Balcerific Pumpkins, you say?

Just what are Balcerific pumpkins? Well, it's Featured Stamper Sunday over at SCS, and Jenn Balcer is the featured stamper this week. The idea behind the FS challenge is take a card or page or project from the selected stamper and create your version, CASEing if you will. Jenn is absolutely one of my favorite people around - I've spent time with her on numerous occasions and she is as genuine and authentic as can be. So Balcerific pumpkins are just pumpkins, stamped Balcer-style.

Jenn's an awesome scrapper (not something I do well or much, and when I do, Jenn is my sounding board) and I used her page here as inspiration for my card. Many of the layout elements are the same, however, stamp sets, patterned paper, and embellishments differ.

The deets: After creating the chocolate chip card base and adhering the patterned paper, I tied the ribbon around the card and set it aside. The pumpkins are inked in Pumpkin Pie rolled in Really Rust and stamped on the vanilla panel. One pumpkin is stamped completely onto the vanilla panel, stem and all. Just the stem of the second pumpkin is stamped on the panel. The second pumpkin was stamped on a vanilla scrap, cut out, and adhered with a dimensional. I stamped the leaf in Wild Wasabi on vanilla, cut it out, and adhered it to the panel with a dimensional. The edges of the panel were lightly DTP'd with Brilliance Cosmic Copper. After pencil marking where the upper corner of the panel would be placed, I stamped the swirl in the same copper ink, erased the pencil mark, then adhered the image with dimensionals. Copper brads and piercing complete the card. Finished card is 5 x 5.

My challenge to you, find a scrapbook page and convert it into a card, it's easier than you think!

Happy Sunday!
V.~

Supplies: Stamps: SU! Carved and Candlelit, Moose You, Inks: Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust, Wild Wasabi, Brilliance Cosmic Copper, Paper: Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Apple Cider DP, Accessories: Wild Wasabi Stitched Grosgrain, Copper mini brads, Mat Pak and Piercing tool, Dimensionals

Ahhh, A New Little Someone!

One of my SCS pals recently had a precious little boy and I wanted to send her a card to celebrate his arrival. Stamps for baby cards are underepresented in my collection, so Wild About You is my standby. I think it works wonderfully, the images are so cute and appropriate for little ones.

That wonderful patterned paper is by Pebbles inc. and is called My Guy Stripes and My Guy Dots, isn't it great paper?! I really enjoy the Pebbles line of papers, they have such fun designs and patterns, and more importantly to me, are a card stock weight patterned paper. I don't care for the wimpy wimpy wimpy weight of many patterned papers. A personal thing with me for sure! LOL

The rest of the card is pretty straight forward stamping and embellishing, so I'll skip writing the details about it.

Supplies: Stamps: SU! Wild About You, Small Sayings, Ink: Bashful Blue, Pumpkin Pie, Versafine Sepia, Paper: Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Pebble Inc patterned paper, Accessories: Mini brads, May Arts striped grosgrain, Dimensionals

V.~

QUICK and EASY ....

...cards for PTSA. I wasn't going to post them, but decided to because we all have moments where we need QUICK and EASY cards to mass produce for one thing or another.

A short story here:
Years ago when I first started stamping, PTSA asked me to make cards for the board to sign and give to the staff on their birthdays. Oh, back then I was all into making each card unique and special for each person. Well, 80 cards for 80 people gradually begins to wear on ya, ya know? So after a couple years I started making cards by the month, all the same. All birthday recipients that month got the same card. Year 4, I found the premade cards and envelopes at Michaels in plain white. Just did a quick gussy up on the front and called it a day. Year 5, I found these fantastic colorful card bases at Michaels made by DCWV, slap a coordinated card stock stripe and greeting panel and there you go - QUICK and EASY cards, these were done in about an hour and a half with lots of dawdling in between (you know dog in, dog out, phone calls, refilling the iced tea, etc.). Another QUICK and EASY tip, leave the embellishments at home. Simple stamping and popped up layering complete these cards.

It's not that I don't enjoy making quality cards for the staff, it's that I'm sure they find their way to the circular file in a relatively fast manner, you know? I know they appreciate the acknowledgement and that's what matters in the end.

Now for my special teacher friends, and there are a few, I make a personal customized card tailored just for them.

All stamps, inks and plain card stock are Stampin' Up! Patterned card bases are DCWV.

Cat asks....

I have a question regarding your inside pages. Since you cut them smaller than the coasters (I think I saw 3.75" on another of your blog posts) how do you punch the holes on the paper?

Cat,
Using the Bind It All on the setting that says inner pages, it adjusts for the internal pages so they sit just right inside the book when it is bound with the coil (O ring). And yes, 3.75 square is the correct measurement for the inside pages.

I hope that makes sense.
V.~

Michelle asks....

Love your little coaster books. They are so cute!! Where on the website do I locate the coils? I looked but can't seem to find them. Thanks,

Michelle

Michelle, the Bind It All coils or "O" Wires are available anywhere the Bind It All is sold. I purchase mine from several sources, depending on the circumstances. I try to keep a supply on hand of the sizes I use most frequently. My local scrap store sells them, or you may also find them at online retailers like www.eclecticpaperie.com and www.allthatscraps.com. In addition to white, I find that silver and black are useful to have on hand, too.

Matching Bohemian Birthday Set

My birthday gift for my friend is almost complete! I finished the matching coaster book and perpetual "days to remember" tag book just a bit ago. They go along with the card I posted yesterday. Tomorrow a new CD release will round out my gift to her. And then I'll pop everything in the mail along with my sincerest birthday wishes for a beautiful day.

I've posted similar projects like these in the past, so I will save you reading the how-to's again. If you've any questions, please post them and I will try and answer them to the best of my ability.

Happy Monday Evening!
V.~

Supplies somewhat follow the list from below with the addition of, in no particular order: Stamp of Authenticity, Fundamental Phrases, Everyday Flexible Phrases, Simple Serif Mini Alpha, Blank coasters, Chipboard tags (traced and cut by me), Shipping tags, Oval punch, Jumbo eyelets, Mini eyelets, Silver cord, Round tab punch, Mini brads, Bind it All, 5/8 coil, Book ring, Spellbinders dies, Dimensionals

Happy Birthday, Bohemian style

Here's the promised upload for today. I'm still working on the rest of the gift set for a special friend who has a birthday coming up this week. I LOVE the Bohemia line of patterned paper by My Mind's Eye and buy it in sheets when Michaels has their great specials - last week 5 sheets for $1, what a steal! This one is called Backyard *Just Be You* Paisley/Teal and it is gorgeous. All my favorite colors swirl around in this paper! The birthday girl loves greens also, so I know that she'll love this card, too.

I used my Spellbinders for the first time successfully today. Once I got the kinks worked out in my brain I was able to figure out to use my Cuttlebug to emboss the white layer. It is such an elegant touch, no need to gussy up the edges or add anything, it stands beautifully on its own.

The rest of the card is pretty straight forward stamping and simple embellishing, so I won't step by step it. Finished card is 5 x 5 square.

V.~

p.s. See anything else new around here?

Supplies: Stamps: Stem Silhouettes, Amazing to Zany, Inks: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Paper: Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip, Blue Bayou, Whisper White, My Mind's Eye, Accessories: Spellbinder's dies, Cuttlebug, Brown mini brads (American Crafts), Blue Bayou striped grosgrain, Dimensionals

Turns out....

my lack of mojo may just not be in my head! A relief of sorts to find out that my regular meds need adjusting to bring my thyroid levels back to where they belong. I've been on Synthroid for about 15 years to regulate my thyroid after I was diagnosed with Grave's Disease way back when. Long story short, due to radioactive iodine therapy, I no longer have an active thyroid gland and need to take synthetic thyroid to keep me functioning. I'm no doctor, but apparently your your thyroid gland is an integral part of your system. Ü Last week I went in for my regular blood work, turns out, I need an adjustment to my meds. I am basically hypothyroid right now which makes for tiredness and fuzzy thinking, among many other things. And here I thought I was just doing too much, by the time I had to time to create, I had nothing left!

So, hopefully in a week or so, I'll have my creative energy back!



In the meantime, I want to share a couple of photos of my workspace with you. So many stampers I've seen have dedicated rooms to store all the *schtuff* that we need to play. I do not have my own room, I share the family room. In addition, I am in the percentage of stampers who stand, thus the counter height cabinets with the Corian slab. As a result of being a shared space, it also means I need to be neat and organized, so everything has a place to call home. My stamps are stored in a bookshelf that you can't see, it's to the right side of the picture, next to that 12 x 12 paper storage unit. My Cuttlebug dies and Spellbinder dies rest in baskets atop the paper storage unit.

Punches, embellishments, etc. are stored in the top drawers of the cabinet. Paper scraps (by color family in Sterlite shoeboxes), more embellishments, embossing stuff, crimper, adhesives, envelopes, etc. and more are stored in the cabinets below. My regular paper is stored in a rolling cart that is covered by a Waverly curtain, barely seen at the end of the counter.

Jay made my stamp pad holder years ago...and I love it. However, who knew SU! would start adding 6 colors every year?! 2 metal tins, turned sideways, store the latest 12 pads and neutrals. By next year, I'm going to need something better. I store additional stamp pads, StazOn, Versafine, Palette, etc. in the drawer near the base of the unit.

I keep my most reached for tools (Yes, Jenn, the SAMJ is in there!) in baskets at the far end of the counter near the ribbon rack.



I've tried a variety of ribbon storage, never seeming to find the right one for my space. I was blog browsing and saw a wonderful space here using pegboard and pegboard sticker racks. I knew I wanted something like this, it looks so organized! Because my space is not in a room that can be closed off, Jay didn't want to use pegboard as the base holder, instead he made these stainless steel channels to hold the racks. Perfect. The top shelf, for now, stores loose ribbon that I keep in canning jars (a few more jars sit atop the bookshelf where I store my stamps). I foresee the jars leaving in the future to be replaced by spools now that I have the room to store them.

Previously I used another wall mount variety, but the spools were on dowels threaded through each spool....to remove any spools to use, it had to be dismantled, what a pain! Usually I would need the one farthest from the end that was removable! Anyhoo, this new rack allows me to remove a spool easily and replace it with ease. Looks pretty cool, too!

Thanks for bearing with me. I'm going to try my best to get a new card posted tomorrow. Tonight is Mother - Son night down at our school, so Brett and I will be headed there to watch "Night at the Museum" along with other moms and sons. We've seen this movie before, and even own it, but we are still looking forward to our time tonight.

Until tomorrow, have a wonderful Saturday!

V.~

So this ought to be FUN!

http://prairiepaperandink.typepad.com/amyr/

See a familiar name? I am pretty excited about this design opportunity and was very surprised when I received the congratulations email from Amy! Below is a list of the all new designers for the All That Scraps Design Team:

Cathy Indelicato - her blog: Crafty Thoughts
Christina Fischer - her blog: Flowers and Ink
Jenn Diercks - her blog: Stamp Your Heart Out
Jennifer Ofiana - her blog: Jen's Stampin' Spot
Julie Buhler - her blog: Paper Pleasing Ideas
Michele Boyer - her blog: Paper Cuts
Sophia Landry - her blog: Moonlight Inker
Valerie Stangle - her blog: {stampin' gal val} creating paper sunshine

V.~

Sometimes.....

You just have to play hooky from life, for a few hours. I have been so bogged down with a number of things around here - from heading a volunteer art program at Brett's school, to dealing with extended family issues, to having a teenager (those of you with teens are nodding in agreement, I can feel you!) plus the day to day duties of having a family, and just not having time for stamping just for the heck of it. I miss that and have found that the longer I stay away, the easier it is to not begin, but the grumpier I get because of it.

So this morning, even after posting yesterday that it might be a while 'till I posted, I decided to tell life.....

I NEED A BREAK from you.

So, I stamped. I borrowed some inspiration for this layout from stamp goddess, Michelle Wooderson. She often utilizes an entire sheet of 12 x 12 paper in one sitting all the time. Her advice: cut the paper into 4 x 4 squares, it's enough to make 9 cards. I pulled a few coordinating colors from the patterned paper for the layers and then stamped the main image, ticket cornered a couple of the layers, and assembled the cards. I stamped the birthday sentiment on 4 of them and kept 5 blank. I can stamp the sentiment on those when the need arises. They went together rather quickly and I feel like the left side of my brain is satiated for today.

This was the first time I have really used Purely Pomegranate ink. My pad was so juicy that all images previously looked blotchy and uneven, so I would toss them straight into the circular file. This morning, I finally blotted the ink pad with some paper towels and took away a good portion of the ink, what a huge difference. I actually may use this color more now. I think my Soft Sky pad is next!

Tonight, some down time with Jay. We've Netflixed Wild Hogs and are having movie night. I can't wait.

Well, thanks for listening and have a wonderful, relaxing weekend, doing what you love!

Supplies: Stamps: Priceless, Hugs and Wishes, Ink: Purely Pomegranate, Bashful Blue, Lavender Chalk ink, Paper: Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Purely Pomegranate, Whisper White, DCWV Patterned Paper from Michaels, Accessories: Pomegranate stitched ribbon, Ticket corner punch, 1/8" circle punch (for ribbon), Mat Pak and piercing tool, Dimensionals

LIFE..................

has a way of getting in my way of stamping right now. I don't want anyone to think I've abandoned my blog and being creative, but there are things happening right now that need to come first before I can create.

Batty and Spidey!

I decided on a Halloween project to complete my Stamp Nite offerings for Friday nights group of stampers. This is a fun treat bag and coordinated mini card. Perfect for leaving a little treat on someones desk at work or to bring in to class for your child's favorite teacher.

The treat bag is a modified 2,5,7,10 bag. I shortened the box height, lopped off the flap closure, and added a card stock handle instead. The finished box is 3 3/4 inches tall (not including the handle). The tutorial is available at Splitcoaststampers, or may click here for the deets.

Both projects are made from one sheet of Pumpkin Pie card stock with additional scraps of card stock and patterned paper. The stamping is pretty straight forward, so I won't bore you with the details.

I hope you've had an enjoyable long weekend. And for us in SoCal, have managed to stay cool!

Supplies: Stamps: SU! Batty for You, Ink: SU! Pumpkin Pie, StazOn Jet Black, Paper: SU! Pumpkin Pie, Basic Black, Whisper White, Creepy Crawly Designer Paper, Accessories: SU! Pumpkin grosgrain, Black Grosgrain, Scallop punch, Circle punches, Mat Pak and Piercing tool, Sticky Strip, Black mini brads, Fiskars rotary trimmer and scallop blade, Dimensionals, Glue Dots, Crimped paper, Cello bag, Reese's mini pnut butter cups