Hello Dear Friend Card

Here's another card I made using the kit by WeR Memory Keepers. This card is for one of the gals I've swapped with. It's her birthday and I thought I'd send a card. All the items in this kit are from the Merry January collection which happens to work for February too!

Until my next post,
Diane

Thinking of You Card

A friend of mine recently had out patient surgery and I wanted to let her know that I was "thinking of her". Hope she is on the road to recovery soon. I made this card using stamps from Rubber Cottage at a Stamp Scrap Art Show convention in Hampton, VA last year.

Until my next post,
Diane

Not "THAT" fork in the road

I used to love to watch the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. One skit was where he'd play this daytime film emcee called Art Fern. He'd tell you about a business and then go over to an easel and show this "map" that almost looked like a plate of spaghetti and describe how to navigate the Southern California highway system and then say you need to take the fork in the road. Of course there was an actual fork on the "map" and it always got a laugh from the crowds. On the video I'm linking to it begins at about 6 minutes 58 seconds.

Anyway, I've come to a fork in the road sort of. I haven't made ANY ATC's this year. I'm still paper crafting but trying to complete all my family birthday, anniversary and holiday cards early. Then I won't be in a panic when I've got a week to do it. I'm also building a stash of cards to send when I do get back to swapping ATC's.

I'm also compiling all the family records, photos and memorabilia. I bought Legacy late last year and imported my Mom's side of the family from a cousin. I also found out a cousin on my Dad's side had a lot done on Ancestry.com so I've been cutting and pasting that info into Legacy. Lastly, a cousin on my husbands side had a lot of that family done so I copied that in too. Now I'm going through the family records, photos and memorabilia and scanning flat items and photographing bulky ones to enter into this database. Some of the neat small bulky ones I'll put into shadow boxes so I can see them on a regular basis rather than keep hidden in a box.

I'm sure I'll begin ATC creation again but I've no timeline yet. I'll still make posts but instead of every other day it might be every 4-5 days.

Until my next post,
Diane

Another Mini Album

Here's another project I failed to post. This was another mini-album I made at the Aug 2010 Creating Keepsakes convention in Virginia Beach. This class was called Making Ordinary Extrodinary taught by SEI. I liked all the classed I took with them. Their instruction were VERY easy to follow since like all but one of the classes you DON'T have enough time to finish the project(s) in class. This class used regular old envelopes as the pages of the albums. We used eyelets to secure the area where the rings would go so it is pretty sturdy. Some of the envelopes were sealed closed and others left open with decorated flaps so you can hide some goodies.

If you have a Creating Keepsakes convention coming to your local area check them out even if you don't do traditional scrapbooking like me. You'll likely find there are other classes to make cards and mini books.

Until my next post,
Diane

Happy Valentine's Day

Here's a sample of the cards I made for Valentine's Day. I used paper from WeR Memory Keepers and some cut outs I made or downloaded with my Silhouette. On some I used a Fiskars corner punch, bling or brads. It is difficult to see with the scan but I added a red Sakura glaze pen to certain portions of the cards to highlight the heart the bunny is holding or the dots on the diagonal stripes.

Until my next post,
Diane

Bottoms Up Birthday card

Here's a card I made in a class last year taught by The Paper Cut. The focus of the class was using images printed on acetate along with Impression Obsession mega background stamps. The inside of this card says: "to another year older. Have a GREAT day. Happy Birthday". After taking this class I've got a bunch of ideas for making cards using my photographs.

Until my next post,
Diane

It started with Hallmark

In this case I'm not referring to a Hallmark greeting card. I'm referring to the little datebooks I'd get as a teen all the way into my forties where I'd write down all the important family events to remind me when to send a card. These little books were my handheld computer of the day.

About 10 years or so ago I went out and bought a Palm device that would import my MS Outlook calender and contacts and then I'd know where to go and when. I'd also have the handy dandy birthday and anniversary list.

My cell phone was pretty dumb back then and I didn't text so I carried two devices. Then came wi-fi all over the place and free in many locations. My Palm was getting a bit outdated so hubby got me an iTouch so now I could surf the internet, check and send email and still keep track of the birthdays and anniversaries.

I still carried two things though, the phone and the iTouch. Phones were getting very smart now but I didn't want to pay for the convenience of a data plan and besides I really wanted an iPhone and Verizon didn't carry it so I was going to hold out.

Last month I got an email from Verizon that we were eligible for a new phone. Yeah, I hated the one I had and hubby did too. If you didn't go through a cumbersome process to lock the phone you'd easily butt dial someone or make a mistake and inadvertently access the internet. I called Verizon to block us from doing it because this phone was such a nuisance; we did it by accident a couple of times.

Shortly after the first email I got another saying Verizon was getting the iPhone 4. I got one even tough they are on the 3G network and surf and talk are disabled unless you are wi-fi. I've had iPhone envy for a few years and now finally I can carry one device, talk, surf, check and send email, take pretty decent photos and videos AND still check the birthday and anniversary list. That way I can go home and make and send an old fashioned hand-made, snail mail sent card for that special someone on their special day.

I like technology but I'm still a bit old school at the roots.

Until my next post,
Diane

Happy Birthday to You card

Here's an all blue card. It's hard to tell but the gingham portion on the bottom of the card is exposed so the card front actually stops right around the bow. The sentiment and the design element are actually patterned chipboard. Inside another sentiment says "celebrate and eat cake".

Until my next post,
Diane

Birthday definition card

Here's a masculine type birthday card. The stamps are all by Seaside Stampin Ink.

Until my next post,
Diane

A mini album I forgot to post

Late last summer I went to a Creaking Keepsakes convention in Virginia Beach. It was a late add-on since there was some flooding in Nashville earlier in the year and that convention had been cancelled. I thought it might be a bit too much scrapbooking and not enough card making & mini-book making but I was wrong. There were a lot of classes and of course the vendor area was loaded with great products. Most of the classes include too much to complete in the allotted time. If this really bothers you then be advised. Even though you rarely get to finish your project(s) in the time allowed the instructions you get are very good so you can complete them later without ease. I took this class using acrylic pages and black and white papers by Awesome Albums and we DID get to finish which was great. The class wasn't that challenging but it did give me ideas how to use acrylic since I hadn't had that much experience with it. I think it is great that acrylic albums or ATC's can be double sided BUT you need to prepare for that. You need to look at both sides of your paper if it is double sided and know that it is going to show unless you put something on top of it.

Here's the album I made. All of them were a bit unique since our mixture of papers, buttons and colored flowers were a bit different and you could swap with a neighbor if you didn't like your stuff.

Here's the other side of the album

Try using acrylic in your next project, I think you'll like it. Loads of companies make precut albums in various sizes and templates.

Until my next post,

Diane