Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Triangle Box Tutorial & Challenge

I know I've seen other "triangle boxes" out there, but this is my version. I think I got the idea somewhere on splitcoast. Not totally sure though, since its been a very long time ago :) (you may click on the pictures to get a larger view)



1. I used Sky Blue Cardstock (4x8), Whisper White Craft ink, Sky Blue ink, and Basic Grey Ink, A bone Folder, a 1/8th" hand-held hole punch, and Priceless Stamp set. I also used Basic Grey Taffeta ribbon and Large Oval punch to finish my box.




2. Next you want to score the cardstock with your bonefolder down the middle at 4".






3. Then find the center of each side, this will be at the 2" mark and make a score line from this point to the center score line edge.





4. You can stamp the outside if you wish.








5. Now fold the cardstock in half, and fold angled edges in so they overlap each other. If you are going to fill the box with treats, you should do it at this time.





6. Using your hand-held hole punch, punch each side about 1/4" down from the top. I then strung ribbon through these holes.





7. Tie the ribbon and add a tag if desired.







Now link up your triangle box so we can all see your creation!

Monday, July 30, 2007

Recipes

Here's the recipes from my Hostess Appreciation Party.

Kathleen's Lemon Bars

1 pkg angel food cake mix
1 can lemon pie mix
1 C coconut

Mix altogether, bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Frost with a frosting glaze.


Brandy's Hershey Brownies

4 eggs
1/2 C Butter
1 C flour
1 C sugar
1 can Hershey's syrup

Mix until creamy, put in bar pan. Bake 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Frosting:
6 T Butter
6 T Milk
1/2 C Sugar
Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and add 6 oz chocolate chips.


Annie's Fruit Salsa
2 Kiwis, Peeled and diced
2 Golden Delicious Apples, Peeled, cored, and diced
8 oz raspberries
1 lb strawberries
2 T white sugar
1 T brown sugar
3 T fruit preserves, any flavor

In a large bowl, thoroughly mix everything. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes.
Serve with cinnamon chips. I used Apple Cinnamon chips from Flat Earth, but you can make your own by coating each side of a tortilla with cooking spray, then cut in wedges and arrange on baking sheet. Then sprinkle with cinnamon sugar then spray again with cooking spray. Bake 8-10 minutes at 350 degrees.


Pomegranate Punch (Paula Deen's Recipe)

2 (32 oz) bottles pomegranate juice
1 qt orange juice
2 (2 liter) bottles lemon-lime carbonated beverage
fresh orange slices (Optional)

In a large container, combine pomegranate juice with orange juice. Stir in carbonated beverage just before serving. Garnish with fresh orange slices, if desired.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

And the Winner is>>>>

NANCY GRANT!! Here's what she posted for my blog candy:


Oh so fun! Priceless is my favorite stamp set from the New SU! catty and I am also in love with the Pretties Kit and Build-A-Brad.
:-)


Thanks Nancy! I love Priceless myself and cannot wait to have the Build-a-brads in my hands!

Thanks for everyone who participated, I appreciate everyone's comments and kind words :) Keeps me going!

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Hostess Appretiation Party

I just had my 2nd Hostess Appreciation Party and it was a lot of fun!

I started the tradition last year (july) to have a very special party for only my hostesses. It was a very fun evening where I gave them a bag of goodies: click here and more details here. They also got prizes for games, and I did an "Awards" ceremony-where I gave a brand new stamp set to the one with highest sales, best attendance, etc. That was last year.

This year I still wanted to give them some things I made with new In Colors and some other little things. I always wanted to make these Totally Totes by Leigh O'Brien, So I thought I would for this party! They were kind of a bugger to start out with, but ended up pretty cute. I made each one a little differently (I only posted my favorite ones here) and I made 7 of them.

For the inside of the purses, I made section tabs for their new catalogs (here) and also stuck in samples of all of the new In Colors + Basic Grey.


Recipe for purses:
Stamps: Baroque Motifs, Priceless, In the Spotlight
Paper: Soft sky, Wild Wasabi, Confetti white
Ink: Soft Sky, White Craft, Chocolate Chip, Cameo Coral craft, Apricot Appeal Craft, All new In Colors for the last purse.
Accessories: Vintage brads, Chocolate Taffeta Ribbon, Wasabi Ribbon, Soft Sky Ribbon



I also made some of those big paper clip bookmarks to match their purses.











Recipe for Clippies:
Paper: All new In Colors
Accessories: Fire Circle Brads, Spring Bouquet flower punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, big clips from Walmart.



I made these product/inventory checklists for each of the girls. It seems like at every party they just are not sure what they have at home and not exactly sure what they should order, so I remember seeing the idea in an issue of our Stampin Success. The file that Stampin' UP made was from a year ago and was outdated, so I had to make them on my own in Excel.
Man, were these things time-consuming! I spent about 2 weeks trying to line things up on the computer and I had to make sure it was going to print double sided perfectly. Then I had my computer savvy hubby help me to get the margins set up so I could print. I really owe him big time :)
I then stamped each color and punched out a flower for each color. (You can see what the inside looks like below.)
And of course I had to make a pretty cover to decorate it. Aren't they cute??! I think they really liked them.


Inside of the Inventory Chart Checklists:


Recipe for inventory charts:
Paper: Le Jardin (mellow moss), Linen Prints (close to cocoa), Flowers For You (tempting turquoise & Lovely Lilac) Cutie Pie (rose red)
Stamps: Baroque Motifs (Cherish) 3 for You Punch box single flower.
Accessories: Chocolate Taffeta, 5/8" Certainly Celery & Brocade Blue, Sky Blue Double Stitched, and Fairy Tale regal rose scrunchy ribbons.
Brads, eyelets, and buttons. 3 for You punch for flowers.


ETA: I forgot to mention that I also gave them each a new stamp set for their "award" for highest sales, etc. They are just hostess sets and SAB sets that I've earned throughout the year.
And if anyone placed an order, I put their name in a Mystery Hostess drawing.
I had a couple m&t's and good appetizers too! I'll put my recipes up later.

Only 1000 more!

I'm so excited about giving away my blog candy! If you haven't posted under my blog candy, make sure to do it soon so you can get in on all of the goods :)

Monday, July 23, 2007

I'm Moving Soon


I wanted to post about my current craft room and plans to move it.
Currently I have a cute room in the basement, but here's the cons:

-Kind of bigger than I need
-really, really DARK
-Humidity is a problem in the basement and this is an issue-when what I do involves paper.
-climbing up & down stairs about 20 times during a class
-Soon will have a baby, and it will be easier to keep stuff on one level of the house.



My new room is a bedroom we currently use as an office/junk storage on our main level. It's a little smaller than my room downstairs, but has a closet that I can use and add organizers to really utilize the space. We will have to keep the computer in this room as well, so I will be losing some counter space. I'll have to come up with lots of wall storage units also.

Before we make the big move, I really need to paint this room. We haven't done anything to this room since moving and I always hated this nasty pink-ish color on the walls. What color(s) would you paint it? I want a color that is going to be bright & cheery as well as inspiring and flows well with the rest of my house. (my house is mostly earthy colors-lots of greens, browns, reds) I was thinking "River Rock" or even just a nice Khaki color. I know a lot of people paint "sky blue" in their craft room, and I would love to do that-but would it look okay with the rest of the house? (this room is close to the main activities of the house) Let me know your opinions :)

I Rock!



I am totally shocked that I got this award! But I must say...It feels good! Thanks to DEB!, I was nominated! Check out her blog, very cute stuff there!

Here's my nominations:

Kat
Jimmi Mayo

Thanks again, I feel so honored :)

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Stamp Sale

There have been a few of you interested in my stamps for sale. Please include an email address so I can get a hold of you.

Specifically:

georgia268


Please let me know if you're still interested in Artifacts!

Homemade Prima Flower


I love how we all learn from each other by our websites! I especially have Kat to thank on this one. A week ago or so she did a tutorial on making flowers out of her Giga Scallop Circle punch. What a GENIUS! Since I didn't have a GIGA punch, I had to use my Stampin' UP! Scallop Circle punch. A bit smaller, but would do for me. If you didn't see Kat's instructions on how to do this I will tell you step by step:

1. Punch your scallop circle.
2. with a pencil (or I used my paper piercer, or you could use a bone folder) and a ruler, line up the scallop "crotches" (ok-sorry, I don't know any other word for this!) across from each other and draw a line, or score a line.
3. Now use your paper snips and cut all of your lines to the middle, but not to the center. Otherwise you'd cut all of the petals off, silly!
4. You have your flower now! Decorate it with brads, or here I've used the 3/4" circle and roughed up the edges.


Recipe:
Stamps: Polka dot Bg, Stem Sayings, Short & Sweet
Paper: Groovy Guava, Sage Shadow, Whisper White
Ink: Groovy Guava, Sage Shadow Classic
Accessories: Scallop Circle punch, 3/4" Circle punch.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

SCS CC123



Alright, it's been almost 2 weeks since I've promised myself to do more of these challenges on Splitcoast...I don't know if it's just procrastination, or busy-ness...but I had some free time this morning and thought I would check out the color challenge for today. It's a gorgeous combo and I was glad I stopped in to check it out because I LOVE these colors together! I do not dig out my Night of Navy often, so it was a challenge for me to do so. So glad I did!
I need some honest opinions though...should I keep the photo corner in the upper right? Or does it need something? It's the very first time I've ever used these things and I'm not sure what to do. I see everyone do such cute things with them. I really didn't think it would be a problem for me.
What do you think of the Always Artichoke ribbon? To me, it looks a little olive-y.
Thanks for coming by! Remember I still have blog candy available until 5000 hits! Be sure to comment there!

Recipe:
Stamps: Big on Christmas, Short & Sweet (Snowflakes)
Paper: Night of Navy, Bordering Blue, Mellow Moss, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla
Ink: Black Stazon, Very Vanilla Craft, Bordering Blue. Watercolor crayons for: Night of Navy, mellow moss, Bordering Blue, Always artichoke, RUby red (berries), Pumpkin Pie (nose)
Accessories: Round Tab punch, Silver brads, Photo Corner Punch, Paper Piecer, Always Artichoke Ribbon.

Thursday, July 12, 2007

New paper, ribbon, & rubber, OH MY!!


Aren't these colors just fun? I love all of the paper I ordered and can't wait to use it some more. I was really impressed this year by the Ronald McDonald Set. Other years it was just like-yeah, whatever. But not this year! I'm crazy about "Just Like You". So sweet and lots of possibilities!
And OH, how I love our new Scallop Circle Punch :) Love this wider ribbon also, I'll be sure to get more of it. Hey-Check it out, Check it out: I've been practicing my ribbon tying skills! All of my cards today have *perfect* knots, are you proud?!

Recipe:
Stamps: Just Like You
Paper: Flowers For You DSP, Tempting Turquoise, Certainly Celery, Whisper White
Accessories: Scallop Circle Punch, Kreaxions circle cutter, white gel pen.





Awwww, This guy just tugs at my heartstrings! Couldn't pass him up when I was ordering. Just a pretty simple card here, using some more new designer papers.

Recipe:
Stamps: Moose You
Paper: Certainly Celery, Cutie Pie DSP
Accessories: Chocolate Taffeta Ribbon, Pewter jumbo eyelets





I think this card turned out to be my favorite today. I love how that new 3/16 corner rounder punch makes the cutest scallop edge. I also love our new Taffeta ribbons. It's so soft and easy to work with.

Recipe:
Stamps: Flowers & Flourish
Paper: Very Vanilla, Close to Cocoa, Cameo Coral, Linen Prints DSP
Ink: Apricot Appeal Craft
Accessories: Chocolate Taffeta Ribbon, 3/16 corner rounder punch

My Order is Here!



Finally! I'm off to play and cut lots of rubber :) I will be back to show off my stuff!

Wednesday, July 11, 2007



Can you believe this is my first scrapbooking post here on my blog? Somehow yesterday I got the urge to do a scrapbook layout. Weird. I haven't done any pages since winter and it seems like I'm falling farther and farther behind where I should be.
I actually started scrapbooking before I made any cards or started stamping. Wait, that's not true. Technically I started stamping in middle school, but that doesn't count. I just played with my mom's stuff and didn't generate anything useful :)
I think the reason behind the "urge" was that I got this new circle cutter in the mail from Just Imagine Crafts
It's called the Kreaxions circle cutter, and it looks like an old fashioned cutter. It was pretty cheap, like around $8 with shipping. Since I'm not getting my Cricut Expression soon, I needed to figure out a way to cut really big circles. All of those other circle cutters out there cut a max of a 7" circle. I wanted bigger, and mine cuts a max of 9". So I read on some one's blog that she ordered one of these cutters.
I thought at first-you really get what you pay for. I mean the thing didn't cut the greatest, and you actually pull the paper through the cutter. After ruining a few pieces of 12x12 card stock, I finally figured the thing out. I had to be very careful and slow when I pulled the paper through and made sure the paper didn't "bubble" while I was cutting it or the cuts would not line up at the end.
Overall, I think I can live with it for a little while, although there will be some serious hints thrown at my hubby for my birthday about the cricut expression. Seriously.
If you look closely at my page, you will see in the picture that the little girl has the #3 on the top of her cupcake stand, and I wrote 4Th birthday on the page! I hate it when I screw journaling up!
After I cut my really big circle out of the blue paper, I used my corner rounder to make the scallops. I don't know if it shows really well on your monitors but I added 7 little rhinestones to the middle of the big flower in the corner. I thought that added the perfect "bling"!

Recipe:
Paper: aqua, white, purely pomegranate
Stamps: Mod alphabet, headline alphabet, big deal alphabet, letterpress alphabet, label classics
Ink: Soft Sky, Purely Pomegranate, Basic Black
Accessories: Ginormous prima flower, bling rhinestones, chipboard "L"


Thanks for stopping by!

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

New Catalog

This year I decided I needed to laminate and get my catalog spiral bound. What an awesome, awesome way to spend a couple bucks! I took mine to Office Max and had a friend of mine pick it up when she was in town and it only cost her $2.50! She said she had some sort of discount on her credit card. Glad I sent her to pick it up. LOL!-No, it would have only been about $6 if I paid, which I thought was a bargain anyway. But she decided she needed to have hers done also. Now I don't have to worry about the cover being chewed up after hundreds and hundreds of times I flip through :) And with the spiral binding, it just lays nice and flat when its open.


Last year Stampin' UP! gave us little section tabs to put in our catalog, and I used them to death. I wanted to make some more this year, but didn't want to take the time to format them on the computer, so I figured somebody on Splitcoast would probably get that done for me, and sure enough, somebody had posted a file for some tabs, YAY! So I made them right away, and I also made some for my sweet hostesses from this past year as one of their gifts at my Hostess Appreciation Party at the end of this month. Hopefully they will like them.
I've had a couple ask about how to get these tabs: If you would like to make your own tabs and cannot get the file on SCS, I will email it to you :)

BLOG CANDY Giveaway!

As I'm approaching the 5,000 mark, I'd just like to show my appreciation to everyone that stops by. Thank you! I have some yummy candy to give away:


Blog Candy includes:
Paisley Prints Stamp set (3) By Hero Arts
Vellum Quote Stacks (Love & Friendship) by Diecuts with a View
6 1/2yds Kraft Grosgrain ribbon, Stampin' UP!
Fun Fibers-browns
4 HUGE Prima Flowers-Heidi Swapp
Spool of bright pink Ric Rac felt ribbon
4 Chocolate Chip Pocket Notes & Envelopes-Stampin' UP!
Natural colored Magic Mesh
Package of Twist Ties with words
Assortment of copper and silver diamond brads-Stampin' UP!
Assortment of baby sized buttons
Assortment of Clear Flowers-Making Memories


To participate, you must tell me what your new favorite stamp sets and/or accessories are from the new Stampin' UP Fall/Winter Catalog :)


I'll start:
My absolute Favorite stamp sets are: Priceless, and Define Your Life
My Favorite Accessories:New Ribbons and the new textured cardstock!



Blog Candy Ends when I reach 5,000 views!

Friday, July 6, 2007

Accessories Sale!

I will combine orders to save on shipping!!

UPDATED: I removed the items that were sold

True Thyme Stitched Grosgrain approx 5 yds: 1.30
True Thyme Classic Ink Pad: 2.00

STAMP SALE!

My stamps are in great shape (although some have little staining) & mounted correctly. I am asking 50% off retail price for these sets, some even more! Some have been used only 1-2 times!

First come, First serve
Buyer pays shipping, I do accept paypal!


Stamp Sets

All Around Argyle 15.00
Alphabet Soup 8.50
Around The Block 5.00
Best Blossoms 8.50
Bloomin Wonderful 8.00
Both Way Blossoms 11.50
Cute Converse 10.00
Easy Elegance 10.00
Festive Fall 6.00
Gently Falling 8.50
Happy Hearts 7.50
Island Blossoms 17.00
Lexicon of Love 7.50
Mon Ami 7.50
Phrase Starters II 10.00
Pocket Fun 10.00
Say It Simply 5.00
Season’s Greetings 15.00
Sew Seasonal 14.50
Simple Shapes 11.50
Stipple Celebrations 8.00

Wheels
Sew Sweet (jumbo) NEW 4.50
Wash Day (Jumbo) NEW 4.50

Thursday, July 5, 2007

Another Baby Card



So I've made yet another baby card out of this new Zoofari set, so what! :) I think it's great for baby cards. The images are so cute. This card is actually being sent to someone who just had a baby, so it will be put to use unlike all of the hundreds of others that just sit in a box. It really is a problem for me, keeping all of these cards and not using them. But anyway, I wanted to get back into doing the weekly challenges on SCS and this week I decided to choose the sketch challenge. I really should do it more often, but somehow gets set aside and never happens. I know for a fact that participating in the challenges makes people better stampers, Taylor has admitted to this! And there are times when I need a little challenge or a little push. I think this should be my new "catalog" resolution, to participate in more challenges.

Recipe:
Stamps: Alphabits, Zoofari, Label Classics, Big Pieces, Little Pieces, "J" from All about U
Paper: Close to Cocoa, Blush Blossom, Very Vanilla
Ink: Blush Blossom Craft, Close to cocoa, Markers: Blush Blossom, Close to Cocoa
Accessories: Word window Punch, Aged Copper Brad, Chocolate Chip Grosgrain, White Grosgrain colored with a Blush Blossom marker, Dimensionals

Wednesday, July 4, 2007

How to Tie a Ribbon

I have always wanted to tie the perfect square knot, but never seem to do it every time. Now I think I can! Watch this video. It looks so simple :) I'll have to practice and post my ribbon ties later!

Have a great 4th of July Everyone!


Monday, July 2, 2007

WOW!

I just looked, and I see I have reached 1500 visits! Wow! That is amazing, Thank you for stopping by to visit! Hope you're enjoying everything.

Since someone asked, I thought I would post everything I ordered yesterday for my first new catalog order. So here goes:

Moose You
Flowers & Flourish
Perfect Princess
All in the Family
All in the Family Accessories
Ginormous Flowers
Just like You
Priceless
Labelicious
Totally Tabs
Stem Sayings
Polkadot background
Short & Sweet
Holidays & Wishes
Hugs & Wishes
Define Your Life
Defining Alphabet
Textured 12x12 cardstock
Flowers for you DS Paper
Cutie Pie
Close to Cocoa POP
Soft Sky POP
Secret Garden SS kit
1" circle punch
Photo corners punch
3/16th" corner rounder
Scallop circle
5 petal flower punch
round Rhinestone brads: Fire & Ice
Jumbo eyelets: Brass & Pewter
Crop-A-Dile
Taffeta Chocolate chip ribbon, basic grey
regal rose & Brocade Blue 5/8" Grosgrain
Bashful Blue & Always artichoke 1/4" Grosgrain
Soft sky & Wild Wasabi Double Stitched ribbon
Fairy tale & sherbet Ribbon originals
I chose level 2 Garden Silhouettes and Oh so lovely & Event full level 1 sets.

I totally cannot wait for my stuff to come. Too bad that they don't start shipping until Thursday. I could wait until friday to do 2nd day air, but thought I would rather wait for my order and spend the money on more stamps and stuff.

I've been Tagged!

I've been tagged for the first time (thanks Michele). Here are the rules:

* I must post 7 random things about me
* Tag 7 other bloggers to do the same.
* Post rules and the bloggers I tagged here.
* Leave tagged bloggers comments on their site so they know they've been tagged.

1. I am DEATHLY afraid of spiders-big ones, little ones, it doesn't matter...hate them all.

2. I like to have a clean house even though I don't always pick up after myself and I always nag on my husband if he leaves anything out.

3. My favorite cereal is Quaker Oat Squares.

4. Our (outdoor, thank God) cat has ringworm. So now I have to keep my 2 year old away from him until it's cleared up. That will be interesting since she loves to carry him around.

5. I just spent about $600 on my first Stampin' UP new catalog order! I think I *need* more stuff, so I'll probably order again today :)

6. I just recently got the urge to raise mini lop bunnies, they're soooo cute!

7. I want to find out the sex of our baby, but my husband does not. He doesn't know this, but I'm going to win anyway!

Those that I'm tagging:

Emily: www.stampingexpressions.blogspot.com

Mindy: www.stampinmindy.blogspot.com

Fran: www.stampersblog.franticstampers.com

Jenni: www.stampinjenni.blogspot.com

Angie: www.schwooo.blogspot.com

Jane: www.whoopsiedaisy-jane.blogspot.com

Emily: www.stampingwithemily.blogspot.com