Whirlpool of Imagination

Fun Friday Challenge - Color Dare

Morning all! I am on a tight schedule this morning so my challenge is kind of a quickie one made up in the last twenty minutes or so. I thought I'd do a color challenge for Fun Friday - make a card using the colors BLACK, WHITE AND PINK. This color combo came from Meghan's outfit yesterday which consisted of all pinks, whites and blacks. I debated on making this a 10 minute card challenge because this card took, honestly, 10 minutes to make.

This picture does not pick up as much in the card as I would like. I used the gorgeous texture cuttlebug embossing folder for the black layer which I think just adds a delicateness to any card you make with it. The flower itself is from Penny Black and I used some pink stickles in the corners of the white image block. I like using stickles instead of brads or eyelets because its less bulky, less expensive and quicker to do. Of course that does not mean I'm giving up on my beloved brads - they are a mainstay in my designs!

So I challenge you to make a black, white and pink card and link it back here. I had a few other ideas floating around in my head but studio time is nonexistent this morning so I may try more this weekend. Let me see what you can do and if its a 10 minute card also, give yourself some brownie points!

A Neat Tool or Colossal Mistake?

If you follow the message boards at Splitcoast or the blogs of "famous" stampers, you've probably seen (A LOT of) raves about the Nestabilities from Spellbinders, makers of the Wizard Die Cutting System. Like many others, I was intrigued when I saw all the hype surrounding this new product. And I am a tool junkie. If its a neat little tool or gadget, it calls to me. So I caved and ordered them from Ellen Hutson's store.  A few weeks ago, they arrived and they sat in their boxes for a bit. Do you ever feel overwhelmed with a new toy or new stamps and need some time before you jump on in? That was me.

So I let them sit for a bit and this week I broke them open. I got out my Wizard and prepared to play when I encountered my first problem. Nowhere on the packaging does it say how to use these in the Wizard, no "sandwich" recipes at all. Okay, I know lots of blogs have put out info so I go looking. Because these dies are compatible with every machine out there, you can find sandwich recipes for every machine but the Wizard, it seems! Finally, I stumbled upon great instructions on Michelle Wooderson's blog. She offers up pictures and a clear explanation to help those of us with the Wizard. So I grab the instructions and give this a try. Now I have an old Wizard and some of my mats are not the same colors are the newer mats. So I grabbed what I thought I needed and gave it a go. Besides almost jamming up the machine with sandwiches clearly too thick and dislocating my shoulder trying to cut these things, I finally thought I'd hit upon the magical sandwich. Except every time I ran it through, it was only partially cutting and basically much more trouble than the darn things were worth. So now I started with the slow panic. Did I just spend a significant amount of money on something that was worthless?

Finally, I decided to just call Spellbinders directly. The first gentleman I spoke to was very curt and treated me as if I had the intelligence of a gnat. Not a good start and was not impressing me in the least. Lucky for me, he had no clue about the old Wizards and he sent my call to Stacey, the owner and original developer of the Wizard. That was when my luck turned around. I had never spoken with Stacey before but now I can honestly say I am impressed with her knowledge, her professionalism and her patience. She knew exactly what I was talking about no matter which of the 11,000 pieces I seem to have collected along the way that I asked her about. She talked me through the entire process and most importantly, would NOT let me get ahead of myself, which I have a tendency to do. She was very patient, answered all of my questions and then went on about how I could use all those 11,000 other pieces. We finished the call on a very positive note and I felt like I could actually do this.

I am still working out the kinks on this design, but here was my first go with the Wizard. The two oval shapes and two scallop oval shapes were cut with the Nestabilities. When I finally had the proper sandwich, it was much easier to run through the machine and the whole thing just started to make sense. I am still having a wee bit of trouble in that the dies are cutting and embossing the first time through but I'm working on that.

The stamped image is from Stamping Bella and the sentiment is from TAC. I used the cuttlebug for the embossed background and I unearthed some orange raffia to add a little something around the sentiment.

So after many trials and tribulations, I have decided that the Nestabilities are NOT the colossal mistake I feared them to be. I think now that I have the proper knowledge and with some practice, I will come to enjoy this product and will think of these as a neat tool and good investment.

A Bella with Happy Thoughts

I was all ready to blog last night but I've become spoiled. I tried scanning the card and didn't like it as much as taking a pic so first thing this morning, there I was, making sure I got the picture!

Do you ever start a card with the intent on using a certain element and build the card around that one element? That was what I did with this one. I sat down to make something a decided I just had to use a certain ribbon. And at times, everything wasn't coming together but I wasn't giving up on that ribbon.

This card is made up of new stamps. I recently got this bella from Stamping Bella. I think she's great - she comes with several different sentiments and can be used for so many things - gotta love versatility. And in the picture it's very hard to see but the brown is stamped with the NEW petite pattern from Cornish Heritage Farms. In person, it added just what the card needed. If you love backgrounds, you need to check these new ones out. This one is like a little tiny harlequin, which is one of my all time CHF backgrounds. As soon as these were put in the store, I had to buy them.

Bella herself is colored with prismacolor pencils which are blended with baby oil. For the pants, I colored every other stripe and filled in the others with the oil to give them a stripy look. The billboard is outlined with sakura gelly roll glitter marker - gives it just the right sparkle.

And the pink block is embossed with the cuttlebug (side note, have you seen some of the new embossing folders????? I can't wait until those are released - look out credit card!!!!). Anyone, I think I may make a bunch of these today for my pen pals. I definitely need to send out some happy mail.

Backpack Bling and Basil

This weekend was productive in one way but not in regards to cool pictures to show off. I've been labeled as the "crafty" one among the room mothers for the first grade so I got the job of making the name tags for an upcoming event, 110 of them. Of course I couldn't just buy ready made name tags but had to stamp and doodle the darn things. But they are done and ahead of time, which I'm pretty stoked about.

I do have a little picture for you though. Meg has been itching for some artsy things to hang off the zippers of her backpack. I never got around to it last year so I'm trying to do some for this year. I found these really cute teeny tiny clip boards at AC Moore which were just begging to be altered.....

Here's the backpack with its new adornment. I took the clipboard, painted the sides pink and adhered some DCWV paper onto it. Those flowers have the perfect centers for jewels so yep, Meg will have the only backpack with Swarovski crystals on its decoration!

Here is the clipboard close up. After altering it, I sprayed it with krylon glaze. I hadn't thought to do it when I first made it but it did occur to me that if I don't, the first rain we have and the clipboard would be history. Now its sealed nicely.

I did find that the ball chain that came with these was really cheap, in fact it broke within 2 minutes after I tried attaching the clipboard to the backpack. I know, I get what I pay for......So I got some lengths of ball chain and connectors from Jewelry Supply and now I'm good to go. Anyone who needs a keychain, just see me!

And I just noticed that TAC sells these mini clipboards in two sizes! I think an order may be in my future!

Now here's my basil question. My in laws neighbor gave us a small shoot of basil at the beginning of the summer. Through Mo's efforts (not mine - my thumb is nowhere near green), this has become a basil bush. Now I need recipes - I hate to waste all this so please pass on your best basil recipe so I can get cooking.

Fun Friday Challenge - Calories Schmalories

Happy Friday everyone! Thanks for all the kind words about my project yesterday - I hope you get a chance to try the project too. Since I'm on a candy kick and since its Friday, I'm combining both for today's Fun Friday Challenge - CANDY TREATS, otherwise known as Calories Schmalories. Your challenge is to make some sort of gift that includes candy. I'm leaving the parameters broad on this one - as long as it contains candy, it works for me.

My offering for today's challenge uses yet more of the newest Paper Trey stamps, both Halloween and Christmas.

These are cute little decorated tins filled with Hershey kisses, yet another of my all time favorite candies.

These are 4 oz square tin containers that measure 1.4 x 2.5 inches. I get all my specialty containers at Specialty Bottle. This site offers fantastic customer service and pretty quick delivery. Word of caution, shipping will seem steep but I've found, in the end, I'm still paying less per item than most other places.

This is a fun project that looks great when finished.

General measurements:

1) bottom piece of cardstock measures 3/4 x 8 3/4 inches. The smaller Papertrey stamps fit like they were designed for this. I use red line tape to attach to the tin.

2) sleeve: This piece of cardstock measures 3/4 x 8 inches. I slightly overlap the two ends so it fits snugly around the tin but still slides off easily to open up the tin. I added some ribbon and punched out the center shapes along with the Papertrey sentiment.

Using the exact same measurements, I made one for the Christmas holidays. I think this would be adorable in blue with a snowflake stamped along the bottom piece of cardstock.

The sentiment and holly filled heart are both from two of the newest Papertrey releases.

As a little note, these containers hold 13 Hershey kisses comfortably. Any more than that and the top starts to bulge up a bit.

So consider yourself challenged!! Create something using CANDY and link it back to here. I want to see your awesome creations!

Creepy Kit Kats

So, in my last post I showed you all that candy I just bought. The reason there are so many kit kat bags (besides the fact that I ADORE Kit Kats) is when I looked at the candy, it looked like a good size to decorate so of course, I had to buy extra. I wasn't sure how I was going to decorate it but, frankly, when has that ever stopped me???

So I get the candy open and start playing around. I soon realize that the Spooky Sweets set from Paper Trey Ink might be perfect for this project. Sure enough, it works!

These are going to be the Halloween treats that Meg (and maybe Conor too) give out to their classmates this year. I've gotten the official okay from Meghan that these will work for her class.

I decided to play around with some measurements and the nugget candy cover stamp and hurray, we have kit kat covers!

Because I don't believe in making you reinvent the wheel, here are the step by step directions if you'd like to try these.

The supplies are basic....mini kit kats, cardstock, stamps, ink and a way to score the cardstock. I use my Score-It tool, one of the best inventions ever, especially for projects like this.

1. Cut a piece of cardstock 2.25 x 3.5 inches long. Turn it horizontally and score it at 13/16, 1 1/4, 2 1/4, 2 11/16 inches.

2. Turn the cardstock vertical and stamp the nugget cover stamp in the one inch opening. It will fit within this section perfectly.

3. Fold at your score lines and adhere to the candy bar. Decorate the top as you wish. I used another papertrey stamp and cardstock that just happened to match the kit kat wrapper color. (If you just have to have matching cardstock, it is Classic Red Arcobaleno Cardstock from California Paper Goods).

**Note to make your life easier: pick out the candies where the wrapper is completely flush and tight around the kit kat. Some are not flush and the cardstock does not stay well on those and doesn't want to fold right either. I didn't use those and put them aside for my trick or treaters (if I don't eat them first).

These measurements are for the kit kat only. I bet mini Hershey bars would work well also but haven't measured them out so I cannot guarantee that you could use the same measurements. If you try it and it works, let me know (and show me too because I would love to see what you do).

Trying Some Pomegranate

In my recent SU order, I got the mixed pack of this year's In Colors. I have decided that I REALLY like the pomegranate shade - its an awesome color.

I had originally made this card with a different color scheme and image. And the end result was that I HATED the card. I don't say that that often. I may not be happy with what I've done but rarely do I say that I can't stand something.

Today I wanted to stamp but was feeling no creative spark so I pulled out the first version of this card and redid it. I really like this second version much better.

I tried to get the picture to show the pomegranate well but I was having trouble. The card is definitely a little brighter in person. The image is from Gina K's Make a Wish set and inked with the pomegranate ink. The sentiment is from TAC. I did cuttlebug the pomegranate mat as well.

My allergies have hit me hard this afternoon and evening and I'm feeling a bit under the weather. I'm thinking some hot tea and an early bedtime are in order. But before I go, I was at Target the other day and....

Yes, it was on sale and Halloween is coming. But, I can tie this into crafting. Tune in tomorrow and check out what I did!

A Little Shopping Anyone??

Nope, the title doesn't mean that I've been buying some new stuff (well, I have but that's another story). I got my very first diva stamp from Rubber Romance and just had to ink her up.

Lately, I've been on this kick to use up my extra patterned paper before it reaches what I call the black hole. This is paper that I use part of and then it never seems to emerge again. This paper is from the DCWV slab which is the same as what I used for yesterday's legal pad cover.

My diva is colored with prismacolor pencils which are blended with baby oil. The flower is from CTMH and the crystal is a fire opal swarovski (which has a really cool look about it with the changing colors). Since the stamp was so large, I chose to make the card 7 x 3.5 which fits into these great envelopes I got from Stamp On This.

This time I tried photographing my card rather than scanning it. Does this look better than the scanned cards? Which do you prefer to see on blogs?

Jr Legal Pads in a Nutshell

There are different variations of the jr legal pad cover floating around. Since I had trouble with the original directions I had, I did a few of my own measurements.

This is what the pad cover looks like when it is open. The flaps fold one over the other with a velcro closure.

The basic materials needed for this project are:

1) jr legal pad

2) pad cover: Cut a piece of cardstock to 8.5 x 11 inches. Turn the cardstock horizontal and score at 2 3/4, 3, 8 1/8, 8 3/8 inches/

3) pad top: Cut a piece of cardstock to 2.5 x 5 inches. Turn the cardstock vertical and score at 7/8 and 1 1/8 inches. I use PVA glue to attach this to the legal pad but you can use whatever you prefer for adhesive.

4) decorated front: Cut a piece of cardstock 7.5 x 4.5 inches. This is the largest piece I use and then decorate and layer from there.

5) Velcro closure: I get a roll of velcro at Joann's.

Once everything is measured, scored and decorated, its just a matter of assembling.

1. Attach the pad top to the legal pad. When I use PVA glue, I give the glue time to dry.

2) Adhere the legal pad to the inside of the pad cover. For this, I just use double sided tape.

3) Now is the time to attach the decorated front cover. Only tape ONE side of this down to the pad cover. The other side will be attached by velcro.

4) Attach the velcro to the unattached side of the decorated and the pad cover.

The stamp used for this pad is from Stampin Up and I colored it with Dee Gruenig markers.

Many times I make a bunch of decorated fronts and then all the other pieces are easy to attach in an assembly line fashion.

If anything is unclear, feel free to ask. I'd be happy to try to answer anything that doesn't make sense.

Speedy Scarecrow

I've been working mostly on making already established designs but I took a break for a quick scarecrow card. I was looking for something that wouldn't take two hours to color and was fallish in nature.

This card definitely falls under the category of would look better if I took a picture of it rather than scanned it. When it originally scanned, somehow the layers, which are straight (I swear) all ended up at different angles.  But photographing was not to be tonight so here we are.

This scarecrow from TAC was colored with prismacolor pencils and blended with baby oil. That's pretty much it, except for adding the layers. Its quick, easy and cute.

We took the kids to a UCONN football game today. It was kind of rainy and chilly for part of the time, but they were troopers and seemed to have a good time. Hope you all are enjoying your weekend. Night!