I've Moved!

I have started blogging again but am trying a different site.  I may come back to Blogger, but in the meantime, you can find me here.  Thanks!

Quick Birthday Card

Since I was bitten by the crafting bug, I decided to ink up another stamp from the Happiest Birthday Wishes hostess set. I dug through my scrap box and found the card base and paper for the card. The base measures 3.5" x 5" so it's slightly smaller than most of the cards I make. I stamped the image using Pear Pizazz and punched it out using the 1 3/4 circle punch and then layered it with the piece from the 2 3/8 scallop circle punch from SU!. Since I didn't really do anything extraordinary with this design, this card was made in about three minutes. So much for blaming 'time' for my lack of cardmaking!

Let me leave you with this simple card made by Madeline for her kindergarten teacher. I got a new set of chipboard from SU! with my last order and I had taken this butterfly out of the package the other day thinking I would make a magnet for her teacher. I know butterflies have a special significance for her and so I had it sitting on my table with the intention of completing this project. Well, Madeline saw it and before I even knew she had taken it, she presented me with this card and said, "Mom, I colored this butterfly and made a card for my teacher. I made a purple card because I know she likes purple!" Well, I could hardly be upset with her for 'stealing' my butterfly! I think her teacher will like Madeline's card even better than whatever I would have made. :-)

What?! A Blog post after 2 years???

Well, what miracles have occurred to get me posting after a two-year hiatus? A friendly challenge! Yesterday, Mama Kate set off a series of events with a simple post on Facebook about a new scrapbook store opening in the old Friend'z location. JoLynn saw the post, I saw the post...and soon, we were both at the store reuniting with other crafters who were there scoping out the scene. JoLynn mentioned to the new owner and employees that Kate was responsible for the mad rush! Well, it was kinda funny running into JoLynn and as we perused the items and started collecting purchases, we lamented about the fact that we hardly ever make the time to craft! So, a challenge was issued. We had to make something using some of the products we purchased and post our cards before this weekend ended! Here's the first card I made featuring a glitter paper by American Crafts. This paper is a DREAM--I absolutely love the texture...it's very fine and smooth. The glitter doesn't flake off when you cut the paper...it's fabulous. The pattern reminded me of Thirty-One gifts 'Paparazzi Dot' which is what led me to the idea of a monogram card. I kept it simple with just a vinyl Thicker...also by American Crafts. I love this glitter paper and will definitely be collecting more. Madeline loved it as well and used a piece to make a card for me. Isn't she the most precious little peanut in the world? She drew a peace sign on one side because of course NO art project of hers is complete without one. You see me over there on the right with the fabulous eyelashes...the two little girls are her and our next door neighbor Kenzie.

One of the other items I picked up at the new store was a set of printed fabric Thickers from American Crafts. I used the number 5 on this quick and easy birthday card. I had some Sale-a-Bration paper/sticker die-cuts left from this past year so I decided to put those to use. The sentiment is from the new hostess set Happiest Birthday Wishes from Stampin' Up!

Be sure to pop on over to JoLynn's blog to see what she crafted this weekend!

Let's see if another two years goes by before I post again...
Happy stamping,
Karen

Sayin' a Prayer!

It should come as no surprise that I didn't have time to make anything for the Stamping Royalty Contest. However, I did go through my box of cards and pick three that fit one of the categories (adding color with markers) and sent them in--so I'm just going to keep my fingers crossed and have promised to make a better effort to pay attention to when the contest is happening next year. I mean--do you REMEMBER JoLynn's prize package from last year? A girl HAS to give this contest a shot, right? While I would have loved to just make some new cards, I honestly forgot until it was too late! My hometown celebrated this past weekend with our high school basketball team making it to the state championship in basketball. All of my responsibilities/projects went out the window as I took Maddie to her first basketball game. While they didn't win, they did place 2nd in state which is a first for good ol' Waukegan. In the finals, Waukegan played Whitney Young which is where Michael Jordan's son attends school and plays so he was there at the game which was unfortunate in a way because the focus was not on the kids in that game--it was on him. Even when Whitney Young won, the media flocked to Michael Jordan for his response. I get it, the guy's amazing, but really--couldn't it have just been about the guys playing? It's high school basketball for Pete's sake! Since the championship game was past Maddie's bedtime, she didn't go with me for that game and I went by myself. Lo and behold, I had a seat next to two great guys from my own high school days--it was a great reunion! So ya, stamping was on the backburner! Not to mention, I thought YESTERDAY was the 23rd--UGH! I didn't realize until going through blogs tonight that I was actually off by one day. Oh well--what's a girl to do?

Now, if you are in Illinois and are interested in saving money while you grocery shop each week, you MUST check out JILL CATALDO. She's my new role model! She's been featured in the Sun Times and on ABC news in Chicago many a time--she's a 'Super Couponer' who uses coupons with sale prices to get great prices. I am always trying to save money, but I haven't been good about utilizing coupons until now. She does all of the legwork for you so all you have to do is follow her tips! I just discovered her yesterday and I am HOOKED! I mean, did you know you could have your grocery store savings card store coupons that you find online??? Like, your Preferred Card from Jewel or your Kroger's Savings Card? YES--there are these coupon sites and you plug in your number and then select the coupons you want. Then, when you go to the grocery store and scan your card--it recognizes the coupons that you selected! I had NO IDEA! So, if you're interested in learning more, definitely check out her blog. She has links to those coupon sites I mentioned and so much more. You will be amazed--I guarantee it!

Check out these sites!

1. Moxie Fab World:  Lots of giveaways and freebies this week for stampers! 
   

When perusing that blog, I found that this year's Stamping Royalty contest is closing SOON!  If you'd like to enter, you must have your entries postmarked no later than MARCH 23rd! YIKES!  Wish I would have noticed this a month or two ago before I packed most of stamping stuff away.  I have some supplies so I might try and make a card or two--if I can bring myself to make a mess in my CLEAN house right now ;-)  OR maybe I'll look for cards that fit the categories in my stash!  For those interested, here are the contest categories:

• Stamp Kissing
• Build a Scene
• Creating Patterned Paper with Stamps
• Adding Color with Markers
• Adding Color with Dye or Ink Sprays

Click here to see the CK page about this contest

2. The Paper Crafts blog also has lots of contests/giveaways so check them out as well! 

Publications: Round 2

I could not find the photograph of this card on my computer believe it or not! I ended up photographing the layout since I no longer have the actual card. Once the publishers sent me the card back along with my complimentary issues of the magazine, I sent a copy of the publication along with the actual card to my grandpa in Florida so that he could put them with my grandmother's ashes. When I bought this stamp, I was actually pregnant and I envisioned making some lovely handmade gift for the baby's grandmothers. Of course, that never happened and it wasn't until I saw the call for grandparent projects for this September issue that I knew this stamp would be used for a project honoring my grandma. September is a difficult month. Obviously, Grandparents' Day is in September and that in itself is tough. My grandmother was born in September and she also passed away in September...so in general, September has always been a month where I find myself mourning her loss rather than just thinking of her or remembering her as I do throughout the rest of the year. I don't mean to get so personal with this post, but this was a personal project so I can't help myself! So just because, I'm going to end with some happy thoughts about my grandma because now I'm sitting here all teary-eyed...

• My grandma used to love to record my sister and me singing...I remember singing Lionel Richie songs into her little tape recorder!!
• I loved her camera and all of the pictures she would take. I can't believe I once asked her if I could have that camera when she died! I think I was about 9 or 10--old enough to know better, don't you think?
• My grandma loved playing BINGO and my sister and I used to love to fling her BINGO chips all across the room.
• Kim and I used to enjoy posing with our grandma's wigs on for photographs...even my brother posed for a pic once!
• Some of my fondest times spent with her were just at the kitchen table playing Scrabble when I was older and visiting in FL. She would let me cheat and use the dictionary because I could never beat her anyway. How she had the patience to play with me and/or Kim for that matter, I will never know :-)
• My grandmother and I used to write letters back and forth...I wish I would have kept more of them.

My grandparents have always been such a cherished part of my life. You might remember my grandpa from some entries last year--I feel so blessed that he is still here and that Maddie has been able to spend time with him. My grandpa is always giving my sister and me advice about life, finances, even softball and bowling over the years--he just seems to know a little about almost everything. Of course, the best thing about grandpa is that he loves food and a good chocolate as much as I do and so we always indulge in special treats when we're together. Which...come to think of it, I'm sure Maddie and I are due for another trip sometime soon ;-)

Oh Happy Day!

It has been a busy week and the house is well on its way to being sold (hopefully!) My studio is officially GONE with only some supplies remaining in what is now Madeline's new playroom. We converted it so that we could stage a dining room upstairs and the whole place is starting to look like a before/after on some HGTV television show! It's been tiring, back-breaking work--okay, not really back-breaking but I did throw out my back while lifting and moving all of these boxes! UGH! Since I got a lot of work done this weekend, I thought I would reward myself with some downtime which includes updating by blog with a PROJECT--imagine that!

This past fall, I took an online scrapbooking class with my guru, Cathy Zielske over at Big Picture Scrapbooking. Many of you know I fell in love with her and her style a few years ago with the purchase of her book Clean and Simple Scrapbooking (which is now 1/2 off!!). I then bought the sequel as soon as it hit the shelves (now more than 1/2 off!!) When I learned that she was teaching an online class, I knew I had to enroll. While I was unable to keep up with the assigments due to some hoopla in my life, I have printed everything out and am working on the layouts when I can.
Now, unfortunately, I did this layout so long ago that I can't even remember what the 'lesson' was for it! Hmmm...wonder if I packed that binder...

I used some pics from one of Maddie's first stamping projects--a birthday card for her aunt or Emo (Korean) as Maddie calls her. Maddie got to pick out the ink pads and the stamps all by herself and then I just let her do whatever she wanted. You can see that she actually did choose a birthday stamp...as well as that little 'Thank Ewe' punny stamp. She had a great time inking up her stamp--though sometimes on the wrong side while making her card. It was a fun project and the type of experience I enjoy documenting.

The layout for this page was designed by Cathy Zielske. All of the sketches we had to work with were amazing and I would say getting those was worth the cost of the class in itself!

Well, I will be back with some other layouts later...and I will have to find my class materials so I can share what the lessons/objectives were that I was trying to work on while creating these pages. Thanks for stopping by!

For those who know Ann, be sure to stop by her blog for an exciting announcement!!

Paper Rack, Anyone?

EDITED on Sunday:  The paper rack has been adopted!  Thanks!

This paper rack is looking for a new home. It has served me well the past three or four years. This rack was originally a stationery rack and it held papers and envelopes for invitations...mainly 5" x 7" papers. I used it to hold envelopes, cardstock I had cut down for card bases and 6 x 6 or smaller paper packs. There is a storage drawer on the bottom which held all of my extra specialty envelopes.

If you live in Central, IL and could pick this up, it's yours! Thanks!

Pardon the Interruption

I am excited to announce that Steve and I have decided to build a house!  AH!  I've been packing up my studio for a few days because we need to get it cleared out before we list our house next week.  Unfortunately, it seems that as soon as I got my crafting groove back, I am being forced out of it.  The good news is that I will have a new and improved space in the new house!   I have been taking some pictures of projects that I want to share in the next couple of weeks and once I get the house ready to show, I'll have some time to share them.  

In the meantime, I have to design my dream studio.  If you've seen rooms that are FABULOUS, share the links with me--I'd love to see them!

Publications: Round 1

I am one of those people who is constantly looking for validation. For example, when I make a new project or do something I think is fabulous (or not), I need to show it to EVERYONE right away and get feedback. I believe this is mainly why I loved participating in the challenges on Splitcoast :-) Having said this, I CANNOT believe that I never shared my published cards on my blog. HELLO!? SO unlike me not to be bombarding you all with these looking for pats on the back and such! Without further ado, let me introduce 'Modern Mom'--my first publication which was included in Cards Magazine, August '08.

This was an invitation that I came up with for a woman named Andrea who hired me to make baby shower invites. I had made a few samples and they were pretty traditional and then I was inspired to make something a little different and 'Modern Mom' was born. I took a look at Michelle's online registries and it allowed me to see a little bit of her personality. There were these onesies she had registered for and they were pink, olive, and brown and then these sheets that had a funky circular print which together made me think of this American Crafts paper I had. I decided to try making something a little different using the paper, but it didn't look 'baby' enough so I added the Mom image from the stamp set Swell News and paper-pieced the dress which made the card look more suitable or obvious for a baby shower. I shared it with Andrea and she loved it as soon as she saw it. She thought the design would be perfect for Michelle and I loved it so much I decided to submit it to be published. Which leads me to my pep talk...if you've ever made a card that you just LOVE, submit it somewhere! You just never know what a publisher will be interested in and if you really love something, chances are someone else will love it as well. Now, having said that...persistance is sometimes necessary because even GREAT cards don't get picked up all of the time!

I made a simple 'thank you' card to coordinate with the invites and this card was published as well. So, another word of advice--if you submit an invite to be published you may as well make a coordinating 'thank you'. I also made a registry card which I didn't photograph and I included it with the two cards and the publishers ended up using it as well so you just never know! On both cards, the mom image was stamped with Adirondack ink and colored in with Copics. I colored a LOT of these images in the course of completing Andrea's order and let me tell you the whole process made me love and appreciate having my Copics that much more.

Okay, so those were the items that were published. I also want to share some coordinating projects if you're able to stick around for a few more minutes ;-)

Here's a little nugget box that I made using the same paper as a possible favor idea. The monogram was made using stamps from PTI. It's so faint that you probably won't be able to see it, but on either side of the 'Z' are the words 'baby' and 'girl' in a soft pink. Another possible favor was this little package (sour cream container) made again with the AC paper and same monogram as the nugget box.

Thanks for hanging in there with me for such a long post! I have some scrapbooking layouts to share so hopefully I can get those photographed and posted sometime soon.

Hope your week is off to a great start!