Confessions of a Scrapaholic

I'm MOVING!

2009-03-02T13:02:00.000-05:00

...it's moving day today! *LOL* I know this is pretty much coming out of nowhere, but I will be making the move to WordPress in the next couple of days!

I have had an awesome time using Blogger as my blog host, but sometimes you need to change things up a little bit and I think WordPress has a few more features that I was interested in...

I really hope this doesn't inconvenience you too much! To help make it easier, all those who are currently subscribed to my blog, I will be transferring your subscription to the new E-Mail subscription service, so there is no work for you to do except acknowledge the change when you receive the E-Mail notification. Otherwise, if you've been kind enough to include me in your Blog Roll lists, you can update your links with my new blog link.

Thank you so much and I hope you travel with me to my new adventures with blogging and crafting!

>> CONFESSIONS OF A SCRAPAHOLIC <<
http://confessionsofascrapaholic.wordpress.com

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Blogaversary Winner!

2009-03-02T11:09:00.000-05:00

...Thanks to everyone who was able to take time out of their weekend to stop by yesterday to celebrate with me and my one-year-old blog! I have had a wonderful year and I hope that this year holds more fun, more ranting, more shopping and more creating for me! Enough about that...on to the WINNER!

The winner of my blogaversary giveaway is:

...and that would be Jamie, who said:

happy one year on your blog, love your pics too sweet! and not to mention i got a laugh at your about me~ jamie

Congratulations, Jamie and thank you for celebrating with me and playing along! Please E-MAIL me your contact information so I can get your prize out to you ASAP!

Thanks again to everyone else for stopping by!

CURRENT MOOD: HAPPY CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: THE PHONES RINGING IN THE OFFICE

A year of -isms...Happy Anniversary!

2009-03-01T01:02:00.004-05:00

"Hmmm...so by reading that, it SHOULD lead me to the conclusion that a shopping ban would be the prohibition of shopping. I see how the concept can relate to each other, just not how it pertains to me."

...Oh, YAY! Today is here! *LOL* I can't believe how excited I am, it almost feels like a birthday! I wonder if I can convince The Mister to get me a present to celebrate! HAHAHAHA...

When I first started blogging, I pretty much just ran and jumped in head first into everything with me fake-it-'til-you-make-it kind of attitude. I didn't know where to start, so I figured I'd just start from the right then and there and just kept on going! I figure now might be a good time to take a step back and maybe start with an introduction. *LOL*

I think I had originally intended for this blog to be mostly an anonymous rambling of a crazy crafter/shopper. I wanted to be all witty and funny and clever and mysterious and people reading would be all intrigued and be enticed to keep coming back again and again. Yeah, well that didn't happen and with something as personal as crafting, you can't really be apart from it all, can you? So, I'd like to introduce myself...my name is Catherine (I so want to put the "I'm a scrapaholic" part, but I'm pretty sure I already said that before, and let's face it, that was soooo last year!) I often come on here talking about the ways I can trick The Mister into buying things for me, so I thought I ought to introduce him as well. The Mister aka my best friend aka my husband aka the love of my life aka Bart.

Awwww...

...or more realistically...

BWAHAHAHA...okay, we don't look like that all the time...but we sure did on Halloween!

I have no idea how this blogaversary post began to revolve around The Mister - er...Bart, I mean...*LOL* my fingers are just so used to typing The Mister whenever I'm on here! Anywho, like I said, I don't know how this began to be about Bart, but now that I'm on this path, I can see that I'm liking where it's going.

To be completely honest, I am a very big spoiled brat when it comes to Bart. I have been spoiled and have gotten used to it and there's no turning back now. Bart has been the most supportive of me in pretty much everything I do. Not to say that no one else has been, but he's pretty much been my number one fan from the start. I especially notice this AND appreciate this when I hear other ladies talk about how close their husbands are to threatening to take away all their goodies and stuff and all those other husbands who just don't get it. Granted, Bart doesn't reeeally get it (especially when I have another MS edge punch in my hand or when I want to take just one more stop at a different Michael's to see if they have anything different from the OTHER Michael's we were just at), but his whole attitude is that if I think it's worth my time, then he thinks I'll be absolutely awesome at it! He's the one pushing me to go for things, submit things, branch out into things, etc. It's just so humbling and slightly embarrassing to just have someone around who thinks that paper was invented solely for me to create with it.

So I would really like to take this time to shout out a big THANK YOU to Bart for his endless support, encouragement, patience and feigned ignorance at my shopping. For trying to understand how much I enjoy this little hobby of mine and for giving me the space (both figuratively and very literally - I stole the guestroom that also doubles as his closet because I took up all the room from our master bedroom, too) that I need. I'd like to THANK him for not looking at me like I was crazy when I was sitting around in my pyjamas laughing my head off in a room all by myself while reading a post...for taking it in stride when all of a sudden I was telling him all about my friend Marti...for not stumbling in that stride when I told him I was up and going off to California with this friend Marti he'd never heard of or met before...for not giving me dirty looks when I shake him awake late at night to show him the newest thing that I just made...for always having something nice to say about every single thing that I made...etc., etc! Raising my proverbial glass to toast my very fabulous husband whom I am feeling VERY lucky to have!

........so really, I guess all that support and encouragement is to blame for my endless need to shop for my scraproom...I can see now that I don't REALLY have a problem! HAHAHAHA...

I can also see now that this post may pretty much be a long one...I swear I'm not trying to punish you or make you work extra hard for the giveaway by making you read all of this! I really wasn't intending on going that way, but I love that that's where my finger and my tired, wandering mind took me!

Let me see, let me see...what do people normally put in blogaversary posts? I haven't really been to too many, let alone hosted one! I've heard that some bloggers have had a lot of success with their blogs and I can definitely see that a lot of hard work and effort went into that! Although I did disappear off the face of the earth for a few months here and there, I have to say that I am very proud of what I've gotten accomplished so far - especially since I'm usually the type to never see anything through at all! Here's a couple random stats courtesy of Google Analytics:

As of yesterday when I last checked, there has been a total of 7366 visitors to my blog since March 4, 2008 (Thank You!)
I have a total of 30 individuals who are subscribed to my blog - one of them being my very own Mom (Thank You!)
The average time that an individual spends on my blog is 2 minutes and 5 seconds (Thank You!) I know time is precious to everyone!
77% of my blog traffic is from referring sites, so THANK YOU to everyone who's added me as a link in their own blog. Please drop me a line to let me know if you have done this so that I can return the favour and add you to my blog list as well!

Can I just say how much I *LOVE* Google Analytics. Yes, my next confession in the new year of my blog is that I stalk all the people who come and visit me using statistics! *LOL* I am also a stat-addict...I just get all high and giddy when the line graph goes up to show my number of visitors...don't pretend that you don't feel the same way...

Over the years I have also learned a number of things...

No matter how many series Studio G puts out, I'm going to need them all
Nestabilities are TOTALLY worth it in the end, so you should just stop procrastinating and get them ASAP or else you'll have to wait just that much longer when you finally decide to get them...
Your crafting soul sister could totally be living in Virginia and she will always understand that your house isn't really messy, it's just that you're busy and a lot of the times, she's really thinking the same thoughts you're thinking (Marti aka my alcohol ink yoda, my PIC, SuperMommy, sister from another mister, etc., etc., thanks so much for an AWESOME and hilarious year! You have been the best DT a girl could ever ask for and I am really excited to see what this year has in store for us!)

...and so much more I can't even get into it now or you'll hate me and wish I never have another blogaversary again!

And with that...and the fact that Bart is already snoring and the room just spun in front of my eyes, I will sign off...

I have had such an amazing time here on this blog and in the whole crafting community and wherever else I may lurk. As much fun as it is to learn and to create, it can only be so much fun because of all the people that I meet and learn from. I am so thankful that you take the time out of your day to drop by and see what I'm up to and to share kind words with me. I am also very thankful that you all understand and get what it is to have this wonderful hobby and that you share all your ideas and creations with the rest of the world - including me! I hope that you continue to do so and I hope you continue to drop in and check up on me once in a while as well! In this next year to come, I can only hope for bigger and better things to come, more wonderful friends to meet and share with...and more things to be released from CHA so I can shooooop! *LOL*

With that, I'll leave you with one more -ism from the past year.

"Seeing how I don’t like anyone enough to have them stay overnight, I moved our spare bed in the guestroom to make more room for me and my stuff. So if we ever have anyone sleep over, I’m sure they’ll find the floor very comfortable. I would say I was joking, but for those who know me, they probably already know that I’m not."

CONTEST DETAILS: To be eligible for the blogaversary giveaway, please enter your comments on THIS post any time before 11:59 PM EST on March 1, 2009. To avoid any confusion or misunderstandings, please include your first and last name or your first name and a screen name so that I may differentiate from same-named individuals. I will choose a winner via a random integer generator on March 2, 2009 and will announce the winner on a post that same day. Please limit your entry to one per person. Thank you so much!

CURRENT MOOD: HAPPY CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: BART SNORING

A year of -isms IV

2009-02-28T21:58:00.002-05:00

"I couldn’t find any underwear, so I wore bathing suit bottoms instead. This might be an all-time low."

...so that counter is totally throwing me off. It's still saying my blogaversary is in two days, except that my blogaversary is TOMORROW! *happy dance* Maybe it's factoring in a leap year that I don't know about. Anywho, forget that counter, I definitely know when March 1st is and I'm so happy that you're here! I hope you stop by tomorrow for a little bit of anniversary posting fun!

First off, don't forget about my giveaway to celebrate! Here's my giveaway roundup if you've missed my previous posts:

Coordinating K&Co. paper pack and 3D stickers

Alcohol inked glitter

Angel Hello Kitty organizer pouch and two COPIC markers
R05 and G05

K&Co. sticker packs and rub-on glitter set

...aaaaand...waaait for it...waaaait for it...

A $10 GIFT CERTIFICATE TO PEZ-A-DOODLE DESIGNS
Courtesy of Marti

To be eligible for those goodies up there, you'll want to comment on >>THIS<< post.

No card or project for me today! I am currently blogging live from my parent's place surrounded by kids running around, crying babies, loud-talking relatives and a dog going crazy with all the chaotic-ness all around him!

Hope you all have a wonderful Saturday evening and we'll see you back here tomorrow!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Look Ma, No Coloring OR Stamping!

2009-02-27T00:02:00.002-05:00

...HAHAHAHA! You've got to cut me some slack...if this were 'Fixing Dinner' on the Food Network, Thursdays are mine and The Mister's "Fright Night."

I was pretty much all over the place yesterday with work and appointments and a mad rush home to get the house clean-looking (notice how I didn't say CLEAN...*LOL*...just clean-looking!) in time for choir practice. Everytime I think that okay, after this one thing, things will die down...something else happens to replace whatever it is that's just finishing! I'm trying not to think of how full my plate already is and how much MORE things are being added to it to avoid going crazy and just dropping off the face of the earth again (I'm NOT going to, Marti!*LOL*)

Even though things were hectic, I snuck away from Chewy and The Mister during after-practice cleanup to go play in my scraproom - which has reached DANGEROUSLY high levels of mess...so high, it has never been recorded...ever. I have to put things on my lap while I'm working on them to avoid losing them in the craptastic pile of stuff in front of me!

Apparently I was suffering a mojo meltdown because I couldn't really find anything that was turning out the way that I wanted to. Ran out of really nice cardstock, so I tried printing on a lesser quality one and found that my COPICs were bleeding all over the place and the image was already so small that I couldn't even make adjustments to compensate for the bleeding. I tried colouring with Prismas, but I couldn't find my blending stumps in all the mounds of stuff and my watercolor pencils were in the other room and far be it for me to get up to go get them now that I was already sitting and comfy! Okay, so I figured there'd be no coloring and I'd pretty much used all the stamps that would look good with the no-coloring techniques that I had been playing around with this week. So last resort, there'd be no stamping either!

I poked around my scrap stash and underneath layers of...I wanna say crap...I saw cute little faces staring up at me. I stared at them and they stared back...so I stared some more and an idea started forming while we were having our staring competition. I took out the little cuties and my chalks (whom I've been getting along with very well lately!) and got down to business. It always takes a million times longer for an idea to come together, but it only took a few minutes to actually get this card together...

C'mon say it with me, "Awwww!" (I didn't hear you say it, Marti...HAHAHAHA...). Thank you for those who joined me in my "awww-ing". I don't care how bad it sounds, but I am LOVING how this card turned out. As soon as I saw those cute little babies staring up at me (from their holographic backgrounds - ew! I got rid of those as soon as they were out of the packaging!) I knew that I wanted to go for a baby-themed card. With what feels like EVERYONE in my family being pregnant and about to explode, there is definitely going to be a need for some baby-looking cards! Because there were four specific animals I wanted to use on my card, I chose to have it be non-gender specific and I resorted to the four basic baby colours. Baby pink, baby blue, baby yellow and baby green. If I had one more animal, there'd be a baby purple too, but the alligator in the sticker set was a lot longer than the rest, so he would have thrown off my symmetry. Sorry to say he was booted...your time will come, my little alligator friend...your time will come...

Picked out four sponges (in this case, I used makeup sponges. A pack of bajillion for a dollar at the dollar store, you can't go wrong there!) and loaded each up with my chalk colour choices and started circling away on my cardstock. I randomly circled each colour and then went back and filled out the blank spots with the other colours until I had a nice soft tye-dyed effect. Pop-dotted my little buddies on their own chalk-edged mats and voila!

I ran out of sheer white ribbon and the only thing I had that was close was a white ribbon with some silver threading and the white was just SO white it was contrasting hideously with the background, so I did my next favourite thing to with ink pads besides applying them to stamps. I laid out my ribbon and started swiping with coordinating Studio G ink pads!

The Studio G ink pads were PERFECT for this project as the ink on them is a bit chalk-y-like, so the colours definitely worked well on the ribbon. So up there, you can see the white WHITE of the ribbon as it originally was, and with those four little pads, turned it into that rainbow looking swirl of ribbon. I applied the ribbon to the card using the "cheater" method (I also had to finish the inside of the card to cover up all the ribbon taping I did to the inside of the card) and I was done! I considered adding more to it, but I figured since I was doing the no colouring, no stamping technique today, I should also apply the no overdoing of the embellishing technique as well! I did take my Glossy Accents and Stickles and highlighted a few things on my little cuties, otherwise, I reined myself back in to keep the card oh-so-soft and so simple!

Thanks for stopping by today! I know you're probably ready for the weekend about as much as I am (and believe me, I've been ready since last Monday!) Even more fun things to look forward to on this particular weekend as I will be celebrating my first blogaversary this Sunday, March 1st! I hope you'll be able to stop by and celebrate with me! Stay tuned tomorrow for the giveaway roundup of pictures!

MATERIALS
All hyperlinked products and materials are from Pez-a-Doodle Designs

Stamp: Zip, zilch, zero, NADA!
Ink: Studio G
Paper: Plain ol' white cardstock
Embellishments: 3D stickers, ribbon, Glossy Accents
Tools: Chalk, sponge applicators, pop dots

CURRENT MOOD: TIRED CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: AFRICA

Look Ma, No Coloring - Part II

2009-02-26T00:01:00.000-05:00

...look at me go! COPIC markers still snuggled nice and comfy in their little Angel Hello Kitty case feeling a little bit left out. Sorry COPICs, that's the way the ball crumbles and the cookie bounces!

I am having so much fun trying different ways to stamp - some of the experiments I tried didn't work, almost kind of worked or turned out okay, but it's getting me to pull eeeeverything out and trying new things! Never distress embossed before? Never used acrylic paint daubers on a project before? Never distress inked anything before? Who cares! Bust them out and fake it 'til you make it! That's the fun part about distressing - even if it's kind of messy or imperfect, nobody else needs to know that, just tell everyone it's "distressed!" What? It's not ripped, it's distressed! What? It's not splotchy, it's distressed! Have fun, get inky, get meeessy! *gasp* I know...You know when your craft table is messy? When you set something aside so that it doesn't get inked on and five minutes later, you can't find the thing you set aside. So you make another one because after searching frantically, you still can't find it and then when you go and set something else aside, you find the other thing that you couldn't find before. HAHAHAHA...I don't know who that happens to................

Aaanyways, after a few misplacements, I finally was able to get it together but I did have a bit of trouble today. Work sucked the rest of the mojo out of me and left me with not much else to work with today! Here is my completed project:

Hey, do you know that movie that came out a while back called Inkheart? This post has nothing to do with it, except for the word ink. *LOL* What DIDN'T I ink in this project?!

Starting off with a piece of glossy cardstock and my oh-so-useful, oh-so-trusted foam ink applicator, I used a couple colours of Distress Ink (Tea Dye, Vintage Photo) and inked up the entire surface going around in circles with my foam ink applicator. Next, I turned to my rich and creamy Versamark Dew Drop in Jumbo Java and inked up my Butterflies a-Flutter stamp and hit up each corner with a nice thick coat. When the ink dried (with the help of my heat gun) I rubbed my finger around over it to give it a more "distressed" look (or did I just not stamp it right? Who knows, that's the beauty of distressed! *LOL*) Okay, I lost track of what I was talking about...HAHAHAHA!

Oh right, using my ONLY Nestability set, I cut out my verse. I was going to go a different way, but since today is the first day of Lent, I thought I would go the biblical path. I also cut out a larger oval to mat my verse. For the verse, I misted it over with Perfect Pearl mist (left over from yesterday, no sense in that yummy, shimmery mist to go to waste, right?!), dried and then inked over with the Versamark ink. The ribbon was a sheer PURPLE when I pulled it out of my ribbon drawer, but with a couple swipes of my little Dew Drop, voila! Now it matches everything else! Took a little bit of Cinnamon Stickles because I haven't bonded with them in a while and Stickled certain areas!

That's it for me for now, please come back later on for a little bit more SillySkittle-isms! I've got my last installment of pictures for the giveaways - it's THIS WEEKEND! Please come by on Sunday and visit for a chance to win my blogaversary THANK YOU prize! Thank you for stopping by!

MATERIALS
All hyperlinked products and materials are from Pez-a-Doodle Designs

Stamp: Butterflies a-Swirl by Pez-a-Doodle Designs
Ink: Versamark Drew Drop in Jumbo Java, Distress Inks in Tea Dye, Tattered Rose and Vintage Photo
Paper: Glossy Cardstock (NOT the same as photo paper!)
Embellishments: Stickles, Ribbon
Tools: Oval Nestabilities, Foam Ink Applicator

CURRENT MOOD: LAZY CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: SUNGLASSES

Sending Flowers...

2009-02-25T00:01:00.003-05:00

...will never go out of style and now, what makes it even better is that you can send flowers that won't die and leave a mess to clean up afterwards!

My project for today is a little bit of a double-trouble, two birds with one stone, etc., etc., and so forth...

I wanted to showcase another way to use Flower Soft other than just the normal glue-dab-and-sprinkle technique, so I got out my Flower Soft accessories (ie. wire and vase) and went to work on Mojo Monday's sketch for the week! Let me just say, although I'm usually a more is more kind of person, I have always had a hard time with layers on my card. I have been improving with practice over time, but I layers have always intimidated me. Maybe because it also involves a knack in coordinating colours and papers and I haven't really done much of that either. In any case, the Flower Soft project and Mojo Monday has definitely gotten me to step up to a couple of my own personal challenges! I didn't use as many layers as the sketch suggested. Instead of adding the last layer on top of my base, I got out my mini mister, Perfect Pearls (in heirloom gold) and water and mixed me up some Perfect Pearl mist to give a nice golden, shimmery sheen to the base of the card (my cardstock). Completely matching/coordinating paper without another added layer (I was afraid my card would topple forward when I tried to take a picture of it! *LOL*)

Here's the sketch for this week:

...and here's what I came up with:

I was having a really hard time with the flash and the super shimmery paper that I used, so that's the images there with no flash, and here it is with the flash, just to give you an idea of the shimmery goodness...

Whew! Lots of pictures for one little card, huh?! HAHAHA...that gorgeous paper is my never-fail DCWV Luxury Stack and it's oh-so-lux-uuuuur-ious! I feel like I can just rip any of the luxury stack papers and smack them down with glue and it would still come out lookin' nice and fancy. That's what LUXURY STACK means...*LOL*

Anywho, I actually had a lot of fun with this sketch! Once I finished the actual Flower Soft part (which also didn't take that long either!) everything came together pretty fast!

I won't get too into the nitty gritty of everything as Marti will have a complete tutorial of how to get the wire and Flower Soft to co-mingle on her blog >>HERE<<, so I'll just jump right in. I got my Flower Soft onto the wire and left them to dry while I was working on putting together the rest of the card. Cutting my paper and arranging them into my Mojo layout nice and easily - how did I not get into sketches before, they are SUCH a help - plus the sketch was awesome! I opted out of the optional embellishment as I didn't want to take anything away from my Flower Soft goodness and the only other embellishment I used was my SugarPops skittle beads! Pretty much the only other little details that give the project that extra oomph is the flourish stamp that I stamped onto the vase and the edging that I got from using my new EK Success edge punch. If you haven't already noticed, I finished off the inside of the card as well using the extra larger bits of scraps I had left over after all my cutting and trimming. I stamped my sentiment using a Versamagic Dew Drop (creamy and rich and stamped onto my smooth, shimmery paper so nicely). To avoid any oopsies, I heat set the ink.

That's it for me today! Blogaversary is just around the corner, I'll be getting my super blogaversary giveaway together into one whole picture just so everyone can get the scope on what's up for grabs as my big THANK YOU for a faaabulous year! This wouldn't be any fun if you weren't around to read it, right? Tune in tomorrow for some more Look Ma, No Coloring! projects and don't forget to check out my DT leader and DT sister's blogs for their takes on stamping without colouring! Thanks for dropping by!

MATERIALS
All hyperlinked products and materials are available from Pez-a-Doodle Designs

Stamp(s): Butterflies a-Flutter by Pez-a-Doodle Designs, Studio G
Ink: Distress Ink, Versamagic Dew Drop
Paper: DCWV Luxury Stack
Embellishments: Flower Soft kit (Flower Soft, wire, vase), SugarPops by Sugar & Scraps, Perfect Pearls
Tools: Heat Gun, Mini Mister

CURRENT MOOD: CONTENT CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: THE HEATER GOING

Look Ma, No Coloring...

2009-02-24T08:30:00.001-05:00

...our own fearless DT leader Marti has definitely set us up with a challenge with our DT assignments this week (or TORTURE considering that I *just* got my COPIC markers...*LOL* however you choose to look at it) our mission: stamp but nooooo colouring! *gasp* I KNOW! How could she DO this to me? Hahahaha...

Actually, my poor neglected COPICs aside (which isn't that big a deal since I don't even know to really use them yet!), the challenge was AWESOME! I love how it got me to pull out all the other materials I've been hoarding but haven't really used to their full potential!

So today I am looking at Distress Embossing Powders!

These are the colours that I used for this project:


Dusty Concord	Peeled Paint	Dried Marigold

The difference between these embossing powders and the other powders that are normally used is that when heat is applied, these don't melt down into the shiny, raised look that most people associate with heat embossing and powder. These distress powders end up with a rough, gritty feeling and the weather-worn look when heat is applied - just like the packaging says! They also differ from other embossing powders in that they have to be shaken very well first get the "distress" crystals distributed before use. These crystals is what gives the embossing powder their name! Once sprinkled onto a project and heated, when the powder has cooled, you can rub your finger over the area you have just embossed and these crystals will give the project it's distressed look! I don't really emboss much or distress enough to really be able to say that the project gets an authentic distressed look, but I *LOVE* using these embossing powders as it definitely lends any projects a totally different look and feel that other regular ol' embossing powders just don't do!

Anywho, I used these on my no-colouring project and this is how it turned out:

Can I just say that I *heart* how this turned out!?! So to break it down, I first made sure that I had shaken all my jars of embossing powder that I would be using and had them open, lined up and waiting to be used. Then I stamped my image on the INSIDE of the card with Versamark. While Versamark was still wet, I took a pinch of one colour of powder and sprinkled it over certain areas of the wet stamp and did the same step for the other two colours. Once I had a nice sprinkling in different areas of the colours that I wanted, I held up the card and tapped my fingers underneath the card to make the powder "dance" around. This ensures that all the areas are covered in powder. Then I just dumped the excess powder in the trash...with the colours all mixed up, I knew I wasn't going to be using it again. But feel free to save it if you think you'd like to use some funky, mixed-up colours to emboss one day. So once I had everything powdered, I applied heat, let it cool and then rubbing the living daylights out of it to distress certain areas. To finish up the card, I pulled out my brand new Oval Nestabilities and punched out an oval at the front for my stamped image to show through.

I also used another no-colour technique for the front of the card...I wonder if that gets me any bonus points with the DT leader! LOL...but for the front of the card, I embellished my oval window with a flourish stamp that I inked using three matching Studio G ink pads. So basically, I attached my clear stamp to the block and went at it with the three different coloured ink pads starting from the lightest to the darkest. When I stamped, all three colours showed through making it nice and multicoloured without me having to bust out any colouring materials! Less the effort but maximum effect! I sure like that equation! I also did the same technique with the Studio G sentiment and finished it all off with coordinating FLOWER SOFT and paper piercing! *swoon*

That's it for me today, I'm supposed to be lookin' busy stuffing tax receipts! *giggles*

Thanks for dropping by and visiting!

MATERIALS
All hyperlinked products and materials are from Marti from Pez-a-Doodle Designs

Stamp(s): Butterflies a-Swirl by Pez-a-Doodle Designs, Studio G clear stamps
Ink: Versamark, Studio G ink pads
Embellishments: Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder, Flower Soft, rhinestones
Tools: Paper piercer, Oval Nestabilities, Heat gun

CURRENT MOOD: OVERLY CAFFEINATED CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: STUDENT COMPLAINTS

A year of -isms III

2009-02-23T06:30:00.000-05:00

"Just now, I asked The Mister if there was any holidays or special occasions coming up where people have to buy me stuff. He said our anniversary and I "Psssssh-ed" it because that's in September. He said the only thing coming up is Mother's Day and is it kind of bad that I half-wished I was pregnant so I could demand him to buy me a cart? I would choose New Arrivals of course..."

Hel-looo! Only one more week until my blogaversary! I'm very excited about it...too excited probably by the looks of how the giveaway is growing. I've been gathering here and there - some more K&Co. stuff which I am loving and also a couple hand-made kind of things from yours truly! Like this:

GLITTER!

I'm all googly-eyed! Okay, so I didn't actually MAKE the glitter - I have no idea how that magic happens, but I did make them into all these prettiful colours! I took my jar of plain ol' white glitter and dyed them a bunch of colours and put them in jars just like that! So in with my giveaways, this set of sugary glitter just for my blogaversary winner!

I hope everyone had a good weekend - we got a lot more snow *makes face* and I'm all bitter now at the cruelness of Mother Nature and how she teases us with nice, warm, spring-like weather only to snatch it back give us more snow instead! BAH! But I did have a little bit of playtime in my scraproom and I got to play with more Flower Soft and to colour my very first Lockhart stamp!

Another plain and simple card so as not to take away from the main focal point of my image! Even though I've been all COPIC-crazed right now, I coloured in my image with my watercolor pencils and trimmed the stamped image out (*waves* Thanks fairy craftmother!). I used my oh-so-pretty Flower Soft for the hydrangea's and a generous sprinkling of fine glitter - yes, I am ALL ABOUT the glitter lately! I used my little bottle of Glossy Accents and randomly dabbed at the berries before sprinkling with the glitter!

Next I used my BRAND SPANKIN' NEW Oval Nestabilities (*waves* Thanks, Terri!) and used that as my focal image mat. For the rest of the card I just used my Scor-Pal to add detail and some yummily lumpy SugarPops!

Thanks for stopping by! I'll still be adding a little bit more to my blogaversary giveaway so don't forget to stop by on March 1st to play!

MATERIALS
All hyperlinked products and materials are from Pez-a-Doodle Designs

Stamp: Karen Lockhart
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: Bo Bunny and plain white cardstock
Tools: Glossy Accents, Watercolor Pencils, Aquapen, Scor-Pal, Oval Nestabilities
Embellishments: Flower Soft, SugarPops, Ribbon

"Sorry the pictures are so far away and blurry, I couldn’t bring myself to care enough to get closer. BWAHAHAHAHAHA…" (Paris Hilton at CHA)

CURRENT MOOD: CALM CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: WEIRD RATTLING IN THE OFFICE

Make a wish...

2009-02-21T06:30:00.001-05:00

...and your fairy craftmother will grant it! Well...if your fairy craftmother is Marti from Pez-a-Doodle Designs! *LOL*

It was a GOOD mail day yesterday! I had not one, not two, but three packages waiting in my mail box when I got home from a hideous day - no, make that WEEK - of work! Nothing like pretty postage-wrapped presents (that I paid for *LOL* minus my DT goodies from my fair craftmother) for ME!

My first set of Nestabilities from Terri came today! I got the Ovals set and WOW are they awesome! I LOVE them all. After all the waiting and anticipation and wondering if they were worth it...YES, they totally are! *waves* THANK YOU, Terri! Look for my payment for my next set ASAP!

My last order from Oozak.com for my COPIC markers came as well! I'm not sure if it'll be my last but March 1st is just looming around the corner, so if you're still wondering whether COPICs are for you, I'd stop wondering and get a-clickin' before you miss out! I can't WAIT for my COPIC certification class next month, I'm definitely excited and nervous about that - probably because my coloring is absolutely horrendous!

And last, but certainly not least, my wonderful package of DT goodies from my fairy craftmother, Marti! It's making me *LOL* everytime I say that because I'm wondering what Marti's thinking of me referring to her as that...HAHAHAHA!

Anywho, the package was jam-packed with wonderful things, I would throw them up and roll around in them if the jars of Flower Soft wouldn't conk me in the head on the way down - plus, the jars would make for some uncomfortable rolly-ness, I would think...so YES! My first set of Flower Soft came (I talk like I have more coming, but I will definitely be ordering more of the other sets as well!) and there were pretty pictures and vases and wire and glue and ribbon...lions and tigers and bears, OH MY! There was some FABULOUS stamped images for me to PLAY with because my fairy craftmother knows how much I wanna get my COPIC groove on! And a bunch of other stuff that little ol' me just NEEDS.

So what do you do when so many things come in the mail...?

USE.THEM.AAAAAALL!

*swoons* Don't you just LOVE ME - er...I mean, her??? Marti sent me some stamped images of pretty mermaid Anya and I knew that it was my call...no, my DUTY to shimmer and bling.her.up! Oh you can't see it now, but you do not understand how Anya is working the shimmer. I shimmered pretty much every inch of her using my Sakura Glitter Gel pens after I coloured her in with my COPICs. Next I added my ever-so-handy Diamond Glaze and gussied up her sea-shelled ladies and the beads in her hair. After she was all nice and dry I trimmed her out and microbeaded her tail in green and blue microbeads! I am LOVING the effect of the beads as scales on her tail, but those little things were a pain in my left AND right cheeks! Which I probably have microbeads on...and in my bra...and in my hair...probably even in my ears, they got EVERYWHERE! Note to self and to all of you...maybe get a dryer sheet and wipe all over your hands with as well as the paper. Those little suckers static cling to EVERYTHING!

Moooving on - stop picturing microbeads in my special places!

For my under the sea scene, I took a piece of carstock and watercolored the living daylights out of it using a light and dark blue watercolor pencil and my aqua pen. Once I was satisfied with the blue-y-ness of it all, I took my mini mister, Stonewashed dye re-inker and my blue Perfect Pearls and shook me up some shimmerlicious mist and misted THAT over the whole underwater piece of cardstock. Swirled the shimmeryness with my aquapen and misted some more...you can NEVER mist enough, I would say! Once it was dry - it didn't take too long actually...probably because I assaulted it with my heatgun!

I used my Ranger Distress embossing powder to make my sand - oh THANK YOU, fairy craftmother for the awesome idea on that - and I used Flower Soft to make some algae/seaweed looking things. Then badda-boom, badda-bing, slap everything together and you've got my underwater "make a wish" scene!

Here's Miss Thang up close:

Soooo pretty! (*coughs* I mean, if I do say so myself...) I wish you could see the actual shimmeryness of her - her hair, her bathingsuit/tail...the water...EVERYTHING! Ah well, to actually see it, you'll just have to play with some shimmery-goodness, won't you? Go on and get your shimmer on!

I've got so much I want to share and show, but I'm trying to keep myself in check and pace myself...it looks like the days leading up to my blogaversary is going to be filled with lots of fun things - hang out with me, won't you?

Thanks for stopping by!

MATERIALS
All hyperlinked products and materials are from Pez-a-Doodle Designs

Stamp: Mermaid Anya from The Greeting Farm
Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Stonewashed re-inker
Other Mediums: COPIC markers, watercolor pencils, shimmer mist
Tools: Mini mister, Perfect Pearls, Glossy Accents, aquapen, Sakura Glitter Gel pen, dimensional foam
Embellishments: Distress embossing powder, Flower Soft, sea shells

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

A year of -isms II...

2009-02-20T06:30:00.004-05:00

"The stupid sign fooled me and I thought it was 2 for $1 and by the time I was checking out and the girl said it wasn't, I had already formed a bond with the paper."

Well, to be honest, I already had this entry all written out and I'm pretty sure it posted at the time I told it to post, but something wonky happened and I ended up losing the whole entry! Eek!

Anywho, last night The Mister and I went out for bubble tea (mmm...bubble tea...) and the girl who runs the place has decided to branch out a little and carry small gift items and other knick-knacks - which is really fun, but really bad for me because I love small gift items and knick-knacks - even if I don't know what I would do with them! I was looking through everything - The Mister hates it when I do this because I will start from the beginning or top or from one side and sloooooowly go through and make sure I look at EVERY single thing before I move on to the next section. Just don't want to miss anything, you know! A lot of the things were Sanrio things (HELLO KITTY!) which everyone who's anyone knows that I used to REALLY like! I have a Hello Kitty alarm clock, a Hello Kitty phone, Hello Kitty T-Shirts, Hello Kitty pens, paper...blah blah blah...but I digress...so there were bags and paper and pens and a bunch of other really cool things and then...there it was...

*SQUEALS* It's an Angel Hello Kitty organizer...thingy...

I love Angel Hello Kitty...I had her really cute paper and matching pen which I never used because it was just too pretty to write on! Well, I just had to have this set because I already knew what I was going to use it for!

Ta-da!!! Woohoo! My COPIC markers now have a home! Thank goodness I didn't get anymore from Oozak.com (sale still going on until MARCH 1st!) or else I wouldn't have been able to fit them all in here! But as of right now with 85 markers, everyone is all nice and snug in their new home! Can you just SEE me walking into my COPIC Certification class with my little Angel Hello Kitty COPIC marker bag? *squeals* I know, I am just too excited, aren't I? Taking it down a notch...

Speaking of the bag though, I did come up with a solution for my little giveaway problem that I had confessed about the other day. I am now going to employ the one-for-me, one-for-you technique! So up there you see mine...and another one will go to the blogaversary blog candy winner!!! w00t!

DISCLAIMER: Winner of the Angel Hello Kitty organizer bag will win the bag and pouch, minus any CONTENTS pictured above. Meaning, the prize will not include the COPIC markers pictured.

*giggles* Sorry, just had to put it out there before I went further and got more excitable and carried away! HAHAHA, but to be fair, since I DID show the bag with markers, I will be including two COPIC markers in the giveaway as well: R05 and G05.

I think that's it for me today! I'll be escaping off to Michael's this afternoon on my lunch hour to have a peek to see if they have any of the new DCWV stacks in yet (I won't be holding my breath though, my M's still thinks that the Cricut only has a George cartridge available with it, with the way they stock...) and maybe I'll find more fun things to include in my blogaversary giveaway! Make sure to come back and visit on the 1st to enter! With all my crazy shenanigans and TMI confessions and when you still came to visit even when I dropped off the face of the earth, I would definitely say that you DESERVE it!

Thanks for stopping by!

P.S. For those of you who can't wait to win stuff, buying things ON SALE is just as good, isn't it? Dont' forget that Marti's got all her products and items on SALE at Pez-a-Doodle Designs from 15% - 25% OFF to make room for the fun new things coming - and can I just totally drop a little hinty-hint, Marti DEFINITELY has some fun, new things in store for you. You do NOT want to miss it - I'm having an episode just trying not to blurt it all out! *LOL*

The battle is won and I have conquered and vanquished the beast I call Design Studio. This isn’t the end I know…the battle may be over but the war is just beginning. I’m gonna figure the crap out of DS if it’s the last thing I do. *insert maniacal laughter here* But first, I’m going to bed.

CURRENT MOOD: HAPPY IT'S FRIIIIDAY! CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: POKER FACE IS STUCK IN MY HEAD

A year of -isms...

2009-02-19T08:30:00.001-05:00

"The boss chooses to meander out of his office and down the hall in time to hear my desperate whale cries of freedom."

...I went out yesterday to see what things I could offer for my blogaversary blog candy...here's a little peek at some of the things for the winner...I haven't really decided how it's all going to work, probably all the comments on my March 1 post...so don't forget to come back and visit me on the 1st!

I loves me some K&Co. and I hope you do too!

So there's a K&Co. design paper pack with two packs of coordinating 3D stickers.

I have something on my mind right now and I'm wondering if I'm the only one this happens to...I certainly hope not, though!

CONFESSION #13
Whenever I'm hosting a giveaway or blog candy or anything of the sort, I always get carried away by the excitement and fun of showing pictures and describing things that's up for grabs that I end up wanting to keep what I'm giving away and forgetting all about the giveaway.

*giggles* Not to worry though! The winners of the Ultimate Tim Holtz giveaway that I hosted will be receiving their prizes directly from Marti and I won't have the chance to think about keeping it...*LOL* Although I still half wish that I could win it! I am such an alcohol ink addict!

Anyway! There's a little bit of my blog candy for my upcoming anniversary! I will be posting some more pictures once I get them all together, so hoping you come back and visit for a little bit of fun!

"I can’t wait to be an auntie!
P.S. I hope I get something in the mail today!"

CURRENT MOOD: I HAVE NO IDEA CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: OFFICE SOUNDS

Taking a walk...

2009-02-17T06:30:00.000-05:00

...down blog-memory lane. It occured to me from catching a glimpse of someone's blogaversary sign, that my own blogaversary is coming up! And after I installed mine, I realized how soon it was coming up!

Wow, I can't believe that I've had my blog for almost a year! I know that I didn't write as much or post as much in terms of ACTUAL projects (as opposed to the stuff I buy *LOL*) but that was my year and I can't take it back or change it (actually, I guess I could by way of back-posts, but that would just be cheating myself, wouldn't it...) All I'll have to do is just try harder to be a much better blogger!

I think now's a good time to put in another of these posts since I haven't done much of those either!

CONFESSION #12

Although I don't update my blog as much as I should, when I get to like peoples' blogs, I read them all from the very beginning. Not just a few posts back...I like to go to a blog's archive and start from the veeery beginning and work my way forward. It's fun to really get to know someone and their beginnings...I guess it's also one of those things where you treat yourself how you'd like to be treated, and I guess I would hope that some people would find me interesting enough to read from the very beginning. It must just be the nosy-ness in me. I just like to know everything there is to know...plus it's fun to see how people's work have evolved...speaking of which...

Want to know something? I went and started reading mine from the beginning. It's really fun...I make myself laugh with the weird, crazy things that I say and think and it's so FUNNY to see how crazed I could get over buying things and waiting for things in the mail. Want to know something else? I was in the middle of reading one of my earlier posts and The Mister walks by and goes, "Ew, that one's UGLY!" *rolls eyes* Can you just imagine the backtracking he had to do to try to dig himself out of the hole he just dug and threw himself into when I told him it was MY card? *sniffs* Hmph!

Anywho...I came across a couple things that I had written that made me laugh out loud (either in actual entertainment or embarrassment) and I thought that I would post a few of them from now until my actual blogaversary.

Plus, word on the street is that some people give away blog candy on their blogaversary, so I wouldn't want to be the odd one out! Looks like I've got to get some fun things together, then! We shall see...

On to some SillySkittle-isms throughout the year...

"The first step is admitting you have a problem.
My name is Catherine, and I am a shop-a-holic.
The problem is, I need more stuff."

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

All that SPARKLES...

2009-02-16T20:30:00.000-05:00

...is glitter, Glitter and more GLITTER!

And me thinks that this silly girl went completely OVERBOARD with it! It's hard for me to deal with crafter's block. I get so frustrated and irritated with myself when I sit down to make something and I come up with ABSOLUTELY nothing! Then I get more frustrated and then of course it doesn't help me come up with anything...

Anyway, today was one of those days...I sat down and looked around and...nothing. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Blah.

So I reached for a big, huge jar of not-so-fine glitter that I've had for over a year and I decided to play!

I started with this...

And with a little tweak, a couple light bulbs going off and my good ol' friends ALCOHOL INKS, came up with this:

Red Pepper

Stonewashed

Lettuce

Wasn't really sure what to do with them separately, so I took a little bit of each and ended up with this:

...and from there, I ended up with THIS:

So is there such a thing as glitter overboard? What on this card did I not glitter? *LOL* Another question would be, is there anything that Alcohol Ink can not re-colour? I love, Love, LOVE this stuff! From being so scared to try it out to colouring everything I can get my hands on using it! *LOL*

The card is also a very loose interpretation of Mojo Monday's sketch:

There was already a lot going on with all the glitter, so I decided that I would omit a few of the extra embelly-like things and just stuck to the basics of the sketch. Hope it hasn't deviated too far from the original sketch to not actually COUNT as a Mojo Monday sketch...LOL...when I get started in the scraproom, it's hard for me to go back to the other room to look at the other details I'm missing. I usually only remember a few distinct details of the sketch and go from there anyway...but thanks for looking!

MATERIALS
All hyperlinked products and materials are from Pez-a-Doodle Designs

Stamp: Fairybella (okay, I just made that one up, I can't actually remember the ACTUAL name right now, but I know for sure it's by) Stamping Bella
Ink: Adirondack Dye Ink
Medium: Copic Markers and Sakura Glitter Gel Pens, Alcohol Ink
Paper: Plain white cardstock (100 lb)
Embellishments: GLITTER

CURRENT MOOD: COMPLACENT CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: BENJAMIN BUTTON BLATHERING ON AND ON...

Rrrravishing Red Riding Hood...

2009-02-14T00:36:00.003-05:00

...mama mia! guess what I haven't talked about yet?

These came in the mail the other day! Well I shouldn't say it just like that, it makes it sound so easy, like they handed it to me with a box of chocolates or something. Because of duty and whatnot, they would NOT leave the box at my door because I owed them money, and the thing about UPS is that they'll say that they'll keep trying for THREE days to deliver. Meanwhile, I STILL won't be home any of the times that they would try so I had to call the center, go through the most ANNOYING voice prompt thingy where in the VERY FREAKING end, the machine won't understand what you're trying to say and will STILL put you on hold to get a real person which was what you wanted ANYWAY and then you'll have to tell the real person everything from the beginning! *breathes* So the nearest UPS facility is CLEAR across town and the rain and fog were SO bad the other night that we got LOST. Yes, in my own CITY! I mean, I'd been there once or twice before, but with all the fog, everything was just...blaaah! We got lost and it took us an HOUR to find the place. Then there was a line-up as all the trucks were getting in and unloading EVERYTHING so the place was a mess and the girl couldn't find anything that anyone wanted to pick up. Long story short, there's my babies - and I've got 24 more of them coming! *giggles* Certification class, here I come!

So of COURSE I had to play with them! Found out first and foremost that yeah, any of the inks I own don't work. Place a quick order with Marti...I love knowing people in high places! *LOL* While the order is coming I *whispers* printed off some digital stamps I just HAD to have now that I have COPICs on my work's laser printer. And here's my very first attempt at these oh-so-fickle COPICs!

I loves Anya! Okay, in real life (as opposed to what, right?) I had played around with my COPICs and the hood some more, but then I got this brilliant idea to FLOCK the whole hood, so all my wonderful shading disappeared. It wasn't all that great anyway, so you're just missing an opportunity to laugh at my colouring skills. But holy, moly I couldn't stop running my finger along her hood, it's so niiiiiice! So as you can see, I had a little bit of creative vomit go all over this card. I think I tried a little bit of everything on this...*laughs* If you'll notice my FIRST attempt at a stickpin/hatpin, WHATEVER pin. You can say it's ugly. I told it so myself...it's feelings weren't hurt that much. As you'll also see...if you're not blinded by the whole hot mess, SugarPops have made a little bit of a comeback. Named Ravishing Red after Miss Hood over there...

As I already mentioned, we're not the Valentine's Day kind of folks, so we're off with a huuuge group of friends (I say that like 3 other people and my brothers are a HUGE number...) are going TUBING! So fun, friends and snowpants are as romantic as it gets for this girl! But hoping you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day! Thanks for visiting!

MATERIALS
All hyperlinked products and materials are from Marti from Pez-a-Doodle Designs

Stamp: Red Riding Hood Anya Digital Stamp - The Greeting Farm
Ink: Laser Printer (*teehee*), Fired Brick Distress Ink
Paper: Bo Bunny from Pezzy's Picks (oh yummalicious!)
Colouring Medium: a la COPICs
Embellishments: Doodlebug Flock, SugarPops by Sugar & Scraps, stick pin, white paint pen, ribbon from Pezzy's Picks

CURRENT MOOD: CONTENT CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: I WEAR MY SUNGLASSES AT NIGHT - COREY HART (?)

Ready to Paaar-tay!

2009-02-13T07:57:00.000-05:00

...well at least Pezzy is anyway! She's on her way to masquerade at Mardi Gras, I would say!

*LOVE* this little girl - both the stamp and the actual bundle of cuteness that inspired the stamp! I love how I feel like I'm watching Pezzy grow up with Marti's stamp sets! When her first Pez-a-Doodle stamp sets came out, Pezzy was this cute chubbly little baby climbing over cakes and stuff! Now she's all grown up going to Mardi Gras! Some beaded fluourises just for fun in the background...and there's perfect pearls there again! It's kind of like...once you start with them, you WANT to keep using them again! Over and over! Missy also has some sparkly, bedazzled dancing shoes there as well. She is SO ready to party!

Please excuse the craptasticness of this picture! I just can NOT seem to get the focus on my camera going...I'm hoping it's not because I dropped it the other day. *OOPSIES* Anywho...the general idea of this was to get a closer look at Miss Mardi Gras Pezzy here all decked out with her Mardi Gras beads! I've never been to one, but word on the street is, if you're going all Mardi Gras then you'd better have the beads! I strung her up a little one so she can twirl it around in the air when the party really gets going! *LOL* I also wanted to TRY to get a little bit of practice in with my Doodlebug flock, so I flocked the diamonds on her pants with a little bit of purple flock. It's not a LOT and I doubt anyone would have noticed had I not pointed it out, but it was a little sample for me to try...next, I'll flock a bigger area! But see how classy Pezzy is? Velvet pants!

I used a Pez-a-Doodle stamp today because I've got some Pez-a-Doodle ANNOUNCING to do! I would like to...*drumroll here*...welcome TAYLOR USRY of Musings of an Addict as the newest Pez-a-Doodle Designs DT member! I am so excited that our team is GROWING and well...another addict...how can we not get along!? She just understands me! *LOL* If you've got an hour or two, mosey on over and say hello and welcome! I said an hour because for those who'll only plan to stay for a minute or two...you'll end up being there for hoooours! Taylor does FABULOUS work!

Don't forget to visit my favourite PDP girls: Marti, Christine and Robin. They've always got something fun and fabulous going on!

That's it for me today! I don't have anywhere fun and fancy to go like Pezzy does up there, but I'm definitely very glad it's Friday! Have a good weekend everyone!

MATERIALS
All hyperlinked products and materials are from Pez-a-Doodle Designs

Stamp: Pez-a-Doodle Exclusive Stamps
Ink: Archival Ink
Paper: Random bits and pieces from the floor of my scraproom...I kid you not...
Embellishments/Tools: Doodlebug flock, watercolor pencils, aquapen, Perfect Pearls, Dimensional Pearls, seed beads

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

My, Oh, MY...

2009-02-12T19:57:00.000-05:00

...*YAWN* WOW! I can't stop yawning...I think things are catching up with me pretty fast and I just can't get ahead of the game!

If you didn't already know, I work in an educational setting (post-secondary institution) and they've all announced some serious budget cuts over the next few years...and we all know what budget cuts REALLY mean, right? Anywho...to get started on that, everyone's positions and departments are being "re-evaluated" and esentially it pretty much wants you to describe what you DO in your job and how that contributes to the whole organization. The questionnaire was initially about 25 pages with blanks and spaces to fill in, but when I was done with mine, it came to 60 pages. (It wants us to compare our jobs to when the last "re-evaluation" was done - which was a million years ago, so the job has definitely evolved since then!) Anywho, to really WRACK your brain to think of EVERY SINGLE thing you do and how what you do contributes to the organization and to defend what you do and rationalize why you should stay (without actually saying that) and also to rationalize why the position could possibly go up in grade and pay (since a LOT has been added to the job) is SO exhausting, time-consuming and just...BLAH. By the end of the day, I felt like my evaluation papers grew arms and legs and kicked the living daylights out of me.

So....all that blah blah blah up there pretty much means, is that I didn't have time to really do up a very fancy sort of card... *sad face* I did end up turning to my Footprints stamp again as first of all, it's my only religious/inspirational stamp (so far...) and secondly because I really felt like I needed it after the mental wringer that we all went through.

Anywho, there it is...with very little embellishing or detail - with the stamp there, I really don't think it needs much more anyway! But I did pierce around the edges and add stitching (which took up the majority of time) and then used my Tim Holtz paper distresser to distress the edge. Inked it up a bit with Distress Ink (I can't even tell you what colour right now, my brain is so fried..) and just embellished with ribbon and that little picture frame charm. It looks cloudy right now, but I glued some paper in it and inserted a heart-shaped pearl heart and filled in the frame with diamond glaze.

P.S. A little bit out of left field, but if you ever wondered where I took my pictures...I use the bathroom sink. *LOL* Just throwin' it out there...

Off to get some SLEEP - I need to conserve my energy to keep up with Hurricane Marti. Good things coming and some fun announcements!

MATERIALS
All hyperlinked products are from Pez-a-Doodle Designs

Stamp: Footprints by Inkadinkado
Ink: Ranger Archival Ink and Distress Ink
Paper: Bo Bunny Back to Basics Black and K&Co.
Embellishments/Tools: Foam ink applicator tool, Vintage Flowers with SwirlyPop centers by Sugar and Scraps, ribbon and metal charm from Dollarama

CURRENT MOOD: WRECKED CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: CHOIR PRACTICE

Shimmery good luck...

2009-02-11T06:57:00.001-05:00

...ugh. That's all I have to say about yesterday. Mentally and physically draining. And I had a Grande frappuccino after lunch so it kind of escalated everything that I was feeling and added a physical syndrome to it. I was stressed out, frustrated, irritated, jittery and palpitating. *LOL* Just a rough day all-in-all and it didn't get any better when I got home.

SLAM. Creative road block.

Can you believe it took me over two hours to get this card together for Daring Cardmakers? And the sad thing is, I've done something similar already. The dare was definitely a challenge...I don't know why I had such difficulties with it! It's not my most favourite card ever, but all in all, I still like how it turned out.

I got out my rarely used PERFECT PEARLS and I pretty much used it on EVERY piece you see here. I first started by 'inking' up my Oriental background stamp with Versamark and stamping it onto Bo Bunny's Back to Basics textured black cardstock. After I took my fluffy paintbrush and opened up four pots of Perfect Pearls and pretty much went crazy. Dabbed the brush into one colour and applied it aaaaall over the wet card and repeated that step with all the different colours until the entire piece of cardstock was SHI-MER-EEE! The texture of the carstock helps add to the whole look, I think. I stamped my lucky bamboo on the same cardstock with Versamark and chose only to cover in green PP. I trimmed them, and chose to pop-dot certain ones to add a nice 3D effect.

I printed out the greeting on plain paper and cut it out and dabbed my foam applicator into both brown and green dye ink as well as the purple PP and then swirled it all over like crazy onto my sentiment. I chose to print it out onto plain paper and cut into strips to kind of immitate...imitate...?! What the heck is it...my mental mojo is failing me! *LOL* To look like a fortune from a fortune cookie.

Thanks for looking and I hope to beat down that creative roadblock for tomorrow!

MATERIALS
All hyperlinked materials are from Pez-a-Doodle Designs

Stamp: Oriental stamp set by Rubber Stamp King
Paper: Back to Basics black textured cardstock by Bo Bunny
Ink: Adirondack Dye Ink (brown and green), Versamark watermark pad
Embellishments/Tools: Perfect Pearls and applicator brush, foam ink applicator tool, printed sentiment, gemstones

CURRENT MOOD: FRAZZLED CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: OFFICE ENVIRONMENT

Have Your Cake...

2009-02-10T08:57:00.003-05:00

...oh how I can't wait for the long weekend coming up! Thank you to all who decided that there should be a statutory "Family Day!" I will most likely ignore mine and lock myself up in my scraproom to play! *LOL* But again, just like Valentine's Day, I don't think that we should have called this extra day off "Family Day" anyways. It just makes it seem like that's the day that families should be getting together to do things, and I think that should be done on a waaaay more regular basis than when someone up there says we should. To me, Sundays are family days. Maybe they should call it "EXTRA Family Day" so that people don't get confused! Hahaha, okay I'm off my soapbox! We all know that the extra day off was just to give people a break from the Winter Blues and the looong days - so I really shouldn't be look a gift horse in the mouth, now should I? I'm just sayin'...

Anywho! I have broken through the strong hold that PINK has on me! Today's card is NOT PINK! I don't think there's even any pink at all (albeit, a teeny, tiny bit in the patterned paper - which is not my fault!). I also took a break from babies (there was actually a reason why i was doing 'baby' kind of cards. My cousin's baby shower is coming up next month and I had a couple requests to make some cards for the occasion) and came up with this birthday card!

Can you believe I've had this stamp for almost a year now and haven't used it on ANYTHING!? It's already been inked because I think I tried everything out once I got it, but I haven't put it on a project at all! WOW! And here I am thinking I need more things! (Well, I still do...that doesn't change anything...LOL).

So that's my birthday card! I don't know exactly who I'll be giving it to, but at least for any birthdays that sneak up on me, I know I'll be prepared! So like I said before, the photograph came up a bit more saturated than it really is. The yellows aren't really that dark...it's more of a bright sunshine yellow, but I didn't really have time to go in and edit it (okay, I didn't feel like it!). But it's nice and cheery - which is how the weather has been looking for the past couple of days! Goodbye winter blues, hel-LOOOO COLOUR!

MATERIALS
All products and materials are from Pez-a-Doodle Designs (hyperlinked) unless otherwise stated

Stamp: It's My Party by House-Mouse (HM Stamps)
Paper: DP - Bo Bunny (Pezzy's Picks), cardstock package (Michaels)
Tools: Watercolor pencils (Michaels), Aquapen (Michaels), Chalk (coming soon)
Embellishments: Stickles, Dimensional Pearls, ribbon (Wal-Mart), stickers (Dollarama)

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Footprints and full moons...

2009-02-09T22:57:00.003-05:00

...my favourite EVER religious/inspirational story (that's not in the Bible) is Footprints. I remember it making me cry when I first read it and it's always stayed with me ever since. I know everyone has different ways of coping and getting through things and I know a lot of people have experienced different/difficult/hard times, but for me, this story has always helped me through those hard times.

Like TODAY! Let me walk you through a little bit of history and proven facts. Lunatic is borrowed from the Latin word lunaticus which is derived from the stem luna, which if you watch enough Dora (thank you, my little niece Tiana) means the MOON. So all of this was taken from the theory that there is a commonality between madness and the phases of the moon. Based on today, I would like to second that motion with a nice, clear, loud "AY-AY!" I swear it must have been because of the full moon that the MOST difficult people in all of university's UNIVERSAL history came out today and ended up in/on my line. I kid you not when I say that I could have generated a whole household's worth of heat for the whole day the way that my blood pressure was rising. ANYWHO...I do not mean to belittle anyone's actual sufferings by comparing it alongside my trivial workdays, so MOVING ON! (P.S. Thanks for letting me vent a little...)

So when I saw this stamp at Michaels, I knew I had to have it - even after I'd already dropped some change on COPICs and Nesties - and today I used it for my main focal point for Mojo Monday!

Here's the sketch for MM:

And here's my take:

Can I just say how much I'm loving participating in these sketches? It's just like its name, definitely gets my crafty mojo going! I'm only really just getting into sketches and challenges, but for someone with a short attention span and not a fan of being told what to do, these sketches are great! Definitely inspirational!

So I would say that mine is a sort of loose take of the sketch...I didn't follow through on some things, but it all came together and I am still loving how everything turned out! Before I finished, I kept looking at it and considered adding different things to it just because...but I decided that this was really all it needed. I didn't want to take anything away from the quote and the simplicity of it all. When I realized I left out a little part of the sketch (ie. for the sentiment) I added the little flower but I'm considering taking it out just to keep things nice and neat. We'll see how I feel about the flower when I wake up tomorrow!

Anywho, for today's MM card, I also decided to get my fingers inky! I got out my Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo) and my foam tool and...well, let's just say what DIDN'T I ink?! *LOL* I stamped onto nice and clean, bright cardstock and thought it was just too bright with the paper that I wanted to use, so at first I just inked the sides...and then I made a teeny mistake and then I just ended up inking the whole rectangle...just darkening the edges for a nice 'vintage photo' look to go with the name of the ink! I dragged the edges right along the stamp pad to really make the edge stand out.

Thanks so much for looking! If you've just misplaced your mojo and can't seem to find it, I definitely recommend checking out MM and seeing if your mojo is hiding there!

MATERIALS
All hyperlinked products and materials are from Pez-a-Doodle Designs

Paper: K&Co. (Costco)
Stamp: 'Footprints' by Inkadinkado (Michaels)
Ink: Ranger Archival Ink (Black) and Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Vintage Photo)
Tools: Foam applicator tool
Embellishments: 'Faith' ribbon slider (Dollarama), embellished flower (Sugar & Scraps), ribbon

CURRENT MOOD: CALM CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: THE HEATER GOING

It's Spring, Baby...

2009-02-09T08:57:00.001-05:00

...no, it's really not, but it sure feels like it outside! Since yesterday, our temperatures were in the +6 (C) area...sorry, I don't know what the faranheit conversion of that would be, but let's just say it's very warm! It continued like that today and I hear it'll feel like this for the next couple of days! It would be cruel of Mother Nature to tease me so and let me feel such nice balmy weather and then take it all back and give me snow...just cruel, I tell you...

I've been looking at my latests posts and can I tell you that I'm seeing a lot of PINK. WOW! Blame it all on Marti for giving me such DELICIOUS, YUMMALICIOUS Bo Bunny paper for my birthday! I hadn't actually ever used Bo Bunny until now, but it's so nice and I *LOVE* how they're double-sided! Double the options, double the fun!

I was recently on SCS the other day and you know how easily enabled I am. They were talking about cheaper alternatives to COPICs (so this would be at the time when I hadn't gone crazy and ordered them yet)...actually, on a COMPLETELY different track, I just realized that I was sitting here typing in complete DARKNESS. It wasn't dark when I started, but now I can barely see anything but this screen! *giggles*

Okay, where was I? Oh right, the enableness of me. They were talking about using watercolor pencils and from the tips and techniques they were sharing and from the examples they were showing, it was like a complete mind-takeover. I NEEDED them. I think I actually zipped on over to Michaels with my wrinkled 40% coupon right after work that same day.

So even though my COPICs are coming (hopefully tomorrow - keep your fingers crossed...and your toes too, for added luck!) I have found that I am loving using watercolours! It takes a bit of getting used to, but it's so much fun and having a paintbrush in hand definitely makes me feel more artsy fartsy. The card I did for today was coloured using watercolor pencils and my brush pen!

Please excuse the picture...I know my photography leaves something to be desired, but hopefully that will change soon - one money-consuming hobby at a time, my friends...

So I didn't upload a very large picture, but if you looked closely, you can kind of see the sparkly-ness of my little hedgy baby and her hammock. Again, being pre-COPIC-era, I also don't have Spica pens, so I used my Sakura glitter gel pens and they seemed to work pretty great too! They were a bit strong, but I took my aqua pen and blended them into the colouring and it turned out fabulous! A little extra shading and SHIMMER! I tried really hard not to go overboard on the shimmer...I stopped myself before I shimmered the baby itself.

MATERIALS
All products and materials are from Pez-a-Doodle Designs (hyperlinked) unless otherwise stated

Stamp: Penny Black (Scribe's Nook)
DP: Bo Bunny
Ink: Ranger Archival Ink
Embellishments/Tools: Reeves Watercolor Pencil set (Michaels), Aquapen (Michael), Sakura Glitter Gel Pen (Scribe's Nook), Scor-Pal, CM Oval Cutter (CM), pink flat-backed pearls (Dollarama), ribbon (Dollarama), Sticker (Dollarama), dimensional foam (Dollarama)
Techniques: Coloring with watercolor pencils, painting with Sakura glitter gel pen and aquapen

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Share the Love...

2009-02-08T12:57:00.002-05:00

...The Mister and I aren't really Valentine's Day kind of people, (going out and spending money on fancy dinners when I'd rather be using it to buy COPICs, lighting candles and staring all googly-eyed at each other making romantic conversation always feels a bit awkward and forced to me - but hey, to each their own, right?), we're more of the rent a movie, pop lots of popcorn, snuggle under covers and be silly kind of folk. Plus, along with making my own cards, I kind of feel like NOT getting each other flowers, chocolates, etc., etc., is my own subtle dig at the corporate shenanigans that try to make us believe that people should only be doing these things for each other ONE day a year and not any time at all! HA! Take that Hallmark! I will not fall for your marketing scams! *breathes* Okay, moving on...

ANYWHO...despite the fact that I don't really get into Valentine's Day, I'm still that much of a girly-girl that I really like all things red, pink and white and frilly and pretty and cute! So when I got the news that Marti's next prize challenge is to get out those Studio G clear stamps that you've all been hoarding (oh, I know you are because I totally am and don't all great minds think alike?) and actually USE them - not just let them be all nicely organized in binders/packaging to never feel the juiciness of ink!

So here's the dealy-o: Make ATC-sized (2.5 in x 3.5 in) valentine's using your Studio G's and anything else you feel like (and it may even kill multiple birds with one stone if you've got kids who will be handing out valentine's this year!) Post them up on your blogs or albums or galleries and leave Marti the link >> HERE <<! Easy peasy, I tell you! The winner gets three brilliance ink dew drops (oh the yumminess!) of their choice! And even if you don't feel like making valentines and just want some dew drops, just a reminder to all that everything, including these drops, is 15% - 25% off to make way for the new goodies coming in! Also, leave me a link of your valentines too! There's no prize for it, I'm just nosy and want to see what everyone makes! *LOL*

What a coinky-dink! Speaking of new goodies coming in...$1 STUDIO G CHALKS are COMING! Straight from CHA, Studio G is releasing CHALKS! They come in 6 sets of four different colours. So that's 24 different colours for $6! w00t! Oh the craft gods are happy with us!

All in all, it's been a *lovey dovey* crafty kind of weekend! Here's a couple of my valentine's so far!

Awww...don't you wish you could be my Valentine? *LOL*

And in the spirit of giving and receiving, I received this wonderful blog award from Marti yesterday!

A beautiful blog award for me! Which is so nice because as some people have already commented to me, my blog looks kind of plain and maybe I'd like to get it fancied out a bit. I kindly thanked them for the advice, but explained that my blog has to look as plain as possible so that I can look at it while I'm at work! *LOL* Notice I didn't say j/k...

The rules of the award says that I have to give it to five other bloggers, but this will require further thinking and researching as most of the bloggers that immediately come to mind have already received it! :) Thanks Marti for the fab award!

Materials
All products and materials are from Pez-a-Doodle Designs (hyperlinked) unless otherwise stated

DP: Bo Bunny
Stamps: Studio G of course!
Ink: Adirondack Dye Ink (Brown) and Ranger Distress Ink (Fired Brick), Studio G pigment ink (Pink)
Embellishments/Tools: Adirondack Dimensional Pearls, MS Doily Lacy edge punch (Michaels), pink flat-back pearls (LSS), ribbon (Dollarama), Flower Soft and foam hearts (Dollarama)
Techniques: For the paper hearts, I cut out two hearts using the age-old kindergarten method of folding paper together and cutting out half a heart. I taped them down on scrap paper and inked them up all over using my Studio G ink. I next used my Studio G stamps to stamp on my sentiments all over. The next technique was taking the heat gun to my lovely foam-y hearts and heating them until they were nice and soft and pressing my Studio G stamp into it until it cooled, leaving a nice impression.

CURRENT MOOD: IRRITATED CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: CHEWY BARKING AT ME

Hyper-copic-lating...

2009-02-06T20:57:00.002-05:00

...before you pick up the phone and call 911 on my behalf, let me just make it clear that it is not a medical term and I am not in any kind of medical emergency! *LOL* Although it sure FEELS like it!

I have just completed my COPIC order!

I just could NOT pass this up - Oozak.com is having a MAJOR Copic sale! I pondered sharing this information with everyone because then maybe they'd be all sold out of the colours I had to leave behind when I'm ready to place my next order next week! HAHAHAHA...but you know I can't keep secrets from you, so there it is! Un-freaking-believable! I'm not even going to say it...but I am SO excited! Especially since my Copic Certification application was accepted and all set and ready to go in March. How cool is it that I'll get to bring my OWN COPICs? That is just awesome. Of course, now I'll have to sell myself...HAHAHA, okay, I'm just kidding, I won't take that sentence any further....just remembered that my mom subscribed to my blog last week...*giggles*

I can barely type my fingers are shaking! And I thought I was excited about the Nesties. This definitely takes the cake, tops the big one, puts the cherry on top, blah blah blah. It's AWESOME! Take it from me, I have been looking all over for these, searching every single website I could find, price comparing, putting them in my cart, taking them out of my cart...etc., etc., I would definitely be the worst kind of silly if I let these pass me by without at least getting some! I am hoping that I'll be able to place another order in the next week or so - heck, I'll just keep trying until the price change takes place in March!

So take it from me and my ranting/raving - Oozak isn't giving me anything extra to go on and on about them (although that would be a pretty good bonus...LOL) but I just can't wait to get my hot little hands on these!

Here's the damage (or blessing, if you really think about it!):

SKETCH

B60 - Pale Blue Gray
B99 - Agate
BV00 - Iridescent Mauve
BV11 - Soft Violet
BV25 - Grayish Violet
BV29 - Slate
C0 - Cool Gray #0
C10 - Cool Gray #10
E00 - Skin White
E33 - Sand
E31 - Brick Beige
E47 - Dark Brown
E74 - Cocoa Brown
R02 - Flesh
R46 - Strong Red
Y11 - Pale Yellow
Y18 - Lightning Yellow
YR00 - Silk
110 - Special Black
B28 - Royal Blue
B21 - Baby Blue

CIAO

0 - Colorless Blender
B95 - Light Grayish Cobalt
B97 - Night Blue
E02 - Fruit Pink
E08 - Brown
E29 - Burnt Umber
C5 - Cool Gray #5
E49 - Dark Bark
G14 - Apple Green
G99 - Olive
R85 - Rose Red
R05 - Salmon Red
R11 - Pale Cherry Pink
RV13 - Tender Pink
RV95 - Baby Blossoms
RV29 - Crimson
Y06 - Yellow
V000 - Heath
V06 - Lavender
V95 - Light Grape
Y38 - Honey
B24 - Sky
E21 - Baby Skin Pink
E35 - Chamois
E50 - Egg Shell
R59 - Cardinal
W5 - Warm Gray #5
Y02 - Canary Yellow
YR61 - Yellowish Skin Pink
YR68 - Orange
C9 - Cool Gray #9

Woo-hoo!!! Don't ask me if I know if these colours will go together or whether or not I really know how to use them! Who cares! I'm getting them and WILL know how to use them eventually! Don't even ask me why I got Sketches and Ciaos...*LOL* I really like Sketch, but when I was placing my order, the numbers kept getting higher and I had to stop...until I remembered that Ciao's are slightly less in price and I thought I'd be able to pick up some of the colours I left behind in the Sketch category. Ah well, it doesn't matter, I'll soon be able to find out and tell the difference myself.

Happy COPIC day, everyone!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Wishy-washy...

2009-02-06T12:57:00.001-05:00

...where, oh where are my wishes?! I've wished for SO many things since CHA (bad, enabling CHA!) and it has led to the accumulation of more things for me in the past week or so!

I thought it would be fun to look back at my earlier wish-lists when I first started papercrafting to see how far I've come...(or how broke I've gotten, whichever way you choose to look at it!)

My Wishlist #1
More cartridges - ~~Paper Doll~~, ~~Stretch~~, Alphalicious and Fabulous Finds and ~~Doodle Charm~~ being at the top - but really, I would say ALL of them
~~Nestabilities~~ - Scalloped circles - both sizes, but again, I would say ALL of them
Cricut Expressions - I put this third on the list considering I haven't even gotten my Baby Bug yet...I thought I would give it a fair chance before I start lusting after the E...
~~More Stickles~~ - when they come in lots of different colours, well...then I want them ALL!
More Cuttlebug ~~embossing folders~~ - because you just need them ALL!
ATG - haven't gotten the fever for this yet, but I know it's only a matter of time...
~~Design Studio~~ - from what I've heard so far, it sounds a bit intimidating, but I shall CONQUER it...once I get it...
~~STAMPS!~~ - Penny Black, Stampendous, House Mouse and basically ALL those cute little stamps everyone seems to have! But I could always use more!
Secret Sister - Lurking the secret brother/sister boards is like how people can't get enough of reality shows. I love looking through and looking at all the fabulous things everyone is getting. I haven't signed up yet because I want to make absolutely sure I'll be able to devote 100% to it, but everyone is just so great.
Random stuff - so I can be ready for a secret sister and also so I can start doing some RAKs!

Wishlist #2
More carts - ~~Walk in my Garden~~ (is that what it's called?)
~~Nestabilities - mostly the small and large scalloped circles~~
~~Cricut Design Studio~~
Cricut Expressions
~~Radiant Rain (or distress inks and perfect pearls to make my own)~~ Unnecessary
~~Distress Inks~~
~~Perfect Pearls~~
Twinkling H20's
~~Mini Misters~~
MORE stamps (I think I've been able to acquire quite a few Studio G stamps and some House Mouse - but you can never have enough stamps!)
~~MORE paper~~ (different textures - I think Bazzill is quite popular?)
More random things like stickers and embellies, etc. for RAKs (I must learn to not want to keep them all the time!)

*LOL* Well, it looks like I"m doing a pretty good job on getting things crossed off my checklist! Obviously there are things there that I didn't really have to scratch off, because, I mean...when do you REALLY have enough stamps? NEVER! Same goes for paper and fun little embellies! And now, especially after seeing the new releases at CHA, my list of course has gotten longer even though I've managed to cross a few things off! It's a bitter, never-ending cycle - only bitter because I have no money! HAHAHAHA...

But besides buying things and getting a little bit of crafting in, here's a little progress on my scraproom overhaul:

Ooooh!!! Doesn't it look so PRETTY!!! I feel just as contrary as Mary with all my Stickles all in a row!

The top shelf is my little mason jars full of embellies from the dollar store. Second and third rows are all my glitter-anythings...Stickles, Martha's, Studio G's...so PRETTY! The other rows are my acrylic dabbers, distress inks and powders, crackle paints, and Studio G ink pads - all from Marti over at Pez-a-Doodle Designs!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Spring flowers...

2009-02-05T14:01:00.000-05:00

...am I ever ready to see them! I am so tired of this SNOW!

Maybe that's why I keep turning to my Flower Soft. It makes it feel just a little bit closer to Spring and warm weather! According to the weather forecast, it's supposed to go up to plus six (in Celsius) this Friday! I can't WAIT, so to celebrate the warm weather coming, here's a little Spring-y looking baby card:

I'm sorry this post is a little on the short side! I've got a little puppy who keeps jumping up on me, insisting that I pay attention to him or else he'll chew up my shoes again!

Materials:
(All products and materials are from Pez-a-Doodle Designs unless otherwise stated)
Stamp: Victorian Flower Carriage by Uptown Rubber Stamps (Scribe's Nook)
Ink: Adirondack black ink
DP: Bo Bunny (Pezzy's Picks)
Accessories/Embellishments: Flower Soft, chipboard tag (Dollarama), ribbon (Michaels)
Techniques: Coloring with (Reeves) watercolor pencils, water and generic paint brush

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

I Heart You...

2009-02-04T12:01:00.000-05:00

...there is nothing like a card full of prettiness to turn a frown upside down.

It's just one of those days, lemme tell ya! But here's a card that pretty much made itself last night! I was really happy with how it all came together as I was pretty much working off the top of my head.

I think working in a clean scraproom is definitely an asset - which is too bad, since after last night's creation station, it's not as clean as it was right before I started! Oops! A friend of mine had come over the other night to help with the scraproom overhaul and she made me promise to employ the 'make-and-clean' strategy since I'm more of a 'make-and-leave-it' kind of creator. We'll just keep her out of the scraproom until I get that stuff cleaned up, I guess! *LOL*

Anywho, on to the prettiness:

I can't get over how much I love how this turned out! After all the fussiness of cutting out the stamped images, it was pretty much stick and go from there! Thanks for looking!

Materials:
All materials from Pez-a-Doodle Designs unless otherwise stated.
Stamps: Studio G (sentiment), Autumn Leaves (Wal-Mart), Inkadinkadoo
Ink: Memento Ink
DP: Bo Bunny (Pezzy's Picks line)
Accessories/Embellishments: Martha Stewart Lace Punch (Michaels), chipboard ribbon slider (Dollarama), Inkssentials white gel pen, Stickles

CURRENT MOOD: IRRITATED CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: ~~MINDLESS DRIVEL FROM AN INSIPID, MINDLESS DRIVEL-ER~~

Oh, wherefore art thou...

2009-02-03T09:01:00.000-05:00

...MONEY? But shopping, oh how I've MISSED YOU! It's been too long...but I can see that I have made up for it in only a couple of days! Ay-yay-yay...

CHA is such an enabler...but here we go:

*SQUEALS* Do you SEE THOSE?! Those, my dear friends, are NESTABILITIES! Do you know how long I've been wanting these? And now, I'm finally getting them!

After seeing the Spellbinders booth and seeing the demos, I knew they were a must-have-now. I've been holding off on them for so long thinking that I could do what they can do myself, but it's just not the same. I've seen how great they can make any project look. So nice and cleanly embossed lines or pretty little scallops. What took me so long? (Well, I know why it took me so long...but Terri aka terrikrafts from The Board is making it SO easy. I wish I had met her sooner. She is such a doll to deal with and she actually took the trouble to weigh my entire order and then each one separately to see which would be the most economical in shipping! Plus, you just can't beat her prices! I've got her contact information if you're looking for it - don't hesitate to ask, I don't bite! So that's my first order from her and she's getting the new ones in as well, and oh my-my-my, do I need to get a few more jobs! *LOL*

Okay...and then there's:

Oh, I want to go home now and play! But there it is: flock assortment FOR ME! Fuzzy hearts, duckies and flowers, here I COME! I can't WAIT to try this out...it's a miracle I haven't opened the package already, but I'm right in the middle of a complete scraproom overhaul that I would totally lose them if I even tried to take them out of their package now. But like I'd like to believe, all the best things are worth the wait, and it'll definitely be worth it to wait until my scraproom is spic and span and beautiful to start making MORE fun things in it (and probably more mess, but who am I kidding, we all know that...)

So fun new goodies just WAITING to be used and turned into prettiful creations, but for now, I leave you with my scraproom "before" pictures *winces*:

But ask me to find something for you and I'll have it *snaps* just like that! *LOL*

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Confession #11...

2009-02-03T08:25:00.000-05:00

...wow, it's been a while since I've done one of these! But I was sorely reminded of it when I went to do a little blog-hopping this morning at work before start time.

I'm really sorry for those of you this applies to, I don't mean anything by it and it just might help with your traffic...but I SERIOUSLY have a hard time with blogs that have music. ANY kind of music, but with the loud, fast kind of music. I mean, even if I like the song, I still don't like blogs with music. Especially if I want to have peeks at blogs here at work and on my break, it practically makes me jump out of my seat when music starts blaring out of my usually quiet speakers.

But it's not even when I'm not work...when I look at blogs at home, too. I don't know, I think I just find it a little bit distracting and takes attention away from what I'm coming to see, which is crafty ideas and creations, etc. Plus, as much as I enjoy the music that I listen to, I don't normally choose to force it upon anyone else either. And sometimes the blogs who have playlists, it takes me forever to find the little dashboard so I can press stop! While I do stay and complete my visit at blogs with music, it does shorten the length of time that I choose to stay - especially when there's no option for me to stop the music. *shrugs* Just my own little confession/preference...maybe others feel the same and maybe not. Just a thought though if you have it and want to keep it...make it easier for me to find the stop button! :)

CURRENT MOOD: CONTENT CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: PEOPLE CHIT-CHATTING

Valentine Words...

2009-02-02T20:01:00.000-05:00

...there's nothing like finishing off a Monday than by getting your mojo going! And what better way than to participate in Mojo Monday's first Monday of the month contest!

This is pretty much my first time participating in anything, so I am very excited to just have something to contribute! *LoL*

Here we go:

The Mojo Monday sketch for today!

And my take on the sketch, a la Valentine's Day...

Well...I'm sure I could have done more with it, but I still LOVE how it turned out! I had started it last night without even thinking about the challenge and luckily, it worked out with just a little bit of tweaking. Sooo, here's the 411 on the card du jour!

All products and materials from Pez-a-Doodle Designs unless otherwise stated
Stamps: Studio G (Holiday Series)
Paper: Bo Bunny DP from Pezzy's Picks line at PaDD
Embellishments: Foam hearts from Dollarama
Other: Flower Soft (dyed to match using Alcohol Inks from PaDD) and Martha Stewart edge punch (Michaels)

Thanks for looking!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Pretty in Purple...

2009-02-01T14:01:00.000-05:00

...bonjour mon cheries!

I thought I would try out a little bit of the romantic language as we move into the most romantic month of the year!

I've been digging around in the scraproom shoving things around to make little bits of desk room for me and can I just say how much of a disaster it is in there?! I think it's definitely time to get onto another scraproom overhaul - and this one will be HUGE! There's so much more things to make room for - especially when my Nesties come in! *squeals* Oh Terri, I just can't wait!

I also went trolling around a bit at a couple of my LSS! Coming back from CHA has not only inspired my imagination and creativity (I HOPE) but also my wallet! It was just too torturous to be around all those fun goodies and NOT be able to buy them ASAP! How could they do that to a girl, I ask you?

So far, despite all my awesome other goodies, I've been having so much fun with my Scor-Pal and Flower Soft! I think I really want to get a handle of it and all that I can do with it before I move on to something else (*whispers* I've finally got my hands on the Doodlebug fun flock sample pack and I can not WAIT to try it out!)

So anywho...here is my card for today! Because of the awesome things I can do while playing around with my Scor-Pal, I kept it pretty minimalistic.

I know it's more purple flower soft, I swear that I do have more colours, but for some reason, I always feel like I gravitate to the colour! It's my FAVOURITE, what can I say? Currently, I'm not even sure what occasion this card can be used for, but I think I will leave it pretty generic. I've been putting together a big treasure box full of different cards for my mom since last Mother's Day, and this will go in there to be used however she would like! I think a bridal shower card, or a fancy birthday card!

I used just plain ol' cardstock and prettied it up with diagonal scores from my Scor-Pal and stamped my image (it's a pretty flowery dress stamp from Stamping Bella) in archival ink. I dotted each flower with glue and outlined the flared part of the dress and sprinkled my lavender Flower Soft all over. Once the flower soft was off the dress, I used my lavender Martha Stewart glitter for some more added prettiness of course and lined the 'buttons' with Diamond Stickles! I pop-dotted it onto my scored card and put a little square crystal at each place the scores interlaced...and voila! Finished product!

All materials and products are available from Marti over at Pez-a-Doodle Designs. You can check those out and other way cool projects and products any time you're looking for fun new things to try out or become more familiar with!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

CHA Ultimate Giveaway WINNER!

2009-01-31T02:00:00.002-05:00

...Hel-looooo ALL! It's 2:36 in the morning and I am STILL awake! CHA is still with me as we speak...I just can't get to sleep - all the different things are still running through my head, especially...

My CHA ULTIMATE Giveaway and the WINNER!

I apologize I was a little behind in choosing my winner, but it was SO AWESOME to go through all your comments and thoughts and suggestions and questions! I am still trying to answer them all or get back to you if you had comments, so please be patient with me!

So...my WINNER of the CHA ULTIMATE Giveaway, who posted on every single 'Confessions of a CHA Convention-er' posts was...

RENEE!!!

*SQUEALS* CONGRATULATIONS! Renee, thanks SO much for 'coming with me' on my first ever trip to CHA (or first ever trip all alone, for that matter) and for taking part in all the CHA festivities! I hope that you had just as much fun as I did discovering all the new things CHA had to offer and had a great time meeting a bunch of new people with me! I'm sorry that we weren't able to meet in person, but who knows, maybe next year!

I am so happy for you for being the Tim Holtz Advantis line winner of my CHA Ultimate Giveaway courtesy of Pez-a-Doodle Designs!

Just as a reminder, the Advantis line will not be released and available for shipping from Ranger until mid-to-end March and will ship to you AS SOON as Marti from Pez-a-Doodle Designs receives it! I'm sorry that I couldn't choose EVERYONE to win something, but there is SURE to be more fun and fancy giveaways for me to host in the future (especially with Marti's/Hampton Arts' Studio G contests to come!) so please stay tuned! And don't forget to check Marti's blog and my DT sister Christine's blog for more fun giveaways going on RIGHT NOW! If you would still like to try out and have fun with the new Ranger releases or any of the new products that Marti is now carrying or has for pre-order at her store, please pop on over and have a look >> Pez-a-Doodle Designs <<!

Renee, please E-Mail me ASAP so that we can get your information on file! The next time we know anything about your prize, you will be the next to know!

Again, thank you EVERYONE for tagging along with me on my trip. I hope that I was able to really make you feel like you were there and part of the action, and I hope that I will see more of you next year at CHA 2010! All your comments and thoughts and funny contributions brought me so much smiles and laughs and most definitely kept me from feeling home-sick or lonely! I hope that you'll stay with me on my upcoming adventures and forays into the crafting world and I look forward to getting to know more of you!

Up next for me is more FLOWER SOFT fun...I can't WAIT to dive completely head-first into this fluffy fun and we'll see what comes of it, huh? Let's GO!

DISCLAIMER: Just some more information on how the winner was chosen based in accordance with the contest rules (set by myself) and the random integer generator. Twenty-nine posters posted on each 'Confessions of a CHA Convention-er' post. These posters were listed in numerical order according to posting and a random integer between the numbers one and twenty-nine was generated. The winning number generated being TWENTY-TWO (22). Please be advised that the rules and contest guidelines were created by myself and the winner was chosen in the most random and un-biased way so as to provide each entrant an equal opportunity to win.

CURRENT MOOD: EXCITED CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: THE MISTER SNORING HIS HEAD OFF

Go to GIVEAWAY!

2009-01-30T02:00:00.001-05:00

...well, if you're not sick of giveaways yet (*gasp* how could sick and giveaways ever be in the same sentence? you ask!) and didn't get a chance to win Marti's fabulous Polka-Dot-Pie stamp line, my DT sister Christine is giving away another TWO sets on her blog! *squeals* Apparently I can't win this one either (*LOL*) but who am I to begrudge another fabulous lady from her chance to win!?

All you need to do is leave a comment >> HERE << by midnight tonight (EST) and you're in the draw! Good luck everyone and happy Friday. I'm taking today off (as much as I can keep myself away) as The Mister has informed me that he has planned to take me hostage the whole day today since we haven't seen each other or spent more than five minutes alone together since even before I left! He's taking me to the movies - to see Confessions of a Shopaholic, no less! And I asked if we could stop by our LSS and he said YES! Such a good man...

Don't you fret though, I will be back and rarin' to go. Before you know it you'll be so sick of me! (*gasp* How could sick and me ever be in the same sentence?!?!) Marti's keeping me on my toes with so many fun new things going on!

If you haven't seen yet, for those of you who have been wanting to try Flower Soft, Marti's giving away a starter box on her blog, so you might want to have a little peek-a-boo over there to see what's what!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

CHA Wrap-Up...

2009-01-29T09:16:00.000-05:00

...I'm home, I'm home! Oh how I loooove Canada - snow and all!

It's so hard to believe that just yesterday I was close to the ocean and the sun was shining and the weather was warm (well, warmer than here anyway!) and now I'm surrounded by snow! But I made it back safe and sound, and I'm hoping that all my CHA buddies made it home okay, too!

To wrap up my CHA adventures, I just wanted to include my thoughts about all the shenanigans and to answer any questions that anyone had about the things that we saw and the things that we'll be carrying!

First off, as a first-timer, the whole event was so overwhelming! Even after all the tips and suggestions, nothing could have prepared me for the scope and seriousness of everything! Someone suggested bringing a rolling tote, but someone should have also said a rolling cooler as well - to fill with energy drinks, water, gatorade, non-perishables...LOL! You know what? Instead of a rolling tote, you should just bring one of those strollers that you can ride on...you know, with a basket in the front? Then you can hook up a hitch at the back and then hook up the rolling tote and the rolling cooler. That is the ONLY tip that I can pass along to any other CHA hopefuls!

Despite the serious lack of sleep, I had an AMAZING time! I was SO excited to meet all my Cricut friends and other new crafty friends as well! Every day was different and even full of surprises - Paris Hilton even, who woulda thunk it!? I highly recommending anyone who is considering going to future CHA events to just decide to go for it already! CHA July 2009 is in Orlando, Florida - how fun would THAT be? Unfortunately, I will not be able to make it to that one, but I've already got my planning designs on CHA 2010, will I see you there???

So to answer one of the most recent questions I had, the size of the Impressabilities is pretty much exactly the same size as the Cuttlebug folders - so I would say A2 in size, is that right? The only thing is that it's not as thick without the folder! There are a bunch of patterns already and you can check out the Spellbinders website to see them!

All of the new products that Marti will be carrying - a lot of the ship dates (shipping to Marti that is) is scheduled for the spring, ie. March - April. That includes all the Tim Holtz/Ranger products, Zva blingies and flower sploofies.

The Flower Soft boxed sets will be coming in the next few weeks and she's got them available for pre-order as well as ONE LUCKY WINNER can win a box- check out her blog for the details!

To give you a little idea of how I've incorporated a few of the fabulous new products that Marti will be carrying, here's a little card I *had* to do as soon as I got up this morning!

*SQUEALS* (is it bad to squeal at your own project???) Well, I don't care, you can squeal with me if you like *SQUEALS*

So to break it down for you, I used a lot of white on white and to jazz that up a bit, I used my brand-spankin'-new-straight-from-the-inventor's-hands Scor-Pal (sorry, Scor-it, you just couldn't cut it...). I criss-crossed my scores for just that added bit of dimensionality (is that a word?). On top of that I stamped my Penny Black stamp and coloured with Prismas and Mineral Oil and then...FLOWER SOFT! LOOK AT IT! w00t! It's soooo pretty! Tutorials and techniques to come, I can assure you! To add just that final bit of pizzazz (??? how the heck is that spelled ???) I sprinkled on some Martha Stewart glitter!

I hand-stitched the border and added a little bit of blingies as well as the ribbon slider and ribbon, with MORE added blingies to finish it off!

So stay in tune to Pez-a-Doodle Designs as these products will be popping up shortly! Especially the FLOWER SOFT!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

It's a Small World After All...

2009-01-28T21:16:00.000-05:00

...here in Anaheim and on the Cricut Board!

Here are a couple pictures from our Cricut dinner get-together and from Disneylaaaand!

L-R: sockmonkeykitty, Glenda, Marti-Pezadoodles, SillySkittles, scrappinkitty, terrikrafts

BWAHAHAHAHA...oh, her highness and her lady in waiting or very tired! Notice the fancy Tim Holtz/Ranger hoopla that Marti is loyally wearing!

Three Muskateers...or Three Stooges...hmmm...

I loooooves the silliness! We actually told Terri to look like that...LOL...not to worry, no alcohol was involved here...although it looked like it...

AWESOME group of ladies!

Woohoo! Dinner was so FUN! I am so sorry that I was so tired and started to feel sick later on into the dinner... :(

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Confessions of a CHA Convention-er (Part 10 - Nestabilities)

2009-01-28T09:16:00.001-05:00

I apologize that there was a lack of posting for my last day, but everything shifted into warp speed (kind fo like my sickening experience on Space Mountain...*LoL..cough* Suzanne...) but more on that later, on to some crafty goodness!

First off, if you missed the announcement, both Marti and I are hosting ULTIMATE CHA giveaways to commemorate our first time attending CHA. Courtesy of the lovely Pez-a-Doodle herself, I am giving away a great portion of Tim Holtz's Advantis line of grunge-y goodness - you can get the complete 411 on that by clicking >> here <<. The official contest deadline has been extended from the 28th to the 30th to give me some time to catch up with all your comments, suggestions and questions! To double our giveaway fun, Marti is giving away the entire, I repeat the entire, not yet released LIGHTS and BRIGHTS line of alcohol inks.

HOLY MOLY! If I could win them, I would definitely try!

Okay, I am also excited about a couple more things that I've got listed for me to chit-chat about (after six days, can I just say how EXHAUSTING all this excitement is???)

Now if you've been a visitor for some time now, you'll kno wjust how much I've been COVETING all things nest-like...as in NESTABILITIES! *swoons* so can I just point out that it's nice that Marti knnows people? And that it's nicet hat I know Marti???? HAHAHAHA...Iknow that I'm probably the last to know this, but our own Terri (terrikrafts) from The Board is a carrier of the beloved Nestabilities?! Where have I been? I know! so this weekend, missy me has placed an order for her own precious sets of nesties...all.For.MEEEE!!! I am already cursing the post for their slowness because I want them NOW! So if you've been dying for a set or two, drop me a line and I will hook.you.UP! Terri is the BEST! You can never go wrong with her, she took good care of us Cricut board girls this weekend, lemme tell ya!

If you've already got Nesties, let me also point out that Terri is already accepting pre-orders for the NEW releases that we were able to see with our own eyes! Even better than that (yes, I know my announcements keep getting better and better - so keep reading!) she will also have IMPRESSABILITIES! If you have not seen these babies in action, let me tell you, they are a must have, not just a must want!

So as you can see, they are nice and pretty AND folder-less! That's right, anywhere placement without the folder! Plus, as the lovely Wendy from Spellbinders has pointed out, the soft metal and the low retail costs makes it easier to buy TWO - one to keep whole and one to cut up into multiple, smaller portions to use however/whichever you like!

Stay tuned for my CHA wrap-up...I'll finally be HOME!

CURRENT MOOD: THE WALKING DEAD CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: ENGINES

Confessions of a CHA Convention-er (Part 9 - "Wake me up...)

2009-01-27T01:16:00.000-05:00

...before you go-go, don't leave me hangin' on like a yo-yo..." *awkward silence....*

HAHAHAHA...sorry, I heard that song playing somewhere and woke up with it in my head. It's even funnier because you know how at the beginning of the song it starts off with someone singing "Jitterbug?" I was singin' d-d-d-Doodlebug! You know you craft too much when...

Okay, to business we go! My Studio G news, etc...first things first...they are the new series releases coming:

SERIES 32

SERIES 30

DOLLAR CHALK!!!!

EVERY DAY SERIES $1 INK PADS

Okay, so there's that and the other exciting news...

Marti has worked it out with her reps and they have been so impressed with working with her that they have offered to sponsor MONTHLY challenges for her! *SQUEALS* Winning something from Studio G MONTHLY??? Sign me up, I would say...except that I was quickly told that being a Design Team member means I am totally disqualified. HAHAHAHA...but that means MORE chances for you to win! So they're going to be finalizing the details on that, and you will definitely need to stay tuned so you can enter - what better way to put those cutie patooties to some good inky use! *high five*

Another new product that Marti will be carrying over at Pez-a-Doodle Designs....(I'm REALLY excited about this one - oh how I LOOOOVE being a DT member...*giggles*):

Oooooh...sparkly flourishes and swirls - these are just SOME examples...!

Beeeaautiful flowers with a teeny, tiny bit of fluff to make them nice and sploofy! Say it again out loud, it makes me giggly, SPLOOFY!

Fabric (corduroy) covered brads for your prettiful SPLOOFIES!

Ooooh so exciting! Start pinchin' your pennies people! Although these will be on the inexpensive side, it still adds up when you WANT THEM ALL!!! *insert hysterical fanatical laughter here*

And for a little bit of non-business-y goodness...a couple more randoms from CHA!

Work it Marti, that's it! Make love to the camera!

I swear this was done with the permission of the booth owner!

Queen Suazanne and her lady in waiting...LOL...

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

I KNEW it!!! Martha's glitter grows on trees and she picks them and sells them! I totally knew it!

Royalty still do normal things sometimes...HAHAHAHA...

I almost think that Anaheim will breathe a collective sigh of relief when we three get on our planes....*LOL*...I'm going to cut here folks, I've got some packin' to do! What oh what can I leave behind to make room for all my goodies!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Confessions of a CHA Convention-er (Part 8 - Flower Soft and Studio G)

2009-01-26T18:15:00.000-05:00

DISCLOSURE: (a) Any and all things written in this posting shall not be taken at all seriously should it offend or embarrass or confuse or otherwise impart feelings that are not of the warm and fuzzy variety to any of the readers (b) (poster is also not liable for any feelings of jealousy that the reader may feel at any time during this post). (c) Updates are subject to mistakes and error injected with heavy sarcasm and not-so-funny wit and awkward silences due to extreme exhaustion and a brain full of mucho information. (d) Poster is not liable for any miscommunication or error on the part of the reader for violating any of the above-stated sections/clauses.

x_____________________________
Signature

Okay! Now that we've gotten the legal stuff taken care of...(this sentence here would be covered under section (C) of the discloure. *awkward silence.....*

Before I went on with any of the updates and mind-boggling-ness of the AWESOME announcements that I have and that Marti from Pez-a-Doodle Designs has in store for you, I just wanted to stop and say

~* thank you *~

to everyone who has been taking precious time out of their day to come visit me and to read me blathering on and on. I mean, the number one reason that makes any of this fun is to be able to share it with you! Without you wanting to read it, then I'd pretty much just be bragging to no one, wouldn't I? Honestly, thanks again for visiting and for leaving all the fun, well-wishing, motivating comments. I want you to know that I read EVERY single one (I'm sorry I haven't been able to reply to all of them!) but Marti and I do discuss the suggestions and comments that you leave that is regarding products and Pez-a-Doodle and I just wanted you to know that though you are not here, you are not going unheard!

And for those comments that aren't product-related, let me just tell you, that you have all helped me get through my very first trip all by myself! I feel like one of those diaper commercials, you know? I can do it aaaall by myself - I'm a big girl now! *awkward silence....*

Side note: In two hours and twenty minutes, I will have been up for 24 hours. Weird...*awkward silence.....*

Okay, I keep meandering and digressing because I'm positive I may have fallen asleep every couple of minutes...my eyes are blinking and they are forgetting to open.

A few official Pez-a-Doodle announcements. I'm not entirely sure that I can actually release this information at the moment, so don't tell anyone I told you! It'll be our little secret, just us, okay? Besides, I have gained some extra valuable information this weekend that I'm sure I can use as collateral should I fall into the unfavorable graces of Marti for telling...*LOL*...all you need to know is that it's good blackmail material *TEEHEE*

Okay, again, I wandered off! Right, I was going to make an announcement!

***

In a few short months (release date, I believe is MARCH), Pez-a-Doodle Designs will be carrying the NEW RELEASES of the boxed sets from...FLOWER SOFT! Oh YEAH, I'm so excited! Almost a year ago when Marti and I began posting about Flower Soft, I was only able to acquire it from a trade show I had been to and they were in the really large tubs available in one colour or mixed colour - and the UK were the predominant carriers of them so it was definitely hard to come by. But after doing a make-and-take with them and meeting one of their reps, Marti has worked something out so that she will be carrying the boxed sets on Pez-a-Doodle Designs! *squeals* Here are the lines:

We can all say it together now, oooooooh aaaaaaah! Or for those who wish to join me, w00t! Just remember that most of these are orders that are new releases (these are new releases to Canada/US) will not be shipping out for another couple of months, so just make sure and stay tuned to Marti's blog (http://pezadoodle.blogspot.com/) to find out when they are going to be available for pre-order and when they are going to be shipped to her, as these can be two very different things. But HOLY MOLY, these are SO much fun! I had forgotten after I'd had them for a while, but there's nothing like a make-and-take to get you all riled up again! Also as another small announcement for that, the rep from Flower Soft has told us that they are working on a certification class for Flower Soft maybe in the JULY CHA!

On another side-note, guess who's registration has been accepted for the COPIC CERTIFICATION CLASS in Toronto on March 24?!?! ME! I am SO excited!

Let's see, let's see, what else did I promise for you today....oh RIGHT!

STUDIO G NEWS! This one, I'm also not sure that I can release just yet as this is pretty much Marti's baby from the beginning, so I'm going to hold off on all the details until I get the go-ahead but BELIEVE ME when I say there is going to be some AWESOME things coming up with Pez-a-Doodle Designs and Studio G! I am so excited I can hardly contain myself, proving that, as today I was introduced to the Studio G rep and head customer service agent as a Studio G fanatic! I'm almost biting my tongue (figuratively speaking of course) so that I don't go blurting it all out before it's nice and time. But I promise there's so much fun to come, it'll definitely be worth a little bit of tense, excitable anticipation!

I'm going to post another thing here instead of making a new section for it - although I am REALLY loving and appreciating all the comments you are taking the time to leave for me, I don't want you to have to post a million more times as I can get overly chitty-chatty. I just wanted to show our make-and-take from Tim Holtz's Idea-o-logy (or whatever it's called, I can't look right now....my forehead is almost the one typing out this post) booth:

That's our make-and-take luggage tag (or bag tag as some people like to correct me with) and I wanted to show it because it incorporates a bit of the things that I am currently in the process of giving away. The tag was die-cut from grungeboard and there you will see the mini masks as well as the floral flourishes and new stamp line (not included in giveaway). So that's one teeny, tiny little idea of what you can do with all the goodies you'll get should you be chosen as our ultimate Tim Holtz Advantus winner!

If you are looking for more goodies, don't forget to stop by Marti's blog to win the ENTIRE new releases of...BWHAHAHA...that's how I know my mind has gone to sleep without waiting for me, I totally forgot for a minute what the giveaway was and I couldn't for the life of me pull it out of my mind...so again, like I was saying, you could win the ENTIRE SET of lights and brights alcohol inks for participating in her blog giveaway!

CURRENT MOOD: LISTENING TO:

Confessions of a CHA Convention-er (Part 7 - Hotel Hopping)

2009-01-26T09:15:00.003-05:00

...goooood MORNING! The sun is FINALLY shining here and it looks like it's going to shape up to be very nice out! Perfect for a nice walk over to the convention!

I think we're going to attempt to do a Disney Land twilight outing this evening so I'll be taking in the sights and stalking Mini and Mickey and friends later on!

I feel like I'm a little bit behind in my CHA updates as yesterday evening we had to deal with a little hotel hopping fiasco. The plan was that we were to be spending two nights at the Residence Inn (one and a quarter mile away from the convention) and then the rest of our time here would be at the sexy Anaheim Marriott right on the doorstep of the convention center. Well we go to check in and they proceed to change the room charge on Marti due to some booking error on their part! They said that Marti failed to inform them that we would be a triple-occupancy booking and that she did not register our names - which of course she HAD. So all of a sudden, the price in the room (which is already ridiculous enough) went up even more! Already I was like, no way josE - we want the price you quoted at the time of booking! Anyway, there was more charges for parking and then we get up to our room...and it is TEENY TINY! I mean, it was large enough to fit two beds and a microwave on the floor and NOTHING ELSE! I'm like...where's our luggage going to go and then once we figure that out, where will WE go? I'm looking around for a pull-out which of course there isn't and I'm like, how dare they even charge us for triple-occupancy and then not have triple-occupancy accomodation. Marti and I would be sharin' a bed! *LOL*...now, now...

I rush to the desk so I can get blogging and I can't get on...I call down to the front desk and ask for a little bit of help getting online and she was like, you need help with the phone? Already, catty (and hungry, so please excuse little me) was thinking...I am on the phone talking to you already, why would I ask for help with that? So I ask how to get on and she proceeds to tell me it's $12.95 to connect and that's for a 24 hour noon-to-noon connection. So I'm looking at my watch and I'm like..but it's 5 pm right now...and she goes, so we would connect you now and it will expire noon tomorrow. So, can you already imagine my forehead vein by now? So we go back and forth some more and I ask more questions and she's like, well you can try this or try that to which I reply why are you suggesting I try it? Do you not know how I can go about this? And she says, well no, not really! So I told her to transfer me to someone who knew and she transferred me to the concierge's VOICEMAIL! *screech* Later on I found out that the $12.95 connection was PER computer...so over two days, Marti and I would have had to pay about $24 to get online each! I was NOT havin' that!

In the end, we ended up being so unhappy with everything (breakfast was $12) that we called the Residence Inn and asked if we could come back. Ten minutes later we were marching our cute little selves and our luggage back down to the front desk and Marti told them what's what! So here we are at the Residence Inn with our free internet (albeit slow, but I will never complain about it again!), free breakfast and nice pull-out bed for me!

I'm realizing this post is getting pretty long and I haven't said anything CHA related - but don't you worry my pretties! There is SO many things to talk about and for me to reveal and drop hints on and tease about, I'm just trying to draw the excitement out just that much longer!

Since this isn't a really craft-y related kind of post, here are some not really craft-y related kind of pictures!

So if you ask me what Star Wars was doing there, I have no idea what to tell you. They just were...Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader were hanging around somewhere there - as well as more storm troopers...and the other picture I think is a kind of take on the comfy couch girl because she was sitting on some comfy tush thing...I didn't get it, but I did get some cute pink pigtails!

Have a good day everyone, more to come in a bit!

CURRENT MOOD: TIRED CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Confessions of a CHA Convention-er (Part 6 - Paris Hilton and more...)

2009-01-25T21:15:00.000-05:00

...okay, don't judge...I went and tried to get pictures of Paris Hilton when she came in to represent her new line of scrapbooking stuff. *LOL* Oh my, I think next season, I'm going to try out to be her new BFF. HAHAHAHA...okay, now you can judge me - except I'm only kidding.

Poor Paris must have been very tired...her highness (excuse me while I borrow your royal title, Suzanne) looked very rough around the edges, but sashayed her way down to her booth all the same, no little puppy or tiny animal in hand but her cell phone.

So there she is in all her royal hotel heiress bobble-headed glory. Sorry the pictures are so far away and blurry, I couldn't bring myself to care enough to go closer. BWAHAHAHAA...

Meanwhile, in another corner o the convention, far away from the Paris hoopla, a loyal subject bows down to the only royalty she chooses to recognize...

Anywho! What, oh what shall I share with my pretties today??? Oh, let's go with DCWV!

The buzz around here is that DCWV has got twelve - read them, 12 new paper lines coming out! Oh how they so know all ways to creatively extort money from me, but the lines are just so fabulous - I was tempted to commit a little bit of thievery! *gasp* Yes, I said it! Have a peek:

WHIMSY (my FAAAAVOURITE! The inspiration motivating my thieving thoughts!)

LA CREME - so oooh la la!

GARDEN PARTY

TAJ MAHAL (reminds me of another stack they already did...)

TAHITI

All together now...ooooooh...aaaaaaah!

Hate to cut it off so abruptly, but I need to get in the shower before they all leave me behind! Talk to you again soon, with more updates and always more pictures!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

2009 CHA New Release Giveaway!

2009-01-25T00:01:00.002-05:00

...so in going along with sharing my CHA experiences/adventure, I figured there was no better way to get you to really get the feel of it than to giveaway some new releases, courtest of Marti from Pez-a-Doodle.com!

*SQUEALS* Isn't CHA so much FUN?!?! It's barely even started and I am having the time of my life ALREADY!

'So, what praytell are you giving away?' you ask...well, look noooo further!

Grunge Paper

Book Plates

Foliage Charms

Metal Corners

Compass Mask

Foliage Masks

Fluorish Masks

Can you say FAB-YOU-LOUS!?! So that is my ULTIMATE Tim Holtz/Ranger giveaway just.for.YOU! Oh wait! I forgot something else - I'm also throwing in an alcohol ink pen that he will be releasing! I have played with these and they are SO cool! If you're thinking that you have GOT to have this - you are SO right!

So what do you have to do to win???

Well, the reason for the giveaway is to get y'all to feel involved and part of everything - like you're RIGHT HERE with me, so I'll just need you to comment on all my CHA Convention-er posts to tell me what you think of what we see, the new releases, what you think Pez-a-Doodle should carry...tell me any thoughts about CHA! One entry for every person who comments on all the CHA-releated posts!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Confessions of a CHA Convention-er (Part 5 - Cupcakes)

2009-01-24T23:15:00.002-05:00

…today has been JAM packed with so many things going on, I feel like I’m getting whiplash just trying to take everything all in – and the actual convention hasn’t even STARTED yet!

After the classes that we took today, I am just sitting here wishing there was more time in the day just so I could take more! As great as the classes that I took were today, it’s got me thinking that there was probably a LOT more classes that were just as good (maybe even better – but could there be a better class than Tim’s?) that I missed out on! I need a special little cloning machine invented, so I could clone myself about 5 times and I just might be able to see everything that’s going on!

As a first-timer, the convention looks HUGE to me, but apparently a lot of vendors cancelled, so the convention was compressed a bit and smaller than other years – yes, even with Paris Hilton coming to unveil her scrap line….I will let you insert whatever you would like to think into those ….’s about Paris Hilton scrapbooking.

Forward and onward then…hel-looo Splitcoast cupcake reception! It was so nice and fancy with really YUMMY-looking cupcakes! I don’t even know why I said ‘looking’ they were DELICIOUS! I have never been to anything like this before, so it was definitely an eye-opener. Some people that we recognize and have heard of, it’s bigger than that...besides being just fun, scrapbooking, being on Design Teams, etc., etc., - it’s a very big deal!

There are some very serious aspects about the business end of things from licensing, to things called MAP; and all the fabulous ideas and sneak peeks and thoughts and plans and productions flying around all around me…it’s enough to make a girl’s head turn every-which-way let me tell you! I wanted about five more pairs of eyes and ears to get it all in!

It was fun to put some faces to names – even though some people have their pictures up, it’s still different to actually see them right in front of you! Half the time, I still can’t even believe I’m HERE! From just one conversation with Marti and it was so spontaneous when she said, ‘hey, let’s go to CHA,’ and my answer was, ‘sure thing’ and now we’re sitting here getting down to scrappin’/stampin’ business! Mind boggling!

Anywho, here’s a little bit of eye candy for you! I know you’re just waiting to see the cupcakes anyway! *LoL*

Oh so yummy delicious cupcakes! I didn't know what I wanted to do more, eat cupcakes or go back to the room and STAMP cupcakes!

Well, hel-looo there! Katie Rentz from MY PAPER HAVEN!

Diana Crick - Scor-Pal.

Did I even TELL you guys what happened with Diana and I? I don't even remember and I'm too lazy to look back and see if I did, so if you've already read it, skip this part! Suzanne, Marti and I went to meet up with Diana as Suzanne is one of her designers, so of course we all got to talking and Diana asks me if I've got a Scor-Pal and - okay, you have GOT to excuse my brainiac moment due to extreme exhaustion due to travel and drama...LOL - so I was like, I sure do, but it's the little one! And Diana's like, we don't have the little one, that's a Scor-it and she's like...that's my competitor! *EMBARASSING* So anywho, she's like, well you better come by my booth tomorrow and I will give you a Scor-Pal and you can tell me what you think of the new metric system Scor-Pal we are releasing (yes, Canadians - METRIC!). So anyway, after smarting about that, Diana went off and I said I couldn't believe that I told a representative of Scor-Pal that I used their competitors product (and to be fair I am not really a giant fan of my Scor-it since I chose to get the tiny one and a lot of my projects never actually fit - so there!). Anyway, Suzanne's like, oh well she's not really just a rep, she's the one who invented it! *DOUBLE EMBARASSING* But I'm going home with a Scor-Pal and we will never speak of Scor-it again, okay?

More announcements and news tomorrow!

CURRENT MOOD: DEAD ON MY FEET CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: I HATE THIS PART RIGHT HERE

Confessions of a CHA Confession-er (Part 4 - Clear Scraps)

2009-01-24T20:37:00.000-05:00

...our second class for Education day at CHA was the acrylic albums class hosted by Clear Scraps.

They had so many goodies and giveaways - everyone got one of the new mini acrylic albums that they are releasing and I won another set of the scalloped acrylic albums to take home with me, too!

The class was a little bit jumbled and confusing, but working with clear acrylic is awesome and a tiny bit scary - well get over it and just jump right in! In the world of creativity and ideas, you can just NEVER go wrong! Here we go:

So that's what I ended up with at the end of the class. I had fun polka-dotting with the paint pen I forgot to finish the project!

Alright, I'm going to have to cut this one short for now - I'll come back and add more about the class and Clear Scraps later, but for right now...I've got a CUPCAKE reception to go to!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Confessions of a CHA Convention-er (Part 3 - Tim Holtz)

2009-01-24T18:37:00.000-05:00

WELCOME TO CHA!

...Day Two - Edumacation day!

So, the much talked about Tim Holtz class was EVERYTHING that I was expecting it to be - and more! w00t!

I can definitely understand why Tim's got such a strong following! He is an energetic, out-going speaker and he definitely knows.his.stuff! You can automatically tell that he knows what he's talking about and that he LOVES what he's talking about - which makes you love it too!

So today in class, we busted out the new lights and brights line of Alcohol Ink (yes, they're important enough to capitalize) and oooooh-wee! I WANT THEM ALL; heck that's not true, I NEED them! Okay, on to the project:

Tim's Colour Your Creativity Class! So there's our little kits there, co-ordinating colours of alcohol ink in the new lights, brights and earthtones and one metallic mixatives, an archival ink pad, an felt ink tool, ghost shapes and the NEW alcohol ink pen! We also walked away with one of the new release STAMP SETS! Ooooh baby, yes we did! Okay, so the rest of the project:

DO YOU LOVE IT OR WHAT?!?! So let's have a look, the first picture is grungepaper with the word CREATE cut out with the Cricut - as well as the flourish and then covered with metal tape to emboss - to avoid scratches and ugly marks, we embossed with a large blending stub. VERY COOL idea!

We painted with our new alcohol ink pen (kind of resembles Copics) and stamped with our new stamp sets, using different alcohol ink techniques (tutorials are available on Marti's website (http://www.pezadoodle.com/). So if you have EVER been scared to try alcohol inks, now is the time to TRY THEM! Don't be afraid, the ink will come off (well, except from your hardwood floors, so don't play on that! The Mister noticed my sanded areas on the floor where I tried to hide the ink!) and you get such AWESOME things every single time!

Aaaaand that's Marti and I with our new BFF Tim! w00t!

I am loving how I roll!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Confessions of a CHA Convention-er (Part 2)

2009-01-24T05:10:00.000-05:00

...my CHA/California experience has started off to a POP ROCKIN' awesome time!

So after my twelve hour travel adventure it was time to relax. I wish I had gotten a picture, but picture three girls ALL on their laptops blogging away. That is our definition of relaxing time I would say!

Couldn't post up too much yesterday because Marti was hogging up all the bandwidth, but now that we've woken up (our bodies think it's 8 am, but the alarm clock here says 5 am!) it looks like TravelLodge's WiFi is willing to co-operate (note: we are staying at the Marriott - HAHAHAHA!).

After a little blog-hopping, craft gossip and bandwidth hogging, we were HUNGRY! My first dinner in California - Joe's Crab Shack! I loooooved it - if I could have my way, we'd be having dinner here EVERY night of my stay!

No crafty-related things yet, but here's some pictures:

Please excuse the 12-hour flight hair - I didn't care, I was getting a crab/shrimp bucket!

*SQUEALS* Oh my goooosh - it's treasure in a bucket! There was a random sausage in there, which we all thought was weird...

There is our DELICIOUS pomegranate margaritas - with POP ROCKS!

There we are! So there you have it, SillySkittles, Marti-Pezadoodles and Suzanne Dean! We were laughing here because we didn't know that the pop rocks in the drink were going to attack us! Suzanne went to pour her pop rocks on and OH.MY.GOSH! pop rocks EVERYWHERE! We were still pulling them out of special places hours after we left the restaurant! LOL...

Anywho...to keep you nice and updated, this afternoon, we've got a class with TIM HOLTZ! w00t!!! Ranger King himself - and it'll be ALL about alcohol ink! I will be such a pro after that class! After that class, we're also registered for an acrylic album class.

...and THEN...the biggest news of all...we're going to Splitcoast Stampers CUPCAKE reception tonight! That is right...Splitcoast and CUPCAKES - how does it get any better than that!?

Sorry my post is so scattered, we're having a video conversation with Miss Pezzy from Polka-Dot-Pie herself and she's the cutest thing EVER!

Stay tuned for more fun, news and updates!!!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Confessions of a CHA Convention-er (Part 1)

2009-01-23T14:58:00.000-05:00

...CALIFORNIA...I.AM.HEEEERE!

So after crying like a baby after leaving The Mister at departures, after taking off my shoes a billion times and walking through a bunch of customs people asking me what kind of convention I'm going to and after getting into the taxi in California acting like I owned it (so people wouldn't be able to tell I'm a completely brand new tourist) and AFTER the taxi driver dropped me off at the WRONG hotel and after walking 15 minutes to get to the ACTUAL hotel and in between that time having a should-have-been-slow-motion-meeting-up-in-the-middle moment with Marti amidst luggage and slick sidewalks *breathes* I. AM. HEEEEERE!

Well, at least the wrong hotel that I got dropped off at will be our hotel in a couple of days. Which is awesome because that hotel is SEXY (and right on the doorstep of the convention center as well!)

So anywho...did I forget to mention that that 15 minute walk was in the RAIN? Okay, I'm not whining....I'm just saying, okay!?

I think we'll just be taking it easy tonight because our bodies are thinking it's already 7 pm when I'm pretty sure it's only 4 pm right now Anaheim time...

...tomorrow.......Tim Holtz....stay tuned!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

....and the WINNER is...

2009-01-22T22:22:00.001-05:00

...OH my GOODNESS, everyone! I had SUCH an awesome time hosting this giveaway! You all made it even more fun to give than to receive this 26th birthday!

All I can say is that I'm so sorry that I can't pick you all to win something! Unfortunately, for this giveaway, there can only be ONE - and I'm about to announce it riiiiiight now (then I can pack up my laptop in my waiting bag!)

I'm really sorry that I can't follow the winning steps digitally but I've already packed up all my digital camera batteries and cameras! The Mister was happy to help out and picked the winner out for me though!

So, without further ado...no drumroll because I packed up my drummer...LOL...

CONGRATULATIONS

4paws!!!!

Woo-hooooooo!!! w00t!!! CONGRATULATIONS again on being chosen for my PDP birthday giveaway!!! YEAH! I am so happy for you birthday buddy! Hope you have a great time with your stamps sets - for an added bonus, don't forget to enter Marti's PDP contest to win a $40 gift certificate to her store for even MORE goodies!

Please E-Mail me, PM me, message me, comment me - however you like - your choice of two PDP stamp sets and your address so we can get those shipped out to you ASAP!

Thank you EVERYONE for participating and being such great sports and most of all, GREAT FRIENDS.

Not to get all dramatic or sentimental, but when I joined the boards and discovered scrapping and Cricut-ing, it was at a pretty sad/boring/low time in my life (especially after leaving home for the first time, etc.) and you all just got me so excited about things again and passionate and BROKE!!! So thank you everyone for a great year and I look forward to many more!!!

Thanks again!!!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Happy Birthday to Me! Here's a Present for YOU!

2009-01-22T06:58:00.002-05:00

...it's a Filipino kind of tradition that when it's someone's birthday, the birthday person is the one who takes their friends out for dinner...not the other way around like it is here...so, since I can't take you ALL out for dinner (but I can meet up with you for dinner at CHA in Anaheim *giggles*) I've decided that in honour of me going to CHA as a birthday present to ME, I'm going to give out a little pressie to someone else!


Loveys with Pezzy	Carnival with Pezzy	Chocolate Treats 1

Chocolate Treats 2	Checkerboard Background	Sprinkled Background 1

My birthday buddy will get to pick TWO of these gorgeously YUMMY stamp sets from Marti over at http://www.pezadoodle.com/!

So have a little looksies at them, peek at my examples, Marti's examples using these stamps on HER blog (http://pezadoodle.blogspot.com/) and my DT sister Christine's (http://stampynwifesspace.blogspot.com/)! There's so much to make and do with just ONE stamp set, imagine everything you can make with BOTH! Woohoo! I kind of want to win my own present...

Another way to take your present and double it is after receiving your stamps, go on and enter Marti's contest giveaway using the PDP stamp sets! You could win a $40 gift certificate from the Pezadoodle queen herself! w00t!

Soooo, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post (birthday wishes are not necessary...HAHAHAHA...now it looks like I'm hosting a prize just so people will wish me a happy birthday!!! LOL...)

Deadline entry is 10:00 PM EST (I had to make it early because I'll probably be going crazy packing later on after that...plus, my laptop should be all packed up by then!)

OH MY GOOOOOSH, I'm so excited and nervous to be going away! TO CHAAAAA!!! YES!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Cravings? How about a little truffles...

2009-01-20T21:58:00.000-05:00

...blog truffles, that is!

Who wouldn't want a little extra treat to help get MORE treats?

Starting tomorrow, Marti from http://www.pezadoodle.com will be hosting a blog truffle on her blog (http://pezadoodle.blogspot.com)!

The prize up for grabs...*drumroll please*...a $40 gift certificate to be used howsoever you would like at Pez-a-Doodle.com!

All you've got to do is comment and leave a link to any Polka-Dot-Pie projects you have made and posted to other blogs, forums, etc.! There is no entry limit, enter as many times as you want and any projects other than a card gets TWO entries! The prize practically has YOUR name on it, dontcha think!? Contest ends January 31, 2009, so get your yummy creations together and ENTER!

The Polka-Dot-Pie stamp line will be on display at CHA...stay tuned and alert at Marti's blog and all her Design Team members (*ahem* including yours truly!) for some awesome up-to-the-minute announcements, updates and CONTEEESTS!

If you need a little jump start, check out our blogs and below for some examples using the Polka-Dot-Pie line...c'mon and join the fun with me, Pezzy and Marti!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Romantic Words Valentine

2009-01-20T14:58:00.000-05:00

Just a warning now before I start posting, this post will be PICTURE-heavy! I haven't had a lot of time to really play around or try a bunch of different techniques with so many things going on, but tonight I sat down in my chair with a certain idea in my head and holy moly, it turned out just as, if not BETTER than the idea I had! YES! (Don't you loooove those moments???)

So in celebration of the upcoming CHA and the release and display of the Polka-Dot-Pie line there, here is my "romantic words" valentine, although I'm not really sure who I love enough to actually give this to them...HAHAHAHA! (I'm just joking....kind of...)

So without further ado...

Techniques and Materials (all products and materials are from http://www.pezadoodle.com unless otherwise stated)

I first started with my mix and match background (Polka-Dot-Pie background stamp from Pezadoodle). I first inked with Versamark watermark pad and then pressed the background stamp into Adirondack ink. This allowed for me to pour a clear embossing powder over everything and emboss to have nice raised outlines for my background with a nice, intense brown color!

Next, my never-fail turn-to technique...STICKLES. I went eeextra glittery today and pretty much STICKLED everything in the background. I used Start Dust and Baby Pink Stickles as well as Ruby Red Distress Stickles for the little candy top. I'm a bit impatient so I heat gunned everything to dry faster.

For my heart, I cut it with my Cricut and Studio G inked the living daylights out of it. I versamarked and inked my "romantic words" background stamp and embossed. What happened here was that the Studio G ink was also still wet when I poured embossing power, so the ENTIRE heart ended up getting embossed which turned out pretty great...after that, MORE STICKLES. I put the nozzle straight down and swirled it all over while squeezing, so it's got a nice swirly sparkly pattern if you look closely...I used Tim Holtz paper distresser to distress my heart!

For added extraness, I took a 'silk' flower and pressed it into my still wet "romantic words" background ink and heat embossed. Because of the fabric, it didn't turn out too clear, but I ended up liking this look better.

Pop-dotted all of that and used my Sugar Pops for the flower middle.

Last but certainly not least, I hand-stitched (I am COMPLETELY hopeless with an actual sewing machine) so I measured out and pierced my holes and then stitched! Sorry for all the chitter chatter, I'm just SO loving this latest work of mine!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Pez-a-Doodle 10% Exclusive!

2009-01-12T14:58:00.000-05:00

...hel-loooo everyone! Can I tell you that CHA is JUST AROUND THE FREAKIN' CORNER?! I am so excited I need a paper bag!!!

I've booked my flight, I just have to check-in online next week and then print off my E-Ticket, I've got my CHA badge c/o Pez-a-Doodle, now I've just got to figure out how I'm going to fit everything that I want to pack into a teeny, tiny suitcase! I'm California-bound in TEN DAYS! So long 10-20 cm of snow and mush and slush and wind chill factors and HEL-LOOOOO sunny California! Tim Holtz and I are going to be making alcohol inky magic together, I tell ya - and that would sound TOTALLY different to a non-scrapbooker, if you know what I mean!

So to kick off all the excitement and to kick-off Marti's SUPER DUPER WOMAN attitude after she's revamped and re-organized her website, Pez-a-Doodle and the DT members are giving away a 10% coupon code to everything in the store! w00t! So just because you can't have some scrappin' crafty fun in the sun with us, doesn't mean you can't JOIN IN ON ALL THE FUN! C'mon by and check out Marti's store at http://www.pezadoodle.com, there's exclusive stamp lines, Inkadinkadoo stamp set CLEARANCES and EEEEEVERYTHING and I mean EEEEVERYTHING Tim Holtz and Ranger, including the oh so fabulous, oh so glamorous STICKLES, Glitz and Distress, glittery bling can be had by ALL!

But don't take my word for it (even though it's good as GOLD, people!) go and see for yourselves, get a little bit of this and that, throw in a little bit of cuteness and don't forget to add the ever so necessary "newsite10" coupon code when checking out! You can thank me just by making your ordinary crafts EXTRAORDINARY with the fabulous things you pick up!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Good enough to EAT!

2009-01-10T09:26:00.002-05:00

...ooooh my goodness, ladies and gentlemen!!!

Yesterday I said I didn't know what today, today I'm completely speechless.

I will just have to let the FABULOUSNESS of Marti's new line of stamps speak for themselves!

*SCREECHES* Don't you JUST want to EAT IT??? *laughs* I'm watching Top Chef right now on the Food Network and Padma just told the chef's that they have to make the ultimate sweet treat and I am SO ahead of them because how ULTIMATE are those treats?!

I stamped two of the MANY stamps that comes with the set and I colored them in, again using the MCP technique and colorless, odorless mineral oil and turned to my FAVORITE embellishment ever - STICKLES! I used both regular Stickles and Glitz Stickles! For my little candies on top and for my CHOOOOCOLATE dipped strawberry, I turned to my new favorite add-on, Diamond Glaze! I couldn't stay away from it, all these yummy goodies, I just wanted them to POP!

To up the sweetness factor, I used more paper from my DCWV sweet stack. All the pleasure without the guilt!

Get some SWEETNESS over at http://www.pezadoodle.com/!

Supplies used and can be picked up at Pezadoodle.com:
Versamark watermark ink pad
Studio G stamps - Valentine's set
Perfect Pearls Pigment Powder
Adirondack Ink
Bead Pops
Diamond Glaze
Stickles

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Polka-Dot-Pie = oh so SWEET!

2009-01-09T21:25:00.000-05:00

...*SCREECH*

HAHAHA, now that I've got your attention, can I PLEASE introduce the brand-spankin' new Polka-Dot-Pie stamp line from Marti over at Pezadoodle!

I can't even think of what to type right now, my brain is going into creative overdrive! I opened up my package and as soon as those stamps came out, it felt like Christmas ALL OVER AGAIN! You have GOT to try out this new line!

Without further ado:

How CUTE is she? I love our almost grown-up little Pezzy! Here she is all ready for Valentine's day! I used the super versatile stamp set and turned the separate pieces to make it look like Pezzy was swinging on a little heart swing. I didn't even use all the stamps that came with this set!

I LOVED making her! I stamped Pezzy twice and cut her out apart from her "swing". After I colored her (using the MCP technique with Prismas and colorless, odorless mineral oil), I glazed her shoes to make it look like little patent Mary Janes and I also glazed her heart and her heart swing!

I pulled out my brand new Valentine's Studio G stamp sets and stamped BE MINE and the lines to make it look like the hearts were "swinging" from the heart border.

Just a closer look at all the prettiness! The paper is from my DCWV "Sweet" Stack!

Check back again tomorrow for some EXTRA yumminess to reveal! I am so excited...and hungry!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Fun Friend...

2009-01-05T20:25:00.000-05:00

...it looks like I've found a little bit of my crafty mojo!

After going to the gym, cooking dinner (using the most DISGUSTING ravioli EVER - oh my gosh, I got it frozen from the grocery store and cooked it, popped one in my mouth and almost vomited inside of my mouth. It was SO gross, I think it was dog food. I really do, except judging from the commercials I've seen of dog food, I think this ravioli was even WORSE than dog food. Chewy didn't even want to eat it!) But I digress, I cooked dinner, bathed the cutest puppy in the WHOLE WIDE world, blew him dry and then I got into scraproom and made THIS:

It sucks in the way that I actually sat down to make something Valentine-y, and this is what I came up with, but I LOVE it because NOT from the Valentine aspect, it's a very pretty card. It looks more Spring/Summery, but I'm battling some after Christmas winter blues, so this made me happy!

Materials (all products are from Pezadoodle.com, unless otherwise stated):
Glossy cardstock
Inkadinkadoo stamp and Studio G acrylic block
Versamark and super fine embossing powder
Birthday Big & Juicy multicolored stamp pad
Me and My Big Ideas Flower (stash)
Ribbon (stash)
Carstock (stash)
Bubble stickers (stash)

For those who've never tried it before, I embossed my flowers using Versamark and embossing powder (oh yes, I used my embossing buddy as well...never emboss without your embossing buddy!) Once everything was dry, I inked the glossy cardstock aaaall over, blending my chosen two colors together and then rubbing off the rest of the color off of the shiny embossed image so that it shows through nice and white against the background colors.

Some AWESOME things are on the roll over at Marti's blog (http://pezadoodle.blogspot.com) so as I'm a little bit behind in getting some super cute sneak peaks up, make sure that you check things out over there! You will NOT be sorry! After all, who can resist SUPER cute Valentine's Studio G's, oh so pretty Valentine's inks and SOOOO GLITTERY glitter and NEW STAMP RELEASES!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

New Year, New Book...

2009-01-04T09:25:00.000-05:00

...so a new year for me means trying something NEW!

When I try something new, it's always on the good advice of Marti from Pezadoodle.com and what's more new and scary for me than something from Tim's line??? GRUUUUNGEBOARD book!

So I've only just started dabbling into grungeboard...tackling a whole book made with it is still a bit confusing for me...I'm not even sure I'm using it right! But here is the cover and the first couple of pages...I'm starting easy and I'm hoping to really bust out the grunge techniques and distress inks and stickles and EVERYTHING!

I'll be leaving the pictures out though, because it's a present for my mom who's also just starting to get into stamping and fun things like that!

So far I am loving it though! I stopped to take a couple of pictures, but already I want to get back into my scraproom to get back to work, so short and sweet, here it is so far!

Thanks for looking! I'm off to PLAY!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

It's a NEW YEAR!

2009-01-03T14:42:00.000-05:00

...well HAPPY NEW YEAR, everyone! And welcome to the new 2009 blog! What that means is that I sorta, kinda made a resolution to actually have entries! *LOL*

So what have I been doing over the holidays? Besides gorging on delicious mashed potatoes and gravy, getting totally stretched thin trying to visit all the people we were expected to see, hauling a rambunctious little puppy around to all those places, saving that rambunctious puppy from grabby little children's hands who want to carry him and drop him on his cute little face and then haul him back up again and drag him all over the house and hugging and kissing and greeting every single person in my path and quite more than possibly catching more than one strain of cold that I am now currently suffering and trying to fight off all at the same time? Well, I've been creating and making!

Pez-a-Doodle.com Design Team is up to ALL kinds of EXCITING and I'm trying to make sure I'm part of all the fun! HAHAHAHA...

Anywho, to kick off my first post of the new year, I'm showing a little love with a little red, black and white!

Materials (all products from Pezadoodle.com except when otherwise stated):
Ink: Black StazOn
Stamps: Inkadinkadoo (soon being discounted)
Stickers: Personal stash
Color: Prismas with MCPT

Materials (products used from Pezadoodle.com unless otherwise stated):
Glossy cardstock colored with Fired Brick Distressed Ink and foam tool
Stamps (inkadinkadoo) stamped with black and white ink dabbers
White gel pen
Stickers from personal stash

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Can I have your attention PUH-LEAZE...!

2008-11-26T22:18:00.000-05:00

...that time has finally come! I now know how it feels to be the only child and then have to welcome a little baby brother or sister...except this situation is totally different, but still kind of the same thing...HAHAHAHA, ANYWHO!!!

As the former sole DT member of Pez-a-Doodle.com, I would OOOOFFICIALLY loooove to welcome CHRISTINE RILEY to the family!!! I'm so excited for a new design member, because first off, the MORE THE MERRIER and second, it's because Marti's got bigger and better things coming YOUR way! How so, you ask...weeeeell, you'll just have to wait and see, but I can assure you, FUN announcements and surprise on the way!

To start off the fun and exciting, and to welcome our newest DT member, I've got a link you are NOT going to want to miss! ESPECIALLY if (like my mom) you're just starting out in stamping and inking and all things Distressingly Tim or if you've been into it and just want to build up your stash, Marti's having an amaaaazing SALE exclusive to individuals we deem worthy enough to share the link with!!! (And of course that would be YOU my oh, so fabulous readers!). So here it is:

http://www.pezadoodle.com/HiddenSale.html

Hel-lo?!?! I've posted the link, what are you waiting for? These sales won't last forever you know, so DROP THAT TURKEY LEG and get a-clickin'! The sale page comes down on December 4th and at that time, prices are back to normal and you just can't get as much stuff with the same amount of money!!!

After you've clicked to your heart's content and rest easy knowing that your FABULOUSLY fun goodies will be on their way to you, mosey on over and visit Christine and wish her a congrats and best wishes!!!

I'm so excited - how's that for being THANKFUL this Thanksgiving!? (Well...for American Thanksgiving, anyway!)

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

A Kinkade Kind of Christmas...

2008-10-22T14:42:00.000-04:00

...while doing some "blurfing" (as what RobynStamps likes to refer to it as), I came across a blogger who made a couple Christmas cards using Thomas Kinkade paper.

Thomas Kinkade. Has. Scrapbooking. Paper.

*mouth slightly ajar*

Well of COURSE I had to get some and oh boy, are these papers FAAABULOUS!

These days, I only have time to shop and not so much time to actually play with the fun things I buy, so I kept the cards pretty simple - it's Thomas Kinkade! you hardly need to dress it up anymore!

The paper is from Cornish Heritage Farms and the only thing this needed was STICKLES (Pez-a-Doodle.com)

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

CURRENT MOOD: HIGHLY IRRITATED CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: I DO (WHATCHA SAY BOO) - JON B.

Think ink - part two...

2008-10-21T14:38:00.000-04:00

...so I posted that birthday card I recently made on the Cricut board and a few people mentioned that they were a little bit intimidated of inks.

My only thought was, "Don't be!" I used to be, too - but you just have to be willing to play around and get dirty (your desk, your papers, your projects, your fingers...LOL...and in my case, the floor and what you're wearing) and you'll come up with some pretty fabulous things!

I thought I would put together a few things to show what fun things can be done with ink pads!

Inks pictured: Kaleidacolor, Studio G, Brilliance Dew Drops, Adirondack
Other materials: Glossy cardstock, Rubber Brayer

As always, supplies (unless otherwise stated) are from Marti over at Pez-a-Doodle! (Actually, I'm looking at the picture now and ALL materials are from Pez-a-Doodle! What are you waiting for? Get over there!)

First I just started by playing around with background stamps and glossy cardstock (I heart glossy cardstock!) Take your background stamp and pick a few random ink pad colours. Mix them up, they don't really need to be all one brand! The only thing to remember though is stamp light colours before stamping on the darker colours - less likely to contaminate a darker coloured ink pad with light colours than it would be the other way around! And voila, you get something like this:

Background Stamp a Pez-a-Doodle exclusive!

Pretty! Just an easy, simple way to dress up a background stamp - rather than have it being one solid colour!

Another way to get some colour on that glossy cardstock:

You can NOT go wrong with multicolour inkpads! I used Kaleidacolor in Fruit Cake and Cappuccino Delight and using a brayer, applied all the bright pretty colour onto my cardstock! The whole technique was so laid back, I didn't even worry about where the colour was going, I just brayered the whole piece like crazy until I was satisfied with the colour. Decorate to your heart's desire!

Did these sound easy to do? Well then what are you waiting for? Get out your inks and play!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: MISS INDEPENDENT - NE-YO

Think ink...

2008-10-20T14:38:00.000-04:00

...and the rest will fall into place!

I had exactly half an hour to get a card together before I got back in my car with The Mister and headed over to Red Lobster! I have no idea how long my cousin and I have had this tradition going, but every year on her birthday we always go to Red Lobster - and for some funny reason, we always end up in the same section of the restaurant, at pretty much the same table. The people seem to change too, the only people who are in all the pictures throughout the years are her and I. *smiles* Okay, can you tell she's my most favourite cousin, and one of the most favourite people ever?

So anywho, when I went to the States for my shopping trip we went to a Guess Accessory outlet store and HOLY MOLY, look what shimmied and said, "Yoo-hoo, look at ME!"

...and I said, "Well hel-loooo BEAUTIFUL!"

Can I tell you how much my cousin ADORES all things Guess? So I admired and coveted and thought this would be the perfect gift for her, and "guess" what? it was 50% off! 50 FREAKING percent OFF! Guess how fast these were in my hot little hands, paid for and in the trunk of the car? HAHAHA...I actually bought a second pair in pink for another girlfriend of mine.

Anywho, I'm so digressing. I needed a fabulous card to go along with my FABULOUS gift! Weeeell, imagine how buckling all the pressure was!

I get into my scraproom and wade through all the fun stuff and I stumble across tons and tons of Studio G inks! I figure now is definitely the time to use them and taaaa-daaaa!

Pretty colours! And the perfect way to accent pretty Studio G ink colors was a piece of paper from the Glitter Stack!

Fun little tip - the inks weren't expensive anyways and I wanted a more colorful approach for the sentiment, so I stamped a bunch of ink colors all over the stamp and voila!

All Studio G inks can be found at http://www.pezadoodle.com.

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Oh to be American...

2008-10-19T23:54:00.000-04:00

...if only to have daily access to all your fantastically FABULOUS craft stores!

I crossed the border this past weekend my friends, and let me just say, I was *SO* jealous of you Americans!

I mean, you have a Michael's which is fine because I do too, but you have a Michael's with STUFF! And more than that, you have a Jo-Ann's, a Hobby Lobby and I didn't even get a chance to find a...crap, I forget the name of the other craft store I was jealous of you for. Plus your Wal-Mart's have TONS of scrapping stuff. *sighs wistfully*

Anywho, a little peek-a-boo at my trip:

Well, who can say no to 50% off? *giggles* They were Christmas presents though, I was a good girl!

The Queen is *SO* jealous of me right now...

I seriously sat down on the ground and stared...

Okay, I was a good girl up until this point!

Oh, how I love thee...

*whew* That last picture there...HOLY MOLY! If we had one of these in Canada...

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Clearly Stickle-licious...

2008-10-15T23:54:00.000-04:00

...well look at me go! I am so happy that I seem to be back into the groove of things! I feel like scrapping and playing and I have TIME to do it! And I'm back to my regular ol' shopping ways, which is kind of bad right now because I'm trying to lower my debt! HAHAHA...

Anywho, there's nothing like getting back into the swing of things than by getting out your STICKLES!

I snuck a peek at Marti's blog (http://pezadoodle.blogspot.com/) while I was at work to see what she's been up to and my eyes were wonderfully assaulted by fabulously GLITTERY and SPARKLY YUMMINESS! So with the instructions already there, I couldn't NOT try it out!

Here's my take!

Look out! Picture-heavy because I am LOVING all over this card if I do say so myself!

Here we go: I cut down a piece of acetate (transparency paper, overhead paper - whatever you like to call it) and Cuttlebugged it with my choice of folder (the designs with bigger embossed "wells" work the best for this type of project. I had to add a thin piece of paper in between the plates to really get the sheet embossed. Next I just chose my stickles and filled in the wells. I had to do two sessions of Stickle-ing and drying until I had the right amount of glitter in my wells.

'Nuff said, get your Stickle on!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Love: Plain and Simple...

2008-10-14T23:54:00.000-04:00

...in black and white! Well, I couldn't do ONLY black and white...for some reason, I kept insisting on adding a tiny bit!

A co-worker of mine requested a plain black and white wedding card for her niece's wedding. I finally hit my stride and ended up with a few...

She only wanted to choose one, but I just gave them all to her. When she said black and white at first, I flashed on something SusieB-esque and pretty much went with that.

Not much to really go on about, embossing folders and a Cuttlebug. The only cool thing that I haven't ever worked with before is the curly felt - right now I'm drawing a blank on what the name of it is...everything else that was used was generic ribbon and generic Dollarama chipboard.

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Trick-or-Treat...

2008-10-13T23:54:00.001-04:00

...in a box! I totally lifted this from Katie's (http://katiespaperhaven.blogspot.com/) blog and I had a TON of trouble with it! LOL...it's not my fault you make everything look so easy, Katie! If you haven't had a chance to visit her blog, I suggest it be the next place you visit! I love her work!

I had originally planned on making six of these for my co-workers (with little treats inside) but the amount of work it took to make this one...well...

But it's SO CUTE! (I mean, if I do say so myself!) Each opposite sides of the box I stamped using two stamps (Inkadinkadoo's All Hallows Eve line). The bats, I stamped in Adirondack's PIGMENT (aka creamy yumminess) ink and I added BLACK Stickles to accent some of the bats. The other sides, I stamped the witch in Studio G silver ink and used Stickles to accent.

Gotta love Stickles against a black background! Other accents was a white gel pen, and Halloween 3D sticker from Dollarama. Ribbon was 50% off from Michael's (which sucks because it was still $1.99 after being half-off!)

And that's the inside - Halloween patterned paper from Michael's.

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

I'm Thankful for...

2008-10-12T23:54:00.015-04:00

...turkey! And potatoes! And GRAVY!

What I'm not thankful for? Lack of MOJO! Where the heck is it?!?!

So The Mister and I are headed over to the in-laws (or his parents, because I guess they wouldn't be his in-laws) for the day-before Thanksgiving feast and my mother-in-law being the formal and etiquette-ful person that she is, I thought it would be a good idea to bring a card for her, since she was kind enough to host dinner.

Imagine my complete disgust when this is what I come up with:

*wrinkles nose* Oh WOW! BOXES upon BOXES full of goodies and this is all that comes from it?!?!?

I was thinking that honestly, if this is what I was going to come up with using all the FABULOUS things I got, then I better pack everything up and send it back to Marti! LOL...yes, I guess the added pressure that I was putting on myself was kind of stressing me out a bit...but I kind of thought I was a bit capable of more. I mean, look at that...eeew!

But to be fair, the stamp is great. It's from Inkadinkadoo's Harvest Expressions line. I stamped it using Adirondack Dye Ink in Espresso. And that's pretty much it. Pop-dots of course, but apparently, it wasn't enough to save this monstrosity.

Maybe I work a bit better under pressure...an hour before it was time to leave, I was able to come up with this:

*smiles* Still wasn't my most favourite piece of work, but it was still better than the cardstock vomit I had earlier, right? I love this one because of the little bits of detail that was added - that no recipient except for a scrapper would really ever truly be able to appreciate.

The Primas are sprayed with a Perfect Pearl Mist (a combination of Perfect Pearls and water in a Mini Mister - no, not a smaller version of The Mister - HAHAHA, I crack myself up). Oh my goooosh the pretty-ness of the glittery sparkles! I layered three Prima flowers and just held them together with a...wow, has it been that long that I can't remember what that thingamajig is called? Someone tell me!

The BEAUTIFUL curly-cue detail is Tim Holtz's Grungeboard. I inked it with Studio G inks and then used Cracklepaint to get some nice texture to it. Now that's a curly-cue with personality, I would say!

The stamp is from Inkadinkadoo's Harvest Expressions and stamped in Studio G gold ink! Other materials used is K&Co. patterned paper and the threading water punch.

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Let it Snow...

2008-10-02T23:54:00.003-04:00

...I can't believe I'm making cards that encourage solid precipitation. Apparently, I'm behind since everyone and their neighbor's gardener seem to have TONS of Christmas cards made already.

Anyway, I won't get too into anything since I'm back-dating these entries anyway, but I really wanted to make a card using Marti's sent stamp goodies! Originally, I had Marti's goodies there without the word 'stamp' but it didn't really sound that good and I don't need people to wonder why Marti's sending me her goodies...I seem to get sidetracked really easily these days!

I fell in love with this stamp as soon as I saw it at Pez-a-Doodle. Leave it to Fabulous Marti to make sure I end up with it! *squeals* As soon as I saw it in my box, I knew that some way, I was going to be using Stickles with this. I got a little bit anxious and am not really known for patience so instead of just leaving it alone to let dry, I took my heatgun to it and it bubbled up and got all bumpy. (Note to self and to you people: DON'T take a heatgun to your Stickles!)

So anywho...! I stamped the image twice on plain cardstock. One for my base and one to cut out and pop-dot to make all fancy-looking! I swear, you can pop-dot garbage onto your card and it would look special just because it adds dimension. LOVE IT!

Can I tell you how long it took me to make this card? I know I made it a while ago, but I can still remember that I had TROUBLE - with everything! Where to put the image, how to mat it, yada-yada...*sighs* So anyway, I stamped with Archiver's ink and used Encore metallic ink in Teal to ink the edges of of my angel! I used the same metallic ink to ink up my snowflake embossing folder and ran my background image through the Cuttlebug. I stamped a round Inkadinkadoo sentiment from the Doodle Christmas line and stamped it on a Cricut-cut circle at who-knows what size! Ribbon always seems to finish a card off nicely!

Thanks for looking!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: BODY BUMPIN' - PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT

Bits and Pieces...

2008-10-01T23:54:00.001-04:00

...okay, I have been MIA so long, it's almost embarrassing! I can't believe I've let everything fall to the wayside like that! I can't believe I can't find the time and/or the energy to drag myself into the scraproom! And then on some days when I feel like making something, I just work on top of the mess that's already there - therefore, I will never get a proper clean-up - unless I set aside, oh say, a weekend!

As some of you who actually still check this will figure out, I'm going to be back-dating some entries so I won't totally annihilate your eyes by putting everything on one single post!

So going back - let me first start off by saying that being on Marti's design team is MINDBLOWING. I kind of suck a tiny bit (probably more than a tiny bit) since I haven't done much lately - obviously...but HOLY MOLY! I got home late one night after being harrassed at work and there's a box sitting there waiting for me. And I open it...and *jaw drops*

There's stamps (wooden and acrylic), there's ink pads, there's GOODIES gallore, lemme tell ya, and this is what I come up with after a fortnight of hemming and hawing over what I should make:

*shakes head in shame* Can you BELIEVE it? Well, you might be able to since I didn't take a picture of the oh-so-wonderful goodies for you to know the ENDLESS possibilities that was presented to me and this is all I could come up with.

Anywho, I guess you might call this an ATC (artist trading card), but really, I have no idea what it is. I would say it's a 3D embellishment that will hopefully, one day, find it's way onto a card or layout. In the meantime, this is it.

I'll take you on a short walk through it...

The stamp is a Hampton Arts wood-mounted collage-looking stamp. I took my Kaleidacolor multicolor ink pad (in Cappuccino Delight) and using a brayer, I brayered some multicolor yumminess onto a plain ol' piece of cardstock. I love multicolor brayering...it's the one time you don't have to be neat or precise about it, and it still comes out look fab! Anywho, I stamped my image using Adirondack dye ink (I'm not remembering the color right now - let's just call it...BROWN) three times on the now-inked up cardstock. I left one stamped image and cut around the outside to make it the base. The next image, I cut out the next largest piece of the image I could - which would be the lady. I pop-dotted her onto my base and it starts taking on a 3D effect with the base image being the background. Lastly, I cut the last image with one more layer - the clock.

For a finishing touch, I used my Sakura glitter pen to add little bits of glittery detail. So simple *wrinkles nose*

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: JUST DANCE - LADY GAGA

I-tee, UTEE, we all tee!

2008-07-30T22:48:00.001-04:00

...look at me with all the creating!

It's been a pretty good evening for it. For date night, The Mister and I went and bottled our wine that we had made (Kiwi Melon Zinfandel - YUMMY!) and even though I don't really drink wine, it's always so much fun to bottle! If you're interested in making and bottling your own wine, I highly recommend Vintner's Wine Cellar - if you have one in your area. Very good prices - we've been coming back since we made our ice wine favors for our wedding and I've also referred a bunch of people, so now, whenever we make wine, we get a lot of good discounts and referral discounts! It's always good to have them as last minute gifts, just-because gifts and of course, to drink! Can't say enough good things about making wine...I always make our own wine labels and I gave a bottle to the owner of the particular cellar where we make and I've had a few request to make labels for other people. I don't know why I put that last part in there, irrelevant really...but for all you creative folks out there, if you're getting a bit tired of decorating flat paper, you could always take your creativity to some wine bottles!

SO! Onward we go, our project for this week on Pezadoodle.com is focusing on Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE) and get ready for some messy, FUN (I have embossing powder stuck to my feet as we speak! LOL) Go ahead and check out Marti's blog for the tutorial and examples, I will just be posting my creations here. As always, most of the materials used can be found at her online website, everything else will be otherwise noted.

Up first is my card:

I have no idea why my cards have been quite dark lately (I've been LOVING all over black cardstock lately...) Anywho, just a pretty simple card, as the focal point of the card required quite some effort.

The "Remember when..." is actually some decorative chipboard I got at Dollarama and all I did was smooshed (don't you LOVE that word, say it with me now, "SMOOSH") the chipboard into an embossing inkpad (or versamark, whichever you prefer) and then covered all over with the UTEE. Shake off the excess and heat and then repeat the whole process until you've got a nice, thick coat. Disclaimer: Be careful! Everything can get REALLY hot and it doesn't feel nice to have hot, melted embossing powder all over your fingers! So, as soon as you're satisfied with your coatings, let it set and then toss it in the freezer for a good ten minutes. Once it's nice and cold, CAREFULLY bend in some areas to create the cracked glass look. I say carefully very LOUDLY as if you bend too excessively the hardened UTEE could POSSIBLY flick right off your item and POSSIBLY hit you in the face...I'll leave it to you to decide whether or not I'm speaking from personal experience. LOL...

Alright, getting away with myself, I said I wasn't going to tutorialize the whole thing since Marti's already broke it down so well!

The rest of the ingredients are generic ribbon (Dollarama), Sakura glitter pen, Fiskar's border punch (of which is now completely dessimated - thank goodness it fell apart [LITERALLY] after the LAST punch was made), green paper from K&Co.

Next up is a neat little project I came across on Cambria's blog - I'll have to let you Google that on your own as I am too lazy to Google it myself to get the address from you. It's a nice little bag/pouch or whatever you'd like to call it. The tutorial is on her website, once I've gotten over my laziness, I'll post a link.

Anywho, keeping in line with the UTEE project, if you look at the tag, I guess you could say that I UTEE'd the crap out it. The tag was from a cool punched out set from my LSS (I bought a paper grab bag for only $5 and this was one of the things in it!), I stamped my sentiment in Adirondack Espresso Dye Ink and again, SMOOSHED it into my embossing pad. Pour UTEE, heat and REPEAT!
If you look at the tag carefully, you'll see that there's a piece missing...that MAY have been the little bugger that totally flew off the tag when I went to crack it, and it MAY be the missing piece that totally got up close and personal with my face. You may want to consider wearing safety goggles when embarking upon this project - otherwise, Marti and I can NOT be held liable. Consider yourself warned...LOL!

...and for one last bit of gratuitous picture posting, here are a few more things to look at - please try not to gasp too loudly at what you see next:

...but I DID find this EXCELLENT find at Wal-Mart this evening, it was on clearance sale for $13.00! Woohoo!

CURRENT MOOD: SATISFIED CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: NOTHING MUCH

All that shimmers...

2008-07-29T11:47:00.000-04:00

...is so PRETTY! So, I am writing this entry from a completely different computer at a completely different desk other than mine (here at work) because my video card is apparently busted (I have no idea how since I've been on vacation since Friday and haven't even been using it!). What makes it worse is this is all the internet time I'll be getting until tomorrow or Thursday because my wonder Mister was using my laptop and opened that UPS virus that was going around. HE OPENED IT!!! AAAARGH!!! So I was laptop less over the weekend because my lazy bum couldn't get it in to get fixed until yesterday.

Plus, Tiana's birthday party was on Sunday, so we were über busy with the little munchkin! She was soooo cute - she was so excited for her birthday party, all she was talking about was SWIMMING and CAKE! Then when she saw the presents, she whispered to her Dad: "Look, Dada...presents!" And her eyes got all big and round!

Anywho...I played some yesterday with all my wonderful DT stuff and got a little bit done...mojo still ain't running like she used to, but whatevs, I'm still chugging along.

The first card is one done up just like Marti's on her blog - using alcohol inks and glossy paper!

I know it's not too exciting, but I didn't want to do too much more to cover up the nice background. I know it doesn't look like too much, but there was a lot of things done to this card. Lemme see, lemme see - all material, unless otherwise stated can be found at Marti's Pezadoodle store.

So first off, I took some glossy cardstock (to reiterate if I haven't already done so, this isn't the same as PHOTO paper - glossy cardstock (in white AND black) can be found at Marti's site, already pre-cut to size).

I used my wonderful, new foam ink tool and my alcohol inks (Denim and Slate) and just dabbed all the ink over the whole piece of cardstock. Then I took my WONDERFUL shimmery Tsukineko inkpad (I don't have it with me so I don't remember the colour) and I dabbed it over the cardstock after I Cuttlebugged it with the snowflake folder. After that, I decided it needed some lighter aspects so I took my Adirondack pigment inkpad and WHITE and laid the cardstock over the raised pad and just tapped the cardstock with my finger on certain spots to give it a frosty, white colour on some of the raise, snow flake areas. Once that was all dry, I stickled some of the snowflakes using Crystal and I also covered my white snowflake with the same stickles. I just used some clear mini "Skittles" for the arms of the flakes and generic ribbon from my stash, and VOILA! Wintery flakiness!

This one I actually started a while ago, but I got side-tracked with the other events that were going on - so I finished it up last night. Let's see...I used my Chinese garden stamp set from Stamp King and I stamped with Perfect Medium so instead of leaving a colour, it left a nice wet area for me to dust over with Perfect Pearls! I used Perfect Pearls in gold, eggplant, and green (I'm not sure what the name of the colour is) and dusted with a dry, fluffy paint brush - all on black cardstock!

So that's that...I've got more pictures to post, but it'll have to wait until I'm up and running again!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Clip-It

2008-07-23T23:34:00.002-04:00

...it's weird, I didn't even have any coffee today and I STILL feel like I'm rarin' to go!

Work was actually quite busy today (I am SO minus MSN right now because a lot of people were fooled by this virus from UPS we all received and a TON of people at work opened it before our tech peeps could tell us not to, so I'm trying to keep a low profile since I already JUST had my computer completely wiped out of all the crap in it). I got home and The Mister and I got into cleaning mode - and I actually CLEANED!

My assignment was to tackle the NASTY amount of dishes and things growing in the sink and The Mister's was to clean out our closet to make room for stuff and I had a little fun along the way à la this:

...yes, yes, that really IS the coolness of me. I wanted to put my wedding dress on too, but The Mister refused to get the dress out of the box and lace me up. MEH...dress up = DENIED. Ah well, if you're wondering, I did take the veil off shortly after this picture was taken (after I ran around the house and fanned it out for a bit...)

After the cleaning I was kind of pooped, but I had gone and had a little fun at Dollarama and found these fabulous Post-it notes and I tried my hand at making some post-it clipboards - hence...CLIP-ITs!

So these are for my co-workers and myself. We've recently become quite the bonded trio after my co-worker's personal stuff and it's been a fabulous time at the office (also less drama from the most dramatic one who's FINALLY off for a while). The first clipboard says STRONG for the co-worker going through the personal stuff, the second says CHARMING just because she SO is, and the third says BRILLIANT because I TOTALLY am! *LoL* It's kind of an inside joke between the three of us that worked out really well since I had the metal plates...I probably won't remember it the next time I read this...

So, onto the materials!

Coaster chipboard - http://www.pezadoodle.com/
Paper: Glitter Stack - Chapters
Flowers: Prima - Cafe Prima
Ribbon: Generic - I don't even remember
Post-it pad - Dollarama
Clip - Dollarama
Metal plates - Dollarama

Oops, and I almost forgot, some Princess Pops I robbed from myself!

P.S. Oh and a little off-topic, but my cousin's wedding that happened a few weeks ago...I'm going to be a GODMOTHER! She brought home a little honeymoon peanut!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

They LOVE me, they REALLY LOVE ME!

2008-07-23T10:17:00.000-04:00

...I've been nominated for an award!

Thanks Diane for the award! I'm always so happy to hear from people who come and visit - I didn't even know you were one of them! YAY for ME! I love your blog as well! Always so clear and concise and picture-friendly with the tutorials of all the things you do! Love your work!

The rules of this award
1. The winner can put the logo on her/his blog
2. Link the person you received the award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs to win this award.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs you've nominated to receive this award.

I'm going to have a teeny, tiny problem with this part as I don't think I know of seven blogs to nominate - especially since the first person I would nominate was already nominated by Diane as well! The other person that I wanted to nominate also got the same award...but let's just go ahead and nominate them anyway, if you were already nominated, you don't have to do the whole thing over again!

Marti - http://pezadoodle.blogspot.com/
Katie - http://katiespaperhaven.blogspot.com/
Okie - http://okieladybugsscrapnmore.blogspot.com/
Michelle - http://bcr8iv.blogspot.com/
Chris - http://ole682000.blogspot.com/
Robyn - http://www.thepinkstamper.blogspot.com/
Kopperhead - http://kopperhead100.blogspot.com/

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Holy Moly, I'm BACK!

2008-07-22T20:00:00.000-04:00

...it is SO hard to get back into the swing of things!

My body succumbing to sickness every couple of weeks doesn't help either, but I guess that's my way of telling myself that I need to REST.

I spent the better part of today in a NeoCitran induced sleep, but after waking up a few hours earlier, I was feeling MUCH better. Taking a peek at Marti's blog and seeing how MUCH I've MISSED and WHAM! The creativeness was itching to come out!

...Not that the creativeness manifested into anything ACTUALLY creative, but I made a card and got back on my DT horse!

After I saw what I was missing, how could I NOT get my greedy, craft-starved hands on DIMENSIONAL pearls. Not only are they all 3D and yummy, but after I SMOOSHED them (which was the recent tutorial) when you look reeeal closely, you can see that they are all SHIMMERY and SHINY. Now if there's one thing all girls love, it's SHIMMER and SHINY GOODNESS!

So without much more chit-chat (that'll come later, I promise - the non-sick me is feeling veeeery CHATTY!) here are some PICTURES:

...Okie dokie! While my nit-picky side doesn't really think it's the BEST I could have come up with, the other sides of me are shrugging and saying, "Hey, it's the ONLY thing you came up with," so we're going to ignore nit-picky me for a while until I can get 100% back into the game.

So let's see, ingredients, ingredients!

Cardstock - Walmart
Shimmery Paper - Dollarama
Dimensional Pearl SMOOSH: dimensional pearls in Eggplant and Bottle, Pezadoodle.com
Glossy Paper - Pezadoodle.com
Brayer - Pezadoodle.com
Ink: Adirondack pigment ink in Pitch Black - Pezadoodle.com
Stickles - Pezadoodle.com
Stamps: Bellastamps.com and Studio G

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

This and that...

2008-07-16T09:29:00.000-04:00

...slooowly getting back into the crafty swing of things. I think I was feeling a lot of pressure to jump back in and be all creative after the hectic couple of weeks and I was getting frustrated with myself when I wasn't coming up with anything even remotely spectacular. So with some advice to "RELAX" from my fantabulous PIC, Marti, I took a deep breath and just tried to do things slowly. Focused on my beads and all the problems I've been having with shipping (I'll be shipping with UPS or Purolator instead of Canada Post for a while just to see how that goes!) and tonight I'll be working on CLEANING and maybe a nice, cleaner space will help get the creativity flowing some more.

I made a card last night to go with my Mom's Mother's Day present (yeah, I still have it, but she saw it already), it's a huge box of assorted cards for her to have! It's one of the first in the housewarming section...

So to be COMPLETELY honest, it's not EXACTLY my favourite of creations, but I'm happy that I was able to actually complete something. I don't know why I don't really like it...it's just one of those days where everything you try to make feels like it's not really coming together, you know? But I was able to try out another one of Marti's tutorials on her blog and this is the multicolour distress embossing powder technique. You can't really see it all that well, but each part of the card (the flowers, the diamonds and the lattice) are done in different colours of embossing powder. And the little house USED to be a Studio G wood-mounted stamp of a church, but I covered up the steeple to make it just a regular looking house.

So ingredients, ingredients!
Unless otherwise stated, all materials are from http://www.pezadoodle.com
Glossy cardstock cut down to size
Tim Holtz Distress Embossing Powder in: Tattered Rose, Dusty Concord, Peeled Paint
Pezadoodle stamp: Harlequin Flowers, stamped with Perfect Medium
Studio G wood-mounted stamp (from ScrapHut), stamped with Adirondack Pigment Ink in Pitch Black
3D pop-dots (from Dollarama)

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

A little breather...

2008-07-14T09:29:00.000-04:00

...*sighs* and there it is! I definitely could do with catching a little breather! I have definitely been MIA for quite a while, haven't I? It's all these events and weddings and parties and MORE events, more weddings and more parties! I'm not really complaining because I LOVE planning them all, but it sure takes a lot of me...and I MISS my scraproom!!! I haven't been in it in so long. Everytime I get a spare moment, I just want to SLEEP!

My cousin's wedding went really well though, I'll post some pictures later, when I'm not feeling so lazy! And just yesterday was my in-law's 50th wedding anniversary so we threw a big bash for them to celebrate and I had a lot of DIY things done for that...pictures of those later too, since I still don't have the energy.

On the crafting front, I got a package from Marti from Pez-a-Doodle and say it with me: oh. my. gosh. It had the funnest most YUMMIEST ink pads and goodies in there!!! I got a whole series of Adirondack pigment ink pads and WOW. When I say so smooth and thick and creamy, I mean the INKS! I opened up the package and pulled the protective plastic over the pad and was already impressed! I stamped an image with the cranberry ink and it was SO NICE! I know some of you won't get how excited I can be about ink, but honestly, take up stamping and start with the regular ol' inks and then try THESE inks and you'll see what I mean!!!

I took a picture of all my goodies, but they're still on my camera so it looks like I've got a lot of photo posting to do when I get home.

Also, before my tiredness causes me to forget...oops, I had to stop and now I've forgotten what I was going to say! I'll write again when I remember!!! Yikes!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Canada Post vs. Me

2008-06-27T21:29:00.000-04:00

...one is fine...two...WHAT DO I DO?!?!?!

So apparently, it seems like I'm having some problems with some packages I shipped out. I have already re-shipped two packages and they are STILL MIA! I'm going out of my mind!

For all those who are still waiting for things for me or who have been having problems with their orders, I am SO sorry! I have no idea what's going on and I'm trying VERY hard to fix everything! I will make sure to try and figure out what's happening and please try to believe that I don't official suck at this! *cries*

For those who have been waiting (and you KNOW me, I HATE waiting!!!), I'll be refunding your payment and re-shipping - AGAIN!

*sighs* Canada Post must have some grudge against me...

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Friday Funny

2008-06-27T09:45:00.001-04:00

...so this has nothing to do with scrapbooking, but the co-workers and I were watching this yesterday and I thought it was fabulous! You may have seen him on Oprah...

CURRENT MOOD: CONTENT CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: I KISSED A GIRL - KATIE PERRY

TOTBF #3 and days go by...

2008-06-27T00:17:00.001-04:00

...days go by and still I think of you
days when I couldn't live my life without you...

- Dirty Vegas

...well, I'm not pining away over anyone (both true and not so true...more on that later), but the days are SURE going by.

Just believe me when I say I have no idea which way is up or down any more these days!

Before I get into all the details, here's my submission for Pez-a-Doodle's Thinking Outside the Block Friday:

I know it may sound a little excessive of me, but...DON'T YOU LOVE IT?! So that's my candle holder-type dealyo. I know you can buy things sort of like this, but nothing beats making one all by yourself! So let's see, I used to square blocks perpendicular to each other. I squished on some Brilliance Dew Drop using a felt tool and then heat set. I then stamped with an Autumn Leaves (I believe...) acrylic stamp using black archival ink. For the tealight, I went all-out and used a PartyLite candle! All materials (except for the candle) can be found at Pezadoodle.com!

So, earlier last week, I joined Marti's Design Team and we dreamed up a little pet project together and things are totally hopping - of course, throw in other things such as weddings, trips to Jamaica (for SOME people - like I said, more on that later), work and friends and family and breakups...weeeell, that just requires more than twenty-four hours in a day!

So for everyone who is expecting something of and from me - don't give up on me just yet, I'm raring to make a come-back as soon as weddings are behind me. My cousin's wedding is coming and I'm practically the matron of honour - though I'm not, the wedding planner - though I'm not, and the florist/decorator - which I half am! Long story short, the REAL matron of honour sucks at her duties, I really would like to be a wedding planner (plus my cousin is working multiple jobs to get this wedding paid without too much debt underway) and my mom and I have an event decorating/planning business we're trying to get off the ground. So the wedding is a week from this Saturday so don't send out the search parties on me before then...I'll be MIA for sure as I think my cousin is trying to run me into the ground!

I also said I wasn't really pining away for anyone, but I WILL be for one WHOLE week! Like I said, we've been bombarded by weddings this year and The Mister and I had to split forces to be able to attend both weddings that we are a part of. The only crummy thing is, his wedding is in Jamaica and my wedding is...here. Ew.

So I'm trying really hard not to begrudge him the trip, but c'mon, this is JAMAICA! I've never been there...plus, I'm also kind of begrudging the wedding couple as he had to go into their package plan (so they could get whatever deal for having however many guests come) and it SO was not cheap. Then to top all that off, his wedding clothes (to wear on a BEACH) was in the excess of over $200, which is sadly more than my bridesmaid dress and shoes combined. Tsk, tsk, tsk...then we were invited to the couple's reception when they return home...I know it sounds really bad, but you bet there won't be any envelopes or nicely wrapped gifts with the words From: Mr. & Mrs. SillySkittles. In all seriousness, their present is The Mister's PRESENCE.

HAHAHAHA, do I not sound like the WORST wedding guest ever?! Hey, don't get me wrong, I just did the wedding thing, I understand what being part of a wedding means and my bank account and efforts and time can attest to that (*coughs* did like a bajillion of those TBBM favor boxes only to have those greedy bums rip them open to get at the delicious jelly beans inside [note to self: fill favor boxes with disgusting things...] without even ONCE commenting on the beautiful PACKAGING of the delicious jelly beans!

Okay, I'm sounding like a very whiiiny person today...so I'm going to have to bring this to a close. I've been working like a little house-elf (oh, HP, I MISS YOU!) trying to get some projects done ahead of time so I'll have some fun things from Marti's tutorials to show you this coming week! Stay tuned!

CURRENT MOOD: TIRED CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: DAYS GO BY - DIRTY VEGAS

Lemons into lemonade...

2008-06-23T22:17:00.000-04:00

...is that what they say?

When life hands you lemons, made lemonade! What if life hands you a completely rude, idiotic, most rage-inducing person in front of you? What then?

Other people I was complaining to earlier this morning would say, 'What are you complaining about? You just finished saying your day was SO BORING!' After this person, boring it was NOT.

He came up to my window and slammed a twoonie down onto my ledge and said 'I need change'. First off, we're not allowed to give change. I'm not going to go too much into what I do, but while I *could* give change, we're not supposed to. So of course I said, "No, I'm sorry, we don't give out change." And after a "are you effing (I'm substituting for the sensitive readers, those less sensitive, please feel free to think the words I'm really subbing for) kidding me? it's $2 just give me the change." And I go on to say firmly, "The (insert department here) does not hand out change." And he goes on and points beside him that there's a payphone right there and why the hell won't I just give him the damn change. And I proceeded to point out the window and say that there's a convenience store down there where he can get change from. And off he goes again and I say this is not a bank, we can't give out change.

So on this goes and finally he asks for my manager and as soon as she walks up he proceeds to tell her what a completey rude and snarky bitch "THAT GIRL" is and how "THAT GIRL" treats him like he's a complete effing retard when all he wants is change for the payphone. He proceeds to demand that my supervisor apologize to him on MY behalf as he has been treated like a retard because I had the nerve to tell him that our department is not a bank. He proceeds to say that of COURSE he's not retarded, he KNOWS this isn't a bank, why the eff do I feel the need to have to tell him that.

And I stand there and stare and my supervisor stands there and stares and he proceeds to tell me that just because I sit behind my effing desk I shouldn't think that I'm so much better than everyone or like I have some kind of power and sh*t.

My supervisor takes the $2 he once again slams onto the ledge and she proceeds to give him the change. He takes his change and turns around and leaves and then turns around and comes back and yells that I should put a sign up on our windows that says THIS IS NOT A BANK to inform all the retarded students out there that this isn't a bank.

I am still standing there staring, and I smile and tell him to enjoy his change and have a nice day and (okay, SLIGHT baiting on my part) and he tells me to 'shut up, you snarky bitch.'

So, AFTER he leaves...my supervisor says, "Well he was completely over the line and that was totally uncalled for," I just stare at her and turn away. WHERE THE HECK WAS SHE FIVE MINUTES AGO WHEN HE WAS TOTALLY TELLING ME OFF? If he was SO uncalled for, where the heck was the supervisor in her and she could have told him that was ENOUGH. To top it all off, she gave him the CHANGE!

You know what? I wasn't even upset about him going on and on because frankly, I don't care about that little dink and he only PROVED himself to be a COMPLETE moron and an absolute IDIOT by his tirade when if he wasn't SO STUPID, why would he ask for change when he's not retarded and KNOWS this isn't a bank. So if he knew it wasn't a bank, why'd he still demand change? I don't care, I can hold my own with people like that, but what REALLY bothered me is FIRST OF ALL, she gave him the change (when our WHOLE department knows that as the acredited business that we run, it is not in our DUTIES to hand out change, we are not cashiers though we do have to deal with money. SECOND of all she tells ME that HE is over the line and uncalled for AFTER he leaves! Why couldn't she have said that to HIM!? If she was going to give him the change anyway, why couldn't she AT LEAST stand up FOR me, if she wasn't going to stand by me and my decision.

MEH....I don't even know why I'm still going on about this...I guess it's harder for me to shake off than the other idiotic people that I have had to deal with.

I almost forgot what I was writing about.

Anywho, needless to say, I was feeling not so perky when I got home, but I forced myself to sit in my scraproom and eventually, my hands got busy and my mind stopped feeling sorry for itself and I got these two cards made:

So even in my yucky state of mind, I tried to take what I was feeling and turn it into the opposite for my cards. It kind of worked out as good therapy...it would make it BETTER therapy if I could take the cards and shove it in the person's face...but we can't have everything in life, I guess...LOL...

CURRENT MOOD: CRUMMY CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: NOTHING

Thinking Outside the Block Fridays #2

2008-06-20T07:36:00.000-04:00

...I think I was suffering from a little crafters "block" (*giggles* get it?) last night and it took me quite a while to come up with something for today's TOTBF!

But nevertheless, I came, I created though I doubt I conquered.

My desk is still littered with all the blocks I was trying to use and put together in certain ways, but nothing was really jumping out at me, except for this little business card holder that transformed itself from one of my trials.

I know I kept it pretty plain all around, but I had taking it to work and using it in mind so I didn't want to make it too over the top. I want to use it, but I also don't want a million people grabbing a card up so they can call me with their questions. HAHAHAHA....I'm not even going to bother saying I'm just kidding...

How did your thoughts outside the blocks go?

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Damsel in distress...

2008-06-19T23:48:00.000-04:00

...I'm here, I'm here! I know I'm only just squeezing by, but better late than never as I always say. I'm still getting used to this whole DT member deal, so you'll have to be patient with me!

Today's tutorial on Marti's blog is aaaall about using distress embossing powders (Tim Holtz), and here is my take:

Most of the products I used (unless otherwise indicated) can be found at http://www.pezadoodle.com:

Products:
1. Tim Holtz distress embossing powder in Black Soot
2. Black pigment ink
3. Butterflies a-flutter Scrollybug stamp
4. Studio G stamp
5. Black archival ink
6. White velvet paper (LSS)
7. Black cardstock (LSS)
8. White gel pen (LSS)

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Rollin'...

2008-06-18T10:54:00.000-04:00

...do, do, do, do...rollin' on the river! I've got that song in my head this morning...and now maybe you do too! HAHAHAHA....

So I KNOW I promised that I would be updating more frequently, and then I go and disappear again, but for good reason!

There have been some EXCITING things in the works and I can't wait to share them with you! But for now I have to keep it under wraps until things are more cemented...*giggles* I LOVE being in the know!

Anywho, there is one exciting tid-bit of news that I AM allowed to share! I am OFFICIALLY a Design Team member for Pez-a-Doodle.com! It's exciting for maaany reasons, one of which is this is the first time I'm a Design Team member for ANYTHING. I've always been a bit intimidated, because...well, Design Team...that means you have to come up with some FANTABULOUS things to showcase! But Marti said I should and who am I to argue with Marti?! LOL...another great thing about it is...well, I get to try out some AWESOME things! Since starting my dabbling in Ranger and Tim Holtz products, I can't even BELIEVE I was scared of these things! They are awesome and every day I'm just learning more and MORE about how to use them and the different things I can do and make with them! It's definitely a fun learning process and I'm learning right along with everyone else!

So with that said, here is my FIRST project as a Pez-a-Doodle DT member (needless to say, all products used can be found at http://www.pezadoodle.com/):

Marti's tutorial for the week is focusing on the diversity of clear embossing. Now for all you pros out there, don't yawn just yet and la-di-da it! Even I'm picking up some great tips - starting with learning of the existence of an EMBOSSING BUDDY! I tried one out for the first time last night and I was all open-mouthed and googly-eyed! For such a SIMPLE thing, it makes a BIG difference in my embossing.

So back to my project, I learned about background embossing using inks and the simple art of flicking. For more info on the tutorials, please check out Marti's blog at: http://pezadoodle.blogspot.com/

...please excuse me for loving all over my own creation! LOL..but I had such a fun time making it - granted it's a bit messy, but that could be due to the fact that I'M not the neatest person ever...

So for the background, I decided to use a chipboard coaster. I loaded it up as much as I could with Perfect Medium (I didn't have Versamark - which will be rectified soon) and I sprinkled my embossing powder over the whole thing. Shook off the excess and then turned it around and gave it a couple good flicks of my finger to get some more powder off...kind of to create a distressed, messy look. I heat embossed and I used my felt tool and rubbed and smooshed some Brilliance Dew Drop ink all over it so that some of the ink went in the areas that weren't embossed with powder.

For the rest of the card, I used Cake-Cake with Pezzy as my focal point and to make her and all her yummy cuteness pop out even more, I tried out the 3D technique that I saw on Katie's blog, but stamping her three times, cutting her out and layering her one over the other with pop dots. It was my first attempt at that, so go easy on me!

So there's my little bit of news for today...thanks for sharing in my giggly, wiggly excitement! More fun things to come, and stay tuned for my next installment of my take on Marti's Think Outside the Block Friday! Have you got your blocks yet?

CURRENT MOOD: EXCITED CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: MERCY - DUFFY

Thinking Outside the Block Fridays #1

2008-06-13T19:01:00.004-04:00

...put your thinking caps on, peoples!

I'm so excited for Marti's new challenges on Fridays. You know those Studio G acrylic blocks that come with your stamp sets? Do you have a million of them just sitting around? Well, Marti is challenging you to come up with a WHOLE new way to use them - and it doesn't even have to be for stamping! Check out her blog for some tutorials and how-to tips and come on and join the fun!

Here is my entry for this Friday, can't wait to see all of yours!

Let me see, let me see...I used the longer acrylic piece for the base of my picture frame, and the 3x3 (is it 3x3???) square block for my display.

So what I did was I used Glossy Accents to glue every thing together. It's a little bit tedious when the gloss is still wet, but when it dries, those suckers are pretty much stuck together!

I chose my picture and adhered it to the back of the block and I stamped a Studio G fluourish using my permanent black ink, and then stamped over that using Brilliance Drew Drop. Zapped it with my heat gun for a bit to set it and just used a teeny, tiny Prima and of course a "skittle" JewelPop for the centre.

I also used a little bit of Stickles on the back of the picture frame to show through, and inked the edges with my Dew Drop.

CURRENT MOOD: RUSHED CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

All that glitters...

2008-06-10T23:14:00.002-04:00

...is ME!

So, minor technical difficulties with a jar of Martha Stewart glitter. I thought I had closed the lid all the way and when I picked it up and manhandled it...*POOF* I became a fluffy cloud of glittery GLITTER.

Oh. My. Gosh. So it was all over the floor, all over my feet - trying not to move so I wouldn't STEP in it, all over my clothes, my arms, my HAIR, my FACE! LOL...good thing the colour was so pretty or I'd be even more irritated!

Anywho, the cards that brought about the glittery mass that is me! I was on Marti's blog and had to try out the sketch she used from http://www.iheart2stamp.com!

And of course, this is ME you're reading, so it's going to be a mass photo posting...LOL, grab a drink...

Let's see...what did I use:

The flowers are from my LSS
I used liquid glass/dimensional glaze to draw swirls on the flower and then I glittered all over it with Martha Stewart glitter. The cardstock was Cuttlebug SMOOSHED (à la Marti - http://www.pezadoodle.com/) following her tutorial and using her Brilliance Dew Drop ink pad. The swirly flourish is brought to you by yours truly, an original made with custom coloured seed beads (of COURSE using Marti's alcohol ink...LOL...I'm starting to see a pattern here!) and pliable wire.

SIDE NOTE: Marti, those flourishes were actually packaged up to be on it's way to you tomorrow, but I used them instead. LOL...I'll send you more! *HUGS*

CURRENT MOOD: GLITTERY CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: TAKE A BOW - RIHANNA

"Skittle" Bugs...

2008-06-06T23:50:00.000-04:00

...I know I shouldn't be posting this because it's supposed to be a RAK and I think both the people I'll be RAKing actually come visit me once in a while...but oh well, I'm just SO not good at keeping secrets or WAITING! I wanna share NOW!

Okie dokie, so I can't take all the credit, a member had posted these cute little ladybugs that she did with her "Skittle" beads and I thought, 'Self...well hey! I haven't done anything like THAT yet!' So I took it a couple steps further and used my alcohol inks and perfect pearls! Have a peek - these'll probably release as an official part of my line sometime mid-this-month or early next month, we'll see how ambitious I get! I've got a few more critter/animal ones coming too...*giggles* Okay, PICTURES PUH-LEASE!

I know I TOTALLY went overboard with the pictures...but it's my blog, so ask me if I really feel all that bad. LOL...I just LOVE those little critters...I've got one address and I'm just waiting for ONE more and I can send those babies off with their card. I'm so EXCITED! More in store...I can't believe how fun these little beads are! And to think, I just grabbed them because they were beside the cash register with a big clearance sign on them and I didn't even KNOW what I was going to be doing with them yet!

Wouldn't that make a GREAT interview story in some crafting magazine??? LOL...meh, one can only hope right? In the meantime, I'll keep playing around in the "Skittles" lab...

CURRENT MOOD: AWAKE...WIDE AWAKE...! CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: TAKE A BOW - RIHANNA

Caution: Overhaul...

2008-06-03T23:11:00.000-04:00

...UNDER CONSTRUCTION...

My scraproom that is! So with The Mister having more time to spend around the house, comes many benefits! First, sometimes I go home for lunch and he makes me delicious grilled cheese sandwhiches with crunchy dill pickles on the side (I know, right? What a keeper!), second, he's got WAY more time to get to the things that I've been bugging him about for the longest time.

The most important thing - my scraproom. It used to be our guest bedroom until I decided I didn't like anyone enough to let them sleep over anyway (I'm only JOKING! Kind of...well...those who know me...not really...LOL) so I had The Mister clear off the bed and stand it up against the wall. That was fine...for the moment. Next was because I pretty much took up all the room in our master bedroom closet, The Mister's clothes were in a cabinet in the scraproom....the was fine...for the moment. After this weekend, the matress is completely outta there as well as the cabinet, leaving the room MINE, ALL MINE!

So today, I pretty much dragged The Mister to Costco to get me another working table!

And getting one pretty much sprouted the major overhaul my scraproom is about to undergo!

So here goes...Day 1 of the overhaul:

View from the door - ew, I know right?

There's my new worktable! *waves*

So that's the start of it so far...it is a COMPLETE mess in there right now. I took those pictures before I started moving things around so right now, I'm at the moment where I've taken things off shelves, moved things around, and now it looks worse than when I first started. But it will get better! I can't wait to have it all set up! (Chances are, I'll want to move things around again in a couple weeks, but whatevs!)

The Mister is also painting a cabinet for me in the garage which he will eventually mount to the wall...kind of like the Making Memories Embellishment Centre, but bigger and it was free - so we'll make do with what we've got!

Anywho, I've got to get myself to BED! Waking up early tomorrow to get my Wii Fit on!

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO:

Bead-azzled!

2008-06-02T23:14:00.000-04:00

...do you ever have those times when you KNOW you have so much to do, but you end up doing something else anyway?

I had some orders to process and get out (they're done now and just shipped out today) and instead of working on them ASAP, I got kind of bored of them and tried something else instead. Kind of like a litle break to just refresh the interest in them again. Well, I didn't exactly stray too far as I kept working with beads, just a whole lot tinier!

I was wandering around Michaels and was trying to look for more things I could work with besides the regular, ol' generic kind of scrapping things and I impulsively grabbed a pack of clear seed beads. I looked around to see if there was any more colours I liked before I almost smacked myself in the forehead and though, I don't need to buy any more colours, that's what alcohol inks are for!

So homeward-bound I went and got out my alcohol inks (note to self: order more from Marti) and proceeded to PLAY! While the seed beads are much harder to work with (OMG, arthritis here I come!), it was a lot of fun because it's different and does not involve me staring so close at a "Skittle" bead that I'm almost cross-eyed.

So here's what I came out with after playtime!

I know it sounds a little over-the-top, considering I made them, but I LOVE THEM! LOL...can't help it, they are so CUTE and SWEET looking! It's the whole clear glass beads with just a TOUCH of colour on them. I wanted an easier way to work with them on a layout or card, so I strung them on some floral wire (pretty much exactly the width of the opening of the bead) and just shaped it into what I wanted it to look like. Takes some trial and error I guess because the first few times, I didn't leave enough give and when I started bending the wire, some of the beads broke off. After I had enough shapes that I wanted, I used some Glossy Accents (à la Ranger - Marti, does your store carry this stuff?) and just pressed them down onto my card. Once the Glossy Accents dried, those babies were stuck for GOOD!

So that's a little less "Skittle"-talk for those of you who were getting tired of me going on and on about them...

The "Skittle" stars I got from Marti, I poured into a huge jar and they're just sitting there...haven't gotten much of an epiphany about how I'm going to use them...so there they sit...alone...jealously pouting at the "Skittle" beads and seed beads, wondering what they have that it doesn't....

I'm sorry "Skittle" stars, but your time will come...be patient...

CURRENT MOOD: CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: