be very handy for large signs or poster board.

Cutterbee suggests using (their) glass cutting mat. I use the backside of a 16” x 20” glass cutting board that I got at a large discount chain store for less than half the price. Works like a charm.


I bought the Curvy Cutter at A.C. Moore using a 40% off coupon, so I paid about $12 (it retails for around $20). Depending on the packaging, you may need to buy the cutter handle separately; mine came with the oval set (which I also love). According to the A.C. Moore website, there’s an add-on set that cuts waves, more circles, and more ovals. I’ll be heading over there tomorrow!

Pros: Accurate, easy to use, glides, cuts well. Extra blades store in the handle.

Cons: Storage – the guides are large. I actually keep mine in its original packaging so that the guides and templates stay together. Also, I tend to stand up to use it, so I can hold down the guides pretty heavily, to make sure it won’t slide. It’s still way better than anything else I’ve used.

238 clothespins...

That's just wrong. From now on, everything, and everyone leaving this house will be adorned with ribbon in some manner.

It sure is pretty though... I have it in 5 large glass compotes that I bought on clearance for a wedding (I do freelance floral design) that I never used, and couldn't return. HA! Mine now!

And to answer Alex's question, I bought a couple of skeins of yarn (I learned to crochet over the weekend, like I needed another hobby), and a couple of the new clear Inkadinkado sets (this one and this one), and I'll be going back for this one and this one. Now, these aren't the super high quality photopolymer like PaperTrey or My Favorite Things, but I've found that with some chalk ink and a steady hand, they do okay. And with a 40% off coupon in hand, well, you know how it goes... but no more ribbon!