A layout for March

I don't scrapbook much and people who know me are surprised that I am doing it. I have decided that it is fun but I really enjoy making my cards, tags, and altering stuff. Unfortunately the glaring truth of it is I have a lot of pictures that need to be scrapbooked! I have some that are printed and in a dark box in the closet from years ago and then I have thousands (literally!) that are digital and I bought a digital scrapbook program called My Digital Studio (MDS) from Stampin Up! that I am going to learn to operate eventually. It is really an easy program to use but I am very challenged when it comes to computer stuff but until then...

I've decided that I am going to do a layout every month of something that pertains to that month. I haven't done one for January yet because I just decided to do it while working on a design for a February class. While working on the pages I thought what a good idea it would be to do a layout a month (which isn't a big challenge even for a challenged scrapbooker like me!) I love the different seasons and I thought it would be a challenge to make me step out of the box and do something different. Soon I will go back and make up a page for January...I promise. To see the February layout just click here on Valentine/February and it will take you there.

Leslie has an Accucut at WLS so I cut the tree mats out and cut them around to make my clouds! They are distressed with I think Not Quite Navy. The green and white paper is a Christmas paper that I found in the bin and used her Accucut Vintage mat die to make the center mat. Click on it...doesn't look like a holiday paper...looks like a Celtic paper pattern! I decided to give people the choice of using a Celtic poem in the right big cloud, use it as a journaling space, or just leave it a white fluffy cloud. Their choice!



The rainbow is cut using the Cricut cartridge Hello Kitty. I altered it (of course) by adding two more stripes of color cause the cartridge only cuts two colors. I cut all four colors out then trimmed them to fit the rainbow mat. I used some distress stickles to give it just a little sparkle.





The pot of gold is from a different cartridge but I can't remember the name of it. I looked at Cricuts site but couldn't find it so it must be retired. I cut one from black and one from white used the Gold Twinkling H2O on the white coins, cut them off and glued them to the black pot. Just needed a little shimmer.




Materials used:

Stampin' Up! Inks: Basic Black, Not Quite Navy, Always Artichoke
Bazzil basics cardstock: Spring Willow Dark
Blush Red Medium
Sunflower Medium
Yellow Green
Nautical Blue Dark
White
Print Paper
Tim Holtz Stamps
Rock Candy Distress Stickles
Cricut Cartridges
Accucut and dies
Twine

WOYWW #88

WOW! I had a couple of bits of good news yesterday! First Lyn at Spyder's Corner sent me a blog award! Thank you Lyn! Secondly I was one of three chosen to receive product from StampersAnonymous that was unveiled at CHA last week. They were giving away products on Tim's blog so Jan at StampersAnonymous had everyone on the Creativeblock-StampersAnonymous group on Yahoo! comment on what they would like from CHA and she picked us out of all the people who posted. I can't wait to see what she sends!!

This is WOYWW and my desk has definitely been busy this week! Not that you would notice now with old fat cat Stormy lying there like she owns the space. I went to get a cup of tea and a cookie and when I came back this is what I found!


I have been working towards getting my class projects together for this month and so far so good. The tag class for last night was canceled due to the forecast of inclement weather...more snow headed our way I am afraid and and so the class was rescheduled for Thursday. I hope it melts enough so that we can make it into the store because there are eight people signed up and I have made eight kits and there won't be another time to do it before Valentines! The tags all turned out nicely and you can see them here! The next class is my layout of the month and that group is scheduled to meet on 19 February. I have posted that layout and it can be seen here! The kids class meets on the 22 February and we will be making a chipboard book. I can't wait to see what they come up with cause I am going to put stickers and paint and chipboard out and let them go. I want to see how creative they can get!! My example for them is here.

My desk has a couple of tags I am working on for my tag class next month at WLS. I have been working my way through A Compendium of Curiosities by Tim Holtz and several people have asked me to show them how to do it. Most everyone coming to my class has the book and we are learning together. A work in progress so to speak.



I was asked yesterday about how many stamp sets I own...and my anwser is I don't know. Hundreds I am sure. Here is a picture of one of three shelves in my craft room and this one has close to 200 sets on it. Unlike some of my fellow stampers I can't get rid of any of them so I take them off of wooden blocks and EZ mount them so I have room for more. Get rid of stamps! It's like being told I need to get rid of my children, my critters, or my husband...I just can't do it. One of these days when I get my craft room straightened around I will take pictures and let you see all the stash but it is too big of a disaster for me to ever post it on the blog right now!




If you want to join in with all us crazy women who traipse around the globe from the comfort of our desk chairs snooping into other crafter's blogs and work spaces head over to Julia Dunnits site Stamping Ground and see how you can join in the fun.

Blog award

Thank you so much!! Lyn from Spyder's Corner has sent me this very nice award! It's always nice to think that other people out there in cyberland were thinking of you and like what you do! In accepting this award, I need to tell you 8 things about myself and then pass it on to 8 others.

I will be quick listing my 8 things:

1. I love to do crafts! DUH!
2. I like to go to craft shows and see what others are doing.
3. I like to go to crops and workshops and network with other peeps!
4. I love chocolate and coffee...sometimes together.
5. I love being a wife and a mother. Now I love being a grandmother.
6. I liked being a nurse for 36 years but I am happy now to be retired.
7. I like to read paranormal/scifi books. I am on Team Jacob...I am a letch!
8. I love to garden in the summer and hate snow!

Okay I am passing this along to these 8 people because their blogs inspire me to greatness!!

1. Heather Graff at The Wayward Gypsy http://waywardgypsy.blogspot.com/ Lots for jewelry and crafty stuff. Foods
2. Cardiarian at Cardarians Happy Space http://cardarianshappyplace.blogspot.com Lots of crafty stuff
3. Janelle at Stamp and the City http://stampandthecity.blogspot.com/ Cards and scrapbooks
4. Barbara at An Art Soulhttp://anartsoul.blogspot.com/ Crafty stuffs and jewelry
5. Christy at Creations by Christyhttp://creationsbychristie.blogspot.com/ Cards and other fun stuff
6. Denise at Stamping Vacationhttp://stampingvacation.blogspot.com many different challenges and fun crafts and cards
7. Keryn at Poppy Dog http://mckinkle-poppydog.blogspot.com/ beautiful cards
8. Stephanie at Stamp with Stephanie http://stampwithstephanie.blogspot.com/ Fun stuff, cards. Love watching her craft room grow.
9. Michelle at Stamps, Paper Scissors, and Donkey Smiles http://donkeysmiles.blogspot.com/ Michelle is special and I am imspired by her strength and perseverance over the past year with the medical problems she has had. I love her art and she makes some of the nicest cards on the face of the earth. I love her critters.

I know! I can't count. Go check out these blogs! They are awesome!

Valentines tag class on Feb. 8

Thought I would re-post the pictures of the two Valentines tags done using Tim Holtz style and show you the third tag we will be doing in the class on Tuesday. All the techniques I used were taken from A Compendium of Curiosities, by Tim Holtz.

The first tag is the last one done and I really like the way it turned out. I first did a wrinkle free distress and then distressed around the edges in prepping the tag. I stamped and embossed the Cupid and the hearts next then added the red heart felt ribbon and the flower. I love the Adore addage tag held up on a memo pin!



The second tag actually has 3 layers of distressing around the edges and then I stamped the definition of love in layers. Embossed the To My Valentine using red ink and clear embossing powder. I then stamped in two colors of tan/brown the flourishes around the edges. The ribbon is layered after being colored with the distress ink and dried. The picture on the pin is from the paper pad, added a flower with a brad. Rock Candy Distress Stickles around the edges. I tied ribbon to the top and hung a philosophy tag and red acrylic bead from a Trinket pin.



Last but not least this tag was covered with paper from the Seasonal paper pad and then distressed around the edges. Ribbon was distressed allowed to dry and applied to tag. I cut the red hearts out of cardstock and mounted them on grunge board to make them stronger, popped them up with foam dots, and then applied Rock Candy Distress Stickles to make them sparkle a little. Ribbon was attached to the top and a clear red bead and a word stick finished it off.



Materials Used:
#8 manila tags
Distressing ink, Barn Door, Worn Lipstick, Antique Linen, Tea Dye, Vintage Photo, Black Soot
Distress Stickles Rock Candy
Embossing powders
Flowers, beads, and brads from my stash
Ribbon some from Stampin' Up! and some from my stash.
Paper: Seasonal Paper Stack
Grunge Paper
Addage Tickets, Memo Pins, Trinket Pins, Word Sticks, Philosophy Tags, Muse Tokens

Kids Class project Feb 22, 2011

One of the classes I am teaching this month at WLS is a class for the kiddo's on the 22 February. Last month I had 5 girls show up ranging in age from 5 to 8 years of age. The class ran about an hour and a half and they laughed and had a bang up time making a Valentine picture book. I hope they have as good a time this month cause it is going to be a little more work.



I cut the book out of chipboard on the Accucut and decided to keep it fairly simple but different shaped for interest. The little owl and flowers on the front are also cut out on the Accucut. The primary colors appealed to me and IF I have a boy to sign up then there are enough 'male' colors that he won't feel like it is too girly!






I am planning on setting out baskets of 'goodies' for them to choose from. There are some school day stickers and I have picked up a couple pages of print paper that I have cut in to squares and circles to glue down and there is all sorts and colors of ribbons and fun things to use.






I am sure the kids will focus on stickers and gluey stuffs but that's okay it is their book to do with as they wish. I talked with some of the kids last week and they are really into 'art' and want to paint, glue, draw and just have fun.


I have asked the parents/grandparents of the kiddos to bring 6-10 pictures that they don't mind being cut up and pasted in the book. I also asked that they only help 'a little' because I want the kids to be creative and use their imaginations to decorate.






I thank heavens that the parents/grandparents are agreeable to this because with an age span this young I couldn't do the class by myself. I don't think it will take much to get the kids into the art work. It is fun!

Pay It Forward! I need 5 takers on this!

I posted a Pay It Forward post a while back and only got one taker on a 'freebie' giveaway. I saw this idea again today on Susan's blog and decided to try and see if I could get some takers this time. It is a fun thing to do...check it out.

The idea is to send one of your creations, it could be a card, a tag, a small book or anything you have made, to the first 5 people who leave comments on the post and then you post about it on your blog and Pay It Forward.

I have one of a surprise coming to me from a friend whose blog I saw this on. Now it is my turn to Pay It Forward…

If you would like to receive something from me please leave me a comment and your email address and I’ll contact you for your mailing address. The first 5 people to leave a comment on this post will receive one of my creations soon. Then YOU have to Pay It Forward!

Thanks for looking...

Vickie
okienurse

WOYWW #87 February 2, 2011

Oh my goodness...I read the ladies comments about how fast the week flies around between WOYWW's and this week I feel like I just posted #86 last night!! WOYWW you say, whats that? Check out Julia Dunnit's blog, Stamping Ground and see what I am talking about!

Here is my desk this morning! I was working on getting a couple tags ready to take over to the store to give to Leslie for the class and it is a total mess. I don't do beading but my daughter has helped me with learning how to fix simple drops for my cards and this is part of my equipment to do that with.
Here are the tags I was working on last week when I took my picture. I have made three but...I just don't like the third and so I put it in file 13 and I will make another tomorrow to take.

We just had a major winter storm roll through dropping about 5 inches of snow on top of ice. I doubt if I will be getting out today at all. I will just spend time traveling in virtual space looking at everyone blogs and beautiful weather down south.