Back at it...

Finally things have slowed down...and I have found time to use my scrapping stuff! Found a few fun sheets of coordinating DP and hauled out some old stamps, bought a new one, and the ideas began flowing. Here is what I have to show for the last 24 hours...not much...but I am glad to be back at it! The stamps in the top one are from a Unity Stamp Co Kit of the Month, I think it was February of 2010, the middle one is from My Favorite Things, and the bottom card was made with a new Itty Bitty set, also from Unity, sold at Archiver's. Coloring was all done with Copics...lots of sewing, layering, and nestabilities, and my windowsill is lined with some cheery cards to inspire me to get moving on some more projects!

Things just gotta match!!

I have been looking for a better solution than CD cases for my clear and unmounted stamps for some time, and I am thrilled that Stampin' Up sells these clear ones in bulk. They latch shut so I will never lose another micro-Papertrey stamp because it wasn't stuck down securely, and they fit cling stamps on BOTH sides without crushing them. But my one reservation was that I like all of my sets to look somewhat uniform, so I copied the font and layout of the SU clear stamp labels and dusted off my Microsoft Publisher skills, and made some labels!

I stole a few images from the websites if available, (this really doesn't give me any guilt...I bought their stamps already!) and copied the photo onto the label. This one I am showing you is for my case for Whipper Snapper chickens, if I ever get more, I can print a sheet for the back, or even stamp the reverse of the label with the new stamps.

So, I printed it out and trimmed it down to size, then I added a decorative strip of DP. At first, I was going to make them all the same color, but then decided that I kind of like the idea of a bunch of fun papers, and this way I *might* remember what color a set is, so I can find it faster.

Next I scored the spine edge, and voila!

A perfect label...clean and simple, and best of all easy! With about 50 sets to go, I shouldn't be here typing away, but I wanted to share my idea. If you have MS Publisher, just send me an email at papercanoes@gmail.com and I would be glad to share the file and trimming instructions with you!

Non-Stamping Project!

This is my other project...meet Willow, one of our little hedgehogs! We have 4 hedgies now, and eventually we will be having baby hedgies!! I used to raise them years ago, and recently went to Kansas to pick up these little prickly things. Willow is a Cinnacot Pinto, a fairly rare color, which makes her seem softer than she really is!

Anyway, I thought I would share a little part of my world that is not stamping related! Though I do actually have some paper-crafting ideas for decorating the outsides of the cages with name labels. :)

Baby Thank-yous

I am so excited to be stamping again! I just did this set of 12 thank-you cards for a shower gift. Of course it's a baby girl...and the mom is an adorable trendy girl, so pink and brown just seemed to be perfect! I changed them all up a tiny bit with the die cuts and embossing folders, but theyare mainly unform in appearance. Pink Pirouette is the embossed base, with Choc Chip frames and Java Versamagic ink just makes the bunny (CTMH) look soft! A little ribbon and a brad, with PTI Mixed Messages sentiments complete this little gift set. The only thing better than an adorable, fun card, is a whole pile of them! I just loved doing these, and had to share pics of them in progress, as well as the completed collection before boxing them up. I am decorating a gable box to match for them to go in...hopefully I will love that too when it's done...if so, I will post pics! Just buyinga dozen stamps, and a cute brown gel pen to throw in, and it's a cute, useable baby gift! :)

More pics of my end of the family room!

I'm Back!!

Ok...NOW the basement is done! We finally put the floor and lighting in, and so all I have left to do is find time to use this fun space!! I began college this fall, and with all the projects...well, scrapping has taken a back seat. I have quite a few ideas I will be jumping into next week, though!! So back to SCS looking for more inspiration!

Garden Boot

It's great to be creating again...now I remember how I came up with ideas...once I make one card then I end up using the same stamp set again, or scraps left over and it's a never-ending cycle! I love it! I just did this card for the Splitcoast challenge to do a summer activity theme, and since I still had the Papertrey set out, I went with gardening of course! I love these colors, Ruby Red and a minty-aqua, the inks are Versamagic brick Red and Aqua. A little sewing, a little ribbon and a button, and it's done!

Sweet Pea

Finally, I am creating again! I found inspiration in this weeks Sketch & CAS Challenges on Splitcoast and came up with this simple summer card! The stamps are Papertrey Green Thumb, and the paper is SU Celery and Wasabi. I added a few dew drops for the peas and it really made it come alive! This was my first time trying a different brand of embossing folders, both the dot backgrounds were done with Quickutz folders. They seem to leave a shallower but sharper impression than the Cuttlebug brand, but I love what they have come up with and will definitely be buying more! Anyway, this would be a great card as a thank-you for some garden veggies (I do have someone in mind!!), or even a baby card!

We finished my Scrapping Room!!

Ok it's not completely done, but I have my space ready to use! The only thing left is to add a chandelier over the table, and we just painted the floor for now. I am also going to put the SU *Create Definition* decal on the empty wall above my counter. It's been over 4 months since I have had all my stuff unpacked, and I can't wait to get creating, but I thought I better do the photos now, since it won't be this tidy again for a while!

This is my end of the basement family room, the photo below is the view from my *work* space. I love that we can all be in the same room together, each doing our own thing. I will do most of my creating at the counter, but if

I need more space or have friends over to scrap, we can use the table. And then if we have company I can stash my tools away and use the counter for a buffet and the table for kids to eat at or play games.

I found the set of cabinets on craigslist for just $100 for both, and the 12' countertop was a stock item at Menards for $50. The left cabinet was placed away from the side wall to cover a poorly placed pipe in the floor, we cut out the back to fit over it and it's all hidden away now, plus it left a handy space that just happened to fit my punch drawers! I had the bookcases before, but they are from Ikea as well as the baskets and worklamp. The dining set was another craigslist find for $150 with 8 chairs! Overall a few super deals made this a great stamping area! Our entire house has a cabin-y decor going on, so I wanted to make this area fit in, but still be functional...I think it works well!

Anyway, we leave for vacation Monday and I will be back in the stamping world like crazy soon after! I can't wait to dive into my new space and start sharing creations again!

It has to get worse...

...before it gets better!

I am posting this for my own motivation to finish the job! If I say it should be done within a week, then I will work hard to make sure it happens! We have finished all of the sheetrocking, and it's all taped, with the first horrible coat of mud on. I have all my scrapping stuff either wrapped in plastic or moved to the garage, so there is no creativity whatsoever until this is DONE! I really miss my workspace, and can't wait to have this completed. I need the *me* time to recover a little sanity each night with the kids home for the summer. :) Well, back to work...

Western Memories

So my room isn't done, but I do have a countertop to work on! Here is my first creation since the move! I made this as a sympathy card for someone who LOVES horses and recently lost her father. I used the Wanted set from SU, and Define Your Life...tried to keep it somewhat simple with the muted colors of Close to Cocoa and Baja Breeze. After a lot of ink distressing and some embellishments, I really like it...hope she does too!

My Space is Under Construction!

Finally! I have a space to call 'my own'!

It's not finished, but the plan is coming together and the supplies are all purchased, now we just need to find time to actually complete the work. This is one end of the family room in the basement, the wall where the bookcases are is 11' and the space I am taking up on the window wall is 12'...so it's bigger than the dining area I was using before! And did I mention, it's MINE? :) I found this dining set on Craigslist for $150...with 8 chairs! I was going to paint it black, but if I leave it as-is, I don't care what happens to it. DH is adding a chandelier over the table, and it's going to double as a fun class or workspace for friends, as well as a game/entertaining table for company. The maple cabinets were another CL find...$100 for both! The will provide some much-needed storage as well as supporting my 12' countertop, with a space at one end for a built-in garbage, and then a space for a stool or two underneath. This is going to be a great place to set out my die-cutting tools and other items I had to stow away before!

And the best thing is, this is still part of the family room, so I can work on projects and still be 'with' the group! There is a lot of finishing work to be done in the whole room...it measures 33' by 14.5' overall, so I am dreading the taping and mudding job ahead of me, but I am anxious to get it done and feel like I can relax with my scrapping stuff again! So, with a deck, landscaping and this project going on, it may be a while before I am actually back on SCS! Hopefully within a month or so! The joke at our house when we start a project is that 'It will be done at six-thirty.' 6/30/09...haha! Some days it's looking more like seven-fifteen though! Happy scrapping everyone! Thanks for letting me share...sharing an unfinished project gives me the motivation needed to get it done! And thank you all so much for your inspiration...without you posting pics of your amazing spaces, I would not have had half of the wonderful ideas to make this space work for me!

We're Moving!!

Sorry I haven't updated in a while...and thanks to those of you who have emailed your concern, but all is OK! :) We are just in the process of moving to a new house....where I will HAVE MY OWN SCRAP ROOM! Yay!! Along with all the projects, packing, cleaning, painting, unpacking, decorating, landscaping, fixing, and trying to keep up on life, I will be out of the scrapping world for a couple months! But when I am back, I will be back with a pile of projects and room to have all my tools out at once!! Woohoo! (To quote Spongebob!) Have a fun summer everyone, hopefully I will be back in the loop before fall!

I did get time to take a few pictures yesterday! These are some Trumpeter Swans that are visiting a small lake nearby. They are a rare sight around here!

Snail Mail

These stamps are from A-Muse...I love their stamps, they are so fun and whimsical! This card made me smile...so I thought I would share it. It's a very basic layout that works with so many images and sentiments! The stitching around the background paper adds a lot of texture, and the twine, ribbon and button pull the whole thing together.

Tire Swing

This is one of those new Stampin' Up sets I just had to have, but it's hard to use such a large image. This set with the tree is called Branch Out, the sentiment is from Trendy Trees. I used a lot of distressing, some felt ribbon and twine for texture. The red bird was an afterthought, but it just finished the whole thing off, without the bird it seemed too boring. Overall it's simple, but I like it!

Have An Ice Day!

I did this card for the Limites Supplies Challenge today on SCS. The limited supply was TIME. We were challenged to do a card in under 30 minutes, and this is what I came up with. I used scraps in my bin, and picked one of the new stamps laying on my table that was easy to color, not much to it! The image is from a new Stampin' Up set called Animal Crackers. The whole thing could be done in less time if I wasn't trying to think about it so much! I really love this background paper from Crate Paper...time to see if I can find more of that!

Together in all Weather

It was snowing like crazy yesterday, so I had fun escaping into this springtime card. I just colored the images and then built up from there with papers that worked. The colors are Marigold Morning and Riding Hood Red (both SU). The stamps are all from a Stampendous Changito Set that was exclusive to Archivers. I love how cheery and happy it turned out!

Hang In There

I did this one for a Split Coast Inspiration Challenge...where we were challenged to find inspiration in an exhibit to support breast cancer. I had to use pink of course, and this image was perfect for it! The colors are Pink Pirouette and Regal Rose...with a little gray. The flowers are all punches, some embossed with the Quickuts Curlz die, and then I added pearls to the centers. This was a fun one!! Just need to find someone to send it to!

Copic Comparison Chart

This is my personal hand-color chart that I have filled in with my markers. It was done on Papertrey Stamper's Select Cardstock, each box was colored with one layer of Copic ink. Tt is purely for reference between one color and another. Since all monitors are different, please do not use this as a true color sample for ordering Copics. It is intended for use to compare similarities in colors and shades of one vs another. B60 is there...just that pale that it hardly shows up...some other light ones are less obvious, like RV000, RV00, R00, BG000, B00, G40, V91...all colored in, but they are very light colors. I will update this as I add to my collection, but hopefully this will be of some help! (Click on the photo for the LARGE version.)

The blank chart can be found here if you would like to make your own!

Monogrammed & Embossed

Our family was recently shown a huge amount of kindness and generosity by someone, and I really wanted to do some kind of very special THANK YOU! So this is what I came up with...a set of three of these cards, blank inside with the Monogrammed front. All I know about their style is what my husband told me....they had silvery blue walls, and their furniture was elegant/traditional. Hopefully they will like them...nothing worse than trying to thank someone with something they don't like. :) So...this card is actually quite simple...two different embossed panels with ribbons around the seam. And then just dressed up the die-cut 'S' with some punches and silver ink. I love how it turned out!