I'm here!

Summer school is slowing down a little so I'll have some time to check in and hopefully will get some stamping done at night :-) Dh is not travelling right now so he and I have been hanging out in the evenings. We watched Pride on dvd last night--GREAT movie!!!! and we've been playing Wii Sports together. . .hey, I'm not making it to the gym and it is a little of a work out.

I got my SU catty yesterday and brought it to work with me today to go through again.

Since I have no cards to share today, I thought I'd share this instead. Thanks for visiting and I will be stamping later so stay tuned.

Your 80s Hunk Is

Michael J. Fox

Who's" Your 80s Hunk?

UHU Glue Review.

If you are a crafting blogger, head over to Maria Filosa's blog. You can get free UHU samples to try out as long as you review them on your blog. This review is sadly late. I've been planning to do this for awhile since I first used this project when I made my ds's birthday party invites over a month ago. . .

Anyway, I got a sample of the UHU Glue Roller which is similar to MonoAdhesive. I don't know about you but I've grown more and more disappointed in Mono. It doesn't stick that well and my layers will fall off--I was mortified to see a thank you card that I'd made one of my teachers falling apart on her bulletin board! I told her I'd take it home and remake it and she just laughed at me. This sticks in my head because I know most non card makers and scrappers will put my cards in their circular file but for the rare ones who keep them and appreciate the, I really want them to last!

Another complaint that I have about Mono is that the dispenser gunks up frequently. I hate those little, sticky, gunky balls of adhesive that I'll get on the end of the dispenser.

That said, I was pretty excited about trying a different type of dispenser because one of the things I like about Mono is how easy it is to use. I love just being able to "roll" out adhesive from a container onto paper in a nice line without having to worry about tape, glue, etc.

So, one great thing about the UHU Glue Roller is that it doesn't gunk up! Instead of being a strip of adhesive, it's a bunch of little glue dots in a strip. The container is a little bigger than the Mono container but it feels more sturdy to me and is pretty comfortable to hold. So far, I'm not sure about the staying power. When I made my son's party invites, I made pocket cards and they didn't seem to hold up that well with the Glue Roller. Then again, this particular type of card may be one that has more of a need for sticky strip.

That said, right now if I had to pick between the 2 products (Glue Roller or Mono), I'd lean towards the Glue Roller. I like that it comes out smoothly, feels comfortable, and doesn't gunk up my projects with adhesive *boogers*.

Thanks for visiting!

Fabulous Summer Sun

Summer Sun was one of the first SU colors that I fell in love with. I vividly remember one of my first stamping experiences on my own. I stamped many, many images from Fresh Flowers and made cards with a Summer Sun, Cameo Coral, Whisper White combination. At that time, I didn't use a lot of embellishment but I was into paper tearing and Crystal Effects :-)

Fast forward a few years and I still love Summer Sun and Cameo Coral together. I don't use these colors that often but when I do, I wonder why I don't do it more.

I stamped the image from Let's Go for a Walk by MFT with Versamagic Midnight Black onto Whisper White and played with some of my new Copic markers. I'm buying them individually at this point and the smaller dogs are colored in with my Stampin Write markers. YES, there is a huge difference between Copics and the SU markers. I am by no means an artist nor do I have any art training but the Copics rock!!!!! I wish I had more money right now because the Dick Blick in Berkeley is having a customer appreciation/card holder sale this weekend that takes 25% off with my card instead of a mere 10% off. . .I'd buy way more Copics for 25% off if I had a couple extra hundred dollars. . .darn cash only methods I'm trying to live by! Anyway, I digress. . .the card base is Summer Sun. The strip in the middle is Elegant Eggplant and the circles are stamped with Brilliance Moonlight White--I love the soft shimmery sheen to this color. The main image is matted on Cameo Coral and I had to break out my Perfect Layers tool to get a perfect mat. I love, love, love my Perfect Layers and if I wasn't trying to stay neat and organized, I'd keep this out on my stamping area regularly. I stamped the sentiment onto Whisper White with Versamagic Pink Grapefruit. I originally planned to punch this out with my Key Tag punch but when I pulled the punch out, it was a little too small so I rounded the corners, matted it on Cameo Coral and used my Perfect Layers on it and then rounded those corners as well. I attached a small snippet of black gingham ribbon to the sentiment and then put a small yellow prima flower on top of this with a drop of White Opal Liquid Pearls in the center of this.

Oops, I forgot to add that I colored over the circles on the dress with my Clear Stardust pen and in hindsight, the card really didn't need it but it's still cute anyway.

Thanks for visiting!

Bold Blooms

I haven't used many of my Stampin Up sets lately and I've had this chipboard tag on my desk for awhile now. I decided to make a strictly SU card. I'm not putting this one in my SCS gallery because I plan to send it to my secret sis for this round. I love Pink Passion and decided to take part in Jen's challenge from the other day. She challenged us to use bold brights. I don't normally pair pink and orange--I love Pink Passion with Tempting Turquoise or Basic Black. I've seen the Pink Passion/Only Orange combo and think it's pretty striking. I was worried that it might be too bright but I really like how this one turned out.

The card base is Only Orange. I stamped the Dotted Background on a strip of Whisper White with Pink Passion ink. The chipboard tag is from the Onboard Accents which I've been hoarding. I covered it with my Pink Passion craft spot (and rubbed the foam off the spot but luckily was able to save it) and then embossed it with Iridescent Ice EP. I tied a bit of White Grosgrain and Black Gingham through this tag. I stamped the flowers in Pink Passion and only Orange and then layered them on each other. I stamped the flower center in Pink Passion on Pink Passion and then punched it out with my 3/4 inch circle punch. I tied another little snippet of black gingham through one of the clear buttons and then attached it to the flower center and put on top of the flowers. I was going to attach the flower to the chipboard with dimensionals but figured it was popped up high enough with the tag.

This was a fun card to make. I love the bright colors and am so glad that I've finally used some of my chipboard.

Thanks for visiting!

Hero Arts Birds

This is what started me on my infatuation with the Hero Arts birds. A couple weeks ago, I went to a huge sale at my LSS and there were make and takes as well. We did this which was called "one card, two ways" and I got to play with the bird! I actually like both of these cards and I don't remember all the details. The glittery one did use the Tsukineko Essential Glue pad and Souffle Glaze pens to color in the bird. The other bird was colored in with watercolor pencils and a waterbrush.

I also got some stamping done today but since I know this week is going to be crazy, I'll save it for blog fodder for the rest of the week. I'm summer school principal at the high school and it starts this week so I'm doing that and my regular job for the remainder of the month. We can't get enough teachers to meet the needs of all the kids who need/want to make up classes so I'm going to be dealing with some upsets teens and parents this week. Wish me luck!

Have a great day and thanks for visiting.

I {heart} these Hero Arts birds

I'm really, really, really trying to tell myself I don't need them but I really think these little birds are cute. I made a couple cards at my LSS with them and I haven't had the chance to take any pics yet but will share at some point.

Anyway, I'm gonna ask you to help me out. If you own these stamps, wanna RAK me some images?

Here are the birds that I like: Bird with Long Legs, Sketched Bird, and Decorative Birds

Sunday Stamping

Dd took a late nap today so I got to play in between folding laundry. I got the Pollen Dust by Fancy Pants Designs set at my LSS with my store credit for doing make and takes. I'm glad that I got the money off. This set is ginormous and gorgeous!!!!! I'm really not a vintagey/collagey type of stamper so this is something a little different from me. The card base is Old Olive and the next layer is a piece of BasicGrey paper from the Perhaps 6X6 pad I have. I stamped some of the flourishy images with Versamagic Tea Leaves on this piece of paper. The focal image is Whisper White and the inks used are Versamagic Tea Leaves, Gingerbread, Eggplant, Brick Red, Purple Hydrangea, Wheat, and Sahara Sand (for sponging the edges) as well as Brilliance Pearlescent Chocolate. I stickled the heart after dabbing it with the point of the Red Brick and the centers of some of the flowers. I mounted this on Vintage Violet and distress the very bottom edge of this piece. I tied olive organdy ribbon and copper cord around this and mounted it to the front on foam squares.

All in all, I'm not 100% thrilled. I like it but it's not quite got that Wow thing going for me. I'll take any and all constructive criticism since I really, really think this is a gorgeous set and want to make it work for me.

More Zoo Animals

I absolutely adore this stamp set! This little hippo and bird are from A Day at the Zoo by Rubber Soul as is the small, skinny oval. The card base is Ballet Blue. The hippo image is stamped on Whisper White with Sahara Sand Versamagic. The small skinny oval is Spanish Olive Versamagic ink stamped off 2 or 3 times. The little bird is stamped in Jumbo Java Versamagic and colored in with a Pumpkin Pie Stampin Write Marker. This image is matted on Always Artichoke, Creamy Caramel, and Real Red. The sentiment is also from A Day at the Zoo and is stamped with Brilliance Rocket Red. It's nice and shimmery but not too shimmery. I added a few buttons from the Bold Brights collection underneath and tah dah! I'm done with a quick, easy, and cute card.

This one went to my 5 yo today since he graduated from preschool. Sniff, sniff, my baby boy is growing up!

Thanks for visiting and I'm off to catch the rest of the basketball game.

Thank Ewe

I made these for my 5 yo's thank you cards for all of his birthday loot. I like it when an idea in my head actually works out. I kept this fairly simple since that's what I tend to do and I also had to make several of these.

I'm really loving Rubber Soul stamps! This little sheep and sentiment are from the A Day at the Zoo clear set. The small oval is also a Rubber Soul stamp--couldn't find the Amuse one at my LSS so I got this one and love it! I got this color combo from CC116 at SCS. The card base is Cool Caribbean and I need to get some more before the end of the month and it's gone forever since I absolutely love this color. I put a one inch strip of Chocolate Chip in the center of the card and the bottom is Garden Green. I freehand cut the top and then distressed it with my Cutter Tool. I punched the Whisper White with myGiga Scalloped Oval and stamped the sheep with my Versamagic Jumbo Java Dew Drop--this is probably the color I use the most. I love how rich and brown it is. I then masked him/her off and stamped the small oval with my Garden Green Classic inkpad. If I do this again, I'll probably cut the legs of the sheep a little more carefully and precisely and actually cut in between the legs to get rid of that white space there. I inked up the edges of the oval with my Versamagic Sea Breeze Dew Drop and then mounted it on the card with some foam squares that I've had for ages. I also stamped the Thank Ewe sentiment in Jumbo Java on the bottom right corner of the card.

I really like how this turned out and dh even gave it 2 thumbs up which is huge since he generally does the courtesy glance and goes "that's nice".

While I was stamping, I was half listening/watching VH1 since the 40 Most Softsational Soft Rock songs was on. Man, did this take me back! Things like this make me feel old :-) and also give dh a great opportunity to tease me. I'm 3 years older than him and he loves going--hey, I was in 5th grade when this song came out because I'd have to admit I was starting high school. Yeesh, nothing like making me feel like a cradle robber!

Thanks for visiting and it was good to get my fingers inky again. I can't wait to play with more toys but probably won't have time to tomorrow since my little guy is graduating from preschool.

First Amuse Card

I made this card for our neighbor for his birthday. I love the fact that even though he's 10, he appreciates the fact that I made him a birthday card. I stamped the jeep in basic black on Very Vanilla and colored it in with my metallic pencils. I punched it out with my Mega Scalloped Square punch and also punched out some Vintage Violet cardstock with the same punch and placed it behind the stamped image. The paper is from BasicGrey's Perhaps collection. I stamped the sentiment from PAPERTREYink's Faux Ribbon with my Eggplant Versamagic Dew Drop and then set 3 mustard eyelets in the bottom of the card with my cropodile. I actually like the way this one turned out and think it's the perfect birthday card for a 10 year old boy :-)

Thanks for visiting!

Another RAK and a clean room :-)

This RAK comes to me courtesy of Debbie Fisher. I love this patterned paper and love, love, love this ribbon! It's gorgeous--Debbie, you'll have to tell me where you got it from. When you get the chance, go check out her blog. She's got skills and I love her work :-)

I'm also about as done as I'm gonna get on my stamping room. I don't know what to do with one corner of the room. It's where I've been storing mailing boxes, lunch tins, clipboards, and other misc stuff. Anyway, it's actually usable now which is a good thing because I've got 2 more birthday cards to make for tomorrow and I told myself I wasn't going to stamp until I'd finished cleaning the room up :-)



I'm also excited because I'm going to a huge sale at my LSS tomorrow. I've signed up for the 11-12:30 make and take session and will have a $15 credit. Now, that my room is clean, I can get more stuff to put in there, right? LOL. I actually want to finish adding to my collection of the Versamagic Dewdrops and will definitely do that tomorrow. Everything in the store is 25% off and the sidewalk sale stuff is 40-70% off so I'm fairly certain I'll be buying more than the dewdrops.

Thanks for visiting!

I luv Bezerkeley :-)

Can I just tell you that I love being in Berkeley? I took this pic with my camera phone earlier today as I was leaving one of my elementary schools. I see this car all the time but never really noticed that the garage door is painted with a zebra scene as well. I know it's not a great pic since it's from my phone but it cracked me up!

I also went into Papyrus today and holy moly, those are some expensive cards!!!!!! I picked up a cute wedding card and it was $14.95. I felt a moment of smugness when I realized that I could make something just as nice by hand for much less (not counting the uncountable amounts of money that I've already spent on stamping stuff).

And guess what else? I finally have some Amuse stamps!!!!! I took advantage of the birthday sale and faxed my order in on Monday. Thursday, my stamps showed up. Woohooooooooo!!!! They're cute but wow, they're dinky!

My stamp room is almost totally cleaned up and organized so it's almost ready for me to start stamping again. It's my reward for all of my hard work in there.

Thanks for visiting!