Greeting Cards

Alright I know that this is supposed to be my scrapbooking/paper crafting blog...so do I ever do paper crafts any more? Yes I do! Here are some examples...

Friendship cards-one can never have too many of these hanging around! I finally used up the rest of that striped Susan Branch paper that I've had in my stash for YEARS!!!!
Get Well - copied this card layout from an old card idea book. Please forgive me for not remembering which one it came from. This certainly is a cute get well card!

Congratulations- This little gem is my own design! I was getting frustrated at the poor selection of graduation cards at our BX- okay so it was more like our BX had NONE to speak of! So out of desperation I created this one! LOVE how handy my Quickutz dies are! The Graduation cap is a 2 piece die set, and now I can say that I finally got to use it!

Send Handmade Cards

I've been making my own greeting cards since before my daughter Hannah was born. There's something so personal when you give a friend or a loved one a card that you've made yourself. It shows that you've taken the time to give them something extra special, that you've put a piece of yourself into it just for them.



I'm always thrilled when my friends give me cards that they've made. I know some of the best card makers around these parts! Peggy (you've seen her stuff on her blog) is an amazingly patient teacher! Her card ideas are stepping stones for us to leap off of...she's opened my eyes to so many wonderful ideas! Sarah is always willing to try something new and different she has the heart of a true artist. :-) Ellen and Donna, I've been so impressed with their and from the first day I met them! Their stuff is fantastic! Full of glitz, glamour and oh so very sophisticated- they've always got me ooh and aaahing over their work! So any time any of them gives me a card, first I put it on display for a while then I tuck it into a little album that I've made.



But I'm soon to get involved in something else...it's making Cards for Hero's. Please click on the link that's hidden in the name for more information. I plan on getting the spouses group together to make cards for this fantastic organization! IF you want to participate click on the link and they'll tell you how you can!

Pegs Creative Cards

Have you been over to Peggy's Blog yet? Oh you are missing out on a great source of inspiration..hurry up and check out the cards she's got up there right now! I won't tell you how old she is (it's not polite to tell a ladies age) only that I aspire to be as creative as she is when I reach her age :-) It's seeing stuff like what she's got on her blog that inspires me to create! Thanks Peg for all of the wonderful paper crafting classes and for being such a wonderful friend!

Creating the ultimate Scrapbook Room- storage

Oh, is my scrapbook nook ever a mess! I've got "stuff" spread out across the my main work area and all over the smaller work area. It's obvious that I need to put my toys away after I'm done playing with them :-)

A place for everything and everything in it's place. That's where organization and storage come into play. You can't really become organized until you make a list of things you want to accomplish in your scrapbooking space. What all are you going to be "doing" in that space? It is just scrapbooking? Or is it more? If it's more than your room will have to accommodate more than one hobby. Not everyone has the same organizational needs, that's why I asked the question "what all are you going to be doing in your scrapbooking space? For me it's a bit of everything, the obvious is scrapbooking, there's card making and general paper crafting. As for my other hobbies; I store my needlework stuffs in the laundry room, my quilting & sewing stuffs have moved to the formal dining room (they are in plain view but hidden at the same time) and of course my cooking and baking are in the kitchen. But each area where my "crafting" takes place is organized, making it easy for me to find what I'm looking for at a moments glance.

P-Touch Label Maker- if you don't have one, get one! These are a MUST HAVE item in any household! I think that my husband and kids use it as much as I do!

Plastic Shoe Boxes- These are the back bone to organization! In my Scrapbook Nook I use them to contain my stamps, my collection of acrylic blocks, ink pads and embellishments. In my quilting corner I use them to contain my fat quarters, fat eighths, fabric scraps and patterns. They work for storing needlework projects and all kinds of embroidery flosses. Use that label maker to it's fullest potential and label that container!

Okay after all this talk on being organized, I better get down in my scrapbook nook and put my toys away!

Craft Group Fun!

Do you enjoying crafting of any type? If you do, I can highly recommend getting involved in a crafting group. Some groups have a "cost" associated with them- mine is run through my dear friend Peggy who is a Stampin Up consultant (who happens to have more "free time" to have classes since she retired from the school system). She searches the internet to bring us fun things to do with Stampin Up brand stamps and products. We all get excited about craft group and can hardly wait to see what she brings with her to show us at the next get together, Peggy makes crafting fun. Then again the women I craft with make it a total BLAST! Peggy, Ellen, Donna and Sarah are wonderfully talented ladies that have me laughing and continuously smiling for the 2 hours we are together each month- and with all that going on we actually get work done!

These are the latest fun things she's brought to us... This is what I call a "Pocket Book"- it's made from 1 sheet of double sided cardstock and you score, fold and cut at certain intervals. What a darling mini album this would make for your kids (okay, so it's a girl thing) to hold pictures of their friends- you know...those little school photo's that are always floating around the house. Or use as a graduation gift holder and put money and thoughtful words of encouragement for the future on every page. The ideas are endless!





The 4th of July card is too sweet! These are Pixie Stix (good luck finding them- Peggy bought them while on vacation). Using Blue and Red ink and a cute star set (which is about to be retired) we made this super cute card!


This is one of the monthly specials, LOVE this set and the note cards! Of course I bought it! Peggy had samples done up in several different colors, all of them were beautiful! I made mine a thank you card as I can never have enough of them!

Scrapbooking store in Roseville CA has closed its doors for good

It's official- Mad About Scrapbooks has closed it's doors for good. It breaks my heart to see that store go out of business after 9 years. I loved shopping in that store and it was such a treasure of wonderful displays and merchandise. I had always received excellent customer service while shopping there, and now it's no more :-(

I foresee a moving trend here in the US with a great majority of people being true to their word when it comes to cutting back on what they consider to be indulgence or splurge purchases. With gas prices already being over $4 a gallon in some parts of the country and they are fully expected to be at the $5 mark by the end of summer and we know what comes with that - higher food prices, higher clothing prices, higher everything prices. I see the nation in a whole tightening up it's purse strings and cutting out nonessential purchases, be it trips and vacations to little things like scrapbooking and other crafting supplies. Kids toys and clothes will be something that people won't be buying either. I foresee a trend, I think that a lot of folks will get into checking out thrift shops and garage sales before going to the department stores to make a purchases. I also see a lot of people start vegetable gardens and growing their own produce.

Scrapbooking store in Roseville CA closing it's doors...

As I get up this morning to check my e-mail (only 70 some odd e-mails) I saw an e-mail from one of my favorite Scrapbooking Stores in CA. The store is "Mad About Scrapbooks" and they used to be located in Citrus Heights not 3 miles from my parents home. I loved shopping in there as they had some of the latest ad greatest scrapbooking items...ones I was unable to find locally. It's hard in an economy where gas prices are soaring to over $4.00 a gallon (in parts of CA it's already over $4) and people are cutting back on what they consider to be luxury purchases, things like scrapbooking, rubber stamping and from home parties such as Longaberger, Stampin Up, Close to my Heart, Southern Living at Home and Pampered Chef to name a few.

So here's the e-mail...


Mad About Scrapbooks Celebrate the Everyday970 Sunrise Ave., Suite 135 Roseville, CA 95661916-787-1700916-787-1756http://www.MadAboutScrapbooks.com & www.CelebrateTheEveryday.invitations.cominfo@madaboutscrapbooks.com
Inventory Liquidation Sale 50% off on everything!
We’re so disappointed! We were sure that cutting back staff, expenses and moving back to a smaller location would give us the necessary edge to withstand the economic downturn. If only, diversifying our product lines to include invitations and stationary and advertising to new audiences would have been enough to make a difference. If only...Now, we find ourselves facing the fact that we must liquidate inventory. We know that we have given 110% and almost nine years to this business and we’re proud of the successes achieved over the years but we’re disappointed by having to liquidate inventory. We know that we are not alone, everyone of us has known the sadness that comes when disappointment cuts so close to our sweetest dreams that we find it difficult to sort through the swirling emotions. At times like this, we try to remember that disappointments are inevitable in life, but discouragement is a choice. We don’t have to be the victim of our feelings and hang on to the, “if only.” Jim and I still have hope and real joy knowing that God has a unique plan for our lives and that it hasn’t changed according to unexpected circumstances. God holds our future in His hands, and we will never lose by looking forward to what He has in store for us. For the next ten days, stop by the store to take advantage of our liquidation sale. Everything in the store is 50% off the original price. Lots of albums, adhesives, cardstock, papers and a whole lot more. May God bless you, Jim and Denise Miller

Time spent with friends...

...is time well spent. I had THE BEST time yesterday with Peggy and the other ladies that make up our paper crafting group. I can honestly say that I don't remember a time in the past few months where I have laughed more than with this group of friends. Even though we razz one another it's never done in a mean way and we are always laughing if not at one another than at ourselves. Yesterday was so terribly funny...Sarah for the life of her could not get her folds scored correctly and me...oh my gosh, I'm such a gimp when it comes to the stamping wheel! Donna was having a rough time with the stamping wheel too- Peggy was laughing right along with us.





So let me share with you some of the items we've made...



What a great bunch of pocket cards! tuck in a check, some dollar bills or a gift card into any of these!


This one was especially fun since it requires to cut apart a paper lunch bag :-) I'm looking forward to spending National Scrapbooking day with Peggy and our group. She's also got a couple of workshops coming up...I can hardly wait to make that project...it's just too cool for words!

My stampin up consultant has a blog spot!

Please check out my friend Pegs' blog spot http://stampingwithpeg.blogspot.com/ She just started it and she's got some very cute cards up on it!

Fun with Peggy!

I can't tell you how much I look forward to making neat things with my Stampin Up lady Peggy. Today was our Stamp Group meet up (she has several and today was the meet up day for the group I'm in). I can not begin to tell you how excited I was to make the little projects that she had ready for us. Here is the little peek-a-boo tin with a nice piece of Stampin Up grosgrain ribbon tied around it.



Here is the peek-a-boo tin w/o the ribbon, see the cute card inside...what a nice this this would make for someone.
Card1 is a happy birthday card using the Stampin Up scallop punch and one of the sale-a-bration stamp sets- cute city! The 2nd card was done using a new to me technique (Peggy always has something new to teach us- I love it!). This was done using a water brush pen and a classic stamp pad. You know how you sometimes get ink on the lid, well use your water brush that's just a little wet and use it like you would water colors and there you have it. The result is a nice water color effect on your wartercolor paper- too cute! Card 3 (another stamp from the sale catalog- heck they all are from the sale-a-bration catalog), these colors are just too yummy! Card #4 a classi combonation, Pink and Black- what is not to like?
card #5 this one you take the square punch and make a peek-a-book window and mouint your stamped piece from the back. Using the fine glitter from stampin up and a glue pen, fill the glasses and the bubbles with glitter. I poked a hole through the side of the card and put my ribbon thorugh it and tied it on the side with some silver cording. Using a rub-on (also from Stampin Up) I have the word "celebrate" on my ribbon.
Card #6 Happy Hellos, using the sprial hole punch and the scallop punch from Stampin Up, this card was fun to make! Put them all in the little tin and they make a wonder little gift for just about any friend!

I have one more card to post but alas...I need to charge the camera battery before I can take another picture. I have the BEST time with my STampin Up consultant and the group of ladies that she has put togehter, we do a lot of laughing, chatting and just having fun! So Peggy if you're reading this...THANKS, you're the Best!

Crafting...

Through my daughter I'm reliving parts of my own childhood (the good parts). She has me on a "crafting" project that she designed...what it is you wonder? I'm embroidering on her jeans. I bought her a fabric marker a couple of weeks ago and she's had this "idea" for at least a week longer than she had the pen. So she drew on her pants and said that she wanted to "stitch" on her pants. Well me being her Mom and knowing fully that her talents at stitchery are not as developed as my own (she can do cross stitch & back stitch and that's about it), well I know that this was her attempt to sucker me in to doing it for her, LOL! I'm going to buy her a pair of pants that are a size larger than what she is currently wearing, working on those pants of hers with those skinny legs was murder! I need to run out to Hobby Lobby this morning to get more more embroidery floss and some other crafting items. The weather is the only thing holding me back...with the wind chill it's something insane like -23º. But I am determined and my kid mobile is parked in a garage sheltering it from the bitter cold (not to mention we have heated seats for all 4 of us).

I've got other crafting ideas going on in my head right now too! I want to play with my newest crafting toy- The Cricut Design Studio. I'll have to see if I can nudge my husband off of the computer so I can play on it :-) When all 4 of us are home, I'm the one who gets the boot from the computer - hence there being no post here on my blog yesterday.

I try to do some sort of crafting every week and it might not always be scrapbooking, stamping or card making. My first passion was sewing and quilting...that started when I was in the 3rd grade. You see my Mom could design skirts and blouses out of thin air and my Grammy Lola made these quaint little lap quilts from scraps of fabric. My first sewing projects were not clothing projects but rather crafting projects. I made stuffed animals- I remember making an Owl, Mouse and a Teddy Bear that are still at my parents house in a box in my old bedroom. My first quilting project is in the closet of my old bedroom too. I want to help Hannah with her crafting and for her to get as much enjoyment out of it as I do. I've decided that I want to get myself a serger. I do a lot more "craft" type sewing than I do of clothing type sewing and a serger would be great for making table clothes, table runners, place mats and of course my favorite - cloth napkins. One of my passions is making window treatments. I have made them for the various seasons. Although I do not have one made for Valentines Day (never was able to find the right fabric). With my sewing machine on it's way to it's new home (I just checked on the U{S tracking site and it's currently in Illinois) it's making me anxious to get started on sewing projects galore!

Now for me to get my husband and children up and ready to go out into the cold...to get out of this house and off to the mall!

Sandie's 2008 Scrapbooking Goals

I’m not into having number goals as those are just put an undue amount of stress to crank out pages. I want to devote my time to making quality pages, the numbers will come together on their own. My scrapbooking goals 2008 are pretty much the same as they were for 2007

My scrapping goals for 2008 are as follows...

*to schedule time each week to do nothing but work on layouts, scrapbook related projects, stamping projects and altered art projects.

*When buying scrapbooking and stamping supplies that I shop local first! For me that's shopping at 3 Scrappy Boys and with Peggy my Stampin Up consultant.

*to use use up what I have...no more hoarding or worse yet "saving it" for that so called "special layout". My motto is "Every layout is special!"

*to donate the items (tools paper, stickers, etc) that I am no longer using or interested in keeping around to various local charities and women's groups.

*to host more crops in my home and make it an enjoyable experience for my girlfriends, to include lunch and possibly a small project. To make it a once or twice a month get together.

*to finish our vacation albums. Especially since we're going on vacation in February and that I have only a handful of pages done from our European Vacation that we took in 2006.

*to put more pages in my husband’s career album.

*to finish up my Book of Faith album. It's a small 6x6 album with favorite quotes from the Bible. I'm going to get my friend Kim to start this with me, I know that this will be something that she would be VERY interested in making for her own self.

Crafting with Peggy

FUN- yup I have had a FUN day! My friend Peggy has the best little craft projects for us to make and today was no exception! I've always wanted to try stamping on tumbled marble tiles and today we did it! Oh my gosh they turned out cuter than I had expected! She showed us several different examples and guess what, I went to Lowe's and bought myself 2 boxes of tiles. I'm going to make some coasters and give them to friends as presents :-) Another project we made was a small chipboard clip board. Talk about fun! Of course I had to be the odd bird and want to do mine in blues and green while everyone else was happy with red, LOL! I'm going to finish mine up and post pictures. The 3rd project was covering an Altoids tin and dressing up some mints to go inside of it. I like to call these projects elegantly simple. Some times the complex crafts take the fun out making them. The instructions to make our projects were straight forward, nothing too complex or elaborate. I plan on showing my friends the tiles. I see Lowe's going through a lot of those tiles. There are 9 of those 4x4 tiles to a box for the low price of $5.50 wow that's cheap! I see those tumbled tiles with stamped on pictures going for as much as $20 for a set of 4.

Now the pressure is on me to finish my little projects and post pictures of them. If you're reading this Peggy- Thanks for a wonderful time!

Rubber Stamps and Scrapbooking Supplies

As an avid stamper, I adore many different lines of rubber stamps. One of my favorites is Stampin Up. I have a friend who sells (her name is Peg) and I tell ya...this woman does the neatest things with stamps! For just over 2 years now I've been in one or another of her stamp groups and have not been able to make it...but recently I had Stamp group meet up in my home. Peg had THE neatest items to show us (now I want them all). But the best thing is that they can all be used in scrapbooking too!

Now why am I writing about this? I feel that everyone should take a stamping or scrapbooking class, to get back in touch with some techniques and to see new products being used. I'm all over those water color crayons (which will be my next purchase). LOVE love love those! The total ease of working with them was remarkable. I have water colors in a tube, water colors in dried cake form and water color pencils. But these water color crayons were THE easiest things to work with!

3 Scrappy Boys

My favorite message board is back up with a new look and it's running at full throttle! Please check out www.3scrappyboys.com and see what new and groovy things are happening in the world of scrapbooking. The pictures that are being posted from CHA are wonderful! Sure some things are kind of funky but there's always something for everyone at CHA! I look forward to the scoop that Cindy brings back from CHA- I want to hear all of the gritty details! Ü I know that it's a total Zoo but it's also got to be such an adrenaline rush just seeing all of those new items first hand.

Organizing your Scrapbook Nook...and keeping it that way

As much as I like to proclaim myself as being a purging queen when it comes to getting rid of "stuff" that no longer has a place in our home, I still am finding a virtual ton of things to get rid of since moving into this new house. Of course there's the bedding from our bedroom (the queen size Americana Quilt with matching quilted pillow shams) and Andrews' Nature themed quilt (another queen size) with matching pillow shams- yup that fills a big box. But there's also other things like shower curtains (there's a couple of those) and those plastic rings that go with them. But I'm talking about my scrapbooking space today. Oh my gosh how many of us have gotten things for FREE from scrapbooking events that we look at and never have used? I know that I have. There are those scrapbook albums in odd sizes that I knew that I would never use but they looked rather cool in their pretty packaging displayed in my nook. They are in the garage sale box! I'm also pushing myself to make the purge of tools that I just do not use, trust me I have tools that I have not touched in ages! Part of my problem is that I'm filling my space up with stuff that looks good but it isn't being used. I tried pulling stuff out and seeing if I would use it before the move and did I use it? No of course not, LOL! I don't know what I was thinking with that one.

Bags- Oh do I have oodles of little crop type bags. Do I use more than one or two at a time? Heck no. So those are being purged as well. I think that there will be some scrapbookers out there that will be VERY HAPPY to see them for sale at our garage sale.

Lettering Templates - I thought that I had gotten rid of them ages ago. The look on my face was one of surprise when I opened a box and saw that they're still around as are a ton of alphabet stickers that I never used. Yup more garage sale merchandise. You know what they say..."One mans junk is another mans treasure".

Paper Trimmers- I love using rotary paper trimmers. So all of those sliding paper trimmers by Fiskars are going into the garage sale...along with all of the spare blades that I have. I have 2 large rotary paper cutters and having them for crops comes in very handy! The other ones, they're outta here! Then ones I tuck away for crops on the go are my Cutterpedes and I will keep them around. They're great to tuck into my crop bag on wheels.

Embellishments- more things to go through and purge items that I am no longer interested in using (because my scrapbooking style has evolved past using those items). But hey... some is going to find a virtual treasure trove of scrapbooking goodies when they come to our garage sale :-)

So when it comes to organizing, really look at your tools, what ARE you actually using? What are you keeping that you haven't used and it taking up valuable storage space. Are you using those decorative scissors? Then put them where they can be easily accessed, same goes for the Xyron that you bought but hardly use. I use mine quite a bit so I put it in an area where I can get to it without difficulty. Do you use the Xyron 250 more than your 550? If so, then sell of that 550! Organizing your space is about keeping things that you actually use versus things that look good and impress others. So get on the band wagon and clear out that old stuff!

My Scrapbook Nook

Oh am I ever happy with how My Scrapbook Nook is coming along! This has been a combined effort on both of our parts in getting this room together. Last night we also needed our son's help in getting the counter top into the room.

There are a couple more thing that we need to get done...the knobs and drawer pulls need to go on and I need to get the rest of my scrapbooking and stamping supplies into the room. The wall cabinets look terrific! And the floor cabinets are HUGE! There's tons of storage in them that's for sure! I have a feeling that I'll be able to locate my camera dock in one of the 8 or so large boxes of scrapbooking supplies that are still out in the garage. I've found my QuicKutz hand tools but not the dies...and I packed the stuff so I have no one but myself to blame for that one, LOL!

My rubber and acrylic stamps are neatly tucked away into plastic shoe boxes and are on a shelf in the closet under the stairs. They might just stay there for a while until I can get another chrome shelf. I really like the way they are stored, easy access is one key to being organized. If you see it, you will use it, so have you stamping and scrapbooking tools and supplies organized well so you can see what you have and use it! The place is a little messy right now but by the weekend I hope to have it put together in a way it will feel comfortable. It'll probably be reorganized a few times until I get it feeling just right but that's a natural thing (it is for me anyway :-).

Oh look at the time...I've got to finish my BBQ pulled Pork, tidy up the formal dining room and get the boxes out of the family room from last nights cabinet installation project because friends are coming over to scrapbook in a couple of hours. :-)

writing letters and making your own stationary

I'm a letter writer, always have been. Even though I have the internet and e-mail ET all, I still like to sit down and hand write letters to a friend or a family member. Okay so I have to send snail mail letters to my family since none of them have computers (strange huh). I enjoy making my own greeting cards (yes it's true... I have a serious addiction to paper). I love making my own stationary, putting my own touch to it with using special ink to give the paper a watermark image. I buy the fancy shmancy paper that has cotton fibers in it and had a linen like texture to it, it's a little more expensive but it makes for excellent stationary. Since it comes in a box of 100 sheets or so and it's 8½x11, I can cut it down to make it 5½x8¼ so it tucks nicely into a standard sized envelope.

I've checked out the prices of nice writing paper and it's actually more expensive than what I make for myself and you only get 20 sheets of paper and 10 envelopes. I use Versamark watermark ink when making my watermark stationary. I like to use large stamps, usually something with a floral design but at times I have been known to use other patterns such as seashells, leaves or something more of an architectural nature. The important thing is to choose something that appeals to you. Then ink up your stamp and go to it! I just get into a mode and stamp stamp stamp my paper! Be sure to let it dry thoroughly or if you're a little impatient use a heat tool and heat set the ink. I like to give g my handmade stationary as gifts to dear friends...especially when they are moving. I think that it's a rather thoughtful kind of gift to give; combined with a book of stamps, some envelopes, and a nice pen it makes a very nice gift indeed! It's much nicer (and more personal) than anything you can buy at your local Card Shop that I'm certain of!

Now if you're more into making cards versus your own stationary but feel a little behind the curve when it come to making a nice looking card? You just might want to check out www.inspiremecardkits.com loads of inspirational ideas for card making to be had over there!

Favorite places to be on the www

Everyone who uses the internet has a favorite place or two that they like to hang out and read articles and such. One of my all time favorite places is www.3scrappyboys.com Besides having the best scrapbooking kits around (there's seriously good stuff in these kits) the owner has started her own line of acrylic stamps...how cool is that? I mean really!!! You should see these things, they're (in the words of my 11 year old daughter) Super Cute! I made sure to sign up for the stamp of the month club...I do not want to be missing out on them!

I love to incorporate stamping into my scrapbooking when possible, and www.3scrappyboys.com has combined the best of both worlds (or at least I think so). Looking for some inspiration, check out the gallery there at 3 scrappy boys, tons of great layouts, want a friendly place to hang out? Join the message board!

Being Creative

Yesterday I was playing around with some paper scraps in my little scrapbook nook. You see, I was contemplating on getting rid of some of my Creative Memories cutting system pieces that I really haven't ever used. So I decided to pull them out and look at them. They're that hexagon, octagon and the huge oval (I haven't a clue as to why I even bought them with the exception of that they were dirt cheap on e-bay 5 years ago). I was holding those funky shapes in my hand but was drawn to use the circles (go figure). I also have a new punch that I bought for a project a few weeks back but haven't made the time to use- so I get it out. Here I am with a smile pile of cardstock scraps in awesome colors, my new flower punch, a couple of different circle tools and a cool stamp set from Stampin Up. I look at the colors I gathered together and the idea came together in the blink of an eye.