Saturday Inspiration

I decided to try another Inspiration Challenge today. Over at Splitcoast the Inspiration Challenge for today was to was to visit a site called Chasing Fireflies. I found a pair of slippers that I thought were cool and would also give me a chance to play with one of my new big shot dies.

These flowers are from the Birds and Blooms set. After I ran the paper through the Big Shot, I used my markers on the edges to give the flowers some depth. Then I curled them like a real flower to give them dimension. The hardest part was the little centers. I punched a 1/2" circle out of the same color cardstock and then rolled it into a ball shape - sort of. They are adhered to the rest of the flower with liquid Tombow glue.

There's a bunch of colors in this card (again with the color!!!). Green Galore, Handsome Hunter, Gable Green, Bermuda Bay, Rich Razzleberry, and Dusty Durango. The sentiment is from the All Holidays set and stamped in Handsome Hunter.

The Handsome Hunter cs on the top was scrunched up after I cut it to size and then I pulled a layer of it off. The rough side is facing the back. The lighter green strip across it is scrunched up too. I put down a skinny piece of red line tape and then pressed the strip into it so it looks gathered.

It just so happens that I need a couple of thank you's this weekend, so this will go right out in the mail!

So, have you been inspired by my inspiration? Love to hear from you.

The Roosters of Smithville

On our trip last weekend we spent a morning in Historic Smithville. Walking around the little village we went in and out of the shops there and happened upon these roosters. They were begging to have their picture taken.

I decided to use them as an inspiration for the Limited Supply challenge for Friday - to stamp an image 3 times and crop it.

So here are my roosters.

The stamp set is Rustic Rooster and I stamped it in Basic Gray on Whisper White and used markers to color it. I punched them out with my oval punch and back them with Ridinghood Red scalloped ovals. The card base is Basic Gray, and then a layer of Ridinghood Red. I used a scrap of Basic Gray DSP and More Mustard torn on the diagonal for the next layer. The ribbon is Bravo Burgundy with a bow of Basic Gray Taffeta.

Oops - it seems I didn't read the directions carefully enough. We were only supposed to use brads or eyelets as our embellishment. Hope I don't get a ticket for using the ribbon!

Ice Cream Anyone?

This is the secret project that I was working on a couple of weeks ago. I was asked by a friend to make some favors for her daughter's engagement party. She showed me a picture of something she saw somewhere and asked if I could come up with something similar.


I knew that Creamy Caramel would make a good ice cream cone. I played around with copy paper in one of the cellophane cone sleeves to make the pattern. After I traced it onto the creamy caramel and cut it out, I ran it through the big shot with the diamond texture plate. I added the red line tape to the side and gently curled it with my hands and around a wooden chopstick until I saw that it would form a cone. Pulling the tape off and adhering one side to the other is a little tricky, but can be done.



After the cone was taped together I inserted the chopstick again and used a bone folder to burnish the two sides together. This is an important step, because without it, even with the red line tape, the sides will pull apart. The burnishing adds heat to the tape making it more adhesive.


The washcloth is folded in half once and then once again. Then roll it from side-to-side gradually lowering it to give the effect of the swirled ice cream. Wrap a rubber band around the bottom portion and stick it into the cone.


Lastly, put the finished ice cream cone into the bag and tie with a ribbon at the top. For the favors I printed the couple's names and the date of their wedding onto copy paper, punched them out with the oval scallop punch and ran them through my Xyron to make them into stickers.

Hey, it's National Ice Cream Month!!! Have a scoop of your favorite!!!

July 4th Fireworks '09 - Barnegat, NJ

Thursday's Throw Aways - Week 17

This recycling tip is so simple. Using newsprint as a background. Most people have magazines or junk mail that contains text capable of being used as a background, or back drop, or even for paper piecing.


I came across a wonderful blog by Lydia called Understand Blue and saw this technique used by the author. I really like the simplicity of it as well as the way it pops the stamped image. Check out her posts from June 14th and 26th to see two cards where she used this technique.

My card is based on both of Lydia's cards. I couldn't find my Micron pen (or rather, one that worked) so I used my SU Basic Black marker for the outlining. And, I don't seem to have much luck with gel pens. They don't seem to flow very well for me, so I wasn't able to highlight as much as I would have liked to, but I think that you get the idea.

This is one of the new hostess sets called Wings of Friendship (I used the flourish for my star card last Thursday). I stamped the image in Pacific Point on the newsprint that I had run through the Big Shot with the Top Note die. Backed that with Basic Black and mounted it on Tempting Turquoise. The flourish in the lower corner is stamped in VersaMark and embossed with clear EP.

I think, no, I know I'll try this again! Thanks Lydia, for the inspiration!!!

Jersey Driver

As seen crossing the bridge on 72 into Long Beach Island.

Yes, the car is moving.

Yes, she is texting.

Yes, she has one hand on the wheel and one foot on the dash.

Yes, she is oblivious to the fact that I actually took her picture.

Yes, her face is blacked out so as not to embarrass her mother.

Teapot Tuesday 54 (American Oyster Catchers)

Last week Cindy gave us a sneak peek at the next teapot. This is something new. She also gave us a teaword: botanical gardens. Well, I went off on a mini-vacation this weekend and while I did remember part of the picture, the word completely left me.

So here we have this week's teapot. Isn't it beautiful? I love the soft floral look. You should go and check out Cindy's card this week on her glob. It's absolutely beautiful and SO the teapot!

We did a lot of walking this past weekend. We went to Smithville and shopped and then we went to Barnegat Light and walked out to the point. When we got to the lighthouse it was high tide and water had come through the rocks on the inlet making pools that we had to walk around to get to the point. The rocks were on our left and on our right was a roped off area of the beach. This area is roped off because ocean birds nest there and you are not allowed to enter the nesting area during this time.

As we got closer to the point, the water got closer to the rope and at times we had to walk through it. It was during this walk that we came across this family of birds. The little chick kept wanting to go towards the water and didn't seem too worried about us being near, however, the parents were wary and kept trying to redirect the chick. They would peep back and forth to one another and walk around that young one in circles to get it to go the way they wanted.

These birds had striking coloring. The beaks were long and straight and bright orange, as were their eyes. I remembered last year we had seen some plovers, but these were definitely not plovers. It wasn't until I got home and did some research that I found out that they were American Oyster Catchers. That would explain the long beak.

The chick still has his juvenile coloring.


I knew the teapot that Cindy showed us had doves on it and I know that doves signify love. But I chose to add this loving family to my card this week. How much love did these parents show by keeping that little chick safe! They just fascinate me.

So here I have a little beach scene. The water, the sand dune with the birds and grasses and just beyond the dune you can see the tops of the beach roses that form a barrier between land and sea.

There's a ton of color on this card. I did go a little wild with it I admit. On our way home, while HWNSNBP is driving, I usually get to nod off and this time I kept seeing these colors in my head. I wasn't quite sure what I was going to do with them and then I remembered the birds and the beach and the sky and well, here's what I came up with.

Now, we're supposed to be having tea in the botanical garden in Dublin this week. Sabrina, one of our fellow tea partiers is hosting this week. I'm supposed to wear a hat so the birds don't christen me, but I've heard that that's supposed to be good luck, so I'll leave my hat home. Since my card is a beach scene, I will take a boat to the party and bring some oysters. Hopefully, someone will eat them, and maybe we'll get lucky and someone will find a pearl!

The papers used are: Apricot Appeal, Melon Mambo, Cameo Coral, Kraft, Taken With Teal, Bermuda Bay.

The Stamps used are: The More the Merrier, Trendy Trees, and Itty Bitty Buds

I used markers for all the coloring: Basic Gray, Only Orange, Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Regal Rose, Apricot Appeal

And I used a white prismacolor pencil for the birds and, I hope you can see it, the froth of the water. All those flowers were cut out. (Yes, I know I'm nuts!!!)

Now, go check out Cindy's glob and make sure to look at all the other Teapot Tuesday 54 cards here.

Dana's Card

My blogging friend, Dana sent me this beautiful card. She's temporarily relocated away from all her crafting supplies so she's had to wing it with what she can find in her new location. I heard tell that she did break down and purchase some supplies, but you see that gorgeous paper that she uses - she prints that from her computer. What a great idea!!!

I gave you a picture of the center medallion up close so you could see how she embellished it. When you open the card the medallion is actually on the inside. Very clever Dana!

She's not only cleverly crafty - she's got a great blog that is guaranteed to entertain you. So please go take a look at Dana's Life is Good.

Sweet Little Cupcake

While not exactly a card, this little cupcake holder is a nice way to wish someone a happy birthday. It's made with several Big Shot items - the scallop circle die, the petal card die, and the big bold cupcake sizzlits. I got the idea from Cindy Motherway. Mine is a little simplified.

That's a Weight Watchers 3 point blueberry muffin in there, but you could also add a bagged item. In these colors - Pretty in Pink and Basic Black, the black gingham does well to tie it all together.

That Cindy, she's a paper genius!!! And thanks to my upline, Debbie for loaning me her petal card die and the sizzlits.

Friday CPR 7/3 - Movin' On Up

(I'm leaving this post here this week as well as on the Friday CPR blog - hope you enjoy it!)

We prepare ourselves at the end of each year for the students to "Move Up" into the next grade level. On the last day of school the second graders come over from their school and visit their new 3rd grade teachers. The old third graders visit their new fourth grade teachers and, you guessed it, the old fourth graders visit their new fifth grade teachers.

During this time, the old fifth graders are signing yearbooks, watching movies, or are outside on the playground.

Before the day is over we will be visited in the office to sign a yearbook, to be offered something from the class party, or to receive a gift.

It's nice to see our outgoing 5th's to say good bye and wish them luck. We've had them for 3 years. We know the frequent flyers who visit the principal, and we know the one's who have done well also.

But we not only lose students to moving up, we lose parents also. And again, there are the one's you couldn't wait to see go, and those that you will miss.

I received a package from one such family. This mom always treated us at the holidays, secretaries day, and at the end of the year with a container full of puppy chow. The homemade candy puppy chow that is. Delicious! This year was no different except for the note.

The children (twins) each wrote a thank you on the note, but then the mom added her sentiments. We go back a long way. When her older daughter was in 1st grade I happened to be doing a long-term subbing assignment for her teacher. Through the years, while I was subbing, our paths would cross. Then when I took the office job, we saw more of each other.

This is a mom who always takes time to talk to you. To really ask you how you are doing and mean it. She's also a mom who writes her children's notes on any available piece of paper, be it a paper napkin that's handy or the back of a grocery store receipt.

She's a mom who will paint her face green and don a blow-up leprechaun outfit and visit the school each St. Patrick's day and cause mayhem and laughter as she runs down the halls and around the outside of the school. And I have pictures of her dressed as a cow for Halloween, udders and all.

She's a mom who you will see running through the neighborhood with her dog on a leash, sometimes with her children following along on their bikes.

And, she's a mom who will drop what she's doing and come in to clean tables at lunch when someone else can't make it.

These are the one's you hate to lose.

Thursday's Throw Aways (with pictures now!)

You know I've reused envelopes a couple of times on Thursdays, but this past week we got an envelope that just begged to be used.

Every once and a while you might get an envelope made of vellum. This is a great find because it can be used in a couple of ways - both in front of and behind the scenes so to speak.

Unfortunately, before I got my hands on this one, HWNSNBP opened the envy and wrote on it. Not to worry. There was still a lot of salvageable material.

I cut off the ragged edges and divided up the remaining panels. Writing or text on the envelope is not a factor for one of the uses.

If you've ever used a Stamp-a-ma-Jig, you might know that since vellum is so transparent, you can use it in the place of the clear plastic sheet.

Line up the corner in the SAMJ and stamp your image keeping the stamp right up against the "L" in the SAMJ.

There are four corners to every piece, which means you can get 4 images on one piece of vellum. Just make sure that you turn the vellum a quarter turn after each stamp used.

I took the image from the new Hostess set Wings of Friendship and started playing with it on a piece of scrap paper.

If you plan it out just right, you can form a star in the center. This I did on the scrap and then took another piece of vellum and laid if over that image securing it with some post-its.

Then I used the SAMJ to transfer that image onto the new sheet of vellum.

Happy Independence Day!

Stampin' with Downline Friends

These are the projects that we worked on at our downline meeting last Friday night.

The Pinwheel was designed by my upline Debbie Modrowsky. It shows off all the new In Colors and the new polka dot grosgrain in those colors. I think it's so cool!!!

I've been dying to try the tri-shutter card and got the chance that night. Pretty cute, huh?

We stamped with a new hostess set and used the new Big Shot die to make the giftcard holder card. (We also used some of the new colors.)

The cute little butterfly holder uses DSP and the butterfly die. You need two of the same size butterfly and attach them with brads. I love this! I already tried and you can use two packs of the drink mixes you add to water bottles. You could also punch holes in the top of the wings and thread a ribbon through them so the butterfly would hang (like on a tree).

Next we used the box die and some new DSP and stamps to make the animal cracker holder. This has so many possibilities! Gotta have that die now too!!!

Debbie had asked me to show the ladies how to make the little watering cans. You might remember these. I chose the new Soft Suede for the can and added Razzleberry Lemonade DSP and Crushed Curry accents. The ribbon is the new Dusty Durango polka dot grosgrain.

We had so much fun doing all these projects and shooting the breeze. We had pizza and birthday cake to celebrate Debbie's birthday. (The cake was lemon coconut and was delicious and soon you'll be able to get one just like it at Joe's in South Bound Brook. My sideline Dolly and her husband Joe are adding a new section to their store with baked goods and gelato. Yum!)

Teapot Tuesday 53

When I saw the teapot of the day I knew pretty much what it was that I wanted to do today. I actually pulled Cindy's glob up at work (shhhhh, don't say anything!!!) and started planning in my head. Since school is not in session now I was going home for lunch and I thought (silly me) that I could get this done during my lunch break. Well, it almost happened.


I fixed my lunch and while I was eating I was collecting my supplies. The stamp I wanted to use was upstairs, so I ran upstairs (well, not really - let's say I moved as fast as I could up the stairs) and then went over to the stamping table (my dining room table) and got out the colors of paper and markers that I wanted to use. Then I ran the paper through the Big Shot with the oval scallop die.

Since this image has to be colored with markers it does take a little time - tick, tick, tick. I colored the stamp, huffed, and stamped. Then I ran the image through my paper crimper. THEN I decided I didn't like the way the blue flowers looked - tick, tick, tick. So I decided to throw everything in a bag and take it back to work with me and finish (no one else was in the office today - remember I said SHHHHHH!)

When I got back to work and sat down to finish the card I quickly realized that I had forgotten a few things........... like the paper crimper and the mat pack for the paper piercing. This is when it occured to me that I would have to improvise if I were to get the card done. You'd be surprised what you can use in the place of something else (and what money I could have saved by using these makeshift tools) (Hey Dana - are you reading this?).

I recolored the image and stamped it again. The blue is still not quite right, but better than it was the first time. The little butterfly is actually two half butterflies glued together at the body. I stamped each side separately, cut them out and then glued them together. Just a little hint here if you do this - take your marker(s) and colored the white edge of the image after you cut it out - it blends in so much better that way!

I work in a school, so there's lined paper available. I took the lined paper and some post-its and was able to use the lines in the paper as guidelines for the scoring (since I forgot the crimper). I had a metal ruler in my desk and a letter opener which doubled as a bone folder. Putting the paper on my mouse pad gave just the right resistance for the scoring. I did one side of the image and then turned it over and recentered the lines so that when I was done with both sides the paper would have hills and valleys (like it would if it were properly crimped).

Then I got out a push pin and my mouse pad and did the paper piercing. Next was the bow. I didn't like how bulky it was when I tied it normally and just wanted to gather the center. I did have some white cotton string in my hand and then remember the brass brads. I took a brad and trimmed the ends before I opened it as wide as I could without breaking the ends off. Then I wrapped the brad around the gathered center of the bow.


Everything was taped and glued in place and I was happy. I had to wait to get home to take the photo. This was delayed even further because I had a haircut appointment right after work. Then when I did get home I got involved in something else that needed my attention.

One of these days I'm going to be able to get to the tea party on time!!!

So - you stampers out there - what do you think of my tool improvisation?

Oh, btw - the image is Pretty Petals a retired SU background stamp and the colors are Rich Razzleberry, Melon Mambo, and Whisper White paper. The flowers are colored with Garden Green, Ballet Blue, Rich Razzleberry, and Melon Mambo markers. The ribbon is polka-dotted Melon Mambo grosgrain. It's all SU except for the brad.

May I Have Your Attention Please

Just wanted to let you know, if you have my e-mail address in your address book, it has changed. You can click on my profile at the left and once you get to that page, it's listed on the left under "contact me" or something like that. (If you can't find it, leave me a comment and I'll make sure you get the right info.)

We had FIOS installed last Friday and after working the kinks out (several return visits by several service technicians) we think we've got most all of it worked out.

I can tell you that the HDTV picture is better, the internet is slightly faster than the cable hook-up we had, but there's still a minor glitch with our telephone answering service which should be resolved today. All this will be worth it, however, as it looks like we'll be saving $100/month (more craft money?) guaranteed for the next 2 years.

Now that all that nonsense is over, I'll be posting again real soon.

Friday CPR 6/26 - Solitaire?

To view my Friday CPR post for 6/26 - Solitaire? click here.

Thursday's Throw Aways - Week ?

Taking a break this week - too much chaos. Will be back with a new Thursday's Throw Aways post next week!

Teapot Tuesday 52

It's been 52 weeks of teapots. I've missed a couple, but if I hadn't, I'd have a full deck of cards! This gorgeous teapot came straight from England to our hostess. This being her Teapot Anniversary, Cindy decided to use this wonderful teapot as our inspiration this week. In her story, she tells us that we've been invited to have tea with the queen this week. Please do go check out her story and her fabulous castle card on her glob. You just can't miss this one!

I started reading the comments on some of the cards in the Teapot Tuesday 52 Gallery on Splitcoast and there are some stories flying around this week that are so funny and so clever. Not only do these ladies come up with their beautiful creations each week, they laugh and cajole one another. And one of them even made a special 3-D teapot with all our pictures in it for Cindy's anniversary. So cool!

This has been so much fun participating this last year in these challenges. Thanks Cindy for inspiring us all.

So for my contribution this week, and in honor of our tea with the queen, I made a crown (that also is a box) for our fearless leader. I vaguely remembered seeing this box over a year ago in the Splitcoast gallery and after I did a little searching I found it and was pointed in the right direction for the template. This is a creation of Jan Tinklenberg and you can find the template and directions on her blog (look in the left column under My Templates and Queen for A Day Box).

I used Glossy White cardstock for my crown to resemble the white porcelain of the teapot. The top of the crown is a piece of pattern DSP from the pattern pack. The very top of the crown is a clear bead from the Pretties kit held in place with a clear seed bead and some wire. The "flower" jewels are stick-ons that I found in the $ bin a Mike's a while ago.

So, what do you think I should put in this Queen for A Day Box?

Psssst - don't forget to go over to Cindy's glob and wish her a Happy Teapot Anniversary!!!