Dasher 2009~

Dashing around is pretty much how I've felt the last week or so! Yesterday a weird weather turn from our upper 80's on Thursday created the perfect time to make our Christmas cards for this year. Yesterday we had rain, hail, blustery wind, and snow in the local mountains. Morgan had to play a game at 11 in the rain and blustery weather, Jay was her cheering squad while Brett and I stayed home where it was warm and dry.

Back to the cards, I hadn't started on anything other than to know I bought Dasher way back when and I still love him and wanted to use him on our cards. Because it's been rather chaotic, my layout brain is not functioning at its most creative, so I fell back on this pine layout again. I promise, this is the last you'll see of it for a while!

Scaling down this year, I only made 36 cards, 12 each in 3 different patterned paper and color combinations. Patterned paper are from extra sheets I had in my bin from various projects I've been working on for classes or projects that I've been doing for Scor-Pal.

All that's needed to finish them is an inside sentiment and addressing the envelopes.

Have you already finished your cards?

V.~

Stamps: Dasher by SU! Sentiment by OCL
Ink: Soft Suede by SU!
Paper: Gina K Pure Luxury Ivory, Fresh Asparagus, Rocket Red, Vibrant Violet, Bazzill Navajo, SU! Soft Suede, Sage Shadow
Patterned Paper: Collage Press Joyride and Cosmo Cricket Be Jolly
Other: Nestabilities Circle Dies, Aqua, Olive and Red grosgrain, Square punch (banner ends), Corner rounder, Dimensional foam

Happy Thanksgiving~

from my family to yours. We began our day bright and early for Father Joe's Thanksgiving Day walk (3 miles) that benefits the largest homeless shelter here in San Diego. My mom and dad, sister and her family, my brother and his girls, his girlfriend and her daughter, Jay's sister, and our family, plus our dogs (Riley is hidden in the middle of everyone) enjoyed each other and our walk in gorgeous San Diego weather down in Balboa Park.

We have so much to be grateful for~

V.~

A Couple Tins~

"Band-aid" Tin with a Matchbook style holder for a pair of earrings.

Monogrammed luggage tag, matching tin and card.

V.~

Granny's Winner is................

Random.org picked:

TN Granny, Jeanine!

Jeanine please email me with your snail mail address and permission to forward that information to OCL so they may send out your set! I did have to chuckle that a TN Granny was picked randomly by a computer for the Granny set!

Enjoy!

V.~

It's Finally Friday and an OCL Blog Candy Offering~

Granny's Truffles is the set I've been sneak sneak peeking the last couple of days.
Granny's dress is colored with Copic markers to match the patterned paper. After coloring, she's cut out and attached to the die cut circle with dimensional foam. There's a bit of Glossy Accents on her pearl necklace and bracelets, and Sparkly Fluff adorns her hair and slippers.

Stamps: OCL's Granny's Truffles and Hearts & Hugs
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx Black
Paper: Rocket Red and Black Onyx by Gina K Designs, Solar White by Neenah, Lavender Lace by SU!
Patterned paper: Dancing Girl by Fancy Pants
Copic Markers: C1, N1, N3, E00, E01, E25, E33, RV000, R81, BV04, B41, R29, Yoo
Other: Nestabilities Circle Dies, Red Buttons, Black wax thread, Scallop border punch, Square punch (banner ends on purple) Glossy Accents, Silver Gel pen (inside candy box, ribbon, and a dab on her glasses), Quickie Glue pen
Sparkly Fluff Platinum on her hair and Sparkly Fluff Cotton Candy on her fuzzy pink slippers.

Mmmmm, patterned paper wrapped Hershey bars with a "scrapling" tag attached. What Valentine wouldn't love this waiting for them?!

How to win this set:

Now is your turn to leave comments here to be entered to win the set you see below.

Let's see, in your comment tell me your favorite "sweet" memory of your Granny. I always think of my grandma whenever I see Hostess Snowballs (pink only) as they were an extra special treat she would get for us when we came to visit her. Also, a cut glass bowl of butter-cream mints were always on her coffee table. I miss her so much.

You have today and today only to leave your comments.
A winner will be selected from every blog in the hop. Each blog is offering a different set.
Winners may win just one set, but may leave comments on each and every blog to increase their chances.
Please visit

click here----> The Lounge

for a list of all blogs who are hopping!
Good Luck and Happy Hoppin'!

V.~

SP2~

Sneak Peek of a Sneak Peek~

Friday I'll be showing a sneak peek of one of OCL's new Valentine release sets, today I'm showing a little sneak peek of the sneak peek. ;)

Several OCL designers have started sneak peeking today, so you'll want to head over to

The Lounge

and check out a few of the sneak peaks of the next release. Also, be sure to check out the details on how you can enter to win the blog candy that will be part of Friday's hop!

Tomorrow, I'll reveal a little more. And then on Friday, be sure to come back to see the entire kaboodle and to leave your comments for the blog candy contest.

V.~

OCL Birthday Party Challenge~

Today begins a week full of OCL Birthday Bash challenges - do 1 or 2 or do them all, combine them, it's your choice - but no matter what you choose, follow the challenge guidelines here:

OCL Birthday Party Challenge

to be eligible for the Grand Prize that will be awarded November 23rd.


I made this set of cards this morning to take tomorrow with me to my hair stylist. I won't be in to see her again until after holiday card sending time is in full swing, so I thought I'd surprise her a bit early with these holiday cards. Pink, teal and red - colors selected from the patterned paper I used - Collage Press "Joyride" Peppermint Twist - make for a fun variation on the traditional holiday card. I'm hoping she loves them as much as I do! Inside is simply stamped with a holly image and sentiment and the envelope flap is stamped to coordinate. Layout inspired by a card pine has done recently - thanks pine!

V.~

Images and inside sentiment are from OCL sets: Happy Holly-Days and Merry Wishes. Christmas Blessings is from Christmas Expressions, a Mona Lisa Moment set by CHF.
Ink: Brilliance Rocket Red, Memento Pear Tart and VersaMagic Turquoise Gem
Paper: SU! Pink Pirouette, Bermuda Bay; Neenah Solar White
Patterned Paper: Peppermint Twist from the Joyride Collection by Collage Press
Other: Nestabilities Circle Dies, Glossy Accents, Microbeads, Scallop border punch, Corner Rounder, Square punch for banner ends, Dimensional foam

Celebrate, Good Times, Come On!

There's a party goin' on over at Our Craft Lounge! It's time for OCL's 1st Anniversary! Come and Celebrate with us! Join the peeking kitty from Purr-fect Wishes and wish OCL a Happy Birthday!

If you're here looking for an answer to one of the questions from the OCL Blog, here's a couple of hints to the question "Where is Our Craft Lounge Located?"

• I am not a primary color, but am a secondary color made when you mix 2 primary colors.
• If you look at the card above, you can see this color in several distinct areas, my Nestabilities, a Tim Holtz ruler and another OCL set offer you a clue.
• This color is the name of a city in the state where I reside.
• My beautiful friend, and one of OCL's owners, Joy lives in this city.

If you think you know the answer, head over to the OCL blog for instructions, how to play, what you can win and all the details for the OCL Scavenger Hunt

click here -----> The Lounge

Good Luck!
V.~

My Dear Kind.....

and Wonderful Friend. I hope this card brings spring to you when you are in the midst of a white and cold winter and need a bit of warmth! :)

I taught a class on Tuesday (Shutter card, Stair Step and Shadow box) at Paper Tales and had a couple kits leftover, so this morning I used the papers from the Stair Step kit but changed the sentiments and images to things I have here at home, and made a couple of these Stair-Step fold cards. I'll re-purpose the other kits a bit later instead of having them languish away in their baggies. :)

Basic Stair Step Instructions:
Score a 5-1/2" x 10-1/2" piece of cardstock at:
1-1/4", 2- 1/2", 4- 1/4", 6" and 8- 1/4".

Accordion fold. Embellish and decorate. Keep the tallest addition to a height no more than 4-1/4" and it will fit into an A2 envelope.

Jay invited his parents, sister and my parents over for my birthday last night and cooked up my favorite foods: Filet Mignon, Prosciutto wrapped scallops, Caesar Salad, Asparagus, Risotto and a delicious Vanilla frozen yogurt from BR for desert. It was fabulous! Being surrounded by people I love, enjoying a wonderful time, there's no better way to celebrate a birthday!

V.~

Supplies:
Stamps: Hero Arts Fiesta Flower, Meadow Puff, A Real Field Wildflower, Three Gems; SU! All Holidays, Kind and Caring Thoughts
Ink: Memento Lady Bug, Bamboo Leaves, Pear Tart, Summer Sky
Paper: Bazzill
Patterned Paper: Prima Tropics Collection
Other: Scor-Pal, Nestabilities Scallop Oval and Oval dies, Martha Stewart Butterfly punch, Dimensional foam

Paper Towel Flowers?

Say that again? Today's Try a New Technique was making your own flower embellishments out of paper towels.
You can find the instructions here : TLC Paper Towel Flowers

In between hacking (this damp bug has got a grip on me) I made this gift tote and coordinated gift card holder as a gift for a friend. The flowers are pretty darn easy to make; it's the drying time that caused me to tap tap tap my foot. I did break out the heat tool to speed things along, though :). I used a Caribbean reinker in a little spritzer bottle to spray the paper towel. The sparkle on my flower comes from the sparkly button instead of glimmer mist or adding sparkle to my reinker concoction. There's probably 6 - 8 layers of paper towel here - our generic paper towel separated when it got wet but the single layers worked just fine. I ran them through 3 sizes of Nestibilities circle dies and trimmed the largest circles with wave scissors to make them a bit smaller and more in keeping with the flower size I needed.

Tote instructions are forthcoming in a future Scor-Pal tutorial. Gift card envelope was made to coordinate with the tote. The Caribbean ribbon is adhered to the back of the envelope and is tied in a bow to keep it closed.

V.~

Supplies are:
Stamps: SU! Riveting
Ink: SU! Cool Caribbean, Certainly Celery
Paper: Cool Caribbean, Certainly Celery
Patterned Paper: My Mind's Eye
Other: Scor-Pal, Scor-Mat, Scor-Tape, Wide striped ribbon, Caribbean grosgrain, Basic Gray button, Scallop and Circle punches, Wave scissors, Dimensional foam

I'm Nuts About You~

Stamps: Nuts About You by Our Craft Lounge
Ink: Memento Bamboo Leaves, Potter's Clay, SU! Crushed Curry
Paper: Gina K's Pure Luxury Pumpkin Spice, Fresh Asparagus, Pure Ivory
Other: Nestabilities Circle and Scallop dies, Cuttlebug D'Vine Swirl embossing folder, Wide green ribbon, Button, Hemp, Kraft Tin Tie Bag

A quick note as I've been under the weather all weekend; the medallion was placed on the ribbon by sandwiching the ribbon between 2 Pumpkin Spice circles, a bit of glue on each side of the pumpkin circle but not on the ribbon itself, and the medallion stays put without having to glue it to the bag.

Have a great day!
V.~

Baby Thanks~

Completely inspired by Amy's series of Top Note Cards.
Thanks, Amy!


At the time I was wondering if I should spend the $$ on that exclusive SU! die, but decided not to at that time. Then the Nestabilities Labels 8 came out - it's perfect, almost identical in shape to the one die from SU! but I got a nesting set of 6 graduated dies for just a bit more $$. Plus they take up much less room in my cramped space.

This is a set of 8 thank you cards/envelopes in a decorated clear box for my
neighbor's soon to be here grandson, Alexander.
Patterned paper is 3 Bugs in a Rug.
Other cardstock is Neenah Solar White, Gina K's Rocket Red, SU! Wild Wasabi and Blue Bayou.
Boats are punched from the patterned paper with a circle punch before matting with a blue mat and adhering to the green tag shape with dimensional foam. A pop of red gingham ribbon and black stamped sentiment from CHF round this fun set out.

V.~

Easel Card Place Settings and My Observations~

One protoytpe down, 19 to go~

It's time to make the place settings for Thanksgiving this year. I thought mini easel cards would be fun and embarked on the prototype this morning. I used the OCL Nuts for You set for the Happy Thanksgiving sentiment as well as for the 2 leaves. Names are generated on the computer and then punched out with an oval punch and are matted on a larger oval. The other shapes are Nestibilites Dies in scallop circle and circle shapes. I'll use assorted stops - rhinestone brads, buttons, and jumbo brads - as well as various ribbons to bring a bit of variety to each one. Don't tell anyone but the patterned papers I am using are from a Halloween collection by My Mind's Eye! The colors work perfectly for fall. Gina K's Pumpkin Spice, Fresh Asparagus, and Neenah Natural White round out the cardstock choices. Memento Bamboo Leaves, Potter's Clay and Versafine Vintage Sepia are the inks used.

If you'd like to create a smaller easel card just remember this simple rule, the base needs to be double the size of the easel panel. For this place setting, the base is 2-3/4" x 5-1/2" and is scored at 1-3/8ths and 2-3/4". The easel panel is 2-3/4" square.

Speaking of scoring, there is a new board on the beach. There's much talk on various paper crafting forums about a new scoring board out on the market, it's produced by EK Success for the Martha Stewart line. I did purchase one to compare it to the Scor-pal, my scoring tool of choice. I'm not sure of its availability in stores; Michaels is where I found the one I bought to make my comparison.

Features:

• Molded plastic form, off white Martha signature color
  
• 1/8" score lines across the bed of the board
• A top fence and left fence with screen printed numbers and lines
  
• Hinged door at the top to house the companion scoring tool; inside of the lid is a quick reference guide for cards and boxes
• Envelope guide with storage on the backside

My observations:

• Low price, especially when combined with a coupon
• Lightweight
• Score channels are shallow due to their proximity to each other
• Score tool is skinny and uncomfortable to use, reminds me of scoring with a plastic knife
• Score tool already wearing down after trial use
• Tool, for the most part, stays in the track for light and medium weight cardstock, the same can't be said for thick (Gina K) paper, the tool has a hard time finding and staying in the track.
• Tool jumps tracks on many paper types if pulling the tool fast (as accustomed to with the Scor-Pal)
  
• Directions for cards/boxes that are inside the hinged lid are cumbersome to read due to lid angle and small font
  
• Horizontal ruler is accurate, vertical ruler is not.
• Envelope guide creates envelopes that are larger than industry standard for those sizes. And in one instance, top and bottom flaps exceed the heighth of the envelope, so it will need to be trimmed after initial scores and cuts, eliminating the desired pointed flaps.
• The screen painted number 2 on the envelope guide is already rubbing off from sliding in/out of the backside holder
• As a righty, I am accustomed to using the right fence on the Scor-Pal for those smaller scores that are less than 1.5" This board has no right fence to secure the paper.

Happy Monday!
V.~