Quilling & Butterflies
I’ve been really busy and sick with a nasty cold that will not go away this week and crashed out this afternoon and then got up to do some papercrafting and finish a project that has been rolling around in my head. I had a FANTASTIC birthday last week… turned the big 35… ouch! We had a bunch of friends over with their kids for cupcakes and ice cream…. CHOCOLATE cupcakes, of course, with fluffy white frosting!! MMMMM! Brent gave me some border punches and the Score-Pal (and the trim in my studio). I’ve been having a blast punching borders on various scrap papers and scoring lines just for the heck of it… lol! My friends gave some awesome gifts: a cookbook, a beautiful stoneware bowl, dinner out at the Olive Garden, etc., and Jeanne surprised me with a package in my mailbox! Many months ago we were talking about quilling and I briefly mentioned that I would like to try my hand at it sometime. Jeanne remembered and my little package contained the most GORGEOUS quilled card, a little quilling tool, and a book on quilling!! She totally remembered!! My desk is now strewn with strips of paper and odds and ends quilled rolls, leaves, and other odd shapes. LOL! This afternoon I sat down and decided to throw together a simple card with a quilled piece. Here’s what I came up with.. click photos for larger view. Creative Pieces: Dark chocolate cardstock from Archivers (free with coupons!), DCWV Luxury CS, CTMH Garden Green, Hollyhock and blush CS, American Crafts shimmery ribbon, White Gel Pen (my handwriting), American Crafts foam tabs, quilling tool, Martha Stewart punch, Little dew drops? from Susan Culotti, and the ever handy ATG gun 🙂 What I learned: Quilling works better with thinner cheapie CS and not white core CS. Martha Stewart punches punch so much nicer than Fiskars (even though I love both). Practice writing before you assemble the card so that you don’t have to move the butterfly to cover up the first try. LOL! Inky Smiles!!
Bind It All Starter Kits- Major Enabling Here!!
Are you teetering about buying the Bind It All machine from Zutter? Does someone you know want one? Do you want one and don’t know where to start? Well, Stamper Storage has just what you need! We have several retired blue BIA machines that we are blowing out in a package deal! Surf on over to Stamper Storage and pick up a FABULOUSLY priced BIA Starter Kit! This kit includes a sampling of the basics to get you started… and then some… You will also need a good pair of wire cutters/pliers available at any local craft or hardware store (or your hubby’s tool box *wink*). Our Starter Kit Includes: Reg Retail 1 Blue Bind It All Machine – version 1 $ 65.00 1 Package 1″ Owires, Silver (6-12″ pieces) $ 7.49 1 Package 3/4″ Owires, Silver (6-12″ pieces) $ 5.99 1 Package 5/8″ Owires, Silver (6-12″ pieces) $ 5.50 1 Package 1/2″ Owires, Silver (6-12″ pieces) $ 4.50 1 Package 3/8″ Owires, Silver (6-12″ pieces) $ 3.99 4 Pairs of 4×4″ Chipboard Covers, Craft $ 4.00 4 Pairs of 4×6″ Chipboard Covers, Craft $ 5.20 4 Pairs of 6×6″ Chipboard Covers, Craft $ 6.00 Total Regular Retail Value $ 107.67 Look at that over $100 worth of product to get you moving on making some great crafty projects. A HUGE SAVINGS… all of this wonderful scrappy stuff for only $75.00! Supplies are limited and when this deal is gone, it is GOOOOONE!(freebie gift certificates from blog may not be used on this deal… it’s already super low!)
Snippets
OOOOH! I was a busy girl today! I cleaned my studio and took some photos! There are a TON of photos to edit and then a blog post to write, but I wanted to show you some snippets. First things first…. My darling, sweet and endearing hottie husband cleaned out the window well for me today. I have this HUMONGOUS 4×5’ window in my basement studio and there was junk still in it from the flood from last summer, so he climbed down the ladder and hauled the junk out, washed the window, and put the screen back in for me. What a trooper! Today he also finished painting the trim that went back up in the studio a couple of days ago… YAY! I LOVE YOU BRENT 🙂 Here are some fun snapshots: And here’s a few snippets from my Studio….. I need to apologize. This week got away from me and I missed my regularly scheduled Thoughts for Thursday again. We’ve been pretty crazy around here this week. It’s late, I am EXHAUSTED from a long day so I’m off to bed, then church tomorrow, some relaxation, maybe some pre-birthday birthday cake and ice cream with my hottie, and then MAYBE some photo editing of the studio pics… maybe even a card post… lol! Inky Smiles!
StuffStak Blog Candy Winners Announced!
Thank you for playing the StuffStak game with us! We got a lot of emails and drew one name for each blog. Amaryllis has pulled out the paper packs and snapped some pics for you and I’ve got a couple of Stamper Storage “$15.00 off the purchase of any InkStak” Gift Certificates ready to go to the winners! The winner for the Inky Smiles Blog is: DENISE WELLS! Congratulations! You’ve just won a Level 2 Road Trip paper pack and Level 2 Vintage Travel paper pack from Close To My Heart. I will email your Gift Certificate to you and Amaryllis will get your papers in the mail to you, too! These are retired CTMH papers… collectors items you might say 🙂 Inky Smiles!
You Are a Hoot!
I LOVE this owl set! I have been playing around with it today, mostly just stamping in StazOn and coloring in the images… it’s like therapy and helps you avoid housework! LOL! Yesterday’s dishes are rinsed and sitting in the sink with today’s dishes, but by golly I stamped again AND (are you sitting down?) I CLEANED UP MY STUDIO RIGHT AFTER!!! {Tomorrow I have to build InkStaks with Brent and catch up on some sewing projects that I have been putting off….} I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the Fiskars Apron Lace Border Punch. JoAnn had them on sale on Monday for 40% off and I “happened” to be up in Orem with Brent getting wood for InkStaks. (Buwahaha!) I also picked up the Simple Scallop & Lace Border Punches and a small pad of Luxury paper from DCWV. (Thank goodness for sales!) Creative Pieces: “Those Cool Owl Sets” from TAC (Artsy Owls & What A Hoot) SEI “Poppy” Metallic CS (the most expensive paper I’ve ever bought) SU & CTMH Watercolor Pencils Odorless (“less”odor) Mineral Spirits & Blending Stumps Nestabilities Classic and Scalloped Circles Cuttlebug Machine Fiskars Apron Lace Border Punch And that blingy thing is left from a kit from CTMH
I {heart} Warm Fuzzies & Kind Friends
I have been meaning to snap a photo of this fabulous little treasure that arrived in my mailbox last week…… Today I finally threw my coat on over my “fat polar bear lounging clothes” and modeled the treasure while Brent snapped a pic for me! (I’m clean & pressed, just no makeup… lol!) Jeanne is seriously one of the sweetest and most talented women I know! Along with many of you I have been oogling over her crocheted creations over the past couple of months and told her how much I love her work and how I can’t “crochet to save my life”… Well, this BEAUTIFUL and SNUGGLY WARM treasure arrived last week out of the snowy white skies like a gift from the Gods… I’ve worn it every day I’ve gone somewhere and have enjoyed the soft warmth it’s given me. And I can’t forget the lovely card that accompanied it! (The inspiration for mineral spirits and blending stumps!) THANK YOU SO MUCH JEANNNE 🙂 YOU ROCK!! Oooh, and the wool coat… I was shopping with Judith and found it on sale at Lane Bryant last week for $13.99…. I KID YOU NOT! Marked down from $189.50 reg price!!! Did I mention that at that price I HAD to buy a matching red one, too? So did Judith… good thing we live oceans apart!
Guess WHOO Loves You?
We’ve been pretty busy this week and I didn’t have a lot of time to craft, but the adorable stamps I ordered from Karyn’s TAC party got here and I did manage to squeeze out some time last night to make a somewhat belated Valentine’s card for Brent…. Ok so it’s “sorta masculine”…. it’s got a MALE owl on it and loads of brown!! LOL! I stamped the word paper and owl outline with individual stamps in Timber Brown StazOn (beautiful rich color). It’s hard to tell but the word “box” and the owl are both popped off the paper with stacked up foam squares. The inside says “Guess WhOOO Loves YOU!” with a note to B from me. (Should have snapped a photo before writing in it!) I tried a couple “new to me” things on this card this time…. * I colored in Mr. Owl with watercolor pencils and then used my new blending stumps and some odorless mineral spirits (thanks Brent’s workshop supply) to blend the colors. Thanks to Jeanne for the inspiration… I finally actually tried it out! I love how the mineral spirits blend the colors without “pilling up” the paper! * I made those “side strip rounded end things” that are showing up on lots of cards lately by cutting strips of paper and using my smallest corner rounder to clip the corners off the ends and make them nice and rounded without having to buy that big honkin punch from SU. (Thanks Amaryllis for the corner rounder suggestion!) I added some rhinestones for bling and the heck of it 🙂 * I have NEVER bought Basic Grey paper packs …. lol… I am now hooked on those awesome mini pads of 6×6 paper… all nicely coordinating and no big huge leftover pieces to figure out how to store! YAY! (Thanks to Archiver’s for luring me in last week!) Creative Pieces: Basic Grey Bittersweet papers Marvy Corner Punch TAC Owl Stamps Studio G “Valentinesy Stamps” Timber Brown Stazon Ink SU & CTMH Watercolor Pencils Odorless Mineral Spirits Some Cheap-o Blending Stumps Rhinestones from Me & My Big Ideas Don’t forget the two blog candy contests going on here & here on the blog… You have until next Saturday to enter!!! 🙂 Inky Smiles!
Mama Mia!
Mama Mia! Here we go again Stamp! Stamp! How can I resist you? Mama Mia! Does it show again Just how I missed ya? Yes, I’ve been broken hearted, Blue since the day we parted… Why? Why? Did I ever let you go? Are you sitting down? I STAMPED again!!! For the first time in AGGGGGEEESSSSS!!!!! My friend, Judith, is here visiting from Berlin, Germany and we made a play date this week! We’ve been friends since we were youngins… I think 15 yrs old…. and as old as we’re getting, that’s nearly half our lives! LOL! While we were hanging out in my “new-ish” studio and looking at fun scrapbooking and paper crafting items that they don’t have in Germany Judith informed me that she had NEVER STAMPED! *GASP* A stamping virgin in MY studio??? NEVER!!!!! So I took the challenge. And taught Judith about stamps. And she was hooked. Her wallet is in BIG TROUBLE. LOL! So since she’d never stamped at all we decided to case a card that Alisha Trussell sent to me a while back. Alisha’s card is an awesome card with random stamping and layering. Handmade designer paper. So we pulled out my stamps and inks and papers and went to town. I taught Judith stamp kissing and the benefits of masking and cutting apart acrylic stamps. We had such a fun afternoon which spilled over into evening and it ended all too soon! We set the camera up on my bookshelf and used the remote to snap some fun pics. Even her 2 year old , Silas, enjoyed stamping. Silas speaks German and she’s working on teaching him English (Dad is American) and so Silas and I had many “Germ-lish” conversations… He kept telling me in German, “Mach blumen! Mach blumen!” (Make flowers! Make flowers!) LOL! I think his Daddy might not be to happy with “auntie” Erin after this adventure! He’s pretty good at inking up (“an tinte”) and stamping off (“auf tinte”). I think I need to brush up on my German. You’d never know I lived in Germany so long or that I’d also taken German in college! These cards were so simple and easy to make and soooo much fun! I didn’t have any clips, so I ran to the store and picked a couple up after work yesterday. I think Alisha is right, the clips finish it nicely! Supplies: Stamps: several CTMH sets Inks: CTMH Bling: Stickles by Ranger, Threading Water border punch by Fiskars, American Crafts ribbon, misc buttons, misc silver clip. <img src="https://www.mycreativeescape.com/wp-content/uploads/videodc37ed587a4c5B25D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-style: none;" galleryimg="no" onload="var downlevelDiv = document.getElementById('9ac027fa-32cc-432b-855f-b9f4904ecb2c'); downlevelDiv.innerHTML = " http://www.youtube.com/v/WY57jGNCN8Q&hl=en&fs=1&hl=en“;” alt=”” /> Well, I’m off to a Mama Mia “Sing A Long” party at a friend’s house this afternoon and then off to the movies tonight with some other girlfriends! Here’s some happy scrappy tunes for you! Happy Stamping and Inky Smiles! PS… don’t forget about the Stamper Storage Blog Candy!
Stamper Storage Facelift!
edited 2/6/09 – I don’t know what happened to this post… I originally posted it last Sunday and went back to edit it and it must have saved as a draft… ergh!!! Anyway…. on to our regular scheduled program! I am excited to announce that Stamper Storage has a new online store front! We have finally had time to give it a proper facelift and bring it into the “modern shopping cart” world! Brent and I have spent hours and hours working on it and getting it tweaked “just right”. We’ve added some options that can be purchased with our InkStaks and RibbonStaks and hopefully have made the overall shopping experience fast and easy for our customers. Stop in and visit and let me know what you think! Eventually we will add more products to it as we decide what people really want… if there’s something in particular that you would like to see in the store, let me know! Inky Smiles!Erin PS… Leave a comment on this post with what you would like to see for storage for your space and I will draw a name to win a gift certificate for $15 off any InkStak of your choice! Drawing will close on Friday, February 20th at noon. Winner will be announced on Saturday, February 21st.
A Bit o’ Fru-Fru for the Studio
I’ve been dedicating and spending more time this week to work in the studio and get some artsy fartsy things done. Really, it’s mostly done, just some odds n ends that I am working on like painting my InkStak making some fru-fru stuff for the space and some minor picking up of the place. I pulled out my fabulous little Bernina machine, some fabric and thread and went to work inventing some fru-fru to coordinate with my curtains. I also made a little adjustment to the “ties” on my curtains (McCall’s “Home Dec in a Sec” Pattern # M4329 View B – Empire Valance) as the teeny weeny thin ribbon just wasn’t doing it for me. I wanted to use that cool green fabric in the curtains but didn’t have quite enough of it. Anyway, back to the Fru-Fru Invention…. I wanted some blingy something or other and have been enjoying looking at other ppl’s spaces (not just papercrafters) and have seen some FABULOUSO chandelier lights and things in some spaces that are making me droooool. Well, a chandelier would look sorta ridiculous in this space and the ceilings are a bit too low for a dangly piece of lovely fru-fru, so I got to thinking about what I liked about them… Turns out I like the dangly crystals and fringe and shininess of it all so I thought about what I could do to add a little dangly/shiny/fru-fru fringe in this space. Chair Wraps With Fringe And Ties Oh MY So yeah… I pulled out the leftover fabrics from making the curtains and went to town. I was too lazy to go to the fabric store and look for a pattern, so I just sorta “winged it” and fit the fabric to the chairs and whipped up some ties. I really like the mismatched patterns. (It has taken me YEARS to figure out that you can mix and match patterns as long as they have colors that compliment/coordinate. Dang “ocd”… lol) The funky fun orange and fuschia beaded/circle fringe (this is the chandelier part cuz I couldn’t find the “just right” crystal beads) was a fun find at JoAnn’s but I found out you can get it slightly cheaper at WalMart. The fringe is stitched on with a fun, decorative stitch. The wraps fold over the top of the chair and then tie around themselves to the back of the chair. The paisley fabric is actually a really cool hot pink color that I can’t quite get a good photo of…. ergh. Here are some snapshots of the chair wraps. {Click photos for larger view.}