Beachy Keen!!!!

I received this Tilda image from someone awhile ago, never thought I NEEDED her, but now I think I do!!! LOL Why is it that stampers have this inner voice that says "you must have that stamp/tool/embellie"????? I wish it had a mute button!!! Good Lord!!! LOL I popped Tilda and the sun up to give it dimension & sponged the sky!
Anyways, here's the deets on this card:
Paper: elegant eggplant, pretty in pink, (SU)
Ink: Palette noir
Stamps: Magnolia, High Hopes (beach background, flip flops, crab); Michael's $1.50 stamps (sun)
Accessories & tools: Koh-i-noor pencils and gamsol; pop dots; sponge

New Home (I'm so proud of this card!!)

I made this card for my niece and her boyfriend who just got a house together. I wanted to send them a little housewarming card! I started with chocolate chip base, then added a piece of DP from my scrap bin (it is SU but can't remember which line), then a white layer. On this layer, I stamped a bunch of trees from Lovely as a tree in different colours for the background, and sponged the edges with chocolate chip. Now for the fun part!! I coloured the Magnolia house with my koh-i-noor pencils and gamsol then cut it out. I cut out the window panes and the door so that it opened. I took a piece of yellow (so saffron maybe??) and stamped the image of furniture stacked up from Loads of Love accessories (SU) in the window and the little dogs in the door, so it looked like they were sleeping by the front door (they don't have dogs but I know Carla wants one!) These stamps fit PERFECTLY in those spots, I was TICKLED PINK!!!! I attached the yellow pieces to the house with stampin' dimensionals so they looked 3D, then attached the house to the tree background with pop dots. I used yellow for a warm look, like the lights were on. Lastly, I stamped a sentiment from Verve Visual's Wonderful Wishes set and cut it out, sponged it, and attached it over the door. It says "Wishing you the happiest of days".

Not sure if I've ever mentioned this trick, but when I get new stamps, I keep the rubber bits that are scraps from around the image. I use them as my pop dots! I peel off the red rubber side, attach some adhesive cuz it isn't always sticky, then attach the image! Cheap & reusing!!! I have about 4 zippie bags full!!! lol

Magnolia notebooks

I spent a little time in my cave today making a few cards and these 2 notebooks with matching pens. I'm hoping to sell them at the Farmer's Market next Thurs. The other ones I had sold well, so I hope these ones will too!!!




Supplies for both:
Stamps: Magnolia (images that were given to me); Verve Visual sentiment
Paper: Cosmo Cricket - Honey Pie; various scraps from my bin
Ink: rose red; koh-i-noor pencils & gamsol;
Accessories & tools: crop-o-dile; real red ribbon; scrap piece of ribbon; stickles; prima fancies (burlap); brads;

Blog candy alllll over the place!!!!

Found another FAB-O blog candy over at Suzanne's blog!!! You gotta check it out, lots of neat stuff! And her cards are amazing!!!! I just spent a long time there browsing....WOW!!!!

Blog candy!!!! YUMM YUMMMM TRIPLE YUMMMM!!!

Yummy blog candy over at Andrea's blog - you have to check it out! She is giving away some (7 to be exact!!) of the newest Magnolia stamps (& you all know how much I LOVE Magnolia's!!!) and some paper, card blanks, flowers and self-adhesive buttons (too cute)!!!! So, quit sitting there, get on over to Andrea's blog and leave a comment!! Then, say a little prayer so I win...I mean, so YOU win!!! LOL

AND, I just discovered another FAB Blog Candy at Maya's blog - WOWWZERS!!!! She is giving away the cutest paper bag with 140 Hanglar & Stanglar images inside. These stamps are from Norway and are hard to get, I might need some soon!! Anyways, check out her blog and leave a comment to be entered into this one too!!! These ladies are amazing!!!!

Ok, one more!!!! BLOG CANDY alert (boy we are all going to get FAT from all this candy!!!) Check out Claudia at Pretty Pressings for another chance to win some FAB Magnolia blog candy!!!!!

And speaking of Magnolia - I just ordered the FALL Stamp Club kit - it was a heck of a better deal than ordering them seperate like I do & it comes to me before they are released individually. If I remember correctly, there are 12 stamps, 6 or 7 of them are angels (Tilda or Edwin) for about $48 US - and seeing as they are about $12 EACH, that is a screaming deal!! IF you are interested, check them out at the Magnolia Stamp Club site.

Paper Bag Albums

I made these albums for a Christmas Farmer's Market last year and they sold REALLY quickly. I thought I would make some more to sell at the regular Farmer's Markets. They are unique and make neat gifts - all they have to do is add their own photos, journalling and mementos inside the pockets!! This first one is a "cat" album - all the pages are decorated with cat items. The main colours are orange and yellow to try to keep it neutral for boy and girl cats!! LOL Here is the front cover and 2 pages inside the "dog" album. This album is my favourite! Next, I made 2 travel albums, here they are & a couple of pages inside: And last but not least, a "love" album.

The directions are really simple:

Supplies and Tools you will need to complete the paper bag album:

* 4 paper bags, brown or white (lunch bag size)
* scissors
* adhesive (tape runner, glue, pop-dots, glue dots,
foam tape, etc.)
* paper trimmer
* ribbon, brads, eyelets, staples, etc. for binding your album
* patterned paper (of choice)
* cardstock (of choice)
* embellishments (of choice) (this where you will want to decide on a theme ahead of time so you can take in consideration what you might want to add to the cover and pages)
NOTE: There will be 14 pages inside the album when finished, so make sure you choose enough cardstock or patterned paper to do the pages. There will also be 4 pockets that you can slip yet another page in or use for mementos.

Instructions:

1. After gathering your supplies together, stack all four bags together alternating open (top of bag) end, closed (bottom of bag) end.

Fold bags in half.

2. Bind bags together at seam however you like…. brads, eyelets, ribbon (punch holes then thread ribbon through), staples, and sewing a seam with your sewing machine. I went in ¼” from the edge to give myself maximum room on the pages when the book is open.

3. punching holes to bind with ribbon (you can just use a simple hole punch, an eyelet setter or a Crop-o-dile)

4. Measure front & back cover and cut 2 pieces of cardstock ¼” smaller on all sides. Adhere one square to the front of the book and the other to the back of the book. These will be your book covers and make the covers sturdier than just using patterned paper on top of the paper bag. You can cover these with patterned paper or use as the base of your cover design.

5. Now you are ready to cover the front and back of your album. Cut two pieces of patterned paper ¼” smaller than the cardstock on both covers and adhere to the front and back of your album.

6. Go ahead and decorate the front cover of your album with whatever themed items you have chosen. I got a lot of my things from dollar stores.

7. You can now decorate the inside covers the same way. Adding cardstock first then patterned paper will help make your book a bit sturdier, but is certainly not necessary!

8. You will also have four pockets that you can make pull out pages for. Insert tags or additional cardstock "pages" into the open end of each bag. You can even create unique pull tabs with ribbons or cardstock tabs. I used the Round Tab Punch from SU!

You will need to cut the page for the pockets at about 4-1/4" x 5" (this measurement will depend on how far in your binding goes, so measure first!!) I suggest using cardstock as a base if you wish to use patterned paper. Cut 4 pages for the pockets. Decorate however you like.

Suggestions for the pockets: Journaling, additional photos, memorabilia (ticket stubs, tags, notes, receipts, etc.), photo CD’s (they fit perfectly in the pockets!), etc. The options are limitless!!

REMEMBER, PAPER BAGS ARE NOT ACID FREE, SO BE SURE TO USE DUPLICATE COPIES OF PHOTOS!

Ideas for album themes: Gardening, Baby’s first Christmas, animals/pets, trips, All about ME, Grandma’s/Grandpa’s brag book, I love you (mine was Love you to pieces, and I used puzzle pieces to decorate the pages!), summer camp, holidays, vacations, special visits, etc. The options are really as open as you want them to be….. think of this as a mini-scrapbook & make it your own!!! Add as much or as little as you want!!

I would LOVE to see any creations you make so post with a link to your paper bag album!! ENJOY!!!

Mojo Monday cards (a couple weeks behind!!)

I made these two cards using the Mojo Monday #44 sketch (Poetic Artistry) from 2 weeks ago, because it was cute!! It was fun too!! I also really like last weeks (#45) - but haven't had a chance to give it a go!!!! Today, I also made 2 paper bag albums to sell at the Farmer's Market. They were such a big hit at Christmas, and I only have 2 left, I thought I would make a few more so they have a variety to choose from. I will take pics and upload them later tonight or tomorrow. I'm not back at the Farmers Market until July 24, as I have a CFL football game this Thurs.night. GO STAMPS GO!!!! The last 2 Thursdays I was out of town, so it's been awhile since I've been. It gives me a chance to create some new stuff to try to sell!! We'll see how it goes!!!! Anyways, here are the 2 cards I made with Julee's sketch!

Supplies:
Stamps: Farm Yard Fun - Little Paper Shop; horseshoe - Clear Dollar Stamps
Paper: chocolate chip - SU; creamy caramel - SU;
Ink: chocolate chip; su markers (creamy caramel)
Accessories & tools: Photo corner punch - SU; circle punches - Marvy & SU; Magic mesh - SU;
Supplies:
Stamps: Penny Black - Critter Party; Sweet Expressions - Whipper Snapper/Anna Wight
Paper: Brocade blue - SU; Soft Sky DP - SU; unknown dusty blue piece
Ink: brocade blue
Accessories & tools: photo corner punch - SU; rhinestone brads - SU, scallop punch - SU; circle punches - marvy & SU; Primas