Using Top-Note Scraps

Here as promised is my post to show you what I did with the scraps from my last project.

Recently two very dear friends of mine (Sonya and Gabby) have lost loved ones and I wanted to let them know that I was thinking of them in their time of sorrow. I recently got the 'thoughts and prayers' set from SU. It is such a beautiful set. I chose to use last years in-colors as those were my favorites and I have a lot of it as I bought extra before they went away.

The colors are river rock, blue bayou and soft sky. I cuttlebugged the background and sponged the top-note. The top-note and tree are mounted on dimensionals and I used the new scallop oval punch with my oval punch for the sentiment. Sympathy cards are always the hardest cards for me to make due to the heartache attached to the reason I am making them. My friends are always in my prayers.

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Thanks for looking

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Hugs

Nic

Belated Happy 4th July

I'm really sorry. I know this is a little late. I actually had planned to post this Friday but hubby had the day off (Yay! 3 day weekend) and needless to say it slipped my mind till now. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend though. We got to see some awesome fireworks Saturday night.

I found this stamp in the clearance corner at Hobby Lobby a little while ago and immediately thought of making this card. Main card base and big note are river rock. All the other colors are pretty self explanatory. Wednesday I will show you what I made with my leftover river rock card. I hate to get rid of the smallest piece of cardstock sometimes. Just in case I think of something to do with it. LOL

Birthday Anya

I have had a nasty headache type thing going on the last week and a half so my card production has slowed down. Doctor can't decide if it's a tension headache or a sinus infection so I am currently on medication for both. I just hope it clears up soon as I am having trouble sleeping which in turn is draining my energy levels. Plus the kids are around all the time which is hard when you don't have the energy to do anything with them.

I gave in and got these young ladies a short while ago. This is my first chance to use them though. I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do when I started but this is what I ended up with.

I followed CC221 on splitcoast stampers. Cardstock is Kiwi Kiss, Red Riding Hood, Tangerine Tango. DP is from the spring stack. Embellishment is Mark Richards and the sentiment - I'm not sure (blame it on lack of sleep).

Thanks for looking.

Springy Christmas

TCC#6

I finally did Tracy's monthly challenge before the deadline. Here in Texas it has been over 100 degrees every day this last week so making Christmas Cards felt a little weird. I am so glad I am keeping on track with these though. At this rate I should have enough to send all handmade cards out this year.

This month Tracy's challenge http://tracyshappyplace.blogspot.com/ was to make 5 cards all using the same main image. This time though the challenge was to use a different fold. So I decided to try out a fold that caught my eye a while ago. It's called a spring card. Because when you take it out of the envelope it's supposed to spring up by itself.

I had a lot of fun making these cards. Cardstock is a tempting turquoise color and the paper is Heidi Grace. The image is my favorite little monkey Changito. I used my extra-giga scallop circle punch which was the perfect size. You can find the step by step instructions here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/spring_card/

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Thanks for looking

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Hugs

Nic

Gift Card for Hubby

Today is my Hubby's Birthday. He had to go to work which was a shame but not before opening his cards and gifts. One of which was this gift card holder I made for him. Well the gift card was the gift but you know what I mean. I tweaked it a little from the last one I showed you a while ago cause it turns out Xbox360 gift cards are longer in size than regular gift cards so I made the smaller gift card holder fit inside a regular card which in turn fitted inside a regular envelope. Score!

Still needs some tweaking though as the star at the bottom that was supposed to keep it shut refused to do it's job. I had to go to all sorts of lengths to figure something out for that. It wasn't perfect, but next time I need one I will figure out a better way to keep it closed.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Cushions for Hubby

Saturday we went to Ashley Furniture and got another bookshelf for our dining room. While we were there Paul mentioned that he has a leather sofa in his office (alright for some don't you think) but he had no cushions for it. Can you see where this is going? I should have cottoned on when he said he wanted something more personal than store bought but no silly old me offered to make him some. Somehow in the space of an afternoon we managed to go to Jo-Ann's, he picked out the fabric he wanted and when we got home I made 3 cushions. I think it's a record, for me anyways. He took them into work on Monday and sent me this pic of them on his sofa.

Father's Day Goodies

Ok, I'm a day late with these but as promised here are the things the kids and I made for Paul for Father's Day. Firstly I took pics of the kids out the garden holding the letters that make up the word DAD. Then I decorated a wooden frame I got at Michael's with Disney paper and mickey shaped buttons and once dry I put one of the pic's into the frame.

Once the pic's were taken the kids decorated the two D's with (their tool of choice) crayons. I took the A and using my Stazon black ink stamped some Disney stuff on it.

Last but not least I made him a post-it holder from a couple of drink coasters and I finally christened my bind-it-all machine. If your wondering why it's all Disney themed it's because Paul works for Disney plus the fact that the family as a whole are big fans of Disney helped too.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

An Award.....For Me....Aw, Shucks:-)

Hello fellow crafters, Just popped on quickly to show you the award I've received from Cindy at http://creationsbycindy2345.blogspot.com/ . Thank you Cindy, you are so very kind.

Here are the rules for this award:

Thank the person who nominated you for the award.

Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

Link to the person who gave you the award.

List 7 things about yourself that people may find interesting.

Nominate 7 new Kreativ Bloggers.

Post links to the new nominated blogs.

Leave a comment on their blogs, letting them know they have been nominated.

So 7 things about myself, hmm

1. I'm a big fan of So You Think You Can Dance

2. I have 2 cats: Cali & Tex (named for the 2 states we have lived in since moving to America)

3. I met my Hubby 15 years ago

4. I love playing drums on Rock Band

5. I've been crafting since I was a kid and used to help my mom.

6. I like most all types of music from Alice Cooper to Willie Nelson, but country is my favorite.

7. You should all know how much I love Gorillas by now ;-)

Now for the fab ladies that I'd like to pass this on to:

1. Lucy http://fabricaholic.blogspot.com/

2. Joani http://joaniscardsmadebyhand.blogspot.com/

3. Jacilynn http://jacilynndashwood.blogspot.com/

4. Libby http://stampinlibby.blogspot.com/

5. Tracy http://tracyshappyplace.blogspot.com/

6. Jeanette http://jeanette-happythoughtsinkspots.blogspot.com/

7. Suzanne http://scrapbitz.blogspot.com/

These are just a few of many. All of these and more are of great inspiration to me.

Hugs

Nic

Couple of Things

I'm afraid I don't have a lot to show you right now. My card making mojo has gone on it's summer holidays it would seem. I have been making a couple of things for my hubby for Father's Day but I will show you those once I have given them to him on Sunday.

Here's a couple of scrapbook pages I got made though. One for Jake for 4th grade and one for Megan for 1st.

I also made a dress for Megan. I can't take a lot of credit for this though as I actually bought it as a skirt from Goodwill and just added the straps so not really much sewing in that. I did however just wash a whole bunch of fabric yesterday and I have a pattern all cut out ready to make a dress from start to finish so I will let you know how it goes.

Z Fold Anniversary Card

I needed an anniversary card so went looking on SCS for idea's and found a bunch of cards using this new technique. It is TLC221 and called a Tri-shutter card, it is also referred to as a Z fold. They gave me a link to this tutorial. http://craftiblog.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/2009-04-23-quad-fold-card-sample-tutorial/ I thought to myself what a cool looking card. I must try this so I got out some 12x12 cardstock. I don't have much as I generally buy 8.5x11. I cut it to size then as always got distracted.

The next day I got a swap in the mail from my dear friend Carrie and would you believe it was one of these cards. She too had been making them. Once again inspired to try I went to my craft room and got to work. I kept it pretty simple as the card itself is very busy with all it's folds. I used some DP from the spring stack and the SU set Fifth Avenue Floral. I think it turned out very pretty in the end. I am going to have to try these again.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Punch Penguin Christmas

Although I keep missing the deadline for the challenge I am still making my Christmas cards each month and trying to follow the challenge guidelines on Tracy's blog (http://tracyshappyplace.blogspot.com/). For the end of May it was to make 5 cards where the sentiment was your main image and to use the color pink. I did that, but it was missing something so when I saw this cute penguin on Heathers punch club (http://stampwithheather.typepad.com/stamp_with_heather/2009/05/simply-punches-three.html). I just couldn't resist adding him as the finishing embellishment. Isn't he just the cutest thing. I am having so much fun with this club I am so glad I joined.

Cardstock is retiring In-colors Pacific Point and Pink Pirouette

Multiple punches were used all SU

Sentiment is from SU Big On Christmas

Cuttlebug Snowflakes folder was also used

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Monkey Father's Day

I am getting a little overwhelmed with the amount of un-inked rubber I have. I seem to be buying them faster than I can use them, (LOL) but I'm gonna start working through what I have for a while. This will be a good test of my will power.

I wanted to make cards from the kids for Father's Day so I picked on changito as he's just so cute and I haven't inked this little fella yet. This will be the first card for my new resolution. I used one of the retiring in-colors too. It always seems that just as I manage to collect them all it's time to move on to the next round of colors.

Onto the card I used 2 changito stamps for this image as I needed two little monkeys to resemble my own two little monkeys. I even drew on a bow into the one's hair to make it a girl. Cardstock, DP and ribbon are all Pacific Point. I used 2 separate sentiment stamps. Misc Father's day one and a TAC grandpa one. I made one each for each grandpa and then made a third for dad (also TAC).

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Flowers for Teacher

I decided to do this project last minute yesterday. Today is my kids last day of school for the summer. I bought these little flower pots a few weeks ago I saw them at the counter at Jo-Ann's and immediately this project came to mind but with one thing and another cropping up it was looking like I wasn't going to get it done. So last night I sat down and managed to get them done.

I originally got the idea from http://thescraproomblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/end-of-school-year-is-coming.html She had just done a label on a potted plant which I thought was very cute. Also I have been looking at a lot of blogs making flower pot cards. So when I saw these pots BOOM I got an idea to alter the packageing to look like the flowers were already there.

It was a lot easier in the end than I thought it would be. I took the cardboard cover off and traced it onto a piece of DP. I punched a hole in the DP so that you could see the picture of the flowers underneath and then I glued it together. I punched holes for my ribbon to thread through and for my little tag to attach.

I then made my flowers. I used my SU flower punch and small circle punch with pinks and purples for the pot with sweet peas inside and my SU scallop circle and 1 inch circle for the sunflowers. I then attached some with glue dots and some with dimensionals to make them stand out. I then atattched the ribbon and the tag and they were done. The kids loved them and I think the teachers will to. I almost didn't want to part with them.LOL.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

New Baby Card

I have been wanting to join in with Libby's "From Courtney's Closet" challenges on her blog for the longest time. I have very bad timing for missing them. Actually for missing most things, but with this in mind I tried really hard for her Anniversary challenge. It worked in my favor too as I was able to chose from the whole years challenges to pick out a favorite. Well I just had to choose the cute little monkey outfit from back in November 2008 it was #23.

I have been itching to try out this punch monkey I found on Heather's blog http://www.stampwithheather.typepad.com/ You actually have to go down to her archive list and click on January to find it as I didn't realise how long ago I had first spotted it. There is a video you can watch which lists all of the punches you will need as she goes. All the punches she uses are SU. I was missing a few originally which is why it has taken me a while. I just joined her current punch club. So much fun and the projects are so cool. Anyway back to the card.

Cardstock is: choc chip, creamy caramel, handsome hunter, cameo coral & ruby red

Cuttlebug folder: D'vine swirls

Other punches: Extra Giga scallop circle punch, SU scallop edge punch

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The leafy vine is from Quickuts. However it is slightly too thin to go through my cuttlebug so I had to pad it out with some cardboard to make it cut. To make the monkey look like a girl I used red grossgrain ribbon, I just tied one knot and rounded the ends with my scissors to make it look like a bow then attached it with a glue dot.

While we are on the subject of monkeys my friend Gabby sent me a RAK this week she sent me this awesome card and inside was the cutest gorilla stamp. I just love it, isn't he cute. Thank you once again for him Gabby, he's awesome and so is the card.

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Thanks for looking

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Hugs

Nic

Garden/Fathers Day Card

I made a bunch of these both for a garden swap and for my dad and hubby's dad for Father's Day. I thought it was a good twist on topic as most people seem to lean towards flowers with garden swaps and at the time I needed masculine cards so it killed 2 birds so to speak. The image reminds me of when I was a kid. My mum had the same gloves and tools. Yes, I said my mum. Dad wasn't much of a gardener except when there was too much for mum to do alone and he would help out.

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I have had this stamp a while and not really been sure of what to do with it until now. It's from Mostly Animals. Cardstock is Night of Navy. I don't have a clue where the paper came from I found it in my stash and it just seemed to work. I don't even remember buying it. LOL. I water colored the image and cut it out and placed it on the cut down, distressed top note die with dimensionals. 3 bronze brads to finish.

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Thanks for looking

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Hugs

Nic

Whimsy News and Candy

Hey there

I wasn't planning to post today as I have not got anything to show you right now. But I noticed when I was blog hopping that Whimsy Stamps has a NEW RELEASE coming out on Monday June 1st. Did you see the previous post? That cute duck is a Whimsy stamp.

Personally I just love the animals. They also have a cute kids collections too and are releasing new stamps for both. To celebrate the new release Denise is offering up the new stamps as candy. Here are some pics of the new stamps. Go ahead and pop over to her blog and enter for a chance to win. The link is over there on the top of the side bar. Also if you want to check out all her other cute stamps the link to her store is also on the side bar just a little further down.

What are you waiting for?

In other candy news Marlene is celebrating her hits with candy. She has new Anya's up for grabs. Look over there on the side bar, go, go now.

Hugs

Nic

Duck, Duck?

Haha, how many of you said goose.LOL. Ok, so I have one thing to show you. I managed to finally get this done even though my mojo is on go slow and my poor Bodie catto is on my mind. Unfortunately with a slowly increasing list of things to do I could not just sit around feeling sorry for myself as much as I wanted to.

So here's the card I made. Hubby loves duck's so this is for his birthday next month. Which is fast approaching. Cardstock is Always Artichoke, Black and Vanilla. DP is Basic Grey. Image is from Whimsy stamps and sentiment is SU. Card is finished with screw head brads. I had planned to enter this for a couple of online challenges but as usual I missed the deadlines.

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Thanks for looking

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Hugs

Nic

3rd Grade Scrapbook Page

I couldn't let scrapbook month pass me by and not do any scrapbooking now could I.





I am playing catch-up with Jake's school year book as this is for last year and he's almost done with this year. Still the plus side is that I've been doing an identical page for Megan when I do Jake's so she is 2 years ahead right now. LOL.

Sorry I don't have much more to chat about today but we got some sad news at the weekend and it has hit me a little harder than I thought it would. When we moved here to the states we gave our 2 cats to my MIL. She has been looking after them and spoiling them rotten for the last 5 years.....They had to put my beloved Bodie down cause he was very unwell. He was 12 years old which is pretty good in cat years so I'm told. He was my first real pet cause when I lived at home with my parents I was never allowed to have anything more than a goldfish. I missed him so much when we moved here and now I will never see him again. It hurts a lot so please bare with me and I will try and be back soon.

Hugs

Nic

Back To The Crocs

Do you remember the cool paper I bought and the stickers. Well I made cards with them......I know, I know I always make cards but I had so many ideas in my head I couldn't decide. LOL. I don't know if you read the comments on the other post but my friend Gabby came up with the cool idea of making totes. I liked that one a lot. Gonna be heading back to Jo-Ann's to get some more paper so I can try that one out myself.




Cardstock is Blue Bayou, Soft Sky and Summer Sun. Embellishments are light blue crystal stickers (they look a lot like dew drops to me) and a yellow button. Sentiment is from SU Happy thoughts.

Sorry about the picture quality. I just couldn't seem get a good picture.

Thanks for looking

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Hugs

Nic