Observant Housekeeping~

I just had to post this picture I snapped from my hotel room at CHA. Hopefully not tmi going on! LOL

I bring my own pillow and rarely move around when I sleep. So the first night I just moved the 2-2-1 formation pillows over to my left, in a line, (no comment please! LOL I'll make it for you, a bit AR are we?!!) and went to bed. Housekeeping came during the day, remade the bed, and put the pillows back in the 2-2-1 position.

The next night, the same thing, I scooched them over and went to bed. Imagine my surprise the next day when I returned to my room and found my pillows arranged like this. I about fell over laughing. She did this the rest of my stay.

She got a big tip when I checked out!

V.~

Scor-Buddy Debut!

As many of you know, I go to CHA and work a booth for Scor-Pal. It's always so much fun to reconnect with people I've met and meet new people each time. Returning and new retailers and crafters were delighted to see the new Scor-Buddy that is coming out in April.

For some time cardmakers have been asking for a smaller, more portable, Scor-Pal. Roy and Diana Crick, owners of Scor-Pal, listen carefully to what their customers ask for; the mat came out when we heard from crafters who wanted a work surface compatible with their Scor-pal, a metric board came out for those on the metric system, and now the Scor-Buddy. I love that about them, that and the fact that they are two of nicest, most genuine and generous people I have ever met.

A little bit of detail about the new Scor-Buddy. I've taken a picture of it atop the regular Scor-Pal and Scor-Mat for size reference.


Scor-Buddy

• It's 9-1/8"L x 7-3/8" W; actual score bed is 7" x 7" (6-5/8" is the last width score line)
  
• Score lines every 1/4" across the board
• 1/8" scores on both the left (1" total) and right sides (7/8" total) of the board
• The 4-1/4" score line (A2 card) now has an asterisk icon for easy reference
• The gate fold dots (2-1/8" and 6-3/8") are still there
• Half of the brochure fold (inverted triangle) is there (to complete a brochure fold just rotate the paper and score)
• The right fence has been eliminated
• Scor-tool snap in closure just like the big board
• It will be packaged with a zipper case (not shown) for protection when traveling

By all the squeals we heard and the chatter around the CHA floor, it's going to be a very popular tool!

Other CHA notes:
As I go to CHA with "work" in mind, I really don't have new product pictures or stories to tell bout the floor. I rely on my friends who are walking the show to fill me in. Lunch hour is spent reconnecting with friends I haven't seen since last year. For me, a much more rewarding experience.

So for me the highs of CHA are:

• Reconnecting with friends last seen at the last show (so many to list!)
• Meeting new friends and finding out how much you have in common, right Cindy?!
• Fabulous dinners with friends: Red Robin with the OCL gals on Friday night, SCS DD on Saturday, eP's fabulous shindig at Tortilla Joe's on Sunday, Jazz Kitchen with Tosh, Cindy, Amy and Michelle on Monday, and Oggi's with OCL pals on my final night. It's very rejuvenating to connect for laughter and fun after a long, but very fun day, working the floor.
• Coming home with fun new products by some fabulous companies.

The only downsides this year:
A nasty scrape on the sliding door of my van, let's just say late night, tired me, and a very narrow parking stalls at the Hilton and I connected with a pillar trying to avoid the parked car on my left. oh well.

On the CHA floor, the only negative thing that happened at the booth was being interrupted by the owner of a very prominent stamp company while I was speaking with a retailer who has an established relationship with Scor-Pal. Why did she interrupt? To tout another scoring board that is on the market, its price, and to say she uses an ice pick as a scoring tool in it and never uses the envelope guide because who makes envelopes. What the heck? The retailer I was with just replied that she cannot keep her Scor-Pals in stock, that they are so popular. So there!

I came home to a lovely home cooked meal, cooked by Jay. What a welcome site, eating out for 5 days is not something I am used to. I was so happy to sit at the table with my family.

Time for unpacking and laundry today. fun. LOL

V.~

CHA bound~

I wanted to get one more project post here before I headed out for CHA, but it didn't happen. I could post a picture of my luggage and boxes of projects for the booth, but that's not terribly interesting.

If you're heading to CHA please stop by the Scor-Pal booth, I'd love to see you!

V.~

Botanical Sympathy~

Morgan's best friend's grandfather passed away yesterday. We've known the family since before both girls were born. Even though not unexpected as he had been ill for some time, it's still a very sad occasion.

This card uses a very old SU! set called Botanicals. It's simply stamped with Versafine Onyx Black onto GK Pure Luxury Ivory and lightly colored in with just 2 Prismacolor colored pencils. An embossed oval shape and scalloped mat frame the image. The flower head was stamped again on an ivory scrap, colored in, trimmed, and adhered over the image with a dimensional foam dot.

Graphic 45 patterned paper, a contrasting green strip and a simple striped grosgrain bow complete the card front. Corner rounded sides tie into the scalloped mat and images on the patterned paper.

The finished size is 4.5" x 6.25"

Rest in peace, Don.

V.~

Supplies not mentioned:
Cardstock all by GinaK Designs: Pure Luxury Sweet Corn, Green Apple, Onyx Black
Ribbon by May Arts
Nestabilities Oval and Scalloped Oval die, Cuttlebug

Sweet Stuff~

It's hard to believe it's been almost a full week since I've made anything to post. It's been a busy week full of family things, getting ready for CHA, and day to day living. Organization has been happening around here, too. Cupboards have been cleaned and reorganized, including my stamp counter and closet. It feels really good to have things where they belong and in a logical way!

Speaking of CHA, I've been prepping paper, projects and such and can hardly believe next weekend it begins! I made this Darling Drawers today to take for the booth. Brenda came up with this design and her easy to follow directions can be found here:

QBee's Darling Drawers

The Scor-Pal makes this easy peasy to make following Brenda's perfect instructions! For mine I used Graphic 45 Bee's Knees patterned paper for the drawers, Bazzill for the base, GinaK Ivory for the oval scrap, hardware from an ancient SU! kit, stamps from Unity, and Memento and Vivid! ink. A bit of wide black grosgrain ribbon finishes it off!

Have a great weekend!~

V.~

Hot 4 You~

A little thank you for the gals taking my class today down at Paper Tales. Small scale "Sour Cream" containers filled with Hot Tamales, using the same Imaginisce® papers, Sweet Cheri, that we will be using in class.

Paper size 4" x 4"
Attach Scor-Tape to one edge and roll up like a tube, adhere.
Attach a small piece of Scor-Tape to one end of the tube, crimp.
Fill with treats.
Turn opposite slightly, pinch top together, punch hole, and tie a Tulle knot.
Easy peasy!

V.~

Supplies:
Stamps: Hearts & Hugs by Our Craft Lounge
Ink: Vivid! Brick and Coffee Bean by clearsnap, Orchid Pastel Colorbox Fluid Chalk by clearsnap
Paper: Bazzill
Patterned Paper by Imaginisce®
Other: Hot Tamales, Scallop and Circle punch, Crimper, Scor-Tape, Crop-A-Dile, Tulle, Dimensional foam

Hey, Cami?

You are FABULOUS!
Happy Birthday, my friend!

V.~

Supplies:
Stamps: Life is and The Journey by Our Craft Lounge
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Rose Bud
Paper: GinaK Pure Luxury White, Passionate Pink, Black Onyx,
SU! Pink Pirouette
Patterned Paper by American Crafts
Other: 3 Rhinestone stickers, Nestabilities Circle dies, Fiskars Threading Waters punch, Gingham ribbon, Dimensionals

Heartily Yours~

Tonight's another fun blog hop of GinaK Designs previews. My 3 Valentine cards are made with the new set, Heartily Yours by Nina Brackett. It's a darling set packed with fun images and playful, heartfelt sentiments.

The layouts on these cards are loosely based on the the GKD sponsored sketch this week over at Card Positioning Systems.

These cards are intended for Jay, Brett and Morgan. Jay's I like to keep not too frilly in its design and the simple colors of red, black and vanilla keep it traditional for him, a little GKD Gold Lined Organdy ribbon and a Glossy Accented heart give it just enough shine in an understated way - perfect for him.
Paper: GinaK Designs Pure Luxury Ivory, Lipstick Red, Onyx Black
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, SU! Riding Hood Red
Other: CB Hearts embossing folder, Nestabilities Circle Die, Glossy Accents, Dimensional foam

The second card is for Brett. Those who have been following my blog know that orange is his favorite color so I always try and incorporate it into my cards to him. Orange for Valentine's Day? Why not? A bit of red (his other favorite color) brings it into the Valentine arena. He'll love the lava lamp image, especially because it's been shined up generously with Glossy Accents.
Paper: GinaK Designs Pure Luxury White, Rocket Red, Onyx Black, Sweet Corn
Patterned Paper by Fancy Pants
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Other: Clear embossing powder (over stamped image), Copic Markers, Orange mini brads, Nestabilities Rectangle and Circle dies, Corner rounder, Dimensional foam

My third and final card is for Morgan. After playing with several of the other images in the set I decided on the wishing well and coordinated sentiment. After all, almost 17 years ago my wish did come true - a happy, healthy little girl was born to us. Because this image is so bold in line, I kept the coloring the same way and didn't blend the markers. After coloring the image, each heart was individually coated with Glossy Accents to give it the feel of heart stones for the well. A pink gingham bow from the new GKD Romance Ribbon Assortments collection ties it off nicely.
Paper: GinaK Designs Pure Luxury White, Passionate Pink, Onyx Black
Patterned Paper by BoBunny
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versafine Onyx Black
Other: Clear Embossing powder (over sentiment), Nestabilities Circle and Scallop Circle dies, Copic Markers, Glossy Accents, Dimensional foam

The other sets previewing are Heartily Your Additions and Love Notes.
For more inspiration with all of the stamp sets being previewed tonight, please visit these GinaK Designers' Links:

Nina Bracket - illustrator of Heartily Yours
Gina Krupsky - illustrator of Love Notes
Jessica Fick
Theresa Momber
Melanie Muenchinger
Carolyn King
Cathy Tidwell
Lee Murphy
Donna Baker
Lynn Mercurio
Erika Martin
Emily Giovanni
Tami Mayberry
Bev Gerard
Colleen Schaan
Valerie Stangle - me!
Jen Charboneau
Suzanne Dean

Please visit the store at
GinaK Designs
for all things GinaK!

If you're still here after this long post, thank you! Now start hoppin'! :)

V.~

Kokuyo Product Review

Recently I was contacted by JetPens.com and asked if I would try out a tape runner or two from their selection of Kokuyo Products.

I'll be honest, I've been a liquid glue person for quite a long while after trying several tape runners that just didn't hold cardstock together very well (embarrassing when your recipient gets pieces instead of a completed card, iykwim.) , or the tape slid around on the applicator itself jamming up the applicator, or sometimes the tape broke inside the cartridge rendering it useless. I also like that little bit of wiggle time that a liquid adhesive gives you to make sure everything is nice and straight. :)

That said, I know that there is a need for all types of adhesive for many types of crafting. And, I know many crafters who are liquid glue challenged or plain just don't like using it, and want an easy application process for their adhesive needs.

I tried the Kokuyo Dotliner Power and the Dotliner Long - both hold very well on cardstock, textured cardstock and patterned paper. I created samples for a class I am doing and they've been on display down at the store, handled by customers, and such, and are holding strong, no slippage at all. I like that. :)

The Dotliner Power is small rectangular shaped clear adhesive tabs, very easy to apply.
The Dotliner Long is a series of very small clear dots in strip form.
I like both of them, but lean toward the Dotliner Long.

The features of this tape:
Not bulky or too small, as you can see it measures about 5" from head to toe
Sturdy housing, but lightweight
Acid Free
Available in permanent and removable tape options
Refillable
Long tape length - up to 26 meters, depending on model/cartridge
When not in use, a snap in place flip protector keeps your tape free of debris

My final thoughts, Kokuyo Tape Runners have the sticking power and ease of use that I look for in a tape runner.

JetPens.com has just begun carrying Kokuyo products and is hoping to have them available in more places in 2010. JetPens.com shipped my product very quickly and the product arrived in perfect condition. They offer many shipping options and are very reasonable and easily found on their website by clicking on the link at the bottom of the page.

Thanks, JetPens for letting me try Kokuyo!

V.~

Wishes & Dreams~

When I first saw these images in the new set, Wishes & Dreams, by Alicia Krupsky for GinaK Designs I thought they were so cute and the sentiments so perfect for young girls, teens, and all young at heart women. The images are not like anything I've ever owned or stamped before, so I was a little intimidated at first. A bit of googling for Manga style coloring advice and I was set, they were very fun to color! Morgan gave them 2 thumbs up. :)
Both cards measure 5" x 5" finished.

Speaking of colors, you can see two of Gina's newest Pure Luxury card stocks in the bottom card:Innocent Pink and Passionate Pink. In addition, you can see just one of the 5 new ribbons in the Romance Ribbon assortment - the pink stitched ribbon.

Wishes & Dreams is just one set previewing tonight, the others are
Happy Hearts and Sung from the Heart.

For even more inspiration with the new stamp sets being previewed tonight, check out our other GinaK Designers' links:

Tami Mayberry - illustrator of Happy Hearts
Gina Krupsky
Jessica Fick
Nina Brackett
Melanie Muenchinger
Theresa Momber
Carolyn King
Cathy Tidwell
Lee Murphy
Donna Baker
Lynn Mercurio
Asela Hopkins
Erika Martin
Emily Giovanni
Colleen Schaan
Sankari Wegman
Valerie Stangle (me!)

For all things GinaK, please visit the store at:
GinaK Designs - Stamps with Personality
you'll be happy you did!

Thanks for stopping by tonight!

V.~

Supplies:

Birthday Wishes
Stamps: Wishes & Dreams by Alicia Krupsky for GinaK Designs; Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa, Versafine Vintage Sepia; Paper: Pure Luxury White, Chocolate Kiss, Creme de Menthe; Patterned Paper: BoBunny Abby Road; Copics: YG01, YG03, YG17, YG25, E00,. E01, E02, E99, E25, E79; Other: Chocolate satin ribbon, Loose glitter, 2 way glue, Inksentials White Gel pen, Oval punch, Paper Distresser, Dimensionals

My Wish for You
Stamps: Wishes & Dreams by Alicia Krupsky for GinaK Designs; Ink: Memento Rich Cocoa, Versafine Vintage Sepia; Paper: Pure Luxury White, Creme de Menthe, Innocent Pink, Passionate Pink; Patterned Paper: Dream Street Papers Nature's Poetry; Copics: RV000, RV04, RV10, RV13, YG01, YG25, YG17, E00, E01, E02, E25, E33, E79, E99; Other: Nestabilities Circle Dies, Romance Ribbon, Loose glitter, 2 way glue, Inksentials White Gel pen, Oval punch, Dimensional foam

Last Rose of 2009~

Here in SoCal we have a different time table than most for cutting back our roses, we can wait until late December to mid-January. So we get a bit more time to enjoy their beauty, even though the plant itself gets a bit mangy looking. :) I cut our rose bed back on the 31st, a few unopened blooms await in the vase along with this Brigadoon rose, I am hopeful they will bloom as well.



While most of the country is suffering super cold weather, today here was in the upper 70's. A perfect day for Jay and me to spend about 4 hours re-doing a portion of our backyard that Riley favors for digging. Hopefully the landscape cloth, rock, and succulents will deter her now. The succulents will triple in size and fill in most of the rocky area. My kids made me those hand print tiles one year for Mother's Day - we moved them to this spot so I can see them front and center. Brett's was made a few Mother's Days later as in '99 when the others were done he just wanted to grab the cement mixture and Jay couldn't get a decent hand print.

Tomorrow hop on back over here to see a new Gina K preview - unlike anything I've ever stamped!