Just Because Card

One of my fellow stamper friends recently had surgery. I follow her blog and have been emailing her on and off for a few years and finally actually talked to her the other day. This card is to wish her well during her rehab and hope she is in the fast lane on the road to recovery.

I made this card in a class using Technique Tuesday stamps and inks. They make some very small stamps but have great ideas to make big things from small things like the little border stamps. When you put them together it looks great...at least I think so.

Until my next post,
Diane

To the Handyman in my life card

Here's another of the acetate cards I made last year in a class by The Paper Cut. THIS IS NOT A PICTURE OF ME! We used Impression Obsession stamps for almost all of the cards. The inside says "Happy Birthday to the guy that fixes all of my cracks".

Until my next post,
Diane

I've been evicted...from my former craft/computer room.

Hubby and I have been talking about this for a L-O-N-G time. Back in the old days we shared a computer. Then he got his own and set up shop in a very small section of our bonus room or the room over the garage.

The rest of that room had "stuff". Most of it was a collection of mine featuring Star Wars and Star Trek collectibles. I was doing a pretty good job of selling it little by little but it was a very slow process. Since we had the space it became the area to put things that we didn't want in the "public" portion of the house so it basically looked neat and tidy and the rest of the "stuff" was hidden away.

Since the focus of my free time had changed to crafting I wanted more space. Hubby wanted more too. He was also looking forward to a closet to store his "stuff", mostly consisting of motorcycle garb, helmets and parts he's trying to sell. It is a win-win for both of us. I'll eventually have more room than I'll know what to do with. I'll also have more light in my computer area but hopefully it won't be too hot in the summer as I'm gaining west facing windows. He gets more room and more light too. His portion of the bonus room was in an area without direct light.

We decided to start the switch even though the bonus room isn't totally cleaned out. We hope to have a buyer for a bunch of it but if not I'll go through it and keep a small portion and give some to Toys for Tots and more to other charitable groups.

Here's the last views of my old abode.




Storage for inks in the center drawers and misc stuff on left and right. Unmounted stamps on the tall bookcase on the right.





Ancient computer work area that we've moved since the mid 80's. Still functional but weighs a ton.













Another view of computer area and the north facing window.



















Very big closet and work table.

















You were wondering what was inside the closet...lots of "stuff".






















More stuff!



Happy Card

Here's a card I made for an anniversary. The materials are from the Merry January collection in a kit by WeR Memory Keepers. I thought it was a great idea to leave off the "birthday" or "anniversary" and just have the card say Happy with the definition. It makes it more versatile in my opinion.

Until my next post,
Diane

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