"Don't be a chicken" birthday card

Unfortunately, this is the most manly stamp I have. I know, shame on me :(

I have other "guy" stamps, like a BBQ, some ties, and... I'm sure I have something else... Nope. Nothing. I'm so disappointed in myself!

My goal for the next few months: To get a couple of manly stamps
If you have any suggestions on CHEAP stamp sets, pass them on! This girl needs some help!

See my little chicken? I fussy cut him from a magazine and plopped him into the back of the truck. LOVE him!

Monkey Birthday

My little monkey just turned 1!!

We had a monkey themed party at a local park. It was a great day, too! If you're from up here in the North West, you know that we haven't had the best weather. Actually, that's an understatement. There was a threat of snow a couple of weeks ago :(

In all the turmoil that we have had to endure in the last few weeks (VERY long story, we lost two family members within four days. Very hard on us), it was a welcome treat to have sunshine, happiness and cake... all on the same day.

Whoooo's birthday?

I made this card for a lady in my community. I believe it's for her nieces 1st birthday :) So many layers, so much texture. i LOVE it! Some fun things I did on this card: --distressed using sandpaper and razor blades --paper pieced the owl (stamped him in pink first, cut out his eyes & belly, then glued them on top of a brown stamped image) --made a paper medalion (maybe this will be the next tutorial I do?) --threaded a (very) cool button with patterned paper instead of thread

All you need is paper...

And a stamp :) Super simple card using patterned paper and a little bit of left-over ribbon from another project. This is the style that anyone can do and are also the easiest to mass produce. I usually don't share person info here, however I recently had a self-realization that I am not proud of. I have always thought of myself as extemely compassionate. Like EXTREME! I cry when others are in pain (physical or emotional), I just can't take people or animals getting hurt. My realization is that I am N O T compassionate, but -Sensitive-. These two words are closely related in their meaning, however, sensitivity is also related to selfishness, and compassion is not. Wow. That's hard to swallow. It's also wierd that after 30-some-odd years (hush up!) I am finally figuring myself out and being honest about the findings. Now, what to do with the knowledge... God has a plan for me. He has made me who I am and equipped me for a purpose. My job is to be the best me that I can be, all the while giving glory to Him.

altered canvas

This is a new class that I am offering at my local Michael's store. The student can start with any size or style of canvas that they would like, i used 8x8 plain white, with a bit fatter of side pieces.

These are two of my finished canvases (Is that a word? Is it spelled correctly? Is the plural of "canvas" like the plural of octopus? Is it canvi?) alongside what I started with.

I'm not really a pinky kinda girl, but I think I actually like the pinky one the best.

This one has great colors, love the vintage look that it's got going on.

Almost all of this is just patterned paper that I fussy cut a design out of.

I also used lots of diffrent punches, and of course, ink distressed EVERYTHING!! It seriously felt so good to walk away from a project with my hands just filthy. LOVE it!!

This is my new friend, Cheryl. Come to find out, after spending all afternoon together in this class, she knows my father from about 15 years ago! Such a small world!

Cheryl is new to the world of paper crafting, and you wouldn't be able to tell it from her finished products.

She brought the neatest things to incorporate into her projects. Seed packets, an old flower guide, and vintage sheet music. If you ask me, she's on her way!

cropping with mom

this is my mom. isn't she lovely? i agree =D

we had a crop at my local michael's store, and look at all the goodies she made! i consider myself so, so, so fortunate to be able to spend time with my mother. my other siblings all live at least 8 hours away (one across the country!!) and don't get a lot of time with my parents. how blessed i am that God shook his head at me asking to move away as an adult.

my mom did a lot of techniques on these cards:

fussy cut
paper distressing
paper tearing
ink distressing
rubber stamping

she used:

ribbon
punches
rhinestones
brads
buttons
and forced me to learn the cricut (boy do i feel dumb! it was simple!!)

she made a hanging piece of wall art for my grandmother (on the right) and a mini album out of paper lunch sacks (on the left).

thanks so much for crafting with me, mom! seriously, the only thing better than family is crafting with family

paper flower how-to

i will be teaching a new class at Michael's starting next month titled "flowers WOW!". these are the wonderful creations we will come up with! just because you're you, and i love you, i'm gonna share my how-to with these. super simple!!

for these flowers, i started with a 6x6 square of cardstock. i rounded the corners (doesn't have to be perfect) and then, using regular scissors, cut into paper like a circle, but creating a spiral shape, trying to leave about 2cm in between cuts. when you get to the center of the paper, leave about the size of a nickel un-cut. starting with the outside, roll the paper around a pencil until you get to the "nickel" piece. here you can keep the flower tight or let it loose if you'd like, i let mine go just a bit.

i used hot glue gun on the "nickel" piece and pressed my flower into in lightly.

here's where the variations come in. you can use decorative scissors to cut the spiral, changing the look of your "petals"; ink &/or stamp the paper before you roll it. you can also spray glitter or shimmer mist onto finished flower, or mist lightly with water and smash with your palm. lots of cool things to do with these!!

Anniversary card

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Blue bird card

Get it? This birdie is blue cause it's thinking of you (and it misses you)! :) Background piece is embossed with cuttlebug then sanded for that distressed look I love so much. Birdie (SU) is paper pieced with some great blue paper. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Grocery bag card

Super simple card, right here. To save time, money, and paper, I go to my local michaels store and buy their card/envelope sets that are blank inside from the $1 bin. This is cheaper than just buying envelopes, plus then I have the right sized cards already made and just have to make a "card front" to adhere to it (saving my white cardstock). The background is actually cut from a safeway grocery bag, I used the inside of it. I stamped buggy (stampin' up) on front and again on a piece of patterned paper. I fussy cut only the basket part of the buggy out of the patterned paper and adhered to the card front on top of the other stamped image. Layered ribbon (from $1 bin at michaels) & adhered. This card would be super simple to mass produce, I'll just have to go shopping first to get more grocery bags =D Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Fussy cut flowers

Finished card is a top fold 4x4. I'm just not sure of it. Took me forever to pick out that ribbon, and I'm still not happy. Maybe its missing something... Opinions welcome! Small flowers are not punched, they were stamped in chalk ink and fussy cut (it made me "fussy" to take so much time to intricately cut them out. Great name for the technique, right!). "fussy cut" can be very cool. A lot of us have some pretty phenomenal patterned paper that we don't want to cover up. Well you don't have to, fussy cut the parts of it you like and use as focal point on your next project! Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Lots of dimension

I got this cute owl stamp from the $1 bin at michaels and was just messing around to use it. I stamped him on patterned paper twice, fussy cut his eye balls & tummy from one and paper pieced them to the other stamped image. Used patterned paper and scallop nestabilities with my cuttlebug, also dry embossed them. Crimped the bottom chunk of patterned paper. LOTS of dimension going on with this one! Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Layered & inked

This reminds newer is strawberry shortcake piled high. Absolutely mouth wateringly delicious! Look at all those flourishes (TAC)! What great layers! My birdie (SU) is adorable! And ribbon on top of lace?! I love this card. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

Cherish card

Very simple card, only used pain white card stock. This was a great stamp set by SU (stampin up), think its retired now tho. I stamped flowers randomly over card base then again on another piece of white. I watercolored ----- TIP: stampin up ink pads are the best for this kind of water coloring. You squeeze the pad while its still shut which gets some ink on the inside of the lid. When you open it, its like a little pallet waiting for you! ---- ok, tangent over. I water colored the flowers and fussy cut them when they had dried. I used SU punches for the window. there's seriously so many cool ways to water color. Don't hesitate to comment or email if you'd like more info. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android