some potty humor

Oh come on, you know this is funny! :)

i spy ...

I was going through someone's blog tonight when I suddenly came across something that looked really familiar to me within a photo (click to enlarge).

Circled in blue (that was my doing) is one of my greeting cards!! It's a long story but basically it's in Singapore being sold at a little boutique shop called the Blogshop (how appropo, no?) through a company called Infinite.

It's pretty neat to think how something like the internet can connect two completely different worlds like that. I mean, that card is somewhere about 9,500 miles away from me right now. Kind of crazy to think of it that way.

cast your vote - round two begins now!

Here is the card I designed for round two of the Gallery Idol competition, based on the "All Around the House" theme. Voting is open until 12:00 pm (mountain time) this Thursday, July 16th. If you get a chance, check out all of the wonderful creations - everyone had such a different twist on the theme.

Unfortunately, my image got cut off on the right hand side for some reason (I'll see if I can get it fixed) on the voting page. Keep your fingers crossed I make it past this round! And thanks again for everyone's support!!

on to round two!

Woo hoo! I've made it on to round two!!

Just a quick thank you to all of you out there that voted for my card. I truly appreciate your support in my crafty endeavours! Round two's theme is "All Around the House" and is about featuring household items (like chairs, frames, bird cages, lamps, kitchen utensils, pillows, chandeliers, teapots, appliances, dishes, tables, etc.) Oh boy, this is going to be a tough one! Will have to see what I can come up with. Any suggestions??!

The deadline for this round is Monday morning so I'll post my design then. Thanks again everyone -- I could not have made it without you! :) Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

cast your vote - round one begins now!

As mentioned in a previous post last week, Paper Crafts Magazine is holding a Gallery Idol competition for the third year in a row and I managed to make it past the "audition" round! There are 20 contestants participating in this round and our first challenge was to create a wedding card. Here is the design that I submitted:


This is where you come in! Just like the TV counterpart, online viewers will vote each week to decide which of the contestants will move forward in the next round.

So are you ready to vote??!! If so, here's how:

1. Go to the Gallery Idol site: http://www.papercraftsmag.com/contests/gallery_idol_09.html

2. Click on the link to 'register' and complete the form.

(eta: sorry, I forgot these next couple of steps ...)

3. They'll send you an email confirmation that you registered, with a link to click on inside the email. Then it should bring you back to the contest page.

4. Some people said that this is where it got a little confusing, because after you log in it gives you that registration form again. Just ignore it and click on the tab that says "vote".

5. Find the card that you wish to vote for, then scroll down to click on "save vote".

I know it's a pain to fill out the form but hopefully it'll only take a few seconds! (It's to make sure that only one vote per person gets logged in.) This round of voting will be open from 12 noon (mountain time) on July 6th (Monday) through 12 noon on July 9th (Thursday), so be sure to get your vote in before then!

I hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July holiday weekend! Here's hoping for at least a couple of days of sunshine here in the northeast!!

damask + flowers

I got this nice big damask stamp from Impress Rubber Stamps the other day and couldn't help but put together a bright, hot pink-ish sort of diva-like card right away. I love how crisp the image came out, especially after using some clear embossing powder on it to make it feel slick.



Aside from the one card design that I've managed to create within the past week (yeah, I know, I need to pick up the pace and set my butt down at the craftin' table to make more soon), I put together a listing on Etsy for some flower notecards. I love walking through the neighborhood snapping photos of flowers. Lately, I've been so drawn to allium flowers, especially the big bright purple ones that just seem to spring out of no where.

So this set ... you can pick four images and you get four notecards with envelopes. Mix and match flowers or you can have all the same, etc. (click on the image to enlarge it)

Oh and you know what other flower I really like lately? Peonies. I just think they are so beautiful and I love how the petals look so papery.

Anyway, that's it for damask and flowers. On to another heat scorching day here in the Northeast. Can you believe that it's supposed to hit 90 -- isn't it only mid-May?! Luckily (and somehow rather quickly) it's supposed to get back down to 70 on Saturday, so hopefully this [long] weekend will be nice.

TGIF everyone! :)

paper crafts february gallery challenge

Check it out! One of my cards (i heart u) was picked as a Paper Crafts February Gallery Challenge winner!

february sampler on sale now

Just wanted to post that the February Sampler is on sale now. I contributed 50 of these little "hey cupcake" love-themed greeting cards, so you may get one in your Sampler box!

guest blogger

I'll be the "Friday Blogger" on The Sampler website starting today. Stop by the site and check it out! Here's the card that I featured in my post today:

TGIF!

featured on etsy, part 2

Check this out! Another Etsy user picked one of the items from my online store to feature in a list of her favorite picks (click to enlarge the photo):

The "love is the spice of life" card is actually made with three stamps I had custom made from Impress Rubber Stamps last year. I got the base of the shaker image from the Microsoft Clipart Gallery, played around with it a little in Photoshop, and then drew in each of the little hearts so that they were all on one side of the container to make it look like they were pouring out. Then the hearts coming out of the shaker are a separate stamp, and then the sentiment. Funny thing is that I came up with the sentiment because I originally thought about doing little spice jars as our wedding favors, so I was going to stamp that on the card or tag that we would've attached to them. Alas, I went with different favors but I still liked the sentiment so much that I built the images to go with it.

Anyway, not that you needed that much information! Be sure to check out this treasury list before it expires on Saturday (1/17) at 10:43 am EST!

featured on etsy

Check this out! An Etsy user picked one of the items from my online store to feature in a list of her favorite picks (click to enlarge the photo):

It's a photo card and the two red chairs on the front of the card are on my in-law's front porch. I am so tickled that someone picked something from my store to feature in a "Treasury" list! For those who have never explored that section of Etsy (I just recently discovered it for the first time myself):

The treasury is a member-curated gallery of short-lived lists of 12 hand-picked items each (plus four alternates). It functions as a high-demand (and pretty!) promotional tool that many devoted Etsians fight to get. Members can feature their favorite items, items selected on a theme, or just however they like. The Treasury is not intended for self-promotion, but instead to acknowledge and share the many cool things for sale on Etsy. Admin often choose an exceptional Treasury list to promote on the home page and occasionally make them to tie into Storque articles or special events and occasions.

When they say "fight" to get, they are serious! They only allow 333 treasuries at a time (they all have expiration dates) so when the current number comes close to 333, people (like a couple thousand at a time - seriously!) will stalk the page until a page is released in the hopes of being able to get a treasury page. I kid you not! I [insert shameless confession here] admittedly stalked the page a couple of days ago vs. roughly 4,000 other Etsians and did not manage to get a page. Boo hoo. Hopefully better luck next time.

Anyway, thanks for letting me share this little gleam of fame with all of you. Hurry because her treasury expires tomorrow (Wednesday) at 5:16 pm EST!

a seriously cool christmas card

We got this really cool, hand-drawn Christmas card from one of our friends (and one of Tony's bandmates), Lennie. Wow. Talk about great art! I think we should frame this one ya'll. Thanks, Lennie!

spinning snowflake card

I saw this idea of a spinning element on a card in one of the paper crafting magazines, but it had a cute little black bat instead. I had these little die-cut snowflakes from Paper Source to use, so I decided to try the idea with an A Muse card base and voila! A spinning snowflake card!

And for even more poops and giggles kids, check out the video on how to "reset" it before you mail it to someone!



Now I needs to go get me some zzzzz's ...

once in a while

Once in a while, I'll get a card design in my head in the middle of the day when I'm busy doing something else. In this case, an idea came to mind about an hour before I left work today. I frantically drew out a rough sketch so I wouldn't forget it, dashed home (practically speed ran - ha ha), and made a beeline for my crafting table to execute the design. And voila!

I have to say that I'm really happy with the way it came out. :) I started out by stamping and embossing the snowflakes (Elzybells "snowflake 1" stamp) with a Versamark ink pad onto some new cardstock I bought from Papertrey Ink in "ocean tides". Then I poured some Rangers embossing powder in "seafoam white" on top, shook off the excess, and heat embossed them. Next, I punched them out with a 1-1/4" square punch and made sure not to make them all centered on purpose. Then I mounted each square onto a 1-1/2" square of silver metallic cardstock. I applied some Aleene's paper glaze around each of the 1-1/4" square's edges, then covered the glazed area with some microfine glitter, and set them aside to dry. I like how it gave the edges a chunky, snowed on look.

To assemble the card, I used a piece of white cardstock that was cut down to 5.5" x 8.5" folded in half as a card base, then I glued a 4.25" x 5.5" piece of "ocean tide" cardstock on top of the card cover. I bought some of Papertrey Ink's "stamper's select vellum cardstock" and just love how thick and durable it is. I cut a sheet of it into 4.25" x 5.5" rectangles, and then used a Martha Stewart "simple scallop edge" punch on the right edge. I adhered the vellum to the top of the card using two small mini glue dots which were then covered up by tying a piece of "ocean tides" ribbon on top. Once the glittered squares were dry, I set them in place with some adhesive, stamped the message, and ta-da! A lovely holiday card.

a few random things

Just wanted to post about a few random things tonight. First and foremost, a big happy birthday wish to my husband, Tony.

Rewind to Friday ... 08.08.08. What a cool date, eh? I can't imagine how many people got married on that day. Wouldn't it be cool if your baby was born on that date? I have always had this weird fascination with numbers. Anyway. Moving on now.

My coworker, Donesia's, birthday was on Friday so she got to celebrate a fun 08.08.08 birthday this year. I made this card for a bunch of us at the office to sign for her using a Stampin' Up! stamp that Liz gave to me with my last order (thanks, Liz!). I am really into the idea of using large, decorative stamps as backgrounds these days. I love how the foam letter stickers stand out on this card.

I'm also really diggin' this pink and blue combination for some reason. I just think it goes so well together, so I made Liz a thank you card to thank her for the flower stamp (silly, I know!). Renee loaned me her Making Memories tag maker tool, so I used it around the stamped "many thanks" image. Again, lovin' that background stamping!

We watched the opening ceremony of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and were just blown away with how much detail and coordination went into each part of it. This Boston Globe article talks about how a Chinese film director, Zhang Yimou, designed and directed the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony with a $300 million budget. Holy crap! This guy's a friggin artistic genius. I was simply amazed at how beautifully coordinated everything was, and blown away by the sheer number of people involved with each "scene". I found this video about the dress rehearsal. Can you imagine how much discipline and focus it must've taken for all these people to make the show as seamless and perfect as it was? Craziness.



Lastly, we went to a wedding shower for our friends, Jill and Drew. It was on the rooftop of their Comm Ave condo building and the view from there was amazing. It's where I took some fabulous 4th of July firework photos a couple of years ago. The weather couldn't have been better and it was just fun seeing how excited the two of them are about their upcoming wedding date (October 5th). I snapped this photo of the Prudential Tower tonight.

And no, we didn't see Tom Brady while walking down Comm Ave tonight. ;)

tennis + dave brethauer + a birthday card

Tony and I decided to try playing tennis again today. It's been quite a while since we've hit the courts, and part of that was probably because I sucked so bad for a while there. Ha! Of course, the wonderful husband he is, he would never never say that but I know when I stink at a sport. I think I was almost 20 pounds heavier back then, too, so of course, I was probably a lot slower on my feet. What-ev.

After driving around in search of an empty court, we ended up at our old stompin' ground: Bunker Hill Community College. What's nice about these courts is that they are tucked away from the main road so most people probably don't even know that they're there. They were kind of beat up for a couple of years but it looks like they recently replaced the nets and they look nice now.

Turns out that we didn't suck as much as we had anticipated sucking. LOL I'm still quite out of shape though and had to stop for a couple of rests as my heart beat a gazillion times a second. Our tennis balls are quite old though, so they don't have much bounce to them anymore. Or so, that's what we'll blame part of our suckiness on for now anyway [wink, wink]. But we've decided to a) get me a new racket (mine is very old, strung quite loosely, and the grip is shedding - gross!), b) buy some new tennis balls, and c) get me some new sneakers that don't make my baby toes so sore (<-- I decided this last one just now) before we hit the courts again next weekend.

Tony and I both used to play avidly when we were younger. Did you know I was on the varsity tennis team in high school? Well if you saw me running around today you definitely would not have thought that - ha ha ha!

Renee and I took a colored pencils class taught by one of the owners of Memory Box Co., Dave Brethauer, at Ink About It in Westford, MA yesterday. He taught us some pretty neat blending techniques to use with colored pencils and we worked on pieces for five different cards. I liked this one with the fall leaves the best because we used three different colors and it really showed the blending technique the most.

On a side note, I've been awaiting my recent order of Stampin' Up! goods from Liz to arrive so that I could try this idea that I've had brewing in my head. I used the jumbo rolling "happy happy birthday" stamp and "wild wasabi" cardstock and ink pad from Stampin' Up! to make this card. I used the little cupcake stamp from A Muse and then punched them out with a circle punch. Anyway, it has been such a long time since I've created a card so I thought I'd post it here.

Later that night, Tony and I had a nice dinner at Coda in the South End. Read about it here. Hope everyone had a nice weekend!

color inspiration card

I was reading this month's ScrapSupply newsletter earlier tonight and came across the guest designer section featuring Kristina Werner. I was curious by the caption that said, "Kristina's Make a Card Monday video was just made a YouTube Featured video". What's 'Make a Card Monday'?, I thought to myself. Low and behold, they are some pretty cool videos that Kristina has posted on YouTube -- to the tune of funky music I might add -- where she shows how to make a card from start to finish. Brilliant!

Then I went perusing even more and found her blog. Ahhhhhh! [<--- this is where that godly sound from heaven kicks in] She's got some really cool project ideas and a weekly "Color Inspiration Challenge". This week's palette is based on this:

So then I thought, hmmmm ... I think I could put a card together in the next two hours for this challenge. And voila! (Note: it's 8 minutes until deadline, I better hustle!)

It's a 3" x 6" card. The base is made out of chocolate card weight paper from Paper Source. I punched out a gazillion little flowers from cream cardstock and glued them to the scalloped background piece. I made the scalloped background piece by punching out two scalloped squares (using the Marvy Uchida pink punch) and then taping them together on the backside as they overlapped a little bit. I covered the seam with the flowers so you can't tell it's two pieces. Then I added some of the chipboard alphabet stickers by Heidi Swapp to spell out 'mom', and put some rhinestones in the middle of some of the flowers. I used the new bird stamp and embossed onto some of the chocolate cardstock and cut it out closely around the edges.

new stamp

I saw this little bear stamp at Paper Source last night and couldn't resist adding him to my collection. So in a Valentine-making mood!

congrats!

Congratulations on your engagement, Jill & Drew!!

a little valentine head start

Our shipment from A Muse arrived yesterday and I couldn't resist grabbing a couple for this card idea I've had floating around in my head. It's based on one I did with the boxers + lingerie = and the pregnant camisole stamps with a little spin. Can't wait to make more Valentines this weekend! :)