Linda's Cozy Craft Corner

New Year Card

2012-01-01T20:30:00.000-08:00

Well, I was late with my Christmas Cards so I decided to send out New Year Cards instead. This was one of the designs that I sent out. I made this card with two thoughts in mind. I wanted to submit a card for the Created byhand Challenge (Old with the Old/Flower Die Cuts) http://createdbyhandchallenge.wordpress.com/, and for a Happy New Year card. I put the lighter colored paper in Tim Holtz' Textured Flourish Folder. The flower was also made using four small flower dye cuts. I put stickles around the border of each layer of the flower. And because it needed more color and sparkle, I added a brad to the card.

Winter Scene

2011-12-28T08:47:00.000-08:00

Last week I could hardly contain my excitement over Christmas. I just can't help myself. Christmas always brings back fond, warm and cozy, happy memories.

I have been keeping journals the last few months. Mostly I have been rewriting verses with the hope that they would sink in. Sometimes I add my own thoughts or little prayers to my almost daily verse writing. And sometimes I feel inspired to add pictures of some sort.

I needed to start a new notebook and since I will be running into the month of January I didn't want it to be all Christmas looking and decided to go into snowflakes and such. Because I live in the desert, it is very difficult to find snow. So, I went online and found some beautiful winter pictures. I don't like the cold of winter but I do love the snow. I found some really great winter scenes at this website. http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=yfp-t-701&va=winter

I took the above picture and added Stickles. Both Crystal and Icicle Stickles and some Liquid White Pearls. I used my newest little toys (Big Shot by Stampin' Up) and (Tim Holtz Alterations Townscape) the other day and cut out a row of houses on colorful paper. I covered the houses in Crystal Stickles and added the Liquid White Pearls to the roof tops and house fronts to give it dimension and make it look like snow. I then added the Townscape cut out to give the picture a pop of color.

I hope you enjoy this wintry image!

Christmas

2011-12-22T15:54:00.000-08:00

First, let me make a disclaimer that once again I didn't get my Christmas cards out. So for my family and friends it will once again be a New Years Card most probably.

Second, I also didn't get Hanukkah Cards done this year so to my Jewish Family and Friends, Happy Hanukkah. Hanukkah 2011 started the evening of Tuesday, December 20 and ends Tuesday, December 28.

Thirdly, I did make three Christmas Cards; they were for the teachers at my children's school. They came out so warm and cheery that I thought I would share them with you.

DABBING AWAY

2011-08-31T07:00:00.000-07:00

Once again I put my Adirondack Acrylic Paint Dabbers to work. I dabbed away with Celery, Sunshine Yellow and Pearl and put a simply stated Happy Birthday on the front.

I used Sail Boat Blue and Pearl for the background. I also took a paint brush and went over the bird with the same colors. For the branch I used one of my Stampin' Up markers.

Once I got started dabbing away, I got carried away. I wanted to try different colors and mixtures and styles. I first stamped away with the presents stamp from one of my Stampin' Up sets. I then went over the stamp images with the dabbers. I decided to highlight the one image in Turquoises Stickles.

This one I used Celery and Red Pepper on the background and then dabbed the Red Pepper over my "Celebrate You" stamp also from Stampin' Up. I put a dot of Black Diamond Stickles in the center of each of the Celebrate You image.

Once again I took a paint brush and went over the bird with Pool and Pearl. I outlined the bird in in Patina. I filled in the white area with Crystal Ice Ice Stickles.

This one I used Sail Boat Blue, Sunshine Yellow and Pearl. I dabbed with different colors each of the birthday hats and went over the hats with Stickles as well as going over parts of the card again to give it more sparkle.

I briefly went over the card with my Pool and Pearl Dabbers. I got the bird to peak out a little and went over the head of the bird with Stickles just to sparkle him up.

A Little Dab Here and There and Pool Update

2011-08-17T06:54:00.000-07:00

I LOVE the Adirondack Acrylic Dabber Paint by Ranger Ink. They are so versatile. I have been using the Pearl one for about a year now with various projects. It adds a beautiful shimmer to projects. Recently I tried some new things with my dabbers. For the first time I took the chance with my rubber stamps and dabbed the paints on them. I love the bold color that is left behind and also it is fun to touch because it creates a little texture. The fun part is dabbing or painting your stamp and then dabbing it over with one of the metallic dabbers.

This is a card project that I worked on for mothers of my MOPs group. It was a fairly simple project because there were a lot of card with little time. This is an example of how you can make an elegant card quickly. I just added pretty paper and tried something new by dabbing paint with my paint dabbers instead of using regular ink on stamps.

I bought some letters a while ago for my one daughter. I was waiting until the right time. I had read something about engaging your children with your craft projects and realized I should just give up my idea and let her do what she wants with the letters since it is for her. My younger daughter wanted her own letters to paint and so she got some too. I want to hang these up in there room so I'm delighted with the results. Both girls painted their letters with acrylic paint and then went over some of the letters by just dabbing circles on them with the paint dabbers and then they added some bling to their letters as well.

First there was the breaking of the ground and clearing away the grass, and then they came with a Bobcat and dug a huge hole that I've been looking at now for a couple of weeks. They then added medal bars to keep the structure for the shockcrete. Last Friday they came and sprayed the shockcrete. Today they are coming to lay out the decking. It is fun to watch the progression of our pool. I am hoping that it is done by Labor Day but cannot plan anything yet because it will be done when it is done and not before. At least I have my friend Julie's annual pool party!

Created ByHand Challenge - Peridot/Shades of Green

2011-08-04T14:31:00.000-07:00

I learned a new word today. Peridot is one of the few gemstones that occur in only one color, an olive green. It also is August birthstone, and I since I have a long time friend whose birthday is in August, I should have known what Peridot means. However, now I know, and it is indeed a a very beautiful colored gem.

Thank you to Created by hand Challenge/Quietfire Creations for their Peridot/Shades of Green challenge http://quietfire.ning.com/group/createdbyhandchallenge which had expanded my mind and creativity today. I woke up early thinking about what I was going to do with this challenge and I was very eager to get started. But first, there was work (I work from home part time) and then I needed to get the children off to school. I knew that I wanted to use my Tim Holtz Regal Flourish textured folder and I wanted to try an Adirondack Dabber (Celery) with Pearl Dabber. I also knew that I wanted to use it as a frame so I took my Spellbinders Custom Design Die Template Elegant Ovals (Our Daily Bread http://www.ourdailybreaddesigns.com/images/ODBD_Labels_One.jpg) and put it through my Cuddlebug so I would have an opening in the middle for me to decorate. I then used my Tim Holtz blending tool and alcohol ink applicator tools and various Distress Inks: Bundled Sage, Crushed Olive and Pine Forest. I stamped my floral background (Stampin' Up) in Crushed Olive and the bird (Stampin' Up) I stamped off once with Pine Forest. I then used stamps from Our Daily Bread Eternity stamp set. I finished it off with 3 brads from Stampin' Up.

Thank you for looking. I was on a bit of a roll today. I used several of my Adirondack Dabbers and hope to show those off tomorrow.

RU! RU! RU!

2011-08-03T06:28:00.000-07:00

If you are ever trying to make a special card for someone, there are lots of fun ways to customize. Once I was asked to make a card for a nursing student that graduated and found a nurse stamp. The past couple of weeks I added buttons that represent or symbolize things that my in-laws enjoy. And I even managed to find a paper that had Coney Island on it for a nostalgia piece for my mother-in-law who grew up there. I recently was asked to make another graduation card. I could have just put a graduation cap on the front and be done with it. However, I decided to print out the Rutgers "R" and color it in to make it a special card to give to this graduate. I used the red and black colors and black ribbon and tied it into a bow and add a pearl bead in the middle to give it a nice touch. When I use people stamps, I love dressing them up. It reminds me of being a kid and playing with paper dolls. To make an outfit with designs on it, all you need to do is stamp the same image on designed paper, cut the area out and lay on top of the original image and glue it down.

Today I am meeting with my MOPS friends and then my mother-in-law. I am hoping to have time to try the Created ByHand Challenge. In the meantime here is the link, if you want to try it out http://createdbyhandchallenge.wordpress.com/.

Texas Hold'em Card

2011-08-02T06:36:00.000-07:00

I promised myself I wasn't going to make another birthday card for my brother-in-law that had a game theme. However, when I was shopping for something 3 dimensional for my mother-in-law's birthday card a few weeks ago, I came across this fun package of buttons "In the Money". I just knew I could use them for Jeff's birthday card. So I had the buttons, but I didn't have any paper with card or dice images so I was a bit at a loss. I decided to look around Splitcoast Stampers. I came across this project
http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1605696?&si=dice
that inspired me very much and thought I could alter a playing card from a deck that was missing some cards. I decided to use a Queen of Spades and thankfully, that card was there.

I first put some glaze over the card because I wanted to make it shiny. I then decided to use Gold Stickles. I had wanted to alter the card some more by changing out the queen but I didn't like the way it looked and so just decided to stay with the queen. I first had it against red paper which looked okay but new it needed more than just the card and some buttons. I looked through my collection of papers that I just purchased not sure what I would find, but I had this beautiful gold and white paper that I thought I would use for some of my Christmas paper and knew it would make a perfect background and cut that down so the red paper would frame it and then put everything together.

Lindascozycraftcorner's photostream

2011-07-31T20:53:00.001-07:00

Lindascozycraftcorner's photostream on Flickr.

Our yard is being transformed. After 7 years of living in hot, dry and sunny Arizona, we are getting a pool. We are in the midst of the process and having a lot of fun.

Only Ovals and Brads

2011-07-31T13:28:00.000-07:00

This is just a quick post today as I need to do somethings and head over to my in-laws to celebrate my brother-in-law's birthday today. Happy Birthday Jeff!

This is not his card. I don't think he would appreciate the sparkling blue brads I used and I can't see him appreciating the blond little girl holding flowers. I did make this card with a friend in mind, and it answered the Created ByHand Challenge "Only Ovals and Brads" http://createdbyhandchallenge.wordpress.com/.

This coming week: Pool update, Vegas style birthday card and a card for a Rutgers grad.

Happy Belated Birthday and some muses

2011-07-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

"Funny things about birthdays. They come once year." This year we celebrated my mother-in-law's birthday. My father-in-law's birthday was yesterday so I want to make sure I do a "shout out" to him also. I had a lot of fun putting my mother-in-law's card together. I told myself a long time ago not to buy paper unless I have a specific purpose because I was purchasing paper and not using it. However, there is a store in my town Paper Vineyard that has the best selection of papers. They carry paper from 7 Gypsies and Graphics 45 and that is just two of many. Anyway, I purchased this paper knowing that at some point I would use it.

My mother-in-law practically grew up at Coney Island. On my Graphics 45 paper one of the cut outs had a picture of Coney Island so I used that as my inspiration for my mother-in-law's card. I wasn't sure at first how I was going to use this image but then I decided it would be fun to make a collage so I used the other cut outs from the same sheet. Once I decided on the placement and attached them, I decided to try a coat of glazing over the collage.

I decided I wanted to add some fun dimensions. I first added some bling from a package of stickers that I had from Stampin' Up to the card and then I went shopping for something, but I wasn't sure exactly what I would find. I went to Hobby Lobby and found some really fun buttons. There was a package of buttons that were sunglasses. They are from Dress It Up buttons http://dressitup.com/. I also found another package of shell buttons and I thought they would go perfectly with the card so I bought that package too.

Finally, I added Distressed Stickles to frame my collage and I added Waterfall Stickles on top of the collage to give a sparkling water effect.

I decided to go antique with my father-in-law's card. I first took paper that looked like newspaper ads (Stampin' Up) and stained the paper in distress ink, sprayed it with Color Wash Terra Cotta (Ranger Ink) and Perfect Pearls Mists heirloom gold. I used several Tim Holtz® Idea-ology™ | Paperie alvage Stickers - Lost & Found. In this pack there are license plates from most of the different states. I chose to use 4 different plates from states that my father-in-law lived, and a July calendar and a theater ticket stub sticker. I distressed the stickers with distress inks and heirloom gold Perfect Pearls Mists. I punched out and distressed the label and simply used the stamp from Stampin' Up "Let's Celebrate!" stamp.

So, Happy Belated Roberta and Leo!

Now with Emily off to Kindergarten, what is a mom suppose to do? That has been the number one question I have been asked this past year. I have many an unfinished project that needs to be done, and I am quite looking forward to completing these projects.

Yesterday after I dropped off my children at school, I came home and put my breakfast together. I have to say, it was very nice to be able to put my breakfast together and get to eat without 5 interruptions. I decided to go back to eating fruit in the morning as I am on a quest to eat healthier and lose some (well I should be truthful - A LOT- of weight).

Then I set out to declutter our breakfast bar. I guess I do miss the "mom" that has been frequently called out the past 11 years, because I decied to go check on Emily at lunch time. Of course, I also had a reason for checking on her. On Monday when I made sure the lunch boxes were all cleaned out, I realized that Emily never opened her drink. I asked her why she didn't drink it, and she said that even though she raised her hand no one helped her. I'm not sure if that is the case or not. I am sure that the first day of school with Kindergartners can be pretty hectic so I decided I would make sure that she got some help with her drink and went to visit her at lunch. Here she is and she got her drink opened by one of the lunch aids. Hm, well maybe I guess I will go one more day just to make sure all is well with her drink today. Am I being the over concerned parent? Oh, I hope not. Of course, perhaps, they would appreciate the extra set of hands.

Back to School

2011-07-26T05:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the first day of school. My youngest started Kindergarten. She is very excited about going to school with her brother and sister. I had mixed emotions about dropping my youngest off. We decided to try to curl her hair and that took a little longer than I originally thought so I guess it was a good thing. I had just enough time to drop her off in her class room and take one picture before it was time for the parents to go and school to begin. I am very excited about having my youngest going to school. It was strange going back home without bringing a preschooler back with me. My girlfriend and I decided to celebrate the first day by going to lunch and taking in a movie.

Alicia is already for school to begin and excited to start a new year. She likes her teacher a lot and told me that she likes to tell a lot of jokes. Her older brother was a little jealous that she didn't have any homework. He being the oldest already got a list of spelling words, some math work and a reading assignment. Because I wanted the house quiet so he could read, I asked Alicia to read too while he was doing his homework.

I try to tell Daniel that he is so handsome when he smiles, but he thinks I am just being ridiculous mom and prefers to just look at the camera. He actually had a good day and I am so grateful as this is his last year at elementary school, and I am hoping he will make the most of it.

Preview to tomorrow's post.

Ruby

2011-07-21T15:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had a couple of little girls over to play with my girls. They decided to dress up my cat. I cannot believe they got the dress on her, necklace, and hair bow in without Ruby scratching them. I would like to think Ruby was a good sport about it, but by the look she is giving me here, I think she is less than amused by the girls playing dress up with her. The dress was a little tight on her. I think she and mommy need to go on a diet. She was very happy when I took the dress off of her.

Although, this morning I started working on my mother-in-laws birthday card, I wasn't able to complete it, and I usually wait to post the picture once I know the person has received the card. I also realized I have a couple of friends birthdays this weekend and my father-in-law's birthday is coming up not to mention my brother-in-law's birthday is next week. I can't way to work on my brother-in-law's card, I founded the coolest buttons at Hobby Lobby today for his card. I am not sure how I am going to put buttons on the card but I just know I have to use them.

Yesterday I took my youngest to meet her teacher. She already knows her teacher since her older sister had the same kindergarten teacher but she still needed to go and learn where everything is and meet her classmates. I am really excited because there is a little girl from our church that is going to be in her class this year and a student from her ballet class last year.

Tonight I will take my daughter, Alicia, to meet her teacher. She already knows the teacher but this will give her a chance to meet the other students and see her room and where she is sitting. I am hoping my husband and son make it in time to meet his teacher. And then it is just about the end of our summer vacation. Tomorrow we are meeting friends at Hamilton Pool and then before I know it, the weekend will be here and it will move along to Monday and it will be the First Day of School (look for annual "back to school pictures").

Glazed Tag

2011-07-20T05:15:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned yesterday, my son is at a technical camp this week. Yesterday he took apart a microwave and learned how to make a video game. While he was busy doing that, I took the girls swimming. When we came back the three of us all took some time to play with our own toys. Mine was my stamps, markers, and paint.

I decided to work with a stamp that I have not used yet and decided to use my stamp from Our Daily Bread. It is a very pretty tag with my favorite flower designed on the stamp. I first used Stormy Sky Distressed Ink to stain the paper. I used various markers from Stampin' Up. I also colored in the leaves with Crushed Olive Distressed Ink. After I finished coloring the image, I took a drop of blue acrylic paint and glaze medium and took a paint brush and went over the image to give it a glossy look. When it was dry, I took one of my new stickle bottles, Glam Pink and added that to the flower.

I hope you enjoy!

Nantucket Flower

2011-07-19T05:35:00.000-07:00

A Craft and Summer Thoughts

I wanted to try something new. So one morning a few weeks ago, I spent using my Cuddlbug and punchers and cut and cut and cut and then I assembled. I used several of the flowers to make cards which I posted a couple of weeks ago. I also wanted to try and make a paper bouquet of flowers. I added navy beans. I think the red beans go well my flowers.

This is the last week of summer vacation. My son is going to a technical camp this week. They are going to learn to make a video game. It is so amazing to me what we can teach children today. He was looking forward to giving up his free time for this camp and is very excited about it. We weren't sure exactly what he would be learning this week but new it had to do with electronics and that's all my son needed to hear to want to go.

His sisters and I will be finishing out our week swimming and heading to our last summer movie this Thursday. And then next week will begin a very new chapter in my life or perhaps a new book. After 11 years of having a hand to hold at the store and shopping with one eye looking for the item and the other eye on a child, I will find myself having both eyes to use to concentrate. After 11 years of trying to clean out one room only to find another room turned into major chaos, I will be able to organize a room and find the rest of the house the way I left it (unless the dog and cat get into mischief).

This year after 7 years of living in the desert, my husband and I have decided to add a pool to our back yard. Above are the images that our designer printed out for us. Ground hasn't been broken yet, but I will be posting pictures of our evolving back yard. It should be interesting to be doing this in the middle of monsoon season and with temperatures going above 100 degrees. I'm not sure how Dallas (our dog) or Ruby (our cat) is going to handle this transformation, but the rest of us are excited.

Created by Hand Challenge - two colors

2011-07-17T13:00:00.000-07:00

This certainly was a challenge. I didn't think it would be so bad but on my first try where I used a green and red stamp image on white background I realized that that was actually three colors. And then I decided to stain a tag with Tattered Rose Distressed Ink. I stamped the background image in Worn Lipstick Distressed Ink. I also painted a little in Distressed Crackle Paint - Tattered Rose and covered the tag in Tattered Rose Distressed Stickles.

I stamped the fancy oval (Our Daily Bread Designs) and the bird (Stampin' Up) and the verse "All God's glory and beauty come from within and there He delights to dwell." Thomas a Kempis (Our Daily Bread Designs) all in Worn Lipstick. I dyed a satin ribbon in Warn Lipstick and also covered the ribbon in Tattered Rose Distressed Stickles.

I also used a bird punch (Stampin' Up) and dyed the bird in Worn Lipstick and covered it in the same shade of Distressed Stickles. The feather was stained in Tattered Rose but covered in Warn Lipstick Distressed Ink. I stained the stem in Tattered Rose and covered the stem in Tattered Rose Distressed Stickles.

America The Beautiful

2011-07-09T15:49:00.000-07:00

The Created By Hand challenge http://quietfire.ning.com/group/createdbyhandchallenge/forum/topics/fireworksmetallics-1 this week is fireworks/metallics which gave me the perfect excuse to pull out my alcohol inks which I haven't used in a while. I also used some glossy paper which I haven't used in a very long time. Glossy paper, alcohol inks, and metallic inks is an excellent combination for a shimmery background. I didn't have any fireworks stamps or pictures so I used some of my Tim Holtz idea-ology Salvage Stickers - Seasonal collection. I first used pool colored alcohol ink with Silver metallic ink (Ranger Inks) with my applicator and dabbed it all over my glossy paper. I then added my stickers. I first went over with Barn Door red and used perfect pearls blue sapphire. I then painted liquid white pearls over the entire image. I finished it off with True Blue Stickles and Icicle Stickles (Ranger Ink).

Nautical Summer Cards

2011-07-04T07:08:00.000-07:00

I saw this great paper at Michael's called The Nantucket Stack. Normally, I buy most of my paper through my friend who is a Stampin' Up consultant but this was very different and had the red, white, and blue that I usually dont' do much with so I though I would try it out. I also had gotten this flower die cut collection (on clearance) for my Cuddlebug so I had fun putting the paper through my Cuddlebug.

Created By Hand Challenge -- Buttons/Orange

2011-07-02T20:01:00.000-07:00

I decided to do something different for this challenge by Created By Hands Challenge http://quietfire.ning.com/group/createdbyhandchallenge. Instead of a card, I decided to make a decoration for my new craft room. At the moment, it looks more like a storage room for crafts than a craft room. Hm, maybe next month when the children go to school, I can finish organizing and decorating.

I started this project with stamping in Distressed Ink Rusty Hinge the verse God is my Salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The Lord is my Shepherd and my song. He has become my salvation. Isaiah 12:2 (from Our Daily Bread Designs). This was stamped onto Elegant Designs Oval Spellbinders/Nestabilities from Our Daily Bread Designs Exclusive Dies Collection. I used Tea Dye Distressed Ink and sponged the color. I went over the border in Tea Dye Distressed Stickles. I also stamped the butterfly image with Distressed Ink Rusty Hinge and cut the butterfly out and stained in Spiced Marmalade and then brushed with Perfect Pearls - Copper.

The out card was stained with Antique Mahogany and Walnut Stain. I stamped the flower and stems image in Rusty Hinge and the stained in Tea Dye. I took a white ribbon and dyed it in Sunset Orange alcohol ink. I added a button and then decided it needed a little pop of color so I punched out the bird and stem and stained in Blue Jeans and the branch in Crushed Olive. I brushed over the bird with Perfect Pearls Blue.

Thank you for looking.

Busy Times

2011-05-18T16:19:00.000-07:00

Sometimes as one goes through the day-to-day stuff one forgets how blessed they are. I don't know why. It was not a significant birthday by any means, but it did reflect a number rolling over and this year I realized just how old I am starting to become. I had a lot of well wishes on my birthday and I just want to send a great big thank you to my friends and family, especially since I've been very forgetful and haven't been good about remembering to send well wishes to others on their birthdays.

This was a very simple card. I've been so wrapped into distressing and coloring my cards that I wanted to make a simple and colorful card so I pulled out some colored paper and added it to my white card stock and then stamped some flowers in Stampin' Ups Rich Razzleberry and then punched it out with a flower punch from Stampin' Up. The scroll punch is also from Stampin' Up.

I haven't sent this card out yet. I wanted to use one of my new stamps from Our Daily Bread and also I wanted to use the Spellbinders Nestabilities tool I got. I colored in the middle with Distressed Ink Tattered Rose, The middle was punched out with a scroll puncher from Stampin' Up and distressed in Old Paper. I love the ribbon that I got from Stampin' Up. I colored the butterflies in a variety of Distressed Inks and punched them out using a Die Cut from Stampin' Up. I gave them a sprinkle of Stickles. The outside of the card was inked using Distressed Ink Tea Dye.

The verse is Romans 8:28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose.

I wish you a very blessed day.

For My Husband

2011-05-01T14:41:00.000-07:00

My husband just had another birthday recently. I always finding making masculine cards a challenge. Recently, however, I purchased a package of Crumb Cake paper from my Stampin' Up friend, and I thought that would be perfect. I had left over paper from a designer pack that I bought a couple of years ago which went really well with this paper. I distressed the light blue paper in Distressed Black Soot from Ranger Ink. I also used Distressed Ink Spiced Marmalade around the smaller Crumb Cake rectangle and then placed an April sticker from Tim Holtz idea-ology Salvage Stickers Lost & Found set. I sponged a little color around that circle with distress ink and also used Perfect Pearls - Heirloom to make the 29 stand out in addition to framing the date using Ruby Red Liquid Pearls. It looks more pinkish or orange than red. I also used a small piece of the Crumb Cake and Distressed it with different Ranger Ink Distressed Inks (spiced marmalade, tea dye, and chipped sapphire). I then went over it with Perfect Pearls - Copper so it gave it a metallic effect that I was looking for. I used my decorative puncher from Stampin' Up and I went around the edge in Gum Metal Stickles. I finally stamped Happy Birthday from an old Stampin' Up set that I picked up through someone on Etsy.

Layer and Layer and Layer

2011-03-30T15:07:00.000-07:00

My friend Julie, who is a consultant with Stampin' Up and has a well designed and written blog of her own, www.stampingsensations.blogspot.com, is awesome at layering. I love it but find it a bit of a challenge. However, I attempted it this week when designing a card for my MOPS group. I do find it easier to layer with larger cards. This card is 5 1/4 x 5 1/4 in size. My first square is 5 x 5. The white square in the center is 4 1/2 x 4 1/2 and the smaller design square is 4 x 4. I then used my Cuddlebug and oval shape (from Stampin' Up) for the scallop white at the lower right corner. I used my oval scallop punch for the designer paper and finally oval punch out on white. I used a stamp from my new set that I got from Stampin' Up Sale-A-Bration set Sweet Summer. I then also took designer paper and cut 3 x 2 1/2 and used a corner scallop punch from Stampin' Up. I stamped in Old Olive the statement from a stamp from the Tulip Tag Stamp Set set that I got from Our Daily Bread Designs www.ourdailybreaddesigns.com and then centered it with the new designer punch I got from Stampin' Up. The designer paper is also from Stampin' Up. I hope you enjoyed this card!

Lion and Lamb

2011-03-18T09:40:00.000-07:00

Peace I leave with you; my peace I Give You John 14:27. This card was made with my new favorite stamp set that I purchased from Our Daily Bread. I took black card stock (Stampin' Up) and then took regular white card stock and used Forest Moss and Story Sky Distressed Inks for the grass and sky. I then cut a small rectangle out and stamped the lion and lamb image and sponged this piece again with Forest Moss and Blue Sky. I took my refillable ink pens with clover and colored in the grassy areas with Clover alcohol ink. The lion I colored in with Sand alcohol ink. I also "painted" over brushing my paint brush in the Forest Moss to blend in with the clover color a little better. I left the lamb alone so she would remain white. The bird was colored in with Citrus alcohol ink, and the tag on the bottom was sponged with Old Paper Distressed Ink and the verse was stamped using Adirondack Earthtones Pitch Black Ink pad. I went over the border with Golden Rod Stickles.

Baby Card

2011-02-20T18:45:00.000-08:00

My daughter's teacher was expecting her second child a week ago and so the class had a surprise shower for her. I wish I had a picture of the beautiful quilt. Each child picked out their own square and then one of the moms sewed the pieces together. It was beautiful! What a treasure for the baby and teacher.

I volunteered to make the card for the class to sign.

For this card I used one of my favorite products. Liquid Pearls. I used the Gold Liquid Pearl and painted over some baby paper. I stamped the teddy bear and then punched out using Stampin' Up scallop punch. I "painted" using an aqua painter and Stampin' Up ink to make it look like a water color. I used Distressed Stickles for the background of the teddy bear. I found the most adorable baby ribbon a few weeks ago and so I just felt the need to add that and to finish it off I used the charming silver Baby charm.

Belated Birthday Card

2011-01-26T15:33:00.000-08:00

A few months ago, my family and I went back east for a family wedding and while there we got to visit my family. Sometimes in the past when I was on vacation I would think about work and it was difficult. Work and the people seemed a world away. That is sort of what it was like for me. But life still went on for my friends here. Especially for one friend who turned a significant number this year. Since we got home, I helped out with school parties, MOPS at church got ready for both Hanukkah and Christmas and geared up for having the children home with me for over 14 days. I thought once they went back things would slow down but things have been in full gear. Anyway, in the midst of all of my chaos I have desperately trying to finish up a birthday gift for my friend. If she gives me permission, I will share it with you next week. I took childhood pictures and decorated around them. I at least made copies so that my friend's mom would have the originals and then I happily painted, stickled and had all sorts of fun with her baby pictures.

Anyway, this is the card that I am giving my friend. The sentiment "I wanted to give you a reason to celebrate your birthday a little longer. Happy Belated Birthday" and it was stamped in ink that can be used to emboss gold embossing powder. I made the one flower by painting Tatter Rose Crackled Paint and the middle I used Crackle glue. The other flower I "painted" with my liquid gold pearl ink. As I have mentioned a few times before that is a favorite of mine.

Also, HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY to my sister, Barbara.

Two Challenges in One

2011-01-15T20:26:00.000-08:00

Snow/Glitter from Created By Hand Challenge http://createdbyhandchallenge.wordpress.com/ and Sunday Stamper's Challenge Blue. http://craftaddicts-tracyevans.blogspot.com/2010/07/sunday-stamper-challenge_11.html.

I started with Distress Ink Broken China (Blue) and sponged around. I stamped snowflake stamps using Resistance Ink and then used snowflake glitter embossing powder. For the scallop punch piece I stamped with both Craft White Ink and Blue Ink. I then used Distressed Stickles Rocky Candy and Diamond Stickles and Icicle Stickles.

Thank You

2011-01-10T15:18:00.000-08:00

I started this card with sponging Ranger's Distressed Ink Victorian Velvet on a 4 x 3 rectangle. I then inked up one of my rose stamps with Embossing Distress Ink. I then sprinkled Vintage Photo Embossing Powder over the image and shook off excess and then used my heating tool to dry the powder. I added golden rod stickles on each corner. I matted this image on 4 1/4 x 3 1/4 rectangle which I distressed in both Mustard Seed and Tumbled Glass. For the main part of the card I stamped the rose stamp in Victorian Velvet and stamped each of the corner of the main card and sponge distressed in Mustard Seed.

The "Thank You" was stamped in Watermark Resist Ink and then Roman Embossing Powder was sprinkled on and melted. I stained it with Mustard Seed and Victorian Velvet and added a dot of Golden Rod Stickles to each scallop.

Christmas Masks

2010-12-05T09:39:00.000-08:00

The Seasonal Mask package by Tim Holtz is the first time that I've played with masks and it has been a lot of fun. I look forward to using these particular masks on very near future projects and projects down the road. I sponged around the snowman using Tim Holtz Distressed Ink Chipped Saphire. I also sprayed with the new Perfect Pearl Mists. To add extra sparkle and texture and more of a snow affect, I used Distressed Stickle Rock Candy.

I then wanted to try another mask so I sponged and sprayed around using different distressed inks and Perfect Pearl Mists. Now to find the time to make more and more cards and get them out in the mail before Christmas is actually here.

Fall Trip

2010-10-20T21:51:00.000-07:00

This year we took the opportunity during fall break to fly to the East Coast. We flew into Baltimore and visited with Howard's cousin and fiance. They have the most adorable home in Baltimore. It could be on one of the home shows on HGTV.

We ventured north to Pennsylvania and took in the awesome autumn scenery. My niece and her husband graciously put all 5 of us up for a few days. They also have a lovely home that they are renovating one room at a time. My girls took advantage of having horses close by and begged by niece for a horse ride while there. On Sunday, we had a very awesome time. I got to see an aunt and uncle that I have not seen in over 10 years. I also got reintroduced to a cousin or two. We also got to meet some more second cousins. It was such an awesome time.

On Monday, we went to Philadelphia. You need free tickes to see Indepence Hall. When you go there, you can also pick up a booklet for children to complete while visiting the different historical sites of Philadelphia. When they are all done, they take the booklet back to the rangers and they check it and if the children complete most of the areas, they have the opportunityto take the Ranger oath!

Tuesday, I had the opporunity to friends from high school and then we visited with my aunt again and her youngest daughter. She was unable to join us on Sunday . My aunt makes beautiful jewelry, and I hope at some point she will let me feature her

Wednesdasy, we headed back down to Virginia. We stopped in DC on the way. We got to observe the Veterans' Wall. It was very nicely done. Thursday, we went back with the rain. We saw the Federal Bureau of Engraving and then visited Air & Space Museum.

Saturday was the beginning of the big weekend and we headd back to Baltimore for the wedding.

The wedding was fabulous! Everyone had an awesome time. Congratulations Lauren and Scott.

Congratulations Lauren and Scott

2010-10-20T21:10:00.000-07:00

There are times in one's life where time almost stands still. For one week, we escaped the desert to go back east for Howard's cousin Lauren's wedding. While there we enjoyed family and friends and beheld great historical places like Independence Hall in Philadelphia and observed great inventions such as the Wright brothers' first plane.

For me going back home to Pennsylvania in the Autumn was an opportunity to view the natural pallette of color that God paints the country side each year with the changing of leaf color.

We had a great time visiting with my niece and her husband and great nephew. My sister and other niece came over every day. On Sunday we had an awesome visit with my family. I got to see my aunt and my dad's youngest brother. I got to meet my cousin and his son and his sweet youngest daughter. My girls went horseback riding which they absolutely loved and enjoyed very much.

Compendium of Curiosity Challenge

2010-09-23T16:44:00.000-07:00

Now listed at www.Lindascozycraftcorne.etsy.com is Tim Holtz' book A COMPENDIUM OF CURIOSITIES.

There has been weekly challenges at the Ranger group that I belong. It is a Yahoo Group; it is All Things Tim. I have been wanting to do a challenge but needed the book. The book is beautiful, and I love the layout. The pictures are vibrant and clear. Instructions are awesome. I worked on my first challenge yesterday. The group is on Challenge #15 and so that is where I begin. For more information and inspiration please check out Studio L3 http://studiol3.blogspot.com/.

Now, if you have visited here before, you know that I usually give instructions on how I made my card, but I will have to skip it on the flowers today as that was directly from A Compendium of Curiosities page 53. The background was made using SU's French background stamp in SU Saffron Ink and then distressing with Ranger's Scattered Straw. I wanted "follow your heart - it knows the way" to pop so I used SU Pumpkin Pie.

Customized Cards

2010-09-20T21:00:00.000-07:00

My mother-in-law asked me to make some Thank You cards to send to people for celebrating her ___th birthday a couple of months ago. I would have liked to play with the black and white picture a little more but I wanted to get these out. I used a tag and put some "newsprint" style paper on the tag. Distressed it with some Tattered Rose (Ranger Ink) and stamped some flowers (SU!) in Red Rose (SU!). I used some alcohol and Liquid Pearls and punched a bird and leaf out. The paper is from 7 Gypsies. 7 Gypsies is m graphic new favorite paper collection. I also have been drawn to paper from graphic 45 which you may have seen in other cards and also is shown here.

Happy Anniversary and Family Announcement

2010-09-07T06:49:00.000-07:00

A friend asked me to make an Anniversary Card for some relatives so I tried some new things. I squeezed some Liquid Pearl - Gold into an egg carton and then dabbed a paint brush in the Liquid Pearl and "painted" over the image. The picture doesn't do the end result justice. It gave a beautiful pearlized/shimmering effect. I took some of Tim Holtz musical notes Tissue paper Tape and put on some paper and then with a heart punch, I punched some hearts out. I sponged in Bundled Sage and then stamped "Happy Anniversary". I used one of the newer corner punches from Stampin' Up to give a pretty corner edging to it.

One of the nicest compliments a card maker can receive is to be asked to make another card from someone. And that is what happened here. My friend asked me to make another card. So I measured across 5 1/4" and cut down the length of the paper. I then trimmed off some so that the length measured 10 1/2". Then I scored at 5 1/4" which makes a perfect square. I cut out in neutral paper 5 1/4" x 5 1/4". I cut out the handsome couple dancing. I knew I wanted to layer this card and this next design was very beautiful and romantic with bold splashes of pink set along with romantic pink flowers and dark and light green leaves. I added Distressed Stickles "Peeled Paint" on one of the leaves. This was just enough of an extra element to give the card just a bit of sparkle. I then took Tim Holtz musical notes Tissue Paper Tape and sponged over in Bundled Sage and then stamped a harp in Stampin Up's Red Rose. Hearts, flowers, and satin are all images of romance that I think about and therefore that is why I decided to add the Satin Ribbon and anchor both ends with hearts. I added just an extra little romance by adding the green pearl beads.

As you may know from reading my blog a few months back we lost our beloved 13 year old lab/husky mix. We were going to wait until November to get a puppy for the family. I was looking into getting a Shih Tzu, but then we decided that we truly shouldn't be spending all of the money needed for a pure bread puppy. So I started poking around to see what kind of puppies are available. I wanted a young puppy that could "grow" with us. There was an advertisement on Ebay for Cocker Spaniel/Shih Tzu mix puppies that were 8 weeks old. I had always liked the Cocker Spaniel but wasn't sure about it with children. However, the Shih Tzu breed is very friendly with children and very happy to please so we went the other day to check some puppies out.

I went there with the intent of picking up a girl puppy. And as much as I love the look of the Shih Tzu breed (all 3 girls took after their Shih Tzu father), this little fellow ran up to me and licked my face and his sisters came running too, and it was really hard to decide but he kept nudging his way up front. My husband and son were more partial to a boy puppy and since my husband prefers the big huskies dogs and since this puppy seemed to take a shine to me, we chose this little guy (who took after his Cocker Spaniel mother) . He went into his crate last night. He whined and cried a wee big but I talked to him and poked my finger through the crate and he eventually fell asleep only to wake up a little later because he had to go out. He was really good all night about waking up and doing his business outside and going back in his crate. We both got wet around 5:00 AM when the sprinklers were going, and I had a difficult time seeing the back yard as our lighting isn't so great back there.

Our family is traveling back east in October for Howard's cousin Lauren's wedding. So one major consideration and one reason we were going to wait until November to bring a new dog into the family. However, the woman that rescued these puppies also puppy/dog sits and she agreed to watch him for the week which meant we could start acclimating him with our family and we would have a safe and happy environment for him to be while we go away. By the way, since I got to pick the family dog out (meaning after 11 years of asking for a smaller breed dog), my husband got to pick the name. What other namewould you expect a Cowboys' fan to pick for the family dog, but Dallas. Go Cowboys!

Crackle Accents

2010-08-28T20:10:00.000-07:00

There is this product by Inkssentials that I have been wanting to try for a long while. It is called Crackle Accents. So I fell into temptation and I got a bottle of it. I LOVE it!!! Sadly my first attempt at using this product was for a Sympathy card for a friend whose mother passed away recently. I can't remember the paper company but I really love the color and design. I sponged the paper with Antique Linen and Wild Honey. I used Wild Honey for the stamped image and stamped over in Vintage Photo "with heartfelt Sympathy.

I made this 3 x 3 Thank You card for a customer. I distressed the paper with a distress tool. I used Crackle Accents on the small "stamp" in the upper right corner. I sponged paper in Antique Linen and I stamped "For You" in Vintage Photo.

Pink Stitched Butterfly

2010-08-19T21:17:00.000-07:00

This is to answer Created by Hand challenge "Take a Hike/Stitching" http://createdbyhandchallenge.wordpress.com/http://. I don't do very much stitching and this was a lot of fun. I decided to stamp using the ink applicator with Metallic Silver, Raspberry, and Purple alcohol inks. I punched out the scrolled circle and sponged in Warn Lipstick Distressed Ink and Mambo Mellon (Stampin' Up) because I wanted a brighter pink. I also stamped the words in Mambo Mellon. I added a Rhinestone for good measure and Fruit Punch Stickles.

Welcome/Yellow

2010-08-16T15:25:00.001-07:00

Ah, yellow. It is such a beautiful, cheery color. I have always loved the sun. Remember the days of baby oil instead of tanning lotion. Yes, not a good idea especially when you have skin that burns as easily as mine.

However, I have seen cards this past year that look so very warm and inviting. The colors were a mixture of yellow, orange and red. So I was glad for this challenge http://createdbyhandchallenge.wordpress.com/ because it inspired me to play with my yellow inks. So lets see. The main part of the card I used Tim Holtz Textured Fades Embossing Folder Regal Flourishes and then sponged over in Mustard Seed Distressed Ink. On the corners I used Mustard Seed Distressed Stickles. I stamped my image in Mustard Seed and sponged in Barely Banana (Stampin' Up). I also sponged the edges in Spiced Marmalade Distressed Ink. I brushed over in Sun Sparkle Perfect Pearls. I colored in the bird with Sunset Yellow Alcohol ink using my Tim Holtz Fillable Pen. I then added with Yellow Stickles the bird's eye. I also used Scattered Straw Distressed Ink and went over in Mustard Seed Distressed Stickles for the middle strip of paper. Finally, I punched out the tag and sponged over in Mustard Seed, Scattered Straw, and Spiced Marmalade and stamped "Happy Birthday" in Mustard Seed. I then went over the edges in Lemon Ice Ice Stickles.

Lavender Springtime Fun

2010-08-11T13:33:00.000-07:00

I love this stamp. She is just so adorable. I used my new marker so now when I have pictures of people they don't have to be as white as a ghost. I can now bring some pinkish/peachy color. Mostly I enjoyed this card because I got to use my new 2 1/2 circle puncher from Stampin' Up and I tried sewing for the first time.

Layering is a bit of a challenge for me. I usually look to people like my friend Julie http://www.stampingimpressions.blogspot.com/ as she is an expert when it comes to layering. I used my background stamp Pretty Petals and I used my alcohol and metallic ink on glossy paper. I love using this technique as it always gives an extra dimension to projects. I used a mixture of Stampin' Up ink (markers) and alcohol ink (Fillable Pen). Enjoy!

Thank you for looking. Next time I hope to answer the challenge from Created by Hand http://createdbyhandchallenge.wordpress.com/ "Welcome/Yellow".

Pearls, Fairies and Pearls a Challenge Answer

2010-08-09T20:22:00.000-07:00

Well, it sure took me long enough. I have been contemplating this card for an entire week and I am late. The new week's challenge is already up for http://createdbyhandchallenge.wordpress.com/. Well, since I finished this card, I guess I will go ahead and post it for you to see. The challenge was Fairy Romp, Beads, Pearls. I started with the middle piece where I punched the corners, stamped the swirl in Vintage Photo and painted with a mixture of Gold and Raspberry Liquid Pearls. I love the iridescent look that one captures using Liquid Pearls, and I just cannot wait to get my hands on all the new juicy colors that Ranger Ink is introducing this September. I then went over with the Tim Holtz Reinkers (filled with various alcohol inks). Today's colors are Watermelon and Clover. I used a little Fruit Punch Stickles in the middle of the flowers.

For the small square I punched the scallops and once again stamped the swirl in Vintage Photo. For this, however, I stamped off once on my scrap paper and then stamped again on this square. In this way I received a lighter image of the swirl. I then stamped over the swirl in Black Soot the saying "In the middle of Life, Love gives you a Fairy Tale." This is a beautiful card to send to an engage couple, to use as a wedding or even as an Anniversary Card. I went over this square with Tattered Rose, and Gold Metallic Ink and then painted over with Raspberry Liquid Pearl. I then swiped it over again using Icicle Stickles.

I used my Blending Tool stamped in Spun Sugar and Tea Dye Distressed inks on the card base front.

Thank you for looking. I will have to do better to catch this week's challenge. "Welcom/Yellow". http://createdbyhandchallenge.wordpress.com/

Ink Challenge

2010-08-01T16:11:00.000-07:00

I found another place for card challenges. It is sketches4all. http://sketchesforyou.ning.com/forum/topics/new-ink-challenge-group-starts

For this challenge we were to show two different ways to use ink. It was hard to limit myself to two different ways so I may have overdone it with the different ink colors. Anyway colors used in all were Stained Walnut (Words), Milled Lavendar (Roses), Tea Dye, Aged Mahogany, Vintage Photo. The border of the card was done in Vintage Photo and then I went over again in Antique Bronze Distressed Stickles.

Sheltering Tree/Green Challenge

2010-07-30T05:46:00.001-07:00

I made this card for this week's challenge Sheltering Tree/Green Challenge by Created by Hand http://createdbyhandchallenge.wordpress.com/. I started out with one of my favorite stamps from Stampin' Up (Pretty Petals). I inked it up in one of the newer Distressed Ink Colors (Forest Moss). I then sponged in Distress Ink Antique Linen. I then took another paper and my blending tool and colored the paper in Distress Ink Crushed Olive. I then went around the edges with my blending tool in Forest Moss. I inked up my stamp from Stampin' Ups (Friends 24-7) in Crushed Olive. I stamped over with the Birthday greeting in Forest Moss. Finally to finish off I colored in the leaves in Patina Stickles.

Thank you for looking.

Tim Holtz - Mask

2010-07-27T06:05:00.000-07:00

I had heard about Tim Holtz - Masks http://www.timholtz.com/vid_masks.htmlttp://and was very curious about them so in my last order to Ranger Ink I ordered Masks to sell and try out for myself. Before I got an opportunity to play with it myself, I got an order. I asked my customer, BrendaLea, if she could send me a picture and tell me a little about what she did. She colored the white tie with tulip fabric paint and used tulip fabric spray glitter for the mask design. BrendaLea has a very informative blog where she does product reviews http://prpldy15.blogspot.com/. Thank you so much BrendaLea for sharing this picture.

An old picture, some ink and butterflies

2010-07-26T13:04:00.000-07:00

My husband's aunt flew in for my mother-in-law's birthday. I had asked her if she could bring copies of pictures of my mother-in-law when she was a child because I wanted to make a book for her. I miscalculated how much time I would actually have to work on the book and will have to make that as a gift and give to her another time. In the mean time, I took a picture of my mother-in-law (when she was a baby) and her grandmother. I painted around the pictures with alcohol ink. I also just gave a touch of a tint on the baby dress. I wanted to add some layers so I framed the picture by cutting a slightly larger square and punching the square with a scalloped corner punch from Stampin' Up. I colored it in Tattered Rose and also went over in Tattered Rose Distressed Stickles. I also added color with alcohol ink, and blending tool. The butterflies were also made by using alcohol ink on glossy paper, and metallic inc and then running the butterflies through the Cuttlebug machine. Finally, I finished the card off with two different size scallop circles and alcohol inc with the wording Look Who's Turning ( ). I am also answering the challenge from Created by Hand Challenge. http://createdbyhandchallenge.wordpress.com/

Tomorrow a customer used a Tim Holtz Mask to make a Beautiful Tie.

Happy Birthday Roberta

2010-07-23T21:05:00.000-07:00

This is my most unique card yet! In celebration of my mother-in-law's ____th birthday, I took her drawings and asked a local rubber stamp company if they could make the drawings into a stamp. Actually we decided to make two stamps. One is just the head and the other is the dress so I can add the head to other designs down the road. This stamp set I am affectionately calling "Roberta".

I wanted this little beauty to dazzle just as my mother-in-law does so I blinged her up with Stickles and Perfect Pearls. With liquid pearls I made even her cuffs and waist shimmer in gold.

Challenge

2010-07-19T07:58:00.000-07:00

I made this card for the challenge presented by Created By Hand Challenge http://createdbyhandchallenge.wordpress.com/ Freedom...Stars.

I used various alcohol inks and silver or gold metallic ink. The stars were made with glossy paper and the base of the card is regular card stock paper. The message stamped in Blue Stazon ink says, "Sometimes on the way to a dream, you get lost and found a better one."

A Little Grunge

2010-07-17T10:59:00.001-07:00

I didn't plan it this way. I was playing with blue colors and an alcohol ink called Lake Mist and with Gold Metallic Ink and just dabbing with the Tim Holtz Ink Blender and this really cool color came on the paper.

I wanted to try out the new tissue paper tape that I purchased and see what I could do with that. So I put that down and stamped color on that as well. After I put the color down, I was trying to think which of my stamps would be a good addition. It definitely wasn't on the feminine side like most of my cards are so I didn't want a flower or a heart.

I then thought of my Circle Circus (SU) set and stamped in Brilliant Blue (SU). I remembered the bird that I had punched out a few weeks ago and knew that would be an excellent addition to this card. I quickly dabbed some more Ranger Ink Alcohol Ink Lake Mist on another sheet of paper and punched out the stem with the leaves. The frame for the Birthday Greetings was punched using Scallop oval puncher (SU) and covered in Cracked Vintage Photo paint.

Coloring Flowers using Tim Holtz Fillable Pens

2010-07-16T06:03:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to try this for a while. Someone (either child number 2 or child number 3) got into my ink that is best used on Glossy Paper (Stazon Black) so I had to wait to do this with my glossy paper. I stamped the image of the flower and then chose different colors to fill up my Tim Holtz pens to fill in the flower. I then took the pens and also colored around the outside of the image. I used a touch of Gold metallic refill ink and various Ranger Alcohol Inks with my inking tool to get the metallic and marbleized effects that I wanted. I used Stazon Blue ink and stamped a different flower stamp all around and then colored over using once again the gold metallic ink and various Ranger alcohol inks.

Tomorrow - a grunge birthday card.

CHOO CHOO

2010-07-09T06:57:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine is celebrating her son's 1st birthday and she asked me to make Thank You Cards. I chose this cute train stamp. I took my lap desk, stamp and some inks with me and I stamped away on the way to California. I "painted" by taking a paint brush and running it through Chipped Sapphire, Fired Brick, and Mustard Seed. I then went over with Perfect Pearls powder. It is hard to see the shimmer. When I got back home, I sponged with Chipped Sapphire and then went over with Distressed Picket Fences along the edges. It is a simple but very shiny card which is great for a young boy.

California

2010-07-08T07:03:00.000-07:00

This past Fourth of July weekend we went to visit friends, Sandy and Pete and their daughters. While visiting we went to Disney Land one day and Huntington Beach.

My family with Buzz Lightyear.

Princess Tiana from The Princess and the Frog and my daughter, Alicia.

Goofy gives my husband a great big puppy hug.

Minnie and Emily. My four year old was so excited to see her favorite Disney Character.

Daniel first started to like the beaches two years ago when we went to visit family and friends in NJ. It was so nice to be able to go to the beach during this visit to California. Finally, I got to see the Pacific Ocean and get my feet wet. Brrr. It was cold!

This has sure been a busy month. I have been trying to entertain the children in the hot Phoenix heat. It can be somewhat challenging. However, the trip to Pinetop last month and our recent trip to California sure did help. California was so lovely. The weather was in the 70s and 80s. A friend of mine told me yesterday that we only have two full weeks off before school starts. I can't believe it. We didn't get to do half the things I wanted. Well, I still have two more weeks.

In between trips, entertaining children I have worked here and there on card projects. I was asked to make Thank You cards for a friend's birthday party. I will post those tomorrow, plus another card or two.
Thank you for visiting.

Simpler Times

2010-06-18T07:08:00.001-07:00

I knew when we went on vacation to Pinetop, Arizona, I would find a different stamp than I usually see. I love the details of this stamp, and the rural setting which reminds me of Pennsylvania. This would have made a perfect stamp for a Father's Day Card for my dad if he were still with us. This stamp just brings back memories of the simplicity of my childhood which is another reason that I liked it so much. Simple. It is hard these days to lead simple lives and it seems that we are hit every day with something new to think or be concerned about and sometimes we just need to take a step back, take a deep breath, and place our faith in our Heavenly Father.

With all of that said, let me tell you a little more about this stamp. We strived on our recent vacation to relax (and that doesn't come easy with 3 young children). However, the goal was to enjoy the resort with the indoor pool, racquetball court, basketball court, pool tables, and ping pong. On some down time I planned on working with my inks but b/c space was limited I tried, really tried to think about what I might need. Paper and inks and that is where I stopped. I didn't bring Stickles with me (unless a couple of bottles accidentally fell into my container - oops) . I didn't bring glitter because I honestly didn't want to deal with embossing and that also would have meant that I would have needed to bring my heating tool so it was really right down to the basic.

I first stamped the image and then with a paint brush I "painted" by dabbing the brush in blue color the sky line. I also did that with the green grass using Peeled Paint. The leaves on the tree were made using a Tim Holtz Refillable Pen and Adirondack Alcohol Inks. I was nervous about bringing my alcohol ink bottles with me b/c of the mess that could be made so I only brought my pens with ink in them. That, I must say worked out perfectly.

An Ode to Max

2010-06-14T17:04:00.000-07:00

Well, no pictures today. I don't have any current pictures of our 13 year old dog, Max. Max was a lab, golden retriever, husky mix. I took one look at Max and said, "he is going to be a big dog". But he was so loveable and furry. He was more like a great big cub bear than a puppy. However, we took that great big fur ball puppy home. He was so cute! Having a dog prepares you a little for having children. I knew with how my husband treated Max that our children were going to be well spoiled. Once when my husband was gone for the weekend, I had to go outside with curlers in my hair because he refused to go outside without being on the leash.

And then we had one, two, and three children and yet there was a fourth, Max. After we would get the children down for the evening and think, ok, now we can relax but no there was Max ready for his turn to have some attention. Can you blame the poor baby? Where does an 80 pound dog fit in with three young children? Well, he did and we made it through and so the family was growing up and some growing old.

We had him for six months when he ran through the snow one day and hurt his hip and at nine months of age we were told that he had hip problem and we were told he would need surgery. Other than that, he was in pretty good shape throughout his life.

Well the past year has been difficult. He started having trouble walking and some other issues. We recently went on vacation and when we picked him up he had had issues while at the vet/kennel. We thought he was doing better but this morning when I came downstairs I noticed he was really sick. Well, had places to go and then came home to check on him and he was gone.So that was that. We said our good-byes and took care of what needed to be done and here we are back home trying to forget the day that is thankfully behind us.

Linda

Circus Girl

2010-06-12T15:09:00.000-07:00

I have seen these "pin up" girl images around on different blogs and projects, but didn't know where I could get a hold of them and, to be honest, not too sure what I would do if I had them to use. Then one day, I came across Paper Imagery Designs http://www.paperimagerydesigns.com/ and, HELLO, I found many wonderful pictures to choose from. So I got this delightful collection http://www.paperimagerydesigns.com/item/Pin-Up-ATCs-760-628. My package came with all of our mail that was collecting at the post office since we were on vacation (see below posting).

I was settling down with the family to watch a movie with inks in hand and trying to decide what to make when the mail just came walking in and with it was my package from Paper Imagery Designs. The pictures are bright, colorful and beautiful. I set out to cut one of the pictures out so I could make a card.

So I attached it to another paper and contemplated what to do next. And then it came to me. Something that I did a week or so ago. I mixed drops from Re-inker bottle of Tattered Rose Distress Ink with my new favorite from Ranger Ink, Acrylic Metallic Pearl Dabber Paint, and painted it across the background paper and image. I guess I was tired that night because I couldn't think what more I wanted to do with it plus it needed to dry so I put it down and picked it up the next day. From there I wanted to play with some more of my Distressed Inks and the metallic dabber so I made a couple of background cards with these products.

I then decided that the corners needed a little something so I pulled out my scallop corner punch from Creative Memories and punched away. The picture is quite beautiful on its own but I just wanted to add a dab of something so I added Crystal Stickles to her crown and Cotton Candy Stickles to her outfit. Now she sparkled too! I then remembered the beads that I had gotten awhile ago. They are pretty pinks and purples and wasn't sure at the time how I would use them but since these are colors that I tend to move towards, I knew they would be used, eventually. I tend to hold on to my things but really wanted to dress this up. So then I decided as I looked at it that it would make a great gift tag or small bookmarker. I then added thread from the Bastille company. I still wanted to add some more beads and then remembered my collection of beads that I rarely use and went to work stringing beads.

Hm, now for the next part. As I mentioned above, the night before I was playing with some Distressed Inks and the dabber. I had this pretty pink/peachy looking background which I thought would be perfect with the tag so I put the tag in the middle of it and was trying to figure out what to do next. I then noticed the small butterflies and it came to me to add butterflies from the Stampin' Up die cut that I got a few months ago. I took some other paper that had already been played with and rolled it through the Cuttlebug and punched out the butterflies. I also wanted to this to be versatile. You can either keep the tag with the rest of the card or pull it out so I made a pocket for the tag. I stained a smaller strip of paper, scored it a few times, stamped with a butterfly image and attached it. I wanted a pop of color so I took a blue shimmer paper and ran that with the butterfly die cut through the Cuttlebug. I liked it but it just seemed too much of a contrast with my pink/peach color card. I then decided to paint another card with pink and metallic pearl and once it was dried, I ran that through the Cuttlebug. I added a little Fruit Punch Stickles to highlight the butterfly. I placed this on top of the blue butterfly so that a little of the blue could be seen. It is like two butterflies in flight together.

Now for the final layer which is the actual card itself. Once again I added Spun Sugar Pink and Wild Honey around the edges. I wanted to give it a touch of Distressed Stickles and chose Tattered Rose because it gives it the slightest touch of pink stain with some matting. All in all it is a perfect combination.

A Change In Pace

2010-06-09T20:55:00.000-07:00

I didn't make a card this past week because we headed up to Pinetop, AZ, for a family vacation. It was nice to get away and relax. We went to Woodland Park for a walk. It was really pretty there. My youngest who just loves ducks was happy to see all of them in the lake.

Going to Pinetop reminds me of the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. The trees are so tall, green and beautiful. We also got to see Lilly pads on our nature walk. I went a little crazy taking pictures. It is such a beautiful park. I had a lot of fun taking pictures of the scenery.

We also took in a Car Show and Arts & Trade

Fair while we were there. It was fun looking at the old style cars.

First ATC Swap

2010-06-04T04:52:00.000-07:00

I am a little late. This is my first ATC swap and hoping that it is okay.

We were suppose to use as much of Tim Holtz' products as possible. I used Tim Holtz' I See Paris Cling Mount Stamp Set. I first distressed the top layer paper in Old Paper and then inked up the Eiffel Tower in Walnut Stain. I then stained the second later in Chipped Sapphire. I was very happy and surprised the other day when I tried out Chipped Sapphire for the first time. The outside of the packaging looks more like light purple than blue or sapphire but this is the pretty color that I got when I inked up my paper. I then wanted to add something new so I used Vintage Photo Crackle Paint.

For the main part of the card I stained Antique Linen on the paper and inked the stamp in Walnut Stain. I then wanted to paint a little on the card because that is my new favorite thing to do. So I mixed Adirondack Pearl Metallic Dabber and Antique Linen re-inker drops and painted over the image. It looks like a glaze over the image. Then for a little more I added a touch of Tattered Rose Distressed Stickles.

I saw this a week or two ago and thought that it was perfect for someone like me who has a difficult drawing without some help. So I took one of my punchers, put a grunge board in it and traced around the bird with a pen and then cut it out. The first bird was stained with Forest Moss. The sparkly eye was added with Waterfall Stickle. I did this a second time and stained once with Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink and a second time with Distress Stickles.

3 Dimensional Flowers

2010-05-31T17:10:00.000-07:00

Did you ever start a project with one thing in mind but by the time you finished it, it was something completely different? Well, this was my flower project. I was planning on making this into a card. I was wondering how exactly it could be mailed with the flowers being 3 dimensional, but figured I would think of it as I progressed. I started out with the flower on the top. I used some colors that I haven't used until recently, Spiced Marmalade and Wild Honey and also another color that I don't use very often, Fired Brick. I then used one of my Mini Misters that I have been using here and there the past month. I then painted the tip of the top flower with Spiced Marmalade Cracked Paint.

Then I went through a pink phase (I have been having a lot of pink days lately) and painted a flower with another Cracked paint -- Tattered Rose. I colored another flower with a new Distressed Ink - Victorian Velvet and probably another favorite as I've been using it a lot lately. I also colored another flower with another new Distressed Ink color - Spun Sugar. I then painted the outside of the flowers with Pearl Dabber and Tattered Rose Re-inker and finally once again sprayed the flower with Berry Twist, Tattered Rose Re-inker drops and water combination in Mini Mister.

With the 3rd 3-dimensional flower, I tried Shabby Shutters, Broken China and Tumbled Glass. I covered the Shabby Shutters flower with matching Distressed Stickles. I painted these three flowers with Pearl Dabber paint and Broken China Re-inker drop mix. I also sprayed with Green Patina Perfect Pearls, Broken China re-inker and water combination in the Mini Misters.

I wanted to try out the Vintage Photo Embossing Powder so today I played with that too. I first inked up a larger open rose with Spiced Marmalade and covered the paper with the embossing powder, tapped off excess and dried with heating tool. I then used a smaller rose stamp in Distressed Embossing Ink and once again put the Vintage Photo Embossing Powder on the paper and repeated process.

Now, as I said, I can't use this as a card b/c the flowers will be crushed so I think I'll be off to find an appropriate frame for my Masterpiece (LOL).

Dabbers and Adirondack Alcohol Ink

2010-05-24T17:58:00.000-07:00

Friday was like Christmas for me. My latest Ranger Ink order came so I spent Friday night playing with some products that I have been eyeing up for a while. I ordered Tim Holtz Textured Fades Emboss Folders - Damask/Regal Flourishes. It is a two-set embossing folder package. The example on the left is of the Damask Embossing Folder. I used a Pearl Dabber and a Sail Boat Blue Dabber on top of the embossing paper. Both of these are also new for me. I have been wanting to order them for a while but kept pushing it off. I then got some very positive feedback about the dabbers from my fellow on-line blogger, http://cards4ubylouise.blogspot.com/. I heavily dabbed on the outer edge of the larger centered card and then once again dabbed first using the Pearl Dabber. I then stamped my message and floral image. Before I dabbed again with the blue dabber I colored in using my alcohol inks. It made a very interesting effect. (To see a larger image of the card, double click on image and then you can click on the back arrow to come back to this post.)

I colored in the flowers and stems using Adirondack Alcohol Inks and Tim Holtz Refillable Pen. To add ink to the pen you need to use a tweezers and on the larger end pull at the base of the nib. However, do not pull on the nib itself but on the base. Once it is out take the tip of the alcohol ink and add in ink for about 3 - 5 seconds and then put nib back (you'll want to use the tweezers again). You need to then go to the smaller side and this time with the tweezers pull the nib out and once again add the ink for 3 - 5 seconds. Lay the pen down and wait for 5 minutes and then the nibs should no longer be white and you can start using the pen.

The priorities for Linda's Cozy Craft Corner is Customer Service and Great Prices. Please contact me regarding bundling a package together for you for even better prices. For the products above and more, please check out my Etsy store (www.lindascozycraftcorne.etsy.com).

Are you interested in a Tim Holtz or Ranger Ink product? If I have not shown it on my blog or have not listed on my Etsy store, please feel free to enquire to Lindascozycraftcorner@yahoo.com. Even if I don't currently have the item available, I might be able to order that item for you. If I can't obtain that item for you, I will try and direct you to another company that has that product. For example, perhaps there is a color or embossing powder that I do not currently have in stock. I have access to many different colos and would be happy to order a color that you need. Please feel free to contact me for Grungeboard products and Ideology products that I can make available. However, if I receive enough orders, I will be very happy to order it or add it to the next order that I place.

Worn Lipstick

2010-05-21T09:28:00.000-07:00

I am trying to contact Jane who is the winner of my products. Jane, please email me so I can ship your goodies.

I got the floral stamp a few months ago, and it is one of my favorites b/c I love flowers. I stamped in Peeled Paint and then colored in the flowers using alcohol inks and Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink Fillable Pen.

First I brushed on the Worn Lipstick Ranger Ink (ink available http://www.lindascozycraftcorne.etsy.com/) and then I used a Mini Mister mixed with Re-ink Tattered Rose ink, Perfect Pearls, and water. I then stamped the flower image and filled in with color using alcohol inks (also available at my Etsy store). I then stamped Best Wishes on top of the flower stems and then I brushed on Perfect Pearl powder and then I brushed off the excess and that is how I got my shimmer embossed effect. To finish off the card I brushed the edges with Warn Lipstick, Black Soot (which I decided I didn't like on this particular card so I went over again with Walnut Stain and then again with Worn Lipstick). I wanted to add a little embellishments today so I pulled out my Satin ribbon from Stampin' Up and then a flower from the Pretties Kit (Stampin' Up), dyed the flower in Worn Lipstick and then for the center used a crystal brad. It is so pretty that if I have time I am going to make a few more cards today using this technique.

Tuesday was our 14th Wedding Anniversary. I am very blessed to have such a good husband. He took the day off and we saw Date Night which we both really enjoyed. I think it had items for both of us, romance, action, and humor. Anyway, this was my card for my husband this year. I used an ol' favorite Sassy Suzie. I actually used my Stampin' Up colored pencils and blender pens. I then highlighted her by sponging over in Tattered Rose. Now I have come to use and like a new tool. It is called Perfect Medium Pen. It is terrific b/c it gives me the liberty to write my own words. I wrote my message and then tapped Ancient Princess Gold and then used a heating tool to melt the gold.

Thank you for looking. Now off to run some errands.

New Colors

2010-05-19T18:58:00.000-07:00

I would really like to give away the products that are shown at the top of this page. However, I cannot seem to get a hold of Jane. Jane, please email me at Lindascozycraftcorner@yahoo.com so I can arrange to ship these goodies out to you. Because I would like to share these items with those of you that were kind enough to visit, I am going to do another drawing on June 1 if I do not here from Jane by then.

The card at the top has a Spiced Marmalade background. I stamped the bird and the black speckles in black soot. I also colored some paper in Black Soot and then used a corner puncher to get the corner accents. The outer part of the card was distressed with Spiced Marmalade, Brick Red, and Vintage Photo. I then used Antiqued Bronze Distressed Stickles to go over the outside of the card.

This has been such a great week. Sunday, it was my birthday and once again I would like to thank those of you that stopped by. I have been itching to make more cards but there was some other things that I needed to do. And, yesterday, my husband and I celebrated our 14th Wedding Anniversary. He took the day off and we saw Date Night which was a funny and overall terrific movie. So today when I was trying to decide what to do, I decided to work with colors that I do not use very often but like. I used a variety of colors for this card. First I used some Spiced Marmalade and then spritzed with the Mini Mister. I had a concoction of Berry Twist Perfect Pearls, a drop of Antique Linen Re-inker and water. I then stamped a floral stamp with Worn Lipstick all over the card. I then spritzed once again with the Mini Mister. Then I used Black Soot (my first time I've used this color), I brushed on Blue Patina with the smaller brush and then used the larger to brush off the excess and once again used my Mini Mister. I decided to add a small "Get Well" tag that was colored using Mustard Seed and a spritz with the Mini Mister.

AND THE WINNER IS:

2010-05-16T21:24:00.000-07:00

I want to thank all of you for participating and sharing in my birthday celebration. I had such a great birthday. We went to the Cracker Barrel for breakfast and then later to the local pool. It was so much fun today reading your comments. Thank you for the well wishes. Congratulations to Jane who is my product winner and to Shannon who is my card winner today! Jane if you could please email me at lindascozycraftcorner@yahoo.com so I can contact you regarding shipping, I would really appreciate it. Thank you.

If anyone is interested in a particular color or product of Ranger Ink, please feel free to contact me and I will be glad to answer your questions and when possible, I will come up with a card idea for a particular product. If you would like to see the current list of colors I have available, please visit my Etsy shop at www.lindascozycraftcorne.etsy.com. I will be listing my Distressed Stickles this week. I am expecting a new shipment of products early next week and I am very excited as I've branched out and ordered some products that I haven't used yet.

Take care and I hope you visit again.

Sincerely,

Linda
Linda's Cozy Craft Corner

Happy Birthday

2010-05-16T07:43:00.001-07:00

Perhaps when you were a child your mom or dad brought cupcakes to your classroom to celebrate your birthday. That tradition lives on in my children's school. That is what inspired me this year to do two give aways to celebrate my birthday.

The one give away is for crafting products. A picture of the products I am giving away is above. To the left is a picture of cards that I am giving away for those that may not like to craft but appreciate the beauty of hand made cards. All you need to do is indicate which give away you are interested. Also, if you let someone know and they visit my blog and they tell me who referred them, your name will be once again placed in my jar and your friend's name will be added to the jar too.

For those that may not be computer savvy but are interested in the cards, please feel free to email me Lindascozycraftcorner@yahoo.com and I will be happy to add your name to the jar too.

Thank you for playing and sharing my birthday with me!!!

We will be drawing names at 9:00 PM PST.

Linda

Happy Birthday Princess

2010-05-15T11:15:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is my birthday and I am doing 2 give aways. There may be one more depending on how many people checkout my blog. I will be giving away the following Ranger Ink Products: A few bottles of Stickles the product that got me started using Ranger Ink. A Tim Holtz Distressed Ink and matching Distress Stickles bottle and one more bottle of Distressed Stickles, Perfect Pearls with two brushes, Perfect Pearl Pen and an Ancient Gold Embossing Powder. What do you need to do to win? Please leave a comment tomorrow. I will be showing off another card and you can leave your comment. Please refer people to my blog tomorrow. If they remember to let me know your name, you will get additional chances to win.

I have friends and family who like hand made cards but have no crafting desire at all and so for those that appreciate hand made cards, I will also be having a drawing to win 3 cards. A birthday card, a thank you card, and one more card. They may either leave a message in the comments section or send me an email letting me know that they checked out my blog. So once again, if you have friends and family that may not like crafting let them know about my card give away so they can have a chance to win. Also, make sure they tell me that you referred them b/c the more times your name is mentioned the more chance you have of winning.

This card was made using Ancient Gold Princess Embossing Powder. I have found that this Embossing Powder is the best to use for lettering. It is very very fine so it goes on nicely and melts and is not chunky like some of the other Embossing Powders. I also like it b/c it just has this delicate yet royal look to it once melted. I used several different Distress Inks for this card: Vintage photo, Victorian Velvet, Antique Linen and Forest Moss. Also I used SU scroll punch for the borders, SU oval punch, and various SU Stamps.

A Welcomed Distraction

2010-05-13T19:10:00.001-07:00

Well, I was planning on showing off another card and another Ancient Gold today but I got distracted. First, there was some cleaning to do, and laundry. My 10 year old son said to me the other day that he's tired of cleaning and that it's the same thing over and over again. I might add that this statement came when I was in the middle of dishes. Dishes also seem to be a never ending chore.

I found a blog the other day that I really enjoyed http://artsaveslives-paperqueen.blogspot.com/2010/05/tags-card.html. I asked Eileen how she got her beautiful background because I have been wanting to do something different for a very long time. She graciously gave me Penny's information http://pennyduncancreations.blogspot.com/p/blog-headersbackgrounds.html. Thank you very much ladies.

Well, tomorrow my little one receives a certificate from pre-school and my older one (actually my hubby) is getting a wisdom tooth pulled. So I'm not sure if I'll be able to check back in or not. Does one acquire more wisdom or less with less wisdom teeth? Hm, well he lives with me and my craziness so he needs to be wiser as he gets older. Speaking of getting older, make sure you check out my blog this weekend and especially Sunday as I'm going to have some give aways but you need to play.

Take care.

Linda

Thinking of Christmas

2010-05-11T20:55:00.000-07:00

It is a little early to think about Christmas. However, being a card maker, creator it is never too early. My goal has been to dedicate

at least one day a month to design and work on my family Christmas cards and also cards to sell. Well, it is May now and I keep needing to shift that goal. When I was thinking about using the different embossing powders, I thought of this stamp and wondered how it might come out using the powders. I decided to give a distressed look and so this is how I came up with the image.

First, as I mentioned in my previous blogs this week, I used an embossing cloth and rubbed the paper with it to take away any static electricity. I then stamped using Perfect Medium Ink. For this image I tried Ancient - Antique Gold Embossing Powder. I used a heating tool to melt the gold embossing powder. I knew from the beginning I didn't want a gold embossed Santa on striking white paper. However, I wasn't sure of the colors that I wanted to use. I decided to use Antique Linen Distress Ink and Crushed Olive Distressed Ink (NEW INK). For the border I used Walnut Stain and Fired Brick Distressed Ink. I then went over the color with Fired Brick Distressed Stickles and Aged Mahogany Distressed Stickles.

Next time - Ancient Gold - Princess Gold Embossing Powder. It is so delicate and pretty and elegant. I have found that it looks really pretty for embossing words.

Faux Foil

2010-05-10T19:21:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, I was playing around with some of my Ancient Gold Embossing Powders. I was really enjoying seeing the different effects the different embossing powders had on the paper. At some point I wanted to try Perfect Pearls in addition to the embossing powder. Above is Ancient Gold Antique Embossing Powder. I put water, a few drops of Old Paper Reinker and Gold Heirloom Perfect Pearls in a Mini Mister and shook the mister so everything would mix together. I then spritzed the paper with the Mini Mister mixture. The result was a foiled looking front.

Today I tried it again using different colors. I used Ancient - Roman Gold Embossing Powder. First I used an anti-static embossing cloth and then I stamped the image with Perfect Medium ink and tapped the embossing powder on top. Then I used a heating tool to melt the gold powder.

I decided to try making a foil looking card again. However, this time I wanted to try a different color so I mixed together water, Tatter Rose Reinker, and Inference Red Perfect Pearls in a Mini Misters. I then spritzed the paper with the mixture and the finished look is pink foil.

Here is the finished look. The tag "Best Wishes" was embossed with Ancient - Princess Gold Embossing Powder. I also stained it using Crushed Olive. I hope you check back again as more ideas are coming this way this week.

It's Gold

2010-05-08T22:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day! I made a couple of Mother's Day Cards a few weeks ago. These cards are shown on an earlier postfrom last month. This morning I was working on some other greeting cards. I have been wanting to see what the difference is with some of the Ancient Gold Embossing Powders. Today I embossed different images using African, Roman, and Princess, and Antique Gold Embossing powders. Throughout the week, I will finish up my projects, and post pictures of the cards.

The best thing to do before stamping is to rub the paper you are going to use with either embossing cloth or use some talc powder. Then I stamped the image with Perfect Medium. I then tapped out some embossing powder. And Finally ran it over with a Heating tool.

This card was made using Roman Gold Antique Embossing Powder. I used Distressed Inks on the background. I also used Distressed Inks on the strip of paper. Princess Gold Embossing Powder was used on the oval. I then Distressed the oval scallop punch out with Old Paper Distress Ink.

It's All Heart

2010-05-06T06:32:00.000-07:00

Last night I took some white cards out and stained them with different Distressed Ink. It was a great way to relax. If you need to make several cards at once but don't want boredom to set in and want to see what happens with different colors this is a very simple design. The card above was made using Antique Linen and Brushed Courduroy Distressed Inks. The design was filled in using Waterfall Stickles.

The fun part about Distressed Inks and Stickles is that you can take the same image and give them a total different look. This card was used with Dusty Concord and Brushed Corduroy Distressed Inks and Lavender Stickles.

This card was made using the new Stormy Sky Distressed Ink and once again Brushed Corduroy. I wanted to use Golden Rod Stickles and then decided to make it colorful so I added Turquoise on the flower and outlined the large heart and fill in Magenta Stickles.

This was also used with one of the new distressed inks, Victorian Velvet. This is one of my favorite Stickle colors, Fruit Punch.

The name is fun and perfect. In addition I love the pink color. It is an excellent match with this color card.

At www.lindascozycraftcorne.etsy.com, there are three different ways to purchase Stickles. I am selling them single, triple choice, or 6 pack choice. Happy shopping!!! Mother's Day is on Sunday don't forget your mom, mother-in-law, sister, daughter, in-laws, and wife. I also will package together custom orders. Soon I will be listing the new Distressed Inks that I have available for sale.

New Fun

2010-05-03T05:40:00.001-07:00

It has been a great couple of weeks for my family and my little on-line shop (www.lindascozycraftcorne.etsy.com). I had a sale on my Distressed Inks last week. That was a lot of fun as I got to "meet" new people through email and through Etsy. I got my first international business which was very exciting for me. My son got a basket in his basketball game. We celebrated my husband's birthday. I'll have to show you next time the football tickets I made up for him with the intent that he will go to a Dallas game this fall.

I received a request for the new 12 Ranger Ink Distressed inks a few weeks back so I gladly ordered those and since I need to order in bulk I opened some of the colors. One of the colors is Pumice Stone which I used on the center piece of the card. I then stamped a flower in black ink and filled in with Perfect Pearls Berry Twist. I used the Swiss Dots folder and Cuddlebug. I then stained the paper with Shabby Shutters Distressed Ink and stained over with Shabby Shutters Distressed Stickles. I have been using the Distressed Stickles a lot lately and first they slightly change the stain color and mellow them down which I love and on top give a beautiful matted finish to the cards.

I also used the Shabby Shutters Distressed Stickles on the Thank You part of the card. Thank you for my friend Patti who loaned to me forever ago a beautiful greetings stamp set and I really need to get creating so I can give them back to her. I love the lettering of this particular stamp set and haven't seen anything equivalent to it. I finished off my card using one of Mini Misters. I put a small amount of Perfect Pearls in the tube, added water, shook the Mini Mister bottle and then sprayed the card. It gives a dazzling shimmer to cards.

Liquid Pearls - A NEW LOVE

2010-04-26T12:12:00.000-07:00

SALE! SALE! SALE! SALE! SALE! SALE! SALE! SALE! SALE! SALE! SALE! SALE!

I am posting this Monday, April 26, 2010 and for those of you that may be interested, I am having a MAJOR SALE on 24 colors from Ranger Ink Distressed Inks www.lindascozycraftcorne.etsy.com. The sale ENDS, Friday, April 30, 2010. Only 5 days left!

Last week I wrote about Ranger's Alcohol Inks used with Silver or Gold Metallic ink and they make really pretty images. Today is another example of the use of alcohol inks except that I have now added a floral image. I believe the Stamp is from Stampin' Up Friend 24-7 Set. I stamped with Stazon Ink. I then went over the image using liquid pearl in green for the stem and leaves and pink around the flowers. I then filled in the middle areas with my all time favorite, Stickles.

Alcohol

2010-04-17T14:17:00.001-07:00

Purple Twilight, Raspberry, Sailboat Blue, and Metallic silver make a pretty combination. Like a storm of colored clouds swirling together to make the Perfect Storm. I put these colors on a piece of cotton and then swirled them around on glossy paper. Drops of color were added directly on the paper and then swirled around by a cotton ball. I then stamped a rose print using Black Stazon Ink which I then highlighted using Black Stazon Ink with Lavender Stickles. I then guarded the rose with butterflies each in their own color. There is Watercolor blue, Fruitpunch, Icicle, Turquoise to just name a few. Stickles were perfect for this project because of the fine tip that the bottle has makes the direction and distribution of the glitter glue more controllable.

Mother's Day is just around the corner. Let me know if you would like to make a similar card or would like to purchase one of the cards I am showing on this blog. Sometimes it is just fun to take out your inks, mix them together and see the color combinations that are attainable. (Hint: And if you make a mistake or don't like the color you have ended up with just keep adding more colors and eventually the color on your paper will be perfect for your project.)

Next time -- Using Liquid Pearls... Do you live in Chandler, AZ, contact me regarding my next class where you can make a similar card to the ones above.

Nurse __________ To the Rescue

2010-04-13T16:54:00.001-07:00

Isn't she cute! After receiving a call from a relative requesting a card for someone who graduated from nursing school and just passed her nursing boards, I searched around for a nurse image. I purchased this stamp from Stamping Bella. I colored her in and used Blending Pens. I tried to highlight her hair using a yellow pencil. I used the Melon Mambo Patterns Designer Series Paper to set her off against. I printed Nurse to the Rescue! (for privacy reasons I am not including the name) and used the new flower punch. I then just added some Stickles for additional sparkle.

At some point I will have to show off my other Stamping Bella stamp that I went ahead and purchased. She has dumb bells in her hands and I got that thinking I'll make an exercise journal (haven't started that project yet).

For more information on customized or personalized cards or invitations, please feel free to contact me at Lindascozycraftcorne@etsy.com.

Thank you.

Playtime With Perfect Pearls

2010-04-08T21:40:00.000-07:00

Today I had a lot of fun. Well, if you can count a trip to the dentist fun than it was just a jolly great day. I came home and looked at a few things on the Ranger Ink site http://www.rangerink.com/. And then after many many months of hiding the Perfect Pearls away with the intent on selling them, I decided to pull my Perfect Pearls out and give them another whirl. OH, OH, OH are they pretty and so much fun. I took some of the Perfect Pearls and put them in an empty egg container. I then spritzed the pearl powder with water. I then took a brush and went over a rose that I stamped with the Perfect Pearls. I also took some Turquoise Perfect Pearls and mixed it with water. and then sprayed the papers with the mixture. Oh my gosh, it gave such a beautiful shimmer over the papers. Below is another one that I did using Sunset Sparkle on the rose.

My First Card Class

2010-04-07T20:21:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I designed 10 cards for four very fun ladies. Some cards were made using a lot Stampin' Up designer paper and one or two stamps. I added bits of colorful paper and accessories like ribbons and the cards were very pretty. For the first time I designed square cards too which I like very much b/c they really show off the beautiful paper.

This card was made using Ranger Ink Faded Blue Jeans Distressed Ink. I first stained the paper all over and then went over it again with Distressed Faded Blue Jean Stickles. It also will stain paper in addition to leave a matted look. In addition, I then inked up the de flouris and Happy Birthday stamps in the Faded Blue Jeans ink. I also used one of the new punchers from Stampin' Up to make the fancy corners and use a heart shape punch to complete the card. I really like this color blue and have been enjoying using it.

I was first introduced to Ranger Ink a couple of years ago with their Stickles product. I decided to use the Sassy Suzie stamp set which is always great for light humor and showing off her jewelry and Stickles. Lots of bling bling going on with this lady.

I then went in a little different direction and had the ladies try Distressed Inks. The Card stock paper was purple in color. I used a purple color ink and sponged the paper to give it more of a vintage look. I then inked up a stamp with the Distressed Color. We then used Walnut Stain around the edges. I stained white ribbon with the purple ink.

A new method of staining that I started was to take a Distressed Resist Ink Pad and ink up a stamp with it and stamp on paper and then take a sponge and sponge over the image with a combination of Mustard Seed and Tainted Rose Distress Inks. I added a little Cotton Candy Stickles to the cake for an extra little sparkle.

Passover

2010-03-22T14:44:00.001-07:00

Next week starts Passover so I made this card for my husband's family. Because I wish not to offend anyone, I checked with my sister-in-law before posting this card. I do not have a stamp that says Passover but I did have a Happy Pesach so I used that one. I made the background using my Star of David stamp. I then sponged the smaller square blue and embossed "Happy Pesach" using White Craft ink, and clear embossing dust. I then heated up the dust and was able to get this nice bright statement. I felt like it needed something more and because I didn't want to introduce a new color I didn't want to use the brads I had on hand. Therefore, I added Ice Stickles Glitter Glue. I am very happy with the results. Hopefully next year I will be able to design something a little more elaborate. I have an idea in mind but have to see how to put my idea on paper.

Easter Blessing

2010-03-16T20:55:00.001-07:00

I used for the base of a card a really soft blue card stock paper that I was fortunate to receive from my sister-in-law. I then added the designer paper pack that was in the recent Stampin' Up mini pack. I colored the flower with colored pencils and blender pen. When I putting the card together I thought the flower needed something in the background and sponged it with Ranger Ink Orange Marmalade. I added Diamond Stickles to the middle of the flower to give it a little sparkle and stamped "Easter Blessings" and the design on the side in Lavender.

New Goodies

2010-03-15T09:06:00.001-07:00

It was the perfect combination. My girlfriend Julie's birthday and my new Stampin' Up toys came. Julie is a Stampin' Up consultant. You may visit her at http://www.stampingimpressions.blogspot.com/. Julie challenged us last week with some origami cards. Anyway, the paper was not new, but the flower punch and the bird and leaf punch were new. I also, splurged and got the new corner punch. I found two different ways to use the corner punch. The way I punched here leaving a triangular shape on each corner or you can punch so that the scallops are the only shapes on the corner. With three new punches I didn't know which way to turn so I used them ALL on this one card.

EVENTS COMING UP

Next week is my brother-in-law's birthday so I have to make a non-feminine card which is a great challenge for me. I love all the fuss and muss with ribbons, beads, scallops, eyelets, and different shades of pinks and purples. I'll let you know how I do sometime in the next few weeks. Normally, I like to show the card after the receiver has actually received the card.

However, I was also asked if I would do a card stack workshop so I have some designs down but want to make a few more for that event coming up. That should help me stay in tune with my feminine side.

I then want to conduct a spring class featuring flowers and events for this spring like Mother's Day.

And, also, I volunteered to design Mother's Day Cards for my daughter's Daisy Troop. Of course, with 6 and 7 year old girls I am assuming they will do whatever it is they want to do. Which is perfectly fine. I am sure the moms would rather see their daughters creativity rather than mine.

Hoping you have a sunshiny day!

Faded Jeans

2010-03-10T17:51:00.001-08:00

I was looking through People magazine and saw that denim is used in addition to jeans for items such as bags, shoes and other accessories. With that in mind, I started using my Faded Jeans Ranger Ink. For this card I used SU stamp from the SU 24-7 Set and inked it in Faded Jeans. I then took the corners and cut it with the new corner punch that was in the mini catalog. I needed to pull in a little more color so I sponged Faded Jeans ink on a slightly larger rectangle. I wasn't sure if I should use an additional color but went for it with Ranger Ink Aged Mahogany. I liked the way everything look but wanted to try the Distressed Stickles so I added some Faded Jean Stickles to the blue paper and Aged Mahogany Stickles to the heart. I am very happy with the way this card turned out.

Sometimes I like to just sit and stamp with no real thought or direction. Today I stamped two of SU 24-7 stamps in Watermark Resist Ink and then sponged it in Faded Jeans ink. I was very happy with the results from that project and decided to cut the paper in half and make two cards out of it. I then stamped the bird again in Faded Jeans ink and cut it out. I then highlighted part of the bird with Faded Jeans Distressed Stickles. I took a sponge to a 1 inch strip of paper and added Stained Walnut Ranger Distressed Ink and then cut it with the Eyelet Punch from Stampin' Up. In addition I stained another small piece of paper in Faded Jeans and Stamped Happy Birthday in Walnut Stain ink. For my last card I punched out one of the corners and stained the edges with Walnut Stained Ranger Distressed Ink. I took the Walnut Stained ink and punched out an oval scallop shape and stained it. Finally with Faded Jeans I sponged an oval shape and stamped Thank You in Walnut Stain ink.

These two cards (Happy Birthday and Thank You) are now listed at my on-line store http://www.lindascozycraftcorne.etsy.com/.

Faded Jeans Distressed Ink and Glitter glue, Walnut Stain Distressed Ink and Glitter glue, and Watermark resist Ink is now on sale now at www.lindascozycraftcorne.etsy.com.

A Victorian Birthday

2010-03-09T17:18:00.000-08:00

I should apologize now to my husband's aunt. I made her card purely with my own wants and desires in mind. I put a splash of lavender on the card as I know she likes purple, but now as I write this, I think the purple shade she leans towards is amethyst which would be a darker purple than the one I chose. When I was making her card a month ago, I was purely thinking of the beautiful Tattered Rose Distress Ink from Ranger Ink that I've really taken to liking. It gives a white paper just a tinge of pink. I love the feminine aging it provides on paper.

I was in a very girly mood. I wanted pink and ribbon, lace and frills; I wanted a fussy card. The base of the card was white and stained pink with Ranger Ink Tattered Rose Distress Ink. I then added a SU stamp from the Sprinkles set in Ranger Ink Tea Dye Distress Ink. The top layer was stained with Ranger Ink Milled Lavender Distress Ink and cut with Stampin' Up Eyelet Border punch. The ribbon was very vanilla satin. I colored a stamp from SU Friends 24-7 with green and pink markers. I couldn't fit the entire image with the oval scallop punch I used, and I like the way the image pops from the oval cut out. I cut a rectangle out and then went around it with the Eyelet Border punch and took the Tea Dye stain and colored that rectangle. I cut a smaller rectangle and did the same thing with the Tainted Rose. I also added "let's celebrate" in Tea Dye. For a little decoration and to secure the rectangle tags I added two off-white brads.

I am currently selling these three inks in my Etsy shop http://www.lindascozycraftcorne.etsy.com/ with a special FREE SHIPPING offer.

Happy Birthday

2010-02-22T05:05:00.000-08:00

February was a busy birthday month for me. The first week alone I had 6 birthday cards to send out! In going back and reviewing my calendar I realized I missed a friend's birthday so I still need to work on a 6 once. Belated. I still have 3 more cards to send out for the end of the month. It looks like for the entire month of March I have 3 cards that should be sent out.

This card was made for a friend's daughter. She adopted her from China. I like to use red. I had wanted to put a lady bug on her card but I didn't have a stamp that I liked so I chose to use my bird stamp and color the bird red. Years ago I wondered how people were able to put different colors of stamped images on paper. It never occurred to me that people use markers and, therefore, could color the stamp with the colors needed for the design. Once I learned about that from my friend Lora, it was like a whole new opportunity was set before me. I love playing with my markers. I used a background stamp and decided to ink that in Real Red which I believe gives a nice background for the bird and compliments well with the red paper I chose. This background stamp is one of my favorite stamps, and what I realized lately is that a brayer would come in really handy. I have used this background stamp a lot with black and white cards. Last week was poking around the Stampin' Up catalog and saw another background stamp that I would like to add to my collection. However, there are so many stamps and so little time to play.

The card on the right side is a very pretty and very easy to create. I love to make my own background paper, but I also like to switch it up and use paper from Stampin' Ups designer paper series. I also love ribbon and like to use it when I find an opportunity to give an extra dimension to my cards. And, of course, my need to do some sort of stamping has me simply stamping Happy Birthday. I used my new oval scallop punch. At the moment it seems to be my tool of choice.

Okay, well this birthday card wasn't done in February. However, it is so pretty that I don't want to miss on sharing it with you. I sent it to my sister last month for her birthday. Last fall I received a call and was asked to make wedding invitations and decided to go ahead and purchase this beautiful stamp set that I had been wanting for a long while and now had an excuse to buy. I had a lot of fun with the set and would just sit and stamp roses on paper. I put the paper aside for another day. That day came when I was looking for something to add to the two roses I stamped and cut out and wanted something to highlight them. The only problem with making background paper to be used in the future is not remembering which color pink ink I used. I was inspired when I had seen white rose at the store with a touch of pink that touched the tips of the roses. I wanted to try and create the same idea so I delicately colored the rose stamp and then went over with the aquapainter to give my roses with white background a shade of pink brushed around the edges. I wanted to use some ribbon and I also have these beautiful brads that I purchased when they were a special sale item. So I combined the two embellishments and put them together. I haven't been using Stickles as much lately but I did use a touch of Stickle on the center of the roses. And there we go a finished card with which I was more than satisfied.

Baby Card

2010-02-07T05:06:00.000-08:00

This was a very simple but darling card that I made for one of my husband's coworkers who is having a baby in just a few weeks. For the first time I took thread and stitched the border. That was fun and I would like to do it again when time and design permits. The bear was colored in with Stampin' Up pencil and blender pen.

A Wedding Package

2010-01-31T05:27:00.001-08:00

Several months ago I received a phone call and was asked if I make wedding invitations. My answer was that I could start now. My sister has asked me for over a year to make wedding invitations because she makes items for weddings such as garters, ring pillows wedding bags and more. Please email me at Lindascozycraftcorner@yahoo.com if you would like to see some of her work. She also lets people know of other businesses that can help out with that special day in one's life.

I asked the bride, Danielle, to give me an idea of what she was looking for in a wedding invitation. After gathering that she likes roses, I went ahead and ordered the Rose is a Rose set from Stampin' Up which I have been wanting for over a year but kept pushing off ordering. I LOVE this set; it is very beautiful. I made up 3 different styles and together Danielle and I tweaked it and now after many months I am showing you the finished package.

To start I measured the paper 4 1/4 inches across and cut down the length of the paper. I then scored the paper at 2 1/2" and 3 1/3" inches. I then cut paper for each of the panels. I ran it through the Cuddlebug using the Swiss dot plate and made a border by running it through Real Red (Stampin' up) ink. I stamped a rose in Real Red outlined in Diamond Stickles (Ranger Ink) and then after the Stickles dried, cut the roses out and used 3 dimensional pop up so the rose stuck up a little.

This picture on the left is what ones sees when opening the invitation. The top panel was made with another rose from the set. The stem was made with a stamp from the Season of Joy Stampin' Up set and Encore Silver metallic ink pad. Because this ink is wetter than most inks I waited a day or so before running it through the Cuddle Bug.

Danielle actually showed me how she wanted the ribbon on the invitation, and I now have a new way of using ribbon. Thank you Danielle. For privacy reasons I did not include a picture of the wording that was used. The ribbon I used is a wired silver ribbon. You need to be careful when pulling the ribbon through the paper because the wire can be unfriendly to your fingers.

I used the same rose and stem design on both the RSVP Cards and the envelopes.

Again, I would like to thank Danielle for giving this wonderful opportunity and inspiring me to go down this avenue. I would like to thank my sister, Barbara for encouraging me to make invitations too. This was a very fun project. I would like to thank Jan from Mary Kay who gave me a speaking opportunity in which I had the opportunity to meet Danielle. I would like to thank my friend and Stampin' Up consultant Julie Marshall for all of her encouragement and inspirations. If you have any questions about this invitation please feel free to contact me at Lindascozycraftcorner@yahoo.com.

Wedding Card

2009-10-30T18:51:00.000-07:00

This card was made for my mother-in-law to give to her niece. You see, Lauren and Scott just got engaged a couple of month's ago and a few weekends past Lauren's mom and dad threw an engagement party for them. Congratulations to Lauren and Scott!!!

This card was made using Stampin' Up Whisper White paper and other various Stampin' Up paper. I also used Ranger Ink Bridal Tinsel embossing powder both on the wedding dress image and the lavender card in underneath. I topped it off with a satin ribbon also from Stampin' Up and a brad.

I stamped the wedding dress using Ranger Ink Perfect Medium Embossing Ink and then put the embossing powder over and used polyurethane to seal the glitter.

You may contact me at www.Lindascozycraftcorne.etsy.com for these products and many more.

What the Heck is a Stickle?

2009-08-13T10:18:00.001-07:00

Recently, I have been marketing and promoting Ranger Inks Stickles and in return I have received the questions, "What the heck is a Stickle?" Stickles is a Ranger Ink product and it is glitter glue and it enhances images and adds sparkle to paper craft projects. I have been using Stickles for over a year now and really like the finished results that have been achieved. Last year I used Yellow and Black Diamond Stickles to enhance an image of a bee that I stamped on to some greeting cards.

Currently, I am working on Christmas cards and you can see the extra sparkle that has been achieved to the tree image. What was extra cool was that last weekend when I was working on my Christmas Trees I discovered that the Stickles that are simply titled Pink, match perfectly with Stampin' Ups Razzle Rasberry in color. I have Pink colored Stickles available and on sale now in my Etsy shop.

www.Lindascozycraftcorne.etsy.com

A Christmas Tree In Stampin' Ups Razzle Rasberry paper, Whisper White Craft ink and outlined in Icicles Stickles.

Santa is one of Stampin' Ups newest Stamps. (I am a Stampin' Up customer only. If you live in south Chandler and are looking for a demonstrator please contact me and I will be able to give you a wonderful demonstrator's name.) Ink was done in Glorious Green, Choc. Chip, Brilliant Blue and Basic Black. The corner leaves were given extra color using Holly Stickles.

Snowmen and snow balls were filled in using Diamond Stickles. They give off a pinkish tintand is really pretty.

What else makes Stickles so special is the fine applicator tip. Because the tip is small, it is very easy to control the amount that comes out of the bottle. You can write, draw, dot, dash and so much more. If you have any questions on the color or anything else, please contact me @ Lindascozycraftcorner@yahoo.com.

A New Dimension

2009-07-09T09:00:00.001-07:00

I've started a new dimension to my card project and to my Etsy store. I now have Stickles and alchol inks including gold and silver metallic mixatives. You can see above the effects of adding the metallic mixative to alcoholic inks.

It is simple too. I take my Tim Holtz Alcohol Ink Applicator and add some applicator felt (which fits perfectly to my applicator and then I dab some Adirondack Ink to the applicator. I then add some Metallic Mixatives to the color to give the ink a polished stone effect or marbling effect. I tended to add some more color over top of the metal ink to get a good amount of color on the paper.

I also wanted to show off my new line of glitter glue called Stickles. So I stamped a butterfly in Old Olive Stamin' Up ink. I then filled in the butterfly using Turquoise Stickles. I outlined the antennae with Crystal Ice Ice Stickles. I didn't want to cut out the butterfly so instead I used the Stampin' Up Scallop circle punch. I was going to add it on top of regular paper but I saw some glossy paper that I had sprayed some Adirondack Color Wash Stream to and thought the butterfly would look beautiful against that paper. I then saw my other paper that I had colored using the Yellow Sunshine, Orange Sunset and Purple Twilight and thought that would make a beautiful card for this butterfly. Therefore, I cut it down to size (5 1/2 x 8 1/2) scored it in half so the size is 5 1/2 x 4 1/4. I thought this would make colorful birthday card so pulled out my "On Your Birthday" set from Stampin' Up and stamped using the Stazon Ink. This worked perfectly with the alcohol ink. As you can see, the ink didn't smear at all.

Completed Projects

2009-06-29T07:38:00.000-07:00

This weekend was one of completing projects. Above are pictures of the baby announcements I made at my friend Julie's http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/juliemarshall/ house this weekend. While at Julie's I saw this great little item from Stampin Up. It is with the Sizzlits Dies section and is entitled Little Leaves which Julie used with her card using a new stamp set by Stampin UP Circle Circus. Here is a picture of the card http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1395946.

If you are interested in having me create a baby announcement for you here is another example.

Also, this weekend, I completed some birthday cards for a friend. She will be receiving these cards in that beautiful box I made a few weeks ago.

I also made this Thinking of You card. It measures 5 1/2 x 5 1/2

And finally another dishcloth that I am listing on Etsy. http://www.lindascozycraftcorne.etsy.com/ today.

Anniversary Card

2009-06-25T06:19:00.001-07:00

I have a loyal customer who has made personal requests for birthday, thank you and recently Father's Day and Grandfather's Day cards. This week she needed an anniversary card and so the challenge was on for me to come up with something.

I found it a bit of challenge partly because I don't even have an anniversary stamp. And then I wasn't sure which way to go. I found this great Cuddlebug folder entitled "Allegro". I stamped a heart stamp a few times on it in VersaMark and then used clear embossing powder on top. It seemed to need a little extra so I added Stickles on some of the musical notes. I should mention that I snipped the ends of the ribbon so they are not hanging, but I gave it to my husband to take to work with him before I remembered to take another picture.

I printed out Happy Anniversary on the inside on Very Vanilla paper.

Happy Anniversary Stacy and Jase!

Next week -birth announcements I am making for a friend of mine.

Template Challenge

2009-06-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

It's funny how life works. I've been thinking lately it would be nice to make boxes to store my cards. Then today I saw this blog http://kristinscrafts.blogspot.com/ with a template challenge. I went to http://www.papertreyink.com/timeless_templates_download_here.html and downloaded a template that I thought would work well with most of the cards that I make. This challenge originated from Lauren Mead's blog http://laurenm.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/. This is only the second time I've tried a challenge, and it just so happens that once again it goes back to Lauren. She sure has some great ideas!

Last week while my children were at VBS, I spent some of the time just playing with my stamps and inks and added a Stickle here and a Stickle there and I added with my gel pen a few blue dots here and there to and I came up with some really cute designed paper that I like. I have been thinking about how I might use this paper and then today this challenge came up and I thought I would try it out with my own designed paper. And here it is, my first non-card paper creation:

Products used were SU stamp set, SU paper, choc. chip and whisper white. I used choc. chip and pink passion inks. Stickles were placed in the middle of each stamp image. Blue dots were made using a gel pen. I hope you enjoy it!

I have been trying to keep the children busy so far with swimming, playdates, basketball camp and a visit to a museum. With all of the activities my hobbies are taking a back of a bus backseat. However, I do have some ideas and as soon as I can get them down on paper, I will once again be showing them to you. Also, coming soon will be my Christmas cards. I have seen some of the new SU colors and am very excited about all the fun projects. Thank you for visiting.

Bizzy Lizzy

2009-02-24T11:51:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to share this blog with you today. It is so beautiful and my words can't bring it justice so I'm keeping my blog short and sweet today. http://mybizzielizzie.blogspot.com/

Getting Ready

2009-02-16T06:29:00.001-08:00

This Saturday I am a hosting a table at Tarwater Elementary in Chandler, AZ. I will be selling my cards. As I've been previewing them here on my blog, you can see I have Easter cards, birthday cards and then just some sweet spring cards. Today, once again, I'll be adding to my collection. I would like to add some baby and thank you cards. If you live in the area, please stop by and bring your children, as they will be having activities for the kiddos.

I'm very excited to have been working on my inventory the last few weeks. Even though the weather doesn't quite feel like winter here in the desert, I always look forward to spring when the flowers seem to spring from the ground and birds sing in the trees. It's like a little wake me up or jump into spring.

Sunday I will be listing some of my inventory on Etsy and some on Lollishop. I am currently looking into additional venues in which to display my greeting cards. I am blessed when my cards can bring you and a loved one joy. So please, feel free to check back again.

Sneak Peak to Spring

2009-01-30T09:44:00.000-08:00

Tiramisu, Coffee and Friends

2008-11-05T03:35:00.000-08:00

Tiramisu means "pick me up". http://www.joyofbaking.com/Tiramisu.html Coffee and tiramisu -- I'll have to be pulled back down to the ground today. But it's worth it once in a while to have great desert, coffee, and friendly conversation.

I thought today we needed a lighter subject but heavy desert. I invited friends over for coffee. I am going to try and make a tiramisu cake. I made it a few weeks ago and it came out really good. Since I am not a baker, that says a lot. I once tried to make an angel food cake (from scratch) and it flopped. I learned later that I should have used the electric beater not my own hand power. I'm not sure why I like to do things the hard way; I like to give myself extra challenges. When it comes to baking, I should just stick with the easy.

Speaking of easy, I found this recipe when I made the cake a few weeks ago. http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Tiramisu-Layer-Cake/Detail.aspx I highly recommend it. I would say it tastes heavenly but then that may imply that I've been to heaven and I haven't. It was dreamy; it was all fluffy and light for having cream cheese inside with a touch of coffee. If you get a chance to try this, please respond back and let me know if you agree. I had to buy coffee flavored liqueur the last time I made it. I get so nervous when I go the the alcohol aisle because I am a real novice when it comes to buying these items. I couldn't find something that said coffee liquor and almost bought Kaluha. I called my husband for help and of course he didn't pick up his cell. Then I spotted a big bottle that said coffee liqueur and it was a lot cheaper than the Kaluha. I texted my husband to ignore the message and bought the $6 bottle. So the cake was great but I have a lot of the coffee liqueur left and I wanted to share with my friends so I decided to make it again for them.

We'll see if I have any of that coffee stuff left and maybe I'll make it one more time for our church friends. That should make an interesting Wednesday night evening with everyone having caffeine.

I only wish I could share this with my PA/NJ friends. That is the only thing about moving 2000 miles away that is a bummer. I don't get to see or even talk with my friends nearly as much as I would like to.

However, I really like it here in AZ. Our weather is beautiful now. The temps this week finally went down to 79 degrees. Yeah! I'm thinking I need to buy my children some jeans and pants this weekend and get them out of their shorts. My goodness and it's already November.

I've made so many wonderful friends here in AZ. I enjoy getting together, swapping stories and just plain having a good time. Well, I've got to run and work on that cake. Please pray that it doesn't flop. My baking is not consistent so there is that possibility. If it turns out the way I would like it to, I'll take a picture and post it later today. Until then I hope you have a great day!

Here is a picture of my tiramisu. It tasted good and I even managed to mess up a step in preparing the cake. I can't believe that it was still edible. Usually when I make a baking mistake, I need to toss the whole thing out.